#Law & Order UK One Shot

[unamazing-sheep21]

My own silly little interpretation of Edward Rochester if he were my OC instead of Charlotte Brontë’s ( Jane Eyre Chainsaw Man AU, takes place in the 2000’s)

Edward Fairfax Rochester

Born: 10/11/1976, 26 years old

Gender: male, he/him

Family: Frederick and Rowland Rochester ( father and brother), Ahed Al-Wadood ( mother, deceased), Mary-Anne Fairfax Rochester ( stepmother/half mother , deceased)

Occupation: Devil Hunter, current captain of division 6. Later landlord to Thornfield Hall.

Devil contracts: Tragedy, Terror, and The Electricity Fiend

Edward was raised for most of his life by his mother, an independent journalist who often worked for large media companies in a series of contracts back in Britain. Most of the time she would have to work in her home country, whatever the news decided to call it, she called it Palestine. Edward would spend half a year with his mother and half a year with his father and his wife. In order to keep up the charade that he was his father’s legitimate son.

So he grew up knowing what war and violence looked like. Sometimes following his mother to visit family in Gaza or Jerusalem. He knew what it was like to have threats issued that your house was going to be demolished, or to be randomly searched at checkpoints when you wanted to go one place to another. He knew what stark contrast it was to the luxurious life he lived in Britain with his father. But one incident would change his boy mind forever.

His mother was shot during crossfire between the two sides. And though the killer was obvious and clearly on the side of the occupation, no one bothered to bring him to justice. Edward was never the same after the death of his mother. He would spend his whole year in the UK from there on out. But the images of violence and bloodshed caused by human hands would not escape his mind. Soon he would learn that it was not only humans that could cause that sort of destruction.

Being the sheltered son of a billionaire he was in the UK, he did not know much about Devils or Fiends and what they could do to humans if you ever got near. After all, public safety and the Devil Hunters could take care of them, right?

It was not until he witnessed a Devil maul a civilian before his very eyes as a teenager that they felt real. As real as soldiers in uniforms. And for the first time since his mothers death, he felt like he could do something about it. These devils weren’t humans, you could bring them to justice no questions asked. Hungry to take out his revenge on targets that deserved it, he started training and soon enough joined the Public Safety Devil Hunters in London.

And there he met the Devil Killer herself, Antoinette Bertha Mason.

They say the best devil hunters are those that have the most screws loose. And if it was true, then Antoinette was the best of the best. The two of them became work buddies, and the worked together most of the time. Bertha always remaining at arms length from Edward due to her insanity. But saving his life more than a few times during their escapades. A strange sort of one sided friendship grew between them.

Then Antoinette nearly died, and was possessed by a devil.

The electricity Devil, effectively making whatever Antoinette was a fiend. By law, meant to be killed as mercilessly as any devil. But Edward, not bearing to kill his friend and colleague, or what was his friend and colleague, hid her in the attic of Thornfield hall and took it upon himself to take care of her.

And that’s his backstory lmao ahaha

#jane eyre #edward rochester #mr rochester #Chainsaw man #chainsaw man fanart #chainsaw man oc #jane eyre au

[miawashere]

gun safety

since the 2010’s, there has been a massive rise in mass shootings in the U.S., in both the public and in schools. this is incredibly alarming, and in my opinion shows the lack of gun safety in the U.S., and i’m afraid the violence and deaths will only continue if something is not done and fast. i am a firm believer that guns should be not be easily accessible, for them to be only in the hands of those who will not use them for harm. but obviously this is easier said than done.

i think there should be a course in order to access guns, same as a drivers license. you have to take a course to see the dangers and take mental health tests (if that even exists) to see if a licensed professional believes you are mentally well enough to own a gun. i also believe there should be stricter laws on guns, to keep everyone safe. we should look more are other countries and how they handle guns, because countries like japan and the UK, and see what is done there and take inspiration.

no one should have to live with the fear that they could be shot, especially children in schools. let’s make the U.S. a safer place.

#law #lawyer #usa #history #equal rights #discover #explore #lawblr #high school #passion project #gun confiscation #gun safety #gunshot #gun violence #gun control #firearms #revolver #laws #lawsuit #law school #lawsuits #japanese #japan #tokyo #uk #england #london #united kingdom #uk politics #cw guns

[apirateslifeforbudgie]

Wandering Star Snippet

From Episode 5: Sad Eyes, Bad Guys - A lovely little lunch at the beach camp.

I've had this written for a couple of months now, and the whole thing is one of my favorite scenes from the fest arc. Been excited to share it for quite some time! Read below the cut:

Early afternoon in the camp was peaceful with gentle waves and the scent of a hearty, gourmet meal on the sea breeze. The legionnaires talked and teased each other as they waited in the long line that trailed from a comically-large cooking pot, all smiles and ready bowls in hand.

The chef was just as pleased, eager to give the girl’s men the best dish they had ever had along with their leisurely afternoon they all earned, “There you are! Enjoy!” Sanji beamed after he filled yet another bowl and the line moved. “Who’s next?”

An empty bowl was presented to the Straw Hat chef by a smiling soldier who offered kind words, “We cant thank you enough for this. The food smells amazing.”

“Happy to help! Let me know how you like it!” With the tip of his ladle, the proud chef saw another ally served.

The rest of the Straw Hats as well as the Heart Pirates were already taking nicely to Carmen’s men, comingling as they ate. At one of the picnic tables scattered about the beach camp, Nami and Tracey excitedly talked over a map as Robin contently sipped her tea across from them.  At another, Elliott, Law, Zoro, and Diero all sampled their soup in silence.

Some were too excited to eat. Rowan and a blushing, beaming Chopper sat around a small campfire, soup set aside as the two looked through Rowan’s plant journal. He unintelligibly explained medicinal properties of plants of interest with a smile while the three Heart Pirates observed over his shoulder in awe, all holding bowls and full spoons but frozen in fascination.

The same could be said for Connor, Usopp, Brook, and Luffy who were all sparkly-eyed over whatever mods Franky was showing off to Connor and a few other surrounding legionaries. Despite the fact the fellow Straw Hats had seen their friendly cyborg’s features time and time again, the magic never really faded. Of course, the Straw Hat captain would shovel spoon-fulls of soup into his mouth when it wasn’t exclaiming unintelligible praise or giggling.

The chef and his long hungry line were among the first to snap their heads to the trespassers, followed by Elliott and company, Franky and his playmates, and those cozied up with the plant journal around the little campfire. All in the camp got that little warning before the notorious pirates to began what they do best.

In the midst of Nami and Tracey kindly carrying on, the man gave a gasp as wide eyes shot to the perimeter of the camp. Both Straw Hat women took to his alarm with caution and turned just in time to see the full force of the Kid Pirates breaking through the shimmering barrier. They stampeded forth with weapons drawn and parading their power through the camp.

The name of the game was intimidation.

