#Play Yard Work Simulator

[gallusrostromegalus]

So the tire-eating potholes in my neighborhood finally killed both my rear tires and I had to get that dealt with, but while they were getting replaced, I put the dogs in puppy daycare and upon picking them up early, the attendant literally sprinted to the front desk, grabbed me by the shoulders and breathlessly exclaimed "YOUNEEDTOCOMESEEWHATYOURDOGSAREDOING"

While she escorted me back to the play yards, she explained that every time they have more than three Corgi, they have to put all the Corgs in a separate play yard because they turn into a little gang and bully the Very Large dogs by playing Cow Herding Simulator 5000 with them, and especially if Herschel is there, because corgis are bossy-pants dogs, and Herschel has the bossiest pants of them all and acts as leader.

Despite being a little Don Corgleone to the short bitch mafia, Hershcel is also a Huge Baby and will apparently cry and cry and try to climb the fence and cry and eat people's shoelaces and cry if he is separated from Charlie during playtime, so this means any time that "Corgi Party" is happening, Charlie also has to go to Corgi party, despite being full-height, running cat software and a senior citizen. he copes with being Gulliver amongst the Liliputians by climbing onto the roof of the playskool castle they have for a climbing structure in the yard, kicking the ladder down behind him, and stretching out to nap in the sun while the corgi frolic and gambol around him.

Corgi are dogs that make up and play games with secret rules, like kindergartners. "Everyone bark in sync" is a popular game, as is "follow the leader" and it's companion game "March in a circle around a tall structure like ants caught in a death loop".

So what I was greeted with, when the attendant and I snuck out to the play yard, was the sight of Charlie, sound asleep and flat on his back with his paws crossed over his chest because sighthounds sleep in the stupidest fucking positions, on top of a faux-medieval castle with gargoyles on the corners, surrounded by approximately seven Corgi, all trotting in a circle around him, barking in sync.

"They look like they're preforming some kind of ritual!" giggled the attendant as attempted to get my phone to focus.

"Yeah, they're gonna summon Corgtulhu." I said.

Unfortunately, this made the attendant literally fall on her ass laughing, and distracted Herschel and his compatriots, so they didn't get to complete the summons, and I didn't get the pic.

The attendant kept laughing because apparently she's new to puns, and had mostly gotten it under control by the time we got everyone's leashes on and back out to the front.

The manager was watching the front desk, bemused. Did you get to see them doing the ritual?"

"YEAH!" shrieks the attendant, still excitable with merriment. "THEY'RE- THEY WERE-" The attendant ends up giggling on the floor.

"You okay there Katie?" asked the manager with minimal concern.

"We think they were trying to summon Corgthulhu." I eplain, and Katie screams from the floor. "Wasn't gonna work though, you need a virgin sacrifice and Charlie had an STD when we got him."

It was the manager's turn to shriek. and for Charlie and Herschel to start barking in solidarity.

"That's right Charlie! Your sluttiness saved the world!" I told him, as he jumped up and kicked me in the face.

Anyway, that's why Charlie's nickname at daycare is now "Superman(whore)"

---

If you found this story amusing, please consider donating to my Ko-fi or pre-ordering the Family Lore book on my Patreon so I can buy the good dogs more treats.

[headspace-hotel]

Oh, God, it's so important to learn to NOTICE though. When I first started learning about plants I realized that the real world—the REAL real world, and that's what I'm getting at here really, the natural world is so much more REAL, because human made environments are like...very dim, simplified simulations—is boggling to the mind in its sheer level of detail.

It feels like there's so much happening on the screen when you look at the internet, so much visual chaos in the form of ads and sidebars and videos that play automatically, but, God, just look at some dirt. Look at a regular patch of grass and weeds and look at how much there is going on.

How many species of plant are in a weedy, overgrown lawn? Whatever number you guess, it's too low, because you haven't learned to see. You can only see big and obvious shapes and colors. But I realized I was trapped in this...almost toddler-like simplification in my perception, and I realized that the more I cracked my brain open trying to identify plants and trees, the more I could zoom in on the parts of nature that had once seemed like the finest level of detail and see higher and more intricate tiers of complexity.

