#worlds largest trivia contest

[wausaupilot]

UW-Stevens Point prepares for ‘Trivia 54: Very Superstitious’

STEVENS POINT – The world famous 54-hour trivia contest is set for its 54th year at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s student-run radio station 90FM WWSP as it hosts “Trivia 54: Very Superstitious” April 12-14. The world’s largest trivia contest 2024 theme poses “an exciting twist that is leaving everyone in anticipation,” said Dave Coulthurst, 90FM trivia coordinator. Trivia has been…

[owlfuntimes-blog]

Me as I play The World's Largest Trivia Contest.

Seriously, Reddit is a Godsend.

girl typing a very specific question into google search bar, scrunching her face as she takes time to make sure she hasn't made any spelling errors, hitting enter, shaking her head as google only presents her with unhelpful websites that don't answer her query at all, moving her cursor back to the search bar and clicking on it so she can carefully write 'reddit' at the end, hitting enter again, sighing with relief as she finds a link to a reddit post asking the exact question she needed answered posted in a subreddit for a very niche topic, finally moving her cursor to click on the link, wondering why she didn't go straight to the subreddit earlier, only to be met with a deleted comment with a reply from the OP stating 'that was very helpful, thanks', sighing with frustration as she moves her cursor back to the search bar so she can copy the link and paste it into the wayback machine,

[burningexeter]

[PITCH]

Total Drama Presents 'Tis The Season

What is it —

A Christmas horror special based off or spun-off from the Total Drama series with the characters of Sky and Amy as the leads.

PREMISE:

Set months after both Pahkitew Island and The Ridonculous Race on Christmas Eve at one of the largest malls in the Toronto area, we follow Sky having to do last minute Christmas shopping with her mother as she's now trying to move on with her life after Total Drama and having made herself look like one of the worst people ever and then realizes that her mom is going all out this year in an attempt to help her daughter after her humiliations on that show which many still see as a scripted reality show.

It's there that she ends up running into or encountering a fellow contestant from Pahkitew Island who too has been dealing with her own problems after Pahkitew as well - Amy.

We learn that she's now living with her strict but genuinely caring aunt since things between her and Samey have gotten so bad that they had to send Amy away for their own good.

Accusing Sky of spying on her due to a poor misunderstanding, the two of them get into a fight after Amy immediately steals something valuable to Sky and in doing so, the two of them end up knocked unconscious and locked in a janitors closet.

Waking up hours later and breaking out of the closet, Sky and Amy find to their shock that it's night and the entire mall has been shut down with no one on watch. Seeing the advantage they have, Amy decides to have some fun and have free reign of the mall all to herself on her least favorite holiday ever and not even Sky can stop her. Attempting to, Sky ends up coursed and joins Amy in the fun.... until the two go on a boatride together sarcastically and after a Tunnel Of Love music video between them, the two kiss shockingly to their horror.

Completely taken aback and feeling humiliated again, Sky walks off and finds herself in a gorgeous headless mannequin store lined with top of the line jewelry and in a quick fit of rage especially realizing she hasn't gotten anything for her sweet mother, Sky steals the biggest piece of diamonds jewelry there is on the largest mannequin.

This is what ends up turning this already fantastical scenario into a full-blown Christmas nightmare as now Sky and Amy have to use all of their wits, abilities and skills to overcome the impossible - the mannequins coming to life and hunting the two down, only for the two of them to discover that it's not the stolen jewelry Sky has that they want.... it's in fact them that they want!

Notes/Trivia/Details:

• First things first, in terms of 'Tis The Season's horror and comedy - the horror aspects will actually be treated seriously and be actual horror, we won't make a dumb joke or a farce out of any of the headless mannequins, instead they'll be treated seriously and be the same type of dark, intense and disturbing visceral horror of R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series. As for the comedy, there won't be any gross-out humor or cartoon gags since this isn't the Total Drama reality show - it's instead the real world to this universe where everything's more grounded. Think of it like the Audition Tapes for the first season as the tone and feel, just around Christmas, that's all.

• Second of all, not only will the voice actresses Sarah Podemski and Bryn McAuley reprise their roles as Sky and Amy obviously but it will flesh out their characters more with both Sky and Amy's flaws actually being called out by each other and we learn that Sky is a misguided, arrogant and hard-headed wannabe athlete that is too ambitious for her own good but she now wants to be a better person after what happened with Dave and still feels guilt over what she did to him while Amy is a ferociously jealous girl whose half of her life has been overshadowed by her sister Samey as she was favored more by her well-meaning parents and was liked by everyone else whereas she had a temper and was a bully to everyone, a manipulative one at that but deep down realizes she has immense guilt over her treatment of Samey.

• It also does a little expansion on the Total Drama universe, showing us the public view and side to it. It's revealed here that a vast majority of everyone thinks that TD is in fact a reality scripted series and that none of the crazy shit on it actually happens. It also shows us that two other related shows - 6teen and Stoked - AREN'T in fact in the same universe as Total Drama and instead are shows that exist WITHIN the Total Drama universe. Now what IS in the same universe as Total Drama is that on both Sky and Amy's phones, there will be a few easter eggs and references that heavily imply a retroactive shared universe with other media.

For example, when Sky is scrolling through her phone, she passes by an article on the whereabouts of the notorious 90s criminals Seth and Richie Gecko who've now been missing for years.

Another big thing is that it establishes a timeline and an alternate continuity....

It's shown in 'Tis The Season that TDI, TDA and TDWT all take place over the course of 2007 while TDROTI, TDAS, TDPI and TD:TRR all take place over the course of 2008 with this ending on December 24th and 25th of 2008.

Meanwhile, Chris is currently doing time in Federal Prison (again) with the network deciding against renewing a new season of Total Drama and a reboot, meaning that the recent two new reboot seasons are their own separate continuity set years after the original TDI where Wawanakwa Island never sank like it did at the end of All-Stars. This however is the original continuity.

• Now here's the big one without giving away a major spoiler and it's how the ending of 'Tis The Season will be:

It won't end very happily for Sky and Amy.

It basically ends on what I call a "horror anthology"-type of ending since most horror anthologies do this and the story here calls for it.

It's where there's always a moment of victory, a real genuine moment of victory where the characters either win or think that they've won where they I don't know - break the curse or solve the mystery or defeat the Sandman or whatever - in this case, beating the headless mannequins who turn out to be somewhat tragic figures but no spoilers on that....

Then there's an extra thing that immediately happens after that goes "Nope!".

So you, along with Sky and Amy, have a huge sense of "AAAAAAAH!" relief, "we did it".

Then something happens that goes "Uh-uh, no!".

However it makes sense for the story since while Sky and Amy did grow into way better people over the course of the special and are now an official lesbian couple, they still caused all of this through their actions. They made the wrong choices, they didn't do what they should've done and that of course led to repercussions so the unexpected bad ending is on them. They have no one to blame but themselves and themselves only.

[tyrantisterror]

I did a four part series of trivia posts when ATOM Volume 1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us! came out, and that was pretty fun!  You can see that set of trivia posts here if you’d like.  I thought it’d be fun to do another now that ATOM Volume 2: Tyrantis Roams the Earth! is out - just one this time, because a lot of the trivia I talked about with Volume 1 still applies.

I’m gonna divide this into two sections: non-spoiler trivia, for things that really don’t give a lot of plot points away, and spoiler trivia, for things that DO give away major plot points.  I recommend not reading the spoiler trivia until after you’ve read Tyrantis Roams the Earth!, for obvious reasons, and will put the spoiler trivia under a cut.

Ok, let’s go!

- So if you read ATOM Volume 1, you probably noticed that the book is split not only into chapters, but “episodes,” which consist of four chapters a piece.  It’s kind of a nod to how the series owes a great deal of its DNA to various monster of the week shows, with Godzilla: the Series and The Godzilla Power Hour being obvious influences.  It also allowed me to pepper in some illustrations and cheesy b-movie style titles into each volume.

- The first “episode” of Volume 2, Tyrantis in Tokyo, pays explicit homage to the giant monster movies of Japan, perhaps even moreso than the chapters that came before it.  Given how much Japanese media influenced ATOM - from tokusatsu like the Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman franchises to anime like Digimon and Evangelion (hell, the title of this episode itself is a tip of the hat to Tenchi Muyo by way of one of its spinoffs) - it kind of felt obligatory that Tyrantis visit Japan and pay his respects.

- Tyrantis in Tokyo also fits in a tribute to another staple of Atomic Age pop culture: Rock and Roll.

- Kutulusca, the giant cephalopod that appears in Tyrantis in Tokyo, is one of the oldest kaiju in this series, dating back to the first iteration of Tyrantis’s story that I put to paper back in 2001 or so.  It’s changed a lot since then, but its fight with Tyrantis goes more or less the way it originally did.

- Old Meg, the giant placoderm/shark, and Nastadyne, the bipedal beetle, both owe their existence directly to Deviantart’s Godzilla fandom.  Old Meg originated as a dunkleosteus monster I submitted to a “create a Godzilla kaiju” contest held by Matt Frank, while Nastadyne is based on a Megalon redesign I made during the “redesign all the Godzilla kaiju” phase of DA’s kaiju fandom.

- The second episode, Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace, gets dark as we visit the USSR, which had enough REAL horror with atomic power in its history to make creature features seem a bit defanged by comparison.  It’s probably the episode with the strongest horror elements - ATOM’s always been influenced by Resident Evil, and this is probably where that influence shows the most strongly.

- It also features the first fully robotic mecha in the series, the mighty Herakoschei!  Its name is a combination of “Heracles” and “Koschei the Deathless,” with the former part being added by its Russian creators to make it seem a bit more international as they offer it to the U.N. in hopes of gaining aid for a very extreme kaiju problem they’ve developed.

- Most of Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace takes place in the Siberian Monster Zone.  Its name is a reference to the Lawless Monster Zone in Ultraman, which is such a cool fucking name I wish that I wish I could go back in time and steal it.

- The next episode, Tyrantis’s Revenge, is... full of spoilers, so we’ll move on for now.

- The penultimate episode, Tyrantis vs. the Martian Monsters, is a love letter to MANY different sci-fi stories that involve life on Mars, though the most prominent of them is of course The War of The Worlds (one of my top 3 favorite books) and its various adaptations.  From its tentacles sapient martians, the tripodal leader of the titular monsters whose name includes the word “ulla” which is uttered by said sapient martians, the plant monster made of red vines, the cylinder-shaped spacecraft the Martian monsters are sent to earth on, the copper-skinned stingray-esque flying martian who shoots lasers from its tail, and the fact that every chapter title in this episode is a quote from the book, the H.G. Wells influence is STRONG.

- The final episode, Invasion from Beyond!, is shamelessly inspired by Destroy All Monsters, although there’s a dash of “To Serve Men,” Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and The Day the Earth Stood Still mixed in as well.  It’s also sort of a tribute to my first “published” bit of a kaiju fiction - a rewrite of Destroy All Monsters that included EVERY Godzilla monster that had appeared at the time, which my middle school self wrote back in 2002 or so for Kaiju Headquarters, a kaiju fansite I’m not sure exists anymore.  Invasion from Beyond! is just as ambitious (but hopefully better executed) as my DAM Remake, with dozens upon dozens of different kaiju duking it out, earthlings vs. aliens.

- There were three different documents I made to outline the final battle of Invasion from Beyond!  It’s the largest episode of the series so far and more than half of it is that fucking fight.  My inner child is pleased, though, so hopefully you will be too.

