#its been a tough road becoming a Canadian...

[techutones]

my transgender story (EMOTIONAL!! DON'T WATCH AT 3AM!!! I CRIED!!! MULTIPLE TIMES!!!) one morning I awoke to Elliot Page biting my ankle.. . .... .. . I tried to stop him but he's really speedy... .. . . the trans-ness had already had it's way into my blood.. . . . .. .. . .. I've been a Canadian ever since…

[cansofttechnologies-blog]

The Battle of Keeping Windows Clean in Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina, the capital city of Saskatchewan, is known for its wide-open spaces, stunning prairie landscapes, and vibrant cultural scene. However, anyone who calls Regina home or has visited for an extended period can attest to a common yet persistent struggle: keeping windows clean. It might seem like a mundane issue, but in Regina, it's a battle against the elements, environmental factors, and urban realities.

The Prairie Dust and Winds

One of the biggest challenges to window cleanliness in Regina is the prairie dust. Regina is situated in the heart of the Canadian prairies, an area characterized by vast open fields. These fields, while beautiful, are often sources of fine dust that gets picked up by the wind. Prairie winds can be particularly strong, especially in the spring and fall, carrying dust and debris that relentlessly coat windows.

Seasonal Extremes

Regina experiences a wide range of weather conditions throughout the year, each bringing its own window-cleaning challenges.

Winter: Regina's winters are notoriously harsh. Snow and ice accumulate on windows, and the cycle of thawing and refreezing creates layers of grime that are difficult to clean. Salt and sand used on roads also contribute to dirty windows as vehicles splash this mixture onto lower windows and structures.

Spring: As the snow melts, it reveals the dirt and grime that has settled over the winter months. Spring rains, while washing some of this away, can also leave streaks and water spots on windows.

Summer: Dust storms can occur during the hot, dry summer months, especially if there has been little rain. Pollen from trees and plants also sticks to windows, creating a sticky mess.

Fall: Autumn brings its own set of challenges with falling leaves and more frequent rain, which can smear dirt across windows rather than wash it away.

Urban Pollution

Though Regina is not known for severe pollution, it still has its share of urban grime. Car exhaust, industrial emissions, and construction projects contribute to a layer of dirt that settles on windows, especially in more densely populated or industrial areas. This combination of factors means that even after a thorough cleaning, windows can quickly become dirty again.

Wildlife Contributions

Birds and insects add to the difficulty of maintaining clean windows. Bird droppings are not only unsightly but also hard to remove without proper cleaning agents. Insects, particularly during the warmer months, can splatter on windows, leaving stubborn spots that require more than just a wipe to clean.

Practical Solutions

Despite these challenges, there are ways to keep your windows cleaner for longer in Regina. Here are a few practical tips:

Regular Cleaning: Frequent cleaning can prevent the buildup of grime. Using a squeegee and a good quality window cleaner can help keep windows sparkling.

Protective Films: Applying a protective film to windows can help repel water and dirt, making them easier to clean.

Landscaping: Strategic landscaping can reduce dust. Planting trees or shrubs can act as a natural barrier against dust and debris carried by the wind.

Professional Services: Sometimes, the best option is to hire professional window cleaners who have the tools and expertise to handle the tough Regina grime.

Conclusion

Keeping windows clean in Regina, Saskatchewan, is indeed a daunting task. The combination of prairie dust, seasonal extremes, urban pollution, and wildlife makes it a continuous challenge. However, with regular maintenance and some strategic approaches, it is possible to enjoy the beautiful views that Regina has to offer through crystal clear windows. After all, the effort is worth it to see the stunning prairie sunsets and the vibrant cityscape unobstructed by dirt and grime.

[the-dc-killjoy]

4x12 - Old Souls

Wynonna Earp's over. I'll do pretty much anything to get another season, but shows (not that I think that this show could ever get to that point. id still love WE even if it turned into whatever Grey's Anatomy's doing rn) shouldn't overstay their welcome. If this is the end, than it was a damn fine ending!

-

The cute.

I've been watching Martina sing since I was 11 years old, and it still puts a smile on my face. Rachel was iconic as always, and I'm gonna miss the most recent addition to the Earp family. I can just imagine the chaos of her, her not really but kind of boyfriend, and Randy Nedley on a tiny boat in the middle of nowhere. Poor Nedley. Let's hope Chrissy remains the only one of his many daughter figures to catch mono.

Speaking of mononucleosis- that's such an awful transition that i'm keeping it, I believe that Wayhaught has officially christened the entire homestead. Bedroom, The Stairs, kitchen floor, barn- short of just going to pound town (i'm not getting any better with sex references tonight. am i) in a patch of grass outside, they've got everything covered. Or nothing covered if you know what i mean. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Am I getting better now?

-

The random.

Nedley walking Nicole down the isle, Wynonna walking Waverly down the isle, Doc being Waverly's best man, and Wynonna being Nicole's best friend (no she will not take a secondary title. best friend will go on her tombstone)- sigh, i'm so gay. i can't really explain what that has to do with these circumstances, but i am and this makes me happy. Rachel and Nedley (and Billy was there somewhere right?) being the only people in attendance made this the perfect pandemic wedding even though there wasn't actually a pandemic in Earp land. I was the living embodiment of the pleading face emoji when they panned over the chairs. Doll's chair hurt me. like deeply. like i'm still suffering. there aren't words. fuck, i miss him.

On a lighter note, Waverly said fuck (like eight times)!!! She technically said it already, but chainsmoking-angelic possession doesn't count, right?

I'm glad that Jeremy has this new thing with Damon, but I kinda wish things had worked out with him and Robin. He officiated a wedding, got promoted, and got a handsome date in one afternoon, so I can't be too sad about his adorable self.

Charlotte Sullivan, the jilted dress shop owner/witch, played one of the earliest (in my knowledge at least. this show was my brother's thing not mine) representation of a bi woman in Canadian media. I don't know too much about her Rookie Blue character, but if you can have tolerated the will-they-wont-they, end of the world romance of the main character's kinda mediocre relationships for a couple more seasons, I'm sure you'll find out! By the nature of Canada having 16.87 actors in total, I tend to see a lot of overlap, and I have to infodump about that somewhere. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Earping callbacks! Wynonna's truck, her motorcycle, the bullet proof vest, Nedley and Nicole's father-daughter thing, Waverly never saying the f-word (and subverting that), i'm all in, even Rachel always being stuck with juice while the adults are drinking- perfect! We had a little bit of the usual supernatural insanity, but this episode was wall to wall fanservice, and it was perfectly in-character fanservice. That's the way to go! It didn't feel forced or awkward and the edited mailbox will make me tear up on rewatch

-

The relationship. (aka i wanna talk about wyndoc and had no outline when i started this thing)

The Wyndoc goodbye was beautiful. I'm not into the whole you need one person to complete you kinda thing, but the implication that it didn't have to be romantic (implying that Wynonna's person was Waverly) was great. I felt that the scene worked perfectly, and might have been fine leaving it there if there was another season clearly on the horizon. With the fact that this was the series finale (i sighed so hard typing that. my poor lungs), I'm glad that they got their own happy ending.

-

The analysis.

Nicole's and Wynonna's as individual characters mirror each other in so many ways, but I'm just gonna wax poetic about one: their relationship with the GRT. Wynonna was hurt by the town, badly. She grew up with a steady stream of shitty adults and a few who told her to shake the demons out of her head and embraced the tough love mantra. It made a lot of sense that she left as an adult. Waverly was most likely the only reason she didn't skip town before that.

Nicole had a negative integer of adult role models in her life, with the murdered aunt and uncle and the whatever-the-fuck her parents were trying to be. Sure, a little trip to the Ghost River Triangle left her with trauma that she spent a lifetime repressing, but what's a little surviving a massacre under the six year old girl bridge. Am I right?

In their early lives, these characters had nothing but negative experiences in the aptly named town of Purgatory. Wynonna was drawn back into town by Curtis' letter just in time for her 27th birthday, and Nedley applied for Nicole to start working as a cop. Neither of them directly chose to come back to the Ghost River Triangle, but both of them did have the final say.

Wynonna decided pretty early on that she was going to stay no matter what. She already abandoned her sister once. How could she do it again with all of these monsters lurking in the shadows. As time went on, her circle of people expanded, but Waverly has always been the person that fight through hell and high water for. Even when fighting wasn't necessary, when it hurt her much more than it helped anything, she did it anyways because it was the only thing she could do to protect her sister. Wynonna thought it was the only thing she could do at all. This entire season, she's been fighting a war with herself, and her leaving, Waverly telling her that it was okay to leave, was the first time that took a break, took a breath since she arrived in Purgatory on her 27th birthday. Her child and the man she loves are out in the world, but she will be back with them at her side. Maybe after a quick road trip, maybe after a few years, but she will be back.

Nicole spent a majority of season 1 and 2 feeling like an outsider. Season 3 came with the realization that these people were her family and the Ghost River Triangle was her home. Early season 4 kinda shat all over that, oops. The rest of this season has been her finding her footing again. Nicole was a wandering soul, but she voluntarily staked herself to the land, vowing to protect it and the people within its borders for the rest of her life without the ability to leave, and she doesn't regret it. Her wife, her family, her people are all in this one not-so-sleepy Canadian town.

Nicole found her place, after a lifetime of searching, and Wynonna left, temporarily, after a lifetime of feeling trapped. They might seem like opposites, but both women call the same place home.

-

Originally, I watched this show was to cope with the ending of Agents of SHIELD (which I kind of used to cope with the ending of Killjoys, which featured Emily Andras as a writer in season 1 and has near identical humor, found family, and a healthy serving of gay and wow this is turning into a bit of advertisement isn't it), but it wormed its way into my heart. I've never quite seen a show like this. Never seemed interested in a western, even a sci-fi western. Never saw the gay couple reach OTP status both in fandom and canon. I've never seen so many fan conventions dedicated to just one show. I usually stay for just one character (and Wynonna has become one of my all time favorite characters), but I find myself connecting with so many of the beautiful people being brought to life on my screen. Wynonna, Waverly, Nicole, Rachel, Dolls, Jeremy, Doc, Nedley and so many other hilarious and heartbreaking characters make this show, and every single human who played a part in this self-proclaimed shitshow deserves a round of applause and a swig of whiskey.

The end.

[waitingtoexhale]

Queer Media One Tragic at a Time Has Reprogrammed My Brain

I find myself continually lowering my standards for the type of media I consume. Queer character? Check. Limited tragedy? Check. At least once instance of happiness? Check. Alright, that’s good enough for me. I LOVE THIS *insert media type here* SHOW, MOVIE, SONG! But, along with the good comes the bad and the ugly. Along with the brief instances of happy, complex, characters come the violence, the stereotypes, the woe. At this point, simply having a queer character that doesn’t die is the best I can hope for and that truly stresses me out. On a regular basis.

In Queer Youth Cultures, Karen said it perfectly, “I think there's a lack of homosexual characters who are presented in a positive and uplifting, or not even positive and uplifting but just represented on the screen or in the media in general. I guess it's a desire to have a voice. I know this sounds like pure shit, but it's a desire to have a voice, to feel that l'm being spoken for or even just represented. But that there's a voice up there that's representing, or at least trying to represent my own experience. I want to have a say in what's going on and I'm not willing to just accept the images that are represented in front of me as being the only possibility. I take it maybe beyond its limitations of what's there. I try to expand, try to just open it up to possible choices that exist for me that might not exist for the creators for that particular film or TV show. But I will be heard” (2008, p.175-176).

