#the ducats

[weaversweek]

"Hey woman" - The Ducats

1965 Written by Robert Battiste and Lewis Skinner

The rock of Let's Do It, my personal fifty favourite singles from 1954-76.

There were regular explosions at Springhill mine in Nova Scotia; two in the late 1950s killed over a hundred miners. People from the area came together for fund-raising concerts, and that included young people from the island across the way.

The Du-Cats were from Port-aux-Basques on the west coast of Newfoundland. The group was Lewis "Butch" Skinner on lead guitar; Jim Crewe on rhythm guitar; Bob Battiste on bass guitar; Joe Boulos on drums; Winston Blackmore as vocalist.

The group were inspired by rock 'n' roll radio as broadcast to the American servicemen at Gander air force base. But their music brought in a distinct culture. It blended in the jigs and reels of the Celtic diaspora running through Newfoundland culture like pyrite runs through rock. Sometimes obvious, sometimes you have to listen to hear the unusual steps and time signatures.

After five years of increasing success in and beyond Atlantic Canada, the group travelled down to Boston to make an eponymous album. This single attracted the attention of Berry Gordy, and the group came within a whisker of being signed to Motown Records - but it didn't happen. Two further albums were made and released locally. The group continued to gig and perform, and were celebrated with an East Coast Music Award in 2008. Lew Skinner spoke to the CBC in 2021.

Why is this one of the best fifty singles of the era? It's an example of how so much music was being made. Young people cared for what they did, young people had talent and drive. That they didn't always meet with massive commercial success is often down to sheer chance.

[robotspock]

did i ever tell u guys about this antagonistic stray cat that would try to fight my cat through the door so i named him gul ducat. is that anything

[alcyonsa]

1999 has me and @alligade feeling a lil insane , i fear

[desmond-the-queer-dragon]

Valentino must always deal with the fact a hot Spanish Twink-who can twerk his ass for God better then Ezekiel and create mating dances more hypnotic then Jesus walking on water-can ride a motorcycle better than him while he is stuck being a salty, pruny foot who has spent too much time in dirty lukewarm bathwater.

and I love it.

[pinkmirth]

it’s so hard for me to imagine alucard in a modern au . . . like what in the world is he doing in the city?!

[warframestuff]

got to LR3 and got the itch to obtain all the weapons im missing and im reminded that i havent done them bc i dont like their grind 😢😢

[ltwilliammowett]

Reales, pieces of eight, doubloones and ducats

Who doesn't know it, in films and books there are always stories about great pirate treasures and lots of coins are shown. But what kind of coins are they? Here is a small overview.

Silver real

Silver coin: 8 reales Fernando VI, Viceroyalty of New Spain - 1757 (x)

The real was a coin and a currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, weighing 0,12 ounces (3,43g) of silver, and these were eight reales to a peso, hence the term " pieces of eight" for pesos.

Silver piece of eight or Spanish Dollar

Spanish piece of eight, 1780 (x)

Was an early Spanish silver dollar sized coin, with a content of 25.563 g = 0.822 oz t fine silver. As Spanish mints issued silver denominations smaller than eight reales relatively infrequently, these coins would sometimes be chopped up into smaller pieces to provide small change. In the 17th and 18th centuries, so many were in circulation that they were accepted almost anywhere in the world. The American doller sign $ was derived from the figure 8 stamped on the side of the piece of eight, the silver peso (or piaster). They were minted at Mexico City and Lima in Peru, and were common currency in all of England's colonies, being valued at four shillings and sixpence. Often they wre cut into eight pieces for ease of transaction, so that two bits made a quarter. The origin of the American phrase, not worth two bits, is from the days when the English colonies around Massachusetts used this Spanish money. Pieces of eight were produced for about 300 years, in Mexcio, Peru and Colombia, and they became the standard unit of trade between Europe and China. They wre legal tender in the USA until 1857. Before the Spanish started exploiting Potosi in Peru (in today's Bolivia), silver was almost as valuable as gold in the Old World. Such were the quantities taken from the New World, that silver dropped to about a 1/5 of the value of gold. The Spanish exported four billion pesos of silver and gold from the New World between 1492 and 1830.