Ok, that’s all I can share without spoilers.  READER BEWARE WHAT FOLLOWS BELOW THE CUT!

JUST MAKING SURE you know that SPOILERS will follow from here on out.  Read at your own peril!  YOU WERE WARNED!

(I’m gonna start with lighter ones just in case you scrolled too far and want to turn back)

- There’s a number of explicit Spielberg homages in ATOM Volume 2, from a “we need a bigger boat” joke during a chase with a giant shark to the fact that Invasion from Beyond! opens with a group of people flying to an island of monsters to review whether or not it should get more funding.

- When Tyrantis appears in the first chapter, I snuck in modified lyrics of The Godzilla Power Hour’s theme song.  “Up from the depths”... “several stories high”... “breathing fire”... “its head in the sky”... Tyrantis!  Tyrantis!  Tyrantis!

- The two rock bands in Tyrantis in Tokyo have real life inspirations ala Gwen Valentine, albeit a bit more muddled than hers.  The Cashews are inspired by The Peanuts (see what I did there), while The Thunder Lizards are a mix of The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper.  I wanted The Thunder Lizards to be more akin to the myth of a famous rock and roll band than the reality - less the real Beatles and more the Yellow Submarine cartoon version of them.

- The song The Thunder Lizards write for Tyrantis was written to fit the tune of “The Godzilla March” from Godzilla vs. Gigan, though ideally if someone made an actual song of it it would be its own song.  I got the idea from Over the Garden Wall, which used the Christmas song “O Holy Night” as a a starting point for “Come Wayward Souls.”

- Perry Martin, UNNO reporter and peer of Henry Robertson, is a nod to Raymond Burr, with his name being a combination of two of Burr’s most famous roles: Perry Mason, and Steve Martin from Godzilla King of the Monsters (1956).

- Dr. Rinko Tsuburaya is a few homages in one.  Her name comes from Rinko Kikuchi (who played Mako Mori in Pacific Rim), while her last name is obviously in homage of Eiji Tsuburaya.  Her being the daughter of an esteemed scientist is inspired by Emiko Yamane from the original Gojira.

- Nastadyne’s Burning Justice mode is named after a similar super mode from various Transformers cartoons, though it’s more directly inspired by the Shining/Burning Finger super move from G Gundam.

- Martians sending kaiju to different planets via shooting them out of cannons (with or without cylinder spaceships around them) is another War of the Worlds shoutout.  So is martians living on Venus after their homeworld was made uninhabitable, actually.

- Kurokame’s vocalizations are described as wails in explicit homage to Gamera.  His name can be translated as either “black tortoise” (a reference to the mythical guardian beast Genbu, which can also be construed as a Gamera reference thanks to Gamera: Advent of Irys implying Gamera and Genbu are one and the same) or a portmanteau of the Japanese words for crocodile and turtle - “crocturtle.”

- Burodon’s name is just a mangling of “burrow down.”  It also sounds vaguely like Baragon, who Burodon is loosely inspired by.  AND, since Burodon is sort of a knockoff/modified Baragon, that kinda makes him a reference to various monsters in Ultraman!

- The final battle of Tyrantis in Tokyo is sort of a hybrid of the finales of Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster and Destroy All Monsters.  

- The Japanese kaiju teaching Tyrantis the art of throwing rocks at your enemies is both a joke on the prominence of rock throwing in Japanese kaiju fights AND the tired trope of an American hero learning secret martial arts from a Japanese mentor ala Batman, Iron Fist, etc.  In this case, the secret martial art is throwing rocks at people.

- When introduced to Herakoschei and its pilot, we are told that the strain of piloting this early mecha is so intense that many pilots have died in the process, with the current one passing out on more than few occasions.  This is of course a Pacific Rim homage - sadly, no one invents drifting.

- Herakoschei’s design is a loose homage to Robby the Robot and Cherno Alpha, because big boxy robots are cool.

- The Writhing Flesh and ESPECIALLY Pathogen are both hugely influenced by Resident Evil and The Thing.  Giant body horror piles of raw flesh, tendrils, mismatched mouths and limbs may be a bit outside the main era of monster design ATOM homages, but they fit the themes and bring a nice contrast.

- I came up with Pathogen long before Corona but MAN it definitely feels different in 2021 to have a giant monster whose name is a synonym for disease driving other creatures crazy in a quarantine zone than it did when I plotted out the story in 2016.

- The chapter title “Hello, Old Foes” is a riff on “Goodbye, Old Friend”

- Minerva, the kaiju-fied clone of Dr. Lerna, is meant to be an homage to Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, which is a genuinely good giant monster flick.  I am sure many of you will also believe I included her because I’m a pervert whose into tall women, but you’d be wrong!  I included the seven foot tall Russian mecha pilot Ludmilla Portnova because I’m a pervert whose into tall women.  Minerva’s inclusion was just coincidental, I swear!

- Since Promythigor is a play on the archetypal ape kaiju to contrast Tyrantis as a play on the archetypal fire-breathing reptile kaiju, their fight has a lot of nods to King Kong movies.  Promythigor attempts the famous jaw-snap maneuver of Kong (with less success), J.C. Clark paraphrases the “brute force vs. a thinking animal” line from the King Kong vs. Godzilla American cut, and Tyrantis slides down a mountain to knock Promythigor off his feet in a reversal of Kong doing the same in King Kong vs. Godzilla.

- Tyrantis sliding down a mountain on his tail doubles as a Godzilla vs. Megalon homage.

- Though Promythigor is the archetypal Ape and Tyrantis the archetypal Fire-Breathing Reptile, I think it’s fun to note that in some ways, Promythigor is the Godzilla equivalent in their matchup, and Tyrantis the Kong.  Promythigor has a slight size advantage, was scarred by humans performing unethical weapons technology, and is associated with violent explosions.  Tyrantis is a good-at-heart prehistoric beast who humanized in part by his unlikely friendship with a human woman.

- Of course, in the context of the famous quote from the American cut of King Kong vs. Godzilla, they remain in their archetypal lanes.  Promythigor is the more intelligent of the two (though not necessarily wiser), and Tyrantis is in many ways a brute reptile.  Their battle is a rebuttal of sorts to the assertion that Kong is the “better” animal because he is closer to human.  Promythigor’s near human creativity and emotions don’t make him the kinder/more benevolent monster, but instead fuel a very self-centered and destructive attitude that makes him the far more dangerous threat.  On the other hand, Tyrantis, who is less intelligent, limited in communication with others by his reptilian mindset and instincts, and simple in his thoughts and desires, is nonetheless a sweet creature that is easily dealt with when others consider his animal needs and mindset.  There’s a quote from Hellboy I love that probably sums up all of my writing thus far: “To be other than human does not mean the same as being less,” and that’s what the matchup between these two in particular tries to illustrate: the “less” human Tyrantis is nonetheless more benign than the “more” human Promythigor.

- Kraydi the psychic lizard began life as a soft sculpture I made of the Canyon Krayt Dragon from The Wildlife of Star Wars.  The sculpture didn’t look much like the illustration, but I liked how it came out, and so I made it an original monster named Kraydi (see what I did there).  Figuring out an explanation for that name in ATOM’s world was possibly the most difficult kaiju naming task in the series, but it worked out in the end.

- Kraydi and Promythigor having psychic powers is a result of my time on Godzilla fan forums in my middle school years.  Most of the forums had OC kaiju battle tournaments, and SO many of those kaiju had a wide array of beam weapons and psychic powers just to win the tournaments by beam-spamming and mind controlling their foes into oblivion.  There’s a special kind of rage you get when your original creation is beaten by “Fire Godzilla” because he has a genius level intellect and the power of unstoppable telekinesis.  Kraydi began as (and still is I suppose) my attempt to do a psychic kaiju well, while Promythigor’s villainy being tied to psychic powers being forced on him is sort of my passive aggressive commentary on people foisting powers on a monster without any real thematic reason for them.

- Henry Robertson and Dr. Praetorius chewing out the laziness of people giving kaiju completely unaltered names of mythic beasts will probably be seen as a jab at the Monsterverse and/or the numerous writers in the kaiju OC scene who do the same, but it’s ACTUALLY a jab at my past self, who had DOZENS of kaiju whose names were just Greek mythological figures verbatim.  There are dozens of kaiju named Hydra, Scylla, Charybdis, Chimera, etc., past me, try to make the names stand out!  Oh wait you did.  I mean, don’t pat yourself on the back too much, you still went with “Mothmanud” as a canon name and never came up with something better, but, like, good on ya for trying I guess.

- Dr. Praetorius takes his name from the evil mad scientis in Bride of Frankenstein, who basically has all the wicked traits that Universal’s Frankenstein downplayed in their take on Dr. Frankenstein.  Ironically, ATOM’s Dr. Praetorius is a bit less evil than his fellow mad scientists in ATOM.  I really like how his character turned out, he surprised me.

- Isaac Rossum, the pilot of the USA mecha Atomoton, is named for Isaac Aasimov, whose robot stories are to robot fiction what Lord of the Rings is to high fantasy.  His last name is a reference to Rossum’s Universal Robots, which is where the word “robot” came from.

- The unfortunate pilots of MechaTyrantis in ATOM Volumes 1 and 2 are all nods to Jurassic Park.  John Ludlow = John Hammond and Peter Ludlow, Ian Grant = Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant, Dennis Dodgson = Dennis Nedry and Lewis Dodgson.

- A good way to pitch Invasion from Beyond! would be “what if the staff and monsters were able to fight back when the Kilaaks tried to take over Monsterland?”

- Ok, here’s a fun joke that no one will get but me because it requires a very specific chain of logic based on some obscure and loosely connected nerd bullshit.  There’s a rocker in ATOM’s universe named Sebastian Haff, right?  One of his songs, “Darling Let’s Shimmy,” is referenced right before a mothmanud larva emerges from the ground in both ATOM Vol. 1 and 2.  Ok, so, in the Bubba Hotep, an aging Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff claims he is actually the real Elvis Presley, having changed places with the real Sebastian Haff as a sort of Prince and the Pauper deal that went wrong.  Got that?  Ok, so, in UFO folklore, a common joke is the theory that Elvis didn’t die, but was rather abducted by aliens (or he actually WAS an alien the whole time - the whole “Elvis didn’t die, he just went home” joke in Men in Black is a good example of this).  Ok?  Ok.  So, in ATOM’s universe, we can surmise that their equivalent of Elvis, whose name is Sebastian Haff, WAS abducted by aliens, and that his song “Darling Let’s Shimmy” is subconsciously influenced by his repressed memories from his time aboard the Beyonder spaceships, which is why it accidentally awoke a Mothmanud larva in Volume 1.  There’s a lot of bullshit jokes I put into ATOM, but this is perhaps the bullshittiest of them all.

- One of the most common bits of feedback on ATOM Volume 1 I got was “I kept waiting for something to eat Brick Rockwell, he’s such an asshole.”  And I had to smile and go, “Oh, yeah, guess he never got his, huh?” the whole time without letting on that he was going to die here all along!

- Dr. Lerna and Brick Rockwell’s nature as foils to each other is probably most apparent in Invasion from Beyond!, where both are given fairly similar situations - a nonhuman approaches them with a solution to a global crisis - and react to it very differently.  I worry that some people may think they both made the same choice and got different results, and that that’s hypocrisy on my part, but I hope I wrote it so you can see how their choices and situations actually differ in key ways, and why their decisions, while similar on the surface, are ultimately very different, and thus result in almost opposite outcomes.