Shameless acceptance of the toxic gay dynamic:

While sexuality is particular to each individual, the social constructions of heterosexuality and homosexuality are cultural categories humans use to make sense of their sexuality (Queer Analysis, 2010, p.198). Shameless, an American comedy-drama television series based on a British show of the same name, stars Cameron Monaghan as Ian, a closeted teenage boy who realizes he is gay and navigates the complexities of his queerness as a social identity and Noel Fisher as Mickey, a closeted homophobic thug who upon realizing he is gay engages in a sexual relationship with the one other queer person he knows who also happens to be the kid he violently bullied. Ian and Mickey start as a toxic portrayal of settling and acceptability in its truest form. Ian is in a predatory relationship with an adult and still possess a great deal of internalized homophobia when he is essentially propositioned by Mickey and their turbulent relationship begins. Mickey is struggling between his desires as a closeted gay teen and his need to match the criminal ideals expected of his father and family name. They are an explosive pair that seem to cause each other physical pain and mental anguish, yet the fans are wholly supportive. Even when healthy potential partners are introduced, the toxic couple of Ian and Mickey are reunited time and time again because media has established a trope where queer characters are only allowed complicated togetherness. Queer characters are punished for choosing their queerness and therefore not allowed true love and happiness. Despite having this knowledge and nothing in common personally with these characters, I love this couple and I love this pairing, so I am part of the problem. I am a product of this generation of idolizing toxic behaviors between characters because unfortunately those are the only “happy” queer characters I have seen continually produced. I have settled into a pattern of accepting negative stereotypes as simply good enough. I have traded the simple fact that the queer character doesn’t die for the harsh reality of their lives.

Another sad queer lacking Glee:

When queer characters are introduced, there are a set number of personality types and lived experiences they are allowed to have. Take Dave Kurofsky from Glee who serves as the closeted homophobic bully who after being outed in the “On My Way” episode attempts suicide and is comforted by the out-and-proud effeminate Kurt, a previous victim of Kurofsky’s wrath. We get to observe the pointed shift in Kurofsky’s personality from homophobic bully to repentant closeted queer, but the lack of character development unfortunately makes it difficult to feel sorry for him as a character. Instead, as an audience, we are forced to revel in “media representations of queer culture as essentialist, marking out the dichotomies between male and female, heterosexual versus homosexual (Queer Youth Cultures, 2008, p.175). Kurofsky is unable to learn what it means to be a queer man and grow from his internalized homophobia because he is coming his existence and framing his life experiences through that of Kurt; this is apparent when Kurofsky is unable to dance with Kurt at prom because of the perception of gayness. We accept Kurofsky’s story as powerful and real and heartbreaking because it is, but at what point do content creators have an obligation to tell the story a different way, in a positive uplifting light?

Degrassi: The Next Generation of bury your gays tropes:

Degrassi: The Next Generation, a Canadian teen drama television series, made history for tackling the tough social issues affecting teens, but frequently not talked about. They embraced diversity in their casting and range of topics covered while spearheading a progressive movement of introducing characters traditionally absent from popular media. Adam, a trans male character played by a cis female actress is a well-rounded first introduction to many into the lives of trans youth. The audience is familiarized with concepts such as passing and outing as well as the complexities involved in sexuality vs gender. Adam, besides being inaccurately portrayed by a cis woman, which is damaging to the idea that trans folks are the gender they have identified with rather than their gender assigned at birth, provides a much needed avenue of representation for queer youth in popular media. Continuing with our previously identified tropes, as a result of Adam being happy, relatively healthy, and well-liked he has to die. Queer characters are not afforded regular happiness in media they are given a taste then sacrificed as tools of writing via violence, sacrifice, or martyrdom. Adam is not gay bashed or driven to suicide as other queer characters are, but instead tragically killed as a texting while driving PSA. This death is particularly hard felt because Adam was truly shaping out to be a normal high school kid facing the complexities of life and surviving, but the creators, once again, took a queer character as the source for a lesson in some predetermined idea that queer happiness is short lived and tragic regardless of circumstance. There is a need for punishment of their queerness.

Queer punishment, a Supernatural concept:

What do shipping, fandoms, and heteronormative dominant culture have in common? Queerbaiting. Queerbaiting, “a term employed by media fans to criticize homoerotic suggestiveness in contemporary television when this suggestiveness is not actualized in the program narrative” (Brennan, 2016, p.1). A concept typically negatively connoted is a primary tool of heteronormative culture ensuring queer culture remains as a subculture rather than its own, established independent source of media. Audiences, particularly queer individuals, are forced to imagine scenarios and worlds where their identities are represented and dominant. “By creating a fantasy space, queer youth have an environment where they are free to explore many possibilities” (Queer Youth Culture, 2008, p.174). From these creative worlds come the likes of couples like Dean and Castiel (#Destiel) from Supernatural. The creators introduce intimacy and connectedness; the couple is ideal and non-stereotypical or superficial. Unfortunately, our trend of no happy endings for queer media continues because despite the fan observations and urging this couple is never acknowledged or confirmed as such. They instead give several seasons of romantic teasing culminating in a teary subversive confession immediately preceded by death and not just any death, a death where Castiel, an angel character is drug to hell. The sub context is overwhelming in deciding queerness is so offensive that any acknowledgement to the sort should result in punishment akin to biblical reckoning.

Lingua Franca, the road to universal language and communication:

Even as queer media continually evolves becoming evermore accurate and inclusive the conditioning I have been subjected to, as a consumer of queer media, completely reprogram my brain. While watching something as relevant and present as Lingua Franca I am unable to completely enjoy the film as I am waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. Lingua Franca is a progressive film about a trans Filipina woman seeking a path to legal immigration in Trump’s America. The film is written, directed, and stars Isabel Sandoval an actual trans woman of color and therefore the portrayal is very real. As a film about a trans woman, the pace is melodic and light while the subject matter is focused on the life of Olivia rather than her transition or identity as a trans woman. While watching the film, I found it beyond refreshing that there were no invasive surgery questions or blatant misgendering by supposed loved ones. That being said, as a first watch through, it was anxiety inducing; the lack of discussion regarding Olivia’s trans identity led me to worry for her safety in a cis-heteropatriarchal world. When Olivia is engaging in her relationship with Alex I see the natural connections, simplicity, sensuality, and beauty, but I also worry about the potential for the violence I have come to expect when viewing true queer happiness. The scene where Olivia is outed by Alex’s friend shifted the entire tone of the film for me as I watched Alex spiral and truly cringed at the thought of watching another film showing an act of physical violence against a trans woman of color. While that thankfully did not happen, the fact that I remained restless throughout the entirety of the film waiting for it alludes to this reprogramming of sorts that has occurred. Creators show queer characters as poor unfortunate souls brought down by their queer identities therefore, I have come to expect and root for in some regards, a victim. There are limited instances when I can truly enjoy a queer film without a sinking feeling in my stomach waiting for the catch, waiting to exhale and simply experience queer joy.

[elopez7228]

Scenic Route 24/47

Read on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/18268208/chapters/43229774 

Start over : https://elopez7228.tumblr.com/post/620919089893933056/scenic-route-0147

***

Gripping the steering wheel, Syed inhaled deeply. Her heart was beating wildly out of pace.

I only did my duty she repeated to herself—her new mantra. Kylo was getting sloppy and it was my duty to alert Snoke.

She wondered how she was going to explain herself, to convince the others. It had been six years since she joined the Knights of Ren: Skylar, Saul, Shakti, Kelsi, and Tyra.

They were more than colleagues, more than friends. They were almost like brothers and sisters, with their conflicts, their arguments, their crazy pranks,  their terrifyingly close calls, and—if she was being honest—the occasional make out session.

Above all, they had one constant rule: Kylo Ren was their leader and they would sacrifice everything for him if needed.

It's not betrayal. I’m doing my duty. It was him, Kylo Ren, who was betraying his mentor and his mission. He put FORCE in danger for a pair of pretty eyes.

He had always been overly impulsive and capricious. Syed admired that, most of the time. They were alike in that regard. They loved passionately, hated passionately, and they lived without compromise. It was all or nothing. But this time, Kylo has gone too far.

As for herself, now that she had dared to contact Hux directly, she could no longer go back. She had crossed the point of return. Kylo Ren would suffer for his choices at Snoke’s hand, he would be humiliated...and then? Then he would shred her to pieces. He had underestimated the consequences of his actions, but she would not commit the same mistake. He would kill her. Or would have her killed.

By taking a stand against him, she had just lost the right to peace of mind. He could spend every day and night getting revenge...unless she acted first. Trying not to panic, she calmed herself enough to unlock her phone.

*

Rey gripped the leash tightly, for fear of losing BB8 as she navigated the pre-marked trails. On the other end, BB8 trotted along happily, wagging her tail with excitement.

Mammoth was an absolute tourist trap, full of geysers more than anything else. Rey had become accustomed to seeing them within the park, but they were still geological marvels in their own right, a fascinating spectacle of hot water cascading against a bed of immaculately calcified rock to form an overflowing basin. Rey took a few photos while Maz stepped aside to take an incoming call. When she returned, Rey was sure that something was wrong as soon as she saw Maz’s concerned expression.

“Rey, I just received a call from a fellow hitchhiker who is willing to split a ride with me. I’d posted a request on a travel forum online.”

“Okay?” Rey nodded, unsure of what she was asking for.

“They’re going all the way from Bozeman to Seattle but they leave tomorrow morning.”

“Oh...” Rey’s face fell even as she tried to understand. “Is this good news or bad news, then?”

“Well,” Maz sighed, a hint of embarrassment in her voice, “it’s good news for me, I’ll be able to go almost all the way up to the Canadian border. But as for the concert...”

“Oh?” Rey managed, her vocabulary coming up a bit short. “You’re going to have to leave me already...”

“It’s alright, Rey, don’t worry. I can refuse the ride. We can go to the concert together, I can see it’s very important to you.”

Rey shook her head, forcing herself to smile. “No, Maz, you have to make it to that car. Life on the road is unpredictable and you can’t afford to pass up a good opportunity like this.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” Rey said as firmly as she could, “you need to get to Bozeman and I can take you there.”

Maz opened her mouth to refuse but Rey interjected. “Come on, I insist. It’s not like I have anything better to do. I would rather not walk around alone for the rest of the day. You need be in Bozeman tomorrow morning so it’s best if we leave now and spend the night there.”

In the end, they finished walking along the marked trail before finding their way back to the Falcon.

Rey froze in her tracks as soon as they arrived. There it was again, the same charcoal grey SUV she had seen next to the river, now sitting motionless in the visitor parking.

It could have been mere coincidence. After all, weren’t there plenty of high-end vehicles out here in the park? Only one way to find out.

Syed jumped when Rey knocked on the driver-side window, eyes widening  in surprise when she recognized the face on the other side. But she quickly schooled her features into a more neutral expression.

“Hello, Rey. Having fun?”

Rey offered no greeting in return.

“Are you following me?” she demanded instead, staring the other woman down with flinty eyes.

It would have been a ridiculous question, even a paranoid one, had it not been the case. Syed seemed taken aback.

“Following you? What for?”

“You tell me. I saw your car at the river, and I told myself it looked familiar but it was probably a coincidence. But you were at Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Spring too, weren’t you? Either this is an incredible coincidence or you’ve been chasing me. So you tell me why.”

“Yellowstone is always worth the trip,” Syed hissed through gritted teeth. “You think I came all the way out here just because of you?”

Rey crossed her arms.

“Oh, really? You had a concert yesterday. Did you really ditch your job to come play tourist?”

“It’s a free country, I can go wherever I please. Kylo didn’t need me for a while so I took the day off.”

“Did he put you up to this?”

Syed paused to take a breath. She’d been caught red-handed, her cover blown and her mission compromised. But the tables had turned too, she was no longer on Kylo’s side even though Rey was still the target. She had to handle this carefully...no use in hiding, Rey was on to her. It was time to switch to subtler tactics.

“Okay, fine. Look, Kylo was worried about you.” She admitted, sounding sincerely embarrassed even to her own ears. “You told him a woman was following you and trying to steal your car. He just wanted to make sure nothing happened to you, that’s all.”

