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fibula-rasa · 1 month ago

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Watch More Movies Notebook: Spring ‘25

In this installment of WMM Notebook, you’ll find a pretty wide variety of French films from 3 different decades, a Charles Burnett film finally released after 25 years, a fantastical techno-musical, 2 documentaries about Black history, 1 Brazilian experimental narrative film, 1 weird Italian horror film, and Cynthia Rothrock doing a lot of awesome kicks. And a partridge in a pear tree. Whew! There’s also a bit at the end about what I’ve been writing, researching, and posting with hints of what’s to come this summer!

Pictured: Neptune Frost (‘21), Sans toit ni loi (‘85), Ménilmontant (‘26), Kean (‘24), The Annihilation of Fish (‘99), There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace (‘81), Estranho Caminho (‘23), The Sect (‘91), La fête espagnole (‘20), The End of St. Petersburg (‘27), Jeux des reflets et de la vitesse (‘25), La maternelle (‘33), Claudia Jones: A Woman Of Our Times (‘89), Lady Reporter (‘89)

Favorite New-to-me Films of the Season

(listed in the order in which I saw them)

As always, if any of these films catch your eye, but you need specific content/trigger warnings, feel free to ask and I’ll try to oblige!

READ on BELOW the JUMP!

Pictured: Neptune Frost (‘21)

March ‘25 Favorites:

Claudia Jones: A Woman Of Our Times (1989)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Claudia Jones was a Trinidad-born, New York-reared journalist, activist, and communist who was deported from the US under the Smith Act and resettled in London. There, Jones’ work brought together the West Indian and Caribbean communities through founding The West Indian Gazette and organizing Carnival events. This UK-produced short documentary was a great accompaniment to some of the reading I did over the winter! Having read a biography of Jones and some of her writing, it was rewarding to see faces and places she affected through her life and work after settling in London. If you’re not familiar with Jones already, this doc probably isn’t the best place to start, so I’d instead recommend checking out her writing! It’s as accessible as it is insightful. Marxists.org has some of her work available here as well as two texts about Jones.

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Manizales City (1925)

[letterboxd | imdb | youtube]

Manizales City is a haunting (and haunted feeling) silent actuality film produced to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the city of Manizales, Colombia. Director Félix R. Restrepo captured the various festivities for posterity but, later that year, Manizales experienced a terribly destructive fire. The filmmakers returned to document the aftermath—businesses, homes, community and government buildings in ruin and the citizens trying to keep the city going. This footage was appended to the original documentary creating a tragic-but-hopeful coda to the initially celebratory film. I subtitled the film in English over on youtube and also made a few gif sets.

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Neptune Frost (2021)

[letterboxd | imdb | kanopy]

This spring, I had a massive amount of luck with new-to-me films. So many gems! The first was Neptune Frost, which had been on my watchlist since it was released in 2021. Kanopy adding it to their library gave me all the motivation I needed to cross it off said watchlist.

A collaboration between director Anisia Uzeyman and musician Saul Williams. Neptune Frost feels like The Wiz (1978), Quilombo (1984), and the writing of Pat Cadigan artfully stitched together into a techno-opera of digital marronage. (And, if you understood that sentence, we need to be besties.) Okay, so since I actually want more people to watch this film, I should try to be less esoteric: it’s a stylish, poetic, punky, scifi musical about a group of runaways fighting back against their exploitation, erasure, and oppression. I implore you to check this one out! Even if it’s not your typical viewing, you’ll certainly get something out of it.

Note: Kanopy is a service that you may have free access to through your local library or school/university. They have an amazing and varied collection of films, really worth checking out!

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There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace: Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues (1981)

[letterboxd | imdb | kanopy]

Back in March, I was still working through The Black Film Archive’s BHM ‘25 list. This doc is an invaluable piece of visual and oral history of the Negro Leagues. There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace is a solid overview of the history of these athletes. Unlike the Claudia Jones documentary I discussed above, this film would make a great entry point into learning more about this (IMO) still underrepresented part of sports history. The storytelling from the former players especially livens up the film. I should note here that I’m not the biggest baseball fan, (tho it was part of my upbringing) so you don’t even have to be a fanatic to enjoy/learn from this film.

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Children of Montmartre / La maternelle (1933)

[letterboxd | imdb]

An affecting film about a jilted woman working in a Montmartre kindergarten who forms a strong connection with a sensitive little girl, abandoned by her mother. La maternelle has a kind-hearted social realism that never feels too sentimental or too clinical in its representation of class and social issues. The girl is played exceptionally well by Paulette Élambert. The directing of the children in general is strong—the directors found a good balance of letting them play and be themselves while still getting to the point in their scenes. Overall, it’s a sweet film with a definitive purpose.

La maternelle came onto my radar when I was reading Sandy Flitterman-Lewis’ To Desire Differently. Part of that book highlights the work of Marie Epstein, co-director of this film. As I’m not the biggest French film enthusiast, I didn’t know much about French filmmaking in the interwar period. To summarize a point by Flitterman-Lewis, what persisted of the French film industry after the war faced increased hegemony of the American industry, despite the incoming of sound film. One of the strategies that French filmmakers at the time employed was the use of hyperspecific localization. To contrast American-financed French-language films that would employ the most generic dialogue, accents, and settings, these home-grown films would be set in specific milieus and eschewed generic French in favor of local dialects and vernaculars. La maternelle was part of this emergent tradition, and if it’s a representative sample, I’ll have to check out more!

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Honorable Mention: The Witch / La strega in amore (1966) [letterboxd | imdb]

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Pictured: Sans toit ni loi (’85)

April ‘25 Favorites:

The End of St. Petersburg / Конец Санкт-Петербурга (1927)

[letterboxd | imdb | kanopy (US)]

Commissioned to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution—like Eisenstein’s October (1927)—The End of St. Petersburg tells the story of a peasant who moves to the city for work only to get caught up in a dispute between striking workers and the capitalists trying to break them. As the First World War breaks out and the same capitalists further enrich themselves on the spilt blood of people like the peasant, the revolutions come to St. Petersburg.

The film is beautifully shot by Anatoli Golovnya and edited with impressive precision of meaning and purpose. Pudovkin’s name might not be as vaunted in the Anglophone world as Eisenstein, but as peers their work is moving to watch in concert. (I’ll probably double feature October and St. Petersburg sometime soonish!) Honestly, I’m pretty embarrassed that it took me this long to see St. Petersburg, as a long-time appreciator of Pudovkin’s Mother (1926)and Storm over Asia (1928). This film is a masterpiece and, unfortunately, the story still has a lot of relevance today. It’s an emotional film, but there’s also so much to dig into formally and technically—in particular the way editing is used to generate meaning and interpretations, to provoke the viewer, or just to get a laugh.

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Vagabond / Sans toit ni loi (1985)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Remember how I said I had great luck this spring with new-to-me films? Here’s another great that I’ve somehow overlooked until now.

As with La maternelle, I sought this film out because it was discussed in Sandy Flitterman-Lewis’ To Desire Differently. I’d previously only seen Agnès Varda’s work from the 1950s-70s, but wow am I even more motivated to see her later work now.

Sans toit ni loi constructs the final weeks of a young woman who pursued the life of a wanderer in the French countryside. The story is constructed through the reminiscences shared by the various people she came into contact with, some fleetingly, some more deeply. It’s an extremely powerful film, thoughtfully constructed. Every character feels full and real regardless of their screen time. The way the viewer’s sense of place and time emerges through the construction of the narrative is masterful. I don’t want to give too much away for first-time viewers, but there are two shots in the film that, in context, made my heart drop. So, while I highly recommend checking this one out, know that’s not easy viewing.

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Spanish Fiesta / La fête espagnole (1920)

[letterboxd | imdb | HENRI]

A lot of this winter and spring for me was dedicated to Germaine Dulac. I watched/re-watched a bunch of her films, read two books about her as well as a collection of her own writings. (There are more posts on the way about her work BTW.)

La fête espagnole is incomplete—26 minutes out of 67—but beautifully restored by the Cinémathèque française, the CNC, and the Hiventy lab in 2020. And, thankfully they have made it available to view for free on HENRI. Even in its fragmentary state, it’s possible to sense the mood and spirit of the film, and I was very impressed with their reconstruction work.

The story roughly follows the dancer Soledad as she spurns two lovers for the sake of a third, younger lover during a big festival. Perhaps the strongest part of the reconstruction is the cross cutting between Soledad dancing seductively at a party in town while two men fight to the death over her outside her home. Ève Francis is really excellent as Soledad. I totally see why Dulac worked with her so often!

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A Strange Path / Estranho Caminho (2023)

[letterboxd | imdb | kanopy (US)]

David, a young filmmaker, returns to his hometown in Brazil for a festival showing of his newest film. Shortly after he arrives however, the COVID pandemic shuts everything down. Circumstance leads him to reconnect with his estranged father, but the path to this reconnection is more complicated than David realizes.

