#kids magazine india

[habernative]

[thejuniorage]

The Junior Age brings you unbiased and crisp news about what’s happening worldwide, including sports, international & national affairs, animal news, and more. The idea is to bring news to children in the most kid-friendly way possible. The content is designed to keep the little ones updated with the latest information and educate them about essential facts.

[jumpstart-if]

Jumpstart is a character-driven slice of life, containing drama and romance. It's mainly inspired by the show 90210 and the movie Mean Girls.

You had multiple sticky notes on your bedroom ceiling, bathroom mirror, and any other surface you were able to get it on.

How to be rich by 21:

1. Survive high school Survive the final year of high school 2. Move out and get a pet (finally!) 3. Become rich and famous (should be easy enough...)

This list has followed you ever since your eleventh birthday when you were suddenly bombarded with the dreaded question:

‘What is your dream job?’

Quite frankly, you didn’t dream of labour. At least not the regular kind. Call it psychic, but you knew you were destined for the easy life, filled with copious amounts of wealth, relaxation, and travels. You were are special.

Seriously, you had everything set out for your 'rags to riches' story:

You weren’t the most popular, but you also weren’t eating lunch alone in the school bathroom. ✔️

You made sure to work a part-time job, starting from the age of thirteen, so it would be easier for future fans to relate to you. ✔️

You were on your way to being crowned ‘Most likely to be famous’, which would have made for the perfect moment on ‘The Late-Night Phil Show’.✔️

Everything was going to plan… until it wasn’t.

Not only did your mother decide to marry some wealthy businessman, but she also packed up all your stuff and moved you hundreds of miles away from your home that screamed ‘humble beginnings’ and into a five bedroom (minimum) mega mansion.

Oh, and public school? Forget about that. From tomorrow on, you’ll be one of those rich private school kids. Goodbye 'rags to riches' background, and hello nepotism allegations.

Though, that’s a problem for future you...

Right now, you’ll have to adapt to school life the way the people at the top of the food chain do it. 

Get ready to ‘survive the final year of high school’ filled with gossip, betrayal, romance, angst, and social drama you could’ve sworn only happened in movies and TV shows.

Jumpstart is rated 18+ as there will be mentions of sexual themes, drugs, alcohol and violence.

Choose your MC's name and gender.

Decide your MC's personality, clothing style, and much more.

Get involved with 1 out of 4 romanceable characters.

Climb to the top of the hierarchy at Maplewood Private School.

Jumpstart your way into the life of stardom and wealth.

Isaiah/India (m/f) 'the high school worldwide heartthrob':

You could’ve sworn you saw them gracing the red carpet in some of the hundreds of magazines stashed in one of your moving boxes. Child of the famous celebrity make-up artist, Naomi Lawton and basketball star, Sean Lawton. Wanted by many, yet only successfully claimed by A. Though, judging by how many people I can be regularly spotted with, it begs the question: Does I care?

Appearance: Sepia skin tone. M! has short coily black hair, mostly styled in cornrows and decorated with some silver hair jewellery. F! has long bleached coily hair, currently styled in waist-length blonde braids.

Alison/Anderson (m/f) 'the school's number one':

Not quite like the ones in movies… they’re somewhat nice? At first, they can be straight-up vicious, ripping apart any and every little detail they can get their hands on, but once you earn their trust, you’ll learn that behaviour is much more of a façade than a true reflection of them.

Appearance: Olive complexion with sprinkles of freckles on their nose and cheeks. M! has short curly ginger hair that loosely hangs over his forehead. F! has shoulder-length ginger curls and bangs.

Tegan (m/f) 'the estranged childhood best friend'

You were eight years old, when their family decided to move someplace else, ripping your, what you thought to be inseparable, bond into two. At the start you tried to keep up, exchanging letters almost every day… then weeks… then months if anything, until complete silence. You’re not sure who stopped sending them first or when even, but one thing’s for certain: you were no longer friends. No, after ten years, you definitely weren’t.

Appearance: Brown skin tone. M! has black buzzed hair. F! has straight, waist-length black hair.

Levi/Leighton (m/f) 'wherever they go, trouble follows aka the school's bad boy/girl':

For someone with a big reputation, there’s next to nothing that can be found on them. And all your pestering questions are met with nothing but warnings, yet you can’t help but grow more curious about them with each passing encounter.

Appearance: Tawny skin tone, though you can’t help but notice the faded scar tainting their otherwise clear left cheek. They have wavy brown hair, reaching down to their shoulders.

Reblogs are more than welcome and thanks for reading!

DEMO TBA

[empty-movement]

Nanami-sama, Beware!!!

It's May 7, 1997, and you're about to watch episode 6 of Revolutionary Girl Utena!!!

There was a HUUUGE data leak though, and somehow, in advance of the episode dropping, you were able to catch the storyboards!! (Hell, you even found someone who leaked the script, and screenshots of the episode!) Looks pretty exciting, lots of strange things happening here. The storyboards say episode 8 for some reason, but otherwise it all seems on the up and up!

So you eagerly crack open your May issue of Newtype Magazine to check out the plot summary:

Today's home economics class is cooking practice. At Miki's request, Himemiya and I decided to make "spicy curry." However, the curry powder we use is replaced with extremely spicy curry from India, which is so spicy that Touga's younger sister, Nanami, harasses her. What's more, the spiciness explodes into pieces! The phantom megaton of ultra-spicy curry, 900 billion times more, goes into the pot. When Himemiya and I did that, we were so blown away that our personalities switched!! Hey, hey, you're not kidding!

Wait....what????? That doesn't match the storyboards at all! Or the screenshots??? Sure enough, the episode title listed with this plot summary is Nanami-sama, Beware!...but what's curry gotta do with that?

So you hop in a time machine, and check out Ikuhara's 2011 DVD extras commentary:

This episode originally went into production as “Episode 8.” It was “in production as Episode 8” during scripting, storyboarding, and even after animation started. But it got switched in the broadcast order with “Episode 6 (”Curried High Trip”, which broadcast as episode 8)“, because that episode fell behind schedule. Because I always called this “Episode 8” during the production process, the impression stuck in my mind to this day is: “Curry is Ep 6; the kangaroo is Ep 8.” It’s a comedic story, but it shows Nanami’s feelings for Touga. This wasn’t just about Nanami; it was also about how we’d present Touga. The original plan was to connect stories with a “Touga Episodes” theme: first in episode 8 we’d show Nanami’s feelings for Touga is a comedic way, then in episode 9 we’d show Touga in contrast with [Kyouichi] Saionji, then in episode 10 we’d show Touga using Nanami’s feeling for him, and finally in episode 11 we’d show Touga facing off against Utena. I’d used a group of three identical characters before, in Sailor Moon S [the Amazon Trio?]. It was strangely fun, so I tried sticking them in this show, too. The staff liked them, too (it was probably more like the staff found them convenient), so we turned them into semi-regular characters. It’s largely thanks to Ms. Hayashi, the animation director, that the production troubles weren’t reflected in the quality of the episode. I like how Touga looks so unnecessarily cool during the climax, when he defeats the kangaroo.

Huh!!! In case you're wondering, the next issue of Newtype will have the identical description under an episode 8 titled Curried High Trip. So I guess amid the mess, they just never published an episode description for this one??

Come chat about it in the watch thread on Something Eternal, or just enjoy this weird little tour. :)

[charlidos]

Common Ground

If you look at Viggo and Orlando today, they seem to have so little in common, with very different lifestyles. Viggo far away from Hollywood (geographically and mentally), Orlando still in the middle of it (geographically, at least). And since always, the big age gap.

But I've realised they have and have had more in common than you might think! So I've compiled a rather long list of some interests they share, some traits they have in common. Some of them are obvious, some are, well... not. And some seem to be a result of Orlando's hero worship of Viggo, and thus doing all things the Viggo-way.

It's a quite unserious and unscientific list.

Holding on to a character

Orlando:

I will take Legolas, and this experience in New Zealand, wherever I go. The beautiful thing about being an actor is every character you embrace, when you move on, you take part of the character with you. He's a special, special character and, or course, my first. I'm never going to let go of him.

Viggo:

You hear a lot of people saying, 'I want to get rid of that character' or 'It took me days, weeks, months, years to shed the skin of that character,' but I don't," he says. "We're all going to get old and die, and if we live long enough, we're going to forget things or lose our memories. That's just what happens in life. So why be in a hurry to forget something or undo something? Any movie or experience, I want it to be a part of me.

2. Choosing work

Orlando:

I'm always only interested in the script. But of course, I'm happy to support smaller films if I'm convinced by the script.

Viggo:

I never decide to do a project based on who is directing it, it's always the script which is important.

3. Technophobia

Obviously, this was a passing phase, until everyone had a mobile phone and a computer... Apparently, Orlando broke down his resistance at one time and got a ... Blackberry.

Orlando:

You could say I'm a technophobe. I don't have a TV, I don't read magazines, I don't have a computer and I don't have a cell phone. I am a nature-loving human being and I want to remain independent from the tools of technology, or be only minimally influenced by them. If I want to write a letter to someone, I pick up a pen and paper. I try to focus on the important things in life, on myself and my fellow human beings, my work, my friends, etc.

