#then a couple months after i got into them i scrolled through the festival page and saw their announcement

[excelsior9173]

thinking today about how i saw sleep token back in june but originally wasn’t going to…

[infinitevariety]

May Your Days Be Merry

Having never been able to celebrate previously, Aziraphale and Crowley decide to embrace the festive season and make the most of their first December together since the world didn’t end.

Chapter Twenty Three: Love (AO3)

Secrets are revealed when Aziraphale pops by Crowley's flat unexpectedly.

Crowley is bored. It’s a few too many hours early to head to the bookshop. He and Aziraphale have spent time together every day this month, and with the visitors they had yesterday Crowley wants to give Aziraphale time to decompress and be alone with his books.

Which is why Crowley is lounging on the sofa in his flat, his second favourite Christmas film playing on the TV and music blaring from another room. He’s not paying attention to either of them, instead playing a festive edition of Candy Crush on his phone and absent-mindedly sipping on his drink.

Crowley’s eyes glance to the time and he curses internally. It’s still too early to leave. Of course it’s still too early. He only checked the time two minutes previously. He focuses even harder on the little candy canes, Christmas trees, baubles, and bells.

The noise of the TV, music, and game, along with Crowley’s determination to distract himself, in hindsight, is a mistake.

“Crowley?” Aziraphale’s voice is loud in an effort to be heard over the various devices, and Crowley suspects it’s not the first time Aziraphale has said his name.

As his eyes move from his phone screen to Aziraphale, Crowley jumps up from the sofa and immediately panics. He wasn’t expecting this. He snaps his fingers, lowering the volume on the TV, music player, and his phone to a more sedate level. Then he glances around the room, remembering the state of his entire flat.

“Crowley,” repeats Aziraphale.

“I can explain!”

“I don’t think you need to, my dear.” Aziraphale isn’t looking at Crowley. His eyes roam over the room as he continues to speak. “I suspected you might be giving me some time to myself, but I missed you. So thought I’d pop by. There was no answer when I knocked so I…”

“Barged in?” Crowley completes for him.

That, at least, draws Aziraphale’s attention. He turns to look at Crowley with soft eyes and a tilted head.

“There’s no need to get defensive, dear. I think this is lovely.”

Crowley physically cringes. “Of course you do.”

“Ah,” says Aziraphale. A look of understanding crossing his face. “The problem isn’t that I like it, it’s that I now know that you like it.”

Aziraphale draws closer to Crowley, smiling. Crowley avoids Aziraphale’s eye. Instead, he looks around at his flat.

At the Christmas tree set up in the corner, with glittery baubles and flashing coloured lights. At the Let it Snow banner hung across the doorway. At the red neon Hohoho sign on his coffee table. At the fairy lights around his television. At the TV screen where Mark is confessing is love to Juliet on a series of signs. At the rapidly cooling mug of hot chocolate sitting by his phone. At himself, wearing a black jumper with candy cane striped words on it declaring Crowley to be Festive AF.

They are silent for several long seconds as Rocking Around the Christmas Tree plays from the other room. Then Aziraphale reaches out to Crowley, grasping his hand and squeezing. Despite himself, Crowley feels reassured by the gesture.

“It’s stupid,” mumbles Crowley as he looks down at his woolly sock clad feet.

“If you think this is stupid you must have hated spending time at the bookshop with me all month.”

“No, angel—” Crowley quickly raises his head to look at Aziraphale, who’s smiling back at him.

“I know you haven’t, Crowley. I know you’ve been having a wonderful month doing festive things with me. I already know you like Christmas.”

Crowley shrugs, but doesn’t speak. He doesn’t count it as conceding the point, but he also knows Aziraphale doesn’t need him to.

“Now, what’s an angel got to do to get a mulled wine around here? I know you must have some on the go—I can smell it.”

“I’ll go fetch you one.” Crowley smiles. “Get comfy on the sofa, maybe we can watch a film?”

“What film is this?” asks Aziraphale, looking at the screen, where Judy is leaning in to kiss John. “It looks nice.”

“Oh, no, that’s just some nonsense rubbish, I wasn’t even really watching it. We’ll find something else,” says Crowley dismissively. Aziraphale might have realised Crowley is fond of Christmas but he can’t find out one of his favourite Christmas films is Love Actually.

He wanders to the kitchen, and by the time Crowley comes back with two steaming glasses of mulled wine, Aziraphale is curled up under one of the blankets unwrapping a chocolate coin. He also has his Santa hat on.

“Nice hat,” says Crowley as he hands Aziraphale his drink.

“Well, I had to match you, my dear.”

Crowley’s eyes widen as he absently reaches up to confirm that, yes, he put his reindeer antlers on this morning. Aziraphale, the beautiful bastard, just beams up at him and wiggles with joy.

“What do you fancy watching, angel?” Crowley scrolls through the Christmas selection on Netflix, hoping for inspiration or for something to catch Aziraphale’s eye.

And something does catch Aziraphale’s eye. Just nothing on the TV.

“Are those my presents?” asks Aziraphale innocently.

Crowley turns to look at what Aziraphale has seen. Off to the side and poorly hidden under a side table are several Christmas gift bags in various sizes. Crowley hasn’t bothered to hide them away properly, because Aziraphale wasn’t supposed to have come over.

“Whether they’re your gifts or not—” And really, who else’s are they going be, when they exchanged gifts with their friends yesterday? “—they aren’t being opened until the 25th.”

“Or tomorrow,” counters Aziraphale, “if we stay up until midnight.”

“Don’t open all your presents while I’m asleep!”

“Don’t go to sleep, then.”

“Or you could sleep with me.”

“I—” Aziraphale seems lost for words.

“I just meant—” Crowley fervently hopes they’re on the same page about this. “—sleep.”

“I—” Some tension seems to leave Aziraphale’s posture. “Yes. Perhaps we can try that.”

“Want to try one of these?” Keen to break the tension fully, Crowley holds out a tray of Ferrero Rocher.

Aziraphale squints at him suspiciously. “Absolutely not.”

Crowley laughs. “More for me, then.” He unwraps one of the perfectly normal chocolates and chomps delightedly on it.

“I’m going to get another mulled wine,” says Aziraphale as he stands up and wanders off to the kitchen.

While he’s gone, Crowley finally settles on a film (Trolls Holiday Special—Aziraphale is going to hate it), and works his way through three more Ferrero Rocher.

“Crowley?” Aziraphale calls from the back of the room.

“Hmm?” Crowley gets up and wanders over to him.

Aziraphale is standing at the card holder Crowley put up a week or so ago, after his windowsill got full. In his hands are a couple of cards that he’d pulled down to read. Crowley peers over his shoulder to see. One is from Roger, the young bloke in one of the lower flats, and the other is from Florence, the old lady who lives directly below Crowley’s. What both cards have in common, Crowley now realises, it that they include a message thanking Crowley for his card.

“Crowley,” repeats Aziraphale, “did you send all of your neighbours Christmas cards?”

“Ngk—yes,” admits Crowley.

Aziraphale turns and looks up at Crowley in wonder. Crowley knows the jig is up. It’s time to be honest.

“You were wrong, earlier,” he tells Aziraphale. “I don’t like Christmas.”

Aziraphale eyebrows draw together and he looks unaccountably sad for a moment. But only for a moment, because Crowley isn’t finished.

“I love Christmas. I told myself I was doing all this stuff for you—the decorating, the films, the traditions… and I was, at first. Making sure you’re so happy is my mission in life. Then, I don’t know exactly when, and I’m sure not even God knows why, but at some point, I just started enjoying it all myself, too. It’s gaudy and full of friendliness and I’ll never like tinsel, but… it’s actually a lot of fucking fun.” Crowley shrugs, not knowing how to follow up his admission.

“I love you.” Aziraphale says it urgently, like it’s been living inside of him just waiting for the right moment to make its escape. Maybe it has. “I love you for loving Christmas, and for so much more. For everything.”

Crowley smiles. If this is what happens when he admits how much he likes something, maybe he should declare his love for dumb shit more often.

“I love puppies and kittens, too.”

Aziraphale rolls his eyes.

“Oh, and helping old ladies across the road.”

“Shut up,” says Aziraphale, before pulling Crowley into a hug.

[coppicefics]

Masked Omens: Week Seven, Part One

[Image Description: Image 1 - A simple rendition of the Masked Singer UK logo, a golden mask with colourful fragments flying off of it. The mask has a golden halo and a golden devil tail protruding from either side. Below, gold text reads ‘Masked Omens’.

Image 2 - A page from the Entertainment section of the Capital Herald, dated 6th February 2021. Full image description and transcript below the cut. End ID.]

Read the fic here! All news stories and events are entirely fictional; real names of people (with the exception of image attributions) and places are used only for context. No affiliation is implied, and no disrespect is intended by the use of their names in this work of fiction.

[EDIT: With thanks to HolRose/@hasturswig for spotting that I had overlooked the sad passing of John Noakes, who originally appeared on this page!]

The Capital Herald - Saturday, 6th February 2021 Entertainment, page 15

Top left: Grasswater redo rumoured Will anybody tackle the ‘cursed’ adaptation? [Image Description: The ‘w’ in ‘Grasswater, ‘h’ in ‘the’, and ‘o’ in ‘adaptation’ in the above headline have been circled in pencil. End ID.] It's been nearly a decade and a half since the critically-acclaimed adaptation of Sir Thomas Parsett's The Grasswater Affair flopped into cinemas, and rumours are once again circulating about a possible reboot. The first attempt at transferring Parsett's magnum opus to the big screen was released in 2009 after a series of setbacks to the production process. Among the calamities that befell the set were a fire in the wardrobe department, an overdose requiring producers to recast the lead role of Fabian, and a bout of food poisoning that halted filming for over a week. There were whispers, among the more superstitious, that the film was cursed. By the time The Grasswater Affair was finally released, the delay had whipped the original book's fans into a frenzy of anticipation, and excitement over the forthcoming film actually pushed the 19th-century novel into the bestseller lists for the first time in the weeks before the release. Early reviews were promising, and the good press only fed the hype machine. But the crowds that packed into cinemas to watch it emerged disappointed; while the reasons they gave for their disappointment varied wildly, everybody from casual viewers to die-hard book lovers seemed to find it lacking in some aspect or another. It deviated too far from the source text, while adhering precisely to the minor details that didn't matter; it featured a young actor fresh out of drama school, rather than the promised household name; it lingered too long on shots of the actresses' bosoms, and the key object that proved key to the plot was left entirely out of focus in the background of a crucial early scene. While, naturally, some audience members enjoyed it in its own right, it never became either a blockbuster hit or a cult classic, and it still boasts a lowly 2.9 stars on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and 24% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This being the case, it might be hard to understand why rumours continue to circulate about a revival of The Grasswater Affair, or what might make this time different from the many, many other occasions when such a story has surfaced on the internet. The first question is easily answered by a look at the thriving community of Parsett fans who adore the original novel – and, indeed, the rest of the series The Grasswater Affair is part of. Following first Fabian, and then various other heroes, through a sort of alternative 19th century underpinned by magic and other fantasy tropes, it's been hailed as a masterpiece – and it's aged surprisingly well despite the shift in society's views and tolerances since its publication. The first novel sees Fabian locked in a battle of wits with his somewhat older rival, Rafferty, as they seek to make their fortunes in a society rife with danger and – worse – scandal. As for the second question, the recent rumours have an extra ring of truth to them thanks to the attachment of an actual name – writer-turned-showrunner Noel Garmin is said to be in talks about the project. Having adapted several of his own books for the small screen, could he now be turning his famed respect for written source material to a film or series based on Parsett's masterpiece? If he does, book fans can expect to be very pleased with the result. Garmin was asked about his upcoming projects at a recent convention panel, and his answer, while enigmatic, seemed promising.“Well, I've got to write some books, at some point! But I do also want to work on some more TV, it's a fascinating way of telling a story and it's still quite new and exciting for me. Perhaps I could tell one of my favourite stories, one that I didn't originally write. I'm actually talking to some people... We'll have to see. Hopefully I'll have news for you soon.” Hopefully you will, Noel. Hopefully you will. CITRON DEUX-CHEVAL Top right: Summer’s operatic offerings Last of Glyndebourne festival announcements [Image Description: The apostrophe and ‘s’ of ‘summer’s’ and the ‘t’ of ‘operatic’ in the above headline are circled in pencil. Below the headline is a short, wide picture of a theatre auditorium with red curtains. Small text over the bottom of the picture reads ‘Photo: Gabriel Varaljay | Unsplash’. End ID.] Opera fans are in for a treat this summer, as Puccini's Turandot returns to Glyndebourne Opera House. The venue in Lewes is renowned as the home of great opera, and Turandot is a favourite no matter where it's performed, so this combination of the two is a perfect match. Throw in popular young tenor Jeremy Wensleydale – most recently seen on ITV's The Masked Singer - performing the role of Calaf, and it's a performance guaranteed to impress. The play follows Calaf as he sets out to win the hand of the titular princess. Each suitor is asked three riddles, and failure means instant death. But answering three riddles is not enough to win the heart of Princess Turandot, and Calaf strikes a desperate bargain; if she can guess his true name by daybreak, she may put him to death regardless. If she fails, the marriage goes ahead. It's an interesting method of courting, to be sure, but the opera has enchanted and delighted audiences for many years now. And, if nothing else, who can resist an opportunity to hear 'Nessun Dorma' live? Glyndebourne members can book tickets now for dates between 25th May and 22nd June; remaining tickets will be available from the 18th of April. Turandot is the latest title to be announced by the opera house and completes their summer season's line-up. There will also be performances of Cosi Fan Tutte, Tristan and Isolde, Il Turco in Italia, and an array of concerts and other events. The Glyndebourne Summer Festival is always a highlight of the arts scene in the middle of the year, but there are events all year round. Currently, the opera house is a stopping-point for a touring production of Romeo & Juliet, which has already passed through the Chichester Festival Theatre and will then go on to Colchester, Ipswich, Cambridge, Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds. The show is a daring new interpretation of the age-old Shakespearean tragedy, fusing music and dance with the familiar story, and a full review will appear in the Capital Herald on Thursday. From the middle of February, Romeo & Juliet will be replaced at Glyndebourne with a more traditional #approach to La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi. The music of La Traviata may be familiar, even to audiences unfamiliar with the story, as it was rather liberally plundered for inspiration by Donato Lovreglio in 1865. Of course, that does assume a familiarity with Lovreglio - but if you find yourself humming along during your first attendance, that might very well be why. Incidentally, for more opera and classical music trivia, you might find my recent book, Inside Opera, worth a read - especially if you need to brush up on your cultured conversation points before you visit the opera house this summer. EDWARD BIGGS Inside Opera, by Edward Biggs, is published by Byker Press and is available now in all good bookshops. #Hardback RRP ￡9.99/€11.99.

Centre left: Capital Herald scoops NMA Star-studded ceremony honours news greats [Image Description: The ‘H’ of ‘Herald’, ‘A’ of ‘NMA’, and ‘t’ of ‘star’ in the above headline are circled in pencil.] The 2021 News Media Award ceremony took place on Thursday evening at a glamorous event held in the Mayfair Room at the Connaught Hotel, Mayfair. While many of the attendees are more used to operating the cameras than parading in front of them, they rose to the occasion with great aplomb, rubbing shoulders on the red carpet with some of the most famous entertainers in the UK who'd come to add their own special touches to the ceremony. It will come as no surprise to learn that Trevor McDonald, Natasha Kaplinsky, and Naga Munchetty were in attendance, as were Tom Bradby and Dan Walker. But the attendee who really got heads turning was Carmine Zugiber, notorious for attending very few events on UK soil. Although she's normally out in the field, she's been based in London for the last couple of months, covering the political beat for News World Weekly in Uriel Scrolle's absence, and it seems she couldn't resist the opportunity to collect her awards for Best Combat Coverage and Outstanding Field Reporting in person. Wearing a glamorous Ligur gown in striking red to match her hair, she paused on the red carpet to exchange words with some of those less fortunate reporters covering the event. “I don't know what to do with myself, with nobody shooting at me!” Zugiber joked. “Where's my bulletproof jacket?” The ceremony featured a performance of 'Messy (If I Want To Be)' by rapper P-White, who also presented an award for Entertainment Columnist of the Year to the Capital Herald's very own Citron Deux-Cheval. Another of the Capital Herald's staff writers, Edward Biggs, was nominated in the category of News-Adjacent Achievement for his 2020 trivia book, That Guy From That Thing. While the award, presented by Dame Angela Crowley, eventually went to News World Weekly's Donald Eath for High Score: A Study in Arcade Machines, Edward did get a chance to meet Dame Angela and exchange a few words. “She said I shouldn't feel discouraged, as she didn't win anything at her first awards ceremony either – and she wished me every success with my new book, which has just come out,” said Biggs of the star. “Hopefully, next year, I'll be bringing home a trophy too.” At the end of the night, as the winners and losers drifted home, the presses were already roaring into action to print the morning's papers. The news never stops; there was precious little time for the winners to enjoy the warm glow of appreciation, and no time at all for the less successful nominees to lament their losses. But at the end of the day, the whole industry could sleep safe in the knowledge that the work we do is valuable, and valued. MARY HODGES

Bottom left: Blue Peter garden party ‘22 Celebrating 10 years in show’s new location [Image description: The ‘B’ and ‘e’ of ‘Blue’ and the ‘h’ of ‘show’ in the above headline are circled in pencil. End ID.] The BBC has announced that it will be holding a party for former Blue Peter presenters, guests, and viewers in 2022. Held in the Blue Peter garden in Salford to celebrate ten years since it was relocated from London, the party is expected to provide an opportunity for Blue Peter presenters, past and present, to mingle and let their hair down, as well as catching up with some of the guests who've appeared on the show over the years. Former presenters such as Adam Young, Katy Hill, Radzi Chinyanganya, Anthea Turner, Gethin Jones, Pat Maputi, Yvette Fielding and Konnie Huq can expect an invite, of course, as can the current team of Lindsey Russell, Richie Driss, Mwaka Mudenda, and Adam Beales. But the former guests are an even more varied bunch; everyone from Idina Menzel and Sir Chris Hoy to McFly and Tim Peake could be invited, to say nothing of the hundreds of farmers, bakers, teachers, parents, and kids who've taken part in the show. While the party is quite a long way off yet, the BBC are already hard at work figuring out a lottery system that will allow them to give every viewer an equal chance to be invited to the party. Register your interest now on the Blue Peter website to make sure you don't miss out. SARAH JEUNE Ad, bottom right: [Image Description: A black background with a dark-grey crown resting on it. There are smudges of a lighter colour on the background. Above the crown, graffiti-style text reads ‘P-White’. Below it, written as if in chalk, are the words ‘Chalkdust tour’, underlined as if in chalk. Beneath it, a red bar reading ‘New dates added’ covers the words ‘Sold out’. Below that is the web address ‘www.chalkdust-tour.com’. Tiny writing in the bottom right hand corner reads ‘Photo: Zach Angelo for ProChurchMedia | Unsplash’. End ID.]

[End of transcript]

[draechaeli]

Weather, Mountains, and Distance in China as Applied to the Módào Zǔshī Universe

I am a Foreign Teacher living in China and have been doing so for the last eight school years. For five and a half years I lived in Shandong Province, the same province as LanlingJin and I was a three and a half hour drive north of LanlingJin; a two to three-hour drive east and a bit south of LaolingQin; and a five to six-hour drive east and a bit north of QingheNie. For the last two and a half years I have lived in Jiangsu Province (barely) just two and a bit hours southwest of LanlingJin. But Jiangsu is the province of GusuLan and I am six hours north and a bit west of them; and not that anyone cares about MolingSu, but I’m four hours north and bit west of them. I have also travelled to every province, region, and territory that China says is China and most of those in January and February during Spring Festival Holiday. So from this experience I am going to discuss Chinese weather and a few other things that relate to the MDZS universe.

This ended up being way longer than I thought it was going to be. It was written to be read straight through. But as I’m pretty sure I’m the only one that cares and it goes through my thought process on the topic I have labelled each section so you can scroll down until you see the subheading you are interested in.

My Introduction to MDZS

My friend, told me about MDZS and the Untamed like 1 November 2019. I was at first skeptical as I have seen lots of Chinese shows playing in bars, at restaurants, or on long bus trips (the latter being where I’ve sort of had to see entire episodes and films) and generally Chinese TV shows are low on plot and have the same set character archetypes (not the point of this post so feel free to disagree, but I’m not here to argue). So honestly I was skeptical, but November is National Novel Writing Month, so even if I wanted to I hadn’t had the time. I also knew that I was going to be seeing said friend in Cambodia during Spring Festival Holiday and we would watch it then. Prior to going to Cambodia, I travelled with my Chinese friend Dean for eight days, but then he had to return home to spend Spring Festival with his family and I continued in my travelling.

