#covid-19 in 2021

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Onward (2020, Dan Scanlon)

20/10/2024

[camfusedly]

These past few days I keep thinking the "There's some whores in this house" bit from WAP except it's "There's some covid in this house"

My gf has it, I'm still testing negative. We both got the latest vaccine but she's still been sick in bed for a few days now. We're doing the weird "staying in separate rooms, masking to talk" thing. She's only been working at her retail job (probably the source 😞) for about six months, so she probably doesn't have the sick time.

I know this post is very 2021 coded but this is honestly the first time I've lived with someone who's gotten it.

[talistheintrovert]

it's hard being a teenage girl in my 20s, and it's even harder when older people tell me my feelings aren't valid just because I'm young

[kerosene-saint]

I can't believe Trump had the gall to try and use the death toll in america while Biden was president as a means to make him look bad. That number is going to go up and up and up and up the longer Trump is in office. and it's already pretty high.

[paulagnewart]

Trans40mers Pt. 1/12: Of Movies, Muppets and Madman Mayhem!

The grand space year of 2024 may have closed, but the 40th anniversary celebrations for The Transformers are far from being all over.

Not every country got the series at once. These rollouts took time, particularly during decades past. Regions including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and parts of Europe had to wait until 1985 before the Autobots and Decepticons brought their conflict to local shores. A delay definitely worth the wait for budding fans and shareholders alike.

Keeping in line with the above nations, Australia has consistently kept Transformers on toy shelves since the beginning. No US-style gap years, for there was always something to see, read or buy out there. It's a testament to the brand's longevity and fandom's enduring passion. As the Transformers Universe trailer attested, "They were always real to me".

As seen elsewhere, rather than belt out another year's worth of rodent-based ramblings, this account instead will highlight a slathering of fascinating yet ultimately useless knowledge from Transformers history in Australia. But unlike elsewhere sharing them bang on their respective dates, this account's waiting until month's end for a single, easy to read post.

There's one from each and every year; some glad, some sad, some outright bonkers including (and far from limited to) Mark Wahlberg's Sydney press tour, Otter Press' Dreamwave reprints, that time comedian Tony Martin crushed an Optimus toy on prime time TV, various VHS and DVD releases, newspaper clippings condemning the series, Happy Meal promotions, that time Beast Wars Airazor and Razorclaw toys topped Christmas sales, exclusive toys, and many more.

Best of all? They're free. Yes, free. No social media influenza mentality begging for dollarydoos at each opportunity to read fan wikis aloud here. The title is hardly the most imaginative or inspiring wordplay, but certainly beats the sad, self-aggrandising trend where anyone with half an ego and aspiration for digital fame make a hashtag using their own name.

11th January 2008: Promoting their new release of The Transformers: The Headmasters on DVD, Madman Entertainment choose three winners in its 'Design a Transformer' contest. Among the entrants was late comic book artist Lindsay Walker, with her fan character Ultra Fairmont.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Kicking off this robotic retrospective is a trip back to early 2008. Michael Bay's first live-action film had been an unprecedented success, and companies looked for a slice of that sweet energon pie.

Retro toys were back in, and it's hard to believe there was a time when Madman were the only game in town for 'classic' Transformers merchandise. Having a keen eye for fans since the early 2000's, they produced a swath of licensed G1 and Beast Wars DVD's and apparel. When time came for catering to Japanese audiences, they went all-in, announcing this contest.

Dozens of fans hoping to be the next Alex Kubalsky picked up their artistic tools, logged into their Madman accounts and submitted venerable masterpieces. Of the 46 entries, all-new characters were order of the day, though a few redesigns of old favourites managed to slip through.

So which lucky fans walked away with the top prizes? In first place stood Channandeller and their time-freezing Decepticon saboteur, Time-Ex. Second place went to davetec, who uncovered a long-lost photograph from 1903 featuring the autonomous horseless carriage, Albion. Rounding out third was Norcinu with their evil, mind-controlling Adminbot representative, Comcall. An outstanding trio of well-deserved winners.

The contest was open to casual and professional fans alike, among the latter was rising star Bendigo artist Lindsay Walker. A fan since the Transformers began, Ms. Walker was by that point making a name for herself in the comic book industry. Illustrating both fan and licensed products, her artistic prowess covered the likes of King Kong, Voltron, Sheena, Street Fighter and Hack/Slash. She developed video games, worked art galleries, and proud advocate for the trans community.

After submitting Ultra Fairmont, Ms. Walker went on to fulfil her dream illustrating her beloved Ghost Who Walks for Moonstone Books, and later for the character's local publishers. A career which abruptly ended in tragedy come late September 2016.

17th January 2021: As Covid weaved its deadly web, Sydney's Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace lights the fandom's darkest hour with a screening of 1986's The Transformers: The Movie. Billed as a one night only experience, the event proved popular enough to run multiple times.

-=-=-=-=-=-

"A rare screening of the 1986 animated classic!" proclaimed those fine folks over at Hayden Orpheum; and true to their word, this fateful night had been a long time coming for local fans.

