#chacos? check

[general-bear]

Tossing a Colorado Miku into the mix

[yuus-sentient-teddy]

"You've been staring at me for a while. What are you thinking?" Chaco turns the rest of his body so that he's now sitting fully facing you.

"I don't trust you," you declare simply. That was you, wasn't it? Not one to beat around the bush and carrying yourself like a school teacher, all proper and head held high. But there was a whimsical air around you that anyone who spent plenty of time with you would notice, and he has spent plenty. Put simply, you were like a character from a dramatic comedy. The seeming straight, no-nonesense friend with a soft and caring heart.

He quirks a brow and leans forward. "Oh? Why is that?"

"You smile too much," you say, folding your hands on the table and also leaning forward. "And your smiles are too perfect. I'm willing to bet that you're hiding something. No one can smile always perfectly."

"But what if that's how I am? Besides, there's always something to smile about. Like our lord."

Unwillingly, your lips pull up into a smile. "Can't argue with that," you concede. "But then, what else are you thinking that makes you smile?"

"Have you always been this curious about me? Can't get me out of your thoughts?" he teases.

"Yes. You're very interesting." Another simple declaration from you, the whimsical, no-beating-around-the-bush you. You even bob your head in a nod!

The almost deadpan delivery makes him want to laugh, but at the same time, he feels his cheeks start to warm. So, to hide the fluster, he lets out that laugh and rests his chin in his palm. "You know, I could say the same for you too. You're not like most of the other skaters here. If anything, you and Tuxedo Sam's Fragaria might get along."

"No offense to him, but no thanks."

That makes him laugh, much harder than before. He actually turns his body so he could double over, which causes him to miss your satisfied smile and small giggle. Once he's done laughing, he says, "The others are going to love hearing that. Say, did you know you can get a special type of ice cream down the street?"

"I knew it! This is banana ice cream!"

Chaco just smiles as he bites into his spoonful.

"You said there was a special type of ice cream sold here, but this flavor is common," you say.

"Take another bite," he says.

You narrow your eyes and stare at him for a second too long before taking another bite. Your eyes then widen. "Oh! There's a frozen banana slice in here."

"And that's what makes this ice cream special. The other parlors in the area don't have this trait, see?"

You mull it over, taking another bite of ice cream, and nod. "Mmyeah."

And that's how things are between the two of you. Whenever he suggests something, you would take his word for it. Of course, it was not without staring at him for a second too long, as though you could parse the truth out of him by searching his grey eyes. Despite "tricking" you many times (always harmless tricks, mind you), you never backed down.

That brings us to now: the two of you sitting on swing sets staring at the dawning sky, after Chaco said he knew of a quiet place with a great view of the sunrise.

"A while ago, you said you didn't trust me," he says. "Do you still not trust me?"

"Yes."

The way the answer is delivered so whimsically serious makes his smile genuine. "But you still hang out with me. Shouldn't you be more wary?"

"Yes, but if I'm too wary, I wouldn't be able to get to the bottom of what exactly is making you untrustworthy."

How paradoxical, he thinks. Not to mention, it was dangerous of you explain your plan so plainly to the very person you wanted to know more of.

The strangeness of you was so amusing just as it made you so endearing.

"So far, I've figured out that you like pulling friendly and clever pranks, and that you're not entirely untrustworthy. As a Fragaria, you would have the want to protect your lord and the kingdom, but even if you weren't, I can't see you as someone who enjoys hurting people. Whenever we hang out, nothing malicious happens."

"But what if the next thing we do does hurt you?"

"You wouldn't want it to happen and you wouldn't let it. That's not you. Besides, I'd be disappointed. I look forward to whatever silly surprise you have for me."

Chaco considers this. "So you hang out with me because you look forward to that?"

"That's half of it. The other half is that it's just very nice hanging out with you, even if we don't do anything exciting." You pause for a moment to admire the changing hue of the sky. "Like now."

The sun is now beginning to peek over the trees. Chaco immediately thinks of how perfect you look smiling under the golden light.

He likes gullible people, but you are a very special and very interesting exception.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

If you've ever shared "cute" pictures or videos from owl cafes, read this sobering reality check.

92 cafes across Japan hold over 1900 owls captive, simply for entertainment. This includes two species considered Near Threatened (Barred Eagle-owl Bubo sumatranus and Chaco Owl Strix chacoensis) and one Vulnerable species (Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus). Moreover, there is a lack of transparency as to the origins of many of these owls, which may not all have been captive-bred. Species may have been mislabeled during import, and not all have paperwork showing they were legally imported, meaning there is a very good chance owl cafes feed into the illicit, non-sustainable wildlife trade.

What the article doesn't cover is how stressful these settings are for owls. They're bright, noisy, and confined, and the owls are exploited by the owners who allow untrained strangers to hold and pet them without consideration of the owl's well-being. The "break areas" where the owls can get away from direct contact are still within sight of patrons, meaning they are still subject to human contact.

Owls are not chickens. They are not domesticated birds that have spent thousands of years and thousands of generations in human company, being selectively bred for human-friendly, docile traits. Even a tame owl is still a wild animal with intact instincts that tell it it should be living a largely solitary life in a wide, open field or forest, not stuck in a small space with many other owls of assorted species and a bunch of people.