To be honest, I watched this film solely based on its synopsis in a fit of insomnia. I was unfamiliar with Guto Parente before this film, but I’m excited to see more from him. I thought the melding of experimental and avant-garde techniques with what began as a relatively conventional film was clever and well-executed. I found Lucas Limeira’s David easy to relate to and sympathize with and Carlos Francisco’s performance as his father was outstanding.

I’m starting to think I need to delve into Brazilian film in a more focused way. Though I don’t know that much about their industry, every time I watch Brazilian films, they end up on my round ups! (Note: If I had been writing these consistently earlier, I would have written about Adirley Queirós’ White in, Black Out (2014) and Once There Was Brasilia (2017) too.)

So, I guess, if you have any recs of your favorite Brazilian films, please hit me up!

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Ménilmontant (1926)

[letterboxd | imdb]

A moving, expressive, sometimes shocking film about the lives of two sisters drawn apart after the murder of their parents.

If you, like me, are not the biggest French film fanatic, you might be shocked at how many French films are popping up in this season’s round up! But, between my digging back into my love of experimental and avant-garde film and my current Germaine Dulac kick, I ended up watching a bunch of French films! And most of them were really very good! So it can’t be helped. Anyway, Ménilmontant is an exquisitely constructed film that could reasonably find a place on any Film Theory 101 syllabus—I mean that in a wholly complimentary way.

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Jeux des reflets et de la vitesse (1925)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Also in my avant-garde kick, Jeux des reflets et de la vitesse is a landmark experimental work depicting the play of movement and reflections and travelling through Paris. There were a few moments that genuinely evoked the feeling in me that I would have every time I travelled into New York City growing up—staring out the windows of the car/bus/train. Personal nostalgia aside, this film is quite the technical feat. Knowing what the technology was like in 1925, Chomette going out onto the train and boats to film with so little control of the environment, yet being able to shoot and construct something with such perfectly aligned visual rhythm almost makes my head spin to think about. I ended up watching it three times, appreciating every shot, cut, and superimposition more with each viewing and even noticing new things on the second and third watches. Considering its short runtime, I have no qualms recommending this broadly! If you need more convincing, I also made gif and still sets!

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Honorable Mention: Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act (2025) [letterboxd | imdb | PBS (US)]

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Pictured: Kean (’24)

May ‘25 Favorites:

The Annihilation of Fish (1999)

[letterboxd | imdb | kanopy]

It was extremely exciting news that Charles Burnett’s “lost” romantic comedy The Annihilation of Fish was finally getting restored and released! But then it wasn’t scheduled to play in any theatres near me… But then it popped up on Kanopy and I watched it as soon as possible!

This is a charming, heartfelt story about a Jamaican-American man who literally wrestles his demons into submission (the titular Fish), a woman who flees San Francisco after her relationship with Giacomo Puccini (yes, the Italian composer who died in 1924) flames out, and their unlikely courtship under the roof of their particular and peculiar widowed landlady. The performances of all three leads, James Earl Jones, Lynn Redgrave, and Margot Kidder, are remarkable. Honestly, writing about it now makes me want to watch it again, which is always a high mark!

If you’d like to know more before checking it out, I recommend Robert Daniels’ excellent review of the film for Roger Ebert.

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Kean (1924)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Ivan Mosjoukine was one of one. Kean is a great biographical film of Shakespearean actor, Edmund Kean, based on an 1836 play by the great Alexandre Dumas.

Mosjoukine’s charisma drives the film. He is truly doing THE MOST with every scene. Kean is also stylistically playful and creative, with a standout extended drunken dancing sequence, which perfectly illustrates “drunkenness of the eye” (to steal a Ralph Steiner phrase). Nathalie Lissenko isn’t given all that much to do, but this ends up adding to the effect of Kean’s imbalanced passions. Don’t be dissuaded by the long runtime, the film speeds by.

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Lady Reporter / 師姐大晒 (1989)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Perhaps my new favorite Cynthia Rothrock film, Lady Reporter is chock full of imaginative fight scenes that are exceptionally choreographed, performed, shot, and edited. Rothrock plays Cindy, an FBI agent who arrives in Hong Kong under the guise of a reporter. She reconnects with her college roommate, Judy, played by Elizabeth Lee. When Judy’s father mounts a case against the kingpin of a counterfeiting ring, he is kidnapped and injected with a serum that makes him believe that He-Man is real and that his true enemy is Skeletor. Following an unexpected team up with a Hong Kong cop, masquerading as an insurance claims adjuster, and a real reporter out to save his dad’s failing newspaper, Cindy and Judy have to defeat the counterfeiters and try and save their dad.

Lee and Rothrock have great chemistry together and I’m always happy to see Chin Siu-Ho. The editing in this movie is electric. There were multiple points while watching that we skipped back just to rewatch a cut! As it turns out, the film was edited by Peter Cheung, who is an absolute legend of Hong Kong cinema. There are lots of great reasons to check out this film, but it’s also just fun!

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The Sect / La Setta (1991)

[letterboxd | imdb]

I have to admit that I don’t totally understand why Michele Soavi’s films are so divisive, but I’m firmly on Team Soavi myself.

The Sect is a strange and dreamy horror film about a shadowy mystical cult. Miriam, a lonely school teacher in Frankfurt, takes in a sickly old man after nearly hitting him with her car. As strange occurrences start to pile up after the old man seemingly dies, Miriam starts to intuit something very dark, and very deliberate, is after her.

You can’t possibly guess what will happen from scene to scene for much of the film, but in the way that a dream lacks the cohesiveness of reason. There’s lots of examples I could pick out, but the sequence where a giant tiled room with a well in the middle is found behind an armoire in the main character’s very run-of-the-mill basement stands out. Not everyone dreams the same way but that’s often how location works for me—familiar, commonplace locations are a turn of a corner or a doorway away from a strange and otherworldly space, but dreamlogic isn’t realworld logic, so dream-you rolls with it.

There is also a scene where Miriam’s free-range pet rabbit channel surfs.

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☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

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Season’s Round-up

Well, you may have noticed that, as I worried in the last round up, the pace of the blog has slowed down a bit. There’s so much going on, so much stress, so many things to do! Evenso, there are lots of projects I’ve started working on, but simply haven’t had the time/energy to finish. With a bit of luck that will translate to more articles, essays, filmographies, etc. coming your way soon!

What I did finish was a small piece accompanying my gifs of the unique 1925 documentary Manizales City. As far as I could find, there’s not an official English release of the film, so I translated the intertitles myself and uploaded that translation to youtube.

Are there any silent films you all have come across that don’t have proper translations into English? I can work with Spanish, Italian, Polish, Czech, or Slovak, and could probably muddle through German, Dutch, French, Portuguese, and Ukrainian. So, for real, HMU!

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I also did a profile on Germaine Dulac’s short experimental film Disque 957, which went into some details on the film’s conception and execution.

In the Favorites section above, I mentioned that I was on a Dulac kick. I actually have two or three more pieces drafted that profile her circulating, but less seen/discussed films. (For context, the most often discussed Dulac films are The Seashell and the Clergyman (1928) and The Smiling Madame Beudet (1923), but it does seem like La Cigarette (1919) has been gaining traction over the past few years.)

This kick has also led me to do a lot of reading. In the winter I read Tami Williams’ unskippable Germaine Dulac: A Cinema of Sensations—one of the best director biographies I’ve yet read. I followed that with Sandy Flitterman-Lewis’ To Desire Differently: Feminism and French Cinema because Williams’ cited it often in her book. I had more complicated feelings on that book, but it was definitely thought provoking.

From there I sought out a few shorter articles about Dulac, the highlight of which was Valérie Vignaux’s short essay “Les papiers intimes de Germaine Dulac ou le corps de l’archive,” which packed a lot of meaningful observations into a short space! Then I read the new-ish English translation of the collection of Dulac’s film writing, Writings on Cinema. I was happy to find Dulac’s writing so cogent and accessible. Some theorists and critics who have written about her work use exaggerated intellectual language that gets in the way of clear communication and understanding, so it’s invigorating to get to read her own words and find such clarity. Most of her writings are short, so they’re a great accompaniment to a self-education on the history and development of early cinema and the theory that developed alongside it. If you are a reader of my blog, I imagine you’d be in the market for something like that!

Since I ended up on a bent here talking about film-related books, I reckon I might as well tell you about another new film book I read this season!

I very much enjoyed Cinema Her Way by Marya E. Gates. It’s a collection of interviews with women directors. Reading through the interviews, you really get the sense of how unique each filmmaker is in their approach to their craft, their philosophies, their histories, and how they perceive themselves as artists. There is so much variety among these filmmakers in fact that, apart from being women directors working/who have worked in America, they don’t have all that much in common. EXCEPT for the material conditions that they were/are faced with. The struggles of getting funding for their projects, or getting jobs from studios, or, once they get the job, of getting hired for more work pop up again and again.

