#european beer star

[frustrapl]

New Style Lager from Brovarnia Gdańsk - small craft brewery in Poland.

3rd place on the podium and bronze medal on European Beer Star 2023.

[the-ancient-dragons]

Observe the final Overcomplicated Pyrrhian tribe, the NightWings!!

As always, Joy and Tui already did an amazing job, I'm just adding my own flair.

Details and explanation below.

Next week I have something special... See you then!

More overcomplicated dragons.

The NightWing took me forever. First with school, and then because I picked the most annoying references. It was perfect, at least I thought it was, until I had to draw scales over the entire thing. THE ENTIRE THING. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, I modelled the main anatomy after the komodo dragon. A really uninspired choice but I saw how Morrowseer tracked that albatross in book 4 and said hold my 2 mL of beer. I recently did a few alterations because I felt I was following the komodo anatomy too much. I think I've got a nice balance now, but I might change it later when I do the full body.

Next is the elephant in the room, that fact that there are way too many small scales, especially over the areas that look like large scales. That comes from the caiman lizard. In the references I had their body scales had folded in the EXACT pattern of NightWing scales. As soon as I saw it I knew I needed to use them. You can also find their influences around the mouth with those large "lips" and the silver scales along the neck.

Lastly I used european starlings for the glossy scales. Not every NightWing would have blue and green and purple on them, but it would be a possibility, and I wanted it on this one to show that. Depending on the angle you look at them you would see a different colour. Some starlings also have lots of white spots on their underbelly, which I thought would look perfect for the underbelly of a NightWing. Again, not every dragon would have this, but it would make sense. If the underside of their wings are star-spangled then their necks, stomachs, and tails might as well be, no?

I really had a lot of fun with this. I mentioned something special next week and I think it's something you'll really like (if you liked this series so much). No spoilers though! Until next time >:)

[strawburry01]

Her Majesty

Ford Pines x Reader

Summary: A bunch of lil blurbs about your time with Stanford. All fluffy sweet stuff to make up for whatever comes next.

A/N: thanks for all the love guys! I hope you all appreciate these little snippets to make up for me missing sometimes :)

The next time you and Ford walked into Greasy’s Diner, you were holding hands. Everyone was nudging each other’s shoulders to look. They’d been waiting on this moment for a while, silently betting and gossiping on what your relationship was. The sweet waitress Susan paid for your brunch after insisting making the pancakes in the shape of a heart which caused Ford’s face to redden.

Your VCR tape library continued to grow as did Ford’s notebook collection. He kept saying he would build another real house for you both eventually that could fit everything you both needed.

You wrote back to your sister about how you were finally dating a guy and she responded back with endless phone calls until you eventually answered. She didn’t believe you until you put Ford on the phone to prove he existed.

On your first-year of dating anniversary Ford got you a new camcorder. The newest the town’s Radio Shack had at least. You got him a new Casio watch. One with the little calculator on it.

Many nights were spent with you having fallen asleep on top of Ford as he was reading a book. He didn’t dare move you.

You brought home a cat one day you found in the forest. “We need a pet” you insisted. Ford quickly informed you that it was a baby cougar.

Ford eventually told his brother Stan that you two were dating. He never told you how Stan responded, but he didn’t know you overheard him on the phone saying, “I can’t believe she’s with someone like me,”.

You and Ford always had strained relationships with your parents so you never felt a strong urge to introduce each other to them. When your grandma passed away though he flew back to the east coast with you to attend the funeral. He teased you about the science fair and soccer trophies in your childhood room when you two spent the night there.

On your third year anniversary you two went into the larger Oregon city of Portland for the night and went to an expensive dinner. Afterwards you two went to a midnight showing of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

You both mentally kept track of the overall wins and losses of your daily chess games.

He preferred coffee, you preferred tea.

Whenever Ford would put on one of his nature or paranormal documentaries you’d always wrap yourself around his arm and fall asleep immediately. The European narrators just lulled you straight to sleep.

Ford nearly tore your ear off when your earrings got stuck to his magnet-ray. He apologized profusely and bought you new earrings to make up for ruining yours.

You insisted on going out to the town fair and got him dancing with you when the band starting playing on the last night. You were both buzzed off of beer and cider and couldn’t stop laughing and bouncing into each other.

Everyone in town knew you as the two scientists outside of town, and everyone knew how much you two loved each other.

You both said ‘I love you’ for the first time when star gazing

Hope you enjoyed! Think of this as part 2.5 I guess? Whatever is next is gonna hurt the feelings I’m sorry but I can’t help it heeheehhehehe.

Update: here it is

[twobluejeans]

HEARTBREAK ON TOUR!

charles leclerc x famous!reader

summary: in which the lavender haze has been lifted. or in which america’s it couple splits.

part 10: xoxo, barbie series masterlist

faceclaim: madison beer

ally’s radio 📻: PART 10! i recommend listening to marjorie by taylor swift to this chapter so u feel the vibe.

TWITTER, july 19

INSTAGRAM, july 19

liked by camilamorrone, lewishamilton, and 6,348,164 others

yourinstagram just wrapped up the european leg of the Eras Tour, and my heart is bursting with gratitude and emotion. this journey has been an extraordinary one, and i couldn't have asked for a more incredible audience to share it with. 

last night, we closed out this chapter in the city where my mother was born, and i have no words to express how special it was. the energy, the love, and the connection we shared in that moment made it the best show of my life.

to everyone who came out to the shows, sang along, danced, and created memories with us, thank you from the bottom of my heart. your passion and support have been the driving force behind every performance, and i’m endlessly grateful for the moments we've shared together. 

this tour has been a journey of self-rediscovery and growth, and i’m so lucky to have such an amazing team by my side. the dedication, creativity, and hard work they've poured into every detail have made this experience truly magical. 

as we move forward to the next leg of the tour, i carry with me the love and warmth of each city we've visited. your energy and enthusiasm have fueled my spirit, and i can't wait to see where the Eras Tour takes us next. 

from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being a part of this adventure. let’s continue to make memories, share moments, and celebrate the magic of music together. here's to the journey ahead! 🦋🫧

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INSTAGRAM, july 20

yourstory 8h

viewed by henrycavill, aarontaylorjohnson, and 4,563,134 others

yourstory 8h

viewed by carlossainz, gretagerwing, and 4,17,123 others

INSTAGRAM, july 20

liked by landomybbgirl, f1ewis, and 612,122 others

enews click link in bio to read everything we know so far about the controversy that is y/n l/n’s and charles leclerc’s breakup.

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dutchverstappen_ n e ways…

ripy/nsferrariera CAUSE KARMA IS MY BFFFF

leclerc16ferrari i love charles but to say this isn’t well deserved would be lying 💀

INSTGRAM STORIES, july 20

yourstory 58m

viewed by rudeth, badbunnypr, and 1,578,193 others

yourstory 28m

viewed by landonoriss, authurleclerc, and 643,183 others

TWITTER, july 20

INSTAGRAM july 21

liked by selenagomez, ana_d_armas, and 9,449,167 others

yourinstagram happy birthday to my guardian angel! today, as i celebrate another year of life, i can't help but remember the incredible woman who brought me into this world. we share the same birthday, and though you're not physically here with me, i feel your presence in every beat of my heart.it’s been 15 years since you left us, but your love, guidance, and beautiful spirit have never faded from my life. you were not just my mom; you were my best friend, my confidante, and my rock. losing you at the age of 12 was the most challenging thing i’ve ever faced, but i’ve carried your strength and love with me every step of the way.you were there for all my firsts - my first day of school, my first dance recital, my first guitar lesson. you taught me kindness, compassion, and the importance of staying true to myself. your unwavering support and belief in me still resonates deeply, even when life feels overwhelming. i often find myself looking up at the night sky, knowing that you're shining down as one of the brightest stars. your light continues to guide me, reminding me that no matter how tough life gets, i have your love to carry me through.so, here's to you, mom - the strongest, most beautiful soul i’ve ever known. thank you for being my guardian angel and for making every birthday feel like a celebration of your love and spirit.

wishing i could hug u one last time,

your y/n/n. 🤍

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fernandoalonso she’s watching over you and she’s so proud of how far you come. she’s by your side always, front row at all of your concerts. forever with you wherever you go, your guardian angel

bellahadid she’s so proud of u, babe. we all are 🖤

sabrinacarpenter happy birthday 💗

TWITTER, july 21

INSTAGRAM, july 21

liked by tchalamet, carlossainz, and 15,732,135 others

yourinstagram oh god, i’ve cried at least 3 times trying to type this so hopefully fourth times the charm.