This also isn't a situation like falconry, where captive birds are given plenty of private space, and flown daily for physical and mental fitness. And a single cage may have dozens of owls, more than what limited staff can handle. Even if some of the birds are supposedly "rescues" (as at least one cafe's website claims), any reputable wildlife rescue is going to limit the contact between the animals and humans, and absolutely is not going to allow visitors to regularly take pictures with and handle the wildlife--even socialized, trained ambassador animals have very stringent limitations on direct contact.

So it's not at all unsurprising that an already highly unethical industry is likely contributing to the problem of questionable or illegal wildlife trade. This study is just one more piece of evidence suggesting that these cafes are anything but harmless, cute fun.

[specialagentartemis]

Okay my plan for tomorrow is to log the fuck off, edit a student's paper, start another grant proposal, and/or stitch the binding onto my Chaco Roads quilt. Anything to not be checking the news.

[emilybeemartin]

Inktober Days 13-15

Day 13: "Rise"

Rangers sometimes talk about their “heart parks”—the intimately special ones that make us go dreamy-eyed and nostalgic. Grand Teton is my heart park. During undergrad, I was going through a rough patch, missing my backcountry work in New Mexico and feeling out of place at Clemson. I told my friend that I “just wanted to go somewhere.” He asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I told him no, I’d like to go to the Grand Tetons. I don’t know why I decided on that particular place in that moment—I’d never been there and had only ever seen photos of the famous mountain group. But my friend said sure, we could go to the Grand Tetons. He proceeded to lead me outside student housing, checked the cardinal directions in the sky, and struck off northwest. I followed him. We walked around campus for hours that night, talking about a hundred different things. It was the first time after returning from New Mexico that I’d felt really heard, really understood, really happy.

A few months later, that friend became my boyfriend, and a few years later, that boyfriend became my husband. There was no question about where we would honeymoon. We went to Grand Teton.

Day 14: "Castle"

I’ve been struggling with what to say about Mesa Verde, because this site was so incredible to visit that I almost can’t put it to words. I experienced it while conducting my master’s research between stops in Navajo National Monument and Chaco Canyon. Visiting these cultural sites, tied together by sociopolitical events and natural disasters over the span of centuries, drove home how vast the network of humanity was in the Ancestral Puebloan era. These places were huge hubs of activity and massive feats of architecture—not castles, but communities humming with life, love, loss, struggle, wealth, and beauty.

Mesa Verde was also the only place I saw a ranger bring an audience to tears with the emotion in his program. I audited over two hundred interpretive programs that summer, but I remember lowering my clipboard during this particular tour of Cliff Palace, in awe of how powerfully the ranger was able to connect visitors with his own familial ties to the Ancestral Puebloans who had lived there so long ago. The goal of interpretation is to facilitate a meaningful connection between the visitor and the resource, but never have I ever seen anyone do it so profoundly as that ranger in Mesa Verde, 2011.

Day 15: "Dagger"

White Sands preserves practically the entire span of human history, from fragments of ancient blades up to the space shuttle and missile launches. But it's the beginning of that timeline that draws me toward this gleaming gypsum dunefield.

I remember where I was when the news dropped—in the Apgar ranger office with a handful of other Glacier rangers. I was working on my hunting and gathering program, where I discussed old facts about projectile points and atlatls, but I stopped when another ranger swore in shock. An email had come through to our NPS accounts with new research out of White Sands. Human footprints preserved in the ancient sediment had been dated--- not to the 13-16 thousand years old we typically associated with the earliest humans in the Americas, but to 23 THOUSAND YEARS OLD. In one short email, our whole office's reckoning of human history almost doubled. Our minds were blown. We celebrated like a bunch of lads after a World Cup win. This world that we walk! Footsteps over footsteps over footsteps! What a privilege.

[moonshynecybin]

Ok elaborate on the white water kayaking if you would like bc that’s incredible

this is. maybe the thing i think about most lol. NO idea how much people know about kayaking but uh. ask me!

so whitewater kayaking is interesting as a sport bc while there ARE major racing events (the green race!! the north fork championship!! go look them up they’re SICK) it is generally not a formalized racing series that culminates in a trophy like in motorsports. like there’s no seating for spectators even. you get to these races by hiking two hours through the woods and parking your ass on a rock by the river and hoping you don’t fall in bc you are BLASTED drunk. they’re big parties most of the time!

so while the best kayakers in the world DO compete in these things and win them, the sport is frankly more about doing sick stunts with your friends on beautiful rivers all over the world than like. cutthroat fanatical competition. which bezz (who HATED racing against people as a kid never wanted to fight on the track to go fast) would LOVEEEE imo. also literally it is bad practice to go boating alone you NEED a homie with you at all times that’s how you run shuttle that’s how you set safety that helps you scout rapids it is a homie-based activity!!! and bez loves his friends SOOOO bad and especially loves to do dumb life-threatening stuff with them. that’s what big water boating IS.

and it’s just. some aspects of the stuff happening at the ranch and the broader culture of whitewater is very similar in terms of vibes to meeeee. like the adrenaline addiction the injuries the constant threat of death the long hair the dumb tats the earrings the SAME fucking sunglasses kayakers get just cheaper ones. the energy drink sponsorships the going skiing 24/7 in the off-season…. that’s a fucking kayaker to me lol. i look at him and genuinely question why he is not in a dry suit bombing waterfalls in chile. #beater #steazy #booflife he’d love it so bad.

