#montreal fringe

[ladycharles]

I want to try writing about some of the plays that impress me at the fringes this year, now that Ottawa Fringe is in full swing. No better place to start than with 666!

This play deals with the Satanic Panic of the 80s and 90s - when shoddy therapy led to many people becoming convinced they had fallen victim to satanic rituals, causing an overall moral panic

The play features a woman who believes she has been victimised by satanic abuse, and her difficult and harrowing journey is portrayed stunningly by Corinne Viay - she is tormented by visions of Satan (played by drag artist Mx. Caligula) and sensationalised media coverage (portrayed by Seth Thompson, with a hilarious satirical edge)

Standing out in particular was Caligula's performance as the devil. It is an outstanding physical performance that channels the queer-coded villain tropes that mark many modern portrayals while maintaining an imposing physicality balanced with an androgynous grace that brings the fallen angel to life. Their frenetic voguing and wacking during the dance sequence, performed within striking distance of the audience, is really quite breathtaking, it adds the excitement of watching a dancer push their limits on top of all the other triumphs.

Oftentimes in theatre serious content involving religion and queerness, or discussions of abuse and mass hysteria can drift into cliché or suffer from a lack of perspective. Handled poorly, this can lead to joyless agit prop or an almost fetishistic gaze that obscure their gravity. You've probably witnessed it if you ever watched a lot of emerging theatre - plays that feel random, obscure, soulless and preachy.

Thankfully, 666 does not have this problem. It uses its unorthodox structure to unpack the human toll of the satanic panic while tacking issues like internalized homophobia and patriarchal society with a naturalism that transcends cliché. It is focused and clever, delivering its message with care, humour, and depth.

If you're in Ottawa or Montreal for their respective Fringes, this is seriously some of the best theatre I have seen in a long time!

[fromperdition4]

Fringe Festivals are great! Y’all should check out if there are any ones close to you next summer!

To any fringe theatre performance, Earth

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Gregory Edward “Greg” Hemphill born 14th December 1969 in Glasgow.

I think the majority of us will know who Greg is, one half of the successful partnership with partner, Ford Kiernan that is Still Game.

The family left Scotland when Greg was twelve years old, and he spent much of his childhood in Montreal, Canada. Greg returned home to study at Glasgow University, in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, graduating MA in 1992.

Greg made his acting debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1990. His work includes roles in God Plus Support in the Theatre and Only an Excuse. He is a regular on the comedy circuit. He also ventured into radio as the original presenter of football show, Off the Ball on BBC Radio Scotland and The Eddie Mair Show. As well as writing for Still Game and Chewin The Fat he has written for Channel 4 programme Space Cadets, BBC’s Pulp Video and The Ferguson Theory.

Still Game has transferred successfully onto the big stage and has sold out countless times at The Hydro. The third and final run of the shows Still Game: The Final Farewell was officially announced on 1st November 2018. The ninth and final series of Still Game was screened in 2019 The show won an ‘Outstanding Contribution’ TV award at Scottish Baftas that year.

Away from his work Greg is a bit of a card shark, he plays in competitions, he has won over thirty thousand dollars in competitions and was third in the Scottish Championships in 2002

Greg has been kind of quiet of late, but the good news is he returns to our screens on Hogmanay with a new sketch show. The show is set to bring up all the biggest talking points of this year – from COP26 to the wild swimming phenomenon. The show titled “Queen of the New Year” will star Greg and Robert Florence along with Barbara Rafferty, Clive Russell, Gayle Telfer Stevens, Louise McCarthy, John Gordon Sinclair and Juliet Cadzow, so some familiar faces from Still Game and Burnistoun.

Greg is married to Balamory star Julie Wilson Nimmo, 46, they announced they are to their own production company launch Blue Haven Productions Limited. The latest from Greg and Julie who live in the West End of Glasgow, is they will be teaming up who live in the West End, are appearing together in Olga da Polga, the first-ever television adaptation of Paddington creator Michael Bond’s beloved books. The new 13-part, live-action and animation series is produced by Glasgow-based production company Marakids, and it has been made with the full support of the Bond family.

Greg and Julie have been married since 1999, they met while both were working on the 90s sketch show Pulp Video. Greg says of them;

“We met on sketch shows, and we always laughed a lot. We still do. There are lots of laughs, lots of carry on when we work together.”

Greg and his Still Game sidekick Ford Kiernan launched a whisky, named after their characters Jack and Vioctor a few years back, and the knobs at Jack Daniels objected after the pair later applied to register the name as a trademark for whisky and other drink-related services. The matter ended up going to an arbitrator. The Tennessee-based company claimed the drink, named after Still Game’s two main characters, could confuse customers and make them think they were endorsing the Scotch blend.

The firm argued the name could allow the Scottish whisky to cash in on the recognition of the well-known brand.

Hemphill, who plays the character Victor, provided evidence during the dispute while managing director Justin Welch provided evidence for Jack Daniel’s.

Hemphill said Still Game was a popular show across the UK, particularly in Scotland, arguing that “Jack and Victor” has become synonymous with the BBC programme.

It was a great triumph for the small guy versus golliath, Jack Daniel’s was ordered to pay £3,200 to Jack and Victor Limited, the company used to market the whisky earlier this year.

Greg returned to our screens last spring in Dinosaur Scottish comedy drama television series set in Glasgow the series was nominated for four BAFTA Scotland awards, a second series is in the pipeline. Greg and Robert Florence's sketch show Queen Of The New Year is returning to BBC Scotland on 1st January for the fourth year running.

Looking for a perfect Scottish christama stocking filler, Still Game returns in comic book form titled "Still Game: He Who Hingith Aboot Getteth Hee Haw".

[kingedmundsroyalmurder]

Blue Castle Book Club 2.0 - Chapter 1

I told myself I'd start the WIP Big Bang in June, and it is now June. So it's time to get Tamora Pierce's voice out of my head and bring Maud's back. And what better way to do that than to book club my way through the book a second time and bring you all with me?

Dunno if we'll go chapter by chapter this time, since a lot of the middle chapters are short and more interesting to talk about as a group than individually. But we'll play it by ear and see what the vibes are like.

So! Back to Deerwood we go!

We start out strong, with a delightful opening paragraph:

If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling’s whole life would have been entirely different. She would have gone, with the rest of her clan, to Aunt Wellington’s engagement picnic and Dr. Trent would have gone to Montreal. But it did rain and you shall hear what happened to her because of it.

Everyone quite rightly talks about the first sentence, but I like the second one even more, and the way it subtly misleads us by highlighting Dr. Trent. It makes it seem like he will be a primary character (perhaps even a love interest!) when in actuality he ends up being just a catalyst. A fun hint at the humor of this book.

We move into Valancy's room, and we are painted a picture of a place that is both ugly and static. Maud, of course, loves to draw connections between people and the places they inhabit, and what we are learning about Valancy through her room is bleak. Yes, it is ugly and yes none of it is hers, but even more than that everything is old and crumbling: the wallpaper is faded, the ceiling is cracked and discolored, the looking glass is cracked, the shell-covered box has a bust corner and the beaded pincushion has half its bead fringe gone. And yet none of these items are permitted the dignity of retirement. They are on display just as they always have been, and will be until they fully crumble to dust. They have not been cared for, so that they might age gracefully or be preserved longer, they have simply sat, unloved and untended, falling apart but forbidden from leaving even though no one wants them there.

A strong start to the embodied houses in this book.

We get a delightful turn of phrase with:

Nobody in the Stirling clan, or its ramifications

The Stirling clan is an Event, an Act of Nature more than simply a family. They Happen to you and you just have to deal with the fallout.

Our second embodied house is the Blue Castle itself, and it is beautiful and splendid and solidly fantastical. The Blue Castle is like that perfect novel you dream to yourself while going to bed, filled with sparkling dialog and emotional climaxes that hit with perfect devastation and none of the actual work needed to make those elements work in practice. The Blue Castle has no need for laundry or dusting or clothing made from actual fabrics. Its inhabitants are free to float gracefully down the staircase on an endless loop and parade before Valancy swooning gracefully at her beauty. It’s a daydream, written by someone who clearly knows her way around a good daydream and understands them from the inside. As the author states herself:

Things are very convenient in this respect in Blue Castles.

