#recycling is cool too (save a whale and stuff)

[californiannostalgia]

the mona lisa burning meant less than Cassandra's death, by any margin.

it's a beautiful artwork society has collectively agreed to hold in high regard. beautiful artworks don't change, and there will remain pictures and documentations of it. a human being who has died is frozen at the moment of her death, when she had infinite potential to be something more. and at the end of the day, the preservation of a famous painting isn't worth more than stopping the guy who would've blown up the entire world simply so he could stay on top of it.

(Side note: I think the climate activists who threw soup at some paintings did a really brave thing. What are we going to do with painting preservation when fifty countries have gone underwater and humanity dies off from famine and natural disasters? At least this way there were more articles about the issue than when the climate scientists chained themselves to a building, which in and of itself was a really brave act of protest as well. Without a certain level of disruption that threatens pre-existing power structures, no one in power will want to acknowledge that their way of life is unsustainable. It was possible to clean the soup off the paintings anyway. You can't resurrect people, or re-freeze the polar ice caps.)

[edh-a-to-z]

13 - Ambassador Laquatus

OG MILL COMMANDER!!!

PLAN: We go in, get infinite mana, and win. Stifle/Counter anything in our way. That’s it, that’s the deck.

Okay, fine, I’ll do the tech too.

LORE:

Ambassador Laquatus represented the cephalid's Empire on Otaria, though he was a merfolk.

The chief reason for this, stems from his part in overthrowing the Berbous Merfolk empire during what was meant to be their rebirthing ceremony. During the ceremony, which took place every 30 years, every member of the Berbous nation would give their lives as energy to hatch the stockpiled eggs collected over thirty years. Lacquatus distracted the Emperor, who was in charge of this event and would not sacrifice himself, from noticing that the Cephalids had replaced the merfolk eggs with their own. When the ceremony was complete, the Cephalid nation was hugely strengthened, and the Merfolk nation was decimated, leaving the Cephalids as the dominant race in Otaria's oceans. He was made Ambassador for his ability to change freely between his natural and his two-legged forms faster than other members of his race. He hated the assignment and loathed having to deal with surface-dwellers, longing to get back into the cephalid imperial court and scheme to gain more influence.

Whilst he appeared to be a loyal subject, Laquatus played dangerous political games above the waves and below, ultimately looking to seize power for himself. Laquatus was a talented blue mage, possessing the ability to hypnotise people and implant false memories; which he used against Kirtar and numerous members of the Cabal in order to convince them to trust him. He also employed the amphibian Turg, and later the dementia beast Burke to provide physical force.

He was one of the many individuals obsessed with obtaining the Mirari, hoping to use its power to overthrow the surface dwellers, and most especially the Cabal. This quest failed horrendously when he overplayed his hand while trailing Kamahl and his secret passageways into the interior of the continent. With his plans in shambles, he decided to directly confront Kamahl. Ultimately he failed in his task and was killed by Kamahl twice, first after a battle in Krosa, where the Mirari sword was plunged into his breast, and then as a Mirari-mutated giant zombie when Kamahl came to retrieve the sword.

 TL;DR: OG asshole merfolk betrays his race and dies twice. Man, MTG lore sucked back in the day.

THE CARD:

Pretty simple as commanders go - Weak body for cost, modesty interesting tribal types, no inherent protection. Also capable of some wicked combos if left alone.

BUILDS:

Mill. 

And mill with Infinite Mana.

That’s it.

Everyone knows your game when you sit down, but that’s fine.

BATTLE PLAN:

MILL!

That’s what we’re about. 

Infinite mana -> Ambassador -> Mill everyone.

But it’s a little more complicated.

Our packages - 

(1) Infinite Mana + Ambassador

(2) Milling Stuff Support

(3) Countering Package

(4) Defensive Measures

1 - Infinite Mana

Blue probably has the most ways to go infinite. Bring ‘em all.

Palinchron and High Tide are classics, and there’s...

- Great Whale and Capsize

- Echo Mage and Reality Spasm

- Tidespout Tyrant + (2 of) Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault

- Power Artifact and any mana rock that makes 2< mana, liked Gilded Lotus

- Rings of Brighthearth and Basalt Monolith

- And mana more. Bring your faves.

Using your mana:

- Ambassador Laquatus. Obviously.

- Sands of Delirium, one opponent at a time.

2 - Milling Support

That was the stuff just for the Ambassador. Now we need some backup stuff to keep us milling at non-combo times.

There’s plenty of milling faves to fill out the rest of the deck and support the mill theme. It also gives us a backup in case our milling pieces get removed, like with Supreme Inquisitor.

- Traumatize lets us rip off half of a deck. That’s around 30-40 cards for 5 mana.

- Keening Stone mills based on the GY size. And probably mills out a player after a Traumatize.

- Archive Trap, when done for free, is amazing.

- Jace, Memory Adept for repeated draw and milling

- Psychic Spiral late game whammies a player, and recycles your GY into the deck.

- Hedron Crab and Sphinx’s Tutelage are decent incremental targeted mills. And Manic Scribe if you get delirium.

- Startled Awake is slow and expensive, and overall clumsy. It’s still super cool and fun. It’s up to you.

Not direct milling, but related:

- Laboratory Maniac is a backup plan - mill ourselves and auto-win.

- Training Grounds makes Laquatus’s ability cost (1), making it possible to mill opponents without a infinite mana combo.

- Visions of Beyond, as your milling makes this an Ancestral Recall

- Some colorless GY hate with Tormud’s Crypt and Relic of Progenitus take care of the things you milled (I’d be a shame to do the all the work forMeren or Karador)

3 - Countering Package

We need to stop others interfering, and mess with other people’s win-cons.

Big Counters - Mystic Confluence, Insidious Will, Cryptic Command, Desertion, basically flashy counters if you’re feeling playful.

