#phenomenal aer

[adviserbabycom]

Joolz Aer+ VS Bugaboo Butterfly: A Detailed Comparison for Discerning Parents

In this blog post, I delve into a detailed comparison between the Joolz Aer+ and Bugaboo Butterfly strollers, offering insights into their features, pros, cons, and personal experiences to help parents make an informed decision. A Comparison Table of The Main Features of the Joolz Aer+ and Bugaboo Butterfly Joolz Aer+ vs. Bugaboo Butterfly: A Personal Guide to Choosing the Right Stroller From a first-person perspective, when I dived into the vast world of strollers, the Joolz Aer+ and Bugaboo Butterfly stood out among the many options. As a parent who prioritizes practicality and comfort, here's a concise breakdown of the distinctions: - Seat Dimensions: The Bugaboo Butterfly, despite being a bit narrower, offers a longer seat, which makes it a better fit for kids who've crossed the six-month mark. - Bassinet Option: For those who intend to take their infant on long strolls or perhaps even vacations, the Joolz Aer+ offers a bassinet option. However, it's pricey, and it's crucial to decide whether this added cost justifies the benefit. - Recline & Comfort: The Joolz Aer+ has a deeper recline. If paired with the leg rest accessory (sold separately), it tends to be more comfortable for infants, especially between six months to a year. - Warranty: Joolz Aer+ offers a phenomenal 10-year transferable warranty, ensuring long-term peace of mind. - Handling & Durability: The Butterfly's chassis might be slightly more robust, but the Aer+ edges out with better performance on uneven terrains. Now, in most common situations, if you're someone planning for long-term usage with kids over six months, the Bugaboo Butterfly might be the smarter choice due to its seat length. However, if the bassinet feature or the 10-year warranty appeals to you, the Joolz Aer+ shouldn't be overlooked. Joolz Aer+ vs. Bugaboo Butterfly: A Closer Look Beyond the Obvious When it comes to choosing between the Joolz Aer+ and the Bugaboo Butterfly, the typical features like seat dimensions and recline comfort often take the limelight. However, as a diligent consumer, I believe it's the subtle differences that truly dictate the user experience. Let's dive into some of these less-talked-about categories: - Price & Accessories: The Joolz Aer+ does offer a bassinet option which, while appealing for newborns, comes at a heftier price tag. If you're budget-conscious, it's vital to consider whether this bassinet option and the separate purchase of the leg rest accessory truly justify the added cost. On the other hand, the Bugaboo Butterfly comes ready to use without the need for added purchases, providing value straight out of the box. - Travel Convenience: If you're someone who's always on the move, especially for holidays, the Joolz Aer+ makes a compelling case with its ultra-compact design tailored for such scenarios. On the contrary, the Bugaboo Butterfly's design, while compact, seems more suited for regular urban strolling. - Chassis Durability and Ground Handling: The Bugaboo Butterfly, from my research, possesses a more durable chassis, possibly making it a longer-lasting companion for your child. But if you often traverse uneven terrains or bumpy paths, the Joolz Aer+ edges out with slightly better ground handling capabilities. - Strapping & Portability: The Joolz Aer+ boasts a superior shoulder strap, a feature I personally cherish. It makes the stroller more portable and is a godsend when you're juggling multiple bags or if you're in a hurry. In my personal opinion, both strollers bring unique qualities to the table. The Bugaboo Butterfly seems like a sturdier choice, apt for those who want a long-term companion with minimal fuss. The Joolz Aer+, on the other hand, is tailored for the modern, on-the-go parent who values travel convenience and adaptability. Your choice should align with not just the quantitative measurements but more so with your lifestyle and needs. Joolz Aer+ Impressions Having had the chance to thoroughly examine and even personally use the Joolz Aer+, there are several features that immediately stand out. Firstly, its design is incredibly intuitive, making it ideal for quick transitions. For families who frequently travel or are often on the move, this stroller's ultra-compact nature can be a game-changer. Picture this: you're at a crowded airport, your hands are full, and you have just a few minutes to get to your gate. With the Joolz Aer+, collapsing and stowing away the stroller becomes a smooth, hassle-free process. However, on the flip side, the fact that one has to purchase the leg rest accessory separately and the relatively higher price point for the bassinet option might be deterrents for some. While it's commendable that the stroller is designed to adapt as your child grows, it would have been great if some of these features were in-built. Strong Points: - Ultra-Compact Design: The Joolz Aer+ boasts a design that is intuitive and ideal for families who are frequently on the go. - Adaptability: With the option to purchase additional accessories such as a bassinet or leg rest, the stroller can be modified to better suit the needs of a growing child. - Warranty: It offers a 10-year transferable warranty, which is one of the best in the market. - Handling: Slightly better at managing bumpy terrains. Weak Points: - Additional Purchases Required: Essential features such as the leg rest need to be bought separately, potentially increasing the overall cost. - Seat Dimensions: While it offers adaptability, the seat's dimensions are smaller in comparison to the Bugaboo Butterfly. - Price: The bassinet option is on the pricier side. Bugaboo Butterfly Thoughts Switching gears to the Bugaboo Butterfly, it immediately becomes apparent that this model offers a more spacious seating area. The extended backboard length and the room beneath the canopy are definitely pluses. I remember a day out with a friend who had her young one comfortably snuggled in the Bugaboo Butterfly. Despite it being a particularly sunny day, the canopy provided ample protection, and the adjustable leg rest meant her child could nap undisturbed for hours. A noteworthy aspect of this stroller is its durability. The robust chassis ensures that the Bugaboo Butterfly can withstand the test of time. Yet, while its durability is a strong point, it does feel slightly bulkier in comparison to the Joolz Aer+, which might be a point to consider for those who prioritize portability. Strong Points: - Seat Dimensions: The Butterfly has a longer seat, even though it's a bit narrower. This offers more room in terms of backboard length and space beneath the canopy. - In-built Features: The model comes with an adjustable leg rest which doesn't need to be purchased separately, saving parents additional costs. - Durability: The chassis of the Bugaboo Butterfly is more robust, ensuring a longer lifespan for the stroller. - Optimal for Older Infants: Generally a better choice for children who are over six months due to the comfortable reclined position it offers. Weak Points: - Portability: Compared to the Joolz Aer+, it might feel slightly bulkier, making it a bit less travel-friendly. - Handling: While it's durable, it might not be as adept at handling uneven grounds as the Joolz Aer+. Comparing Premium Strollers: Insights from Official Websites - Joolz Official Site (https://www.joolz.com): Joolz's official website offers an in-depth look at the Joolz Aer+, showcasing its various features, specifications, and customer reviews. I particularly appreciated the detailed photo gallery, which helped me visualize how my baby would fit into the stroller. Moreover, the site gave me a sense of the brand's ethos and commitment to quality. Their FAQs and customer service sections also addressed many of my pressing questions about durability and adaptability. - Bugaboo Official Site(https://www.bugaboo.com): Just like Joolz, Bugaboo's official site is a treasure trove of information. Not only does it dive deep into the Bugaboo Butterfly's functionalities, but it also highlights the stroller's design philosophy, showcasing the craftsmanship behind the model. The customer testimonials featured gave me a good idea of the real-world experiences of parents, and the video demonstrations were a great touch, helping me understand the stroller's usability in different scenarios. Equipment Comparison Table: Joolz Aer+ VS Bugaboo Butterfly F.A.Q. Section: Joolz Aer+ VS Bugaboo Butterfly Read the full article

[melatoninburst]

🥺 :3

What I like: accepting

I was squinting hard core here trying to remember what I said before so I didn't repeat but I cannot remember so time to lovemail you again! Your edits are phenomenal, I adore your blog's aesthetic, it always looks so good, be it icons, the headers or just...everything. Girl, how? Teach me your ways, Aer, I beg of you.

Moving swiftly on from that, you're literally so nice to me and for what? you're literally the sweetest. You've always been so nice to me, even though I'm a nervous wreck of a memelord, and I really appreciate it. I've known you for so long now and I'm glad we've been talking more.

Your writing is great and you have so much to offer in terms of content. I love Alex. She's great, she's sweet but she doesn't put up with everything, which is the best way to be!

[autopotion]

what i played in 2021: ranked

just thought i would do a wrap up post of games i played this year and how i felt about them, since i like 1. making lists 2. ranking things and 3. talking about video games. i don't think i did one last year so i might do another retroactive one after this. categories are: games played to completion for the first time (could have been started in a different year); games started in this year for the first time; and games i've watched other people play (wife, friends). rankings are based on how much i liked them, not how objectively good they are. i will edit this list if i play something new in the next three days but i don't think i will lol

here are the lists if you don't want to read the long post

games beaten, ranked: the great ace attorney chronicles; transistor; deltarune chapter 2; final fantasy vii remake; sagebrush; aer: memories of old; donut county

games started, ranked: tactics ogre; vagrant story; echoes of the eye (outer wilds dlc); mass effect andromeda; cattails; divinity: original sin 2; baldur's gate: enhanced edition; coffee talk

games watched, ranked: paradise killer; little nightmares 1 & 2; the witness

PART 1: BEATEN

1. the great ace attorney chronicles. technically two games, but i'm counting them as one experience; the first game i also found to be slightly better than the second. i was on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time. there were some frustrating mechanics and i hated van zieks, but the music was phenomenal and so was a vast majority of the cast, including some very memorable one-off side characters. loved the portrayal of "herlock sholmes" especially.

would i replay it: maybe, but only after several years have passed, so i forget most of the "puzzles." the nature of ace attorney games

2. transistor. unfortunately i did love this one. it has some pretty intense flaws (much like TGAAC tbh) but there was so much i loved about it... the setting, the music, the protagonists, the general mood. i struggled with the combat at first but now i really enjoy it, it takes a lot of mental energy but there's nothing else quite like it, they really managed to make a single protagonist action game feel turn-based lol.

would i replay it: i have literally already started new game+

3. deltarune chapter 2. objectively better than transistor just from a sheer storytelling perspective. toby fox has done it again. not much else to say that hasn't already been said, just reiterating suselle rocks, i would die for noelle, and for the love of god i just want to play the finished game already. biggest downside: too many minigames

would i replay it: i imagine so, but only probably when the next chapter(s) is/are released, like i did this year with ch1

4. final fantasy vii remake. started this one in 2020 but didn't finish it until like february this year? man there is so much i like about this game, but i hated how much it dragged. there was too much filler material and the combat began to feel incredibly slow and frustrating about 70% of the way through. really enjoyed the basic story though (not including some of the annoying window dressing) and how it's choosing to diverge from the original, i think that's the best choice. visually stunning but i hate that all the sexy girls have sameface. aerith carried this fucking game, she was the best part of it and they did such a good job with her when she's been butchered in almost every other non-og ffvii thing she's been in

would i replay it: i would replay all the aerith-centered chapters for sure, i don't think i would take it from start to finish though. if/when i get a ps5 i'll look into the dlc

5. sagebrush. steep drop off from the last game, now we're sort of in lukewarm territory. i did like sagebrush a lot though for a two hour video game about a topic that's been done to death (christian cults). i thought the twist about the protagonist was nice and expertly foreshadowed. the graphics were trying to emulate 90s ps1 & pc games, and it absolutely succeeded, i loved just walking around and viewing the scenery. much like transistor, i think the best part of the game was the mood. walking simulator, you're never in danger, but the graphics & soundtrack had me on edge the entire time. solid game to play on halloween

would i replay it: i played it on my sister's ps4, so eventually i want to play it on my own and get all the trophies (which is quite easy to do)

