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greatfay · 5 years ago

Note

The fosters 😏

Ohhhhhh my godddddddd I’m gonna diiiiiie. Ok let the memories resurface, this may take a minute.

my all-time ultimate fave character:

Stef. I just really liked her arcs, how straight forward she is, etc. Classic ISTJ tbh... cautious, reserved, protective, methodical, quietly affectionate. Like at the end of the day, I think she’s my fave. The kids go through so much ups and downs and Dumbass Moments that none of them can be my fave, and Lena is a close second but the writers only gave her one strong arc, and that’s when she tried to have a baby and that was so painful.

For several seasons I used to say my fave was Mike because he was Prime Dad Material. Like in the very first episode, he comes off as this douchey, entitled, deadbeat asshole who oversteps boundaries, right? Classic switcheroo. You find out this man is a saint, this man oozes emotional sensitivity and communication and affection, this man is also a dilf with eyelashes longer than should be legal. When he fostered AJ (I’m crying right now). Getting Ana through rehab??? Fighting his own alcohol addiction and not breaking once. Like the only time he ever let me down was his reaction to Dani MOLESTING Brandon, but he realized like whoa wait a minute... Brandon’s been taken advantage of and if Brandon were a girl he would see it different... Like all of Mike’s mistakes were temporary mistakes, he recovered quick and tried to do the right thing. If only his son was as quick on the uptake 😒

a character I didn’t used to like but now do:

Brandon. It took five seasons for me to like Brandon. You know how many seasons this show had? Five. And it’s because he’s pulled through the ringer of Suffering™ and it’s almost ALL his fault so that by the end when he’s doing the right thing again and again for the first time ever... and meets that super sweet girl... and then she DIES

a character I used to like but now don’t:

Jude. He was such an intuitive, intense child, with wisdom earned from awful trauma, and watching him slowly assert himself was a wonder to watch. I do think the writers got lost with him, because his second love interest was a bore, his pothead thing was awful to watch, and when he became a twitch streamer with Taylor—WHAAACK. By the time of Good Trouble (which takes place years after The Fosters, so Jude is a sophomore/junior in college) Jude is drinking a LOT, partying a LOT, and fucking!!! a LOT!! Makes me concerned. Idk, it just felt like he lost his intuition halfway through the show and kept doing dumb stuff.

a character I’m indifferent about:

Every ex of the family lmao, idr them and I was not too fired up about any of them except maybe Emma. Like all of Jesus’ and Brandon’s exes I can’t remember.

a character who deserved better:

I’m just gonna make a list

AJ. Literally just him and Mike are just the cutest because of how earnestly the actor plays AJ, you know I love found family tropes and stuff.

Mat. Such a sweetheart, the most accommodating and supportive boyfriend. So talented. Gorgeous hair. Mariana didn’t deserve him.

Cole. This boy fought SO HARD to be recognized for his gender, organized an LGBTQA prom for all his classmates who were rejected from their school’s prom, had to get hormones off the black market, and was so intuitive and loyal... honestly I loved Cole.

Aaron. SUCH a confusing end. Out of all the love interests, he and Callie popped with the most chemistry. The shared quest, the rides on the motorcycle, pictures at the beach, his great college advice. Their fight at her prom was so left-field and upsetting, and we know it’s because they wanted Callie to be single when the series ended so she could be free to date in Good Trouble. If I’m not mistaken, theirs is the first trans/cis relationship portrayed on network television... ever? And I mean a relationship, not a hook up.

Wyatt. Another sweetheart, what happened between him and Callie wasn’t really about him, it was about her and it was definitely about legal issues, and she was right to set her boundaries, but ouch that hurt. Gorgeous hair.

Notice how most of this list either dated Callie or crushed on her lmao except for Mat. Also

Rita. The woman lives and breathes childcare and youth advocacy. Let her win.

DAPHNE KEENE. She had her daughter with her in the series finale but I haven’t heard mention of her yet in Good Trouble, she’d better have custody and a job salary over 70k for what this show put her through.

EMMA. This poor girl was practically torn in two between the twins, from Jesus’ messy/horny ass to Mariana’s bossy controlling ass. She should be president.

a ship I’ve never been able to get into:

Most of Jesus’ relationships. He’s a fuck up so all of them are basically waiting for a train wreck. His most healthy one was with Emma, who was too good for him, and the one with most chemistry was with Lexi, but she was messy af too so that wasn’t going to work.

a ship I’ve never been able to get over:

Jude/Connor. It sailed and sunk in two minutes. So apparently, Jude/Connor have the youngest LGBT kiss shown on television. This show really made history, huh. They were adorable, they literally struggled to be a couple (since Connor’s dad is homophobic) and then after being a couple for like 2 episodes, Connor’s dad walking in on them kissing and basically blowing up was so traumatizing for the kid that he moved in with his mom in LA to get away from him. They try to do the long distance thing but they're middle schoolers... and it’s their first relationship each... and both of them are just now figuring out that they’re gay. it doesn’t work out. Would love for Connor to come back in Good Trouble and try to woo Jude or something (cuz Jude...???? he’s just FUCKING... ALL the time. Like one second he’s the adorable 12-year-old you just want to shield from the world, and then it’s like TIME SKIP, he’s a college frat boy now and he fucks “straight” boys every weekend).

a cute, low-key ship:

Lol this show didn’t do low-key ships, everything was loud.

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it:

Stef/Lena; because they’re the main couple on the show and yet we as the audience forget that they’re even an option as an OTP. These two are marriage goals. They fight, they argue, they have conflicting viewpoints, but they always sit down and talk at the end of the day, and they pull it together because of their love for the kids and each other. I live for them, I seriously wanted them to adopt me. I’d cook for the family so they would be an ounce less stressed. They’re such great moms and they try SO hard to be there for the kids, who each come with truckloads of baggage and problems all befitting network TV teen drama protagonists.

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened:

BRALLIE. They’re SIBLINGSSSS AHHHH. “But they’re foster siblings” I DON’T CARE. This is not a damn Victorian novel, it’s gross. Maybe in season 1 it wasn’t as bad since Callie had zero intentions of staying with the Adams-Fosters family and was used to being bounced around in foster care, but after bonding with them all and truly believing they wanted her, season 2 onward Brallie disgusts me.

Mariana/Nick. Let’s talk about his actor for a second. Louis Hunter played a teenager in The Secret Circle back in 2011 (don’t @ me but I loved that show) and guess what, friends, he was TOO FUCKING OLD to play a teenager THEN. That opinion stands 7 years later. An absolute creep who traumatized Mariana, the girl had to go to THERAPY. She went to THERAPY because of him.

Lena/Monte. UGHHHHHHHHh this made me so mad. Monte was being so gross and inappropriate, like not only is Lena her employee/subordinate... but Lena is a WOMAN. She’s grown as hell and confident in her identity and has a whole ass wife (a WIFE) and a family to take care of, and here comes Monte with her weird ass flirtations and stuff. She could NEVER. Lena is a goddess and Monte but an ant crawling on the sidewalk outside her temple.

my favourite storyline/moment:

When Stef confronted her internalized homophobia and misogyny during his breast cancer scare and she cut her hair to symbolize her ownership of her femininity. That was POWERFUL. Stef actually had so many great emotional arcs throughout the show; losing her father (who never really “got” her “lesbianism”), her mother’s breast cancer scare, HER breast cancer scare, her fight to become a detective, maybe it’s Teri Polo but Stef is such a stand-up, rigid character with such a strong moral center that watching her trudge through emotional trauma every gd episode was riveting.

Jude’s selective mutism. I remember this out of nowhere, but Jude went mute?? And he had to see a therapist, who deduced his problem and attributed it to an anxiety disorder and advised the family not to stress him out or pressure him to talk, and he went like this for a couple episodes. Like this boy went through so much trauma that it took like one thing, one little thing, to make him shut down. And Callie like patiently waiting for him to speak, and then her seeing her rapist and the only person she wanted to talk to about it was her little brother and he still wouldn’t talk, he just sits there playing video games, and she sends him a message on Xbox Live saying ‘Please talk to me’ and he ignores it then she sends another message “I saw Liam today” and he just looks at her as tears are falling down her face and places his hand on her arm in support. I. CRIED. Even after that moment, like in the next episode he’s still mute and Callie reminds him again that he’s been so strong compared to her that he’s “due for a breakdown” and not to feel any pressure to talk before he’s ready, and they fucking plant flowers together for Lena (I’m covering my mouth with one hand to keep from crying, I’m getting old feels. Remember when we used to say ‘feels’?). Ok I’m done.

Ok the storyline where Brandon is caught cheating for people on the SATs and won’t be able to go to Juilliard was POWERFUL. I loved that Brandon and Lena had a lot of bonding moments, and Lena was honest with Brandon in a way no one else was, she was like these are the consequences of your actions. You had decisions to make and you made the bad decisions every time, and now you’re here. Remember when you selling fake IDs for that dealer ended with your hand getting smashed so you can’t play classical music any more? Did you learn from that? Clearly not. POWERFUL. Lena scalped me on that day.

a storyline that never should have been written:

Most of Brandon’s storylines lmao. Him selling the fake IDs, him taking SATs for other students, him dating that 21+ woman with a kid and deciding he has to drop out of school and get a full time job to take care of her??? I love how Stef had to pull him aside and tell him “You’re Captain Save-A-Ho! And I know this because you got your Save-A-Ho gene from me!!” Brandon was MESSY. Despite being the typically “boring” of the kids in that he didn’t party or drink, he had interest in typical teen stuff, he was also impulsive in the worst way with his relationships and would get tunnel vision. Remember when Stef and Lena had to pull a restraining on Brandon for Callie??? My godddddd, a MESS. We’re not going to talk about how he finally fell in love with the right girl and she fucking dies.

BRALLIE. That bit where Callie didn’t think she was getting adopted so she FUCKS BRANDON, I’M NOT OVER IT. AHHHH.

Jude becoming a pothead. It was really dumb. I’d have been happier if the focus was on his anxiety and how it helped him.

Everything Monte related.

The time Jude downloaded Grindr and met up with a guy in his motel room?? And the guy was a grown man?? And of course he freaks out because Jude is a kid and tells him to gtfo??? That made me SOOOOO uncomfortable, which is why I hated it. BUT, I liked how the moms handled it, because obviously he’s a boy who’s curious and he’s surrounded by other kids—especially his four siblings with their tumultuous whirlwind of relationships—who are constantly making out with this person and hooking up with that person, and because he’s gay... and has this limited dating pool... and his first love moved to another fucking city to escape his homophobic dad... how does he get to explore his sexuality? who does he get to kiss at a party? This was so relatable, so many lgbtqa youth deal with this everyday, this sort of social pressure and FOMO as the cis straight kids around us are hitting all these romantic and sexual milestones while we’re sitting on an island. And obviously Stef and Lena sympathize, but then empathize how incredibly dangerous it was because Jude could’ve gotten hurt, there are guys out there who could do terrible things to him and he has to think these things through, not to mention the guy in question could’ve been just a normal dude trying to get it on and that he was put in danger—and this was the same season that explores how Jesus and Mariana��s birth father ended up on the sex offenders’ registry. It was handled well but remembering this storyline gives me anxiety.

The Jack storyline. I forgot this kid’s name and what happened to him so I had to peruse the wiki and I fell down a rabbit hole. Basically, this is a kid who was in a privatized group home, during a season in which Callie does volunteer work with a woman, Justina Marks, who is trying to pass a bill to reform child social services—only to discover that she wants to privatized the foster system to make money off of them, which of course makes Callie like do a BUNCH of risky stupid shit to take her down. So Jack gets temporarily moved into the Adams-Fosters home, proving to be a very quirky, quiet, sensitive boy, he kisses Jude after Jude’s breakup with Connor? Then reveals he’s not actually gay, he just wanted Jude to be happy? And it’s really fucking sad because he has this bleeding heart and this need to make everyone around him happy because he sees himself as this burden. Then he gets placed into a new foster home, despite Stef and Lena wanting to keep him around... and he gets put in the same foster home with the same man who abused Jude in the show’s pilot—and like the inciting incident for the show itself (Callie destroying his car to distract him from beating her brother > her going to juvie > her getting beat up in juvie > Lena seeing this poor bruised up girl and thinking “she’s my daughter now”). So Jack ends up being fostered by the horrible, abusive man who should never have been allowed to be within feet of a child again, and Stef just so happens to be one of the officers nearby when a domestic disturbance is called in, and when she arrives at the house with her partner she’s like “bruh I know this house” and when she goes into the kitchen she steps on something: a pair of glasses. Whose glasses???

JACK’S. And she quietly lays a sheet over his dead body. His foster father, who’d already been arrested once for beating Jude, shot him in a drunken rage. And CALLIE LATER FINDS OUT JuSTINA MARKS SET IT UP TO USE AS HER FACE CASE IN SUPPORT OF HER BILL.

my first thoughts on the show:

Literally the first time I heard the theme song when I randomly decided to watch it on Netflix in like 2014 (2015? I can’t remember, I don’t think season 3 was out at that point so it might’ve been 2014) I was like oh this is going to be the crying show.

my thoughts now:

I was right. I would not rewatch this show lmao, but I’m fond of it. I did randomly decide to start watching Good Trouble and surprisingly I like it and I missed the characters. I can look back and appreciate how this show handled a lot of tender topics as tastefully as they could, and examine them from a lot of different angles.

Ask me about a tv show/movie/franchise/book!

#the fosters #i might've misremembered some things so correct me if i'm wrong #whatlovelybooks

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charmers-kpop · 5 years ago

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✨💜🍇👠

{ Basics }

• Birth Name // Park Bo-gyeong {박보경}

↪From Sino-Korean 寶 meaning "treasure, jewel; precious, rare" (bo), and 炅 meaning "brilliance" (gyeong).

• Stage Name // Bogyoung

↪'Bo-unnie', 'Gyun', 'Gyeongie', 'Miss Fashion', 'Bugs', 'Supreme Gyeongie'

• Birth Date // August 30th, 1997

↪ Virgo, the Virgin

• Birth Place // Busan, South Korea

• Heritage // 100% Korean

{ Career }

• Profession // Singer, dancer, TV personality, actress, entrepreneur

• Band/Group // CHARMERS (매혹하는)

• Position // Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer

• Agency // HeartEater Events & Artist Management

• Training Period // 4 years 10 months

{ Personality }

{+} Charming | Perceptive | Compassionate

• Bogyoung was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth, and her tongue has also become silver and sharp. She always seems to know what to say, what to do, and how to go about herself towards anyone and everyone at just the right time, as if she could predict time and read minds. As consequence of this, she tends to become like a chameleon. She could be outgoing and flirty to one, or soft spoken and demure to another. She just knows how to sneakily push her opponent's buttons in negotiations and a good 7 times out of 10, she just barely got her way with things she wants. That said, she does make a great debate partner and a respectful enough of a person to just converse with whether you are close friends or complete strangers.

• Bogyoung's strongest skill is the ability to read people, but her smarts also play an important part in how she interacts with people. She prefers to keep herself open to conversations but stay reserved when it wasn't her time, which makes her a rather strategic speaker who calculates her moves one by one and expertly conducts herself in a well thought out, eloquent manner. She can also quickly Macguyver a conversation around with a joke or a simple statement placed at just the right time. She approaches each interaction with a strategy ring under her 'spell', so to speak.

• On contrary belief, Bogyoung isn't the self-centered, entitled rich girl stereotype as depicted in movies and books. She is instead, compassionate and caring. When she plans on getting food, she always asks if she is allowed to buy more than needed just in case if the people around her wanted some as well. When a person is down, she will be there to comfort and support them if the situation calls for it, and when she herself needs help she would always happily accept the offer in return gratefully. She will also protect her loved ones from any sort of outer threat that ever comes by their direction. Though she may not directly relate, she wants her groupmates to feel happy and secure after talking a situation through, and she always tries her best to think from a perspective of someone without lots of money like herself, which can be tricky at times, however Bogyoung can manage it [most of the time].

{<} Snarky | Lazy | Vain

• Those perceptive skills are just as handy for giving someone a tongue lashing as they are for charming them. Bogyoung's teasing comes in two forms: The bitter and insulting kind for those she detests and the more playful kind for those she cares for. Verbal warfare is like a hobby of her's and when the situation calls for it and if she's willing to subject a certain amount of energy on it, she will go all out without hesitation. Anger isn't the exact word to describe the way she debates, it is more out of 'constructive frustration' in which Bogyoung tries to back her arguments with either research or facts and truths about the topic they are debating about. But at time she does tend to let herself slip in a curse word here and there just for dramatic effect as she could only go so far into her rambling before the fire starts to spread.

• Bogyoung is actually terrible at singing really high notes and pulling off really quick moves despite being put as lead vocalist and lead dancer, so it would be a smart choice for her to put more effort into improving these skills, however she prefers to lay around and do nothing as she is just inherently lazy. Growing up pretty spoiled, working hard wasn't too much of a necessity as she was well-rounded in most things. Though despite this she has acquired a lot of different types of skills like doing hair, makeup or nails, painting, figure skating, driving, and other random things such as basic hand-to-hand-combat, just because she could afford it. Bogyoung doesn't like to admit it but she is really lazy and this causes quite the inconvenience for her harder working teammates while she just sits on the sidelines and does nothing.

• Bogyoung is an attractive woman and she knows it. Although she rarely ever brags about her own looks, there is a certain energy present in her walk and how she carries herself that lets others around her in on her pride in her good looks. When she isn't practicing with her bandmates or lounging on the couch with the animals, she's usually perfecting her makeup skills and doing them on herself. She pampers herself with the best products in the market and is loyal to a lot of brands that sell makeup that actually works instead of those that sell products at ridiculously high prices as she just sees them, as she would describe it 'uselessly overpriced for what they actually are', so in conclusion she likes to look good and feel like she's on top of the world.

{–} Selfish | Manipulative | Moody

• Working in an industry where you're constantly starving for more attention and fans, there isn't much room for selflessness. Having been surrounded by groups of people that are a part of highly competitive industries such as the food industry, Bogyoung has come to learn that she has to stay in tip-top shape at all times to be able to perform her best on camera, and sometimes this means she has to leave some of her fellow artist friends outside CHARMERS in the dust because they gotta do what they gotta do to survive, as bad and mean as that sounds. Bogyoung herself isn't selfish, however she does have tendencies to not impulsively share with others as she just sees it as wasting for herself. Not that she never shared anything in her life, but she's used to the idea of giving helpful things, such as food and clothing, to people who can't afford it rather than just give money when the person she is donating to could potentially be stocking up millions of 2 dollar notes waiting to be spent on, as Bogyoung has learnt the hard way that people can do that out of their own selfishness, so she prefers not to give unless necessary.

• Bogyoung is subtle in how she words her sentences. She never threatens them or tries to control them with guilt, but instead she sticks to using the vices and virtues of her victims to get her way. For example she would try to use Neri's hot-headedness, Fumiko's micro-managing tendencies and Leola's laziness as a scapegoat for not practicing or arriving on time to practices. Her doing this isn't to be mean but to just shift the blame onto someone else she knows to be more responsible than she is and expects them to be in situations like this. She usually goes for those with prideful personalities, takes advantage of the pity of those with great compassion, gives sweet promises to those with a soft spot for pretty girls and so on, and usually she would never think twice about them, but after some conflict with her bandmates, she realizes that taking the blame for the group matters more than social status or just being the daughter of a wealthy Korean fast food joint owner.

• Her mental state is like a rollercoaster. Being away from home and family takes a toll on Bogyoung's mental state and being homesick for her is a killer. Not being able to go to her favorite restaurants once avery week, not being able to curl up with her pets in bed, not being able to talk to her siblings and other loved ones drives her to a point of unstable emotional capacities. She's not an extreme crier, but gets very snappy and more demanding when she is crying. Say one wrong thing and she'll tell you all the things you don't wanna hear and she would feel no remorse for that, not until her state dies down and she returns to her normally level-headed self.

{ Trivia }

• Having been training in larger companies before, Bogyoung has found her home in the most unlikely space which is HeartEater entertainment.

• At first she didn't like how the company was still cheap and small, but after meeting with her potential bandmates at the time struck a cord with her and she now loves them all as her sisters and groupmates and would do anything for them.

• Her father's net worth is well over $5.18 Billion USD and his fast food business has become very well known all over the world.

• Bogyoung being second oldest of 4 children made it very clear that she wasn't going to continue her father's food legacy as she finds it boring and 'it's bound to die anyway.'

• Growing up with siblings to care for and deal with makes Bogyoung an expert with little kids and knows just how to charm them into leaving her alone.

• When she gets 'constructively frustrated' she tends her Busan accent tends to slip in here and there, which she absolutely despises.

• This bish loves her name brands. She has a whole wardrobe in her room back at her expensive ass home dedicated to Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Prada stuff and brought some random expensive things and random less expensive things along with her in her trainee journey.

• And on the topic of Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Prada, those are what her pets are called. Louis Vuitton, or 'Louie V' for short, is an orange Tabby cat, Fendi is a Savannah cat and Prada is a Doberman Pinscher.

