#the con and the trip to london were absolutely amazing | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thatpaintedpony · 4 months

Text

It’s Christmas so it’s time for the 2023 year in review. This is going to be a rollercoaster so strap in.

We kicked off 2023 with a trail ride down to our neighbour’s place to ride on her lovely arena, and needless to say Sky took it all in her stride, though she was a little wide eyed when she met their many, many, many blood hounds. It was, however, extremely hot, and we both came home drenched in sweat and ready for a shower.

We had, of course, been preparing for our Novice debut for nearly 12 months now so we were also starting to work with a bit of elementary stuff, working slowly on our laterals and developing our walk to canters. January at work was deeply miserable, as my excellent manager had left and I was left in a job I hated, surrounded by people I didn’t like, plus I wasn’t allowed to work from home which made riding a bit miserable. Still, we plugged along through January.

I once more rode at the MARC Unofficial comp and did another two Unofficial Novice tests, with one scoring 73%! Unofficial scores are never a good indication of where you are realistically, but it’s always nice to see that score starting with a 7. Then, finally, FINALLY at the end of January, we competed in our FIRST Official Novice test at Bowral Dressage Club, more than 8 months later than intended. We had one more error (broke to canter in the lengthen trot) but otherwise put in two very solid tests and scored 64% for both, and placed 2nd and 4rd. Not bad for our first official comp! It seemed the curse was finally broken!

In February, it was off to South Australia to see Mum and Dad, during which time I went on a hot and rather random trail ride on a standardbred out the back of some random lady’s paddock, enjoyed some beach time, and went for a lot of dog walks. We did get excellent weather for change which was nice!

The end of summer brought a boon of blackberries, since our property at Gunning is rank with them and even as annoying as having a property full of noxious weeds is, at least these ones have berries.

We also started preparing for our Novice Freestyle, which was supposed to be debuted at the Festival last year, but never got finished due to the broken hand. This meant a few trips out to a local arena to get the timing right, which we also used to start to develop our elementary work a bit more.

In March it was off to Melbourne to meet my delightful cousin and her new hubby, back from London to visit the family, and Mum and I had an excellent time exploring some museums while we were there.

We had another solid official Novice at ACTDA in March, with 64% and 65%, keeping our scores fairly consistent. We probably could have done better but Sky decided to do a choose your own adventure test so was anticipating pretty badly. In March we also tried our hand at hacking, and did excellently, though it was revoltingly hot, and landed Champion Led Pinto and Reserve Champion Led Warmblood, and picked up a ribbon in almost all our classes.

April rolled around, and with it, Dressage in the Bush. We camped out at Bendick Murrell Showgrounds, and competed in the AOR Novice Championship and the Novice Freestyle. Our Freestyle went well and we won (after a bit of a snafu with the scores) and we placed 3rd and 6th in the Championship, only JUST missing out on Reserve Champion due to an error of course in our first test. But Sky was absolutely exemplary the whole time and I was SO proud of how well we went.

We also won a lesson with the amazing Susan Elekessy, who has become our eyes on the ground, helping us pick up little things that Peter can’t see through the Pivo. She was very complimentary towards Sky, as well, which is always nice.

After the excitement of Dressage in the Bush, a certain SOMEONE (looking at you Lexi) conned me into entering Elementary at the HDC Festival. I figured it would be a good opportunity to see how we would go, how solid our Elem work was. Afterall, we had most of the main movements alright, though our travers was less good. Due to a wedding, I wasn’t able to compete AOR, so I found myself riding my first ever elementary tests in an OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP. No pressure, right? And yet somehow my magical unicorn Sky managed to not only not embarrass us, but to PLACE 6th in the 3.2 with 65%, which ALSO qualified us for States. Insane! We also got 2nd in the Novice Freestyle. Unfortunately the big week and competing elementary meant that by the time we got to our Novice championship, Sky was exhausted, so while we put in decent tests we didn’t manage to place against the Open horses. Still, it was amazing to finally make it to the Festival that I worked so hard to help organise, to actually be able to ride with my amazing friends.

Post Festival, I finally started a new job at ANU, transferring from the Digital Literacy team back into the Library, taking on the role of Information Access and Training Officer, which was a HUGE step in improving my attitude towards work. I love my new manager and my new team, and I’m having so much fun being back as a librarian.

Peer Pressure struck once again, and I found myself entered at States in both Novice and Elementary. With not a lot of time between the Festival and States, I trekked out to Wagga to try and get one more ride at Elementary in before States. We did the 2.3 and the 3.3. We had some hefty mistakes in the 3.3 and ended with 62.8%. Even better, we cracked 70% at Novice for the first time in an Official test which is an excellent benchmark!

Before States I went back to South Australia to surprise Dad for his birthday. Little did I know, it would be the last time I saw him outside of hospital.

Then it was States again. On paper, it wasn’t the most successful Championship we’ve been to. We scored 57% in the 3.3 which was one of our worst ever scores, and 61% in the 3.2, which put us mid field in both tests, which considering these were our 6th and 7th ever Elem tests I was still pretty pleased with, however it did show that Sky was getting a bit scrambled about the simple changes. Then in the novice, again, she was tired, scoring 63% and 64% in the two tests with some silly mistakes. So no ribbons, but the fact that we were even competing at States in at two levels when before Sky the thought of competing at states AT ALL was far out of reach, so I’m still proud to have been there, and we were mid-field in all our tests so definitely not at the bottom!

We took some time off competing while we addressed the issues that had arisen in rushing our Elem start, namely that for a while we were entirely unable to trot, and could ONLY do walk to canters and canter walks. It was a whole thing. So we stepped it back to Novice while we addressed that.

In September, my dad unexpectedly went into hospital with severe pneumonia, among other things. I rushed down to Royal Adelaide hospital to be with him, and stayed for a week as he slowly recovered. He seemed to be getting better, so I came home. I competed at ACTDA in Novice, in a howling gale. Her tests were tense, but obedient, and we got 63% and 64% (at least we’re consistent).

Then, a week later, Dad passed away in the ICU at Royal Adelaide Hospital. It has been the most devastating thing that has ever happened to me.

I came home and tried to pick up my life again.

In November, my bestest for the restest and I decided to start a Podcast, revisiting our terrible writing from when we were teens, in an effort to try and create some sort of platform since apparently that’s what you have to do to publish a book these days.

Finally, it was time for the Canberra Classic. The big local championship that I missed last year due to Sky’s endless seedy toe. I was tough, being the first time I’d competed since Dad died. He was always so invested in my competitions. It was hot, and windy, but Sky put in two lovely tests. We got slammed in the first with 62% for having her poll too low, but scored 69% in the second test to place 5th AOR. If we’d competed Open we’d have been second! Still, I can’t complain about a 69% so was extremely happy, and we got to take home a shiny ribbon.

On the 18th of November we said goodbye to Dad with a wake at one of his old haunts in Balmain, spreading his ashes off Darling Street wharf. I was reminded how truly beautiful the friendships I’ve made are with the support of my amazing pals. I wish they could have met him.

Sky and I came 4th in the AOR Novice Horse of the Year rankings, and I was awarded a Bronze performance medal at ACTDA.

And so we have rolled onto the end of the year, starting to reintroduce our elementary work, getting stronger and ready to start competing at Elementary next year.

Then, approximately 10 minutes before leaving to fly to SA again, I bought a new towing car, a 2010 Mitsubishi Pajero. Hopefully it’s excellent, and I can pass my trusty Prado on to a new owner!

This Christmas is a little bit sadder. A little bit emptier. There were no power tools under the tree this year. Less beers in the fridge. The weather is crap and somehow appropriate. I wish you were here, Dad. Merry Christmas.

#horsblr #equestrian #equestrians of tumblr #horses of tumblr #dressage #dressage horse #year in review #sky

16 notes · View notes

catsworldlytravels · 4 years

Text

Gooooooood morning Vietnam

It’s actually over 3 years since I went to Vietnam, better late than never in writing up about it! This trip was March 2017.

I had a direct flight from London to Hanoi with Vietnam Airlines, an extremely reasonable flight price of around £450 return if I remember rightly. After a 12+ hour flight, I landed at 4.30am local time, and after swiftly clearing immigration (British citizens didn’t – at time of travel – require a visa for stays under 15 days) I had quite a long wait for my bag as it was basically the last one round the carousel – always a slightly worrying time! I’d arranged a transfer to my hotel in central Hanoi, and after arriving at the hotel at around 6.30am I took myself off to bed. Top tip, especially when travelling somewhere where accommodation is cheap by western standards – if you are arriving somewhere first thing in the morning, book a hotel room for the previous night so you can check in and either get some kip for a few hours, or freshen up before you start exploring. The hotel I was staying in was approx £30 per night which was worth every penny to be able to crash for a few hours.

As it turned out, I was absolutely knackered, the product of being in a job I didn’t enjoy (part of the reason I’d gone on sabbatical the year before), and at the time I’d actually just been successful in interviewing for another job in the same company which I would start shortly after returning from this trip. Much less stress and a better work/life balance, but that isn’t the topic of this blog, and as such I pretty much slept through the entire day. Fortunately I’d arrived a day early to join the trip so I didn’t miss out on that much, and it gave my body clock a chance to adjust.

After a long sleep, I awoke refreshed on the second day and after breakfasting in the hotel, I set off exploring Hanoi. One thing I had been warned about prior to this trip was that attempting to cross the street in Hanoi would be an interesting experience, certainly if you waited as you would in the U.K. for a break in the traffic, I’d still be stuck on the wrong side of the street now! It is a little unnerving basically having to walk out into traffic but, unbelievably, it works. Most people in Vietnam ride scooters as the taxes on (usually imported) cars are prohibitively expensive, and they are used to adjusting their speeds for pedestrians. After building up confidence to cross the street, I made my way to Hoan Kiam Lake and walked around it, enjoying the early morning sights including the locals enjoying some early morning yoga/meditation along the shores.

Hoan Kiam Lake, Hanoi

After some more wandering to a temple and to the market, I headed back to my hotel for some much needed air-con. After a short break from the heat, I ventured back outside and grabbed lunch – a delicious Bánh Mì from Banh Mi 25, one of the top-rated places for Bánh Mì in Hanoi. Bánh Mì are a delicious fusion sandwich, a baguette-style bread roll filled with pate, grilled meat, cucumber and pickled veg, and an absolute bargain with a Bánh Mì and bottle of water costing the equivalent of 75p!

In the afternoon I walked to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex and around the botanical gardens before retreating back to the hotel. In the evening I met the rest of the group (a G Adventures trip) and we headed out for dinner.

An early start the next morning as we headed to Halong Bay. It was a 4 hour drive punctuated by a stop at a project which creates employment for disabled people by teaching them crafts and needlework which is then sold. A very interesting idea.

We arrived at Halong Bay and boarded our overnight junk boat in time for lunch. As we set sail through the bay, the limestone karsts that we passed through reminded me a little bit of Milford Sound. I’ve since also been to Khao Sok in Thailand which was very reminiscent of Halong Bay. We sailed through the bay in the afternoon, stopping off in a couple of places including Ti Top Island where we climbed up 400 steps to take in the views.

Halong Bay

We had dinner on the boat, all freshly made on board and plate after plate of delicious food was served up. After enjoying the stars with a couple of drinks, I retreated to bed. Another early start the following morning with breakfast at 7am before we visited a Sung Sot Cave, the largest cave in Halong Bay, which had this amazing, wave-like ceiling.

Sung Sot Cave, Halong Bay

We then headed back to land and late morning got off the boat and headed on the 4 hour journey back to Hanoi. We were taking the overnight train south to Hue but had a few hours spare before then, so I went on a street food tour. If you haven’t already gathered, I absolutely loved the food in Vietnam. I think it’s the best food I’ve had anywhere, and certainly the cheapest. We wandered the streets of Hanoi, sampling lots of delicious food before ending up in Hanoi Food Culture where we had the Vietnamese speciality of egg coffee (or egg chocolate in my case as I’m not a coffee drinker)

Egg chocolate – an alternate version of the Vietnamese speciality egg coffee

We boarded the train in the evening, around 9pm. We were travelling in first class which comprised of 4-berth bunks with shared toilets/squats at the ends of the carriages. Second class was 6-berth bunks, followed by soft seats and hard seats (as you might recall from the Top Gear Vietnam special). I took a top bunk. The journey itself was very loud and the train was very shaky, and I don’t remember sleeping too much. The overnight train I’ve since been on in Thailand was a much more comfortable ride.

We arrived in Hue at 10.30am the next morning. It was noticeably hotter and more humid. Despite arriving early, we were able to check in to our hotel where I promptly showered before heading out for a quick wander before we went on our included trips in the afternoon. I ventured for a walk along the Perfume River before retreating to the air con ahead of our afternoon tours. Firstly we went to the Tien Mu Pagoda:

Tien Mu Pagoda, Hue

We then went to the main attraction in Hue, the Imperial Citadel. An imposing collection of buildings, and much, much larger than I imagined. The citadel was built in the early 1800s and was targeted during the Vietnam War. You can see the bullet holes from the Vietnam War in some of the walls.

Imperial citadel, Hue

We also squeezed in a visit to the Royal Tombs on an busy sightseeing afternoon.

At the Royal Tombs, Hue

The next morning I did a motorbike tour (as backseat passenger!) – an absolute must-do in a country where motorbikes/scooters are the primary form of transport. We were taken out to the countryside outside of Hue, seeing rice fields, monasteries and a colosseum where elephants and tigers once fought. We had an included vegetarian lunch at the monastery which was, once again, absolutely delicious.

Colosseum; Biker pose; River views

We arrived back in Hue after lunch and then headed south over the Hai Van Pass towards Hoi An. Unfortunately it was a bit cloudier than ideal which didn’t make for the best photos, but we still saw some great views.

Views on the drive to Hoi An.

We arrived in Hoi An in the late afternoon. Our guide took us on a brief orientation tour as we had 3 nights here to explore. We bumped into Jack Whitehall and his dad filming their Netflix travel series whilst we were wandering down tailors row – an unexpected sight! Hoi An is famous for getting cheap tailoring which can be ready in as little as 24 hours, but I didn’t partake on this occasion.

The following day we had an included excursion in the morning to Planeterra’s project here, Oodles of Noodles. This project taught local kids both the skills of cooking in a professional environment, as well as some English language. We learned to make rice pancakes, and then enjoyed a delicious bowl of noodles for lunch:

Lunch at Oodles of Noodles, Hoi An

We had a free afternoon where I enjoyed walking around Hoi An old town. Sincerely the prettiest place I’ve ever been.

Sights of Hoi An, the prettiest place I’ve ever been

The next day was a free day. The weather was a bit dodgy, grey with the occasionally downpour but still very warm, so after a relaxing morning at the hotel, I went for a hot stone massage in the afternoon. £20 for a 90 minute massage was an absolute bargain, even if I was a bit sore the following day! In the evening we enjoyed a walk (and some bargains) in the night markets.

The next morning was an early start for a flight from nearby Danang to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), formerly Saigon. Even hotter and more sticky than Hue. After checking in to the hotel mid morning, and then going for lunch to have pho (finally!), we then had a free afternoon. Ho Chi Minh City has some pretty spectacular architecture, including many remnants of the French colonial era:

Notre Dame Cathedral, HCMC; City Hall; The Post Office, HCMC

The following day we had an included trip out to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a network of tunnels built by the Viet Cong outside of Saigon during the Vietnam War. It was fascinating to learn about the guerilla tactics used by the Viet Cong, and amazing to see the size of the tunnels, which were utterly minuscule.

Cu Chi Tunnels, barely big enough for a body to fit through

We came back to HCMC for lunch and then had a free afternoon. I decided to go to the War Remnants museum which is is a sobering affair. Be warned – there are some very graphic pictures of the effects of the chemical warfare. It was also horrifying to learn that people still live with the effects having been exposed at the time, but also because some of the effects can be passed on to offspring. A sobering reminder of the legacy of war, and well worth a visit.

That evening was our final group dinner before I left the following day. More delicious food, this time Vietnamese barbecue.

Vietnamese BBQ – cook your own dinner!

I had most of the next day free before an evening flight back to London via Hanoi. It was extremely hot and sticky again, and after a walk in the morning to the Reunification Palace and a failed attempt to find the Jade Emperor Pagoda, I retreated back to the hotel and air con and a shower before heading to the airport in the late afternoon.

So, what were my impressions of Vietnam? Genuinely part of the reason I went was after I’d seen the Top Gear Vietnam show, it looked a beautiful and fascinating country. A few people I’d met on my previous travels had also been and talked about what a wonderful country it is. And it certainly was. Everyone was friendly, I didn’t feel afraid walking around by myself, a solo female traveller (albeit on a group tour). It was very cheap – obviously I’d paid for the trip and accommodation/transport beforehand, and so all I had to buy whilst there was food, drinks, excursions and souvenirs. I was there for 10 days and spent less than £150 – and that included a $40 motorbike trip and a £20 massage. The absolute best food I’ve had anywhere I’ve been either before or since (with Peru close behind). And a fascinating, and devastating, recent history. Would absolutely recommend, and when I do go back again to South East Asia, I wouldn’t think twice about going back.

from WordPress https://catsgreatadventure.wordpress.com/2020/07/25/gooooooood-morning-vietnam/

#Asia #Travels #Vietnam #female traveller #g adventures #solo travel #south east asia

1 note · View note

amwritingmeta · 5 years

Text

JiB10

So, last year, for various reasons, I didn’t actually put down my experience of JiB, but are y’all ready to hear all about this year’s experiences and adventures?

Well, in condensed form. I mean, what is this - LiveJournal? (okay yeah kinda is but no not going into excruciating detail here just the best bits) (the choice cuts, as it were) (watch me go full butcher) (it’ll be entertaining I swear) :P

So, firstly, I’m a panel rat. I fucking love those panels. All the panels. It’s mainly why I get the Angel Pass, because the seats are so good and I’m all about them good seats, yeah?

I have friends who spend a whole lot of time in line for ops or for autos and I just… can’t… do that. Not when there’s talking happening and answering of questions and just that room being MAGIC, because the entire con feels so inclusive and filled with open-minded like-minded human beings who share in our love of this glorious show.

I started a JiB Log, but figured I’d get too distracted to actually update it regularly, because that’s what last year was like. When you’re not in a panel you’re either walking to grab something quick to eat (have to commend the little smoothie place at the airport, because they did good sandwiches and really good coffee at a reasonable price) or you’re heading to the hotel bar to get absolutely plast-… No, actually didn’t do that this year, so correction: or you’re heading to the hotel bar to see who’s there and catch up with people who have been to their ops and are still shaking with excitement.

