#the jump of improvement between 2018 to 2019 and then again with 2019 to 2020 is ASTOUNDING to me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

magicassholesinspace · 8 months

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Backstory, Acknowledgements, etc.

Before I dig into things for the game itself, some acknowledging my biggest inspiration, and a little storytelling.

The reason Magic Assholes in Space exists at all is because of a TTRPG called Space Kings, and the Pretend Friends podcast, run by Kevin Cole, creator of Space Kings and many other very cool games and maker of many cool podcasts! Space Kings is notable for it's card-based core resolution mechanic, and it's improvisational storytelling. Very influential, to say the least.

Back in 2018, my weekly game nights were a kind of in shambles. Scheduling problems and general burnout had killed several attempts at getting a consistent campaign going. We were both just too tired and switching systems, spending the time reinvesting in a new setting, only for the game to fall apart after a couple sessions was getting badly demoralizing.

So I had this stupid idea that combined my desire to play something with a tone like Space Kings, my ever-present itch to design a TTRPG, and a handful of ideas I'd piled up. Back in 2018, Space Kings wasn't out yet, (it is now! Go check it out!) but I still wanted to use that inspiration and I wanted to turn the act of designing the game into a group activity. Trying to dump a whole-ass setting on the table before the game started was a thing I'd also burned out on and not something I wanted to waste the energy on, so I adopted a more improv and collaborative approach for that, also.

I initially played with the idea of mixing and matching sets of dice, but the allure of Space King's "Faces and Aces" card mechanic just sounded too fun and I started getting this little voice in the back of my head that kept saying, "Why the hell not?" The whole idea might not even last or go for more than a single session, so I thought it was better to just take this chance and try it! At least it would be a chance to scratch that itch.

Why the hell not? would later become a sort of mantra for this whole thing.

I knew I wanted to do something with space as the setting, but with magic as a prominent element. The title "Magic Assholes in Space" came to me almost instantly and I don't think I could ever come up with something better and I really wouldn't want to either. It perfectly captures everything I wanted this game to be. After 2 weeks of lazily jotting down ideas and slapping together a character sheet in google docs, we jumped into our first playtest session and hit the ground running.

The first playtest session had a couple hiccups, but it worked! Some things needed tweaking, but that was fine! The players escaped the belly of a space dragon, fought a cosmic snail knight, assembled a new ship out of two ships, and installed a mythical V8 engine into it so they could escape the dark space between galaxies! It was awesome!

We had several players come and go, but the playtest turned into a year-long campaign that ended up being supremely memorable. Hands down the best experience I've ever had running any TTRPG in my life. Even with there being no rulebook and some big changes being made week to week, running and playing was a breeze in a way that none of my previous campaigns had ever been.

Now, in the intro post, I said I started in 2019 (since edited), and that made no sense for a particular reason. MAiS was actually started in 2018. My memory is just awful. This is mostly important because the first playtest that ran for over a year was put on pause in February 2020, which ended up being about a month before covid lockdowns started. For obvious reasons, things kinda went on indefinite pause. We had talked about returning to our storyline with the same characters and seeing where the story went after the crew decided that they'd fucked up too much in one galaxy and it was about time to go check out another one, but the opportunity just never really came around again.

Since then, development has slowed, but some big strides were made. We did a couple one-shots run by other players. There were the GenCon games in 2021, the short-lived Hypermall game in 2022, and the currently paused online game in 2023. There's talk of starting something new, but we're still in the very, very early pre-game phases on that.

I kept telling myself I'd keep working on it, but my desire to work on the game is seemingly proportional to the amount of time I spend running it. So, one of the things I hoped to accomplish by tumblr'ing stuff about MAiS is that it would both motivate me to do more work, give me excuses to talk with people about it, and allow me to trick my brain into staying in gamedev mode long enough to finish some kind of, at minimum, zine-like share-able version of the ruleset.

And here we are now! Space Kings is out and I can say that my game definitely shares its DNA, but also that it is distinctly divergent in its design philosophy. I hope this post gets some people to check it out, but I also hope people stick around to see what I've got going on with MAiS because I personally believe it's got a lot of cool things going for it.

#magic assholes in space #mais #space kings #pretend friends #kevin cole #supertry studios #ttrpg design

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glassedplanets · 2 years

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this blog going to be ten years old this year (what the fuck) and i was thinking about old art so i decided i might as well go through my archive and pick the one piece per year that i either remember being most proud of or that looks the least embarrassing now in the year 2022

2012 was the year i started to kinda... think about getting back into art, where i started trying again. lots of supernatural art here obviously. had no idea what i was doing. shaded with black. yep. (original post)

2013... more spn, lol. this was the year i did the big bang! i still feel pretty ok about this. i like the nebula. (original post)

2014 is the year that i REALLY kicked my ass into drawing nonstop all the time. ALL the time. this is also the year that i really truly solidified my wash design, and also the year i started caring about rvb a lot again. and the year i started working on S11 au. (original post)

2015 was... weird? idk, i looked back through 2015 stuff and it all felt so disconnected, idk how to feel about it. i guess it was kind of a transitional year or something. (original post)

2016. ah! this art. this is still my icon on my main blog, even though there’s art i’ve done that i like way more. this felt like such a huge accomplishment to me at the time, i was SO proud of it, and i’m still proud of it even though it gives me the “agh old art” emotion. (original post)

2017 was a year where i feel like i made a lot of leaps and bounds. this art is something i’m still pretty proud of too, and possibly the thing i have the most notes on? idk, i work pretty hard to not pay attention to notes. in any case, Socks™ is eternal. (original post)

2018! dnd art! this year was SO fucking hard to choose from, i drew so much cool stuff that i’m still very, very proud of. dear 2018!me, 2022!me is proud of you. (original post)

2019 was another weird “transitional” kind of year, i think. i still love this, though. there’s not even that much i’d change if i felt like going back to nitpick. (original post)

i actually, shockingly, drew a lot in 2020. lots of dnd sketches i really loved. this was one of the last things i drew that year, and i still love it so much - i really captured my ‘sona well here (even though... whoops, this has an updated version with a marking i’m missing, and also swearwolf’s glasses). (original post)

and i said it in my 2021 art summary post, but i’m really proud of this one. ‘nuff said. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

looking back at all of this in one place, i personally feel like my biggest jump in skill is between 2016 and 2017, but i could not even begin to formulate a guess as to why. 2016 was an absolutely awful year for me beginning to end with zero reprieve, and 2017 also sucked hard for other reasons, so... idk?? but like, whatever. anyways, looking at this makes me feel like i really have improved over time, lol. even though it doesn’t always feel like it.

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jennibeultimate · 3 years

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I don’t know a whole lot about the technical side of figure skating, usually I choose favorite skaters just on whose performances I enjoy the most, but I’m curious since a lot of people seem to really dislike her: what do you think of Evgenia Medvedeva? since you seem to know a lot and be very invested in the figure skating world, I’m interested to know your opinion

Oh wow. I am very honored to have someone want my opinion 👀

First of all I am by no means an expert on the technical sides of figure skating - still learning - but I give it a try and your observation is correct that I am very invested in this sport and I know how (shitty) the fandom can be. And to warn you you're in for a long read. 😅

I will give my opinion on both, the aspects of her skating and the person Evgenia Medvedeva. And on why I think ppl may dislike her/hate on her.

1. About Evgenia Medvedeva - the skater

I hope you understand at least the basic terms of the technical aspects in figure skating as I will refer to them a lot in this part.

Jumps - Zhenya is a better edge than toe jumper. Her 3Loop and her 3Salchow are one of the best in the field and imo extremely pretty. Her 2Axel is usually her biggest problem, she muscles the jump. Her toe jumps have issues too. Zhenya has a wrong edge on the Lutz, called a "Flutz", she is working on it but it's still the wrong edge. She mostly didn't get an edge call on it though by the judges. The other aspect ppl often talk about is the "prerotation" in her toe jumps, especially the Flip. She does prerotate more than some other skaters. She is often criticized for it. But to make it short imo the rules about prerotation are a bit blurry (at what point is prerotation normal and when is it excessive prerotation?) and in fact judges doesn't seem to penalize prerotation at all. Some fans like to nitpick on this matter a lot. For some it's almost some sort of crime. Let's just say it's not easy to fix it and I think Zhenya improved on this matter with time. I think Zhenya definitely has some issues on her toe jumps and Axel, but I don't think just because someone has a flawed technique the person is a bad skater. So there are things you can rightfully criticize but also things to love in her jumps like not only are Salchow and Loop beautiful, but also her leg extension on landing is good and she usually has good flow in her jumps. The Tanos (one arm over the head while jumping) aren't my cup of tea but they have a positive influence the GOEs.

Her Salchow:

Her Loop:

Spins - I think she has beautiful spins, but they are not the fastest. And I think her spins were better in the early senior years. The back that is bothering her is making the Bielmann spin not doable for her anymore, which is a shame.

Programs and performance - I think Zhenya does portray characters exceptionally well. Yes some ppl don't like the excessive pantomime in her earlier programs and I also think less is more, but she always captures the audience with her charm and personality on ice and her programs always have a concept she can bring across (even sometimes with questionable theme). She has some very beautiful programs, I recommend her "Anna Karenina" 2017-2018 program and her "Memoirs of a Geisha" 2019-2020 program. What stands out of Zhenya and also has been a reason she has earned high PCS - especially in her first senior years - is that her programs are full of difficult transitions between the elements. I don't want to pick all of the PCS categories apart, just that I think she is selling her skating exceptionally well. (She doesn't have thousands of fans for no reason. 😉)

Scoring - I think this is actually the main point why some skating fans didn't like her in the first place. She emerged to a scene with extremely high scores for being a first year senior, scores that matched past heroes of skating like Yuna Kim and Mao Asada. Even though Zhenya never skated against Yuna and shared only few competitions with Mao, ppl always referred to the old scores of them. (which were former world records) Zhenya's consistency made her get world record after world record and flaws in jumps have often been overlooked like not calling the Flutz and her PCS seemed super high in comparison to other skaters of the same level. Even though the scoring is hardly her fault, she got the flack for it and tbh the way she was scored was also turning me off for a while but Zhenya captured me with her performance. Her high scores also have some justification. Zhenya had the most difficulty in her programs in 2015-2017. She was the skater to start the trend to backload the jumps to the 2nd half to get the bonus points (rules have been changed after 2018 because of this). Her PCS being high can also be justified to some extent, like she does have a lot of transitions and her skating is clear (turns and steps are recognizable and mostly of high quality) etc. I still do think especially after her coaching change to Brian Orser that her scores have been worth a discussion and I think that in comparison her scores were too high, but I don't think there is any doubt that she deserved the world titles she got. (Just look at those comps and tell me who was better?) Also her consistency between 2015 and 2017 is unmatched and is admirable. I think Zhenya has been overscored in her career a lot, but not to the extent that made her "unrightfully" claiming the titles and again that's hardly her fault.

