#recent additions to my 52 week project !!! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

doingthedirtydishes · 2 years ago

Text

Moving to Europe during Covid-19; Becoming poor and homeless in New York City.

After the success of my first book, Unbreakable Mind, endless projects were offered to me but none were a good match. There were many extremely attractive proposals. One was a second book, traveling to ten cities in the world, writing from an injured person’s perspective; an additional for NYT, to travel to 52 countries in 52 weeks, in a wheelchair; and, yet another, to create a travel TV show – but not any were the right fit, not one idea resonated with my soul.

Which avenue to further explore remained unclear until one fateful conversation in early May. I was on the phone with a friend from Amsterdam, a Norwegian-Dominican up-and-coming rap star, David AKA Big Mill, and he had an idea to share. “David,” I asked, “let me guess, another TV show idea.” He replied, “Yes, but this one is distinct.” Well, it was unlike all prior options – different to the point where I loved it. It made sense; it clicked with me – it felt right inside.

The other missing pieces to the puzzle would fall into place shortly thereafter. The morning of the 14th of May, my birthday, for some reason I was nudged to write an old classmate and friend, Adam, now living with his wife and four-year-old in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was recently laid off as an AV Director, a high position in the non-profit world of museums, now in search of a project to develop. I shared my idea for a new travel TV show with him and the rest is history.

After a seven hour conversation, going over every detail possible for how the project could ostensibly work, determining key people and positions needed to make a production company and TV show successful, and agreeing on a pilot location abroad (Amsterdam), we were off to the races. Since Covid-19 has affected so many business-people and investors globally, we were unable to raise the necessary funds. All agreed, signing on to the project on a shoestring budget.

One week later, with all airplane tickets and hotels reserved, my wheelchair supercharged by Gary Gilberti and his amazing team at Numotion Mobility, we were set to start filming pilot footage in Amsterdam in July and August. As I already live part-time in Amsterdam, I was planning on moving to Europe for two to five years. With everything [assuredly] in place, and not being a fan of storing items that others less fortunate could better utilize, especially during a global pandemic, I decided to give away my home, car, all my belongings to those in dire need.

What type spiritual person or leader would I be if I did not practice what I preached, helping others in life anytime one is able, truly living out the words I guide and ask of others to live, if I cannot do so myself? There was no need for me to store away furniture, clothing and other household items while others in my immediate presence were suffering from the current health and economic catastrophe. For two weeks friends and strangers came and took what they wanted.

Everything was going fine, just as planned. My home was donated, flights ready, bags packed and ride to airport sorted. Before flying out to Europe I planned to spend four days in NYC with an old friend, Georgie-boy, who lives across the Hudson River in Jersey City. George is an old and dear classmate from my irascible undergraduate days at Rutgers College; also the General Counsel for our production company. He has a thriving law practice in nearby Newark, NJ.

It was great to be back in NYC, my old stomping grounds in the late 1990s. There is nothing like “The City” – one of a kind, no other place like it on the planet. We spent an afternoon sunning on the spacious waterfront in Hoboken, NJ, a nice day playing Frisbee in Central Park West, eating amazing Mamouns Falafel and Prince St. Pizza in Greenwich Village. Though it was expected to see murals and damage from prior fortnight’s rioting, it was eerily strange in person.

It was Sunday, a day of respite before flying to Europe on Monday. George and I spent the day having a relaxing lunch at Iberia outdoor caf�� in the Little Portugal section of Newark, NJ. The next morning we were up bright and early, soon off to the airport. When we arrived at Newark International Airport it was nearly empty. There was not but one person at the check-in counter – moi. The Delta terminal was empty. It was June 15th and Covid-19 was in full effect. Wow!

Having never seen such a normally super busy airport terminal this empty in my life, it did not give me pause. George, on the other hand, had a different feeling, and decided to stay with me until I was ticketed to board. After finding a way to get my heavy bags checked in with no fees I thought we were on plan. Then a hiccup: “Sorry Mr. Quigley, you are unable to board the flight to Amsterdam. Dutch Immigration in Holland is denying you entry without proper permission.”

Well, that was a first, and not only a huge surprise but a major setback to a monumental project. Oh shit! What do I do now? Thank goodness Georgie stayed with me; and thank goodness he was able to put me up at his place until this mess was all sussed out. It was an absolutely horrid situation; and to add salt to the wound, I was right smack in the middle of a Covid-19 USA EU political Visa predicament; whereas the EU would review country entry list every two weeks.

George was gracious enough to see me through the immediate emergency until it began looking like my delay would be a bit longer than originally anticipated. The EU placed a travel ban on Americans’ travel to Europe. And it would not be reviewed again until July 1st. My new ticket was issued for a direct flight from JFK, NY to Amsterdam, Holland, July 1st. This being the case, and since George had a life to live, I moved to a Hilton close by to JFK airport in Queens.

What started as a journey by giving away all my belongings in order to chase a dream project and move to Europe was swiftly turning into a situation that could easily result in me becoming poor and homeless in NYC. Hotels are not cheap in NYC – nothing is inexpensive in the Big Apple – you pay through the nose. The costs were quickly adding up and what small financial safety net I had set aside was speedily disappearing. I could not last long in a hotel in Queens.

The hotel itself was of no help to my stress and anxiety levels. They had me on the sixth floor, all the way down the hall, in the far corner, in a room that was a very tight fit for a wheelchair, and could only be reached after struggling down one hundred twenty feet of carpet. As if that was not enough, one week into my stay the GM, Tracy Kass, awoke me early in the morning to inform me I would reach my 14 day hotel stay limit after this registration renewal, and she was calling to inform me they could not extend it any further. I was astounded, appalled. Unbelievable!

Miss Kass, later when challenged, changed her story, informing me I did not let her finish, she had more to say on the call – that there was, in fact, no 14 day limit. Three days and three voicemails later, and no reply arrived from the normally overly pugilistic General Manager. Only once it was elevated to Hilton Honors corporate office level did she return my call. This was after numerous emails asking her to send me a copy of the policy. She refused. It does not exist.

Upon complaint to NY State AG, their attorney replied that I did not let her finish, that it was actually a 28 day limit. That is total utter bullshit! Firstly, then why call me only after seven days? Secondly, I met two people outside the hotel who received the same inhuman treatment. Thirdly, all her staff, including her Director of Operations, apologized profusely to me in person for her insensitive, cruel call. It should be noted that all other staff were caring and supportive.

Later that week, while in the bathroom, the grab-bar broke off from the wall while attempting a toilet transfer, sending me straight onto the hard tile ground, injuring my neck and back. Do you think the hotel or GM did anything to help address the issue, let alone make some changes to mitigate a more comfortable stay? No! The room was a disaster for a wheelchair user. My stay in Queens was quickly morphing into its own mini crisis. I was stuck in a cement jungle without any stores. I had only one friend to assist me – Sunita in Boston. Hilton corporate has yet to reply.

With every door opening but quickly closing, I was running out of viable options, rapidly. The immediate future looked grim. Running out of money (and patience), with no home to move to, with no home to return to, life was proving overly difficult. It allowed my mind to get the better of my heart, lulling it into anxiety, sadness and no hope for the future. Life was grim; I was not a happy camper. After nine years of struggle, I figured this project would run smoothly. Silly me!

After time searching deep inside, meditation and prayer, chats with mentors, close inner-circle friends and spiritual advisors, I decided that I would face the universe’s tests head on. It was time to truly practice my words – taking my hands off the wheel of life, as the universe has it under control. It was another example of ‘Doing The Dirty Dishes’ of life – the Buddhist principle that if you want to get anything done in life you first must put in your effort, getting your hands dirty.

In May, when the project began coming together, one night while deep in meditation, an angel came to me and told me: “Steven, after 46 years of white-knuckling the wheel of life, you can now finally remove your hands [from the wheel], let go, give up control of life (as if you ever had any in the first place) – the hardest lesson for most to learn, aside from reaction and attitude, or living through love – I am now at the wheel, in full control. Wake up each morning and relax. Forget about your past; do not worry for your future; live in the present moment – the now.”

It all sounded great until I awoke on June 15th, only to be denied entry to a plane that represented my life’s work and dreams. Or did it!? What was the universe trying to tell me through stranding me in NYC? What was the lesson? It did not come at first, but it did not take long to figure it out. The universe was sending me bigger struggles to overcome. Why? 1.To truly test if my hands were off the wheel of life, wholly trusting in the universe 100% ; and 2. At length, it still had to break and broke me before my dream could be realized. I am grateful to both my teachers, the universe.

Three days later a friend from Portland Maine came down to NYC to rescue me. As soon as I stepped into her car I felt an immense 800 lb gorilla freed from my back. Off to Maine.

To be continued….Click here to read part II.

Travel Blog: Click here.

Spiritual Blog: Click here.

Book: Unbreakable Mind. (Print, Kindle, Audio)

Doing The Dirty Dishes Podcast: Watch or listen to episodes and subscribe: Spotify, Apple Podcast, Buzzsprout. Also available on Google Podcast, iHeart, Tunein, Amazon Alexa and Stitcher.

Doing The Dirty Dishes YouTube channel – watch and subscribe.

Social Media links: Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin.

Travel Blog links: Covid-19 stranded in NYC JFK and Maine – also travel stories on Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Iceland, Colombia (Espanol version), Amsterdam, Germany, New Hampshire, TN and NYC.

Personal Website link where you can also find my book, photos of my travels and updates on current projects.

Thank you for your love and support.

#steven quigley #steven quigley blogger #Unbreakable mind book #doing the dirty dishes #steven quigley writer #SCI travel #Steven Quigley author #doing the dirty dishes travel #doing the dirty dishes spiritual

2 notes · View notes

fundielicious-simblr · 3 years ago

Text

(Valentina’s POV)

Happy Harvestfest! I volunteered to host this year, meaning we had 21 people descend on our quiet little cottage out here in Brindleton Bay. I loved having my parents, all my siblings, and all my nieces and nephews around and filling up the house, it definitely brought be back to growing up at home with all 10 of us before we all got married and moved away. My mum said it was nice to have a change of scenery and be out in the countryside for Harvestfest, whilst Newcrest where we live is itself already outside of the commotion of the city since my grandparents wanted to raise their family away from worldly influences, out here where we live it’s truly the countryside where you can appreciate nature.

The family is under the cut!

Ryan (56) and Clare (52) Paulson

My wonderful parents are still so in love with one another with this year marking 32 years of marriage for them, 10 children and 9 grandchildren later and you’d think they were still newlyweds! Dad is still working in tech programming and at this point has helped create many Bible and devotionals apps that help other Christians get closer to the Lord, his current plan is to work until he’s 65 then he can retire and support the family with the pension that he’s earned as well as the money he gets from the apps. When she’s not homeschooling my youngest brothers (the only two left being homeschooled), my mother is either writing or teaching music. She helps coordinate the music at church, with the Winterfest nativity play music being her current project, and whenever the band/orchestra play she’s usually the one that has arranged the music, as well as guiding the players through the song. In the new year Newcrest Baptist is running a music camp, so she’s been preparing for that mainly; my cousin Zoe and I will also be teaching at camp so we’re all looking forward to the new year.

The Paulson Family - Carter (30), Madelynn (27), Lester (6), Fitzwilliam (1)

Carter and Madelynn have their 2 boys and right now are enjoying the different experiences that come with having a child and a toddler. Madelynn is homeschooling Lester as well as having him to go a christian homeschool co-op in their area twice a week, to further enhance his learning. Fitz is a year old and so just tags along with whatever Lester does, Madelynn goes through the toddler basics with him, but mostly focuses on Lester right now. This winter they’re going skiing with Madelynn’s family, her father is supporting their local conservative candidate in the election and the fundraiser is being held at a wonderful ski resort in the mountainous region.

The Townsend Family - Eric (32), Valentina (29), Aria (8), Ansel (6), Asher & Abbott (2)

We’re all good over here! I’ve started the school year with Aria and Ansel and both are progressing wonderfully, it’s amazing how much these kids love learning and I’m encouraged by their enthusiasm! I’m starting a rudimentary course with the twins to get them hopping on the learning train, they’re so interested in what their older siblings are doing that I thought it best to jump right into school with them. Eric and I have been thinking about getting some farm animals, we took the kids to the farmer’s market the other day and they were enraptured by the chickens, goats, cows, and sheep. It would be great to have the animals, we’d get fresh animal produce that’s homegrown to add to our fruit and vegetable garden produce, as well as a learning opportunity for the children to learn about animals and to learn the responsibility that comes with taking care of animals. This winter, other than learning about plants that flourish in the winter, we’ll also be focusing on learning all about animals and how we care for them. We want to be ready to welcome any animals that we might get onto our little homestead in the coming spring. I’m also working on what I’ll be teaching at music camp hosted by Newcrest Baptist in the new year, when I think of opportunities like this I can’t help but thank the Lord for my parents, had my mother not poured into us and taught us how to play instruments then I’d never be blessed with this opportunity to teach others.

The Paulson Family - Alan (28), Tessa (21), Charity (1), Edgar (6 weeks old)

Alan and Tessa have had the most recent addition to the family, 6 weeks ago Tessa had their second child, a boy they named Edgar! Tessa truly inspires me, she barely had the time to recover after having a baby before loading up to travel down here with everyone! She’s such a blessing, I was talking to her on how she handled travelling with a 2 children under 1 and she made it sound so easy! If they keep going at their current rate then they’ll have another baby by next Harvestfest - how wonderful! This winter they’re travelling to Sulani with Tessa’s family, they’re excited to have the sun and the ocean instead of frigid air and snow as they celebrate the birth of our Lord!

The Crocker Family - Gregory (28), Kristyn (25), Kayla (1)

Kristyn and Gregory are enjoying life with little Kayla, they’ve had a wonderful time adjusting to her joining and family and love it. She’s the first granddaughter on their side of the family as Gregory’s sisters have had all boys, so she’s definitely being spoilt at home! Kristyn has always had a great love of children, and she’s been open with us sisters about praying for another child soon. They’re staying in Oasis Springs this winter and celebrating Winterfest with Gregory’s family.

The Crawford Family - Tucker (26) and Sabrina (25)

The newlyweds have been loving this new season of life together! Sabrina called me and told me that she’s been loving married life way more than she thought she would. She and Tucker honeymooned in a little cabin tucked away in the woods up by Granite Falls; after a couple gets married and goes from limited physical intimacy to being married and being allowed to do everything, it is quite an adjustment to get used to. It’s good for them that they got that time together because they’ve got a packed schedule soon after this. They’re travelling with the Crawfords to sing at churches in the area for the winter, and after that they’re back on the farm for the springtime harvesting and to prep for the summer harvest and their summer tour. It’s been great to have my sister living in the same area, during times when they are home we try and coordinate when we can see each other.

Jarrod (21) and Madison Jenkins (19)

We’ve also got a newly engaged couple on the block! Jarrod proposed to Madison when he was on a visit to see her in Evergreen Harbour, they had just finished church when he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him! They’re planning for a winter wedding, meaning that they’re also planning around our cousin Charles and his wedding; hopefully they can nail down dates so that we can all make it to both weddings. With a family as large as ours, it’s definitely going to be interesting to see how the rest of the singles do it when it comes time to plan their weddings, since Celeste is the last girl left my parents only have one last time to be the wedding hosts.

