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lockdownuk · 4 years

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Lockdown Diary Part 7

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 181: Typing on day 182. I received an email from someone at DSM who had got my CV from Helen Proctor (she was the manager that interviewed me along with the founder) and wants me to interview for a IT business consultant role for a shoe firm (Loakes) in Kettering. I called the chap and had a quick chat and arranged it for Wednesday.

A few beers, as it’s Friday, and caught up via video chat with Foggy and Irish Mike (Foggy’s on quarantine having holidayed in the south of France). It was a late one and they were both pissed, but nice to chat. Andy and Ham were meant to join but were no shows - Ham had his sister’s funeral this week - might explain it.

Day 182: I messaged Ham - he went round his folk’s house after work last night as his two sisters were there. I have to admit, I am ignorant of all of Ham’s brothers and Sisters so he may well have meant one was Preaya in an urn.

Someone on the Oundle Chatter FB group asked about Google Hangouts (on behalf of her son who is attending college and they have online classes using it. I am now about to look into it for her. Why did I get involved. It’s 8pm on a Saturday, ffs!

Update, I researched it and messaged her - seems I hit a nail on the head and she seemed suitably grateful. Booze and pizza coming right up (at 9:15pm)

Day 183: Up at just before 2pm - I drank shed loads last night and went to bed after 4am. Faffed about but did manage my stair climb, a 10km walk and I am now making a roast dinner-ish tea (chicken breast stuffed with red leicester and wrapped in bacon) with all the veg and yorkies (I am trying to empty the freezer as it needs defrosting).

Day 184: I posted on FB that today was half a leap year of lockdown (that’s wrong, should have been yesterday). Rachel replied that it isn’t lockdown anymore. I replied that it is for me but that got me thinking - are we officially in lockdown still? Checked, and we are. Posted that on the same thread and Badger replied that the current level of lockdown has been uprated to level 4, whatever that actually means. Rachel’s post worries me - 1. ‘cos it’s indictative of the far-too-relaxed attitude and, 2. I wasn’t even sure even though I’m still observing the same lockdown behaviour that I was before Boris made his announce on March 23rd. Scary how facts bleed into fiction.

Jim contacted me today, asked me to call. I did so, he says I’ll be asked to return to work (from home) on the 5th October (two weeks). Shirley from HR will be in contact. I’ll believe when I see the email from her!

Day 185: Boris announced a tightening of the relaxed lockdown including pubs shutting at 10pm. None of it really affects me since I’m still in as full a lockdown as when it started.

Received an email from John Morton at DSM for an interview at Loakes tomorrow (Wed) at 09:30am.

Received a Facebook message from the editor at Oundle Chronicle - he wants to do a short article about the photos I take and post on the Oundle Chatter fb group.

Day 186: Interview went ok.

Called Dad and Rita to let them know that I received an email from RCI confirming that I will be back at work on the 5th of October.

In the evening, Facebook had posts concerning somebody walking round Creed Road with a knife in his hand, and the police getting involved!

Day 187: Spend spend spend. Paid my speeding fine today £357, my water bill £147, bought two new duvet cover sets and two new sheets £58, a new pair of walking boots (my relatively new Hi-Tec are leaking and falling apart) £75. Oh, and the car insurance renews day after tomorrow, £230. Thank fucking fuck I’m being taken off furlough!

Day 188: Friday and I’m going to have a few beers and watch a couple of films. I’ve been trawling through Seinfeld and am most the way through S3, and it’s brilliant. The Kramer character is mentally good. One episode had the actress who played Janice in Friends - that episode is a classic - which also included an scene whereby the cast are all exclaiming ‘Saturday night’ similar to the Friends TikTok trend. Got a call this morning about a service delivery lead role for EPM, a education service provider, based in Huntingdon. It’s a good role, very involved, reporting directly to the head of IT. But it’s only £32k pa. I replied to the email the recruiter subsequently sent to say I am interested but that salary is less than £5k pa than I am on now as a 2nd line support techie! Lastly, I am well on my way to doing 500,000 steps in September!

Day 189: I was woken by the doorbell - a delivery of one of the duvet cover sets. On the door mat was a missed parcel delivery note from Ryal Mail (I have to get whatever it is from Warmington PO) and a note from next door (No. 34) asking for me to turn my music down at 10.30pm. That’s fair enough but....10.30pm! What are they, 80 years old? I have felt low today. There is no rhyme nor reason as to my moods suffice to say I am not of the happiest dispostion on a permanent basis, resigned to being alone. In fact, I have come to terms with the fact I’ll die alone but, it seems, some days I cope with it a lot worse than others. On that cheery note, it’s 8.45 pm on a Saturday night so, I am about to launch into some beers, weed and pizza. I think tonight I’ll seek out the second John Wick film - watch the first last night - so fucking good. You gotta love Keanu!

Day 190: Hopefully the last Sunday of having an enforced no-work-on-Monday so I’m going to have a beer or two (it’s now 8:20pm - just cracked open a Bud), watch American Sniper and eat Chilli and naan bread and onion rings. I did a 12 km walk today - I recall a time when 40-45 minuts walking was enough. Today’s walk was 2 hours! I know it’s only walking but I feel fitter than I have for years; still unfit, but fitter. Day 191: Well, I enjoyed the decadence of boozing last night but it meant getting up at after midday! Still managed two walks, trip to Tesco’s in Hampton after picking up the mystery parcel from Warmington PO. It was two unknown bottles of beer for a marketing campaign I entered a few days ago! I have to not open the beers until I receive instruction whereby I’ll be joining in with other drinkers in video chat! Day 192: Smahed 500k steps for September with one day to go! Cleaned the kitchen - I’m going to do the whole house over the next few days while I have the free time since I’m back to work on Monday. The lad from next door called round this eveing to ask if I got the note. When I said yes, he told me they (he and his partner) can still hear music. FFS! I asked where their bedroom was, it’s along side mine, so I guess it’s the TV sound that is travelling up and disturbing them. Great, fuck knows what I should do if I want to watch anything after 10:30pm. I suppose going back to work is good timing..I shall be going to bed around that time myself, especially if I want to get up early to get a walk in before starting at 09.00 am.

Day 193: Typing on day 194. Only managed one walk today, before 9.00am. It made a great change walking that early. I then set about doing housework (which I started yesterday) - I want to clean the house from top to bottom before going back to work. i.e. while I have time during the working week. I did the Kitchen yesterday and the whole lounge today. It’s fucking knackering. I managed 519k steps in September, works out at 9.6 miles per day, which is good and, also, annoying. I have taken delivery and laundered all my new bedding. It’s brushed cotton lushness, can’t wait to try it. Last ‘happy hour’ of (this current) furlough, so I had beers (and a fucking spicey sausage casserole)...hence penning this a day late.

Day 194: I didn’t get out of bed until nearly 2pm, FFS. Spome with Ricky Roberts about kayaking, it sound sliek something I could take up but, I would need to join the boat club to have somewhere to get in and out!

Day 195: Sueanne from work called to let me know she’s taking over from Jim ‘til new yer and that the team are looking forward to my return - lovely. Dad called, he and Rita are fine as usual - lovely.

Day 196: Got up fater 2pm. I was seriously fucking wasted last night. Had a video chat with Fog - just checked, it ended at 02.04am and I did a lot more drinking and smoking after that. I still managed a 9.7km walk and am now going to settle down to a few (just a few!) beers, shepherds pie and watch Casino. Day 197: Quiet Sunday with some bizarre results in Super Sunday in the prem. Man U lost at home to Spurs 1-6 and Liverpool were thrashed at Villa Park, 7-2. Work tomorrow, feeling a little apprehensive, not sure why. Got to go to the office (to reset password) at 09.00am

Day 198: Back to work. It went OK. I had to go to the office so that my a/c could be enabled and password reset and t get VPN working. There were a few problems but I was back home and logged in OK in the afternoon. Saw Mark in the office - he’s lost weight and was telling me about a cycling accident - I knew about it, but I didn’t realise he had been in hospital and had a plate put in his shoulder. He also has the exact same issue with codeine as me! I am pleased to be back at work but it’s different - no Jim and Sueanne in charge is the main thing. I’m just going to keep my head down; it’ll be for the best.

Day 199: Second day back at work and I’m (trying to) crack on with it. It’s all coming back... New walking boots arrived today (I have them on as I type); I reckon I’ll be OK to walk in them with no breaking in. That’s just as well as my evening walk took me by the marina and the path between the lock, the small bridge and, especially, the larger bridge into the field at the bottom of Basset Ford Road was flooded, no way my boots will be dry for tomorrow. I did my stair climb before work, 3.5 km walk at lunchtime and then a long, second one, as mentioned, later. I want to try and do a short walk before work in future, hopefully. On the way back from the lunchtime walk, I saw the lad from next door who thanked for me keeping the music down as per the note he left, so, that’s all good.

Day 200: I’ve started a work diary, à la ENDC....nowhere as urgently required but I just think it’s a good idea.

I wore my new boots for the lunchtime walk (3.6km) and they’re fine. However, I didn’t use them in the evening, they niggled the left foot a bit, so some breaking in is required. My usual ones were just about dry enough having been sat on the radiator! Day 201: Popped into the office today to pick up my full headset dongle, did a quick shop at Asda. So, only one walk today. I have not yet managed to get a walk in before work, just the stair climb, so missed out on a lunchtime walk today since I was shopping. Did 8.5km in the evening. Bought a card online for K’s birthday. Not sure why, we seem not to be communicating - I haven’t heard from her for over a month now which, as mentioned before, I shouldn’t find as hard as I do. The card’s pretty cool though, a quip about just getting a card as a present would involve non-essential travel. Now I am back at work, I want a to do loist app. I recall a smart one that was a linear/curved affair that I saw on Producthunt but, fuck me, I couldn’t find it after over an hour looking. Then I checked Google apps and there it was (Lightpad.ai) - I was chuffed and relieved. The lad from oundle School has been trying to get hold of me via Messenger (he tells me by email) so he can interview for the article in the Chronicle. He has pencilled in Saturday at 6pm.Fuck knows if it will go ahead, the whole thing is sketchy. Day 202: First week back at work over and done. I ordered some stuff from Amazon (slippers and socks) and they offered a free trial of Prime, which is the norm, but, seeing as I have had a free trial under that a/c, I assumed it would error, as I have seen before. This time it didn’t! So, tonight, I just about to have some beers, eat pizza and watch The Gentlemen,. It was suggested by Miles on FB when I asked for recommendations. It’s been on my to-watch list since its release. I need some cheering up, I’m having a low ebb today.Day 203: Typing on day 204. The Gentlemen was pretty good. I had lots of beers and smoke and went to bed fucking late, gone 4am. Up at lunchtime. I was meant to be going up Foggy’s for a few beers and to listen to Cobblers vs Posh but I sacked that off. I went for a walk at tea time when it got dark fucking quick and pissed down. I didn’t mind ‘cos Posh won 0-2. I watched two films in the evening: Master and Commander: Far Side of the World and Official Secrets. Both excellent. Day 204: Another late night, so up at just before 2pm. 12.64 km walk! I’m going to make stirfry and watch Knives Out...taking advantage of Amazon Prime.Day 205: I didn’t watch Knives Out last night, Amazon Prime was playing up. Tonight, however, after uninstalling and reinstalling the LG app, it’s working again. But, rather than a film, I have started watching The Boys series. 3/4 through the first episode and I’m kinda hooked. Another long walk tonight (I didn’t go out before work or at lunchtime), over 5 miles. My new boots are a marvel...they’re still new - I can tell I’ve got a little bit of wearing in still to do, but, pretty much from the off, I can walk long distances in them. I’m impressed. I think, because they are so light, they may be susceptible to the cold, especially now I can walk for longer periods without hypo-ing. The snow and frost will be the test.Day 206: Bit of a frustrating day at work. I am pleased I have a diary of events to update, that’s all I will say on this potentially public diary. Had a chat with Mark about certain aspects of the day, it was a good chat whereby he agreed with some of my gripes. In the evening I took part in a Ipsos marketing test of two beers with a whole bunch of people online. Ultimately, you have to choose one of two beers you prefer and answer questions why. It’s then revelaed which beer you chose. The beer I iked best was Stella but 4.6%, I think that’s the next product iine for them. You don’t get to find out the other beer. I shoudl recieve a £15 amazon voucher for partaking. If that actually happens, I’m going to buy a pair of gaiters. My new boots are fab (although I did turn my ankle last night) but their insides don’t half attract gravel and debris.Day 207: A productive day incorporating ToDoist with work and GCal, I have sacked off Lightpad.ai (it was too cumbersome moving tasks between dates) - so I managed to tick a few things off the task list as a result (responding to Jo Broom’s voicemail, chasing an eye appointmen, for example). Tim came round and did the garden, nice chinwag. I saw little Derek the other day, as well, he’s not coping great with the whole pandemic atm, certainly now lockdown has relaxed, he’s not as social as before. Day 208: Had a chat with Sueanne today, which is not unusal, and I was asking about creating KBs...she remarked how well, and quickly, I getting up to speed. It pleased me. I am having battered fishcakes, potato wedges and peas for tea. I am looking forward to it the most ridiculous amount (it’s cooking as I type). I shall eat as I watch more of the rather excellent The Boys. Seinfeld is on the back burner atm. Day 209: Emily Folgate’s room mate at uni has tested positive for Covid19! Marc’s avoiding the pub and I am glad I didn’t pop up there last Saturday! Bumped into Ash and Dee when i walked past the vets, chatted for 5 mins, it was really nice to see them. The lady next door (38) stopped me outside to say she recently realised that it was me who posts photos to FB, and said they’re ‘amazing’! End of week 2 back at work. As I type, I’m on my first beer, about to have many more and a smoke, half way through The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix. Living the dream! Day 210: Things got messy last night. Sugar levels were a mess. I couldn’t even make it upstairs at one point, laid down on the long rug nursing a big bottle of coke. Got up at around 1pm and did usual shit, now having a beer, spicy sausage casserole in the oven (and it is fucking spicy) and I’ll pick a film to watch in a bit. Posh won, 2-0 at home to Oxford, up to 4th, one point behind Lincoln.