Viggo:

I’m sitting in a car talking on a cell. I rarely use them. In this case, I wanted to be alone and in a quiet place. The phone was dead and I’m charging it as we talk, which is why I was late. I still can’t figure out how to retrieve my messages. I didn’t have one for several years, and would call in my messages from a pay phone on the corner near my apartment. I might not check my messages for days, and I probably lost some jobs because of that. When I finally got one, I threw it out the window when it rang because the sound was so annoying. A neighbour rang my bell, asked me if it was mine, and handed it back to me. I put it in the closet under a pile of laundry, and a few days later it rang again. I didn’t like the intrusion and tossed it out the back alley.

4. Wearing necklaces

They both used to wear a whole slew of trinkets around their necks, both looking all hippie-ish and stuff.

Orlando:

I have a lot of these things with me all the time. I get given some and find others. One was a key ring that Johnny [Depp] gave me as a wrap gift for Pirates. Here's a piece of greenstone Billy Boyd gave me. I found this shell on the beach in Thailand. This is a prayer baton I got in India. I picked up this tiny silver ball in Tokyo. This is a New York City handcuff key, so if I get into any strife, I can get myself out. I think I'll hold onto that. I've always kept all these funny little things, even as a kid. But I'm trying to cut it out, become more streamlined. Otherwise it starts to feel like the things own you. These things fill up my heart. If I were ever to lose them, I'd be really devastated. Isn't that pathetic?

5. Loving nature and being alone

Orlando:

New Zealand is so green and healthy and outdoorsy and stuff so I started putting little tests on myself, like in terms of getting fit and using the environment around me. I often sit and daydream, and lose myself in that world. People around me think I'm rude, but I'm not ignoring them or anything.

Viggo:

I like to spend time alone and outdoors. I enjoy being able to just sit and observe life in the forest or by the water. I like observing and not thinking about anything. If I can't get in to the wild, I observe people in the city. I value being alone in nature even more now that my life has become so hectic.

6. Environmental friendliness

Viggo:

I have a hybrid car, the first Prius that came out on the market; it still works great. My son shares it with me. I recycle everything I can. I try not to waste natural resources or to pollute. Small things that if done every day, serve to make a better world. I’ve always liked being around plants and trees, I’ve always planted them, anywhere that I spend a little time in. The trees we plant, and the landscapes we nurture and protect for wildlife to enjoy and feel safe in, and to prevent soil erosion, is our gift to future generations. Even in cities we can take part in creating a greener, healthier environment – either by growing plants and trees or contributing financially to those that do. But there is nothing like getting your hands dirty and being physically part of the process of preparing the soil, planting, and nurturing new plant life.

Orlando:

I am going to the Oscars this year in a [Toyota] Prius. Anything I can do to bring awareness to the environment and to the fact that we need to decrease the greenhouse-gas emissions, I will do. I love the environment. I grew up in the countryside. I want my kids one day to enjoy the same environment and their kids to enjoy the same environment.

7. Commitment to politics and human rights issues

Orlando has done work for Unicef since 2007 and Viggo has always been very outspoken in issues concerning politics.

Orlando:

When I first came to Ukraine in 2016, I saw the catastrophic consequences that war has on children and families, and how basic needs such as being at school and psychosocial support are critical for children’s wellbeing. Now, with children across the entire country affected, that support is more vital than ever. Amid the chaos and uncertainty of war, supporting children’s education is an essential tool in protecting their long-term mental health and wellbeing. This is especially important during their early years, when children develop the learning and emotional skills they need to reach their full potential. Above all, children need an end to this war and sustained peace to regain their childhoods, return to normalcy and begin to heal and recover.

Viggo:

It’s not just the suffering in Ukraine. It's families in Russia; mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, who have lost loved ones just because of one man’s brutal ambition; a murderous, grotesquely corrupt person. And [Putin] will keep going. It’s like Trump. If you don’t stop them legally or otherwise why would they stop? And if they see weakness they’ll just exploit it.

8. Riding horses

Viggo famously loves horses, but Orlando has a certain love for them as well.

Orlando:

I've always loved riding and I used to hack around Canterbury as a kid. It wasn't really a pony club -- we'd just go out on horses. So I picked it up again in New Zealand and added a bit more of the style and the posture and the correct riding position. I learned to ride on around 30 different horses, and what you get from that is an understanding that each individual animal has to be treated with sensitivity so you have a mutual respect thing going.

9. Smoking

They both smoke/used to smoke cigarettes or cigars.

An unfortunate thing to have in common. I hope they have stopped.

10. Photography and art

Viggo is obviously a skilled photographer and painter and more. Orlando is also a keen photographer with an interest in art and sculpture.

Orlando:

Sculpture was my thing. I was very passionate about documentary photography too. I still like to walk around and take photographs, but it’s hard to do that if a lot of people are looking at you.

Viggo:

Photography, painting or poetry – those are just extensions of me, how I perceive things, they are my way of communicating.

11. Tattoos

The serendipity of these two tattoos, Orlando's sun and Viggo's moon, is amazing. Put there before meeting each other, in the same place on the body, only mirrored.

12. Fishing

Viggo went fishing a lot in NZ. Orlando sometimes tagged along. And then máybe goes fishing sometimes? Perhaps? Who knows?

13. Uncleanliness

Gotta love completely unfounded gossip. I'm sure they smell heavenly, at all times, shower or no shower. Just natural muskiness pouring out of their... pores.

Orlando:

"Miranda thinks Orlando is too smelly. Recently, she asked him if he could wash his clothes and perhaps shower more often." The insider claimed that Bloom "goes days without washing his clothes" when not working on a movie, adding: "He'll wear the same jeans for a week before he throws them in the washer. Same goes for his sweaters, T-shirts and socks." The Pirates of the Caribbean actor also allows his dog Sidi to share a bed with him.

Viggo:

Viggo Mortensen, who plays Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movies, may seem fair, but according to The Sun he smells foul. The tabloid today alleges the American actor has been dumped by his girlfriend Lola Schnabel for worryingly Strider-like behaviour. Apparently he rarely washes and mysteriously disappears for long periods at a time.

14. Drinking mate

Viggo famously drinks yerba mate at all times. Orlando also drinks this. At least at one point, when this photo was taken, that's all I'm sure of.

15. Back pain

Orlando broke his back when he was 20 years old - with chronic back pain as a result. Viggo gets backaches sometimes.

Viggo:

If I wear footwear for too long I get backache. I need to be barefoot, otherwise it's agony.

Bonus: Gorgeous in make up

Also, they are both kind of gorgeous. And like make up. Sometimes. At this one particular time?

And, uhm, that's it.

Don't look so sceptical, boys! Just realise you are perfect for each other and get on with it.

[bullet-prooflove]

LongDistance!Series - Part Three: Home - Manny x Reader

Tagging:  @darqchilddaydreamz  @theesirenteller @wnbweasley @crazy4chickennuggets @kmc1989 @withakindheartx @skyesthebomb @delightfulbelieverwerewolf @redpool @trublu2u @fleureeee @thiashazzywriting @lauraaan182 @hatersaremymotivators @fanfic-n-tabulous @ravennaortiz @just-a-throw-away @yousigned-upforthis @kabloswrld @keyweegirlie @@pansexualhailstorm @wabi-sabi1090

Part One: Melina - Manny x Reader - Manny's daughter wants to meet you.

Part Two: Club Business (feat: Hank Loza) - Manny finally sits down with Hank Loza to discuss his relationship with you.

Another postcard, another country, another city.

It’s Italy this time, Verona.

In the past few weeks, Manny’s received one from both Milan and Pisa.

He looks at his fridge, inundated with the evidence of your adventures and he wonders what he’ll do when he runs out of space, where he’ll put them all then. It occurs to him that he’s thinking in the long term, not months but years down the line. You out there exploring the world, him here managing his club. It shouldn’t work but somehow it does. He’s the stable presence in your life, the grounding force and you’re his wildness, the part of him that remembers how to live.

“Put them in a scrapbook.” His daughter Melina suggests as she perches at the kitchen table, carefully cutting out a picture of an elephant from a magazine he’d picked up.

“That’s not a bad idea.” You say from the phone propped up against the saltshaker on the table. “You’re going to have to help him choose one though because his taste is a little…”

Manny knows you’re pulling a face, it’s in the way Melina laughs.  

The three of you have been video chatting regularly since the initial introduction over a month ago. You’ve become as integral to their routine as breathing. Manny looks up from chopping peppers before handing off a slice to Melina, she crunches it between her teeth.

“Orange is his favourite colour.” Melina says with a sigh, picking up one of her colouring pens to show you. “He thinks it goes with everything.”

“It does.” Manny argues, rolling his eyes before he washes his hands in the sink. “It’s bright, it’s uplifting, who doesn’t want that in a colour? It’s you two that are wrong, who likes the colour blue, it’s dour, depressing.”

“Relaxing, soothing.” You correct him, shaking your head. “What will we do with him Melina?”

“Alright, alright.” Manny says, picking up a hand towel and drying his hands as he steps around the breakfast island. “If you two are done judging my colour choices, we still need to get Melina’s homework done. The two of you were talking about India and the elephant sanctuary.”

“That’s right.” You agree, straightening your shoulders. “Ok kid, what other questions do you have?”