At that, Rey’s arms fell limply to her sides. She had been expecting more denial, or a fight, really anything but this kind of sincerity.

“No...but, I—“ she stammered, “that—that’s not a reason!”

Sensing her weakness, Syed played the ultimate card...by saying exactly nothing. She pursed her lips and gave Rey a chagrined look, wordlessly conveying the misfortune of the unintended situation in her had found themselves in.

Rey was speechless. She didn’t khnow whether to be furious or grateful. Was he really tracking her to keep her safe? Wasn’t she the one who asked for help—could she really blame him for this? She really didn’t know.

Maz placed a gentle hand on her arm. “Rey,” she sighed, “we really have to get going. Come, let’s go.”

She led Rey a little further away before turning to wave Syed off. “Sorry about the misunderstanding. Give our regards to Ben, won’t you? Bye!”

Syed watched them walk away with a polite smile on her face, before suddenly  collapsing into a boneless heap at the steering wheel. She buried her face in her hands and rerouted into nervous laughter.

Fuck. She’d come within inches of an outright disaster. Her whole plan was ruined, not that it mattered now. She had bigger things at stake. If she could give Snoke what he wanted, to hell with the other FORCE agents. She could become the new master of the Knights of Ren. She would recruit new members and start over. No way she would trust anyone who had been loyal to Kylo. All of them were unpredictable...she wouldn’t spend every waking hour of the next few years wondering which one of them would betray her next.

She was so heartbroken that she lost the battle with the bile rising in her throat. She got out of the car to throw up.

Why was she like this, wasn’t this what she wanted? Why was she cracking under the pressure now, when she had been through worse before?

Rhetorical questions. She knew exactly why. She knew that by actively going against Kylo’s orders like this that they would be through. Everything would be lost, their history, their connection, their respect. It didn’t matter how strong it had gotten over the years. After this betrayal, he would look at her only in disdain.

He wouldn’t love her anymore. The would only be hate.

Syed leaned against the car for support as another wave of nausea overtook her.

Fortunately, Rey and her companion saw nothing of this as Maz continued to lead the way to the Millenium Falcon, far from the SUV and its owner.

“Rey,” Maz began, “I don’t know what’s going on between you and this Ben, Kylo, or whatever his name is. Did someone really try to steal your car?”

“Yes,” Rey nodded. “It’s true.” And Ben asking Syed to keep an eye on her was likely the truth as well. Wasn’t she the one who called him in the middle of the night from a campsite, demanding his protection? Could she really fault him for taking it so seriously?  

Maz looked up at her with a worried expression. “I wish I could tell you that I would join you for the concert after what just happened...it’s a tough call to leave you with such an eccentric man involved. But I think I would be the last person you need if you really want to get through this.”

Rey cocked her head to one side in confusion.

“Listen,” Maz said in a serious tone, all traces of a smile gone from her face. She straightened to her full height as she continued. “You’re not a damsel in distress. You don’t need a strong man to protect you, or some sort of fairy godmother. Get out of that mindset. You are strong and brave in your own right. You’ve travelled all this way alone and you’ve even faced a bear alone. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone.”

“But I—“ Rey began before Maz interrupted her again. “You’re feeling fragile because of the emotional trauma you’ve endured. That’s normal. It’s perfectly natural to want to be comforted, to be reassured, after what happened to you. But that’s no reason to fall for the first man who is interested. If you want someone, stay with them because you want them, not because you need them. Do you understand?”

Rey pursed her lips. It was an awkward conversation to have. She felt like Maz was undressing her somehow, seeing past her paper-thin defenses, straight into her soul, and laying bare the years of lies and self-persuasion. She hated this. Being drilled into and cracked open, being hit exactly where it hurt. She acquiesced, tears pooling in her eyes.

“Don’t make any rash decisions.” Maz continued still. “Don’t hang on to people like lifelines. That makes you dependent. Dependence leads to an unbalanced relationship. What Ben did to you, having you followed without your consent, was to put you in a gilded cage. And you played the part of the princess in need. That’s not a relationship. You deserve better than that, Rey.”

“What am I supposed to do then?” Asked Rey, her voice on the verge of breaking.

“It’s not my place to tell you. Listen to your heart. Decide for yourself what is important, what is necessary or tolerable, or not tolerable at all. And then make a decision. Act on it, and move forward.”

Sensing her friend’s unhappiness, BB8 leapt up onto her hind legs, nuzzling Rey’s leg and begging to be cuddled. It made Rey smile, despite her tears.

“An unhappy princess, a crazy adventure, an adorable sidekick...it’s all here. I guess that makes you my fairy godmother, doesn’t  it?”

Maz rolled her eyes. “Very well,” she said, holding her hands out as if to cast a magic spell, “by the powers vested in me as you fairy godmother,” she intoned solemnly, “I hereby declare you, Rey Jakku, free of your own personal prison! You may dance and shout “fuck” all night if you want to, amen.”

She didn’t know if it was the magic spell or the power of self-determination, but suddenly Rey felt a million times lighter. She couldn’t help laughing. Once again, this strange little woman had hurt her in the best way, tearing her false hopes and convictions into shreds in order to face the unknown. But she was right. Rey didn’t owe anything to anyone. Who was she afraid of displeasing now tat she no longer fit the description of the pretty little city girl she had built up for herself? It was her choice.

As for Ben Solo, what he want from her? What did he think she could bring him? If he thought she was just a fragile plaything, he was sorely mistaken.

And as for the concert...she would see.

“All aboard!” Rey announced as she carried BB8 to the back seat. “We have two hours to get to Bozeman and that’ll give us just enough time to look for a place to stay tonight.”

“I know the perfect motel,” Maz agreed. “My treat. I know this detour is for me ans it’s the least I can do. How about a real mattress, and a real shower with quality shampoo? How does that sound?”

That sounded amazing.

The Millenium Falcon soared past the northern entrance of the park, merging onto I-89 towards Bozeman.

Rey searched for Syed’s SUV in the rear view mirror, but it never appeared.

Was she finally free?

[newstfionline]

Headlines

There’s a loophole along the closed U.S.-Canada border. Couples are getting married there. (Washington Post) Nick Smith and Leah Bosello were desperate to see each other. Ever since the border between the United States and Canada closed to nonessential travel in mid-March because of the novel coronavirus, cross-border couples like them were blocked from being together. So the pair found a workaround: They started meeting at a ditch just off 0 Avenue, a heavily patrolled road in British Columbia that divides the two countries. As the weather warmed and shutdowns lifted, a superior reunion spot emerged in mid-May: Peace Arch Park. There, cross-national couples and families could actually embrace—at long last. On June 6, the couple got married there. Other marriages have followed. The park is considered equal parts American and Canadian—a shared territory for citizens of both countries to visit. The southern half is owned by Washington State Parks, while the northern half is owned by British Columbia Provincial Parks. Entryways from both the American and Canadian sides are patrolled, and the park itself is surveilled to ensure no one exits the wrong side. But as long as visitors stay within the 42-acre area, they are permitted to roam freely throughout the grounds. According to the park’s website, it is a space that is “devoted to peace and serenity.”

Reconsidering the Past, One Statue at a Time (NYT) The boiling anger that exploded in the days after George Floyd gasped his final breaths is now fueling a national movement to topple perceived symbols of racism and oppression in the United States, as protests over police brutality against African-Americans expand to include demands for a more honest accounting of American history. Across the country, monuments criticized as symbols of historical oppression have been defaced and brought down at warp speed in recent days. The movement initially set its sights on Confederate symbols and examples of racism against African-Americans, but has since exploded into a broader cultural moment, forcing a reckoning over such issues as European colonization and the oppression of Native Americans. The debate over how to represent the uncomfortable parts of American history has been going on for decades, but the traction for knocking down monuments seen in recent days raises new questions about whether it will result in a fundamental shift in how history is taught to new generations.

Why People Are Still Avoiding the Doctor (It’s Not the Virus) (NYT) While hospitals and doctors across the country say many patients are still shunning their services out of fear of contagion—especially with new cases spiking—Americans who lost their jobs or have a significant drop in income during the pandemic are now citing costs as the overriding reason they do not seek the health care they need. “We are seeing the financial pressure hit,” said Dr. Bijoy Telivala, a cancer specialist in Jacksonville, Fla. “This is a real worry,” he added, explaining that people are weighing putting food on the table against their need for care. “You don’t want a 5-year-old going hungry.” The twin risks in this crisis—potential infection and the cost of medical care—have become daunting realities for the millions of workers who were furloughed, laid off or caught in the economic downturn. It echoes the scenarios that played out after the 2008 recession, when millions of Americans were unemployed and unable to afford even routine visits to the doctor for themselves or their children.

Children are only half as likely to get infected by the coronavirus, study finds (Washington Post) Children and teenagers are only half as likely to get infected with the coronavirus as adults age 20 and older, and they usually don’t develop clinical symptoms of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, according to a study published Tuesday. The findings could influence policymakers who are facing tough decisions about when and how to reopen schools and day-care centers. Distance learning has been challenging for teachers, students and parents, and there is pressure on officials to restart in-person schooling and day care to free up parents who have been juggling work and child care. From the start of the pandemic, it has been known that children are typically spared the worst effects of the disease. They rarely die of it. But they can still get sick and can spread the virus, including to older family members who are more likely to have a severe illness. The reasons for the apparent protective effect of youth are not clearly understood.

The hack of CIA hackers (WSJ) A “woefully lax” security culture within the Central Intelligence Agency’s elite hacking unit that favored building cyber weapons over protecting its own computer systems from intrusion allowed for the 2016 theft of top-secret hacking tools, according to an internal report written by the spy agency disclosed on Tuesday. The hacking tools were published by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks in early 2017, a disclosure totaling more than 8,000 pages. The leak of the so-called Vault 7 documents was widely viewed as one of the most devastating security breaches in the CIA’s history. It included details about the agency’s playbook for hacking smartphones, computer operating systems, messaging applications and internet-connected televisions. The internal audit, published in October 2017 by CIA’s WikiLeaks Task Force, described the theft as the “largest data loss in CIA history.” It said an employee stole anywhere from 180 gigabytes to 34 terabytes of information, a haul roughly equivalent to 11.6 million to 2.2 billion pages in Microsoft Word. The report said it was possible the CIA may have never learned of the theft had the trove not been published by WikiLeaks.

Trump signs police reform executive order that focuses on training (Washington Post) President Trump on Tuesday addressed the issue of police brutality by taking executive action that would provide incentives for police departments to increase training about the use of force and to strengthen a national database to track misconduct. The executive order falls short of the more sweeping policy changes activists have called for following the death of a black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis last month. Trump’s executive order comes as the prospects for police reform legislation on Capitol Hill remain unsettled. House Democrats are moving forward with a sweeping package that would ban police chokeholds, make it easier for victims of police violence to sue officers and departments and create a national database of police misconduct, among other measures. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that the House legislation “is going nowhere in the Senate,” blasting the measure as “typical Democratic overreach.” Republicans in the Senate are assembling a package of their own, one that may have some overlap with the Democratic proposal but will likely take a far less aggressive approach.

Scientists made 1 small edit to human embryos. It had a lot of unintended consequences. (The Week) A human embryo editing experiment gone wrong has scientists warning against treading into the field altogether. To understand the role of a single gene in early human development, a team of scientists at the London-based Francis Crick Institute removed it from a set of 18 donated embryos. Even though the embryos were destroyed after just 14 days, that was enough time for the single edit to transform into “major unintended edits,” OneZero reports. The unintended edits exemplify the single biggest concern of gene editing, especially when it involves humans. And to Fyodor Urnov, a gene-editing expert and professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, it sends a clear message: “This is a restraining order for all genome editors to stay the living daylights away from embryo editing.”