6. aer: memories of old. this one was just all right. the soft polygonal style was beautiful, and the soundtrack was pretty. i liked the peaceful, non-combat atmosphere. the world was huge and empty, but i was somewhat frustrated with the lack of things to do. it easily had the best flying mechanics of any game i've ever played. i just wanted to fly around and explore, but there wasn't much to actually do or see, and i was always disappointed when the game took me to a puzzle dungeon since the puzzles were easy and you couldn't fly while inside. no journal meant it was hard to keep track of the lore. constantly side-eyeing the use of the term "spirit animal"

would i replay it: i could see myself putting it on just to fly around in the world for a little while, but i don't think i would play the story through again

7. donut county. a game where the premise is "reverse katamari damacy." despite including some puzzle-based mechanics in most of the levels, i found it much easier than katamari. the levels were too short and i didn't care for the bizarre frame story that tried too hard to be deep, but i enjoyed the general gameplay. graphics were cute. i sort of wished this game was literally just all levels (more of them & longer) with some kind of impenetrable but very simple story (like katamari) or no story at all, like you're just making huge holes in the ground and that's it

would i replay it: i think now that i've beaten the game i have the option to replay levels? so i would make use of that. but i have no desire to play through the story again

PART 2: STARTED

1. tactics ogre: let us cling together. man i'm genuinely so mad i didn't finish the law route before the turn of the year but whatever. really interesting game, i LOVE the diverging story paths and what they do for the characters, i love seeing the bones of FFT inside it, i really enjoy (most of) the story. matsuno does an extremely good job of storytelling with limited space as usual (short, text-based scenes, little sprite guys). it's fucking hard though lol, even with the chariot system battles can be really tough. i really have to take my time with it; battles in FFT usually last me 15 minutes, 30 minutes tops, but in TO they average about an hour. and there are so many game mechanics i haven't even messed with yet, like crafting. difficult game with deep themes and a lot of charm

will i come back to it: i'm planning to continue picking my way through it over 2022, provided my psp doesn't finally melt. the goal would be to do law -> neutral -> chaos -> back to law -> coda, but that will take a lot of time, depending on how much side material i do

2. vagrant story. i've technically started & stopped this game like three times, but this year is the farthest i've gotten into it so i'm counting it lmao. just like tactics ogre (and all of matsuno's other games): difficult game with deep themes and a lot of charm. i LOVE the aesthetics especially, though the soundtrack is mostly meh for me. it takes so much of my mental energy to focus on it that i can usually only play it for one to two hours at a time. but it's really incredible the amount of genre-bending matsuno does with the story of this game, and how fucking good the "cinematography" is of these blocky ps1 guys. seriously i have yet to play another game where the characters have such memorable and theatrical body language

will i come back to it: yes i'm stubborn. the question is whether i'll restart from the beginning, or pick up from where i left off. i really want to do the second one, but if i wait too long i'm not gonna remember how to play the damn thing

3. echoes of the eye (outer wilds dlc). counting this as a game because it's literally like 2/3rds the size of outer wilds itself. really interesting dlc with a fantastic premise, wonderful music, and a good story... the problem is i'm too scared to actually play it. i keep setting up my approach and then being too frightened to follow through! at this point i know all the spoilers and could theoretically just complete the endgame, but i want to actually get the knowledge of how to do so in game before i just do it myself. sigh. i'll just keep white-water rafting, because that's incredibly fun

will i come back to it: ): i don't know. i want to beat it, but i think i might have too much anxiety now. it's exactly the same with the outer wilds base game... absolutely love it but can't complete it

4. mass effect andromeda. oh god i forgot i started this game in like february lol. fun fact i monster factory'd my first character and zoe and i named her "cunty rider," which the game then censored, rip. deeply flawed game, so hilarious it's so high on this list. fucked up animation, too big, bland story, etc. it was still kind of fun for a while though, sort of like how eating cotton candy is fun until you get sick

will i come back to it: maybe? i could see myself popping it in for another ten hours. i do really want to romance vetra. but it's not very good, there's a reason i stopped, i got soooo bored lol

5. cattails. stardew valley meets warrior cats. decent fun for a game i basically got for free (on sale + gift card). the little cat sprites are so fucking cute (not the talk sprites though, those are ungodly). it was enjoyable to spend a couple hours exploring, hunting prey, and gathering herbs, but minus the little kitty cats the game is kind of ugly. i'm mostly disappointed with how unimaginative it is, like... you're telling me wild cats would have stores? and you would have currency to exchange for goods? even warrior cats didn't have such nonsense smh. also the main premise, restoring the ancient temple in the center of the map, is so much like the central premise of restoring the community center in stardew valley that it feels almost like plagiarism LMAO.

will i come back to it: also a maybe. i might sink a few more hours into it if i feel like playing as a small gray cat again. i'll have to relearn how to hunt though which tbh when you're keeping track of your hunger meter was kind of a pain in the ass

6. divinity: original sin 2. i think i got maybe an hour or two into it before stopping? so i can't give a full review. but zoe and i were incredibly unimpressed with the designs of the women and i didn't care for the general humor of the game. i'm also very intimidated by crpgs; i've only played dragon age, which is crpg-lite (i don't think i've ever used the tactical cameras in any of the games). but i do want to give it a fair shot again eventually

will i come back to it: probably at some point, i'm always in the market for interesting roleplaying games

7. baldur's gate: enhanced edition. just like dos2 i literally only played the tutorial (in this case, not even the beginning of the game, just like, the actual non-story-related tutorial level). a crpg just like dos2 but even more impenetrable. i can't say whether i liked it or not, i was mostly flabbergasted by the spellbooks and somewhat annoyed by what voice acting was present

will i come back to it: maybe...?? i want to. but it is definitely intimidating ngl.

8. coffee talk. a cute visual novel where you run a coffee shop that is only open at night in the middle of urban fantasy seattle. decently cute premise that got weird fast when this elf and this succubus were complaining about their parents hating their relationship for cultural reasons, and i legitimately just turned the game off when there was that newspaper headline about orcs protesting that they've been unfairly targeted for a recent virus that emerged from africa. EXTREMELY bad taste. on a lesser note the latte art mechanic is completely inscrutable

will i come back to it: almost definitely not. the writing was subpar even without the fantastic racism

PART 3: WATCHED

1. paradise killer. combination open world game, mystery game, and visual novel. you're some kind of god/alien living in a hellish paradise with other gods/aliens, and then a murder is committed. vaporwave aesthetics with a fantastic soundtrack. i watched zoe play this one and it's easily one of the most unique games i've ever seen, it'll stick with me for some time. almost every single major character in the game is an absolutely godawful horrible person, which is very fun and almost necessary considering the nature of their paradise. it tries a lot of new stuff with the mystery conventions and the way the endgame trial works, in that you can accuse basically anybody of anything as long as you have the proof, and the game will not tell you if you did it right or wrong, you just live with your decisions. only part i haven't seen yet is the post-trial segment, we haven't played through the epilogue

would i play it myself: i hope to in a few years, after i've forgotten most of it. it was really fun watching zoe play it though, it's an excellent zoe game

2. little nightmares 1 & 2. i'm sort of ranking these in the same slot since i watched @organizationhimself play them one after the other, but just to be clear LN2 is VASTLY superior to LN1. the narrative is so much better, there is an extremely well done central emotional tie connecting you to the main characters, the setting is incredibly beautiful and eerie, the scares are (mostly) much scarier... LN2 improved upon literally every aspect of LN1. really fun experiences though, loved watching ax play them.

would i play them myself: i know how i am with scary games. absolutely not. so i'm extra glad i got to experience them with a friend instead

3. the witness. i watched zoe play some of this until she stopped playing in disgust. she said the puzzles were fun, but she couldn't take the sheer condescension dripping from its storytelling. the game is so clearly made by a guy who does not think highly of other video games and doesn't care to actually ask if the critiques he's making of the medium have already been critiqued in better, more interesting ways. idk why all these dumbasses think they can make "technology bad and make you stupid!1!!" stories using the medium of VIDEO GAMES and not think of the obvious problem with that

would i play it myself: god no. even if the overarching theme didn't suck ass, i don't usually like games that are mostly just puzzles

PART 4: MISC

did my "canon" playthroughs of DAO and DA2 this year, including all the DLC for the first time (hadn't ever played Mark of the Assassin, as well as a huge chunk of the DAO ones). started my canon run of DAI, but not feeling it r/n, since i'm hot off of playing it all through again for ax. we made a handsome dwarf named bingus and romanced dorian, one of the few remaining romances i hadn't completed yet myself

loved replaying final fantasy tactics: the war of the lions back in april/may. i've only played that version of FFT once, so it was fun to revisit, especially with zoe hooked this time. comparing the scripts of the WOTL translation, the PS1 translation, and the original japanese was extremely enjoyable. i used to replay FFT once a year. now i have too many video games i want to play to make that happen, so playing a version of FFT in 2021 felt like coming home, doubly so since i got to share it with my wife. rekindled my love for my most favorite game of all time

also i played through the first battle of the project triangle strategy demo earlier this year. the gameplay was fun, but oh man... i can tell this is going to be octopath traveler 2, re: bad storytelling. they're absolutely trying to do a tactics ogre thing with this "morality/liberty/utility" story routes business. while i found octopath charming, i'm a little more offended by PTS copying the FFT formula because i'm wayyyy more attached to FFT. apparently it's coming out in march 2022 so like three months from now and it will literally just be called "triangle strategy." ok.

[bottlecaprabbitgames]

Fellow switch owners... what’s the games you would, like, tell other people to buy? I want to make a list for things to try out and get when I can, as my laptop can’t really handle a lot of games! I’ll add a list of my recs of things I prefer on Switch and I’ll add on for what you guys tell me!

Sally Face (it plays WAY better on Switch in my honest opinion! It’s also my second favorite indie game, right behind Stardew Valley. The only reason it’s not #1 is because I’ve supported SDV since before its launch and still actively do! But Sally Face is a VERY close second and it’s all done by ONE guy!!! Mr. Steve Gabry!!!!)

Stardew Valley. I honestly will continue to buy Stardew Valley on EVERY platform I can (I own it on PC, mobile, AND Switch) because it’s a phenomenal game and I want to support Mr. ConcernedApe as much as possible. It plays really nicely on Switch in my opinion, I really suggest trying it out on Switch if you enjoy the game on PC or mobile, if nothing else but to have it as a backup and support the creator, he’s a super nice dude who deserves it!!

LEGO Harry Potter. Yes, yes ok I play it. If you’ve played it on DS or PC... you’ll find the Switch edition is incredibly different! A WHOLE buttload of stuff was changed, Faye and I barely recognize it but it’s actually a lot more fun!

Eyes, the horror game. I’ve played this one a long time, since it was available on mobile YEARS ago, and it’s gotten better over the years! It’s only like $3-4 and it’s pretty fun! I stopped after 3 tries tho because I kept getting jumpscared, LMAO

TWD series. I find it kind of easier to play the games on Switch versus mobile? But to be fair, you can pirate this one for free on PC, I’m just putting it up there for people without a PC/a PC that can run it.

Earthworms. It’s an interesting narrative story, though the puzzles are INCREDIBLY difficult, and there’s not a good guide out there that’s not video based; this is not a game for someone who is easily frustrated with puzzles like me, as I full on rage quit multiple times.

I also have Darkwood, Amnesia Collection, Cuphead, and Ghost Files: Memory of a Crime, all of which I enjoy so! The only game I DON’T recommend is Bad Dream: Fever, as it has a game-breaking bug that’s never been fixed in the switch edition!

Yalls Suggestions:

Oxenfree - horror game based around a group of friends, has a very stylized art style.

Animal Crossing - I share this recommendation given I also want this one bc I love the old games, but it IS expensive!

Someone also recommended some VNs! Piofiore, Collar x Malice, n a couple others.

