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stefankarlfanblog · 2 years

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African Gray Parrot Rescue-2004

Original taken from Ronald Binion's website, reposting for archival purposes.

For some more information about the African gray parrot rescue, a reddit post was made on r/wholesomepics talking about it as well, posted on the 23rd of August 2018:

https://www.reddit.com/r/wholesomepics/comments/99ijj8/stef%C3%A1n_karl_making_friends_with_a_lost_parrot_we/

Original, posted on the 27th of January 2019: https://www.ronbinion.com/recentwork/2019/1/27/african-gray-parrot-rescue-2004

Rescuing an African Gray that was lost in Reykjavík , Iceland back in 2004

In 2004 Amanda and I were in Iceland working on the first season of the children’s television show LazyTown.

The show was shot in a brand new industrial building in an area that had been carved into an ancient lava field on the outskirts of a small town called Garðabær.

LazyTown Studio in Garðabær, Iceland circa 2004

LazyTown put us up in apartments in Reykjavík which was about a 20 minute drive from Garðabær. We were also give a small car for our transportation needs, but the arrangement was three puppeteers per vehicle. So each morning Amanda and I would pick up our colleague David and then we would make the trip to work.

The car was a Toyota Yaris. At the time this vehicle was not available in the US, and it was astonishing to see the prevalence of these tiny, but practical and fuel efficient cars in Iceland.

For some marketing purpose they thought it would be a great idea to cover our vehicle with LazyTown advertising. You can see the cartoon images of the characters, including the representation of the villain of LazyTown, Robbie Rotten with his recognizably oversize chin.

Our tiny LazyTown puppeteer car.

On the morning of June the fifth, 2004, the day started out like any other. Even though it was June, the temperatures were hovering around zero degrees celsius, or 32°F. After spending the late winter and spring in Iceland this felt like a comfortable and reasonable temperature.

The top floor of the gray building in the middle of this photo is where Amanda and I stayed during the first season of LazyTown.

We drove through the neighborhoods on the Seltjarnarnes peninsula just west of downtown Reykjavík where we would pick up David on the corner near his apartment. This morning we saw David but he was not in his usual spot.

He was closer to the intersection and he was looking at something in the middle of the street. He saw us and was pointing to direct our attention. I stopped the car and saw a small shape in the street. I was not sure what it was at first. Amanda hopped out of the car and approached it.

I saw her crouch down and hold the sleeve of her jacket with her hand, she put her arm towards this gray lump. It was then that I could see that it was a bird, but it was low to the ground and it’s head was down. I looked up at David, then I saw a neighborhood cat perched on a white fence just watching us, and the scene. The bird timidly stepped onto her arm, and then started to make it’s way up to her shoulder. Both David and Amanda then got in the tiny car, and we sat there, in the car, with a beautiful African Gray parrot perched on Amanda’s shoulder.

I think we debated some options, but the only sensible thing to do was to head to work though it did feel strange taking this bird 15 miles away from where we had found it. Surely the owners would be in the vicinity and looking for their pet. I could imagine they would be very upset. But we didn’t see anyone on the streets and we didn’t know where to begin in terms of a local search.

So we drove to the studio.

We brought the bird to the greenroom where all of the puppeteers of LazyTown spent time waiting to be used on set. The bird seemed very happy, and was extremely tame. Having been a bird owner I could see that this bird had been very well cared for and was very sociable and happy to be getting attention from people. Birds of that size do have the power to be harmful with their large beaks and if they feel threatened, but this animal was enjoying the new surroundings and the adventure.

Stefan Karl who plays the main villain of the show LazyTown owned a parrot as well, so we showed him the bird, and he knew exactly what to do. With one phone call he had located the owner.

Stefan Karl and the African Gray

LazyTown owned a parrot as well, so we showed him the bird, and he knew exactly what to do. With one phone call he had located the owner.

So while we were doing our morning ritual in the studio and Stefan was putting on his make-up and costume we waited for the owner to drive to the LazyTown studio and retrieve his beloved friend.

We gave the bird treats and some toys to play with. Julianna, who plays the character “Stephanie” came in with her pink wig and robe that protects her costume, and she got to play with the bird.

The bird was completely happy to hang out with us and explore. While we waited we each had a moment of holding the bird or playing with him with some object that he could play with. And we took photos, of course.

When the birds owner arrived he was on the verge of tears. Relief, happiness and reunion, with a mix of surprise at finding his African Gray at LazyTown with Robbie Rotten of all people.

We would learn that the bird had been missing for three days. The winds in Iceland are very strong, and the bird was near a window. Someone opened a door or a window in another part of the house and a gust blew through and pushed the bird out of the window. The bizarre thing was that the bird wound up going in a different direction. For three days they had been searching an area that was spreading out into the opposite direction from where we found him. It is a miracle the bird managed to survive three days, and I fear that had we not collected him he might not have made it much longer.

The bird was very happy and I suspected that, though the bird was clearly happy to be reunited with it’s owner, it was also not eager for the adventure to be totally over given how much attention it had been receiving the last hour.

Source has more photos, archiving the photos with Stefán Karl

youtube

African Gray Rescue-Iceland-2004 (unlisted video)

Posted by ronbinion1 on the 28th of January 2019

#stefan karl stefansson #stefán karl stefánsson #stefan karl #stefán karl #2004 #lazytown #reddit #youtube #Youtube

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duckprintspress · 3 years

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A Brief(ish) History of Duck Prints Press

For this week’s blog feature, I thought I’d talk a little about how Duck Prints Press came about. (hi, it’s @unforth!)

In 2012, an old friend of mine - @fireun, now Burdock, they/them - got in touch to suggest that I submit a story to an anthology for which they would be the anthologist. That project became Fight Like a Girl, a successfully Kickstarted anthology with over 20 contributors. Having gotten a taste for anthologizing (is that a word? it is now...) fireun proposed a second anthology - What Follows - to which I also contributed, and they made an attempt at a third which never got off the ground. fireun’s dream was to work with new, young authors - many of whom we had met while attending World Fantasy Convention over the years - to help them get their first writing credentials, pay them a market rate, and springboard them into further writing careers. However, by the third anthology it became clear there was a challenge to: new authors didn’t have the clout to successfully launch Kickstarters. fireun couldn’t raise the funds to pay authors what they deserved.

Around when the second anthology came out in 2014, I also finished the first draft of a novel that eventually became A Glimmer of Hope, and I began to post fanfiction (having been a lurking reader for several years). As I joined fanfiction author communities, I realized there was a vast untapped pool of writing talent - individuals who, for a multitude of reasons, weren’t interested in pursuing traditional publishing but might still want to get their original work out into the world. Furthermore, unlike the new authors that fireun invited to their anthologies, the fic authors had a following which could potentially help raise the funds necessary to pay for a project.

(read more...)

These two ideas combined over the summer of 2015. We got to talking - could we work with both these audiences? Could we make this into a company? What would that company to look like and how would it be structured? What kinds of works would we want to publish? I especially sank my teeth into the project, doing a lot of research - on competitors (ask me about Big Bang Press sometime...), on similar models, on pay scales and legalities and many other aspects of starting a business. We planned to meet in June, then it got pushed back to July...and then I found out I was pregnant, and fireun was trying to leave a bad relationship, and the whole project derailed - shelved, but not forgotten.

Several times, I tried to revive fireun’s interest, but they increasingly were moving in a different direction with their life (nothing wrong with that, they’re much happier now, and we’re still friends). Thus, I forged forward alone.

Based on the research I’d done in 2015 (and which I re-did periodically to make sure it was current), I had a basic idea of what I wanted to create: a Limited Liability Corporation, owned by me but with a team to help since it’s way more than one person can do alone. I’d looked into Book View Cafe, a cooperative publisher that works with established authors to put out works they want to do but for whatever reason don’t want to go a traditional root with, and I loved the idea of a co-op (that remains our ultimate goal). By reducing initial outlay costs on editing, graphic design, and other “basics,” and doing a lot of the production work on a barter basis, we could minimize expenses and maximize the amount we pay authors. I started quietly sending out feelers, to see what other fanfiction authors might be interested in joining something like this, and found a lot of support that helped me think the core idea would be viable.

But could we make money? I need to prove that, to myself and in a way demonstrable to others, before I could proceed.

Despite having a rough pregnancy, and then an infant, I edited and preparing A Glimmer of Hope for self-publishing (I also have my own reasons I’m not interested in pursuing traditional publishing). In fall, 2016, drawing on the support of people who enjoyed my fanfiction, I successfully funded a Kickstarter for A Glimmer of Hope, which convinced me that my core idea from the previous summer was sound: working with fanfiction authors who wanted to publish original work could produce enough support to pay for putting out books, especially if those books catered to fanfiction reader’s taste.

If I could do one book by myself and turn a profit, surely many authors working together to produce works of different lengths and anthologies could do even better! Validated, and having found the Kickstarter surprisingly easy to put together, I continued to form my plans.

As I putting together the final draft of A Glimmer of Hope, I wanted a publisher imprint to put on the spine and title page, and after a lot of pondering, I settled on Duck Prints Press. This was an homage to fireun and our time in college as roommates, when we pranked each other in increasingly absurd ways that always involved ducks (my favorite was when I propped a bucket of stuffed ducks over their door such that it fell out on their head when they opened the door...another excellent one was when fireun used all the ceiling light drawstrings in our house to hang rubber ducks threateningly around...it all stemmed for a ridiculous AIM conversation, circa 2001, where we swore vengeance on each other over some absurdity but we could only use ducks, Gackt music, and library books to exact our revenge). Ducks were near and dear to my heart because of all this, and strongly associated with my relationship with fireun, so of course I wanted to immortalize that in our name. I also developed the initial version of our duck print logo, with the intention that someday, I’d make the press a fully-realized reality, and not merely an imprint on a single self-published book.

