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sharp-cheekbones-locked · 5 years

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My Doctor Who calendar

A/N: I decided to do a advent calendar about Tenth Doctor an my OC Stella this year. Every day a new chapter. Feel free to reblog.

Summary: Accompany my OC Stella and the tenth Doctor throughout the Advent season. Christmas is celebrated differently all over the universe. Some new Christmas customs are brought to light. But how does Christmas go with a portion of aliens, a good piece of Doctor and Stella and a teeny pinch of love that makes a big spark? Will The Doctor give in to his feelings in the end? It's the time of love. Every day a new sweet chapter. Accompany the two on their adventures through time and space.

Soho Square, District of Soho, 51° 31′ N , 0° 7′ W London, United Kingdom

December 1st 2019; 4.29pm

I looked up into the grey, cloudy sky and sighed, pulling my cap deeper into my face and also adjusting my scarf. The Doctor ran beside me over the almost black asphalt and gave me a questioning look. His hands are in his trouser pockets to protect them from the biting winter wind of London. The wind played with his hair and also with me some blond strands got lost again and again in the face which I pushed energetically with deaf fingertips behind my ear. The Doctor pulled his shoulders up so that he could counteract the cold. His gaze, however, remained steadfast on me.

I trembled, while talking I tried hard to suppress the rattling of my teeth.

"It's the first of December, the first of Advent, and it doesn't seem so." Checking, the Doctor's eyes glided over the grey of the sky, as if searching for something specific. He stuck out his tongue so he could taste the air better.

"Naah. You're probably right. There's no snow today," he replied and shook his head.

"Too bad... This year it will be probably again nothing with white Christmas, don't you mean? The Doctor only shrugged his shoulders, but then his eyes began to sparkle and a warm grin drew on his lips.

He freed his hand from the warmth of his trouser pocket, then held it up to me with a challenge, wiggling his fingers. Hesitantly I put my hand into his, then I looked at him expectantly. He winked at me and pulled me through the streets of London back to the TARDIS.

"Isn't snow just something great? This fine structure of frozen water molecules. Simply unbelievable! Did you know that the hexagonal basic shape is created because the water molecules form a special structure at this temperature, which consists exclusively of -120 degrees and -60 degrees angles? This is true art? I mean, why these two angles? I was on the planet of Warx once. Half fish, half human. They had snowflakes of all shapes, because they make them by hand. Or wait - probably by fin. Hm, actually quite admirable that they make something so filigree with fins." I looked at him in amazement as he suddenly paused and his steps slowed down.

"But what do fish people need snow for," I asked. We looked each other in the eye for a few seconds and then we snorted off.

"I don't have the slightest clue," he said laughing. Gasping for air I leaned against the wall behind me. Surprised my fingers felt the rough blue painted wood of the TARDIS. We had already arrived. The Doctor unlocked the door.

"Always walking into the good room." I followed him inside the TARDIS. Immediately I felt warmth returning to my deaf limbs. My toes began to tingle and my cheeks also glowed. The Doctor was already concentrated on the console of the TARDIS and flipped some switches and levers. Before I could even ask where and when we were going, he put the final lever on and the typical pumping and sighing of the TARDIS sounded around me. A jolt shook me as we travelled through the vortex. Suddenly it was quiet. The Tardis and thus also we had come to a standstill. The Doctor grinned at me and his brown eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Go put on something warm! He ordered me. I didn't ask any more, but disappeared into the corridors of the TARDIS in search of warm clothes.

A few minutes later I returned to the control room thickly packed. The Doctor looked like always. He began to smile when he saw me.

"I look like a Michelin man." I snorted and saw the Doctor with difficulty holding back a laugh. Finally he seemed to catch himself and put his hand on the door handle.

Somewhere on a hill, 33840° 37′ N , 1772° 888′ W Snowmania, Rigil Kentaurus, Galaxy 1.4-Apple

December 1st 2144; 7.13PM in human calendar and time

"Allons-y."

The door swung open and I saw nothing but sparkling white that stretched to the horizon. A white desert. A cold gust of wind swept through the tardis and bit my cheeks. I stood astonished in the door frame of the TARDIS.

"At last. Snow! Isn't it beautiful?" the Doctor exclaimed delightedly and hopped into the white crystalline mass. His shoes sank down to his ankles. I still stood there, frozen, watching the snowflakes dancing silently across the sky and falling to the ground with a soft crackle. The Doctor had already taken a few steps before turning to me.

"Come on, Stella! What are you waiting for? Come out into the snow with me." He beamed at me and I couldn't do anything else. I ran out into the snow. He creaked under my footsteps and my breath beat little clouds in the air. Unbelieving I turned in a circle and rejoiced like a little child.

"Wuhuuu." I exclaimed loudly. Then I let myself fall into the snow and made a snow angel overjoyed. The Doctor, who until then had only observed me silently, took a few steps towards me.

"Is this the first time you've seen snow?" he asked jokingly and I stuck my tongue out at him. Snowflakes had got caught in his brown hair.

"I can't believe it's really snowing. This is the most beautiful place I've ever been. Nothing but snow. Only snow! Only blank white snow everywhere." I stared up into the grey sky, from which snowflakes were falling all the time. The Doctor mumbles something that sounded very much like "Then I could have saved myself everything else...", but fell silent when I looked at him questioningly.

I straightened up and knocked the rest of the snow off my clothes, then I looked at the Time Lord next to me in a challenging way.

"Let's see which one of us can catch more snowflakes with his tongue! Immediately a fierce competition broke out between us. The big flakes were easy to catch with the tongue, but the Doctor seemed to have his problems. Some landed on the tip of his nose, others got caught in his eyelashes and eyebrows.

"Catching snowflakes with your tongue is harder than it looks," he said at a glance. We looked up into the sky and tried to catch the snowflakes. None of us looked down, so it didn't take long for us to hit each other. Surprised we tumbled through the snow. Laughing we remained lying, but suddenly a snowball caught me on the shoulder, when I turned to the Doctor, he grinned mischievously at me and was already forming the next snowball.

"Oh, you've been messing with the wrong one, Time Lord!" I replied and reached into the snow to form a ball.

The Doctor announced "Snowball Battle" and jumped up. We fired long snowballs at each other until snow caught in my neck and ran coldly down my back. I breathed heavily and my cheeks glowed.

"Ok, ok. Time out. You won, oh great Snow Lord." I laughed and raised my hands surrendering. Also the Doctor was out of breath.

We trudged together through the snow and shone with the crackling of the white flakes as we walked through the endless hilly landscape. Suddenly I began to hum.

"Do you wanna build a snow man" I sang quietly.

"No way," the Doctor replied, but I was already at work. I rolled several balls and once the lowest ball was too heavy for me alone.

"Come on, give me a hand" I groaned under the load. The Doctor hurried to help me and together we put the snowman together.

"We should brew him a partner, so that he is not so alone. I announced, after I had examined our work in detail. While we were busy forming new balls, something was moving in the corner of my eye. I looked up in amazement and noticed that the snowman had begun to move. I pushed the Doctor's elbow into the ribs.

"Ouch. What is denn- Oh. Oooh. Fascinating," he said with a glance at the snowman who was now forming a new ball and building a smaller snowman. When he saw us, he winked at us and waved with his stick arm. Suddenly our snow woman and the little snow boy came to life. They both hurried towards the first snowman who embraced them.

"How beautiful. A snow family," I whispered touched. "Let's build another one."

The Doctor agreed. We rolled the ball down the slope, but it became faster and faster, so we had to run after it. I stumbled and the Doctor fell over me and we rolled down the slope together, where we remained in the previously formed ball. The Doctor lay heavy on me and looked at me. My gaze found his and his warm eyes wandered back and forth between my and my cold lips. "You are sweet when you freeze" he said and plucked a flake out of my hair. For a second it looked as if he wanted to kiss me, so close were his lips to mine. I could feel his warm breath on my cheeks, but then he shook his head almost imperceptibly and got up. Before he offered me a hand, he knocked the snow off his body. I was confused, but tried to cover up the situation. I probably imagined it all.

"I didn't feel my legs," I mumbled and trembled. "There's so much snow in my shoes." I missed the Doctor's warmth. At the top of the slope stood the snow family with growth. Twins. Uncertain, the Doctor took another step towards me before he embraced me and pressed me. I sighed comfortably and felt his breath blowing over my ear.

"You are like a heater," I murmured. The Doctor laughed quietly.

"What do you think of a warm cocoa in the Tardis?" he mumbled quietly.

"Sounds wonderful."

When we returned to the Tardis, the snowmen waved goodbye. But I had buried my face in the Doctor's neck bend while preparing these two cups of steaming cocoa so I couldn't see it anymore.

A/N: I am not sure if everybody knows what a so-called „Michelin-Männchen“ is. Just google it. It’s a common phrase in Germany, when you feel fat, because of all the layers of cloth.

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vintagegeekculture · 7 years

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Dead Fandoms, Part 3

Read Part One of Dead Fandoms here.

Read Part Two of Dead Fandoms here.

Before we continue, I want to add the usual caveat that I actually don’t want to be right about these fandoms being dead. I like enthusiasm and energy and it’s a shame to see it vanish.

Mists of Avalon

Remember that period of time of about 15 years, where absolutely everybody read this book and was obsessed with it? It could not have been bigger, and the fandom was Anne Rice huge, overlapping for several years with USENET and the early World Wide Web…but it’s since petered out.

Mists of Avalon’s popularity may be due to the most excellent case of hitting a demographic sweet spot ever. The book was a feminist retelling of the Arthurian Mythos where Morgan Le Fay is the main character, a pagan from matriarchal goddess religions who is fighting against encroaching Christianity and patriarchal forms of society coming in with it. Also, it made Lancelot bisexual and his conflict is how torn he is about his attraction to both Arthur and Guinevere.

Remember, this novel came out in 1983 – talk about being ahead of your time! If it came out today, the reaction from a certain corner would be something like “it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that tumblr is at it again.”

