#i did my best to preserve the original captions

[dduane]

It's all about the Light

People were commenting yesterday about the surprisingly photographic quality of this image, so I want to deal with some of those inquiries here.

First, though, since the main character's clothes were a mess in that one—as I was beginning the process of tweaking about six different things at once in that set—I wanted to redo the render with that problem fixed. So here we have Freelorn back in the "dress casual" he'd have been wearing in court that morning, in this soon-to-be-published work, when the magpie first becomes an issue.

The first question most people seem to have had about this lighting setup is: "How did you do that?" And in all honesty, even after backing out to have a look at the set as a whole, I'm still not entirely sure how I did it...except that over time and multiple uses, more and more light sources of various kinds got hooked into that set. Tl:dr; I got lucky. (shrug) ...A more detailed discussion, with wider images of the set, is over here.

The first time I got lucky that way was in this shot. Just a joke render: a take on the concept "short king". "Hey," I thought, "I've got a king sitting around here, and he's short.* Let's emphasize how short. For fun."

(I wound up rendering that shot several times, over several posts, as a diagnostic. I'm nothing if not persistent about establishing for certain that I have no idea exactly why something's happening.) :)

...And then after a while another opportunity for a joke came up, in a meme-based mode, and who was I to pass up such a thing? Especially when all I had to do was change some positions a little.

(caption: "We lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship." ...Yeah, did they ever.) :)

In any case, you'd best believe that I went out of my way to preserve the original file/version of that set, so as not to accidentally mess up that overall lighting effect; and then occasionally used duplicates of it to stage other work, including the topmost image on this post, and various others that followed it.

Like this one, more an atmosphere piece than anything else, in which the man sitting in the Throne is having a bad day—

—and this one, of the very first time he sits in that chair, preparing to do justice on the surviving leaders of an army of people who the day before were trying to kill not just him but everybody he loves.

(ETA: noting a minor eye problem with the above: something technical. Will do another render and put it up in the morning.)

...Anyway, I've been meaning for some while to put aside the time for serious work on the Throne's textures.** Partly it's just a desire to have it look nice. But also, this isn't just some fancy chair; at least not to the people whose rulers sit in it. It's been intimately associated with the descendants of a demigod for hundreds of years—in fact, no one's really sure how many centuries. And popular opinion in Arlen has it that the Throne's routine adjacence to even quite dilute divinity has over time elevated it beyond mere furniturehood: has, indeed, caused it to become sensitive about whether the person who sits in it is in fact entitled to be there at all. (Not least because, sooner or later, bad things tend to happen to those who aren't.)

So in illustrations the Throne ought to look like a good solid artifact that's been around for a while and has picked up some patina. But it should also look like it's been well cared for, and have something of an air of venerability. (sigh) Still working on that. —Anyway, the current textures have always been temporary measures, unsatisfactory to a greater or lesser degree. I look forward to creating ones that better reflect what I see in my head... though that's a matter for a different and more technical post.

As to those questions:

@megatraven Is that fucking blender?

No, it's Daz Studio. I have to deal with Blender more than I like to at the moment (for example, I need to create new steps for that set in Blender shortly), and it drives me around the bend. But I've been working with Daz long enough now to have acquired at least some expertise, even though sometimes I have less idea about why things are working (or not) than I'd like.

@fyeahnix #tumblr brain rot is so strong I thought this was some AU take of that Jack Frost twink from Guardians

Oh. No, nothing to do with him. This character is the one around whom most of the drama of my first fantasy series has crystalllzed out. Freelorn started out more than forty years ago as kind of a romantically-inclined jerk with a love of lost causes and a recurring sporadic inability to think practicalities through. But he's been improving. :)

Anyway, thanks again to everybody who commented kindly about the good look of the images. The light: it's all about the Light. :)

*Lorn's probably about 5'9". Dusty's around 6'2" or a bit taller. (In that second image, definitely taller, as the boots that go with that outfit are riding boots and have significant heels.)

**And also the tapestries directly behind the Throne.

[montyterrible]

The Spirit of the Teens—or, Thoughts on Teen Titans, specifically A Kid’s Game [Preview]

In retrospect, it’s kind of a surprise to me that I didn’t write something substantial about Teen Titans before this. The animated series was my entry point for superhero comics in general. I was a big fan of the Teen Titans throughout my teens, and without the series I wouldn’t have found other comics I enjoyed a lot, like Gail Simone’s Secret Six. It’s not actually an overstatement to say that Teen Titans defined certain areas of my life for years until I finally fell out of love with them/it.

In this Big essay on the blog, I reflect on my Titans fan years. While I talk about Teen Titans in general somewhat, the specific focus is on the first collected volume of the Geoff Johns run, A Kid’s Game, which was how I first got into the then-modern comics after starting with scattered issues from earlier runs. I discuss the collection as a sort of quintessential representation of the spirit of the idea of “Teen Titans” and eventually do a little compare and contrast between it and “The New 52” reboot, which I did not like very much.

Here's the link. Below, past the reproduction of the spoiler/presentation note that starts off the essay proper, is a representative paragraph…

Note that this piece contains pretty heavy spoilers for the A Kid’s Game graphic novel/collection specifically and some for Teen Titans more broadly, though not to a truly “heavy” degree in that latter case, given the sheer amount of material out there.

In terms of the presentation below, when I quote from the comics, I have done my best to preserve much of the original look of the text, down to using both bolding and italics for emphasis to try to match the source material. I have used // to indicate a shift from one word balloon or caption box to another mid-quote, and I have adjusted the capitalization, which is essentially all caps in the original text, to be more conventional here for the sake of readability in this format.

Or consider the first night at the tower headquarters for the Geoff-Johns-written Titans, where Superboy finds Robin up super late and they have this great conversation that’s lent a lot of power by how well the previously mentioned “color” (the art in general, let’s say) captures that feeling of being suffused in shadow at a lonely hour, with just these dim or distant sources of light around. Superboy asks Robin why they came there, and Robin starts to answer but then cuts himself off, reassesses, and then says he’s trying to figure it out too. “We came here because we’re friends, right?” Superboy eventually says: “…You gotta give me a reason to stick around, Robin.” Robin does come back with a snarky retort about Superboy being smarter than he looks, but before that there’s a single panel of silence, with just the two of them standing there in the dark, letting the moment hold. The tone overall is one of something like emotional vulnerability, and it’s a mood that I think persists during this era of the series. After the scrap with the Justice League, the two boys have a similar moment on the roof of the tower that includes Robin saying, really straightforwardly, that Superboy’s Luthor genes will never make him evil: “Because I’m going to be here to make sure. All of the Titans will be. And one of these days, I’m probably going to have to deal with something too. Something I’ll need help with—And I know you’ll be there to help me.” In the years since reading this version of Teen Titans, I have seen some criticism of Geoff Johns and his writing, and I’ll fully admit that I don’t pay attention to this stuff enough as an adult to have what you might call a “fully-informed” opinion on the matter, but even just in isolation, just looking at this one issue (and one collection), I immediately see a lot to like, even as an adult. The writing is character-forward, plenty earnest when it needs to be, and it focuses on the friendships and the feelings, which are the things that make the Teen Titans special—the “teen” parts. The intention is clearly to try to create something that feels emotionally honest and meaningful.

[tadakixd-blog]

24HR TV - Hanyu Yuzuru EngSub

I really loved this segment. It’s really cute and watching him teach was very inspiring. Right after it played, there were so many tweets about his quotes, and #あと２回転 (#2 more rounds) was trending lmao I got so excited about it, I decided I would break out the good ole Aegisub and sub the whole thing.

Yea I forgot how old my laptop is. This is the result of 1.5 days of struggling with lagging video and cursing the NihonTV editor who kept subbing everything they said out of sync and making my job all that much harder. Forgive the bad typesetting, I am too exhausted to care anymore ^^:: 

Huge thanks to @wherespacepooh for helping me when my computer died at the hardsub stage, and gifting me a more HQ ver in the process XD

Enjoy :)

Raw credit to the wonderful yuzu_pino, who uploaded it less than 10mins after it aired. (Please do not remove the watermark, I’ve already made it really tiny)

[ka-writes]

——————

Notes: I felt evil..

Also cross country sucks, now I feel sick.

But I gift longish chapter!

——————

Incase you missed:

Chapter 1:

Chapter 4:

——————

Inspired by:

Humans are Space Velociraptors

By:FreshRoses_InMyGarden_NeedTheRain

Some kids come from storks, others come from crashed spaceships

By: mmmajora

Home Again, Home Again

By: teeth_eater

All works can be found on Ao3

——————

Warning: trauma flash backs, cussing, mentions of character death, fear.

——————

Chapter 5: Rocky Road

——————

Techno certainly didn’t expect Tubbo’s sudden outburst. Still Techno sort of expected bitterness towards the human.

The droneling marched off presumably to go to the garden. He shoved Wilbur out of the way and continued speaking gibberish.

“What’s with Tubbo?” The phantom asked, casting worried glances towards the door.

“He just threatened the human.” Techno said as if it wasn’t the most stupid move on Tubbo’s part. Wilbur’s eyes grew wide and he attempted to run to the holding cell, only to be stopped by Techno’s hand on his shoulder. The phantom sighed before turning towards the guard.

Silently the pair made their way to the common room. Flicking on the illusion projector, and turning the channel with the ISF news. Techno opened a novel not paying any mind to the news reporter who was going over the case that Techno had just escaped.

There weren't any further advances on the story other than what they knew. The ship had crashed on Omar, a nature preserve, which led the ISF to find eight human bodies and twelve recognized crew members. Though there were fourteen to begin with, not that the news knew that of course. The ship was also deemed as a poacher ship and not much else was discovered.

After the story was covered a different news reporter came on screen. He was shifting his papers nervously and glanced down every so often. This caused Techno to close his novel and pay attention to the illusion.

“Just one day ago, one of the Dream Team crew members quit.” The news reporter took a shaky breath before continuing, “Today the crew has reported that the ex-crew member had taken one of the humans they were using for testing.” A picture of Tommy appeared on screen, “This is what the human looks like. We advise citizens to be on the lookout for this man,” a picture of Wilbur popped onto the screen, “and the human. If you see either one in public do not engage and immediately report it to one of your stationed guards.” The man finished and Wilbur immediately flicked off the TV.

Him and Techno shared a glance of pure shock. Wilbur shed a couple blue tears and immediately started panicking. The guard wrapped his brother until a tight hug and fought off the voices chants of “NOT SAFE”. Silence drew the pair into an unsteady atmosphere.

——————

“Honestly that kid is a burden. I don’t know why you think we can take care of him.” A lady said, fury wasn’t hidden behind a fake smile at this point. The man standing next to her nodded silently.

“Ma’am, I don't understand what you’re saying.” Another lady responded, patience running thin.

Tommy held back the tears that were threatening to fall. His lip was already bleeding and his fingers felt raw. His bruises were itching uncomfortably under his tight shirt. He was starting to overheat, yet kept his jacket wrapped around him protectively.

“What I am saying is, we don’t want him, and I doubt anyone else will.” The lady started, “That kid is a nuisance. He makes our children look problematic, when in reality he is the problem child. I don’t understand how his parents put up with him for so long.” The lady finished.

“Only my mother put up with me,” Tommy thought, “my father couldn’t spare me a glance without yelling at me..”

He sat in the waiting room for what felt like hours before making the decision. The one that caused him to live on the streets.

He took his bag and sprinted out of the facility. He just kept running, nowhere to go and no money to use.

….

Suddenly it was a different night. He was sitting on a park bench looking at the stars. He was somewhere in Colorado, not sure how he made it here, but here he was. He breathed in the fresher air and pushed himself up.

He turned left then right then another left. At this point he was on one of those nature paths that seemed to be everywhere.

He sat in a field. Wasn’t it night?

A light and a huge gust of wind was the only response he got.

Then footsteps. A distant scream. Then cold sharp pain accompanied by a void of darkness.

He woke up in a cage..

He shot up in bed.. His head throbbed, but there was no point in sleeping it off.

So he got up. He hobbled over to the bookshelf and looked at the weird games and toys. His eyes fell on what he presumed to be a stack of cards and a pen of sorts.

It took an hour to label all the cards, but when he finally did he played a game of solitaire. Then another and another. By the time he finished the sixth one he was bored.

He went back to inspecting the bookshelf. The middle shelf had jigsaw puzzles.. didn’t Clem like puzzles?

He picked out what he presumed to be a flower field. There were a bunch of blue sunflowers.. wasn’t that her favorite flower?

Tommy sat on the floor creating a puzzle his sister would’ve absolutely adored. Silent tears slipped down his cheeks every once and a while. Only to be hastily wiped away.

——————

His eyes felt like they were glued shut. They attempted to sit up only to find creaks in their back and neck.

After a minute he sat up. His mind was still foggy from sleep, but he made his way to the security office, ready to work through his sleep deprived state.

Before they even left the room Phil told them to go back to rest. Ranboo obliged, and closed his door.

Having no work left he decided to write down as much information as he could about both Earth and Tommy.

Surprisingly they were able to recall a lot of information from the night before. That usually didn’t happen..

Once they wrote an entire dictionary on both topics, they tried the door again.

Phil, once again stepped in front of them, “Mate, I really think you should rest.”

“I know, but I am hungry. Can I at least have lunch?” Ranboo felt like a child once again, but knew it always worked with the captain.

After Phil rolled his eyes, Ranboo practically skipped to the kitchen. He grabbed some of the leftovers from last night and popped it into the insta-heater. Making two plates of food.

After the food was ready he looked down either hallway. Phil was preoccupied with Wilbur in the common room. Deciding it was the best time to sneak to his friend, he made his way to the holding cell. Only to be stopped by none other than Techno himself.

“Oh! H-hi Techno..” Ranboo said awkwardly.

“What are you doing?”

“I-I was just getting Tubbo some lunch!” Ranboo cringed at their own lie. Only to be met with a raised eyebrow.

“Ok I was gonna visit Tommy.” Ranboo caved. That was the right answer as Techno nodded and let Ranboo pass.

“You’re only giving him lunch right?” Techno inquired.

“Er- that and talk a bit.. I mean that was my original plan.”

“Then I will stay with you.” Techno left no room for debate.

Ranboo nodded and approached the cell, setting the plate on the automatic tray. Techno stood in a small hallway allowing his presence only to be known to Ranboo.

Tommy was sitting on the floor putting together a landscape puzzle.

With what they saw, their curiosity intrigued them.

“Can I go in?” He asked first to Techno who shifted off of the wall.

“Only if I am in there.” Ranboo nodded and turned to Tommy who was busy with the puzzle.

Ranboo knocked on the window once. Tommy’s head shot up before the human stood up and approached the window.

“Hello!” Ranboo chirped, “I can see you’re working on a puzzle! I would love to help if you want? Me and my friend won’t go in if you don’t want me in there. But just so you know I brought lunch!”

Tommy stared at the enderian before answering. He was clearly debating the options.

“Only if Techno doesn’t talk.” Was the only response either got.

With that they grabbed the food and let the door open. Techno entered first, immediately going to the back chair and pulling out a novel. Ranboo handed Tommy a plate and sat next to the strange human.

It didn’t take them long for them to start rambling. Both about everything and nothing.

Surprisingly Ranboo lost all fear that should’ve been gripping them, and felt comfortable sitting with one of the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy.

