#virtual grand national

[venusvity]

After a stellar first year as a group, Venus hit 2019 swinging. They began their "Video Game Era," officially titled "VSCAPE," promoting their upcoming series of video games that would come with every comeback. VSCAPE would be a three-part series in which the girls would be put in three different genres of video games: fighting, action, and simulation.

People weren't exactly sure how seriously Angelico would take this project until their third mini album, "VSCAPE: BATTLE ROYALE," was released along with the accompanying video game under the same title. Of course, you had to buy the album and video game separately, but both came with photocards, so fans were more than happy to spend their money. Fans were even more shocked when the game was good, with stunning graphics that felt utterly out of Angelico's budget.

VENUS IN 2019 AT THEIR COMEBACK SHOWCASES: Bliss (21 via Battle Royale), Baebi (20 via PUNCHOUT), Chloe (19 via LOVE&LOSERS), Sena (17 via PUNCHOUT), and Jiah (16 via Battle Royale).

The game would be similar to Mortal Kombat but less violent. You could pick which Venus member you'd like to fight as and be paired with randomized villains or other Venus members, resulting in many hilarious reaction videos created by their fans, Constellations.

BATTLE ROUND, the title track, would win eight music show trophies and sell over 1 million copies, becoming the first Venus album to achieve this and the first group in Angelico history to have over a million sales.

They would release the second part of the VSCAPE project, another mini album and video game titled "VSCAPE: PUNCHOUT." Many fans expected the same type of gameplay from the first VSCAPE project but were shocked to be met with entirely different graphics and gameplay. This game follows the player through an apocalyptic world, trying to find the cure for the disease that's destroyed the country of South Korea. The graphics and gameplay are very similar to TellTale's The Walking Dead game, which is not shocking as they were the studio behind it. The game was praised for its interactive story elements, the girl's voice acting, and an overall storyline that had many constellations crying by the end of it.

VISION BOARDS FOR BATTLE ROYALE, PUNCHOUT, and LOVE&LOSERS.

PLAYER ONE would be the title track for PUNCHOUT, securing the girls' 12 music show wins as well as being certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) for 100 million streams just three months after its release. This would mark the second Venus song to achieve this.

The final and most iconic part of the VSCAPE series is "VSCAPE: LOVE & LOSERS," with the title track "LOVE SIMULATOR." The game is just that: a dating simulator featuring all the girls. Though the game concept was quite controversial, as many fans saw it as pandering to a specific audience, the art used for the game was heavily praised for its cute and unique style.

FAN FAVORITE OUTFITS FROM THE VSCAPE ERA!

Though the game was hit or miss by fans, the song took over South Korea. "Love Simulator" received positive reviews from music critics and appeared on many year-end rankings of the best songs in 2019. Rolling Stone placed "Love Simulator" at number 24 on their list of the top 100 songs in 2019. On the National Circle Digital Chart, the single peaked at number two. The Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) certified it double platinum for surpassing 200 million streams in South Korea. The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for accumulating over 100 million streams in Japan.

Love Simulator would have 17 music show wins to its name, something virtually unheard of from Angelico. It is the 4th most-awarded song in music show history.

Venus would win their first Daesang this year, taking home Song Of The Year at MAMA for Love Simulator and Best Dance Performance—Female Group. They would also go on to win the Grand Prize at the Seoul Music Awards, marking another Daesang win for the girls.

[cyphyree]

bestie what did you call those fucking parrots??? "bloodthirsty parakeet satirical caricatures of the Mussolini facist regime" like... what?? genuinely confused, could you explain it to me?

Yeah! Tbh I read this post that made the connection, and thought “damn that made sense actually.” They explain it really well:

(Og post for ask context)

To add on:

The parakeets carrying Himi to the great grand uncle were passing through the world of their ancestors and were tearing up about it. It relates to the above post about fascists glorifying the mythic past

The parakeets held up signs with “Duch” when rallying around their king. This might be a reference to the Italian word “Duce” (meaning “duke” or “leader”). Mussolini is known as Il Duce (“The Leader”), and the term is virtually inextricably associated with him

Parakeets symbolize a variety of things, but in this case may symbolize mindless herd mentality

The culture of the parakeets is very militaristic—even the way they walk is a march—as well as nationalistic. It parallels the show of Japanese nationalism at the start of the movie

When Mahito wakes up in the parakeet kitchen, the chef is gleefully preparing to cook him. It’s almost as if he expected Mahito to celebrate the fact too, but regardless the parakeet doesn’t care about the massacre of others because the victims will serve their regime. Someone I know has a more personal reading of this scene, and they connect it to how, historically, oppressors would celebrate their atrocities as some great deed while the oppressed watched and suffered. The parakeets only cared about their own “greater cause”

Ive seen people also say that the parakeets are stand-ins for the Japanese fascists, German fascists, or human fascists in general—but whatever the specifics may be, the parakeets do seem to represent fascism.

Maybe when the parakeets escaped the underworld and turned into normal birds, it’s their wish being fulfilled: they’ve become their ancestors they glorified so much. They returned to the “great mythic past,” but as it turns out, the “great mythic past” is a great big lie, and probably different from the glory they imagined.

Alternatively, they coveted the peace and simplicity of their ancestors, but they were trying to achieve that through violent and militaristic means, and felt justified in doing so

Alternatively, the parakeets like the pelicans were trapped into this fantasy world, and forced to play roles to parallel the wars of humanity. When they finally escaped, both they and Mahito are free to live as themselves in the real world.

Maybe I’m wrong about some details or missed something, but yeah, that’s where “bloodthirsty parakeet satirical et cetera” came from

[thekatebridgerton]

Forget getting carried away by passion and kissing their favorite Bridgerton behind the back of the person they are courting. That's so mainstream of Simon and Kate

The only real way to break up a courtship should be by publishing a love rival's secrets in the national press. And that's why Penelope is class apart in the courtship wrecker department. Penelope didn't even need to kiss Colin to get that job done. She didn't need to be near him at all. Homegirl was virtually staying out of his relationship when she wrecked it. And for that she's got my respect.

Even tho we could argue that Penelope's courtship wrecking was premeditated, unlike Simon and Kate's who just got carried away. I still prefer Penelope's style of doing things

(yes I'm joking, don't come at me with flames, too much Ariana Grande headlines have me feeling like taking a jab at a certain trope)

[tercessketchfield]

— 19th of NOVEMBER 1539, birth of HALSHKA (Elyzaveta, Elżbieta) OSTROZKA (OSTROGSKA), "the Black Princess"

Born on feast day of St. Elizabeth, she was christened Elżbieta, Elyzaveta, or Halshka (under this latter name she came down into history). Halshka’s father was Prince Illia Ostrozkyi (Ostrogski), a weathly magnate and a member of ancient Ukrainian (Ruthenian) powerful aristocratic family, that traced their origins back to the semi-legendary prince Rurik. The representatives of this family held great offices in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. At the royal court in Krakow, Illia Ostrozkyi met Beata Kościelecka, a notable beaty, and, according to the rumours, an illegitimate daughter of King Sigismund I of Poland. The couple was married in 1538, but their happiness did not last long: Illia was wounded during the tournament, and died soon after, in August 1539. In November Beata gave birth to their only child, a daughter.

