#direct pr in canada

[abhishekdigi-blog]

Eligibility for Canada PR Visa in 2024: Comprehensive Guide for a Successful Application

As one of the most favorable countries for immigration, Canada continues to offer vast opportunities for skilled professionals, entrepreneurs, and families. Its Canada PR visa program, designed to provide permanent residency, is highly sought after due to its numerous benefits, including unrestricted access to the Canadian labor market, healthcare, social services, and a pathway to citizenship. This guide provides a detailed overview of the Canada PR visa eligibility criteria in 2024, the various immigration streams, and how you can navigate this process for a successful application.

Why Choose a Canada PR Visa in 2024?

Canada offers unmatched benefits to individuals seeking permanent residency. As a Canada PR visa holder, you will enjoy:

Unrestricted Employment Opportunities: The right to live and work anywhere in Canada without any employer restrictions.

Social Security Benefits: Full access to healthcare, public education, and social welfare programs.

Pathway to Canadian Citizenship: After meeting residency requirements, PR holders can apply for Canadian citizenship, offering the advantages of a Canadian passport and voting rights.

Family Reunification: The ability to sponsor eligible family members, including spouses, dependent children, and parents, to join you in Canada.

Given these benefits, it’s no wonder that more individuals are seeking permanent residency in Canada.

Pathways to Canada PR Visa in 2024

Canada offers several distinct pathways to obtain permanent residency, each catering to different applicant profiles. These programs include:

1. Express Entry System: Fast-Track for Skilled Workers

The Express Entry system is Canada’s primary immigration route for skilled workers. This program is highly competitive, using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to assess candidates based on:

Age

Education Level

Work Experience

Language Proficiency (in English or French)

Adaptability Factors (e.g., Canadian work experience or a job offer)

Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria and score highly on the CRS are invited to apply for permanent residency. Express Entry is ideal for individuals with a strong skill set, particularly in high-demand occupations, who are ready to contribute to Canada’s economy.

2. Provincial Nominee Program (PNP): Targeted Immigration for Regional Needs

The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is another key pathway to Canadian permanent residency. Each province or territory in Canada operates its own PNP stream, targeting skilled workers and professionals who can fulfill the specific labor needs of that region. When a province nominates an applicant, the nominee gains 600 additional points under the CRS, greatly enhancing their chances of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residency.

Key Eligibility Requirements for PNP:

Occupation in Demand: Candidates with experience in professions that are in short supply within the province.

Job Offer: Many provinces require a valid job offer from a local employer to nominate applicants.

Connection to the Province: Demonstrated ties to the province, such as previous work experience or education in the region, often strengthen the application.

For those with skills tailored to the regional labor market, PNP is an excellent pathway to permanent residency.

3. Family Sponsorship Program: Reuniting Families

The Family Sponsorship Program allows Canadian citizens or permanent residents to sponsor their spouse, children, dependent parents, and grandparents for permanent residency. This program prioritizes family reunification, ensuring that close relatives can join their family members in Canada and enjoy the same benefits.

Eligibility for Sponsors:

The sponsor must be able to financially support the sponsored family members upon arrival.

A genuine, ongoing relationship with the sponsored individual(s) must be established, particularly in the case of spouses or common-law partners.

Family sponsorship is an ideal option for individuals who have close family members already residing in Canada and wish to reunite.

4. Business and Investor Immigration: For Entrepreneurs and Investors

Canada offers immigration programs designed for entrepreneurs and investors who wish to establish or invest in a Canadian business. These programs are ideal for individuals who can contribute to Canada’s economic growth and job creation.

Key Requirements for Business Immigration:

Investment Capital: Significant financial resources to invest in a Canadian business or startup.

Business Experience: Applicants must demonstrate substantial experience in managing or owning a successful business.

Job Creation: A strong emphasis on creating employment opportunities for Canadian citizens or PR holders.

Programs like the Start-Up Visa Program, Self-Employed Persons Program, and various provincial entrepreneur streams offer viable pathways for business-minded individuals to obtain permanent residency.

General Canada PR Visa Eligibility Criteria

While the eligibility criteria for each immigration program may vary, certain core requirements apply to all Canada PR visa applicants:

Medical Examination: Applicants must undergo a medical examination to ensure they do not pose a public health risk to Canada.

Security and Criminal Background Check: Applicants must provide police certificates from all countries in which they have lived for six months or more since the age of 18.

Proof of Funds: Applicants must demonstrate that they have enough financial resources to support themselves and their dependents after arrival in Canada, unless they have a valid job offer from a Canadian employer.

Language Proficiency: High proficiency in English or French is essential. Most applicants will need to take an approved language test such as IELTS or CELPIP (for English) or TEF (for French) to prove their language skills.

Benefits of Canada PR Visa

A Canada PR visa brings numerous benefits, including:

Permanent Residency Rights: Full authorization to live, work, and study anywhere in Canada.

Access to Canadian Public Services: Eligibility for Canada’s healthcare, educational programs, and other public services.

Pathway to Citizenship: After fulfilling residency requirements, permanent residents can apply for Canadian citizenship, thereby enjoying the benefits of Canadian nationality.

Sponsorship for Family: Ability to sponsor your family members to join you in Canada under the family reunification program.

Conclusion: Navigating Your Path to Canada PR

Canada offers multiple immigration pathways to permanent residency, allowing applicants from diverse backgrounds and skillsets to find a suitable route. Whether you are a skilled worker looking to immigrate via Express Entry, a business professional interested in contributing to the Canadian economy, or a family member seeking to reunite with loved ones, Canada’s immigration system is designed to facilitate your journey toward permanent residency.

Understanding the eligibility criteria, selecting the right immigration stream, and meeting all requirements will help streamline your application. With the right preparation and guidance, obtaining a Canada PR visa in 2024 can be a life-changing decision, opening doors to countless opportunities in one of the world’s most welcoming and prosperous nations.

[talentconnectedworldwide01]

Study in Canada with Ease: All About the Student Direct Stream

Canada, known for its stunning landscapes, multicultural cities, and world-class education system, is a top destination for international students. If you’re considering studying in Canada, you’ll be pleased to know that the country offers a streamlined visa application process called the Student Direct Stream (SDS). This program aims to make it easier and faster for eligible international students to obtain a Canadian study permit. In this article, we’ll delve into all you need to know about the Student Direct Stream in Canada.

What is the Student Direct Stream (SDS)?

The Student Direct Stream is a program launched by the Government of Canada to expedite the study permit application process for students from certain countries. The primary goal of SDS is to provide a faster and more efficient application process, reducing the time it takes to obtain a study permit. SDS is available to students applying for full-time study at designated Canadian learning institutions.

Eligibility Criteria for SDS

To be eligible for the Student Direct Stream, you must meet specific criteria:

Country of Residence: As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, SDS was available for students from the following countries:

China

India

Philippines

Pakistan

Vietnam

Morocco

Senegal

Please note that the list of eligible countries may have expanded since then, so it’s essential to check the official Government of Canada website for the most up-to-date information.

Acceptance at a Designated Learning Institution (DLI): You must have an acceptance letter from a Canadian Designated Learning Institution (DLI). DLIs are universities, colleges, and other educational institutions authorized by the Canadian government to host international students.

Proof of Tuition Payment: You need to provide proof that you’ve paid your tuition for the first year of your study program.

Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC): Some applicants may need to purchase a GIC from a participating Canadian financial institution. This is to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to cover your living expenses in Canada.

IELTS (or equivalent): You must provide proof of language proficiency by taking an approved language test, such as the IELTS. You’ll need a minimum score in each language skill (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) to be eligible.

Medical Exam: You may be required to undergo a medical examination if deemed necessary by the Canadian government.

Make sure check this link:-��Canada PR

Application Process

The application process for SDS is straightforward:

Gather Documents: Collect all the required documents, including your acceptance letter, proof of tuition payment, language test results, and any other documents specified by the Canadian government.

Online Application: Create an online account on the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website and complete the study permit application. Make sure to select “Student Direct Stream” as your application channel.

Biometrics: You may be required to provide biometrics (fingerprints and photograph) at a local Visa Application Center (VAC).

Medical Examination: If needed, complete the required medical examination.

Submission: Submit your application electronically and pay the processing fees.

Wait for Decision: Once your application is submitted, you’ll need to wait for a decision. Processing times may vary, but SDS applications are generally processed faster than regular study permit applications.

Travel to Canada: If your application is approved, you’ll receive a Port of Entry (POE) Letter of Introduction. You can then travel to Canada, where a Border Services Officer will issue your study permit.

