#Sutton-on-Sea

[medoriscare]

Dropped Head Syndrome

If you're facing challenges with #DroppedHeadSyndrome, the Medoriscare Chin Support Cushion can offer the solution you need!

[rabbitcruiser]

National Hot Tub Day

National Hot Tub Day is here, and you know what that means: you now have yet another excuse to enjoy relaxing in your hot tub.

But what if you want to do something more to celebrate? Here, we’ll show you five ways you can do just that:

Treat yourself to a new hot tub accessory.

Practice some hot tub yoga.

Indulge in aromatherapy.

Have a movie night.

Play some games with the whole family.

Ready to celebrate National Hot Tub Day the right way? Let’s dive in, first with why hot tubs are worth celebrating.

Why Hot Tubs Are Worth Celebrating

You probably know at least part of the answer to this question. After all, hot tubs have a reputation for being relaxing as well as therapeutic.

What you might not know is that hot tubs have a wealth of other benefits that make them worth celebrating:

Reduced stress: The warm water of a hot tub can help your body release feel-good stress-relieving endorphins.

Relaxation and pain relief: Whether you’re suffering from exercise-induced soreness, arthritis or another condition, hot tubs can help reduce pain, loosen muscles and take pressure off joints.

Better sleep: After taking a dip in your hot tub, you’ll likely be able to fall asleep faster and enjoy more restful sleep throughout the night.

5 Ways to Ring in National Hot Tub Day

1. Treat Yourself to a New Hot Tub Accessory

Hot tub accessories offer a fantastic way to spruce up your hot tub without breaking the bank.

For National Hot Tub Day, why not treat yourself to a hot tub accessory that can improve your overall experience in the long-run?

Here are our favorite types of hot tub accessories:

Cover lifters: No one wants to wrangle with a heavy cover when all they want to do is enjoy their hot tub. Make the process painless with a convenient cover lifter.

Steps: If you’re tired of slipping and sliding your way into your hot tub, a set of hot tub steps will be right up your alley. The right set of steps can not only make your entry and exit process much safer, but also serve as a perfect location to place your dry towel for easy access.

Pillows: If your hot tub sessions are getting dragged down by uncomfortable headrests or raggedy cushions, it’s high time you went for a new, deluxe pillow. By choosing the right size and shape for you, you can create a custom experience that’s tailored to your needs.

2. Practice Some Hot Tub Yoga

As a form of exercise that focuses on physical control as well as mental clarity and relaxation, yoga is a perfect match for your next hot tub session.

To get started, engage in some breathing exercises. Simply sit in your preferred seat and take a few deep breaths to begin. Then, focus on lengthening your spine, dropping your shoulders down and back, and noticing the sensation of the water on your skin.

If relaxation is all you’re looking for, you can simply continue that breathing exercise throughout the entirety of your session. Or, you can move onto some deeper stretches and muscle-strengthening poses. We recommend the seated spinal twist, cow face pose and boat pose.

For more info on each one, stay tuned for our Beginner’s Guide to Hot Tub Yoga.

3. Indulge in Aromatherapy

If you want to take your hot tub experience to the next level, you’d be wise to give aromatherapy a shot.

With hot tub aromatherapy, the scents of some of the world’s most prized and fragrant plants are infused in your hot tub water. You can achieve that either with the use of all-natural essential oils or pre-made bath crystals.

Traditionally, certain scents have certain benefits. For example:

Lavender relieves stress and may help you relax.

Eucalyptus

Thyme may reduce anxiety, fatigue and stress.

Keep an eye out for our upcoming post, The Secrets of Hot Tub Aromatherapy, for more information.

4. Have a Movie Night

Movie nights aren’t just for the couch. In honor of National Hot Tub Day, try watching your favorite flick in the hot tub instead.

There are a couple of easy ways you can do this:

Create a backyard movie theater with the help of a projector.

Set up a laptop or portable DVD/Blu-Ray player on a nearby table.

Plus, some of our highest-rated hot tubs, including the Dr. Wellness G-15 Tranquility Spa, come with built-in HDTVs to make your movie night even more fun.

5. Play Some Games With the Whole Family

If you’re not in the mood for a movie, trying playing some fun hot tub games for the whole family.

A few favorites include:

Waterproof cards and board games: If you have a set of waterproof cards or a waterproof board game lying around, you know what to do.

Rubber duck races: Push, blow and splash to see who’s duck can make it to the other side of the hot tub first.

Ping pong: Use plastic paddles to bounce a ping pong around. Whoever knocks the ball outside of the hot tub loses.

Hockey: Get your team’s “hockey puck” (a rubber duck or small floating ball will do just fine) to the other team’s side of the hot tub — no touching allowed.

How are you going to celebrate National Hot Tub Day?

No matter what you choose to do, you’re sure to have a fun and relaxing holiday with the help of your hot tub.

Source

[endless-ineffabilities]

my man of the year

Ewan Mitchell x girlfriend!reader

a/n: just a little something for the Ewan girlies, because in this GQ party, we are all fam 💙

main masterlist

You attend the GQ Men of the Year 2024 party with your boyfriend.

You watch in admiration as Davey makes the final tweaks to Ewan's outfit for the event—a suit tailored to perfection, its velvet material snug against his lean form. A classic piece, but sporting some eccentricities that have become essential in the Mitchell-Sutton style partnership.

The velvet suit, not in the usual black or blue, also has a textured high notch and lapels, making him look like some kind of an 80s-flick vampire.

Your gaze sweeps from his polished shoes up to his face, finding that he's watching you in the reflection as he stands in front of the mirror.

He tries turning around to see you better, causing Davey's hand to fall from his shoulder as he was pinning something in place. "Ewan, mate. Save the ogling for later, yeah? Let me finish this first."

Ewan sighs dramatically, like a kid who's been asked to stand in the corner. "Okay."

You giggle softly, shaking your head at the scene. "Ewan, listen to Davey now."

You share a look with Davey, knowing smiles on your lips. Ewan, am I right?

"I just want to look at my girlfriend," Ewan complains.

"Look at me?" you question. "Look at you, handsome! You're my man of the year, every damn year."

"C'mere, babe."

"Ewan, don't move until Davey—."

"I won't move. But come here and give me a kiss."

"Fine." You get up from your comfortable position on the seat. Might as well oblige your boyfriend, the GQ honouree. Just the thought of it makes you so giddy with pride.

Rising onto your tiptoes, you rest your chin gently on his shoulder, batting your eyelashes as he leans his head against yours.

"There's my girl," he purrs, wrapping his free arm around your waist and Davey works on the sleeve on the other.

Then he kisses you, mindful to stay perfectly still. Only his lips move, pillowy as they caress yours. You would have to reapply your lipstick after this.

When he cheekily snakes his tongue out, you pull back, giving him an incredulous shake of your head. "Stand down, handsome."

"Oh, don't worry about me, sweetheart," Davey reassures you. "Maybe we should let Ewan have his way. Poor guy looks like he's about to explode."

You all share a laugh.

A minute later, he's all ready. Davey snaps photos of him alone, then shifts to capture the two of you together. He even manages a few that feel like classic prom poses, with Ewan's arms around you from behind.

The rest of the night is a blur of lights and glamour, and the warmth of Ewan's hand on your back quells your nerves as you step onto the red carpet.

The cameras are everywhere, a sea of flashes and shouting for you to, look here, look here!

Ewan keeps you close the entire time, steering you through it all. You can feel that he's anxious too but he's a steady presence by your side. He used to need a crutch like cigarettes or gum to deal with the chaos of such public events, but when you're with him, the noise is silenced.

