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thehollowprince · 4 years

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Am I the only one who feels like we got baerly any mlm rep this year? Or at least compared to last one

It's not just you.

Compared to last year this year was pretty bad for mlm rep. This year, just mainstream stuff that I can think of off the top of my head would include Riverdale, where Kevin's boyfriends always end up leaving him, Roswell, where the bisexual man falls into the stereotype of not being able to chose between the guy or the girl (seriously, the CW, man. They suck), and that Disney show Andi Mack, where they only gave their sole gay character a boyfriend (maybe?) in the last five minutes of their finale episode ever with absolutely no definitive answers, just some hand holding and a smile, but no actual confirmation.

Those were the big gay stories of 2019.

I'm sure there were others, and I know if anyone has the patience to go back through my blog they'd probably find me reblogging a lot of mlm posts and gifsets, but a lot of them are either from indie movies, foreign shows (the Skam remakes) or the various blink and you miss it scenes featuring background characters. It's either that or something like the bullshit they pulled in Endgame with Joe Russo and attempted to call it representation, something I'm sure is going to be repeated in the upcoming Rise of Skywalker film. They hype it up so much, luring people in with the promise of representation but it's a barely there scene with an unnamed characters who will more than likely just smile a bit too long at their "partner" or they'll use the same-gender pronouns to describe the person who isn't there.

Its garbage.

It's also upsetting because we came off of the last few years where we got some decent movies and television shows that delivered on the mlm rep. Moonlight won and Oscar! Love, Simon was the first mainstream movie that was just a romcom but with a gay teen instead of a straight girl. Call Me By Your Name was a but more explicit but dealt with intimacy during that first love. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Élite, two Netflix shows that had mlm characters as part of the main plot, where their love lives were given as much attention and screentime as their straight counterparts. Sense8... enough said. Whether you loved or hated those projects, and whatever problems they had aside, for once the spotlight was on men who loved men, and that is a rare thing.

2018 was a good year for us, but I get the distinct impression that all of these studios and shareholders looked at all of that and said, "that's enough" and relegated us back to side or background characters. Here's hoping that 2020 is going to be better for rep, but given the fact that Disney is on the verge of completely dominating the entire film industry and with the rise of conservative and fascist ideology across the globe, I'm not going to hold my breath for that.

#snakekingtm #mlm #gay cinema #representation #my opinion

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probabltbry · 5 years

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Carole & Tuesday [Rants/My Opinion/Controversy]

THIS TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE, PLEASE SKIM IT AT LEAST (T.T).

This is very different than what I usually post and I want to begin by saying that I may not have all of the facts! I am basing this on what I’ve seen other people say on this site (and others) and fact checking. I am open to learning and understanding more, and I will read any and all comments (if this post gets any lol). If this changes anything, I am making this post through the lense of a black bisexual female, so my view on things may be different. :)

I try to keep this spoiler free in general, but since I’m going to talk about characters and episodes that have released that’s a little impossible, so I will warn you if there are any spoilers in the section I discuss. I want people who haven’t seen the anime to get a taste of what it is!

In this long post I will touch on the following; LGBT+ representation, POC representation, exposure of the anime(streaming and where to find it), the community/fandom of C&T, Cybelle????!!, and other characters. Remember- this is my opinion and that is always subject to change.

For those of you who don’t know about Carole & Tuesday, it’s a Spring 2019 anime directed by Shinichiro Watanbe in association with the popular Bones studio. Shinichiro is well known for his other successful series such as Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloos and Space Dandy and Bones studio has produced many popular animes like Noragami, Soul Eater and Ouran High School Host Club, etc. [Fun fact, Cowboy Bebop and Carole & Tuesday are said to be set in the same universe and I died when I heard this.]

The plot of Carole & Tuesday, as provided by wiki is:

Set in the future on a partially terraformed Mars, teenager Tuesday Simmons runs away from her posh lifestyle as the daughter of a politician and makes her way to the populous Alba City to pursue her dream of being a musician with just a suitcase and her Gibsonacoustic guitar. On her first day in the city, she crosses paths with Carole Stanley, another aspiring musician who plays the piano, and the two decide to team up as a singer-songwriter duo under the name Carole & Tuesday.

Where can I find this? Why haven’t I heard of it?

I actually discovered Carole & Tuesday through google since I was looking at new and upcoming animes for the Spring and Summer of 2019. Sadly, the website I used show that Carole & Tuesday was an anime many people weren’t looking forward too- but that was only a handful of votes. Personally, I had been super ecstatic since, just from the promo poster, I assumed Carole and Tuesday would possibly be a couple, there’s a person of color as a main protaganist, and they’re both SUPER CUTE. This all made me happy beyond words.

As of now, Carole & Tuesday should only be available on Japan Netflix. Japanese viewers tend to prefer weekly released episodes whereas Americans prefer to binge shows. I am assuming that once the show has completed airing in Japan (there are going to be 24 episodes) it will appear on other Netflixs around the world.

I believe that’s why the promo for it has been severely lacking and the fanbase appears non-existant. The fandom is there, if you squint (which is why I’m surprised there’s already controversy). The fact that I had to look through a list on an unknown website and scroll to the bottom to find this anime is very showing of how unknown this anime is.

I also saw a post comparing Yuri!!! On Ice to Carole & Tuesday and I personally believe that OP took the wrong approach. I forgot the posters name (I will edit and tag if I find it again) but the post said something along theses lines; YOI is so popular because it’s a mlm show whereas C&T isn’t nearly as popular because it’s a wlw relationship with poc.

While this can prove to be true in the future, there are some major differences that were overlooked. I was into the YOI hype when it was first released but it didn’t truly become popular until Yuri and Viktor were canon and everyone was speculating whether it was a kiss or a hug, etc. Yuri!!! On Ice is also a relationship with a person of color, Yuri, and the anime was also supported by Crunchyroll, a major streaming service for Americans/others. It has had two years to become popular, grow and this is one of the very few animes that had positive lgbt+ representation since the relationship grew just as normally as any other type of relationship. It also wasn’t labeled a yaoi/shounen ai (though this sadly didn’t stop the fetishization of the characters and No.6 did it first but let’s move on-). It felt like a big step in the anime lgbt+ community and it won’t be forgotten!

Carole & Tuesday has just started off! Not much promotion is being shown in other countries outside of Japan and the first episode premiered in early April this year. I believe it’s harsh to compare C&T to such a popular anime when it’s literally just begun. It’s also exclusively on Netflix (besides pirating sites) so there is a little foreseeable loss since it won’t be available on Crunchyroll. But despite that I know there’s hope! Though mlm couples tend to be more popularly viewed, and any pairing that doesn’t have completely white/asian/white-presenting people in the relationship they tend to not garner much interests, but I don’t think C&T will fall into that pit. There’s simply not much promotion of it yet but it still has defied odds and has a fanbase with people from many different countries already!

Though I do see the OP’s point and concerns and they have facts on their side (look at fandometrics popular characters/couples, they’re mostly male) I think it’s too soon to point fingers.

Just imagine how large it’ll get when it has proper streaming (because many people do choose not to pirate in order to directly support the anime and it’s creators!). I think this is where our patience comes into play because if you have seen Carole & Tuesday already, you are most likely not using the most legal means. We are all early to the party.

LGBT+ and POC Representation (spoilers in part of this section, read first line):

I will say this, and this will only be the only spoiler free line, I think it has decent lgbt+ representation and that there’s more to unfold. If you’re going to watch exclusively for lgbt+ representation then I don’t think you will be too disappointed but the anime has a ways to go before it’s finished so my opinion can change.

But the most recent episodes and commentary has caused a ripple in viewers beliefs.

Anne and Marie

I literally adored when Marie kissed Anne whilst Carole and Tuesday sat there blushing. Then, Marie was careful to ask if either of them had a boyfriend or girlfriend not assuming C or T’s sexualities at all. This happened on in an early episode so this left me to believe that more casual representation was on the way!

Cybelle

This was where it began to become uncomfortable for me and a few others. I actually couldn’t figure out whether Cybelle was a female, male or left to be ambiguous intentional (I just concluded she was non-binary until they used she/her pronouns). But many people concluded that since it was clear Cybelle was a female with an infatuation (not a crush, an infatuation) on Tuesday people simply labeled her as lesbian. A few are labeling her interactions with Tuesday and Carole as a harmful and negative commonly used trope when involving wlw characters.

Cybelle was being creepy and aggressive towards Tuesday, constantly touching her abruptly and without consent and going as far as biting Tuesday’s neck and leaving a mark. Actions like these feed into the trope that is commonly used in anime/television shows and it actually demeans real lesbian couples. It’s like a scapegoat; saying ‘here’s your rep’ but it’s very, very, very bad rep.

The controversy comes in since there are people defending Cybelle’s actions because she’s a girl, and people are literally calling others ‘homophobic’ because they choose not to ship Cybelle and Tuesday despite their ‘canon interactions’ but they still want Carole and Tuesday to become a couple.

My personal stance is that none of Cybelle’s actions were consensual and I will never want her and Tuesday to become a couple. I think the creators fed into a bad trope (I’m not sure if intentionally or not), and the real only development we got from this was Tuesday learning to stick up for herself. I also think that Cybelle is simply a crazed fan who is not in a sound mental state and that her gender may not necessarily play into this; maybe she was meant to just be an aggressive fan that overstepped boundaries and made people uncomfortable and just happened to be female. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be representation and should not be labeled as such.

But these are just thoughts!

Mermaid Sisters - Galatic Mermaid

I was personally pleased that the Mermaid Sisters blatantly said they weren’t male or female, just like mermaids aren’t fish or human. Non-binary representation is my fucking jam!

But there are worries that this group was used as a comedic affect due to the way the characters were dressed and how they presented themselves, and the fact that they were POC who were interrupted, immediately lost and were shown to be aggressive directly after.

When I first viewed this I was more focused on the fact that they were non-binary, had amazing voices and had sang a song that was clearly not the most appropriate for Mars Brightest. Now I understand that how there were presented can be damaging and as a person of color, I am disappointed but I’m still conflicted. This scene caused people to ‘cancel’ the show and they’re trying to discourage others to not view it but I want to watch until the very end.

Overall I am super happy with the POC representation in the show! Especially since various races and skin tones are show quite frequently.

Dahlia

The same can be said about Dahlia. People feared the a negative trope of transgender females was being displayed though it’s stated that Dahlia is currently male but their sex varies from time to time, on the official website!

The Community/Fandom

Honestly besides the few odd balls who stir the pot and clearly use harsh words when not needed, the fandom is chill. The artworks are sooo cute and a little scarce but you can find Carole and Tuesday content here, on twitter, on YouTube, Deviantart- literally where you would find any other fanbase! Most people are friendly and (NEED) are willing to talk with you! If you’re still hesitant to watch just message someone who constantly tags Carole & Tuesday because I assure, they’re dying to rant to someone about what goes on lol.

Here’s my last little tid bit on whether or not to watch!

You should watch this show because you want to. Don’t do it because someone else keeps saying you have to because it has representation, or because they think Pyotr is hot or whatever. Of course I am the biggest hoe for Carole & Tuesday and if someone wants a new anime to watch I will suggest this one!! But!! Watching a show just because you feel you have to and you have no genuine interests will dull the experience! You should watch and support the show if it makes you laugh, feel love and genuine enjoyment. That’s the point of anime and that is definitely the point of Carole & Tuesday.

I have already seen so many people drop the show because they were forced into it and promised things that weren’t delivered (it’s still early on) and then they bad mouth the anime. If you want to start watching when there’s more hype and a fandom, then wait!! If you’re unsure and want more convincing, message me!! If this doesn’t seem like this anime suits your tastes and, then why did you read this far (kidding)?!!! Regardless, I just want everyone to have a good experience when watching so we can have more good vibes all around.

I would definitely give this anime a shot if you love music, beautiful voices, dancing, poc/lgbt+ rep, suspense and just amazing animation all around, though! It’s has a baby fandom but it’s surely going to grow and I can’t wait to see the outcome of the anime and what becomes of our lovely Carole and Tuesday! <3

I’m also in love with Roddy, just look at him~ | I’m still not super fond of Angela but I am wishing her the best to achieve happiness in the end!

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fictionerd · 5 years

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Good to see you, friends!

God DAMMIT, 3DK! So for those of you who don’t know my history with this series: I watched its first season last year, and I really liked it [dramatic pause] at first. As the season went on it became more and more apparent that the story didn’t care about its side characters culminating in this realization I had during my post about the last episode of Season 1.

[Flashback effects]

[Flashback Ends]

So why am I cursing 3DK’s name now? Shouldn’t I have known what I was getting into? Well naturally I Thought I did, but then they had to go and pull this shit on me!

Synopsis: We return to the adventures of Blue idiot, Pink idiot, and their entourage of extras with Blue idiot reminiscing about how he’s gotten where he is. It is a bit disturbing that the opening narration implies that he only gained his best friend AFTER meeting Pink idiot despite it being established that Blue Idiot and Ito were friends BEFORE the series began, but I’ll let it slide because~

Oh there you are, Set-dressing! What would we do without all these extras to exposit upcoming events to us!? Well Blue idiot and Ito here start scheming about how they’ll avoid participating in the culture festival and complaining about how it’s a “horrible normie event” (The show’s words not mine), but wouldn’t you know it when they get to school it turns out Blue Idiot’s been nominated to be their class’s representative to the festival committee. Ain’t that just zany?

youtube

So far, so much as expected, but this is when things started to take a sudden turn. See Ito passed on joining the committee with Blue Idiot at first because, as was established, they’re both socially-crippled otaku who, despite one of them being decently capable, have avoided interacting with other people as though they had the plague.

Ito changes his mind when he learns that Brown Idiot is on the committee for her class.

Side note: Brown Idiot a.k.a. Ayado is another one of the set dressing characters. She likes to garden, apologizes with produce, was done really dirty last season when her characterization amounted to: Tool to make Pink Idiot Jealous and teach Blue Idiot to STOP TEXTING OTHER GIRLS WHEN HIS GIRLFRIEND IS IN NEED OF MORAL SUPPORT!

So... We’re at this point and I’ve had a nice time ribbing the fuck out of this show, but now I find myself having to take a step back because the damn show gave me what I wanted for a full half of last season: It actually gave the spotlight to its other characters!

After Ito finds out Ayado is on the Committee he trades places with another class member in order to have an excuse to hang out around her. I get that feeling. When you like some one, but are too afraid to say anything you tend to look for excuses to be around them. At least that’s what my observations tell me. What happened next blew my mind right out of my skull.

After being told by Ayado that it was reassuring to have him on the committee, Ito went home and did some soul searching. He marveled at just how much the people around him had changed recently. How much stronger and happier they seemed to be, and he made up his mind. The next day:

He actually did it! The beautiful little bastard actually did it! We finally got some payoff to all the sidelining last season! THIS is why I’m cursing 3DK’s name. THIS right here. After jerking us and their side-characters around for 6+ episodes of last season the show is actually showing some signs of movement in places other than the Main character’s relationship.

Furthermore, Ito gets turned down because of events from last season, but does he fly into a rage and collapse in his wailing about why girls “never like nice guys like him”? HELL NO! He takes it on the chin like a fucking BOSS, and takes steps to ensure that the relationship he has with Ayado at present doesn’t fall apart.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also praise Ayado here. For as much as I’ll call her Brown Idiot along with the other colored idiots. In this episode she really shown forth. She was the one who asked Ito if they could remain friends in spite of the awkwardness of their current relationship.

Side Note Again: I hear peeps start chirping about “friend zones” and I’m going to seal every last one of you in a dimensional labyrinth where you perpetually have to live with your feelings being unrequited until you learn how to have an actual relationship with other human beings rather than constantly hunting down a “Relationship”.

So with new life breathed into half of the supporting cast of the series we proceeded on with the show’s normal shenaniganery. Pink Idiot is being hounded to enter the school beauty contest. She doesn’t want to. Blue Idiot shoves his foot down his own throat trying to reassure her instead of picking up on the giant neon sign over her head saying, “I don’t want the attention”.

However, she ends up entering anyway when she finds out that the reason her class’s rep has been hounding her is because he’s smitten with his fellow committee member and wants their class to do well in the festival so she can have a good final culture festival before graduating and maybe he can grow the balls to confess to her.

Blue Idiot is perplexed by her sudden change of attitude, and then...

Oh, 3DK, you so funny. This is totally not contrived at all. I mean who WOULDN’T want the guy who’s been antisocial until the past month or so, was briefly suspected of being a lolicon, and is DATING ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS to be the head judge?

You better pull some “It was a random lottery assignment” bollocks out of your ass next episode or I’m calling TRUE bullshit.

Thoughts: Hot damn that was a long synopsis. I have mixed feelings about the development between Ito and Ayado. On the one hand: I’m glad we’re finally getting around to showing the rest of the cast some love. On the other hand: I’m asking myself how the hell the show is going to fuck it up.

I can only pray that things don’t turn out like last season. Starting on a promising note. Holding that expectation for a few episodes, and then lurching down a gutter-full of broken promises and shattered dreams.

You know what? No! Last season’s sudden detour isn’t worth that exciting a description. More like “Sedately turning onto an interstate of rolling grassland so abundant that you’re actually excited to see a gods-damned cow because it’s at least something to break up the sanity-smothering MONOTONY!”

It strikes me that Ito and Ayado’s relationship is sort of polar opposite to Blue Idiot and Pink Idiot’s. While our main characters decided to rush into dating and things have (nominally) worked out for them from there. Ito and Ayado are slow-burning things. They’re building the relationship from the ground up. Starting as friends with the POTENTIAL to become more. I just hope that this actually goes somewhere instead of being glossed over in favor of more zany hijinks with the Idiot Couple. Though if I’m being honest... It’s not a very big hope.

Until next post keep talking fiction, friends! I’ll see you soon.

#Anime #Let's Talk Anime #3D Kanojo: Real Girl #3D Kanojo #3DK #Fictionerd #In-Character #Winter 2019 #Winter Season 2019 #Winter Anime 2019

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medproish · 6 years

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President TrumpDonald John TrumpWhite House revises statement saying Iran ‘has’ secret nuclear weapons programDOJ files charges against 11 suspected ‘caravan’ members for illegal border crossingMueller planned to ask Trump about Manafort’s campaign outreach to Moscow: reportMORE is basking in the glow of chatter that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts on the Korea Peninsula.

Trump’s supporters — and even the South Korean president — say that getting North Korea to denuclearize and end the Korean War would be a monumental achievement worthy of the prize.

It’s far from sure, of course, that Trump’s upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will lead to a lasting peace deal, and Trump himself on Tuesday appeared to suggest that people are getting a bit ahead of themselves.

“I just think that President Moon [Jae-in] was very nice when he suggested it,” Trump said Tuesday when asked about his Nobel prospects. “I want to get peace. The main thing, we want to get peace. It was a big problem, and I think it’s going to work out well.

“We’ll see. … But I thought it was very generous of President Moon of South Korea to make that statement, and I appreciate it, but the main thing is to get it done. I want to get it done.”

The talk of Trump getting the prestigious award for statesmanship is a long way from when the world was on edge as Trump mocked Kim as “Little Rocket Man” and threatened “fire and fury” if North Korea continued its nuclear threats.

It’s certainly possible that Trump could have been nominated for this year’s peace prize, which former President Obama won in 2009.

The cut-off for nominations is Feb. 1, however, which came before the news of the Trump-Kim meeting. That means a 2019 nomination for Trump might be more likely.

Anyone can be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by someone who falls into one of eight categories.

Eligible nominators include members of national assemblies or national governments of sovereign states — though people cannot nominate themselves. That means Trump couldn’t throw his own hat in the ring, but a member of Congress or his Cabinet could.

The other categories of nominators are members of the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague; members of the Institute of International Law; university professors of history, social sciences, law, philosophy, theology and religion; university heads and directors of peace research or foreign policy institutes; past Peace Prize winners; board of directors members for institutions that are past Peace Prize winners; current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee; and former advisers to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The list of nominees officially remains secret for 50 years, though individuals sometimes publicize when they’ve nominated someone.

On Feb. 1, the Norwegian Nobel Committee stops taking nominations and whittles down its long list of nominees into a short list. The committee, composed of five members appointed by the Norwegian parliament, then chooses a winner, announced in October each year.

This year there are 330 candidates, of which 216 are individuals and 114 are organizations, according to the Nobel Prize website.

Trump was definitely nominated both this year and last — but the Nobel Committee said the public nominations appear to be forgeries, and both were referred to Norwegian police.

Politics has been seen as front and center in the Nobel prize, and there are those who doubt the committee would pick Trump for the award even if he did achieve Korean peace.

“My guess is they would not be comfortable giving it to him unless there was a tangible result,” said Andy Keiser, a principal at Navigators Global who worked on the Trump transition’s national security team. “Perhaps even then, it would be for all three of them, Trump, Moon and Kim.”

The prize, first awarded in 1901, has had controversial winners in the past. Henry Kissinger’s win in 1973 for negotiating an ultimately short-lived ceasefire in Vietnam prompted two committee members to quit in protest for the first time in the prize’s history.

A committee member also resigned in 1994 when Yasser Arafat won alongside Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres for their roles in negotiating the Oslo accords.

It’s not unheard of for the committee to award works in progress.

In 2000, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung won the award for his so-called sunshine policy toward North Korea, which has been scrutinized for rewarding Pyongyang while failing to result in peace.

Obama’s win also elicited criticism as it was awarded in the first year of his presidency, before he accomplished much.

Last year’s winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which successfully pushed the United Nations to pass the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. None of the world’s acknowledged nuclear weapons states have signed the treaty, though, leading some to dismiss the Nobel’s choice as aspirational.

In response to the chatter of Trump deserving an award, ICAN Executive Director Beatrice Fihn tweeted that she’d “put in a good word” for Trump if he works with Russian President Vladimir Putin to reduce both countries’ nuclear arsenals.

In a separate statement on last week’s inter-Korea summit, ICAN credited South Korea for the progress rather than Trump.

“The dangerous rhetoric from Donald Trump and the U.S. brought us to the brink of nuclear war, and only careful diplomacy from South Korea has brought us back from it,” ICAN said in a statement Friday.

The talk of Trump deserving a Nobel picked up after the Kim-Moon summit last week resulted in a joint declaration saying they are committed to denuclearizing the peninsula and ending the Korean War.

On Friday, Rep. Luke MesserAllen (Luke) Lucas MesserGOP lawmaker touts Nobel Peace Prize for TrumpGOP Senate candidates trade barbs in brutal Indiana primaryGOP Senate hopefuls race to catch up with Dems MORE (R-Ind.), who is in a crowded Senate primary campaign, released a statement saying he was gathering support from his colleagues to nominate Trump for the award in 2019. Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamGraham: Liberals would ‘kill themselves’ if Trump won Nobel PrizeAfter a respite, Cruz again questioning McConnell’s strategies‘Top Chef’ stars help cap off weekend of media-obsessed partiesMORE (R-S.C.) has also talked about Trump deserving the award if there’s a peace deal.

During a rally in Michigan on Saturday, attendees, apparently unprompted, began chanting “Nobel” while Trump discussed North Korea. Trump stopped talking and stood smiling as they continued the chant.

“That’s very nice, thank you. That’s very nice. Nobel,” he said with a chuckle at the end. “I just want to get the job done.”

On Monday, Moon told a meeting of senior secretaries that “President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize,” according to a South Korean presidential office official who briefed the media.

At least one betting market gives Trump decent odds to win the prize this year. As of Tuesday, Britain-based Ladbrokes gave Trump 10/1 odds, tied with the U.N. refugee agency. The only choice with better odds was a joint win by Moon and Kim, at 4/6.

Still, foreign policy experts have been highlighting Pyongyang’s history of breaking commitments to get rid of its nuclear program, suggesting the Nobel talk is premature.

“It’s definitely too early to be declaring victory, but the progress we’ve seen is not insignificant for sure,” Keiser said. “There have been multiple examples of the world thinking we have made progress in North Korea, all the while they’re developing their nuclear program on the side.”

Henrik Urdal, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said signals from the inter-Korea summit are promising, but it’s still “far too early” to talk about awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to any of the parties in the Korea talks.

The institute is separate from the Nobel Institute, but it annually releases its own list of who the director thinks will make the Nobel’s short list.

The Nobel committee will likely want to see “real and irreversible” change in North Korea before it considers awarding anyone the Peace Prize, Urdal added.

“If successful, however, there is little doubt that solving the conflict on the Korean peninsula would be considered an exceptionally important contribution to global stability, and worthy of a prize,” Urdal said in an email.

“If Trump makes a major contribution to such achievement, he will be considered for the Peace Prize, and it is quite possible that he could get it. However, he has been playing a high-stake game so far, so he needs to demonstrate statesman skills beyond threats and [deterrence] for that to happen.”

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mikeyd1986 · 6 years

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MIKEY’S PERSONAL BLOG 94, March 2018

If ever there was a time I needed to “listen to my body”, it’s today. I woke up on Monday morning feeling rundown and having muscle tension that was keeping me awake from around 1-3am. I’ve also been having ongoing sinus issues from nasal congestion and phlegm in my throat and sneezing due to the weather. So I decided not to attend my Healthy Cooking on a Budget class today and rest up instead as I feel like I need to slow down before I burn out. http://www.naturallivingideas.com/banish-muscle-tension/

Late Monday morning, I decided to go down to YMCA Casey RACE with Mum and did some gentle exercises in the warm pool and free play pool. Despite the soreness in my muscles, it actually felt good to be moving around in the pool. I wisely didn’t do any swimming as I didn’t want to push my body too hard but any exercise is better than no exercise. It’s great for mobility, strength, releasing tension from the muscles and joints. Sadly the spa/sauna/steam room area was closed off due to flooring renovations but at least I got to use some of the aquatic facilities. https://www.caseyrace.ymca.org.au/aquatics/aquatic-facilities

On Tuesday morning, Mum and I dropped into the doctors at Narre Gate Medical Center. The pressure and soreness in the back of my head and along the sides of my face was still really annoying me and I needed to get it checked out. I also had a lot of scabbing and redness on the outside of my left ear. As expected, I had a bacterial infection and the doctor prescribed me a course of Amoxicillin 500mg to take over the next few days. https://www.drugs.com/amoxicillin.html

I think my levels of stress and getting myself rundown can be attributed to the full-on week I have coming up. My VCAT hearing and mediation session in the city. Birthday shopping, A workshop on the Victorian Autism Plan. My birthday plans next weekend and my Mum’s birthday the week after that. I have a lot on my plate and the last thing I need is to get myself sick before it all happens.

On Tuesday night, I had a Hatha Slow Flow yoga class with Tash Florance Just Be Yoga and Meditation in Beaconsfield. This was my first time in one of Tash’s classes who was filling in for Rhys Dennis tonight. Overall, I had mixed feelings about it. There was no music playing in the room at all so I had to adjust to the deadpan silence in between Tash’s instructions. And the Savasana (Meditation) at the end of the class came to an abrupt end with an informal “namaste” instead of a collective one. http://www.justbeyoga.com.au/classes/

But these negatives aside, I still managed to enjoy the class which had a decent turnout of around 8 or 9 people. Whilst we were struggling to balance and having a laugh at ourselves, Tash shared some insightful yogic philosophies that she’s learned during her journey to become a yoga teacher including looking inside yourself and not worrying to much about getting the “perfect pose”. She compared yoga to life and how oftentimes it can be really messy, unstable and imperfect.

Tash guided us through several different poses and flowing sequences including Cat-Cow pose, extended child’s pose, Downward Facing Dog, Plank on knees, Baby Cobra, Three Legged Dog, Knee to Nose, Crescent Lunge, Warrior 2, Triangle pose, Warrior 3, Chair pose, Side Angle pose and Horse pose. https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/types-of-yoga/hatha

On Thursday morning, I had my appointment with support worker Ally at Colourfield Cafe Casey Central in Narre Warren South. Today felt a lot more productive than other weeks, perhaps because I had a list of things I wanted to discuss with her in case I forgot something. Lately I’ve been exploring different avenues for support and employment services after receiving my formal diagnosis for High Functioning Autism. So I decided to get her advice considering she works for WISE Employment so potentially become a job seeker through Disability Employment Services (DES). https://www.jobs.gov.au/disability-employment-services

I also talked about my upcoming VCAT mediation and hearing in the city next week. I guess the thing I’m most anxious about is having the confidence to stand up in a tribunal and just knowing what to say in front of the Member. Having never been through this process before, the whole thing is incredibly daunting for me even though I’m in a strong position for the ruling to fall in my directions. I have so many “What if?” questions buzzing around inside my head which I won’t know the answers to until I go through with it. https://www.vcat.vic.gov.au/steps-to-resolve-your-case/on-hearing-day

Ally also made some suggestions about managing my money and credit card debt as well as applying for the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) program which will be rolled out in the Casey area in September (hopefully). She also recommended a program called Employ Your Mind which helps with developing cognitive skills and self-confidence. So yes lots to think about. http://www.wiseemployment.com.au/en/community/ndis-supports-and-services/

On Thursday night, I had my last Strength & Fitness Fundamentals Level 1 session at The Yard Strength & Fitness in Pakenham. Part of me felt a bit lost and confused tonight as I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do in terms of warm-up exercises so I was basically winging it. Again structure is very important to me so if nobody gives me instructions, I feel kinda hopeless and this was the case during my session tonight.

We ended up doing a partnered workout with myself and Rodney Millar pairing off. Between us, we had to do the following: 2000m row, 100 situps, 100 push ups and 100 squats. I honestly didn’t really know how many of each I was meant to be doing or when I should be start/stopping but I just tried to go with the flow. It was a tough workout even with all the rules I wasn’t fully aware of like only one person working while the other is resting but oh well.

I seemed to fare a lot better with our WOD (Workout of the Day) but then I had another distraction to deal with: time. I was constantly looking up at those red digital numbers on the display as I knew I had a train to catch soon. Our WOD consisted of doing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 reps of the following: Snatch or clean & press, box jumps or step ups, pull ups on the bar with resistance band, power cleans, dragonflies and pike push ups.

Because of how overtime the session was becoming, I only completed half the workout but I was fatigued enough and was still happy with my efforts tonight. Cue me quickly getting myself changed in the toilets and wiping myself down with baby wipes (Thank you Mandi Herauville) before making a bee-line to Pakenham station. Overall, I was generally pleased with this 4 week program despite having a few commitment issues and struggles along the way. I learned a lot of new movements like snatches, overhead presses and power cleans plus got myself back into strength training and weight lifting again. https://www.facebook.com/TheYardStrengthandFitness/

“A heart explodes every second on the street. A sister, a daughter, a lover. Who hopes they're not forgotten. You crossed the line and committed a crime. It was there from the start, from the start. Oceans of empathy. And now this is history.” Marnie (of Ladytron) - The Hunter (2013)

“There's no wrong, there's no God. There's no hard, there's no love. We are more like you Than the ones that you knew. Phantom road, erase your glares. You beg your queen, dismantled cross. We are more like you. Than the ones that you knew.” Ladytron - The Animals (2018)

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celiawickedrunnah · 7 years

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“The pain of training is nothing compared to the pain of not reaching your potential.”

~Josh Cox, US 50k Record Holder

It appears that my push for a PR in Swamp House 5K and a surprisingly second place age group award came with a price. It was not a wonder that my calves took a beating on that race and that my legs were tired after logging 90.1 miles for the month of February. However, I was confident and feeling strong that with a few days of rest from running and some general rest, I’d be able to pull it off and gear up in the upcoming weeks for Tomoka Half marathon. After some rest, miles and hours of strength training later, my left adductor told me otherwise.

It was such a beautiful Saturday morning for a short-long run on the West Orange Trail with the fam. Kurt was getting his exercise on wheels with his rollerblades, R2-D2 was enjoying his 10:10 interval – 10 run: 10 ride on his stroller (yes, he has a baby stroller), and I was happy as I could be running an easy 7-miler on my own feet until I felt a sharp pain traveling from my the bottom of my leg all the way to my hamstring reaching the groin area. What in the world was that? I told Kurt about it, but we didn’t put much thought because pain is part of running.

At West Orange Trail on the way back around mile 6 pushing to get it done

My pace slowed down during mile 5 and 6, but I was able to pick it up back at mile 7 but I slowed down for the last .50 and used as my cool down. I ended the run with a brief walk and a quick stretched sesh. The stretch was very uncomfortable and every step was getting stiffed by the second. Getting out of the car after seating for a 10-minute drive home was horrifying. I haven’t felt pain and stiffness like that in a very long time – not even when I finished a half marathon race or my 20-miler last year training for Tomoka marathon. It was super sore after Tomoka, but again, nothing like after this 7-miler run. Having realized the state of pain, I went on for a real stretch and foam rolling sesh before eating.

I sat down for breakfast and I felt like I should not had done so. The pain again was sharp with every body movement I took. At that point, I decided that I really needed to take an ibuprofen and go to the pool for some cool water therapy since the water was a cold enough (68 degrees) as a short-cut to an ice bath. I spent about one-hour standing/walking in the pool in hopes that the discomfort would diminish with every passing hour. I suppose I can only hope but not ignore the fact that DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) was yet to come, right?!

I hardly ever take naps. First of all, I can’t afford naps since I work an eight-hour shift Monday-Friday. Second, I avoid creation such habit. And third, I use naps as a reference point to know when my body is really tired and in need of rest rather than being lazy for a nap. This Saturday, unfortunately, was a day that my body was telling me it was super tired and a nap was needed. After taking two more ibuprofen, I napped for almost two hours, but the soreness was still present with every movement I made and step I took.

The following Monday, I had a 3-miler easy run on the scheduled. I did run, but it was brutal. My pace and strides were off as the discomfort was still present. At that point, I decided to see Dr. Brad at Orlando Sports Chiropractor. Dr. Brad diagnosed the injury to be a strained adductor muscle, some heat therapy, lots of stretch and rest. Going through gastron technique performed in the left inner thigh was ridiculous painful. I’ll take calf soreness if I had to choose.

Physical therapy, rest, spinning, heat and cold therapies, and strength training workouts was the priority at this point. After Monday’s chiropractor visit, I started to feel better. Kurt (he’s a licensed massage therapist specializing in sports massage and AIS) worked on me on Tuesday for a 25-minute session of AIS (Active Isolated Stretching technique) and it has helped a great deal. By Wednesday, I was hopeful that it was healed. I didn’t feel any major discomfort when moving, I was more stable in doing my Bosu ball stability workouts; therefore, I was ready to give a test-run on Thursday morning and find out for sure if racing Tomoka half was even possible.

Comes Thursday morning and I felt a little stiffness on the injured leg. I did drills warm up as usual but as soon as I started to run, the discomfort let me know that it hadn’t gone away just yet. I estimated to be foreseeable to feel some discomfort. Because the discomfort was a lot lesser than on Monday’s run, I kept going. At some point at mile 2, I had to pause and I wished I had not. The pain wanted to settle in, so I restarted the run to complete the scheduled 3-mile run. I was able to pick up pace to finish the run with negative splits at 11:32, 10:35 and 9:59.

It was hard even to pose for a picture! Ughh! Ouch!

I haven’t felt anything worse than an angry adductor after a run until now, and I thought that Saturday’s run was bad! Oh my goodness… the pain was excruciating, my left leg was stiffed as a wood board; it hurt to bend, it hurt to stretch, it hurt to raise my leg, it hurt to put pressure on, and it hurt to walk. Some slow movements of stretch was the only thing that it appeared to alleviate the pain I was feeling, but still, it was hurting as hell. I got scared at that point. Getting in the car to go the gym for a more decent stretching and shower was becoming a hard and scary task. I was barely walking and it felt like I needed crutch. I was thinking, what am I doing to myself? But I needed this test-run to see where I was in this injury. With only nine days shy from race day, I was certain that I could go ahead pull out of the race and cancel all travel plans.

Since the mind-opening and body-painful experience I had in Lighthouse Loop half marathon in October 2016, I promised myself that I would never put myself in such situation again. I’ve learned to respect my body and mind more after this experience. No race (unless it is the Boston marathon) is worth pushing through pain when clearly I am not 100% healthy or confident. Logistically, there was no reasonable explanation or indication that I would have a comfortable and fun race; most importantly, there was not a possible outcome for a sub-2 result. Before Lighthouse Loop, I didn’t realize how mentally draining a race can be. There’s a fine line of pushing mental fitness boundaries for a goal and pushing it out of greed or ignorance. I will pick my battles wisely from now on.

Although it is frustrating to be on the shelf for a few days, there’s a part of recovery or rehab period that it is gratifying. We have to at least try to find the good in a not so favorable situation. It is part of the growth of being a better person and a better athlete. And in this phase, it is where practice of mental toughness and fitness plays a great deal on whether we stay on the path to our goals or take the short cut path which is to give up, because the reality is, there is no short cut. Either we do the work or we don’t. Either you learn to adapt or not.

The first twelve days of rehab/recovery consisted of a straight-forward routine of physical therapy, strength training, cold and hot therapy, and a mental break as well on the days that I felt that I needed to give some rest while practicing not feeling guilty for not doing a workout.

Day 1 Epson Salt Bath Heat Therapy Pool Therapy

3 x 10 bird dog 5 forward lunges 10 step up 10 inverted flyers 10 front squat (2 sets on Bosu) 10 Bosu, side, front and back lift 10 Resistance band (or cable) standing hip abduction (leg out to the side) 10 Resistance band standing (or cable) hip adduction (leg crossing in front of standing leg) 10 Resistance band standing hip abduction – hamstring and quad (front and back direction) 10 Side Lying Hip Abduction with Resistance Band 10 single leg bridge 10 fire hydrant 10 triceps dip Stretch

Day 2 3 x 10 bird dog 10 forward lunges 10 step up 10 inverted flyers 10 front squat 10 each – Bosu side, lateral, front and back kick 10 Resistance band (or cable) standing hip abduction (leg out to the side) 10 Resistance band standing (or cable) hip adduction (leg crossing in front of standing leg) 10 Resistance band standing hip abduction – hamstring and quad (front and back direction) 10 Side Lying Hip Abduction with Resistance

30:00 Heat Therapy

Day 3

Easy 3-miler run – It was a no-go for Tomoka half.

Dry Sauna session

AIS session w/ Kurt – lower body, focus on hip for range of motion and sports massage

30:00 Heat Therapy

Day 4

Rest day

30:00 Heat Therapy

Day 5

2000 meters Rowing 55:00 Spin Class 1:40 Strength Training

3 x 10 bird dog 10 forward lunges (2 sets on Bosu) 10 step up 10 inverted flyers 10 front squat (2 sets on Bosu) 10 Bosu, side, front and back lift 10 Bosu side lunges 10 Resistance band (or cable) standing hip abduction (leg out to the side) 10 Resistance band standing (or cable) hip adduction (leg crossing in front of standing leg) 10 Resistance band standing hip abduction – hamstring and quad (front and back direction) 10 Side Lying Hip Abduction with Resistance Band 10 single leg bridge 10 fire hydrant 10 triceps dip 10 stability ball sit up 10 single leg dumbbell dead lift 10 Dumbbell Upright Row Stretch

Heat Therapy

Day 6

5 miles Outdoor Bike ride Stretch / Foam Roll

Day 7

Stretch / Foam Roll

1 x 10 bird dog 10 inverted flyers 10 Bosu squat 10 Bosu side, front and back leg kick 10 Bosu side lunges 10 Resistance band (or cable) standing hip abduction (leg out to the side) 10 Resistance band standing (or cable) hip adduction (leg crossing in front of standing leg) 10 Resistance band standing hip abduction – hamstring and quad (front and back direction) 10 Side Lying Hip Abduction with Resistance Band 10 fire hydrant 10 triceps dip 10 Dumbbell Upright Row 10 Dumbbell bicep curl Foam Roll Stretch

Day 8

15:00 Spinning Heat Therapy Pool Therapy

3 x Reverse Crunch (10 reps) Toe Touches (10 reps) Plank Hip Twist (10 reps each side) 10 One Arm Dumbbell Row 10 Dumbbell Upright Row 10 squat (2 sets on Bosu) 10 Bosu, side, front and back leg kick 10 Side Lying Hip Abduction with Resistance Band 10 Resistance band standing hip abduction – hamstring and quad (front and back direction) 10 Resistance band clam shell

Day 9

Rest Day

Stretch / Foam Roll

Day 10

2-miler Test Run – Great progress, but more recovery/rehab work required. 2.01 miles, 9:44 pace with negative splits – 10:10 & 9:18

Dry Sauna Stretch Static stretch (focus on calves, hip, back) Yoga Movements 10 Side Lying Hip Abduction with Resistance Band 2x 10 Resistance band clam shell

Day 11

Rest Day

Pool Therapy

Day 12

Rest Day

Stretch / Foam Roll Resistance Band PT workout

On day-10 it was time for me to do a test-run and see how far I have progressed. I was confident and eager to go out for run. I spent a little more extra time doing warm up drill, in part because I knew I had to focus more on that, and in part because I was getting a little nervous about it. As soon as I hit the start bottom, the feeling of being able to run again was exhilarating. I felt in peace and so grateful. I felt like a bird being able to freely fly again.