I told Dean about how my friend was going to make me watch the Untamed and how it was based on a book and how it despite restrictions is still pretty gay. Dean didn’t believe me, but a couple days at home with nothing to do and plenty of wifi, and he had watched the Untamed before I could even meet up with my other friend!

Cloud Recesses in the Untamed - Mountains and Canal Cities

So that first scene where you see Cloud Recesses, I was like: oh I know those mountains! And my friend said that most of the places were really in China and sent me this map. As I continued watching well I was mostly caught up in the story but the snow kept bothering me, but there was never snow that stayed on the ground in the Untamed so I forgot it quickly. At a later rewatch I thought the Cloud Recesses mountains looked a lot like the mountains at ZhangJiaJie (the floating mountains that were the model for Avatar) in Hunan further west of where GusuLan is situated. According to the Untamed Wikipedia page the filming was done in Hengdian World Studios and Guizhou (also pretty far west). I am however a fan of climbing mountains and have climbed a lot of mountains in China, so I could be remembering mountains wrong.

Where the questions came up was fanfiction. And I have never stopped reading a fic because they talked about a lot more snow then I had ever seen in the particular area of China. And Cloud Recesses having towering mountains as they depict from afar in both the live action and the donghua. When I’m watching the mountain is a back drop, but often fics make the mountains or snow part of the plot and it’s too late because I already think of Gusu being Suzhou a very famous canal city south of me and we get like once a year two cm of snow that lasts maybe two hours. And the translator’s note at the end of Refinement Part 1 says that Cloud Recesses got its name from a phrase of Jia Dao’s poem, not the height of the mountains.

In general, I know that a lot of English fic writers just didn’t know the weather in China or perhaps hadn’t seen the map that showed you where everything in China was situated. And were using context clues like the disciples of YunmengJiang laying topless on floorboards in the summer heat in the extras from the book or the snow seen in both the Untamed and MDZS the donghua. And I had brushed it off as artistic license the height of the mountain of Cloud Recesses bugged me and made me do research for my own personal piece of mind.

I will admit I have not been to Suzhou, I skipped it when I was being a tourist in Jiangsu Province as the internet said it was a big tourist spot and could be very crowded, so I chose to go to a different canal town. Then I moved to Xuzhou in Jiangsu. And in Chinese the biggest thing is said first so I would have to say in Chinese when asked where I was moving to or later where I lived: Jiangsu, Xuzhou. The other thing I didn’t know despite having studied Chinese in college, that I learned from Dean when I complained about this problem is that all Yu (Yu, Yue, Yun, Yuan) and Xu (Xu, Xue, Xun, Xuan) no matter the tone are pronounced with a umlaut on the u so: Yü, Yüe, Yün, Yüan, Xü, Xüe, Xün, and Xüan. So, despite the fact that I pronouncing (disregarding tone for the following examples, and written by use of correlating English words and names) Xuzhou as Shoe-joe every Chinese person thought I said Suzhou (which I would say as Sue-joe). So, I heard a lot of: “Suzhou?! It’s so beautiful! And with all the water!” never anything about mountains.

Now, Guilin, Guangxi is a city that is absolutely gorgeous and has a lot of mountains, there is one called the Solitary Beauty Peak (152m), which is literally a vaguely rectangular mountain, with very sheer faces (and steep stairs carved in to get to the top), in the middle of a very flat expanse (behind the yellow building in the picture - January 2014).

Which means that similar mountains could be in Suzhou. And Gusu was named after Gusu Mountain so I did an exhaustive search with multiple map apps, google, and baidu to find the mountains in Suzhou and their heights. In the end the mountains in Suzhou are not very tall.

 Practical Experience with Snowfall in China

My first year in China my city got snow in December, maybe about 10 cms, but it was cold enough that it didn’t melt; and so we had snow for pretty much the whole winter with a sprinkling of a couple more cms added here and there. That year, I went to the Great Wall in the winter and signed up to go to Mutianyu a section of the wall pretty far from Beijing (north of all places in MDZS), but we couldn’t get to it due to snow, so we went to another section, Juyongguan, which wasn’t snowed out and it didn’t have too much snow on it maybe just a couple cms of snow built up in corners of steps and the like. That was the last time we really got snow that stayed. A few years later we got maybe a few cms but not a lot of snow. When I went to Sichuan (in 2014; where MeishanYu is) I remember leaving the Chengdu airport in a car and looking out the window to see snow dusted palm trees, something I had thought I really wouldn’t have ever seen, but that was probably the most snow that I had seen for that trip. The 12th edition of the China Lonely Planet book does state that the canals of Suzhou are very beautiful covered in snow in December. But based on how I’ve seen less snow further north than Suzhou makes me wonder how consistent it is.

Temperatures on Mountain Tops in China

I went to Ürümqi, Xinjiang the very tail end of June in 2019. July is the hottest time in Xinjiang and the temperature while I was there was generally about 30-45°C. One day I went to Tian Chi a lake in the Heavens Mountain (Tianshan) range, the lake is below the Peak of God (Bogeda Feng) that according to my Lonely Planet is a 5445m peak. Which now that I’m looking at the book, I know I hadn’t before going to Ürümqi, because the book says to bring warm clothing and I hadn’t. I took a tour bus up to the lake (I think that is the most common option. And around the lake it didn’t feel as hot as it was down in Ürümqi and when I went to take the cable car most of the way up Bogeda Feng, I remember seeing winter jackets for rent. At that moment I thought it was strange and pointless in the warmest time for the area despite that it was definitely getting chilly enough that I put on the light jacket (that prior to that point was mainly for sun protection) on. When I got out of the cable car near the top it was definitely cold. Many of the other hikers were in winter jackets and as you climbed up to the peak your breath definitely misted like it was winter! But that is the only time that has happened to me climbing mountains in China. I climbed Huangshan a mountain in Anhui, west and a bit south of Gusu. It has an elevation of 1873m and I climbed it in May, and there was no discernible temperature difference between the top and the bottom of the mountain.

The Yangtze River – divider of whether your home is heated or not

The Yangtze River is what China uses as a divider of north and south China. In the present day this is seen as whether or not your home gets central heating in the winter. When I lived in Shandong province (north of the Yangtze), the central heating was turned on 1 November and turned off the 1 March (I think, I’m remembering that correctly). Each province decides how cold it is and for how long and has different rules for central heating. No matter what you don’t have control over the temperature of the central heating, and everyone has to survive with an AC/Heating mounted wall unit, and/or portable heaters.

Jiangsu is a province that the Yangtze cuts through, which means you might get central heating. I moved to Xuzhou, which is spitting distance to Shandong province, in May (I got transferred to cover a sick teacher). So I was put up in the teacher’s housing on the college campus, and it did have central heating, the flat also had screened in windows above the doors that didn’t have glass and therefore would be open year-round. When I said I wanted to stay in the city and teach for the next year I got an off-campus flat in a community maybe 1.5 kms down the road—no central heating. Fall 2019 my community was offered central heating, we would have had to pay to get it installed, and it would only be installed if enough people said yes because it would be done for the whole community at that point. If we got the central heating it would have only been turned on December-February, and as the Spring Festival break at the school was an entire month it wasn’t worth it. And that time I went to Sichuan (everyone says south, but I think it has a bit of the Yangtze in it) all the restaurants were open fronted with no solid doors at all. Though the AC/Heating mounted wall unit in my hotel room (a small hotel outside of the city proper with a squat toilet in the bathroom (I’ve only seen squat toilets in two Chinese hotels)) was the best heater ever. My hotel room was so much warmer than any flat I’ve had in China, because even if it was a cheap hotel the AC/Heating mounted wall units needed to work well in Sichuan because it was the only source of heat.

 MDZS Cities on the Yangtze and Old Names for the River

So west to east the cities that are close/on the Yangtze are: Meishan - north, Kuizhou - north bank, Yiling - north bank, Baling - south bank, Yunmeng - north, Moling south (the Yangtze goes through Nanjing so maybe it has bank space), and Gusu - south (possibly in the delta).

According to the Yangtze Wikipedia Page, which I have kept open in a tab in Firefox for reference since I started writing fic—People in Ancient China didn’t realise that the river was a single river and therefore each section of the river, had its own name and was thought to be its own river (the following is mostly just copied from Wikipedia).

For Meishan, Kuizhou, and Yiling, the river through Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality was known as the Chuan Jiang (川江; Chuān Jiāng) or "Sichuan River." The Wikipedia page specifically states that Yichang modern day Yiling as the last/most eastern city to call the Yangtze thus.

In Hubei, this would be Yunmeng and Yiling, but Yiling followed the pattern of the places further west. And I’m going to assume Baling despite being in Hunan; the river is also called the Jing Jiang (荆江; J��ngjiāng) or the "Jing River" after Jingzhou.

In Anhui (which has no sects), the river takes on the local name Wan Jiang after the shorthand name for Anhui, wǎn (皖).

For Gusu and Moling, it was the Yangzi Jiang (揚子江; 扬子江; Yángzǐjiāng) or the "Yangzi River," from which the English name Yangtze is derived, is the local name for the Lower Yangtze in the region of Yangzhou. The name likely comes from an ancient ferry crossing called Yangzi or Yangzijin (揚子 / 揚子津; Yángzǐ / Yángzǐjīn). Europeans who arrived in the Yangtze River Delta region applied this local name to the whole river.

The dividing site between upstream and midstream is considered to be at Yichang (Yiling) and that between midstream and downstream at Hukou (Jiujiang).

Winter Weather in Terms of Whether or Not Long Underwear Should be Worn in Various MDZS Cities

Another way to think of it is in terms of long underwear. I wore long underwear in my city in Shandong province, the pants, and a long undershirt. Typically, three layers on top when indoors, maybe with a fourth sweater when the room I was in wasn’t heated and thick socks over regular ones. In Xuzhou I wore maybe the long underwear bottoms but not the top because my classroom actually has a heater in it, but I usually wore a sweater. When I visited Xi’an, Shaanxi (YueyangChang and 2hrs west of QishanWen), Nanjing, Jiangsu (MolingSu), and when I went to Chengdu, Sichuan (1.5 hours north of Meishan) I wore long underwear (though it was particularly cold that year in Chengdu). When I went to Hangzhou, Zhejiang (south of TingshanHe; Tingshan is hard to pinpoint), Changsha, Hunan (2 hours south of BalingOuyang), and Wuhan, Hubei (3 hrs north of BalingOuyang and 1.25 hours south of YunmengJiang) I had long underwear with me but didn’t necessarily wear it. I do remember in Wuhan this tree that had little pink blooms on it at the end of January. I didn’t have long underwear with me when I went to Chongqing, I could have sworn I actually went to Kuizhou Ancient City (or another Ancient City/Street) but I can’t find pictures from it. The city I visited before Chongqing, I visited an ancient city so I could be mixing these up. But I remember it being Chongqing and getting a foot massage in an open-air shop in an ancient street and being covered in blankets because it was pretty chilly.  

Comparative Temperatures based on their North Parallels

I live in Maine in the US, so a place with lots of snow. When I first came to China my family and I were looking at the map and thought that Maine and my city in Shandong looked to be in a line so the weather would be similar—it wasn’t, but it is a good theory; and something I spent a lot of time thinking might be sound as Maine and Shandong province aren’t on the same parallels so I thought there was still a chance that it would correlate elsewhere. The two most northern sects QingheNie at 37°04’ and LaolingQin 37°26’, according to Wikipedia, which continues to tell me that other notable places on the 37th parallel. The  37th parallel separates out Utah, Colorado, and Kansas on the north side from Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma on the South. It also passes through the Mediterranean Sea; the Aegean Sea; the Caspian Sea; the Sea of Japan; the Yellow Sea; just south of Antequera, Spain; the island of Sicily, Italy; the island of  Honshū, Japan; Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan/India; and through Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and South Korea.

I just moved to Zhengzhou, Henan (34°45′50″N), when I asked about the weather I was told it was comparable to Washington DC (38°54′17″N). I keep getting told that Zhengzhou is the centre of China and it is kind of the centre of where all the sects are: north 1.5 hours from YingchuanWang and 5.5 hours from YunmengJiang; south 3.5 hours from QingheNie; and east 6 hours from YueyangChan.

Conclusion for Winter Weather in Gusu and Summary of Chinese Summers

So, based on my experiences, any of the mountains in Suzhou just wouldn’t have a discernible temperature difference from the top of the mountain and the bottom of the mountain. And despite “Snow-covered views of the pretty canal towns of Suzhou in winter” I would assume that it doesn’t actually get that much snow.

So enough about how cold and snowy China is, summer-wise it is generally too, too hot. For the level of cold in the winter, I would have assumed there would be milder summers but where I have lived and visited that has not been the case. When I asked the teacher I was replacing in Shandong about the weather of the city I was told that it went from ‘freezing your pants off to fucking hot’ and it was true one day you’d be wearing a jacket and maybe for a week you’d be in jeans and a tee and then you’d be sweating while wearing the least amount of clothing possible. I’ve definitely seen 30°C days in May.

Rundown of the Climate, Average Temperatures, Rainfall, and Humidity for all MDZS Cities

So you don’t have to here is what Wikipedia says about the climate of the cities of the  different areas so you don’t have to look it up yourselves (pretty much copy and pasted):

Baling – (is present day Yueyang different characters and city from the YueyangChang Sect seat). The average high for the year is 21°C/69.7°F and the low 14.9°C/58.8°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of 2.7°C/36.7°F and an average high of 8.1°C/46.6°F. July is the hottest month with an average low of 26.6°C/79.9°F and an average high of 32.2°C/90°F. Average humidity ranges from 73% in December to 79% in June (with a yearly average of 77%). The most average rainfall is in June, the rain heavy months being April-July, compared to the remaining months March and August also have a lot of rain.

Gusu - has a four-season humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers and cool, cloudy, damp winters with occasional snowfall (Köppen climate classification Cfa). North-westerly winds blowing from Siberia during winter can cause temperatures to fall below freezing at night, while southerly or south-westerly winds during the summer can push temperatures above 35 °C (95 °F). The average high for the year is 19.9°C/67.8°F and the low 12.5°C/54.5°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of 0.5°C/32.9°F and an average high of 7.7°C/45.9°F. July is the hottest month (by 0.1°C over August) with an average low of 24.8°C/76.6°F and an average high of 31.6°C/88.9°F. Average humidity ranges from 65% in November to 77% in July (with a yearly average of 71%). The most average rainfall is in September, the rain heavy months being June-September, April (102.3 mm) and May (114.5) are petty rainy too, May is still 14mm less rain then July (the lowest of the high rain months).

Kuizhou - has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), bordering on a monsoonal humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) and for most of the year experiences very high relative humidity, with all months above 75%. Known as one of the "Three Furnaces" of the Yangtze river, its summers are long and among the hottest and most humid in China, with highs of 33 to 34 °C (91 to 93 °F) in July and August in the urban area.Winters are short and somewhat mild, but damp and overcast. The city's location in the Sichuan Basin causes it to have one of the lowest annual sunshine totals nationally. With over 100 days of fog per year, is known as the "Fog City" The average high for the year is 22.1°C/71.8°F and the low 15.8°C/60.4°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of 6.2°C/43.2°F and an average high of 10.3°C/50.5°F. August is the hottest month (by 0.2°C over July) with an average low of 24.7°C/76.5°F and an average high of 33.2°C/91.8°F. The most average rainfall is in June, the rain heavy months being June and July, but May and August are petty rainy too.

Lanling - has a monsoon-influenced climate with generous summer precipitation, cold, dry winters, and hot, humid summers. Under the Köppen climate classification, it is in the transition from the humid subtropical zone (Cwa) to the humid continental zone (Dwa), though favouring the former. More than half of the annual precipitation of 833 mm (32.8 in) falls in July and August alone, and the frost-free period is above 200 days. The average high for the year is 19.1°C/66.3°F and the low 9.5°C/49.1°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of -4.3°C/24.3°F and an average high of 4.4°C/39.9°F. July is the hottest month (by 0.7°C over August) with an average low of 23°C/73.4°F and an average high of 30.7°C/87.3°F

Laoling - The average high for the year is 19.3°C/66.7°F and the low 9.4°C/48.9°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of -5.6°C/21.9°F and an average high of 3.4°C/38.1°F. June is the hottest month with an average low of 20.2°C/68.4°F and an average high of 32.1°C/89.8°F. Average humidity ranges from 52% in March to 78% in August (with a yearly average of 63%). The most average rainfall is in July, the rain heavy months being July and August by quite a margin. July has on average 90 mm more rain then June (the month with the third highest rainfall).

Meishan - The average high for the year is 21.3°C/70.3°F and the low 14.3°C/57.7°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of 4.1°C/39.4°F and an average high of 10.1°C/50.2°F. July is the hottest month (though the record high temperature was in August) with an average low of 22.9°C/73.2°F and an average high of 30.7°C/86.5°F. Average humidity ranges from 74% in May to 84% in January, August, October, and December (with a yearly average of 81%). The most average rainfall is in August, the rain heavy months being July and August, June (144 mm) and September (130.4) are petty rainy too, June is still 87mm less rainy then July (the lowest of the high rain months) and September gets 42.5mm more rain than the 5th rainiest month—May.

Moling - has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) and is influenced by the East Asian monsoon. The four seasons are distinct, with damp conditions seen throughout the year, very hot and muggy summers, cold, damp winters, and in between, spring and autumn are of reasonable length. Known as one of the "Three Furnaces" along the Yangtze River for the perennially high temperatures in the summertime. However, the time from mid-June to the end of July is the plum blossom blooming season in which the meiyu (rainy season of East Asia; literally "plum rain") occurs, during which the city experiences a period of mild rain as well as dampness. Typhoons are uncommon but possible in the late stages of summer and early part of autumn. The annual mean temperature is around 15.91 °C (60.6 °F), with the monthly 24-hour average temperature ranging from 2.7 °C (36.9 °F) in January to 28.1 °C (82.6 °F) in July. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from −14.0 °C (7 °F) on 6 January 1955 to 40.7 °C (105 °F) on 22 August 1959. The average high for the year is 20.6°C/69.1°F and the low 12.1°C/53.8°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of -0.7°C/30.7°F and an average high of 7.2°C/45°F. July is the hottest month with an average low of 24.9°C/76.8°F and an average high of 32.2°C/90°F. On average precipitation falls 115 days out of the year, and the average annual rainfall is 1,090 mm (43 in). The most average rainfall is in July, the rain heavy months being June through August. August (143.5mm) is the least rainy of the three and still gets on average 52.8 mm more rain then May the 4th rainiest month. July has the most days of rain (12.3), but both March (only 80.4mm) and August have the second most days of rain (11.8).With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 37 percent in March to 52 percent in August, the city receives 1,926 hours of bright sunshine annually. Average humidity ranges from 71% in April and May to 80% in July and August (with a yearly average of 75%).

Qinghe - has a continental, monsoon-influenced semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), characterised by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and generally cold, windy, very dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone. Spring can bear witness to sandstorms blowing in from the Mongolian steppe, accompanied by rapidly warming, but generally dry, conditions. Autumn is similar to spring in temperature and lack of rainfall. The annual rainfall, more than half of which falls in July and August alone, is highly variable and not reliable. The average high for the year is 19.6°C/67.2°F and the low 8.8°C/47.9°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of -6.1°C/21°F and an average high of 3.9°C/39°F. June is the hottest month with an average low of 20.2°C/68.4°F and an average high of 32.1°C/89.8°F

Qishan - The average high for the year is 18.5°C/65.3°F and the low 9°C/48.1°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of -3.5°C/25.7°F and an average high of 5.1°C/41.2°F. July is the hottest month with an average low of 21.1°C/70°F and an average high of 30.9°C/87.6°F. The record high temperature from (1971-2000) in January was 20.7°C/69.3°F which is the lowest of the record highs. The highest was in August at 41.6°C/106.9°F. The most average rainfall is in August but had the most days of rain in September (the rain heavy months being June-September).

Tingshan - The average high for the year is 20.5°C/68.9 °F and the low 13.1°C/55.6°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of 0.9°C/33.6°F and an average high of 7.5°C/45.5°F. July is the hottest month with an average low of 25.3°C/77.5°F and an average high of 32.6°C/90.7°F. Average humidity ranges from 75% in April and May to 82% in September (with a yearly average of 78%). The most average rainfall is in June, the rain heavy months being June-August, March (121.2 mm), May (113.4mm), and September ( 109mm) are petty rainy too, March still has 34.2 mm less rain then August (the lowest of the high rain months). March also has the most days of rain (15.2), followed by June (14.8), then April and July (13.7).

