#and two of the 4* cards were the exact Victor card

[sunshine-and-her-ikevil-stuff]

I GOT THE WRONG GAY BUT I'M STILL HAPPY

[ulriksen28blaabjerg-blog]

Roulette, Table Games At The Casino

Whoever said there's no such thing as a free ride in life obviously never played at Palace of Chance. Whether you are a professional or not, you can surely enjoy a hand of table and card games anytime. Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat or Poker, this online casino has it all! Each time you play any of the table and card games, you will have an absolutely unique experience; all these games come from different game providers, and therefore the game-play, winnings and display are distinct. Note: Most slots work in a way that a win is always proportional to the bet. So the simulation using a $1 bet, $100 budget and $500 desired win will return the same results as the one with $10 bet, $1000 budget and $5000 desired win. Therefore, I made all the simulations with a $100 budget and I changed only the bet and the satisfying win. Betting exchanges are new betting sites that have made it possible to back a selection to win and place another bet on the same selection not to win. It may seem a little pointless to a gambler because the two bets cancel each other out. It means you won't win anything but, you won't lose anything either. All of these games are organized in a convenient way and into multiple categories, which helps you find the type of game, and the exact title you want to play with ease. So you can comfortably start placing bets and enjoying the great experience that these casino games have to offer. Traditionally, all sports betting took place inside bookies' shops, however, the vast majority of bets are now placed online. This transition to online has benefited players massively, as they are able to compare odds across multiple bookmakers in just a few seconds, as well as earn special discounts and bonuses. For the bookmakers themselves, too, online operations are cheaper to run as they don't have the same overheads as running a physical shop, so these savings can also be passed onto players. BetVictor was created by Victor Chandler back in the 90's. They were one of the first betting sites to offer tax free betting which is one of the reasons why the grew so quickly. Offering the best odds on the football and a great selection of other markets they're a site that you should definitely consider. All new customers signing up today can get a £30 welcome bonus. Most sports betting sites also offer a service which allows self-exclusion of users who feel they are spending too much with the firm. If the banker total is 4, then the banker draws a third card if the player's third card was 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Whether you like classic 3 reel slot machines, or the latest 20-25 line video www.jackpotpromocodes.com, we have the games you're looking for. There is a fierce competition between online bookies. The players are the ones who benefit out of this state of affairs the most. This means that there will be better odds and bigger bonuses for the players. Reverse Martingale is a good betting strategy if your favorite slot doesn't have a double-up feature. Do you know the roulette betting strategy called Martingale? Reverse Martingale does the opposite.

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #1270: Yanmega (Supreme Victors)

Yanmega was a rather interesting card at a glance. You had Energy acceleration on the same Pokemon that could return Grass Energy from Yanmega to the hand to deal extra damage. Sadly, the acceleration came from the discard pile, so it didn’t make a perfect system. On the other hand, Yanmega was a Grass-type at a time when the type had all sorts of support to help it out. Lots of competition as well, but no lack of opportunities to work in its own right.

Yanmega’s 100 HP was fine for a Stage 1 and just out of the reach of most attacks. The typical caveats applied here, such as Expert Belt Gyarados and a fully-powered Beedrill or Jumpluff, but even those only pulled it off with perfect set-ups. The +20 Lightning Weakness added Luxray GL as a threat, as any prior damage (such as that from a popular partner to it, Crobat G), put Yanmega in the range of a Trash Bolt. The -20 Fighting Resistance, on the other hand, helped gain an extra turn against the Machamp and Donphan that were also quite popular. Yanmega could retreat for free, which was amazing for a card that could return all of its Energy to the hand for extra damage.

Speed Boost was a nice Poke-Power. Once during your turn, if Yanmega was your Active Pokemon, you could search your discard pile for a Grass Energy card and attach it to Yanmega. As long as you kept Special Conditions off of Yanmega, you could do this every turn. If you didn’t, well, many of those could be switched out of to hopefully put another Yanmega in to work instead. Pretty cool if you could pair this with Trainers that discarded Energy from the hand.

Wind Return’s 20 damage for 2 Colorless Energy was weak, but if you returned all Grass Energy attached to Yanmega to your hand, it did 20 more damage for each Energy card your returned. This was all-or-nothing, by the way; you couldn’t just return some of the Energy to pick your exact amount of damage. Also note that it said Energy card, so using Torterra to double the effects of Grass Energy did not double your damage here. Since the Energy would be in the hand, it didn’t work too well with Speed Boost, so you needed more acceleration from the hand. The most likely play was with Leafeon LV.X to get that extra attachment so you could do 60-80 damage per turn. Quite respectable indeed.

Speed Dive needed 4 Energy, but did a consistent 70 damage. This was a bit too expensive for that sort of damage, and you were almost always better off using Wind Return if you had set up properly. If you couldn’t get set up, you were probably going to get run over before you could use this much anyway.

Yanmega was one of those really interesting cards that worked well with multiple forms of Energy support. As a result, it could hold its own in a serious match. It did need quite a few things to go well to reach its maximum potential, however, and the Grass-type had Pokemon like Beedrill and Jumpluff to pressure it for the lead of a deck. Yanmega was less popular than those two but could still get some nice results.

[overfedvenison]

D&D Journal, Session 5 - Charn gets off the hook for Treason

Alright! Dnd journal... This is an eventful one

So - Last time, Okra the Orc Princess was murdered after Charn and Arka committed treason and Adrick the Dwarf made a deal with a demon and blanked out.

Charn and Arka had to begin by presenting themselves in front of the king and justifying why they kept the stone instead of fulfill on their duty. The king sent out the Paladins to retrieve everyone, most of whom complied... Adrick requested a Paladin watch over his hammer and armor as he couldn't go armed.

Charn was an issue... He refused to allow Arka to go, saying that Arka knows nothing of the lands and has sealed herself in the vault. A deal was made to allow her to stay... Charn being pretty insulting to the Paladin by not paying him proper respect.

He's smart, though, and upon seeing the king spoke only in turn. He was given a chance to defend himself... And took it, preparing a long speech justifying these actions.

"May I speak feely?" "You may. Justify yourself."

I got through my first point, and the king stated that he understood and the ability to renegotiate the deal is beneficial to this kingdom... Then I said I wasn't done. Let me post my notes on this.

Backstory if you forgot: We were tasked by the king's guard to go to perform a mission for Shira, a demon allegedly dedicated to maintaining the war of Demons and Devils so that the material plane does not fall to the victor. She tasked us with retrieving a Shard of Obsidian from the Mistveil Orcs, making us make an accord to do so (Which Charn weaseled out of.) We obtained the shard, then refused to give it back, and then the orcish princess we allied with was murdered - allegedly by a Black Raven.

And my whole notes on why we kept the shard

Section one: Arguments on the face of it.

1 - No even exchange. As far as anyone is aware, the deal is purely that we give a demon an artifact that will massively boost the power of their army for no return, or a minor return. Even if her intentions are genuine, this methodology is flawed. Although this is right and honorable and for any earthly country would instill strong diplomatic ties in the future, here I feel a proper exchange of resources is a bare minimum. Unlike other societies, good will is not an outcome here - Demons will not honor any past favors that were not an explicit agreement when parlaying in the future.

2 - No goodwill. To almost anyone on the material plane, the free offering of aid in a time of crisis for mutual benefit is a wise, charitible, and intelligent maneuver that will instill long-term goodwill and political relations. However, this is a deal with demons - Creatures of evil and greed. No matter how much charity you show them, they will never return gifts in kind unless an explicit deal is made. Furthermore, though offering aid at no cost to them in a time of need is a noble and goodly action towards humanoids, it will likely communicate that this kingdom is an easy place to exploit for personal gain to a demon.

3 - Potential for failure. Again, assuming Shira is telling the truth and entirely genuine in her actions, there is the potential she will fail, have the stone stolen, or become corrupted by it's power and elect to overtake the enemy forces instead of fight them to a neutral position. In any of these scenarios - And I remind you that time flows much faster in that plane, so these outcomes may come sooner rather than later - we will be facing a much more powerful enemy than if we had simply done nothing

4 - Potential gain. For the reasons above, this is a bad deal even if the demons themselves had only the resources of a common country to offer. However, this is a deal that might only come once in a lifetime - A deal with a demonic commander in which, to use a proverb, all the cards are in your hand. If this is genuinely needed, you could gain untold riches, magical items, or enough demonic aid to end the War against the Elven Lands in a fortnight.

5 - Breaking of a demonic accord. Unless someone else spoke first, I was the only one to accept this quest from Shira herself. My words were chosen carefully to get me out of any demonic accords: I stated that I could investigate the misty islands, but could not guarantee our success. As such, we can currently renegotiate at no penalty.

Section two: Things not adding up.

In this section I will elucidate how I believe that Shira is lying to us, and using us for her own gain. This is less factual, and more speculative than the previous section, but may bear greatly on your decision-making process.

1 - Timeline. Shira stated that she needed our aid, or else she would lose the war. She could not leave her current area, or she would fall, and so needed us to explore and find the object for her. Despite this, we took over two months in travel time - a period several years in the demonic realm. As such, I believe that she is in no real danger of losing the war anytime soon, although she is perhaps in a slow decline... Surely the over two years of losing battles with her there, is the equivalent of the week or so without her that it would take for her to obtain the Shard herself even if she for some reason couldn't defer this task to a capable demon

2 - Chosen heralds. Shira had us go obtain the item for her, an odd choice. Foremost, we are not especially noteworthy... At the time we had only a few conditional victories and were trusted scouts, but had a reputation for bad communication and poor teamwork. Further, we had made a terrible impression. Upon seeing her and her plane, our Lizardfolk Ally froze in shock and could not move, our dwarf struck him near-dead, and she watched us almost die to a demon while laughing. Again, I stated outright that I could not guarantee our success. In short, no one who legitimately needed this object would possibly trust us - She would want a teacher of the Petrels, a Squad of Ravens, or at least a party that displayed great competence. However her choice makes a large amount of sense if she saw us as competent enough to succeed, but incompetent and inexperienced enough to not question things or stand up for our doubts.

3 - Dismissal of humanity and it's allies. Shira was casually dismissive of humanity and it's allies, as incompetents who would die almost immediately should the blood war spill into our plane. Even ignoring our party's issues, it makes little sense as to why she would choose even the best of humanity to aid her if she believes this - Surely a demon commander has contacts in other planes willing to help if she is genuinely just trying to keep the balance

4 - Obfuscation. She was highly evasive of offering information and relied on awe to trust that we would accept a face-value explaination. For instance, she did not tell us what the shard did and gave vague answers when pressed. At one point she told us an outright falsehood - That the material plane would instantly fall should hell invade. Even after we returned, we were subtly threatened by vale members for compliance. This could be evidence of double-speak and attempting to obscure details, although it is also somewhat consistent with typical demonic habits.

5 - Demonic presence of vale members. We suspect various vale members of consorting with demons that would undermine the crown, possibly through deliberate conspiracy or through domination. We have sighting of fanged members and unusual happenings, but due to the timeframe lack solid evidence at this time

For these reasons, we suspect the entirety of Shira's story is an utter fabrication. I believe she is using us to gain the shard, for power, in order to win the blood war, and may be manipulating the vale in it's entirety in order to do so. As such, I suspect returning this shard will do the exact opposite of what is stated, and may lead to the material plane's destruction.

Additionally, I suggest a thorough investigation of the vale in it's entirety.

....The DM seemed to state "Is my plot that easy to see through? What the hell" and someone made the joke "Profession (Lawyer)" to me.

This begins the saga of Charn: Master Investigator - I go around with my Armor Coat and Revolver solving crimes. This is my new life, and I eagerly accept it. I thought I was slowly becoming a cowboy accidentally, turns out, NO, I'm a PI.

...Ahem, I was given three months to figure out what to do. As well as 25 lashings for high treason; Arka had to endure as well. A rough night, but not an unwarranted one. And Pavia spoke out of turn and insulted someone in the king and queen's prescence, and so was put in the stocks.

---

...Adrick was in the bar that night with Alia, the Aasimar. Soon a tiefling bard strolled up and played them a song - Knocking out everyone but Adrick. They discussed some of their dark deals, and he made another demonic accord - One to get his homeland strength and power, to allow him to take the crown, to give him honor, and to ensure prosperity. At his darkest moment, he got a taste of the abyssal... And now he will run with it.

The Aasimar awoke, and confronted him on it. She couldn't see through his lies, but something was VERY WRONG. It seems she became somewhat headstrong, and is a bit less of a passive entity - a bit of character growth.

The argument was protracted, and the Aasimar refused to budge. Adrick countered by insisting this had to do with him and his home land, and was the private business of a Thane. In the end, the Aasimar was physically attacked by an unarmed strike as Adrick became enraged. Tosh, the party's fox, was here too observing, and brought the situation down by joking and getting everyone to leave, and joking with the bartender.

The next day, Adrick would speak to the king and arrange a trip to the dwarven lands to try and smooth over the currently-rocky relationship between Angelpoint and the Daarves. Once he is free, they will depart. And thus, his schemes begin.

