#so I may not have time for a snooker game

[sportsallover]

To be updated again tomorrow (or Friday) if I get back to it. (This is looking very likely.)

Terminology update: I have actually figured out that the white ball is called the cue ball and that the holes are either the cushions (not completely sure here, it could just be the sides of the table) or… something else that I have actually already forgotten. 🙈

[coochiequeens]

Yet another case for SheWon.com. Not just any case, one where a grown ass white dude was allowed to compete against an 11 year old girl of color in the name of inclusiveness.

By Amy Hamm February 22, 2024

A trans-identified male is set to compete against women as the reigning Women’s Snooker Champion at the English Women’s Snooker Championship on May 24 in Walsall, UK. Jamie Hunter, 27, became the top women’s player following a semifinal victory against a young girl last year.

Hunter first rose to prominence during the English Women’s Snooker Champion finals in 2023 after he came out victorious against Mary Talbot-Deegan, finishing 3-1. Hunter had managed to make it to the finals after he beat out Ellise Scott, an 11-year-old rising star in the snooker world, taking 2-0 against her in the semifinal grouping. The event had been Scott’s debut in the tournament, and, prior to her match against Hunter, she had achieved three match victories against experienced female opponents.

Hunter had been participating in women’s cue sports since 2021, just one year after he “came out” as transgender.

Prior to transitioning, Hunter played in a mixed-sex amateur league for five years. Speaking with Snooker Zone in 2021, Hunter admitted that he had no intention of competing professionally until he discovered that there was a women’s tour.

“Until this year, cue sports was just a hobby, something I done once, maybe twice a week, but now finding out about the Women’s snooker tour, I believe that will change,” he said at the time. “They make out as if I played snooker as a man, I was rubbish, so decided to do it in the women’s instead. I changed my gender for my wellbeing and my life, not for anything else.”

Hunter received significant backlash after his 2022 US Women’s Open win, when former women’s world champion Maria Catalano criticized the policies enabling males to compete against females. In an interview with The Sportsman, Catalano argued that women’s snooker should exclude males from female categories, as some rugby leagues have, to ensure fairness for women. 

“We have fought so hard for our rights in the past – myself, Reanne Evans and others got people to write letters to allow us to play in leagues and clubs that banned women. I don’t believe that women can compete against men on a level playing field in sport. We are wired differently, we think differently. We are mentally different,” said Catalano. 

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) publishes a mixed sex international ranking of players. The highest-ranking female on their current list, Mink Nutcharut, is listed at 119.

In response to the criticism of his wins against women, Hunter has framed the backlash as transphobia.

“Everybody’s human. Regardless of what choices you make. You should treat everybody with respect,” said Hunter speaking to a BBC journalist last fall. Bizarrely, Hunter was interviewed while he sat in a gaming chair in a dark bedroom — which he refers to as “the dark girl cave.” The room has a transgender pride flag pinned up on the wall behind him.

The upcoming English Women’s Snooker Championship is set for May 24, 2024. It is being organized by the English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards (EPSB), which is the national governing body for the sport in England. They describe their goal as creating a “structured coaching environment that will inspire all regardless of gender, ability, or ethnicity to fulfil their potential in our sport.” 

The EPSB has a diversity, equity, and inclusion policy with a lengthy section on discrimination, including a ban on any “condition, rule or practice [that]… particularly disadvantages people who share a protected characteristic.” As for their list of protected characteristics, the EPSB includes “gender, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, HIV positivity, working pattern, caring responsibilities, trade union activity or political beliefs.”  

The English Women’s Championship is set to take place at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall, UK, on May 24.

This is not the first time a male has dominated women’s cue sports, sparking backlash from players and fans.

Last November, a female pool player refused to compete against a trans-identified male opponent at a women’s championship in Wales. Lynne Pinches received an outpouring of support as video began to circulate showing her walking away from the table after being matched to play against Chris Haynes.

Days later, two more female pool players refused to compete against Haynes in solidarity with Pinches during the Ultimate Pool tournament in Blackpool, UK.

In January, Pinches headed an effort to launch a lawsuit against the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) and Ultimate Pool Group (UPG), accusing the governing bodies of subjecting women “to direct sex discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sex.”

What does he have to gain from this?

ENTRY FEES AND PRIZE MONEY

Entry: £30

Winner: £200 

Runner-Up: £100 

Semi-Finalists: £50

[chronicleofleo]

吴磊 奔向旷野 | Cover Story L'Official Hommes

In Nothing But You, Wu Lei who portrays Song Sanchuan, once expressed that tennis is a romantic sport, intricately entwined with the four seasons and weather; so as the wind, sunshine, rain, and snow where each game embodies a unique encounter. As an actor, he experiences the beauty of various seasons while filming: from the vibrant flowers of winter to the delicate snowflakes of summer. Although the seasons may be fictional in the productions, the emotions and moments of each character are genuine and irreplaceable.

Having embarked on his career at the age of 5, Wu Lei has always aspired to become an intelligent actor. He has mentioned in interviews that being referred to as a new actor is a great thing because newcomers carry such enthusiasm and yearning for this profession. After many years in the industry, he dreads the possibility of becoming complacent in his career and, more importantly, developing detrimental acting habits as habits tend to become deeply ingrained over time and make change arduous.

Therefore, he approaches every performance with a fresh perspective and leaves the past behind. As an actor who reflects on the pursuit of wisdom and has dedicated himself unwaveringly for two decades in the acting industry, his love for art and sincerity shine even more brilliantly.

Wu Lei enjoys cycling and horseback riding in his free time, and there are fascinating tales of fans meeting him during his cycling expedition to Xinjiang. In his Fly To The Ground VLOG, he shared with his fans the scenic views of ice glaciers, starry nights, and sunrise journeys in temperatures as frigid as -30°C. Riding horses across the expansive wilderness, he radiates both the unexpected romance of a poet and the youthful vigor of a young man.

In both Amidst a Snowstorm of Love and Nothing But You, Wu Lei portrayed protagonists who also happened to be athletes. The demands and brilliance of competitive sports, combined with years of training, have been lessons that Wu Lei has continuously learned from.

“Sports provide me with the most direct experiences: health and freedom. Of course, sports come with challenges, and conquering these challenges is fascinating. However, it's an entirely different experience for professional athletes; they face peaks and low seasons and can be susceptible to injuries. Therefore, it's crucial to delve into their mindset, techniques, and expressions in competitions. These aspects play a pivotal role in shaping a character and ensuring the audience's ongoing engagement. It's quite a formidable task.”

Upon receiving the script for Nothing But You, Wu Lei felt that the line “We are all hot-blooded idiots;” perfectly encapsulated his character, Song Sanchuan. “Song Sanchuan is someone who approaches his career and relationships with sincerity, boundaries, and balance. I wanted viewers to grasp that immediately. Back then, if people could know at first glance that he's an athlete, that means I've already achieved half of my goal.”

When preparing to portray Song Sanchuan, Wu Lei understood the importance of capturing the essence of tennis; that's why he conducted private studies of Rafael Nadal's matches and playing style as he considered Nadal to be a resilient player. Given Song Sanchuan's late transition from badminton to tennis in his athletic career, marked by numerous setbacks and comebacks, it was evident that the same level of resilience was indispensable.

Then, when working on Amidst A Snowstorm of Love and taking on the role of snooker player Lin Yiyang, Wu Lei conducted in-depth research by studying contemporary snooker players; specifically Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby, both of whom he regarded as prominent figures in their time. By identifying and incorporating these crucial elements into his character portrayal, Wu Lei aimed to enhance the authenticity and vibrancy of his performance.

Samuel Johnson once stated in The Idler that to fully commit to any endeavor, one must first have a love for life. Wu Lei consistently absorbs the details and stories of the places he films. He shared an anecdote, saying, “During my time in Finland, the weather wasn't exceptionally cold, and I observed many locals enjoying open-air seaside pools. I decided to give it a try, but within seconds, I hastily retreated – it was unbearably cold. However, the most profound memory I have from that experience was witnessing the Northern Lights; it was truly awe-inspiring.”

Despite spending years on set and in the spotlight, it didn't cause him to lose his sensitivity to real-life emotions. At its core, acting involves the study of people, interactions with others, introspection, listening to others' stories, and portraying one's character with authenticity.

While playing the role of Lu Xiaobei in Crossfire, Wu Lei observed a person in an elevator using crutches because of a broken foot. He noticed how they shifted their weight away from the injured foot and incorporated this detail into Lu Xiaobei's character, thereby enhancing the authenticity of his actions.

In the highly acclaimed film Love Like The Galaxy, there is a scene in which Wu Lei's character, Ling Buyi, swiftly grabs his weapon and seamlessly mounts a horse in one fluid motion. Netizens have commented that the young general from the novel, described as "whose silver saddle shines on the white horse and who runs at shooting-star speed," now has a face, bringing Li Bai's poem to life.

This natural ease on camera was the product of rigorous training behind the scenes. While shooting My Country, My Parents, he fell off the horse because he needed to hold the gun and shoot with both hands. Yet, he calmly distanced himself from the horse's hooves and assured the director that he was unharmed. His willingness to remount the horse and continue galloping after such a fall is a testament to his bravery.

The film All Ears, in which Wu Lei plays one of the main characters, is set to be released on September 9th. The movie explores a unique profession – eulogists, with Wen Shan, portrayed by Hu Ge, at the center. It tells the story of someone who straddles the line between the departed and the living, offering comfort to others while seeking warmth within themselves. This marks the third collaboration between Wu Lei and Hu Ge. In the film, Wu Lei takes on the role of Xiao Yin, a character who exists and yet doesn't, encompassing both his individuality and serving as a projection of Wen Shan.

Wu Lei possesses a profound understanding of this role: “Xiao Yin is a truly unique character. I must convey my individuality while also capturing Wen Shan's traits. Xiao Yin and Wen Shan share a conflicting yet harmonious relationship, making this approach to acting innovative and demanding. Each time I delve into understanding these characters and interpreting their stories, it offers me new life experiences. The journey I embark on with these characters provides fresh insights into both myself and life.”

The movie Dwelling By The West Lake completed filming in 2022. It's the second film in director Gu Xiaogang's Shanshui painting series, following Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, which was the closing film at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival's Critics' Week and earned Gu Xiaogang the Best Director award at the 13th Youth Film Festival.

