#((Franklin wanted some quality time with his sister))

[magichcuse]

{ @abevyofbirbs }

{◇} Only a few hours more- a few hours more and Franklin will be reunited with the girl of his dreams...and his best friend, of course. Ever since Delilah started to get closer to him, however, she'd been invading his thoughts even more than she usually did. If it weren't for Zanna, Alroy would be fighting to keep his attention.

Speaking of Zanna...

Franklin knocks on her door, despite many instances of his older sister walking in on him without warning. He didn't want to interrupt Zanna if she's in the middle of doing something. Hopefully, he'll get a chance to vent about his crush and come up with a plan to make sure this visit goes perfectly. {◇}

#ic #Franklin thread #abevyofbirbs #{A Little Gossip} | Zanna #((Franklin wanted some quality time with his sister)) #((so this came to existence)) #((he wants to finally be open with his feelings...without chickening out this time lol))

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at National Bowl in Milton Keynes, UK - June 5, 1982 (Part-1)

(x)

It was originally intended for the band to play this concert at Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, but it was moved to Milton Keynes for the same reason the Leeds show wasn't played at the famed Old Trafford. It's also worth noting that the band wanted to play at London's famous Royal Albert Hall as well, but the plan was never orchestrated as there was much fear that the weight of Queen's lighting rig would make the ceiling cave in. An early tour itinerary listed two London shows (June 4 and 5) on the agenda. The Teardrop Explodes were among the bands (the same line-up as last week in Leeds) who opened for Queen at this show. Their guitarist, Julian Cope, stood before about 40 thousand Queen fans and introduced the next song as being probably the best song they had ever heard, prompting someone near the stage to throw a toilet seat at him, which missed (people are known to bring cameras and certain substances to concerts, but toilet seats?). Lemonade bottles were then thrown at the guitarist which he tossed back into the audience. The complete Queen concert was filmed. A shortened video was shown on UK TV on a show called "The Tube" in January 1983 (omitting Action This Day, the bit of Las Palabras de Amor, Back Chat, Get Down Make Love, part of the guitar solo, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Another One Bites The Dust, and Sheer Heart Attack), and on MTV in the US in August 1983 (the latter was a simulcast, with the audio being broadcast on FM radio in stereo, on the west coast, at least). The video was edited by Gavin Taylor, who was later invited by the band to direct the now famous video at Wembley Stadium in 1986. An even shorter version (about 50 minutes long) of the Milton Keynes video was shown on UK TV in 2001 (and many times since). Both the Milton Keynes and Wembley shows would eventually be released on DVD uncut. The 2004 official release of this show (both on CD and DVD) is called "Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl". The DVD is a beautiful document of Queen's show at the time, packed full of classic Queen moments. There are also extras from 1982 shows in Vienna and Tokyo. After a great version of Play The Game, Freddie essentially apologizes to the audience for much of the latest album's content: "Now most of you know that we've got some new songs out in the last week. For what it's worth we're gonna do a few songs in the funk/black category, whatever you call it. That doesn't mean we've lost our rock and roll feel, okay? I mean it's only a bloody record. People get so excited about these things! We just wanna try out a few songs. This is Staying Power." For some reason part of the speech was removed for the CD release of "Live At The Bowl." Without a doubt this is his definitive live delivery of the song, pulling off all of the stops. Mercury is at his peak tonight. Somebody To Love has been a vocal adventure of Freddie's for the past couple years. His intro is different every night, as is his solo spot towards the end. The version captured here on film is surely one of his best. Before launching into the familiar piano theme, he asks the audience in a moment for the ages, "Are you ready?" And in excitement, "Huh? Are you ready brothers and sisters?" Part way through his vocal exchange with the audience in Now I'm Here, Freddie says, "C'mon, we're gonna make you sing like Aretha Franklin." At the end of the successful duel, he jokingly says, "Right, you can join the band!" The r&b influence is never more evident than it is here, and it makes for a classic version of the song. Brian breaks a string just before his guitar solo in Dragon Attack. While he switches to a Red Special copy, John Deacon gets to play the bass solo as it's heard on the record - the one and only time he has the chance to do it. It's on the fly, and he nails it note for note. "Las Palabras de Amor" was released as a single a few days ago, and Brian plays a small bit of it on his 12-string acoustic before Love Of My Life. He then mentions how the band won't be playing their "song of peace" tonight, as he calls it. This remains the only show where the Hot Space ballad would be referenced. Brian's guitar briefly cuts out during his solo spot, a moment that was edited out of the 1983 TV broadcasts (and slightly edited on the CD release) but seen uncut on the DVD. Brian's guitar tech is seen rushing on and off stage within seconds, having quickly resolved the issue (it was likely a sticky pickup switch). About half way through Sheer Heart Attack, Brian sneaks in the riff from I Go Crazy an octave up, and much faster, to match the tempo of the energetic News Of The World rocker. The song would be dropped from the set after this show, only to emerge again late in the pending North American tour. This would be Morgan Fisher's last show with the band as the touring keyboardist. A number of theories abound about his departure, including butting heads with Mercury's personal manager Paul Prenter or his apparent fear of flying, but it was simply a case of him moving on to other gigs (Fisher confirmed in a 2009 interview that he has never been afraid of airplanes). The CD and DVD releases would be patched up a bit, most notably in the third verse of Fat Bottomed Girls where Freddie's voice cracked badly on "locality," as well as for "now I'm here, now I'm there." Roger's timing with the guitar delays at the end of May's solo spot was bit off at the show, but this is fixed up as well. The sound quality as a whole is much better than the broadcasts, but there are a couple differences in the mix - some of Brian's backing vocals (particularly at the end of Somebody To Love) can be clearly heard in the broadcast mix but were brought down for the official releases, and compression has been added to Roger's snare drum, giving it a much fatter sound compared to Queen Rock Montreal. Brian May and Roger Taylor are interviewed before the show, as shown on the Bowl DVD and the original TV broadcasts. Brian reveals that he really enjoys playing Play The Game. He explains, "You've done your leaping about, and you've made your statement on your entry. And then you can settle down and start really playing something." Roger says his current favourite is Under Pressure. On the day before this show Freddie's boyfriend at the time had bitten him between his thumb and forefinger during a fight, causing it to bleed profusely and require stitches. On the DVD, Freddie is seen tossing the bandage around just before coming on stage. The sixth picture was submitted by Fabio Minero, and the eighth is from Alessio Rizzitelli. The second set was taken by Brenski.

(x)

Fan Stories

“At the time, I was living on the Mull Of Kintyre on the West coast of Scotland. I remember being elated at getting tickets for the last gig of the UK tour. I always tried to get 'last night' tickets, because the band were famous for always going a little more 'over the top' on each of their tour's final nights. So, we drove down from Scotland, which took an eternity with fuel and meal stops, and stayed at the in-law's on the south coast of England. The next day we set for the 'new-town' of Milton Keynes, about 100 miles or so, away. We got there quite early before the gates opened and the weather was unsettled, lightly raining for about five minutes nearly every other hour. The support bands for the day were 'Teardrop Explodes', who had a fairly big hit with a song called 'Reward'. I quite liked Julian Cope and his band, but this WAS a rock gig, and the audience weren't generally as receptive to this brass backed 'new romantic' style of music. The customary sea of lemonade bottles headed towards the stage ensued. Now it was over twenty years ago, and the memory starts to fade a bit after a while, so I'm not sure whether 'Heart' were next on, or 'Joan Jett and the Blackhearts'. Either way, both bands played well, and were most enjoyable. Joan Jett had recently had a very big hit with 'I Love Rock'n'Roll' (very recently covered by Britney Spears), and the crowd loved that one. This was prior to 'Heart' having a major hit in the UK, but they were at that time an established and well known band. Looking at the stage, there were these items that looked like little vehicles hanging from the gantry, we later found out that these were individual self contained lighting platforms with a guy sat in each directing three spotlights wherever they were required to do so. The Queen set itself started with an extended backing tape from the intro of Flash Gordon. Most of you will have seen the video of this gig, so I won't labour on about what they played too much. Only that the crowd, as a whole, weren't into the 'Hot Space' numbers that much. Personally, I was watching my favourite band, so I didn't really care what they played, as long as it was theirs. The bits cut out of the video, included an intro to 'Las Palabras De Amor' from Brian, (just before 'Love Of My Life'), though they never actually played the whole song, Brian announced that they were not doing their song of peace tonight. Brian's two-day guitar solo was edited out, as was 'Fat Bottomed Girls', the intro harmonies on this did come across as pretty iffy, and of all songs, they also edited out 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', much to my disappointment, as I'd heckled Freddie about his ability as a guitarist, and 'stone me', he only went and answered me. Knebworth '86 was a much better show, but I know I'm lucky enough to have had the honour to be able to compare them.”  - Steve_C/Kes

Part-2

Part-3

#queen #queen band #roger taylor #freddie mercury #brian may #john deacon #queen concerts

[drproximo]

Original Versions of Songs You Didn’t Know were Covers

Originally published for Geeks and Beats, August 2017.

https://www.geeksandbeats.com/2017/08/songs-didnt-know-covers/

I love a well-done cover song, and I especially love a well-done cover that deviates from the original. There’s something endlessly fascinating about how two different people can arrange such dramatically different interpretations of the same source material. What makes this especially fun is when you discover that a song you’ve been enjoying for years is itself a reinterpretation. Sometimes it even goes a step further, and a song that you knew as a cover turns out to be a cover of a cover. Researching this list became a much more involved “rabbit hole” than I ever anticipated, and I am delighted to share my findings with you. I’m confident that, like me, you’ll have more than a few “whoa, I didn’t know that!” moments. 

Bruce Springsteen – Blinded by the Light

When a WatchMojo video got me digging into this awhile back, this was the one that surprised me most. This is one of those songs that I feel like I’ve been aware of for as long as I’ve cared about music. So it was a bit of a shock to discover in my 40s that, not only is it a cover, but it was originally by The Boss. There are differences in the arrangement and the lyrics, but the Manfred Mann version is generally considered the definitive rendition. 

Tina Turner – Don’t Turn Around

While “Blinded by the Light” was the big surprise on my first dive into this topic, this next one blew me away even moreso. Ace of Base’s third most successful single was originally a Tina Turner song, the B-side of her 1986 single “Typical Male”. Bonnie Tyler, whose repertoire of covers is expansive and impressive, also did her own interpretation on 1988’s Hide Your Heart. 

I’ve Got My Mind Set On You – James Ray 

Time for a little history about “Weird Al” Yankovic. In 1988, Al released his album Even Worse. The title had two meanings. First of all, the lead single was “Fat”, a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Bad”, and the album cover was also a direct parody of Jackson’s Bad cover. In other words, since Jackson was declaring himself to be “Bad”, Al decided he was “Even Worse”. Second, all of the other parodies were of covers that had recently been hit singles, by Tiffany, Billy Idol, Los Lobos, and George Harrison.

The last one was the one that surprised me. Harrison’s most solid 80s hit was actually a cover. I owned 45s of the originals of all the others, but I had never heard James Ray’s original of “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You” (which Al turned into “(This Song’s Just) Six Words Long“). 

The Tide is High – The Paragons 

One of Blondie’s most distinctive qualities was, and still is, a blending of several sounds and moods. As such, this reggae ditty, which was their third #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, didn’t raise many eyebrows. So, few at the time knew that it was a cover of a 1966 rocksteady song by The Paragons. Although, the fact that the gender-swap screwed up the rhyme scheme could have been a clue. 

Torn – Ednaswap 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OoEdfB7l18

This one’s a little weird. Shortly after Natalie Imbruglia had her breakthrough hit with “Torn” in 1997, there was a short-lived minor controversy. Apparently, some people were upset when they found out that Imbruglia didn’t write the song. It was a cover of a 1995 song by a relatively unknown alternative act called Ednaswap. Nobody claimed had that she wrote the song, however, and there was nothing new about singers having a cover be their first hit. So the “controversy” was quickly reduced to a footnote, whose most prominent documentation is a mention on Pop-Up Video.