• Bogyoung is exceptionally close with Pearl, both of them coming from wealthy backgrounds, with the exception of Pearl having to experience her parent's divorce and therefore she had to transition into a more simple life afterwards.

• But nonetheless those two relate on a plethora of things such as their love for having money and being their own sugar daddys 👀

• She's also pretty close with Leola since she was literally the first person she talked to when she came to HeartEater.

• Even though there's the language barrier, Bogyoung tries to help her foreign bandmates with their Korean language journey.

• Favorite food: Lamb shoulder, cooked medium rare to be specific

• Favorite drink: Juice! Any kind of juice! She loves her dieting

• Her current concern: How to reach a high note without sounding like a dying cat

• Her future goal: To just be successful and happy and full of love really.

#charmers #tokyokocnet #pinkocnet #kumokocnet #woopkocnet #kpop #kpop idol #idol group #oc

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puckinghell · 6 years ago

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Stars and Supernovae | March

Summary: As soon as you meet Tyler Seguin, you know you’re destined to be best friends. Sometimes you wonder if you’re destined to be more, but life keeps getting in the way. Perhaps it’s just not written in the stars? Note: This is Part 6. Part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

Playoffs were right around the corner and it was clear that the tension on the ice was rising. You sat with Jenn and Andrea, your hands clasped together so tight you were starting to lose feeling in your fingers. You missed Katie in the box with you, but she hadn’t been able to make it. Luckily, neither had Sabrina.

Sabrina had given on on her nice act, lately. You didn’t know what had changed, hadn’t felt like you were doing anything differently relating Tyler, but now, when she was home, she would shoot you dirty looks and ignore your questions, slamming doors and kitchen cabinets to let you know she was not happy with you. You, in return, had given up on trying. It hadn’t changed anything between you and Tyler; in fact, things had been better, your get togethers more frequent and his texts longer, more engaged.

“Oh, seriously, again?” Jenn huffed next to you, and you returned your attention to the ice to see one of the Stars rookies sprawled out on the ice. “Can they leave the kids alone?”

They were playing the Blues, who were fighting for their playoff spot just like the Stars, and the game was brutal. It was currently 3-2 for the Stars, which meant the Blues were starting to get meaner.

“Apparently, Jamie agrees,” said Andrea, and she leaped up and yelled as Jamie dropped his gloves and pummeled the guy who’d brought his rookie to the floor. You cheered for Jamie too, and when the St. Louis player was dropped to the floor, you screamed at the ref for breaking them up, even though you knew it was fair enough. It was just, you loved watching people get a taste of their own medicine.

Jamie shook his head as if he was trying to get his brain back in order, as the ref pulled him to the penalty box. Both players got a double minor, meaning it was 4 against 4 for 4 minutes. You watched as the familiar figure of #91 took his place on the ice.

Both teams managed to kill off the penalty, and you watched full of anticipation as the clock continued ticking. If they won this one, they’d still be in the race for the playoffs. If they lost, it was pretty much the end of the road for them. You weren’t looking forward to dealing with Tyler’s moody ass if they lost, not just yet; although, was that even still your job? What if he would turn to Sabrina for support? You knew that would be the logical chain of events, and yet, your heart squeezed at the thought of it.

There were only 3 minutes left, when one of the Blues players went for Jamie. It was a hard hit and a full second late, and even when the ref blew his whistle for a penalty, you knew that wouldn’t be enough for the Stars. But the last person you’d expected to jump the offending player was your very own best friend.

Tyler wasn’t very good at fighting. Unlike Jamie, he didn’t do it often, and he didn’t knew the right way to do it. He managed a few pretty good punches, but even all the way from the box you saw the other guy’s fist connect with his face, and you squeezed your eyes shut.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Jenn hummed, taking your hand in hers and putting it on her lap. “They’re done, it’s over.” You opened your eyes to find the refs had broken them up. The Blues player was still yelling at Tyler, but Tyler wasn’t even responding. Instead, he spit onto the ice, and the white surface turned red.

You couldn’t remember the last time your heartbeat had been this high, as you waited for Tyler outside, next to his truck. You knew he wouldn’t have minded if you had waited outside the tunnel, but that was something WAGs did, and you weren’t one of them, even if Jenn and Andrea had both told you nobody would find it weird. It felt like ages until the familiar frame of your best friend appeared on the parking lot. It was dark outside, too dark to assess the damage from so far away, and you sucked in your breath as you watched him come closer.

“Hey, Shiny,” Tyler grinned. “Guess we’re not done, yet, huh?” Indeed, they had won the game, but you hardly cared about that right now; especially as you noticed the way the skin of his lips had split in two, two neat little stitches around the gash to hold it closed.

To your own surprise, tears jumped to your eyes.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Tyler frowned as he noticed, hurrying to you and dropping his hockey bag on the floor. Your hand reached out and grazed the skin above his lip, barely touching it, but Tyler still let out a hiss of pain and you pulled back as if you’d been stung.

“Oh my God, it hurts,” you brought out, and then you felt like crying even more.

“It’s fine, babe,” Tyler cooed, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and kissing the top of your head. “It’s just a little gash, and that punk deserved it. He went for Jamie.”

“Couldn’t you just have let someone else do it?” you sniffed. “Rads is a lot meaner than you, Ty.”

“But it’s Jamie,” Tyler argued, as if that explained everything, and maybe it did. He opened the car door and slowly pushed you inside, before jumping in the other side. The ride home was quiet, but you managed to swallow away the tears as long as you didn’t look at his busted lip. When the truck stopped in front of Tyler’s house, you frowned.

“Are you not going to take me home?”

“No.” Tyler smirked. “Haven’t you heard, I’m severely injured. I need around the clock care. You need to stay here and be my nurse.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Sexy nurse outfit not optional.”

You lightly punched his arm, but couldn’t help but laugh. “Jerk. Sabrina is not going to like that.” You followed him inside, greeting the dogs.

“Sabrina isn’t here,” he said curtly, and something in his voice betrayed there was more to that story. Raising an eyebrow, you followed your best friend to his kitchen, where he pulled a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer.

You pointed towards the stool next to the counter and took the bag of frozen peas from him.

“You’d think as a professional hockey player you’d invest in something a bit more fancy than frozen peas,” you mumbled, thinking of all the many time you’d seen him use frozen peas before, every time there was a particularly nasty bruise on his body.

“Who has time for that,” Tyler said, and then you shushed him as you lightly pressed the bag against his lip.

“I know something is going on with you and Sabrina,” you told him, taking advantage of the fact that he couldn’t talk with the peas against his mouth. “I know you’re going to get all grumpy because I’m asking you about it, and if you truly don’t want to talk about it, I won’t push it. But I want you to know that I know something is up, and I will find out eventually, if not from you, then from my snappy roommate.”

A sigh escaped from Tyler’s lips, and then his fingers curled around your wrist and brought it down from his face, grabbing the peas from hand with his free one and throwing them on the counter. It felt like his fingers were burning against your bare skin, but you didn’t dare pull your hand away.

“Cash chewed up one of her shoes. Apparently it was an expensive one.”

A snort escaped you, and he grinned, but you knew he wasn’t telling you the whole story and he wasn’t going to get away with that today.

But you might sneak Cash an extra treat, next time you took the dogs out.

“That’s not all,” you told him, “I know you too well for you to hide shit from me, Ty.”

He sighed, then crossed his arms.

“I broke up with Sabrina,” he said gruffly. “Yesterday.”

“What?” you squeaked. “Why? Because of the shoe?”

“No, not because of that. Although that was what started the fight.” Another sigh, as if talking was particularly exhausting to him. “I’d really rather not tell you.”

Oh, that hurt. He must’ve read it on your face, cause his eyes softened. “No, it’s not like that, Shiny. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, I’m just…” He sighed, clearly frustrated with his lack of ability to find the right words. “If I don’t tell you, I bet she will, so I’m going to tell you, but you can’t blame yourself, okay?”

“Blame myself?” you repeated dumbly, and he nodded, tightening his grip on your wrist.

“I broke up with Sabrina because she asked me to pick between you and her.”

His words rang in your ears like sirens and you took a step back. “What?” you croaked. As you stepped back, Tyler simply stepped with you, not releasing you. “I ruined your relationship,” you stuttered, and he shook his head viciously.

“No, no, you did not. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. This is not your fault, Y/N. You weren’t the one who asked me to pick.” He yanked on your arm, and you stumbled forward. He caught you, steadying you against his chest. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. Stop that right now. She was just jealous. She told me that she could deal with being less important than hockey, but she couldn’t deal with competing with you. She told me that if I wanted to be her boyfriend, I couldn’t be your best friend.”

“Ty…”

“Don’t,” he interrupted you, his voice short and cold. “Don’t you dare tell me I should’ve picked her. You’re my best friend, Y/N. You’re everything to me. Anyone who knows me, knows what you mean to me. And anyone who cares about me, would know that asking me to give up on you is like asking me to give up on a part of myself.” His words came out with so much force, were so honest and warm and so absolutely certain, that you felt fire spreading through your veins.

You closed your eyes. You knew exactly what he was saying, felt the same way; he was a part of you, too, and you would never give up on him, for nobody and nothing. But knowing, hearing that he felt the same way about you, that was, well, something different.

“Someone who doesn’t understand what you mean to me was never meant to be a part of my life,” Tyler whispered, his free arm wrapping around your waist. “Because you’re going to be a part of it always.”

You opened your eyes then, and he was closer than you thought he would be. His brown eyes were shining with truth and honestly, specks of golden twirls in the dark brown, and for a second, just a second, you thought he was going to kiss you, thought this was going to be it.

Instead, his lips pressed against your cheek, and you remembered then that that would probably hurt his newly acquired stitches, but he didn’t seem to mind as he pulled you into a hug and buried his face in your hair.

“I’m so sorry, Ty,” you managed to bring out.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Tyler stepped back, and the all too familiar grin you knew and loved so much had returned. “Unless you were planning on leaving me in this dire time of need when I’m injured like this. Then you’re cruel and mean and should feel so, so bad about it.”

Despite everything, you laughed, as you reached for the peas. You already knew how the rest of the evening was going to go; you would sit on the couch, forcing him to ice his lip even though he’d insist it wasn’t necessary, and watching Netflix with the dogs and then you would probably fall asleep on the couch, your body tangled with his until the morning sun would wake you up.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you told your best friend with a smile. “However, I don’t have a sexy nurse outfit, so I’m going to put on one of your hoodies.”

“And nothing else?” Tyler replied cheekily, and you kicked against his shin softly.

“In your dreams, Segs.”

“Always.”

#tyler seguin imagine #tyler seguin fic #dallas stars imagine #nhl writing #nhl imagine #nhl fic #hockey imagine #hockey fic #hockey writing

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antiquechampagne · 5 years ago

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Beastly Kingdom - CH13 - Line’em Up

A shaft of orange light cut across Liz’s face, waking her up just as she had fallen asleep. She was tempted to grumble, but silently slid out of bed, careful not to disturb Oswald on the other side. After she freshened up as much as she could, Liz poked her head in Louis’s room. He still lay on his threadbare and stained mattress. The rusted bedframe creaking lightly as he shifted in his sleep. She took this rare peaceful moment and drank it in silently.

A hand lightly touched her shoulder. Her body tensed to attack, but she realized it was just Oswald. She wasn’t sure how he had snuck up on her so silently, then she remembered he had a few special tricks up his sleeve. He gave a little squeeze.

“That’s not the smartest idea, sneaking up on me like that.” She chided as she turned to face him. She smiled, noticing he had only clothed his lower half. “Unless you want to lose a few more teeth.”

Oswald smiled carelessly before a more serious expression darkened his glowing features. “He’ll be fine.”

“I know.” Liz couldn’t help but glance back. “But I should go before he wakes up. If he sees me, he might get upset. I don’t want him to be a handful for you.”

“He’s a sweet kid, but he’s not the one I worry about. Are you going to be able to leave if he won’t let you go?”

That rang a bit too true for Liz. She dramatically put her hand over her heart. “You wound me, sir!” Oswald shook his head. Before he could clap back, Liz gave him a quick and passionate kiss.

“And that is a thank you for last night… well, I guess another thank you. I’m off to war. I’ll bring you back something fun!” With that, Liz slipped off to join in the last-minute preparations before their forces started filtering out into the wasteland.

They had been sending small plainclothes groups to set up camps and safehouses in the nearby city for nearly a week, hiding the build up around the airport. Stealthily moving a giant glowing deathclaw and her blazing white and gold power armor was not an option. Liz was shipping out with the last remnants of her forces, including the gang leaders and their heavy guns just before the big offensive. Gage was slated to stay behind with a skeleton crew to keep Nuka-World running in their absence.

“Fuck’em up, Boss.” Gage nodded to Liz as she scanned over the nearly silent Nuka-World one last time.

“Don’t raise too much hell while I’m gone! Those townies can’t hold their liquor like a raider!”

“Shit, ain’t that the truth!”

They traveled slower that Liz would have liked. The arrived later than planned at the temporary command center in an abandoned school. Liz was tempted to send Mama to the nearby racetrack. It would be easier to hide her behind the stands, but she decided against it. Even though it was now full of her forces, some might spook and bolt being so close to such a threatening creature. Instead, she told Mama to stay behind the building and guard her power armor.

Heading inside, she was greeted by a scene of a bustling headquarters packed to the gills with people running here and there. Nearly all of them were wearing some version of a stupid tricorn hat. It nearly made her chuckle.

Liz and her entourage were quickly spotted and directed to a courtyard. The General was directing a few underlings with last minute orders.

“Glad you could make it. I thought I was going to have to start the party without you.” Nate arched his eyebrow. He was wearing a dark blue overcoat with stars sewn on the collars. He grabbed his own tricorn hat and put it on.

“Yeah, well, Mama needed a break… you try telling a deathclaw to hold it until we get there.” Nate almost smiled. “But now that we’re here, is everything progressing like we planned?”

Nate bent back down over the table with a crude map in the middle of the courtyard. “Everyone is in place; the artillery is awaiting my signal. What about your people?”

“This last group has the big guns… a little more than a dozen missile launchers and the bastards that love’em. The rest are chomping at the bit to get a piece of Brotherhood flesh, all we have to do is release the hounds.” Liz made a bit of a show of looking around. “And here I thought I would finally get to meet that Preston Garvey I’ve heard so much about. So, where is your second in command?”

Nate’s eyebrows knit ever so slightly. “He’s back at the Castle, keeping things running.” He glared back at her. “I don’t see Gage riding your coattails.”

“Touché,” Liz conceded. “But I will be insisting my underbosses work with your crew to coordinate and focus our strikes. They will be in charge of my people during the assault.”

“What are you going to be doing, then?”

“I didn’t wax my armor this morning for nothing. If I don’t get a few new scars from this little war you have staged, how can I call myself a proper Overboss?”

Nate shook his head. “Of course, you are suicidal…”

Liz punched her fist on the table with enough force to topple a few coffee mugs. The room went suddenly cold. More than one hand went to unclip a sidearm.

“I don’t send my guys into any place where I won’t go myself. What coward stays behind while sending others to die?”

The General and Overboss locked eyes. Nate broke away first.

“We don’t have time for this.” He huffed. “There’ll be enough of a blood bath for everyone, especially if we delay even more.”

“Agreed.” Liz turned to leave. “Rain hellfire down on the bastards and cover our asses. We’ll have them shitting their pants in no time.”

Mason followed her back to her armor, leaving Mags to coordinate placing the final assets among the entrenched Minutemen and Nuka-World troops. The plan was to get the missile launchers in place before the artillery landed to add an additional punch to their opening number. After that, she and Mama would lead the shock troop in and try and punch a hole in the wall. The first goal was to bring down the Brotherhood airship, everything apart from that was just frosting on the cake, as far as she was concerned.

After getting in her armor, the silent minutes stretched on for what felt like hours. Mama perked up and snorted, her head cocked to the side moments before Liz heard the telltale whoosh of an incoming projectile. For a split second, the Liz thought she heard the blare of an air raid siren before she pushed the ghost of a memory out of her head. She didn’t have time rehash a 200-year-old flashback right now.

The first dozen shells hit a mix of the perimeter wall guarding the airport, as well as the building proper. A few even managed to hit the Prydwen itself, one taking off a front observation deck and another damaging the support struts holding the tail in place. As the alarm was raised, a hail of missiles from the surrounding landscape exploded in of burst orange fire.

Liz slapped Mama on a meaty leg, then let out an adrenaline-fueled howl as she launched into a run down the barren space between her and the wall topped with Brotherhood knights. Roused by her cry, Mason’s Pack followed suit, popping up from behind every crumbling wall and rock to rush alongside their Overboss. Mama bellowed out her own deafening roar, the shockwave knocking out several nearby school windows before she sprinted to keep up.

The well-trained soldiers of the Brotherhood quickly recovered, scrambling to cover the advancing forces with return fire while extracting those unlucky enough to be in the blast radius of the first attack. Liz smiled as dozens of laser beams bounced ineffectively off her armor.

Come and shoot at the big bad bouncing raider, she thought as she raised her twin miniguns, keep wasting your ammo on me, dumbasses. Started firing as she ran, getting ever closer to the wall. She laughed, peppering bullets in wide swaths, causing the knights and scribes to duck for cover. The air around her rang with ballistics from both Pack semiautomatics and the slow thrum of Minutemen laser muskets.

A few yards down the wall, a dull gray power armor landed with a thud, its immense weight sending stone and debris flying in every direction. Liz turned, her eyes alight with a devilish fire. Pull themselves up, Liz saw the armored knight brandishing a powered super sledge, rockets blazing.

“Bring it, you rusty metal twat!” Her attacker sprinted, hurtling towards her with the deadly sledge raised. The knight was hit with a full barrage of 5mm rounds, but it barely slowed. However, it was enough for Liz to follow the super sledge’s trajectory. As the knight brought the sledge down, she sidestepped, the head catching nothing but empty air. The knight quickly recovered, pivoted and tried to use their moment to get out of arms reach. It wasn’t fast enough to avoid a blast from Liz’s trusty flamethrowers that were still mounted on her wrists aimed at the knight’s head. Liz snickered as she heard the voice inside roar in frustration.

Unfortunately, with her attention focused on the threat in front of her, Liz missed the telltale sound of an incoming vertibird. She soon found herself the target of a hail of machine gun fire as they strafed by in a close arch. Her HUD started to blink and squawk annoyingly as the bullets started to break through her armor. Frustrated, Liz turned and returned concentrated fire, forcing the aircraft to break off and retreat momentarily, one it’s rotary engines beginning to smoke.

The knight, recovered, took advantage of the distraction, leaping and smashing the rocket powered lead into Liz’s turned back. Many more indicators turned red and blinked anxiously.

“EAT SHIT!” Liz raged and leapt onto the knight’s power armor, knocking them prone. Her armored fingers digging under the heat-deformed helmet and pulled. The metal groaned and gave. As soon as she could see something soft inside, she stuck the barrel of her flamethrower in and released enough hellfire to smell melting rubber and bubbling flesh inside her enclosed helmet.

Panting, she stood up, her hands still warm even with the internal heat shielding taking the brunt of the blowback from the flamethrowers. What worried her more was a single message that blinked angrily in her peripheral vision.

FUSION CORE BREACH IMMINENT The flashing was growing more urgent as she watched.

God damn it! She swore to herself. She just got this armor just how she wanted it. Fucking vertibird.

With a few seconds to decide, she knew what she was going to do. She sprinted to the closed gate. The reinforced metal and concrete were just barely scratched by the artillery and missiles that had missed their marks. Liz was betting a little nuclear fueled explosion could help crack that nut. She parked her armor right in the middle of the gate and pushed the button to open the back hatch… but all she heard was the grinding of gears and the pinging of shots hitting her armor.

“Fuck it!” she growled as she slammed the button again, the flashing warning so fast it was nearly solid. The hatch hitched and twitched. Using all her strength, Liz shoved her shoulders against the misbehaving mechanism. With a metallic pop, it gave all at once. Liz spilled awkwardly onto the crumbling pavement. Without any though, she righted herself and ran for the first cover just as the fusion core erupted. A wall of heat, radiation and shrapnel blasted her. Even though her ears rang, Liz thanked her stars that not only was she impervious to the radiation, but that she had reinforced her grease monkey suit with ballistic weave. Peeking over the pile of rubble, she cursed. While the gate had been breached, there was only enough of a clearance for their forces to file in single file.

Guess those Brotherhood bastards knew how to build shit. Liz grabbed a smoke grenade from a pouch and pulled the pin. One more hit should do it, of those Minutemen bastards can actually hit it this time. She threw it at the ground in front of the smoldering wreckage of her armor. A flash of color next to her caught her attention. It was a Pack member. They returned fire, covering her as she sat. She was disappointed it wasn’t Mason, but it gave her a moment to catch her breath.

Liz still couldn’t hear anything, but she tried as best she could to impress upon her underling that artillery was incoming before putting her fingers in the corners in her mouth and attempting to whistling as loud as she could. Mama answered her call, appearing like a giant bloody glowing angel out of the chaos.

