#but we won and hosted so many times in the 90s and it cost so much money

[pulsar-1919]

Ireland is letting the public pick our Eurovision entry tonight after 20(?) years of the entries being picked for us. I haven't heard any of the songs so I'm going in blind

[365days365movies]

May 4, 2021: The Host (2006) (Recap)

NO NOT THAT ONE

Stephanie Meyer goddamn sucks. I realize that I’m not exactly the first person to say that, but she’s terrible. Not only is she not a good writer, but she also has some very disparaging views about science fiction and its fans, which led her to make her own science fiction book and film. ANd yeah...it’s terrible! No surprise there.

So, no, not the 2013 critical and commercial flop known as The Host. No, this post is about 2006′s The Host, AKA Gwoemul, AKA 괴물. I haven’t ventured to far into the world of Korean cinema, and with this film, my repertoire includes only the films of director Bong Joon-Ho. And if that name sounds familiar...it should.

Bong Joon-ho DESERVEDLY made headlines last year when his film became the first non-English language film to win for Best Picture, and the first time Asian writers won for best screenplay! His Oscar speech in accepting best director is genuinely one of the best and most sincere speeches I’ve ever heard from a director, and I love the dude.

Oh, and if you’re wondering which film it was, then, like me, you also really need to watch Parasite. And because I’m terrified of spoilers, I’m not gonna look for GIFs of that movie. Instead, I’ll put in a GIF of one of my favorite sci-fi films, and the only other Bong Joon-ho film I’ve seen.

God, I love Snowpiercer. And if this is anything like that, I’m probably going to love this movie. Now, I don’t really know much about this film, other than the fact that it’s a monster film. And if there’s any science-fiction subgenre more iconic than monster films, I don’t know it. Well...OK, aliens, robots, and more, but monster films are still a big part of the genre. But where does that begin? Is it here?

Definitely an argument you can make, since Frankenstein’s Monster is a creation of science gone wrong, from the book to the movie. Fun fact, Mary Shelley based it on a real-world experiment by Italian physiologist Giovanni Aldini, who used a corpse to illustrate the connection between electricity and muscles. Neat, huh? So, yeah, that’s a solid launching point.

But that’s more of a horror story. What about something a little more monster-y? Well, from the UK to Japan we go!

OHHHHHH YEAH, THAT’S THE GOOD STUFF

Toho’s 1954 film Gojira is one of the most classic monster films ever made, and singlehandedly launched the kaiju genre in Japan. And it’s really well-known that it was made as a response to post-World War II tensions about nuclear warfare. Which, in Japan, is kind of understandable, no? But nothing demonstrated the destructive power of science more than that moment in history. 

So, Godzilla arrives. And the US also makes more monster movies, most of which take place in contemporary settings, making many of them lo-fi sci-fi. Now, some dipped into horror or fantasy, but the science fiction roots were there. Which eventually would bring us full circle to films where monsters were made and go loose. You know, like this:

It’s a franchise that defines the ‘90s, and lab-grown monster movies exploded around that time as well. At the same time, environmental concerns REALLY started to build by this point, and those concerns leaked profusely into film all over the world. And by the time we get to 2006...well, let’s get into it, huh?

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

In a mortuary, a U.S. military doctor (Scott Wilson) instructs his assistant (Brian Lee) to dump bottles of formaldehyde down the drain of the facility, which goes directly into the Han River. The assistant protests, but the doctor insists, despite the risk of polluting the river. AAAAAmericans.

In the river about two years later, two fisherman see something strange looking in the river. Then, four years later, in 2006, a suicidal man is about to jump into the river, when he sees something dark in the water below.

Later that year, we meet Park Hee-bong (Byun Hee-Bong) and his son Park Gang-du (Song Kang-ho), who run a food truck and snack bar near the river. Gang-du’s not exactly a hard worker, to his father’s chagrin. His daughter, Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung), is a student who comes home from school, where her drunken uncle Nam-il (Park Hae-il) comes to her chagrin. She and her father watch TV, where his sister Nam-joo (Bar Doona) can be seen competing in archery.

As he’s bringing food out to customers, he joins them in observing something strange and massive hanging off of the bridge. And at this point, I would be running the fuck away. Literally, the news just said that there was a body found with the legs missing, and these people are throing cans at it after it plunges into the water. One girl asks if it’s a dolphin. Mother...HAVE YOU SEEN A DOLPHIN BEFORE?

NOT THIS

Yeah, this thing just comes bounding along the shore, slapping people into the water with its tail, and batting aside others. Doesn’t look like its actively killing anybody yet, but it’s definitely hurting people at least. That is, until it goes into a trailer where a bunch of people have gathered, and appears to eat a bunch of them. So, yeah, dangerous.

Gang-du, to his infinite credit, actually attempts to confront and hurt the creature, with the help of Donald White (David Joseph Anselmo). And it works, but at the cost of the creature aggro-ing onto him. Back at the snack truck, his sister’s lost the title, much to the chagrin of Gang-du’s daughter and father. She goes outside in frustration, only to be thrown into the midst of the chaos with her dad. He grabs a girls hand in the chaos, only to find that it’s a different child entirely. And...unfortunately...

The creature grabs her with its tail, and leaps back into the river, disappearing. Fuck. Poor Hyun-seo, and poor Gang-du. Gang-du IMMEDIATELY goes to get her back, jumping into the river, but the creature takes her across to an island, out of reach. That night, an impromptu funeral is held for the victims, at which Hyun-seo is being honored as well. There, both Gang-du’s sister and brother also attend, and all four of the break down dramatically and publicly.

Nam-il blames his brother for letting her die, which is unfair, but understandable. The family eventually calms down and discusses the circumstances of Hyun-Seo’s birth and death, both of which were accidental. As they do, a man in a protective suit comes out, and asks who was at the river incident. Nam-il protests this, and asks what’s going on. The man doesn’t explain, and the room is instead gassed, as everyone is ushered towards the entrance.

In the process, Gang-du (stupidly) reveals that he was hit by some blood splatter. He’s immediately stuffed in a bag and kidnapped by the authorities. Meanwhile, the news reveals that the creature is carrying a virus, and anyone who has been in contact with it has been infected. Because of this, the entire family is taken to a quarantine hospital, which oddly has very few actual quarantine procedures in place. And additionally, Gang-du is feeling a bit itchy.

That night, in the hospital, Gang-du gets a call on his cell phone! It’s Hyun-seo! She’s alive! And she’s trapped, in a sewer somewhere near the river. Meanwhile, a group of men in protectve suits are outside patrolling the river. One man finds money on the side of the road, and goes to pick it up, only for the men to be attacked by the creature. But it’s then that we discover that the creature is not killing or eating people, but simply taking them own to its lair. Also in said lair is Hyun-seo, trapped and with a now dead phone.

The next day, the family tries to get an officer to look into the call, only for the officer to be, frankly, an absolute piece of shit to this grieving family. Gang-du tries to explain, and his explanation is ENTIRELY RATIONAL, but the officer and doctors are absolutely terrible about it.

Because nobody’s listening, the family manages to escape from the hospital in order to try and save Hyun-Seo, and they hop into a van, taking it and running. This is a good place to mention that, despite this being a monster movie, it's also...weirly funny sometimes. Like, that whole scene is pretty great. After bartering with a group of gangsters for supplies (and after Hee-bong basically gives away all of his credit cards), the group manages to get a map and a new car. But they pretty quickly get stopped at a checkpoint into the city, and are nearly caught, but manage to escape and get to the riverfront. Once there, they begin searching the sewers to find Hyun-seo. And I gotta say; this may be an extremely dysfunctional family, but they’re a devoted family all the same.

Of course, that eventually gives way to arguments within the sewer itself, but that’s interrupted by a noise heard somewhere around them. They fire at it, using weapons obtained from the gangster but conclude that it was nothing. What it actually is is two brothers, older Se-jin (Lee Jae-eung) and younger Se-joo (Lee Dong-ho), homeless kids who are foraging the sewers in the abandoned city. But, of course, they eventually run into the creature, which attacks them. Meanwhile, an asleep Hyun-Seo dreams of dinner with her family, only to be woken up by the arrival of the creature, who deposits the bodies of the two boys in the sewer with her. Se-joo has survived, but Se-jin hasn’t, sadly.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family is gathered at their snack bar for the night, and prepares to set out or the morning. The to younger siblings appear to not give a single shit about Gang-du, but Hee-bong attempts to set them straight, talking about how he blames himself for the way Gang-du is now. However, the two just fall asleep during his speech. Poor Hee-bong. Also, he can apparently identify Gang-du’s health condition based on his farts because they spend so much time together, it’s dumb, and funny.

Also, poor the rest of them, because Gang-du wakes up to see the creature just waiting outside, watching them. Hee-bong fires at it, but the creature attacks and knocks over the bar. However, Hee-bong manages to hit it directly in the head, knocking it off, but not killing it. The family goes out to finish the job, but it runs away before they can kill it. They run after it, and are almost completely out of bullets. Hee-bong volunteers to go after it himself, but in the process...

Hee-bong doesn’t make it. The creature kills him, and the commotion attracts the military to their location. Gang-du is again captured, while Nam-il and Nam-joo escape, only to later be separated regardless. Meanwhile, the virus kills Donald White, the sergeant from earlier, and it continues to spread across Korea. To kill the creature, the government plans to release a chemical into the river called Agent Yellow, which feels...controversial.

Nam-il meats a colleague, “Fat Guevara” (Yam Pil-sung), who is easily able to provide a location for Hyun-seo using the number, which the cop earlier insisted was nearly impossible to do. Plus, both the sergeant and Gang-du encountered the creature together, and he seems to be just fine. Which probably means that something very wrong is happening now. Even worse, though, is the fact that Guevara’s appeared to trap Nam-il, as a massive reward is sought for his arrest. A gang of people surround hi, with the plan to capture him, but he VERY cleverly escapes by causing an electrical short, and AFTER having found Hyun-seo’s location! Nice, man! He takes off, now knowing exactly where his niece is.

Nam-joo, meanwhile, is literally living inside of the snack bar, and she gets a text from Nam-il with her location. He tags out, and she tags in, running to the location where the call came from. But she immediately runs into the creature, which knocks her down and unconscious. She manages to call Gang-du, who is currently about to be sedated. Now knowing where his daughter is, he tries to escape, only to be tackled by the doctors. He tells them where she is, but they don’t appear to listen. More importantly, the anesthetic doesn’t appear to work, much to the confusion of the doctors. Something is verrrrrrrry wrong here.

An American doctor (Paul Lazar) comes, and asks what’s wrong, and he tells him exactly what’s wrong. However, despite his words SEEMING to be heard, they once again call him crazy and delusional, and decide to give him a lobotomy to isolate the virus once and for all, like FUCKING ASSHOLES. Turns out that the virus? Yeah, it doesn’t exist whatsoever! It doesn’t exist even a little bit! Which means that this entire thing is a wild goddamn goose chase for a virus that DOESN’T FUCKING EXIST!!!

And the best thing is that Gang-du, despite not actually knowing English, still understands the words “no virus”, and know he fucking knows! However, because he knows, they now have to give him a lobotomy. Fuck me, man. Panicking, he cries for them to stop, and cries for his daughter, who’s still alive in the sewer.

Speaking of, Hyun-seo and Se-joo are bonding in the sewer, as they work to make a rope from things they find there. But in the process, they’re attacked by the creature, who know is actively eating the bodies, and presumably other people. Whoof. They manage to escape, but barely.

Back with Gang-du, who’s just gone through the lobotomy, which...hasn’t worked at all. Holy SHIT. Not sure what the hel is UP with this dude, but that’s a question in and of itself. He escapes by taking a nurse hostage, threatening them with a syringe of his blood, full of a virus that doesn’t exist!

Nam-il wakes up at the same time, not accompanied by a homeless man (Yoon Je-moon), who agrees to take him to the bridge to find Hyun-seo. In the sewer, the two kids have survived, and the creature appears to be asleep. Like a GODDAMN BOSS, she runs up the creatures back, and jumps onto a rope that she had made, and that was hanging far out of her reach. Unfortunately...the creature catches her with its tail. Fuck. It sets her down, and...lets her go? But as soon as she runs, it attacks bother her and Se-joo.

Just then, Gang-du gets to the lair, and uses the rope to climb down. Below him is a pile of bones, and no kids to be seen. The creature goes by, and Hyun-seo’s hand is dangling out of its mouth. And once again by coincidence, that’s when Nam-joo wakes up and reunites with her brother. The creature runs to the waterfront, only to be greeted by...a crowd? They’re gathered there to protest the release of the dangerous chemical into the river.

It all collides at once. The creature swims towards the crowd, Gang-du runs towards the creature, Agent Yellow is released over them both, causing the creature to faint. Gan-du runs up and grabs the bodies of his daughter and See-joo from its mouth, apparently too fucking late. Shit, man. This would’ve been avoided if they just HELPED him. Fuck. He carries her body away as more chemical is released onto the flailing creature, and the chemical causes everyone else in the area to violently hemorrhage as well. Meanwhile, Nam-il and Nam-joo arrive to see their deceased niece, grieving all over again. It’s...fuck, man, it sucks.

And Gang-du is fucking PISSED NOW. He grabs a street sign and attacks the injured creature, fueled by pure rage. Nam-il joins in with Molotov cocktails as it runs away. The homeless man douses it with gasoline, and that makes it easier for Nam-il to set it on fire...until he drops the bottle. And then, Nam-joo uses it to light an arrow on fire, hitting the creature with it, and setting it ablaze. It runs to the water, only for Gang-du to stab it through the head with the street sign, finally killing it in revenge for his father and his daughter. Fucking bad-ASS. And also quite tragic, given the circumstances.

And despite the tragedy, there is one happy circumstance: Se-joo lives! In fact, Hyun-seo died saving his life, like the real goddamn hero of this story that she is. Fuck. That’s terrible, but I’m happy that her sacrifice wasn’t in vain. From here, we fast-forward to the winter, where a clean-shaven and well-kept Gang-du is is now caring for Se-joo. The news is on in the background, but the two ignore it, happily eating together after the ordeal they’ve been through.

Whoof. That’s The Host, or Gwoemul! And yeah, that’s one hell of a movie, I tell you what. For a monster movie, it’s quite dramatic, and they don’t try to humanize the monster AT ALL. And honestly, I really like it! A Pyrrhic victory at the end, but nothing wrong with that! I’ll elaorate a bit in the review! See you there!

[harlanandrew]

These are disruptive gang members.

