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princessanneftw · 11 months

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The Princess Royal interview: ‘I’m not sure that rewilding at scale is necessarily a good idea’

With conservation close to her heart, HRH explains what’s needed to save animals under threat and how the monarchy plays its part

By Jessamy Calkin for The Telegraph

Inside St James’s Palace there is a bit of a flutter about the weather. Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal has several engagements today, and things are not looking good; due to wind, the helicopter might not be able to land at the designated sites, which will make travelling times to and from events longer.

The staff are waiting to be informed by the police, who are in touch with the helicopter pilot. HRH, as everyone seems to call her, has not yet been told.

She has a lot to fit in: directly after our interview, she is off to a meeting about Gordonstoun school, in London, by car, then by helicopter to give a speech at an English Rural Housing Association conference in Bedfordshire, followed by a visit to the Aircraft Research Association, where she will unveil a plaque, then back to St James’s Palace to change for evensong at The King’s Chapel of the Savoy, where she will be reading the lesson for the Royal Victorian Order.

Her day will finish at about nine, when she will be able to eat. Quite often she has a dinner engagement as well. Next week she is going to Mumbai for four days.

Not for nothing is she known as the hardest-working royal. She is involved with more than 300 charities, organisations and military regiments, and last year carried out 200-plus engagements – more than any other member of the Royal family.

Her first official engagement was at the age of 18; shortly afterwards, in 1970, she became president of Save the Children – a position that led to her being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize – and her work with that charity continues to this day.

Early on, her father, the Duke of Edinburgh, advised her to pick the charities she was interested in – and her interests have multiplied.

But one charity that is particularly close to her heart is the Whitley Fund for Nature, which is why I’m here. Started by Edward Whitley OBE as the Whitley Awards, WFN is now celebrating its 30th anniversary, and the Princess has been a patron for 24 years.

The annual ceremony takes place at the Royal Geographical Society in London and is colloquially known as the Green Oscars; WFN distributes grants totalling around £500,000 to worthy international winners.

So far, £20 million has been awarded to 200 conservationists across 80 countries. And the Princess has never missed a single ceremony, presenting the awards and delivering heartfelt speeches.

HRH is quite probably the most respected member of the Royal family. Her lack of pomp and ceremony and the low-key dedication with which she carries out her duties is much admired. There is no whingeing. She refused titles for her children, Peter and Zara.

She is well known for her dry sense of humour. She is an exceptionally accomplished horsewoman and in 1976 became the first member of the Royal family to compete in the Olympics; she had won Sports Personality of the Year five years earlier. She famously resisted an attempted kidnap in 1974.

She has also become an inadvertent style icon, often rewearing outfits she first wore decades ago, which is both charmingly thrifty and impressive in that she can still fit into them, and she seldom buys anything that is not made in the UK.

She recently made a good-natured appearance on her son-in-law Mike Tindall’s podcast The Good, the Bad & the Rugby and she seems like an all-round good egg.

She has both gravitas and spirit – there was some very moving footage of her accompanying her mother’s coffin on the long journey from Balmoral to Westminster Abbey.

Back in St James’s Palace, Charles, her private secretary, is arranging the chairs, anticipating where she might like to sit. HRH arrives in a striking bright-green suit over a striped silky shirt and heads smartly for a different chair than the one offered.

How did she first get involved with Whitley? ‘That’s entirely Edward’s fault,’ she says in her crisp voice. ‘But the common denominator is Gerald Durrell.’

The Princess grew up reading Durrell’s books and became patron of his zoo in Jersey, part of what is now the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in 1972. ‘He very kindly asked me to become involved in the zoo – as it was then – in Jersey, and Edward [later became] one of Durrell’s trustees.

‘He and I had similar beliefs in what Gerald was doing. Apart from the fact that Gerald wrote very good books, during his travels he seemed to understand better than most the impact on the populations in which animals lived and the relationship between them and their animals.

‘Being told you have to save this, that and the other is all very well but have you been there? Have you ever tried living in that environment to find out what that means to them? Because the fundamental point is that unless the conservation comes from the local area, it won’t be sustained.’

No one is going to save an animal just because they’re told to. ‘You’ve got to work out how the animals are going to survive with the people who live there, who will be the ones who make sure that it works.’

What was Durrell like? ‘Every bit as entertaining as you would think. His humour but also his understanding of the relative importance of things in other people’s lives was absolutely fascinating – and he was spot on.’

Durrell said he felt ‘sympathy for the small and ugly; since I’m big and ugly I try to preserve the little ones’. He was an expert on captive breeding, with a view to releasing into the wild, and he tended to select animals that were close to extinction, or those that could best be helped, or just ones that were not very charismatic.

‘Yes, not the sexy ones,’ says the Princess. ‘Or the obvious ones. His approach was very holistic. He understood the impact of habitat – not just on one species but how all of the things that lived in that habitat related to each other and that you couldn’t replicate that instantly somewhere else – it was very specific to an area.’

Gerald Durrell died in January 1995, of septicaemia. He was an alcoholic and had successfully received a liver transplant but died of complications it gave rise to. ‘He told me that there was no point doing a transplant because his old liver had got used to being fed all the things he’d been given to eat and drink in order to make deals as he went round the world,’ the Princess says, smiling.

Durrell’s legacy is long. One of his innovations was to establish training for conservationists from around the world. The first trainee went on to become the first director of the National Parks and Conservation Service in Mauritius, and thousands of students from 151 countries have since attended the centre, whose graduates became known as Gerald Durrell’s Army.

This became the title of a book by Edward Whitley, who travelled round the world to assess the progress of some of the trainees and the animals they were conserving – such as the largest eagle in the world in the Philippines and Alaotran gentle lemurs in Madagascar.

To launch the book in 1992, Whitley was invited to give a talk at the Royal Geographical Society, and he asked the Princess to come along. It was at the book launch that he decided to set up the charity.

‘I sat down with Nigel Winser, who was the deputy director of the RGS and a long-time friend, and we designed what became the Whitley Awards on the back of a napkin,’ he tells me. In 1999, Whitley asked the Princess to become a patron. By then, ‘Attenborough was already on board, which encouraged her to think it wasn’t a fly-by-night organisation which would crash and burn’.

The awards focus on community-based conservation projects around the world. In order to qualify, each project has to be up and running – it cannot be a pipe dream. Initially there was only one award; this year there were six – of £40,000 each in project funding – plus a Gold Award of £100,000, given each year to a past winner in recognition of their outstanding contribution to conservation.

‘The reason WFN is so effective,’ says Alastair Fothergill, whose company Silverback made the acclaimed TV nature series Wild Isles, and who like Attenborough is a WFN ambassador, ‘is because its grants are awarded at the very cutting edge of conservation, where relatively modest funds can go a long way. Over the years, the fund has kickstarted the careers of many pioneers who have become leading lights in conservation.’

This year’s projects included safeguarding seabird nesting sites in Mexico; establishing ‘lion guards’ promoting coexistence in Cameroon; and protecting pangolins in Nepal, lemurs in Madagascar, freshwater fish in Lake Victoria and saiga antelope in west Kazakhstan. Each one heavily involves local communities.