- So, when I planned out this book in 2016, I swear I didn’t know about the Orca from 2019′s Godzilla King of the Monsters.  Having the plot hang around Dr. Lerna deciding whether or not to use a sonic device to rouse all the kaiju to save the earth was not INTENDED to be a Monsterverse reference - it came about from me looking at Pathfinder’s take on kaiju, who are all explicitly influenceable by music, and thinking, “Oh, wow, music and songs DO have a major connection with kaiju in a lot of media, I should do something with that.”  Whem KOTM came out a few days after Volume 1 came out I realized I was kinda fucked here, because the comparison was definitely going to be made, but I’d also set this all up already and you can’t just change suddenly to avoid looking like a copy cat and make a good story, so... I dunno, I leaned into it a bit, but it is what it is.

- While most people will probably think they’re a reference to the Reptoids of UFO folklore, the Reptodites are more inspired by the Dinosapien of speculative evolution fame and, even morso, by the Reptites from Chrono Trigger.  Me wanting to avoid the “lizard people control the government” conspiracy theory trope is one of the main reasons why Reptodites have this non-interference clause with humanity.

- Lieutenant Gray is a bunch of different humanoid aliens rolled into one - a little Hopskinville goblin, a little classic gray, a little this one weird alien with five-fingered zygodactyl hands, etc.

- There’s some Beyonder Mecha in this volume that are basically kaiju-fied versions of the Flatwoods Monster.  The species that built them ALSO engineered the Mothmanuds, because connecting Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster is fun!

- Pleprah is, obviously, a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater.

- Tyrantis’s brush with death, in addition to being so very anime, was inspired by my dad outlining how mythic heroes often have to travel to the underworld/land of the dead before they can finish their journey.  It’s one of the plot points that I’ve had planned for this series since middle school.

- I’m sure some will view it as hackneyed and corny, but as a person who’s battled with depression for decades, having Tyrantis’s choice to live be the big heroic turn of the finale was very important to me.  Tyrantis incorporates elements of a lot of imaginary friends I made as a kid, and in many ways he’s kind of the face of my more positive side in my head.  He’s been telling me to choose to live for a while, and while maybe to an outsider it may seem hackneyed, it’s just... very Tyrantis.  He chooses life and kindness in the face of pain and struggle.  That’s Tyrantis.

- Tyrantis’s powered up form is called “Hyper Mode,” which is another Gundam reference.  Originally it was a lot gaudier and involved him turning gold like a fuckin’ Super Saiyan.  I opted for something a little more toned down here.  

- Also, speaking of KOTM references, I decided to make Hyper Mode Tyrantis’s final duel with Pathogen be a sort of foil to Burning Godzilla’s final bout with Ghidorah in KOTM.  Instead of ravaging the city, Hyper Tyrantis’s pulse of energy rejuvenates his fallen allies, and as a result he is “crowned” not out of fear for his supremacy in the wake of killing a powerful enemy, but in gratitude for his kindness.  See?  Leaning into it!

- And now I can finally reveal that Yamaneon is ATOM’s equivalent of The Monolith Monsters - that is, a kaiju that is also a mineral.  I took the “strange continuously growing rock” thing in a very different direction, though, as unlike The Monolith Monsters, Yamaneon is actually alive.

- At various points in the pre-writing process, either Promythigor, MechaTyrantis, or both were going to die fighting Pathogen.  I ultimately decided to let them both live, with MechaTyrantis even getting his flesh and blood body back, because I think it’s more interesting and thematically consistent that way.  They get a chance to heal their wounds by changing their ways.

- The Great Beyonder and Dorazor both almost didn’t make the cut, as I felt they didn’t have the same pull as villains that Pathogen, Promythigor, and MechaTyrantis did.  But then I thought that could actually be the gag - build them up as the final boss, only to have Pathogen take their crown.  I want to explore post-face turn Dorazor a bit more, though.  We’ll have to see about that in a later volume.

- Volumes 1 and 2 make up what I call “The Ballad of Tyrantis Arc” for ATOM.  I call it that because Tyrantis’s storyline in these two volumes was patterend after Chivalric ballads like Yvain the Knight of the Lion.  Tyrantis, a heroic warrior who is kind but dumb of ass, learns of strange goings on outside his home and investigates.  During his journey into the unknown he falls in love with a powerful woman, whose favor he tries to win.  Through happenstance he is separated from his love and, distraught, wanders around fighting various foes to prove his worth, before finally returning to his love a better hero.  Invasion from Beyond! could even be seen as a sort of Morte d’Artur, with Tyrantis and a bunch of other kaiju heroes (including Nastadyne and Kemlasulla, who are built up as Hero Kaiju of Another Story) take part in a huge battle that threatens their idealic kingdom (of monsters).

- Volume 2 isn’t the end of ATOM, but it’s designed to work as an ending if you want to tap out here.  As a reader I feel a definitive ending is important, but as a writer I’m always tempted to revisit my beloved characters, so I feel giving closure while leaving a few doors open for possible future adventures is a good compromise between these positions.  There will be more ATOM stories, some (but not all!) following Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna, but if you want to know that Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna get an ending and the resolution to their arcs such a thing promises, here you go.  An ending, if not THE END.

[loosesodamarble]

World Swap Captains Trivia

Look who finally got around to writing up some trivia about the World Swap Wizard King and Magic Knight Captains.

Neriah Protempus -Cursed by a devil so that he slowly but surely loses his strength and senses. Currently blind and deaf on his left side. -Keeps the fatherly personality Kagaya has. Neriah sees all the magic knights as his children. -Unknown to the captains, he occasionally uses his magic to peek into their futures to see if he’s ensuring a good one for them. He feels so selfish when he does it. -The best with animals in this AU. They can sense his kindness and so willingly approach him. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 2 ---Magic Amount: 5 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 5 ---Cleverness: 5 ---Intuition: 5

Adalmeer Gildmont -The only reason he’s captain of the Cobalt River is because he lost a coin toss. Didn’t think he was qualified but now he’s stuck. -Has a reputation for being an ineffectual leader since he leaves the squad members to their own devices more often than not. -Thinks best when he’s standing out in the rain, staring at the sky and just letting himself get soaked. Has a record number of colds because of this. -The worst with animals. They just hate him on instinct for whatever reason. Patience had a good laugh about it when she first witnessed it. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 4 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 4 ---Magic Sensing: 4 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Social Awkwardness: 5

Patience Danain -Her family worked as royal doctors before eventually becoming nobility themselves. -The Wisteria Butterfly is essentially Clover Kingdom’s healthcare system. And she proudly oversees it. -Was the vice captain of the squad before her sister retired and appointed her the new captain. -The smartest of the captains because she has to rely on strategic use of her magic in order to overpower opponents. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 1 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 4 ---Cleverness: 5 ---Passive-Aggressiveness: 5

Eric Enfernus -Duels anyone who talks smack about his younger brother being too weak for the magic knights. Became known as the Hell Raiser because of this. -The magic knight captains have fanclubs. Eric has the largest fanclub due to his looks, strength, kindness, sense of humor, smile, friendliness... -Is actively seeking out the fire spirit Salamander. He wants to see if he’s worthy of its power and hopefully work with it for the benefit of Clover Kingdom. -Rumor has it that the Enfernus family’s Fire Magic is strong enough to burn away the hex effects of a spell. It has yet to be confirmed. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 4 ---Magic Amount: 5 ---Magic Control: 4 ---Magic Sensing: 5 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Burning Passion: 5

Angelo Brioghane -Came from a commoner family of assassins. Most people in his family have Poison or Mist Magic so his Sound Magic came out of left field. -Was once sent on a mission to assassinate King Augustus (yes, he’s still king). Neriah caught Angelo and set him on the right path. Augustus never found out about the assassination plan. -With his wealth as a captain, he throws the most fabulous galas/balls in Clover Kingdom. -Has the best fashion sense and has the highest musical talent. Not just among the captains, among all the World Swap AU characters. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 5 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 4 ---Magic Sensing: 5 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Flamboyance: 5

Melina Ledoux -The captains have had an eating contest in the past. Melina won in a landslide. Eric came in second but was behind by 15 servings. -Visits the fanclubs of the other captains in order to gush about them with the fans. She even visits her own to thank her fans. -BFFs with Patience. They spar with each other frequently and often have their squad members do team missions. -Originally in the Scarlet Tiger with Eric before moving into the Fuchsia Cat squad (which was the Burgundy Cat at the time). -Stats ---Physical Strength: 4 ---Magic Amount: 5 ---Magic Control: 4 ---Magic Sensing: 3 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Love for Love: 5

Nilson Nebelholtz -After the Gold Hope’s disbandment, he joined the Alabaster Wolf squad and climbed the ranks rapidly to become the captain at age nineteen. -Ever since he became the captain, the more bitter members of the squad have tried to fight him out of the position. Hasn’t worked so far. -Randomly spouts shower-thought-type things. Just out of the blue. Even when in the middle of a captain meeting. -Nilson wanted to be wizard king along with his twin when he was much younger. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 3 ---Magic Amount: 5 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 3 ---Cleverness: 3 ---Spaciness: 5

Travis Sidney -Always pays a visit to a village/town/city’s local church to offer prayers. Is called the Faithful Captain for this reason. -Has Magic Knights in his squad train their magic and physical bodies so they are at peak performance. -Similar to Mereoleona, Travis visits areas with high amounts of mana to train. Occasionally brings squad members with him. -Definitely the top contender to be the next Wizard King. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 5 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 5 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Praying: 5

Adivar Ambrose -Remember Sanemi’s Pillar training? Adivar something similar with the mages in his own squad as part of their regular training to toughen them up. -Jade Raptors are known for their combat prowess and are usually the Magic Knights that fight off invasions and the like. -Threatened all the other captains to keep his younger brother out of the Magic Knights. Didn’t exactly work on Travis. -Adivar has the worst reputation out of all the captains. He’s actually proud of this fact because he likes knowing that he’s intimidating. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 4 ---Magic Amount: 4 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 4 ---Cleverness: 3 ---Aggression: 5

Viper Dubhan -Viper’s family planned to make him a devil host but he ran away. In a rage, the devil killed the rest Viper’s family. The captain of the Scarlet Tiger at the time defeated the devil (only due to its power being weakened without a proper body). -Met Melina during his first job as a magic knight which was to escort her. She was chatty and got him to open up so they became friends. Over the years, he’s developed romantic feelings for her. -Visits Melina’s fanclub in disguise. Don’t accuse him of even knowing about it. Someone was booted from his squad for it. -Has written and re-written a speech asking Melina to marry him but he’s too paranoid about his past to go through with it. -Stats ---Physical Strength: 2 ---Magic Amount: 3 ---Magic Control: 5 ---Magic Sensing: 4 ---Cleverness: 4 ---Irritability: 5

[ninjakittenarmy]

Anyone remember the CN Real Block? Where they tried to have a bunch of reality Tv Shows that were basically budget versions of whatever was popular back then? They got fucking Andrew WK involved? The whole marketing campaign was about how you could find “more than just cartoons” on Cartoon fucking Network, but instead of promoting actual good live action shows (which they have done at other times mind, and this was supposed to compete with Disney and Nickelodeon), they just promoted reality tv that surprise surprise, kids didn’t care about.