I actually like Zhenya's skating a lot. I wasn’t a fan the first time I saw her but she grew on me a lot, especially in the last two years. She can create magic. 😊

If you want to know more about Zhenya and the technical aspects of her skating you can go through the Evgenia Medvedeva tag on @the-real-xmonster (the blog is not active anymore but has tons of technical explanations)

About the person Evgenia Medvedeva

I personally admire Zhenya for her guts to keep competing in a country where a lot of ppl think she is "too old" for the sport. I also admired her for the coaching change to Brian to go a different way (I hate how she had to return to Eteri because of the pandemic). I like that she is speaking up towards online bullying she and others received. She keeps on sharing on Instagram though she has been harassed there a lot. I think in her interviews she is thoughtful (she is speaking her mind, which I like), but she can also be goofy and funny and her love for anime and being an "Otaku" is making her relatable.

Her Sailor Moon exhibition is such a fun program I can recommend to everyone.

(GIF by @the-real-xmonster)

About the "hate" towards Zhenya:

Some of the criticism Zhenya is receiving is understandable in my opinion. For example lately traveling during a pandemic to another country is something worth talking about or her mother letting a fan into TCC or some of the statements towards media can be criticised. But some "critic" is not criticism but hate for example when she changed to Brian Orser, calling her a traitor, badmouthing her for being ungrateful or being an attention seeker or making assumptions about her relationships with other skaters to the extent she deleted all the pictures with Yuzuru Hanyu from her Instagram etc. (especially when Eteribots or some Fanyus are involved things can turn ugly in the fandom) I also don't think ppl should put all some media is reporting as truth and stalking her Instagram backgrounds to see if she violated her quarantine is crossing personal boundaries. I think these are things that are not ok at all. (and to hate someone for their scores is really stupid imo)

However I think part of the problem why ppl dislike/hate her is her popularity (She has 700k followers on Instagram) . If she would be a no name skater her actions or scores wouldn't be discussed across the fandom. But actually most of the time you can follow the hate back to a few accounts...

Just to be clear it's totally fine to not get into Zhenya's skating, to point out flaws in scoring and in her technique, to not like some of her actions or criticize them, but I don't think it's fair to hate on her or make fun of her injuries or bad performances, she is human and deserves respect. The tone is important. Be kind and respectful! We don't know any of those skaters personally, so what does it cost to be a bit kind? Figure skating is a small fandom and believe me skaters see what ppl write. And it can hurt an actual human being. So please be considerate.

I am not sure if this is the kind of answer you were looking for anon, but here are some of my opinions on Zhenya 😊 You're welcome to ask more if something is unclear or you want to know something about another skater.

Anyone who read 'til the end should have a cookie! Have a good day! Thanks for reading!

Let's end this long read with a happy Zhenya!

#evgenia medvedeva #figure skating #anon #replies #i can't do short answers sorry #the reason i hate Twitter i can't keep it short 😅

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cleverangelwasteland · 3 years

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The story of X and social media

X loved to draw since they were a child . X bought pencils , coloring books when they were young and they did everything they can to draw everyday. X was happy . Also X was proud and showed people their work .

X’s work was far from good but still they were content . Then in 2012 a platform called amino was created. X was sharing their work and getting feedback . X was still happy. Later on that year an app called Instagram launched .X was skeptical but at the same time excited to use this new platform . X posted everyday , and even though they started with 10-15 likes they were improving . Fast forward to the end 2015, X is no longer very young and have a message they want to convey in art .X started to get criticism about anatomy which they took well and asked for help in anatomy . X and X’s sensei ( the helper they met online ) had body drawing lessons daily for the entirety of 2016 and 2017 . X drew poses , shapes , studied the anatomy of the body , the muscles , read books and watched many many videos . X even posed for the drawings to see if the pose works . X was happy they were learning something . Also X would repeat the same pose many times and would split the body to shapes and boxes and would practice along late hours along with schoolwork so basically X’s day was full with little time to sleep. X also memorized the muscles and read many anatomy books like the anatomy for sculptors . They also learned loomis method for faces and these 2 years were just practice to the point that x drew 300 drawings in a month between poses and copied work so X can get a better learning perspective.

Opposite to X’ s sensei’s opinion , X decided to recheck on their Instagram which they haven’t done in 2 years . Not even once. X drew something and posted it while being proud of their improvement but they got way less engagement than what they had before .X was still not discouraged and decided to try again so they did a drawing that shows everything they learned , using a full body pose with an angle and shading . basically everything they could do and spend a long time working on what they thought was their masterpiece .

X uploaded and got a comment , which they hastily checked . The comment said the following : “ You suck , I’ll go away to clean my eyes , your drawings should be used as memes .”

X was heartbroken , ofc they were sad and they discussed it with sensei who said that is why they were against reopening X’s instagram account . But X is so used to not getting their way in life , that they decided to go on with it . X posted a few things and some comments were “ your anatomy sucks , study anatomy .”X felt like someone punched them and said to themselves “ But this is what I have been doing for the past 2 years .” X thought : “ I quit here , I quit what I already had just to study anatomy and that is the result?!” Still one of X’s work was featured by a big page and got 1K likes.

Nonetheless X still got back to drawing . Sensei suggested that X draws more real life drawings so X started drawing from a show that was starting called “ game of thrones “ X drew women , men , creatures , objects , perspective and would still repeat it until it looks right and would ask their old art circle to fix-doodle on their work . X felt like they have a huge bag of knowledge and a 3D camera in their head . If X focuses and closed their eyes they could see the human body from different angle realistically . Sometimes that sumo wrestler X drew to broaden their knowledge on body types would haunt them in their nightmares.

X stayed like this till 2019 . Forgot to say X was bullied ( back in 2014 )at school , made fun of and always alone. X wasn’t liked and that is where X’s habit of pleasing everybody triggered . X did whatever everyone else wanted eventhough they weren’t included in their activities and was a cast out.

X cleaned the gym area. X picked up stray balls in sports class . X made sure to please the teachers . X signed up to everything just to feel a sense of achievement . X was unhappy and no longer had the time to draw. X then bought a digital drawing tablet as they can no longer carry their art supplies around when they were in college .

X drew everywhere . In the breaks , lunch break , just name it and they’ll be drawing. X even met someone who took a course in the art department and offered to do their art homework as the other party was struggling. The other party got a 96/100 and came back thanking X . X felt a bit of validation like maybe their work is worth something debunking X’s thought about maybe being delusional . X suddenly grew quicker on social media , Not so big but since 2012 to 2018 they only had 400 followers so less than a follower a week . X suddenly jumped to 600 affirmating to them that at least they are doing something right . Previously X joined a drawing circle in their local community . And they were treated as non existent so the notion of building an audience was something new to X . They never had friends or any kind of support and they didn;t believe someone would take the time to comment on their work . Still X was still getting more and more comments about anatomy making X wonder where did they go wrong , so they decided to go back to square one and have a new anatomy study month .X went to youtube , discord servers and reddit s well as more anatomy tutorials by established artists and more books .

X would get a skeleton and lower its opacity then draw above it all the muscles shapes ( not their name really ) from memory . X compared it with the scientific schematic and found it very similar . Later on that year and after 7 years +of actively drawing , X got their first commission , at first they refused to be paid as if they weren’t open for commissions but the commissioner insisted . later on X did a few commissioned work and a customer was so happy they paid extra . This kind of boosted X’s self esteem as they were having a hard time . Forward to 2020 X did many commissions but it is the year where everyone keeps commenting on X’s work “ Go study anatomy , you lack in the basics , you look like you just started “ . X felt a big stab in the back as during those 8 years they have been active in , X studied anatomy solely for a total of 2 years and a year in short term practices . X went back and forth to the basics so many times and didn’t skip a day of practice.

X’s mental health and self esteem quickly deteriorated as they would leave social media then realize they need it to make money and come back to it . X haven’t had a commission in a while which is another blow to their self esteem.

Also X refused a job offer to draw for an animation which will be broadcasted due to the blow to their self esteem.

Also X saw online many artists making so much money by selling art where there are clear anatomical flaws and they get all the love and positive comments unlike X . X started doubting their eyes , thinking “ maybe I am really delusional “ ... Some of those artists have edgy scribbled lines in their lineart , really high eyes leaving no space for the cranium , drawing side views without thinking of the thickness of the body and drawing ears way below the ear zone . sometimes far eyes so the eyes reach the “ forbidden ear zone” necks starting from after or before the ears , people not taking into consideration the the deltoid muscle is like a “ cap “ above the biceps and so on . But these people were more popular than X and made more money/ were very successful .

X didn’t understand why they were getting the anatomy comments and why these other people were not. X felt that they cannot use their knowledge anywhere but still felt that they know a lot .X feels like their knowledge deserves more and that all the pride they felt knowing this much doesn’t deserve this . X changed their style and anatomy 20 times this year and experimented with everything but they couldn’t please everyone and more and more people tell X their improvement looks a day old not years old when they post redraws.

X lost pride in their work and the joy in drawing because of how social media and the unfairness of its algorithms affect them , instead of making really good artists popular it made a message that you need to have luck and not really the basic skills and that you could get away by tracing or copying.

Now X sent this to this account as they are asking for help , they deactivated everything and are sitting there just with knowledge and 8 years of efficient hard work betraying them .X lost their friends , their family and all support they could have . X asked the mod to share their story so others are aware how social media functions for artists and how many people are quitting because of it . Send us your story so we could feature yours too for awareness.

#art #artist #art struggles #artstruggles #popular #story #confession #instagram #algorithm

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skookworks · 4 years

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Gallery: 1-30

I had wanted to participate in Drawlloween/Inktober 2018. I like to do a little prep for sustained events so, earlier in the year, I’d checked to see if prompts had been posted for either challenge. Nothing. Checked again. Nothing. And then I forgot until October was a couple of days old. Joining in on October 2nd would have meant I was playing catch up. I hate playing catch up. I shrugged and figured, “Next year.”

