#main things to see in cambodia

[wanderlustphotosblog]

Top 15 Things to See in Cambodia: Guide to Must-Visit Attractions

Plan your unforgettable trip to Cambodia with my guide to the top fifteen things to see. From ancient temples to pristine beaches, there's something for everyone to enjoy in this captivating country.

From the awe-inspiring temples of Angkor Wat to the lush tropical landscapes and vibrant cities, Cambodia beckons travelers to immerse themselves in its rich heritage and stunning beauty. Whether you’re seeking to uncover ancient history, immerse yourself in natural splendor, or simply soak up the unique atmosphere, Cambodia offers a truly captivating and unforgettable travel experience. In this…

[sudensk-the-stallionist]

Although i certainly find universal nuclear disarmament to be a morally correct and honourable goal, it's also very clear that a reasonable part of those campaigning for it are very entrenched in anti-communist views - focusing with much strictness on the development of nuclear warheads by the DPRK, China and Russia (which isn't socialist, but nevertheless). At best they criticize the gigantic war industry of the US, but only by liberal metrics of "we should only have the necessary" and stuff like that. However, it is also clear that the development of nuclear armament - although not the main priority - should, very clearly, be something that socialist states now and in the future must consider. Even if not full blown nuclear armament - at least ICBMs and others like it. For it is not a mistake or an insanity that the DPRK, for example, has developed nuclear warheads; it knows that it is the subject of constant international harassment and it is prepared to have what is, for now, the most powerful rhetorical weapon against this. Future socialist countries should, yes, follow this! And, you see, a big number of communists mainly in the West (and to great extents elsewhere) do not see military strategy and development post-revolution as important. And this is stupid! Foolish! Russia was the subject of an inter-imperialist gangbang from all sides, and it only survived to form the Soviet Union with the development of a strong, renewed Red Army, big in bulk and in equipment. And socialist revolutions in the future will also need to have this: they'll need a Red Army, Red Navy and Red Air Force. And communists NOW should think about how this needs to be developed and need to learn strategy and need to be active within military circles (although, of course, in the imperial core the military is a much clearer peon of international capital than in the global south, so things are harder in this stance). Socialism here, now and in the future will certainly be striked with the combined forces of capital tumbling down on any form of organized proletariat. This happens to countries contrary to the imperialist USAmerican order, socialist or not: it imposed a military dictatorship in Cambodia in 1970, it couped Chile in 1973, it annihilated Grenada in 1983, it helped oust Aristide in Haiti in 2004, it destroyed Libya in 2011 - not counting many others. This means that developing a strong, truly proletarian armed force and developing means to defend it long term beyond that - ICBMs, and, of course, following the correct Korean path, even nuclear missiles - are crucial for the establishment of socialist states. And only when socialism is triumphant or on its way to triumph may these rhetorical and physical defenses of socialism be dismantled. Or only if the capitalist world surrenders all of it at the same time. However, believe me: they won't. As such, i'd say that in the 21st century, Lenin's little formula can be adapted to: Communism is Soviet power + electrification + ballistic missiles, in a gross simplification. The basis, the development and the defense.

[fairuzfan]

I don't want to add it to the post (bc I don't want to get into it with assholes) but! I'm literally Japanese-American, and I would say that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are similar to Gaza and Rafah not just in the amount of firepower directed at them but in that they're both CIVILIAN POPULATIONS. it's not about the nuclear weapons (reading comprehension website.jpeg) it's about the inhumanity of the collective punishment in service of US interests. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not individual or unique events -- look at Laos, look at Cambodia, look at Vietnam and Korea and what the States did there!! it doesn't "lessen" the horror or tragedy at all to compare them to Palestine now, especially if that comparison will help to stop it. I need white ppl to shut the fuck up about Japan permanently I stg anyways sorry people are being weird and fuckshit about this.

I think people are stuck on the differences and not willing to look at similarities when it comes to Gaza. Like when we compare its not in an effort to dismiss the differences and "triviliaze" (hate when they say that) but to show "Hey remember when something really bad happened back then? And everyone today is like I can't believe that happened? You can stop something like that from happening today by helping here" which people are allergic to doing for Palestine because they're so caught up in the minutae that they can't see the big picture. I've seen descendants of survivors of Vietnam say this is exactly what happened to them. I've seen Bosnian Genocide survivors say the gaslighting is similar to what they experienced. Holocaust survivors and their descendents! Even Hiroshima in the modern day is drawing parallels! We need to make comparisons to examine similarities and contextualize events in history. Why else learn world history if not to understand the patterns of operation in the modern day? You have beliefs surrounding certain atrocities, things like "I won't let that happen again" or "I would fight that" and that's why people are drawing parallels. To make people take action.

And this isn't limited to just Gaza, people do the same with Sudan and DRCongo. And people who do it for sudan even claim to support Palestine! Even though Gazans are asking people to pay attention to Sudan because they see themselves in their struggle! No one is paying attention to the main idea "stop this before it gets worse"!!!! It's already so bad for all these places and that damage is irreversible in that people live with it for the rest of their lives but yes! We can stop it before a complete erasure happens! It's possible! These comparisons are necessary and important!

[ql-of-all-time-bracket]

#1 QL of All Time

So I used to run the @ doyouknowthisql blog, but tumblr nerfed that blog a few months back, made it so that none of my posts would ever show up in the tags, which is rough when you're trying to run a blog with the goal of seeing how well a show is known amongst a community of people. long story short, tumblr never got back to me and I have made peace with that blog never returning. BUT!!!!!!! I was sitting here thinking "wow I have all these ql posters still downloaded, what can I do with them?" and the idea then occurred to me:

Tournament for the Best QL of all time!!!

This is going to be a massive 256 contestant tournament, in which qls of all shapes and sizes battle for dominance and only 1 will be the winner! But I need to define some stuff first!

What does QL mean?

QLs for the purposes of this competition are any live action tv shows, mini series, movies, or short films in which the main character is some flavor of queer and has an important plotline around the main character engaging in a queer relationship (romantic, sexual, queerplatonic, etc) with another important character. The relationship must be part of the overall story, not something that only shows up in like the last episode or is only implied/word of god to have happened (the exception being shows from countries where queer content is banned, like China. in those cases, censored shows that are adaptions of explicitly queer texts are allowed or shows in which the creators have stated explicitly that it is meant to be queer).

Country Masterlist

If you are looking for stuff from a specific country, you can click on one of these links for all the polls featuring qls from that country (and then further divided by bl and gl.)

Cambodia

BL

China

BL & GL

Japan

BL & GL

Philippines

BL & GL

South Korea

BL & GL

Taiwan

BL & GL

Thailand

BL & GL

Vietnam

BL & GL

What types of things can be submitted?

Any live action tv show, mini series, movie, or short film that fulfills the above requirement AND comes from an East Asian country is eligible. Examples of countries based on what was on the last blog: South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Japan, The Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Any other countries or territories from this general region can be submitted. Only live action because I feel like things like animes and donghuas are communities of their own beyond the typical ql fandom.

How long will submissions be opened?

Submissions will be open until I fill the 256 spots. Trust me, there's way more than that many out there these days. When submissions start to slow down a lot, I'll supplement the list with others from all the stuff downloaded on my computer

Submit QLs here!!!

@bl-bracket @tournament-announcer @haveyouseenthisseries-poll (looking for my own bl-georg lol)

[sgiandubh]

When you do not know a thing about the issue at stake...

...perhaps it's better to remain silent.

Some of you know, others don't - and that's fine - but my main field of expertise is labor law.

I just read this in anger and disbelief:

Look, lady. I don't care who the hell you are, what you do for a living or why you felt entitled to answer those insistent questions on your side of the fandom. I suppose you are North American and have no idea of how things work on this side of the pond. It is fine: I might know what a Congress filibuster is, for example, but I'd be severely unable to judge the finer points of competence sharing between Fed and state level.

The difference between you and me?

I keep my mouth shut and/or do my own research before opening it in public.

Have you no shame to write things like: 'It was discovered clothing factories in Bulgaria and Portugal made it and how workers were exploited, mostly women, because these factories were in special economic zones in these countries exempt from EU employee rights and regulations.'

HOW DARE YOU? What strange form of illiterate entitlement possessed you to utter such things with confidence, comfortably hidden behind a passive voice ('it was discovered')?

Portugal joined the EU in 1986. Bulgaria (and my country) joined the EU in 2007. I have given 5 relentless years of my life to make this collective political project a reality, along with hundreds of other people my age who chose to come back home from the West and put their skills to good use for their country. In doing so, I rejected more than 10 excellent corporate job offers in France and China. To see you come along and write such enormities is like having you spit in my face.

