#own aert

[aro-base]

Speed sketches of vindictus characters because what else would you expect from me

#vindictus #mabinogi heroes #tieve #ceara #kirstie #kean #own aert #own art

[wouteke]

#mathieu van der poel #wout van aert #So much. To say about this i cant even caption it because im going crazy #First of all matje little shoulders walking in. awesome. touching his own ass as an idle animation. my favorite. wout ALSO doing this #right after he does? ok. also them walking up the stairs... why do i go so crazy over walking #the MAIN attraction of this video of course being matje growling. HELLOOO BABYBYYY???? #All of his little faces i could actually die... What are you doing. also is it just me or did wout look kind of miserable today #even mathieu didnt look so excited but thats more normal #ALSO MATJE STUPID SITTING DOWN. AND THE BODY. AND ONCE AGAIN CANI JUST POINT OUT THE FACES #anyway how do i get one of those duck.s

[flourbray]

while fixing my flat tire this morning i pondered the question if and who of the cyclists know how to do it. like not only change a whole wheel, but get the tube out, find the hole, put the little sticker on it, get it back in (be so fucking frustrated bc now the brakes are making weird things and when they come back 20mins later the fucking tire is fucking flat again)? what do you think? which of them would feel me?

this is a SUPERB question and one that merits much consideration 🤔

i'm assuming/hoping they all at one point or other, did in fact know how to maintain their own bikes (hmmm. most of them at least.)

however, after many years of being handed a shiny new sponsor bike every January and spending almost all of their time riding a handful of minutes away from a team car/mechanic/NSV for spare bikes/wheels, it's entirely possible they've forgotten. having a crack team of mechanics servicing your bike's every need will undoubtedly lead to forgetting stuff

okay seriousness over let's get silly!

long gone are the days of pros carrying spare tubes over their shoulders (which is a shame because it's hot), but who, given the opportunity, would be capable of fixing a puncture?

direct evidence:

Wout van Aert ✔️

growing up as a teenager in cross without an eminent father and the connections that brings, bikepacker in the off season, wout can 100% fix it himself and wash the bike at the end of the ride

at the opposite end of of the spectrum, G ✖️

after eighteen years as a pro i'm not sure whether g remembers how to change rim brake pads let alone discs. the team give him a fresh pinarello and he rides it. simple. when it breaks a mechanic gives him another one. though once he retires the knowledge will come back to him

distantly justified gut feelings/completely unjustified Visions:

tadej ✔️ he can change tubes but always forgets the left pedal screws the opposite way

remco ✖️ owns at least one unnecessarily fancy multitool that he has never used. aero nerd but basic maintenance eludes him

mathieu ✔️ but it will take a fair while because he has not done it in soooo long and he doesn't remember to check the tyre for embedded sharps (this could be causing your repeated flat or the tube may be caught between tyre bead and rim)

jasper ✖️ forgets shoes and socks on training camp. has never bought his own inner tubes; begs one from someone else on the group ride and then struggles with a tyre lever for 20 minutes before someone takes pity

jonas ✔️ part time carpenter adept at handiwork, has been given the same unnecessarily fancy multitool as remco (BY remco? at the vuelta?) but it's unused in favour of an infinitely more practical one.

tom (pidcock) ✔️

joshy t ✖️ the lad vaguely knows what an innertube is and that you can pop them by putting the pressure too high but has never had to handle one himself

mads ✔️✔️ father (dads pedersen, if you will) runs a bike shop. not only can mads change a tube in under four minutes but he will show others how to look after their bikes and get irritated at poor maintence

matej ✔️✔️✔️ in another timeline it's moho instead of frank herzegh who invents tubeless tyres

#omg so much fun #asks

[seiffer55]

My own lil rendition of moonlit landscape with bridge by Aert van der Neer

#art #beginner artist #watercolor #landscape #dark watercolor

[hashirun]

Grabe I lost count just how many times I cried while watching Tour de France Unchained on Netflix. The docuseries covers the 2022 edition of the Tour de France, the most prestigious and arguably the most difficult road cycling race in the world. It consists of 21 stages through three weeks of racing across France in all manner of terrain - from flat to hilly to mountain terrains.