He cooks dinner while the two of you talk. They’re having pasta tonight because Melina’s decided she wants a taste of the Mediterranean, thanks to a conversation the two of you had yesterday about how much you love Italian food. He’d tried to bargain it down to pizza, but she’d given him that look and reminded him he’d already promised that as their Saturday treat so pasta it is.

“At least she’s trying new things.” Sam had shrugged when he’d told her. “She could be eating chicken nuggets all the time like that kid Jeremy at school.”

Small blessings, he thinks as he watches the water simmer. He turns it down a little before he approaches Melina’s chair, his hands come to rest on her shoulders lightly before he presses a kiss to the top of her head.

“Mi Nina.” He murmurs. “Dinner’s almost ready. Go wash up, ok?”

Melina complies slipping out of her seat and heading to the bathroom. Manny picks up the phone, a smile tipping up at the edges of his mouth.

“Thank you for that, I know it’s late there.”

There’s eight hours time difference between Italy and Yuma. It’s six o’clock here and almost two am your time. You’d been photographing the afterparty at the Parma Tattoo Nerd Fest and just gotten back to your room when he’d called.

“It’s cool.” You tell him, running a hand through your hair. “You know it takes me a while to wind down.”

He can tell you’re tired, he’s been noticing it a lot recently. You’ve been working yourself into the ground, chasing the work where you can get it. It’s the nature of a freelance career. You take the jobs when they come in. Your skills are in high demand, you’re well known in the Expo circles for the quality of your work and your reliability. Some creatives were flakes but you, you’re dedicated.

“So, I’m going to take some time off one I’ve finished up in Fiuggi.” You tell him, toying with the silver stacker rings on your fingers. “The last couple of months have been intense and I need to take a break.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” He tells you, leaning on the breakfast bar as he holds the phone between his hands. “You need to take some time for yourself Mami, rest and relax. Working that hard, it’s not good for you.”

“I’m going to book a flight back to the States, I need to make a stop in Joshua Tree, drop some of my stuff at my storage locker…”

“Storage locker.” He repeats because he fully expected you to say apartment.

Something clicks into place then, something he hasn’t considered until this very moment, and it breaks his fucking heart. When he thinks back over all the conversations you’ve had he realises you have never once mentioned an apartment, or a house or anything resembling a home. The storage locker is literally the first place of permeance you’ve brought up. Up until now it’s been hotel rooms and Airbnbs.

“Mami…” He says quietly, lowering his voice so that Melina doesn’t overhear. “Where is home for you?”

“I…” You trial off, your eyebrows furrowing as you contemplate the question. You glance back up at the camera on your phone and the look in your eyes it kills him. “I’ve never really thought about it until now… I guess I don’t have one.”

It’s the nature of the foster system he thinks, moving from place to place, never settling long enough for a home of your own. You’ve emulated the pattern over and over again without even realising it. He sees the moment it dawns on you, something shatters deep inside and it resonates over the six thousand miles that separates you. He wishes that he was there right now, that he could wrap his arms around you and hold you close, that he could take away the anguish he sees in your features, but he can’t. Instead, he places his hand over his heart as he speaks his truth.

“It’s with me Sara.” He tells you. “Your home, it’s with me.”

***

You’ve been travelling for over eighteen hours by the time you make it to Phoenix. It’s ten o’clock at night and you are bone achingly tired, you’d tried to catch a couple of hours on the plane, but the truth is you were too excited to see Manny. You’d called him during the two-hour layover in Atlanta to let him know you were back in the country and that there were no delays with your connecting flight.

“I can’t wait to see you.” He’d told you, the tone of his voice sending a rush of heat surging through your body.

“Me too.” You say, a smile gracing your lips. “It feels like it’s been a lifetime.”

He still looks as good as the day the two of you first met, black jeans that hug his lower body just right, that khaki green shirt buttoned all the way to the top. When his eyes meet yours, a small smile graces his handsome features and something inside you just lights up. You’re in his arms in an instant, his aftershave filling your nose as he holds you close. He smells like leather, lavender and patchouli, scents that make you think of home.

“It’s good to have you back.” He whispers into your hair, and you nod because right now there’s all this emotion rising up in your chest and you just can’t speak.

It’s been a journey over the past few days, facing up to the reality of your patterns, the ones that have been ingrained since childhood. You realised it’s time to change, time to put something permanent in place and you want that to be with Manny.

He draws away, his palms clasping your face. His thumbs chase away the tears that leak down your cheeks, his forehead coming to rest upon yours.

“Hey, hey.” He soothes, his lips brushing over yours. “You’re home now.”

Love Manny? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[mysticmonkiebusiness]

ISSUE 69 BLOCKS MAGAZINE PAGE 35 + 36

[ID 1: Two magazine pages. The first shows several pieces of digitally painted concept art of; MK, a roughed-up couch, a game controller, a polaroid of an early design of Mei, and another polaroid of Monkey King from the film “Havoc in Heaven”.  Below it is an image of a LEGO designer referencing a piece of concept art, one of MK flying on a hoverboard, to design MK’s minifigure, which is being drawn on his tablet. ] 

[ID 2: On the left, between the text, minifigures of MK, Mei, Sandy, Pigsy, and Monkey King descend vertically. On the right is an ink sketch of Monkey King, who wears a crescent fillet and has a large forehead. He sits atop his cloud, below him is an early version of MK, who has a skateboard, spiky black hair, and a shirt with a star on it. Next to this image is a digital painting of Monkey King, who closely resembles his minifigure but has a full cape and golden sleeves. Under this is a picture of Monkey King’s minifigure, who stands on a LEGO cloud and wields his staff.]

Transcript:

The Characters

MK Monkie Kid, the theme's titular character, Is chosen by the Monkey King to be his successor and defend against the Demon Bull. He's a brand new character in the story.

ΜΕΙ Mei is part of the Dragon Family, a descendant of the legendary White Dragon Horse, which the monk Tang Sanzang rode down the Silk Road on his epic pilgrimage to India and Central Asia.

SANDY Once a soldier, Sandy is now a relaxed, tea drinking nature lover. He's based on the character of Sha Wujing. the most kind-hearted, loyal and logical of Tang Sanzang's three disciples.

PIGSY Head Chef of Pigsy's Noodle Shop, the character takes a great deal of pride in his kitchen. He's based on Zhu Bajie, a part-human, part-pig monster who embodies the sins of sloth, gluttony and lust in the original story.

MONKEY KING After vanishing centuries earlier on a magical cloud, Monkey King is back to train the Monkie Kid. He's based on Sun Wukong, who like Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie was forced to accompany Tang Sanzang on his quest by the goddess of mercy.

Developing Monkie Kid

It wasn't just name recognition that the Monkey King story enjoyed: it was also ripe for a LEGO adaptation. 'I knew something about the Monkey King and Journey to the West because key beats from that story have been reinterpreted in Hollywood so many times,' Simon says. 'When we were discussing retelling it, we were just listing out the big, iconic aspects.'

The biggest of all is of course the Monkey King himself. 'The Monkey King is such an amazing superhero because he can transform himself into so many different things. He can fly on a magic cloud, he's slightly cheeky, he slightly breaks the rules and he's not perfect. He's got that likable character; he's not the typical square-jawed hero that's just going to save the day.

'The team in China started saying, 'There's the Bull Demon and he has a wife that has this huge fan that creates tornadoes, and a son who can control fire, then all the other demons like the Spider Queen...' You just think wow, these demons are awesome and we can bring them to life in brand new ways.'

That early meeting set so much direction for the theme - not just for the villains, but also for the title. As with all great moments of invention, though, no one person can claim the credit. 'I wish I could remember who it was, but somebody said, 'It's the next generation of the Monkey King and he's just a boy,' and somebody said, 'The Monkie Kid.' That was the spark moment.'

Testing proved that children could identify with the Monkie Kid, or MK as he is also known, seeing the possibility that they could be the Chosen One.

Returning to Billund in September 2018, it was time to present the concept. 'We had a 'portfolio gate' as we call it at LEGO, which is where the senior team meets and we have to pitch what we have been working on, and get their approval to move forward. Everyone was like, 'Wow!' and the China team supported it 1000% - they gave us the green light to move forward and we went into the full development phase of sculpting new characters and building models.'

"HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE WE AREN'T JUST SPRINKLING A LITTLE BIT OF CULTURAL DUST ON TOP?"

[antoine-roquentin]

Part 1 in this series about... something. I’ll figure it out when I write more.

Howard Imbrey was a CIA agent. Having started in the CIA’s WW2 predecessor, the OSS, he was placed undercover in diplomatic roles at American consulates and embassies in Sri Lanka, India, and Ethiopia during the late 40s and 50s. This was a traditional role for intelligence agents: with diplomatic immunity, they would be safe from prosecution, while embassy parties and other events allowed them to pick up gossip from inside the country.

However, it did limit agents and paint a large target on their back. Imbrey operated in a friendly environment in India, where he could rely on British-trained police chiefs as informants in the battle against the Communist Party of India in Maharashtra and Kerala. In other parts of the world, governments would monitor the movements and activities of those who came out of the American embassy, knowing them to be spies.