——————

“So people are looking for you?” The captain asked, impatiently tapping his foot against the metal floor.

“To put it simply, yea..” Wilbur said pretty much losing all confidence within the span of an hour.

The caption responded with a sympathetic look and wrapped his son in another tight hug. Wilbur didn’t pull away this time. He melted into comfort.

After a minute the elder pulled away, “How about you watch one of those documentaries you like. I will make some iced fluff and join you in a bit.” The phantom nodded and trugged himself over to the common room sofa. Turning on the illusion and flicking to one of the only things the ISF was allowing people to view from Earth, Netflix.

He skimmed the documentary section and came upon one that was about the Ocean. Three minutes later he was completely into it.

Phil returned with two bowls of iced fluff. Wilbur dug into the sweet treat. Phil sat next Will and wrapped a wing around him, to which Will leaned into the embrace.

——————

“So what’s your favorite treat?” Ranboo asked, after he got another piece Tommy wasn’t able to get.

Tommy scoffed, mumbling about how he was just about to try that spot before answering the question, “I love Rocky Road Ice Cream. My mom made it without nuts so it is far superior to anything anyone would get from a store.” Tommy was satisfied with his answer and tried another piece.

“Hmm.. What is ice cream?”

“It’s a sweet frozen cream of sorts.”

“Oh so like iced fluff?”

“No idea, I would have to try it first..”

Both continued the conversation mumbling about other different foods and what not, before falling into a comfortable silence.

Tubbo was absolutely furious at the scene. He sprinted off to the garden where he slammed the door and melted to the floor.

When was the last time anyone had a conversation that was about everything and nothing with him?

He hated the fact he was jealous over a fucking human.

Tomorrow was the day he would prove the human wasn’t all he seemed to be. That the human was nothing more than a monster.

——————

Chapter 5-End

Words: 1826

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Notes: I still have a few filler chapters, but am getting there!!

Go take care of yourself, love ya!! <3

Reminder likes are appreciated but reblogs are even better! (Suggestion make a side blog where you just spam creators works... just saying, I have one..)

Also my layout for chapters has changed a bit. I have the last chapter at the top and the next one at the bottom.. and no I am not doing the inspired by on Ao3, simply cause it’s easier for people to see it in the first few, I am keeping it here tho, cause I know people aren’t really gonna see my first chapter right away. I will be keeping the link to the first chapter at the top as well just not the middle ones.

——————

Tubbo has evolved in to

J E L L Y B E E

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Chapter 6:

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x06 - Sex and Candy

EPISODE SUMMARY:

Maria’s (Heather Hemmens) investigation into her mother’s disappearance leads her and Alex (Tyler Blackburn) to the home of a mysterious boot maker named Travis (guest star David Anders). Meanwhile, on her journey of self-discovery, Isobel’s (Lily Cowles) night out leads her into the arms of someone unexpected. Finally, after making some major scientific strides, Liz (Jeanine Mason) is dealt a devastating blow. Geoff Shotz directed the episode written by Rick Montano & Vincent Ingrao (#206). Original airdate 4/20/2020.

DETAILS:

Max and Isobel's fight:

Lights start flickering when Max starts getting aggressive and then get brighter as he gets more worked up.

The first attempt to expel it seemed like he was causing an earthquake.  He blew out all the windows in the gym, knocked Isobel down, and there was shaking.  But it didn't seem to go beyond that room - no damage is seen when Michael arrives or around town.

Note, after the earthquake thingie the lights go out 

His hands are doing the electric power thingie and THEN he also grabs the lightning.

I think Isobel used her telekinesis to stop it and then push it away, which seemed to work...but if so then why couldn't Noah do that last season? 

Was it the sheer volume of electricity? There was definitely MORE than with Noah.

Michael uses his telekinesis to manually reset Max's heart.  This is very smart of him. Note that he's using his own heart/pulse to get it right.

They are using the antidote to Liz's serum to try to heal Max's mind. 

Michael says that they've been giving him antidote injections for three days (time jump).

Three days of antidote and no new memories for Max.

Isobel remembered her blackouts within a few hours of getting injected with the antidote in 1x10.

Note: Liz hesitated using the antidote this way in 1x10 because Isobel could still be dangerous and they didn't know about the 4th Alien yet.  There doesn't seem to be a similar hesitation with Max. Because Liz trusts him more? Because him forgetting her is more personal? It's not like there isn't a chance that Max is still dangerous…

Maria arranged a Mexican market in the Pony parking lot to subsidize her income.

Buffy the Beagle is Forrest's dog!

Maria comments that the meteor shower makes animals act strange. And humans too.

Forrest and Maria are organizing an open night mic at the Wild Pony.  Free drinks for performers.

Maria clearly approves of Forrest and Alex getting to know each other.  She smacks Alex for his awkward flirting.

The bootmaker's farm is about an hour outside of town.

The Science:

Kyle and Steph are watching a "surgical separation of craniopagus twins".

Craniopagus Twins = twins attached at the cranium/head. (Aka not a heart surgery).

"Did you know, ever since 1947, twin births in Roswell are higher than the national average? Maybe it's aliens."

Speaking of awkward flirting…. "You're just my favorite person I can't stand."

The Spanish:

Le cambio una bolsa de chiles para mi papá...for the free fries next time you come to the Crashdown.

Liz is bartering.  She says basically, I'll trade you a bag of chiles for my papa for free fries next time you come to the Crashdown. 

Note, the captions for this are wrong and use the Spanish word for grasshoppers instead, but you can clearly hear Liz say chiles. Thanks to @rosaortecho for pointing that out to me.

Max says:

I'm trying to eat clean. Uh, tiene carne seca sin como se dice, preservativos.

He's trying to say, basically, does the jerky have preservatives. 

Quiere carne a sin preservativos?

Basically, you want meat without condoms?

Lo siento. Uh, no lo entiendo.

I'm sorry, I don't get it.

Él quiere decir conservantes.

He means preservatives.

Gracias. Estoy embarazado.

Thank you. I'm pregnant.

Michael asks Max who he's texting. Max says everyone has been messaging him but Cameron is the only one who hasn't responded, which isn't like her.

Wildly curious who he was texting though.  It's not like he's a social butterfly. His mom? The sheriff? Who? As I pointed out to some friends the other day, he spent his 21st birthday getting trashed with his SISTER. This is not a trait of a guy with lots of close friends.

Just as another note, Michael says he ghosted her. When exactly was that? Yes, Max ran out on her in the middle of a handy in 1x03, but they addressed that the next day.  She "broke up" with him in 1x07, but they were still good right up until she left town. 

Isobel:

"Does he seem different to you?"

Alex and Maria playing "Never have I Ever" in the car. Good way to do background on characters.

Maria has never cheated on a boyfriend

Alex has never been in a real relationship. Not even "Kellie Sommer-something".

Alex says that whenever he was with a woman he was trying to disappear.  Except for Sophomore year after Battle of the Bands. Seven Minutes in Heaven in Haley Moore's hall closet. Alex and Maria kissed and it was Maria's first kiss (and boob graze).  She always thought she'd marry Alex. Had to come up with a new plan after he came out. 

Alex says "I did too."

"Kissing you in that closet was the first time in my life that I enjoyed touching someone."

Max picks up Liz for their first date…

Just as a note, Save Tonight was the opening song in the pilot of OG Roswell. During the "oh, Max Evans is staring at you again." exchange between Liz and Maria.  So, it might go well with new beginnings or something ;-)

The Science:

"Psychogenic amnesia limits retrieval of stored memories, but if we light up your limbic system and gustatory cortex with some familiar signals…"

"Your milkshake might bring all my memories to the yard?"

**Note, second reference to this song in the context of Liz bringing Max milkshakes. First was in 1x06 by Isobel. Hmm. 1x06 and 2x06… maybe they should crack this joke in 3x06 too.

"Sometimes when people wake up from comas they have different personalities, different tastes even…"

Everything you ever wanted to know about psychogenic amnesia:

But, my main takeaway is that it's a specific type of amnesia where there's abnormal memory function but no brain damage or other clear cause of it.

Limbic system:

Basically the part of your brain that stores emotion, behavior, and long term memory.

Gustatory cortex:

Basically the part of your brain that processes taste.

Maria compares Michael to Chad because he starts fights and lies.  Alex disagrees and lists ways that he was doing good things:

He lied to protect his family from Alex's family.

He shouldered the burden of a murder he didn't commit for ten years so that Isobel didn't have to.

He pushed Maria away to protect her - which might be a good thing too because of all his baggage. 

First Date:

Max went to Ranch camp one summer and dislocated his shoulder while trying to read Lord of the Rings on horseback. #nerd. 

Liz references the gala as not their first date, but there was also the desert in high school.  I guess she doesn't count that either. 

Side note: Cam and Liz talked about him peacocking in 2x03, but that kinda felt out of character at the time to the Max we knew.  This Max DOES seem like he's peacocking a bit. Got dressed up, taking Liz horseback riding. He admitted to trying to one up whatever they did together before. Just an interesting (to me) observation.

Liz looks panicky when Max suggests truth serum (because Science!Liz probably could make truth serum), but once she realizes he means whiskey she's like, "oh yes, that's fine." Oh Liz… 

Diego details:

They were engaged just last year

Liz left without saying goodbye

Bioengineer 

They were working together on the Denver study

They would come home and keep talking about work

He had ideas to help improve it

They both spoke The Science

He pushed her to get better at The Science

When the funding was cut she realized she loved the work more than him

Liz couldn't figure out how tell him that so she packed her things in the middle of the night, hit the road, changed her phone, and blocked him on Facebook.

**This is the first time LIZ has mentioned social media. Interesting given the crap Maria keeps giving her about it!

Travis and fresh warm milk. What is up with it??

"Nice ring. Does it keep you from burning up in the daylight?"

David Anders introduces himself as Travis.

Just as a point of interest, Maria researched enough to find the bootmaker, figure out where he lives, but she didn't get his name??? 

Vampire Diaries/Originals reference.

Travis says he can't help with car stuff.

The milk was from a cow named Jennifer.  He milked her for the last time today. (Creepy).

Weird contradictory statements from Travis:

"You're the best thing I've seen in a long time."....

"Mm, I'm sorry. So many customers and all their ugly faces get all sewn up and stitched together in my mind."

"Yeah, that's the woman that bought them boots. While back. Nice lady. She paid cash."

Second reference to animals behaving strangely during a meteor shower:

"Meteor shower's got my girls singing a bit off key tonight.  Jennifer, she likes a good lullaby."

"Okay this guy is going to turn us into skin suits." (OG reference? Or just general sci-fi?)

Meteorchella at Planet 7 (Coachella-style party during meteor shower?) with any excuse to add sparkles!

Kyle says he's at Planet 7 because he's trying not to hang out with people from high school.

Isobel says she's trying to have fun without feeling like prey.

Don't think the details of Kyle/Isobel dancing matters all that much, but as a point of amusement I'll share that in the panel on Tuesday night they shared that Lily whispered something different to Trevino on every take...And they got progressively dirtier to the point that she finally felt like she crossed a line and profusely apologized.  Also the lick was a Lily addition. 

Max's confession about killing the drifter:

Kind of an interesting thing, comparing the first version of the drifter story in 1x06 to the 2x06 version. 1x06 was more dramatic, but 2x06 was more personal, I think. 

1x06

"There are moments that define our lives, and there are moments that divide our lives. Incidents that separate us into two different people: who we were before and who we will be after. Forever…One day we were children and the next we were something else. I was a killer. Michael an accomplice.  And Isobel...Isobel was broken."

2x06

"I killed a man once, on a camping trip. This drifter came out of nowhere, attacked Isobel.  I wasn't even thinking. I killed him. With this. I arrest people who kill people. Most of them usually regret what they did. You know, you can just tell that they're forever broken. It's like a piece of them dies with their victims. So when I could feel that darkness, like I had to kill, I wanted Isobel to let me die. Because I couldn't risk hurting even one innocent person. Cause life just wouldn't be worth living."

Kind of an interesting narrative choice to confess to murder on a first date and then have the girl just brush it aside. 

"No, it just hit me why you're so happy and idealistic, and I feel like an idiot. You are that way because you don't remember me. It's a clean slate.  It's like when you got out of the pods with whatever memories you had erased it's probably for your own good."

"Last I heard you were the love of my life."

"Your cohorts, they left out some details. Cause if you had your memories I'm positive the worst thing that's ever happened to you is connected to me. And I can't bear the weight of making you remember that again."

**Note, second time this has been implied.  Last time was by Michael in 1x08 regarding the alien symbol.

"...it's gotta have some connection to us right? Maybe it was something we saw somewhere before the crash."

"Sorry, are you, Max Evans, acknowledging that we must have had lives before we hatched out of the pods? You never want to talk about home."

"Hey, Roswell is home. Look, I'm sorry man. You're right. I've spent a lot of time not talking about where we come from or why we're here.  Keep thinking I can pretend the past away and just be normal. But if Isobel's blackouts are some alien thing, then I need to know more. Okay, and this symbol? That's all I have to go on. I mean don't you think it's strange that we don't have any memories? I mean, no parents, no language. We weren't infants, man. We were seven."

"I just figured our memory faded. Over 50 years in those pods. Maybe it was just time. Or maybe whoever put us in those pods doesn't want us to remember."

Travis and Trevor's house...with added bonus of his ring that Alex comments on.

Leather ribbons/strips on the wall are for (from?) Hayley and Gertrude. More cows, I presume. 

There's also a framed Purple Heart on the wall next to a photo of Travis?

"War really messes with a man's mind.  Gets it all twisted up.

Timeline issue!! Alex says Mimi was missing for 3 weeks, but according to the clearly established timelines in 201-203 it was 4 weeks (or a month ish).  I wrote about this here:

Maria put her jacket on a scarecrow to trick Travis. And did she leave it there?

(Answer: yes. She doesn't wear it for the rest of the episode. Smart of her, actually).

Michael sees Trevor come out of the house and is about to shoot him. Maria immediate knew it wasn't Travis and threw herself in front of Michael's gun

Trevor shoots Travis.

A bullet from the Crashdown shooting falls out of Max's journal.  Does it look like it has blood on it? Or maybe just ketchup? If it's THE bullet it would make a lot of sense that he kept it hidden - evidence that Liz was shot. See this comparison between one of Wyatt's bullets in 1x02 and the one Max finds in 2x06

"Sorry about my twin here. He's had a rough go."

"Combat does not make you an axe murderer."

"No, it wasn't the combat. It was the R&D. If a paramilitary group ever asks you to take part in a study, you run the other way. He showed up a few weeks ago. Locked me up out back. Lucky y'all showed up when you did. Gave me a chance to escape."

R&D is a military acronym for Research and Development. (Aka...The Science.)

Priscilla - the cow Mimi's boots were made from.

This is literally the only direct information gained about the boots from this little sleuthing excursion. 

Well, and that Mimi paid cash, which isn't like her.

Side note - I didn't really know what Paramilitary meant, so just in case any of you are also not good with military stuff, Paramilitary groups are like private armies. Like, I dunno, the private security firm that Jesse and Cam discussed in episode 2x04. 👀

Male doctor operating on Steph clearly states:

"All right we're approaching an arterial junction."

A female doctor replies and its less clear.  What I hear is...Blood gasses are back? Anyone else hear something that makes more sense than that?