As a native of Hangzhou, Wu Lei feels a deep connection to his hometown, which significantly influences Gu Xiaogang's work. The English title of the new film is "Dwelling by the West Lake," and its narrative centers around West Lake, a renowned landmark in Hangzhou. In the film, Wu Lei plays a character named Mu Lian, and by combining this with the classic folk tale of "Mu Lian Saving His Mother," one can infer that the movie's theme revolves around redemption between mother and child.

From Wu Lei's perspective, Hangzhou is a very poetic, beautiful city enveloped by greenery and filled with stories. His experiences working with director Gu Xiaogang differ significantly from his previous collaborations. “Collaborating with Director Gu brings a more spontaneous experience. Often, you must depend on instinctive physiological responses to enhance your performance because he excels at crafting an authentic environment for actors. This distinguishes him from other directors I've had the privilege to work with. For instance, Director Fei (Fei Zhenxiang) brings a cheerful demeanor and knows how to ease the tension on set.”

“While filming Love Like The Galaxy, I faced considerable pressure, and it was quite challenging. Director Gu had a knack for helping me relax. He invests significant time in addressing the 'unseen' elements, striving to enrich the emotional journey for both us actors and our characters. His efforts, often behind the camera, have proven immensely valuable, providing me with a fresh and enriching learning experience.”

Nietzsche once said, "What matters is not eternal life, but eternal vitality." Observing Wu Lei is akin to witnessing a vibrant tree. Although he may not have reached the sky yet, he is already flourishing. Bathed in sunlight, the signs of his growth remain hidden beneath the lush foliage, and, like a tree, he continues to firmly anchor himself in the soil while fearlessly growing upward without forsaking his roots.

[goron-king-darunia]

I want to take this a step further and say that if I purchase a video game or piece of software, that not only should I have a lifetime of access to that thing that I paid for once and now own, my children should be able to have access to that thing in perpetuity as well. If my grandpa bought a hammer in 1920 and passed it down through the years, each generation taking care of the item, my grandchildren should be able to use that same hammer without the manufacturer saying "No, you can't do that, you gotta throw that away and buy a new hammer. In fact, we are taking that hammer away and giving you a worse one designed to wear out in 1 year. We've taken $3000 from your bank account. Enjoy." I understand why companies do this. "Sorry, your Steam library cannot be passed on to your kids, they gotta buy all new games otherwise there's nothing to incentivize new customers to sign up." But, see, that's fucking bullshit. The draw for new generations and new customers should not be: "If you want continued access to a thing your ancestors already paid for, you gotta keep paying for it and buy your own account, too." The draw of getting new customers should not be "re purchase all the shit we took away." You should be getting new customers by continually innovating and producing new and better things. My great grandchildren getting a version of Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint in the future should not be enticed to buy it for one new feature, or because they're forced to pay again or else lose access to the things they've made, or to subscribe and pay in perpetuity so that the devs can occasionally throw out a feature in beta testing that they may or may not keep. My great grandkids should be buying the next version of Photoshop or CSP because it has a bunch of new stuff or it runs on less RAM or whatever. It should be a SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT. And another thing. I should not have to ration my software license keys to use a software that I paid for on more than 2 devices. Especially not when the life-span of a computer is 5 years or less, now, and the lifespans of tablets and phones and laptops especially are getting shorter and shorter. If I have a license key and more than two devices are running it at a time? Sure, fine. Have a limit on it like Netflix or some shit. I will let them take exactly one inch and let them have that if it means I can keep using my old versions of my software that I own on all my new devices or if I'm over at a friend's house or the library and need to work from a rig that isn't mine.

If I can't run a program or a game from any rig of my choosing, if I cannot pass it down to my grandkids, and if I cannot maintain ownership of the thing without paying for it constantly but not getting significant new things with it, then I do not own the thing. I am renting the thing at best. And if I cannot own it, then pirating it isn't stealing it. I am tired with the "convenience" market snookering customers into renting their products in perpetuity.

If we don't fix this shit in 50 years, I'm going to be that old fogey hollering until I die about how it's fucked up that we can't own shit anymore and I will make it everyone's problem. I will not shut up about this ever. I understand there's fucked up shit with how inheritance and stuff works. But fucking hell, unless we decommodify things, that's all the hope poor people have of crawling out of their shitty life circumstances. Let people own things. Stop manufacturing things made to break and be defunct in 5 years. This shit is fucked.

[2402617]

UK OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP PUTS ON A SHOW AT TELFORD INTERNATIONAL CENTRE

By Chris

The UK Open Championship took place from the 6th until 11th May at the Telford International Centre. This 9-ball pool event saw 256 players from all over the World with 55 nationalities represented.

Some of the players in this event were pros and alongside it there was a Juniors Event sponsored by player Jayson Shaw and this was a fully mixed gender event.

Not easy to play but this player had no problem potting the balls

The decision to come to Telford was made mostly by the CEO of Matchroom Multi Sport, Emily Frazer and explaining the decision she said “We made the decision, a cost-effective decision to bring the UK Open to Telford, we have a good relationship with the venue here, we do some snooker under the Matchroom umbrella so that was the decision”

The previous home of the UK Open was the Copper Box Arena in London but for the second year running it was held at the International Centre. Last year’s event was won by Robbie Capito, and he was in the field for this event.

The event followed the theme of the Players Championship in snooker which had recently returned to Telford following years of being held elsewhere. Matchroom now promotes the pool and has been doing so since 2021, with them establishing a tour in 2023. These events are known as Matchroom majors and currently no-one has retained the trophy after winning it.

Furthering her reasons for coming to Telford Emily said “When choosing locations for our events, obviously we have a global tour with people all over the world, so we have to make sure there are lots of hotels close by, there’s restaurants, the venue is close by that you can walk to, and I think it’s a great location for us”

Jayson Shaw from Glasgow but now living in the US was the home country favourite for this tournament. He eventually reached the semi-finals and said of being in Telford “I actually do enjoy Telford, before the UK Open came here I used to come quite regularly like 2/3 times a year at a hotel for the GB 9-Ball Tour.”

Jayson Shaw prepares to break off

“I always came here, so when it was coming back here, I was like at least we know it, it’s got a lot of nice places around to just kind of walk around chilling, the foods good and it’s a nice little place” Jayson added talking about his experience of Telford.

Telford seemed quite popular amongst the players with Aloysius Yapp, the eventual winner, commenting “Telford is beautiful, it’s really nice, really peaceful, it’s good for me after a stressful day of tournament just being outside it’s quiet and I feel more peaceful”

With so many tables in the venue there were lots of games going on simultaneously and lots of people around, many being players but spectators also being able to chat with the pros in between matches which is far cry from other sports such as snooker.

Fraser Patrick, a quarter finalist in the tournament explained he hadn’t been about much in Telford but went on to say “I love the setup, I love the way the tournaments are ran, it’s different than snooker, it’s more relaxed there is music playing whilst you’re playing, there’s 27 or 28 tables and there’s top class players all playing, I just love the these tournaments, the way they are run.”

Lots of action at Telford International Centre with so many games simultaneously

With so much support for Telford there could be more, Emily Frazer said “If there is opportunity then great but for that we need more support I’d love to be walking around this arena and seeing a day out from kids from local schools or pool halls, so for us to really come back we need more support”

The biggest event in Pool is the Mosconi Cup, pool’s answer to the Ryder Cup with it being contested between Europe and America and this has driven popularity in 9-ball Pool.

Emily said she was always open to offers and would always pick up the phone and discuss things even going as far to say that The Mosconi Cup which is always staged in London could be changed explaining “If Telford, the venues or local council can offer support then we’ll bring that event here but I can’t do anything, it takes two to tango a little bit so hopefully there is an opportunity here”

Next major event for the 9-ball pool tour is the World Championship from Jeddah Saudi Arabia and this will be staged in July.

The UK Open Championship Trophy

[lovebaybayme]

i'm so interested in how you started watching indy/f1 (do you watch other sports)? and who you root for?

what a nice question with very long answer! Bare with me

Ok, so my adventure with sport started when I was a toddler basically. My uncle was living with his dad - my grandfather, where I spend a lot of my time. So when they watched football, basketball on tv- local team or National team, I was sitting with them and watching. So when I was 6 I could name whole squad of out local basketball team, who was really good then. When I was 9 I was first time on their game, and it was epic. I was super interested until I was like 15, was watching all sports possibles.

When I was in high school, the club in fact stopped existing due to financial issues, but then I started to work as basketball referee (the table one) and I worked 2,5 season as referee, I liked it a lot, and I worked at many levels starting with 13 years olds, old boys, amateur leagues, students and even wheelchair players.

Then I was watching EVERYTHING started from winter sports (hi Małyszomania) to snooker, golf etc spending HOURS watching sport channels like eurosport.

In the same time, when I was a teenager, I was sometimes watching F1 because it was on open TV. When Kubica started his career in F1 OF COURSE we all watched it. (another fun story about his first race, I was on holidays with grandparents and we were listening to radio, where they have sport news every hour) When he had his accident and stopped racing there, the F1 started to be in paid tv, so I didn't have access to it, interested died.

When I started uni, my interests in sport overall was dying. I stopped beeing referee, I stopped watching everyhing. Wasn't even interested in Euro 2012 when some games were played in my city!

After 2012, I got interested in football by accident I had tumblr dedicated for Real madrid. I remember when they won la decima and it was... HUGE. I was so into it, that I was waking up at 3-4 to watch the friendly games played in USA in preseaon. Stupid I know.

So it was more or less like this until 2020, when covid happen. It's basically funny story, becasue few weeks before, I met a guy on tinder. And we were talking, I remember him watching preseason tests in 2020, before the whole world stopped, I remember talking to him about the Australian race being called off. When in July everything started, we were still talking, and since he was watching it, I started too, to have something to speak with him about. And I got invested. Season 2021 came, I was watching with him all motorsport, DTM (bc Kubica), WEC (bc of Kubica year later) Formula E, becasue he said he is going to watch it, so I turned it on too. Then Indy happen the same way.