(you can also comment on the wonderful imagination of strangers in the ladies’ room when you see them shaking with excitement and are dressed up in bridal gowns) (okay there was one lovely dressed up as a bride so maybe plural is the wrong way to go but the sentiment holds true) (JiBers - you are so fucking awesome and I LOVE YOU ALL)

Okay, so wanna know the most basic things I’ve learned about how to JiB? I mean… if you don’t, then stop reading, I guess, because imma tell ya. #fairwarning

Bring Snacks (you won’t regret it)

Bring Alcohol (you won’t regret it)

Good Footwear (you won’t regret it)

Clothes For Every Occasion (you may regret it if you overpack) (don’t overpack) (Google “packing tutorial by Jensen Ackles”) (worth it)

Choose Wisely (just general solid advice) (I mean, get your priorities straight) (panel rat or up close and personal kitty cat) (or both) (sidenote: I take it choosing to be both is quite stressful) (make sure that your stress sensors are up and that you don’t overdo it) (switching between rat and cat is bound to be internally messy) (okay that actually came out as not haha solid but actual solid advice so yeah) (be prepared that doing both is difficult!) (and having lots of ops and wanting to do all autos means probably missing a whole lot of panels for standing in line and waiting) (even the solo panels with the main players or - and I will question your sanity - the joint panels that close the weekend) (well not the very final panel) (nobody missed the J2M panel because all ops and autos had closed by then) (but yes prioritise wisely)

Be Open (because, no matter what, you are bound to meet someone you click with at this event) (most people) (actually every stranger I gave a throwaway comment to) (were so chill and happy to have a brief chat or share a moment with me) (so even if you’re traveling by yourself you are bound to feel embraced) *jazz hands rome magic*

Pinches of Salt (take everything you see and hear with healthy pinches of salt) (I briefly forgot about this on Monday morning and oh boy I could’ve saved myself a world of stupidity if I’d only remembered it yeah?)

MNC (get your sweet ass to the Monday Night Concert because both my years of JiBing it has been mind-blowing) (this year was better than last year honestly) (which I did not think could happen) (they are the bee’s bees and the bear’s bear) *throws all the love at them*

When it comes to impressions and memories made this particular trip, I feel like the whole week has been one long run of blessings. Sincerely, it’s been - oh what’s the word again? --> MAGIC.

I’m not going to go through all the boring personal moments of Holy Fuck *jazz hands rome magic* but I will just say that I think I stepped out of passport control with the widest smile, and it barely left my face for the entire weekend. The panels were wonderful this year. I’m still on a high. No, seriously. It’s almost a week later and I haven’t been hit by the JiB blues yet, and perhaps I won’t this year.

*prays I land a pass for next year* *GAH* *the nail-biting begins*

Confession time? (…when in Rome)

Confession 1 — I have such a crush on Rob. I mean, I’ve had it for years, but time to make it official, I guess. He just seems like the sweetest, loveliest human being and watching him sing is like… watching the stars light in the sky. He is such an amazing singer and performer. He made me cry. He sang Fare Thee Well and he made me cry at the Monday Night Concert.

*no I was NOT drunk* *though damn that G&T was strong* *oh btw the drinks in Rome are amazing and worth the money because extra alcoholic* *like damnnnnn* *just as an aside* *but also bring your own bourboun* *winks at @waywardliliana* *sup gurl?* *winks again* *winks some more* *can’t stop now* *licks lips* *yeah I know* *uncomfortable?* *licks lipssss againnnnn* *okay stopping now* *….or am I…….?*

Confession 2 — The panel-watching truly is a huge amount of fun. This year there were a lot of things said that made me want to jump up and down in my seat, because it gives me a lot of hope for season fifteen and Jensen provided most of it on the Saturday, and then Jared was pretty much agreeing with Jensen’s assessments of how the brothers’ journeys should end on the Sunday, and I was like GAH! *happy* And then Misha throws in his belief that there needs to be a sacrifice and tragedy and we all went NO! Also his fear that this family of ours will disperse and we all went NOOO! :) Anyway, these are all stated observations, but the confession is this:

As much as I love spending time in a space that is occupied by some of my favourite human beings on this planet (oh but they are), what makes JiB so truly, deeply, personally special is meeting up with friends who otherwise live too far away to see on the regular. All of us convening in this one place to share in this one great love is like electricity through your veins. It’s like… well, it’s like going to a place of worship, and I think you know what I mean. When you’re in a room with a group of peope who’s energy jives with yours, then your energies align, and resonate, and then — MAGIC.

It’s magical. It’s fucking magical. *jazz hands*

Shoutout to everyone I managed to see this year who have not yet been lip-licked at in this post (or real life), whether it was much too brief (so many of you were much too brief) or whether we spent quality time, seeing you all really made the trip sparkle:

@captainhaterade - who made such a fantastic and impromptu seat mate - thank you, Emily, for having me next to you for most of the weekend! :D

@eriquin - Meghan, it was so lovely to meet you and I’m thrilled you and Emily both enjoyed your first con, very happy I got to be a part of it! :)

@trickster-angel - my dear Chiara, it took us a few tries, but we finally got to sit down in the Corner (if you get to go next year then I think this may be where we’re all just convene from now on) (*suggestion*) *nobody puts us in a corner except us!* :P So good to meet you!

@inacatastrophicmind - Mara! We met much, much too briefly, but I’m so, so glad we did! See you around tumblr, my friend, and hopefully at JiB11! :)

@misskittyspuffy - aw man, Aurelie, we kept missing each other and I really wanted to sit down and have a proper lunch or dinner, but at least you and--

@assbuttboyfriends - hey, Claire, my dear, at least you and Aurelie aren’t that far away, right? Come visit me in London, I tell ya! :D Otherwise, proper plan-making for next year. xx

@bold-sartorial-statement - a brief hello was still a good hello! Hope you enjoyed the con! xx

@jenmdixon - it was good to say hello to you, my dear, and really hope you enjoyed the con (and didn’t die under those lights because it got HOT) (no wonder the actors are fan-addicts) :) xx

@purgatory-jar - Elena, it was, as ever, fantastic to see you and I’m stoked I got to have a proper lunch with you this time around. You have always been and will always be one of my absolute favourite artists in this fandom and, by extension, anywhere. Already a star, girl!

Shoutout to @northern-sparrow - I was sorry that I missed you at the bar, but there’s always next year. Hope you enjoyed the con and thanks for asking The Perfect Question. :D xx

Finally, @godshipsit -- Alessia, my friend, you are this calm, welcoming, very dear part of Rome and JiB for me (last year you supported me so much just by being there) and you are simply brilliant! *all the prettiest flowers at your door*

And to my two felines who are tumblring, but not very often: Laura and Steph, you wonderfuls! Thanks for all the laughs!!

*I now proceed to throw love at you all*

Confession 3 — I have a Favourite Moose. Nope, it’s not who you think it is. (girl, I almost put the hashtag on here but in the current climate) (I think I’d just better not) (especially since I wanna tag you) (hey, Moose!) (hey @natmoose!) (yes you!) (Nat-Blue!) :) #theconversationalists

Now, the highlights from this years con are too numerous for me to write them all down, really, but here’s a taster:

Ricky Whittle (the man is a genius comedian)

Rob talking about how his fandom experience has changed since he, for the first time, is seeing comments like “I hate your face” (the way he says “I hate your face”) (*giggle*) (also it’s such a question of tone because most of those “I hate your face”s are probably said with loads of love) (because Chuck going ultimate big bad toxic masculinity representative is fucking BRILLIANT) *love to hate his face*

Matt telling the airplane story

Alex reenacting different parts of the airplane story

Alex choosing Jasmine from Aladdin to put a spin on and making the twist that he’ll rob the wishes from Aladdin like -->

Alex: *sings* I can show you the world *interrupts* I’m just like yo, just give me these wishes. Don’t mess with me. How about this? I’ll show myself the world, okay?

I really, really very much like Alexander Calvert, okay?

Briana being distracted by herself on the stage monitor (she’s gorgeous and she knows it and is also open about how it costs her a lot of money and time and effort and how that’s not for everyone and real beauty runs so much deeper) (which is why she is the most gorgeous woman)

Jared telling us all to shut up during his Sunday morning solo panel (and basically all of his time on stage, but especially this half an hour of stage time, because my GOD he was in such a good mood)

Misha

Jensen going off on a minor rant about Game of Thrones S08E05 because yesssss

Jared doing that jump-and-a-skip at his panel with Misha

Jared’s panel with Misha

Jensen telling Misha he loves him and them hugging, only for Jensen to turn it into a joke and pretty effectively demonstrating how this is how they interact and they don’t mean anything by taking the piss out of each other because yesssss

sincerely, all the solo panels (especially Jensen’s, because he’s so sincere and open and honest about how seriously he takes his work and it’s gorgeous and inspiring and always has been and always will be and)

I mean, Jensen lying flat on his back on that stage and Misha saying You Sexy Bitch is very, very, very… overt. I side-eye. But with a whole lot of appreciation for the balls on those two. I’d venture that they know exactly what they’re doing, and I’ll forever wonder what the percentage is between performative and spur-of-the-moment. Sometimes I think you can tell, but… oh, they know what we like. Usually. :)

Jared bringing the dirty. I just love his filthy mind.

All of their filthy minds tbh.

Singing Carry On My Wayward Son in the hallway after the final panel is just… one of the best parts, and this year they all came out and high fived and gave hugs and… it was special

The Monday Night Concert surpassed last year’s and went on for nearly two hours and was deeply moving for many reasons and I wish to the good Heavens (…okay you know what I mean) that Jensen and Briana will record Shallow because I think their version beat the original (damn Briana’s voice is just… damn!) (and I can’t talk about Jensen singing please don’t make me talk about it) (…) (thank you)

Also Richard Speight Jr because Richard Speight Jr!!

Also just Jason Manns because Jason Manns!!

And The Four Cheese!!

See, there’s just tOO MuCH STuFF

And now it’s over and I’m still hopped up on the adrenaline and the happiness and Jensen talking about spreading happiness (I believe it was either during the opening panel with he and Jared on the Saturday or his solo panel later that afternoon) made me feel light as a feather, because he’s right. A healthy dose of real happiness builds you up from the inside out and makes you believe you’re worth it. All of it, yeah? And that, whatever comes your way, you can handle it. Oh, it can be a struggle, but if you only dare to be open, then good things, my peeps.

Good things do happen.

I hope to see you next year!!

#JiB10 #my stuff #jensen ackles #jared padalecki #misha collins #alexander calvert #briana buckmaster #rob benedict #richard speight jr #jason manns #ricky whittle #jibcon #rome magic #<3

63 notes · View notes

oldschoolgaming · 5 years

Text

Gary Con XI

Last year’s trip to Gary Con was supposed to be a one off, a ‘Trip of Lifetime’ but as you might have read in last year’s blog post it was an experience I was keen to repeat. I worked hard, I saved my pennies and with the support of my ever amazing (& non gaming) wife I planned a return trip to Lake Geneva.

Sadly my good friend and travel buddy Isa couldn’t join me on this year’s trip so I traveled to Chicago on my own, this time on a direct flight from London.

I’d planned to arrive a day early to allow my body clock time to adjust. Asking around about sharing transport from O’Hare to Lake Geneva I got a message from a friend I’d met at last year’s convention. Jason Hobbs was kind enough to bring his trip forward a day, picking me up from the airport and driving up to our B&B in Lake Geneva. We made plans to head over to Madison and meet Alex Kammer, another acquaintance from last year’s event. Alex runs Gamehole Con, another Wisconsin gaming convention held in the autumn. He is also a big collector of old school D&D books and memorabilia We were able to check out his amazing collection, housed in a custom gaming space he calls ‘The Gamehole’

The Gamehole

This is a 1st printing of the 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual, signed by Gary Gygax.

As well as books Alex also has some unique artifacts. This is the original map of the Forgotten Realms, used to define what is now the default setting for Dungeons and Dragons today.

The exceptionally rare English module ST1 ‘Up The Garden Path’

Me, with a rare first printing of Chainmail, the ruleset written by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. Chainmail preceded Dungeons and Dragons and was intended to be used in the original edition of D&D to resolve combat. The system we use today for D&D combat has evolved from what was originally intended to be the ‘alternate’ rules for folk who didn’t own a copy of Chainmail!

We got back to our B&B around 10pm, but my body clock wasn’t fooled, it knew it should be 4am and I’m sure I entertained Hobbs with some pretty hard core snoring on the drive back!

Now I’m a believer that if you do something twice it becomes a tradition so on Wednesday we met up with Bruce Heard for our now traditional pre Gary Con lunch, at the ‘Next Door Pub’ Bruce is always good company and it was great to catch up with him. I was pleased to hear his latest ‘Calidar’ product is taking shape, I’m excited to receive my copy from the Kickstarter later this year.

After lunch we headed off to the Geneva Grand Resort, home of the convention to pick up our badges and get settled in.

We arrived a little early so I had a short wait before my room was ready. It was while I waited in the bar watching people arrive that I started to realise that this trip really was going to be at least as magical as the previous year. You see, the magic of Gary Con, for me at least, is the people. Having just picked up my badge and not even rolled a single dice I was happy so see more friends arrive. Much hugging and laughing ensued, setting the standard for the days to come.

On Wednesday evening I ticked off ‘Dawn Patrol’ from my ‘want to play’ bucket list. Michael Bolam facilitated an awesome intro game for a bunch of newbies and despite rolling badly (winning initiative is a bad start in this game!) I survived my first game and even got my first ‘kill’

After the game I had time for a couple of beers in the bar, catching up with friends old and new before getting an early night (well, midnight?) ready to start the gaming the next day.

On Thursday morning I ran my first game of Dungeon Crawl Classics (The 13th Skull) for a great table of players, most of whom had some experience of the system. I felt like it took me a couple of hours to hit my GMing stride but the pace accelerated pretty quickly. The party making good progress until my dice suddenly ran hot and we finished with a TPK!

My afternoon game was the session I was most anxious about. I was running my own adventure for ‘The Umerican Survival Guide’ and I whilst the table was full of familiar faces I was nervous running for so many creative folk! I think it went down ok, we certainly laughed a lot and I’ve got some ideas to tweak the adventure before I run it next at the UK Games Expo.

Thursday evening was another great social night, both in the hotel bar and at the party I was invited to by my roommate.

It was great to have a few minutes with Luke Gygax. Luke is the driving force behind the convention and Gary Con is a fantastic tribute to his dad. I’m sure Gary would be happy to see thousands of people gathering to play games in his memory.

“I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.”

Gary Gygax

I also got to chat and hang out with bunch of other well know D&D faces.

Satine Phoenix

Stefan Pokorny, aka ‘The Dwarvenaught’

with Jon Peterson (”Art & Arcana” & “Playing At The World”) and Mike Carr (”Dawn Patrol” and “In Search Of The Unknown” for D&D, amongst others!)

Whilst it’s great to see the new wave of D&D ‘Rock Stars’ promoting the hobby I think chatting with Mike Carr and him shaking my hand to congratulate me on my first ‘Dawn Patrol’ kill the previous night was a highlight of the convention!

Back in the bar I met up with more of the tribe, including Tom Tullis of Fat Dragon Games who produces the amazing 3D printable minis and scenery I use in a lot of my games at home.

Friday was my Birthday. I started an epic day of gaming running Operation Whitebox, a World War 2 RPG by Pete Spahn. It was really good to finally meet Pete and once again he had generously donated copies of the rulebook to all my players. He stopped by during the game to sign books and hang out. I had a great table of friends new and old who worked well together to complete their dangerous mission behind enemy lines with only two casualties!

I ran straight from my own game to sit at Stephen Newton’s table for his DCC adventure. Stephen’s a great judge and I was pleased to be back at his table this year. This was a completely new adventure to me and I was playing with a great bunch of players with a wide age range, kids through to adult. I’ve had some really great experiences playing at mixed tables with kids recently and this game was no exception!

After this game Stephen and I headed off to the next game, we were both playing in ‘Blacklisted in Lankhmar’ run by Jen Brinkman.

This was my first time playing with Jen and I was excited to grab a spot in this game at almost the last minute. Normally coming to the end of 12 hours of gaming my mind and attention would be wandering but Jen is a captivating judge, and DCC Lankhmar is a lot of fun - a great game perfectly reworked to fit this classic setting from the works of Fritz Leiber

I was planning a couple of quiet birthday beers before another early(ish) night - but it was not to be! I certainly wasn’t expecting to have the a couple of hundred people in the bar singing happy birthday before I was presented with this amazing cake by friends Dave and Kathy. I may have been a little drunk and emotional that night!

Saturday Morning’s game was my Dark Trails funnel adventure.

I squeezed a couple of extra players around the table for this and although I’ve added to it since it’s first outing at the UK Games Expo it’s clear I still have some work to do, but I think everyone had fun.

One of the extra players was a fellow twitch mini painter, Ali, it so good to meet her and take delivery of the minis she had painted for me!

Saturday afternoon I found Carl Heyl’s drop in/drop out Basic D&D game. Carl is the current host of long time Classic D&D podcast Save Or Die and I loved sitting in on his game for a little while.

I had to keep my time in Carl’s game short because I’d signed up to play at 5pm in a ‘Super Secret Playtest’ with Michael Curtis.

By the time I sat down the secret was ‘out’ and I was excited to find I’d be taking part in the first public play test of Goodman Games 5th Edition conversion of the classic module ‘Expedition to the Barrier Peaks’ This game was a lot of fun on so many levels. I was out of my comfort zone playing a Bard and in 5th Edition D&D too! However we had an absolute blast playing through some fun encounters and it ticked several things off my bucket list.

Playing with Michael Curtis had been a long standing ambition - he didn’t disappoint, even when he teased me with “Do you want to burn any luck? Oh, sorry, wrong system!” It was also cool to play a classic Gygax module at Gary Con!

Saturday night was another party night. After my game I met some more friends in the bar. Alex, Zach and Greg seemed to have been gaming non stop all weekend but we made time to hang out and enjoy a couple of ‘Old Fashioned’s before the unofficial ‘Cultural Exchange’ social night.

With Jen and my roommate Jobe Bitmann

with Jim and Hayley Skatch

I did it! Last year I failed to get all the Spellburn podcast folk together in a picture but here’s proof it can happen without incurring a Phlogiston disturbance!

The cultural exchange ran on and I enjoyed sampling and sharing local beer and food with friends, although the handful of Wisconsin cheese with Ghost peppers that I inadvertently almost inhaled nearly choked me!

As the unofficial event wound down in the early hours I noticed the bar filling up and managed to grab a couple more photos with the celebs.

Joe Manganiello - my wife is a big fan, clearly she’s just into guys who like D&D, right?

Matt Mercer came across as a really nice guy, clearly really passionate about the hobby.

Sunday arrived with even less sleep than previous days but I was able to grab a quick breakfast bite and a chat with my buddy Victor as we walked down to our morning game.

I ran my Red Box D&D adventure ‘Return To Lion Castle’ which is a tribute to the first D&D adventure I ever played. I only had three players - I’m assuming the other three who signed up were more hungover than me, which is quite an achievment! We still had a lot of fun and I hope to run this one again soon.