Celeste (27), Zachary (19), Conner & Jarrett (16)

Celeste is truly thriving in her singleness, when she’s not at home serving others she’s travelling around visiting those of us who moved away and investing in the lives of her nieces and nephews. She also spends time investing in the lives of those around her, she travels with our cousin Macie to different young ladies’ retreats and they both counsel and guide young ladies on how to better their walk with the Lord. This winter she’s joining Macie and a few other youths from our Newcrest Baptist on a missions trip to Selvadorada, so that’s another thing to add into our families already hectic winter.

Zachary is also enjoying his new status as an adult, he’s started working part time for a lawn services company run by a member of the church and a friend of the family. He’s also joining Celeste on the missions trip to Selvadorada this year, it’ll be his first time out of the country so he is very excited!

Conner and Jarrett are enjoying their time as the youngest kids in the family, they’re quite self sufficient at school meaning that they’re working through it quite quickly and are on track to graduate early! It’s always great when we get to see the boys, Ansel is old enough for them to bring him along when they go on outings, so it was great to have them here together.

7 notes · View notes

theputterer · 3 years ago

Text

I posted 9,528 times in 2021

52 posts created (1%)

9476 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 182.2 posts.

I added 4,583 tags in 2021

#supernatural - 1543 posts

#star wars - 709 posts

#art - 471 posts

#video - 445 posts

#cats - 389 posts

#mood - 242 posts

#quote - 229 posts

#fashion - 218 posts

#amazing - 170 posts

#rose tico - 167 posts

Longest Tag: 102 characters

#that hozier quote about having your childhood best friend’s number memorized as love’s enduring nature

My Top Posts in 2021

Dear followers, I know I’ve been reblogging a lot of Supernatural content and I am sorry for that. I probably won’t stop but I want you to know that I am sorry.

14 notes • Posted 2021-02-04 00:27:11 GMT

I was recently offered a job, which is very cool. it is more or less what I have been doing for the past three years, which is fine. I liked the people I interviewed with and the benefits are promising. the main issue is the pay is not great; i would be taking a definite pay cut.

I am not sure if I am currently overpaid (probably???). I don’t think I can try and negotiate a higher salary, as it is a job with a public university in Ireland and they have pay scales contingent on previous experience.

the pay also isn’t TERRIBLE, and might in fact be good for the type of work I am expected to do?? this is the only job in my search so far that even asked me to interview, so I don’t know if I will get any more bites in my applications. I do have a couple out for jobs I am much more excited about (better pay and more interesting work) but I have no idea if I will even get to the interview stage with them.

the folks who offered me the job want a response ASAP as they want me to start ASAP, but my start date is in January at the earliest since I don’t want to move to Ireland before Christmas. (and YES on top of this I will be coordinating an international move prior to starting!). they want me to start January 17, and I imagine the earliest I would be able to get to Ireland is like a week before.

I don’t want to string them along while I wait for responses from a couple other places as the university people are in urgent need of a hire. but I also am not super enthusiastic about it. but this might be as good as it gets??

yes i am asking for advice and suggestions!!!!

14 notes • Posted 2021-12-02 17:03:53 GMT

really into the combination familiar/sinister vibe of WANDAVISION!

15 notes • Posted 2021-01-16 05:46:13 GMT

my hot take about the WANDAVISION finale is that it was great and part of why it is great is the lack of cameos that distract from the story the series was telling.

16 notes • Posted 2021-03-06 03:57:19 GMT

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), The Old Guard (Movie 2020) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso, Chirrut Îmwe/Baze Malbus Characters: Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, Chirrut Îmwe, Baze Malbus, Bodhi Rook, K-2SO (Star Wars) Additional Tags: Blood and Violence, Angst, Historical References, Author Has Tried, Romance, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe Summary:

Jyn has walked the Earth for over four thousand years, leading a team of warriors. They’ve fought in hundreds of battles, and died hundreds of times, returning to take up their weapons and fight again. They choose to fight for what they believe in, as the world turns and changes around them.

But in Juba, they encounter an existential threat, one they have never seen before.

And meanwhile, on the other side of the world, an assassin dies on a city street, only to rise again.

[An THE OLD GUARD au]

...

i have some news lol

24 notes • Posted 2021-06-21 15:46:21 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #oh my god this is so embarrassing #SUPERNATURAL LMAO #i do love that hozier quote tho

3 notes · View notes

itsuki-minamy · 4 years ago

Text

“K - SIX IDOLS”

CHAPTER 1: “SPRINT DREAM” (Complete)

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen."

"Good Morning!"

A pure voice echoes through the Kendo hall of "Promotion Scepter 4".

Many remains of that remain, in the office that was created with the remodeling of the old Army facilities. The Kendo hall is one of them, and the idols belonging to "Scepter 4" sometimes take lessons there and other times hold their swords in their hands.

And at the beginning of the week, there was always an instruction from the president, the "Idol Blue King", Reisi Munakata.

Munakata makes a soft voice in front of the idols lined up in a "rest" position.

"By the way, this week is the biggest event of the year for my production, "Sprint". The "Dream Live Tour" will take place. I hope to have the encouragement of each member so that no preparation or lesson is neglected."

"Yes!"

The responses of the idols are not disturbed. More than an entertainment bureau, the closer rigor to the police or the military was due to the nature of representative Reisi Munakata, and it was also a feature of "Promotion Scepter 4".

The group's glasses glowed brightly, staring at an idol.

"But recently, I have received some concerns, Andy Domyoji-kun. Go ahead."

"Yes!"

Domyoji, who was called by name, screamed to death. From his normally cheerful face, blood is drawn in the blink of an eye.

Domyoji took a heavy step and stepped out in front of the superior.

There is no anger in Munakata's expression. A slight smile floats on the sleek face like a statue. That doesn't mean that Domyoji and the other idols were relieved that they didn't understand the superior.

It was a man named Reisi Munakata, who sentenced to death with a smile.

"Domyoji-kun. The other day, there was a report that you were 5 minutes and 27 seconds late for the entire "Gyumetai" lesson. Is this true?"

"Actually, that's…"

"What is an idol in "Promotion Scepter 4"?"

"Ah, idols aim to be the ideal humans who should become the norm for people..."

"Do you have your own excuse for being late, knowing that?"

"No, I'm sorry..."

Domyoji is drooling. It was like a prosecution and a defendant, but in this case it was a military trial rather than an ordinary court. The sentence is already decided from the beginning, and this exchange is only a ritual.

Munakata acts like he's convinced of something,

"Ok. Let's ask Domyoji-kun to do one of the highlights of the "Sprint Dream Live Tour", "Extreme solo part, Idol from above 6500~”."

"What?"

With a strange voice, Domyoji's expression was frozen in despair. Munakata smiles and touches his shoulder intimately.

"As you know, "Extreme Solo Part" is one of the most popular projects on "Countdown Dissolution, Shoumutai". This time it's a solo part while skydiving from an altitude of 2,000 meters, so his brave figure will be a great copy on the big screen."

"President, please! That's! Just forgive me!"

"What do you say? This is your chance to get more fans. And if you're at the mercy of your life, you won't be late for lessons."

Munakata treats Domyoji, who clings to his eyes, with a smiling smile. The idols are silently staring at the horrible sight.

"Kindness is called haste. Let's start the special training today. Akiyama-kun, Benzai-kun, please take him to the office to complete the procedure."

"Yes!"

The same members of the "Shoumutai", Himori Akiyama and Yujiro Benzai, grabbed Domyoji crying from both sides. Domyoji screams while ruffling his hair.

"Not! I don't like the "Extreme solo part"! Akiyama, Benzai, I am a posterity, so don't miss out!"

"Hold on, Domyoji."

"Oh. Get angry and train. Hopefully you won't die."

Domyoji was dragged out of the Kendo room.

When the door closed, Munakata saw the idols lined up. All the idols looked at Munakata with a better attitude than before.

Munakata says, looking at him with satisfaction.

"Don't be late either. As members of society and as idols who should be a human norm, please respect that."

"Yes!"

The voice of the idols who responded contained a desperate sound.

++++++++++

"Sorry, President! I can't make it on time!"

The driver's scream also contains a desperate sound.

As he listened to him in the backseat, Munakata gracefully reassembled his legs, put his hand to his jaw, and muttered, "Hmm."

"Sprint Dream Live Tour", first day, 4:52 pm.

Munakata's transport vehicle got caught in heavy traffic filling the road and got stuck at all.

Until the day before, Munakata was planning a large-scale live concert in London as part of the overseas expansion of "Promotion Scepter 4". The big picture and charisma of Reisi Munakata, the "Idol King", managed to shake up the stubborn management of the French entertainment world. A few hours ago he won a partnership and a contract in the EU and returned triumphantly to Narita airport.

From the transport vehicle, Munakata continued to instruct the "Sprint Dream Live Tour". Back home. Although he has a difficult schedule of immediate events, he does not have fatigue or mistakes. There was a figure like: the perfect idol king.

It was in the time after Sakura's exchange that the news of the accident and jamming arrived.

Fortunately, no one died, but traffic was completely paralyzed. A line of cars continues towards the horizon, and it takes 30 minutes to finally reach 100 meters. Literally, he was forced into a state of immobility.

If nothing is done, the big event that is approaching a few hours later, will expose the mistake that the "Idol King" will be late.

In such a critical situation, however, there was no impatience in Reisi Munakata's expression.

"Ok."

Munakata says cheerfully to the driver reflected in the rearview mirror.

"I understand the situation. Please, I'll get off at the next intersection."

"But it will take 30 minutes to get there and, according to traffic information, the situation is similar on the lower road."

"It doesn't matter. In the meantime, let's get ready."

Munakata took his PDA out of his pocket and made a call. Munakata's trusted deputy director responded with two calls. It's Awashima Seri.

"Where is he now, President?"

"Currently, we are targeting a four-way interchange. It will take about 30 minutes to get there. I am planning to get out of here."

"That is…"

Awashima groaned. Even if he can get off the four road interchange, it will take more than an hour from there to the location, regardless of the mode of transportation. Since the show started at 6:30 pm, arrival on time is desperate.

After a few seconds of silence, Awashima's voice regained its composure.

"I would like to review the song list. The current program is to start with the president's number at the same time the performance begins, but we will correct this to start from "Shoumutai" and put the president's turn as far back as possible."

"Rejected."

Munakata categorically blocked her.

“Changing the song list will cut the rhythm of the fans. As idols, we shouldn't give fans any kind of anxiety."

"However! If this continues…!"

"I will be on time."

"......"

Awashima lost the words.

He was not surprised by Munakata's recklessness. She knows more than anyone what kind of person Munakata is and what kind of idol he is. He's never the type to talk about the impossible and break the plan.

If Reisi Munakata says that he can do it, he certainly can do it even if all other humans can't.

The next time Awashima opened her mouth, there was a determined intention.

"So, President. Please give us instructions."

A satisfied smile reached Munakata's mouth.

And 30 minutes later.

As soon as all contacts were completed, the transport vehicle passed the toll booth.

The lower street was still full of cars. Since Munakata hated traffic, he analyzed the situation. Progress is not much different from high speed.

However, that is no longer relevant to Munakata.

Because this is the end of the transport vehicle.

When he got out of the vehicle, the driver's seat window was opened. The driver looks from there and says...

"President, I wish you good luck."

Munakata smiled calmly at the young driver.

"Yes. Please drive carefully and come back."

That said, the next moment, Munakata was on the run.

With a forward leaning sprint style, Munakata is steadily increasing in speed. He reached a row of cars that couldn't move like a tombstone, and finally couldn't see his back.

Even after that, the conductor continued to pour his longing eyes beyond the horizon where Munakata disappeared. Holding on his chest the driver's cap that he took off as a sign of respect.

++++++++++

That day, Kazumasa Hatanaka (19) was driving his favorite Hara Chari.

He is in an unprecedented mood because he was able to finish his work early. The construction company he works for has been working hard these days, but yesterday they calmed down and was able to pay him. Hatanaka, who worked especially hard, was allowed to return home as the president had a special plan that day.

Akemi Hatanaka (18), a heavy wife, waits at home. Just thinking about it will loosen the origin of Hatanaka. When he wondered if he could serve his beloved wife and a child he had yet to see, his tired body mysteriously strengthened.

(Oh, that's right. Should I contact her to get back to Akemi soon?)

Suddenly, Hatanaka took out his mobile phone while driving the Hara Chari. He tries to send a message to his wife using one hand to handle and one hand to write.

Was when…

"You…"

"Oh?"

Hatanaka was about to fall due to the noise surrounding his ears. The body, which was about to slalom, was held by an outstretched hand and returned to its original trajectory.

While running to Hatanaka's side, the bespectacled man yells in a soft voice.

"It is a violation of the Road Traffic Law to use a mobile phone while driving."

"Uh, oh, sorry."

“In addition, it has already exceeded the legal speed of motorized bicycles. Wear your helmet correctly. It is meant to protect your life."

"Ah, hey, uh, yeah, sorry."

Hatanaka, who was once feared for being a "Chitaka mad dog", simply admitted his guilt not because he understood the accuracy of the words of the man with the glasses. This is because he was upset and scared by Hara Chari's run and the appearance of a man running side by side on only his own feet.

The man with the glasses smiled at Hatanaka's stunned face.

"Okay. If you follow the law and try to drive safely, you won't make driving mistakes like you do now."

(No, no, I'm going to be mad now because you called me. Do you want them to tell you that driving safely is something like running at that speed?)

The word never left Hatanaka's mouth at last. The man with the glasses raised his hand slightly and said, "Excuse me, bye." and then sped up and disappeared from Hatanaka's sight.

Hatanaka was stunned as he slowed the Hara Chari to 30 km / h.

(Is that so? I wonder if the god of the road advised me...)

There is a yellow light ahead. It stopped at the stop line correctly where it would normally cut, and the director took control.

(From now on, I will drive safely.)

++++++++++

That day, Nami Sakai (6) looked at the giant tree with tears in her eyes.

A blue balloon is stuck in a tree branch. It was in the hands of Nami just a few minutes ago, and in the hands of her beloved grandmother ten minutes ago.

Nami felt like a treasure when she received the blue balloon from her grandmother's wrinkled hand. She would take it home, about 10 minutes on foot, and she rushed to show it to her mother, but she accidentally fell off.

The balloon, which was detached from Nami's hand, floated in the sky and was blown away by the wind. She got trapped in a giant tree.

The giant tree has a height of about 10 meters. The blue balloon got caught near the top. Even if she asked the adults who passed by to take it, they just laughed and shook their heads.

Can't she get it again?

Every time she thought about it, she was filled with regret, sadness and guilt, and it turned into tears and appeared in Nami's eyes.

When the tears were about to break, Nami suddenly noticed something approaching from a distant road.

(Eh?)

In her childhood thoughts, Nami makes such a judgment.

In fact, in the distance it was like a colored wind. If she thinks it were there, it is way ahead. Nami stared at the blue breeze, which flowed without shaking her side, for a while, forgetting her sadness.

Suddenly…

With that wind, the eyes met.

The moment she thought that, he was already in front of her. When he stopped, the wind was not the wind, but a grown man with glasses. The skin is white like a woman and the facial features are beautifully groomed.

For some embarrassed reason, Nami looked down at her toes. The voice of a kind man spills over her.