To be honest, before I wasn't even aware that such series exists. I knew F1 and feeder series, Rally and to be honest was it. I started watching not knowing anyone in those series (except like Grosjean in indy) got into it.... Then 2022 I stopped to speak with the guy, but i was HOOKED. Since then I was twice in Berlin on E-prix, and got very interested in indy. Indy especially this year, and after I joined tumblr again in May.... It sky rocketed, as it was really sad, that I didn't know anyone to talk about it.

[snookersneek]

This is a long post. Buckle up.

Recently I've been thinking a lot about how the dark academia aesthetic, whilst rich in aspects such as literature, music, and material beauty, is lacking in things such as activities.

So I've compiled a list of activities that I would personally deem as befitting the dark academia aesthetic (please do add to this list, as it's far from complete).

Sports:

Rowing (it's in literally every dark academic approved movie.)

Fencing

Tennis

Cricket

Croquet

Rugby (contrary to popular belief, women, men, and everyone in between can play this sport. It's not just for the boys.)

Polo

Equestrian sports

+ Figure/ice skating

+ Running (sprinting is handy for catching your lover when they fling themselves from a tower or something, and long distance is great for running alongside carriages that you want to rob.)

+ Boxing

+ Javelin, discus, wrestling covered in oil, think ancient Grecian Olympics.

+ Archery (how could I have forgotten.)

+ Ballet, ballroom dancing, traditional dances

+ Climbing

+ Snooker/Pool (either professionally or just for fun.)

Or, if you prefer the Oscar Wilde approach, no sports at all. That's cool too.

Games:

Chess (of course)

Backgammon

Cards (rummy, poker, blackjack, speed, whist, any game really, maybe with the exception of snap.)

Cluedo (I think it's 'Clue' in America. Don't argue with me, it counts as dark academia. It's got murder in it.)

+ Scrabble

Crafts:

Knitting (I knit socks, scarves, and am attempting a jumper. I find that it's far easier to knit your own jumper, scarf, socks, or whatever than hunting for one suitably 'aesthetically pleasing'.)

Embroidery (monogrammed handkerchiefs and shirts are so in.)

Weaving (sweet mother, I cannot-)

Making lace

Gardening

Cooking (not sure if this counts as a craft, but I'll throw it in just in case.)

Sewing (making clothes for yourself through sewing is a great way to make sure that your clothes fit perfectly, and are styled the way you want them to be. With practise, it becomes easier, and is definitely a useful skill to have.)

+ Calligraphy

+ Painting, of course. (release your inner Basil.

Outings:

Museums

Art galleries

Places of historical interests (in the UK, this might be more easily accessible with things like the National Trust. If you visit often, it might be useful to invest in a membership card with English Heritage (England), Cadw (Wales), or a National Trust card. I have a Cadw card, and I've found that it's accepted all over the UK, in the same way an entrance card specific to whichever country you're in would be too. I hope that makes sense.)

Public executions

Pubs

+ Go to a Café and sketch the people around you (I hear that charcoal or graphite is preferable here.)

Parks

Gardens

Churches, quaker meeting houses, graveyards, synagogues (sometimes the only places that are quiet are places of worship, and a lot of the time, they will be very welcoming in letting people in just to sit and think. Just remember to be respectful: don't insult people for their faith; don't scorn the place of worship; respect people buried in graveyards; don't take pictures, tempting as it may be, just to be on the safe side.)

The theatre

The opera

Concerts (classical music or otherwise)

Social events (memorial services, tours of your local university, open days, anything. It's an opportunity to learn, and spark intrigue because of your darkly mysterious and alluring demeanour.)

Things to do when you're bored.

Writing essays (it's really nerdy, but I find writing essays really interesting if they're on a topic I'm passionate about. It doesn't have to be an intellectual masterpiece, it could be 'The Top Ten Sexiest Classical Writers' for all I care. Just make it fun. Plus it's always an added bonus to that pile of messy papers that aesthetify your desk.)

Research (as above.)

Daydream about how you could have prevented the burning of the Library of Alexandria

Plan a murder / heist. Thoroughly.

Read something light (Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, Wilkie Collins or Colin Dexter novels are really good for relaxing. Murder mysteries are always good for winding down a little, whilst still keeping an active mind, so I would recommend those, but really, read whatever you want.)

Dress up

Read aloud

Perform a play alone (or to a pet, if you have one)

If you play an instrument, play through all of the pieces in your repertoire

More daydreaming

Take baths

Fake your death (by murder, of course)

Draw or paint something (no, it doesn't have to be good. Just do it to relax. See what kind of things you can create, like designing Frankenstein's monster)

Write a narrative piece

Watch a movie. A whole movie. Just sit down and watch a movie, no getting up and walking around, no flicking back and forth, no checking your phone. Just enjoy a movie without distractions.

Watch every single 'Greek Gods as vines' video on YouTube and count it as studying.

+ Listen to some classical music! I have a post on getting into classicl here:

Congratulations! You made it through!

Please, add to this list. I really want this to be expanded on, as I'm interested to see whether or not I've missed things, and if people agree.

[supercorp-hosie]

My thoughts for Legacies 314:

1) Clarke!!! I like his air of cockiness when he do all this things, and especially when Hope break this air😂😂😂 I think since the show is constantly letting him show up like this, maybe at some point he will eventually turn up or be brought back by my Sowanby team? Oh my Holarke heart! I just love their dynamic like how I’m entertained by Lizdon dynamics🤣🤣

2) I still see that artifact that was broken because of Landon unnecessary move, why? I thought the arc was over? It’s just hilarious when Clark tried so hard to break it, even using explosives, but Landon just break it by throwing it to the monster😂 these brothers, I can’t 😂 (I know it’s because of the presence of Cleo, but still, funny!)

3) Okay, the way Hope just ended up with Wade, doing a drama about undying teenage love, I can’t imagine 🤣🤣 sorry Hope, but Wade can be a good teammate. And Wade has a last name - Rivers! Congrats! Poor Jed, another person that’s appear later than him and got a last name.

4) I just inevitably thought about the other witch Gaby, and relates back to Penelope😆. What if Penelope comes back and starts a war with Finch, that would be fun🤣 I can imagine they somehow would have to work together to protect Josie if something happens to her. They can look past that because they both care for Josie so much. Penelope/Josie/Finch anyone? (I’m secretly shipping Penelope and Finch too in my head, OMG can you imagine the volcano erupting? Enemies to lovers trope??)

5) Finally SBS has a teacher other than Alaric now.

6) I do think that the compelling works. Anyway, considering what’s going to happen, I’m certain that somehow Ethan is going to remember what happened with MG. If he’s going to be a supernatural, I’m rooting for vampire. We are really lacking vampires here.

7) I love Hope’s magical surges♥️ and how other students is taking that like it’s a normal thing around them. Unlike the school tour.

8) I love Hope needn’t to turn around to know that it’s Josie right away♥️ and Josie do catch up things around Hope when she’s not around after she returns.

9) Josie lied to Hope that Lizzie needs help(even though it turns out to be true doesn’t mean she didn’t lie), to help Hope with her mental state. Is this toxic or supportive?? Maybe I should just count it separately?

10) The twins clothes!! Contrast colours, love them!

11) I wonder who drove there....Hope didn’t have a dl in s1 (but two years has past now?) while in 307, Josie apparently walked to Mystic Grill to find Finch(but Lizzie did drive before in s2)....so? I bet it’s Hope...but how the hell did they even have time for driving education?

12) Hope, looking at Josie: like I said, trap. 😂😂but she just doesn’t even get mad at Josie?? Exactly how many times did she let Josie escape like that?? Poor Landon got grilled when he lied😂

13) We don’t worry about dick here🤣🤣🤣🤣

14) I love Finch just confidently stand up for herself, challenging Jed. But no, I don’t like Jed being thrown down by a new wolf again. But having female alpha is appealing too, I love to see that when Finch challenge the old system, then get to improve the abusive hierarchy towards the omega/new wolf in the pack. I was conflicted. I love how they resolved the issue in the end! It’s win-win situation and I love how Jed and Finch bond! Brotp/Sistp! And I love that from Finch perspective, we can see that the wolves let Jed win because they love Jed as much because they know Jed cares about them a lot and just willing to let him win. Not because Jed was oppressing them.

15) Btw, I can’t believe they are using pool/billiards/snooker to decide who becomes the alpha. Really I just don’t like how it works, like leading a pack is a game. But some wolves are born alpha. In real life, a pack’s alpha is always the one to lead hunting, be vigilant of any threat that can harm the pack, they really care for their packs, like Jed. Whilst there’s this beta position in the pack, they recognise the alpha’s leadership, help the alpha keeping others in line, help take care of other members too. Just like what I’d imagined, Finch can fit the beta position very well, for the time being, because of their dynamics. I’m not saying that Finch doesn’t fit as alpha, I think that beta always has the potential to be the alpha of a pack. I just love that now the dynamics in the pack somehow really resembles how the social hierarchy of a pack of wolves in real life.

16) appreciation to Finch being badass at pool/snooker/billiards

17) when Andy just called Hope’s name, why don’t the trio be surprised? It’s not like they even meet before?

18) when MG showed up, I just immediately believe in him. Love that Alaric defended him. I understand Dorian though, he’s always sensitive of rippers as his family was butchered by one. Please don’t blame him too much. MG living in a cave breaks my heart, I just recalled that Hope was homeless when she’s out of Malivore too! Double heart breaks.

19) MG diaries! I’m so proud of him, even Alaric validates his effort and his kind heart! I just rewatched 106 last night to do some fact checking for my hosie interactions 2.0 and twins relationships 1.0. MG has always wanted to be a superhero that saves lives. He has grown so much, from first fighting zombies, to super squad fighting monster, until now, saving normal people lives. I bet now Penelope can’t laugh at him when he first pitched his feelings to Penelope. Good job!

20) I’ve talked about the Finsie sitting together, so I only want to talk about how the relationship between Finsie is healthy for one another (for now, and at least they are not cringy for these two episode).They function independently and Finch doesn’t need to constantly worry about Josie all the time, like what Penelope fear of. Ofc it may also because that the twins have grown healthier.

21) even though Hosie were mind controlled, I just love how they have unspoken understanding between each other😂 Josie doesn’t need to tell Hope to make Lizzie stay with them to have Hope “as sonnum” Lizzie. Then only Josie said “stay with us”.