With one swift move, Liz grabbed onto Mama’s armor and hauled herself onto her back. She fit perfectly into the saddle slipped in between Mama’s jutting dorsal spikes. Liz spurred her mount away from the front. The handful of few small arms she had stashed strategically among Mama’s armor wasn’t going to cut it. She needed something with a bigger punch. A helmet might be nice, too. No need for some pimply scribe to get lucky with a headshot. She was looking for some nearby peon she could pull rank on when she heard something that took her by complete surprise.

“I AM LIBERTY PRIME. I AM… AMERICA.”

#beastly kingdom #fan fiction #fanfic #fallout #liz rosa #ao3 #Ghoul #nuka world #brotherhood of steel #battle

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sueboohscorner · 6 years ago

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Suits, Season 8, Episode 6 - "Cats, Ballet, Harvey Specter" - Review/Recap/Spoilers

#Suits - Season 8, Episode 6 “Cats, Ballet, Harvey Specter,” Review/Recap/Spoilers

Rating: 6/10

(Airdate 8/22/2018)

Last week’s theme was ‘family,’ this week it was ‘friendship.’ I’ll say it…this was NOT one of my favorite episodes! There were some good scenes, but the show seemed to drag. I usually say it’s the fastest hour on TV but not this episode. #SorryNotSorry

The majority of the show Harvey seemed pissed off at Louis, Donna and Samantha were at each other’s throats, Louis having baby-on-the-brain, and Katrina and Brian getting a lot more chummy. I was really looking forward to this episode because, well, Louis and Harvey going to “couples counseling” – who wouldn’t want to see that? I mean the two actors were great last week with their bantering, but when they go to see Dr. Lipschitz all they end up doing is yelling at each other and Louis storming out of Lipschitz’s office.

Harvey, who we saw on the phone with his brother is informed that Marcus and Katie were getting a divorce despite Harvey’s work last week. Then Louis walked into his office telling him that Harvey’s oldest client, McKernan Motors was leaving the firm because Dominic, the owner, wanted to sell. Meanwhile, Donna walks in to tell Louis that one of his oldest clients, Joan Walsh had an emergency and is waiting to talk to him. Louis pawns off Joan’s emergency to Harvey because he had to go have sex with Sheila.

As for Louis pawning off a client to Harvey and a case to Katrina just to make time to have an “afternoon delight” (as Harvey put it) with Sheila is seriously unprofessional. And I’m so done with his storyline. In my opinion, when you add a baby it’ll kill the show. It’s happened before. But to each their own.

Harvey goes to see Lipschitz without Louis and it turns out that Harvey is upset because Louis now has something that Harvey doesn’t; and that is a woman in his life (Sheila) and they are trying for a baby. Once that happens, Harvey basically won’t be the center of Louis’ world. Harvey tells Lipschitz “they all leave”. He tells Lipchitz, “Because they all leave. Everyone leaves, Mike, Rachel, Jessica, my sister-in-law…everyone.” My heart hurt for Harvey! I love vulnerable Harvey and the strong Harvey. Oh but how I want Harvey to continue to see a therapist to get the help he so needs (and not end up sleeping with the therapist!) I’ll also admit that the scene between Harvey and Louis in the bullpen was cute; where Harvey tells him, he was afraid of losing him. Louis accuses him of pulling a Litt and that they are “brothers from another mother.” That made me laugh, and Louis was ok in my book again. Thanks Harvey!

I would have rather seen more of the case of the social media star Harvey goes against for Joan! The case is about a 16-year-old social media darling named Daisy Jones who has 50 million followers. In this social media-crazed day and age, this case would be fascinating to watch. The case is basically that Joan’s company produced a concealer which caused an allergic reaction to Daisy’s face. Daisy was played wonderfully by Ava Allan; she went toe-to-toe with Harvey stating because of her 50 million followers she can be very influential and potentially cause his client to lose more than the $10 million she wants. I hope the writers continue this storyline because it would be interesting to see this play out since it is relevant these days with all the Kardashian-like social media fame.

Katrina picked up Louis’ case because Louis told her it would improve her chances to be the next named partner. Because, according to Louis all the partners needed to vote on it and there has been one partner holding out, the infamous Paul Porter. Katrina recruits Brian to help her, and of course, he does whatever she needs. They are cute and funny together and seem very comfortable together; sometimes a bit too comfortable. Donna walks into the library where Katrina and Brian are having a working dinner. She doesn’t interrupt them when she sees an innocent gesture of Brian wiping sauce off the side of Katrina’s face. Donna immediately thinks there is something more than just friendship. She talks to Katrina the next day indicating the ‘heart doesn’t always listen to the brain,’ Katrina gets paranoid thinking that her actions with Brian are being perceived as something more than friendly because maybe she does like Brian more than she was ready to admit. I hope they don’t couple these two for anything more, except as colleagues and platonic friends, especially since Brian is a husband and a new father, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

And saving the best for last…Donna and Samantha. This storyline and the social media case were two of my favorites tonight! I will say I’m beginning to like Katherine Heigl’s character! My husband still doesn’t trust her. [Yes, we have discussions about Suits, and debates about Samantha Wheeler. He is such a Donna fan!] Donna was skeptical of Samantha from the beginning. Who wasn’t? However, in “Cats, Ballet, Harvey Specter” the two ended up working together to take down the head of a charity. Donna had a pro-bono case for a close friend of hers’ charity for underprivledged girls, she wanted Alex Williams to handle, but he declined because he was too busy. He talks to Samantha about it, and Samantha agrees, she even gets one of her clients to donate $5 million to the charity. That impresses Donna enough to assign the case to her, but she still doesn’t trust Samantha. Samantha goes over the charity’s files and realizes that something isn’t right. The charity seems to be spending more than what is usually spent on galas and such. She tells Donna who said she was sure it was just an accounting error, and she would ask her friend Peggy. Samantha insisted there was something more than a simple explanation, but promised not to do anything until Donna spoke to her friend.

However, Donna and Samantha are similar because neither would be able to sit on the sidelines when they know something bad is happening or when someone is being taken advantage of, especially when that someone is someone they know and care about. In this case Donna’s friend and for Samantha a charity whose cause she cares about. So I knew the moment that Donna told Samantha not to do anything until after she spoke to her friend that Samantha was going to do something. I was shocked that Peggy got fired! But in the end, Donna and Samantha worked together and had the head of the charity to step down and name Peggy as his replacement. I would love to know more about Samantha’s background; we’ve seen a little last week when she mentioned to Alex’s daughter that she didn’t have anyone to influence her in her life when she was young, and in 806 she and Donna were going to go for a drink where Samantha said she was going to start trusting. I would love to see that scene! Hopefully, there will be more Samantha/Donna scenes to come this season.

So Suits fans…what did you think of “Cats, Ballet, Harvey Specter”?

Next Week…

”. See Sour GrapesNext Week’s episode is entitled “preview below.

Until next week Suitors!!!

#suits usa #Suits

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blackresearchcentral · 7 years ago

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Eugene Burkins (1876-1929?)

The Inventor of the “Burkins Automatic Machine Gun”

Eugene Burkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri (or Louisiana). Apart from learning how to read and write, Burkins had no formal education. He started out from humble beginnings. He was a shoe shiner in Chicago.

He had no prior experience making or using guns. He had never seen the field of battle or donned a military uniform. And yet, he was able to learn rather quickly how to develop an improved form of military hardware that would be considered the zenith of war technology to rival that of the most seasoned craftsmen in all the world.

(Source: “Evidence of Progress Among the Colored People”, 1902)

So how did he do it?

In G. F. Richings’ book “Evidences of Progress Among Colored People” published in 1902, he explains:

He began first to make a careful study of the picture that appeared in the papers, showing the guns on the "Battleship Maine." Mr. Burkins saw in what way he could improve the machine-gun by increasing its rapid-firing capacity, and along that line he began to work His first model was mostly made with a pocket-knife.

Burkins shares his purpose for his invention in his application:

My invention relates to breech-loading cannon; and my object is to provide a construction particularly adapted to handling heavy ammunition so as to attain a much greater rapidity of fire than heretofore in guns of a caliber larger than are employed in the ordinary machine-guns, the same being more fully described hereinafter and illustrated in the accompanying drawings...

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the breech portion of a cannon, upon which is mounted the mechanism in which my invention is embodied, the front portion of the cannon being shown broken away, and also a large portion of the right side of the case of the ammunition-magazine is shown broken away to illustrate a vertically-arranged series of rubber covered rollers mounted to revolve on bearings at each end within the magazine-casing and adapted to convey the ammunition downwardly, as is particularly described hereinafter.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are-respectively front and rear elevations to illustrate the mechanism for operating and supporting the breech block.

Fig. 5 is an axial vertical section of the breech portion of the barrel of a cannon and of two rings mounted thereon for supporting the breech-loading mechanism. The breech-block is also shown in axial vertical section; but the cartridge-carrier has one side broken away to illustrate position of superimposed breech-block when the gun is in the closed'position. The cartridge-magazine is shown in section on a vertical plane coincident with the axial centers of the cartridges shown therein in elevation.

Fig. 6 [not shown here] is a vertical axial section similar to what is shown in Fig. 5, except that in Fig. 6 the breech is at the extreme open position just after having extracted and thrown out the discharged cartridg'eshell, which is shown in a falling position in broken lines...

You can read the rest of the specifications here.

Illustration of launching of USS Maine at Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York. Printed in Harper's Review in 1890 (Source: New York Times via Wikipedia)

Construction on the USS Maine started on October 17, 1888. It was one of the very first U.S. naval battleships. The ship was launched on November 18, 1889.

The U.S.S. Maine, 1897, Detroit Publishing Company (Source: Library of Congress)

Panoramic photograph taken on the 13th anniversary of the destruction of the U.S.S. Maine, Havana Harbor, February 15, 1911 (Source: Library of Congress)

Its saga on the seas would come to an end on February 15, 1898, when a fire on board the ship triggered an explosion, killing 266 out of 354 total American crew members while docked in Havana, Cuba.

"Maine" wreck, Havana Harbor, W. to Custom House (with tower, on right), Cuba, photo by Underwood & Underwood, c1903 (Source: Library of Congress)

Wreck of the Maine, Havana Harbor, Cuba, March 1899 (Source: Library of Congress)

Six-inch gun on the U.S.S. Newark. The USS Maine mounted six of these. Photo by Edward H. Hart, Detroit Publishing Company, between 1891 and 1901 (Source: Library of Congress)

Teaching Columia Men on the Wasp to Shoot, August 20, 1916

Students unable to leave on the Maine (BB-10) for the training cruise will be put on the battleship at sea from the converted yacht Wasp, aboard which they are learning to handle the 3-inch pieces.

(Source: New-York Tribune, Library of Congress via NavSource Naval History)

Gun Practice - 5" gun crew of the Maine (BB-10), circa 1917-18, Photo by Navy Dept., Bureau of Construction & Repair (Source: U.S. National Archives via NavSource Naval History)

Burkins filed his application with the patent office on June 10, 1899. It is likely that what he saw was a preview of the plans for the ship being advertised in a newspaper article. If it was the original U.S.S. Maine that inspired his journey of innovation, then it is safe to assume that it took him 10 years to develop the Burkins gun.

“The Old and The New Battleship Maine” Virginian-Pilot, February 17, 1899 (Source: Library of Virginia via NavSource Naval History)

The Saint Paul Globe, February 5, 1899 (Sources: Minnesota Historical Society, Library of Congress via NavSource Naval History)

“The New Battleship Maine” From an illustration in Leslie's Weekly, December 1, 1898 (Source: The National Tribune, Library of Congress via NavSource Naval History)

This description appeared in the Virginian-Pilot on February 17, 1899:

The new battleship Maine, the keel of which has just been laid, is to have a speed of l8 knots. She will be a ship of 15,500 tons displacement and in her main battery will carry four 12 inch guns and twelve 6 inch guns. These figures give a partial idea of the superiority of the new Maine over the old one. Among other things the new Maine will probably have underwater torpedo tubes, the first ever put in any ship in the American navy.

All the guns of the Maine, except the big 12 inch ones in the turrets, will be of the rapid fire pattern. Her secondary battery will be exceptionally strong. She will be 368 feet on the water line, 27 feet beam and will have a draft of 24 feet 7 inches when she has full supplies of stores and ammunition and 2,000 tons of coal on board. The wonderful Krupperized armor has proven so good that the Maine will have 12 inch plates of it put on her instead of the 16.5 inch Harveyized armor originally planned for.

This new battleship came with its own set of problems - not meeting speed expectations, an undisciplined crew,

The battleship Maine (BB-10) strikes the water for the first time, July 28, 1901 (Source: New-York Tribune, Library of Congress via NavSource Naval History)

“President Reviews Mighty Fleet; Low Clouds and Fog Mar Beauty of Spectacle” The Washington Times, September 3, 1906 (Source: Library of Congress via NavSource Naval History)

Battleships and navy guns were a big deal at this time. One of the justifications for the Spanish-American War was that the United States needed to strengthen its presence in the Caribbean against the threat of other world powers such as their long-standing rival Great Britain. In addition, the United States felt they had economic interests to secure in Cuba. Some former United States citizens had fled to Cuba after the Confederate rebellion was crushed during the American Civil War. (Some of these people brought their slaves with them.)

After the United States decided to assist the people of Cuba in their fight against the Spanish government in their country, the U.S. sought to control the island’s foreign policy, exploiting an advantage in extending their own political power in the world.

Soon, there were fears that the western United States was open to a possible attack from Spain. Therefore, the United States sought to claim the Philippines as well, but first, they would have to fight both the Spanish and later, the militant Filipino population known as the Moros between 1899 and 1902.

Amidst all of these factors, the United States Navy had been preparing for the worst.

The following is an excerpt from Indiana Senator Albert J. Beveridge’s speech “March of the Flag,” which he delivered during an Indiana Republican Meeting Indianapolis, Indiana on September 16, 1898:

“Hawaii is ours; Porto Rico is to be ours; at the prayer of her people Cuba finally will be ours; in the islands of the East, even to the gates of Asia, coaling stations are to be ours at the very least; the flag of a liberal government is to float over the Philippines, and may it be the banner that Taylor unfurled in Texas and Fremont carried to the coast.

The Opposition tells us that we ought not to govern a people without their consent. I answer, The rule of liberty that all just government derives its authority from the consent of the governed, applies only to those who are capable of self government. We govern the Indians without their consent, we govern our territories without their consent, we govern our children without their consent. How do they know what our government would be without their consent?”...

The ocean does not separate us from lands of our duty and desire - the oceans join us, rivers never to be dredged, canals never to be re paired. Steam joins us; electricity joins us-the very elements are in league with our destiny. Cuba not contiguous? Porto Rico not contiguous! Hawaii and the Philippines no contiguous! The oceans make them contiguous. And our navy will make them contiguous.

1914 portrait of Albert Beveridge (1862-1927) (Source: Library of Congress)

He continues:

...So Hawaii furnishes us a naval base in the heart of the Pacific; the Ladrones another, a voyage further on; Manila another, at the gates of Asia - Asia, Asia, to the trade of whose hundreds of millions American merchants, American manufacturers, American farmers, have as good a right as those of Germany or France or Russia or England; Asia, whose commerce with England alone, amounts to billions of dollars every year; Asia, to whom Germany looks to take the surplus of her factories and foundries and mills; Asia, whose doors shall not be shut against American trade. Within two decades the bulk of Oriental commerce will be ours, - the richest commerce in the world. In the light of that golden future, our chain of new-won stations rise like ocean sentinels from the night of waters, - Porto Rico, a nobler Gibraltar; the Isthmian canal, a greater Suez; Hawaii, the Ladrones, the Philippines, commanding the Pacific!

Ah! as our commerce spreads, the flag of liberty will circle the globe, and the highways of the ocean - carrying trade of all mankind, be guarded by the guns of the republic. And, as their thunders salute the flag, benighted peoples will know that the voice of Liberty is speaking, at last, for them; that civilization is dawning, at last, for them - Liberty and Civilization, those children of Christ's gospel, who follow and never precede, the preparing march of commerce! It is the tide of God is great purposes made manifest in the instincts of our race, whose present phase is our personal profit, but whose far-off end is the redemption of the world and the Christianization of mankind. And he who throws himself before that current is like him who, with puny arm, tries to turn the gulf stream from its course, or stay, by idle incantations, the blessed processes of the sun...

Fellow Americans, we are God is chosen people... His power directed Dewey in the East and delivered the Spanish fleet into our hands on the eve of Libertyís natal day, as he delivered the elder Armada into the hands of our English sires two centuries ago.

For President Theodore Roosevelt, who was himself a committed imperialist,a display of America’s military might was not complete without both battleships and the boom of the big cannons.

It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that Burkin’s weapon, given the circumstances, would likely have been used as a weapon of war to further the objectives of U.S. Imperialism.

An Imposing Spectacle: Birds-eye View Showing Position of Fleet in Naval Review at Oyster Bay, September 4, 1906 (Source: Salt Lake Herald, University of Utah, Marriott Library via NavSource Naval History)

On September 3, 1906, as the new battleship Maine along with 93 other battleships, destroyers, and cruisers in three long columns sailed past the president and a crowd of thousands gathered off the coast of Long Island, they all gave a twenty-one-gun salute. The 46 powerful “Big Fighters” numbered 1, 178 six, eight, or thirteen-inch guns.

Circa 1907 photograph of US Navy battleships of the Maine, Virginia & Connecticut -classes & other units of the Atlantic fleet at a Naval Review off Old Point Comfort, Photo by William H. Rau, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Source: Library of Congress, National Museum of the U.S. Navy via NavSource Naval History)

The press called it “the finest fleet that the United States has ever assembled” and “America’s Greatest Marine Pageant”.

U.S.S. Dolphin from Photographic History of the Spanish-American War, page 192 (Source: Library of Congress)

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was on board the Dolphin nearby with other guests. Prior to the blasts of gunfire, a band played the Star-Spangled Banner and a flag was raised to the top of the pole on the naval yacht Mayflower, where the president was having lunch with government officials and military officers.

“By George, that is good,” the president could be heard shouting above the noise, followed by his infectious laughter.

Watching from the deck, Roosevelt proudly declared

“Any man who fails to be inspired by such a sight as this is a mighty poor American. Every American who sees it ought to be a better American.”

“The Great Naval Review At Oyster Bay: The Flagship Maine Saluting”, September 3 & 4, 1906 (Source: New-York Tribune, Library of Congress via NavSource Naval History)

“Party On The Mayflower”

You can see a diagram showing the inner workings of a battleship gun here.

The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended with the Treaty of Paris, which secured Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico as territories of the United States.

You can just imagine from these pictures the creativity of this brother Burkins who truly believed that he could tackle a project of such magnitude during such a time of widespread controversy and then set out to work.

Portrait of Henry Baker from his book “The Colored Inventor: a Record of Fifty Years” published by the Crisis Publishing Company in 1913 (Source: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture/New York Public Library)

Henry Edwin Baker, Jr. (1857-1928) was the third African American to enter the United States Naval Academy in 1875. He was appointed "copyist" in the United States Patent Office starting in 1877 and was later promoted to serve as an assistant patent examiner.

It was in this position that he would chronicle the history of African-American inventors.

In a 1902 essay titled “The Negro As An Inventor” for Daniel Wallace Culp’s “Twentieth Century Negro Literature; Or, A Cyclopedia of Thought on the Vital Topics Relating to the American Negro,” he wrote the following:

The official records of the United States Patent Office, with a single exception, give no hint whatever that of the thousands of mechanical inventions for which patents are granted annually by the government, any patent has ever been granted to a Negro. The single exception was the name of Henry Blair of Maryland, to whom the public records refer as "a colored man," stating that he was granted a patent for a corn harvester in 1834 and another patent for a similar invention in 1836.

It is altogether safe to assume that this Henry Blair was a "free person of color," as the language of those days would have phrased it; for the government seemed committed to the theory that "a slave could not take out a patent for his invention." And this dictum gave rise to some rather embarrassing situations on more occasions than one. For instance, in 1857, a Negro slave, living with his master in the state of Mississippi, perfected a valuable invention which his master sought to have protected by a patent. Now, in law, a patent is a contract between the government and the inventor or his assignees. The slave, although the inventor, could not under the law be a party to a contract, and therefore could not secure the patent himself. His master applied for the patent, but was refused on the ground that inasmuch as he was not the inventor and could not be the assignee of a slave, he could not properly make the required oath. The master was not satisfied with this interpretation of the law by the Commissioner of Patents, and at once appealed from the latter's decision to the Secretary of the Interior, who, in 1858, referred the case to the Attorney-General of the United States. This latter official, who was Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania, confirmed the decision of the Commissioner of Patent, and neither master nor slave was ever able to get a patent for the slave's invention. This case reported on page 171 of volume 9, of "Opinions of Attorneys-General, United States."

Another instance of a similar character occurred a few years later, in 1862, when a slave belonging to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, invented a propeller for vessels. He constructed an excellent model of his invention, displaying remarkable mechanical skill in wood and metal working. He was not able to get his invention patented, but the merits of his invention were commented upon approvingly by a number of influential Southern newspapers, and his propeller was finally put in use by the Confederate navy.