Gold ducat

Gold ducat of Venice. Doge Andrea Gritti, Italy, 1523-38 (x)

This was the European gold trade coin, containing around 3.5 grams (0.11 troy ounces) of 98.6% fine gold, during the late medieval and early modern period. The name derives from ducatus, the Latin form of the title of the Doge of Venice, whre the ducat was first issued 1284. Called the ducado, it was worth less than a doubloon, about 10-11 silver reales, and was known to the British seaman as a ducat. The coin was copied throughout mainland Europe, and coins of the ducat standard were struck in several European countries up to the 20th century.

Gold doubloon (doblôn)

Spanish 4-doubloon, or doubloon of 8 escudos, stamped as minted in Mexico city mint in 1798 (x)

This was an early Spanish gold coin, worth approximately $4 (four Spanish dollars) or 32 reales, and weighing 6.766 grams (0.218 troy ounce) of 22-karat gold (or 0.917 fine; hence 6.2 g fine gold). The name originally applying to the gold excelente of Ferdinand and Isabella. It was later transferred to the two escudo coin issued by Spain and the Spanish colonies in the Americas. It was the largest Spanish gold coin, weighing slightly less than an ounce of gold, and originates from the Latin word duplus, or double. A doubloon was worth about seven weeks wages to a sailor.

[zizikta]

it looks like a scene from a really dark movie

[knavestrolls]

This is the next part of Epic the Arc here on the blog! Warning for slight gore/blood and death if those things bother you! Find the drabble parts that precede this here in order: 1, 2, 3 ! I appreciate everyone's support through me making this and patience with it getting posted! Animatics are still new to me as far as making them myself goes, but a little gay hubris will get you anywhere. With any luck there will be at least one more animatic for this arc, but that won't come until far later!

[isagrimorie]

Concept writing WIP: Endgame Admiral Janeway and Picard Era!Seven (except they don’t here).

By request of @thymejot

——-

Kathryn, and she is just Kathryn now that her past self and her crew passed the threshold, can feel the slow creep of nanoprobes assimilating her. It’s a pain that only a select few have felt.

It was something she thought she would never re-live. Kathryn watched and felt the Borg Queen slowly disassemble in front of her. Kathryn pulled herself up, it didn’t matter if she died, if all went according to plan Kathryn would be erased as well as her timeline.

And then there was a bright light and a voice: “Not just quite yet, Admiral.”

x

The white light receded and Kathryn blinked. A face greeted her, a vaguely familiar face. His hair had more grey at the temples, and he looked more weathered.

“Good to see you again, Admiral.”

Kathryn remembered him now, vaguely, he was the man who recruited her and Seven all those years ago. She did recall, vividly, his warning against time travel.

“I don’t know if I can say the same…”

“Captain Juel Ducane,” He provided with a smile. He offered his hand. Kathryn took it cautiously. She had hoped to avoid the Time Bureau altogether, Kathryn felt a pang. All that hardwork.

“I assume you’re arresting me.” She said, weary. Everything she sacrificed all for nothing.

“I’m press ganging you,” Ducane corrected, helping her to her feet. Kathryn felt dizzy, she remembered she was assimilated, she lifted her free hand to her forehead. The implant was still there.

Ducane noticed. “We were able to pause the assimilation process but it’s not something we can reverse.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” Kathryn said astutely.

“We still have to return you to—“

“The moment of my death.” Kathryn narrowed her eyes, “‘Press gang’, you said.”

Ducane quirked his lips into a smile. “It turns out despite our warnings, this time travel incursion you took was… necessary.”

He moved towards a bank of panels, “We’ve monitored the other timelines where you didn’t or were prevented from bringing home Voyager earlier. Eventually, down the line, it would spell catastrophe for the galaxy.”

Kathryn raised an eyebrow at his phrasing. “You’re over blowing it, Captain.”

