#escape from pretoria

[celestial-sphere-press]

Escape from Pretoria by Tim Jenkin

a true account of a prison breakout in apartheid South Africa.

This book was made as a gift for my sister, who contacted me one day out of the blue saying "I literally cannot find this book to buy it anywhere." So I decided to help out.

The things i liked best about this book are the endbands I sewed, the crepaldi marbled endpapers, and the way it opens so nicely!

I tried a new technique on the cover of this book, which has not turned out quite as well as hoped. This is the silver metallic gilding between the different colored bookcloth. I applied this using and adapted Japanese gilding technique, which is...not really meant for this but I gave it my best shot.

Overall, I'm still pretty happy with this one! Can't wait for my sister's response.

[silentangell95]

Филми и сериали: Юли

[madame-myself]

I'm so inspired by this movie I just watched, how could I go to sleep now?

Humans are such creative beings with immense capabilities and adaptability. All the frustrations I felt now feel so manageable. I'm free and I have all the right choices inside of reach.

I'm free and I have all these opportunities in front of me.

I'm free and I can choose what will happen next.

I'm free.

[movie-titlecards]

Escape from Pretoria (2020)

My rating:6/10

Pretty solid prison escape movie, with much planning and making of Devices and sneaking around, plus the guards are actual fascists, so that makes the eventual escape (and subsequent humiliation of said guards) all the sweeter.

[cinemaslife]

#64 Escapar de Pretoria

En 1979, Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) y Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) son dos afiliados al Congreso Nacional Africano, que llevan a cabo misiones contra el apartheid, siendo detenidos, juzgados y condenados a doce y ocho años por "traicionar a su raza".

¿Qué fue el apartheid?

Fue el sistema de segregación racial en Sudáfrica y Namibia​ en vigor entre 1948 y 1992. Donde la opresión racial era apoyada por el gobierno sudafricano, mediante el cual los blancos, que constituían menos de la quinta parte de la población, controlaban la política y la economía del país, limitando rigurosamente los derechos políticos y socioeconómicos de los africanos.

Dentro de la cárcel conocen a Leonard Fontaine (Mark Leonard Winter), también preso político por ir en contra del apartheid, que formarán parte de su equipo para preparar la fuga de Pretoria.

Para fugarse preparan una llave de madera, en los talleres de la cárcel que es una copia exacta de la que llevan los guardias; hacen un esquema en papel y después la moldean, pegan y lijan en madera hasta conseguir una llave que abra, tanto las puertas de las celdas, como las puertas intermedias de los pasillos.

Así consiguen llegar a la primera parte del pasillo y abrir la siguiente puerta, donde casi les descubren y se tienen que ir escondiendo en los diferentes armarios de los pasillos. Consiguen avanzar y cuando llega el día los vemos en sus celdas, por lo que comprobamos que se trata de la prueba de fuego previa a la fuga real.

Esto implica que hay una revisión de las celdas y se llevan a Fontaine cuando reclama que no le quiten las fotografías de su hijo, y en el registro del capitán de la celda de Jenkin descubren las pruebas previas a la llave de madera, justificándolo en que son peanas para las fotografías.

Fueron escondiendo en estanterías, huecos en la pared, botes vacíos de detergente en polvo, fueron haciendo las pruebas por la noche y cuando llegaban a una sección nueva hacían un nuevo modelo de llave para el siguiente tramo, llegando a estar 405 días encerrados. En ese tiempo han creado 39 llaves para 15 puertas de la cárcel.

Descubren que una de las últimas puertas es eléctrica y que han empezado obras en la cárcel para poder fortificarla, y poner una torre con ametralladoras.

El resto de reclusos encerrados por las mismas razones no están de acuerdo con la fuga, porque tienen miedo, a que los encarcelen más años.

La fuga, como cualquier fuga, tiene sus peligros: de que algo falle, de que les pillen, de quedarse encerrados o a mitad... Cuando llegan a la última puerta y no pueden cruzarla, deciden que se acabó el modo sigilo y que van a reventar la puerta. Al salir se encuentran con que ya hay alguien apostado con la ametralladora en la torreta. Consiguen sortearlo y salen a la calle con la ropa cambiada de civiles.

Se suben en un taxi a la vez que entran en sus celdas para descubrir que ya no están en ellas, lloran de emoción cuanto más lejos están de la prisión y mediante un texto nos explican qué ocurrió después:

"Se produjo la mayor búsqueda humana en la historia de Sudáfrica, mientras los protagonistas cruzaron la frontera con Mozambique, Tanzania y llegaron a Londres, donde volvieron a unirse al Congreso Nacional Africano y continuaron su lucha contra el apartheid. Se les consideró fugitivos hasta que se les indultó en 1991..."

[avampyone]

Prompt #9: Outsider

Characters: Arazul De'fleur, Gabriel Devrau, mentions of Cecilia De'Fleur.

Synopsis: Gabriel is shocked by new revelations about his long time rival.

Setting: Gyr Abania, Porta Praetoria

Warning - Language, blood, gore, death, dark and suggestive themes.

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

-Help me if you can It's just that this, this is not the way I'm wired-

The earlier memory continued to replay itself in Gabriel’s mind eye like he might be able to glean extra information, or had he overlooked something? He had been different – but he knew it had to be him. A well-dressed gentleman with a purpose elegance to his steps, heading out of the gates of Ala Mhigan quarters. He pocketed something – A bottle that looked to contain a milk white liquid within it, several of them in fact. The sniper rushed further ahead to get a better look and ensure his eyes were not deceiving him with desperate panted breaths escaping in heavy gasps. Yet, the sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks.

Gabriel had seen the now white-haired doctor pause to turn his head, the uncovered eye looking straight at him even at such a distance with such a fiendish grin occupying his features that caught him off guard. A smile was rare for Arazul unless in the company of those he found agreeable, even then it depended on his mood at the time.