Benefits of SDS

Choosing theStudent Direct Stream in Canada offers several advantages:

Faster Processing Times: SDS applications are typically processed faster than regular study permit applications.

Predictable Processing: SDS provides a streamlined and predictable application process, making it easier to plan your study in Canada.

High Success Rate: SDS applications have a high approval rate when applicants meet all the eligibility criteria.

Work While Studying: With a valid study permit, you can work part-time during your studies and full-time during scheduled breaks, enhancing your international student experience.

Pathway to Permanent Residence: Studying in Canada can be a pathway to obtaining Canadian permanent residence, offering opportunities for a bright future in the country.

Conclusion

Studying in Canada can be a life-changing experience, and the Student Direct Stream in Canada makes the process even more accessible for eligible international students. However, it’s crucial to stay updated with the latest requirements and guidelines, as immigration policies and procedures may change over time. For the most current information and to start your application, visit the official website of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). With the right preparation and adherence to the SDS requirements, you can embark on your academic journey in Canada with ease and confidence.

[siaimmigrationsolutionsinc]

How Sia Immigration Can Help You with Studying in Canada and Onshore Admissions

Canada is a popular destination for international students who want to pursue higher education. With world-renowned universities, a welcoming culture, and excellent job opportunities, Canada has become a top choice for students from around the world. However, navigating the complex process of studying in Canada can be daunting, especially when it comes to visa applications and onshore admissions.

This is where Sia Immigration comes in. Sia Immigration is a leading immigration consultant that specializes in helping students with their study visa applications and onshore admissions in Canada. In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of using Sia Immigration for studying in Canada and onshore admissions.

1. Expert guidance

Sia Immigration has a team of experienced consultants who are well-versed in the Canadian immigration system. They can provide you with expert guidance on the study visa application process and help you understand the requirements and documents needed. Their knowledge and experience can save you time and money in the long run, as they can help you avoid common mistakes and delays.

2. Simplified process

Applying for a study visa can be a complex process, with many forms and documents to fill out. Sia Immigration can simplify this process for you by providing you with a clear step-by-step guide. They can also assist you in preparing your application and ensuring that all necessary documents are included. This can help increase your chances of success and reduce the risk of your application being rejected.

3. Onshore admissions

Sia Immigration can also help you with onshore admissions, which can be challenging for international students. Onshore admissions refer to the process of transferring from a college or university outside Canada to one within Canada. Sia Immigration can provide you with advice on the transfer process, including credit transfers and program requirements. They can also help you with the application process, ensuring that you meet all the necessary criteria.

Using Sia Immigration can help you make the most of your study experience in Canada. Their expert guidance, simplified process, and onshore admissions services can help you achieve your goals and make your transition to Canada as smooth as possible.

To learn more about how Sia Immigration can help you with studying in Canada and onshore admissions, visit their website at https://www.siaimmigration.com/canada-student-admissions-and-visa.

[thethief1996]

For the past 100 days, Israel has been waging a genocide campaign in Gaza without any sort of reprieve from western countries. Palestinians are suffering from a human-made famine, surpassing the scale and speed of any other famine enforced in the past 75 years. Healthcare professionals are being cornered into Rafah by constant airstrikes, sniper attacks and bombardments at hospitals, forced to leave patients and medical supplies behind. Unmaned quadcopters opened fire on the maternity and ICU unities of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital and killed 8 civilians. Yesterday, the hospital ran out of fuel and the babies in incubators might die anytime soon. Only 127 aid trucks are being allowed into Gaza of the 500 allowed before the war, under "normal" blockade conditions. The distribution of food and water is made basically impossible by the destruction of communications and the looming threat of executions against people gathered to receive it. Just today snipers killed 3 people in line to receive food in Gaza City and Israel officials have the gall to say the problem is that humanitarian organizations, whose volunteers are being executed at unprecedent rates, aren't putting in enough effort. The IDF drops leaflets telling desperate refugees to flee and then station tanks on the roads or bombs the safe zones.

Ever since I read South Africa's submission to the ICJ I can't stop thinking about how they label it as the demication of Gaza and its people. On every sphere of the government, there are statements calling for the anihilation of the people of Gaza (pages 59 to 67). The Prime Minister has directly adressed the army telling them to wipe off the amalekites (page 60), and South Africa showed tiktoks of the soldiers repeating his speech word for word before committing massacres. And yet they have the gall to come to the world and say they haven't targeted hospitals, they haven't withheld aid and that the statements are "random assertions." To prove that Netanyahu isn't a blood thirsty pig, they pasted a statement he made ONE DAY before the hearing started, which is frankly ridiculous we're supposed to believe isn't a PR stunt (page 34).

No western outlet streamed the highest stake court hearing in the 21st century, but you can rest assured they streamed Israel's pathetic defense. And Canada, Germany, the UK and the US, countries which have in no way reckoned with their own genocidal pasts, have come forward in defense of Israel like they have any moral high ground to patronize the world about genocide.

Take action, for their sake. Motaz has said "Don't call yourself a free person if you can't make changes. If you can't stop a genocide that is still ongoing". We need to fight in any way we can to stop their massacre.

Keep yourself updated and share Palestinian voices. Muna El-Kurd said every tweet is like a treasure to them, because their voices are repressed on social media and even on this very app. Make it your action item to share something about the Palestinian plight everyday. Here are some resources:

Al Jazeera, Anadolu Agency, Mondoweiss

Boycott Divest Sanction Movement

Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing protests and direct action against weapons factories across the US

Mohammed El-Kurd (twitter / instagram)

Muhammad Shehada (twitter)

Motaz Azaiza (instagram) - reporting directly from Gaza.

Hind Khudary - reporting directly from Gaza. Her husband and daughter moved South to run from the tanks but she stayed behind to record the genocide. The least we can do is not let her calls fall on deaf ears.

You can participate in boycotts wherever you are in the world, through BDS guidelines. Don't be overwhelmed by gigantic boycott lists. BDS explicitly targets only a few brands which have bigger impact. Right now, they are focusing on boycotting the following:

Carrefour, HP, Puma, Sabra, Sodastream, Ahava cosmetics, McDonalds, Disney and Israeli fruits and vegetables

Push for a cultural boycott - pressure your favorite artist to speak out on Palestine and cancel any upcoming performances on occupied territory (Lorde cancelled her gig in Israel because of this. It works.)

If you can, participate in direct action or donate.

Palestine Action works to shut down Israeli weapons factories in the UK and USA, and have successfully shut down one of their firms in London.Some of the activists are going on trial and are calling for mobilizing on court.

Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing direct actions to stop the shipping of wars to Israel. Follow them.

Educate yourself. Read into Palestinian history and the occupation. You can't common sense people out of decades of propaganda. If your arguments crumble when a zionist brings up the "disengagement of Gaza", you have to learn more.

Read Decolonize Palestine. They have 15 minute reads that concisely explain the occupation (and its colonial roots) and debunk popular myths, including pinkwashing.

Read on Palestine. Here's an amazing masterpost.

Verso Book Club is giving out free books on Palestine (I personally downloaded Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappe. If you still believe in the two states solution, this book by an Israeli professor debunks it).

Call your representatives. The Labour Party in the UK had an emergency meeting after several councilors threatened to resign if they didn't condemn Israeli war crimes. Calling to show your complaints works, even more if you live in a country that funds genocide.

FOR PEOPLE IN THE USA: USCPR has developed this toolkit for calls, here's a document that autosends emails to your representatives and here's a toolkit by Ceasefire in Gaza NOW!

FOR PEOPLE IN EUROPE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace targeting the European Parliament and one specific for almost all countries in Europe, including Germany, Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Greece, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Austria, Belgium Romania and Ukraine

FOR PEOPLE IN THE UK: Friends of Al-Aqsa UK and Palestine Solidarity UK have made toolkits for calls and emails

FOR PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA: Here's a toolkit by Stand With Palestine

FOR PEOPLE IN CANADA: Here's a toolkit by Indepent Jewish Voices for Canada

Join a protest. Here's a constantly updating list of protests:

Global calendar

Another global calendar (go to the instragram of the organizers to confirm your protest)

USA calendar

Australia calendar

Feel free to add more.

[lindszeppelin]

Whatever was going on with Austin and Kaia was never serious. This year has made it pretty clear. Especially on Austin's end. He's never been serious about Kaia or a future with her. We been knowing that though. I believe Kaia was an extended rebound. Austin is over Vanessa for sure. But I don't think he was in any rush to be in another long term, serious relationship. Kaia was desperate to be on the arm of a hotshot actor, so their PR people got together and the rest is history.

