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zachsgamejournal · 2 years

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COMPLETED: Kona

Annnnd DONE! I really enjoyed the game. I think there’s...shortcomings, but ultimately it’s exactly the type of game I really enjoy (and I wish this is what Resident Evil Village was more-like). I hope this team gets to continue making similar projects in the future!!

Not sure where I left off...but I cheated when it came to the safe combination. Well, other things happened before that...

Basically, you get to an ice wall and have a vision of four people, made of light, standing before the wall and unable to move. As you find these people’s visions within the world, they confidently walk forward and disappear into the wall. By finding all four, you magically eliminate the wall and progress toward the end of the game.

The first vision was in this house with a lady at the window. This is also the house with a safe. I couldn’t figure out the combination. I think they said something about the husband running out into the woods. Can’t remember exactly.

After exploring houses (unprompted by the game, i might add) I decided to explore the houses by the lake. I believe it was the first house, when you open the door there’s someone in a rocking chair and they immediately shoot at you. Freaked me the hell out. He apologizes in Canadian French and invites you in. You’re allowed to rummage his house while he makes comments about you looking at his stuff, but he’s not bothered. I was impressed at first after pointing out there was no dialog system in the game. And there still isn’t. “talking” to the old man just gets the same response from him each time. Interesting there’s still a living human here though.

So, he has a winter coat and offers to give it to you for a bottle of caribou. No idea what that is. I explore another house and discover the owner makes home-made alcohol in his home. That’s what caribou is, apparently--a Canadian Moonshine?? Anyway, I gotta steal some sherry from the general store, make the alcohol, and take it back for a coat. Which is good, cause nearly freezing to death while exploring was annoying.

I then find a junkyard like residence and there’s a lot of things to do. There’s a home-made flying saucer in the garage you can repair. No idea why that matters. Maybe for trophies? Turns out the owner thinks there’s aliens visiting the town. Likely this is to confuse the player about the truth behind the supernatural occurrences. it worked, i was confused.

The guy was also building a snow-mobile. Which you can finish repairing. After going on a scavenger hunt, it’s already ready to go minus a key. You end up having to go for a long walk to a “secret project”. There’s a Resident Evil style puzzle here that nets the key and now you get a snow mobile to travel around with more agility. Like Resident evil, the storage unit in the snow mobile shares inventory with the truck. It’s handy.

This also revealed a cave. Turns out this cave was the secret hide out for a communist revolutionary that hated England’s influence on Canada. He also hated the Hamilton, the guy that hired us, who was murdered in the store. He’s also English. After seeing his vision of being chased and shooting at “something” I get attacked by a ghost wolf. Up until now I’ve avoided the wolves, firing a shot in the air to scare them. The ghost wolf is not scared. I end up shooting it and it disappears.

I find my way out and get back to the ice wall. Three of the ghosts disappear but not the forth. I’m irritated. I have NO IDEA where the fourth ghost is. I’ve checked every building on the map and the game gives no clues about where to go or what to do. Well it gives...”clues”, but nothing definitive. So I have to look it up, as well as the safe combination.

Turns out the fourth guy is in the woods. Wolf tracks leading from the store go right to him. So I think I was supposed to follow those way back when.

It’s now night time and I have to go through a hiking section. A creek prevents me from taking the snow mobile. Damn. it’s harder to use logs now since my inventory is limited.

In this area, it seems that there’s a local indigenous man who’s been hunting wolves. He seems to be aware of the beast, Wendigo, and is hunting it. But the beast keeps catching white people and freezing. Turns out there’s these “fire arrows” I’ve been finding, and that’s this hunter shooting at the beast. As I follow the path, i find the Wendigo frozen in ice. A vision appears.

The game does it’s best to explain the story here. Apparently four people see a woman get murdered. But it was a hunting accident. The doctor is unable to save her, so they bury her in the woods. Then the Wendigo arises and starts hunting the group that was involved. Because you don’t experience the events linearly, it’s hard to put it together. I’m not 100% on all of it--did someone envoke the Wendigo? Who was mad about the woman getting shot (which they should be). Why was Hamilton murdered and why did he hire a private detective?? I’m just confused.

It feels very much like Sleepy Hollow, which I loved Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. I just don’t feel as “clear” on the plot. But it was a really interesting attempt to build an emotional story and conspiracy that unravels through exploration.

Anyway, after the vision, the Wendigo awakes and begins to chase me. I run for about five minutes and find a motorboat. The Wendigo shrugs and walks away as I drive to safety.

Credits.

It was an interesting game. And there was a real attempt to make a good story with cultural touchstones and reflections. The supernatural elements was an interesting twist, but I kept half expecting it to be an illusion or dream. I don’t feel I know my character at all and the narrator never really got better.

BUT -- this game reminded me a lot of Resident Evil 7--but the good parts, with exploration, puzzles, and environmental storytelling. Not the boring parts where you shoot monsters with machine guns. Kona has some shooting too, but it’s mostly optional, thankfully.

I really enjoyed the game and it’s short, so I’ll be interested to try it again and maybe better piece the story together.

Funnily enough, after playing the game one night--I put on a movie I had never heard of. (I forget the name now.) But it takes place in a northern, snowy town and people seem to be getting killed by what a local indigenous man calls the “wendigo”. Their wendigo in fact is also real. What a coincidence!!

Anyway, the move sucked. But Kona is good.

#Zach's Gaming Journal #COMPLETED #Kona #Stadia #Video Games #Gaming

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godbirdart · 4 years

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𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶𝙾

#deer #caribou #this is just what caribou look like in canada #nbd #halo #multiple eyes #eye horror #godbirdart #godbird #2020 #march #eye strain #bright colours

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tulunnguaq · 3 years

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Hi! Sorry this is a really random question, but have you seen any of the Terror, and if so do you know what language Silna is speaking ? Nive Nielsen the actress playing Silna/lady silence is Greenlandic but in the programme one of the other characters say she’s speaking Inuktitut. Feel free to ignore this I’m just really curious and I haven’t got anywhere googling this lol

Hi there. I haven’t actually come across The Terror but it looks pretty interesting.

I had a quick look at a couple of clips online, eg this one from episode 5:

As far as I can tell she is saying Huuqmi tuqujumavit? which would be Inuktitut.

The (standard, ie West) Greenlandic equivalent would be Soormi toqujumavit?

So as you can see the two are very close which is why Inuit is sometimes described as a single language existing in a dialect continuum from Alaska to Greenland, rather than multiple languages.

So it would not be difficult for a native Greenlander like Nive Nielsen to play someone speaking Inuktitut. I note she is described as a Netsilik inuk, but I don’t know enough of the dialect there to know how accurate the dialogue is generally. The following chart from Fortescue* shows that Netsilik (Net) is one of the West Canadian Inuit (WCI) dialects. One notable point is the appearance of “h” for standard Inuit “s” which Fortescue confirms is a standard reflex for Netsilik Inuit (along with the neighbouring Copper (Cop) and Caribou (Car) dialects, as well as the North Greenland (NG) dialect, which was populated by a relatively recent migration from Canada). So it may well be accurate.

*Comparative Eskimo Dictionary (Fortescue et al, 1994)

Breakdown:

huuq/sooq - why

-mi - emphatic particle (and/then...)

tuqu/toqu - die

-juma- - want

-vit - you (2s interrogative mood, intransitive)

#greenlandic #kalaallisut #Netsilik #Inuktitut #the terror #lady silence #silna

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peonycats · 3 years

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Do you have any fav ships?

Here are the canon (ish?) ships I really like! I add the ish because I interpret charas differently because I Own Hetalia, actually

India x China: MY RIDE OR DIE SHIP- idk man, it’s about the endless centuries, the drama, the pettiness, the historic parallels, the horniness!!!!! I wrote something actually deep about this

“Despite our squabbling, he is the true mirror image of me, and I cannot look away. Blessed in blood, shaped by steel, but with different tongues, different siblings, different gods. We’ve been so many things, like it has been with all my neighbors who’ve survived the ache of time, that no label could ever do justice describing what he is to me. But it is he who just knows me in such a way nobody else could ever, and vice versa.”

And even with the current state of Sino-Indian relations there’s such an interesting history of Indian cultural exchange with China and historic parallels that is just begging to be explored!!!!

China x Iran/Persia x India: ancient asia ot3 baby! (vietnam and the other old feckers are prbly doing something actually productive) Iran has a long history of interaction with both India and China and the latter two prbly view Iran as “China/India but with less drama” lol

Thailand x Vietnam: I love this one because the dynamic between stoic serious Vietnam and sunshine boy Thailand makes me soft but also their geopolitical rivalry adds an absolutely fascinating lens to their relationship!! While I do adore the former, I wish more thaiviet content would also take into consideration the complicated history and geopolitical mess these two have with each other! (rip cambodia and laos tho)

Spain x Austria: hapsburg fuckery lets gooooooooo- love it because spain and austria are both garbage and their marriage was a mess and I revel in the chaos (AND ALSO THEY HAD A EUROPE’S TOP POWER COUPLE COMPETITION AGAINST FRANCE AND OTTOMAN EMPIRE WHEEZES)

Denmark x Sweden: I generally like rivalry ships lol and I’ve enjoyed a lot of the content created for this ship! Generally have trouble getting into a lot of nordic content because I disagree so strongly with most of the canon personalities, but I like this one because I love trash man x trash man :’’’)

Egypt x Greece: Ancient momma’s boys! I’m pretty sure this one was mostly because of ask-the-ottomans shdfkhskfkjs- and also long suffering lads under Torkey’s nonsense :’^)

Tibet x Mongolia: GHSHDJFJS ADDING THIS ONE IN BECAUSE I FORGOT BUT I LOVE IT TOO as @flyingsassysaddles once said “Tibet is Mongolia’s emotional support vassal”

Ships I enjoy but don’t rly feel like creating content for-

Rusame, FRUK, SPUK, PruAusHun, and Romechu are all ships I enjoy but imo there’s already enough content and I must spread my rare pair propaganda

CuCan and Nedcan is also nice but I do feel like that for Canada and especially Cuba their characterization is limited by whoever they’re being paired up with, and that’s just a shame tbh- I really wish we got to see deeper fandom characterizations of Cuba, which is a nation (along with the rest of the caribe) I have a lot of interest in!