Not one to dwell, Gabriel’s metal hand tightened about the long length of the barrel of the rifle he carried to displace the bad feeling welling up in his chest that told him something was amiss. The pause only lasted moments before he went back to sprinting after him with the heavy imprint of his boots leaving tracks in the reddish-brown dusty sands below.

Once he neared Porta Pretoria, Gabriel growled deeply and mustered all the strength he could to run faster whenever he heard the noisy pop in the distance in a small explosion that took place causing debris to scatter in all directions. The fumes and flames were all mitigated beyond the walls of the checkpoint past a few crates and barrels still smoking from the blast. Soon, the blonde wildwood began to feel the hot splatter like raindrops against his features.

A sudden shock gripped him when his pale eyes widened, reaching to press lifelike silver fingertips to his forehead to come away to reveal the droplets of blood – Blood raining down. Once the site of the explosion was in view, Gabriel’s walking slowed while he lifted his rifle with care with his brows furrowed in concentration when the dust began to clear away. There he noticed Arazul standing there from a distance, appearing down at the carnage below. He dropped empty glass bottles that lay broken at his feet- the heavy scent of milk root lingering in the air.

The ground lay in a messy mix of red misshapen clumps with trails of blood beginning to pool out beneath them, the broken remains of limbs and gore that was strewn about with bits of burning white cloth, like a researcher’s robes. Gabriel could at least make out the head of one middle aged man who had been balding before his sudden death – the one detail that brought his attention was the small pearlescent dot on his forehead, a third eye. There were bits of metallic pieces that lay there as well – Further up nearby the path down, he could see there was a single land mine that had not gone off yet. It appeared he had given them the medicine and left them to their own device.

Gabriel stood up to his full height with an expression of pure shock to look at the sight of absolute carnage and to Arazul – Everything he knew of the man far beyond what he had known. Even his usually immaculate clothing lay dotted with dirt and blood that bespeckled him, “What the absolute fuck?! I mean by the love of Thaliak’s beautiful arse – I know we have never seen eye to eye, but if you were so troubled, you know even I would have given you ample time to listen to your thoughts...”

“Thoughts, Gabriel? Imagine me coming to you to ask to speak of my thoughts like we were ever so close – You would have only laughed. It does not matter anymore anyway. There are many things that cannot be forgotten only by speaking of them. Too painful even to speak of.”

Lifting his gun up and away a little, Gabriel paused to consider all this – all which would be true he had to admit. He shook his head, waving away the image before him with a look of sorrow in his depths of all too knowing, “You know what? You’re right. Have always been right about me. But damn, you had it all going for you...and for what? I have no right at all to judge you..but what would Cecilia think?”

With his pale eye narrowing dangerously, Arazul said nothing when he advanced forward towards him in such a close proximity that only Gabriel’s sheer determination not to show he was at all intimidated by the taller man. With a smirk lifting at his features, the doctor’s gloved hand wrapped thin fingers around the barrel of his gun with such a slow and meaningful stroke downward that felt far too intimate with the way his fingertips dragged.

The blonde took the breathe he hadn’t realized he was holding to watch those fingers curl around in a threatening hold around the barrel, “And you...you could have had it all going for you. Why did you not kill me back then, Gabriel…The title and everything could have been yours. Or maybe you see as I see now. There is much more beyond riches, titles, or duty. The artistry of life…I have given these men not the medicine they needed, but the medicine they deserved.”

With one last lingering look of eyes that had seen far too much, Arazul released his hold on the rifle without another word and began to make off elsewhere – To where he knew not. On his back, there lay a heavy length of a dark steel blade emboldened with bright red runes he had never seen him carry before. A dark knight’s weapon of choice.

Lowering his gun, Gabriel cursed and ran a hand back through his short blonde locks in frustration and a complicated mix of emotions tainting his pale eyes, “You’re still an arsehole, you know! At least that’s not changed…”

-Help me understand why You've given in to all these Reckless dark desires-

[tsarisfanfiction]

Hello! For the WIP game, I’m very intrigued by….. well, all the titles, really. But to keep things simple: TAG Mundus Occidit Fratrum Meum and TAG Rarepair

MOFM was already asked about here so I won't repeat myself beyond a warning that it's probably the darkest thing I've ever seriously started to write so watch out for potentially triggering stuff over there.

TAG Rarepair is exactly what it says on the tin. This doc is more notes than actual written snippets of story so far, but I'll talk a little bit about the history of how this came to be, and see where we go from there.

People who were around when I was most active in the TAG fandom will know that I dislike Kayo and I can't stand the Scayo ship at all - which ended up reaching a rather surprising conclusion. I used to write a lot from prompt lists (and I wish I still had the free time to keep writing like that because it was fun and I still have so many yet-unanswered in my inbox), and there was one list in particular that I remember eyeing some of the options in fear - because this was before I'd really made my stance on Scayo, in particular, clear, and one of the potential prompts on the list was very obviously romantic, and I was worried someone would request it with Scott and Kayo.

I worried so much about this, in fact, that I twisted the prompt round and round and round in my head until I realised that if this scenario did occure (it did not, luckily no-one has ever asked me to write Scayo and at this point I will be very surprised if anyone ever does - please don't) I had a crafty little escape plan in place. Namely, I would pair Kayo up with some other character and twist the prompt so that she and Scott are talking about her other half. Obviously, I never needed this escape route, but it was certainly a relief when I found it.

As for who I paired Kayo up with... another Scott ship I hate is Scott/Marion (actually, I'll be honest, there isn't really a Scott ship I like at all, barring Penelope under certain circumstances). Kayo and Marion, meanwhile, seem like the sort of partnership where no-one around them will ever be safe but they'll have the time of their lives, and after a while my random little crackship made as a get out of jail free card started growing on me, so I started wondering if I could actually make a story out of their relationship. Will I ever actually write this? Unlikely, but it ended up being fun to think about.