#diary #Tumblr diary #lockdown #covid19 #lockdownuk

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steveramsdale · 4 years

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Bloggity Blog 10.6

Well, dear reader, you are reading the words of an older and wiser blogger (bloggist?). Perhaps not wiser but definitely older. I never intended to write so many blogs. I started the first weekend we arrived here in 2016 and just never stopped. I have given you holidays off, out of kindness, and there were a couple of weekends this school year when I was busy feeling self-pity and couldn’t find the resources to impose this nonsense on you. But apart from that, I have offered this collection of words for your perverse enjoyment. There are not many left, you will be relieved to know.

At the risk of repeating myself, last Saturday was the same as the last few Saturdays- dull, long, solitary, and a few other adjectives. I had my Russian lesson and did some shopping, I clean a bit and then nothing. I think I’ll have to start talking about things that haven’t happened but might have happened in another world. I would probably have started swimming by now. Not as much as in previous years, but I would have been driving over to NBU with my own changing room and going through the pain barrier to get into the pool and swim. I would probably have seen KB by now. I would have gone camping in various places and had little adventure. Instead, I have, instead, cowered in my flat, hoping that the menace doesn’t notice me.

My hot water went off briefly again on Sunday evening but was back on by Monday morning.Monday was a long day. Other days were quicker. I still find that very strange and it seems to have no rhyme or reason.

You may be interested to know that the pointless date on my pointless return ticket is 34 days away. It seems that airlines are selling tickets from the 1st July. So I may be home a week or so late.

On Sunday, I walked more than I have walked for many, many weeks. I went to the cafe I bottled out of driving to last week. I bought take-away coffee and enough coffee beans (hopefully) to last me until I leave. This was from my favorite coffee shop (joint with Sunpresso). Then I walked back to the supermarket and got bits and bobs (actually just bits as I was walking). Then I walked through the park, sitting for a little while in the gentle sunshine.

I also, finally, returned the keys to Dave which I had after feeding his cat weeks and weeks ago. I had noticed them while sorting a cupboard. We had a socially distant cup of tea and chat. It was, therefore, a long walk, good exercise, fresh air and mind-clearing.

On Thursday, our school closed for half-term. It is a short break - we resume teaching on Wednesday. I will have a few days to relax although I have reports to write and a bit of planning to do.

This was also the week of my birthday (Friday). I had been invited to meet some good friends in Ekopark for a safe picnic. This would have been excellent. As you may know, the park that that had opened, suddenly closed again. I don’t know if this was because it should not have opened last week or someone decided it was unsafe - there were lots of people starting to exercise. Whatever the reason, it is closed again. I have been to the gate a couple of times and been told it is closed. While Friday was not my best birthday ever (long-time readers will remember the debacle which was my 50th when Mairi was in England and I had my only bout of Tashkent tummy - you could go back and find the blog if you are truly full of self-loathing), it was a long way from being the best. I have too many now with which to compare it. The messages I received through the day, on social media, were very welcome, so thank you.

I also have a couple of ‘what kids did’ stories to relate. We are reading Holes. This is a great story and the class seem to be enjoying it. On Wednesday, I think, a child audibly gasped at the end of ch 27 when there was a huge revelation about one of the characters. It was so good to realize how much she was engaged in the story and was listening. In the same story, when I read that a character staying in an isolated cabin for three months, one girl wrote in the chat ‘she has been living the cabin for three months because of coronavirus’.

I mentioned before about my decent into craziness because living alone is not good for me On Tuesday, I very lightly bumped my toe and did a ridiculous ‘pretending to cry like a toddler’ thing. Get a grip.

On Wednesday, we had a meeting with a school in Vietnam which reopened a couple of weeks ago. It seems that the government there locked everything down very early and only had a few hundred cases. They have been free of community transmission for a month. I really don’t think that our school, due to its small campuses for a large number of children, can put into place the measures that this school have been able to do. I think that is even more true for school in England.

I also ran the van. I have not really wanted to drive anywhere. It started first time and I drove around the block.

Someone cleaned my roof. I saw someone on a ladder who seemed to be cleaning gutters. I noticed the next morning that my little roof was almost totally clear of the leaves and bits of bread that had been accumulating.

If Freddie had a blog, he’d have a good story this week. He was out, being pushed in his push chair and he dropped a favourite toy. He didn’t notice as he was snoozing and his dad didn’t notice until they got home. Keir went and re-traced their steps/wheels but did not see it. Back at home, he was looking on their community Facebook page and saw that someone had found it and posted a picture. Fred saw it and instantly said “that’s my faff”. (It is a giraffe/mini comfort blanket.) They were reunited!

My hot water went off briefly on Friday again and it is back this morning.

This week, I released some my ridiculous thoughts and opinions into their natural habitat, on social media. As already mentioned, social media has helped me this week. I have had lots of enjoyment from it in the past but also found myself in interesting, upsetting, pointless and unnecessary arguments over the years. I also decided that Facebook should introduce a delay system. After you compose an opinion piece or share something you have seen, there should be (for everybody!) a 45 minute delay before it is published. When the 45 minutes is up, you should received a prompt saying: You have a post ready to publish. Have you considered whether your post is:

A True because you have reflected and researched?

B Useful because in adds necessary knowledge or reflection to readers?

C Helpful because it gives reliable information?

D Kind because it is kind?

It might improve social media a little bit. Photos of kittens and news would be exempt it would just apply to the sort of nonsense I post.

I decided this week that raspberries are my favourite fruit. They were back in the shop and I love them. That would be ok for Facebook.

This would not.

I read an article this week about the current crisis. The writer presented a strong argument that the UK has an incompetent and cruel government. We (I wrote this earlier in the week and they did a U-Turn just before the distraction tactic of the clapping so need to change are to were) are charging foreign workers to save the lives of and protect true British people. This shows the callousness and thoughtlessness and true ‘heart’ of Tory philosophy. I said last week that we have mini-Trump in charge. They have a similar story brewing. The US National Guard have been used to support communities, hospitals, food banks, etc for many weeks. It was announced that they would be relieved on 24th June. This is a Wednesday. People seemed surprised at this apparently arbitrary date until someone realised it was 89 days until they had been federalized. After 90 days, National Guards people become entitled to pension rights and other benefits. Ending after 89 days means they don’t get this. Trump coined the term ‘evil genius’ for just such a scheme.

Enjoy your new week as much as you can and stay safe. See you next time.

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scriptgerman · 7 years

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Karneval, Fasching, Fasnet: The fifth season

It’s Wednesday, March the first: Ash Wednesday. Which means for Christians that Lent begins and for Germans that the fifth season of the year is over. (Of course, for Christian Germans it also means that Lent begins.) Fifth season you ask? Wtf Germany? Well, yes. It’s spring, summer, fall, winter and KARNEVAL aka Fasnet aka Fasching aka carnival, obviously ;)

We’re gonna do this after a read more, because apparently I like to write a lot.

Let’s start with some definitions:

Die fünfte Jahreszeit (The fifth season): 11.11/ 06.01. until Ash Wednesday, time of the carnival in Germany

Karneval: Name for the festivities in western, northern and eastern Germany

Fasching: Name for the festivities in Bavaria and the southern east of Germany

Fasnet: Name for the festivities in Baden-Württemberg

Please note that especially in Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia) Karneval is dominant, but there are also regional names being used, like “Fastelovend” and “Fasteleer”.

So what exactly is being celebrated with these festivities?

These festivities date back before the Christianisation: People believed that evil spirits brought the winter with them. The festivities were used as a way to chase these spirits away. After Christianity was established the festivities lived on as a way to feast before Lent and the costumes meant to scare the spirits became the fun and colourful costumes known today. Well, mostly.

What does the fifth season look like?

The first to start the fifth season are the people celebrating Karneval: They start the festivities officially on the 11.11 at 11:11 o’clock, while everyone else starts later, on January 6th. Though between November and January there aren’t many festivities. Through January and February, all festivities are sittings.

The Thursday, known as “Weiberfastnacht” (literally “Women’s Fasnacht”; “Weib” being an archaic, derogatory term for woman), “Fetter Donnerstag” (Fat Thursday) or “Schmotziger Donnerstag” (Dirty Thursday”) before Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the carnival parades, although most only start on Friday: On Thursday, people celebrate costumed in bars and clubs, in and around Cologne and Mainz, carnival strongholds in Germany, it’s something of an unofficial holiday. Men are advised to not wear their best tie, for women go around and cut them off, the tie being a sign for men’s power. The men are compensated with a kiss (on the cheek). But careful! If the wearer has not given permission before, your female character could get in trouble. (Does not apply if the man in question is taking part in the festivities and should know about this tradition.)

All during the weekend, parades take place, finding their climax on “Rosenmontag” (“Rose monday”). A few last parades take place on Tuesday, sometimes known as “Veilchendienstag” (“Viola Tuesday”). No more festivities take place on Ash Wednesday, though there are many political events, which is known as “politischer Aschermittwoch” (“political Ash Wednesday”).

What are the differences between Karneval, Fasching and Fasnet?

Though the rough course is the same in all three festivities, they vary a lot. I can’t talk much about bavarian Fasching, though I expect it is similar to swabian Fasnet.

As I said above, the official start in the Karneval season is November 11th, 11:11 am. Why right then? No one knows for sure, a lot for myths and half facts. It’s tradition. Nonetheless, most events don’t start until January. In January, a Prince is chosen to reign during the fifth season. This is varies from region to region, sometimes the Prince reigns alone, sometimes as Royal Couple with his Lady by his side, sometimes, for example in Cologne, it’s the “Dreigestirn” (triumvirat) of Prince, Pawn and Virgin (all three traditionally men). They are positions of importance and honour.

Until Weiberfastnacht, all festivities are sit down, indoor sessions, with wide programs where speeches are given, songs are sung (with or without the audience) jokes told, dances and skits shown. Everyone is at least partly costumed.

The weekend after Weiberfastnacht, processions take place literally everywhere. These processions are made up of dancing groups, marching bands on foot or on horse, horses, support vehicles and floats - mostly build by the “Jecken” (the people celebrating) themselves, often with political motives, national and international. During the processions, lots of sweets in every variation are thrown down from the floats and given out from the marching groups, as well as flowers (in exchange for a Bützchen - a kiss with closed lips, on the lips or the cheek; if the persons included get close enough together) and little knick-knacks, including small plastic figures, whistles, balls, condoms and stuffed animals.

The biggest of these processions take place on Rosenmontag, and the biggest of those takes place in Cologne: Over a million Jecken are lining the sides, the way the groups walk is 7,5 km long (~4,6 miles). This takes a single group about 5 hours: The procession is never faster than walking pace and often needs to stop for various reasons. In 2017, the procession was 8 km long - and therefore longer than the way to go! Because of that, during the last years the starting time was moved from 11:11 am to 10 am, to make sure that the last participants reach the end before sundown.

Traditionally, leading the procession are the Blauen Funken, a dance group. In the middle is the float of the president of the Festive Committee and the end is made up of the guard of honour, the float of the Pawn and Virgin and the Prince’s float and, at the very end, the Prinzen Garde (Prince’s Guard).

The WDR, a local TV station, shows the procession in it’s entirety on TV. A few numbers from this year’s procession: about 300 Tons of sweets, over 700.000 chocolate bars, more than 220.000 chocolate boxes and over 300.00 Strüßjer were given out (Strüßjer are usually a single flower wrapped with a little green.), there were 114 floats and carriages, 90 tractors, 85 vehicles holding the throwing material, 82 marching bands from all over the world, 500 horses and 12.000 participants, plus nearly 3000 helpers walking next to the floats and tractors, holding signs etc to make sure that the procession goes as smoothly as possible and no-one is run over. The participation of horses is constantly discussed and criticised by animal rights activists.

People call “Kamelle” (a dialectal word for sweets) to get sweets and “Strüßje” to get flowers. Other things that can be heard are “Kölle Alaaf” and “De Zuch kütt” (The procession is coming).

From personal experience I can say that it’s very, very easy to come back from a procession - even one of the smaller ones - with several bags filled with sweets and stuff. When my best friend and I were at two processions a few years back, we each had a bouquet with more than 20 flowers at the end.

Here is a youtube video with the Highlights of the Rosenmontags procession this year. The woman talking btw, is speaking the local dialect from Cologne. I also reblogged a post with pictures of some political floats.

Fasnet traditionally starts on January 6th, although some places have adapted the 11.11 from Karneval. It differs in other aspects as well: Traditionally, there is no Prince whatsoever and the revelers are called “Narren” not “Jecken”. The processions are smaller, less stuff is given away and mostly it’s sweets given away. Also, the processions are made up of groups wearing “Häß”: a special kind of costume, mostly made by hand by the Narr themself and usually including bells and masks. The groups vary from village to village, though some bigger groups have branches in more than one village or town and each group has their own history and legends. They usually carry something called “Saustift”, a stick of greasepaint, in different colours with which the spectators are marked. Some groups kidnap spectators and take them with them for some part of the way, in handcarts or cages. Frankly, as a kid I was damn scared of them and much preferred Karneval in Cologne with my grandparents.

An example for a Narren group/ Häß: Krautscheißer (literally Kraut shitters)

They are named for some people in a very good mood shitting on the local pastors cabbage, or so the legend goes. In the picture are two Krautscheißer in the foreground and two Kochhäfen in the background - originally to groups, now because of declining numbers one group with different Häß.

[a picture of 4 people wearing Häß: in the front two persons in green costumes, made of overlapping green cuttings in varying green tones. They wear belts with big bells over their chests and wooden masks surrounded with what looks like salad leafs. On their temple are colourful slips, the hair of the masks are should long, green woolen strands. In the background are two figures in white. Although they are mostly covert by the figures in the front, one can see that they are wearing wooden masks as well, with what looks like two foxtails on each temple. Their Häß is white with colourful embroidery. Their bell belts are black.]

What effects has the Narrenzeit?

(Narrenzeit = Time of the Narren, a swabian name for the time)

Narren and Jecken actively participating in processions while be unavailable for some time, caught up in preparations, meetings and processions and people traveling on the date of a procession should check the route of said procession so as to not get stuck because the streets are closed off. Stores will have costumes and theater make up en masse for sale and themed parties will be held everywhere. Schools in regions where either of those festivities are traditional will usually time their winter holidays to cover Rosenmontag. In my elementary school we would come costumed to school on the last day before the holidays and were “freed” from classes halfway through the day by Narren.

