#not even 6 consecutive top 10

[fiumedivita]

Nobody does it like Italy: in the top 6 for 6 consecutive years*🍝

//

2017 - Gabbani, Occidentali's karma (6°)

2018 - Meta and Moro, Non mi avete fatto niente (5°)

2019 - Mahmood, Soldi (2°)

2021 - Måneskin, Zitti e buoni (1°)

2022 - Mahmood and Blanco, Brividi (6°)

2023 - Marco Mengoni, Due vite (4°)

*except for 2020, because of 'rona ✨

[tremendouskoalachild]

Does the Batman Epic Crime Saga (they better come up with a better name fast) chronology make sense? well, no. am i gonna write a rambling tumblr post about it? you know it!

spoilers for The Batman (2022) and the first 4 episodes of The Penguin (2024)

The Batman is set during Bruce's second year as Batman, and takes place over one week: starting at 8 pm on Thursday, October 31, and ending on Wednesday, November 6.

The Batman was originally filmed as though it is set in 2019, and the days of the week in Bruce's journal match that year's calendar. the shooting was put on hold due to the pandemic, and once it resumed the movie's setting was moved to 2021 (some other dates in the film match that year, and it can be extrapolated from graphics shown on screen). The Penguin takes place firmly in 2022, retconning this.

according to his diary, the Riddler got the idea for his grand plan to reveal corruption in Gotham on Friday, July 16 (of that year, meaning 2021, presumably; the day matches the 2021 calendar). that would mean he spent 3.5 months (107 days) planning and setting it all in motion. he likely intended on using the election's date from the start.

The Waynes were killed 20 years prior to Don Mitchell Jr's murder (October 31), to the week, during Thomas' mayoral campaign (this corresponds to 2001, as seen in the Riddler's video).

here we run into my lack of familiarity with DC lore, but i believe the implication is that Mitchell became mayor in 2001, served 4 consecutive 5-year terms (and was up for reelection in 2021), and Maroni was taken down due to Carmine Falcone's information shortly after Mitchell first took office (the timing of the Maroni bust is very tenuous; i'm largely going by the various claims that Falcone has been the top dog for 20 years, and that removing Maroni was what got him there. there is also Annika's confused recollection of Mitchell telling her Falcone was the informant on that case, and that that's how Mitchell became mayor, even though we know the bust happened during his term. however, Oz was supposedly involved, as alluded to by Sal in The Penguin, and he was merely Sofia's driver just 10 years ago, before moving up in Carmine's organization and gaining control of the drops operation, which was already controlled by the Falcones at that time.)

The Penguin starts one week after Carmine Falcone is killed and the flooding starts (on Election day, November 5), so November 12, 2022.

Oz kills Alberto at night, and spends the time until his next shift securing an alibi and hiding the body, with the help of Vic. Oz takes Alberto's phone and looks through his calendar app, which is showing the current day as November 13, noting he has a shipment scheduled for the evening of Monday, November 18 (this day matches the calendar for 2024 and 2019, but definitely not 2021 or 2022).

The next day (November 13, assuming Oz checked the phone after midnight - seems likely, he went in at night, had a long discussion with Alberto, killed him, dragged his body to the car, and "recruited" Vic before this), Oz reunites with Sofia, recently out of Arkham thanks to her father's death. He is told to move the drops operation to Robbinsville by the Falcones within 48 hours, visits his mother's house, as well as Salvatore Maroni in prison, and frames the Maronis for Alberto's murder.

Presumably the next day, November 14, he visits Sal again, planning their heist. Luca Falcone has arrived to take over the family by then. We see the move to Robbinsville being ambushed by Maronis at night, likely 14 to 15 November (i doubt Oz organized the move he didn't want to do the same day he was ordered to do it, while coordinating with the Maronis; i also doubt Viti would let him get away with missing the 2 day deadline without a fuss). Sofia recruits a detective within hours to find the mole.

Alberto's funeral is on the following day, November 15 (not that it's particularly useful, but we know it isn't a Sunday from Francis mistakenly trying to go to Mass. if we accept the Monday is the 18th, then it must be Friday). After the funeral, Luca suggests to Sofia she leave for Italy. That night we see Vic bury Castillo and Ervad, and Sofia team up with Oz.

In the evening of the shipment, so November 18 according to the calendar, Sofia and Oz start putting their plan in motion. Graciela tells Vic she is leaving the next night, November 19. Johnny Viti confronts Sofia, telling her she has two days left in Gotham before either leaving for Italy or being disposed of, and gives her a boarding pass with the date Thursday, November 20, 2022. (in case you're curious, no, November 20 2022 is not a Thursday. more bizarrely, we know it was Monday on the 18th, so November 20 has to be a Wednesday. the last time Nov 22 fell on a Thursday was 2018, before even the original scrapped setting of the movie.) the boarding time is in the evening, so Johnny seems to be counting the next day, November 19, and the day she's supposed to leave, November 20, as her two days.

The next day, November 19, Sofia and Oz go to the Triads to negotiate, then blackmail Johnny to secure an audience and trial run for that night. It goes well but the Maronis arrive, and a dazed Sofia calls Dr Julian Rush for help after Oz abandons her.

She wakes up at his place the next morning, November 20, and mentions she is supposed to be on a plane to Italy by the next day - not that evening, as it says on the ticket her family bought her. Maybe she's confused after her traumatic incident, or is ignoring the ticket and choosing to interpret Johnny's ultimatum differently.

Julian says she has been out of Arkham for only a few weeks (she was exonerated through Alberto and Julian's efforts after Carmine's death, November 5th - 16 days earlier, so it appears that process was quick). She crashes a family dinner that evening, implies she is leaving the next day, and kills everyone in the mansion except for Gia and Johnny Viti during the night. She wakes Johnny up in the morning of November 21, where we end episode 4.

as for the flashbacks:

Vic's takes place in the hours before the flooding starts, not only confirming that it happened in the evening on November 5, but also that it was Tuesday. This date works for either 2019 or 2024, and matches the day of the week from Alberto's phone in episode 1.

Sofia's flashbacks: 10 years prior to The Penguin, in 2012, reporter Summer Gleeson approached Sofia Falcone with information about several women working for Carmine Falcone strangled over the last decade, so roughly 2002-2012. she herself was killed in the same manner shortly after, and the murders got pinned on Sofia. Sofia was arrested on Carmine's birthday, September 5, and she was held responsible for the murders of Summer and 6 other women (presumably the same ones Summer told her about, as her murder was made to look like Sofia trying to shut her up).

from The Batman we know that Maria Kyle was also strangled by Carmine during this period, in 2004:

while we're looking at tombstones, the Falcone family's plaques in The Penguin episode 2 are the source of Carmine's birth date:

Alberto's body is recovered the day after his murder, and the date November 13 is used on his.

some random tidbits about different characters' ages:

Bella Reál is 28 (said on the tv broadcast in the opening of The Batman).

Bruce Wayne is around 30/was around 10 when his parents died (not said in the film but mentioned in interviews).

Edward Nashton's fake ID under the name Patrick Parker has his date of birth listed as 03/30/1985, which would make this persona 36 in 2021. the ID under his real name appears to list 1984, which would make him around 37/17 at the time of the Waynes' murder, or 1994, making him around 27/7 at the time of the murder. the second interpretation is supported by the Riddler: Year One comic miniseries, written by Riddler actor Paul Dano, showing Edward as a little boy meeting Thomas when he announces his mayoral campaign (and appears to fit better with the speech Edward gives in the film).

Annika Kosolov was born on January 1, 1998, making her 23 if the film takes place in 2021. she is also Estonian. neat.

Selina Kyle was 7 when her mother was killed, which happened in 2004 according to Maria's tombstone in The Batman, making Selina around 24 if we use the 2021 setting (25 for the retcon timeline, birth year around 1997 either way).

Sofia Falcone was 9 when her mother was killed, which happened in 1994 according to her plaque in The Penguin, making Sofia around 37 in the show (birth year around 1985), around 27 when she was arrested and taken to Arkham.

edit: we actually do have Sofia's birth date, thank you @thevoidstaresback93! she was born on January 3, 1985, making her 27 at her arrest and 37 in the show.

from the above we also know that Carla Viti was 28 at Sofia's arrest and must be around 38 in the show.

similarly, we know Johnny Viti, which is apparently his legal name, was 43 in the flashback and must be around 53 in the show.

from his plaque we know Alberto was 38 when Oz killed him, and is a year or two older than his sister Sofia.