To almost everyone, grass looks like just grass. Do you know how many kinds of grass there are? Do you know how many I've found in my own yard? There are at least 15 different grass and sedge species in our yard. And I have no idea how they all looked like just grass to me before. There are dozens and dozens of species of plants and wildflowers in our "lawn."

And there are trees! Tiny saplings, the children of great and mighty trees, constantly sprouting in lawns and roadsides and ditches, unable to know that they are destined to be unnoticed and cursorily mowed down.

Today I saw a tiny oak tree, maybe six inches tall, poking from the grass in a green, well-maintained lawn, and I felt so much grief, because that little tree is never going to grow up to be a towering giant, because—why? Because of the kind of world ours is. Not because we don't want to live in a world of towering trees, but because we've genuinely and through no malice or transgression of our own become unable to see and recognize those trees as tiny seedlings. Every patch of grass is the same as every other patch of grass to us.

And, because of the kind of world ours is, it doesn't really occur to us that there would be trees in our back yards if we looked. Trees? For free? Nothing in this world is free. Trees are forty-two dollars apiece, at the garden center at Lowe's. Trees are an asset to highlight when you are selling your house. 1.2 acres, fruit trees on property! 1.4 acres, mature trees!

Anything that begins to grow in your lawn unprompted, without your permission, is a "weed," automatically in our minds, because...it doesn't make sense. Beautiful flowers and sweet, edible fruits happen because of hard work, fertilizer, landscape fabric, weeding, watering, soil testing kits, hundreds spent on potted perennials. We all know that. Nothing generous or beautiful ever just happens to us, so every little stranger that germinates in our lawns is a "weed," threatening to take away what little we do have.

And yet. And yet blackberries are ripening in the shaded thicket out behind my house. And yet wild chicory and dandelions are blooming in the tall grass to the brush pile. I show my family a picture of what the purple passion flowers will look like when they bloom, and it's like it's hard for them to believe—that's native to here? they just grow wild?

They do. They do. And so do majestic oak and sycamore trees, elm and tulip poplar. The seeds of trees that may outlive us by hundreds of years have germinated in our lawns and sidewalks and drainage ditches. This place was a forest once, and in all its little edges and corners it is always starting to become a forest again.

I think we HAVE to see this. I think every single person needs to break their brain with 25 hours of trying to identify plants using Wikipedia, Google, and pure confusing-sedge-induced rage until they get their third eye blown wide the fuck open.

People need to see this happening with their own eyes, the Happening that is always happening in nature, the activity and life always flourishing and living in every square millimeter of every yard and walkway and roadside, how absolutely absolutely bursting with species even a crack in the pavement on the side of the road is, how mind-numbingly simplified and static our concept of the natural world around us is next to the real thing.

There are so many kinds of lightning bugs. Did y'all know that? I'm seeing them now. There are many different species, with different colors and markings, and I'm noticing them chilling in the foliage around me in the daytime. I'm listening to the songs of birds and learning to recognize them, and there are so many more birds around me than I really realized.

I heard the call of a bird today that I did not recognize. Why didn't it register in my mind before that birdsongs I couldn't recognize were gaps in my knowledge?

Why doesn't it feel essential, immediate and necessary to seek knowledge about the other living things in our immediate surroundings? To at least know their names?

If I don't know my neighbor's name after living next to them for ten years, I haven't done anything to be their neighbor; they're just a stranger that lives near me. Are the trees and birds around me not my neighbors too? People will look up the name of an actor they've recognized before in a show, the name of a song they heard. Why are grasses and trees so far outside of what immediately seems relevant to us? What has our world done to our curiosity? To our sense of belonging in a world that is fundamentally interconnected and generous and alive?

Out there, on a pristine green lawn, a tiny seedling of an oak tree sprouts, barely six inches high. I saw it earlier on my walk, and I felt so sad. I'm sorry that we cut down a forest and turned it into this place. That's what I thought. But something changed in my mind as I thought it.

I realized that a forest was not a thing but a process, and not a process either in the sense that there's a beginning and an end result, but in the sense of things happening and being connected to other things, and I understood that the immensity of this thing far transcended what the word "forest" denotes.