In the afternoon I sat down with Jen, Bob, Nick and Marlene for lunch. This is the second year Jen and I have had lunch on the Sunday so I’m calling this a new tradition too!

Speaking of traditions another one that I’m pleased to be part of was my last game of the convention. Bob Brinkman’s ‘Dead Dogs’ game ran past midnight. Bob once again did a fantastic job guiding a very full table of twenty (!) players through an amazing improv pirate themed DCC adventure! I laughed so much I almost cried. When I eventually had to hug everyone goodbye and walk back to my room I might actually have done so...

I checked out of the hotel on Monday and had good company for the day having been offered a ride back to Chicago with Doug, Stefan and co, the DCC art contingent. We had a great pub lunch and checked out the Chicago Art Institute before I took the obligatory selfies at ‘The Bean’

I caught my late flight home and Gary Con was over for another year

The memories live on and with a little bit of luck (and some hard work!) I hope to be back next year.

#garycon #garyconxi #gaming #rpg #tabletop #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #osr

26 notes · View notes

fanficparker · 5 years

Text

Ocean Eyes | Haz mini series | Part 2

Pairing: (Strangers to Friends to Lovers!) (Imaginary Love Triangle!) (Accidental Adultery!) Harrison Osterfield x Reader

A/n: It was my first ever fanfic, I earlier posted it on instagram and so thought of posting it here too. It’s trash. Check my masterlist for other fics, one-shots & more parts. IT’S A MINI SERIES, SO THERE ARE A LITTLE MORE THAN USUAL TIME SKIPS. I HOPE IT ISN’T THAT ANNOYING *prays*.

Word count: 2.98K

Warning: Physical insecurities, Angst, Drinking, refererence to menstrual phrase.

Description: Y/n Y/l/n, a doctor by profession, loner by destiny, having just a little celebrity crush on a British actor Tom Holland. Her whole life changes when she accidentally bumped into a blue-eyed man on a rainy dark night, who was supposed to be Tom’s best friend Harrison Osterfield. What will happen when Harrison starts to fall for her? This celebrity crush on Tom is intended to create some drama ;)

Part 2…

You were astonished to see your life-long favourite actor in front of your eyes. Thomas Stanley Holland a.k.a Tom Holland, the British actor best known for playing Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. God knows how many times you tried to apply for the Brother trust competition or planned to visit the comic cons when he was there. But because of your bad luck, everything failed. But it looks like you’re having a great day, getting introduced amongst 5 thousand fans is not as fun as being introduced personally. All thanks to Harrison. Tom and Harrison walked towards me chattering with each other. And your life-long celebrity crush is standing just 1 foot from me.

“Hi, there pretty lady. I am Tom… ” You didn’t let him complete his sentence and freaked out.

“Hoolllannndddd..of course, I know you, I am your big fan” Your freaking made both the Brits chuckle.

After a while, Harrison introduces you to his best mate.

“Tom she’s Y/n, she’s a great doctor and even works for charity.” Tom lets out his hand for a shake. You shook his hand and commented more of asked.

“That’s even more than a brother’s trust thing, by the way, when did you guys meet?” Harrison opened his mouth to answer.

“We met…… Wait! What?!…. I just met you a couple of hours ago, and it seems like I know you from years” he exclaimed with shock.

“Yeah cause you are extremely kind to let me stay here,” you replied smiling through your eyes.

“So if you guys are done appreciating each other, then what are we about to play?” Tom interrupt both of you from staring into each other’s eyes. You noticed that Harrison and you were both were having their gaze fixed on each other. He shook his head, breaking his gaze and rushed to grab a packet of playing cards and UNO.

Why did I feel so good looking into Harrison’s eyes?

All three of you played cards for like 3 hours, talking and giggling to your heart. They told you that they will be leaving on Thursday for London and would love if you joined them, to which you agree only if you pay for your own tickets. It felt so good to have friends. After a while, you finally yawned, and as per the yawning rule or rather magic, they both repeated your actions. All 3 of you dropped the games and got inside the rooms. You were given a really decent guest room to stay.

You went to the bathroom, and uggghhh you realized that you got your periods. You weren’t carrying any pads or tampons with yourself and this wasn’t your house. And of course, you don’t want Harrison’s trousers getting stained with your vaginal blood. Finally, you decided to ask Harrison for the sanitary stuff. Being a doctor, and seeing boys freaking out at the mention of ‘periods’ made you really frustrated. All you wished was that Harrison wasn’t that type of boy. You knocked at his door, but it was already open, so you peeped in, observing that he was asleep, you walked closer to him. You didn’t want to disturb him but there’s no choice.

You started to whisper “Hazzzzzzzzz” by the name Tom was calling him, slightly shaking his body.

He murmured “Okay so now I started dreaming about you y/n.” smiling like an idiot.

“What?!” you blurted out, making him jerked off and wake up.

“Oh sorry I thought I was dreaming of y..” he stops before completing the sentence, he appeared kind of embarrassed

“D-do you need anything, any problem?”

“Umm. Yeah… I just got ummm.. a period and don’t have pads or tampons, so if you have any here?.” He listened to you and rubbed his eyes to elevate the sleepiness.

“Only I live here only, and the only person occasionally coming here is Tom and we both are guys so……..but don’t worry there’s a 24-hour open store in the street, I will bring it from there”. You nodded and he rushed out of the house and in 5 mins came back, handling you a packet of sanitary pads.

“Thank you so much Haz-Harrison”

“It’s fine and you call me Haz” You both shared a smile and greeted each other good night. And you left to your room. You can’t stop thinking about how nice he is with that gorgeous looks. How can anyone not fall for him? What the hell are you thinking about?! You shrugged off these weird thoughts arising in your mind, getting into sleep, only to dream about him, the blue-eyed boy you bumped into today, having no idea that the boy too reciprocated your feelings and felt the same way. Harrison couldn’t stop thinking how sweet and polite you were. How you looked extremely pretty with or without glasses. How his clothes looked so cute on you. And slept with his unconscious mind thinking about you the whole night. Co-incidence? Is it?

•••

The next day the blue-eyed blond boy woke up at 9. He went down to grab some breakfast and to see if you were awake. But he couldn’t find you anywhere rather he found two plates kept covered on the breakfast nook. He removed the cover to see a delicious looking omelette and some bacon on each plate. Then he noticed a note lying near the plates saying:

“Hey Haz,

I need to leave early to check out last night’s patient, and my car too is fine now, so I thought of completing some work and then go to my hotel and start packing up for our Thursday’s flight to London back. Thank you for making me stay last night and for letting me stay in future in your house in London. By the way, I made you and Tom some breakfast. I hope you guys like it. Also, sorry for using the kitchen without your permission, but I didn’t want to wake you up, as you already got to wake up for me in the middle of the night. Once again thank you and I can’t wait to meet you guys again on Thursday in the airport. See you guys…

Love, Y/n…💕 ”

This letter brought an instant smile to his face, but he was kind of sad too cause you left and it’s still 4 days for him to see you again. While he was thinking about the previous night with you, he felt a punch on his shoulder.

“So, what’s up mate?” Tom said removing his hand.

“Nothing, Y/n made breakfast for us.”

“That’s great, where’s she? ”

“She will meet us on Thursday in the airport”

“Oh great, By the way, she’s a great cook” Tom appreciated while munching a big piece of pancake.

•••

It was a long week for you. Of course, it feels longer when you are waiting for something eagerly. You were eager to meet him, not your favourite celebrity but his blue-eyed friend whom you bumped into. It was finally the day to meet him again. You reached the airport eagerly waiting for Haz and Tom to arrive. Just 30 minutes were left for the flight to take off… You were basically not too fashionable, but you couldn’t stop dressing nicely trying to put an 'impression’ in front of Harrison. You were tapping your feet eagerly waiting for the boys to arrive and finally, you saw them.

Harrison saw you standing there waiting. He was seeing you again after almost a week, unable to take his eyes off from you. Tom notices him staring at you. He playfully pokes his elbow into the blond boy’s arm.

“Ouch Tom, what was this for? ”

“Someone’s in love, did the cupid hit yours on your choke hold” he teased him.

“Stop it, Tom, it’s not like what you are talking,” Harrison said softly as he reached you. He knew that you had a celebrity crush on Tom which bothered him in ways he never expected. He instantly wore a fake smile which actually converted into a real smile as soon as you hugged him and greeted. You all greeted each other and headed to the boarding. And soon you boarded the plane. You all had a great time together, it was obvious you are gonna end up being great friends.

After reaching London after that really long journey, we headed to a restaurant as per both of those Brit’s recommendation. Luckily, that place was really nice… It was a great pleasure to travel with these amazing people. We talked a lot, watched some stupid YouTube videos, and even slept. Finally, the flight reached the destination. We head outside the hotel. It was still afternoon in London, and we were quite hungry. So, they took me to one of the restaurants to eat.

“So basically I am thinking as my and Haz’s parents, and Paddy is in France and they are on an exploration trip to see whole of Europe so I guess I, Haz and you shall live in Haz’s house till your place is fully constructed. We all can have a lot of fun.” Tom suggested.

“Yeah yeah, I love this idea,” Haz said fidgeting his fingers. Listening to Harrison’s approval, a slight reddish tint covered your cheeks.

“Yeah, also I guess my house is under construction and Haz-Harrison’s place is near to my hospital, so it really is the best of best options,” you said trying hard not to sound exciting.

“We are friends, you can call me Haz” he smiled, making you smile too. You really felt 100% safe with Tom and Haz. You were really excited to spend time with Harrison ’especially’.

•••

Harrison showed you his home, it was absolutely cosy and felt homy. Haz felt so good to have you at his place, every time you appreciated him, smiled or giggled, he felt his heart-beat increase to dangerous levels.

Time passed away so quickly with Harrison’s company. You and Harrison have already spent three weeks together becoming really close friends. You even be-friended Tom’s brothers Sam and Harry. You can say that you were a part of their gang. Harrison often goes out for shoots, ad films or modelling dropping you to your hospital. You both hung out with Tom and his brothers in the evening most of the times, playing stupid games or doing weird Instagram lives. This weekend you were invited to a pool party at Zendaya’s resort. And it was finally the time to attend this party…

•••

You wore a swimsuit, knowing that almost every girl joining the party would be wearing a hot 2 piece bikini. They all were big actresses or models with a perfect figure, but you were a doctor, so showing too much skin can make you feel embarrassed as what you thought. The little insecurity was travelling your brain. Finally, you dressed up in a pretty floral halter swimsuit. You covered your suit with a cotton shrug so that it would easy to remove it and enjoy the pool party. Haz and Tom were also ready, they must be wearing their swimming pants inside their clothes. You all went to Zendaya’s house. Zendaya warmly welcomed you all. Before going into the pool, you all changed into your swimming outfit. Luckily, you just have to remove you shrug. You prayed that you didn’t look bad in front of other hot celebrities. The decoration around the pool was on fleak. There were barbecues and loads of cocktails. You eagerly waited for everyone at the cocktail counter and soon people started coming out in their swimwear. They all looked even more beautiful in real life than in pictures. You saw Tom, who was looking great like always, but your eyes weren’t searching for him. Your gaze stopped at the blue-eyed blonde. He looked so hot..! An instant, involuntary smile formed on your face, but in the next moment you observed other girls around you, they all looked so perfect with their Godesss like figure.

Constantly seeing celebrities and models with smooth, clear skin and flawless curves walking around you, made you wish desperately for a different body. You looked at your waist, easily spotting some stretch marks, your hands they looked so ugly.

“Why would Haz ever like me?” This question wandered your brain, making you feel weak. You felt like your brain was attacked with tons of insecurities. You felt too weak to face Harrison. Your vision started to get blurry due to the tears forming in your eyes. Your little physical insecurities reached new levels when you saw Harrison talking to another woman, who was absolutely stunning. You also need a dance partner, and the only person you want to hold your waist or look into your eyes was Harrison Osterfield. You couldn’t hold back your tears. You didn’t like anyone seeing you weak, and you felt extremely weak right now. You decided to go inside Zendaya’s house. You weren’t sure if you heard any voice calling your name as you ran inside the house. The kitchen was vacant, so you went inside it, resting your hands on the kitchen counter and your head low, you started pouring down tears. After a few seconds, you heard footsteps approaching towards you, you instantly wiped off your tears, and stood straight facing the wall, your heart still felt heavy and your eyes still wanted to shed more tears. You felt a soft tap on your shoulder. You took a deep sigh turning around, only to see Harrison standing in front of you.

“Y/n, why did your (run?)… ” the blonde couldn’t complete his sentence as he noticed tears marks all over your cheeks. He softly placed his hand on your cheeks, caressing it with his thumb and with a deeply concerned voice he asked “Hey, why are you crying? Tell me if someone misbehaved! I will kill him”

“No it’s not… ” your voice was trembling, your throat felt dry, unable to hold back more tears, you again burst out crying. Unexpectedly the blonde boy hugged you tightly, making your head rest on his bare chest. He brushed your hairs using his fingers while rubbing your back to calm you down. You could hear his heart-beat. Both his actions and heart-beat made you feel safe and calm.

“Y/n why are you crying? Please tell me?” he asked softly breaking the hug as he tucked some lose hair-strands behind your ear.

“Haz….” you wanted to tell him, but your throat was extremely dry making you unable to speak. Seeing you like this, Harrison instantly grabbed a glass of water, handing it to you. You slowly drenched your throat, feeling a lot better.

“Y/n, you can tell me, I was just about to ask for the dance, and you came here running and crying. You are really making me worried” You were shocked to hear that he wanted you for dance.

“Y-you want me for the dance..?”

“Oh yes of course, why don’t I?”

“But I am ugly, and nothing in front of all these beautiful girls who are successful models and have a goddess like figures, what if everyone makes fun of you because of me, what if… ” The blonde boy was extremely shocked to hear all this. He never thought you were any less beautiful than anyother person in the world. After all since, the day he met you, he was unable to stop thinking about you. He interrupted you in the middle.

“What if I tell you that you are the most beautiful person out here, not even out here, actually you are the most beautiful person I have ever met. Not only by your looks but also by our soul. Why would anyone make fun of me because of you? To be honest, if anyone even does that, then it would only because they are jealous of you. Y/n you’re amazing, you look perfect. I really love you for what you are. You can’t just underestimate yourself. You’re perfect.” Listening to his words made your heart flutter. Tears again fell out of your eyes, but they were tears of relief. You hugged him again, his cologne felt so good. After a while, Haz realized that Tom was calling his name.

“Y/n you sniffed on me, I am not even wearing a shirt,” he said sarcastically, giggling at the last, make you giggle too, as you broke the hug. Harrison felt like his whole world lit up, as he saw you smile again. Your laugh was music to his ears. You both didn’t even realize when your gazed got fixed on each other. Your eyes were locked with his and so with him. Harrison flickered his gaze from your eyes to your lips and back to your eyes. He was leaning in towards you, you slowly closed your eyes in response. Both of your faces were just one inch apart when you heard Tom’s voice screaming his best friend’s name.

“Haz Hazzzz. ” You both were stopped in the tracks, as your body jolted and moved back. Tom walked into the kitchen, destroying your moment which actually never happened.

“What are you both doing here? The dance is about to start” he informed.

“Oh yeah, yeah, I was just getting some water” Harrison answered walking away with Tom, giving you a small smile.

(TBC) (IT’S A MINI SERIES, SO THERE ARE A LITTLE MORE THAN USUAL TIME SKIPS. I HOPE IT ISN’T THAT ANNOYING, THX FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT, LOVE YOU) (PART 3 COMING TOMORROW)

27 notes · View notes

outdoorguyuk · 5 years

Text

Granada! It’s so Moorish (boom boom...Kill me Now)

Long before I got back into climbing, I booked a holiday with the fam along with Andy & Elaine (from the Brecon Beacons fastpacking trip) and their children Esmé (9) & James (5 months). We booked an Airbnb to Otura at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Granada in Spain. It turned out to be an absolute gold mine of amazing climbing routes and hiking. Kerching!

I bought a couple of local climbing guides (I’d particularly recommend the Andalusia - Guia de Escalada Deportiva (if you want it please click on the link and buy it so I get a bit of cash from Amazon too!) and spoke to a local guide called Nino from the amazing Club Cabraloca (the appropriately named crazy goat when translated - Seriously, if you want to climb in Granada hit him up, he’s an absolute legend and they do everything through canyoning, via ferrata to diving or caving). We chatted by email in the run up to the holiday - Nino doesn’t speak English so it was a great opportunity to practice my Spanish (I’m terrible at languages but I’ve been trying to relearn since before our last trip to Barcelona with Andy and Elaine - I’m rubbish but getting there).

Lads Lads Lads - From left to Right; Antonio (interpreter & dog owner extraordinaire), Andy, Yours Truly and Nino (Club Cabraloca and all round legend)

I explained to Nino that there would be 4 adults (who apart from Sammy, climb regularly indoors, along with me having done a bit of rock climbing as a kid), Lenora (age 7 - an absolute beast), Esmé (9 - who has done a bit of bouldering indoors), Autumn (3 - who has done a bit of bouldering indoors but mainly will be climbing for our entertainment *please don’t call social services) and James (4 months, who most likely won’t be up for climbing but we would see how he feels on the day).

We wanted to climbs somewhere (in order of importance) 1 - That was in the shade (It’s brutally hot in Granada in August), 2 - (that had grades between 4-7 in the same spot so that everyone could have a challenge) and 3 - My Spanish isn’t particularly good so would he have someone that spoke English (I’m happy ordering a few beers or chatting conversationally, but don’t want to die because of getting a verb mixed up). Nino was all over it and reassured me all would be taken care of.

For anyone that hasn’t been, I can’t recommend Granada enough. It’s a small city that isn’t very busy (coming from London that’s a massive plus), there’s very little traffic, you’re right on the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range (which has Mulhacen, the highest mountain in Western Europe outside the alps as well as the most Southern ski resort) and some ace beaches (the lesser known Costa Tropical) which don’t suffer the hordes of people and Brits that other coasts nearby do. Plus the Alhambra, Nasrid Palace & Generalife Gardens are truly spectacular.

The Nasrid Palace, presented to you by Big L

We spent a few days checking out the area, visiting the tourist spots, going to the beach, lounging around our pool and BBQing (with some drinking thrown in too), but also scoped out some climbing routes on a hike too. For those not in the know, Los Cahorros is a fantastic trail of rope bridges, rivers and stunning views through a gorge and mountainsides. It’s also famous for having some incredible climbing routes, so we had a good old hike around to check it out.