Carmine Falcone was 65 when the Riddler finally killed him.

his victims were mostly young women whose exact ages we don't know, long dead before the present day events; we only know that Isabella Falcone was killed at 34, and Maria Kyle at around 28.

Victor Aguilar is 17, since his ID shows his date of birth being April 23, 2005. his girlfriend Graciela is probably around the same age, since they go to school together.

revelations from the Riddler video:

Martha Wayne's parents were killed in 1981 (her mother killed her father and then herself), and her father was 36 at that point.

Wayne Enterprises sent the cease and desist to the journalist digging into Martha's family history on February 16, 2000, over a year and a half before the election in October/November 2001. what a dramatic period of time for everyone involved.

one last hilarious thing: this date in the canon comic released in October 2022, in the same year as the film, fits with the 2020 calendar.

[staplersalad]

I cannot be the only Beatles fan drawing parallels with One Direction right now.

16th October, Liam Payne dies, falling from his balcony. 8 years after the band split up, a band that was together for 6 years (2010-2016)

I thought about the Beatles, how they’d been together for 8 years (1962-1970) granted john, paul and george knew each other since 1957/58.

Both bands took off when they were roughly the same age. Both bands had not very long careers. And yes I’m incredibly biased and so I don’t think that they had the same cultural significance, but were both bands subjected to an incredibly insane level of fandom? hell yeah, and while I’d argue with the internet existing in 1D’s time, they probably dealt with it worse- the concept of boy band fandoms and celebrity worship were so new during The Beatles era that while it may seem mild compared to fandoms in the age of the internet, since it was new it probably felt just as scary and intense.

And then I thought about Liam’s death, about how John died 10 years after the band split up. And well when Liam died, as someone who was alive during the 1D era (never became a fan but hell yeah I was singing and dancing to all their chart toppers) the first thought that came to my head was wow, the 1D era feels like such a long time ago, his death felt so very separated from “a member of the former band One Direction dies”

And with sadness I very quickly thought about John and how he died 10 years after the band split, even longer, and well, did The Beatles connection feel forced then? We look back with nostalgia and love, but on that very day he died and news spread, did The Beatles feel like something of so long ago?

And I haven’t kept up with 1D at all but I do know some of the members were on good terms and good friends but I bet it was more on the lines of “oh you and I were together at a very pivotal points of our lives” a very nostalgia based friendship if you will, and so when Liam died, I do not doubt for a second they were in shock and their hearts broke at the news, but did it feel like when you’ve heard your old best friend from school passed away or did it feel like your brother passed away? And with sadness I ask the same question for when John died, hoping it’s the second answer.

And I’d hate to think the first answer was true for when John died, and truly I don’t think it is. I think the music community was so much more tight knit back then, there really wasn’t that sheer volume of top artists like we have today. Also their solo careers were all very successful from the get go, their names still always floating around in tabloids- which is also true for the 1D members in some regard but the truth is in the age of the internet and a massive volume of artists in the music industry, they’ve definitely floated away which didn’t really happen to The Beatles if you get what I mean. And so I think they were in some ways closer after the band split than the members of One Direction was?

And Liam from whatever little tidbits I find on the internet seems to have not been a very great person and so his death initially (well maybe still is) was tainted by a lot of that and I thought about how John also wasn’t a perfect person either and when he died where there people that thought the same? I’d hope not. But also John’s solo career was a million miles ahead of even the peak of Liam’s solo career and so his death must have had more gravity in that sense.

I don’t know I guess I just found it bizarre how when we talk about The Beatles, John’s death 10 years after the band broke up felt so much more consecutive whereas having lived these 8 years after 1D broke up and Liam dying, I realise how much time must have really passed.

[dedalvs]

Fiat Lingua Top 10 for 2023

It's time for the annual Fiat Lingua rewind!

Background: I created Fiat Lingua over ten years ago with the idea that it could be something like the Rutgers Optimality Archive: A place where conlangers could post work that they wanted to showcase, or work that was in progress. We've had tons of contributions over the years, and some standout work I'm really proud of.

Using our fancy statistics program (you know, the free version) we're able to determine the top 10 visited posts for this year (though, note, the numbers for the current year's December post will always be down a little bit, since it didn't have a full month. If you'd like to take a look at it, Carsten Becker did a version of "Silent Night" in his conlang Ayeri!). Here they are!

NUMBER 10

"Road Trip Conlanging with Kids" (August, 2023) by Mia DeSanzo: Fiat Lingua is supposed to be an archive of long, detailed conlang articles, and also short, breezy conlang ideas, and this is one of the latter! It's less than a page long, but a fun idea, and it was quite well-received!

NUMBER 9

"Art & Anxiety: Conlanging through impostor syndrome" (February, 2023) by Jessie Sams (now Jessie Peterson): This is a personal reflection by @quothalinguist on how she has dealt with impostor syndrome, and how it's impacted her conlanging.

NUMBER 8

"Taadži Linguistics" (March, 2023) by Lauren Kuffler: This is a wonderful introduction to the Taadži language, which features a writing system reminiscent of Mayan epigraphs.

NUMBER 7

"Tone for Conlangers: A Basic Introduction" (April, 2018) by Aidan Aannestad: Making a second consecutive appearance in the top ten, Aidan Aannestad's introduction to tone has been an invaluable resource for conlangers producing tonal conlangs for just over five years now!

NUMBER 6

"Afrihili: An African Interlanguage" (April, 2014) by William S. Annis: Afrihili is an a posteriori auxlang from the late 60s that uses Bantu languages as its source, and it is fascinating! One of my all-time favorite auxlangs, and William provides a wonderful introduction. Of interest, this article was number 6 in the top ten last year, as well!

NUMBER 5

"Names Aren’t Neutral: David J. Peterson on Creating a Fantasy Language" (March, 2019) by David J. Peterson: Up four spots from last year, this is my article on best practices when coming up with names in a fantasy setting—even when no conlang is present.

NUMBER 4

"Grambank & Language Documentation: Zhwadi and Its Features" (June, 2023) by Jessie Sams (now Jessie Peterson): The first of the game-changing mega-resources for conlanging Jessie created in 2023, this is a short description of how to use Grambank in conlanging with a link to a fillable Google spreadsheet any conlanger can copy and use to introduce their conlang to others.

NUMBER 3

"Patterns of Allophony" (April, 2015) by William S. Annis: Definitely one of the most popular papers on Fiat Lingua, William illustrates graphically a number of very common sound changes. This article once again occupies the third spot of our top ten!

NUMBER 2

"A Conlanger's Thesaurus" (September, 2014) by William S. Annis: We have a new number 1 for this year! This has, historically, been the most accessed article on Fiat Lingua, and it's obvious to see why. The article is relatively short, compared to the information and use you can get out of it. William Annis details ways in which languages relate words to other similar words. For conlangers who struggle either with coming up with words that are different from English in meaning, or who struggle with coming up with words at all, this reference article should prove very useful. Using the word maps in this article, you might be able to come up with words you never dreamt of before, but words which could exist in some language. A great resource for conlangers who are desperately trying to break out of the influence of their L1 or L2!

And now for the top viewed article for 2023 on Fiat Lingua...

NUMBER 1

"A Surreal Conlang" (January, 2023) by David J. Peterson: Quite the surprise! Late 2022 I wrote an article about how one might go about creating a surreal conlang—neither naturalistic nor regular and artificial like an auxlang or engelang—and it went up on Fiat Lingua on January 1st. I think (or hope) it served as a useful jumping off point for conlangers who are looking to try something really different from what they've seen done elsewhere.

* * * * *

And that's it for 2023! I'm looking forward to posting more conlang articles next year. If you are a conlanger, a conlang-researcher, or conlang fan who has something to say in .pdf format about a specific conlang or conlanging in general, please consider submitting something to Fiat Lingua! We take any and all articles related to conlanging in whatever form you have them. I'm also happy to help you think up ideas, or refine those ideas you have. There is no strong review like in a fancy journal: I just want to get what you have up. I'm especially in interested in hosting personal conlang stories—stories about how or why you started to create a language, or your experience creating your own language—personal stories that are often lost, but are so vital, as there is an absolute dearth of literature about conlangers! If you think you have even the seed of an idea, please get a hold of me! I want to share as many stories and ideas as I can.

