#highway thoughts

[n2qfd]

I came from companies that previously had intense safety programs where we did a lot of training. One of the things that stuck was this idea that I think originated with OSHA. You had levels of safety being more effective. A safety culture that is a mindset a group mindset that everybody participating bought into was the best, and you had engineering controls like hardware covering dangerous parts of a machine, detailed instructions on how to do a task, at the bottom, you had personal protective equipment. That bottom tier should be thought of his gloves and hardhat and goggles.

As I was driving yesterday, I wondered if this translates to other avenues of our lives and specifically industrial hygiene.

I wondered are there people who are driving cars now relying on the PPE? That is their seatbelts and airbags over the engineering controls such as the speed limit signs or the striping on the road? Over a culture that would suggest we are using a shared interface with very dangerous machines, and that we should be thinking about our fellows on the road?

And I wondered as a country where are we at as citizens? Are we assuming the PPE will save us instead of buying into a group culture that agrees we all have rights and want to mutually succeed? It seems like we’re losing the engineering control, which I think would’ve been Law and those involved in the enforcement of law.

It seems like the populists have managed to sell a lot of people on the idea that some fantastically imbued PPE will protect them better than adherence to engineering controls or acceptance of cultural outlooks of mutuality.

There has to be more ground between what I would suggest as a Japanese style monoculturalism, and an American style in individualism that we can agree on. 

Thinking back to an old experiment done with children to suggest the downsides to hyper marketing products. Children were offered a choice at what was typically a time of day when they would be eating between a banana and a rock with a Shrek sticker. Many children went for the rock.

We’ve reached in moment where adults would choose a hardhat with MAGA iconography or some equally childish left wing sticker on it over making better decisions involving their skulls, or their neighbors, or their country.

[url-is-url]

WHAT IF EMBER GETS POWER FROM PEOPLE SAYING HER NAME BECAUSE SHE'S TRANS

Like. Imagine. Imagine the angst. Imagine you're a wee baby trans girl and you're just about ready to come out and then you fucking DIE before you can do so and therefore get buried with the wrong name. WOULD YOU NOT BECOME A GHOST AND HAUNT SOME SHIT? I WOULD BECOME A GHOST AND HAUNT SOME SHIT.

[c-rowlesdraws]

🎃 it’s ween 🎃

[falderaletcetera]

okay who wants a fucking great country-ish song about the 401 highway, apparently the busiest highway in both canada and the US and an absolute nightmare to drive on?

(because I didn't think I needed this but apparently really do, and it has single-digit likes on youtube, so I figure it can stand to be seen by more people.)

this guy has minimal online presence and only two songs actually for sale anywhere but @darkfinch managed to find this, which has some info and songs on it.

and now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go relisten, because this song goes hard and is quite happily stuck in my head <3

~

lyrics:

this is a long highway and it might take a day to drive from detroit back to montreal where the big rigs roll down through ontario and cars go speeds they should never go (never go, never go) take a look ahead flashing lights of red another crash out on the blacktop run on the news it says another driver's dead that brings the toll this month to twenty one (twenty one, twenty one) I took a ride today out on the king's highway from montreal to toronto bay justice will have its day with your life you'll pay better pay heed, so the people say keep your hands at ten and two do what you have to do keep them there until the drive is done or you may walk this road a lost and lonely soul another death out on the 401

just between you and I how can you justify the life you took with the pedal down (pedal down, pedal down) the ghosts they roam the road looking for their home and if they spoke you never hear the sound (sound, sound) I took a ride today out on the king's highway from montreal to toronto bay justice will have its day with your life you'll pay better pay heed, so the people say keep your hands at ten and two do what you have to do keep them there until the drive is done or you may walk this road a lost and lonely soul another death out on the 401 another death out on the 401

~

[pearly-sims]

Hey so uh

[putschki1969]

"Fate/stay night" 20th Anniversary Concert ~ring your bell~

Yuki Kajiura appeared on both days of this weekend's 20th Anniversary event for "Fate/stay night". Day 1 , "Heaven's Feel", was dedicated to her as creator while Day 2, "Unlimited Blade Works" featured Hideyuki Fukasawa as main creator.