It included such Gems as

Dude, What Would Happen?: Three frat guys would do Mythbusters style shenanigans involving a random scenario of the day, but instead of common urban legends and myths, they mostly did largely random stuff that sound exactly like what you’d think three frat boys would come up with like “could you make a piano bounce by strapping a fuckton of basketballs to it” or “let’s make the world’s largest model zit and pop it.” A lot more like Jackass in practice. Most of the scenarios were too bizarre to be interesting, with a few exceptions, but the three guys’ genuine enthusiasm for it could make it kinda fun. Generally considered the face of the block.

Survive This: Ghost hunting show. This one was probably the best one tbh. Group of teen ghost hunters would visit various locations in California rumored to be haunted. At the end, they’d decide whether they thought it was haunted or not. Actually had some pretty spooky stuff on it but well, we all know those shows are scams so I’m suspicious.

Brain Rush: Trivia show where the contestants were on some sort of roller coaster ride trying to complete various types of trivia challenges.

Survive This: Exactly what it sounds like. Bunch of teens had survival challenges of the week like building shelter or fire or what not, or occasionally hunting. Often they competed for a choice of certain supplies to make it easier. Hosted by Les Fucking Stroud. Went about as well as you’d expect since the teens would constantly talk to the camera crews despite being told not to, and constantly try to position themselves to appear in the best light possible because of course they did, and many expressed ire at how their comments and the like were portrayed on tv an were rather hurt when they heard how some of the others talked about them . Stroud seemed to be the only one trying to take this seriously as an educational experience.

Naturally, many people were rather upset at a show that put teens in dangerous situations like this and aired it on tv. Naturally, most of the danger was fabricated, since they obviously weren’t going to put the kids in actual danger, but experts were still divided on whether this was ethical.

Destroy Build Destroy: WK actually hosted this one. Two teams, usually consisting of two separate high school cliques or clubs or something, would destroy some sort of object or vehicle, gather parts from it to build a vehicle, and test said vehicle on various challenges. Sometimes a team would win an opportunity to try and damage the other team’s vehicle in a certain manner. Loser’s vehicle got blown up. A tie means they both get blown up. I believe the idea for the initial destruction was either to Vick the method that would deny the other team useable parts but there is shockingly little information on these shows. Methods could range from people with hammers and shit to construction vehicles to actual bazookas.

Bobb'e Says: Show starring Bobb'e J Thomson where he’d provide commentary on various funny clips generally mocking people on the poor decision making that led them into the various unfortunate incidents in said video. This one only got 6 episodes.

I do have to impress on anyone who wasn't around for it how batshit the reality boom of the 2000s could be. Especially on Fox.

Here are some 100% real 2000s reality shows:

Who's Your Daddy? A woman has to guess which of eight men is her biological father. One of them really is, and if she guesses right she wins $100,000. If one of the seven fake dads convinces her to guess them, he wins $100,000.

Black. White. A white family learns about racism by living a month in blackface, while a black family spends a month in whiteface. The black family was a real family, but the white family was just some actors hired to put on blackface to prove racism exists

Without Prejudice? Five strangers decide which of five strangers gets a cash prize based off clips and their answers to political questions. Cancelled when one of the choosers openly said he'd eliminate all black contestants

Welcome to the Neighborhood. Three conservative white families in a Austin subdivision decide which diverse family gets to move in. Unaired due to being literal housing discrimination

Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay. Two straight men try to pass themselves off as gay and whoever seems more gay gets $50,000. Unaired due to. Due to. Due to

Playing It Straight. A woman tries to find love among fourteen men, half of whom are straight and half of whom are gay, and she must eliminate two men she believes are gay each week. If she ended up picking a straight man in the end, they'd split a million dollars; if she picked a gay man, he'd win a million dollars

Boy Meets Boy. This was Playing It Straight but starring a gay man and he had to eliminate straight people

Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire? He wasn't a multimillionaire. He didn't even have a million dollars in liquid assets. He had a battery conviction Fox claims they didn't see. Because it was the 2000s, somehow this ended up with the woman he won being widely vilified and turned into a national punchline. How dare she complain about a massive corporation tricking her into marrying a lying abuser, good thing Matt Lauer's there to take her down a peg

The Swan. A "ugly" woman is given plastic surgery and wins a prize if she's the hottest at the end of the season. If she's not hot enough by the show's standards she's eliminated and called ugly on national TV

The Biggest Loser. Overweight people engage in competitive crash weight loss that often led to awful health complications. Studies showed basically everyone on the show regained any weight they lost once it was over and they didn't have abusive trainers demanding they take huge health risks to win a competitive weight loss competition. Like the others, this one was cancel-oh, it was a massive hit that ran for 18 seasons? Yikes!

Wife Swap and Trading Spouses. These were the same show and had a wife from one family go to another family that was different politically, racially, culturally, religiously etc. Most famous for the God Warrior

At the time people focused on the likes of Fear Factor but looking back it's wild how many of the worst shows toyed with politics. So many of these shows have a premise that's like "what if we exposed these conservatives to these people they hate?" or hyping themselves up as Important Experiments. Then they'd freak out when they got the kind of viral bigoted freakout they were trying to construct the whole time.

There were also a bunch of horrible reality shows, thankfully this time mostly unpopular, in the 2010s that based themselves around economic themes as a response to the market crash, but that's a story for another time

[papacarbs]

LET'S TALK ABOUT SPORTS

Sports and recreation

A number of sports introduced by the Americans in the early 20th century enjoy great popularity in the Philippines. Basketball is particularly prominent, with amateur games occurring regularly in neighbourhoods throughout the country. The Philippines has also fielded formidable national teams for the World Basketball Championships. Tennis, golf, and various aquatic sports such as diving and windsurfing are widely practiced.

Sport(s) is all forms of usually competitive physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to participants, and in some cases, spectators.

Hundreds of sports exist, from those requiring only two participants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals.

Sport is generally recognised as activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with the largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition, and other organisations such as the Council of Europe using definitions precluding activities without a physical element from classification as sports.

However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports.

The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports, although limits the amount of mind games which can be admitted as sports.

Sports are usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition, and allow consistent adjudication of the winner.

Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first, or by the determination of judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or artistic impression.

In organised sport, records of performance are often kept, and for popular sports, this information may be widely announced or reported in sport news.

In addition, sport is a major source of entertainment for non-participants, with spectator sports drawing large crowds to venues, and reaching wider audiences through sports broadcasting.

Filipinos have excelled in various internationally competitive martial arts, including boxing, wushu, and tae kwon do, while local Filipino martial arts traditions have experienced a resurgence since the end of the 20th century. The country has produced champion boxers in competitions hosted by the World Boxing Association, and the Philippines has taken several medals in martial arts in the Asian and Southeast Asian Games.

The Philippines has participated in the Summer Olympic Games since 1924 and in the Winter Games since 1972. Filipino athletes generally have been most successful in swimming, boxing, and track and field events.

CHINESE KUNG FU

Kung Fu, an ancient sport popular in China, has a very long history, during which a variety of skills were created and massively improved. Originated from the hunting and defense needs in the primitive society (over 1.7 million years ago – 21st century BC), it at first only included some basic skills like cleaving, chopping, and stabbing. Later the system of Kung Fu formed and developed mainly as the fighting skills from the Xia Dynasty (21st - 17th century BC) to the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368), and reached its peak during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 - 1911). In modern times, it develops well and becomes not just martial skills or physical movement. It is also a way for keeping fit, entertainment, and performance.

Forming

Chinese Kung Fu started to form during the slavery society (around 11th century BC – 403 BC). Upon the foundation of the Xia Dynasty, it well developed to be more practical and standard to better serve battles. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties (17th century BC – 256 BC), martial dance was used to train soldiers and enhance the morale of the army. The theory of Tai Chi was put forward then to lay a foundation for the early system of Chinese martial arts. Later, the vassal states in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC) paid much attention to the fighting skills used in the battles. Qi Huangong (716 – 643 BC), one of the state kings at that time, even held martial arts contests twice a year to select heroes.

Development

The development of Kung Fu started during the feudal society (221 BC - 1911). After the Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 - 210 BC) unified the central plain of China, the fighting skills among the soldiers gradually developed into Guanzhong Boxing which was called Hong Fist later. Wrestling, fencing, sword dance and sword fighting were popular during the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 BC – 220 AD). For example, Xiang Zhuang, a famous general at that time, played sword at Hongmen Banquet with the intention to kill Liu Bang, who later became the Emperor Gaozu of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 24 AD).

In the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), at the request of Yue Fei and other patriotic generals, a large number of soldiers and common people tended to practice Kung Fu. It was at that time that Southern Fist (Nanquan) became a popular style taking Hangzhou as the practice center. The Southern Fist mainly emphasized the motions of upper limbs. The movement of elbows and knees was the assistant skills. Later, many similar groups were established to promote the integration of northern and southern martial arts.

In the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368), since Han nationality was thought of as the ragtag, Han people were forbidden to practice Kung Fu in groups, but they secretly gathered to play. It’s said that Jueyuan, the abbot of Shaolin Temple at that time, succeeded the Eighteen Arhats Fist to create the Seventy-two Fists (Huaquan). Later, he learned Li Family Fist, Baimo Fist and Choy Li Fut to further improve all the skills into One-hundred and Seventy-two Fists, including Five-Element Boxing and Eight-Diagram Boxing.

In the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), Long Fist (Changquan), Hong Fist and Kicking Legs appeared with the single and pair practice. The combination of the northern and southern styles composed the Shaolin School Boxing. Qi Jiguang, a famous patriotic general in the Ming Dynasty, compiled all the skills throughout China at that time, including Long Fist, Short Hands, Hong Fist, Bazi Fist and other skills and people called them Southern Shaolin Boxing. Later, Long Fist, Short Hands, Five Fist and Hua Fist of Shandong Province, Five Shapes Boxing and Crane Boxing of Fujian Province as well as the Hung Kuen, Wing Chun and Choy Li Fut of Guangxi and Guangdong provinces became the mainstream during that time.

In the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), Han people were still forbidden to practice Kung Fu in groups and Southern Shaolin Temple gradually declined. The Shaolin Temple at Mt. Songshan in Henan was under strict supervision. Even the monks were not given the right to practice. However, some works on martial arts were widespread in folk circles. During the middle and end of the dynasty, the basic classification of Internal Boxing and external Boxing was formed, whilst the Northern Legs and Southern Fists became well known. After the first Sino-British Opium War in 1840, many folk martial arts groups sprung up to prevent the British army entering Guangdong. Many specific genres including the Form/Intention Boxing (Xingyiquan), Hung Kuen, Southern Shaolin Boxing, Wing Chun and Tai Chi started to be well improved. After 1864, Hung Kuen, including Hua Fist and Eight-Diagram Boxing was introduced to Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.

During the Republic of China (1912 - 1949), Jingwu Gymnastics Club, the first non-government Kung Fu organization, was established by Huo Yuanjia and Nong Jinsun. Later it developed many branches in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and other countries.

Nowadays, China government tends to attach more importance to traditional Chinese Kung Fu which has been compiled as content of courses. Every year many performances and contests are held to encourage civilians to learn and inherit the skills. Various groups or organizations have been founded for better advertising and developing, such as International Martial Arts Federation and Chinese Martial Arts Association. Many schools are correspondingly established to teach all kinds of skills, such as Wudang Sanfeng Martial Arts School and Songshan Shaolin Martial Arts School. Moreover, Chinese Kung Fu has come to the world stage to attract more and more foreign people to enjoy and learn.