A baby oak tree growing with nobody's permission on a flat green lawn belongs to this thing, "forest," just as much as a massive hundreds-of-years-old oak tree in the depths of the woods belongs to "forest," because a forest is growth, survival, persistence, the fight of a place that once was a forest to become forest again

I'm sorry I said to the tree you cannot kill me in a way that matters said the tree in reply, and I saw my own insignificance next to the indifference of the universe, and it was so infinitely gentle and merciful

[sleep-0-deprived]

Heya! Could I please request SFW and NSFW headcannons for Levi Ackerman x male reader whose shorter than him !!! TYSM!!! Your writing is amazing btw!

Levi Ackerman with a short male reader head cannons

Thank you for the compliment it means a lot to me and enjoy ;D

Minors dni 18+ only Amab reader and bottom/sub reader

Sfw

Height was never a deal breaker for Levi but it does feel nice to be the taller one in the relationship, now that Levi is the taller one he will tease you about your height he will also give you nicknames about your height on Occasion like short stuff/shortie it doesn’t happen every day but it does happen often he will also stand behind you and put his head on the nape of your neck and kiss you, Levi will also be the big spoon on the rare occasion that he does cuddle you but since he is taller than you he also expects you to lay your head on his chest at night. Levi also likes to flaunt you around because to him everything is perfect your height your size and your personality he is still in shock about how somebody like you would ever date him but he damn sure isn’t complaining.

NSFW

Levi loves to stand behind you and leave hickeys on your neck Levi is a man that is really dominant and likes to mark you, bite marks, hickys, bruises all over you the whole nine yards. Levi works with blades every day so he has a bit of a knife kink something about running a knife down your abdomen turns him on like no other Levi is also into over simulation he wants to see you orgasm until it hurts he wants to see you fucked out and sore on his dick it drives him crazy seeing you marked up from him Levi also likes to play with your nipples until they are swollen and sensitive to the touch. Expect your wrists to be tied and maybe your legs too sometimes he likes to tie you up and put a vibrator on the tip of your dick and tease your nipples until you cry and beg him to fuck you and when he does he is rough I’m talking bruises on your hips in the shape of his hands, Levi always cums in you unless you tell him differently something about seeing you stuffed full of his seed and a over simulated mess turns him on like no other and makes his dick hard and ready for another round.

[neonswitchhouse]

PCWT: Closet Crafting, Discreet Devotions, and Inconspicuous Altars

So while not necessarily in the full vein of Pop Culture Witchcraft and Pop Culture Paganism, I’ve had several requests regarding how to work one’s craft discreetly. And so I thought, why not put a little PCW spin on things while I’m at it at least?

Whether it’s a nervousness about being open as a witch, wanting to be more subtle, or in some cases harsh living situations, there’s several reasons to want to be perhaps more inconspicuous in one’s inner ways. Though in the case of the latter situation in particular, --please-- make sure to put your personal safety and well-being first before trying any of these tips. We cannot guarantee that you won’t get in any sort of trouble for these.

Starting off, we have

In-Game Ideas

Do you devote yourself to anyone in particular when it comes to Pop Culture Witchcraft or Pop Culture Paganism that stems from a game-based source? Do you enjoy playing games focused on decorating, building, or life simulators? Then why not try these tips!

Try making an altar or devotional space in games such as Animal Crossing, The Sims, Minecraft using in-game items or even modded items! Rooms and spaces can easily be made for general purposes such as elemental altars, nature-based altars, and depending on who you work with, even items that pertain to them in particular

Use games such as the aforementioned Animal Crossing or The Sims as a form of sympathetic magic! Want to focus on self-care and inner beauty? Why not give gifts to your favorite “Snooty” villager who represents those aspects? Want to perhaps make some misfortune come to someone? Make them into a Sim and get up to some mischief with their Sim-Poppet!

Don’t have space to do your own gardening but want to still do some sort of green witchery? Why not try farming sims such as Stardew Valley or Story of Seasons to scratch that botanical itch for the time being? You can even make digital spell jars in some cases by growing the plants that best represent your purpose and placing them in chests with other items that may also best represent that purpose?