22) Hizzie hugs, and HOPE ANDREA MIKAELSON 🤣

23) I just love how Lizzie knows what to say to break Josie’s peace, while Josie knows how to break Hope’s peace. I see another spoken parallel from 308 about blindspot😂 Lizzie -> Josie -> Hope.

24) so if the drug sometimes doesn’t work on Lizzie, that means that there are times that Lizzie is really blue! Really at peace! I’m so proud and happy for her! Go Lizzie!

25) “ALL I WANTED FOR YOU IS YOUR HAPPINESS” this is so powerful! My Hosie heart! And really the last painful sentence, is fact. I’m sad for Hope because she’s so into that relationship until she can’t bring herself to do it and only leads to Landon leaving, but it’s also classic Mikaelsons(I feel), never giving up for their love ones. Appreciation to Landon, but still it’s strike three for leaving, please don’t let them be together again. It’s derogatory to Hope’s self-esteem.

26) I love badass Hope so much!! All the bodies she left! If I’m not already gay, she would have bent me into a mosquito coil by that scene, (so bent that I can’t be straight anymore). I love how Josie just let Hope outing her anger on these witches, freeze Andy, waited patiently for Lizzie and Hope to deal with Andy together.

27) I died laughing at these Pandemonium 🤣🤣🤣🤣 the badass trio in panda suit😂😂😂😂 I can’t! They’re so cute! And the height difference🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

28) How Hope tries to focus and dead serious in dealing with the upcoming monster but fails inevitably and miserably at Josie’s antics! All Josie does is laughing cutely at Hope and poking(?) her.

29) I love the trio so much!

30) haven’t watched any Star Wars, so I really thought that the one in the mask was Clarke until the Star Wars theme song started😫 too bad that Landon must have missed it.

31) Lizzie kissing Ethan is the last thing ever to have crossed my mind, so again, what the fuck?(sorry, language)

32) when I first thought about team building, I was thinking about finch + MG + Jed + Kaleb, but pack bonding, I’m satisfied too.

[opheliacassiopea]

CHAPTER 6.

TW: Mature language, mentions of alcohol consumption.

Flopping down on your sofa the next morning, you find yourself grinning at the thought of last night as you look through the many pictures that had been taken to document the events of the evening. You insisted on using your Polaroid camera to capture most of the evening, the walls of your apartment were littered with small snapshots of your life; the team, your friends outside of work, nature, anything that made you feel at peace. Your apartment, much like your appearance was how you expressed yourself and it was your sanctuary. 

Looking through the photos, Hotch plays on your mind. He looked good last night, so much so that you had to fight with yourself to stop stealing glances at him. You knew it was wrong to think about him like that, but it was nearly impossible when the man looked that good. Especially his hands, the prominent veins and the polished silver Rolex that sat on his wrist making him look even more attractive. Pulling out a photo of the both of you laughing at Spence’s attempts to beat Derek at a game of snooker, you think back to the conversation at the table.

“You did good, you did good, Pais”. ‘Pais’. Not Selwyn, not Paisley, Pais. As you repeated it, it sounded strange at first, or at least it did until you imagined Hotch being the one saying it and then it felt right. Did he realise the significance of giving you a nickname? The very word is defined as ‘a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person and often used to express affection, it is a form of endearment and amusement’. Surely he must have done, he wasn’t the type of person to do that sort of thing, something that..intimate. Plus, he knew you weren’t one for your name being shortened by just anybody. Was he trying to say something, to tell you something? Of course he isn’t you tell yourself, he’s your superior for God’s sake. Pushing thoughts of your boss to one side, you carried on about your weekend. Despite your plans not being thrilling, you were looking forward to them nonetheless. You had dedicated the time to catch up on much needed sleep and general self care and you were incredibly glad of the opportunity. Always valuing time to yourself, you couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed that the weekend vanished at a frightening pace. 

Flipping through the information brochure, you don't bother looking up at JJ who speaks to you “Spence tells me you’ve picked lecturing for the last module of your doctorate?”. The team, well you JJ, Prentiss, Morgan and Reid were currently sitting at the round table on your lunch hour, which was a rare occurrence with your schedules, you were nearly always working a case, or too swamped with paperwork. Garcia was hidden away in her lair doing who knows what, Rossi out for some fancy lunch and Hotch locked away in his office.

“Yeah, figured it couldn’t be too difficult and the genius himself has offered to help me prepare in the library so it seems like a win win if you ask me” you reply to her as you finally stop reading and look up at the faces around the table “what? It’s not like he’s writing my thesis, I’m just being resourceful and making the most of what's available, y’know?” you defend yourself, shrugging your shoulders.

“Oh so you’ll accept Reid's help, but not mine? You wound me pretty girl” Morgan teases, throwing an empty bottle at you, which you catch effortlessly and throw it into the bin, but not before you roll your eyes at him, sending him a cheeky smile as you do. 

Disconnecting herself from JJ’s embrace, Emily stands and crosses to you, picking up the brochure you were reading and scans over the information, before discarding it and spinning the chair you were sitting in toward her, clearly she could sense your apprehension. “You’ll do great Paisley, you’ll hit every inch of this criteria, I doubt you even need Reid’s help and besides, it’s not like you need another qualification to prove yourself, you’ve earned your place here” she tells you and you find that you have to force yourself to hold her gaze so you give nothing away.

One of the reasons you had multiple degrees was because on some level, you did feel the need to prove yourself, to prove you were doing something with your intellect and to prove that you did have a place on this team. Never did you want to be looked at as the baby FBI agent, who simply followed the others on the team like a shadow. On the other hand however, you genuinely loved learning and felt it was only natural to continue your studies to the highest level 

and you were proud of yourself for doing so, you’d come a long way since your childhood, but you didn’t want to dwell on that for long.  A few weeks pass and you soon find yourself sat in one of your favourite places; the older, dustier and lesser well known section of the bureau library, scanning over various notepads and books whilst feverishly typing at your laptop planning your first lecture. Looking across the table at Spencer, who kept true to his word and accompanied you to the library for assistance, you voice your initial plan for your first lecture in a few weeks. 

“I’m thinking of starting with nineteenth-century literature with the themes of crime and detection as a general focus and then work my way into psycho-linguistics with instances in literature, before moving on to case specific examples”. Whilst you held a close bond with Derek, you were good friends with Spencer too. The two of you would often hold mini academic debates between yourselves on the way home from a case, or on the phone in the early hours of the morning. From an outsider’s perspective it may look like something more, but that wasn’t the case, you genuinely just had a lot in common and it was nice to be able to watch Harry Potter over and over with somebody who gave no complaints. 

“What texts are you thinking of using? I personally think that Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Sherlock Holmes stories would be a fine choice. It’s more of an obvious one as the element of crime is incredibly apparent and the style of writing is fascinating on it’s own, so it would break the students in nicely I think.” Spencer reveals and you nod in agreement, returning to your typing.

The weekly sessions in the library seem nothing more than distant memories as you find yourself standing at the front of the lecture hall listening to Professor Moore’s introductions. You begin to wish you’d chosen a different final module. Why were you so nervous? You chased serial killers down on a day to day basis, surely you could give a lecture to a bunch of hopeful students for an hour?

“Much to your enjoyment, I will not be lecturing you for these next three months” Professor Moore informs her students in a lighthearted tone. You knew firsthand she was a good teacher and hoped her students didn’t expect too much from you. “This fine young woman will be taking over as part of the last module for her doctorate in criminology and psychology, so please be kind to her and don’t even think about any kind of tomfoolery in my absence, I will be dropping in and keeping in direct contact with Paisley so don’t think it will go unnoticed.” she looks at you and winks as she tells them “plus, she’s one hell of an FBI agent so she won’t tolerate it anyway”.

“Right well, thanks for that Professor. Uh, I’m Paisley and as you know I’ll be taking over for these next three months, hopefully you’ll find it as quick and painless as possible” you tell them, hoping it will break some of the tension and it does, you find the students take to you well as you dive in to the job you’re there to do. “We’re going to start with looking at nineteenth-century literature through the themes of crime and detection. I know this isn’t the big stuff right away and I apologise for that, but I find it’s better to develop a general understanding of the topic first, before delving deeper.” you tell them as you begin to pace the lecture hall out of nervousness.

“This is the century which saw the creation of the Metropolitan Police Force in London, the birth of private and police detectives, and the rise of investigations into the psychology and social causes of crime. The genres of detective fiction and the dramatic monologue which both emerged during this period will be largely focused on, but we’ll also take a look into less frequently studied genres like journalism to give you a full flavour of the period’s insatiable taste for crime”. Switching to the next powerpoint slide, you take a breath and steady yourself, maybe this wasn’t so bad after all. 

“Fictional texts are studied in the context of contemporary debates about crime, policing, criminal responsibility and madness, including legal texts and those related to the emerging science of psychology. We will be studying the texts through genre theory and cultural and historical perspectives”. As you look out to the back of the lecture hall, you’re able to make out the familiar figure of Dr Spencer Reid. He’d taken one look at you that morning in the bullpen and knew how nervous you were; you’d paced back and forth to the break room countless times, drinking far more tea than usual and barely uttering a word to anybody as you fiddled with the two necklaces that always hung round your neck.

You bite back a smile and continue speaking to the students “indicative primary texts for the semester will consist of a selection of popular crime ballads and the dramatic monologues about murder and madness by Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, along with a selection of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. It’s absolutely essential that you all keep up with the reading. And with that, I’ll leave it there for now. Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions and I’ll see you all next time”. 

Watching the students disperse from the room, you breath out a long sigh of relief and throw yourself into a nearby chair and by the time you get back to the bullpen, Spencer is practically screaming at the top of his voice as he tells anybody that would listen about how well you’d done in the lecture, speaking in just the right tone to be authoritative, but relatable and approachable. In short, he was incredibly proud of you and pride radiated off every inch of him. 

Two months had now passed and much to your surprise, it had now become part of your daily routine that Hotch would sit on the chair beside your desk during your twenty minute break at eleven o’clock each morning. At the start of your break you’d always find a cup of tea, perfectly made on your desk and each day you’d find yourself smiling as you knew who it was from. If Hotch was in a particularly good mood, he’d surprise you with a vanilla milkshake and raspberry muffin like he had done that very first time. If the team hadn’t picked up on it at first, they definitely had now, but they chose not to say anything. 