I was very conservative on my comeback test-run and made sure to go easy. Nothing really bothered me during the run and it was a solid 2-miler until the end. My heart rate averaged at 163 bpm. It’s in the aerobic capacity and a little higher than my recommended easy pace of under 155-150, but I’m excited to know spinning sessions and rowing sessions has helped keep my cardio going. After the run, my leg was a little thigh indicating me that stretch was a MUST and that more PT work was most certainly needed. The routine will remain until I feel 100% healed, and even then, I’ll be putting a lot more focus on hip flexor and legs strength training.

It is a bummer to miss this year’s Tomoka half marathon. It has become a tradition to run a Tomoka event for the past two years, and I was so eager to see how my performance would be since starting to work with Coach Victoria. However, I have nothing but gratitude for being where I am today with my progress in running. I’ve reached goals that I never thought possible. I know that despite this set back, my body is much stronger than it was a year ago. I am counting my blessings today and every day and I will continue to become an even stronger runner than I was yesterday. Giving up is not an option, not now.

I wish all runners a successful and fun race!

“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.”

~ Oprah Winfrey

Tomoka Half Marathon No More “The pain of training is nothing compared to the pain of not reaching your potential.” ~Josh Cox, US 50k Record Holder…

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lukecmurray · 7 years

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My System For Tracking & Revising Goals

This is the last section of an email I wrote to a friend of mine that wanted some feedback on his goals and on how to make them. The first two sections make up the previous two posts (”My Goals For 2017″ and “Advice On A Friend’s Goals: Tighten The Feedback Loop”). I want to reiterate that it is important to have goals, but it is more important to have a system that tracks and revises those goals. And even more important to be consistently revising that system.

But, before I get even more meta on the topic, here you go:

Connect with my vision and goals

One of my daily coach.me habit checkins is 'connect with my vision and goals'. This is what I do during that time (5 or 10 minutes, timer set).

1. life list - Inspired by Bronnie Ware’s “5 Regrets of the Dyiing”, and Paul Graham’s blog post about his version of them for himself. These are the things I want to look back on my life at the age of 100 and say that I did. It’s a list that’s I update often as I learn more about myself, but currently it is:

let myself be happy

let the little bad things happen in order to do the big things

big thing #1 - love without holding back

big thing #2 - be you - be honest with yourself. never stop searching for Truth.

big thing #3 - help others

2. year goals - look at my dog tags and just think about/reflect on them (unplug, love, be a giver, 80% checkins). I don't look at any data, I just consciously acknowledge for at least 60 seconds that these are the things that matter most to me this year. I mentioned in the last post that I don't track 'unplug' or 'love' - in the romantic or non-romantic category. Thinking about how well I'm doing in that part of my life every day for just a few moments is sufficient feedback for me. Plus another daily checkin is a daily review of what I did that day. And I do a weekly review that looks at those seven brief daily summaries. Just looking at those and then asking, did I stay unplugged? Was I terrifyingly honest in romantic situations? Were my hangouts 8+/10? is enough to make sure that my behavior is influenced in this direction...which is the only reason you set goals and track them anyway. Also, the next thing I do after this “connect with my vision and goals session” is plan my day, so these non-trackable goals are top of mind when I sit down to plan what I'm actually going to do.

3. review 'my plate' high level list - this is my master to do list. It's not super granular, and I only spend 60 seconds on it, but it's a collection of all the irons I have in the fire.

4. upcoming 90 days - what are the big things I have coming up

5. calendar review - 1-2 weeks out. I open up my google calendar and see what's going on

6. core value of the week - I've got four core values, I try to focus on one each week, just like Ben Franklin did.

Six things, five or ten minutes. Done. This 'connect with my vision and goals' structure changes A LOT though, as I cut out things that aren't affecting my behavior. For example, one thing I used to do was my reps journal. Even though that seemed like a great idea and the logic behind it was super sound, I quit doing it after 6 months because I realized it wasn't affecting my actions on a daily basis.

Plan the day

I do this after doing the above (and meditating, before that) because I'm in the best/wisest mental state.

Weekly review

Set the timer for 10 minutes. I put the following in my coach.me account notes for this checkin. And I track:

- what did i do this week?

- stats - am I on pace for my checkin goal (was I above or below 80% or 61.6 checkins this week?)

- lessons from the week

I was also checking my mint.com account and putting how much I spent, what the surprise expenses were, and if they were avoidable/appropriate, etc. This weekly review structure changes often, too, as I again ask the question, 'has tracking this affected my behavior'?

Tracking

It's ALL on coach.me. Having one place to look for everything makes me more likely to consistently do it, even if it's not ideal. For example, I tracked my body fat percentage for awhile and just put it in the notes section of my exercise goal. Not nearly as clean as myfitnesspal, or a million other apps...but I did it consistently and it wouldn't take that much effort if I actually wanted to review that data and use it to make decisions about my health, which is super rare. The value is in doing it consistently so you have a decent sense at all times of where you're at. It doesn't matter that much what my bodyfat percentage was three months ago. It does matter that I'm aware on a high level that it's been going up consistently for the past three weeks, and I don't have to look at a line graph to know that if I'm the guy that's writing it down every day.

That is all. Hope this feedback helps him (he’s killing it in life and probably knows all this stuff anyway) or someone else, somewhere. But even if it doesn’t, spending a few hours clarifying my own goals, and the system to review them, and the critique of that system is super beneficial to me...and probably you too ;)

first draft: 2-9-17

published: 2-9-17

time: 7:11a - 11:11a 4 hrs

image credit: me. with the snowman’s permission (his name: pterodactyl...I dunno, ask my friends)

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