A couple of days went by and the thought became, “All year.” Instead of drawing and posting an image a day in October of 2018, I decided to post an image a day in 2019. My parameters would be simple: spend no more than a half an hour on each sketch. By starting to do the sketches in early October I’d have enough of a headstart that I was sure I’d be able to manage the pace.

I posted an image a day, every day, in 2019. I actually only did 362 half hour sketches. I misnumbered a couple of my scans midway through and didn’t realize the mistake until I got the end of the year. For December 29th and 30th I posted a couple of more complex illustrations that I finished for the occasion. December 31st was a blank image – New Year, New Possibilities.

The sketches can be seen if you look at the daily posts here for 2019. To simplify things I’m going to be posting galleries of the 30 images at a time, 12 galleries total, between now and the end of 2020. This is the first one.

#gallery-0-6 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-6 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-6 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-6 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Story Seed 43

Exploring the Last Sky Jungle

In November 1913, The Strand Magazine published Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story The Horror of the Heights. At the time airplanes were novel machines and few people had flown in them. Sure, the idea that there might be entire ecosystems up there above the clouds seemed implausible but that part of the world was unexplored enough that it wasn’t completely impossible. I read it when I was a kid, probably sometime in the 1970s. By then the airline industry was well established and the idea that huge creatures were living in the stratosphere was, at best, quaint.

The skies are full of planes and, as far as we know, no one has been attacked by any air predators. Not recently. There are two possibilities why –

The 20th century air pollution and the airline industry destroyed the sky ecosystems and by the 21st century all those animals are extinct. The aerohabitats were always fragile things. The toxins that rose into the upper atmosphere killed them. Faster and stronger airplanes tore through flocks of the creatures without the pilots even realizing it. Some of the larger and speedier beasts were mistaken for aircrafts and labeled “UFO”s.

The aerohabits existed and continue to exist just outside our perception. They were seen by early aeronauts because the lack of oxygen, greater exposure to cosmic radiation and other effects of the upper atmosphere created heightened perception. The aeronauts saw things that, with better, safer equipment, are no longer seen.

So that gives us two obvious possibilities for stories –

There are places in the atmosphere where few planes fly and where the air is less polluted. I tried doing some quick googling to find out what parts of the world see the least airplanes but came up short of useful info. The Antarctic skies is probably one region. There’s a big chunk of the Pacific Ocean with no islands and therefore no spots to refuel. I looked at satellite images of those areas in Google maps and the photos there are really low rez. Humans don’t watch the places where humans don’t go. So now you’d just need a reason to have someone go there and discover the last Aerojungle.

H.P. Lovecraft’s story From Beyond features a device called the Tillenghast Resonator. When activated the resonator allows a human being to see the creatures that exist beyond our normal, limited perception. An aeronaut in a new, experimental ultralight craft, attempting to make a new altitude record, finds him/herself in the middle of an aerohabit. The craft was accidentally constructed in such a way to alter the pilot’s perceptions and senses. The pilot can now see the air beasts. And the air beasts can now see the pilot.

Recommendations

This week I’m going to recommend avoiding Facebook. Plenty of other folks have made this suggestion. The thing is designed to keep you scrolling and I find that my attention span gets shorter the longer I’m visiting it. Last week, rather than jumping on FB first thing in the morning while my coffee woke me up, I read one or two of the newsletters that I’ve been recommending. More focused. A longer read. And, once I’d finished a newsletter, it was easier to write or work on art until I had to make breakfast.

This Week

My union has won arbitration on management’s “Consolidated Casing Initiative”. All 61 stations that have tried to implement this terrible plan are going to reconvert to regular casing and delivery. My station was on the list to join this “experiment” and I’m feeling nothing but relief.

I can think of a number of ways to improve our office and street times but, in my observation, management doesn’t ask the carriers how we could improve service. So we do the best we can.

The week has been mostly uneventful personally. The cat that was chewing on the base of his tail got a shot of steroids and antibiotics and a medicated cream that we applied on the spot for a week. The raw spots have healed and his fur is growing back. The cat that needs electrolyte infusions continues to tolerate them. He doesn’t seem to love us any less afterward.

The protests and curfews slowed down the care packages from my Big Sister this week but she did bring us salmon cakes and a chicken mushroom new potato pie. On Sunday I made up a stir fry to go with the cakes. I’m looking forward to having the pie tonight.

Nationally it’s been a mess. If you’re paying attention you know what I mean. I hope that there are positive results from all this. I don’t dislike the police in general but I also don’t trust them in general. The few times I’ve been pulled over here in Seattle the cops have been polite and easy going. But I’m an older white guy. I know my experience isn’t the experience of others. I had different experiences when I was in my teens and twenties in small towns in California. My friends and I often wandered the streets at night and occasionally got stopped. I was never arrested but the cops were often confrontational, unnecessarily so. I got lucky.

If you’re out there protesting, thank you for your service. Change is inevitable, positive change requires positive intention. Constant positive intention. Stay safe. Look out for each other. The monsters win until they lose. And they always lose.

Tuesday Night Party Club #23 Gallery: 1-30 I had wanted to participate in Drawlloween/Inktober 2018. I like to do a little prep for sustained events so, earlier in the year, I'd checked to see if prompts had been posted for either challenge.

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callunavulgari · 4 years

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Year-In-Life | 2019

Or that annual New Year’s meme about yours truly.

1. What did you do in 2019 that you’d never done before? Had abdominal surgery! I spent most of April either doped up or unconscious. Long story short, I had an ovarian cyst that they thought was twice as big as my fist. So they fast-tracked me to surgery, and discovered that while I did have an ovarian cyst that was pretty large, most of the issue was that my bowel had fused to my uterine wall. Or was it abdominal wall? Either way, my bowel was glued to where it shouldn’t be and very angry because it had a fairly large pre-cancerous polyp in it. Which I found out a week after the abdominal surgery, when I had to have a colonoscopy. Which leads me to...

Had to do three different bowel preps in less than a month! It’s really not fun, guys. But, I got a cyst removed, a polyp removed, a metric fuckton of endo removed, and got my bowel back where it should be. Also, they confirmed that I can have babies! Which I didn’t know I was so fucked up about until I started crying about it post surgery.

Oh, also I peed in a bedpan. That’s also something I’ve never done before. And and and, been sick on Christmas! - Adding Tanya later in this post means I remembered something else I’d never done before - jumped into a pool fully dressed. Then became... no longer dressed.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Still don’t remember what my resolution was which- hey, 2020 Heather! Your 2019 resolution is to legitimately lose weight (she says while eating cotton candy ice cream out of the tub) and quit smoking again. Also, maybe be engaged. But mostly, the weight and the smoking thing.

As for 2019 resolutions- I can guess what they were, which probably boiled down to losing weight. I put on about 20 pounds after surgery and haven’t lost it, because shocker, abdominal surgery really fucks with your core strength. Pretty sure there was something in there about reading 100 books (done), beating 4 games (done), and write something original (done? technically?) and/or novel-length (negative).

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? High school people and a few old coworkers. Nick’s cousin and his wife just had their third kid though. I think it may have actually happened on Christmas. 4. Did anyone close to you die? No.

5. What countries did you visit? Alternatively, what is your favorite place that you did go this year? No countries. Went to North Carolina for our possible last beach vacation. In January we’re going to Vegas for our friend’s wedding, which will be interesting. They’re getting married on a ferris wheel by an Elvis impersonator. May also go to Maine this year, but not sure yet because I only have a certain amount of vacation time.

6. What would you like to have in 2020 that you lacked in 2019? Didn’t get a ring, yet. But we’ll see. We also didn’t get the house yet, so lets recycle those wants! Also, while we’re shooting big here, how about a better goddamn president?

7. What date from 2019 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Started my second big girl job on November 18th. Had surgery on April 12th. Not a whole lot else stands out. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Got a new job! With more money and more responsibility and will look really good on a resume! Didn’t kill myself? Which sounds pretty morbid, but I had a lot of pain in my life earlier in the year.

9. What was your biggest failure? Not... losing... weight? Because I really need to do that. The heartburn bullshit will likely go away. The sleep apnea thing will likely go away. Your health in general will improve. And you don’t even like food that much anyway! 10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I think I’ve had the flu twice this year and again, abdominal surgery, so yes. 11. What was the best thing you bought? I got nice clothes? Most of the other shit has been knick-knacks. I got more books. A new bookshelf! 12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I don’t know. Mine, I guess. I mean, 2019 wasn’t the worst, but it definitely has not been great. 13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? I have a friend. Let’s call her Amanda. Yeah, her. She’s blown us off a lot this year, which really sucks. The rest of it is her own decisions that only affect us because it’s inevitably going to affect her in a terrible way, but the blowing us off and only using us as passes for free food and ways to do her laundry really sucks.

14. Where did most of your money go? Surgery! My OOP may have been met in April, but the surgery itself was $48,000. I’ve only had to pay about $6,000 because my OOP was 5k, but that still hurts. And my dental sucks, which means I paid out of my ass to fix my teeth. Also, I bought way too many clothes and books. 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I do still appreciate having a job with decent money. The new job will have insurance after my 90 day probation period (yeah, because you can’t have health care for 3 months even if you work in health care because you’re new). I’m glad that I caught the polyp before it became cancerous. I was happy I could have babies. I got excited about the new His Dark Materials series and The Witcher series and Kingdom Hearts 3 and God of War, and probably at least a couple other fandom things.

16. What song will always remind you of 2019? Face My Fears. Curse of the I-5 Corridor. Hadestown soundtrack. Transistor soundtrack. Wasteland, Baby! album. Billie Eilish in general. Lark of My Heart. But mostly, Face My Fears and Don’t Think Twice. 17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? Sadder, probably? 2019 wasn’t great. ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter. iii. richer or poorer? Technically probably on par with where I was last year? I didn’t save quite as much as I wanted to with the surgery happening. Also, my car needed some pricey repairs this year. 18. What do you wish you’d done more of? I do wish I’d written more this year, but I wrote a lot in October. Possibly more than the last two years combined, which was nice. And I read a lot. I kind of wish I slept more. Or ate better. Or worked out more. I’m just really tired this year.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Spent less time with doctors? But I mean, taking care of myself is good and I’ve never had that option before.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Spent it mostly sleeping. We got a bug that was either a really bad cold or a flu, so I’ve spent the last week generally shitty and sweaty and tired. First year that we haven’t been able to do Christmas basically at all. But we spent the hours between 6pm on Christmas Eve and 10am Christmas morning have the most restless goddamn sleep in the world and then opened presents and watched Love Actually and some television (the last two episodes of the Witcher!) while kind of napping on the couch, and ordered Chinese because it was hungry and the only thing open. 21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve? Think I’m going to make the pirozki on Sunday, and then we’re doing a gift exchange with some of our friends at his mom’s house. 22. Did you fall in love in 2019? Eh. Still love him. 23. Best month for you this year? Clearly me having a good 2018 while everyone else had a shitty one guaranteed 2019 to be shit, because I honestly don’t fucking know. October was nice. So was August. But fuck most of the rest of it.