According to her father’s will, Halshka stood to inherit half of his vast estates (including the cities of Ostroh and half of Rivne, along with many more), that were to be under her mother’s control until the heiress reached adulthood. Beata was also to keep control of her husband’s younger half brother’s Vasyl’s inheritance. The latter, who was to become powerful magnate and patron of religion and education under the name of Vasyl Kostyantyn Ostrozkyi (Ostrogski), soon took measures to retain the power of his estates his estates and rule them on his own. In his testament, Illia had also entrusted the care of his daughter to the King Sigismund, his wife, Queen Bona Sforza, and their son, Sigismund II Augustus.

Since Halshka was the recipient of such a magnificent inheritance, it soon became a matter of almost national importance to find her a suitable husband. Here, the interests of Lithuanian and Polish nobility also clashed. Suitors, eager for wealth and influence were not slow to appear. Among them were Dymitr Sanguszko, starost of Kaniv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr, Jan Mielecki, voivode of Podilia, and even, according to a legend, Dmytro Vyshnevetskyi, the famous founder of the first stronghold on the Khortytsya island. Halshka’s uncle, Vasyl Kostyantyn Ostrozkyi, who was gradually growing in power, supported the candidature of Dymitr Sanguszko, while both the King of Poland and Beata Kościelecka were against him. Sanguszko married Halshka all the same, but was soon sentenced to infamy (deprivation of noble status and threat of death sentence if he did not agree to annul his marriage), and murdered.

The next match for Halshka, proposed by the King Sigismund II, was Łukasz Górka, voivode of Poznań, Kalisz, Łęczyca and Brześć Kujawski. Beata Kościelecka had at first agreed to it but later changed her mind towards this marriage. Once again, her protests availed nothing: the wedding took place in the presence of the royal family in Warsaw. Halshka was told that her mother agreed to the marriage, but when she learned that this was not the case, Princess appealed to the royal council to annul it, and fled to Lviv with Beata.

Halshka’s third union was orchestrated by Beata. This time the groom was Prince Siemion Slutski, who, for the sake of conspiracy, had to meet his bride in a monastery disguised as beggar. The couple wed in 1559, but this marriage was also short-lived. Though neither Halshka nor Beata regarded Łukasz Górka as the Princess’s true husband, Górka himself was evidently of different opinion. He rushed to Lviv with arms and took Halshka captive. Prince Siemion Slutski died in 1560. Górka placed Halshka – virtually a prisoner – in the castle of Szamotuły, near Poznań, where she spent fourteen years until his death, isolated from the world. It is said that during her imprisonment Halshka was wearing the black mourning robes, which was why she got nicknamed “the Black Princess”.

After the death of Łukasz Górka in 1573, Halshka Ostozka was finally free and able to return to her homeland. During the reign of Henri Valois as the King of Poland, Halshka’s uncle, Vasyl Kostyantyn Ostrozkyi saw to it that the estates, left to her by her father, were returned to the Princess. The rumours that Halshka has got insane during her confinement in Szamotuły, do not seem to be true, as in her later years she actively participated in the works of patronage, attended court hearings, and financially supported a prominent educational institution – the Ostroh Academy, established by Prince Vasyl Kostyantyn Ostrozkyi. She died in 1582, leaving her estates to Vasyl Kostyantyn.

Halshka Ostozka was said to be a remarkable beauty, but sadly none of her life portraits survived. She is featured in famous painting Kazanie Skargi (Sermon of Piotr Skarga, painted in 1862-64) by Jan Matejko, where Halshka is depicted as a young richly dressed woman, covering her forehead with her hand in sad contemplation; she is placed a little behind Anna Jagiellonka, sister to Sigismund II, and once Queen of Poland.

Another renown portrait of Halshka Ostrozka was painted in 1996 by Ukrainian artist Yurii Nikitin, who did a research among the portraits of Ostrozky family. The portrait features a young serious woman with delicate features, dressed in strict black gown, adorned with rich jewels, and a white headwear that covers her hair and neck closely. In her hand she is holding a book – most likely a Holy Scripture.

[youremyheaven]

Vedic Astrology Observations

Uttarashada natives often have very mongoose like features (esp face shape) since mongoose is its yoni animal. Often times these natives have a very small head.

Jessica Parker Kennedy is an Uttarashada Moon

Jennie is UA sun & Jane Levy is UA moon. Notice how they both have a similar eye shape and tapered chin.

2. Punarvasu girlies have such doll like faces. Punarvasu is considered the most feminine nakshatra and I think that impacts the physiognomy of its natives, giving them very cute, dainty, hyper feminine features.

Isabella Moner & Billie Lourd are both Punarvasu sun

Both Karina & Miranda Kerr are Punarvasu moon

3. Hasta Moon women are celebrated for their femininity in the world of entertainment. Since Hasta is ruled by the Moon, these natives are endowed with pleasant demeanour and natural vibrancy.

Dita Von Teese, who is known for emulating a hyper feminine 1930s starlet glamour, has Hasta sun & mercury (her moon is in another feminine nak of Mrigashira while her Ketu resides in yet another feminine nak of Punarvasu)

Bae Suzy, who is known as "First Love of the Nation" in South Korea, because her youthfulness and innocence reminds people of their "first love" has Hasta sun.

A lot of Bollywood actresses have big 3 Hasta placements, Katrina Kaif, Kriti Sanon, Tamanna Bhatia and Tara Sutaria are all Hasta moon.

(I'll probably make a separate post about this but these women fit North Indian beauty standards and Moon dominant women are always considered the North Indian ideal)

(Notice how all of them have slightly thin long noses and big-ish foreheads and an elongated eye shape?)

Anne Hathaway, Emma Stone, Ariana Grande, Kate Winslet, Karlie Kloss, Anya Chalotra, Lili Reinhart, Kristen Bell, Isabelle Adjani are all Hasta moons and most of them are known for their grace and elegance, while others are known for their girl next door persona.

4. Uttarashada & Purvashada natives are drawn to grandness, luxury and big gestures. In music, I've noticed how many musicians who make music that synthesizes and integrates many diverse sounds, genres and perhaps cultural influences often have Uttarashada placements.