In addition, WFN provides continuation funding for award-winners. To mark the 25th anniversary of Whitley, Kate Humble, also an ambassador, and Attenborough hosted an event at the Natural History Museum to help raise £1 million for continuation funding.

‘It was the first really big fundraiser we had,’ says Humble. ‘And one of the donors underwrote the entire cost of the event – so everything raised went into the continuation fund.’

The RGS ceremonies are joyous events. In addition to being presented with their award by the Princess Royal, each winner has a short film made of their work, narrated by Attenborough, screened at the event. ‘I’ve been going for 20 years,’ says Humble, ‘and every year I’m blown away by the winners – what they’ve overcome, what they’ve achieved.

‘You hear so much bad news, and you think, you know what? The world can be OK because people out there are doing this stuff – it’s demonstrable, it’s scientifically rigorous and it’s working. [It’s] an incredibly uplifting and inspiring evening.

‘And every year I watch Princess Anne speak and she never sounds like she’s reading someone else’s words. She cares deeply about what this charity does and what these people who win the awards have achieved – she is not a figurehead just trotting out nice words and providing a photo op. She could run the charity, she knows it so well and cares about it so deeply.

‘I’m not anti-royal,’ says Humble, ‘but neither am I someone who would go and wave a Union Jack. But when I see her I think, frankly you’re worth whatever it is we pay.’

HRH talks with fluency and knowledge on every subject. ‘She’s like a sponge – it’s unbelievable the information that’s stored in her brain,’ said her daughter Zara in an interview for ITV’s Anne: The Princess Royal at 70. ‘It’s quite annoying as well.’

She needs to know a lot because she works with a diverse range of charities, taking in early years, healthcare, microfinance and animal welfare. Promoting collaboration between charities is key. ‘I do a lot of that,’ she says now. ‘I have meetings bringing them together which they all seem to enjoy, though sometimes it’s a bit illogical.

‘Knitting together all the international NGOs is important, but we need to look slightly outside the box – can we do this better, are there ways of helping people to be more sustainable?’

The Princess does occasionally discuss conservation with the King, she says, but she won’t say if they always agree. And her grandchildren? How does she teach them about conservation? (She has five, four girls and a boy.)

‘I don’t see so much of them but making the point that they live in an area which they shouldn’t take for granted is important I think; both my children are aware of that.’

Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire, where the Princess and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, live in an 18th-century manor with 730 acres of parkland, has some beautiful trees – ‘the ones that survive – quite a lot don’t, we live on Cotswold brash which is not popular with plants; but having said that we have beeches.

‘You’ve just got to live with what’s there and make sure it doesn’t get overwhelmed. I’m not sure that rewilding at scale is necessarily a good idea – it probably is in corners, but if you’re not careful you rewild all the wrong things because they are just the things that are more successful at growing.

‘My biggest row at home is ragwort. Lots of people think that ragwort is absolutely brilliant because butterflies love it, but it’s not good for the horses [it is toxic]. I would say don’t take all the ragwort out, just where the horses are – but it’s quite a delicate balance.’

There are, she says, ‘quite a lot of horses at home, but they’re other people’s as well’. She rides whenever she can. ‘It’s a very good place to observe nature from.’

The Princess supports several horse-related charities, and became patron of Riding for the Disabled in 1971, and president in 1985. ‘It was just becoming a national body when I was invited to become a patron – at that stage I knew nothing about disability but the concept that ponies or horses could make a difference was obviously interesting and I knew about them. No matter what the disability was, the answer was, if they’d like to ride, we’ll give it a go. The commonality of the experience was important.’

Essential things for running a charity, she says, are evaluation and thinking of the long term. She cites the influence of Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children, ‘who constantly evaluated programmes to see if they were making a difference, whether they were doing the right things and whether people were invested’.

And it’s important to keep projects focused and manageable. ‘I’ve come to the conclusion that scale is the thing that defeats any good idea, because it can get to a size where people can’t cope.’

She has spoken in the past about the huge value of long-term commitment, in terms of the constitutional monarchy as well as in charity work. ‘Seeing things in the long term is a challenge,’ she says now, ‘but maybe part of our [value] – as a family – is long-term continuity, because the long-term view is quite hard to come by. And I think we can do that.’

May I ask what she might have done as a profession in another life? HRH laughs and looks vaguely impatient. ‘You can ask but I’ve no idea.’ Does she ever think about that?

‘Not really, and it’s way too late to have those concerns – in a way the fortunate part of my life has been the broad spectrum, to see so much. Not having a very specific interest has been a bonus, I suppose. We all have ways of doing things and with Whitley it is the practical aspects of what they do, and how to support them [that has been my focus].’

Edward Whitley, a member of the wealthy Greenall Whitley brewing family, set up Whitley Asset Management in 2002, alongside its finance director Louise Rettie, to serve a small number of clients. But there had always been animals in his life – his great-grandfather founded a small charity called the Whitley Animal Protection Trust; his great-great-uncle Herbert was an eccentric animal breeder who started Paignton Zoo.

In Edward’s office is a stuffed cockatoo that belonged to Herbert and a photograph of Mary, his favourite chimpanzee. Mary was famous for riding around on her tricycle and walking the dogs, or taking visitors by the hand and leading them round the zoo.

Edward studied English at Oxford then went into banking, joining NM Rothschild & Sons in 1983. He left in 1990 to write: Gerald Durrell’s Army came out in 1992 and he also co-wrote Rogue Trader, the autobiography of disgraced banker Nick Leeson, and worked with Richard Branson on his memoir.

Whitley is a tall, gentle man who doesn’t like talking about himself but is full of unbridled enthusiasm for WFN, and in particular its royal patron. ‘She transformed the charity – we never would have had the success we’ve had without her involvement. She saw what was possible and really helped us to achieve it, and she inspires the winners to do more. The winners are always pretty amazed at how she cross-examines them and cuts to the chase so quickly when she meets them.

‘She has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the world, and a phenomenal memory, and she is also very funny… And think of her father and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – she’s seen what a lifetime of work can achieve.’

In her speech at the Whitley Awards earlier this year, the Princess Royal cited her father, Gerald Durrell and Edward Whitley as the inspirations for her work with WFN. Among winners and their communities, she said, ‘it’s the global ambition to truly make a difference that has been astonishing’.

The awards, she continued, are for ‘the people on the ground, they’re the sharp end… It’s all very well to be here and understand what we think are the challenges, and want to make a difference, but when you meet the people who are actually out front and can turn that into a reality, it’s a real inspiration.’

Over the years, she has visited some of the winners’ projects, when her charity work takes her to those countries, ‘but not as many as I would like’, she says. In Uganda, for example, she met Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, who was working on improving hygiene in local communities after viruses had spread to gorillas she was managing in Bwindi national park. And in 1997, before she became a WFN patron, she travelled in a boat up the Amazon to see pink dolphins.

‘She was in Colombia for Save the Children and she asked the British embassy to include a visit to the Amazon in her trip – she was very interested in the dolphins,’ says Dr Fernando Trujillo, who went on to win an award in 2007.

‘The British embassy contacted me as an expert on rivers and dolphins. I was a little bit intimidated, and it was raining and I was worried we wouldn’t see any dolphins, but in the end we counted 32 – and she was so excited, every time she saw one she would jump up and down with excitement, and then rein herself in as if she suddenly remembered she was a princess. I could see her love for the environment was very genuine. From that day she was my favourite royal person.’