"Do you have any problem?"

Nami looks at the man.

When she looked into the eyes behind the glasses, she felt like she was being sucked into the deep sky.

Nami opens her mouth to be fascinated.

"I cannot do it."

The man looks at the balloon at the point. Nami looked away and turned down. She was sure this person couldn't do it, and like everyone else, he would laugh and say "Give up", she felt such disappointment in her small chest.

But the man said in a nonsensical tone.

"Please wait a bit."

The man was already kicking the ground when she turned her face away.

He clings to the trunk of the huge tree and climbs up when he's ready. He deftly found the dents and bumps that could be called a steps, and in the blink of an eye he reached the top and took the blue balloon in his hand.

Nami was looking at the man who came down the same way, her mouth hanging open.

"Here it is."

Although he offered her the balloon, she was unable to receive it for a time. Then, finally picking it up, she asked with all her courage.

"Oni-chan... what?"

If you translate those boring words into something that makes more sense, it would mean something like "That move was out of the ordinary, who are you?"

The man accurately grasped the meaning of the question, smiled a little,

"I am an idol."

He responded like this.

Nami didn't really understand what an "idol" was. She blinks and look at the man. With a smile on his face, the man reached into his pocket and handed Nami a card.

"If you grow a little, come see us live."

The words "Promotion Scepter 4, President Reisi Munakata" were written there.

Of course, Nami can't read the card. She doesn’t even know about the existence of a business card. However, she thought the blue-tinted card was beautiful. Blue was Nami's favorite color.

Nami finally remembered what she should say to the man who gave her something nice and got back what she wanted back.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome. Well, I'm going."

The man bowed, turned blue again, and ran down the road.

Nami won't forget him forever.

++++++++++

An hour after the start of "Sprint Dream Live", the heat in the Tsubakimon Dome was visibly increasing. At the same time as the entrance began, a group of fans flowed into the audience seats like a flood, and they began to furnish the place with posters, posters and items with each of the recommended men drawn. At the same time, fans are excited about the upcoming festival and are looking at the stage with shining eyes.

To meet that expectation, a scene similar to a battlefield was unfolding in the backyard of the stage.

"The president has arrived at Shikaido Station! We will move on to Sequence B!"

"The target has been set at point B! We will wait until the president picks it up!"

In the temporary monitor room with the sign "Headquarters for the execution of the president's return plan", a part of the backyard, reports were constantly being raised.

The purpose of this headquarters is to fully support the return of Munakata. The staff involved are elite to make the "return plan" successful, from organizing and contacting various locations, managing the schedule, passing on traffic information and understanding Munakata's current position.

In one of the compounds in the panel, his current position is always displayed by the Munakata PDA tracking system. Awashima asks the staff while looking at them with a tight gaze.

"What is the progress of the plan?"

"It is 2 minutes and 15 seconds late, but it is within expectations. Currently, the Sequence C execution unit is moving. We will get to Point C on time."

"So…"

Awashima occupies a small area and looks at the monitor.

The plan is going well. At this rate, he can be in time for the opening ceremony, even if it's at the last minute. Unless something unexpected happens.

"Deputy Director Awashima."

Awashima looks around in a loose voice, rolling her shoulders.

Fushimi Saruhiko was as if he was leaning against the monitor room door.

He is the star idol of "Promotion Scepter 4", which is the center of the popular "Shoumutai" unit. Many fans were fascinated by the lonely atmosphere, and about 30% of the customers who packed the dome today are looking for him.

Awashima opens her mouth as she calmly looks at Fushimi.

"Fushimi. You should be in the final stages of doing a "Dream Corps."

"If the president is late, there won't be any 'Shoumutai', right?"

Awashima's beautiful eyebrows drew a dangerous angle.

“The plan is on the right track. You do not have to worry about that."

Fushimi laughs. It was an annoying laugh.

"Isn't there a countermeasure in case we run out of the star? Do you really think he can pull it off?"

"What do you mean?"

Fushimi casually pulled his hand out of his pocket and tossed what he was holding to Awashima. Awashima takes it deftly.

It is a recording medium in the form of a micro card.

"If you don't, I will. I made a new list of songs. If the president is late, I will."

Awashima's expression becomes more and more pronounced in a throwing tone. She squeezes the recording medium and she says quietly.

"Do you think I will receive this?"

"If you don't need it, you can throw it away. I can't bear to expose ourselves to that person's mistakes."

Awashima quickly waved her arm and threw the recording medium back.

"President…"

Fushimi deftly accepts that which came back like a bullet. Awashima, looking at the stagnant eyes behind the glasses as if shooting.

"I will not make any mistakes."

"Sorry."

Fushimi shrugged slightly and went back to his place. Looking back at Awashima over his neck.

"Well, tell me if you need it."

With that alone, Fushimi left the monitor room.

Awashima stared at the monitor room door for a while, staring into his eyes. It's like doing it is a protest against Fushimi.

It's not that she doesn’t understand what Fushimi is saying.

Believing is different from believing blindly. Fushimi's view that he assumes the worst and take countermeasures is entirely correct.

However, Awashima did not receive that song list. She refused to even see it and turned around.

She felt that receiving it would be a distrust of Munakata, who had confirmed that he would be on time.

"The president has reached point C! Collection complete!"

"We have started to move! The plan is going well!"

Awashima muttered unknowingly, listening to the reports that came in one after another.

"President, be careful."

Those words were like a prayer.

++++++++++

That day, Yuri Yamazaki (26) was vaguely in front of Shikaido station.

She works in a product store managed directly by "Promotion Scepter 4". It was supposed to be closed today due to the shift, but she got an urgent call from her boss about 5 minutes ago. She had no particular plan, and she was quick to get to this point because she was drawn to a pretty good vacation assignment.

Anyway, Yuri thinks.

It was a strange call. Being with the bicycle in front of the station instead of the store.

Apparently, they told her to lend the bike to someone, but they did not tell him who to lend it to and only told her the time of the meeting. It would be profitable to get a vacation allowance on this alone, but Yuri checks her cell phone while deeply thinking that she would complain if she was forced to do something else.

Seeing the displayed time, she sighed.

The "Sprint Dream Live Tour" will begin soon. Like most idol shop clerks, she is a fan of “Promotion Scepter 4.” She decided to work at an idol shop because she loved idols.

However, just because she is an employee doesn't mean there are benefits. Controls in that area are tight, and the clerk who secretly secured her own live ticket was sometimes ill. She must take the ticket herself, and if the lottery is lost, the schedule may disappear from the vacation she got, just like the current situation.

Two minutes have passed since the specified time.

"I wonder... if he's late, can I contact him?"

She doesn’t know, the murmur leaks out. After 5 minutes, she will contact the store manager. Thinking of that, she suddenly looked up.

And she doubts her eyes.

Someone was running from the street in front of the station, at tremendous speed. He easily overtook the next bike and came closer. Yuri instinctively tried to back away.

However, when she saw the man's face, she doubted her sanity.

"Ah, President?"

What she unwittingly said was the nickname of Reisi Munakata, the representative of "Promotion Scepter 4" and "Idol King". Naturally, it spread from the case where the idols under his command called him "President."

Faced with the stiff lily, Munakata strode over to a halt. He exhales a little and smiles at Yuri.

"Excuse me, are you a store clerk?"

"Eh, yes!"

Her voice shook. Feel the blood of her entire body concentrate on her face. The reason is that Yuri Yamazaki's favorite idol is Reisi Munakata.

Half in panic, she yells out the questions that come to mind.

"But why are you here?! What happened to the 'Sprint Dream Live Tour'?"

"I'm having a little problem and I've taken a different route than normal. Don't worry, I'll be in time for the opening."

She felt as if the blood that had risen through her head was coming down this time.

In other words, it is an emergency. Yuri was a fan and she knew how confusing it would be to be late for the opening ceremony. Perplexity, pain, disappointment. Just imagining being there, the pain felt like its own.

Yuri rushes up and says.

"Is there anything I can do?!"

“Lend me the bicycle. It's enough."

Yuri blushed again. If she thinks about it again, it was probably all part of the plan coming here. It is not a feat for the Munakata representative to give instructions to the directly administered office.

"Please..."

"Thank you."

Munakata straddled the bike without showing any pretense of noticing Yuri's tension. Somehow, it was an unattainable sight. The King of Idols, who can only be seen on TV or on stage, sits astride her bike.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going."

"Oh, yeah!"

Yuri instinctively stopped Munakata who was trying to get out.

Munakata looks at Yuri with his foot on the pedal. She held her breath with a mysterious look.

("Please sign.")

She had to desperately suppress that desire that came to her mind. Hasn’t she just found out it's an emergency? There is no second chance. And yet, unable to say such a silly request, that embarrassment forced Yuri's awkward smile and false words.

"Please do your best. I support you!"

Munakata, however, was looking at Yuri's face with calm eyes that looked through all her smile and strength. Munakata laughed lightly at Yuri, who suddenly became flustered and reached into her pocket.

"What should I write?"

"Eh?"

"I have a pen, but I don't really have colored paper. It's not in good taste with a notepad."

Yuri blinked many times. The feeling of regret, even the time she was wandering and wondering why him could see through her desires made her stiff.

Yuri handed him the PDA she was holding in her outstretched hand to Munakata. With her voice asking "Is it okay here?", she was fascinated by the magically moving pen. She picked up the PDA again, looking at the Munakata signature written there, and it was like a soliloquy.

"Why...?"

"I am an idol."

Munakata's response, as well as their relationship, was open and frozen.

"Idols live up to the expectations of their fans. My job is to capture your expectations."

"......"

"Good luck then. Thank you for your continued support."

With a courteous greeting, Munakata pedaled off the road in no time.

Yuri holds her PDA to her chest while watching him back. She murmured in an emotional voice, promising to turn it into a relic, and she was about to buy a new one.

"President, I will follow you for the rest of my life!"

++++++++++

That day, Yojiro Sato (51) was driving his own high-speed boat and racing in Tokyo Bay.

His main business was fisherman, but he also works as a fishing boat captain as a side job. In any case, the main job is to chase the school of fish, current high-speed boats are used for that purpose.

But today's work was different than usual.

The client was a fishing cooperative and the content of the request was mysterious: "Anyway, I want you to go to Chiba city using a high speed boat." He goes through it several times, but it seems the reason he couldn't get the point was because the fishing cooperative was asked to go further.

Sato accepted it simply because the reward was great. Otherwise, it would not accept suspicious requests.

However, when he passed by the Tokyo Bay Aqualine, he began to regret it.

He doesn't think it's a dangerous story.

It goes without saying that Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world and Tokyo Bay is a large adjacent port. Many are trying to carry out illegal transactions by sea. Unfortunately, he has heard stories of people involved in such problems at the level of rumors.

He's been through the fishing cooperative, so he doesn't think it's something to worry about.

Even so, a bit of anxiety washed over Sato's mind.

At that moment the radio sounded. When he reached out his hand and responded by reflex, he heard an unfamiliar voice on the back of the radio.

"Hello. Is this Mr. Yojiro Sato?"

It was a feminine and intelligent voice. Sato responds while confused.

"Oh, yeah. That's right."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Seri Awashima. I was the one who made the request."

"Oh, I see."

The confusion disappeared, but Sato pressed his face into place. Listen to Awashima's words, eager to decline the request in the event of an emergency.

"First of all, I apologize for reporting uncertain content to you in the application. I was in a hurry, so I thought about explaining after taking the first step."

"Okay, but what kind of job is this after all? It doesn't appear to be a fishing request."

"Yes. I want you to pick up a certain person."

When suspicion and vigilance increase, he raises his eyebrow. Sato asked in a low voice.

"Who is that? He is not a criminal, right?"

"What, criminal?"

From the other side of the meeting, he could feel the sign that Awashima was completely disappointed. The voice that echoed next seemed to lack a bit of calm, unlike before.

"Incorrect! The president is not involved in such things!"

"Oh, yeah."

At the angry response, Awashima coughed a little.

"No, sorry. It may be inevitable that it looks like this. I would like you to pick up Reisi Munakata, the representative idol of "Promotion Scepter 4"."

While driving, Sato is confused.

"Why do idols want to get on our ship?"

“As I said before, it is an urgent matter. He didn't seem to be in time for a regular water taxi, so I contacted you."

"Hmm... Well, it's okay."

Sato is not familiar with idols. He is simply not interested. From time to time he sees them on television, but to him they all have similar faces and clothes, so he cannot tell them apart.

That sect image is probably one of those idols. No wonder that is used instead of a taxi, but, work is work.

"So where should I pick him up?"

"Please wait a moment. I'll link the information on the president's location to that PDA."

"Eh?"

A second after the stupid voice leaked out, a spot of light lit up on the GPS map attached to the ship. Sato opens his mouth and looks at it moving at high speed on the map.

“Did you get the location? The point that lights up in blue is the current position of the president."

"Yes, I got it."

"Good. Get closer to the point of light. It also shows the next meeting points."

The GPS map reacts again and projects an orange spot of light. It shows a jetty near the beach park, that made Sato panic even more.

"Wait a minute! How did you do that? This is my PDA, right? Why can you operate it on that side?"

"There is no time to lose! I took emergency measures! Rest assured that we have formal permission to use the system!"

"What is that system?"

To Sato's confusion, Awashima doesn't reply. "More than that!" When he started yelling, the blue point of light on the map continued to flash.

“He is approaching the meeting point. Thanks for your cooperation. Awashima, over and out."

And the radio was unilaterally cut off, leaving only Sato who was confused.

The ship curves and begins to move parallel to the shore. Sato alternately compared the map and the coast. If this location is correct, Munakata will soon be in sight.

"Ah."

With that said, he opened his mouth. Someone was there. That's probably definitely Munakata.

From a distance, he can only tell that he is a man. It would have been indistinguishable on its own, but the appearance of a human who could ride a bicycle at a speed comparable to that of a high-speed boat fits this unusual situation perfectly.

"What should I do?"

Sato is a man of the sea. He is confident that he can handle most things that happen at sea. However, he had never imagined such a situation. Sato looked towards the beach while maintaining his speed.

At that moment, Munakata pointed forward.

Sato looks ahead so he can catch it. A jetty leading off the shore blocked the ship's path as it gently curved.

Reflecting a sailor, Sato curves the speedboat along the jetty.

Munakata's bike has picked up speed.

"Hey, it can't be!"

Unknowingly, Sato was screaming. Because he understood the man's thoughts. Because he understood the meaning of "meeting point" that Awashima said on the radio.

The bicycle races down the jetty at a speed that exceeds that of high-speed boats. Sato made the boat's engine run at full speed. It was not because he understood their speculations, but because he thought that, as a man of the sea, he would not be able to stand upright if he was driving a boat and losing to a bicycle.

The bicycle and the speed boat run next to each other for a very short distance.

For the first time, Sato saw Munakata's face.

Munakata was smiling with a clean face in front of him. It was not the expression of a human reaching such high speed on a bicycle. He was horrified. Perhaps this is a monster that seemed to drag him to the bottom of the sea. Even such an imagination took over his head.

Munakata's bicycle leaned over. At the end of the jetty, Sato's high-speed boat drew closer and Munakata jumped with the bicycle with only the spring from his body.

Sato opened his eyes and looked at the figure of Munakata leaping against the sun.