But today Valancy is twenty-nine and miserable and unmarried and daydreams can sustain her no longer. And, unless I’ve forgotten something, she never again finds the keys to her Blue Castle in the story. She talks about it, but I don’t believe she ever actually sets foot in the fantasy again. By the time she’s able to dream again, she’s escaped her Stirling life and doesn’t need airy fantasies to keep her going.

Valancy thinks of the canceled picnic and goes through the list of relatives she’s glad to not have to see, which is all of them. Put a pin in these descriptions, we’ll come back to them in a later chapter. This first round of descriptors makes them all seem rather formidable and dreadful, but Valancy duly does her best to think well of them even in the privacy of her own thoughts. She is in awe of Aunt Wellington, Aunt Alberta has an amiable habit, she dislikes but respects Uncle James. As I said, we’ll come back to these.

Meanwhile, we don’t have to go to the picnic! And so Valancy tentatively plans her day, including her great rebellion of perhaps going unattended to a doctor at the tender age of 29. As I said the first time I read this book, I can so deeply relate to Valancy’s desire to do things secretly because trying to tell anyone what she’s doing will turn it into a Whole Thing.

Colors mentioned:

Greying darkness

Red eyes

Yellow-painted floor

Dark-red paper

Brown-paper lambrequin

Yellow chair

Red brick box

Blue Castle

Blue loveliness

White urns

Golden curls

Heavenly blue eyes

Reddish, tawny hair

Not one single crimson or purple spot

Silver teaspoon

We're limiting ourselves to the css colors, so perhaps Valancy's life is slightly more vibrant than the screen gives it credit for being, but even still this is a limited color palette, especially compared to what we will see later. The only interesting color words are crimson, which is referring to something valancy lacks, and golden and tawny which are referring to someone fictional. Otherwise it's all just the standard names for colors with no nuance.

[historia-vitae-magistras]

I think i asked this once but i don't know if you saw it, i would really LOVE to read this whole fic, but the link doesn't work, was it deleted? 🥺

Oh lord, so that one has the distinction of being the only fic I have ever written to get dogpiled hate on ao3 and it startled me so much I deleted it. God help me if the england stans find this one. It's also back on ao3. It's got a sequel here too, when Matt is older.

In late autumn—and sometimes in early spring—a rainy morning would press its wet nose against the glass storefront of papa's bakery. Outside, where the leaves were starting to turn, it was cool. And inside, where papa and his part-timers made pastry and bread, it was wonderfully warm.

Sometimes the ovens made the glass foggy. When they did, Mathieu drew squiggles and left his palm prints to make turkeys and even sometimes a little BONJOUR in crude toddler letters for the passersby, then hastily wiped away the evidence with his sleeve, so Papa couldn't scold him for using his fingers. He sometimes opened the door for customers just to look at the trees on the avenue. He wanted to climb them, but if ever he got the chance to wander near, Papa tugged him back onto the sidewalk and tugged his coat back into place.

He heard his name, insistent, and he paused for a second to let a rain-bedraggled man in a stinky wool coat through the door.

"Bonjour-hi!" He waved at the stranger, of which there were always many passing through his father's shop, and scrambled back to the table nearest the counter in an awkward little corner next to the display windows. There, and in the cushioned basket behind the counter where he'd nap after the lunch rush dwindled, he'd spent many a day with his stuffed bear, his blocks and his trains, and his books, nose to the paper as he coloured in big leafy forests of gold, amber, maple and green. The man had a sharp face under his damp, straw-colored fringe and gave a weak wave. Matthieu thought he looked very tired.

Arthur needed a fucking cup of tea. Soaked through and freezing, he stumbled into a cafe off the avenue thumbing his money clip. A small lad in a cheerful red jumper chirped the bilingual greetings so common to this part of Canada, and Arthur waved at him, staring at the menu written in beautiful calligraphy above the counter. There were a few loaves of bread, no doubt leftover from the morning rush.

The lad hopped up onto the counter, kicking his legs off the edge, as comfortable as a round little robin red breast who'd perched on the same branch thousands of times.

He said something to him in French, broad baby Quebecois that ended in a giggle. He thought he'd spoken French quite well before coming to this city, but Montreal was a city of a thousand languages, and about 900 of them were supposed to be French. He mouthed words and the child gave a shy smile and switched to clumsy but adequate English.

"You're not one of Papa's regulars,"

"No," Arthur said. "I suppose I'm new to the city."

The lad's eyes popped open wide.

"PAPA! C'est un Anglais!" The boy cupped his hands over his mouth to shout at a figure moving behind the doorway and hopped off the counter to stand on a stool. He peered over it shyly.

"Are you really… one of the… a les goddams!?"

Arthur gave a hearty snort, unoffended. He'd only read that term in books. He thought it came from how much English sailors cursed. And, well, he was an English sailor.

"Suppose I am, lad. But you can call me Arthur." He leaned over the counter, extending one gloved hand. The small boy took it and shook it, looking very serious and grown up.

"Like the king?"

"Indeed."

"And you are?"

"Mathieu!" Came a much deeper, lilting voice, full of the music of European French rather than the flat stubborn sounds of Canadien. "Get down from there; you'll snap your neck!"

The boy sighed, "Ouais, Papa," and leaped off the chair he'd been standing on.

"Apologies," The man said. "What can I get you?"

Later, he wouldn't remember ordering tea and a sandwich. He'd gone quite deaf. The bakery owner couldn't have been much older than 30—well-built, compact, and lean. His great arms showed off as he rolled short, flour-dusted short sleeves over his shoulders. Perky ass Arthur tried desperately not to look as the man bent double for a bagel from one of the display baskets behind the counter. Bloody fucking hell. He had beautiful hair, pulled neatly back except for spirals to frame his face. It would have been a womanly look on anyone else, but it only drew Arthur's eye to a beautiful pair of clavicles. No wedding ring, Arthur noticed, and not even the pale outline of where one might have been. He cleared his throat and raked his damp hair back, a bit embarrassed at his rumpled, rain-splattered state.

The tea was godawful. Probably bagged and a little burnt and left to seep too long. But the sandwich was fantastic. There'd never been that good of bagels in any port in the world. He was about to become, if luck gave him nothing else, a regular.

[eleni-cherie]

among thieves ✨ || bts • pjm

- chapter 1.0

"what even am I to you? your rival, your lover, an obstacle or am I supposed to be your coffin?"

about two thieves who can't live with nor without each other. and a joint past that comes back to threaten them.

© 2023 | eleni_cherie

»»»

masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, very flirty jimin, friends/rivals/exes to lovers (it's complicated, ok?!) f2l e2l ex2l all members play a role in this story!

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

»»»

The afternoon sun was high when the three interpol agents stepped out of the airport. Revieled having finally arrived there. After all, they hadn't had even time to sleep after arresting a wanted identity thief in Montreal before getting the call and instantly boarding the interpol private jet to fly over to the Caribbean.

Seokjin paused abruptly from navigating them out of the building, causing Jungkook and Skylar who'd been trotting behind him with their hand luggage, to almost bump into him. His eyes wandered around the parking lot in search for the car the Cuban interpol branch put at their disposal.

The blond agent didn't hesitate and rummaged a pair of sunglasses out, sliding them up the bridge of her nose to shield her eyes from the glaring light that got reflected in from thesurrounding buildings.

"Sir, are we sure this isn't a trap?" she asked with wonderous eyes behind the tinted glasses. Still not fully grasping how they'd ended up trusting one of the thieves they were after.

Her taller colleague stepped beside her. Jungkook was squinting from the sun and already regretting wearing entire black attire as sweat beads began forming under his fringe. The city was even warmer than Seoul despite it only being early summer.

"She's right," he nodded in agreement then. And Seokjin sighed seeing both his subordinates' inquiring looks.