3 Counters - Dissolve, Void Shatter, Dream Fracture, Dissipate (budget)

Disallow, 

2 Counters - Counterspell, Arcane Denial, Muddle the Mixture, Deprive, Memory Lapse, Remand, Mana Drain (haha lol no), Disdainful Stroke

- Unsubstantiate and Venser, Shaper Savant are good ways of dealing with “uncounterable” spells like Counterflux or Supreme Verdict if the opponent is tapped out after casting.

- Force of Will and Pact of Negation are classic “free” counters, and are great at messing with things that try to counter 

Not a counter, but Merchant Scroll and Mystic Tutor can tutor these spells.

4 - Defensive Measures

We need to not be dead to win. Even with 40 life as a buffer, we want some options.

- Drift of Phantasms is a decent defender, and blocks flyers, and can Transmute if needed.

- Wall of Frost and Fog Bank are also great at holding off most combat threats, and Mnemonic Wall gets you a spell back.

- Gozamas. All of them.

- Propaganda may have been color shifted to white, but at least there’s the original! Crawlspace is a good defensive option, and Dissipation Field takes care of damaging problems.

THE REST:

(A) Might as well add some mono-blue merfolk tribal. It’s fun, and modular/easy to remove if you want to add other options.

Terrible plan. Tried it out, just dilutes the deck. 

(A) And a mana rock package. To ramp and combo with.

(B) And some staples!

A - Mana Rocks

I’m a sol man!

Classics. Sol Ring (never a dead draw in this deck), Sapphire Medallion, everything from the “infinite mana combo” section. And Mind Stone is worth it’s weight in gold when you need one more card.

B - Staples

Cyclonic Rift. Every blue deck has it. 

Archaomancer and Call to Mind gets your best toys back, and you can supplement it with Torrential Gearhulk and Snapcaster (if you have the budget).

And whatever blue draw you want. Jace’s Archivist and Consecrated Sphinx, and any draw X spells.

WEAKNESSES:

Interrupting counters and stifles hurt us pretty bad, so Ambassador needs to hold up enough mana.

We also don’t hold the board very well, or carry any Indestructible options, so we don’t bounce back fast from something wiping our mana rocks or commander.

RATINGS:

Control: 3/10

Weak control options for MonoBlue because we’re pretty dedicated to a milling combo.

Diplomacy: 3/10

We’re not really a board threat, nor do we have a carrot to offer, so lack of Diplomacy options.

Aggro: 0/10

hahahahhahahahahahhahahahahha lol no.

The build we want doesn’t require it, nor can it be done effectively. 

Maybe you can scrape some weak merfolk together, but...nah, just no. Even Modern isn’t really a home for Merfolk anymore, much less EDH.

Overall Power: 5/10

Solid if the combo works, trash otherwise. As expected.

NEW CATEGORY!

Combo Potential: 10/10

It’s what he was made for. Go blue infinite mana, then boom.

Versatility: 3/10

Unfortunately, being made for combos gives us, like, zero options, except how we mill.

Affordability: 5/10

He can be build budget, but competitive play has a cost. You save by having a monocolored land base, but he’s not a cheap date in CEDH, nor is he very competitive.

Overall Score: 29/70

Okay, not perfect. But a 10/10 for combo potential makes it worth playing.

One of the 99:

A solid option in mill decks for sinking mana into at the end of turns, but I’d rather have Oona, Queen of the Fae milling AND exiling, plus making tokens.

FINAL VERDICT:

Gimmick general for a gimmick game night. 

Not much else to say. 

Sorry it took so long to pump out another of these. It’s been a long month between personal life, C17, and Ixalan. And MTG Arena now. What a time to be alive.

[fureniku]

The return of my blog or something idk

Looks like in my last blog I said I’d not post my semi-private stuff here, only to a private blog.

Honestly, I can’t remember the name of the private blog; let alone the login/password. I think I only made one post there, to zero followers, and kind of lost the point of doing it. So fuck it, lets just go back to being here.

Days since last post: 614 Todays date: 30th September 2019 Start time: 20:39

Well, I guess we have some catching up to do.

I don’t know how many people on here were following me before. So, I guess I’ll start with a sum-up. My previous blog was just me ranting about anxiety/depression related things. It was a good platform for me to vent my thoughts without real life friends knowing; I had a few RL friends who followed it which was great as they could give me some support, but most of them didn’t know about the blog, which was also great as they then didn’t know a side of me I’d generally prefer to keep private. That blog was deleted in early January 2018, when the drummer from my then-band found it. I had made some comments about my frustrations in the band which were true, and I stand by them - but naturally it caused drama. I deleted the account, and instantly regretted it - I only had maybe 50 followers, but now I have two, so yeah.  Life since then has been... chaotic. Not specifically in a bad way, just a lot of things happened. When the blog ended I was; - Single - Playing guitar in a band - Working a dead-end job in a Warehouse - Had no ambition/drive to progress life

Three of those things have since changed; I’m still single (not for lack of trying but whatevs). I guess I’ll cover a timeline? Jan 2018: I deleted my old blog, and made this one, and a second one with a more secretive/anon name. I made a couple of posts on each, then abandoned it. Instead, I started relying mostly on just one friend to help me. May 2018: I got a new job, working for a games developer. It literally changed my life. Anxiety/depression started to clear up a lot, things just generally improved. June/July-ish 2018: I left my band. There was an argument about the fact another band was using our space for free, after we had offered it to them at a split rate and they declined. I instigated the argument, other members didn’t see eye to eye with me, so I quit. It was a final nail in the coffin kind of thing, but it was certainly the healthy thing to do. The whole situation had been kind of toxic for a little while, but I now get on just fine with all of them - I think if I had stayed much longer, that might not be the case. Our vocalist left very shortly after me as well - I don’t know the reasons why, but it seems the terms were... less happy.

September 2018: I started taking Japanese classes. Met a girl, had a crush on her for a bit, it didn’t go anywhere as usual. No biggie.