Article 4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (aka The Treaty of Rome) is formal and clear, as far as competence sharing between the EU and its Member States goes (the UK was still, back then, a full member of the EU - it quit on February 1st 2020):

That means that ALL the EU regulations are being integrated into the national legislation of the Member States. This is not a copy/paste process, however. And because it is a shared competence area, the Member States have a larger margin of appreciation into making the EU rules a part of their own. While exceptions or delays in this process can be and are negotiated, the core principles are NEVER touched.

Read it one hundred times, madam, maybe you'll learn something today:

THERE ARE NO SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. THE WHOLE FUCKING EUROPEAN UNION IS A SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE, THIS IS WHY IT IS CALLED THE SINGLE MARKET.

What the fuck do you think we are, Guangzhou? We'd wish, seeing the growth statistics!

Now, for the textile industry sector and particularly with regard to the Bulgarian market, a case very similar to my own country. Starting around 1965, many big European textile players realized the competitive advantage of using the lower paid, readily available Eastern European workforce. In order to be able to do business with all those dour Communist regimes, the solution was simple and easy to find: toll manufacturing.

It worked (and still does!) like this:

The foreign partner brings its own designs, textiles and know-how into the mix - or more simply put, it outsources all these activities. The locals transform it into the finished product, using their own workforce. The result is then re-exported to the foreign partner, who labels it and sells it. In doing so, he has the legal obligation to include provenance on the label ('made in Romania', 'made in Indonesia', 'made in Bulgaria' - you name it).

The reason you might find less and less of those 'made in ' labels nowadays at Primark and more and more at Barbour, Moncler and the such is the constant raise of the workers' wages in Eastern Europe since 1990 (things happened there, in 1989, maybe you remember?). We are not competitive anymore for midrange prêt-à-porter - China (Shein, anyone?), Cambodia and Mexico do come to mind as better suppliers. To speak about 'exploited female labourers in rickety old factories' is an insult and a lie. They weren't exploited back in the Eighties, as they are not now (workers in those factories were and still are easily paid about 50% more than all the rest) and the factories being modernized and constantly updated was always a mandatory clause in any contract of the sort. Normal people in our countries rarely or ever saw those clothes. You had to either be lucky enough for a semi-confidential store release or bribe someone working there and willing to take the risk, in order to be able to buy the rejected models on the local market.

If I understood correctly, you place this critical episode at the launch of the limited SRH & Barbour collection, for the fall of 2018. How convenient for you, who (I am told by trusted people) were one of the most vocal critics of S during Hawaii 2.0!

And as far as Barbour goes, it never pretended to manufacture everything in the UK only:

This information is absolutely true. You can read the whole statement, signed in October 2017 by one of their Directors, Ian Sime, here: https://www.barbour.com/us/media/wysiwyg/PDF/Ethical_Statement_October_2017.pdf

And a snapshot for you:

Oh, and: SEDEX is a behemoth in its world, with more than 75.000 companies joining as a member (https://www.sedex.com/become-a-member/meet-our-customers/). Big corporations like TESCO, Dupont, Nestle, Sainsbury's or Unilever included.

I am not Bulgarian, but I know all of this way better than you'll probably ever do. The same type of contracts were common all over Eastern Europe: Romania, Poland, the GDR (that's East Berlin and co, for you) and even the Soviet Union. I am also sure your Portuguese readers will be thrilled to see themselves qualified by a patronizing North American as labor exploiters living in a third-world country with rickety factories.

You people have no shame and never did. But you just proved with trooping colors you also have no culture and no integrity. More reasons to not regret my unapologetic fandom choice.

I expect an angry and very, very vulgar answer to this, even if I chose to not include your name/handle. The stench of your irrelevance crossed an ocean.

[thebroccolination]

SO ABOUT KRIST. \:D/

I'm not sure how many people have seen this photo or know the context behind it.

It was taken by a fan (see watermark) at the final episode premiere for Be My Favorite in August. After we finished watching the episode, Krist and Gawin walked down the aisles of the theater singing their duet, and then they went to the front stage to give their closing speeches. Most of us expected Krist to cry because it doesn't take a lot to make that happen on a normal day. But a fan event for a series that he put his heart and soul into? That he had resting on his shoulders since it was announced in late 2021? Certified, guaranteed, written in stone.

Even expecting it, though, didn't prepare me for seeing Krist cry in person. Especially when it wasn't the crying I'm used to seeing from him. I didn't even need to understand what he was saying to feel affected by it. Being in the theater, hearing him struggle to speak, assuming what he must be talking about, hearing how absolutely earnest every word was, that was enough.

I read the translation later. Krist was talking about Gawin. That he's always wanted the focus of the series to be on Gawin, because it was Gawin's first main role, and Krist felt like he'd taint it. In the past six months, Krist has said more than once that his greatest achievement from Be My Favorite was meeting Gawin. In another interview, he said he didn't care if no one watched the series because he has Gawin in his life now, and that means more to him than the success of his work. He said meeting Gawin changed him and made him grow up.

I always knew that Krist would be good for Gawin's career. From the moment I saw the casting announcement, I knew that Krist would do what he does with all of his friends and colleagues: promote him, hype him, celebrate him. I just had no idea how close they would become. That they would both find strength in each other, and that they would develop the incredibly close friendship they have now.

And, man…ever since I saw that photo up there where Gawin is listening with tears in his eyes as his close friend and admired senior talks about him with such affection and respect, my disappointment in everyone who continues to spread misinformed hate against Krist is so much deeper.

But it's also calmer.

Because it won't last.

Krist is so widely loved by the people in his life and the people he's worked with, and he's so effusively loving in return. And I think more and more people are starting to see that. He cares so intensely all the time and he allows so much of his vulnerability to show, and he listens to people.

So whenever I see people scoffing, "How does he even have fans?" I know they haven't actually looked into who he is. I know they watched a TikTok or a YouTube video with the same five things taken out of context and it just doesn't hold up when you actually see him.

Because this is who he is:

At MUSICON, he and Gawin did a meet and greet, and this fan shared her experience talking to Krist. She had so much she wanted to say, but she couldn't stop crying, and he patted her gently on the shoulder to comfort her. She said he kept kindly looking into her eyes while she spoke, and she finished by hoping more and more people get to know him.

He's one of GMMTV's top stars who makes eye contact with his fans and engages with them. He's popular enough that he could just coast during these fan events, but he wants to listen and interact with his fans. He remembers us.

And, like, I already did a whole thing about how he's not homophobic.

Like, seriously, he isn't. During his solo concert in Cambodia, he made a beeline to this fanboy and giddily danced with him the same as he did with the women in the audience. And he wasn't the only guy he danced with, either.

Krist also got hit on in an airport by a whole European dude years ago and he was delighted. The dimple came out to play and everything.

There comes a point when people who say "he's just pretending he isn't homophobic to make money" start to sound like they just really, really want Krist to be homophobic because otherwise they have been mercilessly tormenting him for years over misinformation they didn't care enough to look into.

The man described his love scene with Gawin in Be My Favorite as a piece of art. Like. I think it's abundantly clear that he's not the monster interfans invented just to throw knives at.

So anyway.

Back to Gawin.

I'm glad Krist has Gawin in his life. Gawin who sees him, who appreciates him, and who gives back just as much affection as Krist gives to him.

And who honest-to-God looks like he wants to protect Krist just as much as any of us do.

So yeah!

I like Krist.

I think he's neat. \:D/

(And I totally hope he'll let Gawin and Singto do a skit making light of all the ship wars during his concert next weekend. GawinSingto jokes, come to me.)

[shardechance]

post mortem #3 rating: t (for swearing) wc: 2.5k warnings: none for this snippet, however please be aware that the main work does have a non-con warning.

Seeing as no one in this partnership knows how to be normal, here's a deleted scene from JAWBREAKER between Feyre and the Hughes Twins.

Oscar flicks on the hall light on the way up, a sticky red smear left in his wake—another thing to clear up later. When they clear the doorway, stepping into the dark of the attic, their new bedroom stands on full display: one wardrobe, two dressers, a toy box that’s seen better days, an armchair, a bookshelf only half full, and a bunk bed. They’d begged for one at the old place. Seems they got their wish. 

Oscar reaches for the lights but Ferye stops him. “No, it has to be dark.”

“But I can’t find my PJs!” Finn whines, flopping down on the bottom bunk. They’ll be under his pillow, where his mom always leaves them, but kids are kids and the tiredness is setting in, irritation along with it. Oscar, having had a little less sugar and a little more patience, reaches beneath his brother's head and pulls out the missing garments, flops them onto his face, and scrambles for his own before Finn can retaliate.

“You two go wash up and then we’ll play,” she says, dropping into the plush velvet armchair beneath the skylight. Oscar is already through the door, footfalls loud and quick on the stairs as he rushes to the washroom on the floor below. They creak with every step. Finn whines as he lifts himself from his bed, sluggish feet carrying him to the door. “And brush your teeth. I’ll know if you haven’t, stinky!” 

He grumbles something to himself but he’s too far gone for her to make out the words. 