---

Adrick came to meet Arka and I after we recovered from our lashings. He offered us a day at a local spa/bathouse... In-character, we knew nothing of his schemes and machinations, and took this to mean that he was apologizing for getting angry at us for dishonor. We eagerly accepted and decided to head to to decide what to do.

During the spa day, we mapped out our current quests... - A visit to the Dwarven Lands to ensure Diplomatic Relations - The murder of Princess Okra, and smoothing over relationships with the Orcs - Proving the Mistveil is a puppet organization to allow Shira to gain power, or proving their innocence instead - Fighting the threat of the Elven Lands and the plague therein - Figuring out what to do with the shard

...We all agreed that the Orcs are the most pressing issue, and so Adrick and Alia decided to take a ship ahead to try and calm them while we held back and gathered evidence. They had a long encounter fighting orcas commanded by merfolk (allies of the orcs, long story) and eventually got to the shore.

As for the rest of us, we had a mystery to solve - Charn, Arka, and our fox, Tosh

[yessadirichards]

Liverpool, Man City battle for Premier League supremacy

MANCHESTER

Liverpool and Manchester City resume their rivalry for top spot when they go head to head in the Premier League this weekend, while Chelsea and Manchester United aim to get their title challenges back on track.

Under Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, City and Liverpool have become the dominant forces in English football, sharing the past four Premier League titles between them.

City, who have won three of those, delivered a warning shot to the pretenders to their crown with a hugely impressive 1-0 win at Chelsea last weekend.

But it is Liverpool who boast the only unbeaten record after six games and find themselves a point clear of City, Chelsea and United, even though they dropped two points at Brentford last week.

City ended their long wait for a win away to Liverpool in emphatic fashion with a 4-1 victory in February but they have not won in front of a crowd at Anfield since 2003.

Fatigue could take its toll on Guardiola's men after a draining week. Three days after their statement win at Stamford Bridge, the English champions were beaten 2-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital.

Liverpool, by contrast, were able to ease off the gas long before the end of a 5-1 Champions League win over Porto.

However, the Reds will be without right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was left out of Gareth Southgate's England squad announced Thursday with a groin problem.

"Obviously when you have something with your muscle, it's not likely for Sunday," said Klopp. "No muscle injury heals that quick."

United needed all 95 minutes to edge past Villarreal in their midweek Champions League game, emerging as victors thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's dramatic stoppage-time winner.

The late intervention from the Portuguese superstar stopped the rot for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men after a run of three defeats in four games.

But in truth United were lackluster again, relying on goalkeeper David de Gea, who produced a string of vital saves.

Everton head to Old Trafford level on points with Solskjaer's men after an impressive start to life under Rafael Benitez.

The Toffees are more than capable of following the example set by West Ham and Aston Villa, who have both won at the Theatre of Dreams in recent weeks, unless United show significant improvement.

Chelsea made a brilliant start to the season under Thomas Tuchel, picking up where they left off after beating Manchester City in the Champions League final in May.

City exacted a measure of revenge at Stamford Bridge last week and Chelsea slipped up again in the Champions League in midweek, losing 1-0 to Juventus.

But Tuchel's men appear to have a relatively straightforward task as they seek to return to winning ways against winless Southampton at home.

Just three weeks after topping the Premier League table, Nuno Espirito Santo's position as Tottenham manager has been questioned by fans following three dismal league defeats on the spin.

Spurs have lost to Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Arsenal by a combined score of 9-1 to fall back into the bottom half of the table.

Nuno is yet to conjure the best from star forward Harry Kane, who failed to force a move away from his boyhood club during the transfer window.

And he has so far failed to instill the defensive organization that was his calling card in three seasons at Wolves.

Another defeat when in-form Villa visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday would leave the Spurs faithful restless over the international break.

Fixtures

Saturday

Manchester United v Everton, Burnley v Norwich, Chelsea v Southampton, Leeds v Watford, Wolves v Newcastle, Brighton v Arsenal

Sunday

Crystal Palace v Leicester, Tottenham v Aston Villa, West Ham v Brentford, Liverpool v Manchester City

[sanderssides-fics]

Runaway chapter 1

Tw: mentions of homophobia, self harm, abandonment, deportation, smoking, homelessness, death, abuse, familial abuse, mentions of transphobia. Tags: @polysandershell @analogically-prinxiety @the-prince-and-the-emo @dan-yuna @de-is-me @princeyandanxiety

Note: the ocs in this are 100% mine do not use without permission

Plot: Virgil runs away from home after being ignored for a long time _____

3 year old Virgil waddled up to Roman with a drawing he did of Roman slaying the monster that was under Virgil’s bed.

“Romam! Wook!” He held up the drawing to a video gaming Roman. Roman was more focused on the game.

“Screw off Virgil,  I’m busy!” He snapped as he lost the game because of the drawing shoved in his face. Virgil let out a whimper and ran to find one of his parents.

 Patton was busy making dinner, so the baby gate blocked the doorway. Patton also had his headphones on, blocking himself from Virgil’s cries.

Luckily, though Logan was busy doing work for his class, his door was open so Virgil ran right in letting out his cries. 

“Oh goodness. Virgil, what is upsetting you?” Logan didn’t expect an immediate response as he helped Virgil’s emotions calm. Virgil finally calmed down and started to explain that Roman hurt him, he made the now torn picture for Roman and Roman didn’t like it.

Logan got up with Virgil on his hip and went to the living room, turning off the gaming console.

“What the fuck?!” Ten year old Roman shouted and received a grounding.

“You broke the picture your brother made for you because you were playing your video games?” Logan scolded. Roman shrugged with a nod. ____

Virgil was 8 years old when Roman punched him for the first time. Roman was 15 at the time and had just been broken up with when Virgil wanted a hug, having been told if he didn’t smarten up in class, he’d fail grade 3.

“Not now Virgil,  I’m not in the mood” Roman had warned, he didn’t want to take out hid anger on Virgil.

“Please?” Virgil went closer and Roman lashed out, his knuckles smashing against Virgil’s young cheek and kept going. Virgil left as soon as he could, but no parents were home so he locked himself in his room and didn’t come out. _____

Virgil was 10 when the thought popped up in his mind. The thought of running away. It came to him while at school, in math class. If he just didn’t come home then he wouldn’t feel ignored anymore because nobody would be there to ignore him.

Virgil shook the thought away when Patton called for dinner. The thought persisted for 2 years. When he turned 12 and Roman got worse than ever, Virgil gave in. _____

Virgil folded his arms tightly around his chest, cold thin hands gripping behind his ribs above the thin jacket he wore. Virgil’s tired eyes looked back behind him once, right twice. He let his hair coat his forehead, the bagged eyes that were just touched by his bangs stared forward on these empty streets. A 4 a.m. stroll, a 12 year old boy with no place to call home.

Virgil coughed shallowly, the cold of March nights were affecting his immune system, making him drowsy and weak time and time again. ‘The bridge of second street’ Virgil thought, he needed a rest. So he continued through barren streets of closed doors and car alarms. The city ways were no place for a kid to be alone, but we’re the only place for kids with no home. Virgil’s backpack weighed heavy on his shoulders. Holding the $5 he gathered yesterday, his stuffed cat, and a half empty bag of chips.

Virgil ducked under the brick bridge, the wind was blocked from him now. There were stray cats a few feet away, Virgil didn’t mind though. He took off his backpack and put it on in front of him instead, so the bag was on backwards. Then he layed down and used the bag to rest his head on and cuddle best he could. Tomorrow…tomorrow… he always thought tomorrow would be better.

The sun awoke Virgil the next noon, he didn’t move from under the bridge yet though. He searched around for anything of worth. Finding only five cents and a rope. He placed them in his bag and began walking again. Ducking through alley ways and crevaces to avoid adults over and over again.

Virgil far from home. 4 cities away to be exact, he had been gone for a month. No window tvs or radio stations from cars had spoke of his disappearance. Virgil knew nobody cared at home, but he hoped someone would at least notice he had been missing.

Virgil walked and walked, he ended up on the other side of town as the sun went down. The town clock said it was 8 pm. Virgil was tired and decided he’d go into a library, a little bit of heat and unquestioned sanctuary would be nice for the next hour. Virgil walked to the books about animals and read about ducks until the librarian told him he needed to leave because it was closing time.

Virgil took a seat on the sets of stairs that lead to the library doors. Pulling his knees to his chest and watching around. Fear twinged his nerves as a dark mass approached him. He didn’t want to get beaten if that’s what was about to happen. However, Virgil relaxed a little as the mass was simply more kids around his age. They sat around with Virgil, all were in worn jeans, muggy shirts and had messy hair. The youngest looked maybe 9 and the eldest was at least 18. There were 12 of them.

“Hey kid, want some food?” The eldest one offered out a box of granola bars. Virgil took one.

“Thanks” Virgil said just loud enough to be heard, he broke a small piece off the bar after opening it. Everyone had a granola bar in their hands. Virgil took off his bag and put the bag of chips in the middle of the group. Everyone took some. By midnight all the food was gone and everyone except the younger then ten ones and Virgil had had a cigarette. The group got up and started to leave, Virgil stayed in his spot unsure what to do now.

“Virgil, you coming?” The one called back and Virgil smiled. Grabbed his bag and jogged to catch up with them. The group talked about whatever came to mind. Something on the radio, something across the street, something another group member had did. Virgil had learned some of the ir names but not everyone’s.  He knew the 18-or-so year old was Greg, he got kicked out for being bisexual in a Catholic family.

 The 9 year old was Armen, her family had been deported back to Guatemala and since she was born here, she was allowed to stay but was left on the streets.

There was a kid around Virgil Age named Victor, he was the cleanest looking one. He had blonde medium length hair that fell down the back of his neck and a little in his face. His eyes were a pale green and his skin was milky white. Virgil and Victor talked as they followed Greg with the other kids. They all piled into Greg first story apartment downtown, there were many blankets and pillows and cups for tap water. There were 2 other guys there around Greg’s age.

“Ethan! Matt! We’ve got a new member. This is virgil” Virgil smiled a little as he was introduced and gave a little wave. “Victor, can you help Virgil get set up?” Greg asked and Victor nodded.

“Come on, you can sleep next to me.” Victor said half-excited. The younger kids all fell asleep as soon their heads touched their floor resting pillows. Victor set up Virgil’s pillow and blanket next to his own in the kitchen. They whispered about their pasts together until they fell asleep. Victor had run away too, he ran because his dad beat him every night. 

_____

3 months had passed since Virgil had joined the group. Everyone had a job here, it was organized, reliable, it was safe. Virgil had found comfort and the group was often referred to as a family. 2 of the group had managed to get into a foster care system, Ella and her girlfriend J.J., the two 15 year olds. Everyone was both sad and happy to see them go.

Everyone had jobs, all the jobs helped out the family in some way or another.

 Greg, Ethan, and Matt, were all in actual jobs. They worked the exact same shifts at a local restaurant. Matt cooked, Ethan was custodian, and Greg took orders. Sometimes they were able to bring home food. Jonny was a pick pocketer. He took little so it wasn’t noticed. He often took it from phone-distracted people. 2 dollars here,5 there, no one noticed no one cared. He usually came home with upwards of $15. Elanor was a motherly, protective figure. She was 16 but babied everyone like a mom would. She made sure people showered at least once a week, they ate whatever was given to them, always was open to hugs, and was basically the shoulder to cry on too. Everyone loved her, Jonny had a special love for her though. 

Shark at 12 years old ran away from boarding school, now at 14 he was a street performer. He sang, danced, did magic, anything he knew. Money varied for him but every bit counted and he was always tired. If he was home, he was asleep. No one minded though cause they got to play with his magic supplies. Card tricks and games were the life of indoor fun for them.

Darnel, being 13, did gambling bets for elder generations.  Little games he always won. Like who can slam their hand on the count of three first. Whoever won kept the coin. People usually played 4 or 5 times. $10 was average for him, which usually had been converted into a bag of potatoes that would be turned into fries in the kitchen or mashed potatoes or whatever Ethan could do.

Virgil and Victor both just wandered the streets in search of free or cheap stuff, dumpster diving or clothes-drive diving. They had backpacks that were always full at the end. Sometimes Terra, a 10 year old in the group, joined them. Mostly though, Terra and Armen were kept at home under Elanor’s care and teachings.

*   *   *

“Virge, look at this!” Victor held out an old watch. Virgil looked up from where he was digging, a smile spread across his face.

“Dude!” Virgil dragged out the 'u’ “does it still work?” He asked curiously. Victor stared for a few seconds at the glass front, then nodded vigorously, his blonde locks falling in his face some.

“Yeah it does, should we pawn it or like give it to someone in the group?” Victor asked. Greg’s birthday was in a few days, they weren’t sure if this was something Greg would use though.

“ We can check how much the pawn shop will give us for it.” Virgil suggested, a sense of unsureness in his voice. Victor nodded before they kept digging.

“Jackpot!” Virgil exclaimed a few minutes later. “Check it out” Virgil held up a bag of fast-food-kids-meals toys. Victor squeaked a little in happiness, they had secretly been on the hunt for toys for the house. You were never to old for toys in the family. Virgil smiled and put the grocery store bag of toys in his bag. This dumpster behind an apartment building always paid off. No one cared that they were in here either. They found a few more things like broken barbie dolls that Terra would love.