 Adding to the weirdness, Ednaswap’s “original” wasn’t technically the first recording of the song. Two years before they got around to releasing it, a Danish translation,“Brændt” (“Burned”), was released by Lis Sørensen. 

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Robert Hazard 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aLNwOxPsjg

I almost didn’t include this one because, quite frankly, the original is awful. And, let’s be real, there’s something creepy about a guy breathily singing about what girls want. Thankfully, Hazard’s recording never got past the demo stage, so I’ll choose to consider Lauper’s version “technically a cover but sort of not really”. 

Downtown Train – Tom Waits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtZKkCIVmI

If you asked a random sampling of people around you, there’s a good chance that many of them wouldn’t be able to name a Tom Waits song. On the other hand, it’s almost a guarantee that they’re familiar with at least one of his songs, but covered by someone else. The Eagles, Alison Krauss, Sarah McLachlan, Bruce Springsteen, and The Ramones are among the many big names to contribute to this. Heck, actress Scarlett Johansson recorded an entire album of Tom Waits songs (it was kind of awful, but I digress). 

One of the most successful Waits covers is Rod Stewart’s “Downtown Train”. The original was a standout track and minorly-successful single from Waits’ 1985 masterpiece Rain Dogs. Stewart’s 1991 cover starts off with a similarly restrained sound, but gradually swells into a much “bigger”, almost celebratory sound. 

Piece of My Heart – Erma Franklin 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0QAxIKf8G4

First off, the more well-known recording, with Janis Joplin on vocals, is properly credited to her band Big Brother and the Holding Company. Second, covers generally draw from that 1968 version, but the original was by Erma Franklin (Aretha Franklin’s older sister). Faith Hill’s 1994 atrocity seemed to be an attempt to destroy the song’s legacy, but Melissa Etheridge managed to restore it a little bit in 2005, even though it was a clumsy attempt at a comeback for Etheridge.

The First Cut is the Deepest – P.P. Arnold 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-g5VG2pWg

This is one of my favourites. With many of the entries on this list, it’s fun to play the original for someone and watch their face as they slowly realize what they’re hearing. P.P. Arnold’s original recording of “The First Cut is the Deepest” (written by Cat Stevens) also happens to be a fantastic song in its own right. 

In 1977, Rod Stewart (him again?) released what most would consider the definitive version, and in 2003 Sheryl Crow covered it as one of two new songs recorded for her best-of collection. 

Nothing Compares 2 U – The Family 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZlzN0Gtpp8

In the 80s, there were a lot of Prince side projects and spin-offs. Morris Day and The Time may be the most memorable, with their mega-hit “Jungle Love“. Wendy & Lisa, Vanity 6, and Apollonia 5 also enjoyed a little time in the spotlight. One of the lesser-known projects, however, was The Family. The Family was often tasked with bringing life to songs that Prince wrote but wasn’t interested in doing himself. So even if you knew that Prince wrote Sinéad O’Connor’s 1990 breakthrough hit “Nothing Compares 2 U“, you might not have known that The Family had recorded it 5 years prior. 

Prince would eventually record a live version as a duet with Rosie Gaines, which was included on the various iterations of his 1993 compilation The Hits. Also included on this compilation were Prince’s originals of “I Feel 4 U” (covered by Chaka Khan in 1984), and “When U Were Mine” (covered by Cyndi Lauper in 1983). 

Killing Me Softly – Lori Lieberman 

In 1996, the Fugees released their breakthrough mega-hit, “Killing Me Softly“. Not everyone knew it was a cover of a 1973 Roberta Flack song, but many did. Even fewer knew, however, that Flack’s rendition was itself a cover. The original, by Lori Lieberman in 1972, was a soft acoustic rendition of a poem. “His song” was Don McLean’s “Empty Chairs”. 

The first cover could have turned out quite differently; according to Wikipedia: 

Helen Reddy has said she was sent the song, but “the demo… sat on my turntable for months without being played because I didn’t like the title”. 

Roberta Flack’s successful 1973 cover is still soft, but with some defining chord changes, and a slightly more soulful sound.

Further mutating the tune, The Fugees laid down their hip-hop version in 1996, to much acclaim. 

If you poke around YouTube looking for versions of this song, you’ll probably find about a dozen copies of a crooner version credited to Frank Sinatra. It does kind of sound like The Chairman, but he never actually recorded it. That’s Perry Como, from his 1973 album And I Love You So. 

Some Guys Have All The Luck – Persuaders 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3NWbvFsBVo

First released in 1973 by R&B group The Persuaders, Rod Stewart’s cover of “Some Guys Have All the Luck” served as one of the important hits of his 80s comeback (and his third time appearing on this list, what is it with this guy and covers?) In between those two versions, Robert Palmer also recorded his own version, with significantly altered lyrics and arrangement. Palmer’s version is probably the strangest, kind of a gritty new wave thing, reminiscent of Pete Shelley’s “Homosapien“. 

There have been several other covers, including a gender swapped country version. Of special note is Maxi Priest’s 1987 rendition, which (mostly) returned to the original lyrics and arrangement, but with Maxi’s signature “reggae fusion” sound. 

Tainted Love – Gloria Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U

When Marilyn Manson covered “Tainted Love” in 2001 for the Not Another Teen Movie soundtrack, it was fairly common knowledge that he was covering a Soft Cell song. Soft Cell’s 1981 arrangement, however, was not the original. American soul singer Gloria Jones’ Motown-influenced version was a B-side for “My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home”, which failed to make a lasting impression domestically. Jones herself, however, had very much made an impression in England, where she was dubbed the “Northern Queen of Soul”. 

Eventually the song entered the radar of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell. Their 1981 version became their only major hit in North America, and one of the defining songs of the 80s. 

Side notes and honorable mentions: 

You might already knew that The Isley Brothers recorded “Twist and Shout” a year before The Beatles, but did you know that a group called The Top Notes recorded it a year before that? 

“I Love Rock n Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, arguably one of the most ubiquitous and recognized songs of the modern era, was originally released by The Arrows in 1975. 

Animotion’s “Obsession”, unofficial theme song of the fashion world for more than 30 years, was originally recorded by Michael Des Barres & Holly Knight.

Madonna’s “Ray of Light” was adapted from “Sepheryn” by Curtiss Maldoon, though it’s not a direct cover. 

Led Zeppelin have a storied history of borrowing, adapting, and straight-up stealing. A cursory Google search will provide many articles and videos discussing this, but the two examples which I think best fit the theme are “Dazed and Confused”, originally by Jake Holmes, and “Stairway to Heaven”, adapted from “Taurus” by Spirit. 

Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” was adapted from “Crescent City Blues“, written by Gordon Jenkins and sung by Beverly Mahr. Also, more than half the songs on Cash’s 5 American Recordings albums are reinterpretations of a diverse selection of songs.

#music #cover songs #madonna #weird al yankovic #tom waits #beatles #cyndi lauper #bruce springsteen #killing me softly #twist and shout #johnny cash

[harveywritings92]

How you met: Shay x Death Doula! Reader

Info on the reader's profession: A Death Doula is a person who assists in the dying process, unlike a regular doula who offer assistance for women in labor, Death Doula's deal with well... death! But they don't deal exclusively with just children, they were like an early version of grief counselors mixed with hospice nurse and funeral director all rolled into one package, their service list would include: Giving emotional,social and Psychological support, creating death plans, helping with funeral and memorial planning, and guiding mourners to their rights and responsibilities.

===================================

Shay was assigned by Haytham to investigate the rumor that a previous dead member was apparently alive and well. They were dismissed as just so... until, Thomas Hickey appeared before the grand master claiming to have seen the man, a one Robert Bancroft a former banker and tradesman wandering the New York market district, now that wouldn't be strange except Robert had dead for three months now! And what's more, apparently the late Mr. Bancroft has also gone on to calling himself Philip McCray not much info on that name though.

Haytham sent Shay to figure out this mystery, To start him off the grand master directed the former assassin to the home of an Undertaker: Father's name [l/n] seems there been a disturbance at his place of business that might just give them a lead to this mystery. 

Shay was wary at approaching the large manor-like funeral home he heard whispers and accusations of the undertaker being a demon butcher who cut up bodies and ate their livers, others that he'd chop the limbs off and sew them to other bodies and used dark arts on them. Though Mr. Franklin who was an old friend of Mr. L/n assured Shay that those rumors were hogwash; what the experiments undertaker does with the deceased was simply a misunderstood science that will one day change the way everyone looks at life and death.

That didn't do much to calm the Irishman's nerves as the smell of Incense invaded his nose the closer he got closer the the mortuary, Shy paused for a moment to admire the birdcage shaped censers hanging by the door he thought them they were lanterns, but duty calls Shay walked inside where smell of lavender potpourri lingered in the air and the sound of arguing invaded his ears Shay followed where the voices were coming from and found himself in a large sitting room, where a y/ht y/hc woman in a black and purple dress around his age was arguing with older man.

"Well someone has to do something about this, The man's wife thinks we're hiding him!"

"I said no! No interrogations, no investigations, no bloody mystery solving! This will blow over soon."

"Yes and meantime Mr.Cray's wife is telling everyone under the sun, about how I'm some husband stealing harlot, While at the same time some ne'er-do-well going around pretending to the man!"

"The woman is grieving Y/n, you've been trained to recognize such delusions, she saw him die, their friend saw him die and...and..."

The man's voice trailed off finally noticing Shay watching them, he straightened himself up and cleared his throat, while the woman whip her head around to see what got his attention."Oh, a customer, Y/n go make some tea for... um" The Templar held his hand out. "Shay Cormac, and that won't be necessary... I'm here regarding a break-in three months ago?" the undertaker looked uncomfortable as he look at Y/n who this knowing smirk on her face. 

“Yes we.. Well my daughter's office was broken into..." He led Shay to back of the manor to Y/n's office now that the Irishman could get a good look at her noting some resemblance between her and the undertaker they both had the same eye/hair color, they got to the office as Y/n spoke up as the assassin hunter looked around.

Soon Mr. L/n left and Y/n took over "Thieves weren't after any trinkets or valuables." She directed him to a large row of cabinets with a broken locks, "they were only after papers & records of the recently deceased, and was very careful at who he was selecting." She showed him an old file with details of that person's life. {Identification papers, birthplace place and cause of death etc.] and sketches of the deceased persons face she explained they used them for an "in case" scenario of multiple funerals in one day and if the families have the same or similar sounding names.

"Here's the man whose papers were stolen" she said handing the Templar the sketch he took out a small painting of Bancroft and compared the two "This is very well done." Shay commented taking in the sketch's detail right down to the scars and birthmarks. "Uh, thank you?" Y/n said incredulously not used to hearing her work be complimented especially from a man, Shay wasn't joking when he said it was good this McCray could be Bancroft's twin, Except...

Shay checked the death record McCray had black hair, Bancroft was blond, his first thought was a wig but the way Hickey had described the bloke his hair looked too natural to be a wig, nor did it look like soot and grease as Lee had suggested, was he using ink? his dark eyes glance over at a Y/n  looking out the window shaking her head at something.

 "Is there way darken one's hair color, without wigs or ink?" the assassin hunter asked not being familiar with cosmetics, Y/n cocked a brow as she thought. "Yes through henna and katam." Shay gave her a confused look Y/n sighed and took off her gloves and pulled up her sleeve to reveal a very impressive tattoo on her hand.

Shay took her hand her to get a better look, if it wasn't fading he'd almost mistaken another glove, the lotus design was delicate the way the ink ringed around her fingers like lace was almost fairy-like. "This is mehndi art made with henna it's a type of dye made from tree dyes from India, it can also be used to change hair color...if mix with the right components." She explained the as the Irish man flipped her hand over to stare at the moon design on her wrist.