as i take a moment to reflect on my unforgettable journey on the set of Barbie, my heart is overflowing with emotions. i can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the incredible opportunity i was given and the remarkable people who made it all possible. 

to the extraordinary visionary, greta gerwing, thank you for trusting me with the role of Barbie and for guiding me through this artistic voyage. barbie played a big role in my life as a little girl, i adored every barbie film series and for you to chose me as you barbie is something i will always be in debt to you for. your passion and creativity was infectious, and i’m forever grateful for the chance to collaborate with such a talented director. the experience has left an indelible mark on my soul. 

and to my lovely cast-mates, fellow Barbies, and Kens, you are the heart and soul of this film. each one of you brought a unique and irreplaceable energy to the set, and i in awe of your dedication and talent. together, we laughed, cried, and supported one another, creating a bond that will last a lifetime. thank you for being my rock on-screen and off-screen. you are my true stars. ⭐️

 the memories we've made during the filming process will forever be etched in my heart. from the exhilarating moments of shooting magical scenes to the heartwarming conversations behind the scenes, every single second has been a treasure. the friendships that blossomed during this journey are the kind that go beyond the silver screen, and i feel incredibly blessed to have shared this chapter with each one of you. 

i can't help but be proud of what we've created together. the love, effort, and dedication poured into Barbie shine through every frame. it’s my hope that this film will not only entertain but also inspire and touch the hearts of all who watch it. i want each person to experience the same excitement and joy that filled my heart while bringing Barbie to life.

thank you to the entire production team, crew members, and everyone behind the scenes for your tireless efforts in making this dream come true. your passion and commitment to the project have been awe-inspiring, and i’m forever grateful for your hard work and dedication. 🙏

so here's to Barbie and to all of you who made it an unforgettable adventure. let’s spread its magic far and wide, and may it bring joy and wonder to audiences around the world. thank you, from the depths of my heart, for being a part of this incredible journey. i love you all! 

BARBIE is out now in theaters everywhere. 💕

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dualipa 🎀💞

fernandoalonso_offical Felicidades cariño, estoy increíblemente orgullosa de ti. Te extraño

sabrinacarpenter i’m sick of kens i need an alan

yourinstagram sabrinacarpenter agreed.

gretagerwing Fourth pic 🥹 my babies!! Love you Guys!!

americaferrira obsessed with you and your performance! can’t wait for everyone to see it

florencepugh IVE RETURNED A CHANGED WOMAN AFTER WATCHING BARBIE

y/nsreputation she’s in her barbie era

lolaransdell_fan33 am i the only one who thought ryan gosling was kinda too old to play ken? like the age difference between y/n and him is weird too💀

yourinstagram lolaransdell_fan33 he was and is kenough.

robertdowneyjr Proud of you, kiddo. Anyways, go watch Oppenheimer in theaters today 🖤💣

yourinstagram robertdowneyjr how do i pin this comment??

TWITTER, july 21

ally’s radio 📻: YASS WE LOVE TO SEE IT!!!!! what r our thoughts?

@incoherenciass@dakotali@405rry@topaz125@sassyheroneckgiant@hevburn@itsmytimetoodream@ivegotparticulartaste@crowdedimagines @asterianax @haydee5010@scenesofobx@christinabae@magical-spit@dessxoxsworld@myareadsbooks@honethatty12@hopefulinlove@diasnohibng@gentlemonsterjennie1@hummusxx@eugene-emt-roe@taestrwbrry @perjarma @cxcewg@chimchimjiminie16@glow-ish@allywthsr @millyswife@mrsmaybank13@black-swan-blog27 @stargaryenx@lilsiz@ohthemisssery@leclerclvr

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Ted finds him when the party has calmed down, just a smidge. (For a given value of ‘calmed down’: Colin’s singing along to some old Cher tune at the top of his lungs; Sam’s wearing a sparkling feather boa gifted to him by an ecstatic drag queen; Jan and Moe is locked into a heated debate over the European Union that is somehow also almost a rap battle and involves doing shots while several rapt onlookers cheer them on. Still, it’s fairly quiet compared to the utter euphoria of the first few hours after the penalty that gave them their promotion.)

Jamie’s slipped away to take a leak and make sure his hair is still on point (it is) and his nose is still okay (it is), and on his way back to the crowd he pauses for a moment, lingering by the door to take it all in, the noise, the laughter, the glowing faces of his teammates under the fluorescent lights. That’s where Ted finds him, walking up with a smile and offering him a bottle of beer.

”That was a real nice thing you did out there, handing that penalty over to Dani,” the gaffer offers without preamble. “A bold call, but a good one.” He pauses for a moment. “Can’t have been easy, giving up the opportunity to get us through to take a chance like that. ‘Cause I’m assuming you didn’t do it on account of being worried you were going to miss?”

And Jamie scoffs because really, he isn’t going to miss a penalty, is he? But the scoff is a passing thing, easily shrugged off, because he knows that Ted knows that, too. And it was a good call, and contrary to what Ted suggests, a strangely easy one to make.

It’d just seemed right. Pay it forward, like.

So he shrugs. Has a sip of the beer Ted’s handed him. “Yeah, well. Knew he could do it, didn’t I. I mean, I know he’s been all up in his head about poor Earl, that was some proper bad luck, that was, but. Sometimes you just need someone to believe in you, do you know what I mean? Get a second chance.”

He throws a furtive look at Ted, wondering if the gaffer gets what he’s getting at, or if Jamie has to spell it out, which he fucking won’t.

It seems Ted does get it, though, because his smile is knowing; pleased. “I couldn’t agree more. Always nice, though, seeing people make the most of the chances they’re given, right? Makes you darn proud of them.”

And that. Ah. That aches, a little, but not badly. Not the pain of a kick to the ribs, but the tingling, warming pain of blood flowing back into a numb limb.

Jamie lets go of a long breath. Clears his throat. “Yeah. I mean, I guess so, yeah.”

“Yeah, well, I know so.” Ted nods to the dance floor where Dixon’s just taking his shirt off and waving it over his head. Dani’s beaming at him and applauding like Dixon’s some rock star or something. “All right, you go on now and scoot your butt over there. Go celebrate with your team.”

“Yeah. I will, yeah.” But Jamie doesn’t move just yet; he pauses for a moment, hesitating. “Thanks, Coach. For. Well. Just thanks, I guess.”

Ted just shakes his head, still smiling. “Nah. Don’t mention it. All I need from you tonight is for you to have the best gosh damned night you’ve had all year, okay? You sure do deserve it.”

And well, gaffer’s got a point, don’t he? And it’d be selfish of Jamie to disappoint him now, right, so Jamie grins and throws back his beer and sets out to do as told.

[shotmrmiller]

So over in some European countries + Australia.. they have parties.. that are American themed. Everyone is expected to dress like an American, there's red white and blue decorations, eagles, red solo cups, etc.

I would kill to see TF141 at such a party. Can you imagine Simon showing up in an American flag mask? Johnny wearing one of those FREEDOM shirts with a squawking bald eagle. Gaz in stars and bars sunglasses? Price in some truck driver USA hat with a beer logo tshirt??

simon n john

that is hilarious lmaoooo

[jokeroutsubs]

[NEW ENG TRANSLATION] I write songs in Serbian so my grandma can understand us too: The Joker Out frontman talks about Eurovision, his origins, and Belgrade Beer Fest

original article Written by Ljubomir Radanov for Kurir.rs english translation by @moonlvster proofread by X @ klámstrákur

Even though this year's Eurovision ended a while ago, some of the participants, like the band Joker Out, are still talked about. We're referring to one of the most popular pop-rock bands in Slovenia, whose frontman, Bojan Cvjetićanin, has become a real music star. It was this great European festival that allowed his popularity to reach beyond the borders of Slovenia. Ahead of their performance at the next Belgrade Beer Fest, which will be held from the 15th until the 18th of June [2023] in Belgrade, the 24 year old of Serbian origin, otherwise a sociology graduate, talks about his Serbian origins and upcoming visit to our capital city.

This is not your first time in Belgrade?

We had our first performance at the MAC event, but this is our first concert.

What do you have planned for it?

We'll perform as long as scheduled, around an hour, plus two songs, just enough to go over the limit (laughing). We are scheduled to play for about an hour, which means we'll be able to play a good percentage of our repertoire. If the audience is quiet, we'll have to talk to them and we'll play more songs (laughing).

Will you have some time to visit Belgrade?