Man, demographically speaking, that’s called “nailing it.” It used to be one of the favorite books of the kind of person who’s bookshelf is dominated by fantasy novels about outspoken, fiery-tongued redheaded women, who dream of someday moving to Scotland, who love Enya music and Kate Bush, who sell homemade needlepoint stuff on etsy, who consider their religious beliefs neo-pagan or wicca, and who have like 15 cats, three of which are named Isis, Hypatia, and Morrigan.

This type of person is still with us, so why did this novel fade in popularity? There’s actually a single hideous reason: after her death around 2001, facts came out that Marion Zimmer Bradley abused her daughters sexually. Even when she was alive, she was known for defending and enabling a known child abuser, her husband, Walter Breen. To say people see your work differently after something like this is an understatement – especially if your identity is built around being a progressive and feminist author.

Robotech

I try to break up my sections on dead fandoms into three parts: first, I explain the property, then explain why it found a devoted audience, and finally, I explain why that fan devotion and community went away. Well, in the case of Robotech, I can do all three with a single sentence: it was the first boy pilot/giant robot Japanimation series that shot for an older, teenage audience to be widely released in the West. Robotech found an audience when it was the only true anime to be widely available, and lost it when became just another import anime show. In the days of Crunchyroll, it’s really hard to explain what made Robotech so special, because it means describing a different world.

Try to imagine what it was like in 1986 for Japanime fans: there were barely any video imports, and if you wanted a series, you usually had to trade tapes at your local basement club (they were so precious they couldn’t even be sold, only traded). If you were lucky, you were given a script to translate what you were watching. Robotech though, was on every day, usually after school. You want an action figure? Well, you could buy a Robotech Valkyrie or a Minmei figure at your local corner FAO Schwartz.

However, the very strategy that led to it getting syndicated is the very reason it was later vilified by the purists who emerged when anime became a widespread cultural force: strictly speaking, there actually is no show called “Robotech.” Since Japanese shows tend to be short run, say, 50-60 episodes, it fell well under the 80-100 episode mark needed for syndication in the US. The producer of Harmony Gold, Carl Macek, had a solution: he’d cut three unrelated but similar looking series together into one, called “Robotech.” The shows looked very similar, had similar love triangles, used similar tropes, and even had little references to each other, so the fit was natural. It led to Robotech becoming a weekday afternoon staple with a strong fandom who called themselves “Protoculture Addicts.” There were conventions entirely devoted to Robotech. The supposed shower scene where Minmei was bare-breasted was the barely whispered stuff of pervert legend in pre-internet days. And the tie in novels, written with the entirely western/Harmony Gold conception of the series and which continued the story, were actually surprisingly readable.

The final nail in the coffin of Robotech fandom was the rise of Sailor Moon, Toonami, Dragonball, and yes, Pokemon (like MC Hammer’s role in popularizing hip hop, Pokemon is often written out of its role in creating an audience for the next wave of cartoon imports out of insecurity). Anime popularity in the West can be defined as not a continuing unbroken chain like scifi book fandom is, but as an unrelated series of waves, like multiple ancient ruins buried on top of each other (Robotech was the vanguard of the third wave, as Anime historians reckon); Robotech’s wave was subsumed by the next, which had different priorities and different “core texts.” Pikachu did what the Zentraedi and Invid couldn’t do: they destroyed the SDF-1.

Legion of Super-Heroes

Legion of Superheroes was comic set in the distant future that combined superheroes with space opera, with a visual aesthetic that can best be described as “Star Trek: the Motion Picture, if it was set in a disco.”

I’ve heard wrestling described as “a soap opera for men.” If that’s the case, then Legion of Super-Heroes was a soap opera for nerds. The book is about attractive 20-somethings who seem to hook up all the time. As a result, it had a large female fanbase, which, I cannot stress enough, is incredibly unusual for this era in comics history. And if you have female fans, you get a lot of shipping and slashfic, and lots of speculation over which of the boy characters in the series is gay. The fanon answer is Element Lad, because he wore magenta-pink and never had a girlfriend. (Can’t argue with bulletproof logic like that.) In other words, it was a 1970s-80s fandom that felt much more “modern” than the more right-brained, bloodless, often anal scifi fandoms that existed around the same time, where letters pages were just nitpicking science errors by model train and elevator enthusiasts.

Legion Headquarters seemed to be a rabbit fuck den built around a supercomputer and Danger Room. Cosmic Boy dressed like Tim Curry in Rocky Horror. There’s one member, Duo Damsel, who can turn into two people, a power that, in the words of Legion writer Jim Shooter, was “useful for weird sex...and not much else.”

LSH was popular because the fans were insanely horny. This is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the thirstiest fandom of all time. You might think I’m overselling this, but I really think that’s an under-analyzed part of how some kinds of fiction build a devoted fanbase.

For example, a big reason for the success of Mass Effect is that everyone has a favorite girl or boy, and you have the option to romance them. Likewise, everyone who was a fan of Legion remembers having a crush. Sardonic Ultra Boy for some reason was a favorite among gay male nerds (aka the Robert Conrad Effect). Tall, blonde, amazonian telepath Saturn Girl, maybe the first female team leader in comics history, is for the guys with backbone who prefer Veronica over Betty. Shrinking Violet was a cute Audrey Hepburn type. And don’t forget Shadow Lass, who was a blue skinned alien babe with pointed ears and is heavily implied to have an accent (she was Aayla Secura before Aayla Secura was Aayla Secura). Light Lass was commonly believed to be “coded lesbian” because of a short haircut and her relationships with men didn’t work out. The point is, it’s one thing to read about the adventures of a superteam, and it implies a totally different level of mental and emotional involvement to read the adventures of your imaginary girlfriend/boyfriend.

Now, I should point out that of all the fandoms I’ve examined here, LSH was maybe the smallest. Legion was never a top seller, but it was a favorite of the most devoted of fans who kept it alive all through the seventies and eighties with an energy and intensity disproportionate to their actual numbers. My gosh, were LSH fans devoted! Interlac and Legion Outpost were two Legion fanzines that are some of the most famous fanzines in comics history.

If nerd culture fandoms were drugs, Star Wars would be alcohol, Doctor Who would be weed, but Legion of Super-Heroes would be injecting heroin directly into your eyeballs. Maybe it is because the Legionnaires were nerdy, too: they played Dungeons and Dragons in their off time (an escape, no doubt, from their humdrum, mundane lives as galaxy-rescuing superheroes). There were sometimes call outs to Monty Python. Basically, the whole thing had a feel like the dorkily earnest skits or filk-singing at a con. Legion felt like it’s own fan series, guest starring Patton Oswalt and Felicia Day.

It helped that the boundary between fandom and professional was incredibly porous. For instance, pro-artist Dave Cockrum did covers for Legion fanzines. Former Legion APA members Todd and Mary Biernbaum got a chance to actually write Legion, where, with the gusto of former slashfic writers given the keys to canon, their major contribution was a subplot that explicitly made Element Lad gay. Mike Grell, a professional artist who got paid to work on the series, did vaguely porno-ish fan art. Again, it’s hard to tell where the pros started and the fandom ended; the inmates were running the asylum.

Mostly, Legion earned this devotion because it could reward it in a way no other comic could. Because Legion was not a wide market comic but was bought by a core audience, after a point, there were no self-contained one-and-done Legion stories. In fact, there weren’t even really arcs as we know it, which is why Legion always has problems getting reprinted in trade form. Legion was plotted like a daytime soap opera: there were always five different stories going on in every issue, and a comic involved cutting between them. Sure, like daytime soap operas, there’s never a beginning, just endless middles, so it was totally impossible for a newbie to jump on board...but soap operas know what they are doing: long term storytelling rewards a long term reader.

This brings me to today, where Legion is no longer being published by DC. There is no discussion about a movie or TV revival. This is amazing. Comics are a world where the tiniest nerd groups get pandered to: Micronauts, Weirdworld, Seeker 3000, and Rom have had revival series, for pete’s sake. It’s incredible there’s no discussion of a film or TV treatment, either; friggin Cyborg from New Teen Titans is getting a solo movie.

Why did Legion stop being such a big deal? Where did the fandom that supported it dissolve to? One word: X-Men. Legion was incredibly ahead of its time. In the 60s and 70s, there were barely any “fan” comics, since superhero comics were like animation is today: mostly aimed at kids, with a minority of discerning adult/teen fans, and it was success among kids, not fans, that led to something being a top seller (hence, “fan favorites” in the 1970s, as surprising as it is to us today, often did not get a lot of work, like Don MacGregor or Barry Smith). But as newsstands started to push comics out, the fan audience started to get bigger and more important…everyone else started to catch up to the things that made Legion unique: most comics started to have attractive people who paired up into couples and/or love triangles, and featured extremely byzantine long term storytelling. If Legion of Super-Heroes is going to be remembered for anything, it’s for being the smaller scale “John the Baptist” to the phenomenon of X-Men, the ultimate “fan” comic.

The other thing that killed Legion, apart from Marvel’s Merry Mutants, that is, was the r-word: reboots. A reboot only works for some properties, but not others. You reboot something when you want to find something for a mass audience to respond to, like with Zorro, Batman, or Godzilla.

Legion, though, was not a comic for everybody, it was a fanboy/girl comic beloved by a niche who read it for continuing stories and minutiae (and to jack off, and in some cases, jill off). Rebooting a comic like that is a bad idea. You do not reboot something where the main way you engage with the property, the greatest strength, is the accumulated lore and history. Rebooting a property like that means losing the reason people like it, and unless it’s something with a wide audience, you only lose fans and won’t get anything in return for it. So for something like Legion (small fandom obsessed with long form plots and details, but unlike Trek, no name recognition) a reboot is the ultimate Achilles heel that shatters everything, a self-destruct button they kept hitting over and over and over until there was nothing at all left.

E. E. Smith’s Lensman Novels

The Lensman series is like Gil Evans’s jazz: it’s your grandparents’ favorite thing that you’ve never heard of.

