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tlaquetzqui · 4 years ago

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I forgot to mention, in that post about my setting’s gods, that “Tiger” and “White Tiger” are actually Amphimachairodus (much closer to a “sabertooth tiger” than Smilodon). “She-Bear” and “He-Bear” are the short-faced cave-bear Arctodus, “Wildcat” is the leopard-sized sabertooth Promegantereon, “Wolf” is actually Epicyon (they call them “steppe wolves” to distinguish them from Canis lupus, which they call “forest wolves”, though Wolf is a much nicer god), and “Fox” is actually the “steppe fox”, which we know as the maned wolf (hey most of the other Cerdocyonines are called “foxes”).

Because nothing can keep me from having prehistoric animals in a story set in an Ice Age. The steppes are also home to longhorn bison, woolly rhinos, giant rhinos (which are herded and ridden by hill giants), short-faced hyenas, the giant hyena-like Dinocrocuta (“riding hyenas” after the use made of them by hyena people, who also keep the short-faced ones as pets), the giant horse (which the settled rural culture domesticates for ultra-heavy cavalry), and Columbian mammoths (the biggest kind of mammoth, as big as African bush elephants, whereas the woolly is only the size of an Indian elephant). I had had the dogs of the setting be domesticated Epicyon, but now I think only the ones the halflings ride are.

The talking animals the nonhumans usually ride are also based on prehistoric beasts: the gnomes ride violet hyenas with pink spots based on the cursorial hyena Chasmaporthetes, the elves ride azure pack-hunting cats with green spots based on Homotherium, the dwarves ride red wolverines with an orange stripe down each side based on Megalictis (with a very generous interpretation of “the size of a black bear”), dark elves ride talking pseudo-hyenas that can mimic voices based on Hyaenodon, goblins ride talking wolf-bears based on Amphicyon, and orcs ride talking boars based on Megalochoerus. Since they’re magical, I can also have bigger versions—goblins ride wolf-sized, hobgoblins bear-sized, and bugbears elephant seal-sized versions, while ogres ride an elephant-sized boar.

#fantasy worldbuilding #i write fantasy that is also science fiction

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amitojo · 5 years ago

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What inspired me to turn vegan

In July 2018, I made a choice to turn Vegan; and no, the food in “featured image” is not vegan, it was one of the first meals I had in Kenya — JusClarifyin

This choice was out of the blue. I couldn’t even imagine myself being a vegetarian, let alone vegan.

I did try to turn vegetarian once when I was in college (around 2011). I don’t recall the reason but I did decide on that. One day into my decision of being a vegetarian, I went to McDonald’s and had a McChicken 🤦‍♂️ without even remotely being present to the promise I made to myself just the other day. It only lasted for one day! 😂. After that meal, I gave up on the idea of turning a vegetarian. I mean, I couldn’t even remember it for one day! It just wasn’t that important to me I guess.

My eating habits resumed to its usual after that 1-day episode — having non-vegetarian at least once a day.

Fast forward to July 2018, I went for a family trip to Kenya and nothing was the same.

We traveled to Nairobi, Mombasa, and Nakruru. We visited Masai Mara National Reserve and Lake Nakruru National Park in Nairobi and Nakruru respectively, and in Mombasa, we enjoyed some peaceful time at the beach. It was just beautiful!

Attaching some pictures I took during the trip. Some of the best pictures I have ever clicked were from this trip but unfortunately, I lost those due to hard-drive failure 🤦‍♂️. Managed to recover only a few 😢 — Ensure you have your data backed up. Extremely important!

Anyway, we spent a total of 5-6 days going on safaris and witnessing the beauty and sheer vastness of nature, and various animals including the “Big Five” – Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and African Buffalo.

I remember just observing all the animals, some from afar, some from real close and I could see Hugo (my dog) in them. The way these animals were being/behaving by themselves and amongst each other, lying around, licking themselves, scratching, yawning, playing with each other; All of this reminded of Hugo. I just wanted to love them and pat them. I was even calling them Hugo! I had never noticed this similarity earlier in my life. We got Hugo in mid-2016 and I just never noticed, not to this effect, at least.

My eating habits during the trip were just as they’d been — preferring non-vegetarian food in all courses (tried some new meats) and occasionally a pint or two of their local beer – Tusker

Anyway, the trip ended and we came home having had an amazing time and lots of memories to cherish.