No order need be given.

Gig was the first. He took it upon himself to terrorize the nearest picnic table of the legionnaires, “Looks delicious!” he declared as he snatched a bowl from the table before kicking it over along with the seated soldiers and began gulping down Sanji’s hard work.

Reck, Bubblegum, and UK were more than happy to join in on flipping tables, whooping and howling with laughter at the tumbling soldiers and the wasted food.

“Those assholes!” the chef slammed down his ladle and rolled up his sleeves.

Jaguar and Oscar led the rest of the men save for the top four straight to the tents, tearing down any in their path as they aggressively made their way down the line.

“Some army she’s got!” UK heartily jested as he shoved a steadfast soldier – strong stance and arms behind him, “They won’t even fight back!”

Elliott shot up from his seat while the surrounding men glared, “We’re under strict orders you ill-bred bastards!”

“You actually follow her orders?!” Captain Kid couldn’t believe it – what a dumb little delight to kick off the spread of that menacing grin as his top three stood proudly and patiently behind him. “I’ll spare the man who points out the bitch’s tent."

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #wandering star #carmen amsel #oc: carmen #straw hat pirates #kid pirates #heart pirates #my writing #snippet

[debtsunpaid]

i'm still going apeshit over my new guy while i write their backstory but i'm being a perfectionist about it, so in the meantime here's a few lil things about klavier:

formerly an astrophysicist working for the ESA (and one-time astronaut, but that wasn't always the plan). their colleagues remember him best for their mental math prowess, his ferocity in advocating for their team & their project, the six separate times he almost knocked himself out on the wing of their own spaceplane, and the very, very formal weekly dinners they hosted that no one ever expected to be that formal bc he brought them up like inviting friends over to watch the game on sunday.

re: the dinners: they love to cook for people. love it. very picky about the process and doesn't often like other people helping them (he takes hosting and courtesy towards houseguests very seriously), but doesn't mind people watching or taste-testing. he doesn't do it as much these days, because all the joy was really in the social aspect & he considers themself too dangerous to get close enough to people to invite them over, but they'll still pull out absolutely flawless cutting technique when applicable.

met their fiancée (magdalena) in university bc he was arguing with a professor in the law library where she worked. she came over to tell them to shut the fuck up, and he jumped so badly that she felt guilty later & went back over to apologize, to which he Also apologized & suggested that hitting him with one of the heavier books would have been equally effective. they started talking about each other's work & majors, were going to part ways when the library closed, then awkwardly ended up walking the same way home. to the same apartment complex. for a while after that, whenever klavier went to the library while magdalena was working, she'd catch his eye and pretend to line up a shot with the heaviest book she had on hand, which always made them laugh.

currently a drifting adjunct professor & substitute teacher, as well as an occasional german, spanish, & math tutor. he tends to focus more on teaching/talking about mathematics these days rather than astrophysics, though they've done a few physics lectures here and there; if asked why, they'd say it's because he's still hiding from the german government + MI-6 and it's smarter to avoid being found within his field of expertise. but really it's because the last time they knew what was real & what wasn't was in 1990, the world's ideas about the cosmos have changed drastically since then, and he no longer feels like an expert in anything, or like he even knows the world they're standing on, let alone any worlds elsewhere.

CLIFF NOTES ON THE GOD PROBLEM: klavier was psychically bonded with jallakuntilliokan during his first (and only) spaceflight on the spaceplane hermes because their orbit put them Directly over the geotroniks facility where the magi caecus were firing the fear machine, at the exact moment when john constantine, zed, and marj were completing their ritual to summon its anima (other godly half) and negate its intended damaging influence on the world. but while the beings themselves balanced out, the summoning rituals did not (pagan nation involved 3 people, geotroniks involved 2), and they could not co-exist unevenly in the world, so jallakuntilliokan had to draw on more psychic energy in order to even things out.

luckily for jalla, there was a spaceplane with 3 powerful potential psychics perfectly aligned with the ley lines that it drew its power from, courtesy of string-pulling and secret testing led by the UK magi caecus and klavier's own mother for over a year prior. it was a flimsy backup plan based on the (so they thought) astronomically slim chance the summoning would fail, with the intention that the spaceplane would be intentionally crashed into the facility and some poor suckers would be sacrificed for enough psychic potential + public shock & alarm to rev the fear engine all the way up to its purpose. they just didn't count on jallakuntilliokan sniffing out the supply first.

the other two astronauts were fried, but klavi survived; the burst severely damaged the hermes and it crashed back to earth, veering off course and hitting the baltic sea. all klavier remembers is the burst, seeing his colleagues burn out, the agonizing sensation of something segmenting their brain like an orange, and then being dragged out of the ocean later. he was then secretly held by the german government for three years in the hopes of determining what the fuck had happened & what was now wrong with him, until jallakuntilliokan shoved their consciousness into the Dreaming long enough to take hold of the body and bust out. he's been on the run ever since, all but convinced there's an alien living in his skull, unaware that he's playing host to a god.

#ooc tbt. #KLAVIER HC. ( we hold all the secrets we hold all the words. ) #can you imagine taking a math class where your teacher is lowkey possessed by a primordial fear god. #math is bad enough without being asked a question and feeling your innermost fears rise unbidden to the front of your mind #& then disappear as if you never feared at all. only to see your professor in your nightmares later #safe to say that his ratemyprofessor reviews are Fucked #sched.

[bowlingforgerbils]

Book Recommendations

Hello! Happy New Year if you are a few timezones ahead of me, and Happy New Year's Eve to the rest of us. This post is inspired by @gretchensinister who made a book recommendation list at the very beginning of this year. It was my 2023 resolution to read more books, and I definitely accomplished that! I also joined two different book clubs and participated in my library's summer reading challenge. Hooray for books and hooray for the library!

Anyway, here are some books I liked, in no particular order:

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candace Hillard. This true account of Roosevelt exploring an Amazon tributary is absolutely riveting. It made me realize that I love the survival genre, but specifically if it is about men who let their hubris outweigh their common sense. The author does an excellent job putting everything into historical context, too.

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. Hari is a journalist who makes a compelling argument that modern society is actively working to destroy our attention spans, and it's not simply a matter of willpower or mindfulness. It was a real eye-opener for me. If you don't have time to read this book, he gave a good interview on NPR (that's how I heard about this book in the first place) that's worth a listen.

The Professor and the Parson by Adam Sisman. This was an interesting non-fiction book about Robert Parkin Peters, a weird British criminal in the latter half of the 20th century whose crimes included bigamy, plagiarism, lying about being a parson/priest, and other things. He was basically a UK George Santos. It's honestly a fascinating look at that sort of a person.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. Full disclosure, I cannot handle horror movies, mostly because of the gore, although I'm terrible with tension and jumpscares, too. I am marginally better with horror novels, and I had heard about this one on NPR so I gave it a shot. I really liked it! I probably will not read another horror novel for a while, but it was a real page-turner.