Since I sent those books out in 2016, it’s taken more than 4 years to convert those nascent plans into the reality of Duck Prints Press LLC. I made a push in 2019, and that’s when jhoom, formidablepassion, alessariel and adaille signed on to help. We did a lot of planning then, but fall of 2019 was busy for us and we had to put things on hold, and then 2020 happened (need I say more?).

As the last difficult year came to a close, I reached out to the others and we agreed: 2021 would be our year.

So, here we are, and we’re excited to finally be sharing the dream that started as mine and fireuns, and then was mine alone, and now belongs to many people - and more all the time. We’ll be announcing author recruitment for our first anthology imminently (...probably tomorrow!) and we’re hoping that, just as once fireun hoped to help launch new authors with anthologies, the five of us who run Duck Prints Press will be able to recruit a core team of authors interested in publishing original work with us in the future. We’re very excited - to publish new works, to bring in new readers, to support authors, and to publish original fiction that brings all the joy that our favorite fanfiction elicits.

We couldn’t be more thrilled to be writing books about your new OTPs.

Thanks, everyone, for joining us at the start of this journey. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of us!

#duck prints press #about duck prints press #mod post

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sagehaleyofficial · 4 years

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HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (2.12-2.18.20):

NEW MUSIC:

· New Found Glory announced a co-headlining tour with Simple Plan, with support from Knuckle Puck. The tour kicks off at Jannus Live! in St. Petersburg, Florida, on May 29 and ends at Stubb’s in Austin, Texas, on June 28.

· Four Year Strong unveiled the video for their new song “Learn to Love the Lie,” the third track from their upcoming fifth studio album, Brain Pain. The song comes soon after the announcement that they would be hitting the road with fellow band Silverstein this spring.

· You Me at Six dropped a new single titled “Our House (The Mess We Made),” through which all of the proceeds will go toward Australian bushfire relief. The last new song we had from the British band was the single “What’s It Like” in August 2019.

· Hayley Williams of Paramore dropped a raw footage lyric video for “Simmer,” her first single off her upcoming solo release Petals for Armor. The singer originally released the song in early January with a darker official music video.

· Asking Alexandria unleashed a brand new song titled “They Don’t Want What We Want (And They Don’t Care).” The band first teased the song on February 11 on their Twitter account.

· Falling in Reverse released a special song and video titled “The Drug in Me is Reimagined,” keeping the same lyrics as the original song for which it’s named. The band is currently on tour with the bands Escape the Fate and The Word Alive.

· Billie Eilish released a new song “No Time to Die,” which will be used as the theme for the new James Bond movie. Rumors of her participation on the film’s soundtrack began as early as January.

· During the NME Awards, YUNGBLUD revealed the release date of his upcoming album. He also said there would be a new song coming “Imminently” before discussing his love for Robert Smith of The Cure.

· Justin Bieber and Post Malone released a new track titled “Forever” off the former artist’s latest album Changes, which also features rapper Clever. In January, TMZ said that sources close to Bieber reported that Post Malone and Travis Scott collaborated on the album.

· SWMRS and FIDLAR teamed up for a cover of The 1975‘s track “People” off of their upcoming record Notes on a Conditional Form. The cover also comes along with a visualizer video with many black and white photographs of the bands.

· Set It Off released a new song, “One Single Second,” after previously revealing the songs “So Predictable” and “Catch Me If You Can.” The band is currently finishing up their headlining dates with Capstan.

· Halsey‘s new single “You Should Be Sad” received a remix from EDM producer Tiesto. The remix provides an upbeat electropop feel to the song’s country-inspired twang for the perfect combo.

· All Time Low declared their first album in three years, titled Wake Up Sunshine, which is due for release on April 3. The album announcement comes after several teasers that began last month.

· Ozzy Osbourne revealed the tracklist for his upcoming album Ordinary Man, which features a new collaboration between him and Post Malone. This follows the pair’s first collab, “Take What You Want,” also featuring Travis Scott.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

· My Chemical Romance announced another show at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, scheduled for June 16. The Eden Sessions made the announcement on February 12 via their Instagram account, ahead of the band’s official announcement.

· In This Moment frontwoman Maria Brink recently covered Billie Eilish and Radiohead during her solo set on the ShipRocked cruise. The festival took place from February 1 to 6 and included sets from Asking Alexandria, Ice Nine Kills, Beartooth and more.

· The lineup for the Chain Fest Festival was announced, featuring bands such as Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, Circa Survive, Saves the Day, Anberlin, Glassjaw, Cartel and Acceptance. The event will take place at the FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine, California.

· Matty Healy of The 1975 declared the band will no longer be playing festivals where the lineup doesn’t have equal gender representation. Out of the 90 acts that were revealed for this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival, only 20 of them feature women.

· The Pretty Reckless announced they will embark on a headlining tour this spring, which will be their first tour in almost three years. It was also confirmed that their new album, Death by Rock and Roll, is now finished.

· Poppy performed a medley of her songs at WWE‘s “NXT TakeOver: Portland” event yesterday. She played the tracks “Fill the Crown” and “Anything Like Me” while sporting an avant-garde outfit.

OTHER NEWS:

· Jeffree Star released his highly-anticipated “Blood Lust” palette last week, which consists of 18 new shades. The packaging features a velvet exterior along with a never-before-seen jewelry clasp opening.

· In what may be an attempt to help Birds of Prey’s less-than-impressive opening weekend numbers, Warner Bros. changed the name of the film to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. The film brought in $33 million in revenue in the U.S - lower than the anticipated $50 million.

· Cartel’s Facebook page updated its cover and profile photo to a new blue logo, sending fans into a frenzy and sparking reunion rumors. The logo also appeared on a new Instagram account, which was just launched recently.

· The lawsuit between late rapper Juice WRLD estate and the band Yellowcard has been put on hold, due to no one being appointed as the executor or the late rapper's estate. Therefore, the case cannot continue until then.

· A super Twenty One Pilots fan launched a project to create a Blurryface musical. However, just short of two weeks after its announcement, the fan in question received a cease and desist order for the project.

· Neck Deep revealed that they added a new member: longtime collaborator and big brother of frontman Ben Barlow, Seb Barlow. They also announced that they launched an official app, as well as invited fans to an event titled “Sonderland.”

· Machine Gun Kelly launched a new merchandise line for his 2019 album Hotel Diablo for Valentine’s Day, which included a vibrator appropriately titled the “Lil’ Devil.” The vibrator comes in a sophisticated red packaging that reads “Let’s get wild.”

· In a new interview with Entercom, Hayley Williams revealed that she anticipated that there will be more Paramore shows in the future. “And there will be more Paramore shows. Yes. Confirmed,” she stated.

· Real Friends and its lead singer Dan Lambton announced that they have parted ways, with posts from both parties uploaded on Valentine’s Day to their respective social media outlets. Both Lambton and the band said that the split was mutual.

· Pierce the Veil is supporting the Australian wildfire relief with a new shirt dedicated to the animals affected by the fires. The shirt is a long-sleeve taken from one of their Australian tour laminates, used on their last tour of the country.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

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communitypillars-blog · 4 years

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Chapter 1

NORTH FOX ISLAND, MICHIGAN

Off the coast of Michigan lies an island two miles wide and one mile long. It holds a quaint beach with warm sands and a tree-line full of oaks and pine. During the summer, the water is welcoming, and the dock promises adventure whether one is about to take the plunge off or just getting on the island. In the 70’s, the island was owned by multimillionaire Francis Sheldon, a prominent figure in Michigan. Sheldon, being the pillar of the community, opened a youth camp for troubled boys on the island. Free of charge, free transportation, and even funded by the government, the island was a haven for parents who didn’t know how to help their unruly sons.

North Fox Island seen from above, most likely the view the boys saw flying in.(Photo credit: General Aviation News) https://generalaviationnews.com/2016/07/07/destination-north-fox-island-michigan/

At least it seemed that way, that is until 1976 when an 8-year old resident boy of the island was brought to the hospital. He was so badly beaten and assaulted that he couldn’t even talk. However, once he could, he revealed unimaginable horrors.

Within days, the camp was shut down and getting raided for being one of the biggest child pornography and assault rings in the country. Prominent figures everywhere from educational roles to CEO's to government officials were named as clients and paid to do with the boys as they wanted.

Warrants were issued, suspects named, and the victims’ families waited for what was to come.

But that’s just it, nothing ever happened.

Newspaper article chronicling the Francis Sheldon case. (Photo credit: Reddit: Unresolved) Murders) https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/45r09t/the_oakland_county_child_killer_aka_the/

Warrants were not pursued on the suspects until weeks after most of them had time to flee the country, charges were never pressed, and the case was closed. They were reopened after a couple of months when the victims’ families started asking questions again, only to be told nothing could be done.

OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN

In the same year, 1976, children throughout Detroit and the surrounding areas of Oakland county began to go missing. First, 12-year-old Mark in February of 76, then 12-year-old Jill in December of 76, January of 77 brought 10-year-old Chris, then March of 77 it was 11-year-old Tim. All the children had been suffocated after being fed and bathed. All were dumped on the side of the road in various snowbanks, always a town over from where they were taken. Only the boys had been sexually assaulted.

The four murdered children. (Photo credit: True Crime Files) https://thetruecrimefiles.com/oakland-county-child-killer/

But what do the unsolved Oakland County child murders and North Fox Island have in common?

A man named Chris Bush.

Sources:

Broad, Catherine. “NORTH FOX ISLAND, CIRCA 1975-76.” Catherinebroad, 13 Mar. 2013, catherinebroad.blog/2013/03/12/north-fox-island-circa-1975-76/.

Christine, et al. “The Oakland County Child Killer.” The True Crime Files, 23 Apr. 2018, thetruecrimefiles.com/oakland-county-child-killer/.

Flowers, Ashley. “CONSPIRACY: North Fox Island & The Oakland County Child Killer, Part 2.” Crime Junkie Podcast, 16 Dec. 2019, crimejunkiepodcast.com/conspiracy-north-fox-island-the-oakland-county-child-killer-part-2/.

McNamara, Michelle. “Secrets and Lies.” True Crime Diary, 14 June 2011, truecrimediary.com/index.cfm?page=cases&id=132.

#NorthFoxIsland #OaklandCounty #Oakland #michigan #detroit #1970s #true crime #unsolved case #unsolved true crime #child murder #mystery

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creepy-crowleys · 4 years

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Mission Log: Mortal Sins

Objective: Investigate Halt Orochi operation “the Breach”. Halt Vampire Crusade. Recover subject “Emma Stone” - still missing

Location: Carpathian Mountains, Romania - Points of Interest: Harbaburesti (village), Iazmăciune (village, cursed), Roman Baths, Network of Soviet-era bunkers (Red Hand)

Timeline of Contributing Events:

- Pre-First Age(?): Gaia Engine formed/installed beneath region - Pre-Fourth Age, Likely Pre-Third - Lilith is born - Cucuvea and sister are born - Moșul is born - Lilith kills Cucuvea’s sister - Cucuvea and Lilith spend Ages hunting each other - Lilith creates vampires and werewolves Fourth Age: Current Age, The Age of Fear - Approx. 100 AD: Roman Empire conquers region - Roman Baths are established while searching for Engine - Octavian arrives with or soon after - Octavian slaughters Roman legionnaires before Engine can be located - Octavian is cursed/punished with immortality by Lilith after unknown period - Cucuvea settles in region around this time - Moșul has taken human form by this point - Early 1400’s: Worship of Lilith as the First Mother continues in region, churches built in her name - Mid 1400’s: Vlad III Dracula and Mara are married - Dracula retakes region from Lilith’s cultists - Some cultists escape notice in his court - Due to ongoing military conflict, Mara is relocated to castle in the Carpathians - Allesandro “Callisto” Farussi is requested by Dracula to keep Mara company - Lilith encounters and courts Mara - Cernunnos, local forest god, recalls his earliest memories to around this point - 1462: Lilith turns Mara into a vampire, then Mara turns Callisto - Dracula refuses to be turned and flees the region - Vampires conquer region in his absence - 1476: Dracula returns to liberate region with Cucuvea, Octavian, and early Drăculești - 1477: Dracula fails to kill Mara, takes his own life - Mara flees region to escape Dracula’s allies - Cucuvea binds Lilith’s followers (Deathless) and forges Truce between region’s inhabitants - Drăculești reject terms, become nomadic monster hunters - Relative peace persists for several hundred years - 1944: Soviet Union occupies Romania - Occult division, the Red Hand, is established - Construction of laboratory and military bunkers begins - Tasked with construction of super soldiers - 1945: Red Hand complete their largest facility; begin research into unusual energy spikes in region - Discovery of anima and “anti-anima” (Filth) - Divert research on space travel to research on “inner-outer reaches” - See “Halina Ilyushin” - Red Hand unintentionally open Hell Breach - Minor conflict ignites - 1949: Lilith and husband, Samuel Chamdra, found the Orochi Group - 1958: Soviet Union withdraws, Red Hand continue working alone - 1960’s: Facility-9 (anima/anti-anima) shuts down following the deaths of employees/subjects - Ilyushin and facility AI remain inside - Facility-10 continues work on super soldier program - Expands work to include vampires - Tracks source of vampire bloodline to Mara - Mara provides Facility-10 with test subjects - 1970-80’s: USSR eventually commits to covering up Red Hand activities; all facilities locked down - Super soldiers never become viable - 2012: Dimir family begin killing nonhumans for food - Causes unrest between human and nonhuman populations - 2015: Emma Stone is acquired as prime subject for Orochi’s “Virgula Divina” project - 2018: Orochi acquire site in the Carpathian Mountains - the Breach - Digging operations begin - Orochi begin research on local creatures as dig becomes more dangerous - Circa June 2018: Tokyo Incident - Cucuvea’s hold on Deathless weakens - Roman Baths/Zana Springs flood with Filth - Filth-Infected spores release from Breach - Hell Breach reopens - Lilith orders Mara to raise army - 2019: Vampires launch assault on region - Orochi lose control of Breach to vampires - Truce breaks down - Some nonhumans (faun, blajini, Cernunnos) remain allied with humans - Emma is made to unlock Gaia Engine chamber at the Breach - Escapes to safe house with guardians during attacks - Under Phoenician surveillance by Lilith’s orders - Disappears; guardians presumed dead - Alive, but lost; Dreaming - Morninglight group arrive to meet with vampires as allies - Morninglight were expecting Third Age explosive from Egypt - See “Black Sun, Red Sand” - Members are sent after other artifacts in region - Mara orders Morninglight group killed - Hell Civil War escalates - Drăculești return to the region

#.MISSION LOG #:Mortal Sins #.REPORT #.long post

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ibroughtthisonmyselfpixels · 5 years

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Countertimeline, per Baines

Here’s one more thing before the pinnacle AR queue begins - and it’s not a reblogged positivity post this time!

I put together this little timeline around the beginning of August 2018. It was when I was starting to write Intermission 2, and round about the time of the release of another timeline by Jack in relation to two of its most subtle players. (Keeping it vague in case there’s still people who haven’t seen the SoS finale yet.) People said they’d be interested in seeing it, so if you’re caught up with the project or don’t fear spoilers and wanna get into the nitty gritty of it, go behind the cut.

1962: Patrick and Jennifer are born.

November 2nd, 1968: Estelle Buonarroti is born.

February 13th, 1971: Colby Lane is born.

1984: Patrick and Jennifer are married, becoming Baines - not sure which one is nee.

They are both circa twenty-two.

June 20th, 1990: birth of Cathy and Veronica Baines to Patrick and Jennifer.

They are both circa twenty-eight.

March 1991: Estelle and Colby are married.

Estelle is twenty-two; Colby is twenty, having dropped out of a tech degree.

May 20th, 1991: birth of Lauro Wilkerson to Lynn and Cid

July 6th, 1992: birth of Deacon Wilkerson

May 20th, 1993: birth of Melody Vivian Buonarotti to Estelle and Colby

Estelle is twenty four and a half; Colby is twenty-two.

October 18th, 1993: birth of Jase Wilkerson

I’m aware this contradicts something stated in Lorelei’s first ten facts post that says Jase is a few years her senior… but then again, so have a lot of things in that post been contradicted as time continues to pass. I may need to post an updated version.

Summer, let’s say June, 2001: Melody meets the Wilkerson family as the latter move into the lot around the corner from her house. Cathy and Veronica are ten going on eleven; Lauro ten, Deacon eight going on nine, Melody eight, and Jase seven.

Patrick and Jennifer are circa thirty-nine. Estelle is thirty-two, Colby thirtyish.

In September 2001, they would respectively be in the sixth, fifth, fourth, third, and second grades.

The Baines twins, the oldest of the bunch, officially age to teenagers on June 20th, 2003. At this point, Lauro is twelve, Deacon ten (eleven-siding), Melody also ten (nine-siding), and Jase nine.

Patrick and Jennifer are circa forty-one. Estelle is thirty-four, Colby thirty-two.

Jase, the youngest of the bunch, officially ages to teenager on October 18th, 2006. At this point, the Baines twins are sixteen, Lauro is fifteen, Deacon fourteen, and Melody thirteen.

Patrick and Jennifer are circa forty-four. Estelle is thirty-seven, Colby thirty-five.

Since Veronica is Melody’s girlfriend for the last three months in Sunset Valley, the latest point she and Melody could become a couple would be March, since Jack has pinpointed a June graduation, and after that the twins would turn eighteen and go off to college (I’m guessing out of state). At earliest, March 14th or so, Veronica would be seventeen years and almost nine months, and Melody fourteen years and almost ten months.

This means that Melody would be a teenager for about two years before leaving the Buonarotti house, giving the Wilkersons plenty of time to formulate their suspicions.

Let’s settle on May 17th 2008, or at least week beginning May 12th 2008, for when Melody discloses things to Jase and he gets Estelle taken in for police questioning/custody. Melody will be very close to fifteen; meanwhile, the twins are seventeen-and-ten, Lauro sixteen, Deacon fifteen, and Jase himself fourteen-and-a-half.

Patrick and Jennifer are circa forty-six. Estelle is thirty-nine, Colby thirty-seven.

By the time Melody is in Bridgeport and Lorelei, the twins will be eighteen, Lauro seventeen, and Deacon sixteen.

It’ll be January 2009 or 2010 by the time Jase takes part in the student exchange. Assuming the former, they will both be fifteen.

As of the day the SoS MM BC ends (26th May 2019): Veronica is almost twenty-nine (Cathy ‘died’ at twenty-seven, and the Cathybot is technically perpetually twenty-six), Jase just turned twenty-eight, Deacon is twenty-six himself but will be twenty-seven in less than two months, Lorelei just turned twenty-six herself, and Jase and Pal are married and expecting at twenty-five-and-a-half.

Patrick and Jennifer are circa fifty-seven. Estelle is fifty and finally showing her age, Colby forty-eight.

Also, Lyra’s thirty now.

#sims 3 #text post #harmoniouspixels #sos mm bc #spoilers #time lines #(not the growing up montages - the chronology)

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xtruss · 3 years

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British Military Aims to Be World’s First With ‘Zero-Carbon’ Aircraft

How much more aggression can you justify when you've got highly moral all-gay crews and "zero-carbon" aircraft?

— Highly Moral Empire | Not Satire | Andrew Chuter

— Defense News

“the service is looking to invest in a privately held company that produces a novel organic refining capability to generate a more stable and higher calorific fuel than Jet A-1 using apples and lavender” ???

Britain’s Royal Air Force has set a goal of becoming the first military service in the world to register and certify a zero-carbon aircraft.

The service has already tapped industry for exploitable technology to start replacing a fleet of RAF light training aircraft. If the program goes as planned, Britain could have their first zero-carbon platform flying by around 2027, according to a market exploration document released in July by the government’s Defence and Security Accelerator organization.

“The decision has been taken to ensure that the next generation aircraft will produce zero carbon emissions at the point of use. This target must be achieved through more environmentally sympathetic aircraft using a sustainable fuel source such as electric or hydrogen; the goal is to achieve the first military registered and certified zero-carbon aircraft in the world,” the DASA document read. “An entry into service date of circa 2027 is anticipated.”

However, Armed Forces Minister James Heappey was more vague about a possible in-service date when he responded to questions about the project in Parliament on July 21. “It is expected that the RAF will have its first zero-emission aircraft operational by the end of this decade,” he told lawmakers.

The new aircraft is to replace 90 piston-powered Grob 115 aircraft, colloquially known as Tutor T1 planes, currently providing elementary flight training for the British military.

The aircraft project, led by the RAF’s Rapid Capabilities Office, will feed into a wider program known as Project Telum — an end-to-end solution aimed at modernizing elementary flight training, including the use of synthetic and virtual training.

The competition for Project Telum is slated to start in 2023, but Heappey said the date remains unconfirmed.

The zero-carbon aircraft would replace the Tutor T1 planes, shown, currently providing elementary flight training for the British military. (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images)

The original intention had been to replace the Tutor T1 planes with another conventionally powered aircraft, but the change in thinking is being driven by a much wider RAF effort toward achieving zero-carbon by 2040, 10 years ahead of the government’s national policy of being carbon neutral by 2050.

Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Mike Wigston said in a July 14 speech to the Global Air Chiefs’ Conference in London that he had set the net-zero goal’s deadline of 2040 before it was imposed on him by the government. “Everything I see and hear tells me that [the government’s] 2050 date will come forward,” he said.

In an article in a Royal Air Forces Association magazine earlier this year, Air Marshal Andy Turner, the service’s deputy commander for capability, hinted at the possibility of achieving emission-reduction goals sooner than 2040, saying the force would like to do it by “2030 if we can.”

The RAF is not looking to tackle the challenges of achieving zero emissions in isolation, though. Wigston wrote to global air force chiefs in June advocating for a climate convention later this year to coordinate, cohere and catalyze change across the world’s air forces. As of press time, there were no concrete plans for such a climate convention.

An emissions-free trainer by 2027 is an ambitious target, but it would be an eye-catching achievement for RAF sustainability, not least because the service is one of the biggest government offenders when it comes to environmentally unfriendly emissions.

Industry responses to DASA — created by the Defence Ministry to find and help fund exploitable innovations in the defense and security sectors — are due by Aug. 17. That could be followed by an industry day for potential technology suppliers in September.

In its market-testing document, DASA said it was aware of multiple initiatives in the development of unconventionally fueled platforms in the general aviation sector, but that several of the requirements for the military were quite specific and potentially unique.

Included in the DASA list of essentials for an elementary trainer was a requirement for 90 minutes of endurance and a 20-minute turnaround.

An electric or hydrogen-powered trainer would be just the tip of the iceberg, as a rapidly increasing number of initiatives with the ministry and armed services, particularly the Royal Air Force, are progressing under carbon-neutral goals laid out in the government’s recently published “Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy Approach” road map.

Specifically, the Rapid Capabilities Office is leading work on synthetic fuels to reduce RAF emissions. Wigston told the air chiefs conference that the effort “includes exciting advances in waste-to-fuel technology through to electrofuels.”

“These new approaches are environmentally friendly and sustainable. They are also secure in their supply, and the chemically purer fuel we are producing indicates cleaner engines that results in lower maintenance; longer equipment life; and lower noise, heat and visual signatures, such as contrails,” he said.

Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston talks to Royal Air Force personnel from 903 Expeditionary Air Wing in the operational hangar at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, in 2019. (Cpl. Nicholas Egan/British Royal Air Force) (Cpl Nicholas Egan)

The Royal Air Force’s sustainability efforts have already shown positive results. In 2019, for example, F-35 base RAF Marham installed an anaerobic digester that produced 95 percent of the base’s energy needs, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 14,000 ton per year and saving nearly £300,000 (U.S. $413,640) annually in energy bills.

Turner also noted potential energy-saving ideas during the RAF Association interview, from recycling hydrocarbons using microbes to extending the reach of synthetic training into new areas of activity.

But it’s the replacement of conventional fuel with cleaner, sustainable methods of powering the aircraft that has generated the most interest as the RAF heads toward the extensive use of sustainable aircraft fuels, or SAF. Last September saw the defense standard for aviation fuel changed to allow a 50 percent blend of SAF with hydrocarbons. A move to 100 percent use of SAF for some types of RAF aircraft is now on the cards, offering potentially significant gains in emission reductions.

During a panel session at the Farnborough Connect event in mid-July, Turner told participants the RAF hopes to “fly a 100 percent SAF-powered aircraft this side of Christmas, and move that fleet to 100 percent in about two years’ time.”

Turner didn’t divulge the aircraft type destined to make the initial conversion to synthetic fuel.

An RAF spokesman told Defense News on July 22 that “there are three options running on this timeline. However, for commercial reasons we are not able to offer any detail at this stage.”

Flying the RAF’s current assets with a 50-50 mix is already possible; the main reasons that hasn’t happened are supply limitations and price. Turner said SAF is currently up to four time more expensive than conventional Jet A-1 fuel, and Wigston said there’s a lack of “an assured supply.”

To overcome those roadblocks, the service is looking to invest in a privately held company that produces a novel organic refining capability to generate a more stable and higher calorific fuel than Jet A-1 using apples and lavender.

The RAF spokesman said an investment deal with the unnamed company was in the works, but not completed. He said more information may be available in September.

— Source: Defense News

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tnyj · 3 years

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Chapters of my life and career.

This post is a documentation of my life. From birth until current day.

I was born on November 17th, 2004 at 10:20 AM, at 52 centimetres long and weighing 1 pound and 14 ounces. I was born at 25 weeks, 15 weeks premature.

The funny thing is that, because I am a male, I could have died as a stillborn, because of my prematurity. My birth also kick-started a chapter of my life that is still ongoing, but that wasn’t named until my 14th year of life.

I went from hospital to hospital for the first half a year of my life.

I had suffered 12 respiratory arrests because the nurses were trying to get me onto CPAP, but my lungs kept failing after a few hours of being on it, so I was put on ventilator again and again. Because of this, I have a lip deformity on the right corner of my mouth. Also because of this, my windpipe itself became twisted and deformed, ironically.

On March 21st, 2005, I had the first major operation in my life, which was the Tracheostomy Operation, which was a tube in my throat to help me breathe. (I went on to have it until 2014, but that will be touched upon later.)

Then whilst, I was Guys Hospital, in London, I contracted MRSA because a nurse inadequately washed her hands, and was contaminated with the bug. The infection would go on to spread to my skin and blood, and that would have also killed me, if it wasn’t the extra special care given to me via the staff that worked there.

Then I went to another hospital.

Then another. This time, on April 26th, 2005, being the same hospital I was born in: Maidstone Hospital.

This was my final stay at Maidstone Hospital, where I grew bigger and stronger.

Then, on May 1st, 2005, I visited my mum’s parents to meet them and other members of my family. My Grammy (Mum’s mum’s mum), had a dog named Tina. I was scared of Tina, because I have never seen a dog at that point in time, because I was in hospital for most of my life back then, and also because when compared to my size at the time, I was smaller than it, even though the dog itself was small.

Because of this, I had a fear of dogs ever since until 2012.

On May 3rd, 2005, I was finally sent home, at five months old.

In 2007 I started walking for the first time, at the age of 2, because all I had was leg muscle therapy to help support my own bodyweight standing up.

I didn’t start talking with my vocal chords until 2008, because they were frozen and literally stuck together, and I had several operations to separate them.

I spoke via Sign Language until my vocal chords were finally separated.

In 2010 was another major operation, a partial tracheal resection, where they took a small portion of my deformed windpipe (caused by the constant ventilation tubes being shoved into my throat so I literally don’t die), and replaced it with a bit of my rib cartilage.

I tested positive for MRSA until 2010, as well.

Then, from 2012 until 2014, 2018 and 2020, I had several operations where they would laser away at my deformed windpipe, and several operations where they would just put a camera down my throat to check on my airways.

In 2014, was the most life changing moment since the initial tracheostomy operation: I had the tracheostomy out for an extended period of time, for the first time in my entire life.

Then, a year later, I suffered my most recent respiratory arrest in my life, in December 2015, caused because of combined effect of the premeds (medicine you take before you have the anaesthetic) and the anaesthetic itself, which caused a severe reaction and could have killed me. I had to have the tracheostomy back for 3 days.

Then when 2016 started, the hole where the tracheostomy resided healed shut, ironically when the doctors said that it isn’t supposed to. In February, I went swimming properly for the first time in 5 years. It was genuinely fun.

Then, nearly 2 years after this, I was due yet another major operation, this one also life-changing, where I could have the tracheostomy for the rest of my life or not have it ever again. Those outcomes were out of my control, and entirely up to the surgeons and doctors.

This operation was a full tracheal resection.

They severed most of my deformed windpipe, then pulled the rest of my windpipe that was intact up and then sewed it in place.

I was put into a medically induced coma, and then put into the ICU, post-operation. Then, when I returned to school in early/mid February, I was highly focused on education, getting into GCSE Mathematics (advanced math.), ran 800m without stopping (I have bad asthma), and began self-regulating more (because I sometimes take myself out of lessons if I am really frustrated). Because of this, I achieved what I consider the best achievement in my entire school life: The Personal Progress Award. (KEEP IN MIND: I go to a special needs school, because I am mentally disabled.)

2018 was also my tenth year at this special needs school, coincidentally.

Then, 2019 rolled around, and with modern context and hindsight, is the worst year of my school and personal life.

Starting off, was mediocre, at best. It wasn’t until late 2019 that things really went to shit, because of a then unrealised tendency to fuck myself over, because of the lack of forethought, especially when I let myself be consumed by emotions. In late 2019, I had my first relationship. I felt very happy at first, but then I was deluded by love, in the sense that I let myself be taken advantage of emotionally and psychologically and being abused because of such. Especially with her having another relationship beind my back at the same exact time as her being together with me (two-timing). Looking back now it is easier to realise that it was a very shitty relationship, but I was only 15 and I didn’t know better, at all. After me and my ex broke up, I was clearly depressed as shit, because it was my very first relationship.

Then the post-breakup bullying started, where my ex would make fun of me and mock me without reason. I let the pain, anger, sadness and hate build up within me, until I snapped after putting up with it for weeks and weeks.

She mocked me for how clingy I was, and at that point I was just done with that bullshit, so I punched her face. My fist hit her glasses, then they broke and cut her face open, which I didn’t expect, due to how angry I felt.

I was lucky not to have the police called on me.

That was incident was also when I completely lost childhood innocence, as well.

Then, 2020 came along, and changed modern human history. With CoViD-19 coming along and causing a massive pandemic that is still fucking ongoing.

On April 1st, I started using an audio editing software for my music career, which was new at the time, because all I had was a website DAW.

Then on April 23rd, 2020 I had my last MLB operation in recent memory. Which was operation 33.

In June 2020, I pioneered and experimented with a Hypertone Technique that I would later call ‘Breaking’. It involves copying and pasting nothing into an Ultrasound Tone (Ultratone), which breaks the tone into segments, making a small wall of the Broken Tone, then copying that wall, cutting the unedited (unbroken) tone, then pasting the wall of the Broken Tone, until it is significantly bigger, then speeding that up. The difference between this and most methods is that Breaking is an infinite cycle that can be repeated for eternity.

In that same month, I reached ee+121 BPM.

Later on, in August 2020, I reached ee+388 BPM, because I discovered three new forms of Breaking: Micro-Breaking, Nano-Breaking and Pico-Breaking.

Then, in December 2020, I discovered another three forms of Breaking: Femto-Breaking, Yocto-Breaking and Zepto-Breaking. In late December 2020, I started a 202 track album, titled ‘Reality Has No Meaning’ in response to the UK going into a second lockdown, due to variants of CoViD-19 hitting the country.

I completed RHNM in late January 2021.

Then, in February, I revived my BPMs reaching ee+500 on February 13th, 2021, ee+666 on February 17th, 2021 and starting my final major Hypertone album, and major album in general that has 100+ tracks: Towards E+1000 Digits. Which started on February 17th, 2021 and ended with the ee+1000 BPM track, on February 25th, 2021. I also reached ee+1001 the same day. marking an end to Breaking’s publicity.

In April 2021, I became insanely bitter, hateful and cynical, because I realised that I no longer had childhood innocence. This bitterness lasted until June and July. When I suddenly became apathetic to everything. I didn’t feel emotion for as long as I used to, circa 2018 and 2019. I still felt emotion, but very rarely.

In June I became pessimistic more severely than before, for some reason.

In late July, I became way more stylised, with the creation of more Soundcloud accounts to house very distinct styles of my music. The most personal of these is an alias named FFTSD, which is an acronym for ‘Falling For The Same Delusions’

Which expressed apathy, and also gave personal and self-reflective anecdotes in the descriptions of it’s tracks with a more expressive title.

This is all I have to offer about my life for now.

The Audacity Era is sort of Reminiscent of Hospital Hell for me, because it never ends. It’s on and off, constantly. (I mean this in the sense of my motivation to make music constantly being on and off).

This is everything about my life, online and offline.

Thank you for reading this essay/thesis or whatever, have a great day!

- TNYJ

#essay #self #explanation #real life #true #true stuff #true story #personal #my life #life

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xeford2020 · 3 years

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An Introduction to Cataloging Our Artifacts

As a Collections Specialist in the Registrar’s Office, I help catalog The Henry Ford’s collection. If you have used our Digital Collections, then you have seen a small part of what we capture when cataloging. Cataloging is the process of documenting collections objects by recording information in a computer database. We record such information as who made the object, where it was used, what its measurements are, what it is made of, how it may have been used, and any related stories. In order to fully flesh out catalog records, we often must become detectives to figure out an object’s past. This could be as simple as searching patent records, or as complex as using Ancestry.com to learn more about the people behind the object.

This graphic shows how cataloging fits into our larger digitization process. So how do we catalog? Using standards that have been informed by the Getty Research Institute’s Art & Architecture Thesaurus, Library of Congress, and Nomenclature 4.0. We have adapted these standards and developed our own to ensure that each cataloger is on the same page. These standards guide us when describing the objects we are cataloging to ensure we use the same language—for example, whether or not to spell out the Saint in Saint Louis. This consistency will make sure the records are easily retrievable, both in our database and online. Each object is assigned a number that enables us to track it in the collection, both physically and digitally (in our database). We record as much information as we can from the object itself. Unfortunately, most objects do not tell us when they were made, even if they do have manufacturer information. If it has patent information, that does not necessarily mean it was made in that year, either. We cross-reference catalogs, primary source documents, and sometimes other objects in the collection to narrow down date ranges.

Model of Van Depoele Rotating Pole Motor, circa 1885 / THF165665 Sometimes we have to dig through genealogical records to figure out when an object was made. One such object, the motor model shown above, was documented as made by “Feigo,” but when the typo was corrected, I used Alexander J.R. Fiego’s entire professional history (from city directories available on Ancestry.com) to figure out when he made this motor model. It was fascinating tracking all of his professional changes throughout the years, as well as seeing advertisements in the city directories. Catalogers often fall down interesting rabbit holes while researching objects. Sometimes such research tangents help us connect previously unrelated objects in the collections, or we just learn more about the past – fun adventures we share with our co-workers!

A screenshot showing some of the many records available on AncestryLibrary.com that were used when researching Alexander J.R. FIego.

Key Socket, circa 1885 / THF181206 Ensuring that our cataloging information is accurate can mean poring over United States patent records to help with narrowing down dates or finding manufacturers. While researching a light socket with the inscription: PAT. MAY 6 - 84 APR 21 - 85 JUNE 16 - 85 / U.S. / SYSTEM, patent records helped not only to narrow down when the object was created, as it would not be associated with any patent taken out after June 16, 1885, but also to identify the creator. Any company with “United States” in its name, like the “United States Electrical Lighting Company,” is likely going to be a challenge to find unless they are in a niche industry. Thankfully, the light socket had full patent dates that allowed me to easily search through patent records with the help of Google Patents; the ones that helped me identify the creator of this socket are linked above, and a screenshot, below, shows one of the June 16, 1885, patents.

One of the three patents that was used during the course of research on 00.1164.6. Even with all of our due diligence, objects can sometimes be disassociated from their number over time. We refer to these objects as “found-in-collections,” and when researching them, go through the same process as above. However, since we do not know when the object was donated or how the donor used it, this is where we really become detectives. If we cannot uncover its actual number using our files, then it receives a found-in-collections number in the hopes that one day we can reunite it with its provenance. (As an aside, provenance research is a very important part of our process and can take a long time. Look for an upcoming blog post by my colleague Aimee Burpee highlighting some interesting stories we have uncovered via provenance research.) Once cataloged, if an object is requested for digitization, it is photographed and then the object record is put through a review process. After these steps are completed, the artifact is flagged for our Digital Collections and harvested by automated processes for release online—where you can search and view it!

The Henry Ford is facing unprecedented financial challenges due to the impact of our 16-week closure and reduced operations. We need your help in securing our future. Love the Henry Ford? Please support all that we treasure—including our digitization program. Longtime supporters of The Henry Ford will match your donation dollar for dollar, so your contribution will have double the impact.

Laura Lipp is Collections Specialist at The Henry Ford. #1 Ford Daily | Đại lý – Showroom ủy quyền Ford Việt Nam 2019 Ford Daily là showroom, đại lý Ford lớn nhất Việt Nam: Chuyên phân phối xe ô tô FORD như: EcoSport ✅ Everest ✅ Explorer ✅ Focus ✅ Ranger… [email protected] 6A Đường Trần Hưng Đạo, Phường Phạm Ngũ Lão, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh 711240 0901333373 https://forddaily.com/ https://forddaily.com/xe/ https://forddaily.com/dai-ly/ https://forddaily.com/bang-gia/ https://forddaily.com/tra-gop/ #forddaily #dailyfordhcm #fordshowroomhcm https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ford+Daily/@10.7693359,106.696211,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x1f188a05d927f4ff!8m2!3d10.7693359!4d106.696211

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

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They Tried to Start a Union During a Pandemic, But They Were Fired. What’s Next?

A group of union members picketing circa 1938 | Photo by MPI/Getty Images

Some food industry workers say companies are using the pandemic as an excuse to halt efforts to unionize

Abismael Colon, a server at an Outback Steakhouse in the Orlando International Airport, was ready to unionize his workplace. For almost nine years, Colon had served countless Bloomin’ Onions and trained new hires despite what he describes as verbal insults and a daily fear that he’d be fired without cause by his superiors. This particular Outback Steakhouse was operated by HMSHost, an airport and highway food service company. Together with the hospitality-industry union Unite Here, the veteran employee and his colleagues helped garner majority support of about 800 workers at the airport’s other HMSHost-operated restaurants, such as Chili’s and Starbucks, with an election slated for late March to determine whether the union would officially represent the staff.

But Colon’s hopes for union representation took a heavy blow once the novel coronavirus hit Florida. The National Labor Relations Board delayed all elections a week before the HMSHost vote due to the pandemic. Once the Tampa regional branch reopened and announced it was accepting mail-in ballots, the company successfully moved to block the option and pushed for in-person voting, further dragging out the union campaign. More than three months later, Colon, like many of his now-furloughed colleagues, is without a paycheck, without health insurance, and without any job security.

“By them delaying the union and getting ourselves into a contract or negotiating, right now, we don’t have a guarantee to go back to work,” Colon says. “So employees are angry. They’re like, ‘Hey, when are we gonna get this vote?’ because they want their jobs back.”

Amid a growing wave of worker activism across the food industry, employees and contractors at restaurant chains and delivery apps alike have found themselves banding together to improve workplace conditions. In 2012, the Fight for $15 movement began to push nationally for a $15 minimum wage and union representation for fast-food workers, and in the years since, Gimme Coffee baristas in upstate New York have voted in favor of unionization, followed by employees at Portland branches of the fast-food chain Burgerville and Tartine locations in the Bay Area, as well as a group of Instacart workers in Skokie, Illinois.

“Employers feel they have a real friend in the Trump National Labor Relations Board.”

More recently, as the coronavirus spurred citywide business shutdowns, grocery store and restaurant workers were deemed “essential” in ensuring communities’ access to food and supplies. This led to some crisis-born benefits like pay raises and improved sick leave options at chains like Starbucks, where employees were given a temporary $3 per hour pay bump along with extended catastrophe pay. Other workers, however, saw their temporary wage increases and new workplace safety measures only through strikes and sickouts: After hundreds of workers at Kroger’s Delta Distribution Center in Memphis briefly stopped fulfilling orders in late March, the company granted all its employees temporary $2 per hour hazard pay and increased protections, like plexiglass protecting workers at the cash register.

But even as low-wage workers across the industry have gained these handfuls of new financial and health perks, some say companies have wielded the ongoing public health crisis as a tool for cracking down on union and worker organizing. On July 5, California-based Augie’s Coffee laid off its baristas and closed its retail operations indefinitely so as not “to risk the health and safety of our staff.” The timing was roughly a week and a half after employees informed management of their intent to unionize and asked for recognition, according the Augie’s Union; many of the company’s stores had continued service throughout the pandemic, even after Los Angeles County reported its first death. Whole Foods, which, according to a Business Insider report, has been using a heat map to monitor potential unionization activity, fired an employee who had been tracking the number of COVID-19 cases at Whole Foods locations; the company told Motherboard that the employee’s firing was not retaliatory and that she had violated company policies. And after Trader Joe’s workers began organizing earlier this year, in March, an employee who helped start a non-management-staff Facebook group to discuss coronavirus safety and health concerns was similarly fired. A Trader Joe’s spokesperson also said the firing was not retaliatory.

“The Trump [National Labor Relations] Board has made some changes to the rules, and employers feel they have a real friend in the Trump Board,” says Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University. “So they’re acting with even more impunity.”

On March 20, employees at the downtown Portland, Oregon, location of the nationally expanding chain Voodoo Doughnut delivered a letter to management announcing that they had formed a union with the International Workers of the World. Even before holding an official union election, the newly formed Voodoo Doughnut Workers Union demanded higher wages and increased safety protections for staff, and severance packages for the branch’s roughly 30 employees laid off because of the pandemic.

Workers said they were told their unemployment would be temporary, and that the company would rehire workers once the social and economic climates stabilized. But this past June, the workers’ union accused the company of using the layoffs to “clean house” and hire new, non-unionized employees through Snagajob. Under overcast skies and the watch of pastry-hungry customers, workers picketed outside of the chain’s Old Town location, holding signs that read “Stop Union Busting” and “Don’t Throw Us Out Like Day Old Donuts.”

“It absolutely was a shock to many of us how the company has treated us,” says Samantha Bryce, a Voodoo Doughnut Workers Union representative. “Really what we want is recognition and we want our jobs back.” The workers’ union said that it had filed 29 charges against the company with the NLRB.

In response to questions regarding the allegations of discriminating against union workers in rehiring, Audrey Lincoff, a Voodoo Doughnut spokesperson, said in a statement to Eater: “Like all affected businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, Voodoo Doughnut continues to rehire and hire as the business needs dictate.”

Since the establishment of the Wagner Act in 1935, private-sector workers have been legally guaranteed the right to organize workplace unions and collectively bargain. But according to a 2019 report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a left-leaning think tank, more than 41 percent of employers were found to have violated the federal law in union election campaigns. According to Celine McNicholas, labor counsel for the EPI and co-author of the report, part of the reason companies feel secure in breaking the law by firing workers or threatening to discipline them for organizing a union is that the enforcement of the law is lax, cases brought by unfairly discharged workers can drag on for years, and the penalties to many employers — rehiring the employee plus back pay, which deducts any income they earned from another job — are a slap on the wrist compared to having to deal with a more expensive and protected workforce.

“Even if it’s patently illegal under the NLRB, with the particular way it’s being enforced in this administration, employers are able to bend and break the law with relative impunity in really egregious cases,” McNicholas says, adding that there are “not adequate remedies and enforcement methods to make it scary enough for employers not to do it.”

Employees at HMSHost-operated restaurants at Orlando International Airport have been campaigning for a union since last year, and the company has taken steps in an apparent aim to stifle the union drive — and use the coronavirus as pretext to ensure its success. (HMSHost did not respond to a request for comment.)

According to restaurant workers, HMSHost hired a labor relations consulting firm and hosted captive audience meetings starting in February. In a tiny room at the airport, consultants lectured groups of employees with anti-union talking points, even when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began to recommend early social-distancing methods. As staff members began to face furloughs, Colon says an assistant manager informed him and other workers that the general manager was planning to bring back only non-union workers. And the company stymied election proceedings by arguing against a mail-in-ballot election to the National Labor Relations Board, as employees wanted to avoid congregating for in-person voting while coronavirus cases surged in Florida.

With a successful vote in favor of a union, HMSHost would be legally required to bargain with employees’ union representatives and sign a contract. Along with higher wages, health benefits, and workplace safety provisions, union representatives could also push for an agreement that includes recall guarantees and a fair recall system. But as of now, there is no election date in sight: According to emails between company and union lawyers, HMSHost’s latest holdup is arguing to the National Labor Relations Board that furloughed workers — roughly 90 percent of the company’s airport restaurant staff — shouldn’t be allowed to vote in the union election. And lately, some workers are worrying that their campaign could lose steam.

“I have coworkers who have kids,” says Rosanny Tejeda, a furloughed barista at an HMSHost-operated Starbucks. “The unemployment benefits aren’t going to last forever, and for a big family it might not be enough. They might give up on waiting and find themselves another job.”

“They don’t want to lose control of the dynamic.”

American companies have exploited chaotic climates to undermine workers’ organizing efforts before. In an interview with the New York Times, the Georgetown University labor historian Joseph McCartin said that during the 1918 flu pandemic, steel plants and industrial companies managed to sway local officials to ban union meetings and frustrate organizing campaigns, the rationale being that they were breeding grounds for disease transmission. During the Great Depression, he added, employers often targeted union workers for layoffs.

But now, even employees who are simply organizing for safe working conditions and hazard pay during the pandemic are coming under fire from their superiors. Louisville, Kentucky, Trader Joe’s employee Kris King was among those fired after starting a Facebook group to discuss workplace health and safety concerns. On March 31, shortly after King was fired, Trader Joe’s chairman and CEO, Dan Bane, sent a letter to company employees, writing that “a host of union campaigns have been launched that seek to capitalize on the current unstable environment in America.”

“I think they’re just afraid of a larger voice and losing control of their employees,” King says. He adds that although the company manages to keep most of its employees content during normal times, “when more is at stake and people want to step up and be vocal together, they don’t want to lose control of the dynamic.”

In April, Kenya Friend-Daniel, a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s, wrote in an email to Eater regarding King’s firing: “I can tell you we did not end his employment due to a desire to unionize, set up a social media page or express concerns, nor would we do so with any other Crew Member.”

For McNicholas, the labor counsel at the EPI, there is a potential silver lining in this moment. Food industry workers who have continued to supply everyone from the newly unemployed to people working from home with basic necessities and comforts are shedding light on their treatment by companies, whether it’s by demanding union recognition or the extension of hazard pay and more hand sanitizing stations. In turn, they’re gaining community support, and more importantly, an increased desire to hold companies accountable.