He continues with the story of Eugene Burkins.

Another invention by a young colored man which has attracted considerable attention is the rapid-fire gun by Mr. Eugene Burkins, of Chicago. This gun has been examined by officers of the War and Navy Departments, and has been pronounced a valuable contribution to the scientific equipments for military and naval warfare.

The following description of Mr. Burkins' gun appeared in Howard's American Magazine some months ago:

"A brief description of the gun is not exactly out of place, although the Scientific American and other technical journals have long since given it to the world. It is an improvement upon all that has yet been done in the way of ordnance, and the principles involved in its construction can be applied to any size of gun, from a one-inch barker to a thirty-six-inch thunderer. The model as it now stands weighs 475 pounds, measures four inches at breech, and is constructed of the finest of gun brass at a cost of $3,500. There is a magazine at the breech in which a large number of heavy shells can be held in reserve, and in the action of the gun these slip down to their places and are fired at the rate of fourteen a minute, an improvement on the Maxim gun of four shots. The gun is elevated upon a revolving turret with electrical connections, enabling the gunner to direct the action of the machine with a touch of his finger. Firing, reloading and ejection of shells are all effected by electricity, and a child could conduct the work of manning the gun as easily as anyone."

Portrait of Admiral Dewey in The San Francisco Call, September 14, 1903 (Source: University of California, Riverside via NavSource Naval History)

Admiral George Dewey (1837-1917) is quoted in Baker’s biographical account as saying that it was

"by far the best machine-gun ever made."

G. F. Richings continues with more details:

It shoots seven times more a minute than the Gatling gun, and will doubtless take the place of other machine-guns. Several foreign countries have offered large sums for the right to manufacture it for their navies; but Mr. Burkins and Mr. Madden, his partner, proposed to control the manufacturing interest in this country.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a Eugene Burkins was born in 1877 who would have been 33 in 1910. There is an entry in the 1900 census that identifies a Eugene Burkins living in Cook County, Illinois. A death certificate exists for a Eugene Burkins who died in 1929.

However, there is even more information available which is directly linked to Burkin’s name and success...

The following article appears in The Inter Ocean [Chicago, Illinois] dated Sunday, April 8, 1900:

NEGRO LAD INVENTS NEW GUN Eugene Burkin of Chicago Constructs a Rapid-Fire Machine Weapon Eugene Burkin, a colored boy of l9 years, who lives over on Chicago's great [West] Side, is the inventor of a rapid-fire machine gun which he claims is the most effective weapon of its kind in the world, and is destined to throw the inventions [of] Maxim and Nordenfeldt, now in general use in the armaments of the world, into the scrap heap. Several experts who have seen the model of Burkin's gun pronounce it a marvel of ingenuity and a terrible weapon. The boy is said to have refused an offer of $50,000 for his invention through motives or patriotism, he being desirous that the United States government should have the first opportunity to test and purchase the weapon. Burkin is a source of pride to the colored population of Chicago, who are jubilant that one or their race should develop the creative power. The boy has never had any mechanical training, yet all the work on his model has been his own. The first idea of the weapon came to him during the Spanish-American war, when the magnificent work of the American gunners directed his thoughts to guns and their improvement. He constructed his first model of wood, his only tool being a jackknife. The lack of funds then threatened to put a stop to the young inventor's work, but he finally obtained enough money to go into an ironworks on the West Side, which gave him the use or its tools and machinery for $5 a day. Here he constructed the model, which he sent to the patent [office] at Washington, which has already allowed seventeen of his claims on the weapon. Prominent men of the colored race are using their influence to induce the War Department at Washington to conduct a series of tests with the gun. It has been christened the "Maine."

Rapid-fire guns had been around for a long time. There was clearly a sort of arms race going on.

While the Burkins gun had evidently exceeded the rate of fire for other guns of its time, the manufacturers of these other guns rolled out modified designs with multiple barrels, increasing the potential firepower 10-fold and beyond.

This might be one of the reasons that the Burkins gun did not see as much action on the field of battle. It is difficult to find much information on its usage or any surviving models.

Here is what the other guns named in comparison to the Burkins gun looked like:

Nordenfeldt Machine Gun by the Nordenfelt Company

Inventor: Swedish engineer Heldge Palmcrantz

Nordenfelt Single-Barrel Machine Gun (Source: ibiblio)

This gun weighed only 13 pounds, and could be fired by the average soldier at a rate of 180 shots a minute.

Here is a handbook.

Sailor operating 10-barrel Nordenfelt rifle-calibre machine gun, with right hand on lever, circa 1880s-1890s (Source: Contemporary Ordnance manual found on Steve Johnson's CyberHeritage website via Wikipedia)

Woodcut depicting Royal Navygunners in action with Nordenfelt 1-inch 4-barrel anti-torpedo boat gun on shipboard mounting. The gun captain, left, is operating the training handwheel, c. 1890s (Source: Contemporary Ordnance manual found on Steve Johnson's CyberHeritage website via Wikipedia)

Nordenfelt Machine Gun, Cal. .45, Five-Barrel Model. Mounted in Top of a Fighting Ship to Sweep the Decks of the Enemy (Source: ibiblio)

Nordenfelt Machine Gun, Cal. .45, with Gun Carriage Convertible to Tripod Mount (Source: ibiblio)

This model had a rated speed of 1,200 shots per minute with shorter bursts.

Maxim Machine Gun by the Maxim Gun Company

Inventor: American-born British inventor Hiram Maxim (1840-1916)

When Maxim built his first working model in 1884, he found it could fire 666 rounds of ammunition in under a minute.

In one demonstration, Hiram Maxim chopped down a tree with one of his guns.

Hiram Maxim sits with the first portable, fully automatic machine gun, which he invented, and a Dundonald gun carriage, pre-1914 (Source: Imperial War Museums)

CPO demonstrating a Maxim-Nordenfeldt 1-pdr Mark 6 aboard USS Hist about 1898 (Source: U.S. Naval Historical Center via NavWeaps)

Gatling Machine Gun by the Miles Greenwood & Company, McWhinny, Rindge & Company, Cooper Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, and finally the Gatling Gun Company under Colt's Patent Fire Arms Company

Inventor: American inventor Richard Gatling (1818-1903)

A Section View Showing the Action of Gatling's First Model Gun (Source: ibiblio)

Gatling Gun, Model 1883, Ten-Barrel, Cal. .45, with Accles Feed Drum (Source: ibilbio)

An experimental 1877 Gatling Gun on a tripod with Lucien F. Bruce's 1881 patent feed system (Source: Connecticut State Library)

Dr Richard Gatling, with a Colt ‘Bulldog’ Gatling Model 1893 (Source: Connecticut State Library via Flickr)

Gatling put issued a public challenge for anyone to prove their gun’s superiority to his. It appeared in an English publication in September 1881 and read as follows:

Recently many articles have appeared in the press claiming superior advantages for . . . other machine guns over the Gatling system. In order to test the question which is the better gun, the undersigned offers to fire his gun (the Gatling) against any other gun on the following wagers, viz:

First--£100 that the Gatling can fire more shots in a given time, say one minute, than any other gun in the world.

Second--£100 that the Gatling can give more hits on a target, firing, say one minute, at a range of 800 or 1000 yards, than any other gun.

The winning party to contribute the wagers won to charitable objects.

The time and place for the trials to be mutually agreed upon. Trials of the above character will do more to determine the efficiency of the guns than newspaper articles ever so cleverly written.

(Signed) R. J. Gatling Of Hartford, Conn., U.S.A.

U.S. Navy soldiers useing the Gatling gun in the ‘fighting top’ of a man-of war ship (Source: Small Arms Defense Journal)

Gatlings at Baiquiri, Cuba Just before starting for the front in the Spanish-American War (Source: ibiblio)

War Department Letter Attesting Capabilities of Gatling Mechanism (Source: ibiblio)

Henry Baker stated that slavery had been a barrier for African-American inventors. Chances are that if Burkins had been born during his parents’ generation, he would not have received the credit he was due for his hard work and it would have likely ended up being used for the purposes of the U.S. government or a government fighting against the United States while someone else got credit or no one at all. Either way, it would have been an unsatisfactory outcome for Burkins. Surely, his invention would not have carried on his name as we are aware of it today.

At the end of the 19th Century, the United States Patent Office sought to document information regarding patents submitted by “colored inventors.” They received from the public 400 claims of such patents that were granted and about another 400 more cases in which the person attempted to submit a patent upon completion of their invention but abandoned the application process altogether for one reason or another.

Summarizing 2 attempts by the patent office as of 1913, Baker wrote:

“...something over 1,200 instances have been gathered as representing patents granted to colored inventors, but so far only about 800 of these have been verified as definitely belonging to that class.”

Most often, African-American inventors did not have the means to hire a patent lawyer and submit a patent application.

Even Burkins could not have done it alone. He had to wait a full year after he submitted his patent application to receive approval. First, he needed help funding the construction of the gun and later on, he would need assistance with the manufacturing process once it was ready.

He received financial support from a number of prominent black citizens. One of the major backers of this effort was Major John C. Buckner, an Illinois Internal Revenue Collector and strong advocate of black empowerment.

Another wealthy man in Chicago, Martin B. Madden, furnished over $3,000 towards the perfection of Burkin’s model. Burkins became an entrepreneur when they started the Burkins-Madden Gun Company together in Chicago.

The company, which specialized in “manufacturing and dealing in firearms and ammunition”, was incorporated with a capital of $50,000.

Five years later, Burkins patented a new and improved Bottle Seal involving the use of cement, a cork, and a stopper.

This invention has relation to non-refillable bottles, and has for its object the provision of novel means whereby if the bottle be opened after having been originally filled the integrity of the bottle as an original package will be destroyed, thus preventing its fraudulent reuse and indicating to the purchaser that the bottle has been refilled.

In carrying out my invention I provide a bottle and a cap of glass, metal, composition, or other suitable material not too hard to break adapted to be fitted over the top of and securely fastened to the neck of the bottle and of such form and construction that in order to remove the cork from the bottle the cap must be broken off, a portion thereof remaining immovably fixed on the neck of the bottle and serving to show at a glance that the bottle has been opened after having been once filled...

The collar E of the cap screws down upon the threaded exterior of the neck A of the bottle and is intended to remain in fixed position thereupon, and in order to retain it in position a layer of cement G is inter posed between the thread on the neck and the thread on the inside of the collar, so that when the cap is screwed down upon the neck and the cement is allowed to dry it will be impossible to unscrew the cap from the bottle...

After the upper part of the cap has been broken 05 the collar'E and a portion of the legs F will remain upon the neck of the bottle and will indicate that the bottle has been opened and prevent the bottle from being used again as an original package, the integrity of the same as a whole, considering the cap as an essential portion of the bottle, having been destroyed by breaking off the cap.

His final patent was the new and improved Milk Dipper in 1906.

which when opened will allow the milk to discharge from the bottom of the dipping-cup and which will automatically close when released, thereby shutting oil. the discharge of milk from the cup.

By this time, Burkins and his mother Francis had moved to St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1910, Burkins was self-employed as chauffeur and he owned a restaurant.

Henry Baker used Burkin’s story last in his essay on black inventors. He concluded his work with the following statement...

These inventions show how completely in error are those who constantly assert that the Negro has made no lasting contribution to the civilization of the age, and they prove conclusively that under favorable environment he is capable of performing his whole duty in the work of mankind whether it be tilling the earth with his hoe or advancing the world by his thought.

We may never know for sure if Eugene Burkins was an Imperialist at heart or one who took the side of the Anti-Imperialist League against the use of weapons like that of his own making towards destructive uses in foreign lands.

We don’t know if Mr. Burkins was okay with depriving other people of their personal rights to self-determination in favor of U.S. nationalism and western civilization.

What we do know is that a black man in the United States of America got to work and when he was done, he chose to honor his national heritage.

Did he ever make his nation proud?

Did he ever have any regrets about his work?

What we do know is that the one they wanted to fail was successful...and regardless of what they thought about him, his aim was high and he gave it his best shot.

Credit:

Nasir Muhammad of Black Mecca of the South Tours

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10212105345086331&set=a.1195255318978.2030464.1156290208&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/220368201489554/photos/a.220372264822481.1073741828.220368201489554/609517145907989/?type=3&theater

J. D. Thomas of Words From Us

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217146943532868&set=p.10217146943532868&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Michael Mohl of NavSource Naval History

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/10a.htm

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/00a.htm

Larry Jewell and Patrick Clancey of the HyperWar Foundation

https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/MG/I/MG-2.html

4 notes · View notes

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Jessica McCaskill: Teamwork Is The Key To Success

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Published: March 04, 2021

A few weeks out from her first defense as unified Welterweight champion and rematch with Cecilia Braekhus (36-1, 9 KOs), Chicago’s Jessica McCaskill (9-2, 3 KOs) feels comfortable with her training.

“It’s almost one of those things where I’ve pushed my body and my limits so high that it’s normal, and I almost feel like I should be struggling more,” stated McCaskill. “Or I should keep pushing myself to a higher limit. So to be where I’m at is a weird feeling, but honestly, it's more of a workout than anyone I know can handle. The guys that come in for sparring leave bloody. Certain things have to give me confirmation that what we’re doing is not easy work. “

That being said, McCaskill says, “Boxing is not the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through in life. So, when I get into the ring, there’s not a lot of pressure built up; there’s isn’t a bunch of fear.”

The struggles McCaskill faced as a child are well documented. It built character and turned her into one of the hardest working boxers in the profession. Her trainer and manager, Rick Ramos, regularly posts photos on social media of McCaskill performing 4:45 am workouts, followed by a full day’s work at her day job in the financial sector, only to finish the day with a sparring session.

What may be viewed as a hectic day for most people, McCaskill views it as a way to prepare for the unexpected in the ring.

“We’re ready to do things on the fly,” said McCaskill. That’s one of the reasons I don’t mind having a day job while we train because there can be a million things that happen during the day that we don’t control.

"Someone calls and wants to do an interview in the middle of the day, and we have to move, sparring up several hours before our normal time. I have a meeting at work, and I have to do a presentation over the phone that’s 45 minutes long. We need to get deliveries of water and Gatorade at the gym, so we’re stocked for the class that evening. There’s a snowstorm that hits, and everyone is coming in late for class.

"There’s a million things that can happen in 24 hours that can make us adjust last minute, and that prepares you for stuff - getting in the ring with somebody and then everything you think they’re going to throw at you is completely changed. You learn to adjust. We put ourselves in positions to learn to adjust on a regular basis.

"You’re not thinking about it, but that’s what’s happening. When you’re locked up in a camp, far away, with nobody around, and you’re picking at your toes all day, and you don’t have interaction in life, you’re just sitting there, and when you get to the ring, you’re just sitting there, you don’t have anything to bring. “

Being locked up in a faraway camp is a comment directly critical of Braekhus and her team. In their first fight, Braekhus was expected to outbox McCaskill and surpass Joe Louis’s record with 27 consecutive title defenses.

McCaskill's majority decision upset victory prevented that. Immediately after the loss, Braekhus spoke of retirement. A week later, she exercised her rematch clause and began making excuses for her loss.

It was Braekhus’s first fight training with Abel Sanchez in Big Bear, CA, and because of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown, she was stuck in a remote mountain town by herself. She publicly complained about the difficulties she faced in isolation and how it translated to the ring.

youtube

McCaskill's retort: “that’s on you and your team.” She openly ponders,

“What does that say about her team?. It says they don’t work together well as a team. That they may not be on the same page, if I was up in Big Bear and Rick wasn’t there, we’d probably still have a meeting every day at 9 am. Did you do XYZ? Yes. Okay, this is what I want you to do. Take a nice bath, rent a car, go into town. Rick would make sure I had everything I need.

"If I needed company, he would send somebody to be with me. Nobody locked the doors and chained her to the wall. She could have made changes to what she was doing, and she just didn’t. The thing about our first fight, it’s nobody’s fault that Cecilia lost except for Cecilia’s.

"It’s not even my fault. It’s her fault; it’s her fault that she came up short. It’s her fault that she struggled with her weight; it’s her fault that she didn’t do more in the ring. She’s put the blame on everyone else.”

Trainer Rick Ramos chimed in, “Also, I feel like there’s no comradery, there’s no communication. Cecilia and Abel don’t really know each other. I don’t think they care to know each other. Which is the reason it doesn’t work.”

In fact, Braekhus has gone through multiple trainers over the past few years, believed to be to her detriment. McCaskill emphasizes that her team is an integral part of her success.

“I feel the old school of boxing is you’re hired, teach me,” said McCaskill. “This isn’t working, “you’re fired.” Next person, “you’re hired.” We have gone through a lot of life experiences together as a team, so it’s not that kind of relationship. I’ve come along with Rick for his stuff with his other fighters so I can learn what his hardships are and how to help him and how I can come into this role when my time is ready.

"Or, I’ve had the experience as an amateur fighter, so I’m helping and coaching within my parameters, not stepping on any toes. So, we’ve built this bond. We have breakfast together at least once per week, and there’s so much more than “you’re hired, teach me, you’re fired.”

If it isn’t a lack of teamwork between Braekhus and Sanchez, something else is obviously wrong. In a recent DAZN press conference, Braekhus was visibly uncomfortable. Braekhus’s discomfort didn’t go unnoticed by McCaskill either.

"That is her right now in a really poor state,” McCaskill stated. “She wasn’t that bad for the press conference for the first fight. This time it’s like night and day. She looked like she wanted to cry; she looked like she didn’t want to be there.

"She could never physically say she lost [the first] fight. She made a lot of excuses, pointed a lot of fingers, blamed a lot of other people. She never really talked boxing. When asked what she is going to do, she didn’t talk about elements of boxing; she just said, “I’m going to be myself.

"So, I don’t think her mind is clear. I don’t think her mind is stable. I don’t think she’s emotionally stable. She’s just very mopey, temper tantrum-ish. That’s what I got. I felt bad for her, I wanted to help her, but it moves from that to being upset because she has all these fans and all these kids that look up to her, and she’s not being a responsible adult in her profession."

Despite Braekhus not appearing to be mentally prepared for their rematch, McCaskill is not worried about letting her own guard down.

"I don’t relax,” said McCaskill. “My first fight, same thing. I walked into it; the girl couldn’t look me in the eye, she looked really nervous. I said, okay, I’m going to do her a favor and get her out of there. If she’s going to come in a certain way, that’s fine, but I’m still going to come in 100% - plus.

"I’ll be ready for whatever she brings, and my goal is to put her down and get her out. I don’t think she’s good for the sport right now, so the best thing I can do for boxing is eliminate her all together."

Regarding elimination, McCaskill earlier posted on social media that by defeating Braekhus in their first fight, she interrupted Braekhus’s career. In the rematch, she plans to end it.

To do so, McCaskill is sparring exclusively with men at her weight or heavier. All are local to the Chicago area and have extensive amateur backgrounds or some pro experience.

Coach Ramos confidently states:

"Cecilia isn’t that good. She’s a solid amateur. That’s how I see it. We’ve brought in better talent before. These guys with 20-30 amateur fights are as good as Cecilia, and they’re bigger and stronger. Why would we waste $5,000 to $6,000 on three or four sparring partners when Cecilia is average? Now, if it's Katie Taylor, it’s different. But for Cecilia – no, it’s not worth it."

The reference to Katie Taylor is an important one for McCaskill and women’s boxing. Promoter Eddie Hearn has already announced that the winner of McCaskill v. Braekhus II will face Taylor.

McCaskill lost a decision to Taylor in 2017. In it, Taylor neutralized McCaskill's brawling, come forward style by continuously clutching and grabbing with little to no warnings from her home country referee.

If the rematch occurs, McCaskill, as the unified Welterweight champion, will be in the driver’s seat. Team McCaskill will likely be able to dictate where the fight occurs and assure that Taylor doesn’t have a “home court” advantage again.

But most importantly, Coach Ramos is adamant; if the Taylor-McCaskill rematch takes place, it will be the first women’s boxing match where both women have $1 million purses.

The prospect of having the biggest payday in women’s boxing history does not, however, distract McCaskill from the task at hand.

With a wry smile, McCaskill says, “Our sparring partners are not just punching bags. They’re grown men trying to keep their pride. If I can break a grown man’s will, then I’ll do okay with Cecilia.”

If McCaskill is able to end Braekhus’s career and do “okay,” then bigger and better things are certain to come.

In the first fight, Cecila fought your fight. What do you expect in the second fight?

"I expect the same thing. I suspect that they have tried to put on a little bit of power muscle-wise. I don’t think that’s going to work, and she’ll have to revert to movement and boxing. And boxing.

"We’re prepared for several different outputs from Cecila – coming straight at me, moving and boxing, a little bit of both. Or something totally new that we haven’t seen yet.

"When you have a kid, it’s easier to say “don’t do these things” as opposed to letting them fall and seeing how they react and keep going. It’s not like I’m teaching you to be tough right now. It just happens."

It’s interesting because you’re saying that full-time athletes miss an essential element of life.