"Like I've told you before, of course we can't be absolutely sure, but it's very unlikely. There isn't any benefit for them to trap interpol agents. And besides.." he started explaining when finally spotting the car and began walking towards it. Jungkook and Skylar quickl grabbing their luggage to follow. "I think I know them well enough by now," he continued then, "And for Kim Taehyung to ask me for help, it means they've got a real problem."

Skylar and Jungkook exchanged a look, facing Seokjin again who had already opened the trunk, stuffing his bags inside.

"So.. are you finally gonna tell us what's exactly the deal?" Jungkook asked with a raised brow, "I mean, what forced him to reveal their location after all?"

Seokjin slid behind the steering wheel, followed by the younger agents on the passenger and backseat. "Well, believe it or not," he said then, glancing at Jungkook through the rareviewmirror while adjusting it, "He said it's about Park Jimin."

The cease between their brows deepened.

Something regarding his friend and leader of the troop? That was indeed unexpected.

"And did he say what exactly happened with him?" Skylar asked beside him while putting on her seatbelt.

He shrugged while driving off the parking lot. "Of course take it with a grain of salt, but according to him Jimin is having a severe dissociation. He couldn't exactly tell me why, but apparently he attacked both his partners and attempted to kill Valentine before fleeing."

Jungkook hummed, seemingly confused as his brows furrowed into a deep frown. "But isn't he totally infatuated with her? Why would he want to kill her?"

"That's exactly the point, he wouldn't," Seokjin said and took the exit towards the city, ""As we know he'd never kill anyone unless for self-defense. That's why I said 'severe dissociation'." It was one of the very few reasons he held some kind of respect for his opponent, at least an appropriate amount between a lawenforcement member and a criminal. They might be thieves, but they'd never been murderers.

Skylar breathed out, eyes fixated on nothing in the distance while concentrating. "So if Taehyung is saying the truth, there's indeed something very wrong with him. Making him quite dangerous," she mumbled "If a thief with his abilities turns into an assassin.."

Jungkook's eyes widened, understanding what she was hinting to. Any person like this being on the loose would be dangerous, moreover someone with the combat, disguising and scheming skills as Park Jimin.

With an equally concerned expression, he glanced at the passing scenary. They were nearing the city, buildings becoming taller and denser.

Seokjin nodded with a stern look spreading on his usually soft features. "That'd make him one of the most dangerous men in the world," he finished Skylar's sentence, "That's why we've got to catch him before that happens. When we arrive at the station, I want you two to meet with his partners and gather as much information on the situation as possible."

Skylar perked up, facing him puzzled. "Shouldn't we arrest them?"

"Not yet. Remember, they were the ones calling us. Our main priority is to find Jimin right now. After that, arrest them."

She nodded at her superior's orders. Him continuing then, facing Jungkook. "Make sure they won't hold back any details. Meanwhile I'll organise everything we know and see if I can find any more clues." He sighed then, noticing the sun beginning to set behind the mountains in the west. "I hope we can find him before anything happens."

»»»

After meeting with the local interpol force and police representatives, Seokjin went through all data their colleagues had managed collecting on the matter of Park Jimin, based on the witness account of Arabella who had seen him last downtown the prior evening near the general hospital. It served as a starting point to follow his tracks.

Seokjin coordinated an extensive search all around the city and the main island. First they ensured he hadn't left the country yet, neither in disguise nor with any fake aliases.

They couldn't quite estimate how easy or difficult the search would turn out to be. Sure, othertimes they find him even without knowing his exact location - now they did. Still, Seokjin didn't want to be too optimistic considering this was still Jimin they were talking about, despite the atypical personality traits he'd depicted towards his associats.

So his surprise was quite high at the phone call they received after 18 hours of research, with a short break to rest considering all three agents had been awake for more than 24 hours at that point.

First they couldn't believe the claims of a bewildered police officer of a local police station in Cojímar, a city part in the north-west. Only when they arrived there shortly after and found a completely drenched Jimin. The officers had recognised him from the warrant all police departments had received, immediately reporting his appeance to the headquaters.

The thief was simply sitting in one of the cells there, mute and not saying a word to anyone. A dull stare on his eyes. And the agent could instantly see what Taehyung had meant on the phone. This surely wasn't the Park Jimin he knew. He even let Seokjin put the handcuffs around his wrists without the slightest protest.

No tricks, no clever line. Nothing. Leaving the agent puzzled and utterly stunned.

They brought him to the waiting private jet. The whole police squad escorting them there, just in case it was a bluff after all or he came back to his senses and tried pulling something on them. But he didn't.

No, he was just silently sitting there, either staring out of the window or down on his lap. Only occasionally he grabbed his forehead, making an expression of agony as if he was in pain, which only lasted seconds before he returned to his mild catatonic state.

The plane fight back to South Korea was equally as silent. Jungkook and Skylar had fallen asleep right after taking off, both being quite exhausted from the pastdays. Him snoring quietly with parted lips while she was drooling on his shoulder.

Seokjin observed them with a fond look, pitying and envying them at the same time. Both were still so young, maybe too young to have to deal with the often hard life of an interpol agent. However, they also reminded him a lot of himself, back then when he had come fresh out of the academy himself.

His gaze wandered to Jimin in the dim-lit plane then who just like him wasn't sleeping. The slim man was calmly staring out to the blanket of endless clouds side under the now dawning sky. His face remained expressionless, however, Seokjin believed to see a hint of sadness in it as well.

This wasn't the first time he'd managed to arrest Jimin. In fact, there had been planty of times over the years they knew each other. But this was by far the oddest and alsomost unsatisfying one.

Usually Jimin would've already got rid of the handcuffs and attempted to flee by now or would've said a smug remark at the very least. However, there was was none of that now.

Despite Jimin being his nemesis, seeing him like that, like a completely different person, rubbed him the wrong way. Something was terribly wrong and Seokjin was determined to get to the bottom of it.

»»»

Seoul, South Korea

It was late evening the following day when they finally reached the korean interpol offices. Seokjin held the gate to the cell open, motioning with hid chin inside. "Get in."

Jimin did as he was told without any words of protest, the gate bars closing behind him.

"You know, I should be glad," Seokjin exhaled then while sliding in the keycard to the automatic lock, "I should be glad we caught you so easily and without any incidents. But for some reason I can't." His gaze fell on him, offering him a sympathetic look. "I don't know what happened to you, but this isn't the master thief I know."

The younger man remained silent just as he'd done all the time time till then. Silently observing the agent walking away, pausing at one of the guards to give them exact instructions before leaving Jimin back alone.

The bed was as uncomfortable as it looked, squeaking when he took a seat on it. His brows irises wandered around the grey walls, a sense of familiarity washing over him. He'd seen them more than once before, a memory of it swirled in his mind. Causing the throbbing in his head to return, along with a stabbing pain in his side. He groaned quietly, not wanting to gain the guard's attention who was seated at the very end of the corridor.

When would these headaches finally stop?

Hours passed. A day. Several days.

One after another passed by like this without Jimin taking any notice as day and night seemed the same, the hours blurring together. Time either not passing at all or passing too fast. 

Every day Seokjin paid him a visit, checking on him, attempting to get any piece of information out of him, but everything was in vain. Each day Jimin would just sit there, not saying a word, not even flinching when hearing all the charges - theft and identity theft in multiple cases, as always.

And every day Seokjin would shake his head and sigh deeply in defeat before escorting him back to his cell. Sometimes he did consider Jimin faking it after all and this being perhaps a higher plan Perhaps his subordinates had been right after all and he shouldn't have trusted Taehyung's words.

After all, he knew Jimin containing great acting skills as well which tied to his numerous disguises. However, his gut feeling persisted that this wasn't an act. It seemed like his antagonist had indeed become a complete stranger.

After Seokjin brought him back, Jimin would just lay there on the bed, with his hands folded underneath his head, and stare at the white ceiling. Hours and days simply passing by like this. He barely ate, barely drank, barely slept. His eyes simply trained to the ceiling, only interrupted by his occasional headaches caused by single fragments randomly popping up with no context. Images flasing in front of his mind's eye. Accompanied by loud voices, talking across each other.