As a spectator I've always found myself drawn to preternaturally gifted athletes - the biggest example would be my decade long obsession with Roger Federer - so it was only natural that for the past two years I've only had my eyes trained on Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian wunderkind who burst into the scene in 2020 by winning the Tour de France on his first try. He successfully defended his title in 2021, and seemed all but certain to retain it as well in 2022, but the cycling gods apparently had other plans.

So through the entire course of last year's Tour de France my focus was on Tadej, how he lost the yellow jersey (worn by the general classification leader) to Jonas Vingegaard in stage 11 at the Col du Granon, and how he fought (but ultimately failed) to reclaim it in the succeeding stages.

Anyways so much for the long intro, I guess what I was trying to say is that Tour de France Unchained allowed me to witness other narratives at play during last year's Tour. It wasn't just about Tadej Pogacar, or the eventual winner Jonas Vingegaard and his superteam Jumbo Visma. Of course at the end of the grueling three week race it's still about who wins the general classification contest (finishing all 21 stages with the lowest combined time), but the docuseries allows its viewers to take an intimate look at the other teams and their riders. While the most important prize is the general classification, riders get to compete for individual glory everyday for 21 days through a stage win - who crosses the finish line first for the day's stage.

Aside from Tadej, my second favorite cyclist in last year's Tour was Wout van Aert, Jonas Vingegaard's teammate who won the points classification contest as well as the combativity award. He is, by his own right, a superstar - he's won a lot of races and is very electrifying to watch. So it came as no surprise to me when episode 2 put forward an intriguing narrative - Wout van Aert, wearing the yellow jersey on the strength of his brilliant performances for the first 3 stages, sprinting to stage 4 victory instead of waiting for and assisting his teammates Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard.

So what's wrong about going for the stage win? Well the thing is, there is a hierarchy in cycling teams, with the leader firmly on top, while the rest of the team are domestiques or secondary riders. The leader is the one who rides for general classification, while the domestiques' primary role is to support the leader. In Jumbo Visma's case, they appointed two leaders: Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard, while Wout van Aert was relegated the role of a domestique. Since the biggest objective of any team is to win the general classification, when the leader (who is gunning for general classification) is in a pickle then the domestique is expected to be there to bail him out.

As a star himself Wout always rides with pride. So it must've been somewhat difficult for him to strike a balance between riding for personal glory and riding for the team.

I also enjoyed the changing of guards narrative- at its center are INEOS Grenadier's Geraint Thomas, winner of the 2018 Tour de France and his battle for a 2022 podium finish, along with his young teammate Tom Pidcock and his exhilarating downhill attack to secure the stage 12 win.

But perhaps my favorite narrative in the docuseries will always be that of Jasper "Disaster" Philipsen, whose nickname was given to him by his teammates because of his bad luck in races. At the stage 4 finish line, Jasper wildly celebrated what he thought was a stage victory only to find out that it was Wout van Aert who crossed the line moments earlier in a solo breakaway that Jasper didn't notice. It was the kind of stuff memes are made of. Jasper redeems himself by winning stage 15 by outsprinting Wout himself - what a fitting comeback.

While these are my favorite narratives, I thoroughly enjoyed Tour de France Unchained as a whole. It reminded me that as one of the biggest cycling races in the world anything can happen at the Tour, and that the event will always be bigger than just a single person. Allez!

#Tour de France #Tour de France Unchained #Netflix #biking #cycling

[kingfisherprince]

So cycling? Give me the propaganda pls

okay, so! first of all, cycling has its very own netflix show, it's called tour de france: unchained, and it does a much better job of propaganda than anything i can do. i will simply say, watch it. it's definitely worth your time, really fun, 8 episodes.

before i talk *too* much and bore the life out of everyone, i will say some words for the sport itself: it's actually super tactical. there's a lot of team elements and stuff going on that turns out to be a lot more interesting than just Dudes Pedalling. (but there's a lot of that, and it's also pretty cool)

but if you want to know more, i've got more haha

you wanna know the greatest fandom saying about cycling?

and it really really is.