"How long does this usually last for?" He asked giving her hand back. "Well depending on type and quality three weeks? applying oils is a good way to extend it." Y/n stated as she put her gloves back on. *who'd thought that wedding tribute for my friend in India would come in handy?* She thought not noticing Shay's attention suddenly shifted to the window, in a split second the large man suddenly yanked Y/n towards him using his body to shield her from her window exploding; glass shards flew everywhere as rocks were thrown through the window! 

Followed by a woman screaming "PHILIP KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!?" then there was some struggling Shay pulled away from Y/n the two went the window to see what happened, the Irishman kept her behind him just in case. as they watched a hysterical woman throwing rocks at the funeral home, as a man and two women and adolescent boy struggled to control her.

"PHILIP COME OUT!" The man finally got a hold of her. "Stop this right now Sarah, Philip is dead!" the Sarah shook her head not believing him as the women pleaded with her to listen to her brother, she gasped seeing Y/n and Shay watching her "GIVE HIM BACK YOU WHORE!?!?" Sarah screeched ready to throw a another rock as her brother dragged her away.

the boy walked over over to the shattered window. "I...I'm sorry for my mother Miss Y/n, My aunt says they'll pay for the window..." The y/hc woman the boy off. "Don't worry about it I know it's not your mother's fault." She assured as they watched his aunts and uncle load his mother into a carriage. the boy then looked around making sure his mother couldn't hear.

"Is it true?"  

"Absolutely not, I'm not hiding your father..."

"No, not that I know fathers gone, I meant...I heard things about you being able to speak to the dead, solving murders?"

"I don't speak to dead, I speak for the dead and I swear on your father's resting soul, I will find out whose behind this and bring peace to your mother."

The boy thanked her and went to join his family, Y/n winced hears Mrs. McCray scream at the top of her lungs "I WON'T LET YOU HAVE MY BOY!?" before being restrained by her sisters-in law as her brother shook his head clearly at loss and tired of his sister fits, as they rode away...

"Speak for the dead, eh?" Shay queried sounding amused and intrigued as Y/n averted her eyes embarrassed /face red from embarrassment as she thought he'd gone to find her father once Mrs. McCray was whisked away, "Well being a death doula, that is what I do in a way..." they were suddenly interrupted by her father entering the study, wooden planks under one arm hammer and nails in the other "Except most death doulas don't go on path of Derring-do just because they think someones a killer." Y/n looked offended at her father's words.

"Well I wasn't wrong before!" she huffed agitating her father more. "Stay out of it." he warned boarding her window up, he then turned to their visitor. "And you've got your evidence Cormac, Now I suggest you take you leave." Shay bid the last name's farewell, but before he reached the door he was stopped by Y/n grabbing his arm "Mr. Cormac, when you find this man." She made her father wasn't listening; he'd blow a gasket if he found out she was meddling. 

"If possible I would like you to return him here," Shay's brows furrowed at this request, "Here, why?" he asked confused over why she would want the thief whose caused her so much disarray in her house. "I think it might help if Mrs. McCray saw "Philip" for herself." Irishman nodded seemly understanding what the y/nat woman was planning. "I'll see if can keep him in one piece." He noted Y/n hadn't let go of his arm. "Is there something else you wanted" The y/ht woman fidgeted for a moment.

"Erm...Yes, if it doesn't trouble you, perhaps I could help you again?" Shay blinked wondering if he heard right? meanwhile Y/n inner thoughts were going haywire. "You idiot, why would you ask him? no man wants the creepy undertaker’s daughter especially someone as handsome as-" Shay's broke through her pity party. "That wouldn't trouble me at all." Y/n up at Shay who looked equally startled by his words.

Cue an awkward starring contest before Y/n realized she was still holding his arm, letting him go the y/hc shyly averted her eyes to the floor/cheeks went pink, Shay was thankful for that she couldn't see the tips of his ears were red, he calmed himself before walking out of the funeral home. "I'll see you again." he promised before heading back to Haytham with his findings.  

#assassin's creed rogue #Shay Cormac x Reader #assassin's creed imagine #assassin's creed scenario #assassin's creed fanfiction #templar order #haytham kenway #thomas hickey

[vandrawsing]

Dishonored AU | A photograph of an unfinished painting. Some water damage. Subject is Imperial Explorer, Cpt. Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier (1752-?). Artist confirmed as Anton Sokolov (1786-1868), see attached.

Excerpt from Anton Sokolov’s correspondence with Empress Emily, (1870, Month of High Cold).

One of my first commissions as a very young man was for a portrait of the famous explorer Francis Crozier, paid for by Lady Franklin. There was a particular quality to that man, so that I never wanted to add one brushstroke, one correction to the portrait, without its model under my eye. I was certain it would only spoil what verisimilitude I’d achieved, lose that character of fractal melancholy [this part underlined from Sokolov’s own hand] he carried.

He had been back from that infamous expedition to establish a cartography of the isles east of the Pandyssian continent for close to a year when we started. He was a very silent man, but he didn’t have to talk for people to believe the tale of his rescue could be true. Found by whalers, drifting with the corpse of a behemoth which had impaled itself on his own ship’s bowsprit. All they ever found from it, up until today, or from its sister ship, the Erebus. The rumours said he had survived only by eating what he could reach of the slowly rotting meat...

Our last sitting session was in the spring of 1804. Two weeks later, he was leaving for his last expedition. That departure was much less glorious than Lord Franklin’s. From what I heard there were less than ten seamen setting sail with him. Whether it was because they were the only ones he could convince to try their luck with him or that he didn't want to risk any more lives than he needed to, I don’t know. In any case, they all made it back I believe, except of course for him. And that is why that portrait is never to be taken up again, for all the years it has now been.

As for your Highness’ other question, I am afraid I will not be of much help. At the time, I thought it some sailor’s tattoo of course. He wore it on the back of his hand, his left if I remember correctly. He generally kept his gloves on, or when they were off he stood with one hand over the other -- it might have been on purpose, now that I think of it. I scribbled the shape of it on my canvas when I glimpsed it one day, but I have no idea of its meaning or significance, and I never asked him anything on that subject.

#amc the terror #the terror* #francis crozier #*sigh* dishonored...

[buddha-in-disguise]

We finally have an original trailer for next weeks Supergirl episode (5.14).

Now usually I’m more than optimistic to see the new trailers or teasers, but after not only the debacle of 5.12, but other problems that have been identified before that; the fact we are rapidly running out of episodes (still unconfirmed if it is 20 or 22, although 20 looking likely as the date for end of filming is confirmed for 17th March), that no original trailer was shown immediately after the 100th episode (that has generally been well received by fans & critics alike, a considerable improvement), I am actually being cautious/worried over the whole thing. Why wait a full week to drop the trailer, instead of riding on the high of the 100th episode? I'm not one for trying to read things into anything, but it feels as if they might've decided to re-edit the trailer after 5.12 exploded in their face so badly. Of course I could be wrong, but with William in the episode it is possible he was in the trailer, and it could've once again become a whole level of backlash (more about William later).

Anyone who knows me will tell you one of my defining traits is I’m a pretty optimistic person. I like to be pragmatic, so I don’t get bogged down often with concerns of what might happen, rather my perspective is, let’s see what happens. I was of this mindset right up until Crisis with Supergirl. I still feel that 5a was by far the strongest part of the season, which normally I find isn’t the case with Supergirl. Usually I find the second half of a season is where Supergirl generally is at its best - where it can finally pull together the strands it has been playing with in terms of main plot line from episode one. By about episode 12 or so, we begin to get an idea where it is heading. That not only hasn't happened this season, with episode numbers dwindling fast there seems to be no way they can pull back from some of the honestly calamitous decisions that seem to have plagued much of the midseason.

I was relieved to see that the promo photos show a Dansen moment.

I am though also not entirely sure we're going to get anything that is meaningful between Kelly and Alex, as the background, synopsis and other photo suggest that they get caught up in the VR world. I have a horrible gut feeling, just as they're about to make out at Obsidian (some workplace making out hello, I'm here for that), there is an explosion (as per trailer), then the fallout from that.

Don't get me wrong, we've had so little of Kelly, and Dansen in general it will be good to see them onscreen together, and working in a hostile environment as a couple; especially as we haven't seen much of Kelly beyond Obsidian or wielding the shield. I hope her army training, alongside Alex's military training with the DEO actually get to be a tangible plot point.

As an aside, remember the little video clip Azie posted just around Christmas that had the Dansen fandom collectively falling down in incomprehensible piles of goo? While the quality isn't great, there is no doubt those outfits match these. So Azie threw one hell of a tease our way beyond what we thought! I do hope that means we genuinely see more than a moment of Dansen, but again Azie has spoken or posted about scenes she has filmed or have been part of the promo set of photos, only for a lot to not make the final edits.

So below are some of the other promo photos for the episode.

My concern is once again we see William at CatCo alongside Franklin. Which infuriates me, because (as I've said many times, this absolutely isn't because if Staz), but why is William once again there, when Nia is a journalist? Yet they pop Franklin in the shot - a reoccurring character certainly, but either remove William, or remove Franklin and allow Nia to be back as a journalist in Catco. Her actual job! I know we get the following episode (15) that is Nia centric, but as with Kelly, Nia's screen time has been so ridiculously low for an established main cast member, that I find it impossible to understand why they couldn't have at least allowed them screen time in these circumstances.

But no, again William is the journalist. Even Franklin is a journalist. Nia is MIA. I'm beginning to think she doesn't even know what CatCo looks like anymore.

It's the imbalance I (and many others) am finding so annoying this season. Imbalance that wouldn't take much to address if they'd just changed scenes a little, without disrupting anything of note of the storyline.

So I decided to check main cast numbers, and it made for interesting reading. Last year had 9 main cast listed. This year it is officially 12. We can argue that James wasn't in many episodes, but he did feature quite heavily before Mehcad left. The same could be said for The Monitor, who is listed as main cast up until Crisis.

Equally Lex Luthor isn't listed as a main character, but considering his screen time since Crisis, I've no doubt he might as well have been. The same for Malefic, who was pretty heavily used prior to Crisis.

So even if we subtract James and The Monitor, and only add in Lex Luthor as a replacement we are still on a higher number of main cast from last season.

Honestly, this for me has been a big part of the problem, with trying to fit in too many characters at the expense of previously established cast. Add in that William's story has made absolutely no sense since Russell died, especially since Nia and even Kelly could've handled the same storylines; it just seems a complete mess.

This isn't about who you ship or who you prefer as a character. Everyone is suffering because of the uneveness of it all. Alex has no cohesive story so far (even though she has a good amount of screen time). Kara and Lena have the screen time, but it also feels really clunky of late, and getting ridiculously drawn out; although I'm hoping since the 100th we'll see it begin to smooth out. The Danver sisters, Brainia, Dansen, even Lena and Kara (whether you view it platonic or as Supercorp is neither here nor there on this and I'm not about to get into arguments that are not relevant to what I'm trying to say here), J'onn with Alex and Kara, Nia and Kara, Brainy and Lena; the list goes on. Every single interaction seems to be suffering.

We all invest in characters, but overall it feels like a mess of unnecessary pairings (Lex and Brainy, Kara and William primarily) or cast additions that has detracted from all characters, and the crux of the story seems to have been lost in the midst.

I really want Supergirl to show us otherwise, but this is about the 3rd or 4th time I've written similar posts, and there has been no or little forward momentum. Time is now against the show as much as the problems it has generated, and there is no way sidelined cast will be able to pull the numbers back up, even with centric episodes like Nia in 5.15. Will Kelly get a more centric episode that doesn't revolve around her brother? Nothing suggests she does, so she'll lose further ground, which in turn means so will Dansen. Brainy has been used a lot, but again at the expense of all the previous pairings the viewers were invested in (whether it was Alex and Brainy, Brainia, Brainy and Lena or to a lesser degree Brainy and Kara).