It's just you and him against the world.

When his arm tightens around you, you jokingly remark, "Didn't peg you for the clingy type, babe."

He glances down, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "Just making sure you don't run off with some other dashing celebrity."

An idea pops up in your head. He makes it all too easy. You let out a shaky gasp, "Wait, is that Pedro Pascal over there?"

"Where?" he asks sharply, distracted.

"By the big GQ sign. Don't make it obvious, though!" you whisper, as if you're entirely serious.

He squints, scanning the sea of people coming through the red carpet, until he realizes… there's no Pedro. Not yet, at least.

He turns to you with a playful glare, his mouth twitching with the hint of a smile. "You think you're funny, don't you, baby?"

You give your best wide-eyed, innocent look. "Who, me?"

"You're asking for it," he whispers close to your ear so the cameras don't catch it.

You only laugh as he pulls you closer, giving your waist another possessive squeeze.

"And what exactly are you gonna do about it?" you ask.

"Guess you'll have to find out after we're done here."

When he kisses you, you both know that the resulting pictures are going to flood the gossip sites, fan pages, and everything in between as soon as the next day. But neither of you care.

He makes sure that there's no mistaking who he came with that night.

And you would never tire of showing everyone just who your boyfriend is. You could scream it from the rooftops.

He doesn't need GQ to tell him he's one of the honourees of the year.

All he needs is you by his side to feel like he's truly won.

[o-craven-canto]

Rough timeline of the discovery of genes and DNA

(mostly condensed from the first half of S. Mukherjee, The Gene: An Intimate History, 2016, and this 1974 paper)

1857-1864: Gregor Mendel experiments with breeding peas at the monastery of Brno. The results show that information about flower color, pod shape etc. is transmitted in discrete blocks that do not mix, and can persist unexpressed in a generation to manifest again in the next.

1865-1866: Mendel's results are published in a minor journal and effectively forgotten for 35 years. He corresponds with physiologist Carl von Nägeli, who dismisses them as "only empirical" (???).

1868: Unaware of Mendel's work, Darwin proposes pangenesis as mechanism of heredity: every body part produces "gemmules" that carry hereditary information and merge to form gametes. This does not explain how new traits aren't immediately diluted out of existence, or why acquired changes aren't inheritable.

1869: Friedrich Miescher extracts a mysterious substance from pus on used bandages and salmon sperm. He calls it nuclein (later: chromatin), as it seems to be concentrated in cell nuclei.

1878: Albrecht Kossel separates nuclein into protein and a non-protein component, which he calls nucleic acid, and breaks it down in five nucleotides.

1882: Darwin dies, bothered -- among other things -- by the lack of a plausible mechanism to transmit new variation. Legend has it that Mendel's paper lay on a bookshelf of his study, unread.

1883: August Weissmann, noting that mice with cut tails always give birth to fully-tailed mice, theorizes that hereditary information is contained in a "germplasm" fully isolated from the rest of the body, contra pangenesis. At each generation, only germplasm is transmitted, and gives separate rise to a somatic line, i.e. the body, which isn't.

ca. 1890: Studying sea urchin embryos in Naples, Theodor Boveri and Wilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz notice large coiled masses of nuclein inside cell nuclei which can be dyed blue with aniline. They call them chromosomes, literally "colorful bodies". Simultaneously, Walter Sutton discovers chromosomes in grasshopper sperm.

1897: Hugo de Vries, after collecting hundreds of "monstrous" plant varieties near Amsterdam, realizes (also unaware of Mendel's work) that each trait is due to a single discrete particle of information, never mixing with the others, which he calls pangene in homage to Darwin. He also notices the appearance of completely new variants, which he calls mutants. In the same year, Carl Correns -- a former student of Nägeli, who had completely neglected to mention Mendel's work -- reproduces it exactly in Tubingen with pea and maize plants.

1900: Having finally found out about Mendel's publication, De Vries rushes to publish his model before he can be accused of plagiarism, which happens anyway. Correns does the same. Erich von Tschermak-Seysenegg also independently recreates Mendel's results with pea plants in Vienna. Come on, guys, this is embarassing.

1902: Boveri and Sutton independently propose that hereditary information is carried by chromosomes. Supporters of this hypothesis generally hold that information is carried by proteins, with the simpler nucleic acids (only 5 nucleotides vs. 20 aminoacids) serving as scaffold.

1905: William Bateson coins the word genetics to describe the field growing mostly from De Vries' work. He realizes it should be possible to deliberately select organisms for specific individual genes. Meanwhile, Boveri's student Nettie Stevens discovers in mealworms a strangely small chromosome that is found only in males -- chromosome Y. This is the first direct evidence that chromosomes do, in fact, carry genetic information.

1905-1908: Thomas Hunt Morgan and his students breed and cross thousands of fruit flies in a lab in New York. Contra Mendel, they notice that traits are not passed down in a completely independent way: for example, male sex and white eyes usually manifest together. This suggests that their information particles are attached to each other, so that the physically-closest traits are more likely (but not guaranteed!) to be transmitted together.

1909: Phoebus Levene and his coworkers break down nucleic acids by hydrolysis into sugars, phosphate, and nucleobases. They assume that nucleobases must repeat along a chain in a repetitive sequence. In a treatise on heredity, Wilhelm Johannsen shortens "pangene" to gene. It's a purely theoretical construct, with no known material basis.

1911: Using Morgan's data on trait linkage, his student Alfred Sturtevant draws the first genetic map, locating several genes along a fruit fly chromosome. Genetic information now has a physical basis, although not yet a mechanism of transmission.

1918: Statistician Ronald Fisher proposes that traits appearing in continuous gradients, such as height, can still be explained by discrete genes if multiple genes contribute to a single trait, resolving an apparent contradiction. (Six genes for height, for example, are enough to produce the smooth bell curve noticed half a century earlier by Francis Galton.)

ca. 1920: Bacteriologist Frederick Griffith is studying two forms of pneumococcus, a "smooth" strain that produces deadly pneumonia in mice (and people) and a "rough" strain that is easily dispatched by immunity. He finds out that if live "rough" pneumococci are mixed with "smooth" ones killed by heat, the "rough" can somehow acquire the deadly "smooth" coating from the dead.

1926: Hermann Muller, another student of Morgan, finds out he can produce arbitrary amounts of new mutant flies by exposing their parents to X-rays.

1928: Griffith describes the acquired "transformation" of bacteria in an extremely obscure journal.

1929: Levene identifies the sugars in "yeast nucleic acid" and "thymus nucleic acid" as ribose and deoxyribose, respectively. The two will henceforth be known as ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

ca. 1930: Theodosius Dobzhansky, who also had worked with Morgan, discovers in wild-caught fruit flies variations of wing size, eye structure etc. that are produced by genes arranged in different orders on the chromosome. This rearrangement is the first physical mechanism for mutation discovered.

1940: Oswald Avery repeats Griffith's experiments with pneumococci, looking for the "transforming principle". Filtering away the remains of the cell wall, dissolving lipids in alcohol, destroying proteins with heat and chloroform does not stop the transformation. A DNA-degrading enzyme, however, does. Therefore, it is DNA that carries genetic information.

1943: By mixing flies with different gene orders and raising the mixed populations at different temperatures, Dobzhansky shows that a particular gene order can respond to natural selection, increasing or decresing in frequency.

1944: Avery publishes his results on transforming DNA. Physicist Erwin Schrödinger writes a treatise (What Is Life?) in which he states, on purely theoretical ground, that genetic information must be carried by an "aperiodic crystal", stable enough to be transmitted, but with a sequence of sub-parts that never repeat.

