#guy who is in high alert mode 99% of the time

[raptorrobot]

i need to wrap icarus in blankets and put him infront of a warm fireplace in order to force him to calm down for like. 5 seconds

[kitten1618x]

GoT Afterthoughts 7x06 Beyond the Wall (Jonsa Edition) SPOILERS

Hello lovelies ... apologies for the delay! As most of you know, my Marine was home briefly. ❤️ 

 We begin our episode with the war room map/table in Dragonstone and a fire crackling in the background -ominous foreshadowing? We then join Jon and the boys hiking through the winter wonderland. Tormund being Tormund pokes Gendry for some fun, before the talk with Jon takes a more serious turn. He asks about the Dragon Queen, and Jon tells him that she'll only help if he bends the knee. Tormund tells Jon he's spent too much time with the freefolk and now he doesn't like kneeling. 

 Now, what Tormund said next admittedly confused me (and I'm paraphrasing): "Mance was a great man, a proud man, but how many of his people died for his pride?" To my knowledge it was Mance himself who died because he refused to kneel -not the freefolk? Were Wildlings slaughtered off-screen unbeknownst to us? I'm not being facetious -if I'm wrong in my confusion, someone please correct me. Otherwise, what we have here is a plot hole -almost like Tormund giving Jon a reason to kneel, to not be like Mance and not put his family and people in peril over his pride. I'm not ready to bag on the writing just yet, but this is a blatant inconsistency -just sayin'.... 

 But moving on ... Gendry airs his grievances with the brotherhood and the Hound tells him to suck it up buttercup and that's that for now. We are then brought to Jon and Jorah speaking not of Dany (which, ya know -would make sense since this whole "epic romance" plot and all) but instead, they are bonding over their fallen fathers. 

 Jon: “my father was the most honorable man I've ever met, he was good all the way through, and he died on the executioners block.” (We'll come back to this). 

Honorable Ned's son, honorable Jon takes off Longclaw and offers it to Jorah. Jorah insists that Jon keep it, deeming himself unworthy. 

 Jorah: “It's yours. May it serve you well, and your children after you.”

Cue WINTERFELL music and a pensive looking Jon. Contemplating your future children, Jon? Imagining their red hair and curls? Tully and Stark looking? Okay, I'll stop now -but come on guys -what an Easter egg! And right from there we jump to Winterfell (SURPRISE) and Jon's future wife (and mother of his children).

Our lovely Stark sisters are in the traditional Stark spot upon the battlements. Arya tells a heartwarming tale of Ned catching her practicing archery and clapping when she finally hit the bullseye. It was sweet, and lovely, and everything I'd been praying for for weeks, but then the accusations fly and all is lost. Arya has the letter that Cersei made Sansa pen to Robb. Sansa is naturally upset about this and defends herself with the truth: they made her write it (even Robb knew that when he read it, geez Arya come on -It's not like you did/didn't do things, too!). Does everyone remember when she was Tywin's cupbearer? Because I do. 

 I don't blame either of my precious angels for what they did/didn't do to survive as scared, isolated and traumatized little girls -and dammit, they shouldn't either! But more on this later .... 

 Now, I don't like what they made Sansa say about Arya "should be on her knees thanking her" -it's not that she isn't right about the part she played in re-taking Winterfell, but THAT was definitely some shitty writing. 

 We flash back to our boys, and Tormund is attempting to bond with the Hound. Aside from being some of the best comic relief this show has delivered in a long time, I'm becoming sweet on Tormund x Brienne. Stop me! I love Brienne x Jamie too much! I'm trash! Someone just wheel me out to the alley and light my ass on fire! 

We got a nice little callback to Ygritte and naturally Sansa too -because "Gingers are beautiful, they're kissed by fire". More on this later, too ..... 

 We switch over to Beric and Jon first discussing how much Jon apparently doesn't resemble Ned (sure Jan) and then the creepy religion (again, burning children is bad, guys -I'm with Varys on this religion). Jon doesn't serve the Lord of Light, he serves ONLY the North. They do seem to agree on one thing: they are protectors, and Jon recites some of his Nights Watch vows: "I am the shield that guards the realms of men." More on this later .... (Are you guys picking up a theme here yet? Let's see if you figure it out before I get to the end of this post). 😉 

 After the Hound points them towards the mountain he saw in his vision, we go to Dragonstone where Dany decides to compliment Tyrion by insulting him? lol What she likes about him is that he's not a hero -heroes are stupid with their constant pissing contests (she's not wrong) -except I'm not sure I'd consider Daario or Drogo heroes? Tyrion points out that all these brave men have fallen for her -including Jon Snow, because apparently unbeknownst to US the actual viewers, he's been oogling her ....?? Daenerys denies it, but you can tell by her body language that this pleases her. But -"he's too little for her" ???? What does that even mean? 

Honestly, I can't figure out my Little Lion this season and it's kind of pissing me off. Is he cracked out on Dragon love too? Or is he being clever and playing the game? Varys did say he needed to find a way to make her listen. Does Tyrion think Jon can influence her? And where the hell is Varys, by the way? 

Dany brings up the upcoming meeting and her impulsive temper comes up -and the Tarlys (expect them to come up again in the near future too, guys). Tyrion warns her about ruling with fear and then the convo shifts to the subject of Dany's mortality and her line of succession. Dany jumps into serious angry paranoia mode (Targ trait) and flings accusations of Tyrion's loyalty at him again. Look -I fully understand that this is a touchy (and rightly so) subject for Dany, but I don't think he's in the wrong here -the line of succession is important to any monarch, and especially one that intends to ride into battle. But ...not today Tyrion, not today. 

We jump back over the wall, and now the boys are traipsing through blizzard-like conditions. Is it still the same day? Has night fallen, or is it just dark due to the snow storm? Ugh, this episode is leaving me with more questions than answers! They spot, and are spotted by an undead bear, and a few redshirt Wildlings are taken out. Thoros and Beric light the sonofabitch on fire, Tormund whacks it with his battle axe -I mean, this damn thing takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin', and ends up with Thoros in its mouth, before Jorah takes it out with a dagger (assuming it was dragon glass?). A chug of alcohol and a cauterizing of the wound, and he's miraculously up on his feet and ready to continue. 

On a side note: poor precious hound and his fire PTSD. 😔 Cant wait for Clegane bowl -hope it ends with fire and Sandor conquering his fear while exacting his revenge. 

And now we're back in Winterfell, and a distressed Sansa is confiding in Little Finger. If ya'll didn't pick up that she was sniffing him out, then I just can't help you. Sansa doesn't trust him. I strongly suspect she knows that letter turned up because of him. I'm 99% confident she was jugging him for info .... 