He replied something like...the stint through here

She says something about pH levels.

Max admits that he didn't know what would happen when he decided to bring Rosa back.  He just wanted to fix the worst thing that ever happened to all of them.

"I can't believe we were Shyamalan'd by an evil twin."

I think Alex is referring to the twist ending? Or maybe just the insane axe murderer stuff.

M. Night Shyamalan wrote and directed the Sixth Sense, Signs, Split, etc…

During this scene is the first time we see Michael's tattoo… it's on his arm. I struggled with getting a cap of it, but I know there are gifs going around.

I had every intention of detailing the dialogue in the trailer scene, but before I could get to it, Carina posted the script, so I didn't think it was a good use of my time. Here's the script:

The next morning, Alex calls the Sheriff from outside the trailer for an update.

The Sheriff tells him that Travis and Trevor burned their home and ran...weren't caught by the sheriff.  Which means we may not have seen the last of them.

The Spanish:

"Oh my God. Dios mio, Max. I took off your pants before I even said I love you. I'm some kind of zorra."

Dios mio basically is Oh My God! So Liz really was spiraling. She went, "Oh my God, Oh my God..."

Zorra - female version of Zorro. Basically a vixen, bitch, prostitute… the internet has all sorts of fun words that it translates into. 

"I call this one Visceral Werewolf Part 2, dedicated to my boy Chee Chee, may he rest in peace."

Can we have more Bert? Bert is the best. Also kudos to his goofy friend who is wayyy too excited about this.

Forrest's slam poem:

Locked up for days,

Time slipping away,

On my knees I would pray to break free from this cage.

But bargaining for keys, you forget hidden fees.

And wishing for what you’re missing ain’t the same as living the dream. 

And now I’m fighting to stay on this side of the cage.

Even though I know a part of me wishes I’d stayed. 

Ain’t no prophet or rebel or savior or devil

Could have predicted, fought, cheated or leveled. 

A life with potential that’s squandered, 

A comfortable cell is a question I ponder. 

Am I a free man or a prisoner wanderer?

Max's memory flash:

Young Max, chained to the ground as described in 2x03. 

Max looks scared.

He's dressed all in white like the 1947 aliens after the crash (As shown in 1x12 and 2x03).

He's in a cave or something like a cave. 

Holes in the wall are glowing an orangey red color.

The ceiling is like the alien ship material with the alien symbol in it.  

A figure approaches from behind him, bends down, and places a hand on his shoulder.

It mirrors the figure approaching Nora in 2x03 and touching her shoulder before burning the military men...probably the same person? Noah? The stowaway? Someone new?

After the figure touches Max, he looks at the hand, and then a red glow lights his face.

MUSIC:

1. Xocoyotzin Herrera "Esperanza"

2. Jose Luis Lepe "La Carreta"

3. Eagle Eye Cherry "Save Tonight"

4. Lousiana Red "I Done Woke Up"

5. Whissell "Magnetic"

6. Stop Dead "Alchemistress Dance"

7.  Orville Peck "Turn To Hate"

8. Kim Petras "Close Your Eyes"

9. Orville Peck "Queen Of The Rodeo"

10. Moontricks "The Fall"

11. Years & Years "Hypnotised"

12. Jordan Critz Feat. Birdtalker "Through Your Eyes"

This time I couldn't find the Whissell and Stop Dead tracks on spotify - however the Stop Dead track is referenced at being by Chelsea Dawn in the closed captions.  Which I did find. Trying to confirm this. Let me know if anyone else had better luck!

[roleplay-salt]

About; Rules; FAQ

Welcome to Roleplay Salt! This is a blog for roleplayers to vent & rant anonymously about the things that peeve or hurt them in the roleplaying community.

GENERAL

Your submission will always be posted anonymously; no exceptions. (This includes positivity submissions & shoutouts.)

Your submission’s text will be placed in a graphic and then copied as plain text as its caption for accessibility purposes.

Topics must be roleplay-related. (This can, of course, include experiences with partners doing things that may be unrelated to roleplay, but would still be considered relevant if it impacts your roleplaying experience with that particular partner.)

Anyone following our blog will be allowed to leave replies on submissions, whether in agreement or disagreement, and everyone is allowed (even encouraged) to reblog submissions, with or without their own commentary. However, we will delete any spamming comments, including ones that are or are similar to “Why don’t you come off anon and say that?” Such comments provide nothing to the discussion. In fact, they usually shut down discussion and it completely disregards the entire point of this blog’s existence. No one has to “come off anon” nor are they “cowards” for seeking safety behind anonymity. Your aggressiveness with that sentiment only reinforces the reason why they want to be anonymous in the first place. ADDENDUM: We will delete salt replies that involve simply telling others to, essentially, “shut up and move on already” and “stop sending salt replies in about this”. You’re more than allowed to say this things in the comments, but we will no longer be making them a part of any future debates.

We actively edit and restructure the wording of submissions. We read every single one of your submissions and we care about consistency and readability. We will correct any spelling errors, grammar errors, and odd sentencing structure, and we will often lengthen abbreviations and slang, and we will fill out any curse words or sensitive terms that were originally 'censored' in the submissions. Do not take it personally! Again, we aim for consistency. We will never just copy/paste your submission and then post it. That's terrible.  

T Y P E S    O F    S A L T

Vents & Rants

Complaints

Negative Confessions

Callouts

T Y P E S    O F    S U G A R

Advice & Suggestions

Critique

Positive Confessions

Shoutouts

T Y P E S    O F    F L O U R

The “Flour” category is reserved for any submissions that do not appropriately fit under “Salt” or “Sugar”, often involving personal confessions and storytelling.

C A L L O U T S    &    S H O U T O U T S

A callout submission is specifically speaking nastily and meanly about someone else, regardless if it’s the truth or not.  All URLs & names in a callout submission will be marked out to preserve the other party’s anonymity as well.  We are a safe place for you to release your anger, frustration and hurt, even if it’s towards someone and not something. But we cannot and will not participate in the true nature of a callout. That will need to be something that you do for yourself if you believe that it’s important for you, your friends and your fandom community.

A shoutout submission is specifically speaking kindly and positively about someone else.

All URLs & names in a shoutout submission will remain visible, and the person will be tagged & mentioned on the post so as to better the odds of them seeing it.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

“Who are the moderators?”

Currently, there is only one operating the blog: Moderator Bull.

“Am I allowed to know your roleplay/personal blogs?”

Unfortunately, no. To preserve our own anonymity (for many of the same reasons as the submitters), we have agreed on the terms to never give out our URLs if requested. If we are interested in your blog, then we will follow you at our own discretion!

“Will you remove a submission for me?”

That depends on the type of submission, what it is about, and what your reasoning for wanting it removed is. The whole point of anonymity is that nothing gets tied back to you. The only cases where we will greatly consider removing a submission is if it’s involving a shoutout about you and you don’t want to be affiliated with us. 

“Will you remove my comments on a submission?”

Of course! However, we will not remove any corresponding responses to you (except in instances where, if yours is removed, the next comment is made to look like it’s being directed to the person prior to your comment. We don’t want to cause unnecessary conflict.) We will also not be relied upon to keep deleting comments you regret leaving behind. If you’re wanting to leave a public response on submissions, then you must be prepared to have others possibly publicly disagree with you.

“Can I ask you for roleplay advice?”

Go right ahead! But we can’t promise the best or most insightful of answers, or that we’ll get to them relatively soon! Chances are, we will post your questions anonymously so that others in the community can help.

“Why did you follow my blog?”

To make our existence known to you and, if you like us, hoping that you will send in a submission of your own or tell your roleplay partners about us!

“How did you find my blog?”

Most likely through the Recommended sidebar feature, a mutual, or just the good ol’ search function.  

“Could you unfollow me?”

If you don’t want to be associated with us, then we recommend blocking the blog so that we don’t unintentionally follow you again!

“Hey, could you do something about the people leaving rude, mean responses on the submissions?”

Unless they are throwing bigoted slurs, threats, or suicide-baiting remarks at the anonymous submitter, they are not doing anything wrong. They have just as much right to disagree with your submission as you had when you sent it to us. We are, first and foremost, a place to vent frustrations or hurts behind the safety of anonymity, and we are also a free-speech blog. We are of the belief that discussions, no matter how heated, is healthy and brings the community together as a whole. Just as your submission may provide someone else with the awareness that they are not alone in similar frustrations, someone disagreeing with your submission may provide a new perspective to you and others that had not been considered before.

“How does name-calling and swearing and being mean add to a discussion? You and your blog are what are wrong with the roleplaying community!”

Just because someone isn’t being nice to you as they give their side of the argument, doesn’t mean that it cancels out their actual argument. You’re choosing to be offended and distracted by how abrasive they are, and that’s no one’s problem to deal with but your own. You have the ability to block anyone so that you no longer have to see their comments on future submissions. Why would we police what people say, the endgame of which would be to ban them from ever reblogging or commenting on submissions again if they don’t listen to us, if you’re not even willing to try solving the problem first by just blocking them? Wanting to have the last word or being upset that your submission didn’t receive the feedback you wanted is not a reason for us to step in and step on someone else’s right to speak, rudely or otherwise. If you’re not going to block them, then why should we?

“Could you not post submissions on sensitive topics like noncon, incest, and pedophilia?”

We have started tagging posts that we believe might be sensitive and controversial in nature with the tag “#twcontroversy”. We recommend blacklisting this tag. If that is still not enough, then we recommend unfollowing/blocking us. These are topics just as relevant in the roleplaying community as anything else.

“Could you promote me?”

Certainly! But only if you are another community-involved blog (a blog that provides a ‘service’ to the community, such as advice, roleplay help, a place for confessions, etc.), and it must be relevant to the roleplaying community to some degree! If you want to promote a roleplay blog, then we suggest sending in a shoutout submission!

“I sent a confession in weeks ago. Where is it? How long will it take for it to get posted?”

It’s either sitting in the queue or sitting in our drafts, waiting to be queued. We have 1,200+ followers so far, and on average we’re sent 15+ submissions a night. We only post between 5 to 8 submissions at night. Your submission is on a wait list. That’s all we can tell you.

“Why don’t you just close your submission box until all the current confessions are posted?”

Because we’re a vent blog first and foremost. If we close our ask/submission boxes, then we’re no longer an option for people who might desperately need to vent or talk about something that could have happened to them that day but have no other options. We want to be a healthy alternative to just bottling it up or possibly lashing out at the wrong people.

“I don’t believe you! I think you deleted my submission because one of you didn’t like it! You’re not unbiased at all!”

We’ve posted submissions about highly controversial roleplay topics like noncon, racism, transphobia, and pedophilia. We reassure you that your salt submission about OCs, theme trends, blog selectivity, etc. is not on that same level, least of all to the point that one of us would delete it. The only submissions that we have deleted, so far, are the ones that have included racial and homophobic slurs.

“[insert OP/commenter] is obviously a rapist/pedophilie!”

If we find that you have accused someone of being a rapist, pedophile, or apologist of either because of their defensive views on noncon/pedophilic ships or roleplay, your comment will be removed and you will be blocked. These are serious accusations that you shouldn’t be throwing at people over fictional content and we refuse to to let you use this blog as a platform to spew such slanderous accusations.

[travelwankerworld]

Another trip booked with ‘Untravelled Paths’ & another success.

This time a 4 night trip to the Puglia region of Italy – The Dolce Vita Puglia Experience

We flew from Luton to Bari with Wizz Air.

It was very cheap, about £70 each return.

It would have been even cheaper had Wizz not done their ‘Roulette Wanker Seat’ routine! Where unless you pay to pick your seats; unlike any other airline who will allocate you seats together – Wizz makes a point of making sure you are as far away from your travelling partner as possible!

So underhand. So out of order.

It is a 4-hour+ flight so is nice to be sat together.

The upshot, about a 1/3rd of the flight’s cost, was paying to sit together!

The saving grace is that overall, it is still cheap for the distance (& the convenience for us from Luton).

We did the lounge at Luton. The basic reason being that I had a credit left on my ‘Priority Pass’ membership which I wanted to use up before it expired.

  1st Stop – Matera

The flight was good & when we arrived we were met by our guide Marius. We were the only 2 on our flight & found out there were just 2 more coming & they were on the later Stanstead flight that night.

Off we went to our 1st stop – Matera – It is a city carved into the mountainside. The original dwellings here were effectively caves.

It was quite an impressive place & we saw it first at night all lit up.

Our accommodation was – Residence San Giovanni Vecchio

We had a wander about & up to the main square, then back down to get some food in a little pizza place –

Trattoria Braceria Bellavista di Fedele Manicone

It was a nice little place, the food wasn’t amazing but it was fresh & the wine was cheap! – it was also served in a carafe with wicker around it & with small glasses.

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Standard ‘funny faces’ picture was required. Lisa is getting much better at them!

  Lost In Translation

Whilst wandering around we found a bakery (Gran Caffe) that Lisa had seen whilst researching – it was stuffed with loads of dirty cakes!

We ended up asking a bloke behind the counter what was the best – he pointed out what sort of looked like doughnuts but with a bit of custard creeping out of them.

We ordered 2.

Wow! They were gorgeous.

So we then tried to find out what they were called.

One thing I need to say here, which was one of the reasons Italy grew on us, was the fact that most people don’t speak English, just Italian.

I love this. (we Brits are generally shit at languages so for once we didn’t have to feel guilty for this).

This then lends itself to a lot of gesturing & the use of Google Translate!

It is also how we arrived at what we called these – Titty Titty Lemon Cakes!

We ‘spoke’ to a woman & she tried to explain in Italian whilst gesturing to her chest & laughing & saying Limon a lot.

Cue immature photos:

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Wehay! – Titty Titty Lemon Cakes

Loads of Lemon Titties!

Anyway, enough fun for day one & back to the apartment & bed.

The next day we went across the road for breakfast & finally met our other 2 ‘travellers’ – Kamal & Friddy.

Marius met us & gave us the ‘What to do’ rundown in Matera on a map.

We then went almost next door to a shop that had a model of the town so it could be explained further – it is very much a 3D type of place with lots of levels & alleys to explore.

https://travelwanker.world/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/VID_20191010_101702.mp4

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We did a lot of walking, the place was impressive & the weather glorious (it’s October!).

One of the places you are supposed to go is Casa Grotta which was a look at the ‘caves houses’ presented to you of how they were lived in.

Quite frankly, it was shite!

Throughout Matera, there are various sculptures of Salvadore Dali’s art. Can’t remember if there was a reason for this.

We also came across some a temporary art exhibition whilst we were there – some female sculptures sat in various places & some ‘turkeys’ which were individually designed & painted…..but, to be honest, they just looked like big cocks!

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Dali

Dali

Female Sculpture

Big Painted Cocks

  Cookery Class At A Retreat

We all met up late afternoon to go to our cookery class. About a 30-minute drive & we arrived at some grounds.

From what we understood it was like a retreat. It was in the middle of nowhere & looked very nice.

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We made pasta dough from Semolina flour & then went onto make a variety of different shaped/types of pasta.

We also made 2 other dishes, one was made from nearly stale sourdough bread (soaked in water) rubbed with garlic & layered with tomatoes. The other was very similar but mixed with egg and herbs to make balls that were to be fried.

It was quite a laugh doing it with a few breaks so we could get a bit of wine in.