These are just some possibilities in the way of In-Game methods of spellcrafting and the like, but what about those hidden little shows of devotion or love towards someone you work with outside of their mediums? 

Discreet Devotions and Obscured Offerings

Hear me out: Devotional Ita Bags. Collect charms, pins, stickers, etc. of who or whatever you work with! Work with a traditional pertaining to solar energies? Why not a brightly colored bag with sun-based imagery? Work with a pop culture deity/entity/spirtit/etc.? Places like Etsy and Redbubble just to name a few have plenty of options when it comes to fan-merch (of course make sure that the stuff from Redbubble is not stolen from other artists)

Playing an RPG game or something similar? Why not devote a playthrough for whomever you wish? Make your character a hunter-based class in honor of someone associated with hunting and the wild! Pop Culture Wise, if working with a game characters, why not play as them if applicable or even bring positive actions to your character of choice? Boost their stats, complete some quests, the whole nine-yards for them!

We’ve mentioned this before, but why not try making private moodboards, Pinterest collections, or even music playlists for whomever you work with? Energy and devotion is still energy and devotion no matter the medium, ancient and traditional or even modern and tech-focused. At the end of the day, it’s your safety and comfort that matters the most.

While this isn’t a complete list of ideas, here’s a few to get yourself started! But as we’ve said before,

Do not compromise your health, safety, and/or financial stability for the sake of your craft.

You. Come. First.

But as always,

Stay safe, have fun, stay spooky! 🦇💜

[fayestardust]

All Out of Coins - An Original story

Neither @almost-a-class-act nor I have posted our original stories (not fanfic) on here, for which we are dumdums. She said she'd post hers if I posted mine so here is, under the cut, All Out of Coins. When Detective David Liston’s partner disappears, Liston revisits his simulated memories in an attempt to find out what happened.

Three days ago, Detective James Powell disappeared. It was just another day for him and his partner Detective David Liston. It ended in an unusual way. James and David worked on different cases, which was out of the ordinary for them. James focussed on a new case, whereas David was pulled back into one they wrapped up a week earlier.

David felt guilty. Had he just joined James that morning and stuck with him, maybe none of it would have happened. But he couldn’t turn back time.

At least not that far. Just the 30-minute window before James’ disappearance. And as of right now, that window was rapidly closing. The timer in David's peripheral vision ticked down as he sprinted across the sandy beach. Ten seconds left. He could see James roughly 50 yards away, speaking to someone in a familiar varsity jacket. David recognized the man from the previous times he relived this moment, but he couldn't remember who he was. He just knew him as the last person to talk to James before he vanished.

"James!" David yelled, but James didn't hear him. It played out the same way each time David tried to get his attention. Whether the roar of the waves crashing onto the beach drowned out his voice or James was just too engaged in conversation, unaware that something was about to happen, David could only guess. A couple of beach bodies kicked around a beach ball, nearly hitting David in the face. He slipped in the sand to avoid it, but when he looked back up, the timer hit zero, and James was gone.

The memory ended as abruptly as it always did, with the sick sensation of the floor disappearing. An intense pull of gravity slammed David back into his body.

"Damnit, start it again!" he demanded breathlessly as he awoke in the grey-tiled simulator space. His clothes were different from those he wore at the beach, his hair a little messier. Electrodes on his temples connected him to a machine and console outside the room.

"You know you can only go back so many times, right?" A woman on the other side of the glass replied, the dated speaker making her voice sound tinny and sharp.

A little blood trickled down from his nostril. David knew she was right, but that wouldn't stop him. The academy warned them about the dangers of accessing the same memory repeatedly. Still, he had to find a way to change the ending no matter the cost. "I have to figure out what happened to him," he replied, wiping away the blood.

"Are you sure it's worth it?" she asked. She already knew the answer from the last fifteen times he tried before this.

"He's my partner; he'd do it for me."

David was confident that he would. When he first came to work at the precinct as a rookie detective, the simulator was all-new for fresh-out-of-the-academy David. James took him under his wing and taught him the ropes. They became partners shortly after.  