“Where to now?” Victor asked, Virgil had grown very close to Victor in the months they had been living together in that family. Victor had grown close to Virgil as well. It was going to get cold this weekend according to newspapers they can’t afford, they had been told to find stuff to keep the family warm this week.

 "Petsmart dumpster? Dog beds can be turned into small kid mattresses or big kid pillows" Virgil suggested, and off they went in search of stuff. Finding the off sidewalk coin here or there. Their clothes were clean, they had enough money on Friday as a group to wash clothes in the building cleaning room so everyone felt refreshed. This led to Virgil and Victor just looking like 2 guys hanging out.

They turned down the alley behind Petsmart and Victor helped Virgil in to the dumpster before being pulled up himself. “So dog beds,  animals, toys, dishes, and anything that can be pawned” Victor said and they went to work.

20 minutes later and they had 0 dog beds, maybe $20 of pawn, and a kitten in Virgil’s hood. “I found about 20 cans of wet cat food and a half empty bag of cat food. ” Virgil said and put them into his now full bag. Victor nodded then screamed a little in excitement as he buried his hand in the space in front of him and pulled out a large dog bed. One for a great dane or bigger.

“Little bit of freshener and a spot wash this’ll be great.” Virgil said happily “Okay let’s go home and drop off the good stuff then to the pawn shop and if there’s still time, we will go to value village donation bins on the west side.

"Oo fancy!” Victor smiled happily. Virgil held the tiny white kitten they had found in the dumpster in a bag, in his arms as they jumped down. They ran as fast as they could back home. Elanor was helping Armen get dressed when the two showed up. “VV is that you?” They giggled at Elanor’s nickname for them.

“Yeah it’s us, we are just going to put our stuff in the closet so that no one sees it till we get back.!” Victor shouted said and they did just that other than the kitten. Virgil kept her in his jacket before they headed out with pawn stuff. The pawn shop closed in 20 minutes.

“Hey derek” Victor said as they entered, the pawn shop was huge and filled with useless things that were worth a lot. Derek was always fair fare with them.

“Hey vic, Virge.  What do you got today?” Some nogotiations, a little begging, and compromises later and they had sold almost everything for $60

“We have one thing we just want priced” Victor says,  Derek raised his brown eyebrow with curious blue eyes but nodded. Victor placed the watch on the glass counter and Derek choked on his own saliva.

“Where did you guys find this?” He asked as he inspected and cleaned it with a baby wipe.

“Dumpster, now how much?” Victor pushed. Virgil and him had agreed that 100 or more they’d pawn and buy Greg a lighter that had a bisexual flag on it.

“I can give you guys 4-5 maybe 6?” Derek said

“ dollars” Victor said unimpressed.

“Hundred” Derek said, Virgil left the view so he couldn’t break character.

“650” “Vic-” “700” “675” “Deal!” Victor said and collected the six hundred seventy five dollars they just gained from a watch. “Let’s go home” Victor said into Virgil’s ear quietly making Virgil shiver a little. Victor giggled and they ran home Virgil holding tight on to the kitten.

“What about west side?” Virgil asked and Victor shrugged as they opened the apartment door

“Tomorrow” it was 7 o'clock. Everyone would be home in about 10 minutes, Victor smiled fully and Virgil felt his heart melt a little. This was a good feeling, this was a warmth he heard his dad’s call love before. He hoped he never got used to this so it’d always feel warm. He hoped he never had to lose this.

One could hope.

[beet-rootesoupevodkabanya]

Post-apocalypse military AU.

The beginning of the end XD. Of course nobody died for real. As a true fairytale it’ll end up fine. Actually it’s still raw... FML. I never stayed up at night even for exames or anything... Snow King can be proud. For his bday I do. X3

Sound of shooting stops accidentally. But now tinkling silence isn't an evidence of the end of the battle or at least of a break. It means only that one more line is over. Nothing to hope on. They are locked here. Not so many. Less the 200 people. Last examples of experienced fighters. Of the 1st breed. Ones who still remember and realize the world before the catastrophe. Enemies could never do it by themselves. But... No connection to other Bases or Safe Zones. Blocked channels. Blocked information supports for using air armor. Emergency ways to escape locked from outside... It's too obvious. Safe Zone thrown them away. To die and let the piece agreement happen. Снежный Король sits on the windowsill. Video security system allows to watch what's going on on other floors. He clicks the lighter and inhales the smoke. The stream of death... General widens the picture. Koshey team. All dead. Through blurred monitor it's still rather obvious. They all did as decided on a short urgent meeting in the beginning of this fight. Killed as many attackers as they could until ran out of cartridges. And left 4 bullets. One for every teammate. Nobody here is going to get captured anyway. Red cloud on the floor. She tried to grow up her hair because her lover always had long and was curious. Now it's almost beautiful. They lay on the floor hugging each other. Bloody carpet is a continuation of Mila's locks. The 4 of them are tangled in her red cloak. The Black Shark could be enough to win even in this unpleasant situation. But it was found broken badly. Traitors weren't able to make it work. This weird thing was unspeakably moody. And could literally kill anyone but Sara who ever tried to drive it. So they simply torn away and took with them some parts. All vans and other heavy technique were out of patrol.

[Good work, fucking piecemakers. Now wait until they invade and ruin that fragile illusion that U call stable daily life.]

Yuuri rushes in. Stupidly giggling and shrugging the blood away from his sword. The ceremonial weapon that isn't supposed to be used in battles... Shere Khan smirks licking the blade of the knife. What are they so agitated about?.. It wasn't even necessary to get into this (meaningless according to the situation) close combat. Werewolf (actually werebear if to be exact) reads his usual cards on the table. No, not tactical. Tarot cards. He frowns and raises eyes on commander. In normally calm beastly depth burns silent panic. It's not a fear of things that happen here. It's about something he reads on the desk. - Sir... They can't say anything. Or better to admit - they can but... I'm unable to read it. I see... But don't understand. - And I don't understand this... - the voice of Snow King is quiet. He wipes the wall with a white bandage. The air around is gloomy because of terminal fire and explosions. The bandage stays clean. General's statement could seem inopportune. But his subordinate knows too well they both are talking about the same phenomenon. - Ask them... - General closes eyes for a moment in strange hopeless hope. - Is it possible we all are dead or something... And the world around us is an illusion. Lieutenant Altyin looks at cards and bitterly waves his head. - Then only one explanation... The physical characteristics of our world had changed. I mean globally. In planetary measures. Or even more... Well... I guess it's better to die without seeing what other gameplays the ecosystem prepared for us... - Victor shrugs shoulders, smiling with a kind of lost expression. He has not enough reasons for this theory. But he feels it, knows by blood and cells. Like he knew where to step and when to shoot in a battle. The knowledge that became sharper day by day. Yuuri leans to his Snow King from behind. His blood-stained hands sneak under the t-shirt. He doesn't ask questions but the black, half-blind abyss of his eyes radiates excitement. As if he is in hurry to share as much happiness with his Yuki no Kami as it's possible for the rest short time. - Sir... - Werewolf's intonations are almost begging. - Sir, promise me... Promise us. U will be...careful... - Eh?! Something funny about our old man there? - Major Plisetsky sits near, wrapping an arm on Beka's shoulders. He snorts but they all know he is worried. Capitan looks in green eyes, intertwining their fingers. Then turns to commander: - Cards say U are surrounded by the love. U're loved, admired... U're the chosen one always. And in our situation this is the last thing that is logical to appear in a prediction. But damn it... I don't even see the death in your future... I see the throne of the world. And I understand nothing... Yuuri sneaks under commander's arm, clinging to him with a puppy-like sound. He doesn't say anything but Snow King knows his sudden fear too well. He caresses boy's lips with a thumb: - We will die together. Today. Here. He explains it reassuringly and a bit tiredly. As an adult talking a child not to be scared of the thunderstorm. Yuuri nods and nuzzles Snow King's shoulder giggling.

The explosion chain is very close.

Снежный leaves the monitor. It's not important anymore. The four of them are the last experienced martials able to go on line. But whatever will happen to the Safe Zone isn't their problem now. He smiles at his teammates. Shortly and bitterly: - Time to go... General takes out the glock. The only one that keeps 4 sacred bullets. No right for a mistake. He nods to Angry Kitty. It's like a selfi. One click and a moment will be kept for the eternity. No time to say a lot to each other. And no need to. Deep inside they all know. Shere Khan grins and winks to Snow King while Beka is suddenly distracted with something on his cards left on the table. (Is it even important what's said there?) Grabs his collar and pulls his friend and partner for a kiss. First real one for them both. Оборотень falls into thin but unexpectedly strong arms staring in green ponds and trying to say something through the tight lean of warm lips.

Bang.

Bang.

Snow King drops the hand with the gun. - Always in vanguard... Шустрый засранец. / Fast little shit. - He mutters it with a short snort. These two had no time to fall on the floor. Yuuri catches them both and puts on the sofa. (He is fast. He became faster during years here.) They lay the way they often did. The way nobody would believe if to say or show a domestic picture. Beka laying on Yurio's shoulder. Kitty always was more a protective and Beka - a supportive one in their tandem. Snow King often laughed at Yurio that they're kicked out from an another fairytale - Beauty and the Beast. And the Beast here is of course Shere Khan. Kitty fizzed and hissed but obviously liked the idea until Оборотень began to mutter that he isn't a decent Beauty even if he is ready to wear a golden dress for his precious Beast. "But it will cause blood from your eyes, believe me..." And Yurio bit and kicked him and yelled: "U are beautiful, fuck my life! I fucking know better." Beka himself mostly laughed that they are more like a forest Witch and Ivan-tsarevich who was tamed by her. Victor often corrected: "Not just tsarevich. More like Иван-дурак/Ivan the dumb..." And Kitty yelled and sniffed until one day he finally resoluted: - Yes, tsarevich, because the son of the King. Yes, дурак, потому что весь в мать/ because like mother, like son." Yuuri fell on the floor laughing first. After some time Beka began to giggle. And only in the evening the realization hit their King too. And he set on the balcony with a cigarette muttering: - Сообразил бля, пизденыш... / What an idea, little shit...

Bullets went through heads but the blood streams down from the wounds, soaking the coach. It's not obvious yet. And seems as if they can wake up any moment. Снежный gets up, walks close and touches the pulse. It's not necessary, but he can't leave it unchecked. Even if everything is obvious. Yurio seems aggressively glad even in his death. He is still short and thin like a girl. He always cursed and promised to grow taller then his commander. He won't. They won't get to know if he would grow tall for real or would stay being this tiny grace. Yuuri cups General's face and smiles. Gently and possessively. Like noone but him ever could: - We'll keep up with them. Snow King sloppily nods pulling his boy closer. The unclear thought is tossing somewhere deep into the brain. But all that hurry, explosions and endless shit don't leave it a chance to be formed. Is it something Beka wanted to say? Anyway there's no time to think about it anymore. He caresses Yuuri's cheek, looks into black abyss and forgets everything. They have less then a couple of minutes. - I'm sorry, малыш... What else to say?... The boy clings to his General with a happy laugh. Rises head looking from beneath and smiles. Mischievously. And playfully. He wants to say he was happy for all these years with him. He was overwhelmed with love to this man since early childhood. Since the first time he saw this the most beautiful face ever. He admired the winter seeing him in every snowflake. Снежный Король filled his entire existence with the meaning and multiple colors even if for others it seemed to the monotonous white. Kay knows better than anyone: only the white keeps all other spectrums and shades. Only in arms of his King and in the middle of the winter desert he felt on the right place. Of course the boy has no time or even suitable words to express it. But Snow King will understand. He always reads it through touches. Yuuri hungrily leans to these soft and tender lips: - I love U. I always wanted to die with U and from your hand. What's more can I wish for? - Stupid kid... - sighs General. It's not obvious from the side but this patronizing tone is flirty. Yuuri, his shy, anxious, naive berserk always was weirdly protective. But not of that annoying type of countless fans who dreamed to see him broken to have a chance to pity him. No. It always was a different protectiveness. Reliable and loyal like walls of your own home. He became the Ivory Tower locking his Sow King in a trap he would rather die then leave. The boy clings closer and deepens the kiss, sneaking under the t-shirt. Sly sparkles in a black abyss become only brighter: - What I really regret - that we don't have time to make love now. I'd be happy to die like this. Victor smiles, digging fingers into dark silk and bites his lip. Yuuri moans, scratching his back under black fabric. Splinters of the northern sky are sad. But tender: - I love U, Kay. Cold steel touches boy's temple. Yuuri smiles leaning to it with that very euphoric expression he always had melting in Snow King's caress.

Frosted finger slowly presses the trigger.

So familiar, so loved body turns into a heavy doll falling into arms of it's master. Victor slowly lays his boy on the floor near the windowsill. They often set there in winter hugging each other and sharing one cigarette in a stupid hope the smoke will be blown away into the open window. Legs are heavy... Too heavy to go with Yuuri to the better place. And... It's fine like this. The entire world drowns into a crimson mist. It begins from boy's temple and wraps his King and everything around into the tightest embrace without a way to set yourself free. But he never ever wanted to get out of it anyway. General Snow King checks up the heartbeat in Yuuri's chest. Silent. He leans to still warm but motionless lips, blindly turns on the final countdown on a self-destruction system. And presses the trigger, aiming into silver locks. Snow King falls on the chest of his Kay. Blood stained lips of the boy still keep a shadow of a smile.