There’s also a special kind of baked goods available in February, a kind of fluffy deep-frying dough, which is sometimes covered in sugar and other times filled with jam, custards or other sweet creams.

Got a question for the German?

#karneval #fasching #own stuff #german traditions #the fifth season

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junioradventure · 5 years

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I’M BACK IN KOREA! Which classes I’ll be teaching and moving into my apartment!

HELLO~

Sooo I’m actually back in Korea after about 2 years! I graduated and got my Bachelor’s, worked some jobs shortly after that for some time, and decided hey, I want to kickstart my teaching career abroad. I really loved my time in Korea as an exchange student, and now I can pursue my passion in teaching while living in Korea again! This time, I have bigger motivations and goals: save money, pay off loans, do some more traveling, and just simply live life and enjoy the happiness that I can gain from these experiences! I wanted to do more blogs before this one, including like how it was getting my teaching job (the process) and my first week in Korea. Then again, it’s only my second week back here so I’ll have a lot to say! I also want to record some vlogs so keep an eye out for that maybe?

So, today was full of revelations after quite a bit of uncertainty and just floating around. I started receiving training from my current job at a hagwon last week Wednesday. I’ve done some mock teaching, where I got to prepare various lessons of different units and focused skills (Speaking, Writing, Reading) suited to different skill levels. I also got to observe a great number of different classes, which was nice because I got to see how the classes are like, and also got to meet a lot of the kids at the school! So excited to have my own classes because then I’ll have my own kids HAHAHA. I was just worried up until today because I wasn’t told which classes and age groups I would be teaching due to the delayed release of the syllabus and timetable for the new semester, which begins next week! Talk about nerve-wracking!

But today, we were given the schedule for next semester!

I will be teaching:

1 Phonics Class- the youngest kids at our school! They are pretty much 1st or 2nd graders I believe. I met a few classes and they are so adorable omgggg. I really really wanted to teach at least one Phonics class, and since I found this out, I’m super stoked to teach them! We pretty much read cute stories (aka Sleeping Beauty and so on) and sing songs, while also learning, well, phonics. I hope they like me because I will love them so much. I was observing one class, and this one boy literally kept turning his head from me to the teacher throughout the entire class HAHA. I thought it was so cute but I pointed to the teacher, telling him to listen to the lesson lol. Way too cute. If I get him in my class.... Oh boy.

4 Other Elementary Classes (Writing, Speaking, Reading, Story Book)- In addition to the lil’ Phonics kids, I get to teach four elementary classes, all in different focus areas and skill levels! All the elementary classes are super cute though, and the different focus areas will definitely give me a breadth of teaching experience.

8 Middle School Classes (Listening, Speaking, lots of it, oh and TOEFL)- The bulk of my classes are the middle school ones. I didn’t expect eight of them, though! I did mention I preferred teaching older ones but seeing how adorable and less cranky/moody the elementary kids are compared to the middle schoolers, I’m not sure anymore LOL. Nah, it’ll be all good! These classes are basically different levels focusing on Listening and Speaking. I’m also teaching two TOEFL-specific classes. The TOEFL is basically the giant entrance exam for Korean high schoolers before they go to college (think SAT and ACT). It’s actually a pretty brutal and uber-stressful exam for them, and it becomes their main concern in high school. Yikes! I’ll try my best to be informative, helpful, and not totally boring. Hopefully, they won’t dislike me (I’ve seen classes, these kids have had a long day, they’re usually over it or they don’t want to really speak or chitchat with us). I know I can give good feedback on their writing and how to improve it, so fingers crossed that it’ll be good for them! I know a lot of the middle school girls love Kpop (I’ve heard BTS and Wanna One being mentioned quite a lot) here, so maybe I’ll get them to be more engaged by asking them their bias and fave songs and whatnot hahaha.

Finding out my schedule was such a load off my shoulders. Granted, I still have a lot more because tomorrow is the last day of the week before the Spring Semester hits us next week (Korea has a national holiday on Friday) and I have to prepare all my first day lessons at least, at the most, the first week (omg that just sounds like way too much for a beginner like me). I also have to paste the syllabi into each of my textbook, along with the class rosters! My head teacher mentioned I might have to make a self-introduction, too. Well, we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’m going to try and get as much done as I can since the teacher I’m replacing will be there tomorrow. They don’t need to teach any classes, so I can basically ask them for all the help I need because I will definitely need that lmao. Bless for coworkers that are really welcoming, helpful, and funny though!

Also, I’m moving into my very own apartment studio this Friday! I’ve been staying in the comfy Park Habio hotel in Songpa, near Jangji Station. I’ve been loving that I got to stay in this hotel since landing in Korea at no cost to me. Basically, I get to stay for free in a nice hotel for two weeks! And those two weeks are coming to an end lol. And the hotel has a free breakfast buffet every morning! Yasss. I’m really pumped to have my own place, though. I had to share the hotel room with a roommate, but he’s been cool, so that was great! However, my own place... It’ll be my very own home! I’ll be staying rent-free there too! I will definitely do an apartment tour vlog, so stay tuned~! I’ve seen the place once, and it’s bigger than I imagined! It’s definitely a nice place, and 10 minutes away from my school via subway! So many exciting things. Oh, I got to see a really good friend last weekend for dinner in Gangnam, and I’m going to see some more friends this weekend, guess where, in Gangnam again LOL. But it’s okay, Gangnam is lit lmao. Time to sleep, because I have a health check tomorrow, which got delayed because I was supposed to do it during my first week. I really don’t know how the first appointment got messed up but whatever, it’s water under the bridge now~! I’ve been fasting since 10pm and I can’t eat anything until after the appointment, which is at 11am... I am definitely eating gooood after that.

So yeah, that’s been some exciting installments in this journey! It’s just begun, so hopefully I will continue writing and sharing these stories with you guys!!

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thechasefiles · 6 years

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 7/6/2018

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Friday 6th July 2018. Remember you can read full articles by purchasing Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN), via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS).

INNISS MUZZLED – A last minute decision by former Prime Minister and outgoing President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Freundel Stuart to abruptly end the party’s signature lunchtime lectures has left one party elder fuming, and threatens to cause fissures within the 63-year-old political movement. Stuart last night cancelled the lectures with immediate effect following a meeting of the DLP Executive Council, leaving former Minister of Commerce Donville Inniss with the proverbial egg on his face. Inniss, a prospective DLP leader, was scheduled to deliver tomorrow’s lecture and had produced and circulated a colourful flyer promoting the event. The title of his lecture was expected to be, Barbados and the DLP: The Future is Now, according to the flyer, which was done in the party’s colours and featured a reflective Inniss dressed in a white shirt, a yellow tie and a grey jacket. A further decision was taken to defer all such events until a new executive is in place after internal elections are held during the party’s annual conference next month. Inniss could not be reached for comment, but the decision did not sit well with party elder Astor B Watts, in whose honour the lecture series was renamed last year. An incensed Watts did not mince words this afternoon as he said what he thought of Stuart and the decision to shelve the lectures. The outspoken party stalwart suggested that the decision to bring a halt to the presentation without warning might have been driven by fear that Inniss would have criticized the former Prime Minister over his leadership of the party and the country. “Donville Inniss was going to do the speaking and he probably thought that he [Inniss] may not have given him any kudos,” Watts told Barbados TODAY. “I am not interested if they are at variance because I am doing something for the people of Barbados. We have been doing that lunchtime lecture on Friday for years and if he [Stuart] had any grievance, he should have consulted with me before making the suggestion which he made last night,” he added. The DLP elder told Barbados TODAY he had no intention of allowing Stuart the final say on the matter, and he did not hold back, saying the defeated Prime Minister “could go to hell”. “I am going over there tomorrow because I am not a fly-by-night, I was properly brought up. If he [Stuart] does not know right from wrong then he could go to hell! That is where he belongs,” an angry Watts said. “I am really going over there tomorrow because of all of those people I invited and I would have to now go and apologize to them and let them know what my position is,” he added. Watts reminded Stuart, who led the DLP to an historic defeat in the May 24 general election, that he only had a month to go as leader of the party, and therefore was in no position to act as a dictator. “We are not living in a Russian atmosphere, we are living in a democracy and I don’t stand for nonsense and I intend to still do my talk tomorrow when I go over there,” he said. “We can’t hide from the truth and the truth is that all is not well. If he felt that Donville Inniss may not have stuck to his script, I would have guided him not to bring any politics into the talk, or point fingers at anybody. “ I don’t know what would have possessed him to make such a decision, but he needs to realize that he is an outgoing president and he should take his seat and remain where he is,” Watts stressed. Barbados TODAY contacted DLP General Secretary George Pilgrim who refused to comment “on any internal matters of the Democratic Labour Party”. However, he confirmed that a meeting of the Executive Council was held last night, but said he was absent from the discussions. (BT)

UNIFORM PROTEST – A major controversy is brewing at The Ellerslie School over the sudden change of the uniform for students attending the Black Rock, St Michael educational institution. In fact, former student Rodney Garnes has started an online petition in a bid to pressure the Ministry of Education to reverse the decision. The petition, titled Don’t Change My Ellerslie Uniform, had attracted over 800 signatures up to the time of publication. Barbados TODAY understands that a number of disgruntled parents and members of the school’s alumni also plan to stage protest action tomorrow outside the school compound. When students return to school in nine weeks time following the summer holiday they will have a brand new uniform, which critics say is much too similar to that worn by students of Combermere School. Instead of the traditional khaki shirt and pants in the junior school, the boys will wear white shirts with the school crest, and khaki pants, while the girls will wear a khaki overall, as opposed to brown. Senior boys will continue to wear white shirts, but the brown trousers will be replaced by khaki pants and the school crest and tie will replace the epaulettes. A number of upset old scholars, including Terry Clarke, took to social media to vent their opposition to the change. “I stand in solidarity with my past and present colleagues of The Ellerslie School by signing this petition as my disapproval for the change in a new design of the school’s uniform,” Clarke posted. He said the new uniform would change the school’s identity and put a dent in the pockets of already struggling parents. “I am convinced that similar to other organizations both military, paramilitary and NGOs [non-governmental organizations], Ellerslie has become a brand where the uniform has affectionately attracted the name of ‘Brown Cows’ to the institution and throughout various social networks. “Also, major consideration must be given to those parents who have invested heavily previously, and last school year, and who, because of the bleak economic conditions domestically and nationally, cannot afford to purchase any further new uniforms,” he said. Another member of the school’s alumni, Judith Prescod, also gave the uniform change a failing grade. “As a past student I do believe that the uniform should not change. There are too many uniforms that already look similar to that, and besides the design is awful. Whoever did it needs to go back to needlework class. We are known as ‘Brown Cows’, let it stay that way,” she said. However, when Barbados TODAY visited the school just as students were dismissed around 1 p.m. today, Randall Stevenson, who will be entering his final year come September, was fully in support of the change in uniform. “To be honest, I really agree with the change in the uniform. I like it. The junior school uniform, when you look at the boys, one, it looks like Lester Vaughan slightly, and the girls look like Combermere just because it is an overall, but to me it isn’t that close,” Stevenson said. “The only thing that I’m not supporting is that we will now have no choice but to wear brown shoes. I don’t like that because to me brown shoes are harder to source and they are expensive.” Equally happy with the change was fourth year student Denzil Lockhart, although he said he was concerned that it had caused inconvenience to parents and guardians who had purchased the old uniform, only to be told it was being replaced. “At first I told myself it didn’t really make any sense because we could wear the fourth form uniform both in fourth and fifth form. It didn’t make a difference because it was the same thing. “So now students’ parents who aren’t that fortunate will now have to buy a fresh set of uniforms. So it will definitely be harder on them. It is not easy . . . because the uniforms aren’t cheap,” Lockhart said. The senior student surmised that parents were upset because of the additional expense thrust upon them at short notice. “Most parents would have already bought material for the old uniform because we wear the same in fourth and fifth form. So now that they hear the outfit changed they will have to get new material and shoes, and the money may just not be there. “Some parents may buy uniforms and put down for the next year so their children will have two new shirts or pants. I have some new ones that I never wore yet so I don’t know what I will do now,” he stressed. Principal Major Errol Brathwaite declined to comment on the matter. (BT)

COMISSIONG’S AMBASSADOR TO CARICOM – Controversial attorney David Comissiong will be Barbados’ next Ambassador to CARICOM. THE NATION was reliably informed that Comissiong’s appointment became effective on July 1, but Thursday night he said he was ambassador-designate, as the appointment had not been concluded. He is in the delegation Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is leading at the 39th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Montego Bay, Jamaica, as an adviser. Those talks started on Wednesday and will conclude Friday. Mottley has lead responsibility for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy and Reparations. (WN)

WORTHING POST OFFICE REOPENS – Members of the public are asked to note that the Worthing Post Office, Christ Church, has reopened for business. The opening hours are from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays, and 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., Tuesdays to Fridays. Customers with parcel notices in hand indicating collection at the Brittons Hill Post Office are advised that this condition remains unchanged. The Postmaster General thanks the public for its patience and understanding during the closure. (BGIS)

HEAVY TRAFFIC RESULTING IN DELAYS WITH COMPUTER SYSTEM – Members of the public are asked to note that a surge in usage on the Customs and Excise Department’s ASYCUDA++ System has resulted in some further difficulties being experienced. As a result, importers and exporters are experiencing delays in processing their documents. Acting Comptroller of Customs, Annette Weekes, explained that people trying to access the system were either being “knocked off”, or cashiers were experiencing a “hanging effect”, where they had to wait for a period of time before completing transactions. She appealed for all users to remain off the system as the Information Technology staff of the Barbados Revenue Authority work to rectify the problem. In the interim, she informed people experiencing delays or challenges, that the department was working to put temporary measures in place. The ASYCUDA++ System allows Government to streamline and simplify supply-chain processes from the point of importation, to customs clearance, to final importers to consumers. It also allows importers, exporters or their agents to submit their single administrative document along with supporting documentation for the processing of their goods from their homes or businesses, as long as they have an internet connection. (BGIS)