Yiling - has a four-season, monsoon-influenced, humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with cool, damp and generally overcast winters, and hot, humid summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 5.0 °C (41.0 °F) in January to 27.7 °C (81.9 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 17.08 °C (62.7 °F). The average high for the year is 21.6°C/70.9°F and the low 13.7°C/56.6°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of 2.2°C/36°F and an average high of 8.8°C/47.8°F. July is the hottest month with an average low of 24.3°C/75.7.°F and an average high of 32.3°C/90.1°F. Close to 70% of the annual precipitation of 1,160 mm (46 in) occurs from May to September. The most average rainfall is in July, the rain heavy months being June-August; May (124.4mm), and September (115.3mm) are petty rainy too, May still has17.8 mm less rain then June (the lowest of the high rain months). July has the most days of rain (15.1), followed by June (14.1), then May (13.5).With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 24% in January to 49% in August, the city receives 1,568 hours of bright sunshine annually, and summer is the sunniest season. Average humidity ranges from 73% in February, March, April and December to 80% in July (with a yearly average of 75%).

Yingchuan - has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with four distinct seasons. Winters are cool and dry, summers hot and humid, spring begins early and is warm, and autumn is mild and provides a reasonable transition. Rain mainly falls from May to September, as more than 70% of the annual precipitation occurs then. The city has an annual mean temperature of at 14.5 °C (58.1 °F), and its highest average monthly temperature is 27.1 °C (80.8 °F) in July and the lowest is 0.7 °C (33.3 °F) in January. Just over 700 millimetres (28 in) of precipitation falls each year, and there is on average 217 frost-free days and 2280 hours of sunshine per year. The average high for the year is 20.2°C/68.4°F and the low 9.7°C/49.5°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of -3.6°C/25.5°F and an average high of 6.1°C/43°F. July is the hottest month (by 0.2°C over June) with an average low of 23.1°C/73.6°F and an average high of 32°C/89.6°F. The most average rainfall is in July, the rain heavy months being July and August; June (83.5mm) is petty rainy too, but June still has 38.2mm less rain then August (the lowest of the high rain months). July has the most days of rain (11.7), followed by August (10.6), then June (8.4).

Yueyang - has a temperate climate that is influenced by the East Asian monsoon, classified under the Köppen climate classification as situated on the borderline between a semi-arid climate (BSk) and humid subtropical climate (Cwa). The Wei River valley is characterised by hot, humid summers, cold, dry winters, and dry springs and autumns. Most of the annual precipitation is delivered from July (on average has the most rain) to late October with September having the most days of rain. Snow occasionally falls in winter but rarely settles for long. Dust storms often occur during March and April as the city rapidly warms up. Summer months also experience frequent but short thunderstorms. The average high for the year is 19.5°C/67.1°F and the low 9.7°C/49.5°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of -3.3°C/26.1°F and an average high of 5.1°C/41.2°F. July is the hottest month with an average low of 22.3°C/72.1°F and an average high of 32.4°C/90.3°F. Average humidity ranges from 61% in June to 77% in September (with a yearly average of 68%)

Yunmeng - The average high for the year is 21.1°C/70°F and the low 12.8°C/55.1°F.  January being the coldest month with an average low of 0.2°C/32.4°F and an average high of 3.9°C/39°F. July is the hottest month (by 0.2°C over August) with an average low of 25.2°C/77.4°F and an average high of 32.2°C/90°F. Average humidity ranges from 75% in December to 83% in July (with a yearly average of 79%)

Dafan Mountain and Phoenix Mountian

That being said, I was trying to find Dafan Mountain on a map for a fanfic I was writing. I have a Chinese copy of MDZS and I was originally having trouble finding the characters used for Dafan Mountain. When I did, Baidu was not at all helpful every webpage was for MDZS and/or CQL. So I asked Dean who replied that he didn’t know, as the places in the book are all made up, at which time I sent him a copy of the map that my other friend had shown me with the actual names of the present day cities for the five main sects. And I did a search for “where is Dafan mountain” which worked for things like: “where is Moling”, for the Dafan search the results were things like which chapter/episode is Dafan or ‘where was Wen Ning before Dafan?’ My confusion came from the fact that the town below Dafan is called Buddha’s Feet—and I have been there. In Chongqing there is a district called Dazu (大足), Buddha’s Feet which had Buddhist cave paintings so there are also mountains. Edit: I went back and looked for pictures, it’s not actually very mountain-y and is named for some giant footprints.

It took longer to find, because as I had learned there is just too many ways that you could write Buddha’s Feet in Chinese and have it interpreted as Buddha’s Feet. In the book it is called 佛脚镇 (Fójiǎo Zhèn) or Buddha’s Foot town, which isn’t a real place in China according to Baidu. So for my own fic purposes I decided that it was going to be in Chongqing. And then later, when I was actually putting together a map on Google I double checked for places like Dafan and found one. 大梵山 Dafan Shan (same characters and everything) is a 207m mountain in South Korea called Keun Beom San (?) 큰범산.

Phoenix Mountain was another one that I had a hard time looking for in the book as there are multiple ways to say Phoenix in Chinese and it is generally a compound word including Feng (风) which usually means wind and the name of the mountain in Chinese is 百风山 (Bǎifèng shān) and could also be translated as the Hundred Wind Mountain. And all though it sounds like a very good mountain name ‘phoenix’ or ‘wind’-wise there is no such mountain that I could find.

My Own Map Making Explained

Before I made my own map I looked for other maps online, ones that talked about the smaller sects. For the purposes of my fic I needed to know where the YueyangChang clan was situated, and where Xue Yang would be, or coming from, or going to. I found this map online. It is a very good map but it uses the present day name instead of the book names so I got super confused. For example that map has a Liyang, Leling, and Yueling, none of which I could find on the MDZS wiki as being connected to a sect.

What I ended up doing is writing the names of the cities into Pleco, a Chinese-English dictionary app, so if I type in yueyang the first three are: Yuèyáng (岳阳) a prefecture-level city in Hunan; yuèyáng (越洋) a verb meaning cross the ocean; and yuè yáng (栎阳) a place in Shaanxi Province. I took the place names and searched for them in my Chinese copy of the book and hit on 栎阳. Then I put it in Baidu, Baidu Maps, and Apple Maps to see where it would turn up—it turned up in Xi’an. Well, Liyang from that second map is also 栎阳. And when I look at the map apps with pinyin the section of Xi’an in question is also labelled as Liyang.

Leling was harder—or easier I guess it depends on how you look at it. I ended up looking it up straight from the second map Pleco suggested 乐陵 the county level city in Dezhou, which I found in the book 乐陵秦—LaolingQin. This I don’t understand at all 乐 is lè or yuè and yet we call them LaolingQin. So there you have it. Edit: while writing the weather section (which I did after this though it comes first in the post) I A. realised I’d been writing Yaoling instead of Laoling and B. that the Laoling County-level City Wikipedia page said that Laoling often gets mispronounced as Leling because the character 乐 is only ever elsewhere lè or yuè.

Tingshan was the last one that gave me problems. It is written 亭山 and there are actually a couple mountains called Tingshan, with the same characters one near Qufu in Shandong province, and two in Zhejiang province one north of Hangzhou and the other sort of south of Hangzhou, in Shaoxing (the one that comes up the most often in Baidu searches). Then I found a Chinese site discussing the ancient city of Tingshan City which is “In today's Zhejiang Deqing County East 24 Li (1 Li = 0.5 km)” so I put Deqing county on my map and then realised that the same site says that Tingshan is also 200 paces southwest of the county and then mentions a Wuxing ji (吴兴记) but I could find a Wuxing District (吴兴区) of Huzhou City the same city as Deqing county. Wuxing was north east of Deqing and that was when I realised that the two possible dots of Tingshan on my map were close to the dot of Yueling on the second map I had found. And I found a Yueling (越岭) in Huzhou and it was southwest of Wuxing (not sure about 200 paces or not), so I differed to the wisdom of that second map.

I have made my own map with the labels of all places I could find on a map. I labelled them with the sect names or if they had no sect associated with them just the city name. Sadly Baixue Temple, Phoenix Mountain, Dust Creek Mountain, Mo Village, and Dafan Mountain/Buddha’s Feet (though my map does include Dazu in Chongqing, as a point of interest) could not be found and added to the map. And of course we have no clue where Sect leader Yao came from and I kind of wish we could send him back off into the nothing, but he is there to add strife I suppose.

River Travel- Lotus Pier wasn’t the closest Sect to Yiling

I got to a part in my own fic where I needed them to take a bout between Yiling and Yunmeng and realised that while Yiling is on the Yangtze, Yunmeng is not and instead is on a tributary of the Yangtze. I did a cursory search for ancient river boat speeds and found an archaeological paper that tested seven ancient boats one of which was a Singapore Sampan it wasn’t very fast. So I just decided to write it off as cultivating boats get people there faster.

Even though I had already wrote the boat scene of my fic when I was looking at my map I noticed Google’s measuring tool. So for fun, I used the Google Maps measuring tool to measure river distance between Yiling and Yunmeng after I put all the city markers on. Yiling is on the Yangtze and Yunmeng has a couple Yangtze tributaries that run through it that meet up in the Wuhan area. The Yangtze dips south after Yiling and then goes back up to Wuhan. Yiling to Yunmeng is 444 km by river if you leave the Yangtze by Jingzhou and travel through Chang Lake (I cheated and connected to Hanshui River with what looks like a manmade river, maybe, it is very straight and appears to cut through the lake) then it is a lot of small rivers to get to Yunmeng. I thought maybe even though the Yangtze goes further south and Wuhan is further east than Yunmeng since it is a bigger river it might still be shorter. However, 397 km east of Yiling following the Yangtze in Baling! I remember in CQL Sect Leader Yao suggests Lotus Pier after the second siege of the Burial Mounds (I might be remembering wrong), but well he appears friendly with Ouyang, and they are a smaller sect.

Conclusion

So, while the sects live in actual places, today they are generally just districts in larger cities, because the urbanisation of China has resulted in many villages becoming districts of bigger cities. And while some of the places in the book are made up (Yunping City being another one that I cannot find anywhere) they are reasonably named that they are not far outside of the realm of possibility. Also China is a large country that discourages people from moving around, as you always have to return to the place of your birth (or your parents’ birth) to get paperwork and the like for visas, etc. Therefore, I believe perhaps inside China the knowledge of where these places are or the height of their mountains or their amount of snow is not something that is thought about by people as much as I think of these things.

[elitsann]

Hey, I'm majoring in Illustration and the the thing is, is that I'm really worried about not making it into that career path. I would love to work in the same industry of animation, but it seems like a tough industry to get started in. How was it for you? Any advice? If it's okay to ask

Hey there! 

First of all, the animation industry is pretty different in different parts of the world, I only have experience with it in the UK & Ireland so if you’re elsewhere there will be differences of course...  But here’s some general stuff :) 

You’re right to think animation can be quite tricky to get into initially, wherever you are. The main thing about it is being persistent. Yes, you need to have a strong portfolio, but very often it’s also a case of making people aware you’re out there and available and keen to work, and also being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes people get discouraged thinking their work isn’t good enough, and while it’s always a good idea to keep working on improving as an artist, it’s not always your portfolio letting you down - someone I know got her first job from a studio she’d applied to a year prior and received an e-mail saying they love her work but... they had nothing relevant going at the moment so they simply weren’t able to hire her. So they offered her a job once they actually had a relevant project underway! 

In situations like that it’s often useful to remind people of yourself, if they have nothing available, maybe e-mail back a couple of months later and ask again! Like I said, persistence is key. Find studios that you’re interested in working with and e-mail them even if they have no positions currently advertised - just be polite and to the point when you do so. 

I’ve found this spreadsheet super useful in the past, it updates daily with animation/VFX/games job postings, but also it has a tab with an ENORMOUS list of studios. It can be very intimidating to try and apply to studios when you don’t know what’s out there, and I also find simply searching “animation studios (location)” online isn’t particularly helpful because you tend to only get a handful cropping up... so the studios tab really helps!

Another thing to bear in mind is presentation. You can have the best art in the world but if you don’t present it well it will be tricky to get a job. Keep it concise - just put your best stuff in there, quality over quantity is key. What helped me put my first portfolios together was looking at the portfolios of people whose jobs I wanted to do. For instance, you want to be a storyboard artist? Look at the credits of your favourite series and films, then look up the storyboard artists who worked on them. Most of them will have websites up where you can find what kind of work they’ve chosen to put in their portfolios, and that can be a great starting point. The same goes for showreels too :) Keeping it short, simple, and easy to navigate will make recruiters more likely to look through more of it too - they don’t want to scroll through pages and pages, or have to click a ton of tiny thumbnails one by one. 

As for what it was like for me, when I graduated I went to Annecy festival - they have recruiters there, and also there’s a section on their website (once you have a festival pass) where you can apply to open positions and potentially be offered an interview to attend while at the festival. I applied to a ton but only got one interview, ultimately it ended up leading to my first proper industry job! Being persistent was key again, because at the interview they said they’d send me a test, but a few weeks later they still hadn’t so I had to e-mail them and ask. They sent it right away, so I could actually do it and get the position. If I hadn’t, who knows if they’d have sent it! A lot of people are worried about being annoying with stuff like that and I totally get it (trust me, I have anxiety lol), but if you’re being respectful and not spamming people, you’ll be fine.

Sorry this is a super long reply, there’s really no easy/straightforward way to answer this because animation is pretty tricky to get into at first, and it can be a really disheartening experience sometimes, especially if you’re not aware that it often DOES take a long time. I honestly feel like I was extremely lucky to get into it so quickly after graduating - it can take years of trying for some people. In my experience it definitely gets a little easier once you’re in though! But keep working at it and have faith in yourself, maybe this is a cheesy thing to say but I think it’s important!

[southernchicstyle]

The Big ONE

                                                                                           Photos by Daniel Ortiz

I always think my party ideas for the kids are so original until I start looking for items for them and find a million parties done in the same theme. Our son’s first birthday was no exception, but I like to think we put it all together in a creative way you haven’t seen yet... Reeling in the Big ONE! 

Our little guy turned the big ONE and we had the best time celebrating with a fishing themed party. Keep reading and scrolling for ALL of the details with photos by Daniel Ortiz . 

Fishing bobbers, nets, lures (keep out of reach of little hands because the hooks are sharp!), lanterns, and cattails all came to mind immediately as I gathered decorations for the party. “We’re reeling in the big ONE” read the invite. A comprehensive list of the items will be at the bottom of this post, but I also linked the ones I refer to in the body of the post like the fish food tents above.

PHOTO OPP

A photo spot with bobbers and nets formed in my brain as I pinned ideas, and the variations of those came together to create this one I’m so proud of below! My husband assembled scrap 2x4s we had that were painted grey into the photo frame.

The bobbers on the photo spot (pictured below) are paper lanterns we spray painted red on the bottom half (painters tape used to make the line) and the top (linking the paper lanterns). There’s pretend fish hanging below the bobbers on the left strung with fishing line. 

And, the directional arrows pointing toward “fishing hole”, “weighing station”, “bait and tackle”, and “catch of the day” were cut by our friend and I drew the words and art on with paint markers. (pictured below)

ONE

My mom and her crafty skills is always a part of making these parties a reality and she helped put the finishing touches on the “ONE” for the picture table. I love how it turned out! We used styrofoam letters (”O”, “N”, “E” each linked), cut out one for the boats from the invitation for the “N”, and glued cardstock paper in red, white, blue and green to the letters. The blue waves we cut out in different colors and there is twine wrapped around the “E” and the cattails.

We also had to secure the letters to the backdrop (tape was sufficient) since they are styrofoam and could easily fall over.

MONTHS

Each of the months (on paper bobbers from newborn to one) just HAD to be displayed on a net, so figuring out how to secure them was a challenge we solved by hot glueing small clothespins to the back of the flat paper bobbers and taping pennies to the back of the pictures to attempt to keep them all from blowing up when the wind blew. 

The wind had other ideas, but it looked good throughout the party.

The red lanterns, net, fishing lures, small fishing bobbers, and cups are all linked. Click on the words to shop them. And, the tackle box on the table was a Houston Nutcracker Market find. 

TIME CAPSULE

We also decided to do a time capsule (directions in the frame on the left in the photo above) at our guy’s 1st birthday. I regretted not doing one for our daughter’s first birthday after my mother-in-law passed shortly after the party. Each person in attendance can write a message to the birthday kiddo and answer some fun questions about what they think the child will be and like, etc. Your child can read all of the messages when they turn 18!

What I’d give for a message from my mother-in-law for our daughter to read when she’s older.

FISHING SHIRT

For our big guy’s outfit, I found an adorable baby fishing shirt onesie for our birthday boy to wear for his party. Even if you’re not doing a fishing themed party, this shirt was so cute on him! 

Our nanny made the balloon 1 with fishing line and balloons pictured above. Linked the balloons we purchased here. We went for a slight ombre effect with more light blue on the top and dark blue on the bottom. (Would recommend buying a couple of packs to ensure you have enough of each color)

FISHING THEMED FOOD

Galvanized buckets were the perfect serving piece for the food along with fishing related food items, like gummy worms labeled as “worms”, Twizzlers as “fishing line”, Swedish Fish, Goldfish, peach rings as “Life Preservers” and pretzel sticks as “fishing rods”. The pretend fish decorating the tables are foam (squishy is the best way I can describe them) but really good looking and linked here. 

I also saw the puffer fish idea online and thought it would be fun for the kids to have the punch balloons to play with. And, I was a bit nostalgic thinking back to playing with punch balloons as a kid. Obviously, one year olds weren’t doing much balloon punching, but they were fun for older kids. 

The wooden boat and boxes on the food table were borrowed from a friend, but the white 1 was purchased online.  Also borrowed fishing poles that were used throughout the party. 

ACTIVITIES

Along with puffer fish punch balloons, we had a “Catch and Release” activity where we put water in a kiddie pool with fish in it and fishing poles (magnets on the poles and fish connect the two) where kids could attempt to catch fish. And, our “Feed the Fish” station was a bean bag toss which has now been repainted for a third time to have fish swimming. 

The printables I used for the activity signs & favors are here:

Bait Bar

Thank You for Making my Birthday Reel Fun

Catch and Release (couldn’t find this one so I used my own skills to make one)

Feed the Fish (couldn’t find this one so I used my own skills to make one)

CUPCAKES

When it comes to kids and cake, I’ve become a big believer in cupcakes being the easiest all around. They don’t have to be cut, don’t require a fork or spoon, and are cost effective. So, this time I did store cupcakes from our Kroger with blue icing and bobbers on top (linking the bobbers here).

If my son ever decides to be a fisherman, we now have bobbers and lures for days!

CENTERPIECES

Cattails for centerpieces made for a simple table decoration. I used the galvanized buckets with paper in the bottom (had a bunch from all of my Amazon orders) then river rocks on top to fill the bucket with the cattails secured in between. Around the buckets we draped some fishing net with some smaller rocks, lures (be careful of the sharp hooks), and bobbers. 

The cocktail tables I use are linked here along with the table covers. For the bigger tables, I used a fun blue with the raised circles adding texture to the table.

DIAPER COVER

My goal with the “Ofishally ONE” diaper cover was to get a picture of him in just that, but this was the best I got. Fishing shirt and diaper cover. It’s still adorable, though! And, you get a close up look at the baby fishing shirt. 

I’ve learned to let some things go at the parties and enjoy it. Hard for a type A personality like me, for sure!

EDIBLE CATTAILS

These cattails are Swiss Rolls on on bamboo skewers (which we cut to eliminate the point on the end) held in place by styrofoam under the moss in an oval galvanized tub. And, bobbers made everything more festive!

Now, I have to share our learning. The Swiss Rolls will slide down the skewers since they are standing upright, so we cut slivers of wine cork and slid them under the rolls to hold them up. Completely a game time call as they were sliding right before guests arrived. You can see the cork if you look closely.

COOKIES

The cutest cookies were done by a local baker, Sweets by Shey: bobbers, fish, “Gone Fishing” sign, and one that looked like an oval piece of wood with “The Big ONE” on it. 

The other two items, scalloped napkins and fish coasters, pictured below were perfect additions to the party. The scalloped napkins with a  gold trim were a fun nod to the scales on a fish while still keeping an elegance to them. I found the coasters at HomeGoods randomly and snagged the “Drink Up” coasters for the event. 

TABLES, CHAIRS, TABLECLOTHS

Here’s a closeup of the texture of the blue/turquoise raised petal tablecloths. I used cream colored ones for my daughter’s 2nd birthday Bubble Bash so when I saw this color I knew it was perfect for the party. 