Personally, I found the Julie Dash, Sally Potter, and Susan Seidelman interviews to be the most thought provoking or enlightening. But, I also enjoyed the Karyn Kusama, Lizzie Borden, Josephine Decker, Isabel Sandoval, and Katt Shea interviews and found them interesting and/or entertaining—each for very different reasons!

Regardless of your familiarity with the work of the profiled filmmakers, you’ll surely find something of interest! For me, I gained insights into the work of filmmakers I already knew and loved and, as for the filmmakers I was new to, it was cool to hear their opinions on their processes in and approach to filmmaking. And now I have a bunch more films to add to my watchlist!

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As for the themed gif and still sets that I made, edited and arranged this spring…

(titles are linked to all sets for that film)

Manizales City (1925)

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Crusher Joe / クラッシャージョウ (1983)

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The Italian (1915)

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The Witch / La strega in amore (1966)

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A Flame Burns in the Igloo / В яранге горит огонь (1956)

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Vagabond / Sans toit ni loi (1985)

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La fête espagnole (1920)

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Disque 957 (1928)

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Kean (1924)

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Romance of a Fruit Peddler / 劳工之爱情 (1922)

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Jeux des reflets et de la vitesse (1925)

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Until next time, try to stay cool and stay tuned. Happy viewing!

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theartofeggs · 3 months ago

Note

Dragon PC + Whitney + comedy

I love bullying Whitney <3 they deserve every drop of my ire (i love Whitney)

Thanks for participating in my ask event! IDK if anyone picked up on it before, but I don't say the Dragon PC's name at all in writing. I only tend to refer to him as "the dragon" or just by "he." :) This is the second to last request! Almost done...

The event's ended by now, but I'll finish the current requests I've gotten!

Synopsis; bully gets bullied

Prompt: Dragon PC & Whitney (Comedy) / CW: forced cuddling, unsexy sitting on, Whitney gets called "it" once, cigarette consumption - Dragon PC = male, Whitney = GN (dice rolls) + bonus F! Bailey, GN! Sydney, F! Kylar, and GN! River (only mentioned)

Schooling the Uncouth

He tended to just ignore annoyances. Especially the ones that chased him around, trying to get something from him or out of him. He already had to deal with Bailey's weekly siege on his horde of gold, though she called it "paying rent." He wouldn't stand for total strangers that wanted his possessions or body parts, even if all they wanted was his tears bottled. But, he tended to at least tolerate the ones that only wanted something superficial. Like Whitney, who just wanted a pet dragon. It was odd, but their attempts at subduing a giant lizard were very funny, even to the lizard in question. He even began giving the fellow some of his claw trimmings or fallen fur tufts, and chuckling when Whitney shoved it in their bag before the dragon could think of taking it back. He wished Bailey was like that. If she were, then she wouldn't need a suit of armor just to steal away with a couple of shed scales.

He tended to go to the local school, though he wasn't properly enrolled—he was a dragon, so it's not like he had the legal documents for the human's public education system. He'd show up a little after classes had started in the morning, since that's when the least teachers were available to try and shoo him off the grounds, and peak his head around the building. Sometimes he'd press his face against the windows of the classrooms, namely from the outside, and watch as the students inside laughed at him and the teacher got upset at the class for being so easily distracted. Other times, he'd treat himself to their facilities—swimming in the pool, eating the leftover scraps from the lunchroom, napping in the rear courtyard, perching on the roof like a gargoyle, etc. Today, however, he decided to be a menace. He had to admit, he could be destructive when he got to be in a playful mood. So far, he'd terrorized that religious kid in the library by eating a book in front of them, and he even stole some pages out of a scraggly girl's sketchpad, though he regretted it when he saw that they were exclusively full of drawings of him. He decided she was a good artist, though, so he wouldn't get revenge. This time.

He poked his head inside a classroom door, unfazed when the teacher inside stopped mid-sentence and the students inside gasped. The class was already in session, and it looked like math from the equations on the board, but he didn't find anything special enough about the class to hang around. Just as he began to dip his head back out, he heard a familiar chuckle and stopped. It was Whitney, sitting at the back of the class and watching the dragon as it scrutinized the classroom. The teacher walked over to the dragon, their face pale as they tried to usher him out of the room without being within biting range, and he heard Whitney's laughter again. "C'mon, leave my pet alone, yeah? He goes where I go." They spoke up, their goons giggling to themselves as they held their phones up, just like they always did when he was around. They sure loved taking pictures and videos of him, though he couldn't blame them. He also quite liked dragons, especially the one in the mirror.

He huffed at the teacher and they froze up, even backing away when he squeezed past the door and entered the room. He walked over to the row of desks that Whitney and their gang was at, not bothering to close the door behind him. Their friends laughed and squealed when he got close, some even reaching out to pet him. "Hey, only I get to pet him, got it?" Whitney glowered at their group, and he glowered right back at the bully. He really didn't mind being pet. The kids at the orphanage did it literally all the time, excluding when he was busy fighting Bailey or any strangers that broke in. Not that anyone broke in often—at least not after the dragon's adult teeth grew in and more than a few went missing after a midnight run-in with him. Really, it's a miracle Bailey keeps coming back for more after all those hospital visits. The armor repairs have to be getting expensive by now.

The dragon lowered his head to Whitney, tempting them into petting the long fur around his neck like a lion's mane. They eventually did, running their fingers through it, only for him to headbutt them when he lowered his head enough for it. He also openly snickered at them from where they were sprawled out on the floor, cursing at him as they tried to sit up. Keyword try. He bit at their pant leg, dragging them across the floor and forcing them to choose between being pantsed by a dragon or getting dragged around by said dragon. Whitney chose to lose some dignity rather than a portion of their pride, and now he has a hostage to lug around the school by the hem of their slowly tearing pants.

He dragged Whitney out of the classroom, where the teacher had all but fainted and their friends hesitantly waved goodbye, and down the hallway. He only paused when his ass bumped into the doors that led outside, but brute forced them open with his tail and continued lugging his unwilling travel partner into the open grass of the school's backyard. Whitney bitched and complained, as per usual, and did so louder when their head bounced off of the steps that led down to the greenery. They also ungratefully whined as he raked them through the cool dirt and dewy grass. Once he was satisfied with their adventure together, he let Whitney go and looked down at them. They were all sorts of ruffled, obviously, and looked just as miffed. He snickered at them.

It was a nice day out. Partially sunny, comfortably warm, gentle breeze—perfect napping weather. So, he laid down in the grass and got cozy. He didn't mind that his pillow squirmed and spit obscenities, but he did mind that it lit up a cigarette to smoke while he was trying to sleep. He reached over and snatched the fucking thing out of Whitney's out mouth, chewing at it for a second before swallowing it. He met their dumfounded expression evenly, testing them, before laying back down. He also ate the next cigarette they tried to sneakily smoke before they gave up. Smoking kills, but he'd be fine. He's eaten worse.

the end ->w<- words : 1,106

#i'll be so fr i struggled with this one #not because i disliked the prompt or didn't have fun writing it (i love the prompt and had a blast writing it!!)#but bc Tumblr deleted all my progress halfway thru and i just. gave up for a couple of days #tho i finally got my warhammer figures and paint so I got to start painting my first ever army! long live the bugs #binged all the Scary Movie movies while i painted too it was great #anyways dont eat cigarettes #tobacco + water = arsenic. which is not good for digestion #dol #degrees of lewdity #dol fanfic #degrees of lewdity fanfic #dol whitney #whitney the bully #dol dragon pc #egg ask event!!

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inspofromancientworld · 2 months ago

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The Science of Discovering the Past: Archival Research

Since the beginning of writing about 6000 years ago, humans have written down many things, from accounting information to the daily thoughts of those observing historical events, leaving a wealth of information behind for us to read through, even with those records that have been lost to the grist of time. Archival research involves studying these records for both primary and secondary resources.

A library differs from an archive in that a library contains published documents that generally aren't unique and are maintained for use while an archive contains unique items, many of which are not published in any way, and can be in any format. Archives often have a particular focus of materials that they collect and limit access to their collections.

The oldest collections that could be called archives go back to at least 1180 with the collections of scrolls from the clerk's offices in Barcelona, Spain, where it was mentioned as a king's archive. In 1194, King Alfonso II of Aragon ordered the compilation of documents that were legally valid and useful, some of which dated back to the 9th century. In 1318, under James II of Aragon, the General Archive of the Crown of Aragon was established as the central archive of the Crown. Many countries have national archives that were established after that and have documents that go back as far as 625 CE (as in the French Archives Nationales) with the United States National Archives and Records Administration having documents that include an original copy of the Magna Carta.