Then we got to eat all of our own stuff. It was pretty good actually & very simple.

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We got back to Matera, went for a quick nightcap & then bed.

Next day, we had breakfast & checked out – we were off to Alberobello

  Bread & Focaccia To Die For

On the way though we were going to visit a traditional bakery that still uses a stone oven & only cooks sourdough bread. The place was called DiGesu’

Wow!, both Lisa & I could have died here. The bread looked & tasted amazing.

We got to try the various types of bread washed down with a small glass of red (well I did, it was 10.30 am but they wouldn’t have put it out if they hadn’t wanted us to have it).

The whole thing was very interesting.

A sort of byproduct from this style of baking is the focaccia bread.

They make the focaccia dough & put it in various spots in the oven to test the temperature.

Quite frankly it is one of the best-tasting things I have ever had! So much so that it was what we bought from the bakery to have later for our lunch.

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So we left there & were on our way to Alberobello.

  Early Proof Of Tax Dodging

This place is very famous for the type of houses they have – they are called Trulli’s.

They are round in construction & were originally built without mortar/cement.

It is said that part of this style of housing came about as a tax dodge.

Landowners at the time were taxed by how many building they had; so the landowners would get their workers to build these house for them to live in.

When/if they got news of someone coming to check their ‘wealth’ the landowner would instruct his workers to take apart the houses thus avoiding tax.

So we got to stay in one for the night. This was right in the heart of the area where these were best preserved (& funnily enough where the tourists came). They were lovely.

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So off we went for a wander.

  The Wine Tour – A Tale Of 2 Servers

Early afternoon we met up again to be taken to a local vineyard for a tour & wine tasting – Yay!!!

The winery was called I Pastini.

It was really nice here, a family-run place in lovely surroundings.

A young lady did the tour around the various buildings & part of the vineyard. It was actually quite interesting and didn’t go on too long which gets a massive tick!

They plant rose bushes at the end of each row of vines here. They do this as if there are pests/bugs etc, they will attack the roses first. This is like having a warning system for their grape crop & so if it happens, they can do something about it.

Simple but effective. I found stuff like this quite interesting.

Some wine tours we have been on are beyond dull.

And let us face it, nobody gives that much of a shit about how it all came about etc – we are there to taste & drink the wine!

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The wine tasting was good – we got a selection of nibbles to go with it.

As I recall we tried 4 or 5 wines.

What I do remember very well (which is where the problem lied) is that 2 people were doing the wine pouring for the tasting.

The side we were on was a woman who had clearly challenged herself to pour so little in the glass that it would have evaporated by the time you went to taste it!

It literally was the smallest amount of wine that could allow you to taste it.

On the other side of the room was the young lady who did the tour & she was making up for our loss with her pours, she wasn’t pissing about!

Kamal & Friddy were on her side & after about 3 they were not finishing theirs & pouring some away ready for the next one. I can’t even get my head around this, but we would have loved that problem!

The result – they ordered a case of wine to be shipped back to the UK & we bought a bottle to take away with us.

You would have thought that most people that own a vineyard & do these type of tours must have realised that if you get people a bit pissed they will get their wallets out.

We would have.

There is no question we would have also bought a case, they were pretty reasonable. Alas, we were sober & therefore could easily rationalise & avoid spontaneous purchases!

We left there, wallet intact, back to Alberobello.

We did a bit more wandering & picture taking; then went to a wine bar to try & rectify the wrong from earlier.

That evening we went to a nice little restaurant, the food was pretty good but I am not naming it. The service speed was a joke & getting the bill at the end was like pulling teeth. Such a shame really,

Next day was time to move again.

We had until lunchtime to wander around the bits we had missed & sneak in a cheeky beer before leaving.

The next destination was our final one in Bari.

On the way, we stopped for lunch at a little town called Locorotondo. We were told to have a little explore before settling down to eat which we did.

Was a very pretty little town with lots of rabbit warren type of streets.

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We wandered around for what seemed like ages looking for somewhere to eat. We googled various places but nothing seemed quite right & most were in these narrow streets which were in the shade.

  A Perfect 90 Minutes With Wine, Meat & Cheeses

We finally, just before we lost the will to live, decided to sit at an outside restaurant that we had passed about three times  – Controra

Quite frankly, this turned out to be one of the highlights from our trip. We sat there for about an hour & a half and was just perfect.

We had a great view, were sat under a shade (it was proper hot that day) & ordered a bottle of the white wine that was from the vineyard we went to the day before. We also ordered a plate of meats, cheeses & bread. It was all superb.

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It turned out, through broken English & lots of gesturing, that the woman who owned the restaurant/bar was the sister of the woman at the vineyard who was tight with the tastings (who turned out to be the owner’s mother!).

The toilets in this place were a bit quirky. My favourite part was the fact that above the sink there was no mirror on the wall, there was just writing saying ‘You Look Fine‘ which quite frankly is genius.

We left here to go to our next stop.

If we didn’t have to go, we would have happily ordered another bottle of wine, more food & sat here for hours.

Enroute to Bari was another stop, this time to visit an Olive farm – Masseria Brancati

We had the standard tour of the old buildings with old ‘machinery’ AKA massive stones that crushed shit, no big shakes in terms of new stuff.

What was interesting that we didn’t know, was the fact that olive oil used to be called ‘Liquid Gold’. It was the modern-day equivalent of oil i.e. it was used for all sorts of things and thus made it very valuable.

So much so, that they would hide & disguise where the olives were stored and processed to avoid being robbed.

The olive groves here were massive. All the trees were 5 meters apart from each other which was the distance required to make sure each tree got all the light & water it needed without imposing on each other.

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The slightly mind-blowing thing of it all is that all the trees were saw were at least 1,000 years old, quite a few were 2,000 years old & there was one that they had dated at 3,000 years old – so if Jesus did exist, this tree existed well before he did.

….and they are all still producing Olives!

Also, each individual tree is a National Heritage Site – they are all tagged & are monitored by satellite.

What the fuck!

  The Buzz Of Bari

We left there and headed to our final destination – Bari. (** – Sidenote story – read at end)

We arrived & went to our B&B – Antipico.

Bari, we were told, was a lively local town.

There are tourists here, no question, but the locals outnumbered by far.

We liked it here and it grew on us very quickly.

We had a quick wander about and got a drink in this really cool little bar – La Ciclatera. It was a small place that had alcoves & stuff everywhere!

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Then back to get showered & changed ready for dinner.

When we went out in the early evening, we got to see what Marius has said about it being lively.

The place was buzzing with people everywhere. It was a Saturday night, yes, but not like you would think.

The big difference was that it was everyone. There were families, groups of young people, groups of older, groups surrounding by kids.

Everyone was out.

People were sat everywhere & anywhere and there was a lot of noise being created by what seemed like the whole community coming out to play.

We had decided to try a place to eat called MareViglie lo Sprofondo

We really liked it here, it was pretty busy but the service was excellent. Again, the lack of English speaking made the asking/choosing more fun.

This was very apparent from our starter order – we thought we had chosen a ‘premium’ platter to share – we pictured it being hams, salami’s, cheese, olives and the like – lovely!

What came out?

3 big portions of raw cold fish! – Salmon, Tuna & Swordfish.

A far cry from what we wanted but actually really nice.

The main course was better but somehow I ordered a pizza which effectively had chips on it & a bit of ham!

Lisa fared better with ‘mouse ears’ pasta.

Despite this, it was a really nice meal & a nice bottle of white.

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Afterwards, we wandered about for a bit; the streets were still full of people & this still included kids of all ages. We went back to our little bar again for a couple of G&T nightcaps.

The next morning we heading for our breakfast. Not quite the same as we had experienced in the 2 other places.

It was a short walk to a cafe where we were eligible for a free coffee & a croissant.

This was supposed to be the ‘Bari’ way……well, quite frankly, we preferred the other way!

  Bari On Bikes

We then met up with Marius, Friddy & Kamal. This was going to be a tour around Bari on bikes.

Friddy & Kamal decided they didn’t want to do it. They were going to get a train & visit another town nearby. We said our goodbyes as we wouldn’t see them again.

A shame really as the cycle tour was really good – Velo Service

We saw a lot of places that we had already seen….but this time with some information explaining what on earth things actually were & with some history behind it.

Including Basilica San Nicola which was St Nicholas’s church – he was the patron saint of sailors, prostitutes & children; which sorts of works if you think about it.

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One of the stops has a bittersweet taste to it.

We stopped at basically a woman’s house in a square. she had a little kitchen set up outside.

We were going here to learn how to make pasta again as we did when we were in Matera.

This woman was quite a character, she spoke no English & just shouted for most of the time.

She shouted to her neighbours, to people walking past she knew…but most of the time she shouted at her husband.

Marius & the girl from the cycle tour gave us a running commentary.

She was laying into her husband big time.

Really slagging him off, saying how lazy he was & utterly useless arsehole! (he looked a lot like the character of Manuel in Fawlty Towers).

We sat there in the sun, with a beer & made pasta.

She cooked various things & we tried them.

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We really enjoyed it here, so much that we said to Marius about coming back for lunch, which he arranged.

We did our last bit of wandering & then headed back for food.

We had asked Marius to join us which he did before he had to leave for his flight.

Anyway, we had some lunch, it was like tapas really, a few small plates, nothing mind-blowing.

When we left and asked for the bill, they wanted 50 euro!

Holy shit! How much?!

We did the British thing and paid immediately asking no questions.

Then followed it up with a whole lot of bitching in private.

It did put a bit of a dampener on our last lunch to be honest, but such is life.

Since then I have looked at the Google reviews & a lot of people complain about the ‘Quantity to Cost’ ratio, so it wasn’t just us she stiffed which is nice to know.

Anyway, off we went & found a little bar to get a bottle of white wine & while away an hour or so until we were ready to head to the airport & home.

Another great trip with Untravelled Paths to a lovely part of Italy.

___________________________________________________________________

** – Sidenote Story:

When we 1st arrived in Bari, a friend of mine, Simon (Hells Bells Hols Bols) rang me. I text back to say I was away in Italy & would ring when I got back to the UK.

A variety of texts were then exchanged where it turned out that not only was he also in Italy, he was also in Alberobello! & further to this, he & his wife Rosemary had bought a Trulli! He was actually there having work done!

Gutted!

Had he rung the day before we could have all met up for a beer & seen their new holiday home (which they will be renting out when finished) – you can find it on Instagram – https://instagram.com/trullo_genista

  Puglia, Italy – Pasta, Pizza, Wine, Sourdough Bread & More Wine Another trip booked with 'Untravelled Paths' & another success. This time a 4 night trip to the Puglia region of Italy - …

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of Marvel: Week of September 4th, 2019

Best of this Week: House of X #4 - Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles

No More.

Mutants have been made to suffer time after time after time because humans fear change and their inevitable obsolescence. Two of the greatest mutant extinction events have been the result of either human fear or absolute ignorance. In New X-Men (2001) we saw the utter destruction of Genosha by Bolivar Trask’s Sentinels, a massacre that resulted in the deaths of sixteen million mutants over the course of a single day. This left only a little under one million mutants left until House of M (2005) after which Wanda Maximoff decimated the mutant population, leaving only one hundred and ninety-eight left.

Thanks to the work of Moira MacTaggert and Charles Xavier with Krakoa, the mutant population is returning to normal levels and is looking to absolutely eclipse humanity in a short time span. Of course, humanity doesn’t take this too well, causing the Orchis Organization to activate itself, so it’s up to Cyclops and his band of Mutants to cast the enormous Mother Mold (a sentient machine that would create Master Molds to create Sentinels) into the blasted sun.

This issue was nothing short of heartbreaking.

Jonathan Hickman is doing something amazing with this book by showing just how strong the need for preservation is between both sides. In the last issue, one of the security team members for the Orchis station blew himself up in an effort to preserve a future where humans would be the dominant species. He wasn’t thinking about himself or his future with his wife, Dr. Gregor, the head of the station. He only wanted to ensure that The X-Men couldn’t stop the Mother Mold from being activated.

Scott’s team, now only consisting of Marvel Girl, Monet, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Mystique soldier on after Husk and Archangel are killed in the explosion. Nothing was going to stop them from completing the mission and they absolutely did, but not without each of them being killed in the process. I don’t feel the need to place a spoiler tag here because I have no doubt that either, some of the first issue of House of X takes place in the future and that they will all be reborn or that somehow they will be brought back to life as they will appear in other upcoming X-Series. 

Pepe Larraz absolutely killed this issue with his art alongside Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles. Every single page has the feeling of large scale epicness to them from the vast emptiness of Krakoa’s Observation room to the different locales of the Mother Mold Base. When Mother mold itself floats into the Sun, quoting it’s own version of the Prometheus myth, it looks enormous at first and slowly descends into the much larger and grander sun. Gracia’s colors are absolutely beautiful as almost everything is bathed in the beautiful glow of the sun. Monet’s red skin shines even brighter as the cuts her way through Orchis security, Nightcrawler and Wolverine’s burning bodies create the perfect ash contrasted by the glowing blue eyes of Mother Mold as Wolverine cuts away the last anchor keeping it on the station and Karimas shining silver arms stand above Cyclops, coated in purple nanobot defeat, as the last thing we see from his visor’s reflection is Dr. Gregor aiming her gun in his face. 

Gracia’s colors are vibrant and help to make Larraz’s lines even more beautiful. They make excellent use of cool blue tones for the few scenes that take place in Krakoa, establishing the still peaceful nature of that location. The space station, however, is awash in heavy yellows and oranges that only set the tone for the book and its high tension, but also works to show us just how dire everything is for either side. It’s high pressure and high stakes. Gracia did a great job of giving things the proper amount of emotional weight through color where Larraz did through excellent facial expression and action.

Normally the brightness of the sun is supposed to represent a better future, but it’s hard to tell who this brighter future is for. The X-Men, ultimately, do win in this war for survival, but it’s a Pyrrhic victory. Karima, who we’ve seen standing beside Nimrod in the future, and Dr. Gregor stand in victory for this battle. Granted, we now that the future where Nimrod reigns has been nullified after Moira’s 10th death, it’s hard not to be afraid by Mother Mold’s ending proclamation and Gregor’s newfound bitter resolve.

Charles and the rest of Mutantkind can rest easy, but can they also live with the cost of what they’ve done if our predictions just so happen to be false? The purpose of Krakoa was to ensure that there would be no more needless mutant death, but in the wake of human fear, more have died. This isn’t like any other time where mutants have been killed and brought back to life years later. For some reason - it just feels heavier. Charles’ tear at the end, with Cowles amazing placement of a “No more” caption feels like a resolution. Charles Xavier is having no more death, not for any of his people and it is powerful.

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

House of X continues to be one of my most anticipated releases as the weeks go by. This story of death and rebirth keeps achieving new heights of amazing storytelling and even better art. Jonathan Hickman was the perfect choice to breathe new life into the X-Franchise as I don’t have any semblance of a clue what will be in store for the future of the X-Men.

What do the end pages of this issue mean? What will be the big fallout from the revelation of Powers of X #3? Will Pepe Larraz continue to be godlike in his presentation? We’ll find out next week in Powers of X #4.

Sometimes you just have to sit back and smell the roses. 