[readingraebow]

It Section Five

Chapters 11-12

1. What happens when Ben goes to the library? He sees Pennywise. He's talking to the librarian and asking if he can get a library card when he hears his name. He turns to look but realizes that no one else has reacted, meaning no one else can hear the voice. So he tries to ~keeps his cool through the rest of his conversation with the librarian even though the voice keeps yelling at him. When he finally does look, Pennywise the Clown is standing on the top landing, inviting him to come up and see him on neutral ground. Ben doesn't. And Pennywise eventually turns into Dracula, though a different version than the movie Draculas. And then Pennywise eventually disappears altogether, leaving behind a single balloon with a note written on it. At first it says "Have a good day! Tonight you die!" since Pennywise had been telling Ben that he's planning to murder all of the Losers Club that night. But then Ben asks after his favorite librarian and learns that she died three years ago, apparently from a stroke even though she was fairly young. Then the message on the balloon changes to say that Pennywise killed her. So Ben leaves the library then, with his new library card and a book he'd happened to grab off the shelf which the librarian thought he wanted to check out. When he gets outside, he notices that it's one of the books he'd checked out that day that he met with the Bowers gang at the Barrens. His boot print is even still on the cover. And he looks at the card in the back of the book and his name is the last one on it. But stamped below it, over and over again in red ink that looks like blood, it says CANCEL.

2. Where does Eddie go and what happens there? He goes back to a street that he thinks he had no connection to but then he remembers that he used to like walking down the street as a kid. At the end of it was a truck depot owned by two brothers who were perpetual bachelors. So Eddie walks down to it and finds that it's closed. He goes to the back of the property to the field where they used to play baseball and remembers when Belch Huggins hit two home runs, one of which they never found the ball. And just as he's thinking this Belch Huggins, who was murdered in 1958, comes back over the wall and looks, um, greaaaat. (Not.) He also starts seeing basically everyone who he remembered from this road, who is now dead, and is just in some kind of state of decay. It, as always, plays on fears.

3. What happens when Bev goes home? So she thinks it still says Marsh on the mailbox and believes she's going to find her dad but instead she finds an old woman named Mrs. Kersh. She finds out that her dad died five years ago and Mrs. Kersh feels terrible about delivering the news so she invites her in for tea and to look around. So Bev explores the apartment to see the changes and then Mrs. Kersh calls her when the tea is ready. Well, while they're talking, Mrs. Kersh starts changing and ~deteriorating. And she says that her dad's name was Robert Gray, better known as Bob Gray, better known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. And that's when things really start deteriorating. The house starts turning into candy since It plays off fears and her greatest fear was Hansel and Gretel because the witch ate children. And her dead dad appears wearing Mrs. Kersh's nightgown and they both start chasing Bev. She manages to get out of the apartment and when she looks back, it's rundown and looks like no one lives there and she wonders if she was ever really inside at all or if she just imagined the whole thing.

4. What do we learn happened to Richie in 1958? What happens to him now? In 1958, Richie witnesses Henry slip and fall in the wet hallway at school. And Richie being Richie, does a voice and everyone laughs and Henry then decides to kill him. So after school, Richie is running for his life and ends up loosing them in the toy section of a department store. So, having lived another day, he's going home and he stops in City Center under the Paul Bunyan statue. Well, the statue ends up "coming to life" and the axe comes down and chops the bench in half where Richie had just been sitting. It also comes off the platform and starts after Richie. But Richie ends up getting away and looks back and everything was exactly as it had been before, like nothing happened. So Richie convinced himself that the whole thing was a dream. Now, however, he goes back to City Center and the statue is still there. There also used to be an annual rock festival every year. There's a poster for this year's concert though it changes to say it's honoring Richie and it's his "all dead" rock show and lists a bunch of dead musicians. At the end it says that Richie is dead too. Well, Richie starts to leave but he looks up at the Paul Bunyan statue, only it's no longer Paul Bunyan. Now it's Pennywise the Clown. Well Pennywise starts taunting Richie and Richie does get away. He gets back to the sidewalk and turns back around and this time finds Buddy Holly as the statue, with his glasses taped just like Richie's had been. Well, a little kid who happens to be in the square starts sobbing uncontrollably and Richie's contacts start burning in his eyes. He gets away but pretty much has to rip his contacts out of his eyes.

5. What does Bill learn from the little boy he encounters? The little boy ends up reminding him of Georgie, only in the sense that Georgie died so close to home. The boy says that he knows a kid called Tommy who he says has "toys in the attic." He says that Tommy saw a shark in the Canal. He said he saw the fin moving through the waters but the boy said that nothing could live in that Canal. Bill, however, tells the boy to stay away from the Canal and the boy asks if that means Bill believes Tommy. Bill says he does and the boy says he does too and sometimes he thinks he has toys in the attic too.

6. What ghost does Bill encounter in Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes?He finds Silver in the window. He goes in to buy Silver and calls Mike to see if he can store Silver in his garage. Mike asks if that means Silver might be important to their mission and Bill says he thinks it is. So he wheels Silver out of the shop, noting that whoever last owned Silver didn't take very good care of it. The back tire is flat, the front tire is bald and the bike basket and chain are both rusty. And as Bill wheels Silver toward Mike's house, he also realizes he can't remember what happened to Silver or how he came to no longer be Silver's owner. He if he sold Silver, gave it away or even just lost it.

7. What does Mike just happen to have in his garage? What is strange about this? He just happens to have a bike tire repair kit. Bill asks if he has a bike and he says he doesn't. So Bill asks why he has it and Mike said he was at the mall a week or so ago and felt strongly compelled to buy it. So he did and, it turns out, it was because Bill would need it. Mike also happens to have a deck of Bicycle playing cards (for Silver's spokes) and clothespins. Bill asks if he just happened to have those too and Mike says it's something like that. And when he hands the playing cards to Bill, they end up flying everywhere and two cards land face up: both the Ace of Spades. When Bill picks them up, one has a red back and the other a blue.

8. What, do we learn, happened to Henry in 1958? What happens to him now?Henry murdered his father in 1958 and ended up in Juniper Hill which is a home for the criminally insane. He was transferred from another facility and has been at Juniper Hill ever since. But he hasn't just been there because of his father's murder. The police pinned all of the other murders on him too. They'd found books belonging to Victor Criss and Belch Huggins in his room as well as Patrick Hockstetter's belt and a pair of Veronica Grogan's underwear. The two latter had both been murdered and Victor and Belch were both still missing. Henry confessed to the murders of Victor and Belch because he's the one who had led them down into the tunnels where he'd watched both of them die. So he felt responsible for their murders. He'd actually won Patrick's belt off of him and he had no idea how Veronica's underwear had ended up in his room but he suspected he did. But he confessed to their murders too because why not. So the police hailed Henry as the killer finally caught and declared the whole matter over and done with. Well, now Henry has started hearing voices which he thinks are coming from the moon. Then he sees Victor Criss, still twelve, under his bed and Victor helps him escape from Juniper Hill. Because, as Pennywise's voice from the moon says, they need him to go back to Derry and kill them all.

  Section Five Reading Journal

Okay so. I honestly found the second chapter in this section the most interesting, mostly because that’s the chapter that actually felt like it advanced the story. The chapter where they each, as adults, go back and see Pennywise just felt super repetitive to me. Like why do we need to see them individually see Pennywise again. Haven’t we already seen that enough in this book?

I am honestly just ready for the two face offs with Pennywise (as kids and as adults) because this just feels like it’s drawing out the story way too much. I was honestly irritated even writing questions because they feel like they’re the exact same questions and answers from other sections.

This book literally does not need to be 1000 pages. It’s just repeating the same thing over and over. Yes, Pennywise plays on their fears. Yes, they all see Pennywise and he taunts them. WE GET IT. CAN YOU GET TO THE ACTUAL STORY, PLEASE?

I like this story, I really do. But I think I like it more because the movie (or the mini series I watched, I’m assuming Chapter 2 will do the same thing) cuts out all the repeats and just gives you the actual story parts.

Honestly, this book is just too long and the last two sections have bored me. I think this book just needs to be them when they’re kids (but without so much setup for each kid and them all meeting) and then way less of them as adults. Because right now it just feels really long and repetitive and I keep waiting for the actual story to start.

I am liking the sections when they’re kids way better than the adult sections. So I’m glad that the next section goes back to them as kids.

[helloharani]

Guess who got robbed?

If you guessed me, then pat yourself on the back because yeap!! Ya girl got robbed!!!

It’s been 2 days since the incident, so I figured I’d write everything down just for the sake of keeping this ‘diary’ alive.

So here’s what happened.

All I really wanted was for my friends and I to have an enjoyable time on our tourism trip to god forsaken Melaka. But I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the things happening outside my own little happy bubble.

After our visit to the Cheng Ho Museum, Mr. Dev allowed us to go about on our own, and Shub suggested we eat at the most popular laksa shop there. Most of our other college mates went to eat there too. I could tell that Victor was quite uncomfortable with the fact that we were eating there, it was cramped, and him being a foreigner didn’t help because he really didn’t know what food there was to offer. I should have listened when he said “i’m not feeling this place” but instead I just told him that it was going to be okay and the food was going to be good.

Whlle we ate, my phone was on the table so that I could access it easily to take candid pictures for memories, that I would later post here. But right before I went to go pay for the desserts, I put my phone in my bag in fear that I would drop it due to the cramped and crowded interior of the shop. My bag was put on the floor, in between me and Miki’s feet. But I guess we were too excited, trying to get Oppa and Victor to try the desserts because I was dumbfounded when Henry came up to me and said

“Inarah, is your bag with you?”

“umm... yeah,” I replied.

*looks down*

“shit.”

HAHAHAHA GUESS WHAT MOTHERFUCKERS my bag really wasn’t there. All that was left was my stupid hat that I bought for 8 bucks like half an hour before this stupid thing happened.

I literally thought it was a joke, and the lines “this is a joke, this is a joke” kept repeating itself in my head, even as I was running out of the shop and down the street while Henry and Chengmun shouted “WHITE NISSAN ALMERA VAL4226.”

So I ran and ran, and the stupid robbers really must have waited until I finished eating, because I really felt like I was going to die. Chengmun was running beside me, but when I began to tire out, I noticed Shub was running with us as well. I remember making eye contact with him, and then him nodding and running off faster than me. Yoong Yoong (Yen Bin) was running ahead with him too, and at this point I was already crying. Yet, amongst my tears and hasty cries of “someone stole my bag,” no one really stopped to help. It was just us against the world. 

We ran quite far down, and then I saw Yoong Yoong holding a plastic bag with my knapsack in it. A flood of relief swept through my body, but it left me again when Shub told me to check my bag and many things weren’t there. He then asked me if my phone was in there. I said no, because I was really convinced that I left my phone on the table back at the restaurant. Then, I saw it. The Taehyung photocard as well as my family photo that I kept at the back of my phone cover.... but no phone. “Shub, I think my phone was in there.” “Shit!” he screamed, and then he kicked the pole or the wall or something, I don’t really know what it was but Shub I’m so sorry you hurt your toe.

Here are the things they took:

1. My Samsung S8 2. My fast charger 3. My Ipod Classic 4. My Ipod cable 5. My makeup bag (filled with my makeup essentials and other important things like my fenty lipgloss, NARS clear gloss, etude house highlighter and lipstick, brow pencil, etc) 6. My earphones 7. Yan’s white bucket hat 8. My flower clips

Here are the things they didn’t take:

1. My student I/D 2. My MRT card 3. My tangle teezer (fuckin original mates) 4. My nailclipper pouch 5. My calculator (which is quite expensive lah, 50 bucks) 6. My stationary  7. My post-its 8. Plasters 9. Sanitary pads  10. My clip box

Later on in the day, I found out from Henry that two men took my bag. He’s not sure what race they are, but he’s quite convinced they’re Malay. I also found out from Yoong Yoong that they opened the car door and threw my bag out. They also said “sorry.” Other than that, Yoong Yoong also said that the driver was a girl, which explains why they took all my fucking makeup.

Anyway, back to the story.

Shub and Yoong Yoong ran after the car, while Chengmun and I tried to catch up. Eventually we all got separated, except for Chengmun and I. I’m glad she stayed with me, I might have passed out. We passed by multiple policemen, and even the police STATION but every one of them told me to go to the office and make a report. Me, still believing that there was hope that we could catch the thieves before they got any further, kept running on and on. In the end, none of the police really came to help me. The only man who tried to help me was one of the beca drivers, who asked for the details of the car and told us that he had notified all the other beca drivers to look out for the car. He and Chengmun communicated in Mandarin, and trust me, I had never felt more like a foreigner in my own homeland, than at that very moment. 