December 2018: Depression came back a bit, as it always does around then. Not much I can do about it so I just power through.

February 2019: I got made redundant from work. I was cool with it, I could see it coming for a while and there was like 12 other people too, my boss had fought hard to keep me but the game wasn’t doing so well, so I totally get it. I got a nice redundancy pay (which they by no means had to give me, so I’m super grateful). I applied for a job with another studio; quite a big one called Jagex. They were far from me so it would’ve involved moving and stuff, so quite scary. I made it to the final stages, but didn’t get it.

I now had a fair lump of cash (I had been saving for a house anyway), but not quite sure what to do with it. Followers of my previous blog can probably guess what I decided to spend it on...

April 2019: I went back to Japan! My mental-health-reset trip mark 2. I spent about two and a half weeks there (despite fucking up and accidentally buying a ticket to return mid-may... whoops). I got detained in China on my way home too but that’s a whole other story (it was all sorted and fine in the end).

While in Japan, I had time to clear my head and think. I decided I wanted to go back to university, so started thinking about how that would work. Here in the UK, we get a student loan to pay for university. It’s a bit complicated, but the way it works is you get your course length plus one year of funding. The day you set foot on campus, you use one year of funding. Now, I had already been to university previously - I studied music production. Totally dead industry, I dropped out about three weeks into my second year. That meant, I only had course length minus one year’s funding left available. So I have to pay the first year of university myself. At a cool £9,250.

My dad agreed to pay one term, so one third of that. I managed to save up another terms worth by working over the summer. I’m sat in my uni dorm right now, still not quite sure how I’ll pay for the third term... but I’ve got 6 months to figure that one out.

May 2019: I returned to my original job, back in the warehouse. Picking and packing sacks of bird food, so much fun. My mental health naturally slipped again, although everyone was really friendly to me while before it was kinda like I didn’t exist, so that was nice.

Around this time, I also joined an Overwatch team. It was a pretty big team with maybe 14-15 members, it was cool to make some new friends. Except one guy, was a dick. This OW stuff is like a whole side story from hereon... Anyway, I said to my squad leader (We’ll call her SN) that this guy is a dick. She said ok and she’d go talk to him. She said do you agree you’re being a dick, he said no. She said do you acknowledge one of the squad members thinks you’re being a dick? He said no again. Some other stuff I don’t know happened, and he got kicked off the team. He turned a load of people against her, caused loads of drama, and everyone blamed her when it was 100% my fault. So that was fun. The only reason I didn’t leave the team right then is because if I had, the entire drama would’ve been for nothing.

June 2019: My old boss who didn’t work there appeared at the end of may. I have a job for you. Ominous... but ok. Turns out, there was a new system being implemented on another contract. As I had experience with QA, and had done some IT stuff for them before, they wanted me to help with the testing and implementation. It was a job that would test my brain, while requiring little physical work - it was perfect for me. I really enjoyed it. It was supposed to be a four week thing, but we found lots of niggly little problems in the system... as far as I know, it’s actually only just gone live - but may have been delayed further.

While working up there, obviously there was downtime while waiting for fixes to be implemented. “What, you want this label a different size? oof, that’s gonna take about three weeks”. However, I got to stay in the office, doing odd jobs and stuff. One of the “odd jobs” ended up being a full on Android app, that my boss and me developed together. It was super fun to work on and really rewarding. That was worked on on-and-off between June and August.

July 2019: an interesting month. There was a major incident at work where a shelf holding very heavy metal shit stirrers collapsed. (The contract was a water treatment etc company, who provide all the clean water and water recycling for my local area. The things on the shelf literally stirred shit.) No one was hurt but it was a lot of drama, which was kind of entertaining to me as I was totally bunking off for the whole week where it happened. Not just the occasionally check Facebook on your phone at work kind of bunking off; I literally just messed about on Discord and worked on Minecraft mods for about two weeks straight. They had given me quite a big project to do, I automated the process... gg ez.

Around this time, the game I had been a part of before was to be officially cancelled. My old work invited me down to the studio to be a part of the formal funeral for the game, which was a big honour. I even got to fly the sky-whale which was awesome. It was bittersweet though, as the game meant a lot to me and had literally changed my life.

August 2019: haaaaaa august was a meme. I’d gotten kinda close with a girl (we’ll call her AP) in my Overwatch team. Like, we’d arranged to meet up at the end of August anyway but yeah, she was the first crush in a long time who actually knew I liked her. And she had certainly implied she felt the same way... like she’d been sending lots of hearts and stuff and talking to me 24/7, tagging me in “X has to take you on a date to Y place” memes and so on.  Anyways, so SN had apparently picked up on the fact I liked her, and started getting super pissy with me. I was pretty good friends with SN and we got on well, but in August she suddenly started getting crazy angry with me over tiny things. It all came to a head when I let AP kill me in a game (long story). Turns out, SN was like in love with me... despite breaking up with her boyfriend of over a year like 2 days before this conversation. So yeah, she told me to fuck off and that was that, she left the team etc, which thanks to chain of command meant that I was then in charge. fun. 

Anyways, get to the end of August, and I was due to meet AP. We met up, it was pretty cool. We hung out at a gaming festival, then suddenly like half way through she was like “lets split up for a bit” and I was like ........ok thats weird but alright. We didn’t meet up again until literally when she had like 2 mins to go, but it seems like she had a lot more fun without me being there. Clearly I’d done some major fuckup, which I still don’t actually know what it was. I had an anxiety attack before I even reached my car... and not a little one either. It’s quite possibly the biggest anxiety attack I’ve ever had, I barely made it to my car before having a total meltdown. It was the first one I’d had for about a year and it hit hard. It took me about 30 mins to calm down, then I headed home. 