A hill at the start of Los Cahorros

It’s always a good idea to set off early when the days get so hot so we did most of our hiking in the morning to head home at around 2. The hike is really fun and family friendly with plenty of access to mountain run off water (I always bring my Sawyer Filter with me wherever I go where I might run out of water, despite the several litres of frozen water we had with us, as it’s ace just to fill up whenever you need. Super handy, very light, connects to a regular bottle and lasts forever. link on image below).

Los Cahorros only has about 300m of elevation across the hike so is family friendly whilst being hard enough work when Elaine was carrying James and I was mainly carrying Autumn.

Lunch in a nice little cave

Anyway...it’s really cool with a load of rope bridges, stunning scenery, great access to water, lots of shade & amazing climbing routes. Do it.

Next up on the list was hooking up with Nino. Unfortunately Antonio, Nino’s buddy and translator couldn’t make the Thursday so we rescheduled for Friday. No biggie, as we had a lazy day by the pool but come Friday we were all super hyped to get on some rock.

We met Nino in the Lidl car park near the main Decathlon (I love Decathlon) and had a good laugh about my obscene amount of emails I had sent Nino. He had been very patient and was just as nice in person as he was on email. His mate Antonio would be our translator as Nino’s English was similar to my Spanish, and Antonio came with the added bonus of his dog who was epic. She was a jet black Belgian shepherd and the kids were super hyped as they were missing Ripley (our Sproodle).

After a quick drive to Alfacar (there are loads of routes within a very short drive of Granada) we found our wall. After a pretty steep hike up the hill through some trees (I was a little worried about Elaine as she had James strapped to her chest, but she’s an absolute machine and didn’t seem phased at all) we got to a really nice and shady ledge below our climbing spot.

Autumn kicking back at basecamp (poser)

All the gear, all the ideas (Nino & Antonio, at least)

Sammy, checking out the photos, being stalked by the dog

After setting up, Nino asked who wanted to go first - before he’d even had the chance to finish the sentence, Lenora was up and putting on a harness whilst simultaneously saying ‘I will’ in a manner that suggested this wasn’t up for discussion. Within minutes, she had blasted her way up the first route (route 8 of el Sector del Esconchón in the Guia de Escalada en Alfacar Granada, if you’re interested) and cockily confirmed that it was easy.

Lenora (just turned 7) before ‘warming up on an easy route’ - her words not mine

Esmé and Autumn found it a bit trickier and only made it half way up, but Esmé doesn’t climb as much and Autumn is only 3. To give her credit, she got a good 8 metres up and it’s her first time climbing outdoors. We all had a good laugh when Autumn rolled over onto her back, hanging from the rope and started shouting “I can’t roll over! I can’t roll over!”. Please don’t call social services.

Like a beetle on it’s back (Autumn, 3 years old)

I normally belay with a Black Diamond ATC Guide (linked to Amazon) but Antonio got me on a Grigri+ for the first time and it felt a bit odd to use. Paying out the rope was a little more tricky but I appreciated the extra safety feature knowing that it auto locks if someone is belaying me and not paying attention (having 4 kids with us, that’s quite possible too). I’m still in two minds about which I prefer to use, but then redundancy is key in climbing and the GriGri definitely offers a greater level of safety.

Esmé getting involved

Sammy had a good old crack at the route and managed to top out, but freaked a bit when she saw the view. It’s a bit different to an indoor wall, when you’re already 1350m up, the 30m feels a lot higher.

Nino and Antonio started planning out the more challenging routes once they’d gauged our abilities on the warm up route. They put up a harder route (route 5) which Elaine and Andy promptly powered through, followed by me. It was a challenging route (a V+ in the local grades, which according to the guidebook and the UKC website which have a conversion chart shows the local grades being two lower than normal French grades, so this would have been a 6a+ apparently).

Andy!

Esmé having a crack at the second route with Andy on belay

Not one to be outdone, Lenora got tied in and had a shot at the harder route. I wasn’t sure how far up she’d get as it wasn’t particularly easy and she’s still only small. Of course, she flipped the beast mode switch and absolutely crushed it.

She never fails to amaze me. Big L went up the wall like a rat up a drain pipe & both our guides were super impressed by how brave she was. Putting in all those hours at YonderE17 and the Arch obviously paid off. Things were going really well until Lenora reached up into hold (in the side of the big rock in the picture above and got a nasty surprise.

Lenora topping out but getting a nasty surprise

There was a really spiky bush in the rock which Lenora put her hand right in to, so the pain combined with a sudden realisation that she was super high up freaked her out. She wanted to come down right away, but was pretty gripped so lost her concentration. Usually at the Reach and Castle climbing centres (which I think are about 15 metres) she loves abseiling down, with whoops of joy and wild/possibly real claims that she’s a ninja/special forces etc. Things were a bit different here, with the wall not being as flat as in a climbing centre what with overhangs and the risk of other spiky plants. It all got a bit much for her but we finally got her down. Nino was great and climbed over to her, got her to relax a bit and then things were fine.

Nino helping Lenora find her Zen

Meanwhile, Antonio had set up a much harder route (route 2 in the guide) along with changing the first easy route over a few metres into a similarly hard route (route 7). Elaine had a crack at the hardest route and despite having the background noise of a crying 5 month old baby James being held by Andy, a mildly hysteric Lenora, along with Autumn and Esmé arguing over who was more of a unicorn, managed to focus and get on with it.

Elaine, getting stuck in

After Elaine got down, the kids were getting a bit grumpy so I helped Elaine and Sammy get them all back to the comfort of the air con in the cars (and iPads) so that Andy and I could have a crack at the last routes before helping Nino and Antonio Pack up.

Where’s Wally? I’m on there somewhere (shots from the cars)

Me, topping out on route 2 - loads of fun & a bit of a challenge. Great shot by Andy

The view over Granada from Alfacar

All in all it was a great day. I thoroughly enjoyed the routes - the final two routes were the most challenging and in very different ways, but I think we could have pushed it up a grade looking back even. The view over Granada was spectacular and the size of the mountains is really humbling. To give context, Alfacar (a low to medium size mountain) from where we parked the car, was starting at around 1300m, which is roughly the height of Ben Nevis (the highest peak in the UK at 1345m) with the peak topping out at around 1400m.

I’d love to get back to the area again for more exploration - apparently Autumn is ideal as it’s still nice and warm, but not so punishingly hot. This opens up a number of walls that don’t have shade at the bottom, so that would be nice.

All in all, I can thoroughly recommend Granada and if you get the chance to go, make sure you hit up Nino at Club Cabraloca to save you lugging a ton of kit over whilst getting the benefit of a super experienced local guide.

#granada #spain #alhambra #climbing #girlswhoclimb #sierranevada #sportclimbing #womenwhoclimb #alfacar

1 note · View note

wikibious · 3 years

Text

Who is Raffaello Follieri? Wiki, Biography, Age, Anne Hathaway's ex-Boyfriend, Instagram

Raffaello Follieri Wiki - Raffaello Follieri Biography

Raffaello Follieri is Anne Hathaway's ex-boyfriend. He claims that she never spoke to him after he was arrested for fraud in 2008. Follieri spoke about their sudden separation in a new interview, saying that he "never" heard from the actress, who was dating at the time, once he was handcuffed. “That night Annie called me from Los Angeles where she was doing press,” he recalled to the Daily Mail. “We were on the phone for 10 minutes talking about when she could come home. If I remember correctly, Annie's last words were "I love you forever" and we ended the call. That was at 2 a.m. on June 24, 2008, ”he continued. “At 6 in the morning, they arrested me. I never spoke to Annie again. "Page Six has contacted the Hathaway representative for comment.

Raffaello Follieri Age

Raffaello Follieri's age is unknown.

Anne Hathaway said, she never spoke to him after he was arrested for fraud in 2008

For four years, and Anne Hathaway in love would tell anyone who would listen that her charismatic boyfriend Raffaello Follieri was "a god." Not only was he, she said effusively, "soooooooo", but the handsome Italian real estate developer treated her very similar to her fictional character in The Princess Diaries, the movie that she launched into her brilliant career when I was a teenager. She took it around the world on jets and yachts, spending £ 87,000 on a private plane for a New Year's Eve party at the home of fashion designer Oscar De La Renta in the Dominican Republic, where Bill and Hillary Clinton were also guests. There were suites at the Ritz in Paris, the Excelsior in Rome, the Dorchester in London, and God knows how many other luxurious hotels when they weren't in her opulent £ 30,000-a-month Manhattan apartment. Here, Follieri, who claimed to have close ties to the Vatican, entertained some of the richest people in the world while looking for investors to buy properties belonging to the Catholic Church. Hathaway was, most of the time, by her side. It was her, she says, a "fiery" relationship with passionate outbreaks, passionate makeups, and plenty of gifts, including stunning sapphire and diamond earrings, an emerald and pearl Cartier necklace, and a diamond topaz bracelet. Hathaway, in turn, gave her "acute" green plastic frog, the kind that in fairy tales she turns into a handsome prince when she kisses a princess. “She was 25 when we met . We spent many happy and happy moments. I thought nothing was the limit for me, "says Follieri, today, in this exclusive interview. 'I remember one night when Annie (her name for Hathaway) was filming in another country, I was in the apartment looking out of this amazing window and feeling like I could do anything. that I would like. Then, on June 24, 2008, Follieri was arrested for fraud. "That night Annie phoned me from Los Angeles, where she was doing Press ," he says. We were on the phone for ten minutes talking about when she could come home. "If I remember correctly, Annie's last words were 'I love you forever and we ended the call. That was at 2 am on June 24, 2008. At 6 am I was arrested. I never spoke to Annie again.". Follieri insists that he harbors no bitterness towards Hathaway, but the pain is written all over his face. Since his arrest, he has not had any communication from the woman he loved, not even a note of support as he "broke into a thousand pieces" in jail. "Never, never, never," he says. “I think she made a business decision. He decided that saving her career was the most important thing. I am not bitter. You can look me in the eye I don't have rage, but they have hurt me. " This is the first time that Follieri has spoken openly about what would become known as the Vati-Con scandal. Following his arrest, court documents show that prosecutors claimed that Follieri lied about his ties to the Vatican. They said he claimed that top church officials had authorized him to represent the Catholic Church in the US while he was buying churches and monasteries. Investors' money, most notably Ron Burkle, the private equity billionaire best known for his close personal friendship with former President Clinton, was then used, prosecutors said, to finance the lavish lifestyle that Follieri led. with his famous girlfriend. In addition to the jets and yachts, his company's expense account paid for expensive meals, flowers, medical expenses for him, his parents, and Hathaway, and an elite dog-walking service for Esmeralda, the brown lab. partner. Later, Follieri would admit 14 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy in a New York court as part of a settlement reached with prosecutors. He really had no choice. Had the case gone to trial, he would face a possible 160-year sentence. Read Also: Who is Jennifer Emmi? Wiki, Biography, Age, Family, Charged, Arrested, Investigation Instead, he was jailed for four and a half years. Following his release, he was deported to Italy and remains unable to enter the United States. "One day I was in the Olympic Tower and the next in solitary confinement in a cell in New York," says Follieri. "You can absolutely say that I flew too close to the sun." When you are young, you try to do things quickly. I was 20 years old. I was superficial. I made mistakes. “For example, the first part of the trip to the Dominican Republic when we went to Oscar de la Renta's New Year's party was on business. I was with the Cardinal of Santo Domingo. I was wrong because I mixed business with pleasure and invited some friends. “It should have been detected when the budgets were approved, not years later when the money was already spent. "But, as you know, I pleaded guilty to my crime and paid a lot for my mistakes." Now 43, Follieri has, as he puts it, 'more gray hair and a few kilos more' than the dark-haired 'god'. who was photographed at endless parties with Hathaway. He is now happily married to Konstantina, a friend from New York who stood by his side during his years in prison. They have homes in Milan and Athens, a four-year-old son, Pasquale, and they expect a daughter any day. "If there's something positive that has come out of this, it's understanding that you need to have the right person by your side, someone you trust. I trusted the wrong people. Konstantina came to see me during the four years. My wife is a person at heart. She really cares about me, not what I have or what I can afford. If she tomorrow she decided to go and live a simple life, she would be fine with that. “But now I keep my business and private assets very separate. If I rent a jet for personal use, I pay for it myself. I live the life that my private resources allow me to live. Boat rental. I love sailing, there is something magical about it. Do you want to condemn me for that? Today, Follieri could afford to write a check for a fleet of luxury yachts if he so desired. He has built a new business empire that overshadows his ambitions in those heady Hathaway days. His company, Follieri Energy, has assets that include 162 service stations, worth more than £ 150 million. His parent company, FHolding UAE, with his other subsidiaries, is worth God knows how much. "The rebuilding was not easy. I kept in touch with people I had met in the United States. We had a meeting in London where we discussed business. They introduced me to contacts in Saudi Arabia. They knew what had happened and they trusted me." Right now, Follieri is considering investing £ 200 million of venture capital in the UK to develop a chain of green service stations. They will be a percentage of traditional carbon fuel and 50% of green energy, such as hydrogen and electric charge. Each will be self-sufficient, with solar panels on the roof, '' he says, his eyes shining with the passion that won this once-faithful Catholic boy from Foggia, southern Italy, Hathaway's love and an entrance to the interior of Bill Clinton. circle. Follieri lost her faith in jail, but many of the powerful men she once socialized with remain friends, such as Tony Podesta, brother of Bill Clinton's former chief of staff John Podesta, who is president of FHolding UAE. He describes Follieri as "a true visionary." Follieri, an only child whose father was a lawyer with connections in industry, banking and the Vatican, was 23 years old and was jogging near his Rome apartment when the idea of buying real estate for the church took hold. The Church sold property to compensate victims after the pedophile priest scandal. Follieri had church connections: His friend Andrea Sodano was the nephew of Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who, under the ailing Pope John Paul II, essentially ran the Vatican as secretary of state. “Local developers were buying properties in Manhattan and Los Angeles, but most of the properties were in the middle of nowhere with little real estate value. The Follieri Group was the first real estate fund to purchase church properties globally. "Andrea was my partner and vice president, so he had direct access to the Vatican." Within a few months of moving to Manhattan, Follieri began to land a lucrative investment. He was introduced to Hathaway in 2004. "I was having dinner with friends," he says. "A Swedish friend asked, 'Can I invite this girlfriend of mine? "I didn't know about Annie's movies, I wasn't watching the movies she was in: The Princess Diaries. She was just a good girl who made a really good impression. 'We were young. I was 25. She was 21. years. I invited her to lunch but I was late. I sent her roses to apologize, I think that night, "she laughs softly." It was a relationship that worked immediately. As Follieri's fund grew and Hathaway's career went from strength to strength, their love blossomed. So did Follieri's overspending: offices at 350 Park Avenue, the five-bedroom apartment at Olympic Tower, the private jet to the Michael Jordan Golf Tournament in the Bahamas where, again, Bill Clinton was invited, a superyacht in the Mediterranean. , another in the Adriatic. Over and over it happened. In fact, the week before 15 FBI agents arrived at his parents' apartment in Trump Tower, where he was staying that night, Follieri was in Capri, the playground of the rich and famous, finalizing arrangements for his 30 birthday at the exclusive Da Paolino on the island restaurant. When the bell rang, my mother answered. That's what I regret the most: that she was in the house when I was arrested. My mother has been to hell and she has come back for me. '' Follieri was handcuffed and taken to federal court in New York, where the charges against him were read. The bail was set at an astronomical £ 17 million. Follieri collapsed. "I couldn't breathe. I felt really bad. They took me to the hospital and, around midnight, they took me to prison, to solitary confinement . 'That's when it hit me hard. I was trying to understand what was happening to me - someone who never had a parking ticket in his life. '' Raffaello's inability to understand his arrest stems from the fact that charges of wasting investors' money had been issued for more than a year. a year earlier, in a civil lawsuit brought against Follieri by his billionaire investor, Ron Burkle. That lawsuit was settled and Follieri paid £ 1 million. However, two allegations remained: that Follieri had transferred sums of money totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars to a bank account in Monaco, and that he had lied about his connections to the Vatican, with some alleging that he claimed be the CFO. Follieri does not pretend to be a saint. He acknowledges that he was careless, arrogant and fiery. But some scratched their heads as to why the authorities criticized him so much. Follieri cannot discuss the charges as part of his plea deal, but he says, “I am not a criminal. Real estate is competitive and lucrative. My business was very successful. We had acquired large properties throughout the United States. “I accomplished a lot at a young age. Most get there when they are 50 or 60 years old. I think a lot of people didn't like that. "I was too big. I had too much, too soon, and since Annie and I were dating, I got noticed. I think the publicity sparked interest in me." The reality was that Hathaway's 'god' he had no chance of raising his £ 17 million bail, so he was transported from New York court in chains. "Like some kind of animal, they left me below 10 degrees in the cold in a T-shirt and a pair plastic pants, "he says." I stopped eating, probably for eight days. It was a dark time. "If she had wanted to contact me, she knew how to communicate with me through my family and friends." She did not do it. “We had been fighting a lot, as many couples do, but we were still in a relationship. He was broken into a thousand pieces. “I was at the bottom, but, at one point, I thought, 'This is not fair to my parents. I'm going to get over this. "My mother helped me. Every month for four years, she flew from Italy to New York and took a train to where I was to see me." Raffaello was transferred to four different prisons during his incarceration. "The detention center in Brooklyn was the most difficult," he says. “There were 120 people in a room with two bathrooms. Excrement in the showers. It was terrible, terrible, with rats under the beds. The food they gave us was so rotten that I got sick. That's where my religion left me a bit. Some say it's what God puts us through to test us, but I don't see it that way. I still believe in God, but I stay out of the church. " When Follieri came out of jail in nothing but a sweatshirt and the sweatpants he was wearing, he weighed more than two kilos less than when he entered. Since then he has needed surgery to remove his gallbladder and suffers from insomnia. "I did not sleep because you are always alert for something to happen, for someone to come for you, so you have to be prepared. That stays with me. I sleep very little, three or four hours at the most. "You know how people say," Oh, everything happens in life "? He shakes his head." Everything that happened will stay with me forever. It doesn't matter how much business I do, how many ships I buy, or how many planes, those years. prison is always there. You just have to learn to live with it and learn from it. And you learn. Being on the plane back to Italy was the best feeling of my life, better than being in the Olympic Tower on the 47th floor because it was freedom. My parents met me at the airport. We drove for three hours to Rome, where my mother had organized a big lunch. I had not eaten for a long time. "A few weeks later, Konstantina came to spend time with me and never left. So that's it, my life started again. " FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK Read the full article

#RaffaelloFollieri #RaffaelloFollieriage #RaffaelloFollieriarrested #RaffaelloFollieribio #RaffaelloFollieriexgirlfriend #RaffaelloFollierifamily #RaffaelloFollieriimage #RaffaelloFollieriinvestigation #RaffaelloFollierimanymorefactsyouneedtoknow #RaffaelloFollierispouse #RaffaelloFollieristatement #RaffaelloFollieriwiki #whoisRaffaelloFollieri

0 notes

adrihoney-blog1 · 6 years

Text

Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Rides - Ranked from Worst to Best

Hi, guys! This is my personal list of all the Magic Kingdom rides, ranked worst to best. I’m basing my list on wait queues, ride time, actual quality of the ride, and other little factors. For my list, I won’t be including attractions like The Carousel of Progress or Philarmagic. This is solely things you ride, and not a staged show. Let’s get started!