Ryuichi Sakamoto, who often mixed electronic music with African, Chinese, Indian (and many others) music and was known for his "East Meets West" style had Uttarashada sun.

Daft Punk, the French electronic music duo is also known for mixing funk, synth pop, techno, disco and other genres with electronic music. The duo consists of Thomas Bangalter, who has Purvashada Sun, Uttaradhada Mercury & Venus, and Guy Manuel de Homem Christo has Uttarashada Venus.

Cher, who was also known for working across genres has Purvashada moon.

Damon Albarn, who created the virtual band Gorillaz has Uttarashada moon.

Bjork who is known for her unique music has Purvashada Venus

5. A lot of musicians who have a robotic/virtual reality/futuristic concept often have Uttara bhadrapada, Punarvasu and Revati placements.

Guy from Daft Punk is UBP rising with Punarvasu saturn.

Damon Albarn who created the virtual band Gorillaz has UBP sun, Revati saturn amatyakaraka.

Grimes, known for her aliencore, cyberpunk sound/aesthetic has UBP sun

6. Punarvasu natives often make very airy,soft, gentle, "glam" music. They're often very synth heavy and very inspired by 80s esque retro pop. Kali Uchis who has Punarvasu sun, Dua Lipa, Chaka Khan and Mariah Carey who have Punarvasu moon are good examples.

(Notice how even these pictures radiate a very similar glittery, retro glam aesthetic)

[law-of-ana]

𖦹︎ ׄ  𓈒 welcome to ana’s world. . .

˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚₊

virtual names : ana, ren, hana, floower

real name : ivana (feel free to call me ana🫶🏾)

nationality : french

ethnicity : cameroonian

mbti : intp/infp (it always changes)

🤍 : spirituality, selfcare, music (rnb & kpop mostly), bbl tea, video games & makeup

stanlist :

korean music (pop, rnb etc) : p1h, w2e, itzy, dreamcatcher, behindthemoon, ive, gwsn, aespa, kim a reum, illit, rv, newjeans & nmixx

other : sza, beyoncé, keshi, laufey, nicky minaj, ariana grande, megan the stallion, mitski…

𖦹︎ ׄ  𓈒 my main drs. . .

better cr dr

itzy 6th member dr

spirited away dr

gravity falls dr

own gg dr

pokemon dr

tokyo revenger dr

winx dr

𖦹︎ ׄ  𓈒 my shifting journey. . .

spring 2021 — discovered reality shifting and made my first dr : genshin impact dr (it was so awkward im thankful i didn’t shift there lol😭)

summer 2022 — first shift : i used the lucid dream method and i woke up in a waterpark… that was fun tho!

2022 - 2023 — break, some attempts but nothing really happened

autumn 2023 — opened my first shifting acc on tt, learned about loass, reprogrammed my mindset.

autumn 2023 - until now — minishifted x1 in my itzy dr, not a lot of attempts but a lot of learning

+

- ill mostly post tips, about my drs and templates (notion)

- socials ; _anashifting on almost every platform

<3

[mariacallous]

The United States Department of Justice on Wednesday announced charges against a 35-year-old Chinese national, Yunhe Wang, accused of operating a massive botnet allegedly linked to billions of dollars in fraud, child exploitation, and bomb threats, among other crimes.

Wang, identified by numerous pseudonyms—Tom Long and Jack Wan, among others—was arrested on May 24 and is accused of distributing malware through various pop-up VPN services, such as “ProxyGate” and “MaskVPN,” and by embedding viruses in internet files distributed via peer-to-peer networks known as torrents.

The malware is said to have compromised computers located in nearly every country in the world, turning them into proxies through which criminals were able to hide their identities while committing countless crimes. According to prosecutors in the US, this included the theft of billions of dollars slated for Covid-19 pandemic relief—funds allegedly stolen by foreign actors posing as unemployed US citizens.

According to an indictment, the infected computers allegedly provided Wang’s customers with a persistent backdoor, allowing them to disguise themselves as any one of the victims of Wang’s malware. This illicit proxy service, known as “911 S5,” launched as early as 2014, the US government says.

“The 911 S5 Botnet infected computers in nearly 200 countries and facilitated a whole host of computer-enabled crimes, including financial frauds, identity theft, and child exploitation,” says FBI director Christopher Wray, who described the illicit service as “likely the world’s largest botnet ever.”

The US Treasury Department has also sanctioned Wang and two other individuals allegedly tied to 911 S5.

Wang is said to have amassed access to nearly 614,000 IP addresses in the US and more than 18 million others worldwide—collectively forming the botnet. 911 S5’s customers were able to filter the IPs geographically to choose where they’d like to appear to be located, down to a specific US zip code, the DOJ claims.

The indictment states that of the 150 dedicated servers used to manage the botnet, as many as 76 were leased by US-based service providers, including the one hosting 911 S5’s client interface, which allowed criminals overseas to purchase goods using stolen credit cards, in many cases for the alleged purpose of circumventing US export laws.

More than half a million fraudulent claims lodged with pandemic relief programs in the United States are allegedly tied to 911 S5. According to the indictment, nearly $6 billion in losses have been linked to IP addresses captured by 911 S5. Many of the IP addresses have been reportedly tied to more insidious crimes, including bomb threats and the trafficking of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM.

“Proxy services like 911 S5 are pervasive threats that shield criminals behind the compromised IP addresses of residential computers worldwide,” says Damien Diggs, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, where the charges against Wang were brought by a grand jury earlier this month.

Adds Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division: “These criminals used the hijacked computers to conceal their identities and commit a host of crimes, from fraud to cyberstalking.”

At the time of writing, it is unclear whether these virtual impersonations resulted in any criminal investigations or charges against US-based victims whose IP addresses were hijacked as part of the 911 S5 botnet. WIRED is awaiting a response from the Department of Justice regarding this concern.

According to the Justice Department, law enforcement agencies in Singapore, Thailand, and Germany collaborated with US authorities to effect Wang’s arrest.

Wang faces charges of conspiracy, computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to money laundering, with a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison. The US is also seeking to seize a mountain of luxury cars and goods allegedly owned by Wang, including a 2022 Ferrari Spider valued at roughly half a million dollars as well as a Patek Philippe watch worth potentially several times that amount.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Les Misérables - Section 1.5.13 - Solution of Some Questions of Municipal Police

The thing that stands out to me about the scene whete Javert arrests Fantine is that Javert isn’t actually motivated by enforcing the law.

That may sounds counterintuitive. Isn’t Javert’s defining characteristic that he cares about virtually nothing except enforcing the law, at the expense of mercy and compassion?