and i AM saving all of my narrative thoughts on bezz kayaking for a fic one day maybe. problem is i don’t know shit about the whitewater scene in italy so i’d have to make these boys like. appalachian. but i do know cele would have the world’s most atrocious rookie crush on hot trip leader bezz and when cele dump trucks a raft and has to do a swim beer out of his nasty bootie (whitewater has like. a reverse shoey system where you only do them if you fuck up) and bezz like, puts his big hand on the back of cele’s neck as he chugs this nasty beer (for maximum crazy this is bezz’s shoe bc cele is a rookie and didn’t want to shell out for the whitewater specific shoe and is wearing chacos) and cele has a small religious experience and flushes BRIGHT RED.

anyways if you want to check out some sick kayakers and are curious regarding the vibe i recommend following aniol serrasolses (catalan legend), nouria newman (badass. has yelled at my brother), and evy liebfarth (from my hometown!). liebfarth is going to the olympics this year in kayaking slalom which IS a formalized racing series but one that generally takes place on closed courses and such and is a small niche in the broader culture of the sport. still very cool and very hard to do. there is also dane jackson who is the arguable GOAT of the sport i just think he’s kind of swagless and one time he put my brother on youtube after he dislocated his shoulder when they were paddling the royal gorge like. cmon man. also his daddy owns a major kayaking manufacturer booooo. he does win the green race like literally every year which IS annoying. to me.

[maxiwaxipads]

Hangyon's Hangyodon Seminar

(Arupek feels a prick on his neck before turning to see Chaco and Tuxam collapsed on the ground)

Arupek - “…Eh?” “Tuxam? Chaco?”

[???] - “That’s no good~ Are you immune or something?”

(Arupek looks around to find the source of the voice) (Nothing but dirt and greenery reverberated under the clear blue sky) (At the same time, he feels around the side of the neck to find a dart in his right hand) (Before he can react, a hand gently grabs his left shoulder and his mouth is covered by what appears to be a handkerchief) (Arupek then passes out)

[???] - “There. There.” “Have nice dreams for me, ‘kay?”

[???] - “Nnhhh… I should had thought further ahead.”

[???] - “Lili.” “Do me a favor and help me carry one of them.”

[???] - “Don’t look at me like that~” “For the sake of Lord Hangyodon, it is imperative!”

(Moments Later…)

Chaco - “Aru.” “AAaaarrruuu.”

Tuxam - “I’ll do it.”

(Tuxam whacks Arupek on the head)

Arupek - “Yeouch!”

(Arupek gently rubs the spot he was hit on) (In front of him are two figures, Tuxam and Chaco) (He notices the desk in front of him with a small pool of drool, and himself sitting on a chair) (Identical desks are spotted to his left and right) (Square ceiling lights are rowed 3 by 3) (A security camera is spotted by the corner of the room, with a red blinking light) (The wall is covered with pictures depicting Hangyodon)

Chaco - “You sure are hard to wake up, aren’t you?”

Arupek - “Heheh… Lord Pekkle says the same thing!”

Tuxam - “Here. Take this handkerchief and clean up the drool.”

Arupek - “Sure thing!”

[???] - “Testing~ Testing~” “Can you hear me? Would you describe my voice as beautiful and enchanting~?”

(A light flickers, and a square TV being held on a pedestal on wheels shows two figures) (One is speaking into a microphone, and the other figure—much smaller, rests on top of the other’s shoulder)

Hangyon - “Hi, Hi~ Nihao.” “This is Hangyon and Lili!”

Hangyon - “Let’s see if everyone is present—roll call!”

Hangyon - “Arupek?”

Arupek - “Here!”

Hangyon - “Tux—”

Tuxam - “Wait, wait, wait—!”

Tuxam - “Hangyon, correct?” “Where are we? What’s happening?”

Hangyon - “Silly tuxedo knight~”

Hangyon - “Everything will be answered soon enough~” “When I say your name again, say ‘Here!’ Like our good little Arupek!”

Hangyon - “Tuxam~?”

Tuxam - “H—Here.”

Hangyon - “Chaco?”

Chaco - “Here.”

Hangyon - “That makes everyone~ Attendance complete!”

Hangyon - “Welcome to the Hangyodon Seminar!”

Hangyon - “It’s sure better than taking English Language Arts or History, yes?” “After all… Hangyodon is the best there is.”

Hangyon - “Saying his name… I might want to repeat it again and again! (for the rest of my life…)”

Hangyon - “Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyodon, Hangyo—”

Chaco - “About this seminar?” “I—I like to hear more about this.”

Hangyon - “Ah~ Look at myself! Getting into a tangent.”

Hangyon - “So very sorry~”

Hangyon - “What was I doing again? Oh—Yes.”

(The lights blink out for a moment and confetti falls down)

Hangyon - "“The Hangyodon Seminar!”"

Hangyon - “Like the name suggests, the Hangyo—”

Chaco - “Question.” “Once this is over, we get to leave, yeah?”

Hangyon - “Of course! I wouldn’t leave you here now, wouldn’t I?”

Hangyon - “But like I was saying—the Hangyodon Seminar is all about—”

Arupek - “Sorry to interrupt, but I’m kinda hungry.”

(Stomach gurgles)

Hangyon - “Oh… That won’t do.” “The Seminar is about a day long… W—Wait! I’ll have some food sent down there.”

Chaco - “D—id he say a day long?”

Hangyon - “Yuh-huh!”

Hangyon - “The Hangyodon Seminar!: Part 1 out of 100 in the Hangyodon Experience!”

Hangyon - “Everything is all about Hangyodon~ And I mean everything!”