STINKY MESS – There is a high level of frustration and despair among some residents in Lascelles Terrace, St Michael, who say they have had enough of the indiscriminate dumping of garbage right in front of their homes. They say not only has the unsightly collection of refuse become a stinky mess, but it also encourages rodents and flies, posing a health concern for everyone in the vicinity. Annette Clarke, who claimed people have turned the sidewalk at the front of her house into a dump, is pointing an accusing finger at those driving by and residents of the neighbouring area. “I think they feel it’s a dump. Everyone comes and sees two or three bags [of garbage] and then everyone does come, but this is right in front my door and it is not affecting the people who put the garbage here, it affects me and it needs to stop,” she said. Clarke said the stench sometimes becomes unbearable, particularly if the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) does not clear the pile-ups regularly. “The wind blows the stench right into my house. Sometimes the garbage is thrown all in front of my gate because the rats and fowls burst it out,” she told Barbados TODAY. “It is really bad . . . . A night I came home and as soon as I got here [gate entrance] a big rat run across my path. I thought it was a cat. The rat run all through my garden, it was looking for food,” Clarke said. Another resident, who asked that she not be identified, told Barbados TODAY she and her family had become virtual prisoners in their own home as a result of the mountains of refuse. “I does try to keep around the place clean, but I had to tell the children to stop going outside barefoot now, and they don’t really go outside now because of the garbage,” she said. “The flies aren’t as bad as the rats; they got some rats out here that are huge,” she explained. The situation is such, she said, that people feel comfortable enough to simply walk or drive to the spot and place their refuse there. However, she said her attempts to catch the perpetrators red-handed have so far proved futile. “Sometimes I would sit down and watch who put the garbage there but they like they does be watching me too because as soon as I turn my back you see a bag there and then it piles up,” the concerned resident said. “People drive up there with vehicles and come from all over the place just to put garbage there and then the garbage does be all over the place.” She said the matter had been reported to the SSA and health authorities, but the dumping had not abated. Instead, she said, as soon as sanitation workers clear the spot, the dumpers strike again. “As soon as the truck passes and takes up the garbage people does come and put back down garbage. The truck usually passes on Tuesdays and Fridays, but it passes anytime because of the shortage of trucks and the garbage just piles [up]. . . but when it comes by the evening the garbage is back there,” she disclosed. “People need to put the garbage at them. I don’t know why the whole neighbourhood putting garbage there to be collected. Your garbage should be at you,” the frustrated woman said. (BT)

SAFETY A BIG CONCERN – People in a number of districts across St Andrew want urgent action taken to repair several bridges in that rural parish. From Trio Path to the East Coast, the plea is the same for the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance to deal with the problem before it is too late. “I would not advise anyone to be on that bridge when one of those heavy vehicles passes,” said a Cane Garden resident known as “Puffy”, who added that the bridge there was “very dangerous”. Puffy, and another man known as “Slims”, said the bridge had been weakened by water damage and it “trembled” when heavy vehicles passed over it. They said it was only a matter of time before it went from bad to worse. (WN)

MAN INJURED IN ST LUCY ACCIDENT – One man was injured earlier tonight in an accident along Alleynedale in St Lucy. Two vehicles were involved in the accident and one man was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Police are currently on the scene carrying out investigations. (WN)

TEENAGER CAUGHT WITH BULLETS IN PANTS – When police tried to search a teenager four years ago not only did his pants fall to his knees, but three rounds of ammunition were exposed. And today Kemal Mario Straker officially owned up to the April 15, 2014 charge before Justice Randall Worrell in the No 2 Supreme Court. Crown Counsel Oliver Thomas said lawmen were executing a search warrant at Straker’s Lot 15, Clapham Park, St Michael home when the ammunition was found. After he was arrested he gave a police statement detailing what had occurred. Thomas said that Straker was lying down when he heard a knock at the door and suspecting that it was police, he went to the front house where he sat quietly with “some bullets” in his pants. “Police start to search me and I went down on the ground to stop the police from searching my pants [but] my pants drop down to my knees because I was struggling and my pants came off,” the statement read. Straker, who is represented by attorney-at-law Angella Mitchell-Gittens, is due to reappear before Justice Worrell on July 26. (BT)

‘SHAK’ APPEALS FOR LENIENCY – A St Lucy man today pleaded for leniency after he was caught with two illegal firearms and ammunition in his possession on March 14, 2015. Shakeil Akeem Connell, alias Shak, of Fryers Well, Checker Hall, pleaded guilty three months ago to possession of a .22 revolver, .32 revolver and nine rounds of ammunition without the valid licences. “It is the first time I in this position . . . in this trouble [and] I ask you to be lenient towards me,” Connell told Madam Justice Pamela Beckles, in the No.5 Supreme Court, which is temporarily being housed at Cane Garden, St Thomas. However, Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Anthony Blackman questioned why Connell had travelled from the north of the country to Oistins to attend a fete with two weapons in his possession. “I never had intentions [for] the firearms. I was just with the wrong people who got me involved in these things and I get in trouble . . . and I up in prison,” the accused explained, adding that he had never “used a firearm”. However, Blackman suggested that Justice Beckles should impose a custodial sentence despite Connell’s previous unblemished criminal record and the fact that he had never used the guns. “It is unfortunate that he made that choice in a climate where there are so many illegal guns out there,” the acting DPP said before the case was adjourned for a decision later in the assizes. (BT)

FATHER ON TRIAL – A landscaper in his 60s today denied fondling the breasts of one of his daughter’s friends nine years ago. However, the now 20-year-old complainant told a nine-member jury, “that is a lie”, when the case against Thaddeus Leroy Best, of 1st Avenue, Brevitor Hall, St Peter, began in the No.5 Supreme Court this morning. Best, who now resides in St James, is on trial after pleading not guilty to indecently assaulting the then 11-year-old girl between July 1 and 31, 2009. The alleged victim was the first to take to the witness stand today as Senior Crown Counsel Krystal Delaney put forward the prosecution’s case. She explained that she was in the habit of visiting her friend’s home to play. However, on the day in question, she said they were in a bedroom playing when Best, who was “laying on the bed”, sent his daughter for a glass of water. “He come up to me and start to play with my breasts and told me if I was older he would give me some d*****,” the alleged victim said. She left the house shortly after. However, the alleged victim said she only told her mother about the incident in August. “It was on my mind at the time and [another] friend told me to tell my mother . . . [but] I didn’t tell my mother at first, because I was afraid,” the complainant said. Under cross-examination, Best told his accuser: “I did not touch you” to which she replied, “that is not the truth”. He then told her: “You and I were never alone” to which she answered, “that is a lie”. Her mother and two officers then gave evidence before the accused gave an unsworn statement, saying he visited his daughter three to four times a week in a St Michael community. “On the day I was accused of touching [the girl] she was nowhere at the house at that time [and] at any given time of that given month was I alone [with her in] any part of this house,” Best, who is unrepresented, said. The case, presided over by Madam Justice Pamela Beckles, continues tomorrow when Best will call two witnesses to give evidence on his behalf. (BT)

WINDIES TORMENT BANGLADESH – Opener Kraigg Brathwaite stroked his first hundred in nearly a year while Shai Hope passed 50 for the first time in 13 innings, but it was speedster Shannon Gabriel’s devastating four-wicket burst which rocked Bangladesh and put West Indies on course for a comprehensive win in the opening Test on Thursday. Playing on the second day of the contest at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, West Indies piled up 406 all out in their first innings, with Brathwaite top-scoring with 121 – his seventh Test hundred but first since his 134 at Leeds last August. Hope, without a half-century since scoring one last October on the tour of Zimbabwe, chipped in with 67 while captain Jason Holder (33) and tail-ender Kemar Roach (33) produced breezy knocks down the order to add to Bangladesh’s pain. Armed with a big lead of 363, West Indies quickly demolished the tourists’ top order, leaving the innings in shambles at 62 for six and in need of a miracle to avoid falling 1-0 behind in the two-Test series. Bangladesh trail by 301 runs heading into today’s third day with only four wickets intact. Gabriel, fresh off a 20-wicket series haul against Sri Lanka, was again at the heart of the Windies juggernaut, snatching four for 36 while Holder chipped in with two for 15. Requiring a massive effort following their record-low 43 all out in the first innings, Bangladesh again found themselves hurt by the Windies quicks as wickets tumbled spectacularly. Starting their innings on the stroke of the final hour, Bangladesh safely navigated the opening overs with Tamim Iqbal passing 4 000 Test runs when he cut Gabriel to the ropes at backward point. However, off the very next ball, Gabriel had the left-hander caught at gully by Hope for 13, sparring at one that bounced and took the shoulder of the bat. Two balls later, a fired-up Gabriel struck again when he bowled new batsman Mominul Haque without scoring, with one that kept low. Holder then picked up his first, finding Liton Das’ outside edge for Brathwaite at first slip to take a simple catch and leave the Bangladesh innings in strife at 16 for three. Captain Shakib Al Hasan (12) and former skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (8) put on 20 for the fourth wicket – the best stand of the innings so far – with both escaping with a couple of streaky boundaries past the cordon. But Gabriel bowled Mushfiqur playing down the wrong line and in his next over, claimed the prized wicket of Shakib, brilliantly caught low down at third slip by Holder. Holder accounted for Mehidy Hasan for two in the fourth over before the extended close, nicking one behind which seamed. West Indies had earlier batted themselves into an impregnable position after resuming the day on 201 for two. Starting the day on 88, Brathwaite raised triple figures inside the first hour when he cut pacer Kamrul Islam to third man for four, and was unbeaten on 121 at lunch with the Windies on 271 for three. Nightwatchman Devendra Bishoo was the only casualty of the session, falling for 19 in the second over following the drinks break. Resuming on one, the left-hander struck two fours in a 79-ball knock while adding 52 for the third wicket with Brathwaite, before missing a defensive prod and losing his off stump to Kamrul. However, Brathwaite failed to add to his lunch time score, dismissed off the fourth ball following the resumption when he was taken low at cover off left-arm spinner Shakib (2-71), with West Indies adding a single run to their interval total. (WN)

GROUNDS FOR CONCERN – The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) and Kensington Oval Management Inc. (KOMI) are on a collision course over the use of Kensington Oval in the midst of the Crop Over season. Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) president Conde Riley and acting chief executive officer Uina Prescod fear there could be major damage to the Oval if a stage is erected on the field for the forthcoming cultural events. When a NATION team visited Kensington on Thursday, the stage for the Phenomenal Friday show which features the Big Bashment finals, was erected on the eastern events plaza. Both Riley and Prescod expressed concerns with the Caribbean Premier League T20 matches scheduled here next month, the first of five games slated for August 25. (WN)

BLEAK GRAND KADOOMENT LOOMS – It’s beginning to look a lot like one of the most low-key Grand Kadooments ever. This is the grim outlook from leaders of three top bands, who are all reporting depressed sales, poor sponsorship and a possible reduction in the number of bands taking to the streets for the Crop Over climax. Veteran costume designer Betty West, whose band this year is called Soca Royalty, told Barbados TODAY this year was the worse she has experienced in 27 years in the business. “This year everything has been slower. I find that people are a little restless with spending their money and I am experiencing quite a bit of difficulty where sponsorship is concerned,” West said. “The cost to bring a seven-section band, which caters to 350 people, has gone up from $90,000 to $125,000. I feel that in my 27 years of doing this I have not experienced what I am currently experiencing.” Just over 20 bands made the journey from the National Stadium last year after popular bands PowerX4 and Ravurz dropped out due to financial constraints. And, West said, based on the feedback from her fellow bandleaders, others may fall by the wayside. “It is going to be worse this year as far as I am concerned because from what I understand two bands have dropped out already. This is all because of finances, as well as the fact that the local people are not really coming out. I understand that Foreday Morning bands have dropped significantly as well. So it is really a big challenge for us this year,” she stressed. The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) has confirmed that 37 bands have registered for this year’s Foreday Morning street party, ten fewer than last year. “What I am hearing from the other bandleaders is that things are pretty tough, and things are pretty tough for us too. The influx of overseas patrons is what is saving the day. Had it not been for the overseas patrons most bands would be dead in water this year. Last year we held our own and this year we expect to do the same, but the truth is that this year is looking worse than last year,” Layne said. The bandleader blamed the economic downturn and the decision by then Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to hold the general election in late May, echoing a complaint by Barbados Association of Masqueraders President Chetwyn Stewart, who told Barbados TODAY last month that the election campaign had sucked the life out of Crop Over. Like Stewart, Layne also said the July 1 abolishment of the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL), which increased from two per cent to ten per cent last July, came too late to help costume producers this year. “Taking off the NSRL now is a good thing but it would not help us now. You don’t start preparing for a band in January, we would have started since last year. So therefore, we are still in the red and it is certainly not going to help us in this season, because the NSRL has really affected us,” Layne lamented. Like the other bandleaders, perennial Band of the Year winner Gwyneth Squires told Barbados TODAY she was hanging on by a thread, and would soon call it quits if business did not improve. Meantime, Anthony Layne, the leader of the popular band Yello Kontact, said the situation was such that if not for revellers from abroad, a lot more bands would have been “dead in the water”. “All of the bandleaders are making a loss and I am still in it because I love it and I was born in it. But I will be soon done with it because it is not going anywhere. I have been losing money for years and you can’t sustain a business on love alone,” Squires said. The veteran costume producer also said a decision on whether or not to persist in the tough industry would depend on the urgency with which new Minister of Culture John King addresses the bandleaders’ concerns. “The new minister knows better than us the struggles of industry and he has promised to look after them. We understand that he can’t do it this year because he just got there,” Squires said. “John is a good man and his heart is in the right place, so I am hoping that he would put things right,” she said, while suggesting that a reduction in the Value Added Tax was a good place for the minister to begin. NCF Corporate Communications Officer Simone Codrington was unable to say how many bands have registered to date for the Crop Over main event, but promised to provide the information as soon as it becomes available. (BT)