The woman sighed heavily. "Be careful."

That’s it? David expected a little more resistance. Doing this risked not only his badge but also his life. And she would certainly get in trouble if their Sergeant caught her helping him do it. Then again, maybe she understood what James meant to David. He filed it away in the back of his mind to ask about later. 

Gripping onto the arms of his chair, David braced himself. "Punch it."

Heat flared behind his eyes, subsiding when he opened them in the memory with 30 minutes on the clock. The coffeemaker spluttered out its mediocre brew beside him, adding another layer of noise to the already buzzing precinct. A phone rang in an office; a printer spit out a stack of papers across the room. Newspaper clippings and photos from solved and unsolved cases lined the walls. At the end of the room, a sign on the door read ‘Simulator’. None of this helped David. Nothing he changed here brought him any closer to solving James’ disappearance. The only solution was to catch James before anything happened, in person.  

The Sergeant approached. "I need you to follow up on the mind-hacker case you and Detective Powell worked on. There's been another victim."

David waved a hand at the Sergeant, mimicking his previous actions with decreasing patience. He didn’t have time for this. "Can't," he quipped, almost annoyed, “I’m sorry, Sir, but Powell needs me.”

He turned back to grab his coffee mug, crashing into the Sergeant as he attempted to move past him. “Damnit, Liston, watch where you’re going!” his superior exclaimed as the brown liquid splashed all over his jacket.

“Oh darn, I’m sorry!” David replied, helping him out of it, “Let me take care of that, Sir. I’ll send it off to the cleaner.”

As the Sergeant walked away grumbling, David fished the keys to his motorcycle out of one of the pockets. Then, before anyone noticed, he tossed the jacket over a chair and hurried out of the precinct. Rude, but it saved him time. Several different attempts to get to the beach failed. He ran into all sorts of trouble in his car, and simply asking to borrow the bike without explanation - explaining would crash the simulation - didn’t work. 

When he pulled out of the parking lot and zipped towards the beach, he knew he would get to James with minutes to spare. This time, there would be answers. The route he needed to take was evident in his mind: first, a long straight and then left, right, and sharp left again to avoid the hold-up at the traffic light that his car couldn’t get around. By now, every obstacle he had to overcome, he saw coming. Instead of parking the bike properly, he rode it all the way to the steps down to the beach. He dropped the bike and took the steps two at a time.

This time, he passed the college students passing around their beach ball, but while the beachfront looked the same, James wasn't there. The timer hit ten minutes. David whipped around. Ocean, sand, beach ball, no James. He almost missed the man in the varsity jacket coming toward him.

Surprise and anger passed over David's face in quick succession. “Declan?!” He barked, "What the hell!? What did you do to James?!" It was hard to compute that Declan was involved in James' disappearance. He was a long-time asset to them, a brilliant young hacker, indispensable in solving many cases. Most recently, their mind-hacker case. Moreover, David considered him a friend.

Declan threw his hands up. "David, I need you to stop trying to change this ending."

Although he was furious, David knew it was unusual for someone in his memory to be aware. It was unthinkable unless..., "How do you know that’s what I’m doing? How are you here?”

"You're in a simulation," Declan said.

David laughed humorlessly. "No shit, brainiac."

"A simulation within a simulation.”

Ah, there it was.

“Look, we don't have much time. Do you remember the mind-hacker case you took on?" Declan asked.

David nodded. "Yes, of course I do. We solved it. We found the hacker and stopped him before he could lock his first victim inside their mind, remember? You helped."

Declan rubbed his neck. "I screwed up. He figured out what we were doing and hacked us. Of course, I quickly realized that he hacked us, but you and James had no idea."

David furrowed his brows. He wouldn’t even pretend to understand the inner workings of mind-hacking. He left that up to people like Declan. "What? But - what were you doing to James?" He asked.

"I was pulling him from the simulation you're both stuck in. Your, this, altered memory. You can only get out by becoming aware that you’re stuck in one. But every time you go back here, you pull James back in, too."

David shook his head in an attempt to clear it. "Okay, but I’m still here, and I’m still stuck, so what do I do?"