But hey. Don't worry. William is here to save the day and the girl. *sarcasm, in case anyone wasn't sure*.

#supergirl #lgbtq #supercorp #azie tesfai #chyler leigh #alex danvers #kara danvers #kelly olsen #nicole maines #katie mcgrath #melissa benoist #nia nal #lena luthor #brainy #brainiac #jesse rath

[docmary]

Food Insecurity-We may not live by bread alone, but neither do we live without it.

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough to those who have little.  Franklin D. Roosevelt

It has been my good fortune to have been able to support myself (barely at times) doing the work that I love, being a naturopathic doctor, for most of my adult life. I remember a sign in my tax preparers office that read: “The joys of owning your own business, not unlike the joys of natural childbirth, have been greatly exaggerated.” Or something like that. There are certainly those in my profession that have been financially successful along with the intrinsic rewards of helping people, but I was not one of them.

And then I got cancer. And not dying became my full-time job. On the side I also worked as a home health aide and I made little money but also had little in the way of responsibility. I also relied on programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps to survive.

I am doing well now. I have relocated from Alaska (my home of 30 years) to Washington state where I grew up, so that I could be closer to family. I was fortunate in that I had family to take me in while I figured out my next moves. Some are not so lucky.

I started volunteering at the Sky Valley Food Bank in my new community as a way to build my social network. I was blessed with the instant camaraderie of many fellow and sister volunteers, and paid staff, who were joined in a single purpose: support the mission of eliminating hunger. Every week we provided food for an average of 261 families, enough for 10 meals per person. This amounts to more than 75,000 pounds of food distributed every month—almost one million pounds per year.

And Then Came COVID-19

According to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), some 13.7 million households (10.5% of all households), experienced food insecurity at some point in 2019. That is 35 million Americans who were either unable to acquire enough food to meet their needs, or uncertain of where their next meal might come from.

In one study that came out in June 2020, researchers asked: “In the last seven days, which of these statements best describes the food eaten in your household?”

 Enough of the food we wanted to eat

 Enough, but not always the kind of food we wanted to eat

 Sometimes not enough to eat

 Often not enough to eat.

According to these researchers, since 2019, food insecurity has doubled overall and tripled in households with children.*

The Ripple Effects of Hunger

Not having access to healthy food has ripple effects of chronic ill health, disability, stress, and worsening poverty. These problems did not start with COVID-19, but the pandemic has made even more glaring the differences in the quality of life between “those who have much [and] those who have little.” This kind of safety net, that supplies sustenance to those in need, makes good economic sense. Adults who have a disability, in particular a disability and are not in the workforce, also experience more than twice the rate of food insecurity as adults who do not have a disability.

At our local food bank, we were unable to have our customers shop in-doors like we had in the past safely. We were shut down but found a way to deliver boxes of food to the porches of 125 families in the area. We also drastically cut down on the number of volunteers that could be in our warehouse per day which translates to fewer people doing more physically demanding work. The good news is that people from the community, from gardeners, to private businesses, to social service organizations, and individuals found ways to help Sky Valley Food Bank carry out the mission.**

School Closures and Vulnerable Students

With schools being shut down, students were no longer able to receive meals at their schools at a reduced price or free as they had in the past. This was not just a local problem, across the country nutrition directors reported that they were serving fewer meals than when school was in session. Last spring, the School Nutrition Association surveyed 2000 districts that reported 80% were serving fewer meals. Of those, the majority said the number of meals had dropped by 50% or more.

Most areas relied on the food pick up model that they usually did in the summer months where families could drop by their local school each day, often between 11-1, and pick up a bag lunch and maybe breakfast. But as parents started returning to work, the pickup model did not always work if parents were not always able to take children to the drop off site at the right time.

In Fulton County Georgia and Tucson Arizona, nutrition programs started packing food including frozen hamburgers and pizza, enough for a week’s worth of meals, and sending them out on school buses to be distributed at bus stops where the lowest income families typically resided.***

Food Deserts

In the best of times getting adequate nutrition is especially challenging for people who live in a “food desert.” The definition of a food desert can change depending on where you live. In urban areas, you need to live more than a mile away from a grocery store. For rural areas, you live more then 10 miles away. According to Feeding America, rural areas make up 63% of counties in the US and 87% of counties with high rates of food insecurity. In 2015, 19 million people lived in a food desert and 2.1 million households both lived in a food desert and lacked access to a vehicle according to the USDA.

The Shifting Model of Getting Food to the Food Insecure

In the summertime at Sky Valley Food Bank, we were able to greet our long-time customers, and many new ones, that were able to shop in our outdoor market. I loved being able to chat with our customers and find out how they were getting along. From my own experience, I can say that accepting help for something as necessary as feeding myself was a blow to my ego. Thank goodness I got over that. Being able to help my fellow and sister humans, regardless of why they were our customers is something I treasure.

Like many school districts around the country, our schools were not able to open in September. We partnered with our public schools to set up food pantries in five of our schools. We also had the return of rainy weather and the outdoor market was not an option. We began having a drive through service where our staff would build boxes of food for distribution in people’s cars. We were now serving 325 families and had special “Holiday” boxes in November and December, along with the usual boxes of meat, dairy, dry goods, canned goods, grains, produce, and food for their four-legged household members. Getting two boxes is better than one box, especially during the holidays.

In December we also had a toy drive that garnered an incredible assortment of toys from community members. It is remarkable how much our community does to provide for people having a tough time—food, toys, money—all gratefully accepted. The parents were able to pick out toys for their kids. 

We are looking forward to having our customers back in our service area to carefully select the foods they want for themselves and their loved ones. We are looking forward to giving them the kind of respectful service we always have and continue to provide. COVID or no COVID.

LONE WOLF

I am a lone wolf.

I have lost my pack.

My sire was the first to go. The alfa.

His job to protect the pack, especially from each other, fell to no one.

I grew up with the bitch who was two years my elder.

Always the more adventurous one. She was gone

Before her pups were fully grown.

And they are lost to me.

 The she-wolf who bore me tried desperately to keep the pack together.

“Come home. Why don’t you move back home?”

She grew old, frail, a little crazy

A kind of crazy that was always there but kept in check by the alpha.

 The older bitch is gone too.

When did the word bitch become derogatory?

I reclaim that title. It suits me.

It suits those of us who live in a world where self sufficiency is prized above all

And sentimentality is a luxury.

 Another sire gone. Was it really eight years ago?

He left to be with Jesus.

I think he’s food for flora and fauna.

Who’s to say?

 My brother looks up from the hard work of dying

All traces of silliness and the infectious laughter that is his calling card are gone

And the world is just a bit more lonely.

 The rest of the pack is dispersed.

Do they prowl in search of the familiar?

Of course they do. (howl)

*IPR.northwester.edu/documents/reports/ipr-rapid-research-reports-pulse-hh-data-10-june-2020.pdf

**Helpful Hint: when  thinking of donating food to the food bank, treat the task of going through your pantry the same way you go through your closet—three piles; keep, donate, throw away. You don’t donate clothes that are ripped or stained. You throw them away. The food bank volunteers spend a lot of time sorting through donations. We cannot serve food that is spoiled or way, way, way past the pull date, or that has been opened. Thanks.

***NPR.org/2020/09/08/908442609/children-are-going-hungry-why-schools-are-struggling-to-feed-students

#food insecurity #food bank #COVID-19 #food deserts #school lunch programs #food and health #SNAP

[servinglemonade]

Best of 2018: Music Edition

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! In this post, I’ll be talking about all my favorite music that has come out in 2018. I really wanted to post this before 2019 started but with all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I just did not have time. So here we are!

Spotify Wrapped

According to Spotify, It turns out my most listened artist of 2018 was the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton. I’m still loving Hamilton! There are always Hamilton songs in my playlists so this came as no surprise. My most listened song of the year was, however, a surprise. I was sure it was going to be All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar & SZA as I have probably listened to that song every other day if not every day. While All The Stars is in the top 3, the winner was Bonita by CNCO! When I saw that I remembered the month where I literally had that song on repeat for days on end. That’s probably what gave it the number one spot.

Best Albums

Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By - Various Artists

My favorite and probably most listened to album of 2018! Never has a movie soundtrack that wasn’t from a musical captivated me like the Black Panther soundtrack! Making songs inspired by all the events in the movie with elements from that amazing score has been so creative and well done! I can only take my hat off for that. It isn’t nominated for 8 Grammy’s (including Album of the year) for nothing!

Favorites: All The Stars, X, Opps, Paramedic! & King’s Dead

EVERYTHING IS LOVE - THE CARTERS

We finally have a Bey X Jay album and wow, it’s everything! I didn’t really know what to expect going into it. However APESHIT was not it! An instant classic, what a banger and how fun to perform with a crowd, sadly I have not experienced it. YET ;). One thing I love about the album is that it's a nicely balanced mix of those songs you can really dance to like APESHIT & 713 and songs that you can just vibe to like HEARD ABOUT US & LOVEHAPPY.

Favorites: APESHIT, NICE, 713, FRIENDS & HEARD ABOUT US 

Suncity - Khalid

Khalid aka one of the best new artists! I have been listening to some songs of his (OTW, Location, Young, Dumb & Broke). When both my sister and my mom recommended this particular album, I decided to give it a listen. Am I glad I did just that. I really enjoy albums like this, just very chill and vibey. I can listen to this all day!

Favorites: Saturday Nights, Better & Suncity

Hamildrops - Various Artists

Alright, not really an album, but I thought I would include it here anyway. Cause what’s a music blog post without any mention of Hamilton?! So in 2018, us Hamilton fans have been treated with 12 new songs (one every month) inspired by the musical! First of all, awesome idea! I don’t listen to all of them all the time, but there are some true gems like Found/Tonight & First Burn! And some really unexpected ones like the Hamilton Polka by Weird Al and even a cameo from BARACK OBAMA! 

Favorites: Wrote My Way Out (Remix), Found/Tonight, First Burn, Rise Up Wise Up Eyes Up, A Forgotten Spot (Olvidado), Cheering For Me Now & One Last Time - 44 remix

Best Songs

God is a woman - Ariana Grande

I mean, what to say about this other than amazing. One of my favorites songs of the year and Sweetener. As I’m typing I really don’t what to say. Let’s just keep it simple: A. POWERFUL. ANTHEM. That’s it. (watch the video too, it’s stunning!)

Made For Now - Janet Jackson & Daddy Yankee

JANET JACKSON GIVING US TRUE POP MUSIC IN 2018! OMG. Okay now that that’s out of the way. Janet Jackson is such a damn queen. I can’t believe this song wasn’t appreciated by the general audience. The pop genre these days is so much more of the same, this is so fresh. It has a great message, a great beat with a few African influences and DADDY YANKEE! The video is a masterpiece! So beautifully shot, great fashion, awesome choreography (as you would expect from a Janet music video) and it shows New York in a great way. Another thing, the video is available in 4K quality. It’s so cinematic, please watch it on your TV! If this isn’t nominated for several VMA’s............. Give this song some love! 

Nothing Breaks Like A Heart - Mark Ronson (feat. Miley Cyrus)

Miley is back! I have loved Miley since her Hannah Montana days, it has never stopped and to see her killing it now is just amazing! Nothing Breaks Like A Heart is an amazing song. But it’s the video that makes the song even better. Showing the injustice in America, while some rather focus on celebrity news is so true and it’s great to address it this way!