Platonic/Familial-

Vietnam & China: I enjoy their platonic dynamic a lot because 1) two bickering senior citizens angrily waving their canes at each other and 2) I think that if you were to ignore the history, they can and do bond over a lot of things- being ancient in an age where life was cheap and you stood constant, unchanging, and they both have rather wry senses of humor (even if China is more outwardly cheerful/energetic than Viet)! it also makes me laugh at the thought of Vietnam 2,000 years ago hearing word about this fearsome warrior, the nation who made all submit before his very feet, proclaiming his right to rule over all under heaven, and upon actually meeting him, she finds out he’s actually a 5’6 dweeb

Taiwan & Hong Kong: POOH BEAR COMRADES IN ARMS who also bully Macau for being a square

Cameroon & Seychelles: I really love to see them having a sibling-esque relationship and I wanna see more interactions among aph africa!!!! I imagine that they got to know each other from both being under French colonial rule in the past (albeit different time periods), and cameroon is a big brother figure to sey :’’’ )

Spain & Portugal: I love dumb sibling dynamics :’’’ )

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nehswritesstuffs · 4 years

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Cozytober 2020, Whouffaldi Edition! - Part 2

Long story short: I came across a prompt set for October this year that’s very chill and laid back, so I decided to try my hand at it. Each prompt is for a couple days and you can find it [here].

747 words; takes place early in s9; I don’t like coffee, so your mileage may vary on the brands and chains and styles mentioned and that’s okay; I also wouldn’t put it past Twelve to go and invent coffee for Clara, by being the catalyst and causing another bootstrap paradox ala Beethoven’s Fifth and… yeah… if the legends of Kaldi and/or varying Sufi origins are apocryphal and incorrect, then in the Doctor Who universe, it’s because no one would believe it was just some alien nerd wanting to impress his Briton girlfriend

Part One -

Cozytober Days 5-8: coffee; The Doctor tries to low-key make it up to Clara, though still manages to go a bit overboard.

She was giving him a chance to redeem himself in his coffee-fetching status. It was only fair, after all, as he had technically still been in the last throes of regeneration sickness when he went the first time and accidentally ditched her in Glasgow. Accidentally—that was the key word there. There weren’t many people he’d purposefully leave “dead in a ditch”, as Clara had so delicately put it, but she was one of the furthest from that list possible. It was why the Doctor wanted to prove that to her that he genuinely was competent and that the Glasgow Incident, as they were referring to it now, was a complete fluke.

Costa—pretty standard. She took one sip and placed it back on the side table next to her favorite chair in the console room’s study area. Huh… needed to get a bit more creative. That meant Starbucks was likely out of the picture as well…

He next swiped some Algie’s from a café in Greenock. Didn’t fare much better, though she did hold onto the cup for longer before putting it down for the first time.

He gave it some thought… Earth coffee… he wanted to find some Earth coffee before working his way up again…

Pret? Not even a blink. Doutor? Nope. Zarraffa’s? Nada. Aida? 85C? Caribou? Bewley’s? Pascucci? Luckin? Biggby? Douwe?

None of it—not even tiny independent cafes—got more than a second glance.

After gathering a summit of the most intelligent minds in all of Coal Hill for a brain storming session, the consensus from two Year Tens, a Year Eight, and a Seven led him to a coffee house with no name or sign in Bethnal Green to get some fitti-hui coffee. One taste of the whipped concoction and she raised an eyebrow, stared at him, and continued on, furrowing her brow as she continued sipping experimentally at it.

“Did she at least finish it?” the Year Eight wondered later on in the week.

“Yes, she’s been finishing all of them, but that’s not the point,” the Doctor scowled. He sat cross-legged on a bench in the courtyard, wracking his brain as his committee helped him puzzle everything together.

“If she finished it, then maybe it is the point…?” a Year Ten shrugged. “You must have really cocked it up that first time if that taste of paradise didn’t work.”

“First off, language,” he warned, the action nearly automatic, “and secondly, I’m still trying to pinpoint what her specific tastes are, particularly the ones she needs to be in a mood for… those are the trickiest.”

“Baba visited his brother in Canada last year and said the coffee there was really good,” the Year Seven offered. “Have you tried Canadian coffee? He said the cold ones are the best.”

“Cold coffee?” the Doctor scoffed. “I don’t think Miss Oswald would be that keen…”

Four deadpan stares made it so that an hour later, he was exiting the TARDIS during Clara’s prep with two Tim Horton’s Iced Capps in a carrier, almost sheepishly extending the offering towards her.

“Trying to get creative while staying terrestrial, are we?” she asked, taking one look at the coffees.

“No, I’m not,” he defended.

“The maple leaves all over the cups are a dead give-away.”

Oh… he was found out. She took one of the drinks and tasted it, giving herself a moment to judge the Doctor’s latest attempt. “You know, not everyone can have globally-prepared coffees every day unless they were someone like a pilot or air steward. Some of my students are beginning to think I’m pranking them.”

“They know I have ways.”

“Yeah, but my coworkers don’t, and they’re equally wondering if this is all an elaborate joke.” She continued drinking the coffee, nodding as she went along. “I do recommend that next time, you stay in Shoreditch.”

The Doctor’s brow arched. “Why…?”

“One of these opened just down the street from here a few months ago.” He bristled; there must have been an error when processing “regional” compared to “global” coffees, though he wasn’t going to admit that out loud. “Yeah—you’d know this if you didn’t commute by TARDIS and walked like a normal person.”

The Doctor opened his mouth, made to speak, then closed his mouth again, instead taking his drink with him back to the TARDIS’s hidey-cupboard, where he sulked until the end of classes for the day. It seemed as though his penance was almost too successful.

#Whouffaldi #Whouffle #Clara Oswald #Twelfth Doctor #Cozytober #Cozytober2020 #fan fiction #Doctor Who #I read way too many wiki pages about coffee and coffee-related entities for this

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summerofspock · 4 years

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Day Twenty: Reindeer

Tags: human au, meet cute, hallmark movie tbh

On AO3

s/o to @eunyisadoran for saying they needed more bear!aziraphale. ask and ye shall receive

aziraphale inspo can be seen in this lovely art here

Crowley pushed open the door to the bar and was welcomed by a rush of heat couched in the smell of beer and old cigarettes. It was a relief from the snowy frigid air and would do just fine for Crowley's purposes. One bar was as good as any other in his opinion.

Elbowing through the small crowd gathered watching some sporting event, Crowley made his way to the bar and leaned against it, one arm coming down flat over the polished worktop as he waited for the bartender to notice him.

It was Crowley's first night in this awful cold northern town in Canada and he didn't want to be there. He wanted to be back in his London flat with his good whiskey and his favorite take away. But no, he had to come out here and shut down his great uncle's farm. Sell off the last of it, wash his hands of this nonsense and then he could go home and forget about it all.

"Can I help you?"

Crowley redirected his attention to the bartender in front of him and his voice abruptly caught in his throat. What was a man like that doing in a place like this? This bar deserved a bartender with ragged hands and a weather creased face, half hidden behind a patchy beard. Some man named Dennis or Carl who'd slide your drink at you without caring if you caught it or not.

Not...not...not this blue eyed, blond haired man who looked so soft and kind. Sure he had the beard but it was tight about his face, the light blonde bristles emphasizing the pink plushness of his mouth. He was wearing a tartan button up under a thick knit cardigan that looked like it would feel good fisted in Crowley's hands.

"Anyone in there?" the man asked, looking amused, and Crowley forced himself to reply.

"Any recommendations?" he asked, his flirtatious tone entirely by accident. He'd meant to get the cheapest thing on tap and a lot of it.

The man smiled at him, making his eyes crinkle as the curl of his mouth unfurled under his beard. "Well, in order for me to recommend something, I'd need to know a bit more about your preferences."

Now that he'd said more than a few words, Crowley realized the man wasn't Canadian. He had a Southern English accent. So he was...

"Where are you from?" Crowley asked before he could stop himself. He didn't exactly need to pry into some stranger's life. No matter how attracted to him he was.

The bartender brightened immediately. "Oh, London! you sound quite the Londoner yourself. What brings a fellow Englishman to Swan River?" he asked, saying Englishman like it was some sort of silly secret they now shared.

"I'm, er, I'm Anthony Crowley. I'm here to shut down my uncle's place. He owned a farm outside of town," Crowley explained feeling suddenly hamfisted and awkward.

The man's eyes took on a sympathetic gleam. How could eyes be so expressive? "Oh well, I'm sorry you're here under less than auspicious circumstances."

He reached out and patted Crowley's hand where it was laid atop the bar. The short contact made Crowley's whole body grow taut with interest. Who knew he was into chubby blonde men with beards? Certainly not him.

"Well, what would you like? Drink on the house," the bartender declared before plucking a cocktail shaker from beneath the bar and raising one eyebrow at Crowley in question.

"Alright," Crowley said, second arm coming to the bar top so he could lean forward. "I'm a whiskey man. Do your worst."

The bartender rolled his eyes a bit playfully and said, "Of course you're a whiskey man."

"I don't know what that means but I'll take it as a compliment."

The bartender flashed him another smile as he pulled out some brand of whiskey Crowley didn't recognize.

In the backlit bar, the man's hair was a white gold. It almost looked like a halo and Crowley had the entirely daft thought that he looked like an angel. He put a hand to his forehead and sighed. He needed a drink if he was comparing nice bartenders to celestial beings.

The bartender put a glass in front of him. "A manhattan," he declared. "Not too sour, not too sweet, but extra strong." He winked at Crowley. "You look like you need it."

Crowley wrapped one hand around the cup. "Thank you."

The bartender nodded. "Well, you know where I am if you need me."

And then he was off, helping another patron as Crowley sipped at his manhattan.

He realized he'd never gotten his name.

But then the bar grew too busy for Crowley to strike up another conversation. In fact, it got too busy for Crowley to want to stick around at all so he stumbled outside into the cold mountain air and lit a cigarette, putting it to his whiskey slick lips.

He looked up at the smoke as it drifted in front of the the neon sign above him, Caribou. It flickered a hellish red and Crowley wondered what an angel like that was doing working in a place like this.

#31 days of ineffables #again fluff #again au #i WILL NOT WRITE MORE IN THIS UNIVERSE #eyes emoji at self #azcrow fic #my fic

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harley-sunday · 4 years

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A Good Man Goes to War [03]

Summary: Starts right after Civil War. Steve Rogers is done being Captain America and quite happy living a quiet life in a safe house somewhere in Canada. Until Thanos goes after the Infinity Stones. What happens when a good man goes to war?

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC (f) but could be read as reader insert.

Warnings: Loss.

Word count: 4.5k

Entry for @browngirlmagic‘s writing challenge. My prompt was “Demons run when a good man goes to war.”

AN: We’re getting closer to the end. This one hurt, not going to lie, but you know, full-circle and all that. Well, almost anyway. Please let me know what you think ♥

I don’t do taglists, but if you follow Harley Sunday x Steve Rogers you should see any update I post.

Masterlist

“Steve?”

