#bottlenose are what people picture when they think dolphin

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Lags are the specialist little guys in the world and it’s a shame not many people know this.

[whitedahlia13]

First Sentence Game

Rules: Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

1. Three days ago, Stiles saved Lydia’s life. With the help of their friends, he coordinated a rather masterful plan, risked everything to free her from Eichen House.

That's Where You'll Find Me (Teen Wolf, Stydia, WIP)

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2. Lydia thinks maybe five minutes have passed. Ten at most. Ten minutes standing in the doorway of Derek Hale’s loft, him kneeling with his head in his hands while his sister’s sobs echoed in the cavernous space, the two inches of water flooding the floor not just amplifying the sound but making it a tangible thing—intermittent ripples spreading outward in every direction.

Now, there’s a hand at her back and a soft voice against her ear. “I’ll take you home.”

Some things you just can't speak about (Teen Wolf, Stydia, 6K, complete)

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3. Every night, for the past three weeks, Stiles has been with her. She already has a permanent place in his mind, his heart, his soul. She visits him in his dreams now too. Lydia. Admittedly, this is not entirely uncharted territory. He’s had the occasional dream about her as far back as he can remember. But it’s not like before. He’s not just the boy with hyperactive tendencies who sits behind her in biology class. She’s not just the girl he’s had a crush on since the third freaking grade.

I thought that I was dreaming (when you said you loved me) (Teen Wolf, Stydia, 3K, complete)

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4. Life is good. Lydia is happy. Truly happy. What started as an ordinary summer day is turning out to be quite extraordinary. Stiles is beside her, and they are immersed in color, shades of blue from sky to sapphire that refract rippling patterns of light like a mirrorball. She observes his image in the concave panel of glass that separates them from another world. His expression is relaxed and wonderstruck, lips slightly agape, eyes following the path of a bottlenose dolphin as it circles a pastel-hued reef. He is clearly captivated by what he sees, but his attention never fully leaves her, pinky frequently grazing hers in the most delicate, butterfly-inducing way.

She blindly locates his palm, wrapping her fingers around its warmth and giving it an affectionate squeeze.

He squeezes back, thumb stroking her knuckles, smile blossoming when he says, “I’ve wanted to come here with you for the longest time.” 

This Love (Teen Wolf, Stydia, 1K, complete)

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5. Lydia presses her palms against the cold metal of the door handle. She uses her forward momentum to push down as she steps out of the fluorescence of the school hallway and into the vibrant golden sunlight of mid-afternoon. It’s a clear day towards the end of May, not a single cloud in the sky. A transient breeze gusts through towering oak trees that are bursting with new leaves, casually swishing the hem of Lydia’s floral mini skirt against her thighs as it passes. The air, warm and fragrant, offers the promise that summer is just around the corner. Summer. There is an entire summer with Stiles to look forward to – Lydia can picture it. 

Falling Slowly (Teen Wolf, Stydia, 290K, complete)

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6. My brother, Dean, died on a Thursday night in November. Strange as it sounds, it wasn’t the first time. I’ve helplessly watched him die every day of the week, in every month of the year, dozens of times, in dozens of ways – heroically, senselessly, accidentally, horrifically, suddenly, slowly, bloody, shredded, and broken. But never peacefully, like he deserved.

Lies My Brother Told Me (Supernatural, Sam/Dean, 672 words, complete)

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7. It’s early morning, and the sun is leisurely rising over Beacon Hills. A dome of sky-blue anchors blush pink and pale lavender tones to a subdued earth that is canopied with streaks of silver-coated clouds. Lydia wakes next to Stiles. They are safely nestled in his bed, and he is lying on his stomach; left side of his face planted into the pillow, lips parted and curled up on the right as he mutters something indiscernible about lightsabers while he dreams. His expression is peaceful and content. One of his arms is tucked below his pillow and the other is draped over Lydia’s waist. She is wearing his lacrosse jersey.

Written in the Stars (Teen Wolf, Stydia, 4K, complete)

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8. March 24. Lydia stands at her bedroom window. It’s late morning, but the sky is dark – cloaked by a mass of grey clouds that appropriately hide the sun from curious onlookers. The maple tree that camps outside her window is bare of any buds, bark tinted to black from the ever-present moisture in the air. The surrounding grounds are absent from movement; not a single person, nor a car, not even a bird or squirrel are anywhere in sight. This has been her view for seven days. It’s as if the world is waiting for the end.

A Breath Between Us (Teen Wolf, Stydia, 125K, complete)

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9. There are things you wish for in life, impossible things. Even though you are sometimes painfully aware that they are unattainable, you still work out a ten-year plan in which to attain them. My impossible thing was getting Lydia Martin, the girl I have loved since the third grade, to fall in love with me.

Impossibly Shown (Teen Wolf, Stydia, 10K, complete)

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10. My name is Lydia Martin, and I am hopelessly and irrevocably in love. It’s the kind of love you know you are in when you see him standing down the hall, and you cannot breathe until you’re with him. Those are the words of my best friend, Allison Argent, who helped me see that opening my heart to such a love would make all the best things in life possible.

Impossibly Unspoken (Teen Wolf, Stydia, 10K, complete)

Thank you for tagging me @yourenotdonefighting🫶 Passing the torch to @kylermalloy and anyone else who would like to share their words.

[scriptdogtor]

Answered Ask Part 2: Can they Crash the Wedding?

Original ask: https://www.tumblr.com/scriptdogtor/712265196084838400/one-of-my-favourite-scenes-in-tlm-is-when-the?source=share

Part 1

What is this?: Bottlenose dolphin.

ID notes: The first thing people think of when they need a generic dolphin. Has a long rostrum.

Can this species make it to the barge?: Yes. Most quantifiable animal facts on the internet aren’t averages. This is particularly true for things like land speeds, breach heights, and lifespans. We usually find the most exceptional recorded number and use that as our factoid and it distorts the real-life picture.

So while dolphins can breach absurdly high (~30ft), I couldn’t find data on what an average wild dolphin is capable of.

I’ve been avoiding make a decision on how high the barge sticks up from the water. I have no idea. Google says lots of barges only stick up like 12-15 feet above the water, which would be a breeze for most bottlenose dolphins. Getting down would be a different story and you’re not really supposed to land belly-first on a hard, dry surface.

But in the film all the dolphins do is hover in the air slightly and spit some water. Ignoring coyote time since this is animation, I’d buy dolphins being able to breach that height.

I don’t actually know if cetaceans are capable of spitting out a stream of water like humans can. I feel like it’d be more realistic for them to spew from their blowholes, and that has the bonus of being really, really gross. 

Is this species Asshole Enough?: Pretty much. The “dolphins are assholes” thing going around on the internet doesn’t have a lot of nuance, but a lot of wild dolphins are motivated by novel human reactions to things. This is why you shouldn’t interact closely with wild dolphins - if they find out you’re fun, that means the thing you’re on (dangerous boat) is fun, too.

What is this?: Greater flamingo.

ID notes: Flamingo native to the Mediterranean.

Can this species make it to the barge?: Yes. But I also checked the Crash the Wedding clip and I can’t actually find any flamingoes that participated. So...???

Is this species Asshole Enough?: I don’t actually know. I’ve never worked with flamingoes and I don’t know any flamingo keepers. My guess is probably not, since they’re not known for their human interactions, but large colonies of birds learn how best to get food and if that conflicts with human peace, watch out. This is why seagulls get the asshole treatment - their most efficient ways to get food involve harassing or stealing from humans.

What is this?: California sea lions/fur seals that move weird...?

ID notes: These creatures have ear flaps, which means they can only be sea lions or fur seals. The only pinniped native to the Italian coast is the Mediterranean monk seal, and even then those are rare. That’s not these guys. Fur seals have longer flippers, but honestly it’s hard to tell because they have short flippers when they’re on the barge and they’re lighter like sea lions can be. Honestly, they probably referenced a bunch of seals/sea lions and California sea lions are the ones you tend to get when you’re looking up generic seals (they aren’t seals).

They look roughly the same size, so I want to say they’re all male since they have slightly bulkier heads? Again, this is probably an animation style thing I can let go. On the barge at least one has a sleek head while she’s bouncing Vanessa.

Can this species make it to the barge?: I couldn’t find an average porpoising height for these guys. They do jump on boats a lot, so a solid maybe?

Is this species Asshole Enough?: I mean, they’re highly motivated social creatures, kind of like humans. Humans are often assholes. They could do it.

Shoutout to the pelicans you can’t see that well until they make it to the barge.

What is this?: Great White Pelican.

ID notes: This one is also kind of generic-animal animation - I say great white pelican since it’s native to Italy, huge, though not the largest type of pelican. They’re all white on the barge.

Can this species make it to the barge?: Gets a pass - it can fly.

Is this species Asshole Enough?: Birds that interact with humans tend to act like assholes because it’s how they survive around us. But they can hold prey in their mouths, so they can drop it just the same.

[queenieloveswriting]

The Fool and Her Temperance

Before your parents split, you lived in the outerbanks,with your mum and dad, close to your cousin ,john b. Not long after Big John, your dad's brother, died your mum and dad split, your dad stayed in outer banks to watch over his brothers son and keep his steady job, your mum however took you back to her home country Italy, and you lived in a small but cosy house near your grandparents. Not having a choice as a 7 year old you had to leave outer banks behind. When you got older your mum let you have your dad's number and then eventually you got your cousins, and began to get extremely close.

John and your dad simultaneously kept you up to date on the news and gossip of the outer banks, you'd call each other and it became your Sunday night ritual. Being a call or facetime you'd talk about school, you talked him through a grieving process and eventually settled for his reason to not believe until there is physical evidence. You barely know his friends other than jj whose number you also had, but they knew the name ‘Luna D’Angelo.

It was a Sunday night and you'd just, finally, convinced your mother to let you visit your dad for the summer and soak in the sun while she moved for a promotion during the month in Portland, of all places. You are just about to call john and tell him the news. School was literally out as of Friday and you were sure he was partying like he told you he'd be on Saturday, which is why he called you earlier. After updating your dad, who you also talked to every Friday night after school, You got to john 

After repetitive buzzing he finally picked up, you heard some staticky music and slightly tipsy John b 

“Heyyy Luna you okay we calleddd yesterdayyy i thinkkkk”

“Heyy john yeah we did sorry i just had some really good news i wanted to tell you but i can ring you tomorrow if its better”

“Don't be silllyyy I've only had a few anyways, I'll remember what is it, please don't tell me your pregnant because uncle joe’ll be pisseddd” he chuckled

“No oh my god I just wanted to say that my mum gave me the all clear and I’m coming to live with dad for the summer and maybe longer i don't know but yeah”

The line went silent 

“WOOOHOOO she coming Back GUYS DID YOU HEAR THAT LUNA D’ANGELO IS COMING FOR THE SUMMER "he shouted 

“Woah man stop shouting "you heard from the other line

“Jj bro my cousin you remember my cousin Luna she just told me yeah that she's coming back for the summer and maybe longer if her mum lets her brooo this is going to be the best summer ever lulu I've missed you”

“Wait really bro as in uncle joe’s Luna?”he asked 

“Duh bro the only Luna we know dumbass you wanna say hi”

“What do you mean bro she's not here or is she waiting wha--?”

“She on the phone,ohhh actually you speak to her for a second I'm getting looks from over there”

“Oh wait John its fin--”

Next thing you heard was some shuffling and a deeper voice fill your speaker phone

“Luna you there? "he asked

“Shit yeah hey jj I was about to go anyways but well now you know I’m finally going to meet you and the guys well and girl but”

“yeah you areee” he slurred 

“Anyways I'll see you in about a week j”

“Soon beautiful gunna have the best summer, finally going to a legendary obx party "he laughed, tipsy

“Sounds good jay I'll see you soon bye "you hung up

after finally hanging up on the phone you mentally facepalmed yourself for being so awkward, you went to bed 

A slow week went by, and you had finally arrived in the outerbanks.Stepping of the boating docks you searched the crowd for you dad. Once you spotted him holding a sign that said “bentornato la mia bella figlia”welcoming you back in your second, most used language,italian.Running into your dad's arms,you both had a little cry eventually getting settled into a cosy shack. After catching up with your dad you told him about you and john b becoming close once he gave you his number. Deciding you should surprise him with his arrival, Your dad drove you in his pick up to a block away from the chateau you remember you uncle calling it.