As we entered our home, we met Hugo and I’m sure you can imagine the reception! In my experience, I don’t think any human can match the way dogs welcome and greet their fellow humans.

Hugo slept in my room that night (he usually doesn’t sleep in my room) and I was just loving him, telling him I met his friends there and how much I missed him.

Later that night, I was just laying in bed and recollecting what all I’d experienced during the trip, going through memories, photos, etc. I could hear a buzzing noise around me and I noticed a mosquito. I was contemplating if I should kill it or not. Usually, I don’t like to kill insects. The very thought of it grosses me out. Yes, I have killed them 🤮 out of necessity but I try to not do it as much as possible. That’s when I started thinking about my eating habits. I was reminded of all the animals I saw and how I was in awe of them. How I was loving them as if they were Hugo. I got present to how we are all made up of the same energy, part of the same ecosystem, and I thought to myself, here I am grossed out at the thought of killing an insect and on the other hand I eat dead animals? That thought didn’t sit well in my mind. I saw myself as a hypocrite where on one hand I was being extremely thoughtful for one form of life and, on the other hand, I was not being thoughtful at all for the other form. All forms of life are life at the end of the day and ideally, I don’t want to take away someone else’s life. Who am I to decide which life is more valuable or who should continue to survive and who not. I guess It was easier for me to eat meat because I wasn’t the one doing all the killing? I knew I would never even think of eating Hugo or any other dog for that matter, so why do I eat other animals, I asked myself. All animals are the same. In that moment, something shifted inside me and I made an immediate choice to turn vegan.

I was up for the better part of the night that night researching about veganism, what is it to be vegan, what all I can eat, and so on.

That day/night, a whole new world opened up for me. The first thing I learnt was that veganism is not just a diet, it is a lifestyle. Diet is one part of it.

“Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.” https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism

Its been almost 2 years now since I made that choice and I have to say, I feel great on so many levels. I still am in transition, it is a journey. However much I love this philosophy, I can’t turn my whole life around so soon.

I used to 80/20 rule to prioritize my habits. First I attacked my diet and I am on about 90% vegan diet now. Indian home food is pretty much vegan if we take out dairy and meat, and believe me, there are A LOT of options. When meat was my first preference, I didn’t realise there are SO many options in vegetarian food. It’s funny, how people think going vegan would reduce their choice of food (or at least I thought so) but honestly, I think I have more options now than I had when I was a non-vegetarian. Earlier, I used to eat chicken every day in some form or the other but chicken nonetheless. Now, I have so many distinct choices of food.

I still seldomly consume some butter, mayo or other dressings when I go out to eat but that is changing thanks to the growing awareness on the topic, there are various places that serve amazing vegan food options and that number is on the rise.

I have to admit, at first I did miss eating meat, at least at social gatherings/weddings where I could see and smell non-vegetarian food around me. My taste buds really craved for that but it was shortlived. At such times, I was reminded of why I made this choice and honestly, that “why” is too big for me to slip. [Bigger the why, easier the how!]

Being a vegan, like anything is a matter of habit. Initially one might have to be vigilant/conscious about their choices but once the habit is formed, it is a routine — it is on autopilot.

Each day I am being more conscious of my buying decisions, for example, I check the ingredients before I buy packaged food; I ask the waiter what all is in the dish that I plan to order, I read labels on clothing to see what they’re made of, etc.

Initially, a lot of my family members asked me — why no dairy? dairy is fine; or why vegan? vegetarian is fine, and so on — And for that, and for anyone who is inspired to take on a vegan lifestyle or is at least intrigued, I am listing down a bunch of links that helped me become aware of veganism, its benefits (360º), what all we can consume, and the condition of the dairy and meat industry. If you say you love animals, just like I do, you won’t like what you see/read about the meat and dairy industry.

Bigger picture — choosing not to consume animal products doesn’t only benefit those animals, it also helps reduce carbon footprint. You can read detailed benefits, from various perspectives, of being a vegan here: https://www.vegan.com/why/

A detailed list of vegan foods along with suggested substitutes: https://ordinaryvegan.net/vegangrocerylist/

Learn what all food/products are vegan: https://www.vegan.com/foods/

—

In my previous post, I mentioned how Hugo has impacted my life. This post also comes under that category. Hugo has made me and continues to inspire me to be a better person. I will be sharing another insight I learnt from him in the next post. Till then you can read the first post of this series here: A conversation with my dog that changed my life forever!