Some days you’d talk in depth about all manner of things, whereas other days you would find yourselves both working away in a comforting silence. Today was one of his chattier days and he greeted you with a smile as he placed a mug of tea down for you, and a mug of coffee for himself. “You’ve never told me the story behind all these little cartoon frogs pinned to your noticeboard” he begins, tracing his fingers over them as he looks to you for an explanation.

“You never asked, I’m surprised you didn’t use those profiling skills of yours to figure it out” you reply in a joking manner as you set your mug down. “To answer your question though, Spence asked me what my favourite animal was when I first started and when I told him it was a frog, he started to draw me one for each month of the year to help me settle in. I’ve got one of them tattooed on my ankle, I’m surprised you’ve not noticed it” you finish telling him.

“Can I see it? The tattoo?” he asks and you notice the nervousness in his voice and it makes you smile, seeing him almost shy is so unnatural you’re not quite sure how to act. You comply, kicking off your doc martens and pulling your left trouser leg up to reveal the image of a frog wearing a hat, sat on the edge of a teacup. It’s not the most conventional tattoo in the world, but you love it nonetheless. “It’s very you, I’ll give you that” he tells you as he helps you back into your shoe. 

You share a small laugh and you begin to pick up a file, ready to get back to work as the break comes to an end and the team filter back into the room and head to their desks. It’s Prentiss who asks you first “how’re feeling about your final lecture next week, Miss almost Dr Selwyn?” as she maneuvers a huge stack of case files from one side of her desk to the other. 

“Pretty good I think, just want to find out who the assessor is and get it over and done with to be honest” you tell her as you begin looking for a case consult you’d lost in a stack of folders.

“Doesn’t Hotch normally assess some of the final modules? He used to guest lecture with Rossi and Gideon quite a lot” JJ asks as she collects a pile of completed files from the table. 

“Actually no, he stopped guest lecturing once Gideon..uh...left” Reid fills you in “he thought it took up too much of his time and it was more productive to focus on leading the unit”.

“Huh, well at least you know it won’t be Hotch” Emily tells you and you smile in response as you dial the internal number for a copy of the police report for the consult you were working on. The rest of the day passes easily as you work through your files, thankfully not being interrupted by a new case and the rest of the week sailed by smoothly.

This was it, the final week of your doctorate. You’d been allocated reduced duties to allow time for the final hand in of your thesis, along with the multitude of exams you had to complete and you now you just had your final assessed lecture to complete. Arriving slightly earlier than anticipated due to your nerves, you decide to busy yourself replying to emails at your desk in the relatively empty bullpen, mulling over the happenings over the past week in the process.

Hotch had been keeping his distance and you didn't have it in you to figure out why, you’d just presumed it was just work and left it at that. Realistically you had far too much to worry about; the past week had left you feeling the most stressed you’d felt in years. 

Shifting your gaze to Hotch’s office, you’re able to see him talking on the phone, eyebrows furrowed together and jaw clenched. Clearly he’s not in a good mood and you’re thankful you’ll be out of the office all day. Checking through your notes one last time before you make your way to the lecture hall to set up, Hotch’s voice alerts you to his presence, you’d been so caught up in going over your notes that you didn't notice him leave his office. “Don’t you have a lecture to teach, Selwyn?”.

Before you can even look at him, he’s turned his back and retreated to his office. Pushing through the glass doors, you furrow your brows in confusion; what was his problem? It was only on your arrival to the lecture hall that your nerves began to kick in, this was it, once you’d finished teaching this class, your doctorate would be complete. Beginning to set up the powerpoint slides and distributing the resources for the lecture you find yourself slipping into a state of calmness as you worked, you could do this and you could do it well. Treat it like a case briefing you told yourself. Ten minutes later students begin to file into their seats and you’re pleased to greet Professor Moore who’s acting as the assessment supervisor. Toward the end of the lecture, you noticed an extra body had slipped into one of the seats on the back row and you knew who it was instantly. Aaron Hotchner. You’ve got to be fucking joking. He’d spent the better part of a week avoiding you and when he did speak to you, it was mostly dismissive and now he had the gall to show up to your final assignment. Swallowing the urge to throw one of the bulky textbooks at him for his sheer nerve, you continue explaining your current point to the students. 

“We’ve already been over the idea that psycholinguistics is the study of how the psyche responds to words and languages and this is how it’s distinguished from sociolinguistics. One focuses on the social dimension of language, and it’s stylistic patterns, whereas the other focuses on the expressive functions of language”. 

You begin to bring the lecture to a close, but not before thanking the students for their patience and hard work throughout the semester and you’re quick to express your gratitude to the professor for all her help and support. And just like that it was over, you were done. Hastily, you start to pack away the resources from the lecture in order to avoid a conversation with Hotch, his dismissive attitude had annoyed you all week and you weren’t thrilled at the sight of him in your lecture after the way he’d spoken to you this morning. 

“Can I help you with something?” you ask him in a cold tone, your eyes focused on shoving your laptop in your bag as you wait for his response, but you don’t receive one. Scanning the room one last time for any of your belongings, you promptly turn on your heel and exit the room, ignoring his calls as you melt away into the sea of scurrying students.

Things between the two of you eventually returned to normal, you weren’t even sure what ‘it’ was at this point and you didn’t care to ask, you weren’t even sure that it was normal. Hotch didn’t do these kinds of things or so you thought, but you knew better than to question it. Recently the team had been pushed in all directions, working case after case with little to no breaks, so it came as no surprise to you that the month of your graduation arrived in no time at all, acting as the perfect distraction for you all.

Pulling the garment onto your body, you admired the satin fabric of the deep purple dress you’d chosen to wear that day, it’s strappy sleeves allowing the many tattoos that graced the upper

half of your left arm to be shown off, along with the low neckline displaying the delicate tattoos on your collarbones. Before slipping on your graduation cap and gown, you add the finishing touches to your makeup, deciding to go for more of a dramatic look, if there was a day to go all out, it was definitely today. Giving yourself the once over, you feel a bubble of nerves form in the pit of your stomach, today was the day you were graduating and whilst you were excited, you felt apprehensive. Now that you were about to graduate, the pressure to live up to your new title was immeasurable and you were keen not to disappoint.

“Miss Paisley Anora Selwyn”.

You stand as your name is called, focusing on not falling over in your heels as you walk across the stage to receive your doctorate. There were no words to sum up how you felt, the moment was indescribable and as you walked back to your seat, you could hear a chorus of cheers and shouts from the team who insisted on buying tickets to watch the ceremony and later celebrate at one of the slightly fancier bars in the area. Luckily you’d managed to talk Penelope down from doing anything over the top and she very reluctantly agreed, making you settle instead for a compromise that allowed her to buy you a extravagant gift instead. 

“Tonight we’re here to celebrate Dr Paisley Anora Selwyn, many many congratulations” Dave begins the toast and you inwardly cringe at the use of your middle name.

Midway through the pleasantries, you feel Hotch’s hand resting on your lower back and you resist the urge to turn and smile up at him, instead opting for shuffling closer, a slight blush creeping onto your cheeks as you do so.

“Dr Paisley Anora Selwyn” the team echo as they raise their glasses to you, all grinning from ear to ear.

As the night progresses, you lean back against the bar, taking stock of the day. It was hard to believe that only three months ago that you were sat up till the early hours of the morning studying, the end seeming to be miles away, and now you’d finally done it. That wasn’t the only thing on your mind though, much like usual, Hotch occupied your thoughts. All throughout the night there had been subtle touches, stolen glances, and silent conversations between the two of you, and you loved it. Appearing next to you at the bar, Hotch’s arm slips round your waist, pulling you closer into his side as he congratulates you.

“I’m proud of you, well done, Pais”. 

[hoboonthetracks]

