#balloon ranger recordings

[lesdeuxmuses]

Ane Brun - How Beauty Holds The HAnd Of Sorrow (Balloon Ranger Records, 2020)

[robmoro]

RobMoro TV | Ane Brun - 'Hand In The Fire'

Ane Brun has unveiled a new track, ‘Hand in the Fire’ which is taken from her upcoming album “SONGS 2013-23”. The album title is a nod to marking ten years since the release of her first album, “SONGS 2003-13”, and further cements her position as an iconic figure in the music industry. This song provides motivation to those who feel trapped by something that prevents them from reaching their…

[anakinstwinklebunny]

To Infinity and Beyond..

SAM MONROE didn’t exactly get hyped about birthdays. Not his own, not anyone else’s. But Vinnie's? His kid, the one who’d somehow turned his whole world upside down in the best way possible? Yeah, birthdays became a big freaking deal.

That’s why, at midnight, he was sitting cross-legged on the floor of Vinnie’s tiny room, surrounded by Toy Story action figures and a tangled mess of balloons. The figures were brand new--Buzz, Woody, Jessie, even Rex--and Sam had saved up for months to get them all. His job at the auto shop didn’t pay much, but every spare penny went into making sure Vinnie had the best second birthday possible.

“Okay, Buzz, you better stay put this time,” he muttered, pressing the figure down onto the floor. Buzz tipped over again, taking Woody with him, and Sam groaned quietly so to not wake up the little guy before rubbing his face with both hands. “You’re supposed to be a Space Ranger, man. Act like it.”

Finally, after what felt like hours of rearranging and tying earlier blown up balloons to the toys, Sam got everything set up just right. Toys posed around Vinnie’s bed, with a colorful balloon floating above them. Sam couldn’t help but feel a little proud of himself.

“Kid’s gonna love this,” he mumbled to himself, standing back to admire his work, hands shoving into his pockets.

When morning finally came, Sam was already awake, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. He’d spent half the night checking on Vinnie, and the presents, making sure he didn’t wake up too early and ruin the surprise. Now, with the sunlight streaming through the window, Sam stepped closer, gently waking the little guy by patting his chubby cheek. After a short while, little boy stirred, tiny body wiggling under the covers.

Vinnie blinked sleepily, big eyes landing Sam first. He let out a huge yawn, tiny fists rubbing his eyes as Sam began mumbling first «happy birthday». When Vinnie finally grew a courage to stand up, his mouth dropped open in a loud gasp before he let out a delighted, “Buh! Buh! Woooo!”

Sam grinned, scooping the boy from the bed and setting him on the floor “Yeah, buddy. Buzz and Woody showed up just for you.”

Vinnie sat up, curls sticking out in every direction, and pointed a chubby finger at Buzz Lightyear. “Buhhh!” voice high-pitched with excitement. “Buh buh go sky!”

“Yeah, Buzz goes to space,” Sam crouched down next to the boy, tone failing down to a soft whisper. “He told me he wanted to meet you with his friends. They said you’re the coolest kid around.”

Vinnie giggled, immediately reaching out with pudgy hands to grab Buzz by the legs. The balloon attached to him bobbed wildly as Vinnie held him close to his chest. “Buhhh mine!” he declared proudly

“Yeah, he’s yours, buddy,”

Vinnie’s excitement only grew as he noticed, and then groped on, the other toys, clumsily crawling/walking across the room to grab Woody and Jessie. Little mouth never stopped moving, babbling gibberish that Sam could only half understand.

“Yeh!” the boy grabbed Woody and lifted it up to Sam with wide, expectant eyes.

“Yeah, that’s Woody,” Sam mumbled, taking the figure and pretending to make him walk across the floor. “He’s Buzz’s best friend. Kinda like how you're my best friend.”

Vinnie giggled again, joy so pure it made Sam’s chest ache. He didn’t care that the whole setup had taken him hours, or that he’d spent most of his paycheck on the toys. Seeing Vinnie this happy made it all worth it. The boy clapped his pudgy hands, immediately getting on Sam's lap to inspect other toys properly "Happy birthday buddy" Sam whispered, kissing Vinnie's temple

Sam’s mom appeared in the doorway, her phone in hand. “Oh, Sam, this is perfect,” she said, smiling as she hit record.

“Mom, c’mon,” Sam grumbled, cheeks turning red. He scratched the back of his neck, trying to hide his face from the camera while on the other hand, Vinnie was proudly grinning to it. Immediately wobbling to his grandpa, with arms outstretched, showing a new toy with a giggle

But at the end of the day, Sam would do anything for his little guy. Even if it meant having to be recorded in every occasion and learning how to tie balloons to Space Rangers at three in the morning.

TAG LIST: @kingdomhate @divineani @haydensprettyprincess @skyguys-princess @catnipaddictt @heartscone @haydensbbg @inneedsoffanfics @jediavengers @literally-izzy @anisluvrgirl @slutforfinnickodair @xhunnybeeex @fuckmyskywalker @gallerygourmet @deceptiive @ysrjune @anakinskwkler @bimbo-baggins17 @cookybananas @emotionallybruisedx @diorvalentina @sevinax @throughparisallthroughrome @aniiuv @ritosparty @ninastyless @lily-strnlo @thesassypadawan @awhhayden @sydkneez @anisangeldust @l1ttle-misssunsh1ne @anakinca

[carlos-in-glasses]

Happy New Year darlings. I hope 2025 is gentle and nourishing, fun and memorable in a good way.