Lastly, thank you so much for reading till the end! I hope this added value 🙂

If you liked the pictures, you can follow my photography page “MentalPictures” here:https://instagram.com/pictures_mental

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cavetigrim · 5 years ago

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@prideland-and-outlands

“Bigger?” His fangs flash momentarily, though the movement is over before it can be ascertained if he intended a smirk or a snarl. “Perhaps I should be grateful that gossip-mongers of the pride-lands think me worthy of such exaggeration.”

He is less insulted by the leopard’s words than he is bemused by its brazen behaviour. The leopards of the indian jungle, though no smaller in size than those of the African plains, would never have dared take to the ground while a tiger roams nearby. Jeers and insults are only to be expected from lesser beasts, huddling out of reach of the tiger’s wrath, but few are brave or foolish enough to try his patience on common ground.

Should the panther choose to venture any closer, he might discover why that is.

“I am not the cause, though a similar madness is not unheard of among the creatures of my homeland. Never in such numbers though, I must say.”

#pridelandsandoutlands

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rvb-junior · 7 years ago

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Anonymous ask: do you have any pets? What are their names? Why do you keep them? What got you into keeping them? Do you have any future pet plans? 💖💖

Ok anon do u really wanna get into this convo? Itll take a while.

Okay so im at college so rn the only pets with me are my fishb a male halfmoon plakat named Cosmos Florence the second, a nerite snail named Nertb and a black mystery named Onyx. I keep them because god man i just. I just love em so much ya know? Its like. I have this little ball of hate and rage in my dorm who has such a beautiful personality and then to complement that i have these chill snaild who r just trying really hard. Back home we have even more pets and oh man oh man i love them?? They are what love and joy looks like?? We have my dogs, cat, turtle, lizards, birds, hairless guinea pigs, fish, and chickens.

The chickens are named Short Bread and Oreo bevause of how they looked when they were younger. Oreo is a little spunkyer that Short bread while i think short bread is a little…. Confused? Yeah just generally confused by everything.

We have Mr. T, our full grown, healthy red ear slider who lives in a small pond in the back yard with a few feeder fish he never ate. Those fish have grown to be his pals and he just. Hase never eaten them.

Then we have the birds, Able, who likes to tell at you if u look at her to long. Her hobbys are chewing through toys as she is hanging from them and being suprised when she falls. We then have Birbank, named after the airport my dad found him at, who lives very closely with his bf Ruby. Birbank is a grey and white cockatiel and Ruby is a green Indian Ringneck. They had being more than 2 feet apart for longer than 2 seconds and often u will find Ruby yelling when Birbank flys somewhere he cant go (ruby doesnt know how to fly) and birbank screaming when he realises the mistake he made. Ruby likes to give people kisses and is a lover, not a fighter. Birbank likes to hiss at peanuts and ignore everything besides Ruby. Next we have our Canary, Mango whos fav food is blue berrys and kale. He likes to sing when he hears trumpets and my flute. He has a club foot so when we adopted him the bird rescue we got him from was relived because no one else would take him. He is the most graceful flying bird i have ever seen! Finally we have the zebra finch named Shimmy. When we first adopted him he had a super bad plucking problem and was almost completly bald but hes doing much better now, aggressivly peeping when he hears the canary.

Okay now we have 2 lizards, a leopard gecko named Romeo and a crested gecko named Gargoyle. Romeo is a sweet boi with a chubby tail who loves his crickets fast and his meal worms slow. He has one of those reptile hammocks but he prefers climding his cave more. Gargoyle is a sweet girl who will only eat her food when it starts to harden again for some reason. We dont know why but she does and shes kinda a butt. But ya gotta love her!

Our cat’s name is Figaro and she’s currently bald. She had to get shaved, the vet said shes getting up in her years so when she stopped grooming for a month and got matts in her long fur they said she had basicly cat arthritis. Shes doing good and her hobbies are (well atleast when i was home) meowing in my mouth at 3 am to tell me she ate all her food and wanted more.