(this is just the handholding btw. there is also lots of crying. i just feel weird finding photos of it. but i mean if y'all want it)

okay! um. what else? well there's loads of neat rivalries and narratives to latch onto. we've got our Classic Fated Rivalry (think fedal or maybe sincaraz since they're younger) of jonas vingegaard and tadej pogacar.

they've fought for the past 4 tours de france, and as a bonus, the first and most iconic handhold is theirs as well!

jonas (left) is the quieter one while tadej is like. a walking meme. they also hug a lot

alright moving on to ... wout van aert and mathieu van der poel. these guys have known each other and competed against each other since they were like. 12 or something. the whole All-Time Enemies thing.

^ clearly an excuse to hold hands, because even as each other's Worst Enemy they still have that base instinct of cyclists

um, okay. i don't think i've said nearly everything there is to say, or even like 0.0005% of what there is to say. watch the show! it's not perfect but it does help beginning fans. or just ... keep asking me about it lmao i haven't even touched on my faves yet or recent events or anything

#can you tell im obsessed because yeah #cycling #the right questions #random fisher thoughts

[theanticool]

Peter Aerts is starting his own kickboxing promotion in Japan called Legend. It will have its first even in March.

#K-1 #Peter Aerts #Legend #news

[celuloideycarbono]

4. Le-Puy-de-Dôme

The volcano was the battleground for Anquetil and Poulidor, Jiménez and Bahamontes, and many more memorable moments. It witnessed Coppi's pioneering climb, Matignon's daring escape, Ocaña at the height of his power, the infamous punch to Merckx, Simon's shoulder blade incident, and the revival of Spanish cycling with Arroyo and Delgado.

In reality, the ascent was only 4.4 kilometers long, but what a climb it was! The Puy-de-Dôme stands apart with its distinctive volcanic cone profile, easily recognizable from a distance. This uniqueness has contributed to the creation of its legendary status, which was further amplified by its long absence from the Tour de France.

After a tremendous effort, Pogačar has reduced Vingegaard's overall lead by 8 seconds, bringing the gap to 17 seconds. It's a favorable position for Pogačar, who isn't yet aiming for the yellow jersey. His best strategy is to continue riding almost independently, taking advantage of Jumbo's pace. He can't rely on his team, which has shown weaknesses, nor on his management, which has been more about propaganda than effectiveness.

Meanwhile, Vingegaard hasn't suffered significant losses. Although he has experienced two consecutive days of setbacks, his determination remains intact. He still has challenging mountain stages ahead and a solid team supporting him. Most importantly, he can count on the exceptional abilities of Sepp Kuss and Wout van Aert, riders who can rival multiple teams on their own.

#tadej pogacar #jonas vingegaard #tour de france

[theuniversitychallengereview]

I wrote a blog called No Spoiler last year, about how easy it had been for me to avoid spoilers for the previous day's episode of The Challenge, and how that was an oddity in our information-dense, social-media flooded lives. Well, on Tuesday I innocently logged onto Twitter, having missed this week's episode due to my Book Club, and had the result spoiled for me. It was my own fault - as I said in the other post, when you log on to a Twitter account which is specifically for University Challenge then that is the kind of fire you are playing with. 

For the past few weeks, I've been watching the Netflix Tour de France documentary with my girlfriend. With no prior interest in the sport of cycling she really got into it (and really loved Wout van Aert, which did make me a bit jealous, but who doesn't?). Despite the fact that it was about last year's Tour, the result of which has been known for nearly a full twelve months, and despite the fact that we watched several stages of this year's race together, she made it to the final episode with no knowledge (besides her correct inclination that there was no way redacted would be coming back from such a large deficit going into the final few days) of the overall victor. 