Choices That Matter - someone recommended both of these games and I believe theyre a type of IF!

Werewolf Heart Of the Forest - Don't know much about this one, but I think it's either an IF or visual novel!

Little Nightmares - I also recommend this alongside a commenter! It's a super cool game, one of my fav platformers, I just don't know if it runs well on switch as I don't own it yet.

Neverending Nightmares

Omensight

AER: Memories of Old

Spiritfarer

Another Sight

[livelylgbtforpositivity]

Xe/xem/xyr/xemself are amazing!

Ve/vem/ver/vemself pronouns are astounding!

Co/cos/coself pronouns are astonishing!

Fae/faer/faeself pronouns are excellent!

Ae/aer/aeself pronouns are cool!

Dae/daem/daes/daemself pronouns are delightful!

Z(i)e/hir/hirself pronouns are wonderful!

Ey/em/eir/emself pronouns are incredible!

Zey/zem/ze(i)r/zemself pronouns are stunning!

Bey/bem/beir/bemself pronouns are awesome!

Ce/cir/cirself pronouns are sensational!

Ne/nim/nis/nimself pronouns are remarkable!

It/itself pronouns are exceptional!

Nounself pronouns are breathtaking!

Emojiself pronouns are awe-inspiring!

Nameself pronouns are phenomenal!

All neopronouns are valid!

[97bread]

why hello!! (๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)💛 at the beginning of december last year, i hit 1k!! and with that being said, i thought that it would be appropriate to make my first follow forever! i'd like to take time to appreciate the mutuals that i have, and the friends that i’ve come to make this past year. i’m a very shy person, and so last year was a great accomplishment for me in terms of meeting new people and actually branching out to others!! i never thought i would be able to do stuff like that. i was able to meet so many amazing people that i couldn’t imagine not being in my life!! and while it’s still january, i would like to add that i hope that everyone has a fantastic year!! here’s to an amazing year filled with much joy & love! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)💛

also v quickly!! i’d like to thank abbey for my ff header !! 💐

key: 🐻 - you brighten up my dash !! 🌿 - i love ‘n appreciate you so much !! heck 💛 - i’m so glad we’re mutuals/friends 💌 - i’m an emo water sign and wrote u a letter :/

special shoutout to my irl friends ( @angemagica, @alleywaydreamer, @hazelbella, @panther4444, @possiblymichaeljones, @timesnewamericana ) for dealing with my annoying bum both irl and online... (´ω｀) ;; 🌙

a-f;

@ahgamark 🐻💛 / @attaboygf 🐻🌿💛 / @baekphia 🐻🌿💛 / @bamethyst 🐻🌿💛 / @baobeijackson 🐻🌿💛💌 / @birf 🐻🌿💛💌 / @bootybam 🐻 / @brokuroo 🐻 / @choiyoungjae 🐻🌿💛💌 / @cutepimook 🐻 / @cyjsgirl 🐻🌿💛 / @darlingjbum 🐻🌿💛 / @dovble-b 🐻🌿 / @dreamygyeom 🐻🌿💛 / @dreamyugyeom 🐻🌿💛 / @exoticface 🐻 / @fldeparture 🐻💛 / @flight-logs 🐻 / @flowrcafe 🐻

g-l;

@gayshinas 🐻💛 / @gikwangies 🐻 / @got7tooprettyfortheirowngood 🐻 / @gsvnrewind 🐻🌿💛 / @gye0mie 🐻🌿💛 / @gyeomsluna 🐻🌿💛 / @happyholidae 🐻🌿💛 / @hhyunbin 🐻 / @hoseom 🐻🌿💛 / @httpmarkie 🐻 / @ibegin 🐻 / @icarusjjp 🐻 / @iheartyugyeom 🐻🌿💛💌 / @iloveujaebum 🐻🌿💛 / @imjbummed 🐻 / @imxjaebeom 🐻 / @irenc 🐻💛 / @iridescent--wings 🐻 / @j-aer 🐻🌿💛 / @j1ny0ung 🐻🌿💛 / @jacksonwangblog 🐻🌿💛💌 / @jacksonwng 🐻 / @jajajaebum 🐻🌿 / @jinyoungslegs 🐻 / @jinyoungslover 🐻🌿💛 / @jj-nyoung 🐻 / @jj-prxject 🐻 / @joohunn 🐻 / @jsutright 🐻 / @lattegyeom 🐻🌿💛💌 / @limjaebum 🐻🌿💛 / @lisassgf 🐻🌿💛 / @lomlmark 🐻

m-r;

@marksluv 🐻💛 / @marksseunie 🐻🌿💛 / @mart-art 🐻🌿💛 / @mochabam 🐻🌿💛💌 / @mochimork 🐻🌿 / @morkookie 🐻🌿💛💌 / @n0average 🐻 / @odetopcy 🐻 / @park-jjinyoung 🐻 / @peachjy 🐻🌿💛 / @peachyugy 🐻🌿💛 / @pink-gyeom 🐻 / @pinkjbeom 🐻 / @pinkjy 🐻🌿 / @pizzawasabi 🐻 / @protectmarkjin 🐻 / @redgyeomie 🐻 / @redrookie 🐻

s-z;

@sadvinyl 🐻 / @sailordeer 🐻 / @sftchans 🐻 / @sharkmoji 🐻 / @shelovesjinyoung 🐻🌿💛 / @slay-bum 🐻 / @softforjackson 🐻🌿💛 / @softjnyoung 🐻🌿💛💌 / @softsmol 🐻 / @su-mel-strawberry4 🐻 / @sugarmaterfamilias 🐻 / @sunbeamjinhappybirthday 🐻 / @taehyunas 🐻 / @taeyeonzx 🐻 / @teenagermp3 🐻🌿 / @theycallme-tunathot 🐻 / @ungiis 🐻 / @vanelaqream 🐻 / @velveteen-queen 🐻💛 / @wangseunie 🐻 / @whyugyeom 🐻 / @yoongifer 🐻 / @youngjaesloudlaugh 🐻🌿💛 / @yu-gyeomiebabo 🐻🌿💛 / @yugy 🐻🌿💛 / @yugyeomsbaby 🐻🌿

#;

@11mark 🐻🌿💛💌 / @127stan 🐻🌿💛 / @2gi 🐻 / @2ndlove 🐻 / @3-rachas 🐻 / @6oct 🐻🌿 / @724148 🐻 / @7uv 🐻

💌 baobeijackson ( sam !! ) - sam!! hello my lovely human being. i love you sooo much, angel!! but i bet you already knew that, heh. :p you mean lots and lots to me, and i don’t think i can ever truly express just how much. before we really started talking, you always made sure to check up on me to make sure i was okay... and that really made me happy. :/ that’s how i knew you were such a sweetheart!! as you know, i Suck at replying, but everything you say/send me makes me smile because i know how much you care about me, and your friends. i love how i can confide in you when i have a problem, and i just want you to know how proud i am of you for all of your achievements, big or small!! you are such a lovely person, and people need to know just how much. i love you soooo much sam!!! i hope that one day we can meet, i really do. (๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)💕 💌 birf ( jilly !! ) - jillian!! we don’t get to talk too often, but when we do, i really love it. you are such a big sweetheart, and i love your sense of humor so hecking much. i love talking to you so very much!! i also love how much you love jaebum, because it makes me smile so much... :’/ your sense of fashion is literally out of this world!!! did you know that? 💞 i admire the taste in fashion you have so much, it’s so awesome. i love the memes that you bring to the table, and your passion for the things that you love!! i love you lots and lots jillian, you’re truly one of a kind and someone who deserves the world and more. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) 💌 choiyoungjae ( fawn !! ) - fawn!! i believe that you were one of my very first got7 mutuals, and to this day that fact makes me so very happy. you’re one passionate human being, and one of the kindest people that i’ve ever had the privilege of talking to!!! you’re an actual angel. we don’t talk very often, but i love seeing you on my dash so much and i love it when we can have the chance to talk... because you’re literally so sweet. your love for youngjae fuels the fire in my heart tbh, it’s so lovely. you really care about him and it makes me so happy. :( 💖 i love your creative content so much, because it’s so unique and interesting! your gifs are so cool. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) i hope that we can talk more!! because you are truly such a wonderful gem to have around, and i love you!! (´∀｀=)✨

💌 iheartyugyeom ( hayley !! ) - my lovely hayley!!! did you know that i love you so much? :/ because i really do. your snaps brighten my day/night, and i love how funny and caring you are. you were one of my first friends here, and i’d never take that back. :/ you make me so very happy!! even if i suck at expressing that heck ; i love it when you gush about yugy and how i can gush right back with you, and how safe ‘n comfortable i feel when talking to you. i love you so much!! if i had the chance to fly to aussi, i’d meet you right away because!! i just love you so much. :( thank you for always being such a big sweetheart!!! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