Unfortunately, our plan is to leave immediately, because we are to perform in Slovenia the next day. Last time, we visited commercial places, met lovely people who promised us they will show us the real Belgrade and the places that only the locals know sometime. Ask me in a year and I believe I'm going to give a much better answer.

You attracted a lot of attention with your Eurovision performance.

How satisfied are you?

Eurovision is one of the biggest festivals in Europe, maybe even in the world.

It took six months of our lives and it was like a giant school trip or a travelling circus, carried out on the most professional level. We met a lot of creative people with whom we will be able to build a career abroad. We have gained a huge amount of fans. The only thing that didn't turn out how we imagined was our result, but in the end, that's less important to us than what we achieved with the audience.

Were you pleased with the score from the Serbian jury and the audience?

I thought I was going to burst with happiness when I heard we received 12 points! It was a magical moment.

Have you stayed in contact with the Serbian representative, Luke Black?

Of course. We became friends and we will probably meet at our concert in London in July.

Did you actually lose your phone at Eurovision?

It happened after the final, at an afterparty. I left it somewhere and it ended up with another country's delegation, but I got it back two days later. Still, I enjoyed not having a phone. The day after Eurovision, everyone was writing messages and being active on social media, and I spent that time with my family and friends. It was like I was in a different universe, completely calm and relieved.

How would you explain your music in terms of genre?

In 2017, we called our music 'shagadelic rock 'n' roll', based on the movie 'Austin Powers', which we adore. Our sound is an interesting mix of ex-Yu rock and roll and British pop-rock.

Who are your idols?

The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, and Slovenian bands such as Siddharta and Big Foot Mama, and the Balkan bands Bijelo dugme, Indexi, Idoli...

What do you listen to in terms of modern sound from these areas?

The bands Buč Kesidi, Keni Nije Mrtav... We haven't had time to listen to music in the past year, we were constantly in some kind of chaos and noise.

Where did the idea of expressing yourself in your mother tongue come from, like, for example, in the songs 'Ona' and 'Demoni', which are in Serbian?

Every time I play our songs to my family, my grandma, who is from Banja Luka, can't understand the lyrics entirely. I wanted her to be able to understand perfectly what the poet wanted to say, and that's how the songs 'Ona' and 'Demoni' came about. With the song 'Ona', we wanted to capture the essence of the band Idoli¹.

¹The band 'Idoli' was one of the most remarkable new wave bands based in Belgrade, active during the early 80's. They are considered one of the most outstanding and influential representatives of the Yugoslav rock music and their album 'Odbrana i poslednji dani' ('Defense and The Last Days') was voted as the greatest Yugoslav rock album of all time.

Your family's origins are interesting.

My mom's side is from Banja Luka and Lebane, and my dad's side is half from Ličko Petrovo Selo, and the other half from Croatia and Slovenia.

You also act and host. Do you have ambitions in acting?

I would love to act more and I would be very happy if I acted in more serious roles. I've always played characters that were similar to me and I couldn't fully surrender to the charms of this profession. In high school, I acted in theatre, and if I get the opportunity to do that again or to film a movie, I wouldn't run away from it.

How do you see yourself in ten years?

I would love for Joker Out to be an established band around Europe, to have two children, and to live a normal life.

[yoga-onion]

Legends and myths about trees

Celtic beliefs in trees (23)

Ng for Ngetl (Broom) - October 28th - November 24th

“Entering into dormancy – The Celtic Tree Calendar (Ref), Twelfth Month”

colour: blue; Star: moon; Gemstone: opal; Gender: male; Patron: Mercuris, Morpheus, Bacchus; Symbols: dignity, purity, healing, spiritual protection, soul journey

The common broom is ubiquitous in European wetlands. It grows unmindful from alpine peaks to lowland scrub and wilderness, providing temporary shelter from the wind and rain on rugged, bare ground. Although delicate in looks, its long, straight stems are strong and flexible and will not break in the wind. As its name suggests, it is used to make brooms. The broom has also been valued as a medicinal plant since ancient times. In medieval England, it was used by the royal family as a remedy for after drinking and singing parties and debauchery. The reason was that in November, when it was cold and people spent a lot of time indoors, there was nothing else to do but to be merry and boisterous.

The efficacy of medicinal herbs is corroborated in ancient Celtic literature. The ogham form of the word Ngetl represents from a word panacea, meaning 'physician's power'. The most important constituent of the broom plant is sparteine (an alkaloid). Some people associate the broom plant with witches because large doses of sparteine can cause extreme excitement or hallucinations. It is also said to be the reason why witches are flying astride broomsticks.

Beer is now made from hops, but in the olden days young, supple broom plants were used to flavour the beer and enhance the tipsy mood. Tea made from the yellow flowers was often used as a diuretic. In esoteric rituals, the broom plant is used for purification and prayers for personal safety, and is said to be particularly powerful against poltergeists. It is also said that throwing the branches of the broom plant causes wind, while burning them and burying them in the earth quiets the wind.

The spirits leave their bodies and embark on a journey. Druids (Ref2) and shamans call this 'the journey to the underworld', and the broom plant is a symbol of such a journey. Anyway, with its remarkable healing properties and narcotic-like effects, the broom plant has long been associated with healers, sorcerers, witches and shamans.

For the Celts, the month that the broom plant governs, which marks the end of the year, is a time to store up for the winter, sweep the house clean and hope that miscellaneous thoughts and bad habits will leave the house. In a nutshell, the enithid symbolises the virtue of keeping one's behaviour clean. It also teaches us to pay close attention to the dreams we have while sleeping at night.

木にまつわる伝説・神話

ケルト人の樹木の信仰 (23)

NはNgetl (ｴﾆｼﾀﾞ) - 10月28日～11月24日　

『休止への入り口 〜 ケルトの木の暦（参照）、12番目の月』

色: 青; 星: 月;  宝石: オパール; 性: 男性; 守護神: メルクリス、モルフェウス、バッカス; シンボル: 尊厳、清浄、癒し、精神の保護、魂の旅

普通種のエニシダ(英:ﾌﾞﾙｰﾑ) はヨーロッパの湿地帯ではどこにでも生えている。高山の山頂から低地の低木林や荒野まで、荒々しいむきだしの大地に雨風をしのぐ仮の宿を提供しながら平然と生育している。見た目は繊細だが、長くまっすぐな茎は丈夫でしなやかで、風で折れることはない。その名が示すように、ほうき(英:ﾌﾞﾙｰﾑ)の材料として使われる。また、エニシダは古くから薬草としても重宝されてきた。中世のイギリスでは、王族が酒を飲んで歌い騒ぎ、放蕩した後の薬として使っていた。寒さが厳しく室内で過ごす時間の長い11月は浮かれ騒ぐよりほかになかったからだ。

薬草の効能については、古代ケルトの文献にもそれを裏書きする記述が見られる。そもそもオガム表記のNgetlは「医者の力」を意味するパナケア(panacea) を表しす。エニシダの最も重要な成分はスパルテイン（アルカロイド）である。スパルテインを大量に摂取すると、極度の興奮や幻覚を引き起こすことがあるため、エニシダを魔女と結びつける人もいる。また、魔女がほうきにまたがって空を飛ぶのもこのためだと言われている。

現在、ビールはホップから作られているが、昔は若くてしなやかなエニシダがビールの風味付けやほろ酔い気分を高めるために使われていた。黄色い花で入れたお茶は利尿剤としてよく使われた。密教の儀式では、エニシダは浄化や身の安全を祈願するために使われ、特にポルターガイストに対して威力を発揮すると言われている。また、エニシダの枝を投げると風が吹き、燃やして土に埋めると風が静まると言われている。

魂は肉体を離れ、旅に出る。ドルイド（参照2）やシャーマンはこれを「冥界への旅」と呼び、エニシダはそうした旅の象徴である。いずれにせよ、エニシダには驚くべきヒーリング (癒し) 作用と麻薬のような効果があるため、長い間、ヒーラー、魔術師、魔女やシャーマンと縁の深い植物なのだ。

ケルト人にとって1年の締めくくりにあたる、エニシダがつかさどる月は、冬に備えて貯え、家の中を綺麗に掃き清め、雑念や悪習に退場を願う時期に当たる。一言でいえば、エニシダは自分の行動を綺麗に保つことの美徳を象徴している。そして、夜寝ている間に見る夢に細心の注意を払うようにという教えでもある。

[reddest-flower]

Racism was vital to the capitalist policies of the United States and the European countries that relied upon ideas of racial superiority to maintain their colonies and semi-colonies as places of super-exploitation of people and nature. No question of giving these places freedom. Wilson sent in the United States military to occupy Nicaragua in 1914, Haiti in 1915 and the Dominican Republic in 1916. In 1913-14, Wilson intervened militarily in Mexico to undermine its revolution. The unseemliness of Wilson’s imperialist military actions irked Wilson’s Secretary of State Robert Lansing, who wrote to his president in 1916, ‘It seems to me that we should avoid the use of the word Intervention and deny that any invasion of Mexico is for the sake of intervention.’ Wilson’s advisor, George Louis Beer, encouraged him not to allow his own rhetoric to imply self-determination for African states. ‘The negro race’, wrote Beer, ‘has hitherto shown no capacity for progressive development except under the tutelage of other peoples.’ In this list of other peoples were the British and French – who had experience – as well as the Scandinavians – who had a clean reputation. The people of Africa and Asia, however, were ‘not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world’. Wilson was the contemporary of the Bolsheviks. Their world was alien to his.