After a short break, Munakata's bicycle landed on the back of the high-speed boat, made a sharp turn, and came to a stop.

"Fu..."

With a sigh, Munakata wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

"......"

Sato was just looking at Munakata, who was behaving like a human, with his mouth open.

When he got out and parked at the bicycle rack, Munakata looked at Sato and said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you. Sato Yojiro-san. My name is Reisi Munakata. Thank you for your transportation to the planned location."

Swallowing hard, Sato asks suspiciously.

"You are a human?"

After opening his eyes somewhat surprisingly, he replied with a bitter smile.

"I'm just an idol."

++++++++++

At the Suzugaya sorting yard, Domyoji Andy (19) turned his pale face down and swallowed nausea.

He, who is scheduled to appear on "Sprint Dream Live Tour", is at that location because the Suzugaya courtyard is a helicopter landing site owned by "Scepter 4."

The event titled "Extreme Solo Part, Idol from Above 6500~", is Domyoji's assigned role this time. The event of strumming a guitar solo while skydiving from 2000 meters above the sky is sure to be a great thrill if it succeeds, but it can only be said that it is insane.

For today, Domyoji was repeating a special training every day. In total, it would have fallen enough to reach the surface from the stratosphere. Domyoji said that if he ran for Guinness, he would not pass, and gave a tired smile.

At that moment the door to the waiting room was opened and the staff entered.

"Domyoji-san, please prepare for take-off!"

"Eh?"

His eyes are round. Domyoji looks at the watch as it is. There is still some time left before the live begins. The turn of "Shoumutai", including Domyoji, was supposed to be in the second half of the opening ceremony.

"Is it still early? Was there an accident?"

Anyway, when he got up and left the room with the staff, Domyoji was so quiet. He doesn’t know what kind of problems are waiting in the live presentation. Not only staff but also idols need to take this into account and respond flexibly.

"There is no change to Domyoji-san's appearance time! We are going to pick up the president from now on!"

Domyoji opened his mouth. The staff didn't look back and pushed the door in front of them while walking quickly.

At the landing site, the helicopter was already preparing for takeoff. The high-speed rotating main rotor disperses a roar like a gunshot. Defeating the sound, Domyoji yelled at the back of the staff.

"What happened to the president? That person is surely the interpreter for the opening ceremony!"

“Currently, the president is crossing Tokyo Bay! We'll pick him up at sea and head straight to the Tsubakimon Dome!"

Domyoji is confused. He is crossing Tokyo Bay? He has no idea what the hell is going on. What he knows is that he is about to fly high again.

After sitting on the seat and fixing his body with a harness, Domyoji finally noticed.

"Hey! Don't I need it if I pick up the president?!"

"It's the president's judgment that it's a waste of time to go back every time! After leaving the president in the dome, Domyoji-san will wait in the sky until the time of the "Extreme solo part, Idol from above 6500~”!"

That was brilliant. Wait a minute, he try to tell if he would be flying all the time, but then his body was fixed. Jumping out the rear hatch, the staff gave Domyoji a big thumb up.

"Thank you good luck!"

The hatch closes as he continues. The sound of the rotor increases the pitch. Domyoji's stunned face disappeared into the darkness of the plane.

++++++++++

"The President has arrived at meeting point E! The pickup helicopter that was already waiting has started to approach!"

"Let go of the rope, the helicopter must be very careful!"

"Got it! Let go of the rope! Try to drive safely!"

Brilliant laughter erupted in the monitor room as the pilot made a joke. Private language during the operation should be strictly prohibited, but Awashima felt a slight smile on her lips. This would indicate their high morale. She doesn’t have to worry.

"President, I secured a rope! Start climbing."

"Domyoji, can't you point the CCD camera at the president?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll try."

Domyoji hastily responded to Awashima's voice. After a while, a rough image appears on one of the monitors.

Munakata was about to board the helicopter. Standing in the open hatch, he turns and pays him homage. A high speed boat floating ahead, probably Yojiro Sato, a man who appeared to be the captain took off his hat and waved it.

The expression of the image has been softened.

"President. Thank you for being safe."

On the CCD camera, he sees Munakata smiling.

“Thank you for your hard work, Awashima-kun. Did you worry?"

Awashima shakes her head slowly.

"I wasn't worried."

It was a lie. During these 30 minutes, Awashima has looked at the clock no less than 50 times. It's not because she doesn’t trust Munakata. It is probably due to the weakness of Awashima's heart.

Munakata's deep eyes can even see Awashima's inner heart. Still, she looked directly at her boss and reported on the situation.

"We are on time. If you move at full speed from the current location of the president, it will be enough to reach the inauguration. The president's suit has been brought to the room of the occupant of the helicopter."

"Okay. Let's finish all the preparations on the fly. Has the final landing point I submitted changed?"

"No, there are no changes. The helipad is already in control."

At that moment, one of the monitors lit up red and emitted a warning sound.

"What?"

"I will confirm it!"

Staff operate the console quickly. Awashima holds her breath and stares at the movement.

Finally, the staff raised a strained voice.

“There was a fire at the Tsubakimon Dome Hotel! Looks like an evacuation notice has been issued at the hotel!"

"No!"

“No recommendations have been issued for this place! Deputy Chief, what do we do?"

Impatience melts in her hand. Various thoughts come to mind instantly. How big is the fire? How to accept evacuees? Should the concert be canceled, even if no recommendations have been made? The enthusiasm of the people involved and the fans for this live show is extraordinary. But if something happens to the fans, it is irreparable.

An intelligent voice broke those thoughts.

"Awashima-kun. Confirm the evacuation of the hotel guests."

Raise her face. Beyond the CCD camera, Munakata's rough expression was as calm as if he were sitting at his usual office desk.

Awashima looks at the staff. The personnel turned to the front and quickly returned to operating the console.

Finally, he told the staff in a shocked voice.

"We share the confirmation of the status of the place, but the evacuation of the three guests has not been completed! It seems that we are reconfirming the people who have been in the air and have been evacuated!"

"Three people. That means they are…"

The CCD camera points in the other direction. Seeing that, Awashima took a breath.

Near the window on the smokeless floor. A man and a woman are crouched in a narrow space. The woman appeared to be holding a child.

"The number of people matches. Apparently, the evacuation was delayed."

Awashima looks at the image from the CCD camera. Imagine a tragic future for a family left behind at the scene of the fire and blood gushes from their faces.

And Munakata said of course.

"I am heading to the rescue."

Awashima knew that Munakata would say so. Knowing that, she still screams...

"President! Don't do it!"

Domyoji's camera captures Munakata's face. Munakata wasn't looking there. He murmured, looking serious at the scene of the fire, perhaps putting together another thought.

"Awashima-kun. About us?"

"Ah..."

The answer to that was fixed. Awashima squeezed her hand so tightly that her nails dug into her palm.

"We are... idols...!"

"What kind of person is an idol in "Promotion Scepter 4"?"

"Our goal is to be the ideal human who should be a role model for people."

Munakata looked at Awashima with a teacher's gaze, watching over the poor students who gave the correct answer.

"So that's it."

"Huh!"

Munakata goes to the scene of the fire. Although he is an idol, he is only a human. There is no guarantee that he will be able to return safely, so the worst consequences may await him in the future.

And, while looking at the worst, taking steps to prevent it from happening is also a condition of being an ideal human.

Awashima said that decisively when she took a little breath, exhaled and was ready to do it.

“We will contact the various parties involved in the handling of this incident and request assistance in rescue activities. I pray for your safety, President."

Behind the camera, Munakata nodded slightly.

Fushimi Saruhiko clicked his tongue as he leaned his back against the wall.

If Munakata's decision was stupid, Awashima, who followed him, could only be seen as a fool. He are an ideal person and he are trying to ruin his job by getting caught up in an additional idea. Fushimi's frank opinion is that, it is the role of rescuers to help the victims, and that is why they have to get rid of that work.

But he will never reveal it. At least not yet.

It only deals with possible situations.

Makes a call from his PDA. The other party came out with a ringing sound. Before they say something to him there, speak up.

“Akiyama, I got a job. Call the members of the 'Shoumutai'."

While saying that, Fushimi turned away from the wall and quickly headed to the end of the hall.

++++++++++

That day, Maki Arakawa (29) was visiting the Tsubakimon Dome hotel with her husband Takashi Arakawa (32) and their son Daichi Arakawa (0).

That day was Maki and Takashi's third wedding anniversary. The Dome Hotel was the place where Takashi proposed to Maki, and it was customary for the couple to visit this place on their anniversary every year.

With a new family member who is less than a year old, Maki and Takashi huddled together and wanted a night view from the living room. Takashi leans into the champagne and Maki leans into the non-alcoholic sparkling wine, looking at each other with a smile. In Maki's arms, Daichi, who had just fallen asleep, was giving a silent sigh.

A little compliment to a family that usually leads a modest life. Still, Maki was happy enough until the explosion happened.

The moment the explosion caught her, Maki was thrown to the ground with her husband.

When she woke up, her head was covered in black smoke.

"Daichi?"

The first thing that came to mind was the safety of her son. Looking down into her arms with a pale feeling, Daichi was still asleep. It was just a moment of relief, and he was soon filled with smoke-colored anxiety.

"What the hell?"

There was no way to answer that question. Her husband has wandered off a bit. He appears passed out, bleeding from his head. When she saw him, she was terrified that his heart would stop, but at least he seemed to be breathing.

Maki crawls closer to her husband, feeling pain glowing throughout her body. There seems to be a fire somewhere between the black smoke that comes in and the heat that burns the skin. That fact irritated Maki and made her reach out her hand.

"Get up."

The husband does not respond. Maki raised her face slightly and looked around her.

There is no one but them.

Is it after everyone has evacuated? Have they been left behind? Even if she gets lost, she does not know where to go and cannot leave her husband. It was decided that she cannot take him or her son on her own.

Fear and anxiety clench Maki's throat.

She takes the PDA out of her pocket and touches the emergency number. However, Maki herself wasn't sure how much it meant. The fear that surrounds her is getting stronger. Even if the rescue team is dispatched from now on, will they arrive in time?

"Yes, what happened?"

Communication has been opened. Maki squeezes the words out of her throat that moisten her body.

“Please help, please help. Please, please."

Unless this child is saved.

The moment he muttered a sentence-like word in a weak voice, a roar deafened Maki's ear.

A helicopter appeared outside the living room, behind a glass window.

A high-speed rotating rotor disperses a bombardment sound and the strong wind moves in the opposite direction. The helicopter tilted slightly and a sliding door pointed into the living room. Maki saw with wide eyes that a man with glasses was standing in the place that had already been opened.

It was not a rescue team. She knew it at a glance. After all, clothes are different. She had never heard of a rescue team dressed in such white, flowing clothing. It has beautiful bright colors and is like the clothes that idols wear.

The man with the glasses laughs smartly when he sees Maki. Then jump out the sliding door with a run.

"......"

Maki loses her words and watches over the elaborate suicide scene. From the PDA that fell to the ground, a Fire Service official said, "What happened? Please respond!" She heard a scream, but couldn't react. That was not the case.

The man crossed his arms, jumped high and rough, through the window, rolled across the living room floor, and landed brilliantly.

He balanced on his right foot, left knee, and right palm, and lifts his face to look at Maki.

Then he said with a smile.

"Hello."

"Ah, hello."

Barely responding, the man approached slowly, keeping low.

Behind him, there was a figure that jumped in the same way. He rolls on a glass covered floor, jumps and screams.

"Gak! The glass stabs me!"

“Domyoji-kun, continue with the preparations immediately. Be careful not to inhale smoke."

"Yes! President Munakata!"

When the man named Munakata approached Maki, he lifted his body, turned it forward, and began to wrap something.

"Oh, that...?"

“We will get away from this. Please hold your son firmly."

The soft voice in her ear soothed Maki's fear. She hugged her son tightly and, through her armpits, Munakata fixed a harness on Maki's body.

Munakata looks back and calls out to Domyoji, who is also wrapping the husband in a harness.

"Are you ready?"

"Well, somehow!"

Domyoji nods wrapping her weakly passed out husband around his body with a harness. When Munakata turned around, he turned his smart eyes towards Maki.

"Don't worry, I'll get you to safety immediately."

Somehow, however, she had an unpleasant sensation.

Maki looks out the window with her harness wrapped up. She sees the back of a helicopter that was going very far away. Maki asks, swallowing hard.

"Isn't that the one you ride?"

"Unfortunately, the emergency exit leading to the helipad is blocked by fire. Landing is difficult and jumping from here to the helicopter would not be possible with you in tow."

The question of what to do then did not need to be asked.

Munakata walks over to the broken window while tying Maki and Daichi to himself. The trampled piece of glass rings. A strong wind from the high sky blew and caressed Maki's cheeks forcefully.

The Tsubakimon Dome can be seen below. She wonders if he was doing some kind of live performance, and she could see the crowded seats even from such a high place.

Munakata looks at her calmly and has a soft voice.

"And we have less than five minutes to get started. This is the only way to get there on time."

She is not sure what you are talking about, but she understands what "this method" means. Maki looks towards Munakata with tears in her eyes.

"I'll ask you just in case, you've done it before, right?"

Munakata responds with a smile on his face.

"I read the manual."

Maki tried to resist, but her hands were empty and only scratched the air. Maki, who was shaking, saw that she could no longer understand the language, Munakata placed the sole of the shoe on the window frame.

Smooth to the end, Munakata says the last sentence.

"Ok, let's go."

"Hm..."

She can't say wait a minute.

Munakata was a man who executed words. A second after he said that, he had already jumped from a height of 100 meters above the ground with Maki and Daichi.

++++++++++

Basically the longer it takes to fall, the faster it will fall.

Its formula, commonly known as gravitational acceleration, is 9.8 m / s, and a rough calculation consumes a height of about 100 meters in less than 5 seconds. Knowing that, it's probably a bit more serious. She would have resisted.

Fortunately, the fear fainted her and it did not interfere with Munakata's work.

At the time of take-off, Munakata quickly opened the parachute. Munakata experienced a free fall for a time until the acceleration died due to air resistance.

At the sound of the wind, Munakata heard laughter.

Suddenly the baby was laughing in his arms. He wondered if he was enjoying the fall, and while hearing a laughing little voice, Munakata was laughing too.

"It's fun? It may be common for you."

The parent's "up and down" game and the current situation may not change much for this child. With that in mind, Munakata precisely operates the parachute.

Air resistance travels through the harness and squeezes Munakata's body. Munakata looked at the Tsubakimon Dome below, while reducing the burden on mother and child as much as possible. Already in his direction, the dome has been opened to reveal the stage.

"President, please respond. Let us know the current situation!"

Awashima's voice echoes from the device close to the ear. Munakata responds to that.

"This is Munakata. We are currently gliding about 70 meters from the earth's surface. We will proceed to land on stage."

In the center of the stage is a circle of bureaucracy, the end of today's sprint. There are 2 minutes and 47 seconds until the start. The image of landing, taking off the parachute, and entering the performance has already been created in Munakata's mind.

"No problem. Everything is fine. Awashima-kun, let's meet up on stage sleeve!"

At the image of Munakata, a sudden gust of wind disappeared.

"Yes!"