In 1958, Imbrey was instead embedded in a fake corporation headquartered near the UN in NYC, with a real businessman as his partner. They worked closely with UN diplomats to find actual businesses to promote, to keep the whole thing legit. At the same time, it allowed Imbrey the chance to question the diplomats and businessmen for gossip and to meet with other informants the CIA had already cultivated across the continent. Some of these informants included Cyrille Adoula and Albert Kalonji, head of political parties and breakaway factions devoted to undermining Patrice Lumumba’s elected government in the Congo.

The article attached was important to developing his cover. Initially, it ran in Fortune, owned at the time by Henry Luce’s Time Inc., while the screenshots are from John H. Johnson’s Negro Digest. Luce was historically close to the CIA and the American government in general. He hired CIA agents onto his staff and allowed them to write propaganda as they saw fit. He directed his journalists to publish opinion pieces attacking those who exposed CIA secrets, like Ramparts magazine. At one point in the Congo Crisis, US Ambassador to Belgium William Burden, a friend of Luce’s, phoned him to get him to bury a story on Lumumba. No information has come out either way on just whether the journalist who wrote this article knew Imbrey was CIA or was simply ordered to by higher ups, but it seems likely that the editorial staff of Negro Digest simply saw it as fitting with their focus on black lives and reprinted it unwittingly to the CIA’s benefit. Later on, Imbrey would find another cover as a journalist with a CIA-controlled news outlet in Paris, Brussels, and Rome, which allowed the CIA to fly informants to him.

None of this was known to anyone until 2001, save for a brief acknowledgement of thanks to Imbrey’s wife in a book by Larry Devlin, CIA Station Chief in the Congo. That year, Imbrey suddenly gave two interviews in April and June, and then died a year later. One was to a high school student at a private Episcopal school in Maryland. It’s roughly written, and clearly transcribed by someone who’s writing the names of Congolese officials by ear rather than knowledge, but deserves to be read, not because Imbrey lets his guard down consciously, but rather because of the implicit biases he still has and the distinction between the secrets he wishes to keep and those he feels fine in revealing. Particularly humorous is when the kid tries to ask him about whether the CIA operated independently from the president, and Imbrey denies it, saying “That’s an Arab type of operation.”

The other was to Charles Stuart Kennedy, a career diplomat who retired in the 80s and subsequently made a post-retirement life of interviewing other diplomats for the public record. Since many CIA employees were embedded as diplomats, he ended up running into a bunch. His interview is much more detailed and professional, albeit with the same transcription errors on names, and makes for excellent reading for anybody who enjoys salacious historical gossip. Imbrey talks about reading Popeye the Sailor bootleg Rule 34 as a kid, kidnapping fishermen in the Indian Ocean with submarines to train them to use radios to spy on the Japanese Navy (sounds like UFO abductions), supplying porn to the higher ups in the Indian Navy, etc. But two particular moments stand out, one being what may be the single worst denial of American involvement in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba:

Q: Did you get involved at all with the Lumumba business?

IMBREY: No, the only thing I can tell you is they sent out this shellfish compound to chief of station Larry Devlin and he sent it back with an angry note saying, “Don't you know the Belgians are going to kill him, what do you want us to do?” We kept totally out of that one. Then Lumumba really put himself in terrible trouble when he gave a rise of one rank to everybody in the army and then found he couldn't pay the new prices. Then the army rebelled; they put him in an airplane, took him south and they pulled him out of the airplane on the driveway, brought him up to the chief of the Lunda tribe and in Munongo's office and I guess they shot him there or it may not have been there. In Munongo's office they began asking him a couple of questions. Well, this was according to his answers. Munongo took a bayonet and put it right into Lumumba's chest and Captain Gatt, a Belgian, was right there and he fired a bullet in the back of Lumumba's head to put him out of his misery and that was how it happened, but no Americans were involved.

and whatever this is, which happens to coincide with the CIA’s MHCHAOS operation on American soil:

Q: When you came home what were you doing?

IMBREY: That's where we turn off the tape recorder.

Q: All right, well then, we'll just skip over that. When did you take off again where we can talk?

IMBREY: Let's see. I was sent back to Rome in '72. Turn it off for a while and I'll tell you about it.

[edwinadaily]

COSMOPOLITAN UK | A few weeks ago, Charithra Chandran was having a dinner party with some of her oldest friends. A few of them work in advertising and marketing, another is a doctor, one is a lawyer. None work in ‘the industry’. ‘Have I changed?’ Chandran asked them, as plates were cleared and wine glasses topped up. Their answer was unanimous. ‘No way.’ ‘In fact,’ one joked, ‘it’s actually sad how little character development there’s been.’ They all laughed. ‘Sometimes dickish things come out of your mouth like, “I’ve got a fitting with Dior next week!” Look, your life might have changed, but you certainly haven’t.’

Their words reassured Chandran of something she already knew. In just two life-changing years, she had gone from being a philosophy, politics and economics graduate preparing to start a job in management consultancy, to playing a lead in one of the biggest TV shows of the past decade. In the year since she appeared in Bridgerton’s second series, caught in a love triangle with Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony Bridgerton and Simone Ashley’s Kate Sharma, her trajectory has shown no signs of slowing down. This year, she stars in a handful of films including Good Intentions, a short with Micheal Ward (who you’ll know from the Oscar-nominated Empire Of Light), as well as playing the lead in teen rom-com How To Date Billy Walsh. And just a few weeks ago, she was in India with Ashley for the Dior pre-fall show (hence the fitting), which she describes as ‘special and incredible’. But while 26-year-old Chandran may be sitting front row, booking lead roles and appearing on magazine covers, she still feels like that same wide-eyed graduate, the one with no idea what would come next.

‘My life just feels so... normal?’ says Chandran, over a builder’s tea in one of her favourite central London cafes, her hair slicked back in a silk headscarf. 'That is the number one thing that has left me feeling sane. I worry that if my personal life was fully in this world, these crazy experiences would start to feel normal. I need to be surrounded by people not involved in the craziness.'

Most of her friends – like the ones at the dinner party – are from school and university, and the industry friendships she has tend to be with older women, including her Bridgerton cast mates Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte) and Shelley Conn, who played her mother in the series. ‘We hang out all the time. We go see shows; we grab tea or dinner. Golda’s so cool, sometimes I wonder why she wants to hang out with me. Shelley is literally like my older sister; I’m super close with her family. They both give me advice constantly about how to hold yourself in the industry. They provide perspective as well; they’ve been in it for so long, and they’re both women of colour; they remind me how far we’ve come and how far we have to go. Everything that I go through, they’ve been through it tenfold. I really rely on their counsel.’

The road to Bridgerton

Chandran auditioned for the show in 2020 before the first series had aired. At the time, her career as an actor was precarious. She’d loved performing for as long as she could remember (‘I was that annoying kid who always wanted to be the centre of attention’), acting throughout school and university, even performing in the West End with youth theatre companies, but she’d never really considered it as a viable career. ‘I never even talked about wanting to act because I felt embarrassed. Saying you wanted to be a professional actor felt like saying you wanted to be prime minister or an astronaut.’ Her reasons were twofold. The first was a lack of South Asian representation on screen and stage, – ‘For a long time I didn’t really have any inspiration to look towards,’ she says – and the second was familial expectation. ‘I’m the literal opposite of a nepo baby. My parents are doctors; we didn’t know any actors or journalists. Anyone who’s not a medic was foreign territory for us.’

Though her parents hoped Chandran would follow them into the profession, she credits their progressive attitudes with giving her the courage to follow her dreams. ‘They always expected academic excellence, but they gave me so much freedom and trust. I don’t know if that was an active choice or [if] it was because they were immigrants, junior doctors and single parents who didn’t have time to be focused on me 24/7. Either way, they really let me be me.’

Being herself meant giving acting a serious shot before starting the management consultancy job. She deferred the start date for a year and, in between working as a tutor and running a food bank, spent time crafting a CV and a showreel to try to get professional representation. Her graft paid off, and she signed to an agent who began to get her auditions for film and TV roles. Her first was a Bollywood dancer in the star-studded Marvel film Eternals, which Chandran landed after finding an advert on Instagram, helmed by the likes of Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Salma Hayek. On set, it was Kumail Nanjiani who really stood out for Chandran. ‘Being on a proper movie set with this fellow brown actor looking buff felt amazing. He treated us with so much kindness and grace.’

Shortly after, Chandran landed a role in Amazon Prime’s Alex Rider series, and then came her even bigger break: Bridgerton. The process was turbulent. The world had gone into lockdown and after a handful of virtual auditions for Ashley’s role (Kate), Chandran was told she looked too young for the part. Months later, out of the blue, she was approached again, and by that point, season one was already out and the show was a breakout hit that became the most-viewed English-language series onNetflix at the time. ‘While they continued looking for Kate, they had me on the back burner. I’d got a part in another show, so I was like, you know, okay, I love the sound of Bridgerton, butI have [other] work so, whatever. And then season one came out and I was like, “Oh, man! It’s such a good show. I would have loved to get that!”’ This time, the team wanted her to audition for the role of Kate’s younger sister, Edwina Sharma. ‘I desperately wanted to be in the show, but I didn’t want to do it solely for that – which is such an ego trip! I only had one credit at the time. But I was fully being like, “Okay, tell me more about the role...’ So I read for it, and then I didn’t hear about anything for months. I was like, “Okay, well, clearly it’s over!”’