The fact Austin went to the press about his frustrations with Kaia says a lot. Not allowing Kaia to even walk the red carpet alone at his movie premiere was very telling. Many other actors in relationships with another celeb will walk a carpet by themselves to show support. The fact Austin shut that down, very telling. Kaia got what she needed from the night with some damage control. But after that, Austin has given her nothing. She tried all summer to make it seem like they were good with forced paparazzi walks. But every single time, Austin gave nothing. No smiles. No kisses. Not even a glance in her direction. But with anyone else he's all smiles. Same with Kaia.

Austin has been avoiding her as much as he can. Distancing himself from her messed up family. Presley is messed up. Kaia is messed up. No wonder if didn't want to spend time in Canada with these people. Not going to a family wedding, he's not serious about Kaia. Vanessa was in his sister's bridal party. But that's because he was serious about her. Kaia, not so much.

Kaia got dumped. Now she's doing the absolute most. Austin is busy and doesn't have to be subjected to her nonsense anymore. That's where Corey comes in.

I have a feeling November is when the announcement will come. Kaia will be done promoting the SNL movie. Austin will still be busy filming his movie.

Could not agree more with this analysis! The announcement will come at any time. The L&S article suggested the end of summer would be the end of them, which has happened and it has come true. The article will of course take some time to make sure it is the right time for their PR teams to agree upon. Perhaps whenever Kaia is finished promoting her movies and she's not working will it happen. I could imagine that if it were to come out now that she would be an easier target for the press to ask her about it while she's doing these press tours, so I think her PR team is like "kaia doesn't need that". Hence why i feel like a possible time for it to occur would be after her press tours.

[thedeviltohisangel]

FOR A FORTNIGHT THERE WE WERE

A little something about Evelyn and Callum at the screening in LA last weekend xoxo

“Do you want to go to the Dodgers game tomorrow night?” Ev had been daydreaming out the window of the Escalade currently taking them to a screening and reception of Masters of the Air.

“Sure that’d be fun.” He held her hand in between them and brought it to his lips.

“You feeling ok? You’ve been quiet the whole ride.”

“Just preemptively tired. I have to fly to New York Monday morning for the premiere.” More and more recently she had just wanted to cocoon herself in blankets at their home, wherever that may be, and never leave. She hoped it wasn’t another bout of depression rearing its ugly head. “I’ve just been feeling a little different lately. Like I’m back in the same headspace I was before we started filming. I don’t know. I can’t explain it.” While he hadn’t known her well before Masters of the Air, he had only met her a few times at parties, he had known she was not herself that first day of their chemistry read.

“You’ve been super fucking busy between press for dragon and press for this and the fact that you insist you can try to be in New York and Scotland in the same day-“ that got a smile across her face “-maybe your body is just telling you it needs to rest a little bit.”

“You forgot that I’m the best girlfriend ever and have been flying to Vancouver every chance to see you,” she teased. “Please add that to your list.” Callum laughed and threw his arm around her should to pull her in close.

“I love you. Wouldn’t want you any other way but want you to take care of yourself. If you need a break, you need a break.” But breaks meant silence and Evelyn had never really been good in the silence.

“Having you back in LA this weekend is kind of like a break.” They’d spent the day lounging in bed before walking Golo to a farmers market, buying flowers and bagels and plants for the herb garden Evelyn had started tending to in their back yard. No one had stopped them for selfies and if people were taking photos, she hadn’t bothered to notice. It had felt good and normal to hold his hand and live her life if only for a few hours.

“You made me pinky promise to still spend every weekend with you while filming!” She giggled as the car pulled up to the curb to drop them off, her publicist, assistant and representatives from the Apple PR department waiting to greet them.

“I did and so far that’s meant me going to Canada and not the other way around. So technically I only encumbered myself with that one.” The longer they were together, the more horrible being apart felt. They were both committed to not letting distance get the best of them during the busiest year of their life. Every weekend one of them was on a plane to go be with the other. They were two halves of the same whole and wouldn’t survive if kept apart. “Hi Tracy,” she greeted as Callum held her hand to help her out of the car.

“Hi you two.” Evelyn wrapped her in a hug and then gripped his hand tightly as he led them in the direction of the party. She made sure to wave to fans that had collected on the sidewalk and posed for some photos from afar as they held their phones up. “Let’s make sure you get an individual shot with all the other actors here for from the other shows and then we can do all the cast group shots at once, okay?” Ev nodded as she took a welcome drink and smiled, a line of people already forming to talk to her and try and snap a selfie for their social media. She greeted all of them with a practiced ease that had them feeling like they were the only person in the world with her for those few moments. It was a skill that she had honed early in her career and had fared her very well.

“I got to go check on that handsome lad over there but I’ll find you after!” She kissed Maya Rudolph’s cheeks and did her best to not get pulled aside too many times on her way to Callum.

“Must be hard to be so popular,” Gary teased as Ev hugged him tightly.

“Can’t take you anywhere,” Cal mumbled as he leaned down to kiss her. She smiled against his lips and used her hand on his neck to keep him there for an extra peck.

“I can’t hide when I’ve got a bean stalk following me around so I might as well embrace the attention.” Gary laughed, her arms wrapping around Callum’s waist and cheek resting on his chest.

“You two are so good together. I take all the credit.” Gary had been there when they’d met at the chemistry. Had watched the infatuation only increase from that moment forward. Not so subtlety, Evelyn noticed his eyes flicker to her bare ring finger and deflate a little. “I’m going to go make sure everything’s set in the theater. I’ll see you both in there.” She kissed his cheek in farewell and Cal offered him a one handed hug.

“You good? Need another drink?” Evelyn shook her head and rested her chin on her chest so she could look up at him.

“I love you. Just happy to be here with you. Happy that we can keep celebrating this show that brought us together.” He dropped a kiss to her nose.

“I love you even more, how about that?” It earned him a giggle as she turned to remove herself from his embrace, Callum kissing the top of her head as she sighed.

“I’ve got a few more people to get photos with before Tracy yells at me. I’ll find you before the cast photos.”

“Love you, baby.” An arm around her shoulders pulled her back into his orbit so he could kiss her again.

“Love you, Cali Wali.” He blushed at the little nickname she normally saved for the privacy of one of their homes. “Handsome when you blush.”

“Good thing you think so cause I seem to do it a lot around you.” She almost let it slip that she hoped their future kids inherited his propensity for handsome blushing. But she bit her tongue just in time. Since their pregnancy scare a couple weeks ago, Evelyn hadn’t been able to stop thinking about a baby. Like the moment in time where it might have been true had opened a door inside of her. There was still no strong desire in her bones to get married again but now there was one to become a mother. To share in that honor with the man in front of her. “Where’d you go, Ev?” He furrowed his brows and brushed some hair from her cheek.

“Sorry. Just thinking for a minute. I’ll see you in a little bit.” With a final kiss to his cheek, she was off before he could reel her back in. She didn’t know how to broach the conversation. Didn’t know how he’d react to her rejection of his attempts at proposing but her desire to have a child. Would he feel confused? Betrayed? Like he couldn’t have what he wanted but was expected to give her what she wanted? Her hand shook as she made her way towards Karen and Josiah with a smile. The more distractions, the better.

-

Anthony gave her the loudest kiss on the cheek she had ever received and Evelyn giggled at the tickling sensation.

“Missed you, pretty girl,” he smiled as she hugged him and the cameras snapped endlessly.

“Anto, what the fuck is on your face?” she teased as she poked the facial hair.

“Swoon all you want.”

“Bel and I show up looking like ladies, Cal and Nate even shaved for this and you brought that.” Cal rested his arm around her shoulders and her hand reached up to twine their fingers together.

“You loved the mustache when Cal had it!”

“Not a great argument,” Bel cautioned.

“Okay let’s gather round and smile at the camera.” They all set their laughing aside to smile professionally, Evelyn not allowing Callum to move his hand, her arm around his waist where she stood on the end. Fully in his embrace exactly where she liked to be.

“Everyone make sure you come to the screening. Evelyn will be giving a speech!” Anthony announced to laughs from the crowd and a loving roll of Evelyn’s eyes.

“I’ll give one to spare you the pain, baby,” Callum offered.

“I’m claiming the Emmy speech, Anthony. And you won’t be mentioned if you keep up this behavior.” Anthony stuck his tongue out as she chased after him towards the theater. Everyone laughing at their sibling banter the entire way.

“Don’t let that one go.” Callum looked over at Gary.

“I’m trying my best,” he joked back. “Doesn’t get any better than her. Than this.”

He caught her gaze over her shoulder as she looked to make sure he was coming up behind her. Yeah. This. This was once in a lifetime.