What's the moral of this story? Nothing particularly profound, just that its interesting how siloed our consumption of things is. If I had to estimate, I'd say that I read/heard the fact that cyclist A beat cyclist B in the 2022 Tour de France more than a hundred times in the past month, but if you're not looking out for something, or if your personal Internet isn't pre-programmed to show you it then this sort of thing is far easier to avoid. 

It would be pretty funny, I think, if I did go ahead and not review this week's episode, but I've already spent a while looking up cool stats and I don't want to waste them, so with that in mind; here's your first Starter for Ten.

You can watch the episode here before reading my review...

Birkbeck were regulars in the early years of the Paxman era, appearing six times in the first nine series, culminating with victory in 2003, after which they weren't seen for seventeen years. Oxford Brookes, meanwhile, have only been on five times in total, making the quarter-finals twice.

Brookes skipper Manton buzzes early on the first starter, but he's wrong, and McMillan swoops in for Birkbeck to steal the points. An easy bonus set on films nets them a full house, before Manton makes up for his earlier mistake with epiphany. They grab a hat-trick on the Biafran war, but remain behind thanks to the incorrect interruption.

Another from McMillan stretched the Londoner's lead, but Gardner hit back for Brookes to keep things tight. McMillan is then able to give one of the coldest possible UC answers of all time when asked to complete the phrase written on Woody Guthrie's guitar, 'This machine... kills fascists". Rajan shows off his cricket credentials, scolding Birkbeck for mistaking a doosra for a googly, and demonstrating the bowling action at his desk. 

The first picture starter continues the ping-pong nature of the game so far, with Broadbent, eyebrows plastered in a kindly frown, quickest to recognise the Togo flag. He blitzes the bonuses too to tie the game. Two more consecutive starters for Brookes open up the biggest lead of the game, but Birkbeck fought back through Huntley and McMillan. 

It looks like no one knows the musical on the music starter, but Chadha guesses Funny Girl after hearing the lyric 'good for a laugh', which is excellent quizzing. After the bonuses we're back level, at 110 each. 

The scoring has been going at quite the clip and doesn't let up in the second half. Brookes get a couple to go ahead again, but three in a row from Birkbeck nudge them back in front. No one is allowed to build up too much momentum though, and Broadbent buzzes rapidly with games console to regain the advantage for Brookes. Its an absolute basketball match of a quiz, but who is going to be the one to score the dagger?

McMillan puts Birkbeck five points clear, and skipper Chadha gives Taylor Swift (an answer for the second time this series) to put the game beyond Brookes.

Birkbeck 220 - 205 Oxford Brookes

Phew! You can definitely see the effect of Rajan's quicker questioning here. 

This was the first match with a combined score of 400 or more since Durham thrashed Strathclyde 360-55 in 2018. You've got to go back to 2014 for the last match where both teams scored more than 200, when Trinity beat Manchester 285-205 in the quarters.

So despite the fact I think the average score is going to be a bit higher this series than in recent history, Oxford Brookes can count themselves supremely unlucky, and will definitely be returning as high-scoring losers. 

See you tomorrow for Southampton vs Christchurch

#university challenge #bbc2 #amol rajan #birkbeck #oxfordbrookes

[krystalstuff]

JBM | JOURNEY (Director's Cut) from Fabian Aerts on Vimeo.

Earlier this year, i was asked to create a metaphorical film around Art, Culture and Technology for the creative agency JBM in Dubai. The talented studio excels in the organization of international events, the creation of shows and engaging experiences focused on storytelling. "JOURNEY" is a film created to blur the lines between the physical world and the abstract world.

A WORLD OF ILLUSION Throughout the film, the viewer is subjected to the continual deception of his senses. The relationships of scales, gravity, orientation in space, transparency, mirrors are an integral part of this incredible odyssey.

THE ARCHITECTURE The general architecture of the museum is reminiscent of the prestigious Arab mosques and palaces. The curved walls, volutes and arabesques bring the oriental touch so dear to JBM. The idea of a museum quickly came to the table because by nature it represents Art in its entirety by mixing works from the past and the present with those of the future.