Sansa is nervous about the letter, though -rightly so, because if the lords see it, they may withdraw their support -BUT she isn't worried for herself, she's worried for Jon and keeping his army (amassed to 20k now -when did that happen? Go Sansa!) -so wake up and suck a fat one, Sansa haters! Don't you guys get it yet?!?! Sansa is loyal to Jon -shit, even Little Finger gets it. Why do you think he's so bent on sewing discourse between the sisters, now? Because all his attempts to drive a wedge between Jon and Sansa have failed! 

We return to the winter wonderland, and now it's Jorah/Thoros bonding time. I'm sorry that I don't care enough to repeat their exchange -it wasn't exactly riveting, and I pretty much knew that it was his "death knell". Anyone else getting whiplash from all this back and forth? 

Upon their climb, they hear the clinking of an undead scouting party. Interesting .... they send scouting parties ahead? The NK and his Generals are pretty smart. Which caused something to pop into my head: are Gilly's brothers the NK's Generals? But back to the action ... they start a fire to lure them in and ambush them. Jon kills the General and all but one of the wights fall. Aside from the convenience of all but the one they need falling, this is also interesting. If they take out the generals who raised them, the wights will automatically fall -so if the NK is taken out, then his entire army would perish! Hmmm ... 

So, my dudes tackle Bones and he lets out an ear piercing screech, which apparently alerts the others (hmmm -they communicate, too?). With an avalanche of the undead rolling down upon them at high speeds, they collectively shit their pants while hogtying Bones, and Jon orders Gendry to run for Eastwatch and get a Raven to Dany, declaring that he's "the fastest". Well, this is all well and good, but please explain to me just exactly HOW Jon knows this? Because I didn't know Gendry was fast ...did you? And not only do they send this poor kid who's never even seen snow before, off into the arctic wilds by his lonesome, entrusting his supposed internal GPS (I guess???), but they take his freaking weapon so he has no means to defend himself, to boot! 

And off he goes, while Jon and the crew race for shelter and find themselves standing over the weak ice of a frozen pond/lake. With no other place to go but forward, they take their chances and make for the rock in the middle, as the dead close in on them and after grabbing a few more redshirt Wildlings, the wights break the weakened ice and begin falling into icy water, creating a barrier and a trap for our boys. Winded, but alive, they freeze their tushes off, as night falls and an exhausted Gendry collapses before the gate of Eastwatch. Daddy Davos comes to cradle on of his fostered sons as Gendry breathlessly pleas to send a Raven. 

It's morning on the rock, and our dudes have snuggled to keep warm overnight. The Hound rouses from his comfy Jon Snow pillow to kick the grumbling Bones, who's probably just salty that he didn't get invited to the slumber party. Sandor gives him a good morning kick in the ribs, and when Bones squeals in displeasure, so do some of the wights surrounding them. Another clue of their links? 

Unfortunately, Thoros hasn't made it through the night. They burn his body and Beric says the creepy Lord of Light's prayer. I hope someone had the good sense to take his flaming sword first, but I doubt it, because while I love my boys -they aren't exactly clever ...they did go on a wight hunt, after all. 🙄 

Jorah and Jon discuss the connection and Jorah suggests trying to take out the WW's as their best chance of survival. Jon says no, they need to take that thing (Bones) back with them and a Raven is on its way to Dany -she's their only chance. I suppose she has the same magic GPS as Gendry. 😳 Beric joins them and counters that argument with just taking out the NK -he turned them all after all ...kill him and they all fall. 

Now, Jon puzzles me here. His reply to Beric's suggestion is: "You don't understand." 

What Jon? What don't we understand, baby?? Tell us!!!! Is Jon suddenly afraid of his own mortality? I don't think so, but then -what don't we understand?????? 

*screaming internally* 

Beric counters with how the lord brought them both back and maybe this is why. I'm not sure what Jon's thinking while his chest heaves and he eye fucks the NK -but .... perhaps he really is afraid? Maybe of failing and being forced to rise and fight on the NK's side? Suggestions are welcome here .... really. 

We jump back to Winterfell and Sansa has received an invite to KL. So, who sent this invite? Sansa refuses to go -and is certainly justified considering .... She intends to send Brienne in her stead, but Brienne is uncomfortable leaving Sansa unprotected because of Little Finger. She requests to at least leave Podrick behind, but Sansa denies her request, and after trying several times to politely put her off, she finally rudely dismisses her. Now, I have no doubt that Sansa is truly frightened to go to KL because of Cersei, but I also think that she specifically chose Brienne to represent her -not only because she trusts her to represent her interests, but also because of what Little Finger implied earlier -about Brienne intervening with Arya if necessary. I'd like to think that Sansa is not only protecting her little sister, but also Brienne's honor of having to side with one of the sisters should things get ugly. (They won't, trust me). 

We flip over to Dragonstone and Tyrion tries to convince Dany not to run off to the rescue, but (thankfully), she doesn't listen. She mounts Drogon and off to the rescue her and her lizard babies go! 

We're back at the boulder now, and an apparently bored Sandor is throwing rocks at the "cunt" wights. Not that I blame him, but we all knew where this was going, right? The ice has re-frozen and slowly, the dead advance on them again. This shit was really unbelievable, tbh. With the sheer amount of wights surrounding them, they should have been swarmed, but somehow manage to keep most of them at bay. Jon yells "fall back" (to where????) as Tormund gets grabbed and, oh my heart!!!! I swear I had a mini stroke! But thankfully, Sandor grabs him just in time (he knows he fucking LOVES fire kissed Gingers, okay?)!

And just when it seems that all is lost, Dany and lizard puppies arrive to fuck shit up!! Okay, despite their destruction to actual human life a few weeks ago -this was beautiful and visually very satisfying! This is what the dragons are for! They take out a good chunk of the NK's army -which is WHY I assume he targets the dragon still flying overhead and raining down hellfire on his army, rather than Drogon who was chilling while they all saddled up. I mean, it's just a guess, but it's truly the ONLY logical explanation I could come up with. 😐 

Dany reaches immediately for Jon, but a wight charges, and Jon turns to dispatch it, as well as a few of its comrades while the others climb atop Drogon. You know, Jon being the hero he was accused of earlier in the episode? The NK marches forward and takes aim at Viserion -who is still fucking up his army (as I mentioned above, and why I think he may have targeted him), as Jon continues to blindly fight the wights instead of climbing his dumbass on the fucking dragon! Why? So it can be HIS fault for what happens next, of course! 