"I need you to end this simulation. Remember, you’re in a simulation within a simulation. I think - there is a woman with you?” Declan inquired.

David nodded, “Yes. That’s just...” he blanked on her name, even though he was sure he knew her. He did know her, right? He trusted her; she was helping him save James. “That’s...”

Declan looked a little smug. “Can’t remember her name, can you?”

David frowned. He really couldn’t, though it was indefinitely on the tip of his tongue. “No, but I feel like I should.”

“She’s trying to keep you here. She’s the hacker’s security system trying to make you believe this is real when it’s not. You think you know her, but you don’t. She’s programmed that way, realistically warning you of the dangers of the Sim but never really stopping you.”

A mild pressure began to build behind David’s eyes. Like a hangover but different. Declan continued.

“If you ignore her and access another memory, there’s a way out. A back door that I can open.”

David watched Declan for a second because he, too, could be part of the simulation. But what did he have to lose? 

“Access the memory where we think we got the bastard. That's when he hacked us. Tell me you're all out of coins. I'll know we're in a sim. Go on, James is almost here, and I need to pull him out."

David hesitated, but he had no way of knowing if he was being had. And besides, none of his previous attempts were successful. He ended the simulation with three minutes left on the clock.

David gasped for breath as the simulator space fizzed back into existence.

"Are you okay?" The woman behind the glass asked.

Raising his head slowly, David glared at her. He wiped his sleeve across his nose, effectively hiding his lip-curl. "I need you to send me back to 6 PM, last Monday."

"What? Why?" she asked.  Now that David knew she was just a figment that the mind-hacker had put into his head, her tone sounded fake.

"Just do it," he snarled.

David awoke in the middle of a conversation with Declan and James, who were beside him in the simulator. "So, if we go back to before he - We're being hacked. Right now, Declan," he said.

Next to him, James frowned. "Alright, David?" he gently touched his arm.

David ignored him, widening his eyes deliberately at Declan instead. "Come on.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Declan replied, looking apprehensive.

David rolled his eyes. “'I'm all out of coins'!"

 "That's- that's my emergency quote. How do you know-" Declan gaped at him.

"You told me. Right after you showed up in my other simulation."

Declan got up, rushing out of the room to the other side of the glass. The woman behind the console protested as he pushed her aside in her desk chair. He tapped at the console. "I'm ending it. We'll get him in the real world."

The sounds of the keys tapping over the speaker wooshed away as David felt the floor fall out from under him. For once, he welcomed the feeling.

The simulator disappeared and flickered back into place, with the three of them sitting in the familiar chairs. David, mildly panicked, ripped the electrodes from his temples.

The woman named Marsha, David remembered her, looked at them from behind the glass. “What the hell happened? The readings were going haywire out here. The timer ended ages ago.”

David pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer Marsha’s question.

“I need a drink,” James murmured as he got up, “You two have some explaining to do,” his eyes shot from Declan to David, “But first, we know where this bastard lives, yeah? I’m not touching the Simulator again for a good week.”

The next day, David smiled at the newspaper's primary headline: 'Mind-hacker caught in his home.' He and James sat at their desks, already looking into a new case. David's only headache was from a double whiskey at the bar the night before. The precinct appeared calm. A sign across the Simulator door marked it temporarily off-limits while the cyber team checked it for vulnerabilities.

"You guys want anything?" Declan asked, head down as he walked to the vending machine and leafed through his wallet. "Huh."

David looked up from his paper. "What is it?"

"I'm all out of coins..."

[sunburnacoustic]

Muse’s Matt Bellamy on Why Band’s New Album, ‘Will of the People,’ Is Even Better Than a Best-Of, Plus Tour Plans

Matt interviewed in Variety, published 26 August 2022, the day Will Of The People was released.

In a Q&A, the singer addresses everything from his vested interest in geothermal energy and the alarming state of U.S. politics to loving Stephen King and Rage Against the Machine... and whether fans will see a certain giant puppet back on stage in 2023.