The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy by Arik Kershenbaum. The author uses what we know about the laws of physics and life on Earth to come up with some educated guesses about what aliens might be like. Great reading for anyone interested in aliens or who wants to write about plausible aliens.

Honorable mentions: Being Heumann by Judy Heumann, They Called us Enemy by George Takai, Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.

Honorable mentions, animal division: Many Things Under a Rock: The Mysteries of Octopuses by David Scheel, Kraken by Wendy Williams, and Pests by Bethany Brookshire.

That's it for now! My goal for 2024 is to read more books, and maybe also try to get back into reading more sci-fi/fantasy, although my first love will always be non-fiction books about animals. ;)

#use your words #books #happy new year!

[paisleighb]

IS MIZZY JUST MIZ-UNDERSTOOD?

Or is he just a c*nt? 💁🏽‍♀️😂

For those who haven’t seen, there’s a teen (18) who’s gone viral for absolutely ridiculous pranks that have involved taking someone’s dog as well as walking into strangers homes.

He was arrested, fined and given a TV interview with Piers Morgan in the UK;

https://youtu.be/mdij3Eq0TqQ

And while Piers is probably one of the worst people to “host” as he never lets anyone speaks and says some more than questionable things, my focus here is this young man.

HOW? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? AND WHY?!!!

Where are these boys parents/guardians? Family? Are they ever going to address or discipline him?? Because their son is growing up to be an absolute menace. He’s a whole 18 and just knows better than these “pranks” and to just act like it’s just not a thing too? HE’S WHOLE ASS WALKING UP IN HOUSES LIKE RALPH YARL WASN’T SHOT FOR *KNOCKING* ON THE WRONG DOOR?!!!

It’s so disappointing that the youth of these days don’t recognise the laws, the real dangers they’re putting themselves in in-order to go viral, DAILY.

WAKE THE F*CK UP!!!

And there’s people truly making comment on the fact that he “may” have this and that, but truly, what if he’s just trouble?

My point, and my advice is this - and it’s simple. When making content, involving the public or not, ask yourself this ——

Is it really worth the risk of someone locking off your jaw or unaliving you? Are you really willing to do time or go sleep forever over a piece of content?

Cos the answer is no. If you’re struggling, it’s really no. This generation need to realise being viral for all of 5 minutes isn’t the be all and end all, anything you do in life you are going to have to work at it - there’s really no easy way to be successful.

This guy’s continuously upping the anti on his pranks and challenges, SO many kids are. We need to be a bit more aware, ourselves, of what the next generation are doing in order to get likes and follows - if we don’t step in and give some direction, it ends up with more kids like Mizzy.

If I was his Mum, he wouldn’t have a phone and he wouldn’t see the light of day nor his friends for the foreseeable future. If I was his Dad, I would rock his jaw until he thought I was sending him back to God 😂

He’s made his family look a mess, himself, his entire lineage. 18, and what university or business is willingly offering a place to someone like this? Cancel culture is very much here and real. The fact that he STILL can’t even seem remorseful is so deafeningly stupid to me.

Hoping someone can get through to this boy, honestly. There are so many other ways to become a successful content creator beyond being a foolish, self centred, unaware, out of control young adult that chases clout for views and likes this.

18 is old enough to know better. Period.

#mizzy #tiktok #pranks #challenges #uknews #uk #parenting #this generation #Youtube

[giftofshewbread]

Famine, Pestilence, and Control Developing

: By Daymond Duck   Published on: August 13, 2022

I apologize for this article being slightly shorter than usual. My computer acted up, and it took me three days to get it fixed.

Concerning famine and food shortages: past articles have mentioned that the World Economic Forum (WEF) is trying to control global farming by reducing the use of fertilizer and chemicals farmers use, reducing the number of cattle farmers and ranchers can raise, encouraging humans to eat insects instead of meat, etc.

Land use, food production, and climate change are part of the “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

An article written by award-winning international journalist, Alex Newman, dated July 20, 2022, says Newman believes:

“The U.N. ultimately wants to get rid of private land ownership.”

The U.N. wants “to remove small farmers, even medium farmers, from their land.”

Communists loved to create scarcity and dependents because “as long as you have independent people who are able to take care of themselves, there really is no need for the government to run your life and to control everything that you do.”

Controlling the food supply allows the government “to control humanity.”

It is incredible to believe, but if Newman is right (and I think he is because the WEF says we will own nothing under the New World Order), the leaders in several nations are trying to drive small and medium farmers out of business and take their land (by restricting the use of fertilizer and chemicals, passing laws that limit ownership of cattle, etc.).

Globalists don’t seem to care if Bill Gates, large corporations, or nations (China, etc.) buys up thousands of acres of land, but they want small and medium farmers out of business because they don’t want citizens to get food from individual farmers.

It is easy for this writer to believe that their actions will quickly lead to the famine, pestilence, and control of people prophesied in the Bible (Rev. 6:1-8; 13:11-18).

Here are more stories that seem to be prophetically significant.

One, concerning the energy crisis: hyper-inflation and an economic collapse during the Tribulation Period: on Aug. 5, 2022, it was reported that:

Spain ordered citizens to set air conditioners above 27 degrees C (80.6 degrees F) this summer.

The UK has warned citizens that their energy bills will increase about 60% in Oct. 2022 and more in Jan. 2023 (Biden’s sanctions on Russia and Putin’s retaliation are causing millions of people to struggle to pay bills, have enough to eat, etc.).

Two, concerning natural disasters and food shortages: on Aug. 2, 2022, it was reported that a severe drought has caused water prices in the state of California to increase 56% since the beginning of this year, water prices are the highest on record, the drought is getting worse, and crops that need to be irrigated are beginning to suffer.

Three, concerning natural disasters: on Aug. 5, 2022, it was reported that a narrow strip of land in Eastern Kentucky received 14-16 inches of rain in four days. Record rains over an eight-day period in Missouri, Kentucky, and Illinois killed 39 people and destroyed homes and crops.

Four, concerning wars and rumors of wars: on Aug. 5, 2022, it was reported that North Korea has offered to send 100,000 troops to Ukraine to fight with Russia’s troops.

Five, concerning Islamic efforts to destroy Israel:

Following the arrest of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader on the West Bank, Israel endured four days of terrorist threats and lockdowns.

On Aug. 5, 2022, Israel called up about 25,000 reservists; Israeli jets struck several targets in Gaza, killed the PIJ commander in Gaza, and killed the members of several PIJ rocket crews.

PIJ terrorists responded with a 45-minute barrage of rockets at southern Israel (most of the rockets fell short, landed in Gaza, went into the sea, or were shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome system).

On Aug. 6, 2022, the PIJ was still firing rockets at southern Israel, Israel arrested 19 Jihadis in the West Bank, and both sides started preparing for several days of confrontation (the PIJ fired a total of about 1,100 rockets at Israel).