In the end, I called up Shub and we all met up at the police station. Mr. Dev was there as well. He told Chengmun to stay with us in the station, and the rest to disperse, so they did. While waiting for a very very long time, I called up Yan to tell him what happened. I really thought everyone left, until Minsuk came into the station to pass me his phone, because Bonda was calling. Shub and Victor came in too, to ask for my Samsung account. They were trying to track down my phone. And... they were all waiting outside. In a pondok. When they could have been enjoying the rest of their trip. At this point, I felt like utter shit, ruining other people’s trips and wasting precious time. Why were my friends the ones who were trying to catch the thief, while the police were right in front of me, doing nothing? The only things they were doing were talking very very rudely to each other and complaining about things such as the lights and toilets. The way they conversed with each other were very unprofessional, and I could tell that they weren’t taking my case seriously. They weren’t even taking other people’s cases seriously, judging by the way they were talking to other victims. They couldn’t even spare a simple “everything will be okay.” I only had my friends, and Mr. Dev. 

By the time it was time for me to make a report, it was already 2.30 and we were supposed to board the bus at 2.45. I angrily sat down and gave the evil eye to every single police in the room. Not only was the police women asking me bullshit questions that I had answered a gazillion times already, she started ordering food!! “nak sikit sambal belacan”, “kau beli minuman apa”, and all that bullshit crap. I got really mad, and so did Mr. Dev. I started tearing up the paper I was holding to hold back my anger, and she angrily said in Bahasa, “what are you doing, stop making a mess and behave yourself.” 

After the report had been made, Mr. Dev and I wanted to get our asses out of there. The police wanted to hold us back, but Mr. Dev told them to call him if anything, just so we could leave. Right after we stepped out of the station, I showed the middle finger to the door, and he started complaining about what just happened. He ranted while I cried, and he told me about the injustice the police caused him when his new car got stolen. “The exact same thing happened to me,” he said. 

I tried to keep my mood up while walking back to the bus. My group and I insulted Melaka (sorry), and insulted the whole trip (sorry), vowing to never go back again (sorry). Plus, I read the police report and it was bullshit! Real bullshit BM grammar, the format was shit (no space after fullstops?!). The whole thing was just real, plain, bullshit. 

Once we got in the bus, I was fine. Miki sat with me. Then, I started thinking of the things that I lost, and while I sarcastically and angrily ranted to Miki, I started crying. He kept telling me it was okay, and eventually both of us fell asleep for the whole trip back. According to Shub, it was torture, and he said we were lucky to have fallen asleep. I woke up to a bar of chocolate and a note from Shub that is now stuck on my wall. 

On the way back, I felt nothing less than terrible. I couldn’t stop crying, thinking about the financial issues and days I had ruined. It was one of those days that the world really wasn’t on my side. I knew because all I wanted was a hot shower, yet the water wasn’t hot enough. 

But guess what? My friends visited me. Yan, Kasih and Gyenice came over to visit me, and everything was okay for a moment. We went to the H to order some fat fries. 

In the end, I went to bed upset. Upset for my carelessness, upset about my loss, upset about the authorities, upset about people, upset about how shitty my life was. Basically upset. If it weren’t for my friends who were there for me throughout the day, I don’t know how I would have survived. 

In conclusion, Melaka can go to hell, the police can go to hell, bad people can go to hell. I’m sorry, but at this point I just really want everything to go to hell. But in the end, I’ll probably be the only one going to hell. Haha. 

27th November 2017

[theconservativebrief]

Subway — home of the totally serviceable sandwich — announced on Monday that they were killing the $5 footlong promotion. Kind of.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you will never again pay $5 for a sandwich approximately one-sixth of the height of the average human man. (Technically, the average human man is a little shorter than that — then again, the footlong sandwiches have occasionally been known to be a little short, too). But it does mean that as of this month, it’ll be up to individual franchisees whether or not to run the deal, Subway CEO Trevor Haynes told USA Today in an “exclusive interview.”

Probably, we will all survive. Still, the end of the deal serves as a parable about a changing fast food landscape, requiring classic chains not only to compete with newer, cooler brands, but also to somehow provide consumers with the exact same menu (and prices) they’ve come to expect. It also illustrates the sometimes-fraught relationship between a corporate chain and the people who actually own and operate its franchises.

The $5 footlong was a product of its time.

In 2004, Stuart Frankel, who owned a pair of Miami Subway stores, concocted a plan to offer every footlong sub for $5 on weekends — a dollar or so off the usual price — because business was flagging, and also because he liked round numbers. In March 2008, the chain launched the deal across the country.

“There are only a few times when a chain has been able to scramble up the whole industry, and this is one of them,” Jeffrey T. Davis, president of restaurant consultancy Sandelman and Associates, told BusinessWeek in 2009. It was the poster sandwich for the recession: It was cheap. It was all-American. It was big enough that you could share it “with a co-worker or a friend.” It was seen as relatively healthy, which is mostly to say: It was not fried.

And it was really, really profitable. The chain extended the deal from four weeks to seven weeks. After that, they narrowed the scope — only eight sandwiches would be eligible — but kept the promotion, and soon there were copycats: $5 KFC combos and $5 meals at Boston Market. “Five dollars is the magic number,” a restaurant consultant said at the time.

But in more recent years, Subway has been struggling. There was the lawsuit about the too-short footlong sandwiches (2013, dismissed in 2017). There was the whole Jared Fogle fiasco: The extremely famous company spokesperson got arrested for possession of child porn (2015).

America’s tastes have changed, too. “While Subway was once the poster child for ‘health fast food,’ consumers have become more aware of the nutritional content of lunch meats and white breads,” said Rachel Hyland, a restaurant industry analyst at IBISWorld.

Meanwhile, competition has only increased.

“There are too many restaurants out there,” said Victor Fernandez, VP of Insights at TDn2K, a customer data company tracking the restaurant industry. “We’re growing chain restaurants at a faster rate than population growth in the country.” We have so many chain restaurants we can’t even produce enough people to eat at them all.

And the drop in sales only puts more pressure on franchisees. “The national promotional focus over the past five years … has decimated [us] and left many franchisees unprofitable and even insolvent,” petitioners complained in a letter to Subway late last year, protesting the revival of the deal. (At the time, Subway told the New York Post most franchisees supported the promo.)

One Northern California franchise owner broke his costs down for the Washington Post. Two dollars for ingredients. Also: labor, utilities, royalties (franchisees give the corporate office a 12 percent cut of weekly sales), credit card fees, and rent. In total, a $5 footlong costs him “well over $4 to produce.”

”The numbers don’t work for us,” he told the Post. “Ten years ago, they might have worked. But now they don’t, in my opinion.”

It seems headquarters has come around. “If you look at California, there’s a very different cost of business than in Arkansas,” Haynes told USA Today.

For budget-oriented cold-cut fans, the end of the $5 footlong is but one more small disappointment of 2018. For many of the chain’s franchisees, who run and finance their own stores, though, the news comes as a relief. When Subway announced they’d be bringing back the $5 footlong for two months this past winter — this time as a menu of five $4.99 footlongs — more than 400 franchisees signed a petition protesting the return of the deal.

This isn’t the first time Subway has ditched the $5 footlong. In 2016, they increased the price of the deal to $6 — not a drastic increase, but enough to have “substantial ramifications,” Hyland said, with many customers taking to social media and other outlets to protest the price increase. In 2018, the price was back down, but it wasn’t enough to lure consumers back into stores.

Despite the drop in profits — revenue was down 1.7 percent in 2016 alone — it’s not like no one’s eating at Subway anymore. In April, the chain tied with Panera for sandwich shop brand of the year, according to the Harris Poll’s 2018 EquiTrend Study. But it’s tough out there for a sandwich shop. The growth of newer fast casual concepts — your salad stores, your burrito bowl outlets — reflects changing priorities. “Individuals are placing higher value on quality of ingredients and general aesthetic over price,” Hyland said.

Fernandez, at TDn2K, has a slightly different read: It isn’t that people don’t care about value anymore, he says. (Right now, for example, Wendy’s is offering a free cheeseburger when you order anything else through the app — people love deals!) The problem is that everybody has a deal. “Value is a given,” he says. Now, it’s about drinks and service and ambiance.

When the footlong deal first launched, a store might run periodic promotions to “bump up sales or traffic,” Fernandez said. In the current landscape, though, you have to have promotions to just stop yourself from losing traffic. But that only translates to an increase in sales if people coming in for the $5 footlong are buying other stuff, too.

Without knowing what percentage of Subway’s current sales are from the footlong promotion, it’s hard to say that’s exactly what’s happening at Subway. But — given that Subway is down 25 percent since 2012, closing 355 stores in 2016 and an estimated 900 more a year later — it’s safe to speculate that perhaps that this winter’s revival of the $5(ish) footlongs was not quite the boon to performance the chain may have hoped.

Here’s the other thing: Subway has been running this promotion, in some form, on and off, for the last decade. And while they’ve played with the details, it has, for the most part, stayed pretty much the same. We like that. Not enough to buy it, but to find its continued existence in the world comforting. Five bucks, a foot of meat-stuffed dough. But costs have gone up. Labor costs have gone up. Health standards have changed. Five dollars in 2008 isn’t the same as $5 in 2018.

It’s a better deal now that it ever was. It is, perhaps, too good for this world.

Want more stories from The Goods by Vox? Sign up for our newsletter here.

Original Source -> Why Subway’s $5 footlong had to die

via The Conservative Brief

[ultrasfcb-blog]

Premier League predictions: Lawro v actors Idris Elba & Aml Ameen

Premier League predictions: Lawro v actors Idris Elba & Aml Ameen

Premier League predictions: Lawro v actors Idris Elba & Aml Ameen

Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United will attempt to get back on track after defeat by Brighton, but have a tough task at home to Tottenham, who have won two from two so far, on Monday evening.

BBC Sport football expert Mark Lawrenson says it is exactly the sort of game the Portuguese will relish.

“He may be under pressure from some fans to play a bolder, more adventurous style, but that is just not in Jose’s DNA. He is never going to change that,” he said.

“He is fully justified in some ways. In these big games his teams more often than not get a really positive result.”

Lawro is making predictions for all 380 top-flight matches this season, against a variety of guests.

Yardie, directed by Elba (left) and starring Ameen (right), is based on a novel of the same name written by Jamaican-born author Victor Headley

This week’s guests are actors Idris Elba and Aml Ameen, who worked together on Elba’s directorial debut film Yardie.

Arsenal fan Elba says that Match of the Day pundit Ian Wright is his favourite former Gunner.

“He was just a class player, a beautiful guy, a lovely personality – he was one of the first players to make me realise that footballers were human,” the Luther actor told BBC Sport.

Ameen, who watched England’s games in a pub in Santa Monica near where he lives, says that this summer’s World Cup sparked a deeper appreciation of the game in him.

Both Elba and Ameen made predictions but, as the bigger football fan, it is Elba’s guesses that go up against Lawro’s.

Premier League predictions – week 3 Result Lawro Idris SATURDAY Wolves v Man City x-x 0-3 1-2 Arsenal v West Ham x-x 2-0 6-0 Bournemouth v Everton x-x 2-1 1-0 Huddersfield v Cardiff x-x 1-1 1-2 Southampton v Leicester x-x 2-1 0-1 Liverpool v Brighton x-x 3-0 3-2 SUNDAY Watford v Crystal Palace x-x 1-0 2-3 Fulham v Burnley x-x 1-1 2-0 Newcastle v Chelsea x-x 1-1 0-2 MONDAY Man Utd v Tottenham x-x 2-1 0-2

A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

LAWRO’S PREDICTIONS

All kick-offs 15:00 BST unless stated.

SATURDAY

Wolves v Man City (12:30 BST)

It is an early diagnosis, but so far this season Wolves look really good going forward and less secure at the back.

They created lots of chances in their defeat by Leicester without scoring. They are a footballing team who are a little bit open. They will have to tighten up a bit.

Wolves need to be more clinical – Nuno

But against Manchester City – who have looked devastating in their first two games – most of the rest of the league is really up against it.

I am going for a comprehensive City win but it is not games like this that are going to decide whether Wolves’ season is a success. These fixtures are part of the learning process.

There is not too much to be concerned about so far.

Lawro’s prediction: 0-3

Idris’ prediction: 1-2

Aml’s prediction: 1-4

Arsenal v West Ham

I am almost thinking that for this season – as new manager Unai Emery gets his feet under the table and imposes his style – Arsenal should not put pressure on themselves to finish in the top four.

They need to develop and, after more than 20 years with the same manager, it is always going to be difficult.

Arsenal need more stability and balance – Emery

They are trying to play out a little more from the back and all it needs is for one player not to be comfortable doing so for it to be a problem.

If Emery wants to play that way he will have to suffer one or two defeats along the way, but I think ultimately he will get there, partly because he will get the personnel in who can fit that style.

West Ham seriously worry me. They were hopeless defensively in defeat by both Liverpool and Bournemouth. You can sign as many players as you want, but ultimately if you can’t defend in the Premier League, you are going to be in trouble.

Lawro’s prediction: 2-0

Idris’ prediction: 6-0 “That’s an easy one.”

Aml’s prediction: 6-0

Bournemouth v Everton

Bournemouth have always been a footballing team and Everton, under Marco Silva, will play more that way as well.

I reckon that the Cherries, coming off the back of wins over Cardiff and West Ham, can nick this one though.