Another winner, Pablo Bordino, whose picture with HRH had been in the paper in Buenos Aires was flying back to Argentina. One of the flight attendants recognised him and when he arrived at the airport there was a television crew waiting to meet him. It raised the profile of his NGO - which protected marine life and habitats in Argentina - enormously and enabled him to generate further funding. ‘That’s the effect HRH has,’ says Whitley. ‘You can’t quantify it.’

Several award-winners went to the Princess’s 60th-birthday celebrations, including Claudio Padua, a successful businessman from Rio who gave it all up to pursue conservation, training at Durrell in Jersey and moving to a forest in Brazil with his wife, Suzana, and three children.

HRH had been to see them at their headquarters outside São Paulo and had taken an interest in their efforts to conserve the black lion tamarin, a monkey. They had no idea her visit would be such an ordeal, with all the security arrangements. ‘We had a call to ask what kind of security we had,’ says Claudio. ‘I said, “I have an old dog, that’s all.”’

‘She turned up with a security detail and entourage,’ Suzana adds. ‘They wanted to go into the forest to see the monkeys in our Land Rover and her security team asked, “Has this car been checked?” I said it hadn’t and they became very nervous but she ignored them and just got in anyway.’

Years later, the Paduas were invited to Buckingham Palace for her 60th. ‘It was a beautiful opportunity for us,’ says Suzana, ‘and as she came down the stairs she spotted us and said, “Oh how nice to see you. How are the monkeys?”’

The Whitley Fund for Nature is hosting a #PeopleforPlanet biodiversity summit on 6 and 7 November at London’s Royal Institution, where members of the public can hear live from Whitley Gold Award-winning conservationists from Africa, Central and South America, and Asia

#a new anneterview!#I love that she seems to remember everything and everyone #the part about her jumping up and down when she saw the dolphins #what a mood #princess anne #princess royal #british royal family #brf #newspapers #anned i quote

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jo-harrington · 5 months

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Pinprick (A Gutterballs Story)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Jo!Reader

Summary: You're sitting down to listen to one of your favorite podcasts when you hear your name as one of a long line of Eddie's loves, and you have a moment of reflection.

Note: This is a very very very late post in dedication to one of my fandom loves @dr-aculaaa (who is very much on hiatus but still deserves all of the love us resident weirdos have to give) and not only one of my favorite fics Sunday Morning but the offshoot she made for Valentine's Day: Gutterballs.

IT STARTS OUT SWEET BUT ITS A LITTLE ANGSTY AT THE END. SORRY DRAC. WE SORT OF TALKED ABOUT THIS. THE TIMELINE.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

---

You're sitting on the floor.

To be completely honest, you shouldn't be on the floor. You knew that, your doctor knew that, your team knew that. In fact, they yelled at you when you got down there, legs akimbo in a way that was comfortable for you to sit in but uncomfortable for them to look at, so you could start ripping the sleeves off of this fucking jacket.

You're alone in the studio now, hours after everyone left.

It's just you, a bottle of Tums, your favorite fucking jacket, and the dulcet tones of the man who gave it to you coming from your phone.

“Welcome back to another episode of Gutterballs! My name is Eddie Munson..."

As if he had to introduce himself.

"Nerd," you scoffed fondly.

It's your Wednesday night ritual. Well, not the jacket or the floor or the tums...Gutterballs. At the least, you owed it to your former client; at the most, you owed it to your ex.

And Eddie Munson was both of those things.

Although "ex" is a relative term.

An ex wouldn't still send you a gift basket full of goodies every award season when you barely took care of yourself, the way Eddie did for you.

An ex wouldn't shoot an email with wardrobe recommendations when they hear about some charity concert or something, like you did for Eddie and Corroded Coffin.

Still telling me what to wear Jo?

He would email back almost immediately.

Doesn't seem like anyone else is. I saw you at Lolla Ed. Not cute.

Would be your response.

You don't think I'm cute anymore?

That would go unanswered though.

Until next time.

Because you were exes.

But an ex didn't keep the jacket their ex got them because it was their favorite. Exes didn't take apart said favorite jacket because it got a rip in the sleeve, and then plan to just cut two new sleeves for it. Nor did they spend the last 20-ish years mending the jacket that their ex-slash-former-client got them as an apology for a spontaneous kiss before a red carpet.

---

The CFCA awards ceremony wasn't the band's usual haunt but they had composing credits for a film score that was up for nomination. It was a big deal. Something that would take them to a new caliber of their career; not just rowdy rockstars, but well-rounded musicians.

So of course, they were running late.

Their suits all needed a bit of alteration, Eddie was chattering nervously as you hemmed his pants, Gareth drummed a beat on his leg with two of the hangers from your roll rack and Phil, the band's manager, yelling for you all to get a move on.

"Do you want them to look good or not!" You yelled right back. "I'm not having them go up for their award looking like shit Phil!"

"Yeah remember the Grammy's," Jeff pointed out. "That's why you got us a stylist in the first place."

"You'd have thought you paid them to be here or something," Phil grumbled at you from across the room.

"I do pay," you shot up at Eddie with a conspiratorial smile. "With my sanity."

This was your schtick. He let you dress him in whatever dark-romantic victorian-gothic-inspired outfits your former-Catholic heart could dream up, and in return you let him be the spieling midwestern boy that he really wasn't allowed to be anywhere else. Because yeah the band was in charge here really--they were the talent, the money--but Eddie didn't like the whole pomp and circumstance of celebrity. Not anymore, according to him at least.

"The drugs are fun until they're not," he told you once. "We're just...guys from Indiana."

So you'd let them be that in the safety of your studio, shithead manager be damned.

You severed the thread with a swift bite of your teeth and wished the guys good luck with hugs before sending them on their way.

But Eddie...Eddie chose that moment to kiss you.

Well, you kissed each other.

As everyone walked out of the studio to get down to the car, you kissed each other.

And you froze.

Both of you.

Because it was a romantic, world-ending kiss. A kiss of declaration. A kiss of familiarity. The kiss you gave someone when you loved them for a long time and didn't know how to tell them.

Only...you hadn't loved each other for a long time.

Had you?

Hadn't said anything of the sort at least.

That wasn't love...was it?

He left for the awards ceremony and you absolutely spiraled questioning it all. You thought about all the long walks down State Street discussing ideas for this event and that one. The way he got you a membership to the Art Institute so you could sit in front of Salome and Hercules for hours and be inspired. The nights that he just couldn't work on lyrics anymore, so he would come over to sit in absolute silence save for the droning sound of your sewing machine.

The aches of the world were just a little bit easier when you could be near each other, whether it was being inspired or talking shit or sinking further into oblivion.

Was that love?

Eddie must have spiraled too. Because he showed up at your studio past midnight, disheveled and with a green Marshall Field's bag in his hand. A bag containing, you'd find out later, a black wool and leather coat that sat in a window that you'd noted looked nice months ago. One he made the guys make a special stop for before the award ceremony so he could get you to make up for fucking up your professional relationship.

The apologies were stuck on the tips of your tongues though.

And there was a beat before some silent decision was made.

And your lips came back together again, solidifying that decision, even though the words weren't said.