[foxufortunes]

So like, just to put my previous post about the Raven's undefeated streak, how game wise it's a nonsense and championship wise it makes a little more sense, into context and to expand my thoughts on it. Let's look at lacrosse. NCAA DV1 men's lacrosse has been going for around 50years now. So actually it was formed just a little before exy was invented and if we take Nora's confusing timeline, anywhere from a few years to 10 years before NCAA exy was approved. So, they're about the same age actually.

In that time there have been 14 teams who didn't lose a single match during a season, the record being 18 teams in a season (this makes the lacrosse championships closer to the exy fall season in scale). These notably, all came in as either #1 or #2 seeds. And of these teams only 2 have ever managed consecutive undefeated seasons. These are also the two teams with the most championships (Syracuse with 10 and Johns Hopkins with 9). Syracuse has the highest win percentage of 0.691 while John Hopkins is 4th on that list with 0.651. And the most championships any team has won in a row is 3.

With pro lacrosse, the longest undefeated winning streak is 22 games, and the most titles won by one team is 6 and the highest win percentage is 0.603.

Now, if we look at the Ravens. To be generous we'll only count the five years the Foxes have been up and running, when college exy is fully funded and exy players are some of the highest payed athletes in the world and their stadiums are some of the biggest in the world, and exy is an Olympic sport. And to match up a bit better with the lacrosse size, we'll only count the fall season and assume the distract the Ravens transferred from is roughly the same size and the SE District. With those perimeters that is an undefeated streak of 75 games, 5 championships and a win percentage of 1. (And overall, if we're generous and ignore the finer details of Nora's time line, and say NCAA exy has been in full swing for let's say 15 years and still restrict it to 15 matches for the fall season, that's still a conservative estimate of 15 titles in a row and a 225 game winning streak).

The idea that even this far in the two biggest competitors with massive, well funded teams, and (if I remember Nora's extra content correctly) who got in on the ground floor just a little after college exy was created (wasn't the first ever college exy game between EA and one of the big 3? I'm not looking at the EC sheet right now, forgive me but the timeline on exy is shaky anyway), have never won even a single game by a single point or in shoot outs, is utterly ridiculous. Sure, I could by they're undefeated as champions, but never a single game lost ever is ridiculous. And counter intuitive to the spread of your game. Not only are fans not interested in a sport where they know the outcome (in both well funded and less popular sports, this usually leads to fans either turning off or paying attention to lower leagues) but especially in small unpopular sports, there's a sense that you need to spread the talent around to make the sport interesting so people will watch it. For a sport just starting out like exy was back in the day, the idea that one team will always come out on top is a death sentence. Like, even the best teams in the world sometimes play teams they're supposed to beat easily and take them too lightly and lose (actually this is stupidly common and probably the sort of thing the Foxes would face all the time, and partly how some bottom of the league teams have done what the Foxes have done and won the entire seasons yes, looking at you Leicester Foxes winning at 5000-1 that one season.) and even if we like to pretend it's not a part of sport, bad days do actually happen and sometimes your team just plays a nightmare game or the other team just pops off and is at 110% and there is just nothing you can do.

[bearterritory]

Jen Malcom Starts Tenure With Win

Cal Sweeps Nevada In Rose City Showdown Opener

PORTLAND, OR – Head coach Jen Malcom wasted no time getting into the win column in her first season at the helm of the California women's volleyball program. The Golden Bears (1-0) swept Nevada (25-17, 25-16, 25-22) in their first game of the Rose City Showdown in Portland Friday evening. Xuemeng (Maggie) Li and Gianna Bartalo led all players with 10 kills and 22 digs respectively. Annalea Maeder recorded two service aces to put her just eight away from tying Teri Donahue for fifth place on Cal's all-time career list.   Back-to-back kills from Li opened the first set and helped the Bears jump out to a 5-1 lead before Nevada (0-1) called a timeout. A service ace from Annalea Maeder extended the lead to 7-1. The Wolfpack got to within four points at 17-13 before Li scored consecutive points on a block assist followed by back-to-back service aces to put Cal up 20-13. An attack error from Nevada gave the Bears the winning point for the set.

In the second set, after Nevada scored the first point, Cal responded with a 4-0 scoring run fueled by two Li kills, but from that point on the Wolfpack stayed within striking distance, never going down by more than three points until the Bears went on a 5-0 run to go up 21-15. Cal then took four of the next five points with the help of consecutive Nevada errors to win the set.   The third set proved to be the most competitive of the match as it saw 10 ties. The Bears got down early as the Wolfpack used a 5-0 run to go up 6-2 before Sawyer Thompson nailed a kill to end the run. Nevada scored three more unanswered to go up 9-3 before Cal responded with a 7-1 run to get within a point. Sophia Johnson served an ace to tie that game at 10-10. Both teams then exchanged points on the next 10 serves to keep the game tied at 15-15. With Cal down 18-17, Mikayla Hayden scored on a kill followed by a block to power a 4-0 run to put the Bears up 21-18. Li scored on two kills and a block assist over the next four points to help seal the win for Cal.      "The team earned this win by doing the small things that we talked about all week: ball handling, serving aggressive and spreading out the offense," Malcom said. "We executed at a high clip and gave us the ability to pull away at the end of sets. It was great to be battle tested in the third set and love how the team responded and found a way to come out on top. It feels great to get this first win of the season and set the tone of where Cal volleyball is heading!"

UP NEXT   Cal continues play in the Rose City Showdown taking on San Francisco at 11:30 a.m. PT.   STAY POSTED For further coverage of Cal women's volleyball, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalVolleyball), Instagram (@Calvolleyball).

[fierath]

top gun headcanons bc I'm bored part five (I think??) call sign edition:

1. Hangman: he can't spell. he was always asking how to spell things and then someone made a joke of it and made him guess letters and then Bradley called him Hangman and never stopped

2. Rooster: tried to dye his hair as a young teen and it ended up bright red. made the mistake of showing a picture to a squadmate

3. Phoenix: accidentally set off the fire alarm by burning a cheese pita in the toaster oven. they started by calling her "fire girl" but that wasn't original enough

4. Bob: he wasn't great at making friends but he went to a Halloween party and was the best at bobbing for apples. the friends that he did make wanted an inside joke that was subtle enough to go unnoticed

5. Coyote: he wears a Wile E. Coyote t shirt that he says is a "good luck charm" underneath his flight suit

6. Payback: he will not lend money to people or go halvsies on anything because no one ever pays him back

7. Fanboy: he met Sir Patrick Stewart and keeps a polaroid photo of it in his wallet

8. Harvard: you know how you sarcastically call someone "genius"?

9. Yale: you know how you sarcastically call someone "Einstein"?

10. Fritz: uses the phrase "on the Fritz" constantly to refer to anything that is even remotely broken or not working properly

11. Omaha: anytime he tells someone he's from Nebraska they go "Omaha?"

12. Halo: she once stayed awake for 48 consecutive hours to play the newest Halo videogame (when was this? I dont know, because I dont know anything about Halo except for that one movie I found on Hulu like six years ago)

[5p0rt5]

UFC 296 Showdown

As the UFC calendar culminates with UFC 296 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, fans are braced for an evening of high-voltage clashes. This card is not just about the physicality inside the octagon; it's a chess match of strategy, skill, and heart. Here's the breakdown of the key matchups with updated fighter records and betting odds.

Featherweight Fray: Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell

The featherweight division sees a compelling matchup between Josh Emmett (18-4-0) and Bryce Mitchell (16-1-0). Emmett, known for his knockout power, looks to bounce back from his recent struggles, having faced two consecutive losses. On the other hand, Mitchell, with only one loss to his name, comes off a solid win. This bout is a classic striker vs. grappler scenario, where Emmett's power meets Mitchell's grappling acumen.

Lightweight Showdown: Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett

In a highly anticipated lightweight bout, Tony Ferguson (25-9-0), a veteran of the octagon, faces the rising star Paddy Pimblett (20-3-0). Ferguson, despite recent setbacks, is known for his unorthodox style and formidable track record, including fights against top-tier opponents. Pimblett, entering with odds of -310, brings a fresh wave of energy and an impressive three-fight win streak in the UFC. This fight is a clash of experience versus momentum.

