#if Cecil + Terry have only one fan and that is me

[jake-marshall]

So despite all my recent yapping about Mayomust, most of my screencaps this playthrough were Cecil + Terry related. Posting this if for no other reason than for posterity. They ruin me (affectionate).

[megsbooklr]

Read in 2019

Fantasy & Sci-fi 

~ standalones ~

1. The Ocean At The End Of The Lane // Neil Gaiman

A new favourite. Magical childhood nostalgia - I’m sold :) 

2. Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle // Stuart Turton

A new favourite #2. Even though it gave me headaches :D 

3. Sorcery of Thorns // Margaret Rogerson

A quite entertaining YA fantasy. Librarians rule!

4. Good Omens // Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Bought and read after my binge of the amazon’s show. I liked both versions :) 

5. Gods Of Jade And Shadow // Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I bought it because of the cover and wasn’t disappointed by the story :D

6. Pierwsze słowo // Marta Kisiel

I like Marta’s style and wit, and this anthology of short stories is good, even though i’d prefer for some of the stories to be more... finished? 

7. Star Wars: From A Certain Point Of View

Wow! A really ambitious project - some of the stories are kinda... meaningless, but many are really interesting.

8. The Freeze-Frame Revolution // Peter Watts

A new favourite #3. Space mission, codes, DNA - sign me up!

9. Welcome To Night Vale // Joseph Fink & Joeffrey Cranor

Uhm... I struggled a bit with this one, but still, it’s Night Vale, so I can forgive the plot problems and just focus on the vibes :D (and Cecil’s voice!)

10. If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again // Zen Cho

Wow... It’s a short story that won the Hugo award this year. It’s beautiful, I cried in the end. A lot.

~ sequels ~

1. The Hero Strikes Back // Moira J. Moore

I love this series so far, it’s just pure entertainment :)

2. The Wicked King // Holly Black

The only faerie series I follow :) Good, gripping, and the twist in the end! I need to read part 3 soon!

3. Lies Sleeping // Ben Aaronovitch

This book could be a good end to the whole series, but there’s book 8 coming soon and I’m not complaining :D we need a new foe, though. 

4. Oczy uroczne // Marta Kisiel

Slavic mythology & rural fantasy. And Marta’s style and humour. What could I want more :D

5. Małe Licho i anioł z kamienia // Marta Kisiel

This is technically a series for children (which is read probably mostly by adults addicted to Konrad, Licho, & Co. :D And I’m such adult.)

6. Każde martwe marzenie // Robert M. Wegner

Yaaay, finally I got through the 5th part of the Meekhan series! And I loved it, even though there wasn’t enough Kenneth lyw-Darawyt & Górska Straż in it (it never is... :P)

7. Jeszcze może załopotać // Robert M. Wegner

A short story from the Meekhan series. I liked it, and it gave us a bit of backstory to some characters..

~ new series ~

1. Binti Trilogy // Nnedi Okorafor

I binged the whole series, and I liked it. Only the ending was a bit... cut short?

2. Kosmiczne bobry i zemsta księżycowej szarańczy // Krzysztof Piersa

The first book in a new Polish sci-fi series. It’s weird, I’m not sure what the target audience is because it seems a bit too serious for kids and yet there are cosmic beavers... Anyway, it has these oldschool sci-fi vibes and I like that. It ends on a cliffhanger so I’m waiting for part 2! 

3. The Book of Lost Tales Vol .1 // J.R.R. Tolkien

Haha, ‘new series’... ‘new’ as in I hadn’t read anything of HoME before :D well, now I have. And I’m gonna keep reading! It feels so good to read Tolkien’s work again :)

Fiction (other genres)

1. Kasacja, Zaginięcie, Rewizja // Remigiusz Mróz

My brother is a fan, and sometimes I borrow his books when I need a light reading... :)

2. If We Were Villains // Melanie Rio

A new favourite #4. I loved the style and the story.