“There has been a backlash, and the more these stories are told, that comes together for the perfect storm where you have a new administration with demands put on it by working people,” she says, “and those become priority for new administration, changes for the way we work, and then growth for the union movement.”

Matthew Sedacca is a writer living in Brooklyn.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/30cd1f5 https://ift.tt/32dgcG1

A group of union members picketing circa 1938 | Photo by MPI/Getty Images

Some food industry workers say companies are using the pandemic as an excuse to halt efforts to unionize

“Employers feel they have a real friend in the Trump National Labor Relations Board.”

“They don’t want to lose control of the dynamic.”

Matthew Sedacca is a writer living in Brooklyn.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/30cd1f5 via Blogger https://ift.tt/2OqEowh

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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ultraheydudemestuff · 4 years

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East Liberty Schoolhouse 3492 S. Arlington Rd. Akron Ohio This schoolhouse was built on East Turkeyfoot Lake Road (what is now 619 East) in 1890 to service District 11, the East Liberty area. The schoolhouse was built on the site of an earlier one-room schoolhouse. By 1890, the hamlet of East Liberty boasted several stores, a few doctor’s offices, and a tavern. Nearby coal mines operated from the 1870’s through the 1910’s. In 1890, the township was broken up into districts, each district contained a one-room schoolhouse. By 1910, Green Township contained 14 school districts each having its own one-room schoolhouse. But progress demanded change, and in the 1910 Atlas a note explains that the Township was working towards centralization and the East Liberty School was taking in three districts. Twenty years after the school’s opening, consolidation finally necessitated the use of the second room. By 1927, the two-room schoolhouse was overcrowded and a temporary building was being used for some grades behind the brick structure. The East Liberty Schoolhouse sat on a grassy lot in its originally constructed position very close to the commercially developed intersection of East Turkeyfoot Lake Road and Arlington Road. This is a significant late 19th Century brick school building. The south and west sides of the building are in near original condition with the surface addition of an electrical drop and exterior light fixture. The bell tower has been removed from the peak above the center bay. The original bell was taken and used at the Church of the Nazarene. The west side of the building includes three round-arched bays with original six-over-six windows. The entire building features decorative corbelled brick at the cornice and a beltcourse of angled soldier bricks. The north side of the building contained four round-arched bays, the original windows being covered by slats. Visible repairs have been made to the exterior chimney and the facade surrounding the chimney. The east side of the building shows the remnants of three round-arched bays. The most notable modification to the building is shown here where the three original window bays have been infilled and a steel beam and sliding garage door have been added. After the school’s closure, this door was probably added by L.L. Parks circa 1937. Mr. Parks used the building to store automobiles for his agency. A tenant used The East Liberty Schoolhouse for several years for the storage and occasional sale of antiques until the winter of 2014-2015, when the building was vacated. Circle K entered into an agreement to purchase this property and adjoining properties in June 2015. The schoolhouse is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the city spent over $250,000 in 2015 to move it to Arlington Road and off State Route 619 to make way for the Circle K gas station and to avoid demolition. Following the move, the city had hoped to find a buyer for the property, but never found one. In 2017, City Council transferred ownership to the Community Improvement Corporation in hopes the CIC would have more flexibility finding an owner. In early 2019 Richard Edwards, the only bidder, purchased the 1890 schoolhouse during an auction for $82,500. Edwards is still brainstorming how the space will be utilized. His ideas include a furniture store, a place to teach wood-working, or even a retail shop. He realizes the city spent taxpayer money to move the schoolhouse and wants there to be a return for the community. The schoolhouse is one of the few remaining examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in the state.

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unitedbaristas · 4 years

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Looking at the cost and benefit to lowering environmental impacts through eliminating takeout cups

Learning from the Boston Tea Party experience

United Baristas is currently in the middle of a series on reducing coffee’s carbon footprint. The purpose of the series is to gather relevant information from industry and academia, and present it to the coffee community in a way that allows us to take meaningful actions to drastically reduce our carbon emissions.

Over the weekend Boston Tea Party released their latest takeout cup figures following their removal from service in April 2018. Now, almost two years on, it seems timely to look back and learn some lessons as companies across the industry explore ways to lower their carbon footprint.

Climate change is already having a real affect on coffee producers, impacting their ability to farm viably and threatening their future prospects. Since vastly more carbon dioxide is emitted in the preparation and drinking of coffee than in its growing, processing and export, the impetus for action has to fall to ourselves. It is not too dramatic an assessment to say that this is an existential issue for the industry (not to mention humanity), and therefore it is in our own interest, as well as the benefit of coffee producers, to act now to ensure the ongoing, predictable, and affordable supply of coffee.

One kilogram of roasted coffee has a carbon footprint of approximately 5 Kg, and one flat white / cappuccino has a footprint of circa 250 grams. We want 2020 to be the year the industry starts to take concerned action to lower our collective impacts.

Addressing our industry’s carbon footprint is part of a larger sustainability challenge

The environmental challenge facing the industry is part of the broader sustainability objective. To be sustainable, business has to be all of economically viable, social responsible, and environmentally bearable. There is no single, correct approach for coffee business, and the purpose of this series has been to explore what our impacts are, how they fit with our proposition, and identify what meaningful changes we can make to become more sustainable.

The Boston Tea Party experience

In 2018, Boston Tea Party eliminated single-use takeout cups from their 22 stores. The backdrop was the Environmental Audit Committee’s recently proposed Latte Levy, which succeeded in drawing attention to the fact that take-out coffee cups commonly aren’t recycled. There were a number of initiatives across industry, and Boston Tea Party’s approach was one of the most dramatic and probably the most publicised.

Achievements and impacts

Boston Tea Party instagram

Using their figures, since 1 June 2018 to today, Boston Tea Party have reduced their takeout cup use by 260,830 since introducing the ban on single use cups on 1 June 2018.

Assuming an average carbon footprint per cup of 11 grams per cup, that’s a reduction of almost three tonnes. Because reusable cups require washing between uses (and washing is quite energy intensive), the carbon dioxide reduction between using a single-use, takeout cup and a plastic reusable cup is circa two – three grams depending on the washing machine, the embodied energy of the reusable cup, and the number of times that it is reused. United Baristas previously unpack some reasonable takeout cup assumptions to explain a life cycle assessment, which is the methodology to compare various products, processes and behaviours.

Using these inputs, Boston Tea Party has reduced their carbon footprint by about one tonne by eliminating single-use take out cups. That is:

3 grams x 260,830 = 782490 grams or 782.5 Kg or 0.8 tonnes

Context and worthwhileness

This is a comparative small quantity of carbon dioxide compared to other aspects of the coffee industry. Here’s three examples:

A typically busy coffee shop has a milk carbon footprint of 10 – 20 tonnes / annum – over an order of magnitude greater impact than Boston Tea Party’s reduction. With 22 sites, the milk/mylk carbon footprint is probably in the order of 400 tonnes per annum for the business

As one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions is produced for every 250 KWh of energy use in the UK, according to one study, that’s the amount of energy used every 10 days by a typical specialty coffee espresso machine (United Baristas will be looking at espresso machine energy consumption shortly, references to follow).

And closer to home for us, United Baristas calculated that energy required to a) power our servers, b) transmit the data to your phone or computer, and c) power your device, equated to circa six tonnes in our 2018-19 year (we’ve also been working to significantly reduce the footprint of the use of our services).

Sustainability is important

United Baristas wants the industry to be viable and vibrant. Sustainability has economic, social and environmental dimensions, and business owners, operators, and baristas continually have to balance these, at times, competing demands. Boston Tea Party’s approach to tackling the environmental impact of takeout cups has had significant economic impacts.

In April 2019, it was widely reported that Boston Tea Party’s takeout revenue had fallen by £250,000, 25 percent, while achieving overall modest sales growth, largely through expansion. Owner Sam Roberts openly acknowledges that many smaller companies would struggle to afford a similar approach.

The strategic question for many coffee companies is whether similar carbon reductions can be made with with lower financial consequence; and for everyone the question is whether for the same cost can generate a greater environmental impact.

Let’s do what’s easy and important

The coffee industry is right at the start of tackling its carbon emissions, and there are many actions that can be taken which significantly lower our carbon footprint. It’s our position that we should take action on things that are a) easy, or b) significant, and c) ideally both.

There is no one, right approach to tackling this great challenge that lies before us, and it is up to individuals and companies to make the decision that are right for their circumstances. So if you are thinking about lower your carbon footprint in 2020 here’s some ways to make a significant impact at little or no cost:

Offset your emissions: It costs about £13 to offset one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions by funding UK tree planing initiatives

A medium-sized, busy coffee shop can easily reduce its milk carbon footprint by as much as 10 tonnes through better product selection

Don’t unnecessarily fly to origin: a return flight from UK to Costa Rica emits circa 3 tonnes

Buy energy-efficient plant such as espresso machines, dishwashers, and fridges

Minimise air-conditioning use

Vastly more carbon dioxide is emitted in the preparation and drinking of coffee than in its growing, processing and export – the impetus for action has to fall to ourselves.

Time to take action

If you are interested in reducing your business’ carbon footprint this year, make yourself a coffee, sit down, and identify where the significant impacts. They are most likely around your energy consumption, milk usage and travel habits. Then build a plan to tackle the low hanging fruit in 2020. There’s some great insights in our series of articles to date, and there is more useful information to come in the coming months – so make sure you follow us for updates.

The challenge before us might be big, but we shouldn’t feel overwhelmed or uncertain. As an industry we’ve got the necessary information, energy, intellect, and commitment to make a massive difference and lower our carbon footprint. It’s now up to every one of us to make the best difference we can, so that together we can achieve more. Let’s get started.