24. What was your favorite TV program? Of just 2019? Russian Doll, Glow, The Dragon Prince, Good Omens, Schitt’s Creek, The Terror, Chernobyl, Buzzfeed Unsolved, She-Ra, His Dark Materials, The Witcher... 2019 may have been a meh year, but it had some good shows. Of those, I think my favorite was probably either The Witcher or Good Omens, with His Dark Materials, Russian Doll, and The Terror tying for third. 25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Eh.

26. What was the best book you read? Red, White, & Royal Blue was probably my favorite. I also read Sanderson’s books this year though, which were also absolutely amazing. Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive were wonderful. It was a pretty great year for books too. Books and TV, well done 2019. Middlegame, The Ninth Gate, a lot of rereads. Best one was still Red, White, & Royal Blue though. 27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Do Utada Hikaru’s new Kingdom Hearts anthems count? Because Spanish Sahara by Foals, Obstacles by Syd Matters, the new Hozier album, and the Hadestown soundtrack were all wonderful musical discoveries. 28. What did you want and got? I don’t know. New clothes? A laptop? Confirmation that my ovaries work?

29. What did you want but didn’t get? Well, I lost the bet with Brandon. No ring by the end of 2019. No kids, either, but we aren’t quite there yet. No house. No perfect health? Is that a thing?

30. What was your favorite film of this year? I liked Into the Spiderverse a lot. Detective Pikachu. Rocketman.Frozen 2. Endgame was all right. I didn’t hate the new Star Wars. Toy Story 4. IT. It wasn’t a super great movie year for me.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? The big 3-0. It was all right. The night before we went to Fujiyamas with a couple of our friends, then on my birthday we had breakfast at First Watch, did some Christmas shopping, and went to the Zoo Lights a little after 5. Froze to death because it was snowing and shocker, when snow melts you get wet, but it was nice. Then had a late dinner at Mackenzie River, because it was one of the only places still open and close to our place.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Hah! A better president and a ring is the only thing that I didn’t get from my wishes last year. ----Hmmmmm 33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018? I did not give up and buys Scrubs. Instead I have a perhaps slightly oversized work appropriate selection of jeans (for Fridays), work slacks, blouses/sweaters, dresses, and skirts. I spent a little too much on clothes this year. I blame discovering Torrid. 34. What kept you sane? Reading was really, really great this year. - STILL leaving this answer, three years running! 35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? David Tenant made a shocking comeback after Good Omens aired. 36. What political issue stirred you the most? FUCK DONALD TRUMP IN THE EAR 20156789. —– Ayyyyy, this was my response from last year, and apparently also the year before and the one before! Hello past me’s, don’t worry, it’s still getting worse. 37. Who did you miss? Myself. Also, my brother, who is still in jail almost a year later and still no fucking trial. 38. Who was the best new person you met? I don’t know. Oh! I do know! I really like Tanya.

39. Talk about a new friend that you made this year: Tanya is awesome and pretty and fun and possibly at least a little bit crazy, but we all fucking are, come on. She got to come with us on vacation this year and it really made it interesting. Also, Shay and Alicia. I knew them last year, but got to know them pretty well this year.

40. Post a picture from the beginning of the year:

Took this one about 20 minutes after midnight on January 1st, 2019 after my first successful round of Battleshots. The hat went to the winner. It is not the most flattering picture, because I had been drinking already before I had to take four shots of Satan’s cinnamon liquor.

41. Post a picture from the end of the year:

Taken on my birthday, at the zoo. Again, snow melts.

42. A memorable meal discovered this year? Not sure? There’s not a whole lot of new food we haven’t tried. One of the pharmacists brought in some authentic Indian food for one of the potlucks we had and I don’t remember what it was called but it had rice and eggs and was amazing.

43. What was your favorite memory this year? I don’t know. We saw both Hamilton and Les Mis this year and they both reduced me to tears. I also had some good moments with books and tv shows I watched with Nick.

44. What are you excited for next year? There’s a couple new books. The election. Some tv shows, I think? Games? I don’t know, man. I’m trying not to come off as horribly depressed but I am kind of pretty depressed and nobody will ever know because the only person who ever gets this far into reading these things is me, so- hello 2020 me, you were really sad on December 26th 2019 and honestly for most of the year, so I sure hope 2020 is the year that we fucking seize life by the horns or however that saying goes.

45. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2019: I feel like my message from last year is fucking taunting me. Legit though, this is not the worst thing you’ve ever been through. You have a boyfriend who loves you, two wonderful cats that better not fucking die anytime soon, and like, I don’t know, working ovaries. A job. A car. An apartment that has a kind of shitty kitchen and a bath tub that might as well not exist, but is still an apartment! Which is more than some people have!

I guess my message from last year (it gets better) is in almost direct opposition of this year, which is basically: it could always be worse. 46. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: Feed me sunlight, feed me air In a place where nothing matters Feed me truth and feed me prayer

(seriously, deliriously happy 2018 me quoting singin’ in the rain is taunting me wtf)

First Fandom of 2019: January of 2019 was pretty solidly Detroit Become Human. It hit me hard. Favorite Main Character of 2019: Jonathan Sims. I was a slut for the Archivist in 2019. Favorite Villain of 2019: Elias from The Magnus Archives, maybe? My only other response would be.. dun dun dun, Ben Solo aka Kylo Ron or whatever Favorite M/F Couple of 2019: I... am back on my Reylo bullshit. Favorite F/F Couple of 2019: Can I say Villanelle and Eve even if I didn’t really dip into the fandom? No? Okay, Catra and Adora. Favorite M/M Couple of 2019: Okay, so the three that got me this year was Hank/Connor, Jon/Martin, and Ryan/Shane. Fandom That You Never Expected To Get Into: Um, Buzzfeed Unsolved. Never would have guessed that one. Also like, while I would have expected Detroit Become Human I never would have guessed my favorite ship. Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback: Sigh. Twas that Reylo smacking me in the face at the tail end of 2019. Fandom That Inspired The Most Crack: Insert shrug? I read a weird Buzzfeed Unsolved fic above Mothman giving the guys sharable dreams (that were sometimes weird and sometimes sexy) until they boned. Last Fandom of 2019: Sighing again. Reylo. Though Yuletide has made it so I’ve read a lot of Queen’s Thief stuff. Favorite Fandom of 2019: I think that Buzzfeed Unsolved was my favorite purely from a fic standpoint, but Detroit Become Human and The Magnus Archives were both really great too.

#heather says what #2019 #new year's memes #selfie tag?

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theliberaltony · 5 years

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to a weekly collaboration between FiveThirtyEight and ABC News. With 5,000 people seemingly thinking about challenging President Trump in 2020 — Democrats and even some Republicans — we’re keeping tabs on the field as it develops. Each week, we’ll run through what the potential candidates are up to — who’s getting closer to officially jumping in the ring and who’s getting further away.

Money alone can’t win an election — look no further than Beto O’Rourke’s Senate defeat in Texas last November for evidence of that. But an influx of cash can set the tone in the early days of a national campaign, as candidates jet across the country in an effort to make an impression in early-voting states.

In that respect, the numbers revealed this week by O’Rourke, Sens. Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders, and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg made an early impact as each demonstrated the fundraising strength they’ll need for an seemingly endless campaign. But even more revealing could be the numbers made public by candidates who have — so far — stayed mum. Meager fundraising may prompt questions about the viability of their campaigns in a field that now boasts 17.

Here’s the weekly candidate roundup:

Mar. 29 – Apr. 4, 2019

Stacey Abrams (D) In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday, Abrams said that a decision on her political future could come as late as this fall, explaining that she is first examining a run for Senate to determine if it is “the right job that I need to hold.”

The former Georgia gubernatorial candidate also pushed back, again, on reports that she has discussed with Joe Biden the prospect of being his running mate, and said that if she does launch a bid for the White House, it would not be a “vanity exercise.”

Michael Bennet (D) Bennet revealed this week that he has prostate cancer — a diagnosis he said he received just as he reached a decision to run for president. The Colorado senator told the Colorado Independent that he still intends to run, provided he is cancer free following surgery next week.

“I’m too busy to really sit back and think about it,” Bennet said. “And that’s probably the best thing.”

This weekend, the senator visits New Hampshire and holds events in Nashua, Concord, Exeter and Dover.

Joe Biden (D) Biden and his team spent much of the weekend responding to claims that he made several women uncomfortable by inappropriately touching them or invading their personal space.

In a video the former vice president tweeted on Wednesday, he said that he has used physical touch as a way of demonstrating that he cares and is listening, but will now change his behavior.

“Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying,” Biden said “Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it.”

On Friday, Biden is scheduled to speak at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Construction and Maintenance Conference in Washington.

Cory Booker (D) During remarks at a Human Rights Campaign gala in Los Angeles last weekend, Booker was sharply criticalof the Trump administration’s treatment of LGBTQ Americans.

“Demi-gods in the White House and the administration are working systematically to undermine and dismantle LGBTQ rights — from President Trump’s discriminatory and un-American ban on transgender Americans serving on the military to the Department of Justice’s refusal to protect LGBTQ Americans from employment discrimination to Betsy DeVos’ failure to protect our transgender students.”

Booker visits New Hampshire this weekend, with events Saturday in Amherst and Sunday in Bedford, Londonderry and Dover.

Pete Buttigieg (D) Thursday morning, Buttigieg released a video inviting supporters to join him for an event next weekend in his native South Bend, Indiana — widely expected to be the official kick-off of his presidential campaign. He launched his exploratory committee in January.