Before thinking of anything, Munakata had to devote all his energy to controlling his posture. The parachute, which was about to rotate like a cone, was operated with one hand like a hot kneading jumper, and in the worst case it prevented a free fall due to the disappearance of air resistance.

"President? What did you do?"

Awashima screamed at the anomaly.

"Well, it's not a big deal. I was exposed to the wind from the building and my posture was altered for a moment. The check was completed, but there is a problem."

"What kind of problem is it?"

“The current gust of wind has blown me off the field a lot. If nothing is done, we will land in the audience seats."

Awashima took a deep breath.

Due to the gust of wind, the chances of landing on stage were nil. A similar gust of wind might bring the whole picture back to the landing course, but it's like waiting for a miracle. It was the role of the believer, not the role of the idol, to hold onto heaven with prayer.

Munakata ponders as he spins in the air.

He cannot get off in the audience seats. No action can be taken that could compromise the safety of the public. Not only Munakata himself, but even the metal parachute hardware cannot be dropped on the heads of fans.

So there is only one way left.

"We will take a landing course outside of the dome. We won't be in time for the performance, but we can't help it."

Awashima squeezed out a rough voice.

"Come here."

Until now, Munakata has been racing to get to the performance on time and not disappoint the expectations of the fans. It is not unfortunate that the effort turns into a bubble.

However…

Munakata stroked the baby's hair, giggling happily at his mother's breast, with his fingertips.

"Don't be sorry. We are idols. Those who seek the best. But if that doesn't come true, we can choose the next best option."

"President..."

Awashima's voice has a bitter resignation.

But she was also an idol. Awashima starts working after dispelling it in an instant.

"I get it. Immediately, personnel will be sent to the outside of the cupola, and the president, the mother and the child will be immediately collected. Even if the delay is unavoidable, it should be as short as possible."

"Yes. Thank you."

A sudden voice interrupted Munakata who was about to approve the decision.

"It's not like that."

Munakata slightly opened his eyes.

He can't be wrong, it was the voice of Fushimi Saruhiko, the center of "Shoumutai".

"What are you doing?"

"Please be quiet, Assistant Principal. President, there is no need to change course. 2 minutes to start. If so, it is time to do so."

"What?"

"Akiyama, do it."

With Fushimi's command as the trigger, a sight of pure white spread under his eyes.

It was a huge cloth that completely covered the audience seats at the Tsubakimon Dome. The pure white fabric that glows under the light has a blue dyed stamp in the center. That's the emblem of “Promotion Scepter 4”, the flag of the idol that they should be proud of.

"Now you don't have to worry about landing in the audience. Please come down quickly. The stage is set!"

Watch the scene and listen to the words.

A powerful smile appeared on Munakata's mouth.

"I get it."

Then she slowly descends towards the emblem of his proud "Promotion Scepter 4".

++++++++++

"Huh... someone..."

In a park located outside the Tsubakimon Dome, Domyoji Andy was trapped in a tree and called for help with a weak voice.

The rescued person, tied in front, fainted slightly. After all, he never woke up during the drop or after the landing. He doesn't think there is any difference in life, but he wants to be rescued as soon as possible and taken to the hospital. It's about time Domyoji's shoulders scream from their weight.

"Oh, Domyoji-san! You were in a place like this!"

At that moment, a light illuminated Domyoji's face with a voice of salvation.

They were the staff of "Scepter 4." It looks like he was holding a ladder and looking around the dome. Domyoji mutters through tears when he sees them preparing for rescue.

"Hail me..."

Domyoji, who was saved several tens of seconds later, asked the staff with a deep sigh.

“No, what happened to the president? Did he do it on time?"

"Yes! It seems that with Fushimi-san's ingenuity, he was able to make it in time for the performance! It seems that he is performing well as of now!"

The staff deftly pulled out the PDA which projected a live image.

6:23 pm. The stage lights go out and the noise from the audience seats quickly subsides. For example, fans' expectations, enthusiasm and excitement increase.

The silence of passion, as if you could see it.

A suddenly glowing spotlight pierced the darkness.

In the center of the stage was a man crouched with one knee raised. He is dressed in a beautifully decorated suit and holds a microphone in his slim hands. There is not a single mistake or a single wrinkle in his clothes. The ideal idol is that person, the Idol King who was there.

Those in the audience, behind the television who are watching him, probably don't know how he got to that stage. Munakata must say that it is also the idol's responsibility not to report it.

As soon as the song started, Munakata looked up. A confident smile. An act that can be said to be solemn. Take a fixed turn and start singing.

Domyoji laughed impressively as he watched the fans' enthusiasm explode.

"I'm glad. He is on time."

"Yeah, I'm glad."

The staff laughs too. Only they know how many difficulties Munakata had to go through to be in that place. These difficulties have finally been overcome and the goal has come true.

"Well then, I'm ready too."

Domyoji says that, shaking his head. He also has a major role in the "Extreme solo part, Idol from Above 6500~". For that, he has to go back to heaven.

The staff stopped Domyoji's back.

"Domyoji-san, it's very difficult to tell... but Domyoji-san's part is gone."

"Eh?"

The staff scratched their heads at Domyoji, where their eyes became a point.

“It seems that it is impossible to take off on time because the helicopter has run out of fuel on the previous flight. Therefore, we will reproduce the PV of the album released next week as a replacement for the emergency. That was decided."

Domyoji froze and said...

"What is that? Has all my special training so far been for naught?"

Look at the facial expressions of the staff, quietly but surely.

"What is that? Aaaaaaaaaah!"

Domyoji's scream echoed around the outer edge of the dome.

#K #k project #K stories #k six idols #reisi munakata #SCEPTER 4 #k fan clan

16 notes · View notes

deadcactuswalking · 4 years ago

Text

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 03/04/2021 (Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO”, Mimi Webb, Russ Millions & Tion Wayne)

So, we have a #1 debut, and that’s pretty much the only story here in the UK Top 75 as we get a filler week before Demi Lovato, Olivia Rodrigo and Lil Tjay run in and cause havoc. As for now, “Wellerman” is replaced at the top by Lil Nas X’s controversial “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)”, spending its first week at #1 after making pretty sudden gains assisted by the video and alternate versions – the mid-week projection had this at #15. Elsewhere, we just see the fall-out from Bieber. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

It’s a quiet week – only seven new entries, and none from Rod Wave, 24kGoldn or AJR as I had predicted. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some stuff to talk about within the chart, or particularly off of the chart, as we have a fair few drop-outs switching their places with returning entries. In particular, we have Justin Bieber’s “As I Am” featuring Khalid being swapped out for “Anyone” at #25, as well as drop-outs for “Arcade” by Duncan Laurence – slightly premature, I’d think – and all of Lana Del Rey’s songs from last week. We also “Anxious” by AJ Tracey, “Heat” by Paul Woodford and Amber Mark and “Toxic” by Digga D exit the chart, but the only real notable loss was “34+35” by Ariana Grande ending its 21-week run on the chart. Returning to the Top 75 in its place – which I cover – we have “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers of course at #73, as well as “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus at #72, “You’ve Done Enough” by Gorgon City and DRAMA at #70 (really hope this one becomes a hit) and “Don’t You Worry About Me” by Bad Boy Chiller Crew at #66. In terms of climbers and fallers, we do have some notable gains and losses. For songs travelling down the chart, we have “Patience” by KSI featuring YUNGBLUD and Polo G tanking a sharp drop in its third week to #18, “Streets” by Doja Cat shaking off the video gains at #22, “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo continuing to collapse at #27, another sharp drop for HVME’s remix of Travis Scott’s “Goosebumps” down to #34 probably due to ACR, which was probably the fate for “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd at #46. The same probably can’t be said for Drake’s losses, as “What’s Next” is at #40, “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” featuring Rick Ross is at #41 and “Wants and Needs” featuring Lil Baby stalls at #55. We also see falls for “Money Talks” by Fredo and Dave at #50, “Bringing it Back” by Digga D and AJ Tracey at #51, “Sweet Melody” by Little Mix on its way out at #57, “Headshot” by Lil Tjay featuring Polo G and Fivio Foreign down to #61 off the debut (although it’ll rebound thanks to the album as soon as the next week rolls around), “Ready” by Fredo featuring Summer Walker at #62, “You’re Mines Still” by Yung Bleu featuring Drake at #63 and “Day in the Life” by Central Cee at #69. Where it gets interesting are our gains, such as outside the top 40 with “What Other People Say” by Demi Lovato and Sam Fischer which could very well get even higher next week thanks to the album. We also have “Track Star” by Mooski at #53 off of the debut and a couple of tracks entering the top 40 for the first time, those being “Heartbreak Anniversary” by Giveon at #39 and Majestic’s remix of “Rasputin” by Boney M. at #38. Elsewhere in the top 40, we have “Let’s Go Home Together” by Ella Henderson and Tom Grennan at #13 and two songs marking their first week in the top 10, those being “Little Bit of Love” by Tom Grennan at #10, a song continuing to sour on me, and “Your Love (9PM)” by ATB, Topic and A7S, an EDM song at #8 that I initially mocked for its soulless repackaging but has honestly got me pretty hooked since. I’m excited to see how this one does. For now, however, let’s get on with our new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#64 – “Cloud 9” – Beach Bunny

Produced by Joe Reinhart

Beach Bunny is a power pop band who last year released their album Honeymoon on Mom+Pop and it’s basically a modern r/indieheads staple in that it’s an accessible, airy pop-rock record fronted by a woman. It’s not anything unique, really, or different if you look further into it but that’s fine because there’s a lot of vaguely “indie” or music snob releases pushed out every year that miss the charts entirely. It’s a different story, however, when a year later, it gets viral on TikTok and streams its way onto the chart. In that case, we have “Cloud 9” by Beach Bunny, a pretty simple but sweet love song about a guy who just makes her feel a lot better about herself in times where she can’t pick herself up from the rut she’s in. Again, it’s a simple track but enhanced by the wonderful and unique vocal performance from front-woman Lili Trifilo and some pretty great production making sure no guitar lick is missed in this mix, especially in that chorus which is such an ethereal blend of the electric guitar dubs. I would argue that this actually should end at that second chorus even if it ends feeling abrupt as the transition to the final chorus feels a lot less cathartic than it does awkward, especially if the bridge is going to be a simplistic, quirky instrumental meander that doesn’t go far enough to be a guitar solo and hence feels kind of like a worthless addition. As is, this is a pretty great song still, just not the most fully realised once it loses that initial tight surf groove, though I’ll let it pass if we’re going to get rock this good on the charts again. I know this won’t really get more traction for Beach Bunny – or power pop for that matter – but more of this, please.

#52 – “You All Over Me” (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) (Remix) (feat. DaBaby) (Part 2) (Radio Edit) – Taylor Swift featuring Maren Morris

Produced by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner

Sadly, this does not feature DaBaby and is not the remix, radio edit or sequel to any previously released song. Jokes aside, I guess brackets are the next big comeback for pop music, which goes hand-in-hands with remixes and re-releases, hence why Taylor Swift is dusting off this leaked Fearless-era cut for a new recording with country singer Maren Morris, who you probably know from her contributions to Zedd’s “The Middle”. Now whilst Swift is a great songwriter, I do often find myself frustrated by how she treads common ground all too frequently without establishing much different with how a song is structured or how it emotionally connects. This is true not just lyrically but especially sonically as of recent, as despite being written in 2008, it has too much in common with the less interesting cuts off of folklore for me to really care that much. That’s especially if Taylor’s going to undercut the clean acoustic guitars with flourishes of harmonica and crow sound effects, showing some genuine intrigue here before refusing to let any of that develop past a couple stray melodies or notes further back in the mix. I’m trying really hard to be compelled by these re-recordings and re-releases of her back catalogue as I do consider myself a fan, but it’s tough to pay attention when any new compositions we get sound like folklore leftovers with Maren Morris only put to use as decoration, much like HAIM on “no body, no crime” – and we already got an album full of folklore leftovers. I’m not a fan of this, sorry – I can see the appeal, and I do think this has enough of a country tinge to it to make it at least somewhat interesting – but this goes in one ear and immediately out of the other.

#48 – “Tonight” – Ghost Killer Track featuring OBOY and D-Block Europe

Produced by Ghost Killer Track and Kenzy

Screw the formalities and screw the analysis because D-Block Europe are back to add another D-Block to their EU collection – and since they’re Londoners, their only – and that’s Paris, and contrary to the British nature, we’ve let French rap chart in the top 50 out of the fact that they collaborated with two of the most comical rappers in British history. They’ve also linked up with producer Ghost Killer Track, also from France, as this is ostensibly his song even if he intends not to prove himself with this dull piano-based beat and oddly-mastered bass and percussion, which are really just DBE staples. Unfortunately, past the initial comedy of that first line in the chorus, neither Young Adz or Dirtbike LB deliver any stupid lyrics or funny inflections, instead just resorting to being as boring as they can in their constant flexing as possible. I guess the French guy here, OBOY, commands a higher energy in his verse if only through his comical “no, no, no” ad-libs, but he’s the only French speaker in an otherwise basic British trap song that I just cannot see the appeal in when we’ve had song after song from these guys for three years now. This won’t be the last we see of cookie-cutter UK rap this week though so brace yourselves for that.

#47 – “Last Time” – Becky Hill

Produced by LOSTBOY

It’s almost as if the charts are trying to send me off to sleep as here we have Becky Hill, a singer hedging the line between a non-presence and mildly annoying, which is arguably more frustrating than downright infuriating as her slightly smokier voice does not sound bad, just lacking in texture in every way, especially if the multi-tracking is going to be this minimal on a royalty-free deep-house beat produced by Getty Images with a pretty worthless drop, a generic and simple melody of piano stabs for major chords, and a whole bunch of reverb on the vocal take... but it still ends up feeling dry as there’s nothing here to quench that thirst for a tighter, bass-heavy house banger or even a more ethereal, dreamy trance track, deciding to stick to a healthy medium of boring and utter garbage. Yes, that was a singular sentence. I’m not awake enough to form a cohesive sentence less than 40 words long, and this new Becky Hill track is just worsening that if anything. Speaking of...

#21 – “Body” – Russ Millions and Tion Wayne

Produced by Gotcha Bxtch

Who’s Russ Millions? He’s Russ. No, not that Russ. British Russ – or Russ Splash, stylised as Russ splash on Spotify and nowhere else. This confusingly-named fellow appeared on the charts a couple times and possibly most famously with “Keisha & Becky”, a song also featuring Tion Wayne that is referenced on this very track. Sigh, I usually like Tion Wayne but even he can’t be bothered to delivery his usual brand of suave charm or sinister menace, instead opting for a more growling but ultimately completely monotone cadence that doesn’t flatter him or Russ, who one of my friends described as sounding like one of the aliens from Toy Story. This is a pretty by-the-numbers drill beat too, and it’s pretty safe to say that neither Russ or Tion Wayne here are going to bother with wordplay, even when they start pretty smoothly trading bars and Tion Wayne goes for a more unique chopper flow in the second verse. This is just not of any note. Once again, speaking of...