Yeah, even if I didn’t have my day job, I’d still be doing a million other things to make sure that I don’t go flat.

(Featured Photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing)

#SW #Jessica McCaskill #Women's Boxing

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sage-nebula · 8 years ago

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4 7 and 10 please!

4.) describe your favorite character or characters

Well, I’m pretty sure we all know who my favorite character is.

(Have you ever seen a more perfect expression on any boy’s face than the expression on Alan’s right now in this gif? Asdfdsafldsjfdfdjsalfdas ♥ It’s honestly an expression of pure love, my heart can hardly handle it)

But of course I can talk about both of these beautiful boys. ♥

Though that said, it’s a bit hard for me to describe Alan because every time I want to talk about him, I end up having the thought equivalent of a keysmash in my head. There’s just so much that I absolutely fucking adore about him (and so much that I relate to) that it’s hard for me to even know where to begin. But to try and find a place to start off from …

I’ve realized recently what, specifically, my “type” is when it comes to fictional characters, and that “type” is “Determinator.” I love characters who are, as Undertale so memorably put it, “filled with Determination.” In my mind, there’s a difference between determination and Determination; standard determination is … well, standard. Most people are determined to do different things at different points in their lives. Most people can be persistent. But Determination is something different altogether. Determination is a refusal to quit no matter how insurmountable the odds. Determination is a refusal to run. Determination is a spirit that cannot be bridled or shattered. Determination is an unbreakable will. A Determinator may be wounded, may be splintered, and at times it may seem as if they are breaking, but they never truly do. They’re going through Hell, probably several times over, but they keep going. They claw and scratch for every inch. You don’t stop them until you stop the very last beat of their heart (and in the case of some, such as Jounouchi Katsuya from YGO, not even then). As TV Tropes so helpfully puts it:

“There is no stopping the Determinator. They do not know when to fold ‘em, and it’s a waste of time to tell them the odds. No one can reason with them. They’ll do whatever they have to without question. No price is too great to pay for success, up to and including their own life. Do not expect them to realize they might be better off letting it go, even if they can barely stand. If you’re ever kidnapped or lost with no hope of rescue, they’ll be the one who will find you. Their adversaries will shout, in exasperated rage, “Why won’t you die?!”

This is Alan. He may be quieter about it than some (most of the time, anyway), but we see time and time again in canon that he doesn’t quit, he doesn’t back down, and he doesn’t give a damn what the odds against him are. When Siebold, the water master of the Elite Four, questions the wisdom of using a fire-type against him—pointing out, truthfully, that the odds are severely stacked against Alan in that case—Alan admits that he is right … but then says that he and Lizardon are going to battle anyway, because “the bond between [them] will overcome reason.” Alan, in his own words, specifically intends to overcome reason (at least, he believes the bond between himself and Lizardon will). It doesn’t matter that good sense says that he’s at a severe disadvantage against Siebold. He’s going to do it anyway, to hell with the odds. In all honesty, it was a waste of time for Siebold to point that out.

And it doesn’t end there! When Mega Rayquaza attack, does Alan try to duck for cover? No. He tells everyone else to duck for cover, but then he and Lizardon fight. When Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre are threatening the earth, he goes to fight them. He insists he has to. When Lizardon is struck down and almost killed, Alan immediately goes after him. He faces the legendaries and only tries to get out of the way himself when Kyogre is literally thrown at him, and even then he has to be knocked unconscious to be taken out of the fight. He faces ten mega evolution users, including another member of the Elite Four, with nothing but sheer determination and his belief in Lizardon to get him through it, and they win. Even much later on, when he confronts Lysandre and finally learns the truth, although he does have a (very understandable) emotional breakdown when the weight of what he unintentionally did hits him, all it takes is a few words from Ash for Alan to be able to shelve his issues for the time being and keep fighting. Alan goes through absolute Hell both before and during the series, and yet he keeps going, regardless of the risk to his own life, regardless of what he suffers. It doesn’t matter. He sees what has to be done, and he does it, and he has the Determination to do so. This, combined with the fact that he’s pure-hearted, is exactly why Lysandre chose to employ and use him the way he did (i.e. this is what Malva determined during her battle with him in TSME 4, I’m certain of it).

Building on that, Alan is pure. Malva calls him “a pure boy” in TSME 4, and she’s not wrong. Alan is pure in the sense that he genuinely wants to protect people. He genuinely wants to defend them. He genuinely wants to work for the betterment of the world, and the people in it. This is how Lysandre pulls him in; not only does he tell Alan that Professor Sycamore needs to be protected (and Alan cherishes Sycamore and, as such, will do whatever it takes to protect him), but he also tells him that the mega evolution energy will be used for “peaceful purposes,” for a better world. This is something that Alan cares about. Yes, he specifically wants to protect his loved ones as well, but as we see time and again, Alan doesn’t only care for his loved ones. He cares enough to help save Pikachu from Team Rocket the first time he meets Ash. He cares enough to face two primal legendaries to try and save the world. He cares enough to question Lysandre about all of the people when he confronts him, and to feel open guilt and despair over how many people and pokémon were hurt during the Flare crisis when talking to Ash in the garden. Although he was used and manipulated by Lysandre, Alan’s intentions were always, always pure and good. He was striving to help and protect the entire world, because that’s something that matters to him. He was very earnest about this, and always has been. And that, along with the fact that he was young and innocent, allowed him to be completely taken advantage of by Lysandre.

But although he was innocent and taken advantage of because of it, Alan is far from stupid. In fact, he is incredibly smart. He is one of the few (and the only one I can name off the top of my head) to use actual competitive strategies in canon. Despite how young he is in the flashback in TSME 1, we see Sycamore discussing mega evolution with him on equal terms, not simplifying or holding things back out of concern that Alan won’t be able to keep up with the conversation. Alan is quick on his feet in battle, he’s observant, he helps teach and instruct Manon on multiple occasions (in TSME 1 he helps her catch a flabébé, and in TSME 2 there’s the explanation he gives her about what Steven and Lysandre are talking about when they’re discussing foundation / roots as it pertains to the Megalith). He’s able to pick out exact angles at a glance and knows exactly how to take advantage of that in the heat of battle. In all honesty, his intelligence was probably another appealing factor in Lysandre’s eyes; not only does he have a pure heart that can be easily taken advantage of, but he has a sharp mind that can be put to good use! What more could Lysandre ask for? (God, Lysandre was such a prick.)

Alan is unbelievably, beautifully brave. Setting aside all of the obvious danger he faces despite his own fears (and we see his eyes widen in fear and panic on numerous occasions—he just faces the danger anyway, because that’s what real courage is), he’s also able to stand up to and confront his abuser during the Flare arc, in a moment of true crisis and revealed trauma. That is huge. Yes, he does need some emotional support from Ash, but he still does it, before and after said support! It was so unbelievably brave for Alan to be able to do that, but courage—real courage—is a shining quality of his. You better believe it is.

And he’s compassionate and affectionate in his own way as well. He’s beautifully sweet with Lizardon (look at the gif above!). He watches out for others, especially those younger and less capable than he is. He’s protective and caring. He can be snarky and likes to tease sometimes, but it’s never cruel (well, he might be cold to people he doesn’t like, such as Louis, but even then it’s pretty mild). He has a sense of honor, too; after his second battle with Ash, wherein Ash collapsed in the middle of it, Alan refused to accept it as a victory on his part because the battle ended prematurely. Ash felt that Alan won, but Alan didn’t want to see it that way.

This is … such an essay … but god damn I love Alan so much, I could talk about him for ages, as you can see, hahaha. But I want to talk about Lizardon a bit too, so with regards to Lizardon I will say:

While we’re never told this specifically in canon, I feel that it is absolutely, 100% fair to say that Lizardon’s nature is Adamant, because he is every bit as much of a Determinator as his trainer / partner / best friend / platonic soulmate is. Lizardon, like Alan, doesn’t quit nor give up until he’s actually dying (or the battle officially ends, as in TSME 1 against Siebold). Primal Groudon has to nearly kill him for him to stop in TSME 3, and he wins that gauntlet in TSME 4 fair and square. He never looks reluctant, either; as much as Alan presses forward, Lizardon is pressing right along with him. They believe in each other, they support each other, they fight together. Lizardon will never give up, not so long as Alan doesn’t. He has an Adamant nature, absolutely. There’s no question.

As much of an Adamant dragon as he is, though, Lizardon is also a big sweetheart. He’s a big, cuddly dragon who absolutely loves snuggles, who is very often on the receiving end of pettings and hugs from Alan (as seen above) and loves it. Hell, after the League victory, he even leans down for a proper hug rather than just a pet! He snuggles closer of his own volition! Sweet, snuggly boy. ♥ As fierce as he is in battle, Lizardon is quite friendly, and enjoys meeting and befriending new people and pokémon. Funnily enough, however, something I was thinking about the other day … I’d have to rewatch all of the episodes to make sure (darn), but I’m pretty positive that Lizardon never directly interacts with Lysandre, even when they’re in each other’s presence. At the least, he never emotes positively, unlike how he does with Sycamore (wherein he cheers when Sycamore congratulates him on evolving into charmeleon, and is so happy when Sycamore compliments him in XYZ036). That aside, Lizardon is very friendly and sweet. He’s just also fierce af in battle. ;)

And I love, too, that as much as it’s obvious that Alan loves Lizardon, that it’s obvious how much Lizardon loves and cares about and protects Alan—and also that, as much as they love and care about each other, they have actual conversations, Lizardon sometimes catches Alan off-guard with the things he says (showing that, yes, Alan understands him!!), and sometimes they disagree. They’re equals, they treat each other as such, and as a result Lizardon is not afraid to speak his mind to Alan, not afraid to show how he feels. They’re partners, two halves of a greater whole. They trust each other implicitly, completely, unspeakably, without question or hesitation. They never cease to amaze. ♥

Anyway, this is an actual essay, but I just love these two beautiful boys. ♥ The love between them is unconditional. The bond between them overcomes reason and surpasses its limits. They were the best thing to come out of the Kalos saga (and the anime in general imho, though to be fair they do tie with Ash and Pikachu), and I will love them ‘til the end of days. ♥

7.) would you want to live in the world of your current work?

Answered here!

10.) what song sums up your current work the best?

Ooooh, it’s hard for me to pick one song. Generally I have several songs that either fit particular scenes, or else encompass different parts of a fic, like a soundtrack of sorts.

As far as To Devour the Sun goes, I have several (in no particular order):

“Envy Revealed” - Senju Akira — This is the song I’ve always associated with the scene in chapter five when the massive chimera makes its appearance (and things go very, very, very south for Alan and Lizardon).

“Don’t Give Up” - Toby Fox — Going along with the fact that Alan is a Determinator, as outlined above, this is a song that I rather associate with him in general, but in particular I imagine it going along with one particular scene … which won’t happen for another few chapters or so. Stay tuned.

“Alan’s Theme” - Miyazaki Shinji — That’s not the actual name of the track, but it might as well be for how often it was used as Alan’s leitmotif in the anime. Regardless, not only is this literally always relevant, but there is one scene in particular in which I imagine it playing during much later on in the fic. I can’t say what because of #spoilers, but I imagine it fitting perfectly nonetheless. God, my boy. I love him so very goddamn much.

“Megalovania (Vocal Piano Cover)” - Adriana Figeuroa — It’s more the sound of this one that works, as well as the overall intent, rather than the specific lyrics (because after all, the one that this would be directed at is neither human nor a child—though she does have quite a lot of L.O.V.E. to go on). However, it’s these lyrics that stuck out to me the most in regards to this:“So now you’ll stand and answer for yourself—prepare for a living Hell.The time has come.Nowhere to run.”It’s fitting (and “you chose to have LOVEd and lost” is fitting as well) … though I can’t say how or why at the moment.

“…” - Symphonic Evolutions — This is relevant battle music for later on. I won’t give any more details right now … but just trust me when I say that it’s relevant. And for that matter …

“Megalovania (Metal Cover)” - RichaadEB — So is this. (So as you can tell, someone gets very, very, very angry … Well, actually, multiple people and pokémon do, but in particular …)

And that’s all for now! As you can tell, it’s usually soundtrack music, haha. That’s often how it goes with this. On the other hand …

For the long one-shot I’m writing in response to the ficlet meme I reblogged a while ago (which is unnamed at this point in time), I do have several songs that I associate with that as well:

“Let it Out (English)” - Adriana Figueroa, original by Fukuhara Miho — I can’t link this one, unfortunately, since YouTube took it down, but this fits one of the relationships in the fic, and as such I’ve been thinking of this fic in particular whenever this song comes up. After all:“Through pain and fear, and rain and tears,we will hold on to the light.We’ll chase the dawn that waits for us beyond the darkest sky.Keep following that distant star, never walk away from who you are.Never forget that your future’s waiting up ahead!“As seasons change, and rearrange,and the sands of time descend.As all your hope starts vanishing, you’ll always have a friend …”

“Wouldn’t it Be Nice” - The Beach Boys — One of the characters sings this—or at least the first verse—at one point. I won’t say who; you’ll see when it comes up. He was just being cheeky, honestly, and he gets called on it. In case you don’t want to listen, the first verse:“Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older?Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long.And wouldn’t it be nice to live togetherin the kind of world where we belong?”

“Pokémon Theme Song” - John Loeffler / Billy Crawford — It’s also possible that the same character will sing the second verse of this one, and will pull in another character (the one who called him on the last one, actually) in for the chorus. But this one is less decided. (Either way, it’ll get a reference in another form, so …) And in case you’re not familiar, those lyrics that he’d be singing are:“Every challenge along the way, with courage I will face.I will battle every day to claim my rightful place.Come with me! The time is right—there’s no better team, yeah.Arm in arm we’ll win the fight that’s always been our dream!“It’s you and me. I know it’s our destiny!Oh, you’re my best friend, in a world we must defend.A heart so true, our courage will pull us through!You teach me and I’ll teach you …”(Note: He’ll modify it slightly. It should be “I know it’s my destiny,” but he changes it to “our” because he wants it to be a duet. =P And to be fair he gets his wish, as the second singer joins on “in a world we must defend.”)

And that’s all I have for that one for right now! Thanks for asking! ♥

#decadeoldtiger #writer's ask meme

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paradoxicalca · 5 years ago

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r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 9: Flying High Edition

/r/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Nov 25, 2019 - Dec 1, 2019Thank YouThank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.RankersSpoilerOrganizersSpoilerVisualizationThe visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /r/hockey opinion.It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it hereProcessHow does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /r/hockey!Rankings (27/31 Rankers Reporting)Ranking (avg)TeamDeltaOverall RecordRecord This WeekComments1 (1.42)Boston Bruins219-3-54-0-0🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝2 (2.06)Washington Capitals-19-4-53-0-0Squeaking by the Cats and Wings wasn't great, but coming back from way behind against the rounding-into-form Bolts was the kind of victory that makes you believe. I recognize that I'm (mildly) complaining about a 3-0-0 week but the only important thing in regular season hockey is process, am I right or am I right. Nicky come back soon we all miss you dearly, Carlson start scoring again Edmonton's getting ideas, and Sammy my sweet darling muffin keep doing everything you're doing you're a perfect little angel in net. Go Caps.3 (3.97)St. Louis Blues217-5-63-0-1Down our best goal-scorer, our veteran 2-way forward, and our breakout young guys from last year and this year, the Blues haven't lost a step. The O'Reilly-Perron connection continues to be a thing of beauty, our captain is putting up a Norris-worthy season so far, and Binnington looks to be here to stay (Snake isn't half bad either). 5/6 points on a road trip through Tampa, Nashville and Dallas is nothing to scoff at. This team has an incredible amount of balance and resiliency. Once again, it's a great time to be a Blues fan.4 (4.73)New York Islanders-317-5-21-2-0The streak came to a crashing halt with 1 point in 3 games on the California road trip. Thomas Greiss seemed to have hurt something on Saturday night, will be a situation to monitor closely for Isles fans. Another worthwhile note is Anders Lee ended his goal drought during the first game he was reunited with Barzal and Bailey.5 (5.33)Colorado Avalanche216-8-23-0-0The Big Moose is back and I think the NHL needs to be afraid. The Mackinnon show wasn't over earning a 2nd Star of the Month Mr. Novemeber kept this team above .500 in Mikko and Gabes absence. This week saw us take advantage of McDavid and Draisaitl not at their best, then two thrashings of the Hawks. The team is starting to get healthier but we also lost Burakovsky this week, so the hockey gods give and take. Next up is a hockey mecca road trip as we take on Toronto, Montreal & Boston. Makalder update: Makar only had 1 goal this week, but with Johnson out he took over as our #1 RHD. He still has a bit of work to do to become a full blown #1 dman but I would not be surprised if he has that role firmly handled by the time Johnson comes back.6 (8.42)Edmonton Oilers-217-9-31-2-0Small slide for the Oilers with losses to the Avs and the Canucks. They did still pull out a victory against the Canucks today. The Oilers are in a bit of a pickle. McDavid and Drai have slowed for 5-on-5 (for their standards), and Nuge and Kassian are injured. Both losses were thanks to poor games against them. Notably, certain key players are putting together some poor performances (like Nurse). The team still, somehow, remains at the top of the division but now the Blues have create some separation for top of the West. The next week is games against the Sens, Kings and Sabres. Oh, and I forgot. Archibald finally got his goal. Some results for the hard work he's done so far this season.7 (9.21)Carolina Hurricanes-116-10-11-2-0If it wasn’t for the heroics for James Reimer on Saturday this could have been a winningless week. With Boston coming up the boys better be on their A game8 (9.88)Philadelphia Flyers1215-7-54-0-0The flyers have literally gotten the most points out of the NHL (AFAIK) in november, are 5th in the league, yet still only 3rd in the Metro. I hate the Metro. Aside from that, we went a perfect 4-0-0 this week, had a lot of good things happen this week. Ghost was scratched for two games, but that was good for him. Hagg played well enough to then force Myers to sit, which doesn’t sit well with most of the fanbase but was also the right decision. We could still use our veterans contributing more, but we are managing depth contributions pretty well and that’s a definite positive. Hopefully you all had a wonderful thanksgiving, and now its back to the last few weeks of school. NHL PLEASE LET THE SENS/WINGS/KINGS GO ANY ORDER OF 1/2/3 IN THE DRAFT LOTTERY SO THE WEAPONIZATION OF THE METRO CAN BE SLOWED. thanks for coming to my ted talk, Praise Gritty.9 (9.94)Dallas Stars-15-10-31-2-110 (10)Winnipeg Jets116-10-12-1-0This week featured a road trip through California, a trip I fully expected the Jets to emerge 2-1-0. And they did, but they lost to the least expected one of the bunch. Flashes of brilliance and signs of stupidity abound. Our goal differential is finally positive again, so that's a start. Not much to say other than the Jets keep defying the advanced stats underneath them. Next week features a home-and-home with Dallas, the central team that just passed us in the standings. Should be fun, provided Benn doesn't go god mode again.11 (11.45)Arizona Coyotes-214-9-50-1-212 (11.52)Pittsburgh Penguins-114-9-42-2-0As much as he has been the fire since Crosby has been out Malkin cannot carry this team alone.13 (12.85)San Jose Sharks615-12-13-1-0Another solid week for the Sharks, who moved into a divisional playoff spot for the first time this season. The team is still plagued by consistency issues as seen in the 1st Kings game and the Jets game, but picking up 3 wins this week wasn't a bad thing. Very nice to see the first win this season when trailing after the 1st period, all the early deficits this season have felt much bigger than they are and hopefully the team can turn that around. Goodrow and Gregor are looking really confident, and the forward lines are meshing really well. Go Šimek!14 (15.85)Florida Panthers213-8-51-1-0Judge Driedger shined in the Panthers' most complete game of the season against Nashville. Bob has been temporarily taken off the case.15 (16.61)Vegas Golden Knights-13-11-42-1-0Vegas going into their New York road trip winners of two straight hard fought games against Nashville and Arizona. They have not won three straight all season and they get a chance against Rangers on Monday.16 (17.09)Toronto Maple Leafs513-11-42-1-0The search for a backup goalie is on. The Leafs are now 4-1 under new head coach Sheldon Keefe, with their only loss being played with a backup goalie, this time on the front of a back-to-back. Michael Hutchison got another opportunity, and although the team didn't play great in front of him, the Leafs rely on Andersen to make the big saves to keep the momentum on their side, and they always miss it when he's not in net. Earlier in the week, it was a 6-0 win over the almost-emergency-goalie Red Wings, which isn't very impressive because they suck, but it's nice to see if you're a Leafs fan, as this team always seemed to struggle against bad teams under Babcock. On top of that, the PK looks much better and is getting the results, too. PP is looking good in small sample size too. An OT win against the Sabres at home on Saturday night wrapped up a solid week for the team. A tough week ahead, with the red-hot Flyers, Avalanche (B2B) and Blues up next.17 (17.09)Tampa Bay Lightning-412-9-31-2-1Not a good week for the Lightning, collecting only 3 points in 4 games. Kuch seems to be picking it up again, scoring 2/6/8 in 4 games. Point is as well, with 3 goals this week. Stamkos was invisible on the scoresheet this week, which is a concern, but Point a Kuch starting to pick up the pace might be what this team needs to start winning some games. As of right now I really don't have high hopes for this team, I would be surprised with a playoff appearance at this point. Can't get swept in the first round if you don't make the playoffs.18 (17.39)Vancouver Canucks-413-11-41-3-019 (17.48)Nashville Predators-212-10-42-1-1It was the Preds of times, it was the Perds of times, it was the age of Fabbro, it was the age of our third pairing, it was the epoch of comebacks, it was the epoch of playing 59:59.7, it was the season of Carr, it was the season of Olivier, it was the spring of Juuse Startos, it was the winter of being shutout, we had Duchene before us, we had no Turris before us, we were all going direct to the Playoffs, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest fans insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.20 (18.64)New York Rangers513-9-33-0-1Very very solid week. A 3-0-1 record is feeling fantastic. Zucc returned to MSG to start off the week, and we pulled out an OT win against the Wild. Next we took out the Canes and Hank made 41 saves. We fell to the Bruins in OT, but we won't talk about that. But what we will talk about is shutting out the Devils 4-0. We scored 2 shorthanded goals, which was beautiful. I'm hoping we can keep it going with this momentum into next week. LGR.21 (20.52)Buffalo Sabres-312-10-51-1-2Buffalo has managed to squeak out a win and two overtime losses against two teams struck with coaching controversy this week, which isn't bad if you look at the rest of November's record. It feels like Eichel is carrying the team at this point, and if you look at the rest of our team it reinforces that feeling. He's on pace for over 100 points; unfortunately, however, the team is on pace for 88. One more interesting stat: with split starts, Linus Ullmark (13 starts) has allowed 1 fewer goal on 3 more shots than Carter Hutton (14 starts).22 (20.61)Calgary Flames-13-12-42-0-123 (22.64)Montreal Canadiens-1111-10-60-3-1To fully understand how it feels to be a Habs fan right now, I suggest a reading of Byron's "Darkness". #41 is deep! Since that distant win in D.C., the Habs are in free-fall. 8 straight losses and counting. Hope and patience are in short supply, and those fans sober enough to discuss it are often philosophical, with an eye toward history, wondering how long we have to wait until this team is a real contender again. No matter how you measure it, we can all agree it's been a while. Many fans expect change is on the horizon, whether in the form of a trade, or a coaching change, or whatever. Others expect an even darker road ahead. "Their feeble breath blew for a little life, and made a flame which was a mockery." Damn right.24 (22.67)Minnesota Wild412-11-43-0-1Suddenly the Wild are playing...not terrible? They're unbeaten in regulation for 9 straight games now, going 6-0-3; imagine if they knew how to play 3v3 hockey. A stick tap to Kaptain Koivu for the shootout winner Sunday in his 1000th game. No doubt #9 will be the first player to have his number retired with the Wild when he hangs it up. There's a lot of the season left to be played; once mid-December rolls around, the schedule completely flips and Minnesota gets 18 of 22 games at home. How many points they get in that stretch will align perfectly with the trade deadline and GM Bill Guerin should act accordingly based on their chances (even if they're within reach of a spot, the Wild should not be buyers - it's sell or stay put.)25 (23)Anaheim Ducks-212-12-32-1-0This team continues to meet expectations s of a non playoff team with too much talent to tank for a top draft pick. It really sucks watching this team claw to a shootout loss in Arizona and then not show up to play against Winnipeg on Friday. Stay tuned for the battle for the basement on Monday with the first ducks v kings in Anaheim.26 (24.88)Columbus Blue Jackets111-11-42-2-0.500 in a tough week and made up no ground in the standings. Werenski is out for 4 weeks. Elvis is still without a win. The power play does seem to be clicking, so I guess we got that going for us.27 (25.91)Chicago Blackhawks-110-11-51-2-0Saturday, Duncan Keith missed just the 18th game in his 1102 game NHL career due to injury. Drake Caggiula and Dylan Strome are both out with concussions. Patrick Kane extended his point streak to 15 games. His 11G, 13A - 24P in November are the most points of any month in his career. Alex DeBrincat has been held goal-less in 11 straight games, but has managed to contribute 9 assists in that span. After allowing only 1 goal in 2 games against Dallas, the Blackhawks committed defensive atrocities against Colorado, such as this.28 (26.61)Los Angeles Kings111-14-22-1-1Same old hollywood story. Wish I had something exciting to add...29 (28.12)Ottawa Senators-511-15-10-4-0This is exactly the kind of week the Sens needed after our recent success in the standings - a pure focused noseline dive away from "contender" territory and firmly into the "rebuilding" zone. The Wings have really stepped up their tanking game with a remarkable 9 game losing streak, and the Sens have a LOT of ground to cover in Operation DernièrePourLafrenière. It's also reassuring in the midst of this much needed losing streak to see Marcus Hogberg a good game versus the Flames; he will likely be backup to Nilsson next season when we, hopefully, are less interested in picking first overall.30 (29.18)New Jersey Devils-9-12-41-2-0Are you kidding me? Beating the Habs must have been a fluke Thanksgiving miracle. How in the love of hockey gods do you go 0/8 on the powerplay in a single game, including a game misconduct 5 min PP?? Normallyy I try to give a more extensive blurb but at this point there is almost no good to the "Good, Bad, Ugly" breakdown. This team is god damn mess. We put up 6 against the Habs, then lose to the Wild and get shut out by the Rags? I'd be less salty if I didn't have the misfortune of spending Saturday at the Rock to watch that travesty become a home game for the Rangers. There weren't even enough red jerseys at the end of the game to do "Fire Hynes" chant if we wanted too. The only reason that we aren't 31st is because Detroit has come completely unhinged in terms of bad. Hughes is hurt, which is honestly just icing on the 7 layer shit cake. Hall (+Vatanen and Simmonds) is gone unless we get some sort of divine intervention. It's only December 1st, and I'm ready to pack this season in.31 (30.94)Detroit Red Wings-7-19-30-3-0Just a couple notes since thinking about this team gives me a migraine * Fastest team to reach a -50 goal differential in the last 20 years * Mantha out with injury at the usual time of the year * Larkin slumping * Goalies can't stay healthy or buy a save. * Fabbri is the GOAT r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 9: Flying High Edition Source