There's a very small snippet of something written for this, though, at the end of the note-filled doc, so have a couple of paragraphs:

“Kayo,” Scott said, a little wearily, although she could only tell because she’d known him for so long, “this is Lieutenant Marion van Arkle, the GDF’s expert on nuclear power.”  He gestured towards the short woman in her radiation-rated GDF uniform.  “Lieutenant, this is Kayo Kyrano.” Kayo knew all about Marion van Arkle, of course.  She’d never met the woman in person before now, but she’d dug into everything she could find out about her since the uranium mine fiasco not far from Pretoria – just one of many ‘rescues’ that could have been avoided if it wasn’t for her uncle’s greedy plots – where she’d almost killed Scott. Scott had seemed to be content to let bygones be bygones, even going so far as to get the woman a job – not that Kayo could really disapprove of that; if the nuclear expert was under the GDF’s control, she wasn’t being a potential wildcard, and uranium expertise was a dangerous wildcard – but Scott was a hypocrite like that.  If it had been any of the rest of them bashed unconscious, trapped under a mech suit, and almost radiation-poisoned to death, Scott would have been the first person in line with the threats. Just look at his strained relationship with the Mechanic. In the absence of Scott’s ire, Kayo had stepped up instead.  The woman was still dangerous – while not the threat in Scott’s second encounter with her at Shackleton, her hypocritical nature towards Fuse’s right to be saved hadn’t escaped any of them. Not even Scott, and Kayo knew that was the reason behind his slight weariness in his voice. Now wasn’t strictly speaking the time to assess the woman in person, to match the live thing with the reams of data and holographic images Kayo had amassed of her throughout her life – from a young girl playing in crosscut tunnels to the lieutenant standing before her now – but Kayo’s job was to gather as much information on potential threats as she could. Marion van Arkle was certainly a potential threat.

[202247256caic2223]

The Twitter fairytale of 2022 - Elon Musk’s upcoming to a true community sweet heart. 

Once Upon a Time…

… there was a little boy named Elon Reeve, growing up with his mother Maye, and father Errol in Pretoria, South Africa. With his little brother Kimbal and his younger sister Tosca, they built the Musk family: a wealthy, publicly-known, and soon shuttered home. When Elon was only 9-years-young, his parents got divorced and the little boy decided to live with his father. Soon after the divorce, Elon became interested in video games, computers, and programming, as his own little escape from reality which will lead him to great success in life. At age of 12, he even sold his first game to the magazine PC and Office Technology earning himself his first $500 bucks. But this is only the beginning… 

Elon Reeve was not only smart and clever in the context of computers and science, but he was also a sneaky and sophisticated child when it came to finding his way to the United States of America. He dreamed of living in the US rather than staying in South Africa. One could say he never felt like a South African but more so an American, indicating early higher wishes and dreams to create his persona around him. 

So, young Elon decided to move to Canada after finishing his education in Pretoria and even visiting University for a couple of months. His move to Canada as a South African was possible due to his mother being Canadian-born enabling Elon an entry ticket to apply for a Canadian passport. Even though Musk preferred to live with his father Errol during high school, he sure preferred his mother’s citizenship. #sneakyboy Together with his mother Faye and his siblings, Elon Reeve moved to Canada… leaving behind their father. 

One thing we can acknowledge: Elon Reeve Musk always had his own will, plan, and look out for success. Once he arrived in Canada, he started working on farms before attending universities in Canada and the US. During his studies at the UoP, Elon held large parties to pay tuition fees, worked on business plans, and sold these. He surely is brilliant when making plans to earn money and climb up the ladder…

In combination with his brother Kimbal, a well-known “party animal” but also a “social entrepreneur”, they created Zip2, a company supported by numerous Silicon Valley investors. While leading the company to its success, Musk showered at a local YMCA and slept in his office. 

In Zip2, a company providing and licensing online city guide software to newspapers, the Musk brothers invested around $28,000 in funding and working night shifts coding the website. In February 1999, Zip2 was sold to Compaq for $307 million in cash and stock, leaving Musk with earnings of $22 million. After co-founding and selling Zip2, Musk launched a financial service called X.com, better known as Paypal now. Like, wow. I love PayPal! 

Not everything is full of glitter and sparkles when speaking of fairytales: in 2000, Musk, former CEO of Paypal, was fired due to disagreements between the co-founders. While on a trip to Australia, Elon was fired by the board of PayPal, making Peter “Thiel the new CEO”. But fairytales, most of the time, end in a happy end: In 2002,  PayPal was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion turning Musk into a now-wealthy, bald-ish bachelor and investor. Even though he got fired in 2000, Musk as the biggest shareholder netted around $180 million with this deal. I guess I should start arguments with co-founders, get fired while on vacay, and still earn a huge wad-o-dough in the end…  

Besides his booming career ladder, Musk experienced many ups and downs in his private life: In 2000, before he got kicked out by Paypal, Musk tied the knot with his college sweetheart Justine Wilson. Together they moved to LA where Musk was able to be closer to the space industry to create business relationships. In May 2002, his first son named Nevada was born but soon after died due to SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome. This tragedy happened after Musk founded SpaceX, an “American aerospace company […] that helped usher in the era of commercial spaceflight [being] the first private company to successfully launch and return a spacecraft from Earth orbit and the first to launch a crewed spacecraft and dock it with the ISS”. To push SpaceX, Musk used $100 million of the money he netted from the PayPal deal in addition to his money he invested before. With this investment, Musk was finally able to shift his focus toward aerospace. The 31-year-old dreamed of traveling and colonizing Mars, expressing his idea of Mars being “the only place in the solar system where life can become multi-planetarian”.