Hangyon - “The food is Hangyodon themed ~ The posters are Hangyodon themed~”

Hangyon - “There’s even small Hangyodons under the chairs.”

(Arupek bends down to check under his chair)

Hangyon - “Haha! I made you look.”

Hangyon - “But I should had done that in the first place…”

Hangyon - “As a Knight of Fragaria, this is a transgression as well…”

Tuxam - “If you can’t commit to a theme, then this is a failure on being Hangyodon theme.”

Tuxam - “Shame on you.”

Hangyon - “Ghhhh! Critical hit!”

Tuxam - “You’ve disgraced the Hangyodon Experience.” “It’ll be better to give up.”

Hangyon - “Y—You’re right.” “How could—”

Hangyon - “Eh?” “What is it, Lili?”

Hangyon - “No… How could I be down at a time like this!?”

Hangyon - “It can still be saved!”

Chaco - “At… At least you tried, Tuxam.”

Tuxam - “(pouts)”

(The lights above the desks open up, and a single pack of Fruits Snack falls) (The lights unravel back again)

Hangyon - “I pinky promise that you can eat later~” “Have this for the meantime, ‘kay?”

Chaco - “Honesty… I don’t really want to be here.”

Tuxam - “Ch—Chaco! We already tried kicking it down…”

Chaco - “No.” “Not yet.”

(Chaco digs into his pocket, and takes out his…) (Credit card!)

Hangyon - “Eh?” “I mean. I’m quite suspect able to bribery…”

Hangyon - “I got it! I’ll just talk faster!”

Chaco - “No. That’s not what I meant.”

(Chaco walks towards the door, sliding his card between the doorframe’s gap.) (He adjusts his hand, sliding it with greater tenacity.) (The door opens.)

Hangyon - “Eh…?”

[wrestlinghistorywithkay]

Hot Rod: Remembering ‘ Rowdy ’ Roddy Piper

Today is the nine year anniversary of the death of WWE Hall of Famer and Wrestling Legend , ‘ Rowdy ’ Roddy Piper. I have mentioned Piper in my article about Scottish wrestlers that I did in June, if you haven’t , please go check that out . I’m doing this article as a tribute to Hot Rod by celebrating his life and career as a wrestler and an actor.

Roddy Piper was born Roderick George Toombs on April 17, 1954 in Saskatoon , Canada . He was of Scottish descent due to his mother, Eileen , being of Scottish- Canadian descent. His father , Stanley , was of Anglo-Canadian descent. He spent his childhood being raised in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he attended school. He was expelled from school due to having a switchblade knife when he was in middle school. He also left home after having a dispute with his father and decided to stay in a local hostel. For income during this time , Toombs was hired by local professional wrestlers to run errands all while he worked at a few gyms. He also learned to play the bagpipes , however , he has claimed that he didn’t know where he started with them. Thus , he also had a lifelong best friend , Cam Connor , a retired National Hockey League Player ( NHL ).

Toombs was a black belt in the sport of Judo and an amateur wrestler before deciding to train for professional wrestling. He was trained by Gene LeBell , a former Judo instructor, professional wrestler, and stuntman. Therefore , under the guidance of wrestling promoter , Al Tomko , he had his first match in front of an audience with ‘ Midget Wrestlers ’. Therefore , he was earning money to survive by wrestling all while going back to school.

Toombs’ first match in a well known wrestling promotion was against Larry Henning , the father of ‘ Mr. Perfect ’ Curt Henning , and the grandfather of former WWE Superstar, Curtis Axel. The match took place in the American Wrestling Association ( AWA). For his entrance, he had friends play bagpipes for him as he handed out Dandelions to the AWA audience. The announcer of the promotion only knew that his name was Roddy, thus , he came up with the name ‘ Roddy Piper ’. Therefore, Toombs would be known as Roddy Piper. He was an enhancement talent in the same promotion from 1973-1975. This meant that he was paid to wrestle and lose matches against the top wrestlers in the AWA. He did the same for the NWA Central States territory. This territory consisted of Missouri , Iowa, and Nebraska. He also was an enhancement talent in the Maritimes for the Eastern Sports Association. He also was booked in the NWA Houston Wrestling Promotion under Paul Boesch and Big Time Rasslin under Fritz Von Erich. Both promotions were located in Texas.

In late 1975 and going into 1976 , Piper was the top Heel for the NWA Hollywood Wrestling Promotion, which was owned by Gene and Mike LeBell. A Heel is a wrestler who is considered the ‘ villain ’ and hated by wrestling fans. Piper was also booked to work at NWA San Francisco, which was owned by Roy Shire , in 1977 and 1978. He was feuding with Gory Guerrero and Chaco Guerrero Sr, the father and brother of Eddie Guerrero. Their feud included Piper losing his hair in a match and a few loser leaves town matches . This meant that whoever lost , had to leave the wrestling territory. Piper also appeared as The Mask Canadian in the territory as well. He was soon unmasked by Hector Guerrero. Piper also worked in the Pacific Northwest , Georgia, and Mid-Atlantic territories. He made his return to Jim Crockett Promotions in 1983 after wrestling in Puerto Rico. When he returned to Georgia , he became a fan favorite and feuded with top stars such as Ric Flair, Sgt Slaughter , and Greg ‘ The Hammer ’ Valentine.