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández tests positive for coronavirus (Washington Post) President Juan Orlando Hernández said late Tuesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus but was suffering only mild symptoms and would continue in his job. He plans to isolate himself but continue running the government, he said in a statement. The president said two of his aides and his wife, Ana García, have also tested positive for the virus.

Suriname president loses (Foreign Policy) Suriname’s electoral authority has now verified that President Desi Bouterse lost in the country’s national elections last month, paving the way for his exit after almost 40 years at the center of Surinamese politics. Bouterse was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in November for ordering the execution of 15 of his political rivals. Until now, presidential immunity had kept him out of prison.

Trouble in Dijon (Times of London) Three Chechen men were shot and injured on the French Riviera in the latest clash between migrants from the Caucasian republic and local drug dealers. The violence has thrown President Macron’s government onto the defensive amid claims that police have done little to defuse tensions between Chechens and French people of north African origin. The shootings followed chaotic scenes in Dijon, Burgundy, as dozens of Chechens with firearms and baseball bats occupied swathes of the city for three nights. When they had left, local youths responded by firing shots into the air, burning cars and attacking journalists. Six people were injured, including a pizza restaurant owner who was shot in the back. As 147 riot police were dispatched to Burgundy on Monday in an attempt to restore peace, a gunfight erupted on a council estate in Nice. Three Chechen men were hospitalized and one was in a critical condition yesterday. France Bleu Alpes Maritimes, a local radio station, said the latest shootings came amid “high tensions” between Chechens on the one hand and north Africans and Cape Verdeans on the other, “against a backdrop of provocations, score-settling and drug dealing.”

Amid Brexit impasse, Germany urges no-deal preparations (Reuters) The German government is urging other EU states to prepare for a no deal Brexit, according an internal document that casts doubt on Britain’s optimism over chances of an early agreement on its future ties with the bloc. Britain left the European Union on Jan. 31 and their relationship is governed by a transition arrangement that keeps previous rules in place while new terms are negotiated. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who confirmed last week that Britain has no intention of extending that transition beyond 2020, wants to strike a free trade deal quickly. But the German government document, dated June 15 and seen by Reuters, shows Berlin expects the negotiations to take longer. “From September, the negotiations enter a hot phase,” it read. “Britain is already escalating threats in Brussels, wants to settle as much as possible in the shortest possible time and hopes to achieve last-minute success in the negotiations.” “It is therefore important to preserve the unity of the 27, to continue to insist on parallel progress in all areas (overall package) and to make it clear that there will be no agreement at any price,” the document read.

China and India Point Fingers After Deadly Clash (Foreign Policy) A picturesque Himalayan border region between India and China became the site of military conflict on Monday, as tensions that had been building between the nations for the past few months finally led to deadly hand-to-hand clashes. The Indian army initially said three of their soldiers had been killed, but this figure was later revised to 20, after adding that an additional 17 had died from their injuries. Although it’s likely China also suffered casualties, Chinese authorities have yet to release any figures. An Indian foreign ministry spokesman said the clash arose from “an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo.” His Chinese counterpart laid the blame on India for “provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides.” The skirmish comes at a time when Chinese officials are under increasing pressure to be “performatively nationalist,” leading to concerns that this won’t wind down quickly. If cooler heads do not prevail, the mountainous region may prove to be a brake on any quick escalation. “The conditions in the Himalayas themselves severely limit military action; it takes up to two weeks for troops to acclimate to the altitude, logistics and provisioning are extremely limited, and air power is severely restrained.”

Beijing faces new coronavirus outbreak (AFP, Yahoo) Beijing on Tuesday urged its residents to not leave the city and closed schools again as authorities scramble to contain a “severe” new coronavirus outbreak in the city of 21 million people. The coronavirus resurgence—believed to have started in the capital’s sprawling Xinfadi wholesale food market—has prompted alarm as China had largely brought its outbreak under control through mass testing and draconian lockdowns. “Anyone leaving Beijing must have a negative reading on a nucleic acid test taken within seven days (prior to departure),” Chen Bei, deputy secretary general of Beijing municipal government, said at a press conference. Residents of “medium- or high-risk” areas of infection are completely banned from leaving. Non-residents and outside vehicles are prohibited from entering communities and villages in medium and high risk areas, Chen said. He added that the higher risk residential areas are “fully enclosed and controlled”—similar to strict local measures imposed in Wuhan at the height of the pandemic. The local education commission announced that all schools, which had mostly reopened, would close again and return to online classes. Universities were told to suspend the return of students. “The epidemic situation in the capital is extremely severe,” Beijing city spokesman Xu Hejian warned at a press conference.

Korean peace process explodes (Foreign Policy) There is private despair among Chinese diplomats following Pyongyang’s explosive provocations this week, including the destruction of the inter-liaison office with South Korea. Pyongyang’s recalcitrance about economic and social reform has long baffled Chinese counterparts, who point to their own economic success as an example of what the country could achieve if it followed in China’s footsteps. “I don’t know what they’re thinking,” one Chinese academic who has had frequent contact with North Korean diplomatic delegations said.

[pnwpol]

On the last day of 2019, the Supreme Court of British Columbia released its decision in Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. v. Huson.  The decision of Madam Justice Church grants an interlocutory injunction and corresponding enforcement orders in favour of Coastal GasLink, a subsidiary of TC Energy Corporation (neé TransCanada Pipelines) to physically remove persons impeding access to roads needed to complete construction of a 670km natural gas pipeline from northeastern British Columbia to a liquefied natural gas export facility to be built near Kitimat (the “Project”).

The decision and corresponding fallout is attracting international media attention. The RCMP has started making arrests while land defenders vow to remain where they are. The UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and B.C.’s independent Human Rights Commission have urged Canada to stop work until it obtains free, prior, and informed consent (“FPIC”) from all impacted First Nations. Premier John Horgan has vowed that the Project will be built, while the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has responded even more aggressively, calling alignment with the position of land defenders ‘embarrassing’. For a province largely void of treaties and a string of high-profile projects recently stalled, the stakes are high.

As ground zero for the resolution of these conflicts, the court is uniquely privileged to provide instruction to those wrestling with what development of massive resource projects looks like in the era of UNDRIP. Unfortunately, this judgement does not rise to the occasion.  Echoing decisions from eras long past, there’s a clear undercurrent here that despite the Wet’suwet’en hereditary houses’ claims to aboriginal title, Coastal GasLink has done enough.  Details of the company’s development efforts are repeatedly mentioned: that it has secured permits from the province; that it has reached community benefit agreements with the Indian Act band councils (as opposed to the hereditary houses) along the route; that a handful of Wet’suwet’en individuals support the Project and the Instagram account of one of the defendants doesn’t.

But in discounting the influence of indigenous customary laws and repeating Coastal GasLink’s checked development boxes, what emerges as clearly absent from the judgement’s fact summary is an unequivocal statement of consent from the Wet’suwet’en. That’s the effectiveness of a consent standard: it’s clear, and its absence sticks out like a sore thumb.  The Office of the Wet’suwet’en participated in the Environmental Assessment Office’s Working Group for the Project and actively proposed an alternative route for it.  Madam Justice Church notes that Coastal GasLink explored this option, but unilaterally rejected it.  Unsurprisingly, subsequent offers to negotiate agreements with the Office of the Wet’suwet’en have not been accepted.  Some members from Wet’suwet’en houses directly impacted by the Project (i.e. the defendants) have therefore taken a stand, acting in accordance with the exclusive rights their houses are claiming in the courts.

Aboriginal Title claims exist because the need for treaties were ignored by B.C.’s early settler governments. The test to prove Aboriginal Title was set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in its Delamuukw decision, in which the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, on their own behalf and on behalf of their houses, were the plaintiffs.  Aboriginal Title recognizes the right of Aboriginal people to occupy and use their own lands and not to have these lands taken away by others without their consent.

Proving Aboriginal Title requires the demonstration of exclusive use of the land – the ability to keep others out – at the time of the assertion of Crown sovereignty, and continued use of the land since that time. About exclusivity, the court in Delgamuukw stated the following:

“Exclusivity, as an aspect of aboriginal title, vests in the aboriginal community which holds the ability to exclude others from the lands held pursuant to that title.  The proof of title must, in this respect, mirror the content of the right.  Were it possible to prove title without demonstrating exclusive occupation, the result would be absurd, because it would be possible for more than one aboriginal nation to have aboriginal title over the same piece of land, and then for all of them to attempt to assert the right to exclusive use and occupation over it.” [Emphasis and Underline Added]

Contrary to the reasoning above, the Coastal GasLink decision holds that because aboriginal title claims of the Wet’suwet’en have yet to be resolved, present day demonstration of exclusivity must be relaxed to allow Coastal GasLink access to the lands. It’s an untenable and head-scratching catch 22 that precisely demonstrates the predicament Canada’s indigenous communities find themselves in as we enter the third decade of this century: the test for aboriginal title requires proof of exclusive use; once proven you will have exclusive use; but you have to give up exclusive use in the interim.

We’ve written in the past that in situations such as this one, the potential for conflict becomes increasingly more acute as the period between claims assertion and resolution is extended, and furthermore that fostering environments conducive to consent is the Crown’s only choice in balancing competing priorities of economic development and indigenous reconciliation during this time.  This is because, unlike the form-over-substance activities associated with proving adequacy of consultation, whether or not consent has been obtained is objectively clear.  The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People adopted FPIC as its governing standard for this reason, a standard which has been operationalized internationally because the decreased risk associated with obtaining it is bankable.   Aspects of a project that stand to impact territory where consent has not been achieved do not proceed.

Instructing all interested parties to roll up their sleeves and undertake the tough work necessary to foster an environment conducive to consent is the solution British Columbia needs, now.  This is the solution the Premier should be vowing to achieve. The Court in Delgamuukw understood this, urging “a process of negotiation and reconciliation that properly considers the complex and competing interests at stake.” More than 20 years later, the decision in Coastal GasLink misses the opportunity to serve as a timely reminder.

-----

“The B.C. Supreme Court’s Decision in Coastal Gaslink: A Missed Opportunity to Provide Instruction on Exclusivity and Consent” Legal Commentary by Oliver MacLaren | Link | PDF

[celestinaruns]

The river valley exacted its revenge--and it was definitely angry

At 4 am on Sunday morning, the sun was already rising in Edmonton. I had kept my curtains open, partly not expecting the light to be streaming in so soon, partly hoping for it because I thought I would sleep in. Silly, really, because I was tossing and turning all night.

I had packed everything I needed the night before. Correction: everything I thought I would need to take on the 50 km course at the Canadian River Valley Revenge, Summer Edition. I had done some research, fully expecting a 50 km trail race to be a whole other monster in comparison to the road marathons I was used to. This wouldn’t be some marked course I could breeze through, after all, and that extra 7.8 km was going to hit me hard.

Of course, even with my own nerves, I hardly knew what I was in for.

The race debrief at RVR was friendly and realistic. It actually calmed me down to hear the race directors tell us that, honestly, this course was no joke. It would be tough--but we would be fine. My favourite part of the debrief was when they discussed how much they wanted their race to be as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. No plastic markers on the course--just ground spray and sparing use of ribbon markers in the trees. No cups at aid stations. No single-use material. After spending the last month thinking on how to make my hobby of running less impactful on the environment, it almost felt like I was right where I was supposed to be. But that’s a topic for another blog post. (Spoiler alert?)

Just standing at the start line, I could tell that this was a race unlike any other I had run before. Fellow runners were friendly and conversational, despite the fact that it was 6 am and this was a race. It was very clear to me before we even started running that there was a sense of humility you can’t quite find at big city road races.

And then we were off.

The course started out fine. It was hilly and narrow and very technical, but I was feeling good. And even when I hit my first massive hill and found myself breathless, I reached the top and just stopped for a moment. The sun was still rising and there was a fog settling on the water. After that, with every view I got to see and every step I took, I started to care less and less about my time and my pace. I was having fun, despite the burning in every muscle in my body.