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[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #315

“can’t breathe to scream  /  suffocating in this dream  /  long way down”

Who was your first big crush? I would probably say this guy in high school named Sebastian. We sat beside each other in Art, and I definitely liked him a lot. Man, my freshman-sophomore years honestly involved a handful of crushes before Jason popped into the picture and I lost all romantic interest in everyone else. Where was the first place you drove after you got your license? N/A Is it a blue sky outside right now? No. All North Carolina has known for weeks on end now is rain. We've had very rare sunny days, but for the most part, it's just gray and gross. Was your last breakup a bad one? Nah, I'd say it ended maturely and with a mutual understanding of "why." When was the last time you were surprised, in a pleasant way? Hell if I know. Is there an ice-cream flavor that you strongly dislike? Which one? Yeah, like strawberry. What was the last sitcom you watched? No clue. ^ Do you have a favorite character in that sitcom? Why is that character your favorite? N/A What does the last group you joined on Facebook concern? I am 90% sure it was this group I joined that is literally just about cute yet dangerous animals lmao, mostly reptiles and invertebrates. "Misunderstood biteybois and where to befriemd them" or some stupid shit like that. Has there been a spider in your house at any time recently? Not that I've seen, no. Do you like wearing make-up? Not at all. I only like wearing it for pictures and then taking that shit off. ^ If so, how old were you when you first started to wear it? I started consistently wearing it my freshman year of high school. Then some time later I just showed up one day without any, shocked all my friends, and then only wore it when I felt like it. What foods are you craving lately, if any? Nothing, really. What were some of your favorite foods as a child? Chicken nuggets of course, as well as spaghetti, peanut butter sandwiches, just the typical stuff that kids tend to enjoy. When you were younger, did you ever have a friend that your parents hated? No. Have you ever talked in your sleep before? That's very normal for me, especially now that I have nightmares like every goddamn night. What was the last song you heard, that reminded you of someone? Well, not a real someone, but "The Ordinary World" by the Hit House is 110% one of Fetch's soon-to-be themes. What has brought you joy today? Nothing brought me "joy," really. When was the last time you won a prize in a raffle? What was it? I actually recently won an art rafle on deviantART hosted by a truly amazing artist, like I thought I had no chance, and she's going to be drawing Moondust!!!! :'''') What is the next non-essential item that you intend to buy for yourself? I'm still paying the bulk of my tattoo in May. Is there anywhere in your town/city that's rumored to be haunted? Oh, I'm sure. When you were younger, did you ever think that a certain place was haunted? Bitch I still do lmao. What were your school meals like? Did you enjoy them? This really depended on the menu for the day. My school lunches were nowhere near as bad as some people make theirs sound, but most things still weren't great. I think school pizzas are the most notoriously bad. What kind of granola bar did you eat most recently? I had a cashew bar earlier today. Do you have any books on your shelf that you've read multiple times? I never reread books. What did your last post on social media concern? That I personally wrote, something regarding subtle racism still being racism, pretty much. How do you feel about people using graphic images as a scare tactic to promote their beliefs? (i.e.: PETA, abortion…) I have mixed feelings on this. Like sometimes seeing the brutal side of certain things is definitely useful in opening someone's mind to things they don't want to see/think about, but then there's that, too: it can just be so invasive and unexpected, and thus very upsetting and even scarring. I'd say I'm most for the "appropriate" social media route: using censorship that the viewer can decide whether or not to remove. But you obviously can't do that in like, a public protest with a sign, so idk. Which is harder for you: writing creatively or academically? Honestly, both are pretty easy for me. I enjoy writing creatively far more, though. Do you think gender neutral bathrooms are a good idea? I think it's fine to have them as an option. When was the last time you voluntarily went outside of your comfort zone? Just talking about stuff in group therapy recently. Would you ever use a dating site that costs money, like Match.com or eHarmony? Have you known anyone who had good experience with such sites? No, and yes. Do you think it’s fair that people are able to make a reasonable salary and live comfortable lives just by making YouTube videos? Yes? It takes charisma and talent in some area (humor, education, etc.) as well as consistency for it to be a reliable career, and just consider how often you hear about creators burning out. That happens for a reason. Entertainment is a valid job category and should not be seen as an unfair joke. Whether you’re in college or not, do you become fearful about whether or not you’ll find a good job? Story of my life. What is something you can only understand if you've experienced it first hand? Deep heartbreak. Do you think it's a double standard that a woman can hit a man and expect to get away with it, but if a man hits a woman it's assault? Obviously. Abuse knows no gender, and hitting another person is just that. I do, however, believe in self-defense, also regardless of gender. In terms of a wedding, put these things in order from what would be MOST important to be perfect, to LEAST important... Engagement ring, dress, hair, venue, ceremony, food, pictures, decorations, honeymoon. This requires too much thinking, haha... but I do know the quality of my honeymoon would be most important to me, given that that's personal time with my new spouse and not a public celebration. I feel like what goes on behind closed doors is more important and heartfelt than how you act publicly. Do you have a go-to small talk conversation topic? Probably video games or music, idk. Define "small talk." Does anyone owe you money? Do you owe anyone money? (Besides credit cards) Mom does. She just a few days ago had to borrow $100 for rent. If someone was going to buy you any practical gift (anything except a house or car), what would you choose? It'd be dope as fuck if someone could pay for Venus' next terrarium, but that's a big purchase that I'd have a hard time accepting. How many people do you know with the same first name as you? At least one, but her name is spelled differently. What in your opinion is the best love song ever written? I'm not sure, but I can tell you that "When It's Love" by Van Halen has always been high on the list for me. Was your mother married when she had you? No, actually. I thought she was until my most recent bday, I think. It was just part of a conversation. How old was the first person you kissed? He was a few months into 18. The first person you were in a relationship with, do you still care about them? Of course, he's a sweet guy. We don't talk or anything, but that doesn't mean I don't care about him. Has anyone ever sang to you? Yes. So, what if you married the last person you kissed? That'd be pretty rad. What are you listening to at the moment? "Long Way Down" from the The Evil Within soundtrack. It's funny, like I've loved the game for many years, but I'm now in a serious semi-obsession phase after watching another let's play of it. Have you read the The Hunger Games trilogy? I only read the first book. I loved it, but just never continued. What is your boss’ (or school prinicpal’s) name? N/A Who is the person you dislike the most? That I personally know, probably a former best friend, oddly enough. Do you text your parents often? If Mom's not home, it's not unusual for us to text. I don't text my dad much because he's not a fan of texting. Do you watch YouTube videos often? Pretty much always. Do you know anyone with celiac disease? Sara, my aunt, and my cousin. Those are the ones I know of, anyway. Do you currently have any alarms set? No. How many cars can fit in your driveway? Barely even two. If someone else is here, they usually just park where the road meets the sidewalk of the cul-de-sac. Do you have the ashes of a family member or a pet? Of my dog Teddy, yes. Have you ever been involved in a car crash? Yes, as a kid. Do you prefer flash or no flash on a camera? Definitely no flash. It's more natural, and especially with people, it obviously prevents red eye. How often do you use hashtags? Just about never. Have you ever had whiplash before? No. Have you ever given another person or an animal a bath before? Pets, yes. I could never bathe another human. Is there a birdbath in your yard? No. Weirdest place you’ve ever had a cramp? Nowhere weird, I think... How many lamps are in the room you’re in? How many are actually turned on? Technically three, if you count my snake's heat lamp. Right now that's the only light that's on. Are there any activities you enjoy doing, but can only do for a short amount of time before you get bored or tired of them? Yeah, reading comes to mind first. Is there anything coming out soon (books, albums, movies, video games) that you're looking forward to? I'm not up-to-date on this stuff at all, not even video games. What is something someone recommended to you that you disliked/hated? I know Girt's recommended me music I haven't been a fan of. We like the same general stuff, but there are specific sub-genres we differ in opinion about. Can you unwrap a Starburst in your mouth? ... There are people who do this to even know in the first place??? What is the last thing you ate? Popcorn. Who is your favorite person to spend time with? Sara. Do you know how to grill a steak? I don't know how to cook, period. Do you have a large dog? We don't have a dog currently, but Mom is looking for one pretty intently. We don't know the size it'll end up being. Do you like walking places? Absolutely not. I can't walk far at all without my legs starting to scream at me because leading such a sedentary lifestyle led to muscle atrophy in my legs. It's incredibly embarrassing. Are you a fan of bands most people don’t know of? That's not uncommon for me. Have you ever sent an X-Rated picture to someone? No. Do you think your voice is higher or lower than average? It's deeper than the average woman's. Do you have a pool? No, but I really, really want one... Given how easily I sweat, I would love to use swimming to strengthen my legs. I could also stop the very moment I feel I need to; it in general sounds like something I could quite easily do. How many times have you been on a plane? Ummm including the trips going back, at least six times. Favorite ice cream flavor? Oh my gooooood, if you haven't tried Ben & Jerry's "phish food"... fucking try that shit. It is innnnnncredible. Do you have a TikTok? Nope. Do you enjoy driving? Fuck no I don't. Your favorite store as a teen? Hot Topic was and still is my fave, ha. Favorite YouTuber? There's this one called Markiplier that I think's pretty cool. How many online accounts do you have? A LOT. My whole life is essentially on the computer, so... .-. Do you tend to always be in some sort of drama? Quite the opposite. Do you collect quarters from every state? No. When was the last time your living room furniture was rearranged? Not since we moved into this place. When you were little did you like watching Cartoon Network, Disney or Nickelodeon more? Disney probably topped Nickelodeon. I didn't watch much CN. Who was the last person to kiss you on the cheek? Either my niece or nephew when saying bye. Have you ever seen a magic show? Yes, as a kid. I even had a magician for my bday once. When was the last time you vomited and why? It's been a year or so. It would've been a side effect of starting a certain med that I didn't stay on because it so consistently made me sick. Where do you usually sit when you eat dinner? Either in my bed (I know) or at the dinner table if Nicole is here to eat with us. What time do you usually go to sleep at night? It's typically around 7:30-8:30, occasionally a bit later. I can't believe as a teen, it was my "rule" that I couldn't go to sleep before 10:30 because it was "too early." Nowadays, I can barely imagine regularly staying up that late. Do you avoid using public restrooms? As best as I can. I've seen some nasty shit. What’s your favorite type of cookie? Chocolate chip. How basic.

[ear-worthy]

Rumble Studio: A Sound Solution For New & Experienced Podcasters

So many aspirational podcasters stumble when it comes to the technical part — recording, mixing, and use a podcast app to accomplish sound design. Many use Audacity, since it’s free, but the interface is outdated and the app can be limiting. If you have $250 per year, you can use Adobe Audition and then must climb that typical Adobe steep learning curve.

Technology companies know there is money to be made in making sound production easy and convenient. Listen to the success stories of so many podcasters that struggled with learning how to do sound production. It is typically a tale of hours, days, and weeks learning to use an app to convert your words and sounds into a podcast that people can listen to.

Recently, I came across a technology solution to help aspirational podcasters. I’ll preface this by assuring everyone I have no financial stake in this company. I had never heard of them until I read an article that intrigued me.

The company’s name is Rumble Studio.

Here’s their pitch: “Rumble Studio helps creators, businesses and agencies to record and publish audio content quickly and affordably, and consistently over the long-term. Rumble is the fastest way to create audio for your podcast, website, and social media campaigns, with time & cost savings of up to 90 percent.”

Rumble Studio is a technology startup based in Paris, France. You can use the audio content produced on Rumble to create branded podcasts for marketing, internal podcasts for communications, client testimonial gathering, employee recruitment and much more. Co-founders Carl Robinson and Joris Guerry founded the company in September 2020, and have since raised funds, graduated from two world-class accelerators, and won a number of awards. They are currently enrolled in the Havas Startup Accelerator, and their offices are in the world’s biggest startup hub, Station F in Paris.

So what does Rumble Studio do? Their “audio superpower,” as they brand it, is called asynchronous interviews.

To get a better idea of how this all works, I was able to interview Rumble Studio Manager Pavle Marinkovic.

Q. Why start Rumble Studio?

A. We created Rumble Studio because today’s audio creation tools are slow and expensive to use, presenting a high barrier to entry for many businesses and individuals. Worse still, companies that do start a podcast suffer from extremely high attrition. Half of all active podcasts today have 10 or fewer episodes, and most podcasters quit before they obtain the business benefits that their podcast can offer. Rumble Studio solves both these problems by making podcasting fast, easy and accessible to all.

Q. Define asynchronous podcasting to non-technical people out there?

A. Whenever you work or communicate with people outside the present, you’re doing something asynchronously. In the case of podcasting, this means that the host and guest record their questions and answers respectively in their own time.

This method avoids the hassle of scheduling interviews, especially for those busy guests you want on your show but are never available, and allows you to gather answers from multiple guests simultaneously, creating more content for your podcast. It’s faster, more efficient, and more scalable compared to synchronous podcasting.

Q. How can Rumble Studio help people who want to start a podcast with no technical expertise?

A. Our web-based tool was created to serve as an end-to-end solution for your podcast. This means that you can do everything in one place: record questions, send them to your guests, have them answer these questions on the platform, edit the content, generate transcripts, and deliver it to your favorite media (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.).

It has a user-friendly interface guiding you through all the steps you need to produce your show. And if you get stuck along the way, you can always refer to our active community on Discord for help. We had a member of our team, without previous knowledge of podcasting, start a podcast from scratch for the very first time, and she’s been able to gather 100 guests in a few months. Why couldn’t you do the same?

Q. What if an aspiring podcaster wanted to host their own show with no guests? Just their narration. Can Rumble studio help?

Our tool is very flexible and can be used in multiple ways, like host narration episodes. The host can record his narrations on our platform and then add other sound features to spice things up. The edit of each episode becomes straightforward, combining narration fragments with background music and sound effects in a way that’s easy to follow by the audience.

We’ve actually had a few clients use our platform this way (and we’ve done it ourselves too, so we know what we’re talking about!). For instance, French pioneer Laurent Brouat has created an engaging narrative with his show “The Apprentice” in which he tells the stories of successful entrepreneurs through a fiction podcast. No need for guests, just a creative mind.

Q. How do you suggest potential podcasters navigate your website to learn more?

You can start by watching a three-minute clip of how the tool works on our YouTube channel. Get your feeling of the platform by creating a free account here. Once you play around with it and get an overview of the basics, you can turn to our interactive workshop where you can learn how to conceive your podcast from scratch and get it running in no time.

We offer many resources on our website in this section, going from blog articles to podcast examples and case studies, and downloading free templates to help you in this podcast journey. We’re here to help you enhance what you do and how you do it.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest news on the podcast industry and our tool’s updates.

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How Kate Spade built her billion-dollar empire — and left it

Handbag designer Kate Spade at her New York showroom in 2000. (Photo: Thomas Iannaccone/Penske Media/Rex/Shutterstock)

The fashion industry is mourning the loss of Kate Spade, one of America’s most beloved designers. On Tuesday morning, the Associated Press reported that Spade was found hanged, an apparent suicide, in her New York City apartment.

Spade was born Katherine Brosnahan in Kansas City, Mo., in 1962. She created her eponymous label in 1993 with her then-boyfriend — who later became her husband — Andy Spade (the brand is a combination of the founders’ names). The two met while at Arizona State University and neither studied fashion.

After graduation, the couple moved to New York City, where Kate started her career as an accessories editor at Condé Nast’s Mademoiselle magazine. Although Spade had an eye for fashion, she did not have a design background. Nevertheless, with a little push from Andy over dinner at a Mexican restaurant, she sought to make her handbag line a success — but it didn’t happen overnight.

Andy and Kate Spade in 1999. (Photo: Globe Photos/zumapress.com)

“At the time, things were very — bags were too complicated. And I really loved very simple kinds of architectural shapes. And I would wear these very simple shapes, none of which were famous designers. I mean, there were no names. If someone were to say, whose is that? I’d say, I don’t know; I bought it at a vintage store, or it’s a straw bag I got in Mexico,” Spade told Guy Raz in the NPR podcast How I Built This. 

Kate Spade in 2010. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Kate’s first handbag mockup was famously made of burlap. She took her first few prototypes to a trade show at the Javits Center in New York in 1993 and sold units to Fred Segal in Los Angeles and Barneys New York, arguably two of the most renowned fashion retailers in the nation. But the profits barely covered the costs for the booth. And two years of hustling later, the company still wasn’t turning a profit. 

However, things took a dramatic turn in 1996 after Kate Spade won the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America Perry Ellis award that brought international acclaim to the brand. More department stores, such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, started ordering in bulk, which helped the brand out of the red. At the CFDA awards, “there were reporters from around the country, not just New York, at the show. They were saying, you know, oh, my — who is this?” Spade said to Raz in the NPR podcast. “And so that really, really helped us a great deal, I have to say.”

A wall of Kate Spade bags on display in a London pop-up shop. (Photo: Alamy)

  Kate Spade with her husband, Andy, left, and David Spade, right, attend the American Fashion Awards in 2001 in New York City. (Photo: Diane Cohen/Getty Images)

Soon after Kate’s CFDA win, her most iconic item, the Sam bag, known for its boxy shape and nylon material, became the “it” accessory of the ’90s. Spade’s decision to sew the inside logo on the exterior of the bag was a move the New York Times said helped create “a brand identity and her empire.”  

“The purses became something of a handshake,” said Wall Street Journal fashion reporter Christina Binkley to Racked. “When two women met and saw they were both holding Kate Spade bags, they’d nod at each other and understand they were on the same page. It was very chic.”

In part, its success can be attributed to Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, who featured Spade’s bag in the magazine alongside European labels like Gucci. Celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, and Monica Lewinsky became Kate Spade fans.

“Kate Spade had an enviable gift for understanding exactly what women the world over wanted to carry. She launched her label at a time when everyone thought that the definition of a handbag was strictly European, all decades-old serious status and wealth. Then along came this thoroughly American young woman who changed everything,” said Vogue editor in chief and Condé Nast artistic director Anna Wintour in a statement on Vogue.com. 