Walking up to the porch you heard voices coming from the dock, followed by their matured bodies coming in from a boat, scrapping your original plan once you saw your cousin, you just screamed running to the completely oblivious family member

“Johnnnn I’m back” you giggled still running

.Catching his attention he turned around running towards you in complete shock “holy fucking shit your here I thought it was tomorrow "he shouted suffocating you with a hug ”oh my god john b i missed you “you giggled and he sent you a watery laugh in return "I wasn't expecting you back soon  wow you look so different from the scrawny little 7 year old in uncle joe’s photos "he cooed

Before you could argue you were aware of the three people sending you confused glares. The only girl there, assuming it was kiara not having seen pictured to put name to face, coughed. ”someone wanna tell me what the fucks going on “she addressed earning john to roll his eyes at the over sassed girl, who had looked slightly jealous ”Kie this is Luna D’Angelo uncle joes daughter I’ve mentioned her she's my cousin, I might have forgot to tell them you were coming “her attitude dropped when she realised it was you “ohmygod ”she physically facepalmed, causing you to laugh "I had no idea you were coming the fuck john dumbass ”she elbowed him walking towards giving you a hug. ”Nice to finally meet you and put a face to name, speaking of you are fucking gorgeous the fuck ”she giggled walking  back to the boys wo still hadn't said anything, causing you to break the silence "so that makes you pope "you pointed to the buff dark skinned boy who nodded ”yeah that's me Luna I had no idea you were coming he's useless” he stated walking up to you with a quick hug “that he is "you turned round to finally face the blonde who had a cheeky smirk on his face shamelessly checking you out you rolled your eyes. Facing him you looked up too him finally seeing what he looked like ,defiantly exceeding “cute", you opened you arms and he came towards you, similarly to john b engulfing you and spinning you in a quick hug “its crazy actually hearing you and seeing you in real life "he teased still hugging you. Aware of the confused gases from the rest you backed out of the hug, missing the slight disappointment on jj’s face. Rolling your eyes at his comment, you looked up into his mischievous eyes and innocently winked taking a second take on his Greek-caved body “I know good to finally see what you guys all look like definitely not what I was expecting though". Turning around to the others who’d been oddly silent "so what's now guys "you asked everyone "well we were just about to go to kiara family's restaurant and grab some free food you wanna come? "John b asked. Following your cousin who was walking down the dock you made conversation with kiara about her Restaurant and how they finally got paper straws, being an environmentalist, you enjoyed discussing this.

When you finally got to the wreck you had made and surprisingly gotten close quite quickly you had conversations with all of them except jj, who was next. After discussing what you think happened to bodies after you die with pope, what was cuter a bottlenose dolphin or a harbour seals with kiara, dolphins winning the argument, and just life with john b how he is coping with  everything including his dad, you wondered what you'd talk about with jj, having brief text conversations with him on the phone you don't know him that well however being the only one you'd actually heard from and the stories about him from john b had been quite funny an intrigued you on the boys with an adrenaline addiction.

Once you sat down ,purposefully next to jj, pope and john b in front of you and kiara walking around helping her dad close up.

“So jj ”you turned facing him "I hear you are quite the adrenaline junkie, correct? "you sassed .Smirking he replied “quite the risk taker princess why’d you ask”

“Well you see now you might have a bit of competition because in Italy I am known as principessa pazza translating to crazy princess so you better be watching yourself blondie” you teased "what's got you that rep princess crazy "he joked. Laughing at his tone you pulled out your phone to a video collage you friends in Italy made of all the things you'd done from surfing to vine swinging. Passing him the phone you studied his priceless face watching yourself, internally hoping he's not judging your body in your bikinis and just watching what you were actually doing “damn Luna that's so sick where are you in this one", he asked scrolling the the clip of you surfing doing a perfect spin in the waves ”oh there, that's actually really funny story you wanna hear? "you asked to which he nodded “so basically me and a bunch of my guy friends, because no girls wanna get there hand dirty over there "you laugh intaking a breath “we had a 4 hour trek to get there and not having a car we had to walk to the mains and hitch hike and walk for about an hour and a half to actually get there with our boards to because we had no money to pay for rentals it was difficult I remember having to sit in the back of this guys car and my friend Ricco say in the front and there was only space for two in the back so i had to sit on Ryan's lap and put my feet on Angelo’s lap so we could have our boards on the floor, anyways once we finally got there and i got the feeling in my legs back we surfed for hours the beach was so busy and we found this beautiful cove which is in the video and the waves were so much better ,best waves I've ever surfed, we all slept on the sand around a makeshift fire from my lighter and so i had to sleep in my bikini them in their shorts because we didn't want to go home covered in sand and anyways after about 6 hours we found our way home, I didn't realise my mum would be back but the 3 weeks of no phone or tv and grounding was totally worth it, and that is what happened in tuscany,italy,ragazzo Biondo "you took a deep breath reliving the memory for a short period of time. "your mum was always a bit melodramatic Lu “your cousins chimed in. You were oblivious to the fact they had been listening to you relive your memories. Rolling you eyed you nodded “want to hear melodramatic she found out that when i was grounded the boys still came through my window and we all were still hanging out when she told me I couldn't and I was grounded for the end of the  month and she took my door off "you rolled your eyes at one of your mums various punishment “why do you think I want to live with dad "you joked.

“Wait so you are moving back? I thought it was only the summer "pope questioned earning a glare from john 

“I am staying for the summer but I was going to ask my dad eventually if I enjoy it here if he wouldn't mind it it would take my mum loads of convincing though but I think I can convince her if I kept my grades solid and got a job  could probably ’be trusted” ”you and john both rolled your eyes at the comment

“So that means there is a 50/50 chance you could be staying? "john asked hopeful

“Most likely cuz I mean id say more 75 no/25 yes but whatever floats your boat ”“I hope you do it'd be so cool to have you here and plus i think your dad would love that, we talk about you a lot, he misses you "he sighed you sent him a smile

“So what do you all do round here, any adventures? "you smirked

John b rolled his eyes but continued to answer your question “its pretty chill and well the same we go out on the boat swim or fish for a bit come home and probably to a kegger on the beach get wasted fight with kooks the usually” he stated "that doesn't sound too bad could surf all day, one question though "you asked and john b hit you with ‘shoot’ "the fuck is a kook? ”you asked earning snickers from the group and an in depth conversation with the boys about the rich snobs on the other side of the island.

Checking your phone it was almost 10:00 and you figured you should probably head home. Saying your goodbyes jj offered to walk you home. Insisting you and your dad lived a block away from his anyway, which was true.

When you arrived at your front door you turned to him and thanked h for walking you home 

“Honestly it's no problem I just wanted to talk to you like one on one for a bit you know, it's good to put a face to Luna and i honestly really hope you can stay longer, we could get used to having you around "he said causing your face to slightly flush at the complement “thanks jay that mean a lot rea-”you were cut off by your dad opening the door “ahh right on time Luna, jj how you doing boy "he asked causing you to look between then a few times in confusion “yeah I'm good sir just walking Luna home we had food at the wreck with the others "he answered your dad “thank you for feeding her son I do my shop tomorrow and was worried "you dad laughed “it's fine anyways I better go before john b locks up or I'll be sleeping on the porch "he said "wait I thought you were going back you yours and that's why you walked here ”jj chuckled "not going back to mine tonight me and john b are going to go out tomorrow so it's just easier if i sleep there "he answered looking up to your dad sending a playful wink to you “goodnight guys catch you tomorrow lulu "he waved off "night jj ”followed by “night son" your dad replied.

When you got in you caught up with your dad for the night and headed to bed looking forward to your full day out tomorrow on the boat with everyone

Tagged-

@sguymon21

A/N 🤷🏽got boredddd,,name and kind of themed on the two tarot cards ‘the fool’ and ‘the temperance’ putting in a summary on my masterlist for the meanings of it . Let me know if you wanna be tagged and if you liked it. Feel free to message me always wanna make some frienddddddss,,thanks for the love on my other fics if your interested here’s my masterlist

[newstfionline]

Friday, August 27, 2021

Coronavirus vaccine mandates for workers (Bloomberg) Using formal federal approval as cover, a growing number of U.S. employers are imposing coronavirus vaccine mandates on workers, increasingly limiting the places people who have shunned shots can work, shop and play. In New York, Goldman Sachs required bankers prove they’d been vaccinated. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University will demand vaccination or negative Covid-19 tests to see a game at Tiger Stadium. CVS has mandated shots for corporate employees and those working with patients. And fossil fuel companies Chevron and Hess added requirements for employees on oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Delta Air Lines even said it would levy a $200 monthly charge on workers who refuse to protect themselves. And the list goes on.

Most US government agencies are using facial recognition (The Verge) A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that 19 of the 24 US government agencies surveyed are using facial recognition in some way, illustrating how commonplace the controversial technology has become within the federal government. The list of agencies includes agencies like the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that maintain in-house systems, alongside smaller agencies that use the system to control access to high-security locations.

Medical intimidation in Mexico (Guardian) Mexico has the world’s fourth-highest COVID-19 death toll—253,000 to date. Researchers believe the true figure could be nearly three times higher because testing numbers are low. When the pandemic hit, demand for oxygen soared. Two companies that supply medical oxygen, Grupo Infra and Praxair Mexico, control 70% of the market together. In 2020, deliveries were often delayed, causing shortages and price increases. Some hospitals responded by building their own onsite oxygen generator plants, with help from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the World Bank. Grupo Infra noticed its orders had begun falling. Grupo Infra’s lawyers, crying breach of contract, embarked on a harrowing campaign against the hospitals, sending threatening letters with misleading and untrue claims, asserting patients’ lives were at risk, and imposing ever-larger fines. When the Bureau of Investigative Journalism accused the company of unlawful intimidation, Grupo Infra said it was not aware of any legal action taken against any hospital for installing its own oxygen-generating equipment. Praxair, which reported $27 billion in sales in 2020, had no comment.

Death toll rises to at least 20 in western Venezuela floods (Reuters) At least 20 people have died in the western Venezuelan state of Merida following intense rains that caused mudslides and rivers to overflow. State governor Ramon Guevara said that more than 1,200 houses had been destroyed and 17 people remained missing as rescue workers search the wreckage. Images shared on social media showed cars being swept down streets, buildings and businesses filled with mud, and mudslides that left boulders strewn across roads.

Uruguay starts to dance again as pandemic subsides (AP) After long months of illness, Uruguay is once again starting to dance. The government last week authorized ballrooms and event halls to open as the country’s COVID-19 death rate—once among the highest in the world per capita—has fallen sharply. Seventy percent of Uruguayans have received both doses of vaccines against the virus and once-overstressed hospitals now have empty beds. The government decided to let ballrooms for dancing open five hours a day—though with limited capacity and mandatory 20-minute pauses each hour to air out closed spaces.

Blue whales returning to Spain’s Atlantic coast after 40-year absence (Guardian) Blue whales, the world’s largest mammals, are returning to Spain’s Atlantic coast after an absence of more than 40 years. The first one was spotted off the coast of Galicia in north-west Spain in 2017 by Bruno Díaz, a marine biologist who is head of the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute in O Grove, Galicia. More have been spotted since then. A typical blue whale is 20-24 metres long and weighs 120 tonnes—equivalent to 16 elephants—but specimens of up to 30 metres and 170 tonnes have been found.

Harris, in Vietnam, gets a dose of China’s challenge to the U.S. (Washington Post) Vice President Harris, on her second international trip in the role, got a taste of the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China as she flew into Vietnam—a former U.S. adversary wary of Beijing’s growing dominance and now courted by Washington. Harris was en route Wednesday to announce, among other things, a donation of 1 million coronavirus vaccine doses to the pandemic-hit country. But a three-hour delay in her schedule handed China a window of opportunity. Beijing quickly sent its envoy in Hanoi to meet with Vietnam’s prime minister and pledged a donation of 2 million vaccine doses, undercutting the subsequent U.S. announcement. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, thanking the envoy, said Vietnam “does not ally with one country to fight against another,” according to state media. The incident underscored the challenges facing the Biden administration as Harris has made her way through Southeast Asia this week, along with Chinese sensitivity about her visit. Washington’s agenda does not always align with that of governments in the region, which face a diplomatic high-wire act in balancing the competing interests of the United States and China—the latter being Vietnam’s top trading partner.

Suicide bombers target Kabul airport (AP) Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. The attacks killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops, Afghan and U.S. officials said. Eighteen service members were wounded and officials warned the toll could grow. More than 140 Afghans were wounded, an Afghan official said. The U.S. general overseeing the evacuation said the attacks would not stop the United States from evacuating Americans and others, and flights out were continuing. Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said there was a large amount of security at the airport, and alternate routes were being used to get evacuees in. About 5,000 people were awaiting flights on the airfield, McKenzie said. The blasts came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport. But that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the U.S. officially ends its 20-year presence on Aug. 31. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the killings on its Amaq news channel. The IS affiliate in Afghanistan is far more radical than the Taliban, who recently took control of the country in a lightning blitz.

Taliban shows off ‘special forces’ in propaganda blitz (AFP) The Taliban has been showing off its own “special forces” on social media, soldiers in new uniforms equipped with looted American equipment who contrast sharply with the image of the usual Afghan insurgent. Pictures and videos of fighters in the so-called “Badri 313” unit have been posted online for propaganda purposes. The soldiers are shown in uniforms, boots, balaclavas and body armour similar to those worn by special forces around the world. Rather than a battered Russian-designed Kalashnikov rifle slung over their shoulder, the men of Badri 313 hold new US-made rifles such as the M4, sometimes with night-vision goggles and advanced gunsights. The amount of equipment at their disposal is unclear, but multiple pictures online show jubilant Taliban fighters posing with captured armoured Humvees, aircraft and weapons abandoned by the defeated US-equipped Afghan national army. Experts say the most sophisticated equipment, especially the helicopters, will be difficult to operate and near-impossible to maintain.

The Real Winner of the Afghan War? It's Not Who You Think. (NYT) Just days after the Taliban took Kabul, their flag was flying high above a central mosque in Pakistan’s capital. It was an in-your-face gesture intended to spite the defeated Americans. But it was also a sign of the real victors in the 20-year Afghan war. Pakistan was ostensibly America’s partner in the war against al-Qaida and the Taliban. Its military won tens of billions of dollars in American aid over the last two decades, even as Washington acknowledged that much of the money disappeared into unaccounted sinkholes. But it was a relationship riven by duplicity and divided interests from its very start after 9/11. Not least, the Afghan Taliban the Americans were fighting are, in large part, a creation of Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI, which through the course of the war nurtured and protected Taliban assets inside Pakistan. In the last three months as the Taliban swept across Afghanistan, the Pakistani military waved a surge of new fighters across the border from sanctuaries inside Pakistan, tribal leaders have said. It was a final coup de grâce to the American-trained Afghan security forces. Pakistan’s already shaky reputation in the West is likely to plummet now, as the Taliban take over Afghanistan. Calls to sanction Pakistan have already circulated on social media. Relations with the United States, already on the downslope, will unravel further. So the question for the Pakistanis is what will they do with the broken country that is their prize?

Biden meets Bennett (Politico) When President Biden meets with new Israeli PM Naftali Bennett in the Oval Office today, the two leaders will have their work cut out for them in repairing a damaged bilateral relationship. Biden is one of a dwindling band of older Democratic leaders holding back a tide of younger progressives who want the U.S. to adopt a much tougher line with Israel. The Jerusalem Post notes there is just one thing on Bennett’s mind: “Iran, Iran and more Iran.” Bennett, who heads a shaky coalition and is a neophyte on the world stage, has made it clear in recent days that Israel wants Biden to drop any plans for a return to the Iran nuclear agreement that former President Donald Trump tore up, and instead back Israel’s plan for a potential military option to degrade the Iranian program. On the big issues, Biden is as far apart with Bennett as he was with former PM Netanyahu. In an interview with the NYT this week, Bennett “said he would expand West Bank settlements that Mr. Biden opposes, declined to back American plans to reopen a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem and ruled out reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians under his watch.”

The cost of war (AP) Hamas and Israel have engaged in four wars in Gaza in thirteen years. The pattern is always the same: Palestinian rocket fire, devastating Israeli airstrikes, a mounting loss of life and property, and appeals for the “senseless cycle” to stop. According to the U.N., there has been more than $5 billion (in 2021 dollars) in damage to Gaza’s homes, agriculture, industry, electricity, and water infrastructure. 4,000 plus Palestinians have been killed, half of them civilians. The death toll in Israel is 106, including civilians, soldiers, and foreign residents The property damage is estimated to reach $193 million. U.N. economist Rami Alazzeh says Gaza’s economy is caught in a “vicious” cycle of destruction, reconstruction, and infusions of aid “just to get it back to before this military operation. If this cycle keeps going on, Gaza can never recover.” Palestinian officials say 70% of Gaza’s two million residents are under age 30. The median age is 19, compared to 30 in Israel. Gaza’s young adults have spent their childhood and adolescent years in an active war zone, and symptoms of PTSD are common. And under Hamas, unemployment among young people has worsened, standing at 62% in June. “This is a lost generation,” Alazzeh said.

[poppun-chan]

The Year of Keroro Challenge Update 5 (Yes Sir)

We’re Back! Actually this one was much easier than the last when I actually had the chance to work on it. Either way I’m going to be doing this a little bit differently, the end result will still be the same it’s more a difference in the production process so it will be easier to catch up.

On that note I had a bit of a surprise, I thought I was going to have several bits of writing to cover between the “Room of Reflection” and Labbie’s dry erase board on uses for bread crusts, but now it turns out both of those were more or less covered by Funimation (A few of the room of reflection notes seem to have been missed) so I have a whole bunch of unexpected free space now which I’d like to use to thank everyone who has been following my updates....And to give a special mention to DeadofFrogs who has been commenting on all of them, I just wanted to let you know that I do read and appreciate your comments, even if I can’t always think of something to say in response.

And now as usual, the plan count:

Serious Plans: K66:18 D66:1 MMK:1 TMM:1 (The anime one was a bit hard to classify since it could also be a funding one)

Funding Plans: K66:2

It’s a plan, I Swear!: K66:6 (I threw the birthday one in for good measure) 

Oh look! Progress!: K66:3

Also I somehow forgot to bring this up last time but in regards to episode 22, has anyone else realised this? It’s a bit odd that Tamama made such a big deal out of being leader since, unless he’d have to cross Momoka in the process, he technically has an army of sorts at his disposal already in the form of Momoka’s bodyguards (speaking of which, I wonder how he kept everything from that episode from getting back to her)

Episode 29: Oh goodness this episode is just full of fun little easter eggs....And Keroro’s acting, that’s just hilarious. Either way the first is Keroro parody Chigusa Tsukikage, the acting mentor from the shoujo manga “Glass Mask” who has a similar hairstyle to the one Keroro wears in the episode to hide the burn marks on her face. Rabbie’s bit about uses for bread crusts is a nod to a trope in Japan that a staple food for poor characters is the bread crusts that bakeries throw away when making their sandwiches (They sell crust-less sandwiches)

I remember somebody mentioning that the members of the Newspaper club are likely inspired by the human children from Doraemon (less Nobita), and I can sort of see that; but more than that has anyone else noticed the small animal they test the device on looks a bit like Ryo-ohki from the Tenchi series? No really, look at it.

Episode 30: Now let’s all be honest with our ourselves, this episode represents our worst case scenario when meeting our online friends; we all say it’s finding out the other person is really a creep twice our age sporting a moose hat or a serial killer or something like that, but after several years we can assume such people would have lost patience. No, secretly the thing we dread the most is having the other person meet the people we see everyday and reference all the times we’ve vented our frustrations over things they’ve done. 

Oh! One thing I noticed was that Taruru mentions being the representative of the 4th year group, not the kindergarten group....granted that doesn’t really tell us that much; in Japan only elementary school has a 4th year, but since Keron is a different planet altogether they could have a fourth year of middle school or high school, or it could be a system where the first year of training starts much later than you’d except (maybe around 11 or 12). Another is at the end Tamama says “Our Generation’s Turn”, not “Your Generation”, but the Funimation release’s subtitles fixed that anyway (my guess it is was a typo, it does make more sense with “Our” though since the age gap between the two doesn’t seem to be that big)

Moving along to part b, regardless of your stance on these sort of things and whether we should show developing characters being insecure about their appearances and working through it or whether we should have them always be satisfied with it no matter what (I lean more towards the former, it covers the people who arrive at insecurities on their own), can we just take a moment to look at Momoka’s Mother? She more or less looks the way Momoka wants to and considering the other ways she takes after her Mother, just waiting a few years to see what happens seems a viable option (Though I have to admit I never understood when other girls compared their appearances to adult women; it’s like comparing a kitten and a cat, you’re a similar thing but you’re not there yet). I have to admit I never really went through this though, my parents didn’t really draw much attention to these things and there’s quite a lot I didn’t notice about my appearance until I turned 20 (Plus I had a back brace I wore most of the day from ages 9-15 because my back muscles weren’t strong enough and after it came off most of the major changes had already happened, like a butterfly)

Episode 31: Aww! This one was quite cute, really there’s no other way I can describe it, this episode has a lot of really adorable moments between Keroro’s excitement over his space craft, the effort he goes through to make it back with his souveneer, and the moments with the narrator. And of course the two sweetest moments of the episode: the interaction with the Mojajin had the same sort of charm as seeing somebody pay a backhanded, yet sincere compliment and seeing Natsumi go searching for Keroro was adorable as well. I’m going to admit, when I first watched the series Natsumi’s way of handling the aliens rubbed me the wrong way and it still does, especially when she does the authoritarian “I’m forbidding it and expect you to just accept it” bit (honestly, I can’t condone that behaviour in anyone), so the opening was a bit dicey for me but the ending makes up for it. Really Keroro and Natsumi have one of the most tumultuous relationships in the show, so the rare moments when we get to see that they do care about each other are always nice to see.

And as a side note, the moment with the frog was absolutely hilarious; I always love it when you see characters based on an animal species interacting with that animal (Honestly, I’m shocked that after four movies Equestria Girls still hasn’t done a “Pony meets Horse” joke)

Episode 32: I’m going to take a moment to ask the one question that’s been burning in the back of my mind since I first saw this episode and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s wondered this: What would happen if they used this thing on a frog? Would it turn into a Human or a Keronian? There’s the potential for quite a few humour moments with this one and I would have loved to see that explored a bit. Also does anyone else find it funny that when Keroro explains why a Panda would make a good ally he basically describes a role that’s already filled by Tamama? Having a cute appearance, but becoming violent when you get too close. Actually Pandas aren’t especially aggressive towards humans, they have attacked them, but usually out of irritation (Dolphins would fit the cute yet deadly bit better than a Panda, some species such as the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin hunt for sport).

Having said that I’m guessing the Zoo they visit is based on the Ueno Zoo since that Zoo is located in Tokyo and did have a Panda at the time; though that Panda was male, also the Elephants they had during the war died of starvation, there’s a memorial, and a historically inaccurate picture book about it and everything

Episode 33: Now this one is interesting, my goal is to be a director/producer of animation (I’ve actually been working on a story board for a fan project) so I always enjoy a peek into the production process, especially for shows. It’s doubly interesting since the process they show is very different from in North America where the voice acting is typically done first, while the method shown here has it as the last step (it must make dubbing foreign shows easier though, if you usually do something similar anyway)

Though there are a couple of options for a difficult to draw pose that weren’t in here that I remember from the classes I took, one is taking a picture so you don’t have to have a model standing for as long. The other is a bit controversial considering the sensibilities I’ve seen from some fan artists, but it’s something called a swipe file. Basically it’s a collection of pictures that that catch your interest that you can use for inspiration, reference and things you can’t get to look right. I know some people don’t approve, but some professionals do actually trace poses and details they have trouble with, especially if it’s something like key animation where you have to make a large number of drawings in a short period of time with nothing to work off of (in-between animation is easier since you’re working off the key drawings and most of the image is the same once you figure out how the character will go from pose a to pose b, and the inking stage of cel animation even more so, enough that Walt Disney replaced the entire inking depart with photocopy machines after Sleeping Beauty released in theaters because the film did poorly and the studio was in financial trouble as a result). If nothing else it’s a good way to practice since you can build muscle memory.

I just wanted to mention this since I remember a while back in another fandom that a lot of people were scandalised when it came out that one artist known for drawing comics had been using screenshots to get the basic pose he built the character on top of and I thought people’s reactions were a bit unfair given how quickly he had been putting his comics together. Especially since nobody was bothered by vector tracing and it’s apparently something that the animation industry has done for years (Some actually do more than that, I remember reading a book from overseas that mentioned a possible shortcut for monochrome pieces of keeping a stack of travel and real estate brochures and catelogues to cut out background from. That I don’t know if you’d be able to do here though) 

Episode 34: Oh I remember this one, to be honest I prefer the ending in the anime version, not just because everyone gets to go, but also because it acknowledges the fact that Keroro never needed a ticket to begin with (on a side note, I feel the Tamama shaped canon on Momoka’s powered suit is a fun little touch). 

As for part 2, actually I don’t think I’ve watched either part of this episode very many times, but watching it again I’m surprised that one Duet with Keroro & Fuyuki doesn’t play, the one about finding a pebble while walking....Having said that I remember back when I first watched the series, the song boulevard of broken dreams played on the radio a lot and I think this episode was the reason for a parody that always popped into my head of Keroro singing it as “Boulevard of broken plates” (By the way, the best way to fix ceramics is to moisten it and use crazy glue; it needs moisture to stick so running it under the faucet should work)

Episode 35: It’s the birthday episode! I remember this inspiring an entire discussion trying to work out the approximate Birthdays of each character based on astrology (Fuyuki & Momoka have actual hints since we see their birthdays celebrated; Fuyuki’s is likely mid-October and Momoka’s in late March) we actually worked out a few, though I remember we had trouble with Dororo, Mois, Koyuki & Saburo & I’m not sure what we ultimately settled on.

Having said that Keroro’s does fit really well, there’s one person my family knows (the mother of my closest friend growing up) who has her birthday the day before Keroro’s and there are certain....similarities in their behaviour (To give you an idea, my mom first met her when I was in kindergarten and she asked my mom to be the emergency contact for her son who was in my class and my mom agreed to avoid her asking someone dangerous)

Also the gifts Giroro gives Natsumi are space versions of the items the title character of Kaguya Hime asks five suitors (one per suitor) to bring her to win her hand in marriage, in the end all of them fail since the tasks were supposed to be near impossible (it was more to stop them bothering her parents). Either way Giroro’s comment that he casually picked them up for her would probably have been a bit more believable if he had taken that claw/fang out of his head first....just a thought.

[sweatybrandon]

Thank you @howellobrien for tagging me! :)

 5 things you’ll find in my bag: keys, shopping bags, purse, bottle of water, loads of pens

5 things you’ll find in my bedroom: Small selection of books (doing my uni room), coffee machine, alcohol (I’m a student), pictures of my dogs, my laptop

5 things i’ve always wanted to do in life: Become a marine biologist, See as many cetaceans as I can (currently only on 4 species but I dread t think how many individual bottlenose I have seen!), Go to Vancouver Island, Learn to scuba dive, See McFly live properly (across the devil dyke doesn’t really count)

5 things i’m currently into: Emmerdale, Like everyone else in the world Ed Sheerans new album, reading fanfiction, going for walks by the sea, the Northern lights (Seeing them as sparked a bit of an obsession with KP indexes!) 

5 things on my to-do list today: Tidy my room (should be doing that now...), revise some maths, catch up on the maths lecture I missed on Thursday because I slept through it (I was up late the night before watching the aurora ok it’s a good excuse!), Cook tea, Get a decent nights sleep

5 things people may not know about me: A holiday I went on when i was like 5 has basically dictated my whole lie choices since (I saw dolphins for the first time basically), When I was in primary school I thought I knew exactly what university i would go to and was certain of that for like 7 years and now I’m at one I never even knew existed and I am so happy about it (Side note: if anyone here is looking at going to uni and wants to ask me anything feel free to message me because I know how bloody scary it is), I have mid frequency deafness and am meant to wear hearing aids (I don’t), I am the eldest sibling, I am currently procrastinating. 

I tag: @the-curious-paracosm, @thank-your-lucky-stars, @iknowiwillregretthis, @love-randomblog, @the-ramblings-of-a-ravenclaw, @louiseeleanorbee

[myaekingheart]

I've been seriously lagging here so I'm just going to dump all of my dreams (that I remember) from the past couple nights into one big post.

Wednesday night: 1) I don't remember this first dream very well except that it had something to do with a school assigment. I think I was in a dark classroom? I don't know, it's really faded from my memory at this point. 2) My boyfriend and I were at the community pool in my grandma's neighborhood. Nobody was there, we had the entire place to ourselves, so we figured we'd live it up a little and go skinny-dipping. He tossed his navy blue swim shorts onto the side of the pool and I slipped out of a neon orange one-piece (which I have no idea why that was a thing because I'd never in my life wear a neon orange one-piece but anyways) and we splashed around in the pool ass naked and got all touchy-feely and shit and it was a grand old time. Until the crotchety old man next door saw us. For the longest time, in real life, there was this really nasty old man who lived right next door to the community pool and he'd always come stomping out of his home and start scolding the people in the pool if he caught anything going awry. This was especially true of unfamiliar children (which were practically all children since this is a self-proclaimed 55+ community) he caught that may have jumped the fence. The man is long gone now, though, he died a few years back, but anyways, so he shows up in the dream stomping out of his house all pissed and whatnot because these two college kids are skinny dipping in his neighborhood pool so my boyfriend and I grab our swimsuits and rush out of there while we're trying to get them back on and that was the end of our little naked swimming adventure. Later that night in the same dream, though, I found myself stuck at a family dinner at the community pool. The way the pool is set up is that there are two tents on either side of the pool with tables and chairs, lounge chairs surrounding the rest of the pool, and then at the shallow end there's a little clubhouse that's basically just a screened in room with a men's bathroom on one side and a women's bathroom on the other and a big outdoor table and chairs in the middle. That's where we were having a big family dinner; it was me, my parents, my grandmother, and my aunt and uncle from up north. So we were sitting around and everyone was laughing and talking and carrying on as you do but meanwhile I was sitting there absolutely panicked, terrified of what would happen if everyone found out about how I got in trouble at that very same pool earlier that day. I forget if word actually broke out about it in this scenario or not but I do remember some sort of uproar and finding out that my aunt was involved in drugs at my age, at first thinking it was marijuana because that's the most likely scenario (my aunt and her husband are very much leftover hippies) but ending up discovering that she was into meth instead. 3) The last dream I had was far less dramatic than the skinny-dipping one yet somehow still found me swimming someplace? It wasn't until I woke up that I realized how similiar this dream was to the last dream I had about this scenario but basically the gist of it was that I was at some gorgeous freshwater spring and there were tons of bottlenose dolphins around that I was swimming with and I had my mermaid tail on and I think there were other mermaids around me which was cool as fuck. I distinctly remember holding onto one of the dolphin's dorsal fins and riding him around the cove with my mermaid fin on and it was fucking great.

Thursday night: I only had one dream Thursday night that I can remember but it was one of those bothersome dreams that feels realistic and conveys some situations that you're not sure you're entirely comfortable with. I dreamt that I had stayed in bed all day until about 2pm, which isn't totally inaccurate, but that while I was asleep, my boyfriend went out to a friend's house. He came home and sat on the edge of the bed beside me and was ranting and raving about something regarding the best way to heat up leftover grilled cheese? But I remember he was also showing me pictures that got posted on facebook of him at his friend's house. It wasn't necessarily anything terrible, just the ordinary stuff, but there was one person there who made the entire situation that much more uncomfortable. The only specific picture I remember from the post was one of my boyfriend sitting on a dimly lit living room on a brown couch kind of similar to the one we have in our living room next to some of his work friends (one of who I recognized as a girl he works with who I've met a few times before) playing video games and whatnot, and there was a table of snacks in front of them like chips and salsa and pretzels and whatnot. Among my boyfriend and his work friends, though, was none other than my boyfriend's dead ex's brother sitting at the end of the couch with headphones on and a Playstation controller in his hand looking very enthralled in whatever game it was that he was playing. This shook me and I think took more of my focus than anyone else in these pictures just because this guy was just so out of place in a setting such as this and I couldn't comprehend why he was there at all. I understand he and my boyfriend are still distant friends, they spent a lot of time hanging out together when my boyfriend was younger and the two of them would play video games with my boyfriend's ex, the guy's sister, all the time but it just seemed so bizarre and random that he was there where I felt he didn't belong. I don't know, it just kind of shook me up.

Friday/last night: I only had one dream (that I can remember) last night, as well, and I don't really know why I remember it or why I had it in the first place. I dreamt I was working at this high-scale fast food restaurant as a cashier so I was standing in front of this touch screen computer punching in people's orders as they approached me. For some reason I remember calling the place Whataburger even though it obviously was not Whataburger. If anything, it reminded me of my community college's cafeteria with lots of high windows, sleek white tables, and chairs of all different colors. You know what the place really looked like? It looked like a Piet Mondrian painting in restaurant form. It was honestly a really cool looking place and that whole modern-geometric-abstract style really worked well from an interior design perspective. As for the architectural aspect, the build of the place reminded me a lot of the McDonald's that used to be at Downtown Disney in Orlando, where that stupid Pollo Campero is now. But anyways, I remember standing there behind this touch screen computer cash register thing and I think I was the only one working the front? Maybe there was one other person with me? Either way, it was pretty goddamn empty except for the few people that would come in, order food, and then leave. I remember thinking to myself how easy yet repetitive the whole thing was, wondering why I had never gotten a job sooner or something, and maybe part of the dream involved my boyfriend getting mad at me and saying I needed to go out and get a job and start earning a living and pulling my weight around here rather than depending on my parents to pay all of my bills for me or something. In retrospect, I feel like maybe this is more of a secret pressure I'm slowly increasing upon myself rather than something my boyfriend is thinking, since I know the thought of me leaving the house on my own and traversing the city by myself makes him insanely nervous and he said he feels safer knowing I'm at home all the time or something, which makes sense since there's a lot of sketchy people in our town and he wants to keep me as safe as humanly possible. I'm pretty sure he wants to be the breadwinner of the house here, anyways, because I know he's said he wishes he had a better job and earned more money so we could afford to buy our own house, I think he said something once about he wished he could afford for me to never have to get a job in the first place or something but that could just be me twisting memories or whatever. All I know is that he wants to keep me as safe as possible and do his best to provide for us. But anyways, back to the dream. I remember standing there and thinking to myself how easy albeit repetitive this job was and wondering why I never got a job sooner, but then quickly realizing the reason I've held off: my anxiety. I remember standing there and suddenly feeling myself spiral into a panic attack, I think over forgetting to punch in a woman's drink order along with her food. The creepy part is that I swear it almost felt like I was really spiralling into an anxiety attack like I could feel my hands start to tingle and go numb and my throat tightened up and my heart started racing and I could feel myself start to break out into a cold sweat. I remember someone, a co-worker, telling me to take my break and sit down for a minute or maybe I told the co-worker I was going to take my break and sit down for a bit or something? Either way, I went on my fifteen minute break and took a seat at one of the tables by a window on the same wall as the entrance door and just tried to calm myself down with deep breaths and whatnot but it wasn't really helping. I was still panicking. I don't really remember what happened afterward but if anything, that dream is just a congregation of thoughts and fears about the conflict I've feared for months about getting a job. I want to get a job so I can be more independent and start earning my own money but at the same time, I always have my anxiety to think about, like it's always in the back of my mind and I'm constantly terrified that if I do get a job, I'll break out into a panic attack at any moment during my shift and that's honestly really fucking bothersome. It doesn't help that I've never had a job before, I've always been a student full-time getting money from my parents so I can devote all my time and energy into my academics, so the thought of getting a job is new and terrifying and I never know what to expect. I don't know, man, it was just fucking weird.

[euroman1945-blog]

The Daily Tulip

The Daily Tulip – News From Around The World

Thursday 28th June 2018

Good Morning Gentle Reader….  What a beautiful morning, crystal clear skies and a myriad of stars gracing the heavens, Ah! The joys of living in paradise... Bella and I elected to go a different route this morning.. or should I say a cat made it for us.. honestly, no matter which direction I take so long as I have Bella by my side I don't care.. we enjoyed the highways and byways of Estepona, seeing the lights of ships waiting to get into Gibraltar...the flashing lights of planes en-route to somewhere, it really doesn't matter, it all makes the panoply of life.. and as we walk back to the house and coffee I am reminded that the land I walk upon has been trod by Greeks, Romans, Moors, Jews, Phoenicians, Huguenots and Neanderthal man long before our feet touched the land...

THE SHORT HISTORY OF MOUNTAINEERING’S HOT YOUNG STAR…. He’d reached the summit. By the time he was 25, Canadian Marc-André Leclerc had quietly established a reputation as a climber who took the most perilous routes up mountains often known only to climbers because of their difficulty. But in March, he and American climber Ryan Johnson sent photos from the top of the sheer-faced Mendenhall Towers near Juneau, Alaska, and were never heard from again. Only their equipment was found, and it’s thought that an avalanche struck them, demonstrating that even the best mountaineers aren’t immune to nature’s fury.

'DON'T SWIM WITH WILD DOLPHINS' WARNING …. People have been warned to keep their distance from wild dolphins after a woman was photographed swimming with a cow and its calf. Boat skipper Jonathan Evans witnessed the incident at Ynys Lochtyn off the coast of Cardigan Bay in Ceredigion last month. He described the woman's behaviour as "selfish" and "unsympathetic". Ceredigion council said people should enjoy coastal activities but not disturb special wildlife and habitats. Mr Evans, from Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips, took photographs of the incident before intervening. He said: "It was a family with two kayaks - a mum, dad, little boy and little girl... they were within feet of the dolphins. "The mum was in the water and was pursuing the dolphin repeatedly." He was concerned the young girl was also going to enter the water so shouted over to the kayakers. "We needed to explain they were in a conservation area and it was against the law to swim with dolphins," he said. He later reported the incident to the marine protected area officer. "I have sympathy for the need for people feel to get close to these animals," he said. "I'm not the person to be lecturing about visiting dolphins when we run a boat trip business but they probably don't know the rules and it's worth going over to them and explaining the rules. " The Ceredigion Marine Code of Conduct asks water users to stay 100 metres away from dolphins and porpoises encountered at sea. Under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 it is an offence to deliberately disturb cetaceans. A spokeswoman for Sea Watch Foundation urged people not to closely approach bottlenose dolphin.

LOST CAT REUNITED WITH OWNER AFTER 10 YEARS…. A cat which went missing a decade ago has been reunited with its owner. Harry disappeared from Mark Salisbury's former home in Ipswich, Suffolk, in 2008 but last month he turned up at the Ipswich branch of the Blue Cross. The charity was told his elderly owner had died but after scanning the cat's microchip Harry was traced back to Mr Salisbury, who now lives in Gloucestershire. Mr Salisbury said he "could never quite bring myself to cancel the microchip". The ginger and white kitten was one of two Mr Salisbury got from a farm near Great Yarmouth when he was in his early 30s. "He didn't turn up one day when I was calling the pair of them in," he said. "His brother, who was always a hooligan, his behaviour changed markedly - he was very shy, wasn't keen on going out and became very clingy." After searching for the lost kitten for more than a year, Mr Salisbury almost gave up hope when he moved out of the area but could never bring himself to cancel the microchip. "Every time I moved home I would email the firm and update them," he said. "But after 10 years, you think that's it and you make peace with that." Mr Salisbury said he was "surprised" and "so happy" to find out his cat had been found in May.

ANTARCTICA LOSES THREE TRILLION TONNES OF ICE IN 25 YEARS…. Antarctica is shedding ice at an accelerating rate. Satellites monitoring the state of the White Continent indicate some 200 billion tonnes a year are now being lost to the ocean as a result of melting. This is pushing up global sea levels by 0.6mm annually - a three-fold increase since 2012 when the last such assessment was undertaken. Scientists report the new numbers in the journal Nature. Governments will need to take account of the information and its accelerating trend as they plan future defences to protect low-lying coastal communities. The researchers say the losses are occurring predominantly in the West of the continent, where warm waters are getting under and melting the fronts of glaciers that terminate in the ocean. "We can't say when it started - we didn't collect measurements in the sea back then," explained Prof Andrew Shepherd, who leads the Ice sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (Imbie). "But what we can say is that it's too warm for Antarctica today. It's about half a degree Celsius warmer than the continent can withstand and it's melting about five metres of ice from its base each year, and that's what's triggering the sea-level contribution that we're seeing," he told The Daily Tulip.

FRENCH JOGGER DETAINED AFTER CROSSING US-CANADA BORDER…. A young French woman who went for an evening jog along a Canadian beach spent two weeks in US immigration detention after straying across the border. Cedella Roman, 19, who was visiting her mother in British Columbia, decided to run along the beach that leads to Canada's border with the United States on 21 May.Ms Roman told Canadian media she turned on to a dirt path for a few metres as the tide rose, and stopped to take a picture before retracing her steps. She was then confronted by two US border patrol agents who arrested her for crossing into Blaine, Washington. "He started telling me that I had crossed the border illegally and I told him I really did not do it on purpose," Ms Roman told Radio-Canada (in French). The French national thought that she might be given a warning or, at worst, be fined. "I did not think they would put me in jail," she said. But to jail she did go, as the officers took her more than 220km (136 miles) south to the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center, a privately run immigration prison in Washington state. With no identification on her and just the clothes she was wearing, Ms Roman started to realise the gravity of her situation. "They asked me to remove all my personal belongings with my jewellery, they searched me everywhere," Ms Roman told the Canadian broadcaster CBC. "Then I understood it was getting very serious, and I started to cry a bit." She said she was held in a room with about 100 other people. "We were locked up all the time and in the yard there was barbed wire and dogs," she told French news agency AFP. "We tried to help each other, there was a good atmosphere. "Seeing people who had come from Africa and elsewhere locked up for trying to cross the border, it put my experience into perspective." She was allowed to contact her mother, Christiane Ferne, who came to the detention facility with Ms Roman's passport and work permit. But US officials would not let her leave until Canadian immigration authorities first confirmed she was allowed back into the country. Both sides eventually agreed she could return to Canada, but only 15 days after Ms Roman first set off on her jog.

Well Gentle Reader I hope you enjoyed our look at the news from around the world this, Thursday morning… …

Our Tulips today is rich and royal…

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Thursday 28th June 2018 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus #travel #news #blog #love #immigration #Spain

[ginasneesby]

Paihia, bay of islands and the Northland

My first travelling experience was to go North from Auckland and check out the area there known as the Northland. I had been there briefly last time but I don't really remember what we did, looking on the map the town of Paihia was right in the bay of islands and didn't require a ferry to get to it, so I booked a hostel for 4 nights starting on a Saturday so I could meet some people and go to some bars. The journey up was pretty smooth, they were selling $8 tickets on certain films and the cinema was on my way up so it would have been rude to not stop and see something. I was on the road by about 12:30 and it was a straight shoot up the highway, there was a little bit of traffic but most of the driving was easy, the weather was good and there weren't too many people on the roads. I got to Paihia about 5 o'clock and checked straight into the hostel, it was easy to find as there are basically 3 streets in the town and they all stem from the same road which runs along the beach. I was in a 6 bedded dorm but I was first to check in so the guy said I could choose any bed including the double which was on the bottom of a bunk, I briefly thought about not taking it just in case there was a couple who would want it but then thought they would have paid for two beds anyway so fuck it; I wanted it!

As there was no one else in my room yet I didn't have anybody to automatically hang out with, but there were some people in the courtyard having some beers and I heard a British accent so I went to the shop at the end of the road, bought a six-pack and asked if I could join them. They were an interesting bunch of people two went to uni together in the UK, the girl was with a kiwi guy and lived in a nearby town whereas the guy was doing a PhD in fishing conservation and decided to do it there near his friend. The other girl was from America and knew the English guy through another acquaintance, she was going to be living with her boyfriend in Sydney but had a few weeks before starting work and so came to see him. They all worked in Conservation and Forestry which was quite interesting especially as New Zealand cares a lot about it's environment and native flora and fauna. I'm not sure my British humour came across the whole time, one of the girls was talking about eating avocado on toast when hungover and how disappointing it was and I said "well in fairness you brought on yourself by eating avocado!" I think she thought I was really having a dig and so give me a bit of a look. They kindly let me join them for dinner and we traveled up the street going from bar to bar ending up in a bit of a dive where you could play pool, the last game was really dragging on so we abandoned it and I decided to head back to bed at around midnight.

Sadly they were only there for that night so the next day I did my own thing, I looked up what was good around the area ventured out on foot to check out the beach and a nearby walk up in the hills, it was a pretty hot day and quite humid walking through the bush but the view from the top was beautiful with bright blue skies and clear seas across the bay. Tuesday was going to be waitangi day, celebratingwhen the treaty was signed between the Maori and British and it just so happened that the treaty grounds where in Paihia, so I headed over to see how much it would be to get in which was $50 for non-residents and given I have nothing to show I live in Auckland I would have had to pay that. However the women on the desk informed me that on waitangi day it would be free entry all day and there would be things going on but it would be quite busy, I hesitated to say New Zealand busy is not quite the same as England busy, grabbed a program and headed off. I went to some nearby waterfalls called the Huru Falls, which were pretty beautiful and hung around there for a bit in the sun, on the way back the sea looked very enticing so I parked along the road and went for a quick swim. There was a small Jetty out in the sea, and a bunch of kids were playing on it and annoying the teenagers on the other side, eventually the teenage boys got involved and started throwing the girls in the water, accompanied by many screams but they looked like they were having an amazing time. I dried off a bit while watching them laughing to myself as it reminded me so much of Holiday Club, I headed back to the hostel and sat by the pool reading my book for a bit but decided not to get in the water again. I was up early the next day so I grabbed something small for dinner and went to bed with some Netflix.

The next day I had pre booked a bus tour which went from Paihia along the 90 mile beach and up to Cape Reinga which is the most northern point of the country, the coach seemed to have the front of a proper truck which meant that it could drive along the beach and go quite fast. This was necessary as the tide was coming in as we drove up and he decided not to turn off at the halfway point so we were committed and just had to hope the water hadn't come in too far so we could get through at the top. Of course he's been doing this for years and can recognise when he's going to be able to get through and when he won't, although he did say that the day before he had to drive up a stream and over a hill to get to the other side as the water had come in too far and he would have sunk. Just off the beach he stopped at some sand dunes and gave us some boards to do a bit of sand boarding, there was a baby slope or a bigger slope which came down into some water so you would get wet, I was wearing my swimsuit under a little jumpsuit so didn't mind getting wet so I went for the big'n! Most people went for the other one but a couple of ladies joined me who were well into their 60s and loved it, I tell you what though if you've never climbed up a sand dune it is really fucking difficult, but damn it's good for your thighs. Going down was great fun I lifted up my feet for extra speed and managed to cross the whole stream once or twice, one of the ladies kept putting one foot deeper than the other in the sand making her go a bit sideways and eventually completely wiped out rolling off her board flying through the water and sending her sunglasses to the other side. She was fine though, probably a little bit bruised but she went back up and had another go, this time coming down straight. We were provided lunch, which was amazing, some barbecued meats and giant bowls of pasta, potato and green salads on a beautiful beach slightly further up the coast, there was even a little doggy to keep us entertained although once he'd eaten the flobby bits off the steak he wasn't interested anymore. We piled back on the bus and drove a short way up to our final destination which was Cape Reinga, we had close to an hour to walk down to the lighthouse and see where the two bodies of water meet, the Tasman Sea to the West and the Pacific Ocean to the East. You can see a clear line between the two as they were different colours something to do with the way they mix up the sand and sediment from the bottom, the walk down was easy as it was downhill and didn't feel like very far however coming back in the heat, uphill all the way was quite tiring and actually meant that I used up the hour very easily. We had an option of stopping at a famous fish and chip shop on the way home, but we were still quite full from lunch and so decided not to, we drove all the way back in one which was probably close to 3 hours but we were all tired by this point so it wasn't really a hardship. I was inspired though and later on in the evening went and got myself some fish and chips, I sat outside my room with a couple of beers and enjoyed the warm evening. I met a new girl who was staying in my room, she was also a nurse from Reading and was travelling for the year, also needing a break from the hardships of the NHS at the moment. She had a friend who lived in Russell which was just across the water, so I couldn't convince her to join me the next day as she had plans but we chatted that evening and the next.

Waitangi day- there was stuff going on all day and I was quite tempted to get up to watch the wakas coming in across the Harbour but this would have meant getting up at 5:30, I had booked myself on a boat tour in the afternoon so I was going to get in the car drive to the treaty grounds to have a look around and see all the other things that we're going on. However I got a call in the morning saying there weren't enough people so could they move me to a different boat tour which left at 12:30, technically this one was more expensive and included a stop at a small island where I could get a later ferry back included in the price; so I decided to do that. I still had about an hour and a half so I set out to the treaty grounds, it took me 20 minutes to go about a hundred metres so I abandoned it and decided to go after my boat tour, I did however notice a cafe that did amazing looking breakfasts which was right opposite the boat terminal so I jumped in there and had a huge pile of French toast which set me up for the day. The boat tour was great it went around the bay, stopped at a couple of Islands and then went out to Cape Brett which is a famous lighthouse on the edge of the Bay. The main sight to see however was called the hole in the rock which was, you've guessed it, a hole in a rock! Luckily the swell was not too big so we were able to drive through the hole to the other side, I love that this is a main attraction, but I have to say I did take some pictures of that hole and was quite excited when we got to drive through it. On the other side we did a bit floating around and then the captain suddenly started driving quite fast away from the rock, in the wake of the boat we noticed some bottlenose dolphins playing around in the spray. I was trying to think if I'd seen dolphins in the wild previously, but even if you have it's very cool when they pop up again especially as they were so playful and were jumping out just at the right time so I could take a picture. Thanks guys! On the way back I decided to get off at Otehei bay as I had a ticket for a later ferry, it was beautiful, the water was clear and it was set up for people to sunbathe so there were picnic benches with umbrellas and giant bean bags. I was tempted to get a beer but it was about $10 for 400 ml and I did want to drive to the treaty grounds later so instead I just sunbathed and had a dip in the water. The 4:30 ferry got back to Paihia about 5:15, I walked straight to my car and drove out to the treaty grounds which looked closed on first inspection but then walking around a bit I found an alternate entrance and headed in. There was a concert going on until later that evening, but it wasn't really my kind of music so I just walked around the marae and saw the wharenui and the flag pole with the 3 flags, New Zealand, union jack and the flag of the united tribes of nz. There were some huge carved wakas which were pretty cool to see and the house of William Hobson, who was the first british governor of nz, where the treaty was signed. I headed back to the hostel and repeated what I done the previous evening by sitting out with some food and had a couple of beers, everyone in the hostel seemed to be there in groups and unlike other hostel experiences I've had they didn't really seem to mingle with each other, eventually I was bored of being bitten in the early evening late I'm so moved inside instead.

I had to check out by 10 which was pretty simple I had a quick phone conversation with the parents as we had been missing each others calls for a few days, then jumped in the car and drove back to Auckland. I decided to go a different route and went over to the west coast which is the Kauri tree Highway, I stopped at the biggest tree called Tane Mahuta which is about 50 m tall and 14 m wide , they think he is around 2000 years old. After that stop I decided to drive straight back which was about 3 and a half hours in one but it was good to be home.

Now, where to plan for my next trip ?

[mandibierly]

The most terrifying sequence of 'Blue Planet II,' the bobbit worm, airs this weekend

Each episode of BBC America’s Planet Earth: Blue Planet II takes viewers through a myriad of emotions, and this Saturday’s installment, “Coral Reefs,” is no different. There’s joy (adolescent bottlenose dolphins playing a game with broken pieces of coral in the Red Sea), and there’s wonder (an octopus and a grouper buddy up to hunt more effectively in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef). But there’s also stress. Prepare yourselves for the bobbit.

As narrator Sir David Attenborough explains, it’s “a giant carnivorous worm with jaws as sharp as daggers” that burrows in the sand and waits (like the creatures in Tremors) to pop up and snatch unsuspecting fish. You’ll have to tune in Feb. 3 to see the full sequence, which begins with a meter-long bobbit (yes, named after those Bobbits) doing some night stalking that flat-out traumatized U.K. viewers when the episode aired in Britain last November. When our sneak peek picks up, it’s dawn, and the tiny foraging bream fish that were such easy prey in the dark now have the advantage since they can spot the bobbit. In fact, they actually join together to blow away the sand and expose it — at least temporarily. Warning: this clip will make you jump (wait for it).

“Reefs are the cities of the sea. They occupy such a tiny part of the ocean floor, yet house a quarter of all [ocean] species. They really are these vibrant metropolises, and, like in any city, around every corner there could be great opportunity, but there also could be great danger,” episode producer Jonathan Smith tells Yahoo Entertainment. He knew about the bobbit’s hunting technique, but what persuaded him to include it in the episode was a conversation with a scientist, Jose Lachat, who told him he’d also observed bream mobbing a bobbit to reveal its hiding place. “That was the ultimate for me. I’ve heard people explaining this story and they’re giving a spoiler alert,” Smith says. “There are so many twists and turns through it that it’s the perfect story.”

Say hello to the bobbit – a metre-long worm with jaws as sharp as daggers#BluePlanet2 pic.twitter.com/Oj8oYLdQSM

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) November 12, 2017

What he loves most about the sequence, really, is that it actually turned out to be (near) impossible to film. “We’d been sent pictures of bobbits at night, hunting, with normal light on them, and they seemed fine. We got there and then [cameraman Hugh Miller] found a good bobbit worm, set up his studio, went down at night — bear in mind he’s like a meter away from this bobbit worm, sitting there and waiting — but the bobbit was too scared to do anything under the white light,” Smith says. “Luckily, he has been the only person in the world to have built an infrared lighting system for underwater. The problem with infrared underwater is that it attenuates incredibly quickly through the water column, so you just lose it, so you can’t really light much of an area. But he’d found a slightly different wavelength that enabled him to film at night in complete darkness, but still be able to capture imagery on this camera. And it just so happened he had taken that out to test it in the field. So suddenly everything changed: we went, ‘This is how we have to do the bobbit,’ and that’s why the bobbit sequence is the color that it is. It actually, I think, really gives that added element of horror to it. Hugh, creative genius, managed to capture and give an incredibly unique insight into this dark world of the reef.”

Smith loves another of his favorite sequences — clown fish on the more barren outskirts of reef city pushing objects toward their anemone, to give the female something solid to lay her eggs on — because it seemed impossible when he first heard about it. At the beginning of production, he reached out to Roger Munns, a cameraman based in Borneo who’s spent decades filming and learning about the reefs there, to ask for the best stories he’s heard. “He was saying a couple of stories, and then he said, ‘But you know what, I’ve heard about this story over 10 years ago, where there’s a clown fish that will go out and collect things and push them to its anemone.’ And I thought, ‘Wow, this sounds like a brilliant story,’ but he had never seen it. We couldn’t find any pictures of it. There’s certainly no video of it. But it seemed so intriguing, we had to try and find out more,” Smith says.

The series’ researchers dug in and found one mention of the behavior from the late 1970s, but that was it. “So again, we reached out to the world, and there was a scientist in Papua New Guinea — you kind of feel like Sherlock Holmes when you think about the incredible size of this stuff,” Smith says with a laugh. “But he told us this extraordinary story. He’d been studying these clown fish in Papua New Guinea and measuring how many eggs that they make. In order to do this, he would take them this lovely shiny tile, something nice and solid and perfect, exactly what he figured they’d need. He went down to one family of clown fish, and — it’s so strange — they had tucked into their anemone a baby doll arm that had obviously drifted by somehow. And so he goes, ‘Okay, it’s a bit of rubbish,’ and he picked that out and discarded it, and then just put it to the side of the reef because he wanted whatever’s been living on it to still be okay. Then he put his tile under the anemone. When he came back a few days or a week later, expecting to find this tile covered in clown fish eggs, instead the tile was three meters away from the anemone. It had been completely shoved out. And sitting back under the anemone was the baby doll’s arm, covered in clown fish eggs. He sent us these pictures, so that was another part of why we thought, ‘Right, this certainly happened, so now we’ve just got to find the right clown fish and we’ve just got to sit there and wait and watch.'”

And that’s exactly what he and Munns did in Borneo — for probably about 100 hours, Smith estimates, before they finally started getting shots of the clown fish investigating and trying to move various objects that came nearby. Did the men ever think about giving up? “There are so, so many times, obviously, where you’re sitting there and thinking, ‘How are we ever going to manage it?’ And it’s even more so when you go into something slightly blind,” Smith says. “You know that logic tells you it should happen, but having never seen any film of it you’ve still got that slight [feeling of], ‘Are we completely wasting our time?’ But all of that makes the moment when it happens even more amazing.”

Marbled grouper make their move to mate, with grey reef sharks waiting to strike (GIF: BBC America)

Another high-risk sequence, which is featured in the “making of” segment at the end of the episode: marbled groupers waiting en masse for the precise moment they’ll swim upwards, females dropping eggs and males releasing sperm, in the hopes of giving their fertilized eggs a chance to be swept out with the tide. Why is it so dramatic? The hundreds of hungry grey reef sharks waiting above to swarm the groupers, and also because the groupers only spawn once a year, and the event lasts for just an hour — not great odds for a camera crew.