The armchair is twice as comfortable as the couch downstairs, a million times more comfortable than the mismatched furniture back home. She leans back into it, legs propped up over one of the arms. It’s better than anything they ever had as kids. One giant bed and three gangly sisters sharing the one duvet, kicking each other, huddled closer on winter nights when the heat gave out. Getting her own space, her own bed, had been the peak of her pre-teen years. 

She lets her head rest on the back of the chair, looking to the skylight above. 

It would be a pretty nice view of the sky and stars if it wasn’t for the wayward branch of a neighboring oak obscuring it. Never having a tenant stay longer than a year, being on the housing market longer still, would do that to a place. Moonlight still made it to the attic though, filtered through the sparse leaves.

Her phone vibrates, probably Lucien trying to goad her into ditching again, or sharing the latest gossip in the group chat she hadn’t left yet. Not that Tamlin ever checked it. On Lucien’s last update, he was somewhere in Cambodia or Croatia or somewhere else beginning with a C, still trying to ‘find himself.’ Not like he needed to go that far to do it. Just look in the trash bin and there’s a dozen just like him. 

Part of her—a smug, satisfied part—thinks he left because of what happened between them. Considering the only person he even spoke to anymore was Lucien and even that was via postcard, the evidence stacks up pretty well in her favor. 

Good. Fuck him.

She pulls her phone out but doesn’t check the notification. Doesn’t have a chance to. The telltale whine of old pipes that she’s too familiar with cuts out, and the pitter-patter of bare feet taking the old stairs way too fast sounds after it. She turns on her phone’s flashlight.

“Will you tell us the game now?” Oscar asks, arms full of costume pieces he’ll likely have grown out of by next Halloween. 

Finn does the same, barreling past to jump onto his bed. A breathless “Please!” as he lands in the bed face down. His twin sits beside him, legs folded criss-cross on the comforter.

Feyre takes a second to draw them closer, flipping her phone upside down so the flashlight shines upwards. By the looks on their faces—equal parts enraptured and terrified—it’s clear she has them right where she wants them. 

“Boys.” Wind surges outside, rattling bare branches against the rooftop. It’s not quite lightning, but it’ll do. “We’re going to talk to spirits.”

Oscar’s awe turns to straight up fear. “Spirits? Like… ghosts?” 

“Hey! Ghosts can’t get you if you’re in bed,” Finn chimes in. “Everybody knows that. Mom said so.”

They bicker back and forth about the logistics of whether it has to be your bed specifically or if just any bed will do. Finn concludes that the best place to be during a ghost attack would be a mattress store. Oscar counters with but how are there so many haunted hotels? which only serves to lead them down a different path of how does he know that and who has been sneaking off to watch Most Haunted reruns even though Mom said they shouldn’t. Feyre lets them argue, for the most part, only jumping in when it seems things might come to blows.

“Did I say anything about ghosts?” she says.

Finn shakes his head, but Oscar—oh, poor baby. 

“Anyway,” Feyre continues, “I put some salt on your window when you were getting cleaned up. Totally ghost-proof, I promise.” A lie, obviously, but she’d seen it in a TV show somewhere and, by the way Oscar’s shoulders retreat from beside his ears, it convinces him well enough. “Do you want to play or not?” 

“We want to play! Right, Ozzie?”

“Right.” Although, Oscar seems marginally less convinced.

“If you say so,” Feyre shrugs. She hands her phone to Oscar who, in typical kid fashion, twists it so the light shines under his chin, but jumps at the glare. She grabs his wrist, gently turning until the light faces down at his blue green comforter instead. “It’s super important that you hold this still. That keeps us connected to the spirits.” 

A purple velvet bag, in all its faded filigree beauty, sits between them.

It’s been too long since she’d last done a reading, usually only reaching for them on the off chance she remembered, or if she’d had a particularly bad day. She doesn’t believe in all the witch stuff like Elain used to, the full moons and incense and tea blends made from garden herbs. No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just… nice to think that there’s a connection to something bigger out there, even if sometimes it takes a pile of old paper for her to realize it. 

Her skin prickles as she touches the velvet, pulling the worn cards from their home. 

“These—” she starts, spreading the deck between her fingers so the boys can see the pictures. Bright and bold and dark and faded all at once. “—are Tarot cards.” 

“Tarot cards?” Oscar wavers with her phone, light dipping but Finn steadies his brother’s hand before she can chastise him for it. 

She nods. “That’s right, and they’re going to help us ask the spirits a question. The cards are a conduit–uh…a tool, I guess? You ask a question in your head, focus on it really hard and pick the card that calls to you. I have to shuffle them first though, mix them all up.”

“They speak?” Finn asks, as she does her best to shuffle the deck. He’s sat so close to Oscar now, knees touching in the dark like that extra point of contact can offer comfort in a way words cannot. Even like this, they’re inseparable.

“Not with words. You’ll feel it in your heart, or your head, maybe your toes. It’s different for different people.” Feyre keeps her words calm, soothing. It’s not meant to be a spooky exercise. It’s not. God, if they wake up in the middle of the night with bad dreams—no, she keeps it cool, smiling a little as she spreads the cards face down atop the bedspread. An arc before all three of them. “To me, it feels warm. Like the sun.”

Oscar lets the phone droop a second time, and when Feyre looks up to him, his eyes are a little wet. “I don’t think I want to play this game.” 

“Ozzie, please!” Finn pleads, taking his twin's free hand between his own. 

Feyre takes a second, watching as Finn soothes his brother’s hand. It's the type of thing Nesta used to do for Elain, when storms blew out the breakers and left them in the dark, their father nowhere to be seen. Maybe once she yearned for that kind of connection with someone. It had never been there in her sisters—not that she blamed them, anymore—but she found it in her friends. She found it in her part time jobs. She made it her mission to be that person when she could. Her hand dwarfs both boys’ clenched palms. “It’s gonna be okay, I promise. Do you want me to get the lights?” 

Oscar, looking at his brother then back to the faded gilding of the cards, shakes his head. 

“You sure?” she asks.

He nods once. 

“Since you’re being so brave, do you want to take the first card?” Feyre offers.

It’s with a trembling hand that Oscar reaches for the cards, letting his fingers slip free of his brother’s grip. He hovers a palm above them, moving left and right across the deck, pausing in certain spots like he’s considering taking one, but never staying in a place for too long. Like weaving between invisible strands of magic, sensing the cards and their meanings. 

“I want this one,” he says, pulling a card from the dead center of the arc. What remains of the gold around the card’s edges catches in the flashlight. Feyre doesn’t even realize she’s holding her breath until Oscar flips his card over, revealing an upside down King of Swords.

Finn almost knocks his twin over trying to see the design on the front. A king alone, sat atop a throne, holding a giant sword. Well, it wouldn’t be her first choice, but it’s not a bad card. “Feyre, what does it mean?” 

“Oh, you would get the King.” She smiles a little. “That’s very you, Oscar.” 

Oscar, eyes still a little wide in panic, seems to relax a little at that. “Why is he upside down? Is he okay?” 

“He’s fine. He means something different if he’s upside down is all!” Feyre places it in the space between them, separate from the face down cards, trying to rack her brain for a way to phrase its meaning. Manipulation is such a harsh word. Inner truth, perhaps? Hidden strength? “What do you feel when you look at him?”

“He looks… cool.” 

“Yeah, but how does he make you feel?” 

“Like… Like I want to play again! Can I have another turn?” 

Finn, eternally impatient, balks at that. He doesn’t have the same restraint his twin has. He leans over Oscar, swiping the first card his fingers touch, swishing it into the air before Feyre can remind them to be gentle. He doesn’t even let her see what he pulled, squinting at it for a second, before he pouts and lays it face up next to the other card.

“At least yours was someone cool! Mine’s just some building.” 

The Tower. Oh fuck.

“Some building?” Ferye starts, nudging so the cards are aligned. She hadn’t been expecting to see the Tower, not really, but hey! These things happen. Chaos? Pride? That’s kinda Finn’s thing so it makes sense. He commands that kind of energy. “That’s the tower! One of the most powerful cards in the Deck.”

“Really?” Finn’s eyes light up at that, looking again at the card between them. “I guess the lightning storm is kinda cool.” 

“I’ll bet.” She nods. “I’ll ask you the same question, Finn. What do you feel? What does it remind you of?”

“I don’t know. It’s like when dad used to let us smash sand castles after a beach day. What does it mean?”

Feyre hushes him and, thankfully, he sits back in his place, enraptured as she takes the time drawing her fingertips over the facedown cards. “We haven’t got the full story yet. It’s my turn.” 

There isn’t a specific question in her mind; nebulous thoughts of school and work and home and the two boys only minutes away from sleep, parties she hasn’t been to, assignments she hasn’t done—phantom warmth pricks her index finger. Despite her belief in the metaphysical being skeptic at best, she puts trust in that little spike of warmth, pulling out the final card. 

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. 