Wr have 5 dogs so just get ready for that. All our dogs but 1 is a rescue. Coal is a chow/black lab mix. She was adopted as a pup from a local animal rescue and she kniws the mist tricks. Shes a good girl who likes hugs, treats, and when u massage her face. Her favorite toy is a yellow stick that she will bring to you when asked. Shes the second youngest! Lily is the youngest, i sometiems call her satan but only because she is a trickster! You will turn around and shell be on the table eating food, stealing anything from coal, and trying to think up world domination. She and Coal are super close, when we got her Coal went all MaMa dog and now they are inseparable. What makes it better is that Lily is a half Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix so shes tiny next to Coal. Our third youngest is Scarlet, wr think shes the product of a long hair Chihuahua and a deer head Chihuahua. Shes a primadonna who enjoys her alone time and pets. She also like to be held, mainly like a baby so u can hold her and tub her tum. She also REALLY LIKES CAR RIDES like man even going to the vet shes jazzed. Second oldest is Vinnie, a pug my bro ham adopted. Hes super sweet and good he likes face squishes and whrn he naps his tail uncurles. He stands very proper like hes a gentleman and likes to sit on ur feat. He has a grain allergy so he eats special grain free food. Next we have the oldest of our dogs MY SWEET BABY GIRL GIGI. shes my sun and moon. We got gigi when i was 8 and when i was 10 my sister went to college, leaving her for me to takr care of. And well, shes literally the most important thing in the world to me. My sister got her from a breader (which i dont like cus dogs in shelters need homes) but shes a Brussels Griffon so the breader croped her ears and tail. I DO NOT CONDONE THE PRACTICE OF CROPPING AND PART OF A DOG UNLESS SUGGESTED BY A VET, SOME DOGS GET THEIR TAILS CROPPED BECAUS ETHEY BREAK BONES IN THEM AND THAT IS THE ONLY CROPPING I CONDONE. Her ears were cropped lopsidedb and improperly which brought many problems to her later on. She developed many ear infections that have caused her to scratch her ears until they bleed, has had medication for 3 different ear infections, and has almost no ear canal left. Her vet has told us she is almost deef. Also as she got older she got chronic dry eye and takes medicated eye drops for it but shes fine as long as she has those. She needs loud or sharp sounds to get her attention so i trained her to respond to clapping, whistling (which i do very loudly) and snapping fingers. She is a sweet heartb adn a super velcro dog! I cried for three days after i had to go to college and they drive her up to visit me. When im home she goes looking for me if im out of site for 2 minutes, will wait at the bathroom door for me, stare up the stairs when i go to shower, and press her face against closed doors she knows i went through. Whne she does the last thing i have to drum my fingers on the door so she knows to move back before i open it. I miss her horribly and i skype her almost every day, she gets super excited! The first few days i was gone she actually wouldnt stop barking at night. Shes also a cuddle baby and she doesnt sleep unless she is touching me ao it was probably rough for her. I miss her but ill be able to see her in october when i go to my sisters wedding.

The fish! Okay so my mother has a 75 gallon gold fish aquarium and a 30 gallon in the garage with nithing in it yet (shes thinking tetras). The gold fish tank has 2 butter fly tails and some bristle nose plecos. It also has many a snail rn! A friend of ours dismantled a large aquarium of his own ( he is going through a very hard time financially and im hoping everything works out for him) and gave us the plecos and snails. The snails are 3 rabbit snailsb one nerite (he gave us 2 but the other is with my betta) a few black mysteries, and a golden apple who i named Big Mama.

Lemme tell u about big mama real fast. I call her this because, first of all shes a full grown golden appleb second of all because shes a mama. He had a live planted tank thich included a moss ball he has been taking care of for 5 year, its the size of my head and when we put it in the 75 gallon it because the main pice of the tank. What we found out later was that Big Mama had made her family in ut and we have abou 20 BABY GOLDEN APPLES IN THERE ALONE!! He also gave us an anibius fern which i put in my betta’s tank and after getting to college and living hear for a few weeks i found out there were eggs on it because I KNOW HAVE MANY A BABY GOLDEN APPLE. these ones tho r much smaller than the moss ball ones, mine being hatchlings and those being the size of a finger nail. But anyway they have grown large enough where i can tell they r not pest snails and i will be rehoming them to other fish keepers in my dorms once they get a little bigger.