Kicking off WIP Wednesday bright and early with something from the final chapter of Rhythms, which will be posted on Sunday. With this, I want to say another enormous thank you to everyone reading or who will read, and for all the support and encouragement. I began work on Rhythms in summer 2023, so it's been part of my life for a long time and it means a huge amount to me on a creative and personal level. I feel highly emotional about bringing it into 2025 and then having to let it go. Readers, take good care of this Carlos for me 🧡

Carlos nods and stands. As he stands, it’s like the world drops away from him. Everyone is staring up from far away, like he’s a balloon someone let go of.

As he walks to the microphone, Carlos becomes uncomfortably aware of his size. He’s a big guy, standing at a sturdy six-foot tall, statuesque and hunky. A former wrestler. A Ranger now. A weight-lifter, a treadmiller, a rowing machiner, an exercise biker, a kick-boxer. Name the gym equipment, and he’ll tell you his speed, his endurance, what he lifts – and it’ll impress anyone. But right now none of that counts for biscuits. On his way to the microphone, in front of everyone he knows and a whole bunch of strangers, he is trudging and lumbering, dragging his knuckles along the floor like an orangutan. He sees himself, huge of body but puny of mind. A friendly yet foolish giant who with one wrong move will make every shelf in this bookstore topple.

When he arrives at the microphone he clears his throat. The sound of him grunting fills the room. He makes eye-contact with Tommy, who cringes a little but nods him on encouragingly. She’s a performer. She sang beautifully at their wedding. Being Alive – Gwyn’s favorite song from the Company recording.

He feels like an utter oaf. A buffoon.

What he is doing?

Tommy – an amateur musical theater person, yes, but still a masterful singer – is about to watch him bumble through his poems. A disaster before it’s even begun.

But then he detects a movement in front of him. TK raises himself up in his chair, sits up straight, gazes at him intently and with wonder. Carlos scans the rows around him. Everyone who has come to support him tonight looks just the same. Ready for what he has to tell them.

Someone to crowd you with love

Someone to force you to care

Someone to make you come through

Who'll always be there.

As frightened as you

Of being alive.

Open tag and tags below:

@paperstorm @thisbuildinghasfeelings @lightningboltreader

@bonheur-cafe @goodways @alrightbuckaroo

@cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @welcometololaland @rmd-writes

@heartstringsduet @strandnreyes @reyesstrand

@herefortarlos @mikibwrites @irispurpurea @liminalmemories21

@lemonlyman-dotcom @ladytessa74 @orchidscript

@honeybee-taskforce @theghostofashton @sugdenlovesdingle

@freneticfloetry @chicgeekgirl89 @emsprovisions

@tellmegoodbye @sapphic--kiwi @ironheartwriter @carlos-tk

@carlossreaders @the-126-family @henrygrass @everlastingday

@whatsintheboxmh @futures-tense @rangersoup (if you don't mind me tagging you!)

@nancys-braids @captain-gillian @butchreyes @literateowl @hereghostslive

@kiwichaeng @pimento-playing-hopscotch @eclectic-sassycoweyes - If you want to share/haven't already. No pressure ever! ❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙🩵💜

[gaykarstaagforever]

Alright. I have to talk about this.

I always thought Smokey the Bear was a bear cub someone rescued from a forest fire, and then someone else decided to make him a mascot for fire prevention. Fine. Good on you. Everyone wins.

I thought this because in 1976, Disney republished a Little Golden Book from 1955 about Smokey the Bear, paired with a 33⅓ record that read the book to you. I grew up with these "record books," so this was the version of the story I knew.

Except that isn't what happened.

Smokey the Bear - an adult bear in jeans and a park rangers' cap, who warns everyone about fires - is a thing from World War II, specifically 1944. The Japanese had decided that a cool way to terrorize America was to launch fire balloons into the Jet Stream, to set California's forests on fire. And they almost did it, a couple of times, and killed like 5 people. Plus the war was on, so all the regular burly firemen who would fight any forest fires were off shooting Nazis or Japanese soldiers. So Smokey was created to remind the public to be particularly vigilant about preventing and reporting forest fires.

This is the original poster from 1944 by Albert Staehle.

In 1947 they came up with "ONLY YOU!...CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES!"

Notice how none of this has anything to do whatsoever with any real-life goddamn bear.

In 1950, firefighters rescued a BLACK bear cub in New Mexico, who had climbed a tree to escape a fire. They named him Hotfoot Teddy and a forest ranger took him home as a pet. At some point before 1955, they had renamed him to Smokey the Bear, and he was sent to the National Zoo in Washington D.C., where he lived for 26 years.

The Little Golden Book version only shows him as an adorable BROWN cub: the age makes sense, because by 1955 he would have still been a roughly 40 lbs sub-adult. That is, the "REAL" Smokey the Bear, who people recognized from the papers.

...Except that was a black bear. But I guess newsprint is all black and white so...?

But this record book version is from 1976, ironically, the year the real adult bear died. I always remember thinking it was weird that he was a cub in this version, because other than this, in my world of the early 90s, he was always just the big bear in the hat.

I just...I thought he was a real bear first. Like...I feel betrayed, here. And stupid. This isn't secret knowledge. Wikipedia explains it. I had just never Googled Smokey the Bear.

Because I should not have had to.

Also I didn't know the US government had enslaved a bear for propaganda purposes for 26 years. Probably should have rehabilitated him and either released him into the wild, or if he couldn't handle that, a quiet bear sanctuary.

Did they even have those in the 50s? Probably not.