Universities are also repositories of record collections, both of their own business as well as those that have been bequeathed to them. They also might have collections that are focused on a single subject, ranging from religion to local history. Religious institutes, such as the Vatican, which reportedly has more than 52 miles (83.69 km) of archival shelving, and museums are also repositories of document collections. There are also an increasing collection of digital collections, which bring about their own challenges, such as technology creep, which is the gradual loss of older technologies (think of the loss of VCR machines making VCR tapes harder to view or the removal of optical drives from computers). Archives, whether traditional or digital, also face the degradation of time and the risk of catastrophic destruction.

Archival research begins with locating an archive that holds the needed documents that apply to the desired topic, which has become easier with online searches. Prior to this, union catalogs, which were library catalogs that describe the collections of archives were distributed among universities. The next challenge is locating the texts within the archive. Many archives operate until the principle of respect des fonds, or the original order in which they were received in order to maintain provenance. Finding aids, such as registers, card catalogs, or inventories, are a common tool to aid researchers in locating materials.

Prior to digitization, archives had to be accessed on-site as they were parts of non-circulating collections. As such, most archives have reading rooms, where materials can be viewed. If the reading room is not directly connected to the collection, it may take days or weeks for materials to be delivered. Many of the materials held by archives are fragile and therefore have restrictions placed on their use or duplication. Restrictions may also be placed on what can be taken or worn within a reading room to protect documents from damage or theft.

#archives #archival research #primary sources #human history #history #science of the past

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mariacallous · 2 years ago

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For more than three weeks, Gaza has faced an almost total internet blackout. The cables, cell towers, and infrastructure needed to keep people online have been damaged or destroyed as Israel launched thousands of missiles in response to Hamas attacking Israel and taking hundreds of hostages on October 7. Then, this evening, amid reports of heavy bombing in Gaza, some of the last remaining connectivity disappeared.

In the days after October 7, people living in Gaza have been unable to communicate with family or friends, leaving them unsure whether loved ones are alive. Finding reliable news about events has become harder. Rescue workers have not been able to connect to mobile networks, hampering recovery efforts. And information flowing out of Gaza, showing the conditions on the ground, has been stymied.

As the Israel Defense Forces said it was expanding its ground operations in Gaza this evening, internet connectivity fell further. Paltel, the main Palestinian communications company, has been able to keep some of its services online during Israel’s military response to Hamas’ attack. However, at around 7:30 pm local time today, internet monitoring firm NetBlocks confirmed a “collapse” in connectivity in the Gaza Strip, mostly impacting remaining Paltel services.

“We regret to announce a complete interruption of all communications and internet services within the Gaza Strip,” Paltel posted in a post on its Facebook page. The company claimed that bombing had “caused the destruction of all remaining international routes.” An identical post was made on the Facebook page of Jawwal, the region’s biggest mobile provider, which is owned by Paltel. Separately, Palestinian Red Crescent, a humanitarian organization, said on X (formerly Twitter) that it had lost contact with its operation room in Gaza and is “deeply concerned” about its ability to keep caring for people, with landline, cell, and internet connections being inaccessible.

“This is a terrifying development,” Marwa Fatafta, a policy manager focusing on the Middle East and North Africa at the digital rights group Access Now, tells WIRED. “Taking Gaza completely off the grid while launching an unprecedented bombardment campaign only means something atrocious is about to happen.”

A WIRED review of internet analysis data, social media posts, and Palestinian internet and telecom company statements shows how connectivity in the Gaza Strip drastically plummeted after October 7 and how some buildings linked to internet firms have been damaged in attacks. Photos and videos show sites that house various internet and telecom firms have been damaged, while reports from official organizations, including the United Nations, describe the impact of people being offline.

Damaged Lines

Around the world, the internet and telecoms networks that typically give web users access to international video calls, online banking, and endless social media are a complicated, sprawling mix of hardware and software. Networks of networks, combining data centers, servers, switches, and reams of cables, communicate with each other and send data globally. Local internet access is provided by a mix of companies with no clear public documentation of their infrastructure, making it difficult to monitor the overall status of the system as a whole. In Gaza, experts say, internet connectivity is heavily reliant on Israeli infrastructure to connect to the outside world.

Amid Israel’s intense bombing of Gaza, physical systems powering the internet have been destroyed. On October 10, the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which oversees emergency responses, said air strikes “targeted several telecommunication installations” and had destroyed two of the three main lines of communications going into Gaza.

Prior to tonight’s blackout, internet connectivity remained but was “extremely slow and limited,” Access Now’s Fatafta says. People she has spoken to from Gaza say it could take a day to upload and send a few photos. “They have to send like 20 messages in order for one to go through,” Fatafta says. “They are desperately—especially for Gazans that live outside—trying to get through to their families.”

“Every time I try to call someone from family or friends, I try to call between seven to 10 times,” says Ramadan Al-Agha, a digital marketer who lives in Khan Yunis, a city in the south of the Gaza Strip. “The call may be cut off two or three times,” he told WIRED in a WhatsApp message before the latest outages. “We cannot access news quickly and clearly.” People in the region have simultaneously faced electricity blackouts, dwindling supplies of fuel used to power generators, and a lack of clean water, food, and medical supplies. “It is a humanitarian disaster,” Al-Agha says.

Connectivity in Gaza started to drop not long after Israel responded to the October 7 Hamas attack. Rene Wilhelm, a senior R&D engineer at the nonprofit internet infrastructure organization Ripe Network Coordination Center, says based on an analysis of internet routing data it collects that 11 Palestinian networks, which may operate both in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, began to experience disruption after October 7. Eight of the networks were no longer visible to the global internet as of October 23, Wilhelm says. Ahead of this evening’s blackout, there was around 15 percent of normal connectivity, according to data from Georgia Tech’s Internet Outage Detection and Analysis project. That dropped to around 7 percent as reports of the blackout circulated.

One office belonging to Paltel in the Al Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City has been destroyed in the attacks, photos and videos show. Floors have been destroyed and windows blown away in the multistory building, and piles of rubble surround the entrances. (It is unclear what equipment the building housed or how many floors Paltel occupied.) Another internet provider, AlfaNet, is listed as being based in the Al-Watan Tower. The company posted to its Facebook page on October 8 that the tower had been destroyed and its services have stopped, with other online posts also saying the tower has been destroyed.

Multiple Palestinian internet and telecoms firms have said their services have been disrupted during the war, mostly posting to social media. Internet provider Fusion initially said its engineers were trying to repair its infrastructure, although it has since said this is not continuing. “The network was destroyed, and the cables and poles were badly damaged by the bombing,” it wrote on Facebook. JetNet said there had been a “sudden disruption” to access points. SpeedClick posted that the situation was out of its control. And HiNet posted that it has “no more to offer to ensure” people could stay online following “the attacks and destruction our internet servers have suffered.”

Across Paltel’s network on October 19, according to an update shared by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 83 percent of fixed line users had been disconnected, with 53 percent of sites providing fixed line connections also being offline. Half of the company’s fiber optic internet lines in Gaza weren’t operational, the update says. The connectivity disappeared this evening, according to Paltel’s Facebook post, which says there has been a “complete interruption” of all its services. Paltel, AlfaNet, Fusion, and SpeedClick could not be reached or did not respond to requests for comment.

Lost Connections

In recent years, governments and authoritarian regimes have frequently turned to shutting down the internet for millions of people in attempts to suppress protests and curtail free speech. Targeting the communications networks is common during conflicts. During Russia's war in Ukraine, its forces have decimated communications networks, tried to take over the internet, and set up new mobile companies to control information flows. When Hamas first attacked Israel on October 7, it used drones to bomb communications equipment at surveillance posts along the borders of the Gaza Strip.

Monika Gehner, the head of corporate communications at the International Telecommunication Union, says the body is always “alarmed” by damage inflicted on any telecommunications infrastructure during conflicts. The ITU, the United Nations’ primary internet governance body, believes “efficient telecommunication services” are crucial to peace and international cooperation, and its secretary-general has called for respecting infrastructure in the Middle East, Gehner says.

Officials in Israel have consistently claimed they are targeting Hamas militants within Gaza, not civilians, while responding to the Hamas attacks, which killed more than 1,400 people in Israel. The Hamas-run Health Ministry within Gaza has said more than 7,000 people have been killed there and released a list of names. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces did not respond to WIRED’s questions about internet disruptions within Gaza.

Hanna Kreitem, a senior adviser for internet technology and development in the Middle East and North Africa at the Internet Society, an open internet advocacy nonprofit, says Palestinian firms have a “big reliance” on Israeli internet firms. “Palestinians are not controlling any of the ICT infrastructure,” says Mona Shtaya, a non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. Mobile networks in the Gaza Strip rely on 2G technologies. Al-Agha, the digital marketer, shared a screenshot showing mobile internet speeds of 7.18 kilobytes per second; average mobile speeds in the US in 2022 were 24 megabits per second, according to mobile analytics firm Statista.

“The internet is vital in times of war in crises,” says Fatafta, the Access Now policy manager, who adds that there can be “terrible consequences” linked to connectivity blackouts. The UN’s OCHA said rescue workers have had a harder time “carrying out their mission” partly due to the “limited or no connection to mobile networks.” Al-Agha says he has lost some clients due to the disruptions. The lack of connectivity can obscure events that are happening on the ground, Fatafta says. News crews have told WIRED they have footage from the ground but are “losing the story because of the internet.”

Kreitem says that a lack of electricity and access to the equipment will have made an impact on top of any physical damage to communications networks. “We don't know how many of the people that actually operate these networks are still alive,” Kreitem says. “The network operators are part of the world there, there's no place for them to run. They are as affected as any other person.”

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rjzimmerman · 2 months ago

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Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Sunday marked the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, a six-month stretch in which warm ocean waters and moist atmospheric conditions create the ideal foundation for tropical cyclones to form. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts “above-average” activity, including six to 10 hurricanes.

Each year, these climate-supercharged cyclones make headlines for causing mass levels of destruction, taking countless lives and costing billions of dollars. But it’s not just “the big ones” that are worsening as global temperatures warm. Research shows that more day-to-day weather events like thunderstorms, wildfires, droughts and hail are becoming more severe and, in some cases, more frequent.

In the insurance industry, these small- to mid-sized weather events are known as “secondary perils,” which are typically more localized and harder to predict than larger events. In recent years, these secondary perils have become a primary concern, a paradigm shift that could have broad implications for insurers and consumers alike.

A Cumulative Problem: The threat of large natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes—primary perils—have long kept insurers awake at night. The market was fundamentally built around ensuring that insurance companies have enough capital to pay claims following a catastrophic event. That capital largely comes from the premiums that consumers pay and reinsurance plans (because even insurance companies need insurance).

With primary perils in mind, insurance companies have developed complex risk models and cost analyses to help forecast losses they may face in one of these major events. Smaller weather events such as rainfall and hail storms also factor into companies’ equations, but have received less attention from governments, researchers and the insurance industry, according to reinsurance firm Swiss Re.

That’s changing. Insurance and reinsurance firms have documented increasing losses coming from secondary peril events such as wildfires, thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes and moderate flooding. A recent report from financial analytics company S&P Global found that secondary perils now account for a larger share of global insured catastrophe losses than traditional peak events such as tropical cyclones and earthquakes. These findings echo reports from the world’s largest reinsurers, which have sounded the alarm about secondary perils in the face of climate change.

“It’s the more common kind of weather patterns that we’ve had, the things we know—heavy rainstorms and things like that, but they’re becoming more severe and they’re changing,” Andrew Hoffman, a professor of sustainable enterprise at the University of Michigan, told me. He explained that insurance and reinsurance companies are now trying to figure out how to adjust premium rates or change coverage to account for this shift.

That can mean higher prices even in areas that may not seem as risky, which I wrote about in April. For example, the U.S. Midwest is highly vulnerable to hailstorms, and research shows that hail may be getting larger and more damaging with climate change. According to reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, convective storms, including hail, cost insurers $58 billion last year—more than Hurricanes Helene and Milton combined, estimates suggest.

“The insurance landscape is changing as the weather landscape changes,” Hoffman said.

#climate change #insurance industry #catastrophic weather eents #secondary climate weather perils

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mistresseast · 11 months ago

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Tread Lightly on Thawing Ice

Amateur Translation

So I really really really love the webcomic Tread Lightly on Thawing Ice. It's beautifully drawn, beautifully written, and even the flow of the panels is beautifully handled. The story is amazing but I haven't seen anything about a continuation and I was so desperate to know what happens after the first season of the comic leaves off that I went through the process of purchasing the novel on ridibooks. There is currently no fan translation online (that I could find) (if you know of one please tell me) so I was using the google translate photo feature to just get a sense of what happened next. Then I had the absurd idea to localize the raw translation by hand.

I started at the beginning, but the events of the prologue and part 1 are covered pretty much beat for beat by the comic, and while it's interesting to see the original context, I'm wondering how valuable it really is to translate those parts. I've finished the prologue and first chapter and have begun work on both the second chapter AND part 2 of the novel, which picks up right after the end of the comic, so I'm curious which one I should be devoting time to.

If you happen to have an opinion, let me know.

That being said, this is a very long book, and I have absolutely no confidence that I'll be able to do the whole thing. The second I catch wind of a professional translation, or, god willing, an English release, I'm dropping this project.

If it's within your means, please go purchase the novel, even if you can't read it. I'm only doing this because I genuinely don't believe that it will affect sales of the book. That being said, let's try to keep this on the down-low, okay? This is for destructively curious people like me and no one else.

A few notes:

I do not speak Korean. I don't speak anything other than English. I'm a writer and I have a lot of localization experience, but I'm working from a janky translation with no native speakers helping me.

I've done my best to keep the text as literal as possible, but there's definitely a fair bit of gap-filling from my own brain. The documents are riddled with footnotes explaining certain choices I made that might compromise the original meaning.

This whole thing is more or less for my own entertainment, so I don't have a schedule or anything, and in fact, my priorities lie with my fic writing, so don't expect consistency.

(If you want to support me for any reason, you can visit my kofi and either make a donation or purchase my original novella 🥰)

Okay, that's enough prattle. Here are the links:

Prologue

Part 1: Chapter 1

If I finish more parts, I will add them to this post.

#tread lightly on thawing ice #bl webcomic #korean webtoon #bl webtoon #this is the most illegal thing i've ever done #tread lightly on thawing ice translation

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dandelionh3art · 10 months ago

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The formation of Hezbollah in the early 1980s was largely a response to multiple factors, but a critical trigger was Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. However, the roots of Hezbollah's creation involve a broader context of regional conflicts, internal Lebanese strife, and external interventions.

Key Events Leading to the Formation of Hezbollah:

1. Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990):

Lebanon was embroiled in a brutal civil war from 1975, involving various sectarian groups, including Maronite Christians, Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Druze, and Palestinians. The war was exacerbated by external forces, including Syria, Israel, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

The Palestinian refugee population and the PLO, after being expelled from Jordan, established bases in southern Lebanon, launching attacks into Israel. In response, Israel repeatedly intervened militarily in Lebanon, creating deep tensions in the country.

2. Israeli Invasions of Lebanon:

Operation Litani (1978): Israel launched a military operation in southern Lebanon to push PLO forces north of the Litani River. This operation left a significant part of southern Lebanon occupied by Israeli forces and a militia known as the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a proxy for Israel.

Israeli Invasion of 1982: In June 1982, Israel launched a full-scale invasion of Lebanon, called “Operation Peace for Galilee.” The objective was to expel the PLO from Lebanon and create a buffer zone along Israel’s northern border. Israeli forces entered Beirut, bombarded the city, and eventually forced the PLO leadership to evacuate to Tunisia. However, the Israeli presence in southern Lebanon persisted after this operation, creating resentment and anger among many Lebanese, particularly the Shiite Muslim population.

3. The Shiite Muslim Response:

Lebanon’s Shiite Muslim community, historically marginalized and concentrated in the southern region of the country and the Bekaa Valley, bore the brunt of the Israeli occupation. Many Shiites felt alienated both by Israel's aggression and the internal Lebanese conflicts.

Iran, which had undergone an Islamic Revolution in 1979, saw an opportunity to export its revolutionary ideology and influence Lebanon’s Shiite population. The Iranian government, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, began sending advisors from its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to Lebanon. These Iranian operatives helped train and organize local Shiite militias, which would eventually form Hezbollah.

4. The Formation of Hezbollah (1982-1985):

In the wake of the Israeli invasion and occupation, a group of Shiite clerics, militants, and intellectuals, inspired by Iran’s Islamic Revolution, coalesced to form Hezbollah (meaning “Party of God”). The group’s initial objective was to resist Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon and promote the establishment of an Islamic state based on the Iranian model.

Hezbollah’s founding document, released in 1985, called for the destruction of Israel, the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, and the establishment of an Islamic state. Its military wing began organizing guerrilla warfare against Israeli forces and the SLA in southern Lebanon.

External Influences:

Iran: Iran played a significant role in funding, training, and arming Hezbollah in its early years. The Iranian government viewed Hezbollah as a key part of its regional strategy to spread its revolutionary ideals and oppose Israeli and Western influence in the Middle East.

Syria: Syria, which had a military presence in Lebanon during the civil war, also supported Hezbollah. The Syrian government saw Hezbollah as a useful ally in its ongoing conflict with Israel over the Golan Heights and other regional issues.

Summary:

The primary event that triggered Hezbollah’s formation was Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, which was itself a response to PLO attacks on northern Israel. However, Hezbollah's creation was also deeply tied to the broader context of the Lebanese Civil War, the marginalization of Lebanon’s Shiite community, and the influence of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Hezbollah was initially formed as a resistance movement against Israeli occupation but has since evolved into a major political and military force in Lebanon.