There’s something about her voice that’s different, but it isn’t the worried tone he’s heard before. He wonders what is going on and if it has something to do with the strange way she’s been acting ever since they got back from their trip into town yesterday. There was some secrecy involved when it came to the contents of her drugstore bag and really the only thing he can come up with is that maybe she’s dyeing her hair and wants it to be a surprise. She has been in the bathroom for a quite some time already, after all.

He finds her upstairs, but in their bedroom, hair looking her normal color, pacing up and down the room with a smile on her face and something that he thinks looks like a thermometer in her hands. To say he’s confused would be an understatement. He sits down on the bed at her request and can’t help himself, “Are you ok?”

She stands in front of him, smiling even more widely and then she shows him the stick that says ‘over three weeks’ followed by a whispered, “I think I’m pregnant.”

It’s a good thing he’s already sitting down, because his head is spinning, and he can’t believe this is actually happening. He knows she’s waiting for him to say something, anything, but all he can think about is how he finally seems to get to have the normal life he’s been dreaming of for so long. He looks up at her and when he sees the worried look on her face he quickly takes one of her hands in his and pulls her closer.

“You ok?” Her voice is soft, her free hand running through his hair before she presses a kiss to the top of his head.

He nods, gently tugging on her hips to make her sit down in his lap and then he kisses her to show her that, really, he is.

She smiles into the kiss before she pulls back a little, resting her forehead against his, “I know we never talked about this,” she clears her throat, “but-”

“Hey,” he interrupts her, pulling back a little so he can look at her, “there is nothing to talk about.” He kisses her again before he continues, “I have two missions left, but once they’re done I can’t wait to settle down here with you and,” he puts his hand on her stomach, “this little one.”

“I love you,” she says, sounding a little relieved, throwing her arms around him and pulling him close.

“I love you too, doll,” he replies with a smile, vowing right then and there he’ll make her his once he’s back for good.

Natasha visits them somewhere in May and somehow she knows?

He’s pretty sure he hasn’t told her anything, but still she shows up with a present for them, a wooden toy that turns out to be Russian made and exactly like the one she had when she was just a baby. Something passes over her features as she tells him about it, which in turn stop him from asking about it, after all he knows her well enough to know she doesn’t like to talk about her childhood.

He is surprised to see Natasha greet her like they're old friends when she steps into the cabin, their quick banter making him realize there’s more to their story than he first thought. He looks at them expectantly.

“Yeah, so uh,” she clears her throat, and nods towards the woman standing next to her, “Nat and I know each other from way back.”

“Right,” he says, because of course they do. Honestly, he should have seen this coming.

“I taught her some basic hand-to-hand combat skills when she first started running this safe house,” Natasha offers with a grin. “Fury set it up.”

“So that day you and Sam came over?”

“She knew who I was,” Natasha nods.

“Huh.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest, not sure if he should be mad or relieved. He decides he needs more information, “And you’ve been keeping in touch or?”

Natasha nods, “We use the secure line and sort of developed a code for everything.” She snickers then, “We call you ‘The puppy’.”

He looks from Natasha to her and sees she’s trying to keep a straight face from the way she’s biting her lip, but ultimately she fails and laughs, “It was the only thing we could come up with that would make sense to talk about once you moved in.” She looks at Natasha, “He’s a good boy, though.”

Natasha nods in agreement, a sparkle in her eyes, “He really is.”

“I hate you,” he says, shaking his head, trying his hardest not to laugh.

“No you don’t,” both she and Natasha counter at the same time.

There’s a mission somewhere in June, but both Natasha and Sam assure him they can handle it, and so he gets to stay with her, preparing the cabin for the summer months. He tends to the vegetable garden mostly, making sure to remove the dead crops after the winter and sowing new ones in time for the harvest in September, while she busies herself with the annual spring cleaning.

She’s just over three months when his birthday comes around, and he loves the way she’s already showing a little. The first trimester passed without too much trouble, except for some morning sickness she keeps telling him to stop worrying about. Like last year she’s made him all sorts of cupcakes for his birthday, the candle put into the blueberry one this time. He slightly alters his wish from last year, but ultimately he wishes for the same thing even though there’s still one mission coming up.

They’re on the front porch, where she’s sitting in his lap, her fingers running through his hair over and over again in a way that make him completely relaxed. Once again he wishes he could stop time and just enjoy this moment forever.

“Have you thought of any names yet?”

Her soft voice interrupts his thoughts and he shakes his head, “Not really.”

“No?” She sounds surprised, “I have.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she replies, pressing a kiss to his temple.

He looks up at her expectantly.

“Oh, you want me to tell you?” she acts surprised. “Nope,” she says then, popping the p, “not until you come up with some of your own.”

“Oh, it’s like that, huh?” He gently pinches her sides, making her laugh.

“Yeah, it’s like that,” she counters with a grin, hollering then when he lifts her up in one swift motion and throws her over his shoulder, “Steve!”

He leaves for his last mission somewhere at the end of August, even though every fiber in his body tells him not to go. She assures him she’ll be fine and that she won’t do anything crazy, but still he’s a little distracted when Natasha and Sam pick him up, and Natasha gently tells him to snap out of it when they take off.

When he returns home four weeks later she’s waiting for him on the porch, her stomach much rounder than when he left. She is glowing and he falls in love with her a little more, this strong woman that he knows will be an amazing mother soon. He holds her as tight as he can, pressing a kiss to her temple before he bends over and kisses her stomach, whispering a quiet, “Hey little one, Daddy’s home.”

“And here to stay,” she adds with a smile, relief washing through her voice as she runs her fingers through his hair.

He stands up straight and pulls her in for a kiss, smiling against her lips when he murmurs, “‘M never leaving you again.”

“At least not until we’ve finished painting the nursery,” she jokes before she throws her arms around his neck and kisses his passionately, a quiet moan escaping her when she opens her mouth and his tongue slips in.

His hands are halfway to her thighs, ready to lift her up, when he realizes there’s now a bump in the way and so instead he pulls back from the kiss and picks her up bridal style, carrying her up to their bedroom with ease. She snuggles up to him once he’s joined her on the bed, her fingers drawing intricate patterns on the arm that’s carefully draped over her stomach, and a quiet sort of happiness settles over him because she’s home to him.

She asks him if he has thought any more about names, but he tells her he still has some time and to not rush him otherwise he’ll name the kid Natasha whether it’s a girl or not.

They finish the nursery with a month to spare, the pale yellow walls of his old bedroom now a soft green with tangerine accents, or so she tells him anyway. To him it’s just green and orange. They decided early on that they’d rather not know the sex of the baby in advance, hence the lack of blue and pink in the room, which suits him just fine.

He makes good on his promise to make her his early November, exactly one year after their first kiss. He wishes he could say there was an epic proposal that knocked her off her feet, but in reality it was more of a joint decision. Like everything they have been doing so far. She was quick to tell him that she wasn’t one for big parties and so they traveled just across the border, to Littlefork, where they got married at city hall. They make a weekend out of it, and drive back home the long way round, spending their wedding night in a lodge somewhere in Caribou Falls.

They call Natasha on their way back home and tell her the news, but ask her to keep it to herself, at least for a little while. After all, he’s still not really talking to anyone else but Natasha and Sam and he’s not sure he ever will. Natasha invites herself and Sam to a visit on Christmas Day in the way that only she can, and of course they tell her they’re more than welcome.

Once they get home, time seems to go even faster and before he knows it’s early December and she yells at him to grab the hospital bag and gun it to town, because she thinks her water has just broke. He panics, just a little, but she stays remarkably calm and jokes that maybe she should drive. They make it there in about thirty minutes, a record he’s not necessarily proud of, but according to the doctors they got there just in time because the baby’s head is already crowning.

He gets to go with her to the delivery room and there he gets to witness a primal power that far exceeds his own when she pushes and pushes and pushes until there is a baby and he is a father.

He thinks it is the best feeling in the world, but then they put the baby on her stomach and he can actually pinpoint the moment she becomes a mother, and it’s like his heart grows ten sizes with nothing but love for her. He presses a kiss to her temple and whispers, “I love you,”

She smiles, a little exhausted, and sweaty, but still more beautiful than ever, and then the doctor informs them that it’s a little boy and she nods, looking down at the baby, whispering a quiet, “Hello, little man,” before she looks up at him, “I really like Wyatt.”

“Wyatt it is,” he replies, because somehow it fits, but also because right now he would do anything she’d ask him to.

“It means ‘brave in war’,” she offers, gently stroking their son’s blond hair.

One of the nurses steps in then, taking the baby from her, wrapping it in a blanket and handing it to him, because they’d like to clean her up a little, and so here he is, holding this tiny little baby boy that is his son. He takes it all in, the little fingers, the tiny toes, and the scrunched up nose that he hopes will end up looking like hers.

He knows he’ll be forever indebted to her now, because there is nothing he could ever give her that matches this, even though he vows right then and there, with Wyatt as his witness, that he’ll never stop trying.

Natasha and Sam visit them on Christmas day like they planned and suddenly the house is filled with people and laughter and stories of the good old days, and he doesn’t remember a time when he was happier. He tells them stories about Christmas when he was a kid, how Bucky would always find a way to get enough money to buy them a slice of fruitcake from the bakery around the corner. Talking about Bucky makes him realize he misses his best friend and he wonders how things are over in Wakanda. Maybe he should try to contact T’Challa in the new year, see if they can come over for a visit. After all, he did promise her he’d take her there someday.

Wyatt ends up spending most of the day in Natasha’s arms, who keeps whispering, what sound like little secrets, to him in Russian. Wyatt just stares at her intently, like he knows exactly what she’s talking about. He’s a little hesitant to let Sam hold his son, but it turns out Sam’s a natural, quietly singing Marvin Gaye songs as he walks around the living room with Wyatt in his arms until dinner is ready. He is sad to see them leave at the end of the night, but they promise they’ll see each other again soon and he knows they will.

They spend New Year’s Eve like any other night, except now they struggle to stay awake until midnight, while Wyatt’s sleeping soundly in his crib upstairs. And for Wyatt, New Year’s Day is like every other day and so he doesn’t care his parents were up way past their bedtime the night before, he would still like his bottle at six AM, thank you very much.

The morning shift is his, like any other shift really, because it’s his way of paying his dues. He lets her dote on their little boy while he takes care of bottles, nappies, and laundry as much as he can. Wyatt seems to thrive, and as happy as a one-month old can be, and she’s very relaxed about everything as well which makes him feel like maybe they’ve got this.