Then, one afternoon, while helping out in her mum’s allotment, she received a call asking her to audition with Bailey and Ashley. ‘I didn’t even realise I was still in the running. But the chemistry read was so special. I remember they looked so beautiful on Zoom. The lighting was amazing, and I was in my dingy dining room in the dark. I thought, “Okay, I need to step up my game.”’ Clearly she was already bringing her A-game because she landed the part.

Surviving the spotlight

Bridgerton has a habit of launching the stellar careers of its leads. Almost overnight, season one’s Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page went from emerging actors to household names. ‘So many of the cast members who’d been through it were like, Charithra, get a therapist because this is crazy,’ she remembers. She took their advice, and while therapy has been invaluable, nothing could truly prepare her for such a life-altering experience. She cites events in particular as ‘anxiety-inducing’, explaining, ‘There’s an impostor syndrome there. I leave and I want to cry every time!’ It sounds intense, and the internet’s opinions only exacerbated it. ‘I think when anyone is first exposed to this [fame] on the level that I was, they read the comments, they google themselves. And when you read the really aggressive ones – I know this sounds dramatic – but you feel really vulnerable. I’m a normal person – I’m taking the bus, I’m taking the Tube. You’re thinking all it takes is one person being slightly too deranged and trying to hunt you down... It took me like a solid four months to [get] through that.’

When it comes to social media generally, and whether she feels any pressure with what she posts and the persona she presents, Chandran is typically low-key. ‘I’m not famous enough for people to care about me enough to feel that now! I’m not thinking to myself at any point, “I wonder how the public will receive it.” Maybe I should! But even if – fingers crossed – I continue to do really cool things, and I do get more famous, I’m a very open person. I’m not trying to hide anything. I’m very active on social media and I share loads of parts of my life. But that’s what I’d be doing anyway, even if I wasn’t doing this. I don’t do things differently because I have a platform.’

One thing she is clear on: she doesn’t read negative comments any more and focuses her attention on what a powerful impact the series has had, particularly for young women of colour. ‘I get so much energy and enrichment when I meet someone who’s watched it and tells me how much seeing Simone and me on the show means to them.’ She adds, ‘She is so beautiful. We both went through a baptism of fire together, so we really bonded for life over this very seismic experience that we had. We’re connected by something so big.’

Chandran is clearly proud of the show, however not all responses to Bridgerton have been positive. While the Shonda Rhimes Regency-era romance has largely been praised for the diversity of its stars, some critics have questioned the casting, suggesting it’s tokenistic and that the characters of colour aren’t afforded sufficient context or cultural recognition and could just as easily have been played by a white actor. ‘It’s not a perfect show,’ says Chandran. ‘No one’s out here saying this is a perfect representation of anything. If we were to do it again, I’m sure we’d make certain different decisions, but it’s a damn good try. And it’s a really bold try. Let’s enjoy the fact that we have this and continue striving for more.’

Chandran says some of the commentary that bothered her the most were ‘the comments that said I only got to where I am because I’m Eurocentric or I’m white-passing. That really bugged me because all my life I’ve had to face prejudice for not being those things. I have a quintessentially Tamil face, not even Indian, people can place me as a Tamil. You open books, you go to a temple, you see the pictures and paintings; they look like this. So it’s like, bro, I didn’t go through prejudice and discrimination for you to now belittle my identity. When the show was coming out, that’s all I could focus on.’

From Regency to romance

As she gears up for the release of her next project, How To Date Billy Walsh, this time around, her feeling is one of excitement. She plays Amelia, a precocious teenager who, much like her Bridgerton character, finds herself caught up in an unlikely love triangle with her best friend Archie (played by Heartstopper’s Sebastian Croft) and an elusive new student (Cobra Kai’s Tanner Buchanan). The film brims with all the fun, campness and nostalgia of a classic romcom. ‘We wanted to make something that was really timeless,’ says Chandran. ‘My cousins who are 12 and 13 are still watching Clueless, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. We wanted to do something fun and heart-warming that harked back to the 90s.’

While classic teen romances are praised for their charm, they’re less celebrated for their diversity. As a woman of colour, did it feel like a big deal to be at the helm of a high school romcom? ‘I think it’s so interesting because what I really loved and appreciated was how not a big deal it felt, and I think that’s a real testament to all the people that have come before me, all the directors, producers, actors who have paved the way. I love representing my culture, and I love playing characters who are culturally specific to me,’ she says, ‘but on the flipside, I also enjoy playing a normal person where the story isn’t just about her being Indian. That is what I want for my career as well. I want to do things about race that start important conversations, and things about love and friendship. I don't want to be a one-trick pony.' When choosing roles, she says her approach is simply to find characters who feel truthful. 'The times I've said no are if it perpetuates bad or lazy stereotypes, if it's a character I've already seen before.'

As a romantic lead, her performance is effortless. Amelia is a plucky teenager who reels through the full spectrum of emotions when she develops a crush on the titular character, faces off against bullies and navigates some complicated feelings towards her best friend. Her portrayal of a girl caught in the full throes of an all-consuming crush is vibrant and hilarious, but she also imbues Amelia with a real sense of vulnerability.

Chandran shares some of Amelia's confidence and her thirst for new experiences, but her own memories of dating as a teenager were quite different. rowing up in Oxford, she went to an all-girls school. Most weekends involved house parties with boys from the neighbouring schools, where she would be the only one to get, ‘no attention from the guys,’ she remembers. ‘I thought, "Maybe they’re just not attracted to brown girls." I’m curvy; Indian women tend to have curves and fat in different places. All my friends were white and skinny. It was confusing, but I never took it personally. I used to wonder, is it because they see a brown girl and think, “Oh, she probably can't drink, she’s probably really prudish” – what assumptions were they making just from the colour of my skin?’

While she was at university, one of the boys who had been on the same teen house-party circuit messaged her on Facebook. 'This is a guy I’d seen every weekend for almost two years. He said I was cute and asked me how we knew each other. What’s mad is that I didn’t go to uni and have some glow-up. I looked exactly the same at 19 as I had at 15.’ She believes his sudden interest reflected a broader cultural shift towards diversity. ‘By that time, there were more Black and brown women in magazines and in lead roles on TV. I realised, "Oh, I'm trendy. So now you see there’s an attractiveness there. Because I objectively know I don't look different." That kind of shit happened quite a few times.’

Needless to say, Chandan ghosted the message. ‘I’m not a trend,' she says with a playful eye-roll. In life after Bridgerton, she admits dating can be difficult to navigate. She doesn’t use apps because ‘even before the show, people would see me on Instagram or google me. Which we all do, it's fine... but it started to get weird. So it is harder to meet people, but I don't think I'm famous or successful enough to ever have to worry that someone’s dating me for clout’. Plus, she knows what's important in a potential partner. ‘If I think about what kind of person I want to date, the number one thing I'll say is that they need to be a feminist. I'm a feminist, I'm an advocate for women. I went to a girls school, my family is a matriarchy.’

Dating aside, the fact that Chandran’s life hasn’t changed all that much is a testament to her ability to keep both feet on the ground. There’s also perhaps the knowledge that, should she ever find herself changed by fame, her best friends will absolutely be there to bring her back to reality at the next dinner party. ‘They're the most important people to me’ she says. ‘I love to be surrounded by women. I love the men in my life, but I just prefer women. Women made me feel safe, they make me feel heard.'

[coochiequeens]

“India has one of the highest rates of honor killing and dowry deaths, where newlywed brides are tortured, burnt, sometimes even murdered on the basis of sex. For a man with caste and class privilege living so far removed from the everyday realities of Indian women, Alok Vaid-Menon sure has audacity to call himself a ‘bride,'” she (Vaishnavi Sundar) said.

An American trans activist who identifies as ‘transfeminine’ was recently featured by the Indian publication Brides Today on their digital cover, prompting criticism on social media. Alok Vaid-Menon, 31, who uses “they/them” pronouns, was interviewed and photographed for the magazine wearing clothing resembling traditional attire for women.

Vaid-Menon’s April 19 appearance in the magazine was presented as a commentary on same-sex marriage, which is currently being debated at India’s highest court.

During the full interview, Vaid-Menon was asked his thoughts on topics such as marriage and love, stating “love is about expansion, not constriction. Permission, not prohibition… I want to be a living love poem. Every day I ask myself, ‘How can I love harder?’ Love breaks through binaries—man and woman, us and them, you and me… Love doesn’t live in should, it lives in what is.”

Yet despite the platitudes, Vaid-Menon has caused concern for a past statement in which he referred to “little girls” as being “kinky” and claimed to have himself once been “a cute little girl.”

In approximately 2016, when Vaid-Menon was using the moniker Dark Matter to promote himself as a performance artist and poet, he published a disturbing statement on his views of young girls’ presumed sexuality.

In the statement, Vaid-Menon rejects the notion that little girls need to be protected from “gender/sexual deviance,” and instead claims that “little girls, like the rest of us, are complicated people.”

Vaid-Menon was writing about legislation that had been introduced in the state of North Carolina that year establishing that public restrooms remain single-sex accommodations. House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, was intended to protect women and children from being exposed to men while in a state of undress. 

Vaid-Menon responded to the bill being signed into law by claiming that single-sex spaces were being upheld under a false narrative of protecting “innocent little girls” from “freaky” transgender people. 