My mom has 3 hairless guinea pigs. Did you know that at petco people tend to walk in and drop off pets they “just dont want any more”? Well it hapoens a lot and my mom fell in love with them instantly. We have Billy, the oldest, Piggy, the middle in age, and sweet baby Bear who is small and young. They are all good boys and are doing very well so far in their new home! My mom had already owned billy and was looking into getting him friends, (guinea pigs live friends! They actually should be kept in atleast pairs but we were not aware at first, now we know better) all three of them are being slowly introduced! Bear and Piggy already live together but we dont want to rush this process and put billy right into the mix, that would probably be the worst think. They are slowly beibg acclimated to eachother.

I guess you could say i love pets because they are sweet and wonderful. I keep most of them because i know i can care for them, that i have the space, and the resources. I have the time and the will to foster a loving home for all my pets, and so does my family. Animals are a big part of my life and i love all of them with all my heart.

My future plans? Well nothing soon! Im in a dorm so Cosmos and his snail friends are all ivr got planed rn. But i hope to, onece in the distante future, get a tank with a school of danionella dracula in it, they are tiny fishb only getting half an inch in side. But id need a good tank for them since they school about 12 and id like to do the whome thing live plants (i also want one of those rimless aquatiums hnnnnnnnngh) i hope to upgrade cosmos to a larger aquarium b currently hes in a 2.5 which is enough for a betta, sure, but id rather he be in a 5 gallon. But really? I just wanna go home n be with GiGi more than anything.

Thank you for the ask!

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evodex · 7 years ago

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5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation!

Summer vacations are a grand time for school going kids. Long summer holidays and ample time to laze around, playing indoor games with grandparents and siblings is fun. And the evening summer breezes are pleasant and something to look forward to after day’s scorching sun.

When I was in school, we were assigned to write essays, given books to read and given Holiday Homework to complete. Our holidays passed beautifully with fun-filled activities and we were only completing our assignments towards the end. It was always a race against time. You can see I was a laidback student.

When I became Mom, I made sure my kids picked up the habit of reading and writing. I bought books for them to utilize their holidays in a productive way with fun. While holidays is a break time for them and me, I make sure they pick up a few books to read every summer. I guess I make a better mom than I was ever a student.

It is the “International Children’s Book Day” and we today at MOAB, we have compiled the best books to read which are meant for this generation to roll their eyes over, so as to know about the current situation of this world, and also to learn different etiquettes along with some self-development.

There are numerous books written by various authors in this world and picking the best ones is a tricky task though we have tried to get the best ones for you all so that it becomes easier for you guys to gift it to your little mates.

Books To Read 1: The Blue Umbrella ( Ruskin Bond )

This Book is based on a girl who resides in a small village with her family where she gets attracted by a Blue umbrella which she finds in the hands of one of the city dwellers who were visiting the village. She gives her leopard’s claw pendant to them in exchange for the Blue Umbrella. She is envied by the rest of the people in her area as she has the beautiful blue umbrella which has caught everybody’s eyes. A shopkeeper named Ram Bharosa tries to steal the umbrella from her but fails in his attempt. When the locals get to know about this incident, they stop visiting his shop and his sales go down. When Binya gets to know about this, she feels sad and she donates her umbrella to Ram Bharosa and in return, he gives her a pendant with a bears claw in it, which is luckier than a leopards claw.

Tuning into kids

Books To Read 2: Hot Chocolate Is Thicker Than Blood ( Rupa Gulab )

The main character of this book is a girl namely Anu, who finds her life going through a terrible phase in terms of, her phobias, curly unruly hair, adolescence life and what not. There is one thing which she values a lot ie is her loving family and all the members of her family are there for her in all her up’s and downs.

The life turns messier when a secret gets spilt about her family in front of all the members which leads the family falling apart. All the problems are pile up. How Anu gets everything under control is what to look for in this book.