At least in 1984, they gave him a fake tree filled with honey and berries:

[spacenutspod]

3 Min Read NASA’s Scientists and Volunteers Tackle the October 14 Solar Eclipse In this image captured during the October 14 annular solar eclipse we can see that the disk of the Sun was almost totally blocked by the smaller dark Moon. Between the horns of the crescent is a Baily’s Bead, a spot of sunlight peeking through a valley on the Moon’s apparent edge. Credits: Clinton Lewis, West Kentucky University Did you see October 14th’s solar eclipse? Most of the time we can easily forget that we are on a planet spinning and orbiting in space with other celestial bodies. Watching the Moon move across the face of the Sun reminds us of our place in the solar system.  Several NASA science teams and many NASA volunteers used the October 14 eclipse to collect data and test observation protocols, software, hardware, and logistics. They met enthusiastic crowds of people taking in the spectacle and making unique observations. The October eclipse was an “annular” eclipse, meaning that some sunlight always leaked around the edges of the moon. The next solar eclipse, on April 8, 2024, will be a total eclipse. Total eclipses are rare scientific opportunities, so NASA teams used the October eclipse to practice and prepare for the upcoming April eclipse. In New Mexico, the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta rolled right into an Annular Eclipse event! An estimated 100,000 people took in the view of the annular eclipse of the Sun from Albuquerque, which was directly on the path where the eclipse reached its maximum – the path of annularity. The crowd gathered for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and annular eclipse. Credit: Heather Fischer The 3-D NASA logo sits outside an exhibit tent at the Albuquerque Balloon fiesta and subsequent eclipse viewing event. Credit: Heather Fischer Elsewhere in New Mexico, the Eclipse Soundscapes team gathered in the Randall Davey Audubon Center & Sanctuary in Sante Fe. The project team deployed eight AudioMoth recording devices the day before the eclipse and retrieved them the day after the eclipse to support research on whether or not eclipses affect life – and sounds – on Earth.   They also recruited staff and visitors to the nearby Valles Caldera National Preserve to participate in Eclipse Soundscapes as Observers. Many folks used the prompting worksheets – and eclipse glasses – provided by Eclipse Soundscapes to record and report their multisensory experience of the eclipse.  Eclipse Soundscapes Team members Dr. Henry “Trae” Winter and MaryKay Severino, getting ready to deploy an AudioMoth device at the Randall Davey Audubon Center & Sanctuary in Sante Fe, NM Credit: MaryKay Severino Valles Caldera Park visitors used the Eclipse Soundscapes worksheet and eclipse glasses distributed by Park Rangers to learn more about the Eclipse Soundscapes project, take notes on what nature changes they heard, saw, or felt during the annular eclipse, and then use a QR code to submit their observations to the project.  Credit: MaryKay Severino The SunSketcher team gathered in Odessa, TX, together with other eclipse chasers,  to test their new cell phone app. This app will allow volunteers to help measure the size and shape of the Sun during April’s total eclipse. Credit: Clinton Lewis, West Kentucky University In this image captured during the October 14 annular solar eclipse we can see that the disk of the Sun was almost totally blocked by the smaller dark Moon. Between the horns of the crescent is a Baily’s Bead, a spot of sunlight peeking through a valley on the Moon’s apparent edge. Credit: Clinton Lewis, West Kentucky University The Dynamic Eclipse Broadcasting Initiative was also on the move. Project leader Bob Baer, student Nathan Culli, and collaborator Mike Kentrianakis gathered in Midland, TX, for a good view of the annular eclipse. They tested their set-up and managed to successfully broadcast their telescope view from sunny Texas back to their home institution of Southern Illinois University in cloudy Carbondale.  The DEB Initiative set up for testing pre-eclipse. Credit: Bob Baer and Mike Kentrianakis Members of the DEB Initiative under their reflective tent in Midland, TX, ready to broadcast their telescope view of the eclipse back to the stadium at their home institution of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Credit: Bob Baer and Mike Kentrianakis. Members of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, NASA volunteers and others gather in anticipation of the October 14, 2023 annular eclipse. Credit: NASA volunteer Danny Roylance All in all, the day was a great success! On to April 8, 2024 and the total eclipse! More information:  Curious about the other eclipse science projects that you can join? Check out this website https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/programs/citizen-science/ and this cool video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1713910355842257261  Want to know more and keep up to date on all the Heliophysics Big Year events? Follow @NASASun on X.  Want another chance to see the October 14 annular eclipse? Check out the recording of NASA’s live stream of the eclipse at https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1zqKVqymlNPxB M Websites: https://debinitiative.org/ https://eclipsesoundscapes.org/ https://sunsketcher.org/ NASA’s Citizen Science Program:Learn about NASA citizen science projectsFollow on XFollow on Facebook 

[radioeuroextasis]