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blkwidowsweb · 6 years ago

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A Conversation with Jamie 3:26!!!

Hailing from the Beverly area on the South Side of Chicago, Jamie 3:26 has garnered recognition in his own right as a master selector capable of lighting any dance floor on fire. Driven by the deep desire to make people to lose themselves in the dance and forget their problems, Jamie keeps his irons burning hot. He always seeks out new and fresh sounds. It could be an overlooked gem from 30 years ago or a new jam and as long as it has a great groove, he’s interested. Anyone who has seen Jamie 3:26 play, can testify to the effect he has on a dancefloor – he is a true force of nature.

There is a reason they call him “The Beast”.

2018 has seen Jamie 3:26 take his career to a new a level, touring globally with a consistency matched by few others on the circuit and is revered by clubs and festivals all over. Recent remixes on ‘Heist’ have gathered huge support and his classic ‘Hit It N Quit It’ was released on the revered ‘Salsoul’ records. Jamie recently had the honor of headlining Boiler Room’s ‘Final Night in Paradise’ extravaganza – a unique homage to Larry Levan and the scene he created. This truly demonstrates to the world how highly he is regarded and his current status in the scene. He not only captures the past of those eras gone by but he is also the future of Chicago House music. (Courtesy of www.bbemusic.com)

I caught up with Jamie during a recent return to Chicago and chatted with him about his career, his future and his love of music and world experiences.

Black Widow: You’ve been doing this for quite a while. How were you introduced to House Music?

Jamie 3:26: I was introduced to this from my family. My uncle was really into disco, my cousin loved funk and my mom loved disco, funk and soul. We would have a lot of parties at our house. I would play a lot of music at those parties. It was at one of my mom’s parties that I actually saw a DJ mix. I was exposed to this in the 70s. Then in the early 80s, I was listening to the radio mixes on WBMX, WKKC, and the college radio stations. I remember seeing John Mason, who was a DJ from my neighborhood mix, Disco Don and Clever Clear from High Fidelity Productions. They were the first guys I saw mixing and they would DJ a lot of the house parties in the neighborhood. Eventually, I began sneaking out to some of those basement parties. That’s when I started really getting into going to the parties and dancing. That was around 1985.

Black Widow: What made you decide you wanted to DJ/Mix?

Jamie 3:26: I was taught how to operate and use DJ equipment at a young age by watching those DJs I mentioned before. I’m self-taught. No one sat me down and taught me how to mix. I learned from studying mixes on radio and watching DJs mix and seeing what they were doing. I was able to just soak it up. I started mixing in 1985, but I took it very seriously around 1988. That’s when I began really studying this craft. I would always try to get as close to the booth wherever I was at. I would hang out at the Music Box/Powerhouse on 22nd and Michigan. When they would DJ downstairs, Ron (Hardy) would let me get in the back and check him out. I would want to check out as many DJs as I could. Around 1988/1989 I would go out and study Andre Hatchett, Lil Louis, Disco Don, Ron Hardy, Pharris, Gene Hunt, Terry Hunter and Mike Williams. Those DJs were the ones I was following and studying. I learned a lot of things from them individually. It took me a while to get it all together but learned so much from studying and watching them.

Black Widow: During the time when you are learning, what were you doing to expose yourself and get your name out there?

Jamie 3:26: Our crew (The Lust Corp) started throwing our own events, picnics, parties. We went from doing that to doing our own event at AKA’s in 1990. I remember it was John Hunt (Gucci promotions), Galaxy promotions, and CSP production doing college nights at AKAs. We would hire Chris Underwood, Terry Hunter, Ron Hardy, and Pharris. It was a 21 and up club but we were all under 21 putting on these events.

Black Widow: Did word just spread about who you were?

Jamie 3:26: Yea we were a pretty deep crew. We had the gift of gab and would talk our way in. That’s where those relationships started with some of those DJs. We ended up doing a lot on the college party circuit, especially at Northern IL University. Even if we weren’t actually playing at the event, we would set up the sound system and one of us might DJ as well.

Black Widow: When did you decide that this was more than a hobby? When did you decide this was something you wanted to do as a career?

Jamie 3:26: It started in 1989 and came from doing a lot of house parties for people from my old HS, Morgan Park. I started my own mobile DJ Company and I was DJ'ing homecomings, sock hops and such. It kept growing from there and I knew I wanted to do this. I got my own full setup and sound system in 1991. My grandmother helped me get it. If it wasn’t’ for her, I wouldn’t’ be where I am today. She believed in me.

Black Widow: Back then people were digging in crates, looking for music. It’s not the same now. Your musical style is so varied. What was your process for choosing music and has it changed now that so much of it is digital?

Jamie 3:26: You didn’t have the power of the internet so everything wasn’t at your fingertips. There are a lot of records that I initially thought may have been one title and I would buy it and discover it wasn’t the one I wanted. That was before they had listening stations and the people who worked at the record store didn’t want to open the record and play it. I have a lot of records that I bought that ended up being something I didn’t want or something I thought I didn’t want. That’s just how digging was back then. We would listen to music and be like, “Aww that sounds like something Frankie would play or Ron may play”. We were looking for that gem, something to set you apart that no one had. I also learned this music from listening to mix shows on the radio, especially the Sunday show with Bobby Q Bobby on WKKC. You also had to go out. If it was a certain sound that you were into or wanted to get turned on to, then you checked out certain DJs. Back then, everyone mixed and DJ’d what they could. A lot of DJs got their start off their parent’s record collection. That’s how it was with me. I would find records and go through them and find my own groove. We would dig and discover music. Nowadays, with technology, you don’t really have to go out to hear and discover new sounds if you don’t want to, but I’m still a student and a fan of new sounds and music.

I still get excited looking for music and finding new music. No one person is going to know all the jams…they may act like it but no one knows every record known to man.

Black Widow: There are certain DJs that really know music. I’m not just talking house music, they know music, the history…you know they are the ones who would actually read the album covers…

Jamie 3:26: Yes…that’s exactly what I did!

Black Widow: I think that’s reflected in your musical style. When you are starting out you are obviously influenced by other DJs, but when did you get to the point where you knew who you were as a DJ and identified your personal style?

Jamie 3:26: It boils down to having musical balls. Back in the day, if you were an opening DJ you were limited to a certain degree, especially if you were playing with certain DJs. It was almost an unwritten code. You weren’t supposed to play all the hits or the hot shit. You were supposed to keep it at a certain tempo, etc. The opening DJ was supposed to keep it mellow and they didn’t really build it up. Back then, it may have been 2-3 DJs max for a certain event. Now it may be 5 or 6 DJs for a 6 hour party and you have every DJ trying to out bang each other because they want a chance to play. They want to make the most out of the moment. The problem is it becomes a pissing contest because everyone is trying to outdo each other. The result of that is the party suffers. What I learned and what I was schooled on from my elders like Robert Williams is that it’s about the party first.

“That’s the most important thing…it’s about the party first”!

The most important part of a night is the opening. The opening DJ sets the vibe, atmosphere and environment. Everyone cannot play that position correctly. You have to be flexible and have musical knowledge. If you only know and play bangin ass house music and you don’t have that knowledge, you can’t play anything mid-tempo and build up. Sometimes it’s all they know or all that they think is what makes shit hot and hype. Speed doesn’t always equal energy. I’ve been at parties where it’s mid-tempo all night and people are losing. You don’t always have to bang it out. I remember feeling like I had to play like this or I have to play around the DJ and things like that. I realized I wasn’t doing me. I had to find a way to do me but still be respectful and play my position. There are rules to this shit.

That’s hard because I’m human. We all are and we all have an ego. If people say they don’t have an ego, that’s bullshit. You have to find a way to play your position and know how to do it correctly and respectfully. I had to work my way up from doing some opening spots to doing some prime spots. When I got those opportunities, I took advantage of it and made the most of it.

Even in those moments, it wasn’t about “I’m gonna shit on everybody” or “I’m gonna make him work tonight” or any of that bullshit…NO...that’s not what it was about. It was about turning the party out and making people know who the fuck I am in the process.

Eventually, I started to come into my own. I had to learn from experience.

Black Widow: Do you think that protocol is missing nowadays?

Jamie 3:26: You have people who aren’t experienced with playing in public. They can make a dope mix at home in their own environment but when you are in different club environments, you aren’t prepared for a mishap with the equipment or you may not know how to play on a dope sound system. Things like that can throw you off and then you may sound horrible. Honestly, there are a lot of DJs who should just practice more at home and get their craft up before they come out in public. There are lot of people practicing in public. That’s no diss… but it’s the truth. There are people anxious to get out and play and I totally understand that because I was that way.

I didn’t come out the gate with guns blazing and playing as the sickest fuckin DJ. There were times when I’d get out there and fuck up! I’d crash and burn and they’d tell my ass to get off and go dance. {Laughter} I had to get over the nerves, develop my craft and get experience under my belt. You gotta have experience to learn how to read a room. You also have to have that musical knowledge so you know when to change the music, or build and change the vibe. If you are only used to playing a certain set or program and the DJ before you plays a song that you had in the set you’ve been planning for weeks, you’ll be messed up because you haven’t built up your skills on how to improvise.

Black Widow: Would you say the club was your training ground? It seems like you can only learn those things when you are actually in the environment.

Jamie 3:26: Yeah it was but now it’s harder. You have such an oversaturated market of DJs because of technology and you have places that don’t give you a chance to build a night. If you don’t have your shit poppin within a week or two, they are movin on to the next DJ. It’s hard to develop some of these skills because nightlife is a business and folks want to make money. I was able to develop those skills when I was younger because of the number of house parties, basement parties and such that I did. Also, I had to DJ and play various types of music, when I had my mobile DJ business. It wasn’t just house music. I was playing house, disco, hip hop, reggae, slow jams…I did parties for gang bangers, wedding receptions…all of that. It taught me how to be diverse and I feel like it gave me an advantage. I learned how to be versatile. It’s hard these days to develop yourself because everyone has a microwave mentality. People think they are good because they have a hard drive full of music.

If you aren’t studying the music; knowing who the producers are, knowing the remixes, studying the history of this genre…if you don’t know about these legendary DJs, clubs and sounds all around the world… you can have all the music in the world but you may not know what version to play. You haven’t studied and done your research. It’s a lot different playing digital file vs a record. If someone was DJing a record and playing the wrong version, you’d tell them to turn that shit over. You can’t do that to someone playing digital. You still have to learn…you really have to learn all aspects of this. It’s just like anything else. You have to learn the fundamentals.

Black Widow: I agree. I think it’s like anything you really want to excel at. That’s what makes the greats…so great! I think those are the ones who remain students. They are always studying. They never get to the point where they think they know everything. I see you on social media still looking and digging for new music in record stores all around the world. You are always looking for something new to play. That’s why your sets never sound the same.

Jamie 3:26: Yup…I’m always digging and studying. I love music…every aspect of it. There’s always something new to learn.

Black Widow: Let’s talk about your evolution as a DJ. What are some of the greatest lessons you’ve learned in your career?

Jamie 3:26: Oh wow… I’d have to say first I had to realize that although this culture and music started in Chicago, its way beyond Chicago. I always knew that because I was into certain sounds but I had to experience it. I remember being humbled during my first trip to NYC around 2000/2001. I went to my first Shelter party. Of course, I was familiar with the place, the sound and the parties that happened there but when I got there it was such an eye opening experience. At the time, it was one of the biggest clubs I’d ever been in with one of the most amazing sound system. I was there just watching all these people from different backgrounds getting down. They were breakdancing to house music. I mean it was a dude spinning on his head to house music!!! I remember just looking at all of this and had to sit down. I was overwhelmed. I was like well DAMN! It was so much more than what I thought it was.

You know coming from Chicago, we can be a little cocky because this genre started here but that entire experience changed me in a lot of ways. I realized the music was global and finally experienced it on that level outside of Chicago for the first time. That was some powerful shit. It made me want to see it and experience it from everywhere else and that’s exactly what I did. I heard about the festivals and WMC and things like that but it was important that I experienced it as a patron, not a DJ. It wasn’t about going to these places so I could DJ. I mean, of course that was part of it, but it wasn’t the main objective. I was going to check this shit out. It sparked something in me and it shaped me and made me start playing differently. I got it. This shit was worldwide.

2nd thing I’ve learned over the years is don’t be an Asshole.

Black widow: [Laughter] Can you elaborate please? [Laughter]

Jamie 3:26: [Laughter] One line! That’s it! [Laughter] No seriously, I’ve said this to people quite a bit but what has helped me throughout my entire career has been who I am as person vs my musical talent. How you treat people and how you are to people. Some people lack social skills. You have to k now how to interact with people, have good people skills and know how to network with your peers. Being a decent person has allowed me to form and develop relationships that have carried me throughout my entire career. I mean…be cool! Don’t be an asshole! I’m a very observant person and over the years, I’ve learned from many about what to do and what not to do. Some people think if you are someone with manners, talk with people professionally and such you are “kissing ass” but just like in any profession, there’s a standard and way you go about things. You got to find your own way and not be a fake. It’s about how you are as a person, your personality.

Most people who are creative are introverts. We spend more time in dark rooms in front of computers, books, instruments and such. We are self-professed nerds. I’m definitely one of them but I’m also a people person. I know if I’m out and at a gig, I can’t be an asshole to people, even when I may feel like shit.

“After a while, you realize you belong to the people. You can’t come out and say stuff like; I want my privacy or leave me alone…if that’s the case, stay your ass at home”.

Black Widow: From one fellow introvert to another, I couldn’t’ agree more. I’m much more comfortable with my journal then in public sometimes. They say writing is show business for introverts! [LAUGHTER] It’s so true but I’m also a performer so I’m learning how to navigate those public spaces more. Don’t be an asshole! A simple gem from Jamie 3:26! [LAUGHTER]

Jamie 3:26: Exactly! Be cool and don’t be an asshole and you’ll be alright!

Black Widow: When did you decide you didn’t just want to play music but you wanted to make music?

Jamie 3:26: I’ve always kinda fooled around with tracks and productions when I was younger and in high school. That’s how house music started; DJs started making their own stuff to separate themselves and to be different. I actually had a hip-hop group in the early 90s and I first learned about sampling and stuff like that from my man, Coolie Mac. I started learning more about production hanging out with Glen Underground. He used to live around the corner from me. I was there when some of his early hits were created. I was doing stuff with Paul Johnson when he was making tracks in the kitchen. Those who know remember the kitchen. [Laughter] I actually did stuff here and there but in early 2000s, Chip E really turned me on to doing things digitally; digital music production and digital editing. Chip E and Leonard Remix Roy really got me into that. Chip E especially got me into learning how to create and make music on a computer. I did a lot of tracks and made things at home but it wasn’t until around 2008/2009, I sent a track I made to a label in the UK just to see what the response would be. They loved it and they wanted to put it out. That got my confidence up with production. Since then, I’ve had a nice amount of remixes and releases with my own production. I’m glad I was able to get out of that mode that I needed all this equipment in order to make my own music. Chip E showed me another way.