“There are no fairy tales and princesses here. Little girls are also queer, trans, kinky, deviant, kind, mean, beautiful, ugly, tremendous, and peculiar. Your kids aren’t as straight and narrow as you think they are,” Vaid-Menon wrote.

He went on to claim that he viewed the 1973 horror classic The Exorcist as being about “a little girl … exploring her sexuality (masturbation and so on) and her own demons/meanness.”

In 2021, quotes from the post began circulating on Twitter and prompting outrage, but users found themselves getting suspended for referencing or reacting to the text. 

Conservative political pundit Lauren Witzke was suspended from Twitter for hate speech after retweeting a graphic showing Vaid-Menon’s quote, to which she commented that the views he expressed were “demonic.” Witzke was reinstated on the platform almost two years later, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought Twitter and offered “amnesty” on many previous suspensions.

The views expressed in Vaid-Menon’s Facebook post were criticized by the now-deceased lesbian activist YouTuber Magdalen Berns in a video she titled “Non-Binary Bullsh*t.” Berns concluded that in her opinion, his comments on girlhood made him “sound a bit like a pedo,” and remarked that “even his fans” disapproved, causing him to eventually delete the post.

The following year, in 2017, Vaid-Menon and fellow non-binary activist Jacob Tobia were profiled by Vice in an article titled “Why Can’t My Famous Gender Nonconforming Friends Get Laid.” The article was subject to widespread mockery for highlighting Vaid-Menon’s lack of success in dating, and included comments indicating that Vaid-Menon and Tobia had considered taking female hormones in order to date heterosexual men in an attempt to expand their dating pool.

Vaid-Menon has been a strong proponent for “neutralizing” women’s issues in order to make them “gender inclusive.” He has previously written about the importance of using gender neutral language when discussing abortion, pregnancy, or sex-based violence, also denouncing the term “women’s rights” as not being sufficiently welcoming to gender non-conforming people. 

In 2020, Vaid-Menon was featured by menstrual hygiene company This is L and the Phluid Project – a “gender free” clothing and lifestyle brand based in New York – in a promotional video featuring individuals of varying “gender identities” to spread the message that periods are not specific to females. Vaid-Menon had endorsed this belief previously when, in 2019, he shared an articlefrom Seventeen magazine, a publication aimed at girls and young women, titled “What Trans & Non-Binary Menstruators Should Know About Periods.”

Women’s rights campaigner and filmmaker Vaishnavi Sundar blasted Vaid-Menon’s activism as “dangerous” while calling attention to the plight of women and girls in India. 

In 2020, screenings of a documentary Sundar had produced titled “But What Was She Wearing?” were cancelled in response to previous tweets she had made opposing men in women’s spaces. Her film sought to address the sexual harassment and sexual violence that women in the nation experience, juxtaposing the contrast between what laws on paper purport and the on-the-ground reality.

“India is an extremely caste-riddled society. Indian women across all castes experience profound violence at the hands of men. A large majority still live under acute poverty, devoid of basic sanitation, education, safety, or legal recourse,” Sundar told Reduxx.

“India has one of the highest rates of honor killing and dowry deaths, where newlywed brides are tortured, burnt, sometimes even murdered on the basis of sex. For a man with caste and class privilege living so far removed from the everyday realities of Indian women, Alok Vaid-Menon sure has audacity to call himself a ‘bride,'” she said.

“To import gender identity ideology as some form of progressive ticket to freedom is not just obscene, it is dangerous. In a country that still kills the female newborns and blames young girls for being raped, gender identity is the last thing we want shoved down on us while we haven’t even saved ourselves from the existing misogyny,” Sundar added.

“The only group of people profiting from this ideology are the corporations, medical and pharmaceutical industries. Men like Alok Vaid-Menon are promoters of said industries under the veneer of being progressive and inclusive.”

[miss-62-missunderstood]

I doubt this is true,

Was going through my Instagram feed last night and came a cross a story on Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky. Like a week ago a magazine, I don't remember it's name but reporting Chris and Elsa are having marital problems! Apparently some friends of theirs are worried about them to the magazines insider! Recently Chris went to Iceland with daughter India and Elsa took the the twin boys to Tokyo. Omg! They took separate trips with the kids! Those trips were probably bonding trips! Other parents have done this! The trips were probably planned out months ago! These family has been to a lot of places in the past year! Chris worked so much for like 12 yrs! He is making up for the times he was working! Since the family has gotten back from their trips, they have been spending time riding their dirt bikes! All 5 of them! I've been following them on social media for over a year. They don't look like a couple with major problems! If they are, that is their business! All marriages have there ups and downs! This isn't the first time reports of possible break up and that was false! I bet this is false. Even if they are, they won't be telling the media! Those friends ,who told this story, aren't Chris and Elsa's real friends! Thank you letting me rant!

[pixelgrotto]

Indy's Greatest Adventures

I rewatched all of the Indiana Jones movies lately, coincidentally just in time for the trailer of the new one, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. After I replayed Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis last year and realized that Indy was way more of a tomb raider than I remembered him to be, I was a little nervous about revisiting these films. I needn't have worried too much - wonky portrayal of India aside, the movies still hold up well. There are colonial overtones if you bother to analyze things with a 2022 mindset, sure, but the truck chase scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark still has to be one of the best sequences I've ever seen on film. The same goes for the mine carts in Temple of Doom and the tank scene in Last Crusade. Even Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which I tolerate more than most, has a few moments of pulpy goodness, nuclear fridges aside.

This brings me to Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures for the Super Nintendo, one of the few video games that decided to capture the magic of all of Dr. Jones' then-current films. I first saw a screenshot of it as a kid in Issue #9 of The Adventurer, a magazine that LucasArts put out to advertise their products, and I thought it looked neat as hell. A game full of levels inspired by all three Indy movies?! Genius! I never actually played it as a child, since I didn't have a SNES growing up, but the concept stuck with me. And so after I finished watching the films I decided to give Greatest Adventures a whirl, since it's easily accessible by emulation these days.

The game, published by LucasArts but developed by Factor 5 and JVC Musical Industries, runs on the same engine as JVC's three Super Star Wars titles. I haven't played those, but a quick look online shows that they're renowned for being hard as hell and featuring levels that take quite a few liberties from what was in the movies. (Remember how Luke had to go toe-to-toe against a Sarlacc pit monster in the beginning of A New Hope?)

Greatest Adventures doesn't stray quite as far from the source material, though the last boss of the game is a goofy skeleton version of Donovan after he drinks from the wrong Holy Grail. For the most part, though, you've got traditional platforming stages inspired by most of the major moments in each film, like Indy exploring the Well of Souls, beating up Thuggees in the tunnels beneath Pankot Palace, and facing the traps leading up to the resting place of the Holy Grail. Every now and then you'll get a level that expands upon something not really seen in the films - for instance, a snow section that shows Indy in Nepal trying to reach Marion's bar. Then there are what I like to call "gimmick" levels that present you with a key moment from the movies, like Indy running from a giant boulder at the beginning of Raiders or avoiding gunshots in a nightclub in Temple of Doom, and these break up the standard platforming by forcing you to run forward to survive or duck behind cover. Finally, there are three levels that take advantage of the SNES' fancy Mode 7 chip, placing you in a 3D perspective. Temple of Doom gets two of these, mimicking the life raft plane jump in the Himalayas and the mine cart chase. Last Crusade gets the final one, presenting the moment when Indy and his dad escaped a zeppelin via biplane and had to shoot down some Nazis.

It's all standard SNES platforming goodness, though the game is pretty darn hard. Indy controls well (though for some reason his whip is a far better weapon than his gun) but as the game ramps up you can expect to find a lot of inconveniently placed enemies (like birds, a la Ninja Gaiden) designed to trip up your jumps and bleed your health meter. The latter Last Crusade levels in particular start putting you up against Nazi mechanics and guys from the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword who can throw wrenches and knives in a perfect arc that always seems to hit you, and it's a fine recipe for frustration. There's also one level where you've got to swing from your whip between the windows of Castle Brunwald, and man is it kind of impossible.

I also wish there was more of an equal distribution of levels between the three movies, since Raiders gets 12 stages while Temple of Doom and Last Crusade only get 8. Also, I would've liked to see Indy's sidekicks present. Greatest Adventures depicts the story of each film as kind of a streamlined alternate take where Indy's alone all the time, and while Marion and Professor Jones Sr. show up in cutscenes (and notably the Game Over screen), others like Short Round and Willie Scott are nowhere to be seen. Willie, I guess I can do without, but not including Short Round is a crime, especially when they could've easily designed a Mode 7 chase scene with him driving a car as Indy escapes Shanghai.

These quibbles aside, playing Greatest Adventures with save states neutralizes a lot of the frustration, and for an Indy fan, there's much to like here - from the lovingly-recreated John Williams score to the occasional stage that really rewards fans of the movies. For instance, Raiders' infamous swordsman in black shows up at the end of the game's Cairo levels, and instead of proving to be a major boss encounter, all you've got to do is shoot him once to move on, just like in the film. There's also a Last Crusade boss battle aboard a tank where you can't use any other weapons but your fists to punch Colonel Ernst Vogel into submission, and you've got to do it before the tank rolls off a cliff, too. Good attention to film detail there!