Honorable mentions (from this year & some oldies)

This Is America - Childish Gambino 

Bloom (Album) - Troye Sivan

The Kids Are Alright (Album) - Chloe X Halle

F.A.M.E (Album) - Maluma

Greatest Hits - Queen

CNCO - CNCO

The Rubberband Man - The Spinners

Ashes - Céline Dion

Queen (Album) - Nicki Minaj

Never Alone - Tori Kelly (feat. Kirk Franklin)

SweetSexySavage (Album) - Kehlani

Camila (Album) - Camila Cabello

Solo (EP) - Anitta

Fooled Around And Fell In Love - Elvin Bishop

Sweetener (Album) - Ariana Grande

Nice For What - Drake

thank u, next - Ariana Grande 

Ao Vivo e Cores - Matheus & Kauan with Anitta

Lost In Japan - Shawn Mendes

One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey (feat. Boyz II Men)

Taki Taki - DJ Snake (with Selena Gomez, Cardi B & Ozuna)

Sin Pijama - Becky G & Natti Natasha

This was all my favorite music from 2018! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe found some new jams! I can’t wait what’s in store for 2019.

Have an amazing day and stay flawless!

XO

Yenai

#servinglemonade #entertainment #music #best of 2018 #blog post #music post #black panther #janet jackson #made for now #ariana grande #god is a woman #khalid #suncity #hamilton #lin manuel miranda #grammys #miley cyrus #nothing breaks like a heart #music blog #this is america

[dianamathur-novelist]

European Project, Baltic Dream, Paths Forward Where American Dream Falters

Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, 2013 Nobel Laureate, and kin to four Lithuanian grandparents, addressed attendees at the Baltic Boston Conference on November 24, 2018, commemorating the Baltic centennials.

Professor Shiller spoke about the evolution of “The American Dream,” a notion that was coined and lauded in 1931; and compared it to the European Project and the “Baltic Dream”.

Using search tools Ngram and Proquest, Schiller traced the American Dream origins to the nation’s founding thinkers, including Thomas Paine, who challenged the logic of hereditary advantage in Common Sense (1776); and Ben Franklin, who in 1782 France published the pamphlet, Information for those Who would Remove to America.

“Don’t come to America if you think you will impress people with title and money,” Franklin wrote.  “Come if you can do something. Americans say, ‘God Almighty is a mechanic.’” Franklin claimed the humble husbandman (farmer) would be respected in America.

A sister concept to the American Dream was portrayed by Israel Zangwill in his 1908 play, “The Melting Pot,” wherein a Jewish man marries a Christian woman. President Teddy Roosevelt applauded the play, making assimilation, the coming together of different nationalities and cultures, the preferred face of the nation (rather than, for example, the Jim Crow laws of the day*).

In 1930, “The American Dream” was advertising copy for a box spring mattress. (It cost $13.50).

In 1931, “The American Dream” was coined by historian James Truslow Adams in his book, Epic of America. (So named because Adams’s publisher said a book entitled The American Dream wouldn’t sell.) With that phrase, Adams was defining a hopefulness that he admired in American culture.

"…that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone (emphasis added), with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. … It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman  (ahead of his time, Prof. Shiller points out, Adams specified both genders) shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."

“Ideas are contagious,” explained Shiller, “like viruses, thoughts change and mutate over time, their popularity goes in and out.” In the depths of the Great Depression, the hopeful idea of the American Dream was born, its roots already established in the nation’s consciousness, and the notion went viral.

Immigrants came to America because of the American Dream, some aspiring to own farms – one version of the Dream. America attracted hardworking people. Every young activist thought of the United States as a bastion of freedom and democracy.

Continuing the etiology, in 1931 and 1961, respectively, playwrights George O’Neill and Edward Albee* used the title with irony, dealing with the disintegration of the American Dream.

The American Dream doesn’t mean today what it meant in 1931.

1950 real estate ads painted the American Dream as home ownership: Man marries and children arrive. Man gives them a place to call their own. The ideal was a suburban home, where couples could entertain using their stylish wedding gifts. The concept had lost its idealistic and intellectual tenor since 1931, even neglecting the original idea of inclusion.

The American Dream further mutated by1980, when homes became thought of as investments. Prof. Shiller pointed to the shift in public attention from land prices to home prices, among other proofs.

Today, suburban home ownership no longer represents the American Dream. Walkable cities offering art, community space, and eateries, make life meaningful to young people.

In 2018, Frank Rich wrote in New York magazine, “That loose civic concept known as the American Dream …  has been shattered. No longer is lip service paid to the credo, however sentimental, that a vast country, for all its racial and sectarian divides, might somewhere in its DNA have a shared core of values that could pull it out of any mess.”

The American Dream is history*.

Across the Atlantic, the counterpart to the American Dream is often referred to as the European Project. In contrasting the two mindsets, Jeremy Rifkin explains:

For Americans, freedom is associated with autonomy, which requires amassing wealth. One is free by becoming self-reliant, an island unto oneself — and with exclusivity comes security.

For Europeans, freedom is not found in autonomy, but in access to a myriad of interdependent relationships with others. The more communities one has access to, the more options and choices one has for living a full and meaningful life. With relationships comes inclusivity, and with inclusivity comes security.

The American Dream puts an emphasis on economic growth, personal wealth and independence. The new European Dream focuses more on sustainable development, quality of life and interdependence.

The American Dream pays homage to the work ethic. The European Dream is more attuned to leisure and deep play.

The American Dream is wedded to love of country and patriotism. The European Dream is more cosmopolitan, less territorial, … and secular to the core.

Neither Americans nor Europeans have lived up to their respective dreams, but Europe has articulated a vision for the future that focuses on quality of life, sustainability, peace and harmony.

(Rifkin, 2004.) (Check out the highlights of a collective vision based on personal transformation rather than individual material accumulation here:

Professor Shiller shared brief references to national Canadian, Chinese, and French Dreams, elaborating on views of the Russian Dream obtained through a primary source. “They don’t talk a whole lot about it, but …we too have a national dream. Not for happiness. We dream about what the majority of Americans already have, a cottage (single family home).”

A common aspect of the American and Russian Dreams: We want to live well, and not be limited by a society that prevents us from doing what we could do.

That this is the sincere desire of a typical Russian is evidenced by the popularity of recent presidential candidate Alexei Navalny, who said, “The idea we are destined to always live in poverty is deeply engrained in people’s minds. The goal of my campaign is to conquer it.” Navalny’s run against Putin was halted by conviction of a tax irregularity.

What is the Baltic Dream? Professor Shiller picked the brains of his Yale Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian students to elucidate its themes. Recurrent were feelings of loyalty, and of love for country and culture – though not in a nationalistic way – and of wanting to go back. It’s a dream of integration into exciting things wordwide; of being part of the family of European countries, small by might, yet world citizens, technological leaders and entrepreneurs in the vein of Finland’s Nokia and Estonia’s Skype. “The Baltic Dream is to be free, independent democracies; to own our land, and speak our language.” Power in song and dance is part of the genetic code, still as relevant and victorious as the Singing Revolution.

What comes next in the evolution of national dreams?

A desperate political atmosphere has come in after the demise of the American Dream. It’s every man for himself. There is loss of commitment to policies that redistribute to the poor, and loss of entrepreneurial optimism. Political attitudes are hostile. Troubled polarization and the rise of nationalist politics beset the quest for our identity and hope for the future.

Last year 69 million people were displaced by war and discord, and are pushing at borders.

Fear of immigrants, fear of automation stealing jobs, fear of home price inflation, especially for people who haven’t yet bought homes, is rampant.

Professor Shiller’s tone was tactful in answering questions from the Baltic Boston audience, which comprised both Trump supporters and critics. He deftly replied that discussing America First as a national sentiment and public policy requires a psychologist as much as an economist.

What obligation do Baltic countries have to help Muslim refugees? Muslim refugees don’t have that much interest in going somewhere where you have to learn an exotic language. And the national identities of small countries may be threatened by the influx of different perspectives. But certainly the Baltics should take some Muslim refugees, and be nice to them.

Shiller’s documentation of the rise and fall of the American Dream ended on a note of reasonable hope when he compared President Trump to the historical figures of William Jennings Bryan, a populist of the 1890s; Father Coughlin, a fascist radio priest of the Great Depression; and Senator Joe McCarthy, Red-scare smear tactician of 1950.

“These men all were very popular at one point in time,” Shiller pointed out. “Then they went too far and that did it. McCarthy eventually became ridiculous, even accusing communists of mind control.” The citizenry eventually withdrew support for these figures. “Trump’s antics may be pushing his luck. Calling a woman ‘horse-face’ doesn’t have to do with politics. You don’t call people that, even an opponent.”

“I just hope he does the right thing in the remaining two years,” Shiller concluded.

by Diana Mathur

* the author’s observation

#Baltic Boston #Robert Shiller #American Dream #Baltic Dream #The Ghastly Year

[magichcuse]

((Assortment of headcanons:

Alroy has never seen The L.ion K.ing in one full sitting. The first time he watched it, the stampede scene made him upset and Johnny had to stop the movie. After that, even when Alroy is older, he skips that part of the movie. Johnny doesn't really like that part either, though he keeps that to himself- he's relieved that he can skip it.

Even though Franklin has been surrounded by magical people for most of his life, raising a magical child was something he couldn't really have prepared for. Luckily, he has plenty of magic users in his life to get advice from, but there are things he knows he probably won't understand about Breanna and her school life. The prestige and bloodlines thing is especially out of his area of expertise, not even knowing much about his own biological relatives until Breanna begged to let her use a DNA testing kit.

Franklin eventually towers over Johnny, yet he still treats Johnny like he did when he was younger (very timid and respectful, calls him Mr. Foley, etc.). Johnny finds this amusing yet a little concerning- he wants to be seen on equal grounds as Franklin, being unconcerned with formalities.

Even though Johnny is fairly good at singing, lullabies made him feel nervous because he didn't really know any good ones. He usually made them up on the fly, sometimes singing about nothing and being thankful his kids aren't old enough to realize how bad the lullabies were from a lyrical perspective. Luckily, he learns some decent ones by the time his kids become more aware of the world around them so he isn’t singing about blenders and ceiling fans anymore.

Breanna ADORED Conall as a lil duckling-gosling. She'd follow "Puppy" around and even curled up against him to use him as a pillow/stuffed animal of sorts. When she's older, she still likes being in his company to a lesser extent. On bad days, she'd spend a good moment just petting him and sometimes venting to him until her mom needed him for something.

Nettie is almost a completely different person when she's around Hal. She's not abrasive towards him and feels more comfortable around him. His awkwardness ironically makes her feel less awkward.

On the other side of things, Hal is very comfortable around Nettie and tries to be a good role model for her. He loves getting to be an older brother figure to her and supports her engineering endeavors (and feels grateful that she's willing to take a break whenever he wants to spend time with her).

Marion and Hal bond over their awkwardness. They never get too close, but they feel comfortable around each other at least.

Emil, despite being preoccupied with school and work at the time, remembers more about Jewel when she was younger than Azula does. He has the age advantage, being eleven by the time she was hatched while Azula was eight. Still, Azula was too focused on herself to really get to know Jewel outside of begrudgingly spending time with her while her mom and brother were away. Emil put in more effort to learn about his youngest sister and took the opportunity to spend quality time with her whenever he had the time (not to mention, he took on a parental role for her and allowed her to wake him up whenever she needed him even if it inconvenienced him). While Azula can only give general information and sprinkle in a "you were kind of annoying", Emil knows plenty of stories about Jewel's younger years (even when she was just an egg) and can talk about all of the phases she had. Jewel isn't sure whether she appreciates this or feels embarrassed about it. He's the same way about Azula to a lesser extent, which Azula is a little less grateful about. Emil is pretty much a family encyclopedia- too bad he lets everyone else talk over him and doesn't chime into conversations until Jasper urges him to because he "doesn't have anything interesting to say".

Emil built dollhouses for his sisters sometimes. Jewel is lucky enough to grow up when Emil is capable of building more elaborate, better built dollhouses while Azula outgrew dolls by the time he was at that skill level and envies Jewel despite her mother buying her some pretty nice dollhouses.

Jewel sometimes used/uses Emil's old clothes as pajamas/lounge outfits. He sometimes pokes fun at it when he gets to see Jewel wearing his old clothes, which she's a good sport about.