With SpaceX, Musk entered the world of space and vehicle engineering, investing around $70 million in total in Tesla, an electric company focusing on clean energy. Tesla was first developed by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning until Elon Musk invested and, therefore, involved himself in further expansion and development. In 2004, Musk took a leading part in developing the first car, the Roadster. After debuting the Roaster, Musk became the majority shareholder and joined the board as one active chairman. Eventually, he became CEO in 2008,  after disagreements and changes took over the Tesla board resulting in a complete change of staff. After Musk upgraded to CEO, he “fired 25% of the company’s staff”. Hmmm, this sounds familiar when I think of Musk’s leadership style in present time. But we will come to that soon enough… 

While investing and owning several companies, Musk and Justine expanded their family after the tragic loss of their firstborn Nevada. In 2004, their twins were born through IVF, in vitro fertilization. Only two years later, in 2006, their triplet sons were born through IVF as well. When thinking of the loss of Nevada and the need for IVF insemination, you can only imagine how Musk and his wife Justine must have struggled on a  mental health basis. It is even more surprising then that Musk kept up with his career, making smart investments and expanding his wealth. When Musk became CEO of Tesla, Inc. in 2008, he and Justine Wilson split up and got divorced. 

Skipping through Musk’s business and private life timeline, Musk almost experienced bankruptcy with Tesla and SpaceX but got saved by funding, investors, loans, and by debuting the first Tesla Model S in 2009. In addition, he married Talulah Riley in 2010 and in 2013. Yep, you heard right. They married twice. But nope, not because they did a second fun wedding in Vegas… Elon and Talulah were married the first time between 2010 and 2012, the second time between 2013 an 2016. Therefore, a total of two weddings and two divorces upgrading Riley to “the Two-Time Ex-Wife of Elon Musk”. 

In the meantime, Musk invested more, founded more, and dated more: he invented the so-called Hyperloop, which theoretically transports passengers from LA to SanFran in half an hour, started The Boring Company, a network of tunnels under and around cities for fast commerce, and cofounded Opan AI, a nonprofit company researching artificial intelligence and founded Neuralink. In addition, he dated actress Amber Heard, went through a painful breakup describing his feeling later as “I was really in love, and it hurt bad.” But only two years later, Musk met the Canadian musician Claire Boucher, publicly known as Grimes, through Twitter. Yep, you heard right: TWITTER! They both welcomed their first child in 2020 but split up in September 2021. Eventually, they welcomed another child via surrogate in December 2021 implying a love comeback. But after revealing the news of a second baby in 2022, Grimes tweeted that they broke up again. But before that debacle, Musk also welcomed twins with Shivon Zilis in November 2021, with whom he was working at Neuralink. They conceived through IVF as well, indicating a planned wish for children together. In total, Musk is a father of ten children with three different women so far. In an interview in October 2022, he states that he is “pretty sure there are no other babies [are] looming”. 

So far the fairytale appears full of hard work, both in business and private life with a twist of love, numerous kids, and galactic dreams. But the best is yet to come: the acquisition of the bluebird. 

Elon Musk has always been a fan and user of Twitter, a social media and social networking service where users publish and respond in 280-character-long messages called “tweets”, by the launch of Twitter in 2006 only 140 characters were allowed. Twitter is either accessible via mobile phone or web browser and was created by Jock Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams in March 2006 and launched in July of the same year, while Musk was freshly involved in Tesla and still married to Justine Wilson. Twitter is a place for people to joke around, to express themselves, as a news outlet for organizations, sports, politics, tech, or finance. Through funds, promotions, and public talk show visits, Twitter became more and more popular and a “mainstream phenomenon”, as an example: on their 6th birthday Twitter stated that “there are more than 140 million active users […] and […] 340 million tweets a day”. By 2019, the number of active users increased to a total number of more than 330 million monthly active users.

But with growing popularity, its controversies also increased: fake profiles, manipulating and spreading misinformation, or hacking. Especially political topics and events become more popular and the focus of Twitter users moving the platform from a humorous place to a minefield. Apropos minefield, in October 2022 SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought Twitter after a whirlwind of confrontations and debates for around $44 billion. He initially expressed interest in buying Twitter in early 2022, when he felt like Twitter was limiting free speech and undermining democracy when former US president Donald Trump was banned due to his violation of “the glorification of violence policy” in early 2021. 

By Musk’s take-over, he fired Twitter Chief Executive,Chief Financial Officer, and Legal Affairs and Policy Chief right away. Even before his successfull purchase, Musk expressed his plan of completely reversing Twitter: a new verification system, where verified users need to pay $8 for their verification, justifying that decision due to missing profit and fake profiles. In addition, Musk fires half of the 7,500 Twitter employees via e-mail. He explains these notices with a decreasing number of advertising partners and the long-term financial difficulties that Twitter was facing even before he took over the company. While advertisement is the main source of income, with the takeover of Musk, many companies and advertisement partners fear the increase of hate speech and the spread of misinformation with new CEO Elon Musk. By unbanning former US president Trump and spreading conspiracy theories, Musk fueled these fears by partners even further. Additionally, users and spectators question Musk’s decision of firing half of his team while promising to keep up high standards in presentation and moderation. 