In 1983, at the first Starrcade show , Piper and Valentine had a Dog Collar match. This type of match is when two wrestlers are strapped together by two dog collars and chains. During the match , Piper suffered from a broken eardrum in his left ear due to Valentine hitting him with the collar of the chain. He lost 50%-75% of his ability to hear due to this . He also made a few early appearances in the WWF in 1979 under Vince McMahon Sr. His first match in the promotion was against an Enhancement Talent named Frankie Williams. Thus, wrestling manager , ‘ Classy ’ Freddie Blassie , decided to place toilet paper in Piper’s bagpipes , therefore , the crowd wouldn’t be able to hear them as he made his way to the ring.

Piper returned to the WWF in 1984 under Vince McMahon Jr., after being advised to finish out his contract with Jim Crockett promotions in 1983. He was in a managerial role when he returned when he was partnered with ‘ Mr. Wonderful ’ Paul Orndorff, and ‘ Dr. D ’ David Schultz. This role ended and he soon became an in ring competitor full time . Nevertheless, with his strong microphone skills, he was given his own little segment called , ‘ Piper’s Pit ’ . The segment took place for three years , ending in 1987. He insulted talent such as Bruno Sammartino, which their storyline ended with Piper losing in a Steel Cage match in 1986. He also insulted Jimmy ‘ Superfly ’ Snuka, which left him being hit in the head with a coconut. His most well known storyline is with Hulk Hogan , Mr. T, and Pop Star , Cyndi Lauper. Hogan and Piper faced off for the WWF on an episode of MTV’s ‘ The War To Settle The Score ’ in 1985. Nevertheless, this storyline and event went on to help set up the first Wrestlemania.

Piper returned as a Babyface in 1986 on ‘ Championship Wrestling ’ for a match against AJ Petrucci. A Babyface is a wrestler who is the hero and is loved by the fans. During the storyline , Piper became upset after finding the ‘ Piper’s Pit ’ segment was now ‘ The Flower Shop ’ , an interview segmented hosted by fellow talent, Adrian Adonis. Adonis also decided to hire ‘ Cowboy ’ Bob Orton , the father of WWE Superstar, Randy Orton , and former bodyguard of Piper, as his own bodyguard. Piper soon destroyed the set with a baseball bat, leaving the two to have a match at Wrestlemania lll, before he retired from wrestling to start an acting career. He returned in 1989 and interviewed Brother Love ( Bruce Pritchard ). He also became a co-host alongside Gorilla Monsoon for the show , ‘ Prime Time Wrestling ’ the same year. He had feuds with major stars such as Bobby Heenan and Rick Rude. Piper would return to the show in 1991.

Piper went on to star in the iconic 1988 sci-fi film , ‘ They Live ’ , which was directed by John Carpenter. Piper’s signature line from the movie was , “ I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubble gum. ” . This movie made him a ‘ Cult Icon ’ according to Entertainment Weekly magazine.

In 1994, he returned to the WWF again as the guest referee for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship match with Bret hart and Yokozuna at Wrestlemania 10. He soon started a feud with Jerry ‘ The King ’ Lawler. He also began hosting a segment called ‘ The Bottom Line ’ on ‘ All American Wrestling’ . He took a break in 1995 before coming back in 1996 , taking on the role of Interim WWF President. He reinstated The Ultimate Warrior and participated in a “ Hollywood Backlot Brawl ” match against Goldust at Wrestlemania 12. He soon went to WCW and feuded with Hollywood Hogan and the nWo.

On the November 18 episode of ‘ Monday Nitro ’ , Piper revealed that Eric Bischoff was the newest member of the nWo. Thus , this led the faction to attack Piper after doing so. Ric Flair and the 4 Horseman offered to help Piper against Hogan , thus , on the December 9 edition of ‘ Monday Nitro ’, he declined and went on to defeat his long time rival on his own as he declared he would at Starrcade in 1996. In 1997 , Piper joined forces with Flair and the Horseman to battle the nWo. Piper took a hiatus from the promotion , only to return in 1998 as the new Commissioner of WCW. His last WCW appearance was in 2000.

Piper made a few more appearances in WWE and went on to make an appearance in TNA. He continued wrestling on the independent wrestling circuit until his retirement in 2011. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 by Ric Flair. Piper died at the age of 61 from a Heart Attack on July 31 , 2015 in Hollywood , California. Piper is considered to be the Greatest Heel of All Time. Wrestlers such as Drew McIntyre, MJF, and Ronda Rousey were all fans of Piper. He gifted Rousey his nickname ‘ Rowdy ’ and his jacket. She’s wore it to the ring .

My Final Thoughts:

Roddy Piper is my favorite Heel of all time. I love how he didn’t care what you thought about him . He was also pretty cool as well. I wish I could’ve seen him in his prime and met him. Have you met Rowdy Roddy Piper? What is your favorite Roddy Piper match or moment? Let me know!

Love You All,

- Kay

[nothofagus-archive]

Went to visit my parents, which often means checking my childhood art. A lot of it is very hard to scan, because it has faded away so much with the years, but I'll try to digitally enhace the contrast, and share some later.

Ancient art from 2002, from some clearly Jungle Book inspired comic series I did back in my preteen and teen days. Why yes, I'm old.

The gray wolf, Asta, actually made it to the very early dA days!

---

Some history:

Back in 1995 or 96, as a kid, I asked for this book as a birthday gift: https://http2.mlstatic.com/D_NQ_NP_842587-MLA27484653922_062018-O.webp . I was obsessed with tigers back then (with foxes before that!) and well, there was a tiger on the cover, plus tiger info inside the book. It detailed the fauna of each continent, and while my most visited section was Asia, I remember being saddened to see that South America, where I live, has the least amount of pages of all. It mentioned being the most biodiverse continent, but it still made a point to describe our fauna as "lacking in large animals". This bothered me, back then.