3. The Unexpected Inheritance Of Inspector Chopra // Vaseem Khan

A kinda cute detective story set in Mumbai. It was definitely something new for me :) 

Classics 

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray // Oscar Wilde

It wasn’t exactly what I expected, some parts were terribly boring, but others quite entertaining. Despite the fact that I wanted to murder both Dorian and sir Henry the whole time. I liked the ending, though :)

2. The Happy Prince, and Other Stories // Oscar Wilde

It turned out I knew some of this stories from retellings, but I still enjoyed the whole book :)

Non-fiction

1. Warto podążać za marzeniami // Marek Kamiński

The memoirs of a famous Polish explorer of polar regions. Well written, I liked reading it.

2. Farerskie kadry  // Maciej Brencz

A collection of impressions, memoirs and facts about the Faroe Islands, by a Polish author and traveller. I’m lowkey obsessed with Faroe Islands so I liked reading this book :)

Mangas/graphic novels 

1. Chrononauts // Mark Millar

I don’t understand the appeal of this novel. Like, at all. Time travel tropes at their worst.

2. Fullmetal Alchemist #17-27 // Hiromu Arakawa

After my last year’s obsession with FMAB and FMA2003, I finished reading the manga this year. As predicted, I cried at the last volume. I regret nothing :D

3. Monstress vol. 1-3 // Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda

Finally managed to put myself together, binged the whole series and loved it! The graphics are mesmerizing, the story itself is engrossing and there are great characters (all of them highly problematic :D except for Kippa, who is an angel). I’m waiting for the Polish translation of volume 4 since I already have the previous ones in Polish, too.

4. The Tea Dragon Society // Katie O’Neil

Absolutely cute graphic novel with dragons and Ghibli vibes, there’s nothing I’d want more. 

Fanfics as good as books :D

1. Syn Gondoru // Kasiopea

Yep, I re-read my favourite Boromir Lives LOTR AU :D

2. Lineage VI & VII // Ruth Baulding

I hope I’m gonna finish at least Lineage next year, there’s still the whole Legacy series I haven’t gotten into yet! 

[beersfromthebleachers]

What IF Michael Jordan was a dual-sport All-Star?

In the events with the NBA Playoffs officially underway, this is a perfect time to chime in on another favorite sports hero of my time: Michael Jordan. Being born in Chicago and baptized during the Chicago Bulls dynasty era, I was more than lucky to witness as a young kid the greatness that was “Air Jordan.” Hell, I even came out of the womb wearing Jordans on my feet until I was 12-years old. Chicago was on an all-time high during the first three championships the Bulls brought to the city, but it was mere tragedy when Jordan discovered that his father was murdered by the time the series finished and he sealed his third championship. The sports world took even a bigger shock when Jordan announced his retirement from the game of basketball, and decided to turn his attention to the sport that his father loved; and that happened to be baseball.

Chicago Bulls’ owner Jerry Reinsdorf did not want to let his best financial asset go so hastily, so he offered Jordan a contract to play for the other team he owned in Chicago; the White Sox. Jordan signed a minor league contract on February 7, 1994 for the Birmingham Barons. Jordan’s career for the White Sox was short lived, only playing the 1994 season in double-A minor affiliate before he returned to the Bulls for his second reign of three straight championships. His performance for his single season for the Barons was considered less than average; having a batting average at .202, hitting only three home runs, and striking out over a hundred times appearing in only 127 games. Most baseball fans and historians would find Jordan’s baseball career a travesty; however, how history unfolded it could have been a more interesting expectation if Jordan kept his dedication with baseball over his return to basketball.

An interesting article came out on ESPN last week that featured a great deal of supporting cast members that were a part of the Birmingham Barons during the ’94 season that had a different take on the playing style of Michael Jordan. Former team manager Terry Francona mentioned that after Jordan left the team, he was highly confident that he was about a thousand at bats away from getting into the big leagues. Francona, well known, successful manager in the big leagues for the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians, still has a prosperous relationship with Jordan. They still communicate on a regular basis as one of the close relationships Jordan made while playing for the Barons. Batting coach Mike Barnett who is the hitting coach for the Indians under Francona was working with him over twenty years ago with the Barons the same time Jordan was there. Barnett marveled at the idea that Jordan’s obsessive competitive nature was unreal compared to the other developing players on the team. Instead of the two batting sessions the players were required to do, Jordan did five. Even though his hitting was under the “Mendoza line,” Jordan worked hard to improve his hitting day after day.