Black Widow: Is your creative process different as a producer vs a DJ?

Jamie 3:26: When I’m producing, I’m definitely approaching it as if I’m DJ’ing. Sometimes it can start with some drums and I build around it. Sometimes I have to stop it and go back to it and something will come back to me. I don’t have a set formula for doing things. It can be a loop and I may listen to it for some time before it comes to me. I think that’s why they say most musicians are crazy because we’ll listen to the same thing over and over again. Sometimes an entire idea will hit me and I’ll lay it out in one rip, then other times, it may be completely different from what I envisioned it. There are plenty of tracks that I’ve created where the original format is totally different than what was released. I’ve done 10 different versions of some things I’ve made. There’s no formula. I build around it. It’s like a puzzle.

Black Widow: I think writing is similar in ways. Sometimes it comes out all at once and other times it’s just a word or a phrase that I stare at for the longest until I’m able to put it together. I totally get it.

Jamie 3:26: Right! That’s exactly how it goes sometimes. It’s not a recipe.

Black Widow: Is it about creating your own music or are you doing more collaboration with other artists?

Jamie 3:26: Actually I’ve noticed as of recent, some of the things I’ve done where I’ve collaborated has been a much more fun process. I feed off of their energy love bouncing ideas off of one another. Even if we aren’t in the same room, we can bounce those ideas off one another. That’s what I’ve done with my partner Bobby from Amsterdam. We’ve made a few things and those ideas have started from us bouncing ideas back and forth. Once we get together we lay it all down and knock it out. I prefer working with others right now. I really love co-creating with certain people because it’s a different challenge and its fun.

Black Widow: What inspires you to create? And how to you stay creative? I say this because creative people are constantly pouring themselves out into the world through their art. That’ How do you stay full and inspired?

Jamie 3:26: It’s not easy. Some people are just so naturally creative. They just get inspired, knock things out and spill out an album or two. With me I don’t want to rush it. It’s a piece of me and a representative of me. I get inspired by so many different things. It can be hearing something interesting, watching a movie, walking down the street or seeing folks interact. It can be a memory of a party I was at or an event I’ve played. Sometimes I think about that and want to recreate that same energy or vibe. I just can’t turn on my creativity like a light switch. Sometimes I wish I could but that’s not how I am. I prefer to let it flow and see what happens. The best forms of inspiration for me sometimes involve me just going out. Sometimes it can even be hearing a bad DJ or going to a party that sucks. It makes me want to create something that would make people go crazy!

Black Widow: I’ve told people that whenever I have a creative rut or some writer’s block, I have to get out and live. The best inspiration comes to me from just living my life authentically and fully. I have to experience new things or it can be the complete opposite. Sometimes I just need to be still because I’ve become too busy. Does that make sense?

Jamie 3:26: Right…that’s it. Sometimes you just have to take a break and step away and not force it. Get out and take a walk, or be in silence and boom…something may come. You just can’t force it either way.

Black Widow: You’ve been fortunate to travel the world. How does that influence how you play?

Jamie 3:26: It goes back to always being a student. I’ve actually learned a lot not just about music but traveling has broadened my views of the world and people. It’s been a huge blessing and I understand so much more about people. I’ve met so many beautiful and amazing people and the connection is all through music. I know it sounds cliché but it’s so true. It made me see how universal this language music is. I’ve been around people who can’t speak English but can sing every word to the song and that’ amazing to experience. I’ve also been able to hear many DJs from around the world who have some serious stank and soul. Once again, I see how global this music is. It’s way beyond Chicago. Now don’t’ get me wrong,

“I can’t forget the roots and I’m going to represent the culture and make sure people know that Chicago is the birthplace, but I also cannot deny how far reaching this music is. I’ve been turned on to so many different sounds in my travels”.

It’s such a blessing. I’m thankful for it all.

Being open minded helps a lot because there are things that work here that may not work somewhere else. Again, I do my research. I check out what’s happening and what people are into. I’m still going to put my own spin on it. I can’t just cater to them and play a certain sound. I have to remember that I’ve been hired to bring the sound that I’m known for, not just the sound that they are used to. I had to learn this in my very first trip to Europe the hard way. If anyone brings you anywhere, you play how you play. That’s why they brought you there. That’s how they heard you and that’s what they want. They want your sound.

Black Widow: Being a DJ, producer, etc., isn’t just about being creative anymore. You have to learn this business. What lessons did you learn along the way about the business of making music?

Jamie 3:26: Own your publishing!!!!! Have your business set up, have an attorney to overlook documents. Don’t sign anything without looking at it. If someone offers you an advance, that’s usually all you are going to get.

“Value your art...don’t sacrifice your art for being able to get out there because that’s your intellectual property”.

Black Widow: It seems you spend more time learning the business and trying to protect yourself instead of creating. Isn’t that frustrating sometimes as an artist?

Jamie 3:26: Oh yeah!!! But these are the steps you have to do and it does can be hard to find that balance. That’s why it’s best if you can hire someone and get help. If you are trying to wear so many hats, it’s easy to overlook one little thing and that thing could be detrimental to you. You have to figure it all out…the music, the art and the business.

Black Widow: What do you say to those who say you left Chicago because you hated it? What would you say to them?

Jamie 3:26: [Laughter] OHHHH WEE!!! That’s what the streets are saying huh? To a lot of people, they may think I left out of frustration but that’s not true. People don’t realize but I was living between Chicago and the Netherlands for 3 years. I would spin 3-5 months of the year overseas and come back and forth. I left because I outgrew it. It wasn’t’ an easy decision either. I was going to leave 5 years ago and now I know it would have been a disaster and I wasn’t ready.

“It’s not that I’m over Chicago at all… I’m just looking at the world as my residency”

Black Widow: What do you love about being a DJ from Chicago?

Jamie 3:26: We got funk! We are the originators. Our sound is Midwest fresh. The dopest DJs come from the Midwest, especially from Chicago and Detroit. We’ve always stressed technical skills, being tight and being musically diverse. We can come from this area and come many different ways, especially if they are seasoned. The dopest thing about being a Chicago DJ is being from Chicago! This is mecca and the world looks at Chicago as such. We need to realize the power we hold being from this place and how people look up to us and our city. It’s way beyond Chicago and we have a powerful gift we take for granted. Some don’t even understand the power we hold and how we are looked at across the world because no one goes outside of Chicago to see it and experience it.

Black Widow: What does the future hold for Jamie 3:26? What dreams do you still want to accomplish?

Jamie 3:26: I want to release an album of original music and continue mentoring younger DJs of color abroad.

Black Widow: Mentoring? Oh I had no idea…

Jamie 3:26: Oh yeah… I have been showing some of the younger DJs, sharing experiences, wisdom and knowledge with them. No one really did that with me and I have a lot of knots upside my head because I had to learn that stuff on my own. In this game, women and people of color are the minorities. This is a male dominated industry. We have to make some changes and stick together and work together. Especially with women. Women Promoters, Marketing and PR professionals, label owners, etc. This is a boy’s game and we need that feminine energy.

Black Widow: Yes we do!!! It’s all about diversity and inclusion! I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve enjoyed speaking with you so much! I know you are only home for a short time so I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me!

Jamie 3:26: Not a problem! I enjoyed it!

Black Widow: Safe Travels and Good luck to you with your future endeavors!

Jamie 3:26: I appreciate that!

You can find Jamie 3:26 at the following:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamie3too6/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiethreetwosix/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamie3too6?lang=en

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jamie2too6

Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/discover/jamie-326/

Traxsource: https://www.traxsource.com/artist/407056/jamie-326

Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/artist/jamie-3-26/298570

#ChicagoSpotlight #Jamie326 #Blkwidowsweb #BlackWidowsWeb

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mysteryshelf · 7 years ago

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FRIDAY SF & FANTASY - Bridge of the Gods

Welcome to

THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF!

DISCLAIMER: This content has been provided to THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF by Silver Dagger Book Tours. No compensation was received. This information required by the Federal Trade Commission.

Bridge of the Gods

A Generation Son Chronicle

by C.J. Rose

Genre: Fantasy

Luthor McAlester is a teenage boy living in San Diego, California. His father died when he was a child. Leaving him to become man of the house, living with his mother and younger sister. On his 18th birthday he discovers a power that has been held dormant until now. He is unsure what to do with it in the absence of this father’s guidance. His best friend Gwen, who claims to be oblivious, knows more than she is telling. Can Luther figure out how to use his power and help the Gods like they ask with just the help of his best friend? Or will the lack of guidance from his father prove to be more than young Luthor can handle?

Goodreads * Amazon

The Generation Son Chronicles Official Companion Cookbook

Let your taste buds come along on a ride through some of the most classic to the old world recipes. These recipes follow the character of the Generation Son Chronicles series as well as some of the favorites from the people involved with the books.

Goodreads * Amazon

Interview with the Author

What inspired you to write this book?

I used to hate reading in high school. I even took a novels class my senior year to see if that made a difference.

What can we expect from you in the future?

Currently, I am working on promoting book 1, the cookbook, getting ready to have the editor review book 2, and proofreading book 3. I would love to begin making them into screen plays once they are all released.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Bridge of the Gods?

When I wrote the book, I decided to put a character glossary in it as well. I know that some people don’t know a whole lot about the Greek Gods, and I wanted them to have the advantage. The 2 main characters are Luthor and Gwen.

Luthor– A quiet and typical teenager. His best friend Gwen is by his side no matter what. On Luthor’s 18th birthday, his life changes more than he will know. On this day, he will find out that his destiny is already decided for him.

Gwen– Luthor’s best friend and the love of his life. She fights beside him and does her best to keep him in line. She has her own set of powers that include transformation, archery, and visions of the past.

How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?

I have always had a love for Greek Mythology. When I wrote the book, I wanted to feature some of the minor gods as well since the big names always get the attention. You will see characters like Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, and the 3 goddesses of springtime growth, as well as some unnamed minor gods.

Where did you come up with the names in the story?

I came up with the name of the story from the plot of the book.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

I think bringing the characters to life and being able to tell the story from a new angle.

Who designed your book covers?

The cover was designed a talented lady who is part of my publishing team named Nicole.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Every time I look at it I think of things that I could add or take out, but the more I think about that decision, the more I shy away from it. I feel that we always second guess ourselves, and at some point we have to just say “It’s ok.”

If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

Tom Holland. I think he is absolutely adorable.

Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

A lot of people like to compare the first book to the Percy Jackson series. There are similarities but in general this version is quite a bit different. As well, the second and third books are not based on the Greek Gods as I wanted to change it up a bit for each one.

What is your favorite part of this book and why?

Any time that Gwen puts Luthor in his place is my favorite parts. I wanted to not only portray a boy learning about who he is, I wanted a girl who is strong and focused.

If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?

I would want to spend the day with Hestia. I think that she is feisty, and people take her for granted. I would leave the day up to her because I am sure she would have her own agenda.

C. J. Rose lives in Central Illinois. Originally from just south of Chicago, Rose is not married and has no children. The passion for writing took root in high school where she began writing song lyrics and poetry. On top of literature, Rose has a keen love for all things nerdy and sci-fi. On a quiet night, you can find her curled up with an episode or Doctor Who, Arrow, Firefly, and more. C. J. also belongs to a theatre organization located in her town. The devotion to musicals and theatre has led her to be a part of over 10 shows as an actress, and over 20 as a staff person. Lastly, because she wasn’t busy enough, C. J. has her own bow company where she sells hair bows, bowties, scarves, lip balms, key fobs and more.

When it comes to her writing, it was an itch that needed to be scratched. While working on a cookbook, and reading her typical fantasy fiction novel, the idea came to her. She took the love of all the books she has read and turned then into a novel of her own. Published by Burning Horse Media in 2014, Generation Son: Bridge of the Gods was born. Selling over 100 copies in the first month. In 2015, Rose finished penning the second novel in the series; To Rescue a King. Being new to the game, Rose has struggled to do most of it on her own. One thing she vows, is to never give up.

The focus of the novel series is to not only bring her fantasy and ideas to life, but take those stories and make them a fun learning experience for the younger generation.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Goodreads

Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway 2

Anniversary Month Games

Week 1:

Scavenger Hunt- Game starts May 1st and the deadline is May 5th at midnight. The first one to email all the correct items to [email protected] will win the first surprise.

Rules-Find the following famous authors and the last book published before death (Show your source. Wikipedia does not count)

· Louisa May Alcott

· James Fenimore Cooper

· Charles Dickens

· Nathaniel Hawthorne

· Washington Irving

· Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

· Sir Walter Scott

· William Shakespeare

· Robert Louis Stevenson

· Alfred, Lord Tennyson

· Mark Twain

· John Greenleaf Whittier

Week 2:

The Word Challenge- Game starts May 6th and the deadline is May 12th at midnight. The first one to email all the correct items to [email protected] will win the next surprise.

Rules-Purchase the digital copy of Book 1-Bridge of the Gods on Amazon. http://amzn.to/2jR5rFj (You must send a screen shot of your receipt) Tell me what page the phrase “Quite fascinating for someone so small is she not?”

Week 3:

Scavenger Hunt- You must take a screenshot of each item and send in together. Game starts May 13th and the deadline is May 19th at midnight. The first one to email all the correct items to [email protected] will win the next surprise.

Rules: Go to my blog. http://bit.ly/2D1msW4 –Find the Easter Special Edition Author of the Month.

Like the Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/GenerationSon/ -Find the picture of the three Goddesses of Springtime Growth.

Follow me on Twitter. @generationson – Tell me what event I was at on April 21st 2018.

Follow me on Instagram. Find the picture of 2 little girls holding book 1. https://www.instagram.com/generationson/

Week 4:

The Recipe Challenge- Game starts May 20th and the deadline is May 26th at midnight. The first one to email all the correct items to [email protected] will win their recipe in the cookbook’s next edition.

Rules-Purchase the Ultimate Companion Cookbook (digital) on Amazon. http://amzn.to/2zJSvHj (You must send a screen shot of your receipt) Tell me what page the recipe for Hestia’s Fire Pit Stew is on, then send me your favorite recipe.

FRIDAY SF & FANTASY – Bridge of the Gods was originally published on the Wordpress version of The Pulp and Mystery Shelf with Shannon Muir

#shannon muir #pulp and mystery shelf

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yahoo-roto-arcade-blog · 7 years ago

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Midseason Fantasy Hockey awards: Lightning well represented

Tampa Bay Lightning studs Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov have rewarded fantasy owners this season. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

By Janet Eagleson, RotoWire Senior Hockey Writer Special to Yahoo Sports

We’re at the halfway point of the season. The bye week has bored me, just like it has you. At least the All-Star teams were announced.

Yawn. No, double yawn.

I do like the 3-on-3 approach to today’s All-Star game. At least there’s some excitement now. Not like the kiss-and-giggle approach from years past.

But it’s still frustrating to see Mike Green on the Atlantic squad instead of the more-deserving Charlie McAvoy. Ditto Noah Hanifin on the Metropolitan when Zach Werenski makes much more sense.

In the west, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson are all more deserving than Eric Staal, James Neal and Rickard Rakell.

But such is the stupidity when the league dictates that every team must be represented, rather than take the best 11 guys in the division. Sometimes, a berth just isn’t deserved.

Sometimes it is, several times over. Like the Bolts. They’re on home ice and until Thursday night, they would have been able to ice an all-Tampa 3-on-3 lineup with Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Sigh. Maybe next time.

Let’s look at my midseason awards. Some are All-Stars; others are not.

MVP: Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, Tampa Bay (runners-up: Nikita Kucherov, RW, Tampa Bay; Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay) Best of an incredible trio of potential MVPs.

Best defender: John Klingberg, Dallas (runners-up: Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay; Drew Doughty, Los Angeles; Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis) Best Swedish defender in the NHL? He’d get a lot more attention in another city.

[Stream the NFL Playoffs live on the Yahoo Sports mobile app]

Best goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay (runners-up: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg; Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus; Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles. Rising: Marc-Andre Fleury, Los Vegas and Tuukka Rask, Boston) Simply the best among starters in wins (27), GAA (2.18) and save percentage (.930).

Rebound: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay (runners-up: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado; Claude Giroux, Philadelphia; Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles) He’s back, but wrap him up in bubble wrap. And pray the injuries are permanently behind him.

Surprise (team): Vegas Golden Knights. The best in the West. And second overall. Yowza!

Surprise (player): Josh Bailey, New York Islanders (runners-up: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado; Frederik Andersen, Toronto) Lightning. In. A. Bottle. 50 points in 42 games. His previous best? 56 in 82 games. Wow.

Dud (team): Ottawa Senators (runner-up: Edmonton Oilers) Sitting 29th after being a goal from the Cup Finals last year. A goal in double OT in Game 7. #hairball

Dud (player): Erik Karlsson, Ottawa (runners-up: Cam Talbot, Edmonton; Carey Price, Montreal) Five points and a plus-6 rating in his last four games don’t make up for a clunker of a first half.

Top Rookie: Brock Boeser, Vancouver (runners-up: Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders; Mikhail Sergachev, Tampa Bay) On track to top 40 goals and deliver better than a point-per-game. How soon will he overtake Patrick Laine as the best young right-winger?

Now, let’s take a look at who caught my eye this week.

Joel Armia, RW, Winnipeg (1 percent Yahoo! owned) – Armia is a shooting machine. In five games in January, he has fired 19 shots on net and earned a goal and an assist; the points have come in two games this week. And Armia has 34 shots in his last nine games. He can help if you need to pad that category.

Tyler Bozak, C, Toronto (8 percent) – Leaf fans love to pour hate on Bozak, who just goes about his business without fanfare, game-in and game-out. Most of the negativity is undeserved, but they need someone to blame. Fans are like that. Bozak goes on long droughts, but right now, he’s riding a three-game, four-point streak (one goal, three assists). Roll him on and then dump his butt when he goes to sleep again.

Thomas Chabot, D, Ottawa (4 percent) – Chabot is already looking like a grizzled veteran. He’s playing on the top pairing alongside Erik Karlsson and the Sens have even started using him on the first power-play unit, as the QB no less. At 20. Chabot hasn’t picked up any points with the man advantage, but he does have a goal and assist in last three games. The second half could put him on the Calder radar if his game continues to grow. That would look as good on your roster as it would on mine.

Andrew Copp, LW/C, Winnipeg (0 percent) – Copp went into Friday’s game on a three-game, four-assist scoring streak. He’s been the Jets’ fourth-line center, but the absence of Mark Scheifele has moved him up one unit. Copp is a lunch-bucket player with decent playmaking skills and excellent leadership skills. His upside is limited, but owners in deep leagues may need his help, at least in the short term.

Anthony Duclair, LW/RW, Chicago (13 percent) – Duclair’s ownership shot up 11 percent with news of his trade north. Is it warranted? I’m not sure, but playing in Chicago is heck of a lot better than the desert. Duclair has talent – he already picked up an assist in his debut. But Chicago is his third team in four seasons. Maybe the Hawks’ veterans will help him find his way. At minimum, you should scoop Duclair up and then trade him at the first sign of offense. Someone will bite and overpay on the possibility he’ll play with Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews. He might, but he’s not about to become a star.

Ryan Dzingel, LW/RW, Ottawa (2 percent) – Don’t look now, but Dzingel sits second on the Sens in goals. Yes, you read that right. Dzingel put in four in the first week of January alone (three games). And he has five points (four goals, one assist) in his last five games. He’s playing on the Sens’ top line, so snap him up.

Anton Forsberg, G, Chicago (23 percent) – Snap him up if he’s on the wire. Rumors are starting to circulate that it could be a long time before we see Corey Crawford again. Forsberg has risen to the top of the goalie depth chart in Chicago with two wins in three starts last week. And just five goals allowed.

Hampus Lindholm, D, Anaheim (14 percent) – Lindholm is under the radar, but shouldn’t be. He’s been a plus-minus machine of late – try plus-7 in his last four games. And he’s chugging along at close to a 40-point pace. Lindholm’s offense seems to come in spurts, but that’s fine if he can stabilize – or grow your plus-minus. Grab him for a category boost and enjoy the points if they come.

Patrick Sharp, LW/RW, Chicago (11 percent) – Is he waking up? Maybe. Sharp has been awful this season, but some recent healthy scratches may have lit a fire under his game. He has four points, including three goals, in his last seven games and could be a decent second-half play.

Carl Soderberg, C, Colorado (2 percent) – Soderberg’s two power-play goals last Saturday leapt off the page for me. Power play? Aren’t there other (read: better) guys on the Avs that should be playing with the man advantage? Those power-play goals gave him seven points, including five goals, in his last seven games. Soderberg won’t keep up that pace, but he has real value right now. And 98 percent of owners are sleeping on him.

Daniel Sprong, RW, Pittsburgh (13 percent) – Sprong is the latest contestant as Sid the Kid’s linemate. This time, the guy has real talent, but it remains to be seen how long he’ll stick. Sprong had an outstanding game against the Isles last week – he sniped two goals and added one helper. And he’s fired 18 shots in five games since his call up; that includes two games where the puck left his stick six times each. Again, he’s a single-category producer, but he might net you more than that.