In a subsequent appearance on “Good Morning America,” Buttigieg defended his ongoing criticisms of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, arguing “we do need to call out hypocrisy when we see it … but we need to be factual and we need to be honest and we do, in resolving all of this disagreement, need to be decent as well.”

Buttigieg raised $7 million in the year’s first quarter, he announced Monday.

On Friday and Saturday, the South Bend mayor stops in Manchester and Concord, New Hampshire, respectively, for events, and on Sunday he is scheduled to headline the LGBTQ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch in Washington.

Julian Castro (D) In a blog post Monday, Castro called for a pathway to citizenship for young, undocumented immigrants, arguing that they “aren’t a threat to national security” and that “migration shouldn’t be a criminal justice issue.”

He expanded on the topic of immigration Tuesday night on MSNBC, saying that the U.S. “should decriminalize people that are coming here and go back to the way we were treating it before 2004 — as a civil matter.”

“We need to end detention, I don’t think we should be putting people in cages,” Castro said. “We need to increase the number of refugees we are letting into this country.”

The former Housing and Urban Development secretary will hold a rally in Los Angeles on Saturday.

John Delaney (D) In conjunction with an appearance at the National Action Network’s convention this week, Delaney issued a “Commitment to Black America,” including increasing funding to low income schools and transforming infrastructure in minority communities, offering a tax credit to promote investment in minority-owned business and removing marijuana from the Controlled Substance Act.

Tulsi Gabbard (D) In a video posted to her Twitter page, the Hawaii congresswoman criticized Trump’s decision to allow American companies to engage in nuclear-related work with Saudi Arabia, calling the move “mind-blowing and inexplicable.”

“President Trump needs to answer this question: How does it serve our interests to help Saudi Arabia develop nuclear weapons?” she said. “It doesn’t.”

Kirsten Gillibrand (D) Gillibrand, who continues to receive questions about her role as the first U.S. senator to call for former Sen. Al Franken’s resignation in late 2017 over sexual misconduct allegations, took a stance similar to that of nearly every other presidential candidate in the wake of the accusations of inappropriate touching against Biden.

“If Vice President Biden becomes a candidate, this is a topic he’ll have to engage on further,” Gillibrand said in a statement.

Later, during an MSNBC appearance, she said that “voters will have to decide.”

This weekend, the New York senator visits New Hampshire for events in Dover, Laconia and Concord.

Kamala Harris (D) Harris raised $12 million from 218,000 individual contributions in the first quarter of 2019, her campaign announced Monday, touting that 98% of contributions were less than $100 and $6 million of the total came via online fundraising where the average contribution was $28.

Next week, the California senator campaigns in Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday, with a focus on her recently unveiled proposal to raise teacher salaries nationwide.

John Hickenlooper (D) In a Politico Magazine profile last weekend, Hickenlooper discussed the challenge of running as an “extreme moderate,” explaining that his background as a scientist taught him not to “jump to snap judgments” on issues.

“You try to make sure you get all the facts, and think it through, then make better decisions,” he said.

Friday, the former Colorado governor has an event in Montgomery, Alabama and this weekend, he is scheduled to meet with survivors of the 2015 Charleston, South Carolina church shooting and will also make stops in Okatie and Charleston.

Jay Inslee (D) The Washington governor released 12 years worth of tax returns earlier this week, with his 2018 version showing that he and his wife earned just over $200,000 and paid nearly $30,000 in federal taxes.

Inslee, who has made climate change the centerpiece of his presidential campaign, testified before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Wednesday where he expressed concern about the consequences of global warming and criticized the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations.

Amy Klobuchar (D) Klobuchar posted 12 years of tax returns to her website Monday, revealing that she and her husband made $300,000 in 2017, the most recent year disclosed, and paid about $62,000.

Last weekend, the Minnesota senator visited Iowa, where she spoke about her $1 trillion infrastructure plan, while touring areas devastated by recent flooding. At a rural issues forum, she argued that it was “important to have a candidate from the Midwest who can talk about these Midwestern issues.

She earlier told a group in southwestern Iowa that she was “really focused on improving access to the internet in rural areas and small towns” and “want[ed] kids who grow up in small towns to be able to stay here, and they can’t do that without the internet.”

Beto O’Rourke (D) O’Rourke raised $9.4 million in the first 18 days of his campaign, he announced Wednesday, a total that resulted from 218,000 contributions, with an average of $43 donated.

At the National Action Conference convention on Wednesday, the former Texas congressman discussed the legalization of marijuana as a criminal justice reform issue and an end to both the cash-bail system and for-profit prisons. He added that, as president, he would sign a bill proposed by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, creating a commission to study reparations.

This weekend, O’Rourke makes his second trip to Iowa as a presidential candidate for 11 events across the state Friday through Sunday.

Tim Ryan (D) The Ohio congressman officially announced his presidential candidacy during an interview on “The View” Thursday.

Recalling a conversation with his daughter, after one of her friend’s father was transferred from an Ohio automotive plant, he said, “My daughter called me and she said, ‘You got to do something.’ And I said, ‘I’m going to do something. I’m going to run for president of the United States. We’re going to make sure this doesn’t happen anymore.'”

Ryan went on to outline his plan to the U.S. a leader in green manufacturing and argued that, as president, Trump forgot the blue collar workers he courted so hard during the 2016 campaign.

Bernie Sanders (D) In the 40 days from the launch of his campaign through the end of March, Sanders raised over $18 million, the largest sum among candidates who have revealed their first quarter fundraising totals. Aides to the senator told reporters Tuesday that the total came from 900,000 individual donations, with an average donation of $20 and that 99.5% of donations were $100 or less.

Sanders’ campaign put out a call to its claimed 1 million volunteers to host events on April 27, as it launches its organizing program.

The senator will spend the forthcoming weekend in Iowa, with events in Davenport on Friday, Muscatine, Burlington and Fairfield on Saturday and Oskaloosa and Malcolm on Sunday.

Elizabeth Warren (D) Warren captured headlines with the announcement of the Corporate Executive Accountability Act, her plan to hold company leaders liable for their firms’ potential misdeeds. Violations could lead to punishments including multiple years in prison.

On Thursday, the Massachusetts senator sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general calling for an investigation into access to Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club, in the wake of an arrest of a Chinese woman who allegedly bypassed security at the club in late March.

Andrew Yang (D) Yang raised $1.7 million in less than two months across February and March, his campaign announced Tuesday, with 99% of donations arriving in denominations less than $200 and an average donation of less than $18. The campaign added that over $250,000 was raised in the last four days of March.

The entrepreneur released an ambitious travel schedule for the month ahead, with events taking him to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., Georgia, California, Nevada and Iowa before then end of April.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Adam Kelsey

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thezodiaczone · 6 years

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July Forecast for Pisces

The excitement is building to a fever pitch, Pisces! The first three weeks of July are loaded with passion, playfulness and adventure—along with a few unexpected plot twists to heighten the dramatic tension. For starters, the Sun is in fellow water sign Cancer until July 22, igniting your lusty and creative fifth house. You’re feeling bold and frisky, in the mood to dress up, hit the town and stir up some good-natured trouble. A summer fling could spark up for single Pisces, and even spoken-for Fish will enjoy some extra attention as the smoldering Sun gives you head-turner status.

Changes in your love life could be afoot mid-month because on July 12, a partial solar (new moon) eclipse will land in Cancer, sparking a confident new chapter in your fifth house of lust, passion and self-expression. Eclipses sweep in four to six times a year and turn “normal” upside-down, removing anything that’s past its expiration date and flinging open the doors for a fresh start. July will bring two of this summer’s three scene-shifting eclipses, so fasten your seat belt!

With this eclipse setting off fireworks, single Pisces could feel sudden and unexpected chemistry with someone, and there’s a good chance they’ll be wildly different from your usual type. The fifth house also rules fertility, and this eclipse could herald a surprise pregnancy or news of one in your circle. Artists and creatives could have a spotlight moment, attracting fame or booking a gig that will put your name on the map. If there was ever a day to say “yes” to a blind date or to show your work in public, this is it. Take a bold and proactive step at this eclipse. With the glamorous fifth house illuminated, you could make a radical change to your wardrobe, hair color or look.

This is the inaugural eclipse in a series that will fall on the Cancer/Capricorn axis between now and July 2020, initiating a wave of changes around love, friendship, collaborations and creativity. You’ll learn important lessons regarding drama versus detachment: when to jump into the fray and when to stay out of it. There will be moments when it’s your turn to be the unapologetic solo star and others when teamwork will make the dream work.

This is the only eclipse from this group in 2018, and it’s a sneak preview of changes that will really take flight in 2019. Still, it will be an intense start! At this Cancer eclipse, YOU get to be the lead singer—but watch out for jealous bandmates, Pisces. This same day brings the annual opposition between the ego-driven Sun and calculating Pluto in your group-activity zone. A friend could be astonishingly unsupportive of your exciting news or big plans. Don’t let this take the wind out of your sails, Pisces. You don’t need anyone like that in your life. In fact, this eclipse could be your first clue of the shifts coming to Team Pisces.

Keep the energy upbeat and positive and surround yourself with people who support your ascent. The stars certainly do: On July 10, expansive Jupiter will end a four-month retrograde in Scorpio and your ninth house of adventure, growth and new horizons. Jupiter only comes to this abundant part of your chart every 12 years; it’s here from October 10, 2017, until November 8, 2018. Jupiter’s direct moves will speed up matters involving travel, study, entrepreneurship or any big leap of faith. Let the visionary ideas have some breathing room: In November, Jupiter will start a year-long visit to your tenth house of career and ambition, marking a period of extreme professional growth and luck. Don’t box yourself into anything before you’re ready. Let yourself explore and experiment—those adventures could lead you to your highest calling soon enough.

The frantic pace starts to level off a bit on July 22, when the Sun moves into Leo and your sixth house of health, fitness and organization. After a decadent Cancer season, you’re ready for a little bit of a cleanup job. But don’t rush to sign that two-year gym contract or join the sunrise hot yoga challenge just yet. Mercury—the planet of communication, technology and interpersonal affairs—will be retrograde in Leo from July 26 to August 19, which could disrupt your attempts at maintaining order. Back up electronic data and cut down on multitasking because this signal-scrambling retrograde can wreak havoc on your workflow. Watch your stress levels and boost your immune system, as you could be prone to catching a summer cold or virus during this powered-down time. Wash your hands often and avoid any coughers or sneezers!