Ducane laughed drily. “I assure you, Admiral, when it comes to the timeline, I don’t exaggerate. I’ve been fighting this temporal cold war for decades now, and any deviations when this version of you don’t get to change your past— meant the Borg do find a way to assimilate the Alpha and Beta Quadrant. Gamma quadrant was able to withstand the longest but it’s become a war of attrition for the Dominion. A stalemate of two powers bent on destruction and subjugation.”

“Well, if you put it that way.” Kathryn played it off but her head was spinning. Frankly, she didn’t know if it was the scale, time travel or because she was pulled from the verge of death. “What do you need me for?”

“We needed someone out of time.” Ducane said, “There is an anomaly that’s sprung up and we’re frankly spread too thin to lend a hand. And since you showed you would move Heaven and Earth to achieve your goals, it’s that kind of tenacity we need.”

“Captain, I know you have all the time in the world. But my head is killing me, can you just tell me what’s going on?”

“We just want you to continue what you were doing.” Ducane pressed a few buttons.

And an image of Seven of Nine, an older Seven, but still Seven appeared.

“Save Seven of Nine.”

[frenchcurious]

Ducati 999 Superfast 2005. - source Car & Classic.

[bollywoodqueenkatrina]

[waru-chan8]

Ducati celebrating all his 8 5 riders

[earnednight]

i'll be on tomorrow - got lost grinding in warframe !!

[alacarhelsng]

The Request

Finally, he was going to see his mate-sprite again. The only issue was getting to that ship and back out alive. His odds of completing such an insanely idiotic feat were worse than nothing especially alone. Which meant he was going to have to do the thing he hated doing the most and ask for help.

It was with that thought in mind that he found himself standing in front of Vlad's hive, a hand raised to announce himself. Pride, doubt, and fear held him frozen there for a minute, then 2. It would have likely been another 3 or 4 before he even made the choice to knock or not if not for the red that leaned over and knocked for him.

When he looked over his shoulder to find out who the hand was attached to it was somehow both surprising and completely expected to Lonque standing just behind him. How the larger-than-normal troll managed to sneak up on him without so much as a whisper Alacar didn't know or have time to think about. "Thanks.." He spoke hesitantly but Lonque simply nodded with a smile on his face that was simultaneously warm and smug.

The door opened before Alacar could decide whether or not to punch the troll in his face, even if it was unlikely that he'd land the hit to begin with. The familiar and unfamiliar face of Syhren greeted him with a cold glare. 'Hel-" The door was slammed violently in his face, so he waited patiently until he heard muffled talking from the other side of the door. If he wanted to he could have listened it but doing so to Vlad was one of the few lines he wouldn't cross. Shortly after the muffled conversation ended the door opened again to a slight bemused Vlad. "I was wondering why she was so agitated, she's still upset about her.... coalescence. Why don't you come in so we can chat." His eyes met with Lonque's and the silence stretched between them for a very long, very uncomfortable, amount of time before he finally continued with, "Your friend is also free to join us of course." Inside the hive of his Moirail Alacar felt a profound sense of comfort, as well as a mild sense of looming danger. As if the she-demon staring daggers at him was gearing up to slit his throat the moment he let his guard down. She likely would too if he wasn't so important to one of the only people that cared about her on this forsaken rock.