I legit cried when Viserion died. I'm a grown-ass woman, and I don't give a shit! It was heartbreaking, to watch him plummet from the sky and crash into the lake, his eye drifting closed as he slipped below the ice ... and personally, I think Dany's facial expression nailed it: gut wrenching shock. As a mother, my heart broke for her, even though I know that the dragons future demise is necessary. 

An angry Jon charges right towards the NK for a standoff, as if he took Beric's words to heart and was prepared to sacrifice himself right then and there to kill the NK and save the whole damn world! But the NK doesn't want to scrap -instead, he reaches for another ice spear, and Jon seeing that he intends to take out another dragon, screams for them to go. 

He turns to sprint for Drogon (I guess? Because Drogon had already begun to take off?) but he's tackled by wights and dragged into the icy water. The group hauls ass into the air as an ice spear whizzes towards them, but Drogon avoids it and almost sends Jorah to an early grave. Dany glances back for any sight of Jon as Drogon flies them to safety. 

After the dragons fly off, the NK and his army nonchalantly shuffle on as if nothing happened. We get a shot of Longclaw by the ice hole and suddenly Jon lunges out of the water and uses its hilt to drag himself out of the icy lake. Soaked and frozen and probably figuring this is the end, he raises his sword to go out fighting and uncle Benjen drops in to save the day! He hauls a popsicle Jon onto his undead? horse and tells him to ride for the pass, declining Jon's offer to come with him and telling him "there's no time". Now -I've seen this part criticized, and I get it, I do -except what is Benjen supposed to do? He can't pass the wall -he's dead too. Guess he figured it best to go out fighting then endless undead loneliness. Maybe he figured he had no more dumbass nephews to save from beyond the wall anymore? Whatever the case, it was sad to see yet another Stark perish -even if he was technically already dead. 

We're back at Eastwatch now, and the Hound is dumping Bones in a dingy, as Beric says farewell and they'll meet again. The Hound says he fucking hopes not, but I don't think he means it. 😉 Atop the wall, Dany gazes forlornly at the landscape below, as Jorah tells her it's time to go (and calls her "Your Grace", and not Khaleesi? Since when?). As she turns to leave, the horn blows and Benjen's horse comes into view (and where have I seen this scene before?) only this time, WITH a rider. Hey -how the fuck did he get his horse back, anyway?

The Targ ship unfurls its sails, and we're in Jon's cabin as Davos literally peels the frozen furs from his trembling body, and sweet mary mother of God, Kit's abs! 😍 As Jon freezes to death, I'm just praying that Davos continues with his disrobing of Jon (and the camera follows), but nope ... 😔 Dany watches from the doorway with a mixture of worry, awe and since she's only human, probably lust (I feel you girl, I really do). On a serious note: she's privy to all those horrid scars that were never stitched and are still literal almost gaping gashes in his chest -and one directly over his heart. I bet Davos' words are ringing in her ears again. 

After that gratuitous abs scene, we head back to Winterfell, where Sansa is snooping through Arya's room -probably looking for the letter. Instead, she stumbles onto Arya's face collection. WTF! Naturally, Arya catches her snooping, and begins to terrify Sansa, and myself collectively, with some creepy dialogue that rings as an ominous threat -except, well ... let's break this down a bit. She is sharing some of her past. She wants to play the Game of Faces, but Sansa is not having any of this shit.

I'm pretty sure that Arya drops a MAJOR foreshadowing bomb here: "We both wanted to be other people when we were younger. You wanted to be a queen, sitting next to a handsome king on the iron throne and I wanted to be a knight riding off to battle." 

Okay, back to the terrifying conversation... Arya: "With the faces, I can become someone else, live in their skin, speak in their voice. I can even become you ..."

*she picks up the catspaw dagger and steps closer to Sansa* 

 (With the dagger in her hand): "I wonder what it would feel like, wearing those pretty dresses, to be the Lady of Winterfell. All I'd need to find out is your face."

 *she flips the dagger and hands it to Sansa HILT first* 

 When Sansa takes the dagger, Arya casually turns and leaves the room.

ARYA WAS PLAYING THE GAME OF FACES. Yes, it's shitty, and she gave her sister a mini stroke, but here's the thing: I believe they are BOTH playing Little Finger separately -to protect one another AND Jon, they just don't realize that the other is doing it yet. I'm fully confident that either Bran is going to sit our Starklings down, or they're going to figure it out on their own. And speaking of Bran, where the hell is he? Is he off with Varys? WTH?! 

Okay, and we're finally at the scene that y'all were dreading .... Jon's eyes drift open to a teary-eyed Dany who's relieved to see him wake. Immediately, he apologizes for her loss. She shakes her head and lowers it to hide her tears (probably trying not to make him feel worse), and Jon reaches for her hand. He tells her he wishes he could take it back and that they'd never gone. Dany shakes her head again and disengages her hand. She disagrees -she needed to see to understand. 

She tells him that the dragons are her children -the only children she'll ever have, and asks him if he understands what she's trying to convey. Jon shakes his head yes, as Dany vehemently professes her support in helping Jon defeat the NK. 

Now, I received an ask earlier last week when this episode leaked, about whether I thought Dany was doing this only for vengeance -and certainly, that does factor into her decision, I'm sure. And I don't fault her one fucking bit, tbh. I'm a mother -if you hurt my kids, I'm coming straight for you -why do you think the term "mama grizzly" was coined? But, on the other hand -she's now seen this horrific undead army, and what they are capable of. As someone who freed slaves, it only makes sense that she'd want to help make sure that humanity is not enslaved by the NK and the dead. This is WHY Dany is here, you guys. Not to be queen. Not to be Jon's wife. But to help save humanity with her fire-made flesh dragons, and die in a very messianic way -as such has been the arc they built her character upon. 

Jon immediately thanks her, and calls her Dany. She's taken aback -and explains that no one has called her that in a very long time. She brings up Viserys and in a roundabout way, says he was a dick, as to which Jon replies: "alright, not Dany. How about my queen? I'd bend the knee, but ..." he nods his head towards his injured state, as Dany asks about the people who've sworn allegiance to him (because she suddenly cares about that now?) and Jon says (and like I TOLD YOU ALL LAST WEEK when I watched this leaked scene, how very important and almost foreboding his words are): "They'll come to see you for what you are." 

WHAT YOU ARE. Not who you are. Not how caring you are. Not anything other than ambiguously WEIRD: what you are!!! 

Dany is still touched by this seemingly heartfelt declaration, and with more tears welling in her eyes, grasps his hand and proclaims that she hopes she deserves it, and Jon reassures her that she does. After some silent eye contact, she pulls her hand free from his grasp and tells him to get some rest. 