DAVID BOWIE: A MODERN LOVE David Bowie created many exotic characters and dressed in ways that back in the 1970s could get you arrested but as Andrew Vaughan explains he was always a Mod at heart. When we were thirteen our "Glam" hangouts were the front rooms of Orrell, near Wigan. For Studio 54 read 39, 42 or 44 Vicarage Road. If we fancied a game of snooker while we listened to music it was our house. If we fancied fooling about it was Geoff Bradshaw’s or Pey Halliwell’s across the road. By now our mums were out at work and you couldn’t swim in the rezzies or play cricket all of the summer holidays. Here, we’d phone girls up in the vain attempt at inviting them around, or phone for taxis for people we didn’t like down the bottom of the street. It was all typical teenage stuff but it was all played out to the soundtrack of David Bowie.It was the ‘Starman moment’ that made Boy George realise he was gay! Or so he’s recounted on numerous occasions.The moment David Bowie put his arm around the frankly very heterosexual-looking Mick Ronson on ‘Top of the Pops’ was the moment something twitched in George O’Dowd’s pants. Two-hundred miles north this teenage lad just thought: “This record’s brilliant!” Sure Bowie looked odd but it was his music that mattered.The fantastic haircut helped but basically it was just a great song.‘Top of the Pops’ mattered back then and what mattered to us working-class kids was that we had a new musical hero. It was a short sharp shock to the system but during the next few years Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane were played, played out and then we went back to Space Oddity and Man Who Sold the World and back to that hazy crazy sixties debut album entitled David Bowie via the reissued The World of David Bowie.Most of the songs on David Bowie came from when the man was simply known as Davy Jones. Davy Jones the Mod about town or sometimes Davie Jones the Mod about town. It's aways hard to keep up with the Joneses. He was with the the Konrads, the King Bees, the Manish Boys, the Riot Squad and Buzz. They played blues and soul, beat and pop. Looking for that hit, always moving on until Davy Jones eventually became David Bowie (to avoid confusion with The Monkees' lead singer Davy Jones); releasing his self-titled debut album in 1967. It's an album of its time and reflects plenty of the genres of music that were around at that time. Catchy baroque pop and novelty tunes along with more meatier efforts dealing with everyday issues such as peer pressure in Join The Gang and class issues in Maids of Bond Street . Then there are the out-and-out love songs such as Love You Till Tuesday and When I Dream My Dream all delivered in that Anthony Newley vocal style with touches of music hall and echoes of Kinks’ Englishness. While the album is often looked at as nothing more than a gateway to Bowie's later work - and there are lots of pointers in there as to what was to come - I like it. A lot. It stands up on its own merits and while it is never going to get you on the dancefloor there are some tunes in there while it will make you smile, and it will give you an idea where David Bowie's head and the nation's mindset was at in the summer of 1967. It is available in various formats and if you are not bothered about owning the original vinyl on Deram then there are - according to Discogs - 57 versions available. However, it might be worth picking up the 1995 album London Boy  released on Spectrum Music via Decca Records.This is basically the David Bowie album put the tracks The Laughing Gnome (we’ll quickly skip over this), the majestic Karma Man and the exquisite The London Boys.The London Boys is Bowie's first truly brilliant song. It appeared as the B-side to Rubber Band - from the David Bowie album - and slipped under the radar. It is a classic. It's Bowie's downer to David Bowie's uppers. It's a reflection on another side of the scene. The pills, the aspirations and depressions, the lack of money, the loneliness and the yearning for home. "A London boy, oh a London boyYour flashy clothes are your pride and joyA London boy, a London boyYou think you've had a lot of funBut you ain't got nothing, you're on the run" It is possibly the most depressing song you'll ever hear but its dark lyrics are quite, quite beautiful. It may have been seen as Bowie's goodbye to the sixties, maybe at the time it may have felt like his farewell to his career in music but Bowie was not for giving up. Like many he moved into hippy circles, produced the glorious folk rock of Space Oddity, went heavy metal with The Man Who Sold The World, returned to folk (albeit sprinkled with a little glitter) on Hunky Dory before he went Glamtastic and became the megastars that were Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. Yet through all the craziness he remained a Mod at heart and when he was contractually obliged to produce an album in 1973 he returned to the sixties with an album of covers entitled Pinups.And what an album it is. It's basically Bowie and the boys doing the songs he loved back then. It's raw, it was recorded quickly and the energy bursts through the speakers. Dissed at the time by many Bowie purists the record has aged beautifully. With songs from “Syd's Pink Floyd”, The Who, Them and the Kinks to name a few it is a garage rock album to be played loud and often. Yet amidst Mick Ronson's guitar and Aynsley Dunbar's Moon-Like drums the band slip in a version of The McCoys Sorrow - a song so beautiful that it'll make you weep. It was in the charts for four months and was everybody's favourite song. It was a song for all the girls with their long blonde hair and their eyes of blue and a song for all the boys who wanted all the girls with their long blonde hair and their eyes of blue. It - like the whole album - is just WOW. And that's just the music. Add in the cover and the packaging and it is just so, so iconic. On the back cover there is Bowie photographed by Mick Rock in a Tommy Roberts’ box-jacketed, wide-trousered suit designed by Derek Morton, who later became Sir Paul Smith’s head of menswear. Then on the front it's the Thin White Duke and Twig the Wonderkid - this time photographed by Justin De Villeneure, Twiggy's then boyfriend. How we gazed at that photo. Seventies Twiggy all tanned and gorgeous and all of us down at Chris Ball's hairdressers armed with a copy of the album trying to get the crop. Happy days. The iconic photo was in fact originally intended for the cover of English Vogue magazine after De Villeneure was commissioned by Bea Miller, the London editor , to photograph a cover of Twiggy and David Bowie together. However, De Villeneure ended up giving the picture to Bowie to use on the PinUps cover instead, saying in 1999: "Twiggy and I were in Los Angeles when Aladdin Sane had just been released.  We heard Twiggy's name come over the radio in David's song Drive In Saturday.  I had just photographed a couple of Vogue covers and I thought it would be a good idea for David to be on a cover with Twiggy.  He would be the first man on a Vogue cover.  I called him in France.  He loved the idea and arranged a photo-session.  When he saw the finished picture he asked if he could use it for his album sleeve.  I said to him "I've just flown to Paris for Vogue especially to do their cover."  Then I asked David "How many albums do you sell?  He said "About a million, hopefully." Vogue would sell about 80,000 copies in the UK. I owned the picture, so I let him have it. I was a little arrogant then!  Vogue didn't talk with me for years after.  They were very angry.  I knew that I had made the right decision giving David the photograph when months later I was driving through Los Angeles and I saw a 60-foot billboard of the album cover on Sunset Boulevard." Of course, like all good modernists Bowie moved on. Through various incarnations, numerous new characters and many music styles but at the heart of it he was still Davy Jones from Brixton. He was always in and out of Soho, still referencing the sixties, still listening to the groups that played the Marquee and Eel Pie Island whilst always wearing sharp suits. A Mod 'til his final day doing - as The Who proclaimed and he interpreted on Pinups, "Anything for something new. Anyway, anyhow, anywhere" he chose. #BOWIEFOREVER   This article first appeared in the magazine Sharpen Up

[darkestwolfx]

Grandma Tourismo - Re-Review #44

Wouldn’t we all love to have a Grandma like Sally? Yes everyone, meet Sally. It was, after all, about time someone gave her a name besides ‘Grandma’.

“It’s Sally. Call me Sally.”

For the record, I still adore these dice. They are exactly the type of thing I can imagine fitting in with the Tracy boys lives. I think they belonged to Jeff, or the boys’ Granddad.

And the rescue operation is in full swing!

“Virgil are you fully prepared for today’s mission?”

“Everything’s A-Ok, John.”

“Sure you don’t need backup?”

“Situation under control. Cargo pod is go.”

Yes! Hang on... cargo pod? Yeah, not quite the rescue I originally thought they were setting it up to be.

Those dramatics zooms! It’s only Grandma, remember!

“Let’s do some shopping!”

“This is going to be so much fun.”

I don’t think you could possibly be any more sarcastic, Virgil.

And let the shopping list of Tracy Island be unveiled. P.S. I always thought it was a shame that the paper covered up whatever grand expression Virgil probably made at the sheer length of it.

Suppressant something (Grandma’s hand is in the way)

Toilet Paper

Hairspray

Hawaiian Shirts (this one makes so much sense after ‘The Long Reach’ too, but really, where were the Pink Flamingos? Still raging)

Plant food

Protein Powder

Celery crunch bars (um, last episode’s vow forgotten so speedily Gordon? That’s the last time luck with give up promises ever works for him)

Toothpaste

Piano Strings

Fire Extinguishers

Tanning lotion

Tofu

Multivitamins

Snooker cues

Apple Pie

Bagels

Lemon squeezer

Pillow case

Anti-rust spray

Extra cable

Oh, I know - let’s play a game! Assign someone to every item on the shopping list. I know I have my ideas about what is for whom.

Also, it’s nice to see a really sneaky TOS nod there.

Played in ‘Operation Crash Dive’, ‘Move and You’re Dead’, ‘Security Hazard’ and ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’. I believe there was also a scene shot for ‘Edge of Impact’, but I can’t remember off the top of my busy head whether it made in into the final cut or not. So, I wonder where they’ve been hiding this on Tracy Island?

“Grab some of that super shine gel for Scotty. I’ve never seen a boy spend so much time combing his hair.”

This. This is one of my absolute favourite lines ever in the history of TAG. Because we all knew this was Scott without it needing to be confirmed - and this is also definitely where Gordon gets his nickname streak from.

“Detour!”

Grandma really is a task shopper. And you know what, I love how Virgil knows exactly what that sole word means.

Remember this scene from ‘Unplugged’? Well, this is that episode, but in series 2 and a lightly new form. The thing which has stayed the same? The team up of Virgil and Grandma. Interesting choice for that pairing, but it makes so much sense for it to be Virgil. He’ll joke, but never at her expense, he defends her cooking, he accompanies her on shopping trips, he listens to her, he even seems to take after her. At this point in time, I always thought this was just a nice way to explore that relationship - by the time we get to ‘The Long Reach’ it’s a whole lot more than that. One thing that storyline didn’t disappoint on was tying up this relationship in a neat little bow.

“We’ve got a situation.”

Of course we do, because this family can’t even get through shopping without interruption - which I’m guessing might be the norm as they speed out of the shop with non-paid for goods (note, us normal humans would all be arrested on the spot for this, so do not attempt it in your local store).

“Hey!”

“Put it on our account!”

Or maybe they - like many others - just didn’t want to argue with Grandma. Wisely so.

“This is my job, Grandma.”

“And worrying about you boys is mine.”

Just a really nice little family moment here. The nuggets like this are part of what made this show for me. They tell more than any massive display could.

What a great landing - in fact, there were many great landings in this episode.

Talk about just going along for the ride, hey? I think there was a lot more than that on display.

“I can’t be two places at once, Thunderbird Five.”

“You don’t have to be, I’ll go.”

“Grandma there’s no way you can steer through a storm.”

“Isn’t that what you have your fancy autopilot for?”

“She’ll be safe in Thunderbird Two.”

“The ship will do the work. I’m just going along for the ride.”

“Okay, I’ll program the autopilot to take you straight there and back. You won’t need to touch anything.”

I love how all that concern was disguised with the same look he gives Gordon to not touch his ship.

“Look after her.”

After all these years, I still can’t work out exactly who this line is for. It’s one of those beautiful lines which has such a lovely level of ambiguity. It’s obviously about Grandma, but it also references his ship and there is just a gorgeous level of family and responsibility balanced out in this episode.

“Grandma...”

“I didn’t touch a thing.”

And lovely little chunks of humour interspersed.

“Can you reprogram the autopilot to do that?”

“No. For that we’d need Virgil to pilot remotely.”

Even the communications were all go in this episode. Honestly, sometimes John is so much more than  go-between.

“Is Grandma ok?”

“She’s fine, but she needs your help with the rescue.”

“The storm’s about to hit here. I need to get these guys out.”

“The storm’s already here. And this young woman isn’t going to make it, unless you help me get this ship to her.

“Sorry guys, this will just take a minute. Someone needs are help.”

“Go for it.”

Well, those guys weren’t really in a position to say no, were they? I mean they need IR’s help too, and I probably would have been tempted to leave them there if they started getting on their high horses. Good people besides the Tracy’s do exist in the world of TAG and this episode had a really nice mix of them. No obnoxious rescuees.

“Let’s just hope I can do this.”

“I heard that. Of course you can do it.”

“Perfect!”

“You did it!”

Of course he did. He’s Virgil Tracy of International Rescue, and that’s his Grandma.