Also linking the tables and chairs that at this point have been used for 4 birthday parties and a couple of other events. For us, since we have room to store it all, buying was ideal. 

BANNERS

The banners I found online were perfect for the background of the cake smashing. “The Big One” banner is customizable and comes with the fish and bobbers also (or without if you choose). The cute “ONE” for the highchair was an easy order and great quality!

I hung the big banners behind the high chair on bamboo poles and put the bamboo poles through actual fishing poles so the fishing poles flank the banners. They somewhat blend in with the busy vine background, but the small detail made me happy.

SMASH CAKE

For a smash cake, there’s a baker in my area that makes a blueberry cake (it was INCREDIBLE) and could create this “wave” look - Kingwood Bakery. I found the fish and “The Big One” sign cake topper online and added them myself along with the 1 candle. I used a log cake stand that has come in handy more often than I anticipated.

Below you can see the layout of the time capsule pages I printed (they were an easy printable I found online) that went with the theme. It includes sections like “When you grow up I think you will be...” and “How do I know you?” to name a couple. 

FAVORS

Fishing pole favors were a must! I found little water squirting fish, handheld fish water games, fish stickers, and Swedish Fish and cinched them in clear favor bags with twine tied to sticks we collected around the house. Gathering sticks was a fun activity for my daughter to feel like she was a part of the planning.

The printable tags were easy to print, but I had Katie & Co print and cut them to make sure the bobbers were cut correctly. And, I printed a sign that was framed near the favors that said “Thank You for Making My Birthday Reel Fun!”

My apologies to my friends/the parents who had sticks in their cars on the way home, but it was really cute! 

Unlike his sister, our little guy dug right in to the cake and enjoyed eating it! I love this picture that Daniel Ortiz captured of him once we took the cake away. O-fish-ally ONE!

We love that so many friends celebrate with us. And, below is a close up of the photo spot (you can see the paper lantern bobbers) with two of my friends that are so good about coming!

POOL BOBBERS

Having our pool completed literally the week of the party was chaotic, but I was able to create my big bobbers for the pool. This was not a perfectly executed project, but overall I was happy with them and they looked great. The top is a to-go container spray painted red and the bottom is a red plastic tablecloth taped to the floating orbs I purchased with red Duck Tape.

The taping of the tablecloth to the orb was a feat in itself. With help from my family, we did it once and then redid it. Ultimately, the tablecloth was taped at the base of the orb. It will take in water, so I attempted to tape the seam as well as we could.

I wish I could give a step but step tutorial, but the pool bobber was truly a “try and see what works” experience. Biggest tip: have patience and don’t be afraid to redo them if they don’t look right.

**A big thank you to all of my family who helps me execute all of my ideas and to Daniel Ortiz for the great photos!

__________________________________________________________________

Reeling in the Big One Party Supplies

- Bait Bar Sign (printable) $2.50

- Balloons (light blue, white, and true blue, 100 pack) $10.99

- Banner: The Big One (personalized banner linked w bobbers & fish) $44

- Banner: Burlap One for Highchair $10.99

- Bobbers (small for cupcakes and tables) $6.49

- Cattails (set of 4 sprays) $24.99

- Cake Stand (Rustic Log) $48.86

- Cake Topper: “The Big One” starts at $14.99 (linked similar as exact one no longer available)

- Chairs (individual and 4 pack) $44.72 and $142.41

- Cups (gold rimmed, 50 count) $14.99

- Diaper Cover: “Ofishally One” $20

- Duck Tape (red) $7.08

- Favor Tags: Bobbers $3 (in favors: Fish water game, Swedish Fish, Stickers)

- Favor Bags (100 clear bags) $3.98

- Favor Tags (bobber printable) $3

- Fish (foam, decorative on tables and photo spot, set of 3) $15.91

- Fish & Poles for Catch and Release $13.86

- Fish Coasters (unavailable online, cork ones here $12.24)

- Fish Food Tents Printable $3.50

- Fishing Game (fish and 2 poles) $28

- Fishing Lures $18.99 (found a similar set for $15.99)

- Fishing Net (natural color 2 pack) $9.50

- Fishing Net (blue) $5.52

- Fishing Shirt (for baby) $37.99

- Fish Squirts (for Favors) $7.49

- Fish Stickers for Favors (3D puffy, 20 sheets) $7.97

- Fish Water Games for Favors (assorted with others) $38.99

- Galvanized Buckets (small, set of 12) $18.87

- Galvanized Buckets (large, 2 gallon) $28.98

- Galvanized Tub (for edible cattails) $31.99

- Highchair Banner - ONE $10.99

- Invitiations: “Reeling in the Big One” file $11.99

- Kiddie Pool (45 x 10″) $10.39

- Lanterns (red) $9.97

- Months Paper Bobbers $9.50

- Moss (SuperMoss Spanish Moss) $9.52

- ONE letters (12 inch styrofoam “O”, “N”, and “E”) $9.98 each

- Paper Lanterns (made into bobbers, set of three 8 in white) $10.99

- Plastic Red Tablecloth $14.99

- Pool Orbs (made into bobbers) $89.99

- Puffer Fish (Punch Balloons, 30 count) $10.99

- Scalloped Napkins with gold trim $9.99

- Skewers (bamboo, 100 pieces) $6.95

- Swedish Fish (0.5 oz packages, 64 count) $14.99

- Swiss Rolls (for edible cattails, 6 boxes, 36 count) $11.94

- Tables: cocktail ($107.88) and large 60″ round ($118.99)

- Tablecovers (cocktail) $16.99

- Tablecloths (blue with raised round petals) $39.99

- “Thank You for Making My Party REEL Fun” signage - $2.50

- Time Capsule Printables $8

- Twine (2 roles x 656 feet) $9.89

- Wooden 1 (8 cm tall) $7.89

***Photos by Daniel Ortiz

[themcuhasruinedme]

Vintage Film Fest (Pt. 1)

[Summary]: You and Steve have been dating for a while and you surprise him with a pair of tickets to a vintage film festival as an anniversary date

[Pairing]: Steve x reader

[Word Count]: 2,874

Tagging: @theashhole @dividedwecantfall @peterman-parker @avengerofyourheart @nataliarxmanxva @metalarmproblems @mcuimxgine @accio-rogers @imagine-assembling-the-avengers @that-sokovian-bastard @hellomissmabel @abovethesmokestacks @peculiar-persephone @bellameys @beccaanne814 @hymnofthevalkyrie @buckys-shield @callamint @redgillan @lancefvcker @thetalesofmooseandsquirrel @iwillbeinmynest @theassetseyeliner @lilasiannerd @aubzylynn @sgtbxckybxrnes @iamwarrenspeace @marvelrevival @httpmcrvel @avengersnthings @feelmyroarrrr @girl-next-door-writes @honey-bee-holly

A/N: Just taking a break from my Tony series cuz I hit a tiny bit of a wall with it... but this little gem decided to appear after I got done watching all of Laurel and Hardy’s shorts and movies (and because I have such a massive love for Old Hollywood films)... I encourage you guys to watch the movies and shorts I mention in this as they are all wonderful and amazing (heads up though: some of them are silent!) and all can be found on YouTube.

It had only been five months since you and Steve became a couple. The team had often wondered how you two had never met before since you both enjoyed pretty much the same things.

You did find it a bit odd that you never did run into him at the theater when it was doing a special showing of an “Old Hollywood” film because Steve and you enjoyed those very much. You also enjoyed listening to the music that he grew up with. There were so many things that you and Steve had in common that it almost seemed like you two were destined to be together.

As the six month anniversary of you two being together was coming up, you were trying to come up with something special for the two of you to do. And after endlessly scrolling through a google search of restaurants nearby, things to do in NYC and a list of “things to do on the weekend and staycations”, something caught your eye: Vintage Film Festival.

Getting a big smile on your face, you clicked on the link and started scrolling through the details. It read:

Join us for an exciting four day event! Our movies will range from old, silent films to early talkies, featuring the most well known acts from that era: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. Come laugh, cry, smile and sing with your fellow “Old Hollywood” fans for an event to remember!

Schedule can be found here and movie times start at 4:00 PM (although we try to avoid changes, the schedule is subject to change)

You looked around the web page to see if you had to pay for it and sure enough, you did. After all, getting to have a four day event to see some of the most memorable black and white films couldn’t be free. But you were happy that it didn’t cost that much. For two tickets to all four days was only $100 a ticket. You bought them immediately and decided you were going to surprise Steve when they showed up.

You then clicked on the link for the schedule to see what was going to be played and your jaw practically hit the floor. You couldn’t believe how many amazing movies and shorts were scheduled to be shown; from Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights to Buster Keaton’s Cops, from Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last! to Laurel and Hardy’s Way Out West. Almost having tears come to your eyes, you quickly dabbed them away and closed your laptop while still having the biggest smile on your face knowing that you’d be spending four days with Steve and the best slapstick comedy movies and shorts to ever grace the planet.

The tickets arrived within a week and a half and you couldn’t be more excited to  give them to him, you just had to find the right moment. You came up with a couple ideas. One that included you making a special dinner and hide them under his napkin. Another was still making the dinner and “pretending” to watch a movie together afterwards and at the end it told him about the tickets. Another was the simplest of all: just tell him you had a surprise for him and to cover his eyes and pull out the tickets. You decided to go with your first idea.

A few days later, you made a lovely dinner for the two of you and Steve was a little curious at first because you hardly ever made anything special unless it was for a reason. But he was still happy that you were making dinner and when he took the napkin off the table, he had to do a double-take.

He picked up the tickets and looked at them, slowly studying every word that was on them. He then looked up to see you smiling wide and holding out to him another piece of paper. He took it and started to read it. You watched as his eyes scanned the paper and as they went further, a huge smile appeared on his face.

“The Gold Rush, Safety Last!, Cops, Brats... Seven Chances... Way Out West... City Lights...” he said excitedly. “Hun, this is.. this is just... how did you find this?!”

“Well, since our six month anniversary is coming up I thought it would be nice to do something and when I was doing some searching for things to do, this caught my attention. I knew you’d be excited about it.”

“Yeah! These are like, some of the greatest movies and shorts there are! Especially Buster’s and Charlie’s!”

You smiled at him as you went around the table and sat in his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck and placing your temple against his as you both started at the paper.

“This is gonna be some six month anniversary then,” Steve said, still smiling.

“Mmhmm!” you giggled and placed a kiss on his forehead.

When the event finally arrived, the two of you couldn’t contain your excitement. You both had stayed up late the night before to watch other films and shorts by the actors on the list. Needless to say, there was a lot of laughing going on and you now loved and admired Buster Keaton even more.

After Steve parked the car and helped you out, he offered you his arm. You smiled, linked your arm through and placed your head on his shoulder as you made your way to the entrance of the theater. The man stamped your tickets and ushered you both in.

In the lobby you watched the video screen above the concession stand as Steve went to get popcorn and a few snacks. You watched as it played through clips of some of the movies you were about to see on the big screen and you couldn’t help but chuckle at a few and smile when you saw Buster show up.

Steve came back over with everything and you took a few things out of his hand and linked arms again with him as you two made your way to the screen room. Finding seats somewhere in the middle of the theater, you both plopped yourselves down and settled in for night one of your wonderful four night event.

As you waited for the movies to start, more and more people started showing up. You looked around and couldn’t believe your eyes! The place was starting get packed. It amazed you at just how many people there were that enjoyed these kinds of movies still. A few minutes more and the place had every seat taken. You saw parents with their kids, old couples, young couples and grandparents with their grandkids. It brought a huge smile to your face seeing that everyone was here to make memories with family.

Then the lights dimmed and everyone cheered and clapped, excited to start the first night of movies and shorts. You linked your arm through his and smiled at him when he placed his other hand on yours, giving you a quick kiss on your temple. He then placed his cheek on the top of your head as the film started.

The first film to kick of this four night event was The Gold Rush. You watched as they showed the travelers trudging through the snow and smiled as soon as you saw The Tramp wander on screen. With his cute mustache, that adorable walk and the things he did with that cane, you couldn’t help but just love this character that Charlie came up with.

The audience roared with laughter as The Tramp tried to leave a cabin in a storm but it kept pushing him back inside. And the laughter continued as you all watched The Tramp eat a candle in desperation as there was no food around the cabin. A few quiet somber moments happened before the theater filled with laughter again as The Tramp cooked one of his shoes to eat.

The laughter came and went as the film went on and when the most famous scene happened, which was the “Bread Dance” scene, the audience cheered and clapped when The Tramp had finished it.

A little later, the movie was over and the whole audience went wild with cheers. This was already starting off to be a great night. You looked at Steve, who was dabbing away some tears. He looked back at you with a smile as you gently dabbed away the tear stains on his cheeks.

“From laughing so hard or because of a beautiful ending?” you asked.

“More than likely both,” he chuckled.

There was a five minute break in between as the next one was getting prepared to play. Steve thought it would be a good time to use the restroom and get some more napkins for you two to finish the rest of the popcorn. Both of you had only gotten through half of it and had one box of candy emptied. Steve made it back with a minute to spare.

As soon as you heard the music start when the room went dark again, you tried not to jump out of your chair with excitement. Tugging on Steve’s sleeve, you whispered, “It’s Stan and Ollie!” When the word Brats came across, which was the title of the short, you smiled even bigger. “Oooooo! This is one of my favorites,” you whispered again to Steve.

You loved watching Laurel and Hardy. They were your favorite comedy duo. And did you have such a love for Stan! Not to say that you didn’t love Oliver but good gravy that Stanley. Between his accent, the adorable and often times hilarious, facial expressions (especially his smile), the way he mussed up his hair and his whine in times of trouble, there was nothing you didn’t love about Stan.

The theater was quiet until Stan said, “If you must make a noise, make it quietly.” Everyone burst out laughing. The laughter kept going as Stan and Ollie tried to play a game of checkers and watch their kids (who they also played) but the kids kept causing trouble. And after the boys tell them to go to bed, hilarity still ensues with Stan and Ollie playing a game of pool and the kids still causing trouble.

The audience was still having roars of laughter when the kids started to accidentally overflow the bathtub, which then started to fill up the bathroom. And laughter still rang out when Stan and Ollie sang the kids to sleep. Even more rang out when Ollie opened the bathroom door, having all the water rush out into the room. As the short ended and the lights dimmed on for another five minute break, you went to the restroom and got a refill on your soda.

There were a few minutes to wait before the next short started. You looked over at Steve and smiled at him. He smiled back at you and wrapped his arm around your shoulder. “This is the best thing we’ve ever done. I couldn’t think of a more better way to spend our six month anniversary.”

You nodded in agreement and kissed him. “I sure hope they do this again. We might need to make this an annual thing if they keep it up.”

Steve chuckled. “We just might.”

The theater went dark once more for the next movie to start. And you couldn’t be more happy to see what it was. Harold Lloyd’s most famous film, Safety Last!. Sure it had great funny moments here and there at the beginning and middle but you were most excited about the part where Harold climbed up the side of the building and hung from the face of the clock. And when that scene finally happened, there were so many gasps and oh-no’s coming from the kids in every direction of the theater. And even though you knew that Harold was gonna be ok, you tensed up just a bit and held onto Steve’s arm just a little tighter.

Another five minute break happened after the movie was over. This break seemed to go by rather quickly and the lights soon went dark again and the next short started. You really had to contain your excitement when you saw it was one of your absolute favorite Buster Keaton silent shorts, The High Sign. You admired Buster quite a lot, especially his stunt skills. The man was in a league of his own when it came to the dangerous stunts that were put in his movies all because he did many of them himself, some of which could have killed him. And even though this short didn’t have anything dangerous in it, it still showed off his stunt skills quite a bit.

Laughs started already with the first title card: “Our hero came from Nowhere - he wasn’t going Anywhere and got kicked off Somewhere.” and continued when he jacked someone’s newspaper and opened it over and over, turning it into this humongous paper that practically swallowed him.

Quietness hung in the air as the audience watched him read a “Wanted Ad” for an expert shot at a shooting gallery and sneakily take a cops gun to practice with. Laughter erupted again as he tried to practice but was absolutely terrible at it. It slowly died down but picked right back up when Buster went to the shooting gallery and got scared so bad that it knocked him right off his feet.

It got quiet again, except for a few whispers here and there about the man that owned the shooting gallery. You heard a child behind you say to their parent, “He’s really mean looking. I don't like him.” You smiled softly, knowing that this man was the bad guy.

You heard some of the children gasp when it showed that the very tall man was the leader of a gang of bandits that was going to kill someone that day. But laughter rang out again while Buster made an invention using a stray dog and a bone to make it seem like he was a great shot, which made the very tall man believe that Buster was perfect for taking out the person.

It became quiet once again as the audience watched Buster get asked by the man that was going to be shot that day to be his bodyguard but then also be told by the very tall man afterwards that Buster was gonna be the one to kill the man. But the hilarity and laughter ensued once more when towards the end after tricking the bandits, Buster outwitted them using every secret passage in the man’s house.

The next break in-between movies was a bit longer so if people wanted to walk around for a bit to really stretch their legs after being in their seats for a few hours they could, along with letting moms take care of the little ones that they brought. You and Steve took turns going to the bathroom and getting refills. Both of you stretched a few times to wake up those sleeping muscles and then it was announced that the next movie was going to start in a few minutes to give people time to get back to their seats.

The lights went off one more time for the last movie of the night. Another early talkie short from Laurel and Hardy called They Go Boom started which was another favorite of yours. 

Laughing started almost immediately when the audience heard Stan snoring and seeing the shade fly up after Ollie sneezed. It continued after Stan tied the shade down but flew up once again and fell off the window after Ollie sneezed, along with a picture that was hanging above the bed falling off and hitting Ollie on the head. The audience watched as Stan then tried to help Ollie get over his cold but things don’t go right at all as usual.

You heard some of the kids gasp when the landlord threatened to throw the boys out. Laughter rang out once more when Ollie accidentally overfilled the air mattress with gas and it raised the bed all the way up to the ceiling. The laughter was even harder, if that was even possible, when Ollie needed to sneeze which sent Stan into panic mode and the bed exploded also causing a hole in the room above them.

And as the screen faded to black the whole audience broke out into cheers and applause. Everyone started to then file out of the theater and out to their cars. You and Steve slowly walked to your car, your arm linked in his and your head on his shoulder.

“So, did you have fun?” he asked.

“Do you really have to ask?” you answered. “Besides, we have another three nights to go. I think that question would be best served at that point.”

You looked at him with a smile, knowing damn well that he wouldn’t even need to ask again. The two of you already knew that you would have the time of your lives with this. With one night of classics done, it was now onto night number two!

[lavenderslemonade]

Denki X Reader - Boyfriend Does My Hair and Make-Up Challenge

There is no request page, if you have a request please message me! Also know that I am open to write smut!

“Seriously, only a thousand views?! This sucks!” Mina groaned as she stared at the YouTube in front of her. About four months ago, the girls of Class 1-A thought it would be a fun idea to start a vlogging channel, due to the influence of Mina. The channel quickly became popular, which surprised the group, but it made since. Their videos mostly consisted of their shopping trips together, a few fighting techniques they had learned throughout their childhood years, that mostly children watched, to dinner dates together, sleepovers, etc. However, as of recent your views had for some reason plummeted.

The last video you had posted had been a baking challenge. You, Momo, Tsuyu, and Jiro tried to take it seriously, but Uraraka and Mina thought it would be more fun to start a flour fight instead. Mina continued to scroll through the comments and felt irked as she came across one. “Not as hot as I thought it’d be.” It read. “Mineta, I’m going to kill you!” Mina growled as she turned to stare at the small boy. With a unashamed smug look he replied “I mean, yeah it was hot, but I was expecting clothes to be ripped off or something.” He stated. “We’re not that kinda channel Mineta, we’re not that thirsty for views!” Mina growled.

“Mind if I take a look at your videos?” Kirishima asked with Bakugou, and Denki behind him. Mina handed over her phone and watched as Kirishima scrolled through your list of videos. He clicked on a few every once and awhile. “Why’s it all girls?” Bakugou asked unamused. “Yeah, there’s none of the guys in here.” Kirishima stated a bit hurt. “It’s a girls vlogging channel, duh.” Mina took her phone back as she pouted. “Still, it’d be nice if you ladies had some male fan service.” Denki winked, which made you all roll your eyes. “Actually, that may not be so bad. There are plenty of people that are interested in the boys of Class 1-A as well. Maybe we bring one of them on for a video or something?” Momo suggested.