1950: In Cambridge, Maurice Wilkins starts using X-ray diffraction to try and make a picture of the atomic structure of dried DNA (as Linus Pauling and Robert Corey had done earlier with proteins). He is later joined by Rosalind Franklin, who finds a way to make higher-quality pictures by keeping DNA in its hydrated state. By hydrolyzing DNA, Erwin Chargaff notes that the nucleobases A and T are always present in exactly the same amount, as if they were paired, and so are C and G -- but A/T and C/G can be different amounts.

1951: Pauling publishes a paper on the alpha-helix structure of proteins. Having attended talks by Wilkins and Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick attempt to build a physical model of DNA, a triple helix with internal phosphate, but Franklin notes it's too unstable to survive.

1952: Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase mark the protein envelope of phage viruses with radioactive sulfur, and their DNA with radioactive phosphorus. The phosphorus, but not the sulfur, is transmitted to host bacteria and to the new generation of phages. This indicates that DNA is not just exchanged as "transforming principle", but passed down through generations.

1953: Pauling and Corey also propose a structure of DNA, but they make the same mistake as Watson and Crick. These receive from Wilkins an especially high-quality photo (taken in 1952 by either Franklin or her student Ray Gosling). Combining this picture with Chargaff's measurements, they conclude that DNA must be a double helix, with a sugar-phosphate chain outside, and nucleobases meeting in pairs on the inside (A with T, C with G). The complementary sequences of bases give a clear mechanism for the storage and replication of genetic information.

1950s: Jacques Monod and François Jacob grow the bacterium Escherichia coli alternately on glucose and lactose. While its DNA never changes, the RNA produced changes in step with the production of glucose-digesting and lactose-digesting enzymes. So DNA is not directly affected, but different sequences are copied onto RNA depending on need.

1958: Arthur Kornberg isolates DNA polymerase, the enzyme that builds new DNA strands in the correct sequence. By inserting into DNA a heavier isotope of nitrogen, Matthew Meselson and Franklin Stahl show that each strand remains intact, separating during replication and then serving as template for a new one.

1960: Sydney Brenner and Jacob purify messenger RNA from bacterial cells. This seems to copy the sequence of a single gene and carry it to ribosomes, where proteins are built. RNA must encode the sequence of aminoacids of a protein, presumably in sets of 3 nucleotides (the smallest that can specify 20 aminoacids).

1961-1966: Multiple labs working in parallel (Marshall Nirenberg-Heinrich Matthaei-Philip Leder, Har Khorana, Severo Ochoa) map every possible triplet of nucleotides to a corresponding aminoacid. Synthetic RNA is inserted into isolated bacterial ribosomes, and aminoacids are marked one at a time with radioactive carbon to check the sequence of the resulting proteins.

1970: Paul Berg and David Jackson manage to fuse DNA from two viruses into a single sequence ("recombinant DNA") using DNA-cutting enzymes extracted from bacteria.

1972-1973: Janet Mertz joins Berg and Jackson, and proposes inserting the recombinant DNA into the genome of E. coli, exploiting the bacterium for mass production. Herb Boyer and Stanley Cohen perform a similar experiment merging bacterial DNA, and linking it to an antibiotic-resistance gene so that the recombinant bacteria can be easily isolated.

1975-1977: Frederick Sanger isolates template strands of DNA to build new ones with DNA polymerase, but uses altered and marked nucleobases that stop polymerization. By doing so, then segregating the shortened sequences by length and recognizing their final base with fluorescence, it's possible to read the exact sequence of bases on a DNA strand.

[foldbaron]

Get ready to dive DEEP into something extraordinarily thrilling! In collaboration with 12-Sided Studios, we're beyond excited to bring you Thresher, where only one thing is certain: from the deep, power rises... Discover what magnificent creatures are lurking and what mind-blowing secrets are hidden as you join the crew of the S.S. Thresher on an adventure that'll have you clutching your seat!

What is Thresher and What the Heck is Lurking Beneath Those Waves?

Thresher is a wildly unique world created by the brilliant minds of Matt Linton and Jacqueline Emerson and homebrewed for gameplay by the incredible Jasper William Cartwright,  based on Candela Obscura, an Illuminated Worlds game from Darrington Press.  

Grab your gear, favorite snacks, and maybe some Dramamine (trust us, you'll need it!) to adventure below the surface as the Thresher crew takes on and discovers the unknown terrors that lie along the mysterious seabed.

Game Master Jasper William Cartwright leads this motley crew of troubled individuals deep into the abyss where hidden horrors and ancient creatures lurk in wait. The crew's mission? To explore the long-abandoned Rán Boer Station, a geothermal energy facility resting in the ocean's unforgiving depths—silent, decayed, and WAITING FOR YOU! Will players Jacqueline Emerson, Abubakar Salim, Mark "Sherlock" Hulmes (aka Mara), Jane Douglas, and Noshir Dalal come together as a team, or will their characters meet their doom alone on board the deep-sea submarine, the S.S. Thresher?

But, as pressure mounts both literally AND figuratively, the crew must battle the claustrophobia of a metal tube, the absolute terror of lurking behemoths, and the increasing paranoia of potentially mutinous cabin-mates. Who can you trust when the darkness closes in? 

This 2-episode series offers excitement for Critters, Darrlings, and especially you Beacon Bits! But here's the kicker - you don't have to have been a long-time fan of any of our games or content to dive headfirst into this series. There's a ton of jaw-dropping action and enticement for all those who enjoy gameplay brimming with hair-raising thrills, deep sea adventure, character challenges, and so much more than we could possibly list here!

Watch in pure suspense as Emily Wodsworth, Daemon Adams, Beatrice "Betty" Callahan, Valerie "Val" Sutton, and Hercules De Baudin venture into the aquatic unknowns where normal rules don't apply and survival is optional!

Thresher: What YOU Need to Know as a Beacon Member!

You can watch Thresher on Twitch, YouTube, and of course, Beacon! Episode 1 premieres on Thursday, April 24 at 7pm Pacific with the second and final episode streaming on Thursday, May 1.

The YouTube VOD will be available the following Monday after each episode's initial broadcast, BUT as a Beacon Member, you'll get the VOD and those exclusive Cooldown episodes right at 7pm Pacific. 

That's right - while everyone else is just watching the main show, you’ll be enjoying extra behind-the-scenes content, cast reactions, and special insights that only Beacon Members get to see!

Who Makes Up the S.S. Thresher Crew? The sharks will be swimming to hide beneath coral when they see the stellar cast aboard this vessel! This crew isn't just talented - they're about to become your new obsession:

•Jasper William Cartwright as the Game Master

•Jacqueline Emerson as Emily Wodsworth 

•Abubakar Salim as Daemon Adams 

•Mark "Sherlock" Hulmes aka Mara as Beatrice "Betty" Callahan

•Jane Douglas as Valerie "Val" Sutton

•Noshir Dalal as Hercules De Baudin 

Don't miss this chance to be part of the most exciting underwater adventure of the year - because normal is boring, and Beacon Members are anything but. Dive in, the water's terrifying!

[lostinhistory]

Heritage News of the Week

Discoveries!

Excavations of graves within a bronze age necropolis in Nakhchivan in Azerbaijan revealed that women had been buried with weapons such as razor-sharp arrowheads, a bronze dagger and a mace, as well as jewellery.

Human remains found at prison sewer site are 4,500 years old in East Yorkshire

Archaeologists investigating the site of a new sewer to serve a jail being built at Full Sutton in East Yorkshire, England, have discovered a burial monument containing human remains thought to be about 4,500 years old.