On Aug. 7, 2022, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said to the best of their knowledge, they had eliminated all senior PIJ leaders in Gaza.

The PIJ asked for a ceasefire, and Israel accepted it on Sunday night, Aug. 7, 2022.

Six, concerning deceit, the weakening of America, and the tracking of buying and selling: on Aug. 7, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the $739 billion deceptively named “Inflation Reduction Act” (The Congressional Budget Office, a few Democrats, and all Republicans say it will not reduce inflation).

The bill:

Contains no money for more troops to defend America.

Contains no money for more police to make America’s cities safer.

Contains no money to make America’s borders more secure.

Funds about 87,000 new IRS agents to track American citizens’ buying and selling.

Pres. Biden promised that he would not raise taxes on Americans that earn less than $400,000 a year, but the bill imposes a 16.4 cent tax on every barrel of crude oil and petroleum products, and that will be passed on to everyone that buys gasoline for a vehicle.

(More: On Aug. 8, 2022, Gary Bauer wrote, “There are a couple of fundamental economic principles. One is that you can’t tax your way out of a recession, and this bill imposes a lot of new taxes. Second, you can’t spend your way out of an inflation crisis, and this bill increases spending by hundreds of billions of dollars.”)

Seven, concerning the decline of America and a global economic collapse: many economists now say America has entered a period of “stagflation” (a stagnant economy with continuing inflation).

Put another way, America’s economy is slumping, but prices will keep going up. (Increasing the tax on fuel probably guarantees it.)

Eight, concerning corruption and world government: on Aug. 8, 2022, about 30 FBI agents (probably with the approval of America’s corrupt Dept. of Justice) raided former Pres. Trump’s house (Mar-a-Lago) in Florida.

As I see it, Democrats (under the influence of the Shadow Government) are transitioning the U.S. into the New World Order (one-world government), and they will stop at nothing to destroy anyone that stands in their way (even a former Pres. of the U.S.).

People that haven’t truly accepted Jesus as their Saviour, especially unsaved people that have joined the Church, need to realize that when the New World Order (world government) comes into power, they will obey that government or be killed.

The extremists that have taken over the U.S. do not intend to be removed from office.

Trump is not the only person they hate. They also hate the 75 million people that voted for him. If you think they won’t come after you, ponder what they have done to the Jan. 6 patriots.

Remember that they did nothing to the Antifa and Black Lives Matter arsonists and looters. Ponder what they have done to Gen. Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Roger Stone, Rudy Giuliani, Jeffrey Clark, protesters at school board meeting, etc.

Remember that they did nothing to Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden. FBI agents had time to go to Mar-a-Lago and go through Melania Trump’s clothes. But they haven’t had time to go through Hunter Biden’s Laptop from Hell.

Several officials have said there are not enough millionaires and billionaires in America to need 87,000 more IRS agents. But they plan to start using a digital currency that can be tracked, and they need 87,000 IRS agents to track all of your buying and selling.

Some in the FBI and DOJ are corrupt and should be prosecuted.

The chance of an honest election is looking slim.

Nine, concerning a digital currency: on Aug. 10, 2022, it was reported that Pres. Biden has signed an executive order to develop a “Digital Dollar” (sometimes called a Central Bank Digital Currency—CBDC).

One investor called it “a step toward the end of cash.” It will allow the government to track your buying and selling and force you to obey by freezing your bank account.

This is truly a sign that history is approaching the Tribulation Period.

Finally, are you Rapture Ready?

If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

#hope #love #strength #goodness #righteousness #mercy #refuge #grace #heaven #eternity #life #death #jesus #is #coming #very #soon #rapture #imminent #be #born #again #or #be left #behind #mankind's. #worst #nightmares #are #about.

[cuilpantielthesleepyscribe]

Hotpot | Oneshot for 50s AU

1942, three years into the Second World War. A British Chinese household in a small English town.

Lai Jing was careful not to let her own frustration show as she turned off the stove, the pot coming down from its boil with the too-familiar aroma of a years-old hotpot base - constantly replenished with water and whatever ingredients were available as necessary - filling the kitchen.

Her mother would have raised an eyebrow. Keeping a master sauce for years was not unheard-of, but whoever heard of a master hotpot base? And adding to it with whale meat and horse, with carrot tops and leeks and anything available?

Five children, and myself alone to feed and raise them, that’s who.

Offal had joined the ration list, though the butcher was at least kind enough to still allow her to purchase the chicken feet that no one else ate off-ration.

Wai K- no, Henry, as he insisted, as the world called him - eyed the worn pot as if he was about to march into battle like his father. Yuk Zhi pouted, already crossing her rail-thin arms, but not complaining. Being sent to bed hungry when she complained and cried for something else had sunk that message home.

“Henry, get the bowls for everyone,” she ordered, and her oldest son hurried to fetch the bowls from the drying area - still too high for Yuk Zhi to reach, well within reach for her fifteen-year-old brother. The rest of her children needed no further instructions, immediately queueing up as she ladled the hotpot out into chipped bowls.

First the bowls for Henry and Wai Faat, Wai Yung and Mei Mun; all four were at that ravenously hungry stage of growth, where they shot up like weeds and their stomachs were bottomless pits. Those bowls were filled with vegetables, a little of the meat ration, and more of the whale meat, rubbery strips that they would determinedly chew through nonetheless. Mei Mun got their chicken’s one egg today.

A smaller bowl, for Yuk Zhi, with the rare bits of horse and bacon, more tender and easier for her to get her jaws through - though a strip or two of whale meat still made its way in. Her siblings glanced over at her bowl, a brief flash of envy crossing their faces - particularly her two younger sons.

Her oldest boy stared them down. “Here. I prefer whale anyway,” he said, not breaking eye contact with his brothers and fianceé, as he scooped the bits of his pork and horse into Yuk Zhi’s bowl and took her whale meat for himself. Yuk Zhi mumbled a “Thank you” at her brother, picking at her food unhappily.

“Ma, I don’t feel like having egg today. Have mine,” Mei Mun said suddenly to Lai Jing. Before she could stop her, her daughter-in-law scooped the egg into her bowl, immediately bringing her bowl up to her lips to forestall any attempts to give it back. Somehow, she’d noticed the purely-vegetable contents of Lai Jing's bowl, the abundance of carrot tops and leeks despite Lai Jing’s efforts to keep it inconspicuous.

Lai Jing frowned. “Silly girl. You’re still growing - I can only get fatter. Eat your egg.”

“I don’t like eggs,” Mei Mun insisted stubbornly. “Give it to muimui, if you don’t want it.”

Even at eight, Yuk Zhi wasn’t oblivious enough to miss that. “Mama, I also don’t want eggs. You eat it.”

Her sons chimed in with their own agreements. If even the baby was showing filial piety by insisting her mother took the only egg, they could hardly do less. She and Wong Loi had raised their children that well, at least.