[Heaven's Feel] 2024/9/21 Open 15:30 / Start 17:00 [Unlimited Blade Works] 2024/9/22 Open 14:30 / Start 16:00

Keiko, Hikaru and Lino Leia appeared as secret guests during today's event to perform a cover version of Kalafina's "ring your bell" at the end of the show. Personally, I thought the performance was quite messy. I've never been a big fan of the song so it's hard to impress me anyway but this here really isn't my cup of tea. It seems like their vocals aren't blending together at all, very jarring how everyone is just doing their own thing. Might be the mixing/audio? Hopefully they can fix this for the CD/BD release. Lino's voice is also very out of place imo. I know some people say her voice sounds a bit like Wakana's but I definitely don't think so.

Tweet by Hikaru | Tweet by Keiko | Tweet 1 & Tweet 2 by FSN Official | Instagram story by Keiko | Instagram post by Keiko | Tweet by Yas Nakajima | Instagram post by Hikaru | Instagram post by LINO LEIA

Both days of the event were live-streamed on the platform Zaiko. You can still buy tickets (JP¥3,500 each) for the archived version if you are interested. As far as I remember, the platform is very foreigner friendly.

Official CD Release

Live audio from both concerts will be released on CD with additional video footage available on the limited edition.

Release date: 2025/3/19 「Fate/stay night」 20th Anniversary [Unlimited Blade Works]」 Concert

Limited edition 2 CDs + 1 BD - Includes live audio and footage from the [Unlimited Blade Works] concert Price: 7,700 yen (tax included) Product code: SVWC-70691-70693

Regular edition 2 CDs - Includes live audio from the [Unlimited Blade Works] concert Price: 3,850 yen (tax included) Product code: SVWC-70694-70695

[thepeelingrenoir]

"Reality is so big that you're not outside of reality, you're just at different parts of it."

-David Lynch

[st-peculiar]

Fuck you. Ouroboros Cycle au posting be upon ye.

Been working on this a bit off and on today in my free time, been having fun. More in the tags

[7-wonders]

Somebody in my area has a Cybertruck and whenever I see them I can’t not think about this tweet

[grahamdollton]

just wanted to say i'm real fond of the way james says this particular thing in this one part of that audiobook that he recorded . . . . .

[theres-rue-for-you]

concept: a production of fiddler on the roof where everything is exactly the same but instead of tevye singing “if I were a rich man” he breaks out into “money money money” with full mamma mia choreography

[l33j3n8]

He was so close to confessing, to writing me a love letter, but let's be cowards once again

[merge-conflict]

Goro cupped her cheek, thumb running over the edge of her tight smile before it faded. “In that alley…I thought if you asked me, then I would help. But, you did not ask.” His tone was light, almost wistful. “You smiled and then–“ He released her, gestured gently. “–turned away.” “I didn’t smile.” “You did.” His expression was soft, bittersweet. “It is a not a sight I will soon forget.” In truth the memory was hazy, volatile. There was the moment when she had first seen him, and it had been a little shock, something sharp and inarticulate. Maybe he was right.

the damn things overlap, 7 - some things you do for money

Commission by the incredibly skilled @nananarc

Also as an added bonus the original scene from Valentine's pov:

He fell back, head striking the pavement with a thump. She watched him, chest heaving, one hand on the knife still buried in her shoulder. Blood was roaring through her ears, but everything else was quiet. Cautiously, she crouched down next to his body, transfixed by the sight of him. The ripper had lost consciousness almost immediately, but this one had known what was going to happen.  <C’mon V, gotta keep moving.>   There was a wary note in Johnny’s voice. She resented his presence, but she despised his condescension more. The facile comments, the smug self-righteous air, as though he were a paragon of virtue merely for having promised her something he could not give. It was not enough that he was eating her alive, but he had to exert his control now, dig in his spurs over and over until she did what he wanted. But she did not want what he wanted. <He’s dead.> Exasperation, now. There were two parts of her working along in uneasy tandem, one which regarded him with a cold professional contempt, and the other which wished they could rip him apart into silence The remaining part of her wanted to sit there a while longer, to spite him, but the adrenaline was starting to wear off. She staggered to her feet, leaning heavily on her good leg, and then froze, catching movement at the far end of the alley. <Persistent guard dog, isn’t he?> Even in an untailored button down and cheap slacks Goro cut an imposing figure. It was something in the way he moved that made the animal part of her wary. Recognition of another predator. She felt herself relax as he approached, eyes drawn briefly to the corpse at her feet before his attention returned to her. He was dangerous but he was not her enemy. “V,” he greeted her, evenly. “I wished to talk, but I see that you are busy.” If he was still angry with her she could not find it in his face. He was calm, inscrutable. Possibly he thought she had gone insane. She found she did not want to talk.