At a time when licensing issues cancelled an earlier Melbourne screening, to say nothing to rising daily Covid cases placing lives and livelihoods at risk, it looked like Aussies may never see the film score an official rerelease. But now they had, and with jubilation came trepidation. Plus jealousy from hardcore fans in other states who'd face mandatory 14 day quarantines.

Despite the brisk drive, the writer of these posts opted not to attend that first night for obvious reasons. But several hundred other fans did, and they had a grand time. Cheering, booing, even recreating the Junkion dance number. A much-needed escape into summer fantasy for many during a perilous period.

For those technical inclined, this edition of the movie was the US 'star cast credits' version, as opposed to the international 'Star Wars Scroll' variant which played at cinemas here back in 1986, & sourced from Madman Entertainment's Blu Ray released June 2009. Spite of being slightly zoomed in to fit the wider cinema screen, nor the option of a crisp physical 35mm print to load up and play, the video was nonetheless an impressive improvement over previous copies.

Unfortunately cracks began to appear when, rather than go with the old Mono track, they used its "enhanced" Dolby 5.1 edition. It made the dialogue pop, but many sound effects (notably when Optimus Prime transforms & takes down the Decepticons) were suppressed, while others replaced by new "improved" sounds. It only got worse from "Megatron must be stopped" right until the film's end, as the entire audio track was delayed by about half a second. Hardly noticeable with the dialogue, but the action suffered. Moments like the satisfying crunch of Prime's uppercut, or the duel between Hot Rod, Kup and the Sharkticons, were painfully out of sync.

27th January 1995: Agro's Cartoon Connection came to the rescue of parents hoping to peacefully sleep off yesterday's public holiday bender. Alongside new host Terasa Livingstone, Agro dedicated our morning to the last ever public TV repeat of The Transformers: The Movie.

-=-=-=-=-=-

What's the deal with The Transformers: The Movie and public holidays?

For years both were invaluably intertwined. A fascinating partnership enough for some imaginative fan to make quite the venn diagram; much like an unspoken yet underlying overlap between followers of both long-running Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics, and 2003 Teen Titans cartoon.

One month after the Commonwealth Film Censorship Board ordered Spike's expletive outburst be deleted, The Transformers: The Movie arrived in Australian cinemas on Boxing Day 1986. The Sydney Morning Herald ran a colouring contest through Easter 1987, where six lucky readers won a poster plus copy of said movie on VHS or Betamax. Any fans yearning for a nostalgic new year experience got exactly that on 1st January 1989; Channel Seven heeded their wishes and premiered it at 9am.

Despite one critical slamming of "a long advertisement for the fad toys of the 80's", that didn't stop Seven rolling out their cinematic outing again and again. It aired midday Tuesday 25th September 1990, kicking off the spring school holidays. Another repeat followed on Boxing Day 1991. Fans still collecting were treated to double runs in 1993; first at 11:30am on Mother's Day, followed by (surprise surprise) a 9am repeat on Boxing Day, this time one half of a shared feature with Machine Men: Battle of the Rock Lords.

Fast-forward to 1995. A year had passed since all states and territories agreed to mark 26th January a national public holiday. Fireworks were lit and alcohol guzzled, leading to many-a sore heads the following morning. For kids not tuning in to watch the last TV screening of DiC's The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog among the rotting husk of Tim Bailey's The Big Breakfast, once more Australia's favourite bathmat offered salvation. Kicking off at 6:30am where, following a mandatory repeat of Hanna-Barbera's The Ruff and Reddy Show, Agro and Terasa's Friday morning movie successfully ruined a nation's childhoods one final time.

[sigmastolen]

holy shit the university assigned me eight (8) different trainings what the actual fuck like. when do they think i will have time to teach if i am busy taking so many trainings

my 3% of a salary is definitely not enough for all this extra shit

[re-lmayer]

was wondering what the hell happened to cause so many albums to be released in 2021 that it's wikipedia list is split into two pages. and then i Remembered

[inconsistently--consistent]

Book Review Just Add Water

I cannot rave about this woman enough. She only had good things to say. Each chapter is essentially a thank you to everyone and everything she feels helped her get to where she is.

I absolutely loved it, if you like Katie Ledeckey, swimming, or general positivity this is for you.

[elftwink]

just saw a tweet that was like "imagine if 9/11 happened 2 mos earlier and 7/11 had the worst PR crisis ever" like that wasn't basically what happened to corona beer in 2020

[frankbelloriley]

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Onward (2020, Dan Scanlon)

24/05/2024

[tunnaa-unnaa]

Important additional context for the article:

[firstoccupier]

Donald J. Trump Returns as 47th President: A Look Back at Economic Disparities from His Last Tenure

By, WPS News StaffBaybay City | January 26, 2025 As Donald J. Trump begins his second term as the 47th President of the United States, all eyes are on the potential policies and changes he might bring. Reflecting on his previous presidency from 2017 to 2021, when he served as the 45th President, offers the only concrete clues about what might lie ahead. During his earlier tenure, President…

[rowan-mae]

It ain't 2020 revival without these pfps and a discord popularity boom

[confus3dqu33r]

It seems like 2020 was such a long time ago