I messaged her that night and asked her what happened, and she replied with “oh I never said I liked you”. It hurt a lot, like I’d been totally lead on. But hey whatever, that’s my life in a nutshell right? “Oh you want this happiness? this happiness right infront of you? HA nah”.  She said in the same message that I “seemed cool” and she’d like to hang out again sometime. But literally within a week she was clearly interested in another guy, so yeah whatever. We’re still friends and play games from time to time but I know she likes this other guy, so yeah. I still like her but whatever, not much I can do about it.

Work was a meme as well. I got taken off the fun and interesting projects to do paperwork. Literally, my job was to scan 35,000 documents because they couldn’t find a couple of bits of information. I suggested much better and more efficient ways, but the boss of the contract was like “no thats bad do it this old fashioned way we don’t want any fancy apps or anything” (I had suggested a spreadsheet or database). It took me about 3 weeks of just standing by a scanner which would jam up every 15-20 sheets in. It was mental health hell, especially in the last week after all the AP stuff had happened.

September 2019: I had one week left at work. I finished the hellish scanning project on Monday afternoon. “Oh as a thanks for your massive hard work we’ll make sure to find you things to do for the rest of the week” No it’s fine, I’m happy to just finish a few days early so I have more time to prep for uni. “No no no, we’ll find you stuff to do” They did not find stuff for me to do. I literally sat there, with nothing to do bar a few odd jobs “hey can you fix this printer”, for four days. It was incredibly mind-numbingly dull. The only thing ticking me over was “hey, maybe they wanna give me a card on my last day or something to say good luck and bye and thanks for doing this literal £20/hr job for half that because you’re agency staff”. But nah, a few people said cya later, but a lot forgot I was leaving entirely. So that was a fun way to finish what had mostly been a decent job...

I then had two weeks of freedom, before moving to university on the 21st. I was nervous; who wouldn’t be? but it was cool. I finally moved out of my house, and had a place where I could make a lot of new friends (LOL). On the day I moved in, I met up with someone I’d spoken to online a few times who was living in the same building as me, we’ll call her S. She was nice, we got on well, and it was kinda cool to have a friend who was a girl that for once I didn’t have a crush on (coz I’m still totally hung up on AP). We ended up going to a club in the evening which I’ve literally never done in my life, and she brought me out of my comfort zone a lot. She was great for my anxiety and really helpful. We’ve hung out a few times since, but I kind of feel like I was just a “filler friend” until she made new friends. She actually totally blanked me when I walked past her today, so that was fun. She has my Switch atm too coz I let her borrow it, I’ll probably just get it back later this week and then be done, its like I put in all the effort to be a friend and she couldn’t care less.

Anyways, so as I said I moved in on Saturday. I met one of my four flatmates on Saturday and another on Sunday, but hadn’t seen the other two at all. It gets to Thursday and I’m tidying the kitchen a bit, my mum’s about to pick me up so I can move in my last few things, and one of the mystery people appeared - she hadn’t actually moved in yet and was just unloading her stuff. She had loads of kitchen stuff, seems she’s really into her cooking.

Anyway, mum picks me up, we go to get my stuff, then we’re driving back, and my phone starts blowing up. S: Are you in? Me: No, why? S: Your building’s on fire. Me: lol nice joke S: no really *picture of everyone evacuated with fire engines outside* S: It’s your floor too, idk which flat. I wasn’t far out, so found her outside when I arrived. I’ve seen people going in, not being funny but one of them looked like [one of my flatmates]. Shit.  A few mins later, the girl who had just moved in came over. You know it’s our flat right? Shit. Turns out the extractor fan on the cooker malfunctioned. I won’t share the video itself coz one of my flatmates is in it, but yeah it just started spraying molten something all over the hob and surfaces. (They said it looked like molten metal, and they were there - but I don’t see how it would’ve gotten hot enough to melt any metal. My best guess is fat that hadn’t been cleaned from last years tenants)

So yeah, we got moved into another flat. The open cupboard right there was my one - I rescued my custom cup from it that the games studio had given me. It’s no good to drink from now, but it still looks ok so I’m glad I can keep it for decorative purposes at least. The rest of the food is waste, and I have to wait for the plates etc to get cleaned. I’m currently eating ready meals out of their cook-in containers, because I don’t have any plates, and only one fork and spoon. I bought some paper plates today though so I’ll use those from tomorrow, but I still don’t have any saucepans or anything.

I wasn’t around when they sorted out the replacement accommodation. Because of that, the other four from my flat went to the same new flat together, with one new person. I was put into a different flat which also had one other person in, my building manager assured me they’re “really nice”. I asked if they knew I was coming, BM said “they’ll know when we get up there :)”. That was Thursday, today is Monday. The only food in the kitchen is mine, I’ve not seen anyone. I’m 100% positive I’m alone in this flat.

And so yeah, that’s my uni experience so far. I had my first lectures today, it was cool because I already knew all the stuff so I got to feel smart (I’m doing computer games programming, and it was mostly about design docs which I read through extensively while working at the studio, so I knew exactly how they worked etc). But, I didn’t really make any friends. I kind of joined in with a couple of other people in each lecture, but it seems like they weren’t really interested, so whatever. I had an anime society taster this evening as well, and it was when I was on my way to that that S blanked me and I just got hit my like a wave of loneliness. I didn’t make any friends at the anime society, so I kinda just gave up and came back to my flat, and started writing this. As I was getting the fire picture from above though someone asked me if I wanted to hang out, so guess I’ll see how that goes. Not holding out much hope tbh and I’m at the point of becoming a full on hermit... I mean hey, at least I’d get a perfect score on my degree if I just focus on that and eliminate any social aspect right?