Flyweight Title Clash: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval

The co-main event features Alexandre Pantoja (26-5-0) defending his title against Brandon Royval (15-6-0). Pantoja, coming off a controversial split decision win to capture the title, showcases a balanced skill set with 8 KOs and 10 submissions. Royval, known as “Raw Dawg,” has a point to prove, having lost to Pantoja in their previous encounter. This rematch is not just for the title but also for pride and redemption.

Welterweight Championship: Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington

The main event features Leon Edwards (20-3-0, -155) taking on Colby Covington (17-3-0, +130). Edwards, coming off a highly acclaimed trilogy with Kamaru Usman, displays a versatile skill set marked by tactical striking and solid grappling. Covington, a divisive figure in the sport, is known for his endurance and wrestling prowess. This fight is a high-stakes battle where strategy, skill, and sheer will collide.

Final Thoughts

UFC 296 is more than just a collection of fights; it's a showcase of martial arts at its finest, where each athlete brings their unique story into the octagon. Tune in on December 16th for an unforgettable night of action, starting with the prelims at 3 PM PST and culminating with the main card at 7 PM PST.

[Updated fighter records from Sherdog.com: Josh Emmett​​, Bryce Mitchell​​, Tony Ferguson​​, Paddy Pimblett​​, Alexandre Pantoja​​, and Brandon Royval​​.]

[this-daydream-is-dangerous-13]

Here—for comparison—are the stolen 1989 benchmarks. I am going to pin and edit this post as we smash them (🙏🙏🤞🤞🕯️🕯️)

Some of the these are just “her 2nd AOTY Grammy”, “2 already released tracks” and “5 vault tracks” so there are not 9.

1. 3 No. 1 Hot 100 Hits

Prediction: She is going to knock HERSELF out of #1 this week! I don’t know if we will get three over time, but 1 for sure, and maybe more.

Actual: we got 1, with It Is Over Now? but Cruel Summer is unstoppable! So that might be it.

2. 5 Top 10 Hot 100 Hits

Prediction: She’ll once again take the entire top 10. Not sure what will happen with Cruel Summer in the mix, or for how long she can maintain it.

Actual: During the first week, she had 8 in the top 10, 7 of which were from 1989. It’s wild to see Style charting on the top 10 again. All 5 vault tracks landed in the top 10, along with Bad Blood (thanks Kendrick) and Style, plus Cruel Summer.

3. 1.287 million copies sold in its first week

Prediction: She might surpass this in pure preorder sales alone. I am excited to see how high this number goes when non-preorder pure sales and streaming get in the mix.

Actual: 1.653 million, surpassing not only original 1989 (and Rep) but even Midnights and its 1.57.

4. 11 Total Weeks at No. 1 in the Billboard 200

Prediction: We’ll get a few, maybe 3 or 4? If we approach 11, they’ll be non-consecutive with the holiday season (and Mariah Carey) about to disrupt the charts.

Actual: As of Nov 12th, we had 2 consecutive weeks at the top (sorry Jungkook).

5. 12.3 Million equivalent album units to date

Prediction: This will take a while, for sure. But I have faith that steady streaming numbers will one day allow TV to overtake the stolen version.

6. $250.7 Million gross on the 1989 World Tour

Prediction: Since the Eras tour will gross billions by its conclusion, I think that 1/9 of the gross (aka the share of EACH era, lol) will top $250 million. We’ll have to check back in 13 months’ time!

Go team 1989TV!!

[alwaysbeyondhope]

It’s not even 10:30 and I’ve had a very productive morning!

It didn’t help though that I’ve only gotten like 2 consecutive hours of sleep at a time, because I kept having to wake up to pee every 2 hours. Because of the IV fluids from yesterday.

So I’ve been up since like 6:30 (or so). I did all my morning routines, including all the meds and the cat litter. I got organized and settled in the living room and I’ve been watching season 2 of Leverage as I’ve been doing my stuff.

Gonna maybe sleep for a little bit before L gets up to make food. Maybe do some reading or something later today. Who knows. Or just sleep and take it super easy.

The pain isn’t that bad, overall. Definitely not the worst pain I’ve ever been in. Not even necessarily top 5. It’s more cumbersome than anything else. Some stinging / sharp pain in my ankle and shin and knee, but nothing too serious. And I’ve been up and moving around a lot, with and without my walker.

I’m just wiped. I’m so tired and it takes a lot of energy and stamina to move around and navigate. So I’m very grateful for the STD because I can’t imagine trying to work with all of this going on at the moment.

Anyway. That’s all. Now I’m sleepy.

[mysticscrystalrevelation]

Game 10 Concentrated Thurs, June 6 7pm EDT Chicago @ Washington

Starting: WASH: Atkins, Dolson, Edwards, Samuelson, Vanloo (Sykes out with ankle injury, Austin injury rest?) CHI: DeShields, Evans, Mabrey, Reese, Williams

1st Quarter Always GREAT to see former Mystic Elizabeth Williams among a just plain excellent cast of characters for the Sky. Edwards makes good cuts, she's never stagnant. Three straight possessions we find her under the hoop for the easiest $2—forcing the Sky to huddle up and figure out a response. For the first time in quite a few games, the early energy among DC players is HYPE. Stef just twirled Shakira. The best part about home games is obviously the TOP two voices in sports: the legendary, always flawlessly attired Meghan McPeak and Christy Winters-Scott. <3 <3 JVL playing with a wrapped thumb tonight, doesn't appear to be slowing her down. Edwards' jumper gives her 8 after 3 mins, 100% of our scoring power. Karlie joins the fun with a corner 3 undeterred by a leaping Diamond DeShields. Sky with only 3 pts. A miss, a moving screen, and a lost ball from us and the Sky have made up the difference. Shatori, Yish, and Jade in. We're getting some steals and stops but a bit light on offense. Cardoso is fast at 6'7". Refs starting to get frisky with the whistles. Jade misses a free throw, gets her own and puts it right up to end the 1st 21-15.

2nd Quarter I've been thinking it all year and it's time to say it: Dana Evans is not playing around this season. Respectfully, she wasn't messing around last year either but it's a vector not a point, you know? Our bench struggling against good Sky defense to start the 2nd and they tie it up. It's not pretty right now, whistles, misses, no flow both ends. Shatori hypes the crowd up with a move and a jumper. Engstler with some first-half minutes today and gets a block. We find Aaliyah under the hoop next play and it's starting to look more like the first quarter. Eeeeeeverybody touches the ball and Earl downs the trey. Cardoso to Reese just playing above the heads of everyone—can't let that take off. Shatori jukes, pulls up, scores. Cardoso to Reese repeat and Eric calls time to solve it. Starting line returns. JVL is left alone -> layup. Chennedy with some tuff buckets here in the second. JVL finds Edwards, who drops it in and then gets a block on Reese the other way. Still Sky ball and she gets ANOTHER block on Cardoso this time. Ooh Chennedy heating up, getting what she wants. It's 41-35. Aaliyah is 7 of 7. Stef hits a three, closing the half 44-35.

3rd Quarter Patience continues to pay off on O as we eventually get someone lonely under the hoop. Elizabeth Williams out with knee injury (didn't see it) get better quick E! I was wondering about the extended minutes for Cardoso as she's coming back from injury herself. I'd love to see DiDi get in here. Go-go is rocking the house but the Sky get the D and a Mabrey 3. Some consecutive empty possessions and the lead shrinks to 3. We have let go too soon of what was working—slipping a player to the hoop. Aaliyah with a big block hopefully driving a momentum shift. Sky within 1. The hoop is not accepting shots on the DC end. Foul shots give Chicago the lead. A Capital P Painful 16-0 run. Myisha breaks the curse. Jade leaps and goes sliding off into the crowd "safe at third" according to Meghan lol. Edwards making a tough shot here and we're even at 54. Criminally underrated Izzy Harrison with 6 quick points. Turnover and Angel Reese and-1 and we need a timeout with just 50 seconds left in the quarter, dragging by 6 prior to the foul shot. Reese misses the extra but we turn it over right away. 54-60. Only 10 points in the quarter for DC.