Those days, I lived where I was born, in the Argentine North-East. In the humid Chaco region, which is insanely biodiverse, and even more so back in the 90's, when it was less urbanized than it is today. Now, I've been living in the South-West, AndinoPatagonico forest region for almost one decade and half. A less biodivrse area, albeit rich in regional endemisms.

In my childhood, I'd turn rocks and wood pieces just to check the diversity of all sort of invertebrates below (and yes, it was often very gross). I'd also pick flowers, fruits and herbs apart, to see how they were built.

I also remember the absolutely insane diversity of frogs and reptiles, not to mention the birds (which sadly I'd not look at much , in my childhood) that could be found in our patio... it was a given, and only in retrospective I come to appreciate the insane amount of species, I know I'd have a field day nowadays!

Anyway: my childhood house and town/area were insanely formative to me, when it comes to appreciating local/South American fauna, even if I started out with Asian-based characters.

And yes, I had a ringed-tail Lemur character way before the Madagascar franchise existed. He was, of course, created after getting that book (character was created in '97 or '98). My logic back then was, Asia and specifically India shared a lot of species with Africa (rhinos, elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals, etc) so, why not lemurs? Getting a wee bit older (read: teens) I decided the lemur was an escaped former pet or whatever, but never adressed it in the comics becuase I didn't care.

So yeah. Always fun to revisit childhood art! I was 15-16 in 2002.

[fragaria-imagines]

Have some silly little fun facts (and spoilers ahead) about Felicity & Ayama because why not >:D

Fun Facts (+ Spoilers):

She’s (probably) the tallest knight out of all the fragarian knights out there + the only woman who get the chance to become a knight (so far until I get to reveal more original characters for this silly franchise)

When someone said that she is their favorite knight to get along with (in which mostly done by children at this point), she can ended up being an emotional pickle for the day (also known as crying out the happy tears) after going back to the kingdom and the rest of the noir bouquet used to have no idea of why she is crying until she had to explain it to them.

She is literally being friends with everyone EXCEPT Klarkstella who have rejected her friendship start about countless times (no one didn’t knew this until Masky literally bring that up in a meeting with all the knights and the lords).

There used to be a rumor that the bells that connected with her jester hat is her “real eyes” as some people have nightmares about it until Felicity confirmed that there is no way that the bells are her actual eyes.

She is actually not a fairy but much more rather… A “monster” according to some of the citizens’ nightmares of her.

In her (upcoming) official description (made by me), it is stated that if Felicity & Ayama went insane, they will go through an abstraction (it’s basically a concept where after a character went insane, they basically have a different form… I recommend checking this page out as I take some inspiration from there.). Unlike TADC’s version of what the character looked like when they got abstracted, only the hands and the eyes are the one that got abstracted… You can say it as “Half Abstracted” if you want and there will be references to abstract art + those retro color palettes from the 70s-80s when you see the abstracted parts of her body…

Her name isn’t actually “Felicity & Ayama”.

She has owned many titles by many people but there is one that she specifically created for herself only, it’s called “The Half-Abstracted Devil”.

Her ability to abstract is one of her biggest secrets… No wonder why she literally hides it in front of everyone.

She wished that she can able to help Rimicha and Kurode out but knowing damn well that she didn’t experience those struggles that those boys had, she can’t help but hugging and giving them the silence she thinks they deserved it would help it out…

Chaco is still waiting for her to open up her secrets until this day (Yeah, their relationship is more like Mizuki & Ena at this point when I write this fact)…

And that’s all I can able to tell you! I’m sorry for the early spoilers, I just simply can be excited to finally showing someone some important details about my original characters that they might need an eye on, especially when they are (not) okay— Anyways, I hope you did enjoyed this silly ask and I see you later on!

Ahh I love hearing about them!!

Felicity especially sounds so sweet and friendly, i definitely would want to be her friend!!

Also what do you mean Ayame and Felicity aren’t there real names 👀👀

[buddy-arc]

📖 pspspspsps. you know. The Girls......

journal entries…

… last night, i had a sleepover with haru. we stayed up a bit later than normal, playing games and talking about things. she’s never had a pet, ever. no wonder she’s unsure around kuro and chaco! i need to make sure that she feels safe and protected by the boys. i think kuro has adopted her already because he’s always keeping an eye on her and likes to try to lick her face. he even whines at me when she has to leave. me too, kuro.

on the other hand, chaco is just a puppy. he likes haru, but he doesn’t know a lot yet. the first thing i’ll teach him is that if someone yells at haru, he should yell back! that way i’ll know if someone’s being rude to her. plus, chaco has the mightiest bark! haru will feel super safe when he’s around. oh, and if chaco gets off his leash again, he’ll go right to haru’s place to check on her. i’ll know exactly where he is: taking care of haru for me when i’m not there! it’s foolproof!

[defranklin4113]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Chaco Sandals Bundle.

[specialagentartemis]

Definitely. I didn’t get too deep into the pros and cons of wikipedia because this was meant to be a guide on how to quickly check to see if a tumblr post is bs; wikipedia is FAR from the be-all end-all of historical research, and that’s why I recommended it as a place to see what the references seem to be saying! And you’re absolutely right that Wikipedia can be really notoriously biased when it comes to WWII history; this is a good and chilling article about the attempt to combat pro-Nazi Wikipedia history pages, and the pushback that the woman leading this movement got.