“That’s not too bad. There are a lot of videos of boyfriend and girlfriend challenges, Denki what if you and (y/n) did something together?” Tsuyu suggested. Denki and you shared a look of curiosity towards each other. The two of you were never the couple to watch cheesy couple videos on YouTube, or even see romantic movies. Instead the two of you preferred concert dates, horror/action movies, doing more natured themed activities, as well as sometimes visiting your local music store and buying CD’s to listen to together. “I don’t know, what would we even do?” You asked as you scratched at your cheek curiously.

Uraraka started scrolling through her phone as she hummed. “Right now, the ‘Boyfriend does my hair and make-up challenge’ is pretty popular.” She held up her phone to show the list of videos. “I don’t know, I’ve never really done a girl’s make-up before.” Denki stated as his cheeks began to heat up. “That’s fine, it’s the fun that you two will have together that’ll make people want to watch! However, it’d also help if you didn’t make her look completely like a clown, so maybe look up a few make-up tutorials before we video?” Mina requested as she sweat dropped. “I’m probably not that bad!” Denki groaned offended. You blinked and placed your hand over Denki. “Don’t worry Denki I trust you.” You gave him a reassuring smile “But please look up at least two tutorials.” You whimpered.

Denki sighed “Fine.” He grumbled and leaned his head against your shoulder as he hugged you close. A few seconds later Aizawa opened the door and walked in “Everybody take your seats, class is about the begin. Kaminari, (l/n) no PDA.” He sighed as he took his spot at the front of the class.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay, so this is all that we have for you to use. All the girls went out and bought some make-up in (y/n) skin tone, and Momo is letting you borrow her flat iron and hair curler.” Mina pointed everything out to electrification quirk user. He blinked slowly at everything. He had looked up a few tutorials on make-up and hair, but he still felt unprepared. “Now, all that you need to not do is burn her hair off with any of the irons or make her look terrible.” Tsuyu requested as she set up the camera. Denki felt his palms starting to sweat as he looked at the camera and then back down at the irons in front of him as well as the make-up.

You walked in with Jiro and Uraraka and stared at your nervous boyfriend. “You okay?” You asked curiously as you went to sit down beside him. You decided this time to shoot at Momo’s house due to having a rather large bathroom with good lighting. “Don’t worry, if you feel too nervous or sick the toilet is right there.” Momo stated as she pointed towards the toilet for Denki. He gulped and gave a nervous laugh as he watched them leave. You watched as Tsuyu turned the camera on before following the girls out and smiled. You introduced yourself along with your boyfriend he gave a small nervous smile and wave towards the camera.

After stating what the two of you would be doing, Denki started looking over at the make-up for the foundation as you started pulling up your hair. With the last video you and your friends had posted, you told your subscribers what you had planned on doing and to comment questions for you and Denki to answer during the challenge. Once you finally got your hair up, and Denki found the foundation he needed you picked up your phone and started to scroll through the comments. “Where did you first meet?” You read out as Denki leaned over to start putting the foundation on your cheeks.

“We actually met during the entrance exams, but we didn’t actually start speaking and getting to know each other till around the first week of school.” You replied. Denki grabbed the small sponge beside him and gently started spreading the foundation. Once he was done you looked at another comment. “Who asked who out first?” You read once again. Denki perked up at this. “Ah, it was me. I asked you out after the sports festival since it made me feel more relaxed after the whole villain incident.” Denki started looking over at what he needed to contour your face with. “I’m not going to lie, I was actually tempted to say no at first since you had tried flirting with the girl from Class B, you stated in embarrassment. Denki gave you a small look of disbelief and hurt. “But I decided to give you a chance since I knew you’ve always had a flirtatious personality.” You quickly held your hands up.

He gave a small sigh of relief as he started contouring your face. “Okay, does your boyfriend get any back lash from his quirk since you’ve mentioned he’s an electrification type in your recent video. We just found out my brother inherited our father’s electrification quirk, but he left when he was born, and we don’t really know how it’ll work for him since I inherited my mom’s quirk.” You read out, feeling the question tug at your heart a big. You put on a small smile and looked over at Denki asking him with your eyes if he wanted to answer.

Denki gave a small nod of understanding and smiled at the camera as he started applying the high lighter a little way under your eyes. “Well, if I over use my quirk too much I kinda go a bit stupid for a while and fry my brain a bit due to using too much power. However, it’s not dangerous for electrical types, it just means we just went past our limits. Maybe start out small by teaching him and having him apply his quirk to things such as light bulbs, small electrical toys, and a few other things that electrically can easily be applied to. That way it’ll help build his quirk up slowly.” Denki instructed.

“Speaking of stupid, I may end up giving a demonstration later on in this video.” He gave a small nervous laugh as he stared down at the irons. You placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “Next question, please spill make-up on your girlfriend’s shirt so she’ll take it off.” You read out unamused. Denki stopped what he was doing and just stared at you. “Mineta?” He asked with a hint of amusement, in which you simply nodded. Playfully he picked up the liquid foundation and started to tip it towards your chest, in which you playfully smacked his hand away. Denki laughed lowly as he picked up the mascara and requested you look up. Taking a break from the questions long enough for him to apply the black liquid.

Once Denki started looking over the many choices of eye shadow, you picked your phone back up to read another question. “What was your first date like?” You read out, and both you and Denki shared a look before both giving an awkward laugh. “So, to be honest, it was a disaster.” You felt your face heat up as you started to laugh harder at the memory. Denki rested his forehead against your shoulder as he laughed with you, trying to keep his laughs muffled. “It was terrible.” He laughed out. You ran your fingers through his hair playfully as your laughter died down a bit and he leaned back up, picking a color of eyeshadow that matched your hero costume. “B-but you tried.” You giggled out as you close your eyes allowing him to apply the eyeshadow. “So our first date, I had originally planned to take (y/n) to dinner and a movie, but I had allowed Mineta to talk me out of it. He stated that it was too cliché, and to try something different. So, I had followed his advice, and so I took her out to play mini golf, and I ended up electrocuting myself.” Denki started to laugh again and pulled the eyeshadow away from your eye, so he didn’t mess up. You started laughing again and fanning your face so the tears that started welling up didn’t ruin Denki’s hard work.

“He had tried to cheat and use a bit of electricity to make his ball go farther, but it back lashed and went up the metal of the club.” You laughed loudly at the memory of how your boyfriend derped out in the middle of the date. He continued to laugh along with you and placed the make-up down so he wouldn’t drop it. He grabbed the blush and applied it to your cheeks while the two of you finished laughing, and finally started to quiet down as he grabbed the lip liner. You remained quiet as he applied the lip liner and watched as he picked out a peachy color of lipstick. He applied it to your lip gently, and once he was done you rubbed your lips together. “How does it look?” You asked. “Looks beautiful, but you got a smudge here.” He stated as he leaned in to wipe it from your lips but gave you a quick kiss instead.

Your face felt like it was on fire as he gave a small laugh. “How does it look on me?” He joked as you stared at his now slightly peach colored lip. “Makes you look handsome.” You joked with a smirk as you wiped it off his lips with your thumb. “So, is it done?” You asked anxiously with a large smile. Denki gave a thumbs up and handed you a mirror, in which you stared at with surprise. “Okay, so not trying to sound like I had no faith in you, but this actually looks really good.” You stated and watched as your boyfriend perked up happily. “Now onto the hair!” You clapped your hands together excitedly and started to take your hair down. Meanwhile, your boyfriend stared in fear at the irons. He had only watched make-up tutorials, he had completely forgotten about doing your hair!

“Denki, you okay?” You asked curiously as you started to section out your hair. Your boyfriend jumped at the sound of your voice before giving you a nervous smile. “Don’t burn her hair off.” Tsuyu’s voice echoed in his head as he plugged the flat iron in. “Okay, let’s do this.” Denki stated proudly as he picked up the iron. However, due to his nervousness a small amount of electricity escaped his fingertips, and collided with the electricity in the iron, causing it to electrocute him, causing him to fall out of seat. He had dropped the iron back onto the counter during the fall, and you stared in shock, as your boyfriend now derping out on the floor.

Slowly you reached for the iron and started to flat iron your hair as you stared down at your boyfriend. “Sweetie, you okay?” You asked as you worked on your strands. He continued his babbling nonsense, and you simply gave a small giggle at the camera.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“We’re back in business ladies!” Mina announced as she held her phone proudly in the air. Your views had sky rocketed due to the challenge, putting you back on top. Though a good bit of the comments, were asking to see more guys from class 1-A, which you were not afraid to do now. “So, it did well? That’s great!” Denki came up behind you and hugged you close. “Any comment about me?” He asked curiously, which made you bite your bottom lip to stifle your giggles. “W-what’s so funny?” He gave you a look of worry. Tsuyu took the phone from Mina and read one of the comments. “One of the commenters posted ‘Pikachu went boom in the end.’” She gave a small laugh herself. “S-seriously!?” He groaned and felt his face heating up in embarrassment.

“Most of them are pikachu puns and jokes.” Uraraka stated as a few giggles escaped her as she read more of the comments. “Come on (y/n), it wasn’t that funny was it?” He looked at you with pleading eyes. All you could do was look back at him with a smug smile. “Pika pika.” You giggled. He groaned in embarrassment and buried his face into your back.

[frederator-studios]

Meet Rory Panagotopulos, Creator of Thrashin’ USA

Rory Panagotopulos is a Boston native with a Venice Beach soul, whose lifelong love of skateboarding inspired his short “Thrashin’ USA” our 11th Go! Cartoon. When he’s not animating the crowd-pleasing interstitials of MTV shows like Girl Code, Rory is hanging out with his dog Bosco or creating skate-related content such as gifs of the Gundam robots catching phat air—quality content accessible on his Instagram. I caught up with Rory to talk sketch comedy, bad 80s action sports movies, and turning your childhood neighbors into over-the-top cartoon villains.

How did you start animating?

I always wanted to do art—funny art, if possible. I knew I wanted to animate but didn’t really know where to start. The first things I made were claymations In high school—my aunt and uncle were getting rid of their giant 80s VHS camcorder, so I used that and just hit ‘record’ and ‘stop’ really fast.

An illustrious beginning. Where’d that take you?

I went to college for Computer Science. It was back when the belief was that everything was going to be 3D animated from then on. So I started getting into 3D animation, and found that it wasn’t for me. I’ve always loved drawing and making characters, and I was got lost in all the technicality of 3D. So I started focusing on art in college instead, and realized I could easily use a computer to make 2D animations.

Wait, so… you became a Computer Science major just to do 3D animation?

Yeeeaah. I was so mystified by animation that I was like, “3D animation is done on computers right, so Computer Science major it is.” 

Oh man.

It culminated with me and my friend sort of tricking our advisors into letting us make a movie our senior year. He was a film major and I was like an Art major, Comp. Sci. minor at that point. Our movie had 3D animations that I did the full animating on - way too much for one person, so it didn’t look great - but it was an animated movie.

That’s cool. Did you submit it to festivals?

Ohhh, yeah, noo, it wasn’t a fit for festivals. But we did meet people from MTV because of it. Randomly, a dude at MTVU reached out to us after seeing it. And oddly enough, the same person I first met at MTV, 10 years later, is the person I work with now at MTV.  

What do you do for MTV now?

Technically the gig is with the independent production company that the executive producer of the shows I work on created. But I make the little explanatory animations for the show Girl Code.

Neat! So did you go straight into freelance animating after school?

Actually, no. Me and the friend I made the film with moved to New York and started doing comedy stuff at Upright Citizen’s Brigade. Just to make stuff, we’d make YouTube videos and would put animation in them.

Comedy stuff! Was that acting, writing, stand-up?

Sketch shows, which we did for about 5 years. They have house teams at UCB, so every month we’d host a different sketch show—it was great training for writing. And we did a few big shows, like one called “Dog Fleet”. It was like a live on-stage Saturday-morning Cartoon parody. Sort of like a Ninja Turtles toss-up, but with dogs.

Actual dogs onstage?

Oh, no, that would’ve been bad, ha—just people. People with very rudimentary dog ears on their heads. And they were obsessed with beans instead of pizza.

Ah, gotcha. So this comedy stuff, it couldn’t have been paying the bills?

Not quite! I was working at a book publisher, Simon and Schuster, doing the #1 most boring job in the arts. I’d go through editor’s corrections for books and make sure they didn’t mess up the page layout too much. So scrolling through books all day adding commas.

And then you’d let out all that steam with the comedy at night?

Pretty much! I liked that job because it ended at 5pm, and I wouldn’t think about it again until the next morning. Lived that double lifestyle for a while. Then the guy I met at MTV started doing Girl Code, and reached out to me and was like, “Oh, do you still do animation?”. At first I was like, “No”.

Ha! Shut down.

I wasn’t exactly like “No” but I was like, “Oh, I dunno, this comedy thing is pretty cool.” But I eventually got too bored of the other job. So I reached out to him and was like, “Hey, are you still doing that?” And he was like “Actually no, I’m not.” But he graciously introduced me to the new person who was running the show. So that’s how that gig started.

Did you dream of making a cartoon as a kid?

Definitely, I was obsessed with cartoons. We didn’t have cable until I was like 12, so any time a cartoons came on TV, I was watching it. It was basically Ninja Turtles and all the action 80s and 90s cartoons like GI Joe and Centurions. And I was totally obsessed with the X-Men cartoon, which I actually re-watched recently and found to have the most insane complicated plot of any cartoon. I definitely didn’t understand what was going on when I was a kid. I guess I was just like “Oh my God! Wolverine!”

So what do you work on in your own time?

The awesome thing about doing freelance is I can take a full month here and there to work on personal stuff. I did an animated web series a couple years ago called “Garbage Time”. It’s about two kids sitting on the bench for a basketball team, something I did a lot of my freshman year of high school. I did everything for it: writing, casting, recording, animating. I learned why so many people work on animated projects—it’s a lot to make. If I’m more busy, I make wacky photoshops that I usually share on Twitter.

So did you come to pitch to Go! Cartoons?

I knew of Frederator through Adventure Time or Fairly OddParents. I don’t know what landed me on the website... again with the theme of me not knowing what I’m doing. But I saw the Go! Cartoons program, and was like, “Oh, I definitely want to do this”. “Dog Fleet” was originally going to be my cartoon pitch, but my friend wanted to do it as a sketch show, so that’s how that went.

But I still wanted to make a cartoon, so I came up with two new pitches. My girlfriend and I were coming out to LA for a wedding, so I scheduled my pitch for then, and figured if I’m going all the way out there, I’ll wow them with two - not just one - pitches. In hindsight, neither was good. Eric (our VP Development) gave me great notes and a quick class on pitching, and I took his advice home, came up with and boarded “Thrashin’ USA”, and did a better pitch over Skype.

What was the advice you were given on pitching?

Well, because the shorts are only 5 minutes, character is key. You have to get a very good, likable character out to the audience as quickly as possible. And then you also want the story to be simple and to the point. The ones I’d pitched before, nothing really happened. They were kind of like mumblecore. So when I went back I tried to make a very tight story where actions happened in sequence, and you get to know a character, and you actually feel good at the end.

What inspired “Thrashin’ USA”?

I loved skateboarding in high school and college. I was terrible at it, but I’ve always loved it, and skate culture in general. And it was on my mind at the time because my nephew was turning 5 and wanted a skateboard for his birthday. I was like: #1, it’s crazy that you’re 5 and you want a skateboard; and #2, I was remembering how when you’re a kid, it’s so hard to get anything. So I thought about a kid trying to get a skateboard or get his skateboard back, and that’s where that idea originated.

Also, my neighbor growing up was named Mrs. Tracy. And before I had a board, they always had this old 70s banana board in the back of their garage that I would just see. I’d always think, “Oh man… I just want to get that board.”

Were you guys friendly... was she evil? Is she gonna see your short?!

I think she was a very nice woman - definitely not evil. We were always like, losing balls in her backyard, so I think she was more annoyed with us than anything. The way my dad is… I’m sure he’ll see her on the street and try to explain it to her and she’ll be like, “Okay.”

Who were the inspirations for Pau and Gabby?

Pau basically looks a lot like my nephew, so that’s true to life. With Gabby, I wanted there to be a cool skater girl, and to avoid any kind of ‘damsel in distress’ trope. She’s as good a skateboarder, if not better than Pau.

Did you know any cool skater girls growing up?

Not really. Mostly because me and my one friend in high school who also skateboarded were too bad to go to skateparks or anything. But I think some of the reason behind that was that back then, and still now, skateboarding has an annoying "boys club" vibe. I think part of my intention with Gabby’s character was to raise the representation, in a small way, of skateboarding being a cool thing for girls to do. I’d rather paint a picture of skateboarding that’s more open to everyone.

Well you know one now! Not sure I count as “cool” though. Do you still skateboard?

Nah; the last time I did was back when I was still doing sketch comedy. I was using a skateboard as a prop in a show, so I skateboarded 5 or 6 blocks from the train to the theater, and my knees hurt so much afterward that I was like, “Ok, well, that was fun while it lasted.”

Where you grew up, was skateboarding a big part of the culture?

I grew up in the suburbs of Boston, and definitely not. The things kids liked were baseball and hockey. I watched a lot of TV shows as a kid about skateboarding and California and it always seemed like this awesome fantasy world where everybody skateboarded. Really I only had one or two friends who also skateboarded. But it was this cool thing where we were from a place people wouldn’t skateboard, but we were doing it anyway. And being from Massachusetts, we had to have a chip on our shoulders because it’s cold all the time. So it was this point of pride like, “Yeah, let’s go skate even though it’s freezing.”

Do you know what you’d do with a Thrashin’ USA series?

Well I’ve drawn a lot from the bad skateboarding movies that were made in the 80s and 90s. There’s one called Thrashin’ that is definitely my favorite of them; it’s basically Romeo and Juliet set against a downhill skateboarding race. There’s a rollerblading one called Airborne. And they make no sense. They’re supposed to take place in the normal world, but it’s all over-the-top and skateboarding is the most important thing in the world for everybody. And I was like, these could be good, if the conceit was that this is a fantasy world where skateboarding is super important and everyone cares about skateboarding, cause that’s just not reality. So that’s the idea: to build that kind of world and treat it as a fantasy.

Have you thought about Pau and Gabby’s arcs?

Well I imagine that this world would have levels of competitions. So I see them both entering the town competition, then regional, state, and all the way up to universal competitions. And it’d become a dynamic where they’re working out whether they have feelings for each other, and whether those will be affected by the fact that they’re both very focused on skateboarding and trying to be the best in the world at it.

Would Mrs. Tracy remain a primary antagonist?

Yeah, I like her as an antagonist because one of the goofiest things about those 80s skateboarding movies is how ridiculous the villains are. It’s (dramatic voice) parents, teachers, COPS. You know, people who are generally just trying their best but because they’re enemies of skateboarding, they’re public enemy #1 in this world. So I like the heightening of strict teachers, crazy neighbors—Mrs. Tracy just trying to get vengeance for her azaleas.

What are your biggest influences and favorite cartoons?

For “Thrashin’ USA” specifically, the title comes from the song “Thrashin’ USA” by The Bones Brigade, that actually took their name from a skateboarding crew from the 80s—so doubly ripping off. They were like a thrash metal band I was really into in college that did a lot of songs about skateboarding and eating junk food.

Some of my favorite movies of all time are the Bill and Ted duology. I think it’s had a big influence on my humor and ideas. I’m a fan of Genndy Tartakovsky’s stuff - definitely Samurai Jack, but I feel like his Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon gets overlooked. That was my favorite cartoon for a while. One of my favorite animated movies ever is called Interstella 5555. It’s basically a Daft Punk album that they made an anime over, and the story is of a super popular alien pop group getting corporatized by an Earth record company. I also really liked Daria and Beavis and Butthead. When Adult Swim and Toonami became a thing, I was all about that. 

And what are you working on now, as personal projects?

Well I was inspired by the whole Go! Cartoons process, so I’ve just been like, coming up with a lot of pitches and character ideas. One that I’m working on now is about a BMX bike gang—sort of like Daria crossed with Akira.

I’d watch! Thanks for the chat Rory. I’m excited to see the projects you slide into next.

- Cooper

[dramafan5-blog]

You Got This! The BEST Wedding Planning Advice from GWS Couples

Need a little advice? We know—unsolicited advice is rarely welcome, but we happen to know QUITE a few folks who have, as they say, been there done that. For every real wedding we share here on GWS, we ask couples what advice they’d share with those who are planning now. It’s genuinely a treasure trove of helpful tidbits and *just breathe* moments.

We thought it’d be a good idea to collect some of the most practical bits of advice right here, from couples who pulled off some seriously gorgeous wedding days. And who better to help you truly make the wedding planning process easier than our friends at Squarespace? A wedding website from Squarespace is one of the most efficient tools you can invest in, and we’ll show you how as we peruse the tips below!