Runner Up: Fantastic Four #14 (Legacy #659) - Dan Slott, Paco Medina, Jesus Aburtov and Joe Caramagna

Growing up, I actually thought the Fantastic Four were pretty lame. They weren’t exactly high on my radar because they were a family of explorers, scientists and just general nerds. I got seriously into comics around the time their last book hit the shelves prior to all of the Disney/Fox nonsense and that really awful movie which soured me on them even more. Things changed when I began to read Secret War (2015) and realized that there was so much more that I was missing.

I scoured my stores for back issue and trade paperbacks of everything written by Jonathan Hickman, Mark Millar and Reginald Hudlin before seeking out the older stories by George Perez, John Byrne and Roy Thomas. I learned to love their love of science, adventure and family oriented stories, so when they finally made their Marvel return, I was excited and so far they’ve done nothing but impress. This particular issue is one of the best examples of how even just dialogue, dynamics and expressions can build a great foundation for a simple yet amazing story. 

The Fantastic Four have been everywhere. Other dimensions,hellscapes, universes and planets, but there's still one mission that they've never completed: their original flight to the stars. After a new gallery opens showcasing the original shuttle that they traveled on in all of its destroyed glory, Reed reminisces of that time with happiness. Ben listens to one of the original black box recordings as they were first getting hit by Cosmic Rays and he's overwhelmed with negative feelings. Two original Pilots for the space flight thank Johnny and Sue for taking their place, saying that they could have become monsters like Ben and Johnny becomes enraged with Sue having to calm him down.

These moments remind us of who these wonderful characters are and always have been. Reed is a scientific mind that's always looking to achieve more and better himself and his inventions. Ben still lives with the inner scars of his transformation despite being one of the most respected heroes in all of the Marvel Universe. Johnny is a hothead and Sue, his sister, has always been there to calm him down. The First Family have been there for each other forever, they know each other better than anyone else does. They care about each other.

Paco Medina captures each of their emotions in a Fantastic way with excellent facial expressions and body language accentuated by Jesus Aburtov's stellar colors. 

Reed stands tall as he marvels at the old shuttle with his kids, his face is full of pride and joy while they look mildly unimpressed. Later while he's working on specs for a new shuttle, we can see how focused he is, how determined. His fantastic beard shows how he's aged from his previous clean shaven self, but he's even more refined.

Ben remembers the original flight with trepidation and trembles as he remember his words when he was first becoming a rock monster. He stomps around in his normal grumpiness, but by the end, knowing that Reed, Sue and Johnny know and care about him so much, he smiles and eagerly helps them on their next journey. 

Johnny, being the hothead he is, does in fact show his anger as his eyes begin to turn orange after Ben is insulted, but we get an amazing flashback to when he was just a young adult in the shuttle program and the rigorous training that he was put through by Ben. This showcases just how much Johnny wanted to go to the stars and shows us how long he's been the ultra determined man that we know and love. Medina draws him going through the training with ease, only having space on his mind and the want to prove Ben and the other pilots wrong, becoming the youngest ever back up pilot in that universe.

Sue, being the ever loving sister, is the calm one as she gets Johnny to back off. She's radiant as a character and Medina portrays as her the linchpin of the family. She's the graceful one, drawn as serious as Reed, but with her normal beauty as well. She shows just how in love she is with her husband as he works on the specs and lays her head on his shoulder, smiling like she does in the flashback.

Nothing super action-y happens in this issue, in fact, one of the best moments is Johnny and Reed having a bonding moment working on the second shuttle. Both comment on how neither is using their powers to make the work easier and they share a laugh together. It's just a nice, warm moment between brothers-in-law doing something that they haven't been able to in years. It was at this time where I just fell in love all over again.

The Fantastic Four are more than just space adventures, aliens and Doctor Doom plots. They are a family in comics unlike any other. Where most teams are just friends that might hang out every once in a while, the FF are a family with a rich history and ever growing numbers with Franklin, Valeria and now Alicia Masters marrying Ben. The love is palpable and I wish I'd understood this for so many years prior. I can't wait for where this next adventure takes them, but I'm all for it.

[haveclotheswilltravel]

Spending 3 days in Jordan will give you just enough time to see the highlights of this gorgeous country. Now, it’ll be up to you to decide if you want to see as much as you possibly can of Jordan in these 3 days… or pick out the sights that are most unique to Jordan and give them ample time for exploring. For this post, I’m actually going to do 2 itineraries – 1 itinerary featuring what we actually did (and this is how you can see the majority of the highlights in 3 days) and also 1 itinerary featuring what I would do if I could do it over.

How to Spend 3 Days in Jordan // Itinerary #1 – Northern Jordan (Jerash, Ajloun Umm Qais) + the Dead Sea + Petra + Wadi Rum

Transport Options for These Itineraries

Before we get into the itineraries, I’m going to share a few different options you have for getting around in Jordan…

Take tours – tours are easy and a stress-free way to get to all of the places mentioned in this post. (I’ll share some recommendations for each spot as well.)

Hire a private driver – this is what we did. We booked a driver for our entire time in Jordan who took us from Amman and to all of the places we wanted to see. This is a little pricier than a group tour, but it was great to go everywhere at our own pace and not worry about driving.

Rent a car and drive yourself from Amman – Driving in Jordan is much more organized than I had expected. If you’re comfortable driving in foreign countries, you would be just fine driving in Jordan. Amman has some traffic, like any other major city, but overall driving in Jordan is not chaotic at all. (If you’re from the US, you’re in luck, because you also drive on the righthand side of the road in Jordan.) Check out car rental rates, here.

Day 1 – Drive to Northern Jordan to See Jerash, Ajloun & Umm Qais

Overnight in Amman

*This private tour will take you to all of the spots metioned in Day 1.

We flew into Amman late the night before, so we slept in a little at our hotel in Amman before venturing out to Northern Jordan. (If you’re flying into Amman this morning, you could also easily drive from the airport to Jerash.)

Jerash is the highlight of this day. It’s sometimes called the “Pompeii of the East” because its Roman ruins are so well-preserved. (Click here for more info.)

Jerash

The entrance to Jerash.

Ajloun is also very impressive! It’s a 12th-century Arab castle that is not terribly overwhelmed by tourists. (It felt as though we had this place to ourselves!) It’s only about a half-hour drive from Jerash.

Ajloun Castle

Umm Qais is a Greco-Roman town that’s located on a hillside with sweeping views of the Sea of Galilee and 3 countries – Jordan, Israel, Syria and also Palestine Territories. There are ruins of ancient Gadara here and very few tourists. This is also the furthest spot away from Amman. (It’s over a 2-hour drive.) So, if you’re short on time this day…skipping Umm Qais would be your best bet, as the other two destinations are quite close to one another and aren’t too far of a drive.

Umm Qais

The Sea of Galilee in the distance.

To read all of my tips for Day 1 of this itinerary, click here.

Day 2 – Drive to Madaba & Mount Nebo & the Dead Sea

Overnight in Amman or at a Dead Sea Resort

*This private tour will take you to all the places mentioned in Day 2.

For this day, you’ll set out from Amman to Madaba. Madaba is an ancient town in Jordan, southwest of Amman. This is about a 45-minute drive from Amman. Madaba is best known for its 6th-century mosaic map in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George. (Click here for more info.)

Madaba

The Madaba Map

Just had to wait a little bit for the crowds to disperse!

There is also a lovely little museum between Madaba and Mt. Nebo called “La Storia Tourism Complex.” The people who work here are SO friendly and enthusiastic – I loved it. The museum itself is filled with dioramas that depict various historical and biblical scenes throughout Jordan and its surrounding region.

La Storia Tourism Complex

Mount Nebo is next up – it’s about 710 meters above sea level with sweeping panoramic views of the valley of the River Jordan and also the city of Jericho…and if the day is clear enough, you can also see Jerusalem.

The Bible says Mount Nebo is where Moses lived out his final days and saw the Promised Land. It also says that Moses’ body is possibly buried here – however, there is no current proof of this.

Mount Nebo

Remains of the original church atop Mt. Nebo

After Mount Nebo, you can finish your day relaxing and floating in the Dead Sea. Personally, I would recommend staying at one of the resorts on the Dead Sea (click here to see them all). We drove back to Amman – and that was just silly, in my opinion. As the next day, it was roughly the same amount of driving to get to Petra. (Click here to see my post from the Dead Sea, and click here for everything you need to know before floating in the Dead Sea.)

The Dead Sea

To read all of my tips for Day 2 of this itinerary, click here.

  Day 3 – Petra & Wadi Rum!

Overnight in a Wadi Rum desert camp

*These tours will take you to all the places mentioned in Day 3 (depending on where you are departing from).

Ah, the best for last! Time embrace your inner Indiana Jones! You’ll want to wake up as early as possible to make it Petra before the crowds. It’s about a 3-hour drive from Amman and also the Dead Sea. (Click here to read all of my tips for visiting Petra.)

Petra

After Petra, head to Wadi Rum to do a sunset Jeep tour and see “The Valley of the Moon” in all its glory. The sand in Wadi Rum is known for being the reddest in Jordan (colored by iron oxide). Wadi Rum looks so much like Mars – many movies have been filmed here for their otherworldly scenes such as The Martian, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Prometheus, Red Planet and…of course, Lawrence of Arabia – just to name a few. (Click here for more info on this Jeep tour.)

Then, end your day at a super cool desert camp! We stayed at Mazayen Rum Camp, and it was nothing short of amazing! A photo of our “tent” is below.

The “Martian” tents we stayed in.

*We had to leave at 3 am to catch our flight out of Amman the next morning – this was not ideal!

Now, this 1st itinerary will ensure you hit the majority of the sights in Jordan in your 3 days! However, the next itinerary is how I would do it if I had to redo my 3 days in Jordan…

How to Spend 3 Days in Jordan // Itinerary #2 – Petra + Wadi Rum + the Dead Sea

Day 1 – Petra

Overnight in Petra (Wadi Musa)

I would head straight to Petra on your first day in Jordan. Petra is a sight unique to Jordan that deserves at least an entire day + an overnight stay to really do it justice (in my opinion). Doing a day trip here is cutting it too short. (Click here to read all of my tips for visiting Petra.)

Day 2 – Petra + Wadi Rum

Overnight in Wadi Rum

If you didn’t get enough time exploring Petra on your first day, you could do one more hike that morning before heading to Wadi Rum. Then, in Wadi Rum you could do another hike or camel ride or Jeep tour – depending on your preference.

Then, spend the night enjoying your desert camp under the stars! (Click here for desert camp options.)

Luxury desert camp in Wadi Rum.

Day 3 – Dead Sea

Overnight at a Dead Sea Resort

Wake up bright and early to enjoy the sunrise from your desert camp. Then, hit the road to the Dead Sea. (It’s about a 4-hour drive, unfortunately.)

Spend the rest of the day lounging by the Dead Sea and slathering on some of that magical Dead Sea mud!

This second itinerary is my personal preference because, for me, Petra and Wadi Rum were the highlights of this trip. They are such unique and otherworldly experiences, that deserve far more time than the first itinerary allows. If you’ve never been to the Dead Sea, and aren’t planning to visit Israel, then the Dead Sea is a must as well. However, if a trip to Israel is on your bucket list – I’d save the Dead Sea for that trip, and spend an extra day exploring Petra instead.

*Click here to read all of my posts from Jordan.

If you liked it – Pin it!

*Disclosure: some of these links are affiliate links. Meaning, if you click a link and make a purchase, Have Clothes, Will Travel gets a very small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible! I am also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

How to Spend 3 Days in Jordan – The Ultimate Itinerary Spending 3 days in Jordan will give you just enough time to see the highlights of this gorgeous country.

[atypical60]

Far be it to not take advantage of Oona’s pre-wedding events to not make it about me. OK?

Remember.  It’s all about MOI!!!!

Anyway, last weekend I flew to Cincinnati for Oona’s Bridal Shower.  You saw a sneak peak at my last blog post but I’m gonna elaborate more on the weekend.

And boy was this a fantastic Bridal Brunch!!

As the Mother-of-the-Bride naturally.

Number 4 is the only one Oona has stressed.  I did that at her shower when we all introduced ourselves.  My sense of humor got the best of me as I introduced myself as “…..as Oona exited my Origin of the World…”  immediately, I was pulled aside and warned in a kind way to NOT say anything like that at the wedding.  (shhhh–don’t tell but I don’t follow rules!)

I took Friday off from work because I wanted a true three-day weekend.  That’s the thing about working in a low-level clerical position—you need permission to get a day off.  In my other places of employment, it was much easier to finagle time off as a freebie—trust me.   I also worked my schedule out to accommodate leaving early on Thursday afternoon so I could fly from Philly to Cincy and enjoy a few extra hours of fun time.

I also took Friday casual to Thursday!  I travel in comfort, but not like a slob! J. Crew and Gabor wigs assisted me!  Mother-of-the Bride travel attire!

It’s not how it started out though.

For some reason, either I hit horrific weather or I have a displeasure of a delayed flight whenever I travel.  I kid you not.  And about 45 minutes before we were to board the plane, an announcement was made that the flight to Cincinnati would be delayed.

Welcome to my jet-sit world.  I spend more time waiting than flying!  I have to say though, that Delta made every effort and boarded us very quickly when the plane arrived!

Besides having an inner hissy-fit, I dealt with this issue by stress eating not one pretzel, but an additional bucket of pretzel nuggets.  Fresh and hot off the press.  The carbs were murder on my gut but felt so good going down.  I also ate a giant bag of peanut M & M’s.  And read trashy magazines.

And an added surprise was that these nuggets of carbs were also drenched in greasy melted butter.  I wonder why the scale isn’t giving me nicer numbers!!

The plane finally arrived and this Mother-of-the-Bride landed after ten in the evening to rain!  I was two for two.  A delay and rain.  It was shocking that a snow storm hadn’t hit!

Cincinnati here I come…

To rain and a delayed flight….

Now…upon departing the flight, one would think I ran to the airport exit to see Oona and Sam.  No.  CVG is a GREAT airport.  It’s so clean and spacious so I couldn’t resist dawdling (now we know where my son, Roman, acquired the gift of dawdle…).  I came across a cosmetics vending machine!  But I didn’t buy anything!

Why couldn’t I find this at Philly airport during the delay?

Then I came across my favorite part of the airport!  Them bones!

Some stop to smell the roses.  I stop to take photos at airports of skeletal treasure!

But it was great to be back at Oona and Sam’s and playing around with my grand puppy, Gracie.

My boo, Gracie.  OMG. She’s so well-behaved..

Oona and Sam are such great doggie parents…I KNOW they will be fantastic human parents!

Friday brought sun and clouds and brisk weather but it didn’t matter.  There’s something comforting in knowing that your daughter and her future husband can brew a great cuppa coffee.  They make it strong—just the way I love it.  And we sat around gabbing before getting ready and heading out to run errands.

The Mr. Coffee is far better than the grandpa Mr. Coffee we have at home.

Even little Gracie was beggin’ for some!

Ahhhhhhhhh…cawfee!!!

Oona had a nail appointment, and since my nails were looking fine, I passed but kept her company while we discussed family and the wedding preparations.

This freakin’ nail salon!  It went on for days!  I was jealous–but then Oona told me the price of a mani-pedi and I was glad to be living in the Northeast where nail salons are plentiful….and far less expensive!

Next stop was Marshalls –Oona picked some workout clothing (I didn’t –I’m lazy).  And I headed for the cosmetics.  Glory be to Gawd—I found two great eyeshadow palettes!