And every time it felt like his brain was melting at the attempt to gain any of his memory back, clenching his jaw and pressing the pillow against his head in deserate attempts to sooth the pain. Day by day the headaches got worse and the memory fragments longer and clearer.

It got especially bad on the sixth day when he suddenly saw a 14-year old Taehyung in the middle of his cell. Laughing down at him from a car's hood right after they'd stolen liquor from an illegal transporter.

"I guess it's the thrill, isn't it? I love the thrill of it!" he said, holding up a bottle.

"The thrill huh?" Jimin remembered answering him. "That's the reason I do this, too. The reason I enjoy stealing. It's the thrill and the rush!" Both boys grinned at each other. "I wanna become a thief, but on my own terms. Not my grandfathers!" Jimin announced then holding his own liquor bottle up like he was preparing for a ceremony. With determination in his eyes and mischief on his lips he arched a brow at his classmate. "You wanna join me?" 

Taehyung thought for a moment, eventually shrugging. "Sure, why not."

He groaned, the pain becoming intenser.

"Oh, a samurai!"

"You're quite an idiot, aren't you?" a 22-year-old Yoongi said with an unamused expression. The shiny sword's blade was directly aimed at Jimin's neck, lightly poking it. "Samurai were japanese and I'm korean."

"Whatever you are, you're pretty cool," Jimin countered with a wide grin, as if he was oblivious to the situation he'd brought himself into. Which irritated Yoongi even more.

"You're aware you've got to pay for trying stealing our all-pervasive swords, right?"

Jimin's eyes widened in pretend-naivity. "Pay. huh? You mean stabbing me with that dope sword of yours?" he asked surprised, tapping the blade with his index finger. "That's a pity. I could use someone like you in my team."

Yoongi scoffed. "Why would I want to help a thief anyway? No, thanks."

"Are you sure?" Jimin's lips curled into a lopsided smirk. "Not even if I could help you get the guys arrested who killed your uncle?"

Those memories. They were only short glimpses of his past but still, he began to remember more.

"Park Jimin!"

He was standing at the upper tier of the mansion'sstaircase, seeing a 20-year-old Arabella yelling his name from the entrance hall. A bright grin decorating her lovely full lips as she was proudly showing off the precious necklace around her neck. She winked at him then before blowing him a cheeky kiss. "Better luck next time!"

He smirked. "How about I just come and get it?"

Arabella only laughed, the sound of it a spring symphony to his ears. Making him almost miss when she loaded her berretta with a makeshift projectile out of her red lipstick, aiming it at him.

"Don't even think of it."

And he was just standing there at the marble railing, watching her every move - completely mesmerised. He didn't even flinch at the shot and the lipstick grazing his cheek, leaving a thick red line on his skin. He didn't even attempt preventing her from running off with the diamonds around her neck. His eyes lingering on the empty hallway.

And he smiled to himself. "One day I'll steal your heart, Arabella Valentine."

" - You must kill Arabella Valentine." "Certainly not."

Kir smirked devilishly and held up something between her fingers. "The injection was only a tranquilizer, you know. But this little pill here will either make you submissive to our orders or well, kill you. It's still in the experimental phase. It'll be fun to watch the outcome either way," the woman's voice rang. "So either die or finish the job from back then. Finish off the woman who betrayed you over and over again. Remember Cairo? How she got away with the ruby and let you face authorities? The Indian job? Where she convinced you to give her the golden statue only to rush away on her bike? Macau? Where she ran off with all the gold from the casinos? And I got even more on my list here." Her finger tapping on a file with documents in her lapbefore closing it.

She stood up then, walking towards him. And as he felt his limbs growing weaker and the two buff men having to put more effort in keeping him up, she forced the little blue pill into his mouth. And he wasn't able to do anything against it.

"So how about you finally get your revenge at her for humiliating you? For all the times she betrayed and left you behind. Eliminate her."

It was unbearable, this pain. He didn't even notice his anguished screams

"Jimin!" another female voice was heard then.

He looked around, seeing Arabella standing there. Her soft big eyes frowning at him, looking almost offended.

"This isn't your real self."

She took her gun out, pointing it at him with a disappointed look. "You should know I'm the only person in the world who can claim you." And she shot.

His eyes opened wide, instantly flinching by the dazzling neon light above him and turned to the side, burying his face into the pillow. Another loud groan escaped his lips.

The guard, confused about the agonising noises that seemed to be worse and lasting longer than the previous days, informed Seokjin and asked for orders on how to proceed as the prisoner seemed to be in great pain.

It was quite late by now and most agents had left, leaving mostly guards on the night shift there and a few agents who remained to finish off paperwork. Seokjin being one of them as he was still finishing writing his report on an arrest from the afternoon.

He appeared in the basement level, asking the guard to get a doctor in case before heading to Jimin's cell. Failing to surpress a yawn, he leaned against the cell door and peaked inside.

"What's the issue?" he asked, his coat almost slipping from his grip. He'd been about to go home when the guard had called him after a. "You look quite miserable. Worse than any other day. Are you sick?"

"My head, it's my head," Jimin mumbled, burrying his face in his hands more, "They.. they did something."

Seokjin perked up at this. This is the most Jimin had talked ever since meeting him in the Cuban police office. "Who's 'they'?"

"They.." His voice was weak, breaking at the end. "They.. they gave me a pill. It was a woman, Kir. She told me to eliminate Bella."

"A pill? ..You mean drugs?"

"I don't know."

The agent hummed at this new information. If someone had drugged him with a personality altering substance it could explain some things, but still not everything. It'd need a longer intake period for most drugs to begin altering someone's personality and in most cases the symptoms were either aggression, anxiety, paranoia or volition. He hadn't depicted any of these. Neither any physical symptoms.

But another part caught his attention then.

"And why would they make you eliminate Valentine?"

Jimin was laying still by now, his pain having subdued. He took a deep breath then and turned to his back, opening his eyes to scowl at the ceiling. "She.. she was one of them."

Seokjin frowned, confusion written all over his face. "Who was one of who?"

"Bel-la.. was one of them."

His brows knitted together. Frankly, despite the years of investigation against the thieves, they'd never quite managed gaining much information on Arabella Valentine, whether about her past or upbringings. She'd only appeared on their radar after becoming Jimin's associate and was often seen with him. Anything about her whereabouts before that time remained unknown. Interpol had searched all international data bases, her face having been possibly connected to a series of robbery cases across Europe ten years ago but nothing had been fully confirmed. She remained a mystery, like a phantom. So Jimin revealing now that she'd been a member of something was a detail interpol surely hadn't known yet.

He instantly, grabbed his phone out and called Jungkook who was also still somewhere in the building. The tired voice of his young colleague answered after the third dial tone. "JK? We might have some new info on Arabella Valentine. Could you do a new background check tomorrow?" "Sure, regarding what exactly?" "I'll let you know tomorrow." "Alright. See you tomorrow then."

He ended the call and turned back to Jimin then, only to get startled when seeing him suddenly standing right in front of him behind the bars. He'd been to immersed in the phone call, excited about the possibility of new clues, that he hadn't noticed Jimin standing up and walking towards him.

Jimin grinned and next thing he heard was a click.

"Sorry, pops."

Seokjin's eyes grew wide and he looked down, seeing his wrist being handcuffed to the bars. "What the-" Jimin had got his fingers on his handcuffs from behind hisbelt, using the short moment he hadn't paid attention and lowered his guard by thinking Jimin still hadn't recovered. However, now rethinking the previous minutes, he should've realised Jimin was back to normal when saying 'Bella' instead of 'Arabella'.

After pulling at the handcuffs in vain the agent shot him a glare. "Park Jimin, you're under arrest!"

"I know!" The thief could only burst out laughing, obviously entertained by his continues tugging. "You already arrested me after all, that's why I'm here!" he said amused and reached through the bars, grabbing Seokjin's keycard hanging from his breast pocket. He slid the card over the electronic keypad, typing in the code he remembered just by recalling the sound of each number and their order from all the days Seojin had locked and unlocked it the previous days. "Hope you don't mind." "I do actually," the older man huffed, unable to prevent him as he couldn't reach him and his gun was upstairs at his desk.