Thus, while Israel’s invasion sparked the immediate conditions for Hezbollah's rise, the group's formation was also shaped by internal Lebanese dynamics and Iranian influence.

#educate yourself #wake up #think for yourself

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 3 months ago

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Satellite Data Show Motion of Burma Earthquakes

At about 12:50 p.m. local time on March 28, 2025, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake started near the city of Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar). Twelve minutes later, the region shook again from a magnitude 6.7 quake with an epicenter about 31 kilometers (19 miles) to the south.

Originating at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) on the Sagaing Fault, the earthquakes triggered intense shaking and building collapse near the epicenters. Infrastructure damage occurred as far away as Bangkok, Thailand, about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to the southeast.

Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California used data from radar and optical satellites to visualize how the land moved during these quakes. In the map above, red pixels indicate northward motion, while blue pixels show movement to the south. The data highlights ground displacements of more than 3 meters (10 feet) along portions of the fault, for a total offset of more than 6 meters in some places.

The map is based on data from the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team at JPL and the California Institute of Technology’s Seismological Laboratory, a team that develops state-of-the-art deformation measurements, change detection methods, and physical models for use in hazards science and response.

The ARIA team drew from radar and optical data acquired by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-2B/C satellites. Sentinel-1A employs synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to image the land surface using microwave pulses, while the Sentinel-2 satellites acquire optical data through an onboard multispectral sensor. Using data from the three satellites, the ARIA team computed estimates of horizontal ground motion within the earthquake rupture zone by tracking pixel offsets between pre- and post-earthquake images.

Models produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) indicated the earthquakes likely resulted from strike-slip motion along the north-south-oriented Sagaing Fault, which is at the interface between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The data in the image confirm right lateral strike-slip motion along the fault and help to constrain modeled estimates of fault rupture extent and surface displacement due to the earthquakes.

This region has a history of significant seismicity, with six earthquakes of greater than 7.0 magnitude occurring within about 250 kilometers (150 miles) of the March 28 quakes since 1900, according to the USGS. The surface rupture generated by the March 28 earthquakes has been estimated, based in part on the data shown, to span 550 kilometers (342 miles) in length. With a rupture extending from north of Mandalay to south of Burma’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw, it is one of the longest documented strike-slip fault-induced surface ruptures on record.

Preliminary analyses of the rupture by other scientists found that, in addition to being especially long, it was also remarkably fast, suggesting it may have been a rare “supershear” earthquake. In these events, the slip along the fault moves faster than the seismic waves it produces, which can concentrate seismic energy ahead of the rupture. The effect may exacerbate a quake’s destructive forces and might be part of the reason why the recent events caused so much damage so far from the epicenters.

NASA Earth Observatory map by Michala Garrison, using data provided by the ARIA team at NASA/JPL-Caltech. The map is based on Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-2B/C data provided by the European Space Agency and processed by ARIA team members Robert Zinke and Cole Speed (JPL). Story by Andrew Wang (JPL) and Lindsey Doermann. Science review by Grace Bato and Eric Fielding (JPL).

#science #space #news #nasa #earth observatory #burma

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thathistorygirlsblog · 1 month ago

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Mitford Castle

Mitford Castle, located near Morpeth in Northumberland, was a medieval motte-and-bailey fortress built in the 12th century. Originally a timber structure, it was later replaced with stone under the Bertram family. The castle played a role in several key historical events, including sieges during the 13th century. By the early 14th century, it was severely damaged, likely due to a fire during Sir Gilbert de Middleton's rebellion and a Scottish attack in 1318. By 1323, it was officially declared destroyed and never rebuilt. Today, its ruins stand as a historic site and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

"The Local Historian's Table Book" - Aaron Richardson - 1841

Pre-Norman period: Held by Sir John de Mitford; his daughter Sybilla married William the Conqueror’s knight Richard Bertram after 1066. Late 11th century Transformed into an earthwork fortress under the Bertram family, documented as William Bertram’s oppidum in 1138.

Stone castle built: A stone castle likely erected around 1150–1170 by William Bertram, replacing the timber structure.

1215–1216: King John’s troops seized the castle; resisted Scottish siege under Alexander II but were taken by John’s Flemish mercenaries. 1264 Confiscated from Roger Bertram during the baronial uprisings and briefly held by William de Valence (Earl of Pembroke) 1315–1317 Sir Gilbert de Middleton used it as a rebel stronghold and prison; seized high-profile hostages, including bishops and cardinals.

The most famous family to live there was The Mitford family is a distinguished British aristocratic dynasty with deep roots in Northumberland dating back to Norman times. Their ancestral seat began at Mitford Castle and later included Mitford Old Manor House and Mitford Hall, built in 1828 and occupied by the family until 1993.

Mitford Castle met its end in the early 14th century, but the precise cause of its destruction remains a matter of historical debate. Many ideas include

That a fire took the castle to ruins The castle was seized in 1315 by Sir Gilbert de Middleton, who used it as a base for abducting high-profile victims. Some accounts suggest that during this rebellion, the castle may have been accidentally or deliberately set aflame.

A Scottish war (May 1318) An alternative version holds that while Middleton was imprisoned in the Tower of London, a Scottish force attacked and destroyed the castle in May 1318. Border skirmishes were common at this time, and Mitford was strategically vulnerable.

What is definitely known is that by an inquest in 1323, it was officially declared to be “entirely destroyed and burnt” following the death of Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke.

(If you liked this, I'll post another blog about the Mitford Family.)

#blog #writing #history #abandoned #northumberland

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humanrightsupdates · 4 months ago

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Los Angeles Fires Expose Flawed Housing Policies

Tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles lost their homes to the devastating fires that raged in early January. The Eaton and Palisades fires reveal how vulnerable and interdependent we all are. The people of Los Angeles have risen to support their newly displaced neighbors, while state and local elected officials took immediate steps and promised funding and resources to help rebuild devastated communities and attend to immediate needs.

This high-speed, dramatic destruction of homes is worsening a housing shortage that has been building in the region for years. Before the fires, Los Angeles already had a documented shortfall of 500,000 affordable housing units. About 75,000 people in Los Angeles County officially count as unhoused, while hundreds of thousands more live in overcrowded apartments, pay more than they can afford in rent, or bounce between temporary situations in hotels or on friends’ couches. Houselessness and housing insecurity are heavily concentrated among Black and brown residents, whose rate of home ownership is substantially less than that of white residents.

The fires worsened these existing problems. They destroyed an estimated 12,500 housing units. Many people displaced by the fires will become unhoused. Those with more resources will rebuild or find new homes. Many will relocate to less expensive areas, but by doing so may drive up housing prices and displace others.

Many people who worked in fire damaged areas have lost income and the ability to pay rent. Yet the Los Angeles city council has resisted an effort to protect tenants from evictions due to the extended impacts of the fires. Los Angeles County is closer to passing an eviction protection bill.

The trauma of this event will continue to unfold for years, and those experiencing it deserve our full support and compassion. But so do all people living on the streets, as each has their own traumatic story of loss.

A recent Human Rights Watch report on the criminalization of unhoused people documented many of those stories. One woman lost her home when her husband’s business failed and then he died. Another left her home to escape an abusive partner. Another woman, whose physical disabilities prevented her from working, was evicted for allowing her unhoused niece to move in with her.

There have been efforts to help unhoused people and to build or preserve more housing, but never meeting the need or the scope of this long-running disaster. Instead of treating unhoused people with grace and dignity, the most prominent policy in Los Angeles, in California, and across the country has been criminalization. Criminalization of the unhoused means ticketing and arresting people for crimes related to their unhoused status, as well as Sanitation Department sweeps that systematically destroy property belonging to unhoused people.

#human rights #human rights watch

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etymology-of-the-emblem · 1 year ago

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Freikugel / フライクーゲル

Freikugel (JP: フライクーゲル; rōmaji: furaikūgeru) is the Hero's Relic tied to the Crest of Goneril. Rather than pulling from classic Norse and Germanic folklore, this axe references far more modern legends. The Freischütz, literally meaning "the free shooter" but often localized as "the marksman," refers to a man that made a deal with the devil. He is provided with a collection of magic bullets called Freikugeln (singular: Freikugel; lit. "free bullet") that will always strike their target. However, at least one of these bullets will be controlled by the devil, often causing the marksman's downfall. The earliest forms of this legend, traced to at least the late fifteenth century in Malleus Maleficarum in written form, had a man shoot a cross with an arrow in an attempt to gain three that he could guide when used. This would morph into the myth of forging bullets at night with the aid of witchcraft.