They venture out into the cold a few days into the new year, Wyatt bundled up and tucked away in the baby carrier he’s put on under his jacket. The sun is watery in the sky, and the snow covered ground shows endless animal tracks, most of them from deer and squirrels but he also thinks he sees some larger prints that would indicate moose. When he asks her about it she tells him it’s just a single family, who have been here as long a she can remember.

Day by day they get back into the swing of things, with her back in the kitchen more and more, and him doing whatever he can around the house. Wyatt is six weeks old and as happy as can be, which in turn makes them a little more relaxed too. And so one night, when they’re snuggled up on the couch, the three of them, Wyatt sleeping soundly in her arms, she rests her head on his shoulder, a content sigh escaping her, a quiet, “I love you,” following.

He kisses the top of her head, “I love you too.”

She’s about to say something but then she’s interrupted by a buzzing sound coming from one of the kitchen drawers. He gets up immediately, cursing quietly, and she looks up at him, worried because she knows what this means.

He finds the old flip phone somewhere in the back of the cutlery drawer and answers it with a solemn, “Rogers.”

The voice he hears on the other end isn’t Tony’s but Bruce’s and immediately he’s on high alert. He listens to the other man trying to form a coherent story, but in the end Bruce just says, “We need Captain America, Steve. Things are bad.”

He answers with a simple, “Ok.” and then ends the call. He turns towards her and shakes his head, “I need to go.” His other phone, the one Natasha gave him, beeps them, and he takes it out of his back pocket, opening the message app and quickly scanning what she wrote. Bruce was right, it is bad.

She joins him in the kitchen, Wyatt still undisturbed by the change in atmosphere although he is awake now, and looks up at him, “How long until you have to go?”

“Natasha and Sam are at the airport in an hour,” he replies, running a hand through his hair.

“With the Quinjet?”

He nods, “Yeah.”

“Oh God,” she whispers, hand in front of her mouth because she knows as well as he does that they would never use a civilian airport unless there was no time to lose. A sob escapes her then, but she clears her throat and he knows she’s trying her best to stay strong. “Ok,” she starts, “you have about ten minutes before you have to leave. What do you need?”

“More time,” he thinks, but instead he says, “Nothing. All my gear is still on the Quinjet.”

“When will you be back?”

She’s never asked this before, but he sees her looking at Wyatt and he understands. He wishes he could give her an answer, but instead he shrugs, “I don’t know.” He holds out his arms and pulls her in for a hug, “I’m really sorry, doll.”

“It’s ok. The world needs you more right now, so you should go and save it, Captain,” she tries to smile even though he knows she’s just trying to put on a brave face. “We’ll be fine,” she nods, “I’ll be on the porch when you get back. Promise”

The goodbye is hard, maybe the hardest thing he’s ever had to do, but he keeps telling himself that she’s strong enough for both of them. He tells his son that he’ll be back soon and to be kind to his mom, and he could have sworn Wyatt seems to understand.

He’s at the airport with minutes to spare, the Quinjet already waiting for him, a solemn nod from both Natasha and Sam as a greeting. He suits up once they’re airborne, Natasha then explaining everything to him way better than Bruce ever could and it’s then he understand the gravity of the situation and wishes he would have taken her and Wyatt with him.

“Don’t,” Natasha says, because of course she knows exactly what he’s thinking. “They are safe where they are.” Her hand is on his shoulder then, “I don’t know if she told you, but there’s a bunker, not far from the cabin. It has everything she needs to survive at least five months, if not more now that it’s just her and Wyatt.”

He looks at Natasha, surprised, because no, she never told him this.

“Smart girl,” Natasha comments before she explains, “The less people know about it, the better.”

“But we’re-”

“I know,” Natasha squeezes his shoulder, “but Nick pretty much made her swear on her life. Me too, by the way.” She nods towards Sam, “Sit down, get some rest. We’ve got this.”

They arrive in Edinburgh a couple of hours later and nothing is ever really the same after that.

They’re on their way to Wakanda, Rhodey and Sam flying the aircraft, while Bruce and Vision talk about how to safely remove the soul stone. Wanda keeps trying to come up with other ways to make this work, but so far her attempts are futile. He finds himself seated next to Natasha, mentally preparing himself for what seems to be a war against Thanos when suddenly he remembers something.

“When a good man goes to war,” he whispers, the taste of the words sour in his mouth.

“Sorry?” Natasha says from somewhere on his right.

“When a good man goes to war,” he repeats, a little louder. “I read it somewhere, right before I left for Canada.” He looks at her, “Seems fitting, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, Steve,” she reaches out, her hand on his arm then, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Stephen Strange wrote that,”

“What?”

“Yeah,” she nods, “there’s more to it though.”

“Tell me,” he says, probably against better judgment, because she looks very hesitant.

“Not now,” she says and points towards the window. “We’re here.”

He watches as Sam expertly lands the Quinjet on the square in front of the palace, and then he and Natasha are the first to exit. He walks up to T’Challa, “Seems like I’m always thanking you for something.”

T’Challa simply shakes his hand and tells them to follow him, where he tells them, “You have my kings guard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje and,”

“A semi-stable one-hundred year old man,” someone says from somewhere in front of him.

He smiles, because he would recognize that voice anywhere, some of his worries a little less now that his best friend will fight alongside him. He can’t wait to tell Bucky about his wife and son but he never even gets the chance.

He’s lost all sense of time, not quite believing Natasha when she tells him the battle only lasted a couple of hours. Too much has happened. He’s lost Bucky. Again. Half the population’s gone. Thanos is God knows where doing God knows what with the Infinity Stones. It’s just too much and so he pushes all that to the back of his mind, determined to get back to that little cabin in Canada as soon as he can. He’ll deal with the aftermath once he’s home.

Natasha wants him to get looked at first, maybe get some rest, but he just tells her she can either come with him or stay here in Wakanda, but that he is going. Now. She stays, tells him someone needs to keep what’s left of the team together and before all this he would have taken this as personal jab, but now he just tells her to be safe and to stay in touch.

He finds the Quinjet where Sam parked it just this morning and pushes the button necessary for it to start up the systems. Natasha catches up with him just as he’s about to prepare for take off, and she’s a little out of breath and he thinks he sees the hint of tears in her eyes, but this is Natasha, so it must be a trick of the light.

“I think you need to hear the rest of what Strange wrote.”

“The poem?” He shakes his head, “I don’t think now’s the time,”

“It’s not so much a poem,” she admits. “It’s more a prophecy.”

“Natasha-”

She clears her throat, and he’s not sure if every other noise suddenly disappears or if that’s just his imagination, but he can hear her loud and clear when she recites,

“Demons run when a good man goes to war Night will fall and drown the sun When a good man goes to war

Friendship dies and true love lies Night will fall and the dark will rise When a good man goes to war

Demons run, but count the cost The battle is won, but the child is lost”

He flies the Quinjet back to the Red Lake Airport, pushing the aircraft to its absolute limits, trying to get there faster. The airport is empty, no one except the janitor who does what he always seems to do, quietly mopping the floors, but looking slightly more bewildered this time. He hurries past the man, who looks up expectantly like he’ll explain what has happened, but he doesn’t want to. Not now. Not ever.

His bike is waiting for him exactly where he left it, but then again he’s only been gone a little over two days. He shakes his head, trying to get rid of the images that keep flooding his mind, not wanting to think about everything that has happened since he left her and Wyatt, although the image of Bucky turning to dust is still fresh on his mind. He’ll have to deal with later. Or not at all.

There’s something tugging on his heart all the way from the airport to the cabin and he’s sure he exceeds the speed limit enough to lose his licence, but he really doesn’t care. Not that there’s anyone else on the road, which, to be honest, isn’t that unusual here, but still, it feels different this time. He really wants to get home as quickly as possible, hold them, make sure they are alright, even though he knows something has happened. He feels it somewhere deep in the pit of his stomach.

She’s not there on the porch like she promised she would be, and so he’s off of the bike and inside the cabin in a matter of seconds but she’s not there either. He checks upstairs, half expecting to find Wyatt alone in his crib, and not sure if he’s relieved when he doesn’t. He starts praying then, to a God he long stopped believing in, for them to be alright. He fishes out the piece of paper Natasha handed him, a quick drawing to show him where the bunker is located, and then he’s running.

When he gets there he notices the door is slightly ajar and he hears something that he can only describe as grief coming from inside. He takes a moment to just breathe, in and out, trying to get himself under control, knowing he will have to be the strong one for a while. He pushes the door open slowly and his heart shatters into a tiny million pieces when he sees her sitting there on the bottom of the stairs, her head buried in her hands as she cries. And cries. And cries.

He takes a tentative step towards her, reaching out to her, and her head snaps up and she looks absolutely lost. He rushes to her side and sits down beside her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. Her cries become wails then, her whole body shaking, and she doesn’t have to say anything, because he knows. His prayers turn to promises then, because someone will pay for this.

He promises right there and then that he will do whatever it takes to avenge his son.

#Steve Rogers x reader #Steve Rogers fanfic #ayesha1kwritingchallenge #Harley Sunday x Steve Rogers #Captain America

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wrathofthestag · 5 years

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the stars look very different today

Summary: After 204 days on the International Space Station, Canadian Astronaut, Jack Zimmermann is ready to go home. His husband and daughter await his return. A ficlet on science, longing, and home. Also on AO3...

Home > Activities > Sectors > Sciences > Blog > Life in Space

On December 3, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jack Zimmermann arrived at the International Space Station. Slated to return on June 24, Zimmermann’s return will mark the end of the longest Canadian astronaut mission to date, 204 days.

While at the ISS, Jack has participated in hundreds of science experiments while onboard the orbiting laboratory, supported critical operations, held a history class for American teacher, Larissa Duan’s 5th grade class in Boston, Massachusettes, and continues to collect data for Canadian experiments and technology demonstrations.

Like many other astronauts, Jack shared his experiences in the space station via videos and social media. The joy and enthusiasm shared by Jack Zimmermann have been infectious as his fans not only in Canada but around the world, delight in his space antics and diligent work. Jack Zimmermann never expected to the darling of the CSA, nor did he expect his videos to be so popular.

When he’s taking a break from work, you can often find Jack interviewing fellow ISS crewmates: Russian cosmonaut, Alexei Mashkov; fellow Canadian astronaut Justin Oluransi; American astronaut, Adam Birkholtz; English astronaut, Camilla Collins; and Mexican astronaut, Georgia Martin.

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To: [email protected] From: [email protected]

Dear Bits,

The view outside my window is breathtaking tonight. You just get lost in the enormity of it all. I wish you could see it, and I know how much you miss it. I’ll never tire of the view, but I am still counting down the days till I can see you again.

We had the caribou chili you made for us. I was worried it wouldn’t hold up after all these weeks, but it reconstituted well. It was almost like being home again.