"Hello again Syhren." He said to her, his tone dripping with forced cordiality "Demon." she shot back with cold venom. "Now that's just hurtful, after everything I did for you?" "More like what you did TO me you-" "Syhren stop." Vlad cut in before the verbal combat between the 2 of them could escalate into something much worse. "Do not condemn him for my wants." Syhren glared at Alacar in the way that only someone that had experience death could glare but relented and sat down in a chair away from the group but still close enough to hear and contribute to the conversation if she felt the need to insult Alacar. At least that what he assumed she would do if she dained to interject. "So what brough you over today?" Alacar's mental villianization was brought to an abrupt end with Vlad's question and the hostillity he felt towards Syrhen instantly dissolved into dread. "I-" He swallowed, unable to keep eye contact with the man in front of him. " I need your help...." "With?" "I found them.... I finally found Calmet but I can't get them without help." "I see." Because he wasn't looking at Vlad he could see the exact moment Syrhen decided to add her two cents, rather explosively as well. "Fuck. You. We shouldn't be helping that- that THING at all!" Despite her outburst Vlad didn't admonish her at all, instead asking Alacar a question. "Where are they?" The very question Alacar was dreading to hear and hoping he could get away with never having to answer until Vlad already agreed to help. For the first time in a long time Alacar was scared beyond just the primal fear for his life. He was scared Vlad would deny him, reject him and let him go it alone to what would surely be his doom. Worse than that, he was scared that he might say yes and die helping him. For that reason he remained silent, eyes staring at the floor until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Once again Lonque was silently lending a hand to the troubled troll for no other reason than he wanted to and it made the fear and doubt a little thinner and easier to wade though. "They..... they're on a ship, a ship that is in the empress' fleet. Ship number 8375." "No." Syhren answered on behalf of Vlad. "That's asking us to die for you, a monster like you isn't w-" "I'll go." Vlad cut her off. "V you can't." "I can, and I will. Alacar is the reason you're still in my life Doll, I owe him." Syhren clenched her fist in rage as she stared down Vlad until finally softening for the briefest of moments before her icy gaze snapped to Alacar again. "I'm going too."

Not wanting to agitate the very very dangerous woman Alacar simply nodded in agreement with her. It's not like saying no would stop her and more people made the operation much more feasible to a point. Besides, having the incredibly lethal assassin on his side would be a nice boon. He also did in fact recognize that he was justifying her coming along to himself so that he would still feel in control which was a bad habit he probably should be trying to break. He instead moved on. "I have a man on the inside, the previous agent I was using overreached getting me this information but this one doesn't know he's working for me yet so hasn't had the chance to fail." "How do you know he's going to listen to you demon?" "Easy, I know who he's in red with even if it's unrequited and All I need to do is get that person to tell him what to do, as long as my orders are coming through their lover they'd probably kill themselves just because they asked." "Names, and will this lover listen to you?" Vlad spoke up "The worker's name is Rimmer and the person he's in lover with is Qimzal, and yes he'll listen to me we're close friends him and I." "Wow, I didn't know monsters could have friends. " Syhren added sarcastically. "Oh and I thought we were getting along so well!" Alacar quipped back to which Syhren hissed at him, actually hissed like a cat. The action was so terrifying it made him jump back and Vlad snickered at his expense. The exchange even seemed to make Syhren slightly happier. She stood up and took out her palmhusk. "I'm going to let Harvey know." "Doll don-" "No V, Harvey needs to know that we're both going to be in danger, he won't be okay if something happens and he didn't know about it." Once again they stared at each other, a silent battle of wills before this time Vlad caved and slumped into a chair. "Fine, but if he insists on coming I'm holding you accountable." "Oh no, I guess I'll die.... oh wait." She smirked and walked out of the room while Vlad massaged the bridge of his nose in frustation. "Sometimes I swear..." "I'm going." Both Vlad and Alacar snapped their heads up to see Lonque who had be silently watching the conversation the entire time, so quietly that they had both forgotten he was even there. Alacar opened his mouth to object but was silenced by Lonque speaking once again. "I'm going." It was a statement of fact, he would be there and Alacar would have to accept it. He was dumbfounded, this troll owed him nothing but was willing to die to help him out. Alacar couldn't help but to laugh.

[yourlocalrabidraccoon]

im enrolled in my local community college, which has been going great. except my counselor wants me to pick what university im transfering into, and what major id be doing.

which is MUCH LESS great. bc i have no idea other than it has to be a California state university. i just wanna learn things, idk what major. maybe creative writing cause i like writing, but idk if i can get a job with that. i like physics and challenging math, but i dont want to have a major that gives me mental breakdowns.

ugh