Yes to the latter; no to the former. Javert’s motivation, shown throughout this scene is not enforcing the law, it is enforcing the social hierarchy, the class system.

M. Madeleine in fact points this out:

“The truth is that I was passing through the square when you arrested this woman; there was a crowd still there; I learned the circumstances; I know all about it; it is the citizen who was in the wrong, and who, by a faithful police, would have been arrested.”

In saying this, Madeleine emphasizes what Javert did not do: ask anyone else what had happened, and whether Bamatabois had done anything to provoke Fantine, as, in fact, he had.

Moreover, the law says that Madeleine does have jurisdiction here to decide Fantine’s case, and it’s delightful to see Valjean out-rules-lawyer Javert, noting that Javert is (if I understand correctly) employed by the national government, whereas this case falls under municipal jurisdiction, which Madeleine has authority over:

“The matter of which you speak belongs to the municipal police. By the terms of articles nine, eleven, fifteen, and sixty-six of the code of criminal law, I am the judge of it. I order that this woman be set at liberty.”

“But, Monsieur Mayor – ”

“I refer you to article eighty-one of the law of December 13, 1799, upon illegal imprisonment.”

Javert does not have any rebuttal to Madeleine’s citation of the actual law.

Now, let’s look at Javert’s motivations and emphases throughout the chapter:

1) He called all the ideas of which his mind was capable around the grand thing that he was doing. The more he examined the conduct of this girl, the more he revolted at it. It was clear that he had seen a crime committed. He had seen, there in the street, society represented by a property holder and an elector, insulted and attacked by a creature who was an outlaw and an outcast. A prostitute had assaulted a citizen.

2) To see a woman of the town spit in the face of a mayor was a thing so monstrous that in his most daring suppositions he would have thought it sacrilege to believe it possible.

3) “This wretched woman has insulted a citizen.”

4) “This girl fell upon Monsieur Bamatabois, who is an elector and the owner of that fine house with a balcony, that stand at the corner of the esplanade, three stories high, all of hewn stone. Indeed, there are some things in this world which must be considered.”

If Javert was merely a ruthlessly impartial enforcer of the law against all who broke it (which would be bad enough!) then Bamatabois’ house would have been perfectly irrelevant, and the fact that he attacked Fantine first would have been highly relevant. But that is not what Javert cares about. What matters to him is being the enforcer of the class system, of the respectable and propertied against the poor and miserable. He diesn’t need to do anything so pointless as investigate anything, because the entire point, to him, is that Fantine is intrinsically guilty simply because of who she is.

[loveblackculture]

JOIN US FOR NATIONAL POSTPARTUM AWARENESS WEEK 2024!!

This 7-day virtual series was co-created in 2021 and launched in 2023 by the Speak! Move! Change Collective! (@speak.move.change), a group of stakeholders in #ReproductiveJustice committed to restoring life and dignity to the birthing and postpartum experiences of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) across the nation.

We gather to amplify and uplift the needs and the voices of BIPOC birthing people, babies & families during the #4thtrimester so that “Birthing while Black/Brown” in the United States will no longer be a death sentence. We do this by infusing each virtual session with art, ritual, ceremony, information, discourse and interactive activities.

Through the combined power of Collective Action, Anti-Racism and Decolonization, this campaign raises awareness about the inequitable and unacceptable impact of systemic and institutional racism during pregnancy, birth and #postpartum. JOIN US!

DATES: Sun, May 5th to Sat, May 11th 2024

TIME: 7:00pm to 9:30pm EST each night

WHERE: LIVE On Zoom

REGISTER (Free!): https://bit.ly/PAWmovement24 (link in bio!)

*Panel Discussion, Ritual, Ceremony, Artistry and Dialogue!*

You don’t want to miss this POWERFUL (free!) virtual series - come for one evening or all 7!

1️⃣ Sun 5/5 - In Their Hands: Honoring the Lives & Legacies of the Grand Midwives (In Celebration of the International Day of the Midwife)

2️⃣ Mon 5/6 - The Power of WE: Bringing Community, Culture and Compassion Back to the Center of Postpartum Care

3️⃣ Tues 5/7 - Well Nourished: Feeding Our Babies, Securing Our Futures

4️⃣ Wed 5/8 - Our Bodies, Our Rights, Our Time: The Power of Reproductive Justice In The 4th Trimester

5️⃣ Thurs 5/9 - You Are Not Alone: Receiving Mental & Emotional Support During the Postpartum Journey

6️⃣ Fri 5/10 - Power To The People: Bringing Reproductive Justice To Life Through Politics, Policy & Partnership

7️⃣ Sat 5/11 - May The Birthing Circle Be Unbroken: Bringing Collective Action To Light & Life

REGISTER NOW: bit.ly/PAWmovement24

#PostpartumAwarenessWeek #PAW24 #postpartumawareness #BlackMaternalHealth #endmaternalmortality #birthequity #reprojustice

[wub-fur-radio]

I Dreamed I Saw Dwight Eisenhower (or, How Come There’s Never an Old Weird American Around When You Need One?)

Come out, ye gifted kings and queens And hear my sad complaint No martyr is among ye now Whom you can call your own – R. Zimmerman

Wub-Fur once again finds it needful to apologize for an overlong absence from the Internet airwaves and offer in recompense (as is our wont) another eclectic mix of contemporary indie rock and such. We recently awoke, as one does, from a recurring prophetic fever dream of a nation teetering on the edge of the fascist abyss and rushed to our virtual turntable to assuage our bewilderment and dismay by finding some excellent new tunes to share with you all. Featuring magical, melodious, and magnificent musical outpourings from Allah-Las, the Softies, Rain Parade, Beach Fossils, Woods, the No Ones, Pink Mountaintops, and 11 more of our favorite artists of 2023.

Nb. We didn’t really like Ike all that much, but he was a freakin’ saint compared to the authoritarian conman the Grand Old Party threatens to return to the White House next year. If you are an American citizen, please act (and vote!) accordingly.