If they do, and move to three top-flight wins from three, that will be up there with their best ever starts to a season.

Lawro’s prediction: 2-1

Idris’ prediction: 1-0

Aml’s prediction: 1-0

Huddersfield v Cardiff

Huddersfield did extremely well to stay up last season, but this season will be all about dodging that bullet for a second time.

Terriers ‘hoped for more, but didn’t expect more’ against Man City

This has got relegation ramifications written all over it. Two years ago this was a Championships game and both teams are going to be in for a massive struggle to stay out of the second tier.

A draw won’t suit either really because both will want to take points at the expense of a rival, but that is how I see it going.

Lawro’s prediction: 1-1

Idris’ prediction: 1-2

Aml’s prediction: 1-2

Southampton v Leicester City

After his red card in the win over Wolves there is no Jamie Vardy for Leicester. Is there anyone who Claude Puel can bring in, who gives them the same goals?

Saints couldn’t get any momentum going – Hughes

With Islam Slimani, Leonardo Ulloa and Ahmed Musa all departing this summer, the Foxes are short in that area.

Up against his old side, I think Puel could come unstuck.

Lawro’s prediction: 2-1

Idris’ prediction: 0-1

Aml’s prediction: 0-1

Liverpool v Brighton (17:30 BST)

Brighton are going to be all right this season. They have a great ability to put bad displays behind them.

They turned in a bit of non-performance against Watford on the opening day, failing to manage a shot on target. They were able to put that behind them though and tear into Manchester United at the Amex in a superb winning performance.

But Liverpool are flying. Not just in terms of the results that they have got, but also in terms of their pace of play. It is very difficult to cope with.

Lawro’s prediction: 3-0

Idris’ prediction: 3-2

Aml’s prediction: 1-2

SUNDAY

Watford v Crystal Palace (13:30 BST)

Watford have started very well with wins over Brighton and Burnley and have the makings of a very promising partnership up front.

Andre Gray and, especially, Troy Deeney look sharp in attack and both managed to get on the scoresheet at Turf Moor.

Gracia eager to ‘enjoy moment’ after rare away win

Palace were on the wrong end of 2-0 defeat last time out but I thought they were very competitive against Liverpool.

Lawro’s prediction: 1-0

Idris’ prediction: 2-3

Aml’s prediction: 2-1

Fulham v Burnley (16:00 BST)

Burnley created lots of chances against Southampton on the opening day and should have won that game.

The Clarets are on a Thursday-Sunday schedule because of their Europa League campaign and have to travel back from Athens at the end of this week after their play-off first leg against Olympiakos.

Fulham couldn’t match Spurs’ power – Jokanovic

Fulham are another open, engaging team but, having scored just once in their opening two games, I am not sure they have that cutting edge up front.

They also will have to cope with the physicality that Burnley test you with.

Lawro’s prediction: 1-1

Idris’ prediction: 2-0

Aml’s prediction: 2-1

Newcastle v Chelsea (16:00 BST)

Newcastle have been unlucky this season. They got nothing from a good performance against Tottenham and should have beaten Cardiff when down to 10 men, with Kenedy missing an injury-time penalty.

Rafael Benitez is very successful at setting his team up to be difficult to beat at home to the Premier League superpowers.

Chelsea look more bright and adventurous than they did under Antonio Conte, but they do have some defensive blips.

Maurizio Sarri has them playing a pressing game and when that breaks down is when the opposition have the space to create chances.

Lawro’s prediction: 1-1

Idris’ prediction: 0-2

Aml’s prediction: 0-2

MONDAY

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur (20:00 BST)

Tottenham do not have a very good record at Old Trafford – they have lost their past five trips to Old Trafford, scoring just once.

Manchester United will be hurting after being rolled over by Brighton. There seem to be some tensions there and there will be people with points to prove.

Mourinho will be very intent on, once again, stopping Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen in the Spurs attack.

Lawro’s prediction: 2-1

Idris’ prediction: 0-2

Aml’s prediction: 1-2

Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport’s Mike Henson.

How did Lawro do last week?

On the second weekend of the new Premier League season, Lawro got six correct results, none with a perfect score however, from 10 matches, for a total of 60 points.

He edged out singer Tom Grennan, who got four correct results, and no perfect scores, for a total of 40 points.

Total scores after week 1 Lawro 140 Guests 170

+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO’S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION POS TEAM P W D L PTS +/- =1 Chelsea 2 2 0 0 6 +2 =1 Man City 2 2 0 0 6 -1 =1 Man Utd 2 2 0 0 6 +6 =4 Liverpool 2 1 1 0 4 -2 =4 Tottenham 2 1 1 0 4 0 =6 Burnley 2 1 0 1 3 +9 =6 Everton 2 1 0 1 3 0 =6 Fulham 2 1 0 1 3 +10 =6 Leicester 2 1 0 1 3 -1 =6 Southampton 2 1 0 1 3 +3 =6 Watford 2 1 0 1 3 -7 =6 Wolves 2 1 0 1 3 +2 =13 Bournemouth 2 0 2 0 2 -7 =13 Cardiff 2 0 2 0 2 +2 =13 Newcastle 2 0 2 0 2 -3 =16 Crystal Palace 2 0 1 1 1 -6 =16 West Ham 2 0 1 1 1 +2 =18 Arsenal 2 0 0 2 0 -1 =18 Brighton 2 0 0 2 0 -8 =18 Huddersfield 2 0 0 2 0 0

GUEST LEADERBOARD 2018-19

SCORE GUEST LEADERBOARD 120 Joe Thomas 80 Lawro 40 Tom Grennan

BBC Sport – Football ultras_FC_Barcelona

ultras FC Barcelona - https://ultrasfcb.com/football/10914/

#Barcelona

[jackdoakstx]

How do you top “Hamilton”? Author Ron Chernow is about to find out

NEW YORK — Ron Chernow’s timing is exquisite, even if it took six years and 25,000 index cards to get to this moment.

As Americans debate the continued reverence for Confederate general Robert E. Lee in the wake of the Charlottesville, Virginia, protests, the biographer of Hamilton — the “Hamilton” who inspired the theatrical juggernaut — delivers his latest brick of a book, “Grant” (publishing Oct. 10), to help rescue the Union commander and 18th president from the ash heap of history.

Ulysses S. Grant, you may recall, won the Civil War. He was the military architect who triumphed on multiple battlefields and vanquished Lee in Virginia after six other Union generals failed.

Yet after the South’s defeat, “Lee was puffed up to almost godlike proportions, not only as a great general, but as a perfect Christian gentleman, this noble and exemplary figure and an aristocratic example,” says Chernow, 68, sitting in his sun-splashed kitchen on the top floor of the 19th-century Brooklyn Heights brownstone where he rents two stories. “The glorification of Lee and the denigration of Grant are two sides of the same coin. We’ve created our own mythology of what happened.”

“Grant” is Chernow’s second successive book about an American general who became president, following the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Washington” (2010). It is also his first volume since Chernow became a household name — a claim few scholarly biographers can make.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s little play helped sell more than a million copies of “Alexander Hamilton,” making Chernow the rare historian of 900-page, footnote-saturated tomes who can claim that “teenagers all over the country want to take selfies with me.”

Now, he’s moved from the Founding Fathers on the one- and 10-dollar bills to the Civil War victor on the 50, a man adored by Walt Whitman and Mark Twain.

Yet, “I’m giving you every reason not to buy this book,” he admits, gesturing at the three-pound door stopper by his elbow. “It’s $40. Its more than 1,000 pages.”

It’s 1,074 pages, to be exact. But he’s grateful. “To my loyal readers, who have soldiered on through my lengthy sagas,” the dedication reads.

“This is a story unlike any that I have written, maybe one more people can identify with,” says Chernow, who has also written biographies of John D. Rockefeller (the masterful “Titan”), J.P. Morgan and the Warburg banking family. Those previous subjects, he says, “were built for success. They had a focus, a drive, an intelligence, and an ambition that when you begin the story, you know they’re going to succeed.”

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Grant “goes through more failure and hardship and degradation I think than anyone else in American history who becomes president.” He notes, “I was so moved by the pathos of the story, of a bright, hard-working and fundamentally decent man who again and again is defeated by circumstance and seems destined to a life of complete obscurity.” Grant “becomes a hero despite himself.”

Grant’s grand ambition was to be a math professor — an assistant math professor — at the U.S. Military Academy, from which he graduated in the middle of his class. He was plagued by money woes until the end, fleeced by the Bernie Madoff of his day. Grant’s wife, Julia, the daughter of an unrepentant slave owner, had a pronounced taste for status.

“The psychological portrait is at the center of all these books,” says Chernow, a New York native – his schmear of an accent is a giveaway – with English degrees from Yale and Cambridge, who began his career as a freelance journalist. Most of his subjects had “an impossible parent.” Grant was doubly cursed, with an impossible father and father-in-law, both of whom lived well into old age.

“This man who had been a clerk in a leather goods store in Galena, Illinois, a man who was almost 40 years old,” Chernow says, a man no one marked for success. “And four years later, he’s a general with a million soldiers under his command. Is there a more startling transformation in American history?”

Grant is remembered as a heavy drinker, a president riddled by scandal, scoundrels and nepotism, all of which Chernow addresses.

“It was always Grant, the drunkard. I felt they got it wrong,” he says, describing the general as opposing two enemies during the war, the Confederacy and liquor. “He was Grant, the alcoholic.”

As recently as 1996, a poll of historians ranked Grant as an abject failure, scraping the bottom of the presidential barrel along with Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon and James Buchanan. That assessment has begun to change.

Grant was the two-term president of the Reconstruction, an era of extraordinary if fleeting gains for African-Americans. It was also a time of relentless violence fomented by the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, which Chernow deems “the largest outbreak of domestic terrorism in American history, where thousands of people were killed.” The Department of Justice, established during Grant’s presidency, brought 3,000 indictments against Klan members and other agitators.

For many American students, the war stops cold with Lee’s surrender at Appomattox and Lincoln’s assassination days later, on April 15, 1865. “We historians, in the wake of the controversy over Confederate monuments, we have to use this as a teachable moment,” Chernow says. “Reconstruction is the great black hole that remains to be filled. Even experts on the Civil War don’t really understand its full significance.”

Chernow’s wife, Valerie, a community college professor, died in 2006. He still wears his wedding ring. He’s “a pretty active cultural consumer,” he says, of all things that New York has to offer: the Metropolitan Opera, film, theater, art, the Yankees.

Tidy, too. His immaculate study displays the thousands of 4-by-6-inch index cards, amounting to 22 boxes, that he compiled in researching Grant. The task did not daunt him. “There were 900 books on Washington when I began writing on him,” he says.

“He’s a very happy writer,” says his friend, the financial writer Roger Lowenstein. “Ron often uses the phrase ‘Never underestimate the laziness of your predecessors.’ ”

Nine years ago, Miranda prophetically purchased Chernow’s “Hamilton” before going on vacation and envisioned — what else? — a hip-hop musical about the nation’s first treasury secretary. He enlisted the biographer as the show’s historical adviser. Chernow asked to experience the musical fully, to be as involved as he could be, to attend one performance seated in the orchestra pit and to sit in on the album recording. He estimates that he has seen the show “dozens of times,” the young cast becoming a second family. (Chernow has no children.)

He spent his days with Grant, his nights with Hamilton. He’s listed in the show’s playbill and, though he demurs on the subject — “I don’t go there” — he has a reported 1 percent royalty of the show’s adjusted grosses, which amounted to an estimated $900,000 in 2016. This year, with three additional productions, his return is substantially larger.

After the musical’s first week, Chernow called his longtime editor Ann Godoff and said, “Print up a lot of copies of ‘Hamilton.’ Everyone’s coming up to the theater and saying, ‘Mr. Chernow, I loved the show. I was embarrassed to realize how little I knew about the history of the country.’ ”

Godoff, Penguin Press president and editor in chief, says, “I remember thinking, ‘Ha ha ha.’ Then we went to the Public Theater, and there were a lot of people crying, and I was crying for my author. What this meant, watching his whole career and life, was knowing that I was experiencing this transformative experience.”

“Grant,” Godoff says, is an entirely different biography. “You feel his vulnerability, as well as his successes. He feels a figure much more capable of our empathy.”

Chernow hopes that with his book, people will reassess the hero of the Civil War and his presidency.

“There have been other good books on Grant, but in terms of dramatizing and humanizing this character, and making the character vividly come alive on the page, I feel that’s my comparative advantage,” Chernow says.

He only has to point to “Hamilton” to prove his point.

from News And Updates http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/06/how-do-you-top-hamilton-author-ron-chernow-is-about-to-find-out/

[laurendzim]

How do you top “Hamilton”? Author Ron Chernow is about to find out

NEW YORK — Ron Chernow’s timing is exquisite, even if it took six years and 25,000 index cards to get to this moment.

As Americans debate the continued reverence for Confederate general Robert E. Lee in the wake of the Charlottesville, Virginia, protests, the biographer of Hamilton — the “Hamilton” who inspired the theatrical juggernaut — delivers his latest brick of a book, “Grant” (publishing Oct. 10), to help rescue the Union commander and 18th president from the ash heap of history.