Ane Brun - Hand In The Fire

Diez años después de marcar su primera década como artista discográfica con el lanzamiento de SONGS 2003-13, la distinguida y platino ANE BRUN ha anunciado el lanzamiento de una nueva canción, 'HAND IN THE FIRE', que se incluirá en SONGS 2013-23, una celebración de su segunda década como una de las artistas contemporáneas más condecoradas de Noruega. Al igual que la canción, la compilación de 16 pistas es lanzada por el propio sello independiente de Brun, Balloon Ranger Recordings, hoy, disponible en CD y LP, así como a través de todos los DSP. Escrito en Toscana en 2022, 'HAND IN THE FIRE' presenta a la violonchelista Linnea Olsson (colaboradora habitual de BRUN) y Samuel Starck, quien desempeñó un papel importante en After The Great Storm de 2020. y Per Eklund, quien actuó en eso y el mismo año en How Beauty Holds The Hand Of Sorrow, sin mencionar It All Starts With One de 2011. En la verdadera tradición de BRUN, la canción ofrece aliento, esta vez "a alguien que se siente incapaz de liberarse de algo que le impide alcanzar su potencial". Muestra los encantos orientales que han influido esporádicamente en otras canciones, entre ellas 'Worship', su dúo con José González en It All Starts With One de 2011, y fue mezclado y masterizado por Prash 'Engine-Earz' Mistry. La canción está acompañada por un impresionante video coreografiado con los bailarines Einar-Anton, Aas Nikkerud, Janine Koertge, Rachel McNamee y Hiroki Ichinose de la Compañía de Danza de la Ópera de Gotemburgo. Dirigida por Shruti Ganguly, una nueva amiga, cineasta, escritora y directora a quien Ane tuvo la suerte de conocer en Oslo en los primeros meses de la pandemia. "He estado ansioso por trabajar con Shruti y el video se convirtió en un proyecto perfecto para que lo hiciéramos juntos, en nuestra nueva ciudad natal, Oslo. El video no existiría sin mi experiencia con "12 Canciones" en 2023 con la Compañía de Danza de la Ópera de Gotemburgo". (Una actuación escénica para música, orquesta y danza de Kenneth Kvarnström) explica Brun. "Fue una experiencia muy especial para mí. Estaba rodeado de estos bailarines de clase mundial en el escenario, e interpreté las versiones orquestales de mi propia música al mismo tiempo que era una parte integral de la coreografía. Se convirtió en el desafío artístico más increíble de mi carrera hasta ahora. Así que cuando estábamos produciendo un video musical para la nueva canción "Hand in the Fire", quería invitar a algunos de los bailarines a expresar la complejidad interna y las emociones contrastadas de las que trata "Hand in the Fire". Quería que fueran mis tentáculos emocionales. Los bailarines y yo comenzamos el trabajo improvisando la canción en un estudio de danza en Gotemburgo, y continuamos la exploración de los movimientos mientras grabábamos el video en Oslo. La coreografía en el video es improvisada". 'HAND IN THE FIRE' ABRE SONGS 2013-23, QUE SE BASA EN LA SEGUNDA DÉCADA DE BRUN COMO UNO DE LOS ARTISTAS CONTEMPORÁNEOS MÁS CONDECORADOS DE Noruega. Con tres Grammys noruegos y dos Grammys suecos entre los múltiples premios alineados en su estantería, ha visto florecer su reputación internacional en el transcurso de los últimos diez años gracias a giras mundiales y prestigiosos conciertos, sobre todo con la Orquesta Sinfónica de la Radio Sueca (que dio origen al álbum Live at Berdwardhallen de 2018, su tercera colección en vivo). También ha contribuido a múltiples bandas sonoras de películas, entre ellas una colaboración con el ganador del premio Emmy Dustin O'Halloran en Puzzle OST de 2018, ¡e incluso disfrutó de un improbable éxito Top 5 en el Reino Unido en 2015 cantando en Dr. Kucho! y 'Can't Stop Playing (Makes Me High)' de Gregor Salto, que, por cierto, ella coescribió. Y todo eso sin mencionar el sMall Matter de sus invitaciones para actuar en la Cena del Premio Nobel 2017 y la Ceremonia del Premio Nobel de la Paz 2018. Hay, es justo decirlo, mucho que celebrar. La voz pura y seráfica de BRUN, con su aleteo tranquilo y distintivo, siempre ha sido crucial para su atractivo, su tono sugiere a alguien que no solo ha soportado su propia parte de sufrimiento, sino que también está, como declara 'Don't Run And Hide', "aquí para ti". "Creo que gran parte de mi música se trata de ser libre", dice, "ser auténtico contigo mismo, estar abierto a la vida, al amor, a experimentar todo lo que la vida puede traer, y pasar por todas sus transiciones. Se trata de lo que nos detiene, y de aceptar que la vida tiene oscuridad pero que siempre se mueve hacia la luz. Y se trata de esperanza. Mucha esperanza". Como enfatiza SONGS 2013-23, es innegable que hay algo emocionante en escuchar a un artista en la cima de su juego, especialmente uno tan dispuesto a desnudar su alma. SONGS 2013-23 sigue al lanzamiento este March of Portrayals, una colección de doce de las versiones más aclamadas de Brun. Contiene las siguientes canciones: The Hand In The Fire / Directions / Don't Run And Hide / Crumbs / Lose My Way / Take Hold Of Me / Honey / You Lit My Fire / All We Want Is Love / Trust / Hanging / Black Notebook / After The Great Storm / Closer / Fingerprints / Last Breath BRUN también ha anunciado una serie de espectáculos en toda Europa a finales de este año como parte de su gira del 20 aniversario. 22.09 HELSINKI Casa De La Cultura 27.09 ESTOCOLMO Cirkus 29.09 JÖNKÖPING Spira 30.09 MALMÖ Live Konserthus 01.10 GÖTEBORG Konserthuset 06.10 SKELLEFTEÅ Sara Kulturhus 14.10 LONDRES Shepherd's Bush Empire 17.10 BERLÍN Admiralspalast 20.10 AMBERES De Roma 21.10 PARÍS La Cigale 22.10 UTRECH Ronda 24.10 HAMBURGO Fabrik 25.10 COPENHAGUE Tienda Vega 26.10 AARHUS VoxHall 04.11 ÖREBRO Konserthuset 05.11 UPPSALA UKK 08.11 BODØ Svømmehallen Escena 09.11 TROMSØ Driv 11.11 TRONDHEIM Tapperiet 12.11 MOLDE Bjørnsonhuset 15.11 OSLO Sentrum Scene 16.11 OSLO Sentrum Scene 17.11 STAVANGER Konserthus 18.11 KRISTIANSAND Kilden 19.11 BERGEN Grieghallen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIbTYJtFabg   Read the full article

[disastardly]

More Mystic Force (and some slightly more general PR) thoughts because they're my Roman Empire:

As the closest thing their team has to a "tech guy", Nick gets invited to the semi-annual Ranger tech summit. Unlike Rangers like Cam or Billy, Nick's work is more intuitive and mechanical, so he's pretty in over his head. Only after chatting up Damon and commiserating about all the brainiac talk does the event really turn around for him.