Monastic site founded by St Moulag discovered on Scottish island

According to the researchers, the site dates from the 7th to 10th century AD and was likely founded by St Moluag, an Irish missionary who evangelized the Picts on the western seaboard of Scotland.

Fortified 14th-century castle and moat discovered under hotel in France

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 14th-century medieval castle, including a moat, hidden beneath the courtyard of a historic hotel in France. Jewellery, pots, pans and padlocks were among the artifacts recovered, offering clues about the nobility who used the castle for nearly a century.

Archaeologists uncover earliest known Iron Age house in Greek village

Archaeologists from the University of Göttingen working in the ancient village of Thorikos, outside the city of Lavrion in southern Athens, have discovered what is thought to be one of the earliest Iron Age houses in Greece, according to the Greek Reporter.

2400-year-old artifacts discovered in the Black Sea’s first scientific underwater excavation

Dozens of historical artifacts dating from the 4th century BC to the 12th century AD were unearthed in the first scientific underwater excavation in the Kerpe region in Kocaeli’s Kandıra district.

Archaeologists search for King John’s lost treasure

The researchers will be excavating an area of land next to Walpole Marsh in the Fenlands, located 8 kms from the present-day coastline. During the Medieval period, the region was a large natural marshland often prone to flooding.

The marble head of God Apollo unearthed in an excavation at Philippi, Greece

The excavation, carried out by a group of students of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the archaeological site of Philippi Kavala, brought to light important findings. Among other things, they discovered a rare head of Apollo dating back to the 2nd or early 3rd century AD.

Persian plateau unveiled as crucial hub for early human migration out of Africa, study suggests

A recent multidisciplinary study has by looking at ancient and modern DNA, revealing that the Persian Plateau played a fundamental role as a hub for early Homo sapiens who expanded beyond their African homeland.

Fortified settlements containing open-air temples found in Türkiye

Archaeologists from the Yozgat Bozok University and Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University have uncovered fortified settlements containing a new type of open-air temples within the Tunceli province, Türkiye.

Traces of Roman fort found in Aachen

Further evidence of the fort has recently been uncovered during construction works for housing utility pipes, revealing traces of a seven metre stone wall from the fort’s exterior fortifications that date from around 2,000 years ago.

'Richly decorated' Roman villa with 'curse tablets' and tiny axes unearthed in England

Based on the hundreds of artifacts unearthed there, researchers determined that the site, known as Brookside Meadows, was occupied by Romans from the first or second centuries until the late fourth or early fifth century, when Britain slipped out of Roman control.

Tiny axe!

1930’s British railway carriage found buried in Antwerp

According to a press statement by the Oosterweel verbinding, the carriage is stock from LNER – London North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four railway companies which operated between 1923 and 1948.

Exotic horses used for jousting tournaments were buried in Westminster

Using advanced scientific techniques, researchers from the University of Exeter have analysed the chemical composition of the several horse burials to identify the origins and the routes they travelled to British shores during their formative years.

Pompeii excavation reveals ancient construction techniques

According to a recent press statement by the Pompeii Archaeological Park, archaeologists have found a Roman construction site, accompanied with tools, tiles, piles of lime, and stacked tuff bricks. The site was likely active during the day of the eruption, providing the researchers a “time capsule” of ancient construction techniques from the Roman period.

Pyramidal structures uncovered at Los Teteles de Ávila Castillo

The latest excavations have been conducted in response to both erosion and the structures being robbed by locals for construction material. This has led to three pyramidal structures being uncovered, accompanied with charred ceramics, polished lithics, and carved objects made from obsidian and basalt.

Human activity on Curaçao began centuries earlier than previously believed

New research co-led by Simon Fraser University and the National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management (NAAM Foundation) in Curaçao extends the earliest known human settlement of Curaçao by centuries, adding pieces to the puzzle of pre-Colombian Caribbean history.

Poland’s oldest copper axe discovered in the Lublin region

A copper axe from the 4th to 3rd millennium BC identified with the Trypillia culture was found in the Horodło municipality in the Hrubieszów district.

Explorers unlock the mystery of ‘pirate king’ Henry Avery who vanished after huge heist at sea

In 1695, Henry Avery led his 160-strong crew to pull off the most lucrative heist in pirate history on the high seas, amassing gold, silver, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds worth more than £85m in today’s money. He became the most wanted criminal of his day but vanished without trace and was the stuff of legend for 300 years. Now shipwreck explorers Dr Sean Kingsley and Rex Cowan claim to have solved what they call the longest cold case in pirate history: the “pirate king” had entered the service of the king of England, William III, as a spy. The evidence lies in a previously unpublished coded letter written by “Avery the Pirate” from Falmouth in Cornwall. It had lain, forgotten, in a Scottish archive after being misfiled.

Museums

The British Museum went to court Tuesday against a former curator alleged to have stolen hundreds of artifacts from its collections and offered them for sale online.

Is Science Museum’s green power gallery tainted by fossil-fuel cash?

It is intended to be an ­exploration of humanity’s past and future efforts to decarbonise the way we live. Historical objects mixed with interactive displays will show how environmentally friendly energy systems are shaped by imagination and innovation. But the new Science Museum gallery, Energy Revolution, the Adani Green Energy Gallery, has gone down badly – with environmentalists. Last week they picketed the ­gallery’s private opening party and confronted guests with ­banners denouncing the London ­museum’s decision to accept sponsorship from the Indian energy group Adani, arranged through its renewables subsidiary, Adani Green Energy.

Getty Museum releases 88K+ images of artworks with CC0

The J. Paul Getty Museum just released more than 88 thousand works under Creative Commons Zero (CCØ), putting the digital images of items from its impressive collection squarely and unequivocally into the public domain.

Explore the Cutty Sark in new immersive virtual reality (VR) experience

The Cutty Sark, one of the world’s most famous ships, has been recreated in virtual reality by experts at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) and Smartify.

The site can be found here

The Master's cabin includes dogs!

Virtual good boys

Pro-Palestine activists occupy Met steps with massive quilt

A group of about 350 demonstrators unfurled an enormous quilt on the front steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on March 24, demanding that the museum publicly call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Smithsonian misused covid relief funds, report says

The report, which was released on February 23, says the Smithsonian failed to properly justify purchases from single vendors made with money granted to the institution. This is in breach of a Smithsonian policy that “requires competition for purchases in excess of $10,000, and any exceptions are required to be justified in writing.”

Unique “stele of the twin babies” unveiled

The National Archaeological Museum of Athens has unveiled the only surviving example of a funerary relief depicting twin babies in the same arms.

Perth Museum review – a magical display of rampant unicorns and naked Picts

It takes balls to transform a local collection of archaeology, art and stuffed salmon into a museum with ambitions on an international scale. And it so happens that balls are one of the new Perth Museum’s highlights, albeit prehistoric stone ones. Decorated with nodules large and small, these carved rocky spheres were a speciality of neolithic artists in Scotland. What do they mean? Nobody knows, but their carefully designed patterns evidently meant a lot to the people who lived in what is now called Scotland about 5,000 years ago.

This sounds amazing and I want to go.

Repatriation

California legislators have introduced a bill intended to give Holocaust survivors and their heirs a greater chance of recovering artworks stolen, or sold under duress, during periods of political oppression.

Heritage at risk

The news was shared by Ukraine’s ministry of culture and information policy, which said in a statement that “as a result of falling fragments of a missile launched by the Russian Federation, the central part of the building at the Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design named after Mykhailo Boichuk was destroyed.”