The cell door now opened without any reistence and Jimin casually stepped out, but he didn't immediately leave. "Fifteen minues. That's all I'm asking for before you call for back-up."

Seokjin laughed under his breath, about to make a funny remark considering how ridiculous the criminal's request was. But when seeing Jimin's afflicted expression, genuine distress in his eyes, his lips pressed together again.

Considering the fact someone had apparently kidnapped and brainwashed him into trying to kill the woman he loved, Seokjin couldn't help but pity him in a way. And he eventually sighing with a smile.

"Ten minues." His eyes held his gaze as the uncuffed hand slowly slid inside the pocket of his coat, unnoticed from Jimin. "Be quick and don't make me regret it."

Jimin's lips curled up into a joyful grin before grabbing Seokjin's coat from his arm and slid it on himself. "Thanks, pops! You're the best!"

"And stop calling me 'pops'," Seokjin whined, "I'm not that much older than you!"

"I know, but your reaction is hilarious!"

»»»

next chapter: 1.1 here

Don't forget to like, reblog & leave feedback!♡ It motivates me to keep writing :)

[words-after-midnight]

Camp prep - April - Day 1

I'm hoping to do Camp in April, so I thought I'd take part in this Camp prep meme brought to us by the lovely @lola-theshowgrl! Posting twice both today & tomorrow as I'm two days late. :)

1. Introduce yourself and your WIP

About me: Nico (he/him), 32, Montreal. I'm a writer of adult contemporary fiction exploring dark themes such as the gray zones of morality, messy relationships, obsession, the psychology of crime, fraught humanity, grief and trauma, mental illness, and life on the fringes of society. My primary genres are crime fiction, horror, and psychological fiction.

About The Dotted Line: I'll hopefully be using Camp to write the next 50K words of my prison horror story, The Dotted Line. Fitting, since I actually started the draft for Camp NaNo in July 2013 (one of two reasons for the title of the first chapter being "Camp"). It was shelved for many years. Currently about 12K words in, and my draft goal is 75-90K.

Genres: Experimental horror, psychological horror, dark comedy, crime.

WIP intro post Playlist Moodboard (cw for some gore and general horroresque content)

[ladycharles]

Cover art (as video with music sample) for Child of the Night. Coming September 29th, some background info below.

Hope you like it - it's a computer generated composite of all the promo photos Stef and I have made of me.

Child of the Night is, in the context of the play, the song where the younger character does their solo dance, free from their shitty family. In the context of my life it's about my late teens/early 20's as I came of age unsure of where I was going and who exactly I was. I used to explore Toronto by bike every night and the desolate city landscapes would fill me with a longing for something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Meaning? Purpose? Something to long for? In any case I felt a kinship with the character in the play at that moment and felt I needed to re-arrange the song to be a little more disco so they could use it in the play. If you sign up via email you can hear the shorter show version with an orchestral opening.

The instrumental verses of the song are my attempt at capturing that night city vibe, I think a lot of early Drake stuff produced by 40 captured something similar. I love those dark synthscapes that feel like distant buildings rising up over a purpley city sky.

I tried to do something similar but for Montreal in this track:

[brookston]

Holidays 5.27

Holidays

Armed Forces Day (Nicaragua)

Bermuda Day (Bermuda)

Bloomer Day

Body Painting Day

Border Guard Day (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia)

Buttercup Day

Carnival of Nose Music

Cellophane Tape Day

Children’s Day (Nigeria)

Clean Sneakers Appreciation Day

Community Police Officer Day (Ukraine)

Cultivating Comedy Day

Derg Downfall Day (Ethiopia)

Dia de la Madre (a.k.a. Mother's Day; Bolivia)

Emergency Medicine Day

Fête des Voisins (France)

Free Feral Cat Spay Day

Golden Gate Bridge Day

Habeas Corpus Day

International Children’s Day (Nigeria)

International Crop Duster’s Day

International Day of Action for Women’s Health

International Day of Marketing

International Heritage Breeds Day

Jag’s McCartney Day (Turks and Caicos Islands)

Janmotsav of Sri Sri Madhabdeva (Assam, India)

Joe Cool Day (Peanuts)

Lazybones Day (Luilak; Netherlands)

Love Your Lanes Day (UK)

Martagon Lily Day (French Republic)

Menstrual Hygiene Day

Meryl Streep Day

Mother’s Day (Bolivia)

National Aaron Day

National Asher Day

National Christian T-Shirt Day

National Climate Day (Switzerland)

National Gray Day

National Hairstylist Mental Health Awareness Day

National Hamburger Day

National Jordan Day

National Melissa Day

National Multiple Births Awareness Day (Canada)

National Reflexology Day (Canada)

National Sunscreen Day (a.k.a. Sunscreen Protection Day)

Navy Day (Japan)

Nothing to Fear Day

Nysa Asteroid Day

Old-Time Player Piano Day

Pop-Up Toaster Day

Procession of the Golden Chariot and the Battle of Lumecon (Belgium)

Pyrex Day

Rachel Carson Day

Richard Wagner Day

Slavery Abolition Day (Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin)

Stratosphere Ballon Ascent Day

Sunscreen Day

Throw the Bastards Out Day

Tracky Jack Day (Australia)

Whooping Crane Day

World Dhole Day

World Hunger Day

World Product Day

Youm-e-Tkbir (Day of Greatness; Pakistan)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Grape Popsicle Day

Muffin Day (Sweden)

National Brisket Day

National Italian Beef Day

Schmaltz Day

Independence & Related Days

Bartonia (Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Domanglia (Declared; 2011) [unrecognized]

EDO (a.k.a. Empirical Dyarchy of Ohio; Declared; 2010) [unrecognized]

First Republic Day (Armenia)

Imperial Kermit Empire (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

Macéyon (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Republic Day (Azerbaijan)

Republic Day (Nepal)

4th & Last Monday in May

Celebration Day (UK) [Last Monday]

Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling and Wake (Cooper’s Hill, UK)

Late May Bank Holiday (Isle of Man)

Motivation Monday [Every Monday]

Memorial Day (US) [Last Monday] a.k.a. ... 

Decoration Day (f.k.a.)

Great Jubilee Day, A (f.k.a., commemorated Revolutionary War)

National Hamburger Day

National Moment of Remembrance [3:00 PM]

Poppy Day [also 11.11]

Prayer for Peace Day

Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day (Fiji) [Last Monday]

Spring Bank Holiday (UK) [Last Monday] a.k.a. ... 

Spring Holiday (Jersey)

Tetbury Woolsack Races (UK)

Weekly Holidays beginning May 27 (4th Week)

Week of Solidarity with the People of Non-Self-Governing Territories begins [Last Monday]

Festivals Beginning May 27, 2024

Canadian Screen Awards (Toronto, Canada)

Festival St-Ambroise Fringe de Montréal (Montreal, Canada) thru 6.16]

Prague Fringe Festival (Prague, Czech Republic) [thru 6.1]

re:publica (Berlin, Germany) [thru 5.29]

Vienna Independent Shorts (Vienna, Austria) [thru 6.2]

Feast Days

AL-1995 Plus Tax (Muppetism)

Anna Cervin (Artology)

Augustine of Canterbury (Christian; Saint)

St. Augustine (Positivist; Saint)

Bede the Confessor (Christian; Saint, “Father of the Church”)

Bruno of Würzburg (Christian; Saint)

Buddha Day (Sukka Tanson II; South Korea)

Centennial Games Day (Everyday Wicca)

Dashiell Hammett (Writerism)

Edward Teach Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Eutropius of Orange (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Comus (Greek God of Drunken Revelry)

Findle Fritter’s Stoat-Wheedling Event (Shamanism)

Frigga Blot (Slavic Pagan/Asatru)

Georges Rouault (Artology)

Harlan Ellison (Writerism)

Herman Wouk (Writerism)

Hildebert (Christian; Saint)

Jessie Arms Botke (Artology)

John Cheever (Writerism)

John I, Pope (Christian; Martyr)