Now she stared around the table with a growing feeling of fond exasperation and despair at how her children had learned to be so conscious of it, and fitted the lessons she had taught them into their new situation accordingly.

Helplessly, Lai Jing raised the bowl to her lips, and ate.

A traditional Chinese hotpot from the 1950s, brass. Coal was burned in the bottom and the smoke rose through the central chimney, while the pot itself was welded to the base.

Notes:

Meat was rationed from 1940 in the UK, and offal was added to the list from 1942 to 1944. However, whale and horse meat were available ‘off-ration’ or without restriction. If you kept a chicken, you no longer got an egg ration (one egg a week at this time), BUT you got a chicken feed ration. 

Lai Jing has something of an advantage, in that she grew up in a culture that routinely eats chicken feet, beansprouts, and other foods the locals won't bother with, and herself is willing to try eating virtually anything. Thus, the carrot tops.

The endless boiling/reboiling of the hotpot soup is, as best as I can tell, not actually typical in any way, shape, or form, ever - it's Lai Jing’s effort to keep as much nutrition and flavour in the food as possible.

Coal was rationed from 1941, (cooking) gas and electricity from March 1942.

Current ages of the Chan kids:

Henry/Wai Kit: 15

Edward/Wai Faat: 14

Nathaniel/Wai Yung and May/Mei Mun: 12

Pandora/Yuk Zhi: 8

Pan isn’t actually a super picky eater ordinarily, but the fact that she’s eating more or less the same broth/soup multiple times a week for years will make anyone get sick of it.

Lai Jing/Mrs Chan and all three (living) older kids refuse to touch hotpot ever again after the war - though Lai Jing makes an exception for if it is almost entirely meat, and the broth itself is so rich and spicy she can’t see the bottom of the pot.

Fun fact: Wong Loi/Mr Chan and Pan are the only ones in the family without an aversion to hotpot. 

Pan has very poor memories of the hotpot at the beginning of the war, seeing as she was five. By the time she’s old enough to remember, the taste has changed so much from its original clear base (with the additions of many, many non-traditional ingredients) that she basically has no memories of how actual hotpot tastes.

Mr Chan was on the Western Front and then in Burma from 1939 to 1943; by the time he returns, again, the broth tastes nothing like hotpot broth and is actually starting to resemble a master stock.

#thegreatstrongbow #50s au

[brn1029]

On this date in music history, at least most of the music that we are familiar with….

July 18th

2008 - The Rolling Stones

Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood was ‘seeking help’ with his battle with alcohol in a rehabilitation centre. The move followed tabloid speculation over the state of his 23-year marriage to former model Jo Wood. ‘Following Ronnie's continued battle with alcohol he has entered a period of rehab,’ his spokeswoman said.

2001 - Kiss

Kiss added another product to their ever-growing merchandising universe: the "Kiss Kasket." The coffin featured the faces of the four founding members of the band, the Kiss logo and the words "Kiss Forever." Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was buried in one after he was shot and killed on-stage in Dec 2004.

1980 - Billy Joel

Billy Joel held the top position of both the US albums and singles charts. His album Glass Houses contained his first and biggest No.1 hit, 'It's Still Rock 'n' Roll to Me.'

1978 - Def Leppard

Def Leppard made their live debut at Westfield School, Sheffield, England in front of 150 students.

1974 - John Lennon

The US Justice Department ordered John Lennon out of the country by September 10th. The Immigration and Naturalization Service denied him an extension of his non-immigrant visa because of his guilty plea in England to a 1968 marijuana possession charge. The US Court of Appeal would overturn the deportation order in 1975 and Lennon was granted permanent resident status the following year.

1970 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd, Roy Harper, Kevin Ayers, and the Edgar Broughton Band, all appeared at a free concert held in Hyde Park, London, England.

1969 - The Beatles

During sessions at Abbey Road studios, London, Ringo Starr recorded his vocal to 'Octopus's Garden', for the Abbey Road album. Starr had written the song when he 'quit' The Beatles the previous year and was staying on actorPeter Seller’s yacht in the Mediterranean.

1966 - Bobby Fuller

Bobby Fuller leader of The Bobby Fuller Four was found dead in his car in Los Angeles aged 23. Fuller died mysteriously from gasoline asphyxiation, while parked outside his apartment. Police labelled it a suicide, but the possibility of foul play has always been mentioned. Had the 1966 US No.9 single 'I Fought The Law' written by Sonny Curtis of Buddy Holly's Crickets and covered by The Clash.

1964 - The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones appeared on the US chart for the first time when their cover of Buddy Holly's 'Not Fade Away' peaked at No.48.

1964 - The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rag Doll', the group's fourth No.1 and a No.2 hit on the UK chart. Co-writer Bob Gaudio said that he got the inspiration for the song from a young girl in tattered clothes that cleaned his car windows at a stop light.

1960 - Brenda Lee

Brenda Lee went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I'm Sorry' it made No.12 in the UK. Seeking publicity the 4' 11 tall singer was once billed as a 32-year- old midget and had the nickname Little Miss Dynamite.

[fmpjaydenhall2023]

Gun Control In Games And Laws:

What are the laws of guns in the UK and the U.S?

UK: members of the public may own sporting rifles and shotguns that they are subject to licensing. However, handguns have been banned in Great Britain since the Dunblane school massacre in 1996, therefore, anyone with a handgun will be arrested and charged. Firearms are used to just hunt wildlife but weapons that are fully automatic such as assault rifles and submachine guns are not available for the general public but the general government guards do in fact have these fire arms accessible. 

Revolver rifles and carbines are permitted, with certificate, in any calibre. Self-loading, also known as semi-automatic or pump-action rifles are only permitted in .22 rim fire calibre, pistols are banned, some shotguns are permitted with a license and air guns are accessible but a license is required. 

U.S: citizens and legal residents must be at least 18 years of age to purchase shotguns or rifles and ammunition. All other firearms such as handguns, for example can only be sold to people 21 and older. Fire arms are used as self defence and can be used when the residents home is being invaded/ broken into. The person that would want to purchase a fire arm has to be 18 and has to have a fire arm license in order to purchase. 

Fire arms are a huge problem in U.S right now because of the lack of law around purchasing a fire arm and how easy it can be to buy one. Recently a lot of people have been killed due to people under the age of 15 purchasing weapons and killing people with them, this is because of the lack of law around gun control and how easily it is to just buy a fire arm in a local store in the U.S. 66% of home owners own a fire arm, but only used to protect themselves and their home in case of an intruder but apparently over 500 people die within a short amount of time due to fire arms being shot by others and most of them dont have a fire arms license. 