Kate Spade with a handbag of her own design in 1998 in New York. (Photo: Thomas Iannaccone/Penske Media/Rex/Shutterstock)

To capitalize on the the company’s popularity, the Kate Spade brand started to grow, and in 1996 the label opened its first store on Thompson Street in Manhattan’s hip SoHo neighborhood. New York was equally important to the brand’s DNA as it was to Spade’s story. The city is where the brand was born, the company bares its name (the full name being Kate Spade New York), and it is where many of Spade’s first and most loyal customers lived.

Fans range widely in age, but to this day, scoring a Kate Spade as a teenager or young adult has largely been considered a rite of passage. “It seems like just yesterday I was running my fingers over the shelves where it was my job to rearrange the iconic nylon box bags,” wrote Stella Bugbee for the Cut. “The simple rectangular totes were a status symbol for chic downtown women at the time, and I sold so many of them, I lost track.”

Kate Spade bags were modestly priced between $150 and $450, making them not only aspirational but attainable. They hung in a sweet spot compared with the brand’s European counterparts. “The name held prestige, but it wasn’t off-putting,” as Robin Givhan told the Washington Post. 

Isaac Mizrahi and Kate Spade at the ASPCA Bergh Ball, “Tails of Time,” at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City in 2007. (Photo: Brian Ach/WireImage for Chopard)

It was also Spade’s personal quirky sense of style, 1950s-style bouffant hair, and cheerful smile that added a lot of joy to the label. This infectious energy resonated with consumers, with many connecting with her Midwestern roots. Spade brought a vivid color palette, a playful charm, and feminine poise to her designs, making them highly covetable.

Kate Spade and Michael Kors at the CFDA-hosted preview of “Fashioning Fiction,” at MoMA Queens in New York City in 2004. (Photo: John Calabrese/Penske Media/Rex/Shutterstock)

In 1999, Kate and Andy Spade sold 56 percent of their company’s shares to the Neiman Marcus Group for $34 million. In 2006, Neiman Marcus bought out the rest of the couple’s shares to sell the company to Liz Claiborne (owner of Juicy Couture & Lucky Brand Jeans), which would later change its name to Kate Spade & Co.

Kate Spade shopping in 2007. (Photo: Billy Farrell/PatrickMcMullan.com)

In 2007, Kate and Andy Spade would officially leave the multimillion-dollar brand they helped create, devoting more time to family and raising their daughter, Frances Beatrix Spade. But Kate’s vision and spirit would continue to drive the brand’s ethos long after her departure. Young, fresh-faced celebrities like Taylor Swift and Millie Bobby Brown carried on the funky aesthetic into the next generation, wearing it on the red carpet and being snapped by paparazzi wearing the brand’s designs.

In 2016, nearly 10 years later, the duo would return to fashion, launching a brand-new shoe and handbag label called Frances Valentine.

“Frances is a longtime family name on my dad’s side,” Spade told WWD in 2015. “My grandfather, father, brother, and my daughter’s name is Frances. And then Valentine was my mom’s dad’s middle name because he was born on Valentine’s Day.” 

  Kate Spade and daughter Frances Spade, Darcy Miller, and Jenna Lyons at the J.Crew Bridal Boutique in 2010 in New York City. (Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/WireImage for J.Crew)

Kate too would come to love the name Valentine so much that she changed her surname to Valentine. She explained the name choice to the Business of Fashion in 2016: “It kind of makes [me] sound kind of cool, like a rap star or something,” she joked. “But we’re not trying to be cheeky or coy. It really was to distinguish the name and separate the two worlds. Obviously we’re super proud of Kate Spade, and we want to be respectful of both.”

In 2017, Kate Spade & Co. sold to Tapestry, Inc. (parent company to Coach and Stuart Weitzman) for an astounding $2.4 billion.

Kate Spade, left, and Cynthia Rowley at the opening of Annie Leibovitz’s “Pilgrimage” exhibit at Manhattan’s Pace/MacGill gallery in 2011. (Photo: Steve Eichner/Penske Media/Rex/Shutterstock)

Among other things, Kate Spade will be remembered as one of the first major female American designers, one who helped pave the way for other industry successes like Jenna Lyons (formerly of J.Crew), Tory Burch, and Cynthia Rowley.

Read More from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Designer Kate Spade, 55, found dead in apparent suicide • Style mavens Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan are why you should never turn down a blind date  • Why adoptive parents like Sandra Bullock feel that ‘the perfect child will find you’

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

[your-dietician]

Bare Feet, Beer and Heavy Metal Bangers: Golf Chills Out and Gets Cool.

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/golf/bare-feet-beer-and-heavy-metal-bangers-golf-chills-out-and-gets-cool/

Bare Feet, Beer and Heavy Metal Bangers: Golf Chills Out and Gets Cool.

Golf is one of the world’s oldest sports, with treasured traditions honed across several centuries. But increasingly over the last decade, many people have come to see golf as just plain old. And not in a good way.

The number of devoted recreational golfers in the United States has hovered at about 25 million, but the cohort is aging and more than 1,600 American golf courses closed in the 2010s. In 2004, and over the next 14 consecutive years, participation on courses waned.

These days, however, a fresh breeze is billowing through golf’s fusty clubhouse. It is not a stretch to call this movement the new golf. And new golf just might save old golf from itself.

It has helped power three successive years of participation growth that has reshaped the demographics of junior recreational golfers, who are now twice as likely to be female and four times as likely not to be white.

New golf has led to radically revised six- or 12-hole courses that reduce costs, land use and the time it takes to play a round. It has fostered a host of off-course experiences, including bustling entertainment venues that mix the vibe of a driving range and a sports bar, attracting a clientele with an average age of 31. It has meant golf courses with built-in sound systems playing music and with rounds in which no one keeps score — or cares to. Most conspicuously, in a sport in which 75 percent of the rounds are played on public golf courses, old-school protocol has been relaxed to stimulate a spirit of inclusion.

On a sunny evening this spring in northern Florida, Mike Miles, a 59-year-old former PGA Tour player who helped convert a failing conventional golf course into a quirky 12-hole public golf playground called The Yards, gazed out his window and noticed a young man on the first tee in bare feet.

“I’m thrilled to see him,” a smiling Miles said of the golfer, who was in his 20s and beginning a three-hole round known as the beer loop because it starts and ends next to the clubhouse bar. “We have to make golf not so serious.”

Top players agree.

“Whatever they want to do, they’re playing golf and that’s great,” said Jordan Spieth, who is 27 and has won three major championships. “I’ve got friends from high school and college, and they don’t keep their scores. They’re just going out to play music and have a few beers. They love it.”

Though such change might have been viewed as a threat to traditional golf 10 years ago, the sport’s leaders have now embraced relaxation.

“Offering more flavors of golf is tapping into evolutional demands,” Joe Beditz, the longtime president and chief executive of the National Golf Foundation, said. “It suits the predominant culture and is good for the game.”

Ashleigh McLaughlin, a former college golfer, is an executive with Youth on Course, a program that has subsidized more than one million rounds, bringing prices down to $5 or less. She said that conventional golf was being expanded, not replaced.

“Like most corners of the world, golf has had this kind of awakening when it relates to diversity and inclusion,” said McLaughlin, who is Black. “People can play golf in traditional ways, but there’s other ways to enjoy the game, whether you play barefoot, play music and don’t wear a polo shirt. There’s no judgment for that within the golf space.”

Like all uprisings, the sport’s mini-rebellion had a birthplace: Northern Virginia, where a golf entertainment company named Topgolf made its American debut in 2005. It has since swelled to 64 locations, the majority in or near urban areas. Topgolf facilities, which average more than 20 million customers annually, have the feel of a 1950s-style bowling alley set in a 21st century science fiction film.

While a Topgolf complex resembles a routine golf driving range, albeit one with multiple floors, it is meant to be a social experience. The goal is playful competition at each oversize driving bay, where a wait staff keeps customers plied with food and drink. Players choose from a full set of clubs to aim at targets of varying distances — from 50 to 250 yards — and sensors read a microchip embedded in each golf ball. Points are awarded according to how close the balls come to the targets and are displayed on large touch-screen monitors in each bay.

Laughter, not the imposing silence at a typical golf tee, is the prevalent soundtrack.

The secret to Topgolf’s booming popularity is a come-as-you-are atmosphere that has attracted people who don’t play the traditional game. Industry leaders once spurned Topgolf as “not real golf.” They now realize that Topgolf found a way to capitalize on a latent interest in the sport. (Television ratings for golf tournaments have been strong for decades even as it was understood that a large portion of the viewing audience did not play.)

“Topgolf took the friction out of the entry to golf and made it easy for people to satisfy their interest in the game without making a big investment,” said David Pillsbury, chief executive of ClubCorp, which owns or operates more than 200 golf clubs.

Pillsbury and his brethren in the golf community now view every Topgolf as a recruiting outpost, because industry studies have shown that a substantial number of first-time golfers got their start at a Topgolf or one of its many competitors, like Drive Shack, Big Shots and indoor simulators. The growing customer base at such sites is nearly 13 million and 45 percent female, according to the National Golf Foundation, and is increasingly drawn from more diverse and urban neighborhoods.

Next year, Topgolf, which recently merged with Callaway for $2 billion, will take a symbolically important step when it opens its first facility in partnership with an established, if flagging, nine-hole municipally owned golf course west of Los Angeles.

The course, in the coastal city of El Segundo, Calif., has been redesigned, and floodlights will be added for nighttime play. The property may become a model that proves that a modern golf entertainment venue can convert its customers into green-grass players.

The innovative spirit of the El Segundo project reflects a nationwide yearning for places to play that are unlike the stereotypical country club.

At Quicksands, a par-3 course positioned atop a stretch of sand dunes in Central Washington, the music of Metallica emanating from widely scattered speakers hints that a round will not follow tradition.

So might the advice that using a putter off the tee is the best option for the longest of Quicksands’s holes, which drops steeply downhill for 180 yards from tee to green. The entire layout, linked to the 18-hole Gamble Sands resort, can be traversed in 90 minutes with only a few clubs in hand.

A sign near the entrance sums up the vibe: Imagination on display.

Even Tiger Woods, sidelined by serious injuries sustained in a February car crash, is in on the alternative golf boom. He has become the co-owner of an expanding, technologically advanced chain of mini-golf courses. Each of Woods’s Popstroke putting courses, with multiple holes that incorporate bunkers and rough, offers food, craft beer, wine and ice cream that can be delivered to participants during play. There are two venues currently open in Florida, and this month Woods announced that his company would develop seven more courses, including sites in Texas and Arizona.

If Woods is the headliner in the experimentation category now overtaking recreational golf, Rob Collins, once a relative nobody, might now be the guru of the movement.

Seven years ago, Collins emptied his bank account to build an architecturally distinctive nine-hole course in eastern Tennessee, which was no one’s idea of a golf mecca. Collins did not have the money to build a clubhouse for his new course, called Sweetens Cove. Nor could he afford a bathroom. A portable toilet and a 20-foot-by-10-foot aluminum shed greeted golfers on opening day in 2014.

Business was slow, but another phenomenon — social media — helped spread the word of Sweetens Cove’s eccentric charm, which is a mix of playability and winsome challenges for golfers of all abilities. Influential golf websites like The Fried Egg and the popular Twitter account No Laying Up raved about Sweetens Cove’s unconventional allure and minimalist approach.

A cult attraction was born, as golfers from around the world happily made the pilgrimage into the Tennessee countryside 30 miles west of Chattanooga. Soon, Sweetens Cove was ranked among the top new American golf courses.

In March, when Sweetens Cove opened its online booking system for this year, it took 31 minutes for every available tee time Thursdays through Sundays from April 1 to Oct. 31 to sell out.

“We’ve become an international golf destination without the benefit of food and beverage, lodging or indoor plumbing,” Collins, 46, said with a laugh in May. “Led by younger generations, golf is refocusing. They crave compelling golf, and old assumptions about location, length and the configuration of the golf holes no longer apply.”

Collins and his design partner, Tad King, have become hot commodities with a slew of projects completed and planned.

“In those dark days around 2016, I never would’ve guessed that would happen,” Collins said. “But here we are.”

Buttressing the new golf movement has been a surge in the number of junior golfers who are flocking to restyled instruction programs. About 34 percent of junior golfers are now girls, compared with only 15 percent in 2000.

Jennifer Bermingham heads a step-by-step junior academy program called Crush It, which has been established at nearly 120 Club Corp courses from Virginia to California. Though the instruction is for boys and girls, Bermingham has girls learn in female-only groups.

“Girls like to work together and become friends and want to have a social element to the game and to practice,” said Bermingham, who is a certified P.G.A. and L.P.G.A. instructor. “There are always exceptions, but boys like to compete with each other and want to see who’s the winner. There’s a mentality that is just slightly different.”

New programs like Crush It have bolstered longstanding ones like The First Tee and Girls Golf, a partnership of the L.P.G.A. Foundation and the United States Golf Association that has taught the game to millions of young golfers in more than 2,000 locations.

According to data compiled last year by the National Golf Foundation, more than 25 percent of junior golfers are nonwhite, whereas just 6 percent of young golfers 21 years ago were.

Golf’s cultural revolution can be seen in every facet of the game, perhaps most noticeably in the relaxing of dress codes. Once demanding collared shirts, women’s skirts of a certain length and no hats turned backward, golf is chilling out.

Rules are being rewritten around the nation, most especially at the public courses that make up three-fourths of the sport’s inventory. To be sure, not every country club has altered its restrictions, but in many cases, only denim pants and tank tops are prohibited.

“Having to tuck in your shirt or turn your hat forwards, those things have to go away,” said Laura Scrivner, general manager of the Capital Canyon Club in Prescott, Ariz., which is operated by Troon, a worldwide golf management company. “There has to be a lighter touch now.”

Scrivner is particularly dedicated to rethinking golf’s protocols — she once ran a golf tournament called “Meet, Greet and Cheat,” which encouraged players to break every golf rule — and she has not let convention stand in the way at Capital Canyon, which is private.

JP Sipla, a 44-year-old member, is one of those golfers who plays his rounds barefoot. He calls himself a golf purist and plays to an enviable seven handicap, but his first question before joining Capital Canyon was whether he would be forced to wear shoes.

Assured there were no footwear regulations, he found himself on the club’s first tee not long afterward.

“There might have been someone cracking a joke about being barefoot, but it was lighthearted,” Sipla said in a telephone interview. “I’ve been here about a year now. Everyone knows me and they lovingly call me ‘Barefoot.’”

One of Sipla’s fellow members, Dave Dove, who is 89 and was introduced to golf by his father in the 1940s, welcomes the change he has seen in the game he still plays three times a week.

“You don’t want everybody to look the same and act the same,” Dove said. “That’s not what life is like. A golf course is a big place, there’s plenty of room for everybody. We’re just out there to have a good time.”

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[motownrundown]

The Rise, The Fall, and The Rebirth: Pikes Peak International Raceway

For the vast majority of my life, I’ve found abandoned places and urban exploration fascinating. I often find myself browsing the internet for hours, discovering places I hadn’t heard of before, or learning about how something had gotten to the state that it’s in. Being a sports fan, there’s no shortage of examples all over the world of venues left to decay after the competition has ceased. NASCAR is no stranger to this. From short tracks like North Wilkesboro and Myrtle Beach, to the intermediate tracks like Rockingham and Nazareth, and even big superspeedways like Ontario and Texas World, NASCAR has left plenty of tracks across the country to die, and in some cases, a slow, painful, and visual death. Most end up demolished, and some end up slowly getting reclaimed by nature.

But that isn’t always the case. Today I’d like to talk to you about a track that graced both the NASCAR Busch Series & Truck Series schedules for a brief, eight-year period, only to be killed off, and against all odds, brought back to life. A one-mile, D-shaped oval, about an hour and a half outside of Denver, Colorado. Pikes Peak International Raceway.

Pikes Peak can trace its origins back to 1964, then known as Pikes Peak Meadows, a horse racing facility located off Interstate 25, between the towns of Fountain and Wigwam, Colorado. The track’s initial run lasted only four years before the then-renamed Pikes Peak Turf Club was sold off. The new ownership struggled to reopen the track, running only a weekends-only schedule in 1971, a schedule that wouldn’t be finished. The days of horse racing at the site were over. It’s been called one of the biggest failures in horse racing history.