Julius the Veteran and His Companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Lojze Grozde (Christian; Saint)

Media Ver III (Pagan)

Melangell (Christian; Saint) [Hares]

Pillage Festival (Church of the SubGenius)

Restituta of Sora (Christian; Martyr & Virgin)

Season of Confusion begins (Discordian)

Stretch Yourself Creatively Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

The Three Martyrdoms: Red, Green & White (Celtic Book of Days)

Weasel Tossing Day (Pastafarian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [27 of 57]

Premieres

Alice Through the Looking Glass (Film; 2016)

American Stars ’n Bars, by Neil Young (Album; 1977)

Blowin’ in the Wind, by Bob Dylan (Song; 1963)

The Bob’s Burgers Movie (Animated Film; 2022)

Bulloney (MGM Cartoon; 1933)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown (History Book; 1970)

Continuum (TV Series; 2012)

Devil of the Deep (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1938)

Duck Soup to Nuts (WB LT Cartoon; 1944)

An Egg Scramble (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

The Flintstones (Film; 1994)

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, by Bob Dylan (Album; 1963)

Franny and Zooey, by J.D. Salinger (Short Stories; 1962)

From Russia with Love (US Film; 1964) [James Bond #2]

Gift of Gag (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1955)

Gold Diggers of 1933 (Film; 1933)

God Save the Queen, by The Sex Pistols (Song; 1977)

Love Life (TV Series; 2020)

Lumberjack and Jill (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1949)

Madagascar (Animated Film; 2005)

Melody Time (Animated Disney Film; 1948)

Memento Mori, by Muriel Spark (Novel; 1959)

The Music Mice-Tro (WB MM Cartoon; 1967)

A Mutt in a Rut (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1949)

Obi-Wan Kenobi (TV Series; 2022) The Plumed Serpent, by D.H. Lawrence (Novel; 1926)

Prelude to War (Documentary Film; 1942)

QB VII, by Leon Uris (Novel; 1970)

A Short Vision (Animated Short Film; 1956)

Smokey and the Bandit (Film; 1977)

The Sot-Weed Factor, by John Barth (Novel; 1960)

Space Mountain rollercoaster (Disneyland Ride; 1977)

Springtime Serenade (Cartune Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Day; 1935)

Striples and Stars (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Day; 1929)

Symphony No. 6 in A Minor (a.k.a. The Tragic Symphony), by Gustav Mahler (Symphony; 1906)

That’ll Be the Day, by Buddy Holly (Song; 1957)

Three Little Pigs (Disney Cartoon; 1933)

Top Gun: Maverick (Film; 2022)

Travels In Hyperreality, by Umberto Eco (Essays; 1967)

Ventriloquist Cat (MGM Cartoon; 1933)

The War Wagon (Film; 1967)

Winked, Blinken and Nod (Disney Silly Symphony Cartoon; 1938)

X-Men: Apocalypse (Film; 2016)

Today’s Name Days

August, Bruno, Randolph (Austria)

Augustin, Bruno, Julije (Croatia)

Valdemar (Czech Republic)

Lucian (Denmark)

Kalvi, Klaudia (Estonia)

Ritva (Finland)

Augustin (France)

August, Bruno, Randolph (Germany)

Alypios, Ioannis Rossos (Greece)

Hella (Hungary)

Agostino, Federico, Oliviero (Italy)

Dzidra, Gunita, Henrijs, Ludolfs (Latvia)

Augustinas, Brunonas, Leonora, Virgaudas, Žymantė (Lithuania)

Cato, Katinka (Norway)

Beda, Izydor, Jan, Juliusz, Lucjan, Magdalena, Radowit (Poland)

Ioan (România)

Iveta (Slovakia)

Agustín, Julio (Spain)

Beda, Blenda (Sweden)

Broderick, Brodie, Brody, Isador, Isadora, Isadore, Isidro (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 148 of 2024; 218 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 22 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 16 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 20 (Xin-Mao)

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

Hebrew: 19 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 19 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 28 Magenta; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 14 May 2024

Moon: 71%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 7 St. Paul (6th Month) [St. Augustine]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 3 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 70 of 92)

Week: 4th Week of May

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 7 of 31)

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Gregory Edward “Greg” Hemphill born 14th December 1969 in Glasgow.

I think the majority of us will know who Greg is, one half of the successful partnership with partner, Ford Kiernan that is Still Game.

The family left Scotland when Greg was twelve years old, and he spent much of his childhood in Montreal, Canada. Greg returned home to study at Glasgow University, in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, graduating MA in 1992.

Greg made his acting debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1990. His work includes roles in God Plus Support in the Theatre and Only an Excuse. He is a regular on the comedy circuit. He also ventured into radio as the original presenter of football show, Off the Ball on BBC Radio Scotland and The Eddie Mair Show. As well as writing for Still Game and Chewin The Fat he has written for Channel 4 programme Space Cadets, BBC’s Pulp Video and The Ferguson Theory.

Still Game has transferred successfully onto the big stage and has sold out countless times at The Hydro. The third and final run of the shows Still Game: The Final Farewell was officially announced on 1st November 2018. The ninth and final series of Still Game was screened in 2019 The show won an ‘Outstanding Contribution’ TV award at Scottish Baftas that year.

Away from his work Greg is a bit of a card shark, he plays in competitions, he has won over thirty thousand dollars in competitions and was third in the Scottish Championships in 2002

Greg has been kind of quiet of late, but the good news is he returns to our screens on Hogmanay with a new sketch show. The show is set to bring up all the biggest talking points of this year – from COP26 to the wild swimming phenomenon. The show titled “Queen of the New Year” will star Greg and Robert Florence along with Barbara Rafferty, Clive Russell, Gayle Telfer Stevens, Louise McCarthy, John Gordon Sinclair and Juliet Cadzow, so some familiar faces from Still Game and Burnistoun.

Greg is married to Balamory star Julie Wilson Nimmo, 46, they announced they are to their own production company launch Blue Haven Productions Limited. The latest from Greg and Julie who live in the West End of Glasgow, is they will be teaming up who live in the West End, are appearing together in Olga da Polga, the first-ever television adaptation of Paddington creator Michael Bond’s beloved books. The new 13-part, live-action and animation series is produced by Glasgow-based production company Marakids, and it has been made with the full support of the Bond family.

Greg and Julie have been married since 1999, they met while both were working on the 90s sketch show Pulp Video. Greg says of them;

“We met on sketch shows, and we always laughed a lot. We still do. There are lots of laughs, lots of carry on when we work together.”

Greg and his Still Game sidekick Ford Kiernan launched a whisky, named after their characters Jack and Vioctor two or three years back, and the knobs at Jack Daniels objected after the pair later applied to register the name as a trademark for whisky and other drink-related services. The matter ended up going to an arbitrator. The Tennessee-based company claimed the drink, named after Still Game’s two main characters, could confuse customers and make them think they were endorsing the Scotch blend.

The firm argued the name could allow the Scottish whisky to cash in on the recognition of the well-known brand.

Hemphill, who plays the character Victor, provided evidence during the dispute while managing director Justin Welch provided evidence for Jack Daniel’s.

Hemphill said Still Game was a popular show across the UK, particularly in Scotland, arguing that “Jack and Victor” has become synonymous with the BBC programme.