4th Quarter Shatori doing all the scoring for us by drawing fouls. We are struggling to get stops the other way. 58-64. A couple Sky misses match ours and things aren't pretty right now. Ariel shows her toughness for 2 and then we get a defensive rebound, but turn it over on a push off. Earl gets the steal and will go to the line after her shot attempt. 61-64 with 5 minutes remaining. Chennedy gets another tough bucket and she has 19 for Chicago. Things are not pretty at all. Back-to-back turns and the Sky's 2-pt lead becomes 6. 2:22 to play. Ugly gets uglier—Earl misses both free throws, Chennedy gets a shot and then we turn it over. We can't seem to find the net. 71-79. We have lost all 10 games! Nothing to say about that at this point. Aaliyah Edwards with a double-double.

[scotianostra]

Dorothy Campbell Hurd Howe was born on March 24th 1883 at North Berwick.

Born as Dorothy Lee Campbell, Dorothy was the first woman to dominate the international female golf, between 1905 and 1912, she won 10 national championships in Scotland, America, Canada and England. Then, 12 years later, she won the American title once more.

As Dorothy Campbell, and later as Mrs. J.V. Hurd, her count of national amateurs was three Scottish, three U.S.,  two British and three Canadian. In 1909, she became the first woman to win the U.S. and British Amateurs in the same year.

Dorothy grew up with the  town’s famous links, where her paternal grandfather and eight uncles all played, as her playground. She took her first swing when she was 18 months, and by age five, was playing matches against her older sisters.

Campbell did not evolve into a top player until her later teens, when she changed what had been a half swing into a full one. In 1905 she won her first Scottish Ladies title, played at the North Berwick links, more than 4,000 people watched her win the final on the 19th hole. She repeated in 1906 and 1908. The next year she entered the U.S. Women’s Amateur for the first time and won at the Merion Cricket Club. When she returned to achieve her first victory in the British Women’s Amateur Championship at Royal Birkdale, it was an unprecedented double.

In 1910, Campbell moved to Canada and won the country’s championship three consecutive years before moving to the United States permanently in 1913. When she won the American title again in 1924, she was 41 years old. She remains the championship’s oldest winner, and her 15-year span between victories is also the longest in the event’s history.

Hurd advanced women’s golf in America by being the first to aim directly at the pin on her approaches instead of just the general vicinity of the green. She had a tremendous short game, which she once said, “is almost second nature to me.” A deadly putter, she was even better from just off the green. Her favourite club was a goose-necked mashie she called “Thomas.” It was “Thomas” that she gave credit to for her American-British double at Birkdale she used the club to hole out at a crucial point in the match. In the final of the 1921 North and South championship at Pinehurst, “Thomas” holed two shots.

After her flurry of national titles, Campbell married and her golf career hit a fallow period. When she lost the final of the 1920 U.S. Amateur to Alexa Stirling, it appeared to be her last hurrah. But in 1923, seeing that many women were out-driving her by using a more modern technique, she concluded that her game needed updating. She changed her swing returning to winning ways at the 1924 U.S. Amateur at Rhode Island C.C., she rolled through the field, ultimately defeating Mary K. Browne, the national lawn tennis champion of 1912 and 1913, 7 and 6, in the final.

Although it was Hurd’s last championship, she was far from finished as a golfer. In 1926, she set out to surpass the record for fewest putts in 18 holes, 21, which had been set by Walter J. Travis. At the Augusta C.C., Hurd came to the 18th hole with 19 putts, when she holed out from off the green using “Thomas,” her famous mashie.

She married Jack V. Hurd in Wentworth, Ontario, Canada on 11 February 1913.  Hurd was a steel magnate living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She won many of her titles as Mrs. J. V. Hurd, but she and Hurd were divorced in 1923. Dorothy  married Edward Howe in 1937 and divorced again in 1943.

Her life ended tragically in a railway accident on March 20, 1945, falling off a platform and into the path of an oncoming train.

She was inducted to the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 13/01/2023 (Liam Gallagher/John Squire, Lewis Capaldi, Bring Me the Horizon)

Welp, Noah Kahan’s back at #1 with “Stick Season” for a second consecutive week - kinda surprised this is the hit song we start off the year with but alas, welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

Now this is the kind of balls-to-the-wall week I expect from early January, and we’ll get to that, but as always, we start with our notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we say farewell to “ten” by Fred again.. and Jozzy, “Take on Me” by a-ha, “(It Goes Like) Nanana” by Peggy Gou, “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston, “Giving Me” by Jazzy, “Miracle” by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, "Escapism." by RAYE featuring 070 Shake and "As it Was" by Harry Styles.

Now as for songs still showing up on the charts, we have our notable gains, and given January actually has a lot of stuff going on pop music wise, I’m not entirely sure how well these will maintain their momentum but regardless, we do see boosts for… “When We Were Young (The Logical Song)” by David Guetta and Kim Petras at #53, “Riptide” by Vance Joy at #49 - oh, this is dire. Noah Kahan’s good, sure, but it really does not mean we need to stomp and holler our way back to 2014. Sigh, elsewhere, at least we have “Never Lose Me” by Flo Milli at #41, but also “Toxic” by Songer at #39 - God, let’s not do this, please - “Perfect (Exceeder)” by Mason and Princess Superstar at #26, “Feather” by Sabrina Carpenter at #19, “Popular” by The Weeknd, Playboi Carti and Madonna getting a second wind at #11 and finally, Teddy Swims with his first top 10 as “Lose Control” rises to #6, not really complaining about that one.

In addition, we see another film-related return with Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” finding use in this romcom Anyone but You which no, I haven’t watched and unlike Saltburn, probably won’t. Regardless, the song debuted and peaked at #6 in 2004 the week that “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid 20 debuted at the top of the charts, and it’s now back at #24. I’m a lot less fond of this one, but it’s mostly fine, I’m more exhausted by how 2024 seems to be going even harder in just reviving catalogue songs instead of having new hits.

As for our top five, it seems pretty standard with “greedy” by Tate McRae at #5, “Prada” by casso, RAYE and D-Block Europe at #4 and “Lovin’ on Me” at #3, but then we have Sophie Ellis-Bextor reaching the same peak she reached back at release with “Murder on the Dancefloor” at #2. I don’t really get why the scene in the film, which whilst memorable, is hardly a worthwhile payoff to that shitfest, but I digress, is what propelled this but I almost think it was just sitting there, ready for any excuse to start skirting up the Spotify charts. Oh, and Noah Kahan’s at #1, of course, let’s check out what’s new, because there’s actually more here than last week… and it’s a bit more interesting… Hell, it’s actually pretty incomprehensible this week, so let’s just find some kind of through line, and we start with a certainty that is oddly comforting nowadays…

New Arrivals

#72 - “Skims” - D-Block Europe

Produced by THESCAM and Hash-K

Ah, my good old friends Young Adz and Dirtbike Lb. It’s even produced by… “THESCAM”, wow, I guess it says gullible on the ceiling of your mansion, guys. They released a mixtape or album or whatever and this is a single from it - yes, we’re getting back to back DBE weeks - and it’s just terrible as you’d expect. The tuned-out piano is almost plugg-esque, and surprisingly enough, Dirtbike Lb handles much of this, talking about women mostly as well as a lot of flexing, and whilst he can’t make a catchy hook to save his life, I like Dirtbike’s voice here, he sounds more… stable than usual, and the drums actually hit fairly hard through the whole song. On an objective level, if there is one, this is one of their most competent lead singles until Young Adz comes in with “Presidential, Emmanuel Macron”. That’s the French President. That’s just the French President, you can’t just say the French President. That’s not a bar. He’s mixed too loud and brags about paying with crypto and giving a girl so much money that she… can’t tax evade anymore. Sure. Good to have you back, guys.

#71 - “Nothing Matters” - The Last Dinner Party

Produced by James Ellis Ford

Alright, we have our first of many sleeper hits to debut this week, but this is actually one of the newer ones, being released just early last year. This is the debut single for all-female indie rock band The Last Dinner Party, hailing from London and getting James Ellis Ford, who’s produced for a who’s who of British alternative acts and Kylie Minogue, to work on their debut album coming out in February. We start with an organ, which is almost ironically religious for this kind of song, as lead singer Abigail Morris, through her very British delivery, pretty much condemns herself prematurely for what she’s about to say, “I have my sentence now”, it seems final and self-loathing for what is pretty much a newfound love song, where her partner is struggling to move on but it’s a complete rush for Morris, who seems to hold a lot of power. They can hold her like they held their last girlfriend, but what she’s going to do is fuck you so good that none of that matters, and yeah, this is brilliant. There’s such a bending character to Morris’ vocals, I love the flailing yacht rock guitars in the verses that end up picking up into an incredibly catchy bass groove peppered by the claps in the basic yet anthemic chorus that doesn’t change because, well, it doesn’t change like much will change at this point. To her, there’s not a third person that matters, or at least there’s not a third opinion she values more than getting off on their misunderstanding, and then that staccato bridge explodes into a great squealing guitar solo that ends up seamlessly mirroring the plastic horns that appear in the back of the - admittedly maybe a bit too compressed - mix for that final chorus, where we get a switch up in the rhythm and some impressive vocal runs from Morris.