He obliges and closes his eyes, and then when she leaves the room, his eyes reopen and he looks -guilty? As he releases what sounds like an exasperated sigh. 

And finally, we end the night with the dead dragging Viserion from the icy depths with some heavy duty chains, and the NK reanimates him. Okay, I just have to say how fucking stupid that is. Where did these massive chains come from? Why didn't he just raise his arms and raise Viserion like he did the Wildlings at Hardhome? It would have been a lot cooler if he came lunging out of the water all blue eyed, rather than be dragged up with chains. Ugh whatever! 

Okay, so for a penultimate episode, I'm not majorly impressed, but I didn't hate it.

So, some things we need to go back and touch on (as noted throughout). Have you all figured out where I was going with it? Yes? No? 

Okay - SO MANY CALLBACKS TO THE NIGHTS WATCH HERE, GUYS! 

We got Ygritte callbacks with "Gingers are kissed by fire". We got the Jon/Beric convo which was kind of reminiscent of Half Hand/Jon's convo when they were with the Wildling's as prisoners, and Jon even recited a piece of his Nights Watch vows! We've got Tormund bringing up Mance, and his refusal to kneel AND we've got an almost replicated scene (horn blowing and all) of Uncle Benjen's horse riding for the gate of the wall, only this time, WITH a rider! 

What does that remind me of? Well, a previously duplicitous undercover Jon infiltrating the Wildlings -using them to achieve his goal of getting back to Castle Black alive, to warn the Watch of the impending attack and to do his duty -hold the Wall against the Wildlings. How did he do that? By deceiving Ygritte -despite his feelings. 

Now, I'm not saying I'm right, and it's just a theory -but I truly do believe that Jon is playing Dany. BUT, I also truly believe that he does like her, and that he does really believe she has a good heart. She did just lose one of her children to save him and the crew ...  Jon's odd and ambiguous words: "They'll see you for what you are" is for our benefit -a clue to know where the story is headed. However, I do think that the fact that he actually admires and cares for her (cares, NOT loves) is making him feel pretty shitty for what he is/has to do, on top of the guilt he feels for being at fault for Viserion's death. 

It's no coincidence that he couldn't look in her eyes when he offered to bend the knee. It's also very telling that he did so when no one was around to hear/witness this. While Dany has been wearing her obvious heart eyes on her sleeve for a few episodes now, Jon has been pretty guarded, he hasn't shared ANYTHING personal, his expressions have been odd -and blank, mostly (as in this scene, as well) ... this developing "romance" has felt "off". With Dany's attraction being so blatant, I think that Jon easily picked up on her feelings for him, and he's using that -playing on those feelings, to secure an alliance. 

So why is this necessary if Dany already agreed to help him? Truth be told, I feel like Jon just doesn't fully trust her. Good heart or not, she is a stranger, he's seen her temper and how quickly she turned on Tyrion that day -this is Jon being smarter than Father (also brought up several times in the episode -as well as his honor) and Robb -who ironically was also brought up in this episode by way of Sansa's letter! 

Addressing the weirdness of Jon calling Dany, "Dany"? I believe this was to assert a familial tie -in the same episode where her brother was brought up, and ironically, the dragon that died, was named for. They are reminding us they're actually FAMILY (incase we forgot) because of what's going next episode, y'all. They want us to be kind of squicked out when it happens. 

All the mentions of Dany's inability to conceive? Well, for two reasons, really- to hit us (and Jon) over the head with the fact that Dany can't get pregnant, so boatbang can happen, basically -and Mr. "doesn't want to sire a bastard", feels confident to hang up his vow of celibacy if there's no shot of getting Dany pregnant. And also, for all of our tongues to be wagging about "oh no, could their be a magic Targ baby"? like many have been. A red herring for the red herring, anyone? A baby requires a time jump -a time jump cannot happen -the dead are literally KNOCKING on the Wall. If you've got a logical explanation for me -let's have it. And yes, I've heard the shadow baby theory, and while I think it's uber cool, I'm not really onboard with it -who would it kill, as that is their purpose?

Also -the NK and his Generals are impervious to fire -unlike the wights. But -will dragon glass and Valaryian steel kill the NK? I'm starting to doubt that ... 

 And before I sign off on this, I wanted to address one more thing (that I specifically looked for in my re-watch) -the mention I saw floating around here, of the Wolf eyes on Longclaws hilt opening as Jon emerged from the frozen lake -it did look like that, but it was just a shadow-a trick of the light, if you go back and watch it. 😉 

 Thanks for tuning in again. See you next week for my final recap of the season. And FYI: my kiddos start school the next day, so I can't stay up til 2 am recapping -my recap will be posted on Monday, instead. ✌🏻

[hereissomestuffiwrote]

2020 Hyundai Elantra

Rental cars are so great- it’s like getting to sidestep your daily driver for a car mistress, or car gigolo. Not that I have any desire to do such a thing, as I’m in a perfectly healthy relationship with an older Volkswagen. But she needed a few days off, and with this virus business I didn’t wanna Uber, so a rental it would have to be. Wanting to save money to put towards the Jetta’s possible costly maintenance, I first checked Turo, which was crazy cheap, but all they had available were a bunch of 2012 Fiat 500s. Fun fact- when my Honda got stolen in 2012 I tried to rent a car from a company through my insurance- all they had available was a then brand new Fiat 500, but they couldn’t let me rent it they said, because it kept breaking down on them. Back in 2012. So no thanks on the same car eight year later. I moved on to Enterprise, and I decided to go with the lowest-priced deal possible, which promised a Mitsubishi Mirage or similar. I’m furloughed at the moment, so this thing would just have to get me home from and then back to my mechanic’s. I could deal with an economy car just for that. 

The plan was to meet the rental agent at the repair shop where I was leaving my car, sign some stuff, and then take off in the Mirage or similar. Wanting to socially isolate as much as possible, I decided to wait in my car until the rental agent and the employee who was driving them back to their office both showed up. First, I saw a brand new Hyundai Elantra with out of state plates and a barcode on the windshield pull into a spot. I figured that was the shuttle back, so I got out of my car, figuring my rental was right behind the Hyundai. And sure enough, moments later a Chevy Sonic pulled up. A Sonic is similar to a Mirage, right? I immediately noticed that the Sonic was absolutely filthy and kinda dented up, which, whatever, I’m renting from the bottom shelf, but also that the driver was an elderly man with no face mask. Huh. Well, okay. “Is that mine?” I cheerfully asked the man, who looked back at me completely bewildered. “No” he said gruffly, and then started taking some boxes out of his back seat. Oh man, should I have upgraded to Compact or Standard? Could Economy really be this bad? But just then- “Excuse me, sir?”, I heard from the direction of the Hyundai, “I’m with Enterprise! We have your car right over here!” It turns out they upgraded me two full vehicle classes- score! So the Elantra was mine, the rental agent’s shuttle was a Chrysler Pacifica that rolled up a few minutes later, and that dirty Sonic was a parts delivery guy. Oops.  