To read more on the article, follow this link

To bring a more “realistic measure” into perspective, Michael Jordan was called up for one exhibition game for the White Sox at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Classic. On April 7th, 1994, Jordan played right field for the South Siders and had an excellent game for a very cold day in Chicago. He went 2 for 5 with a double, two RBIs, and played a key part in tying the game that ended in a tie after ten innings. The amount of years I have watched Cubs games, I have never seen ANY player from the White Sox get a standing ovation at Wrigley Field. Granted, the Chicago fans were there to give Jordan high praise for his performance. So, without lingering on the fact that everyone was “star struck” that the most popular athlete in the city was playing baseball, it was the idea that he was succeeding at the next goal he was looking to accomplish and was in reach of becoming another multi-sport athlete.

If you do not believe me about the game at Wrigley Field, here is exclusive footage of it via WGN

The downfall of it all was that in the same season in 1994, a strike between the players union and the league brought the result of an end of the regular season and no playoffs being played that autumn. Failed negotiations between the players and the owners about salary limitations is where a great deal of players felt like it was their time to walk away from the game. A great deal of replacement players were called in order to fill rosters between the 1994 and 1995 seasons, which included a great deal of promoting players from the minor leagues. The White Sox did not hesitate to ask Michael Jordan if he would like to play at the Major League level, however he did not care for the treatment the players were receiving by the owners and decided to decline the invitation to play for the senior team. Months later, Jordan believed his hiatus from his original sport was over as he returned to the Bulls and continued his legacy bringing another three championships. The rest of the tale of Jordan’s baseball days were nothing but history, however, there has always been a thing in my mind with what if Jordan actually took the White Sox’s offer….

Inserting the idea that IF Jordan said yes, and became a replacement player for the White Sox , it would have been more to his advantage than disadvantage. The White Sox in 1995 were in complete disarray and did not make the playoffs, as they would have the season before. Jordan would have split time in the outfield alongside players like Mike Deveraux and Lance Johnson. At age 32, he would have been in the same “veteran” type status as the rest of the team were averaging at the same age, around 30.2. Even if he came off the bench as a pitch hitter or runner, his stats that reflected from his minor league days would have reflected effective base running. Jordan had a total of 30 stolen bases while playing for the Barons in the minor leagues, the only player in the starting line up that had more than him was Johnson with 40 swipes. These stats may have not count as a sufficient factor for Jordan, but there were a few benefits that the White Sox could have taken advantage of at the time.

The ”money” that came behind Michael Jordan might have come to be more expensive and hefty than had his $33 million single season contract that he signed in 1997 for the Chicago Bulls. For his age and his experience, he would have signed for the same amount, if not more for a three to five year deal valued close to $50-60 million. The highest paid player in 1995 was Cecil Fielder for the Detroit Tigers at $9.2 million, Jordan would have been pushing it if he came close to make anywhere near that amount. However, with an additional signing bonus becoming a replacement player, plus the values that came with Jordan being a “face of the franchise,” he would have been close to making an estimate of $5 million in 1995. Not to mention the sponsorship Jordan would have easily transferred to the game of baseball that he was already under contract for and that were already using his face in advertising. Today, you can find the “Jump Man” logo on any major sports team from the days Derek Jeter was sponsored by it with the Yankees to the current sponsor of the French football team, Paris Saint-Germain. In the 90s, sure the media would poke fun of the ridiculousness of Jordan bringing a “basketball logo” to the game of baseball, but do you really think anyone is caring on how the business mogul is using it now for any sport under the sun?

The part where I start getting a little bit more naive is the idea that Michael Jordan could have possibly helped the White Sox be a more competing team during the mid to late 90s. Just ask Barry Sanders when he was part of the title attempt of the Atlanta Braves during the 1996 World Series. Looking at the stats, had the Braves won over the Toronto Blue Jays, Sanders would have been the unanimous MVP of the World Series and possibly would have considered a longer prosperous career playing two sports in football and baseball. Jordan, with his competitive nature would have gladly filled that role the same way Sanders did. The rumors of Jordan having an obsession complex of becoming better at something in order to be the best was never a secret among teammates and colleagues on and off the basketball court. His tenacity even showed as he was playing for the Birmingham Barons while he was trying to get up to pace from when he last picked up a bat in high school. Jordan would have taken the initiative being a leader on the White Sox alongside Frank Thomas and Robin Ventura, but everyone would have worried about Jordan’s ego taking control, which would leave teammates to become hostile and send the locker room into complete turmoil.