💌 jacksonwangblog ( karobean !! ) - there’s literally so much i want to say? i literally love you so much, and you’re someone i can’t imagine my life without. i’ll probably cry writing this like the crybaby i am, but?? i just need to let you know how much you mean to me. not a day goes by that i don’t regret messaging you, even if it took the life out of me. we clicked literally right away, and i remember our very first time actually dying of laughter was over the term flabbergasted. that seems so long ago, and i know that we’ve literally had 493705349594508409 inside jokes since then. but can u believe that of all things was the first?? and then chocroivol.. itwwotst guy.. aliens & french fries, soulmate matters, swimming across the atlantic.. so much. you’re the virgo to my scorpio, the perfect dane to my american, the jack to my bam, my everything. :’/ you’re someone i can truly confide in and i know that you’ll be real with me and tell me how you feel, which is something i love.. because it makes me know that you’re telling me what you think is best for me. i love how we can have 40910 different conversation topics within the span of 10 minutes, and i love how much you can make me smile and laugh. the amount of times that i’ve been in public and smiling like an idiot at my phone is.. wow. not only can you make me laugh, but you’re someone who’s taught me so much about the world, and you’re someone that’s really inspired me to live my life to the fullest. we both have our moments when we’re sad at the same time, but i love how we can always count on one another to cheer each other up. one of my biggest goals in life is to get to denmark and meet you, because you literally mean the whole entire world to me. you’re one of my best friends in life, and i’d never trade that for the world!! i love you so, so much karoline, you mean more than words to me. jeg elsker dig mere end stjernerne! de skinner lyst, men du skinner endnu lysere. tak for eksisterende, jeg ved ikke, hvad jeg ville gøre uden dig!! du fortjener verden og mere, jeg håber du ved det! jeg elsker dig så højt, min sol!! (๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)💛💛💛💛💛💛💛 💌 lattegyeom ( abbey !! ) - oh my gogdskjd, abbey. i truly, and utterly adore you to pieces. i can’t really express just how much, but it’s so much. you’re always there for me when i need someone most, and you always have the sweetest things to say to me. you’re so gentle and loving, and that’s just one of the many things that i love about you. you’ve helped me through a lot, and i can’t thank you enough. i really relate to you, and you’re someone i know i can trust 100%. you’ve taught me so much about the sky and what it holds, and you’ve helped me to understand myself when i couldn’t even do it on my own. and that’s something i truly am thankful for, because?? it just means so much to me. you’re so fking genuine, too. you care about the people around you, and it really does show. you’re one of those people that can light up rooms, i’m so sure of it!! you’re someone that means so, so much to me, and i’m always so thankful for your existence!! (๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑) i look up to you lots and lots, and you’re someone i’d never want to disappoint. your love for yugyeom is one in a million, too. you love him to pieces, and i know he’d love you just as much back. (trust me, we’re both scorp suns and gemi moons!! we love u.) i can’t imagine my life without you, and i s2g i’ll drive up to MN one day and take you out to coffee!! you deserve all the happiness in the world, m’lovely abberson!!! thank you for teaching me so much and caring about me, because they all mean so much to me in more ways than i could ever begin to explain. you’re one of my best friends, and i cherish you so much. (also uh thanks for putting up with my memey ass when i know u hate 87% of the horrid memes i send u :p) i love you sooooo much abbey!!! my star-dusted angel !! (*´∇｀*)💫��  💌 mochabam ( jemmy !! ) - JEMMY MY LOVE MY ANGEL MY LOVELY PAL!!! can i just say how happy i am that we started to talk more and more?? because you make me so happy and the way you can make me laugh is phenomenal. we have so many lil jokes, and i love knowing how stupid i can personally be and yet you’ll just laugh ever so lovingly with me. you have so much love to give, and it always amazes me just how much! i treasure you so much, and i care about you a great deal. you’re always there to listen to me when i need someone, and you can always cheer me up. i love how we’re always here for one another!!! your love for bambam is the sweetest and most genuine thing i have ever seen, and it really warms my hear. speaking of the loaf.. the loaf and i love you so, so much, and we’ll always be here for you no matter what!! i love you so much, m’coconut princess!! i hope you know how loved and appreciated you are!! i’m so thankful that you exist, and that i’ve come to know you in the way that i have. ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ💓💫 💌 morkookie ( alex !! ) - um... can i just start off by saying that i love you so, so very much? :/ let me say it again, but in your mother-tongue: ich liebe dich so sehr!! wow... :( you’re the loml, my mikan, and someone who is so very precious to me. i’d move mountains for you if i could!! i always want to make sure that you’re happy. you’re just one of those people, y’know? someone that i adore with my entire heart. your love and passion for me makes me so happy, and i just want you to know that i’m the same way back. you make me very soft, and i love your calming voice. you may think that your german accent may sound the exact opposite of what i’m about to say, but i love your voice so much. it’s so!! soothing to me, and i love it when you rant to me in german. i love my fiery woman. :p 💓 your love for jungkook is uh... exceptional. i love how much you love him, and i love knowing how pure and true it is. i mean who else would hecking go get his picture printed off and frame it. i love you and your shenanigans so, so much. i want to meet you so badly, so we can do everything on our list together. the day i meet you is going to be one of the best days of my life, whether it be in deutschland oder amerika. you mean so much to me, and i want you to know that. i know that when i tell you my problems you’re real and honest with me, and i love it. you’re always here for me. i love you so, so much alex... thank you for being you and for loving me the way you do. (´∇｀)💐💞 💌 softjnyoung ( rae !! ) - rae... my mama bun... my love!! you’re someone that means the whole entire world to me, because i know how much you care about/love me. you’re a beautiful woman, both inside and out!!! you’re always willing to talk about random topics with me, and i love how that’s one of the ways that we were able to bond with one another. i love talking to you almost every day, and i love how much i can confide in you. you’re someone i clicked with so, extremely fast, and i’d never take that away. you’re there for me when i need you, and you always make me feel so loved and appreciated. but guess what!! i love you more, and i always will. you hold such a special place in my heart, and that will never change. you’re someone i really look up to, and someone that i truly adore. you have so much wisdom, and you’re always willing to share it with me. you’re a whole big softie, and i love just how soft you can be for the people that you love. you always manage to put up with my crybaby self, but i know it’s because you care about me so much, and i can’t tell you how much i appreciate that. i swear when i go back to germany i’ll come and see you, and we can go get spaghettieis!! it’ll be the best experience in the whole entire world. your lil bunny loves you so much! you’re the sunshine when she feels at her lowest, and you can always brighten her days. you make me laugh to the point i can’t breathe, and i love how genuine you are. thank you for always caring about me, and just know that i care about you so, so much. you’re one of my best friends, and i’d never take that away. i love you soooo much, rae! more than you’d ever know! (๑˃̵◡˂̵๑)✨💛

💌 11mark ( victoria !! ) - victoria !!!! you’re such a soft little sunshine, did you know that?? you’ll always be someone that is so special to me. you were my cute lil rosey anon, and now you’re my cute lil rosey lovin’ pal!! you’re always there to make sure that i’m feeling alright, and i love it when you check in on me. you really care for me, and it shows so much!!! i care about you a great deal, too. you’re always introducing me to new things, and you’ve sparked my interest in the bulgarian culture. you’re my cute angel, and i love you dearly. i hope that we can continue to talk and grow closer, because you mean so so much to me!! thank you for coming forward and talking to me, because it means the whole entire world to me that we talk. i love our lil convos, even if they happen at odd times in the day! (heck those time zones. :p) i love you so much angel, continue to be yourself ‘n never change!! because i love you just the way you are. (๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)🌹💛

[thebibliosphere]

Unfortunately, that's her current vet and they've been a nightmare to schedule appointments and get her seen, or when we do see them, they've been v. dismissive. I think it varies which person you see there, but yeah... We've been trying to solve her tummy problems for months and they keep bouncing us to the emergency animal clinic down the road who, it has to be said, are phenomenal.

So shout out to the AER clinic for doing a great job. They really go above and beyond to take care of Ms. Holly and we appreciate it.

It's been exactly 7 days since Holly Mop had to go to the emergency vet and we had to take her back.

Some sort of inflammatory bowel disease or Addison's disease is looking more and more likely, poor little mop :(

[luxuryfacts-blog1]

Luxury Reborn – Products & Concepts That Have Been Reinvented

Nothing stays forever. Change is inevitable. It is so in luxury as well. We discuss three brands that have changed their concepts to suit current times.

By: Soumya Jain

Change is important. As people change, so do their needs, desires and ideas. Brands and products need to accordingly reinvent themselves. Sometimes it happens by choice, sometimes by force. And with the current generation of Millennials, brands have had to walk a tightrope between tradition and innovation. The coming up Generation Z is going to change things again. We talk about three such brands and products that have molded themselves as per current times.

1.      InterContinental San Juan – One of the most popular hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico, like all other hotels in the city, InterContinental San Juan also faced the wrath of nature during Hurricane Maria in 2017. But kudos to the brand that it resurrected much more quickly than the other hotels in the area. The hotel had already undergone extensive renovations which were completed in 2014. After the hurricane, one of the major new features that they introduced in the property was their room locking mechanism. No card key required! They would give it a chic band which you could wear on your wrist or arm, and tap it at the door lock for the room to open. The band also gave access to other public areas of the InterContinental San Juan. And it’s waterproof! This new technology made life much more easier for guests, who didn’t have to carry around a separate key.

2.      Fendi Baguette – The hugely popular, iconic Fendi Baguette handbag was a sensation when it was introduced. This tiny bag with a short handle which could be tucked under your arm, was made famous with Sarah Jessica Parker’s role in Sex in the City. But with the current times, the bag has been redesigned to suit women today who are always on the go! Along with the short handle, Fendi Baguette has been given a longer shoulder strap as well, which can make it into a crossbody bag too – providing the ultimate comfort a woman could need. Talk about customer being the king!

3.      AER Mumbai – Located on the top of the Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai, AER Mumbai is an international favorite when it comes to rooftop bars. Even then, AER Mumbai has kept its architecture and décor the same, but revamped its menu and music offerings. With a much more diverse entertainment menu, its cocktails and hors d’oeuvres have also given the bar a new life! The reason? Again – matching up to contemporary times and the needs of millennials. And the reinvention has been done phenomenally well.

Soumya Jain is the Chief Editor & CEO of LuxuryFacts.com – the first and only luxury blog and magazine in India. She is also the Co-Editor of ‘The Luxury Market in India: Maharajas to Masses’, published by Palgrave Macmillan and launched in September 2012. The book is a window into the highly complex Indian luxury market. Soumya is also a visiting lecturer for luxury marketing and online journalism at leading educational institutes in India. She has been invited to speak at conferences and address industry colleagues about the Indian luxury market. Recognising her knowledge of the market, she has been quoted by media such as Fast Company, Wall Street Journal & Financial Times among others, while also contributing articles on luxury in various publications.

[rickhorrow]

15 to watch 102918

15 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS 5: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 29 with Jamie Swimmer & Jacob Aere

This year’s World Series and the World Champion Boston Red Sox reveal one thing: money talks. According to the Wall Street Journal, both the Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers are proof of the “cold reality” that money really does matter in professional baseball. The Red Sox have reached the “third and highest tier of luxury tax spending, investing more than $237 million in payroll” this season, while no other team in the league comes even close to that. And despite reaching the last two but not winning a World Series in over three decades, the Dodgers “have spent about $1.4 billion in salaries to claim the last six NL West crowns.” The Red Sox, who bested the Dodgers 4-1 this Series, had the league’s highest payroll, thanks to their iconic venue, deeply-rooted fan base, and an RSN deal valued at more than $8 billion. The Dodgers had the third biggest payroll in the majors. Both of these elite clubs epitomize the current state of MLB; smaller market teams will continue to struggle without the right financial investments going forward.

The World Series just ended, but MLB is already looking toward next season. According to SportsBusiness Journal, the league will roll out a series of innovative programs aimed at helping players “who are interested in being out there, interested in marketing themselves, but making it easy for them to do.” Social media will be a big area of focus in the offseason, according to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. “The trick with players is that things are authentic,” said Manfred. “What we put on social media through our accounts may be really good but when you add the players’ input or their take on what has happened on social media, it’s way more important to our fans.” The league will be providing players with highlights next season by allowing them to simply grab the content and repost it on their pages. MLB still struggles with youth engagement and decreasing levels of participation — the social media push is a step in the right direction to make baseball “cool” again.

Midway through the NFL season, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium is working to finalize most of its Super Bowl details. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Super Bowl LIII on February 3 will have ultra cheap concessions prices compared to past events and other NFL games. The stadium’s “much-publicized” food and beverage prices will not change for the Super Bowl; hot dogs will still cost $2, soft drinks and popcorn will still be refillable, and more. Stadium officials noted that they "stipulated in Atlanta’s Super Bowl contract that concession prices would remain the same as at Falcons games and other stadium events.” The league is still deciding whether or not it would be possible to play the game with the sunflower-shaped roof open. “Open-or-closed is going to change the dynamics of a few things — some of our halftime stuff, some of our pregame stuff,” said NFL VP of Event Operations and Production Jon Barker. “All of that will go into consideration, but…from an NFL standpoint we would love to see it open.” Just like NFL fans will love to see those cheap food and beer prices come February 3.

FIFA’s fear of white elephant stadiums is already being realized in Russia following the 2018 World Cup. According to the Guardian, after recently surpassing the 100 day mark since France beat Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup Final, soccer has had a mixed impact on the host nation. Attendance in the Russian Premier League, Russia’s top soccer flight, is “up somewhat” from where it was before the World Cup. Regarding World Cup arenas, there "have been some early success stories” — stadiums in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Rostov are all "posting strong figures for the Russian Premier League season,” but others have already started to falter. The brand new €257 million Kaliningrad Stadium, which hosted only four World Cup matches, the $779 million Fisht Stadium in Sochi, constructed for the 2014 Olympics, and the $450 million Kazan Arena all "appear set to fulfill dire predictions” with a lack of attractive football being offered. This dilemma, of course, is not unique to the World Cup, as the potential for orphaned sports facilities has caused many cities across the globe to withdraw from Olympic and other mega event bids.