Walter receives pretty much every momento/photograph his parents had of him when they leave because they don't want any trace of him in their lives. It's mostly just stuff from his early childhood and some of it he can't even look at because of the clown phase he had (his parents traumatized him out of this phase and he's still terrified of them). It feels bittersweet to look through it, especially without his parents there to reminisce with him (not like they would have done it anyway). Patrick likes looking through the momentos/pictures with Walter though and he even tries to guess/make up stories to go along with them, which makes Walter laugh.

Walter kind of gets into photography without realizing it. He starts out with his siblings, Evelynn, Dedrick, and occasionally himself. Then he takes pictures of things he finds interesting (lots of dogs, some nice landscapes, a few mythical creatures here and there, etc.) Eventually, he starts taking pictures just whenever he wants to capture a moment- mainly cute moments with/amongst the Daskalakis clan. He doesn't consider himself a photographer by any means, but enjoys photography nonetheless and tries to share these photos with Theo to try to get his approval. Walter doesn't know this, but his spur of the moment pictures have more in common with Theo's than he thinks and they're pretty good in their own right. He believes that Theo thinks his pictures look like utter garbage and he feels inferior to him, but shares the pictures anyway because he's holding out hope for even the smallest scrap of approval. Just a vague semblance of a smile is all it'd take for Walter to feel like he won.))

#{behind the feathers} | ooc #headcanons

[adevotedappraisal]

“Famous” by Kanye West from The Life of Pablo

Before Kanye drops his new album Yhandi in the middle of a twitter media storm, It would be instructive to look at his 2016 album The Life of Pablo, the album that first signaled this change to the current persona as the biggest rebellious son on Earth, flipping many of his former beliefs on their head, turning off some former fans, fascinating others and frustrating others until they hate-watch everything the Chicago rapper does.

You can say what you want about how Kanye West is feeling or what he’s thinking, and a lot of people have said something, but I’ve always just listened to his albums to get a barometer reading. I really don’t place weight on any particular news story for the full truth.  I don’t scroll down, I just press play.  Because Kanye West albums are about the man writ large.  And through the bombast and outsourced beats, layered upon other beats, we can draw a bead on the man himself based on the control he wields on his albums.  And so the most blatant example of this was 2008s 808s and Heartbreak, which followed the tragedies of his breakup of his relationship and the death of his mother. Well look there, as sad as the themes were there, no one worried about the artist, because of the focus and intent seen on the album.  It had a clear point of view, love it or hate it.  The same was seen with 2007s Graduation and 2010s My Twisted Dark Fantasy. Control, a clear intent, and a noticeable theme.  Any missing of the mark probably first started with 2012s Cruel Summer.  Filling the first half with sure bangers and leaving the rest of the album anemic and unfocused showed a lack of concern with the project, but nothing could be read into the psyche of the man.  Yeezus showed a dark, abrasive side, with divisive songs like “Black Skinhead” and “On Site,” but still I say, a general clarity of focus. I can’t say the same for The Life of Pablo, and I believe that a part of the general feeling of concern for Kanye is, on a subconscious level, built on a foundation of the reaction to this fragmented, sewn-together album.

There are glimpses of a good album underneath all this variegated metropolitan sprawl.  “Ultralight Beam” is Kanye at the top of his conceptual powers.  Anchored by choir harmonies arranged by Kirk Franklin, who makes a closing prayer here, the song is a majestic cloud of praise for God. Kanye, mostly on the chorus is still the real leader of the song, the verbal heavy-lifting done by the fantastic star-making verse by Chance the Rapper. And there’s “Famous,” marinated in controversy, from its opening, Taylor-baiting couplet to its creepy music video, both contemptuous and obsessed with celebrity, that said, it impresses more from its handling of the Nina Simone sample it chops and the way he has Rhianna interpolate it, and the way the beat rises to a crowning sample of Sister Nancy booming atop this millennial Dancehall.

This is juxtaposed with stuff like the horror-show rap of “Freestyle 4” the squalling, lumpish funk of “Feedback,” with his ridiculous boasts (“Steve Jobs mixed with Steve Austin!”) and charmless interludes like “Silver Surfer Announcement.” Not to mention the songs sound so disparate together. Take “Highlights,” the uptempo rap that could’ve been on Graduation (2007), while closeby the radiant “Waves” with its stadium echo boasts, could’ve been on My Dark Twisted Fantasy.  But this album on the whole has no musical or lyrical theme to hold all these styles together, it’s all sacred notes with profane lyrics, modern beats with old samples, with the guy’s quality of verse all over the place.  Now you see why everyone got worried?

Along with “Ultralight…” Kanye is most clear in intent and ‘here’ rapping on “30 Hours,” which harkens back to his earlier work, with unassuming synth work underscoring an inspired vocal sample, textured from effects, with West rapping about topics personal and boastful, but mostly it is a song about memory, and the images one focuses on to define a remembered event, in this case a college-aged love affair, and the inter-state expedition that underscored the desire and infatuation of the profane, romanticized muse. These songs, differing in texture and sound, reveal the rapper only in parts, sometimes contradicting, as opposed to his halcyon days of 2005s masterpiece Late Registration, when the whole show was laid out.  

It’s getting to the point where his televised rants and tweets have stopped being annoying and are beginning to anger some people, but the whole story is never there, that’s just the stage for his over-blown Kanye West (now Ye apparently) persona.  It is a persona that has seemingly made a dramatic reveal into a disciple for the Arch-Villian persona himself Donald Trump. Oh Ani, you’re breaking my heart. But this is a persona nevertheless, contemplated and constructed, discussed and plotted just like a lot of your favourite artists and their personas, whether it’s the Caring Humanitarian persona or the Trap Lord persona, all curated, and with the busy West, always revealing a new chapter in this year’s saga just in time for a new release date.  What the albums The Life of Pablo and Ye from this year show is something else.  

They show a man in transition, dissatisfied with some past version of himself and reaching out into the world for a new sound, for a new answer to the Negro Question, and finding himself in various places: in in the Bible, in his wife and children, in his obsessions with sex and power.  But I’m not sure I hear in those inconsistent albums a firm answer to his questions or a firm sonic wharf for his restless spirit.  But with West it won’t matter.  Cuz as always I’ll know when he’s back on the horse the next time I press play.

#music #music review #rap #hip-hop #Kanye #kanye west #the life of pablo #famous

[hellyeahrpmemes]

※ JENNA MARBLES SENTENCE STARTERS, PT. XI ※

here’s sentences from jenna’s 10 most recent videos! feel free to change names/pronouns/zodiac signs/etc.! more jenna sentences

I COOK MY BOYFRIEND’S FAVORITE MEAL

“Is this a leisure suit?”

“This is my own, customized, personal leisure suit.”

“I’m pretty sure that you got that out of my closet.”

“I bought it today with your credit card.”

“She drank wine, demanded greatness, and I delivered.”

“I guess it’s only fair - you did all that cooking for me, now I’ll do it for you.”

“I’m looking forward to the fact that you’re not going to be in the kitchen.”

“I should’ve never made this video.”

“Thank you, this is actually helpful.”

“Get your beer off the cutting board.”

“This recipe really requires a lot of knife skills that I don’t have.”

“How many times have things caught on fire?”

“I like this encouragement.”

“Seven fucking hours later, I’m still cutting these carrots.”

“I didn’t do that with you… I mean, I did, a little bit.”

“You’re not banned from the kitchen, with no arms.”

“I mean, I’m not the most gifted chopper, but this is nice and even.”

“This isn’t really looking that right.”

“This is not dough whatsoever. This is just a bowl of flour.”

“People make dumplings for fun?”

“Don’t worry, all you have to do is individually, carefully craft them by hand.”

“You asked me what I wanted, and I told you.”

“I’m hungry. I want to spend the next seven hours making my food.”

“I feel like this is the kind of dish that would break me. Like, I’m gonna cry.”

“It’s crazy how quickly I can eat one of these.”

“You told me this was gonna work.”

“This doesn’t look good at all.”

“If this doesn’t work, I’m gonna cry, and we’re just gonna starve.”

“It’s so thicc with two Cs.”

“Wait, so you can do this without being fancy, because, do I look like a fancy person to you?”

“I don’t like dumplings anymore, I just decided I’m allergic to dumplings.”

“I wanna move on with my life… I wanna get excited about my life.”

“Don’t cry and sing Dr. Phil.”

“Whoever invented dumplings is a sick, bored fuck.”

“These better be the best dumplings you’ve ever had, because, let me tell you something, it’s not worth it.”

“What year is it…!?”

“Somebody’s gonna die today.”

“That was the best part of my day, right there.”

“This is a terrifying food.”

“This is a violent dish.”

“I feel like they’re too hot to eat… only one way to test it.”

“This was worth all the stress and fury you went through.”

“How did you eat that, that’s so hot…!?”

“Why are all your recipes dangerous? Does it make your food taste better if it’s kind of dangerous?”

“It’s getting everywhere, I don’t like this.”

“I swear to god, I don’t want to go to the hospital tonight.”

“I know you had to be patient today, which you’re not used to being.”

“There’s nothing comforting about cooking these. It’s just violent, and tense, and stressful.”

CUTTING AND COLORING MY OWN HAIR 2

“He should’ve learned his lesson the first time he left me.”

“I’m really having a great time only doing my own hair.”

“A semi-permanent isn’t really a commitment.”

“It’s like a low-commitment tattoo.”

“If this is truly semi-permanent, I can do this shit whenever I want.”

“Guess who doesn’t give a fuck about her hair? Me, bitch.”

“Does this part feel like Doritos? Yeah, it does, but it’s all part of the journey.”

“I have great technique, I’m a born natural, bitch.”

“Instead of wearing a dumpy shirt that I don’t care about, I’ll wear my favorite shirt so that it forces me to be careful.”

“We’re making a semi-commitment right now.”

“Fuck it, let’s go to the Dark Side.”

“Oh, I’m making it worse.”

“Listen to that, doesn’t it sound like hair care at it’s finest?”

“All you people that joke about not going outside enough and not getting enough sun, try me, bitch.”

“Oh, how did this happen?”

“Why do we even bother wearing gloves?”

“I’m excited to see just how semi-permanent this is.”

“I am second guessing my methods.”

“Give me your honest opinion. What do you think?”

“I didn’t just want this color on my hair. I wanted it all over my face, body, and neck.”

“This is kind of fucking rad.”

“I dyed my hair by myself, at home, alone.”

“It’s dark, it’s fun, I look like a superhero.”

“Don’t even bother with all this parting shit, just get in there and do it.”

“Should I just go full bang? Should I do it?”

“I’m trying to do the most efficient thing.”

“I look like my mom in, like, 1960.”

“I’m trying to get to the point in life where, someday, when my kids see pictures and videos of me, they’re like, who the fuck is that?”

“This might be one of my favorite looks.”

“Boy, who the fuck do you think did it?”

“Why do I feel like that’s not true?”

“You look so fucking cute.”

“It says semi-permanent, I feel like it’s low-commitment.”

“I’m such a big fan of it.”

“Yeah, just give me a score out of ten, be as brutal as you want.”

“We’re gonna do some research, we’ll be back.”

TAKING MY DOG TO MEET SANTA

“That’s a great way of getting kicked right out of the mall and being asked to never come back.”

“I’m really hoping that they let us do this.”

“I don’t think that they allow dogs in this mall.”

“It says no dogs here, but then you see, like, seventy people with their dogs.”

“That was so easy and painless.”

“Never use the words ‘cuck’ and ‘Santa’ in the same sentence ever again.”

“That was so adorable.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to bug you guys.”

“Make sure you’re very kind and supportive of him.”

“I like magic and believing too.”

“The best part of snow globes is when Christmas is over you smash them on the ground.”

“Oh, fuck, here we go again.”

“The entire highway’s basically shut down.”

“The air quality is terrible - it sucks to go outside.”

“I spent $80 on this picture.”