the damn things overlap, 3 - washed in the blood

[hellonerf]

it was all in jest but now i think ame rly wants to run people over with a car. i think whenever he drives and its a red light and people crossing hes thinking abt it rly hard. its intrusive not in the sense of he doesnt want to do that and it  keeps popping up its intrusive cz he rly wants to do it but he shouldnt. i think he loves car crashes i think he loves people dying to cars. he likes cars he likes machine he does not care about the flesh

[words-before-dawn]

They are getting married to each other trust me I’m colopale (IchiSaki wedding event when??)

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 5 thoughts

woohoo! here we are again. it's gonna be hard to follow last night’s episode, because it was frankly a banger. but i am eager to spend any time with my good friends mulder and scully.

(especially because my brain is currently a vague slushie substance being shaken about due to us politics. so i need this healing experience. of time with them)

we begin with a hitchhiker on the road. it always gags me that people used to do that and not be terrified of getting axe murdered. he’s sharply dressed though, i’d wear that sweater. drop the link, random fellow. 

oh- it isn’t a hitchhiking? well, potential crisis averted, i suppose. the guy who picks him up knows him. they’re going to prison. is this the same prison as before? the please please please prison? it looks a little different. but maybe that's just the angle.

the folks at the prison are talking about some guy named neech, who is allegedly being difficult. it seems they are going to put him to death, which is a most unfortunate thing. his wife is saying goodbye, and that she won’t betray their love. she believes that the governor will pull through and save him. and wait no, i’m sad now :(((( what if he is innocent…

they’re walking him into the electric chair, and ominous music is playing. i do not wish to watch this moment. they offer him a hood? and he denies it, but i didn't know that was a thing that happened at this sort of event. not-a-hitchhiker man has a hood when he pulls down the handle. 

this man- neech- says he will be reincarnated and that five men will die. and then they pull the handle and a bunch of people are watching?? do people really watch when such an awful thing happens? i guess maybe reporters but like damn, that is supremely messed up.

well, a sad and scary beginning. off to D.C.! mulder explains that neech had been granted last-minute stays two times before. i am learning i do not know much about the subject of how death row works.

scully looks beautiful. really beautiful. 

mulder says this man was very smart and charismatic. and that he was a getaway driver, which does not seem like something you should die for...

and now those five people who mistreated him are starting to drop! is it ghost time? or a plot for posthumous judgement afoot...?

prison time. no scene showing the flight and or car ride to florida. sad!

scully strides into examine the body of the guy who has been killed. it was very powerful, that stride. she then lifts the sheet up and noticed that it is covered in maggots, but she doesn’t seem phased, and says to put it into refrigeration. seems early for maggots, no? just being quite recently murdered? mulder is making a disgusted face LMAO 

so now they’re talking to another prisoner who thinks neech is back. scully's side profile is serving. 

but these men are catcalling her so that is not pleasant.

this guard who is watching her seems to really have hated neech so i’m beginning to suspect that he’s next to fall. he has a very prominent mustache.

mustache guard leaves scully alone in death row??? rude as hell. but she sneaks off. i love a woman who sneaks off. who slinks around, even. 

SOMEONE GRABS HER???? this man (who we later learn is a guard named parmelly) says he knows who is going to die next because there is a list, and a prisoner named roque has it. and that he wants to help her. well i don’t know if you had to go about it in such a terrifying manner!!! does help have to be done with snatching?? usually not.

the mustache guard says “it’s not a place for a woman to be doing that (looking around) alone"... okay so maybe if you hadn’t ditched her she wouldn’t have to do that… hope this tip helps <3

she looks really scared though, and she wants to get the hell out of here. knocking on the door to be let out. i do not blame her. she doesn’t seem to mention the creepy encounter to mulder.