Finish time: 21:38 Length:  3,302 words/16,759 characters

[hazelwilliamsblog]

Handsome On Demand: The Most Useful Grooming Subscriptions For Men

Ever wondered what our hunter-gatherer ancestors would make of our lifestyle? From stalking wild animals and foraging for non-deadly greenery, to having every ingredient you need to make a meal delivered to your doorstep by Hello Fresh. As for cultivating our own produce, we’re not sure a wilted basil plant really counts. Those distant ancestors would be enthralled/deeply envious of our spoon-fed, instinct-blunting culture, and hey, we’re not complaining.

The explosion in home delivery services shows we’ve hit “peak convenience”, so it’s no surprise that grooming-on-demand has arrived. Silicon Valley loves to talk about “disrupting the market” but this subscription/delivery model is nothing new: your local milkman has had the low-carbon, zero-waste delivery service down for years. Combine it with an app and some millennial-baiting fonts and you’ve got yourself a business.

In male personal care, the new wave of subscriptions kicked off in the US with the Dollar Shave Club. Legacy companies scoffed at this upstart razor service, but were pretty soon scrambling to compete with the direct-to-consumer brand. For too long the incumbents had monopolised the market with overpriced, over-packaged blades, yet learned the hard way that consumers weren’t that happy being ripped off. The DSC’s subsequent – jaw-dropping – acquisition by Unilever for $1bn proved this subscription model works.

Here’s why: we’re working longer hours, have a finite amount of leisure time, and don’t need to waste it trawling the aisles for basics. Meanwhile brands want to sell us more stuff (we still need essentials after all), and the subscription model – as that dusty gym membership and the stealthy hike to your Netflix bill will attest – locks the consumer into auto-purchasing.

Of course, you can cancel a subscription at any time, but inertia in members is built into every business plan: they know a significant number will take a long time to get around to it. Until then – ker-ching! – the money rolls in. Still, you’re only as good as your product, and this batch of grooming subscriptions proves you can get great skincare, razors, dental care and more – all while save money. Sign up and you’ll never have to set foot in a drug store again. Just don’t forget to cancel if you’re no longer using it.

Ordo

We Brits have a grubby habit of not changing our brush heads very often. Indeed, the average toothbrush is replaced every nine months – a full six months longer than dentists recommend. This simple fact is behind Ordo, the toothbrush subscription service. Its £30 starter kit and refill plan includes a stylish sonic toothbrush in a choice of cool metallic finishes and bristle textures, a stand holder and whitening/sensitive toothpaste. Thereafter you can order toothpaste and replacement heads as often as every one to three months. You can even return the brush heads for recycling, so your old heads won’t end up as whale lunch. And it’s battery powered so doesn’t need a charger. Stop putting that crusty, bacteria laden brush head back in your mouth, today.

ordolife.com

Toppbox

Fed up of hotel amenity kits that leave your skin red raw and your hair a mess? Like discovering new products? Frequent travellers should sign up for a ToppBox sampling box. With products from the likes of Rehab+, Percy Nobleman, Anatomicals and Hawkins & Brimble in handy sizes, you’ll never have to suffer the hotel shampoo again. You can tailor it to your requirements (shave, face, beard) or use it to gift a friend or family member. £19 plus shipping for a monthly box.

toppbox.co.uk

Harry’s

Harry’s colourful razors and BS-free marketing has seen it take the UK by storm. With a subscription service that starts with an almost free trial (just £3.95 for shipping) you can tailor the frequency of your blade and shaving gel refills to suit you. Regular shavers (5-7 days) should go for the two-month plan, occasional shavers (one day per week or less) should go for the five-month option. The razors feel like a quality piece of kit, with a weighty, rubberised handle, and you can change up the colour to suit your mood.

harrys.com

Hims

This wellness start-up aims to tackle two of the biggest taboos in men’s health: hair loss and erectile dysfunction. Talking about these issues (and our health in general) is something many of us struggle with. The Hims service starts with an online consultation and providing the assessment is passed, a pharmacist will draw up the best course of medication that will arrive in a discreet manila envelope (Hims prescribe Finasteride and Sildenafil). All without any embarrassing face-to-face conversations with doctors or chemists. The flexible prescription can be paused or cancelled after a month if needed.

forhims.com

Gillette Shave Club

Mach 3 devotees should switch to the brand’s own shave club for the best deal around and to get every fourth blade pack for free. Select your preferred razor and blades and the frequency you wish to receive replacement heads. When you sign up you get a shave prep, travel case and a replacement blade thrown in. Trial price is £4.95.

gillette.co.uk

Scent Addict

Perfume hounds who want to get their hands on a wide choice of quality scents should sign up to Scent Addict from The Fragrance Shop. Not many people buy a fragrance without trying it first, so a sampling service like this makes sense to get best sellers into people’s hands. £12 per month buys an 8ml spray from your edit of up to 12 scents. Choose from brands like Creed, Dunhill, Acqua Di Parma, Guerlain, Prada and more; it’s the ideal service for olfactory connoisseurs.

scentaddict.com

Cornerstone

A cross between Harry’s, Hims and Ordo, Cornerstone (featured image, top) offers a one-stop-box for razors, shaving preparations, skincare, body care, hair care, dental care, multi vitamins and erectile support – all at very affordable price points. You can customise your box at any time to remove or add products and delivery is free.

cornerstone.co.uk

grüum

Another razor-shave-skin service hoping to get into your wallet is grüum. The products have a clean, Scandinavian-style aesthetic while the chunky razor handles come in a bold palette of colours and the personalisation option is a nice touch. Again, the pricing is incredibly reasonable and the skin care goes beyond basics with sunscreen and facial tonic. They’ll take all your old razor cartridges back for recycling too. From £7.30 with free shipping.

gruum.com

The post Handsome On Demand: The Most Useful Grooming Subscriptions For Men appeared first on Ape to Gentleman.

Handsome On Demand: The Most Useful Grooming Subscriptions For Men syndicated from https://manscapedshop.wordpress.com/

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Your guide to navigating the anti-plastic straw movement

At last, the great straw reckoning is upon us.