The fog, of course, came to bite me in the ass later in the day. The moisture turned a very narrow cliffside trail into something like a slanted wall of mud that I had to scale, stretching for 2 miles. That alone took me 50 minutes. By the time I got to the end, though, I stopped again, looked out onto the water and down at myself, covered in mud from my thighs down, with a realization finally setting in.

Today wouldn’t be about speed and pace records and other road race jargon. It was about surviving the adventurous trails of the river valley and enjoying my surroundings.

The course didn’t suddenly get easy just because I had decided to run for myself and not for anyone else, of course, but it did become a lot more enjoyable. For those that have never experienced the Edmonton river valley, it’s something else. Almost entirely undeveloped, the terrain is anything but kind. The trails have been shaped by adventurous mountain bikers, trail runners, and cross-country skiers that came before, and a lot of them have their own little quirks. I found myself smiling as I was ducking and leaping over logs, and I didn’t hesitate to use my hands whenever I reached a hill that was so steep it may as well have been vertical.

I paid big time, physically speaking. Aside from the muddy wetness in my shoes and socks, I also had splinters all over my palms and cuts on my legs and arms. I ran out of water a couple of miles before the first aid station, underestimating the heat and the exhaustion my body was enduring. But I made it there, I chugged back some cola like I had never tasted it before in my life, and I took a breather.

I hadn’t opted to drop off a box of extra things at the aid station the day before because... well, I had underestimated the course, despite all of my planning. “Just 50 km, why would I need a change of anything?” had been my thought process. As I stood under that tent, though, my wet socks squelching under my weight, I resolved that I wouldn’t be making that mistake at my next ultra.

Just over halfway through, and there it was! Already, the words “my next ultra” were passing through my mind. I must’ve been going crazy.

As I left the aid station, I realized that I felt... really good. In pain, yes, but I wasn’t nauseous or anything--and that was a big deal. Nausea while running intensely has been a huge issue for me in the past, but something about that race sat well with me. Maybe it was the solid food, or maybe it was the perfect combination of sugar, caffeine, and carbonation from the cola that settled my stomach. Either way, I was bouncing happily along Old Tramp on my way to get a poker chip to prove that I had been to the mysterious trampoline in the middle of Edmonton’s river valley. 

I loved that, too. Not the trampoline, specifically, but the hidden gems of Edmonton trail running, which includes the trampoline-- as well as Golfball Alley, with its audience of golf balls spectating your run, and Six Shooter, with its hidden plastic revolver that I have yet to find (one day). All trash, in anyone else’s eyes, but quirks and traditions that remain untouched and unmoved by everyone that makes their way through the treacherous terrain.

It was when I doubled back on Old Tramp that I missed a marker that cost me an extra 4 km. Not something I gave much thought, though. In a road race, I would have been frustrated at myself for the time loss. I remember being delayed a couple of minutes at Red Deer and muttering angrily to myself for the next few kilometres. Now, though, I simply shrugged it off. “Just part of the adventure, we live, we learn,” I told myself easily.

The race hit a lot of exposed areas after that, just as the hot sun started shining its brightest. I had just gotten my second poker chip on the other side of the river when I found that my water was already starting to run quite low, and it would be a while until the next aid station. Next time, I would get the 2 L hydration bladder, I had resolved. Next time!

In a miraculous turn of events, an unmanned water station had been set up along the route passing EPCOR, by some of its employees. It had been at the perfect time, just when my water was completely out, and that was enough to get me to the next and final manned aid station.

In a moment of inspiration, I filled one of my bottles with half cola half water, and the other entirely with water. For whatever the reason, the cola had sat well with me once before, so I thought it would help me get through the rest of the day. Only another 12 km, after all. Hardly anything in comparison to what I had just run.

Once I had my fill of some fruit and got some of my more painful splinters out, I was off once more. Again, there was an unmanned aid station along the trail where I filled up on my cola and water. It was set up by a man and a woman living in the area, both of them ultra runners, both content with spending the day helping us out. The only other time I had seen something like that had been at Boston, but this was different. I felt like I had the time to stop, take a breather, and actually chat with them. The atmosphere wasn’t filled with the same frenzy and madness one finds at packed road races. I could hear the crickets in the tall grass and had a beautiful view of the river. 

That was easily one of my favourite stops, not only because of how kind the people had been, but also because my stomach and I discovered that rice, apparently, sits very well with me in the middle of a race.

After that, the route wasn’t quite as bad. It wasn’t until I finished the race that I found out I ran another extra 4 km by taking a loop that had been intended only for the 50 and 100 mile racers. It was a mistake that many of the 50 km runners had made, though, and in the moment of racing it hadn’t clicked in my mind at all--I just couldn’t understand why the last 12 km was definitely not 12 km.

The route was fine, though, and almost too easy--which should have been the dead giveaway. The last 2 miles of the course brought me into the deep woods once more, traversing creeks and roots and fallen logs with an ironic combination of carefulness and hurriedness. Every once in a while the trail would get closer to the city and I could hear the cheers from the finish line, and then it would dive back down into stubborn and aggressive ravine. My quads were starting to give out and my feet dragging. At this point, my knees were doing most of the work and I’m convinced it was that last kilometre that gave me most of my scratches.

A brutal last kilometre, one we had been warned about that morning. The fastest finish time for it had been 15 minutes. I had taken about 21 minutes, and that alone had actually made me very proud of myself. As soon as I realized that I was near the top, I was scrambling up and running as fast as I could to cross the finish line.

And then it was over, just like that. I received my medal and my free beer. I walked around aimlessly for a bit, too scared of sitting down in case I wouldn’t be able to stand up again. Honestly, I don’t even remember if I got my burger before or after I changed into dry clothes, but I did get it at one point. I also remember defending salt & vinegar chips as the best chip flavour to a skeptic across the table from me. The rest is a bit hazy.

Even at the end, the words at my next ultra were still running through my head. Yeah, I was destroyed. Still am. My legs and arms are covered in scratches. My ankles are bruised. My fingers are still sore from the splinters that were stuck in there for hours. I have a tan line that I’m 99% sure could be turned into a meme, and so much chafing that I had to resort to wiping my body with wet wipes instead of having a full shower. But it was fun.

In the end, my wrong turns cost me an extra 8.2 km. I finished my 58.2 km in 9:21:23 on a course that was intended to be 50 km with a 10 hour time limit. I was far from speedy and definitely nowhere near the top, but I hadn’t trained on most of that terrain. I hadn’t even thought that it could get that intense, so I had mostly, and naively, kept to well-groomed trails. Once during my training, I reached a somewhat scary trail and simply turned around, thinking that it couldn’t be that bad. That trail ended up being one of the easiest singletracks on the whole course. I hadn’t known what to expect in terms of my nutrition and hydration needs. I hadn’t thought to leave changes of clothes and shoes at the aid stations. There was simply so much I wouldn’t have considered until actually running the race.

Despite the fact that I was far from my usual speedy, confident self that people see in a road race, and despite everything I hadn’t thought to do, I still just felt so happy to be there and to have been able to accomplish this amazing, insane feat. My body had done that. And yeah, my time needs work--but then I thought about how slow I had been when I first started running cross country in high school. Really slow. I didn’t quit, though, and simply just kept running whenever I could. Each step made me a little better, and the same thing applies to ultra trail races.

I feel like I’m on the cusp of a new chapter of my life, but not quite ready to leave the last one. I still want to make it to Boston in 2021 and I still have that need for speed that only road races can really satisfy. At the same time, though, I have found something I never knew I needed or wanted in ultra marathons and trail races--or adventure races, as the brutal terrain is affectionately dubbed. I think, for now, the one thing I truly want is to find a healthy, sustainable way to keep both of these in my life.

Most of all, though, I need a damn massage.

[mattyslittleworld]

6.

I’m in a cafe in a French little corner of Toronto called Leslieville. I’ve been on the road for a few days by myself, about to start a Canadian week run. My bro hit me about booking a small cool situation and honestly I needed it. First show is a house show and I pulled up to load in...a punk girl full of patches watering plants on her deck. The house looked condemned. I walk in and the house smells like cat shit, there’s stains everywhere, food everywhere, spaced out wonderful dedicated humans, and hardcore posters all over the walls, showing the house shows they’ve thrown over the years. The punk girl said they’ve been doing shows for 6 years. They slide the couch over and setup a PA. This is exactly what I need in my soul. I grew up in these punk squats all over the world. I am this. I come from this. These people don’t know who Casanova or Albee Al are. They don’t know Fetty Wap or Tsu Surf. They know Realm Hulud and this underground culture they love applying to the outside world that pushes them away. A truth to be romanticized.

 I felt like I burnt myself out a month ago. Taking my dreams and flipping them into reality - the loss of friendship and love made me march forward and demand a new life and once that door opened I ran full speed and never looked back....until Quad Studios a few months back. I looked in the mirror and found nothing of the person I was - no resemblance of that kid. That scared me. So when John hit me with this I accepted immediately and packed my shit. I just wanna have convos about challenging, progressive, active things. Trade road stories. Talk about 7inches. Hardcore and punk. I’m grateful to be able to experience both of these worlds. I asked the punk girl if there was a coffee shop and she said there’s a booouuugie one around the corner if “you like spending a lot of money” and when I got here the barista charged me 2 bucks. I love that fuck the system attitude, although at the same time I think I’m becoming a part of the system - the sold out, corporate side of the music business that we all ran against our whole lives. I mean I just wrote a song with Casanova about texting. I just rapped 4 bars with Tsu Surf about gucci sunglasses and Louie v coats and fucking in the back of an Uber. 

I packed my shit and went to NYC and finally got to check out the Queens Bridge housing that Nas grew up in. They were huge. So many. It was so awesome. You can sense the pride and community. From there I just drove around NYC finding spots I used to hangout in as a kid. Blasting inspiring tunes and just vibin out. 

Ended up in Spanish Harlem, Queens, China Town. Damn I love New York. At 4 am I left and started my drive to Canada with a stop at Niagara Falls, where I had a Hotel for 2 days waiting for me. I checked in and just cooled out for 2 days it was amazing. I forgot how much I love touring alone. I drove a half hour to Andy’s house and hung out with him and his wife for the night. And damn did I need that. I needed trust. Loyalty. Familiarity. Friendship. Somebody who grew up fighting like me. Who left that life behind like me. Who’s been in real trouble and seen real life hell like me. We both came so far.  Beautiful.

Im currently in a hotel in Chicoutmi, Quebec. The window open, breeze coming in nice and sweet. Canadian currency everywhere. Coffee cups everywhere. Ive only eaten fruit the past 2 days. I feel good. Last night the drive was really lonely and long, but I toughed it out and here I am. Thinking back a few days ago to Toronto, I was so inspired and so electric. The hotel was right downtown and I walked all the way to Chinatown and the markets. Running around by myself blasting music. You go throughout your life knowing you need to outlive your demons - nights like that really defines that. The shows have been so cool. Great people. Great conversations. I have a few Canadians and im back in the states. 