A few non-Ranger folks attend, apparently with some connections because how else would they be there? They ask a lot of questions about morphers and the Grid. Nick is less surprised when he sees them at the cookout in the following years.

There's an annual Ranger cookout over Memorial Day weekend. Tommy usually hosts due to his connection to so many teams and his house being both very remote and on a good-sized piece of land. (As the years go on and team sizes balloon, the size of his land really starts to matter.)

Leanbow is immediately integrated into the Team Dads at the grill.

Leelee hits on every Red Ranger there. Phineas eggs her on. (When you can find him.)

Things start to get wild at the cookout as the day goes on and the day drinking really sets in. Teams with unusual civilian abilities (ninjas, magicians, aliens, etc.) cause the most trouble as they start trying to pit their powers against each other. Tommy's house has been set on fire more than once. The fire department has a pre-recorded message just for him.

Maddie builds her career on documentaries, but her love for goofy horror movies is a terribly kept industry secret. When Chip mentions he's been writing scripts in his free time (what free time??) loosely based on their adventures, she jumps on them, and thus the Hydra Worm movie series is born.

In addition to all of Chip's ventures, Xander acts as Vida's manager, and helps Maddie with the business parts of the film industry. He'd help Nick with the shop too, but it pretty much runs itself at this point (according to Nick).

Xander also runs a greenhouse in parallel with the farm; despite being it's own business, it's almost too relaxing for him to even consider it work. (Which is good, because he's almost as busy as Chip with all the managerial work he gleefully takes on.)

Per this post, Chip and his actual play series really blow up online, and that means that the internet slowly but surely start digging into him. What they find is both utterly charming and inexplicable. He lives on a farm. His entire family died in a house fire when he was seven. He will eat anything once (with the disgusting photos to prove it). He's banned from Medieval Times. He's a professional vampire hunter and advisor to the Queen of Vampires. He has the most awful mustache any human being has ever grown. He can drive, but should never under any circumstances be allowed to drive. He swears he can fly but no one can find any record of him every getting a pilots license.

Once magic becomes common in the city, trees become protected infrastructure. In a mid-sized Californian city, the ability to teleport between any tree rooted in the ground makes life infinitely easier. Cutting down a tree big enough to connect to the network takes *a lot* of bureaucratic red tape post-2007.

TMZ (or the PR-verse equivalent) is constantly trying to figure out who Vida Rocca is dating. There's evidence pointing toward her manager Xander Bly and evidence pointing to TTRPG media madman Chip Thorn, and competing stories make it seem like she's two-timing them. She thinks it's hilarious.

(They're actually all dating each other, but Chip doesn't even register the scandals and Xander thinks it adds to his "mystique".)

Buzzblast once did a series on all the Briarwood superstitions. The footage data wasn't corrupted, but somehow it all rendered at Patterson-Gimlin film-level graininess. Reporter Amelia Jones is both baffled and thrilled by this result.

The Mystic Mother dressed up as herself (Rita Repulsa) for Halloween one year and nearly got the National Guard called on her.

Have an assortment of Mystic Force headcanons that I've accumulated since I started rewriting CoD/CoL (now known as Emergence and ???):

Madison is an unabashed niche horror movie aficionado. This always surprises people, but she could talk about early 90s SOV, giallo, or the evolution of the slasher film for ages.

Her happy place in Briarwood is an old movie shop. They know her by name there, and always have recommendations among the new finds.

Briarwood itself is a super hippie town. Drum circles in the park, vegan bakeries, a huge pride parade every year. They're on the forefront of both marriage equality and cannabis legalization, even by California standards.

Nick has lived EVERYWHERE. His parents moved for work constantly, and so he and his sister have lived on every continent except Antarctica.

Xander and Chip are incredible cooks. Nick is pretty good too. Maddie is passable, and Vida is a complete disaster. Do not let Vida near a kitchen.

Leelee inherits the Vampire Queen throne after Necrolai/Nikki is turned human. She's surprisingly good at it. After some bumps, her rule becomes an unparalleled time of peace for vampires.

After high school, Chip tries a million things, and he's pretty successful at most of them. He takes over his uncle's farm, starts a meadery, does freelance alchemy, runs the local COUNTV chapter, and helps train new knights and wizards, and that's just the everyday stuff.

Leelee works to improve human-vampire relations, and teams up with Chip to help smooth things out. He begrudgingly helps, but warms up to it eventually.

Maddie and Xander are the only ones of the core 5 to go to college. Maddie studies film and Xander gets a business degree (so he can manage Chip's constantly-growing sprawl of ventures).

Vida goes on tour. She wins her first Grammy a year or two later, and eventually goes the Trent Reznor route of scoring films. It starts with Maddie asking for help with a hard-to-score film and spirals from there.

Nick gets taken on as an apprentice at a body shop. He's a prodigy with fixing things, especially vehicles, and when the owner decides to retire, Nick buys the shop off him. They mainly fix cars and motorcycles, but if you have something no one else can fix, he'll take a crack at it.

Maddie's first film does numbers on the smaller festival circuits; her second film is screened at Cannes and wins a Palme d'Or.

In Briarwood, everyone knows they're the Rangers, but the knowledge doesn't travel very far outside the borders. A few people know, but it's such an open secret that it almost never comes up. It's just a fact of life in Briarwood, so most people never really mention it.