Games such as call of duty and Grand theft auto influence people to buy guns and mess around with them, thinking that they are some sort of toy to be playing around with but fire arms can actually harm another if shot. Games have a fun side to guns where people want to purchase them but owning a fire arm could lead to arrests and consequences and games such as call of duty and GTA, guns are their main thing that makes that game what it is as it is their main identity to use guns and violence. 

GTA promotes this as the only way to purchase guns in the game is to go to a in game gun shop where different fire arms are being sold, this promotes this even further as this is more realistic and Call Of Duty allowed players to run around with realistic weapons and where they can level them up and make them better by getting attachments makes it a whole lot realistic. This has a massive impact on others as gun crime and how it is promoted within games to audiences where it is massive in most areas where fire arms are permitted and can be purchased because they can lead to serious harm, that is why in my game, even though it will have a weapon that the player will be able to shoot, it is a fictional weapon and is not real as i created it and is unrealistic, even though it is cool to use in game, it is not a real thing and this will prevent any thoughts of purchasing a fire arm. 

[seatextiles]

3. Our Project

Throughout our idea sharing sessions, my group and I have decided to base our project around raising awareness of the protests in Iran and the negative effects that it has had on many people there. We also plan on raising money for a human rights charity through exhibiting work and selling upcycled clothing with our logo on it.

Mahsa Amini, a 22 year old woman, died while in the custody of Iran’s Morality Police. She was arrested for not complying with the strict dress codes. Since then, Men and Women across Iran have protested for their freedom, with women at Mahsa Amini’s funeral even taking off their headscarves to protest the forced Hibjab laws. (BBC News, 2022) Our group’s aim is to create artwork to raise awareness of these protests and how the protesters have been treated by police upon arrest. Some people that have not been killed have been left with lasting injuries; Ghazal Ranjkesh is one woman who lost her eye after being shot in the face but is still staying strong and fighting for the day that women will be given their freedom. (Women NCRI Committee, 2023)

The Woman Life Freedom movement showcases artwork from many people affected by the protests in Iran to raise awareness of what is happening there. The Mozaik Virtual Exhibition has work by several artists; it includes photography, graphic design, painting, animation. The animation ‘Baraye’ (Anonymous, 2022) gives an inside view of how peoples lives have been affected throughout the protests, by zooming further an further into the drawing, suggesting that the more we look into what is actually happening, the worse it gets; but we shouldn’t look away. With one of our group members being an Animation student, we hope to develop an animation as part of our final exhibition. We have decided that we also want to have screens with videos playing where the story of individual protestors is being told to try to help our audience to connect more with the people being affected.

Videos created for this will be showcases alongside artwork that we have made inspired by the protests in Iran. We want this exhibition to be seen by lots of people, to help spread the discussion and help raise awareness of the protests and how people are being affected by them. To do this we will display the work in an area with a high amount of foot traffic and promote it on social media and through posters.

I want to create a logo for our group. Using the ideas of Woman Life Freedom, I aim to create a logo that will appeal to Women in the UK no matter their current knowledge on the Iranian protests. The logo will be put onto clothing and patches, which we will then sell to raise money for a Human Rights Charity that are working with Iran. My hope is that by the logo being on clothing and patches that people will wear, people will start talking more about the protests and raise awareness in order to find a solution.

References:

Anonymous. (2022) Baraye [Video]. Mozaik. https://mozaikphilanthropy.org/woman-life-freedom/

BBC News. (2022, September 17). Mahsa Amini: Women take headscarves off in protest at funeral. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-62940907

Women NCRI Committee. (2023). Brave Iranian women lose their eyes, but their hearts still beat for Iran. Women NCRI Committee. https://women.ncr-iran.org/2023/01/17/brave-iranian-women-lose-eyes/

#Masters #university #Iran #womanlifefreedom #art

[newstfionline]

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Trudeau: US fighter shot down object over northern Canada (AP) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that on his order a U.S. fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” that was flying high over the Yukon, acting a day after the U.S. took similar action over Alaska. North American Aerospace Defense Command, the combined U.S.-Canada organization that provides shared defense of airspace over the two nations, detected the object flying at a high altitude Friday evening over Alaska, U.S. officials said. It crossed into Canadian airspace on Saturday. Trudeau spoke with President Joe Biden, who also ordered the object to be shot down. Canadian and U.S. jets operating as part of NORAD were scrambled and it was a U.S. jet that shot down the object. F-22 fighter jets have now taken out three objects in the airspace above the U.S. and Canada over seven days, a stunning development that is raising questions on just what, exactly, is hovering overhead and who has sent them. At least one of the objects downed was believed to be a spy balloon from China, but the other two had not yet been publicly identified.

Joyous parades and parties kick off New Orleans’ Mardi Gras (AP) A venerable fine-dining fixture on Bourbon Street helped kick off the final frantic days of New Orleans Mardi Gras season Friday—relaxing its jackets-required dress code and briefly ditching its no-pets policy for a pair of crown- and cape-wearing rescue dogs. Outside, music was already blaring from some Bourbon Street bars as the city prepared for three major parades Friday evening on historic St. Charles Avenue. Other Friday night parades were scheduled in neighboring Metairie, and there will be more than two dozen other such processions almost nightly until Mardi Gras, which this year falls on Feb. 21. Mardi Gras is the culmination of Carnival season—which officially begins each year on Jan. 6, the 12th day after Christmas, known as King’s Day, in New Orleans and closes with the arrival of Lent on Ash Wednesday.

How Lethal Is “Less Lethal”? (Wired) The U.S. is often called the “world’s policeman” due to its history of intervening in the affairs of other states, supposedly for the greater good. Now, the world’s policeman is also becoming the world’s arms dealer to police departments across the globe, as the leader of the multi-billion-dollar, global, unregulated “less lethal” weapon industry. As protests spring up across the world—Hong Kong in 2019, Minneapolis in 2020, Tehran in 2022, and Peru this year—law enforcement agencies have deployed riot police armed with rubber bullets, tear gas canisters, Tasers, and flashbang grenades. Those weapons all sound relatively harmless compared to a bullet—until you get hit with one of them. Tasers can cause cardiac arrest, and everything else on the list can break skulls, permanently affect sight and hearing, and cause concussions. Besides the actual lethality of “less-lethal” weapons, another issue is the industry’s loose regulation. The U.S. has no federal legislation regulating the production of less-lethals, and while the Geneva Protocol bans the use of tear gas in war, governments are perfectly welcome to gas their own populations. The industry is expected to grow by $3 billion over the 10 years, allowing governments to employ brutal technologies against protestors without the most basic forms of oversight.