Top high school basketball players are starting to get a lot more creative with their professional development plans in the wake of the NCAA scandal that tore through college basketball. According to the New York Times, top prospect Darius Bazley will not attend college or play in the NBA G League: he will intern for New Balance. Bazley signed a multiyear shoe contract with the company guaranteeing him $1 million regardless of how his career pans out, but that could be worth up to $14 million if he “reaches all performance incentives.” Last March, Bazley de-committed from Syracuse so that he could wait out his one year in the G League before declaring for the 2019 NBA Draft, but those plans have changed. Bazley is now preparing to move to Boston in early January, where he is “expected to spend time with New Balance’s marketing department, digital and social teams, footwear and apparel design arms and the company’s sports laboratory in Lawrence.” This could be an invaluable long term experience for Bazley and other players following in his footwear footsteps – if he actually commitments to do the work and learn.

With only one year left on the Miami Heat’s current naming rights deal with American Airlines, Miami-Dade County has taken over talks regarding a new naming sponsor. According to the Miami Herald, the original deal, struck between the NBA franchise and American Airlines was signed back in the 1990s, creates a scenario in which the county “receives almost no revenue from the $2 million that American pays the Heat each year.” Consultants hired by the county expect the value of a new naming rights deal for the arena to be worth at least triple compared to where it currently stands. American Airlines has already reached out to Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez regarding an extension to the deal, but the county is intent on evaluating all potential options. In taking control of the situation, the county “must pay the Heat an additional $2 million annually starting in 2020 to make up for the money the team currently receives from American Airlines.” Presumably, the county will make much more than that from a new deal.

Los Angeles might be the second biggest city in the U.S., but it still might not be able to hold two NFL franchises. According to JohnWallStreet, team owners from around the league took the chance to voice their concern regarding the Chargers’ long-term viability in Los Angeles at the recent league meetings. The biggest concern remains the team’s fan base. With a plethora of empty seats at home games at StubHub Arena, an MLS stadium, many fear that the situation will become even more dire once the team moves into its new Inglewood stadium in 2020. “The franchise draws a league low 25,370 fans (many of them rooting for the visiting team) to its temporary home in Carson and is struggling to sell SSLs for their new stadium,” though the Rams will own the venue. The Charger’s franchise value has continued to grow over the past few years, going from $1.525 billion in 2015 to $2.275 billion in 2018, though the Chargers have failed to win consistently and still lack an identity in their new home. Not helping the Chargers’ situation with L.A. football fans is the phenomenal success this season of the crosstown Rams, who at 8-0 remain the only unbeaten team in the NFL after their victory over Green Bay on Sunday.

Despite pulling his bid to buy Wembley Stadium, Shahid Khan has done an incredible job elevating the Jacksonville Jaguars’ profile across the Atlantic. The Jaguars just completed their annual game in London, going up against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, and have come to call the city their second home. Appearing on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” ahead of the matchup, Khan pointed out that at one point his club ranked "31 out of 32 teams on fan recognition outside the U.S.,” but the Jags now rank much lower on that list. “I had a number of people telling me that our ticket…other than the Wimbledon men's final, was the most sought-after ticket this year in London,” said Khan. Hosting an annual game overseas and forgoing one of the team’s eight designated home games at their stadium might seem like a poor financial strategy, but in doing so the team has been able to boost local revenue, increase sponsorship value, and negate “some of the financial challenges associated with being in one of the league’s smallest markets.”

When the NFL agreed to pay out $1 billion in a settlement to victims of CTE, former players who suffered from the condition likely figured they were set for a significant payday. According to USA Today, as payments are starting to trickle out, some recipients “have been stunned to find they may receive just pennies on the dollar of what they're owed, likely setting off another spate of frustrating court battles.” One example of this is former NFL players Ralph Goldston, whose family had been notified of a $160,000 award coming from the settlement; that number dropped all the way down to negative $737 after deductions and “holdbacks,” including “thousands the court has kept in case the family owes money for Goldston's medical bills.” Goldston is just one of the 700 approved players to receive settlement money, though 20,000 players were involved in the suit. Some are blaming the league for this while others are blaming the lawyers who sought to take a percentage of the money despite their minimal work.

MLS is expected to join the likes of the EPL and Serie A in 2019 by adding sleeve sponsors. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Union Chief Business Officer Tim McDermott confirmed the news, saying that it is “something that the league is evaluating.” The Union, which currently have Bimbo Bakeries inked as their primary kit sponsor, previously said that they would entertain the idea of also using Bimbo as their sleeve sponsor, but favored using the logo of one of their subsidiary brands for their sleeve sponsor. “If you think about it from the standpoint of a company like Bimbo that has a lot of different brands, you can see how that can have a lot of value for them,” said McDermott. Under the league’s expected rules, clubs would not be allowed to use the same sponsor for both the chest and sleeve spots. A recent report emerged noting that D.C. United’s potential sleeve sponsorship value sits at around $500,000 to $1 million. Those numbers could either be the benchmark for MLS or, thanks to the likes of Wayne Rooney and a brand new stadium backing the club, could surpass the league average.

Beach Volleyball Major Series scoops international prize. The Beach Majors Company’s continued excellence in organizing world class beach volleyball events has been recognized by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, which has awarded them the coveted Salute to Business International Business Award. Every year, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce distinguishes businesses that “excel in their fields and make strong, lasting impacts on the community” – one which the panel believes the Majors Series contributes with the Fort Lauderdale Major. Beach Majors CEO Hannes Jagerhofer said: “I’m very proud that our hard work and enthusiasm in bringing the highest level of international beach volleyball to the United States has been acknowledged in this way. We strive to make our tournaments the best for the fans, the players, our VIP guests, and the local residents and business people of Fort Lauderdale who have showed their continued support for the event and for welcoming us to their community.” The 2019 event, which will run February 5-10, will be the fourth time a Major Series tournament will be held at the South Florida venue since the 2015 World Tour Finals.

The TCS New York City Marathon has grown from a Central Park race with 55 finishers to the world's biggest and most popular marathon, with more than 50,000 finishers in 2017. The 2018 TCS New York City Marathon will offer a total guaranteed prize purse of $825,000—with potential time bonuses. First prize in the open division equals $100,000 each for the top male and female finisher. As the largest marathon in the world, the TCS New York City Marathon is a showcase event for brand partners. The combination of this premier event with New York Road Runners’ connection to nearly 600,000 runners of all ages and abilities has established NYRR as a world-class sports marketing organization. Top partners of the 2018 event include Tata Consultancy Services – which signed an eight-year agreement in 2013 worth $100 million – New Balance, United Airlines, Foot Locker, Wanda, Michelob Ultra, Poland Spring, UPS, and Dunkin Donuts.  This year’s race – the 48th running of the event – is also a living laboratory for life science leaders such as Norfolk, VA based Embody, which aims to restore peak performance for orthopedic patients through advanced manufacturing and regenerative technologies.

FIFA has put on hold plans for a Saudi-backed global club competition, following talks over the proposal that took place at a council meeting of soccer’s world governing body in Kigali, Rwanda on Friday. The concept, which would see 24 teams – 12 of which from Europe – competing in a quadrennial tournament, had initially been dropped as a priority by the organization. If eventually successfully pushed through, it would replace the existing Club World Cup, which is played each December, while its quadrennial summer place in the calendar would replace the Confederations Cup tournament played out by the reigning champions of various continental national team tournaments. The competition is reported to have seen $25 billion pledged towards it by a combination of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, and the United Arab Emirates, according to a report in The Times. FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is said to have met with Saudi officials four times in the last six months, has also proposed a worldwide Nations League, replicating the successful format introduced by UEFA. Infantino’s plans to revive talks come as Saudi Arabia is under intense scrutiny over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a vocal critic of the state, at the country’s embassy in Turkey.  UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, has spoken out against the proposals, amid a fear that any new competition would risk overshadowing UEFA’s prime assets – the Champions League, the UEFA Nations League, and the European Championships.

Group1001 has unveiled Relay®, a revolutionary financial product that rewards goal-oriented consumers with incredible cash-back on everyday expenses. Relay's bold new offering couples an immediate annuity, issued by Guggenheim Life and Annuity Company, with a prepaid debit card offering cash-back rewards, and eliminates typical restrictions. "Relay was born out of a consumer need to make every dollar count and the ensuing frustration with the yields offered by traditional savings products and the restrictions typical to cash-back programs," said Andres Barragan, Chief Experience Officer of Group1001. "Relay delivers on that need with a completely fresh take on annuities that celebrates and rewards smart planning and spending habits.” Added Dan Towriss, CEO of Group1001, “This new product exemplifies our commitment to providing technology-led innovation and the finest services to a wider set of customers." Relay is now available in Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, with service expanding to Florida and Texas on November 1, and California and other states soon thereafter. Group1001 and Relay are already embedded in the sports world, through their title sponsorship of the Indy Women in Tech LPGA event and IndyCar support of Andretti Autosport and driver Zach Veach. Desert Champions, in conjunction with the USA Pickleball Association, has announced a cash prize purse of $75,000 for the Open and Sr. Open of the 2018 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships, to be held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden November 3-11. Equal prize money will be awarded to athletes for all doubles, mixed doubles, and singles medal winners for this year’s event. According to the USAPA, this year’s cash purse represents the largest ever distributed for the sport of pickleball. USAPA Executive Director Justin Maloof said, "The venue move to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden this year represents a significant step forward in our long-term strategy to elevate the sport of pickleball and showcase our top athletes on a national stage.” Said pro pickleball player, Simone Jardim, “Three years ago, when I started playing pickleball, I would have never dreamt that I would be playing at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, let alone for this kind of money. This entire experience is a giant step forward for our sport.” This event is expected to draw more than 2,200 participants from across the country and will feature an array of daily live entertainment, food, concessions, and exciting pickleball action. Tech Top Five

Bleacher Report teams up with the Houston Rockets’ Carmelo Anthony to launch B/REAL. Anthony’s company, Crea7ive, will team up with B/R to connect “real-life heroes with influential athletes to show that star power can be found in all of us.” According to Cynopsis Sports, the new series will be presented by Cricket Wireless and is made up of five short films that tell the stories of inspiring young people, selected by Anthony and B/R. On October 19 at the La Peer Hotel in Los Angeles, Bleacher Report announced charitable donations on behalf of the B/Real Class of 2018 which includes Zack Dobson, Alexandria Buchanan, Trashaun Willis, Jason Seaman, and Brehanna Daniels. Other sports stars who have contributed towards the new partnership include the WNBA forward Candace Parker, NFL running back Alvin Kamara, sports broadcaster Taylor Rooks, and Houston Rocket teammates Chris Paul and James Harden.

Nike crowns Jian ‘Uzi’ Zihao as first esports ambassador. According to Ministry of Sport, the Royal Never Give Up (RNG) team member and  Chinese League of Legends player will stand alongside NBA superstar LeBron James and Chinese actor Bai Jingting to promote the “Dribble &” marketing campaign for James’ upcoming “Shut Up and Dribble” Showtime series. The launch of the partnership saw Zihao sporting a black T-shirt with the text “Dribble & Carry” on the front. Zihao is widely regarded as one of the best League of Legends players in the world and recently won a gold medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta where competitive gaming was included for the first time as a demonstration event. Nike’s recent endorsement deal with Zihao emphasizes the growing professional market for esports and is one of many affiliations that the gamer has found himself and his RNG team become a part of including partnerships with Mercedes-AMG and KFC.

The Chicago Bulls bring an “Angry Bird's-Eye View” Cam into their home stadium. The NBA team joined forces with Finnish company Rovio Entertainment to unveil a new perspective. According to The Drum, the recently unveiled cameras feature live footage from above the rim as they are positioned on top of both backboards at all Chicago Bulls' home games throughout the 2018-2019 NBA season. Additionally, Angry Birds branding will appear next to the added lenses and on the LED screens on the side of each basket. Several unique VIP "Angry Bulls" experiences will also be provided for fans at Bulls’ home games throughout the season. By partnering with the Chicago affiliate of the NBA, Rovio Entertainment has continued the company's association with iconic sports and entertainment brands, including the NFL, English Premier League's Everton FC, and rock bands Iron Maiden and Imagine Dragons. The bird’s-eye-view cameras are the latest addition to the Bulls bag of tricks as they had also recently announced Bulls Outsiders, a fan-lead TV show, to air on NBC Sports Chicago after regular season games.