Even though I have a perfectly valid credit card and a perfectly legitimate checking account, when I signed the Enterprise agent’s iPad iFelt like Preston in Blank Check pulling off one of his many bullshit “Mr. Macintosh” transactions. Like, handing over a piece of plastic and scribbling incoherently with my finger on a tablet screen = unlimited access to a brand new motor vehicle? Whaaaat? But it seriously was that easy! Plus, COVID-19 precautions meant my agent just straight up left the keys in the ignition with the car running- one less point of contagion. He was super nice though, and wiped down everything before leaving the car to me. Of course, I pretended that we were both criminals and he was cleaning his fingerprints off a getaway car before handing it over to me for disposal. I also kept thinking about the rental car scene in the awesome buddy-comedy My Fellow Americans in which a little Hyundai is used as a punchline-

Spoiler alert- things go really, really well with the Lexus-

Jesus, what was it with abusing rental cars in 80′s and 90′s comedies? The poor things got less than no respect. 

Insane that twenty-four years later, the two brands really aren’t a whole lot different anymore. Side by side, my brand new Elantra and a Lexus IS don’t even look particularly dissimilar from one another, save for the latter one’s more pronounced gaping O face. Even with a more staid design, the Hyundai certainly doesn’t at all appear notably goofier or cheaper in comparison.

Once inside, the Elantra seemed like a nice enough place. I went to grab a CD out of the Jetta (Yes, like a grandpa I still listen to compact discs in the car, don’t judge) and then realized upon closer inspection that the Elantra didn’t even have a CD slot. Since I couldn’t understand the deal with the satellite radio- it seemed to me like the previous renter had only activated five stations, and they were all Catholic talk radio stations- I just defaulted to my favorite local FM channel. Whenever I’ve been given a rental car in the past, I compulsively have to see how loud the volume on the stereo will go before it starts hurting my ears. And I’m happy to report that the Elantra was capable of boosting “High” by The Cure to an acceptably window-shaking volume. With that important business out of the way, I could see what else was up with this car. It had a sportshift kinda gear box, I guess Hyundai’s is called SHIFTRONIC®. 

I messed around with it, it seemed responsive. Downshifts really did slow the car considerably, and upshifts seemed to make it go faster, but I don’t know, my foot was also on the gas, so maybe it was just a placebo effect? Either way, I’m a big fan of manumatics- it’s always good to look down and see the little S and the plus/minus. It’s a welcome bonus touch, like when a deli sandwich comes with a pickle. Even if you’re never going to want or use that pickle, it’s just nice someone made the effort.

Next, I needed to push this “Drive Mode” button and see what that did. Sadly, hitting it did not cause toothpicks to dispense from the sun visor and “Nightcall” by Kavinsky to boom over the sound system, lame. But, instead, it pulled up this dope TRON-esque graphic of the Elantra on the touch screen-

I just love it when digital renderings of cars appear on their dash screens. Second only to visual equalizers, they’re my favorite completely unnecessary yet supremely cool thing that a display can offer me. The fun cartoon in the Elantra explained that I had the choice of three modes- Smart, Normal and Sport. The Catholic talk radio renter had been driving it in Normal, no surprise there. I was on the highway at this point, so I decided to get crazy and punch it into Sport. And believe it or not, it made a huge difference! I once drove a Mini Cooper S with a manual, and while Elantra Sport Mode certainly wasn’t that vivacious, it was much, much more fun than Elantra Normal or Elantra Smart. Okay, full disclosure- I didn’t even bother to check out Elantra Smart- I spent too many years driving a Prius to care to see what the “nerd setting” felt like- I can imagine vividly, thanks. 

It wasn’t until I arrived home that I even bothered to see what the key situation was. Like I said, they were theoretically in it, as the engine was on, but not until pulling up near my house did I think to make sure that they were actually in the car. They were though, dangling from an ignition cylinder the way car keys are supposed to. I myself hate proximity fobs, push starts and such- they make me feel too disconnected. I have too many years of the muscle memory of my fingers gripping a physical car key, turning it, and feeling the vibration of the engine starting to ever get used to anything else. To me, that sensation also turns a key in my brain, and once that’s turned, it is like “Okay, we’re operating a car now, pay attention”. Without that ritual, I can’t focus on my driving quite the same way. I would imagine it would be similarly disorienting if suddenly all cigarettes just came magically lit right out of the pack, long time smokers would say “What the hell? I enjoy the act of flicking my Zippo, that’s part of the whole thing!” You know? Lucky for me, the Hyundai had keys-keys, albeit surprisingly budget looking ones-

My friend’s mom had a 2004 Elantra that he’d borrow and I’m fairly certain the keys for that thing looked almost identical. A quick Google search proved me right.

C’mon Hyundai! This thing was a two-thousand and twenty! And it wasn’t even the base model. Not even a switchblade? Or a buttons-built-into-the-top-of-the-key type deal? Nope. Key and separate fob, 1995 style. Oh well. Since I’m on furlough at the moment, I didn’t really have anywhere I needed to go, so I just left the Hyundai to sit until the Jetta was ready. When I got word that the VW was all put back together, I headed back into the countryside in the Elantra.  

Enhance! It’s hard to tell, but that’s a genuine Passat W8 all-wheel-drive wagon in front of me. 