What’s your experience?

How are you measuring and reducing your carbon emissions? What are the most impactful ways the coffee industry can lower its carbon footprint? And what actions are you going to take next? Let us know your thoughts and ideas, we’re on all the usual channels.

-- Looking at the cost and benefit to lowering environmental impacts through eliminating takeout cups on United Baristas.

originally published on United Baristas https://unitedbaristas.com/magazine/opinion/2020/01/looking-at-the-cost-and-benefit-to-lowering-environmental-impacts-through-eliminating-takeout-cups/

#United Baristas #specialty coffee #coffee #business #careers #jobs #coffee equipment

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dippedanddripped · 5 years

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long leg, an almost 70s flare.” This was a sentence I wrote in my notebook back in January during the men’s AW19 fashion shows. These were the words of Clare Waight Keller, the designer at Givenchy who dressed Meghan Markle for her big day. The flare is part of a new era for menswear at the Parisian house, marking a distinct shift from the previous administration, where the brand had come to be defined by streetwear, and a sellout rottweiler-emblazoned sweatshirt. Flared trouser suits in strong red and a fabulous teal blue appeared on models walking through Givenchy’s couture salon in Paris. It all rippled with a breeze of expensive glamour. Waight Keller cited not just the 70s but the 90s as inspiration, another era with a strong flared trouser game, if you think of Britpop stars such as the mighty Jarvis Cocker.

Fast-forward a season, to the close of the SS20 men’s shows in June. I posted on Instagram an image from the Celine show by Hedi Slimane, captioned: “A flared Celine jean. That’s all, Paris.” Slimane’s model army strode the runway en masse for a finale rammed to the hilt with flared trouser hems, underlining the fact that the flares trend looks likely to have legs, as it were. I left this show with a head full of images of Yves Saint Laurent during the 70s, on a rooftop in Morocco. I was also more than a little obsessed with the idea of getting my legs into a pair of Hedi’s new jeans.

Between these two moments, Quentin Tarantino’s new film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood had premiered at Cannes. On screen, Leonardo DiCaprio wears, among other variations on this bottom-half theme, a pair of peachy-pink flared trousers. These were specifically created by costume designer and stylist Arianne Phillips. The trousers had already made tabloid headlines during filming last October. “Pink Pants-er” was a particularly choice pun.

So, with some serious style endorsements of the flare, is it time to quit your designer jogging pants and/or – finally – ditch those infamous skinny jeans? Probably. Donatella Versace, whose latest show featured flares in both house signature prints and black, wants you to strongly contemplate the notion. “Men, I think, are having way more fun than before, experimenting with new silhouettes, colours and prints, and the flare pants are part of that process of exploring one’s own personal style I have been doing for a few seasons,” she said.

Versace herself has often taken her end-of-show bow in a kick flare. She thinks a man in flares reeks of confidence. “The attitude I had in mind was, ‘I like it, so I wear it.’ Like everything else in a man’s wardrobe, whenever you change or introduce a new element, there are a lot of people who are sceptical. More than ever, though, we live in a world where people are encouraged to express themselves – be it through one’s own ideas or style. And I love it!”

Elisabeth Murray, fashion curator at the V&A in London, cites Tom Ford’s SS00 Gucci men’s collection as a significant flares moment, including “a particularly daring python pair”. She thinks the flare comeback is part cyclical, part a general interest in the 70s from designers. “Flares are a way to inject fun and frivolity into menswear,” she says, “which is something we’re seeing on the catwalk.”

With menswear dominated by streetwear and cult sneakers for a decade or so, the flare could be seen as part of a shift back to dressing up. Suiting has been reinvented again by the likes of Kim Jones at Dior and Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton – two designers who have often been seen as integral to “sports luxe”. The styling of suiting on runways isn’t about a Mad Men-style professionalism. Designs are cut away from the body and worn with wider trousers for a more louche and easy silhouette. Flares are part of a new wave of upscale chic – the opposite of the familiar body-conscious skinny jeans – crossed with, as Versace says, a new experimentation in men’s fashion.

Murray references noughties Gucci as a moment, and Gucci circa now is also key to the flare comeback. Designer Alessandro Michele has featured them in his menswear since 2016 and they are central to the retro maximalism that has become Gucci’s calling card. Michele wears them himself – as seen on the Met ball red carpet in May. This season, Gucci featured velvet suits with bell-bottoms, so the designer is not getting tired of the shape.

Other brands are also onboard. Balenciaga have been toying with boot-cut denim. Martine Rose – a British designer who loves a wide slack – has featured various flared styles for her label and Fendi’s trousers have also recently had a kick to their ankle. Plus the first men’s runway collection by Jonathan Anderson for Loewe – arriving in stores now – features a fantastic pink tuxedo styled with a pair of definitely-swingy-at-the-hem trousers.

Flares have a history that means almost infinite images to mine for inspiration. Sailors are thought to have been the first to adopt bell-bottom trousers in the 19th century, partly because they rolled up easily, while Oxford bags in the 20s saw the circumference of a hem reach over a metre. It was the late 60s when flares took off. By 1969, they were so popular that astronauts on Apollo 11 reportedly wore their spacesuit slacks with a flare. By the 70s, they were on Sonny & Cher’s TV show, the Studio 54 dancefloor, Abba at Eurovision, Slade, Earth, Wind & Fire. Even footballers wore them as part of suits off-pitch circa 1977. Naturally, as all fashions do, they peaked by the end of the decade, replaced by the drainpipes – proto-skinny jeans – favoured by punks. Flares would not return until the 90s, once again associated with music, from Britpop to grunge and rave.

Phillips says the clothes DiCaprio wears are representative of various changes happening in 1969 in politics, Hollywood and fashion. His character, Rick Dalton, a 50s TV cowboy actor, is, Phillips says, trying to be considered relevant in this new era. “He has many costume changes in this film, one of which is the sherbet peachy-pink flares worn when we see Rick making an effort to keep up with the changing times.”

But what do flares semaphore in 2019? Ben Cobb, editor-in-chief of Another Man (and street style favourite), is a poster boy for the flared look and has been wearing the style since he was 17, when he picked up a pair of 70s flared jeans. He now says he has pairs for all eventualities, including velvet tuxedos, bespoke suits and cords. “There is a feeling of elegance and glamour returning to fashion, and flares in menswear are a great symbol of that,” Cobb says. “They evoke freedom and flamboyance.”

There is little doubt that flares are inherently something of a statement – from John Travolta strutting down the street in the opening sequence of Saturday Night Fever, to Jarvis Cocker in charity shop flares, doing his best lounge singer impression in the video to Pulp’s Babies. Sometimes campy fun, sometimes countercultural and free-spirited. I recall dressing up Jarvis-style (plus hair curtains) to see bands or go to raves in the 90s and am quite sure I considered this a kind of grungy-alternative decision. Luke Leitch, a critic for American Vogue, who recalls having flared cords in the 70s as a child and boot-cut jeans in the early 90s, argues that “they transmit that he [the wearer] isn’t afraid to sail against the prevailing winds of taste. And there’s something about flares, when worn with panache, that seems appealingly sleazy.” While they are yet to reach the high street in earnest, vintage styles are a good way to shop the trend for autumn – and bring a bit of a 90s feel to proceedings.

Flares are also often associated with the kind of sexually topsy-turvy and androgynous styling of the likes of Robert Plant, Marc Bolan, Mick Jagger, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie – all musicians Phillips says were inspiration to her when she started her career dressing Lenny Kravitz in the late 80s. “In the early days when we had no money, I would dress him in women’s flares I found at garage sales or flea markets, which had the perfect proportion for him.”

A few seasons ago, as trousers seemed to be getting wider, I bought a pair of black Dries Van Noten kicky flares. As soon as I put them on, something shifted in the way I stood; I felt leaner, a little sassier perhaps, so I reach for them when I’m looking for an extra slash of dressiness. I’ve worn them to the opera in Paris and the ballet in London. Friends have noted they “add a certain swish” to an outfit. “It’s a really sexy shape,” Cobb confirms. “But the fit is essential: it has to be tight on top and sweep out from the knee. They lengthen the leg and make the bum look great.”

Mark Weston, creative director at Dunhill, has since SS19 been experimenting with a split-hem trouser that gives off the idea of an elongated flared silhouette. He says, “I think this is happening as a reaction to the saturation of sportswear and a rejection of skintight jeans. There’s a desire for clothes that combine utility and elegance with a sense of ease.”

Weston says if you’re planning to experiment with this current trouser proposition, you should “wear it slouchy and comfortable – never uptight”. He adds: “Proportionally, the leg will look longer. So the top half should have either a slightly oversized proportion, whether a great T-shirt or peacoat, or a long and lean Chesterfield coat, to balance it out.”

I ask Versace how to wear it. “You know me, I don’t do things half-heartedly,” she laughs. “You either go with it or you don’t. For the less brave, I’d suggest trying them with a suit jacket and chunky sneakers.” Cobb agrees flares work best when they are making a statement. “Go big. Anything less is just a boot-cut.” Francesco Risso at Marni concurs – this season he offers a flared hem in a bold leopard print.

As for the attitude to channel while wearing flares in 2019, the last word goes to Givenchy’s Waight Keller. She coined the phrase “perverse poshness” to describe her menswear designs for the house. This, she argues, is about “looking refined but not really caring about it. There’s something very elegant about that.”

#men's trousers #men's fashion #fashion #life and style #saturday night fever #menswear blog #fashion blog #flared trousers #autumn/winter 2019

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