Discovery and PGA Tour launch OTT platform, GolfTV. Coming on the heels of a $2 billion rights deal signed by the two parties in June, GolfTV delivers the first-of-its-kind live and on-demand international video streaming service with more than 2,000 hours of live golf each year. According to SportsPro, the new OTT golf platform will launch January 1 and initially operate in Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and the Netherlands. Discovery says GolfTV will take over the existing PGA Tour Live platform and serve as a streaming center for golf content featuring the circuit’s top players and tournaments. After its initial launch, GolfTV will become available in Poland and South Korea in 2020; Belgium, China, Germany, and South Africa in 2021; Denmark, Finland, India, Norway, Sweden, and the UK in 2022; and France in 2024. The movement to OTT has affected golf at its highest levels and will allow the sport’s global community to better connect to its major tournaments and players.

L.A. Clippers roll out a new augmented reality NBA experience. According to Geek Wire, owner Steve Ballmer has launched Clippers CourtVision which uses computer vision, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality to analyze game play and display on-screen statistics and animations as the game unfolds. For example, fans can see the probability that a player will make a shot in real time on the streamed game. The technology was developed by Second Spectrum, a 5-year-old startup that became the “official optical tracking provider” of the NBA in 2016. The company’s software allows computers to watch live sports and track on-court movement at a micro level. It then applies machine learning and AI to overlay a live NBA stream with data and graphics. Currently, Clippers CourtVision is available for FOX Sports Prime Ticket subscribers in the Los Angeles area via the FOX Sports app. With the technology so new, there’s lots of room to perfect the AI broadcasts, but the sky's the limit for Ballmer’s Clippers as the tech mogul is helping to bridge the divide between esports and on-court basketball. Power of Sports Five

Former NFL punter Pat McAfee goes undercover to shoot the uprights for charity. As an old man trotted out onto grass to kick field goals for cancer research in the home of the Indianapolis Colts, not too many people saw the possibility of the grandpa claiming the $70,000 Charity Challenge after the geezer dribbled his first attempt. According to CBS Sports, the “grandpa” quickly recovered his purposeful blunder as McAfee then hit three of the next five field goals from 20, 30, and then 40-yard targets to complete the challenge and later revealed his true identity from under his mask. A current football analyst, McAfee raised $70,000 which is being put towards the Simon Cancer Center at Indiana University. Although the Colts have had an otherwise dismal season, the retired punter provided some much needed entertainment while helping to support a cause that affects nearly everyone in some shape or form.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Andrew Wiggins will give back for his buckets. The 23-year-old NBA player shared that he will be donating $22 for every point he scores this season to charity – the reason for 22 is that it’s the number on his jersey. Wiggins announced over Instagram that the money he donates will go toward "supporting underprivileged children who face barriers in participating in organized sports." The Timberwolves player has a history of giving back to deserving students as the native Torontonian returned to his roots in 2016 to help renovate his childhood Dufferin Clark Community Center. Wiggins' promise to donate for each point this season can raise tens of thousands of dollars as his total of 1,452 points last season would add up to more than $31,000. Following the example of the charitable LeBron James, Wiggins has converted his stardom into an opportunity to reach out to those who have high barriers to entry in playing sports.

T-Mobile doubles its hurricane recovery donations during the World Series. During the Fall Classic, T-Mobile has donated $10,000 for every home run to Team Rubicon, plus $2 every time anyone posts the #HR4HR hashtag to Twitter or Instagram. According to Business Wire, the “Un-carrier” has raised over $4 million for Team Rubicon, a non-profit that unites the expertise of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams in communities struck by disaster. #HR4HR continues to help those in need – as recently as this past month, when Hurricane Michael made landfall. Thanks to the campaign, Team Rubicon volunteers were able to deploy a reconnaissance team to Panama City, Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael to identify hard-hit communities and provide clean-up assistance at zero cost. During what is the most active hurricane season between the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans on record, #HR4HR’s added efforts with MLB couldn’t have been better timed.

Former NHL forward George Parros joins ex-Rangers and Devils for a charity game with police officers. According to nhl.com, Parros joined six other ex-NHL players including Ken Daneyko, Sergei Brylin, Grant Marshall, Colton Orr, Christopher Higgins, and Brian Mullen to play alongside police officers hailing from New York and New Jersey for the Face Off to Fight Pediatric Cancer charity hockey game at Chelsea Piers. The game benefited Ronald McDonald House New York and even actors Liam Neeson and Malik Yoba were in attendance to help support the cause. The event is the result of Meagan Celeste’s MDC Productions, which connects individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations with a common vision. Celeste's passion for hockey and her support for law enforcement came to fruition through the game in which she also was also able to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House – a children's charity that provides accommodations for families of hospitalized children. The New York NHL hockey community embraced the event with open arms and made some of the many faces in the Big Apple feel a bit more like family.

Ex Wolves and Aston Villa stars to feature in charity football tournament. According to Birmingham Live, former English Premier League Wolverhampton footballers Matt Murray and Geoff Thomas, Aston Villa legend Ian Taylor, and former England ace Matt Le Tissier have given their support to the Copa Del Cure Leukaemia. This is a soccer tournament taking place at the home of the England team – St. George’s Park and will feature six-a-side soccer games. The 16-team tournament takes place November 23 and will be followed by a dinner featuring celebrity guest speakers. This tournament allows soccer fans, for a team entry fee, to live like a professional for the day. The fundraising target for the event sits at £50,000, which would go to fund access to the latest pioneering treatments for blood cancer. Leukemia is a disease that has affected many soccer players in recent years, including the Wolves midfielder Thomas, Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov, Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, and countless other soccer pros.

[majornelson]

Top Microsoft Gaming Moments Of 2017

Will Tuttle, Xbox Wire Editor in Chief, shares some of the biggest moments in 2017 for Microsoft and the Xbox team.

During E3 this year, we showed the biggest and most diverse Xbox games lineup ever. Many of those games are coming in 2018, and as gamers we cannot wait to share them with fans. Among Microsoft Studios exclusives games are new IP like Sea of Thieves (launching March 20), deep gameplay in fan-favorite franchises like State of Decay 2, and the explosive return of a celebrated franchise to Xbox with Crackdown 3 – all releasing on Xbox One and PC. That’s in addition to all the great ID@Xbox and cross-platform games (more on that below), and as well as other unannounced surprises to come.

As we prepare to step into the new year, it’s a great time to reflect on our favorite gaming moments of 2017 on Xbox and PC. We released the world’s most powerful console Xbox One X with the largest games lineup in Xbox history, including more than 1,300 titles and over 220 exclusives. Among those were incredible 2017 releases from Microsoft Studios, third party publishers and innovative independent developers, with over 85 specifically enhanced to take advantage of the power of Xbox One X. We also offered new ways for gamers to access content, interact with spectators and participate in the game development process.

The excitement capped recently with The Game Awards, where Forza Motorsport 7 took home Best Sports/Racing Game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds won Best Multiplayer Game, and Cuphead snagged three awards, including Best Independent Game.

Join us as we look back at our top 10 games moments of 2017.

The World’s Most Powerful Console Launches

Reception to Xbox One X has been incredible and we’re so grateful for our fans. One of the things we’ve enjoyed most is seeing how developers are taking advantage of the world’s most powerful console, with 4K Ultra HD, HDR, Dolby Atmos and other exciting features and improvements. Xbox One X truly is the best place to experience games with many enhanced games available and more adding support as we move into 2018.

The Biggest PC Game of 2017 Comes Exclusively to Console on Xbox One

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds took the gaming world by storm in 2017. Over 25 million players experienced PUBG on PC and console fans got a shot at winning their own chicken dinners with its exclusive release on Xbox One as part of the Xbox Game Preview program last week. The reception from Xbox fans has been phenomenal with over one million copies sold in the first 48 hours alone. Through the Xbox Game Preview program, fans get to be a part of the development process, and PUBG on Xbox One will continually receive content updates including the new desert map, Miramar, optimizations, and more exciting stuff in the months ahead.

Xbox Game Pass Opens up a New Way to Play

Launching Xbox Game Pass was a big moment for Xbox this year. Giving fans more options to diversify and expand their library of games, as well as discover new experiences has been important to us, which is what we set out to achieve with Xbox Game Pass. We have been excited by the amazing fan reaction and engagement with Xbox Game Pass, which gives unlimited access to over 100 great games on Xbox One.

Xbox is the Best Place to Play Multi-Platform Games

This past year, we worked with fantastic publishers and developers across the industry to make Xbox the best place to play their games. Players responded by playing more than 1,870 third-party games for over 12 billion hours. The Xbox community demonstrated how Xbox Live is the fastest and most reliable gaming network by logging in more than 3.7 billion hours in multiplayer across games from our partners. This has inspired our partners to enhance over 80 Xbox One X games with any combination of benefits like faster loading times, higher resolution textures, HDR support or steadier framerates. We’re looking forward to a great 2018 full of new games and even more Enhanced games with our players and partners.

Forza Motorsport 7 Sets a New Bar

Throughout the years, Turn 10 Studios has worked hard to push the award-winning Forza franchise to new heights, and the pinnacle (so far) was this year’s Forza Motorsport 7 – a game built from the ground up to showcase native 4K gaming at 60 frames per second on Xbox One X. It was an honor bringing the community the most comprehensive, beautiful and authentic racing game ever made. In September alone, more than 7.9 million unique players raced in the Forza community. Next up is the Xbox One X Enhanced version of Forza Horizon 3 coming January 15, and we’ll have more exciting news in the months to come.

Original Xbox Games Join Backward Compatibility Collection

One of the big highlights this year was bringing Original Xbox classics into the Xbox One Backward Compatibility program. Compatibility is important to Xbox, to developers and their games, and our community. In 2017, we added 136 Xbox 360, 13 Original Xbox and seven enhanced Xbox 360 titles, which helped contribute to the more than 400 titles available today and 740 million hours of Backward Compatible games played to-date.

Independent Developers Drive Innovation

Every year, we look back at all the great games released by independent developers around the world, and 2017 was a banner year for great independent games. First off, we launched the Xbox Live Creators Program in August and it’s already flourishing with more than 100 games playable on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs today. And ID@Xbox continues to be the home for creativity, innovation, and just plain rad games. From console exclusive Cuphead to Thimbleweed Park, What Remains of Edith Finch to Aer, or Fortnite to Tacoma, and favorites like Ark, Smite, Warframe and Rocket League ID@Xbox has fast become a super relevant way for independent developers to bring their creations to the Xbox One and Windows 10 community. With Deep Rock Galactic, Battlerite, The Darwin Project, Black Desert, Full Metal Furies, Robocraft, Below and hundreds of others in the pipeline for 2018, 2017 may get a run for its money!

Minecraft Becomes First Game Ever to Unify Players on PC, Mobile, and Console

2017 was a year focused on breaking down barriers for Minecraft. With the release of cross-device multiplayer in the Better Together Update, Mojang and the Minecraft team brought tens of millions of Minecraft players together on the game they love where they want, when they want and on the device they want. In 2018, Minecraft players can look forward to cross-device multiplayer on Nintendo Switch, a whole new world of under-the-sea adventures with the Update Aquatic, a spiffy new graphics engine powering the Super Duper Graphics Pack, and more.