Ive been editing three music videos along the way. One of which is with Casanova. Im really proud of this. I never thought id get to such a height of being in the room with someone as famous as him. We did the song and it was amazing - but for him to double back and hit this video with me and Rob, damn. The day of the shoot I was so quiet and so awkward before I left. Is this happening? Is this really a thing? Is he really gunna show up? A model is coming. Rooms have been rented. People have been invested. Its all on us. We got there early and set up the set. Ive said it many times before on here - my life socially is completely different. Everybody in my life is brand new and not many people know of my past musical endeavors or even my past in general. But having Rob and Colgan there with me really made me happy. Through thick and thin. I didnt hear from Cass all day so I shot him a text - no answer. I was like oh my god should I call and be annoying? Called him and immediately picked up AYO WHATS GOOD MATTY! 1030 right?! And I was like damn. This dudes a good dude. I asked him if he wanted any Hennessy and he said Yeah pick me up a bottle of dusse. I was like no problem dude….hung up…looked at Rob and went…”What is Dusse?” And he was like NO IDEA LOL. Hit Colgan who was on the way like yo can you scoop Cass some Dusse on the way?? He was like WTF IS THAT!!! I was like IDK so I did the whitest thing ive ever done (Besides being a white rapper) and sent him a google image screen shot and boom nailed it in time. Cass calls and belv goes to let him and his crew in and they mob up and its on. All love from there with such a good vibe. Me and my day 1’s making history…..I remember specifically me rob and Colgan at the port Monmouth skatepark hopelessly lost of a future. Written off by our town and society. Parents let down. Pieces of local shit that’ll amount to nothing. Here we are. Roc Nation….from the basements man. With Belv in the house - without him…none of this would be possible. Killed the video and it left me inspired to see bro just get in the back of a black suburban and drive off. Like damn. Thats wealth. Mentally, and financially. Thats inspiring to me. To be that much of a millionaire but still come and put on for some kids he sees potential in. 

I feel a void though. I want to share this all with somebody. Im ready for a relationship - I feel my mind and body gravitating towards that way of thinking and behavior. I think back to the days of having a home in someones heart….so comforting. I needed to run though. I needed this time. I needed to raise hell. I needed those fights, to fuck my life up. I NEEDED this. I needed to plant my feet on this planet and just get my name known. Make shit happen. The window is open right now…and a storm is rolling in off in the distance. You can see lightning. You can see the clouds darken. Wow. After this show im going to rush back here and just watch it on this sill. 

I feel extremely emotional right now. Im trembling. 

[pyrogina]

my keto experience

Intro/TL:DR

As a preface I can report that I lost 17lbs in 30 days while strictly adhering to a keto diet.  I'm a 34 year old canadian woman who works from home as an artist and a huge helping factor for me was the freedom to stay home on the bad days and the ability to purchase fresh meats and vegetables on a weekly basis. This is a really tough diet but if you put the right pieces in place, it might work for you too.  Additionally, I am NOT a dietitian/nutritionist in any way, shape, or form.  Everything posted here is from my own experience and a modicum of research on the net.  Please double-check my facts before you begin this diet for yourself.

Is keto for you?

The first and hardest question to ask yourself about a ketosis diet is, Can I Endure this? And you should not feel any guilt if the answer to that question is no, because this is a very invasive and aggressive diet that will cause you physical pain even if just for a brief amount of time. Similar to vegetarianism, or is extreme cousin, veganism, a keto diet involves cutting out large swaths of the food pyramid to facilitate this diet. This does not mean going hungry, the foods that are removed will be replaced with other foods, only without any (or minimal) artificial or natural sugars. Sugar is just a chemical, which doesn't sound like a huge sacrifice, right? Most adults don't bother adding sugar to anything other than tea or coffee, but sugar is much more deeply rooted in our lives than you may realize.

Carbohydrates can be found in virtually every type of ready-to-serve foods: breads, wraps, pastas, fried snacks, hors d'oeuvre (these are examples of things I ate before this diet). All of these delicious and very satisfying foods have a fiber content and sugar content. You're still allowed to consume these, and I encourage you do so, but make sure to monitor the grams of total carbohydrates you consume that day. During this diet you will only be allowed to consume 20 grams (to 50 grams, depending on your body and personal needs) a day. remember this. Those 20 grams of carbs maybe the difference between you having a normal day and one of the worst days of your life.

Before I chose to begin a keto diet, I had been exercising casually (as before I was sedentary, more details on this later) and consuming about half as many carbohydrates as I had normally done in my life before. During the two years I was living this way, I was able to lose approximately 20lbs (from about 230 to 210).  If you're starting your diet or lifestyle change from scratch, maybe try starting here first.  Its significantly slower (10lbs in nearly a year), but it will not cause any pain or significant inconvenience.

What’s the big deal?/What to eat?

Sugar is a chemical, and more than that, its a drug that your body has been dependent on since you were a wee baby in your mama’s belly.  Sugar makes your brain work and when you mess with your brain’s intake of the all-important-life-sauce it goes into panic mode. In the first 2-3 days (up to 6 if your me!) you will literally, physically go into a state of depression.  Many had described it to me as ‘keto flu’ but as a survivor of 2009s Swine flu, I can most assuredly tell you that keto is much, MUCH worse.

First, my appetite became very finicky (and i'm already a very picky eater).  I had no desire to eat the genuinely tasty keto meals that my boyfriend had lovingly prepared.  I didn't want to draw, and I wasn't even in the mood to play easy video games.  All I felt like doing was crying or sleeping (which I did, for 9 hours in the middle of my 3rd day).  This is why, whenever I speak to someone who’s even moderately interested in this diet to BOOK TIME OFF YOUR JOB!!! It’s inconceivable to me to be forced to face other human beings in this state of physical distress.  You need to pamper yourself while in this state in order to endure it and ensure your success.

There was one more bump in the road around the one-week point but i'm fairly certain it came down to a combination of dehydration and moodiness (period) so perhaps that was an outlier.  Either way, water is the key when you start feeling shitty.  Get yourself a nice BPA-free water bottle that you're comfortable carrying around and keeping full of fresh water.  Once your body is in ketosis (you can check using those little paper sticks you pee on from the drug store, wash your hands!) you will get tired and moody the very instant you become hungry at mealtimes.  Sometimes you don't even feel the familiar hunger pangs from your previous diet and mistake it for just a general bad mood. Always have a sip of water, babes; that’s your brain telling you to hydrate.

Alternatively, after eating a keto meal you still may feel hungry or unsatisfied, even sad (longing for your favourite dessert).  This is where those 20g of carbs come in pretty clutch.  Finding your perfect portion of reward may be impossibly difficult, I can only tell you what made me feel better when I got the cravings.  Blueberries are quite sweet, they have a lot of natural sugar, but a handful of them sufficed as an incredibly sweet treat (some keto dieters have proclaimed that ‘regular things taste much sweeter than before’, I didn't experience this). Minigo/iogo yoghurt cups are fatty and sweet and work as a decent replacement to ice cream (count the carbs!).  On extra tough mornings (in addition to bacon and eggs! Totally keto!) we would split a cavendish oven-fried hashbrown (about 15g; 7.5g split between my partner and I).

There are a surprising amount of natural foods that are not keto, but in careful proportions, can be incorporated into a daily keto diet.  Most every fruit (that I checked) is very sugary but can make for a nice dessert.  Certain vegetables like carrots or potato have too many carbs to be anything more than a boost when you feel shitty. Red onions have a very small amount of carbs (sugar and fibre work together to your benefit!) and server to replace pasta as a side to a nice steak dinner.

On that note, you need fibre to make your BMs move.  Cutting carbs from your life means your number 2’s go bunny mode…. Take a sugar-free metamucil on any day where you have more meat during a meal than other types of food, or the toilet will be a nightmare.

Meals:

Cutting away pastas, breads, and other sides seems like an insane task but with some discipline and creativity, it's quite manageable.  Breakfast didn't change much: eggs any way (sunny side for me, cheddar omelette for my BF) with bacon or sausage. Lunch was some combination of chicken breast and various salads (so many salad dressings are low or no carb! Read the back!). On steak night, we replace noodles with sauteed red onions fried and seasoning.  Snacktime was usually pre-sliced cheddar cheese (go NUTS that shit is A-OK!), unsalted peanuts (other nuts have marginally more carbs, almonds and sunflower are moderate, check what works for you), or small amounts of beef jerky.  Accompany those snacks with a big drink of water, or if you've had enough of that, certain drinks are acceptable like tea or coffee (with sweetner and high fat milk, skim milk is too sugary), diet sodas, sugarfree drink mix (migo, nestea).  Just remember water, water, water.

Is it worth it? Pros/Cons

Cons:

-HURTS LIEK DRUG WITHDRAWL (you're literally coming down from the lifelong chemical addiction of sugar.  It hurts like Trainspotting)

-MEAT (you will be consuming a lot of animal product)

-POOP (even when you have your metamucil, the toilet can take some time)

-SWEETS (the cravings for your favourite yumyums will almost never stop, it takes monk-like discipline)

-BORING (you can't go out and enjoy meals/drinks with friends and family without them or the restaurant making odd or even crappy exceptions.  Keto menu options are slowly becoming popular though)

-TIRED (the first week or two will be very tedious and you won’t have any energy, even your favourite hobbies may seen unfulfilling for a time)

-ALCOHOL (basically none, unless you like vodka and sugarfree mix, you'll get drunk a lot quicker and end up feeling shittier without carbs in your body to process the liquor)

Pros:

-INSTANT RESULTS (in my first week i lost nearly 10lbs, and then two for every subsequent week. note that, just like any diet, there will be bounce-back)

-APPETITE LOSS (once you get into the swing of this, after the 2 week mark, you’ll find you no longer are pained when your hungry and the bigger cravings subside)

-BUDGET (this is a bit of an odd one and may not necessarily reflect your cost benefits.  Before engaging in this diet, my BF and I discovered we were spending too much money on restaurants and leaving the food in the fridge to waste.  This was primarily because we were too lazy to cook.  Getting off our asses and cooking 6 days of the week made an immediate impact on this for us.  If you already do that, this won't apply.  Concurrently, we spent more money at the grocery store ensuring we always had fresh meat and vegetables; this did net us positive)

-REWARDING MEALS (having to stop and think about what it takes to make a tasty and satisfying meal has forced us to look at things in a different way.  Making yourself and your partner a healthy, supremely tasty meal gets those endorphins peaking)

-EXERCISE (Unnecessary! Your choice! Just note that building muscle increases your weight as muscle weights more than fat)

My fave meals:

-Coffee (reluctantly replacing 1tsp of sugar with a fairy-dust sprinkling of sweetner cos i HATE sweetner, its 20-30x stronger than sugar so you only need 1/20th as much)

-Eggs and bacon!!! (sausage sometimes too)

-Garlic grilled chicken with spinach salad (onions, sliced almonds, feta, dressing)

-Steak and red onions (meat rare and onions grilled with seasoning)

-Spicy ground pork tacos (replace the taco/burrito with large boston lettuce leaves, shredded cheddar, green onions, diced tomato, dab of ranch sauce)

-Baked chicken breast stuffed with ricotta and spinach, topped with parmesan

-Slow-cooked pulled pork slathered with sharp cheddar (just eat with a fork!)

-Baked shrimp with garlic butter and parmesan

-Jalapenos stuffed with ricotta, cream cheese and cheddar, then wrapped in a strip of bacon (great late-night snack)

-Even changing the texture of a cheese can change the taste of the meal.  Shredded cheddar adds a salty bite to a lettuce wrap, grated parmesan can trick a baked chicken breast into thinking its breaded.  creamy cheeses can replace other baking sauces entirely.

-Diet pops (make sure its 0 sugar!), and tea/coffees with sweetner are fine, they do contain a lot of sodium though, make sure to drink 1-for-1 with water (meaning: every diet coke or tea you have, accompany it with the same amount of plain water so your body can process it and pee it out).

Variations/Control:

Vitamins: It should be noted that I take a daily multivitamin (C3+D) as I generally don't get enough sun or fruits.  I highly recommend you take these just in general. They help keep skin soft and blemish free (I initially began taking these because of acne on upper arms and it cleared within days).