How’s Celly doing? I loved that picture you sent me of her and Bun. It was so cute. Tell her papa misses her.

We’ve been apart for almost six months. That’s too long, lapin. Twenty-six more days, bud.

Jack

+++

En direct de la Station spatiale internationale, l'astronaute de l'Agence spatiale Canadienne Jack Zimmermann repond aux questions des medias.

Live from the International Space Station: Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jack Zimmermann answers questions from the media.

Reporter: You’re almost finished with your time on the ISS. What’s been your most memorable experience?

JLZ: Euh, there’s been so much good stuff. Things I can’t even adequately describe but the first time I saw the Nile River from up here? It was incredible.

Reporter: Is it true you and Alexei Mashkov were playing hockey on the station?

JLZ: No.

Reporter: No?

JLZ: Birkholtz and Oluransi were also involved.

Zimmermann laughs and Oluransi is seen waving in the background

Reporter: Have you wrapped up all of the projects you were working on while up there?

JLZ: Yes, for the most part. Mainly, I want to finish up my research on astronaut sleep cycles. I have hours worth of data and hope my work can help future missions—sort of following in my husband’s footsteps.

My husband is a botanist and his areas of focus were food and space farming. We actually met during my first round on the ISS three years ago. He was on the station working for NASA and developed ISS’s first LED lighting system and ethylene-scrubbing technology. He did a ton of work to develop a plant growth system and was able to grow some romaine lettuce.

Reporter: And he's continued his research?

JLZ: Yes! He continues to explore how to provide fresh food for long-term space crews. Food is a passion of his. Of course, with a baby, now all of his work takes place on the ground; and after this mission, so will mine.

Reporter: Is it also true you two did not get along on your mission together?

Zimmermann laughs and shakes his head

JLZ: Yes, it’s true! The first meal we had together as a crew, I told him he had to eat more protein. Eventually, though, we found our way.

Reporter: What was on today’s agenda for everyone?

Zimmermann twirls his microphone and it floats easily in place. He smiles then picks it back up

JLZ: Martin and Collins worked on an array of life science activities and will continue through the end of the week. Mashkov and Birkholtz swapped out a failed computer hard drive that runs some of our biology hardware. Oluransi continued his microbial work to understand how microorganisms adapt to weightlessness. It’s been a productive week.

Reporter: With hockey.

He laughs

JLZ: Yes, with hockey, too.

Reporter: What are you looking forward to the most upon your return?

JLZ: Seeing my husband and daughter. She’ll turn one just after I get back. We’ve seen each other on video but I’m afraid she’ll soon forget me.

+++

To: [email protected] From: [email protected]

Lapin,

Each sunrise, I see the curvature of the Earth, and it never gets old. I’m in awe every single time. But today, as I was on the treadmill and looked out the window, I saw North America and I knew that down there, in the eastern part of Canada, in a quiet sleepy neighborhood, sits a small yellow house in Montreal with a big backyard. And in that house, you are in our kitchen with our baby.

You are happy, maybe even baking a pie and thinking of me. So I blew you both a kiss and hoped it made its way down there. The image of you two, happy and in our home, is the most beautiful thing in the universe to me.

I won’t be able to walk very well, but when I’m back on Earth, I’ll be the one trying to run into your arms.

See you both in a few days.

Jack

+++

Technology & Science

Jack Zimmermann says He’s Recovering Nicely Upon his Return from the International Space Station

The astronaut is looking forward to acclimating to Earth once again.

Following 204 days in space, Canadian astronaut Jack Zimmermann is taking it slowly but surely as he adapts to life on terra firma once again. Zimmermann told reporters he’s not in any pain and is being cautious while getting his bearings.

Speaking from his home in Montreal, Zimmermann told reporters that even though he’s anxious to eat all of his favorite foods, he knows he has to ease into his old life.

“Gravity and I are becoming reacquainted,” he said. “For now, lots of clear broths, tea, and hugs from my family.”

What Zimmermann is most looking forward to is relaxing at his family’s cabin in Nova Scotia and eating some pie with his husband, former NASA astronaut, Eric Bittle, and their one-year-old daughter, Stella Celeste.

#zimbits #zimbits au #jack zimmermann #eric bittle #astronaut!jack #omgcp fan fiction #omgcp ficlet #omgcp au #science #for beginning and end notes visit the AO3 post #title taken from David Bowie's Space Oddity #my FF

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atlanticcanada · 3 years

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COVID-19 lockdown isn't easy, but these small Newfoundland towns are pulling it off

On Sunday night, before the tiny town of Harbour Breton on Newfoundland's south coast asked businesses to temporarily close following two confirmed cases of COVID-19, Mayor Georgina Ollerhead got a call from the mayor of Deer Lake, about 430 kilometres away.

Deer Lake Mayor Dean Ball was calling to offer support and a few pro tips. He'd had to shut down his town a few weeks earlier as a cluster of cases emerged, and he knew it wasn't easy to ask businesses to close and people to stay calm in the face of a pandemic.

"It was actually quite an honour to have the conversation," Ball said in an interview Wednesday.

Shortly after Ball phoned, the town of Harbour Breton posted its public notice @urging residents to stay home as much as possible and calling on non-essential businesses to close.

"Mayor Ball certainly put us on the right steps to proceed forward," Ollerhead said. "We're small communities. We need to nip these things in the bud."

Taking on the arrival of a global pandemic is a massive job for the province's towns, said Sheila Fitzgerald, president of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador. She's also the mayor of Roddickton-Bide Arm, a town of just under 1,000 people on the Northern Peninsula.

Newfoundland and Labrador has about 520,0000 people and more than 270 municipalities. Almost all are small towns, and many have just a few dozen residents, Fitzgerald said. Like Ollerhead, their mayors and councils are all volunteers.

"In some of these small communities, they get a turkey at Christmas," she said. "Yet they sign on to be leaders in their communities and they don't look back."

In the past month or so, COVID-19 clusters have bloomed in Grand Bank, a town of about 2,000 on the Burin Peninsula, and in Deer Lake, a western Newfoundland town with about 5,000 people. Harbour Breton has about 1,600 people and two cases. As of Wednesday, the number of cases in the area had held steady at two, with no new infections announced since the weekend.

"If there was ever a time where things would break down and there would be chaos, it would be at a time like this, but that's not what we see in this province," Fitzgerald said, adding: "Nobody has said, `I'm done with this, this is not what I signed up for.' "

Ball said the two weeks he kept Deer Lake on partial lockdown were the most stressful time of his 31 years in municipal politics.

Ollerhead has been in municipal politics for eight years, and mayor for four of those. She's also the Lion's Club president, chairperson of the local Children's Wish Foundation and treasurer of the local darts league. She's seen her town through a shutdown at its fish plant, and now COVID-19.

Every new day without a case in the community is a good day, she said, but she's cautious. "Tomorrow we might get 10," she said. "But guess what, we'll have to deal with that, too."

Harbour Breton is at the end of a two-lane highway that turns off the Trans-Canada Highway and cuts down across the vast, empty centre of Newfoundland to the end of the Connaigre Peninsula. At this time of year, there's nothing but trees, water and caribou for most of the drive.

"No one thought that COVID was going to get here," Ollerhead said.

The two positive cases were workers at the town's health centre, which includes a long-term care facility. Residents and staff had to be tested, and the regional health authority moved in to set up a mobile testing unit. Rapid-testing kits were due to arrive this week, Ollerhead said.

During Wednesday's public health briefing, chief medical officer of health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said the source of one of the area's cases is untraceable and is now considered non-epidemiologically linked. That means someone was sick and didn't know it, or that they perhaps left the province, she said. It also means Harbour Breton needs to stay in partial lockdown until the risk of transmission abates, Fitzgerald said.

Ollerhead said she's ready for it. The people in Harbour Breton are doing well, they're co-operating, and they're taking care of each other, she said. And they're being kind and supportive to the two people who are sick.

"Right now being the mayor of Harbour Breton, I'm so proud," she said. "Everybody's being a leader right now, and that's what we need."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2020.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/3nbWjqA

#new brunswick #prince edward island #nova scotia #news #politics #canada #CTVAtlantic

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fatrat66 · 4 years

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To the Yukon and Back - Day 9

Drive: Lapie Canyon - Liard River Lodge – 570km

That was yesterday’s journey actually. My days are rolling into each other, which must mean I’m having fun.

Drive: Liard River Lodge – Fort Nelson – 300km

Today I drove from Liard River to Fort Nelson, a mere 300km. It only took me about 3 and a half hours, following Route 97. But what a drive it was. Route 97 is a highway that crawls its way up the entire length of British Columbia, all the way to the Yukon in the far north. This is the shortest drive I have taken so far during this roadtrip, but despite that it’s also been one of the most rewarding as I saw an abundance of wildlife. In total, I counted 5 black bears, two bison bulls, and two reindeer-like creatures that I think were actually caribou. The bears alone got me giddy with excitement, because I only saw a single bear during my entire first year since arriving in Canada, so to see 5 in a single day was very exciting and memorable.

I generally believe it’s best not to interfere with nature too much, so am loathe to slam on my brakes and skid to a frantic halt in order to snap a photo of a surprised bear whenever I see one, because this must surely frighten and confuse them as they go about their day-to-day business eating grass and berries and whatnot. But today I’ve been cruising along, stopping numerous times for photos of the scenery and generally enjoying the solitary roads which I’ve had to myself for the last few days, and I’ve been driving a bit slower than usual. So when I spotted a big, black blob in the grass ahead of me as I was driving along, I instinctively slowed down to a crawl and watched with eager anticipation as I got closer to see what kind of animal it was. Today, I just kept seeing bears!

Look at this bear!

And this little guy!

And this poor bear had some sort of wound on his back which looked terribly painful, and I felt sorry for him.

And like I say, I saw two of these reindeer-looking guys. Are they caribou’s?

My car has had something rattling beneath it for several days now and today I finally had an opportunity to get it fixed, as there are several mechanics in Fort Nelson. A friendly mechanic raised my car onto the hydraulic lift thingy and quickly helped me tie the flapping heat shield panel securely. He didn’t even charge me for it!

After this, I visited the Fort Nelson museum and met an ancient-looking old feller called Marl who proudly showed me his impressive collection of old cars. They really were quite a sight, over 15 of them in total, all lined up inside a long garage with walls adorned with old gas station signs, license plates, gas cans, and all sorts of car-enthusiast memorabilia. Outside, there’s a bunch of old trucks, construction equipment and even a Zamboni, but these were a sadder sight as they are just out in the sun day in and day out, slowly rusting to death. Still, worth a visit, and I snapped lots of photos of the machinery to use for inspiration on a new short story that I’ve started writing.