[nofatclips]

Live piano version of After The Great Storm by Ane Brun from The RMV Sessions EP

[half-a-tiger]

ANE BRUN - “We Need A Mother”, from ‘After The Great Storm’, her 8th studio album out October 30th, 2020, and first of two upcoming albums to be released in 2020 via her own Balloon Ranger Recordings.

[underachievers-please-try-harder]

Track of the day // Ane Brun - Take Hold Of Me

[lesdeuxmuses]

Ane Brun - After The Great Storm (Balloon Ranger Recordings, 2020)

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.22

392 – Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. 851 – Battle of Jengland: Erispoe defeats Charles the Bald near the Breton town of Jengland. 1138 – Battle of the Standard between Scotland and England. 1485 – The Battle of Bosworth Field, the death of Richard III and the end of the House of Plantagenet. 1559 – Bartolomé Carranza, Spanish archbishop, is arrested for heresy. 1614 – Fettmilch Uprising: Jews are expelled from Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire, following the plundering of the Judengasse. 1639 – Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers. 1642 – Charles I raises his standard in Nottingham, which marks the beginning of the English Civil War. 1654 – Jacob Barsimson arrives in New Amsterdam. He is the first known Jewish immigrant to America. 1711 – Britain's Quebec Expedition loses eight ships and almost nine hundred soldiers, sailors and women to rocks at Pointe-aux-Anglais. 1717 – Spanish troops land on Sardinia. 1770 – James Cook names and lands on Possession Island, and claims the east coast of Australia for Britain as New South Wales. 1777 – British forces abandon the Siege of Fort Stanwix after hearing rumors of Continental Army reinforcements. 1780 – James Cook's ship HMS Resolution returns to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage). 1791 – Beginning of the Haitian Slave Revolution in Saint-Domingue, Haiti. 1798 – French troops land at Kilcummin, County Mayo, Ireland to aid the rebellion. 1827 – José de la Mar becomes President of Peru. 1846 – The Second Federal Republic of Mexico is established. 1849 – The first air raid in history. Austria launches pilotless balloons against the city of Venice. 1851 – The first America's Cup is won by the yacht America. 1864 – Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention, establishing the rules of protection of the victims of armed conflicts. 1875 – The Treaty of Saint Petersburg between Japan and Russia is ratified, providing for the exchange of Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands. 1894 – Mahatma Gandhi forms the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in order to fight discrimination against Indian traders in Natal. 1902 – Cadillac Motor Company is founded. 1902 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to make a public appearance in an automobile. 1902 – At least 4,000 people are killed by the 1902 Turkestan earthquake in the Tien Shan mountains. 1922 – Michael Collins, Commander-in-chief of the Irish Free State Army, is shot dead in an ambush during the Irish Civil War. 1934 – Bill Woodfull of Australia becomes the only test cricket captain to twice regain The Ashes. 1941 – World War II: German troops begin the Siege of Leningrad. 1942 – Brazil declares war on Germany, Japan and Italy. 1944 – World War II: Holocaust of Kedros in Crete by German forces. 1949 – The Queen Charlotte earthquake is Canada's strongest since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. 1953 – The penal colony on Devil's Island is permanently closed. 1962 – The OAS attempts to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle. 1963 – X-15 Flight 91 reaches the highest altitude of the X-15 program (107.96 km (67.08 mi) (354,200 feet)). 1966 – Labor movements NFWA and AWOC merge to become the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), predecessor of the United Farm Workers. 1968 – Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America. 1971 – J. Edgar Hoover and John Mitchell announce the arrest of 20 of the Camden 28. 1972 – Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies. 1973 – The Congress of Chile votes in favour of a resolution condemning President Salvador Allende's government and demands that he resign or else be unseated through force and new elections. 1978 – Nicaraguan Revolution: The FLSN seizes the National Congress of Nicaragua, along with over a thousand hostages. 1978 – The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment is passed by the U.S. Congress, although it is never ratified by a sufficient number of states. 1981 – Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes in Sanyi Township, Miaoli County, Taiwan. All 110 people on board are killed. 1985 – British Airtours Flight 28M suffers an engine fire during takeoff at Manchester Airport. The pilots abort but due to inefficient evacuation procedures 55 people are killed, mostly from smoke inhalation. 1989 – Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 5,000 strikeouts. 1991 – Iceland is the first nation in the world to recognize the independence of the Baltic states. 1992 – FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shoots and kills Vicki Weaver during an 11-day siege at her home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. 2003 – Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building. 2004 – Versions of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway. 2006 – Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border over eastern Ukraine, killing all 170 people on board. 2006 – Grigori Perelman is awarded the Fields Medal for his proof of the Poincaré conjecture in mathematics but refuses to accept the medal. 2007 – The Texas Rangers defeat the Baltimore Orioles 30–3, the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history. 2012 – Ethnic clashes over grazing rights for cattle in Kenya's Tana River District result in more than 52 deaths.

[araluenrangerdanger]

Karate club AU

Modern AU

The club's called Ranger corps. Naturally

The Rangers have all black or brown belts, except for the apprentices. They must pass their exams first (each year they can complete two exams, most wait a year or two between their exams)

There are two instructors - Halt and Crowley. The club is their passion but they also maintain normal jobs and the club is just their side-hobby

Halt is the knowledgeable and grumpy type of instructor who is hard on the trainees but is secretly just a big softie who downloads funny videos to show them to whoever asks during summer camps. He also works in computer programming.

Crowley is the clown instructor, kind but can and will hurt you if you’re doing what you’re not supposed to do. He’s also a teacher in a kindergarten 

Breaking wooden plates with their palms. Halt explains how to do it correctly, but Will still does it badly. He has a nasty bruise for the next two weeks. 

Sometimes they have kendo lessons taught by Gilan who used to be in a kendo club but then transferred. 