Fast forward to 1997, where Pikes Peak would trade horses for horsepower.

On partnership was formed to construct, own, and operate a 1,300 acre speedway complex, with the goal being to attract a “big-time NASCAR race in 1998”.

With wide, sweeping corners, it was described as a smaller version of Michigan International Speedway or Auto Club Speedway. The facility also featured a 1.3-mile road course, and a quarter-mile oval in the infield. A massive 40,000 seat grandstand stretched the entire length of the front straightaway, with trackside camping spots available as well. After the track’s first race, a IndyCar race in dominated by Tony Stewart, people were already starting to call PPIR “the fastest one-mile paved oval anywhere”, a name that would stick with the track, even up until today.

The track would meet its goal and host a NASCAR Busch Series race on June 16th, 1998, a 250-mile event sponsored by Lycos.com (remember them?). Matt Kenneth, oddly enough, driving a Lycos sponsored car, would win the pole, lead 42 of 250 laps, and win the inaugural NASCAR race at Pikes Peak.

The speedway would host its first Craftsman Truck Series race a year later, and would go on to host races for ARCA, ASA, NASCAR Winston West (now the K&N Pro West Series) and other series. PPIR would also serve as a concert and entertainment venue, with the likes of Martina McBride, Jeff Foxworthy, Robbie Knievel, as well as Hootie & The Blowfish performing at the site.

The winners at Pikes Peak are really a who’s who at the time when each respective series raced there. In addition to Kenseth, Greg Biffle won in both the Busch and Truck series. Ron Hornaday and Mike Bliss also won Truck races at the track. Kevin Harvick won a Winston West race there. Mike Wallace once won a Truck Series & Winston West Series race on the same day. And the list of IndyCar winners is perhaps even more impressive, with Eddie Cheever and Gil de Ferran, as well as Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, and the late Dan Wheldon picking up wins in Colorado’s Race.

What held Pikes Peak back was the lack of a Cup Series race date. The track struggled financially, but you couldn’t tell just from looking at the crowds. If you go back and watch some of the Busch Series races there, they always seem well attended. Even for early 2000’s standards. Sure, it’s not a sellout. There’s some empty seats here and there. But we’re talking about a nearly-full grandstand, at a stand-alone Busch Series race, with next to no Cup Series drivers competing at the track. The Cup Series was usually running at Pocono the week of the Pikes Peak race, 1,700 miles away. This meant the race would serve as a platform for the Busch Series regulars to stand out without the Buschwackers stealing some of the spotlight, And despite that, even at the final Busch race at PPIR in 2005, Allen Bestwick of NASCAR on TNT suspected that a record crowd was in attendance.

Colorado is far from the most motorsports-crazed area of the country, but even still, Pikes Peak drew in crowds for second-and-third tier NASCAR races that the even Cup Series would die for today.

Just five years after the track opened, the owners, Lehman Brothers Holdings, INC, who purchased the track in 2001 after the original owners foreclosed, began looking into selling the track. In 2002, International Speedway Corporation (ISC), gained the right of first refusal if the owners did follow through with their plans to sell the complex, and then on October 1, 2005, ISC officially purchased the track for $10.3 million.

With the announcement of the sale came the news that Pikes Peak International Raceway would close. It came as a shock to those who attended the races at the track. ISC would petition NASCAR to move PPIR’s 2006 race date to Martinsville, which they would do, and ISC would begin relocating certain assets, such as grandstand seating and the scoring pylon, to other ISC-owned tracks.

ISC didn’t hide their intentions with the purchase of the speedway. They were planning to build a track in the Denver area, and the purchase of Pikes Peak was to eliminate any competition in the area. The idea for a race track in Denver goes all the way back to 1997, the same year PPIR was built. Penske Motorsports wanted to build a super speedway next to Denver International Airport, with those plans scrapped after the Federal Aviation Administration deemed the site unsafe, citing the proximity to the airport and concerns over large crowds of people sitting directly under landing aircraft.

Penske Motorsports merged with ISC in 1999, and the company set its sights on a new location just off of I-70 in Aurora, CO. This project is voted down by the city council after refusing to use taxpayer money to fund the speedway.

In 2000, ISC announced their intentions to become a tenant at WorldPark, an ambitious and massive 5,500-acre complex, that would’ve included a drag strip, ice rink, golf course, and a Native American arts and cultural center, also proposed to be built in Aurora. With an absolutely absurd cost of $500 million, mixed with local opposition due to the noise and traffic problems the complex would create, as well as a campaign funded by the owners of PPIR to oppose the development, it really shouldn’t come as a big chock that this too was nixed.

The newest set of plans included a one-mile oval speedway, four-mile road course, a go-kart facility, with a capacity anywhere from 65,000-100,000, to be built on the originally planned Aurora site off I-70. The proposed development also includes restaurants, hotels, and other commercial businesses. This proposal comes after the Colorado State Senate passed Senate Bill 173, the Colorado Tourism Act, that has the potential to provide $50 million to the construction of the speedway.

As we know now, those plans never materialized.

To put it bluntly: ISC killed Pikes Peak, to attempt to build a track that’s not noticeably different than PPIR, in a city that didn’t want them, just a one-hour drive up I-25 from the eight year old track that’s already built. I don’t know if there’s a more glaring example of how greedy and disgusting expansionist NASCAR was than this.

Pikes Peak was already wounded, but ISC came along with the dagger.

ISC, founded by Bill France Sr. in 1953, and running as its own separate entity until it was merged with parent company NASCAR in 2019, isn’t a stranger to shady business practices. ISC and NASCAR had been sued by multiple tracks over the years for allegedly violating antitrust laws.

It’s hard to feel any sympathy for NASCAR and their current situation when you read up on things like this. Plenty of fans direct the blame towards the playoff system, or stage racing, but I NASCAR’s thirst for expansion, and more importantly, the way they went about expanding, turned many fans away. NASCAR saw their booming success in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, and tried to expand too big, too fast. They had a perfectly fine facility that was less than a decade old, and they decided it wasn’t it didn’t fit their needs.

ISC would eventually sell Pikes Peak in 2006 to a group of motorsports enthusiasts calling themselves PPIR, LLC. The sale coming with one glaring condition.

ISC was still pursuing the Denver track idea at the time, so to ensure that Pikes Peak wouldn’t take any potential NASCAR attention away from their project, the new owners had to agree that NASCAR, or any other large motorsports series that would bring in more than 5,000 fans, couldn’t race at the track.

That didn’t bother the new owners however, and they officially purchased the speedway in 2007 at a cost of $9 million.

Pikes Peak, now without 30,000 of its original 40,000 teal grandstand seats, lives on, hosting concerts, some smaller races from time to time, such as USAC & SRL, as well as time attack events, the Richard Petty Driving Experience, and even drifting competitions. And similar to the Pontiac Silverdome, Pikes Peak also served as a home for thousands of recalled Volkswagens, stemming from the company’s 2015 emissions scandal. The last of the VW’s was moved off of the property in 2019.

Some people still hope to see NASCAR return someday, but track president Bob Boileau says that’s not their intentions. They’re more focused on making PPIR an experience to be enjoyed 365 days a year, and it seems they’re doing a phenomenal job of that. It’s far from the big league ambitions the track had in the 90’s, but it seems PPIR has found its niche through all of its setbacks. It’s rare to see a race track be given a second chance in life. After all, they’re purpose-built to do one thing, serve as an arena of speed for the best drivers in the world. So many tracks end up being just left to fall to into disrepair like North Wilkesboro, or get demolished like Riverside, but thanks to everyone associated with PPIR, LLC, Pikes Peak International Raceway isn’t one of them.

The days of NASCAR at Pikes Peak are over, but we can still relive the brief, eight year run the speedway had playing host to some of the country’s premier motorsports series.

In the course of researching for this piece, I stumbled across a video that NASCAR published on their YouTube page just one week ago, a few days before I even got the inspiration to write this. The 1998 Lycos.com 250, the inaugural Busch Series race at Pikes Peak. I watched the race as I wrote this, and I invite you all to do the same. The race features plenty or names recognizable to fans that have been around the sport for a while. Of course there’s the eventual race winner Matt Kenseth, but also Tony Stewart, Elliott and Hermie Sadler, Randy LaJoie, and a young Dale Earnhardt Jr., who’s front bumper gets quite a lot of TV time.

With tracks like Kentucky and Chicagoland being left off the 2021 NASCAR schedule, and tracks like Texas Motor Speedway and others on life support, we’re once again reminded of how massively NASCAR’s expansion efforts failed. Those tracks now face an uncertain future, and in the years to come we’ll see what their fate becomes, but here’s hoping they can find a second purpose in life just like the fastest one-mile oval anywhere, Pikes Peak International Raceway.

Thank you so much if you’ve taken time out of your day to read this little project of mine. Please let me know your thoughts on this and any places you thought I could’ve done better in. I’m new to this whole writing thing after all! I hope you enjoyed this journey into the history of Pikes Peak International Raceway. That’s all for this week. I hope everyone has had a good start to 2021, and I’ll see you next week.

[palliddata]

The Wizard of Grog: The Scourge of Caster Supremacy

(This is by Elizabeth Lavenza and not by me)

Elizabeth “Linguafoeda Acheronsis” Lavenza Chances are, one of the first images that pops into your head when you think about Dungeons and Dragons is the classic lineup of a fighter, a wizard, and a thief exploring a dungeon and valiantly overcoming obstacles together (that is, if you aren’t a mid-90s fundamentalist christian who associates D&D with pagan orgies and human sacrifice). It’s a decent enough setup, and that combined with nostalgia and inertia have allowed it to persist as one of fantasy gaming’s most common templates. But if you ask an experienced D&D player to tell you how that setup has worked out for them, a lot of times their version will have the wizard (or cleric, or druid, both of which have been even more unbalancing) effortlessly blasting every obstacle out of the way while the fighter and the thief sigh and wonder if it’s too late to reroll. Their disappointment is understandable, not just because being useless isn’t much fun. None of the sources of inspiration- Lord of the Rings, The Princess Bride, Conan the Barbarian, Berserk, and so on- that they’ve brought to the table would have prepared them for this problem. Most fantasy literature doesn’t have scenes where the knight and the rogue sit around playing cards while the wizard solves everything (then again, most good fantasy literature doesn’t have perfectly delineated archetyped parties). You’ve heard the horror stories. Order of the Stick wasn’t lying when it had a Druid tell a Rogue that he had special features more powerful than her entire class. I won’t spend that much time on 3e caster stories (google “codzilla” or “caster supremacy” if you’re curious), but I’ll provide a short explanation of why the problem persists, particularly in D&D and related systems, for those who haven’t encountered it before. Basically, when fighters level up they hit things for more damage and can take more damage, along with some other things. When casters level up they can pretty much control reality at will. Even beyond overpowered combos and obscure feats and munchkin builds, the simple fact remains that the class that lets you fly, turn invisible, teleport, shoot fire really well, and pretty much anything else is going to overshadow the one that hits things hard. To zero in on one particular example, there’s the legendary Druid Bear Singularity. Basically, a bear is often stat-for-stat a bit better than most Fighters of equivalent level. A Druid can have a bear companion, and also turn into a bear, meaning that a Druid with just those two basic features is equal to about 2.5 Fighters. And as the Druid levels up? They get more bears and stronger bears. They can also cast spells as a bear, and cast spells on their bears. This is when the math breaks down and the Druid becomes a Borg-like swarm of invincible magical bears. Before I go into the general types of solutions, I should note that things are getting better. While the problem persists within D&D, Pathfinder, and other D&D-3.5-derived systems (OSR games have a fair amount of variance, “meat-grinder” early addition-likes tend to have less of a problem with druidgods and wizardgods), due to fanbase stubbornness, it’s much less present outside of those systems, and that is due in no small part to the rise of storygaming and rules-light or rules-medium games. While the overarching reason comes down to these games being willing to do things differently, if we zero in we find that one of the most powerful tools for combatting caster supremacy is one that rules-light gaming uses frequently: focus. There is no one solution for the superwizard’s trap, and to avert it you have to start with the thing you should always start with: asking yourself what kind of stories you want to tell. Each of the potential approaches lends itself to certain types of stories and foci, and resistance to them comes from the enemy of focus: grognards wanting their preferred game to have everything they’re used to in it simultaneously. So, let’s go over the scenarios in which caster-induced redundancy isn’t a problem, and their relation to the central idea of focus. These solutions break down into two main groups: tone down the magic, or share the magic. The first of those is one that resonates most with what the classicists among the grognard host want. After all, how many times were battles in Middle-Earth won by an itinerant sorcerer blasting orcs away with magic missiles? Magic was restricted to a few individuals, or inherent powers of magical creatures, and even when they showed it off it was often rather subtle. The Game of Thrones setting, another grog favorite, also gives us a setting where magic is rare, scattered, and rarely as overt as flying bears or teleportation. It’s a completely valid approach: set up your system and story for a group of characters with no magical powers, or immensely limited and narrow magic, and things fall into place nicely. The knight, the archer, and the assassin will all have niches to fill, and they won’t have to worry about overshadowed by the druid if all the druid can do is perform long and complex rituals that allow them to see through the eyes of animals (as opposed to summoning invincible armies of them). Of course, sometimes magic has quite a lot of punch behind it, but there are still clear advantages to those who prefer more mundane methods. The idea that magic is dangerous and costly is bandied about quite a lot, but what consequences does the average D&D wizard face from throwing around spells all day, other than potential GM ire? And sure, the Vancian system can be a drag, but once those levels climb up Wizards build up more than enough contingencies, not to mention those with ways around it all together. If all magic required costly materials and/or long rituals, then being able to swing a sword, sneak, or shoot arrows or bullets well becomes a lot more useful, even if the magic has amazing capabilities. And, if you keep the principles of story and focus in mind, you can use that setup to generate plenty of potential plots and conflicts. Imagine how warfare looks- rival sorcerers preparing their rituals in the keeps of the patrons who supply them with their materials, while both sides send their companies of sellswords and assassins across the line to try to interrupt the other side’s big ritual. Again, it’s a more fun scenario than bear-summoning munchkinry solving everything. And what about the other kind of cost, genuine danger? Like most of these solutions for the caster problem, it’s shown up in plenty of stories. This approach has been explored in plenty of tabletop role playing games, too. Both versions of the Warhammer RPGs have magic wielders who can do some pretty amazing things…but actually doing those things is truly, actually dangerous, enough so that they aren’t things that can be relied upon to regularly solve problems. Unknown Armies, another great example, even explicitly states that magic is almost always much less useful than a gun in a combat situation, and that’s not even mentioning the massive costs it leverages on its practitioners. But the grog barrier keeps these approaches from working their way into D&D, as caster players are loathe to give up their cool powers, even if they insist they don’t want to render the nonmagical classes useless. The grog problem brings us to the opposing approach, where the system addresses the issue of godlike mages eclipsing warriors and thieves by giving the warriors and thieves godlike powers of their own. Dungeons and Dragons, in fact, has even made its own attempts to go down this path via the Tome of Battle, which provided several new martial classes with quasimystical powers. It wasn’t really the best supplement, especially since the new classes were essentially just better versions of existing classes, but the writers were in sort of an awkward situation since actually doing what they had set out to do would require rewriting quite a bit of the rules and core classes. But the negative feedback the book generated (the feedback that specifically bemoaned fighters having these abilities, not the way in which the book implemented them) was what made me realize the role of grog in keeping caster supremacy alive. Attempting to give martial classes their own ways to, for example, attack large groups or alter local terrain or fly will always provoke the “it’s too anime!” grog-whine, which is stupid on a number of levels. Even if one tries to see eye to eye with what people mean when they describe something as “too anime”, the fact remains that the idealized game as it exists in their heads can’t really existed without restricting casters far beyond what D&D does (see the previous paragraphs for information on this approach). They’ll often bring up that Conan or Drizzzzzzt (no, I’m not going to look up how many z’s he has) or so on and so never shot air blades out of their swords or flexed so hard things exploded, ignoring that these characters either existed in worlds with vastly different magic from their preferred game systems or had massive amounts of authorial fiat on their sides. Generally, the best way to get grognards to accept the “make fighters magic” approach is to bring up comparisons to mythology, where sorcerers were generally pushed out of focus in favor of demigods or magically enhanced warriors with enough musclepower to lift and throw mountains or fistfight storms. But even if you use this approach, you’ll still get complaints that it isn’t gritty enough, or that it makes it hard to run standard dungeon crawls, and so on. But caster supremacy is a problem that can only be fixed with genuine change. You can’t have that specific kind of team-based gritty dungeon delving if one party member has nearly unrestricted godlike powers, and if you want to have party members with that level of power, the other players should be able to reach it to, even if that means basing your world around a unified system of supernatural power that can harnessed by warriors as well as sorcerers, or putting the whole thing in terms of mythical dream-logic where being good enough at something like weaving or lying means you can apply it to abstract concepts (as an aside, Exalted does do the “mythic” approach fairly well, and there are plenty of games like Don’t Rest Your Head or most permutations of World of Darkness where it’s assumed that each member of the party has their own formidable reserve of supernatural power). Narrative-based powers provide a more subtle way to balancing, by giving characters an in-game ability to invoke the narrative tropes that help fighters and rogues equal casters in fantasy literature. PBTA systems are particularly good at this, but it’s something that’s been worked into an increasing number of systems.