“There’s no getting out in this! We need to stabilise the building.”

“John, we’re gonna’ have to ride it out down here. Can you make sure Grandma stays put?”

“I’ll tell her to put on the coffee pot.”

“You’re with International Rescue?”

Never judge a book by it’s cover.

“You could say that. I’m the Tracy boys Grandma.”

“Kate. And I’m really pleased to see you Grandma Tracy.”

This was so interesting to watch! What you do when you’re stuck in a Thunderbird.

“I’d offer you something to eat, but I’m all out of homemade cookies. As the boy’s would say, lucky for you.”

And one of my favourites;

“John, be a dear.”

I love it when Grandma says that! We saw her do it in ‘Volcano’ too and it was grand.

“Now if we’re lucky all we do is sit here until this blows over.”

I’ll just clear my throat at the idiocy of saying that as Virgil slides expertly across the floor to hold the roof up. And yes, it was possible to do and type this sentence in the time that move took.

“International Rescue, we have a situation.”

“I think our luck may have just run out.”

Predictable...

“The shifting sands are putting extra weight on the structure. It’s not gonna’ hold much longer. John, if we don’t find a way out of here, we’re not gonna’ make it!”

“Yes you are! I’m coming to get you!”

“Grandma, there’s no way. The storm is interfering with my autopilot, and I’ve got my hands full. I can’t remotely fly you back.”

“Don’t need remote control or autopilot. I’ll do it.

“You?”

“Have a little faith, boys.”

Yeah, have some faith. I think there’s a song lyric there;

You gotta have faith

Back to the conversation at hand;

“Who do you think taught your Dad to fly?”

“But that was a single engine plane.”

“And a long, long, long time ago.”

We so often see Grandma sat here at the desk (like above), so in this episode it’s really nice to see her in the driving seat. Age doesn’t have to stop anyone, and this episode was a brilliant piece of script writing to showcase Grandma’s place in IR. She is far more than just anyone’s Grandma and I love how the tension of this episode really built up with the pressures of duty and family.

Oh, the history that is here! I adored that little chunk of life we got a look into.

“You’re following your dream. Good for you.”

Do this, people, it’s one of the best pieces of advise on the planet. I’ve been doing it, and it’s working out pretty well for me so far. I’ve interacted with animals I honestly thought I would never meet, met amazing people and seen the world from many angles. Whatever your dream is, it’s worth doing it.

“Was this your dream?”

“It was my son’s dream, to help people. And now it’s my Grandsons. And I’m happy to support them.”

“Virgil, how are you holding up?”

“Oh, it could be better.”

“Well don’t you worry, I’ll be there any minute. You tell the others.’“

“My Grandma says don’t worry. She’s coming to pick us up.”

“Your Grandma?”

The look on Virgil’s face which just speaks not to underestimate her.

“I can do this. I think.”

“I heard that. Of course you can do it.”

“Of course I can.”

This moment is the sort of writing I live for. It was so nice to see Grandma’s own words thrown back at her. Everyone needs a little positive reinforcement from time to time. I’m sure Virgil can forgive the little scratch on Two’s paintwork.

The hats! It was a really nice touch and look at how happy Grandma looks in hers. Kate doesn’t know what she’s got herself in for in meeting this family. Little taps of those dice for luck.

 “Hurry, Grandma, CO2 levels are critical.”

“We’re not gonna’ make it.”

You were saying?

“I’ve never been more glad to see anyone’s Grandma in my life!”

Too right you haven’t. And Virgil had move moves than Kayo in this episode, even with all his equipment on. I love the fact that Virgil is holding the dice now! Oh, they were so a small thing, but they managed to make them matter so much. Sometimes it’s the little things which matter the most.

“Not so fast! We gotta go back and finish our shopping!”

I think that might be the face of someone who would prefer another rescue than a conclusion to the never ending shopping trip from hell!

Oh well, Virgil’s still in one piece for episode 19 so he must survive and get that shower at some point.

This is another of my favourites though really. The balance of family and danger and normality and duty was just spot on.

[delightfulstarlightparadise]

Imagine Stardew Valley. Reader/Sebastian (?) Part 3

-Before we start, I would like to remind you that English is not my first language, but I am doing my best to write everything correctly.

Previous part here:

Getting rid of the weeds took all morning but you got to clean up a nice amount of land. Tiling the soil was a bit harder, you weren’t used to that much physical exercise, but when you finally got to plant the seeds you were feeling very satisfied. The apple sapling took twice as much effort, but it looked so pretty. You probably wouldn't see it giving fruits soon, though. Those took a whole season to grow and you could not remember which season they bare fruits.  

You sat down on the cabin’s porch and noticed how weak you were feeling. You forgot to eat both breakfast AND lunch and it was probably about six. There was nothing to eat there. You forgot the basics during your purchase at Pierre’s.

You then decide to go to town and check out the tavern. It is a pretty long walk and when you get there you are feeling even more tired and hungry. You are all dirty too, but you just noticed that when you were already on your way. If you went back to tidy up you could maybe miss dinner.

You lean in to open the door but it opens in front of you. A clearly drunk man wearing a Joja Mart’s uniform pushes you out of his way mumbling something not nice and staggers away.  

“Hello! Welcome, may I take your... OH MY! THE NEW FARMER!” a blue haired lady yells and every single person in that place turn to you.  

Actually, what about that town and all those different colored haired people? You think to yourself while trying not to panic with that much attention.

“Y/n, come here!” you hear mayor Lewis calling. He is sitting by a table with a beautiful fat woman. “Mernie, this is y/n, the grandchild!”

“Oh my! You are very different from what I thought you would be.” the woman says, smiling at you. “I live in a ranch very close to your farm. I met your grandfather too.”

“Hello.” you reply noticing that both of them seem to be a little high from beer.

“If you need some tips on how to handle your animals, just call me!” she says.

“I don’t have any animals.” you reply, shyly.

“Hey Emily! Bring y/n a beer! And some of that fish casserole! Gus! Come meet the new farmer!” the mayor yells.

You see yourself sitting with them even though your plans were just to take some food home.

“Oh my, you are all dirty. Spent the day working on that farm, right?” Lewis says.

“Actually, I did.” you reply in a low tone of voice. “It was fun.”

The blue haired woman comes to you with the requested dishes from the mayor, a beer and what seemed to be a cake.

“The dessert is on me! Welcome to pelican town, I am Emily.” she says.

“I... I can’t accept this, I mean...” you stutter.

“Don’t be silly!” she giggles and gives you a friendly slap on your shoulder. “It is so nice to have a new face around.”

You dine and it is one of the best food you have ever eaten, and you feel like crying again, but you can’t let it happen in front of so many people. Everyone still seemed to be paying attention to you.

A beautiful braided hair ginger woman and an equally handsome man were sitting by the table near you. She waves at you and he raises his cup in greet. You wave back trying not to look awkward. You felt like a city germling around those friendly people. The man tossing you away from the door earlier were the most familiar interaction you had there.

“Let me tell you about the time your grandpa and I...” Lewis starts telling you a disjointed story about an adventure your grandfather and him had in the Cindersap Forrest, but nothing seemed to make sense. Mernie keeps paying so much attention to him, she is all red and grinning.

You were trying to pay attention but that one beer turned into another and then another one, and you could barely listen to the words in sequence. It was all confusing.

“Hey Lewis! Let y/n be with other young folks.” you hear a familiar voice coming from behind you.

It is Demetrius, greeting you with a huge smile.

“You are never old if you heart doesn’t age.” Lewis says rising his cup and taking another sip.

“Well said, my dear friend!” you listen to the ginger man cheering on the table beside you.

“Hello y/n, my son and his friends are in the back playing snooker, you should go there too!” Robin shows up, and forces you to stand up from the chair.

She practically pushes you towards the back, although you really try to escape the situation. The last thing you want is to see Sebastian again after the disaster of the day before. But...

There he is, along with the purple haired girl and a blond boy with a stylish haircut.

“Ah, hey you.” Sebastian says, he doesn’t seem very excited to see you.

“Farmer! Nice to see you!” Abigail cheers, waving at you from the couch. “You look... dirty. But fine. Did you find any bats?”

“No bats.” you reply, crossing your arms a little embarrassed. “So... I guess I should be going now.”

“Hey!! I know you!” the blond boy says snapping his finger and pointing at you.

He hits slightly his head with the cue stick, apparently trying to invoke from his memory where he knows you from.

“I don’t think so.” you quickly say, trying to think of a way of going away without seeming as awkward as you were the day before.

“You are that Paradise kid!” he says and a bright smile enlighten his face.

“You remember which specific kid?” Sebastian asks, seeming amused.

“Yeah, the one that almost died because you pushed into the mountain lake!”

You, Abigail and Sebastian choke as Sam claps hands to himself for remembering who you are. And actually, you remember almost drowning in the lake, and you remember being pushed in the water, but you thought it had been one of your cousins.

“I guess I owe you an apology.” Sebastian says in a clumsy way.

“Ow, such a delayed apology.” Abigail giggles and he blushes.

“It’s ok, at least I didn’t die. I guess.” you reply.

“Wanna play snooker?” he asks and you can clearly see that it is out of politeness, and to escape the previous subject.

“No, I am heading home, I am tired.”

“Come on y/n! I am so tired of losing to Sebastian, I could use a partner.” Sam says, extending the cue stick at you.

He is such a cheerful guy you can’t picture how those two are friends.

“What do you think Abby?! Paired game?” Sebastian asks.

“You know I don’t like playing this game.” she says.

“It is ok, I am going no...” you try to excuse yourself.

“But if the farmer stays, I will play.” she completes her thoughts and winks at you.

You blush and this sight makes Sebastian stare at you with a both confused and annoyed face. You are surprised by Sam hugging you by the shoulders and yelling a combination of your names and “go team!”. Actually, how did he KNOW your name? Did he REMEMBER? You barely remember knowing him.

“Us versus team Sabby!” he says.

“Team Abbastian, my name comes first.” Abigail says.

You see yourself forced to play that game.  

Sam sucks.

He is terrible, a complete disaster. He keeps hitting all the wrong balls and making points to the other team, and sometimes he even cheers over that, not knowing that was not his ball. It is kind of funny, but secretly, you are not a very nice loser. But should you really play seriously?