CROP OVER DRONES – One Grand Kadooment band will be keeping an eye on revellers from above by employing a drone to improve security. The every move of those jumping as part of Erup The Band will be monitored and recorded, as will that of those planning mischief. General Manager Brian Layne told Barbados Today his band intended to beef up security in light of last year’s deadly shooting which marred the Crop Over finale. This, Layne said, would include the use of the drone to capture and monitor what is happenings during the five-kilometre jump from the National Stadium to Spring Garden Highway. “The drone would be flying over just to watch and ensure that persons are having a good time . . . .[It] would capture if anybody did anything to a masquerader,” Layne said. He disclosed that the band, which caters to between 400 and 450 revellers, would have extensive security and emergency personnel on hand in the event there is a serious incident. Mesh will also be used to fence in masqueraders, instead of the usual rope. “Once they are inside the mesh we can keep them safe but once they are outside of the mesh then it is really at them,” Layne said, while adding that the band was finalizing preparations with the authorities. Although last year’s shooting occurred at the end the Grand Kadooment jump up, it left a bitter taste in the mouth of the public. Twenty-year-old Taried Junior Rock of 3rd Avenue, Chapman Lane, St Michael, was killed and 20 others were injured, including a six-year-old boy who was grazed by a bullet. Layne confirmed that while some of his revellers were alarmed by the violence, most masqueraders were not deterred, as they believe the country and Crop Over were safe. “Most persons who jumped would not have experienced it, they just heard about it. It may impact the persons who wanted to come and jump but for the majority . . . Barbados is fully safe,” Layne told Barbados TODAY. Meanwhile, the Barbados Masqueraders Association (BAM) has continued its call for soldiers to be assigned to help beef up security at the event. Ooutraje bandleader and BAM floor member Trevor Chase argued that despite the best efforts of bandleaders to hire the best security, the Barbadian public only respected law enforcement officials. “You will take all the precautions . . . but the security detail that the people pay attention to is the police that wear blue, the task force personnel and the army,” Chase stressed. “We will take all the precautions that we possibly can but people will respect the uniform more than anybody that is holding a rope,” he added, while urging Government to take note of the strict security detail at Trinidad’s carnival. BAM President Chetwyn Stewart disclosed that the association was in talks with the Minister of the Creative Economy, Culture and Sports John King to increase the military presence at the Crop Over main event. He indicated that the Grand Kadooment experience was more pleasurable and much safer when there was intensified police and military presence. A week ago, Deputy Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce said the Force was 230 officers short of a full complement, but he assured the public that despite the challenges the Royal Barbados Police Force would have enough members deployed for the Crop Over season. Public Relations Officer Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss told Barbados TODAY the authorities were still finalizing security plans. However, he assured the public that the police “will continue to plan meticulously to keep them safe” this Crop Over. (BT)

CHEATS TRYING TO ENTER CROP OVER EVENTS WITH FAKE TICKETS – Event promoters are being encouraged to be on the look out this Crop Over season for an ever increasing number of people who are trying to get into events with fake tickets. Several individuals were turned away from fetes last weekend after they showed up with knock-off tickets. And while there have been such attempts in the past, one source indicated that the practice seemed to be on the rise in recent times. Promoter of the increasingly popular Awaken Ultra Premium all-inclusive breakfast party, Tremayne Austin, told Barbados TODAY 18 people were caught with fake tickets trying to enter the pre-dawn event last Sunday. This, he said, was “on a larger scale” than normal. “The ticket was actually printed but what we did was added a barcode, so they felt that they probably could have done it too. You know people take risks with everything. But we got all of them,” he said. “He actually got in because the head person for the ticket company was not at the door at the time . . . . So the person that was dealing with the ticket system thought it was a glitch, but when he came back they saw who it was who came in and when he was questioned he didn’t even put up a fight, he just walked out,” Austin said. The event promoter told Barbados TODAY when that individual was questioned he said he had bought the ticket from “someone who said they know the promoter”. Austin said he was still probing the issue and there was a possibility he would report the matter to the police after he was certain who sold the fake tickets. “I just want to make sure that the information I have is correct,” he said. Austin said not everyone who purchases a fake ticket is aware it is not legitimate, and he advised those who plan to attend ticketed events to buy their tickets from the advertised locations. “You either buy them directly from me if you know me or from the box office if you are not sure,” he said. In some cases the knock-off tickets were being sold for the same price as the legitimate ones, and in other cases they were cheaper. Alex McDonald, one of the main promoters behind the popular all-inclusive Beach House Breakfast Fete and the all-inclusive pool party, Splash, told Barbados TODAY he was aware some individuals may try to enter parties on fake tickets. However, he warned that it was highly unlikely they would get in given the level of technology in use at the doors. “We always tell people to buy from the legitimate box offices because they will have the right and legitimate tickets,” McDonald said. “People who buy from other people will be found out because now most people have scanners that they will use. So if you buy fake or scalp tickets we will find out and no matter how much you pay for them we can’t honour those. “It would be an attempt at fraud so we would [report it] and that person would be in trouble. But more importantly, the person whose ticket was denied should also report it because they would have paid money to get the ticket from somebody having thought it was real,” McDonald advised. However, he pointed out that a lot of people were aware they were doing something wrong when purchasing fradulent tickets because they would most likely pay less than the advertised price. “If a ticket is worth $200 and they said I have one for $150, then it is probably not real,” the promoter explained. Public Relations Officer of the Royal Barbados Police Force Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss told Barbados TODAYit was an offence for people to try to enter an event with a fake ticket. “Once it is a fake ticket it is offering a fake document and that is fraud,” he said, while adding that only a few cases had been reported. “You might get a case where people get bad experiences, but in terms of being reported to the police and people giving evidence we don’t have a lot of those cases,” Inniss said. “There will be people out there trying to get deals for various reasons and you have to make sure when you enter into a contract or deal with a person, make sure it is legitimate and you don’t fall victim to any falsified documents or tickets or anything along that line. You are advised to purchase your tickets from legitimate sources, and bear in mind if you are not going to do that you are taking a chance. And if you are taking a chance you are part and parcel of the outcome,” the police spokesman warned. (BT)

NEW STOLID J CROWNED – Crowd favourite DJ Bon entertained his way last Saturday night to win the coveted Stoli DJ Competition title. The 34-year-old disc jockey showed his versatility behind the turntables as he played the perfect mix of genres from disco to soca, defeating Jamaican Bobby Kush and the DJ combo of Tonk & Jones. The competition, now in its sixth year, was held at Regne Lounge after several stages where disc jockeys were tasked to show their technique and ability to appeal to the audience. This year, with an increased number of entries and a total of 107 submissions, there is no doubt the Stoli DJ Competition is here to stay. Stoli Brand Manager Allister Edwards told Bajan Vibes he was pleased with the success of this year’s competition. He said, “The competition was definitely a step up, with DJs not only showing technicality but also coming to entertain.” The winner-take-all contest gave DJ Bon the big prize of $5,000, an internship with Slam101.1FM, an opportunity to play with Xhosa Barbados for Grand Kadooment and other prizes. DJ Bon, who first thanked God for his victory, expressed gratitude to the Stoli Brand for continuing their efforts to develop the local talent. “I intend to take the experience gained from the competition and use it to my advantage since I’m thinking about entering the Redbull 3Style Competition,” he added. (BT)

SCRILLA FIRST TO GRACE BASHMENT STAGE – Scrilla will be going out “with guns blazing” at position No. 1. The artiste drew that position Thursday night when the 12 Yello International Bashment Soca artistes met to see how they will perform in the finals at Phenomenal Friday stage at Kensington Oval on Friday. He is followed by first timers Porgie & Murda. Lil Rick is at No. 3. Stiffy has taken the two titles in the Bashment Soca competition in 2016 and last year and he will come right after Lil Rick at No. 4. With a rebranded Yello International Bashment Soca competition, the gates have been opened to overseas acts and Sita from St Vincent (doing Hammer) and Freezy (with Badang) from St Lucia are hoping to pocket the winner-takes-all cash prize of $80 000. But it all comes down to what you bring to the stage on the actual night. Freezy, pulled No. 7 and he is good with that number. Sita ends the show. The others in order are Stabby at No. 5; Jus D at No. 6; Marzville at No. 8; Rhea at No. 9; Jagwa De Champ at No.10 and Jah Reddis at 11. (WN)

ARTISTES READY FOR PHENOMENAL FRIDAY – Tonight 44 performers will grace the Kensington Oval stage for ‘Phenomenal Friday’. The stage is set and the competitors are eagerly anticipating the eight-hour battle as soca’s crème de la crème fight it out in the Party Monarch and Sweet Soca semifinals, as well as in the finals of the Yello International Bashment Soca Competition. Twelve performers will be contending for the $80,000 grand prize on the bashment soca stage, while 32 artistes, 16 in Sweet Soca and 16 in Party Monarch, will compete for a chance to be on the Bushy Park Soca Royalestage on June 29. Ahead of tonight’s big event, Jagwa De Champ told Barbados TODAY he was elated that he finally made it to the bashment soca finals. Last year, his song Ride was disqualified, and in the inaugural year of the competition he failed to take the prize with his song ‘Back It Up’. “I feel like a winner even if I don’t win,” he said, while noting that this year’s contest was shaping up to be a keen one with regional competitors Freezy from St Lucia and Sita from St Vincent and the Grenadines entering the fray. “I feel the judges are going to have to work extremely hard this year, but I bringing my ‘A’ game and I know the rest of competitors are [also],” he added. Sita is also ready to hit the big stage. In fact, she told Barbados TODAY she planned to bring a lot of “fyah” on Friday night. This is her first time competing internationally. Nevertheless, the Vincy is confident that she can grab Barbadians and make her island proud with her catchy lyrics and endless energy. “You can expect pure fyah . . . . I am coming to ‘knock it like a hammer,’” she said in reference to the hook line in her song. “I am a bit anxious but I am also enthusiastic because the Barbadian audience is different to the Vincy audience and . . . if I am performing for someone who is not familiar with my music . . . [I always ask myself], ‘what do I do to overcome obstacles,’” she added. Although reigning Pic-O-De-Crop monarch iWeb did not make it to the bashment soca finals, he will have a busy night, jumping from the Sweet Soca stage to the Party Monarch platform. iWeb will be competing in the Sweet Soca semis with ‘Best In Me’ while his Party Monarch entry is a collaboration with Mr Blood entitled ‘Stomp’. Yesterday, the seasoned and confident performer was cool, calm and collected as Phenomenal Friday approached and said that he would leave the anxiety for the finals stage. “Having done it a few times already there is no pressure at this stage, [but] once we advance that is when the pressure will start,” he told Barbados TODAY. As for the bashment soca finals, iWeb praised two-time king Stiffy for his evolution as an artiste. “Stiffy is evolving before our eyes . . . and he is a phenomenal talent,” iWeb said. “He is not a predictable artiste and that is something that goes well for him . . . . He is a prime example of one in the entertainment industry that one would want to patent one’s self after,” he added in support of Stiffy’s bid to be crowned bashment soca king for a third time. Also making it to the semifinals stage for the fourth time is the orange-haired songbird Nikita. However, this will be the first time that she will be competing in both Sweet Soca and Party Monarch. “Vibe wise and energy wise, I am feeling positive,” said Nikita, whose Sweet Soca entry is ‘Journey’ and her Party Monarch song is ‘Going The Distance’. Earlier this week, 2017 Sweet Soca Monarch Red Plastic Bag (RPB) revealed his plans to retire from competition. It was a decision took many by surprise. However, responding to his decision to step away from the competitive stage, Nikita said that the veteran entertainer remained a mentor to many in the industry. “He is still singing, he is still there, he is still very much all of our mentor. We can still call on him and get some advice,” said Nikita, whose song ‘Going The Distance’ was written by RPB. Another Sweet Soca contender, Sanctuary, who will be singing ‘Fete Loan’ on Friday night, said he was not surprised by RPB’s decision which he does not expect to change the dynamics of the competition. In fact he said the exit of the reigning monarch would leave the door open for another deserving competitor. Although satisfied with making it to the semifinals for the second year in a row, Sanctuary said the May 24 general election had dampened the overall Crop Over spirit somewhat. “The election really mashed up Crop Over,” he said, while pointing the finger at former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart over his delay in announcing the date for the much anticipated poll. “If Crop Over is the biggest festival for the island I think that was really irresponsible of a Government to offset it that way because it going to effect the people coming in to see Barbados. . . . When people don’t see the same thing they saw the year in front they aren’t going to come the following year. We will get the ripple effect of it this time next year when people come in,” Sanctuary suggested, while stressing that “the build up to Crop Over was a bit taxing on people and you could tell because you are not seeing the numbers at fetes as before and you are not seeing as much fetes as before”. (BT)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 178 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles #dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

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melindarowens · 6 years

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Farenthold out – POLITICO

With Zach Montellaro and Kevin Robillard

The following newsletter is an abridged version of Campaign Pro’s Morning Score. For an earlier morning read on exponentially more races — and for a more comprehensive aggregation of the day’s most important campaign news — sign up for Campaign Pro today. (http://www.politicopro.com/proinfo)

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SEXUAL HARASSMENT ON CAPITOL HILL — “Farenthold won’t seek reelection,” by Campaign Pro’s Elena Schneider: “Rep. Blake Farenthold said Thursday he will not seek reelection after facing mounting allegations of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior from former staff members. In a video posted on his Facebook page, the Texas Republican acknowledged that his office ‘accommodated destructive gossip, offhand comments, off-color jokes and behavior, in general, that was less than professional.’ … His comments come after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into the harassment allegations and as former staff members have begun speaking out about his conduct.” Full story.

AND IN THE STATES — “Woman says Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager,” by the Casper Star-Tribune’s Arno Rosenfeld: “Tatiana Maxwell said she was working as an intern at a Cheyenne law firm in 1982 when a young lawyer at the firm, Ed Murray, wrestled her to the office floor and ejaculated on her stomach. Murray, now Wyoming’s secretary of state, denies the allegations. Murray is considering whether to run for governor and is widely viewed as one of the leading Republican candidates, should he decide to enter the race. Maxwell detailed the alleged assault in a social media post earlier this week and confirmed the events in a Thursday phone interview with the Star-Tribune.” Full story.

ICYMI — “Paul Ryan sees his wild Washington journey coming to an end,” by POLITICO Magazine’s Tim Alberta and Rachael Bade: “Tinkering with the social safety net is a bold undertaking, particularly in an election year. But Ryan has good reason for throwing caution to the wind: His time in Congress is running short. … In recent interviews with three dozen people who know the speaker — fellow lawmakers, congressional and administration aides, conservative intellectuals and Republican lobbyists — not a single person believed Ryan will stay in Congress past 2018.” Full story.