#canada #british columbia #travel #roadtrip #fort nelson #wildlife #bears

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greenpeacemagazine · 4 years

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Going For It: The Actions We Need For The Coming Decade

2020 marks the start of a new decade and it’s pivotal that we use this moment to kickstart the restoration and renewal of our forests, oceans and the climate. We asked four Greenpeace campaigners what we can do as individuals and as a collective to enact positive environmental change for our shared future. Here are their thoughts on how we can have an impact.

Making waves through individual actions

Emily Charles-Donelson, Digital Campaigner

Facing the climate crisis can feel like an overwhelming task. How can an individual have an impact? Well, what about starting at home – looking within our own fridges and shopping bags.

A study in the Journal of Industrial Ecology revealed that the stuff we consume – from food to knick-knacks – contributes up to 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for 50 - 80% of total land, material, and water use. Even seemingly small things add up – for instance, one third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted every year. That food waste generates 8% of our total annual greenhouse gas emissions worldwide – four times as much as global aviation!

Everyone has a role to play along the production-consumption chain, and broader policy shift s can be enacted through individual change and collective pressure. For those who can, it’s important to support local businesses, local farmers and only purchase what we need. Secondhand shopping, swapping items with neighbours, mending and making your own clothes, and growing and baking your own food, are also opportunities to challenge waste and support a circular economy. And by opting out of wasteful consumption, we’re showing that change is possible, and sends a message to corporation and governments that that insist on business as usual.

We must lead the way for policies that will uphold a sustainable, healthy system for future generations. Our actions today can create a safer, more resilient tomorrow.

Moblizing to shift power

Isabelle L’Héritier, Offline Mobilization Campaigner

Over the past few years we have seen hundreds of thousands of citizens from all walks of life challenging those in power and calling for real environmental action. More than ever before, it is critical to continue mobilizing and supporting changemakers – like the inspiring student climate strikers – and to push for system change and climate solutions.

The current systems aren’t working and business cannot carry on as usual. We must collectively keep the pressure on our governments and major decision-makers to create the policies and systems needed to support a just and green world for all. And like all great changes in history, it will be ‘people power’ that drives this vital change!

What I encourage is for people to go a step further, whatever that looks like for you. Trust yourself, get a bit outside of your comfort zone, embrace your power as a citizen and try new actions. For example, if up to now you’ve limited your activism to signing petitions or sharing on social media, consider attending a rally or a march, calling or sending an email to your MP, joining a Greenpeace or community group, sending an opinion letter to your local newspaper, participating in a direct action, or being a part of another form of system change.

At Greenpeace, we use transformative, participatory and creative approaches to empower our supporters and allies, and build their autonomy, confidence and skills while they take action with us. Equipped with the tools to create, share and organize, we hope to shift the power from established institutions and dominant companies to individuals and their communities.

Because together, when we organize, we make change happen.

Holding corporations accountable

Sarah King, Head of the Oceans & Plastics Campaign

Holding corporations accountable for their role in the climate crisis is important in charting a greener, more just world for people and the planet. Greenpeace is no stranger to shining a light on the wrong-doings of major corporations and putting pressure on decision-makers to embrace solutions. And the thousands of people who support us are key at every step in the process.

Corporate campaigning comes in many forms but it’s generally a combination of exposure, direct dialogue with the company, public pressure, cross-sector engagement, and the threat of reputational damage that creates change. With more and more companies sharing information through social media and monitoring conversations, corporate campaigning has become very digitally focused. Influencing online conversations and showing widespread support for positive change – for example, using petitions – is one way that Greenpeace gets and holds a company’s attention, often while conversations behind the scenes are taking place about what it will take for us to stand down.

© Marlon Marinho / Greenpeace. In 2019, at corporate headquarters in Toronto and around the world, Greenpeace delivered a message from supporters urging fast-food giants to reject the Brazilian government’s anti-environmental agenda and goods linked to destruction of the Amazon.

Over the years, I’ve engaged with companies of all sizes and discovered that across the board, companies make changes when they hear directly from the public – especially their customers. While it may seem like signing a petition is futile, that simple action is a piece of an overall strategy aimed at driving corporate change.

Changing companies and broken systems doesn’t happen overnight. But we continue to see positive steps being made that are building the future we want and need. Never underestimate the power of your voice and taking action, because even if you don’t see change at the pace you want, we will get there!

Greenpeace doesn’t officially partner with companies, which allows us to have no permanent friends or foes. Because we work on so many issues, a multinational corporation could be more responsible on one aspect of its business while completely failing on another. Our independence and dedication to our mission for a green and peaceful future trumps all.

Restoring our relationship with the Earth and First Peoples

Shane Moffatt, Head of the Food & Nature Campaign

Protecting the world’s forests, and their vast carbon stores, is a priority to mitigate the climate crisis, and as the third most forested country on Earth, Canada has a big role to play.

We need to remember that these forests are first and foremost Indigenous cultural landscapes, shaped by the Peoples who have governed and stewarded them since time immemorial. And so restoring the Earth is inextricably linked with restoring Indigenous knowledge, culture and governance of land.

The principle of free, prior and informed consent for provides a guide to accomplishing this.

This principle of consent is a minimum standard for the “survival, dignity and well-being” of Indigenous Peoples everywhere, and it must involve good dialogue and inclusive community processes when decisions about the future of Indigenous lands and forests are being made.

In doing so, new conservation and economic models can be developed that benefit people and the planet.

Shamefully, this principle has still not been enshrined in Canadian law, and the implications for reconciliation and climate action are profound.

But we can do something about it. This is a call to action to non-Indigenous Canadians to get political. Tell your elected officials that Indigenous rights and climate action can’t wait.

Sign a petition, show up at a rally, share news stories about Indigenous rights and stand with a local First Nation. Your voice matters and together we have real power.

We each have a responsibility to future generations to build a culture of respect for the Earth and human dignity. It’s time to step up and stand in solidarity with our Indigenous brothers and sisters.

FEELING INSPIRED TO TAKE THE PLUNGE? VISIT GREENPEACE.CA/ACT TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION WITH US THROUGH OUR CAMPAIGNS OR BY JOINING US AS A VOLUNTEER.

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nigelgodrichproducer · 4 years

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Nigel Interviews Dan Snaith (Caribou, Daphni)

SOURCE: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/caribous-dan-snaith-and-producer-nigel-godrich-unravel-the-mystery-of-making-music

Wonderful interview with Nigel and Dan (Caribou/Daphni) who as you might recall has previously spent some time working in Nigel’s room at Strongroom. Plus, Nigel is a fan, having referenced Caribou and Daphni recently in Ultraista-related promo. I find this to be one of Nigel’s more revealing interviews in that he explicitly outlines his role and what he brings to Thom Yorke and other artists.

Reproduced here for posterity’s sake:

NIGEL GODRICH: Do you have a studio here in your home?

DAN SNAITH: I’ve only ever worked from home. I’ve never worked in a studio apart from in the final stages. It used to be in the bedroom where my wife was sleeping, and I’d be trying to record something in the middle of the night. In rural Ontario, I couldn’t conceive of having the money to pay for time in a studio. Your way in was to work in a studio. If I listened to Pink Floyd, I was like, “I’m never going to make that record,” because that cost a million pounds in 1971. But electronic music at the time was being made in somebody’s bedroom. So as a teenager, I started working in a bedroom.

GODRICH: Totally. And that’s something that I find fascinating from the other side. I definitely went the other route in terms of getting into recording. And I’m a little older than you. That means that by the time you were coming of age, you had more technology, which meant that you could do a lot of things at home that I wasn’t able to do at all.

SNAITH: I came in at that exact moment in music recording history when all of a sudden it was like, “Hey, wait, we can do this.”

GODRICH: There’s a certain kind of approach which requires a lot of equipment. I’ve followed that always. But you have a computer that can do all of these things that emulate things that I would do in the studio. I don’t know how you do it, but I love the end product. I like that I don’t know how it’s made.

SNAITH: I started making music with zero gear, like the microphone that a telemarketer would use to record my vocals.

GODRICH: I meet people who have not worked with professional gear, and they always want to ask, “What mic should I use on the drum kit?” To me, it’s irrelevant. Before you had the good equipment, you were still doing what you do, and it worked. It’s a musical thing. It’s about your brain and how it interfaces with the computer.

SNAITH: I would counter by saying that when I listened to the records that you’ve produced, they have a quality that I’m certainly chasing, and I think I’m a long way off. But I work within those limitations and that’s part of what is stimulating and exciting.

GODRICH: It’s very important to have those unattainable goals as artists. I’m inspired by the thing you’re doing, but I can’t do that either. I think that’s a fairly common trait of anyone that’s creative.

GODRICH: You’re an expat from Canada. How long have you lived in England?

SNAITH: Since 2001.

GODRICH: Do you feel that this is home? Do you feel English?

SNAITH: My parents are English and moved to Canada before I was born. I sound very much like a Canadian. I came back to do a PhD here in 2001. When I was in Canada, I always felt a bit British. I felt like I had a foot on both sides of the Atlantic. And now as long as I’ve been in England, I feel more Canadian, maybe. That’s interesting, because my whole life, my dad was like, “This would be much better in England.” It drove us all crazy. He’d never enjoy the place where he was, and now that he’s moved back to England, it’s exactly the opposite. It’s the grass-is-greener scenario.

GODRICH: Human beings tend to do that. There is something very specific in your aesthetic, which is not actually British. There’s this kind of crossing point, a quality to your programming and some of the sounds that you choose and the aesthetic that you have, it’s from over there, in a good way. Are you aware of that, or is it just what comes out of you?

SNAITH: When I’m recording in general, I’m so bad at conceptualizing or planning what I’m doing. I’d imagine people who approach you want you to have a kind of picture of what you’re doing.

GODRICH: That’s always my first question: What is it that you think I’m going to do? It’s a very good yardstick to get a grip on what they actually understand about what it is that I do. Because if they’re completely off the mark, it’s kind of a waste of time.

SNAITH: Interesting.

GODRICH: They might not have an answer to that, which is fine, too. It’s an interesting question to ask because you’ll get an answer, or a look of confusion. The other thing for me, because you get associated with something so strongly, so it’s the guy guarding the cave saying, “Do you just want me to make you sound like Radiohead? I’m not going to be able to do that. So if that’s what you’re after, you’re wasting your time anyway.” But what I was saying was you have something over other British artists. What do you think about me saying that? Are you surprised that I think that?