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More on these palettes for my next blog post but boy….at $7.99 each, these palettes were a steal!

We did some food shopping—Sam’s birthday was Friday and his family was coming over for dinner.  Oona looked pensive as she realized time was of the essence—she had to head back to the airport to pick up her best friend and maid-of-honor, Lauren.

Did I say food shopping? I sent this pic to Bonaparte to validate that Pennsylvania is the worst state in the USA because of the State-run, Mob-type Liquor stores!  You can by this at Trader Joes in Cincy!

And that’s where mom comes in—I assured her I could take care of the cake and she could head to the airport for alone time with her bestie!

BTW, this cake is gluten-free, chemical and preservative-free, sugar free, and lower-fat!  Oona added Sam’s favorite candy–Reeses Pieces which are NOT lower fat nor sugar free!  But it was a tasty Birthday cake!

Friday evening, Sam’s family came over for a birthday celebration. Being with Sam’s family is like being with……………. family!!  We all had a great time and I was introduced to a spectacular aperitif/cocktail:  The Aperol Spritz!  This concoction of Aperol, Prosecco, and Seltzer with a slice of orange is the most refreshing drink I’ve ever downed!

You read it first.  Moving forward, the Aperol Spritz will now be called “Mother-of-the-Bride”.   There will be an open bar at the wedding but I may smuggle my private makings!  There’s only 148 calories in one of these!

I drank a lot of them during the weekend.  In fact, as I write this now, I informed the Frenchman that I’ll be stopping at the store for Aperol, Prosecco and seltzer!  He is a bit upset that I am forgoing the beloved Kir Royal but the Aperol Spritz has less calories and with the wedding countdown, every calorie counts!

Saturday was a full day!

Let me tell you something.  Oona and Lauren spent a long time getting their hair perfectly coifed.  Lauren is great with styling and she styled Oona’s hair in perfect beach waves.

I plopped my Jamison wig on—and had extra time to loll around in bed! Oh, the beauty of wigs!

Jamison and Lilly Pulitzer.  You can’t go wrong!

The shower/bruncheon was at LouVino, a Southern-inspired restaurant and wine bar downtown Cincinnati.  What a great place!  The celebration was downstairs in a private room and Oona’s friends, coworkers, future sisters-in-law, mother-in-law and relatives were in attendance.

The upstairs wine bar at LouVino’s. I’m recommending this place to out-of-town guests for Oona’s wedding!

The downstairs room where the brunch was held…

Thanks to Sam’s sisters, the table settings were beautiful..

  Mimosas kept us refreshed and hydrated!

Oh yeah, and water (in the background) also kept us hydrated.  The food was so great that I never took a pic–I was too busy shoveling the Warm Brussels Salad into my mouth!

We played girlie games.  I won Scattergories.  But the best game was where Oona had to guess answers to questions that Sam answered in advance.  For ever wrong answer, a wad of bubble gum was placed in Oona’s mouth!  It was a riot!

It was only natural that I took myself out of the “Guess the Age” game.  I’m no cheater!

Miss Oona getting ready for more bubble gum!  She actually did a great job.  Out of 30 questions, she got 2/3’s correct!

The prize for the Scattergories win..a cute mug and a Starbucks card!!!!!!!!!!! 

Some of the gifts.  Crate & Barrel is very popular–eh???

Happy little wine glasses…

Happy little Oona!

The baking girl was thrilled to receive mixing bowls.  Did I mention I gifted her with a Stainless Kitchen Aid Mixer…just like mine?  I swear the baking is genetic!

This.  This was on Oona’s wish list and she was so happy to receive this!  (Hmmmm maybe she’ll give me her Mr. Coffee machine…)

BFF’s.  They’ve been friends since middle-school.  Two beauties!

This photo of us was taken after I was crying…

..and this is why.  Lauren, Oona’s BFF and Maid of Honor, gifted Sam’s mom and me with embroidered hankies.  Both moms were crying because it was just a touching and generous gift!   I’m crying again!

I was very happy to be in attendance.  Oona didn’t want a shower in Philly simply because she felt that asking my side of the family and her Northeast friends, was asking them to spend too much money—what with the travel to Ohio and the hotel, she wanted to keep expenses down for everyone.  You know—I was very proud of her decision.  I think I raised a very conscientious young woman!

  And the fact Sam’s family has welcomed Oona really made me feel warm and fuzzy inside!

May I present the future Mrs. Butts.  Coming from a very competitive family, it pleases me to have my daughter’s future last name be greatness such as this.  When/if they have children and their children are in competitive activities, they can hashtag:  #MyButtsgonnakickyours  or… #Buttsbekickin’

Some after-brunch fun.  Isn’t that dress adorable?  It’s a Lilly Pulitzer..and those shoes!  The daughter has great taste..and she’s gorgeous!

By the time we got back to the house, the rain came and it was time to head to Sam’s mom’s home for a casual, laid back and fun dinner!

And more Aperol Spritzes!

The recipe?  Three parts Prosecco, Two parts Aperol, One part (a splash) Seltzer and an orange slice to make it nice!

Sunday morning brought forth a bit of a hangover and the flight back to Philly.  Isn’t it funny how when you wish for a delay, the flight is on time?

Gracie was sad to see me go.  I was sad to see me go!

  Minimal dawdling on the return.  There was no delay.  WAIT!  Does that say Air France?  Yeah…but it’s the plane back to Philly…

And despite the timeliness of the flight home, I did manage to get this sweatshirt as a reminder of a great weekend!

I arrived back home Sunday afternoon.  When Bonaparte picked me up, I’m not too sure he was happy to see me because he kept mentioning how tired I looked.  He was right. I had a bad hangover    FOODover, because of all the food I ate.

Yeah. I pretty-much crashed when I arrived home.  Funny how I still think I’m in my twenties sometimes!

Do you ever get sad when you leave someplace and someone?  I was incredibly sad to leave but after I arrived home and unpacked and got to telling the Frenchman about the weekend, the sadness lifted and I felt really happy.  Happy that I was able to enjoy the weekend with my daughter and her future family! And happy to be back sitting next to my husband on the sofa!

And she’s the reason the weekend was a stellar one!  My baby is getting married!

More Mother-of-the-Bride Fun! Far be it to not take advantage of Oona’s pre-wedding events to not make it about me.

[elijahlucius]

Listen patiently to everything.

“Listen patiently to everything. As for the “public disgrace” with which he was threatened, the prince begged Ichmenyev not to trouble himself about it, for there would be, and could be, no public disgrace, that the letter would be at once sent to the proper quarter, and that the police would no doubt be equal to taking steps for preserving law and order... Third placed Jenson Button: "I enjoyed the fight. “He will not escape.” Selmy did not fear Khrazz, much less Steelskin. There were more side passages after that, more chambers, and Bran heard dripping water somewhere to his right. Rahane and his bowlers reset their plans during the interval, focusing on greater economy while encouraging Kuldeep to maintain a full length and test Australia's batsmen on the drive. Closed Captioning Connect With Us Newslinks Community Calendar Justice Network FAQ Privacy Terms RSS Connect With Us Newsletters Text Alerts Ad Choices Community Rules FCC Public Inspection File Conversation Guidelines Pizza Card Survey. Elena was asleep and would not hear me go out. Discussion could be one call. The winner of the event can take up to six months to edit, record, mix and finalize. Poor Natasha! What it must have cost her to comfort this boy, to bend over him, listen to his confession and invent the fable of their speedy marriage to comfort the naive egoist. After a patient waiting, I got one of our city papers, containing an account of the number of petitions from the North praying for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and of the slave-trade between the states. Considering those distinctive traits of the race, it is no matter of surprise to find in their religious histories, when acted upon by the powerful stimulant of the Christian religion, very peculiar features. Rakharo had grown gioco cubo di rubik amazon almost half a foot during his time away from Meereen and returned with arms and legs thick with muscle and four bells in his hair. The Divine Author of our holy religion, in particular, found slavery a part of the existing zapatillas estilo valentino institutions of society; with which, if not sinful, it was not his design to intermeddle, but to leave them entirely to the control of men. "In a Blue Moon," produced in association with Western Canada Theatre (Kamloops) and Thousand Islands Playhouse (Gananoque, ON), plays fehér női bőr csizma the arts centre's Main Stage from Jan. Davos did the same, fumbling at the clasp with his bound hands. Casey knocks out the goon, and in the excitement, Chuck drops the box down the chute. So stop with batteria ai polimeri di litio amazonthis flat track rubbish, the tripe that NZ bowled would have been smashed around in grade cricket. "I love it when the apples are cooking, the house gets warm, the windows steam up and it all smells like apples," she says. If he had lived, I might have married him. STORYLINES: CU has won six in a row since a season opening loss to Baylor. Well doggone it, maybe evidence is inconsistent, claims exaggerated, but when I go to the dog park I see nothing but doting dog parents enjoying a mutually beneficial relationship. Mrs. The king cut him off.

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Word will get out, and will ruin your business reputation.)Offer to be a speaker. However, coverage is not over yet folks: the Forum is on the Red Button (except on Freeview) and streamed live on this website for UK users. The Wisdom Kid comes out in April.. James has not been eligible for an NBA draft and does not become eligible for the upcoming June 26 draft until his high school senior class graduates in early June.. This professional styling tool is a great invention because of the way it works. But there was a glimmer polo rafloreneof light on the third floor; a little lamp was burning at

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a more complete and immersive picture of the world in three dimensions. The tigers suffered other defeats as well. Farmers had been charged with violations of a Clean Air Act and Right to Know laws, requiring them to monitor and report emissions. He could see some now, swinging from spar to spar and ship to ship. The magazine rankings do not include FCS teams such as Northern Colorado.. There were gardens bright with flowers and fountains sparkling golden in the sun. "We've hit a wall, fatigue issues," Van Gundy said. These days the Sistermen left open piracy to Salladhor Saan and his ilk and confined themselves to wrecking. I pronate, I think. Employees in MNCs also celebrate it where they dress up gruesomely and try to scare people with their makeup. "He knew the media were going to be on him all day and he'd had a haircut he looked sharp! I think he knows how to deal with it," Pietersen said. It is for the best. Tuesdays at the Japanese School House, Geil and Pajaro streets, Castroville. The passage twisted to the left. Viserion. Walt Disney World raised parking rates to $11 a car at its four theme parks this past weekend. His awards from World War II and Korea include Distinguished Service Cross, three Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. It is also a $75.00 doll that is selling online at the official site. No, sir; it is to brassiere garcon fall upon the less wealthy class of our citizens, chiefly upon the non-slaveholder. Mirroring the impact of the original Monsieur Dior's 1947 New Look across the spectrum of fashion, there are few collections shown today that are not in some way a reaction to Simons's designs. The information I have gathered little by little has completely reassured me. Onward, forward and so forth! [1]. Under the deal, Under Armour becomes the official footwear supplier for the league. Looking at it you would have allowed at once that twenty years must have elapsed since its last meal. I'm going to go everywhere I need to go to make sure Flint is remembered. And every day on the trail was followed by a deep black night sky awash with stars, yet another reminder of nature's humbling grandeur and the Bugaboos enduring beauty.. Stannis Baratheon had descended on the Iron Fleet biciclete pret from both north and south whilst they were trapped in the channel between the island and the mainland, dealing Victarion his most crushing defeat. I can’t command you to be brave, but I can command you to hide your fears. He kept on talking so . By any standard, James was brilliant that night, what with 45 points and 15 rebounds in an elimination game on the road. Should the hour come, and I pray that it does not, we will light that beacon. I just want the damned numbers but I cannot seem to find them anywhere on the Post's vaunted Political webpage.. I will even write King Tommen, stating as much and asking for a pardon and the restoration of my lands and titles. It's maybe why I gave you the handle "Beautiful" so "if the shoe fits wear it," Cinderella, or "call em like you see em" I miss you, I miss your slow walk I miss your squeeze, I miss your shape, I miss the scent that is you, and I miss your taste, thick and full of my desire, I miss your love.

[zenosanalytic]

Discovery: What’s Past is Prologue

That was GREAT! This is Long :| :| :|

Ok, so this episode managed to be both a mile-a-minute, actioned-packed THRILLAGANZA and a This-is-why-we-love-Trek Federation Lovefest, which is Quite A Feat owo

For any new Dear, Dear Readers thinking about venturing below the Cut: Over time I’ve found that writing conventional reviews for fan-media usually leads to me producing 10k word dissertations on them, so I do bullet-point reviews instead, sticking to core-reactions. This is STILL almost 3k words though, so, just be aware: when I say something is Long I ain’t kidding :| :| Also my reaction to stuff like Trek tends to be much more Ecstatic that my TSoW review, so expect... Informality o_o o__o o___o

Ok, so Discovery’s Landry was Fed!Landry afterall.

Looks like the Terrans have some sort of Holographic camouflage? Maybe it’s just something Stamets worked out on his own, tho, given how the Terran Empire works.

So Lorca got to the Fediverse the same way Kirk originally arrived in the Mirrorverse! I wonder if that means Fed!Lorca was transported to the Mirrorverse and died? Lorca’s ultimate Mirrorverse-fate was never explained so it’s difficult to say.

This ep’s mutiny/innership fight easily ranks up there with the best from DS9 and Voyager(the only two series with genuinely interesting/exciting examples). The battle over this city-sized planet-killing spacewarpalace is well-paced, tense, and both tactically and emotionally satisfying ouo

It also makes good use of the Terrans. We get to see some examples of their more aggression-oriented tech(like interior defense turrets and the like), examples of how powerful individuals hoard tech to themselves ala Mirror!Kirk’s Tantalus Field(Georgiou’s secret emergency transport, her bracelet, and the Stamets-designed fungal-tech integrated into the ship. Though I kept hoping she’d deploy that murderdisk from last ep again; no joy :T), and some examples of major philosophies within their society(a warrior-ethic in Georgiou’s appreciation for Burnham’s plan and fighting-ability, and her willingness to die fighting to buy Burnham time and display the ideals of her social station near the end, and Lorca’s “Man of Destiny” nonsense throughout).

“...he preyed on my Sentiment, my Weakness for your Face; It will NOT happen again.” Mirror!Georgiou is just so deliciously campy uwu uwu I like how the showrunners chose to make melodrama one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Mirrorverse :> :> :>

...Was that a The Fountain pan when Stamets walked into the Mycelial garden? It LOOKED like a The Fountain pan.

Saru is such a good captain u_u

“...The Terrans are egotistical enough to believe they can replenish this resource before it collapses.” HMMMMM WHERE COULD THESE MIRRORVERSIAN HUMANS POSSIBLY HAVE GOTTEN THAT TRAIT FROM???? Tho, as far as they go, this is probably one of the subtler Global Warming/Carbon Economy analogies to ever pop up in SFF media.

“Make the Empire Glorious Again!” We all, of course, See What You Did There :| :| Though again: much less hamfisted that the usual “Make America Great Again” references media’s filled up with over the last year.

Anyone else notice the gigantic gold frieze of Georgiou over the Imperial Throne??

Saru: “I will Not Consider leaving you Behind.” SARU IS SUCH A GOOD CAPTAIN }:| }:|

It’s a small thing, but Lorca’s continued and varied use of psychology as a weapon and tool of manipulation, something which goes back to the beginning of the series and his use of that distress signal to “motivate” Discovery’s crew, continues to impress me with the showrunners concern for consistent characterization, and their understanding of how complex characters and stories can be built from reiterating simple concepts and character notes in different situations.