When I got closer, I noticed that it was full of yard work equipment, and getting pretty beat looking. Sitting behind it at a red light, I noticed the two young guys in it were rocking out to music. It was warm out that day, so since we both had our windows down I could immediately recognize Kid Rock’s “Cowboy” slapping through the Passat’s Monsoon speakers. The two guys nodded along with it enthusiastically for a few moments before starting to laugh and changing tracks on either a mix CD or a Spotify playlist or whatever. Ohhhh, they were rocking out to it ironically. The plot thickened. If it was a mix CD, were they driving a borrowed car and laughing at someone’s taste, as my friends and I did when we commandeered a dad’s Lincoln LS and found “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins deep within the trunk mounted CD changer? Or were they a couple of Gen Zs cycling archaeologically through a Woodstock ‘99 playlist on a streaming device of some sort? I’ll never know. Anyway, bawitda-back to my story about the Elantra. I had to put a bank-busting $3.12 worth of gas into it so that it would have a full tank before dumping the keys into my mechanic’s after hours slot and happily reclaiming the Jetta. Not that there was anything wrong with the Elantra- as has been stated endlessly elsewhere, it’s truly amazing how far Hyundai has come over the last twenty or so years. I guess the rental company wasn’t as enthusiastic about the little car’s innovations or maybe they were just used to them, as I got a call from my mechanic a few days later telling me it still hadn’t been picked up. I called the rental people who assured me they would be coming to grab it, they had just been busy. Since my mechanic has plenty of land, and since my credit card had stopped being charged, I left the situation at that. I’ve heard nothing further, so for all I know the car either got collected or it’s still just sitting out there in the fields, now in use as the nicest chicken coop in all of the Amish Country. If that’s the case, those chickens are in for a real treat! Hopefully they’ll have more luck figuring out the satellite radio than I did.  

[erica-raimondi-blog]

Context essay - Consumerism

Analyse how can design effect consumerism, and at what impact does the practitioners have on the consumers and how does it relate to your own individual practice

        We have become a world of consumers, our primary identity is now to become a consumer not mothers, teachers, fathers but consumers. The primary way that our value is measured and demonstrated is by how much we consume. 99% of the stuff we mine, harvest, process, transport is thrown away within months. How can we run a planet with that level of materials throughput?

In this essay I will be analysing the theme of consumerism and how the practitioners are trying to create an impact to the consumers through their work. I will be mentioning previous work done by designers, the impact it created and how this can help reduce excessive consumerism. Furthermore, I will be relating these practitioners to my own individual work and how their influences and techniques have impacted the way I design in the future. The definition of consumerism is ‘the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable’ (merriam-webster.com). “Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek out spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption.”(Victor Lebow, Retailing Analyst). With televisions, radios and smartphones developing in the 20thcentury, consumerism has expanded and as a designer their responsibility was to influence a consumer’s mind to benefit the client that they are designing for. However, this can have a negative impact on the environment as the more the consumers buy, the more the product pollutes the world thus creating a global issue. In my individual practice I have realised that I would need to recongnise the consumers’ needs and design in a way that would make the consumer want to buy the product. On the contrary if I didn’t design what the client wants and create something that wouldn’t attract the consumers then the market for the product will fall creating an issue in the client’s business.

‘Understood in its totality, the spectacle is both the outcome and the goal of the dominant mode of production. It is not something added to the real world, not a decorative element, so to speak. On the contrary, it is the very heart of society's real unreality.’ (Guy Debord 1967, The society of the spectacle) The Marxist theorist believed that in order for people let this ‘alienation’ overcome their lives they have to allow themselves to be overtaken by the ‘spectacle’ - images, television, advertising etc. He says that even though it makes the consumer satisfied on the surface, underneath all of that the consumer will feel more disconnected with the world; isolated. In design we can make people aware of the ‘spectacle’ by creating advertisements and products that will alert the consumer that this is affecting their lives and that they are being ‘consumed’ by the industry. One practitioner that I found inspiring was Brandalism. These group of international artists challenge the corporate power, greed and corruption around the world and create artwork that goes against the ‘spectacle’ that I previously mentioned.

(Fig. 1, Brandalism. The 48 sheet)

In this image you can see a coffin in a shape of a barcode, thus reiterating the idea that products solve life’s problems and that their existence in their world would be satisfying and complete if they brought the right things; it can be seen as an expression of people losing themselves due to consumerism. At the same time people consume so much that they barely have enough to survive. Likewise, this can also connote that excessive consumerism can kill as it pollutes the world and many people suffering in different counties because of this.

Détournement (French for ‘rerouting’ or ‘hijacking’) is a ‘turning expression of the capitalist culture and its media systems against itself.’ (Douglas Holt). One other practitioner I related to Brandalism is Adbusters. Adbusters are a ‘global network of artists, writers, musicians, designers, poets, philosophers and punks trying to pull off a radical transformation of the current world order’. They desire to do this through détournement by creating subvertisements. An example of this is a parody advertisement of an apple product, it features a malnourished African child extending his arm to grab the iPad with the sentence saying, ‘Thinner than ever’. This ad is so powerful and hard-hitting as it criticizes the way the industry spends its resources on products such as apple products that get ‘thinner’ in every new generation. Meanwhile there are bigger problems going on in the world which need help and utilize these resources to aid issues like starvation and malnutrition. The way the child is reaching out to the iPad with his ribcage clearly visible links ironically to the caption thus showing the lack of humanity and immoral sense of priorities in these companies that use their resources to add to the issues of consumerism.

(Fig. 2, Adbusters, Thinner than ever)

‘Something not far from the surface of the public psyche is delighted to see icons of corporate power subverted and mocked - With commercialism able to overpower the traditional authority of religion, politics and schools, corporations have emerged as the natural targets for all sorts of free-floating rage and rebellion.’ (Naomi Klein. 1999 No logo). Klien really links to my previous point on the Adbusters’ Ad ‘Thinner than ever’ as she criticises brand and consumer culture, she also accuses brands as big as Nike in exploiting workers in developing countries in order to increase their profits. As graphic designers who are creating advertisements for these big companies, they are unable to portray the company in its true light otherwise they will lose a client, in doing so they are promoting consumerism. In my individual practice I have learnt that the wide expanse for my work would revolve around creating visual identities for brands to sell their products and make them more engaging. Packaging, branding and logo design is all part of the process of how a company presents themselves to the consumers. For that reason, no matter how big the issues are that’s going on around the world (excessive consumerism) I would have to still present the clients with a visual presence and personality that would attract the consumers in buying their products.

Lastly Justin Hofman is a photographer that takes pictures in some of the most remote places on earth where human impact can be seen. Hofman uses his work to educate people on how they can support conservation efforts through the choices they make daily. As seen in fig 3 rubbish and sewage has begun to impact the shore. Seahorses often catch a ride or take a break by clinging to sea greases and coral with its tail however in this case this seahorse has seized upon this cotton bud as a stable anchor.

(Fig. 3, Justin Hofman, Sewage surfer)

This image in itself just shows how excessive consumerism is affecting this planet and polluting the wildlife, impacting many species’ lives. Linking this to the Adbusters Ad called Names these plants/ brands, this mocks the general knowledge of the consumers as they don’t know the name of the plants but can name the brands that they buy their products from. This just shows how much consumerism is taking over our knowledge and disregard anything natural/ human nature. This then leads to the consumers to be careless towards the environment due the high increase in consumption thus resulting to global warming. In my individual practice for future work I would like to increase my knowledge and learn how to explore efficient ways impact a consumer through my visuals.