next morning, the other prisoners are painting. and they find the mustache guard- well, they find his head in a bucket full of paint and maggots!! shoutout to the props department. because this head, it’s gnarly, but also almost endearing in its faux gore. i love you props teammmm <3

some guy is giving scully the head. she points out that the maggots are a bit early. but he’s saying no no no we have special bugs here in florida. which i certainly don't know enough about florida to dispute.

mulder is visiting the prisoner who claims to have the list… named roque. so she did tell him about the whole list allegation… hmm.

pause. why is mulder sitting on the table while he talks to roque. i’m howlinggggg we truly cannot take his ass anywhere. what a whimsical fellow.

roque says he wants to be transferred out of the block in exchange for the other three on the list. seems a bit outlandish. because if there IS a supernatural force going about killing people, all that information would do is just give the murder victims a head's up to get their affairs in order. but i wish him luck on his bargaining mission.

mulder is doing that thing now where he carries his jacket over his shoulder, and i gave that a go the other day and it felt amazing. but the warden says he can’t make a deal. because then everyone will make deals. scully says it could save three lives!! but then more people will just want to kill guards, the warden replies. heartbreakingly, i do see his point.

opens the door to find a decapitated body. warden sighs deeply. average day on the job.

back in neech’s cell, our duo is looking through his stuff. and they’re talking about reincarnation, which he claims is in all the world religions. “i’m sorry mulder, that’s not what i learned in catechism” LMAOOOO do not try to out catholic her. he tries, though, bringing up the resurrection. which is DIFFERENT. obviously. smh his protestant ass...

(wait he's from massachusetts... maybe he was raised catholic, too. i need to be looking out for clues. because we saw him in a church in like the fourth episode of the show. mulder i'll figure our your lore if it's the last thing i do)

anyway. they’re so close discussing reincarnation and world religions in this dead prisoner’s cell it almost feels dirty.

“imagine if it were true, scully. imagine if you could come back and take out five people who had caused you to suffer. who would they be?” “i only get five?” <- LMAOOOO i love her soooo much

“i remembered your birthday this year, didn’t i?”, he asks, and they smile at each other. UGH THESE TWO. i want more of this banter even if it takes place at the scene of a murder <3

they decide to go to neech’s wife, who they realize might have some clues. and she’s pretty. she speaks about how she has been dreaming about neech being put in the chair but not dying. so what does that mean.... and her hands are really shaking even though she’s smoking. so she seems really scared. as if he is going to come and get her.

roque is gonna talk with the warden. a deal? hmm, i’m not buying it. this warden seems evil. why is he taking him the other way? but he does bring him to the warden. WHO PUNCHES HIM???? and asks who is on the list. he tells him the warden is on the list. and that he is number 5. we brushed past the punching quickly as a plot point but it was pretty awful.

the warden says they “found” roque beaten to death …. wow. who could have possibly been responsible for this? /s

back at neech's wife’s house…. AND THERE IS ANOTHER MAN HERE. THE GUARD THAT GRABBED SCULLY!!! PARMELLY. OH, THIS IS TEA. parmelly promises that neech won’t come back. what happened to the promise of being true?! you'd think promises made before executions would be a top priority to keep.

but, at the site of the dead roque at work the next day, he DOES tower over scully and say “i warned you” ummm hello?? it is making him look suspicious.

mulder side profile is also serving. 

despite being busy being the second baddest girl in this prison, mulder realizes that all the people who died had caused neech physical pain. so that maybe the executioner is next…. and maybe roque WASN’T man number three…. oh he's picking up on things.

now, let us come with the agents as they walk into a creepy house. mulder picks up the mail. then lets himself in. and yes, it will continue to make me laugh every single time these two barge into a place

whoever lives here, he has a tasteful fish print on the wall. scully examines his fish photos. OH! it’s the “hitchhiker” from before. and the ground… it is covered in maggots… she looks up to see… maggots falling from the roof… he catches one. like a fallen snowflake. WHY WOULD HE DO THAT. we seriously need to take action against this man.

and bam. in the attic. dead man. very decomposed. again mulder seems to gag. well he wasn't gagging when he was catching the MAGGOTS falling from the dude's BODY, so where does he draw the line?

this other man they're interrogating says he saw neech. and that roque was NOT on the list. so it's getting complicated. not looking great for the warden, who seems he shall be caught shortly. or not, who knows.