▶︎🎶 Listen on Mixcloud or 🍎 Music

Running Time: 1 hour, 4 seconds

Tracklist

365 (3:06) — flypaper | London, UK

The Stuff (3:55) — Allah-Las | Los Angeles, CA

Marijuana (Acoustic) (2:37) — Together Pangea | Los Angeles, CA

One Day (I'll See) (2:22) — Hot Apple Band | Sydney, Australia

Graveyard Song (4:29) — Jeff Rosenstock | New York

In the Store (2:27) — The Lost Days | California

Change My Ways (1:23) — The Softies | Portland, OR †

Pink Cake (2:45) — Sonny & The Sunsets | San Francisco, CA

Weep (3:34) — Woods | New York

Run to the Moon (3:44) — Beach Fossils | Brooklyn, NY

Bring You Back (3:10) — Rain Parade | Oakland, CA

Sunset on the Faders (3:32) — Hiss Golden Messenger | Noeth Carolina

I Wanna Go Down to the Basement (2:51) — James & the Giants | Wisconsin

Downwards Daze (3:34) — Pink Mountaintops | Los Angeles, CA

Tiger at the Drugstore (3:37) — Skating Polly | Tacoma, WA

Left on Coast (4:52) — The Garment District | Pittsburgh, PA

Time Sent Lewis (4:02) — The No Ones | Portland, OR

The Document (4:03) — Bird Streets | Brooklyn, NY

All tracks released in 2023.

† Apple Music version substitutes “Fluff” (1:30) by Tony Molina (2022) for the Softies track, which is sadly unavailable on that platform (and which is also, not coincidentally, a cover of a Tony Molina song.)

[my18thcenturysource]

One hundred years ago, on February 16th, 1923, the inner chamber of the Tomb of Tutankhamun was opened to finally find the sarcophagus of the pharaoh. The thousands of items found inside the tomb were carefully photographed and this archeology discovery was one of the key cultural influences for the 1920s fashion. But today let's simply enjoy some of the photographs that Harry Burton took, now part of the Griffith Institute collection at Oxford University.

Which of these photos impact you the most? My personal favourite? The close up of the little garland on the mask.

Learn more:

You can see way more photographs by Harry Burton here, at the Griffith Institute website.

The episode of Lost Treasures of Egypt from National Geographic, "Tutankhamun's Treasures" is full on YouTube.

Read about the new home of the treasures in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Take a virtual tour of the Tutankhamun collection in its former home, the Egyptian Museum.

[dystini]

Indycar Driver Lore

Indycar Driver Lore Masterlist

Marcus John Armstrong

Birthdate: July 29, 2000 Hometown: Christchurch, New Zealand Residence: London, UK/Indianapolis, indiana Height/Weight: 5’9”/130lbs

Rookie Year: 2023

Team: Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR)

Follow him on: Instagram Twitter

Career Stats

2023: Chip Ganassi Racing #11 (road and street courses only)

The Side Pod (with Callum Ilott) on You Tube Screaming Meals (with Clement Novalak and James Harvey Blair) on You Tube Screaming Meals on Twitch Screaming Meals on Instagram

Past Racing

2017: Italian Formula 4 - 1st overall ADAC Formula 4 - 2nd overall Toyota Racing Series - 4th overall

2018: FIA Formula 3 European Championship - Prema Theodore Racing -5th Overall Toyota Racing Series - 3rd overall

2019: FIA Formula 3 - Prema Racing - 2nd Overall Toyota Racing Series - 2nd overall

2020: FIA Formula 2 - ART Grand Prix - 13th overall

2021: FIA Formula 2 - DAMS - 13th overall

2022: FIA Formula 2 - Hitech Grand Prix - 13th overall

His father owns Armstrong's, a major car dealership chain in NZ

Has two older half-brothers, a younger sister, and a younger brother

Started karting in NZ at 10 years old, winning multiple national titles

Member of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2017 - 2021

Finished second in the 2019 Formula 3 championship standings driving for Prema

Multiple race winner and podium sitter in Formula 2

Was Lundgaard's teammate in F2 in 2020

Pescatarian (and very vocal about it)

Drinks a lot of espresso

Has a video podcast called Screaming Meals co-hosted with his childhood friend James and F2 driver Clement Novalak, with an offshoot called The Sidepod that he hosts with Callum Ilott

Lived with Callum in Italy when they were both Ferrari Driver Academy members

Speaks Italian, but will only do so after a few drinks

Hobbies are going to the gym, listening to podcasts, going to restaurants, and watching American football

Used to be an avid cyclist, but gave it up due to it keeping his weight too low and causing problems with his ability to handle the car

Has a serious issue placing bets with his friends, to the extent that he had to pay to take fellow F2 driver Jehan Daruvala on vacation because he owed him so much money from lost bets

Scott Dixon was his childhood hero, and Kimi Räikkönen was his favorite F1 driver as a kid

Hates video games

Doesn’t like animals, but loves children

Iconic/memorable moments Indycar: Marcus Armstrong At IndyCar Spring Training New Indy Car Driver Marcus Armstrong about the Grand Prix of St Pete OVER THE WALL // ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH Marcus Armstrong Long Beach Preview Marcus Armstrong Post Qualifications Marcus Armstrong rocked up to Turn 1 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to see what 235mph looks like… Callum and Marcus chat during pre-season testing:

F2 and earlier: F2 Speed Date: Marcus Armstrong The Wet Head Challenge HOW TO BECOME A FERRARI DRIVER, A CONVERSATION WITH MARCUS ARMSTRONG F2 DRIVER | Sector 1 Marcus Armstrong Interview | Sky Speed Marcus Armstrong: All the way from New Zealand Keeping it cool at Prema “Michael Shakespeare”: Bullying from Callum and James: Marcus wins “best late lunge” award from F2: Marcus Armstrong Once Said…: Marcus absolutely annoying the shit out of Arthur Leclerc during a virtual GP: F2 Speed Date (2020): Marcus sings “Rocket Man”: Marcus attempting to be sweet with Callum, who is absolutely not having it:

Doing fast laps around Goodwood in his dad’s car: 16-year-old Marcus talks about leaving home to move to Europe alone: Clem Novalak loves Marcus: He likes pineapple on pizza: Interesting content:

Marcus is a self-proclaimed "lover not a fighter". He's known to be very friendly and approachable, with a significant portion of the Formula 2 grid mentioning that he was the driver they got on with best in the paddock during his time there. His results in F2 were mixed, moving teams in 3 successive years, as he sometimes had difficulty getting to grips with the F2 car and tyres, however it’s generally agreed that his midfield championship positions during his F2 tenure aren’t an accurate reflection of his genuine ability and talent. Multiple Ganassi team members (including the boss) have commented on how impressed they are by his raw speed, work ethic, and attitude since his arrival in IndyCar. Marcus himself has already talked about how much more enjoyable the Indy car is to drive and how much fun he’s having now after several years of struggling with the notoriously difficult F2 car. He also appears to be getting on well with his CGR teammates and in particular has talked about how much he likes Marcus Ericsson.