It was a great triumph for the small guy versus golliath, Jack Daniel’s was ordered to pay £3,200 to Jack and Victor Limited, the company used to market the whisky earlier this year.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 5.27

Holidays

Armed Forces Day (Nicaragua)

Bermuda Day (Bermuda)

Bloomer Day

Body Painting Day

Border Guard Day (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia)

Buttercup Day

Carnival of Nose Music

Cellophane Tape Day

Children’s Day (Nigeria)

Clean Sneakers Appreciation Day

Community Police Officer Day (Ukraine)

Cultivating Comedy Day

Derg Downfall Day (Ethiopia)

Dia de la Madre (a.k.a. Mother's Day; Bolivia)

Emergency Medicine Day

Fête des Voisins (France)

Free Feral Cat Spay Day

Golden Gate Bridge Day

Habeas Corpus Day

International Children’s Day (Nigeria)

International Crop Duster’s Day

International Day of Action for Women’s Health

International Day of Marketing

International Heritage Breeds Day

Jag’s McCartney Day (Turks and Caicos Islands)

Janmotsav of Sri Sri Madhabdeva (Assam, India)

Joe Cool Day (Peanuts)

Lazybones Day (Luilak; Netherlands)

Love Your Lanes Day (UK)

Martagon Lily Day (French Republic)

Menstrual Hygiene Day

Meryl Streep Day

Mother’s Day (Bolivia)

National Aaron Day

National Asher Day

National Christian T-Shirt Day

National Climate Day (Switzerland)

National Gray Day

National Hairstylist Mental Health Awareness Day

National Hamburger Day

National Jordan Day

National Melissa Day

National Multiple Births Awareness Day (Canada)

National Reflexology Day (Canada)

National Sunscreen Day (a.k.a. Sunscreen Protection Day)

Navy Day (Japan)

Nothing to Fear Day

Nysa Asteroid Day

Old-Time Player Piano Day

Pop-Up Toaster Day

Procession of the Golden Chariot and the Battle of Lumecon (Belgium)

Pyrex Day

Rachel Carson Day

Richard Wagner Day

Slavery Abolition Day (Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin)

Stratosphere Ballon Ascent Day

Sunscreen Day

Throw the Bastards Out Day

Tracky Jack Day (Australia)

Whooping Crane Day

World Dhole Day

World Hunger Day

World Product Day

Youm-e-Tkbir (Day of Greatness; Pakistan)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Grape Popsicle Day

Muffin Day (Sweden)

National Brisket Day

National Italian Beef Day

Schmaltz Day

Independence & Related Days

Bartonia (Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Domanglia (Declared; 2011) [unrecognized]

EDO (a.k.a. Empirical Dyarchy of Ohio; Declared; 2010) [unrecognized]

First Republic Day (Armenia)

Imperial Kermit Empire (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

Macéyon (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Republic Day (Azerbaijan)

Republic Day (Nepal)

4th & Last Monday in May

Celebration Day (UK) [Last Monday]

Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling and Wake (Cooper’s Hill, UK)

Late May Bank Holiday (Isle of Man)

Motivation Monday [Every Monday]

Memorial Day (US) [Last Monday] a.k.a. ... 

Decoration Day (f.k.a.)

Great Jubilee Day, A (f.k.a., commemorated Revolutionary War)

National Hamburger Day

National Moment of Remembrance [3:00 PM]

Poppy Day [also 11.11]

Prayer for Peace Day

Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day (Fiji) [Last Monday]

Spring Bank Holiday (UK) [Last Monday] a.k.a. ... 

Spring Holiday (Jersey)

Tetbury Woolsack Races (UK)

Weekly Holidays beginning May 27 (4th Week)

Week of Solidarity with the People of Non-Self-Governing Territories begins [Last Monday]

Festivals Beginning May 27, 2024

Canadian Screen Awards (Toronto, Canada)

Festival St-Ambroise Fringe de Montréal (Montreal, Canada) thru 6.16]

Prague Fringe Festival (Prague, Czech Republic) [thru 6.1]

re:publica (Berlin, Germany) [thru 5.29]

Vienna Independent Shorts (Vienna, Austria) [thru 6.2]

Feast Days

AL-1995 Plus Tax (Muppetism)

Anna Cervin (Artology)

Augustine of Canterbury (Christian; Saint)

St. Augustine (Positivist; Saint)

Bede the Confessor (Christian; Saint, “Father of the Church”)

Bruno of Würzburg (Christian; Saint)

Buddha Day (Sukka Tanson II; South Korea)

Centennial Games Day (Everyday Wicca)

Dashiell Hammett (Writerism)

Edward Teach Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Eutropius of Orange (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Comus (Greek God of Drunken Revelry)

Findle Fritter’s Stoat-Wheedling Event (Shamanism)

Frigga Blot (Slavic Pagan/Asatru)

Georges Rouault (Artology)

Harlan Ellison (Writerism)

Herman Wouk (Writerism)

Hildebert (Christian; Saint)

Jessie Arms Botke (Artology)

John Cheever (Writerism)

John I, Pope (Christian; Martyr)

Julius the Veteran and His Companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Lojze Grozde (Christian; Saint)

Media Ver III (Pagan)

Melangell (Christian; Saint) [Hares]

Pillage Festival (Church of the SubGenius)

Restituta of Sora (Christian; Martyr & Virgin)

Season of Confusion begins (Discordian)

Stretch Yourself Creatively Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

The Three Martyrdoms: Red, Green & White (Celtic Book of Days)

Weasel Tossing Day (Pastafarian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [27 of 57]

Premieres

Alice Through the Looking Glass (Film; 2016)

American Stars ’n Bars, by Neil Young (Album; 1977)

Blowin’ in the Wind, by Bob Dylan (Song; 1963)

The Bob’s Burgers Movie (Animated Film; 2022)

Bulloney (MGM Cartoon; 1933)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown (History Book; 1970)

Continuum (TV Series; 2012)

Devil of the Deep (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1938)

Duck Soup to Nuts (WB LT Cartoon; 1944)

An Egg Scramble (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

The Flintstones (Film; 1994)

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, by Bob Dylan (Album; 1963)

Franny and Zooey, by J.D. Salinger (Short Stories; 1962)

From Russia with Love (US Film; 1964) [James Bond #2]

Gift of Gag (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1955)

Gold Diggers of 1933 (Film; 1933)

God Save the Queen, by The Sex Pistols (Song; 1977)

Love Life (TV Series; 2020)

Lumberjack and Jill (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1949)

Madagascar (Animated Film; 2005)

Melody Time (Animated Disney Film; 1948)

Memento Mori, by Muriel Spark (Novel; 1959)

The Music Mice-Tro (WB MM Cartoon; 1967)

A Mutt in a Rut (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1949)

Obi-Wan Kenobi (TV Series; 2022) The Plumed Serpent, by D.H. Lawrence (Novel; 1926)

Prelude to War (Documentary Film; 1942)

QB VII, by Leon Uris (Novel; 1970)

A Short Vision (Animated Short Film; 1956)

Smokey and the Bandit (Film; 1977)

The Sot-Weed Factor, by John Barth (Novel; 1960)

Space Mountain rollercoaster (Disneyland Ride; 1977)

Springtime Serenade (Cartune Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Day; 1935)

Striples and Stars (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Day; 1929)

Symphony No. 6 in A Minor (a.k.a. The Tragic Symphony), by Gustav Mahler (Symphony; 1906)

That’ll Be the Day, by Buddy Holly (Song; 1957)

Three Little Pigs (Disney Cartoon; 1933)

Top Gun: Maverick (Film; 2022)

Travels In Hyperreality, by Umberto Eco (Essays; 1967)

Ventriloquist Cat (MGM Cartoon; 1933)

The War Wagon (Film; 1967)

Winked, Blinken and Nod (Disney Silly Symphony Cartoon; 1938)

X-Men: Apocalypse (Film; 2016)

Today’s Name Days

August, Bruno, Randolph (Austria)

Augustin, Bruno, Julije (Croatia)

Valdemar (Czech Republic)

Lucian (Denmark)

Kalvi, Klaudia (Estonia)

Ritva (Finland)

Augustin (France)

August, Bruno, Randolph (Germany)

Alypios, Ioannis Rossos (Greece)

Hella (Hungary)

Agostino, Federico, Oliviero (Italy)

Dzidra, Gunita, Henrijs, Ludolfs (Latvia)

Augustinas, Brunonas, Leonora, Virgaudas, Žymantė (Lithuania)

Cato, Katinka (Norway)

Beda, Izydor, Jan, Juliusz, Lucjan, Magdalena, Radowit (Poland)

Ioan (România)

Iveta (Slovakia)

Agustín, Julio (Spain)

Beda, Blenda (Sweden)

Broderick, Brodie, Brody, Isador, Isadora, Isadore, Isidro (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 148 of 2024; 218 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 22 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 16 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 20 (Xin-Mao)

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

Hebrew: 19 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 19 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 28 Magenta; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 14 May 2024

Moon: 71%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 7 St. Paul (6th Month) [St. Augustine]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 3 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 70 of 92)

Week: 4th Week of May

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 7 of 31)

[deirdreisme]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Sold🎈Carolina Belle Tweed Blazer Large Cropped Eyelash Fringe Career Capsule.