SNAITH: I think you’re right. Even though it doesn’t come out consciously, at some deep level, so much of my nostalgia is built up around North American music. When I was growing up, one of the big turning points in my learning to love music was getting into hip-hop, and through that into old records: “What did this Wu Tang record sample? Let me find the original record.” But also, if you start buying records in flea markets, the records that are in the flea markets there are different from the ones here. You’re not finding a Smiths 12-inch, you’re finding The Byrds.

GODRICH: Hip-hop especially, we all have a taste for it here, but we can’t make it.

SNAITH: Or it’s a British version of it.

GODRICH: But a British version of it has the Jamaican influence that makes trip-hop. We slow it down. There’s this other version of hip-hop in the mainstream, which doesn’t work here, I don’t think.

SNAITH: It’s better when it’s a homegrown thing, like grime music, which does a different take on hip-hop.

GODRICH: Exactly. Grime’s roots are in reggae and Jamaican music, a completely different thing. We can do that and Americans can’t do that. They can’t do jungle. But you can do more than we can do because you’ve got the American gene. That’s kind of what I hear.

SNAITH: The one thing that I thought I would never be able to do from day one was hip-hop. It was untouchable. I’ll never produce like DJ Premier or Q-Tip or Madlib. It was like, don’t even try, because when people in my world try—

GODRICH: It’s the worst thing in the world.

SNAITH: The worst thing ever. There’s a song on this album called “Home,” based on a loop from a Gloria Barnes track, an old soul record, and I heard the track and I was like, that needs to be looped. That’s the impulse of somebody who’s listened to a lot of hip-hop. I don’t care whether I’m going to make a track out of this, you’ve just got to take that bit and hear it on a loop because it’s going to be perfect, and then put a kind of hip-hop breakbeat under it. I had that sitting around for a couple of years before I figured out how I could a track out of it.

GODRICH: Do you think in terms of singles?

SNAITH: I have a sense of what tracks are more immediate than others. That was the first single. It made sense when I played that to people and then asked them, “What do you remember from what I played you?” They’d be like, “Oh, that track ‘Home.'” It’s just in there immediately and it’s because it’s an incredible loop. People will want to hear this over and over again. But I really think in terms of albums. I’ve grown up listening to records like the ones you’ve produced. When I came across Radiohead’s music, I was just like, that is like a journey, a narrative arc the whole way through. That’s the classic conception of an album. And I know that people don’t necessarily listen to music that way anymore.

GODRICH: So they tell us, but I don’t even believe it.

SNAITH: At the beginning, I was like, who am I making music for? I’m making music literally for me. But then, if somebody else is going to listen to it, it’s going to be somebody who loves music in the way that I do, not somebody who’s just hearing it on the radio. That’s changed. The more your music expands into the world, the more people have different ways of approaching it. One of the biggest things that ever happened to me, and I had no idea that this was going to be a thing at the time, was a track called “Odessa” that was on FIFA 11 video game. People talk to me about that all the time. When I was asked about it, I was like, “Okay, yeah, sure, whatever. That’s fine, I’ll give permission.” But I kind of love that that happened and people came across this music that would’ve never come across my music. It’s nice to embrace the way that it’ll travel in this weird way through the world.

GODRICH: That’s fantastic. I think we have to do that now as well, because of the world we live in. When you’re a record maker like you or I, it’s changed to the point of music just being so ubiquitous that everybody’s so saturated, so you can’t be blamed for using an avenue like that. Back in the day it was a dirty word to do something mainstream and allow somebody to promote something with your music. But nowadays, the whole experience of culture is just so multifaceted and fractured that I’m personally very pleased that “Odessa” ended up on FIFA, because that means more people heard your music.

SNAITH: I should say that I still have an old school mindset where I don’t want it to be associated with corporate interests and moneymaking in various ways. I still am picky about it.

GODRICH: FIFA is pretty cool, though. The album made me think about the art of creating pop music. It’s an art form. There’s something about being able to create this joy in music. It’s very easy to make sad records. Melancholy is quite easy in my experience. Making things that make you want to get up and jump up and down, that’s harder. Do you see yourself putting out a load of singles? Do you get involved in that process?

SNAITH: I do. There’s another track called “Never Come Back” that’s a more straight-up euphoric dance-pop thing that’s going to be the next single. But none of them represent the record in its totality. “Home” was going to make people think the record would be one thing, but if we’d released something else first it would have meant that it was something else. Do you get called on to make that call very often?

GODRICH: Historically, it’s been the most unpopular part of the process, because essentially what happens is you have somebody telling you, “We took it to radio and they think we should use this song.”

SNAITH: Oh, really?

GODRICH: It’s always a bit like, “Really? We should use this one.” And they kind of turn around and say, “Well you can if you want, but if you do that, and it doesn’t work out, you employ these people to do their job.” We all wanted to put out “Reckoner” as the first single for In Rainbows. And we were told no, which we thought was quite weird. In America, they have different taste from here, so they generally go for the most rock-y, generic thing. Which is quite frustrating. I’ve never really been good at singles.

SNAITH: When you hear an album that really is an album from beginning to end, you kind of assume that the person who made it had a conception of that arc when they were making it. That’s not the way it works for me at all. It’s all jumbled together and it’s all finished and then I put it in an order.

GODRICH: Subconsciously you’re making a thousand decisions every minute, and slowly that stuff is being sieved into things that make sense. I also know the experience of working on a song, and in my head I’ve already decided this is the first song on side two. You’ve started doing it unconsciously. This is how you’re supposed to work as an artist. You’re not supposed to write down a formula. You just have to follow your instincts.

SNAITH: There’s a lot of stuff on this record that’s more personal than ever, about deaths and my wife’s family and health crises with my parents and losing friends. How does anybody ever get that stuff out with a producer in there? I could only imagine doing that when I close the door in my studio and I’m the only person in there, and I can kind of trick myself into thinking that this is just for me right now, and I’m never going to release it.

GODRICH: Well because you’re writing, so you can write something that can press those buttons and make sense to you and make you feel that feeling. And then it exists and you can go and frame it in a different way. And maybe you could work with a producer in terms of framing it, if you didn’t have those skills yourself, but you do. It’s about relationships, really. When you’re in a working relationship, you literally are wearing each other’s underwear. It’s very, very intimate. So you have be comfortable enough to bare your soul.

SNAITH: I’ve got the impression that some of the Radiohead albums are being created and written at the same time that they’re being recorded or demoed.

GODRICH: Radiohead is different. I grew up with those guys. It’s more intimate.

SNAITH: Still, I think that would be hard.

GODRICH: Thom Yorke has a notebook and he’s spewing out lines and I go, “Yes, no, yes, no.” He’s able to put himself in a room and really go into himself. He’s just a person who can do that. He can write 30 verses of “Dawn Chorus,” and it ends up being really long, and then he’ll chew on it. Thom always used to just carry notebooks with him everywhere we went. We’d be eating, and he writes stuff down all the time. For “Everything In Its Right Place” it was just me and him in a room, and he’s like, “Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon. Oh, I can’t say that.” And I’m like, “Yes, you can. That’s great.”

SNAITH: That’s the thing I don’t have.

GODRICH: That’s just a creative partnership. That also comes down to the equipment, the fact that you need somebody to interface technologically to this enormous universe, and that’s what I’m good at. I’m strong technically, but I’m not interested in gear. I don’t find equipment sexy. People are always asking me about microphones, especially people making music solely on computers that I think is absolutely mind-boggling, but has nothing to do with my business.

SNAITH: Right.

GODRICH: My skill is knowing how to operate all of this equipment. I can make it do things that if we’re in a collaboration and you’re throwing things in the air and I’m catching them, I can make things happen which you will get excited about and make you do something else. It’s a studio collaboration, which I think you leapfrogged, because your method is a one-person thing.

SNAITH: I’m sure you’re also selling yourself short in that a lot of what you do must be to do with the people and making them feel comfortable.

GODRICH: I hope to think that I’m not a horrific person to hang out with, and I have a lot of empathy with artists and people who make things. We all want to make something beautiful so we’re all here for the same reason. Relationships are very complicated and the psychology of the whole thing is very complicated. But that works better with people that you don’t know very well. Relationships that are very long in the tooth, like 25 years of hanging around with Thom Yorke, we’ve rubbed each other the wrong way enough times to know who we are. Do you go back to the things you did like two albums ago and pick them up?

SNAITH: I know that’s happened with Radiohead, but this is the first time that’s ever, ever happened for me. There’s a track on this album called “Magpie,” which is from the pot from my previous album, Our Love. Its mood didn’t fit that album. It was just a loop, but I thought I should finish it, and I think it does fit the mood of this record. It’s an anomaly that that’s happened, because I always felt that’s kind of cheating. I’m desperate to not repeat myself. Pick your favorite artists in the world. Look at their discographies, and 95 percent of the time you can chop off the last half of it, put it in the garbage, and you haven’t missed anything. Radiohead is kind of the exception to that. I’m so desperate not to become that person. Do you ever think, “I’ve made so much music but I can still make the best piece of music I’ve ever made today?”

GODRICH: It’s that thing you just said where you’re like, “Fuck, I don’t want this to not be as good as the last thing.” It’s that.

SNAITH: I got that from you guys actually on tour. It was just like, this has to be still fucking totally killer.

GODRICH: I’m very fortunate, because since I was young, I was exposed to people like Thom. These are art school people, but I never went to art school. I learnt about it from them. That exact thing that you’re talking about. When we finished Moon Shaped Pool, which I know is a really good record…

SNAITH: Sure is.

GODRICH: But if you start at The Bends and you get to here, that’s 21 years, and every 10 years we do an exceptional one, like OK Computer and In Rainbows. I felt like Moon Shaped Pool was up there in that respect. I think it’s kind of incredible that we’ve managed to do this.

SNAITH: You’re already way past the sell by date for most artists.

GODRICH: My analysis of that is that, I think Thom is very prolific, but we’ve not rushed the records. Your 900 ideas that took you four years to go through, that’s all right. That’s sort of how you do it. You just keep the bar high. There’s two reasons for doing things. One of them is to have fun and enjoy the process, and the other reason is to create something that you think will outlive you.

SNAITH: My process with making these 900 things is always fun. If you leave me alone, I’m going to go down in that room in the basement and I’m going to make something. I turn off my critical faculties and I just make something, and that thrill has never left me. Even if it’s mediocre, it’s still fun. Then it’s agonizing over, how do I assemble it into something bigger

GODRICH: I wanted to ask you about your PhD. It’s not a coincidence that you have a mind that makes music like this.

SNAITH: I genuinely have forgotten everything in my PhD. If I read it now, I would not understand it, which is weird. It’s like a language that I haven’t used for 20 years. Pure mathematics is so esoteric, so in this other world, that it has no relevance.