---

“Today on Gutterballs,” Mrs. H’s announces on the phone, breaking you from your reflection, “our lovely listeners at home are in for a real treat. As we record and discuss topics such as first loves, lost loves, and, as you can see, from our current location -body modifications."

“First we have… A spool and thread for Jo."

"She used to poke my ankles like a voodoo doll when she hemmed my pants. I still have the scars, if you wanna check ‘em out. I think that was her way of saying I love you."

Yeah that was the way it was with the two of you.

All the ways you said I love you without the words being said.

And they would never be said.

But that was another story.

"Yeah," you agree with Mrs. H belatedly, seam ripper making quick work of a line of stitches. "Lost love sounds better than ex."

#eddie munson x reader #gutterballs #drac <3

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cult-of-the-eye · 11 months

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MAG 83 woop woop!!

JONNY BOY

ooh first proper statement in a while

Wait he took some statements with him??

Georgie is actually so right. I love her so much. He really needed some good fucking advice in his life from someone he hasn't thought might've killed someone before

I COULD BE ON DRUGS HAHAAAAAA NO YOU SMALL LOSER BOY

Why did he even jump to that conclusion?? I wasn't thinking ah yes drugs and I don't think a normal person reacting to this situation would immediately jump to drugs maybe insanity yes but not drugs

Universal autistic experience, having someone you're close to say that they know you "get obsessive about stuff"

YES GEORGIE!!!!! SHES THE ONLY ONE NOT FUCKING ENABLING HIM!!! HE DOESNT NEED THE STATEMENTS

oh shit is this the start of him depending on the statements??

Oh shit I guess not being able to go back to his flat makes him homeless

Oh right someone dropped the statement through the letter box

SHIT SOMEONE DROPPED IT THROUGH THE LETTER BOX

SOMEONE KNOWS WHERE HE IS

AND IS GIVING HIM STATEMENTS???

Fucking Elias I bet, who else would it be??? he was like yah I know where Jon is but I'm not gonna tell you to daisy and he's creepy enough to fucking send statements through the mail so there

Ok I'm sorry what was my man doing in those four days??? Sitting there rocking and muttering to himself staring at a fucking piece of paper?? Hmm?? Not fucking sleeping???

Investigating MY ASS what INVESTIGATION do you plan to do holed up in your ex gfs house???

Ah fuck he needs it

When does it stop becoming paranoia and start becoming an addiction?

YEAH GEORGIE YOU SHOULDNT BE KEEN ON WEIRD STALKERS KNOWING YOUR ADDRESS YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT AND THE ONLY SANE PERSON IN THIS WHOLE PODCAST (apart from Joshua Gillespie and Karolina gorka my loves)

AHHH HE DIDNT EVEN GET THROUGH HEAD HES JUST GOOD OLD JONATHAN SIMS NOW

He doesn't have any of that pomp and fancy pants titles anymore, it's just the fucking paranoia and realisation that it's not just a normal job, he can't ignore it anymore

It's funny how it finally sinks in how it's not just a normal job when he gets fired from it

Ok just did a quick google fanton isn't a real department store that's a good start

Haha yeah customer service people deserve medals

Omg of course the tma transcripts write Halloween as Hallowe'en that's so tma of them

Oh fuck stranger alert

Oh shit is that Nikola??? As in everyone on Tumblr talks about her Nikola???

Her condition?? Why does it sound like they're describing her as a fucking werewolf??

Ok this is fucking creepy I actually fucking despise mannequins I don't think I'm gonna enjoy these stranger statements

FUCK I HATE CLOWNS

AHHHHHHHHH

Ooh she's smart she goes in with 999 dialled love that for her

oh FUCK that shhh was terrifying

Oh god Lana was killed???

Blood in a single neat line across her lips???

Uckinf SHITBALLS

Jesus fucking christ

I BET HIS ASS MISSES THOSE "EXPERT" ASSISTANTS

FUCKING BREEKON AND HOPE???

Circuses, skin, not quite real - the STRANGER

It seems like now he sort of knows what's going on, he's catching on really quickly, he's categorising things and using what he knows which is good it's steps in a positive direction

I guess he doesn't want another axe table fiasco

The taxidermy shop oh yeah the guy who was like yeah this is paranormal and creepy as fuck but he's not committing tax fraud so it's fine loved that guy

Elias probably sent it

Oh shit he doesn't know Elias knows where he is

SHIT IT WAS HAND DELIVERED

God poor Georgie, she's housing his pitiful ex boyfriend who lost his weirdo job and is going insane and bringing the weirdness to her life

What was he looking into??? Like Not-Them stuff??

"I've got work to do." Fucking famous last words

Jonathon "workaholic" Sims strikes again

Although I guess it's not workaholic when it's threatening your whole life

I guess it's just...surviving

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f0point5 · 25 days

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On the whole micks entourage situation, they’re definitely something other drivers noticed and have commented about.

When he was in the junior series, he used to fly private to every race and while he isn’t the only one it was definitely rare. So other drivers (namely FDA or teammates) would fly with him at times. Multiple of them have said thing about it in various podcasts and mentioned that he always flew with a decently large entourage and that it wasn’t just Ralf/Corinna/his trainer but like a more stereotypical rockstar style entourage.

And well none of the comments I’ve seen specifically say anything bad, it’s brought up a lot bc it was so uncommon and everyone found it strange. They do usually laugh and joke about it to and their tone very much gives “this was weird why tf does he do this” like laughing at someone not with them style. But like I said they never said it explicitly and that was just the vibes I got hearing about it at the time.

Either way I do think they play a part in his perception, likely for his detriment. People can play the whole it would be different if Michael was around angle all they want (and I agree bc frankly I think he’d be a better driver considering he’d have had that mentorship and a more stable traditional family unit to fall back on) but Mick also isn’t a perfect angel who’s lack of an F1 seat is entirely on guenther/haas either

Oh that’s interesting. I didn’t follow junior formulas back then so I hadn’t heard too much about him back then.

Honestly I think it gives weird the way Ralf would talk about him randomly publicly and just the way Mick conducted himself a lot of the time. Seems like a sweet person but definitely gave off “I should be in a better car” vibes from day dot. Again, I think it was probably just his family wanting him to feel that he wasn’t missing out on whatever support his dad would have been able to give him, but probably if his dad was able to be around he wouldn’t have needed so much pomp and circumstance to turn up to the track. In karting days he raced under a different name to avoid the biases and then all of a sudden he wants the surname to get him a seat? Hmm.

And yeah I do think If Michael was around things would be different but Mick’s talent probably wouldn’t be. He might be marginally better and he might have kept his seat but everyone would just be calling him a nepo baby like Stroll. Idk why people would want that for him.

But yeah I mean if Max and Carlos get comments for having their dads hanging around, with the talent they have, Mick being followed around by his mum and uncle probably needs to be mentioned.