I mean, have you ever wondered exactly what scifi fandom talked about before the rise of the major core texts and cultural objects (Star Trek, Asimov, etc)? Well, it was this. Lensmen was the subject of fanfiction mailed in manilla envelopes during the 30s, 40s, and 50s (some of which are still around). If you’re from Boston, you might recognize that the two biggest and oldest scifi cons there going back to the 1940s, Boskone (Boscon, get it?) and Arisia, are references to the Lensman series. This series not only created space opera as we know it, but contributed two of the biggest visuals in scifi, the interstellar police drawn from different alien species, and space marines in power armor.

My favorite sign of how big this series was and how fans responded to it, was a great wedding held at Worldcon that duplicated Kimball Kinnison and Clarissa’s wedding on Klovia. This is adorable:

The basic story is pure good vs. evil: galactic civilization faces a crime and piracy wave of unprecedented proportions from technologically advanced pirates (the memory of Prohibition, where criminals had superior firearms and faster cars than the cops, was strong by the mid-1930s). A young officer, Kimball Kinnison (who speaks in a Stan Lee esque style of dialogue known as “mid-century American wiseass”), graduates the academy and is granted a Lens, an object from an ancient mystery civilization, who’s true purpose is unknown.

Lensman Kinnison discovers that the “crime wave” is actually a hostile invasion and assault by a totally alien culture that is based on hierarchy, intolerant of failure, and at the highest level, is ruled by horrifying nightmare things that breathe freezing poison gases. Along the way, he picks up allies, like van Buskirk, a variant human space marine from a heavy gravity planet who can do a standing jump of 20 feet in full space armor, Worsel, a telepathic dragon warrior scientist with the technical improvisation skills of MacGyver (who reads like the most sadistically minmaxed munchkinized RPG character of all time), and Nandreck, a psychologist from a Pluto-like planet of selfish cowards.

The scale of the conflict starts small, just skirmishes with pirates, but explodes to near apocalyptic dimensions. This series has space battles with millions of starships emerging from hyperspacial tubes to attack the ultragood Arisians, homeworld of the first intelligent race in the cosmos. By the end of the fourth book, there are mind battles where the reflected and parried mental beams leave hundreds of innocent bystanders dead. In the meantime we get evil Black Lensmen, the Hell Hole in Space, and superweapons like the Negasphere and the Sunbeam, where an entire solar system was turned into a vacuum tube.

It’s not hard to understand why Lensmen faded in importance. While the alien Lensmen had lively psychologies, Lensman Kimball Kinnison was not an interesting person, and that’s a problem when scifi starts to become more about characterization. The Lensman books, with their love of police and their sexism (it is an explicit plot point that the Lens is incompatible with female minds – in canon there are no female Lensmen) led to it being judged harshly by the New Wave writers of the 1960s, who viewed it all as borderline fascist military-scifi establishment hokum, and the reputation of the series never recovered from the spirit of that decade.

Prisoner of Zenda

Prisoner of Zenda is a novel about a roguish con-man who visits a postage-stamp, charmingly picturesque Central European kingdom with storybook castles, where he finds he looks just like the local king and is forced to pose as him in palace intrigues. It’s a swashbuckling story about mistaken identity, swordfighting, and intrigue, one part swashbuckler and one part dark political thriller.

The popularity of this book predates organized fandom as we know it, so I wonder if “fandom” is even the right word to use. All the same, it inspired fanatical dedication from readers. There was such a popular hunger for it that an entire library could be filled with nothing but rip-offs of Prisoner of Zenda. If you have a favorite writer who was active between 1900-1950, I guarantee he probably wrote at least one Prisoner of Zenda rip-off (which is nearly always the least-read book in his oeuvre). The only novel in the 20th Century that inspired more imitators was Sherlock Holmes. Robert Heinlein and Edmond “Planet Smasher” Hamilton wrote scifi updates of Prisoner of Zenda. Doctor Who lifted the plot wholesale for the Tom Baker era episode, “Androids of Tara,” Futurama did this exact plot too, and even Marvel Comics has its own copy of Ruritania, Doctor Doom’s Kingdom of Latveria. Even as late as the 1980s, every kids’ cartoon did a “Prisoner of Zenda” episode, one of the stock plots alongside “everyone gets hit by a shrink ray” and the Christmas Carol episode.

Prisoner of Zenda imitators were so numerous, that they even have their own Library of Congress sub-heading, of “Ruritanian Romance.”

One major reason that Prisoner of Zenda fandom died off is that, between World War I and World War II, there was a brutal lack of sympathy for anything that seemed slightly German, and it seems the incredibly Central European Prisoner of Zenda was a casualty of this. Far and away, the largest immigrant group in the United States through the entire 19th Century were Germans, who were more numerous than Irish or Italians. There were entire cities in the Midwest that were two-thirds German-born or German-descent, who met in Biergartens and German community centers that now no longer exist.

Kurt Vonnegut wrote a lot about how the German-American world he grew up in vanished because of the prejudice of the World Wars, and that disappearance was so extensive that it was retroactive, like someone did a DC comic-style continuity reboot where it all never happened: Germans, despite being the largest immigrant group in US history, are left out of the immigrant story. The “Little Bohemias” and “Little Berlins” that were once everywhere no longer exist. There is no holiday dedicated to people of German ancestry in the US, the way the Irish have St. Patrick’s Day or Italians have Columbus Day (there is Von Steuben’s Day, dedicated to a general who fought with George Washington, but it’s a strictly Midwest thing most people outside the region have never heard of, like Sweetest Day). If you’re reading this and you’re an academic, and you’re not sure what to do your dissertation on, try writing about the German-American immigrant world of the 19th and 20th Centuries, because it’s a criminally under-researched topic.

A. Merritt

Pop quiz: who was the most popular and influential fantasy author during the 1930s and 40s?

If you answered Tolkien or Robert E. Howard, you’re wrong - it was actually Abraham Merritt. He was the most popular writer of his age of the kind of fiction he did, and he’s since been mostly forgotten. Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons, has said that A. Merritt was his favorite fantasy and horror novelist.

Why did A. Merritt and his fandom go away, when at one point, he was THE fantasy author? Well, obviously one big answer was the 1960s counterculture, which brought different writers like Tolkien and Lovecraft to the forefront (by modern standards Lovecraft isn’t a fantasy author, but he was produced by the same early century genre-fluid effluvium that produced Merritt and the rest). The other answer is that A. Merritt was so totally a product of the weird occult speculation of his age that it’s hard to even imagine him clicking with audiences in other eras. His work is based on fringe weirdness that appealed to early 20th Century spiritualism and made sense at the time: reincarnation, racial memory, an obsession with lost race stories and the stone age, and weirdness like the 1920s belief that the Polar Arctic is the ancestral home of the Caucasian race. In other words, it’s impossible to explain Merritt without a ton of sentences that start with “well, people in the 1920s thought that...” That’s not a good sign when it comes to his universality.

That’s it for now. Do you have any suggestions on a dead fandom, or do you keep one of these “dead” fandoms alive in your heart?

#fandom history #lensman #robotech #prisoner of zenda #mists of avalon

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123designsrq · 4 years

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I honestly trust there are 2 sorts of human beings on this world – the primary one who workout product designs diligently and allow not anything stand inside the manner in their ritual. And then there’s the alternative type (guilty to mention I am a part of this) who permit everything be an excuse to now not workout! Its time we technique our procrastination head-on and get working on getting match due to the fact that we have a pandemic to survive. The series showcased here includes AI-assisted home gyms ( this personal trainer isn't going anywhere), domestic-fitness and teacher that double up as a reflect when no longer in use (hold the arena guessing approximately the secret behind our new more healthy frame) and even traditional gymnasium device however revived to be modern-day so that it won’t conflict with your current interior. Now we in reality haven't any excuse to procrastinate, do we?

Yves Behar’s Forme is the 2020 model of the magic reflect in an effort to make you come out of this quarantine fitter than before. Get in Forme-ation! Forme is a 6 feet tall clever mirror that doubles up as a domestic fitness teacher and gadget. “We wanted to make a health gadget that’s absolutely incorporated into the house with out it being an eyesore,” says Béhar. While similar machines in the marketplace are providing cardio or yoga. With Forme you also get weight lifting, aerobics, and functional schooling on pinnacle of the standard programs. When not in use, the machine’s fingers slide lower back and it becomes an stylish reflect for your home. The instructors are very well vetted and you can song your progress by way of syncing it with your clever devices. workout product designs takes care of our body and our mind – that should be our awareness for these complex times.

Inspired by their namesake, the Matryoshka Dumbells additional weight can be brought to those dumbells by nesting the weights together. Designed with the aid of 7 nepo, these innovative health loose weights take suggestion from an unlikely, unexpected source – matryoshka Russian nesting dolls! Like the doll-in-doll system, additional weight can be added with the aid of nesting the weights together. With a short snap-in/snap-out mechanism, you may transition from mild to heavy in seconds to accommodate your exercise ordinary without interruption. When you’re completed lifting and want to squeeze in some cardio, the handles double as a leap rope with the aid of connecting an protected cord.

The Tempo Studio is a gymnasium-set or workout product designs that comes entire with a display and a motion-tracking digicam that actively scans and video display units your exercise in 3D. With built-in exercising routines which can be guided by means of expert running shoes performing live exercising sessions, the Tempo is the equal of going on a Zoom video name with your fitness center instructor. Hop onto a personalized stay consultation with a health club instructor of your desire and the trainer on the opposite aspect of the screen publications you via your exercise. Introducing the sector’s maximum transportable ﬁtness device. Monkii bars 2 is a fitness center with the aid of Dan Vinson and David Hunt you could take anywhere! Paired with the app it’s extra than just ﬁtness system – it’s your very own private gymnasium, personal instructor, and adventure guide built into one. Simply installation in less than a minute via striking the device from any assist structure – like a tree, swing-set, basketball goal, or maybe the door at domestic or the hotel. Then get a full-frame exercising focused on your upper frame, core, and legs thru loads of sporting events and workouts.

workout product designs as a product to let you paintings and workout at the equal time, Brian Oak’s loopy hybrid of a desk-chair and treadmill – named Fitwork, continues your legs active at the same time as you paintings. Whether you’re sitting in the front of a laptop or standing in front of one, it’s the sedentary lifestyle that Fitwork tackles. The setup (which is sure to grab some eyeballs) comes with an office chair connected to a treadmill underneath, and an elliptical in the front. Coupled with an elevating desk, the Fitwork permits you to preserve the decrease half of your frame active even as you work, supplying you with aerobic in addition to maintaining your spine engaged, whether you’re sitting or standing at the same time as running.