The era of licensed video game tie-ins for films is more or less over, so I doubt we'll see anything in the form of electronic entertainment when Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny comes out. (Bethesda does have the Indy license and is supposed to deliver an original game that might coincide with the movie's release, but they've been silent on that front for a year, so we'll see what happens.) With this in mind, I do recommend giving Greatest Adventures a run-through if you've got a high tolerance for old-school platforming or at least want to relive Indy's glory days before the new movie releases. Along with Fate of Atlantis, it's probably the only 2D Indy game worth replaying by today's standards.

[thejuniorage]

The Junior Age is India's best kids newspaper, it is India's favorite newspaper for children. We provide kids friendly news from around the world fortnightly.

[vimoh]

The Indian obsession with debates

If you talk to normal people in India, they will tell you that they love debates. But unfortunately, almost none of us actually know what a debate is. We think we see debates on television, but we don't actually, because those are not debates. They're shouting matches and everyone knows this. So what is it with our obsession with debate?

I think that part of the problem is that we don't know what debates are. And part of the problem is also that we are obsessed with the idea of debate. Neither of those things in isolation is necessarily a bad thing. You shouldn't debate on certain matters and you should actually be interested in engaging in conversations on topics that you have disagreements on. But our problem goes deeper than that. And it has to do with the need to show off.

When I was a kid, I read a short story in Champak, which is a children's magazine. And the story had to do with a boy who loved the idea of swimming. He was so obsessed with it that he used to watch swimming tournaments on television. And while he was watching them, he used to lie on the ground and flap his arms around as if he was swimming. After having done so for a long period of time, he became convinced that he was someone who could swim.

And then one day he goes on a school trip - I don't remember exactly what circumstances were - but he ends up in the water and his friends have to drag him out of the water because obviously he can't swim and he was drowning. His friends then ask him: "Why didn't you tell us that you could not swim?"

And he said, "I know how to swim. I don't know what happened." When his friends ask him, where he learned how to swim, he said, "I watch it on TV and I practice on my mat."

The reason his friends proceed to laugh at him is obvious. There is a difference between knowing something and convincing yourself that you know it because you have seen a lot of people do it. And that I think is the problem with our obsession with the idea of debate.

Here's another story. Some weeks ago on my YouTube channel someone commented that if I was truly interested in understanding something, I should debate people. And then he told me that in ancient India, there was a rich culture of debate. I agreed with him that there was a culture of debate. This person then sent me long paragraphs about how debates were conducted in ancient India. I told him, I didn't understand all of this, but if he wants to debate me, he was most welcome to come on my livestream and talk to me face-to-face. He then insisted that he will have the debate, but he wants it to happen according to the exact standards of ancient India.

I agreed. He agreed. And then later on the night of the livestream, he messaged saying that because of bad weather where he is, his internet is not connecting so he can't join. Whether or not he pulled out because of a lack of desire to face me or whether his internet was actually bad, I cannot say, but he did not turn up. And that is not even the real point.

When I went back to the comments he had left on my videos, where he said that he wanted to debate according to the exact standards of ancient India, I found that they were exactly copied and pasted from Wikipedia.

So this person had never actually had a debate according to those standards that he loves so much. He was simply obsessed with the way they were expressed - the Sanskrit words they were described in and the idea of doing something "ancient". Like how someone watching a martial arts movie may become obsessed with "tiger style". The interest is synthetic and impractical.

There are, there are techniques from ancient India like Purva Paksha and Pragyan that are used when people are having conversations. They involve presenting your case, understanding your opponent's case, explaining in your own words what your opponent's case is to their satisfaction and then going about in a systematic way to respond to the claims that they have made. These are all great things, by the way. But this person was not actually someone who had done any of these things. He had simply looked at the Wikipedia page and had copy-pasted things. I doubt that a person like this can actually have a debate - forget according to ancient Indian standards - they can't have a debate using any standards at all. Same as someone who thinks they are a martial arts grandmaster after watching a bunch of Hong Kong classics.

And this is a problem because it goes back to our obsession with the idea of debate and how little we are able to do justice to it in actual conduct. Our television debates are one part of the problem, obviously, because they are shouting matches where the agenda is set way before the conversation starts and then the person who's running the conference decides what direction it will take by selectively muting one person and letting the other one go on for entire minutes.

The other problem with our debate culture is that we are so obsessed with the idea of debate that we stuff it into places where it does not belong. Like watching someone's house burn and wanting to have a debate about whether we should put the fire out and save the people who are inside that house.

That is obviously not a place where a debate should happen. There are many things which are of extreme urgency, where you should not be having a debate. You should simply be putting the fire out. Climate change is one of those. Corporate exploitation of the working class is one of those things. Communal politics is another one of those things. These are not places where debates need to happen endlessly before people can come to the conclusion that something is terribly wrong with the system and that action needs to be taken urgently.

But no, we are going to have a "climate change debate". We are not going to look at the reality of what is happening right now. We are going to have a "debate" about it so that more and more time can be wasted before the world turns to a burning crisp, and our children have - forget places to live - they don't have water to drink.

So that is another problem with our debate culture. We are obsessed with debate. We don't know what debate means. We will stuff that ignorant idea of debate into every fucking thing under the assumption that we are crouching tigers.

[halcyon-summer]

America by Allen Ginsberg

America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing.

America two dollars and twentyseven cents January 17, 1956.

I can’t stand my own mind.

America when will we end the human war?

Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb.

I don’t feel good don’t bother me.

I won’t write my poem till I’m in my right mind.

America when will you be angelic?

When will you take off your clothes?

When will you look at yourself through the grave?

When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites?

America why are your libraries full of tears?

America when will you send your eggs to India?

I’m sick of your insane demands.

When can I go into the supermarket and buy what I need with my good looks?

America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world.

Your machinery is too much for me.

You made me want to be a saint.

There must be some other way to settle this argument.

Burroughs is in Tangiers I don’t think he’ll come back it’s sinister.

Are you being sinister or is this some form of practical joke?

I’m trying to come to the point.

I refuse to give up my obsession.

America stop pushing I know what I’m doing.

America the plum blossoms are falling.

I haven’t read the newspapers for months, everyday somebody goes on trial for murder.

America I feel sentimental about the Wobblies.

America I used to be a communist when I was a kid I’m not sorry.

I smoke marijuana every chance I get.

I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet.

When I go to Chinatown I get drunk and never get laid.

My mind is made up there’s going to be trouble.

You should have seen me reading Marx.

My psychoanalyst thinks I’m perfectly right.

I won’t say the Lord’s Prayer.

I have mystical visions and cosmic vibrations.

America I still haven’t told you what you did to Uncle Max after he came over from Russia.

I’m addressing you.

Are you going to let your emotional life be run by Time Magazine?

I’m obsessed by Time Magazine.

I read it every week.

Its cover stares at me every time I slink past the corner candystore.

I read it in the basement of the Berkeley Public Library.

It’s always telling me about responsibility. Businessmen are serious. Movie producers are serious. Everybody’s serious but me.

It occurs to me that I am America.

I am talking to myself again.

Asia is rising against me.

I haven’t got a chinaman’s chance.

I’d better consider my national resources.

My national resources consist of two joints of marijuana millions of genitals an unpublishable private literature that jetplanes 1400 miles an hour and twentyfive-thousand mental institutions.

I say nothing about my prisons nor the millions of underprivileged who live in my flowerpots under the light of five hundred suns.

I have abolished the whorehouses of France, Tangiers is the next to go.

My ambition is to be President despite the fact that I’m a Catholic.

America how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood?

I will continue like Henry Ford my strophes are as individual as his automobiles more so they’re all different sexes.

America I will sell you strophes $2500 apiece $500 down on your old strophe

America free Tom Mooney

America save the Spanish Loyalists

America Sacco & Vanzetti must not die

America I am the Scottsboro boys.

America when I was seven momma took me to Communist Cell meetings they sold us garbanzos a handful per ticket a ticket costs a nickel and the speeches were free everybody was angelic and sentimental about the workers it was all so sincere you have no idea what a good thing the party was in 1835 Scott Nearing was a grand old man a real mensch Mother Bloor the Silk-strikers’ Ewig-Weibliche made me cry I once saw the Yiddish orator Israel Amter plain. Everybody must have been a spy.

America you don’t really want to go to war.

America its them bad Russians.

Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.

The Russia wants to eat us alive. The Russia’s power mad. She wants to take our cars from out our garages.

Her wants to grab Chicago. Her needs a Red Reader’s Digest. Her wants our auto plants in Siberia. Him big bureaucracy running our fillingstations.

That no good. Ugh. Him make Indians learn read. Him need big black niggers. Hah. Her make us all work sixteen hours a day. Help.

America this is quite serious.

America this is the impression I get from looking in the television set.

America is this correct?

I’d better get right down to the job.

It’s true I don’t want to join the Army or turn lathes in precision parts factories, I’m nearsighted and psychopathic anyway.

America I’m putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.