It just reminds me of the kids when I was horse riding who would turn up with 5 horses and embroidered blankets with the name of their home stable and come third jumping 3ft. We’d all be like…is all that helping you get better because you sure look pretentious

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thishadoscarbuzz · 5 months

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286 - Something for Everyone (w/ Chris Schleicher) (70s Spectacular - 1970)

It's time to kick off our May miniseries - the This Had Oscar Buzz: 70s Spectacular! For 1970, television writer Chris Schleicher joins us for a forgotten tale of wealth, deception, and Bavarian castles. The directorial debut of stage legend Hal Prince (and with a screenplay by his frequent collaborator Hugh Wheeler, from the novel The Cook by Harry Kressing), Something for Everyone starred a pre-Cabaret Michael York as a young man who weasel's his way into the good graces of a wealthy family in order to claim their family castle. As the family matriarch, Angela Lansbury earned a Golden Globe nomination that didn't translate to Oscar.

This episode, we talk about the 1970 Oscar year dominated by controversy surrounding George C. Scott's rejection of Oscar pomp and circumstance and this film's very obvious similarities to Saltburn. We also talk about Lansbury's Oscar and Tony run preceding the film, Michael York as canonical cinematic bisexual, and Prince's directorial failure adapting A Little Night Music.

Topics also include "It Goes Like It Goes," the supporting actresses of Five Easy Pieces, and our disdain for Love Story.

The 1970 Academy Awards

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#Something for Everyone #Angela Lansbury #Michael York #1970s #Academy Awards #Oscars #movies #Hal Prince #Anthony Higgins #Jane Carr #Hugh Wheeler #Youtube

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gorbalsvampire · 10 months

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Tag Nine People You'd Like To Get To Know Better

FAVOURITE COLOUR(s): Dark, rich purples and reds. Greens: British racing, chartreuse. Bottle greens and browns. Black and white contrasts. Glasz eyes are the most beautiful on Earth. Love a check or tartan pattern. I paint all my miniatures in cold blue/bronze or warm purple/brass contrast unless physically prevented from doing so.

FAVOURITE FLAVOUR(s): Rock salt and woodsmoke and paprika in a thin batter. Rich thick curry sauce - warm and textured, not hot-like-burning. Whole milk and sour cream. Fresh carrots and tomatoes - just chomp those fuckers down. Sourdough and soft cheese. Tea with an undertone of citrus or an abundance of honey. Mulled apples. Dirty chai. And above all, peppermint.

FAVOURITE MUSIC: Tradgoth and post punk (basslines you can slink to), trip hop (take me somewhere far away), post rock soundscapes (the more elegiac the better), prog (but more the Pink Floyd pomp rock than wildly experimental stuff), anything Jim Jarmusch or Polly Jean Harvey ever touch, sad country and sleazy swamp rocks. Music for people who want to crawl into a swamp, cop off, and drown each other.

FAVOURITE MOVIE(s): Franklyn. Withnail & I. Only Lovers Left Alive. I detest busy plotting and spectacle and run on vibes. But also, because sometimes I'm From The Nineties And Also British, Guy Ritchie's entire oeuvre. Sin City has a nice vibe even though it's a nasty piece of work. Possession (1981) and Nosferatu (1979) - I'll watch Isabelle Adjani in anything. Or Eva Green. Give me pale, deathless, insane women.

FAVOURITE BOOK(s): UGH! Anything by Terry Pratchett. S T Gibson's vampire stories. Anything by Susanna Clarke. Earthsea. The first four books of Anno Dracula. Anything by Laura Shepherd-Robinson. Alis Hawkins' Oxford novels. Seth Dickenson's Masquerade and Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb. The Wolf Hall trilogy. Sherlock Holmes and weird post-Holmes stuff from Obverse. T. S. Eliot, William Blake, Edgar Allen Poe, Sylvia Plath, and a raft of contemporary Welsh poets - Cath Drake, Katherine Stansfield, Christopher Meredith. If I had a guilty pleasure, Black Library novels (John French, Matt Farrer and Aaron Dembksi-Bowden) would be it.

FAVOURITE SERIES(es): Doctor Who, Lock, Stock..., The Biederbeck Trilogy, What We Do In The Shadows, LA By Night, The Thick of It and... Taskmaster. Taskmaster is my religion. I like seeing the Bit all comics do get tested to destruction. And podcasts: Poorhammer, the 40K Badcast. I get my hobby chat fix from those.

LAST SONG: :Of The Wand And The Moon:, 'Hold My Hand'

LAST SERIES: The Thick of It (rewatch).

LAST MOVIE: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (comfort rewatch, I've been poorly)

CURRENTLY READING: Viriconium by M. John Harrison.

CURRENTLY WATCHING: nothing

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: ideating a festive V5 one-off and new chronicles for next year, but otherwise taking it easy (I've been really poorly)

TAGGED BY: @silkenred

TAGGING: @heywizards @biomechanicaltomato @gwenynen-bach @gingerbeer-queer @robotslenderman

#this isn't vampires #but it was fun and someone asked #behind the masquerade

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kon-igi · 2 years

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- NON COMPRARE QUELLE PATATINE! - PERCHÉ? SONO CATTIVE? - NO... MI HANNO RITARDATO DI 20 SECONDI L’ASCOLTO DI SWEET HOME ALABAMA

Il post è serio... o meglio, sono serie le mie intenzioni di comprendere i meccanismi che stanno dietro al marketing, perché è evidente che mi stiano sfuggendo tipo democristiano finito per sbaglio alla Festa dell’Unità.

Non voglio sembrare radical chic o intellettuale elitario ma ho bisogno del vostro aiuto per capire se l’illusione di essere immune al potere delle pubblicità - immune del tipo ‘Ahahaha! Tanto non mi posso ammalare di rogna sarcoptica dello stambecco della Alpi perché l’acaro responsabile non sopravvive sull’uomo!’ - in realtà non sia un effetto Dunning-Kruger che mi faccia sentire migliore di quanto in realtà io non sia.

Mi spiego.

In maniera molto dicotomica, io non compro MAI tutti quei prodotti che sono stati pubblicizzati in modo:

triviale (donna seducente, uomo forte, potere, esclusività etc)

stupido (luoghi comuni sull’italiano medio, balletti, comicità anni ‘80)

pressante (spot ripetuti e/o invasivi)

Quindi ripiego quasi sempre su marche sconosciute o prodotti col brand del supermercato (sì... lo so che i miei soldi gli arrivano lo stesso) perché chi mi dovesse incontrare tra le corsie mi sentirebbe sussurrare a fil di labbra ‘Te hai fatto bodyshaming, te sei green come il ciao smarmittato che avevo a 16 anni, te uccidi il 99% dei batteri come qualsiasi altra candeggina, te sei acqua distillata che ha visto le alpi solo in foto, te fai le scenette insopportabili con la mamma meridionale, te m’hai rotto il cazzo mentre ascoltavo il podcast sui serial killer più prolifici...’ e così via ma la mia domanda è questa:

Non è forse vero che qualsiasi consumatore interpellato in tal senso affermerebbe con sicumera che lui non si fa certo infinocchiare e sceglie sempre il prodotto migliore al minor prezzo?

In fondo il trucco del buon marketing è esattamente quello di far credere al consumatore di star compiendo una scelta indipendente e priva di condizionamenti basata sulla propria capacità di giudizio.

Quindi, in che modo il mondo del marketing mi sta comunque fregando?

Sono un illuso danno collaterale ininfluente sulla fetta enorme di altri acquirenti oppure sono addirittura utile come gruppo di controllo?

Forse l’influenza va oltre il mero prodotto del momento da me evitato e riguarda un imprinting sociale sulla necessità indotta di una certa classe di prodotti?