“The Devil?” Oscar shrieks, leaning closer whilst simultaneously cringing back. “I thought you said this game wasn’t scary!”

Finn leans into his brother, trying his best to see the goat-headed figure on her card. “That’s awesome! That’s gotta be the coolest one yet! Why is he furry?”

“Hey, the Devil isn’t as bad as everyone thinks!” How do you even begin to explain the intricacies of obsession, passion and sexuality to kids? That’s way above her pay grade. Not a chance. “He gets a bad rap. Not all bad things are really bad, you know? Like… chores! You hate doing them at the time but once they’re done everything feels better, right?” 

Oscar fixes her with a look, dark hair flopping in front of his eyes. “Feyre, it’s the Devil.”

“To me, this means I have an assignment due tomorrow and I need to knuckle down.” Not a lie, but not a full truth either. She does have an assignment—one she hasn’t even started yet—but seeing The Devil tugs on a different part of herself that's probably best kept under wraps. She likes this job. It would be a shame if she scared the kids too much and never got invited back. “It means I need to focus on a few things.”

“That’s kinda… boring.” Finn says, fighting off a yawn. “Can we talk to the spirits now?” 

“We just did, dummy.”

Oscar, seeing his brother fight the clutch of sleep, fails in his own battle. “That was it? What did they say?” 

“They say it’s bedtime. Now.” Feyre collects the unused cards, slotting in the three they chose throughout the deck. Only once they’re all safely in their little velvet pouch does she raise from the bed, letting Finn crawl beneath the comforter. Oscar follows suit, the allure of sleep near irresistible. She lets them get comfortable, standing by the skylight, looking up at the branch blocking most of the view.

“Do you like it?” Finn asks, sounding so much smaller, already halfway to sleep. “Dad says he’s gonna build us a treehouse next summer. We’re gonna have sleepovers and everything.”

Feyre starts towards the door, slowly waiting for creaks of the old floor to announce her slow departure. “For real? Am I invited?” 

Finn shakes his head, or snuggles down further into his comforter. Oscar peeks over the edge of the top bunk, eyes half shut already. “No girls allowed.” 

“Figures.” She reaches the door, pulling it just enough to slip through. One last look over her shoulder confirms what she already guessed. “Night, boys.” 

She doesn’t get a response.

[cooking-pol-martin]

Green Bean Time Machine

There's this literary concept of a madeleine, which is a metaphor for something that causes you to be mentally transported back to a moment in time. It can be a taste, a smell, a sound which provokes an involuntary memory. The concept comes from Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu (or In Search of Lost Time)*. The main character takes a bite of a madeleine dipped in tea -- a madeleine is a small cookie -- which overwhelms him with memories of his childhood, the recounting of which fills seven volumes and became a Modernist classic.

There's something of a visual joke about this at the end of the movie Ratatouille -- yes, I mean the cooking rat cartoon -- when the antagonist-critic takes a bite of the titular dish and you see a series of flashbacks of his childhood. (Arguably, the way our cooking rat links experience to memory is one of the theses of that movie, such as it is.) Smell and taste can be deeply, personally evocative, bound as they are to cultural identities individual, familial, and societal.

Which is why I say with some horror that Pol Martin's "Fresh Green Beans with Sour Cream Sauce" transported me back to the 1970s, an involuntary reverie of a particularly turgid period in American cooking. I didn't even know I had those memories.

Before I get into the way-back machine and start working through my generational trauma, I should probably detail the cooking process. First off, Pol had me get out a big pot, fill that bad boy with water, and then boil the ever living fuck out of a pound of green beans. It wasn't as horrific as the boiled leeks, which. I then was to make a roux and pour in reserved water from cooking the green beans, which resulted in a thin, unpleasantly gray gruel. The sauce was finished with not enough sour cream to ungruelify it. Serve over the beans, etc.

So I served this nonsense up, and the family set to eating. My first bite and I started to feel things: the almost overdone-ness of the vegetables married to a dairy-based sauce with virtually no seasoning transported me back to a place I can barely articulate. This dish isn't something my mom would ever make -- she could actually cook, even in the 70s -- but I have the phantasmagorical sense of church potlucks and luncheons after funerals of relatives I can't even remember. It was firmly disquieting.

My youngest kid, a senior in high school, piped up: "Can you take constructive criticism?" You bet your ass, kid. I'm already way ahead of you.

Meanwhile, sitting next me at the table, my husband was grubbing. "This is just great!" he cried. What the actual fuck.

After a fair amount of crosstalk, arguing, and shuddering from yours truly, the family decided that the longer you were alive during the 1970s, the more likely you were to enjoy this Pol Martin green bean abomination. My memories of that decade were created when I was largely prelinguistic, and feel broken and dark, unformed. My husband has a couple years on me, apparently long enough that unpleasantly gray gruel transported him to a place that made sense.

There's a reason my folks largely checked out of popular culture during that period -- beyond the way that having small children ruins your cultural engagement -- and that's because the 1970s sucked. I can see how my dad shakes his head when he talks about the 70s: the American people felt betrayed by Watergate, and the hard-fought successes of the Civil Rights movements bled out, literally, into a dozen political assassinations, domestic massacres like Kent State and the fucking horror shows of the Vietnam war and the illegal and immoral bombing of Cambodia. The first political event I remember was Carter being voted out of office in 1980, God rest his soul. The relationship with the current cultural moment feels grimly parallel.

Phew.

I didn't mean to get so serious in this here blog where I lightheartedly cook some nonsense recipes from a French Canadian chef, but here we are. Food culture is culture, and I suppose it's inevitable that one of these recipes would act as madeleine for memories that have whatever the inverse of nostalgia is.

*I know that reading seven volumes of a 100 year old French novel isn't on anyone's to-do list, but I'm telling you: that shit is some massively entertaining grandiloquent bitchiness.

[crowscacophony]

its freak-frackin 2017 boi ^-^

I need to write something but mouthwashing has me in a state of shock still I feel like curly’s barely conscious body bruh he’s literally me. (Not a spoiler this is literally revealed in the first five minutes I promise) I need some kohls brainrot but unlike Jimmy I CAN TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY ACTIONS fuck Jimmy all my homies hate Jimmy mouthwashing 

I was going to do some historical fangstitch but despite my favorite fanfic I’ve ever read being about wwii and fleeing nazism I cannot bring myself to actually write anything even though I have some really cool (I have to keep telling myself that it’s okay for things to be historically accurate even though the vocabulary used *specifically for Crow and his Romani heritage* would be entirely different and it’s better to be tasteful) ideas

So instead. We’re embracing the cringe.

WELCOME TO THE YEAR 2017 BITCHES

Mid to late 2010s fandom was an insane mess. No one knew how to act. No one was anywhere near normal. I was there. I remember it all too well. The era of flower crowns and cell shaded big eyes and Hamilton animatics. Good God it was like being on crack with a bunch of closeted queers 

And I keep seeing the “mouthwashing if it was released in 2016 posts” where people are drawing the characters in flower crowns and big sweaters and “smol beans” and “cinnamon rolls :3” and it’s like a bullet to the brain. And I LOVE it. Give me more.

So. The Dalseum Duet if it was released in 2017. Let’s fuckin pretend. 

The people of 2017 fandom would be cancelled left and right today and I’m going to revel in that for a minute.

An entire cast of characters of color is not really ideal. Because we saw what happened to Hamilton. Here are my predictions for the most cancellable race offenses:

People just cannot draw Sara. They can’t fathom that her skin is dark. They keep coloring her this weird ashy mid-toned color and squishing her face to make her look “cuter.” 

Marie gets whitewashed to high hell. She’s supposed to be cutesy and feminine and the people of 2017 could not fathom that she has darker skin than Crow

Same with Adam. He would 100% get “smol bean” woobified. Someone literally just does not realize that he’s black. Art of him but white (out of pure ignorance, not malice) is posted on a prominent artist’s tumblr and never mentioned until someone digs it back up in 2020

I would say something abt Noeul but people act even worse abt “”morally gray”” East Asian men in 2024 so  just go looking yourself if you’re desperate for people saying weird shit. Dw we get to him later

Multiple people come forward saying they didn’t know Cambodia was even a country before reading Heartstrings

still an issue but people just don’t know how to draw Asian features. they all look white for some reason. 

crow always has straight hair. for some reason.

Other related offenses 

Gale is always drawn either too skinny or something is evidently proportionally incorrect 

Where. Where are Crow’s mobility aids guys

The Charlie hate posts. “she’s so annoying omg she thinks everything revolves around her! terrible main character” when she’s just a woman trying to escape an unsafe situation 

People are just not normal about crow being trans (to be expected no matter what year tbh)

“my smol trans bb 🥺 my little bean protecc him *GUYS DID YOU CATCH THAT I SAID HIM!! HIM NOT SHE I’M AN ALLY* at all costs”

your smol bb just watched someone get decapitated and didn’t flinch but. okay

people exaggerate sonnet’s proportions so ridiculously. is this transphobic or are you just numb to the furry proportions of animation memes bc their hips cannot possibly be that large 

A LOOK AT THE FANDOM

So many theatre kids who can’t communicate to anyone effectively. So many. Think Percy Jackson of eras bygone meets the Heathers animatic era. 