He moved to London in early 2022 after spending several years living near Ferrari’s HQ in Maranello, Italy, and is known to enjoy city nightlife, being a big fan of wine. He’s a major foodie who likes taking photos of good food almost as much as he enjoys complaining about bad food. He is known to be determined to the point of stubbornness, causing himself permanent damage to his knee during a half-marathon due to refusing to stop when he was in pain. He had a low attendance record at school due to focusing on his racing career and moving to Europe at the age of 14, and as such, although he’s not unintelligent he’s known to be somewhat lacking in general knowledge (such as thinking Shakespeare’s first name was Michael). However, he has the characteristically Kiwi dry, sarcastic sense of humor and very much enjoys mutual teasing and banter with his close friends, something that’s often on display in the Screaming Meals podcasts.

Fanfic Lore

Usually paired with Callum Ilott, or F2 driver Clement Novalak due to their extremely close and physically affectionate friendship - was Clem’s teammate during their karting days, and has said that they talk every day while he’s in the US Likes to tease Callum and wind him up to his face, but often calls him his best mate and praises him when he’s not around. However Callum rarely (if ever) reciprocates the latter, probably due to his intense Britishness Good friends with multiple drivers from various series, including Juan Manuel Correa, Jüri Vips, Guanyu Zhou, Nick Cassidy, Max Fewtrell and Felipe Drugovich Also has a tendency to “adopt” younger drivers and refer to them as “little bro”, including Jak Crawford and Dino Beganovic Has said on several occasions that he doesn’t wear underwear, and also shaves his legs (and possibly elsewhere, having claimed that he is “hairless from the eyebrows down”) Claims he can’t tell the difference between someone being nice to him and someone flirting with him

credit for most of this post to @whitewindhowl and friends

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Scholars of antiquity believe they are on the brink of a new era of understanding after researchers armed with artificial intelligence read the hidden text of a charred scroll that was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago.

Hundreds of papyrus scrolls held in the library of a luxury Roman villa in Herculaneum were burned to a crisp when the town was devastated by the intense blast of heat, ash and pumice that destroyed nearby Pompeii in AD79.

Excavations in the 18th century recovered more than 1,000 whole or partial scrolls from the mansion, thought to be owned by Julius Caesar’s father-in-law.

However, the black ink was unreadable on the carbonised papyri and the scrolls crumbled to pieces when researchers tried to open them.

The breakthrough in reading the ancient material came from the $1m Vesuvius Challenge, a contest launched in 2023 by Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky, and Silicon Valley backers.

The competition offered prizes for extracting text from high-resolution CT scans of a scroll taken at Diamond, the UK’s national synchrotron facility in Oxfordshire.

On Monday, Nat Friedman, a US tech executive and founding sponsor of the challenge, announced that a team of three computer-savvy students, Youssef Nader in Germany, Luke Farritor in the US, and Julian Schilliger in Switzerland, had won the $700,000 (£554,000) grand prize after reading more than 2,000 Greek letters from the scroll.

Papyrologists who have studied the text recovered from the blackened scroll were stunned at the feat.

“This is a complete gamechanger,” said Robert Fowler, emeritus professor of Greek at Bristol University and chair of the Herculaneum Society.

“There are hundreds of these scrolls waiting to be read.”

Dr Federica Nicolardi, a papyrologist at the University of Naples Federico II, added:

“This is the start of a revolution in Herculaneum papyrology and in Greek philosophy in general. It is the only library to come to us from ancient Roman times.”

“We are moving into a new era,” said Seales, who led efforts to read the scrolls by virtually unwrapping the CT images and training AI algorithms to detect the presence of ink.

He now wants to build a portable CT scanner to image scrolls without moving them from their collections.

In October, Farritor won the challenge’s $40,000 “first letters” prize when he identified the ancient Greek word for “purple” in the scroll.

He teamed up with Nader in November, with Schilliger, who developed an algorithm to automatically unwrap CT images, joining them days before the contest deadline on 31 December.

Together, they read more than 2,000 letters of the scroll, giving scholars their first real insight into its contents.

“It’s been an incredibly rewarding journey,” said Youssef.

“The adrenaline rush is what kept us going. It was insane. It meant working 20-something hours a day. I didn’t know when one day ended and the next day started.”

“It probably is Philodemus,” Fowler said of the author.

“The style is very gnarly, typical of him, and the subject is up his alley.”

The scroll discusses sources of pleasure, touching on music and food – capers in particular – and whether the pleasure experienced from a combination of elements owes to the major or minor constituents, the abundant or the scare.

“In the case of food, we do not right away believe things that are scarce to be absolutely more pleasant than those which are abundant,” the author writes.

“I think he’s asking the question: what is the source of pleasure in a mix of things? Is it the dominant element, is it the scarce element, or is it the mix itself?” said Fowler.

The author ends with a parting shot against his philosophical adversaries for having “nothing to say about pleasure, either in general or particular."

Seales and his research team spent years developing algorithms to digitally unwrap the scrolls and detect the presence of ink from the changes it produced in the papyrus fibres.

He released the algorithms for contestants to build on in the challenge.

Friedman’s involvement proved valuable not only for attracting financial donors.

When Seales was meant to fly to the UK to have a scroll scanned, a storm blew in cancelling all commercial flights.

Worried they might lose their slot at the Diamond light source, Friedman hastily organised a private jet for the trip.

Beyond the hundreds of Herculaneum scrolls waiting to be read, many more may be buried at the villa, adding weight to arguments for fresh excavations.

"The same technology could be applied to papyrus wrapped around Egyptian mummies," Fowler said.

These could include everything from letters and property deeds to laundry lists and tax receipts, shining light on the lives of ordinary ancient Egyptians.

“There are crates of this stuff in the back rooms of museums,” Fowler said.

The challenge continues this year with the goal to read 85% of the scroll and lay the foundations for reading all of those already excavated.

Scientists need to fully automate the process of tracing the surface of the papyrus inside each scroll and improve ink detection on the most damaged parts.

“When we launched this less than a year ago, I honestly wasn’t sure it’d work,” said Friedman.

“You know, people say money can’t buy happiness, but they have no imagination. This has been pure joy. It’s magical what happened, it couldn’t have been scripted better."

Source: The Guardian

How the Herculaneum Papyri were carbonised in the Mount Vesuvius eruption – Video

5 February 2024

[fancoloredglasses]

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (who is running this camp?!), part 1

[All images are owned by Paramount and Peanuts Worldwide. Please don’t sue me or send me to this camp]

[All video clips are courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes]

With summer starting, parents need to figure out what to do with their kids since school is no longer an option. Popular options are…

Take time off of work to take family vacations (see the Nation Lampoon’s Vacation franchise for examples of how this could go horribly wrong)

If the kids are old enough, make them get summer jobs

If they’re too young to be employed, but old enough to be trusted alone, let them stay home

If parents want to see their kids, but don’t trust them to stay home, they could send them to a day camp and pick them up after work

Then there’s the subject of this review from the mid-70s: If the parents want the summer off from their kids, they could ship them off to summer camp.