(Fig. 4, Adbusters, Name these brands/ Plants)

Linking to the theme of designing for the Anthropocene, there are designers who are creating sustainable packaging and products to help the planet and also promote consumerism in a positive light that doesn’t show that they’re destroying our planet. An example of this is LUSH. This company makes bathroom and skin-care products that are environmentally friendly. They’ve eliminated the concept of having shampoo in plastic bottles and made shampoo become a solid bar in doing so they’re preventing 75g of plastic from being introduced into the environment. Additionally, they have a concept that says, ‘once you have emptied the container, which is made from recycled plastic, you can bring it back to the store for a refill rather than throwing it away, and if you return 5 empty containers you receive a new product for free.’ This type of designing is inspirational and can impact the world positively. For my future path in graphic design these techniques will help me understand the effect of designing a product or packaging as a sustainable function and also help make a difference in the industry. As a graphic designer we have the option to choose what business we support, what views we stand for and what products we chose to promote through our designs.

  (Fig. 5, LUSH, Shampoo bars)

In conclusion the one question I ask myself is what kind of designer do I want to be? How can my individual practise create an impact that cannot be forgotten? I have always wanted to create effect on the client and also the consumers in a positive way that can change and shape the world into a better place. That is why I believe exploring the themes of consumerism is important for my future design practice as I am now able to understand ways in which I can create sustainable designs for example being simplistic, as a way of avoiding excessive consumerism.

Word count: 1582

[mychristopherstokes66world]

Gets married to a male in season premiere.

The episode's writers are (((Peter K. Hirsch))) and (((Jon Greenberg))).

SUBTLE RED PILL ALERT: note the fundamental difference in the way that racial minorities clamor for representation in TV shows, and the way that the LGBT community does the same thing.

Blacks, for instance, are always demanding that new black characters be added to the show or movie series, because it wouldn’t make any sense, semantically, to say that a character was actually “black all along”. Gay people, on the other hand, demand for existing characters to be “revealed as being gay all along” (see also: Elsa from Frozen), rather than insist on new gay characters being added. But let’s be honest, do they really see it that way on the subconscious level? Of course not. The character has been turned gay, rather than having been gay the whole time and being afraid to come out of the closet.

This is analogous to the mode of reproduction in both groups. Racial minorities spread by creating new babies, but LGBT people obviously cannot have children sexually. They “reproduce” by influencing straight people to become gay/lesbian/trans/whatever, and that of course includes children. The “gay people reproduce by turning people gay” meme isn’t a meme anymore (or shall we say, it was never a meme all along).

The PBS children's programming president is Linda (((Simensky))) 

Formerly of Cartoon Network

She propagandized kids with LGBT there first

In the 2008 book, Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics, Simensky stated that many male animators find difficulty in creating strong, positive female characters with substance that can serve as role models. When she questioned the creators of Rocko's Modern Life, one of the series which she produced, why the women in the series were invariably drawn to be well-endowed, she was told that the animators believed that drawing women "the traditional way" was easier.

PBS is pretty much commie TV. Ever notice in Daniel Tiger's world, no one ever pays for anything (yet they work), they all have to take the trolley, etc. This is teaching kids if you want something you should just be able to have it. And of course they had to have Lady Elaine marry tb they could come up with (he's a jazz musician).

They sure love the word "consensual" too bad, that many things involving consent can still be destructive. Here's a better question.

What gives you the right to just shove this political and disgusting thing right into a kid's show? Why? Are you gonna defend children drag queen shows being incorporated into this too?

What gives you the right to just shove this political and disgusting thing right into a kid's show?

I didn't do it. The people who are paid to create content for the show did. Their job title and position gave them the right

most of them were either out right molested or had sexual encounters with the same sex WAY too young to consent....age of consent is 18 and the vast majority of fags were sexually active long before they were legally able to consent...with the blatant pushing of homosexuality as "normal" and the encouragement to "explore your sexuality" in every sex ed class from the age of 5 on basically grooming the child to try it before they knock it by adults who really have no business talking about sex to your child....and then they try shit WAY too young because they believed the adults that were grooming them...it fucks with a person's mental state...so yeah...it's about 99% abuse and grooming causing the explosion of lgbt teens and children....they are very suggestible and they want to be special and accepted...it's why they are invading every child's show, as well as trans and gender fluid bullshit....they have to groom ALL the children in order to destroy the culture and society that white people built with their monogamy and marriage and raising healthy families....

>Watching (((PBS)))

Crazy bus, crazy bus,

Riding on the crazy bus

Riding up, riding down,

Driven by a funny clown

Wacky goony, goofy, spoony

High as a plane or a balloon-y

Crazy bus, come with us,

As we ride, ride, ride, ride, ride

It's a crazy bus, not a schmazy bus,

Don't make a fuss, just come with us

Sloppy, sloopy, gloppy, gloopy,

Happy-happy, hoopy-hoopy,

Dopey, doffy, screwy, blue-y

Gooey, chewy, fooey, dewey

Absolutely bus-a-looey

Crazy, lazy, crazy, crazy bus

A flat tire is no problem,

Because it's only flat on the bottom

A flat tire is no problem,

Because it's only flat on the bottom

So let's go!

Let's go!

Let's GOOOOO!

Wacky, goony, goofy, spoony

High as a plane or a balloon-y

Sloppy, sloopy, gloppy, gloopy,

Hoola-hoopa, hoppy-hoopy,

Dopey, doffy, screwy, blue-y,

Gooey, chewy, fooey, dewey

Absolutely bus-a-looey

Crazy, lazy, crazy, crazy bus

Crazy!

Bus!

Crazy!

famous gay guy george takai even brags about his most erotic sexual experience being when he was a boy and an older teen took him under his wing...oh myyy...

the correlation is what I've simply noticed by watching the movement develop and explode and listening to gays talk about their own experiences as they push for more "inclusive" sex ed at younger and younger ages....we will see the push for pedophilia to be normalized within the next decade because of it and it will be said that well-educated children are fully capable of consenting to a sexual relationship....