Of course, there are countless permutations of these approaches. For example, you could run D&D 3e without many changes, as long as you gave up on pretending it was balanced and only allowed parties of equally-powerful classes, and constructed a setting in which magic-wielding demigods rule over mere mortals with their puny swords and bows. And, of course, you need to have a group of players who want to explore the ramifications of a setting where politics are dominated by human superweapons, rather than players who want to be Conan or Aragorn. Ironically, even the kind of dungeon-crawling stories associated with D&D acquire focus and planning to establish, and aren’t particularly well-served by God-Wizards and require a willingness to accept system refinement and storygaming to bring to their full potential. But fear of change and idealization of the past gets in the way, as always. In conclusion, fucking grognards. In a more serious conclusion, you can’t fix a problem if you keep doing the same things and expect them to work, and you can’t do everything at once. The start point for tabletop gaming should almost always be “what kind of story do we want to tell together”. Even if the kind of story you want to tell is based on your ideal of classic D&D or an amalgam of various fantasy literature you’ve absorbed, you still need to set things up to focus the story on that. If you want to use teamwork to crawl dungeons or fight evil hordes, you need a game that’s built for teamwork, and not endless swarms of magic bears making all the other players redundant. About the author: Elizabeth Lavenza is a lizard who can type. More information possibly to come.

[thisdaynews]

Champions League: English clubs' success causes self-doubt for Spain's top teams

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/champions-league-english-clubs-success-causes-self-doubt-for-spains-top-teams/

Champions League: English clubs' success causes self-doubt for Spain's top teams

Diego Simeone leading his Atletico Madrid side to the final of the Champions League in their home stadium was talked up in Spain as a possible storyline

When Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium was named as the host venue for this year’s Champions League final, three storylines caught the imagination in Spain.

Would Diego Simeone’s team seize European glory on their home turf? Would Real Madrid saunter across town to retain their continental supremacy? Or would Lionel Messi lead Barcelona to another crown?

The answers… no, no and no.

All three of the Spanish heavyweights squandered first-leg leads to exit the tournament before Saturday’s grand finale, which will instead be contested between Liverpool and Tottenham to ensure a first non-Spanish winner since 2013.

There was a similar story in the Europa League, which had been the near-exclusive domain of La Liga teams too in recent years. This time, it was an all-English affair as Chelsea overcame Arsenal in Baku.

After a decade of almost non-stop success, La Liga’s failure to produce even one finalist this season could be seen as the end of an era.

Should Spanish football be worried that the tide has turned?

Premier League leads European football to £25bn valuation

Champions League final: Can Spurs turn the tables on Liverpool?

Klopp: I have never had a better team for a final

Spain’s decade of dominance

Spanish teams have won the Champions League in seven of the past 10 seasons – Real Madrid’s victory over Liverpool in 2018 was their fourth title in five years

Since 2009, Real Madrid have won the Champions League four times, with Barcelona triumphing on three occasions, while Atletico Madrid also reached two finals: a total of nine finalists and seven winners.

Meanwhile, English teams made it to the final only four times, with Chelsea’s victory over Bayern Munich in 2012 the solitary title for a Premier League representative.

Spanish sides also exerted a stranglehold in the Europa League, a competition which provides a good indication of a domestic league’s strength in depth: Sevilla took the trophy three times in a row between 2014 and 2016, while Atletico were also three-time winners, including a victory in the 2012 final over another Spanish team, Athletic Bilbao.

Those results suggest La Liga’s superiority was by no means restricted to the ‘big two’. Not any longer, however.

Perhaps even more telling than Barcelona’s defeat against Liverpool in this season’s Champions League semi-finals was what happened at the same stage in the Europa League: Arsenal thrashed in-form Valencia side 7-3 on aggregate.

On paper, the fourth-placed team in La Liga facing the fifth-best team in England should have been a close contest; on grass, it became a mismatch.

At first sight, there appears to be one obvious explanation for the new-found dominance of English football: money.

As a commercial entity, the Premier League is vastly more successful than all its continental counterparts. That was evidenced by the staggering fact that Huddersfield, despite finishing bottom of the league, earned more television revenue this season than every La Liga club except Real Madrid and Barcelona did during the 2017-18 campaign.

Cold, hard cash obviously gives Premier League teams an advantage – why should Valencia be expected to compete on an even footing with an Arsenal team whose two strikers cost nearly as much as their whole starting XI?

However, that kind of financial disparity has been in place for some time, and it didn’t make that much difference over the past 10 years. Financial might contributes, but it can’t be everything – or Premier League clubs would have hoovered up far more trophies than they actually have.

So if it’s not a mere matter of money, what has changed? What is England now doing right, and what has Spain started to do badly?

The best coaches

Managers Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino have helped change the style of football played in England’s Premier League

Former Cameroon international Lauren, who started and finished his career in Spain either side of eight seasons in England with Arsenal and Portsmouth, believes there is a simple explanation for the Premier League’s upsurge this season.

“The smart thing that Premier League teams did was to sign the best coaches in the world,” says Lauren, who now lives in Seville and works as a pundit for La Liga TV.

“Managers such as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino have changed the mentality of English football.

“They have created a different Premier League which still has the same intensity and speed but those coaches have also added lots of different ideas. Now we are seeing the results.”

Those “different ideas” can be broadly summarised as the implementation of a possession-based game. In 2015-16 – the last season before Guardiola’s arrival at Manchester City – the average number of passes made in a game by the Premier League’s top six was 481.3. This season, that figure jumped to 599.1.

“English football has absolutely changed since my career,” continues Lauren. “There are lots of new methods, tactics and ideas, even the behaviour of players off the pitch.

“It all comes from Pep’s methods of playing from the back, starting with the goalkeeper, switching play, keeping the ball moving, pressing with intensity.

“That style of play first came to England years ago with Arsene Wenger, but now the new breed of coaches have built on those ideas and changed English football for the better.”

Spain’s foremost television pundit is former Liverpool forward Michael Robinson, who finished his playing career with Osasuna in the late 1980s and has stayed in the country ever since.

Robinson agrees with Lauren’s assessment, noting that it took English football a while to accept the need to embrace overseas influences if they wanted to enjoy success in Europe.

In an extensive Champions League analysis aired this week on TV channel #vamos, Robinson said: “English football has been rich for many years without winning.

“They invested in a lot of very good foreign players, but not in the architects. They’ve now realised they needed a different approach… a different vision of football that wasn’t [traditionally] English.”

Robinson hails Guardiola as the chief inspiration for the new mindset, lauding the City boss for “revolutionising English football”.

Lauren, though, emphasises that this upsurge is not just about passing the ball, and has been particularly impressed by Klopp’s ability to blend the traditional English values of hard work and high tempo with more continental methods.

“I love Klopp,” Lauren enthuses. “What I like about Liverpool is that they can play their style for long periods of the game. The manager has the mentality of quick transitions and pressing high up the pitch, and the way they can do that for 90 minutes is unbelievable.”

Teamwork trumps solo talent

Lionel Messi was unable to stop Barcelona’s slide out of the Champions League at Anfield in their 4-0 semi-final second-leg defeat by Liverpool

Within Spain, the failure of La Liga teams to land a European trophy this season is largely being addressed more on a club-by-club basis than country-wide, with endless hours of discussion devoted to the Champions League shortcomings of Real, Atletico and Barcelona.

There are, though, some common traits connecting the three clubs, such as an ageing core of players who have been allowed to enter into decline, and an inability to cope with the pace and intensity of vibrant top-class continental opposition such as Liverpool.

Former Real Madrid striker and manager Jorge Valdano – a World Cup winner with Argentina in 1986 – also believes this season’s Champions League has highlighted “the importance of the collective over the individual”, making the point when appearing alongside Robinson on the #vamos broadcast.

“Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t have done any more than he did, but it wasn’t enough for Juve,” he said. “Lionel Messi couldn’t have done any more, but it wasn’t enough for Barca.

“Liverpool, though, had their big triumph against Barcelona without Roberto Firmino or Mohamed Salah, and Tottenham had theirs without Harry Kane.

“Individuals couldn’t save their teams in this Champions League. Collectives were more relevant than individuals.”

Valdano believes his compatriot Pochettino best embodies that approach, saying: “In the ideal Champions League team, would you have any Tottenham players? For me, no. And that speaks well of Pochettino. Tottenham have been the most flexible team this season.”

And in the same way that English football has successfully integrated Spanish methods through Guardiola and Pochettino, perhaps there is the biggest lesson to be taken now for La Liga teams from the English game: less fixation on superstars like Messi and Ronaldo, and more emphasis on teamwork.

Alfredo Relano, editor of sports daily newspaper AS, noted in a column on Thursday: “I do not lament it [four English finalists]. We owe to England the invention of football, and for our own game, which has been so successful in Europe these years, a reflection will not hurt.

“English football has been renewed with what it needed, but preserved some values, of which perhaps the first is that the club stands above the individuals. Here it is the reverse. This is what we can learn from them.”

It’s been a long time since Spanish football has been forced into a period of self-doubt. For now, though, the English game has been transformed from the pupil to the master.

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[advancedthetapractitioner]

TGIWednesday... and a download for experiencing a new level of Joy!

TGIWednesday News 

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend and I always think of my mother fondly as she has always been one that radiates pure joy and love to everyone.  We've adopted a pink color this month for the e-newsletter in honor of all the mothers and Mother Earth in general. It's all sheer goddess energy that's about compassion and loving-kindness.... so remember that always whether you have or had the greatest mother ever or never knew your mother .....think of Mother Earth and the goddess energy as replenishing everyone and everything always. Coming up tomorrow is a cool radio interview called Quantum Conversations w/host Lauren Galey if you want to tune in click here.  It’s free of course like so much of our stuff.  Someone once said, “find what you love and give it away” and we sure do a lot of that!  But I honestly want you to experience how FAST change can be for you and your loved ones.  Whether its a body issue, mental health, work, job, career or other.  I can work with you or you can learn how to work on and about yourself.  Know that I am here as a way-shower and resource to and for you.  One love! And it's also the final week of our Abundance Audio MP3 launch and if you haven’t scooped this one up, by all means, get it asap while you can still save 25% off the regular price. The Being in Divine Flow with Universal Abundance audio is part of a series focusing on Prosperity, money and increasing your good fortune. This particular MP3 has been simmering for over a year and goes deep to combine your abilities to create wealth while still keeping you grounded on this earth plane. I believe it can make a difference in your life and that’s why I pour so much of myself and spirit into co-creating these tools for you.  "Just letting you know that since I purchased the new abundance mp3, I have been listening to it most days, a few times a day.  The second day I cleaned out my wallet and found a few old lottery tickets (megamillions and powerball).  I checked them at the gas station and one of them was a twelve dollar winner. First time in a long time that I have won anything on them, and they were all a few weeks old.  Then this morning I switched purses and as I was moving stuff from the purse I have been using for a few months to another, I did a quick sweep of one of the inner pockets looking for anything important, and I felt paper.  I pulled it out and it was money, a little under $300. I had no idea it was even in there even though I have been using that purse since before Christmas.... Lol.. Thank You! ~ P. M.   

MyBeliefWorks™ for Being in Divine Flow with Universal Abundance

Living Life Abundantly and Co-creating with Universal Support Download over 200 written clearings on PDF and when you open it, the MP3 audio link will be at top of the page to instantly listen & download 40 minutes of audio clearings.

Last Chance to get at $44

When this sale ends at Midnight Pacific on Friday, it won't be priced this low again. 

And...If you want to take your abundance & prosperity to the next level...Then check out our Specially Priced 3 - mp3/pdf set which includes: The Gold Coin, Positive Money Mindset and Universal Abundance.  A one hour session with me is $155, and here you can get over 400 prosperity clearings in 90 minutes from ALL depths & angles for just $136.  Plus keep them forever and share with your immediate friends and family! 

Get all 3 now for just $136

TGIWednesday Download

~ EXPERIENCING A NEW LEVEL OF JOY ~ I am surpassing love to the level of joy and I am asking spirit to download the vibration of this for you as well.  I believe, think, know and feel that joy can be achieved and sustained.  I am ready, willing and able to experience new levels of joy.  I know when, where, how and why to accept more joy in my life and share it with others now through services of Love and understanding and so it is throughout all lifetimes, languages and more.  

FREE Weekly LIVE Healings and Messages

May 9th - QUANTUM CONVERSATIONS with Lauren Galey  You’re invited to join me in a Quantum Conversation to discuss how you can Stand in your Mastery and Find your Power through living in the Heart with Divine Love, Activating Christ Consciousness and raising the vibration of the planet. This series of Quantum Conversations is designed to EMPOWER & ENLIGHTEN you in your remembrance of your true mastery and your Divine Purpose for being here on this planet.  Tune in on May 9th at 6pm ET/3pm PT Register here for this Free Series  

Every Tuesday at 9pm EST - JIMMY MACK HEALING SHOW  Join me and my guests weekly on Tuesdays at 9pm ET/ 6pm PT Call in LIVE (713)-955-0594 It's your chance to get FREE intuitive messages on my weekly radio show. My guests are some of the best psychic readers & intuitive healers on the planet!  Tune in every Tuesday night LIVE or just catch the replay & YOU will receive changes & healings just by listening!  Check out TheJimmyMackHealingShow.com  for a full listing & all replays! 

  To listen online, click the date links below. Listen here to yesterday's replay Joanne Psychic Leo  --------------- May 14 - Listen here Greg Joseph Intuitive and Spirit filled healings http://www.gregjoseph.com/ May 21 - Listen here Gosia Lorenz Living your best life now, infinite possibilities and awareness changes https://gosialorenz.com/   May 28 - Listen here Rev Debbie Dienstbier Trans medium, communication and messages with your loved ones in spirit https://www.facebook.com/Wings-of-Grace-Spiritual-Center-875388225837766/  

Check out TheJimmyMackHealingShow.com  for a full listing & all replays! 

Go deep sea "fishing" with Jimmy!

Level 1 is open to ANYONE at anytime!  

"I have found this to be a great modality.  I have for the first time got my husband and kids fishing daily.  I've learned Emotion Code, Body Code, dowsing, 3 levels of Yuen and some other bits and bobs I've played with.  I like how easy this is to take on the road.  I really appreciate your time and brilliance. Thank you." - D.T. / Kansas

The Certificate of Mastery Program includes 2 best-selling ebooks and 2 clearing audios plus written & video instructions, AND one-on-one time with Jimmy ALL for about the cost of a single 1-hr session! This online course is for anyone who is familiar with OR new to "fishing" and is ready to dive into the deep end & get results that are beyond the ordinary! It includes "The Tackle Box" & "Spiritual Healing Techniques" ebooks PLUS 2 MP3s "Clearing Dark Energies" & "Increasing Your Intuition" to help clear, strengthen and prepare your energy field for optimal “fishing” results. This is a work-at-your-own-pace curriculum that will TEACH & CLEAR you at the same time! In under 2wks you will be finished with the program and ready to fish on your own with greater results! Level II offers Practitioner Certification for those who qualify.