Before every holiday, Halt and Crowley do a less serious lesson. They get nunchakus, skipping ropes, candles and newspaper. With nunchakus, everybody smacks themselves at first, but eventually there are members who get really good at it. For the older members, it’s not difficult to put out a lit candle, but it’s hard as hell for the apprentices. Also, piercing newspaper with just your palm isn’t as easy as it sounds.

The club members regularly participate in competitions. The Temujai and Skandia clubs can never learn their lesson, it seems. 

Every summer, there’s a two-week training camp. Crowley always orders T-shirts in a color that everyone votes for every year (they all have yellow, pink, white, blue, green T-shirts etc.) and everyone wears them proudly. 

SUMMER CAMP

There are a lot of activities during the training camp. Physical activities, puzzles where you have to use your brain,... 

Every night, the club members keep watch. They do this in pairs, but it mainly consists of them going around their designated area once in a while, otherwise they keep to a cabin that’s in the very center of the camp. Halt and Crowley always get snacks during the day, the last wave of snacks comes after dinner, and the members who keep watch can eat them

Usually, it’s one sandwich = one karate club member, but Gilan and Will are both able to wolf down 4 of these sandwiches each.

There is a “path of courage”. In the darkness of the night, the members have to go some 2 kilometers to a designated area (usually just a memorial deep in the forest) and along the way, other members jump out to scare them. They wear masks or disguises and many of the younger members actually return back to the camp where Halt is waiting and he will go to the memorial with them. 

Gilan always goes with Will. He’s not scared of the “ghosts”. Gilan is the one who scares THEM. If the “ghost” screams at him, Gilan will scream harder. All the other members who are on the path are just like: “This is really a hunted forest.”

There is a whipped cream fight near the end of each camp. They all get whipped cream and fill some balloons with water. It’s absolute chaos. Halt never participates, he records it on a camera so he can put it on the club’s website, but Crowley enjoys it immensely. 

They play a game of “smuggling”. The club members get on two teams. One team is the police, one is the smugglers. Halt gives five little cards that symbolize drugs to each of the smugglers and they have to hide them in their clothes, hair, wherever. They then set off to a forest where they hide. 

The police are trying to find them. If they find someone, they are looking for the cards. The winning team is determined by the number of cards they manage to get back to Halt. The losing team has to run 3 kilometers in the morning. Another night, the roles reverse. 

Will wouldn’t have been caught by Liam if Gilan didn’t hide in some drain. He saw a snake and screamed. That’s how Liam found them, but Will was still able to secure a victory for his team with the three cards Liam didn’t find.  

When Halt and Crowley had had enough of members not listening to them and watching their mobile phones instead, they take the phones and let the members (mainly apprentices, the adults have a little more common sense) write a really long sentence about how they shouldn’t leave their magnificent, amazing, and wonderful phone unattended and definitely shouldn’t watch cat videos on it during practices, 50 times. They don’t get their phones back until after they’ve written it. 

There’s also karate things. Competition in katas and kumite (training against an adversary). Will is really afraid to go against Harrison, one of the older members, but Alun, also one of the older members, tells him that he should push Harrison to the corners of the training field. Since Will is so young and small, Harrison will underestimate him. Will nods and tries. He still loses, but gets praising pats on his back for the next two days. 

There’s a campfire one night where they roast sausages and tell stories

Will gets hurt jumping on a trampoline. Halt takes him to the hospital. 

Doctor: this type of injury usually happens if there are two or more children jumping simultaneously on the trampoline. Well, Will, how many of you were there? 

Will: Fifteen, probably.

Halt just grins under his hoodie. The doctor needs a few minutes to get over this revelation 

During the last night of the camp, Halt and Crowley wake up all members in the middle of the night, they go practice some katas and then they jump into a swimming pool. In their kimonos. It’s fun

[radioeuroextasis]