THE MUSIC As a director, when I start to make a film, I always have the idea of a certain rhythm, of a particular flow that will fit the images i’m creating. Unfortunately i was not asked to bring the music and sound design this time, so when i saw the final piece i was a bit disturbed because it didn’t resonate with what i initially had in mind. So i decided to create my own version of this film.

[flourbray]

*pulls up chair into yr askbox and takes a drag of cigarette* im here to talk wva/remco. okay firstly literally i think abt the back to back pics like twice a week that whole photoshoot was my first wva/remco (wvemco...??) epiphany. but anyway being someone whose grasp on how contracts in this sport (also just the sport in generally) work is tenuous at best allows my brain to come up with random potentially highly implausible concepts such as: "wva ends up on quickstep". why? who knows! (wants a bigger/different role? something something merger fuckery? i dunno).

anyway but even if it makes no sense the narrative compels me. mainly the wout-pov experience of going from having jonas as the teams crown jewel to remco. there are so many core differences bw jonas and remco that setting wout against that change fascinates me. is remco as clear and concise a communicator as jonas is reported to be? maybe not. there might be more tension bw them wrt TTs and one day races (tho remco isnt going to like,, flanders afaik). i also feel like there have been moments where the media has perceived there to be tension bw wout and jonas where maybe, yes they didnt fully support each other as well as they couldve and they were selfish (bc they both have their own individual goals that they want to go for at the tour for example), but the two of them have such a clear understanding of one another and nothing but absolute support for each other that its obvious that theres no actual bad blood at all. i wonder how different things would be bw remco and wout! especially because remco is young and brash and comes across as moodier (?) than jonas and id be curious to see wout handle him.

id also be curious to see wout Handle him if you know what i mean 🤐😵‍💫👀 i feel like remco is kind of a brat and really wants a reaction and wout might not know how to deal with him. largely in my mind im just like "hmmmm they should fuck" like but i DO think its compelling beyond just that skhvkdjhkdjh

anywayyyy thats a lil word vomit for your askbox sometimes i just go into getty images and search "wout van aert remco evenepoel" just to take psychic damage from their size difference

hi hello hi! i second all of this; belgian national cycling really did some things with that back-to-back photoshoot. the olympics is going to be fun (assuming they're both getting picked)

#an assortment of remco looking especially small #he's first left in the fourth photo; wout is second from right #sorry it took so long to answer this but THANKYOU

[weshipyourride]

Spotlight on the Tour de France

Every summer virtually the entire cycling world turns its attention to one event. It’s the grandest of the Grand Tours. With nicknames like Le Grande Boucle (the big loop) and simply Le Tour (The Tour), it’s indicative how highly regarded the Tour de France is compared to other events on the cycling calendar. Even your next door neighbor, who hasn’t touched a bike since he was 10, knows about the big bike race in July and its coveted yellow jersey.

In fact, with the release of Netflix’s compelling new series “The Tour de France: Unchained,” your neighbor might want to meet on the front lawn to talk about the highly anticipated battle between two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogačar and 2022 defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, in what will be the 110th Tour de France.

This year’s Tour, with Le Grand Départ in Spain’s Basque Country on July 1, features a plethora of general classification hopefuls looking to join Pogačar and Vingegaard as leaders of a new generation of Tour superstars. As fans and participants of stage racing are aware, one day’s performance does not define a race. The Tour’s epic three weeks of racing allows ample time for a cycle of triumph, despair, disappointment and redemption. The 2022 Tour saw that cycle play out for Team Jumbo-Visma, making for an exciting and unexpected finish with Jonas Vingegaard wearing the yellow jersey on the final podium.

Tadej Pogačar looks to retake his throne and reestablish his reign as a dominating Tour figure after winning the 2020 and 2021 Tours. A three-peat seemed within his grasp through much of the 2022 campaign. However, an unrelenting Vingegaard, supported by green jersey winner Wout van Aert and the rest of his Jumbo-Visma teammates, snatched the yellow jersey away late. This marked the first time in more than half a century that the yellow jersey and green jersey adorned members of the same team at the end of the Tour. 