We will assume that most of you are familiar with Peanuts (or at least the Charlie Brown holiday specials) At the very least I reviewed one based on a movie about burlesque dancing), but just in case…

Peanuts was a daily comic strip created by Charles Shultz in 1950 and ran until shortly before his death in 2000. Schultz always hated the title (he originally named it Li’l Folks, but that name was already copyrighted so the publisher came up with the name that endured), which is why none of the animated shows, specials, and movies didn’t use the title until after Schultz’s death (every single one before had the main character’s name in the title) While the core cast hasn’t changed much over the years, minor characters have come and gone. The characters important to this review are…

Charlie Brown is the epitome of the downtrodden. He is laughed at by those he thinks of as friends, gets no respect from most (including his dog), and almost never comes out on top. For whatever reason, he is always (with one notable exception) referred to by his full name, rather than just his first.

Charlie Brown’s little sister Sally has all the red flags of a Karen-in-Training. She constantly complains about how Life Isn’t Fair to get her way (she once whined her way into getting a grade raised)

Lucy van Pelt is best described as the sociopath of the group. She absolutely has to be the center of attention and delights in tormenting Charlie Brown (especially with Charlie Brown kicking a football, constantly pulling it away at the last second so Charlie Brown lands flat on his back (she once did so during a football game in which Charlie Brown’s kick meant the difference between winning and losing. Three guesses who got blamed for the loss))

Lucy’s little brother Linus is likely the wisest of the gang. He has a dependency on his baby blanket, carrying it everywhere. He is also the target of Sally’s crush, much to his chagrin (she often refers to Linus as her “Sweet Baboo”)

Schroeder is a musical prodigy who worships the works of Beethoven. He carries around a pint-sized grand piano that he can play virtually anything on from memory. Lucy had decided that he is the man she’ll marry, no matter what he says (I say she’ll wind up settling for Charlie Brown)

Snoopy is Charlie Brown’s pet beagle. He walks like a human, acts like a human, and does everything humans do except talk (because THAT was where Schultz drew the line)

Snoopy’s best friend is Woodstock (yes, he was named after what you think he was named after) Woodstock can barely fly straight, but is eternally cheerful.

Franklin is…look, there’s no easy way to put this. He’s the token black kid. He was added to the comic strip in response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Unfortunately, he’s generally not treated well in animation. If he’s not being outright ignored, he’s being stereotypically black (such as break dancing) or segregated (in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, for example, he was the only kid on his side of the table while all of the white kids were on the other side)

Peppermint Patty is a tomboy and…well, she’s pretty much a Force of Nature. She pretty much gets everyone to do what she wants by not letting anyone get a word in edgewise. Fortunately, she’s (mostly) well-meaning, if a bit dense at times (she’s the only member of the gang who doesn’t realize Snoopy’s a dog) I’m not sure if she has a crush on Charlie Brown (or as she calls him, “Chuck”) or if she enjoys watching his squirm (interestingly, he doesn’t object despite clearly being uncomfortable about it)

Marcy is Peppermint Patty’s best friend and chief foil. Marcy is very soft-spoken, but is the first one to call Peppermint Patty on her strong-arm BS. For whatever reason, she refers to Peppermint Patty as “sir” (a large portion of the fans have a head canon that they’re in a relationship)

Now that we have the cast, on with the show! If you would like to watch the movie, it’s available behind your favorite paywall.

We open (in the credits) with the gang on a bus on their way to camp, with Snoopy not far behind on his “hawg” (that he’s never had before or since) I’m VERY curious what’s up with the landscape around the suburb they live in, they go through forest as the credits roll, then it immediately turns into desert.

As the credits end, the bus passes by a gas station with a pair of kids hanging out by the pump for some reason. Sally waves at them, but the girl blows a razzberry at her.

Sally gets her wish as the bus gets a blowout immediately after. The driver (that we don’t see; one thing about Peanuts is you never actually SEE the adults...and if you hear them, they say “MWAH WAH WAH WAH”) fixes the flat while Sally marches right up to the girl and…

…immediately backs down and slinks back onto the bus.

Later, the bus stops at another gas station to refuel (they couldn’t do so while fixing the flat?), so the gang takes the opportunity to stretch their legs. Charlie Brown gets distracted talking to Snoopy and…

What kind of bus driver doesn’t take a head count before leaving?!

Fortunately, Snoopy has room on his hawg and gives Charlie Brown a ride. Unfortunately, Snoopy decides to take a “short cut” through some of the roughest patches in the desert, making Charlie Brown close to getting sick by the time they arrive (behind the bus, so what was the point of all of that?)

…and suddenly we’re in the middle of the woods again.

While staggering around and desperately trying not to vomit, Charlie Brown accidentally bumps into three older kids (bullies) who immediately take a disliking to him.

Fortunately, the PA (with a kid at the mic. Are there no adults that are more qualified?) announces registration has begun so Charlie Brown can excuse himself before the bullies can feed him to their cat. Unfortunately, they run into him again when they cut the line and Sally tries to sic Charlie Brown on them.

(Yeah, like that would work)

Fortunately, Linus is there to Save The Day.

Later, as everyone fills out their registration forms (shouldn’t they have done that BEFORE they crossed a desert to come here?) Sally bitches about it, so Peppermint Patty waxes philosophical about the need to leave your comfort zone.

(…and people wonder why the fandom thinks Peppermint Patty and Marcie are a couple)

After filling out their forms, the gang heads for their tents (the boys in one, the girls in the other…

…and Snoopy in his own)

In the girls’ tent, Peppermint Patty suggests that they run things in a democratic fashion, including voting for a leader. Of course, Peppermint Patty has the election won, since we all know Marcie will vote for her.

So with everyone voting for themselves, Peppermint Patty decides she should cast the deciding vote…for herself (wait, there are more than four beds. Don’t the other girls in the tent get a say?)

That evening…

Nothing like roughing it, eh Snoopy?

The next morning…

PA kid has the campers out for morning calisthenics, followed by breakfast and morning activities (no, I’m not doing a montage. It’s as boring as it sounds) Then lunch happens.

Maybe Sally should complain to the manager.

After lunch…

The bullies are at it again.

…but they forgot about Linus.

PA Kid then announces that the Camp Games (pitting all of the tents against one another) will begin. Naturally…

…the bullies cheat. Where are the adults who are supposed to be keeping things fair?

WHO IS RUNNING THIS CAMP?!

As the gang sulks about losing to a bunch of cheaters, PA Kid announces the Main Event of the summer.