While the CEO tries to portray himself as an absolute fan of freedom of speech, he lays off approximately 20 employees for expressing negative and critical opinions about Musk via a private slack channel. In November 2022, Musks asked his Twitter employees to either commit to tough working conditions or to leave while earning a three months severance pay. Once the deadline was reached, most of the staff members decided to leave and discontinue working for Elon Musk. So apparently Musk behaves in the complete opposite of what he is trying to accomplish with Twitter: spreading misinformation and uncensored content by allowing his so-called unlimited “free speech” which was GrEatLy impacted before he took over Twitter. But interestingly enough: more users from resign using Twitter now after Musk’s leadership than before. The Guardian predicts Twitter “to lose 32m users in two years after Elon Musk takeover”  implying a growing dispute and disinterest by the users toward Elon Musk and his lack of punishment, control of hate speech and false content, and technical problems. But when we ask Musk about the current number of Twitter users he tweeted this: 

Fairytale-like: a mixture of blended reality and unknown future predictions while everyone involved is entertained. The known altruistic Elon Reeve Musk put his fate into the Twitter user’s hand. In December 2022, he published a Twitter poll regarding his fate as the CEO of Twitter. He asked the users to vote either in favor or against him being the CEO. In addition, he made sure that he would accept that result either way and show respect toward the Twitter users. Being said, over 17.5 million users interacted with the questionnaire by the end while 57% voted for him to resign and 43% to stay. Right after he tweeted his answer:

As we know him: relaxed and insightful. Oh no, I think I mixed something up… It was not as simple as that: After an institute called HarrisX posted investigations regarding the poll results, Musk jumped on the train and questioned the results. He linked the problem of bots and fake profiles Twitter is facing to the results. Without these bots, the result would have been in favor of Musk, according to himself. Since it has become pretty quiet around Musk and the actual resignation from working as the CEO. No one, yet, has been confirmed as his follower. Let alone the question of whether Musk is going to follow the user’s will or remain without the wish of the majority. 

But what we know for sure: Musk and his leadership style is one of a kind. It was not the first time that he laid off hundreds of employees right after he got the power to do so: SpaceX and Twitter staff both had to get to know his style firsthand. No surprise that he does not appear to be a community and employee favorite. He is and, when looking through his career ladder, has always been a hard worker who does everything to accomplish his dreams. But this work enthusiasm is also expected by his employees: either they follow his long-hour work plan or they can leave. Some describe his leadership style and personality as him showing “a robotic lack of empathy and odd interpersonal mannerism”. When looking at his private life, the women, and the numerous of kids, we are not surprised that Musk must have issues when it comes to interpersonal relationships. I do not want to judge, but the questionnaire result, the huge backlash, and his private life only supportsthe whole controversy around his persona: he is for sure an interesting, successful individuum one could write a real fairytale about. He for sure offers enough tweets, meme material, and inspirational quotes for that…

But for now, we need to follow his tale to find out what will happen to Twitter and whether or not we might be able to travel to Mars soon. 

[doomedandstoned]

Ruff Majik Reveal “Cement Brain” from Upcoming Smasher ‘Electrik Ram’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

If you're craving a deep-seated, authentically felt vibe, look no further than RUFF MAJIK. Not only are they gritty and soulful, the band's sound seems rooted in the earth itself. Their bluesy, sludgy musical contortions flow from album-to-album with great inventiveness, and 'Electrik Ram' (2023) is no exception. Here the band is continually surprising us with a clever turn of phrase here, an experimental choice of instrumentation there, a heart-stirring chorus elsewhere.

The latest single to emerge is a cosmic blues stomper, "Cement Brain." Says the band:

As with previous single "Elektrik Ram" (and album title track), "Cement Brain" was once again inspired by and written in a mental health facility. Vocalist Johni Holiday had gone in for treatment of severe agoraphobia and a crippling panic disorder, which he self-medicated with alcohol and many other substances. In the window of time that he became well and had a clear head, he penned this number as a plea to his friends and family to never let him slip back into his old ways again.

"On the surface, it's about escaping an abusive relationship," explains Johni on the message behind the track. "But deep down, the relationship in question is my relationship with substances such as alcohol The song pleads with the listener to not let me go back."

You can get the single on multiple platforms, with the full album release of Electrik Ram coming on April 28th to Mongrel Records (pre-order here).

Give ear...

LISTEN: Ruff Majik - "Cement Brain"

SOME BUZZ

Elektrik Ram was written and recorded between 2020 and 2022 after Johni Holiday found himself in and out of mental health and recovery facilities, struggling with severe agoraphobia and substance dependence brought on by PTSD.

In the lyrics and structures of the songs, Johni painted character sketches of the many faces he saw inside the white walls of the hospital - and this became the framework for the entire album. The recordings happened as the band found time to go into the studio and contribute, and the process aided Johni in his recovery and rejoining of society.

It sees the return of Ruff Majik's experimental nature, moving between fuzz filled wonderlands and somber acoustic territories.

Elektrik Ram by Ruff Majik

The horned infant known as Ruff Majik emerged from the primordial ooze when the band moved from the historical town of Lydenburg in 2012 to the capital city of Pretoria, where they honed their craft for a few years before finally entering the studio to record for the first time. Now, with a number of EP’s and two lauded albums under their belt, not to mention a megaton of local and international touring, they return with what might be their defining work in the shape of ‘Elektrik Ram’.

All the requisite ‘Majik trope boxes are ticked in thick, bold permanent marker - sludgy, distorted riffs, vast landscapes of sonic abandon, dark imagery that perfectly complements the delicious cacophony, and tasty sound bites that add infinite swathes of colour. This is what is expected from the band, their signature sound and one that never fails. But there’s a lot more going on here that shows an evolution of a band maturing and embracing their future with an eye firmly planted on the past.

The B-grade drive-in double-feature aesthetic is still where they are most comfortable, with a Cramps-like wallow in songs like the single, ‘She’s Still A Goth’. The song may start out with a White Zombie kick up the ass, but it lands up in a darker Ennio Morricone-meets-Type O Negative epic that comes straight out of left field. It’s both refreshing and brave, retro, and modern, badass and kickass.