RECREATING THE HAMSTER PICTURE

“You know what you’re signing up for, okay?”

“It’s not dumb, it needs to happen.”

“We are going to go rent a red convertible.”

“No, we’re not going to Tuscon.”

“Don’t tell anybody, but we’re faking this whole thing.”

“Alright, we’re fucked already.”

“No one has a fucking red convertible.”

“It’s weird, it’s like it’s not 1995 anymore.”

“You literally took like 100 pictures.”

“This is really stupid, but if we don’t do it, who’s gonna do it?”

“We tried and failed to rent a red convertible.”

“A sincere thank you for wasting your day.”

“We just wanted to make a meme.”

GIVING MYSELF TAPE IN HAIR EXTENSIONS

“I’ve used them, like, five times, tops.”

“It felt wrong, it looked wrong.”

“I feel like I’m missing out on the fun.”

“That sounds like the level of commitment I would like to make.”

“I want to ring in the new year looking like a snack.”

“I watched one tutorial on how to do it.”

“Should I really just go full-blown ‘I’m lost at the supermarket, can you please help me’?”

“We’re already off to a really mediocre start.”

“I hope that you brought a snack and have nothing to do today.”

“There’s no rules, right?”

“I legitimately don’t know how to part my hair.”

“Oh my god, what have I done?”

“Why are you laughing? Is it my scrunchie?”

“This is quite possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“If I was an alien, and I came to this planet, I feel like one of the things that I’d find absolutely hysterical is that we like to wear each other’s hair.”

“I’m in the middle of the hardest part, you’re such a fucking asshole.”

“Is that something I should’ve figured out beforehand?”

“We only have like seventy more.”

“Overall, it’s been kind of a nice experience.”

“It was hard. I tried my best. It was my first time.”

SHAVING MY FACE

“I’ve never done this before. Obviously.”

“I know my appearance is jarring.”

“It takes a lot of work to look this great.”

“You’re quite literally mixing up two of the most prominent X-Men right now.”

“Gambit throws playing cards. That’s it. That’s the end of Gambit.”

“I’m trying to shave my face, not get in an argument about Gambit.”

“He’s just a weird magician that was looking for a group of friends.”

“Do you wanna feel my face?”

“Wanna come over and watch me shave my face?”

“Your skin looks really good, it’s glowing.”

“Now I can do some violent shit to my face.”

“It said don’t shave your eyes, otherwise I would.”

“We’re getting ready, are you getting ready with me or not?”

“I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup, but I put it on.”

“I feel like the payoff is amazing.”

“Why have you been hiding this secret from me?”

“I know this isn’t super duper exciting, but, for me, this is so exciting.”

MY DOGS MEET A CAT

“I ask Julien for a cat just about every day, and the answer is always no.”

“Our landlord won’t let us have any more animals.”

“No, what? That’s not part of this?”

“What this really is is just for you to get comfortable with a cat, and then like it, and then get me a cat.”

“That’s what today’s about.”

“I’m ready, I know you’re ready.”

“That’s the whole day today.”

“Stop making that face.”

“We’re not getting a cat, like, ever. No.”

“Getting a cat will help you be less of an Aries.”

“Sit wherever you wanna sit, do whatever you want.”

“That was a weird thing that you just did.”

“So… do you want to get one tomorrow, or… the day after?”

“I’m right here, and I have not agreed to anything.”

“Don’t pretend like you can’t hear me.”

“Who said that? Benjamin Franklin or Jesus?”

“I don’t know what’s going on.”

GIVING MYSELF A 90′S HAIR WRAP

“I’m shaving every time from here on out.”

“It’s basically a friendship bracelet on your hair.”

“You are much bolder than me, and do your thing.”

“Get you a man that pumps you up.”

“What camps did you go to when you were a kid?”

“Rules are made to be broken, sister.”

“Where are you going? Why are you leaving?”

“Are you calling me a preteen right now?”

“Oh, this is hard to do on yourself.”

“When you take a shower, this thing stays wet for fucking days.”

“On a scale of one to snack, how are you feeling?”

“We didn’t have lettermen jackets in seventh grade.”

“My first kiss was in seventh grade.”

“Do you know how hard it is to play clarinet with braces?”

“What the fuck is the big deal? This sucked. I hated it.”

“Oh, damn, you’ve been dating older girls for a while.”

“This takes me back so hard, wow.”

“No one please remind me that I fucked this up or else I’ll be very upset.”

“I feel like this a thing that twelve-year-olds and grandmas would be like, hell yeah.”

“That’s like buying a coloring book colored.”

“I have yet to do something that I really didn’t enjoy.”

“I worked hard on this for six minutes.”

“We’re not friends anymore.”

“In case you thought I was done here, though, you’d be incorrect.”

“She was my favorite singer in the 90’s, and then I graduated to Sarah McLaughlin.”

“First of all, this is a deadly fucking weapon.”

“Ow, don’t pull it, oh my god, don’t pull on it.”

MAKING TERRIBLE HOT GLUE CRAFTS

“I got, like, physically angry. I got hot in the face, and was kind of mad.”

“The things that people will do with a hot glue gun and call it a hack is just… beyond.”

“I cannot justify spending my time that way.”

“If anyone’s actually going to sit down and do these crafts, it’s going to be me.”

“Yeah, I’ve got some time to kill and some glue to waste.”

“Do you see my hands shaking already? Like, I’m tired. This is exhausting.”

“I’m a little confused as to why you’re spending this kind of money to glue yourself a pair of shoes that have holes in the bottoms.”

“I’m just gonna do it on my table because I’ve stopped giving a fuck.”

“I have strong, meaty arms which sometimes look fat in shirts.”

“I’m not trying to stifle anyone’s creativity, but this is a fucking waste of time.”

“I think this is a very loose definition of ‘shoes’.”

“I’m just sort of waiting for it to be over.”

“I’m just settling for blobby blob mess at this point, because I just don’t care.”

“This design is flawed.”

“They’re not structurally sound anywhere.”

“After a couple of seconds, it physically starts to hurt.”

“They’re not shoes at all, this is not okay.”

“This doesn’t feel good, and they don’t work.”

“I will never get this part of my life back.”

“No, you can’t do this, it’s not okay.”

“This is not a solution to any problem, this is a mess.”

“I don’t care about the rest of this paper, I’m not going to use it for anything.”

“I love my money. I love just taking it and dumping it in the toilet.”

“You could maybe wear this for fifteen minutes before it inevitably broke.”

“Just because you can make it, doesn’t mean you should.”

“This does not work, this does not work, this doesn’t work, okay, it’s working.”

“I’m trying my best, I’m not trying to fuck this up.”

“Does it look good? Does it look like tears and sadness?”

“I’m mad at myself. I can’t believe I’ve done this.”

���I really can’t handle another time like this. This is a dark time.”

“I did it, and I’m here to tell you it’s not worth it.”

“I feel sad on the inside, I don’t like it.”

“These are not life hacks. Do I look like someone whose life is better after doing this?”

“They don’t work and it pisses me off. This is a lie.”

“This is what happens when you leave. You can’t leave. You have to stay.”

“Does it look better like this? No — that’s worse. That’s worse, I’m sorry.”

MAKING OUR FAVORITE SOUP

“I’m just having one of those days when I just want to curl up under a blanket.”

“I’m sick.”

“I’m having a day where I’m not a person.”

“I’m so sorry, man, it’s just not in the cards for today.”

“I know you have days like this, too.”

“It doesn’t matter when you’re having a day like this.”

“I’m the best chef.”

“Just to be clear, you don’t want to go to the ER?”

“What’s going on with your pants?”

“I’m gonna go ahead and burn myself.”

“Maybe, instead of going out for a date right now, we can, when we sit down and have dinner, we can light a candle and hold hands the whole time we eat.”

“I’m large.”

“I’m gonna eat once now and once in two hours and it’s gonna be gone.”

“Do you think we have a tablespoon? Because I’m not going to the store.”

“Don’t listen to him, that is not true.”

“It’s really good, I burnt my tongue a little bit.”

“First of all, it’s amazing, second of all, it’s amazing, third of all… what?”

“Literally walking through the middle of TSA - that’s a bad time to have soup.”

#rp memes #rp sentence starters #roleplay meme #rp sentence prompts #sentence starters #mine

[shipchandlingfromcapetokairo]

Shipbuilding Projects Success - How

Unprecedented complexity “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship,” said Benjamin Franklin. And a small oversight will sink a great shipbuilding project, one might add.

Building a product as complex as a ship, with its hundreds of thousands of parts, and its constellation of OEMs, design offices, suppliers and subcontractors is a challenging endeavour indeed. It takes an average of two years to build an offshore support vessel, and five to seven years to build an aircraft carrier. In comparison, it takes less than 3 months to build a Boeing 777 and 17 to 18 hours to make a Toyota. In addition, no two ships are ever the same. Even sister ships have differences, and these differences in design mean that each shipbuilding project is unique.

Recent years have seen a growing demand for high-tech and high value-added vessels. Navies are asking for adaptable, multirole vessels that can deal with military operations other than war, for example, providing humanitarian relief and emergency medical care after natural disasters or establishing a helicopter platform for replenishment or evacuation. At the other end of the spectrum, the yachting and cruising industries demand versatile vessels that can operate in a wide range of conditions, from the Galapagos to Antarctica. Those vessels require high-tech equipment and systems onboard. They need more sensors, more cables, more automation, and more controls. This increased level of complexity translates into unprecedented risks in the design and build processes. If shipbuilders want to remain competitive in today’s saturated market, they must identify risks as early as possible in the project and find ways to keep those risks under control to deliver on time, on budget and on quality.

Costing: dilemma vs reality In his M.Sc. Thesis – Marine Systems Design at The Department of Marine Technology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Trondheim), “Shipbuilding Cost Estimation”, Haakon Shetelig describes the shipbuilder’s dilemma as follows:

“The dilemma of the shipbuilder is to decide which starting point to choose to find the newbuilding price; the expected costs of a certain vessel or the expected market price for the same vessel. If a shipbuilder chooses to find the price for a new building with bottom-up pricing [also called costing, which is when the price is decided based on the costs], there is a risk of overpricing and then losing a contract. On the other hand, if a shipbuilder uses the market price as the basis [bottom-down pricing, or target costing], the main risk is that the price is too low to cover the expenses.”

Note: EBIT = earnings before interest and taxes

Bids must be both attractive and accurate – if the price is too high, the shipyard may lose business. If it is too low, it will lose money. As Haakon continues, there are a few other factors impacting the pricing, such as historic deals impacting the market price, marine suppliers’ prices, etc. As a result, the shipbuilder’s reality is a combination of both approaches whereby the shipbuilder must find the sweet spot between pricing and costing to secure the highest possible profit margin.

Mitigating risks

Risks must be kept under control to maximize earnings, avoid schedule delays, and ensure that the customer’s requirements are met. Failure to deliver according to the contract terms may lead to penalties and, in some cases, damage the shipyard reputation.

The only way to manage those risks is to combine cost, schedule and technical requirements in a fully planned, resourced and budgeted end-to-end project management solution. This integrated solution must offer the three following features:

Integrated planning: Typically, in Marine, the work breakdown structure (WBS) forms the basis of the shipbuilding process. At all times the WBS needs to be connected to the technical requirements set by the customer, so shipbuilders can keep track of how any change to the schedule will impact those requirements, and ensure that they are still able to comply with the contract. Having an integrated systems approach to planning and execution is critical for projects as complex as building a ship.

Integrated bid & risk management: Requirements and risks must be connected from the very beginning of the shipbuilding project when the shipyard is responding to an IFB (invitation for bids) or an RFP (request for proposals). This will ensure that risks are accurately assessed and clearly communicated to the customer during the bidding process.

Closed-loop project management: Best practices and lessons learned need to be fed back into the work breakdown structure (WBS) so workflows and processes can be improved continuously.