Non importa chi urla più forte la percentuale di batteri uccisi ma indurre il presupposto subliminale che se non ne uccidi il più possibile sei un infetto sudicio mentecatto. Non l’automobile più potente, elitaria o veloce ma che oramai non ti permettono più di mantenere la tua per più di qualche anno. Non l’acqua minerale che ti rende più puro degli altri ma un bene comune gratuito rivenduto a scapito dell’ambiente. Non il mutuo più conveniente ma che si sia arrivati ad accettare che per (soprav)vivere tu debba farne uno.

Anche perché - e fatemelo dire in modo catartico - nel marketing digitale la profilazione è fatta col culo di un mozzo carino imbarcato su un veliero vittoriano diretto verso il passaggio a Nord-Ovest senza un filo di vento.

Mi piacciono i coltelli ma non i coltelli da cucina.

Se cerco sul web un distributore di benzina dove non mi chiedano un rene, che cazzo mi pubblicizzi una Tesla da espianto total body per trafficanti di organi?

Lancio asce, non cerco un giardiniere che mi poti gli alberi.

Perché mi suggerisci le pompe funebri a me più vicine? Perché ho urlato ‘muori!’ a un deficiente che non m’aveva dato la precedenza?

E soprattutto, nonostante credo abbiano capito che sono del settore, perché tentano di vendermi lo stesso principio attivo allo stesso dosaggio ma seguito dalle diverse diciture ‘febbre’, ‘cefalea’, ‘dolori mestruali’, ‘influenza’, ‘forte’, ‘fast’ come se non fosse la stessa cosa che fa sempre la stessa cosa?

Giuro che tornerei a fare il cacciatore-raccoglitore se non che poi al mercato del baratto sicuramente incontrerei Ea-nasir che mi rifilerebbe i suoi lingotti di rame farlocchi.

@a-tarassia

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automatismascrive · 2 years

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Su tumblr, per tumblr, con tumblr: what happens next

Vi ricordate i webcomic? No, non parlo di cose tipo Stand Still Stay Silent o Kill Six Billion Demons, fumetti pubblicati online che hanno come scopo ultimo quello di essere stampati in una bella edizione con copertina rigida e tavole immacolate. Pensavo più a roba tipo questa. O questa. O in generale tutte quelle serie nate dalla penna di un solo autore che partiva dal presupposto di non saper disegnare, spesso pure di non saper sceneggiare e in casi più gravi manco di saper fare lo spelling di parole oltre le tre sillabe; sì, c’era naturalmente un mucchio di robaccia di questo genere in giro per l’internet, ma il fascino di poter prendere carta e penna (o pennino e tavoletta grafica, ma siamo lì) e poter creare un prodotto finito da poter postare sul web che veniva letto e commentato da un mucchio di persone è qualcosa che è sempre più difficile da ricreare al giorno d’oggi – e in mezzo a questa pila gigante di spazzatura non mancavano i piccoli tesori che riuscivano a raccontare una storia che nei medium più tradizionali non avrebbe trovato spazio. Non che oggi i webcomic di questo tipo siano spariti per mancanza di mezzi o di piattaforme, sia chiaro, ma quando chi compete per l’attenzione del tuo pubblico è un illustratore con una laurea in arti figurative che ha pure fatto qualche corso di sceneggiatura è quasi impossibile costruirsi un pubblico che vada oltre lo stile incerto e l’iniziale mancanza di coerenza e continuità invece di scegliere qualcosa di più accattivante.

Il mondo dei webcomic così come si intendeva dieci-quindici anni fa è stato largamente sorpassato: ogni tanto però spunta fuori un’eccezione. Eccezione che, per essersi fatta largo in questo mercato ipercompetitivo e frenetico, deve avere qualche qualità che non la faccia istantaneamente ricondurre alla satura categoria dei three dudes talking about videogames (storico antenato dei three dudes with a podcast che oggi piagano la rete): è proprio il caso di what happens next, disegnato e sceneggiato da Max Graves, che si prefigge di narrare una storia che parte da un episodio di cronaca nera che cambia per sempre le vite dei protagonisti, per esplorare in che modo filtrare questi avvenimenti attraverso la rete può peggiorarli, distorcerli, o creare nuovi mostri che sarebbero stati impossibili da immaginare prima dell’avvento dei social. E già vi sento, come una sola voce, pensare: che due maroni. Che due gargantueschi, flaccidi maroni. Fermi, prometto che questo webcomic merita almeno il tempo che spenderete a leggere questo consiglio; anzi, per rientrare nelle vostre grazie, lancio l’amo: è un webcomic su tumblr. Proprio così, una parte significativa delle interazioni tra i personaggi avverranno tramite una versione di tumblr molto simile a quella attuale – l’autore ha specificato l’ambientazione è un mondo parallelo molto simile al nostro – con interfacce ricreate minuziosamente e dinamiche così vicine a quelle reali da essere chiaramente state oggetto di uno studio accurato. A questo punto potrei avervi perso definitivamente, ma per chi di voi si è sentito intrigato alla menzione del tumblero, ecco di che cosa parla il consiglio di oggi.

Vikki, assistente in uno studio di pompe funebri e proprietaria di un canale YouTube dedicato al true crime, decide di chiedere assieme alla sua amica Xandra un’intervista a Milo Holliday, ragazzo trans coinvolto anni prima in un omicidio particolarmente efferato assieme al suo migliore amico-slash-fidanzato-slash cotta pre-eggcracking (Griffin Petty – uhm, è complicato) che ha portato alla morte di due ragazze. Pur essendo rimasto diversi anni in un istituto di igiene mentale a seguito della sentenza del processo, è attualmente in libertà e vive con suo padre e con sua nonna, cercando di mantenere il più possibile l’anonimato per lasciarsi il passato alle spalle. Oh, tranne per il fatto che ha un account su tumblr con il suo vero nome a cui arrivano ogni giorno messaggi crudeli, transfobici o semplicemente scioccati all’idea che un tizio coinvolto in un evento tanto traumatico scelga di passare diverse ore al giorno a discutere su che cosa dovrebbe o non dovrebbe meritarsi per il resto della sua vita. Su tumblr è però attivo anche Gage, attuale fidanzato di Griffin e proprietario di un account pieno di contenuti grafici e disturbanti che insiste per contattare Milo per avere più informazioni sull’omicidio in cui è stato coinvolto e sul rapporto che aveva con Griffin prima del tragico evento: come è facile immaginare, questo mix letale di riflettori sulla vita di Milo e di traumi passati che bussano alla porta innescherà una spirale che lo porterà a dover ripensare radicalmente come ha vissuto fino a quel momento e in che modo dovrebbe gestire le responsabilità di ciò che ha fatto. Spoiler: nulla andrà come dovrebbe.

La prima tavola del primo capitolo, featuring Vikki che è ovviamente la mia preferita perché è la mean goth del cast.