Pre-Tour anticipation has been focused on the Vingegaard-Pogačar duel, but with stage 1 being what Velo calls “arguably the hardest opening stage the Tour de France peloton has ever faced on a Tour’s opening day,” new story lines could develop from day one. 

And when rising American rider Matteo Jorgenson of Team Movistar makes a mark, the contribution of the time he took refuge in the Bikeflights van during a thunderstorm at Amateur Road Nationals several years ago cannot be discounted. 

As a company of passionate cyclists, not to mention the Official Bicycle Shipping Service of the Tour de France, intra-office communications are abuzz with Le Tour excitement.

Customer Experience Manager Gordon Wadsworth feels the extra energy and excitement every year as July approaches, and imagines the effects it may have on him as a cyclist on his local roads.

“It’s so fun during the month of July that cycling gains this extra bit of cultural relevance here in the US. That makes me as a rider feel a bit special and maybe gives my legs that extra sparkle at every red light!” Gordon says.

Gordon also revels in simply spectating what he calls “the road racing discipline executed to its absolute pinnacle.”

International Customer Service Associate Ali Goulet echoes his appreciation for the opportunity to sit back and witness an extended display of the apex of bike racing.

“July is my favorite month for the simple fact that the Tour de France brings you bike racing all day almost every day!” Ali says.

Others, like Customer Support Associate Sunny Singh, find the exhibition of power, endurance, and determination awe-inspiring.

“After having participated in a few races of my own, I can't even imagine the level of athleticism required to complete the tour. It is such an extraordinary thing to witness!" Sunny says.

Like many of us, Sunny can’t help but compare the racers’ enormous efforts to his own July rides.

“I can't wait to see their Strava activity and compare it to my own effort on my road bike."

Bikeflights Vice President Sue George shares in the excitement for the racing, but also finds herself deeply appreciating the terrain and scenery as a cyclist.

“I love seeing all the beautiful places that the route takes the peloton,” she says.

But she won’t be appreciating the terrain and scenery from behind a screen this year.

“This year will be extra special because I’ll actually be riding my bike on a bike tour in France as the Tour is occurring. And while my route and this year’s Tour route won’t overlap, it will be fun to ride some passes that have been in Tours past and experience what it’s like to be in France as the Tour is happening.”

So whether you’re a Tour superfan hanging on every pedal stroke like a GC leader on a challenger’s wheel, or just looking for some inspiration to take that neighborhood climb a little faster, the Tour has something for every cyclist.

And if you get inspired to ship your bike to France to take on Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc like in stage 15 of this year’s Tour, or maybe you just want to talk about the grueling second week of the Tour as racers endure one Category 1 climb after another, ignoring every signal their bodies can throw at them to stop, and inducing physical pain in those of us just sitting on our couches watching, you know where to find us.   

#bikeflights #shipthebestway #weshipyouride #bicycleshipping #bikeshipping #toudefrance #letour

[izangs08]

The Blue Wings by Jef Aerts

The illustrated novel "The Blue Wings" by Jef Aerts follows Riv, a little girl, on a quest to locate her brother Rafa, who has magical blue wings. Riv learns about her own strength and the power of hope using interactions with a wide range of personalities and fantastical settings. The relationships between people and the environment are highlighted in Aerts' lyrical style, which creates vivid images of nature. The narrative discusses concepts like imagination's transformational abilities, loss, and friendship. The emotional examination of love and resiliency in "The Blue Wings" captivates readers with the combination of magical realism and young adulthood storytelling.

#emergent literature #illustrated novel

[trixies-allstar-crown]

Wout van Aert: Expecting to be in second position, I forgot to ride my own sprint

Belgian expected his rival Van der Poel to lead over barriers on the final pass so was 'a bit confused' the Dutchman stayed in second position from CyclingNews RSS Feed https://ift.tt/Slr3UIp

[saturday-night-dispatch]

Dispatch-001

Saturday night with a pot Darjeeling and nothing more to do than just flying away with all the things that crossed my way this week—shiny toys, blinking gadgets, ill-designed comic books, records lost in clouds. Readings. Stuff you can buy, for what else is left to do?