The Communist International met for the first time in March 1919; it snubbed Versailles and Wilson. They were not relevant to it. It charted a different course that culminated at the Baku Conference of the Toilers of the East (1920). The Bolshevik Mission in Tbilisi (Georgia) offered the following description of the conference,

«The first sitting of the Conference was devoted to Zinoviev’s speech, which explained the aims of the Conference. The passage in Zinoviev’s speech where he invited the Eastern peoples to a holy war was interrupted by the demonstrations of the delegates who in an ecstasy jumped from their seats, unsheathed their swords and waved them in the air. The hall was filled with cheering in all languages. For many minutes, to the strains of the Internationale, the Conference swore to keep faithful to the cause of the working classes. The sitting was very enthusiastic, and was frequently interrupted by ovations. In the evenings, Baku wore a holiday appearance. Artistic triumphal arches and beautiful decorations filled the streets. Throughout the day, the delegates moved about the streets. Comrade Zinoviev was the object of much attention. Wherever he was seen in the streets, he was surrounded by cheering crowds.»

Red Star Over the Third World, Vijay Prashad, 2019

[octuscle]

I miss my best friend! I think he was screwing around with the Chronivac and got turned into some Junior High 'Gymbro' by someone on your support team! I have no interest in the gym, but I miss him, we grew up together man!

Okay, yes I think I remember that case. It's been a while… I hope that's your pal you're missing:

He graduated junior high some time ago, he's a sophomore in high school now. And one of the most popular lads in school. No wonder, he's really hot. And I regret, he won't remember you as you look today with your not very athletic body in your early 30s. Dating someone like you would be pure social poison in high school. But you want to be his best friend again? I can help you with that. It's Sunday night, get your stuff together, you have to go back to school tomorrow morning.

After dinner, you sit in front of the TV as usual. Actually, you would like to continue watching your favorite series on Netflix. But instead you watch soccer. You don't get what the Europeans think of it. Lame game… But the lads on the field look sexy. So sexy that you jerk off. You like the cool hairstyles, especially when their hair is wet with sweat. The shiny jerseys. The lads are bursting with athleticism. Fast, agile. Not those clumsy bodybuilding hunks. Hehehe, and the jersey shorts damp from precum just feel awesome. You have to pee during the half-time break. In front of the mirror, you think to yourself that maybe you're a little too old for the cool undercut cut you copied from your idol. Well, you've been seriously training at your soccer club after work for a year now. But that doesn't make you a soccer star. Nevertheless, the hairstyle is very cool. You take another non-alcoholic isotonic beer and fever with your team in front of the TV through the super exciting second half. When the redeeming goal is finally scored, you almost spill the rest of the beer over your sofa in your jubilation.

Actually, you could watch your series for another hour or two. But there is still the summary of the last game day to come. You will watch it. With a last beer. It's now almost 22:00. Another round of running before you go to bed? No, you'd rather do a few sit-ups and get up early enough tomorrow to get it done before work. The soccer posters in your bedroom are a bit childish, aren't they? But you are a fan. You even have bed linen from your club. Soccer star… That would be a great life… You think and fall asleep.

At 02:00 o'clock you wake up. Your hard-on is almost painful. You can't remember the dream anymore. But you are thirsty and quietly, so as not to wake your roommates in the frat house, you go to the bathroom and drink a sip of water. Your cock has recovered and dangles magnificently between your worked out thighs. You proudly stroke your six-pack. Yes, you are already rightly a favorite of the spectators. Fuck, actually you would like to jerk off now. But you have to go to bed, you need your sleep.

At 06:00 o'clock your mother sticks her head into your bedroom and whispers "Get up, sweetheart". You hate that. You're almost 17. You're one of the most promising goalies in the state. You're not a sweetheart anymore. But secretly you are grateful to your mother. You would have overslept for sure. And the hour of running before school is a must. Sometimes you envy your pal. Bodybuilding is just less time-consuming. Football is hard work. Still, you prefer it. Gym is just not your thing.

Training today was great. Every word of praise from the coach makes you feel good! Nevertheless, you are now looking forward to the cafeteria. Actually, the lads from the soccer team don't sit with the pumpers. Your best buddy and you are an exception. But hey, you're both some of the cool lads. Have fun and enjoy high school life.

More pics like that at @cutesoccerguys

[cellarspider]

Qunlat 4/12: Phonology

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Qunlat pronunciation has varied widely between voice actors, and it seems likely to continue to do so. I’m of the “follow your heart” style regarding this--if you like a certain pronunciation, go for it.

…But if your heart tells you “follow someone else!”, then I’ll try and help out here. You’ll just have to sit through a bit of linguistics history first, while I explain how Bioware has made this complicated.

So. The spelling of European languages started to fossilize with the arrival of the printing press, at about the same time Europeans started inflicting themselves on more people who didn’t use alphabets. How do you tell people how to pronounce “開顛窗”? If you’re writing the first Chinese dictionary published in Europe (c.1670), you spell it “Çai tiēn h'oâm”, based off of how Portuguese was spoken when an Italian jesuit tried to write down Chinese  in the mid-1500s, then you define it in French as “ouvrir une feneſtre du toi🙲 ou une lucarne.”: “open a roof window or skylight”. For the French, you use a ligature variant on "&" so old that some default fonts on modern computers don't include it anymore (hello mac users! You might be staring at a little square that says "01F672" right now, I swear it's supposed to be a C with a fancy hat).

Also you don’t write down “開顛窗” at all, because obviously that wouldn’t help anyone.

These days, if you run into Chinese written in an alphabet, it’ll be using the Pinyin standard. How does it spell “Çai tiēn h'oâm”?

“Kāi diān chuán”. Would you get that from “Çai tiēn h'oâm”? Hell, if you don’t know Pinyin, do you know how to pronounce “kāi diān chuán”?

Pinyin and our ad-hoc 1600s-French-1500s-Italian-Portuguese model of spelling Chinese encounters the problem of attempting a phonetic transcription of a language, trying to write down what they hear so that others can speak it. They also have the challenge of romanization, using the Latin alphabet to write out a language that doesn’t normally use it.

So. Qunlat, arising completely separately from English The Common Tongue, doesn’t use the Latin alphabet, doesn’t use–uh. The Common Tongue’s writing system, I don't think we actually have a canon name for that.⁽¹⁾ So all Qunlat we’ve seen written down is using a romanization. But is this romanization actually phonetic? Romanization doesn’t have to be. If I show you “Meraad astarit, meraad itwasit, aban aqun”, do you know how to pronounce that?

As discussed previously, the voice actors for qunari have all given it their best shot, but come up with different results. We don’t know what the scripts they’ve read from have actually looked like, but we have one potential answer.

And now we have to go back to World of Thedas, volume 2, and meet with my nemesis again.

“MARE-awed a-STAR-eat, MARE-awed it-WAH-seat, ab-AWN AH-kyoon.”

Hooboy. 

This is possibly useful. It’s attributed in the fiction to Philliam, a Bard!, so it’s not reliable, but the fact that it’s been written out implies that the IRL writer behind them was attempting to give people a real pronunciation guide regardless.

This is what we call a pronunciation respelling, where words with ambiguous pronunciation are rewritten to act as a guide to the reader.

…But here’s the problem: How do you pronounce “a-STAR-eat”? It depends entirely on your native language, dialect, and accent, and unless we know who wrote this, we can’t tell what they meant. If you, dear reader, don’t have the same accent, you might come up with something completely different. Just for English alone, wikipedia lists twenty-five different systems, with not a single sound having consistent spelling between all of them.

How do we get around this? How do we write down not just words, but unambiguous sounds?

Welcome to the wonderful world of the International Phonetic Alphabet!