Activity: As briefly mentioned earlier, I began shifting from sedentary (not moving much, sitting for hours a day) to a more active lifestyle about 2-3 years ago. This entailed a personal regimen of making an attempt at physical activity approximately half the days of the month (period week was generally excluded).  Every other day I would attempt one of the following: walking at least 2km, 15-20m of floor exercises (‘lady push-ups’, sit-ups), 15-20m of time on the indoor bike, or an hour of house related chores (lifting, laundry, cleaning, anything that involves getting sweaty).  In addition to these, yoga is peppered into my lifestyle as frequently as possibly, particularly in the morning before breakfast. On days where i'm unable to exercise, I at least attempt the basic yoga poses to stave off my (no-longer chronic) back pain.

[kayla1993-world]

By spending more on defence, the true north concedes it must be stronger if it wants to stay free | CBC News

When federal governments make ambitious promises, Canadians are justified in their skepticism.

It took Ottawa 38 years, for example, to create a national child-care program, initially promised by Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives, resurrected but never implemented by Paul Martin's Liberals, and finally made into something of a reality by Justin Trudeau's minority government and all 10 provinces.

Now Ottawa is promising something even more ambitious. On Thursday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland essentially formalized Canada's entry into a global conflict between open, pluralistic democracies and nationalist, authoritarian states.

"The world's democracies — including our own — can be safe only once the Russian tyrant and they entirely vanquished his armies," Freeland said during her budget speech in Ottawa, referring to President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine.

Those are quite literally fighting words. Freeland's rhetoric has Canada, a relative spendthrift within NATO since the end of the Cold War, committed to combating continued Russian aggression and potential moves by other authoritarian states.

With its new spending plan, Canada is supposed to help the world's democracies win a global conflict while devoting 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product to defence spending, a level that remains below the North Atlantic Treaty Organization target of two per cent.

Freeland announced an additional $8 billion in defence spending over five years. That money is supposed to help Canada meet commitments to NATO, bolster cybersecurity, improve intelligence gathering and continue the modernization of NORAD, which handles North American air and maritime defence.

Winnipeg is a North American Aerospace Defence Command regional headquarters but any investment in infrastructure or jobs — if that ends up here, rather than the NORAD command in Colorado Springs, Colo. — would be years down the road, said Andrea Charron, director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba.

First, Canada has to bolster its ability to monitor a vast swath of the Arctic, where the movements of Russian ships and aircraft have become far more critical to observe.

But the mere fact a federal government is putting more money into conventional and cyber-defence is significant, Charron said, considering the way Canada has kicked the defence-spending can down the road for decades.

"Most budgets are notable for the cuts they take to the defence budget because it's one of the larger envelopes," she said, noting it's been tough for any Canadian government to sustain any focus on defence spending.

Mulroney, she noted, proposed the purchase of 12 nuclear submarines in 1987, only to see the Iron Curtain crumble two years later and the urgency for defence spending disappear.

Canada spent the 1990s viewing its military as a global peacekeeping force and allowing defence spending to wither. Then came the 20-year war in Afghanistan, with its fuzzy objectives and disastrous outcome.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, it's fair to surmise many Canadians no longer expect the military to serve purely as police officers overseas or as a component of disaster relief efforts here at home.

"There's always a balance that needs to be struck between defending Canada and North America versus help overseas, and sometimes you see a sort of these attention shifts," Charron said.

"So we are definitely in a shift in attention to homeland security because we now realize that North America is vulnerable."

That's not hyperbole in an era when cyber warfare makes it possible for hostile nations to cripple critical industries half a planet away.

Even conventionally, Canada's ability to assert its sovereignty over its vast Arctic archipelago is questionable. For example, Russia has six nuclear-powered icebreakers (with more on the way) capable of crunching through multi-year sea ice at speed.

The Canadian Coast Guard operates diesel-powered icebreakers, which can't move as quickly and have a far more limited range.

Still, hardware alone doesn't serve a deterrence function. Inuit leaders have spent decades impressing the need for Ottawa to view Arctic sovereignty outside of a purely military lens.

"It's vital that we include people in the Arctic, especially indigenous peoples," Charron said. "The active defence in the Arctic is healthy, viable, sustainable communities, and so any increase in funding or infrastructure because of military capabilities should always see if it can be dual-use.

"For example, if you need to extend a runway for the military, let's make sure it also operates for commercial use and resupplying local communities."

For some, the almost sudden urgency around beefing up Canada's ability to protect itself may seem jarring when this country is still recovering from the economic shock of the pandemic and has made relatively little headway in its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

But nothing focuses on public attention quite like an existential threat. The invasion of Ukraine woke many Canadians up to the consequences of an intensifying ideological, economic and strategic conflict between democracies and authoritarian states.

[nextlevelguydotcom]

Episode #130 Dean Stott on how to become relentless in your life

Today’s guest is Dean Stott on how to become relentless in your life! 

Dean is a former British Special Forces Soldier, 2x World Record Holder, Adventurer, Philanthropist, Author and International Speaker.

After making it through the Special Forces gruelling 6-month selection process, Dean became one of the very first army members to join the SBS (Special Boat Service). Throughout his esteemed military career, he has conducted deployments to overseas hostile environments and been involved in Counter-Terrorism operations; he has travelled to some of the toughest places in the world.

Dean left the military in 2011, after 16 honourable years of service but continues to live by the Special Forces’ ethos of ‘the unrelenting pursuit of excellence’. The determination required throughout his career has become an integral part of Dean’s character. He then established a distinguished career in the private security sector; he was renowned for his willing to take on any job, no matter how dangerous. The man who went, when others won’t. He has faced extortion, kidnapping, civil war, pirates, military coups and was single-handedly responsible for the evacuation of the Canadian embassy in 2014 rescuing 4 diplomats and 18 military personnel.

However, in 2016 Dean was ready for a new project and wanted to use this to help others. He began training to cycle the longest motorable road in the world – The Pan American Highway. Dean completed the 14,000 miles route from Argentina to Alaska in May 2018, gaining two world records and raising an incredible amount of money for charity in the process. Dean passed through 14 countries on his expedition, crossing some of the most dangerous passages in the world.

Prior to his training, Dean had never cycled more than a few miles. In the final stretch, Dean continued for 17 hours and driven by his determination, covered 340 miles on his longest day.

Dean is now a renowed international speaker, presenting to FTSE 100 companies, sporting bodies, military departments, schools and businesses. Dean has presented inspiring talks to 10,000 people at the O2 Arena through to 25 local children in impoverished areas.

Dean firmly believes, with the right mind set and plan, nothing you truly desire is out of reach. To him, impossible simple means, its hasn’t been done…..yet.

In this interview, we discuss:  

Benefits of the  Military lifestyle

How he went cycling 14,000 miles after only doing 20 miles at the most

The protocols and hacks you need to build to achieve your goals. 

Building resilience in your own life 

And so much more! 

Here are some key points that I would advise you to concentrate on

Your history is not your destiny - just because you start somewhere does not mean you need to stay there. It can be a tough journey to do, but it can be the making of you and your life.

People will alway criticize and badmouth others - the best way to prove it wrong is action, is to go for it. Why avoid chasing your dreams because of what someone else thinks? Yep, it's stupid! Ignore them and level up! 

 Instead of thinking of challenges are a bad thing, look at them as a chance to build your resilience skill, your ability to take on challenges and succeed. 

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Know your worth but don't bad mouth others - be confident in your skills, practice, train and build up your skills. Then keep quiet and get the work done to achieve your goals. 

Resilience is born in childhood, let your children play, go on adventures and learn their limits and abilities. Their future self will thank them. 

What gets measured, gets managed and achieved - set goals for yourself and go for them! A task with no deadline is just a dream. Pick a target, deadline, gather resources and go for it. 

Your body is like a river, it needs to keep flowing, moving and being challenged. You need an objective in your life, something to look forward to and challenge yourself with. 

Routine is important in life- adopt a military lifestyle and build routines into your life. ?Keep yourself busy, challenged and progressing daily. 

You can find a tribe of like-minded people, a community that can support and benefit people with friendships, motivation and assurance and accountability. Meetup.com, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and sports clubs are great places to find such people.

A great team, like a special forces team, have a range of operators, with differing skills and abilities that benefit the other members of the team. 

You can't control the uncontrollable - organise, rehearse, plan and action on what you can control, and forget the uncontrollable. Action and affect what you can control, let the other parts go. 

Top performers will do the basics at world class level, build a strong base of fundamentals in your life and skills.

Use a hot debrief when you are finished - before you clean up and shut off, look at what happened, what went well and how things could be improved. Then use this learning to keep building, evolving and adapt your approach for the next time to be better the next time. 

Be prepared, always have a contiguency plan in case things go wrong - hopefully you will never need it, but a well-rehearsed, organised and controlled fall-back plan can be the difference between your mission success or failure. 

Every challenge is a chance to grow. Each time you pick the easy way, you are going backwards. Every time you go for the challenge, you are growing, adapting and going forward towards your goals. 

Hard skills can be taught, but soft skills such as people skills and influencing others, can be what lets you hit that next level in life, access new resources, learn and everything in between. 

No man can be the best at everything. Build a network or friendships, relationships and connections to help each other achieve what you are going for. 

Break down large goals into smaller, manageable challenges. This way, the challenge won't be too overpowering and you will have an exact requirement in front of you, and you know what you need to achieve. You keep ticking them off, and you chip a bit off the iceberg each time until its gone. 

Action is important, but you need to rest too. Build a rest protocol and recovery periods into your life to avoid burning out. Find a mindfulness practice that can let you rest and recoup when needed and switch on your killer ability as its needed to perform at the top level. 

Check out this episode!

[vlouisaugustus]

Apply personally, or by letter addressed to Allen’s Fresh, Charles County.

Apply personally, or by letter addressed to Allen’s Fresh, Charles County.. With a laugh that slips out often, Rai says the punishing race was very tough, but "similar to my village [and what] I did everyday: carrying water, and going to the jungle, cutting grass.".

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[lasmarthome]

In The Hood: The Best Men's Hoodie Brands

The hoodie. Has any one piece of clothing come further throughout the span of the most recent twenty years? From being villainised by the press in the mid 2000s to peppering the first line of style week in the mid-to-late 2010s, this straightforward multicolor sweater mens has gone from cranky youngster backbone to high fashion saint quicker than a large portion of you perusing this have been alive. 

 Aided along by the standard reception of athletic apparel, the ascent of athleisure and the cross-fertilization of high style and streetwear, what was once uniform for muggers and adolescent loners is currently reasonable game all things considered workplaces. 

 In the event that you don't possess something like one by this point, you're a bit late to the party. In any case, with the hoodie's always developing prominence and standard acknowledgment, it's never past the point where it is possible to get included. Here we investigate the brands doing it best and dig further into present day menswear's unlikeliest exemplary. 

 The Current Hoodie 

 oday's hoodie is still certainly an easygoing piece of clothing. It's not at all formal and, in contrast to a pullover, is difficult to try and spruce up under a games coat. Yet, there are degrees: toward one side there's the messy, somewhat outsized blurred and printed hoodie that is fine for sleeping on the couch or flying to the bar on a Sunday. At the opposite end there is the dull, trim-fitting, plain hoodie, which is smooth and respectable. 

 The Best Hoodie Brands For Men 

 Need to add this flexible vital for your easygoing stockpile? Underneath you will discover the names worth thinking about with regards to excellent hoodies, each adored for various reasons. 

 The First: Champion Converse Weave 

Where preferable to begin once again with the innovator of the style? Legacy athletic apparel brand Champion has been fabricating official units for the American public groups and pro athletics clubs for ages, so they know some things about delivering hoodies that look great and perform. Its licensed converse weave cotton is additionally hardwearing and decreases shrinkage, so you can have confidence your hoodie will search useful for a long time to come. 

 Extraordinary Worth: A Day's Walk 

f you're looking for a great, negligible hoody that you can wear day in, day out, look no further. Being a direct-to-purchaser mark, A Day's Walk removes the go between, which means you get a superior level item at a reasonable value point. 