Ulysses S. Grant, you may recall, won the Civil War. He was the military architect who triumphed on multiple battlefields and vanquished Lee in Virginia after six other Union generals failed.

Yet after the South’s defeat, “Lee was puffed up to almost godlike proportions, not only as a great general, but as a perfect Christian gentleman, this noble and exemplary figure and an aristocratic example,” says Chernow, 68, sitting in his sun-splashed kitchen on the top floor of the 19th-century Brooklyn Heights brownstone where he rents two stories. “The glorification of Lee and the denigration of Grant are two sides of the same coin. We’ve created our own mythology of what happened.”

“Grant” is Chernow’s second successive book about an American general who became president, following the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Washington” (2010). It is also his first volume since Chernow became a household name — a claim few scholarly biographers can make.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s little play helped sell more than a million copies of “Alexander Hamilton,” making Chernow the rare historian of 900-page, footnote-saturated tomes who can claim that “teenagers all over the country want to take selfies with me.”

Now, he’s moved from the Founding Fathers on the one- and 10-dollar bills to the Civil War victor on the 50, a man adored by Walt Whitman and Mark Twain.

Yet, “I’m giving you every reason not to buy this book,” he admits, gesturing at the three-pound door stopper by his elbow. “It’s $40. Its more than 1,000 pages.”

It’s 1,074 pages, to be exact. But he’s grateful. “To my loyal readers, who have soldiered on through my lengthy sagas,” the dedication reads.

“This is a story unlike any that I have written, maybe one more people can identify with,” says Chernow, who has also written biographies of John D. Rockefeller (the masterful “Titan”), J.P. Morgan and the Warburg banking family. Those previous subjects, he says, “were built for success. They had a focus, a drive, an intelligence, and an ambition that when you begin the story, you know they’re going to succeed.”

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Grant “goes through more failure and hardship and degradation I think than anyone else in American history who becomes president.” He notes, “I was so moved by the pathos of the story, of a bright, hard-working and fundamentally decent man who again and again is defeated by circumstance and seems destined to a life of complete obscurity.” Grant “becomes a hero despite himself.”

Grant’s grand ambition was to be a math professor — an assistant math professor — at the U.S. Military Academy, from which he graduated in the middle of his class. He was plagued by money woes until the end, fleeced by the Bernie Madoff of his day. Grant’s wife, Julia, the daughter of an unrepentant slave owner, had a pronounced taste for status.

“The psychological portrait is at the center of all these books,” says Chernow, a New York native – his schmear of an accent is a giveaway – with English degrees from Yale and Cambridge, who began his career as a freelance journalist. Most of his subjects had “an impossible parent.” Grant was doubly cursed, with an impossible father and father-in-law, both of whom lived well into old age.

“This man who had been a clerk in a leather goods store in Galena, Illinois, a man who was almost 40 years old,” Chernow says, a man no one marked for success. “And four years later, he’s a general with a million soldiers under his command. Is there a more startling transformation in American history?”

Grant is remembered as a heavy drinker, a president riddled by scandal, scoundrels and nepotism, all of which Chernow addresses.

“It was always Grant, the drunkard. I felt they got it wrong,” he says, describing the general as opposing two enemies during the war, the Confederacy and liquor. “He was Grant, the alcoholic.”

As recently as 1996, a poll of historians ranked Grant as an abject failure, scraping the bottom of the presidential barrel along with Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon and James Buchanan. That assessment has begun to change.

Grant was the two-term president of the Reconstruction, an era of extraordinary if fleeting gains for African-Americans. It was also a time of relentless violence fomented by the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, which Chernow deems “the largest outbreak of domestic terrorism in American history, where thousands of people were killed.” The Department of Justice, established during Grant’s presidency, brought 3,000 indictments against Klan members and other agitators.

For many American students, the war stops cold with Lee’s surrender at Appomattox and Lincoln’s assassination days later, on April 15, 1865. “We historians, in the wake of the controversy over Confederate monuments, we have to use this as a teachable moment,” Chernow says. “Reconstruction is the great black hole that remains to be filled. Even experts on the Civil War don’t really understand its full significance.”

Chernow’s wife, Valerie, a community college professor, died in 2006. He still wears his wedding ring. He’s “a pretty active cultural consumer,” he says, of all things that New York has to offer: the Metropolitan Opera, film, theater, art, the Yankees.

Tidy, too. His immaculate study displays the thousands of 4-by-6-inch index cards, amounting to 22 boxes, that he compiled in researching Grant. The task did not daunt him. “There were 900 books on Washington when I began writing on him,” he says.

“He’s a very happy writer,” says his friend, the financial writer Roger Lowenstein. “Ron often uses the phrase ‘Never underestimate the laziness of your predecessors.’ ”

Nine years ago, Miranda prophetically purchased Chernow’s “Hamilton” before going on vacation and envisioned — what else? — a hip-hop musical about the nation’s first treasury secretary. He enlisted the biographer as the show’s historical adviser. Chernow asked to experience the musical fully, to be as involved as he could be, to attend one performance seated in the orchestra pit and to sit in on the album recording. He estimates that he has seen the show “dozens of times,” the young cast becoming a second family. (Chernow has no children.)

He spent his days with Grant, his nights with Hamilton. He’s listed in the show’s playbill and, though he demurs on the subject — “I don’t go there” — he has a reported 1 percent royalty of the show’s adjusted grosses, which amounted to an estimated $900,000 in 2016. This year, with three additional productions, his return is substantially larger.

After the musical’s first week, Chernow called his longtime editor Ann Godoff and said, “Print up a lot of copies of ‘Hamilton.’ Everyone’s coming up to the theater and saying, ‘Mr. Chernow, I loved the show. I was embarrassed to realize how little I knew about the history of the country.’ ”

Godoff, Penguin Press president and editor in chief, says, “I remember thinking, ‘Ha ha ha.’ Then we went to the Public Theater, and there were a lot of people crying, and I was crying for my author. What this meant, watching his whole career and life, was knowing that I was experiencing this transformative experience.”

“Grant,” Godoff says, is an entirely different biography. “You feel his vulnerability, as well as his successes. He feels a figure much more capable of our empathy.”

Chernow hopes that with his book, people will reassess the hero of the Civil War and his presidency.

“There have been other good books on Grant, but in terms of dramatizing and humanizing this character, and making the character vividly come alive on the page, I feel that’s my comparative advantage,” Chernow says.

He only has to point to “Hamilton” to prove his point.

from News And Updates http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/06/how-do-you-top-hamilton-author-ron-chernow-is-about-to-find-out/

[janetoconnerfl]

How do you top “Hamilton”? Author Ron Chernow is about to find out

NEW YORK — Ron Chernow’s timing is exquisite, even if it took six years and 25,000 index cards to get to this moment.

As Americans debate the continued reverence for Confederate general Robert E. Lee in the wake of the Charlottesville, Virginia, protests, the biographer of Hamilton — the “Hamilton” who inspired the theatrical juggernaut — delivers his latest brick of a book, “Grant” (publishing Oct. 10), to help rescue the Union commander and 18th president from the ash heap of history.

Ulysses S. Grant, you may recall, won the Civil War. He was the military architect who triumphed on multiple battlefields and vanquished Lee in Virginia after six other Union generals failed.

Yet after the South’s defeat, “Lee was puffed up to almost godlike proportions, not only as a great general, but as a perfect Christian gentleman, this noble and exemplary figure and an aristocratic example,” says Chernow, 68, sitting in his sun-splashed kitchen on the top floor of the 19th-century Brooklyn Heights brownstone where he rents two stories. “The glorification of Lee and the denigration of Grant are two sides of the same coin. We’ve created our own mythology of what happened.”

“Grant” is Chernow’s second successive book about an American general who became president, following the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Washington” (2010). It is also his first volume since Chernow became a household name — a claim few scholarly biographers can make.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s little play helped sell more than a million copies of “Alexander Hamilton,” making Chernow the rare historian of 900-page, footnote-saturated tomes who can claim that “teenagers all over the country want to take selfies with me.”

Now, he’s moved from the Founding Fathers on the one- and 10-dollar bills to the Civil War victor on the 50, a man adored by Walt Whitman and Mark Twain.

Yet, “I’m giving you every reason not to buy this book,” he admits, gesturing at the three-pound door stopper by his elbow. “It’s $40. Its more than 1,000 pages.”

It’s 1,074 pages, to be exact. But he’s grateful. “To my loyal readers, who have soldiered on through my lengthy sagas,” the dedication reads.

“This is a story unlike any that I have written, maybe one more people can identify with,” says Chernow, who has also written biographies of John D. Rockefeller (the masterful “Titan”), J.P. Morgan and the Warburg banking family. Those previous subjects, he says, “were built for success. They had a focus, a drive, an intelligence, and an ambition that when you begin the story, you know they’re going to succeed.”

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Grant “goes through more failure and hardship and degradation I think than anyone else in American history who becomes president.” He notes, “I was so moved by the pathos of the story, of a bright, hard-working and fundamentally decent man who again and again is defeated by circumstance and seems destined to a life of complete obscurity.” Grant “becomes a hero despite himself.”

Grant’s grand ambition was to be a math professor — an assistant math professor — at the U.S. Military Academy, from which he graduated in the middle of his class. He was plagued by money woes until the end, fleeced by the Bernie Madoff of his day. Grant’s wife, Julia, the daughter of an unrepentant slave owner, had a pronounced taste for status.

“The psychological portrait is at the center of all these books,” says Chernow, a New York native – his schmear of an accent is a giveaway – with English degrees from Yale and Cambridge, who began his career as a freelance journalist. Most of his subjects had “an impossible parent.” Grant was doubly cursed, with an impossible father and father-in-law, both of whom lived well into old age.

“This man who had been a clerk in a leather goods store in Galena, Illinois, a man who was almost 40 years old,” Chernow says, a man no one marked for success. “And four years later, he’s a general with a million soldiers under his command. Is there a more startling transformation in American history?”

Grant is remembered as a heavy drinker, a president riddled by scandal, scoundrels and nepotism, all of which Chernow addresses.

“It was always Grant, the drunkard. I felt they got it wrong,” he says, describing the general as opposing two enemies during the war, the Confederacy and liquor. “He was Grant, the alcoholic.”

As recently as 1996, a poll of historians ranked Grant as an abject failure, scraping the bottom of the presidential barrel along with Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon and James Buchanan. That assessment has begun to change.

Grant was the two-term president of the Reconstruction, an era of extraordinary if fleeting gains for African-Americans. It was also a time of relentless violence fomented by the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, which Chernow deems “the largest outbreak of domestic terrorism in American history, where thousands of people were killed.” The Department of Justice, established during Grant’s presidency, brought 3,000 indictments against Klan members and other agitators.

For many American students, the war stops cold with Lee’s surrender at Appomattox and Lincoln’s assassination days later, on April 15, 1865. “We historians, in the wake of the controversy over Confederate monuments, we have to use this as a teachable moment,” Chernow says. “Reconstruction is the great black hole that remains to be filled. Even experts on the Civil War don’t really understand its full significance.”

Chernow’s wife, Valerie, a community college professor, died in 2006. He still wears his wedding ring. He’s “a pretty active cultural consumer,” he says, of all things that New York has to offer: the Metropolitan Opera, film, theater, art, the Yankees.

Tidy, too. His immaculate study displays the thousands of 4-by-6-inch index cards, amounting to 22 boxes, that he compiled in researching Grant. The task did not daunt him. “There were 900 books on Washington when I began writing on him,” he says.

“He’s a very happy writer,” says his friend, the financial writer Roger Lowenstein. “Ron often uses the phrase ‘Never underestimate the laziness of your predecessors.’ ”

Nine years ago, Miranda prophetically purchased Chernow’s “Hamilton” before going on vacation and envisioned — what else? — a hip-hop musical about the nation’s first treasury secretary. He enlisted the biographer as the show’s historical adviser. Chernow asked to experience the musical fully, to be as involved as he could be, to attend one performance seated in the orchestra pit and to sit in on the album recording. He estimates that he has seen the show “dozens of times,” the young cast becoming a second family. (Chernow has no children.)

He spent his days with Grant, his nights with Hamilton. He’s listed in the show’s playbill and, though he demurs on the subject — “I don’t go there” — he has a reported 1 percent royalty of the show’s adjusted grosses, which amounted to an estimated $900,000 in 2016. This year, with three additional productions, his return is substantially larger.

After the musical’s first week, Chernow called his longtime editor Ann Godoff and said, “Print up a lot of copies of ‘Hamilton.’ Everyone’s coming up to the theater and saying, ‘Mr. Chernow, I loved the show. I was embarrassed to realize how little I knew about the history of the country.’ ”

Godoff, Penguin Press president and editor in chief, says, “I remember thinking, ‘Ha ha ha.’ Then we went to the Public Theater, and there were a lot of people crying, and I was crying for my author. What this meant, watching his whole career and life, was knowing that I was experiencing this transformative experience.”

“Grant,” Godoff says, is an entirely different biography. “You feel his vulnerability, as well as his successes. He feels a figure much more capable of our empathy.”

Chernow hopes that with his book, people will reassess the hero of the Civil War and his presidency.