TAX REFORM AT HOME — FIRST IN SCORE — “House Majority PAC hits 5 GOP members on tax bill,” by Schneider: “House Majority PAC released a new round of digital ads on Friday, attacking Republican House members on the GOP tax bill as they head home for the holidays. The ads target five House Republican incumbents: Reps. Mike Coffman (CO-06), Peter Roskam (IL-06), Ryan Costello (PA-06), John Culberson (TX-07) and Will Hurd (TX-23).” Watch the ads here: CO-06; IL-06; PA-06; TX-07 and TX-23. Full story.

— Not One Penny hits Collins, Flake: Not One Penny, a coalition of Democratic groups fighting the GOP’s tax reform plan, is out with what it is calling a last-ditch ad buy aimed at persuading Republicans to vote against their tax bill. The ads, backed by a seven-figure buy, are targeted at Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, and Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Reps. Rod Blum of Iowa, Steve Knight of California, Bruce Poliquin of Maine and Peter Roskam of Illinois. The ad targeting Collins notes the bill would trigger cuts to Medicare and mostly benefit the wealthy. Watch the ad here. The ad targeting Flake emphasizes he could be the deciding vote on the legislation, which it says would cause tax hikes on nearly 1 million families in Arizona. Watch the ad here.

— AAN boosts tax bill in 1 million robocalls: American Action Network is launching 1 million robocalls to back the GOP tax bill in 29 Republican-controlled House seats. “The House and Senate just announced historic tax reform legislation that will provide tax relief for millions of Americans,” the recorded call says. “In fact, the average middle-class family will receive a $1,200 tax cut!” Check out the list of targeted seats here.

— DCCC pops polling memo on taxes: The DCCC released a polling memo that found voters trust Democrats to “do a better job on tax reform” than Republicans, 55 percent to 44 percent. Check out the polling memo here.

Days until the 2018 election: 326

Thanks for joining us! You can email tips to the Campaign Pro team at [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected].

You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @danielstrauss4 and @maggieseverns.

POLLING DATA — NEW THIS MORNING — Data on South Carolina governor’s race: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has a 48 percent favorability rating, while another 26 percent disapprove of McMaster’s job performance, according to a Mason-Dixon poll released today. In the GOP primary, McMaster leads with 51 percent, but Catherine Templeton “could be in the early stages of mounting a serious challenge” with 21 percent support, per the polling memo. Check out the polling memo here.

— FIRST IN SCORE — Blackburn campaign memo says they have the edge: Ward Baker, the strategist for Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s run for Senate, is out with a memo outlining his thoughts on two Tennessee polls released Thursday: “In the poll released by Vanderbilt, we have a name ID advantage of over 50 percent against Stephen Fincher. That incredible name recognition gap will cost Fincher millions and millions of dollars to bridge. Also, it is tough to 100 percent confirm this, but in their press release Vanderbilt notes that Fincher has ‘substantial name recognition in the western part of the state.’ Again, this confirms that Fincher has very little name ID in middle Tennessee, in other words, the Nashville media market, which is the largest media market in the state, and will by far be the most expensive media market in 2018. … Despite not having a full picture from these two surveys, they still prove things we already knew to be the case. Marsha is in an incredibly strong position with a real lead in the primary against Fincher. These surveys also show that Marsha is going to have a real race against [Phil] Bredesen.” Read the full memo here.

— “Iowans favor Democrats for Congress in 2018,” via The Des Moines Register: “Forty percent of Iowa Poll respondents say they would vote for a Democrat if congressional elections were held today, compared to 34 percent who say they would back a Republican. The finding is notable because Republicans hold three of Iowa’s four congressional seats, including two seen as among the most competitive in the country in 2018.” Full story.

AFTER ALABAMA — DSCC, DCCC release digital ads: Both the DSCC and DCCC are out with new digital ads attempting to capitalize on the results of Alabama’s Senate race. The DSCC ads, targeting GOP Senate candidates in Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, attack them for “doing nothing” to oppose Moore’s candidacy. “Roy Moore doesn’t think women should run for office,” one sample ad said. “And Dean Heller said nothing.” The DCCC ads are targeting African-American women in 42 battleground House districts, encouraging voter registration.

DEPT. OF BIO VIDEOS — Jay Hulings releases family-orientated video in TX-23: Democrat Jay Hulings, who’s in a four-way primary to challenge GOP Rep. Will Hurd, released a biography video focused on his family’s story. Hulings and his mother talk about his grandfather, who “was buried in your Harvard T-shirt at his request. Didn’t want a suit, he was buried in your Harvard shirt,” Hulings’ mother said. Watch the video here.

— NH-01 candidate Eddie Edwards opens up in video: Republican Eddie Edwards “begins his new campaign web video by talking openly about witnessing as a child his mother being beaten by his father,” WMUR reported. “Those are the early memories that I have as a young person growing up,” Edwards says in the video. “Hearing my mother’s voice in pain, you never forget that. Having the police come to your home — those lights, those sirens — they meant a place of safety for me.” Check out the video here.

FACEBOOK FEED — “Federal regulators approve narrow Facebook ad disclosure,” reports USA Today: “Federal election regulators told a political group Thursday that its Facebook ads must include disclaimers showing who paid for them, wading into the debate on social-media advertising as the government grapples with revelations about Russian use of the platforms in last year’s election. But, on a 4-0 vote, the Federal Election Commission made it clear that its action applied narrowly, and it still planned to work on broader rules governing digital advertising next year.” Read Thursday’s advisory opinion here.

CASH HELP — “Jordan helps Zeldin fundraise after Ryan cancels help,” via POLITICO’s Rachael Bade: “Freedom Caucus leader Jim Jordan [was expected to] headline a fundraiser for Rep. Lee Zeldin in New York [on Thursday night] — a last-minute, line-up addition that comes after Speaker Paul Ryan backed out of an earlier Zeldin reelection event. Jordan told POLITICO that he was dining with Zeldin on Wednesday evening when his colleague asked for his help. Zeldin, an early Trump supporter, could face a tough reelection — though Cook Political Report currently rates his district as ‘likely Republican.’” Full story.

CAMPAIGN TECH CALL — Progressive tech incubator Higher Ground Labs opens its second round of applications for companies to get funding for new products. The applications will be open through Jan. 15. Eleven startups have already received $1.75M from the group.

STAFFING UP — NDRC adds staff ahead of midterms: “The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, chaired by former Attorney General Eric Holder, announced its senior staff today. Hayley Dierker, who served as the chief of staff to the DCCC, will reprise the role at NDRC. Marina Jenkins, an attorney, will join as the litigation director. John Bisognano, a former Obama White House official, will serve as the director of campaigns and state outreach.” Full story.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’ve never seen a political landscape like this before.” — Texas Sen. John Cornyn on 2018, POLITICO reported.

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everettwilkinson · 6 years

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Farenthold out – POLITICO

With Zach Montellaro and Kevin Robillard

Story Continued Below

Days until the 2018 election: 326

Thanks for joining us! You can email tips to the Campaign Pro team at [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected].

You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @danielstrauss4 and @maggieseverns.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’ve never seen a political landscape like this before.” — Texas Sen. John Cornyn on 2018, POLITICO reported.

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usnewsaggregator-blog · 6 years

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New York Today: New York Today: Finding the Perfect Tree

New Post has been published on http://usnewsaggregator.com/new-york-today-new-york-today-finding-the-perfect-tree/

New York Today: New York Today: Finding the Perfect Tree

Photo

The holiday season is here. Credit Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

Good morning on this seasonable Friday.

As you figure out what to do with your Thanksgiving leftovers, it’s time for many New Yorkers to begin preparing for the next holiday season.

Buying the perfect Christmas tree for a tiny studio apartment or a spacious living room can feel overwhelming. So we sat down with veterans in the business to collect the best tree-hunting tips.

What tree should you buy?

The most popular tree you’ll see being sold on New York sidewalks is the Frasier Fir. This bushy evergreen has a mild, aromatic scent. “It has the least amount of needle fall, which people appreciate,” Scott Lechner, the manager of SoHo Trees, said.

The Balsam Fir is well known for its strong and spacious branches, which makes it a perfect tree for ornamentations. It’s also one of the most aromatic species. “They’re more Rockwellian, more traditional, more Americana,” Mr. Lechner said.

Continue reading the main story

The Noble Fir is the “Cadillac of Christmas trees,” according to Greg Walsh, owner of Greg’s Trees. These regal evergreens are mostly shipped from the Northwest, which makes them pricier than other trees.

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The Nordmann Fir, vendors said, is the rarest and most expensive of all Christmas trees. Originally from the Caucus Mountains, the Nordmann Fir is known for its attractive foliage and silver hue. “It’s the most elegant of Christmas trees,” Mr. Lechner said.

What’s a good price for a Christmas tree?

Average prices range from about $35 to $200.

Prices primarily vary according to the size of the tree. (The most common size for New York apartments is 5 to 6 feet tall.)

Trees shipped from the Northwest Pacific states and Canada tend to be more expensive because of high shipping costs.

And like city real estate, location matters. Sellers adjust their prices for the neighborhood they’re selling in — places like SoHo and Williamsburg tend to have pricier trees.

But you can negotiate. Vendors said it’s part of the tradition, and they’ll help you find a tree that fits your budget.

Where can you buy a Christmas tree?

Garden stores, sidewalk vendors, and supermarkets and big-box stores, like Whole Foods and Home Depot.

There are also 18 designated parks and playgrounds with vendors — like Washington Market Park in Manhattan and McCarren Park in Brooklyn.

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And you can buy trees online.

Where do Christmas trees come from?

Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan and Pennsylvania harvest the most Christmas trees in the nation. Frasier Firs sold in New York are mostly shipped from North Carolina, while Douglas Firs are largely from Pennsylvania, sellers said. High-quality sellers in New York said they also ship their trees from Canada, especially from the Beauce region near Quebec.

Here’s what else is happening:

Weather

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With a high near 50, it’s like the weather knows it’s time for sidewalk shopping. Now all you need is some hot cider.

Be sure to look up from your phone or shopping bags this Black Friday and appreciate the clear skies and crisp fall temperature. Saturday is looking to be even nicer, with a high in the mid-50s. Then things will cool a bit on Sunday.

In the News

• Security was prominent at this years Thanksgiving Day parade, but paradegoers seemed to mostly focus on the balloons and floats passing by. [New York Times]

Photo

The singing Christmas tree float, a new addition to this year’s parade. Credit Vincent Tullo for The New York Times

• Despite losing their homes to a fire that ripped through an apartment building in Upper Manhattan, dozens of families joined together for a Thanksgiving dinner. [New York Times]

• The Trump SoHo hotel, struggling financially, is dropping the president’s name. On a recent night, some guests embraced the brand, while others were simply there for a cheap room. [New York Times]

• A man from Sudan’s dream to move to the United States came true when he obtained a visa and settled into Brooklyn. Now he dreams of one day reuniting with the wife he left behind. [New York Times]

• After spending 28 years in prison, a Connecticut man was freed the day before Thanksgiving when he entered an Alford plea: pleading guilty to lesser charges without admitting guilt. [New York Times]

Photo

Leroy Harris, left, greeted his sister and niece outside New Haven Correctional Facility. Credit Jessica Hill for The New York Times

• The former congressman Maurice D. Hinchey, who built a reputation as a champion of environmental advocacy and blue-collar workers, died at 79. [New York Times]

Continue reading the main story

• Meet the two men who are competing for what may be the most coveted job on Wall Street: running Goldman Sachs. [New York Times]

• Nickelodeon’s relentlessly cheerful animated character, SpongeBob SquarePants, has made his Broadway debut with a $20 million musical that “explodes off the stage.” [New York Times]

• The New York Police Department named Terence Monahan the new chief of department. [New York Post]

• In a class-action suit filed against the city, a family living in New York City Housing Authority units claim their child’s health was damaged as a result of lead-poisoned water. [NBC New York]

• Today’s Metropolitan Diary: “The Cranky Fishmonger”

• For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Morning Briefing.

Coming Up Today

• Burn off that turkey with guided hikes through Alley Pond Park in Queens, Central Park in Manhattan, Willowbrook Park on Staten Island, Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Times vary. [Free]

• Join the National Park Service and Lower Manhattan Historical Association to celebrate the end of the American Revolution, with a parade, performances and more at Federal Hall and Evacuation Plaza. 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. [Free]

• George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” returns for the season with performances by the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center, through Dec. 31. 8 p.m. [Ticket prices vary]

Continue reading the main story

• Laugh off your Thanksgiving leftovers at “Decorative Soap: The Truth is in the Turkey,” a soap opera-themed comedy show at the Peoples Improv Theater Loft in Chelsea. 9 p.m. [$7]

• Nets host Trail Blazers, noon. (YES). Islanders at Flyers, 4 p.m. (MSG+). Devils host Canucks, 7 p.m. (MSG+). Rangers host Red Wings, 7 p.m. (MSG 2). Knicks at Hawks, 7:30 p.m. (MSG).

• Alternate-side parking remains in effect until Dec. 8.

• Weekend travel hassles: Check subway disruptions and a list of street closings.

The Weekend

Saturday

• Check out the Holiday Train Show, a display of model locomotives zipping through famous city landmarks, at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. [Prices vary]

• The Brooklyn Holiday Bazaar brings local vendors, food and drink, live music and activities to 501 Union and the Green Building in Gowanus, Brooklyn. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., through Sunday. [Free admission]

• Take a Thanksgiving kitchen tour, where you can learn about colonial cuisine while tasting some old-world recipes, at Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island. 1 to 5 p.m., through Sunday. [$8]

• See the musician and singer Oscar D’León, “El Gigante De La Salsa,” in a concert at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in the Bronx. 8 p.m. [Tickets start at $50]

• Islanders at Senators, 7 p.m. (MSG+). Devils at Red Wings, 7 p.m. (MSG+2). Knicks at Rockets, 8 p.m. (MSG).

Continue reading the main story

Sunday

• Children can jam out to the music of Bob Marley during a family-friendly concert at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg. 11:30 a.m. [$12]

• A choir and symphony orchestra perform “Messiah…Refreshed,” a modern take on Handel’s “Messiah,” at Carnegie Hall in Midtown Manhattan. 2 p.m. [Ticket prices vary]

• … And the New York Eastern Symphonic Orchestra plays a concert celebrating Albanian Independence Day at St. George Theatre on Staten Island. 7 p.m. [Tickets start at $50]

• Looking ahead: On Wednesday, TimesTalks hosts an advance screening of “I, Tonya,” a film about the scandalous American figure skater Tonya Harding, followed by a conversation with the actor Margot Robbie and director Craig Gillespie.