The most viewed video is an animatic of Sara telling off Noeul after the trial set to “Congratulations” from Hamilton. 

And now. Just know that this hurts me to say bc this album is my guilty pleasure but not a pleasure bc it hurts me to listen to some of these songs. Sigh. 

Panic! at the Disco’s album “Death of a Bachelor” released in 2016, shifting the edgy fandom space forever. 

The Council fanart. The animatics. Were edits a thing at this time? Fuckin PMVs? Idk. BUT GOOD GOD. EVERY SINGLE SONG ON THAT ALBUM. THERE WILL BE 100 COUNCIL ANIMATICS AT THE LEAST FOR EACH ONE. ALL IN THE SAME EXACT ARTSTYLE YOU KNOW THE ONE

THE FANART EDITS. GOD. NOEUL WITH HIS EYES BLACKED OUT WITH A BAR WITH LIKE “Fifty words for murder and I’m every single one of them” WRITTEN ACROSS IT HAHAHAHAAAAA his touch is black and poisonous guys. eyes like broken Christmas lights fr

PEOPLE GET SO CORNY OVER THIS MAN. SO CORNY. LIKE. HE MIGHT AS WELL BE TORD. THAT IS THE EXACT TREATMENT HE GETS

oh yeah and Jason Dean too. the comparisons of costco to JD and Veronica. dead girl walking animatics galore 

people made JD’s entire personality slushies even though he committed so many crimes. Noeul’s personality is reduced to bulgogi but no one can pronounce it so it just keeps getting worse

people woobify the fuck out of Sonnet. drawing them in big sweaters and flower crowns and sh scars on comically “thicccc” thighs bc they were “suicidal 🥺” (because they were “depwessed” not bc their marriage was fucking loveless and they no longer recognize who they are) and they have pretty pink hair. they tried to murder an innocent woman folks

unironic sams club shippers. “they should have gotten back together after the end! they did!! here is my fanart of Adam (ace mlm who has been severely traumatized by sonnet’s actions) and Sonnet (body has been borderline botched by “gender affirming surgery” and just watched their husband get slaughtered by their daughter in front of their own eyes. cannot form a cohesive sentence due to addiction to a variety of substances) 

I’m. I’m going to bed but I will add on to this. Because I find it really funny. 

Anyway. Just throwing the image of smol bean-ified Kai in your brain. @svwhssftr Big eyelashes and big blue sweater. Shark plushie. His eyes are blue and suspiciously round. Why does he have visible tits guys this isn’t… He doesn’t even have a face anymore. Bitch is built like captain curly. He is a fucking menace with an undiagnosed personality disorder. But yeah. Yeah smol trans bean (white..?) Kai. Perfect. Exactly. Sorry for that attack of psychological warfare. Thank you 2017 for your service in fandom history

[samueldays]

Sam Reviews: Just and Unjust Wars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Four out of five stars, good case studies, well read, IMO best viewed as an account of what intelligent moderate left-libs believe, less convincing as argument, some gaps. Thanks to @friendshapedhole for the suggestion.

The common law of combat is developed through a kind of practical casuistry.

Walzer started by having strong opinions about Vietnam, then reached back to the Melian Dialogue, dipping into the War of the Spanish Succession, and a great many other wars for his cases. The examples are good, and yet even the Fifth Edition book feels to me incomplete. I suppose this is due to the nature of casuistry and shifting mores, that the writer cannot finish, only document what has happened so far, and must live with the knowledge that more things will happen.

My biggest complaint against it: like many left-libs, Walzer is still extremely concerned about the Nazis, going on for page after page, chapter after chapter, about how uniquely terrible the Nazis are and how fighting the Nazis might excuse committing some injustices of one's own (such as Operation Wilfred), but the Commies barely rate a mention.

As I get older, I get increasingly annoyed by this phenomenon. I feel like I'm not hearing Walzer talk in those chapters, I'm hearing some long-dead WW2 propagandist talking through Walzer, excusing why America has sided with Soviet Russia.

You will search this book in vain for any mention of Cambodia or the Khmer Rouge. Mao is held up as a conflicted moderate and Maoism gets nothing; here is the single mention of Stalinism in the chapter on nuclear deterrence and MAD.

"highly plausible", what an understatement. I have the Fifth Edition book from 2015. I choose to hope that this sentence was written for the First Edition in 1977 and never updated.

I grumble, also, that there's no mention of the Peace of Westphalia, which seems to me quite relevant to the situation of state-warfare practice and law that values the sovereignty and independence of states, condemning rulers for declaring aggressive war but not soldiers for participating in it. The notion of "neutral states", important to Walzer, rests on an assumption of a Westphalian state. Jus ad bellum turns on who the decisionmakers and relevant entities in war are, but I can't quite bring myself to make it a full complaint when Walzer acknowledges that this is more of a where-we-are book, less of a how-we-got-here book. Also I bought this because I was more interested in Jus in bello. Still I grumble.

My main takeway was a view of war crimes as a sort of violation of the presumptive immunity-right of most people, the right to not be attacked. Soldiers may be generally attacked unless they have surrendered, civilians may generally not be attacked unless some specific exemption applies, and the notion of civilian-looking guerillas is a messy one that Walzer spends some time on.

I applaud him for biting a bullet: on the view of immunity-rights no war crime inheres in gas attacks, the ban on poison gas is a constructed legal ban, not a basic moral principle.

I have heard the word "raid" (or "raiding") used for this demi-monde. I think it's an underappreciated feature of history, and ties back to the matter of Westphalia and States able to authorize acts of state. Ancient history has a great deal of time spent neither at peace nor at war, but in a state of raid, where armed bands from one group might do violence to another group, opportunistically scaling from robbery to murder and enslavement, in unpredictable ways and times. Raid as a condition can be quiet without being peace, when (like in outright war) no party sees a good opportunity to attack.

Raid, I have seen it argued, is prior to either peace or war. To make peace or make war requires in both cases some organized and treaty-capable authority over armed parties, an officer or ruler, who can order soldiers to stand down or to give battle, rather than speak as one of a band and merely suggest "that fight doesn't look worth it to me, bros".

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up, Episode 2: Tomboy (Hyukoh)

Welcome back to my extremely timely recaps of Build Up, the MNET vocal survival show thing! In the previous post, we covered Shall I...? and Ditto. In this one, we'll continue with the Pre-4 mission by covering the performance of Tomboy, originally by Hyukoh. Let's go!

Hyukoh is a Korean band fronted by their lead singer and songwriter, Oh Hyuk. They do sort of alt-rock stuff, and they’re pretty popular. Tomboy was a pretty big hit for them in 2017. 

Sample lyrics:  Sad adults always only walk backwards / You, who just passed your Terrible Twenty, look bored / Because we don’t want to be set on fire and burn quickly / We’re cheering for love… The young us / We can’t see our tree rings / Our eyes are getting blind from the bright lights

I know Oh Hyuk mainly from a song I really love by Code Kunst called Parachute, which features him. (If a song by Code Kunst “features” someone, it means that person sings the whole song.)  It’s a really great song, kind of special in my opinion, so do check it out if you have a few minutes. Oh Hyuk has a gruff, textured kind of voice, quite distinctive, and very much in the vein of the voice of our leather jacket king, Lee Gwangsuk. 

The judges are excited, because they like this song, as do the boys backstage, who think that the team who chose this song are well suited to it. And who is that team? 

It’s Lee Gwangsuk, Park Joohee, Hwang Inhyuk, and Jo Hwanji.

The judges notice right away that Jo Hwanji is wearing a uniform. He salutes, saying “Victory!” and Eunkwang, who already did his military service, immediately returns the salute. Hwanji introduces himself as Sgt Jo Hwanji, currently serving in the Air Force Military Music Honor Battalion. I tried to look up info on this, like, does he have to appear in uniform? What the heck is a Military Music Honor Battalion? What is going on? No clue, my friends. My google skills only take me so far. If you have info to share, I’d be happy to take a look at it. 

Inhyuk is wearing a sweater that appears to say “Sensitive People Fragile Club,” and honestly, same. I mean, I’m not wearing the sweater, but it’s implied. 

He has a pleasant speaking voice, and says he’s looking to be the “main vocalist of Build Up” 

Park Joohee says he’s the maknae (youngest) of the whole show, and everyone cooes over him a bit. He says he already got into college, and he gets some congratulations from the judges. 