“There have been other good books on Grant, but in terms of dramatizing and humanizing this character, and making the character vividly come alive on the page, I feel that’s my comparative advantage,” Chernow says.

He only has to point to “Hamilton” to prove his point.

from Latest Information http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/06/how-do-you-top-hamilton-author-ron-chernow-is-about-to-find-out/

[jimblanceusa]

How do you top “Hamilton”? Author Ron Chernow is about to find out

NEW YORK — Ron Chernow’s timing is exquisite, even if it took six years and 25,000 index cards to get to this moment.

As Americans debate the continued reverence for Confederate general Robert E. Lee in the wake of the Charlottesville, Virginia, protests, the biographer of Hamilton — the “Hamilton” who inspired the theatrical juggernaut — delivers his latest brick of a book, “Grant” (publishing Oct. 10), to help rescue the Union commander and 18th president from the ash heap of history.

Ulysses S. Grant, you may recall, won the Civil War. He was the military architect who triumphed on multiple battlefields and vanquished Lee in Virginia after six other Union generals failed.

Yet after the South’s defeat, “Lee was puffed up to almost godlike proportions, not only as a great general, but as a perfect Christian gentleman, this noble and exemplary figure and an aristocratic example,” says Chernow, 68, sitting in his sun-splashed kitchen on the top floor of the 19th-century Brooklyn Heights brownstone where he rents two stories. “The glorification of Lee and the denigration of Grant are two sides of the same coin. We’ve created our own mythology of what happened.”

“Grant” is Chernow’s second successive book about an American general who became president, following the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Washington” (2010). It is also his first volume since Chernow became a household name — a claim few scholarly biographers can make.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s little play helped sell more than a million copies of “Alexander Hamilton,” making Chernow the rare historian of 900-page, footnote-saturated tomes who can claim that “teenagers all over the country want to take selfies with me.”

Now, he’s moved from the Founding Fathers on the one- and 10-dollar bills to the Civil War victor on the 50, a man adored by Walt Whitman and Mark Twain.

Yet, “I’m giving you every reason not to buy this book,” he admits, gesturing at the three-pound door stopper by his elbow. “It’s $40. Its more than 1,000 pages.”

It’s 1,074 pages, to be exact. But he’s grateful. “To my loyal readers, who have soldiered on through my lengthy sagas,” the dedication reads.

“This is a story unlike any that I have written, maybe one more people can identify with,” says Chernow, who has also written biographies of John D. Rockefeller (the masterful “Titan”), J.P. Morgan and the Warburg banking family. Those previous subjects, he says, “were built for success. They had a focus, a drive, an intelligence, and an ambition that when you begin the story, you know they’re going to succeed.”

Related Articles

October 6, 2017 “The Woman Who Smashed Codes” should be the next “Hidden Figures”

September 29, 2017 Tell a story in six words. Mystery writers dare you to try.

September 27, 2017 Book review: What scientists learn from footsteps of ants and elephants  

September 27, 2017 Book review: Egan’s heroine dives into a love as dark as it is deep

September 27, 2017 Regional books: “Out Where the West Begins, Vol. 2”

Grant “goes through more failure and hardship and degradation I think than anyone else in American history who becomes president.” He notes, “I was so moved by the pathos of the story, of a bright, hard-working and fundamentally decent man who again and again is defeated by circumstance and seems destined to a life of complete obscurity.” Grant “becomes a hero despite himself.”

Grant’s grand ambition was to be a math professor — an assistant math professor — at the U.S. Military Academy, from which he graduated in the middle of his class. He was plagued by money woes until the end, fleeced by the Bernie Madoff of his day. Grant’s wife, Julia, the daughter of an unrepentant slave owner, had a pronounced taste for status.

“The psychological portrait is at the center of all these books,” says Chernow, a New York native – his schmear of an accent is a giveaway – with English degrees from Yale and Cambridge, who began his career as a freelance journalist. Most of his subjects had “an impossible parent.” Grant was doubly cursed, with an impossible father and father-in-law, both of whom lived well into old age.

“This man who had been a clerk in a leather goods store in Galena, Illinois, a man who was almost 40 years old,” Chernow says, a man no one marked for success. “And four years later, he’s a general with a million soldiers under his command. Is there a more startling transformation in American history?”

Grant is remembered as a heavy drinker, a president riddled by scandal, scoundrels and nepotism, all of which Chernow addresses.

“It was always Grant, the drunkard. I felt they got it wrong,” he says, describing the general as opposing two enemies during the war, the Confederacy and liquor. “He was Grant, the alcoholic.”

As recently as 1996, a poll of historians ranked Grant as an abject failure, scraping the bottom of the presidential barrel along with Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon and James Buchanan. That assessment has begun to change.

Grant was the two-term president of the Reconstruction, an era of extraordinary if fleeting gains for African-Americans. It was also a time of relentless violence fomented by the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, which Chernow deems “the largest outbreak of domestic terrorism in American history, where thousands of people were killed.” The Department of Justice, established during Grant’s presidency, brought 3,000 indictments against Klan members and other agitators.

For many American students, the war stops cold with Lee’s surrender at Appomattox and Lincoln’s assassination days later, on April 15, 1865. “We historians, in the wake of the controversy over Confederate monuments, we have to use this as a teachable moment,” Chernow says. “Reconstruction is the great black hole that remains to be filled. Even experts on the Civil War don’t really understand its full significance.”

Chernow’s wife, Valerie, a community college professor, died in 2006. He still wears his wedding ring. He’s “a pretty active cultural consumer,” he says, of all things that New York has to offer: the Metropolitan Opera, film, theater, art, the Yankees.

Tidy, too. His immaculate study displays the thousands of 4-by-6-inch index cards, amounting to 22 boxes, that he compiled in researching Grant. The task did not daunt him. “There were 900 books on Washington when I began writing on him,” he says.

“He’s a very happy writer,” says his friend, the financial writer Roger Lowenstein. “Ron often uses the phrase ‘Never underestimate the laziness of your predecessors.’ ”

Nine years ago, Miranda prophetically purchased Chernow’s “Hamilton” before going on vacation and envisioned — what else? — a hip-hop musical about the nation’s first treasury secretary. He enlisted the biographer as the show’s historical adviser. Chernow asked to experience the musical fully, to be as involved as he could be, to attend one performance seated in the orchestra pit and to sit in on the album recording. He estimates that he has seen the show “dozens of times,” the young cast becoming a second family. (Chernow has no children.)

He spent his days with Grant, his nights with Hamilton. He’s listed in the show’s playbill and, though he demurs on the subject — “I don’t go there” — he has a reported 1 percent royalty of the show’s adjusted grosses, which amounted to an estimated $900,000 in 2016. This year, with three additional productions, his return is substantially larger.

After the musical’s first week, Chernow called his longtime editor Ann Godoff and said, “Print up a lot of copies of ‘Hamilton.’ Everyone’s coming up to the theater and saying, ‘Mr. Chernow, I loved the show. I was embarrassed to realize how little I knew about the history of the country.’ ”

Godoff, Penguin Press president and editor in chief, says, “I remember thinking, ‘Ha ha ha.’ Then we went to the Public Theater, and there were a lot of people crying, and I was crying for my author. What this meant, watching his whole career and life, was knowing that I was experiencing this transformative experience.”

“Grant,” Godoff says, is an entirely different biography. “You feel his vulnerability, as well as his successes. He feels a figure much more capable of our empathy.”

Chernow hopes that with his book, people will reassess the hero of the Civil War and his presidency.

“There have been other good books on Grant, but in terms of dramatizing and humanizing this character, and making the character vividly come alive on the page, I feel that’s my comparative advantage,” Chernow says.

He only has to point to “Hamilton” to prove his point.

from Latest Information http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/06/how-do-you-top-hamilton-author-ron-chernow-is-about-to-find-out/

[flauntpage]

The Orlando Magic Will be Humongous Fans of Lottery Reform

On Thursday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski outlined a few new details about the NBA's latest proposal to reform its longstanding, ever-controversial lottery system. The most interesting tidbit revealed that the odds to leap into the draft's top three slots may increase for depressing-but-not-atrocious teams that aren't willing to lose games intentionally:

"Teams in the Nos. 7 to 10 range will have a greater chance of moving up into the top three picks, ESPN has learned, with No. 7's chances improving from 15 percent to 23 percent, No. 8 from 10 percent to 19 percent, No. 9 from 6 percent to 15 percent and No. 10 from 4 percent to 10 percent."

Forgetting all the connected side effects the whole proposal would have, this might be the most intriguing: stubborn owners and organizations that refuse to tank even though it's the smartest path towards eventual championship contention would fall into a more beneficial arrangement. Assuming these front offices are already shrewd in other ways, what this does is allow them to behave as they already were, maintain a short-sighted desire to compete for a playoff spot, and, if they fall short, have a better chance to land a special prospect than they otherwise have.

The Orlando Magic are the current poster child for this class: Routinely subpar but rarely terrible enough to propel them forward with something for their trouble. Since they traded Dwight Howard in August 2012, Orlando has had five lottery picks: 2nd in 2013, 4th and 12th in 2014, 5th in 2015, 11th in 2016, and 6th in 2017.

Last summer they packaged that No. 2 pick (Victor Oladipo) with the No. 11 (Domantas Sabonis) for Serge Ibaka's expiring contract. The No. 4 pick was Aaron Gordon, the No. 12 pick became Elfrid Payton, the No. 5 pick is (cue an intensely depressing trombone) Mario Hezonja, and the No. 6, taken a few months ago, is Jonathan Isaac, an intriguing rookie who projects to "only" become a valuable two-way role player—aka the exact type of guy they need to support the superstar they don't have. The draft is a crapshoot and hindsight isn't fair, and if Orlando played its cards perfectly they might have Devin Booker and Giannis Antetokounmpo on their roster, but that's not the point.

This is an organization that badly wants in on the postseason but hasn't cracked it since they traded Howard and fired Stan Van Gundy. The 2017-18 season will be no different, but with several other teams either just as bad, worse off, or aggressively bottoming out—the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Philadelphia 76ers, just to name a few—they aren't bad enough to slide down the standings.

Even when it's poorly allocated, they spend money hoping to see incremental improvement. This summer they added Shelvin Mack even though D.J. Augustin is already signed through 2020. Jonathon Simmons was awarded a partially guaranteed three-year, $18 million deal, while Marreese Speights and Arron Afflalo were thrown into the mix on veteran's minimum deals.

These pieces make Orlando better, but "better" in this instance still does not even sniff 40 wins. In the short-term, with Frank Vogel as head coach, the seeds of a multi-layered defensive identity are apparent. They're also antiquated. Even if Gordon somehow evolves into the franchise-lifting presence Paul George was, Vogel's plan to run back what gave him success on the Indiana Pacers is borderline useless in today's NBA.

© Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

A Payton-Simmons-Gordon-Isaac-Bismack Biyombo lineup can, at its most switch-happy peak, be an uncrossable moat. And that's great. Preventing the other team from putting the ball in the basket matters, and can still bear a decent record when executed with force throughout an 82-game season.

But right now the closest thing Orlando has to a spark—Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, or Terrence Ross—isn't consistently hot enough to meld over the various (mostly spacing related) dilemmas guys like Gordon, Payton, and Simmons create.

If they maintain their direction with the somewhat-intriguing core they already have, an offensive pillar is necessary for this organization to not only qualify for the playoffs, but make a legitimate impression once they get there.

Lottery reform can't guarantee they land a marquee talent, but it does rationalize the path they're on and the strategy they've been committed to. Change to the system won't take place right away, but if it did, the Magic would smile as wide as any other team. ESPN's Kevin Pelton's projection has seven teams finishing with a worse record. If that held, Orlando's shot at jumping into a top-three pick would nearly leap from one in ten to one in five.

Every lottery team in the league would happily welcome a prospect talented enough to someday become a top-10 player. Orlando, a team that's had multiple bites at the apple since they traded away their franchise player, has positioned itself to take off if one lands in their lap. Again, anything can happen in the draft, and players like Booker, Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, George, etc. will fall outside the first few slots.

But, hypothetically, landing someone like Luka Doncic, Michael Porter, or Marvin Bagley, a prospect who can eventually tentpole an above-average offense and unlock easy opportunities for everyone around them, raises expectations and possibilities when compared to adding another specialist like Robert Williams or Jaren Jackson.

Without reform, Orlando would be destined to cycle through helpful role players, lowering their ceiling in this current life cycle until the new front office entirely renovated its current roster or decided to make a strategic shift in how they want to build their team.

With it, they have a more open opportunity to make real progress. A top-three pick would allow the athletic youngsters on Orlando's roster to accept responsibilities that better fit their skill-set; nobody would have to extend themselves into territory where they aren't comfortable.

Gordon can top out as more of a Scottie Pippen-like sidekick without any pressure to develop into a number one scoring option. He can expend a majority of his energy on the defensive end, too, covering the opposing team's top threat every night. Payton won't be pressed to score and can concentrate on facilitating, cutting, and wreaking havoc on the other end.

There are no guarantees, but the new lottery proposal would provide more hope for teams that just want to win, even if they don't know how.

The Orlando Magic Will be Humongous Fans of Lottery Reform published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv