#but gale won out by a margin

[junowritings]

Baldur gate matchups :0000000000

Cool nouns: he/she

Gender pref: no pref :0

Zodiac: Aries sun, Leo moon, libra rising

MBTI: intj-a

How I describe myself: huge nerd, collector of stupid shit, I am both the golden retriever boyfriend and goth girlfriend in one genderless human shaped mass. Girl kisser and dilf enjoyer (deadass men my age freak me out a little but…. dilfs….. explodes)

Hobbies: Digital art, web design, cooking, video games, reading,

How other people describe me (/pos):

- “you feel act like the embodiment of a mango monster”

- “The fact that of all of us (in reference to the polycule) you don’t have an autisim diagnosis is more of a jumpscare than you being ginger”

- “You could tell me the sky is hot pink and if you said it with the same conviction you say most things I’d trust you completely on it.”

Character flaws? Idk how to phrase this without it reading as self deprecating- issues I know I have that would inevitably be relevant to knowing me.

- I lack both empathy and sympathy almost completely, which makes me absolutely horrid at comforting people unless they want practical, logic driven solutions.

- I have a bad habit of seeing my solutions as the only viable solution, even if it’s been proven to be wrong/ineffective

- I can be incredibly arrogant (bordering on elitist) about the topics I am passionate about

- I form strong opinions of people quickly, and they are extremely difficult to shake (a bad first impression with me usually ends in a distain so strong I inconvenience myself to avoid said person, and it’s just as hard to convince me someone I like has done something wrong without extremely concrete proof, and even then I’m inclined to forgive them.)

Love language: gifts!! Usually art, or trinkets and cooking.

Miscellaneous and potentially unnecessary facts about me:

- I really like terraria

- I’m allergic to sunlight (literally)

- My bed is more categorically akin to a nest

- I’m completely nocturnal (re: sunlight)

- I’m also allergic to gluten, milk, eggs, pollen, grass, mold, citrus, red meat, cats, and dogs.

- My cats name is Fortnite Battlepass

- One of the name ideas for him was Dollarama

- I own a student grade microscope

- My favourite passtime is drawing pathetic men happy and in love

- I have Gale’s orb scar as a tattoo

Uhhhhh that’s it :0 if there’s anything specific you wanna know (or if you want pictures of my cat and/or tattoo) you’re more than welcome to ask!!

Match up time! Gotta say Fortnite Battlepass is adorable and only cemented who I decided to go with in the end! Which is,,,

So get this, two nerdy golden retriever partners walk into a tavern-

Okay but seriously, is it any wonder that Gale ends up so absolutely taken with you? 

The moment he sees your collection Gale wants to hear about it. There’s nothing quite like amassing a collection of things that bring you joy and make you happy, and he’ll gladly listen to you ramble about it if you’re comfortable to - where you got them, how long you’ve been collecting, what’s the most treasured part of your collection. These are just some of the things he’d query you on, all the while taking the time to admire your collection if you have it on display or bring it out to show him. 

He's actually got a fair collection himself, though his penchant for magical item consumption may have dwindled his display far more than he would have liked - alas desperate times had called for desperate measures back then. It’s honestly very validating to have someone show that kind of interest; though thanks to his curious nature you two may be stuck in this discussion for a couple of hours. It’s fascinating though! So who can really blame the guy? 

Will actively add to the stuff you collect so get ready to expand the space for them; one of his love languages is gift giving - so if that means getting you some of the weirdest stuff you’ve ever seen for your collection just to make you smile? By the gods he’d gift you something every other day if he could - thankfully Tara’s quick to curb that before he gets over excited and offers to refurbish an entire room in his tower back home for your stuff.

I don’t know if Gale would technically count as a dilf, being on the middle/younger side of the dilf scale (I hc like mid 30’s.) BUT he’s got the soft dad bod, bad puns, a couple grey streaks AND Tara so in my heart I would say this man is on the road to qualify.

Gale would be fascinated to see you at your computer, be it creating art or working on the code for your web pages. You’re practically working a magic of your own on your computer screen, confident in your ability to create and finishing off every piece you create with a level of detail and care that he’s sure very few people can even begin to replicate. And gods if there isn’t anything more attractive to him than someone who knows their craft and is passionate about it.

I hope you’re prepared for an audience because Gale will watch you work, leaning against the back of your chair with his head upon yours or your shoulder the whole time. You’ll have to warn him a couple times not to get too close to the screen because if he gets any closer you’re gonna struggle to see what you’re doing. When it comes to your web page designing, he would try and take up learning from you if you ever offer to teach him some basics - Gale would jump at the chance, actually. The guy’s a dream to teach, but also has a tendency to ramble as he tries to figure out whatever you’re trying to teach him. He also has a bad habit of getting overconfident, which when it comes to coding with him is a surefire way for the thing to blow up in his face (thankfully not literally.)

He absolutely LOVES cooking together. This man spent months being one of the only relatively decent cooks in the tadpole party so he’s got a decent list of recipes under his belt for each of their dietary requirements. Give him a couple times, let him learn what you can and can’t have and what foods you prefer, and he’ll make something pleasantly edible - not always perfect, but damn if it isn’t tasty. May or may not have a mental list of your favourite meals that he’d remembered from passing conversations. He certainly doesn’t use this as a means to surprise you or impress you whenever he invites you over (of course he does). The pair of you might occasionally butt heads over who cooks since he has a tendency to hover around in the kitchen trying to do stuff even if he’s not the one cooking that time.

It’s no secret that Gale’s bread and butter is books and tomes of all design and creed - hells he has an entire section of his home dedicated to his collection. He’ll happily give you recommendations and gift you books that you’ve expressed interest in without a second thought; he’s just chuffed to have someone who shares in this kind of pastime! If you guys are together around the time he does return home, he’ll ask for your company to sort through all of his books together. Sure it may not be the most riveting activity unless you’re really interested in what secret books he’s had stashed in his shelves all of these years; but it means a lot to him to have you there with him the whole time as he (quite literally) rearranges his life now that he’s home. There are some books that while he’ll still keep, they’re better off somewhere else than the main room - like the tomes and scrolls and forgotten texts once dredged up in desperate pursuits better left in the past. He’ll gladly let you fill in those gaps with books of your own, to create a space in his home that’s full of you - he can think of nothing better that would occupy that space than you.

Okay, so that one comment about the sky? Yeah, that’s Gale. While Gale’s not the kind of person to go blindly trusting everything someone says, there’s that conviction in the way that you say things that somehow makes him fall for it every time. If you ever did turn around and tell him that the sky was hot pink it’d earn you an amused snort and a sarcastic ‘haha very funny’ as he looks up from whatever he’s doing. But you’re the one who gets the last laugh because he’s the one casting a ‘subtle’ glance towards the window not even a minute later, only to be met with your knowing grin the moment he turns back. Just don’t let the others know that you’ve got that kinda one up on him, because I’m telling you now - Astarion and Shadowheart? Yeah they’ll be insisting to know how you get that kinda conviction to use on the poor man later.

While I can see Gale as the comforting type when the circumstances require, I also believe that having a partner like you who can ground him back to reality with logical solutions and practical reasoning is exactly what he needs. It’s so easy for him to get lost within the confines of his own thoughts, to allow things to become too much of a mess for him to pick apart and deal with on his own. But you’re a welcome hand, there to unravel the threads pulling taught on his mind with discussions of solutions and things that he can put into action in the here and now. That is comfort in its own way, even if you may not realise it.

As previously stated gift giving is one of Gale’s love languages, so given that you’re very much the same, that idea of making a room in his house just for you may not be such a far fetched idea anymore. His gifts centre around your current interests and fixations - he’s got a good ear for listening out to find what you need and get what makes you happiest. Expect more than a few magical items though - protective accessories for when he’s not at your side, or even items with silly magical effects that he knows will get a chuckle out of you once you realise what they do. Gets flustered under the same treatment however - your gifts are precious, and he feels like no matter where he puts them there’s not a good enough place to show them off and admire them. Always gets this lovestruck little look on his face each time he passes by one of your gifts in the day to day, running his hands along them like the mere touch of them is enough to brighten his very soul.

Hope there’s room enough in that nest for two because Gale doesn’t mind in the slightest. But he will help you to make it more comfortable - comfier blankets, softer pillows for extra cushion; this man spent at least a couple years falling asleep in places around his home that weren’t his bed so he knows the importance of making it as comfortable a place as possible for you (and his joints).

Comes as no surprise that he LOVES your cat, and it’s also no surprise that he’ll spoil the guy as much as humanly possible. Fortnite Battlepass quickly becomes one of the most pampered cats this side of Faerun, not just because of all the treats Gale likes to think he’s being sneaky about giving him, but because of the fact his tower is a cat paradise. Not to mention that cats usually warm up to Gale very quickly - guy’s a magnet because more often than not you’ll find Gale in the middle of work with Fortnite Battlepass flopped across his lap or desk, or lounging over his shoulder like a purring slinky.

The first time he sees your tattoo you can see several stages of panic go through his face in an attempt to remain calm about the situation. He visibly relaxes when you explain, no, it’s not actually an orb scar but a tattoo. Very much a ‘same hat’ moment for your tattoo and his own scar. Depending on where the tattoo is and if you’re comfortable with it, you may find him occasionally brushing his fingers over your tattoo, calloused fingertips following the inky tendrils that curl away from the main circle in the centre. Please do the same with his scar, you’ll basically turn the man to mush in your hands seeing you pay any kind of love and attention to a mark which once caused him such pain.

[youcalledmebabe]

Interesting Fairest of Them All Round One Happenings:

Web vs Hoosier had the most votes with 468 votes, almost exactly one hundred more than the second most (John Brady vs. Brad Colbert)

George Luz, Babe Heffron, and Alexander Jefferson all won their polls with 69%, which at least George would appreciate

The closest poll was Robert Daniels vs James Douglass. Daniels won with just 3.2% more of the vote

Harry Crosby won his poll with the highest margin, earning 95.9% of the vote. In second place we have Ron Speirs with 94% of the vote. Third place goes to Eugene Roe who won 91% of the vote.

Leckie was beating Gale for a surprisingly long time and then they were almost tied. Gale eventually pulled ahead but it would’ve been really funny if Leckie won.

Nobody from generation kill has gone on to round two. Sorry boys!

The second round will be out tomorrow evening (June 5th)! Get that campaign material ready!

[7r0773r]

String Theory by David Foster Wallace

Midwest junior tennis was also my initiation into true adult sadness. I had developed a sort of hubris about my Taoistic ability to control via noncontrol. I'd established a private religion of wind. I even liked to bike. Awfully few people in Philo bike, for obvious wind reasons, but I'd found a way to sort of tack back and forth against a stiff current, holding some wide book out at my side at about 120° to my angle of thrust—Baynes and Pugh's The Art of the Engineer and Cheiro's Language of the Hand proved to be the best airfoils—so that through imagination and verve and stoic cheer I could not just neutralize but use an in-your-face gale for biking. Similarly, by thirteen I'd found a way not just to accommodate but to employ the heavy summer winds in matches. No longer just mooning the ball down the center to allow plenty of margin for error and swerve, I was now able to use the currents kind of the way a pitcher uses spit. I could hit curves way out into cross-breezes that'd drop the ball just fair; I had a special wind-serve that had so much spin the ball turned oval in the air and curved left to right like a smart slider and then reversed its arc on the bounce. I'd developed the same sort of autonomic feel for what the wind would do to the ball that a standard-trans driver has for how to shift. As a junior tennis player, I was for a time a citizen of the concrete physical world in a way the other boys weren't, I felt. And I felt betrayed at around fourteen when so many of these single-minded flailing boys became abruptly mannish and tall, with sudden sprays of hair on their thighs and wisps on their lips and ropy arteries on their forearms. My fifteenth summer, kids I'd been beating easily the year before all of a sudden seemed overpowering. I lost in two semi-finals, at Pekin and Springfield in '77, of events I'd beaten Antitoi in the finals of in '76. My dad just about brought me to my knees after the Springfield loss to some kid from the Quad Cities when he said, trying to console me, that it had looked like a boy playing a man out there. And the other boys sensed something up with me, too, smelled some breakdown in the odd détente I'd had with the elements: my ability to accommodate and fashion the exterior was being undercut by the malfunction of some internal alarm clock I didn't understand. (Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley, pp. 13-14)

***

Michael Joyce—whose realness and approachability and candor are a big reason why he's whom I end up spending the most time watching and talking to—will later say, in response to my dry observation that a rather disproportionate number of unranked Canadians seem to have gotten wild cards into the Montreal Qualies, that Brakus "had a big serve, but the guy didn't belong on a pro court." Joyce didn't mean this in an unkind way. Nor did he mean it in a kind way. It turns out that what Michael Joyce says rarely has any kind of spin or slant on it; he mostly just reports what he sees, rather like a camera. You couldn't even call him sincere, because it's not like it seems ever to occur to him to try to be sincere or nonsincere. For a while I thought that Joyce's rather bland candor was a function of his not being very bright. This judgment was partly informed by the fact that Joyce didn't go to college and was only marginally involved in his high school academics (stuff I know because he told me it right away).(24) What I discovered as the tournament wore on was that I can be kind of a snob and an asshole, and that Michael Joyce's affectless openness is a sign not of stupidity but of something else.

24. Something else that's hotly debated by tennis authorities is the trend of players going pro at younger and younger ages and skipping college and college tennis and plunging into the stress and peripatetic loneliness of the Tour, etc. Michael Joyce skipped college and went directly onto the pro tour because at eighteen he'd just won the U.S. National Juniors, and this created a set of overwhelming inducements to turn pro. The winner at the National 18-and-Under Singles automatically gets a wild card into the U.S. Open's main draw for that year. In addition, a year's top junior comes to the powerful but notoriously fickle and temporary attention of major clothing and racket companies. Joyce's victory over the 128-man National field at Kalamazoo MI in 1991 resulted in endorsement offers from Fila and Yonex worth around $100,000. $100,000 is about what it takes to finance three years on the Tour for a very young player who can't reasonably expect to earn a whole lot of prize-money.

Joyce could have turned down that offer of a three-year subsidy and gone to college, but if he'd gone to college it would have been primarily to play tennis. Coaches at major universities apparently offered Joyce inducements to come play for them so literally outrageous and incredible that I wouldn't repeat them here even if Joyce hadn't asked me not to.

The reason why Michael Joyce would have gone to college primarily to play tennis is that the academic and social aspects of collegiate life interest him about as much as hitting 2,500 crosscourt forehands while a coach yells at you in foreign languages would interest you. Tennis is what Michael Joyce loves and lives for and is. He sees little point in telling anybody anything different. It's the only thing he's devoted himself to, and he's given massive amounts of himself to it, and as far as he understands it it's all he wants to do or be. Because he started playing at age two and competing at age seven, however, and had the first half-dozen years of his career directed rather shall we say forcefully and enthusiastically by his father (who Joyce estimates spent probably around $250,000 on lessons and court-time and equipment and travel during Michael's junior career), it seemed reasonable to ask Joyce to what extent he "chose" to devote himself to tennis. Can you "choose" something when you are forcefully and enthusiastically immersed in it at an age when the resources and information necessary for choosing are not yet yours?

Joyce's response to this line of inquiry strikes me as both unsatisfactory and marvelous. Because of course the question is unanswerable, at least it's unanswerable by a person who's already—as far as he understands it—"chosen". Joyce's answer is that it doesn't really matter much to him whether he originally "chose" serious tennis or not; all he knows is that he loves it. He tries to explain his feelings at the Nationals in 1991: "You get there and look at the draw, it's a 128 draw, there's so many guys you have to beat. And then it's all over and you've won, you're the National Champion—there's nothing like it. I get chills even talking about it." Or how it was just the previous week in Washington: "I'm playing Agassi, and it's great tennis, and there's like thousands of fans going nuts. I can't describe the feeling. Where else could I get that?"

What he says aloud is understandable, but it's not the marvelous part. The marvelous part is the way Joyce's face looks when he talks about what tennis means to him. He loves it; you can see this in his face when he talks about it: his eyes normally have a kind of Asiatic cast because of the slight epicanthic fold common to ethnic Irishmen, but when he speaks of tennis and his career the eyes get round and the pupils dilate and the look in them is one of love. The love is not the love one feels for a job or a lover or any of the loci of intensity that most of us choose to say we love. It's the sort of love you see in the eyes of really old people who've been happily married for an incredibly long time, or in religious people who are so religious they've devoted their lives to religious stuff: it's the sort of love whose measure is what it has cost, what one's given up for it. Whether there's "choice" involved is, at a certain point, of no interest... since it's the very surrender of choice and self that informs the love in the first place. (Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry, pp. 57-58)

***

The idea that there can be wholly distinct levels to competitive tennis—levels so distinct that what's being played is in essence a whole different game—might seem to you weird and hyperbolic. I have played probably just enough tennis to understand that it's true. I have played against men who were on a whole different, higher plateau than I, and I have understood on the deepest and most humbling level the impossibility of beating them, of "solving their game." Knowle is technically entitled to be called a professional, but he is playing a fundamentally different grade of tennis from Michael Joyce's, one constrained by limitations Joyce does not have. I feel like I could get on a tennis court with Julian Knowle. He would beat me, perhaps badly, but I don't feel like it would be absurd for me to occupy the same 78' x 27' rectangle as he. But the idea of me playing Joyce—or even hitting around with him, which was one of the ideas I was entertaining on the flight to Montreal, to hit around with a hot young U.S. pro—is now revealed to me to be absurd and in a certain way obscene, and during this night match I resolve not even to let Joyce(47) know that I used to play competitive tennis, to play seriously and (I'd presumed) rather well. This makes me sad.

47. Who is clearly such a fundamentally nice guy that he would probably hit around with me for a little while just out of politeness, since for him it would be at worst somewhat dull. For me, though, it would be obscene. (Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry, pp. 70-71)

***

Michael Joyce in close-up person, like eating supper or riding in a courtesy car, looks slighter and younger than he does on-court. From close up he looks his age, which to me is basically a fetus. He's about 5'9" and 160; he's muscular but quietly so, without much definition. He likes to wear old T-shirts and a backwards cap. His hairline is receding in a subtle young-man way that makes his forehead look a little high. I forget whether he wore an earring. Michael Joyce's interests outside tennis consist mostly of big-budget movies and genre novels of the commercial paperback sort that one reads on planes. In other words, he really has no interests outside tennis. He has a tight and long-standing group of friends back home in LA, but one senses that most of his personal connections have been made via tennis. He's dated some. It's impossible to tell whether he's a virgin. It seems staggering and impossible, but my sense is he might be. Then again, I tended to idealize and distort him, I know, because of how I felt about what he could do on the court. His most revealing sexual comment is made in the context of explaining the odd type of confidence that keeps him from freezing up in a match in front of large crowds or choking on a point when there's lots of money at stake. Joyce, who usually needs to pause about five beats to think before he answers a question, thinks the confidence is partly a matter of temperament and partly a function of hard work:

"If I'm in like a bar, and there's a really good-looking girl, I might be kind of nervous. But if there's like a thousand gorgeous girls in the stands when I'm playing, it's a different story. I'm not nervous then, when I play, because I know what I'm doing. I know what to do out there." Maybe it's good to let these be his last quoted words.

Whether or not he ends up in the top ten and a name anybody will know, Michael Joyce will remain a figure of enduring and paradoxical fascination for me. The restrictions on his life have been, in my opinion, grotesque; and in certain ways Joyce himself is a grotesque. But the radical compression of his attention and self has allowed him to become a transcendent practitioner of an art—something few of us get to be. It's allowed him to visit and test parts of his psyche that most of us do not even know for sure we have, to manifest in concrete form virtues like courage, persistence in the face of pain or exhaustion, performance under wilting scrutiny and pressure.

Michael Joyce is, in other words, a complete man (though in a grotesquely limited way). But he wants more. Not more completeness; he doesn't think in terms of virtues or transcendence. He wants to be the best, to have his name known, to hold professional trophies over his head as he patiently turns in all four directions for the media. He is an American and he wants to win. He wants this, and he will pay to have it—will pay just to pursue it, let it define him—and will pay with the regretless cheer of a man for whom issues of choice became irrelevant long ago. Already, for Joyce, at twenty-two, it's too late for anything else: he's invested too much, is in too deep. I think he's both lucky and un-. He will say he is happy and mean it. Wish him well. (Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry, pp. 84-85)

[heavensbeehall]

"Catching Fire", Chapter 27

Part 3: The Enemy

Chapter 27: Chaos reigns. Katniss is pulled into a hovercraft by Plutarch Heavensbee. She wakes up a couple times and tries to die, but is not allowed to. Beetee is there, but she sees no other victors. She grabs a syringe and tries to find Peeta, so she can mercy kill him before they can be tortured. Instead she finds Plutarch, Haymitch and Finnick talking. They explain about the rebellion and the plan in the arena. When Haymitch tells her Peeta was left behind, she attacks him and claws at his face with her fingernails. They sedate her again. Finnick tries to say they will keep Peeta alive as bait, just like Annie. More sedation. Gale arrives and tells her District 12 has been bombed.

Quotes:

I realize the Gamemakers are shooting off fireworks up there

??? Isn't this the explosions of the arena coming apart?

Perhaps they never intended to have a victor in these Games at all.

But who will watch the Games if there is no Victor? /tbosas reference

My worst fears are confirmed when the face that greets me inside the hovercraft belongs to Plutarch Heavensbee, Head Gamemaker.

Can we talk about Plutarch a bit? I suppose the blog title might lead you to believe I am a stan, but I just chose it because it's a reference to the Academy school and I feel like I'm making notes in the margins and flagging passages like I did when I was an English major.

I saw something--can't remember if it was a video essay or text essay--that said the end of Mockingjay is bad because Plutarch can just manipulate everyone again however he wants. And I sort of disagree. I think Plutarch has somehow learned how Snow does it, and is doing it for good reasons. He wants to end it. But that doesn't mean he's "good." He gets a lot of people killed, injured, hijacked, etc. And he says he'd put Katniss through it all again for the outcome. She's a 17-year-old girl. He put her through hell. But he's not sorry.

He reminds me a bit of Luthen Rael (if you haven't watched Andor, and like rebels fighting against an evil totalitarian regime, I highly recommend it, even if you don't like Star Wars. At least watch this monologue that Stellen Skarsgard should have won more awards for).

When I swim back into semi consciousness...

Remind me that I want to keep count of everytime Katniss wakes up in a hospital bed in Mockingjay because it happens a lot. I guess this is the beginning of it. She does it at least five times in this chapter alone.

I failed keep [Peeta] safe in life, I must find him, kill him now before the Capitol gets to choose the agonizing means of his death. I slide my legs off the table and look around for a weapon.

I guess I forgot the syringe she grabs is not for protection but that she wants to kill Peeta before he is tortured. She's willing to be tortured herself, but not him. And it's sad because he's already in the Capitol's clutches at this point. She doesn't even "mercy kill" Beetee because she's worried it would keep her from getting to Peeta.

He croaks out something else. Something heavy with despair.

It's clear from context that Finnick said something about killing himself, because Haymitch says that would get Annie killed for sure since she is "bait." And I'm sure that cheered Finnick up. Eyeroll.

It's an awful lot to take in, this elaborate plan in which I was a piece, just as I was meant to be a piece in the Hunger Games. Used without consent, without knowledge. At least in the Hunger Games, I knew I was being played with. My supposed friends have been a lot more secretive.

This is just so heartbreaking.

"The others kept Peeta alive because if he died, we knew there would be no keeping you in an alliance," says Haymitch.

Mags and the Morphling from 6 died protecting Peeta. Finnick took a knife for him. All because Haymitch knows what the rest of us know. Katniss would go crazy without Peeta. Or at the very least, become reckless in the arena (like she did when she lost Rue).

If I were either of them, I would be kind of pissed that I had to die not for the great symbol of the revolution herself, but for her teenage crush. But both of their deaths have so much love. Mags kisses Finnick, possibly saying that she'd do the same for him and Annie (afterall, she volunteered to protect Annie from this trauma). And the Morphling girl seemed to have a real connection with Peeta, and I wonder if she would've done it even if she hadn't been instructed to.

End Book 2.

[savvylark]

Did I just Everlark the Olympics?? "More than Gold"

Continuing our discussion/obsession with Everlark in the Winter Olympics @katnissdoesnotfollowback challenged us the write our ideas. It’s all your fault. I misguidedly thought I could do something Olympic justice but this turned into, well you’ll see. Look for 'More than Gold' on Ao3. Unbeta’d. G rate. So far.

All eyes are on the Ice dancing pair Gale Hawthorne and Katniss Everdeen as they enter the 2018 winter Olympic games with a record breaking score and third world title, a painful Silver metal earned my a small margin 4 years. A certain Olympic Golden boy and former Speed skating legond has been asked to commentate for the games and he has his eyes on Katniss.

_____________________

PART 1 of 3

Primrose Everdeen hands Posey Hawthorne the bowl of popcorn as they settled in to the couch and get comfortable in front of the TV to watch Prim’s sister and Posey’s brother as they are interviewed on a world wide broadcast before the opening ceremony of the 2018 Olympic Games. Gale Hawthorne and Katniss Everdeen are entering the winter Olympic games with a record breaking score and third world-championship title, determined to give their best and bring a Gold medal to their home country of Panem in this year’s Winter Olympic Games before they retire indefinitely.

“Did you see all the relationship questions in every interview this week?” Posey asks with an amused expression on her face.

Prim bites back a laugh, think of how awkward that could have been.

There’s not question about how close Gale and Katniss are. After skating together for 20 years their bond is strong. Their friendship, partnership, and dependence on each other by many standards they are in a relationship. They are also so succinct, they read each other and understand one another. They have to in order to excel on the ice as a team. They know what the other is thinking, on the ice.

Before the broadcast starts Prim pulls up some of the newest buzz and articles about Gale and Katniss’s relationship.

Prim is positive they’re going to blow away the judges this year with their performance. Unlike 4 years ago, they will get the gold they deserve, they have been undefeated in every championship title for the last year. Gale and Katniss’s technical skills are flawless. The tensions, awareness, and harmony they have on the ice translates as beautifully romantic.

If you don’t know them.

This why it’s too hard not to watch the drama unfold as an inside observer.

Posy and Prim laugh at each article as the writers speculate at length and read into every look, every sigh and every perceived romantic moment.

It’s even funnier that they don’t realize the trainwreck their unravelling. Gale cleverly keeps them guessing with his comments.

But what they aren’t catching is that he’s been trying to tell Katniss that he wants more. He hopes she’s finally ready.

Gale hints “We have a great working relationship. We love working together. We have to find out which way we want to do that after we retire.”

In true Katniss form, she gives him nothing to go on.

No reciprocation.

No hints of pining.

The interviews continue on the television:

“How long have you two been skating together?”

Gale wraps an arm around Katniss and answers proudly “20 years.”

“I mean, how nice to have lived this Olympic journey with your best friend?” Katniss adds.

“Did you always imagine yourself being a decorated ice dancer?”

“Well, skating has been in my family for years, I think I knew I would be on skates, so yeah, figure skating or hockey.” Gale flashes a look or memory in his intense gray eyes.

“Absolutely not!! Gale and I tried every sport when we were kids. Actually I think in elementary school I wrote about being a Gold Medal speed skater like Rye Mellark as my first aspiration.” Katniss smiles and her voice softens as she says ‘Mellark.’

Gale’s posture stiffens.

“3 time Gold Medalist Peeta Mellark’s older brother was iconic when he won Panem a Gold in the late 90s.” The host explains.

Katniss started out with dreams as a speed skater, she was recruited by Gale’s aunt to figure skate because she raced with such passion. Gale and Katniss were paired up almost immediately.

“We’ve been best friends for 20 years…” Katniss explains.

But Gale has already been losing Katniss to Peeta Mellark for years. His kindness found a way of infiltrating the armor around her heart and wedged his way in.

At the world’s competition in 2013, the year before they headed to Sochi Katniss has a nervous breakdown and Peeta Mellark happened to be there to soothe and comfort her. Gale never understood this side of her. She was going to give it all up, the pressure was too great and Peeta gave her hope.

Katniss and Gale surpassed their own world record, but lost their world title by a jaw clenching 4 points to their fellow competitors and ‘frenemies’ Johanna Mason and Finnick Odair who competed for the nation of Unita Coasta.

Within the week Peeta had won his eighth consecutive world speed skating title for Panem.

Prim is the only one who knows and understands Katniss’s connection to Panem’s Golden Boy and 8 time olympic speed skating medalist. He’s been her inspiration from the beginning. Katniss will deny it, but everything else about her reveals the truth.

Katniss has been keeping an eye on Peeta since they were children.

The reporters can speculate all they want, #Everthorne could be trending worldwide, but the truth is Gale’s fire only perpetuates the fire in Katniss, and that translates on the ice as passion. He has never known how to calm her anxieties. Soothe her frustrations, understand her stubborn spirit. Supported her off the ice.

In 2016 when Gale and Katniss made the decision to come out of retirement and train for the 2018 Winter Olympics their focus and devotion was for their sport and each other.

Gale and Madge broke up because of the decision, Madge was ready to settle down and have a family at 26, and she assumed Gale was too.

Gale was quoted to saying, “I’ve been in a very serious relationship with our sport.” It’s a painful truth.

But the most painful truth is Gale can’t survive without Katniss.

He wasn’t as upset about things ending with Madge as he was with about the idea of losing Katniss.

Prim sighs as she thinks about Gale’s mood and expression those weeks. Determination.

That’s Gale’s second reason for completing in the winter games this year, he’s holding on tightly to Katniss and he doesn’t want it to end. As Gale poured everything into their career, he’s been desperately trying to convey that he’s always wanted it to be the two of them in the end.

Peeta Mellark has been promoting a new energy drink so he’s in a lot of ads that play during the televised Olympic footage.

Prim elbows Posey as Peeta Mellark’s blue eyes flash on screen, enhanced by the blue in the logo of the energy drink. Posey bites her lip and smiles shyly.

Peeta chose to retired after his third gold in 2014 and this Winter Olympics he’s been hired as a commentator during the games.

They ask Peeta how he feels about not being a competitor. “Do I miss competing? Ceaser, you have no idea, the desire is always there. It’s very powerful. So, yes, I miss it. But would I want to go back? No! But. of course I miss it. Sure, I spent fifteen years of my life truly dedicated towards the sport and thought of nothing else. I thought there was no life after the sport, so I put in my time. But there is huge life afterwards, a real life.” Peeta says with a grin.

Real.

After all the acting Gale and Katniss have to do on the ice as a “couple” real is a powerful word.

Prim picks up the subtle communication to Katniss and purses her lips.

Ceaser asks Peeta about him commentating, he has polite, engaging answers. Ultimately he wants to inspire kids to go after their dreams. Hart melt all over Panem.

“How has retirement been since those 2014 Games?”

“It’s been busy. I had always known that my career would be kind of a launching pad into many different entrepreneurial activities and I’ve never been one to sit back and relax. I’ve always been on the go, very hungry for more and it’s been amazing. I could write a book!”

“Will you write a book?” Ceaser asks.

Peeta laughs.

“Maybe I will, maybe a cookbook. But it’s been amazing and I’m blessed to have incredible wins and devastating losses throughout the years. But I think it’s all a part of this human experience that we are going through, it’s a lot of fun…” Peeta continues into a promotion for the sponsors.

“We heard that Katniss Everdeen is a good friend of yours, what do you think about her coming out of retirement and going after the Gold with her partner?”  Ceaser Flickerman prys.

At Katniss’s name Peeta’s eyes seem to dance. He schools his expression in an attempt to conceal the affected we all just saw.

“Oh Ceaser she’s going to win, THEY –they are going to win. Katniss is awesome. She is a really good person. She is multi-talented and she has a beautiful personality that I think the world deserves to see more of besides just the figure skater, the superstar… with all the philanthropic stuff she has done, you’re going to love what she’s going to do to inspire kids. She is just a badass, you know what I mean? I try to push her to do the things that fulfill her. Coming out of retirement, she doesn’t need Gold, that’s the thing, you know, she just loves to compete and do her best. But I tell her that it is more than that, she’s inspiring people at every end of the world!” Peeta finishes with a wide smile and dimples. Blue eyes locking in half the viewership, millions of woman sigh a crossed the world.

“Do you think Madge will take Gale back?” Prim asks Posey.

“Yeah I do.” Posey answers with a shrug.

“Good, because Peeta Mellark is a goner.” Prim states wide eyed with a funny expression on her face.

[feywildrp]

THE BOHEMIAN // Gale. Water demifey: Bitterling. Unseelie Court.               Born in 1937. Living at the Ludlow, Apt. 09D.

Personal Power: Water writing; Gale can imprint letters into water no matter the distance, be it lakes or steam; this is very useful for sending a variety of messages.

KNOWN TRAITS // Astute, creative, secretive, articulate, melancholy.

The feeling of a mug of hot cocoa behind windowpanes, watching the lightning flicker. Thunder softly rolling in. Rain falling and luring toward sleep. The smell of old books. Notes left scrawled in the margins, nota benes underlined for reconsideration. Leather chairs in a library. The scent of a fireplace on the air of a winter night. Ink and quill and parchment. A poem half-written, rewritten, unsent. Droplets and downpours. Après nous, le déluge.

History

⇢ Trigger warnings: WWII mentions.

Gale was raised amidst the rumblings of World War II, which was as defining to the fey as it was to the rest of the world. His mother, Breeze, was one of the fey who preferred to fight for the world rather than stay out of it back in their ancestral homelands. That was largely due to her perspective-altering relationship with Gale’s father, a human soldier in the States. Breeze had cared little for humans before, but her love for him was swift and fierce—as passionate and fleeting as human lives themselves, and so she took him to wed for his lifetime. Breeze also cared much for the Unseelie ideals of showing truth to deniers, and so found herself trafficking messages from behind enemy lines to thwart the Axis powers all while posing as a housewife. Gale’s youngest years have some blur to them, but he remembers the day the war was won. After that, he had the attentions of both parents and learned a more human outlook, even though it seemed strange to him. Gale always felt closer to his feyry lineage than his human one, but he was never ashamed of his father. He admired the soldier’s bravery and loyalty, both traits Gale would integrate into his own personality. Some time after WWII, the alliance between the Courts fractured, and Gale knew he wanted to be as useful to the Queen as he could, so he offered himself with a soldier’s smile.

Though only in his 20s, he insisted on speaking to Queen Lacha directly—he was modestly rebuked. Always more the brains than the brawn, Gale wouldn’t be denied, and so he found other ways to reach her. Gale began to leave her notes in the frost on her windowpanes. Eventually, the Queen relented and agreed to hear him out alone, but who she met wasn’t the soldier she expected. Gale had his father’s heart, but his mother’s mind—and this was all the better. Lacha had no need for warriors in a cold war, what she needed was those of intelligence. After a few trials and tests, Lacha asked him to use his ability to send messages to help her communicate to those in the field she couldn’t directly speak to without endangering them. As that went well, Lacha entrusted Gale with her ledgers and books and named him Collector. Then, she entrusted him with a piece of her heart. Together, the two conceived a child who was born with hair the colour of cornsilk in the winter of 1969. When Lacha asked Gale to keep it a secret, he understood why. He always understood her, and would continue to keep her secrets and loyalties no matter the state of their relationship. Gale’s public life gave him purpose; his secret one gave him inspiration. Even now, sometimes he will wax nostalgic and write poetry for Lacha in unexpected places.

Occupation

Collector.

Gale’s position as Collector has no double-life to it; he is what he is. At the Rookery, he mans the back room, sometimes called “the library” because it’s hidden behind the false bookcase. That’s where the exchanges for elixirs are done, and it’s where the Runners tell Gale how much has been bought—and who bought it. In the event that the client can’t pay in full, that’s when Gale reaches out to the Shadows, Rowan and Raven, to make ends meet.

Connections

Queen Lacha: Gale’s one-time love and secret relationship; whether this relationship is still ongoing is up to the players. Gale is the secret father of Camellia. Gale appreciates Lacha’s strength and cunning while knowing she loves that he sees inspiration in dark places. They are still on good terms and close confidants.

Camellia: Gale has paternal instincts over Camellia that he has to keep in check—he knows what is at stake and respects Lacha’s “Virgin Queen” tactic, so he can’t be the father to Camellia that he wishes he was. That doesn’t stop him from being kind to her or bringing her trinkets on occasions that call for it, however.

Frost: One of the top Runners, Frost is a good friend to Gale. She helps to lift his mood and make him feel like not everything in his life is shrouded in secrets. She has the right balance of warmth and nonchalance that makes it easy to get along with her and reminds him to take his happiness where he can get it.

PLAYLIST 1. Nature Boy // 2. Message for the Queen // 3. Gatsby Believed

Gale is portrayed by Garrett Hedlund. The faceclaim is NEGOTIABLE. Gale is currently TAKEN by Chloe and not available for application.

[theconservativebrief]

Wind turbines have cropped up like dandelions across large areas of the United States, and thousands more are coming. The US Department of Energy projects that we’ll have 404 gigawatts of wind energy capacity across the country by 2050, up from 89 GW today. Since overall electricity demand is expected to hold steady, that would fulfill more than one-third of the country’s needs.

Texas alone, with 22.6 gigawatts installed, would rank sixth in the world today in total wind capacity if it were its own country.

But wind power isn’t exploding everywhere across this great land of ours. Vast swaths of the country have been left out of the wind energy revolution, as you can see in this map of installed wind capacity by state:

And when you look at how much wind we’ve built per state since 1999, you can see how quickly wind has boomed in some areas, while others are stuck in the doldrums:

Javier Zarracina

Right next to wind king Texas, you have 11 states with little to no installed wind power, including Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia.

And when you map where the clusters of wind turbines are physically located, the hole in the southeastern US becomes even more stark:

Javier Zarracina

The above map of 57,636 wind turbines across the US is drawn from a terrific interactive website launched in April by the US Geological Survey, the American Wind Energy Association, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. And it pulls data from the US Wind Turbine Database, a years-long effort to map the gale of wind power sweeping the country.

It’s the best evidence we have that many parts of the US are being left behind in the wind power boom.

I wanted to understand what was going on here, so, naturally, I went looking for more maps. And it turns out there are several reasons states like Alabama and Georgia are so far apart from states like Nebraska and Wyoming, and why it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to close the gap anytime soon.

This map of average wind speeds at a height of 80 meters, or 262 feet — the height that matters for most commercial wind turbines — illustrates one big reason for America’s wind disparity:

Javier Zarracina

The areas in purple and red — the Great Plains states — have the fastest wind speeds and therefore the most wind energy available for harvest. The Southeast, clearly, has a lot less wind.

“The main difference between the southeastern US and the rest of the country is the intensity of the resource,” said Paul Veers, chief engineer at the National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “Wind power is very sensitive to the wind speed, more than you might guess.”

The power you get from a wind turbine has a cubic relationship to the wind speed, he says. If you double the wind speed, you get eight times more power. So it makes sense that utilities are planting wind turbines in the places with the most wind.

Still, there are plenty of wind turbines in less breezy states out west like Idaho, which has 973 MW of capacity. So why else is the Southeast so devoid of wind power?

Policies are a big part of it.

The major driver to invest in wind in many states is renewable portfolio standards, which mandate a minimum amount of electricity to come from renewable sources, like hydroelectric, wind, solar, and geothermal power plants. While federal incentives like the production tax credit, which benefits wind energy installations, apply across the country, state-level programs make a major difference on the ground.

“The states that have stronger RPSs are the places where you see renewables being deployed more actively,” said Ian Baring-Gould, a technology deployment manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “In places that don’t have RPSs, the utilities don’t have as much motivation to develop renewables.”

Take a wild guess which states don’t have RPSs:

Javier Zarracina

States like Nebraska and Wyoming without RPSs still have an immense amount of wind available, so the economics of wind power still make sense even without a state mandate.

The lack of an RPS doesn’t necessarily mean that a state is hostile to renewable energy. Every state in the country now has installed photovoltaic solar to some degree. But the upfront cost of building a turbine is much higher than it is for installing a PV panel, so every incentive counts when making the business case for deploying more wind energy.

Windier states allow for higher capacity factors from wind turbines, allowing them to sell more electricity and recuperate their upfront costs faster. Turning a profit gets much harder when there is less wind to begin with.

As a result, states like South Carolina, which has a renewable portfolio standard but limited wind resources, are meeting their goals with solar power.

Nonetheless, there are southeastern states without RPSs that do want wind energy, and there are ways for them to benefit from the massive growth of wind power.

For some utilities, the optimal strategy is to buy wind electricity from states where it is more abundant. Georgia Power, an investor-owned public utility serving most of Georgia, buys wind power Oklahoma via renewable energy certificates and long-term power sourcing contracts.

John Kraft, a Georgia Power spokesperson, told me in an email that the utility has a development initiative to add up to 1,600 megawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2021. But so far, solar energy has won out, with a power purchase agreement already signed in February to buy 510 megawatts in 2019.

“Under our [renewable energy request for proposals], the market has not offered us wind or biomass options that could compete with utility-scale solar projects in Georgia,” Kraft said.

So to get actual wind turbines to blossom in the Southeast, the generators themselves have to see their prices shrink further and get better at harnessing more marginal sources of wind. Here there’s some good news: The installed price for wind energy has fallen more than 90 percent since the 1980s and is continuing to drop as wind energy scales up. States like Georgia are also investigating their large potential for offshore wind.

The wind turbines themselves are also getting huge. Huuuuuuuge:

They might be giants. Javier Zarracina

These larger turbines are better able to capture wind in less gusty areas, increasing the capacity factor. So as size goes up, costs come down, and utilities learn more about how to deploy wind energy, turbines will fill in more of the map.

“The trend across the entire country though has been the technology is adapting so that it can access lower and lower resource areas,” said Veers.

However, wind turbines will probably never be spread evenly across the country.

“It might change a little bit, but you are still going to be dealing with the fact that there are relatively inferior wind resources in those areas of the country,” said Ben Hoen, a research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who worked on the wind turbine database. “It’s not as if renewable energy is not being deployed there; it’s just that the choice is based on economics, largely.”

Original Source -> The stunningly lopsided growth of wind power in the US, in 4 maps

via The Conservative Brief

[filtration-products]

Slowing Mexico Oil Reform Would Be ‘A Shame,’ Pemex CEO States  | Rigzone

by  Bloomberg

|

Lucia Kassai & Adam Williams

|

Wednesday, March 07, 2018

Mexico’s 2013 determination to finish the federal government monopoly on strength has resulted in billions in expenditure and the arrival of dozens of worldwide oil companies.

(Bloomberg) — Mexico’s 2013 determination to finish the federal government monopoly on strength has resulted in billions in expenditure and the arrival of dozens of worldwide oil companies.

Carlos Trevino, Petroleos Mexicanos’s new main government officer, thinks it would be unlucky for that to be interrupted by the following administration.

The prime concern of Trevino, who took about at Pemex in November, is that Mexico will elect a president in July that will “slow down the strength reform speed,” he said in an job interview with Bloomberg Tv at the CERAWeek by IHS Markit event in Houston.

“Someone who doesn’t imagine in the strength reform may perhaps decrease the speed extremely substantially and I imagine that would be a disgrace in Mexico,” Trevino said. “The strength reform has a lot of positive aspects to the place, to the folks, so the the worst case scenario in my stage of check out is that the speed that we are utilizing the strength reform will be minimized.”

Trevino’s concern matches that of a lot of strength sector leaders in Mexico, which has signed a lot more than 90 oil and gas generation contracts with worldwide majors these kinds of as Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. considering the fact that a landmark 2015 crude auction. Presidential entrance-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who potential customers polls ahead of the July 1 election, has vowed that his administration will slow the speed of the current oil auctions and overview contracts signed by the current federal government.

A reversal or important modification to the overhaul would be “almost impossible simply because to improve the strength reform you will want to improve the structure,” Trevino said. It would require a greater part in Mexico’s upper and decrease houses and it “is actually tough for any president to have that amount” of assist.

“It is achievable but improbable,” Trevino said. “We have a lot of certainty on what is likely to occur in the upcoming no matter who wins the election.”

Refining Companion

Pemex, which has reiterated that companions will improve crude generation and refining margins, will formalize a joint-undertaking arrangement with Mitsui & Co. at its flagship refinery this thirty day period, Trevino said. The partnership with Mitsui is an believed $2.6 billion offer that will increase generation to assistance decrease the nation’s reliance on imported fuels.

Pemex also expects to indicator at the very least 1 added refinery partnership as shortly as this summer season, Trevino said, devoid of providing added aspects. The firm continues to search for companions for refinery auxiliary solutions in parts these kinds of as electricity technology, water treatment method and steam technology, he said.

The company’s Salina Cruz refinery, which was offline for many months previous year pursuing a collection of natural disasters, is working at fifty percent of its potential, processing all around 150,000 day by day barrels, according to Trevino. Pemex’s Madero refinery, which is in the process of a restart, is now processing in between 60,000 and 80,000 barrels, he said. The Madero refinery, which has the potential to process 190,000 barrels for each day, should really ramp up to typical costs at the finish of the thirty day period.

Oil Auctions

Pemex, which won legal rights to build 4 deep water parts in Mexico’s Jan. 31 auction, is likely to bid for a handful of block in the March 27 tender of 35 shallow water zones, he said. Pemex would favor to bid in partnerships but is prepared to go it on your own if want be, Trevino said.

The firm, which introduced its possess oil hedge previous year to safeguard versus a potential value fall, will keep on the application following year, Trevino said.

With support from Cyntia Barrera Diaz.To make contact with the reporters on this tale: Adam Williams in Mexico Town at awilliams111@bloomberg.web Lucia Kassai in Houston at lkassai@bloomberg.web. To make contact with the editors liable for this tale: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.web Joe Carroll, Carlos Caminada.

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&#13 Created by readers, the remarks included herein do not mirror the views and opinions of Rigzone. All remarks are issue to editorial overview. Off-subject, inappropriate or insulting remarks will be taken off.&#13

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[youcalledmebabe]

Interesting Fairest of Them All Round Two Happenings:

Our most popular (and most contentious) poll this time was Lewis Nixon vs Eugene Roe. 655 votes were cast! Our second most popular (and second most contentious) was Joe Toye vs Buck Cleven with 565 votes cast.

The closest poll this time around was Donald Malarkey vs Pat Christenson. Malarkey won by just 2.4 percent. Frankly I’m not sure what he’s still doing here but that’s democracy at work folks!

Ron Speirs won his poll by the largest margin, earning 93.2% of the vote over his enemy/sometimes lover Alton More.

Joe Liebgott comes in for the 69% crown.

All big ships except Webgott and Clegan have lost their other half to the polls. A moment of silence for them. webgott sweep‼️

Gale Cleven is our silent majority king. He’s often losing his poll or barely hanging on and then a big rush of votes comes in for him

There is a Hail Mary poll for the upcoming round four here! Save one of our popular losers.

Round three of the polls will be out tomorrow (June 13th) in the evening. There will be seven polls in the round. Best of luck to the fourteen hotties left!

[thetlcnews]

England vs West Indies 3rd ODI

Gale's Stormy Innings Ahead Of This Player Also Failed, Made The Record In the England vs West Indies 3rd ODI match played in Bristol, the audience got stunned by fours and sixes. In England vs West Indies match, the West Indies decided to bowl to win the toss. Before going to bat, the England team made a huge score of 369 for a 9-wicket loss in the last 50 overs. After chasing the target, 245 runs in 39.1 overs were all out in front of the West Indies fast bowler Liam Plunkett (5/52). In this match, England won by a huge margin of 124 runs. West Indies Ahead Of The Player's Storm For England, Moin Ali, batting brilliantly, scored 102 runs against 57 balls Including 8 sixes and 7 fours. Moin Ali was rewarded with the award of 'Man of the Match' for his batting. At the breathtaking Moin Ali's explosive century, England have achieved a 2-0 lead in the England vs West Indies five-match series. Second Fastest Century By England

Moin Ali has moved to second place in the England vs West Indies series of the fastest century by the England side. The record of the fastest century ever scored by England is Jos Buttler's name. He scored a century on 46 balls against Pakistan and scored a not out 116. This match was won by England by 84 runs. Chris Gayle's Storm Also Failed Caribbean explosive batsman Chris Gayle tried his best to win his team. He played a wonderful innings of 94 off 78 balls. In which he scored 9 fours and 6 sixes although he could not win the team. Adil Rasheed got him out of the England vs West Indies match and returned the pavilion and missed out on his hundred. Earlier, England's highest score against the West Indies in 32 ODIs against the West Indies was 328 runs in Edgbaston in 2009. The fourth ODI between the two teams will be played on Wednesday at the Oval. Let us tell you that the fastest century in ODIs is the name of South African batsman AB de Villiers, who scored a century in Johannesburg in 31 balls against the West Indies in 2015 Moeen Ali is Man of the Match Morgan: Absolutely delighted with that performance. There was a bit of grass on the wicket, tested our defence early. Moin's innings was the difference between the sides. Their guys like scoring boundaries. Chris Gayle is one of the best batsmen in the world, and we came up trumps. Moin's pretty chilled about everything. In the context of the series, he's been outstanding. Plunkett is almost Mr. Reliable. He's extracted more than our other seamers want to be as ruthless as possible. England vs Windies 3rd ODI ENG 369/9 (50.0 Ovs) WI 245-all out (39.1 Ovs) England won by 124 runs Player Of The Match Moin Ali Click to Post

[sociopoliticaltrends]

December 10, 2016 Patterns can be observed occurring naturally in nearly every aspect of our world. Weather, foliage, crystals, scales, shells, petals, migratory birds, hibernating mammals, and tides all operate in predictable ways; even microscopic atoms tessellate to make up all of those things. Human behavior is no exception to the rule of repetition. The well known phrase “history repeats itself’’ indicates that we are conscious of these patterns to a certain extent. Sociopolitically, trends in human behavior become most obvious during times of extreme polarization. The current sociopolitical climate in the United States has reached one of those points of extreme polarization. Many of the current movements and ideations are very reminiscent of those throughout the 20th century. Examining the cause and effects of social and political phenomenon throughout the 20th century in America will give us a better understanding of what contributed to our current state, and what might happen next. On November 8, 2016, the Republican presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump, became the president elect, winning with 306 electoral votes. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic party candidate, won only 232 electoral votes. Independent party candidates, principally Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, won 2-10% of the popular vote per state. (CNN) While failing to win the popular vote by roughly 1.3 million, Mr. Trump won by a considerable margin in the electoral college. Many major news sources and polls had predicted a presidential win for Clinton, claiming that the American people saw Trump as “unfit to be commander in chief” due to his behaviour during debates and allegations of sexism and racism in the past. However, they failed to take into account the extreme unpopularity of Clinton as well. After the election, many speculated that Clinton’s team took her predicted win for granted, and therefore did not campaign as hard as they should have, while Donald Trump was out motivating so many republicans to go vote for him that he managed to break “The Blue Wall”. (CNN) The presidential election of 1968 had similar circumstances and outcomes, with an extreme Republican win after prosperous democratic presidential terms, and an atypically large independent vote. Nixon, the Republican candidate, won the presidency by motivating the “silent majority”: Americans who felt unrepresented in the climate of civil unrest. (Holland,73) In the 1960s it was the Civil Rights Movement, the Environmental Movement, and the Anti-War Movement that overpowered moderate America and took the spotlight. Today, it’s the Black Lives Matter movement, LGBT activism, reproductive rights disputes, and dispute over immigration that are motivating moderates who feel unrepresented in America today. Another parallel between Nixon and Trump’s respective presidential victories is that the Democratic party’s candidates in both the 1968 and 2016 elections were not the most popular of the potential Democratic candidates. In 1968, Robert Kennedy was assassinated, and the presidential nominee became Hubert Humphrey. In 2016, Bernie Sanders, extremely popular among the youth due to his democratic socialist policies, lost at the Democratic National Convention to Hillary Clinton. Had the most popular candidates been able to run in the November election, the outcome may have been different. The “Black Lives Matter” movement has been a huge factor in the politics of the past four years, tracing back to the murder of unarmed african american teen, Trayvon Martin. The phrase “black lives matter” started as a hashtag after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the police officer who killed Trayvon Martin. “Black Lives Matter” is used in the same spirit as “I Am a Man”, which was a popular slogan during the Civil Rights Movement; both speak to sentiments of African Americans feeling perceived as less important than white Americans. (Davis) The Civil Rights movement took place from 1954-1968, spanning about 15 years. The Black Lives Matter movement has been an organized phenomenon since 2012, and in its 4 years of existence has gotten considerable public attention.(Cullors) Public response to the Black Lives Matter movement has been varied. Much of the criticism received is the same kind of criticism that the Civil Rights movement recived during their early years. According to their website, the objectives of the Black Lives Matter movement are “to (re)build the Black liberation movement.” , to work for “a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise”, and “to collectively, lovingly and courageously work vigorously for freedom and justice for Black people, and by extension, all people.”(Tometi) All of which are more abstract than the goals of the Civil Rights movement, which were primarily to re-enfranchise black voters in southern states, combat racism, and integrate society.(Scholastic) The strategies implemented by both movements are similar; rallies are held, protesters march, and variations of sit-ins and be-ins are held in most major cities across America and on college campuses. College campuses across the nation have always been hot-spots for progressive and liberal activity. Columbia College is attributed as the birthplace of the late 1940’s “beat generation”, college students and graduates who lived near the college, who became an underground society in New York City. Youth in America today, the generation of Millennials, has been labeled as lazy, having no aspirations, and self-absorbed. In 1952, an article published in the New York Times about the beat generation says “There are those who believe that in generations such as this there is always the constant possibility of a great new moral idea, conceived in desperation, coming to life. Others note the self-indulgence, the waste, the apparent social irresponsibility, and disagree.”(Holmes) This sounds very similar to the rhetoric used about the millennials. The beat generation did not amount to much beyond being known for their conformity and poodle skirts. The most subversive that their generation is remembered as is huddled in cafes reading poetry, wearing all black, probably somewhere in Greenwich Village. In the 1970s, the LGBT rights movement started. Marsha Johnson is credited with sparking the stonewall riots in NYC in 1973. The issue was over police harassment of trans and gay citizens. Much of the issues today in the LGBT community are over the rights of trans people, and the validity of their identities. The same issues that were present in 1973 are still present today. The current generation has characteristics and ideals from every previous generation. Racism, sexism, phobias, and biases of every kind still lurk in American society today. The problems of previous generations have resurfaced and mutated and the solutions are being taken from the previous generations as well. The ideas that have been outside of the mainstream are being conveyed and circulated through social media today and are becoming more widely accepted and adopted by individuals all over the nation. Conservatives are becoming the minority as the same push that was seen in the late 40s, through the 50s, and well into the 60s is seen today. Works Cited Watson, Steven. Strange Bedfellows: The First American Avant-garde. New York: Abbeville, 1991. Print. Marshall, Richard. Great Events of the 20th Century; How They Changed Our Lives. Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest Association, 1977. Print. Hakim, Joy. War, Peace, and All That Jazz: 1918-1945. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. Print. Glennon, Lorraine. Our Times: The Illustrated History of the 20th Century. Atlanta: Turner Pub., 1995. Print. Pichon, Yann Le, and Jean-Louis Ferrier. Art of the 20th Century: A Year-by-year Chronicle of Painting, Architecture, and Sculpture. Paris, France: Editions Du Chene, 1999. Print. Parks, Deborah, Dan Zinkus, and Susan Washburn. Buckley. Teaching Guide for an Age of Extremes: 1870-1914. New York: Oxford UP, 1994. Print. Hill, Laban Carrick. America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the Sixties. New York, NY: Little, Brown, 2007. Print. Layman, Richard. American Decades: 1950-1959. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1994. Print. Layman, Richard. American Decades: 1980-1989. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1994. Print. Andrist, Ralph K., Edmund Stillman, and Nancy Kelly. The American Heritage History of the 20’s and 30’s. New York: American Heritage, 1970. Print. Kallen, Stuart A. A Cultural History of the United States: Through the Decades. The 1950s ed. Vol. 5. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1999. Print. Holland, Gini. A Cultural History of the United States: Through the Decades. The 1960s ed. Vol. 6. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1999. Print. FBI. “Latest Hate Crime Statistics Available.” FBI. FBI, 16 Nov. 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF 1968. Rep. N.p.: n.p., \ Psephos - Adam Carr’s Election Archive. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. CNN. “Election Results 2016.” www.cnn.com. CNN, 8 Nov. 2016. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. History.com Staff. “Civil Rights Movement.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Dec. 2016. <http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement> Web. Dec 10. 2016. Cullors, Patrisse. Tometi, Opal. Garza, Alicia. “We Affirm That All Black Lives Matter.” Blacklivesmatter.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. <http://blacklivesmatter.com/guiding-principles/>. “Civil Rights Movement.” West’s Encyclopedia of American Law. Encyclopedia.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. Davis, Jack E. “Civil Rights Movement.” Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 1 July 2014. 10 Dec. 2016. Scholastic. “Civil Rights Movement: An Overview | Scholastic.com.” Scholastic Teachers. Scholastic, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016 Holmes, John Clellon. “This Is The Beat Generation.” Editorial. New York Times Magazine16 Nov. 1952: 1. LitKicks. 2008. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

[rathertoofondofbooks]

This week has been a quiet one for the most part so I’ve been able to do lots of reading. I’m also in the middle of sorting through my books and trying to get rid of some. I wanted to reduce my TBR this year but I’m still acquiring books faster than I’m reading them! In the process of sorting out the books on my new Kindle last week I realised that I have a lot of unread books that I’ve owned for ages and I just don’t think I’m ever going to read them so I’ve been deleting some books. The flip side of this is that I also found some kindle books that I hadn’t listed on Goodreads (and therefore weren’t included in my TBR count at the start of the year) so this means my total TBR is going to be up and down for a little while as I both delete and add books. Sorting through my Kindle books led to me looking over my bookcases and picking out some books that I also don’t think are to my taste anymore. Hopefully this will get my TBR down to the books I really want to read, and also help to reduce it somewhat!

This week I’ve finished reading six books:

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

I’ve been struggling to get into this novel for a week or two but I finally made time to sit and read it in one sitting and I enjoyed it much more when I did that. It’s a very gentle novel, that has moments in it that took my breath away. There is one moment in particular point where the loss of parents is mentioned and it was such a small sentence but it turned the novel around for me and made me notice all the pain and beauty beneath the surface.

It’s All Absolutely Fine by Ruby Elliot

This is a review book so I will be reviewing it soon (hopefully) but I’ll say here that it’s a really simple book about mental health issues but some of the illustrations and points made are so powerful for being so simple. It’s a book I recommend.

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

This book is stunning! I read it in two sittings and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m so happy that I won a proof of this in a giveaway and that I got a chance to read it now. It’s definitely one to add to your lists to buy once it’s published.

The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola

This is another brilliant read that I read in just a day or two. I was enthralled in Sarah Gale’s story and couldn’t put the book down for wanting to know the truth of what happened. I didn’t realise when I was reading it that a lot of it was based on a true story so it really made me pause once I knew that.

The Good Immigrant ed. by Nikesh Shukla

I have mixed feelings about this book. I’m glad I read it and some of the essays are brilliant and really made me think about things. Unfortunately, there were a couple of essays that I found offensive due to what my own family have been through and I just couldn’t get passed how that made me feel. I would still recommend the book though because it does give an insight into what it is to be an immigrant in Britain.

Black Wood by SJI Holliday

I’ve had this book on my TBR since it was published and when I saw that the third book in the trilogy was now out I decided to pick this first one up. I read it in one sitting and really enjoyed it. I’m going to read the second book this week and I can’t wait!

  This week I’ve blogged three times:

Sunday: Weekly Wrap-Up where I share all of my bookish, blogging and real life news from the last week

Wednesday: WWW Wednesday where I share what I’m currently reading, what I’ve recently read and what I plan to read next

Saturday: Stacking the Shelves where I share my accumalated book haul from the last seven days

This is what I’m currently reading:

One of Us by Asne Seierstad

I’ve had this book on my TBR since it was published and I have tried picking it up before but my mind wasn’t in the right place to read it. I’m reading a lot of non-fiction at the moment so decided to give this another go and I’m so glad I did. It’s such a tough subject to read about but Seierstad has clearly done a lot of research and it’s very well written.

The Escape by C.L. Taylor

I was offered a copy of this from the publisher but it never arrived so I requested, and was approved, on NetGalley. I am finding this a fast-paced, intriguing book and I’m very much enjoying it.

Forever Yours by Daniel Glattauer

I absolutely adored this author’s previous two books so was keen to read this one. It’s been on my TBR for ages so as I’m trying to read through my TBR this year I picked this one up. It’s not grabbing me in the way I hoped it would but it’s interesting and I am keen to see where the plot goes.

Not Dead Yet by Phil Collins

This is my husband’s latest audio book pick and I wasn’t that interested in listening to it but once it was playing I found myself laughing at some of the stories Phil Collins was telling and before I knew it we’d been listening for over two hours! We’re going to listen to the rest of it together so I’m looking forward to that.

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Everything but the Truth by Gillian McAllister

I’m really enjoying this novel – it’s got an intriguing premise and I can’t wait to find out what, if any, secret Jack is keeping from his girlfriend!

Blue Light Yokohama by Nicolas Obregon

This is a slow-paced but beautifully written crime novel and I’m really enjoying it. I’m keen to find out what happened to the main character in the past.

H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald

This is such a lovely book to listen to on audio and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve not had much time to listen to audio books this week but as soon as I have time I will be putting this on.

And the Sun Shines Now by Adrian Tempany

I’ve read a couple more chapters of this since last week and am still finding it to be such an interesting and, at times, eye-opening read. 

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

I’m absolutely adoring the writing in this book and the only reason that I haven’t read it quicker is that it’s a hardback so I can only read when I can physically manage to hold it. I hope to be able to read more this week though.

Update on my TBR…

TBR at the start of January 2017: 1885 (see my State of the TBR post)

TBR in last week’s Wrap-Up: 1912

Additions:

Books bought/received for review/gifts: 13 (See the books I added this week in my Stacking the Shelves post)

Subtractions:

Books read this week: 6

Books I’m currently reading: 9

TBR Books culled this week: 55

Total:

TBR now stands at: 1862

  I’m linking this post up to Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer’s Sunday Blog Share.  It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

  How has your week been? What have you been reading? Please share in the comments below. If you write a wrap-up on your blog please feel free to share the link. 🙂

Weekly Wrap-Up (26 Feb) This week has been a quiet one for the most part so I've been able to do lots of reading.

[cbilluminati]

IDW has some great books dropping this week, and we have your early look at them all. Here’s the IDW Publishing Previews for 2-1-2017.

America’s Best Comics: Artist’s Edition HC

Writer: Alan Moore Artists: Arthur Adams, Hilary Barta, Gene Ha, Kevin Nowlan, Paul Rivoche, Chris Sprouse, Rick Veitch, J.H. Williams III Cover Artist: Chris Sprouse

Alan Moore was the braintrust behind America’s Best Comics, one of the most acclaimed imprints in the history of comics. Comprised of four main titles: Tom Strong, Top10, Promethea, and the anthology Tomorrow Stories, the ABC line paired Moore with the finest artists in comics. This volume will present a beautiful overview of the ABC line, including complete stories from Promethea #10 (Eisner Award-winner for best issue of the year) and Top 10 #7. Additionally, a fine selection of shorter stories featuring Tom Strong, Jack B. Quick, Splash Brannigan, and Greyshirt will be included. Plus a stunning gallery section. The best stories by the best artists in the best format!

HC • BW • $95.00 net cost item • 216 pages • 12” x 17” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-757-4

Bullet points:

Advance solicited for November release!

The ABC line won a total of 12 MAJOR Eisner Awards, including: Best Writer (four times), Best Artist, Best Single Issue (twice), Best Serialized Story, Best Continuing Series, Best New Series, Best Anthology, and Best Graphic Novel!

   Back to the Future #16

Writers: Bob Gale, John Barber Artist: Emma Vieceli Cover Artist: Emma Vieceli

WHO IS MARTY McFLY?!? And why are there so many on the loose in 1986?! Marty and Doc finally get some answers, but they might not like where those answer take them… and they’re definitely not going to like WHEN it takes ’em!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Part of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Cover Month!

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Box Office Poison Color Comics #2

Writer: Alex Robinson Artist: Alex Robinson Cover Artist: Alex Robinson

Sherman’s frustration with his job grows and grows… while the story of Jane and Stephen’s relationship is revealed!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Winner of the Eisner Award for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, the International Comics Festival Award for Best Debut Graphic Novel (Angouleme, France), and voted by Wizard Magazine as the best indy graphic novel of all time.

“A salute to comics, an exploration of the human condition, and a solid, absorbing, and riotously snide tale about at least half of the things that make life important.” — Tasha Robinson, The AV Club

Each issue will be presented in color for the very first time!

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Chester 5000: Isabelle & George

Writer: Jess Fink Artist: Jess Fink Cover Artist: Jess Fink

1889: an age of industrial revolution and sexual frustration. Isabelle is a lonely orphan, reprimanded at every turn by her strict matron. George is an inventor on the cusp of a brilliant discovery. Together they find love, but in an age of violent mechanization and military secrets, can their passion survive?

After the smash success of CHESTER 5000’s first volume (the tale of a Victorian woman and her robot lover), beloved web-cartoonist Jess Fink returns with another triumphant story of boundary-breaking love, sex, and technology. Discover the origins of your favorite characters along with all-new thrills. All the drama and adventure of the silent film era is here, enlivened with modern whimsy and erotic charm.

HC • BW • $14.95 • 184 pages • 6.5” x 7.5” • ISBN: 978-1-93656-169-8

Bullet points:

“A woman-friendly, couple-friendly book destined to become a perennial in sex-positive toy and book stores.” — The Comics Journal

Fink’s storytelling is as likely to pluck on your heartstrings as get you all steamed up.” — The Guardian

Adults Only (18+)

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Donald Quest #4 (of 5)

Writers: Stefano Ambrosio, Chantal Pericoli, Pat McGreal Artist: Stefano Zanchi Cover Artist: Stefano Zanchi

“Rock Racers!” As evil Emil Eagle reaches the Trembling Anvil—Feudarnia’s last, best hope against the Meteorbeast invasion!—desperate Donald is trapped in the villains’ Dragon Moon lair, forced to fight Pegleg Pete and his gang in a thrilling battle of wits!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

As Donald’s great steampunk miniseries rolls on, the whole Disney rogues’ gallery is here—from the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell to Pegleg Pete and the Phantom Blot!

Variant cover by Andrea Freccero!

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The Electric Sublime #4 (of 4)

Writer: W. Maxwell Prince Artist: Martin Morazzo Cover Artist: Martin Morazzo

Arc finale! Featuring famous works by Rene Magritte, Georges Seurat, Edward Hopper, and Pablo Picasso, this is the blood- and paint-splattered chapter you’ve been waiting for!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

From the writer of Judas: The Last Days(IDW) and the artist of Great Pacific and Snowfall (Image)!

The X-Files meets Alice in Wonderland, by way of The Da Vinci Code!

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Ghostbusters Annual 2017

Writer: Erik Burnham Artist: Dan Scoening, Rachel Stott, Corin Howell, Erik Evensen Cover Artist: San Schoening

Join us for this special double-sized annual, featuring Ghostbusters past, present… and future! Learn the origin of Slimer! Witness a crazy bust in the Midwest with the Chicago Ghostbusters! Find out what Winston Zeddemore was up to during the Scolari Brothers incident in Ghostbusters 2! And peek into the future at the next generation of Ghostbusters… and much more! Be there or be slimed!

FC • 48 pages • $7.99

Bullet points:

The secret origin of Slimer and much more!

Part of IDW’s 2017 Annual Offensive! Over-sized and action-packed key stories in a deluxe format!

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Ghostbusters International, Vol. 2

Writer: Erik Burnham Artists: Dan Schoening, Rachael Stott Cover Artist: Dan Schoening

The team is still on the move as they head to Puerto Rico and Ireland as ghosts all over the world need to be busted, while Egon chases a mystery about a powerful Scandinavian spell book. Collects issues #6–11.

TPB • FC • $19.99 • 132 pages • ISBN: 978-1-63140-834-2

Bullet points:

“One of the best paced and best written series out there. Artist, writer, and colorist working together in perfect harmony.” –Big Comic Page

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Haunted Horror #26

Writer: Various Artist: Various Cover Artist: Bernard Baily

The second sickening installment in THE HORRORS OF IT ALL! Featuring terrifying tales as chosen by Steve “Mr. Karswell” Banes! A surprisingly vicious issue highlighted by a terror-ific Bernard Baily cover, as well more severed head stories inside than you can swing a sharp edged stick at! Yes, if this one doesn’t scare you—you’re already dead!

FC • 32 pages • $4.99

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Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me #5 (of 5)

Writer: Devin Faraci Artist: Vic Malhotra Cover Artist: Vic Malhotra

Jim Thompson’s sinewy, brutal, and beloved novel comes to a disturbing climax. Small-town deputy Lou Ford seems a little slow and a little boring on the surface, but underneath hides a sickness that has reared its ugly head once again and left a trail of bodies in its wake…

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Variant covers by Robert Hack (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina).

“Probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally-warped mind I have ever encountered.” —Stanley Kubrick

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Jem and the Holograms Annual 2017

Writer: Kelly Thompson Artists: M. Victoria Robado, Maria Jose Barros, Svanna Ganucheau, Katarzyna Witerscheim, Gisele Lagace Cover Artist: W. Scott Forbes

The Starlight Girls have been writing and drawing an “exquisite corpse” style fan fiction comic that re-imagines their favorite pop stars — Jem & The Holograms — as pop-stars by day and renegade space heroes by night. Follow the adventures of Jem and The Holograms as you’ve never seen them before — superheroes fighting to save the universe from the evil Majestrix Pizzazz and her…army of Mecha-Spider-Pizzes!?!? OMG.

FC • 48 pages • $7.99

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  Jem: The Misfits #2

Writer: Kelly Thompson Artist: Jenn St. Onge Cover Artist: M. Victoria Robado

OUR SONGS ARE BETTER Part Two! The band is getting a whole new taste of fame via an intrusive “MISFITS!” reality TV show and it’s pushing on everyone’s most vulnerable buttons – none more so than Stormer — who’s reliving her early days of fame and the nasty things that came with it. How did Stormer not only survive but blossom in the often toxic court of public opinion? And will she be able to do it again?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Learn how The Misfits first came together!

Will a Misfits Reality Show be the thing that will finally tear them apart… forever?!

Misfit’s first ever series of their own!

Variant cover by Derek Charm!

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Judge Dredd: The Brendan McCarthy Collection

Writers: John Wagner, Alan Grant, Al Ewing Artist: Brendan McCarthy Cover Artist: Brendan McCarthy

Ground-breaking artist Brendan McCarthy has been at the fore-front of independent comics since the early 1980s as well as the TV and film industry, including co-writing and designing Mad Max Fury Road. This oversized hardcover collection showcases all of his stories and covers for Judge Dredd including “Oz,” “The Day the Law Died,” “Dr. Panic,” “Atlantis,” and more!

HC • PC • $49.99 • 200 pages • 9.25” x 12” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-824-3

Bullet points:

Lead Designer on Mad Max Fury Road!

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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #50

Writer: Ted Anderson Artist: Andy Price Cover Artist: Andy Price

“Chaos Theory” Part 3 (of 3). Discord’s new form threatens to take over all of Equestria! When the Elements of Harmony prove ineffective, the final gambit rests in Starlight Glimmer’s hoofs!

FC • 40 pages • $5.99

Bullet points:

The landmark 50th issue of My Little Pony!

Part of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Cover Month!

Variant cover by Sara Richard!

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My Little Pony: Friends Forever, Vol. 8

Writers: Ted Anderson, Christina Rice, Tony Fleecs Artists: Brenda Hickey, Agnes Garbowska, Tony Fleecs, Jay Fosgitt Cover Artist: Trish Forstner

Five tales of friends and fun! Rarity tries to help Maud Pie discover her inner enthusiasm; Twilight visits Cadance in the Crystal Empire; Little Strongheart asks Rainbow Dash to go on a quest with her; Fluttershy meets the most adventurous adventurer ever: Daring Do; and, Applejack must discover the secret history of Cherry Jubilee! Collects issues #29–33.

TPB • FC • $19.99 • 120 pages • ISBN: 978-1-63140-839-7

Bullet points:

“The Friends Forever line of MLP comics either work amazingly well as character pieces.” — We The Nerdy

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Popeye Classics #55

Writer: Bud Sagendorf Artist: Bud Sagendorf Cover Artist: Bud Sagendorf

More brilliance from the raucus retro-cool Popeye comics!  Five great features with your beloved Popeye characters: The one-eyed sailor himself, Swee’pea, Olive Oyl, that rascal Wimpy, O.G. Wotasnozzle, and the bad guys this time, the terrible, terrible Misermites!

FC • 32 pages • $4.99

Bullet points:

Variant cover by Sarah Rose!

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Star Trek New Visions: Sam

Writer: John Byrne Artist: John Byrne Cover Artist: John Byrne

James Kirk faces the greatest challenge of his life when his own brother is accused of murder!

FC • 48 pages • $7.99

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Vol. 4

Writers: Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Paul Allor Artist: Kevin Eastman, Sophie Campbell, Mateus Santolouco, Cory Smith, Andy Kuhn Cover Artist: Dan Duncan

Recovering from the events of “City Fall,” the Turtles seek sanctuary in the countryside, but questions remain unanswered and tension festers among the brothers. Meanwhile, in New York, Shredder tightens his grip on the city in their absence and Krang’s plan to destroy the Earth is ramping up, but Baxter Stockman has plans of his own. Collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issues #29–37, Utrom Empire, and the 2014 Annual.

HC • FC • $49.99 • 344 pages • 7” x 11” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-820-5

Bullet points:

All of the TMNT comics in recommended reading order!

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Transformers: Lost Light #2

Writer: James Roberts Artist: Jack Lawrence Cover Artist: Jack Lawrence

Rodimus and Co. find themselves in a dangerous place. Even more dangerous than on a planet that exploded from the inside. That’s already pretty dangerous. But where they are now? Oh boy.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Part of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Cover Month!

Variant cover by Joana Lafuente!

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Uncle Scrooge #23

Writers: Francois Corteggiani, Jonathan Gray, Lars Jensen Artists: Giorgio Cavazzano, Daan Jippes Cover Artist: Giorgio Cavazzano

“The Third Nile,” Part 1 of 2! A McDuck quest into Egyptology for Scrooge, Donald, and Ludwig Von Drake gets hairier with the Beagle Boys hot on our heroes’ trail—and prehistoric caveducks ready to pounce!

FC • 40 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Continues this beloved series’ legacy numbering at #427!

Thinking man’s thinking man Ludwig Von Drake is back with Scrooge and the gang for another journey into insanity! (Hoo-hoo!)

Variant cover by Fabrizio Petrossi!

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The Wind in the Willows (Illustrated by David Petersen)

Writer: Kenneth Grahame Artist: David Petersen Cover Artist: David Petersen

Experience the timeless story of Toad, Rat, Mole, and Badger in a beautiful new unabridged, hardcover designed and illustrated by New York Times Bestselling author and Eisner Award-winning creator David Petersen (Mouse Guard). Painstakingly illustrated over 3 years, this exquisite and lavish edition features both color and pen and ink illustrations throughout.

Begun as a series of letters from Kenneth Grahame to his son, The Wind in the Willows is a timeless tale of animal cunning and human camaraderie. Since its first publication in 1908, generations of adults and children have cherished this world of gurgling rivers and whispering reeds, serving as home to the most lovable creatures in all literature—Rat, Mole, Badger, and the irrepressible Toad of Toad Hall; with his goggles, overcoat and love of fast cars. Follow these little adventurers through gypsy caravans, stolen sports cars, and their Wild Wood.

HC • FC • $24.99 • 256 pages • ISBN: 978-1-63140-343-9

Bullet points:

Direct Market Exclusive: Each hardcover will feature an exclusive tip-in plate illustrated and signed by David Petersen limited to orders received!

Complete and unabridged! Original art dust jacket, cloth cover with gold foil stamping, 20 color illustrations, 50 pen and ink illustrations!

Advance solicited for October release!

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Weird Love: Jailbird Romance

Writer: Various Artist: Jim Mooney, Pete Morisi, Vince Colletta, Manny Stallman, Pete Costanza, Henry Keifer, The Iger Shop Cover Artist: Ogden Whitney

“Forget funny Valentines… some of the most off-kilter 1950s romance comics, titled Weird Love…. the mind boggles!” —The Hollywood Reporter

With an introduction by Heidi MacDonald of The Beat! Your mind will be blown when you read: “Jailbird Romance!,” “Never Love A Man With A Harem!,” “Hobo Girl,” “Innocence Was My Angle,” “Backroads Romance,” and “I Tortured My In-Laws,” plus many more!

HC • FC • $29.99 • 160 pages • 7.5” x 9.75” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-782-6

Bullet points:

“Get your sweaty little libidinous palms all over these testaments to twisted torridness!” —Dan Greenfield, Dimension 13

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Yakuza Demon Killers #4

Writer: Amit Chauhan Artist: Eli Powell Cover Artist: Eli Powell

The devastating price of power! In this shocking conclusion, Tokyo is the final battleground for Earth’s future, and the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. The Yakuza come face-to-face with their greatest threat, and it will come from an unexpected place.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

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You Might Be An Artist If…

Writer: Lauren Purje Artist: Lauren Purje Cover Artist: Lauren Purje

With a BFA, solo exhibitions, and work experience at a New York gallery, Lauren Purje has spent plenty of time in the art world…consider this her cry for help.

You Might Be An Artist If…collects several years of her comic strips about the ups and downs of life in the arts. Her wry and relatable sense of humor animates every page, tying together flights of fancy, bitter grumblings, motivational pep-talks, self-doubt, procrastination, and inspiration.

Capturing the moments that remind us why we take art seriously — but not TOO seriously — Purje’s comics are a perfect handbook for anyone living the creative life.

HC • BW • $19.99 • 144 pages • 5.82” x 8.26” • ISBN: 978-1-60309-406-1

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via IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing Previews for 2-1-2017

IDW has some great books dropping this week, and we have your early look at them all.

IDW Publishing Previews for 2-1-2017 IDW has some great books dropping this week, and we have your early look at them all.

[outright-geekery]

IDW has some great books dropping this week, and we have your early look at them all. Here’s the IDW Publishing Previews for 2-1-2017.

America’s Best Comics: Artist’s Edition HC

Writer: Alan Moore Artists: Arthur Adams, Hilary Barta, Gene Ha, Kevin Nowlan, Paul Rivoche, Chris Sprouse, Rick Veitch, J.H. Williams III Cover Artist: Chris Sprouse

Alan Moore was the braintrust behind America’s Best Comics, one of the most acclaimed imprints in the history of comics. Comprised of four main titles: Tom Strong, Top10, Promethea, and the anthology Tomorrow Stories, the ABC line paired Moore with the finest artists in comics. This volume will present a beautiful overview of the ABC line, including complete stories from Promethea #10 (Eisner Award-winner for best issue of the year) and Top 10 #7. Additionally, a fine selection of shorter stories featuring Tom Strong, Jack B. Quick, Splash Brannigan, and Greyshirt will be included. Plus a stunning gallery section. The best stories by the best artists in the best format!

HC • BW • $95.00 net cost item • 216 pages • 12” x 17” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-757-4

Bullet points:

Advance solicited for November release!

The ABC line won a total of 12 MAJOR Eisner Awards, including: Best Writer (four times), Best Artist, Best Single Issue (twice), Best Serialized Story, Best Continuing Series, Best New Series, Best Anthology, and Best Graphic Novel!

   Back to the Future #16

Writers: Bob Gale, John Barber Artist: Emma Vieceli Cover Artist: Emma Vieceli

WHO IS MARTY McFLY?!? And why are there so many on the loose in 1986?! Marty and Doc finally get some answers, but they might not like where those answer take them… and they’re definitely not going to like WHEN it takes ’em!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Part of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Cover Month!

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Box Office Poison Color Comics #2

Writer: Alex Robinson Artist: Alex Robinson Cover Artist: Alex Robinson

Sherman’s frustration with his job grows and grows… while the story of Jane and Stephen’s relationship is revealed!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Winner of the Eisner Award for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, the International Comics Festival Award for Best Debut Graphic Novel (Angouleme, France), and voted by Wizard Magazine as the best indy graphic novel of all time.

“A salute to comics, an exploration of the human condition, and a solid, absorbing, and riotously snide tale about at least half of the things that make life important.” — Tasha Robinson, The AV Club

Each issue will be presented in color for the very first time!

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Chester 5000: Isabelle & George

Writer: Jess Fink Artist: Jess Fink Cover Artist: Jess Fink

1889: an age of industrial revolution and sexual frustration. Isabelle is a lonely orphan, reprimanded at every turn by her strict matron. George is an inventor on the cusp of a brilliant discovery. Together they find love, but in an age of violent mechanization and military secrets, can their passion survive?

After the smash success of CHESTER 5000’s first volume (the tale of a Victorian woman and her robot lover), beloved web-cartoonist Jess Fink returns with another triumphant story of boundary-breaking love, sex, and technology. Discover the origins of your favorite characters along with all-new thrills. All the drama and adventure of the silent film era is here, enlivened with modern whimsy and erotic charm.

HC • BW • $14.95 • 184 pages • 6.5” x 7.5” • ISBN: 978-1-93656-169-8

Bullet points:

“A woman-friendly, couple-friendly book destined to become a perennial in sex-positive toy and book stores.” — The Comics Journal

Fink’s storytelling is as likely to pluck on your heartstrings as get you all steamed up.” — The Guardian

Adults Only (18+)

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Donald Quest #4 (of 5)

Writers: Stefano Ambrosio, Chantal Pericoli, Pat McGreal Artist: Stefano Zanchi Cover Artist: Stefano Zanchi

“Rock Racers!” As evil Emil Eagle reaches the Trembling Anvil—Feudarnia’s last, best hope against the Meteorbeast invasion!—desperate Donald is trapped in the villains’ Dragon Moon lair, forced to fight Pegleg Pete and his gang in a thrilling battle of wits!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

As Donald’s great steampunk miniseries rolls on, the whole Disney rogues’ gallery is here—from the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell to Pegleg Pete and the Phantom Blot!

Variant cover by Andrea Freccero!

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The Electric Sublime #4 (of 4)

Writer: W. Maxwell Prince Artist: Martin Morazzo Cover Artist: Martin Morazzo

Arc finale! Featuring famous works by Rene Magritte, Georges Seurat, Edward Hopper, and Pablo Picasso, this is the blood- and paint-splattered chapter you’ve been waiting for!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

From the writer of Judas: The Last Days(IDW) and the artist of Great Pacific and Snowfall (Image)!

The X-Files meets Alice in Wonderland, by way of The Da Vinci Code!

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Ghostbusters Annual 2017

Writer: Erik Burnham Artist: Dan Scoening, Rachel Stott, Corin Howell, Erik Evensen Cover Artist: San Schoening

Join us for this special double-sized annual, featuring Ghostbusters past, present… and future! Learn the origin of Slimer! Witness a crazy bust in the Midwest with the Chicago Ghostbusters! Find out what Winston Zeddemore was up to during the Scolari Brothers incident in Ghostbusters 2! And peek into the future at the next generation of Ghostbusters… and much more! Be there or be slimed!

FC • 48 pages • $7.99

Bullet points:

The secret origin of Slimer and much more!

Part of IDW’s 2017 Annual Offensive! Over-sized and action-packed key stories in a deluxe format!

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Ghostbusters International, Vol. 2

Writer: Erik Burnham Artists: Dan Schoening, Rachael Stott Cover Artist: Dan Schoening

The team is still on the move as they head to Puerto Rico and Ireland as ghosts all over the world need to be busted, while Egon chases a mystery about a powerful Scandinavian spell book. Collects issues #6–11.

TPB • FC • $19.99 • 132 pages • ISBN: 978-1-63140-834-2

Bullet points:

“One of the best paced and best written series out there. Artist, writer, and colorist working together in perfect harmony.” –Big Comic Page

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Haunted Horror #26

Writer: Various Artist: Various Cover Artist: Bernard Baily

The second sickening installment in THE HORRORS OF IT ALL! Featuring terrifying tales as chosen by Steve “Mr. Karswell” Banes! A surprisingly vicious issue highlighted by a terror-ific Bernard Baily cover, as well more severed head stories inside than you can swing a sharp edged stick at! Yes, if this one doesn’t scare you—you’re already dead!

FC • 32 pages • $4.99

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Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me #5 (of 5)

Writer: Devin Faraci Artist: Vic Malhotra Cover Artist: Vic Malhotra

Jim Thompson’s sinewy, brutal, and beloved novel comes to a disturbing climax. Small-town deputy Lou Ford seems a little slow and a little boring on the surface, but underneath hides a sickness that has reared its ugly head once again and left a trail of bodies in its wake…

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Variant covers by Robert Hack (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina).

“Probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally-warped mind I have ever encountered.” —Stanley Kubrick

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Jem and the Holograms Annual 2017

Writer: Kelly Thompson Artists: M. Victoria Robado, Maria Jose Barros, Svanna Ganucheau, Katarzyna Witerscheim, Gisele Lagace Cover Artist: W. Scott Forbes

The Starlight Girls have been writing and drawing an “exquisite corpse” style fan fiction comic that re-imagines their favorite pop stars — Jem & The Holograms — as pop-stars by day and renegade space heroes by night. Follow the adventures of Jem and The Holograms as you’ve never seen them before — superheroes fighting to save the universe from the evil Majestrix Pizzazz and her…army of Mecha-Spider-Pizzes!?!? OMG.

FC • 48 pages • $7.99

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  Jem: The Misfits #2

Writer: Kelly Thompson Artist: Jenn St. Onge Cover Artist: M. Victoria Robado

OUR SONGS ARE BETTER Part Two! The band is getting a whole new taste of fame via an intrusive “MISFITS!” reality TV show and it’s pushing on everyone’s most vulnerable buttons – none more so than Stormer — who’s reliving her early days of fame and the nasty things that came with it. How did Stormer not only survive but blossom in the often toxic court of public opinion? And will she be able to do it again?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Learn how The Misfits first came together!

Will a Misfits Reality Show be the thing that will finally tear them apart… forever?!

Misfit’s first ever series of their own!

Variant cover by Derek Charm!

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Judge Dredd: The Brendan McCarthy Collection

Writers: John Wagner, Alan Grant, Al Ewing Artist: Brendan McCarthy Cover Artist: Brendan McCarthy

Ground-breaking artist Brendan McCarthy has been at the fore-front of independent comics since the early 1980s as well as the TV and film industry, including co-writing and designing Mad Max Fury Road. This oversized hardcover collection showcases all of his stories and covers for Judge Dredd including “Oz,” “The Day the Law Died,” “Dr. Panic,” “Atlantis,” and more!

HC • PC • $49.99 • 200 pages • 9.25” x 12” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-824-3

Bullet points:

Lead Designer on Mad Max Fury Road!

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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #50

Writer: Ted Anderson Artist: Andy Price Cover Artist: Andy Price

“Chaos Theory” Part 3 (of 3). Discord’s new form threatens to take over all of Equestria! When the Elements of Harmony prove ineffective, the final gambit rests in Starlight Glimmer’s hoofs!

FC • 40 pages • $5.99

Bullet points:

The landmark 50th issue of My Little Pony!

Part of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Cover Month!

Variant cover by Sara Richard!

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My Little Pony: Friends Forever, Vol. 8

Writers: Ted Anderson, Christina Rice, Tony Fleecs Artists: Brenda Hickey, Agnes Garbowska, Tony Fleecs, Jay Fosgitt Cover Artist: Trish Forstner

Five tales of friends and fun! Rarity tries to help Maud Pie discover her inner enthusiasm; Twilight visits Cadance in the Crystal Empire; Little Strongheart asks Rainbow Dash to go on a quest with her; Fluttershy meets the most adventurous adventurer ever: Daring Do; and, Applejack must discover the secret history of Cherry Jubilee! Collects issues #29–33.

TPB • FC • $19.99 • 120 pages • ISBN: 978-1-63140-839-7

Bullet points:

“The Friends Forever line of MLP comics either work amazingly well as character pieces.” — We The Nerdy

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Popeye Classics #55

Writer: Bud Sagendorf Artist: Bud Sagendorf Cover Artist: Bud Sagendorf

More brilliance from the raucus retro-cool Popeye comics!  Five great features with your beloved Popeye characters: The one-eyed sailor himself, Swee’pea, Olive Oyl, that rascal Wimpy, O.G. Wotasnozzle, and the bad guys this time, the terrible, terrible Misermites!

FC • 32 pages • $4.99

Bullet points:

Variant cover by Sarah Rose!

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Star Trek New Visions: Sam

Writer: John Byrne Artist: John Byrne Cover Artist: John Byrne

James Kirk faces the greatest challenge of his life when his own brother is accused of murder!

FC • 48 pages • $7.99

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Vol. 4

Writers: Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Paul Allor Artist: Kevin Eastman, Sophie Campbell, Mateus Santolouco, Cory Smith, Andy Kuhn Cover Artist: Dan Duncan

Recovering from the events of “City Fall,” the Turtles seek sanctuary in the countryside, but questions remain unanswered and tension festers among the brothers. Meanwhile, in New York, Shredder tightens his grip on the city in their absence and Krang’s plan to destroy the Earth is ramping up, but Baxter Stockman has plans of his own. Collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issues #29–37, Utrom Empire, and the 2014 Annual.

HC • FC • $49.99 • 344 pages • 7” x 11” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-820-5

Bullet points:

All of the TMNT comics in recommended reading order!

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Transformers: Lost Light #2

Writer: James Roberts Artist: Jack Lawrence Cover Artist: Jack Lawrence

Rodimus and Co. find themselves in a dangerous place. Even more dangerous than on a planet that exploded from the inside. That’s already pretty dangerous. But where they are now? Oh boy.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Part of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Cover Month!

Variant cover by Joana Lafuente!

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Uncle Scrooge #23

Writers: Francois Corteggiani, Jonathan Gray, Lars Jensen Artists: Giorgio Cavazzano, Daan Jippes Cover Artist: Giorgio Cavazzano

“The Third Nile,” Part 1 of 2! A McDuck quest into Egyptology for Scrooge, Donald, and Ludwig Von Drake gets hairier with the Beagle Boys hot on our heroes’ trail—and prehistoric caveducks ready to pounce!

FC • 40 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

Continues this beloved series’ legacy numbering at #427!

Thinking man’s thinking man Ludwig Von Drake is back with Scrooge and the gang for another journey into insanity! (Hoo-hoo!)

Variant cover by Fabrizio Petrossi!

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The Wind in the Willows (Illustrated by David Petersen)

Writer: Kenneth Grahame Artist: David Petersen Cover Artist: David Petersen

Experience the timeless story of Toad, Rat, Mole, and Badger in a beautiful new unabridged, hardcover designed and illustrated by New York Times Bestselling author and Eisner Award-winning creator David Petersen (Mouse Guard). Painstakingly illustrated over 3 years, this exquisite and lavish edition features both color and pen and ink illustrations throughout.

Begun as a series of letters from Kenneth Grahame to his son, The Wind in the Willows is a timeless tale of animal cunning and human camaraderie. Since its first publication in 1908, generations of adults and children have cherished this world of gurgling rivers and whispering reeds, serving as home to the most lovable creatures in all literature—Rat, Mole, Badger, and the irrepressible Toad of Toad Hall; with his goggles, overcoat and love of fast cars. Follow these little adventurers through gypsy caravans, stolen sports cars, and their Wild Wood.

HC • FC • $24.99 • 256 pages • ISBN: 978-1-63140-343-9

Bullet points:

Direct Market Exclusive: Each hardcover will feature an exclusive tip-in plate illustrated and signed by David Petersen limited to orders received!

Complete and unabridged! Original art dust jacket, cloth cover with gold foil stamping, 20 color illustrations, 50 pen and ink illustrations!

Advance solicited for October release!

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Weird Love: Jailbird Romance

Writer: Various Artist: Jim Mooney, Pete Morisi, Vince Colletta, Manny Stallman, Pete Costanza, Henry Keifer, The Iger Shop Cover Artist: Ogden Whitney

“Forget funny Valentines… some of the most off-kilter 1950s romance comics, titled Weird Love…. the mind boggles!” —The Hollywood Reporter

With an introduction by Heidi MacDonald of The Beat! Your mind will be blown when you read: “Jailbird Romance!,” “Never Love A Man With A Harem!,” “Hobo Girl,” “Innocence Was My Angle,” “Backroads Romance,” and “I Tortured My In-Laws,” plus many more!

HC • FC • $29.99 • 160 pages • 7.5” x 9.75” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-782-6

Bullet points:

“Get your sweaty little libidinous palms all over these testaments to twisted torridness!” —Dan Greenfield, Dimension 13

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Yakuza Demon Killers #4

Writer: Amit Chauhan Artist: Eli Powell Cover Artist: Eli Powell

The devastating price of power! In this shocking conclusion, Tokyo is the final battleground for Earth’s future, and the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. The Yakuza come face-to-face with their greatest threat, and it will come from an unexpected place.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

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You Might Be An Artist If…

Writer: Lauren Purje Artist: Lauren Purje Cover Artist: Lauren Purje

With a BFA, solo exhibitions, and work experience at a New York gallery, Lauren Purje has spent plenty of time in the art world…consider this her cry for help.

You Might Be An Artist If…collects several years of her comic strips about the ups and downs of life in the arts. Her wry and relatable sense of humor animates every page, tying together flights of fancy, bitter grumblings, motivational pep-talks, self-doubt, procrastination, and inspiration.

Capturing the moments that remind us why we take art seriously — but not TOO seriously — Purje’s comics are a perfect handbook for anyone living the creative life.

HC • BW • $19.99 • 144 pages • 5.82” x 8.26” • ISBN: 978-1-60309-406-1

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via IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing Previews for 2-1-2017 IDW has some great books dropping this week, and we have your early look at them all.

[thetlcnews]

England vs West Indies 3rd ODI

Gale's Stormy Innings Ahead Of This Player Also Failed, Made The Record In the England vs West Indies 3rd ODI match played in Bristol, the audience got stunned by fours and sixes. In England vs West Indies match, the West Indies decided to bowl to win the toss. Before going to bat, the England team made a huge score of 369 for a 9-wicket loss in the last 50 overs. After chasing the target, 245 runs in 39.1 overs were all out in front of the West Indies fast bowler Liam Plunkett (5/52). In this match, England won by a huge margin of 124 runs. West Indies Ahead Of The Player's Storm For England, Moin Ali, batting brilliantly, scored 102 runs against 57 balls Including 8 sixes and 7 fours. Moin Ali was rewarded with the award of 'Man of the Match' for his batting. At the breathtaking Moin Ali's explosive century, England have achieved a 2-0 lead in the England vs West Indies five-match series. Second Fastest Century By England

Moin Ali has moved to second place in the England vs West Indies series of the fastest century by the England side. The record of the fastest century ever scored by England is Jos Buttler's name. He scored a century on 46 balls against Pakistan and scored a not out 116. This match was won by England by 84 runs. Chris Gayle's Storm Also Failed Caribbean explosive batsman Chris Gayle tried his best to win his team. He played a wonderful innings of 94 off 78 balls. In which he scored 9 fours and 6 sixes although he could not win the team. Adil Rasheed got him out of the England vs West Indies match and returned the pavilion and missed out on his hundred. Earlier, England's highest score against the West Indies in 32 ODIs against the West Indies was 328 runs in Edgbaston in 2009. The fourth ODI between the two teams will be played on Wednesday at the Oval. Let us tell you that the fastest century in ODIs is the name of South African batsman AB de Villiers, who scored a century in Johannesburg in 31 balls against the West Indies in 2015 Moeen Ali is Man of the Match Morgan: Absolutely delighted with that performance. There was a bit of grass on the wicket, tested our defence early. Moin's innings was the difference between the sides. Their guys like scoring boundaries. Chris Gayle is one of the best batsmen in the world, and we came up trumps. Moin's pretty chilled about everything. In the context of the series, he's been outstanding. Plunkett is almost Mr. Reliable. He's extracted more than our other seamers. Want to be as ruthless as possible. England vs Windies 3rd ODI ENG 369/9 (50.0 Ovs) WI 245-all out (39.1 Ovs) England won by 124 runs Player Of The Match Moin Ali Click to Post