By the way—you can sign up for Squarespace with our code (GWS18) to get 10% off your first purchase! Take our advice: that’s a good deal. Now, let’s hear from our couples!

You (Two) Do You

photo by Alisha Tova from Ella + Brandon’s Handmade New Orleans Wedding

Make sure that you’re making decisions based on what YOU TWO want for that day, and your wedding will be authentic to you and your partner. If you enjoy the experience you designed, everyone else will too.

Make the Planning Fun

photo by Lauren Scotti Photography from Izzy + Tony’s Modern Countryside Wedding

Try to make every moment of planning special, but don’t overwhelm yourself. It’s so easy to get caught up in the check list of planning a wedding and go down an Instagram spiral, but sitting down on the couch with a glass of wine with your partner and jamming out to your future wedding playlist is REALLY fun! Try to make the most of the planning process, you will definitely miss it when it’s gone!

Squarespace Tip!

Turn up the music, grab the wine, and peruse Squarespace’s wedding website templates! There are nine unique templates to capture the spirit of you two as a couple, each with beautiful scrolling pages and an all-in-one platform that makes you look like a pro—no matter your experience. Settle in together and choose your favorite photos, fonts and colors, then get to creating!

Remember What Makes it Memorable—and Don’t Stress the Rest

photo by Studio Castillero from Afton + Reid’s Whimsical Wedding at The New Children’s Museum

Make step one of the process an honest conversation about the atmosphere you want to create on your wedding day and the absolute must-haves that will make or break that vision. It always helped us to think back on weddings we’d attended over the years and remember what it was that struck us as most well-done and memorable.

Listen to Wisdom

photo by Catalina Jean Photography from Karta + Siri’s Bohemian Wedding with a Sikh Ceremony

Listen to advice! Don’t just hear it, really listen and give it credit because the reality is you’ve never planned a wedding before (or at least not many) and there is wisdom in other’s experience. I loved planning my wedding, and I know that’s not the case for everyone, but I would say try to find at least one aspect that you can find joy in.

Lets RSVPs do Double Duty

photo by Kindred Weddings from Zai + Phil’s Glamping Wedding

In the RSVP form, ask your guests if they have any disability or accessibility needs that you should know about.

We were able to make a few small changes here and there with regard to seating options, tent locations, food, and transportation that made it possible for several of our loved ones to attend who might not otherwise be able to join or stay very long. We wouldn’t have known about their needs if we hadn’t included that question about accessibility on our RSVP form. They were touched by the gesture, and it meant so much to us to have them present—and comfortable.

Squarespace Tip!

Streamline the RSVP process with an RSVP form directly on your wedding website. The forms are totally customizable so you can get all the info you need—from meal request to accessibility needs. All RSVPs will integrate with your email or a spreadsheet, making responses easy to organize and filter.

When Planning Doesn’t Come Naturally…

photo by Rustic White Photography from Jenna + Michael’s Southern Boho Wedding

I suggest keeping a running list of ideas on a note in your phone or a journal, if you’re old school like me. Whether you like it or not (admittedly, I did not), wedding planning will be on your mind 24/7 and you never know what will inspire a decor element, or when a great idea will hit you. This helped me tremendously throughout the entire process.

Embrace the Adventure When Things Go Wrong

photo by Sara Byrne from Alicia + Daniel’s Relocated-at-the-Last-Minute Oregon Wedding

Our advice to those planning a wedding currently is don’t be scared to let the little details go. After abandoning all of our hard-planned details due to the relocation, we fell in love with the simple effortless wedding that came together on a beach—one which we had never seen or even envisioned getting married on. It made every second of the day an adventure!

A Simple Way to Make Hard Decisions

photo by Martina Micko Photo from Kaila + Joe’s Dinner Party Wedding

Create and stick to a simple decision-making process. We only had a 6-month window to plan, so we had to get good at sifting through the myriad of options. My advice is to find a way to focus on the styles, prices, and options that are best for your day. My process was pick three options by price and style, then choose one from there.

Do it Together

photo by Jordan Voth from Peyton + Josh’s Tropical Lakeside Wedding

My biggest advice is to both get involved and enjoy the process. Josh would sometimes be hesitant about getting involved in certain areas but then when the day came and he got to see it come to life knowing he had a hand in the decisions, made it that much more special.

Squarespace Tip!

One of the most fun things to do together as a couple? Register! Squarespace’s integration with Zola allows you to register with Zola, then share your registry directly on your wedding website! Zola is basically the best because it’s a universal registry that let’s you ask for gifts, experiences, even funds for that first house. Your desired items will show up right there on your site, where guests can complete purchases in just a few clicks. Alternatively, you can link up separate registries and set up a donation block to receive cash gifts!

Plan With People You Like

photo by Pat Furey Photography from Julie +  Tom’s Colorful Upstate Wedding

Choose your vendors based on their portfolios and their personalities; liking the team you put together makes the process that much more fun!

Inspiration Over Imitation

photo by Eden Strader from Mikyla + Kyston’s Modern Boho Wedding

When looking through Pinterest, wedding magazines, etc. use what you see as inspiration but not imitation. I truly loved our wedding because it felt so unique to us. We pulled inspiration from so many different places but changed everything to reflect us. Your love is unique, and your wedding should reflect that!

Prioritize for Your Budget

photo by AshGabes Photography from Ashley + Teo’s Celestial Themed Wedding

Pick 3 items that mean the most to you when it comes to your wedding. For us, it was hiring someone to do the work on the day of the wedding, good music, and good food. Those were the areas where we focused our funds. It made it easier in the long run to create a budget and not feel like we were scrimping in other areas.

How to Make a Themed Wedding Work

photo by Nick and Lauren Photography from Addie and James’s Star Wars Wedding

Incorporating your favorite binge-worthy TV show or novel is a wonderful way to add a unique touch of personality to your wedding that’s entirely you. Details are key, and providing the right atmosphere really allows your guests to immerse themselves in the story you’re wanting to tell. You have to believe in it to make it real and remember to have fun with it! Breathe life into the idea and watch it morph into something magical.

Squarespace Tip!

If you’re planning a themed wedding, or even a wedding with a common design element or motif, your wedding website is the PERFECT place to introduce the story to your guests! Use language and photos specific to your theme, select significant colors—get creative!

Minimize Stress with Plan-Free Dates

photo by India Earl from Olivia + Will Boho Black Tie Wedding

Planning is all parts incredible, exciting, stressful and draining. Just as important as setting aside time together to plan, is setting aside time together to do anything but plan. We had specific date nights where we didn’t talk about planning (but inevitably talked about all of the things we were most excited for about the weekend). It helped compartmentalize the times we could get excited—without getting too stressed!

Make Social Media Work for You

photo by Brasspenny Photography from Anna + Scottie’s Rainy Texas Wedding

Instagram is the new Pinterest in my opinion! The post-saving tool was my best friend. I was able to save so many super-unique inspiration ideas from weddings all over the world, as well as find vendors in the area where I was getting married. Most venues have their own handle and will tag every vendor involved in the wedding, which then led me to their Instagram pages showcasing all of their great work.

Let it Go + Be in the Moment

photo by Liz Morrow Studios from Kristina + Joe’s Moody Forest Elopement

Hang onto the things that really mean something to you, but pick no more than a handful of them, and be willing to be super flexible about the rest. The morning of the wedding, I woke up and decided: Nothing that happens today is allowed to upset me. I just let it all roll of my back—it was a day to be present and enjoy what was happening right in front of me.

Share the Memories

photo by cara robbins studio from Hayley + Omar’s Festival-Inspired Wedding

Make your wedding album as soon as you receive your photos back. You are so excited to see the photos and relive it all that before the excitement wears off, use the momentum to make the book ASAP. Otherwise, I have heard it’s easy to put off for years.

Squarespace Tip!

Transform your wedding website into a digital memory box once the big day is over. Create galleries of photos from the day, share your wedding video, or even create a blog to remember your favorite honeymoon moments. (Pro tip: keep that registry up for last-minute well wishers!)

Happy planning!

This post is sponsored by Squarespace. Thanks for supporting our sponsors!

Source: https://greenweddingshoes.com/best-wedding-planning-advice-from-gws-couples/

[metalpixie-blog1]

My Festival and Travel adventure 2016. Migardsblot- Wolfzeit

Midgardblot Festival 2016 Review/Blog

My personal account of my travels and Midgardsblot festival 2016. And this time its not boring ;)

My hair brain scheme.

(This is my adventure for the summer 2016 it has been titled so if you just want to read about the festival and the music you just go scroll down to the bit you’re interested in.)

So the plan was to embark on a 2 festival one stop off adventure spanning 11 days, well at least in theory. This is coming from a person who can easily come up with hair brain schemes that make complete sense…to her! Bearing mind at this point from the beginning of the year I had already done 3 festivals in 3 months! These were; Ragnarok in Germany (April), Hell fest in France (June) and Ragnard rock in France (July). Yeah…slightly addicted, unmissable line-ups!

Having booked 2weeks off work I wanted to try and do as much with it as I possibly could, staying in Crewe for 2 weeks wasn’t an option! Already having booked one of the 2 festivals it gave me a good indication of a starting point, and I just carried on from there. So it was decided; Norway, then Denmark for a couple days break, then off to Germany for another festival known as Wolfsziet.

A million and one pieces of print outs, emails and other such things I needed to sort out and make sure I had with me as they were conformations of festivals, travel and maps to navigate me. Might have been simpler if I had a smart phone where I could just easily access my emails and retrieve conformation numbers also go on google maps but no this is me and I didn’t even have a credit card. Just three different types of currencies in my pockets of both my cloths and 2 bags, just to be safe. I think as a traveller its more enjoyable going about it where I’m not relying on technology all the time. The week before I had to sort out a couple of errors that had happened whilst booking , a friend of mine had pulled out and hadn’t noticed a few things that needed some attention, this is where it started going downhill before I had even got there. Slight negativity had taking over, and I was tempted to pull out. Mainly due to the fact there was uncertainty that I’d even get to my final destinations and festival and back. Everything was so far up in the air and I didn’t believe it was worth it. Glad I didn’t listen to my head or I would have nothing to write about!

To Norway

The first destination was Norway. Midgardsblot, a modern event based historical Viking lore and culture in Borre Park, Horten. Where actual long dead Vikings buried in mounds located in the area, these where hundreds of Vikings, horses and other such things were laid to rest after a battle. I had heard about Midgardblots first ever festival last year and would have gone if I had the funds. This year I was determined to go so promptly I bought a ticket straight away. My first time not only to this festival but also Norway itself.

Norway is known for having a good few festivals but this one however was completely different and also a massive bonus being it was in August. (No stupidly cold weather for me!) And never ever being there it makes more exciting as you don’t know what to expect. I already had an expectation to this festival having looked at old photos of the following year, and videos and reading posts about it, I was really looking forward to it and still was so clueless to what was going to see.(And honestly the pictures did not capture the sheer beauty and atmosphere in any way)

Not going to lie I was very nervous about trying to find it, countless posts on the Midgardsblot information page which consisted of arranging to meet people at different locations. Briefly I mentioned earlier things didn’t really go to plan at the very beginning due to circumstances. Thinking that things are going to go smoothly on any trip can be construed as naive and you should always be prepared for the worst but sometimes that just part of the adventure and going with the flow is the best advice I can give during such situations. (Plus it makes things a hell of a lot more interesting) Needless to say what happened next for me was completely random but very much welcome, as I was getting in the queue awaiting to board I heard my name… Leigh I turned round and there was a man who introduced himself quite promptly saying he recognised me from the information page. Nice; this means I had someone to get lost with in Norway and sometimes two heads are better than well my head, so that was good. The flight was over and finished with however we were a little late to arrive which ment we had to hurry and get to Horten before it was too late to get travel. I asked my new friend if he knew where he was going, he turned out to be just as sporadic and random as I can be so his answer was “no, I’ll just walk and eventually I’ll get there…” It was then I knew he was a keeper and we were going to have a laugh. Especially when we were told completely different directions to what I had written down in my little travel book which had every single thing I needed to know for my trip and losing it might be a bit of a problem. He just said “I’ll follow your lead” (more fool him!) But we made it completely unscathed and I didn’t get lost…for once! We got to a pub in Horten where we met the master mind behind meeting up and the “celebrity” of the festival, not to mention being serenaded by Folket Bortafor Nordavinden one of the acts of the festival. It was then I knew was I with the right people and had come to the right place.

The journey was tiring which meant we left late to get to the festival which actually turned into an advantage as at the super market we were offered a lift to the festival. However not as smooth when I realised in the queue for the festival I had forgotten my camping pass, luckily they I was allowed to go through. And that’s where it all began…

Just a few tips to travelling to the festival

A tip to those who haven’t been to this festival and are thinking about it for 2017, go directly from the airport on the shuttle to Skoppum, as that will get you to Horten by bus or taxi no problem. If you do end up getting a flight back on the Sunday be aware there are no buses to Skoppum train, there is however shuttle buses but only in the afternoons, so making arrangements to fit that is a must.

Before the music at Midgardsblot

Nothing better than the realisation that not only are you camping next a small fjord sounded by views that can only be described as stepping into an impressionist painting, Where the moon raises reflect so delicately and the trees around the surrounding area are nothing but silhouettes. But also morning noon and night you can cook you food on a bonfire. As some of my fondest memories are being by a bon fire I wasn’t complaining and brought people together with laughter and food. I think one day I just spent ages making cheese toasties to share amongst randoms and friends just for the excuse to do it. Truly magical! Even when it was raining you can look along a field and still have a sense of almost freedom, didn’t matter what the weather was as it created a new way of looking at the surroundings areas.

It wasn’t so apparent where the festival stage and great Viking hall was were at first, as we walked across the grass past the mounds to pitch we didn’t walk past it so it was clearly on the other side of it. Turned out you had to go down a tiny woody area to reach the stage which was great in the daylight…not so great if you forgot a touch at night, made it interesting trying to navigate blind. For a moment I was doing the granny step, where I was going so slow to avoid going into the stingy nettles or knocking into oncoming people.

Festivities and the music

Before any of the music kicked off, it was Folket Bortafor Nordavinden who started the festivities off with a Nordic ritual to the gods, it didn’t matter if you worship them at all it was just there to be positive hopeful beginning to the festival. During the festival there many workshops done by band artist all to do with Viking mythology and history. Any always a recreation Viking battle in between sets. Like the art gallery/museum full to the brim of knowledge and culture but with the added bonus of music. Oh did I mention there was axe throwing? And no before it’s considered it isn’t allowed to do it drunk for various reasons.

As you can imagine Enslaved Wardruna and skuggsja captured the mood of the festival enticing us in pure seduction as we listened and gazed at the atmospheric scenery. All three bands had me from the beginning and whether it was head banging to Enslaved in the rain, dancing next to a fire again the rain to Wadrunna with pleasant company I may add, or just being taken to another place whilst watching Skuggsja, all having a unique effect on me. These three were hands down the best and completely suited this festival, it was truly an honour to watch them.

Other acts were; inquisition, skalmold, L.E.A.F., Kirkebrann, Hamfero, manegarm, melechesh and Tsjuder. And my personal favourites were L.E.A.F for the graceful presence on stage, Tsjuder who dominated the stage with Norwegian black metaly goodness, and could say the same for kirkenbrann also and I’m sure the others were equally as entertaining but I was busy doing whatever one does at a festival that doesn’t involve listening to music.

One such but in a different way, I would like to mention the first band, this band was not for everyone and that was definitely the case for me sorry but my least favourite band was Troll fest.

My favourite moments

Mainly the moments where I was with friends I had met pre or during the festival as they made me laugh and apparently I did the same. And the places whether it was getting lost looking for the super market, sitting by the fjord with 2 Vikings, sitting and gazing at the stars by the bonfire or just laughing in campsite. Didn’t matter where it was fun and full of happiness.

Only one bad moment. I am know to be quite hyper at times (not my fault just how I’m programmed) and as i was sharing a general happy moment with 2 of my friends, a society guard came over and accused me of being drunk! I wasn’t! and I wasn’t causing any problems just being slightly hyper, so i was a little insulted but got over it and enjoyed the rest of my time. So no real worries really.

The silly things that happened in between

It was apparent that I was getting a name for myself and a couple of sayings to boot. The name was “the high girl” and before you say it no not for that reason! It was more to do with the fact that I was next to the fence where people would come and go and every time they passed I would shout in a high pitch enthusiastic tone “hi!!” which actually made me some friends and terrified others. (Truly fun)

“you can have everything I own except the tuna” a comment that I made that could be thought of as slightly rude until you realise it was all in good intension, I needed to make sure i had food to travel but it was a running joke for the rest of the festival.

I know it is somewhat expected at a festival to be somewhat drunk or over excited or just plain loopy, but being drunk while trying to praise an artist and not remember what the hell you might have said is just plain silly and would only happen to me! It happened on two occasion but that one that sticks out in my mind was when was talking to a member of L.E.A.F.

The hike to the super market was a funny moment that me and my two male companions went on. Turns out if you don’t speak out enough then the male directions will take over…and we might be going down the road in a couple of miles in the wrong direction. And in my case in inappropriate foot wear!

In conclusion

The festival was great; the organisation was great, the artists were truly passionate and it was like spending time with family so a return is in order I think.

The next part of my journey The day to leave had come and it was sad, I don’t think anyone wanted to go especially me but I had knew adventures, however there was no sleep involved me even though I tried so getting up wasn’t easy and I was late. On the positive side I could grab a lift from my friends as there wasn’t any shuttle buses and also I didn’t have to catch my coach to the evening. Honestly it was hard to say goodbye to people but I knew I had to carry on, it was time to go to the lake followed by going to Copenhagen…

…..To be continued

[dailyaudiobible]

02/16/2019 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 1:1-3:17, Mark 1:29-2:12, Psalms 35:17-28, Proverbs 9:13-18

Today is the 16th day of February. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you at the close of another week. And yeah, as we begin next week, tomorrow we’re going to be beginning our pilgrimage to the land of the Bible and we'll talk about that a little bit more at the end, but here we are the beginning. And yesterday we finished the book of Exodus, which brings us to a new book in the Old Testament that were beginning today.

Introduction to the book of Leviticus:

Leviticus is the third book of the Pentateuch or Torah and it's written to the children of Israel and we're in the middle of the desert at this point, right? So, we followed the children of Israel out of Egypt and slavery and into the wilderness and we've been kind of camped out at Mount Sinai, out in the middle of the desert for a bit and that's where…that's where we are at this point in the story. God is establishing the terms of the covenant between himself and the people that He set apart and chosen to be holy. And it's been about a year since they've been out of Egypt and now the law is being given. And as we pay close attention we’ll sort of see a sub theme emerge out of the laws and statutes. Everything that they are commanded to do and obey and observe all has a spiritual underpinning. Everything that they do is to remind them of their spiritual reality and their holiness before God and their covenantal relationship with God. And holiness is a huge, huge thing to God. In fact, God tells them, “I am holy therefore, you will be holy”. And, of course, holy means set apart to God. So, God is saying, “if we’re gonna be in a relationship, right, if we’re gonna be communing together and enjoying each other's company and fellowship with each other than this is gonna only happen through holiness.” So, you know, Leviticus, we get to this point in the year and this is when a lot of the New Year's resolutions start wearing off. And we’re just a couple days post Valentine's Day and that is usually the point where the community for the year is established, those who are gonna make it have decided to do it and it usually kind of corresponds to how well you're doing with your other New Year's resolutions, right? Some people are like, “I’m not reading Leviticus and I'm not eating any more boiled chicken and salad.” And that's fine. I mean, we get to choose…we get to choose our lives, but what I’ve found over the years is that a lot of those people, a lot of that, if that's you, if you're like, “okay I just can't…like I just gotta get off this train”, pretty good chance that one year from today you may be right where you are right now. So, I'm telling all of us, we can do this, we can take this journey, we just have to understand the territory that we are moving through as we move through the Bible. Yeah, not all of it is like sit at the edge of your seat riveting page turner stuff. Some of it's like we’re reading laws and laws aren’t the kind of literature that's meant to be narrative or edge of your seat, but all of our societies would fall apart without our law books. And, so, we’re going to move through the law and understand its context so that when we come out the other side of the law and begin to move toward the Promise Land ee understand the lay of the land. And, so as we move through Leviticus and we talk about sacrifices and stuff like that we’ll find a lot of blood in this book because there's a lot of sacrifice in it. And if we approach the Old Testament, a work that was inspired thousands of years ago from the perspective of the culture that we live in right now, right, back reading our culture into an ancient culture, then yeah, it'll seem somewhat barbaric and certainly antiquated and perhaps even irrelevant, but it certainly wasn't then. And what it all represents is certainly not all relevant now. It’s as relevant now as ever. And we may wonder why they would just start sacrificing animals and why would God want animal sacrifice. And to find that out how we’ve gotta go back to the beginning. It's been six weeks. We read the account of the garden of Eden. We read of Adam and needs fall. And from that moment all of mankind was separated from God and worthy of destruction spiritually and physically. And remember that story when God came to the garden in the cool of the evening looking for Adam and Eve. They were hiding, and they eventually told God that they were afraid because they were naked. How God responds to that is telling. He covers them with the skins of animals. So, it was God who set this precedent of atonement and covering. It costs something to cover man and woman. It cost the life of an animal. And now we live in a culture after Jesus, where this idea of an atoning sacrifice isn't something that we think about that much other than to just know that Jesus was a sacrifice once and for all. Okay, well, that sacrifice once and for all, we just…just read of that story in the Gospel of Matthew. It was barbaric, it was ugly, it was bloody, it was sad, and the more that we fall in the Jesus the more that we see Jesus at work in our lives, the more we realize that this didn't happen to somebody we don't know, this happened to our closest friend, but His sacrifice was once and for all. All that we needed, He took it all, blameless, willingly and we no longer need any other atonement. That's the reality that we currently live in but the children of Israel back in the book as we start Leviticus, they don't have that luxury. God is showing the children of Israel that to cover their sin comes at a great cost and requires the shedding of blood. It is a constant living cultural reminder for them that sin leads to death and we’ll see God sewing this into the fabric of the culture that He's establishing, we’ll see the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering and how they're to be given. And we’ll see the way things are to be consecrated and the consecration of priests and priest’s families and we’ll learn what's considered clean and what's considered unclean in the culture and we’ll discover the different festivals and feasts that have to be observed and the blessings and cursings, all against the backdrop of the utter holiness and sovereignty of God. And so, let's embrace this journey as we move forward into and through the book of Leviticus. We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week and today we'll read Leviticus chapters 1 through 3.