Originally created in the late 1800s, the IPA (no relation to the beer) is a system that assigns letters to sounds based off of how and where sounds are formed. It allows linguists to accurately record the sound of a language, as long as they have a good ear. And from that, other linguists can reproduce the sound of a language, as long as they know how to read IPA. It helps capture accents too: "Car" might seem like a simple word, but in IPA, it's spelled /kɑː/ if you're using RP British English, /kɑɹ/ for General American, [kʰäɾ] for the Scots, and [kʰaː] for Bostonians.

It’s not 100% perfect, but it’s a reliable way to transfer sounds through text. Hell, there’s now ways to plug in IPA to a website and have a little robot voice read it out for you, though they have limitations.⁽²⁾

I, personally, have a hell of a time remembering parts of the IPA. I’m always opening up the IPA Consonant Chart on Wikipedia, because that includes little sound samples of every consonant. The vowel chart is even more helpful, because I can never remember the poxy little bastards.

For a bonus: the vowel chart is mostly pronounced by a single wiki contributor, who speaks loudly and clearly. …But then there’s ɞ and ø̞, which appear to have been recorded by people who were far more shy about it, and ɤ̞ is provided by someone who pronounces it three times, and seems to die a little bit as they finish up. These are the things you entertain yourself with when you’re learning the IPA.

Anyway! If we want to make this pronunciation of Qunlat equally accessible to everyone,⁽³⁾ we should try to translate this guide into IPA.

We’re just going to assume that the writers, when constructing their pronunciation guide, were aiming for a General American or the similar Standard Canadian accent. Those are the regions Bioware is mostly based out of, and they’re the easiest to find phonetic pronunciation. So, for example, “a-STAR-eat” would be transcribed as /əˈstɑɹ.it/, or possibly /æˈstɑɹ.it/ depending on what they mean by “a-”. Already, you can see we have some uncertainty here because of our starting point, but we can take these IPA transcriptions and throw it in a speech synthesizer to get pretty unambiguous pronunciations!

You'll notice that most of the letters line up with how they're spelled in English, though some of the sounds don't line up with how you'd first think to pronounce them. That's especially true around vowels, so always be aware of that when reading IPA.

Now, one might ask, if it was relatively easy to convert this from a generally readable pronunciation guide into the unfamiliar and technical IPA, why bother? Well because I did in fact start with the easiest word to convert. The rest of these were a lot harder. 

How do you pronounce the Qunlat word “ir-vah”? Because according to Philliam, a Bard!, it's “ihr-vawh”. Does that actually make you feel confident you can say it right? “Aw” has a known pronunciation in English, but what's “awh”? What's the distinction? Is there a distinction?

I'm going to have to make assumptions here, informed by my own background with this stuff. It will, by definition, be an opinion rather than an authoritative source. I’ll go with what I think is the most uncomplicated solution, and we can see whether it sounds like what we expect.

So, to start with, I’ve made a breakdown of the sounds found in this text, and what IPA pronunciations they match up with. When the respelling has included english words as pronunciation guides (ex. “a-STAR-eat”), I’ve directly referred to the General American IPA transcription. When the respelling uses nonce words (ex. “AH-kyoon”), I’ve referred to the Oxford English Dictionary respelling system, as it was one of only two that contained the majority of the nonce word respellings. This allowed me to be consistent, though sometimes the text itself was not. Check out the “Phonetics - WoT2” sheet in the workbook linked below:

Note that some words have multiple pronunciations listed. This can sometimes be contextual (ex. “The” can be pronounced at least two different ways in English), but in some cases the context was identical, but the pronunciation was different. If we want an in-setting explanation for this, we can say the transcription was taken from people with different accents. Even different energy levels or moods can affect pronunciation. But honestly, I do not know if this was intentional. There are phonetic spellings that also work their way into the Qunari romanization as well in multiple places, even with words that were previously established under other spellings.

To hear the sentences spoken, plug one into an IPA synthesizer, though be warned: it’ll be a little janky, and a little jarringly American. I don’t actually think this is what the writer had in mind, but this is what they gave us, so I’d like to make it clear why we prefer using the IPA.

I’ve also created an inventory of the sounds in these excerpts, formatted as we would for phonemic and phonological inventories: a chart of the IPA used, and a list of what letters make which sounds. When the list includes something like /x~y~z/, means that the letter can be pronounced as x, y, or z in the wild. When there's a letter with no pronunciation, it means that it's in some sort of Qunlat somewhere, but it wasn't in these examples.

And I have to reiterate: I've reproduced the implied pronunciations from WoT vol.2 as faithfully as I can, but these pronunciations do not accurately reflect the actual way the words have been spoken in the games! You can compare performances to phrases or words in here, and note the difference in pronunciation and stress patterns. 

So, as before, I say to you: if you prefer a different pronunciation, use it. If you want to systematize that pronunciation, organize it and save it for reference, then use the IPA to help you. I can speak from experience, it will save you a lot of trouble if you note down your language work in IPA, rather than assuming you’ll remember your own pronunciation later. Go forth, and have fun with it.

Next time! Finally, the meat of a language: grammar.

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Footnotes

(1) Okay. I don't have enough material to make a full post on Qunlat scripts, so I'm going to just throw it in here, with a further digression about Common as a bonus. In brief: We have no consistent script for Qunlat. There's one in Those Who Speak which... it's okay? Reminds me a bit of Lontara or an Ulu script, but it doesn't have aesthetic cohesion. Inquisition uses another possible script on decorative horn coverings, which... It exists. I'll tell you right now, I'm working on creating a written script for Qunlat for personal use, and I'm not using either of these.

With regards to Common: the games usually seem to indicate that the Common Tongue is written in a runic script, which is not meant to be read by the players.

In Inquisition we have a weird split, courtesy of Varric's romance novels: Tales of the Champion, which the wiki says is "written in Orlesian", is just in English, and... backwards English on the facing page. It's in tiny squint-o-vision, but it is actually about Kirkwall's history and Hightown, and doesn't seem to be a copy-and-paste from anywhere else in the games. Cool!

But there's another book in the series with Aveline on the cover, which is very different. There's a new runic script there, which is mostly composed of rotations on actual runes, but they don't actually line up with any historical runic script. but there's not enough text available to see if it translates into anything. There's a bit that looks like it's supposed to be Varric's name that might give us the letters "V Te(th)ras", but none of those letters are in the title, so we have nothing else to compare to. The script is okay, but there's some letters I'd alter for visual consistency--runes were generally written using different combinations of just three line angles that remained as consistent as possible throughout a text. There's a letter in here that's just a triangle, and it doesn't fit the angles of the other letters at all. That triangle haunts me.

Here's the thing, though. There's also a couple books from Inquisition that I can tell were just straight-up written in an Anglo-Saxon rune font, then flipped upside down, which reminds me quite a bit of a certain web series I could mention. It's a short, non-canon English text repeated in different paragraph format, with some gibberish thrown in. I wasn't going to bother reading any of it once I realized it wasn't anything canon, but then I noticed there's a rogue "c" that appears to have survived the font change. Most runic scripts have no equivalent of "c", but Anglo-Saxon does, so I realized that had to be a capital C. And that's when I read:

"...that this is *not* the Cirth (Certhas) but the..."

Cirth is the writing system Tolkien made for Sindarin, Khuzdul, and Westron.

I think what we're looking at is part of the setting documentation, basically saying, like, 'we want the Common Tongue to look like Cirth, but not actually be Cirth because the legal department told us not to'.

(2) Many of these IPA-to-text things are language-specific. They’re only loaded with the sounds that are used in the language they were created for–so for this one, stick to english text-to-speech IPA synthesizers. Also, you will definitely note accent differences between different synthesizers, even when given the same input! Some of that is due to dialect-specific restrictions on what sounds they pronounce, but there's also smaller distinctions that the IPA is capable of reflecting, but in practice we don't transcribe things with 100% precision.

(3) Of course there’s the caveat that the IPA is based off of the Latin alphabet to begin with, so it makes the most sense to people who already use some form of it. One of the problems is that alphabets are actually uniquely suited to the task of phonetic writing, for reasons I’ll eventually get into. But I’m not actually aware of any equivalents that have been constructed for use with other alphabets or scripts, beyond a number of neography hobbyists (for Kannada, Arabic, etc.), including that one tumblr user who scared off an insufferable dude in a coffee shop by talking about the IPA equivalent they were making that was somewhat based off of the Georgian alphabet. That person is incredible.