22. Tomorrowland Speedway

Honestly, I’ve just never liked this one. It’s not fast enough to be really fun, but not slow enough to be relaxing. And while you do have a steering wheel, you’re limited to a small strip of space to steer within, which roughly jolts you if you get too off track. The wait is boring, and the ride itself is boring. I could forgive it if you at least saw some cool things next to the “road” as you drive, but there’s nothing there.

21. Liberty Square Riverboat

If you’re looking to just get off your feet for a while, this is... Well, it’s an option. It’s a large and fancy looking riverboat that you can ride around for a bit. To ride a whole round trip, it’s around 17 minutes. While a relaxing boat ride sounds nice, you’re still technically outdoors, and if you aren’t one of the first people on the boat, you could be stuck standing. It’s not a very fun ride, and really, it doesn’t have a whole lot of Disney magic to it.

20. Dumbo the Flying Elephant

I think this is a cute ride for small kids, but really? It’s just another spinning ride. You know those rides, the ones at cheap carnivals. If the line is short, I’d say go for it, but if there are longer wait times for this ride, it’s really not worth it, since there’s another ride exactly like this one.

19. The Magic Carpets of Aladdin

This ride is almost exactly like Dumbo. But, I do like this one a little better. The magic carpet is a lot more fun to me than the flying elephant. The details are fun, and the ride itself is right next to Aloha Isle, where you can get yourself a Dole Whip. The wait for this is usually a bit longer than Dumbo, but I personally think this one is better.

18. Mad Tea Party

This is a classic ride, and I don’t hate it or anything, but it’s not one I typically go on. The whole design and aspect of it is super fun. Spinning around in a teacup at a crazy tea party is a great idea! But, I kinda wish it could be something you just sit in, rather than get an arm workout in while having to manually spin the teacup yourself. The wait line also leaves something to be desired, since it’s just another place where you stand. Nothing fun or interactive about it.

17. Prince Charming Regal Carousel

The carousel is cute and classic, just not a go to for me. I think this is the perfect ride for kids aged maybe four or five to feel like royalty, especially if you pair it with the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or dinner in Cinderella’s castle. The details in the ride are gorgeous, and it makes for a great photo opportunity.

16. Walt Disney World Railroad

This ride is partially meant to take you from Main Street to Fantasyland to Frontierland without you having to walk so much, but really it’s better as just a standalone thing to ride and get off your feet for 15 minutes. It’s sometimes pretty inconvenient to walk from the station to your actual destination, and is a lot more fun to just walk through the park to get there.

15. Jungle Cruise

This is another Disney classic, that I honestly think could use some updating. The animatronics are pretty old and out of date, and the only thing I really like about this ride is getting to sit down and the large amount of puns. I mean, SO MANY PUNS. Unfortunately, it isn’t a ride you can just walk up to and ride, you most definitely need a fast pass for it, as wait times are usually pretty high.

14. Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid

This is a typical Disney dark ride, perfect for any princess fan. The Under the Sea segment of the ride is probably the best part. The queue is decorative and ends up taking you under the Little Mermaid castle. And this might just be me, but I always lose cell service in there, and it makes the wait feel so much longer. The only other thing I don’t like is that with rides like this, they try and cram the whole story into this short ride. They do a fine job of it, but it really makes you miss the parts of the story that aren’t included.

13. Astro Orbiter

So, this is another ride like Dumbo, but this one is my favorite of the spinning rides. This starts off with a wait for an elevator, which takes you high up to the actual spinning ride, where you can get a view of the whole park. The little rockets you ride in are super cute, and if you ride this at nighttime, it’s absolutely breathtaking.

12. “it’s a small world”

Say what you want about the creepy little dolls, I still love this ride. I go on it every time I’m at Disney, without fail. The song is a classic, and it’s really fun to see all the different sets and details of the ride. The wait for this ride isn’t too bad, it kind of feels like you’re walking around backstage for a play. It’s also a fun tradition to toss a penny into the water while you wait and make a wish! The very first wish I ever made at this ride actually came true that same day! (I wished I wouldn’t have to ride Haunted Mansion. It happened to be shut down at the time.)

11. Splash Mountain

So, I have a love-hate relationship with this ride. What I love about it is it’s fun, and it has a great combination of thrill ride and dark ride. It’s just a really fun and great ride, where the whole time you wait, you can feel the anticipation building. My big problem is I HATE getting wet. Especially because I like to go to Disney with makeup and curled hair. And cute clothes. I don’t like getting my clothes wet or my makeup ruined. The other con is this ride breaks down a lot. Way more often than anyone would like.

10. Haunted Mansion

Haunted Mansion is a fun and creepy ride where you are literally in a haunted mansion. The music and the details are great, I love the Ghost Host, and the queue is so fun and interactive! I’ve never been bored waiting for this ride. The only thing I don’t like about it is the wait times can get pretty high and you risk waiting in the sun if it’s a crowded day. And, I do get scared easily. It’s spooky.

9. Pirates of the Caribbean

So, I haven’t been on this ride in a few years, but I do remember liking it a lot. It’s a fun and classic dark ride with some nice animatronic work, and I’m especially pleased that they’ve recently gotten rid of the ‘wench for a bride’ scene. I know it’s a classic part of the ride, but as a ten year old, it made me a little nervous and uncomfortable.

8. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

So, this ride is meant more for young children, but I love this ride! I love Winnie the Pooh. This ride takes me right back to my childhood. You ride in an adorable honey pot and travel through some adorable scenes from the different Winnie the Pooh stories. They don’t make sense as a story, but it’s still a fun experience, especially when your honey pot bounces along with Tigger or rocks or sways. You feel very immersed in the world of Winnie the Pooh. The queue is also interactive and PERFECT for little kids and keeping them busy.

7. The Barnstormer

This was the very first roller coaster I ever went on, and I think it’s a perfect introductory coaster for young kids. It’s mild and fun, but also EXTREMELY short. It’s one minute long, but the actual time where you’re going fast and having fun is much less than a minute. Either way, it’s a great ride for kids, or adults who aren’t so fond of the larger coasters.

6. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

This is one of Disney’s super fast and fun coasters. It has an interactive queue for the standby line, which is honestly pretty fun and helps to pass the time. The ride itself is fast and crazy and a lot of fun. Another great thing about it is that it’s a longer ride, so when you get off, you’re able to feel like it was worth it.

5. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

This is SUCH A FUN RIDE!! It’s a shooting game combined with a dark ride, taking you through one of Buzz Lightyear’s adventures through space. You have a gun, a score, and a little lever in the middle to spin you and your shooting buddy around. And, when the ride momentarily stops to help someone in a wheelchair board, you have time to score more points!

4. Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover

This ride definitely doesn’t get enough love. The wait time is relatively short, you get to ride a pretty cool escalator with no stairs, and the ride itself is really fun. You get to go on a tour of Tomorrowland, getting a backstage look at Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, and you even get to see a scale model of Walt Disney’s original plans for EPCOT. It’s super fun for Disney geeks like me, and it’s a great break from the heat and the walking.

3. Peter Pan’s Flight

This is my absolute favorite dark ride at Disney World. Period. It’s fun and immersive and beautifully detailed. The best part is that the pirate ship you ride in is not on a straight track on the ground. It actually switches to a track in the ceiling, so your pirate ship flies over the city of London and Neverland. Out of every ride on this list, I think this one really provides you with the most Disney magic and gives you that sense of wonder and amazement.

2. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

This is Magic Kingdom’s newest coaster, and like Splash Mountain, it’s a combination of a thrill ride and a dark ride. Both aspects of it are much different than anything else in the Magic Kingdom. The coaster itself has swinging cars that rock back and forth to add to the fun, and the animatronics have digitalized faces that are able to give more expressions and look more like the movie characters. The first time I ever rode this was with a free fast pass and while the fireworks were going off. It was a genuinely magical experience, and this ride holds a special place in my heart.

1. Space Mountain

My Disney trips never feel complete without a ride on Space Mountain. It’s a classic Disney coaster, and I can’t find a single flaw with it. It’s a fun space themed coaster where you actually get to see projections and lights to make it look like you’re in space. You ride in a pretty comfortable single seat with any of your party members in front of or behind you, so you aren’t squeezed in or knocking around next to somebody. And the queue is amazing. It’s full of cool maps and 3D images and a lot of the line is made up of games. I personally think this is the best ride at Disney, it feels very magical and fun and futuristic, and riding it gives you that same feeling as when you first walk into the parks.

That’s my list! Every ride at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, ranked from worst to best! I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. If you liked this, please let me know, and I’ll see about doing the same posts for Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Bye!

5 notes · View notes

rachelisnotatwork · 5 years

Text

Ich war eine Berlinerin

A long time ago I decided in a daydreaming moment to spend a month at language school in Germany. In my head this was going to be largely drifting around town feeling cultured and multi-lingual. So I merrily booked some lessons and an airbnb in Berlin. Then it got closer to the time and I remembered I absolutely hated every minute of German lessons at school, and the only way to drift around feeling cultured and multi-lingual would be from cramming German into my aged brain. This triggered what could best be described as the “complaining phase”, which was weeks of bitching to Marcel that I didn’t want to go, I hate German grammar and this was the worst idea of my life.

We arrived 5 days before language school started in order to get settled. This mostly involved me complaining at a number of places around the city, and on a trip out of town. Our first weekend was forecast to be sunny so we decided to head out into the countryside of the East to go canoeing. Step one was rent a car, which turned out to be phenomenally expensive and involve driving out to the airport. We then immediately took the wrong turning and circled the whole airport trying to find our way out...and straight into a non-moving traffic jam. Google maps refused to consider there might be any possible alternative routes to spending 2 hours in a traffic jam. Neither did our car satnav. So instead I decided to get creative with the map and managed to navigate around the whole thing, whilst being incredibly smug about it (which I’m sure Marcel deeply appreciated).

When we finally got out to the East I was pleasantly surprised. The only real news that reaches the UK of rural East Germany is neo-Nazis and depopulation. Thankfully the first wasn’t visible where we were, and the second meant lots of wildlife. We saw a real live stork (not delivering a baby) before we even got there.

Our canoe trip was down the Havel to try and see beavers (of the wildlife variety). It was a stunning day and a pleasantly quiet river. Naturally we saw zero beavers, and due to Marcel’s ambitious nature we had to paddle back at speed to get back from our 16km run before dark. My muscles were screaming (and only screamed more over the next few days). We also had to return the car before 21.30, which involved driving back and then getting lost in the airport AGAIN and circling it twice. Now feel like I know the roundabouts of Tegel extremely well.

After bitching about language school heavily, it turned out to be...surprisingly fun. Or I got stockholm syndrome. Not really sure, but after a couple of weeks I had settled into a very nice routine of morning classes, then a leisurely lunch at our awesome airbnbs with the best views in the world, followed by museums or excursions in the afternoon. My language school card bought me an annual museums pass for 25 euros, so I got to relive the student dream again!

It was pretty hot whilst we were there so we got into the local lake swimming culture. Our favourite turned out to be Krumme Lanke. It is surrounded by forest but still accessible from town. On day one we were there, we saw a grass snake emerge from the bank and go for a little swim with it’s head above water. Being from the UK where wildlife is...sparse, this was extremely exciting. When we returned a few days later, it was much busier and I thought to myself “poor snake, it has no chance of a swim today”. Only to find myself looking down whilst swimming in the water a couple of hours later to find the snake swimming entirely underwater by my legs. Turns out whilst I like wildlife there are limits and that is definitely one of my limits.

One of the other benefits of it being hot was I decided a policy of daily ice creams was essential. We started off at our local ice cream place but then one day found an amazing place that was about a 15 minute walk from our house. I then took to making Marcel take daily walks in the broiling heat with me to eat them. We also discovered that German museums don’t really do air-con after some of the hottest museum trips of my life to the Stasi Museum and Ephraim-Palais Museum. Sort of surprised we didn’t have to step over the collapsed forms of over-heated tourists between exhibits.

My language school did an afternoon programme of lectures, seminars and activities. Whilst Marcel was around, I didn’t attend any as for some weird reason Marcel didn’t want to hang out and listen to someone explain things very slowly in basic German to a bunch of language learners. Odd that. However at one point he went off to visit his relatives near Frankfurt and I decided to attend a seminar on art in the Third Reich. This was a great lecture but lead me to become...somewhat over-confident with my German. On Marcel’s return I decided we should escape the boiling weather by doing one of the tours run by “Underground Berlin”. They did one inside a flak turm and because the tour timing was more convenient in German that in English, I decided I’d be fine going on that one.

My first indication that I might not be fine was when our guide took a huge breath before starting because it turned out he was one of those people who had a lot of information to impart and didn’t want to waste time doing so. A rapid torrent of German poured forth from him, with me barely able to assess where one word finished and the next started. Which would have been fine if it hadn’t been the safety briefing he was giving as he handed out hard hats. Would strongly advise not getting over-confident with your language skills when you are going to be touring a half-blown up bomb site. I spent most of the tour understanding nothing but trying desperately to copy the others in the hope of not dying down there. Marcel very nicely said it was very technical and harder to understand than his C2 language exam he had to do to prove he was a real German, and then gave me a long summary afterwards about what the whole tour had actually been about. Anyway it was a really cool site and I thoroughly recommend you sign up for the (English language) tour of it. Plus the park it is in has red squirrels, which Marcel and I got unbelievably excited about but actually turns out to be really common in Europe.

Other cool tours we did included one of the Bundestag, which was free although it was hardly spontaneous. You had to email to book tickets ages in advance and then bring your passport (weirdly not the only exhibition I had to do that for, also had to do it for the world press photography exhibition which was taking place in a political party’s head office [as you do]. I think this might feel more normal for Germans who are used to carrying ID at all times, but if you are British it is quite hard to remember and feels strange). The tour was pretty interesting though and there is uncovered Russian graffiti all over the walls inside from the second world war, which was cool to see.

Beyond that we largely mooched and ate a lot. We were staying upstairs from a fondue restaurant and a vietnamese place, and just around the corner from a vegan Szechaun restaurant. As a result, we did ate out a LOT. Also given how hot it got, we very much appreciated not using our kitchen and letting someone else heat up their place by using their oven. Instead we’d just eat out and admire the views from our amazing balcony.

It got hotter and hotter until towards the end of our stay we had three days of epic thunderstorms in a row. We had a great view from our balcony of the Fernsehturm, which Marcel managed to see get hit by lightening twice, both times after I had despaired of seeing it happen. The first two days the thunderstorms were at about midnight and kept us awake with constant lightening and huge claps of thunder. The last day it happened at about 6.30. Which was sub-optimal as that was when my mother’s flight from London was due to land. Weather went from fine to “wind so strong the leaves and flying upward past our 5th floor balcony, followed by rain and mist so thick we couldn’t see anything anymore” in about 5 minutes. We constantly checked my mother’s flight updates online and her landing time kept getting pushed back and back. And then suddenly it just disappeared entirely from the landing/landed screen. Note to German airports, this is not very reassuring. Nor is it when you phone the airport and ask what happened to the flight and you say you “don’t know”. We then looked on the BA website, who said the flight had been diverted to Hamburg. We phoned Hamburg to check this and they said they didn’t know and hadn’t heard about that. Thankfully at just about the point when a full freak out was starting, my mother texted to say they had landed in Hamburg after several terrifying abortive attempts to land in Berlin. They did then fly them back to Berlin when the storm finished so she arrived pretty late and then we had to take a huge diversion back to her hotel because of trees blown over the in the street. Oh the delightful summer weather.

By the end of the month, I was entirely in love with Berlin and the relaxed life of a language school attendee. But alas we’d planned a road trip and our airbnb booking was running out so I had to say a very reluctant goodbye to my language class and Berlin and hit the road.

0 notes

anirishview · 7 years

Text

Chicken Phở

We spent two hours in Yangon. Did I get my first experience of the hot, humid Asian air in Yangon Airport? No. We sat in the plane – if you were going to Myanmar/Burma then you went on your way, however, if your last stop was Hanoi then you stayed on the plane. So we stayed. We were told not to leave our seats if we could avoid it. We waited while they refuelled. We sat while they sprayed disinfectant in the plane in accordance with Vietnamese regulations – all we were told was that if you would be bothered by this then you should cover your eyes, nose and mouth when passed by the cabin crew while they sprayed it at the height of the overhead bins. While we waited we filled out mandatory forms detailing if we had been to certain named countries or if we had experienced vomiting, diarrhoea, sore throat and other minor unpleasant ailments in the past 30 days. As well as our email, phone and address of where we would be staying for the duration of our trip in Vietnam.

When we landed in Hanoi we made our way out – slowly and impatiently. Our nerves were settling in and leaving an uncomfortableness in our stomachs, we needed this part of our journey to be over. We handed the “medical” forms in (they just stamped them and didn’t even read them) and headed over to the visa desk. We gave our visa approval letter over and waited to receive our visa. We opted for the visa on arrival simply because there isn’t a Vietnamese embassy in Ireland, the closest being in London so doing the application online is super quick and easy. It took less than an hour from what I remember of the blur that was our arrival. We collected our bags and shuffled our way out of the crowded arrival gate searching for our name on a piece of paper. Finally we saw it – our driver was waiting patiently in a mess of other drivers. The fantastic thing about our hostel was that they had a section on their website that allowed you to request an airport pickup. This saved an immense amount of hassle and stress for us – we knew that it was a fixed fee which we would pay to the hostel, we wouldn’t be brought an arsey way around Hanoi nor did we have to find a taxi driver and hope that our exhausted and nervous selves could explain where we needed to go, hoping he would know how to get to the hostel.

Our first time on the roads of Vietnam was, for me, terrifying and exhilarating. Cars and bikes were swarming from every direction and few were driving in a manner which seems safe or logical to us. Cars drove where they could fit – not in between the carefully painted lines on the motorway. In other words a three lane road had become a four or five lane road, not including the bikes which zipped in and out of traffic and sped about this way and that way. Once we got into Hanoi it was a new chaos in comparison to the motor way. We were at a stand still but again, if we could fit through a gap in the numerous vehicles then we went through it. To say we were delighted to reach the hostel doesn’t quite do it justice. The staff were incredibly lovely and welcoming. They put our minds at ease and were eager to offer help and advice. We got changed and showered and went out with directions and a map to find food. It was about 6pm and we were knackered and hungry. We got lost. Quite lost really. We doubled back on ourselves and never found one of the recommended restaurants (the hostel staff strongly advised that we stay away from street food initially) but we did find an ATM to get out some dong. Once we found a small restaurant/café/essentially indoor street food we ordered some pho (noodle soup). My SO got beef and I got chicken as I normally prefer chicken to beef for something like that. It was good but my nerves weren’t allowing me to fully enjoy it but it was so good to eat something that wasn’t airplane food! We paid and laughed at the fact that our dinner had cost us €4! We used our data (yes Irish data…I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re super stuck) because we were lost in Hanoi and desperately needed to find the solace of our hostel. I won’t lie, I clung to my SO so that neither of us would get lost in the madness of a Friday night in Hanoi.