VOLLEYBALL 🏐

This sports had been evolving over the years. This sport is a combination of skill, beauty, heart and perseverance. It shows a world class competition of every country.

TRIVIA

Fact 1: The game of volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan.

Fact 2: The first World Championships were held in 1949 for men and 1952 for women.

Fact 3: Volleyball were first introduced as Olympic sports in 1964.

Fact 4: Most volleyball players jump about 300 times a match.

Fact 5: Volleyball took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball.

Fact 6: The first two-man beach game was played in 1930.

Fact 7: Volleyball was called mintonette at first but it was later changed to volleyball.

Fact 8: The first special designed ball for the sport was created in 1900.

Fact 9: Volleyball is the second most popular sport in the world today, exceeded only by soccer.

Fact 10: The longest recorded volleyball game was in Kingston, North Carolina. It took 75 hours and 30 minutes.

Fact 11: In 2012, the athlete during the match was a powerful potency, later learned that before the match, he took the German Generic Viagra mixed with vitamins.

Do you know that Philippines played a significant role in the volleyball world?

Way back 1895, the time volleyball was introduced, it was basically played by numbers of players as long as both sides are equally divided. Then they do played this sport by bumping the ball over the net, however, as volleyball reaches the "Pearl of the Orient" or Philippines then additions come out. Our country added the "setting and spiking skills" which made this sport more interesting.

BASKETBALL 🏀

On the first hand Basketball was created by James Nais Smith, a teacher at a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, is credited with inventing basketball in 1891. He just accidentally created basketball for fun with his friends. Basketball starts with a simple basket that has no hole. Wherein there is no rule at that time, there's also no referee and team. It's just a simple basket. As time pass by basketball is developed until it became a national sports and later on some countries adapt and play the basketball as their sports. There's a rule in playing a basketball like a player must bounce, the ball with one hand while moving both feet. If at any time both hands touch the ball or the players stops dribbling, the player must only move one foot. Stay in dribbling the ball. Basketball is the most famous sports around the world. That some avid fan of basketball love the player also. They idolize the incredible and most excellent player.

SWIMMING 🏊‍♂️

Competitive swimming in Britain started around 1830, mostly using breaststroke. Swimming was part of the first modern Olympic games in 1896 in Athens. In 1908, the world swimming association, Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), was formed.

Artwork from the Cave of Swimmers in southwest Egypt shows that Ancient Egyptians were swimming as far back as 10,000 years ago, but the modern sport of competitive swimming began in Great Britain in 1837. At that time, London hosted swimming competitions in its six newly constructed indoor pools.

SEPAK TAKRAW

Sepak is Malay for “kick” and takraw is Thai for “a woven ball”, therefore sepak takraw quite literally means “to kick ball”. The choosing of this name for the sport was essentially a compromise between Malaysia and Thailand, the two powerhouse countries of the sport. Sepak Takraw originates in South-East Asia.

Playing this sports is an absolutely like breath taking. Every time you kick, you attack, it feels like you are flying. Everytime you play this game, it moves you back from the past when you were a child.

THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE SPORTS THAT PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN THE WHOLE WORLD.

SPORTS WILL ALWAYS BE SPORTS. ENGAGE YOURSELF INTO IT. IF YOU WANTED TO BE HAPPY THEN CHOOSE AND PLAY WITH YOUR FOR IT.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Telephone Day 

On April 25th, we observe National Telephone Day. Around the world, there are 9.82 billion mobile phones. And while some predicted the landline to be obsolete by 2020, there are still about 931 million landlines around the world.

Obtaining a Patent

The correct answer to a trivia question like “Who invented the telephone?” is the name on the patent. In this case, the whole world knows the answer is Alexander Graham Bell. Had his attorney been delayed by foul weather or poor planning, the answer may be a different name.

On February 14, 1876, Marcellus Bailey, one of Bell’s attorneys, rushed into the U.S. Patent office in Boston to file the patent for what would be the telephone.

Later the same day, Elisha Gray filed a patent caveat for a similar device. A caveat is an intent to file for a patent.

There was also a third contender. Antonio Meucci filed a caveat in November of 1871 for a talking telegraph but failed to renew the caveat due to hardships.

Because Bell submitted his record first, the patent office awarded Bell the patent on March 7, 1876. Gray contested this decision in court, but without success.

Alexander Graham Bell

Born March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Bell taught at a boys’ boarding school. The sounds of speech were an integral part of his life. His father developed a “Visible Speech” system for deaf students to communicate. Bell would later become a friend and benefactor of Helen Keller.

Three days after the patent was approved, Bell spoke the first words by telephone to his assistant. “Mr.Watson, come here! I want to see you!”

By May, Bell and his team stood prepared for a public demonstration. And there would be no better place than the grand stage of the World’s Fair in Philadelphia. On May 10, 1876, in a crowded Machinery Hall, a man’s voice transmitted from a small horn and carried out through a speaker to the audience.

One year later, the White House installed its first phone. The telephone revolution began.

Bell Telephone Company was founded on July 9, 1877, and they installed the first public telephone lines from Boston to Sommerville, Massachusetts, the same year.  By the end of the decade, nearly 50,000 phones existed in the United States.  In May of 1967, phone companies across the country installed the one-millionth telephone.

HOW TO OBSERVE 

Celebrate by calling someone and telling them Happy National Telephone Day!  

Share your vintage telephone pictures on social media.

Try making a call with a rotary phone.

#NationalTelephoneDay to show the different phones that have been used!

NATIONAL TELEPHONE DAY HISTORY

In May of 1967, the 100 millionth telephone line was installed in the United States. On May 11th, governors and dignitaries for U.S. territories joined President Lyndon Johnson on the largest conference call ever held up to that date. Each governor, dignitary, and the President were issued gold phones to commemorate the day. At the same time, a proclamation was issued declaring May 12th as National Telephone Day.

There is no record of the day being observed again on that date. However, National Day Calendar continues to research the origins of this technology day.

Telephone FAQ

Q. Do payphones still exist? A. Yes. However, the number of payphones began declining in the mid-1990s. If you’re looking for a payphone, some cities and states have payphone maps. You can also look in public places like federal offices, libraries, transportation hubs, large shopping centers, and gas stations.

Advertisement

Q. When was the first mobile phone invented? A. Motorolla made the first mobile phone called the DynaTAC 8000x in 1983.

Q. When was the first smartphone invented? A. The Simon Personal Comminicator was released in 1994 by IBM.

Source

[allthingsdarkanddirty]

It's time to masquerade... Masquerading in the Midlife by Lia Davis & L.A. Boruff is now LIVE and you can read it #free with #kindleunlimited! Universal: https://geni.us/MasqueradingMidlife

BLURB: Forty and fanged. That’s only half of who Hailey Whitfield is. She’s also a bounty hunter and the true mate to the vampire master who made her. The latter is something she isn’t sure she is ready for. She’d previously sworn off marriage. Never again. A true mating bond, though, seems like so much more than a marriage! She has two months to figure out the bonding thing and she plans to put a pin in it for now. A more important mission had come up. Her friend and fellow bounty hunter, Chloe, is missing, and it’s up to the Bond Girls to bring her home. The case takes a dangerous turn that sends Hailey and her team undercover to get an invite to the largest masquerade ball on the east coast. Is it wrong to be excited about the ball and scared for her friend at the same time? Probably. But Hailey is taking the world by storm, one case at a time. #releaseblitz #releaseblast #releaseday #bookbirthday #booklaunch #newrelease #nowlive #availablenow #pwf #paranormalwomensfiction #paranormalfiction #paranormalcozy #midlifeheroine #matureheroine #fangedafterforty #masqueradinginthemidlife #bookbuzz #bookclub #booksbooksbooks #readers #booklovers #bookish

About Lia

Lia Davis is the USA Today bestselling author of more than forty books, including her fan favorite Ashwood Falls Series. A lifelong fan of magic, mystery, romance and adventure, Lia's novels feature compassionate alpha heroes and strong leading ladies, plenty of heat, and happily-ever-afters.

Lia makes her home in Northeast Florida where she battles hurricanes and humidity like one of her heroines. When she's not writing, she loves to spend time with her family, travel, read, enjoy nature, and spoil her kitties.  She also loves to hear from her readers. Send her a note at lia@authorliadavis.com!

About LA

LA (Lainie) Boruff lives in East Tennessee with her husband, three children, and an ever growing number of cats. She loves reading, watching TV, and procrastinating by browsing Facebook. LA’s passions include vampires, food, and listening to heavy metal music. She once won a Harry Potter trivia contest based on the books and lost one based on the movies. She has two bands on her bucket list that she still hasn’t seen: AC/DC and Alice Cooper. Feel free to send tickets.

Get Social With The Authors!

BookBub - Lia: http://bit.ly/2N3X2dS BookBub - LA: http://bit.ly/2Z2VA24 Facebook - Lia: http://bit.ly/2H7mhbL Facebook - LA: http://bit.ly/2ORBhk6 Website - Lia: https://authorliadavis.com Website - LA: https://laboruff.com

[trippintraci]

Hi everyone! I’m launching my new Patreon account for my #TRIPIDATION22 cross-country road trip and future trips!

I’ll speak VERY BRIEFLY about my new Patreon page during my livestream tomorrow night. (Most of it will be about my trip, fun, trivia and PRIZES!) For those of you who won’t be able to attend my livestream, I’d appreciate your consideration…

My YouTube channel is completely fan funded and Patreon is a platform that streamlines the contribution process. I have three Patreon tiers; 🤪 Casual Tripper ($3 monthly), 🤪 Serious Tripper ($5 monthly), and 🤪 Premier Tripper ($10 monthly).

All tiers receive the same access regardless of contribution amount:

🤪 Participate in fun polls and contests!

🤪 Get access to Patron Only posts, pictures, outtakes, and bloopers!

🤪 Get access to periodic Patron Only live streams!

I'm thankful for all donations! ❤️ I’ll be contributing 20% to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). One of NAMI’s many goals is to remove the stigma associated with mental illness, which is also one of my goals. As you may know, I suffer from depression and anxiety, as well as fibromyalgia.

I named my upcoming trip #TRIPIDATION22 because I’ll attempt to overcome many of my phobias/fears while I’m on the road. And, I’ll be sharing my experiences with you via YouTube and Patreon. I’ll also visit and film roadside attractions, museums, theme parks, spooky locations, and natural wonders, to name a few.

If for whatever reason you don’t become a Patron, please know I still love you! ❤️🤪

https://www.patreon.com/trippintraci

[wausaupilot]

Good luck everyone! STEVENS POINT —Entering its 50th year, the world’s largest trivia contest will once again have teams “surfing” the web, “boogieing” around town and going “coconuts” for the right answer.

[plusorminuscongress]

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Another “Mystery Photo” Solved

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Another “Mystery Photo” Solved By Neely Tucker Published August 10, 2020 at 11:17AM

The identity of this flapper-era actress was a mystery.

Cary O’dell at the Library’s National Recording Registry runs our ever-popular Mystery Photo contest. He most recently wrote about the photo identification of actress Wendy Phillips, the “most mysterious woman in the world.“

If this were an old Sam Spade mystery, it would open with, “She haunted me.”