LEARN MORE HERE

Receive 24/7 Daily Prayers From Jimmy

I will dial into you daily in the wee hours and make certain that you are a CLEAR YES, UNCLEAR to NO and RUNNING FORWARD before you start your day. You will send me a list of the members of your immediate household, and yes even pets, and I will add them to my daily prayers. I will arise daily before you are even awake to start my prayers and also run my intelligent computer software 24/7 deleting the negative and increasing the strength of the positive creating a higher probability of outcomes for you and the family.  Each comes with a one-time email analysis print out via the intelligent healing software that I use on your behalf.  Most clients have had amazing results and outcomes and I get emails of thanks each and every week!

                     Choose 7 days @$33              Choose 14 days @$66           Choose 30 days @$99

Live In-Person Appearances

LIVE AT KODAWARI YOGA STUDIOS TAMPA

We've made some changes to the Kodawari schedule and I am now there in person EVERY FRIDAY scheduling 15 and 30 minute appointments. Call Kodawari's front desk directly to schedule (813) 773-4017 and pay at the concierge desk... 15 minutes 33$ or 30 minutes 65$. UPCOMING SCHEDULE 10-2pm: Friday:  May 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st  

3965 Henderson Blvd Suite C Tampa (813) 773-4017 http://www.kodawariyoga.com/

  From the Fish Box

"Hi Jimmy! Your 30 days of Daily Prayers has definitely helped us all in sooooo many ways! The attacks aren't as powerful and everyone seems on an even keel. Life is good.  I'm renewing right NOW!! (All of us - the same house.) Thank you very much!!!!" Sincerely, Julie

Fish Food 

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell The Fish: 365 Daily Inspirations & Affirmations

MAY 8th -  "God I need strength today. I need friends that will pull me up and who will walk with me in victory when I least expect it. Today I will find prizes and surprises around the next corner. Today I will build up my inner child and develop courage to reach my goals."

**Can't See The Full Email? Click Here to View Online**

For those who aren't familiar, here's the list of ALL clearing MP3s available. Find a topic that addresses your issue(s) & click on the link to read more. We had a lot of help downloading and channeling these over the years & they keep getting better.

Abundance Abuse Addiction Body Scan: Head to Toe Daily GPS Reset Dark Energies/Fears Decision Making Diet & Exercise Education & Learning Family & Relatives The Gold Coin Healing Physical Body Healing Mental Stress Holiday Stress

Increasing Intuition IRS & Tax Time Love & Romance Money Mindset Moving Forward Pain Relief Pet Healing Sales & Success Sex Sleep Traveling w/Ease Work & Career Weight Loss

TGIFunny

Share

Tweet

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Jimmy Mack 727.678.0557​ EST | Appointments Skype: Jimmy.Mack55 Clearwater Florida USA Book a 15 minute session Book a 30 minute session Book a 60 minute session ​ ​​Transformational Healing of Body, Mind​ & Spirit, People, Places, Pets & Situations!​ ​ Download the My Liquid Fish® Starter Kit Audio MP3 Downloads​ and books​ to improve your life! Get Certified in ​My Liquid Fish® Change Made Simple® Watch Free Videos on YouTube Weekly Radio Show Archives Shop for ​Supplements ​ http://www.jimmymackhealingshop.com www.jimmymackhealing.com Copyright ©1998-2019 All Rights Reserved  

-------------------------------------------------- TGIW newsletter managed by: Sandy Bidinger | Digital Marketing Specialist | SMBeConnected Solutions Digital Marketing Solutions & Support for Conscious Entrepreneurs www.smbeconnected.com  

Stay connected!

  Our mailing address is: Clearwater Florida 33756 USA

[thedivinefish]

TGIWednesday... and a download for experiencing a new level of Joy!

TGIWednesday News 

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend and I always think of my mother fondly as she has always been one that radiates pure joy and love to everyone.  We've adopted a pink color this month for the e-newsletter in honor of all the mothers and Mother Earth in general. It's all sheer goddess energy that's about compassion and loving-kindness.... so remember that always whether you have or had the greatest mother ever or never knew your mother .....think of Mother Earth and the goddess energy as replenishing everyone and everything always. Coming up tomorrow is a cool radio interview called Quantum Conversations w/host Lauren Galey if you want to tune in click here.  It’s free of course like so much of our stuff.  Someone once said, “find what you love and give it away” and we sure do a lot of that!  But I honestly want you to experience how FAST change can be for you and your loved ones.  Whether its a body issue, mental health, work, job, career or other.  I can work with you or you can learn how to work on and about yourself.  Know that I am here as a way-shower and resource to and for you.  One love! And it's also the final week of our Abundance Audio MP3 launch and if you haven’t scooped this one up, by all means, get it asap while you can still save 25% off the regular price. The Being in Divine Flow with Universal Abundance audio is part of a series focusing on Prosperity, money and increasing your good fortune. This particular MP3 has been simmering for over a year and goes deep to combine your abilities to create wealth while still keeping you grounded on this earth plane. I believe it can make a difference in your life and that’s why I pour so much of myself and spirit into co-creating these tools for you.  "Just letting you know that since I purchased the new abundance mp3, I have been listening to it most days, a few times a day.  The second day I cleaned out my wallet and found a few old lottery tickets (megamillions and powerball).  I checked them at the gas station and one of them was a twelve dollar winner. First time in a long time that I have won anything on them, and they were all a few weeks old.  Then this morning I switched purses and as I was moving stuff from the purse I have been using for a few months to another, I did a quick sweep of one of the inner pockets looking for anything important, and I felt paper.  I pulled it out and it was money, a little under $300. I had no idea it was even in there even though I have been using that purse since before Christmas.... Lol.. Thank You! ~ P. M.   

MyBeliefWorks™ for Being in Divine Flow with Universal Abundance

Living Life Abundantly and Co-creating with Universal Support Download over 200 written clearings on PDF and when you open it, the MP3 audio link will be at top of the page to instantly listen & download 40 minutes of audio clearings.

Last Chance to get at $44

When this sale ends at Midnight Pacific on Friday, it won't be priced this low again. 

And...If you want to take your abundance & prosperity to the next level...Then check out our Specially Priced 3 - mp3/pdf set which includes: The Gold Coin, Positive Money Mindset and Universal Abundance.  A one hour session with me is $155, and here you can get over 400 prosperity clearings in 90 minutes from ALL depths & angles for just $136.  Plus keep them forever and share with your immediate friends and family! 

Get all 3 now for just $136

TGIWednesday Download

~ EXPERIENCING A NEW LEVEL OF JOY ~ I am surpassing love to the level of joy and I am asking spirit to download the vibration of this for you as well.  I believe, think, know and feel that joy can be achieved and sustained.  I am ready, willing and able to experience new levels of joy.  I know when, where, how and why to accept more joy in my life and share it with others now through services of Love and understanding and so it is throughout all lifetimes, languages and more.  

FREE Weekly LIVE Healings and Messages

May 9th - QUANTUM CONVERSATIONS with Lauren Galey  You’re invited to join me in a Quantum Conversation to discuss how you can Stand in your Mastery and Find your Power through living in the Heart with Divine Love, Activating Christ Consciousness and raising the vibration of the planet. This series of Quantum Conversations is designed to EMPOWER & ENLIGHTEN you in your remembrance of your true mastery and your Divine Purpose for being here on this planet.  Tune in on May 9th at 6pm ET/3pm PT Register here for this Free Series  

Every Tuesday at 9pm EST - JIMMY MACK HEALING SHOW  Join me and my guests weekly on Tuesdays at 9pm ET/ 6pm PT Call in LIVE (713)-955-0594 It's your chance to get FREE intuitive messages on my weekly radio show. My guests are some of the best psychic readers & intuitive healers on the planet!  Tune in every Tuesday night LIVE or just catch the replay & YOU will receive changes & healings just by listening!  Check out TheJimmyMackHealingShow.com  for a full listing & all replays! 

  To listen online, click the date links below. Listen here to yesterday's replay Joanne Psychic Leo  --------------- May 14 - Listen here Greg Joseph Intuitive and Spirit filled healings http://www.gregjoseph.com/ May 21 - Listen here Gosia Lorenz Living your best life now, infinite possibilities and awareness changes https://gosialorenz.com/   May 28 - Listen here Rev Debbie Dienstbier Trans medium, communication and messages with your loved ones in spirit https://www.facebook.com/Wings-of-Grace-Spiritual-Center-875388225837766/  

Check out TheJimmyMackHealingShow.com  for a full listing & all replays! 

Go deep sea "fishing" with Jimmy!

Level 1 is open to ANYONE at anytime!  

"I have found this to be a great modality.  I have for the first time got my husband and kids fishing daily.  I've learned Emotion Code, Body Code, dowsing, 3 levels of Yuen and some other bits and bobs I've played with.  I like how easy this is to take on the road.  I really appreciate your time and brilliance. Thank you." - D.T. / Kansas

The Certificate of Mastery Program includes 2 best-selling ebooks and 2 clearing audios plus written & video instructions, AND one-on-one time with Jimmy ALL for about the cost of a single 1-hr session! This online course is for anyone who is familiar with OR new to "fishing" and is ready to dive into the deep end & get results that are beyond the ordinary! It includes "The Tackle Box" & "Spiritual Healing Techniques" ebooks PLUS 2 MP3s "Clearing Dark Energies" & "Increasing Your Intuition" to help clear, strengthen and prepare your energy field for optimal “fishing” results. This is a work-at-your-own-pace curriculum that will TEACH & CLEAR you at the same time! In under 2wks you will be finished with the program and ready to fish on your own with greater results! Level II offers Practitioner Certification for those who qualify.

LEARN MORE HERE

Receive 24/7 Daily Prayers From Jimmy

I will dial into you daily in the wee hours and make certain that you are a CLEAR YES, UNCLEAR to NO and RUNNING FORWARD before you start your day. You will send me a list of the members of your immediate household, and yes even pets, and I will add them to my daily prayers. I will arise daily before you are even awake to start my prayers and also run my intelligent computer software 24/7 deleting the negative and increasing the strength of the positive creating a higher probability of outcomes for you and the family.  Each comes with a one-time email analysis print out via the intelligent healing software that I use on your behalf.  Most clients have had amazing results and outcomes and I get emails of thanks each and every week!

                     Choose 7 days @$33              Choose 14 days @$66           Choose 30 days @$99

Live In-Person Appearances

LIVE AT KODAWARI YOGA STUDIOS TAMPA

We've made some changes to the Kodawari schedule and I am now there in person EVERY FRIDAY scheduling 15 and 30 minute appointments. Call Kodawari's front desk directly to schedule (813) 773-4017 and pay at the concierge desk... 15 minutes 33$ or 30 minutes 65$. UPCOMING SCHEDULE 10-2pm: Friday:  May 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st  

3965 Henderson Blvd Suite C Tampa (813) 773-4017 http://www.kodawariyoga.com/

  From the Fish Box

"Hi Jimmy! Your 30 days of Daily Prayers has definitely helped us all in sooooo many ways! The attacks aren't as powerful and everyone seems on an even keel. Life is good.  I'm renewing right NOW!! (All of us - the same house.) Thank you very much!!!!" Sincerely, Julie

Fish Food 

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell The Fish: 365 Daily Inspirations & Affirmations

MAY 8th -  "God I need strength today. I need friends that will pull me up and who will walk with me in victory when I least expect it. Today I will find prizes and surprises around the next corner. Today I will build up my inner child and develop courage to reach my goals."

**Can't See The Full Email? Click Here to View Online**

For those who aren't familiar, here's the list of ALL clearing MP3s available. Find a topic that addresses your issue(s) & click on the link to read more. We had a lot of help downloading and channeling these over the years & they keep getting better.

Abundance Abuse Addiction Body Scan: Head to Toe Daily GPS Reset Dark Energies/Fears Decision Making Diet & Exercise Education & Learning Family & Relatives The Gold Coin Healing Physical Body Healing Mental Stress Holiday Stress

Increasing Intuition IRS & Tax Time Love & Romance Money Mindset Moving Forward Pain Relief Pet Healing Sales & Success Sex Sleep Traveling w/Ease Work & Career Weight Loss

TGIFunny

Share

Tweet

Forward

Pinterest

Jimmy Mack 727.678.0557​ EST | Appointments Skype: Jimmy.Mack55 Clearwater Florida USA Book a 15 minute session Book a 30 minute session Book a 60 minute session ​ ​​Transformational Healing of Body, Mind​ & Spirit, People, Places, Pets & Situations!​ ​ Download the My Liquid Fish® Starter Kit Audio MP3 Downloads​ and books​ to improve your life! Get Certified in ​My Liquid Fish® Change Made Simple® Watch Free Videos on YouTube Weekly Radio Show Archives Shop for ​Supplements ​ http://www.jimmymackhealingshop.com www.jimmymackhealing.com Copyright ©1998-2019 All Rights Reserved  

-------------------------------------------------- TGIW newsletter managed by: Sandy Bidinger | Digital Marketing Specialist | SMBeConnected Solutions Digital Marketing Solutions & Support for Conscious Entrepreneurs www.smbeconnected.com  

Stay connected!

  Our mailing address is: Clearwater Florida 33756 USA

[divinefishingtips]

TGIWednesday... and a download for experiencing a new level of Joy!

TGIWednesday News 

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend and I always think of my mother fondly as she has always been one that radiates pure joy and love to everyone.  We've adopted a pink color this month for the e-newsletter in honor of all the mothers and Mother Earth in general. It's all sheer goddess energy that's about compassion and loving-kindness.... so remember that always whether you have or had the greatest mother ever or never knew your mother .....think of Mother Earth and the goddess energy as replenishing everyone and everything always. Coming up tomorrow is a cool radio interview called Quantum Conversations w/host Lauren Galey if you want to tune in click here.  It’s free of course like so much of our stuff.  Someone once said, “find what you love and give it away” and we sure do a lot of that!  But I honestly want you to experience how FAST change can be for you and your loved ones.  Whether its a body issue, mental health, work, job, career or other.  I can work with you or you can learn how to work on and about yourself.  Know that I am here as a way-shower and resource to and for you.  One love! And it's also the final week of our Abundance Audio MP3 launch and if you haven’t scooped this one up, by all means, get it asap while you can still save 25% off the regular price. The Being in Divine Flow with Universal Abundance audio is part of a series focusing on Prosperity, money and increasing your good fortune. This particular MP3 has been simmering for over a year and goes deep to combine your abilities to create wealth while still keeping you grounded on this earth plane. I believe it can make a difference in your life and that’s why I pour so much of myself and spirit into co-creating these tools for you.  "Just letting you know that since I purchased the new abundance mp3, I have been listening to it most days, a few times a day.  The second day I cleaned out my wallet and found a few old lottery tickets (megamillions and powerball).  I checked them at the gas station and one of them was a twelve dollar winner. First time in a long time that I have won anything on them, and they were all a few weeks old.  Then this morning I switched purses and as I was moving stuff from the purse I have been using for a few months to another, I did a quick sweep of one of the inner pockets looking for anything important, and I felt paper.  I pulled it out and it was money, a little under $300. I had no idea it was even in there even though I have been using that purse since before Christmas.... Lol.. Thank You! ~ P. M.   

MyBeliefWorks™ for Being in Divine Flow with Universal Abundance

Living Life Abundantly and Co-creating with Universal Support Download over 200 written clearings on PDF and when you open it, the MP3 audio link will be at top of the page to instantly listen & download 40 minutes of audio clearings.

Last Chance to get at $44

When this sale ends at Midnight Pacific on Friday, it won't be priced this low again. 

And...If you want to take your abundance & prosperity to the next level...Then check out our Specially Priced 3 - mp3/pdf set which includes: The Gold Coin, Positive Money Mindset and Universal Abundance.  A one hour session with me is $155, and here you can get over 400 prosperity clearings in 90 minutes from ALL depths & angles for just $136.  Plus keep them forever and share with your immediate friends and family! 

Get all 3 now for just $136

TGIWednesday Download

~ EXPERIENCING A NEW LEVEL OF JOY ~ I am surpassing love to the level of joy and I am asking spirit to download the vibration of this for you as well.  I believe, think, know and feel that joy can be achieved and sustained.  I am ready, willing and able to experience new levels of joy.  I know when, where, how and why to accept more joy in my life and share it with others now through services of Love and understanding and so it is throughout all lifetimes, languages and more.  