[puckgoss]

Hiya! All-Star Anon 👋🏻

Yes, Jack wasn’t playing, I meant before their team started playing that they were told to solve it. They were co-captains and had to work together so they couldn’t be immature.

I was backstage because of work! I work in media here in Canada and there was a lot of other people there. Not PR to make it clear, otherwise I probably shouldn’t be saying all this. Just media content which is why I can confidently talk about the players’ attitude, they always show their true colors when dealing with other people giving them directions 😉

Barzal is a nice. He was nice to all of us but he is also a typical hockey jock. Prominent vocal fry when talking to his boys haha. Saw him approaching Tate McCrae pretty often when in the dressing rooms, laughing and all. Looked flirty. He also laughed a lot with Justin and Bublé. He drinks a lot of coffee, one day he drank 2 cups like in a row, didn’t even let the first one kick in. I think he seems very influenced and tries to fit in a lot, because his personality seems very force. He’s like trapped inside the body of a hot hockey player and he acts like it. But still nice. He’s great pals with Matthews too. They were very cute pre-games with bro-hugs and pep talks.

heeeyyyy

barzal: lol vocal fry. "trapped inside the body of a hot hockey player" pls 💀

ahahah oh biz. he's gross but he he's def got that BDE. and ya he does seem like he has genuine relationships w a lot of the players so that doesn't surprise me!

[allthecanadianpolitics]

I'm the anon who asked about non-citizens signing petitions. I'm an immigrant myself so I just wanted to clarify that I wasn't suggesting anyone's opinion is worth less due to their immigration status. I thought that resident in this case referred to people in the country on TRVs as well. For certain intents and purposes you're considered a resident of Canada if you're in the country for something like 6 months on a TRV. While some people in that situation go on to become PRs and citizens, a lot don't and don't want to which was what I meant when I referred to MPs caring about their thoughts on foreign policy. I was just speaking from a strategy point of view of making a particular topic an issue at the ballot box to pressure a change in direction from elected officials. PRs infinitely more likely to become voting citizens in the near future.