The other tents know they don’t stand a chance, meaning there are only four competitors: the boys (sporting a raft held afloat by four inner tubes), the girls (in an inflatable life raft), Snoopy and Woodstock (in a single inner tube) and the bullies, who are competing in this monstrosity…

…complete with radar, sonar, and an outboard motor. You know, if they can afford this contraption, why are they slumming it at Camp Remote?

The teams spend all afternoon inflating their rafts…

…only for the bullies to use that air to inflate theirs overnight. (I guess the electric air pump was a bit more than they could afford)

The next morning, the teams must once again inflate their rafts before the race begins and they all set out (if a bit winded)

[At this point, I would like to point out that the bullies act like every cartoon villain in every race ever: They have the means to get far ahead of the competition, and would likely win the race by several miles, but they need to take the time to cheat and “prove” their superiority]

That evening, the bullies manage to pry their raft out from under the dock and sneak past the other teams as they sleep until they come to…

They then flip the sign so it points in the opposite direction.

Wait, they scheduled an unsupervised race involving kids at a time when there’s blasting happening?!

WHO THE HELL IS RUNNING THIS CAMP?!

Later in the evening, it starts snowing (Hang on. It’s SNOWING in the middle of summer in a forest next to a fucking desert?!) The next morning Woodstock has some fun at Snoopy’s expense.

With that bit of levity out of the way the race continues, and they come to the bullies’ trap.

Despite being nearly pulverized by falling rocks, the channel proved to be a short cut as the gang emerges ahead of the bullies (no doubt sleeping in, knowing they no longer have any competition)

As the bullies rush to catch up…

…a massive storm hits, threatening to sink all of the rafts! (Wait, no one bothered to check the weather report before the race?)

In fact, Snoopy’s tube capsizes, sending both he an Woodstock into the river! Snoopy manages to swim back to his tube, but Woodstock is lost in the water!

WILL Woodstock survive? (I’m sure he’ll be fine. I mean, he was in specials and the comic strip that were published after this)

WHO will win the race?

WHO THE FUCK IS RUNNING THIS CAMP?!?!?!

These questions and more will be answered in the exciting conclusion!

[a30somethingslookatpopculture]

Top 10 Movies that *Feel* Like Summer

(I only included films that I have seen or personally feel capture that summer feeling).

Stand By Me

The boys spend their summer day going on an adventure. Along the way, they connect on a deeper level. Sure, they’re on the hunt for a body, but it’s the perfect encapsulation of childhood and those summer memories with your friends. The Oregon backdrop really creates the mood; with beautiful mountain scapes, lots of sunshine, woodland areas and swamps, etc. It’s also a beautifully written (and even more beautifully acted) film. When I think of summer as a young teen, I think of this film. 

2. Friday The 13th / Sleepaway Camp (You could also put Fear Street Part 2 here as well)

I’m putting these two together since they are virtually the same thing. Both films take place at a summer camp. And of course, involve good, wholesome Slasher fun! They have beautiful lakeside views, summer camp activities, the whole shebang! We’ve all (or most of us) been to summer camp. So I think there’s something to relate to in these films, and admire. So what if a few teenagers get their comeuppance in the process. 

3. American Pie 2

The central plot of this film is a huge blowout party by the beach. The gang orchestrates a big bash to close out summer. It’s Stiffler and the gang, so of course chaos ensues. This one’s a lot of laughs! 

4. The Sandlot

  I really see this one and Stand By Me as sort of the same kind of thing. Both even share a scene where the kids have to escape a guard dog. But at their core, both are the epitome of hanging with your friends and getting into all sorts of fun during summer break. This one is just set in the summer of 1962, and with a baseball backdrop. 

5. Jaws

This one literally happens around the 4th of July weekend. It’s at the beach and is filled with holiday festivities. It’s about as summer a movie as it can get! Oh, and it has sharks, so that’s cool! 

6. Grease

“Summer lovin had me a blast”. It’s right there in the song. Danny and Sandy meet on the beach and fall in love. Neither realize that they’ll end up at the same school. The movie comes full circle when it ends at the end of the school year and it’s summer again. To cap things off, there’s a big carnival with all the summer vibes! 

7. The Parent Trap

Another summer camp movie. Gosh, there’s so many. But this is a nice family-friendly one. Twins Hallie and Annie are both sent to the same summer camp, where they discover that they were separated at birth. Of course, there's the usual summer camp stuff in this one. But there’s also some great scenes later on where the whole family goes on a camping trip, and the twins totally torture their soon to be stepmom with pranks. It’s hilarious and worth the watch for that alone! 

8. National Lampoon’s Vacation

This one is a bit of nostalgia from the days of going on family vacations during the summer. The Griswold’s take a cross-country road trip to Walley World, a California amusement park. In true Griswold family fashion, they run into a lot of mishaps along the way. These are so entertaining! This film is complete with stopping at a campground for the night, skinny dipping, a visit to the Grand Canyon, and eventually making it to the amusement park. Which is quite the misadventure in and of itself. 

9. Dirty Dancing

It’s the summer of 1963, and Baby is vacationing at an upscale resort with her family. She falls in love with dance instructor Johnny Castle. Throughout the film we see the two of them grow closer together as he teaches her a routine for the upcoming end of summer shindig. This one isn't as summer filled as some of the others on this list, but it definitely takes place during that time and has  great lakeside views as well, 

10. I Know What You Did Last Summer 

Summer is literally in the name. This is another one that takes place on (and around) July 4th. On July 4, 1996, Julie James and her friends take a drive to the beach. They hit someone on the drive and dump the body to cover it up. Fast forward a year later, Julie is back from college for the summer when she and her friends begin receiving letters saying, "I know what you did last summer!" From there, someone in a rain slicker and a hook for a hand starts stalking and killing the characters off one by one. An integral part of this film is the 4th of July celebrations in the town. A Parade. A pageant. The seaside scapes! This (and Jaws) are July 4th MUST WATCHES for me every year! 

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil floods: More rains expected, as people await rescue

People in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul were bracing for more rains this weekend, as efforts to rescue people stranded by last week's flooding in the state continued Saturday.

The state capital, Porto Alegre, was virtually cut off as the worst flooding in 80 years submerged entire neighborhoods. The airport and bus station remain closed.

Five of Porto Alegre’s six water treatment facilities were not working as of earlier this week, with the mayor issuing a decree to conserve water so it can only be used for "essential consumption."

Brazil's national meteorology institute forecast on Friday afternoon that more than 15 centimeters (roughly 6 inches) of rain could fall over the weekend. Rains would persist until Monday, it said.

Authorities said there was a high likelihood that winds would intensify and water levels would rise in the Patos lagoon — the largest in Brazil situated just south of Porto Alegre.

Continue reading.