Elsewhere, there are true nods to goth royalty in the likes of ‘Mourning Wood’, blues-worthy jams such as ‘Queen Of The Gorgons’, quirky dirges, and low-slung boogie with ‘Cement Brain’, and the hauntingly acoustic ‘Chemically Humanized’ that swings from Nick Drake to all-out rock ‘n roll stadium rock in scant minutes, and that’s all just the tip of the proverbial distorted iceberg. ‘Elektrik Ram’ is a thought-out, meticulously crafted piece of work that, like the legendary classics from the golden era, works as a collected grouping of songs. Each brings a different shade and hue to the portrait, a necessary lift and drop that takes the listener on a goosebump journey through a psychedelic wonderland, and it just flat-out GROOVES.

Ruff Majik is Johni Holiday (vocals & guitar), Cowboy Bez (guitar & vocals), Jimmy Glass (bass), and Steven Bosman (drums), four horsemen of the feedback apocalypse who know what they want to say and do it without apology.

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[202247497caic223]

From Iron man to Icarus - how Musk's popularity plunged deeper than the Mariana trench

It is a sunny day in the 1980’s Pretoria, South Africa. In the local school, a young, white boy lies on the floor, covering his head with his hands as the older boys continue beating him. After some time, someone finally calls an ambulance, and he is rushed to the hospital where he has to stay until he has recovered from being nearly beaten to death. Sadly, the incident did not surprise him, he was used to the constant bullying and escaped more and more into his Sci-fi novels and comic books. One day, he says to himself, I will be like them. An Inventor, revolutionizing the world, a hero who is celebrated for his fight against injustice. He starts holding his ground, calling out his white classmates when they smear racist slurs on the cafeteria walls, even though it worsens the bullying. With twelve, he sells his first game to a magazine for $500. At 17 he leaves Africa and enrols in Queen’s University in Ontario, studies there for two years, before he gets a scholarship for the UPenn and graduates in Physics and Economics. In 2002, he sells his Company PayPal to eBay for $1.5 Billion and uses the money to found SpaceX and fund a start-up called Tesla. He has finally made it! He is an inventor, an entrepreneur and people started seeing him as a hero who will make space travel available for anybody! People call him the “real-life Tony Stark” only with an assuredly moral domain instead of selling weapons like the Marvel Hero did. His brand: "Saviour of the human race". By now, you probably guessed that the little, bullied boy is Elon Reeve Musk.

He was incredibly popular, especially with environmental protecting liberals. His revolutionizing electronic car, the Tesla, has become the symbol of “liberal do-goodery” and many eco-conscious people buy it just for this reason. He initially donates exclusively to the Democratic Party, supporting political figures like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, which makes perfect sense as he is one of the largest purveyors of renewable energy tech world-wide. His economic values, his striving towards making the world a better place, align naturally with the values of liberals and the Democratic party.

The younger generations celebrate him after he starred as a guest in PewDiePie’s Meme-review on YouTube in 2019. He starts tweeting memes daily, editing himself on the body of The Rock and replying to his young followers in the comment section. He turns into a Meme lord, despite being forty-eight years old. In 2021, The Times declares him the person of the year, the New York Post characterises him as “gloriously capitalistic [and] irreverent” and as “the hero we need today”. Forty years after nearly being beaten to death, he became one of the characters he read about as a child. He is the richest man in the world and an inspiration for many aspiring engineers and entrepreneurs. And I admit, I shared their opinions of him, to me he was simple ‘the Tesla guy’ who occasionally popped-up as a new, funny meme on my Instagram feed. But now, only a year after his peak, he is on Icarus-like decent worse than any other he had before.

See, Musk has had controversies before, only that the public forgot and forgave them shortly after they happened. The first backlash comes, as he spreads a massive amount of misinformation on the Coronavirus during the course of 2020. From stating that the panic around the deadly virus is over the top, to alleging politicians of publishing enlarged numbers of death, and even suggesting that people should consider the anti-malaria drug chloroquine to battle COVID. This last suggestion was also made by Donald Trump and Laura Ingraham and resulted in the death of at least one person.

It was during this period, that he began to lean more to the right-winged political side for example by challenging his followers to “Take the red pill”. The red pill is a reference to the matrix movie and taking it frees the hero, Neo, “from a dream-world imposed on humanity and let him see reality”. A reference which is now a metaphor often used by right-winged conspiracy theorists. Many republicans, including Ivanka Trump, reply with “Taken” and congratulate him on finally seeing the truth.

 But he did not stop there and went so far as to call the lockdown “fascist”. He believed the safety measures taken by the government desperately trying to slow down the exploding death rates and attempting to relieve the collapsing health-system are “not Democratic. This is not Freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom.”. The fuss around him died down eventually after he announced in 2021 that he believes in the COVID vaccine and in vaccines in general. A tweet which was received with mixed emotions. Especially Trump-supporters and republicans reacted negatively, disagreeing with his opinion on it being safe or asking if he was being blackmailed or even kidnapped. But alas, all was forgotten, until he created his latest and biggest controversy.

In February of 2022, he buys 9.2% of the Twitter shares, a purchase which makes him the biggest shareholder of the company. Soon after the news came out, he started posting polls on Twitter and rambles about ideas on how to improve the platform. While some people are concerned about his purchase and the consequential influence over the social media company, many celebrate him, calling him the next CEO of Twitter and start requesting changes from him. The people celebrating him are once again mostly republican, like the republican congressional candidate Lavern Spicer which even goes so far as to thank Musk under his first tweet after buying the shares for “helping to save western civilization”. The board of Twitter itself is not as ecstatic as his followers and feels threatened by the multi-billionaire. As a result, they create a deal: Musk gets appointed to the board if he agrees to not buy more than 15% of the Twitter shares. Elon does agree and on the 5th of April, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announces, that he will officially join the board four days later.

Elon replies very optimistic, stating that he is “Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”. The replies to both tweets are mixed and show a clear separation. While some people simply ask him to install an edit button, the republican followers get louder and many ask him to unban Trump from Twitter, fire Parag and praise him for bringing back free speech to the platform. The other side is concerned about his purchase and look migrate to other platforms such as Tumblr.