But thank you for explaining, I appreciate it!

~~~~

[gascon-en-exil]

a non-FE question from a person with a tenuous familial connection to quebec (anglo father adopted by a québécois couple) who's always curious about the different francophone experiences: my dad spent a lot of time in new orleans and loved it, but how do the new orleans francophones generally regard the québécois? are there any particular culture clashes?

Unfortunately there aren't many actual culture clashes because there's so little contact. Louisiana and Québec are separated by thousands of kilometers and a national border, and everything from vastly different climates to separate experience with resisting forced assimilation has caused us to diverge from one another quite substantially. I'm glad that I've made friends in Québec, and it seems like every week we're discovering some point of commonality we share in spite of everything that divides us, but that's an entirely personal connection that I sought out myself. Just a few days ago for example a few of them were sharing this post on Facebook:

and they asked me to tell them more about Louisiana king cakes, our spin on the traditional French galettes des rois which are still prepared in Québec apparently just as they are in France.

But let's see if I can condense our biggest differences to some bullet points.

Language: Québec is well known for being a majority French-speaking province, whereas Louisiana is...not. Practically all of the Louisianais are fluent English speakers, because starting from the 1870s French in Louisiana was stigmatized and systemically excluded from education, business, and politics. In recent decades there have been attempts at reviving the language, but they've been slow to take root without a foundation in the home to build upon. Both the Louisianais and Québécois practice code switching (the linguistic term for switching between languages in casual conversation), albeit in opposite ways. The Québécois speak mostly French but will include occasional English words and phrases in their speech, whereas as mentioned the Louisianais primarily communicate in English but use a variety of French terms and names as well as direct English translations of French not used in standard English (ex. "making groceries," a literal translation of faire les courses). This stark contrast is because of...

Population and politics: I won't pretend to understand the Québécois political system in any real depth. I do get however that a large part of the reason that they've been able to maintain a limited degree of autonomy as well as preserve their language is that ethnic French people vastly outnumber Anglos in Québec, and Québec constitutes a much larger percentage of Canada's population and economy than Louisiana does the US's, even back in the 19th century when New Orleans was a much larger city relative to the rest of the US than it is today. Beginning shortly after the Louisiana Purchase, Anglo-Americans began moving into northern and central Louisiana, establishing settlements and slowly pushing southward toward and even into New Orleans. This combined with various political maneuvers that progressively weakened Creole control in the area - splitting what are now coastal Mississippi and Alabama, which had initially been settled by the French, off from Louisiana, moving the capital from New Orleans to a then-barely-inhabited upriver border fort: Baton Rouge, which is mostly Anglo-populated despite the name - resulted in the Louisianais having far less control over our own state than what the Québécois have. Compound that with the aforementioned stigmatization of the French language, and many of the Louisianais have been left feeling disenfranchised and unwilling to participate in national politics. Louisiana is a "red state," in US political parlance, because its biggest voting demographic consists of the very same sort of people that make up the surrounding Bible Belt. Speaking of...

Religion: Québec had its Quiet Revolution in the 1960s, largely removing the presence of the Catholic Church and moving closer to France's model of laïcité/secularism. By contrast, Catholicism is still a highly visible element of life and culture in southern Louisiana, and Catholic education continues to be the standard in New Orleans. This is down to several factors, ranging from the poor quality of public services (not helped, surely, by the voters of northern Louisiana who like US conservatives in general recoil in horror from anything that might be dubbed socialism) to a matter of cultural preservation. The Bible Belt is an aggressively Protestant region, dominated by denominations that have historically held Catholics in poor regard. The US at large also has a long history of anti-Catholic discrimination, particularly in large cities like Boston and Chicago where Catholic immigrants formed a large percentage of the working classes. Southern Louisiana, however, has been majority Catholic since the colony's founding over three centuries ago, and presided over by specifically Latin Catholics in spirit if not in actual practice for all that time. The Louisianais have used that to make allies of other Catholic populations who've moved here, mostly the Spanish and Italians but also more recent immigrants like the Vietnamese. While I wouldn't describe most of us as religious in the sense that the US conceives of that term (I'm certainly not), Catholicism is still a crucial part of our heritage and the preservation of this region as a cultural enclave. I've had trolls calling me a conservative religious nut job because I call myself a Catholic, and yet ironically here we associate the Church with the city's decadent and libertine atmosphere. The focus on visual aesthetics, the relaxed attitude toward alcohol and sex and even sin itself...it's all in sharp contrast to the austerity of Bible Belt Protestants who descend upon New Orleans at regular intervals to protest Mardi Gras and Decadence and call us the new Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. And finally...

Climate: I said it before and it's a comparatively much more straightforward issue, but it really does make a difference. When we're in the height of our social season courtesy of mild subtropical winters, Québec is buried under snow. The reverse is true in summer, which in Louisiana is long and lethally hot and humid and plagued by disease-bearing insects and the ever-present threat of hurricanes. This has also affected our cuisine. Louisiana has a rich and internationally-recognized culinary tradition that builds upon a French foundation with a wealth of local innovations based on crops that thrive in this climate as well as the bounty of the Gulf of Mexico. Québec has...poutine. Obviously I'm joking a bit there, but it's telling that there are multiple Louisiana-themed eateries in Montréal - but the reverse is not true. I've always heard that hot weather climates produce richer and more diverse cuisines than cold weather climates, and I suppose that in this case at least it's true.

[the-last-rat-standing]

Tin Star (My thoughts on all 3 seasons)

There's a lot to unpack here now that I've watched it all, including how my feelings of it shifted as the seasons went on, particularly into season 3. So, pour yourself a drink. Spoilers, of course, to follow.

When I went to other sites to see discussions about this show, I came across so many posts that criticized the show for being unrealistic and over the top, and I think those viewers missed the point completely. Nearly everyone on this show is fucked up in some way; it's just a matter of where they fall on the Fucked Up scale. Jim/Jack, Angela and Anna are 3 very fucked up people and there can't possibly be a happy ending for them (can there?). I don't think this show is meant to be absorbed in a linear/tie up loose ends/believable way. You only have to see the amount of blood in the first few episodes to know you're going to be asked to suspend your disbelief for the entire ride. And if you can do that, it's one hell of a ride.

I'm not going to break down each season, because to be honest, there's a LOT going on and a lot more characters interacting than you might think. I will say, the oil company is a complete fake-out in terms of plot. Yes, Gagnon and North Stream Oil do play a part, but it is so removed from what you expect it to be. They start out as the Big Bad and that lasts for about 3 episodes until their PR spokesperson (Elizabeth) discovers -shock!- that the company is dirty. That really becomes the first domino that sets the rest of the action in motion for about half of the characters. (Angela, Elizabeth, Jacyln, then later in season 2, Johan and his family.) The other half get caught up in the people sent to Little Big Bear to kill Jim/Jack. Among those people is a  young man who has a past with Jack. That really is the gist of season 1 and 2, but jfc, it is crazy dark. And a LOT of black humour.

(GIF credits go to @timrothgifs, and let me just say, as I was perusing their blog for gifs, I saw so many that made me go, "Oh, I had blotted that scene out of my brain." Lol!)

I enjoyed seasons 1 and 2 once I got used to the Neo-Noir aspect of it and stopped looking for realism or consequence. S2 for me went a bit off the rails and not in a good way, primarily because it almost wasn't crazy enough? Like, you set me up after season 1, but season 2 was mostly Jack being a loose cannon with no real direction. Moments from season 1 didn't seem to matter in season 2 even though many of the plotlines remained. It felt convoluted and muddled and it wasn't until the big finale that things got sorted.

Season 3 leaves Canada behind and the Worth family (Jack/Angela/Anna) go to Liverpool to basically kill everyone who is a threat to them. No, really, they have a literal list. Season 3 is batshit bonkers in a way that I can only say, I bet the actors had a really good time filming it. So many moments felt like the writers had certain scenes in mind and they were going to put them in an episode even if they had to write around the scene to make it fit. And there was a sense that the actors were told to make it up as they went along, so they did and it was hilarious. Here again is the point where you have to accept none of this could ever, ever happen. The soap in the sock scene, where Jack gets bashed in the head, repeatedly, but is A-OK enough 10 minutes later to escape? Yeah no. And that's just one of many scenes that are so over the top that you can't possibly be expected to think this is remotely possible. So just sit back and enjoy it.  

Let me talk about the show in general rather than specific plot points and such. (Though I do wonder if Thomas is still running somewhere in his oversized bullet proof vest that Angela gave him.)

Something that often doesn't get pointed out by reviewers because they're not from Canada, I give the show all the credit in the world for being honest about our attitude towards the Native population in this country, and in particular, Native women. There are some painful truths spoken on this show, and when it's the Irish woman who points it out, it's even more reprehensible. Might be the only actual point of realism in the entire show, to be fair.

They had different directors for different episodes, but they were all very good at pacing and knowing when to pull the suspension like taffy and when to hit you right in the face. The opening scene in season 1 is so beautifully paced and the tension was so brilliantly drawn out that when the Moment happens, it's like someone popping a balloon. There are many scenes throughout the show that do this, all the while not undermining things by doing the fake scares/Big Scares that so many directors often do. The deaths of Whitey, Gagnon, Johan and Helen are longer scenes where you know exactly how they'll end, but the director is in no hurry to get there. Then there are scenes where you think will be drawn out that happen in the blink of an eye, and that's when you appreciate how they've quietly set you up for the shock. (Mary, Sarah, Jaclyn (!!), the priest, Jesse and his father, Lunt, just to name a handful.) Then you have the deaths we don't see but we know they happen- Frank, Rosa (!!) and Michael. Just some really good balancing to keep us involved.

As you can imagine by the amount of names listed, don't get attached to anyone. I mean it. You will have your heart fucking broken more than once if you do.