Berkeley, January 17, 1956

[brookston]

Holidays 11.7

Holidays

American Choral Society Day

Ben Ali Commemoration Day (Tunisia)

Climate Action Day

Commemoration Day (Tunisia)

Day of Accord and Reconciliation (Russia)

Day of the Hungarian Opera (Hungary)

Days of History and Memory (Kyrgyzstan)

Dunce Day

Employee Brotherhood Day (SpongeBob Squarepants)

European Radon Day

Gastrointestinal Day (Germany)

Gentian Day

Good Tummy Day (Japan)

Hug a Bear Day

Hungarian Opera Day (Hungary)

International African Writers’ Day (a.k.a. Pan African Writers’ Day)

International Day of Medical Physics

International Inuit Day

Little League Girls Day

Magazine Day

Medical Science Liaison Awareness and Appreciation Day

Melbourne Cup Day (Victoria, Australia)

Meteorite Day

National Bassist Day

National Cancer Awareness Day (India)

National Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day

National Day for the Victims of Communism

National Day in Northern Catalonia (France)

National Day of Remembrance for Ka Otis (Philippines)

National Food Fortification Day (Philippines)

National Inuit Day (Canada)

National Keith Day

National Lori Day

National Programmatic Advertising Day

National Railway Day (Canada)

National Retinol Day

National Revolution and Solidarity Day (Bangladesh)

Notary Public Day

N7 Day (from “Mass Effect”)

Outdoor Classroom Day (UK)

Red Cup Day

Republican Elephant Day

Return Day (Delaware)

Social Revolution Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Stay Away from Anyone Named Honest John Day

Students’ Day (Maharashtra, India)

Supporting Male Victims of Domestic Abuse Day (UK)

Tajik Theatre Day (Tajikistan)

Treaty of the Pyrenees Day (Northern Catalonia, France)

Victims of Communism Day (Florida, Missouri)

Watercress Day (French Republic)

Williams Syndrome Day (UK)

World Cancer Awareness Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Mud Cake Day (Sweden)

International Merlot Day

Martini Day

National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

National Kumquat Day

World Pad Thai Day (UK)

Independence & Related Days

October Revolution Day (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Transdniestria, former U.S.S.R.; 1917)

Revolution Day (Bangladesh; 1971)

1st Thursday in November

International Day Against Violence & Bullying at School including Cyberbullying [1st Thursday]

International Project Management Day (a.k.a. IPM Day) [1st Thursday]

International Stout Day [1st Thursday]

Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]

National Cash Back Day [1st Thursday]

National Casting Day [1st Thursday]

National Men Make Dinner [1st Thursday]

National Non-Fiction Day (UK) [1st Thursday]

Thankful Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thanksgiving Day (Liberia) [1st Thursday]

Therapy Thursday [1st Thursday of Each Month]

Thirsty Thursday [Every Thursday]

Three for Thursday [Every Thursday]

Thrift Store Thursday [Every Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

World Digital Preservation Day [1st Thursday]

Weekly Holidays beginning November 7 (1st Full Week of November)

Dear Santa Letter Week (thru 11.13)

National Book Awards Week

Volusia County Fair (DeLand, Florida) [thru 11.17]

Festivals Beginning November 7, 2024

Caribbean Food and Wine Festival (Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands) [thru 11.10]

Cork International Film Festival (Cork, Ireland) [thru 11.17]

Creativa Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) [thru 11.10]

Dharamshala International Film Festival (Dharamshala, India) [thru 11.10]

Gatlinburg Winter Magic and Chili Cookoff (Gatlinburg, Tennessee)

International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg (Mannheim, Germany) [thru 11.17]

PizzaCon (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Port Barre Cracklin Festival (Port Barre, Louisiana) [thru 11.10]

Spinach Festival (Crystal City, Texas) [thru 11.10]

Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (Taipei, Taiwan) [thru 11.24]

Taste of the Ozarks (Springfield, Missouri)

Taste of the Town (Pasadena, Texas)

The WhiskyX (Austin, Texas)

World Food Championships (Indianapolis, Indiana) [thru 11.12]

World Film Festival of Bangkok (Bangkok, Thailand) [thru 11.17]

Feast Days

Albert Camus (Writerism)

All Dominican Saints and Blesseds (Christian)

Armstrong Sperry (Artology)

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (Lutheran)

Billy the Grownup (Muppetism)

Birth of Baháʼu'lláh (Baha'i) [2 Muharram]

Charles Baudelaire Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Engelbert II of Berg (Christian; Saint)

Feat of All Saints of the Dominican Order

Feast of Blessed John Duns Scotus (The Subtle Doctor)

Feast of Stolen Fire

Festivals of the Twin Birthdays, Day 2 (Baha'i)

Florentius (Christian; Saint)

Francisco de Zurbarán (Artology)

Hawaiian Harvest Festival to Lomo (Ancient Hawai’i)

Herculanus of Perugia (Christian; Saint)

Jan Matulka (Artology)

John Christian Frederick Heyer (Lutheran)

John Duns Scotus (Christian; Blessed)

Lesser Ury (Artology)

Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen (Lutheran)

Makahikii Festival (Ancient Hawai’i)

Night of Hecate (Ancient Greece; Everyday Wicca)

Norah McGuinness (Artology)

Paul Peel (Artology)

Philippe de Comines (Positivist; Saint)

Prosdocimus (Christian; Saint)

Storm of Fears Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Tentacle Day (Pastafarian)

Tiamat’s Day (Pagan)

Tokhu Emong (Lotha Nada people of India)

Vicente Liem de la Paz (Christian; One of Vietnamese Martyrs)

Werenfrid (Christian; Saint)

Willibrord (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Prime Number Day: 311 [64 of 72]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 51 of 60)

Premieres

Aerial, by Kate Bush (Album; 2005)

Alice In Chains, by Alice In Chains (Album; 1995)

Big Hero 6 (Animated Film; 2014)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (Radio Series; 1932)

…But Seriously, Phil Collins (Album; 1989)

The Divine Miss M, by Bette Midler (Album; 1972)

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, by Chicago (Song; 1970)

Don’t Look Now (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)

Elf (Film; 2003)

Feast (Disney Cartoon; 2014)

Fifty Cents Lost or Get That Half Back (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 123; 1961)

The Flintstones: Fred’s Final Fling (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Special; 1980)

Green, by R.E.M. (Album; 1988)

Hogfather, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1996) [Discworld #20]

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Film; 1963)

Job, by Joseph Roth (Novel; 1930)

London Gazette (Weekly Gazette; 1665)

Love Actually (Film; 2003)

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Animated Film; 2008)

Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party (TV Series; 2016)

Mater and the Ghostlight (Pixar Cartoon; 2006)

The Midnight Line, 22nd Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2017)

Miss Fritter’s Racing Skool (Pixar Cartoon; 2017)

Mister Magoo (Animated TV Series; 1960)

Raising Steam, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2013) [Discworld #40]

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, by Sergei Rachmaninoff (Conertante; 1934)

Role Models (Film; 2008)

The Rose (Film; 1979)

Safari So good (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1947)

The Scheme Misfires of You Can Planet Better Than That (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 124; 1961)

Sid and Nancy (Film; 1986)

Something Wild (Film; 1986)

A Son Unique, by Wu-Tang Clan (Album; 2006)

Southern Fried Hospitality (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1960)

Starship Troopers (Film; 1997)

Studio One (Radio Series; 1948)

Ten Hail Marys & Ten How’s Your Fathers, by Elvis Costello (Album; 1980)

The Theory of Everything (Film; 2014)

Ummagumma, by Pink Floyd (Album; 1969)

Uncle Vanya, by Anton Chekov (Play; 1899)

Whole Lotta Love, by Led Zeppelin (Song; 1969)

Wild Honey or How to Get Along Without a Ration Book (Barney Bear MGM Cartoon; 1942)

The Winds of War, by Herman Wouk (Novel; 1971)

Winter’s Heart, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 2000) [Wheel of Time #9]

Zot, Parts 3 & 4 (Underdog Cartoon, S1, Eps. 11 & 12; 1964)

Today’s Name Days

Carina, Engelbert, Willibrord (Austria)

Anđelko, Baldo, Florencije, Zdenka (Croatia)

Saskie (Czech Republic)

Engelbrecht (Denmark)

Kiira, Kiiri, Kirke (Estonia)

Erin, Taisto (Finland)

Carine (France)

Engelbert, Carina, Willbir, Tina (Germany)

Athinodoros, Ernest, Theagenis, Themelios (Greece)

Rezső (Hungary)

Ernesto, Prosdocimo (Italy)

Helma, Lotars (Latvia)

Ernestas, Gotautė, Karina, Sirtautas (Lithuania)

Ingebrigt, Ingelin (Norway)

Achilles, Antoni, Engelbert, Florentyn, Melchior, Przemił (Poland)

René (Slovakia)

Carina, Ernesto (Spain)

Ingegerd, Ingela (Sweden)

Engelbert, Graham, Hollis, Holm, Holmes, Holt (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 312 of 2024; 54 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of Week 45 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Hagal (Hailstone) [Day 12 of 28]

Chinese: Month 10 (Yi-Hai), Day 7 (Yi-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 6 Heshvan 5785

Islamic: 5 Jumada I 1446

J Cal: 12 Wood; Foursday [11 of 30]

Julian: 25 October 2024

Moon: 36%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 4 Frederic (12th Month) [Isabella of Castille]

Runic Half Month: Nyd (Necessity) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 46 of 90)

Week: 1st Full Week of November

Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 15 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Nyd (Necessity) [Half-Month 22 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 11.21)