But his approval was only a façade that crumbles as he declares on the day of his appointment, that he will no longer join the board. Instead, he publicly ponders in a tweet whether Twitter is dying. And maybe his pondering, as well as many republicans replying it is due to ‘censorship’, resulted in the conclusion, that only he can be the hero that saves Twitter because he makes his first offer to purchase it on the 14th of April. He is willing to pay $43 billion, which later turns into $44 billion, to take the company private. The Twitter board, in an attempt to prevent him from buying the company, turns to the poison pill strategy but without success. After Twitter accepts the offer, he pulls back and pauses negotiations, claiming that Twitter is withholding regarding the number of spam accounts on their platform. Twitter sues Musk, alleging him not only of breaching their contract which would cost him a whopping $1 billion if the judge ruled for Twitter, as well as causing major damage to the company’s internal structure and value. Their complaint criticises how “Musk apparently believes that he — unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law — is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away”. Looks like someone is unpopular at the Twitter headquarters. His reaction is as expected. He counter-sues the company under the claims that “[the key metrics] contain numerous, material misrepresentations or omissions that distort Twitter’s value”. This game of cat and mouse continues for three more months, until he eventually buys the company in October. And whilst legal experts hypothesis that he did it because it is very hard to break a merging agreement and the first hearing did not sound good for Musk and his legal team, 2.4 million users liked his first tweet after finally going through with the merge.

The political direction in his comment section is now unmistakably right-winged, with Councilwoman Inna Vernikov thanking him “for making sure the USA does not turn into USSR”. Many advocate his role as the hero, saving the free speech on Twitter and asking him to reinstate accounts which have been banned for hate-speech and spreading of misinformation in the past. But where did all this talk about Twitter no longer supporting ‘free speech’ and censoring its users come from anyway?

It all started when the platform rewrote its rule after realising that “so-called free speech can actually be used as a weapon to silence the vulnerable and dispossessed” and that sometimes you must censor your users in order to maintain your position as a platform for free discourse. Thus, speech inciting violence against people “on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, or disability” were banned. But the ‘absolutely unjustified’ censorship (which is apparently enough to turn the USA into the USSR) does not stop there. In  March of 2021, Twitter announces that they “will start labelling misleading tweets about COVID vaccines and ban users who continue to spread such misinformation” and further introduced a “strike system” which “will gradually escalate to a permanent ban after the fifth offending tweet”.

To conclude the debate, the republican users of Twitter miss their old free speech and have found in the now openly republican Musk the perfect hero to safe them from being banned for spreading misinformation on a deadly virus or making racist and offensive tweets.

Because the new Twitter owner conveniently does it himself!

And he does not disappoint their expectations. The rules against spreading misinformation on the ever-killing virus are taken down in November of 2022, making the CEO once again highly unpopular with public health officials and the people who fought at the front lines during the pandemic. But his quest for ‘free speech’, instating himself even more as the new republican social-media leader, and garnering even more outrage and unpopularity amongst non-republicans is not yet completed. On Jan. 6, the second anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, he reinstates Micheal Flynn who is “one of the most prominent supporters of false claims that [the election] had been stolen by Biden”. He is additionally a prominent believer of the Trump QAnon conspiracy theory and has called Ukraine’s president Zelensky a “Dangerous fool” whilst strongly praising Putin and his Security Council Deputy Chairman for being “bold leaders who have everything at stake in terms of protecting their country”. Yes, protecting their country, because apparently Russia is now the endangered country and not Ukraine, the country they invaded. But everything for free speech, I guess. Musk himself seems to be on Russia’s side, tweeting a ‘suggestion’ on how to end the war which align with Russia’s own requests

Now, Musk has made a 180 degree transformation and turned from a symbol for the eco-conscious democrat into a full-fletched republican who allows misinformation and reinstates very controversial public figures. However, while he has a strong base of right-wing followers, the public criticism increases steadily, and he has now successfully managed to turn Ukrainian officials and political commentators against him.

During the November of 2022, Musk launched the $8-blue-verification, the inevitable wave of impersonation made him now also unpopular amongst companies and stars who had fallen victim to the predicted havoc.  But there is one group in his orbit that we have not yet looked at: his employees. Or should I in Twitters case rather say ex-employees? After his purchase, he not only fired the former CEO but also 3700 employees, more than half of the entire company. Even more followed after his famous hardcore-email, and the remaining employees are now begging for toilet paper as the stench from the bathrooms is flooding the offices, due to recent financial cuts.

Unfortunately though, the mistreatment of his employees is anything but new. In February of 2022, Tesla was sued after hundreds of complaints were filed by its employees due to experiencing racism and systematic harassment against black workers. Racist graffiti could be found all around the building and one worker “heard 50 to 100 racial slurs a day”. Soon after, investor Solomon Chau files a lawsuit because Musk and his executive directors at Tesla breached “fiduciary duty by enabling a toxic work environment”. He is reported to have a habit of “blowing up at those beneath him”, his humiliating and anger-driven behaviour has even become so common, that Executives would joke how “Musk would devour a worker by erupting at them in anger” instead of eating food. After Tesla executive Peter Rawlinson quit, like because of these temper tantrums, another executive failed to bring him back and was thus fired by Musk.

Somehow Musk even avoided the repercussions of the #MeToo movement as several women sued Tesla for sexual harassment without consequences at the workplace. Male workers took pictures of a women’s backside, sharing it with the rest of the workforce. Female employees were objectified on a daily basis, or touched by male co-workers who then lied about their position to dissuade them from reporting the harassment. But apparently they are all just following their CEO, given that Musk exposed himself to a flight attendant in 2016, asking her for an erotic massage in exchange for buying her a horse, leaving the flight attendant traumatized. After declining the generous offer, he cuts back her shifts and later proceeds to pay her $250.000 to silence her. He now calls the claims wild and a “concerted effort to silence him”.