 The Swedish brand's hoodies are accessible in six exemplary colourways and made in Portugal from a thick, comfortable wool back texture that is intended to break in and form to your body with day by day wear. A genuine closet fundamental that offers heavenly incentive for cash. 

 Grown Up Choice: L'Estrange London 

L'Estrange London produces agreeable, seasonless, adaptable pieces that are intended to be worn in any setting. What's more, the brand's Monochrome Hood is the embodiment of this: planned as a shrewd coat, with the solace of a lavish delicate cotton hoodie, it is a through and through more astute, more refined interpretation of a casualwear exemplary that can be spruced up or down effortlessly. Accessible in three ageless colourways, it will immediately become something you go after day in, day out. 

 English Quality: Sunspel 

English brand Sunspel are prestigious for their superior interpretation of closet nuts and bolts, and its scope of sweats satisfies this standing. Their hoodies are made from great loopback cotton to guarantee life span and breathability, and arrive in a scope of nonpartisan, block-shading plans that will coordinate with everything in your current closet. 

 Sports Luxury: Defending champion 

A result of the ascent of sports luxury and athleisure, Canadian brand Defending champion works in premium athletic wear. Created from excellent materials that they plan and create in-house, with an accentuation on tough development and unmatched solace, this is modern athletic apparel that is intended to be worn both all around of the rec center. 

 Road Cred: Stussy 

Streetwear has become enormous business over ongoing years with everybody from the high road to extravagance originators looting skate culture for plan motivation. So assuming you need to get in on the pattern in a real way, look to one of the first purveyors and backers of the scene: Stussy. Made by its eponymous originator Shaun in 1980, expect hardwearing hoodies that can tolerate upping to day by day wear and accompany a solid portion of road cred. 

 Fashioner Allure: Gucci 

There could be no more blazing originator name in the world right now than Gucci. Under the imaginative heading of Alessandro Michele, the extravagance Italian spic and span's 1970s-propelled stylish bids to everybody from design insiders to hip-bounce stars to Hollywood Superstars. It was likewise the brand that reignited the current logo pattern, so in case you will binge spend a month's lease on a hoodie, it should gather jealous looks. 

 Skate Symbol: Carhartt WIP 

Skatewear isn't ideal for everybody, especially in case you're a man of a particular age. In any case, when it's as straightforward and elegantly executed as Carhartt WIP, we would all be able to get in on the activity. The legacy American workwear name's metropolitan well disposed European partner makes the absolute best hoodies going, and at costs that will not avoid you with regard to stash. The most awesome thing? That exemplary Carhartt construct quality that implies you'll be still be going after it in 20 years' time.

[ashleesbookishadventure]

The Gown by Jennifer Robson

*Disclaimer - this post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thanks for your support! Here’s a link to my full disclosure statement.

“Millions will welcome this joyous event as a flash of color on the long road we have to travel.”—Sir Winston Churchill on the news of Princess Elizabeth’s forthcoming wedding

London, 1947: Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory, burdened by onerous shortages and rationing, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation despite their nation’s recent victory. Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, embroiderers at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, but their nascent hopes for a brighter future are tested when they are chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime honor: taking part in the creation of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown.

Toronto, 2016: More than half a century later, Heather Mackenzie seeks to unravel the mystery of a set of embroidered flowers, a legacy from her late grandmother. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding almost seventy years before? And what was her Nan’s connection to the celebrated textile artist and holocaust survivor Miriam Dassin?

With The Gown, Jennifer Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with a sweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitous costs of victory, she introduces readers to three unforgettable heroines, their points of view alternating and intersecting throughout its pages, whose lives are woven together by the pain of survival, the bonds of friendship, and the redemptive power of love.

I loved this book! To be honest, I didn’t think I would like it when I first heard about it. But the story isn’t all what it presents itself to be. Yes, part of the story takes place around the Royal Wedding of Queen Elizabeth II but that’s just the setting. It’s not really about the wedding at all. It’s about the embroiderers who make Elizabeth’s gown for her wedding and so much more. It’s about love, friendship, dealing with tough issues, and growing from tragedy.

This is a two timeline story with 3 points of view. Ann is an embroiderer at a shop in London. One day, she meets Miriam, a new embroiderer at the shop, and they become friends. Miriam has some secrets though and Ann doesn’t pry. When the shop they work for is cho0sen to make the wedding gown for the princess, everything changes in their lives. Many years later, we hear from Heather in Canada. Heather is Ann’s granddaughter and, after losing her job, decides to travel to London to see what she can find out about her very secretive grandmother.

The story these 3 women tell is beautiful. I laughed, I cried, I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to stay with these women throughout their lives even after their story was done. One slightly negative thing, I listened to it on audio and I didn’t love the narrator. It would have been better suited with a full cast. Multiple different accents that didn’t always sound right. That is my very small nitpick for an overall fantastic book.

5-stars!

Jennifer Robson first learned about the Great War from her father, acclaimed historian Stuart Robson, and later served as an official guide at the Canadian National War Memorial at Vimy Ridge, France. A former copy editor, she holds a doctorate in British economic and social history from the University of Oxford. She lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and young children.

[concerthopperblog]

20 Standout Roots and Americana Albums of 2020: 20-11

It's tough to think of very much good about 2020, much less “best” or favorite”, unless you count it almost being over. But, while those of us who love live music (and you can guess, at a site called “Concert Hopper” that's all of us) have been suffering, one result of artists being off the road is that it's given them time to create some stellar albums. Even keeping to roots music, culling down my list of favorites to 20 was a chore, and I left some very worthy albums on the table. Note I said “favorite” there, not “best.” Plenty of sites will be giving you the “best” albums over the next few weeks. I'm not that vain. As Concert Hopper's resident roots music consumer, I'm one man with one set of ears. I can't possibly hear even 1/10th of all the albums released in a year, much less tell you what is the best. My hope is that, in the 20 albums contained in this and the forthcoming article, you will find something you haven't heard before, or something that you may have, but need to give another try.

A note on my methodology, just to curb the outrage. My list has always excluded live albums, re-records, cover albums, and compilations, just to keep the number manageable. So that's why you won't see Sturgill Simpson's excellent Cuttin' Grass or Margo Price's Perfectly Imperfect listed here. I broke that rule twice this year, but have endeavored to explain why in the individual comments.

But enough housekeeping! Let's get to the first half of what I consider the 20 standout roots and Americana albums of 2020. Where I reviewed the album, I have included a link to the full review. Where I haven't, I have included a Youtube link to one of the album's songs.

20. Antsy McClain- 15 Songs From Isolation For anyone who is a fan of Antsy McClain or his band The Trailer Park Troubadours, it was no surprise that he was one of the first to release a full album of songs written and recorded during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Always a DIY kind of artist, this setup really isn't all that different than many of his albums. The real sell for 15 Songs From Isolation is another of McClain's hallmarks; finding the humor and silver lining in even the darkest moments.

19. Chicago Farmer- Flyover Country “Flyover country” is a pejorative term, supposedly used to by coastal elites to describe the residents of the Midwest and the South, places they only “fly over.” Mostly it's a term used by conservative pundits to fire up those same heartland residents. But it's a perfect title for an album by Chicago Farmer. His songs weave relatable tales about the oddballs and misfits who provide color to any small town; the people who complain about “$13 Beers” at arena shows and spend their paychecks “All in One Place.”

18. Della Mae- Headlight When I first saw them as the opening at at Americanafest's smallest venue a few years back, I knew Della Mae was going to be something special. Since that time, the lineup has changed and the people wanting to see them wouldn't fit in The Station Inn. But the things I loved then, a firm grounding in roots traditions with a willingness to experiment with new sounds and inject a much needed dose of feminist fire into a bluegrass genre that has traditionally been fairly chauvinistic, is present in spades on Headlight, bolstered greatly by assistance from gospel vocalists The McCrary Sisters, who should be contractually obligated to appear on any album with a chorus.

17. KIT- EP When I put this list together, having Della Mae and KIT next to each other was an accident; but it ended up being a fun one. I discovered KIT aka Katie Wighton's band All Our Exes Live in Texas in the exact same circumstances as Della Mae. Following the Australian folksters on social media led me to Wighton's solo debut. For those looking for Exes type harmony, you're out of luck. Instead, KIT uses her freedom to explore power pop, punk, and country soul. At an economical 15 minute run time, KIT won't take you long to sample, and it's as good a quarter hour as you'll spend all year.

16. Secret Emchy Society- The Chaser While Queer Country has been around for decades, it's just now grown enough to start to get noticed, and many people misunderstand the label, thinking they're signing up for “message” songs about inclusion. While that exists if it's what you want, it's not what you'll find on The Chaser. Instead, Secret Emchy Society simply wants to be out (and if you think all that's over, go look up the furor around “Girl Crush” a few years back) while producing a slate of hard living, hard drinking, and hard fighting barroom country. Album standout “Whiskey Fightin’ Terri” sounds like Waylon Jennings' lyrics if interpreted by Robin Weigert's Calamity Jane from Deadwood.

15. Cinder Well- No Summer The most rewarding part of this job is finding bands you've never heard and likely never would have without a random press release. For me this year, that was Cinder Well. The “doom folk” group formed by Irish singer-songwriter Amelia Baker has one of the most original takes on roots music of 2020, and one that fits the year. Owing as much to the atmospheric dread of early Black Sabbath as to Appalachian and British folk, Baker has crafted the perfect album for the isolation and desperation felt by many during a year best forgotten. Cinder Well is a band I hope to keep with me long after this pandemic is over.

14. Whitney Rose- We Still Go to Rodeos Another Americanafest discovery for me, Canadian Whitney Rose came to prominence with a voice as sweet as Skeeter Davis and an attitude as big as Joan Jett. After recording two albums with her musical mentor Raul Malo from The Mavericks, We Still Go to Rodeos is Rose's declaration of independence, as well as her first full-length album to fully embrace the musical influences of her new home in Austin. Working with producer Paul Kolderie, known as much for working with rockers like Radiohead and Morphine as with roots artists, Rose pushes her own boundaries with the addition of rock guitars while retaining the unique style that gained her fans in the first place.

13. Sawyer Fredericks- Flowers For You Most fans who know Sawyer Fredericks know him from his winning turn on singing competition show The Voice in 2015. But to lump him in with the glut of “reality TV singers” would be a mistake. After walking away from the mainstream to record the excellent blues-folk Hide Your Ghost in 2018, the 21 year old singer evolves again, tapping into the chemistry of his road band to become not a solo artist, but more of an Americana Alice Cooper, a band that just happens to have the same name as its singer. Flowers For You also sees Fredericks evolving as a songwriter, especially on the socially charged (and instrumentally intense) album highlight “Call It Good”, decrying a culture where markets throw away perfectly good food while people starve.

12. X- Alphabetland “Wait,” some of you are saying right now, “X, like the LA punk pioneers? In a roots music list?” Yes, because X has always had a core of Carl Perkins' rockabilly sound that drove their punk fury. After a couple of decades of solo exploration in the country scene by band founders Exene Cervenka and John Doe, their first X album since 1993 ramps up the rockabilly influences even more. Reunion albums are a hit or miss prospect. X hit it out of the park. Even in their '60s, Doe and Cervenka can out-rock and out-snarl any given Warped Tour lineup combined.

11. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings- All the Good Times Are Past and Gone When I told you I was breaking my “no covers albums” rule this year, this is where I do it. I could try to make a good excuse for that, but the simple explanation is that Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are so consistently solid in anything they do, any release deserves a place on any year-end list. On All the Good Times Are Past and Gone, recorded acoustic and at home on reel to reel, Welch and Rawlings take on “traditionals” like the title track, as well a god-like songwriters Bob Dylan and John Prine, who give the album its two shining highlights in Prine's “Hello in There” and Dylan's “Abandoned Love.”

That's it for the first half of my favorite roots albums of 2020. Stay tuned soon for my Top 10, as well as other year wraps to come.