This part was a little confusing, so I watched it a few times before I figured it out. Some of the contestants backstage say he’s the same age as them, including Detective Donghun from A.C.E., who I know was born in 1993 and is definitely not 18! Then someone else says Year of the Rooster, and I figured it out -- if you’re born in 1993 or 2005, you’re born in the Year of the Rooster, and that makes you akin from a certain perspective. It might be like in Western culture when people say something like “oh, yeah, fellow August baby here…” It’s been my experience that people who live in cultures that celebrate Lunar New Year tend to just know what year was what animal. The owner of a little B&B I stayed at in Cambodia guessed the year I was born using a combination of my basic appearance and my Chinese zodiac sign. So yeah, the moment they knew Joohee’s age, they knew his zodiac sign and then knew if they were the same as him. I don’t claim that this kind of thing is universal amongst all people in Asian cultures, but I’ve encountered it enough times to think that it must not be unusual. Again, if you have info to share or if I got that wrong somehow, please let me know, but be nice! Thanks, friends! Thriends. 

Joohee jokes a bit with the judges, and it turns out that he’s going to be going to the same college as the one that Jaehwan went to (I think). He’ll be class of ‘27, while Jaehwan is class of ‘19. The other judges call him an ammonite (fossil). 

Gwangseok says hello, and everyone is surprised at how deep his speaking voice is. He introduces himself as a freelance model who wants to make people fall in love with his voice. 

The judges say, “ohhhh!”

(Model?)

We get to see his modeling profile and it turns out he’s 188 cm tall, making him 6’2. The judging panel jokes that it’s not fair that he can sing when he’s that tall. 

We’re reminded of his unique voice from the vocal check in, and how he got to pick first. Everyone applauded when Gwangseok chose Tomboy, as it suits his vocals. Inhyuk in 11th place was next to join, then Hwanji in 16th place, and then Joohee in 24th place, making this song one of the first songs to fill up completely. 

We find out that Joohee idolizes Inhyuk from the time that Inhyuk went on I Can See Your Voice. Joohee approaches Inhyuk and tells him as much, which of course absolutely warms Inhyuk’s heart. 

“REALLY?” Joohee (back to us) approaches Inhyuk as pink haired Geonu looks on. 

Inhyuk interviews that there are people here who are a lot more famous than he is, so he was really touched and he wants to take care of Joohee. Inhyuk chooses Tomboy partly to be with Inhyuk, but also because that was the song he really wanted. 

So how should this team with all four vocal colors distribute the parts?

Nobody wants part D, which is just “ah ah ah ah” for 25 seconds. It’s like when you do Me and Bobby McGee for karaoke and have to do two minutes of “ladedada.” But on further reflections, Gwakseong decides that the “ah” part is the core of the song, and that it might sound cool if he sings it with a scratchy voice.

A few days later, they meet up somewhere. 

Left to right: Inhyuk, Joohee, Gwakseong , a pile of leaves and twigs

Aside from Hwanji, they’re all rocking sweaters. You guys, this is the show of sweaters. Inhyuk spent some time on his own to create some layered harmonies and even recorded them so they could all hear them. They practice singing together, with Inhyuk providing advice and encouragement to maknae Joohee. Throughout we do not hear Hwanji speak even once. 

The performance begins.

Link for the version without reactions

LTR: Lee Gwangsuk, Park Joohee, Hwang Inhyuk, Jo Hwanji

My thoughts: 

Overall, this was an excellent performance and I could imagine it being a lot of people’s absolute favorite. For whatever reason, it’s not perfectly ringing my bells and I think it comes down to taste and the song itself. This song probably relies a lot on the meaning of the lyrics and since I don’t understand them intuitively it’s not as fascinating to me. Also, it feels like it should be in a faster tempo and like someone just set it on slow. Just my take; sorry if it’s your favorite!

All four vocalists were really good and all of them sing better than I do, so please forgive me as I nitpick a bit, ok? They all did great but I have opinions. Okay! 

LTR: Lee Gwangsuk, Hwang Inhyuk

In my initial write up, I wrote that Gwangseok has a unique, smokey, extremely thick kind of voice that some people might like and others might not. I like it, though I wondered if it would work well in a vocal group that required blending of voices. In this performance, I was able to see how he could fit in as a member of a group, as his voice really could blend in quite nicely. I felt a little like he was trying a tiny bit too hard on the “ahhs”, but maybe I’d feel different if I understood the lyrics and was really jiving with the emotion of the song. His belts toward the end felt a bit strained, and I think that’s his lack of training showing. He still has a really interesting, distinct voice and I could see him going far.

In my initial write up, I noted that Inhyuk had a really unique voice and thought he shouldn't have classified himself as an Allround. I liked his soft, almost gruff voice, but noticed some problems with his belts. I felt like somehow this wasn’t the best he could do and decided to reserve judgment. In this performance, his belts sounded a lot better and I think I was right, that he was capable of doing better than he did in his teaser. I also loved how he sounded in the bridge. A voice like that could go either way but I ended up really liking it, especially in that part in the bridge when he had the spotlight on him. He has a slight sharp edge to his voice that makes him not my absolute favorite among these four, but I still liked what he did a lot, and I find him personally appealing for some reason. Also I like his delivery where he seems to be almost talking, and I really like the beautiful harmonies that he arranged. Nice work, Inhyuk! 

LTR: Park Joohee, Jo Hwanji

In my initial write up, I noted that Joohee had a pleasant voice with good agility, though he lacked breath support. In this performance, I really loved his full, open sound, and he ended up being easily my favorite of the four. His voice is a bit similar to Inhyuk’s but without the sharpness, so it just makes it all the more easy to listen to. I still think he needs to work on his breath support, though. Some notes of his should have been held for another half a second. He was still my favorite, though. I just love his vocal color.

In my initial write up, I said that Hwanji broke the musical actor mold by singing in a clean, full voice. I noted his varied dynamics, impeccable pitch, and power. In this performance, I didn’t love how he sounded in the opening lines. Maybe the trembling, half-voiced effect was what he was going for, but for me it sounded like a mistake, like he needed to clear his throat but didn’t have time. He seemed to be running out of breath, too. Maybe he’s not great at singing softly, since “power” is his strength. Despite that not-great opening, he was better in the rest of the song, and his harmony with the others was gorgeous throughout. It’s not easy to harmonize well, and he really did. 

In fact, the harmonies overall were really lovely. At times, they didn’t quite blend dynamics as well as they could have -- I think it was Gwangseok’s fault, though I might be wrong --  but the actual notes they were singing were amazing. 

If I had to pick a top tier, it’d be Joohee, and I think my bottom tier would be Hwanji, but I’m sad about it because I really loved his teaser performance. Maybe it was an off day for him or maybe he just should have picked a different song. Also, it’s not like he did badly. This would just be my least favorite of the four, not my least favorite singer of all time. I’m still looking forward to hearing what he sings next time!

In the MNET edit, the judges are shown loving everything, even Hwanji’s opening and Gwangseok’s too emphatic “ahhs”. They even show Dahee grinning. Everyone loves the performance.

When they’re done, the judges lavish praise on them. Eunkwang says that they have different vocal colors, but “the emotional line that the four of had together was aligned, so it was different but harmonious.” Baekho says that each time they changed from singer to singer, it was cathartic, hearing a different voice coming in. I know what he means -- I love how I know all of Exo’s voices and being able to say, oh, that’s Xiumin, oh, that’s Chanyeol, oh, here comes Chen, aw, it’s Kai… like that. It almost makes it boring in comparison to listen to a song that only one person sings. 

Vocal Coach Guy (VCG) praises Gwangseok’s “tone that was never taught.” He was born with a tone that can express so much depth just by singing “ah.” 

Vocal Coach Guy likes Gwangseok’s tone. I think? I guess? Not sure. 

Solar says that Joohee sounds like a “church oppa,” with his sweet, clean voice. She also loved his smile.

Joohee, looking divine.

Solar says that VCG is also a church-oppa type, and VCG says “shalom, shalom,” which if you don’t know is Hebrew, so more appropriate for Temple than for Church, so that’s pretty funny.  

Solar is so happy it’s made her cold!

Then Eunkwang points out that Inhyuk is the one who arranged all the harmonies, and everyone correctly praises him for working out such a lovely arrangement. 

The judges say it’ll be difficult to pick a Top Tier, and the guys back stage seem to think it’ll be any of Gwangseok, Inhyuk, or Joohee. VCG says that he wishes that Hwanji would just do a traditional ballad, and weirdly enough, I think I agree. 

Who wins top tier? 

COMMERCIAL!

BACK FROM COMMERCIAL!

The judges have voted!

Baekho voted for Jo Hwanji, VCG voted for Hwang Inhyuk, and everyone else voted for Park Joohee. Ouch for Gwangseok that no one voted for him, but he did come in first in the vocal check so he can’t feel that bad. 

Dahee prompts the older members to say something nice to Joohee, and they all tell him they love him. It’s cute. They leave the stage arm in arm.