Photo #20 was one of those left in my pile of “unknowns.” Tough-guy gumshoes and Library photo detectives have at least one thing in common — we can’t let cold cases lie. This is one of those noir classics. Before I go on, can I get some black-and-white cinematography, misting rain, a trench coat and a streetlamp on a dark street? Highlighting a woman’s silhouette by a sleek Packard? Thank you.

The mystery photo of actress Wendy Phillips.

Now. As you know, we’ve been solving the unidentified pictures in a large donation of entertainment-industry stills that came to the Library a few years ago. Readers (that’s you guys) have helped us solve a lot of these, including our most recent identification of someone I had dubbed “the most mysterious woman in the world.” That actress, who alert reader James Owen identified as Wendy Phillips, was one of those that I couldn’t get out of my head.

Another was an unknown from the silent movie era. All I knew was that the photo was taken at New York’s legendary White Studios, an early creator of the showbiz “head shot.” The subject sported a look popular at the time. With her bee-stung lips and dark eyeliner, she looked like every flapper who ever flapped. (Why isn’t this script in development? It’s writing itself!)

A couple years into the case, I got a tip. Someone mentioned it might be a Ziegfeld chorus girl, name of Florence McFadden. So I kicked over a barstool and ran it down. Turned out to be a solid lead.

McFadden was indeed a Ziegfeld dancer and an actress. A Pennsylvania native, she went into show biz as a teen. She was half of a vaudeville act, “McFadden and Haley,” and got married at 19 to her stage partner. His name was Jack Haley.

Lucky for me, Haley is a legend. He played the Tin Man in the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz.” There’s lot of info out there on him, so I dug in. Internet searches. Cold-called his biographer. Another tipster — look, this is my line — directed me to a Facebook fan page. Trivia: It’s shared between Haley, the Tin Man, and Ray Bolger, the Scarecrow. (Bert Lahr, the Lion? Goes his own way. Judy Garland, Dorothy? Get outta here.)

Once on the fan page, I appealed to all: Anyone have photos of Florence, aka Mrs. Haley? In her youth? They did. Not only that, some of the fan page members were Haley’s grandchildren. They caught my drift. They talked.

Florence McFadden and Jack Haley, lifetime partners. Family photo.

Flo and Jack, who got hitched so young, stayed married all their lives. While he did films, radio and television, she ran a beauty parlor that catered to celebrities. One of their kids, Jack Haley Jr., grew up to be a big-shot producer of TV specials. He was married for a while to Liza Minelli, daughter of Judy Garland. So, in your Hollywood scoring, that’s “The Tin Man’s kid marries Dorothy’s kid.” Funny world, Tinseltown. Jack died in 1979; Flo, in 1996. They’re buried next to one another in Culver City.

Among the many things the Haley kids told me, after looking at my mystery picture? “That blue-eyed lady is our grandmother!”

So. Mystery solved. Case closed.

Fade to black. (I told you this thing was writing itself!)

Subscribe to the blog— it’s free! — and the largest library in world history will send cool stories straight to your inbox.

Read more on https://loc.gov

[lindarifenews]

How to Host a Successful Virtual Event: Tips and Best Practices

Virtual events still sound a little futuristic, but they’ve been happening since 1993 when the world’s first livestream brought us nail-biting webcam footage of a coffee maker in mid drip. The streaming pot brewed up millions of views.

In some ways little has changed in 2020. On TikTok, teenagers have gone viral with sleep feeds, raking in crypto coin as they catch some zzz’s. But tech and social media upgrades have opened the door to new ways to connect online, from virtual museum tours to live Q&As with astronauts in space.

Even some of the largest conferences have gone partially or completely digital. Moving events like this online can reduce costs and carbon footprints, and make attendance accessible to a wider audience. In 2018, Coachella’s YouTube livestream brought Beyoncé’s Homecoming to more than 41 million people in more than 232 countries, rather than just the hundreds of thousands in attendance in person.

From live-tweeting to livestreaming, businesses and organizations are staging virtual events across the web. So, is your company ready to get digital?

Whether you have an event already in mind or you’re looking for ideas, this article is your all-access pass.

What is a virtual event?

A virtual event is any organized meet-up that takes place online rather than in a physical location. These events can range from small question-and-answer sessions to large-scale conferences with thousands of attendees. Even a livestreamed feed of a solo cup pyramid can be a virtual event, apparently.

Here’s a rundown of the different kinds of online business events your company can host.

How-to’s, tutorials, and classes

Have a product or service that needs some explaining? A how-to or tutorial is a good way to provide tips, tricks, and instructions.

This type of event can be used to launch a new product, answer frequently-asked questions, or reveal different use cases. Kick things up a notch with a full-on class. For instance, yoga instructors or chefs can share exercise and cooking classes online.

Training and courses

For more complex topics, webinars, workshops, and courses might be a better fit. This format can offer deep dives around specific themes, skill sets, tools, and more. For example, some of Hootsuite’s webinars include Best Practices for Using Search and Social Advertising Together and How to Build an Audience Driven Social Marketing Plan.

Behind-the-scenes tours

Give your followers a peek behind-the-scenes. Places like museums, galleries, theatres, airports, and even national parks, can offer viewers glimpses at what it’s like to visit. Or what it’s like to work somewhere.

Your business doesn’t have to be an attraction to make it happen. Tour your lab, factory, office, workshop, tradeshow or test kitchen. Show your customers how the “sausage” gets made.

Interviews and performances

Tap your in-house experts to share their knowledge in a live question-and-answer session. Host a laidback Ask Me Anything (AMA) on social media. Or invite speakers or artists to give a talk or performance.

Everything from TED-style talks to stand-up comedy shows or intimate interviews is fair game. Interactive trivia games and contests can also keep things engaging.

Conferences and shows

Even large-scale events can have a virtual component. From Coachella to SXSW, live concerts and summits have been streamed online so that people who can’t attend in person can still get in on the action. But there are also many conferences that take place entirely online, with networking and meetings integrated, too.

How to host a virtual event (and tools that can help)

There are a variety of ways to host a virtual event. Here’s a round-up of the different formats along with some of the best virtual events platforms you can use.

Live tweeting

Start an online discussion by live tweeting an event, asking a question, or hosting an Ask Me Anything. Use a hashtag to help people find and follow the conversation.

Other online discussion tools include:

Discord: Free voice and text chat mostly used by gamers.

Reddit: A discussion forum popular for AMAs.

Slack: An instant-messaging platform good for organizing chats.

Social Stories

Stories are a great platform to share videos and visuals of tutorials, interviews, and more. Add filters, special effects, and stickers to take questions, conduct polls, host an influencer takeover, and more. On Instagram, you can add them to a highlight for future viewers.

The ephemeral approach to live events works with:

Instagram Stories

Facebook Stories

TikTok

Snapchat

Webinars

A typical webinar is an online presentation held in real-time. But they can be shared and viewed afterwards as well. Most of the time, a presenter will share their screen to go through slides or demos, while narrating. Participants can ask questions by voice or through a chat feed if the platform and presenter allows.

It’s like a one-off workshop or class that happens in real-time.

Webinar platform options include:

6connex: Available on any browser or device, with no download required. Features include flexible registration, social media integration, and real-time analytics.

Crowdcast: Can be joined through a single URL. Tools include built-in registration forms, analytics, replays, and more.

Demio: Allows for pre-recorded or live webinars—or a mix of both. Includes private chat, interactive polls, call-to-action buttons, and other features.

Livestorm: On-demand webinars from Livestorm include integrations with Google Analytics, Slack, and various engagement tools.

WebinarNinja: No need to download software for this platform, which offers paid and free events, 1,000+ app integrations, and even Facebook Pixel ad tracking.

Zoom: Can have one host, group chat—and even offers breakout rooms. Plans cover from 100 to 10,000 view-only attendees.

YouTube Livestream: A free and easy option for streaming live webinars.

Right now there’s an alcohol company trying to figure out how they can sponsor all these @zoom_us happy hours

— Matthew Kobach (but mostly staying home) (@mkobach) March 21, 2020

Social livestreams

Just about every social media platform has a live video feature. Livestreams are known for driving engagement. According to Facebook, live video averages six times more engagement than regular video.

Social livestream platforms include:

Instagram Live

Facebook Live

LinkedIn Live

TikTok

Twitter Live

YouTube Livestream

Most livestreams show comments and attendees in real time. And some, like Instagram, make it possible for you to go live with a friend—a good option for a Q&A or co-presentation.

Expect Facebook to roll out live selling features soon, too.

Conferences and networking

For more formal virtual events, there are platforms that offer suites of tools that include livestreaming, chatrooms, and more.

6connex: Exhibitors can create virtual booths, compete for leaderboard positions, livestream, and chat with this virtual trade show platform.

AirMeet

Brella: Speakers, multitrack agendas, sponsors, individual streams, and more are taken care of with this hub for virtual conferences.

HeySummit: Build a landing page, onboard speakers, register attendees, and more. Note that this solution helps package virtual events, but you’ll need to integrate with tools for livestreaming.

Hop In: This all-in-one live events platform covers everything from networking events, meetings, trade shows, webinars, live broadcasts, and more.

Run the World: Everything from cocktail parties to fireside chats are an option with this remote conference platform. Built-in templates are available for different use-cases to minimize event-planning hassles.

Vfairs: A virtual expo platform with everything from booths to webinar and conversations starter tools.

Tips for hosting virtual events

All events come with logistical challenges. Here’s how to avoid hiccups during your virtual event.

1. Create a game plan

Whether big or small, offline or online, every event should have a strategy. Start with a key goal and concept, then take it from there. The earlier you can get planning, the better.

Before hosting a virtual event, answer the following questions:

What kind of experience do you hope to deliver?

Will the event be live, on-demand, or both?

Where do I want the content to be seen?

Will access be gated or free?

When is the best time for the event?

Will you require event registration?

How will you promote the event?

Do you plan to work with an advertiser or other partner?

Will people still have access to the event once it’s over?

What KPIs and data do you plan to track?

2. Choose the right time

Picking the right date and time for your event is important, regardless of size or platform. Before sending out “save the dates” to your network, do a little research. Make sure there are no competing events or holidays that would interfere with attendance.

Take time zones into consideration, too. If you plan to go global, try your best to pick a time that works for as many of your customers and followers as possible. If that doesn’t seem possible, make sure content is accessible after live presentations for those who couldn’t make it. It may also be worthwhile to plan multiple networking sessions and different virtual events for different time zones.

Check analytics to see when your community is typically online. And for a firmer consensus, consider sending out or posting a poll for preferred dates. Emily Schuman, founder of Cupcakes and Cashmere, used an Instagram Story sticker to set the time for an Instagram live session.

By the way, these are the best times to post on social media.

3. Promote the event

“Build it and they will come” may be a fallacy, but “promote it and they will come,” isn’t. Especially when you offer a good incentive.

Determine the key selling points your event has to offer attendees. It could be a noteworthy speaker, skill sharing, an opportunity to network, and more.

Whatever you choose, make sure the value proposition is clear in your marketing.

Share the event details by email and on social media. If you plan to run ads, target them strategically and choose the right format. For example, LinkedIn’s InMail ads may be a better way to extend invitations than impersonal sponsored posts.

According to Adobe, registrations tend to spike two-to-three weeks before an event. So it’s a good idea to ramp up around this time.

View this post on Instagram

Are you joining us as we define the future of creative leadership? Get your tickets today ☝????☝????☝️#3PercentConference

A post shared by The 3% Movement (@3percentconf) on Nov 4, 2019 at 11:00am PST

Take advantage of the social media tools available. Create an event countdown in Instagram Stories. Create a Facebook event with all the necessary information. Consider listing your event on sites like Eventbrite and in other places your audience will come across them.