GODRICH: Can you understand that it gives you this enigmatic quality?

SNAITH: For sure.

GODRICH: It’s like, if you scrape away your skin, there’s some sort of metal…

SNAITH: People expect me to be taking apart a synthesizer and that is not me at all. I’m not a lab guy. I’m terrible with that kind of physical object.

GODRICH: You’re not practical.

SNAITH: Not at all. But a word like “symmetry” appeals to me in both music and math. Symmetry is a key concept in mathematics, that things have a kind of elegance or beauty in the way they’re symmetrical, the way they’re congruent, the way two ideas will fit together perfectly. That’s so satisfying. These abstract things that people have dreamed up, now just fit together in this beautiful way. That’s what a theorem is. I feel like music has that, the “kerchunk” moment, when two things work together in a way that’s beautiful and often not too obvious.

GODRICH: If you think about the action of just throwing a ball, the amount of trigonometry and calculation that we do unconsciously in order to just catch a ball, we have all of this sort of stuff going on in our heads. Music is so intangible, it’s the least understood art form. It’s like magic. But I do think there is mathematics in that magic.

SNAITH: I’d agree with that. But the thing I love about mathematics is when you get past the stage where you’re like, “Answer these questions that you should already know the answer to, like memorize your times tables.”

GODRICH: The boring shit.

SNAITH: Then you’re like, “Okay, here’s a question that nobody’s actually thought through and figured out the answer to yet.” And then it’s a kind of search or play, a kind of exploration. And that relates to me with music, too.

GODRICH: So you are Dr. Dan Snaith.

SNAITH: I am Dr. Dan Snaith.

GODRICH: Then that’s how I’ll always think of you.

#nigel godrich #daphni #caribou

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topfygad · 5 years

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Arctic vs. Antarctic: how to pick your polar adventure

If you’ve ever dreamt about visiting one of the polar regions, use our guide to picking your Polar adventure: Arctic vs. Antarctic.

The North and South Poles were only “conquered” in relatively recent history. The South Pole was first set foot upon in 1911 by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen after his epic race with the ill-fated Scott. The conquest of the North Pole is a little murkier thanks to its location in the middle of the Arctic Ocean amid waters that are almost permanently covered with permanently shifting sea ice.

It’s possible that Frederick Cook was the first to reach the North Pole in 1908, or perhaps it was Robert Peary in 1911 or maybe Richard E. Byrd who was the first to fly over it in 1926… But it wasn’t until Roald Amundsen’s definitive flight over the Pole on 12th May 1926 that the first consistent, verified and scientifically convincing attainment of the North Pole was recorded.

Polar exploration has long sparked the public’s imagination and in recent years, travellers’ appetite for adventure means there is even more on offer than ever before.

Kia and I both dream of taking trips to the Polar circles – it’s just that we’re not sure when and where to go. (Well, that and the lack of funds…)

If you’ve ever dreamt about visiting one of these faraway destinations, use our guide to picking your Polar adventure: Arctic vs. Antarctic.

Temperature

Whether you head north or south you’re going to be cold. Very cold. However, it’s useful to know that unlike the rest of the planet, the south is colder than the north.

Broadly speaking, the Arctic region will experience temperatures between -43 and +5°C (-45 and 41°F) with coastal areas (which is where tourists are most likely to be) reaching +10°C (50°F) in the summer months. Average July temperatures range from about -10 to +10°C (14 to 50°F) with some inner land areas occasionally exceeding 30°C (86°F) in summer!

The Antarctic is a different story. It is the coldest continent on Earth. In 1983, researchers at the Soviet Antarctic station recorded the lowest natural temperature ever at ground level of -89.2°C (-128.6°F). Temperatures in Antarctica regularly reach -80°C (-112°F) in the interior in winter and between 5°C (41°F) and 15°C (59°F) near the coast in summer.

The Antarctic is considerably colder than the Arctic.

When to go

Winters and summers in the Polar regions are easier to define than in most destinations.

Put simply, the Arctic is closed from October to March thanks to much of the region being icebound, meaning ships cannot pass. The six-month darkness of the Polar night engulfs the region making sightseeing a rather tedious affair. Likewise, the Antarctic is closed from April to October due to freezing temperatures, the Polar night and pack ice reaching up to 1,000km beyond the edge of the continent.

Outside these timeframes, it largely depends on what you want to see and do and where exactly you want to go. For example, if you’re only interested in the bragging rights that come with crossing the Arctic Circle then this can be done year round in Scandinavia without leaving mainland Europe. At the other end of the world you’ll have to wait for the pack ice to break up between January and March to have a shot at crossing the Antarctic Circle.

The table below gives an idea of the best time to visit depending on your interests.

Best time for… Arctic Antarctic Largest icebergs Apr-Jun Nov-Jan Whales Apr-Sep Dec-Apr Humpback whales Apr-Jul – Narwhals Apr-Sep – Bird life Apr-Sep Dec-Mar Penguins – Dec-Feb Northwest passage accessible Jun-Aug – Ross Sea accessible – Jan-Feb Arctic circle crossing Year-round – Antarctic circle crossing – Jan-Mar North Pole expedition Feb-Apr – South Pole expedition – Nov-Jan Svalbard Jun-Aug – Greenland Apr-Sep – Falklands – Oct-Feb South Georgia – Oct-Jan Aurora watching Jan-Mar Mar-Sep

WildlifE

Even though the two Polar regions share many similar traits, they differ greatly in wildlife with a much wider range found in the north. This is because much of the landmass in the north is attached to continents that stretch further south while the Antarctic is completely isolated. This means the Arctic homes far more terrestrial mammals.

On land in the north you’ll find muskox, reindeer, caribou, foxes, hares, wolves, lemmings and of course, the polar bear. Marine mammals include seals, walruses, and several species of whale: humpback whales, baleen whales, narwhals, killer whales (orcas) and belugas.

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In the south it’s slim pickings on land. The flightless midge, Belgica antarctica, is just 6mm (0.25in) in size and is the largest purely terrestrial animal in Antarctica. In the water there’s more to see with several species of penguin including Emperor, Adélie, Rockhopper, King, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins all living in the Antarctic peninsular. Additionally, there are blue whales, killer whales, colossal squids and fur seals.

ADVENTURE

If you want to see how you measure up against the great Polar explorers of the past then here are a few of the best options available.

COMFORT

It’s unfair to call those unmoved by the above unadventurous – surely travelling to the Polar Regions is adventurous by definition. However, if you would prefer a little more comfort then there are plenty of cruise and activity holidays available which won’t leave your loved ones biting their nails until your safe return.

I have my eyes on the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland as well as a trip to Tromsø in Norway to see the northern lights after our failed attempt to catch them in Iceland several years ago. Quark Expeditions offer a range of cruise-based holidays in the Polar regions.

The Arctic Circle Trail follows a course through an area known as the “land of one hundred lakes” (Image: Visit Greenland, Limited Commercial License)

Northern vs. Southern lights

One of the most stunning natural phenomena in the world are the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis, more commonly known as the Northern and Southern Lights. Unless you’re a Norwegian astronomer there really is little difference between the northern lights and the Southern Lights other than geographical location. They both take place over the Polar regions and are basically the same phenomenon.

That said, the northern lights are far more accessible. They can be viewed from Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, Russia, Greenland, Canada and Alaska. Outside of continental Antarctica, the Southern Lights can only be seen from southernmost New Zealand, Argentina and Australia.

Culture

Arctic nations include Canada, Greenland (a territory of Denmark), Russia, United States (Alaska), Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Within these nations, around four million people live within the Arctic Circle. Unlike the Antarctic, the Arctic has an indigenous population stretching back thousands of years.

The Inuit people inhabit the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska, while other Circumpolar North indigenous peoples include the Buryat, Chukchi, Evenks, Inupiat, Khanty, Koryaks, Nenets, Sami, Yukaghir and Yupik. There are also industrialised cities within the Arctic Circle. The four largest communities within are in Russia and Norway: Murmansk (population 307,257), Norilsk (175,365), Tromsø (71,590) and Vorkuta (70,548).

In the Antarctic, there is no indigenous population. There are zero permanent inhabitants but there are numerous research stations set up across the continent. In the summer as many as 5,000 people reside in the Antarctic but this drops to around 1,000 in the winter. You won’t be visiting any craft markets here!

Cost

Simply put, Polar travel is expensive. You will be visiting the most inhospitable regions on the planet where life is hard. The Arctic Circle is far more popular due to its accessibility and the fact that travel is cheaper there. That said, some of the most expensive countries in the world (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia) are located along and within the Arctic Circle, making even the cheapest Polar weekend break an expensive affair.

The Antarctic is without doubt more expensive than its northern sibling. It is further away from transport hubs, there is no permanent accommodation available and life is simply harder further south. For an easy comparison of costs, a 13-day Arctic cruise and flight with Quark costs $7,995. In comparison, a similar 10-day Antarctic cruise and flight will set you back $11,595 – considerably more for considerably less.

Likewise, at the expedition end of the scale, Adventure Consultants’ North Pole – Ski the Last Degree trip (15-19 days) starts at $42,000 while the equivalent South Pole – Ski the Last Degree trip (15 days) costs $62,500.

Arctic vs. Antarctic

Polar travel like most forms of travel is on the rise. It is almost impossible to verify how many people visit the Arctic but during the 2009-2010 tourist season, over 37,000 people visited Antarctica – twice the estimated 14,000 that visited in the 1999-2000 season 10 years before. One assumes that this figure will continue to double every 10 years although I doubt (and hope) the Antarctic or the harder-to-reach areas of the Arctic will ever compete with Thailand or other popular destinations.

For me, the Antarctic is the very definition of adventure. The very mention of its name evokes tales of against-the-odds survival and iconic names such as Amundsen, Shackleton and Scott. I dream of completing the seven summits which means that one day I will have to climb Vinson Massif in Antarctica – an ambition I look forward to with both boyish enthusiasm and wary trepidation.

The South Pole was first set foot upon in 1911 by the Norwegion Roald Amundsen

Kia and I were in Tierra del Fuego last year but at the wrong time for a trip to Earth’s southernmost continent. We will just have to go back one day…

Maybe it’s because we live in Europe but the Arctic simply doesn’t have the same allure as the Antarctic. Sure, we want to visit Greenland, trek the Arctic Circle Trail, see the northern lights and cross the Arctic Circle. But considering many of these are just a (relatively) short plane ride away, it just doesn’t have the same end-of-the-Earth appeal.

For me, the Antarctic still grabs all the headlines.

G Adventures are the largest small-group adventure travel company in the world with over 650 small group adventures to choose from and offer a range of Antarctica cruises.

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