“If I know that in my hour-long film I can give you maybe 10 stories that describe what the coral reefs of our planet are, then I need to really pick and choose those stories carefully,” Smith says. “And there’s a couple of parts of this story that I really felt we needed to know to understand the bigger picture of the reef. And one of them is the fact that almost every animal on the reef has the same basic mating strategy, which is to get their eggs as far away from the reef as they can. And it kind of doesn’t make sense, because actually, out there away from the reef is the big blue world with little nutrients and little to offer, whereas the reef is this vibrant metropolis. But [it’s about] making it to the top of the reef city — we have to rise to the top — and if you’re a little baby, you’re a little egg, you can’t do that yet. You’re not ready. And ultimately, it’s because the reef is so competitive that everything throws its young away — but then they come and they resettle. And in that going and drifting and then resettling, that enables reefs to colonize new worlds, and ultimately gives us some hope in this changing world that reefs [which are being bleached by rising temperatures] can keep continuing into the future, because of this ability to adapt, which is all driven by the competition and the need to get to the top of the reef city. So I wanted to share that element. And then I thought, ‘Right, what’s the most amazing way we can possibly show that?’ And we thought 30,000 grouper, caught in the seabed of a channel in French Polynesia that’s patrolled by 500 grey reef sharks. That to me was a story that we had to try and do.”

Planet Earth: Blue Planet II airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. on BBC America.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Why ‘The Deep’ episode of ‘Blue Planet II’ is the one you can’t miss

‘Blue Planet II’ premiere: Bird-eating fish and 5 more sequences you’ll be talking about

Review: ‘Altered Carbon’ is a great-looking sci-fi epic. It’s also very silly.

[recentanimenews]

The Real Life Locations of "Love Live! Sunshine!!" – Aqours' Hometown

As promised, after last week’s excursion to the northern Hakodate, this week’s installment of Anime vs. Real Life is all about Love Live! Sunshine!!’s main setting, the sunny seaside town of Uchiura. Aqours’ lovely little hometown is located at the northern end of the Izu Peninsula, right in the Suruga Bay, and is part of the much larger Numazu city.

    It wasn’t until very long ago, that Uchiura was merely a quiet fishing village with only a few seaside resorts. The small town never really was the hottest tourist destination in the area, and certainly not one to attract the younger anime fan demographic, but all of that changed with the start of Love Live! Sunshine!! last year. The anime catapulted Uchiura and Numazu on the map for watchers of the show, prompting fans from far and wide to visit the rural town that Chika calls her home – and the constant stream of visitors hasn’t slowed down since. Cities trying to capitalize on the growing anime tourism trend have become a dime in a dozen recently, but only a select few manage to sustain their momentum and the increase in anime tourists after the show is finished.

Uchiura’s and Numazu’s success can partly be attributed to the extremely high popularity of the Love Live! franchise (the Tokyo locations of the original are still beloved pilgrimage sites years later), but it also stems from the sequel’s convenient location itself. On top of the really lovely scenery, the area is also reasonably easy to reach, being only roughly two hours away from Tokyo, making it a good distance for a day trip, or even better an overnight stay over the weekend. Not too close to be uninteresting, but also not too far away to be exhausting and overly expensive. Furthermore, the myriad of collaborations and tie-ins, ranging from decked out busses, to live events, and stamp rallies, surely also played their part. And last but not least, the currently airing second season of Love Live! Sunshine!!, which further raises the small town’s profile. But to be honest, at this point, I almost have the feeling that tourists would’ve been flocking the coastal town regardless of the second season. At least that was my impression on my latest trip there this summer. I already made the trip down to Uchiura last year (Part 1,2), just after the third episode had aired back then, and was highly impressed by the sheer number of tourists, who obviously only came because of Love Live! Sunshine!! And I was just as amazed this year, when I saw just as many, if not more, fans, who were also trudging around the show’s locations. I myself decided to pay the town a second visit because I finally wanted to see that spectacular view of Mt. Fuji, which comes up so often in the show, but also simply because I just had a wonderful time on my last trip.

    Let’s start off with the show’s most prominent location, which was also on the anime’s first promotional art, Mito Beach. The beach’s best feature is the beautiful view of Uchiura Bay, simply because…

    … the small beach itself is rather dirty and has a lot of trash lying around. I was sure that the beach would be properly cleaned up this time around, due to the countless fans visiting the spot, but nothing has changed over the past year. On the other hand, it might’ve also been the influx of tourists, that's been causing all the littering in the first place.    

    History in Love Live! really does seem to repeat itself, only this time its Chika jumping off the pier, and not Riko. 

    Aqours’ high school is located across Uchiura Bay and Mito Beach, atop the hill here.

    I’m sure you’ve spotted it a few times by now, but lo and behold, the majestic Mt. Fuji! As already mentioned, the main purpose for my trip this time was to finally see that exact view that’s been advertised in the show since the first episode, which is Uchiura Bay with Japan’s highest mountain looming in the background. The weather wasn’t clear enough during my last visit, but as you can see, I was not disappointed this time around. This view here, with Mt. Fuji emerging between the coast to the right and Awa Island to the left, has been especially impressive. Although, seeing a giant cruise ship sailing through the narrow Uchiura Bay like in the anime would’ve also been a sight to behold. 

    The Izu Mitohama Shotokan is a traditional Japanese inn, and surely has seen a significant increase in overnight stays by anime fans, but most of the fans planning a stay around Uchiura Bay will surely first take a look at the inn across the street, which is…

    Yasudaya Ryokan! Chika’s home does not only serve as an inn in the anime, but also in real life. 

    Unfortunately, there isn’t actually a dog house in front of the inn, but everything else almost matches up nearly perfectly with the anime. 

    Except for the design of the noren, which are the traditional Japanese fabric dividers you'll find in front of many doors.

    And also the Takami’s actual living area is missing in real life. As you can see, there isn’t a second large building in the back of the actual inn.  

    In the latest episode, Chika’s mom presents her a few New Year’s gifts instead of money, one of them being a daruma doll. These dolls come in various shapes and colors, and are a good luck charms that are supposed to keep you focused on achieving your goals. Once you have a specific wish, goal, or dream in mind, you paint in one of the two initially blank eyes, and only once you've actually achieved it, you get to paint in the second one. It seems like Chika and I myself still have some work to do. 

    Yoshiko and Riko return Nocturne Laelaps Anko to his owner in this little street next to Chika's inn.

    Let’s move on to one of the show’s other big locations, the nearby Izu Mito Sea Paradise. The aquarium already served as the venue for Aqours’ Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM single early on, and was also in this season’s fourth episode.

    Dia-chan.

    The aquarium opened in 1930 and was the first one that kept bottlenose dolphins, whale sharks, walruses, and sea otters in Japan. There are also several sea animal performances a day, although I never actually went to see one myself. Well, third time's the charm.

    I did however check out the animals at Awa Marine Park, on Awa Island. 

    The best way to get to Awa Island is by boat, which obviously has also gotten the full Love Live! Sunshine!! treatment in real life. 

    There are not only penguins and other sea creatures on the island, but also Kanan’s diving shop, which in reality is a small terrarium, containing a vast variety of frogs.

    That’s where the dolphin performances take place on Awa Island.

    Let’s take a quick detour to Numazu, where the girls saw off the Saint Snow sisters in front of Numazu Station in the last episode. 

      The only way to get from Numazu to Uchiura is by a 45 minutes bus ride with the Tokai Bus Orange Shuttle. Just like anything else in the area, also the buses have been taken over by the nine school idols. And not only the exterior, but the show’s voice actresses also announce the stops along the way.

    One spot you should definitely not miss on your own trip, is this place right across from the tourist information center in Uchiura. Not only does it appear several times in the anime, but it’s also here where Riko and Chika shared an intimate moment together in the first season. 

    And on the other side of Uchiura Bay is the Nagaisaki Junior High School bus stop, the closest one to Aqours’ school. All of the people wandering around the area in the picture above were only there for Love Live! Sunshine!!

    Awa Island (in the background here) is also where Mari’s luxurious Awashima Hotel is located. 

    Continuing up the slope will get you to Nagaisaki Junior High School, or Uranohoshi Girls’ High School in the anime. 

    But unlike in the anime, this school actually isn't an all-girls school. 

    Entering the school grounds is not permitted.

    And since I’m sure that you still haven’t seen enough of it, let’s top off this week’s installment of Anime vs. Real Life with even more pictures of Mito Beach!

    And finally, just like last year, I once again left behind a small memento in Uchiura. 

  The map below also includes all of the locations that that I did not feature in this article. If you ever plan your own trip to one of these places and need some help, don’t hesitate to contact me. 

    What do you think of the Love Live! Sunshine!! locations? And who’s your favorite idol in the series? Sound off in the comments below!

---

Wilhelm is an anime tourist, who loves to search for and uncover the real-world spots he sees in anime. You can talk with him on Twitter @Surwill.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[itsiotrecords-blog]

http://ift.tt/2qJfDSE

Throughout human history, people have taken advantage of animals and used them as aids in a wide variety of jobs. They have played a huge part in our development as a species and have allowed us to carry out tasks that would not have been possible without their help. You just have to look at activities such as farming, travelling, and guarding to see how useful animals like horses and dogs have been. However, despite their everyday use, there are a few surprising jobs they have done that are not well known. Here are some of the oddest and most obscure tasks humans have made animals do through history.

#1 Glowworms For Light During World War I, soldiers faced a problem regarding how to read maps and orders in the dark. Trenches were generally unlit to prevent providing easy targets for the enemy to aim at, and using strong artificial light was unsuitable for the same reason. In any case, technology during that time was not sufficient to allow soldiers to carry portable torches around with them. The answer the British services came up with was to use glowworms. The worms would provide enough light to allow soldiers to read maps effectively but enemy troops could not spot them over long distances. They were also much more freely available in a time when supplies were so low, thanks to their ability to breed quickly. This made them the perfect choice to ship out to the front line. So essential were they in the war that they were honored along with other animals with a memorial in central London in 2004.

#2 Wiring Ferrets Wiring can be an incredibly difficult task for electricians and construction workers, mainly because the places where they need to lay the wire can be incredibly cramped or almost inaccessible. Areas that are too small for humans pose a huge problem especially when the cables have to go around twists and turns, as this makes it impossible to use conventional tools. One solution that Boeing decided to employ was to use ferrets. By attaching the wiring to them, and enticing them through the required areas with food, they could quickly lay cables in the tight confines of an airplane. Even though the aircraft manufacture stopped the practice in the 1960’s, it is still common to find companies using ferrets as electricians, such as in 2004 when they helped to lay cables for a pop concert or by a broadband company to find broken wires underground.

#3 Bee Bomb Detectors Law enforcement agencies around the world have long been using animals to detect bombs and explosives in a number of high security locations. However, the animals usually used in these instances are dogs because of their keen sense of smell. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory though have discovered another creature that is just as good if not better. They found that bees were able to detect a number of different types of explosive after training. By using a reward system whereby the bees received sugar water when the smell of bomb ingredients were present. In the future when the bees smell those same ingredients, they will extend their proboscis alerting their handlers. The bees also have some major advantages over dogs as they can be hidden easily from potential suspects, making them unaware they are actually being searched. Additionally they can be trained in only a couple of hours at a much lower cost, making them much more efficient to use than dogs that can take years to train. Finally, technicians can confine them to very small spaces making them ideal for portable use.

#4 Ravens To Find Land The Vikings came up with an ingenious solution to the problem of how to know which direction to travel in order to find land. As a seafaring civilization, the Vikings would spend lots of time on the water. However, they were severely handicapped when in new areas, because they would have no idea where to sail, as they were limited as to how far they could see. The method they used was to carry a raven on board their ships and then release it when they were at sea. The bird could then fly high into the air and see much further than the Vikings themselves were capable. If the raven saw land, it would immediately travel in that direction and the boat could then follow it to shore. But if there was no land, then the bird would go back to the boat to avoid the water, effectively telling the crew they were not near to any land and they could keep sailing. There are even stories that Iceland was discovered using this very technique.