Ane Brun - Hand In The Fire

Diez años después de marcar su primera década como artista discográfica con el lanzamiento de SONGS 2003-13, la distinguida y platino ANE BRUN ha anunciado el lanzamiento de una nueva canción, 'HAND IN THE FIRE', que se incluirá en SONGS 2013-23, una celebración de su segunda década como una de las artistas contemporáneas más condecoradas de Noruega. Al igual que la canción, la compilación de 16 pistas es lanzada por el propio sello independiente de Brun, Balloon Ranger Recordings, hoy, disponible en CD y LP, así como a través de todos los DSP. Escrito en Toscana en 2022, 'HAND IN THE FIRE' presenta a la violonchelista Linnea Olsson (colaboradora habitual de BRUN) y Samuel Starck, quien desempeñó un papel importante en After The Great Storm de 2020. y Per Eklund, quien actuó en eso y el mismo año en How Beauty Holds The Hand Of Sorrow, sin mencionar It All Starts With One de 2011. En la verdadera tradición de BRUN, la canción ofrece aliento, esta vez "a alguien que se siente incapaz de liberarse de algo que le impide alcanzar su potencial". Muestra los encantos orientales que han influido esporádicamente en otras canciones, entre ellas 'Worship', su dúo con José González en It All Starts With One de 2011, y fue mezclado y masterizado por Prash 'Engine-Earz' Mistry. La canción está acompañada por un impresionante video coreografiado con los bailarines Einar-Anton, Aas Nikkerud, Janine Koertge, Rachel McNamee y Hiroki Ichinose de la Compañía de Danza de la Ópera de Gotemburgo. Dirigida por Shruti Ganguly, una nueva amiga, cineasta, escritora y directora a quien Ane tuvo la suerte de conocer en Oslo en los primeros meses de la pandemia. "He estado ansioso por trabajar con Shruti y el video se convirtió en un proyecto perfecto para que lo hiciéramos juntos, en nuestra nueva ciudad natal, Oslo. El video no existiría sin mi experiencia con "12 Canciones" en 2023 con la Compañía de Danza de la Ópera de Gotemburgo". (Una actuación escénica para música, orquesta y danza de Kenneth Kvarnström) explica Brun. "Fue una experiencia muy especial para mí. Estaba rodeado de estos bailarines de clase mundial en el escenario, e interpreté las versiones orquestales de mi propia música al mismo tiempo que era una parte integral de la coreografía. Se convirtió en el desafío artístico más increíble de mi carrera hasta ahora. Así que cuando estábamos produciendo un video musical para la nueva canción "Hand in the Fire", quería invitar a algunos de los bailarines a expresar la complejidad interna y las emociones contrastadas de las que trata "Hand in the Fire". Quería que fueran mis tentáculos emocionales. Los bailarines y yo comenzamos el trabajo improvisando la canción en un estudio de danza en Gotemburgo, y continuamos la exploración de los movimientos mientras grabábamos el video en Oslo. La coreografía en el video es improvisada". 'HAND IN THE FIRE' ABRE SONGS 2013-23, QUE SE BASA EN LA SEGUNDA DÉCADA DE BRUN COMO UNO DE LOS ARTISTAS CONTEMPORÁNEOS MÁS CONDECORADOS DE Noruega. Con tres Grammys noruegos y dos Grammys suecos entre los múltiples premios alineados en su estantería, ha visto florecer su reputación internacional en el transcurso de los últimos diez años gracias a giras mundiales y prestigiosos conciertos, sobre todo con la Orquesta Sinfónica de la Radio Sueca (que dio origen al álbum Live at Berdwardhallen de 2018, su tercera colección en vivo). También ha contribuido a múltiples bandas sonoras de películas, entre ellas una colaboración con el ganador del premio Emmy Dustin O'Halloran en Puzzle OST de 2018, ¡e incluso disfrutó de un improbable éxito Top 5 en el Reino Unido en 2015 cantando en Dr. Kucho! y 'Can't Stop Playing (Makes Me High)' de Gregor Salto, que, por cierto, ella coescribió. Y todo eso sin mencionar el sMall Matter de sus invitaciones para actuar en la Cena del Premio Nobel 2017 y la Ceremonia del Premio Nobel de la Paz 2018. Hay, es justo decirlo, mucho que celebrar. La voz pura y seráfica de BRUN, con su aleteo tranquilo y distintivo, siempre ha sido crucial para su atractivo, su tono sugiere a alguien que no solo ha soportado su propia parte de sufrimiento, sino que también está, como declara 'Don't Run And Hide', "aquí para ti". "Creo que gran parte de mi música se trata de ser libre", dice, "ser auténtico contigo mismo, estar abierto a la vida, al amor, a experimentar todo lo que la vida puede traer, y pasar por todas sus transiciones. Se trata de lo que nos detiene, y de aceptar que la vida tiene oscuridad pero que siempre se mueve hacia la luz. Y se trata de esperanza. Mucha esperanza". Como enfatiza SONGS 2013-23, es innegable que hay algo emocionante en escuchar a un artista en la cima de su juego, especialmente uno tan dispuesto a desnudar su alma. SONGS 2013-23 sigue al lanzamiento este March of Portrayals, una colección de doce de las versiones más aclamadas de Brun. Contiene las siguientes canciones: The Hand In The Fire / Directions / Don't Run And Hide / Crumbs / Lose My Way / Take Hold Of Me / Honey / You Lit My Fire / All We Want Is Love / Trust / Hanging / Black Notebook / After The Great Storm / Closer / Fingerprints / Last Breath BRUN también ha anunciado una serie de espectáculos en toda Europa a finales de este año como parte de su gira del 20 aniversario. 22.09 HELSINKI Casa De La Cultura 27.09 ESTOCOLMO Cirkus 29.09 JÖNKÖPING Spira 30.09 MALMÖ Live Konserthus 01.10 GÖTEBORG Konserthuset 06.10 SKELLEFTEÅ Sara Kulturhus 14.10 LONDRES Shepherd's Bush Empire 17.10 BERLÍN Admiralspalast 20.10 AMBERES De Roma 21.10 PARÍS La Cigale 22.10 UTRECH Ronda 24.10 HAMBURGO Fabrik 25.10 COPENHAGUE Tienda Vega 26.10 AARHUS VoxHall 04.11 ÖREBRO Konserthuset 05.11 UPPSALA UKK 08.11 BODØ Svømmehallen Escena 09.11 TROMSØ Driv 11.11 TRONDHEIM Tapperiet 12.11 MOLDE Bjørnsonhuset 15.11 OSLO Sentrum Scene 16.11 OSLO Sentrum Scene 17.11 STAVANGER Konserthus 18.11 KRISTIANSAND Kilden 19.11 BERGEN Grieghallen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIbTYJtFabg   Read the full article

[fancyfade]

[image: a comic panel showing Tim Drake, Alfred Pennyworth, and Dick Grayson in a car. Dick is wearing the suit he used to parachute from the stratosphere, tim is wearing a white shirt and brown jacket, and alfred has goggles, a grey jacket, and beret. Alfred is driving, Dick is in the passenger seat, and Tim is in the back. dick is smiling and holding a pendant that says “Space ranger #1″ and Tim is grinning as he pumps his fist and says “You broke four world records, Buss! The free fall altitude record, the human balloon flight altitude record, the longest free fall and the fastest free fall -- what’s next, dick grayson?” end image]

mostly posting this to document a) dick jumped from space like he wanted to (think it was 25 miles up)

and b) someone got him that space ranger amulet which seemed charming. or who knows, maybe he gifted it to himself