The acting is spot on, from the leads to the supporting cast. Everyone was perfect for the role they were given and even the smallest part had something important to do. The chemistry between Tim Roth and Genevieve O'Reilly was off the fucking charts, though, and their characters are so, so fucked up that they are perfect for each other. I never did warm to Anna, but that wasn't the fault of Abigail Lawrie; that was just my deep abiding annoyance of the character. 

I almost think you can watch season 3 on its own, because there is no carry over from seasons 1 or 2. Now, you'll miss the slow dawning of realization of how off the wall the characters and the plot is, and maybe you're the type of viewer who needs 5-7 episodes to get the feel of a show and what the showrunners are trying to accomplish. Season 3 only has 6 episodes, so you're not going to get that there. But if you can hop into something feet first with little lead-up and are ready for a large body count and black humour, then S3 will be right up your alley.

As for the ending -which I'm not going to spoil completely- I think we have to go back to the idea that we're not meant to view things through a 'real' lens. If we'd been given any indication that there was a semblance of realism up to the end of season 3, then sure, the end is fatalistic and that's that. But think about what they've been through up to that point. Would it be so far-fetched (for the show) for the ending to not be anything more than a, ahem, jumping off point for their new life?

I don't even know if I can recommend this show. Lol! It's so not at all what you're going to think it is going into it. I mean, here's the Google summary:

Deep in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, a recently emigrated police sheriff and his family try their best to survive in a charming mountain town rife with crime and corruption. Sheriff Jim Worth struggles with the ghosts of his past as he attends AA meetings, and his wife, Angela, tries to integrate in the town of Little Big Bear. At the same time, a massive oil company, North Stream Oil, opens a refinery just out of town, bringing with it a swath of migrant workers, rising crime levels, and pollution. When a friend of Jim's dies under mysterious circumstances written off as a suicide, he butts heads with representatives of the oil firm when he tries to uncover the truth of the matter.

Um… yeah but no? I mean, it would be like me summarizing 'Alien' as: "A group of space garbage collectors pick up something that could change their lives forever."

It is so barely scratching the surface of the show that I'm sure I wasn't the only one who got 4 episodes in and went, "What the fuck am I watching? I was led to believe—"  Well, don't believe it. But if you like Neo-Noir (almost) ultra-violent vengeance stories where you blindly wave away the protagonist's body count because sometimes he's actually likeable, sprinkled with a liberal dash of sex appeal and dark humour, then this is totally the show for you. Don't expect to learn much about Canada, though, (except how beautiful it is). Trust me, I'm Canadian.

Oh, and the person in charge of music has picked some perfect songs. I've made a short playlist of some of the songs, but if you want all of them, go here: https://www.tunefind.com/show/tin-star/season-1/52281

Here's a playlist of my favourites that I hope links properly:

If you give this show a shot, to let me know. I would LOVE to talk to you about it!

[abhishekdigi-blog]

The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is a powerful tool for doctors seeking permanent residency (PR) in Canada. Each Canadian province and territory manages its own PNP, allowing it to target specific professions in demand, including medical professionals. By participating in PNPs, doctors can streamline their immigration process, fill critical healthcare gaps, and establish their careers in regions that require their expertise.

1. Provincial Priority for Healthcare Professionals

Many PNPs have specific streams or categories dedicated to healthcare workers, including doctors. Provinces like Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia often have medical professions on their in-demand occupation lists. This prioritization means doctors have a higher likelihood of receiving a nomination, which accelerates their path to Canada PR.

Targeted Occupation Streams: Provinces use data on healthcare shortages to create streams specifically targeting doctors and other healthcare professionals, ensuring they meet local healthcare demands.

Direct Path to PR: A nomination from a province adds 600 CRS points to an applicant’s Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, almost guaranteeing an invitation to apply for PR in subsequent Express Entry draws.

2. Aligned with Express Entry

Many PNPs are aligned with the federal Express Entry system, allowing doctors to maximize their chances for selection. Through an Express Entry-aligned PNP stream, provinces can nominate doctors directly, greatly boosting their CRS score. For those who have already submitted an Express Entry profile, a provincial nomination can effectively secure an invitation to apply for PR.

Increased CRS Points: A PNP nomination provides a substantial CRS score boost, which is especially beneficial for doctors with lower CRS scores.

Faster PR Process: Express Entry-aligned PNP streams reduce processing times for doctors, who can often expect faster application handling compared to standalone PR applications.

3. Specialized Pathways and Flexibility

Some provinces, like British Columbia and Saskatchewan, have unique healthcare-focused streams under their PNPs. These pathways cater specifically to medical professionals, making it easier for doctors to qualify even if they do not meet the exact criteria of general Express Entry streams.

Health-Specific Categories: Provinces may offer categories exclusively for healthcare workers, ensuring a streamlined application for doctors.

Job Offers and Community Support: In regions where job offers are required, PNPs facilitate connections between doctors and healthcare institutions in need, offering additional support for integration into local communities.

Conclusion

For doctors aiming for PR in Canada, the Provincial Nominee Program offers a pathway that aligns well with both career goals and immigration success. With healthcare-specific streams, high CRS boosts, and direct ties to provincial demand, PNPs provide doctors with an efficient route to Canada PR and long-term opportunities to contribute to Canada’s healthcare system.

[talentconnectedworldwide01]

Step to Success with Student Direct Stream in Canada

Are you dreaming of studying in Canada? The Student Direct Stream (SDS) is a fantastic option for students looking to fast-track their Canadian study visa application. In this article, we’ll break down the steps to success with the Student Direct Stream in Canada using simple language.

Step 1: Eligibility Check

Before you start, make sure you’re eligible for the Student Direct Stream. You need to meet certain requirements, such as:

Being a legal resident in one of the SDS-eligible countries (like India, China, Philippines, and more).

Having a valid acceptance letter from a designated learning institution in Canada.

Proving that you’ve paid your first year’s tuition fees.

Taking a medical exam if necessary.

Showing you have a minimum amount of money to cover living expenses.

Step 2: Gather Required Documents

To apply for SDS, you’ll need several important documents. These typically include:

Passport: Make sure it’s valid for the duration of your study in Canada.

Passport-sized photos: Follow the Canadian government’s guidelines for photo specifications.

Acceptance letter: Get this from your Canadian school.

Proof of tuition payment: Show that you’ve paid your first year’s tuition.

IELTS test results: You’ll need a certain score in English or French, depending on your program.

Proof of finances: Bank statements or certificates showing you have enough money.

Medical exam results: If required, visit an approved panel physician.

Step 3: Create an Online Account

Visit the Canadian government’s website to create an online account. You’ll need to provide accurate information, so double-check everything before submitting.

Step 4: Pay the Fees

Once you’ve filled out your application, you’ll need to pay the processing fees. Be sure to keep the receipt as proof of payment.

Step 5: Submit Your Application

Upload all your documents to your online account. Review them carefully to ensure everything is complete and accurate. Any mistakes could slow down the process.

Step 6: Biometrics Appointment

If asked, schedule a biometrics appointment at a local Application Support Centre. This involves providing fingerprints and photos.

make sure check this link:- Canada PR

Step 7: Wait for Processing

Now, it’s time to be patient. The processing time varies, so keep an eye on your online account for updates.

Step 8: Medical Exam

If you haven’t already, complete your medical exam. Make sure the results are sent directly to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Step 9: Visa Approval

If everything goes smoothly, you’ll receive a Port of Entry (POE) Letter of Introduction. This isn’t your study permit but allows you to travel to Canada.

Step 10: Travel to Canada

With your POE letter in hand, you can now travel to Canada. At the port of entry, an officer will examine your documents and may issue your study permit.

Step 11: Study and Succeed

Congratulations! You’ve made it to Canada. Now, it’s time to focus on your studies and make the most of your educational journey.

Remember, the Student Direct Stream is designed to expedite the visa process, but it’s essential to meet all the requirements and provide accurate information to ensure a smooth application process. Good luck with your studies in Canada!

[dirtanddistance]

Grandma's Marathon 2024 Race Recap: Sometimes, you PR. Other times, you're just trying to stay out of the ER.

A wise woman once told me "a marathon in 20 miles of hope and 6.2 miles of truth." At the 2024 Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, I can confidently say I did not get a full 20 miles of hope, and certainly got more than 6.2 miles of truth.

The first question you might be asking yourself about this race report is, "What on Earth were you doing in Duluth, Minnesota? You live in Canada. Your brother who went with you lives in Florida. You are not trying to qualify for Boston. If you were trying to qualify for Boston you are a day trip away from any number of other net downhill qualifying races. Explain yourself." Dear reader, winding up spending a long weekend in Minnesota with my brother is the consequence of a pact that we made last year to run a destination race (a marathon - this detail will matter later) together every year now that we do not live near each other, and we both are very much into running far. We both compiled wish lists of sorts for marathons we thought would be great adventures to go on together, and after running the Vancouver Marathon together last year, it was my brother's turn to choose. I honestly do not know what exactly made him select Grandma's Marathon, but of course as it is a very well reviewed and beloved event in the marathon world, it made it onto his list. I did not check his math on this decision. We signed up when registration opened, virtual high fived at our brilliant decision, and carried on with our lives.

We were not fully aware of the logistics that would come for us in the ensuing months. As you might have noticed, there is no mention of 'booking flights' or 'reserving hotel rooms' in our initial description. And that would be because we did not do any of those things until about 2 months before the race. I can confidently tell you that everyone else on the internet is right when they tell you that you should be booking your hotel for Grandma's the day after the previous year's race. We were ready to book an RV 38 miles outside of town on AirBnb before I finally found a hotel room with a much more reasonable location and amenities. Holding my nose and paying for the hotel room aside, it was time to book flights. Duluth, Minnesota is conveniently located pretty much between Florida and British Columbia, which sounds like a good compromise for two people 3,000 miles apart seeking a destination to meet in. What this does not mention is the fact that flying into the Duluth airport is prohibitively expensive, and you will be flying into Minneapolis, renting a car, and driving two and a half hours to Duluth instead. Now, for two siblings who haven't caught up in a minute, this is not a massive imposition and allowed for a memorable side quest for tacky souvenirs at the Mall of America. However, it is a less charming feature when you have to get back to the airport for one sibling's 9am flight on Monday morning after the race. All of this to say, if you are considering Grandma's Marathon, do not overlook the logistical details.