Mixer Unlocks New Interactive Streaming Experiences

For the Mixer team, 2017 was about community growth and innovation. We welcomed a ton of new streamers, expanded our existing communities and added new ones, and made huge investments in new features like 4-person Co-Streaming, Mixer HypeZone and our new mobile app for iOS and Android that make Mixer the best place to stream and watch for console, PC, and mobile gamers alike. Seeing communities, creators and game developers unite around new experiences on Mixer has been incredible – Telltale Games using “Crowd Play” enables the audience to control story decisions, for example, or developers using new means of interactivity in Minecraft, The Darwin Project, Death’s Door and more. 2018 will bring even more interactive games as well as new capabilities for streamers.

Reinvesting in Age of Empires

Celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the Age of Empires franchise with the community at gamescom this year was epic. We announced Age of Empires IV there, which has long been on many fan wish lists. Add that we are partnering with Relic Entertainment, one of the best RTS developers in the world, and there is a lot to look forward to with the storied PC franchise. It’s just the beginning, as Age of Empires: Definitive Edition launches early next year, and Definitive Editions of Age of Empires II and Age of Empires III are planned in the future.

The SteamVR library comes to Windows Mixed Reality

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update brings mixed reality to your PC this holiday season, and along with it a catalog of over 2000 of the most popular VR games available with SteamVR. Windows Mixed Reality headsets don’t require any external cameras or sensors, and set up in just minutes so you can enjoy the immersive action of the top VR games available today, along with all of the apps in the Microsoft Store.

On behalf of the entire Xbox team, thank you to all Xbox fans. You are what makes gaming on Xbox great and the motivation that drives our team. 2018 is going to be an amazing year, and we can’t wait to share it with you.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out your own personal Xbox Year-in-Review to see how you gamed in 2017. Happy holidays!

via Xbox Live's Major Nelson http://ift.tt/2z5zOtb

[no-longer-heree]

Agghh!! Let’s hope this reblog works this time, because this work of beauty deserves all the recognition I can give! 💛

Aer, this piece is truly a work of art. It’s stunning and immaculately detailed. The way you describe and compare things gives me goosebumps. This is phenomenal. I couldn’t have asked for anything better!

And it’s reincarnation au? Um, YES!! This is my favorite theme to read and write, so I feel even extra blessed.

Thank you so, so, so much for the prompt, love. This means the world to me. I’ll treasure it always. 💛💛💛

It’s You

Thank you, @the-silver-field​, my love!! This is also written for @ereri-writing-prompts​ prompt 5, image 4.

Thank you to @fluffymusketeer​ for the beta <3

Rating: T | Reincarnation AU | 1,263k words | read on ao3 or below the cut

Keep reading

[bravehardts]

Day 5 - Thank you Ireland--Hello Scotland!

To our surprise this morning, the sun was actually glaring through the windows when we awoke at 7:30am. Apparently it had rained quite a bit last night but the clouds cleared up just enough for a stunning eastward view from our 2nd story window. We pushed to get out of the room as quickly as possible and down to breakfast. We felt like royalty as we enjoyed our meal in a stately and high-ceilinged room, overlooking the same view from upstairs. I finally ordered a full Irish breakfast (meat, meat, and more meat. Also eggs.) and soon we were on our way to a self-guided tour of the estate. The area of Mount Juliet is huge--we knew we could only cover a small portion in the couple of hours we had to spend before leaving for the airport. After Alex discovered a giant slug in a dewy meadow, the hunt was on for more--I assume the rain brought them out because there were dozens to be found in this “slug city” as he called it, including the King Slug, one slug to rule them all. We had heard about a “walled garden” on the property and promptly sought it out. Not far from the manor house, we found it, surrounded by a grey stone wall, covered in ivy, and reminiscent of “The Secret Garden”. We were the only people there, and it definitely seemed like there were some magical creatures hidden around. Loads of beautiful, blooming flowers of all colors stretched throughout the garden. We even found a few artichokes here and there. A central wall was punctuated with a single circular doorway, which made for many, many pictures, and a particularly entertaining set of Boomerangs on Allison’s iPhone (most failed, some worked, but the failures perhaps were the best). After exploring the garden we exited one of the iron gates and came upon a playground. We are not ones to pass up a playground! Despite the dew, Alex went down the slide a few times, played on the swings, and explored the zip line, which sadly had been a direct hit by a recently passing-over bird (so no zip lining this time). Next to the playground was a sign for a “Fairy Village”--looking up into the trees, we found that some crafty person--I mean a group of fairies--had constructed small treehouses and bridges between them. Alex was fascinated, and asked us if this was real--of course it’s real, we told him. Nah, it’s just pretend, he shot back. But then he told us that the Tooth Fairy was real, so we left a little confused. Passing by the manor, we descended below the backside of the building towards the horse and cow fields. We crossed a bridge over the Nore River and headed between the enclosures. The sun kept popping in and out of the clouds, and after a short stroll, we decided to head back. We finished packing our bags and left Mount Juliet, sad that we hadn't spent more time there. The road back to Dublin was rainy and overcast, and we took a quick pit stop at a local gas station--perhaps the cleanest and brightest I have ever seen. But the coffee got two thumbs down from me. The Jammie Dodgers (raspberry cookies) that Alex selected got 6 thumbs up from our whole crew. Navigating through Dublin airport, we hopped on our regional jet on Aer Lingus. It’s hard to judge the airline from one short flight, but despite a little bit of inefficiency at the check-in, and paying 3 Euros for a water on board, it seemed like a good choice. Oh, and Alex kept all his food down, so that was a nice surprise. As we landed in Edinburgh we were treated to beautiful views of the hilly city as we descended. Our excitement increased as we took our cab into town, viewing increasingly fascinating stone architecture along the way, buildings old, grey and soot-stained. Driving right down Princes St., we could already see phenomenal sights--Edinburgh Castle, Cathedrals, and a Ferris Wheel which got Alex more excited than anything. On the last few blocks to our hotel, we crossed into Old Town, and the place was absolutely teeming with visitors. When we booked our hotel, we had no idea this was Festival Season--all types of festivals are going on concurrently around the town. We didn’t have time to explore today, but surely we will get a taste for this all tomorrow. Settling into our hotel here (the Radisson Blu), we ran out for a quick dinner at a pub called Whiski Bar and Restaurant. Just like our Irish pubs, it was dark and lively, and had just the atmosphere we would hope for. The food was actually pretty decent and I tried a new beer, properly called “Edinburgh Castle”. It was very low carbonation, to the point it was close to water for me--a cask ale I assume it would be called. It went really well with a hamburger, but by itself, not great, especially compared to a Smithwicks, which we will sorely miss. During dinner we enjoyed a rousing game of “I Spy” led by Alex, which was assisted by the hundreds of photos and artifacts adorning the walls of the restaurant. Skipping dessert, we instead opted for some fresh made fudge in a shop nearby--delightful. And that ends this day! Tomorrow we dig into Edinburgh properly and will do our best to avoid the crowds.

[touristguidebuzz]

Review: Hawaiian Airlines (A330) First Class From New York to Honolulu

Hawaiian Airlines has been flying between its Honolulu (HNL) hub and New York’s JFK airport since 2012, and with flights between the two cities clocking in at about 11 hours, it’s unfortunate that the flag carrier of the Hawaiian Islands failed to have a more modern, lie-flat product up front, especially considering United offers lie-flat nonstop service from Newark (EWR) and typically from Washington, D.C. (IAD) and Delta offers lie-flat seats seasonally from JFK and other major hubs.

Thankfully, that’s all ancient history now that Hawaiian Airlines has given its Airbus A330s major upgrades to better establish itself as the best option for getting to Hawaii from the continental US. Several months ago, we got an an early look at the carrier’s retrofitted A330s, featuring its brand new, fully lie-flat First-Class product, which just began flying between HNL and JFK a few days ago. Yesterday, I had the chance to try it out for myself.

Booking

As soon as I learned that Hawaiian Airlines’ retrofitted A330s would be flying to JFK this month, I searched Google Flights and bought a one-way ticket to Honolulu for $1,153.28 using my Amex Platinum card — I ended up earning almost 5,800 Amex points since the card gives you a 5x bonus on airfare when tickets are booked directly with an airline or through Amex Travel.

If you want to use points to book this flight, Hawaiian charges a minimum of 40,000 HawaiianMiles for a one-way saver award in First Class, though availability for saver awards is extremely rare. American Express Membership Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest are both transfer partners with Hawaiian if you don’t already collect HawaiianMiles. Since I don’t have a practical use for HawaiianMiles, I decided to credit this flight to JetBlue’s TrueBlue program. My ticket was booked in the ‘A’ fare class, meaning I earned 1 TrueBlue point for every 2 miles flown — a total of about 2,500 points.

Airport and Check-In

Hawaiian Airlines operates out of JFK’s Terminal 5, which is also home to JetBlue, Aer Lingus and TAP Portugal. The departures hall at T5 is overwhelmingly JetBlue-focused, and Hawaiian Airlines occupies only a few desks at the far end.

Considering the ridiculous security lapse that happened at JFK over the weekend, I was very curious to see how the TSA was handling things. Agents definitely seemed to be making an extra effort to contain passengers in line and keep a a closer eye on those passing through the terminal — they were not at all amused when I pulled out my camera and tried to snap a few pictures.

Since I’d arrived after the early morning rush, I was through security within 15 minutes and on my way to the gate, which was located far away from the security checkpoint at the opposite end of the terminal. There were a few food options throughout the concourse, but I knew that I had a large meal waiting for me on board, so I headed straight to the gate. I was already running late due to traffic on the way to JFK, but if I’d had more time before my flight, I would have stopped by the Airspace Lounge, which Amex Platinum cardholders have complimentary access to.

Cabin and Seats

Hawaiian’s retrofitted A330s now sport a first-class cabin with 18 lie-flat seats arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration. Each seat has 76 inches of pitch and is 21 inches wide.

Hawaiian Airlines added more Extra Comfort seats to the main cabin in the retrofit, so these planes now feature 68 of them, up from the original 40 on the carrier’s non-retrofitted A330s. Each Extra Comfort seat is 18 inches wide and features 36 inches of pitch. There are also 192 seats in regular economy arranged in a 2-4-2 layout, and each of them is 18 inches wide with 31 inches of pitch.

There are several rows of Extra Comfort seats on either side of the aircraft — not in the middle, as you can see in the photo below, since the airline found passengers were more open to paying for extra legroom seats if they had access to a window or aisle. That makes perfect sense to me.

Another interesting feature of this specific aircraft is the two rows of Extra Comfort seats located directly behind First Class. This mini-cabin is very private, especially if you’re seated on either side of the plane.

Up front, the first-class cabin is bright and airy, with each ‘pod’ of two seats giving off tropical vibes. As a whole, the cabin looks totally fresh, its color scheme a constant reminder that you’re going on vacation. It’s a unique design that makes the space more fun than the typically buttoned-down business-class cabin you’d find on most other carriers.

My seat, 3H, was located in the last row of the first-class cabin, adjacent to the aisle, which was great for this long flight. At each seat, decked out in very attractive dark leather, was a small pillow attached to the headrest, as well as a large pillow and pink blanket that added to the fun, vacation vibe of the cabin.

Each seat had a fixed ottoman that acted as a foot rest while it was in the upright position — it then became part of the bed when the seat was in lie-flat mode. As you can see below, there’s a small space between the ottoman and the pod of seats in front of it, which is supposed to be a pass-through so the person sitting at the window seat can sneak by without disturbing your sleep. I was skeptical of this at first, but actually found it to work well in practice — the extra bit of space also allowed flight attendants to serve the window passenger without having to lean over me.

While the seats are operated by a simple toggle switch and recline into a fully-flat bed, they aren’t the widest.