La prima caratteristica di what happens next che salta subito all’occhio è l’estremo realismo della componente social che costituisce uno dei motori principali della vicenda. Ogni interfaccia è resa graficamente con un notevole livello di cura e dettaglio, e il modo in cui ciascuno dei personaggi interagisce con la rete è molto vicino alla realtà – nonché chiaramente basato sulle esperienze dell’autore: non mancano i riferimenti a meme, dinamiche e nerderie di vario genere che hanno fatto la storia di tumblr e di altre sottoculture online, ma non sono mai buttati nella storia fini a loro stessi, giusto per strappare una risata al lettore o per fargli un occhiolino come a dirgli “so che tu sai che io so”. Il fatto che Milo riguardi ossessivamente le prime stagioni di My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic e che non sia in grado di impegnarsi nella visione o nella lettura di alcuna narrativa che si allontani da ciò che guarderebbe un ragazzino di seconda media, o l’interesse che Vikki prova per il true crime, o ancora quei contenuti morbosi e talmente gore da risultare ridicoli che Gage posta sul blog sono tutti riflessi del modo in cui i personaggi hanno scelto di gestire i traumi e le difficoltà che li hanno accompagnati fino a quel momento. Ulteriormente significativo è il fatto che queste dinamiche sono presentate in modo molto realistico: persino io, che ai social propriamente detti mi sono avvicinata abbastanza tardi e che sono su tumblr da meno di un anno, non ho avuto nessuna difficoltà a riconoscere quanto le interazioni online presentate nel corso delle tavole rispecchino fedelmente moltissime situazioni che si evolvono tutti i giorni nella realtà – dai comportamenti più macroscopici, come bullismo o stalking, fino alla complessità dei comportamenti di persone depresse, terminally online e incapaci di gestire le proprie responsabilità in maniera diversa da come gestivano a tredici anni le liti tra fandom.

Va sottolineato come questo realismo non si limiti a permeare le relazioni che si costruiscono online tra i personaggi, che soprattutto nella prima parte del webcomic tendono a dominare la narrazione, ma anche a quelle che vediamo offline. Se vi aspettavate una storia con buoni e cattivi, o perzone tossike e brava gente, be’, what happens next non ha nessuna intenzione di raccontarvela; persino i personaggi più sgradevoli e con cui è più difficile empatizzare, come il padre di Milo, che non esita a ridicolizzare il figlio e si rifiuta di comprendere o di accettare la sua transizione, sono protagonisti di dialoghi rivelatori e credibili che riescono a farci percepire tutta la complessità racchiusa in una storia così dolorosa come quella che Graves vuole raccontare. In questo webcomic non ci sono persone “moralmente giuste”, e uno dei focus centrali della serie è proprio sul ruolo della vittima, che può essere indubbiamente liberatorio da vestire, ma che se cucito addosso troppo stretto impedisce di diventare qualsiasi altra cosa e porta a liberarsi di qualsiasi percezione di responsabilità, rifiutando la crescita e il cambiamento necessari per diventare adulti; quasi tutti i personaggi hanno comportamenti infantili e bizzarri, spesso esasperati da spazi online incapaci di rispondere alle loro esigenze ma più che felici di intrappolarli in dinamiche adolescenziali e prive di complessità: tu sei una persona moralmente corretta (hai rispettato il mio dni), tu un mostro che farebbe meglio ad ammazzarsi appena possibile (hai postato un contenuto con una ship incestuosa).

Sì, Milo sta guardando una puntata di MLP. Grave che io sappia qual è anche se non l’ho mai visto in vita mia.

Persino la giustapposizione tra elementi comici e grotteschi ed eventi traumatici e violenti, che in altre mani avrebbe rischiato di risultare in un pastrocchio incoerente e privo di qualsiasi carica drammatica, in questo webcomic è dosata in modo da fornire sufficiente realismo alle interazioni senza per questo scadere in sterile citazionismo o nell’illusione che citare la realtà permetta di dare spessore alla finzione. Insomma, se siete arrivati fin qui è evidente il mio entusiasmo per questo webcomic, ma proprio in virtù del suo status indie presenta qualche limite. Il più evidente è il disegno: se le interfacce sono assai realistiche e i mezzibusti dei protagonisti molto espressivi nella loro semplicità, quando il tratto è costretto a rappresentare persone in movimento, composizioni complesse o gestualità peculiari viene messa in evidenza la sua inadeguatezza; è perlopiù abbastanza chiaro nel rappresentare ciò che sta succedendo, ma difficilmente è gradevole alla vista o bello in senso tecnico. Anche la colorazione è piatta e priva di ombre e luci, stratagemma che funziona nel primo capitolo che utilizza una palette molto limitata ma molto meno in quello successivo. Non dovrebbe sorprendere, considerando che si tratta di un webcomic vecchia scuola che è evidentemente frutto di anni di lavoro da autodidatta, ma contribuirà sicuramente ad allontanare qualche potenziale lettore abituato a standard grafici molto superiori.

Ecco, appunto. Anche se hobbit!Milo ha il suo appeal.

Come già feci per Romulus, inoltre, sono costretta a segnalare che il webcomic è ancora in corso: il primo capitolo – dog names – è completo ed è leggibile anche come una storia a sé stante, com’era nelle intenzioni originarie dell’autore, mentre il secondo è ancora incompleto; viene aggiornato regolarmente e fino ad ora non ha dato segni di peggioramento qualitativo: sembra che l’autore sappia quello che fa e che non si stia affidando al caso o a una prima geniale intuizione per scriverlo, dunque mi sento di consigliarlo caldamente anche con questi caveat (e poi volevo ricominciare a scrivere sul blog, okay?). Se i temi citati vi interessano e avete almeno una qualche curiosità di vedere in che modo le dinamiche dell’Internet possono essere sfruttate per scrivere una storia complessa, competente e conscia dei medium di cui vuole parlare – o se vi è piaciuto Bokura no Hentai – what happens next potrebbe rivelarsi una lettura interessante.

#ita #comic #webcomic #what happens next #max graves #recensione

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duchessofostergotlands · 2 years

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I actually think its a bad idea to tone down the coronation. If you think about, the people who support the monarchy will do so no matter what, the people who hate it wont have their minds changed because they had fewer fancy parts of the ceremonies. However, people in the middle, those are the people who while understanding the argument against the monarchy still enjoy the pomp fancy fun stuff. Its not like people are gonna see on their tax returns “you saved €75 because the king didn’t use velvet chairs”. LET US HAVE OUR FUN!!!

I don’t think it’s necessarily bad…but I don’t like it lol. We talked about it a bit in the podcast - Episode 40 and we talk a bit more in the next one coming out on Thursday - but as you say it doesn’t help us in any way so give us the fantasy! And it’s almost insulting they think the little peasants can be placated by them sitting in normal chairs while not actually making any practical changes to the monarchy at all lol. As if throwing out some velvet seats is the same as wealth re-distribution! I think we’re somewhat in the minority in this and my reasoning is largely selfish but I just hope that in scaling it back they don’t make it mundane and forgettable 🤷🏻‍♀️

#ask #anon #british royal family #coronation #coronations

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coineagle · 3 months

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Understanding Bitcoin Swings: Why Extreme Reactions Aren’t Needed

Key Points

Bitcoin’s recent drop is attributed to profit-taking and seasonal trends, but its future remains bullish.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to coexist with Bitcoin, both contributing to wealth creation and protection.

Bitcoin’s Market Behavior

Bitcoin’s recent 2.16% drop, making it trade at $61.3K, was notable compared to its $71.9K value on 6th June. Some attribute this decline to the repayment plan of the defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. However, Alex Thorn from Galaxy Digital believes that this plan will cause less Bitcoin sell pressure than anticipated.