Habit Furniture is a espresso table/bench that inverts to turn into a exercise bench so your health gadget does no longer make use of all your space. Created via Designer Glory Tam and Doctor Albert Au, Habit lets you see and recall your priority of working out quite simply by means of staying in front of you. Whoever stated home gyms are bulky!

Mental workout is as essential as a physical exercise. Wanting to design a seat that courses you into sitting cross-leg. Gao Fenglin’s Meditation Seat can simplest be sit on in a certain way. Directing the user’s behavior and inspiring a seating function that maintains your lower back upright, and your legs folded inward. The cross-legged function unearths itself dating hundreds of years returned in Oriental and Indian cultures. Used frequently for meditation in addition to for consuming. The posture is stating to growth blood move and joint flexibility. At the same time as strengthening bones, and retaining your lower back upright. It also aids digestion. Recognizing that maximum human beings don’t have the gap for health club system in their home. Or the money for a gym membership. Or maybe the self-control to head to the gym every day. Josh Hume launched into a journey to deliver the fitness center to the household. The catch? It needed to be the smallest, maximum exhaustive (and exhausting!) gymnasium ever made. After multiple iterations, the FITT Cube became born. With its 450mm edge dimension, the FITT Cube occupies as much space as a footstool. Deriving with a mini-stepper (with its own seven-section LCD display). A rotating seat, gripping handles, a plyometric platform. Or even resistance bands. The FITT dice additionally comes with a user guide, workout chart. A nutrition manual to keep you on top of your fitness game. Arranging in their optimize formation. The FITT can be flipping over to any facet and used to workout on. Be it anything from stepping sports, to twisting physical activities, to push-ups or lifts. To even plyometric workouts. The FITT turning into design to cater to all. There’s probable a giant overlap in the Venn Diagram that indicates the intersection among Star Wars lovers and Fitness Freaks. Onnit’s variety of Star Wars-stimulated workout gear couldn’t be greater ideal for that audience. Take as an instance the kettlebells that are available rather sensible sculpting cast-iron. Model the use of the heads of Darth Vader. The Imperial Stormtrooper, and Boba Fett. The concept behind the usage of masked characters for the kettlebells no longer best makes for simpler molding (believe how annoyingly precise a Chewbacca kettlebell would want to be). However also lends a sure gravitas and badass nature to the weights. The kettlebells additionally weigh in an growing order of importance. With Boba Fett weighing in at 50 pounds, to the Stormtrooper being 60 pounds. Mister Vader weighing 70 pounds. If you wish to screen the effects of your exercise. The Circular Smart Ring with the aid of Amaury Kosman retains an impressive quantity of capability in a ridiculously small form. It does so, in general through shifting a number of the load for your smartphone. The Circular Smart Ring connects on your telephone through Bluetooth. Providing you with all your information in a well collated dashboard. During the day, the hoop captures your activity, blood oxygen levels, electricity levels, calorie burn count, among different metrics. While at night, the ring ambiently tracks your circadian rhythm and records your sleep quality. Heart-price variability, sleep disturbances, REM cycles, and sleep and wake times. Using pretty state-of-the-art information processing. Device-studying technology, the hoop, its app, and the app’s assistant Kira help you collectively higher recognize your fitness. Come up with bespoke recommendation on the way to improve it. And in case you plan to return to your old health club. Wait until they set up sanitizing methods like this award-triumphing self-sanitizing door cope with layout! Students Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li were inspired through the SARS outbreak inside the 2000s. Figured that a self-sanitizing door cope with is more effective than the chemical-based cleansing tactics we are the use of right now. The handle is of a tumbler tube with aluminum caps at every stop. The complete manage is including in a powder photocatalytic coating craft from a mineral called titanium dioxide. The bacteria is decomposing thru a chemical reaction. This is activating by using UV mild reacting with the skinny coating at the glass tube. Powered by an inner generator, the manage converts kinetic energy from the opening/closing movement of the door into light power. This is how the UV mild is always doing its job. This germ-killing product truly destroying 99.8% of the microbes in the course of lab exams. That is more than what Thanos did together with his infinity stones. We understand it’s so much simpler to be lazy. When nobody is looking you. But rather than looking the information and stress-ingesting our way to another illness. Permit’s utilize this possibility to as a minimum start operating out! They say the primary 21 days are the hardest. Well, allow’s get performing with those tough days so. By the point we step outdoor to exercise, we can be in a higher position than we're now! Paramount, Cybex International, StairMaster and Sunsai are the brands who makes the best workout product designs all over the world. Read the full article

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downthetubes · 11 months

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In Pictures: Adventures in Time and Space – 60 Years of Doctor Who Art at Weston Museum

Currently running at the Weston Museum, Weston-super-Mare until January, the Adventures in Time and Space – 60 Years of Doctor Who Art is a truly incredible collection of Doctor Who art, carefully selected from books, comics and more, spanning the whole life of the popular science adventure. And we have the pictures to prove it, courtesy of the exhibition team who include longtime Who chronicler…

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#Adventures in Time and Space – 60 Years of Doctor Who Art #Chris Achilleos #Colin Howard #Doctor Who #downthetubes News #Jeff Cummins #John McLay #SF Comics #Weston Museum

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altughuner-blog · 5 years

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Amsterdam attracts millions of tourists a year all flocking to the same attractions throughout the city. But after you have explored the canals, visited Dam Square, and admired the paintings inside the Rijksmuseum, you might be feeling like you want more. Although those attractions are all fantastic and beautiful, they are crowded with tourists, which affects the authenticity of the experience. That is why going off the beaten track, to the places to visit in Amsterdam secret spots of the city is something needed.

The famous Amsterdam canals image Shutterstock

Secret off-beat places to visit in Amsterdam

The best part about these places to visit in Amsterdam is that they have many secrets. It is an old city that has a complicated past which has resulted in secret areas and secret rooms in buildings having been necessary for survival. These hidden spots have since turned into less secret places that people now adventure to and enjoy.

It is time to see a new side of the city and explore some sights and engage in some activities you never knew existed. I hope you find something that intrigues you.

Pancake Boat

Anyone who visits the city knows that brunch in Amsterdam is out of this world. What most people don’t know is that there are more options than they think. One of the best brunch options in the city remains a secret to most visitors. This brunch option is the Pancake Boat.

Pancake boat restaurant ship specialized in traditional Dutch pancakes. Image Shutterstock by StudioPortoSabbia

The Pancake Boat is precisely what it sounds like – a boat that serves pancakes. Except for passengers onboard are given unlimited Dutch pancakes with toppings such as syrup, fresh fruit, and powdered sugar. The Pancake Boat takes off from the Northern Docklands and makes its way through the cities main harbor. The whole tour takes around 75 minutes and allows the special people onboard to eat a delicious Dutch delicacy while admiring the beautiful architecture of the city.

Do read: Best Brunch in the city

In t Aepjen

In t Aepjen is one of the oldest bars in the city. Located in plain sight right in the heart of the Red Light district. All-day and night hundreds of tourists walk by this historic bar with no idea of what they are missing. But now, you will know.

The In t Aepjen bar was founded in 1519 in the time of Dutch East India Company. It was a hot spot for sailors returning from exotic journeys with money and monkeys. Back then, sailors would pay for their drink using these monkeys, and very soon, the sailors had no way to afford accommodation. By then the bar became overrun with hundreds of monkeys.

After a flea issue in the bar, the owner created the Zoo to home these animals. The bar now is free of monkeys and is a very cozy place to enjoy a beer.

Tiny Hidden Houses

One of the most fun and quirky secret spots of the capital city is the tiny hidden houses. If you are not looking closely enough, you will miss these houses all together! And although you cannot enter the houses and see what’s inside taking the time to spot them and snap a photo is worth the search.

The mini houses are not just random either; they are there for a reason and have a good story associated with them. On the street of the mini houses, you may notice that the house addresses go from 70 to 54 between two houses. To combat this, a local Amsterdam advertising agency decided this needed to be fixed. Therefore, they put the tiny houses in between the two buildings to make up for the missing addresses.

If you want to find this secret spot head to Noordermarkt and let the searching begin!

Hortus Botanicas

The Hortus Botanicas is a large greenhouse and botanical garden located in the Plantage district, slightly to the west of the city center. This garden was founded in 1638 and is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. In the 1600’s it was used for growing and harvesting medicinal plants for doctors! More so, Hortus Botanicas was used to discover medicines to fight the plague, but the VOC brought many exotic plants back to the city that was used.

The botanical gardens are one secret Dutch greenspace you should take the time to explore while visiting the Netherlands.

Do read: Gouda Cheese & Taste of traditions

Begijnhof

Cityscape Begijnhof one of the oldest inner courts of the city. Image Shutterstock

The Begijnhof is one of the best kept secret places to visit in Amsterdam. This is quite literally hidden in plain sight. It is a very old and historic Hofje located in the heart of the city off a bustling street. This Hofje consists of a group of houses and a small courtyard. It was made for a group of women who vowed their life to chastity. It is a delightful secret spot that offers a welcome escape from the busy streets nearby.

Museum Van Loon

Many people who visit the city know it is a cultural hot spot that is full of museums. However, most people flock to Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum and are blind to all the other lesser-known ones throughout the city.