FREE Weekly LIVE Healings and Messages

May 9th - QUANTUM CONVERSATIONS with Lauren Galey  You’re invited to join me in a Quantum Conversation to discuss how you can Stand in your Mastery and Find your Power through living in the Heart with Divine Love, Activating Christ Consciousness and raising the vibration of the planet. This series of Quantum Conversations is designed to EMPOWER & ENLIGHTEN you in your remembrance of your true mastery and your Divine Purpose for being here on this planet.  Tune in on May 9th at 6pm ET/3pm PT Register here for this Free Series  

Every Tuesday at 9pm EST - JIMMY MACK HEALING SHOW  Join me and my guests weekly on Tuesdays at 9pm ET/ 6pm PT Call in LIVE (713)-955-0594 It's your chance to get FREE intuitive messages on my weekly radio show. My guests are some of the best psychic readers & intuitive healers on the planet!  Tune in every Tuesday night LIVE or just catch the replay & YOU will receive changes & healings just by listening!  Check out TheJimmyMackHealingShow.com  for a full listing & all replays! 

  To listen online, click the date links below. Listen here to yesterday's replay Joanne Psychic Leo  --------------- May 14 - Listen here Greg Joseph Intuitive and Spirit filled healings http://www.gregjoseph.com/ May 21 - Listen here Gosia Lorenz Living your best life now, infinite possibilities and awareness changes https://gosialorenz.com/   May 28 - Listen here Rev Debbie Dienstbier Trans medium, communication and messages with your loved ones in spirit https://www.facebook.com/Wings-of-Grace-Spiritual-Center-875388225837766/  

Check out TheJimmyMackHealingShow.com  for a full listing & all replays! 

Go deep sea "fishing" with Jimmy!

Level 1 is open to ANYONE at anytime!  

"I have found this to be a great modality.  I have for the first time got my husband and kids fishing daily.  I've learned Emotion Code, Body Code, dowsing, 3 levels of Yuen and some other bits and bobs I've played with.  I like how easy this is to take on the road.  I really appreciate your time and brilliance. Thank you." - D.T. / Kansas

The Certificate of Mastery Program includes 2 best-selling ebooks and 2 clearing audios plus written & video instructions, AND one-on-one time with Jimmy ALL for about the cost of a single 1-hr session! This online course is for anyone who is familiar with OR new to "fishing" and is ready to dive into the deep end & get results that are beyond the ordinary! It includes "The Tackle Box" & "Spiritual Healing Techniques" ebooks PLUS 2 MP3s "Clearing Dark Energies" & "Increasing Your Intuition" to help clear, strengthen and prepare your energy field for optimal “fishing” results. This is a work-at-your-own-pace curriculum that will TEACH & CLEAR you at the same time! In under 2wks you will be finished with the program and ready to fish on your own with greater results! Level II offers Practitioner Certification for those who qualify.

LEARN MORE HERE

Receive 24/7 Daily Prayers From Jimmy

I will dial into you daily in the wee hours and make certain that you are a CLEAR YES, UNCLEAR to NO and RUNNING FORWARD before you start your day. You will send me a list of the members of your immediate household, and yes even pets, and I will add them to my daily prayers. I will arise daily before you are even awake to start my prayers and also run my intelligent computer software 24/7 deleting the negative and increasing the strength of the positive creating a higher probability of outcomes for you and the family.  Each comes with a one-time email analysis print out via the intelligent healing software that I use on your behalf.  Most clients have had amazing results and outcomes and I get emails of thanks each and every week!

                     Choose 7 days @$33              Choose 14 days @$66           Choose 30 days @$99

Live In-Person Appearances

LIVE AT KODAWARI YOGA STUDIOS TAMPA

We've made some changes to the Kodawari schedule and I am now there in person EVERY FRIDAY scheduling 15 and 30 minute appointments. Call Kodawari's front desk directly to schedule (813) 773-4017 and pay at the concierge desk... 15 minutes 33$ or 30 minutes 65$. UPCOMING SCHEDULE 10-2pm: Friday:  May 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st  

3965 Henderson Blvd Suite C Tampa (813) 773-4017 http://www.kodawariyoga.com/

  From the Fish Box

"Hi Jimmy! Your 30 days of Daily Prayers has definitely helped us all in sooooo many ways! The attacks aren't as powerful and everyone seems on an even keel. Life is good.  I'm renewing right NOW!! (All of us - the same house.) Thank you very much!!!!" Sincerely, Julie

Fish Food 

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell The Fish: 365 Daily Inspirations & Affirmations

MAY 8th -  "God I need strength today. I need friends that will pull me up and who will walk with me in victory when I least expect it. Today I will find prizes and surprises around the next corner. Today I will build up my inner child and develop courage to reach my goals."

**Can't See The Full Email? Click Here to View Online**

For those who aren't familiar, here's the list of ALL clearing MP3s available. Find a topic that addresses your issue(s) & click on the link to read more. We had a lot of help downloading and channeling these over the years & they keep getting better.

Abundance Abuse Addiction Body Scan: Head to Toe Daily GPS Reset Dark Energies/Fears Decision Making Diet & Exercise Education & Learning Family & Relatives The Gold Coin Healing Physical Body Healing Mental Stress Holiday Stress

Increasing Intuition IRS & Tax Time Love & Romance Money Mindset Moving Forward Pain Relief Pet Healing Sales & Success Sex Sleep Traveling w/Ease Work & Career Weight Loss

TGIFunny

Share

Tweet

Forward

Pinterest

Jimmy Mack 727.678.0557​ EST | Appointments Skype: Jimmy.Mack55 Clearwater Florida USA Book a 15 minute session Book a 30 minute session Book a 60 minute session ​ ​​Transformational Healing of Body, Mind​ & Spirit, People, Places, Pets & Situations!​ ​ Download the My Liquid Fish® Starter Kit Audio MP3 Downloads​ and books​ to improve your life! Get Certified in ​My Liquid Fish® Change Made Simple® Watch Free Videos on YouTube Weekly Radio Show Archives Shop for ​Supplements ​ http://www.jimmymackhealingshop.com www.jimmymackhealing.com Copyright ©1998-2019 All Rights Reserved  

-------------------------------------------------- TGIW newsletter managed by: Sandy Bidinger | Digital Marketing Specialist | SMBeConnected Solutions Digital Marketing Solutions & Support for Conscious Entrepreneurs www.smbeconnected.com  

Stay connected!

  Our mailing address is: Clearwater Florida 33756 USA

[365dailyaffirmations]

TGIWednesday... and a download for experiencing a new level of Joy!

TGIWednesday News 

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend and I always think of my mother fondly as she has always been one that radiates pure joy and love to everyone.  We've adopted a pink color this month for the e-newsletter in honor of all the mothers and Mother Earth in general. It's all sheer goddess energy that's about compassion and loving-kindness.... so remember that always whether you have or had the greatest mother ever or never knew your mother .....think of Mother Earth and the goddess energy as replenishing everyone and everything always. Coming up tomorrow is a cool radio interview called Quantum Conversations w/host Lauren Galey if you want to tune in click here.  It’s free of course like so much of our stuff.  Someone once said, “find what you love and give it away” and we sure do a lot of that!  But I honestly want you to experience how FAST change can be for you and your loved ones.  Whether its a body issue, mental health, work, job, career or other.  I can work with you or you can learn how to work on and about yourself.  Know that I am here as a way-shower and resource to and for you.  One love! And it's also the final week of our Abundance Audio MP3 launch and if you haven’t scooped this one up, by all means, get it asap while you can still save 25% off the regular price. The Being in Divine Flow with Universal Abundance audio is part of a series focusing on Prosperity, money and increasing your good fortune. This particular MP3 has been simmering for over a year and goes deep to combine your abilities to create wealth while still keeping you grounded on this earth plane. I believe it can make a difference in your life and that’s why I pour so much of myself and spirit into co-creating these tools for you.  "Just letting you know that since I purchased the new abundance mp3, I have been listening to it most days, a few times a day.  The second day I cleaned out my wallet and found a few old lottery tickets (megamillions and powerball).  I checked them at the gas station and one of them was a twelve dollar winner. First time in a long time that I have won anything on them, and they were all a few weeks old.  Then this morning I switched purses and as I was moving stuff from the purse I have been using for a few months to another, I did a quick sweep of one of the inner pockets looking for anything important, and I felt paper.  I pulled it out and it was money, a little under $300. I had no idea it was even in there even though I have been using that purse since before Christmas.... Lol.. Thank You! ~ P. M.   

MyBeliefWorks™ for Being in Divine Flow with Universal Abundance

Living Life Abundantly and Co-creating with Universal Support Download over 200 written clearings on PDF and when you open it, the MP3 audio link will be at top of the page to instantly listen & download 40 minutes of audio clearings.

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And...If you want to take your abundance & prosperity to the next level...Then check out our Specially Priced 3 - mp3/pdf set which includes: The Gold Coin, Positive Money Mindset and Universal Abundance.  A one hour session with me is $155, and here you can get over 400 prosperity clearings in 90 minutes from ALL depths & angles for just $136.  Plus keep them forever and share with your immediate friends and family! 

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TGIWednesday Download

~ EXPERIENCING A NEW LEVEL OF JOY ~ I am surpassing love to the level of joy and I am asking spirit to download the vibration of this for you as well.  I believe, think, know and feel that joy can be achieved and sustained.  I am ready, willing and able to experience new levels of joy.  I know when, where, how and why to accept more joy in my life and share it with others now through services of Love and understanding and so it is throughout all lifetimes, languages and more.  

FREE Weekly LIVE Healings and Messages

May 9th - QUANTUM CONVERSATIONS with Lauren Galey  You’re invited to join me in a Quantum Conversation to discuss how you can Stand in your Mastery and Find your Power through living in the Heart with Divine Love, Activating Christ Consciousness and raising the vibration of the planet. This series of Quantum Conversations is designed to EMPOWER & ENLIGHTEN you in your remembrance of your true mastery and your Divine Purpose for being here on this planet.  Tune in on May 9th at 6pm ET/3pm PT Register here for this Free Series  

Every Tuesday at 9pm EST - JIMMY MACK HEALING SHOW  Join me and my guests weekly on Tuesdays at 9pm ET/ 6pm PT Call in LIVE (713)-955-0594 It's your chance to get FREE intuitive messages on my weekly radio show. My guests are some of the best psychic readers & intuitive healers on the planet!  Tune in every Tuesday night LIVE or just catch the replay & YOU will receive changes & healings just by listening!  Check out TheJimmyMackHealingShow.com  for a full listing & all replays! 

  To listen online, click the date links below. Listen here to yesterday's replay Joanne Psychic Leo  --------------- May 14 - Listen here Greg Joseph Intuitive and Spirit filled healings http://www.gregjoseph.com/ May 21 - Listen here Gosia Lorenz Living your best life now, infinite possibilities and awareness changes https://gosialorenz.com/   May 28 - Listen here Rev Debbie Dienstbier Trans medium, communication and messages with your loved ones in spirit https://www.facebook.com/Wings-of-Grace-Spiritual-Center-875388225837766/  

Check out TheJimmyMackHealingShow.com  for a full listing & all replays! 

Go deep sea "fishing" with Jimmy!

Level 1 is open to ANYONE at anytime!  

"I have found this to be a great modality.  I have for the first time got my husband and kids fishing daily.  I've learned Emotion Code, Body Code, dowsing, 3 levels of Yuen and some other bits and bobs I've played with.  I like how easy this is to take on the road.  I really appreciate your time and brilliance. Thank you." - D.T. / Kansas

The Certificate of Mastery Program includes 2 best-selling ebooks and 2 clearing audios plus written & video instructions, AND one-on-one time with Jimmy ALL for about the cost of a single 1-hr session! This online course is for anyone who is familiar with OR new to "fishing" and is ready to dive into the deep end & get results that are beyond the ordinary! It includes "The Tackle Box" & "Spiritual Healing Techniques" ebooks PLUS 2 MP3s "Clearing Dark Energies" & "Increasing Your Intuition" to help clear, strengthen and prepare your energy field for optimal “fishing” results. This is a work-at-your-own-pace curriculum that will TEACH & CLEAR you at the same time! In under 2wks you will be finished with the program and ready to fish on your own with greater results! Level II offers Practitioner Certification for those who qualify.

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I will dial into you daily in the wee hours and make certain that you are a CLEAR YES, UNCLEAR to NO and RUNNING FORWARD before you start your day. You will send me a list of the members of your immediate household, and yes even pets, and I will add them to my daily prayers. I will arise daily before you are even awake to start my prayers and also run my intelligent computer software 24/7 deleting the negative and increasing the strength of the positive creating a higher probability of outcomes for you and the family.  Each comes with a one-time email analysis print out via the intelligent healing software that I use on your behalf.  Most clients have had amazing results and outcomes and I get emails of thanks each and every week!

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LIVE AT KODAWARI YOGA STUDIOS TAMPA

We've made some changes to the Kodawari schedule and I am now there in person EVERY FRIDAY scheduling 15 and 30 minute appointments. Call Kodawari's front desk directly to schedule (813) 773-4017 and pay at the concierge desk... 15 minutes 33$ or 30 minutes 65$. UPCOMING SCHEDULE 10-2pm: Friday:  May 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st  

3965 Henderson Blvd Suite C Tampa (813) 773-4017 http://www.kodawariyoga.com/

  From the Fish Box

"Hi Jimmy! Your 30 days of Daily Prayers has definitely helped us all in sooooo many ways! The attacks aren't as powerful and everyone seems on an even keel. Life is good.  I'm renewing right NOW!! (All of us - the same house.) Thank you very much!!!!" Sincerely, Julie

Fish Food 

The Daily Bread To Feed The Fish

Tell The Fish: 365 Daily Inspirations & Affirmations

MAY 8th -  "God I need strength today. I need friends that will pull me up and who will walk with me in victory when I least expect it. Today I will find prizes and surprises around the next corner. Today I will build up my inner child and develop courage to reach my goals."

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For those who aren't familiar, here's the list of ALL clearing MP3s available. Find a topic that addresses your issue(s) & click on the link to read more. We had a lot of help downloading and channeling these over the years & they keep getting better.

Abundance Abuse Addiction Body Scan: Head to Toe Daily GPS Reset Dark Energies/Fears Decision Making Diet & Exercise Education & Learning Family & Relatives The Gold Coin Healing Physical Body Healing Mental Stress Holiday Stress

Increasing Intuition IRS & Tax Time Love & Romance Money Mindset Moving Forward Pain Relief Pet Healing Sales & Success Sex Sleep Traveling w/Ease Work & Career Weight Loss

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Jimmy Mack 727.678.0557​ EST | Appointments Skype: Jimmy.Mack55 Clearwater Florida USA Book a 15 minute session Book a 30 minute session Book a 60 minute session ​ ​​Transformational Healing of Body, Mind​ & Spirit, People, Places, Pets & Situations!​ ​ Download the My Liquid Fish® Starter Kit Audio MP3 Downloads​ and books​ to improve your life! Get Certified in ​My Liquid Fish® Change Made Simple® Watch Free Videos on YouTube Weekly Radio Show Archives Shop for ​Supplements ​ http://www.jimmymackhealingshop.com www.jimmymackhealing.com Copyright ©1998-2019 All Rights Reserved  

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The Daily Tulip

The Daily Tulip – International News From Around The World

Sunday 6th August 2017

Good Morning Gentle Reader….  Well we are in the second quarter of the moon so I think I should explain a little about that to you and how it is supposed to affect you and your life… Second quarter (waxing moon) If you were born during the Waxing Crescent Moon phase, you are assertive and always eager to leave the past behind you and get on with the future. You are inclined to be confident about your ability to deal with challenges in your life. You will tend to be ambitious and sociable, with an underlying touch of the zodiac signs Cancer and Leo in their nature. At times you might find yourself locked into your goals and have a strong need to create something which will be remembered by others. You will have a charismatic personality that draws others to you, but may instinctively use others for their own ends, rather than help them. You prefer a career where you are out in front and have attention and status. You also need a place of your own to express your personality, either your home or workplace. You should achieve considerable success when young, but other factors in the chart will indicate whether that status is maintained. You person will be slow to anger, but formidable when aroused; you hate to be hurried or presented with a fait accompli. However, you won't mind doing this to others if it tips the odds in their favour. In general, the Second Quarter Moon signals a period of accelerated growth. Life is full of activity, organisation, enthusiasm and drive; it is the time when Will can be put into action. Here is the energy and empowerment to build the foundation for your dreams. Of course decisions have to be made and fears dealt with, but now is the time to move ahead…. So now you know more than you ever wanted to know and I need a cup of coffee a big one!...