Destiny’s not a thing, of course, it’s a fallacy of ego to believe that 1)occurrences involving you are about you and 2)that, because they involve you, they were meant to happen and play out as they did. Fundamentally, it’s self-narration; a recontextualization that, simultaneously, places oneself as the author of one’s life(since you are deciding what it means) and apotheosizes one’s life(and thus oneself) by declaring that narrative the product of divine will. That Lorca’s primary dislike for Stamets seems to arise not from his betrayal but from his rationalist rejection of Fatalism tells you a lot about his narcissism, and how central it is to his worldview.

There’s an interesting metacommentary about how “grittiness” is treated as serious, masculine, and realistic while optimism is treated as frivolous, feminine, and fantastical begged by Lorca’s conversation with Burnham here, and his assertions that the Mirrorverse is “the real world” and the Fed a “failed social experiment”. It’s also a good reminder of his nature as a scientist, and says much of how he thinks and justifies his behavior, that he would choose scientific metaphor for denying the reality of the Fediverse(though obvsl he’d need SOME way to do it to keep himself motivated to return, given that he’s way too egotistical, and too chauvinistically Terran, to just accept that both are equally real).

It also reveals that he REALLY doesn’t understand Burnham at all. She’s a culturally Vulcan Human, for Pete’s Sake; how deluded do you have to be to think that this sort of essentialist argument about biological “Superiority” and sociogenetic Eugenical(“Social Darwinism” in common parlance but, given this thinking predated Darwin and his theory, and other things, I don’t like the term) rhapsodizing would appeal to her, when her whole existence disproves it?

“...that’s why we have duty to lead”? That seems like a bit of a non-sequitur, but I couldn’t get captions to work on this ep so I can’t say for sure that this is what he said. If it is, that’s a really twisted conception of “Duty”, to cast it as the driving concept behind species-segregation and Eugenic Hierarchy. Also, he really doesn’t understand why she did what she did at the battle of the binary stars, or what that fight was about. He seems to think 1)she caused the fight, and 2)it was a conflict about preserving Federation “cultural purity” from some kind of Klingon “corruption”.

Lorca’s comment about Burnham’s “gifts”… taken in hand with the last ep’s “someone better came along, you know how it is” comment, suggest Lorca is incapable of conceiving of people in non-instrumental terms, especially in a romantic context.

Burnham’s explication of the existentialism and affirmation at the heart of the Federation is Pure and Good u_u

Stamets: “We’ll have to use all our Spores. We won’t be able to jump back home” Ensign Rhys: “We’ll need to be close to make that shot |:T” The Federation! ^u^

Ensign Detmer: “I don’t think we can avoid the blast”, Cadet Tilly: “our shields can’t repel the blast and we’ll all die” Saru: shakes head and clicks: *Inspiring Motherfucking Shakespearean Goddamn Speech*[1] THE FEDERATION! THE FEDERAAATION!!!! PEOPLE LOOK IT IS THE FEH-EH-EHDERAH-AH-AH-TIONNN!!!!!!!! :’D :’‘D :’‘‘D

But Seriously, THIS is probably one of, if not The, best Star Trek Captain’s speech ever.

The speech, the action, the at-turns practical, sappy, and optimistic Fed dialogue, the explication of Federation ideals in the face of true danger, challenge, and Doubt: THIS ep is just such a summation of everything that makes people Love Star Trek.

That their writing staff is aware enough to give Burnham the line, “But know this: I’m offering you my Mind; nothing more.” when making her faux-offer to sacrifice herself for her crew is one of the many reason I love this series uwu uwu

As always, Science and Tilly saves the days! I like how simple the solution is, though it’d have been more believably Physicist of Stamets to say not “but not just an explosion” but rather, “but an explosion is a Shockwave!” Also: Trek ships do Quite a Bit of cosmic surfing, don’t they? This sort of thing’s been the solution to dire situations rather frequently o.o

The warp bubble technobabble is equally simple(as opposed to TNG’s frequent reliance on nonsensical verbiage), but I don’t like the solution they went with. A Warp Bubble Warps space. The Mycelial shockwave produces an energetic wave(an explosion) in space, but it also ripples through levels of subspace(including the mycelial network). So theoretically, the Warp Bubble could be attuned in such a way as to interact with these subspace waves in a fashion which would allow Discovery to “ride” them into and through the Network. That’s how I’d have written it, at least.

I’d also like to reiterate, yet again, how well Discovery has integrated respect for Tilly, a mere Cadet, into the Federation ethos. They’ve handled this way better than TNG did with Wesley.

Lorca: “I truly admire you all. You proved such Excellent Clay for my genius leadership” Like I said “Instrumental” >:T Such good, consistent characterization!

Also: Lorca: *Melodramatic Villain Speech* Saru: “Whatever, Napoleon, show me my crewman!” SUCH A GOOD CAPTAIN.

Also Also: Federation pragmatic optimism vs the gothic egotism of Terra

Saru yelling “FIRE!” was SOOOOOO Satisfying owo

Shit Fuck-Uping Commences

Trek-talk will inevitably focus on things other than combat because, philosophically, that’s not really what the show’s about or what draws most fans to it(see above), but Discovery really does have, hands down, the Best fight choreography I’ve ever seen in a Trek series, and most of the movies too. It probably helps that they have Actresses and Actors, like Michelle Yeoh and Jason Issacs, with substantive experience in stage-fighting, but everyone’s performance in these melees is just so excellent, and the flow of them is so fluid and sure, that it HAS to be their fight crew. Also: have I ever seen a mace and its use portrayed with reasonable accuracy in a screen fight before? No; but here’s Burnham, just absolutely TRASHING people with that scepter like a Goddamn Boss :> :> :>

Though there’s an obvs level of unreality to this: you clock someone anywhere around the head, neck, or shoulders with a steel mace and they ain’t keeping fighting you. They’re going Down; they’re DONE

Georgiou’s fighting here is just so brutal and clean. The way she just turns around and slashes that guy’s throat. Her meaty-stabs to that other guy’s gut. Her throw into Lorca’s shoulder. Her KICKING HER OWN KNIFE OUT OF THE AIR WHEN LORCA THROWS IT BACK!!! Magnificent u_u Beautiful u_u u_u Majestic u_u u_u u_u

Lorca Egotism Watch: Unceremoniously Cuts down Landry for having the gall to fight Burnham. Yup |:T |:T She just can’t catch a break, but that’s what you get for loyalty to a person who only sees other people as means to an end.

One particular thing I like about the choreography is how they allow Yeoh to use her smaller size and stabler center of gravity to her advantage. Having her roll, dodge, duck under Lorca’s slashes, use throws and grab, attack Lorca’s feet; such excellent choices, especially given industry standard which is to ignore physical differences and have everyone fight like they’re a 6ft+ muscular man.

The mutual face-punch was a nice injection of comedy into this fight sequence(always a good idea, I think, to give the audience a bit of release from tension). Looks like Lorca gets in one of the trophic Star Trek double-fist hammer strikes in at the end. An utterly useless attack irl, but it’s Star Trek and the Forms must be Honored u_u

Lorca: “Don’t make me have to kill you!” Burnham: “You Won’t.” Bad. ASS. Badass. It is a natural byproduct of Vulcan Logic that their dialogue be the Tightest Shit at all times u_u u_u

Burnham’s fight with Lorca is Astounding, but I don’t know enough about fight choreography to really talk about it. Wow it’s cool to watch, though.

“We would have helped you get home, if you had asked” THE FEDERATION!!!!!!!! And more than that; hell, without the war, they’d have probably helped you kick the crap out of the Terran Empire.

Georgiou running Lorca through was Extreme Satisfying owo owo

Looks like my theory of TylerVoq undermining Lorca’s plans is nixed. I’m not upset though, as there’s something satisfying in allowing plots to be separate, rather than tying them all together in one big resolution.

Burnham running out of cover to telesnatch Mirror!Georgiou out of the fight as she energizes THE FEDERATION! THE FEDERATI- Ok, you know my reaction to this stuf. THE IDEALS! THE IDEALS!! This raw concentration of Ideals and Sentiment will Physically Killing me isttg u_u u_u u_u

They tied the science part of the escape to the action of the shipboard fight so seamlessly, and continue the tension of those scenes into the escape so excellently! 

Another Little Thing that’s actually a Big Thing which I’m only now just noticing, probably because Oladejo(Ensign Owosekun) gets so much more screentime in this ep, is how good a job Discovery does at lighting and filming non-white skin and particularly dark skin, even when not a main character. I’m thinking of it particular in comparison to Agents of SHIELD which is absolutely atrocious on this point. At no point, even when they are in a dark area, or in red light, do Martin or Oladejo or any of the Black cast look washed out or obscured, as Henry Simmons almost always does as Mac even in some well-lit scenes. Just really excellent.

I REALLY HOPE that “Thanks Hugh” and aria isn’t the last of Culber. I continue to wish they’ll rez him, somehow. That was an objectively Romantic scene, though u_u

The ending revelation that they’re 9 months in the future and the Klingons have won the war is certainly surprising, but none of that’s official Fed history, so I’m pretty confident we’ll be seeing some time travel in the final eps. I’m a bit trepidation as to what Mirror!Discovery’s been up to since they’ve been gone <:[

[1]My Fast&Furious rendition of said speech: “Look I’m a coward from a species of cowards and I’m gonna tell you right now: I Ain’t Afraid. I might not know shit about shit, but I know this: you guys are Ride or Die. You’re the Best Motherfucking Crew of Motherfuckers a Motherfucker could ever Fuck Beside, and that’s For Real. That’s from the Heart. Lorca’s a POS, and he used the Power of our Shining Youthful Hearts to do some messed up bs, but we’re Family Y’all and this Ship: she’s OUR big metal space mama -Not his!- and today we’re gonna fly her like we just popped straight out her glowy anti-matter womb with a brace of .45s, a pack of Seagrams, and a surly temper. We got Shit to get Done, and we just ain’t goin down to his Triflin’-Ass Nonsense! So let’s fuck shit up! You have your Orders u_u”

[pamphletstoinspire]

The Wounds of Padre Pio’s Feet

Story with images:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/wounds-padre-pios-feet-harold-baines/?published=t

Padre Pio's shoes - Because of the wounds of the stigmata which pierced Padre Pio's feet, he had to wear specially made shoes of soft leather with the top cut out. His feet were always very swollen. His fellow Capuchins noticed that he sometimes rested his weight on the edges of his feet and his heels so as to take the pressure off of the center, where the wounds were. Padre Pellegrino who attended him said,

"Padre Pio's feet were very painful, so much so that I was in a panic whenever I had to help him put on his shoes. It was enough to touch his instep ever so slightly to cause him great pain."

***

Dr. Luigi Romanelli, the Chief of Staff of the City Hospital of Barletta, Italy, was commissioned by the Father Provincial to examine the wounds of Padre Pio. Dr. Romenilli conducted five examinations over a fifteen month period ending with his report dated November, 1920, concerning the wounds on Padre Pio’s feet in which he states: “The lesions of the feet have the same characteristics as those of the hands, but because of the thickness of the foot, it was difficult to experiment as accurately on the feet as on the hands.”

At the behest of The General Superiors of the Capuchin Order in Rome, while Dr. Romanelli was in the process of conducting his examination, another examination had been conducted by Dr. Giorgio Festa, a noted surgeon whose medical practice in Rome was considered to be one of the city’s best and who among other duties he was the head doctor and surgeon for the Capuchins at their Mother House in Rome. This examination took place on October 9, 1919.

What follows is Dr. Festa's report concerning the wounds on Padre Pio's feet: "During my visit, in order to observe the lesions on his feet more easily, I myself helped him to remove his socks. On the top part of both feet, precisely corresponding with the second metatarsus, I noticed circular lesions, reddish-brown in color, covered with a soft scab and of the same character and origin as the lesion of the hand. These wounds were perhaps little smaller and more superficial than those of the hand. Even here, the entire length of the metatarsal bone was not broken. There was no trace of infection, no edema, no inflammatory reaction in the skin surrounding the lesions. There, too, was a slow but continuous oozing of the bloody serum.

"On the soles of the feet, at a point corresponding to the top of the feet, I observed two other lesions, one in the sole of each foot, with clearly defined edges, perfectly identical to the wounds on the top, and all bloody.

"When pressure was applied directly to each of these tissues, no matter how gently the pressure was applied, it always evoked a feeling of very intense pain. There was also a feeling of pain in the area surrounding the lesions, but the pain was less intense."

Dr. Festa also states that the blood coming from the feet of Padre Pio could only have come from some kind of a wound. It was apparent to Dr. Festa that these wounds were starkly real.

Sock of Padre Pio (Caption for linked image)

"I have visual documentation," Dr. Festa wrote, "of the reality of these lesions. I have preserved two white woolen socks which Padre Pio had worn for a very short time. Each of these clearly showed a large bloodstain, round in shape, still reddish in color with bits of blood clots adhering to it. These stains correspond to the places where the four wounds appear, namely: one on top of the left foot, one on top of the right foot, one on the bottom of the left foot, and one on the bottom of the right foot."

Padre Pio's slow and hesitating gait showed how agonizing were his wounds. He hobbled rather than walked. He probably would have been unable to walk at all, if it were not for his specially made sandals. They was styled like shoes, flexible, and made partially out of cloth. They were sent to him as a gift by friends in Switzerland.

One day a man from India visited Padre Pio. He was so overawed that he fell to his knees at Padre Pio's feet. Clasping his hands and bowing his head almost to the ground, in typical Indian fashion, he touched the Capuchin's stocking covered feet. He did not realize that those feet were dug with the same raw wounds that Padre Pio bore in his hands. Padre Pio screamed out in pain, until he checked himself and smiled on his well-intentioned admirer.

One of Padre Pio's confreres described the wounds in Padre Pio's feet. "They were always swollen," he said, "very swollen, like melons, the right foot more than the left. I often thought that they were like Our Lord's feet on the cross. Probably the right foot crossed over the left and was more swollen, because the pressure of the right foot on the left would hold down the swelling."

In 1935, when Padre Pio's Mass still lasted over two hours, a spiritual daughter asked him: "Padre, don't you ever get tired, standing on your feet with those wounds?"

He replied: "I do not stand on my feet."

This answer puzzled her. "But Padre, I can see you stand on your feet. But then, if you are not standing on your feet, you must be on the cross."

He commented: "Is it only now that you are aware of it?"

Padre Pio visiting with his brother Michael. - (Notice Padre Pio’s swollen feet.) - [Caption for linked image]

[haveclotheswilltravel]

Edfu and Kom Ombo are towns along the Nile River in Egypt that are home to 2 famous temples. Now, neither of these places are going to rank as high as say Cairo, Luxor or Aswan on peoples’ itineraries. However, does that mean they aren’t worth adding to your Egypt itinerary? In this post, I’ll explain what each location has to offer, and my opinion of whether or not they’re worth visiting.

The Temple of Horus at Edfu

Now, the main reason you would visit Edfu is to see the Temple of Horus. This is a Ptolemaic temple, that was built between 237 and 57 BC. It is one of the best-preserved ancient monuments in all of Egypt. It’s dedicated to the god Horus (he’s a falcon and pictured below).