#59 - “A Cure for Minds Overall” - Lewis Capaldi

Produced by TMS

…Can I use my free Get Out of Reviewing a Lewis Capaldi Song card? Oh, there are two Lewis Capaldi songs both from his deluxe edition? Sigh… well, I guess I’ll use these for another time. Well, for now, I can say that’s an ugly Britpop guitar tone that easily sounds like it could be a MIDI guitar just playing the same chord again and again, and like all of the songs from this album, Capaldi’s voice is mixed bizarrely, and really close, which could help the song’s intimacy, and mostly does, especially given it’s just as self-loathing and wordy as the others, and it goes for the same explosion of strings and belting as the others for the chorus… but God, it’s so tedious. I actually don’t mind the strings, the lyrics are pretty great, but this mix is such a blur of nothingness and the guitar just doesn’t stop. There are supposedly drums in this but they’re so unimpactful and shrouded by the terrible blending of the strings that it just sounds like a guy arguing with clouds and losing… which may actually be what he’s going for, in all honesty. I suppose it works?

#52 - “Ophelia” - The Lumineers

Produced by Simone Felice

…Why? Okay, so this is a sleeper hit from folk rock group The Lumineers and like I said, we’re stomp and hollering our way back to the days of “Ho Hey” as somehow, “Ophelia”, despite releasing in 2015 and being a minor hit Stateside, had never crossed over to the UK. This is really not my thing, even if I know that it’s really not a bad song. The reverb envelops the mix in a cinematic if slightly cheap, commercial-sounding way, and Wesley Schultz is far from a bad singer, his feature on my favourite song of last year kind of proved that I like his voice way more than I should. The jaunty hook is catchy if a tad unmemorable, carried by the gimmicky piano frolick that I’ve never liked, and you can hear he’s straining a bit in the third verse, out of a slight frustration but not a specific one. This song has always felt like vague-posting about a relationship to me and not in a very effective way because there’s little poetic about this song. I’m sorry, I don’t dislike these guys, I’m just not big on this one at all. I get why it’s going to probably be a hit now, I’m not really happy about it.

#37 - “Strangers” - Lewis Capaldi

Produced by The Monsters & Strangerz and Michael Pollack

Okay, our second effort from Mr. Capaldi here… he references “Wonderwall” within 10 seconds, and that’s not the last time we’ll be talking about Oasis, it’s one of those weeks. Anyway, this is just awkward: Lewis isn’t really fit for the fast-paced melody he uses given his frail, froggy voice, and there’s not much to cover that up given the minimal piano and strings backing. I genuinely think this could be a great song if just put against some real rock guitar and groove, it has an insanely catchy lead melody in the chorus that would rip in a pop rock context, but here we just have adult contemporary mush about a breakup… has this guy had 47 breakups or is he just talking about the same one each time? I mean, I guess it’s better than the last one because the mix sounds slightly more professional, but there’s not exactly much to latch onto here either.

#27 - “Practice” - Drake

Produced by 40 and Drake

This is a deep cut from 2011’s Take Care. What the Hell is going on?! To be fair, it’s still Drake, but it’s not even a song he’s pushing or got any kind of boost outside of a TikTok trend and, well, it fits the climate of pop music right now at least, since it samples the bounce classic “Back that Azz Up” by JUVENILE featuring Mannie Fresh, who also produced one of the most recognisable beats of all time, and a young Lil Wayne on the bridge. The Weeknd says he wrote the hook but it’s word for word from “Back that Azz Up” so not really sure what he’s going on about there. The explicit yet undeniable club jam actually never charted in the UK, but hey, now we have Drake singing it to yet another stripper he’s in love with. As for that version, I’ve never been a fan of this era of Drake, where he takes himself uber-seriously, can barely sing and is pathetic in a murkier way that just bothers me more than it allows me to laugh at him, especially when he just… recites the chorus to “Back that Azz Up” over a cloudy alternative R&B beat, and a lot of Juvie’s first for that matter. Outside of the drums, which sound straight from 2011, this isn’t exactly a beat too far from what Drake is putting out right now - he’d probably add a female vocal sample and 21 Savage guest verse if he were to make it today - so I suppose I guess why it’s here, but I can get this vibe done much more compellingly from early Weeknd, I see little value in this, or really the album as a whole in 2024, other than constructing the guy’s wounded armour in the public eye. I do hear people say they want the old Drake, so I guess the fans just put their streams where their mouths were.

#21 - “Kool-Aid” - Bring Me the Horizon

Produced by Zakk Cervini, Oli Sykes and Dan Lancaster

This cover art looks like an edgy AI prompt for “Kool-Aid Man digital art”. The Horizon boys have released many a single from this upcoming album, and I’m actually less excited with each one I hear, so I’m cautious here, especially given… well, it’s called “Kool-Aid”. Welp, is this an “Oh Yeah!” moment? No, not at all. This is an “Oh no” at best, and maybe that’s giving it too much credit. I do like the build-up with the shuttering synths and two-clap drop in the intro, but the rest of the song spends so much of its runtime in muddy breakdown mode that it just fails to function in any other way, despite going for screaming breakdowns afterwards as if the song had any momentum in the first place, with Oli Sykes going on about drinking the Kool-Aid and, man, I don’t think the social commentary is that interesting or up to date, and the violent relationship analogies aren’t nearly as transgressive as he thinks they are. The haunting backing vocals from Lucy Landry in the bridge are pretty sick, but they once again find themselves in a song that REALLY wants you to convince you on something, but never really tells you what that something is. They go all out with every Bring Me the Horizon trick in the book for the final chorus and it just seems desperate. I’ll pass on this, I hope there’s more to the deep cuts.

#16 - “Just Another Rainbow” - Liam Gallagher and John Squire

Produced by Greg Kurstin

This was headed for #1 on Sunday, really. Now at a much more reasonable spot but still higher than Liam Gallagher should be in 2024, this is the lead single from a collaborative album between Mr. Gallagher and John Squire, who used to be the guitarist for The Stone Roses, an influential and for what they were, incredibly popular rock band from the Madchester scene in the late 80s and early 90s. They actually released two top 40 comeback singles in 2016, to which Squire contributed, but have otherwise been largely inactive, with this being his first top 40 hit to his own name, with Squire making a guest appearance at Gallagher’s recent Knebworth performances in tribute to him guest starring at Oasis’ classic 1996 concert there, which I guess rekindled something in the duo. Is this slice of 90s alt-rock nostalgia going to be any good? You know what? Probably not, but on this week I’ll take it. Liam’s voice is still grating but that psychedelic guitar lick is pretty washed-out and cool, and I think the way the mirroring bass is mixed against it makes it sound pretty interesting instrumentally. It sounds lost and uncertain, finding itself only when the drums come in and it turns into a bit of a bluesy rocker that is just solid. There’s little to complain about other than Liam’s voice just being an acquired taste, as the song just slides itself to and fro, with some lyrics where he literally just lists the colours of the rainbow at some point, it’s kind of silly. I don’t see this lasting even a second week and it’s of course not the best of the rock songs of this week, even if it has the coolest solo of all of them: it feels really dynamic and kind of goes on forever in a soaring linger. If anything is proven by this song, I mean, John Squire still has it after all those years just painting away. That’s good to know.

Conclusion

Best of the Week should be pretty obvious, it’s going to The Last Dinner Party for “Nothing Matters”, which is actually fantastic and almost shocked me since I don’t expect much to stand out from the charting remains of indie landfill. Speaking of, I mean I guess it’s typical that another rock song gets the Honourable Mention, but no one was really competing with “Just Another Rainbow” by Liam Gallagher and John Squire, since the rest of this week really was kind of garbage. I actually think Bring Me the Horizon, who I do like around half of the time, snab Worst of the Week for “Kool-Aid”, which I feel second-hand embarrassment for. The Dishonourable Mention… give it to Lewis Capaldi. Moreso for the first one, but it’s not like “Strangers” is saving that sinking ship. As for what’s on the horizon, no pun intended, we’ll probably Ari and Lil Nas X playing an incredibly unbalanced game of tug-of-war for the #1. Thank you for reading and I’ll see you next week!