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[bropunzeling]

Tim/Brady bodyguard AU?

this is so barely adjacent to what you asked for BUT

pop star timmy stu

just think about it. young timmy, who has made a name for himself with some club bangers a la avicii (rip :( miss u) and is getting pretty popular! he's had his european tour! his songs are THE songs of frat parties across the land!

he's big enough that his label sends him on a north america tour, and maybe he is going to play a show at a music festival in st louis or something, and who does he run into the day before when he goes incognito to the first round of shows, is getting shoved around while just trying to get a beer at the beer tent but brady

brady is still captain of the ottawa senators, nhl player, etc etc, and he also -- i cannot stress this enough -- has no fucking clue who timmy is

(brady listens exclusively to mid aughts indie bangers and sappy country; he is not Hip to the Scene)

so brady just sees a very hot very german very pathetic guy and is like, well i GOTTA help this guy out and get his beer.

and then they start talking and timmy is SO cheerful and also activating the "needs taking care of" sensor in brady's brain, and meanwhile timmy clocks that brady doesn't know who he is and THATS fun because as nice as it is to be famous it's also nice to just harmlessly flirt with the very large man you've found, and one thing leads to another and they've spent the whole day together

(maybe brady protects timmy from some thrown elbows in a crowd at one of the shows. bodyguard!)

and maybe after the last show they have some inadvisable semi-public sex somewhere on the festival grounds

but they don't exchange numbers and they don't figure it's going anywhere

until the next night, when brady gets dragged by a friend to some more electronica ish shows than his usual and guess who is up on stage, looking as cheerful and handsome and game to be debauched as ever

[justforbooks]

Franz Beckenbauer, who has died aged 78, was widely regarded as the best footballer Germany has ever produced. A pre-eminent figure in the world game after the second world war, he was a phenomenally innovative player who captained West Germany to a World Cup win in 1974 and later managed his country to two consecutive World Cup finals, winning the second of them in 1990 in Rome.

As a club manager he added a Bundesliga title and a Uefa Cup win to his World Cup victory at international level and as a player he won a World Cup, a European Championship, three European Cups and five Bundesliga titles in Germany. However, more than his capacity for winning, it was the elegant, intelligent nature of his play that attracted such admiration all over the world.

While he was still a teenager at Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer had become the virtual inventor of what came to be called “total football”. Watching the Milan team Internazionale on television, he was impressed by the attacking forays of their big left-back, Giacinto Facchetti. He asked himself why a defender might not attack from a central role as well as from the flanks, and thus became Bayern’s attacking libero. It was a role that became the cornerstone of the total football practised by Bayern and their great Dutch rivals, Ajax, in the early 1970s.

Captained by Beckenbauer – a tall, erect figure always ready to sweep out of defence – Bayern at first played second fiddle to Ajax, but eventually emulated them by winning the European Cup three times in a row, between 1974 and 1976. Before that sequence Beckenbauer had already captained an outstanding West Germany team to the European Championship title in 1972, beating the Soviet Union 3-0 in the final. Two years later he led his country to victory in the 1974 World Cup on German soil, defeating the Netherlands 2-1. He played 103 times for West Germany and appeared in 427 league matches for Bayern.

Franz was born to Antonie (nee Huphauf) and Franz Sr, a postal worker in the Munich suburb of Giesing, near the stadium where he would make his name. By the age of eight he was already regarded as a technically accomplished player, even in a city where footballers and football proliferated. Munich 1860 was the club he favoured; Bayern Munich, where he would later excel, were small beer at the time; an upstart by comparison.

However, Munich 1860’s loss would be Bayern’s gain. In 1958 he was playing for the junior team of a little local club, SC 1906, which actually closed that year, and expected to join 1860. “But in the last game we played for SC 1906 against 1860,” he related, “a half-back gave me a slap. That was enough for me. 1860 would never get me. And so Bayern took me into its ranks.” Beckenbauer was, with rare exceptions, always a sporting player, who declared that he would rather be fouled and leave the field than commit a foul himself.

He made his debut for Bayern Munich in 1964 – when they were in the German second division – and in his first season helped them gain promotion to the Bundesliga.

Thereafter Bayern rapidly became a major force both at home and in Europe, winning the German Cup in 1966–67 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1967 (against Rangers). Beckenbauer was made team captain for the 1968–69 season and led the club to its first league title that year, subsequently winning three league championships in a row from 1972 to 1974 and that hat-trick of European Cup wins in 1974-76.

Under his leadership (he was nicknamed the Kaiser for his commanding, almost imperious presence) the Bayern team of that era, which also featured greats such as the goalkeeper Sepp Maier and the centre-forward Gerd Müller, established itself as one of the most accomplished club sides of all time.

Beckenbauer’s first game for the national team, at the age of 21 in 1965, had come even before Bayern’s dramatic rise to prominence. He was the star member of the West Germany side in the 1966 World Cup finals, where they were runners-up in the Wembley final to England, and again in the 1970 finals in Mexico, where they finished in third place.

Helmut Schön, the tall, gentle West Germany team manager who was almost a father figure to Beckenbauer, for many years refused to let him play the libero role for his country. When he finally relented in 1974, West Germany won the competition and Beckenbauer lifted the trophy as captain.

All seemed set fair for a fourth World Cup campaign for Beckenbauer in Argentina in 1978, but to general surprise, and aged only 31, he retired from international football in 1977 to switch to play for New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League.

It was an unusual move after almost 15 years at the highest level of the game with Bayern, but the contract was lucrative and enormous crowds came to see him play with Pelé and other stars at the Giants Stadium, New Jersey.

In his four seasons with the Cosmos the team won the national Soccer Bowl on three occasions (1977, 1978 and 1980). “I’ve done everything in my life – championships for Bayern Munich and the World Cup for Germany – but the New York Cosmos was the best time of my life,” he said. “At Munich it was all German players; at the Cosmos it was 14 nationalities and Pelé.”

He returned to Germany to play for Hamburg (1980-82), where he picked up another Bundesliga winners’ medal at the end of the 1981-82 season before going back to the US for one final campaign with the Cosmos in 1983 and then retiring. In his career in domestic leagues he had made 587 appearances and scored 81 goals.

When Beckenbauer retired he seemed to have no ambition to go into management, so it was a surprise that in 1984 he agreed to manage West Germany in succession to Jupp Derwall. Never before had a West Germany manager been appointed who had not come through the exhaustive qualifying programme of the German football association, one which involved not only the passing of examinations but the running of minor clubs.

In appointing Beckenbauer, the German authorities were abandoning firm principle in the hope that his immense prestige and authority would prevail; and they were not disappointed.

The team he inherited was in the doldrums, yet at the 1986 Mexico World Cup, suitably inspired, they reached a final in which they were plainly inferior to an Argentina team that went into a 2-0 lead, only for the Germans to fight back, catch them up, and then lose 3-2. Four years later, in a grisly final in Rome, Germany had their revenge, beating Argentina 1-0 with a penalty by Andreas Brehme.

Shortly afterwards Beckenbauer resigned his position to became technical director of the French club Marseille on a two-year contract worth nearly £500,000, taking a German physical trainer with him. But for once his writ did not run. The French players were unhappy with the training regime and Beckenbauer withdrew after just four months.

He was far happier when he returned to Bayern Munich to serve as manager over two short spells – in 1993-94 and in 1996 – during which time he collected two further honours, the Bundesliga title in 1994 and the Uefa Cup in 1996. Thereafter he was president of the club for two years.

In 1998 he became vice-president of the German football association and at the end of the 90s headed the successful bid by Germany to host the 2006 World Cup, chairing the subsequent organising committee. He was named honorary president of Bayern Munich in 2009, a position he held until his death.

His son, Thomas, with Ingrid Grönke was born in 1963. In 1966 he married Brigitte Wittmann. They had two sons, Michael and Stephan. Following their divorce in 1990, he married Sybille Weimer; they divorced in 2004. With his third wife, Heidi Burmester, he had two children, Noel and Francesca. Stephan, who was also a footballer and played for Bayern Munich, died in 2015. Franz leaves Heidi and his four other children.

🔔 Franz Anton Beckenbauer, footballer, born 11 September 1945; died 7 January 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[bubblesandgutz]

Every Record I Own - Day 832: Stars of the Lid And Their Refinement of the Decline

When ambient duo Stars of the Lid released their two-hour triple LP And Their Refinement of the Decline back in 2007, we were in the weird era between iPods and iPhones. It was also the era of Last.fm---the website that tracked and displayed your digital listening habits. Stars of the Lid were my top played artist by a wide margin, mainly because I was listening to this album on tour night after night on my iPod headphones to drown out the sound of snoring bandmates.