Warnings out of the way, I rolled out of bed at 3am on a Thursday morning and dragged myself through YVR onto what was thankfully a direct flight to Minneapolis. After an unremarkable plane ride (as unremarkable as hurtling through the sky in a metal tube to a destination over a thousand miles away), I landed in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and lumbered off the jetway to the sight of my little brother, clad in a matching pickleball jacket and shorts set with his Pit Viper sunglasses and a coffee in hand. We found our way to the car rental counter, where we discovered our first hurdle of the trip: some kind of crisis which resulted in us standing in a line for about an hour to pick up the rental car. This left us plenty of time to commiserate about air travel and snap a selfie for our ever-concerned mother. Car keys in hand, we rolled out to find some lunch at the famed Mall of America. Now, the Mall of America is the largest mall in the United States, maybe all of North America, I don't know. I find this claim a bit spurious because while it is a very big mall which contains an entire theme park and aquarium, a number of the retail stores are DUPLICATES. Which, fine, maybe you do need multiple Caribou Coffee locations in case fatigue strikes while you're several floors and a couple of wings separated from the coffee shop, but I will draw the line at multiple Bath and Body Works location in a single mall. This is the American Excess they warn you about. Anyway, we wandered the Nickelodeon Universe and wax nostalgic about the icons of our childhood before finding our way to the food court, the ultimate lunch destination for diametrically different dietary needs travel parties. I snagged the largest acai bowl I've ever seen (it was called 'yacht' size and while I don't think it could fit an entire Leonardo DiCaprio and whichever model he is currently dating, it was still a formidable opponent even for as hungry as I was) and waited up while my brother fetched a fried chicken sandwich meal from Popeye's, which he would later admit to regretting. We then proceeded to put in our first 10,000 steps in the land of 10,000 lakes by wandering every wing of every floor of the Mall of America in search of the perfect tacky treats to bring back to our loved ones and also so that we could say we'd walked the entire Mall of America and seen everything it had to offer. As someone who grew up in a state known for its endless theme park offerings and moved somewhere known for its endless natural amenities while also having tons of large and vibrant indoor shopping malls, I can't say that the Mall of America was for me, but if you ever happen to find yourself in the Twin Cities it was an interesting stop (and there is a food for every appetite in that food court).

Several hours, a stop at the oldest Target location, and numerous gossip topics later, we found ourselves at the hotel in Superior, Wisconsin. When the race materials suggested that the entire surrounding area was really invested in this event, I was not prepared for the random Holiday Inn we were staying at to be completely decked out for marathon weekend. Balloon banners, buckets of bananas and water bottles, little party favor bags in the rooms with more snacks and sunscreen and race-day instruction printouts. I have never been to an event where the city so thoroughly embraces the race weekend energy. We settled in before exhaustedly conceding that we did in fact have to eat dinner, and dragged ourselves to the Perkins across the street where we reminisced about our family's long abandoned ritual of weekly dinner at Perkin's after church on Sunday while I picked at a rather sad collection of side dishes (eating vegan in the Midwest isn't that hard. Eating vegan at Perkins on the other hand...).

Friday dawned and it was time to hit the race expo and check out a bit of downtown Duluth. The race expo had everything you'd expect... many booths hawking Gu and related products, headbands and shirts with cheesy slogans, booths touting methods to 'reset your nervous system' and 'refresh your blood'. After doing a maple syrup shot and drinking a few different flavors of Celcius, we grabbed our packets and were struck with immediate concern at the lack of t-shirts. As it turns out, Grandma's Marathon gatekeeps its finisher shirts and you will not be collecting one unless you cross that finish line yourself.

Friday evening brought the highly touted Michelena's All You Can Eat Spaghetti Dinner. I'm not certain I've ever seen so many people eating in one location, not even in a university dining hall. The quantities of pasta served were gargantuan. You are by default presented with two dinner rolls as your starting portion, with entire loaves of bread out on the table to follow up. Choccy milk and ice cream also abounded. For the low price of just under $20, there was truly no excuse for not being properly fueled for race day.

Speaking of no excuses, we arrive at race day (yes, I know, we're far into a race report for only just getting to the actual race now. Sorry not sorry). After being rudely awakened by two iPhone alarms perfectly in sync, we dragged ourselves through a semblance of a morning routine. Being so early, and being the more morning-oriented sibling of the two of us, I did succeed in convincing my brother to adorn himself with stick on face gems, as is my custom for races these days. He quite appropriately selected two teardrop shaped gems, "one for every marathon I've killed". Boys will be boys (wholesome) I suppose. We rolled up to the parking lot at the University of Wisconsin - Superior, and beheld the bus line to get to the starting line. This is another quirk of Grandma's Marathon - it is a point to point race, and you get to contemplate the full gravity of your decision to sign up for it on a half hour or so bus ride to the start line. I cannot imagine the logistics gymnastics required to get 9,000 people to the start lines via school buses, but after waiting in line for a bit in the misting rain as busload after busload ahead of us were ferried off, we got onto a bus and the journey truly began.

The starting line was a gauntlet of finish line drop bag collection trucks and porta potties, and a nervous huddled mass praying that the rain would continue to hold off on such a gray and dismal morning. We did our rounds of bathroom and stand-around-observing until it was time to surrender our jackets to the drop back trash cans to be reclaimed at the end of our Ordeal.

We shuffled into our packed corrals, and as the countdown proceeded and the gun went off, we trotted over the start line and down the highway. Now, I will say that the marathon course is quite pretty. You run along a two lane highway for miles and miles, sometimes getting a glimpse of the (angry and gray, on our race day) lake. It is a bit repetitive. You run along Superior for... well, basically the whole race. We were running along at a brisk clip, beating our pacing recommendations without much effort, chasing PRs (for us, sub 3:56:30). We made it to the half marathon point and continued along, but I quickly started to feel the pace catching up with me. By mile 15, I was starting to feel a bit dizzy and nauseous. My brother was doing ok, and he started to pull ahead. By Mile 17, we were officially separated out and my new goal was to stay out of the med tent and avoid an expensive trip to the emergency room. I was thirsty the entire time despite everything feeling sloshy and adhering religiously to my nutrition plan. My brain was simply not prepared for the reality of grinding out 26.2 miles as fast as I could manage on the road. I was quickly discovering that sandwiching a 'fast' road marathon between two trail ultras, without doing any speed workouts and avoiding road running to the greatest extent possible, was simply not something I had cracked this time around. I patted myself on the back metaphorically for coming to terms with my failure rather quickly and for deciding to grit my teeth and get to that finish line no matter how undignified I felt about it. This is where thing became surprising. Despite the pain, and the rain, and the fact that it was kinda cold (too cold to walk for the entire rest of the race for me), the entire race flew by. Even the miles I had to walk some of. I never was out there thinking, 'how much longer?! HOW WILL I ENDURE?!" It just... went by. It didn't matter that the course was kinda boring. It didn't matter that everything hurt and I didn't feel so good. I recalibrated my expectations, trucked along, enjoyed the silly signs and cheers of the spectators (they are just as enthusiastic after hours in the rain. Duluth has an A+ cheering section for sure). I paid attention to all of the makeshift aid stations with juice or beer or fruit. The sign that said "all toenails go to heaven". The fact that from what I could tell, the same spectators were moving from point to point, which is a feat of dedication in and of itself.

As I closed in on downtown Duluth in the final mile, the desire to just walk it in mounted. It was cold. It was rainy. I was over it. However, the spectators mercilessly encouraged anyone who dropped pace and I simply could not handle being yelled at to keep running, so I trudged along. Meters from the finish, the fellow next to me goes, "we're here! We did it!" in awe, and damn if I didn't kinda start crying because yeah, we are here, and we have done it. I have no idea what kind of journey it was for him (but from his tone I might guess it was his first marathon finish), and he had no idea that I too was feeling fairly awed by my ability to drag myself all the way to the finish line in spite of the many things that fell apart for me that morning. We both made it across the finish line, me with a new personal worst marathon time, and my new compatriot very dramatically dropped to his knees with his hands to the sky. I very quickly hobbled away at this point as that was not a narrative that I wished to be included in, and finally the pain and discontent had their chance to hit me full on. As I gimped along with my medal, a photographer flagged me to "Pose with your medal!". Which I totally did because no is not in my midwestern pedigreed vocabulary, but I quickly started crying seconds after that photo was taken. I was handed a mylar blanket (or 'heat sheet' as they called it) and continued my sad, damp, sniffly shuffle to find my brother. At this point I was aware of a new dire issue, which is that the empty Gu wrapper I had shoved in my side pocket under my phone felt as though it had chafed a hole through the side of my leg, and my only remaining consolation was that seeing as I had not passed my brother on the course, it was possible that he was having a slightly better day than me.

This hope was dashed as my eyes alighted on a sad red-headed boy sitting wrapped in a heat sheet under a tree. I hobbled over and also took a seat, at which point he says "I was going to go get my drop back but I can't get up". As the rain continued to fall, we looked forlornly at the lineups of people waiting to collect their drop bags. The competing desires of 'sit forever because wow my legs hurt' and 'I am going to freeze to death if I keep sitting here soaking wet with only a mylar blanket to my name' roiled in our heads until finally, the need to get dry and warmed up won out. While we did have to stand in line for a bit to finally reunite with our jackets and some dry clothes, I will say (full offense intended) that it was more organized than the Sun Run drop back pick up.

I will not go into graphic detail about peeling off clothes that are both sweat and rain soaked in a tent full of other sticky sweaty damp people, the floor blanketed in abandoned heat sheets. I was impressed to discover that while the wayward Gu packet that I was too polite to toss on the road did not bore a literal bleeding hole in my leg, I did have a chafe so bad that in subsequent hours and days it would scab over and make it difficult to sleep. Just when you think you've mastered your chafing prevention routine, nature finds a way.

The trial did not end with getting changed, however. Now that we were warm, dry, and in pain, it was time to hobble the quarter mile or so to the finish line bus stop. Finally checking our phones, we saw our mom's request for additional photos and snapped a very grumpy selfie on the way. Every foot step was a new nightmare as every few seconds one of us thought aloud, "are we there yet?" Finally we reached the buses; I will be the first to tell you that there is nothing more enjoyable than riding an un-air conditioned school bus packed full of sticky, sweaty, damp adults.