#17 – “Good Without” – Mimi Webb

Produced by Freedo

I assumed Mimi Webb debuted this high because of a talent show she won or something because I’d never heard her name but instead, she just happened to have a major label deal before her unreleased song just happened to go viral on TikTok and just happened to be supported by one of the women who just happened to be the biggest creator on the platform. Yeah, and this song just happened to be garbage, suffering from every possible millennial pop trope and then some, from the mix dressed rather too overtly in reverb, the ugly guitar pluck, a generic indie-girl voice that you swear you’ve heard before in one of those dreadful piano covers of popular songs they use in adverts, as well as this ballad being undercut by badly-programmed trap percussion. I can tell this label is trying to create somewhat of an Olivia Rodrigo phenomenon from this and I for one am terrified of the Poundland knock-offs to come. Screw this.

#1 – “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)” – Lil Nas X

Produced by Roy Lenzo, Omar Fedi and Take a Daytrip

At least Lil Nas X will bring some passion into this chart week? Well, not really, as when I hear this I recall that Pitchfork review of his EP, a much-maligned critique that featured the ever-so pretentious questioning if Lil Nas X really enjoyed making and listening to music. It reminds me because I think I now fully get it – at least when Lil Nas X was making slap-dash pop rock with Travis Barker or meme-worthy country rap with Billy Ray Cyrus for less than two minutes apiece, there was something invigorating in the execution or at least in concept. That 7 EP is still not a bad debut at all, but this new single “MONTERO”, a long-anticipated record that went from constantly-teased demo to Super Bowl commercial to Satanic-panicked videos of Lil Nas giving Satan a lap-dance to own the conservatives, has the same remote dreariness to it as “HOLIDAY” did late last year. The acoustic, Latin-flavoured guitar loop reminds me of his much better track “Rodeo” from that aforementioned EP that used its energy for similarly lighthearted subject matter but with some genuine energy, a Cardi B feature and a lot less subtle moombahton creeping in. With that said, I can’t say Lil Nas X didn’t try, as his vocal performance, whilst largely insufferable and strained, gives some energy to an otherwise aggravatingly stunted beat, and makes it a lot more infectious than it has any right to be. Content-wise, the song is essentially about a full circle where Lil Nas X becomes increasingly desperate for a man who starts off lonely and in a bad place, and the irony is that Lil Nas gets more explicitly sexual and crazed due to a combination of the LA life-style surrounding him and the fact that he’s simply, for lack of a better term, “down bad”, despite the fact that this guy doesn’t seem particularly desirable. Lil Nas knows this, though, and acknowledges it in the pre-chorus where he outright says that this guy is living the cocaine-addled celebrity life, but not living it right without Mr. Bullriding and Boobies in his life. I’m happy about the video and the outrage it seems to cause not just within conservative spaces but also amongst the hip-hop community, particularly Joyner Lucas, and I’m pretty happy with how out and proud Lil Nas X is about his sexuality, even if it leads to lines like “Shoot a child in your mouth while I’m ridin’”. I’m just really not a fan of this song past its content, which could really be interesting but falls flat with this plucking production that wastes time in barely two minutes with humming interludes. It’s not bad at all, just not for me.

Conclusion

And that concludes our week, and wow, what a bad week this was for new arrivals. Admittedly, it’s a filler week so only “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)” will probably last – or at least we can hope as even if I don’t like the song, I still have to give out an Honourable Mention to someone, and it may as well be Lil Nas X trying to put the effort in. Best of the Week easily goes to Beach Bunny for “Cloud 9”, far and away the only good song here, with Worst of the Week also going out pretty easily to Mimi Webb’s “Good Without”, which is the type of soulless, unmemorable garbage that makes pop music look uninspired, and as a person who writes about the charts constantly, it’s a misconception I don’t want proven or revisited. Dishonourable Mention is a toss-up but I guess I’ll give it to Russ Millions and Tion Wayne for that sprinkle of drill disappointment that is “Body”, and that’ll be it for this week. I predict some impact from Demi Lovato, Lil Tjay and especially Olivia Rodrigo next week, but for now, here’s our top 10:

Thank you for reading – sorry for the grouchiness on this one – and I’ll see you next week!

2 notes · View notes

nwbeerguide · 4 years ago

Text

On pace to grow over 41 percent, Longmont (Colorado) brewery Bootstrap Brewing Company is on a roll.

Press Release

The Longmont-based brewery is on pace to grow 41-percent this year; signs on two longtime Colorado craft beer industry heavy hitters to continue to boost soaring growth

Longmont, Colo., August 26, 2020 — Even in the midst of a global pandemic Coloradans just can’t get enough of Bootstrap Brewing’s handcrafted beer. The Longmont-based brewery is on track to grow barrel volume by 41 percent in 2020, up a whopping 364 percent since 2015* — and the explosion of growth is just beginning.

In August, Bootstrap co-owners and founders, Steve and Leslie Kaczeus, added two notable Colorado craft beer industry names to their team. Geoff Hess, former Regional Director of National Accounts at CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective, joins Bootstrap in the role of Director of Sales, and Dale Katechis comes on board as an advisor, investor and out-of-the-box thinker. Katechis, the founder of Oskar Blues Brewery, the home of the original craft beer in a can, seemed like a natural addition to guide Bootstrap into its new phase of growth.

“Bringing Dale on board was a natural fit,” said Steve Kaczeus, who in addition to co-owner, also takes on head brewer duties at Bootstrap. “He’s seen it all and brings years of industry experience, innovation, and enthusiasm. With my passion for new product design and his out-of-the-box thinking, our discussions about future products are fun, chaotic, and exciting.”

“Steve and Leslie brew just down the street in Longmont and I’ve been visiting the brewery for high quality beer and innovations over the years,” said Dale Katechis. “I dig the gritty and grassroots nature of the Bootstrap approach and have really enjoyed jumping in and getting my hands dirty on helping them jumpstart to the next level.”

Along with the addition of Hess and Katechis, Bootstrap Brewing has also made large scale investments to its 30-bbl brewhouse. The growing brewery recently added three 90-barrel fermenters, a Ska Fab depalletizer, and special equipment for experimental projects to increase efficiency and production.

“Our latest investments in the brewhouse are significant for our future growth,” said Kaczeus. “We’ve been able to increase manufacturing capacity by 50 percent, improve the speed of our canning process, buy equipment for R&D projects, and implement production software. Equally as important, we were able to beef up our lab by purchasing equipment to continue to ensure high quality, stable products.”

With new equipment and people driving Bootstrap full speed ahead, sales of the brewery’s award-winning line-up are up by 143.39 percent in the last 52 weeks**, and sales of Bootstrap’s beloved flagship — the perfectly balanced Insane Rush IPA — are up more than 13.6 percent**.

“We’ve always been under the radar and have grown organically through word of mouth,” said Kaczeus, “but now we’re ready to explode.”

Data Sources:

*Internal Brewery Shipments YOL

**Colorado IRI Food / Craft Beer (Bootstrap Brand Family last 52 Weeks)

# # #

About Bootstrap Brewing Company

Home to best selling and award winning craft beers such as Insane Rush, Lush Puppy, Stick’s Pale Ale, Chillax, and Wreak Havoc, Bootstrap Brewing is an independent, adventurous brewery in Colorado dedicated to producing a wide range of ales and lagers. More information can be found on our website at www.bootstrapbrewing.com.

#Press Release #Longmont #Colorado #CO #Beer #Craft Beer #Bootstrap Brewing Company

1 note · View note

upennmanuscripts · 5 years ago

Text

Question of the Week: “What will you do when he comes at you with the sickle?”

Fifty-two discoveries from the BiblioPhilly project, No. 31/52

Denis Faucher, manuscript additions to Hendrik Herp, Speculum perfectionis (Mirror of Perfection), Venice: Sabio, 1524; University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Codex 1620, fols. 1v, miniature of a Nun on a Cross, and 3r, miniature of the Mememto mori, both by Denis Faucher, after 1524

As we approach the end of October, we interrupt our regularly scheduled blog posts to bring you a seasonally appropriate reminder of the grisly fate that awaits us all. This week, we delve into an item from the University of Pennsylvania’s holdings (not formally within the Bibliotheca Philadelphiensis project but closely associated with it, and now accessible through the main BiblioPhilly interface), a sammelband or hybrid volume that consists of a printed book sandwiched between two manuscript gatherings. Despite the extraordinary morbid imagery present in these hand-written and illuminated sections, the book in question has been little studied to-date, despite the fact that we can name its author (who was also its scribe and artist) with great precision.

The printed core of the book is an edition of the fifteenth-century Franciscan mystic Hendrik Herp’s Mirror of Perfection issued in Venice in 1524. The two eight-folio manuscript quires that bookend it contain texts authored by Denis Faucher (1487–1562), a mystical poet and Benedictine monk with close links to the South of France. Faucher’s authorship was deduced by Norman P. Zacour and Rudolf Hirsch in their catalogue of the manuscripts of the University of Pennsylvania, published in 1965.1 They were able to locate the hymn to Saint Catherine, which begins “Festa lux mundo rutilans coruscat…” in the standard index of hymns, Ulysse Chevalier’s Repertorium hymnologicum.2 At numerous points in the manuscript portions, the rubrics tell us that the poems were written by a certain “Dionysius,” all but confirming Faucher’s identity.

Surviving information on Faucher’s biography is quite rich, and corroborates the notion that he actually transcribed and decorated his own devotional manuals.3 He was born in Arles and began his religious vocation in 1508 at the Benedictine monastery in Polinore, near Mantua, but was based for the majority of his career at the Abbey of Lérins off the coast of Provence, where he was elected prior in 1548. This storied island monastery was the subject of several early monographs, which discuss Faucher at length, and mention his activities as a spiritual advisor and provider of edifying religious texts to various mentors.4 Most fascinatingly, these sources also mention Faucher’s work as a scribe and johnny-come-lately illuminator.

The Abbey of Lérins, France (photo: Alberto Fernandez Fernandez, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0)

The poems by Faucher present in the sammelband are mostly addressed to a scholasticate, a nun in the training period following the novitiate, and concern the attainment of spiritual perfection in the world. While hybrid books of print and manuscript could be useful for obtaining a customized set of literary texts, or for pairing mass-produced images with favorite prayers, they could also allow for spiritual advisors to add tailored content suited to pupils, in a manner reminiscent of the earliest thirteenth-century Books of Hours. Faucher’s interest in embellishing pre-existing books is conformed by an intriguing manuscript, signed by him, that surfaced on the market in 2018. Formerly in the collection of Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow (see Riverrun Books & Manuscripts, Hastings-on-Hudson, catalogue 2, 2018, item 1), and now in a European private collection, it consists of an apparently unfinished fifteenth-century Book of Hours that has had its miniatures and border decorations entirely painted by Faucher in a colorful style that can be described as a mid-sixteenth-century re-imagining of a century-old illuminated book. Faucher’s intervention is attested by an autograph inscription, dated 9 April 1554, in which he offers the book to his brother Jean on condition that it remain in the family in perpetuity (“Semper apud Faucherios maneant.”). Remarkably, this Book of Hours is mentioned in Barrali’s early-seventeenth-century biography of Faucher. Barrali even transcribed a portion of the inscription, and stated that the book was not only illuminated, but also written, by Faucher (“Haec sunt horaria preces manu propria ipsius Dionisii scriptae & miris figuris penicillo subtiliter adornatae….”).5

As seen at the top of the post, Faucher’s poems in the Penn sammelband are accompanied by two striking images. The style is extremely close to the miniatures in the aforementioned Book of Hours, confirming that Faucher’s hand was responsible not just for the images but also for the texts as well. The first image shows a nun in a black habit being crucified, with a snake biting a heart, representing sin, entwined around her left arm (fol. 1v). The lit oil lamp the nun holds in her right hand represents faith and refers to the parable of the Wise Virgins (who tended their lamps). This remarkable iconography merits further study, as apart from its brief mention (and illustration–thanks to digitaztion) in a recent article on the figure of the crucified abbess in the New World, it is totally absent from art-historical literature.6

Ms. Codex 1620, fol. 1v, detail of miniature of a Nun on a Cross by Denis Faucher, after 1524

Arrayed around the nun are illusionistic scrolls with quotations from scripture: Matthew 25:41: “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire;” Matthew 5:16: “So let your light shine before men;” Psalm 118:120: “Pierce thou my flesh with thy fear;” Psalm 118:37: “Turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity;” Psalm 140:3: “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips;” 1 Corinthians 15:56: “Now the sting of death is sin;” Luke 12:35: “Let your loins be girt;” Psalm 118:116: “Uphold me according to thy word, and I shall live: and let me not be confounded in my expectation”; Jeremiah 2:2: “I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals;” Psalm 118:101: “I have restrained my feet from every evil way: that I may keep thy words/order;” and Galatians 2:19: “I am nailed with Christ to the Cross” (with a feminine ending in Latin).

The four-line poem below can be roughly translated as: “The heavenly bridegroom, so that he could appear beautiful / Made this likeness of a chaste girl for your eyes. / Do not be pleased by her face, or lose your shame in front of what is shown here, / only pray now for those who are dead.”

Ms. Codex 1620, fol. 1v, detail of poem

The second image (fol. 3r) consists of a somewhat more conventional memento mori, at least pictorially. A medallion hangs from a stalk of lilies, its frame decorated with bones and pansies (pensées in French). At its center, a skull in a circular mirror is intended to invoke a sense of self-consciousness in the viewer’s mind. The scroll above the image bears a further moralizing extract from the Bible: “In all thy works, remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin” (Ecclesiasticus 7:40). Similar scriptural quotations are found surrounding a painted skull in a manuscript addition to a printed Book of Hours of 1491 now in Cambridge University Library (Inc.5.D.1.19 [2530], fol. 4r).

Ms. Codex 1620, fol. 3r, detail of miniature of the Mememto mori by Denis Faucher, after 1524

The two vertical scrolls, however, bear a unique message, likely authored by Faucher himself: “If you tremble in fear looking at this image of death, what will you do when he comes at you with the sickle?” (“Si fremis inspiciens mortis turbata figuram, quid facies cum te falx truculenta trahet?”). Interestingly, the verb faucher in French means to mow, reap, or knock down, and it comes from the Latin root falx (sickle, scythe) used in the verse. One wonders whether the author was indulging in a macabre pun. The large scroll directly beneath the image contains a quatrain that, in Barrali’s early-seventeenth-century history of Lérins,7 was ascribed to Faucher and said to be dedicated to “Anna de Boufremont,” possibly Anne de Bauffremont-Sennecey Abbess of Tarascon, suggesting that this otherwise obscure figure may have been the recipient of the present hybrid book, early in her career.

The final scroll is an adaptation of Saint Bonaventure’s exhortation: “When death comes, no one accepts it willingly, except for he who prepared for it, while living, with good works” (“Mortem venientem nemo libenter accipit, nisi qui se ad ipsam, dum viveret, bonis operibus praeparavit”).

Ms. Codex 1620, fol. 3r, detail of scroll

All good things to keep in mind in the run up to All Saints’ Day. Happy Halloween!

from WordPress http://bibliophilly.pacscl.org/question-of-the-week-what-will-you-do-when-he-comes-at-you-with-the-sickle/

#Fifty-two discoveries #University of Pennsylvania

15 notes · View notes

tysonbearie · 6 years ago

Text

here it is folks, my new passion project and hopefully weekly newsletter

also if you guys are interested i’ll be doing a poll soon on what to call it

So, I wanted to try my hand at some good old fashioned Sports Journalism™ and also maybe help newer hockey fans by making news and information more accessible to those still learning the lingo; plus, this was fun to make.