And Their Refinement of the Decline was the perfect sleepy time music back then. The Texas duo of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie contorted the sound of their electric guitars into hazy orchestral swells to a point where it was nearly impossible to figure out where one ethereal guitar line began and the other ended. It was an undulating mass of feather-light electric drones supplemented by strings, French horn, trumpet, and flugelhorn. It was equal parts narcotic and narcoleptic.

It was sublime stuff, especially if you were slightly inebriated and dozing off to sleep. But as with all music, you can burn yourself out on it if you play it too much. Eventually I started listening to other Stars of the Lid albums when I'd go to bed. Or I'd listen to other ambient and drone albums. At some point, the album fell out of constant rotation in my life.

But I just got home from a five-week European tour last night, and I'd revisited And Their Refinement quite a few times over the course of that trip.

Touring is different now than it was 17 years ago. I'm no longer putting music on my headphones as an escape from the close quarters of years past. I'm not sharing a bed with a bandmate. Most nights, I'm not even sharing a room. And I'm not going to sleep with multiple beers in my bloodstream.

Early tours were an adventure. You didn't know what to expect from one night to the next. There was a certain baseline level of adrenaline and anxiety that was ever-present as you'd go from town to town on a shoestring budget, hoping the van didn't break down somewhere along the way, hoping folks would come to the shows, hoping they'd buy enough merch to put gas in the tank. There was no privacy, no backstages, no moments of calm. You were either with your bandmates or in public. You'd drink or smoke weed to take the edge off the constant socializing. You'd go to bed with your head buzzing, trying to will yourself to sleep while your brain was still processing all the events of the day.

Things are different now. We know most of the promoters and clubs. There's a comfortable backstage on most nights. I spend less time out in the crowd, mostly because people want to talk or take pictures together and the pandemic made me leery of interacting with throngs of strangers in confined spaces. We have ticket pre-sales so we generally know how many people will be at any given show before the date arrives. It's less of an adventure and more of a routine, which may seem a bit sad to the young'uns out there who romanticize the chaos and excitement of life on the road, but at age 47 the only way to make this sustainable is to stay healthy, grounded, and well-rested.

I played Stars of the Lid on this tour not to induce sleep in a cramped hotel room, but to bring a sense of calm to the occasional stresses of the road. Have to drive an hour after a hectic show to get a start on the next day's drive? Throw on Stars of the Lid. Gotta drown out the hordes of school kids running around on the ferry between France and England after dealing with customs and immigration? Stars of the Lid is perfect for that.

And you know what? It's been nice to revisit this album in a lucid state, to hear the subtleties in this deceptively nuanced music. The surface level admiration of the woozy serenity of the album has been replaced by a deeper appreciation for its interwoven layers and textural depth. It was once an inverse of touring life's agitation, a remedy to the dissonance of the road. Now it's a moment of reflection in a calmer world---a way to further strip away the noise and bustle of the public and replace it with a study in the benefits of deep listening.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.13

Holidays

Bald is Beautiful Day

Barbershop Day

Battle of Fort McHenry Anniversary Day

Be Different Day

Blame Someone Else Day

Boy Heroes Day (Mexico)

Breakaway (Space 1999)

Clymene Asteroid Day

Corn Day (French Republic)

Day of the Children Heroes (Mexico)

Day of the Programmer

Defender’s Day (everywhere except Maryland)

Defy Superstition Day

Día de los Niños Héroes (Mexico)

Eleven Days of Global Unity, Day 3: Environment

Engineer’s Day (Mauritius)

European Heritage Day (EU)

International Legacy Giving Day

International Mountain Chicken Frog Day

International Slow Loris Day

Jimi Hendrix Day (San Francisco)

John Barry Day (Pennsylvania)

Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day

Land Development Specialist’s Day (Tajikistan)

National Celiac Awareness Day

National EV Charging Day

National Hug Your Boss Day

National Jose Day

National Juan Day

National Odd Sock Day of Adventure

National Twilighters Day

National Urban Eden Day

9 x 13 Day

913 Day

Pet Birth Defect Awareness Day

Positive Thinking Day

Programmers' Day (a.k.a. Day of the Programmer) [256th day]

Roald Dahl Day

Scooby Doo Day

Soap Day

Supernatural Day

Swiftie Day

Thimphu Tshechu (Bhutan)

Uncle Sam Day

Victoria Asteroid Day

World Indigenous Rights Day

World Sepsis Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Fortune Cookie Day

Gluten Free Beer Day

International Chocolate Day

National Cachaca Day (Brazil)

National Peanut Day

Snack-A-Pickle Day

Independence & Related Days

Republic of Drew Star Line (Declared; 2005) [unrecognized]

Venda (from South Africa, 1979) [unrecognized]

2nd Friday in September

Carry Nation Festival begins (Holly, Michigan) [Friday after 1st Monday thru Sunday]

Comfort Food Friday [Every Friday]

Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day (Washington) [2nd Friday]

Fiesta de Santa Fe begins (New Mexico) [1st Friday after Labor Day]

Fish & Chips Friday [2nd Friday of Each Month]

Fisherman’s Walk Day (Scotland) [2nd Friday]

Five For Friday [Every Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

Follow Friday [2nd Friday of Each Month]

Friday Finds [Every Friday]

Friday the Firkenteenth (Grey Lodge, Pennsylvania) [Every Friday the 13th]

Frugal Friday [2nd Friday of Each Month]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Great Canadian Beer Festival (Victoria, BC) [2nd Friday & Saturday]

International Skeptics Day [1st Friday the 13th of the Year]

King Turkey Race (Minnesota) [2nd Friday]

Knabenschiessen begins (Switzerland) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Nae Nae Day [2nd Friday]

National Dog Walker Appreciation Day [1st Friday after Labor Day]

National Folk Festival begins [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

National 401(k) Day [Friday after 1st Monday]

Popeye Picnic begins (Chester, Illinois) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Stand Up to Cancer Day [2nd Friday]

TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) [Every Friday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 13 (2nd Full Week of September)

National Days of Prayer and Remembrance (thru 9.15) [Friday to Sunday closest to 9.11]

National Eczema Week 9thru 9.21)

Festivals Beginning September 13, 2024

Apple Days & Market To Go (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) [thru 9.15]

The Big E (West Springfield, Massachusetts) [thru 9.29]

Bloody Scotland (Stirling, Scotland, UK) [thru 9.15]

Brewfest at the Beach (New London, Connecticut)

Cajun Food Fest (Lydia, Louisiana) [thru 9.14]

Cordova Fungus Festival 2024 (Cordova, Alaska) [thru 9.15]

Devine's Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch (Harrodsburg, Kentucky) [thru 11.3]

Downtown Boulder's Fall Fest (Boulder, Colorado) [thru 9.15]

Grape Stomp Festival (Alexandria, Minnesota) [thru 9.15]

Harvest Moon Festival (Clearwater, Manitoba, Canada) [thru 9.15]

Hinkelfest (Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania) [thru 9.15]

Irish Festival (Milford, Connecticut) [thru 9.14]

Kentucky Bourbon Festival (Bardstown, Kentucky) [thru 9.15]

King Turkey Day Festival (Worthington, Minnesota) [thru 9.14]

Long Island Fair (Old Bethpage, New York) [thru 9.15]

Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival (Natchitoches, Louisiana) [thru 9.14]

National Barrow Show (Austin, Minnesota) [thru 9.16]

Neptune's Fall Wine Festival (Virginia Beach, Virginia) [thru 9.14] [thru 9.15]

Newport Oktoberfest (Newport, Kentucky) [thru 9.15]

Ohio Pawpaw Festival (Albany, Ohio) [thru 9.15]

Okawville Wheat Festival (Okawville, Illinois) [thru 9.15]

Pacific Meridian Film Festival (Vladivostok, Russia) [thru 9.19]

Rising Sun Navy Bean Fall Festival (Rising Sun, Indiana) [thru 9.14]

Slunce ve Skle Beer Festival (Plzen, Czech Republic) [thru 9.14]

Snowmass Wine Festival (Snowmass Village, Colorado) [thru 9.14]

Telluride Blues & Brews Festival (Telluride, Colorado) [thru 9.15]

Wine Harvest Festival in the Czech Republic (Znojmo, Czech Republic) [thru 9.15]

Feast Days

Aimé (a.k.a. Amatus; Christian; Saint)

Ame (Christian; Saint)

Arnold Schoenberg (Artology; Humanism)

Aristides the Athenian (Christian; Saint)

Barry Fell Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Basil of Iberia (Christian; Saint)