The most famous version of the story, written by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun, would be adapted into the opera Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber and Friedrich Kind. In the story, the forester Max needs to prove himself in marksmanship before the prince to take his beloved Agathe for a wife. His friend and senior forester Kaspar, who longs for Agathe but was rejected, shows Max in private the ability of his last Freikugel, swaying him to cast more bullets so he can guarantee his marriage. In truth, Kaspar sought revenge against Agathe and the dead of Max. When he convened with his forbidden connection of Samiel, he sold Max's soul for seven bullets and a promise that one of them would be dead the next day. Before they arrive at the ceremony, Max and Kaspar used six Freikugeln: only the devil's bullet remained. When that bullet was loosed, it struck Kaspar, leaving Max to reveal the sin they committed.

The reference to the Freischütz is likely meant to relate to the character of Hilda, the only character able to use it at full strength. After all, she's the type of girl to take the easy way out, and gets others to do things for her. By using Freikugeln, Max and Kaspar tried to take the easy way out, rather than actually proving themselves.

The combat art Apocalyptic Flame has a few layers to its name. Firstly, in invokes the concept of the apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it. Typically the word apocalypse invokes the Judeo-Christian interpretation of the world's conclusion. Most prominent of these is the Book of Revelation from the New Testament, an event often depicted with fire raining upon the earth (said to occur after the first of the seven trumpets is sounded). Interestingly, the events of Revelation are supposed to bring the end of the devil Satan and sin, despite the axe being named after what he has dominion over.

In Japanese, Apocalyptic Flame is called 劫火 (rōmaji: gōka). This is a term used in Buddhism and Hinduism to refer to the fire that destroys the world in those faiths' apocalypses. In both the Buddhist apocalypse and the Hindu Pralaya, after a kalpa or aeon (JP: 劫; rōmaji: kō)—a bit longer than four-billion years in Hinduism—feature the world engulfed in the heat of seven suns. For the Buddhists, those who survive the destruction of the earth are the faithful. According to Hinduism, all life on earth would die out in a hundred-year drought prior to the entire universe being set ablaze. After total destruction, the god Vishnu brings a century of rain to bring an end to the fires, and Brahma creates the universe anew. Additionally, the name 劫火 is pronounced similarly to the word 豪華 (rōmaji: gōka), which refers to a showy life of luxury, appropriate for Hilda's character.

This was a segment from a larger document reviewing the name of most every weapon and item in Three Houses and Three Hopes. Click Here to read it in full.

#fire emblem #etymology #fodlan #three houses #three hopes

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newlifetechnologygroup · 2 months ago

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How To Help a Local Nonprofit Electronics Recycler

Are you seeking ways to make a difference in others’ lives? Understanding how your donations empower underserved communities and preserve the environment gives you opportunities to improve lives.

New Life Technology Group gathered information about how your support with sponsorship, financial contributions, or computer and electronics donations benefit underserved communities and help keep our environment safe.

Current Political Environment

In an era of rapid technological advancement and growing electronic waste, the role of nonprofit electronics recyclers has never been more vital. Organizations like New Life Technology Group, based in Georgia, are on the front lines—giving discarded electronics new life while helping underserved communities access critical digital resources.

Unfortunately, recent shifts in federal policy and tightening eligibility standards have made it increasingly difficult for nonprofit recyclers to receive grants. Many government funding opportunities now favor national-scale operations or require administrative capabilities beyond the reach of smaller, local organizations. In this landscape, community support has become essential.

Why Support Local Nonprofit Electronics Recyclers

Supporting a trusted local nonprofit recycler like New Life Technology Group contributes to the following:

Reducing electronic waste in landfills

Bridging the digital divide for low-income families

Providing refurbished technology to shelters, schools, and students

Creating job training and volunteer opportunities

Keeping donor data secure and private through certified procedures

Local nonprofits serve specific communities more directly and effectively than larger for-profit chains or national recyclers. When you support one, you invest in local families, students, and environmental protection efforts.

7 Ways to Support a Nonprofit E-Recycling Program

1. Donate Used Electronics

Give your unwanted computers, tablets, smartphones, and accessories a second life. Even broken or outdated devices often contain usable parts.

2. Make a Financial Contribution

One-time or recurring donations help cover operational costs like storage, repairs, volunteer support, and transport. Contributions are tax-deductible and go directly toward mission-focused efforts.

3. Become an Angel Investor

Support long-term sustainability by investing in facility improvements, hiring key staff, or funding outreach programs. Angel donors often receive naming rights, annual reports, and VIP event access.

4. Volunteer Your Time

Skilled or general volunteers are always in demand to help sort donations, perform basic repairs, assist with events, or mentor youth during training sessions.

5. Sponsor a Drop-Off Event

Businesses, churches, or community groups can host local e-waste recycling days. New Life Technology Group provides marketing materials and coordinates secure collections.

6. Corporate Partnership or Matching Gift Program

Employers can support e-recycling efforts by matching employee donations or forming corporate sponsorships. This doubles impact and engages socially conscious workers.

7. Provide Technical or Legal Expertise

Nonprofits often need IT security, data compliance, nonprofit law, or grant writing guidance. Professionals offering pro bono services make a big difference.

How Devices Are Processed Safely

One of the most significant concerns when donating used electronics is the device’s sensitive data being recovered. New Life Technology Group follows a secure data destruction protocol for all devices, including:

Multi-step data wipe using Department of Defense (DoD) 5220.22-M standard

Physical destruction/shredding for non-wipeable drives

Certified technicians overseeing each device from intake to clearance

Documentation and serial number tracking

This ensures that all personal, financial, or business information is completely erased before refurbishment or resale.

The Refurbishment and Donation Process

After receiving a donation, New Life Technology Group uses the following system to refurbish and reallocate electronics:

Device Evaluation – Items are sorted and inspected to determine usability. Functional parts are salvaged from damaged devices.

Repair and Refurbishment – Certified technicians upgrade memory, replace hard drives, and clean systems. Only reliable machines are restored.

Software Installation – Licensed operating systems, productivity tools, and educational programs are installed to ensure user readiness.

Distribution Through Computers for Kids – Refurbished laptops and desktops are donated directly to:

Title 1 public schools

Family shelters

Single-parent households

Foster families

Students without home computer access

Note: This program bridges digital divides and empowers children and families to pursue education and employment more effectively.

Watch this video to see how easy it is to donate your outdated electronics.

youtube

Nonprofit Donation Tax Benefits

New Life Technology Group is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, meaning your donation (financial or material) is eligible for a tax deduction. Here’s how you benefit:

Electronics Donations – Deduct the item’s fair market value based on condition and market pricing.

Monetary Donations – You can deduct the donation amount up to IRS limits (usually 60% of AGI for individuals).

Business Donations – Equipment donations may also qualify for accelerated depreciation or promotional tax deductions.

Note: Always retain a receipt and consult your tax advisor for documentation and proper valuation. You’ll not only support a worthy cause but may also reduce your taxable income.

The Broader Impact on Society

E-waste is among the fastest-growing waste streams globally. Toxic materials like mercury and lead leak into soil and groundwater when electronics are improperly discarded. Supporting e-recyclers:

Reduces environmental harm

Conserves valuable raw materials

Promotes circular economies

Educational Impact

Computer access is no longer optional (it is a requirement for academic success). Homework, virtual classes, and college applications all demand a digital presence. Refurbished laptops help:

Students complete assignments

Parents apply for jobs online

Families stay connected to resources and services

Shelter and Shelter Support

Men’s and women’s shelters rely on outside support to function. They often lack the funding to buy new computers for clients. Nonprofits like New Life Technology Group fill this gap by:

Donating refurbished devices

Training shelter residents on computer use

Providing online access to education, legal aid, and career searches

Read more about New Life Technology Group’s shelter donations HERE.

Your Help is Needed

In this article, you discovered essential information about federal policy and tightening grant eligibility, how your support with sponsorship, financial contributions, or computer and electronics donations benefit underserved communities and help keep our environment safe.

Legitimate local nonprofit recyclers like New Life Technology Group are crucial in reducing waste, promoting education, and uplifting underserved families. With government support becoming more challenging to obtain, community action is essential.

Failure to donate or recycle your computers and electronics leaves harmful waste improperly dumped in landfills as underserved families and children continue their insurmountable struggle. All while your local nonprofit electronics recyclers struggle to meet operational expenses.

Sources: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519584 cisa.gov/news-events/news/proper-disposal-electronic-devices irs.gov/charities-non-profits/contributors/information-on-donated-property-for-charitable-organizations

New Life Technology Group

253 Grogan Dr #120 Dawsonville, GA30534 (404) 313-8215

To see the original version of this article, visit https://newlifetechgroup.com/how-to-help-a-local-nonprofit-electronics-recycler/

#e-recycling #e-waste #electronics recycling #nonprofit e-recycler #data destruction #donate #charities #Youtube

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handbooktohyrule · 2 years ago

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Handbook to Hyrule Handy Guide

Provided is a guide to understanding the ostensibly arbitrary fossil ranges, along with the rationale underlying the adoption of novel taxonomic nomenclature.