Van Loon house interior. Image Abramov Anton Shutterstock

The Museum Van Loon is located on Keizersgracht right in the city center and is stunning both on the inside and out. It is a 19th century home that was lived in by the Van Loon family. This museum is open to any visitor and offers a more intimate and exclusive museum experience compared to that of the other famous museums in the city.

Museum Van Loon also has a secret garden in the back that is wonderful to walk around and soak in the unique and special museum experience.

Do Read – Schindler’s Museum in Poland

Vondelbunker

Every tourist who comes to the city heads to Vondelpark. Some go for a walk around the stunning park, and some sit on the green space for a picnic. But, Vondelpark holds some secrets that are just waiting to be discovered. One of these is the Vondelbunker!

The Vondelbunker is a secret bunker that is hidden under a bridge right in the hub and excitement of Vondelpark. This bunker hosts various events and activities too, such as cinema nights, concerts, dinners, and art exhibits. More so, there is a microbrewery located down here called Bunkerbier.

This secret spot one of the secret places to visit in Amsterdam is an actual bomb shelter built for the Cold War. There are quite a few of these scattered around the city that will transport you back in time and give you a unique perspective.

Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder

Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder – Our Lord in the Attic – is a secret museum that is full of surprises. The best surprise is the hidden church in the attic. Very few know about this, and you can not even tell from the street. The church is hidden in an attic for an important reason, and the story behind it is quite impressive.

In the 16th century, after the Reformation, the Calvinist Dutch government outlawed Catholicism. Therefore, Catholic worship was strictly prohibited. However, many followers of the Catholic faith continued their religion in secret and built hidden churches for this, despite the severe punishments. This museum holds one of these secret churches that, since 1888, has been preserved as a historic site and museum.

In addition to the two-story church, the building is full of decorations and furniture from the Golden Age. This museum is never crowded, and here you will learn about history, architecture, and religion, all under one roof.

Poezenboot

The Poezenboot is the world’s only floating cat sanctuary. This unique attraction was established in the ’60s and is home to various stray cats who now live on this houseboat as it sits along the cities canals. It is open for free to the public for a few hours each day where people are welcome to come aboard and play with the cats.

Amsterdam Poezenboot floating cat shelter on the canal. Image Alexander Chizhenok Shutterstock

If you or anyone you know is a cat lover, this secret spot is a must. There is nothing like hanging out with cats on a mysterious houseboat to make your day.

De Otter Windmill

Almost all visitors of the Netherlands are lusting to see a Dutch windmill, but the capital city is not home to many, only the surrounding cities are. However, there is one windmill in the city that will allow you to experience a windmill without leaving the city.

De Otter Windmill dates back to 1631 and is a Rijksmonument windmill. This windmill is a great secret as it is the last remaining sawmill in Amsterdam. It is not possible to visit and enter the site, but you can view it from the sidewalk and snap a few fresh photos of it.

Cuypers Library

One of the best-kept secrets of the Rijksmuseum is the secret library inside of it. The library is complete with dark wood shelving and is packed with essential books from floor to ceiling. This hidden gem feels like you’ve suddenly time traveled right into the 19th-century!

Rijksmuseum library neo-gothic, arches, and galleries of books. Image Shutterstock by Hollandfotonet

The Cuypers Library is a Renaissance and Gothic library that is hidden in plain sight. A visit here will be a welcome break from the busy and crowded ‘normal’ Rijksmuseum, into a hidden haven that will shock and awe you.

Oudemanhuispoort Bookmarkt

If you are an art or literature lover, this secret spot is calling for you. Oudemanhusiport – Old Man’s House Passage – is a little hidden walkway that is full of stalls selling second-hand books and unique art pieces. Although this secret spot is located in the heart of the city, it is barely visible from the street and easily missed by people.

This walkway was once frequented by Vincent Van Gogh and is now home to a part of the University of Amsterdam Campus. Oudemanhuispoort Bookmarkt is the perfect secret hideaway to escape the rainy days and to pick up a unique book or piece of art.

Theatre Tuschinski

It is a rainy city; therefore, having some activities planned that are indoor based is a good idea. One idea for an indoor event is going to the movies. Many people think you can go to the cinema anywhere in the world, so why would you go on vacation. But in the city, the movie experience is more than what is on the screen.

Theatre Tuschinski one of the oldest cinemas of Netherlands. Image hollandfoto.net Shutterstock

The movie theatre Tuschinski is a stunning theatre with a lush and unscaled interior that dates back to 1921. The whole theatre is a masterpiece, and you will find yourself looking at the architecture more than the screen.

In case you were wondering the Netherlands does, in fact, show English movies too! If you want to plan a cute date night that is intimate and explores a secret hidden gem of the city, this is the place to do so.

Image Shutterstock

Places to visit in Amsterdam are way more than just the touristy spots that everyone flocks to around the city. It is full of history, charm, and culture. Taking some time during your adventures, to discover the secrets of the city will leave you with a new appreciation of the beautiful capital of the Netherlands.

Guest Post Author

Samantha Karen is the founder of the travel bog Sam Sees World. She is a millennial traveler on a mission to seek the new and unknown so she can document her experiences and inspire others to explore this wondrous world. Her objective is to provide valuable information on the best things to do, see, eat, and experience while traveling and getting some good Instagram photos along the way.

The post Secret Off-Beat Places To Visit In Amsterdam appeared first on Inditales.

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hyrulehearts1123 · 7 years

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Tag thing

I was tagged to do this by @fucktional-slytherpuff. It took a little but to do, but here it is. Questions, answers, and tags are under the cut. Enjoy!

Rules: Answer all questions and tag 20 people.

1. What is your nickname?

I've got a lot of nicknames from various people. The most common ones are Hyrule and Buggs though.

2. What is your zodiac sign?

Tarus

3. What is your favorite book series?

There's more than one, but if I had to choose, The Belgariad by David Eddings. Top notch writing there.

4. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts?

Yeah, I'm open to the possibility.

5. Who is your favorite author?

Tolkien, Eddings, Brooks, Rowling, the list is endless at this point.

6. What is your current favorite song?

It's a close tie between Second Chance by Shinedown, and Ashes of Eden by Breaking Benjamin.

7. What is your favorite word?

Potato!!

8. What was the last song you listened to?

Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide by Shinedown.

9. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch?

Cutthroat Kitchen. Kickass food, crazy pranks.

10. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down?

Phantom of the Opera.

11. Do you play video games?

I'm waiting for my mom to finally stop playing so I can have my memory card back and finish Tales of the Abyss again. I may have created a monster.

12. What is your biggest fear?

At this point, things that I can't stop.

13. What is your best quality, in your opinion?

I've been told I'm very good at writing, so I'll go with that.

14. What is your worst quality, in your opinion?

I'm seriously stubborn. I have to try even when I know I'll fail.

15. What is your favorite season?

The three days of Autumn we get in the south.

16. Are you in a relationship?

Nope.

17. What is something you miss from your childhood?

Not having to worry about a million different things.

18. Who is your best friend?

I've got 4 of them, but only one of them's on here. Hi @ofthewind01!

19. What is your eye color?

Hazel.

20. What is your hair color?

A vague brownish blonde

21. Who is someone you love?

All the book, movie, and video game characters that I adopted.

22. Who is someone you trust?

My friends.

23. Who is someone you think about often?

My sweet fictional children. They deserve so much better.

24. Are you currently excited about/for something?

I'm writing a book. Does that count?

25. What is your biggest obsession?

My writing, Tales of the Abyss, Marvel, the list goes on for a while.

26. What was your favorite TV show as a child?

House of Mouse. That show was awesome.

27. Do you have any unusual phobias?

Can't remember the name, but I hate fireworks if I can't see them.

28. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it?

Behind. I take good photos on occasion.

29. What is your favorite hobby?

Writing, playing guitar, painting.

30. What was the last book you read?

Enchanter's End Game by David Eddings.

31. What was the last movie you watched?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

32. What musical instruments do you play, if any?

I can play piano and flute by ear, and I'm learning guitar.

33. What is your favorite animal?

My cat Cocoa. Such a soft, pretty, silly baby.

34. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow?

I can't think of anyone. God I'm brain dead right now.

35. What superpower do you wish you had?

Flying. Gimme them wiiiiiinggggssssss

36. When and where do you feel most at peace?

When I'm in my woods, or walking in the woods alone.

37. What makes you smile?

My cats, playing music, and reading.

38. What sports do you play, if any?

No sports here.

39. What is your favorite drink?

Tea and Mountain Dew.

40. Are you afraid of heights?

Not unless there isn't a railing of some kind.

41. What is your biggest pet peeve?

When people think they know more than you because they're either older, or did five seconds of research.

42. Have you ever been to a concert?

Several! They were all awesome, except when I got the flu at the last one.

43. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A doctor. Then I learned that blood freaks me out.

44. What fictional world would you like to live in?

Either Percy Jackson (book verse), or Hyrule.

45. What is something you worry about?

That I'll never succeed at anything.

46. Are you scared of the dark?

Nope. It's the only time I'm really left alone.

47. Do you like to sing?

Yeah. I've got a pretty good range, so I can do a lot of parts.

48. Have you ever skipped school?

Yeah, but I still had to do it later. The problems of being homeschooled I guess.

49. What is your favorite place on the planet?

Ireland. I wish I could go back.

50. Where would you like to live?

I don't really care, as long as it's in the middle of nowhere.

51. Do you have any pets?

Two cats. Only one of them likes me though.

52. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl?

Night owl. I don't wake up until noon.

53. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better?

Sunsets. Like I said, I hate getting up early.

54. Do you know how to drive?

Yeah. Got my license too.

55. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones?

I like both, but headphones tend to last longer.

56. Have you ever had braces?

Yup. Been there, done that.

57. What is your favorite genre of music?

I guess kinda rock. I just listen to whatever sounds good.

58. Who is your hero?

My mom, and my dad.

59. Do you read comic books?

On occasion.

60. What makes you the most angry?

People being arrogant.

61. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book?

Real book. There's just nothing like a real book.

62. What is your favorite subject in school?

I graduated earlier in the year, but I enjoyed Language Arts.

63. Do you have any siblings?

An older brother and a younger brother.

64. What was the last thing you bought?

A 2-liter of soda for a party.

65. How tall are you?

5″4. I'm kinda short.

66. Can you cook?

I can, but I don't all that often.

67. What are three things that you love?

video games, writing, and reading.

68. What are three things that you hate?

Dumbasses, people interrupting what I'm doing, and assumptions.

69. What is your sexual orientation?

I'm Asexual.

70. Where do you currently live?

The US, in the south.

71. Who was the last person you texted?

@ofthewind01. Have fun with your brother Windy.

72. When was the last time you cried?

Saturday. Wasn't fun.

73. Who is your favorite YouTuber?

LeafyIsHere.

74. Do you like to take selfies?

Not really.

75. What is your favorite app?

The Flow apps.

76. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like?

It's pretty good.

77. What is your favorite foreign accent?

A soft Irish accent.

78. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit?

Not sure. Somewhere in like, Greece would be cool.

79. What is your favorite number?

84.

80. Do you find outer space of the deep ocean to be more interesting?

Spaaaaaaaaceeeeeee……..

81. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil?

When I was younger, yeah, but not so much anymore.

82. Are you allergic to anything?

Ants. It's pretty severe too.

83. Can you wiggle your ears?

Kinda, but not really.

84. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something?

Whenever it happens.

85. Do you prefer the forest or the beach?

The woods.

86. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you?

Just try. It doesn't matter if you succeed or fail, what matters is that you try.

87. Are you a good liar?

I'm pretty good, but I don't do it all that often.

88. What is your Hogwarts House?

Slytherin through and through.

89. Do you talk to yourself?

Yes. I've had three way dialogues with myself before.

90. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Introvert.

91. Do you keep a journal/diary?

Nope.

92. Do you believe in second chances?

To an extent, and depending on what happened.

93. Do you believe that people are capable of change?

Sometimes, but no one can change completely.

94. Are you ticklish?

Not anymore.

95. Have you ever been on a plane?

More times than I can count. I don't actually remember most of the times, because a lot of them happened before I turned 1.

96. Do you have any piercings?

I had my ears pierced, but I don't really wear earrings often.

97. What fictional character do you wish was real?

*Glances towards the hundreds of characters I claimed as my children*

98. Do you have any tattoos?

Nope. Not planning to get any either.

99. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far?

When I decided to start writing.

100. Do you believe in karma?

Yup. What goes around comes around.

101. Do you wear glasses or contacts?

Glasses on occasion. I forget to a lot though.

102. Do you want children?

Yes, a boy and a girl.

103. Who is the smartest person you know?

My mom.

104. What is your most embarrassing memory?

I can't really think of anything right now.

105. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter?

Multiple. They never ended very well though. I always had to redo most of whatever I did after I got sleep.

106. What color are most of you clothes?

Just solid colors. Whatever looks good I guess.

107. Do you like adventures?

Sure, as long as I know what all it entails.

108. Have you ever been on TV?

Kinda, I was in the background when the leader of the children's department at my church was interviewed a while back.

109. How old are you?

17.

110. What is your favorite quote?

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

111. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods?

Depends on my mood.

112. Have your friends ever badly disapponted you?

Yeah, one of them did. We're not friends anymore because of it.

113. What is your favorite scent?

Vanilla.

114. Random fact you know?

Cats have a set of meows that are used specifically when around humans.

115. What is your opinion on long distance relationships?

They usually don't work out. It takes a lot of dedication, and I probably wouldn't try it.

Alrighty, I’m just gonna tag @ofthewind01, @trisscar368, @theriverscribe, and @tree-of-blue-squirrel. Do it, or don’t. I really don’t care, it’s up to you. Stay awesome my dudes.

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moosterrecords · 5 years

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New from Arrow Video US and Arrow Academy US

TERRA FORMARS (4/2)

MELO (4/9)

THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE (4/9)

KEOMA (4/16) SCARED STIFF (4/23) KHRUSTALYOV, MY CAR! [Limited Edition] (4/30)

via MVD Entertainment Group

Spring into April with Arrow Films!

Once you've completed your spring cleaning, Arrow Films invites you to kick up your feet and relax with six new titles coming to Blu-ray this April. The month begins with the April 2nd release of Takashi Miike's Terra Formars. This sci-fi adventure sees a team of space explorers take battle against a horde of oversized anthropomorphic cockroaches. The release in includes a full-full-length documentary on the making of the film, outtakes and more. Fans of Miike will certainly be thrilled to get their hands on this modern classic.

April 9th sees two releases hit shelves starting with The Iguana with the Tongue Fire. Set in Dublin, an oddity for a giallo, this film from legendary director Riccardo Freda follows a series of brutal killings that carry political complications. The film is presented with a new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative. The second April 9th release is Mélo from director Alain Resnais. This story of a doomed love triangle is based on the classic play from Henri Bernstein and come with a stunning new 2K restoration.

Keoma, one of the greatest spaghetti westerns comes to Blu-ray on April 16th. Pairing two icons in star Franco Nero and director Enzo G. Castellari, this is the story of a half-breed gunfighter that returns home to find his fellow townsfolk terrorized by a terrible gang. This truly epic film gets an epic release presented with a new 2K restoration and loaded with brand new special features. If you're a spaghetti western aficionado this one is a must for your collection.

Mary Page Keller and Andrew Stevens star in Richard Friedman's Scared Stiff, coming to Blu-ray on April 23rd. A singer moves into a colonial mansion with her son and boyfriend only to uncover deep, dark secrets hidden within the boarded up attic. Fans of '80s horror and practical effects are sure to have a soft spot for this one.

The month comes to a close with the April 30th release of Khrustalyov, My Car! This darkly funny satire is the story of a military doctor arrested in Stalin's Russia, accused of being a participant in the so-called "doctor's plot." This limited edition release includes a 60-page booklet featuring new writing by Gianna D'Emilio, an archival essay by Joël Chaperon and original reviews.

COMPLETE DETAILS, SPECIAL FEATURES, and HI-RES ART BELOW

Terra Formars

The ever-prolific Takashi Miike returns with this intergalactic epic in which a team of space explorers find themselves pitched against a horde of oversized anthropomorphic cockroaches. Based on the popular Manga series of the same name, Terra Formars is an action-packed space adventure brought to life by one of Japan's most celebrated contemporary filmmakers.

BLU-RAY SKU: AV195 UPC: 760137237884 SRP: 39.95 Street Date: 04/02/19 PreBook Date: 02/26/19 Label: Arrow Video Genre: Sci Fi/Fantasy Language: Japanese Run Time: 108 mins

High-res Cover Art (JPG) »

Melo

Pierre and Marcel are both celebrated concert violinists and lifelong friends, in spite of their differing temperaments. After years apart, the two friends reunite when Pierre invites Marcel to his home for dinner. It is then that Marcel first meets Pierre's wife Romaine, sparking a passionate affair that can only end in tragedy before the curtain falls.

BLU-RAY SKU: AA046 UPC: 760137233787 SRP: 39.95 Street Date: 04/09/19 PreBook Date: 03/05/19 Label: Arrow Academy Genre: Drama Language: French Run Time: 110 mins

High-res Cover Art (JPG) »

Scared Stiff

In this late-80s offering from director Richard Friedman, TV star Mary Page Keller plays Kate Christopher, a singer who moves into an old colonial mansion with her son and psychologist boyfriend David (Andrew Stevens). But when they make a gruesome discovery in the boarded-up attic, it soon becomes clear that the mansion carries with it a dark past that is about to terrorize them in the present.

BLU-RAY SKU: AV194 UPC: 760137237983 SRP: 39.95 Street Date: 04/23/19 PreBook Date: 03/19/19 Label: Arrow Video Genre: Horror Language: English Run Time: 84 mins

High-res Cover Art (JPG) »

Keoma

The legendary Franco Nero stars in the titular role as a half-breed gunfighter who returns from the killing fields of the civil war to find his hometown's inhabitants terrorized by tyrannical gang leader Caldwell. Keoma's father welcomes his prodigal son's return, but when Keoma saves a vulnerable pregnant woman from Caldwell's thugs, the stage is set for a violent confrontation.

BLU-RAY SKU: AV196 UPC: 760137237587 SRP: 39.95 Street Date: 04/16/19 PreBook Date: 03/12/19 Label: Arrow Video Genre: Western Language: English Run Time: 101 mins

High-res Cover Art (JPG) »

The Iguana With The Tongue Of Fire

Set in Dublin, Iguana opens audaciously with an acid-throwing, razor-wielding maniac brutally slaying a woman in her own home. The victim's mangled corpse is discovered in a limousine owned by Swiss Ambassador Sobiesky and a police investigation is launched, but when the murdering continues and the ambassador claims diplomatic immunity, tough ex-cop John Norton is brought in to find the killer...

BLU-RAY SKU: AV193 UPC: 760137237488 SRP: 39.95 Street Date: 04/09/19 PreBook Date: 03/05/19 Label: Arrow Video Genre: Horror Language: Italian Run Time: 96 mins

High-res Cover Art (JPG) »

Khrustalyov, My Car! [Limited Edition]

Late winter 1953. The lives of nearly half the planet are in Stalin's hands. A military surgeon, General Yuri Georgievich Klensky, finds himself a target of the "Doctors' Plot": the anti-Semitic conspiracy accusing Jewish doctors in Moscow of planning to assassinate the Soviet elite. Pursued, abused, and marked for the gulags, Yuri is chased and dragged through a Stalinist Soviet nightmare.

Watch trailer »

BLU-RAY SKU: AA043 UPC: 760137233886 SRP: 49.95 Street Date: 04/30/19 PreBook Date: 03/26/19 Label: Arrow Academy Genre: Drama Language: Russian Run Time: 150 mins

High-res Cover Art (JPG) »

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blueisunlucky · 7 years

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1. more cereal than milk 2. no 3. a broken adventure time card holder given to me from the one that got away on halloween three years ago 4. i don’t drink coffee & i take my tea with two sugars, sometimes one and a half, depending on the size of the mug 5. yes 6. no, but i’d like to 7. - 8. words 9. no 10. side 11. shipping each other with males whom they have a vague connection with (e.g. makes a teacher laugh once, sees a random boy’s name on their Snapchat contact list that we don’t know,) 12. earth 13. my brother showing me a meme 14. spiral stairs, raw brick walls, a neutral colour scheme and warm fairy lights. lots of them. these fairy lights will be stringed across the walls and have candid poleroid photos pegged to them. tables covered in newspaper clippings, sketches of plants and fairytale creatures, cutouts from magazines and used mugs. strange abstract paintings from market stalls that we thought were funny, creaky wooden flooring and shaggy rugs on top. 15. 99% of our solar system’s mass is the sun! the sun is fucking huge 16. spaghetti without the sauce 17. blonde, but people think it wouldn’t suit me. blue seems intriguing 18. i used to write these cheesy erotic short stories about my friend and some guy (see no. 11) on scrap pieces of paper for my friends to annoy the said friend. these papers are now lost, but the memories of them aren’t 19. no. i have tried, but i always forget about it after a while 20. blue, for the first girl my heart latched on to. 21. i don’t have a specific bag, but an assortment of school bags that constantly broke or were horribly bulky that i kept pushing or bashing people 22. is anyone? 23. write, but i never get the time anymore 24. yes 25. me break into someplace? ha i’m a pussy 26. what is this question? my school shoes, because i’m obliged to wear black shoes? 27. bubblegum is already a flavour 28. sunset 29. one of my friends literally lights up from about 20 to 100 if you mention something she likes. she has such pure, childlike enthusiasm 30. yes 31. socks. I despise the rise of ankle socks. you’re paying the full price for half a sock. like?!!1!? otherwise, i enjoy all socks, frilly, knee length, comical, odd. maybe not sports socks though 32. i have never been out with my friends after 3am. sad times. 33. apple pie, no doubt 34. i had a stuffed tiger toy called “Tiger” but pronounced like “Tigger”. he wasn’t the Disney one. my father bought it for my mother, and she gave it to me. my younger self called him my husband and I liked kissing him. he currently sits at the back of my wardrobe. 35. i am the stationary whore. i steal and hoard pens, pencils, rubbers, coloured paper, paper clips, etc, that i find on the floor or abandoned in classrooms when the coast is clear. 36. coldplay 37. messy 38. the sound of chewing, saliva, and those sort of things 39. i’m not sure. if i had to choose, i’d guess grey? 40. i have a gold ring with a gold bow on it in the drawer of my wardrobe. back in high school, me and my mates had this inside joke that one of my friends and I were “married”, so one April she and the others came to my house and she joke proposed to me. 41. Thanks for the Trouble, by Tommy Wallach 42. i wish i had a small, pretty corner coffee shop to tell stories about, but i just don’t drink coffee. all i got is the Starbucks and the Costa’s i grab hot chocolates from when i’m outside and alone, or when my friends feel like it 43. probably my cat 44. AS results day. we all got crappy grades, and the four of us sat in a playground and laughed 45. no 46. compasses and protractors are banned from my school because they’re considered weapons of math destruction 47. peppercorns 48. i don’t think i had a fear when i was younger, but now i fear rejection and being seen as boring 49. i’ve never owned a record and the last CD i had was given to me during primary school. everyone uses online copies now, unless they’re being aesthetic ™ 50. stationary (see no. 35). 51. Jenny, by Studio Killers 52. is Hollyweed considered a meme? 53. nope. i’m uncultured swine 54. my mother 55. pretend to forget, like faking momentary amnesia, and boy, it was the worst decision i’ve made to this day 56. nicknames, gift giving outside of holidays or birthdays, remembering little details 57. chaotic, suicidal, but nearing the end, strangely peaceful 58. i’m the vodka aunt, for i spike my own tea with it, as an “experiment”. I’m yet to find the wine mom 59. religion 60. yeah, i like it. La Belle Dame Sans Merci, by John Keats, at the moment, but i haven’t read enough to make an informed decision 61. a toy cross bow for my father. he never used it, and i don’t know why i got that; i just wanted to get him something. for me, a penguin cuddly you from a girl i hardly talked to anymore. i was sixteen or seventeen i think? i don’t mean to be rude but why? 62. i don’t have time to drink in the morning. the exception would be when i was doing that vodka-tea experiment (see no. 58) 63. my books are currently in a rainbow colour order. if they weren’t, i wouldn’t care too much 64. a pale blue, with a smudge of purple-grey clouds 65. the first friend i ever made, Tusma. she moved houses at the end of year three. i haven’t seen her in about eight years 66. depends. i’m torn between going dainty and picking yellow: buttercups, dandelions, daisies, with soft clovers and the occasional purple wildflower, like a rugged, forest fairy. or standing fierce, a red rose crown, thick with thorns, holly leaves and berries, some crushed, scarlet liquid dripping down my forehead but eyes staring straight ahead. 67. powerful, invisible, stealthy 68. cold, bitter, sometimes dry like a cough or wet and uncomfortable. it doesn’t snow anymore 69. scrabble, monopoly 70. in year nine, some kids decided they wanted to use a ouija board. i was curious, and i walked into the science room they were planning to use when the teachers were gone and the lights were off, despite my friends’ protests. it wasn’t an actual ouija board, but an imitation, scribbles on a piece of paper. i can’t remember who did it with me, but i’m pretty sure some of them were the popular kids. we felt no presence, although everyone tried their best to scare each other. we never said goodbye. no ghosts have haunted or killed me yet. 71. earl grey, or normal tea with a sprinkle of ginger 72. i feel as if i’m going to forget and can’t handle things, but i rarely note things down. i seem to cope, just 73. daydreaming, procrastinating, not being able to keep my own secrets 74. shy, quiet bean, needs to be protected at all costs, their laugh is more of a giggle, good at art, baby of the group, secretly wants to get drunk and make out with people, i suspect a little bi-curious but i can’t be sure, has technology and food kinks (but not at the same time) 75. i have a black and white cat named Wallace, after Wallace from Wallace & Gromit, because he eats cheese. he has a wonky tongue because he cut it on something but we never found out what that something was. he’s eleven years old, so he’s getting on now, and i think there’s a rising rivalry between Wallace and a mysterious black cat that keeps popping up near our garden 76. revising, duh 77. have never tried pink lemonade, so yellow 78. hateclub 79. sent me a claraxeleven edit as means to make me stay when i was thinking of running away. i thought only those deep in the doctor who fandom watched those, and it may have suggested i was rubbing off on him 80. lilac. i chose it because when i first moved into this room i was sharing it with my younger sister, so i wanted to choose a colour that she wouldn’t hate that was also not pink 81. watery brown stone (cba) 82. yeah, i was usually in the top or second top groups 83. i don’t buy albums, so i wouldn’t know where to start 84. yes. a small TARDIS at the back of my neck. maybe a ruffled feather, despite it being a little cliché, it has a literal importance to me. something related to space on one of my thighs, and perhaps something with roses, or skulls 85. unfortunately, no 86. i don’t know what those are 87. The Imitation Game, High School Musical, Edward Scissorhands, Men in Black, Shrek, Home Alone, Independence Day, The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, Hidden Figures, the Star Wars trilogy, Freaky Friday, Titanic, Jurassic Park, Alien, Terminator, Jaws, Jumanji 88. dancing when i’m alone, and dabbing (sorry not sorry) 89. debatable 90. it isn’t a city, but my favourite place is the Isle of Wight. i first tried tea in a big blue breakfast room at the b&b and learned to play pool at a pool table you had to put a pound in to play. i fed a lamb and my brother wet the bed and we watched a Lara Croft movie in our little room and it rained most of the time but i loved it all so 91. no where 92. barely sprinkles 93. bedhead, sometimes brushed 94. yesterday, a boy who loves me but i ran out of love months ago 95. nothing unusual 96. procrastinate 97. myer briggs? what is this? capricorn, gryffindor 98. NCS, where we all hiked across the coast of Wales, and at the end of it i thought my legs were going to fall off and my feet were all numb. beautiful views though 99. If I Lose Myself, One Republic; Give Your Heart a Break, Demi Lovato; Get Out, Casey Abrams; Oh No!, Marina and the Diamonds; Spectrum, Zedd 100. past, because i know what i’d do

#i spent hours on this #and no one will care

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lauramalchowblog · 4 years

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How I’d Change School

Almost no one’s happy with school these days. Kindergarteners are sitting in front of devices for 4-5 hours a day. Teens are dreading daily online meetings and getting prescriptions for “Zoom fatigue.” Some of this is growing pains—kids, teachers, and parents are being asked to completely change the way they do school on a moment’s notice, and change like that doesn’t come easily. But that’s not the only reason.

There just aren’t many great options left. Parents don’t want their kids stuck on the computer all day, nor do they want them in class masked up and unable to touch or play with their peers. There are big problems in every direction.

Change is in the air. People are fed up with the new way of doing things and realizing they don’t like the old way all that much either. I don’t have kids in school anymore, but I do have a grandkid who will be in school soon. Besides, everyone who lives in a country has a stake in the school system of that country. The schools shape the people who become the adults who shape the nation. That affects everyone. Something needs to change.

If I could wave a wand, how would I change school?

Here’s what I’d like to see:

Later start times

8:30, 9 AM. This would give kids extra sleep. Everyone needs sleep, but kids need it more than anyone. It helps them consolidate memories and recently learned skills.1 Even the CDC has called for later start times2 for schools. as kids especially need a lot of sleep. Kids are staying up later and later than ever before. Particularly in studies using teen subjects, delaying school start times by 25-60 minutes can increase total sleep duration by 25-75 minutes per weeknight.3 That’s up to more than an hour of extra sleep a night, five days a week. That’s a huge ROI.

There’s more beneficial fallout that the studies don’t address. When you push the start time back, the mornings are less stressful for everyone. Instead of giving your kid a ziploc bag full of dry cereal, you’re scrambling eggs, slicing apples, and frying bacon. You’re not worried about being late, you’re taking your time. Hell, maybe there’s even time to walk to school.

Stay on track no matter where you are! Sign up for our Primal and Keto Guide to Eating Out

Better food

Just go full whole food Primal with a macronutrient-agnostic bent:

Full-fat dairy

Real meat and eggs and seafood

Fruit and vegetables

Starchy tubers

No seed oils or gluten or refined sugar

That may sound strict. You may think “kids would never go for that.” It may be overkill. And you couldn’t control what kids ate at home or brought for lunch, and not everyone would participate in the program. But just imagine: We’d finally see what could happen if you removed most of the processed seed oil-and-sugar-and gluten-laden junk from kids’ diets—on a national scale.

A nation of kids eating eggs and fruit and kefir and potatoes cooked in butter for breakfast, a burger patty and yam for lunch with a side of full-fat milk. You’ve seen what getting some good protein, fat, and clean carbs in your kids for breakfast and lunch can do. Imagine everyone else’s kids eating the same thing. That could change the world.

Walking to school

I used to run to school every single day. That’s actually how I got into cross country running at an early age: I realized I could beat the bus to school if I just ran. So I did. Those daily runs to and from school introduced little bouts of pure freedom and adventure into my life that made me who I am today. Until several years ago, kids weren’t even allowed to show up to school alone. They needed to be dropped off or accompanied by a parent or guardian. I’d go a step further. At my ideal grade school, the default would be arriving alone. If a parent wanted to drop their kid off, they’d need a permission slip and doctor’s note.

I’m kidding, of course. But kids these days need that freedom and adventure more than ever, however they can get it. There’s not as much to go around.

More and longer recess

Recess is shrinking. Most grade school kids are lucky to get a single 20 minute block of free outdoor play per day. Some schools don’t even give first graders any recess at all, and a disturbing number of them even hold recess hostage as a punishment for poor behavior or performance.4 This is a travesty, not only because recess (and PE) increase physical activity and step count, but because physical activity improves learning and reduces acting out. In one Texas grade school, implementing four 15-minute recesses a day reduced bullying and tattling, improved focus and eye-contact, and even stopped the neurotic pencil chewing teachers were noticing among their students. The kids are testing ahead of schedule despite less actual classroom time and test prep. Recess improves academic performance, and physical play improves subsequent learning capacity. Give a kid a 15 minute play break for every 45 minutes of book learning and he’ll learn more than the kid who studies an hour straight.

Recess needs to be longer. The absolute daily minimum is 45 minutes (spread across 1-3 sessions including lunch), though I’d like to see the entire day spent outside with movement interlaced with learning/lessons.

Hold classes outdoors

The benefits are immense and irrefutable:

Kids with ADHD can focus better after exposure to green spaces.

Kids who frequently spend time outdoors get sick less often and show better motor skills and physical coordination.5

Kids with exposure (even just visual) to nature have better self-discipline.6

For kids dealing with stress at home (who isn’t?), nature can act as a buffer.7

Kids with consistent daily sun exposure have more vitamin D, better circadian rhythms, and stronger immune systems.

The more outdoor time a kid gets, the lower his or her risk of myopia.

Add to those the general benefits of green space seen in all humans and the outdoor classroom setting looks more attractive.

Ideally, the entire school day takes place outdoors, but even a small daily nature excursion is better than nothing.

Walking classrooms

We’ve all heard of Socrates’ peripatetic school, where he’d lead his students on walks around Greece while lecturing and leading discussions. This is incredible. Who else loves going on hikes with friends not just for the nature, but for the incredible conversations you end up embroiled in? There’s something special about physical movement that stimulates mental movement. Physical flow promotes cognitive blood flow.

The kids could make stops to write and do some deeper work, but class discussions and lectures could easily happen on the move.

More deep work, one subject per day

This isn’t the only way, but I think many kids and teens would thrive on a “one subject a day” schedule that allowed them to really immerse themselves in a subject or project. Imagine reading an entire book from start to finish. Imagine working on an art project all day long. Imagine getting lost in history, going down rabbit hole after rabbit hole, following whatever thread tugs on you.

Kids tend to obsess over things. Schools should take advantage of that.

Eliminate almost all rules at recess

Kids should be able to climb trees, roughhouse, leap fences, ride bikes, play tag, play dodgeball, play butts up, and all the other classic playground games that carry a modicum of danger. Kids shouldn’t be expelled for playing cops and robbers or making finger guns. Staff intervenes only if kids request it or injury is imminent. The whole point is to introduce kids to risk. Navigating relatively small risks (skinned knee, hurt feeling, short fall, wounded pride) builds mettle and prepares developing brains to deal with bigger risks. It makes them more anti-fragile. People talk about school as preparation for the meat grinder of “real life,” but most schools eliminate any real prep work because adults mediate every conflict, grievance, hogged sandbox, and stolen dinosaur toy.

Tons of climbable structures and trees

Kids (and adults) need to climb things. It’s fun, it builds strength, and introduces manageable risk and responsibility. You get stuck up in a tree, you get yourself unstuck. You can climb all the trees you want, but you’ll have to get yourself down.

I’m imagining networks of trees and structures all over the playground and campus to the point that a kid could get anywhere without touching the ground. There’s actually a great book about this: The Baron in the Trees, by Italo Calvino. It’s about a young Italian nobleman who runs away from home as a child to live in the trees surrounding his estate and stays there for the rest of his life, never touching the ground.

No busy homework

The evidence for homework is weak to nonexistent.8 Instead of giving five year olds an hour of paperwork to complete or 15 year olds four hours of work, give them open-ended suggestions.

“Read a book with your parents and tell the class about your favorite part of the story.”

“Find 7 leaves, each from a different tree, and bring them to class.”

“Start a business. Come up with a business plan, a product, and marketing materials.”

Enabling deep work and deep learning during the school day would make most “busy” homework pointless.

Bring back “tracks”

Only don’t limit these tracks to “academics.” It’s not that you split the kids up by “smart” or “dumb” or “advanced” and “behind.” You allow the kids to establish their own track based on interest and aptitude. You get more specific with the tracks.

Someone wants to just do math all day? Let them focus on that.

Someone shows promise as an artist? Let them draw and paint to their heart’s content.

Someone’s obsessed with video games? Let them learn to make their own.

Obviously, even a math-obsessed whiz kid should also read great literature, but I’m not sure the math whiz kid needs to be writing essays on “Brave New World.” Simply reading it is probably enough.

More doing and playing

Humans learn best by doing. Everyone accepts that we learn languages best by speaking it or being thrown into a foreign country, not by reading language lessons. But learning through doing works for everything. Learning the fundamentals matters, but only if you also practice them. I learned to write by reading and aping other writers. This even works in subjects like math. One American educator, Benezet, showed that children who delayed formal math instruction in favor of natural math instruction (doing) until 8th grade quickly caught up to and outperformed kids taught the traditional way.

You could very well teach simple arithmetic by playing card games like Blackjack or Addition War or Subtraction War.

You could teach (or reinforce) grammar by playing MadLibs. Or just giving kids cool things to read.

What else?

More trades

Don’t just bring back the old woodshop and metalshop. Introduce full-blown apprenticeship programs. Paid ones.

Plumbing

Masonry

Carpentry

Electrician

Agriculture

Automotive

And so on

Name a profession and you can probably figure out an apprenticeship program. Heck, this already exists in many states. Check out the listings for California apprenticeships for an idea of what’s possible. Many high schools can even set this up. I bet there are guidance counselors who currently do it, or have. But is it the norm? No. It should be.

Lots of kids would really benefit.

Teach basic competencies

There are basic physical skills everyone should learn.

Swimming

Self defense

First aid

Physical fitness (running, sprinting, climbing, strength standards)

And other “non-physical” core competencies:

Budgeting

Cooking

Cleaning

Laundry

Bill paying/taxes

Home economics, in other words.

Mixed ages

Segregation by age makes little evolutionary sense (until the public school system arose, children had historically hung out with other children of all ages). As a kid, whenever we weren’t in school I’d rove around my neighborhood in age-desegregated packs. It was all very fluid. We’d have the bigger kids leading the way, the smaller ones tagging along, and because everyone pretty much lived in the same place their whole lives, kids would graduate into different roles and new kids would always be coming up in the ranks. Without age mixing children miss out on many benefits:9

Younger kids can’t learn from older kids.

Older kids can’t learn how to teach younger kids.

Younger kids can only do age appropriate activities. With an older kid’s help, a younger child can accomplish much more. Two 4-year olds throwing a frisbee around is an exercise in futility. Include a 7-year old and it gets a whole lot more productive for everyone.

If any of this sounds good to you, what are you waiting for? No politician is going to make this happen. The Department of Education certainly won’t make these changes. You have to make it happen, either by finding a school that does this or creating your own curriculum at home. If you have the option, consider gathering together with a few other families to form a “pod” to realize your vision.

If that’s not feasible, get together with other like-minded families and petition your district for incremental change.

No one school or parent can enact all these changes. Some conflict. Some are downright impossible in certain environments. But even if you just implemented one or two of these ideas, you could have a positive impact.

What do you think, readers? Parents, kids, non-parents, teens, teachers: what does your ideal vision of early education look like?

What would you change? What you add or take away to the current set up?

Thanks for reading.

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References

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24329882

http://www.cdc.gov/features/school-start-times/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26545246

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23834604

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1012576913074#page-1

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494401902415

http://eab.sagepub.com/content/35/3/311.abstract

http://rer.sagepub.com/content/76/1/1.abstract

http://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/3-4-article-gray-age-mixed-play.pdf

The post How I’d Change School appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

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jesseneufeld · 4 years