Weekly Recap:

NHL All-Star Weekend Last Man In voting ends January 10th, so head on over to nhl.com and vote for your favorites up to 10 times a day.

On January 1, the Boston Bruins faced the Chicago Blackhawks in Notre Dame Stadium under the watchful eye of Touchdown Jesus for the 11th annual Winter Classic. The Bruins won 4-2 in regulation.

Anaheim Ducks prospect and Team Canada captain Maxime Comtois has been repeatedly harassed on social media following Team Canada’s departure from the IIHF World Junior Championship.

The Edmonton Oilers recently acquired Brandon Manning from the Chicago Blackhawks, who you may remember as That Guy Who Broke McDavid’s Collarbone and Knocked Him Out of Calder Contention; more on this next week.

Alex Ovechkin, of the Washington Capitals, was named captain of the Metropolitan Division for All-Star Weekend, but later announced he would not be attending. The NHL plans to penalize him by forcing him to sit out the first game immediately following All-Star Weekend.

The Philadelphia Flyers claimed goalie Mike McKenna off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks on Friday; McKenna is the seventh goalie the Flyers have had this season. While McKenna is expected to back Carter Hart, there is a chance he could be starting in net at some point in the near future.

Play of the Week:

During the December 31 matchup between the Dallas Stars and the visiting Montreal Canadiens, who beat the Stars 3-2 in Overtime, defenceman Jordie Benn (a former Star himself) incurred a penalty which resulted in a Power Play Goal scored by his own brother, forward Jamie Benn, captain of the Stars.

Players to Watch:

Forward Nikita Kucherov leads the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the league, with a total of 69 points; that’s 20 goals and 49 assists in 41 games, 17 of these points were notched in the last five games he’s played. Kucherov has a career total of 403 points in 406 games played.

Defenceman Tyson Barrie of the Colorado Avalanche became the all-time leader in scoring by a defenceman in franchise history on Friday. Barrie has 25 assists and 5 goals in 38 games this season. He has a career total of 278 points in 444 games played.

San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones has 17 wins, including 1 Shutout, and 4 Overtime Losses in 30 starts this season. Jones has faced an impressive 827 Shots Against this season, and has played a total of 1,751 minutes in 30 games played.

Prospect Watch:

Forward Filip Zadina, drafted 6th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2018, has 17 points in 27 games played this season. Zadina was recently loaned to Team Czech Republic for the IIHF World Junior Championship. He had a very successful career in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he played for the Halifax Mooseheads. He won the Mike Bossy award as the league’s Best Professional Prospect in 2017-18. Zadina currently plays for the Grand Rapid Griffins of the American Hockey League.

Defenceman Nic Hague, drafted 34th overall by the Las Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, has 17 points in 36 games played this season. Hague played for the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League. He led the Steelheads in scoring with 35 goals and 78 points in the 17-18 season; he was awarded the Max Kaminsky trophy as Defenceman of the Year. Hague currently plays for the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.

Forward Jordan Kyrou, drafted 35th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 2016, has 10 goals and 23 points in 23 games (in the AHL). Kyrou had a very successful career with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League, tallying 109 points in 56 games during the 2017-18 season. He was awarded both the Red Tilson (Most Outstanding Player) and the Jim Mahon (Top Scoring Right Wing) trophies in 2017-18. Kyrou currently plays for the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League.

Team of the Week:

The New York Rangers, an Original Six team who are currently 5th in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, were founded in 1926 and play out of Madison Square Garden. They have won 4 Stanley Cups, most recently in 1993-94. Notable alumni include Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Tim Horton, Guy Lafleur, Pat LaFontaine, and Marc Savard.

Outside the NHL:

The Calgary Inferno lead the Canadian Women’s Hockey League with 27 points in 16 games played. Rebecca Johnston leads the team with 10 goals and 25 points in 16 games.

The CWHL All-Star Game will take place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on January 20.

The Boston Pride lead the National Women’s Hockey League with 14 points in 9 games played. Haley Skarupa leads the team with 4 goals and 11 points in 8 games.

The NWHL All-Star Weekend will take place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville February 9-10.

Weekly Thoughts:

The Carolina Hurricanes made some interesting moves this summer, though it doesn’t really seem to have worked out so well for them. The Hurricanes had dealings with both the Buffalo Sabres and the Calgary Flames, who appear to have gotten the better end of these deals.

The Buffalo Sabres have been continuously improving their game this season, and currently hold the number one Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Sabres forward Jeff Skinner, acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes this summer, has 28 goals and 41 points in 41 games this season. Last season, Skinner finished with only 49 total points in 82 games.

The Calgary Flames are number one in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference and are, at this point, guaranteed to advance to Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Forward Elias Lindholm, acquired from the Hurricanes this summer in a package deal along with Noah Hanifin, currently has 20 goals and 48 points in 42 games this season with the Flames. Lindholm finished last season with 44 points in 81 games.

Defenceman Noah Hanifin, who was drafted 5th overall by the Hurricanes in 2015, currently has 21 points in 42 games. He tallied 32 points in 79 games last season.

The Carolina Hurricanes are 6th in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and are currently out of playoff contention.

Forward Michael Ferlund, acquired in a package deal from the Calgary Flames, has 12 goals and 19 points in 33 games. He tallied 41 points in 77 games last season.

Acquired in that same deal was defencemen Dougie Hamilton, who has tallied only 5 goals and 13 points in 40 games. Last season, Hamilton had 44 points in 82 games.

In exchange for Skinner, the Hurricanes acquired several future draft picks and prospect Cliff Pu, a forward, from the Sabres. Pu currently plays for the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. He has a total of 3 points in 30 games this season.

In contrast to the Hurricanes, their AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers are having a fantastic season. The Checkers currently lead the Atlantic Division and the entire Eastern Conference with 53 points; that’s 25 wins at two points apiece, and 3 overtime, or OT, losses, which are worth one point each. That’s 5 more points than the second overall team in the conference, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (48 points), and 6 points more than the number one team in the Western Conference, the Iowa Wild (47 points.)

In addition to being the top team in the league, two Checkers forwards, Nicolas Roy and Martin Necas, have been named CCM/AHL Player of the Week. Forward Janne Kuokkanen and defenceman Trevor Carrick have also been named to the AHL All-Star Classic; Mike Vellucci (Checkers) will coach the Atlantic Division.

Weekly Vocabulary:

Icing: When a player shoots the puck across both the center red line and the opposing team’s goal line with the puck remaining untouched.

Off-Side: When a player crosses the blue line in the attack zone before the puck.

Chirping: Mocking another player/ref/fan.

Body Checking: Using the hip or body to knock an opponent, sometimes against the boards or to the ice. Illegal in women’s hockey.

Hooking: The act of impeding an opponent by placing the blade of a stick into their body. Hooking incurs a penalty.

Slashing: The act of contacting an opponent's body or stick with one's own as a result of a swinging motion. Incurs a penalty.

Roughing: The act of contacting an opponent with the hand or fist when making a punching motion. Can incur either a penalty.

Boarding: Checking a defenseless player and causing them to violently impact the boards. Incurs a penalty.

Cross-Checking: The act of checking an opponent with the shaft of the stick held in both hands. Incurs a penalty.

Minor Penalty: Any penalty lasting 2-4 minutes.

Major Penalty: Any Penalty over 5 minutes.

Weekly Trivia:

Every year during the NHL Awards, the Hart Memorial Trophy is awarded to “the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." Winners are selected by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association in all NHL cities at the end of the regular season. Wayne Gretzky was awarded to Hart Memorial Trophy a total of nine times throughout his 20 season career, eight of which were consecutive from 1980-87. His ninth and final win came in 1989. Gretzky is one of two players who have won the Hart with more than one team; Mark Messier is the second.

Weekly Standings:

Eastern Conference

Metropolitan Division

Washington Capitals -- 52 points

Pittsburgh Penguins -- 52 points

Columbus Blue Jackets -- 49 points

Atlantic Division

Tampa Bay Lightning -- 66 points

Toronto Maple Leafs -- 54 points

Boston Bruins -- 50 points

Western Conference

Central Division

Winnipeg Jets -- 52 points

Nashville Predators -- 51 points

Dallas Stars -- 48 points

Pacific Division

Calgary Flames -- 54 points

Las Vegas Golden Knights -- 54 points

San Jose Sharks -- 51 points

*Note: all information was obtained prior to 12pm on Saturday January 5. Information occurring after the 12pm deadline will feature next week.

#hockey #nhl #carolina hurricanes #dallas stars #colorado avalanche #tampa bay lightning #new york rangers #san jose sharks #buffalo sabres #calgary flames #nates nhl newsletter

12 notes · View notes

animesavior · 6 years ago

Photo

"I want...I want you with me Asuna, always. I want you to come with me...and I...I know that's asking a lot, but the truth is...I can't do this without you!”

- Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya, Sword Art Online: Alicization (Ep. 01)

"Of course, I’ll go anywhere with you. It doesn't matter where, I’ll go."

- Asuna Yuuki

The Toonami Trending Rundown for February 9-10, 2019. After a 3 year hiatus, Kirito and Asuna make their return to their US broadcast home in Toonami as Sword Art Online begins the highly anticipated Project Alicization story arc with a 1 hour season premiere. And among other great moments, Kirito enters yet another new game in the Underworld and befriends Eugeo and Alice, while Dragon Ball Super begins the Tournament of Power, and Kira hunts down Shigechi for finding out about his “limb secret”.

On Twitter, Sword Art Online was welcomed back with open arms as it trended in the US alongside JoJo’s, Black Clover, Hunter x Hunter, and Shippuden. Character trends were also spotted with Kirito, Shigechi and the Killer Queen (Kira’s stand name), as well as Shino (we’re not sure if it’s because of Shino from Naruto or Sinon/Shino Asada). On Tumblr, Toonami would trend alongside #BNHA, #JJBA, Attack on Titan and Naruto. The full list including statistics and tweet counts from the twitter app and Amr Rahmy’s analytics app can be seen below.

This week’s feature was a new animated music video titled “So Many Feelings” by the Hip-Hop duo EARTHGANG. You can check it out below.

youtube

Some very unfortunate news in the voice acting front to say the absolute least, as Vic Mignogna, known amongst Toonami fans as the voice of Broly, Edward Elric, Ikaku, Rohan Kishibe, and that tentacle monster that assaulted Asuna during the Fairy Dance arc, has had various sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations come to light recently, including those from Monica Rial and Jamie Machi. As a result, Funimation has fired Vic after an internal investigation, joining Rooster Teeth in doing so.

With a new season of Sword Art Online comes a new cast of characters including those with the potential to join Kirito’s infamous harem. On Friday, Aniplex and Bang Zoom announced that the original cast will return, to be joined by Kayli Mills as the voice of Alice and Brandon Winckler playing Eugeo, taking on the roles as Kirito/Bryce’s newest “Sister-Wives” (or Brother-Husband) as Michelle Ruff jokingly calls themselves.

As I mentioned in my SAO premiere article back in October, Project Alicization will be a longer journey compared to previous arcs, with this season being around 48-52 episodes long. There are however, unconfirmed reports that there will be an off-season around the mid-way point similar to what we are seeing with Attack on Titan. The Japanese broadcast is scheduled to reach that point around March 30. We’ll let you know further details about the hiatus and the 2nd half’s airing once they are announced and what Toonami’s plans are once we reach those points ahead.

Of course, there has been a lot of sour grapes from detractors saying that “Nobody wants SAO back on Toonami” and “SAO needs to be dropped so better isekai like Alternative GGO, Re:Zero, Log Horizon, Konosuba, and Overlord (among others) can be here instead”, among other things.” Yet Kirito has the last laugh in the end as SAO continues to remain as popular as it is and the previously mentioned shows haven’t even sniffed Toonami airwaves.

While I personally will show zero sympathy to those folks, for those who do want to see Alternative GGO and more isekai also join Toonami in addition to SAO, continue to support Toonami and its shows as well as politely letting Jason DeMarco and the crew know on Toonami’s Facebook and Tumblr ask boxes as well as Jason’s Ask.fm page. (Also do realize that Toonami will not be showing a SAO side story unless they show the mainline series as well, that just doesn’t make sense for various reasons.) As Bryce told me during my interview with him at the premiere, if SAO continues to succeed, perhaps fans and the Toonami crew could be hungry for more isekai shows and if Toonami continues to succeed, more shows can join the better cartoon show as well.

Tune in next week as Megalo Box returns from its week off, while Kirito continues to show that Bryce Papenbrook characters don’t die when they are killed, among other great moments. Until next week, stay gold.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

United States Trends:

Toonami/#Toonami [#7]

#DragonBallSuper [Trended with #Toonami]

#MyHeroAcademia [Trended with #Toonami]

#SwordArtOnline [#9]

#SwordArtOnlineAlicization [Trended with #Toonami]

#SAOAlicization [Trended with Kirito]

Kirito (From Sword Art Online) [#12]

Asuna (From Sword Art Online) [Trended with Kirito]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#8]

Shigechi (From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) [#18]

#BlackClover [#10]

#HunterXHunter [#6]

#Shippuden [#11]

Shino [#19]

Tweet Counts:

#Boruto [5,565 tweets]

#MyHeroAcademia [5,402 tweets]

Killer Queen (From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) [1,041 tweets]

Shino [17.7k tweets]

Amr Rahmy Counts:

#DragonBallSuper [#9 with 3137 tweets]

#Boruto [#18 with 3058 tweets]

#MyHeroAcademia [#5 with 3735 tweets]

#SwordArtOnline [#5 with 3492 tweets]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#20 with 1545 tweets]

#BlackClover [#28 with 725 tweets]

Tumblr Trends:

#Toonami

#BNHA

#JJBA

#Attack on Titan

#Naruto

Notes and Other Statistics:

#Toonami: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @DC_Douglas and @ToeiAnimation started the trend in the US.

#Boruto: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @CheramiLeigh started the trend in the US.

#MyHeroAcademia: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @AboutElizabethM started the trend in the US.

#HunterXHunter: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @Kirbopher and @VIZMedia started the trend in the US.

Special thanks to @coreymbarnes, @sdurso5, and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.

Kirito! Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.

#Toonami #Adult Swim #Cartoon Network #Toonami Trending Rundown #Sword Art Online #SAO #Kirito #Kazuto #Dragon Ball Z #Dragon Ball Super #DBZ #Naruto #Boruto #Naruto Shippuden #My Hero Academia #JoJo's Bizarre Adventure #Black Clover #Hunter x Hunter #Shino

4 notes · View notes

narcissasdaffodil · 3 years ago

Text

I posted 39,753 times in 2021

312 posts created (1%)

39441 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 126.4 posts.