I, personally, am not great at speaking about most recent history; I know the 1700s-1800s New England well but my specialty is the 800s-1300s Americas with a decently solid grounding in the Bronze Age Aegean. And I actually have found that for several of the tumblr-specific popular archaeology misinformation posts, especially regarding Greece, Rome, and Egypt, Wikipedia often has a decent grounding addressing those issues, but the sources it points to are very often books not easily accessible on the internet. It’s a problem, absolutely, but this wasn’t meant as a thorough research guide, it was meant to give some basic tools for sniff-testing tumblr posts before reblogging them. (Of course, other Wikipedia articles are WOEFULLY incomplete; the page on the Palace of Nestor at Pylos is a god damn crying shame, and the Chaco Canyon page needs an overhaul. This is definitely true, too. Wikipedia shouldn’t be the endpoint of research either! It’s just a helpful place to start when you’re like “hm are there any other things that archaeologists know about these bronze dodecahedra besides what this tumblr post says?”)

But undeniably, you’re right that it’s worth remembering and ALWAYS worth checking: who does Wikipedia cite? Who are they? How many people are talking about any given explanation or theory? If it’s only one guy pushing a given hypothesis, that’s suspect. Not necessarily wrong, but on a contentious topic, definitely suspect. The fact that Wikipedia pages HAVE the “Resources” tab so you can see who’s being cited in the discussion is critical.

That’s also a really good point about talk pages, I hadn’t considered that.

People on this website will really mock anti-vaxxers and flat earthers for ignoring scientists and getting their alternative facts from facebook, and then turn around and insist they know more history than historians and more archaeology than archaeologists because they read an unsourced tumblr post once

[bike42]

Isle Royale

Friday July 19, 2024

The Magnificent Seven are back on adventure. We gathered at our lake home yesterday afternoon on a glorious day in the Northwoods. We went out on our boat and toured the Turtle Lake chain. Lynn and Kent made dinner, and we fell into our easy routine of food prep, giving thanks for being together and then clean up.

One thing this group is good at is logistics! The planning phase is thorough and well researched! This adventure is a bit different in that we don’t have a guide, so all permits and logistics fell to us, credit to Tam and Dan that got the permits and booked the flights. I’d ordered a bunch of dehydrated meals when we started our Ice Age Trail adventure, but we ended up not backpacking, therefore the meals sat in a box with our camping stuff in the basement (they have long expiration dates!). I sorted through them and found we had more than enough for 4 dinners and 4 breakfasts - so I had grouped them and labeled them for dinners / breakfasts. We also contributed our two lightweight stoves, two empty gas cylinders (will fill once we get to the island), our cook kit and our SteriPen. Others bought new or contributed water filtration devices, Tam brought goodies for 4 lunches, Lynn compiled a new first aid kit, etc.

After dinner, we divided up the food and went through our packs comparing what we’d packed and what things we had duplicates of. It’s a moment of second guessing - especially for me because I’d packed most of what was in my pack about a week ago and started second guessing things - is my headlamps in there, and things like that!

Kent had an amazingly accurate scale that helped us weigh our packs, and even help make decisions about what to pack. For example, my Xero sandals aren’t that comfortable but they weigh just 0.6 lbs versus my Chacos weigh 1.7 lbs! Most of our packs topped out at about 35-38 lbs without water, except for Gary’s, which was 52 lbs! Well, we need to slow him down anyway!

After packing was complete, we lit a fire in our outside pit, enjoyed the sunset, and some of us had s’mores. Mosquitoes started to come out, so we ventured inside and some of us worked the National Parks puzzle while others showered and drifted off to sleep.

Friday am we were up, showering, forging for breakfast and all were anxious to get on the road. Lynn and Kent have a RV called an Ekko, an amazing Winnebago. It had been on order since the beginning of COVID and they finally got it late last fall. They slept in it last night, and today we were able to load all 7 packs in an underneath storage space, and all rode to the Seaplane port in that - just over two hours from our lake home.

We arrived well before the “check in tent” opened, so we enjoyed the beautiful days, munched some snacks, and I for one tried to not be nervous as I eyed up the little Sea Planes!! At check in time, two young men drove up and I joked that they were going to be our pilots, but they weren’t this time (they appeared to be as old as the pilots in Alaska!). They weighed our bags, had us remove external things like poles, sleeping bags and my 1.2 lbs chair.

We were ushered to the dock and met our pilot Mike, and I immediately felt confident with him - an older, tanned experienced looking pilot. He told us about the Beaver DHC-2 with great affection for the aircraft in his voice. He said it’s the best Alaskan bush plane.

They loaded all our gear - my pack went into one of the floats! I could see why they wanted all the external accouterments to come off! Then we squeezed in, with Mike directing where we should sit based on our size - easy to squeeze in together after all the adventures this group has already been through!!

We arrived on the island, a gorgeous view from the air. We circled over the island and landed on a protected bay which makes sense versus landing right on Lake Superior! We taxied to Windigo, a small collection of buildings: office, store, shower and toilet building, staff quarters. We were greeted by three rangers, who gave us a verbal preview of what we can expect on the trail over the next 4 days: bugs, overgrown trails and some rain!!