And while Media psychologist Jo Groeble speculates that his image could recover, I am of the firm belief and sincerly hope that it won’t. After all this, you cannot help but wonder, if Musk looks back on his childhood and believes that the small, bullied, and beaten boy who fiercely fought against racism, would have been proud of the person he is now. What do you think?  

TL;DR: In the name of 'free speech', Musk legalizes hate-speech and misinformation on Twitter and reinstates highly dangerous political figures on the anniversary of the tragedy which they promoted. All whilst banning journalists, politicians and anti-fascist accounts/organizations because they disagree with his opinions. Apparently, free speech only applies to people who share his opinion. Throwing temper-tantrums and erupting at workers is just as normal as inciting a toxic work-environment, racism, and sexual harassment. In the span of a year, he has made himself unpopular with his employees, democrats, feminists, people of colour, yes, even entire countries if we take a look at Ukraine.

[celestial-sphere-press]

~application of shiny bits~

I mentioned about Escape from Pretoria that I attempted a new technique, and here is a video. I bastardized a Japanese gilding technique (sunagao) that uses animal glue only (no heat or pressure) to try and create these stripes. it's not really meant for getting regular coverage like this though, so my result was perhaps not what I had hoped, but I think it still looks all right.

[dontcallmebymyusername]

Birthday video for Nathan Page. 💖🎉🍾🎂

by @dontcallmebymyusername

[tolum]

I'm watching Escape from Pretoria (2020)

[twnenglish]

Exploring the Extraordinary Success Story of Elon Musk: Visionary Entrepreneur and Innovator

Elon Musk, a name synonymous with innovation and audacious ventures, continues to dominate headlines and shape industries. From his early days as an entrepreneur founding Zip2 and X.com (later PayPal), to his current leadership of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk's journey has been nothing short of extraordinary.

But his story extends far beyond financial success. This revised piece, incorporating the latest information and avoiding plagiarism, delves into Musk's multifaceted life, exploring his successes, challenges, and ongoing ventures.

We'll begin by revisiting his formative years, examining how his childhood struggles fueled his determination and entrepreneurial spirit. Then, we'll chart his rise to prominence, detailing his key acquisitions and ventures like Tesla and SpaceX. We'll also explore his personal life, highlighting his family and relationships.

Next, we'll delve into his latest endeavors, including the acquisition of Twitter (now known as X) and its ongoing transformation. Finally, we'll discuss his net worth and potential future trajectory, considering the latest predictions and speculations.

This comprehensive overview aims to provide a balanced and insightful perspective on Elon Musk in 2024. We'll move beyond superficial headlines and delve into the complexities of the man behind the legend, offering a nuanced understanding of his impact on the world.

With updated information and an engaging narrative, this piece strives to be a valuable resource for anyone interested in Elon Musk and his remarkable journey.

"Discover the journey of Elon Musk and unravel the narrative of his rise to becoming one of the wealthiest individuals globally."

Elon Musk's Journey: From PayPal Founder to Tesla CEO and X Owner

Understanding the Early Life and Education of Elon Musk

Elon Musk's journey began in Pretoria, South Africa, where he was born in 1971. His life, however, wouldn't be confined by geographical boundaries. This piece delves into the formative years that shaped the tech visionary we know today, exploring his family background, early interests, and educational pursuits.

Elon Musk's Family Roots and a Budding Genius:

Born to a South African engineer father and a Canadian-born model mother, Musk displayed an early aptitude for technology and entrepreneurship.

At just 12, he sold his first video game, showcasing his precocious coding skills.

However, his childhood wasn't without challenges. He faced bullying and family difficulties, which may have fueled his desire for escape and innovation.

Seeking New Horizons:

Driven by a yearning for greater opportunities, Musk left South Africa at 17 to pursue his education in Canada.

He later enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he simultaneously pursued degrees in physics and economics, demonstrating his diverse interests and intellectual curiosity.

Read More

[simplydanielradcliffe]

Ico Icons

6 New icons from Merrily We Roll Along, Escape from Pretoria, Playmobil, The Lost City, Endgame and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Note these are only for PC at the moment. I haven’t found a converter for MAC.

[mona--el-tahan]

والله العظيم .. قرفت من بريطانيا .. و كل الافلام عن بريطانيا😜😜

الان فيلم عل�� قناة mix .. بطله الممثل صاحب شخصية هارى بوتر .. اسم الفيلم .. escape from pretoria

قلبت القناة الآن

تعليقى👇👇

طالما فالحين كده يا بريطانيا .. و بتطاردونى .. بأفلامكم و ثقافتكم

اتشطروا .. وشمروا .. واصنعوا فيلم

عن الشراميط الشاذات جنسيا .. المنحلات اخلاقيا .. الى بتعرص عليهم حاليا .. الجهات السيادية البريطانية .. الى كادوا للست امى .. ولشقيقى .. و لى .. منذ اكثر من خمسين عاما .. حتى الآن

و اكرر و اعيد👇👇

لن اترك للأبد .. الاقامة فى مصر .. بلدى و بأحبها 😘

و ارفض الجنسية البريطانية للأبد .. و أى جنسية اخرى

واتمنى الانجليز .. يبطلوا يلقحوا جتتهم عليا .. و يتوقفوا للأبد عن مطاردتى.

مش بالعافية .. ولا حيتلوى ذراعى .. علشان اوافق على الجنسية البريطانية

أنا مصرية .. وكفى

و لو .. لم اكن .. مصرية .. لوددت ان اكون مصرية

كفانى مصر .. ان تكون لى بلادا .. كى أتيه افتخارا على العالمين💪