Speakers often double as influencers—so provide them with the details they need to become event ambassadors. Always include who, what, where, and how. That means no virtual event marketing should be without a link. Whether it’s a link to registration form or your Instagram profile, show people where they need to go.

Don’t forget to share an event hashtag. This will help people promote the event and drive conversations online.

Check out our complete guide to social media event promotion.

4. Prepare for tech troubles

If physical events have hitches, virtual events have glitches.

Before kicking things off, test your Internet connection—and have your speakers do the same. Prepare backups of visuals and presentations in case a file goes wonky or awol. If possible, run a rehearsal. The sooner you identify problems, the sooner you can identify solutions.

Remember that not all of your guests are tech savvy. Anticipate the troubles people may have by preparing easy to follow guides or FAQs. If you have the resources to provide support, even better. Make sure it’s easy to find where and how to ask for help.

5. Make it inclusive

Just like in-person events, virtual events should be as inclusive and accessible as possible.

Make sure clear language, large fonts, and high colour contrast is used at all touch points—including presentations. Provide captions and visuals where possible for audio, and provide descriptions where possible for visuals. Sites like Vfairs also include page narrations and allow text character sizes to be adjusted.

And this probably goes without saying by now, but if your event includes a panel of experts, try to avoid choosing exclusively cis white males. Unless you want your event to trend for the wrong reasons, make sure your virtual event showcases a diverse range of voices.

Learn more about inclusive design for social media.

6. Encourage engagement

It’s simple: If you create opportunities for engagement, your audience will be more engaged. Why? It’s fun to see the outcomes of your engagement.

Here’s a simple example: Ask viewers to submit questions in comments or through a chat tool. Chances are the people who ask questions are going to stick around to see if they get answered. Pro tip: If you do this, make sure to have a moderator assigned to the task of fielding questions.

Virtually every online platform has interactive features. Ask people to participate in polls or quizzes. Encourage live tweeting. Take requests and suggestions. Or simply shoutout names as people tune in. And at the end of the event, ask for feedback.

Examples of virtual events hosted by businesses

Here are some examples of virtual events that businesses and influencers have hosted across social media and beyond.

Bill Gates’ Reddit Ask Me Anything

The Microsoft founder’s seventh AMA event on Reddit got more than 110,000 upvotes.

This is Us behind-the-scenes set tour

Stars Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia use Facebook Live to take fans on a tour of the set of This is Us.

A behind-the-scenes tour of This Is Us brought to you by myself and Milo Ventimiglia! ????????????????????????????????????

Posted by Mandy Moore on Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Benefit Cosmetics’ makeup tutorials on Facebook Live

More than 2.4K viewers tuned in to learn how to create a brow-mazing glow-up.

This Halloween, we’re serving up some major brow INSPO! ???????? We’re here with the BOO-tiful @SabrinaXMakeup today, and she’s going to show us how to create a brow-mazing glow-up.

Posted by Benefit Cosmetics on Thursday, October 25, 2018

The Earful Tower Podcast’s live Pub Quiz

Oliver Gee, host of The Earful Tower podcast, hosts Parisian-themed trivia events from his YouTube channel—and even offers prizes for the winners.

View this post on Instagram

Hey there! Think you know Paris? Join my live Pub Quiz tonight. 8pm Paris time on YouTube channel. I’ll be asking YOU questions about the City of Light. Prizes for winners, shame on the cheaters. But most of all, a fun way to spend an hour in lockdown. The questions will be in sections and will get progressively harder :) Get a pen and paper, a few friends perhaps, and see if you can beat them! 8pm sharp, link in bio and right here: https://youtu.be/w_SkRvUMIXY Stay positive in the lockdown – let’s have some fun.

A post shared by The Earful Tower (@theearfultower) on Mar 22, 2020 at 8:54am PDT

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s Facebook Live concert

The country superstars held a jam session on Facebook Live, taking requests from fans head of time and during the broadcast.

Monday night at 7pm ET the Queen and I are playing your requests during #StudioG! Post your song requests below and…

Posted by Garth Brooks on Friday, March 20, 2020

The Sunday Service Comedy Show live on YouTube

Vancouver comedy troupe, The Sunday Service, brings viewers the The Sunday Cyber Digital Service on YouTube live from their apartments.

Antron Brown’s behind-the-scenes tour on Twitter

The NHRA driver showed Twitter viewers around his shop, which houses dragsters and trophies, among other gearhead treasures.

.@AntronBrown is giving you a tour of his shop! Get a behind the scenes look at the @NHRAJrLeague dragsters that he and his kids build, work on and drive. pic.twitter.com/n7538rPwqU

— #NHRA (@NHRA) March 23, 2020

Live baking lessons from LinkedIn’s executive pastry chef

LinkedIn’s pastry chef shows members how to make croissants and bread pudding.

Purple Mattress’ sleepy Facebook Live

More than 295K people watched this 45-minute video of a woman yawning and brushing her wig.

Dear Sleepless, we're here to help. We present A Woman Who Can't Stop Yawning and Brushing Her Hair. Happy slumber.

Posted by Purple on Monday, May 1, 2017

Lunch Doodles by Mo Willems

Every day at lunchtime the Kennedy Center Education artist-in-residence hosts doodle sessions for kids on YouTube.

Lululemon’s Yoga livestreams

The yoga brand’s global ambassadors are leading workout, meditation, and yoga classes on Instagram live.

View this post on Instagram

Those sweat-dripping, feel-good endorphins don’t have to stop just because we’re distancing ourselves. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be delivering daily content from our community and ambassadors to help you live #thesweatlife wherever you are. Head to our Stories to get today’s roundup of at-home practices and choose what works for you. Be kind, get sweaty and let us know what you’d like to see from us. Tomorrow’s IG Live yoga class starts at 6pm PST. Grab your mat and join global ambassador @allymaz for a 20 minute restorative practice.

A post shared by lululemon (@lululemon) on Mar 16, 2020 at 5:16pm PDT

Online exhibitions by VanGogh Museum

The VanGogh Museum in Amsterdam lets followers take tours of gallery from the comfort of their couch.

Our tour continues! Today we dive into the bright and vivid paintings that Vincent made in Paris: https://t.co/Yz3FpjxphC Which is your favourite artwork from this part of the museum? #museumathome pic.twitter.com/k8b79qraCX

— Van Gogh Museum (@vangoghmuseum) March 24, 2020

British Museum opens its doors to Google Street View

More than 60 galleries of the British Museum can be visited from Google Street View.

???? Did you know the Museum is the largest indoor space on Google Street View?

Peruse more than 60 galleries at your leisure as we #MuseumFromHome – drop in to the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery here: https://t.co/y2JDZvWOlM pic.twitter.com/0FyV4m6ZuP

— British Museum (@britishmuseum) March 23, 2020

Fire Drill Fridays goes virtual

Jane Fonda’s organization takes climate activism online with virtual rallies every Friday.

Join @JaneFonda, @greenpeaceusa and @SenMarkey this Friday at 2pm ET / 11am PT for a #FireDrillFriday ???? teach-in on the importance of staying engaged in the age of #COVID19.

To join, register here and please spread the word: https://t.co/7eE9aZV57I pic.twitter.com/W7JdPLco7T

— Fire Drill Fridays (@FireDrillFriday) March 24, 2020

Girlboss Rally goes digital

Girlboss founder Sophia Amoruso plans to host her brand’s annual conference entirely online this year.

View this post on Instagram

In a time when connection and collaboration are needed most, we’ve decided to change things up. Across the world, the news of COVID-19 has prompted us to reconsider the ways in which we gather. In light of this, @girlboss has decided to make a shift—albeit an exciting one. The Girlboss Rally is going GLOBAL. This spring, we’re hosting our first-ever, live-streamed women’s conference—and it’s going to be absolutely FREE. All current attendees will be refunded (check your inbox for more details!), and we’re opening the gates for millions more women from across the globe to tune into the same intimate conversations and engaging workshops led by the women we admire most, from the safety of your local community or homes. The exact date will be announced soon. Programming will include timely topics such as virtual networking, digital collaboration, entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, financial literacy, fundraising, wellness, and more, but instead of only accessing conversations from one Journey, you’ll get access to them *all*. We’ll also still provide ways for you to network virtually—because we know meaningful connections are essential to the magic of the Girlboss Rally. Here's the truth: At our core, Girlboss is an identity. It’s a community. It’s a feeling. We’ve built it—together—over the course of the last 6 years, emerging as a hashtag (19 million #Girlboss tags, to be exact) and becoming an entire movement. A force to be reckoned with. There’s nothing that could stop us from uniting the most ambitious generation of women in the world—so we hope you’ll continue to be a part of our brilliant community at this spring’s first #GlobalGirlbossRally. Tag a #Girlboss who will be watching with you!

A post shared by Girlboss Rally (@girlbossrally) on Mar 11, 2020 at 2:08pm PDT

Skift’s Business Travel Online Summit

Skift will use Zoom to host this online summit featuring multiple speakers and attendees. Guests have the opportunity to ask questions and will have access to a recording of the event.

Announcing a New Skift Online Summit for Business Travel << starting a new series of online summits on travel's path forward. https://t.co/mKTcX3jCpB via @Skift

— Rafat Ali, Media Owner & Operator (@rafat) March 23, 2020

3% Conference livestreamed presentations

This organization—founded to remedy the fact that only 3% of creative directors were women—offers livestreaming of its conferences for reduced costs. The group also regularly hosts Instagram Story takeovers to inspire followers.

View this post on Instagram

We met at Ivellisse (@Ivell1sse) at @The.Wing in SF a few weeks ago. ⁣ We thought her story and insights NEEDED to be heard, so she’s taking over our IG tomorrow!⁣ ⁣ More about Ivellisse ????⁣ ⁣ Ivellisse Morales is the founder & CEO of bombilla, a creative marketing agency for social change based in San Francisco, California. After a career building her chops at major agencies Ogilvy, IDEO, and Cone Communications, she decided to reimagine the agency model on her own values-driven terms. Since February 2018, she’s been leading a national and nimble network of diverse storytellers and designers who work with changemakers of all sizes.

A post shared by The 3% Movement (@3percentconf) on Jun 19, 2019 at 4:22pm PDT

Hootsuite can help you promote your virtual events on social media and connect with attendees. Schedule all of your social media posts, engage with followers, and measure performance from one dashboard. Try it for free.

Get Started

The post How to Host a Successful Virtual Event: Tips and Best Practices appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.

How to Host a Successful Virtual Event: Tips and Best Practices published first on https://likesfollowersclub.tumblr.com/

[minrcrafter]

ImagineCraft [Semi-Vanilla][SMP]{Whitelist}{1.12.2}{17+}{Community}{Dynmap}{Anti-Grief}{Multi-World}

Description

ImagineCraft is a whitelisted MineCraft server established May 25th, 2015. Most of our player base is within the USA and Canada; however, we do have numerous Europeans (~30% of the player population) (Brits, Dutchies, Irish, Finns, and Swedes) along with a few Aussies. We typically have around 5-10 players online during peak times and even more during special events. We would love to have you join us in our very community-minded MC world.

Perks

Your base is protected from griefing.