Anthony Pompliano, host of the Pomp podcast, shared his views on CNBC Squawk Box. He stated that such volatility is expected as Bitcoin is up 40% YTD and 100% in the last year. He noted that in previous bull markets, there have been multiple drawdowns of 3% or more and the current 15% drop is within the expected bandwidth.

Factors Influencing Bitcoin

Pompliano highlighted that profit-taking is inevitable when an asset rises significantly. The explosive rally at the start of the year was followed by natural profit-taking. He mentioned that many traders engage in basis trading, going long in the spot market and short in futures, which contributes to selling pressure.

He also discussed the seasonal trend where many investors invest in May and then go away. This pattern is typical, with Q4 often being a big quarter, while Q2 and Q3 tend to go sideways.

Coexistence of Bitcoin and AI

Pompliano also emphasized the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a major driving force. The focus has shifted from Bitcoin and the general crypto ecosystem to AI. He believes that this shift can be seen as a common ground for both technologies to coexist. AI is expected to create enormous amounts of wealth and Bitcoin is expected to protect that wealth.

Alexis Ohanian, Founder of Seven Seven Six, echoed similar sentiments, stating that the age of AI and blockchain technology are about to collide and reinforce each other. Despite Bitcoin’s current price action concerns, the future, coupled with the power of AI, could have a significant and mostly bullish impact on Bitcoin.

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rimsno · 9 months

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09/01/2024

Je suis rentrée à Bordeaux.

Ce matin, je me suis levée exprès en avance pour voir maman avant qu'elle aille au boulot mais j'avais trop la tête dans le guidon. Elle m'a dit que c'était dommage qu'à chaque fois qu'on se voyait on ne savait pas profiter l'une de l'autre, je crois que j'aurai pleurer si j'avais pas été si fatiguée. Je suis retournée me coucher et quand je me suis levée papa et Sam était là. Je me suis préparée, j'ai préparée ma voiture et je suis partie. Il a neigé un peu mais rien n'a tenu ce qui n'est pas étonnant. La route s'est bien passé, j'étais chill à écouté mes podcasts sur des enquêtes un peu gore, j'avoue c'était too much parfois.

J'ai eu une sensation bizarre en rentrant chez moi, je saurai pas trop expliquer, je me sentais pas à ma place et même maintenant c'est encore un peu bizarre. J'ai déballé toutes mes affaires pourtant – à part la vaisselle à mémé, je vais attendre. On est sortis avec les potes et ça m'a fait du bien de tous les retrouver, j'ai beaucoup ris, je me sens bien avec eux. Melvin m'a offert un livre sur Wes Anderson pour Noël, je me sens mal j'ai pas encore trouvé son cadeau, il faudrait que je m'en occupe demain.

Et aussi de la vidange de ma voiture et de mon permis et d'acheter une chaîne pour mon vélo.

J'espère que mon entretien va bien se passer, je sais déjà que j'aurai le job mais je sais pas si ça va me plaire et ça me soule parce que mes potes trouvent des boulots génial tandis que moi je vais jouer les factrices. J'ai rien contre ce métier mais j'aurais aimé quelque chose de peut-être un peu plus divertissant ou créatif mais rien n'est accessible quand t'as aucune expérience première ou diplôme dans ce genre de taff. Je suis contente de plus travailler au pompes funèbres. Je me rends compte à quel point c'était devenu lourd à porter. Je me sens bien en ce moment. C'est possible que ce soit purement les hormones qui travaille. Surtout que je me suis remise sur une appli de rencontre – comme si toutes les fois précédentes ne m'avaient pas suffis pour me dire que c'était une mauvaise idée. N'empêche Tanguy, il était sympa. Mais c'est tout.

#journal

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tricart · 1 year

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bylagunabay · 1 year

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Diary of an Exorcist

SPIRITUAL WARFARE FOR FAMILIES

(w/ Consecration Prayer)

Exorcist Father Chad Ripperger appeared as a guest on Doug Barry and Father Richard Heilman’s United States Grace Force podcast. Doug asked Fr. Ripperger how families can best protect themselves from the raging spiritual battle occurring in our modern culture. Fr. Ripperger’s four brief recommendations are as follows:

(1) PRAY THE ANGELUS

“One of the things we found the most effective in creating a good atmosphere within the home among the parents, is if they get up and pray the Angelus at 6:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, and 6:00 p.m. There’s something about this that protects people during spiritual warfare. We’re just now wrapping our minds around what specifically makes this work, but part of it has to do with the discipline.”

(2) PRAY FOR THE PROTECTION OF YOUR CHILDREN

“Pray for the protection of your children on a daily basis. Spiritual warfare is so intense that you actually have to pray every single day for your children’s protection.”

(3) PRAY FOR THE INTERCESSION OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS (VIRGIN MARY)

“Ask Our Lady of Sorrows, specifically under that title, if there is anything going on in the lives of your children. The reason being – a lot of times, stuff is hidden and the parents don’t know what’s going on until it’s way down the road. This will be a way for the parents to come to the knowledge of it, so it can be addressed more quickly.”

(4) CONSECRATE YOUR FAMILY AND ALL PROBLEMS REGULARLY TO OUR LADY

“In the book, Deliverance Prayers for the Laity, is the Consecration of Exterior Goods (see below). If parents consecrate their family, and the specific problems that the family deals with, I find that this drastically impacts the strengthening of the family and rooting out the defects and the problems within the family.

But then, of course, obviously, the parents have to have a habitual life of prayer themselves and get the children praying regularly, so that when they get to those points where the temptations occur – when they start seeing this stuff – they have the discipline of a regular prayer life to fall back on.”

CONSECRATION OF ONE’S EXTERIOR GOODS TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

I, N. a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in your hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.

In the presence of all the heavenly court, I choose you, O Mary, this day for my Mother and Mistress. Knowing that I have received rights over all my exterior goods by the promulgation of the Natural Law by the Divine Author, I deliver and consecrate to you, as your slave, all of my exterior goods, past, present and future; I relinquish into your hands, my Heavenly Mother, all rights over my exterior goods, including my health, finances, relationships, possessions, property, my job and my earthly success and I retain for myself no right of disposing the goods that come to me but leave to you the entire and full right of disposing of all that belongs to me, without exception, according to your good pleasure, for the greater glory of God in time and in eternity. As I now interiorly relinquish what belongs to me exteriorly into your hands, I entrust to you the protection of those exterior goods against the evil one, so that, knowing that they now belong to you, he cannot touch them.

Receive, O good and pious Virgin, this little offering of what little is, in honor of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal Wisdom deigned to have to your maternity; in homage to the power which both of you have over this poor sinner, and in thanksgiving for the privileges with which the Holy Trinity has favored you. Trusting in the providential care of God the Father and thy maternal care, I have full confidence that you will take care of me as to the necessities of this life and will not leave me forsaken. God the Father increase my trust in Your Son’s Mother; Our Lady of Fair Love, give me perfect confidence in the providence of Your Son. Amen.

#catholic church #catholic #spiritual warfare #exorcism #exorcists #angelus #Mary #Blessed Virgin Mary

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