Books To Read 3: Our Nana Was A Nut-Case ( Ranjit Lal )

The storyline of this book revolves around a Nana ( Grandfather) who is a retired army surgeon. He lives with his four grandchildren at Mahaparbatpur in a Shadow House as their parents as busy into their work lives at Delhi and has got no time for their kids. The story is narrated by Avantika, one of the kids. She talks about the changes which took place in their lives when Nana starts to have symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Nana is a person who is full of life when starts to forget things, smaller which end up being bigger things. With the help of Shabnam Aunty, who works with Nana in the General Hospital and whom Nana would like to marry, they try to help Nana face his future. When Nana’s state gets worsen, mama decides to move him to a home, puts the kids into the boarding school and sells off the Shadow House. Avantika is not able to stay quiet and thereby she decides to take this matter into her hands along with one of her sister’s. Is she able to get things back to normal?

Books To Read 4: Mayil Will Not Be Quiet! ( Niveditha Subramaniam, Sowmya Rajendran )

This story is about Mayil, a school going girl who is full of life and a chit-chat box! She pens down her mind and secrets in a diary. What happens in the life of this school going girl when she writes her diary is what the story is all about.

Books To Read 4: Mathematwist: Number Tales From Around the World ( T.V. Padma )

It is a collection of number tales from different countries. Each story is followed by a simple explanation of the math behind the magic, making the dreaded subject Math, interesting for the kids.

Books To Read 5: Brown Like Dosas, Samosas & Sticky Chikki ( Rebecca Manari, Heetal Dattani Joshi (Illustrator) )

“Brown like dosas, samosas & sticky chikki” picks up a controversial topic of “fair is beautiful” which governs the social makeup of the Indian society. This book is a valuable resource for kids for building positive self-esteem as it tells them that thoughts and actions define you and not your skin colour.

There are many other books which you all can get for one’s kids and they are, the Harry Potter Series by J.K.Rowling, Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, Anne Frank the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, Manan by Mohit Parikh ( for teens ) and more.

Inculcating reading habits improves the creativity of the child and writing skill and their knowledge expands. The high energy of kids are channelized in a right way and the reading skills help them to grow their interest in their textbooks.

Hey, I have got the books for my kids, what about you?

The post 5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation! appeared first on Maa of All Blogs.

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yahoo-roto-arcade-blog · 8 years ago

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AL fantasy season preview edition of Mostly MLB Notes

Yu Darvish is primed to win the Cy Young (Getty Images)

American League East

Boston Red Sox

Toronto Blue Jays (Wild Card)

New York Yankees

Baltimore Orioles

Tampa Bay Rays

Comments/Fantasy Predictions: In a tough AL East, the Red Sox remain the class of the division…Andrew Benintendi goes .300-95-15-95-15 and wins Rookie of the Year, while Hanley Ramirez finishes as a top-seven fantasy first baseman, as a DH role keeps him healthy…Boston threatens to lead MLB in runs scored, benefitting all fantasy players who have a piece of this lineup, other than Pablo Sandoval owners of course…Chris Sale is a top-three fantasy starter, while David Price isn’t top-30 thanks to injury…Mookie Betts wins the MVP award…Jose Bautista greatly outperforms his ADP, and Devon Travis is more valuable than Troy Tulowitzki…Thanks to a new home park that’s boosted home runs by nine percent over the past three seasons (second in the AL only to Yankee Stadium), Kendrys Morales hits a career-high 35 homers (he hit 30 last year in Kansas City, which has suppressed HR by 20 percent over that span. Only AT&T Park has been more extreme over that stretch)…Francisco Liriano leads the staff in strikeouts and becomes one of the most popular adds in fantasy leagues during April.

[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Baseball: Get in the game and join a league today]

Gary Sanchez regresses as everyone expects but still finishes as the No. 1 fantasy catcher, while Greg Bird slugs 30+ homers…Matt Holliday proves to be a boring veteran who helps win fantasy titles, and a dominant back-end of their bullpen leads to the Yankees nearly winning the last wild card berth…Adam Jones remains his usual consistent self, and there isn’t a cheaper 25-homer source at middle infield in the AL than Jonathan Schoop…Kevin Gausman fails to live up to the hype thanks to the tough park and division, while Mark Trumbo loses 15 homers off last year’s total…Kevin Keirmaier makes his recent contract extension look like a steal, and Alex Cobb finishes as a top-35 starter (top-25 if he’s traded to the Cubs). Tampa Bay has a really strong staff, but its lineup prevents them from playing in October.