Is it time to let something go, Pisces? On June 27, a total lunar (full moon) eclipse sweeps into Aquarius and your twelfth house of closure, healing and surrender. Resistance is futile because full moons AND the twelfth house signify transitions. Powered by a super-charged eclipse, anything that’s past its expiration date will be “eclipsed” away. There’s no use clinging to an outmoded situation or relationship or trying to avoid feeling certain emotions. Allow them to pass through you, and you could heal for once and for all.

Passionate Mars will be traveling near this eclipse, which can trigger a deluge of tears or a fantasy-fueled romantic encounter that takes your breath away. With Mars retrograde, an ex could return and sweep you off your feet. Or bottled-up anger and resentment could all come tumbling out (yikes!). With the twelfth house’s emphasis on wellness, you could have an emotional or spiritual breakthrough. Some Pisces might confront an addictive pattern or make a brave decision to finally address a self-sabotaging habit.

This is the final Aquarius eclipse in a series that’s been touching down on the Leo/Aquarius axis since February 2017, impacting your sixth house of health and organization and your twelfth house of healing and closure. If you’ve grappled with any medical or psychological issues, this eclipse can help you get closer to the root cause. Eliminating stress, improving your diet and exploring gut health could all be critical to bringing vitality back. You’ve also been learning to equalize giving and receiving—and how to cut back those codependent ties that Pisces can slip into so easily.

Over the past two years, you’ve recalibrated the balance between logic and intuition, thinking and feeling, traditional versus holistic health practices. Look back to the prior two Aquarius eclipses on August 7, 2017, and February 15, 2018, for clues of what might fully come together now. There will be one last Leo eclipse on January 21, 2019. Between now and then, work to identify any emotional blocks or mind-body-soul connections that could be manifesting as physical symptoms. And whenever possible, get out of your own way, Pisces. Rather than be your own worst enemy, become your own best advocate!

Love & Romance

With action planet Mars retrograde in Aquarius and your introspective twelfth house all month, it’s a perfect time to do any necessary forgiveness work or bring closure to an open wound or unresolved grudge. If you never fully grieved a disappointing loss, it may bubble up now. Since retrogrades can bring back the past, a former flame could resurface, either someone with whom you still have karmic stuff to work out or a “come here now go away” type that never fails to stress you out and confuse you. Watch for obsessing and denial—don’t brush aside red flags that crop up again. Old trust issues, or some hurt around a betrayal you pushed aside, could flare up now. Your resentment could surge up in a passive-aggressive way. Make an effort to be direct with your communication.

Helping you home in on the trouble spots is the other love planet, Venus, which is touring Leo and your fastidious sixth house until July 9. While this can bring out your flaw-finding side, you’re also able to diplomatically problem-solve with a willing partner. But make sure you’re not the one doing all the heavy lifting. Watch the tendency to offer (well-meaning) help to someone only to get WAY too enmeshed in what’s truly not your problem. Be kind to yourself, as Venus here can summon a self-critical streak and body-image issues as summer kicks in. Ramp up the self-care, indulge in gentle movement, healing treatments and healthy food.

Relationships balance out after July 9, when Venus enters Virgo and your partnership zone, restoring the love and helping you get back in sync after a few weeks that may have sent you to the edge. Single Fish should redouble efforts to meet quality people by getting more involved in your own hobbies and special interests. Meeting someone that way practically ensures you’ll something meaningful in common to build on.

Throughout the month, Venus will form flowing trines to innovative Uranus (July 11), structured Saturn (July 14) and transformational Pluto (July 27), all in the interpersonal houses of your chart. These dates could herald deep and transformational conversations or powerful chemistry. Friends and social circles could turn up promising long-term prospects. You could meet someone online or through an introduction. Don’t overlook your inner circle: A casual connection could start to seem like a whole lot more.

Key Dates

July 11: Venus-Uranus Trine Let other people’s opinions and attitudes roll off your back. You could care less what they think! When feistily independent Uranus waves its liberating wand over vixen Venus, you’re only interested in one thing: doing love YOUR way. Single Fish could reel in someone special online or through mutual friends.

Money & Career

Pace yourself, Pisces. Energy planet Mars is retrograde in Aquarius and your sleepy twelfth house all month, which could find you on the verge of burnout. You may be putting in long hours to finish up a project but pay attention to how hard you’re pushing yourself. The twelfth house rules deception and hidden agendas. Are you sensing an office rivalry or starting to see someone’s true (and unflattering) colors? Be careful how much you reveal and whom you trust. While it’s tempting to spill your guts over lunch to a coworker, keep personal information under wraps for now.

The July 27 Aquarius lunar eclipse could bring a transition or possibly the end of one career chapter that propels you onto a new path that’s more creatively and spiritually fulfilling. You’ll also see who truly has your back, and you might cut ties with a person who doesn’t.

Busy yourself with admin tasks, decluttering and handling unfinished projects, especially when the Sun moves into Leo and your efficient and systematic sixth house. But take note that Mercury, ruler of technology and communication, will be retrograde from July 26 to August 19 here. You could have mishaps with employees and service providers since the sixth house rules helpful people. This is an important time to get everyone on Team Pisces clear and aligned. Perhaps there’s additional training that you or your support crew need. Look into short classes or certifications or identify any “weak spots” that need to be strengthened. Retrogrades turn our attention to the past. Clean out your inbox, reconnect with old colleagues, edit and revise your plans. The eco-friendly vibes of the sixth house make this a great time to “green” your workspace and home (some great ideas here) and create an all-around more sustainable lifestyle.

Key Dates

July 5: Mercury-Mars Opposition Stay mindful of what you share in public today. Your thinking may be colored by your emotions, and hence muddled, and you could make a knee-jerk reaction when a calculated judgment is called for. Hold off on big decisions: You’re likely to regret them.

Love Days: 12, 16 Money Days: 23, 6 Luck Days: 19, 30 Off Days: 14, 18

#pisces #monthly forecast #horoscope #horoscopes #astrology #pisces monthly

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truemedian · 3 years

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Guide: Best Nintendo Switch Collections And Compilation Games