The temple is said to have been built to represent how a falcon flies. There are two staircases inside, one is a spiral staircase and the other is straight. This is because a falcon flies up in a spiral, but flies down to the ground in a direct path. Pretty interesting, eh?

The god Horus

This temple really is an incredible sight to behold. There are also some interesting things to see inside… There is a room on the inner left-hand side of the temple (as you enter) that was actually the temple’s pharmacy. Here, they had all of your various things needed for aromatherapy and the recipes were all written on the wall in hieroglyphics.

The instructions for making various aromatherapy recipes.

The temple’s pharmacy.

The polished-granite shrine to Horus is also interesting. From a distance, it looks like it’s made of silver. And it once held the golden statue of Horus. There is also a replica of a wooden boat in front of it. The original, miraculously, does still exist, though! It’s on display in the Louvre.

Another interesting tidbit in the temple (I never would have found this without a guide), is a depiction of Horus spearing a crocodile. This is said to be, perhaps, where the imagery of Saint George slaying the dragon came from. (My husband and I found this particularly interesting, as the flag of Moscow depicts Saint George slaying the dragon.)

Do you see Horus slaying the croc?

Did I enjoy visiting the Temple of Horus?

Yes! I was awestruck by how well this temple was preserved and how massive the entrance to the temple is. The interesting little bits of information about this temple made it even more enticing to visit. I am, however, very glad I had a guide for this temple, as I don’t think I would have noticed half of these things on our own. (I even went back to try and find some things our guide had mentioned by myself, and I couldn’t find them.)

Temple of Horus at Edfu Photo Gallery

The Temple of Kom Ombo (and Crocodile Museum)

And the main reason you would visit the town of Kom Ombo is to see the Temple of Kom Ombo and also its crocodile museum (more on that in a second)! The Temple of Kom Ombo is unique because it is dedicated to two gods – Horus the Elder and Sobek (he’s a crocodile god). This temple was also constructed during the Ptolemaic dynasty between 180–47 BC.

This temple has various curious things to see as well. And once, again, I was very glad to have had a guide for this temple, as I would not have found any of these things on my own!

For example, the hieroglyphic below of a woman giving birth in the kneeling position. Interestingly enough, the Ancient Egyptians did have very effective pregnancy tests! A woman would urinate on a bag of wheat and emmer. If either of them grows, it means she is pregnant. And if the barley grows, that means it’s a boy. If the emmer grows, it’s a girl. And if nothing grows – she isn’t pregnant. I thought that was incredibly interesting!

There are also secret passageways in this temple where priests would sneak inside a special chamber in the back of the temple. They would stand inside this chamber and speak when people were inside the temple. Their voice would echo throughout the temple and people would think it is the gods talking to them. Tricky, tricky!

The grate is covering one of the secret passages.

The priest would stand inside here and his voice would echo throughout the temple.

You’ll also see the Ancient Egyptian calendar inside this temple and a depiction of the three seasons in Ancient Egypt. The three seasons are Growing Season, Harvesting Season and Flood Season. They are depicted by the goddess, below. You’ll see at first she is not wearing any jewelry, and by the flood season, she is dressed beautifully. This essentially is where the term “work hard, play hard” comes from. The Ancient Egyptian were too busy during Growing and Harvesting season to care about things like getting dressed up, but Flood Season is when you could have some fun and get all gussied up! I found that interesting as well!

The ancient Egyptian calendar.

Depicting the 3 seasons of Ancient Egypt.

Oh yes, and there is also a mummified Crocodile Museum in Kom Ombu! There are tons of crocodiles inside that have been mummified for thousands and thousands of years! It’s really interesting to see, in my opinion. (Plus, it’s air-conditioned, which is a nice touch after dying in the heat all day.) However, there aren’t any photos allowed inside. (The pic below is an embed from Flickr, not my own.)

A pit were crocs were kept!

Did I enjoy visiting the Temple of Kom Ombo?

While the Temple of Kom Ombo is not as well-preserved as the one in Edfu, it did still have many interesting aspects to it, that I am really glad I saw. Again, though, this was in large part because we had a guide. If I had been wandering this temple on my own, I might not have been as impressed.

Temple of Kom Ombo Photo Gallery

Bottom Line: Is it worth visiting Edfu & Kom Ombo?

I, personally, enjoyed visiting each of these temples very much. And my husband was particularly fascinated by the Temple of Kom Ombo. I am really glad we saw both of them! If you can spare a day in your itinerary, I say absolutely visit them. However, if you are on a time constraint and have to pick and choose sights to see, not seeing these sights would cut off one day from your itinerary.

I had also seen some travelers trying to decide between seeing these temples or going to Abu Simbel. Again, I really enjoyed these temples, but if I had to choose between them and Abu Simbel – Abu Simbel would win, hands down. (Abu Simbel was the highlight of this trip for me, actually. Full post coming soon!)

How did we get to Edfu & Kom Ombo?

We had gotten to them by boat actually. They were stops along the way for our Nile River Cruise.

There are also day trips from Aswan or day trips from Luxor that will take you to them. Another option is to rent a driver for the day. (That can be arranged through your hotel.)

Quick note about the carriage rides in Edfu…

Something I regret doing in Edfu was taking a carriage ride from our boat to the temple. This was included in the tour. However, in hindsight, I wish I wouldn’t have done it. (I found out another member of our group had requested to take a taxi instead. This would have been a better option.) This is because many of the horses were in horrific condition. They were not well-cared for at all. The heat in Edfu is unbearble and none of these horses had access to water. Many also had open wounds on them. It really didn’t sit well with me or my husband (or other members of group who were farmers and had horses themselves).

If you do end up doing a carriage ride, though, at least try to support the people who are taking care of their horses. There were a few who appeared to be in far better condition than the others – give them your business.

Or maybe take a tuk tuk in instead?

Now, I’m curious, do either of these places interest you? Let me know in the comments!

*Click here to read, “How to Spend 2 Days in Luxor, Egypt” *Click here to read, “11 Things to Know Before Going to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt” *Click here to read, “How to Dress Comfortably Yet Stylishly for the Heat in Luxor, Egypt” *Click here to read, “Nile River Cruise Outfit Idea” *Click here to read, “Visiting Karnak Temple & Luxor Temple – Must-See Places in Luxor” *Click here to read, “The Mummy” Brendan Fraser/Rick O’Connell Inspired Outfit for Egypt” *Click here to read, “What I Wore to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo” *Click here to read, “12 Things to Know Before Touring the Egyptian Museum in Cairo” *Click here to read, “Egypt Outfit Idea for Dinner at Mena House Cairo” *Click here to see all my posts from Egypt.

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Edfu & Kom Ombo - Are They Worth Adding to Your Egypt Itinerary? Edfu and Kom Ombo are towns along the Nile River in Egypt that are home to 2 famous temples.

[thebatgurrl]

The second hole in the ground was dug by the Cedar Mountain Coal Company in 1888. They had abandoned the first shaft and moved across the river.  (link to article on original mine entrance) An exact reason was not mentioned in the two old coal mining reports that reference the Cedar Mountain mines.

However, there is a ton of information about the fault that runs through this area’s coal field. I am going to go out on a limb to say that Shaft #1 at the intersection of 196th/Jones/Maple Valley Highway ran into this fault or at the least that made the coal not as commercially useful.  So, they decided to try in another place.

Bit more history before we go into what I discovered when I visited the sites. This first round of mining across the river lasted from 1888 to March 1892.  It resumed again in December 1895. Come 1897 it was abandoned and they moved to another location. It was all about the fault that crosses through this seam.

The photo above is one of the few of this mine. It is dated 1889 so it must be the second shaft across the river. It was in a 1961 Seattle Times Interview of Edith Cavanaugh. The photo has the following notations on when, who and what you are looking at:

Maps are as usual very important and help explain where and what is going on. The first one is a google map of what the area looks like today. You might be familiar with this from my prior article on Cedar Mountain. Today we are talking about the area I marked as 2nd Mine Shaft.

Over view map to give you the lay of the land of Cedar Mtn Town & Mines.

This next map is from 1926 and contains the best mapping of the old mine works that I can find.

K42_A map of West Coal aka Cedar Mountain Coal Mine. North is on the right & the two slopes run west/east.

A couple of things I want you to look at this K42_A map from the WA DNR Coal Mine Map Collection.

The fault is clearly noted on this map angling on a NW-SW axis by heavy dashed lines and Fault written in between those lines.  This fault carries up towards where the first shaft was. Look at the google map snip and you can draw the line in there for yourself.

This map was done when they broke through the fault in the early 1920s and after the mine had been closed from 1906. They did this with a new shaft and slope.  Look close and you can see the two slopes side by side.  The right side one which is longer is the new one.  The left feeds the old mine.

How about some coal mine hunting adventure? We are going to start with my first visit back on August 6th. I was doing some reconnaissance of several possible Cedar Mountain mine shafts. One of those places was Belmundo’s Reach.  This is a small King County Cedar River access point. It has a small parking lot and trails to a sandy beach.

This also happens to be where part of the town of Cedar Mountain used to be. Plus starting in the 1920s until the mine closed in the 1940s it had several homes, outbuildings and an access bridge to the mine. Next you can clearly see on the following  map the hoist. That is right, the hoist was across the river from the mine.

K42_F Mine Map July 1932, Hoist, Railroad, Roads, & Bridges

The hoist is in the center of the map. See the two river crossings? The top one supports the cables and machinery from the hoist to the mine entrance.  Do spend a moment to get orientated.

The hoist seemed like something that should be still around. Big blocks of concrete don’t just magically go away.  Like the Jones Slope I figured it would be buried in brush and brier but worth looking for.

First I found my way down to the river’s beach and could easily see coal on the other side.  Nothing like a few photos and a little video to give you the feeling of being there.

Cedar River embankment from Belmondo’s Reach – mine would be up in the woods on the right

That is coal across the river!!

Across the river to the right of the coal dump

Off to the right side I found when I zoomed in that an old rusty pipe is spewing water. Now what else but some mine working did that belong to?

Check out the bent old pipe coming out of the bank.

Got pretty excited and gained thirst for getting over to this area.  First I started to zoom in on the pipe.  This is when either my camera decided to act up or some supernatural force decided to distort the picture.

Distorted? What the heck?

Turned off my camera and tried again.  Here is a close up of that mine pipe.

A small sign there is a mine over there! Even on a summer day it is flowing water out of the area.

Next on the agenda was to figure out if I could find that Hoist Foundation. From the map it must have been behind me.  Off on the trails I went and right away I saw it. Eureka!!!

Hoist Foundation to West Coast Coal Mine – on the west side of Cedar River

Here are several more views of this relic.  It was last used in 1944 when the mine closed. It must be about 100 years old!!

You know I had to take a bit of video of the hoist!!

Onward with investigating the area. On the other side of the small preserve I found a house just east of the Jones Road Bridge. The parking lot area has an elevated little road that continues past it. This was the connection to the trestle that came off the original bridge.

Starting with the house. It is on the maps as the Foreman house. It was built in 1932 according to King County Parcel Viewer.  It is also in this 1936 aerial that King County has on iMap. Look just below the Jones Road Bridge in the upper left corner. See the trestle and the larger of the two buildings?  That is the house.

View of the mine and Belmondo’s Reach in 1936 from King County Maps

You can also see in this photo the hoist house, the roads and bridges to the mine.

Foreman House of the Coal Mine still exists today

That photo is taken from the built up area that connected to the trestle from the bridge.  Here is a better picture of what that looks like.

I am standing at about the highest point of this built up road between the house and the Jones Bridge

Looking back towards the bridge

I was so close to the bridge at this point I meandered down to the Cedar River Trails (which follows the old railroad bed).  It goes under the bridge between the Maple Valley Highway and the bridges supports.

There I found cement squares that must be the old supports.

Under Jones Road Bridge on the Cedar River

Looking across the river you can see the other side but no distinct old bridge clues or relics visible.

Under Jones Road Bridge on Cedar River

Next chapter will be about my quest to get over to the other side of the river.  Starting with a hike up into the quarry on the northeast side of the area, then pondering if I should ford the river and trekking along the Cedar River Trail for better views of the area.

If you want to read more about my search for Lost Coal Mines here is a link to my directory of articles.

Shoot me any questions or better yet any information you have to add. This is a never ending deep dig into 100 years of old coal mine history.

Remember Times are a changing.  Blink and all will be changed. Literally, a town can disappear!

Locating Lost Old Coal Mines of King County

  Cedar Mountain Coal Mine – The Big Mine Shaft The second hole in the ground was dug by the Cedar Mountain Coal Company in 1888. They had abandoned the first shaft and moved across the river. 

[themonsterblogofmonsters]

Prosthesis Tree

Hailed as one of the greatest advances in magical prosthetics in centuries, prosthetics made from a Prosthesis Tree have far more movement than a wooden limb and are not bound to another’s magic and will as a spell-made replacement. The earliest versions were controversial, with known Dryads outright proclaiming them abominations, born of the mutilation of their sisters, but recent variants no longer use Dryad trees for their basis, instead using Whomping Woods as their starting point. 

The original idea was had by one Holle Braun, a German Healer working during Grindelwald’s war. Due to the worryingly high number of limbs lost to curses, creating physical wounds that would never heal completely, Healer Braun began to work on making prosthetics for her patients. Finding the common ones, made of wood and, occasionally, metal to be inadequate, she started to look into ones capable of movement by way of hinges, gears and enchantments, only to find these also inadequate. It was on a trip to Denmark that she first encountered the Scandinavian Radande, cousins to Grecian Dryads, and obtained her first cuttings.

From there, her study was unceasing. She obtained cuttings from Askafroa and Grecian Dryads, as well as having samples from American Tree Dryads smuggled to her laboratories, and an adult Wood Nymph from Beauxbatons installed in the grounds, much against it’s will. She attempted shaping and grafting, bonsai and pruning, all in the goal of creating trees with naturally mobile appendages which could then be attached to the needful wix. Despite attempts by several groups of Dryads to kill her for what they saw as the mutilation of their kith and kin, none were successful, although a Splinter Curse set by the mother-tree of her stolen Wood Nymph did leave her bedridden for weeks.

Healer Braun was unrelenting. It was as the war drew to a close she had her first success; a tree producing mobile hands that, when grafted onto a wix, would move, for the most part, as the wix commanded. Shortly after this, however, she was found, captured and formally arrested for her part in Grindelwald’s war, her research appropriated by the German Department of Mysteries. German Unsägliche (or, in English: Unspeakables), who, like their Ministry, have long had a careful respect for Fae creatures with concerted efforts made to preserve them, roundly apologised for her treatment of Dryads during her research, and have since continued her studies using non-sapient plants for basis. 

At present Prosthesis Trees use only Whomping Woods for their basis, and are tended by Dryads and Wood Nymphs who have willingly moved to the grounds of the Magical Hospitals where the trees are grown, specifically in order to oversee the continuing experiments, and ensure the horrors of the past are never repeated. At present, they also help to match a Prosthesis Tree to a needful wix, and their matches, as yet, have never failed. Many wixes with prosthetics from these plants proclaim them to be the best prosthetics the magical world has to offer - growing with them, moving perfectly as they require and tended, carefully, by the Dryad who helped them find it.

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(I hate that I have to include this but PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THE IMAGE SOURCE OR MY CAPTION.)