[hirocimacruiser]

Domestic sports model

Supra going to the top

17 inch tires this time

is set as an option

Thanks to that, I've increased my fighting power even more!

Speed ​​wins!

Noko 2

High performance 4WD GTO twin turbo MR. The running has changed to a good and straightforward handling. One run of the counter can be fun.

Anything I Chi Pan

How far have you evolved?

Emergency test drive 14 consecutive shots

Supra 17-inch specification vs GTO MR

(Vehicle with 6 pot calipers)

Amazing stopping power and cornering

performance

Two high-performance machines representing domestic cars have raised their limits one after another. I did a thorough road pre-check of that worrisome run!

REPORT Mitsuhiro Kunisawa

"After all, the Supra is this undercarriage!" When I attack the winding road, I'm in good shape. Especially the brakes are amazing! With the conventional 16-inch version, if you push downhill for about 10 minutes, the brakes will fade completely. With the large diameter rotors of the 17" version nothing fades.

Moreover, the controllability is perfect, probably because of the extra brake capacity. Even if you depress the pedal with all your might after holding back on the brakes until the last moment, the brakes will not lock. In terms of feeling, it's a perfect match for the sports versions of FR Porsche and BMW. 16 inches was a bogus.

Many people think that 17-inch tires will increase cornering speed, but they are wrong. When the Supra debuted last year, I tried putting 17-inch tires on. Those who have read the article will remember, but the result was that the lap times at the Tsukuba circuit did not change much.

On the other hand, the improvement of brake capacity has a great effect. Of course the suspension settings are also designed to bring out the performance of the upgraded 255/40ZR17 tires, so it should be able to lap more than tenths of a second faster than the 16-inch Supra. I'm looking forward to the time attack in the next issue.

The driver is super spartan. However, the MR, which has no switch dampers, has the comfort of a normal sports car. And yet there is no such thing as funyafunya. In that case, I wonder if this was good from the beginning.

But compared to the shock I experienced afterwards, the ride quality was nothing to worry about. As you know, the conventional GT0 understeers to the point of "tucking" when the limit is exceeded. No tails came out even if I boiled it or baked it (correctly, I thought it would be good for tuck-in or braking drift).

With that in mind, I tried to tuck in with all my might, and my heart pounded. Surprisingly, the car was facing the inside of the corner! It is exactly the state of "Tell me quickly!" I feel like

By the way, from the 16-inch specification,

Tearing response and road feel

Since the perception is linear, the controllability is greatly improved. The traction control was also cut for this test drive. I thoroughly enjoyed FR orthodox driving that enjoys accelerator control.

The "GTO MR" appeared at a time when the Supra was not allowed to run alone! It's a nostalgic Hibiki grade name for an old man like me who likes Jidousha. For Mitsubishi fans, Wakuwakumon is comparable to the GT-R. That's why I'm confident in its performance!

When I put it in the cockpit and jumped out onto the winding road, I was blown away. MR-chan has a comfortable ride. If you switch the variable damper to "hard", the GTO so far has an out-of-this-world ride. If you hit the road surface with undulations, the body bounces and your head hits the roof. From the outside, the GTO looks like it's going to be easy.

WRC tarmac stage. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun sliding around.

oh yeah. The effect of the newly adopted hybrid LSD is very effective. The cornering speed is much faster than the Lancer Evo (the center of gravity is low and the tires are thick), but it does not exhibit tricky behavior. Abolition of 4WS, ABS and switchable dampers

I think I made the right decision. Interestingly, this car is similar in price/performance, but completely different in character. If you like FR, there is only Supra, and if you like FF&4WD behavior, choose GTO. If the budget of 4 million yen can be managed somehow, it seems worth taking the plunge. Reach Reach!

A powerful 6-pot caliper with barely any clearance on BBS wheels. It will be released by Mitsubishi Ralliart, but the price is yet to be determined. Probably about 600,000 yen?!?!

The front rotor diameter has been increased from 296mm to 323mm. Naturally, braking power is also improved. Running is a fan itself!

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

Sicktember #10

Prompt: “The only place we’re going is to the pharmacy.”

Fandom/OCs: CottageVersity OCs (JB and Thalia)

Words: 1910

Sicknario inspo: People who don’t do physical contact from this post and being sick in a vehicle from this post.