Stepping into Muse frontman Matt Bellamy’s Los Angeles studio is immediately surreal, on a couple of different fronts. For one thing, there’s the fact that it’s in an unmarked former storefront on a heavily trafficked urban street, so on the other side of the one-way glass, pedestrians are constantly passing by, unaware that they’re about two yards away from a rock star coming up with new songs to potentially join “Madness” or ”Uprising” guy as new KROQ-driven earworms in their heads.

But apart from the street scene outside practically brushing up against his console, there’s something else about the place…

“I don’t know if you remember the TV show ‘Twin Peaks,’” Bellamy inquires. As a matter of fact, yes. “Do you remember the Red Room? We’re sitting in it, basically,” he says, and sure enough, here in the front room of his studio, there is the black-and-white zig-zag flooring, the wrap-around red drapes, the minimalist lamp, the vaguely retro sitting chair…. Bellamy is a student of fantastical pop culture, so it makes sense that he’s surrounded by a Lynchian throwback space — even if the rock arias he creates here passionately reach for the sky, rather than feeling like they’re stuck in an interdimensional waiting room.

Bellamy sat down with Variety to talk about Muse’s seventh [ninth] album, “Will of the People,” which comes out this weekend. Along the way he spilled the beans on the band’s touring plans, which, besides a few already-revealed stops in small theaters this fall, will bloom into the expected arena tour next spring. He also touched on the state of rock, Rage Against the Machine, Stephen King, geothermal energy, why he’s drawn to rather than repelled by his adopted America’s political divide, and whether we are all really (as the climax of the new album would have it) “fucking fucked.”

Muse’s last album, “Simulation Theory,” felt much more electronic, which fit in with the overall concept you had for that album. With this one, a heavy guitar sound returns on quite a few numbers. Did you miss that, or maybe think the fans missed it?

Yeah, it’s definitely more guitar-oriented. We did a bit of a review of everything that we’ve done up to date and wanted to focus on the parts that we felt like we hadn’t improved upon for a long time, which meant we ended up looking back at some of the older stuff. So a new song like “Kill or Be Killed” — the last time we went down that kind of heavy route, like that heavy, was “Stockholm Syndrome,” which is on our third album. But I think you’re right in saying there was an element of missing the energy of playing together as a band after being separated from each other. … When I started writing songs, definitely there was a lean toward writing things that worked for the three of us to play together, which basically means guitar, bass and drums being the primary sounds, rather than going down the kind of more separated route of electronics and programming and synth basses.

You said at one point that the label had asked you for a greatest-hits album, and instead you wanted to come up with something new that feels like it should be a greatest-hits set. Is that about right?

Our contract with the record label meant that we were due to do a best-of, but I spoke to ’em about it and we weren’t very keen on doing that. We preferred the idea that we could either defer that down the line or just not do it all. We’re old-fashioned in thinking that when you do a greatest hits, it seems like the end or something. So with that in mind, that was one of the reasons why we started thinking: Well, what are our hits? And, like, do we even have any? I don’t think we do, but we do have songs that are the most popular songs with our fan base, and we started going through what our best-of or greatest-hits would even look like. And the bottom line was, we were like, God, we could do that so much better now. Some of these old songs from 2002 or something that would probably be on there, we felt like we could just better it. So that was trying to give ourselves a high bar to really strive harder, to almost make a definitive album that would be the album that I would show to people if they were asking, “What is Muse?” Would I give them a greatest hits album? Or would I give them this album? I think at this point I would give them this, in terms of a representation of all of the things that we do on one record, and represented in a good way.

It’s a cliche to ask, is this your pandemic album? But it seems like, thematically, the pandemic combined with a lot of other things going on in the world to put you a bit back in an apocalyptic mood.

We’ve always had elements of sort of dystopian fears for the future. And even though we’ve usually stayed in the realms of the relative safety of fiction, I’d say that this album sort of collided with reality a little bit. And I think that’s what was quite different about this album. There’s similar themes on this album that you’d find on songs like “Resistance” in 2009, or “Absolution” in 2000 [2003]. But the difference was the time that this album came out, where it was unavoidable that it collided with things that I’d say were less about the pandemic and more about, let’s say, the overall division in the West, and the American empire being under threat from internal and external disorder, and how that could play out in the next few decades.