Ok, so that I can keep putting in as many pictures as I want to, I’m going to just go ahead and post this now. In the next one, we’ll be covering “Something Like That.” Thanks as always for reading. You're my Valentine for sure! <3

See you in the next one!

[best-movie-ever-tournament]

Apocalypse Now was described as follow:

It's kind of telling the story of the Vietnam War but in reverse? or like the odyssey but as a patrol boat heading to Cambodia. Idk there are a lot of ways of viewing the plot. It for sure is based on Joseph Conrad's heart of darkness. This whole film is beautifully shot with some truly iconic images. The acting is really solid all around and it does a good job of addressing how awful that war (and really all wars) was to the combatants and the civilians. Also, the making of this film is bonkers. The director nearly died twice, the lead actor had a heart attack and had to walk a mile in the jungle by himself to get help, everyone was on so much drugs. Plus, they were filming in an area that was actively at war and kept having to halt production because they had to give the country's helicopters back so they could go into battle. It was a legendarily awful rainy season. One underage actor lied about his age to get into the film and because production took literal years to finish, he was well over 18 by the time the movie was released. Just a ridiculous film production that made for an iconic film.

All Quiet... was described as follow:

I don't watch a lot of war movies to begin with, but this one stuck out to me because the protagonist is German and the ending is tragic. The characters and setting take place in Germany and the German's side of things. Main character's name is Paul. His friends and him are naïve at the beginning of the movie and joined the war for the glory (their teacher advertised it to them) and they go. One by one they're all taken down and suffer some aspect of it. I don't remember what happens to whom, but I do remember one suffered phantom pain from a severed leg and he kept asking "Where's my leg?" or something of the like. Paul eventually goes back to his home and school and things are different. His teacher is still spewing war propaganda, so Paul warns the the current students not to join - he gets backlash. By the end he's in a battle and Paul sees a butterfly. The enemy is really aggressive but I think Paul was dissociating or something because I there were others soldiers or gunfire warning him to stay low. Paul reaches his arm out to the butterfly - that's literally all we see - and he gets shot and his arm goes still. It's tragic to me because even though the protagonist is German, he's still a soldier just like his enemies and it's the absolute fault of people of higher status that soldiers are in the position they're in. It's also one of the few movies where the protagonist dies.

[aroundtheworldin214days]

May 28, 2023 - Day 154

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Even though the official title is Ho Chi Minh City everyone that lives there call it Saigon. There is a huge cultural difference between what I saw in Hanoi and Saigon. In Hanoi everything is about communism and Ho Chi Minh. In Siagon there is still a lot of resentment about what they call the civil war. The wealth is centralized within the controlling party and most people live on a income of $300 US/month. You have to pay to go to school and you see children on the streets selling lottery tickets to live. All the boys are required to go in the military for two years. Vietnam is really worried about China and the islands it has in the South China Sea so 60% of the drafted men go in the Navy. One of the guides told me that the Vietnam relatives in the States send 20 billion dollars into Vietnam each year.

The thing that impressed me the most was all the motorcycles. There are 7 million 150 cc motorcycles in the country. There are special lanes for the cycles but there are still many accidents with 25 people killed each day. New they cost $1650 US dollars but many go to Cambodia to buy used motorbikes. There are cars but the sales tax is 250% of the sales price so only people associated with the government have one.

There are 20 million people in Saigon and 100 million in Vietnam. There are 20 different dialects of Vietnamese spoken in the country. The main industry is farming with 2 million metric tons of rice exported every year and the country is the second largest exporter of very good coffee after Brazil.

We visited the Mekong Delta area where we saw a large fishing industry. The boats have large very bright lights attached to the boats to attract squid. If you look close at the boat photos below you will see them. The boats go out for 20 days. The delta is 3 km across.

I visited the Can Cu Vietcong tunnel area located West of Saigon. There are 200 km of tunnels spread over 80 square miles. It was the main planning aret for the Vietcong in southern Vietnam. It was used by 4000 people as a bomb shelter when the US B52 bombers attacked the area. I went into one of the tunnels and it was not a pleasant place. The lady in the video is making rice paper.

I didn’t have to go to Vietnam during the war but had many cousins and friends who did so it was interesting to visit Vietnam to see how things have evolved. There is still a very strong American influence in the country and the country is still evolving. The government has a very tight controlling grip on the country thru the military and police but the people certainly practice free capitalism. They have to be very careful about saying anything negative about the government or they will be severely punished. Real freedom comes at a cost.

[elina-scstudyabroad]

First stop on our spring break trip was Cambodia! To be honest the country was not the first thing you may think of when you consider traveling the charming Southeast of Asia but I am more than grateful I had the chance to visit this country with such a rich and troubling history and I truly feel like I learned the most during my time here.

We started our trip in the capital city, Phnom Penh which presents a contrasting landscape that reflects the country's complex history and current socioeconomic conditions. As you explore the city, you'll witness a mix of bustling streets, modest neighborhoods, and pockets of modern development. The main and cheapest means of transportation for tourists are tuktuks and I noticed that there are almost no rules (or at least none followed) on the streets. At some point or driver even casually started driving on the wrong side of the street into oncoming traffic. In terms of infrastructure and urban planning, Phnom Penh may not boast the gleaming skyscrapers and polished cityscapes of other Asian capitals but it showcases its history. While there are some pockets of affluence, it's true that poverty and inequality are evident in certain areas of the city. The local markets showcase the daily struggles and entrepreneurial spirit of the people, with vendors selling everything from fresh produce to clothing and household goods. These markets can be crowded and chaotic, but they offer a glimpse into the realities of everyday life for many Cambodians.

Some interesting places we got to see where the national museum as well as the royal palace. We also did a cruise on the river to see more of the city by the shore.

You quickly come to realize that Phnom Penh bears the scars of a turbulent past, particularly during the Khmer Rouge regime, and remnants of that era can be seen at sites like the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields. These places offer somber reminders of the atrocities that took place and evoke a sense of reflection and solemnity. I highly recommend purchasing the audio guide for another $3 because it does a fantastic job at making you feel the sorrow of the place and how it still affects Cambodia today and allows you to empathize with the victims.

Phnom Penh does have a growing dining scene, where you can find a range of local and international cuisines to suit various tastes and budgets. From street food stalls serving Khmer delicacies to restaurants offering a fusion of flavors, there are options available to explore and savor the local culinary offerings. While Phnom Penh may not offer a glitzy and extravagant nightlife scene, there are establishments where locals and tourists alike gather to unwind and socialize. Riverside bars and cruises offer a chance to relax and enjoy the picturesque views along the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers.

It's important to approach a visit to Phnom Penh with an open mind and an understanding that Cambodia is still in the process of development and recovery especially with its government. The locals that we had the opportunity of speaking with are very aware of the faults in their system but they recognize the growth their country is going through. By embracing the city's complexities and engaging with its history and people, you can gain a deeper appreciation for the challenges and triumphs that have shaped Phnom Penh into what it is today.

[learningnewways]

Church Visit

This week there was another public holiday... Two in one week?! Yep, it’s a bit crazy... It feels like we just start building momentum with joining the team and then there’s another day off or it’s the weekend... It’s frustrating but there’s not much we can do about it. Over the weekend, I tried to join in with as much as I could, so on Saturday I went to a university Bible study that one of the Destiny Rescue team volunteers for, and on Sunday we did a tour of the children’s ministry and community campus at ICF.

I felt honoured to join the Bible study, which is run by International Fellowship of Evangelical Christians (IFEC), which in New Zealand is called Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship (TSCF). This particular study was for a group of student leaders who lead their own small groups around campus. It was nice to be together, particularly with other young women, to worship and learn new ways of sharing the gospel. They asked me lots of questions and I was able to be an encouragement to them, which was awesome. I felt very welcomed and like I was part of the team. It’s really surprised me how open, friendly and welcoming the locals are here in Cambodia. I’ve found it so much easier to connect than in The Gambia, that’s for sure.

On Sunday morning we got up bright and early, and headed to ICF (International Christian Fellowship). They are the church we visited last Sunday, who started the Wake Park next door. We were joining their tour, which meant we got to see all parts of what they do on a Sunday morning, walk through all the facilities, join in some activities, and learn more about their work throughout the week. It was incredible! (A word you’ll see me use many times in this blog post...) The campus is absolutely stunning and it’s hard to believe they have accomplished so much in only ten years. It was a morning full of awe and inspiration.

The focus of the tour was on children’s ministry, which happens on Sunday mornings. We started our tour by jumping on their church trucks, which drive around nearby villages, picking kids up and bringing them to the church. I couldn’t believe it... They sent out around ten trucks, all in different directions, and most came back full of children. I was partnered with one of the church’s many social workers, and we stopped at about ten stops, picking up kids as young as toddlers through to intermediate age. As we approached the stop, kids would be waiting for us, some of them literally jumping up and down in anticipation! It brought tears to my eyes seeing the kids so excited for church. Others would sprint towards the truck as it tooted on arrival. Children chatted away and laughed on the trucks as we drove back to the church, where they were unloaded and signed in.