Headlines of the Week: Idaho Woman Crashes On Highway After She Says She Was Distracted By A Sasquatch…Floating Wheelchair Built For Disabled Goldfish…Batman Spotted Helping Montrealers Dig Cars Out Of Snow…Reality TV Contestants Complete Year In The Wilderness To Discover Show Was Cancelled Seven Months Ago…FBI Director James Comey Admits Under Oath That He Hates The Patriots…That Big Chicken Video Isn’t A Fake, But It Is Terrifying.

Song of the Week: Spoon – “Hot Thoughts”

American League Central

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

Kansas City Royals

Minnesota Twins

Chicago White Sox

Comments/Fantasy Predictions: Coming off a season in which they held a 3-1 lead in the World Series despite injuries to Carlos Carrasco, Michael Brantley, Danny Salazar and Yan Gomes, Cleveland is primed to make another deep run in the playoffs…Jose Ramirez hits .300 again, proving last year was no fluke, and Francisco Lindor finishes top-5 in WAR…Neither Cody Allen nor Andrew Miller reach 25 saves but both pitch extremely well, and only health prevents Carrasco from being a Cy Young contender...Justin Upton’s first half last year: .670 OPS, 31.5 K%, 77 wRC+. His second half: .916 OPS, 24.8 K%, 142 wRC+. Over all of last season, his first half wRC+ would’ve ranked as the seventh-worst in MLB, and his second-half wRC+ would’ve ranked third best among all hitters. That’s quite a contrast…Daniel Norris, whose 16.2 K-BB% and 10.5 SwStr% both would’ve ranked top-25 among starters had he qualified last season, is one of the best sleeper picks late in drafts.

Danny Duffy proves last year’s breakout was no fluke, finishing as a top-12 fantasy starter, but Jorge Soler continues to fail to live up to expectations…Matt Strahm eventually gets a chance in the rotation and immediately becomes the Royals’ second most valuable commodity on the staff…Eric Hosmer has his best season yet…Joe Mauer fails to reach double-digit homers, while Miguel Sano knocks out 30+…Byron Buxton, who’s still just 23 years old and posted a .344 wOBA and 114 wRC+ after the All-Star break last season, fully breaks out and goes 20/30 while playing terrific defense in center field…David Robertson is traded to the Nationals, where he becomes Washington’s closer, leaving the job in Chicago for Nate Jones. Both relievers are top-12 fantasy closers from that point forward…Jose Quintana’s value also sees a boost after he’s dealt to the National League, while Tim Anderson steals 35 bases…Carlos Rodon strikes out 220 batters and is drafted as a top-15 starting pitcher entering 2018.

Police Blotter: Man In Leopard Print Robe And Crocs Robs McDonald’s With Comb…Florida Man Busted For Eating Pancakes In The Middle Of A Busy Intersection…200-Lb Gold Coin Worth Estimated $4 Million Is Stolen From German Museum...Man Checks Out Of Hospital, Steals Ambulance...Burglars Took Kid’s Money, Fell Asleep In Kennel.

Longread of the Week: The Stoner Arms Dealers: How Two American Kids Became Big-Time Weapons Traders

American League West

Houston Astros

Texas Rangers (Wild Card)

Seattle Mariners

Los Angeles Angels

Oakland A’s

Comments/Fantasy Predictions: The Astros score the most runs in major league baseball, although Alex Bregman doesn’t break out to the extent his owners hope…Dallas Keuchel bounces back, but it’s Lance McCullers who finishes with the most fantasy value on Houston’s staff…Ken Giles’ 19.9 SwStr% was the second highest in baseball last season, second only to his teammate Luke Gregerson (20.1%)…Houston wins the American League pennant…Go Astros, as I put my money where my mouth is…Rougned Odor is a top-three fantasy second baseman, finishing with more value than Robinson Cano, while Nomar Mazara is one of the bigger outfield bargains when he goes .275-75-25-75…The Rangers, Mariners and Angels’ battle for second place (and a possible wild card) will come down to the final weekend of the season…Yu Darvish wins the Cy Young award.