Author’s comments/background: Ah my darling Tenbushes. This was the fic I was most looking forward to writing this year. Some of you may have noticed that within the 6, there are three pairs (other than the obvious couples) that are closer friends than with the others. Theo and Padma, Audra and Thad, and JB and Thalia are the “bestie” pairings and I hope to explore these more in the future. This fic is the explanation of how the JB/Thalia pairing came to be, since their temperaments are basically opposite in many ways. But that fact in itself is part of the explanation I suppose. Anyway, these two are super cute and very fond of each other so have a little fic about that, which was an absolute treat to write. 

~~~***~~~

Thalia was sick, and JB was pretty sure he was the only one who knew. He felt sorry for her… the timing was terrible, so it was only natural that she was hiding it–blaming her coughing and sniffling on allergies, covering her pale face and hollow eyes with makeup and carrying or wearing a sweater everywhere to keep away the chills. 

Thalia had just graduated university, along with two of her first cousins, Miriam and Jeremiah. The three of them had been born in three consecutive months in the same year, attended the same elementary and middle school, and were inseparable as kids. They remained very close through the years, though they had gone to different high schools and universities.

 Ever since middle school, the three cousins had been planning and saving for a celebratory trip after their college graduations. They wanted a grand tour of the Midwest to visit their favorite tourist and vacation spots, with Kalahari and Cedar Point in Ohio and a weekend in Chicago as the high points. The kids had done well in University, all graduating with honors, so their families had been happy to help make their dreams come true, though in fact the graduates had saved up the majority of the money on their own. The last week of June was booked for their travels, and they had begged Thad and JB to be their chaperones. The elder cousins had agreed, and in fact were honored to have been asked. The pair in turn goaded Audra into joining them to even out the numbers, and with much eye-rolling, she agreed. 

Everything went off without a hitch, and in short it was a wonderful week. In fact, it was everything the cousins had hoped for, as they said more than once. Except now, JB thought to himself, Thalia would have this negative memory of an unfortunate illness on top of the positive ones.

He was thankful for her sake that it was the last night of the trip. She was flagging more and more each day, and really needed at least a day in bed, out of the sun and away from the booze. But the schedule the threesome had been devising for years did not allow for such indulgence, and of course stubborn Thalia would never admit to such weakness, so she had been plugging along as if nothing was wrong. Whatever bug she'd caught would have likely been a simple summer cold if she hadn't been pushing her body to the limit with the rest of them for days. JB was certain from her eyes that she had a fever now, and the careful way she'd been moving recently indicated that it was an achy one. He hadn't said anything, though, knowing that would be the last thing she would want.

It was no wonder she'd willingly taken the back seat of the minivan (a loan from Jeremiah's family) for this last long leg of driving to their final hotel. In the back, she could huddle up in misery without attracting attention. JB knew he would want the same, were he in her shoes. Tonight Audra was at the wheel with Thad in the passenger seat, since he got carsick if he was too far back. Jeremiah and Miriam had claimed the middle chairs to finish a movie they'd been watching together on Miriam's laptop. That left JB and Thalia all the way in the back for the five hour stint.

Thalia had attempted to sleep at first, and he'd left her alone, trying to find a way to position his long legs that wasn't uncomfortable in the cramped quarters as he read his Kindle. Thalia was restless, though, and didn't sleep long. At first she had bunched herself against the window with her legs tucked up, but after less than an hour she woke and shifted to more of a reclining position with her head tilted back and legs stretched out. After that, she turned fully sideways with her legs up on the seat. Then, she turned again to lean forward all the way and rest her head on her hands, which were supported by her knees. The whole time she was hunched tightly into herself, her arms wrapped in a constant hug, and he could feel her shivering even in her sweater. Without a word, he slipped off his own jacket and held it out to her. She hesitated, but took it with a grateful look after a moment, covering herself as she tried to get comfortable yet again.

His heart broke for her as he watched her rotate through variations of these positions again, now with his jacket over her arms and torso, though it didn't seem to be doing her much good. Finally he could bear it no more. He nudged her foot with his to get her attention. 

“Hey, you should lean on me for a bit. You might be more comfortable.”

He expected her to refuse, or at least pause and consider it, but she immediately slumped over so her head was in his lap without a word of protest, as if she’d been waiting for such permission to be given. He froze briefly, taken aback. He and Thalia didn’t DO physical contact– with others and especially with each other, not really. Her willingness could only speak to how miserable she must have been. Recovering, he quickly covered her with his jacket again as she tucked her legs up onto the seat. His hand found its way to her back rubbing up and down as he tried to to warm her and help her relax. 

“Are you doing okay?” JB asked softly. “I can tell you haven’t been feeling well for a while now.”

“I’m okay,” she mumbled. “Mostly just tired. Ready to be home.”

“I’m sorry your trip has to end this way.”

She made a strange motion, which he belatedly realized was a shrug. “It was fun while it lasted.”

He was sure her throat hurt, at least it sounded like it did, so he was going to leave her be, but she seemed to be in the mood to talk. She continued in a low voice, too low for anyone else in the van to hear: 

“I can’t believe I’m done with school. It’s a weird feeling. And I’m already doing my "grownup" job, I have been for a few months. So it’s all kinda anti-climactic.”

“You should be proud of yourself. You did well in school and you're off to a great start in your career.”

“All at the ripe young age of twenty-two.” He wasn’t sure why her tone was sarcastic, almost derogatory. She paused, then continued: “You and Thad were twenty-two when I met you for the first time.”

JB nodded. He remembered. He’d been thinking about that time in his life quite a bit this week, being around these kids. Graduation from university was a weird, memorable time. Figuring out careers, housing, life partners. He had gone on to graduate school and was already with a long-term partner, so he had it easier than most. Still, he’d never forget meeting Thad’s family for the first time the summer after they both graduated with their BBA. The anxiety, the formality. Thalia was only a pre-teen then, still all elbows and knees as a scrawny twelve year old. A tomboy, always running around with the boys in the neighborhood, always wanting to be away from her parents even then. He would never forget the flash of fear in her eyes when she was introduced to him for the first time. He was used to that, of course. As large as he was, he intimidated most people when they first met him. This was his boyfriend’s little sister, though, and he hated the idea that he scared her. 

The fear didn’t last long, thankfully. Thalia warmed to him quickly, at least for a middle-schooler. JB was her opposite even back then, reserved where she was exuberant, serious where she was silly. Yet he sensed that she felt relaxed around him. Perhaps around him, she didn’t feel the need to be “on” all the time. That’s what he hoped was the case, anyway. 

“I wonder if I’ll ever meet my person. Like you and Thad have,” Thalia said, barely audible. 

So that’s what was bothering her. It was understandable, really. Miriam and Jeremiah had their “people”. Miriam was engaged, Jeremiah soon to be so. It was only natural that Thalia was feeling left out and probably lonely. 

“Of course you’ll find your person. You are so driven that I have no doubt you’ll achieve whatever you set your mind to, including love.”

“I didn't think love worked that way.”

“Who says it doesn’t? I fully believe if you want something badly enough and are prepared to receive it, the universe or karma or whatever will provide.”

“I thought you were an atheist.”

“I don’t have to believe in any holy being to believe in the power of magnetism. And you have that in spades, hon. If you want love, you’ll find love. Of that I have no doubt.”

“Thanks, JB. I needed to hear that." A pause, then: "I’m glad you’re my brother. I like you better than my actual brothers most of the time.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. She was sleepy and feverish (he was starting to sweat just from her touching him), and he knew he’d probably never hear her speak this way again, but it was sweet to hear regardless, because he knew she was speaking from her heart, without the usual screen of sarcasm. 

“Well I’m honored to be your brother. You’re the best sister I could have ever hoped to have.”

A thought occurred to him, and before she could fall asleep, he nudged her to sit up and handed her an unopened bottle of water from beside him. She rolled her eyes but drank a good amount before leaning against him again with a huge yawn, this time with her side pressed against his and her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and hugged her against himself since he still felt her shivering. 

He really thought she fell asleep after that, but once again she startled him by speaking up a few minutes later:

“The hotel we’re going to has a really great bookstore across the street. That’s why I picked it. Do you think we’ll have time to go browse before we check in?”

“The only place we’re going is to the pharmacy. You need something for that fever. If you’re feeling better tomorrow, then maybe we can talk. Besides, it’ll probably be closed by the time we get there.”

“Not if we go BEFORE we check in, like I said.”

“We’ll see. But pharmacy first.”

Thalia sighed, then nodded. “It’s a deal. As long as you don’t tell them what we’re stopping for.”

“If anyone asks, I’ll tell them I need a laxative. That’ll head off any awkward questions.”

“...do you need a laxative?” 

“None of your business. No awkward questions, remember?”

She laughed. “Thanks, JB. You really are the best.”

“You too, kid.”

Minutes later she was dead weight against him, fast asleep, trusting him. He kept his arm around her until they stopped again, knowing that that was what both of them needed.

[bearterritory]

Cal Beats Stanford To Take Season Series

Bears Bullpen Dominates

BERKELEY – The California baseball team notched its 14th comeback win of the season thanks to three runs in the seventh and eighth innings to defeat Stanford 5-3 on Monday evening at Stu Gordon Stadium. With the win, the Golden Bears take the season series against the Cardinal.   Cal (34-18) got a trio of stellar pitching performances and the bullpen in particular was sensational, holding Stanford (22-29) scoreless over the final 4.1 innings. The duo of Austin Turkington (2-1) and Oliver Boone did not allow a hit. Offensively, Cal finished the evening with nine hits but got them in bunches going 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position. The bottom of the order was particularly fruitful with Max Handron, Jag Burden, and Dominic Smaldino going a combined 6-for-11 with two runs scored and three driven in.

The Golden Bears extended Stanford's losing streak to seven games and held them to just five hits on the evening, tied for the second-fewest of the year by the Cardinal. Charlie Saum went 1-for-3 with a 2-run home run in the second, his eighth of the year.   Andres Galan made his sixth start of the season for the Bears and turned in a solid outing. Galan made quick work of the Cardinal in the first retiring the side in order in 10 pitches. In the top of the second, he ran into some trouble. With two outs, the Cardinal notched three consecutive hits, the big one the 2-run home run from Saum to make it a 2-0 ballgame.   Galan was able to recover and got out of the jam thanks to a nice play from PJ Moutzouridis who picked up a ground ball deep in the hole between short and third and fired a laser to first for the out. Galan showed good stuff early, 20 of his first 27 pitches were for strikes.   The Cardinal lead did not last long. The Bears' bottom of the order tied the game up thanks to back-to-back 2-out singles from Burden and Smaldino.   After the Cardinal and Bears traded zeros in the third and fourth, Stanford broke the 2-2 tie, taking advantage of a pair of 2-out errors by the Bears. Jimmy Nati singled through the left side which allowed Court MacDonald to score. The single by Nati ended the day for Galan who went 4.2 innings, allowing five hits, three runs – two earned, with a walk and five strikeouts.   Turkington entered the game in the fifth and needed just one pitch to get out of the inning. After surrendering a leadoff walk to Malcolm Moore in the sixth he retired five in a row to earn the win.   Cardinal reliever Ryan Speshyock (0-4) entered the game in the top of the sixth inning. After a scoreless frame, he ran into trouble in the seventh. Caleb Lomavita started the 2-run rally by getting hit by a pitch. He came around to score from first on the double in the right-center gap by Rodney Green Jr to tie the game at 3-3. Peyton Schulze gave the Bears the lead for good when he hit a ball in front of a diving Ethan Hott in center field for a double that allowed Green Jr. to score. The double by Schulze was his 20th of the year which ties him for 10th most in a single season in Cal history.   In the bottom of the eighth, the Bears got an insurance run from Smaldino who blasted a 1-1 offering over the left-center wall for his second home run in as many games.   Speshyock went 2.1 innings, allowing three hits, and three runs (all earned), with two walks and five strikeouts.   Boone earned his first collegiate save, recording the final six outs in dominating fashion. He faced the heart of the Cardinal order and set them down in order, striking out five in a row to end the game.