Last week, Starbucks announced it would phase out plastic straws by 2020, replacing them with a plastic lid that resembles the top of a sippy cup. Numerous cities across the U.S., including Seattle, Oakland, Malibu, and Miami Beach, have already banned single-use plastic straws. In New York City, a councilman has introduced legislation to ban straws there, too. And celebrities like Adrian Grenier, who co-founded the Lonely Whale Foundation, have been on the #StopSucking grind for years.

SEE ALSO: McDonald's is ditching plastic straws in the UK and Ireland

But how effective is a straw ban, really? When we ban plastic straws wholesale, who do we exclude? And how are we supposed to ... drink stuff?

Here's what you need to know.

Why are people giving up straws?

You've probably seen that sad viral video of a sea turtle with a straw stuck up its nose. The issue of plastic in our oceans is a real one — according to one oft-cited study, Americans use over 500 million single-use plastic straws every day. Most of these straws end up in the oceans, where they kill wildlife, disrupt ecosystems, and break down into tiny pieces called "microplastics." They never break down completely. 

When people give up straws or advocate for straw bans, they're basically trying to keep plastic out of the ocean. A noble cause!

What straw alternatives are there?

Luckily, there are quite a few choices that will work for many people, each with a unique set of pros and cons.

I got shit in middle school for wearing socks with Birkenstocks but now it’s cool for us all to carry around our own metal straws?

— Kristen Bartlett (@kristencheeks) July 10, 2018

Stainless steel straws: These are a strong option if you want to start carrying a set of Purse Straws. Keep them in a pencil pouch and pop them in the dishwasher when they're dirty. (If you don't have a dishwasher, a pipe cleaner will work.) Though they're obviously not the best for drinking hot drinks because the metal gets hot, too. Guard your lips.

Paper straws: Disposable paper straws won't help you generate less waste, just a different kind of waste. They also taste really bad. Not the best.

Silicone straws: A company called Koffie Straw makes these guys, which are composed of biodegradable silicone. (In fact, they'll burn down into ash when you're ready to get rid of them.) Reviewers on Amazon are big fans: " I love the fact that [the straw] comes with a cleaning brush and are easy to clean," one user wrote. "The straws are sturdy and tolerate the heat of coffee."

"I like the slow sipping and the fact that I don't constantly burn my tongue now," said another reviewer. Seems good!

No straw at all: It's possible for many people to forgo straws entirely, of course, and consume beverages out of ... just a cup. If you're a lipstick wearer, though, this may strike fear into your heart. That's where a long-lasting lipstick can come in — we've heard NYX Matte Lipstick and Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick are both strong options.

Okay, so what's the downside to a straw ban?

The downside is actually a huge one. As the anti-straw movement picks up momentum, disability rights advocates are pointing out that a full straw ban would make life substantially more difficult for some people with disabilities.

"Many people with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis require the use of plastic straws in order to hydrate," representatives from Disability Rights Washington wrote in the wake of Seattle's straw ban. "Other types of straws simply do not offer the combination of strength, flexibility, and safety that plastic straws do. Metal straws become hot or cold and offer a risk of injury."

In addition, paper straws can soften and disintegrate quickly, posing a choking hazard for those who take longer to finish a beverage.

So what do we do? Instead of putting the impetus on the disabled community to provide their own straws, activists suggest making single-use plastic straws available at coffee shops and restaurants upon request. It does seem like a no-brainer as far as inclusivity is concerned.

Is not using straws actually going to work?

Here's where it gets a little more complicated. Yes, if people use fewer plastic straws, the amount of plastic in the ocean will likely decrease. And if even one sea turtle avoids getting a straw stuck up its nose, that's a good thing — especially considering humans use the average plastic straw for a total of only 20 minutes.

SEE ALSO: Antarctica is losing billions of tons of ice each year, sharply boosting sea levels

However, the plastic straw is not the primary reason oceans are so contaminated. According to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, 46% of the mass of plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — "a major ocean plastic accumulation zone formed in subtropical waters between California and Hawaii" — is actually commercial fishing nets. Microplastics, on the other hand, make up 94% of the pieces of plastic in the area, but only 8% of the total mass.

Giving up straws alone, then, will not make a huge difference. To create bigger change in the oceans, we'll have to dive deeper — like holding commercial fisheries accountable for what they catch, for example. But that doesn't necessarily mean you should go full defeatist. You should simply be aware that by giving up straws, you will not single-handedly save the world's marine life.

“Banning straws is about as important as spitting in the wind,” psychologist Robert Gifford told Grist reporter Shannon Osaka earlier this month for a piece on Seattle's straw ban. “But a lot of social psychology research says that if you get people to say yes to a small request, they are more likely to accede to more serious requests.” Like, for example, pressuring the government to enact policy change!

WATCH: Ever wonder where your recyclables go? Get an inside look at where the magic happens

[vacationsoup]

New Post has been published on https://vacationsoup.com/maui-travel-packing-guide/

The Ultimate Maui Travel Packing Guide

I often read posts on Facebook Hawaii & Maui travel groups where the upcoming Maui traveler asks ‘What should I pack for my Maui Trip?”  This can be a tricky question to answer since we all have unique itineraries, travel plans and adventures when we visit Maui. But I think we can all agree that we’re trying to find that perfect balance of packing enough ‘stuff’ but not over-packing and today we’ll go over this with our Maui Travel Packing Guide.

We want to pack for ease of travel (i.e. not getting held up at TSA), not over stuffing our carry-on so that we have to check it, having enough room to bring back a few items and so on.

Let’s have a look at some packing ideas to consider for your upcoming island paradise vacation. I’ll break today’s post down into Essentials, Basics, Optional & Tech/Gear and then add in a few of my favorite TIPS and ideas that I’ve gleaned over my many years of traveling to Maui.