• Jets host Panthers, 1 p.m. (FOX). Rangers host Canucks, 2 p.m. (MSG). Nets at Grizzlies, 6 p.m. (YES).

• For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.

And Finally…

Photo

A Manhattan tree market in 1903. Credit via Library of Congress

How did Christmas trees first pop-up on New York City sidewalks?

It is long believed that a woodsman from the Catskills by the name of Mark Carr was the first to sell Christmas trees in New York — in 1851. A couple of weeks before Christmas Day that year, Mr. Carr loaded two ox sleds with “thrifty young firs and spruces” and headed for the city, according to an 1878 New York Daily Tribune article.

He paid a silver dollar for the right to sell his lot of trees on a strip of sidewalk at Vesey and Greenwich Streets in TriBeCa. His evergreens quickly sold out. He returned the next year and other peddlers followed his lead, establishing the prosperous holiday sidewalk tree industry.

Continue reading the main story

By 1880, more than 200,000 trees were being shipped to New York each year.

In the 1930s, the former Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, seeking to reduce street peddling, established regulations that would require vendors to apply for selling permits. After much public outcry, the City Council in 1938 adopted what has been called the “coniferous tree exception,” which allows vendors to sell and display Christmas trees on a sidewalk without a permit in December as long as they have the permission of owners fronting the sidewalk and keep a corridor open for pedestrians.

The rule has brought flocks of vendors from across the country and the pleasant smell of pine trees to New York City ever since.

New York Today is a morning roundup that is published weekdays at 6 a.m. If you don’t get it in your inbox already, you can sign up to receive it by email here.

For updates throughout the day, like us on Facebook.

What would you like to see here to start your day? Post a comment, email us at [email protected], or reach us via Twitter using #NYToday.

Follow the New York Today columnists, Alexandra Levine and Jonathan Wolfe, on Twitter.

You can find the latest New York Today at nytoday.com.

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whereintheworldisclairerans-blog · 7 years

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A month in Madrid!

Oh man you guys. It feels like it’s been an eternity since I’ve written anything! I can hardly believe that it’s only been a month since I’ve been in Madrid on my own - SO MUCH HAS BEEN HAPPENING! I’m not going to give you all the details because I would be typing until the end of time and I do kind of have a life, but here’s a little recap of what I’ve been up to!

Not even a full week after Jordan went home, I found myself at the airport again, this time headed to Sweden to see Hanna! I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to get to see her again after a mere three months after our big American road trip, instead of our typical 16th month stints. A short 4 hour flight took me from Madrid to Gothenburg and she surprised me at the airport! We took the bus into the city together, got lunch at my all time favorite restaurant Vapianos (See my post from the UK 2 years ago when they gave me an entire block of parmesan cheese in my pasta) and then hung out in her gorgeous apartment. We went to a fun Spanish language exchange that night and I got to meet a few of the friends she’s made in her masters program! The next day we tried to go to the archipelago.... but we are very special people and didn’t get off the boat ahahahaha. OOPS. We took a lovely ferry tour instead and then got some hot coco and pastries to eat along the dock before getting caught in a massive rain storm and getting soaked to our very cores. That night I went out with her and a bunch of other students in her program and they showed me a night out on the town in Gothenburg that was super fun! I wasn’t ready to head back to Madrid, but I left knowing that we would be seeing each other again very very soon.

I still had another two weeks to kill in Madrid before I started work, so I spent my days sleeping, working out, furnishing my apartment and getting to know the city a little better. I was walking a fine line between not having any income and not wanting to stay home by myself all day - so I did quite a lot of window shopping, sightseeing by foot and making mental notes of all the places I wanted to check out once I started getting paid. I also reached out to friends of friends that live in the city and met two of my now closest Madrid pals, Dylan and Carmi. It’s amazing how lucky I was to meet people that I liked so much so early on!

I still had a few days left on my Eurail pass and credit with AirBnb, so I decided to take advantage of cheap travel and went to San Sebastian during my last week before work. BEST. DECISION. EVER. I absolutely loved it there. San Sebastian is in the Basque Country in the very north of Spain, and as such is incredibly lush and green. It’s normally very rainy there, but the two days that I was there, the sun was out in full force. The city is nestled between the beach and the mountains and is famous for it’s amazing cuisine. The ocean, the mountains, and food? What more could a girl ask for? I spent my time alternating back and forth between lying on the beach, wandering through the old city, eating, and climbing up into the mountains to check out the amazing views. I don’t know if I have ever loved a place so much. I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off of my face the entire time I was there and I very very strongly considered purposefully missing my train to go back to Madrid. Unfortunately, I am responsible person (thanks mom) and I did get back on the train to good old Madrid. I did however, look at apartments there for next year...... so prepare yourselves that I might be there instead of Denver next year. Ooops.

Anyways, I hardly had time to unpack from San Sebastian before I had to head out again for my “staycation” in Madrid. The company that I am doing this program through, CIEE, had paid for us to stay in a hotel during orientation and I am not one to turn down free accommodation (aka the free food that comes with it ahahah). Turns out it was kind of a waste because the orientation was not super useful and I had to get up ridiculously early in order to enjoy the free breakfast. So I left a day early and headed back to sleep in my very own bed until noon. Ahhh how I miss those days.

The following day, I started work! It was a bit of a slow start because I don’t work on Mondays and I only work half days on Tuesdays, but I was grateful for the slow introduction given my very limited teaching experience. For those of you who don’t know, I am working as a language and culture assistant in a bilingual primary school called Placido Domingo. It’s a MASSIVE school, with 600+ students, 50+ teachers, and 4 other LAs. The program allows us to work 16 hours a week, assisting the teachers with English instruction and sharing our cultural insights. I am mainly working with 5th and 6th graders, which is amazing because they have the highest levels of English and can pretty much understand me fluently. They can’t speak fluently, but they can definitely communicate extremely well and so so much better than I had expected. I’m not allowed to speak to them in Spanish, so I had been a little bit worried about how much time I would have to spend explaining things. Turns out, very little time at all! They know that I speak Spanish so they can ask me how to say things and I can help them translate when need be. My main role is to work with them in their English, social science, and natural science classes (all the classes they have instruction in English), but I also help out with PE for 1st and 3rd graders (which is lots of fun because I get to spend my Wednesdays running around with little kids and blowing off steam). I love the kids so far, and I also really love the other teachers! We get to have a coffee break for half an hour every morning, where breakfast and coffee is provided and I can get to know the other teachers and my fellow LAs a little bit better. I am also working as a private tutor after school for a few families, where I am helping the kids have a little bit more time to practice their English and to prepare for these massive exams that they have to take in 3rd and 6th grade. It’s a bit daunting because I am the one in charge of putting together the materials and preparing an hour or an hour and a half worth of material for lessons, but it’s excellent experience. (And excellent money!) As such, my schedule is pretty packed right now- for those of you who would like to know where I am at any given moment in the day, it goes as follows:

Monday: (Free most of the day) - 18:30-20:00 Private Lesson

Tuesday: 9:00-11:45 School, 16:30-19:15 Private Lessons

Wednesday: 9:45-16:00 School, 17:00-20:00 Private Lessons

Thursday: 9:00-16:00 School, 18:30-20:00 Private Lessons

Friday: 9:00-16:00 School, FREE FOR THE WEEKEND!

Luckily I get a super long lunch hour at school and dinner isn’t normally until 20:30-21:00 anyways. Next week will be my first full week of this schedule though, so we’ll see if I make it through. I got super super super lucky this past week because it was a national holiday on Thursday, so I got a long weekend just in time for Melanie and Anthony to come down to visit for their honeymoon! I was able to pick them up at the airport Monday, show them around my neighborhood and see the main sights before my lesson in the evening, Tuesday they slept while I went to work, and during my break we went for a picnic in Retiro and then while I taught my lessons they went to the Prado! On Wednesday they spent the days being tourists while I worked, and then we had all day Thursday to hang out together! We missed the parade but they got to meet (or catch up with in Mel and Carmis case) my new friends! I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to them on Friday, but they were off to Italy and I was off to bed! Being a tour guide is tiring y’all.

And that pretty much brings us to today! I went out this weekend a bit and was a grown up and did laundry and grocery shopping and all that jazz. Now I’m headed to picnic in the park with a friend and will spend my day tomorrow running errands and preparing all of my lessons for the week. Hope all is well with you all! More soon, I promise! xx

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3one3 · 7 years

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The Sequel - 851

Bibbidi Bobbidi

André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)

original epic tale

all chapters of The Sequel

“I love this house. I can’t believe how little time you’re spending here this summer.”

“I can come back when we have a few days here and there. It stays nice here for months still.”

“I had a dream that was just like this, only more dramatic. We had to split up in the morning. It was like our last night together, but for some really serious reason. One of us was being sent away, or going to jail, or leaving to fight in a war or something crazy. It was a night just like this though, with all the doors open, and the curtains blowing around, candles inside, the moonlight outside, the smell of the ocean...”

“And the sex?”

“And the sex.”

Wednesday night in Mallora was perfect in every way. It was warm but comfortable, even in direct sun. The grilled lobster and strip steaks came off the grill rack with char marks that couldn’t have been any more idyllic if someone painted them on, and they tasted as good as they looked. The sangria had great depth and dynamism of flavor after sitting in the refrigerator for three hours, and beautiful color. Two pretty gray and yellow birds visited the big patio a few times to have their picture taken. And best of all, Juan was there. He was all smiles and Greek tan, and Christina was equal parts relieved and excited. She missed him. He missed her. They needed each other, and they knew it. They knew that no matter how long they pretended they could change their arrangement, it would never be a good choice. It would leave them wanting, fundamentally unsatisfied.

Monaco was good too, for Christina at least. Rio wasn’t a big fan of the small and oddly curved arena surrounded by mega distractions, but Nick’s good work ethic shone there. He won a class and placed well in others. André got him a beer to celebrate and became the Hanoverian’s new favorite human. André also apologized for not going to the party with his girl on the eve of the first competition day, and she apologized for being awful to him for half the day. All was fine. They were sad to say goodbye to Lilly XO Sunday, even if the rider would see her again in 4 days. More than they were sad, they were happy to be heading home together as a family. They missed their bed, and their couch, and their cars, even. Christina missed the rest of the horses. She couldn’t get Daniel and her other teammates to bring their animals over for a mini-camp, but she got Daniel to agree to bring his family to stay for two nights before they went to Cascais for another round of the Global Champions Tour, and they were going to ride the resident horses together, give each other lessons, let their kids play, have a cookout, etc. André loved the idea. He loved the idea of his wife having normal friends and doing normal friend things with them. He was a bit dejected about having to see her off to Palma on Wednesday- off to spend three nights with Juan- but he had his first day of training and the first with the new Borussia Dortmund manager coming. Thursday was fitness tests and Friday was double sessions with the full squad. He was ready to make a good impression.

“Your hair is so light. I don’t think I’ve even seen it this way,” the Spaniard remarked while his houseguest yawned in his lap. She was kind of crooked, curled up next to and on top of his waist. He couldn’t wait to take the clothes off her after giving their big dinner a chance to land, and she couldn’t wait to be loved in his unique ways. Those two things had to happen separately. Juan got his way first, and then there was a break for more sangria, and for candles, and music, and to open up doors and windows. Then Christina got what she wanted most, including the spent snuggles afterward.

“I don’t think I’ve spent this much time in real sun at once since I first moved to London,” she told him, her hand bumping his as she tried to comb some of her golden highlights back out of her face. The Chelsea man was already trying to do that for her. “It used to get like this every summer when all I did was go to horse shows every week. Even wearing a helmet and a baseball hat all summer, I still got so much bleaching. And you’re wrong.”

“About what?”

“Do you not remember when your fiancé made me spend an entire day in a salon, getting platinum blonde?”

“I didn’t, actually, but that’s different. It wasn’t like this. It was weird and unnatural. This is beautiful.”

“Awww.”

“What about me? Is my summer hair beautiful?”

“Gorgeous.” Christina turned some so she could look directly up at her friend, and reached to poke at his fuzzy chin. That was still dark brown, unlike the milk chocolate stuff atop his head. “Thanks for having me, by the way. I forgot to say that when I got here.” Her graciousness garnered much sniggering.

“Any time, cariña. Any time you want to be had, I’m willing.”

“You know what I meant.” She rolled her eyes at him and he reached over to tickle her side. He had a sheet covering his body up to where she was occupying it, but she was completely nude and uncovered. There was a lot of squirming to get away from his deliberately agitating touch. I guess it wasn’t quite so as intense as in that fantasy anyway, she decided once she’d rolled far enough away that Juan could no longer inflict tickle torture. She was about to open her mouth to complain that he ruined the mood. It would be weird if we were super serious tonight, I suppose. I don’t want it to be like we’re lovers kept apart by warring families or nations or something. That’s how big the stakes were in that dream, with the Yerevan song. We’re just normal. Just normal levels of missing and needing each other.

“Where you going?” the Spaniard asked her as she got out of his all-white, all-Italian linens.

“You promised I could have a post-sex cigarette on the terrace. Nobody can see me out here, right?” Christina leaned through the old French doors to peek out at the peaceful, breezy night. There was just enough room on that terrace for two chairs and a little tree stump-like table. He told her no one could see her unless they were watching from a boat, with night-vision binoculars or something, but warned her that she’d be pretty cold out there if she didn’t put something on. That consequently got his shirt stolen, because she didn’t want anything of her own. She didn’t want to be just Christina. She wanted to be Chris with Juanin. That was a whole different person than just Christina, or Chris with Schü. She had to be. It couldn’t work, otherwise. Compartmentalizing was necessary and satisfying. That was a conclusion she arrived at one day at home, in the saddle. The jury was still out on the significance of that revelation. But the significance of feeling like Chris and Juanin was unquestionable.