[otakunoculture]

[Victoria Fringe 2023] Renfield, or Dining at the Bughouse - A Review

Although @intrepidtheatre doesn't have a lot of #horror themed shows this year, what's offered in Renfield, or Dining at the Bughouse is sure to please. #yyjfringe #theatre and it's a touring show! (subject to getting selected by lottery)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula has left an indelible impression on pop culture, and there are many ways to read into the tale. For playwright Bill Zaget (who also performed this show at Montreal Fringe), what he’s taken from it is a new way to present the madman who declared this vampire, “Master!” In Renfield, or Dining at the Bughouse, this performer gives this character a life that’s different from…

[omkrgiftafeeling]

Custom Jackets Canada: Tailoring Tradition to Trend

In a country where the climate varies dramatically from coast to coast and from season to season, the value of a reliable jacket cannot be overstated. But, for Canadians, jackets are not just about braving the cold – they are an expression of individuality, a representation of culture, and an embodiment of craft. Enter Custom Jackets Canada, a growing niche that intertwines the traditional functionality of a jacket with personal and fashionable flair.

1. A Nation's Tapestry Woven into Fabric

Canada is a mosaic of cultures, and its diversity is mirrored in the variety of custom jacket designs one can find. From the traditional symbols of the First Nations to the modern graphics of urban street culture, custom jackets have become a canvas for Canadians to showcase their heritage, roots, and individual stories. Each jacket, handcrafted and tailor-made, holds a story, an emblem of pride and an emblem of belonging.

2. The Customization Process

Custom jacket designers in Canada typically offer a myriad of options to their customers. Here's a brief overview:

Material Selection: From rugged leather perfect for that cool biker look to breathable cotton suitable for a lighter touch, the choice of material is paramount. The Canadian winter often demands heavier materials like down, wool, or synthetic blends, while the summers open up options for lighter fabrics.

Design Elements: This is where one's creativity truly shines. Embroidery, patches, prints, and even hand-paintings – the possibilities are limitless. Some Canadians integrate personal motifs or symbols, while others opt for popular cultural or geographical symbols, like the maple leaf or the iconic Rocky Mountains.

Fit and Cut: Customization isn't just about aesthetics. It’s about achieving the perfect fit. Whether one desires a slim-fit bomber jacket or a loose, oversized parka, custom jacket makers cater to all preferences.

3. Sustainable and Local: A Movement Growing in Popularity

The trend of custom jackets is not only driven by fashion or the desire for personalization but also by a growing consciousness about sustainability and supporting local businesses. Rather than mass-produced jackets from overseas, more and more Canadians are choosing to invest in custom-made pieces from local artisans. This not only reduces the carbon footprint associated with transporting goods but also supports local economies and craftsmanship.

4. Where to Find Custom Jackets in Canada

Every major Canadian city boasts a myriad of bespoke tailors and designers catering to this demand:

Toronto: Known for its bustling fashion district, Toronto is home to countless designers who specialize in custom jackets, ranging from luxury bespoke experiences to street-style personalized pieces.

Vancouver: With its proximity to the Pacific and a strong Asian influence, Vancouver offers a unique blend of East meets West in its custom jacket designs.

Montreal: As a city steeped in history and art, Montreal boasts a rich tapestry of designers who seamlessly merge traditional and modern designs in their creations.

Calgary and Edmonton: The influence of rodeo culture is evident in the custom jackets found here, with many opting for rugged leather pieces adorned with fringes and traditional patterns.

5. Care for Custom Jackets

Owning a custom jacket means you've invested time, money, and emotion into its creation. Thus, proper care is crucial. Depending on the material, different care methods apply. Leather jackets, for instance, benefit from occasional conditioning to prevent drying out, while down jackets should be aired out and fluffed to maintain their insulation properties. Always consult with the jacket maker for specific care instructions.

6. Conclusion: More Than Just a Jacket

Custom Jackets in Canada have evolved to be more than just a piece of clothing. They are a symbol, a statement, and a story. In a time when mass production often overshadows individuality, the choice to go custom is a tribute to personal expression and a nod to local artisans. As Canada's tapestry grows richer and more diverse, so does the world of custom jackets, reflecting the nation's heart, one stitch at a time.

[ciprc]

Content Management Methods Montreal

However, managing giant quantities of multimedia content and serving it to guests could be a daunting task. In this article, we’ll explore the importance of CMS in hotel IPTV techniques, the assorted components of a CMS, and the different types of content that CMS can manage in resort IPTV methods. We’ll additionally focus Website maintenance services on the key advantages of CMS in hotel IPTV methods, and supply a step-by-step guide for motels trying to implement a CMS in their IPTV systems. A personalized content management system will solve all your problems. With a personalized content management system, there shall be no need to code from scratch.

Best-in-class, award-winning, custom designs to satisfy the individual needs of you and your audiences. Every group is exclusive and a tailored online presence is needed to properly interact with audiences. Your Drupal site will look as stunning Graphic design for websites as it's strong in technological capabilities. Drupal has over forty four,000 modules that can be downloaded and put in to increase the performance and capabilities of the platform.

Drupal, in particular, not solely meets global security requirements however is consistently on the cutting fringe of security enhancements. Is your small business struggling Custom website development with an overload of hard to manage information and documentation? Then spend cash on tools to enhance your productivity--the fundamental perform of Intranets and Extranets.

We work with and supply development services that improve content management methods for clients who want solutions tailored to their needs. Empower your advertising staff and lower your expenses with a straightforward to use Content Management System. Let us build your E–commerce system or web applications with a strong content management techniques (CMS) that lets you update your content easily UI/UX design for web applications and securely. The intent of the Drupal Enterprise CMS software is to allow builders to create and combine powerful solutions for demanding businesses. The basis is a lightweight Drupal content management system enterprise framework, full with in depth documentation and best-of-breed applications for building working solutions. At every stage, MagicINFO helps digital signage work to its full potential and makes it more compelling for customers as a consequence.

Choosing the proper content management system (CMS) for the job can be a daunting task. Our team of specialists will explain the benefits of each system and guarantee you may be on the proper CMS that will assist Conversion-focused website design you obtain your targets. Your CMS additionally needs to permit your team to have management of workflows, designed with a degree of automation that matches your corporation.

The most popular free CMS programs are WordPress and Joomla, however HubSpot’s CMS is extraordinarily popular with users, regardless of the monthly fee (your first month is free, then plans start at $25). To achieve success, you want a web-based presence that’s as powerful as your well-designed brand. You want a content management system that’s straightforward to make Creative web design solutions use of however flexible enough that it may be personalized. It needs to incorporate the precise performance to service your target market rapidly and intuitively. AppStudio is essentially the most trusted CMS management firm delivering top-notch digital solutions designed based on your corporation needs.

Overall, our Hotel IPTV solutions present a variety of features and capabilities that may meet the particular needs of resort IPTV techniques. With a confirmed track document of success and a popularity for reliability, we'are 100 percent able to serve as a trusted companion for resorts looking to implement efficient and engaging Website security IPTV techniques. By contemplating these factors, motels can determine the specific needs and targets of their IPTV systems, and make knowledgeable choices in regards to the content they provide. This can lead to increased visitor satisfaction, revenue, and brand loyalty.

An partaking and visually interesting interface can enhance the visitor's experience whereas showcasing the hotel's dedication to offering a wonderful experience. Content distribution can be achieved by way of totally different delivery strategies, corresponding User-friendly website design to multicast, unicast and broadcast. Multicast delivery entails sending multimedia content to a number of gadgets concurrently, while unicast delivery delivers content to a single system. Broadcast delivery, on the other hand, sends content to all units without delay.

[drmichaelmajickmikelikey]

For my Montreal family and friends...