If you like to spread out, you might find yourself a bit squished, but I thought the bed was perfectly comfortable and was able to take an excellent nap after a few hours of watching movies and getting some work done.

Another great feature of these seats was the availability of power ports — you can plug into one of the two USB ports or the full AC power port. Having the ability to charge more than one device, especially on such a long flight, was a huge perk and something more airlines should emulate.

Since I was traveling alone, the privacy divider was important and I think Hawaiian Airlines did it right with these new seats, despite having the 2-2-2 arrangement. The divider was substantial enough to make the seat feel private, but also looked great and since it was light-colored frosted plastic, I didn’t have to worry about feeling like I was deliberately blocking out the person next to me — it’s basically the best of both worlds.

These particular seats don’t feature an in-seat IFE system (more on that later), so in-flight entertainment is provided via iPad Pros that were distributed shortly after takeoff. The airline installed an interesting holder for the iPads, which consisted of a metal arm that pops out of the seat and has an indentation designed for the tablets to fit and stay (mostly) secure. I didn’t have too much trouble with this setup, but if you tend to move around a lot and don’t want to adjust the iPads, you’re going to have a problem.

The first-class cabin had one lavatory and featured some additional toiletries, but other than that, it was a standard, small airplane restroom.

Food and Beverage

A few minutes after boarding, the extremely friendly flight attendants offered me a pre-departure beverage — a choice of pineapple juice, Prosecco or a Mai Tai. The passenger next to me had a very healthy-looking açai bowl that made me hesitate when ordering a cocktail at 9:30am, but I just couldn’t pass up the chance to get into the Island spirit with a Mai Tai. I don’t regret my decision one bit either.

Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendants distributed small water bottles as well as the menus for our flight. They came around again a few minutes later to distribute the iPads, allowing me to get set up with my entertainment before having lunch.

After handing out hot towels, the FAs asked for my choice of beverage — there were several beers, wines and cocktails, including the excellent Mai Tai that I had before. I settled on a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, which appeared moments later with a dish of salted macadamia nuts. Both were delicious.

Next, I got to choose between two appetizer salads and two main course dishes. For the appetizer, there was either a crab meat salad or a burrata and tomato salad. Being a total cheese head, I went for the Caprese salad and it didn’t disappoint. Another thing that impressed me was that the butter was served at room temperature instead of as the freezing cold brick you’d end up with on other airlines.

For the main course, there was a choice of a tofu noodle bowl with vegetables or chicken with caper sauce and roasted vegetables. I chose the chicken and once again, it was delicious.

Pineapple upside down cake was served for dessert. I was so impressed by the first two courses that dessert ended up being my least favorite course — then again, I’m really not a dessert person anyway so I may be biased. Either way, I had no trouble eating the entire piece.

Shortly before landing, I was served chicken with sticky rice and chicken with rice noodles, scallions and broth. The sticky rice was phenomenal, but the soup was a bit bland.

Amenities

When I boarded the plane, I wasn’t offered an amenity kit and didn’t notice any in the overhead bins either. According to a press release from Hawaiian Airlines I’d received, passengers were supposed to receive newly-upgraded amenity kits on this JFK-HNL flight. I’ve since reached out to the carrier for clarification.

Another important thing to note is that this aircraft is not equipped with Wi-Fi (at this point). To some, that’s a huge drawback, but for those looking to totally unplug and relax, this could a great thing. But if you want to stay connected at all during the 11-hour flight, don’t plan on it if you’re on this plane.

In-Flight Entertainment

As I mentioned above, Hawaiian Airlines supplies entertainment to the first-class cabin via iPad Pros that are pre-loaded with content — if you’re seated in coach, though, you’ll still have a seat-back IFE monitor in front of you. The iPads in first class come in a smart-looking leather case, which you can see in the photo below.

Inside the case, there’s also a power cable so you can plug into the USB port that’s part of the seat, as well as a microfiber cloth for cleaning the screen. The airline offered over-the-ear headphones but I brought my own to use instead.

If you don’t want to hold the iPad in your lap or on the tray table, a metal arm folds out from the seat and is designed to hold the tablet in place. I already mentioned this, but the design makes it difficult to move from your seat while keeping the iPad in place, which could get annoying if you — or worse, your neighbor — moves around a lot during the flight.

As for the entertainment itself, the selection was decent. I had no trouble picking out two movies to watch, but if you’re planning on staying awake the entire time, you might tire of these options. In addition to movies, there are a number of TV shows, music and games to keep you busy.

The interface was simple, intuitive and featured sharp graphics thanks to the iPad Pro. However, some features that you’re likely used to seeing from other business-class products, such as the Airshow or point-of-view cameras, are lacking (though technically, the airshow is shown on screens mounted to the front wall of the cabin).

Overall Impression

Hawaiian Airlines’ new first-class product is a supremely comfortable way to travel between New York and Hawaii. The seats are brand new and comfortable, the cabin is fresh and fun and the food is excellent. Combine all of that with extremely attentive and friendly crew members and it becomes an experience that’s unique and hard to beat these days.

Does anyone have a flight booked in Hawaiian Airlines’ new first-class cabin? What are you looking forward to the most? 

All photos by the author.

[chloe-jayde]

Forex - Dollar eases in Asia with Trump-Xi talks easing tensions

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/forex-dollar-eases-in-asia-with-trump-xi-talks-easing-tensions

Forex - Dollar eases in Asia with Trump-Xi talks easing tensions

© Reuters. Dolalr a tad weaker in Asia

Investing.com – The dollar eased slightly in Asia on Friday as President Donald Trump told his Chiense counterpart Xi Jinping that the U.S. would stick with the “One China” policy, esaing tension between the world’s two largest economies and China trade data eased growth concerns.

The , which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, eased 0.02% to 100.64. rose 0.36% to 113.66, while gained 0.26% to 0.7644.

China’s January dollar denominated came in at $51.35 billion, well above the $47.9 billion expected. rose 7.9%, well above the 3.3% expected and jumped 16.7%, more than the 10% increase seen.

Earlier China’s customs said yuan-denominated exports rose 15.9% year-on-year and imports jumped 25.2% from a year earlier.

Trump however received setback as a federal court declined to lift a suspension on a ban on immigrants from seven countries. As well, investors aere awaiting rating agency Moody’s review of Italy (BBB) and France’s (AA) sovereign ratings later in the day.

“This does not necessarily mean any ratings actions but should be worth monitoring given how French yields have been rising in recent sessions,” invstment bank Macquarie said.

Overnight, the dollar extended gains against other major currencies on Thursday, after comments by U.S. President Donald Trump and upbeat U.S. jobless claims data.

During a meeting with airline CEOs on Thursday, Trump said he would be announcing something over the next two or three weeks that would be “phenomenal” in terms of tax. He also said that regulations will be rolled back, but it was unclear if the remarks related specifically to the aviation sector or to the broader U.S. economy. The comments came after the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims decreased by 12,000 to 234,000 in the week ending February 4 from the previous week’s total of 246,000.

Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 250,000 last week.

Meanwhile, the euro remained under pressure amid concerns over the possibility of a Brexit or Trump-style shock result in France’s upcoming presidential election.

Worries over elections in the Netherlands, Germany and possibly Italy, as well as the ongoing row over Greece’s bailout added to concerns over political risk in the euro area.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/forex-dollar-eases-in-asia-with-trump-xi-talks-easing-tensions

[jettadarkwynd]

Forex - Dollar eases in Asia with Trump-Xi talks easing tensions

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/forex-dollar-eases-in-asia-with-trump-xi-talks-easing-tensions

Forex - Dollar eases in Asia with Trump-Xi talks easing tensions

© Reuters. Dolalr a tad weaker in Asia

Investing.com – The dollar eased slightly in Asia on Friday as President Donald Trump told his Chiense counterpart Xi Jinping that the U.S. would stick with the “One China” policy, esaing tension between the world’s two largest economies and China trade data eased growth concerns.

The , which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, eased 0.02% to 100.64. rose 0.36% to 113.66, while gained 0.26% to 0.7644.

China’s January dollar denominated came in at $51.35 billion, well above the $47.9 billion expected. rose 7.9%, well above the 3.3% expected and jumped 16.7%, more than the 10% increase seen.

Earlier China’s customs said yuan-denominated exports rose 15.9% year-on-year and imports jumped 25.2% from a year earlier.

Trump however received setback as a federal court declined to lift a suspension on a ban on immigrants from seven countries. As well, investors aere awaiting rating agency Moody’s review of Italy (BBB) and France’s (AA) sovereign ratings later in the day.

“This does not necessarily mean any ratings actions but should be worth monitoring given how French yields have been rising in recent sessions,” invstment bank Macquarie said.

Overnight, the dollar extended gains against other major currencies on Thursday, after comments by U.S. President Donald Trump and upbeat U.S. jobless claims data.

During a meeting with airline CEOs on Thursday, Trump said he would be announcing something over the next two or three weeks that would be “phenomenal” in terms of tax. He also said that regulations will be rolled back, but it was unclear if the remarks related specifically to the aviation sector or to the broader U.S. economy. The comments came after the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims decreased by 12,000 to 234,000 in the week ending February 4 from the previous week’s total of 246,000.

Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 250,000 last week.

Meanwhile, the euro remained under pressure amid concerns over the possibility of a Brexit or Trump-style shock result in France’s upcoming presidential election.

Worries over elections in the Netherlands, Germany and possibly Italy, as well as the ongoing row over Greece’s bailout added to concerns over political risk in the euro area.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/forex-dollar-eases-in-asia-with-trump-xi-talks-easing-tensions

[breakbit]

Forex - Dollar eases in Asia with Trump-Xi talks easing tensions

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/forex-dollar-eases-in-asia-with-trump-xi-talks-easing-tensions

Forex - Dollar eases in Asia with Trump-Xi talks easing tensions

© Reuters. Dolalr a tad weaker in Asia

Investing.com – The dollar eased slightly in Asia on Friday as President Donald Trump told his Chiense counterpart Xi Jinping that the U.S. would stick with the “One China” policy, esaing tension between the world’s two largest economies and China trade data eased growth concerns.

The , which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, eased 0.02% to 100.64. rose 0.36% to 113.66, while gained 0.26% to 0.7644.

China’s January dollar denominated came in at $51.35 billion, well above the $47.9 billion expected. rose 7.9%, well above the 3.3% expected and jumped 16.7%, more than the 10% increase seen.

Earlier China’s customs said yuan-denominated exports rose 15.9% year-on-year and imports jumped 25.2% from a year earlier.

Trump however received setback as a federal court declined to lift a suspension on a ban on immigrants from seven countries. As well, investors aere awaiting rating agency Moody’s review of Italy (BBB) and France’s (AA) sovereign ratings later in the day.

“This does not necessarily mean any ratings actions but should be worth monitoring given how French yields have been rising in recent sessions,” invstment bank Macquarie said.

Overnight, the dollar extended gains against other major currencies on Thursday, after comments by U.S. President Donald Trump and upbeat U.S. jobless claims data.

During a meeting with airline CEOs on Thursday, Trump said he would be announcing something over the next two or three weeks that would be “phenomenal” in terms of tax. He also said that regulations will be rolled back, but it was unclear if the remarks related specifically to the aviation sector or to the broader U.S. economy. The comments came after the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims decreased by 12,000 to 234,000 in the week ending February 4 from the previous week’s total of 246,000.

Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 250,000 last week.

Meanwhile, the euro remained under pressure amid concerns over the possibility of a Brexit or Trump-style shock result in France’s upcoming presidential election.

Worries over elections in the Netherlands, Germany and possibly Italy, as well as the ongoing row over Greece’s bailout added to concerns over political risk in the euro area.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/forex-dollar-eases-in-asia-with-trump-xi-talks-easing-tensions