The Chelsea creator got himself another shirt and put his shorts back on, and then joined her outside with a glass of ice water for himself and what was left of the sangria in her wine glass, with fresh ice added. The kitchen in his old villa was so far away from his bedroom that he actually brought an ice bucket up with him when they retired for the evening. His ex-girlfriend teased him for it, but also kind of adored his forethought. She enjoyed the fruity and warming beverage with her cigarette. A now-and-again nicotine fix still tasted terrible to her, really, and it was nice to have a chaser to cover it up. It was also nice to enjoy it without André’s disapproving glare. Juan didn’t mind her occasional smoking. Sometimes he found it sexy. Her husband crucified her for one stolen Camel Light on the dock in Antibes.

“I can see my boat,” she smirked. “See?” She pointed out over the low wall of the balcony toward the water when the footballer circled her little waist in his arms from behind her. He leaned over her shoulder to see the light bobbing around on top of Lilly XO’s tallest mast, visible down beyond the cliff and little beach. They could both sort of hear the general rumble of the sea off in the distance, and it added to the ambiance and the peaceful mood there, but really they just imagined it, and the sound of the water circulated artificially in the swimming pool to their left aided in the illusion. Real or imagined atmosphere, Christina couldn’t find a thing wrong with it.

“I’m looking forward to watching you walk around on your boat. You know how I think your walk is everything? Your bouncy runway-girl swagger? It’s even better barefoot in the bathing suit on the boat deck. I’ve been thinking about you strutting around on there, with your music.”

“Mkay,” she giggled, blushing. “I’ve been thinking about you strutting around a football pitch. Do you miss it yet, or nah? Holiday not long enough?”

“I don’t miss it yet but I’m sure it will feel good to go back and get started,” her human cape shrugged around her. He then grabbed gently at the skin on the side of her neck with his lips. He’d been uncharacteristically possessive of her body and affectionate toward her since he picked her up at the airport and took her shopping for dinner ingredients. He sucked passively at one spot an inch below her right ear for a few seconds, and then lazily smooched a little closer to the pulse point. The rider tried to blow her cigarette smoke away so it wouldn’t come right back at his face. It felt to her like his lips were trying to chase the movement of her throat each time she pulled on the cigarette or exhaled the byproducts. She felt him moving ever closer to the front of her throat, until he found a spot he must have liked. There he stayed, sucking, and nibbling, and even lapping with his tongue on her skin held carefully between his teeth. Juan’s arms remained locked around her waist too, so there was no wriggling away if his attention got tickle-like, as any attention to her sensitive neck could.

There is going to be a really ugly hickey there when he’s done, Christina idly recognized as his “kiss” moved further and further from tickling, and she worried less and less about holding herself up. Being adored is so wonderful. Why can’t the boys have longer for vacation? They’re so much happier and more relaxed when they have time off. Yes, I am selfishly saying I wish they got more free time so that they can spend it adoring me. Adoring me is good for them too though! Boyfriend is sooooooo fit right now, and he’s not even stressed about the new manager. That’s ludicrous. And any time he gets to spend with me is good for this leach, she smiled to herself while lowering her cigarette and raising her glass. It felt kind of weird to swallow a gulp of Rioja-based sangria while someone was sucking on her throat. That someone took advantage of her tilting her head back a bit to drink, and opened up his lips to engulf some more of her skin in an even bigger kiss.

“Baaabe,” she chuckled plaintively. A squishy sound preceded the removal of wet lips from wet, warm, abused flesh.

“You taste good,” Juan told her, as if his hunger for her couldn’t be helped.

“If you want to taste me, can you taste somewhere else?” the rider smirked back without turning from the shadowy view. The end of her cigarette glowed brighter for a second as she pulled on it and gave him a chance to mull over his answer, or at least mull a snappy or sarcastic quip. This window for contemplation was expanded with her thirst for the rest of her wine, which she gulped down in a few swallows.

“Where should I taste?” the fuzzy face by her cheek inquired. The hands belonging to that person also rubbed around her sides.

“My inner thigh could really use some love,” Christina told her best friend. “The one I pulled months ago hurts a lot lately. What should I do with this?” The Spaniard nodded at his water glass sitting on the wall, giving his approval for her to use it as an ashtray. Flicking ash around was fine with her. Stubbing out her cigarette on someone’s house or in his wine glass wasn’t okay without asking first.

“Can we go in now? It’s cold out here, cariña.”

She conceded to getting back under the covers, but Juan just wanted to get back onto the bed, not in it. He told her to get comfortable on her back and bend her knees, and he lay on his stomach in between them. Her request for some love for her sore inner thigh was not going to go unheeded. He passively kissed his way up and down the inside of her legs from knee to bikini tan line while they talked about Ibiza. A couple of his Spain teammates were going to Above & Beyond too, so Christina wanted to invite them over for dinner on the boat beforehand. She quizzed her personal Furia Roja player about where he stood on the subject of their privacy. That was never resolved in Cannes. They had that sort-of-fight about his kissing her in front of everyone in hospitality and then they shipped out away from the public eye for most of the next day, so it didn’t really matter. The rider wanted to know if he was going to go touching her in any more-than-friends ways, or if he was going to hold her hand, or kiss her neck when she inevitably forced him to dance. It would be one thing to blend into a packed club and sneak some intimate affection. It would be a different thing to behave a certain way in front of his friends.

“I get a feeling that you’re asking me this because you want me to do those things, not because you just want to know if I plan on it,” the Chelsea midfielder surmised.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “On one hand, I like it when you can’t help but act a certain way. I mean, what girl doesn’t like it when someone she loves is affectionate? Or affectionate in public so that everyone sees you’re together? But I also don’t know how to handle the fallout from that, and I don’t want it for Schü. It’s not fair to him if people talk.” She was trying not to melt into the pillows and pass out. Being blissed out on post-sex chemicals, exhausted from a long day, lulled into placidity by loving smooches on her legs, and then made to lay on pillows with the perfect balance of firmness and absorption was asking for a coma. She held the bottom of Juan’s black t-shirt down between her legs since she still lacked panties and his face was right there but not for any purposes related to that specific part of her anatomy, and because she knew his lips on her sensitive inner thigh spots got the same kind of reaction as that other purpose would have done. A face full of vulva while not actively licking or kissing vulva just seemed unpleasant and awkward to her. Her other hand played around in her hair, at her scalp, and his slightly accusatory question made her rotate her fingers from pad to tip. “Like...if you kissed my neck or squeezed my butt or something and Sergi Roberto saw it and then asked you about it, what would you say? How would you explain that?”

“I don’t think he would ask me. We’re not that close,” Juan shrugged. He was kneading the underside of her right thigh too, from his elbows.

“What about Ander? What about all of your friends? Don’t they ask you why you spend so much time with me? Or just whether or not you’re hitting that? I would ask you all the time.”

“Believe it or not, the whole world does not care about my sex life, or yours for that matter. How many of your friends ask you if we’re sleeping together?”

“Literally all of them.” Christina’s frank response earned skepticism in return, but she was being honest. Tom asked. Stef asked. Nat asks with her accusing eyes. Marcus asked. D hasn’t formally asked but I feel like that’s just because he already knows.

“Your friends are just nosy, I guess.”

“Your face is nosy.” She let go of the hem of the shirt to poke the player in the nose instead. I don’t want to have to tell him how many people I’ve actually told, she thought somewhat guiltily. Process stories- the implications and side effects and logistics of her unconventional relationship with Juan, and indeed her husband- plagued her less and less of late. They were kind of like the Olympics- just blocked out, on “ignore”.

“I got a book for you. Want to see?”

Christina slowly shook her head “no”.

“Want to hear the synopsis?”

Again, the answer was “no”.

“Water?”

Once more, a rejection. The Spanish player rose up on his hands and knees and leaned forward to get to his guest’s neck.

“This?” he asked after nuzzling his way in for a kiss. She nodded and tilted her head to smooch his cheek.

I’m tired, and I don’t want to have any more sex tonight, she narrated to herself, eyes closed, and legs closed around Juan. But I missed him so much. He feels so good. I was already happy when I got here, which is rare. I was already happy at home. Things have been good. I catch myself smiling for no reason. That feels good. But then I saw his smile at the airport and it was like my smile got unruly and uncontrollable. Like when I walk into the barn and Dirk is hanging over his door with his cute pony ears pricked and his big mischief eyes imploring me to come see him. That smile. I don’t want to stop feeling like this. I don’t want to show up at Aachen for the most beautiful week of horse stuff in Germany- the showpiece for the nation, and the federation- and lose this feeling because I know what happens by the end of that week, and I know what comes after that. I want to stay in this pre-Aachen world for longer.

“Love you,” she mumbled through the juxtaposition of warm, soft lips on her neck and scratchy Brillo on her cheek- a contrast that nearly always raised her body temperature and enlivened her spine. The bearded man stretched between her legs let his weight drop the rest of the way down on her, and rested his face on her pillow with a view of her familiar profile, which he traced with the tip of his right pointer.

“Do you remember the Gatorade advert for the 2014 World Cup?”

“No,” Christina snorted before grabbing at the finger with her teeth.

“Messi was in it, with David Luiz, Sergio Ramos...”

“That feels like a hundred years ago.”

“It was a training montage with the song from Cinderella- you know- the silly one? With no real words?”

“Ohhh! I do remember! The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo commercial!”

“Yes.”

“What about it?”

“That song has been stuck in my head all day.” Juan tapped out the rhythm of the Fairy Godmother’s theme tune on his ex’s nose, lips, and chin.

“You couldn’t have just said the Cinderella song?” she asked, still kind of chuckling. “It wasn’t even a special version in that ad, I don’t think.”

“I remember it from the ad,” he shrugged back. “I can see Leo Messi bouncing between uprights when I hear it.”

“It’s well after midnight and neither of us have turned into a pumpkin so I think we’re safe.”

“I never know with you,” he told her, his tone serious. “Sometimes when our time is up, you turn back into a duller you, and I can’t get the party girl back until we’re together a bit again. It surprised me these last weeks that you kept your dress on and your horses stayed handsome and special instead of changing into old nags or whatever Cinderella had before her pumpkin turned into a carriage.” Christina did her best to turn on her side under his weight, so she could see into his eyes, and so she could hold onto his waist.

“You and me both.”

“I’m not complaining though.”

“Me either.”

“Tomorrow you need to help me choose a watch.”

“You decided? It’s gonna be a watch?”

“Yes. I’ve narrowed it down to two. One is very old, and the other is just old. You pick for me.”

“I dunno, man. That’s a lot of responsibility, and money.”

“I love them both, so whichever you pick will be the right one.”

“Mkay. I’m not gonna let you pick my Ferrari because I have better taste than you, but I might let you suggest the first place to which I drive it.”

“To me, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Christina grinned as Juan zeroed in closer to kiss her mouth. They’d spent a lot of time talking about the rewards for achieving their respective big goals. It was almost like a default topic, reverted to whenever there was nothing else to say. The rider appreciated that she could talk to the player about her Ferrari wishes- code for gold medal wishes- without him making any kind of big deal about it, or being overly confident, or too encouraging. She also liked that he wanted to involve her in his own reward. He’d been waiting for a trophy worthy of a special token for so long, and she knew how hard he worked for it on and off the pitch, physically, emotionally, and mentally. He didn’t hide from big mental questions the way she did, and she thought that meant he was “better” at the psychological game than she was. She was in awe of it, even. Juan could be all mentally tough and dedicated but still cede to her judgement on something as significant as his big reward. That meant something to her. In some way, she thought it might mean he believed she knew as well as he did what would make him most happy and content. Christina also really loved that the Juan Affection Switch was well and truly flicked to the “on” position. He couldn’t keep his lips off her.

“You going to let me drive it,” he questioned between delicate smooches. “Or do I have to wrestle the keys from you?”

“You know it doesn’t even have keys.” She couldn’t stop grinning. It made his kisses feel funny, like he was kissing her but she wasn’t kissing back. Neither participant was bothered.

“The key fob.”

“You’re a fob.”

“I want to fob you again.”

“That’s not even funny,” the equestrian laughed.

“You’re laughing though.”

“At you, not with you.”

“Shhhhh,” Juan urged before engaging her in the kind of liplock she couldn’t avoid actively getting involved in. He reached around her butt at the same time, sliding his palm all the way down between her legs while his tongue got between her lips. There was only one thing on her mind. So this is what it’s like to be with Juanin when we’re both happy. It’s never happened before. I think I told him once that we could never be happy together because I only want him when I’m unhappy and I thought he only wanted me when he was unhappy, and that we’d just be unhappy all the time, together. Now he’s happy, and I’m happy, and it’s...it feels perfect. I haven’t been happy together with someone in years. Not since before Lukas was born. Not since Schü and I were so happy together that we decided there should be a Lukas. I’ve hardly been happy at all since then, and never at the same time he is. He’s not there yet. He needs football to be right, and he needs us to be 100% again, and only then will he be happy like this one is, Christina concluded when it was just her tongue left in her mouth, and when beautiful, sparkly, and darkened blue eyes blinked placidly back at her as she opened hers.

“You were right.”

“About the acid in the citrus? I still taste it.”

“No. Never mi-“ She shook her head a tiny bit and reached out with her lips. Another kiss could save her from having to admit that Juan was correct when he assured her that they could do better than just being unhappy together. It was too serious a thing to get into when there was an alternative available like making out. “What book did you get for me?” was the only question she thought of during the next break.

“It’s called “The Zoo”. It’s a history of the London Zoo, told through profiles of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, as in the hotel in Singapore that you want to go to, an architect, a veterinarian, the taxidermist who inherited the mistakes of the veterinarian, Charles Darwin, a zookeeper, and a wealthy guy who was obsessed with hippos.”

“Honestly that sounds amazing,” Christina laughed, eyes alight. “Totally random, but amazing.”

“I thought so too. Right up your alley.” The Spaniard pulled her left leg up from the back of her thigh, and then went back to feeling around closer to her butt. He definitely had more in mind for the rest of the night than she did, and that made her smile to herself, again. If for no other reason, it affirmed for her that he wasn’t sleeping with anyone else. “It might be just strange enough to keep you interested on your flight to Tokyo, and in your hotel there when you can’t sleep.”

“Don’t jinx it. And nothing short of prescription drugs would help me sleep there, if I get to go.”

“I can go with you, you know. Ask, and I go.”

“No you can’t.”

“I can.”

“Can’t. I need to do it myself anyway.”

“You do and you don’t.”

“Mm?”

“You need to do it yourself for yourself, but you don’t have to.”

“I actually think I want to. I need to get back to being able to do that.”

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