Once back to the hostel, we quickly shed the city off and got ready for bed. That’s when I tasted my dinner for a second time. I vomited all night and most of the morning. The stomach cramps were horrible. Don’t get chicken pho from a restaurant or café. Just don’t do it. Around 11 or 12 the next day my SO found a “western” café and insisted we go just to get some food that I would be able to stomach. We downloaded a map of Hanoi and made our way out. Let me tell you, Joma’s bakery was an absolute godsend! I managed to keep down a fresh croissant and an iced tea – with a lot of bargaining with my stomach. We still felt horrible though. There was this constant feeling that we had fucked up majorly. It was hot, humid and verging on terrifying really. Hanoi is really, well and truly not like any other city we’ve been to, and as my first experience in Asia it looked hostile. No matter how much research you do nothing can truly prepare you for the chaos that is Hanoi. We were indescribably delighted when our soon to be colleagues arrived Saturday afternoon and were waiting to meet up with us. We crept out again and realised that there was a lot around us – familiar shop and restaurants which would become our saviour for the 6 days which we spent in Hanoi. We met the manager with whom we had our Skype interview and three other people outside Dominos and went to a secluded café for a few hours. The café is impossible to find unless you are given ridiculously specific directions or if someone brings you there. It is behind a silk shop, down a tiny alley, past what kind of looks like someone’s living room and then it just opens up into a 3 story building. I got the best mango smoothie that I have ever had, and may ever have in the future. While my SO got an iced egg coffee. You read that right – an egg coffee. I don’t know how to make one but it is pretty much just iced coffee with whipped egg whites mixed in, it is truly amazing and is something that my SO orders whenever we step foot in Hanoi. Meeting people who have been in Vietnam for quite a while, 2 for 3 months and 2 for almost a year, it put our minds at ease. It was great to meet the people with whom we would be living and working to convince us that Vietnam was not as scary as it might seem, we would be able to find our place within it and, hopefully, with our new colleagues and housemates.

The rest of the week was ok, we spent most mornings in Joma’s and spent quite a lot of time escaping the heat, humidity and pollution during the middle of the day safe in our hostel. We would head out again in the evenings and found that Dominos was our safest option for food while we were adjusting. We knew before that we would need to avoid the women and men selling things, especially food, on the street and quickly learned how to easily move past them. We had been followed by one for a day we discovered and she caught us while we had to wait to cross a busy street. To hold us there she put her bamboo baskets across my shoulder and her hat on my head insisting that we take a photo so we caved and then before I could get it off of me she had given us warm and pre-cut pineapple and demanded payment. We didn’t have exact change so she kept saying “I give you change, I give you change”. If you take one thing away from this then let it be this – you will not get change and will have been paying too much in the first place, they will take off and disappear into a sea of Vietnamese hats and bamboo baskets. We paid 300,000 vnd for pineapple we didn’t eat - €12 for a small bag of pineapple. You have to be smart and fast with these people as they have been conning tourists for years and will always become smarter and faster. Mind your shoes when you walk – men sit and call after you in a panic, desperate to “help” as your shoe, be it a flip flop or leather dress shoe, is broken and he and only he can help you with his glue. They are very adept at getting your shoe off before you know what is happening and you will pay more than 300,000 vnd to get it back. They have friends around too in order to make sure that you can’t pull your shoe back and run. They almost got my SO but we were a few days in Hanoi and more savvy (well more than we were at first). Wanting to try Vietnamese food again, but more carefully, we found a restaurant called the Green Mango, which happened to also be a hotel. Well Oh.My.God. The food was amazing, they do effectively Vietnamese food and Western food and they were so friendly and for the first time since arriving in Vietnam we didn’t feel like we were being cheated out of something. For example we ordered a starter each and the waitress kindly told us that as the portion size was so large she would advise us sharing one – which we did and were glad that we did. Oh and the cocktails were to die for!

#travel #vietnam #vietnamtravel #blog #writing #hanoi #ireland #eslteacher #teaching #food #pho #southeastasia #adventure

3 notes · View notes

sassenach4life · 7 years

Text

My ECCC Experience

Warning – This turned into a book. I will put the bulk under a cut.

Well, what a weekend that was. I see many people have shared their experiences & I wasn’t going to cause I didn’t want to be repetitive (plus I hate writing), but what the hell – here we go.

It all started on Thursday night when my husband & I checked in at the Sheraton & then headed over to The Whisky Bar to meet up w/ about 25 other fans for whisky tasting & general mayhem. It was such a blast to meet other fans in the flesh & everyone was so lovely.

Friday was very long & tiring, but also quite exhilarating. It started with waiting 3 ½ hours in line for the panel in VERY tight & warm conditions, but a good number of people had to wait in the cold rain, so I won’t complain. We ended up in the 8th row on the center aisle. We had a perfect view of the stage, but a bit far for any great pics from my camera phone, but I’ll share a couple here anyway.

Since everyone saw the panel already, I won’t get into that except to say it was absolutely marvelous. Sam & Cait were glorious live & the energy in the room was palpable. Everything they said is pretty much a blur & I still need to rewatch it to make it all real.

We went straight to the autographs after the panel, but they were already capped off, so we hung out for a bit & then headed to our dual photo-op w/ Sam & Cait. The organization was a complete shit-show and they had no idea what they were doing. We were moved all over the place & then smooshed all together against the wall to wait again while they figure it out. After about an hour, they got it together & we were on our way to stand in line.

When I first saw them up close right in front of me, I was just in awe. They were just so beautiful & beaming & so genuinely happy. Secondly, I wondered how the hell Cait’s legs can hold her up. They are soooo long & soooo skinny. She’s so thin. Much more so than she appears on camera. The cameraman was hurrying everyone through so fast & I was super nervous to talk to these beautiful creatures, so when it was our turn I just walked straight up to them & said “I want you to take a picture with my Funko dolls” & held them out to them. (What an idiot, so embarrassing.) They must have taken pity on me because they both gave me a big smile & took the dolls. As I stepped away, Cait said, “Oh wait, don’t you want to be in the picture?” Then I said something dumb about them being too beautiful & I’d be back tomorrow.🤦 They took the pic & when I went up to get the dolls back Cait said that my husband & I looked great. (I was wearing a tartan dress & my hubby was wearing a kilt.) Then Sam told my husband that he loved his kilt. They thanked us for coming & I thanked them, then I scurried away & couldn’t believe any of that actually happened. They were beyond gracious & just so genuine.

Next we went to get their autographs where we waited in some more lines, but at least it was organized. When it was finally my turn, I walked up to Cait & she greeted me sweetly & I said something, but I have no idea what. Then I just stared at her the whole time she was signing. She is just so beautiful! I don’t know what else she said, but I do know that I said nothing that I had prepared to say.😫 Then she thanked me & I moved on to Sam. He was alone, so I just walked straight up to him. [Just so I’m clear both Sam & Cait’s autographs sold out both days. Cait came first in the line & was very chatty with everyone. I could tell she just wanted everyone to feel special & didn’t want to cut anyone off. So, Sam would often have to wait for her to finish. Also Sam’s handler was much more forceful at pushing people through.] I handed Sam my DVD case & told him not to mess up Cait’s signature & he proceeded to pretend to scribble all over it. My hubby & Sam talked about beer & my hubby told him he was going to try The Kilt Lifter tonight & Sam told him to be careful and talked about it giving him a hangover.

Then it was time for the VIP Meet & Greet. The room was set up with 10 tables w/ 10-11 people per table. There were hors d'oeuvres offered & a bar to get drinks. It was the highlight of my weekend & we were able to get to know many more amazing fans. When Sam & Cait arrived, it was surreal. I don’t know how else to describe it. They were so excited & full of smiles. They each went to separate tables & spent 10 mins at each table just chatting & drinking with everyone.

Cait came to our table first & I just couldn’t get over how she was sitting right there at my table. She was so happy & animated & adorable. We talked, laughed & got teary eyed. She’s just so real. We first asked her how she’s doing after such a tiring day. She said it’s long, but so awesome & great. That she doesn’t get to do this often & it’s really nice. When asked about going to South Africa she said they were leaving tomorrow night, stopping in London to pick-up their luggage & then heading straight on to SA. Someone asked about the lack of sneak peeks & she said they are very protective for a show with books out there & she doesn’t always understand why. Then she went around the table & asked where everyone was from & commented on the different places. She said that compared to a long filming day this was really fun & she was loving it. I heard her say this a least 2 other times this weekend. She really was having a great time & seemed completely relaxed. Someone asked her what it was like to have to film out of order & she said it was an actor’s nightmare. She said within a block wasn’t bad, but when they had to do 8 before 4-7 without even seeing the scripts it was a headscratcher & really tough. Next some brought up the Faith episode & there was lots of praise thrown around. One woman shared her story of her miscarriage & what Faith meant to her. Everyone was very emotional & Cait comforted her & said how honored she was. She said filming it was very overwhelming & beautiful & she was lucky to have the experience. Next we talked about Claire’s 60s makeup & Cait joked around about having to wear the dark eyebrows & the teased hair & how she was used to having so minimal, but it was fun & she was glad to be out of a corset. She’s very excited for many of the 60s costumes. Someone asked her why she chose WCC & she explained that the fans inspired her to choose a charity so she did her research & chose WCC. Then our time was up, she thanked everyone & told us to have a great time. She is such a beautiful genuine person.

While we waited for Sam the room just kept getting louder with all the laughing & talking & it really was like a big party atmosphere & everyone was having so much fun. We were admonished many times that there were to be no selfies or autographs & cameras had to be put away while Sam & Cait were at our tables. I did snap a few discreet photos while they were at other tables, but the quality sucks.

Sam arrived at our table with much excitement & asked how we were doing. Someone showed him her Pocket Jamie & he asked, “Why haven’t I signed it?” She said she could bring it tomorrow & he said he’d sign it now. He turned to his handler, spoke for an instant & he got a sharpie. We asked if he got scolded & he jokingly said he was in so much trouble. He then commented on how nice my hubby’s kilt was & asked about when he went to The Drover’s, since my hubby was wearing the shirt. He asked about our trip & where all we went. Then he went around the table & discussed where everyone was from. He thought it was so cool how far some of us had come. He asked if we would do another con & everyone said yes if it was Outlander. He said, “Wow, really? That’s cool.” Someone brought up Walking Dead & he talked about how he had just had a nice lunch w/ Lauren Cohen. He said he had only seen 1 season of WD so far. We talked about WD having 8 season & how we wanted that many for OL. He said it would be nice, but he didn’t know how they could age that much, but he said maybe if it takes that long to film. He said at least we have season 4 for sure and that would take us to the end of 2018, then they could recast. We all yelled “NO!” Next he talked about the new project he might be doing over break. He said it was very different from OL, very interesting & based on books about a real person. Someone brought up how we want them to do SNL & he said that would be so good w/ Alec Baldwin. He talked about Starlight Ends & the problems w/ the financiers & how he hadn’t seen it. He said he would really love to do stage again & play Macbeth and Graham also wanted too. He thought it would be great if Graham and him alternated nights playing Macbeth & Macduff. Someone thanked him so much for My Peak Challenge & showed him her tattoo. Sam was really amazed & he said it was all thanks to the fans. He talked about how amazing the fans are & just genuinely great people. Someone asked, “We don’t scare you?” and he gave an emphatic “No”. It was time for him to move on & he booed & thanked everyone so much. He really is just a down-to-earth, caring, sweet guy & so easy to talk to.

As we waited for the other tables to finish we noticed that many of them were asking Sam & Cait to take selfies with their table & of course they obliged. Many of the people at my table & some others were disappointed that we didn’t get a pic because we were told not to, so my hubby went up & asked their managers if it might be possible for the other tables to also get a selfie. Their managers talked to them & they agreed, so they went around & took a table selfie w/ each group. They were having so much fun with it & were so excited.

When they had to go they just kept thanking everyone for coming & then Sam grabbed Cait & tightly squeezed her to his side. He was just absolutely giddy. I fumbled with my phone & tried to capture the moment, since they were right in front of me, but I didn’t realize my phone was on max zoom & this was all I ended up with 😩😜 :

After the Meet & Greet we headed straight to The Pike Brewery to meet up with a lot more fans. There were over 100 OL fans there & we had so much fun just sharing our love for all things OL & we raised over $1400 for Sam & Cait’s charities. It was such a fun night. Then we went back to the hotel & crashed. What a magical day.

On Saturday we slept in & then went straight to my solo pic w/ Cait. Saturday was much smoother and the lines weren’t as crazy since most of the OL fans came on Friday. I waited in line & chatted with many of the new friends I met yesterday. A few told me they hadn’t planned a solo pic w/ Cait, only Sam, but after talking with her at the meet & greet they had to get one. Again the photos were short & sweet w/ smiles & quick hellos & thank yous. Even after last night & sitting with Cait at my table, I was still in complete awe of her. The cutest thing was when I entered the photo room & was waiting my turn, Sam was just sitting there in a chair watching the photos. He smiled at me & I waved at him like a dork 🙋😳& then he winked at me. Then I was supposed to get my picture w/ Cait after that. Lol. I’m sorry I’m not going to show the pic because I literally felt like a blob standing next to a statue of a goddess. 👑

We had a little snack, then went to get our pic with Sam & Cait together. When they saw us they said, “How are you guys doing?” They just seem to have so much fun doing the pics together. I walked over and declared, “I get to stand next to Cait” & Sam laughed & gave me a look.😏 So it was guys on one side & gals on the other. I cropped the best part of the picture below.😍

After that it was straight to the last event for Sam & Cait at the con, autographs. ECCC sent out a memo asking everyone who bought autographs to come to their morning session & if unable then to come right at 4pm for their last session, so Sam & Cait could leave asap for their plane. We didn’t see the note till after the morning session so went to the last one. We were the last people in line and the line was short compared to Friday since most people came in the morning. I had them sign the photo they took on Friday with the Funko dolls & Cait commented on how cute it came out. I explained to her how we took the dolls all around Scotland to over 50 Outlander filming sites & recreated their scenes.[X] She said, “Oh, my gosh, just like the film Amélie , that’s so cool.”I told her to have fun in South Africa & asked her if Eddie was going. She said, sadly, no. That it was easy to get her there, but hard to get her back into the UK. Sam & my hubby bonded over kilts, Scotland, whiskey, beer & hangovers. They talked about the different whisky distilleries in Ireland & Scotland & their favorites. Sam was very relaxed, but I could tell that he was tired. We wished them well & they said their thank yous & we went on our way basking in all the glory that is Sam & Cait.

Well, this is a weekend I will definitely never forget. I sure couldn’t ask for two more lovely and amazing people to be obsessed over. Lol. Nor could I ask for more wonderful fans to share them with. I enjoyed every second with Sam, Cait & all the fans I met.

If you made it this far, I am truly sorry for how out of hand this got. I had no idea I had this much to say.

#Outlander #Caitriona Balfe #Sam Heughan #SamCait #ECCC #S4L

577 notes · View notes

theotherscarmanthewoman · 7 years

Text

Season 2 Episode 7: Red Rover, Red Rover, Let Barbara Come Over (and other stories)

WAIT, there was metal-melting acid in those Science Grenades? Bloody hell, I'm surprised any of the rebels came out of that battle without major chemical burns. Why were none of them wearing masks while they were running about in all that smoking acid? And Babs was about to lob one at Ian last week! Relief ensues, and David says they should leave the Doctor hiding while they try to find a way out of London via the sewers (seeing as the Daleks will think this area is in flames and won’t come a-calling). Susan doesn’t like the idea of leaving him (oh the irony) but David shakes her until she agrees with him. What a promising start to a relationship. Back at the transport museum, Babs and Jenny are pumping up the tyres of an enormous truck (all the motorcars are, inconveniently, on the upper floors). They talk about engines for a bit and how the noise of it starting up will probably bring the Daleks down on them; Babs says it’s a risk they have to take; Jenny is like, well DUH. I love watching these two trying to out-grit each other. They both realise they won’t get far, but Babs is still desperately clinging to this veneer of polite but terse not-really-optimism. There’s a poignant moment when Jenny asks Babs whether she knows the route to Bedfordshire, and Babs admits she used to…er…that is, she’s definitely not a time traveller, she just used to live there, and we’re (is that the Royal We, Babs?) not sure how much damage the Daleks have done; Jenny tells her grimly to wait and see what they have in fact done to Bedfordshire.

Also I love the idea that in the twenty-second century they keep heavy goods vehicles from the 1960s in working order so they can drive them in parades. I want this to be a thing. Pass this down the generations so this will be a thing. Meanwhile, Ian and the ever-cheerful Larry have arrived at the Dalek mines. There are chain gangs of humans pulling huge carts down into the mines in an uncomfortably long sequence, and then Ian spots some stock footage of cable cars. Before they can get out of the open, they bump into a guy called Wells, who hastily gives them some pick-axes for the purposes of conning the Roboman who comes around the corner. They’re assigned to a work detail, and the guy is whacked with a stick. When Ian and Larry run to help, the Roboman tells them not to resist orders. Ian is just about done and hurls some sass his way: GET NEW ORDERS. The Roboman is, apparently, flabbergasted, and they duck inside. The Robomen must have one hell of a psychological impact because physically they’re pretty useless: it takes him an age to follow them, by which time they’re all set up for Ian to kosh him when he comes through the door. Which he does. Wells tells them to blend in with a work party, and tells them he’s meeting a black marketer called Ashton. Ian wants to meet him, too, so he can get out of London, seeing as he has friends there. Wells tells him the Daleks destroyed it; Ian dusts off his ‘oh shit’ face from The Reign of Terror. Back at the transport museum, Babs and Jenny are getting ready to bounce, and Babs has remembered to pack Dortmun’s notes. Then this happens:

JENNY: Why did he do it? BARBARA: Oh, many reasons. Mainly because he wouldn't give in. JENNY: What's the point of that? He just threw his life away. It was so senseless. BARBARA: It depends on how you look at it. JENNY: You've got this romantic idea about resistance. There is nothing heroic about dying. There's no point in throwing lives away just to prove a principle. BARBARA: If Dortmun hadn't thrown his life away, we would all be dead. He knew exactly what he was doing. He sacrificed himself so that you and I would have a chance. Come on, we're ready to go.