We stopped in the office to pick up our permit, chatted with the ranger there (same story). Next stop was the store to have our white gas cylinders filled, bought some cold drinks and ice cream and chatted with some hikers that had just finished the loop we are about to embark on (same story).

We had to hike just 0.3 miles to get to Washington Creek campground, where we had 4 options for a group site. It’s fairly luxurious, with a picnic table and two pit toilets. Tomorrow, when we start hiking, we get to go past the store again, just in case!!

We set up camp and got started boiling the 13 cups of water needed to rehydrate our dinner. After dinner and dessert, a group of us walked back to Windigo to brush our teeth and use the flush toilets! Beautiful evening, with a jovial group (boaters or hikers?) on the deck of the store watching the sun creep down in the sky.

The variety of animals is limited on this island - primarily moose and wolves, which are heavily studied in the way their populations fluctuate. There are squirrels, and we’ve heard of pesky foxes that can be a nuisance at camp (apparently they’ve evolved to hang out by humans and therefore be somewhat protected from the wolves). So even though there are no bears or raccoons, we’re taking precautions with our food storage. We brought our two bear canisters, and are hanging everything else in a tree using ropes and a pulley system from Jeff’s many trips to the Boundary Waters.

I had several naps today, but still feel like I’ll sleep well tonight. Have to get myself in the right mindset to backpack 9+ miles tomorrow with a 40 pound pack and a sore toe (stubbed it jumping off the boat last night).

[drivelikeaminister]

Lost and Found

Introducing a guest post from my friend and workout partner Rebecca. Thanks for the moving story about an intense weekend!

--------------------

I have never been much of a city person, but I regularly visit Philadelphia to see family and friends in the area. Driving down busy streets, my mind focuses on survival, pedestrians, potholes, and crazy drivers. I am oblivious to the trash often littered on the side of the road, not looking to see what it might be and definitely not stopping to check it out.

On a recent hiking trip to Wissahickon State Park with my dog and some friends, I returned to the parking lot to find my car’s front passenger window shattered, glass everywhere, my center console and glove box ransacked for cash, my wallet missing, and my backpack containing a laptop and clothes for the weekend gone. To my surprise, my gym bag containing two pairs of sneakers, climbing shoes, and my beloved Chacos remained unscathed; the perpetrator must not know shoes, because those would surely sell for a nice sum.

After a brief wave of delight at the window smasher’s ignorance of high-quality shoes, my heart sank, and my mind began to spin as reality set in. I spent the next few hours calling my bank, credit card, and insurance companies. I filed a police report and insurance claim, and my friends helped me clean the glass out of my car and tape plastic over the window. Getting back in my car to leave the city, I started making a mental list of all that I would need to do: replace my driver’s license and insurance card, let my boss know my university laptop was stolen, get my window replaced, find clothes to wear for my weekend out of town, remove the remaining broken glass from my car and belongings. Always keen to find a silver lining, I tried to remind myself that no one was hurt, and I would mostly suffer from some minor inconveniences; maybe the robbery was a desperate attempt to feed a family. Regardless, I found it hard to shake a newfound cynicism and contempt for humankind. Then, a Facebook message appeared on my phone that would change the course of my day: “Hi! Have you lost a Cotopaxi bag and wallet? I found it in Roxborough if it is you.” I became instantly giddy with anticipation as I proceeded to coordinate a meetup.

On her way to a birthday party at a local VFW with her young daughter, Leah had noticed a bag and clothes strewn along the side of the road. While all other passersby on this busy road drove past without a second glance, oblivious (like me) to roadside litter, she pulled over to investigate. She gathered up my favorite sweater, the scattered contents of my wallet, to-do lists, undergarments, chargers, and backpack and tracked me down on Facebook. The thanks I had to offer in the parking lot of the VFW, while heartfelt and profuse, felt inadequate.

As Leah walked away, I took stock of my mostly restored belongings and noted that my cynicism had been replaced by joy and gratitude (even a bit of gratitude for the thief who left my possessions on the side of the road instead of in a dumpster). The kindness of this one stranger had quickly and vastly overpowered the negative experience that started my day. I suddenly could not wait to share the epic tale with friends and family. I am still bewildered that someone stopped. I am certain I would not have if our roles had been reversed; I probably would not have even noticed the inconspicuous crime scene.

At the end of the day, my significant other asked if I had learned a lesson, surely hoping I would say that I would never leave my wallet in the car again. While I will be more cautious about what I leave in my car, the real lesson for me was about the power of kindness and the importance of paying attention. Often, I find myself moving through life much like I drive through the city, focused on my own survival, seeing only what is in my path or might come flying across it and trying not to get distracted by what is happening on the sidelines. How many opportunities to help someone have I missed because I was not paying attention? It is easy to drown out the things that do not directly impact us; in fact, our brains are hardwired to filter out unimportant information, but imagine how much better off we would all be if everyone paid just a little more attention to what lay outside of their path. After I had my car window replaced a few days later, it was as if nothing had ever happened, but now I pay a little more attention to what is on the side of the road, and hopefully, someday I will have the chance to pay it forward.

[rouxde]

Food News: Million Dollar Burger, Finnish Burger Bummers, Choco Taco Triumph and Eating Fried Toothpicks???!!

John and Evan catch up on what they've been cooking and eating before talking about Burger King's new burger contest (make the AI burger!), Finland's embrace of the well=done burger, Taco Bell ressurecting the Chaco Taco and South Koreans eating deep fried toothpicks. Thanks for listening!!!

Check out this episode!