For archaeologists, what defines people as human is how we bury our dead. Imagine, then, a society that relegates a whole community as legally inhuman, enslaved with no rights. In spite of slavery, African burial grounds are tangible reminders of the enslaved and free – defying oppressive circumstances by reclaiming people’s humanity through acts of remembrance.

Cotton Capital: Our latest journalism on the legacies of transatlantic enslavement

‘There are children here who do not want to be black’: one woman’s bid to save Mexico’s first Afro-Mexican museum

In the Costa Chica region, which is home to Mexico’s largest population of African-Mexicans, the museum is unique in the country. When it opened 25 years ago, it was heralded as recognition of the more than 2.5 million Afro-Mexicans in a country that had long overlooked them. Now, however, the museum is now facing closure. Unpaid for 15 years and deserted by the founding committee who helped her create the space in 1999, Alvarado, 62, is fearful that she will soon have to retire. “They all left and now I am old and alone here,” she says.

Odds and ends

The Israeli destruction of archaeological sites and looting of artefacts in Gaza also raises questions about archaeology’s purported neutrality in our world. The reality is that archaeology can be deeply political.

Harvard will remove binding made of human skin from 1800s book

Harvard University has said it will be removing the binding made of human skin from a 19th-century book held in its library because of the “ethically fraught nature” of how the unusual binding took place.

What should we do with books bound in human skin?

I'm going to plug Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom, which is an in depth and balanced examination of books bound in human skin (aka anthropodermic bibliopegy, and there's your word of the day)

‘We are dealing with fundamentalist rightwingers’: Berlin statues are latest battleground in Germany’s culture wars

Critics say the erection of Isaiah, Ezekiel and co is emblematic of the silent manipulation of a prestige architecture project by a shady group of donors with nationalist leanings. “It appears that we are dealing with a targeted infiltration of the Berlin palace by fundamentalist rightwingers who want to turn it into symbol of a Christian and thereby ‘white’ ethnic Germany,” said Jürgen Zimmerer, a professor of global history at the University of Hamburg

Shōgun: why the English samurai’s life and legacy still grip Japan 400 years on

The release this month of the Disney+ series Shōgun has reignited interest in the navigator from Kent whose talents were endless: shipbuilding, gunnery, mathematics, geography, trade negotiation and diplomacy, and, most notable of all, personal skills that saw him become friend and trusted adviser to the feudal warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Is anyone else watching Shogun? You should be watching Shogun, it is so good.

AI is creating fake historical photos, and that's a problem

If you come across a picture of Napoleon giving a TED Talk or Mata Hari taking a selfie with an iPhone, chances are you're not going to mistake it for a genuine historical photo. The real danger lies in those images that are crafted with the explicit intention of deceiving people — the ones that are so convincingly realistic that they could easily pass for authentic historical photographs.

So all of the speculation about Kate Middleton was deeply unhinged, but one weird side effect was people began looking more closely at Rose Hanbury, assumed mistress of Prince William, and they realized that her house is full of stolen furniture.

and that is actually kind of funny.

[ltwilliammowett]

James Skyrme a Welsh pirate

One of Bartholomew Robert's captains was the Welshman James Skyrme (c. 1678-1722)

His flag, according to a description by Captain Ogle

Not much is known about him (only what Captain Ogle later reported), except that he sailed from Bristol in the summer of 1720 as first mate of the Greyhound. That October, Bartholomew Roberts captured a dozen ships off St Lucia, including the Greyhound. After her capture, Skyrme signed her articles and joined Roberts' crew while Roberts burned the Greyhound.

Two French ships attacked Roberts in April 1721, but were themselves captured by the pirates. Roberts renamed the ships, handed over command of the Ranger to Thomas Sutton and gave the Little Ranger to the Skyrme, which Roberts used as a storage ship. Sailing alongside Roberts, they captured a number of other ships and their crews. Later that year, Roberts docked at Cape Lopez to cruise, replacing Sutton with Skyrme as captain of the Ranger.

In February 1722, Captain Chaloner Ogle of HMS Swallow baited Roberts with an attack on his 50-gun warship. Mistaking it for a fleeing merchant ship, Roberts sent Skyrme with the Ranger to capture it. When the Ranger was alone, Ogle set the trap and opened fire on the pirates. After a brief skirmish, Ranger was badly damaged, several pirates had been killed, and Skyrme's leg had been severed by cannon fire. Skyrme tried to continue the fight, but the Ranger finally struck the flag and surrendered. Desperate pirates tried to blow up the Rangers by firing a pistol into a barrel of gunpowder, but they failed and were badly burned. Five days after the victory over Skyrme, Ogle returned to Cape Lopez and destroyed the rest of Roberts' fleet; Roberts died early in the battle. Swallow took the survivors and the badly wounded Skyrme to Cape Coast Castle, where they were tried and most of them, including Skyrme, were hanged in March.

Ranger herself survived the battle against Ogle's Swallow, though not much longer. She was sent back across the Atlantic as a prize ship and sank off Port Royal when a hurricane devastated the town in August 1722.

The Pirate Encyclopedia: The Pirate's Way, by Arne Zuidhoek

Pirates: The Truth Behind the Robbers of the High Seas, by Nigel Cawthorne

Black Bart Roberts: The Greatest Pirate of Them All, by Terry Breverton

Daily Life of Pirates, by Marley David

[featherbow]

In collaboration with 12-Sided Studios, we are thrilled to bring you Thresher, a new actual play premiering Thursday April 24th. This two part underwater epic takes place in a unique world created by Matt Linton and Jacqueline Emerson and homebrewed for gameplay by Jasper William Cartwright, based on Candela Obscura, an Illuminated Worlds game from Darrington Press.

Tune into the premiere on Beacon, Twitch, and YouTube on April 24th at 7pm Pacific, and the finale the following week on May 1st at 7pm Pacific.

Deep in the abyss, in the dark chasms where hidden horrors and ancient creatures lurk, a motley crew of troubled individuals must come together or die alone onboard the S.S. Thresher, a deep-sea submarine. Their mission: to explore the long-abandoned Rán Boer station, a geothermal energy facility resting in the ocean’s unforgiving depths—silent, decayed, and waiting.

As pressure mounts both literally and figuratively, the crew must battle the claustrophobia of a metal tube, the terror of lurking behemoths, and the increasing paranoia of mutinous cabin-mates. Only one thing is certain; from the deep, power rises...

Learn more about Thresher at http://critrole.com/thresher

Meet the Cast

Creators Matt Linton and Jacquelin Emerson Game Master Jasper William Cartwright Jacquelin Emerson as Emily Wodsworth Abubakar Salim as Daemon Adams Mark/Mara “Sherlock” Hulmes as Beatrice “Betty” Callahan Jane Douglas as Valerie “Val” Sutton Noshir Dalal as Hercules De Baudin

[pupsmailbox]

STARTING WITH S

MASCULINE︰ sacheverell. sage. saint. sal. salem. salvador. sam. samir. sammie. sammy. sampson. samson. samuel. sandford. sandy. santana. santiago. santino. santos. saul. sawyer. saxon. scot. scott. scottie. scotty. scout. sean. sebastian. sefton. selby. sergio. seth. seven. sevyn. seymour. shae. shane. shaun. shaw. shawn. shayne. shelby. sheldon. shelton. shepard. shepherd. sherman. shiloh. sid. sidney. silas. silis. silver. silvester. simon. sincere. sinclair. sinjin. sky. skylar. skyler. slade. sloan. sly. smith. solomon. sonny. soren. sparrow. spencer. spike. stafford. stan. stanford. stanley. stefan. steph. stephen. sterling. stetson. steve. steven. stevie. stewart. stone. storm. stryker. stu. stuart. sullivan. sully. sunday. sutton. syd. sydney. sylas. sylvan. sylvanus. sylvester. symon. syncere.