Well, isn’t that a fascinating little exchange? It’s not surprising that this is a sore spot with Barbara, who was willing to keep quiet about the fact she was dying all the way through Planet of Giants initially for no discernible reason but latterly (in, as I say, the unmangled and less stupid version) because she found herself at the sticky end of a ‘save the girl or save the world’ scenario. And again in a Terry Nation script we’re seeing this alarming readiness on Barbara’s part to embrace death to prove a principle (I will never stop bringing up the time she was willing to die on Skaro rather than leave Ian stuck in some Dalek casing). It’s also an illuminating insight into Jenny’s character: she may be a hardened survivor and a valuable member of the resistance, but she’s lost too many people to find the idea of resistance romantic (which Babs, as we know from The Reign of Terror, absolutely does). But hurrah for two women having a meaty conversation, in which we’re faced with the question of the extent to which, as the Doctor puts it, ‘our lives are important’. Babs gets the engine going (PLEASE tell me she drives the school bus on school trips) and they’re off.

Also, I love that there's an entire sequence leading up to Jenny hopping into the truck which is done with Dortmun's corpse very prominently in the foreground. Particularly the little beat where Jenny hesitates before running to open the doors because she's staring at Dortmun. It's amazing what you can do when you've got, y'know, enough space to actually compose a shot like that. I will never be over how much the location filming makes this serial. Meanwhile, in the sewers, Susan observes that it smells like an old goat farm. David, do you not know Gallifreyans are allergic to squalor? They find a cartridge, which Susan assumes means the presence of friends (seeing as Daleks don’t use guns). There’s some excellent cut dialogue from David (thanks, Infotext!):

‘The world you have come into is one where friendships mean very little. There’s been no place for sentiment in our society. Just staying alive is the most anybody has time for.’

Well that’s fucking heartbreaking. And certainly explains Jenny. But hey, they cut it, so our loss. At any rate, we get the sense that there are humans who will kill each other for food—as Susan puts it, survival at all costs. BUT OH NO MORE LOVELY CUT DIALOGUE (this time from Susan):

‘The four of us faced dangers together, and it seemed to give us a greater understanding of one another’.

I keep forgetting that Terry Nation is the writer who brought us lines like ‘fear makes companions of all of us’, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but oh why did they cut this? Why? Also, we’re about to find out why this human-on-human violence in a broken, post-apocalyptic society thing has reared its ugly head, because—SCREECH TIME! Susan’s spotted a gun being pointed at them. We return to Babs and Jenny, trucking away like bosses. Jenny seems to be deferring to Babs a bit more, which is cool, and Babs reckons they’ll probably have to ditch the truck at any moment, seeing as how they Daleks will have heard them back there. AND THEN THERE IS A DALEK ROAD BLOCK. AND BARBARA—MILD-MANNERED BADASS BARBARA—DECIDES TO GO STRAIGHT THROUGH THEM.

Jenny’s delight is second only to my own, as she positively giggles with glee; Babs, ever the master of the understatement, admits that was rather good. I’m not even going to gripe about the fact that they could definitely have exterminated her through the windscreen, for nothing will convince me that this moment is anything other than perfect. Then again why are we surprised that Babs would drive a truck through the Daleks? She has taken on Daleks with mud and some rocks and lived to tell the tale before now, and her continued revenge must be pretty sweet given that they gave her the fright of her life on Skaro. BRAVA, BABS. Back aboard the Dalek saucer, the Daleks are ordering the destruction of ‘the rebel vehicle’…which means Babs and Jenny! Cripes! On the road, Babs asks Jenny what ‘that noise’ is, and lo and behold it’s a Dalek saucer right overhead. The two of them jump for it…and the truck explodes! Blimey, did they get out of the way in time? Back in the sewers, it seems the gun-wielding humans are friendly, because Susan is babbling happily about something being jolly lucky. And jolly lucky is exactly what they are, for the mystery man is Tyler! I’ve missed you, old chum. He has exactly the kind of grim, trustworthy face you need to tell the audience about alligators in the sewers. Which apparently there are, due to escaped zoo animals and that. Susan asks Tyler whether he’s seen Ian and Barbara, and he answers ‘I’m sorry, no’, before moving on ahead. Piqued, Susan asks David why he’s so abrupt, and David tells her Tyler is afraid to make friends because he’s known too much killing. Then this happens:

SUSAN: Well, I hope I'm never like that, pretending not to care. DAVID: Bah. One day this will be all over. It'll mean a new start. SUSAN: A new start? Rebuilding a planet from the very beginning. It's a wonderful idea. DAVID: You could always help. SUSAN: Yes.

Susan, you couldn’t not care if you tried. Also, I’ve just realised how much of a parallel this is to the end of The Daleks, where the Doctor is tempted to stay and help the Thals rebuild their civilisation. Like grandfather, like granddaughter, I suppose. (Also, there’s some Gone With The Wind style cut dialogue where David tells Susan he’s going to be a farmer because the land is all that matters and the world’s saturated with Science. Does this make Susan Scarlett O’Hara? And more importantly, will Sciency telepath Susan be happy as a farmer’s wife? I worry.)

Elsewhere, it transpires Babs and Jenny are indeed safe, and that Jenny is considerably friendlier towards Babs now that she has witnessed her full magnificence. Not unkindly, she poses Babs a thorny question:

JENNY: Barbara, suppose we don't find your friends at the mine? BARBARA: I'll think about that when we get there. Look, you don't have to stay with me if you don't want to. I can get there on my own. JENNY: We might as well stay together. BARBARA: All right, come on then.

Did I say Susan was Scarlett? Babs is doing a classic ‘I’ll think about that tomorrow’. Also, Jenny’s feigned reluctance is a joy. As J.K. Rowling almost said, there are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out an entire Dalek patrol with a truck is one of them. Back at the mine, some manner of terribly-realised creature is lurking in the background. Spooked by the sound of it, Ian and Larry hurry back indoors and are met with the business end of a pistol. Crumbs. It’s Ashton, who tells them to GTFO, but Ian guesses who he is and strikes up a conversation. Outside, the Slyther (for this is what the creature is) makes a noise like one of those thingummies you turn upside down and it makes a noise almost but not quite entirely unlike a sheep. Ian says he wants to go to London, but Ashton wants cash…ton. (Sorry.) Ian and Ashton are properly squaring up (because Ian thinks his friends are dead again and all good humour has gone from his face) when Wells comes in and defuses the situation. Wells gives him a shiny thing, and Ashton gives him some food. Wells mentions the Slyther again, and when Ian asks what the Slyther is, Ashton asks whether he’s come from fairyland. Homophobe. Wells explains that the Slyther is a creature the Black Dalek regards as some manner of pet, and it goes around eating people at night. Which explains…not a lot. And oh sweet Jesus that sound effect is teeeeeeerrible. I kind of want it as a text alert. Meanwhile, in the sewers, Susan is yelling for Tyler, who is nowhere to be seen. She and David try a nearby ladder, and head into the tunnel leading off it. Susan climbs down another ladder into another part of the sewer, but it comes away from the side of the wall so she can dangle, imperilled, as AN ALLIGATOR waits below to devour her.

Actually, that alligator is pretty cute. In the nick of time, Tyler appears to shoot it and David grabs the ladder. David makes a joke about Susan giving the alligator indigestion (‘thank YOU,’ quoth Susan), and they all go up to the surface and back to the Doctor.

Back at the mines, Ashton is telling Wells what an idiot he is for spending his shinies on food instead of safe passage out of dodge. They’re all eating happily, when OH CRIKEY CRIPES the Slyther breaks in and extends a gammy hand towards Ashton! He shoots at the Slyther but to no avail. Will the other three save him? They…will not. They peg it out of the room, and Larry and Ian find themselves faced with a sheer drop. They have to go back! But OH NO! What do they run into but…THE SLYTHER! TRY PARSELTONGUE, IAN!

Oh god that gammy hand wibbling about is too much. WILL THE SLYTHER EMBARRASS THEM TO DEATH WITH ITS SHITNESS? WILL THE DOCTOR BE BACK NEXT WEEK ONCE BILLY HAS GIVEN HIS BACK A REST? WILL SUSAN GET SOME MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT BEFORE HER DEPARTURE? WILL BABS AND JENNY START A NEW LIFE TOGETHER BEING ITINERANT BAMFS, OR WILL EVERYONE YET BE REUNITED? Summary (as applicable to this episode)

Does it pass the Bechdel test? With flying colours. Is the gaze problematic? Nope. Is/are the woman companion(s) dressed 'for the Dads'? Nope. Save the girl or save the world? Whose decision is it? N/A. Does a woman fall over/twist her ankle (whilst running from peril)? Nope. But Susan does end up almost being alligator food when the ladder gives way as she attempts to descend it. Does a woman wander off alone for the sole dramatic purpose of getting into trouble so she can be rescued later? Nope. Is/are the woman companion(s) captured? Nope. Does the Doctor/a man companion/any other man have to rescue the woman companion(s) from peril? Yup. Susan needs rescuing from her ladder predicament. Is a woman placed under threat of actual bodily harm? Alligators? Does a woman have to deal with a sexual predator? Nope. Is/are the woman companion's/s' first/only reaction(s) to peril gratuitous screaming? Susan. Does a woman faint at the sight of peril/horror or generally lose consciousness (discounting normal sleep)? Nope. Does a woman companion go into hysterics over something reasonably minor? Nope, though David treats Susan like an hysteric when she won't leave the Doctor behind.

Is a woman 'spared' the ordeal of having to do/witness something unpleasant by a man who makes a decision on her behalf/keeps her deliberately ignorant? Nope. Does a woman suffer in silence (to further the plot)? Nope. Does a man automatically disbelieve or belittle something a woman (companion) says happened to her? No. Does a man talk over a woman or talk about a woman as though she isn't there? No.

Does the woman companion have to be calmed/comforted by the Doctor/a man companion/a man? Yup. Susan.

Is a woman the first/only person to be (most gratuitously) menaced by the episode's antagonist(s)? Erm, I'd say Susan is the first to be imperilled by that alligator, but Ian and Larry are about to be Slyther fodder. Babs and Susan do get a Dalek patrol and a saucer sent after them, but they deal with it.

Is a man shamed into doing/not doing something because the alternative is a woman doing/not doing something? No.

Does the woman companion come up with a plan? Not many plans this week, just survival.

Does the woman companion do something stupid/banal/weird which inspires a man to be a Man with a Plan? No.

Does a woman come up with a theory and is it ridiculed by the Doctor/a man? No.

Does a woman call the Doctor out on his bullshit? N/A as he's out for the count.

Does a woman get to be a badass? AND. HOW.

Is the young, strong, straight, white male lead the person most often in control of the situation? In the Susan subplot (and obviously the Ian subplot) yes, but elsewhere certainly not.

Is there past/future/alien sexism? Not massively, but David does talk down to Susan a LOT.

Does a 'present'-day character call anybody out on past/future/alien sexism? Nope. Does an past/future/alien person have the hots for a woman companion and is it reciprocated? David and Susan have definite sexual tension.

Did a woman write/direct/produce this episode? No/No/Yes.

Verdict In short, a romp. Babs and Jenny are the highlight, Susan alas gets relegated to the status of shrieking D.I.D. (but with a couple of promising moments where the idea of rebuilding a planet from scratch seems to fire her imagination), the Doctor is M.I.A., and Ian alas (again) has gone back into humourless action man mode. You could argue that this is because he once again believes the Space Fam is no more, but equally give him some character development please. The truck-smashing scene is the obvious winner, but close behind are those scenes in which Babs and Jenny actually get some reasonable meaty dialogue and a friendship is forged. Particularly illuminating stuff on attitudes towards death and sacrifice, too. (And I’m enjoying that both the serials of this season have devoted a fair amount of time to putting the regulars in a position where they’re being forced to consider what they will make of their lives if they end up alone in this time/place. Which is particularly poignant for Susan, who is about to have this question forced upon her.) In short, more of these two doing everything, please, and more of these meatier scenes with uncomfortable questions. And please can we never see the Slyther again. Like, ever. (Oh, and special mention for the cut dialogue but also for the scenes in which we get a little more world-building and a wonderfully grim outlook on the human race where we meet some humans who neither value human life nor subscribe to any ideals but have found a thoroughly nasty way to profit from a planet’s misery.) Next week, er…betrayals? It think we’re headed for the collaborators, if memory serves. Bring it on.

13 notes · View notes

shortiegardengnome · 7 years

Text

Date Night - Part Two - Phil Lester

Part 2 of Date Night Fic.

Warnings: None.

Phil and I had gotten closer since that day and had been acting completely smitten much to Dan’s dismay who took pleasure in making fake gagging noises every time he walked into the room to find us being affectionate with each other. Despite being completely comfortable in our new roles as people who have feelings for each other we still hadn’t been on the date that Phil had asked me on until finally we made plans to go see a movie and have dinner. I agreed feeling butterflies erupt in my stomach at the thought of going on a proper date with Phil Lester; the guy who I had a crush on for a long time now. What was I going to wear? How the hell would I do my hair and make-up? I know that he has seen me on my bad days where I look like I just rolled around on the ground for a little bit before seeing him but that was before I knew he had feelings for me. Not that it changed much but it meant that I wanted to look really nice for our night out. So I pulled out a lot of stops for this night, donning my favorite green dress which made my boobs look really good with my black leather jacket and a pair of black pumps. I looked admittedly amazing outfit wise, make-up and hair wise I decided to go simple, making sure to only emphasize my eyes slightly with silver eye shadow. My hair was out in loose curls which sat nicely around my face. I was ready for my date physically at least; mentally was another story altogether. Mentally, I was a mess of nerves showing itself in the trembling in my hands and my palms being sweaty. Dear lord I wanted tonight to go down well.

A knock sounded at the door startling me out of me deep concentration. I looked up at the time to see that it had already reached 5:30pm which was when Phil said to expect him. Looks like he was on time for once; I’m going to go ahead and take that as a good sign that he was as excited as I was. Giving myself one last look over in the mirror to make sure that everything was in place, I grabbed my purse and headed towards the front door, all the while reminding myself to breathe and that it was ‘just Phil’ though that proved to be a considerable problem and Phil was never a ‘just’ never to me, he was always this extraordinary person of light and happiness, a literal ray of sunshine as Dan would put it. Probably the only person who had the same amount of appreciation for Phil, though probably not quite in the same manner of affection.

I opened the door in an attempt t a breezy fashion and smiled brightly when I saw Phil waiting on my doorstep for me. He was wearing his practically trademark black skinny jeans and his red button up shirt with white hearts scattered on it, which was my favorite shirt on him. Even though in this context it was completely cheesy. Phil looked up from his phone and I felt his eyes run up and down my outfit before he beamed at me. “Hey, you look beautiful,” Phil reached out with a pro-offered hand and I took it delicately, letting Phil take me out of the door and closing it behind me. Phil pulled me closer to his side and intertwined our fingers and nudging my side. “Ready to go?” Phil smiled down at me and I nodded; a tiny bit nervous about this whole endeavor.

“What exactly did you have planned for tonight anyway?” Phil had asked me when we decided to go out that I let him plan what we’d be doing, so I basically had no idea what we were doing tonight.

Phil winked at me and said with a confidence that I hadn’t seen in a while “First I think that we could go for some dinner? How does Chinese sound?” I grinned at his hopeful expression, Chinese was my absolutely favorite food to have, quite possibly the best guilty pleasure on the planet, and Phil knew it too.

“Have I ever once in the time you’ve known me said ‘no’ to Chinese?” Phil shook his head as we kept walking towards the restaurant where Phil had made a reservation. “Then you know I’m always happy with Chinese.” Our hands swung back and forth between us playfully.

Phil took me to my favorite Chinese Restaurant in London and we were escorted to a table for two with a partition separating us from the rest of the restaurant for a little bit of privacy. Phil held out my chair and I smiled at his act of chivalry and he kissed my check before sitting down in his own seat opposite mine. A waitress was with us within seconds.

A blonde girl, who looked about 17 years old with a cheery demeanor that could compete with Phil himself probably. She has beautiful grey-green eyes and her hair up in a pony tail curling at the end. With a dimple in her right cheek and a smile before asking us if there was anything that she could get us at the moment. We both looked at each other before scrambling to pick up our menus; I quickly order my usual favorites with a look at Phil to make sure that everything was okay. He nodded and with a look at his won menu ordered his own food. When our menus were taken away by little miss sunshine. Phil and I didn’t have anything else distracting us; I felt admittedly a little awkward but taking a moment I leaned forward and started talking to Phil.

“So how was Vid-con with Dan?” I leaned forward to hear him properly because despite the partition there was a layer of general hum throughout the restaurant which made it just that little bit harder to hear Phil without him raising his voice to a near shout or me leaning forward, so I decided to take the easier route and lean towards him.

“Vid-con was great,” Phil beamed and he then told me all about his adventures in America with Dan; about how he met up with other Youtubers, went on a trip with Cat to an amusement park, the panels he spoke at, the fans he got to meet and all the presents he received from them. I had to admit his fan had excellent taste in shirts. It was all really amazing how he got to travel and do all of these things, whilst still doing a job that genuinely made him happy and enabled him to live with his best friend.

He asked me what happened to me since he went to England but as a journalist who writes the advice column there wasn’t much that could happen to me in about a fortnight; still I endeavored and told him all about the letters I answered in the most recent edition and how I was considering maybe writing my own novel when I had the time (which would hopefully be soon). When Phil heard that his entire demeanor brightened.

“Y/N that’s amazing! You’re going to be a great author!” Phil knew that as long as I can remember I wanted to be a writer so that I was actually pursuing publishing of my own novel was a huge leap of faith for me, I had always done practice pieces, but none that I was entirely happy with so I never did anything with them except keep them on my computer for a later day. For me to consciously set out to write something that was going to –hopefully – be published one day, was kind of terrifying but I knew if my doubts got too over-whelming that I could trust Phil to bring me back to my faith in myself. Judging by the look of absolute support beaming from Phil at the current moment I knew this to be true. “Do you know what you’re going to write about?” Phil leaned in towards me in excitement rather than because of the hum of noise surrounding us in our bubble.

“I’m not a 100% sure yet; I’ve got a few ideas banging around in my head, it’s just about picking one of them.” I bit my lip realizing that I actually had to pick one of the many ideas I actually really liked at the moment, they varied in all kinds of genres… horror, contemporary, fantasy and supernatural; but I didn’t know which one I liked the most, or rather which one I thought would be good to write as a first novel. “But maybe I can tell you my ideas and you can help me?” my voice tilted up towards the end in a question, unsure if Phil actually would.