I added 1,393 tags in 2021

#litg - 175 posts

#love island the game - 173 posts

#litgs2 - 168 posts

#litg fanfic - 160 posts

#litg marisol - 150 posts

#answered asks - 131 posts

#asks - 129 posts

#fanfic - 129 posts

#marisol x mc - 104 posts

#ask games - 74 posts

Longest Tag: 118 characters

#marilecto hopisol marisol x lottie marisol x astrid and possibly lucisol or bobisol have better chance at getting done

My Top Posts in 2021

Thank you so much for 1k hits and also the 6 month anniversary of when I posted my first ever LCBC chapter! Because of both of those milestones, we have a double update this week x Also I’ve been posting regularly with regards to oneshots too, due to Femslash February, so keep an eye out for more Marilecto content there! Some of it is LCBC related, but the rest of it is either in the overall Marilecto verse, or just Marisol related. I plan on writing some other stuff too x This is slightly earlier than usual due to my lecture finishing a little early x

24 notes • Posted 2021-02-04 16:56:20 GMT

I’m a day late for this trend, but have Alecto and Astrid x I got bored and started messing about with it. This is inspired by @ariendiel and @notasdryapricots

26 notes • Posted 2021-06-11 21:06:26 GMT

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29684142/chapters/77523089

WSD chap 13 x

29 notes • Posted 2021-05-17 13:04:53 GMT

Surprise! A double update today, this is basically a late 20th birthday present for me. This will be the last double update in a while, so enjoy. In addition, I started a Lottie x MC fic recently so feel free to check that out if that’s your jam. Along with me finally posting my LCBC moodboard too.

34 notes • Posted 2021-02-25 18:07:52 GMT

what are the things you like and dislike about Marisol and what makes her your favourite?

I love any excuse to ramble about Marisol, so this one will likely get long. In addition, I do ramble a lot naturally, I work my way through all of my thoughts first, so some stuff I write about might appear unrelated, but I promise I’m going somewhere here! As a second note, this has already started turning into a self analysis thing, but I feel that’s the easiest way to do this. Parts of what I’m writing are very personal here.

- Marisol’s a character who’s really close to my heart. When I first played the game I fell for both her and Lottie at first sight. Her route is my favourite route, I struggle with simple and easy routes and am a sucker for a good slow burn. When I first played Season 2, I was starting to recover with my own mental health issues and building myself as a person while learning to not treat myself badly for my own mental health. I’ve experienced further self growth in that time, but the game itself helped me go further with my self journey. Having a distraction that absorbed me so fully and got me interested in the journeys of the characters was appreciated during that time.

- It took me a while to fully come out myself as a lesbian and to sort out who I believed I truly was from the mess in my head. Part of that was due to having a heavily homophobic ex bestfriend so for my own safety I came out as bisexual and let myself believe I was bi, so I could avoid extra questions. Once I was free from her, I came out fully as a lesbian, as I realised how much of my beliefs about myself with my sexuality were a lie and that it was okay to not be attracted to men at all. The reason I’m mentioning this is mainly that I understand her fear about coupling up and why it took so long for her to face her fear there. I saw so much of my younger self in her, and I do relate to her heavily in addition. Actually coming out fully can be difficult, especially if you’re uncertain at the start, or have doubts whether the people around you will be accepting.

- I do understand her commitment issues, especially if she’s been burned in the past. I’ve never been in a relationship at all myself, and am in no rush to do that. I want to do it in the future, but on my terms and when I’m comfortable enough with myself. Being single and never having had a relationship isn’t something I’m ashamed of either, real life isn’t how they portray in the media and wanting to wait and being single in general shouldn’t be stigmatised. People have judged me for waiting before, but I just block that out. Marisol pretending she doesn’t want commitment is likely a defence mechanism to prevent herself getting hurt again. When she finally couples up with MC, she lets go from her previous reservations and becomes very loving and fiercely loyal, which proves she does want commitment but is scared of it.

- I relate to her with the analysing people too. I do that myself as a defence mechanism as I’ve been hurt in the past multiple times by ex friends and other people. So I have to gain an accurate reading on people before I can trust them fully. That still does cause issues for me as I mess up still, but most of my readings on people have been accurate, especially recently. I base whether I like someone on their interactions with others as well as myself, mainly as people can and do be two faced. I’ve had people suck up to me, and be rude to my friends and I’ve also had the reverse.

- I love her growth during her route and it helps give me hope myself that I can eventually get better at trusting people and allowing myself to be more vulnerable with people. I was so happy when she finally coupled up with MC, I found myself doing a happy squeal and was relieved to have the house to myself! It takes a lot for me to have a connection to a character, but once I do I care with all of my heart.

- To follow on from the analysing people point, something else I remembered. Analysis can definitely come from being isolated, which I can confirm there. From Year 1 until Year 4 of primary school, I was entirely alone as my only friend had left me, which had a serious impact on me. It landed me with a fear of rejection so I preferred to be alone. I’m still working through that and helping myself grow. Having connections with people does scare me, a lot, so I do find myself scaring people off by accident or not trying at all. Connections usually appear from people seeking me out, I’ve gained actual people recently through that. People abandoning me will always be a worry for me, which is why I do find myself apologising far too much and doing everything I can to maintain connections with people until there’s a valid reason to let them go.

- I also struggle with being open and vulnerable with my feelings so I can relate heavily to her there. I have to have a strong connection with someone or trust them enough to properly be honest with them. Meaningful connections do take a while to develop for me. She also feels so real and true to life, that’s something I’d likely say about most of the characters of this game.

- She’s also very observant and picks up the subtleties of people in general. I do that too, but I don’t base my entire reading off my observations and what I hear from others. A weakness for her is likely her tendency to rely heavily on reading people over getting to know them herself, and basing her perceptions of people on her observations.

- She can come across as quite cold on first impression which I relate to. I’m like an onion or a pineapple, my spiky exterior/ multiple layers put people off getting to know me, but once they get past my walls and spiky exterior I’m a very warm and loving person. That observation there is based off what people have told me. I do scare people off without meaning to. Marisol as a character does divide opinions herself, which makes sense. I tend to lean towards characters who are more underrated and divide opinions, the more popular characters don’t tend to draw my attention. There’s been exceptions to that rule, and it’s not deliberate either, it’s just the type I automatically default to. Once Marisol trusts people and lets down her walls she’s so loving and so warm. That’s definitely something I’m drawn to in a LI, someone who you have to work through their layers to find who they truly are.

-She’s also very ambitious, which is something we do share there. I do have life goals and have been called intelligent by a lot of people. She’s pretty stubborn and set in her opinions too, which I also relate to. I have experienced personal growth opinions wise, but it has to be me making the decision and coming to that realisation myself. Marisol’s like that too, I feel.

- Right, this is getting so super long! If you’re still with me, wow. Anyway, something I dislike about her is definitely the game playing. Having her use Graham to try and make MC jealous is pretty cold, especially when Graham actually liked her. Playing through Casa did hurt for that reason. I was slightly hesitant about taking her from him, as they seemed to be really compatible during Casa, but I worked through that pretty quickly due to her being the only one I was compatible with.

I think that’s finally it, in terms of analysis points. This has been sitting about for a while, so I’ll finally publish it!

36 notes • Posted 2021-01-01 20:46:19 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

1 note · View note

pallabbose-blog · 3 years ago

Text

WORK FROM HOME EFFECTIVELY

Even before the onset of the current global pandemic, more and more companies started offering its employees the option to work from home. The growth of remote work is nothing new, but the urgency brought on by the COVID-19 coronavirus means many of us suddenly needed to work from home, for the first time, with a lack of formal policies or training. If you're suddenly navigating this new work from home normal, this session will cover some tips and resources to help with the transition.

More people are foregoing a lengthy commute and working from home. However, working outside an office can be a challenge. What are the best ways to set yourself up for success? How do you stay focused and productive? And how do you keep your work life separate from your home life?

What the Experts Say

The days when working from home conjured an image of a slacker in pajamas are rapidly disappearing. Technological advances and employers looking to lower costs have resulted in more people working outside an office than ever before. By one estimate, telecommuting increased in the U.S. by 80% between 2005 and 2012. “The obvious benefits for workers include flexibility, autonomy, and the comfort of working in your own space,” says Ned Hallowell, author of the forthcoming Driven to Distraction at Work. And done well, working from home can mean a marked increase in output. A Stanford University study last year found that the productivity of employees who worked from home was 13% higher than their office-bound colleagues. People often feel they make more progress when working from home, says Steven Kramer, a psychologist and author of The Progress Principle, and “of all the things that can boost people’s work life, the single most important is simply making progress on meaningful work.”

Here’s how to work from home effectively.

Maintain a regular schedule - “Without supervision, even the most conscientious of us can slack off,” says Hallowell. Setting a schedule not only provides structure to the day, it also helps you stay motivated. Start the day as you would if you worked in an office: Get up early, get dressed, and try to avoid online distractions once you sit down to work. Whether you just started working at home or you’ve been doing it for months or years, take a few weeks to determine the best rhythm for your day. Then set realistic expectations for what you can accomplish on a daily basis. “Make a schedule and stick to it,” says Kramer. Make sure you give yourself permission to have downtime. If you have to work extra hours on a project, give yourself some extra free time later on to compensate.

Set clear boundaries - When you work at home, it’s easy to let your work life blur into your home life. “Unless you are careful to maintain boundaries, you may start to feel you’re always at work and lose a place to come home to,” Hallowell says. That’s why it’s important to keep the two distinct. One way to do that is to set aside a separate space in your home for work. You also want to make sure your friends and loved ones understand that even though you are at home, you are off limits during your scheduled work hours. “If the doorbell rings, unless I’m really expecting something, I’ll ignore it,” says Kramer. That not only helps you stay focused, but makes it easier to get out of work mode at the end of the day. “Schedule your time with your family, and with yourself,” says Kramer. “Put those on your daily calendar as seriously as you would your work.” And don’t worry about stopping for the day if you’re on a roll with a project. Pausing in the middle of something will make it easier to jump into the task the next day — a tip that is valid for everyone, but especially those working from home.

Take regular breaks - It may be tempting to work flat out, especially if you’re trying to prove that you’re productive at home. But it’s vital to “take regular ‘brain breaks,’” says Hallowell. How often is best? Researchers at a social media company recently tracked the habits of their most productive employees. They discovered that the best workers typically worked intently for around 52 minutes and then took a 17-minute break. And these restorative breaks needn’t take any particular form. “It can be as simple as staring out the window or reading the newspaper,” says Hallowell, anything to give your brain an opportunity to briefly recuperate. “The brain is like any other muscle. It needs to rest,” says Kramer. “Go for a walk, get some exercise, stretch. Then get back to work.

Stay connected - Prolonged isolation can lead to weakened productivity and motivation. So if you don’t have a job that requires face-time with others on a daily basis, you need to put in the extra effort to stay connected. Make a point of scheduling regular coffees and meetings with colleagues, clients, and work peers. Get involved with professional organizations. And use online networking sites like LinkedIn to maintain connections with far-flung contacts. Since visibility can be an important factor in who gets promoted (or scapegoated) back at the office, check in as often as you can with colleagues and superiors. “Tell people what you’re doing,” says Kramer. Share some of the tasks you’ve accomplished that day. “It’s critically important not just for your career, but for your psychological well-being,” he says.

Celebrate your wins - When you’re working on your own at home, staying motivated can be difficult, especially when distractions — Facebook, that pile of laundry, the closet that needs organizing — abound. One smart way to maintain momentum is to spend a moment or two acknowledging what you have been able to accomplish that day, rather than fixating on what you still need to do. “Take some time at the end of the day to attend to the things that you got done instead of the things you didn’t get done,” says Kramer. You might also keep a journal in which you reflect on that day’s events and note what you were able to check off your to-do list. The daily reminder of what you were able to finish will help create a virtuous cycle going forward.

Principles to Remember:

Do:

Make a schedule and stick to it

Focus on what you’ve accomplished at the end of each day to keep yourself motivated

Create a dedicated workspace and let your family know that you are unavailable during those particular work hours, at least five days a week.

Don’t:

Try to work all day without regular breaks — your productivity and motivation will suffer

Isolate yourself — go the extra mile to meet up with colleagues and peers to talk shop

Neglect to check in regularly with colleagues and bosses — it’s important to make yourself ‘visible’ even if you aren’t in the office

Case study #1: Stay organized and adjust

Freelancing from home for Heather Spohr, a writer and copywriter based in Los Angeles, wasn’t her choice. After 10 years in the corporate world, she was laid off from a six-figure sales job in 2008, but “I had a baby at home, so I just sort of shifted my focus,” Heather says. Today, she writes articles for everyone from parenting and banking sites to “car companies, drug companies, beauty companies, you name it,” she says.

Despite wanting to keep regular working hours, Heather often finds that the pressures of finding new writing jobs in addition to executing the ones she’s already landed often push her into overtime. “It can be very hard maintaining a schedule because freelancing is so feast or famine,” she says.

To give more structure to her working life, she sits down each Sunday evening after her kids have gone to bed and maps out of the following week. “I’m huge on lists,” she says. “I make daily schedules and prioritize tasks. Then everyday I revise that schedule because things come up.” She also makes it a habit to include an hour of flex time into her daily schedule. That way, “if my sitter’s going to be an hour late, it’s not going to wreck my day,” she says. “Once I started doing that, my stress level dropped considerably.”

She insists on taking regular breaks, setting a timer that goes off every 45 minutes. “Then I give myself 5 to 10 minutes to get up, get a snack, look at Twitter, play Candy Crush, whatever,” she says. “At first I felt guilty for doing it, but I would remind myself that when I worked in an office, I’d get interrupted so much more than that. Even with these breaks, I’m still getting more done.”

What Heather finds most challenging is the isolation. “I’m very social and extroverted, and I love being surrounded by people,” she says. To combat loneliness, she schedules time with fellow writers and friends for face time. She has also found a thriving network of other work-at-home writers in various online discussion groups. “There are lots of people I’ve clicked with through Citigroup’s Women & Co. group and LinkedIn, and there will be chat rooms I’ll pop into to say hello and connect,” she says.

Case study #2: Maintain work-life boundaries

When Catherine Campbell launched her own branding and strategy business in Asheville, North Carolina, earlier this year, she already had some experience working from home. Her last job, as marketing director for a copywriting agency, was a virtual one, but she knew that launching her own company would require more discipline. “Managing my time and not overworking was going to be the biggest challenge,” she says.

From the start, Catherine set strict rules for keeping her work life distinct from her home life. “It’s all about boundaries and mindset,” she says. She never uploaded work emails to her phone, so that she wouldn’t be tempted to check messages at all hours of the day. She is only available on Skype by appointment and explicitly states in her email signature that her working hours are 9am to 5pm EST. “When you leave a traditional office, you’re often done for the day,” she says. “You have to approach it the same way when maintaining a home office.”

She also tries to block out the first hour of each day to check email, do her own promotion and marketing, and make a list of daily goals. “Allowing what I call a quiet hour for myself just to get focused and to knock out some of the smaller tasks allows me to really jump into the larger client work for the rest of the day,” she says. She also makes it a point to leave the house every day, rain or shine, at 5pm. “I go for a walk, pick up my son, go to a networking group, grab that last item for dinner, or meet with a friend or colleague to talk shop,” she says.

She also doesn’t sweat the times when she has to work late on a project because she gives that time back to herself later on. “It’s what I would call ‘smart scheduling,’” Catherine says. “You say to yourself, OK, I have this extra client this week or this project emergency so I’m going to work these two nights. But then I’m going to cut back on Friday and get out of the office at 2 pm.”

“Working from home is always a fine line,” she says. “You have to learn how to give and take with yourself so that your business doesn’t take over who you are.”

Visit www.ifdainternational.com Now!!

#ifda #nagpur

0 notes