Fossil Ranges (subject to reevaluation)

Pre-hylean - Prior to the emergence of the Homo genus. Hylean - Named after Hylia, spanning the evolution of the Homo genus to the Great Demon War, which had detrimental effects on wildlife. Farorean - When most humans inhabited the sky, life underwent recovery and proliferation. Evolutionary events may include the emergence of Gorons, Parella, and Mogma. The Lanayru Sea dried up, forming the Gerudo Desert.

there is a knowledge gap here

Passeroic - Following the establishment of the Hyrule Kingdom, civilization expansion leads to widespread species extinctions. Gorozoic - Derived from the Gerudo word for "fire," representing a cyclic pattern of rebirth and destruction in Hyrule due to the influence of Calamity Ganon. Bosthorocene - Coined during the era of ruin in Hyrule Kingdom, named after Zelda Bosthoramus Hyrule. This period witnesses a resurgence in scientific enlightenment, marked by initiatives to study and preserve local species.

Creating new taxa:

The taxonomic nomenclature presents a deliberation between utilizing a Latin/Greek-based system or a Hyrulean conlang. The Hylian and Gerudo conlangs, documented by Elymais and Nina-Kristine Johnson, respectively, are employed where applicable. In instances where these conlangs are not feasible, Latin serves as a supplementary option.

Here are the conlangs I plan to use:

Hylian Conlang (Elymais): Voices of Hyrule

Gerudo Conlang (Nina-Kristine Johnson): Va Eheniv

The etymology section only covers information relating to new taxa.

#if a taxon already exists in the real world i'm going to use that rather than give it a “hyrulean” name #because of this i'm ok with using latin when naming new taxa even if it doesn't make sense within the context of the zelda universe #zelda #legend of zelda #taxonomy

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blueboxphenomenon · 8 years ago

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The Shoreditch Incident

Sunday November 24th, 1963 and the London borough of Hackney is released from military cordon after clean-up crews worked the night hiding the evidence of what happened the previous day. By the time the news media gets access, the president of the United States of America has been assassinated, providing the perfect front-cover news story to bury what happened in London on that Saturday morning. Now, we have acquired top secret documents pertaining to the events of "the Shoreditch Incident."

On November 23rd, explosions rang out across Totter's Lane and Coal Hill Road in Shoreditch, London. Six soldiers were killed. The soldiers were granted military funerals, though one was given a more hushed-up burial a few days later. The newspapers would have you believe that these six military professionals were the victims of an unexploded bomb, however there do not appear to be any reports of a UXB made on that day. Coal Hill School, at the center of the activity, issued a letter to concerned parents regarding a gas leak that ignited. Was it a bomb, or a gas leak? Why were the military called to Shoreditch?

A terrorist attack by Russia?

Declassified documents now available thanks to the Freedom of Information Act show that the government were on high alert in 1963 due to multiple intelligence leaks to an alleged Russian spy ring operating out of London, with one particular police station a frequent target. Local cabbie William Pike was discovered to be transporting Russian documents on the morning of the 23rd of November and was arrested accordingly. Police also apprehended and questioned a potential ally of Pike's who was carrying an unusual communications device. The two, however, escaped custody and the unnamed girl who assisted him seemingly disappeared into thin air.

So were the explosions caused by a Russian bomb, deployed by communist spies operating out of London under the government's very noses? Did the government cover up the incident with tales of a gas leak to hide their own incompetence, or supress public fears of further attacks? Well... Pike went on to prove his innocence, and while the documents he was accused of transporting in his taxi self-destructed, the explosion was not big enough to take out six members of the British military. Indeed, the explosive barely scorched the table in the police cell where it was detonated.

A gas leak?

The letter issued by the school board brings to light further details. Not only were six soldiers killed during the incident, but so were a headteacher at the school, and a caretaker (Coal Hill is no stranger to such tragedies, as in that same year two teachers went missing, a female student vanished, and another female student was killed having been shot with silver bullets).

The media and the school board seem to be implying that the damage to the school on Coal Hill Road and the military maneuvers in Totters Lane were separate incidents. How likely is it that explosions in both locations happened at the same time due to different causes? An unexploded bomb, and a gas leak?

The key to all of this comes in identifying the military arm dispatched to Totters Lane. One would expect the Search Regiment Royal Logistic Corps for such a task. However, it was ICMG that were operating in Shoreditch on the 23rd of November, 1963.

At the time, ICMG operated in secret. However thanks to the accounts and memoirs of Group Captain Gilmore, the Freedom of Information Act, and 'the Zen Military' by Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart, we now know just what the ICMG was all about. And unsurprisingly for this blog, it's aliens.

Operating under Department C19, the Intrusion Counter-Measures Group (ICMG) was established in the early 60's in response to alien incursions, as a pre-cursor to UNIT. There had been multiple reports - covered up, of course - of alien incursions on Earth and the Shoreditch Incident would go on to cement in the minds of the British government that it was imperative to protect the UK not just from alien attack but from the fear of knowing the truth: that there are alien beings out there far more capable than our planet's military forces, that can easily come and go as they wish. This is the military branch that was called to Shoreditch.

So was it an alien bomb?

Readers, it was not even a bomb. Every facet of the reports - save the deaths - was fabricated. In truth, the explosions at both Coal Hill school and Totter's Lane were caused by alien invaders engaged in civil war, using Earth as their battleground.

On the 3rd of December, Military scientific advisor Rachel Jensen filed official reports regarding the xenomorphs seen in Shoreditch the previous November. She describes amoeboid creatures of around twelve inches in diameter possessed of vestigial limbs, operating inside of metallic casings. While the sample obtained from Totter's Lane appeared to have "substantial brain activity," she posited that the example extracted from Coal Hill was of superior breed. The second sample possessed genetically engineered enhancements, including a chitinous claw and operational appendages. The document includes a witness sketch of one of the creatures as seen with its casing, which is fitted with a large weapon.

The real story...

In autumn of 1963, the ICMG were on high alert due to an unusual spike in mysterious incidents in London. Many witnessed lights in the sky, unusual weather activity, reports of werewolves culminating in the paranoid murder of a Coal Hill student, a Satanic cult in Wycombe, witnesses claiming to see a man mutate into a horrible monster in a pub, and a series of mysterious disappearances in Shoreditch. It was as if a storm were brewing, and it came to a head on the 23rd of November.

Group Captain Gilmore was assigned a team to monitor Shoreditch, particularly the areas surrounding Coal Hill. He was assisted by Cambridge-educated chief scientific advisor Rachel Jensen, physicist Allison Williams of the British Rocket Group, Sergeant Mike Smith, and a team of hand-picked soldiers including Gary Jonathan Finch. Gary's son Clive Finch would go on to found the "Who Is Doctor Who?" website which drew attention to the mysterious traveller who appears frequently at incidents such as these.

Rachel Jensen and Allison Williams detected unusual magnetic activity - a pulse, artificial in origin - coming from Coal Hill Secondary School and I. M. Foreman's scrap yard on Totter's Lane. This lead the ICMG to an encounter with one of the metal-encased aliens. A firefight broke out at the scrap yard, resulting in the deaths of two of Gilmore's men. Once it became apparent the creatures were susceptible to ATRs, the tables were turned and the creature was killed. This would become Jensen's first sample of the alien lifeforms, extracted from the remains of the tank-like shell.

Two mysterious entities joined the ICMG around this time. One, a girl we can now identify as Dorothy 'Ace' McShane, founder of A Charitable Earth. The other, a man who answered only to the title "the Doctor."

The area was evacuated to protect civilians, with the cover of an unexploded bomb. A media blackout was called and cover stories disseminated.

As events unfolded over the course of three days, a second faction of the shelled aliens arrived both via the school's basement and through the landing of a shuttlecraft in the schoolyard. The two factions went to war, tearing up a small corner of Shoreditch while the ICMG intervened. Coal Hill would provide Jensen with her second sample of alien life, the augmented amoeboid. The ICMG and Coal Hill staff suffered fatalities as a result of the conflict, though thankfully the alien invaders were wiped out before the conflict could escalate any further.

Why these creatures chose Shoreditch for their battle is rumoured to be down to an artifact hidden in the area. Some say it was the mysterious Doctor who hid it there, bringing alien war to Earth and putting us on the interplanetary map as a target for alien invaders. However, these rumours come from Sergeant Mike Smith, who it came to light was a Nazi sympathiser liaising with local fascist organiser George Ratcliffe, who in turn was in service to one faction of the alien invaders. Both were killed during the incident, with Smith being denied a military funeral due to his fascist beliefs.

What ever the truth, Coal Hill School has remained the center of unusual activity in Shoreditch for many years, with reports of strange events surrounding the school continuing well into 2016...

#bbp-blog #monsters and aliens #unit archive #ICMG #Intrusion Counter-Measures Group #The British Rocket Group #C19 #department c19 #widw #who is doctor who?#shoreditch incident #the shoreditch incident #coal hill school

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