Newer Map! ImagineCraft is now on what we refer to as "Season 2" after a map reset on Dec 14, 2016 after just over 1.5 years of play! So if you're looking to not be far behind on player economy and still want to contribute in a positive manner, there is room to do so! We performed a map reset for technical reasons as our old map was 45Kx45K and disk space became an issue as well as needing to increase the borders due to game updates introducing new chunk generation behaviors. The community voted for and ultimately approved the map reset. Going forward we are making efforts to future-proof the map from resetting by utilizing a smaller border that expands as chunk generation behaviors change with game updates.

Go Exploring! The world is adequately sized with a reasonable border that allows for plenty of room for exploration and contains a vast variety of unique biomes! Feel free to claim an area or two to call your own or take the time to get out there and explore for whatever it is you're looking for, whether it's a specific biome or just a really cool landscape with an awesome view of the setting sun. If you find something cool, let us know!

Quick Travel - In Season 1, we utilized a warp system that relied on players having a set point to warp to as well as warp from...which was a big boon on a 45Kx45K map; however, with our Season 2 update and utilizing a smaller map, the community has installed an outstanding nether hub transportation system that allows for very fast travel using ice and boats, or jumping, or even minecarts to get where you need to go. You can quickly get from one end of the map to another in mere minutes.

MultiWorld - In addition to having an awesome survival world, we also have a creative world (inventory does not transfer) for testing purposes (palette schemes, redstone, etc).

TeamSpeak for voice chat so that you don't have to worry about typing "Creeper" when one is barreling right for your friend and flashing. ssSsSSsSsS BOOOOOM!!!

Server Admin/Owner and Mods that play the game just like you do. One of the largest complaints I've seen about other servers is immature staff. You won't find that here and we all know the line between staff duties and being a player so our powers are not abused. Myself, the owner, is 34. My Admin team is composed of players aged 23, 25, and 35. While age may just be a number, these individuals are very mature and conduct themselves in a professional manner while representing Staff functions.

There is always a contest, game, or special event that is occurring. We have held build contests, theater events, treasure hunting contests, trivia, and other assorted events. View our video of the Ghast Gauntlet Race or check out our YouTube channel for the most recent videos.

Community Wiki. Ever join a server and not know what has been done or where to go? Don't worry about that here with ImagineCraft. The entire community maintains a wiki that will help you get started, point of locations of interest, plugin commands, farm locations, pvp arenas and how to access them, etc. Plus you also get a tour when you join to show you the important things so you'll know what's what.

Be Yourself!. Nothing says be yourself than hanging out on TeamSpeak voice chatting with everyone and chilling inside dubtrack (plays songs for everyone simultaneously). Some of our most fun moments on the server have involved karaoke moments. Check out ImagineCraft sings Aqua's Barbie Girl and a new hit (I didn't even know I was being recorded by one of my players), me singing Ekzim sings Call Me Maybe. On a side note, it's a good thing I'm better with computers than I am at singing, hah.

Rules

As of Nov. 7th, 2015 we only accept players that are 17 years of age and older..

No malicious activity which includes griefing, hacking, or theft. We average one ban a month since May 2015. With theft being the leading crime, followed by x-rayers.

Player mods that defeat the challenge of playing on a semi-vanilla server are not allowed. An example would be running an x-ray mod or modified resource pack for direct access to ores.

Players are encouraged to lend a helping hand and to do things together like exploring, building, working on large-scale projects, etc. We get that sometimes it's cool to be solitary, but we're trying to avoid the lone ranger types that just go off and you never see them again. Why bother playing Multiplayer?

Be mature (as in, the opposite of immature, not meaning mature as in Rated-R mature) and remember the golden rule, do unto others and you'd have them do unto you. We are all about a positive experience on ImagineCraft and any negative behavior (aside from tasteful pranks) will result in you being banned.

Chat is to be kept family-friendly. TeamSpeak has a 17+ channel so you can be "adult" in there if you'd like, but our in-game chat is kept clean as we have a few under 17 that were here before the rule was passed to admit only 17+. Don't worry, they're exceptional and completely awesome.

Server Plugins

I do my best to preserve the vanilla feel as much as possible while allowing for certain plugins to be utilized to help enhance your experience. Here are some of the extras:

Dynmap - It's like Google Maps but for a Minecraft server. We even use it for some of our neat treasure hunts, such as Geocaching. Video here if you're curious about how we do geocaching on ImagineCraft.

PvP Plugins(2): We do have quite a few players who like to mix up the PvE experience with some PvP. Globally, PvP is disabled so unless you go to these areas, you won't have to worry about PvP. We have various arenas setup for Free for All as well as Capture the Flag. If you enjoy PvP and want to build arenas, I'll work with you to make it happen. The great thing about these plugins is that you can PvP without having to worry about losing your gear as your inventory is saved prior to playing and replenished after the match has ended. Kits are provided.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - Ever wish you could still keep in touch with those in game when you're out and about? No problem. We have an IRC bridge in place that will allow you to keep in touch with those in game on various devices and platforms. You can even just use a web browser instead of an actual IRC application. If you don't know anything about IRC, don't worry, our Wiki will walk you through everything you need to know to get started.

Server Specifications (Great Performance!)

Located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Intel Xeon Processor E3-1220 3.10GHz

Ram 32 GiB

Disk 240 GB SSD

Bandwidth 1 Gb Port

33TB Bandwidth transfer/month

Additional Information

Community Outreach Blog started April 14, 2017. The purpose of the blog is to give you additional insight into what is happening on ImagineCraft and to learn about our players.

Ongoing Reviews - All I did was ask for honest reviews from my players. You can read through the feedback there if you are curious about the server from a player perspective and why they enjoy the server as well as what would they change if they were the owner/admin.

We conduct surveys periodically to continuously drive for improvement on ImagineCraft. The latest survey, March 2016 had 42 total responses. These surveys cover everything from play experience, community feel, evaluating staff, and even staff feedback related to their job functions. If you really want to know what we're about, if you go through this, you'll know exactly what you're getting into. I'm a huge data nerd and this captures ImagineCraft completely. ImagineCraft is seriously dedicated to improving and ensuring a positive play experiences for everyone. Past Survey: Dec/Jan 2016

Interested in Joining ImagineCraft?

Come by www.imaginecraft.org and put in an application. Once approved, your access on the forums will be upgraded and you'll see the server information for Minecraft as well as TeamSpeak for voice chat. If you don't receive an activation email upon registering, check your spam folder. You will be presented with one anti-spam challenge question during registration that is minecraft related. I have listed the possible questions along with their answers below.

  Q. What grade of pickaxe must you use to mine obsidian?

A. Diamond

Q. What are the first 3 letters of our minecraft server name combined with the last 3 letters?

A. Imaaft

Q. A creeper hit by lightning becomes a _____ creeper.

A. charged

Q. Don't pick on these guys in the Nether or they'll gang up on you (2 words, plural)

A. Zombie Pigmen

Q. Zombies can sometimes drop what awesome food item?

A. Carrot

Thank you

Thank you for reading over this posting and we hope that you are interested to come check us out and join a community of like-minded gamers with talent! We are excited to be able to provide a great environment for you to play without worry of your creations and we'd like to see you develop and cultivate your skills. Whether you are a newbie or an experienced Minecraft player, we'd love to have you be involved with our community.

Thanks again!

[poop4u]

9 Best Dog-Friendly Spots in Orlando

#Poop4U

Every year, millions of people head to the theme park capital of the world for their family vacations. Between Universal Studios, Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, and other main attractions in the Orlando area, there’s plenty for most of the family to do.

But what about your 4-legged family members? Thankfully, Orlando is also very dog-friendly.

Whether you’re looking to eat, drink, shop, or sight-see your way around the City Beautiful, there are plenty of great opportunities for you and your dog to enjoy your time in Orlando.

9 Best Dog-Friendly Spots in Orlando

Best Breakfast: Se7en Bites

Known for their amazing baked goods and appearing on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”, Se7en Bites offers a variety of Southern classics with a modern twist. Dogs are welcome on the patio, and the staff is sure to make you both feel at home with water bowls and pets provided.

Best Lunch: Graffiti Junktion

With multiple locations around the Orlando area, Graffiti Junktion welcomes friends, families, and pets alike on their (typically) covered patios. Food options include killer burgers, award-winning nachos, and my personal favorite, zucchini fries.

Bonus: If you’re looking for somewhere to watch the game with your pup, Graffiti has high def TVs outside with all the sports packages.

Best Dinner: Rock & Brews

Rock & Brews brings the flavors of the west coast to Florida, along with one of the largest selections of local and international brews. Their large dog-friendly patio includes luxurious couches, fire pits, and live music on the weekends, so your entire family can relax together.

They even have a dog-specific menu, so no one is left out for dinner!

Best Happy Hour: The Hammered Lamb

Located next to Lake Ivanhoe, The Hammered Lamb is a great happy hour spot for you and your pooch. Offering daily events such as live music, trivia, and ping pong contests, there’s something for everyone at this local stop.

They have a large covered patio perfect for you and your dog to unwind after a busy day.

Pro Tip: Want to get in a little exercise after HL? Lake Ivanhoe has a scenic walking trail with workout stations along the way!

Best All-Around: Boxi Park

Just outside the downtown Orlando area in sunny Lake Nona is one of the latest great additions to the Orlando entertainment scene: Boxi Park.

Complete with several outdoor bars, numerous food stops, beach volleyball courts, lawn games, and a dog park, there’s fun for the entire family.

They often have live music and kids activities throughout the week, so be sure to check out their events page if you’re planning a trip.

Best Place for Dog Swag: Woof!

No trip to Orlando would be complete without a stop at Woof! Orlando in College Park. Just 10 minutes from downtown, Woof! Orlando’s Happy Tails boutique “carries a selection of healthy treats, food, locally made collars, artwork, and unique housewares.”

Bonus: Be sure to check out the latest products now sold at Woof! and online at MonroPets.com.

Best Treats (for Dogs!): Woof Gang Bakery

Looking to reward your pooch with some of the best treats around? Head over to one of the many Woof Gang Bakery locations throughout central Florida. Fill a doggy bag with a variety of savory treats for your pets with flavors ranging from apple cinnamon to peanut butter.

Best Place to Stay: Aloft – Downtown Orlando

Located downtown, Aloft provides a hip place to stay with your dog that’s within walking distance of major sporting arenas, business centers, and theaters.

Proudly pet-friendly, don’t be surprised if you see dogs lounging with their owners at the wxyz (SM) bar or in the re:mix(SM) lounge.

Best Spot for a Walk: Lake Eola Park

In the heart of downtown is Lake Eola Park, known for its breathtaking fountain and gorgeous swans. With wide sidewalks and several dog-friendly stops including Relax Grill, people and pets alike can enjoy the sunny weather in Orlando.

If you’re planning a trip to Orlando, don’t hesitate to bring your dog along. This list is just the beginning when it comes to pet-friendly fun in and around the City Beautiful. There’s sure to be something great for everyone — even those with paws.

Share Your Experience With Me

Have you and your dog visited dog-friendly Orlando? I’d love to hear about your experiences, as well as your recommendations on great spots to visit. Leave a comment below or stop by my private Facebook group for dog moms and join in the conversation there!

And P.S., if you’ll be driving to Orlando, be sure to check out this article for tips on taking a road trip with your dog!

The post 9 Best Dog-Friendly Spots in Orlando appeared first on The Everyday Dog Mom.

Poop4U Blog via www.Poop4U.com Christina, Khareem Sudlow