PIGEON RACING BLAMED FOR INDONESIAN DIVORCES…. An increase in divorce petitions in one part of Indonesia is being blamed on the love of pigeon racing, it's been reported. An official at the Purbalingga Religious Court in the country's Central Java province says that their office received 90 petitions for divorce in July, a huge increase on June's figure of just 13, the Jakarta Post reports. According to clerk of the court Nur Aflah, "Most of the petitioners are wives who have filed divorce petitions for economic reasons because their husbands are too addicted to pigeon racing." Pigeon racing is hugely popular in Indonesia, where competitors are drawn by cash prizes and the hope of selling a particularly fast bird for thousands of rupiah. Ms Aflah says that the women are annoyed that their husbands spend all day with their pigeons instead of with their families. Financial concerns makes things worse: "In Purbalingga, there are many female workers while most men are unemployed. Most of the husbands end up becoming 'pilots'. Here, a 'pilot' does not fly a plane but races pigeons," she explained. Gambling on pigeon races only leads to further financial distress, the Jakarta Post reports. One villager told the paper that while her husband sometimes gives her money from his winnings, more often he asks her for money for cigarettes.

INDIAN SPORT LOSES ITS SHEEN….  It's the reverse situation in parts of India, where pigeon racing seems to be in a terminal decline, The Hindu newspaper reported recently. Locals in south-eastern Andhra Pradesh say the generations-old tradition is falling foul of modern forms of entertainment, with pigeon fanciers finding it difficult to find opponents to race against. Their version of racing birds is rather different from others, with the last pigeon to return to the coop being declared the winner, not the first. The long waits and the expense could be putting off potential owners. Pigeon racers can spend up to 5,000 rupees ($78; £57) on food and grooming for their birds prior to a race, The Hindu reports. "The sport has lost its sheen over the years. I had to give it up as I find no enthusiastic pigeon-keepers," one former racer told the paper.

'NO MAJOR INCIDENTS' AS DRIVERLESS BUSES LAUNCH IN ESTONIA…. Authorities have reported "no major incidents" after the first three days of a driverless bus service in the Estonian capital Tallinn. A pair of vehicles are operating on a route through the city as part of the Baltic state's presidency of the European Union, and have so far managed not to collide with any other road users, national broadcaster ERR reports. But there have been a number of near misses since the launch on Saturday, ERR says. An eyewitness reports that one of the buses failed to give way to a police car with its lights flashing on Monday; while an ERR photographer saw a bus ignore a red light at a pedestrian crossing, ploughing on regardless of the "surprise" it had provoked. Despite no-one driving, local traffic law means that there still has to be a responsible person on board, meaning that all passengers are greeted by a host. They've been tasked with explaining the technology to passengers new to the world of autonomous vehicles, ERR says. The buses run from the city centre to the Kultuurikatel, a former boiler house transformed into a creative hub where the EU Presidency is being based for the six months that it rests with Estonia. It's cost 4m euros ($4.75m; £3.59m) to host the presidency there, Estonian newspaper Postimees reports. While this figure has raised some eyebrows, government officials say that they hope to turn a profit, pointing out that Latvia's 2015 stint with the presidency cost Riga some 80m euros. The buses themselves cost 100,000 euros, funded largely from the private sector. People who want to try for themselves should hurry - they are only going to be on the road until the end of August.

'MADONNA OF THE PEDALO' BLESSES ITALIAN BATHERS…. An Italian priest has upped the ante in his annual blessing of his local port and beach by taking to the waters with a statue of the Virgin Mary atop a pedalo. Usually priest Don Mario Calogiuri takes the word of God to the beach at San Foca on Italy's southern tip, and blesses revellers from "between the deckchairs and umbrellas" in a swimsuit, La Repubblica reports. But this year, he's gone one further by having a statue of the Madonna lifted to the top of the slide of a beach pedalo, which then went about the swimmers as Father Calogiuri blessed a small crowd through a microphone. Not the most stable of platforms, it took two helpers to prevent the statue of the Virgin from taking a tumble as the small boat rocked in a modest swell. The Madonna of the Sea blessing is an annual event in San Foca, and is traditionally intended to protect local fisherman from the elements and grant them full nets. But in recent years it appears the event has expanded to take in beachgoers as well.

NEW ZEALAND POLICE NETBALL TEAM STOP FIGHT, WIN GAME…. Auckland police officers have arrested a man for an alleged aggravated assault which took place next to where they were playing an off-duty game of netball, it's been reported. Five of the seven players on their team work for Waitemata Police in Auckland's North Shore, and they temporarily abandoned their match against Shore Rovers to arrest a 31-year-old man, who is now accused of assaulting a worker at the netball courts, the New Zealand Herald reports. "None of us said anything to each other, I didn't even look at the other girls again, but I think we pretty much came to the same decision at the same time," Constable Laura Hadwen said. According to the Stuff.nz news website, the officers have never advertised the fact that they work in law enforcement. "We're not called the Police Team, or anything like that," Ms Hadwen explained. "It was just his bad luck as to where it occurred. We have sort of had a laugh about it, the coincidence of it." One of her colleagues said that even off-duty, police officers are on the alert: "Where ever we are, whatever we're doing, we'll stop at any time to help anyone, that's how we are in the police, that's what we do," Newshub reported her as saying. Despite the temporary break in play, the Waitemata Police officers returned to their match, which they subsequently won 40-34.

ESTONIA GETS TALLER AFTER CHANGING MEASUREMENT SYSTEM…. The Baltic nation of Estonia is to become slightly taller after switching the way it measures heights above sea level. It is switching away from the Russian-based datum to the European Vertical Reference System, which adds between 15-24cms (6-9.5 inches) to vertical measurements in the country, depending on the area, the Postimees newspaper reports. That means local cartographers will have to add 20cm to Suur-Munamagi, the country's highest point, which will measure in at 317.4m (1,041 feet) above sea level from the beginning of next year. Previously, heights were calculated from the Kronstadt tide gauge in St Petersburg, the reference system used for Russia and most countries which were under the sphere of the former Soviet Union. But as a member of NATO and the European Union, Estonia is keen to move over to standards used by its allies. Estonian Land Board official Tambet Tiits told national broadcaster ERR that "The Baltic elevation system of 1977 is obsolete... and then there's the wish to be in one and the same system with Europe". It's a task that's long overdue, said Mr Tiits, saying that half of the country's Kronstadt-based elevation markers are damaged anyway, making surveys time-consuming and costly. The official switch will be made on 1 January 2018, broadcaster ERR adds, just in time for the centenary of Estonia's declaration of independence.

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

Our Tulips today are in abundance....

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Sunday 6th August 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

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

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus

[your-dietician]

Whitman details disruptive year for NCAA, Illini

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/ncaa-football/whitman-details-disruptive-year-for-ncaa-illini/

Whitman details disruptive year for NCAA, Illini

There’s a lot of news each day. Illini Inquirer will try to make it easier to digest each weekday morning with the Daily Digest. Today, get up to speed on Josh Whitman’s media roundtable, a big visitor for Illinois basketball, the Illini’s athlete of the year nominees and two guard additions to House of ‘Paign.

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(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)

Josh Whitman met with the media for more than two hours in person on Wednesday with about 20 maskless media members who had all been vaccinated — a sign that the United States, college athletics and Illinois are coming through the pandemic. But the overarching theme from the media roundtable, which included an informative and very thorough 58-minute opening soliloquy from Whitman, was that Illinois and college athletics could look very different than before the pandemic for several reasons.

The pandemic caused a net financial loss of $12 million to $18 million, Whitman estimated on Wednesday, due to losses of gate, media, licensing and advertising dollars. Whitman said those numbers were lower than he expected when the pandemic began (he estimated upward of $40 million in losses then), partially due to playing football and basketball games that helped raise needed revenue. The university employed many cost-cutting measures, including staff taking salary cuts, reducing staff, buying out employees and leaving vacancies unfilled, and those cuts likely will continue as the athletics department pays back the university on loans that covered the losses.

The Illini’s vaccination rates are higher than the country’s rate. Whitman said 68% of student-athletes are fully vaccinated (75% partially vaccinated) and 90% of staff are vaccinated. Whitman said he is “expecting” student-athletes to get vaccinated but “not requiring” vaccination. Unvaccinated staff and student-athletes must continue to go through rigorous testing as well as masking and social distancing.

The hockey project is more in doubt. Whitman acknowledged that the athletics department just before the pandemic started was preparing to green-light the addition of a men’s hockey program, which would’ve included a very expensive downtown Champaign hockey arena that could host four other varsity sports: volleyball, wrestling, and men’s and women’s gymnastics. But the project now is in more doubt after the athletics department and its local partners, including the city of Champaign and developers, focused on issues related to the pandemic. Whitman said discussions on the project are re-starting and that he feels obligated to look back into the feasibility of the project. But he offered no timeline or guarantee that the project would come to fruition.

The NCAA looks different — potentially very different. The pandemic didn’t cause these changes, but just as the country comes out of the worst of the pandemic, the NCAA model is starting to look very different. The one-time, penalty-free transfer rule is in place. There is no national solution on name, image and likeness, but several states will allow athletes to profit off NIL on July 1, including Illinois. Then the Supreme Court in the coming weeks will rule on NCAA vs. Alston, an antitrust case that could open the door for a pay-to-play system for college athletics. Whitman said this will be the “most consequential year in the modern history of college sports.”

On the Alston case, Whitman said: “I think there’s a lot of focus on other issues. Depending on what the Supreme Court does, that could be the biggest of all of them and probably is the one talked about the least. …Depending on what that outcome is, how broadly or narrowly that opinion is written, it could have far-reaching implications for college athletics. So that’s something we are watching very carefully.”

On name, image and likeness: “Our preference here at the University of Illinois and I think the preference of most of my colleagues, not just in the Big Ten but across most of the country, has been and continues to be what I would term a national solution when it comes to name, image and likeness. …We would certainly like something to be done at the national level that provides the best we can an even playing field across the country. … It’s an entirely new frontier. It’s one of the biggest changes to come to college athletics in modern memory. How we will navigate that will require some time.”

Whitman also addressed the basketball program, Bret Bielema, college football playoff and more. Read our quick hits.

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Jayden Epps (Photo: Max Scheide, 247Sports)

Illinois basketball will host an important visitor on Thursday for an unofficial visit: four-star guard Jayden Epps. According to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Epps is ranked the No. 99 overall prospect in the Class of 2022 — though 247Sports ranks him No. 60 in the class.

A former Providence commit, Epps last week took an official visit to NC State and plans official visits later this month to UConn and Kansas.

Epps told 247Sports’ Eric Bossi: “Chester Frazier was recruiting me at Virginia Tech and then he went to Illinois and started recruiting me there. I built a relationship with him and now I’m starting to build a relationship with (Brad Underwood) and I’m just happy to get on their campus.” Read the full story.

Scouting report: “A physically well built combo guard at 6-2. Has a quick burst with strength giving him explosiveness in tight spaces. A polished three-level scorer with an old school efficient pull up game in the midrange. Long range shot must be respected. Strong driver especially going right. Loves to finish at rim with a one hand scoop lay up. Capable distributer as well. Strong and composed with the basketball. Rebounds his position well. Has quality lateral quickness and the ability to defend the one through the three.” — Jerry Meyer, 247Sports director of basketball scouting

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Ayo Dosunmu (Photo: Getty)

Illinois announced its nominees for the 2021 Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year award, annually given to the top male and female athletes at the University of Illinois.

The male candidates:

Jackson Raper, baseball: Junior-college transfer earned All-Big Ten First Team honors after leading Illinois in home runs (13), RBIs (44), doubles (11), total bases (102), slugging percentage (.634), OPS (1.034), walks (29) and runs scored (39)

Kendrick Green football: All-Big Ten First Team offensive lineman was selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Aleks Kovacevic, tennis: Super senior advanced to his second consecutive NCAA Singles quarterfinal and helped Illinois win the Big Ten Tournament championship.

Michael Feagles, golf: Super senior finished accomplished career by leading Illinois to sixth straight Big Ten title and an NCAA match play appearance. Individually, he finished fourth at the 2021 NCAA Championships and had the lowest stroke average in program history (70.55).

Jon Davis, cross country: The three-time All-American was a First Team All-Big Ten selection after winning the 1500m conference championship.

Manning Plater, track and field: The Michigan graduate transfer won the Big Ten championship in the weight throw and placed third in the NCAA in the event, earning All-American honors. He was a second-team All-American in the hammer throw, finishing 10th at the NCAA Championships.

Lucas Byrd, wrestling: Redshirt freshman earned All-America honors after placing fifth in the NCAA Championships at 133 pounds.

Ian Skirkey, gymnastics: Junior won the 2021 NCAA pommel horse national championship.

Ayo Dosunmu, men’s basketball: Just the second Illini consensus All-American since 1953, Dosunmu (20.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists) was a consensus All-Big Ten First Team selection after leading Illinois to a Big Ten-best 16 regular-season wins, a conference tournament championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The female candidates:

Tristyn Nowlyn, golf: Super senior earned All-Big Ten honors for the fifth time in her career, which she ended with an Illinois record 73.40 career scoring average.

Kailee Powell, softball: Junior earned All-Big Ten First Team honors and Big Ten All-Defensive Team honors. She slashed .328/.409/.550 with five home runs and 28 RBI and a .996 fielding percentage.

Rebecca Craddock, cross country: Senior earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors after finishing ninth at the Big Ten Championships.

Abby Cabush, swim & dive: Junior was voted team’s Most Valuable Swimmer after breaking the 200 freestyle record twice.

Kendra Pasquale, soccer: A Third Team All-Big Ten selection, Pasquale lead the Illini in points (12), goals (five) and shot percentage (.238).

Olivia Howell, track & field: The sophomore won the Big Ten indoor championship in the mile. During the outdoor season, Howell won the Big Ten outdoor championship in the 1500m, set the program record in the event at the NCAA Championship prelims and then earned Second Team All-America status after finishing 10th at the NCAA Championships.

Our picks: The men’s field is loaded, and Kovacevic, Feagles and Skirkey (and the unlisted Kofi Cockburn) are all deserving, but Dosunmu’s season was stuff of legend (even without a great finish), so he is the somewhat no-brainer pick. On the women’s side, Howell had the most consistent success and national success, so the underclassman is the clear pick, and she certainly has a bright future.

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The Illinois alumni TBT team House of ‘Paign added two guards to its roster for its late summer run in The Basketball Tournament: former Illini guard Jaylon Tate and former Northwestern guard Juice Thompson.

Thompson, who played at Chicago Lincoln Park, is a 5-foot-10 guard who averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 assists and 2.0 rebounds in his four years with the Wildcats before graduating in 2011. This past season, Thompson played for Astana in Kazakhstan, part of the VTB United League, the top league in Russia. He averaged 14.2 points, 6.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 21 games while averaging 32.9 minutes.

“Juice has competed in some of the top leagues in the world the last decade,” House of ‘Paign general manager/head coach Mike LaTulip said. “He’s a Chicago guy and checks the boxes in terms of his ability to facilitate, space the floor and be a pest defensively. He has always shot the lights out, including 45% from 3 this year. We’re excited to add his experience and skillset.”

Tate played in 121 games and started in 35 of them during a four-year career at Illinois, where he averaged 2.4 points, 2.5 assists and 1.2 rebounds. More recently, Tate played in 11 games for Swans Gmunden in the Austrian Basketball Bundesliga where he averaged 9.5 points, 5.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds on 30.8 percent shooting and won the league championship.

“Jaylon had a great season in Austria,” LaTulip told Illini Inquirer. “He was a big part of his team’s championship run. He gives us added depth at the guard spot and is someone who excels at getting others involved.”

A tease: House of ‘Paign will make another roster announcement on Thursday morning, and we hear it’s a big one…

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Have a happy Thursday! Illinois football is taking us media on a mock recruiting visit this afternoon.

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