BUT, we learn neech had made a bunch of phone calls to an outside number before he died… to an attorney who represented neech way back in the day. so they're off to visit him.

OH attorney spills the tea: that the wife has a boyfriend and he was waving a gun in his face!!!! parmelly, things are not looking great for you either...

the attorney is sipping something and taking his shirt off and probs gonna die shortly. and oh… we hear a buzzing. before someone strangles him!!! it was a very quick and vague shot, i can’t tell who it was that did the crime. but i’m guessing it’s parmelly, because we see him next driving home. interesting... mulder's earlier theory was that those who died had inflicted physical pain on neech, but this guy just failed to prevent him from being put in prison.

danielle the girlfriend slash neech's wife is like WHERE WERE YOU. THE FBI IS HERE. 

“woman gets lonely. sometimes she can’t wait around for a man to get reincarnated” <- wise words from scully, watching from outside. it is hard to wait for such things.

so they tell the warden about parmelly and danielle. and from him, they learn that the attorney they had just spoken to was SUFFOCATED TO DEATH THAT NIGHT. word sure does spread fast in this town.

mulder looks like he’s calculating some stuff as the warden says to go arrest parmelly. he's doing mental chess.

danielle sees neech in her room???? he disappears. okay so is this real or is she hallucinating...? it’s way too quiet as she goes into the kitchen and tells parmelly that neech is here. 

danielle has a GUN. she says to parmelly “you’re him” and she SHOOTS him. and cries. saying it was him, that he came back. HUH? things sure did escalate.

back at the prison, the warden wants to talk to speranza. and starts BEATING him. he says "all i know is one more man is supposed to die" and the prisoners yell for the warden to leave speranza alone. what happens to speranza is unclear.

agents driving home after another hard day at work, but mulder is pulling aside, stopping the car in the middle of nowhere. “why are we stopping?”, she asks “you know it just doesn’t make sense”, is what he says. you ever get a hunch so bad you pull over on the side of the road and start wandering about? yeah. just one of those days for him.

he says it doesn’t make sense to lay it all on parmelly. they’re on the side of the road debating this. he does not want to leave the matter unsolved, it seems, while she says it's over, let's go home. ominous music is playing whilst this occurs.

the warden drives by and we hear a fly buzzing. and then neech is behind him STRANGLING HIM. fade down to neech no longer being in the car, after the warden has been killed. and an end shot on the warden’s bloody face.

HUH???

this episode had me SPOOKED. it was suspenseful in a really good way. i like when this show has me on the edge of my seat and it feels like there is a ticking time bomb going off. and then when it DOES blow up, all the pieces land in place.

this episode was really good! it wasn’t one of my absolute favorites- hard to beat the mid s2 arc and the start of s3- but it was definitely good in terms of an episode that doesn’t advance the overarching alien plot. it was dark, but it also had some light moments, like scully one liners, which are always appreciated. and like i said last time, after a comedic episode, you need to be careful where you go next in terms of tone. but this time the difference didn’t feel as jarring. sure, it was spooky, and murder and prisoners and executions were going on, but it didn’t feel as unpleasant to watch as the calusari episode that came after humbug, which just left me sad and feeling weird. perhaps we can attribute this to the warden, who we saw inflicting so much pain onto others, having justice meted upon him in the end. that always makes an episode feel more palatable, i think. less like we just watched suffering for suffering’s sake.

please let me know what you thought; i’m curious. i really liked the pacing again, and the element of things almost adding up but just not quite. i love a twist and a turn. it was a solid episode! i prefer episodes where we learn more about mulder and scully, but we did have some good moments here, especially crime scene reincarnation talk. i also think he put his hand on her back before she walked into a room again. and i feel the need to once again make the disclaimer that this is a thing that is only endearing when fox mulder does it to scully, or when such a thing has been discussed between mutually consenting partners in the real world. put ur hand on the small of my back before we've discussed it and what a rabid raccoon can do to the human body will look like a round of warm up sparring when i get through with you.

but i digress. tell me what you thought of the episode! i thought neech was compelling.

(i know there is a wikipedia page for each episode, and therefore i could consult that to see how the episode was received, but it’s much more fun to ask real human people their thoughts!!)