FEMININE︰ sabella. sable. sabrina. sabryna. sadie. saffron. sage. saige. sal. salem. salena. salina. sallie. sally. salome. sam. samantha. samara. sammi. sammie. sammy. sandie. sandra. sandy. santana. saoirse. saphire. sapphire. sara. sarah. sarai. saranna. sarina. sariyah. sasha. saundra. savanna. savannah. sawyer. saylor. scarlet. scarlett. scarlette. schuyler. scottie. scout. seanna. sela. selah. selby. selena. selma. september. sequoia. sera. serena. serenity. serina. serrena. sevan. sevyn. shae. shaelyn. shana. shanae. shanelle. shanene. shania. shanna. shannah. shannen. shannon. shanon. shantae. shantel. shantelle. sharalyn. shari. sharise. sharla. sharleen. sharlene. sharmaine. sharon. sharona. sharron. sharyl. sharyn. shauna. shavon. shavonne. shawna. shawnda. shawnee. shaye. shayla. shayley. shaylyn. sheelagh. sheena. sheila. shelagh. shelby. shelia. shell. shelley. shelly. shena. sheree. sheri. sheridan. sherie. sherill. sherilyn. sherisse. sherley. sherlyn. sherri. sherrie. sherry. sheryl. sheryll. shevaun. shevon. shilo. shiloh. shirlee. shirley. shonda. shyla. siara. sibyl. sidney. sidony. siena. sienna. sierra. silver. simone. simonette. sinclair. sindy. sky. skye. skyla. skylar. skyler. skylynn. sloan. sloane. snow. sofia. soledad. sommer. sondra. sonia. sonya. sookie. sophia. sophie. sophy. soraya. sorrel. spirit. spring. stace. stacee. stacey. staci. stacia. stacie. stacy. star. starla. starr. stefani. stella. steph. stephani. stephania. stephanie. stephany. stevie. stormi. stormy. sue. suellen. suki. sukie. summer. sunday. sunny. sunshine. susan. susanna. susanne. susie. sutton. suz. suzan. suzanna. suzanne. suzi. suzie. suzy. sybella. sybil. syd. sydne. sydneey. sydney. sydnie. sylvia. sylvie. symphony.

NEUTRAL︰ saccharine. saffron. saga. sage. saige. sailor. saint. sakae. salem. saline. sam. sami. samie. sammy. sandi. sandy. santana. sapphire. sasha. satsuki. sawyer. saxon. scape. scarlet. scorpion. scottie. scout. scribbles. sea. secret. seer. sekani. semaj. semi. september. serenity. seven. sevyn. shade. shadow. shai. shale. shalom. shan. shannon. shark. shay. shea. shelby. sheridan. shi. shia. shield. shiloh. shiro. shiver. shook. should. sid. sidney. silver. sincere. sincerity. siren. skeptic. skull. skunk. sky. skye. skyler. slate. slider. sloan. smash. sneaky. sniff. snitch. snooze. snow. soap. sock. soda. sol. solace. solo. solstice. soma. sonny. soot. sora. soren. sorrel. soul. sour. south. spark. sparrow. spear. specter. speedy. spell. spencer. spider. spiral. spirit. spot. spy. stab. stacy. stag. stall. star. stark. starling. static. stay. steady. steel. stereo. sterling. stitch. stock. stone. storm. stormi. stormy. stranger. strawberry. stray. stricken. studio. subwoofer. suede. sugar. sulfur. sullivan. summer. summit. sun. sunday. sunny. sutton. sway. swing. switch. sychophant. symphony. syncere. synth.

[oh-no-another-idea]

find the word tag

Thank you so much for the tag and words, @duckingwriting! Crawling out of the void to fill this one out today -- let's see what we find in Bent Nails.

Club:

Other than the few friends Michael did know – Carla from book club, Marina from down the street, and Judith who’d called from Switzerland tearfully to give her apologies for being unable to attend the way she wanted to – Michael truly had no idea who the people around him were that had come to mourn his mother. They were a sea of blank faces, a pool of strangers. Michael accepted their shoulder pats and kind intentions because he didn’t know what else to do with them. He knew it was what his mother would’ve wanted him to do.

Pink:

Jacob smiled, pushing his glasses up on his nose. He was wearing pink today, a faded shirt over dark jeans. Michael opened his mouth but nothing came out.

West:

The ride was over too quickly. Sutton held the door open for the Labrador to jump out on to the driveway, and got cold feet, picturing the look on Nick’s face when she opened the door and brought in a living breathing dog. Would he yell? Tell her to go back to the West Coast where she and her radical outlooks belonged? Would he divorce Mom before they could even get married? Get ahold of yourself, she scolded internally. If you’re going to be this puppy’s mother, you need to step up.

Fun:

“I’m right here,” Michael felt the need to point out. He threw down the crowbar with its usual clanging, and started wrestling with the cabinet, his shoulders straining. “Michael…” Lincoln drew his name out. Great, now there were two of them having fun toying with him. “Michael only got here a little while ago, ain’t that right?” Michael wasn’t about to help him. “And?” Sutton said eagerly.

No pressure tags for anyone who sees this, and also @sleepy-night-child @eccaiia @space-writes @halfbakedspuds @aether-wasteland-s and anyone else who wants to look for the words arrangement, volume, voice, and shape!

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Kenneth Campbell "Ken" Stott, born on October 19th 1954 in Edinburgh.

One of my favourite actors, as hard-drinking Detective hero of Ian Rankin's popular book he was Inspector John Rebus to me. Ken's Father was Scottish and a teacher, his mum a Sicilian, he went to the famous George Herriots school before going onto to Mountview Theatre School, where the distinguished actor Sir John Mills was president. Fellow Scot Douglas Henshall was also a student of the school. Before leaving Edinburgh Stott had been in a band called Keyhole some of the members of the group would later join the Bay City Rollers.

Ken went on to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company but the pay was poor and he subsidised his earnings by selling double glazing. His first TV role was in Secret Army for the BBC, parts in TV shows throughout his career have included, Taggart (of course) The Singing Detective, London's Burning, Your Cheatin' Heart and Silent Witness. He was insome good films too, The Debt Collector (with Billy Connolly) , Shallow Grave, (with Ewen MacGregor) and Plunkett & Macleane (with Robert Carlyle).

My favourite shows of Ken's have been the brilliant BBC Scotland series, Takin' Over the Asylum in which starred as Double Glazing salesman, but aspiring disc jockey

with David Tennant and Angus Macfadyen,The ITV series The Vice was also a cracking series where he played DI Pat Chappel and The BBC show Messiah, where again he played a cop, DCI Red Metcalfe where he learned sign language for scenes with his screen wife,and Rebus of course, when the show was resurrected in 2006, Stott was a first choice for many as D.I John Rebus, John Hannah had the role in the first incarnation, mainly due to it being made by his own production company.

On film Ken is probably best known for his role as the Dwarf, Balin in The Hobbit trilogy. He is a popular choice for voice work, as narrator for series such as Trawlermen, a documentary following North Sea trawlers, and Send in the Dogs, following the work of Police Officers and their canine partners.