The game is over very quickly and you are beaten good.

“Sorry, I said I was bad.” he smirks at you while scratching the back of his neck.

Sebastian raises his hand to Abigail, and she high fives him.

“Let’s play serious now?” you ask and wonder if you didn’t have one too many beers.

“Excuse me, what?!” Sebastian says rising one of his eyebrows in a resentful way.

“Yeah, I was just warming up.” you reply.

“Sorry, but not even if you were the best player of snooker in the world you could win with Sam as a partner.” he mocks.

“Try me.” you say while putting some chalk on your cue stick.

“OOOOOOOOhhhhh.” Sam says with the hand on top of his lips pointing at Sebastian.

“Ok, how about a one on one?” Sebastian asks.

“Fine.” you reply.

Both Abigail and Sam sit very close to the table to watch you play against Sebastian. The game starts even, each of you scoring in every play, he seems impressed. But your wrist starts aching because of the long hours of labor in the farm, and the shadows of your time at Joja corporation and you start losing some points.

“Are you ok?” Sebastian asks when he notices you pressing your wrist because of the pain.

“I’m fine.” you answer. “Ready to kick your ass.”

You immediately repents on the sentence, but Sebastian smirks at you and gives you space for your next move. Finally, you get back into scoring.  

Game comes to an end, you lose two points short.

“Nice game.” he says and extends the hand to you.

“Yeah...” you grunt and shakes it.

“Sebby! We are going home!” Robin yells from the saloon.

“Right, mom.” he replies, rolling his eyes.

“Wanna come?” she asks gently.

“I will go later.” he says, annoyed.

“Oh right, walking Abby home.” she says and giggles as he facepalms annoyed. “Oh, and Sam too, of course. Make sure to take y/n too! Safely!”

“Good night kids.” Demetrius comes by and waves. “Don’t come home too late, Sebastian.”

Sebastian starts murmuring some curses while Abigail and Sam wave nicely at them. You kind of understand why he is so annoyed, but also don’t think he should stress so much about it.  

Actually, Demetrius and Robin were very opposed to your parents and this made you admire them a lot.

“Let’s play one more?” Sam asks, trying to hand you the cue stick.

“Actually, I should be going.” you say while massaging your aching wrist.

“Ok, I will pay my check and we go.” Sebastian says.

“What?” you ask.

“What?” he replies. “You heard Robin, if I don’t take you home, I am busted.”

Abigail seems a little uncomfortable on the couch.

“No, you stay with your friends, I can take care of myself.” you say.

“I am sure you can, we all can. But when Robin says something, you better abide by it.” Sebastian says while getting his wallet and heading to the balcony.

“No, wait!” you stop in front of him and he bumps into you, almost falling back.

“Damn, you’re strong.” he whispers rubbing his ribs.

“I will stay for a while more, than. I don’t wanna bother.”

“If you want to go, we will go.” he says, very clearly annoyed.

“No, I will stay!”

“Ok!”

Sam and Abigail glance at each other, confused by the awkward dynamic between the two of you.  

You sit next to Abigail on the couch while Sam and Sebastian play. You can’t bring yourself to playing anymore, your wrists are aching too much now.

“So, why did you come to the valley?” Abigail asks you.

“I... kind of... needed a fresh start.” you reply feeling unease about it.

“Funny, people from here go to the city for a fresh start, you came to the countryside.” she says. “Don’t expect much though. It is very boring here.”

“I hope so...” you say and sigh.

She was very wrong.

Next part here:

[ewangi-blog1]

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[pontiacsunfire2k8]

Sunday 7th June

Good morning,

To whomever may be reading this, I hope all is well with you. I have been contemplating writing on here for a while, but haven't been sure where I should begin. I will start with an introduction. I am TJ, and I live in Australia. I am Jewish, recently married, and work as a transcriptionist at Rev. I attended University both here in Australia and in the US. I have two cats, a mouse and a turtle. Their names are Oreo, Tiggy, Jerry and Leonardo. Jerry however is more often than not referred to as Ninja Mouse because he is hyper active and does back flips off of his running wheel. I am car enthusiast and sport lover. I played soccer in high school and at university, I also played at and coached Under 12 soccer for Oxford Soccer Club. In my free time I enjoy reading and video games, travel, surfing, playing billiards and snooker, and video games. I guess, that pretty much covers the basics. I guess morning was perhaps not the ideal time to start writing because there hasn't yet been much to write about. Basically I woke up, said my morning prayers, and started writing on here. Things are starting to open up here, though there are still some restrictions in place related to COVID19. I may play billiards with Stephen, and I also have some work to get done in the yard, so that pretty much is my day planned. I may also write a post tonight about everything going on in the US. As I already mentioned I have previously lived and studied there, so I feel the need to address what's going on; however I want to give some thought to what I write first. The rabbi at yesterday's Shabbat morning service touched on it as well. Anyway I will in all likelihood post something later. For now though I am going to wrap this post up. I hope anyone who reads this has great day and enjoys the rest of their weekend.

[stickspoolsclubs]

8 ball pool instant rewards online

Pool has consistently been one of my preferred games. This is just in light of the fact that it is far beyond a game; it is to a greater degree a get-together really. Billiards or Snooker - these are the varieties of the Pool. There is a distinction between the two yet these are essentially pool games. A day or two ago, I asked my teenaged child where he was headed toward and he expeditiously answered that he was set for play a round of pool with his amigos. It helped me to remember my more youthful days when I was an eager pool devotee. Truth be told, I particularly recollect that 8 ball pool lite it is more than one of these rounds of pool, that I met my significant other, Margaret. One of the most mainstream games nowadays among both businessperson and the adolescents is pool or billiards. Be that as it may, frequently you will discover individuals mistaking this for another variety of the game, snooker. I'm going to give you some new pool shooting exercises to rehearse that will assist you with getting more OK with controlling your prompt ball position inside a little objective zone. Nailing a careful situation with the signal ball can be significantly harder than it looks! Players who are simply beginning to find out about how to play pool for fledglings regularly battle to see only the mechanics of controlling the signal ball.

This article will talk about how one can without much of a stretch figure out how to ace the round of pool. With a touch of tutoring and some training, one can be an extraordinary part in a matter of moments. Do you love to play pool, yet loathe that your companions beat 8 ball pool rewards you down constantly? OK prefer to figure out how to play better, so they'll be getting you the beverages? It's not hard, yet it will require a brief period and exertion. It's called pool practice, and it works magnificently. In the event that you follow the straightforward strides beneath you'll turn into a greatly improved player rapidly. Pocket Pool is a moderately fast billiard game that includes putting the balls straightforwardly before the pockets. This article clarifies the reason for Pocket Pool, its guidelines, how it is played, and scoring strategies. What do you need in the method of pool table adornments for your pool room. A few thoughts of the regular frill accessible.

Pool is a round of sovereignty directly from the very first moment and includes cash. It's not as modest a game the same number of others. Not all individuals can bear to get individual tables at their place. The main Expenditure isn't only the pool table however alongside it you likewise require countless essential extras. You can't simply play with a table 3d 8 ball pool having balls on it however you additionally need things like pool capable felt, covers, sticks, chalk, balls, and racks. Some time ago billiard balls were made out of wood, as were most things. It places me as a primary concern of the times of George Washington and his wooden teeth. Be that as it may, as the materials for teeth advanced, so did the materials for billiard balls. Online pool games like snooker and billiards are extraordinary choices for the individuals who need to encounter playing them on a video screen. It is smarter to play these games than burning through your time on interpersonal interaction locales like Facebook and Twitter for thought processes other than business. Virtual pool competitions are so exciting, they test your precision of system, pointing and hitting. Pool Cue Stuff incorporates an assortment of pool frill essential for keeping your pool prompt in great condition. It likewise 8 ball pool pro incorporates a few articles and preparing helps which can help improve your game or help you in your play. At the point when you are hoping to purchase a billiard table, there is something different that you should pay special mind to. The frill that you get for the table are similarly as significant as the table itself. Here are the most significant interesting points additionally getting when your buy a billiard table.

Nearly everybody wants to play pool. There is a major distinction between batting a few balls around at a nearby bar and truly "playing pool". This article will give you a few hints to do the last mentioned. Have you generally admired the bosses of pool like Davies, Reyes, Rodney and other such worldwide players? I am certain you couldn't want 3d ball pool anything more than to figure out how to play simply like them and potentially turn expert! Presently you can change your aptitudes for nothing, from the solace of your home, whenever you wish, with a wide assortment of testing electronic pool games. I was having a grown-up drink with a companion of mine the other night when the conversation of pool came up. I was, for more than 10 years in the APA; The American Poolplayers Association, and an ardent pool shooter. Thus, he was informing me regarding how his sibling had a table in his cellar and... well that is a finished story unto itself... So it got me to considering how I used to place the 8-Ball in on the break 1 out of multiple times and how that may be of some enthusiasm to somebody.

Coin Operated Pool Tables are perfect for having a fabulous time through pool games, to engage your family, companions and children. These pool tables are utilized on business lines and are dependent upon a permit. Bars and entertainment settings in country or urban territories offer to their guests the energy and the sportsmanship of a well known table-played game, called pool or billiard. Need to be an incredible pool player? It's simpler than you might suspect once you comprehend the 3 stages to an extraordinary break. This article gives all the stunts and tips you have to get it going. A great many people see pool games as having gazed just in the ongoing past. In any case, they can be followed back to the old occasions where they were played by lords and most ordinary citizens. Billiards, another term that can be utilized to allude to them, started from Croquet. This game 8 ball pool download apk was played by in France as ahead of schedule as in the fifteenth Century. Different individuals additionally played it in Northern Europe. The Doodle Pool application for iPhone is a fascinating blend of silly designs and billiards, the two of which are progressively well known. Yet, the part is, this iPhone application costs nothing to download and utilize!

There are some key contrasts in the hardware utilized for pool and billiards. As a starting level part in any of the two 8 ball cash tournaments games, you should find out about these distinctions to buy the correct gear. There are a few very surprising varieties while sorting out pool competitions, each with their own standards. It is the gamers want with regards to which they like. It's suggested be that as it may, that each member know about at least the three most normal varieties, being 9-Ball, Eight-Ball and Minimize Throat.