Around 350 children come to ICF on Sunday mornings, either making their own way to church or being picked up by the village trucks. That’s a lot of kids! Bigger than a lot of schools! The whole morning was so well organised and ran so smoothly, it was amazing, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Once the kids arrived, they were given a light snack of bread, fruit and a drink, then they got to have an hour of free time. All around the campus they set up numerous activities from rock climbing to football, hair washing and first aid, to musical chairs and art. So many activities for the kids to choose from and wander between. There was such a good mix of practical things like hair washing and cutting, as well as fun games and crafts.

After their hour free time, the bell rings and the kids go into the main room where they have big moveable stadium seating. The kids do worship and listen to a sermon, maybe watch a live drama or video, and have a game up front. Once the talk is over, they go out into their small groups where they chat about what they learnt in the talk and pray together. Then they all get feed lunch, which is quite the operation! It was so well organised and all went surprisingly quickly and smoothly. Incredible! After lunch the kids go inside for a bit of a wrap up, before heading home on the trucks.

While kids church is on, across the road at the Wake Park is the adults service, which is in Khmer, the local language. There is a Khmer and English service that runs at night, which we went to last week, as well as a youth service on Saturday nights. The whole operation is mainly run by volunteers, over a hundred of them! These volunteers are mainly youth aged and local. They also have all the ICF staff there, including social workers, outreach team, campus staff, educators and maintenance staff, and there’s around a hundred of them too. There is a lot of staff and volunteers, but their community reach is staggering.

While there, we got to walk around the entire campus and learn more about what they do during the week, which was again, incredible! We talked to the head of their social team, who explained the life changing work they do. If families in nearby villages meet certain conditions, such as lack of income, education, basic needs, illness, vulnerability...etc, they can become part of ICF’s program. The team of around 50 social workers, all locals, have about 25 families each that they work with in this program, which makes up 1,250 families, or between 7,000-10,000 people in total. That’s crazy! These social workers spend every day visiting families in their homes, providing support for physical, mental and spiritual needs, hosting small groups, running after school programs... All at no cost for the families. It’s mind blowing.

During the week, the church puts on a free after school program that any child can attend, but they do have to find their own way to the campus. Around 120 kids come every day. The after school program has educators that specialise in Khmer, English, Maths, Music, Art and Bible Studies, and children get to choose two classes to attend each day, which run for around an hour. I believe the children also get fed, but I’m not 100% sure on that. The facilities were epic, so well thought through, planned and executed.

It fascinated and astounded me just how many kids came every Sunday and throughout the week, it absolutely astounded me! In a country that’s over 90% Buddhist, it’s interesting that families here are so open. They are well aware that their children are going to a Christian program and that the social workers helping them are Christians. There is no pressure for the families to themselves become Christians, although of course many do over time. In all the work I’ve seen with Destiny Rescue and ICF, the local people seem overwhelming fine with Christians sharing the Gospel with their Buddhist children. I’m not sure the same could be said for the Muslim dominated Gambia... I think the success is in the way ICF provides such holistic support and is in the community so frequently. They have become a trustworthy and safe place in the community for so many years.

With staff numbers of around 120 and a community reach of close to 10,000 people, I can’t express enough how incredible and inspiring the work of ICF is. And ICF Cambodia has only been around for ten years, with the social team starting seven years ago. Yes, they are bank rolled, with mainly European donors and partner churches funding the 1.5 million NZD per year it takes to keep it running... But our churches in New Zealand spend around half a million a year, hiring only roughly ten staff and reaching maybe 1,000 people? Sure, wages and living costs are much cheaper over here, but man, their local community sure is the focus! And although I’m seeing them now in all their glory, they didn’t start out that way. They were just a normal church plant with missionaries who saw a need and filled it.For things to function so smoothly on a large scale, their systems and processes must be top notch and scalable. You can’t reach that many people effectively without good organisation and communication! They have details on every child that comes to them, files on how many social visits they’ve had, food parcels received, medical checks done...etc. They build such strong and genuine relationships that if a kid is missing for even a few days, someone notices and can quickly check in on them. I’m super organised and admin strong, and it made me say “wow” many times over!

The church has around 20 non-local staff, so foreigners who mainly raise their own funds to be there voluntarily, like most missionaries. We had a lovely American girl Amber showing us around, who’d been there for about three years. We talked about the work of Destiny Rescue and how inspired we were by ICF. Amber is also passionate about human trafficking and hopes to move into that work more specifically over time, but since being with ICF she has realised that their work in the community IS preventing human trafficking. They are so well connected with families, that they catch children who are vulnerable and at risk before they are in danger. They also run seminars that help to educate and prevent exploitation, as well as their sponsorship and after school program which supports education... It really is wrap around support.

ICF Cambodia do so much, is actually a bit overwhelming and unfathomable. I’ve travelled around the world, seen many ministries across New Zealand, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Honestly! They cover almost everything you could think of, and if they don’t, they’re working on it! They are extreme visionaries and problem solvers, who get stuff done! I hope and pray they plant more churches with the same community focus in countries that really need it. The Gambia perhaps?

It’s hard not to think of ideas for The Gambia constantly... But also my brain isn’t sure how realistic many things are, particularly when there’s minimal Christians to help run things, zero funding, and a strong Muslim culture who at best kicks children out of families for converting to Christianity... Some ideas are transferable and others aren’t. I wonder what my place is in all of this... As I approach my final week in Cambodia, I can’t help but think about my future. Am I the link between Destiny Rescue and The Gambia? Or even ICF and The Gambia? Am I to support an already existing ministry, or to start my own? Am I even supposed to go back to The Gambia, or stay in New Zealand, bringing new energy and fresh ideas? I don’t know... But I know all my experiences, learnings, challenges and passions can’t be for nothing. Nothing is wasted in God’s Kingdom.

[sunmarketing]

"Solo Journeys in India: Navigating the Transport Tapestry via tuk-tuks, trains and planes….”

"Solo Journeys in India: Navigating the Transport Tapestry via tuk-tuks, trains and planes….”

  Welcome to Dr. Mary Travelbest’s 5 Steps to Solo Travel Guide for women like you who need extra support traveling the world (slowly), one woman at a time.

  Please rate this podcast and the Amazon book series, especially Part B on Destinations!

  I’ve been traveling solo since 1972 and writing about it since 1993. Now you can experience the Top Selling Book Series: 5 Steps to Solo Travel, a Woman’s Guide to Travel and Destinations in Her Prime, found on Amazon. I recently took a 90-day trip around the world, and this is a special episode on Indian transportation for the solo female.

  What are the challenges faced by solo female travelers in India? How can they navigate the transportation system in India? What are the travel tips for exploring India's transport networks as a solo female traveler?

This particular podcast edition is about the "Roads Less Traveled, including a few Solo Female Travel Tips for Exploring India's Transport Networks"

There was a massive train crash while I was in India, and many people were tragically killed. The people I was staying with had friends on those trains, but they were ok. Many of my family members contacted me across the miles to see if I was ok, as it was world news. See the show notes for more on train accidents.

https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/yearender-2023-tragic-accidents-in-2023-road-rail-accidents-odisha-coromandel-express-andhra-pradesh-train-collision-tragedy-latest-updates-2023-12-22-908419

The world’s largest populated country has transportation challenges. Corruption, bureaucracy, and red tape are also issues. Corrupted officials leverage their control over permits to line their pockets. Income equality is massive. The wealthiest 10% makes up almost 60% of India's income. The future looks brighter.

One airline, Go First, went out of business after I bought my ticket in May 2023. I cannot get a refund because the airline is bankrupt and, therefore, will not honor any purchases of their flights, nor will the ticket agency through which I bought it. 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/go-first-gets-two-financial-bids-as-part-of-its-bankruptcy-process-101708754354934.html

I arrived in Chennai from a flight originating in Cambodia and transferred through Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I spent 8 hours in the airport, talking to people from all over the world. Here is a rundown of the travel I did over two weeks in six cities in India. 

When going through airport security, you must be on an all-female line. Men and women are not allowed to go through together.

The same thing happened when I went to the Taj Majal. Separate security stations were established, and I even hit my head on that going through, as I am 5’ 10’, so I am taller than most other women.

Overall, I made many transportation mistakes, but they were all to help you make a better trip next time.

My travel mistakes in India: I was lied to by a taxi driver, had a driver with no shoes and no change, got scammed in the main Delhi train station, and had trouble finding a bus to Agra.

Connect with Dr Travelbest

Drmarytravelbest.com

Dr. Mary Travelbest Twitter

Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Page

Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Group

Dr. Mary Travelbest Instagram

email: info@drmarytravelbest.com

Dr. Mary Travelbest Podcast

Dr. Travelbest on TikTok

Dr.Travelbest onYouTube

  Check out this Dr Travelbest episode!