One of my favourite stories about Ken Stott echoes the no nonsense approach of Rebus, on stage during Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge, he halted the play when a group of teenage schoolkids were misbehaving and disturbing the show, switching from his stage American to his native Scots accent he told the teacher responsible for the children to remove them, or the play would not go on.

The house lights were switched on and there was then a 15-minute stand-off as discussions took place with the offending youngsters.

The audience took the side of Stott and even resorted to chanting 'out, out, out' in extraordinary scenes. Eventually the three culprits and an embarrassed teacher was forced to creep away before the play resumed at the Duke of York's Theatre.

Of his recent stuff check out The Dig,, it a decent film and based on a true story of an archaeologist embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938.

I can't see anything happening on Ken's IMDb page, but there is a third series of the Irvine Welsh show Crime in development, so I expect he will reappear in that.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Hot Tub Day

National Hot Tub Day is here, and you know what that means: you now have yet another excuse to enjoy relaxing in your hot tub.

But what if you want to do something more to celebrate? Here, we’ll show you five ways you can do just that:

Treat yourself to a new hot tub accessory.

Practice some hot tub yoga.

Indulge in aromatherapy.

Have a movie night.

Play some games with the whole family.

Ready to celebrate National Hot Tub Day the right way? Let’s dive in, first with why hot tubs are worth celebrating.

Why Hot Tubs Are Worth Celebrating

You probably know at least part of the answer to this question. After all, hot tubs have a reputation for being relaxing as well as therapeutic.

What you might not know is that hot tubs have a wealth of other benefits that make them worth celebrating:

Reduced stress: The warm water of a hot tub can help your body release feel-good stress-relieving endorphins.

Relaxation and pain relief: Whether you’re suffering from exercise-induced soreness, arthritis or another condition, hot tubs can help reduce pain, loosen muscles and take pressure off joints.

Better sleep: After taking a dip in your hot tub, you’ll likely be able to fall asleep faster and enjoy more restful sleep throughout the night.

5 Ways to Ring in National Hot Tub Day

1. Treat Yourself to a New Hot Tub Accessory

Hot tub accessories offer a fantastic way to spruce up your hot tub without breaking the bank.

For National Hot Tub Day, why not treat yourself to a hot tub accessory that can improve your overall experience in the long-run?

Here are our favorite types of hot tub accessories:

Cover lifters: No one wants to wrangle with a heavy cover when all they want to do is enjoy their hot tub. Make the process painless with a convenient cover lifter.

Steps: If you’re tired of slipping and sliding your way into your hot tub, a set of hot tub steps will be right up your alley. The right set of steps can not only make your entry and exit process much safer, but also serve as a perfect location to place your dry towel for easy access.

Pillows: If your hot tub sessions are getting dragged down by uncomfortable headrests or raggedy cushions, it’s high time you went for a new, deluxe pillow. By choosing the right size and shape for you, you can create a custom experience that’s tailored to your needs.

2. Practice Some Hot Tub Yoga

As a form of exercise that focuses on physical control as well as mental clarity and relaxation, yoga is a perfect match for your next hot tub session.

To get started, engage in some breathing exercises. Simply sit in your preferred seat and take a few deep breaths to begin. Then, focus on lengthening your spine, dropping your shoulders down and back, and noticing the sensation of the water on your skin.

If relaxation is all you’re looking for, you can simply continue that breathing exercise throughout the entirety of your session. Or, you can move onto some deeper stretches and muscle-strengthening poses. We recommend the seated spinal twist, cow face pose and boat pose.

For more info on each one, stay tuned for our Beginner’s Guide to Hot Tub Yoga.

3. Indulge in Aromatherapy

If you want to take your hot tub experience to the next level, you’d be wise to give aromatherapy a shot.

With hot tub aromatherapy, the scents of some of the world’s most prized and fragrant plants are infused in your hot tub water. You can achieve that either with the use of all-natural essential oils or pre-made bath crystals.

Traditionally, certain scents have certain benefits. For example:

Lavender relieves stress and may help you relax.

Eucalyptus

Thyme may reduce anxiety, fatigue and stress.

Keep an eye out for our upcoming post, The Secrets of Hot Tub Aromatherapy, for more information.

4. Have a Movie Night

Movie nights aren’t just for the couch. In honor of National Hot Tub Day, try watching your favorite flick in the hot tub instead.

There are a couple of easy ways you can do this:

Create a backyard movie theater with the help of a projector.

Set up a laptop or portable DVD/Blu-Ray player on a nearby table.

Plus, some of our highest-rated hot tubs, including the Dr. Wellness G-15 Tranquility Spa, come with built-in HDTVs to make your movie night even more fun.

5. Play Some Games With the Whole Family

If you’re not in the mood for a movie, trying playing some fun hot tub games for the whole family.

A few favorites include:

Waterproof cards and board games: If you have a set of waterproof cards or a waterproof board game lying around, you know what to do.

Rubber duck races: Push, blow and splash to see who’s duck can make it to the other side of the hot tub first.

Ping pong: Use plastic paddles to bounce a ping pong around. Whoever knocks the ball outside of the hot tub loses.

Hockey: Get your team’s “hockey puck” (a rubber duck or small floating ball will do just fine) to the other team’s side of the hot tub — no touching allowed.

How are you going to celebrate National Hot Tub Day?

No matter what you choose to do, you’re sure to have a fun and relaxing holiday with the help of your hot tub.

Source

[mahgnib]

John Sutton statue of mythological Irish sea god, Manannan Mac Lir, in Londonderry

[missameliep]

WIP Wednesday

Thanks for the tag @lorirwritesfanfic 😊🩷

I haven't participated in a WIP Wednesday in soooo long!

I actually have some snippets to share; I'm going through my drafts and planing to post all of those fics that are near ready.

Under the cut are snippets for: Bonds of Sea and Fire - Part 4 (Blades of Light and Shadow); Once Upon a Summer (Desire & Decorum AU); Second Chances - Chapter 25 (Desire & Decorum AU) and The one who got away (Ride or Die).

Bonds of Sea and Fire - Part 4 (Blades of Light and Shadow)

“You cannot...” he paused, searching for the proper word, “...charm your way out of a confrontation.”  “Do you want to bet?”  Tyril scowled at the suggestion.   “I'm in!” Mal joined the conversation, jumping from the wooden crate and landing with a loud thump on the deck. “5 golden coins you can’t!”  “Do you even have that kind of money?”  “Won’t you like to find out?” He wriggled his eyebrows and smiled at her.  With a shake of their hands, the challenge was accepted. 

2. Once upon a summer - Part 1 (Desire and Decorum AU)

Amusing some of his teammates and the group of girls, Hamid was in the middle of telling a story, when someone knocked over a heavy object near the entrance. Hamid’s eyes flicked to where the noise came from and to the influx of another group of students coming inside to fill the stands, amongst them a very beautiful girl he’s never seen in school and instantly caught his eye.   Turquoise backpack hanging on one shoulder, she moved slowly, and her long curly hair bounced around her face. It was a chocolate brown hair with golden shades that seemed like the sun itself had kissed, or maybe had just been following her for the dramatic purpose of stealing teenage boy’s breaths away. Whatever it was, her beauty was so enthralling he couldn’t look away, appreciating the long hair and shapely lips and bright eyes. If this was one of the rom-coms his sisters love, there would be a bubbly pop song playing in the background while the girl glided in slow motion, and when the camera turned in his direction to do a closeup, he would be looking dazzled with mouth slightly parted while trying to catch his breath. Nevertheless, no camera could ever capture the way his heart skipped a beat at the sight of her.  “So, what happened then? Did his father notice you two were gone?” Theresa Sutton’s questions ringed after what seemed like a dramatic pause in the narrative but turned into a play’s intermission.  Stunned, Hamid blinked a few times and failed to remember what he was telling them. Offering a wide grin, he clapped his hands, “Well, this will have to wait. Now I have someplace else to go and a record to beat!”  “That’s cruel, Hamid,” Donna Bowman protested with a pout, but it didn’t deter him.   Bending, he picked up the ball at his feet, and sprinted to where Yusuf Konevi, his dearest and oldest friend in England, was doing warm-ups with some of their teammates, without tearing his gaze from the beautiful girl, who was glancing everywhere from the benches at the side of the court to the stands, possibly searching for someone, and not once looked his way. Thank goodness, he was confident enough to not let this hurt his pride, and persistent enough to change that game.  Throwing an arm over Yusuf’s shoulder, he threw himself at him in a playful way.   “Hey!”  “Glad to see our star is finally joining us!”  “We’re all stars here,” Hamid said, flashing a grin, “we shine brighter together.”  The other laughed. “Smooth. I bet they’ll make you team captain soon.”   Looking over his shoulder Hamid located his target, standing alone by the stands, and asked in a conspiratorial tone, “Who’s that girl? I haven’t seen her before...”   “Which one?” the other asked before discreetly peeking at the direction he tilted his head.   “The one who looks like an angel recently fallen from heaven…” 

3. Second Chances - Chapter 25 (Desire & Decorum AU)

While her body reluctantly woke up and her brain regained consciousness, she was confronted by confusion and immense discomfort all at once, reminders of the insane amount of alcohol she ingested last night.   Her head ached as if samba percussionists were beating repeatedly their instruments out of cadence to punish her. The parchedness in her mouth seemed like she had wandered the desert for days. Trying to alleviate it, her lips parted, but her mouth had dried out and it was difficult to swallow and get rid of the disgusting taste sitting on her tongue.   The buzzing sound echoed again, attacking her ears, and she realized it was probably the mobile vibrating with incoming messages over the nightstand. Even though she wondered what time it was, the identity of the caller or texter and their reasons to be trying to reach her in what she assumed was the middle of the night didn’t pique her interest at all, if anything it riled her up for disturbing her rest. Mustering the strength to reach the nightstand to turn off the phone, she tried to roll over, but something blocked her path and restrained her motion. Not something, but someone.  In the dark she couldn’t rely on her sight, but her other senses worked perfectly, collecting information of quiet sounds of breathing behind her, the light pressure of a body against her back, and the arm she finally noticed dangling over her waist underneath the covers. And lastly, the fragrance that reached her nostrils was unmistakable. 

4. The one who got away (Ride or Die)

Once upon a time in what seems like another life, no one would spare a second glance at the shy teenager with untamed curly hair and oversized sweatshirts walking down the fancy prep school’s hallways with the nose stuck in a book. Back then she was just Ellie, the sheltered daughter of an LAPD detective with a single goal in life: get into Langston.  But then a bad boy – that was not so bad after all – waltzed into her life and introduced her to a forbidden world of illegal races, crime and betrayal. A world she was not supposed to know about, let alone desire to take part in...   Then love was added to the equation.   She fell in love, but not with this bad boy.  The thrill made her heart race faster than all those tuned cars. Every discovery about her abilities fueled the fire within and added to her confidence.   The process of unveiling these parts of herself drew her closer and closer to another bad boy – one dangerous enough to doom her entire existence. One she’d loved wholeheartedly and would’ve followed to the ends of the world if given the choice…  

Tagging a few of you who might want to share your WIPs with us: @princess-geek @rosesnink @lilyoffandoms @aallotarenunelma @jerzwriter @peonierose

Also tagging @choicesficwriterscreations

[woodlandbookclub]

April reading wrap up ✨

Secrets of the Sand & Sea | Clara Sutton 3🌟

How Was It For You? | Eve Smith | Narrator Chloe Massey 3.5🌟

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth | Andrew Joseph White 4.5🌟

Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant | Curtis Chin 4🌟

The Unworthy | Agustina Bazterrica 4🌟

The Knight and the Butcherbird | Alix E. Harrow 4🌟

Family Business | Jonathan Sims 3🌟

[likeabxrdinflight]

I'm absolutely deranged over this sweeney revival and so sad it's closing because I think this might be the only iteration of the show where it's like. very obvious that this version of sweeney and mrs lovett are fucking. like that's pretty clear, right? in most renditions it's played like a largely unrequited thing, with mrs lovett attempting over the course of the show to get sweeney to love her despite the fact that he's utterly uninterested.

that was...that was not the case in this version. and the place where I think that becomes most apparent is actually in "a little priest," because I think this is where the transition takes place. prior to this the 2023 show is playing out broadly the same as usual, with mrs lovett focused primarily on getting sweeney to look at her for more than five seconds while sweeney is plotting his revenge. I'm not sure how annaleigh played it live, since I didn't get to see her take and haven't found any decent (publicly available) clips of her, but sutton made some interesting choices here where she's always got her hands hovering over sweeney but rarely does she actually touch him (this was most apparent to me during "my friends" and "wait"). it was like he was something she desperately wanted to hold but couldn't bring herself to yet. like he (or the tenuous bond between them) was made of glass and she was afraid to break him (and it).

that changes after "a little priest." because for the whole show up to that point, sweeney is, as in every production, completely uninterested in her. he seems to reject her advances, doesn't initiate much if any contact with her, and at most treats her as a business partner. but the second mrs lovett suggests her whole baking-people-into-pies scheme, that seems to change. suddenly he's holding her arms, pulling her into a dance, he grabs her face at one point- it was like this little flash of genuinely visible evil from her (which she normally tries to cover more than he does) suddenly attracts him in a way nothing she'd tried up 'til then had. and sutton as mrs lovett responds to this, and that seemed to be the motive behind her iteration of the character playing up the cannibalism humor and making all these jokes about who they could bake into pies. it's like she's suddenly gotten a dash of the affection from him she's been craving and now she's going to do everything possible to keep him laughing, to keep him focused on her and not the judge.

from that point on in this version of the show, I think they're sleeping together. do I think sweeney ever truly falls in love with her? no of course not, that's entirely against the point of his character. but I do think this version of sweeney has more affection for her than other iterations have. more than any other production I've personally seen, this one presented them as a couple, a real partnership, to the point that "by the sea" reads less as another attempt at seduction and more as a legitimate proposal made from one established sexual partner to the other. (the acting choices here also make it.......................almost impossible that they're not fucking I mean she...there's this whole thing with her feet and his suspenders and it's so funny but there's no way. there's no way they weren't sleeping together, just trust me.) and all throughout that song he reacts with the usual sort of annoyance that you'd expect for the character, but there were a few times I'm sure he smiled a little, I was close enough to see it- and whether that was aaron breaking character a bit or a legitimate acting choice I have no idea- but either way it made him seem a little bit fond of her, even when he was irritated.

some people might not like this, since it does sort of go against what was the original intention in the script, but I think it adds another layer of tragedy to the ending if they were genuinely together. because they were so close. they were so close to having some kind of life together, some kind of happiness that wouldn't ever replace the life sweeney had lost, that wouldn't ever replace lucy or johanna, but it could have been a life. maybe even a nice one (minus the whole murdering-and-baking-people-into-pies thing). but it can't ever be because it was only ever happening under false pretenses. because mrs lovett lied. she almost had everything she wanted, she almost had him, but she could only get it because of that one lie, and she loses it all because of that lie too. and that's ultimately her tragedy.