I guess one can think that the idea of Michael Jordan’s baseball career was nothing but reconciliation that he needed in the absence of his late father. Perhaps it was to get away from the game and clear his head from all the speculation that he was under, like his addiction to gambling. The memory of Jordan playing baseball only lingers with the spotlight he had in it with my childhood guilty pleasure of Space Jam. Even the great Jim Rome in the movie has the joke to poke fun on how disappointing Jordan’s baseball career was. I have mentioned before on this blog how I long for another great athlete to play more than one major sport. The American folk tale that was Bo Jackson was cut short from everyone’s entertainment from the late 1980’s. I am still optimistic that Kyler Murray’s football career will be nothing like his college career and he will eventually come crawling back to baseball. I will let my first sports hero stay immortalized with what he did with the Chicago Bulls, but had he been a White Sox later in his career at a senior level, it would have been possible for my entire family to switch from being Cubs fans to White Sox fans.

[beckettsthoughts]

get to know me!

Rules: answer the 20 questions and tag 20 amazing followers you would like to get to know better.

First of all, thank you so much to @strangerdarkerbetter for tagging me in this, not only do I love these a lot but this was brilliant timing now that I’m getting back on my groove with this new URL :)

Name - Beckett

Nickname - Becks, Bex, B (and Becky, to some old friends of mine, though it’s not something I like that much I don’t mind them using it)

Zodiac Sign - Scorpio

Height - 5′7″

Orientation - Aromantic, asexual

Ethnicity - Caucasian

Favorite Fruit - This is a very difficult question because I really like fruit, but probably hand-picked blackberries from the woods or outside school.

Favorite Season - Autumn is my favourite because it’s not too warm but not too cold, rainy and the colours are beautiful. For pretty much the exact same reasons, spring is a close second.

Favorite Book - The Dream Thieves, by Maggie Stiefvater. Equally, Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. This should give you a fair sense of both my love of fairytales and my love of comedy. 

Favorite Scent - Rosemary, every time,

Favorite Color - I tend to like colours in combination more than separately, but I like both warm oranges and cool purples.

Favorite Animal - Either ravens or crows, but I’m a big fan of birds in general. I’m also a big fan of little lizards, like the kind we used to see when we went to Spain. 

Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate - I don’t actually like hot drinks! My favourite other drink is probably apple juice, though. Or French sirop de fraise. 

Average sleep hours - 5, at best. I really haven’t been able to sleep well at all recently, though it’s been worse. I’ve been really stressed though, so hopefully it’ll blow over with that.

Cat or Dog Person - I love cats, but I’m allergic. I’m scared of most dogs, but @luuxraay won me over with his adorable little fluffball of a puppy. So I’d probably have to say I’m a dog person. 

Favorite Fictional Character - Crowley, from Good Omens. Or Ronan, from The Raven Cycle. I’m also a big fan of Douglas from Cabin Pressure, and Cecil from Welcome to Night Vale. I consume a lot of media, if you couldn’t tell.

Number of Blankets you Sleep With - One, usually. If I’m freezing cold or generally not feeling great, a massive blue weighted blanket is added for good measure. 

Dream Trip - I want to go back to Los Angeles. I can’t even describe how much I want to go back there. To be honest, my heart aches for Paris just as much as it always has and I would love to go to Rome, as well. 

Blog Created - This one? Literally two weeks ago. My old account that I used up until this week, though, I created just over four years ago. 

Number of Followers - 23, on this blog. On my old account, again, I had 569 on my main blog and 213 on my side blog

And I’m tagging: I don’t have many followers yet, but anyone who sees this is welcome to consider themselves tagged. Specifically, I’m going to tag @luuxraay, @outakurebecca, @mcnamak, @tertiarysqueeze, @bye-onara, @baz-pitch-is-alive, @yokitoshi, @shark-myths, @autisticanakinskywalker, @sheisalreadyhere, @assetbucky, @quantum-milktea, @homjom, @aliciachan-rp, @littleduckalex, @finnisnowdeadrip, @windsweptarmadillo, @wetsocks--24pair and @thejaspersnerdpalace