JOIN US  https://www.facebook.com/groups/qanonreports https://twitter.com/CIACLOWN1 https://www.bitchute.com/channel/ciaclown16661/ The Athiest Jews were The architects of Communism in the 1920s. A group at the Frankfurt School developed Critical Theory to convert the West to Communism.  The Frankfurt School plan was to undermine the Judaeo-Christian legacy. They called for the most negative destructive criticism possible of every sphere of life to de-stabilize society and destroy what they saw as the 'oppressive' order. They hoped their policies would spread like a virus--'continuing the work of the Western Marxists. The School recommended: 1 The creation of racism offences 2 Continual change to create confusion 3 The teaching of sex and homosexuality to children 4 The undermining of schools' and teachers' authority 5 Huge immigration to destroy identity 6 The promotion of excessive drinking 7 Emptying of churches 8 An unreliable legal system with bias against victims of crime 9 Creating dependency on the state or state benefits 10 Control and dumbing down of media 11 Encouraging the breakdown of the family One of the main ideas of the Frankfurt School was to exploit Freud's idea of 'pansexualism' - the search for pleasure, the exploitation of the differences between the sexes, the overthrowing of traditional relationships between men and women. To further their aims they would: • attack the authority of the father, deny the specific roles of father and mother, and wrest away from families their rights as primary educators of their children. • abolish differences in the education of boys and girls • abolish all forms of male dominance • declare women to be an 'oppressed class' and men oppressors Following Hitler's rise to power in 1933, the Institute left Germany for Geneva, before moving to New York City in 1935, where it became affiliated with Columbia University. http://gulagbound.com/38486/how-our-entire-societys-perception-of-reality-is-transformed-gramsci-frankfurt-school-quick-dirty/

[whatchamagadget]

JULY 2017 FINDS ON AMAZON

Once again we are here to help you find the best products on Amazon. This month we have found some more cool, beautiful and functional products buried deep in Amazon?s massive catalog. We showcase a list of products that caught our attention, either for their great discount price, for their great customer ratings, or simply because they are pretty goddamn awesome. Product details below.

This reservoir with Thermal Control insulation turns any pack into an all-season 100 oz hydration system. The 3L Antidote reservoir is protected by insulated 600D polyester and 4mm insulation over the hose leading to an insulated bite valve cover. Two zippered access points enable easy removal of the reservoir and external lash points facilitate attachment to the outside of a rucksack.

$39 $45 | BUY

Available in Europe here

Stunning book that takes its name from what?s known as "the overview effect? where we?re awed by the beauty of earth?s natural and man-made features from above. The large-format, 288 page hardcover book is beautifully illustrated with stunning and unique satellite images of Earth that offer an unexpected look at humanity, derived from the wildly popular Daily Overview Instagram account.  Some of the images are abstract while others boast incredible symmetry one could only appreciate from above. 

$23 $40 | BUY

Available in Europe here

Finally available for purchase is the new and improved model of Canon?s best point-and-shoot. The Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II still keeps many of its predecessors features, but now comes with a redesigned exterior, and Canon?s new DIGIC 7 image processor that will boost the overall speed of the camera adding improved startup times, low light performance and a lot less noise. It also features a 20.1MP 1″ CMOS sensor, 4.2x optical zoom 24-100mm f/1.8-2.8 lens, 3-inch tilting LCD touchscreen, built-in Wi-Fi with NFC and full HD 1080p video recording at 60 fps.

$679 | BUY

Available in Europe here

The Biltwell Bonanza embraces the retro motorcycle look like no other helmet available. The correct period detailing, an impressive flat metallic paint job and an optional bubble shield put the Bonanza into ultra-cool territory. Hipster, old timer, cruiser or standard, the Biltwell Bonanza helmet has style that is welcomed by all.

$99 | BUY

Available in Europe here

Have you ever wished you could do more with your Android phone or tablet when it comes to managing, storing, and sharing your content? Leef Bridge-C empowers you to manage content quickly and easily with its custom application and dual USB Type-A / Type-C connectors.

$39 | BUY

The new versatile gaming console offers unprecedented new video game play styles, enabling gamers the freedom to play the same game wherever, whenever and with whomever they choose. It is a hybrid mobile and home console with a tablet element and detachable controllers.

$385 | BUY

Available in Europe here

This unique pen is visually appealing with clear lines and aesthetics. The two-piece cap design rotates together to expose the tip, and rotates out to shut the pen. The pen has different appearances in the writing and the idle position, and the gap gives you instant visual feedback on the state of the pen.

$29 $35 | BUY

Available in Europe here

The Nike SB Paul Rodriguez 9 Elite Men?s Skateboarding Shoe is designed with a heel Air-Sole unit in the sockliner as well as four independent Nike Zoom units in the outsole for superior impact protection. An engineered jacquard upper gives you breathability and a seamless, lightweight feel.

$109 | BUY

Available in Europe here

The Braven Stryde 360 is a cylindrical, waterproof boombox capable of 360 degree surround sound. It can be fully submerged in up to one meter of water for up to 30 minutes, and is capable of explosive sound through dual passive radiator and opposing drivers for 360 degree sound. The built-in voice control works with your smartphone to give a command or make and take calls hands-free. The cylinder shape, fits in almost any cup holder and water bottle cage. Available in two colors.

$99 | BUY

Sun Bum is a sunscreen that has a broad spectrum of protection levels, for those of us who like to play or even work in the sun. One of its greatest features is the fact that it will not make your hands slippery, or bleed into your eyes. It also won?t come off easily because of its specially designed impregnating formula, you will stay protected no matter what the activity. The mineral based sunscreen is hypoallergenic free, paraben free, PABA free and oil free, with no fragrance, with high UVA and UVB protection, and is water resistant for up to 80 minutes.

$11 | BUY

Available in Europe here

The Life Gear Light WRX 6-in-1 Multi Tool is the pocket tool you need for everyday carry. This pocket-sized multipurpose tool includes a 1.75-inch stainless steel knife, flat and phillips head screwdrivers, rechargeable LED flashlight, bottle opener, and can opener. 

$12 $15 | BUY

The Stakelight by UCO, makes campsite navigation safe and easy, it creates a perimeter of light around your tent, making it easy to find or set-up, it also alerts campers to the presence of tent guy lines. It features a built-in LED that provides 17 lumens of light and burns for up to 10 hours. You can also set it to strobe mode(burns for up to 24 hours) to help locate your tent over longer distances in the backcountry.

$5 | BUY

Whatever adventure takes you outdoors, make sure your Garmin Fenix 3 GPS Watch goes with you. Pick your sport, and take along detailed fitness training features, precise GPS navigation and full smartwatch capabilities. It is water rated 100 meters and has a battery life of up to 50 hours in UltraTrac mode, 16 hours in GPS mode and up to 3 months in watch mode (all depending on settings).

$449 $499 | BUY

Available in Europe here

Check out some of our other Amazon roundups