UK economy avoids decline but cost of living pains many (AP) The small notice pinned to a wall at Union Chapel in north London is a sign of despair for charity workers dealing with the fallout from Britain’s cost-of-living crisis. The showers, it says, are reserved for the homeless. In other words, those who still have a roof over their heads but can’t afford to heat water for bathing are in essence asked to refrain. Amanuel Woldesus, who runs the Margins Project charity based at the church for people in crisis, is frustrated that he’s being forced to ration a service this way. The pressures are likely to get worse as Britain faces a prolonged economic slowdown triggered by soaring food and energy prices and compounded by tax increases and higher interest rates that authorities have unleashed as they battle the crisis. Middle-class families will see their disposable incomes fall by as much as 13%, or 4,000 pounds ($4,840), over the next financial year, according to analysis by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research. About 25% of households won’t be able to pay their food and energy bills out of their take-home income, up from 20% last year, the independent think tank estimates.

Russia Fires Major Missile Barrage at Ukraine as Combat Intensifies (NYT) Russia targeted Ukraine’s already battered infrastructure with more than 100 drones, rockets and missiles on Friday, raining explosives on cities around the country as President Volodymyr Zelensky returned from a three-day trip across Europe to ask Ukraine’s allies to send more weapons, and faster. The strikes, the first heavy aerial barrage in weeks, came as fighting on the ground intensified, in what Ukrainian officials were calling a new winter offensive. The Ukrainian air force described Friday’s aerial assault as a “massive attack” and said that it had involved 71 cruise missiles, seven Iranian-made drones and about 35 S-300 missiles, antiaircraft missiles that Russia has taken to using against targets on the ground. Ukraine said in a statement that it had shot down 61 of the cruise missiles and five of the drones.

‘They’re Hunting Me.’ Life as a Ukrainian Mayor on the Front Line (NYT) The little green van sped down the road, the Russian forces just across the river. Inside, Halyna Luhova, the mayor of Kherson, cradled a helmet in her lap and gazed out the bulletproof window. When the first shell ripped open, directly in the path of the van, maybe 200 yards ahead, her driver locked his elbows and tightened his grip on the wheel and drove straight through the cloud of fresh black smoke. “Oh my god,” Ms. Luhova said, as we raced with her through the city. “They’re hunting me.” The second shell landed even closer. She’s been almost killed six times. She sleeps on a cot in a hallway. She makes $375 a month, and her city in southern Ukraine has become one of the war’s most pummeled places, fired on by Russian artillery nearly every hour. But Ms. Luhova, the only female mayor of a major city in Ukraine, remains determined to project a sense of normality even though Kherson is anything but normal. Kherson, a port city on the Dnipro River, was captured by Russian forces in March; liberated by Ukrainian forces in November; and now, three months later, lies nearly deserted. Packs of out-of-school children roam the empty boulevards lined with leafless trees and centuries-old buildings cracked in half.

Volunteers Piece Together a Makeshift Medical System in Earthquake Zone (NYT) An ambulance pulled up to the cluster of red tents that now serves as the main hospital in the ruined city of Antakya, on Friday morning. It was bringing in a woman pulled from the wreck of her home after nearly 100 hours under the rubble. For the doctors in the field hospital, hastily constructed in a parking lot, miracles had grown nearly routine, but there were never enough of them. Given the extent of the destruction, the fact that Antakya has established a semi-functioning medical system is remarkable. Monday’s earthquake took out hospitals as well as homes, leaving emergency responders across 10 provinces unable to care properly at first for people crushed by collapsing buildings. Since then, however, a new, makeshift health care system has been constructed amid the devastation by volunteers from around Turkey and the world. While the most severely wounded were sent to undamaged hospitals in other provinces for treatment, field hospitals in the heart of the earthquake zone sprung up to stabilize the newly rescued, treat more minor injuries and manage the diseases that are flaring in the disaster’s wake. Even pets rescued from the rubble were receiving volunteer medical care at a pop-up animal hospital in Antakya.

Quake Death Toll Surpasses 23,000 Amid Struggle to Get Aid to Quake’s Victims (NYT) The death toll in Turkey and Syria from this week’s catastrophic earthquake surpassed 23,600 on Friday as relief organizations struggled to overcome an array of obstacles to deliver aid to survivors in both countries. The second aid convoy in two days, loaded with medicine, food and clothes, reached an opposition enclave in northwestern in Syria. The earthquake zone in Syria includes areas controlled by the Syrian government and others held by opposition forces backed by Turkey. Those territorial divisions, and an array of political obstacles stemming from the ongoing civil war, have created fatal delays in delivering help to Syrians. The flow of aid has also been hampered because the border crossing used by humanitarian convoys, known as Bab al-Hawa, is the only route approved by the United Nations to reach the opposition-held region in northwestern Syria. As many as 5.3 million people in Syria may have lost their homes because of the earthquake, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency. “For Syria, this is a crisis within a crisis,” said Sivanka Dhanapala, the agency’s representative in Syria, citing economic turmoil, the pandemic and now the earthquake and blizzards.

Japan’s earthquake recovery offers hard lessons for Turkey (AP) Mountains of rubble and twisted metal. Death on an unimaginable scale. Grief. Rage. Relief at having survived. What’s left behind after a natural disaster so powerful that it rends the foundations of a society? What lingers over a decade later, even as the rest of the world moves on? Similarities between the calamity unfolding this week in Turkey and Syria and the triple disaster that hit northern Japan in 2011 may offer a glimpse of what the region could face in the years ahead. A big lesson from Japan is that a disaster of this size doesn’t ever really have a conclusion. Despite speeches about rebuilding, the Tohoku quake has left a deep gash in the national consciousness and the landscapes of people’s lives. Take the death toll. Deaths directly attributable to the quake in Turkey will level off in coming weeks, but it’s unlikely to be the end. And despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent in Japan on reconstruction, some things won’t ever come back. Today, while the wreckage of the quake and tsunami has largely been removed and many roads and buildings rebuilt, there are still large areas of empty space, places where buildings haven’t been erected, farms haven’t been replanted. The long haul of rebuilding has been uneven and, at times, painfully slow, hampered by government incompetence, petty squabbling and bureaucratic wrangling. Nearly half a million people were displaced in Japan. Tens of thousands still haven’t returned home.

#headlines #news

[debtcollnyclawfi]

What will most debt collectors settle for?

Special Considerations

Debtors can also stop creditors from calling their home telephones, however they need to placed the request in a letter and ship it to the debt collector. It's a very good idea to send the letter via licensed mail and pay for a go back receipt so you have evidence that the debt collector received the request.

If a collector does not have contact information for a debtor, they could call family, pals, or associates of the debtor to try to discover the debtor's telephone quantity, however they can not display any facts about the debt, which include the fact that they may be calling from a debt series company. (The collector may simplest discuss the debt with the debtor or their partner.) Additionally, collectors can most effective call 1/3 events one time each.

The law makes it unlawful for debt collectors to annoy debtors in other methods, consisting of threats of bodily harm or arrest. They also cannot lie or use profane or obscene language. Additionally, debt creditors can not threaten to sue a debtor until they in reality intend to take that debtor to court docket.