Switch has become many a gamer's go-to console for revisiting retro classics, at home on the TV or wherever you happen to take the handheld hybrid. Squeezing in nostalgia trips between the big new releases has never been easier, and there have been a host of exceptional collections and compilation packages on Nintendo's system that bring together bundles of retro games, often with new features, bells and whistles. We've put together the following list of the best compilations on Switch. We've stuck to bundles which include a minimum of three games (many of them contain a lot more than three). While most of the collections below feature retro gaming delights from yesteryear, you'll also find trilogy collections of more recent games. Plenty of good-value variety for everyone! So, without further ado, let's dive into our picks — in no particular order — of the best compilations and collections on Switch. Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information. Mega Man Legacy Collection (Switch eShop) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: Capcom / Developer: Capcom Release Date: 22nd May 2018 (USA) / 22nd May 2018 (UK/EU) We begin with one of several collections of Mega Men. Digital Eclipse did a great job with all the details in Mega Man Legacy Collection, presenting the original games in their best possible light, while tossing in a handful of extra features and challenges on top to sweeten the deal. The rewind feature is a welcome inclusion that helps to mitigate the difficulty of some of the games, and the overall quality of the series difficult to dispute. We would highly recommend you pick this one up - all the included extra features coupled with the ability to play these games both at home and on the go make it a no-brainer. Borderlands Legendary Collection (Switch) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: 2K / Developer: 2K Release Date: 29th May 2020 (USA) / 29th May 2020 (UK/EU) Borderlands Legendary Collection is an excellent Switch showing for this beloved series, though it's difficult to determine if the price is right; sure, there's an enormous amount of content here so you're certainly not being ripped off, but it's old content and these games are routinely extremely cheap on other services. Still, it's a technically excellent port of three expansive, enjoyable shooters, and they're a perfect fit for the Switch. Whether played alone or with pals, the gameplay is terrific to dip into for 20 minutes or get stuck into for a massive grinding session. If you've somehow never played Borderlands before, you can't go wrong with this set. And if you have, but want to try a different character class on the bus ride home, now's your chance. Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (Switch) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: Capcom / Developer: Digital Eclipse Release Date: 29th May 2018 (USA) / 29th May 2018 (UK/EU) While some of the games included in this compendium are rendered somewhat superfluous by the fact that far superior sequels and updates exist alongside them, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection remains an utterly essential purchase for any self-respecting fighting game fan. This is like a history lesson in how the one-on-one fighter has evolved over time. The experience really benefits from using the right controller; while the Joy-Con are perfectly acceptable when you're hosting impromptu local multiplayer challenges and the Pro Controller's D-Pad is passable, we found the 8bitdo SN30 and SN30 Pro pads to be much better options, and if you have an arcade stick that's compatible with Switch, now is the ideal time to dig it out – this is fighting game nirvana, pure and simple. SEGA Mega Drive Classics (Switch) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: SEGA / Developer: SEGA Release Date: 7th Dec 2018 (USA) / 6th Dec 2018 (UK/EU) Sega's had more than one stab at creating a comprehensive collection of its best Mega Drive titles and, as a result, Sega Mega Drive Classics does lose some of its impact due to sheer familiarity; for example, we already have an immaculately-ported version of Sonic on the Switch eShop right now. Even so, it's hard to argue with the 50-odd games that ship with this new compendium, and only a fool would contest the fact that it showcases some of the best games of the 16-bit era. The modern-day enhancements are welcome too, and while this isn't the first time many of these games have gone portable, it's a real boon to be able to play the likes of Phantasy Star IV or Story of Thor on the bus. When you take into account how much quality there is on offer here, Sega Mega Drive Classics becomes an easy recommendation. Contra Anniversary Collection (Switch eShop) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: Konami / Developer: Konami Release Date: 11th Jun 2019 (USA) / 11th Jun 2019 (UK/EU) While it’s a shame that there are fewer games here than in other Konami collections – we’d have loved to have seen NES title Contra Force or the now-extinct WiiWare title Contra ReBirth – the ones included in the Contra Anniversary Collection are universally brilliant. The 8-bit and 16-bit Contra games are among the finest examples of the run ‘n gun genre, and to have almost all of them included in a single release and emulated flawlessly is an absolute treat. Whether you’re a fan of the series or a curious onlooker who’s always wanted to see what the fuss was all about, this is essential. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Switch) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: Activision / Developer: Toys for Bob Release Date: 29th Jun 2018 (USA) / 29th Jun 2018 (UK/EU) Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a ruthlessly faithful recreation of some of the earliest successes in 3D platforming. Levels are slick, gorgeous to look at, and recreate the feel of the originals superbly. Newcomers to the series may be put off by the steep difficulty spikes and little to no explanation of some of the finer mechanics. All the fun and the foibles of the original three games are here, for better or for worse, and despite some odd design choices it still manages to be a really enjoyable retread of some old classics, warts and all. This is definitely worth a look if you're a fan of 3D platformers, but just as was the case back in the '90s, Crash isn't in quite the same league as Mario when it comes to playability, inventiveness and entertainment. If you're after a nostalgia trip, though, it's tough to beat. SNK 40th Anniversary Collection (Switch) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: NIS America / Developer: Digital Eclipse Release Date: 13th Nov 2018 (USA) / 16th Nov 2018 (UK/EU) SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is how retro compilations should be done. Although the emulation has a few little hiccups along the way, the overall package here is wonderfully presented. Rather than just slapping a rudimentary menu over a bunch of old ROMs, it’s clear there’s been a lot of effort made here to catalogue an often forgotten period in one of Japan’s most important game developers. As with all compilations, there are a few misses, but the quality is generally high, and the supporting museum mode is an absolute treasure trove for retro enthusiasts. Namco Museum (Switch eShop) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: Bandai Namco / Developer: Bandai Namco Release Date: 28th Jul 2017 (USA) / 28th Jul 2017 (UK/EU) Namco Museum does a great job of highlighting the illustrious lineage of one of video gaming's most famous arcade companies; not only is it packed with addictive games that will keep you glued to your Switch for many weeks to come, but it boasts excellent emulation, a host of options, online leaderboards, a special challenge mode for each game and a new version of Pac-Man VS. which is sure to become the go-to party title for many Switch players. While there are a couple of titles that we'd have swapped out for other, more worthy offerings from Namco's past, you're still getting an excellent selection of games for a reasonable price here. Mega Man X Legacy Collection (Switch eShop) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: Capcom / Developer: Capcom Release Date: 24th Jul 2018 (USA) / 24th Jul 2018 (UK/EU) Mega Man X Legacy Collection is a fantastic re-release of several must-play gaming classics, presenting them as authentically as possible while still including a few modern features on top that help to improve the overall experience and keep it from feeling antiquated. Throw in the new X Challenge mode and an enormous archive of museum content and this stands as the definitive way to play the Mega Man X games in the modern era. Four fantastic games, a bevy of extra content, and the ability to play at home or on the go make this one an easy recommendation. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Switch eShop) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: Capcom / Developer: Capcom Release Date: 9th Apr 2019 (USA) / 9th Apr 2019 (UK/EU) The original Ace Attorney is almost two decades old, which is remarkable when you consider just how well it holds up. Sure, it’s been ported plenty of times and the jump to Nintendo DS certainly helped shake off the retro cobwebs, but as a piece of interactive history, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is as utterly addictive and truly rewarding as it was back at the turn of the millennium. Whether you’re brand new to the world of virtual defence law or a veteran attorney, Phoenix Wright’s first adventures are still a fine set of cases to undertake. Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Switch) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo Release Date: 18th Sep 2020 (USA) / 18th Sep 2020 (UK/EU) We had an absolute blast playing through these three gems all over again, especially now they look sharper than ever. It’s a shame that the presentation is practically barebones with no bonus content beyond the soundtracks, but there can still be no denying the quality of the games on offer here. Super Mario 3D All-Stars is the Beatles’ Greatest Hits of the video game world, and is an absolute treat whether you’re reliving it in HD or discovering it for the first time. BioShock: The Collection (Switch) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: 2K / Developer: 2K Release Date: 29th May 2020 (USA) / 29th May 2020 (UK/EU) BioShock: The Collection stands as yet another fantastic port in the Switch’s ever-growing library, combining three excellent games and all their DLC into one convincing package. Stable performance, engrossing narratives, fun gameplay, and lots of content make this one an easy recommendation, even if these releases show their age from time to time. If you’re looking for a good single-player shooter to pick up for your Switch, look no further - it’s tough to go wrong here. Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle (Switch eShop) - Our Review - Profile Publisher: Capcom / Developer: Capcom Release Date: 18th Sep 2018 (USA) / 18th Sep 2018 (UK/EU) The Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle illustrates perfectly why the humble side-scrolling fighter was the toast of video gaming in the late '80s and early '90s. Addictive, enjoyable and – perhaps most important of all – bloody good fun when played co-operatively with friends, all of the titles in this seven-strong compendium are worth your time, and by adding robust local and multiplayer support, Capcom has done its utmost to ensure they find favour with a whole new generation of gamers. If you're not a fan of the genre then you may well be wondering what all the fuss is about, but for everyone else, this is a must-have download. - Page : - 1 - 2 - Next » Read More Read the full article

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sabrinasu1998 · 3 years

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U.S. oil weekly has five consecutive positives

In the past week, international oil prices first fell and then increased. When the American and european stock markets fell sharply, the US as well as Burundi oil both fell by more than 2%, establishing a new reduced in more than a week at that time. Nonetheless, as the stock exchange bad as well as crude oil inventories remained to decline, With tighter supply as well as boosted need leads, oil rates have actually reversed their decrease and also taped gains. UNITED STATE petroleum closed 2.77% today, videotaping 5 consecutive positives on the weekly line, striking a new high of $74.27 per barrel in the past two months. US$ 73.95/ barrel. Furthermore, lots of well-known investment banks have revealed favorable overview for crude oil.

Brent crude oil once more rose to near a three-year high, shutting at $77.20 per barrel, the highest closing rate because October 2018. The regular boost was about 2.27%.

American as well as european stock exchange have bad, and oil costs have held up against the callback stress

Previously today, financiers fidgeted concerning the Asian real estate market's concerns. European and also American stock markets dropped greatly on Monday (September 20). The European market anxiety index as soon as jumped to an almost eight-month high, and oil rates fell greater than 2%.

Among them, the German DAX index dropped 2.3% on Monday (September 20), a record low in more than four months; the UK FTSE 100 index fell 0.86%, France dropped 1.74%, as well as the Stoxx 600 index fell 1.67%, both striking almost 2 Month low.

United States stocks additionally experienced a night of scary on Monday. The Nasdaq dropped 3% during the intraday session; the Dow dropped almost 1,000 points during the intraday session; and the Russell 2000 Index fell 3.6% when, the largest intraday decline since March 23. Over 10,000 stocks fell on the US stock market that day, as well as the rise/fall ratio of individual supplies was close to 1:10.

The S&P 500 and also Nasdaq both taped their biggest single-day percentage decreases considering that May on Monday.

Nonetheless, after stabilizing on Tuesday, in the second half of this week, the marketplace's worries cooled down, and also European as well as American stock exchange rebounded one after another, with once a week gains, and also both U.S. and fabric oils turned from decreases to increases.

Good luck 2: Output in the Gulf of Mexico is cut off, OPEC+ is slow-moving to enhance production

There are indicators that as a result of storm damage, some outcome in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico will certainly be disturbed for several months, and also OPEC is once again incapable to generate enough oil to meet global need, which to a certain level gives up energy for oil rates.

The last 2 hurricanes have actually interrupted supplies in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, limiting the decrease in oil prices. As of last Friday, only 23% of production business had disrupted outcome, or 422,078 barrels each day.

Royal Dutch Shell claimed that as a result of the devastation of Hurricane Ida, a facility in the Gulf of Mexico is anticipated to be shut for upkeep prior to completion of 2021, and afterwards petroleum prices have actually narrowed their decline.

Analysts mentioned that hold-ups in upkeep during the epidemic or insufficient investment throughout the years have made it hard for some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies to raise production.

Numerous OPEC+ members, such as Nigeria, Angola and Kazakhstan, have battled to raise production in current months due to insufficient financial investment for many years or the new crown epidemic that has delayed massive maintenance job.

In the past, scams and extreme manufacturing have been just one of the major problems dealing with OPEC, however the situation has changed in recent years due to the fact that financial investment has actually streamed into the renewable energy industry as part of the power change.

Some participant states are not able to increase production to the concurred level, which suggests that as the company remains to apply its month-to-month production rise plan to progressively eliminate the remaining part of the 2020 record production reduction strategy, a supply space might appear.

Morgan Stanley experts Martijn Rats and also Amy Sergeant claimed OPEC+ might slow down or suspend the proposed manufacturing increase plan next year to balance the global market.

Excellent four: the United States kicks back border controls, enhancing need prospects

The United States announced this week that it will quickly permit the entrance of the majority of foreign air passengers that have obtained the full program of COVID-19 vaccination, more improving the expectation for petroleum demand.

These measures are one of the most thorough change to the travel policy of the United States in months, widening the gap between the treatment of immunized and also non-vaccinated individuals. The new regulations will replace existing regulations that ban immigrants from particular regions (including Europe) from taking a trip to the United States.

Although this relocation will open the United States to numerous vaccinators, the White House sees it as an epidemic avoidance procedure since it will certainly carry out stricter testing guidelines and new contact tracing mechanisms. The White House claimed the new plan will take effect in very early November, but did not divulge the specific date.

Jeff Zients, Coordinator of the White House's New Coronary Epidemic Response Team, told reporters on Monday, "We recognize that vaccines are reliable, including the delta strain. Inoculation is the ideal line of defense to stop the epidemic.

British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle stated that the US choice represents the arrival of a "historical minute", claiming that customers can currently schedule tickets with self-confidence.

Rystad Energy's crude oil market analyst Louise Dickson claimed in a record that in terms of oil demand, there is no brand-new clog in Europe, the strong healing of China's roadway traffic, as well as the removal of constraints on foreign visitors from the United States in November, every one of which will enhance the future. Need development potential customers for the last quarter.

EIA crude oil supplies succumbed to the 7th successive week

US Energy Information Administration (EIA) information on Wednesday (September 22) showed that last week US crude oil inventories fell to the most affordable degree in almost three years. As of the week of September 17, unrefined oil stocks fell by 3.5 million barrels to 414 million barrels. Currently, crude oil inventories are at their least expensive level given that October 2018.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) information additionally shows that the capability use rate people East Coast refineries has actually enhanced to 93%, the highest since May 2019, which signifies raising gas demand.