#5 Military Dolphins When most people think of animals in warfare, they will probably immediately picture horses, dogs and maybe even the elephants used by Hannibal. These all had military applications on land, with the animals used in tasks involving transport, guarding or to chasing enemies. Yet much of the action in modern military is confined to naval exercises, in seas where such animals would be useless. That is not to say that armed forces do not utilize nature for their navies, it is just that they use different species. One of the most popular is the bottlenose dolphin, which thanks to their high intelligence, brilliant eyesight and sonar ability are perfectly suited to not only find underwater mines but also mark them so ships can avoid them in the future. Some other activities that the dolphins are used for include guarding anchored ships from intrusion and the retrieval of lost equipment that has gone overboard. They are so effective that they actually perform much better than the high-tech equipment that Special Forces use.

#6 Harvesting Monkeys Picking coconuts is hard and long work. For the most part it has to be done by hand, as machines are incapable of doing the job. It can also be dangerous work, where it is possible for coconuts to fall out of trees and land on the heads of the pickers or for the pickers to themselves fall when climbing trees. However, Indian and Thailand farmers began training monkeys to do the work for them. The animals climb the trees to dislodge the nuts with their owners controlling them using a long leash. The primates’ intelligence makes it possible to train them without sophisticated techniques, as they will do the job in return for rewards of food. Not only does it eliminate the risk to human pickers but the monkeys are also far more efficient, able to pick anywhere between five and eight times what humans can in a single day.

#7 Vine Pruning Sheep Wineries have to keep a constant eye on their vineyards to ensure that they do not receive any sort of damage. Weeds can destroy crops while excess leaves can cause mildew to form which can destroy or ruin the fruit. Therefore, it is necessary for them to prune the plants regularly but this presents other problems. Doing the job by hand is arduous and can take many hours, whereas using machines is much faster but these can cause unwanted harm to the plants. Napa Valley’s solution is to use sheep to prune the leaves. Training the sheep is as easy as putting electrically charged wires that will provide a small shock in the area where the fruit grows, meaning the sheep quickly learn to avoid these areas. They can then be set free upon the vineyards where they can prune up to 20 acres a day. As well as pruning the vines, they will also provide excellent free fertilizer as they carry out their task, making them doubly effective.

#8 Cormorant Fishing Chinese and Japanese anglers have been using the cormorant bird as an aid to fishing since around 960 AD. By tying a small snare around the bird’s neck, they are able to prevent it from swallowing larger fish, so that when it captures fish from the sea the fishermen can bring the bird back into the boat for it to spit out its catch. The cormorant is still able to swallow smaller fish so they do not have to be rewarded with further food by its owner. Using the animal is useful, as it would take a human doing the same job much longer to catch the same amount of fish, as the bird is far more capable with its keen eyesight and fast reactions. Training the birds is particularly easy, making it a far cheaper option than buying and maintaining expensive equipment like nets. The practice has largely ended as a way of actually fishing, although it is still carried out in some areas as a way of attracting tourists.

#9 Seeing Eye Horses The blind almost always use guide dogs, but in some cases they simply are not suitable. Some people are either allergic or possess a fear of dogs making them unsuitable to use. To offer an alternative to this some organizations have begun to train miniature horses to act as guides for those with impaired vision. While still relatively uncommon, having only been introduced in 1998, guide horses actually have a number of advantages over dogs that can make them perfect alternatives. They have superb eyesight and as a herd animal are exceptional at judging moving objects, ideal for crossing busy roads. The horses also have much greater stamina, allowing them to work for longer than guide dogs typically can, as well as allowing them to travel on difficult terrain more easily. Finally, they are able to live up to 30 – 40 years. This longer lifespan prevents owners from having to go through the emotional turmoil of having to replace their guide dog every 8 to 10 years.

#10 Rat Disease Detectors Tuberculosis is a huge problem in Africa, where in the densely populated areas anyone infected with the disease can pass it on to over a dozen people very quickly. This ability to spread easily means that it is vitally important to diagnose infection as soon as possible so that people can get treatment and to minimize the risk of further cases. Apopo is using a novel technique to test samples to see whether they contain tuberculosis, using local rats. Trained to smell samples to see if they contain traces of the disease in return for a reward of food, they can diagnose the disease 20% more accurately than traditional methods. Not only that, but they are far more efficient, able to screen more samples in an hour than a doctor would be able to in a whole day. They are much more cost effective than training technicians are, costing just under $8,000 each. Plus, they will live for up to 8 years. This has given hope to the goal of being able to control the disease and prevent needless deaths.

Source: TopTenz

[mrandyzavala]

The OLD Dolphins

There are definitely many reasons why I consider myself lucky.  One of those reasons is that I've had the pleasure of knowing more than my fair share of Old Lady Dolphins.  Considering today is Mother's Day in the U.S., I think today's topic is pretty fitting.  In fact, I'd like to go even further and talk about a very special lady I got to know at my last job.

Happy mother's day!

There are probably many of you dolphin trainers (extant and extinct) who will know exactly who I'm talking about....and you probably have a lot of stories of your own to share.  So PLEASE do.  

#goals

First, let's just talk about Old Lady Dolphins (herein referred to as OLDs*).  I have written about a few of these gals before (Nellie, Pebbles, Panama, Delilah) but I feel like it's worth revisiting the classification of this very special personality type.

Second, some of you work with social animals who are matriarchal in nature (I'm really looking at you, elephant keepers).  What I write today may ring true for some of the golden girls in your life, so correct me if I make this too specific to dolphins, but....

....dolphins are "special".   Like, they are the High Maintenance Animal of the universe.  I haven't talked to any extinct species, but I would be utterly shocked if we found out that deinonychus or wooly mammoths were as ridiculously dramatic as dolphins.  I mean, dolphins as a family are pretty successful evolutionarily speaking.  So the whole diva thing must really be working for them.

THAT'S what she was trying to tell me?!

This is not just a personality trait, people.  While I will admit there are laid back dolphins, most of them are basically insane.  Bottlenose dolphins are top predators.  They are so good at what they do in the wild that they have tons of free time on their hands to terrify sharks who are just trying to do shark things, like breathe, eat, and avoid human beings.   Dolphins also have a lot of sex, like to the point where I feel like it must offend other ocean creatures who struggle every day just to put food in their bellies and/or not die.  

We all know that the ocean is not a quiet place, and not just because Chatty Cathy dolphins live in it.  We know that the other vertebrates and invertebrates who populate the seas make noise a lot.  Why?  Oh, I'll tell you why, and I don't need a PhD in marine blah blah blah to know that 96% of oceanic animal sounds are essentially just a bunch of critters pointing out how annoying dolphins are.

Parrot fish:  Oh great, there go the dolphins again

Sailfish:  If I see one more dolphin penis I'm gonna gag

Menhaden: How DO they find the time?

All day all night

But life is balance, right?  You may have dolphins acting like the confident, world rulers that they are....but they also poop their figurative pants because a bubble appeared 78 feet away from their left eye (little known fact: this is unacceptable to many dolphins). Oh yes, there is another side to this coin.  If there wasn't, how could dolphins survive more than a few months without having major stress-related strokes and/or psychotic breaks?

OLDs.

"HEY. HEY YOU"

OLDs are around to calm the waters, literally and figuratively.  They are the emotional bomb squad of the dolphin world.  If things have gotten entirely out of hand (you know, Flippy can't possibly sit next to Dolly, because she once moved her head too suddenly and plus she totally stole Flippy's football four years ago), you can almost always count on an OLD to settle the score.  

Flippy: Oh my god seriously, if I have to station next to Dolly I am seriously going to flip out

Dolly: OMG OMG OMG OMG OKAY I WILL NEVER STATION NEAR YOU OR AROUND YOU OR IN THE SAME POOL IN FACT I WILL JUST NEVER STATION AGAIN I WILL JUST SIT IN THE CORNER AND BARF

Flippy: GOOD! But I'm still going to chase you just because I CAN

OLD:  Listen.  Both of you better grow the eff up, because I will use all 600 pounds of my beautiful self to set you straight

Oh, did I mention that most OLDs are huge?  Like, huge.  Maybe 100 pounds heavier than the other animals.  Nellie had rock hard abs, not even kidding. 

How DOES she find the time?

They command respect, but not usually through aggression (although it may come to that in extreme cases).  OLDs use leadership skills that many animal trainers could stand to follow once they get a senior or supervisor title next to their names (sorry not sorry, it's true).  Most of the time, they are the dolphin everyone wants to be with.  They are the dolphin that swims past and everyone just stares in admiration.  And when someone steps out of line, they do the least amount of nastiness possible, returning quickly to their calm, wonderful selves.

Got the picture?  Good.  Now let's talk about Nani.

Squeeeeeee

Nani was the oldest dolphin at National Aquarium, who unfortunately passed away a couple of months ago. I was privileged to get to know her, and work with her.  Um. Work FOR her.  

Nani was the queen of the clan.  She had a way about her that made all mammals near her - humans and dolphins alike- instantly fall in love.  Maybe it was her gorgeous, dark skin.  Maybe it was her little teddy bear eyes.  Or maybe it was because she was smarter than everyone she knew.

"Did you get my snacks yet?"

While I only worked with her for eight short months, I racked up a good amount of Nani stories in which I was further made aware of my puny standing as a naked ape.  For example, like many OLDs, she had figured out that hanging on to her toys at the end of the day meant she would get an extra snack.  However, she was one of the only OLDs I knew who would approach you, let go of her toy and place it JUST out of reach, and try to house the extra fish you were feeding the other dolphins for stationing.  And you know what?

Not a single dolphin dared taking that toy.  Every other place I have worked, if anyone (OLD or otherwise) let go of a contraband toy, someone else snatched it up.  But not with Nani.  Those rare times another dolphin attempted to steal the leverage, Nani pulled her Boss Lady card and the mistake was not repeated.

Yes, Miss Nani.

She also completely controlled husbandry training of her kids.  Her adult kids.  Now, that might not surprise some of you when you think about how female bottlenose dolphins stay with their moms their entire lives in most cases.  So yeah, when her daughter Spirit was in a blood layout, Nani would sometimes come over and yell at both human and dolphin, causing Spirit to kick out of the layout.  Pretty sure Nani knew this maneuver would result in lots of splashing that filled up our boots with water so we had gross, soggy whitefeet for the entire day.

Actual dolphin trainer foot

But she also did this with her adult son.  As is typical, Nani did not live with her adult son Beau.  And still, when he was in a blood layout, she would interfere in some way from entirely different habitats.  And he, the obedient momma's boy, would immediately stop what he was doing, as if he was just caught doing something wrong.

Nani: BEAU! BEAU BEAU.  ARE YOU IN A BLOOD LAYOUT IN THERE?

Beau: NO! No ma! I don't know what you're talking about, I would never do that! No!

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times.  You don't let those two-legged freaks touch your precious flukes."

There were many attempts to smooth this issue with training, with some success.  According to trainers who had been there a while, Nani had gotten much better and most times, you could work your husbandry approximations without interference.  Correction: whatever we did made Nani comfortable ALLOWING us to continue.  But every once in a while, she had to remind all of us who was really in charge.

Like all OLDs I knew, she was extremely maternal.  Not just towards dolphins, either.  She stared at human babies like they belonged to her. Maybe that creeps some of you put, but I thought it was pretty adorable.

Nani (left) and her daughter Spirit staring at me and my daughter!

Nani filled a lot of hearts over a long period of time. She was an extremely bright, confident animal who knew how to keep a family together. Her loss was and still is profoundly felt.  She is definitely one of the most memorable OLDs I have ever met. And if you never had the honor of knowing her, I hope you feel like you knew her after reading this. 

Thank you, sweet Nani.

:)

______________

OMG...I so did NOT even intend for that acronym to work out so perfectly.  I'd love to have you all believe I'm some sort of English wordsmith genius but too many of you know me for who I really am: a former dolphin trainer who really wishes she was R2D2. 

from The Middle Flipper http://ift.tt/2pLeogv