Back to the midseason awards.

I hate to put Carey Price in the duds section, but admittedly, I’m thrilled I couldn’t get anyone to trade him to me earlier this year. There has been no real rebound there.

It’s really too bad.

Sometimes, there are things that just aren’t explainable. Fans in Ottawa understand. That team pushed the Pens to double overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern final.

Can you imagine if the Sens had made it to the Cup Finals last year? #FallFromGrace. I’m looking at you, Mr. Karlsson and Craig Anderson.

Incredible.

#_author:Yahoo Sports Staff #_category:yct:001000854 #_lmsid:a077000000CFoGyAAL #_uuid:46080d69-da2f-3ae3-827c-8797cc53995b #_revsp:54edcaf7-cdbb-43d7-a41b-bffdcc37fb56

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usnewsaggregator-blog · 7 years ago

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Inside the harrowing quest to protect rhinos from poachers

New Post has been published on http://usnewsaggregator.com/inside-the-harrowing-quest-to-protect-rhinos-from-poachers/

Inside the harrowing quest to protect rhinos from poachers

It may seem like a jarring scene — a rhinoceros, sedated, as veterinary staff saw off its horn — but this is now becoming increasingly common across South Africa as farmers and others desperately try to save the animals from extinction.

“It’s the lesser of two evils. Do you leave the horn and let someone poach it?” asked Fred Hees, cofounder of the nonprofit Rhino 911, which works to protect rhinoceroses and other wildlife in the country.

National parks in South Africa are under siege, plagued by poachers, and Kruger National Park is ground zero. The frequently more than $300,000 reason: the rhinoceros horn, the gold and diamonds of the modern world.

“It’s quite a dangerous park to work in,” said one officer who spoke on the condition that ABC News would blur his face and disguise his voice.

Poachers kill rhino for its horn at French zoo

No place to call home for Rohingya, facing abuse and attacks

In a joint project with ESPN’s E60, ABC News’ Bob Woodruff and team joined the Kruger forensics staff as they investigated their third crime scene on a recent day. There was not much left for them to work with, just a skull. Using metal detectors, the staff searched for projectiles used to kill the rhinoceros.

After poachers shoot the rhinoceros, they move in quickly to hack off its horn. Often the rhinoceros is still alive.

A rhinoceros named Vyrsaat survived a similar attack, losing his horn and most of his face. Constant medical care from veterinarian Louis Greef has kept him alive.

Poaching incidents are up by more than 8,000 percent across South Africa, from 13 cases in 2007 to nearly 1,100 in 2016. On average, three white rhinoceroses are killed every day, according to the South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs. Experts say white rhinoceroses could be wiped out in the next few years.

Trafficked rhinoceros horns can be found throughout Asia, from an illegal wildlife market in Myanmar to a black market in Vietnam. Even though the horns are made of keratin — no different than the material found in human fingernails — the horns are coveted for their supposed medicinal value.

Global criminal syndicates will stop at nothing to get them.

The officer told ABC News that there are eight to 12 poaching gangs inside Kruger every single day. He told ABC News that he’d seen 1,500 white rhinoceroses killed in his time at Kruger.

There might be some hope, though, in the form of a nonprofit called Rhino 911.

Rhino 911 works around the clock

The nonprofit was cofounded by Hees, the owner of Battle Born Munitions, a weapons company in Nevada, and South African farmer and pilot Nico Jacobs.

“If you travel across this country, you see how vast it is here,” Hees said. “The rhino is spread so far. They hear shots fired at night. Who’s gonna respond to that? Right now, no one except for Rhino 911.”

Hees, Jacobs and their team work around the clock to protect rhinoceroses and other wildlife. And, they’re taking this battle to the air with a Bell 407 GT helicopter, an updated version of the U.S. Army’s Kiowa Warrior.

Veterinarian Gerardhus Sheepers and his team travel across the Savannah, treating wounded rhinoceroses. The process can be dangerous and the rhinoceroses can be unpredictable.

“Despite all the risk and all the other factors, you just can’t stop doing it,” Jacobs said. “So, it’s what we do.”

Rhino 911’s advanced, state-of-the-art technology makes tracking people and animals from 4,000 to 8,000 feet in the air a reality and gives the team an advantage against poachers.

But, Rhino 911’s work and involvement in South Africa’s Northwest Province have put the team’s members in the crosshairs.

“We were informed by some people in the intel community that we should step lightly because our names have been put on a list to be targeted,” Hees said. “And as I asked, ‘Targeted for what?’ They said, ‘Just be careful. Remove yourself from Facebook. Remove your family pictures.'”

A former South African defense official who was only willing to speak to ABC News in shadow, with his face blurred and voice altered, said he had specific information about how Rhino 911 might be targeted.

“Once they (poachers) come into your country to kill an animal, if you stand in their way, they will come for you as well,” the former official said. “[The poachers are] looking at bringing in bigger weapons, in for helicopters, to shoot at them. And that was including RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) 7s. … The poachers would like to shoot down a helicopter or aircraft.”

Hees said that in September 2016, a private security organization was called out to a poaching incident. Three poachers were arrested and the security team uncovered an A4 antitank rocket.

Hees said that through a network, the team had traced the rocket’s origin. It had been issued by the U.S. government to an army in Mosul, Iraq, before ISIS took over the city. Once ISIS overran Mosul, the rocket made its way to South Africa.

ISIS reaches South Africa

ISIS has already made its mark in Africa with brutal attacks in Egypt, Kenya and Libya and recently the group was connected to an attack against the U.S. in Niger, killing four service members in an ambush.

“The way we look at it is, one single horn on the black market can buy as many as 1,000 AK-47 rifles,” Hees said.

John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and former counterterrorism coordinator at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said ISIS has been very creative in finding ways to generate funding for its terrorist activities.

“They’ve sold oil on the black market. They have sold stolen antiquities. … They have engaged in criminal activities like kidnapping and extortion,” Cohen said.

All of this has come at a very tense time for the country, where violent crime and unemployment have been soaring and President Jacob Zuma faces an escalating movement to remove him from office.

“South Africa’s northern border is known for being porous. Their border control organizations and law-enforcement organizations are overstretched. [There are] concerns about corruption in government and there’s large areas of land that are essentially ungoverned,” Cohen said.

Also, ISIS fighters are on the run after losing Raqqa, their capital in Syria, to Iraqi government forces, possibly making South Africa more appealing.

“Law enforcement, counterterrorism intelligence agencies are concerned that it would be an attractive safe haven for fighters fleeing Syria and Iraq,” Cohen said.

Land owned by largely white farmers is now frequently under attack. Farmers are assaulted and animals are poached, making farming in South Africa widely a very dangerous occupation. Even Rhino 911 partner Jacobs’ farm has been attacked four times.

“Unfortunately this is the reality we live in,” he told ABC News. “I grew up here. If I need to die here, I’ll die here and be part of the statistics.”

The threats have been a boon for security companies with skyrocketing sales of electric fences, sensors, cameras and now possibly even helicopters, with Rhino 911 looking to expand its fleet and its duties.

Herds of hornless rhino

Herds of hornless rhinoceros could become the new normal in South Africa, farmers said.

“We want our rhino to last for as many years as possible,” said Pelham Jones, chairman of the Private Rhino Owners Association. “We want to be able to harvest horns whenever we can to meet this international demand.”

Many farmers say it’s a no-brainer and some who once opposed de-horning the animals say they have had a change of heart.

“Whether we like it or not, we have to de-horn these rhino,” owner Lynne Mactavish said. “I fought that decision for about five years. … That cost us five rhino and plunged us into the worst nightmare we have ever been in.”

But some critics say private farmers are simply harvesting horns for future profit. Mactavish told ABC News de-horning was a last resort to save the beloved animals.

“Every single one of us, standing there, looking at one of our animals bleeding to death and suffering. In that instance, you know, there’s no other option,” she said. “We de-horn.”

The horns are cut and sanded, leaving behind only a couple of inches so it can regrow, providing an inexhaustible supply of a commodity more valuable than gold. Every horn is collected, measured and bagged in front of a nature conservation representative.

“The government’s still doing a national audit so they know exactly how much horn is in the country,” Mactavish said. “And then what we’d like to establish is some sort [of] broker system. Our intention is not to flood the market at all — like they did with ivory. It’s to slowly supply the demand and we can do that with de-horned rhinos.”

The debate over whether to lift a ban, making it legal to sell rhinoceros horn internationally, has reached a boiling point. Many private rhinoceros owners in South Africa say they believe that lifting the ban would curb poaching. Everyone does not agree.

“Unfortunately, what’s happening is that individuals are banking on extinction,” said Jeff Flocken, North America regional director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “So we’ve seen a shift. It’s gone from health to wealth. The reason this animal is being killed right now is speculating on extinction.”

With rhinoceros-horn demand at an all-time high and criminal and terror groups profiting off the sales, the animals that are not under lock and key are being poached.

“This demand is so unbelievably high,” Rhino 911’s Jacobs said. “If we don’t do anything about it, we’re losing these animals in our lifetime.”

Original Article:

Click here

#harrowing #inside #poachers #protect #quest #rhinos

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crumpledsilkskin-blog · 8 years ago

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Campus Fires:The dog.

Campus fires are a series of short stories. set within the six month time skip. That occurs within my Novel. Some of them will be funny. Some of them will explore side characters. All in All this is mostly a Primer for my actual novel when it launches.

“So! Now that we’re all in Agreement.” The blonde haired, pasty skinned young man stood up and roared. His arms outstretched before him as if presiding before peasants and servants.

“Umm.” The curly haired, brown-skinned young man, raised his hand from the other side of the table. “I have an inquiry.”

A weary sigh left the blonde ones’ lips “About Nogi?”

“Why am I security? I’m the most skittish fucker here? I can barely stand cockroaches.” He protested.

A broad smile formed on the Blonde ones face as he pointed to the sheathed blade before him.

“Oh what the sword?” Nogi asked.

“Yes!” The blonde one nodded.

“Alvin I don’t actually know how to use that.” This was a lie. The young man did indeed know how to use it. He knew how to use it quite well. He was however, what one would call…unmotivated.

“It’s not like you’re going to be facing off against Musashi any time soon.” The young man to the right of Nogi responded. “Just pull it out, wave it around like you usually do. That ought to be enough to keep people in check.”

Nogi closed his eyes and winced.” There’s a penis joke I can’t be bothered to make in there…somewhere.”

Weighted sighs left the mouths of the young men around the table. Save Nogi of course.

“If you can’t use it then why do you have it?” The young man, arms folded, beside Alvin, folded his arms and leant back in his chair.

“WELL, Tom ASS. As most men over the age of fifty will tell you, it’s mine and I’ve had it a VERY long time. I’m not about to just give it up because I can’t use it.

“Do you always use insults to get your point across?” The one called Tõmas sighed.

“THAT!” Nogi held up a finger. A smile plastered across his face. “Was actually a penis joke. Plus an ass is a beast of burden so really, it’s your own fault if you take it as an insult and not a compliment.” Nogi laughed.

“Either way.” Alvin commanded. “Shit excuse. You’re still security. Moving on.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Nogi shouted. He held his hands out in protest. “I’ve got a good reason.”

A sigh echoed beside Nogi. “Not this again.”

“Shut up Louis!” Nogi shouted as he turnt to his right.

“You use that fucking story for everything!” Louis groaned.

“What story?” Alvin asked.

“Don’t judge me Louis! It was sad and heart wrenching and beautiful. Exotic love in an exotic land.”

“So you’re admitting you enjoyed watching a Rottweiler fuck a Yorkie?” Louis asked.

Nogi almost fell back in his seat. He frantically waved his hands back and forth in denial. “I never said that. Don’t put words in my mouth man. If anything it’s like a bad car accident. It’s fucked up and somebody died, but damned if you can’t look away.”

“Wait someone died!?” Alvin asked.

“Necessary casualty. Plus I’m sure you can find another one like her if you look hard enough. Got to be a few stores that stock her around here.”

“What!?” Alvin shouted.

“That story is not true! You made it up with Maurice when you got drunk the other night.” Louis stated.

“It is true!” Nogi protested.” There’s still dog vomit in the dorms where—“

“Shut up! Shut up!” Alvin shouted.” Someone tell me what the FUCK you two are talking about?”

An excited smile crossed Nogis’ face as he readjusted himself and rubbed his hands together.”Ok! So!”

“Oh my god!” Louis exclaimed, as he covered his head with both hands and lay his head on the oval shaped table in front of him.

Nogis’ mind begun to travel back. It was a week ago. He remembered very clearly because, it was the first time he’d smelt fried chicken in months. His nose led him to the cafeteria. A frequent hidey hole of his. Although, he would deny that to death. On this day last week, Nogi was surprised to learn that somehow, after months of searching, someone had finally found raw meat. Raw chicken to be specific.

The oil it was being friend in smelt of grease and fat. A most unhealthy combination, prepared by chefs and staff who knew exactly what they were doing. After much pleading and careful manipulation. Nogi, or Nicolai as he’s known to TRUE friends, was able to acquire two pieces of succulent, juicy fried chicken.

How unfortunate for him, that he was so preoccupied with just getting the chicken, that he forgot condiments. Briskly! He ran inside to acquire both the ketchup and the mustard bottle. Only to be met with and eighty pound Rottweiler, drooling over his still hot chicken.

“Hey...Hey! You get away from that! You get!” Nogi shouted.

The dog became alerted and quickly snapped up the bigger of the two pieces on his plate.”Hey! You get back here you slobbery fuck!” Nogi shouted. He took off after the dog, but not before stopping to grab up the leg left on his plate.

Thus began a most comical chase. A massive black Rottweiler, chicken breast in its mouth. Being chased by an angry sword wielding young man, with a chicken leg in his mouth.

“Hold up!” Alvin interrupted. “I thought you said you had a problem waving the sword around?”

“No Tõmas said that about his penis. I just said I can’t use it.” Nogi nodded.

“I said no such thing!” Tõmas shouted, slamming his hands onto the table in anger.

“Enough.” Alvin pleaded, patting Tõmas on his rather bald head to calm him down.

Nogi continued to explain that in the rush of people, he had lost the dog. Not one to let things go easily, he began his search. The advantage he had, was that the dog was massive. It’d be borderline impossible, for anyone to miss a creature such as that. To top it off it stank of musk and dirt. The result of months and months of no owner to take care of it. Still, the dog had done well on its own. How else could it look so healthy.

It took all of fifteen minutes for Nogi to find it, but when he did, the sight he saw before him would be forever etched into his mind. The Rottweiler, chicken still between his jaws, was busy at work, pumping away at a Yorkshire terrier.

“I swear. It was like fuckin interracial porn for dogs.” Nogi shouted. His eyes were wide and his head shook slowly back and forth as he stared into the distance.

“What’s a Yorkshire terrier?” Alvin asked.

“Midget dog.” Louis groaned. His face still buried in the desk. “Really yappy, really tiny.”

“Oh!” Alvin exclaimed in realization. “Wait can a Rottweiler even have sex with a dog that size? Without killing it at least.”

“I’m sure there were similar questions asked about muscular men and petite women back in the day.” Nogi laughed.

“You’re aroused by this aren’t you?” Louis asked.

“Not at all.” Nogi shook his head.” This is all a process. It’s all me setting the record straight.”

Nogi continued. He explained that despite the Rottweiler sewing his oats, he wasn’t about to let the theft of his chicken, go unpunished. However in his approach of the dog, he was rather noisy. This caused the animal to take off mid coitus. As one would know in biology, whenever dogs mate, they will become stuck together. This is due to the males’ genitalia swelling while within the female.

What followed was yet another humorous chase. This time the Rottweiler, Yorkie still attached to his genitalia. Took off! Chased by an angry bespectacled young man, brandishing a Japanese sword.

“I don’t get it?” Alvin stated.” It’s been in the dogs’ mouth. The dog has been fucking another dog. WHY? On earth would you still want that piece of chicken?”

“It wasn’t about the damn chicken!” Nogi shouted as he slammed his fists onto the table. “It’s disrespectful! He stole my food then went home to fuck his girl? What kinda shit is that? How am I supposed to let that go?”

“You’re the higher life form?” Louis shrugged, finally raising his head from the desk.

“So that means I’m not supposed to hold grudges? That’d go against my very nature.” Nogi nodded with a smile.

The entire room was filled with sighs.” I’m angry I can understand that explanation.” Alvin groaned.

Nogi continued to explain that the chase took him towards the dorms. Where the Rottweiler ran into an open dorm room, in which the resident was in the process of changing.

“Why somebody would change with their door wide open is a mystery to me.” Nogi shrugged.

In fact the dorms’ resident did in fact have a reason. He had freshly come back from a jog and was about to throw on a numbered t-shirt, when the dogs burst in. The Rottweiler seemed to become agitated and started to bark at the half naked resident.

“Wait! How is he barking with chicken in his mouth?” Alvin asked.

“He dropped it,” Nogi said.

“So your grudge is strong enough to supersede the chicken and everything else?” Alvin asked.

An awkward silence fell over the room as Nogi mm’d aah’d and squinted his way toward a coherent response. “Ummmmm,yes?” Nogi shrugged.

Alvin proceeded to fold his arms and glare at Nogi “Once again. I’m angry that’s an acceptable answer.” He complained.

Nogi continued. The frightened resident scampered onto his dresser. Which! Mind you, didn’t actually stop the Rottweiler. Meanwhile the poor Yorkie yelped bloody murder. To defend himself the resident pulled from a nearby closet…A SEX DOLL.

“Wait!” Alvin interrupted.

“Please don’t make him explain that!” Louis pleaded.

“Why’d the guy pull out a sex doll?” Alvin asked.

“Are you honestly still trying to make sense of this story?” Tõmas asked Alvin.

“To defend himself.” Nogi answered with a smile.” Which I mean, I can’t blame the guy. He didn’t really have much options. All things considered, an anime blow up doll ain’t a bad weapon.”

Alvin made a little wince before he folded his arms. After paving up and down for a while, he stopped and said,” Ok! Continue.”

“Why!?” Louis shouted.

“I’m invested ok!? I have to know!” Alvin shouted back.

And so he did. Nogi continued to tell of how the resident grabbed the sex doll and began swinging at the agitated Rottweiler. However his aim was piss poor and he ended up hitting the poor, screeching Yorkie instead. At about the fifth swing the Rottweiler caught the doll. Deflating it until it was all too easy to tear to shreds.

“Where were you in all this?” Alvin asked.

“Outside,” Nogi responded.

“All of a sudden you’re not brave anymore?” Louis asked.

“Oh gee! Run in and attack an angry Rottweiler, attached to a scared Yorkie in a cramped dorm room. Fetching idea!” Nogi replied as he shook his head and glared at Louis.

“Can we wrap this up?” Alvin asked.” I’m getting scared to hear how much more this escalates.”

“Fine fine.” Nogi nodded.” So anyway. After tearing the doll to shreds, the Rottweiler and Yorkie took off out the dorm.”

“Oh come on!” Louis complained.” Where are they gonna go next? The hospital?”

“I don’t know if they did, but!” Nogi shouted, snapping his fingers as he did. “When I did find them again, they were under a tree canoodling. It was…so beautiful. So serene.”Nogi could begin to feel the sting of three intense glares baring down on him.

“How?...Is any of that? …A good excuse for not becoming head of security.” Alvin asked.

“Well one.” Nogi counted on his fingers.” Who chases a dog for fried chicken? It’s a dog!” He nodded. “Two, I hesitated to use my sword. That shows weakness. People need strength.” He counted his third finger.” Finally, when I saw him licking her little doggy vagina to soothe the pain…I cried. I wept like a baby! It was beautiful. It was…such a testament of love and marriage—“

“Wait marriage!?” Alvin asked.

“Well I mean…I’d like to think they’re married. I hate to think she went through all that for random street dick.” Nogi shrugged.

“Didn’t you say someone died?” Tõmas asked.

“Sex dolls are people too.”

“Ok stop! STOP!” Alvin shouted. Waving his hands back and forth in protest. “ If I believed ANY of that, it still wouldn’t disqualify you. You have a sword, the rest of us don’t! End of discussion.”

Nogi groaned and folded his arms. “ Ugh! Fine, but only if you call me by my proper name.”

Alvn looked at him like he was mad.” Dude…do you know how troublesome it is to say Nogueira every time?”

“Not Nogueira.” Nogi protested. “Nicolai.”

Alvin rolled his eyes and sighed. “Hell no!”

“Give me this one thing and I’ll do whatever you want.” Nogi pleaded.

Alvin put his hands on his waist and tapped his feet. He squinted in thought at Nogi for a few seconds before he pointed at him and said. “We’ll bring Gunther and Maurice in on it to vote.”

“On my name?”

“On your fucking position, you ass!” Alvin shouted.

“Fine.” Nogi nodded. He stood up and outstretched his hand to Alvin for a handshake. Alvin reciprocated. Breathing a sigh of relief, that he could FINALLY end the meeting in peace.

#Pro Noctem #Campus fires #Nogueira Warren #Alvin Davis #Novel #amwriting

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