#1

Just now listening to three songs from James Brandon Lewis' upcoming album Eye of I with Chris Hoffman on Cello and Max Jaffe on drums. Sounds amazing, free every now and then, thoughtful and swinging, like a melancholy boxer. Will be back for the whole thing, drops next Friday, 2/3.

#2

Wout van Aert for the victory. Cyclocross can be pretty predictive if only one of the Big 3 is competing. They truly are above all the rest. That said, today was my first ride out of the year, far to late but all the more enjoyable. Remco blew San Juan, Nairo still in tha game—for now.

#3

Stay True by Hua Hsu (Huascene) is a read that caught me by surprise. It's the kind of book you want to read in all night while listening to your favorite music, or maybe an album that the book brought back to mind. Although Sonic Youth have not been mentioned (yet), this is the band that is always lingering around the back of my mind while riding through the pages. And because of my one-band-one-album habit back in the days, Sister is the record of choice. But anyways, this is just one of the many rabbit hole opened by the book, but deep inside, it is about something completely different, i.e. friendship in a form that might actually only exist in the early twenties, when you are still too young to write your biography but actually live through all the stuff that will make up the bulk of it. And this is exactly what this is. But, as a memoir, it's not a biography per se. It is also written in memory of an unlikely friend.

I bought the ebook while I was at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia with some time to kill. I was on my way back from an in-person job interview, and to finally get to this book now seems like a perfect fit for what felt like a final break away into adulthood. During my interview, I could feel that the new role would demand responsibility and leadership, vision and engagement—the youthful cynical disengagement seemed out of place. I did not think that Stay True would capture this change so adequately, at once outspokenly so and then also in terms of the story it tells, indirectly. This change makes me proud and sad at the same time. I feel like the place I interviewed for would be a great fit for me, somewhere where I could make a splash and have influence and work on my publications and career. But I also miss the cynically recluse me, the student who can only attain this role because he does not have any responsibility yet. Stay True locates this break a bit earlier (when Hua Hsu finishes college, he was the same age that I started), but that is another story. And not important at all.

Then, of course: The book is written quite beautifully. I was interested in it because I know the author's writing on music from the New Yorker (wonderful essays on both J Dilla and Madlib, if I remember corrctly), and the style of the magazine is definitely something that deeply influences how the book is set up (I am thinking of the theoretical interludes that comment and contextualize the narrative without explicitly referring back to it). But it also has its very own vibe and feel, something that is simultaneously laid back and urgent. It is not, however, nostalgic; rather, the breaks and tumbles of the narrative, the development that it displays and the constant change all make each earlier phase seem complete. As we would constantly build cocoons and emerge in a new form that does understand, but ultimately leave behind its former self. This peaceful relation with the time's passing certainly puts one topic front and center: death. Our struggle to let go. More, I hope, next week.

#3

Album most listened to this week: Cassandra Jenkins, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature. Soothing, unsettling. And too short.

#hua hsu #Stay True #james brandon lewis #wout van aert #cyclocross #cassandra jenkins