Prayer:

We thank You Father for another week in Your word, we thank You for all that You’ve spoken and it's like every week You speak volumes into our lives, every week You touch soft tender places inside of us, either to correct us or to comfort and heal us, every day Your word has something for us and we are so deeply grateful. And, so, as we and this week You've brought us into new books in both the old and new Testaments for us to camp out in and enjoy as we move through the remainder of this month. And Father as we prepare to go back and experience the places where so many of these stories occurred in Israel in the land of the Bible we certainly pray Your protection, Your health, Your stamina, Your wisdom over all of it. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it is where you find out what’s going on around here and there are a couple of things going on around here.

The registration for the More Gathering for women, which will take place in the mountains of North Georgia just about an hour outside of Atlanta. Registration is open for that. You get all of the details at moregathering.com or go to dailyaudiobible.com and scroll down to the Initiatives section. Of course, you can see the Initiatives section on the Daily Audio Bible app as well, just got click the drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. So, we are anticipating and excited and prayerful and hopeful for all that God is going to do on that mountaintop. And any of the you who have ever been, then you know that the God shows up for each of us in the way that we need Him to and it's pretty remarkable. So, if coming…come this spring you feel like you might be looking for new life as new life comes to the earth, if maybe it's been a long stretch for you and you need some perspective, this could be exactly what has been put in your path for a reason. So, pray into that. Hope to see you…hope to see you there.

And I mention we’re going back to the land of the Bible, that is upon us. I will be flying out on the big plane tomorrow and I it's a long way, it's a long flight. It's not my favorite thing to do but I guess it beats walking, especially since I’d have to walk across the ocean, but jet lag can be difficult and logistics can be challenging. I mean there's a lot of moving parts when, you know, you have buses of people who are all from all over the world and it has always been such a beautiful dance to see it all come together, but it has never happened without the intercession and prayer of God's people in this community. And, so, wouldn't dare get on that plane and go back over there again without knowing that there was a canopy of prayer being raised over that. And, so, I ask for your prayers, prayers of safety and travel, prayers for on time delivery of all of our guests who will be arriving on all kinds of different flights, prayer over stamina and health, and jet lag and logistics and all of these things as we prepare to pilgrimage around the land of the Bible. Now, yeah, this is gonna happen for a bunch of people in person but it's always a community experience, it's something that we do together, whether virtually or in person. And, so, we’ll be posting pictures and videos several times a day on our social media channels. Just as things happen we’ll be posting them up. So, be sure to stay connected that way so that you can kinda look in, not only to get a glimpse of what's happening in the Daily Audio Bible community, who's actually going to be in Israel, but also looking into sites that you've heard of, like names that you've heard of in the Bible, places that we've been to in the Bible. Those places are real places and they can come alive and we do everything that we possibly can to make that happen. And we’ll also be doing a live broadcast. We always do this once we reach the sea of Galilee. And we all get together and kind of debrief each other and invite the community in to ask questions and spend about an hour just together as a community virtually even though were spanning across time zones and even international datelines. And, so, we’ll keep you posted on that but thank you for your prayers. And if you are interested in perhaps being one of the of those who actually get to experience the land of the Bible in person next year in 2020, registration is now open for that, You can go to dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section and find Israel 2020 and get all of the details that you would want to know, and get yourself registered. These trips always, at least for the last five or six years, they've always filled up and they've always been sold out, and we've always had a waiting list. So, I wouldn't…you know, if like, if it's something that you’re like, “seriously, I do want to do that” then I wouldn't…I wouldn't wait, but certainly there is time to pray into that. But you can you can now register for Israel 2020 at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link that lives on the homepage. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey Daily Audio Bible family, this is Darrell, this is my second time calling, Darrell Georgia and absolutely love this. I drive a truck at night and this is absolutely a perfect way to get my food, get my daily soaking in God’s word. And Brian I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you and appreciate your passion for God. I am so on board with that passion. There’s no one like our great God. There is nobody like our Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit is sustenance for our lives, which brings me to my point. I think your name was T, I think that’s what you said, T, you’re young man and you called in and you’ve been listening since Thanksgiving of last year and you’re struggling with sensing the presence of God or you said the peace of God, you’re battling that. My encouragement to you is dwell on what the word of God says. Believe what the Bible says and what the Bible says is that God’s promises, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So, the presence of God is there. He is there by your side, never doubt that. My encouragement to you, I believe, what I have experienced for myself is, if I’m feeling maybe empty or feeling like I’m not sensing His presence, I just talk to Him and I worship Him. I tell Him everything that He is to me, I tell Him how amazing He is, and I thank Him for all the little details in my life and that causes me to sense His presence. I hope that’s encouraging to you. My time is just about up. God bless you my brother.

This is a Lynn Song. I just started Daily Audio Bible this year. It’s very hard to call, I feel very vulnerable, but I need prayer for my husband. I wrote what I would say because I was afraid I would go blank. So, my husband has battled depression for years. He’s a musician and feels like a failure because his music has not taken him where he hoped it would. He is very gifted and talented, has made 20+ CDs. He writes things, composes, produces, plays multiple instruments but living in the Midwest makes it difficult. He struggles socially as well so it is challenging for him to market himself. Long story short, I prayed for him for years to for God’s will for him including that he would accept these circumstances if that is what God wants. I want us both to accept God’s will for our lives and I want him to be happy. I need help lifting my husband up in prayer and feel like I am Moses in need of assistance to hold my hands in the air until the battle is won. He came home tonight very depressed and discouraged. So, thank you. And I can’t stress enough, married 21 years and how long we’ve struggled with this. I don’t know if my time will run out, but I wanted to say I’ve been feeling __ hearing how many men are involved in DAB. So, calling for prayer and calling to pray for others. For some reason it’s given me hope for the body of Christ. So, I thank you for praying. I am praying for you all. Thank you so much.

Hi everybody it’s Margo from Australia and I’m now in Uganda. This is actually a bit of a test call to see what the lines like and whether it’s very clear and not working out which number to use. But I just wanted to let you know that I’m going quite well. Still have moments of being homesick but that’s __ and in between I have lots of joyful moments. I wanted to say thank you very much for everyone that’s praying for me. I did start writing down the names so I could thank everyone but I didn’t want to use up all my time just saying a list of names. So, if you’ve prayed for me, thank you so, so much. I did specifically though want to mention Treasured Possession. That word from the Lord, ahhh look, I cried. That was beautiful and encouraging and I’m so __. So, I’ve got a bit of a cold but other than that I’m doing well. I’m down…Uganda is an amazing place. There’s a couple of people who I did want to say that I’m praying for. Carl from Canada, you called, the quadriplegic __ it sounds like you’re having an awful time. I’m praying. Teresa in Texas with the alopecia, I really feel for you sister and I’m praying for you. And Karen from Pennsylvania, it sounds as though you’re having a very rough time and I’m praying for everyone and these couple of things are things that really made me…really touched my heart. I had a moment the other day where I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I was standing in the supermarket and I just couldn’t work out where everything was and what to buy and everything was so different, and I didn’t understand the money. And I got so overwhelmed I cried out to Jesus in my heart. I had this beautiful image of Him standing beside me with His arm around my saying, “it’s okay Margo, we’ve got this” and I nearly cried right there. It was beautiful. And I wanted to share that because that is what your prayers are doing, allowing me to feel his peace. Okay. Love you all heaps. Bye.

Hey DAB family this is Byron out in Florida. I need you guys to pray for my son, Caleb who’s 12 years old. We’ve discovered that he’s picked up some fairly disturbing habits concerning his sexuality and we’re really concerned and worried about him. God is good because he felt bad enough about these things to confess them to us but still there’s a lot of work to be done for him to understand why these things are wrong and what he needs to do to walk the right path. We put a really tight rein on what our kids watch, what they read, and who they hang out with, but somewhere and there there’s a leak in the system for him to be doing some of the things that we’ve heard about. And he hasn’t really come forward with us about where he might’ve gotten some of these ideas from and that’s a concern. But I just need the warriors to come out and pray because the devil’s trying to take my boy. He knows the Lord, loves Him, and he’s just trying to separate him from his family and separate him from his God and separate him from himself and I can’t stand for that and I need my family pray. A lot of other stuff going on too but just if you could focus your prayers on that I’d really appreciate it. Love you all. Bye.

[drtanstravels]

I was born on August 30, 1979 and according to statistics, the average life expectancy for an Australian born at that time was 74 years, with 70.56 years for males and 77.62 years for women:

Things are looking brighter for people born in this day and age with males looking at reaching 80.4 years of age and women living to be 84.6, but no matter how you look at it, even with the advances in modern medicine, it’s safe to say that at 39 years old, I’m now technically middle-aged and I’d simply have to be in denial to not be able to accept this fact. The real issue is whether I’m in the grips of a midlife crisis as I have made quite a few lifestyle changes that really only men grappling with what I like to call “manopause” tend to make when they reach my age. No, I haven’t purchased a sports car, I don’t flirt with women 20 years younger than me, and I haven’t started taking Metamucil (how could I not make that link orange?), but I have:

Britney feels my pain

Joined a gym — My neurologist told me a few years ago that I probably should lose some weight. I started using a calorie counter and eating healthier and over a period of about four years I managed to lose roughly 15kg (33lb). He’s happy with my weight loss, I now have a healthy BMI again, however, I set myself a weight goal, but my weight loss stagnated and I couldn’t get past a certain point and reach my target. My neurologist also told me I need to get more exercise, which makes sense as I do like to walk everywhere, but when you work from home like I do there are days where you are almost completely sedentary besides the occasional dog walk. I figured a little extra exercise might reduce my seizures, get me to shed those extra couple of kilograms I’ve been trying to ditch, and may also be able to help remedy my sleeping problems and seemingly constant lower back pain so there was really no reason not to start going to the gym. Besides, it did help a bit when I was going to one when we lived in New York. In the three or four months since I joined, I’ve lost an additional 4kg (8.8lb) doing cardio work and went over two months without having a seizure. My back pain was a lot better too, until I pulled a muscle in my lower back when I did eventually have a seizure again.

Started eating healthier — This one I started doing when I first got told by the neurologist that I should lose a bit of weight. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted and not gain any weight, but now my epilepsy medication causes weight gain and I’m not playing any sport anymore. I mentioned the calorie counter earlier, but I know people who work out and then go to KFC afterward, making the exercise seem kind of redundant so I’ve been taking what I eat, especially for lunch, a little more seriously. Most days I’ll just have either a litre (33.8 fl. oz.) of home made fruit and vegetable juice of I’ll get some sashimi and sushi. But also, quite often I go to a place called Little Farms, a small cafe and grocery store in the mall below the gym, and get a salad or chicken with wild rice, something like that to take away, but some things aren’t always available, life doesn’t always go as you’d expect, and Anna will never let me live this one down so I may as well give you the details: A TV show I have always loved is The Young Ones, the storyline described on IMDB as:

Four mis-matched university students share a house in North London: Neil, the hippy; Mike, the cool person; Rick, a would-be anarchist studying sociology; and Vyvyan, the punk medical student who is prone to extreme violence. Together with their bastard Russian landlord, the world of these “bachelor boys” is surreal and violent, but ultimately hilarious.

Neil (left), is a vegetarian and always gets forced to cook for all of his housemates, which generally turns out to be lentils. Now, I had never eaten a lentil before until a few weeks ago and I don’t think I will bother eating them again, either. It was kind of late when I got to the gym that day so when I finished there wasn’t a whole lot to choose from for lunch at Little Farms, yet I couldn’t be bothered going anywhere else so I opted for the lentils with cauliflower and broccolini. I definitely cashed in my man-card that day. Anna came home to see me shovelling spoonful after spoonful into my mouth out of my box of tasteless misery-sand. In what was similar to a moment out of Peep Show, Anna asked me what I was eating, to which I answered that it was lentils. She laughed and said “Wow, you must be really enjoying them!” However, nothing could be further from the truth. “No, I just shut my eyes, put as much in my mouth and swallow, but whenever I look back at the box it seems like there’s still the same amount left,” I said in defeat. Anyone that reads this blog regularly knows that I will try eating anything at least once, but I don’t think I’ll have lentils again to see if I was mistaken and I doubt Anna will ever let me forget that I tried them in the first place.

Started using anti-hairfall shampoo — Since I’ve been exercising more, I’ve obviously been sweating a lot more too and in the Singapore climate that isn’t a good thing, especially for your hair. Due to this, I was getting kind of gross things growing on my scalp so I opted for Head & Shoulders. Hey, if it’s good enough for Sofía Vergara, it’s good enough for me, but I instinctively bought the anti-hairfall variety. I’m not losing my hair, I mean, sure, I’ve got car parks, but not at a Phil Collins level yet, however, there is no point closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

These three main points, and probably several others if I put my mind to it, definitely point to being on the cusp of a midlife crisis, but I haven’t sold out completely. I still love beer and meeting up with friends for a drink and my birthday just so happened to land on the first day of Beerfest Asia:

If I have to…

Sure, the Beerfest website for 2018 looks like it was designed by the same people who made Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (couldn’t resist the colours again), but it’s the event, not the page that counts. So how do the organisers describe Beerfest Asia? Like This:

Beerfest Asia Pte Ltd is co-owned by lifestyle company, Timbre Group and Sphere Exhibits. Beerfest Asia Pte Ltd is set up to initiate and spearhead the beginnings of the only and largest beer festival in Southeast Asia. The idea behind Beerfest is the experimentation process of finding and enjoying beers that consumers may never, otherwise encounter locally. It is also a trade event for industry colleagues to exchange dialogue and promote their products. With plans to grow the festival in the region, Beerfest Asia Pte Ltd is committed to develop the festival to become the premier beer marketplace in Asia. 2018 marks the 10th edition of the festival.

Okay, that makes it seem a little wanky, but to me it is a chance to try a bunch of new beers and this year there were apparently over 600 different beers available. This obviously wasn’t our first time at Beerfest, not by a long shot. In fact, we go almost every year:

With Liam Collins at Beerfest 2011

At Beerfest 2012

With an angry German guy at Beerfest 2013

With Rik Mayall at Beerfest 2014

Drinking out of bags with Anna and Elaine Ang at Beerfest 2017

It turns out that those are the only five occasions where I’ve taken photos at Beerfest or at least haven’t drunkenly deleted them, but if we’re in Singapore and Beerfest is on, I’m there. I went to the first six Beerfests, but we were overseas in 2015 and 2016, but haven’t missed one since then. Also, if you look at the photos from 2013 and 2014, you’ll notice a pattern — I’m wearing a horrendous lederhosen t-shirt and there is a reason for that. I wore it as a joke to Beerfest several times prior to those pictures, but in 2013 some German guy (above, in the real lederhosen) initially found my t-shirt offensive and wanted to fight me, but eventually came around so I’ve made it a point to wear my lederhosen t-shirt to the Saturday session of Beerfest ever since. The irony of the situation was that I bought that t-shirt when we went to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany in 2010! I had wanted to get real lederhosen there, but they’re really expensive. You can get secondhand ones, but who knows what type of rash you’d get from secondhand leather shorts, plus, they’re still really expensive, so I just bought the t-shirt and a cheap hat, but Anna still bought a real dirndl that year:

Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, 2010

Anyway, most years at Beerfest are quite fun, but the 2017 event had been a bit of a letdown; It was held in a convention centre, there wasn’t much of an outdoor area, just a T-shaped arena of tables with a stage at each end with cover bands playing. I remember walking from one section to another to buy a beer and both bands I had passed had been playing Karma Police by Radiohead at the exact same time! This year’s Beerfest was at a new location, near Gardens by the Bay, so hopefully that would be an improvement on the previous year, but there was one thing that was certain to suck — The entertainment consisted of cover bands of two of my most hated groups, Coldplay and U2. Only time would tell how this one would pan out…

Thursday, August 30, 2018 Thursday started out like any other day; I got up, made a cup of coffee, and scrolled through Facebook while watching CNN. I also saw that I had a couple of new WhatsApp messages from Anna:

Oh yeah, that’s right, it was my birthday. I honestly couldn’t care less about my birthday if I tried and I generally tend to forget it when it arrives, as I had again this year. In fact, one year when I was still teaching at GEOS I arrived at work and there was a birthday cake on the counter in the staffroom. I nonchalantly asked Kristina, the then head teacher, whose birthday it was. “Haha, very funny,” was her sarcastic reply until she realised I was deadly serious. “It’s yours,” she then said in the most deadpan manor. Oh, cool, free cake. Thank you. Anyway, for some reason people had been randomly wishing me a happy birthday for the previous two weeks, but the day was now here, however, there wouldn’t be any cake this year, although Anna did consider getting me a sushi cake, but you have to order them ahead of time. Instead, I went to the gym for an hour or so and then Anna messaged me to meet up with her for lunch in Chinatown. When I arrived she pointed out that the t-shirt I was wearing was enormous, one that once fit perfectly that I used to wear all the time, but since I’ve lost weight now swims on me, giving me the appearance of a Juggalo who hasn’t put his face on yet. We eventually stumbled upon The Populus, a cafe with some great coffee and some pretty decent food and that was lunch sorted. Anna went home to continue some work she had to do so I walked around the corner to one of my favourite music store, Hear Records, to pick myself up some birthday presents. As I have mentioned before, I also have a weird situation where I share my birthday with my father-in-law. We met up with them on the previous Sunday for an early birthday dinner, but Anna’s mother was messaging us to see if we wanted to go for the launch of a book written by one of Anna’s cousins called Crippled Immortals, an event that was happening at Books Actually, a great little bookstore just behind where we live. We were unable to Attend because Anna had to go to dinner with some colleagues and then it was on to Beerfest!

The plan was to meet up with a couple of Anna’s friends, Elaine and Kamei, and another friend of ours, Yarny, would meet us there later. We arrived, got us some beer credits due to them not accepting cash, and then we were in, eventually meeting up with Kamei and Elaine. The layout this year consisted of three main tents and some outdoor seating:

Fortunately, it wasn’t too busy so we made our way up to the Hilltop Arena, grabbed some complimentary welcome beers and then had a look around. There was a stall selling Korean liver snacks so we bought a pack and that allowed us to have a go at shooting darts at a target to win credits. The girls insisted I do it and I apparently shot quite well, winning us an extra few bags. We pulled up a seat, ate our snacks and drank our beers, but soon I needed another so I had a look around and stumbled upon Canadian Craft Beer, owned and run by Scott Scheuerman, a former colleague of mine at GEOS back in the day. I had seen him working there previous years, but completely forgot about his company until I ran into him again. It was great having a chat and would definitely be seeing a bit more of him over the coming days.