U.S. crude oil production is still significantly impacted by Hurricane Ida. Just this week, Royal Dutch Shell introduced that due to the damage triggered by "Ida", part of its offshore manufacturing in the Gulf of Mexico will be suspended. Due to severe weather disrupting the supply of crude oil in the United States, and also rising all-natural gas costs triggering expectations that consumers may switch over to oil, crude oil prices have actually risen this month.

Some supply disturbances may last for numerous months, resulting in considerable reductions in U.S. and international supplies. Investors stated that US refiners are seeking to change Gulf of Mexico crude oil and purchase petroleum from Iraq and also Canada instead.

Phil Flynn, an elderly expert at Price Futures Group, stated, "The market is beginning to focus on real-world issues-there are an increasing number of discussions concerning global stock tightening, and people are worried that there will be supply troubles as the winter season comes. Taking a tougher stance may bring even more support to the oil market.

Goldman Sachs anticipates oil costs to reach US$ 90 per barrel

Jeff Currie, Global Head of Commodity Research at Goldman Sachs, said that if it turns out that the northern hemisphere winter months is colder than typical this year, crude oil prices can skyrocket to $90 per barrel. This is $10 higher than Goldman's present forecast. At the same time, high gas rates have brought tragic repercussions to the British power supply companies.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday, Currie said that in the context of international crude oil production constraints, the tight supply of gas in Europe will certainly result in a rise in global oil demand. The international elements he pointed out consisted of the disruption of petroleum manufacturing in the Gulf of Mexico caused by cyclones.

Currie claimed that the increase in natural gas rates reveals no signs of easing off because of limited supply and surge in demand, "especially outside the United States." "The stress on the supply chain is too great to hold up against any type of type of disruption."

Lipow Oil Associates President Andrew Lipow stated that as international demand recoups and inventories remain to reduce, crude oil prices are still sustained.

Phil Flynn, a senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc., stated that market interest has actually gone back to provide and also demand, the marketplace looks extremely favorable, and also there may be insufficient supply. As winter season techniques, there are actual problems regarding supply.

In addition, UBS experts said that Brent petroleum may reach $80 at the end of September due to minimized stocks, OPEC manufacturing cuts as well as strong Middle East demand.

As the stock market bottomed out and crude oil stocks proceeded to decrease, With tighter supply and also boosted demand potential customers, oil prices have reversed their decline and also videotaped gains. U.S. unrefined oil closed up 2.77% this week, recording 5 consecutive positives on the weekly line, striking a brand-new high of $74.27 per barrel in the past 2 months. As of the week of September 17, crude oil stocks dropped by 3.5 million barrels to 414 million barrels. Presently, unrefined oil inventories are at their least expensive degree since October 2018. Due to severe weather condition interrupting the supply of crude oil in the United States, and also climbing all-natural gas rates activating expectations that consumers may switch over to oil, crude oil prices have actually risen this month.

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junker-town · 3 years

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5 NBA stars who could be traded next

Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

The NBA stars who could get traded next, ranked by how soon they might move.

The NBA never goes too long without a superstar changing teams via a trade. The summer of 2017 saw Jimmy Butler traded to the Timberwolves and Chris Paul traded to the Rockets. In 2018, Kawhi Leonard was traded from the Spurs to the Raptors while Butler was dealt again to the 76ers. In 2019, Anthony Davis was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, Paul George was traded to the Clippers, and Paul was traded to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook. Paul was on the move again to the Suns in 2020, while James Harden’s trade request hung over the season until he was mercifully sent from the Rockets to the Nets two weeks into January.

The biggest trade of this offseason so far is the five-team deal headlined by Westbrook’s arrival to the Lakers. Now that most of the player movement in free agency has settled, all eyes will again turn to the trade market as players consider their futures and teams assemble their best offers should a star fully hit the market.

Since star trade speculation is always one of the biggest topics in the league, here’s a look at the big names who are rumored to (maybe) be the next to move, and when it could happen.

5. Karl Anthony-Towns

When could it happen? Summer 2023 at the earliest.

There has been speculation that Towns wouldn’t sign a third contract with the Timberwolves from the moment he inked his super max extension in 2018. That deal has three years and $101.3 million remaining, and Minnesota remains far away from contention.

Can Minnesota build a winner before Towns is up for a new deal? For as promising as Anthony Edwards looked in his rookie season, the West remains a gauntlet and there isn’t a clear path for the Wolves to make a big jump up the standings. It isn’t hard to envision a scenario where Towns signals he’d like to change teams when his deal is up, and Minnesota not wanting to lose him for nothing.

Towns remains one of the best skilled offensive bigs in the league with the ability to unleash high volume and highly accurate three-point shooting from the center position. Even with question marks defensively, there’s no doubt the soon-to-be 26-year-old looks like he will eventually be in line for another max deal. He can’t become a free agent until the summer of 2024.

4. Bradley Beal

When could it happen? Summer 2023 at the earliest.

Trade rumors have swirled around Beal for years as the Washington Wizards have struggled to build a sustainable contender following John Wall’s Achilles tear. Washington swapped Wall for Russell Westbrook and earned the No. 8 seed in last year’s playoffs, and then flipped Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers for a bunch of depth pieces at the 2021 draft. Beal was reportedly considering his future with the franchise in the run-up to those moves, but Washington’s latest bold move of the offseason — a sign-and-trade for Spencer Dinwiddie — seems to have quieted speculation that Beal could be on the move soon.

The latest reports from insider Shams Charania said Beal now has no intention of leaving the Wizards, and is eyeing a five-year, $235 million max extension next summer.

While the Wizards still don’t look like a contender in the East, this report makes sense from two different angles: a) Beal wants to lock in his long-term money before seeking a new team, and b) he might be impressed with the way the front office has re-tooled the roster after the Wall trade. Washington still has lots of work to do, but it’s possible Beal is happy there for now. There will be plenty of interested suitors readying big trade packages if the Wizards ever do finally deal him.

3. Damian Lillard

When could it happen? Summer 2022 at the earliest.

Damian Lillard has been vocal about his loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers over the years, but that might finally be changing as he enters his 31-year-old season.

Dame was vocal about his disappointment after the Blazers were knocked out in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs by a Denver Nuggets team that didn’t have injured star Jamal Murray. There was plenty of speculation Lillard could demand a trade this summer, but instead he’s made public comments pressuring the team to improve quickly. What happens if they don’t?

Portland re-signed Norman Powell to a $90 million deal, but otherwise their “big” free agent additions this offseason were Tony Snell and Cody Zeller. If Portland doesn’t make an all-in move before the season starts, it’s easy to envision a scenario where the team has another early exit in the playoffs and Lillard demands a trade in the summer of 2022.

A Lillard trade demand would likely be similar to Harden’s in Houston, with a list of preferences informing the market. The rest of the league will be waiting anxiously to see if the Blazers can fix things before Dame wants out.

2. Pascal Siakam

When could it happen? Any moment.

The Raptors won 50 or more games for five straight seasons before missing the playoffs (and play-in tournament) during a disastrous 27-45 season last year. Toronto had an easy excuse with the pandemic forcing the team to relocate to Tampa Bay for the season, but the loss of Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat this offseason has quelled any optimism that Toronto could be a contender again next season.

The Raptors drafted Scottie Barnes at No. 4 overall, re-signed Gary Trent Jr. and Khem Birch, and otherwise haven’t done much yet to reshape the roster. It’s hard to tell what the long-term vision for Toronto is right now, which makes the reports that Pascal Siakam is available on the trade market even more difficult to decipher.

Siakam trade rumors have been out there all offseason. A recent report from Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee states that the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, and Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly “enamored” with Siakam. The Warriors feel like the most tantalizing fit, with three lottery picks under 21 years old — James Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga — potentially fitting the bill if Toronto is looking to rebuild.

It’s possible Siakam could be on the move later this offseason if the Raptors want to fully commit to a youth movement. There really shouldn’t be too much rush for Toronto, though. Siakam is coming off an underwhelming year by his standards and is under contract for the next three seasons. It’s certainly possible he could raise his trade value during the upcoming season if Toronto holds onto him, and there’s a more robust market for him at the deadline or in the summer of 2022.

1. Ben Simmons

When could it happen? Any moment.

The NBA has waited with bated breath for a Simmons deal to finally come to fruition ever since his immense offensive struggles contributed to a second round playoff flameout for the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in June. Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid both appeared to throw Simmons under the bus after Philadelphia’s series-clinching loss to the Atlanta Hawks, setting off a wild summer of speculation about the 25-year-old All-Star’s future.

The draft came and went with Simmons still in Philadelphia. The Sixers didn’t do much in free agency, either, signing Andre Drummond and re-signing Danny Green but otherwise opting to keep the same team intact while they wait for the right offer for Simmons. What we appear to have now is an old fashioned standoff.

Simmons and agent Rich Paul reportedly want to be sent to a new team. Morey is asking for the world for Simmons at the moment. The real goal for Philly is likely to wait it out, let Simmons recoup some value, and then make him the centerpiece of a package for Lillard or Beal, should they ask out. Is the relationship between Simmons and the Sixers too broken to get that far?

The Simmons situation sure seems like it will be a major distraction if Morey lets it bleed into the season. At the same time, the team wants to make sure they can get the absolute best return for him. Until this is resolved, the Simmons trade rumors will remain one of the biggest stories in the NBA.

Wildcard: Zion Williamson

Williamson was reportedly a little bummed out that the Pelicans won the lottery when he was the clear No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft. There are already rumblings he isn’t happy in New Orleans only two seasons into his rookie deal. He hasn’t been shy about expressing his love for New York. The Pelicans’ offseason — whiffing on Kyle Lowry, letting go of Lonzo Ball, adding Devonte’ Graham and Tomas Satoransky as their headline acquisitions — hasn’t been super encouraging.

Williamson still has two years left on his rookie deal. Before his fourth season, he’ll be offered a max extension by New Orleans. If he doesn’t sign it, his only move is to play on the qualifying offer that would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after his fifth season. It’s extremely rare for a superstar to turn down the money and play on the qualifying offer because of injury risk, and Williamson’s own extensive injury history would make that route an incredibly bold choice.

If Zion really does want out of New Orleans, his only move might be to publicly pressure the front office to trade him. The fanbase has been through this before with Chris Paul and then Anthony Davis, and will pray the Pelicans can take a huge leap up the standings before that happens. Williamson was amazing in his second season, and will only get better if he can stay healthy. For now, this is a situation to monitor even if Zion doesn’t have a lot of easy options.

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