“Yeah of course!” Phil exclaimed happily as our food was placed in front of us. Conversation slowed down to quiet murmurs about the food and little other things. The food was amazing as usual and I had to show Phil how could it actually was and it seemed that Phil agreed as we both ended up feeding each other our meals and eating the other half for ourselves. There was a point where we just looked at each other and broke into giggles at how ridiculous we looked feeding each other like toddlers. Phil leaned forwards and kissed the corner of my mouth to catch some food and I felt warmth flood into my cheeks. I held Phil’s hand across the table and ran my thumb over the back of it, back and forth.

we finished our meals still feeding each other like people completely infatuated with each other. Later when we had finished our food we collected our check, had a quick wrestle over who would pay the check and then went to get dessert. We walked the streets of London, Phil leading the way as I still had no idea where we’re going. But eventually we came to Phil’s favorite ice-cream shop and we both ordered cones, I personally went for mint chocolate chip and Phil had chocolate swirl. We sat together on the supplied tables and chairs and had our ice-cream until Phil decided to dip his finger in ice-cream and wipe in on my cheeky with an impish grin. This naturally started an all out war between us two, to the point where we were both sticky, covered in ice-cream and in tears from laughing so hard.

“Truce! TRUCE!” I called out waving my hands frantically. Phil was rocking back in his seat giggling and nodded his compliance and we finished our ice-creams… well, what was left of them. After that Phil and I walked home after an amazing night out, I was completely content, I felt like I never wanted this night to end, but sadly it had to come to a close; I sadly came to this conclusion when we both came to my front door. I turned to say goodnight to Phil and thank him for the great night but was stopped by his lips on mine. It took me a second to register what was happening but I quickly got over that and kissed him back, stretching up to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in closer to me. His arms cam to rest on my waist and we pulled apart grinning. “Goodnight Y/N.” Phil kissed me one last time before pulling away.

“Goodnight Phil,” I said and he walked back home and I went upstairs to go to bed.

And that concludes my first date with Phil.

#date night #phil lester #amazingphil #phil #amazingphil fanfic #amazingphil fanfiction #phil lester fiction #phil lester fanfiction #SGG writes

3 notes · View notes

myfluentpodcast · 4 years

Text

E70 - Español con Juan - The Story of Juan

In this episode, we learn more about the brilliant host of the fantastic Spanish learning podcast named Español con Juan.

Head over to https://www.myfluentpodcast.com/?p=1131 to read the full transcript of the interview!

https://1001reasonstolearnspanish.com/spanish-shy/

Juan has a YouTube channel as well: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoHJ7PkM6T92LwgJgrnDhWA

1. Part of the Interview's transcript:

Hello.

I'm fine. Thank you very much. It's so nice having you here on my fluent podcast.

It's an honor. It's an honor. Thank you. Thank you for your invitation!

My name is Juan , I'm a Spanish. I am from a small city in the South of Spain called Granada.

I started to learn English when I was about 19 or 20, more or less or very late when I was about 29 or something like that, that I decided to come to England to London to prove my English because , as in your situation, I didn't have anybody to talk to. I was reading on, um, watching movies? So I decided one summer, OK I went to the UK to London for three months. I was sure that in three months my English would be very, very good. I will become fluent bilingual and every time I have many, many high expactations, um, and then I came here and after three months I realized it wasn't enough. So I decided to stay for another three months and then another three months like that, you know, because I was never happy with my English. So, um, eventually I found here friends, I made friends, I found a job, so I stayed here and I've been here for 23 years now. My English is still not good enough. So I have, uh, I have to stay there.

And you were a Professor at the university is that right?

I studied psychology in Spain. , when I came here, , I wanted to work as a psychologist maybe, but my English wasn't good enough to do that. So, I decided to become a language teacher. I could teach, I could teach French and Spanish in the schools and then I did different things always related to languages until I found a job at the university at university college, London, which is a very good place, very prestigious university.

And I've been teaching there for maybe 15 years. Until last year, last year, I quit my job and now I'm working full time on the internet. I have a podcast and a youtube channel. It has been a long trip. Yeah.

So when did you start exactly with your podcast?

I think I started like seriously in 2017 I have been doing other things before similar, but it wasn't really a podcast because, um, I mean, , I'm not, very young now, so, uh, I didn't know how podcasts or Youtube work. I have. I have to learn how to use them. I had to learn how, you know, how to use them forlanguages to teach languages. So at the beginning I was doing like, it wasn't a podcast it was more like audio activities. You know, I was working out in university, so I wanted to create a listening practice for my students. So I created some short dialogues , or I interviewed some of my colleagues, taught university in Spanish. I was creating, like listening activities for my students basically for a couple of years. Then in 2017, I did a little bit of research and I discovered that I could do other things. Uh, So I started with the podcast yes. Three years ago. Yeah.

So was there anybody or anything that inspired you. To do the podcast or was there any idols or Do you like listening to other podcasts? Maybe Yeah

Well, I remember that he was listening to this podcast maybe, you know, a coffee break, coffee break, English, Spanish coffee break, French. They have different languages. You know it?

Yes. I know. I know it. I have listened to it, but it has been quite a while.

Yeah. I don't, I don't listen to it anymore, but I remember that, I liked the, you know, the, the boys of the, of the guy who was doing it and, uh, he was, I liked the atmosphere, you know , they, they create, , yeah. in the podcast Because I thought I could do something similar.

I didn't like the fact that it was everything in English, because for example, when they are teaching in French or German, they speak in English most of the time. So because. I didn't like that. I liked the atmosphere. The guy is it comes across very nice, you know, very closely. Um, I was trying to learn German for a while.

I was, I was listening to them until I realized that most of the time was , They were talking in English. I understand why they do. I understand why they do it, but no, they didn't work for me.

And speaking about atmosphere, I must say when I came across your podcast for the very first time. I was so impressed because yeah.

I remember, I think you were washing your, you, you were, , doing the , the washing machine, I think. And you were doing, small tasks, daily tasks, and to me it was like a friend was talking to me and talking about life. And that was so amazing because it was absolutely not the typical language podcast.

You know, without a lot of grammar, no, like a conversation, not a conversation, but like a friend talking to me. And that's the reason why I really, I love your podcast the way you communicate and also your emotions when you are speaking. Sometimes very loud or so it's just amazing because I can feel the energy. I can feel the passion behind all this and yeah.

Thank you yeah. Yeah. I am this many people, many people tell me something similar it's actually what I have been trying to do because when I started even nice, I'll tell you what a little bit. I knew that I didn't want to go the the traditional grammar podcast explaining grammar points or vocabulary.

No, I felt that podcasts could have a lot of potential and it could be used in many different ways, but I don't know, I don't, I'm not a specialist, but, Little by little, I've been discovering different things that you can use, like storytelling telling stories or different things that you can use with a podcast.

And lately in the last year, I've been doing this kind of thing. Yeah. Just walking down the street, for example, commenting something that I see or something that happened to me, or maybe like you, the one you mentioned in my house washing the dishes or, you know Mmm. Putting my clothes on the same time, talking Yeah.

The idea ist like talking to somebody as if you were here with me. Yeah. Something very natural or very spontaneous. And that's what I've been doing lately. I don't know if It does work

I guess, so, it works quite well. yeah, it's great. And I'm wondering if, if these episodes are always spontaneous or, or do you also have like a script or some points you want to talk about how do you go about, it or how do you get the topic in general?

Yeah. Well, it's a mix of , situations. Sometimes it's very spontaneous, very, very natural. Well I have in mind before something I want to say I want to talk about something. Yeah. Like a topic, but in the middle of another task, you know, maybe doing the dishes or, um, you know, I I'm, I'm walking down the street and I'm making some comments a very natural way at the same time that I talk about something that is worrying me.

That day or something I have in mind. But the result is very, very natural. Yeah. Other times I have a script, I write it because it depends sometimes I want to make sure that I mentioned a few things. I want to use a particular vocabulary.

Yeah. And you provide the transcription as well for the listeners, which is a great way to learn

and yeah. And very time consuming because when you are talking, you know, like that, , off your mind, anything that's come up, yeah. In your mind.

So you transcribed for yourself the whole thing.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah I use, a software that makes most of it automatically, but , there are a lot of mistakes I have to go through it to correct, you know, to polish it up a little bit to correct mistakes. Yeah. that that's the most boring part. Okay. Yeah. To write the transcription.

Has podcasting changed your life?

Somehow, yes, , yeah, definitely because what I was teaching at university you know, I had to use the methodology. Yeah. The kind of teaching that they asked me to do.

I was a one Spanish teacher like the rest ,but here with the podcast, I do what I want, I discover what works, what doesn't work, what people like, what I can do best for me. So that's very important because you know yourself a little bit people tell me, for example, I like what you do.

It's very nice you have a lot of sense of humor and I like your approach. So my self esteem is very high now, compared to before, because I, when I was teaching Spanish, Yeah, nobody says to me all the time. Oh, I love you teacher no, Sometime some students congratulate you thank you yeah. But it's not that common and here online.

Everybody is telling me, Oh, you are a fantastic teacher. I know I'm a fantastic teacher, but people keep telling me that. So. Eventually it becomes something that you, you get used to my brain. I don't know, I like this kind of thing.

What do you like more being a professor or being a podcaster?

Uh, I just see mysel y anything like that or professional or a podcaster or not.

um, I am Juan, you know, I do different things. And, at the moment I'm doing the podcast and I, I suppose, for you it's the same, you discovered yourself, you know, you, you, you were not aware that you could do now. For example, I discovered that I can make jokes and people laugh at my jokes and I can kind of integrate humor in my videos and my podcast.

I didn't know that before, you know, I, I do. You're telling me that you like this kind of a natural podcast, you know, I do the washing machines and all that before, so it's something that's it's it feels good. It feels good

right now. so it comes to mind, which you did, it was called something like where, when sir, and you were talking about yourself , and you consider yourself as a rather shy person.

And I think you mentioned also that you didn't like to, to speak in public. I think , at any rate it was, yeah, it was great because not only in that episode, but in general, you talk very openly. I think so we can, have like an insight of your life or your person. And I think that's also the reason why your podcast is so great.

And yeah, it makes you human, you know? It's yeah. It's like you said before, it, you are, you are, you're not a podcaster. You're Quan. That's me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

For the second part of the interview, go to www.myfluentpodcast.com

(Cover Picture from one of Juan's latest YouTube video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8PVGlTicvU

Check out this language related episode! Learn with a learner and become fluent!

0 notes

danielwalkerbiz · 4 years

Text

Boardgame Backpack, Tote Bag, Folding Dice Tower & More.

Boardgame carrying and playing solutions to bring your gaming into the future with our board game backpack, tote/duffel bag and gear.

At GeekOn! we take pride in engineering the most innovative, stylish, durable and functional boardgame bags and accessories on the planet.

Sure you can get boardgame bags that are cheaper or re-purpose Swedish furniture store totes or drumbags but are they as comfortable, with as much padded protection, water-resistant, reinforced to hold 50 lbs, damn sexy looking and come with a Lifetime Guarantee?

Sure you can find game bags on the market for under $50 but in this case, as in most cases, you really get what you pay for! We believe that your expensive games deserve the most protected and comfortable bags and don't cut corners when it comes to quality as you'll see below.

The main objective of any game bag is to be able to carry a decent amount of games, card binders, figures, etc so we've designed our SPACEPAK with 47L of gaming space! That's enough space for 7 Chihuahua's or 48 cans of beer or ... well you get the point, it's a heck of a lot of space!

No need to walk around with bulging pockets when you have the SPACEPAK due to the conveniently located easy access top zippered pocket large enough to hold all your EDC (everyday carry) items such as your phone, keys, wallet etc. This means your phone will be within reach for a quick post-game tweet about how awesome you played and finally lived up to your Game Demon shoulder tattoo.

Nothing helps carry around a heavy load of games like having wheels so rather than making a bag that is extremely heavy and expensive with included wheels, we've opted to include a sturdy luggage pass-through section enabling the SPACEPAK to function with any wheeled carrier which are readily available online ranging anywhere from $15+ depending on durability. Another great way to get your SPACEPAK rolling is to just wear it on your back and slide on a pair of rollerblades! - If you decide to try the latter recommendation at a game con please don't tell anyone we gave you the idea!

Risks and challenges

Life is full of risks but backing a Kickstarter campaign shouldn't be one of them!

We've all heard the stories or had personal experiences where we back Kickstarter campaigns which don't deliver what or when they promised. Will we deliver on time? Will our products even resemble what we're displaying on our campaign page?

We launched our first GeekOn! campaign last year and fulfilled over 5000 Kickstarter orders all over the world with most backers receiving their rewards on time or only slightly delayed by a couple of weeks!

For this campaign we will be using the same factory for our backpacks located in Vietnam with an exceptional history of top quality workmanship with painstaking attention to every last stitch!

Customer service and satisfaction is our top priority and our backers were very vocal about their positive experience with our campaign, fulfillment and final products. We've learned a ton from our first campaign from campaign structure all the way through choosing the best international fulfillment partners and feel like we're up to the challenge to live up to our currently stellar reputation.

Here are only some of our favorite post campaign comments:

"Yea! Got my package today! It looks awesome. So glad I went with the purple. The accessories are fantastic. All in all an excellent kickstarter experience. Thank you so much. Hope everyones' holidays are happy." - Sean Overton-Shadowopal

"I got mine earlier this week, and I can easily fit all of my D&D stuff, including my battle maps and miniatures! And I barely feel the weight of all those books on my back! Congratulation for an absolutely amazing product!" - Normand Chartier-Prevost

"Very well-made backpack! I was so excited to get this for the hubby so he has something to use to tote his games to different places. I love the straps, and he keeps the dice tray in his car with his dice for those spontaneous DnD games! :-D Thanks, guys! (((2thumbsup)))" - Lori

"Just wanted to say, finally got my hands on my bag after it sat at my parents for a couple of months, and it’s fantastic! It’s making the trips to and from Uni a lot easier. Thanks!" - MarbleLlama

"This thing is amazing. I play 4 or so D&D games (I DM them all) and can never be bothered to take only the books I need. As such I'm carrying around 10 books, dice, cards, battle mats, character sheets and even the odd board game all at once and this thing holds them with ease. Far more comfortable than the previous bag I used." - Dean Yearsley

"I recieve my backpack and only have good words to support team, thank you so much Kate for your attention. The backpack is awesome. Great work." - Asociación Jugadores Gaditanos Valhalla

"This backpack makes me smile whenever I see it. It's reserved for games in my house and that means I'll have a fun time (which is rare enough), which starts when I pack the backpack. Last time that was three days before the actual date ;-). It's the most geeky item I have in my house and I love it." - PHOENIX Interactive

"while I don't know how the bag works with actual games I'm currently using it on a trip from the US to London as my travel carry on bag and I must say it's amazing. very sturdy, superb organization and comfortable with way to much crap shoved in it. Best travel bag ever. Thanks guys!" - Jonathan Luke

"Got my bag today. Absolutely amazing. Can't wait to bring it for my next game night!" - Zayden

"My full package safely arrived yesterday in Belgium (All-In with with just about all add-on’s, my two caribeners were there, but initially were easy to miss); I’m absolutely delighted with everything - a set of products lovingly created by gamers for gamers. Am SO glad I chose back this" - Rookster

"Got it today (Norway)! Looks awesome! Starting to regret buying it as a gift, and not for myself..." - Thorbear

"UK backer here, mine arrived yesterday! it looks and feels incrediblee!!" - TheLomo

"MX Backer here, great quality on the backpack, the dice tray, straps, quad mod and elastic bands are also of great quality! really happy with backing this project really great work GeekOn team on this successful project, can't wait to show it on my Gaming sessions..." - Ains

"I received last friday. It's amazing quality. Thank you! Today I go to local convention with this bag! I'm very hyped! :D" -Sakamoto Hiroki

"I wanted to leave a comment to follow up with my shipping complications. Kate did a fantastic job ensuring that my lost shipment was handled properly. I received my shipment yesterday afternoon & everything is great! Thanks for the great service dealing with shipping complications & I look forward to your next project!" - Ryan Butcho

"Finally received my last add-on piece in the mail yesterday! Thanks Kate for helping out and fixing the mix up! Now that I have the drybag I tested it out and it's HUGE! It fits my chessex megamat, the huge 34ish X 38 inch one perfectly. This ultimate backpack is out of this world. I've also been using the dice tray for my more fragile DnD minis which holds them snug and tight so they don't bounce around. Which has saved me a lot of headache and glue. There's just so much versatility in this bag, was a great investment for not only board gaming and dungeon and dragons, but also video gaming seeing as this thing can fit a nintendo switch in it's basic case in the top compartment alone!

In short, I love this bag and I wish you guys had created it sooner so it could grace my life sooner!" - Brandon

"Bag is here!! Fantastic! Quality is amazing. Love the quad bag addition, didn't realize how big this would be. Also love the dice tray. Thanks GeekOn!" - David Psaris

"Got my backpacks in Chicago and I must say freaken amazing. All components and bags in great condition. Thank you geekon." - Jovanie Rodriguez

"Just wanted to drop a quick note and tell you the bag is awesome. Used it for the first time last night, it was perfect! Fit: Eclipse, Mage Knight, Clank! + expansion, Arena for the Gods, Bears vs. Babies, You've Got Crabs + crab claws, two drinks, much dice and room to spare*. Great bag!" - Rusted Portal Games

"Got my backpack today and all the extras that were included or added. Everything is in great shape with no damage or major issues (the zippers are a little stiff when closing but that should loosen up a bit with use). Checked so see if my largest game boxes will fit and they do (though obviously not all at the same time). All in all, I am both impressed by the quality and pleased with my decision to back this product (13th of 16 projects backed, and 5th fully delivered). Looking forward to seeing what new items GeekOn! comes up with." - Gordon Williamson

"Just got my bag and it is glorious! I am looking forward to using it not just for taking my games around, but also it will be great for traveling because of its size and storage! Arrived at a perfect time because I am going to a get together tonight to play and am going to use it for an upcoming trip!" - En Sabah Nur

"My backpack arrived in MA, US yesterday. Everything is in order and looks glorious! This vagabond gamer is going to have a much easier 2019! Thanks!" - Ryan Johnson

"My backpack arrived today in Florida!!! It's in great condition and everything I ordered is there. Great work GeekOn! This is an awesome backpack." - Ansalon

"Geekon has done an AMAZING job, and this is the fastest KS I have ever been apart of. Half to one month behind is ridiculously awesome for KS. The average is like 3 to 6 months delayed, and 1 i had was 10 months delayed...." - Michael W

"Hey guys! I just got my backpack today in Canada and tested it out tonight. I worked great! I almost fit all of my current board games into the backpack tonight and it felt completely secure walking around wearing it even though it would of been very difficult to do so before with my old one! I want to thank you very much for creating such an amazing product and I'm glad that I now have a great backpack that will be using for a long time for my future game nights. :D" - Eric Valade

"I received my backpack yesterday, and it is glorious! I plan to give it a solid workout at Origins. Thank you GeekOn team!"

#bagpack #travel #bag #game backpack #boardgame

0 notes