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Gaia sees strange stars in most detailed Milky Way survey to date Gaia is ESA's mission to create the most accurate and complete multi-dimensional map of the Milky Way. This allows astronomers to reconstruct our home galaxy's structure and past evolution over billions of years, and to better understand the lifecycle of stars and our place in the universe. Gaia's data release 3 contains new and improved details for almost two billion stars in our galaxy. The catalog includes new information including chemical compositions, stellar temperatures, colors, masses, ages, and the speed at which stars move towards or away from us (radial velocity). Much of this information was revealed by the newly released spectroscopy data, a technique in which the starlight is split into its constituent colors (like a rainbow). The data also includes special subsets of stars, like those that change brightness over time. Also new in this data set is the largest catalog yet of binary stars, thousands of solar system objects such as asteroids and moons of planets, and millions of galaxies and quasars outside the Milky Way. Starquakes One of the most surprising discoveries coming out of the new data is that Gaia is able to detect starquakes—tiny motions on the surface of a star—that change the shapes of stars, something the observatory was not originally built for. Previously, Gaia already found radial oscillations that cause stars to swell and shrink periodically, while keeping their spherical shape. But Gaia has now also spotted other vibrations that are more like large-scale tsunamis. These nonradial oscillations change the global shape of a star and are therefore harder to detect. Gaia found strong nonradial starquakes in thousands of stars. Gaia also revealed such vibrations in stars that have seldomly been seen before. These stars should not have any quakes according to the current theory, while Gaia did detect them at their surface. "Starquakes teach us a lot about stars, notably their internal workings. Gaia is opening a goldmine for 'asteroseismology' of massive stars," says Conny Aerts of KU Leuven in Belgium, who is a member of the Gaia collaboration. The DNA of stars What stars are made of can tell us about their birthplace and their journey afterwards, and therefore about the history of the Milky Way. With today's data release, Gaia is revealing the largest chemical map of the galaxy coupled to 3D motions, from our solar neighborhood to smaller galaxies surrounding ours. Some stars contain more "heavy metals" than others. During the Big Bang, only light elements were formed (hydrogen and helium). All other heavier elements—called metals by astronomers—are built inside stars. When stars die, they release these metals into the gas and dust between the stars called the interstellar medium, out of which new stars form. Active star formation and death will lead to an environment that is richer in metals. Therefore, a star's chemical composition is a bit like its DNA, giving us crucial information about its origin. With Gaia, we see that some stars in our galaxy are made of primordial material, while others like our sun are made of matter enriched by previous generations of stars. Stars that are closer to the center and plane of our galaxy are richer in metals than stars at larger distances. Gaia also identified stars that originally came from different galaxies than our own, based on their chemical composition. "Our galaxy is a beautiful melting pot of stars," says Alejandra Recio-Blanco of the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in France, who is a member of the Gaia collaboration. "This diversity is extremely important, because it tells us the story of our galaxy's formation. It reveals the processes of migration within our galaxy and accretion from external galaxies. It also clearly shows that our sun, and we, all belong to an ever changing system, formed thanks to the assembly of stars and gas of different origins." Binary stars, asteroids, quasars, and more Other papers that are published today reflect the breadth and depth of Gaia's discovery potential. A new binary star catalog presents the mass and evolution of more than 800 thousand binary systems, while a new asteroid survey comprising 156 thousand rocky bodies is digging deeper into the origin of our solar system. Gaia is also revealing information about 10 million variable stars, mysterious macro-molecules between stars, as well as quasars and galaxies beyond our own cosmic neighborhood. "Unlike other missions that target specific objects, Gaia is a survey mission. This means that while surveying the entire sky with billions of stars multiple times, Gaia is bound to make discoveries that other more dedicated missions would miss. This is one of its strengths, and we can't wait for the astronomy community to dive into our new data to find out even more about our galaxy and its surroundings than we could've imagined," says Timo Prusti, Project Scientist for Gaia at ESA. Gaia is ESA's mission to create the most accurate and complete multi-dimensional map of the Milky Way. This allows astronomers to reconstruct our home galaxy's structure and past evolution over billions of years, and to better understand the lifecycle of stars and our place in the universe. IMAGE....Artist impression of ESA's Gaia satellite observing the Milky Way. The background image of the sky is compiled from data from more than 1.8 billion stars. It shows the total brightness and color of stars observed by Gaia released as part of Gaia’s Early Data Release 3 (Gaia EDR3) in December 2020. Credit: Spacecraft: ESA/ATG medialab; Milky Way: ESA/Gaia/DPAC; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. Acknowledgement: A. Moitinho.

#space #science #Astronomy #physics #news #esa's gaia data release 3