Conclusion: introducing the IPPE octopus

To remain competitive in today’s uncertain market, a shipyard must deliver bids that are both attractive and accurate. To this end, having a fully planned, resourced and budgeted end-to-end project management solution has become critical. In the previous paragraph, we have highlighted three key features that a true integrated project planning and execution (IPPE) system should offer. 

However, the full picture looks a lot more like this:

And just like an octopus, your shipbuilding project management system should be robust, yet flexible and adaptable. If implemented correctly, it will enable you to steer your projects to successful completion, however complex they may be.

Article from https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/marine/

#marine news #maritime #marine suppliers

[shadowpeoplearejerks]

Brick Walls Into Doors

I came out to my dad’s side of the family over Christmas break. It didn’t go well. My father’s voice took on a hysterical tinge immediately, and then he asked me to have dinner at his house in a few days. 

A thing about my dad you may find interesting is that food is a Big Deal to him. He hates take-out, fast food, and basically anything that isn’t decent food from a restaurant or home cooking. This in mind, I step through the door and am offered, of all things, low-quality chinese take-out served on nice plates with our good silverware. The uncanny juxtaposition plucked at my already threadbare nerves. 

Dinner was eaten, the atmosphere subdued and tense. Some efforts at small-talk were made. My stepmother was her usual delightful self, with such incredible lines as “National Treasure was a good movie, I think there’s a lot of truth in that” and “Ben Franklin couldn’t have been part of the masons, he wanted to free the blacks.” 

Amazing dinner conversation. Really riveting stuff. Scintillating jewels of genius in the otherwise dull intellectual firmament of this world.

After dinner, my stepmom’s mother went upstairs. And then it was me, and three people I grew up with. My dad, my stepmother, and my sister. 

A day earlier, my sister had told my mother, when discussing me, that she is “Coming from a place of love.”  My mom was, understandably, concerned.

What followed was an hour and a half of my stepmother, an emotionally abusive gold-digger who is approximately 33% plastic and has only a passing relationship to the truth on a good day, basically laying out every possible grievance she has ever had  against me, while simultaneously throwing out every single anti-trans cliche you have ever heard. 

“What you are doing is perverse” “If you have boobs and a dick, that’s wrong! It’s fucked up!” “You’ve always been lazy” “You’re a really selfish guy” “What happened to -deadname-, he was a nice boy, it’s like you’re killing him” “Oh, this is just a phase, if you want to dabble with this we understand but you’re not serious about it.” “You’re too lazy to be a girl” “It was selfish of you not to tell us so we could give you our input” “I have given so much up for you kids”

It just kept going. For an hour and a half. My stepmother verbally bashed with consistent support from my dad and sister. Every statement laced with a barb of some sort against me. I was called everything bad a person can be, except for stupid. No matter how carefully I explained things, or how explicitly I laid my feelings out, they were brushed aside. No one there really wanted to listen, they just wanted me to...not be transgender anymore. And for some reason, they had my stepmother, the person in my family who has consistently emotionally abused me speak through it all. Including having her offer up bizarre questions about my sex life and accusing my girlfriend of making me trans. It was literally every anti-trans talking point I had ever seen, all at once. It was incredible, in a way.

I am still proud of myself for not getting upset at all during this. Of course, after leaving the house I sobbed on my girlfriend for a good ten minutes. But god damn it, I was steel in there! Steel! And then I promptly ruined this by dragging them all on Facebook by posting verbatim quotes from the one-and-a-half-hour-hate session. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, I guess? With a lot of support from my mom’s side of the family, including my amazing grandma and grampa, I’ll be okay. Even if after, on Christmas day, my stepmom’s mother chased me up the hill to lecture me when I left after a courtesy visit. 

If there’s anything to be learned from all this, it’s that I can’t keep pretending to like my stepmother at all. It’s not useful, and it’s ultimately enabling all this awful behavior. I don’t know if dad or my sister will ever warm up to me being trans, I think they will, but it will take some time. Even if they don’t, they’ll still love me, and keep supporting me financially in case of emergency. But I don’t think there’s any sense anymore in pretending that my stepmother is, at best uncomfortable, and at worst, is someone who has consistently isolated my father from his friends and family.  Despite everything, I’m still excited for this new year. I’m gonna do my best and keep trying to be the best me I can be :D u r all gr8 I luv u <3 < 3 <3

[mg-bsl381]

Six Weeks

Trixie has an afternoon at the clinic that she’s unlikely to forget.

I hope you like this

Six Weeks

Trixie Franklin looked at her list for that day at the clinic.  Strangely of all Sister Ursula’s dictates, the only one to survive was the appointment system for ante-natal and post-natal checks.  Although they still got people who dropped in, the clinic seemed to run smoother now and there was still ample time for the midwives and the mothers.  

Today Trixie was on the post-natal list with Barbara doing the ante-natal one and Valerie was manning the intake table.  They were thinner on the ground than Trixie would have liked but it couldn’t be helped this week.  Patsy was currently on secondment to St Cuthbert’s which she seemed to be very happy about for some reason.  Phyllis was at a delivery and Sister Winifred was currently on duty at the maternity home.  Shelagh was on maternity leave and the clinic just wasn’t the same without her there.  Sister Julienne had gone to Birmingham to visit Cynthia at Northfield.  

Trixie looked down at her list, nothing too challenging she hoped as she knew virtually all the mothers and had delivered quite a few of the babies.  The last name on list caught her eye, Shelagh Turner.  My goodness, Trixie thought, was Shelagh’s baby six weeks old already.  Doesn’t time fly, a year ago they were about to set sail for South Africa.  Trixie’s mind suddenly started moving very fast as her thoughts tumbled over one another.  She scratched her head at the slowly dawning realisation.  No, surely not.  She reached into her apron pocket for her pregnancy calculator.  Instead of going forward, she worked backwards.  She put her hand over her mouth to conceal her gasp of surprise.  The thump of the hall doors brought her quickly back to her duties at the Tuesday clinic.  Trixie looked up and quickly ducked her head to hide her blush of embarrassment as Dr Turner sauntered through the doors.

She glanced across the room only to see Barbara looking at her quizzically.  Trixie wondered why she felt embarrassment when she saw Dr Turner but nothing of the sort when she saw Barbara.  For Barbara was now Mrs Hereward, wife to the man who might’ve been Trixie’s husband.  

Valerie opened the doors and the patients streamed in.  Noise and bustle filled the hall.  Trixie called out the first name on the list and her afternoon began in earnest.  Things ran smoothly, although one mother’s personal hygiene left a lot to be desired.  A quick check of her address showed that she didn’t live in the old tenement buildings with their shared facilities but the new high rise flats.  Trixie made a note to follow-up her concerns, maybe with a home visit to see how the mother was coping.   With the rise in homes with bathrooms in Poplar, gone were the days when a poor sense of smell and a strong stomach were useful qualities for a midwife to have.

Finally Trixie had only one name on the list.  She stuck her head out of the cubicle to see Shelagh chatting happily to the mother sat next to her.  Trixie did a double take when she realised Shelagh wasn’t holding her baby.  Trixie called out Shelagh’s name and watched as she walked in the opposite direction to the cubicle and headed into the kitchen.  A few moments later she reappeared smiling and cradling her baby son.

Shelagh entered the cubicle and hopped up onto the bed, where she sat rocking the baby in her arms.  Trixie began by asking all the usual questions about how Shelagh was feeling.  As she hadn’t needed any stitches there was no need to check the perineum for healing.  Trixie held the baby while Shelagh shuffled herself down and adjusted her clothing so that Trixie could palpate her abdomen to check if the uterus had returned to its normal size.  She checked whether Shelagh was experiencing any pain or discomfort following the birth.  All seemed to be going well and Shelagh looked in remarkably good shape for someone with a six-weeker.  She guessed that Shelagh probably hadn’t rested as much as they recommended but she was now a mum of three so that was understandable.

Trixie then turned her attention to the baby who was not nearly as compliant as his mother.  He was alright being measured but he objected fiercely to being weighed and his other checks were challenging for Trixie to carry out as he screwed up his little face and screamed at the top of his lungs.  Shelagh propped herself up on the bed and draped the baby’s blanket over one shoulder as Trixie passed the squirming infant to her.  The screams instantly subsided to muffled sobs as he began to feed.  Every so often there would be a shuddering sob to remind them that he had not appreciated being manhandled in such a way.  Trixie commented that he was certainly strong and his lungs and vocal chords were impressive for one so tiny.  As Shelagh was feeding the baby, the conversation naturally turned to breastfeeding which Shelagh was adjusting well to after a few initial hiccups.  

Trixie looked down at her checklist and saw the words “marital relations and contraception”.  This was going to be awkward, especially after her earlier deductions.   So she took a deep breath and began,

‘Now that your little one is six weeks old, I need to advise you on a resumption of…’  she paused, this was even more awkward than she’d anticipated ‘…marital relations.  We recommend six weeks as it allows your body time to recover from childbirth.  Of course, it is only a guideline and if you are not ready there is no rush.’

Trixie let out a deep breath, then she felt a hand on her arm.

‘It’s alright Nurse Franklin, I am aware of the six week guideline.’  

Trixie watched in amazement as Shelagh quickly looked away and a blush covered her cheeks.  It was not so much the blush but the “cat that got the cream” smile that accompanied it, that gave the game away.

Emboldened by Shelagh’s smile, Trixie carried on…

‘Well I certainly hope you have thought about contraception because a South African little miracle is one thing but a Poplar one less than a year later would be another thing altogether.’  Trixie stopped and put her hand over her mouth.  ‘Oh Shelagh, I’m so sorry, that didn’t come out in the way it should have done.  What I meant to say was, if you needed advice on contraception, I can book you an appointment with the family planning, if you’d like.’

Shelagh nodded and looked sternly at Trixie.  Oops thought Trixie, that was the daftest thing to have said.  

‘Well you are right.’  Shelagh’s face broke into a smile and she continued ‘on both counts.  I think one miracle is enough for me at the moment.  However I do think I got the better deal.  My miracle was a much better souvenir from South Africa than your suntan.’

With that Shelagh started to giggle with Trixie succumbing shortly afterwards.  It was such a surreal conversation for them to have but they had known each other for years.  Trixie still remembered the wit of Sister Bernadette and was glad she was still there in the woman who was now Shelagh Turner.

The curtain swished open and Patrick stood there open mouthed at the sight of the two of them giggling like teenagers.  

‘What is going on in here?’ he asked obviously curious to the source of their laughter.

‘Just my postnatal check.  If you’re all done, do you want to take him and I’ll meet you outside in a moment.  We’re almost done in here.’

Shelagh handed the baby over to her husband and after his footsteps retreated across the hall, she spoke softly to Trixie.

‘As a doctor and a nurse, I can assure you we will familiarise ourselves with all of the available methods of contraception and after thorough testing we will decide which is the most suitable.’  

Shelagh laughed at Trixie’s look of utter astonishment and strode out of the cubicle, following her husband out of the hall.  The echo of her laughter lingering in the air.

All Trixie could do was stare open-mouthed at Shelagh’s retreating back.  Barbara came over and tapped her on the arm.  Trixie blinked and looked surprised to see her.

‘I heard all the giggling and then the look on your face is something I have never seen before.  What was all that about?’

Trixie shook her head and smiled glancing over at the door of the hall.

‘If I told you what had just happened you wouldn’t believe me.  Just let me tell you this, that was the most enlightening and informative six week check I have ever carried out and that is quite an achievement.’

#call the midwife #call the midwife fanfiction #ctmshare #Trixie Franklin #Shelagh Turner #my Shelagh is the Shelagh of uncharitable thoughts in South Africa #Sister Bernadette and the enemy binoculars #that kind of Shelagh #bold and knows her own mind kind of Shelagh #Trixie is still reeling from the shock #I wrote this very late at night when I couldn't sleep #the later it is the stranger the fic is