Essentials

Sunglasses & prescription glasses –  if needed, packing your spare prescription glasses is a good idea in the event that you lose yours. If you have polarized sunglasses they really help if you’re floating in the ocean to counteract the glare. A leash is always a good idea. More than once I’ve been glad to have my glasses on a leash!

Reusable Water Bottle – keep empty, once you’re on board have a flight attendant refill it from bottled water (not advisable to drink the ‘tap’ water from the plane). Take to the beach with your favorite beverage. Maui has recently enacted new recycling restrictions and the more you use your reusable bottle, the less trash is put into landfill. Remember everything you throw away on island has to go somewhere.

Swimsuit / Swim trunks – 1 to 3 pair. Having more than one means that if you come in from the beach or pool for a while, you’ll have a dry one to change into if you go back out.

Light jacket/hoodie – Evenings and sunsets can be cool – especially if the breeze has kicked up or if you’re nursing a sunburn. Great if you’re planning a sunset boat tour too!

Proper footwear – such as sneakers, closed toe walking shoes, water shoes or Teva type sandals. Anything you would feel comfy wearing over lava rocks or hiking on a slippery trail in. Teva’s are great for this as they are amphibious and designed just for this purpose.  If you’re not much of  a hiker and plan to be mostly on the beach for your trip, some water shoes (aka Aqua Socks) are great for snorkeling in spots that have lava or rocky entrances. But please don’t walk or step on coral. It’s ‘no pono‘ to step on living coral.

          Reusable/packable shopping bag – the kind that folds into it’s own pocket like Chico Bags do. This will come in very handy for shopping (though we do provide reusable shopping bags in our condo and they can be bought on island at ABC store and just about everywhere.)

    Shorts – I pack between 2 and 3 pair

Tops – 3 or 4, including a few tank tops, and maybe one nice Aloha Wear top. If I’m traveling during the winter on the Mainland, I wear a long sleeve shirt on the plane. I pack it in my carry on for my departing flight so I can change into it on the plane. At times the planes are like a flying ice-box.

Underwear/Bra/socks – eh, take what you feel you need, just remember we offer a washer and dryer as well as a drying rack for delicates.

Pajamas – pack a lightweight pair.

Slippahs – aka Flip Flops or thongs. Essential on the island. You can always buy them in Maui and ‘Locals’ are a favorite brand among those living in the islands. They can be found at Longs and a few other stores. Keep in mind that it’s a custom as well as a gesture of respect on the islands to remove your shoes upon entering someone’s home. You will most likely see plaques and signs in homes reminding you ‘Mahalo for removing your shoes’.

Hat – The intense sun makes this an essential. Wide brims are best! If yours is packable, bring it! But not to worry if you can’t pack it, there are plenty for sale on the island.

Avoid this! Pack light, save time and $$

  Basics

Sarong/Beach cover-up – Great for wearing to and from the beach/pool.  Alternative is to wait until you’re on island and head to the Kalama shopping center (and outdoor market full of various vendors) or ABC stores and purchase a Sarong. I use sarongs as a skirt, a shawl, a towel, a blanket, an impromptu bag and a pillow. They’re very versatile and inexpensive and cover a multitude of needs.

Jeans/pants – One pair, wear them on the plane. You most likely won’t wear them again unless your activity requires it such as horseback riding or heading to the Haleakala summit.

Sundress/Skirts/Nice outfit –  I have a few light sundresses that I like to take, they’re made of rayon type material similar to sarongs and pack up small in my bag. I also take a miniskirt or two. One nice outfit – You’ll want to dress up a bit if you have plans to attend one of the many fabulous luaus or if you have reservations for one of Maui’s higher end restaurants – no need to go over the top – even in dressing up on the island, it’s really pretty casual. In most if not all restaurants Aloha Wear is perfectly appropriate.

Rash Guard – these are great for keeping the intense sun off, snorkeling when the water temperature feels a little cooler. Don’t worry if you don’t have one yet, they sell them all over the island and the big box stores down to the mom & pop shops are sure to have a good supply and better selection than the Mainland.

  Optional & Tech

Headlamp – great to have for late night beach walks or if you do sunset on Sunday at Little Beach.

Camera gear – travel tripod, GoPro accessories for great ocean shots, memory cards, extra battery packs,

Phone charger – Self explanatory. We offer several USB charging stations in our condo to keep all of your electronics powered up but you’ll need your power cord.

Extra Battery Pack – and speaking of powering up. We’ve blown out our phone battery taking videos, pictures, texting beach photos to friends etc. Having one of these inexpensive back up chargers are great! They’ll run you less than $20 on Amazon or elsewhere and are great to keep your music and phone going at the beach.

  Water & sand-proof Cell phone case – if you don’t already own one, they’re sold at ABC stores and it’s wise to have at the beach. I’m pretty low-tech and have been known to just slip my cell phone into a quart sized Ziplock bag. So if you’re low-tech like me pack a few baggies if you’ve got them, they’ll come in handy.

  Binoculars – if it’s whale season (late November through early April) you might want a pair for whale watching from shore or even a boat cruise.

  Backpack-  If you think you’ll be hiking (and there are some world class hikes on Maui) then you’ll want a decent backpack. Nothing fancy is needed but something to carry your gear. If you can, use your backpack as your personal carry-on item.

    Pen – you’ll need one on the plane before you land in Maui. The state of Hawai’i Agriculture Declaration forms are passed out and need to be filled in. If you followed the tip below to not bring in any fresh fruits or vegetables then you check the box stating that you have nothing to declare. Easy peasy. If you’re declaring agricultural items

you’ll need to do your homework before you leave for Hawai’i. Having a pen will streamline the process for you and most likely make you the most popular person in your row since not many others will have a pen handy.

  Neck Pillow – The flight to Maui from the San Francisco bay area is about 5 hours. I do like to nap on the plane so a neck pillow is a savior! Or go double duty – I often travel with an inexpensive cashmere shawl. I picked it up at Macy’s on sale and it’s big enough to act like a blanket on the plane, or I can roll it into a neck pillow. Easy to carry as I just wrap around my neck. When I get to Maui, I just put it in my packable shopping bag and hook it on my carry-on handle.