Bob Eggleton (Artology)

Ceremony of Lighting the Fire (Ancient Egypt)

Cornelius of Baden-Olonets, Dionysius, and Misail (Christian; Saints)

Cornelius the Centiurion (Christian; Martyr)

Cronides and Serapion in Alexandria (Christian; Martyrs)

Daniel Defoe (Writerism)

Dave the Human (Muppetism)

Day of Anubis (All Souls’ Day; Ancient Egypt)

Egyptian All Souls’ Day (Everyday Wicca)

Elias, Zoticus, Valerian, Macrobius, and Gordian at Tomi in Romania (Christian; Martyrs)

Emain Abhlach (Celtic Book of Days)

Epulum Jovis (Feast of Jove; Ancient Rome) [Ides of September]

Eulogius of Alexandria (Christian; Saint)

Feast of the Cross (Assyrian Church of the East)

Ketevan, Queen of Georgia (Christian; Martyr)

Hierotheus of Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos (Christian; Saint)

Hierotheus of Kalamata (Christian; Saint)

Ides of September (Ancient Rome)

John Chrysostom (Christian; Saint)

Lictisternia (Old Roman festival to Jupiter, Juno & Minerva)

Livia Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Make a Corn Dolly Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Marcellinus of Carthage (Christian; Saint)

Maurilius of Angers (a.k.a. Maurille) of Angers (Christian; Saint)

Molly Crabapple (Artology)

Mosquito Avoidance Day (Pastafarian)

Nectarius of Autun (Christian; Saint)

Otway (Positivist; Saint)

Peter of Atroe (Christian; Saint)

Robert Indiana (Artology)

Roald Dahl (Writerism)

Seleucus in Scythia (Christian; Martyr)

Sherwood Anderson (Writerism)

Venerius the Hermit (Christian; Saint)

Wulfthryth (a.k.a. Wilfrida) of Wilton (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Unlucky Day (EU, US) [Friday the 13th] (1 of 2 for 2024)

Unlucky Day (Canada, Germany, Ireland, UK, US) [Friday the 13th]

Premieres

After Hours (Film; 1985)

Agnes of God (Film; 1985)

Almost Famous (Film; 2000)

The Amityville Horror, by Jay Anson (Novel; 1977)

Audrey the Rainmaker (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

The Awful Tooth (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Barbershop (Film; 2002)

Batman Unlimited: Mchs vs. Mutants (WB Animated Film; 2016)

Benson (TV Series; 1979)

Bones (TV Series; 2005)

By Leaps and Hounds (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Candle in the Wind, Diana Version, by Elton John (Song; 1997)

Cat Carson Rides Again (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Cat-Choo (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Cat Tamale (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Centerfold, by The Cars (Song; 1981)

Children of the World, by The Bee Gees (Album; 1976)

City Kitty (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Clerks III (Film; 2022)

Clown on the Farm (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Come Dancing (UK Musical Show; 2008)

Crime of the Century, by Supertramp (Album; 1974)

Dogfight (Film; 1991)

The Dreaming, by Kate Bush (Album; 1982)

The Drew Carey Show (TV Series; 1995)

Easy-Duz-It, by Easy-E (Album; 1988)

Everybody Loves Raymond (TV Series; 1996)

The Ginger Man, by J.P. Donleavy (Novel; 1955)

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood (Novel; 1985)

Hard Rain, by Bob Dylan (Album; 1976)

Highway Star. Written by DeepPurple (Song; 1971)

In Utero, by Nirvana (Album; 1993)

Law and Audrey (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Law & Order (TV Series; 1990)

Mishima (Film; 1985)

The Muppet Show (TV Series; 1976)

The Nitty Gritty, recorded by Shirley Ellis (Song; 1963)

One More from the Road, by Lynyrd Skynyrd (Live Album; 1976)

The Other Wind, by Ursula Le Guin (Novel; 1968) [Earthsea #5]

Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (TV Series; 1986)

The Popeye Show (King Features Syndicate/Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Series; 1978)

Ready to Die, by The Notorious B.I.G. (Album; 1994)

Scooby-Doo Where Are You (Animated TV Series; 1969)

Scout Fellow (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Skinny Legs and All, recorded by Joe Tex (Song; 1967)

Soap (TV Series; 1977)

Solid Gold (TV Series; 1980)

The Spectacular Now (Film; 2013)

Star-Spangled Banner lyrics written, by Francis Scott Key (Lyrics; 1814)

Supernatural (TV Series; 2005)

Take Me to Church, by Hozier (Song; 2013)

Thud!, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2005) [Discworld #34]

Truth and Soul, by Fishbone (Album; 1988)

Undone (Animated TV Series; 2019)

Yesterday, by The Beatles (Song; 1965)

Yojimbo (Film; 1961)

Today’s Name Days

Tobias (Austria)

Ivan, Ljubo, Zlatko (Croatia)

Lubor (Czech Republic)

Cyprianus (Denmark)

Ervi, Ervin, Ervo (Estonia)

Orvo (Finland)

Aimé (France)

Johann, Notburga, Tobias (Germany)

Aristeides, Aristeidis, Cornelius, Kornelios (Greece)

Kornél (Hungary)

Crisostomo, Giovanni, Maurilio, Regina (Italy)

Iza, Izabella, Izanda, Izīda (Latvia)

Barmantas, Barvydė, Mangailis (Lithuania)

Stian, Stig (Norway)

Aleksander, Aureliusz, Eugenia, Filip, Lubor, Materna, Morzysław, Szeliga (Poland)

Ctibor (Slovakia)

Amado, Crisóstomo, Juan (Spain)

Ambjörn, Sture (Sweden)

Arlando, Milton, Orlando, Roland, Rolanda, Rolando, Stone, Stoney (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 257 of 2024; 109 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 37 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 13 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 11 (Geng-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 10 Elul 5784

Islamic: 9 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 17 Gold; Threesday [17 of 30]

Julian: 31 August 2024

Moon: 75%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 5 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Lessing]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 7 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 86 of 94)

Week: 2nd Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 23 of 32)

[brian-in-finance]

Eleanor and Caitríona: De Beers Flagship Store Opening Event, 24 November 2021, London (Photo: Getty Images)

Tony, Caitríona, and Eleanor: Wimbledon, Day 7, Centre Court, 8 July 2019, London (Photo: Getty Images)

Filming has commenced in Leeds and Belgium on the six-parter from Professor T producer Eagle Eye Drama, which follows Tomlinson’s Evie and Pete (Harry Potter star Alfred Enoch), who move into an upscale neighborhood and find themselves in a world of curtain twitching and status anxiety. They find friendship in the shape of the couple next door, alpha traffic cop Danny (Heughan) and his wife, glamorous yoga instructor Becka (Jessica De Gouw), but after Danny and Evie share a passionate night together, there is trouble ahead.

The U.S. streamer and UK network, who never have co-produced together, described The Couple Next Door as a “psychological drama, exploring the stultifying claustrophobia of suburbia and the fallout of chasing your darkest desires.”

Tomlinson is best known for playing Demelza Poldark opposite Aidan Turner across five seasons of hit BBC drama Poldark. Other credits include Stephen Merchant comedy-drama The Outlaws and Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of David Nicholls’ One Day.

Scottish actor Heughan is gearing up for a seventh season of Starz hit Outlander, in which he plays Jamie Fraser, while he is also starring in Priyanka Chopra Jonas rom-com Love Again with Celine Dion – set for May release. He generated headlines recently when his memoir revealed how a brutal rape scene in Outlander Season 1 had impacted him negatively.

Marcella writer David Allison is penning The Couple Next Door, Professor T‘s Dries Vos is directing, and EPs are Jo McGrath, Walter Iuzzolino and Alison Kee.

The thriller is based on Dutch series New Neighbours and feeds into Eagle Eye’s strategy of turning European hits into shows for the major English-language markets, following Channel 4’s Suspect, which is based on a Danish series, and ITV’s Professor T, which is based on a show from Belgium.

The show was commissioned by Channel 4’s Caroline Hollick and Rebecca Holdsworth. EVP Programming Karen Bailey is overseeing The Couple Next Door for Starz, and it will be distributed by Beta Film.

Instagram Deadline

Jamie & Claire Fraser: S04E03 The False Bride, 18 November 2018

Photo

How Well Do Outlander's Caitríona Balfe & Sam Heughan Know Each Other? | Vanity Fair Game Show, Season 6 Promo, 14 April 2022, YouTube

Remember… when you’re working with your friends, it doesn’t feel like it’s work. — Ken Jeong