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Debt Recovery Laws

Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy (RDB Act), 1993 is an Act to provide for the established order of Tribunals for expeditious adjudication and restoration of money owed due to Banks and Financial Institutions and for topics linked therewith or incidental thereto

Securitization & Reconstruction of Financial Assets & Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002 is an Act to modify securitisation and reconstruction of Financial Assets and enforcement of safety interest and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Debts Recovery Tribunals and Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunals

The Debts recuperation Tribunals (DRTs) and Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRATs) had been installed under RDB Act, 1993 with the precise objective of supplying expeditious adjudication and recuperation of debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions.

At gift, 39 DRTs and 5 DRATs are functioning across the united states. Each DRT and DRAT are headed by using a Presiding Officer and a Chairperson respectively.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law that provides limitations on what debt collectors can do whilst gathering sure styles of debt. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act covers how debt series is pronounced in credit score reports. In addition, there are kingdom legal guidelines that provide protections.

[creative-splurges]

More Cornish Sunsets

I remember my trip to Cornwall in 2013 with my wife and her parents very fondly, not least because my father-in-law is no longer with us. Whilst there on most evenings we were blessed with some beautiful sunsets. On that trip we were staying in the outskirts of Tintagel with a farm to provide the foreground for the handful of photographs I took.

In 2018, the first summer after my father-in-law passed, we returned to Tintagel with my mother-in-law. This time we were staying on a lovely cottage somewhere else on the outskirts of the town. The week we picked to go away just happened to be the start of a heatwave in the UK, so we were graced with some staggering sunsets almost every evening of the trip.

The view, even from our bedroom window, was stunning.

1/320sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

1/320sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

From our vantage point you could see the sun hit the sea, making for a spectacular view.

1/250sec, f/8, ISO 100, 100mm

Even better, from the paddock of the cottage we had a bit more of a foreground to make the shots a little more interesting. The challenge, unlike the shots above (where I was aiming only for the sky), was finding the right balance of exposure to capture the brilliant vibrant colours of the sunset, whilst still making the foreground bright enough for you to see what it is. It’s hard not to overdo it and get a result that looks relatively natural. There are a couple of ways you can process images to get a result, with perhaps one offering a more natural look than the other.

The first is to simply take a single shot, slightly overexposed if possible, then when editing adjust the exposure, shadows and highlights to extract as much detail as possible out of a single image, such as below:

1/50sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

The downside to that method is if your shadows are too dark, there won’t be much detail to find, and you could end up with a noisy image.

The other, perhaps more well known way, is HDR or High Dynamic Range processing. Basically you take two or three shots at different exposures (traditionally, one normal, one underexposed by a stop or two, and one overexposed by the same amount), then use software to combine them, extracting all the details from each exposure as needed and resulting in a shot that contains more obvious detail, but might look a little less natural:

f/8, ISO 100, 24mm (HDR)

Comparing the two can be tricky. I like the detail I’ve gotten in the second photo of the bench in the foreground, but the sky clearly looks a lot better in the first photo, albeit with the bench disappearing into the shadows. You could ask me ten times on different days which one I’d prefer and half the time I’d give you a different answer. Let me know which you prefer in the comments.

The images in this post are processed using a mixture of the two techniques, although mostly they’re done using the former.

I also tried composing with just a fence and a field in the foreground.

f/8, ISO 100, 24mm (HDR)

I think the main reason I might prefer the non-HDR versions of these images is because the blue and orange hues of the sky are more vibrant in the single exposure shots.

1/125sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

Even once the sun itself had set the brilliant colours continued.

1/10sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

Facing in the other direction, you could see the Moon over the cottage where we were staying.

0.4sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mm

As I said at the start, we were gifted with sunsets of this magnitude every evening for a week. That does mean I might get confused over which photographs were from which days, but they are all being posted in chronological order. I guess if the sun appears suddenly higher in a photo it’s probably from a new day.

f/8, ISO 100, 24mm (HDR)

After using a bench as foreground garnish earlier I made use of a picnic bench.

1/80sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

Most of the time though I was content to use the field and the fence as a foreground, liking the green of the grass contrasting against the orange and blues of the sky.

10sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

1/50sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

I still occasionally just ignored the concept of foregrounds in order to get the last glimpses of the sun as it disappeared over the horizon.

1/160sec, f/8, ISO 100, 92mm

1/20sec, f/8, ISO 100, 28mm

On a later day I was a bit more prepared and was out in the paddock in the latter stages of golden hour, before sunset had truly begun.

1/200sec, f/9, ISO 100, 24mm

1/500sec, f/8, ISO 100, 35mm

In order to counter the much brighter sun I broke out my lesser-used neutral density (ND) filter.

1/50sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mm

I love the colours of the grass in the background. Obviously I was exposing for that, not the sun through the filter. When you actually attach the filter to the lens and shoot properly I was able to get much longer exposures.

10sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

As you’d expect, each day I shot until the last sliver of sun had disappeared over the horizon and the sky had calmed down. Sadly we never saw any green flashes whilst we were there.

10sec, f/8, ISO 100, 45mm

However I’m a lazy photographer by nature and the next day when the sun was offering yet another stunning display I didn’t bother with the filter. In hindsight, looking at the finished shots it did work nicely to soften the harshness of the sun itself. I’d like to say this was a learning experience for the next time but I hadn’t edited these by the next time, or indeed the time after. So hopefully it’s learned for the time after that.

1/160sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

Sometimes I took the exposure time right down to capture the sun and the clouds at the expense of most of the colour.

1/2000sec, f/8, ISO 100, 105mm/

1/200sec, f/8, ISO 100, 105mm

1/250sec, f/8, ISO 100, 105mm

Of all the foreground elements I used, I generally used this gate the most often.

1/50sec, f/8, ISO 100, 35mm

1/50sec, f/8, ISO 100, 58mm

1/125sec, f/8, ISO 100, 105mm

1/60sec, f/8, ISO 100, 58mm

Sometimes my attempts at shooting the final slices of sun ended up looking a lot moodier than I’d really intended.

1/500sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mm

Of course, usually I ended up photographing that gate.

1/160sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mm

The final sunset of our holiday was one of the more intense ones.

1/800sec, f/8, ISO 100, 28mm

1/60sec, f/8, ISO 100, 32mm

1/100sec, f/8, ISO 100, 28mm

1/40sec, f/10, ISO 100, 24mm

1/500sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mm

By this point in the holiday everyone else staying in the block of cottages had gotten wise to the natural beauty on display.

1/640sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mm

But with that, the sun set for the last time on our holiday.

1/100sec, f/8, ISO 100, 24mm

I would hope that you can clearly see the difference in quality and approach from the sunsets I photographed in 2013 and these ones from five years later.

We returned to the same place in 2019 and had a similarly good batch of sunsets, so expect to see images of those somewhere down the line. We did the same in 2020. And later this year we’ll be going back again, so maybe we’ll be lucky for a fifth time.

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#IFTTT #WordPress