  Haleakala Summit Visit – This is the one activity on Maui that requires winter clothing. If you’re planning on catching the sunrise at the Haleakala summit (which is 10001 feet in elevation) you’ll need to pack accordingly. On my recent visit, we did the 3 a.m. trek up the crater and I cannot recommend it enough. The things I packed were;

Wool beanie hat

Packable down jacket (the kind that is thin and packs into it’s own pocket, mine actually becomes a neck pillow for the plane so double duty!!

Warm socks

Thin layer of thermal underware

Jeans

Sneakers

I layered up with a tank top under all of my warm clothes and packed a pair of shorts to change into. As we descended the summit after sunrise, I just peeled layers as the temperatures increased.  Expect it to be in the low 40’s for sunrise, or equally as cool if you do sunset trek. Keep in mind that the summit got a nice dusting of snow in February of 2018 so it can be rather cold. I am sure our Canadian guests are laughing at the notion that 40º F (4º C) is cold.

I’ve put together a sweet printable packing list that you can download and print out. Scroll down to the sign-up form to receive our newsletter and we’ll send you the link to download this Maui Packing Checklist. 

  Travel Tips

Here are some Tips that might save you packing space or travel time.

Pack half as many clothes and twice as much money.

TIP-  pack a lightweight pair of shorts, t-shirt and slippahs in your carry-on. About 20 minutes before you land, go change out of your travel clothes and when you land you’ll be dressed for the local weather. I generally wear my jeans on the plane and change into a lightweight mini skirt and tank top. They roll up pretty small in my carry on bag -or- here’s where that packable shopping bag comes in handy, just roll up your jeans, shoes and shirt that you just changed out of and put in the shopping bag, tie to your suitcase after you deplane.

TIP-  Don’t pack bulky clothes. It’s the tropics, lightweight, breathable fabrics are best such as cotton or linen.

TIP-  Pack half as many clothes and twice as much money. I know this is a Hawai’i travel cliché but it’s really true. Each trip I look at what I actually wore vs. what I brought. Almost always half of what I bring never got worn.

TIP-  We’re pleased to offer our guests brand new, en-suite full sized washer and dryer (and free detergent too). You won’t need to bring as many garments when you can toss a load of clothes into the washer every few days.

TIP-  If you find that you have to check luggage and you’re traveling with a partner. We have found that if one person stays and collects the checked bags while watching all the carry-on bags, the other can quickly hop on the rental car shuttle and beat the lines. Renting a car can take up to an hour if there are lines at the counter. Maui moves s..l..o..w compared to the Mainland pace and I know, I’m always itching to get to the condo so I can slip into my swim suit and hit the beach. Then just circle back through the terminal and pick everyone and all the luggage up in your rental car.

TIP-  Getting through TSA quickly and easily. Sounds like an oxymoron I know, but there are things you can do to streamline going through the security checks. First off make sure you only have TSA approved items in your carry-on. If you’re not sure if you can bring it, check the TSA ‘What Can I Bring‘ page.  The latest regulations require removing your electronics including laptop and even iPads now. We provide a starter set of hotel-sized toiletries such as bar soap, shampoo and conditioner if you want to skip bringing liquids and get your shampoo etc on island. All major big box stores can be found on Maui so no worries there.

TIP-  When leaving Maui, ALL FOOD must come out of your carry on. It would be wise to just keep it in a separate bag (you know, that reusable shopping bag I mentioned that you bring earlier in this post) and once you go through TSA you can then pack it in your carry on. This regulation of no food in carry-on luggage is something I’ve only seen in the Maui airport and only just recently. So yep, take those mac nut chocolates and bags of taro chips out of your carry-on until you’re through TSA screening. Additionally, if you’re traveling with any agricultural items check with the Hawai’i Department of Agriculture to make sure that they are allowed and that you declare them when going through the Ag inspection stations.

TIP-  Remember when packing to leave for Maui or any of the Hawai’ian islands. Fresh fruit and vegetables are NOT allowed into Hawai’i – you can make your own meal for the plane containing fruits and veggies but must consume them prior to landing or leave them on the plane. If you forget and deplane with any prohibited food, there is an Amnesty Bin on the right as you exit the waiting/arrival area just before you head down the escalator.

      TIP-  Streamline your carry-on/personal item. The less you pack, the faster it will be when you have to remove and repack at the end of the screening.

TIP-  Before you depart for your vacation, take a serious look at what you’ve packed and then edit ruthlessly. You really will be surprised at what you can do without clothing wise. If you find you’re desperately missing one particular article of clothing, just head to one of the many shops and find yourself a little souvenir clothing.

  Assuming that you’ve followed the other tips mentioned here, you can save yourself some money by not checking luggage. You’ll breeze right to the car rental shuttle and be on your way to the beach.

And also assuming you’ve streamlined your packing down to the bare essentials then you should have room for plenty of souvenirs for friends and family. I generally try to only pack one side of my carry-on bag, leaving the other empty for Chocolate Macadamia nuts and such goodies like that.

  Things you don’t need to pack or buy because we provide them in the condo;

Hair dryer

Vanity Mirror

Iron (we provide both iron and ironing board)

Yoga Mat

Makeup face cloths

Umbrella

Cooler/ice packs

Reusable grocery shopping bags

Beach Towels

Beach Bag

Beach ground cloth (sand free type)

First Aid Kit

Starter pack of toiletries (soap, shampoo etc)

Starter Coffee packet and filters

Dish Soap (not that you would pack this but we do provide it!)

Starter paper products/trash bags

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Looking for more Maui vacation ideas? Lots of things to see and do,

come on over and visit our Local Maui Guide or Maui Events Calendar!