We finally made it back to the hotel in a torrent of vague discomfort and grumbling, cleaned up, and landed in the Nirvana that was the clean hotel beds with our respective Nintendo Switch/Steam Decks and snacks. When dinner time rolled around, we ventured back out (full of complaints) to a well reviewed Mexican restaurant. When I tell you this place was sketchy as hell to find, I am not exaggerating. We got lost on a 5 minute drive to the place. The windowless venue on the side of a larger warehouse type building was menacing and did not look like a promising place to find a post-marathon meal. However, upon opening the door, we were greeted by a delightful interior and more tortilla chips than either of us could safely house in our GI tracts. Sometimes, there are secrets to be found in the unlikeliest of places.

The remainder of the trip involves BOGO sourdough loaves, 'vacation coffee', and limping around Duluth the following day which was miraculously sunny. More important than any one thing we did on this trip, though, was the chance to just hang out together. We hadn't gotten to go on a sibling side quest that wasn't a funeral or funeral-adjacent in... well, a very long time. And while those tough experiences brought us together and shaped who we are, it's only in quiet moments of mundane togetherness that you truly get to enjoy who another person is.

In conclusion, our pilgrimage to Duluth taught me a few things.

Always check the full logistics before signing up for a race.

I have to do speed workouts if I want to run PR times. Lame.

We would've crushed a half marathon. Too bad we were signed up for a full marathon.

You should consider cherishing and curating your personal worst performances with as much love and care as your personal best performances.

Just because you hit a physical wall does not mean you need to build a mental wall to match, and your ability to scale your mental walls directly correlates to how you will navigate your physical walls.

The refried beans you eat after a marathon are the best refried beans you will ever experience in your life.

Consider travel insurance if you want to embody the PR-or-ER ethos.

Having a buddy, whether or not you run together, can very easily help you find a 'why' on a tough run. And that 'why' can be 'I need to not keep my brother waiting so long that he loses any remaining respect for me so no more walking'.

Road or trail, rain or shine, PR or ER, there's always more to learn about yourself and others out there.

[fatratbabyy]

hi! i really love your designs, the colours are always really well done anf the characters are full of life.. and i love how your rewrites give the characters complexity and make them really interesting to me, much more so than canon(though i am a fan of some ideas introduced there, they don’t quite turn out in ways that make sense to me)! i’ve been wondering a few things about helluva troupe for a while however and hopefully the answers aren’t spoilers, lol.. in HT, what is Fizz’s involvement with the ‘troupe’ and what is stolas’s involvement too.? i wish you much luck on your work as it is lovely to see! (also apologies for my silly username)

Thank You!

Thank you so much that means a lot!! waaAahee! It makes me happy to see people interested 🥺👉👈

With Fizz it's,,, a bit Fuzzy, because hilariously he's the whole reason I made this AU among other things But I ended up makinh him a sorta side character antag again because while originally he was going to be part of the main crew from the start of HT's storyline, as I went along in trying to write I saw some cool hcs about his star clown days and so I thought to use the more canonized view- mostly in that he's a star clown during the events of HT instead of dropping the show life to join Blitz in I.M.P. That previous version is why you see him in the I.M.P references- and hinty hoo that ol version isnt completely null and voice to the current HT

ANYWAY so yeah- While Fizz isn't as much a main character as he was he still has a great deal of importance to the story and themes I want to express in HT. When it comes to him and the Troupe itself, I could best describe him as one of the biggest foils or parallels to the main cast. Just,, he's this golden image that represents their every want fulfilled. For Blitz especially given their thick history heehooo. (That's not to say this 'golden image' is entirely as it seems btw...)

Now it sounds much like canon I know but I like to think I'm taking a different direction with it- It's not really just the "haha you suck with relationships, fuck, shit, pénis im doing better look at my good relationship" nonsense cuz for 1. Fizzarozzie does nOT exist anymore- its Mamzie now 😊 (Mammon + Ozzie) and 2. The themes with Fizz and really most of HT has less to do with the melodramatic romance "will they wont they" of Stolitz (which isnt really a thing either) and more the struggle impoverished and oppressed peoples experience with success, failure, identity, community, family, status, history, trauma, etccc. Specifically, because I am an indigenous person from Canada, a lot of the themes are drawn from my own experiences, knowledge and history as an indigenous person. Though with execution, creative liberties were taken to make the fact they're in Hell clear btww-

That very likely did nOT answer jour question but i amn,,,stoopi 😭😭😭 simpler answer i suppose maybe by chance would be Fizz is an eventual antagonist to I.M.P. Specifics and how it happens and wheNNN?? Im still not sure yet if im honest- been really busy the last year or so and so Ive hadnt had any time or energy to work as much on writing all the things! ;u; thats probs disappointing to hear cuz plaNNing and all is important if you're gonna post story stuff at all,,, but !! I do hope to work more on the story this year so i can wrap up all these floating ideas into a Concrete line of stuff cuz truly all im missing is the middle pieces. Maybe an HT comic will be real this/or next year! 👀🏃

ANYHOOT ONTO STOLAS! i rambled a bit too much about Fizz cuz im still figuring him out- Stolas might be a bit shorter cuz his role is sweet and simplisticerr.

So, Stolas is an antagonist. He and Blitz still have an exchange sort of deal, but the deal is Blitz gets to keep the grimoire for I.M.P if he handles Stolas' "errands" and gives it back on the full moon with ofc none of the uh,,hawny stuff, obv. Blitz kinda keeps this deal under wraps from the rest of I.M.P because for him, it hurts his pride to admit he's in need of some big guy's help. And Stolas is somewhat aware of this. And so, Stolas is this looming, cruel threat that Blitz carries the burden of cuz he's stubborn as fuck whilst the rest of I.M.P remain ignorant.

Some bonus notes that dont really have to do with Stolas involvement with imp but jus how stuff ive changed with his canon influence the story diff than canon; so, Stella isnt a thing anymore. In general the Goetia work much differently- majority of the Goetia being the children of Ozzie instead of Paimon (who is Stolas' sibling now btw too) and the Goetia being thousands of years old instead of fucking 30- Also! While Via is existant she is but a baby instead of a moody teen,, ties heavily with Stolas' motives and how he operates as a character, royal, and Goetian and felt it would work better with how HT Stolas is as a character than it would otherwise.

Also no worries about the username! I dont like canon stolas much either lol,,;

I apologize if this didnt answer much 😭 feel free to let me know if you wanna hear about somn else gwahgh 🏃

[danthropologie]

I know we agree that Nate, while he IS the team Daniel mouthpiece, there's still things that they keep from him until they're confirmed. But I just wanted to bring up something he said in this weeks Unlapped podcast; that Danny didn't want to join AT till next year when all the changes happened.

And it's making me wonder if that's the story that the team are gonna push for the rest of the year, especially now that the swap already happened. Like the story had already seemed to be moving in that direction from Canada, that he wouldn't mind AT if an opportunity popped up and that he still wanted to stay out till next year. And now it's all I'm ON LOAN till end of year with the assumption supposing to be that he means that AT won't be AT next year.

All of this to say that I know that WE believe that his next seat is gonna be his OG RBR seat (the truth) but it's possible that the PR spin to distract from that and keep Checo happy and distracted is that Danny is full tilt AT now (not the truth).

yeah and it's also interesting in terms of how they were talking about next year's sponsorships and the possibility of charging more because it's going to be daniel's face that's promoting them??? i don't know exactly how to feel about that tho cause on one hand it IS smart but on the other, it would probably depend on him staying at AT for another year, which obviously isn't the ideal.

either way, it'll definitely be interesting to get the next couple races under our belt and get some general sense of where things are headed, and then we can spend the entirety of the summer break crafting our new silly little delusions :)

[fred-erick-frankenstein]

[ID 1-5: a twitter thread by "Dave Rand":

#Brendan Fraser is a righteous dude.

In November 2007 our paychecks stopped. I was the FX lead on #Journey to the center of the earth for Meteor Studios in Montreal and was asked to convive my crew to stay and finish the picture with a guarantee we'd all get paid with overtime. We had a handful shots left.

As soon as we delivered the last shot, we were escorted out. It was two weeks before Christmas and we'd soon learn that there was no money. Meteor was declaring bankruptcy. They owed us 1,3 million dollars.

Variety put their best reporter on it and after many artists and support staff bravely came forward, I got this shirt terse email:

"The paper (Variety) has decided another visual effects company going bankrupt, however sad, is really not news worthy at any time."

I kept trying to get help from the Hollywood press. I realized it wasn't just Variety's decision, no one wanted to touch the story. My guess was the studio had put pressure on them to bury it.

Finally, I made that rejection quote from Variety the headline of our own press release, and hired a PR company to to release it. One artists, Eric Labranche, made a website for us to communicate with each other and vote, many others helped as well.

Then I tried to get the attention of Brendan Fraser, the star and executive producer of the movie. I called his "people" from IMDB pro. They said they'd tell him, they did not.

24 hours after the release, I got a threatening email from Variety and a call. I hung up. I then got a call from Les Normes, the labor dept in Canada. They told me not to go to the press it would ruin their case. I hung up on them too. Then the phone rang again and it was this fast talking New York City gal with a heavy Brooklyn accent. She was excited that I'd call Fraser's people and had gotten no reponse from him.

It was page six of the post, the gossip page, but we'd take it. She said the story would be live on the website within an hour. Exactly one hour later there it was: lnkd.in/erbDVK2z

My phone rang as I was reading the piece, a 212 area code, I answered to thank the girl, but a man answered and he said. "Is this Dave Rand?" I said. "Yes". "This is Brendan Fraser, what the fuck is going on?"

He had no idea that artists were not paid on his movie. He listened intently, asked a lot of questions and promised to stay he would call me regularly until this this was solved. First, he called the Post to tell all: lnkd.in/ewPE_w5E

A vfx wave began to form. Brendan kept his promise, he publically campaigned for us. The media, especially Variety, even started to cover our story. Thank you David Cohen.

We finally got 80% of our almost 2 years later.

To quote the great Steve Hulett: "What runs the world isn't what's right, or who's the richest, it's leverage, and who has it."

We had none, but Mr. Fraser gave us wings. He's a righteous dude.

These days, I'm very selective, if I've chose to work there you can bet they're moving in the direction.

(Underneath in a picture of actor Brendan Fraser, smiling at the camera.) /end ID].

The first link is a page six article from 2008

Response from Fraser's reps, trying to get the artists paid

Dave Rand's original tweet