“Beer Syrup.” Sounds legit…

There was a cover band on in the Hillside Arena that weren’t too bad, just playing a variety of stuff, but we also wanted to see what else was available so we went down to the East Arena, Yarny messaging me almost upon arrival to ask where we were. I found her and then we grabbed more beers and some food from the stalls within. Most Asian beers are pretty good, although you can find some terrible things like the Chinese one our friends, Tom and Leonie, found in a restaurant over here recently (right), but there was a ton of great regional stuff available including a rauchbeir from Hong Kong called Oh, Bacon that genuinely smelled like ham, another that was legitimately like drinking mango sticky rice, as well as some awesome European beers like the unexpectedly great ones from Lithuania that I found. But of course, the girls’ favourite brewery was one at my expense, Gweilo. Why “Gweilo” I hear you ask? Well, here’s the definition:

gweilo

(n.) vaguely pejorative Cantonese slang for foreigner. Translations differ depending on who you ask. Apparently it was once meant to mean “foreign devil” (an extreme insult), but usually these days is said to mean “ghost man” due to white foreigner’s pale skin and is used as a general term to mean foreigner. Gweilos get upset about being called this. Chinese think it’s no big deal.

I think it’s no big deal either and besides, this brewery was started by a couple of British guys living in Hong Kong. In fact, when we first moved to Tiong Bahru, Singapore nearly 11 years ago, I was one of the only white guys in the entire neighbourhood. Fast-forward to 2018, the area has been gentrified and now Anna is almost the minority. When they were building a massive apartment block across the road from my local pub, Coq & Balls, Anna and I came to the conclusion that they should also build a giant Jebediah Springfield-style statue of me looking over the area with simply O.G. engraved in the base — “Original Gweilo.” Anyway, it was soon time to check out the final tent, the West Arena, and as soon as we entered I knew we wouldn’t be leaving there unless it was to go home. Why? Because it was the only one with air conditioning and if you’ve ever spent time with a group of Singaporean women on their home turf, they will sacrifice anything to be in aircon. Although being a Thursday night had meant the festival as a whole hadn’t been too busy, this tent was packed, but we still managed to find seats, thanks mainly to four of our posse lacking a ‘Y’ chromosome. It was really loud and we couldn’t hear ourselves speak, but we still made it work. Then my worst fear came true; Viva Coldplay, a Coldplay tribute band hit the stage and they were worse than expected, but it was funny watching some drunk local guys trying to look gangster while singing along with f___ing Coldplay! Anyway, we still had some fun, but soon it was time to leave so we all jumped in line for the porta-loos, then caught a cab home. Some scenes from the night:

Gameface on while shooting for snacks in my Steve Buscemi shirt

The rauchbier

That pretty much applies to all beers

One of the Lithuanian IPAs

The O.G.

A special beer in honour of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un’s visit to Singapore in June

A sticker I received with mine

Chatting with Anna

Who needs to be told not to drink the water out of a porta-potty?!?

Friday, August 31, 2018 Friday was just a regular Friday for me. I took it easy during the day, Anna had organised a leadership training seminar and training day for work so after that she had dinner with some of the people involved, followed by going out for some drinks with them. That just meant I did my usual Friday night thing; went down to Coq & Balls and hung out with my drinking buddies, Anna joining us later on. Several of these guys were planning to join me at Beerfest the following day, Yarny even going to the extent of buying multiple She-Pees in order to make the toilet situation a little less traumatic for herself, Anna, and any other female friends that were to be in attendance.

Saturday, September 1, 2018 Saturday was here, the day that Anna, Myself, and a bunch of other friends were going to head down to Beerfest for some day-drinking and associated mischief, however, there was one small problem — It had been pissing down raining nearly all morning and early afternoon. A lot of people in Southeast Asia have unique reactions to rain. Many people from the Philippines, for example, have a strange conviction where they believe that if they get even slightly wet from the rain, they will get sick, absolutely no exceptions. Singaporeans, on the other hand, must think they are soluble because they lose their minds at the slightest hint of rain, possibly believing they will dissolve like a bath bomb if a single drop comes into contact with them! It can actually be quite amusing, especially during the torrential downpours in monsoon season when you see people who have forgotten their umbrellas try to cover their head with a tissue, only to have it diffuse into their hair, or the one person I saw who tried holding his bus ticket over his head! I have even seen letters written into the newspaper complaining that there are too may puddles when it rains! Maybe that was why when I walked down to Tiong Bahru Plaza to buy some lunch, it was the duty of an elderly cleaner to stand outside with a small brush and dustpan and try to sweep up the puddles… While it was still pouring!

Translation (German): “Same Table: Here sit those who always sit here.”

Anyhow, Beerfest was beginning at 3:00pm, but Anna was entertaining hospital guests at The Esplanade and would meet me there later. I streamed a couple of episodes of Maury until I heard from the others. For those of you that know the Coq & Balls “Stammtisch” crew over here, Yarny had decided to pull the pin because she was too hungover from the previous night, Leonie wouldn’t be able to make it either, but Tom, Simon, and Felix were coming, and TJ and a friend from Vancouver, Canada would be there are little later, so the She-Pees were kind of a waste of cash on Yarny’s behalf. To make things a little more interesting, Felix’s family are Bavarian so he was going to be resplendent in his traditional lederhosen, while I would be sticking with my own personal tradition and attending Saturday night at Beerfest in my lederhosen t-shirt. When I found out the others were on their way, I donned my outfit, jumped in a cab and headed to Beerfest for what I was expecting to be a fun afternoon, evening, and night. Tom, Simon, and Felix arrived, we grabbed our welcome drinks, had a look around the tents and ultimately opted for the outdoor seating at the Hilltop Arena. Although it was still daylight, there was definitely a completely different atmosphere to when Anna and myself were there on Thursday night. To begin with, it was exceptionally wet and muddy from all of the rain and everywhere we went we just got splashed by mud, I was so glad I didn’t wear thongs like I initially planned. Also, the general ambience of the event was completely different; Sure, Saturday was always going to be busier, we knew all along that we’d have to accept that fact, but people were also out to get hammered! In the first few minutes of being there I had walked past two different girls who were already crying and, as time passed, we watched as some of the locals’ complexions went more and more red with the more they drank. Another factor that doesn’t constitute a day-drinking environment is loud techno music playing in the background, Saturday afternoon beers are generally intended to begin as a low-key affair with a bit of bluesy-rock, potentially building up to something louder later on, but not blasting at 5:00pm. Still, we soldiered on. The four of us sat around our table drinking beers, eating some great char siew, and just chewing the fat when TJ and his friend made a brief appearance, disappearing to take a look around not long after, not to reemerge at Beerfest again. By now it was dark, it was still over 30°C (86°F) and extremely humid because of the storm earlier. Felix was sweating profusely through his shirt, soon discovering that authentic lederhosen are more conducive to an Alpine environment, as opposed to our equatorial one, and he was also having a little trouble with one of the already faulty buckles, which ultimately broke. Never fear, Felix turned out to be something of a German pants MacGyver and had the situation covered. We were now sharing our table with a group of extremely shy younger girls who had refused to even look in our direction after coyly asking if the seats were taken, but Felix saw that they had something he needed; the girls had finished eating satay skewers and if he could get his hands on one of those old sticks, his buckle dilemma would be sorted. “Excuse me, ladies, could I have one of your sticks?”, he inquired. One of the girls nervously replied that they were dirty, but Felix wasn’t swayed. “They’re for fixing lederhosen, they’re supposed to be dirty.” The girls passed their plate of used skewers over, a shared disgusted expression on all of their faces, and Felix got to work repairing his buckle and maintaining his dignity.

The mud, crowd, sweat, and horrible backing soundtrack that was not dissimilar to that of a construction site were getting to all of us, but then things got worse — Viva Coldplay, the Coldplay tribute act, started playing loudly in the Hilltop tent right next to where we were sitting. I am biased because I can’t stand Coldplay, but these guys are seriously shit! The vocalist can’t sing and the entire act sounds like something you might hear come runner up in a high school talent show in a small country town or maybe playing a junior rock eisteddfod, not Asia’s premier beer festival. Admittedly, they covered up the sound of the techno, but they were unbearable and we could now barely even speak to each other. It was official, Viva Coldplay were the straw that broke the camel’s back. Everyone decided to use up their remaining credits, drink what they got in return as quickly as possible, and head to Coq & Balls, however, for me there was just one problem; Anna was in the general vicinity of Beerfest for her work function and said she wouldn’t be too much longer, plus she had a ticket so I opted to stay. I mentioned earlier that my lederhosen t-shirt really pissed off a German guy back at Beerfest 2013, but I never anticipated that same shirt transforming into sexual dynamite in a mere five years. I had women coming at me from all angles, asking about the shirt, where I got it, giggling and saying how cute it was. The crowd was really deep now, so I had to line up for while at beer and food stalls. I got in line to buy some skewers and struck up a conversation with the people behind me, an American guy and his Australian girlfriend. They were talking to me about the shirt, laughing, and when my food came they insisted they pay for it! I thanked them, offered them some of what I was eating, but they refused. Next, I lined up for a beer at a nearby stall and when I tried to pay, the American guy working there said, “Dude, you’re not paying for anything with that shirt! And you’re not lining up anymore, either.” Looks like hassle-free beers are on the house for the night. Between the guys leaving for Coq & Balls and Anna’s arrival, there was about an hour of just random people, mainly attractive women far out of my league, approaching me about the shirt, like it was attached to some kind of oestrogen conduit. Anna eventually arrived and I explained to her the powers of the shirt, stating that if I were single, I wouldn’t be anymore, however, she had her doubts. Her skepticism was immediately quelled when I walked over to get beers for the both of us and was immediately approached by a guy and a group of girls on the way to the stall and then by an extremely attractive German girl on the way back, all wanting to know more about the shirt. We couldn’t find a seat so we stood around, drinking and laughing about the power of my lederhosen t-shirt, and I told her that everyone else had left. Anna said that she wasn’t really feeling up to sticking around, plus she had to work again in the morning. I was fine with leaving too, but the only problem was how I would cash in my remaining credits if nobody would let me pay for anything! We decided to spend the credits at Scott’s Canadian Craft Beers stall, asking him not to open the drinks, and just stuffed them all into Anna’s handbag. We caught a cab home, she just wanted to watch a bit of TV and then go to bed, but she insisted I join my friends at the pub so in order to keep the peace, I did what she said, it’s just easier that way. A quick look at Saturday night at Beerfest:

Felix’s buckle dilemma

The master at work

Sorted!

TJ and his Canadian buddy whose name I can’t recall

Give in, ladies… Give in to your urges…

Sunday, September 2, 2018 Sunday was not a standout Sunday for Anna or myself, but that rule didn’t apply to everyone. We just had lunch with a few people that were in town for Anna’s seminar from Australia, Korea, and Taiwan. So, why am I writing about Sunday? Because it was a big day for Yarny. This story begins a couple of weeks ago when I accidentally let the cat out of the bag. The machine I use at the gym has a TV on it and I was watching Wheel of Fortune while I was exercising and they showed an advertisement for MasterChef: Singapore. Normally I wouldn’t take any notice, but there was a familiar face that popped up a few times so I messaged the Stammtisch group and asked if Yarny was going to be a contestant on MasterChef. She replied that she had made it to the Top 18, but hadn’t really told anyone yet. She later posted her MasterChef profile from the Channel 5 Facebook page which read:

I had no idea that was her real name

Meet Weiyan!

The 30-year-old specialises in sensory neuroscience and neuroeconomics, and has worked in the science industry for 7 years. Both her parents were hawkers – hence her love for all things Asian and local cuisine!

Now that I had blown her cover and it was common knowledge, Yarny had decided to invite everyone down to Coq & Balls to watch the first episode. I think most of our friends went down, but Anna and myself were too tired and just watched it from home, watching Yarny do her thing in the kitchen, a passion of hers we didn’t really know anything about, and sending sarcastic messages to the group.

The subtitles read: “I am so tired”

Unfortunately, Yarny didn’t make it to the Top 10, but considering that she was rather hungover on the day of filming and had to do her own hair and makeup in the back of a taxi en route to the filming at Chijmes, I think she did a pretty damn good job!

Anyway, I had a great 39th birthday, had a blast at Beerfest on the Thursday, an okay, albeit amusing time there on Saturday, and will more than likely be there again next year if we’re in town. Thanks everyone for all of the birthday messages and phone calls, I really appreciated them. Also, a big congratulations to Yarny on her MasterChef: Singapore appearance. Now I’ve got to walk Anna’s luggage down to the Singapore National Eye Centre as she has to fly straight from work to Hanoi, Vietnam to give a presentation. I’ll be flying to Hangzhou, China tomorrow where she’ll meet me later that day for her conference, then we’ll fly back to Singapore on Saturday night. We’ll only be back a few days, then we’re off again on the Wednesday to Austria for four days and six days in Turkey so it may be a while until you hear from me again. Prost!

          My 39th birthday just happened to coincide with Beerfest Asia 2018. I guess I'd just have to accept it and move on with my life. I was born on August 30, 1979 and according to statistics, the average life expectancy for an Australian born at that time was 74 years, with 70.56 years for males and 77.62 years for women:

[shawnlhuntley45-blog]

My Favorite Gifts for Her Under $50 ~ 2017 Gift Guide + Giveaway!

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I'm so excited to share my 2017 Gift Guide with you which is a collection of Gifts for Her all under $50. My gift recommendations are things that I have bought for myself or for a gift for someone I love. In other words these are a few of my favorite things that I don't hesitate to tell you about to help you with your gift purchases this year. You may even find a treat or two to buy for yourself. That's okay too :)

I absolutely love buying gifts for others. I love the challenge of finding the perfect thing and then I love telling others about my great finds. So now I'm telling you. The links I've used are Amazon.com affiliate links (I will make a small commission should you choose to purchase through my links) but for my Canadian readers don't you worry almost all of these items are also available on Amazon.ca as that is where I purchased them from myself. Just remember prices are always higher in Canada unfortunately :(

Amazon is such a big online place that it can take a long time scrolling through pages and pages of products to find just the perfect gift. Well hopefully I'll save you a bit of time here. I've spent many hours curating this list for you, reading reviews, ordering and returning products. I'm a very picky girl. Crappy products annoy me, these products do not. They are not crappy. They are awesome!

Enjoy my 2017 gift guide and happy shopping my friends!

My 2017 Gift Guide – Gifts for Her Under $50

1) Faux Leather Backpack

This backpack is absolutely stunning. Such amazing quality for this price point. It's made of patent faux leather with pretty gold-tone zipper pulls. It's a nice size with plenty of pockets to keep your organized and it even comes with a duster bag. Also comes in other colors.

2) Bottom Dispensing Teapot

Okay how annoying & frustrating is it to use those small little loose tea contraptions to make a cup of tea only to have them not seal properly and get tea leafs in your cup? I know I hate it too. Plus they are a pain to clean out each time. Ain't nobody got time for that! This tea infuser releases one cup of tea directly into your cup and clean up is a breeze. I've had mine for quite a few years now, seriously it's the best! Combine this gift with some delicious tea and a pretty tea cup and you have yourself one gorgeous gift!

3) Heated Throw

I've had my heated throw now for a couple of years and use it every single night to take the chill off. It's one of my favorite things! It's not as big as a blanket which I like because it's easy to drag it around the house with me. I'm always cold so this keeps me all warm and cozy. Seriously what's not to love about being warm? Yep everyone needs one! In fact my 12 year old loves mine so much that I got him one for Christmas so I don't have to share mine anymore, whoot!

4) Painless Earbuds

I don't know if it's just me but earbuds always hurt my ears. I can never wear them for long because of the pain. Annoying! I got these Yurbuds many years ago and they are the most comfortable pair of earbuds that do not hurt my ears. They stay put too, even while exercising. I've had no problems with them at all and think that everyone should know about them. So great!

5) Warm Cozy Socks

So right up there with a nice heated throw for comfort are cozy cupcake socks. Yes these socks are cozy and delightful but they are also adorable because they package up into adorable cupcakes. I mean, come on! Great as a gift on it's own (maybe package them up with a nice foot lotion) or as a super fun stocking stuffer. They are sold in a set of two, one for you and one for someone else :)

6) RFID Zippered Wallet

Most everyone has a wallet but is it going to protect you against those sneaky crooks out to steal your hard earned moola? This lovely RFID blocking technology wallet will. It comes in a gift box perfect for easy gifting and it also has pretty gold hardware and a removable wrist strap. Available in red, black and blue.

7) Mason Jar Warmer

This is the one product I haven't personally tried because the price for us Canadians was ridiculously high. Over $100 in Canada but under $20 in the US, umm what? Look how adorable this wax warmer light is, I love it so much. How cute would it be sitting on your kitchen counter smelling your home up beautifully? And a great gift at a great price too! If you live in the US that is. Bummer for me though.

8) Earring Organizer

I love earrings and am constantly switching out the pair I wear on any given day. Usually they end up jumbled up in a dish I keep on top of my dresser but then I found this super clever earring organizer that keeps your earrings organized in book format. Saves so much time trying to find the pair you need in the morning. The holes on the opposite pages are offset so they don't hit each other and you can store up to 42 pairs. So smart! Available in black, pink and white.

9) Christmas Music

Okay I'm not sure I've ever confessed this on the blog but I have a wee obsession with Christmas music. Here's my collection:

Yep totally addicted. And totally old school I guess because I still enjoy owning the CD's. They make me happy and I believe they make a most excellent gift. My latest favorite that just came out this year is Lindsey Stirling's Warmer in the Winter. It's so good and festive!

She's an amazing violin player and she has some guest singers join her on the CD so it's not entirely instrumental. It's beautiful and lovely and a nice addition to a holiday party playing in the background. I heard about Lindsey because she was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars this year (another obsession of mine). She came second but only because she was up against Jordan Fisher who I knew was going to win from the very first show. Great season!

Oh and if you are interested, my ALL-TIME favorite Christmas CD is Johnny Reid's A Christmas Gift to You CD. Oh my!

10) Snowflake Necklace

If you know someone who loves snow then this is the perfect gift for them. Actually I don't love snow that much but I do love my snowflake necklace A LOT. I got one for myself and then immediately turned around and ordered another one for someone special in my life. This necklace is gorgeous!

The price is AMAZING and yet it doesn't look or feel cheap at all. It comes beautifully packaged in a nice gift box as well. Can't say enough about this stunner, such a sweet dainty gift!

11) Reusable Makeup Cloths

I've been using these reusable makeup cloths to remove my makeup for many months now. They really do work and no chemicals are involved, you only use water. They even take off mascara and eyeliner no problem and my face always feels so good after I clean it at night. Pick up a set for each of your girlfriends or as a stocking stuffer for your teenage daughter.

12) Touch Screen Gloves

I live in a northern part of Alberta, Canada. It's cold here you all but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have cute gloves to keep my hands warm. Not only are these warm and super fuzzy and soft inside, the touch screen fingers actually work so I don't have to take my gloves off to check my phone. And can we just take a moment to check out that bow? Right?! Totally adorable!

13) Memory Foam Slippers

Are you starting to see a trend here? I like to be warm what can I say! You have no idea how many slippers I tried out that didn't meet my criteria. I love a great slipper but I don't want to spend a fortune on them. These Dr. Scholl's slippers are a nice price and the quality is great. The memory foam is lovely and comfortable to walk on which I really appreciate it. Totally love these slippers and highly recommend!

14) Bite Lipstick Gift Set

This product is a holiday gift set available at Sephora. Bite lipsticks are one of my favorites. I love how easily they glide on and they don't include any yucky harmful  ingredients. Bite Beauty is crafted with natural and food grade ingredients. They also don't taste or smell awful either as a result. This sweet Bite Beauty mini lipstick gift set is made up of four lipsticks in four different shades to try out packaged in a pretty red tin. Such a great gift for the beauty lover in your life.

So that's it friends, 14 gift ideas for you under $50. I hope you found something in my 2017 gift guide that you like.

2017 Gift Guide Giveaway:

So remember that first gift idea I told you about? The beautiful black backpack? One of you is going to win it!! I'm so excited about it!

To enter to win this lovely backpack all you have to do is fill in the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway open to everyone. As always only the first entry task is mandatory and all the rest after that are pure bonus for you (no comment necessary but of course they are always welcome!). Giveaway ends, December 7th at 4:00 pm MT. Good luck!  Please keep in mind that sometimes the Rafflecopter form takes a minute to load so if you don't see it right away, please be patient. Thanks!

If you are new here and would love to dig into some juicy organizing goodness here's a GOOD PLACE TO START and be sure to SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss a post. Good luck and Merry Christmas everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PS: Need a cute printable to track your gifts? Be sure to grab my FREE Holiday Planner Printable pack.

If you're seeing My Favorite Gifts for Her Under $50 ~ 2017 Gift Guide + Giveaway! anywhere other than I'm an Organizing Junkie (or your feed reader) it has been stolen! Please let us know!