Nelson Cruz never hit more than 33 homers in a season until he hit 40 at age 33. He’ll club 40 for the fourth straight season in 2017…Edwin Diaz leads all closers in strikeouts, while James Paxton finishes with more fantasy value than Felix Hernandez…Jarrod Dyson steals 60 bases…Matt Shoemaker is a top-45 starter, and Cam Bedrosian has a big season, as he enters 2018 as a consensus top-10 closer…C.J. Cron reaches 90 RBI…Sonny Gray’s spiral downward continues, while Sean Manea establishes himself as the clear ace of the staff…No one in Oakland’s bullpen reaches 15 saves, including Santiago Casilla, who reminds me a lot of former A’s prospect Jairo Garcia…After only five players reached 35 steals last season, Rajai Davis is one of four who reach 60 in 2017…Ryon Healy is a top-10 third baseman, finishing with more fantasy value than Alex Bregman.

In case you missed my National League preview, here it is.

MVP: Mookie Betts

Cy Young: Yu Darvish

Rookie of the Year: Andrew Benintendi

ALCS: Astros over Indians

NLCS: Dodgers over Cubs

World Series: Dodgers over Astros

Follow the Yahoo crew on Twitter: Andy Behrens, Dalton Del Don, Brad Evans, Brandon Funston, Liz Loza and Scott Pianowski

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evodex · 7 years ago

Text

5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation!

Books To Read 1: The Blue Umbrella ( Ruskin Bond )

Tuning into kids

Books To Read 2: Hot Chocolate Is Thicker Than Blood ( Rupa Gulab )

Books To Read 3: Our Nana Was A Nut-Case ( Ranjit Lal )

Books To Read 4: Mayil Will Not Be Quiet! ( Niveditha Subramaniam, Sowmya Rajendran )

Books To Read 4: Mathematwist: Number Tales From Around the World ( T.V. Padma )

It is a collection of number tales from different countries. Each story is followed by a simple explanation of the math behind the magic, making the dreaded subject Math, interesting for the kids.

Books To Read 5: Brown Like Dosas, Samosas & Sticky Chikki ( Rebecca Manari, Heetal Dattani Joshi (Illustrator) )

Hey, I have got the books for my kids, what about you?

The post 5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation! appeared first on Maa of All Blogs.

5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation! published first on https://bestbabyinc.tumblr.com

0 notes

evodex · 7 years ago

Text

5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation!

Books To Read 1: The Blue Umbrella ( Ruskin Bond )

Tuning into kids

Books To Read 2: Hot Chocolate Is Thicker Than Blood ( Rupa Gulab )

Books To Read 3: Our Nana Was A Nut-Case ( Ranjit Lal )

Books To Read 4: Mayil Will Not Be Quiet! ( Niveditha Subramaniam, Sowmya Rajendran )

Books To Read 4: Mathematwist: Number Tales From Around the World ( T.V. Padma )

It is a collection of number tales from different countries. Each story is followed by a simple explanation of the math behind the magic, making the dreaded subject Math, interesting for the kids.

Books To Read 5: Brown Like Dosas, Samosas & Sticky Chikki ( Rebecca Manari, Heetal Dattani Joshi (Illustrator) )

Hey, I have got the books for my kids, what about you?

The post 5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation! appeared first on Maa of All Blogs.

5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation! published first on https://bestbabyinc.tumblr.com

0 notes

evodex · 7 years ago

Text

5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation!

Books To Read 1: The Blue Umbrella ( Ruskin Bond )

Tuning into kids

Books To Read 2: Hot Chocolate Is Thicker Than Blood ( Rupa Gulab )

Books To Read 3: Our Nana Was A Nut-Case ( Ranjit Lal )

Books To Read 4: Mayil Will Not Be Quiet! ( Niveditha Subramaniam, Sowmya Rajendran )

Books To Read 4: Mathematwist: Number Tales From Around the World ( T.V. Padma )

It is a collection of number tales from different countries. Each story is followed by a simple explanation of the math behind the magic, making the dreaded subject Math, interesting for the kids.

Books To Read 5: Brown Like Dosas, Samosas & Sticky Chikki ( Rebecca Manari, Heetal Dattani Joshi (Illustrator) )

Hey, I have got the books for my kids, what about you?

The post 5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation! appeared first on Maa of All Blogs.

5 Best Books To Read For Kids This Summer Vacation! published first on https://bestbabyinc.tumblr.com

0 notes