On the lighter side of the album, you invoke the horror genre on the new song “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween.”

It’s clearly like a bit tongue-in-cheek: here comes the church organ and a few scream sound effects. I’m a big fan of Stephen King. I read his book “On Writing” around the time I started making the album as well, and it reminded me of how much he was quite influential on a lot of the films that I liked when I was growing up, and how even TV shows we see today like “Stranger Things” owe a hell of a lot to him. So I ended up making that song a bit of a homage to him, putting quotes from “Misery” and “The Shining” in there. Both those films really resonated for me with the isolation of the pandemic experience, in some way.

When “Ghost” came up in the running order, it was like, well, here is a breakup song — and that kind of song is always unusual for Muse, where there are not so many relationship lyrics, but “Madness” is a famous one in the middle of “The 2nd Law.” But then you said something somewhere that made it seem like it is not about lovers having parted, but was inspired by deaths that occurred during the pandemic.

Yeah, I like the idea that songs can be interpreted different ways. During the pandemic period, because I was alone in the studio for about a period of six months where even Dom wasn’t here for a while, I started doing a couple songs on my own, on the piano. I put out a few covers of songs where I played acoustically; I’ve already done a couple on the acoustic guitar, but then I did a couple of piano. It was just something to do during that period, but that also led to the “Ghost” song, which was in that stripped-down style, created in the middle of that isolation/loneliness period. And yeah, (it was) reflecting on previous relationships. But I was also trying to connect it in some way to what was happening in the world, in terms of people experiencing terrible loss, especially elderly couples where someone passes away. The media was all hyped up with all the science arguments and that kind of stuff, but behind all of that, there was obviously a terrible tragedy taking place, and it wasn’t something that I necessarily thought there was enough coverage of in the media.

Speaking of that softer side, you’ve said that, left to your own devices, your solo music might sound more like Enya than stuff that’s as heavy as Muse.

I’ve always had a little thing for modern sort of ethereal, classical stuff. I listen to a lot of stuff that’s completely different to Muse, but I found myself in a band with two guys that want to rock real hard. So I think one of the unusual dynamics in the band is that you’ve got me, who probably as a natural inclination leans toward some pretty different music to what we do together. I’ve always been really into classical music in general. But I mean, obviously I love rock music as well. Rage Against the Machine is one of my favorite bands. I went to New York this last weekend, and I saw them play twice.

I was going to mention a level of commonality between you and Rage Against the Machine, but worried it would be an overreach.

I mean, obviously, politically, I’m not gonna pretend to be in the same sphere as them. They’re fighting for really serious causes, to do with the backgrounds of the band members. But I’ve got massive respect for the passion they put into it, and the musicality.

In terms of live performance, you have some theater shows coming up in America this fall, but we haven’t heard much yet about the massive worldwide tour people would expect to follow this album.

We are doing one. We’re just booking at the moment. It starts in January in Mexico, and then we’re doing probably our most extensive North American arena tour, which is gonna be from, I think, February through to April. Then we finish up with a European tour — of our own venues, and not festivals necessarily. We did a few festivals just now in Europe that were supposed to happen in ‘21 but got pushed back to ‘22. Really, those shows we just did now were kind of out of place in a way. But after the album comes out, we do a few little theater shows and bits and pieces just to kind of test out some of the new songs, and then next year will be a pretty extensive tour.

On the last major tour, you had that very big guy (a massive animatronic figure) on stage. Do you think about: How do we top that?

The “big guy”  — or the big girl! — I feel like is gonna be here to stay. We feel like we’ve created a mascot, in a way, but we’re gonna make them look different for this tour. On the last tour, it was a big kind of cyborg/skeleton thing or something. On this tour, it’s gonna be more a hooded, masked kind of revolutionary-looking figure of some kind, who’s gonna be a big monster on stage. It’s like the revolutionary monster, basically, in all of us.

Photography: Nick Fancher Art Direction: Jesse Lee Stout + MUSE

Being a citizen of both England and America, and seeing the turmoil in the U.S. over the last few years — along with being affected by fires where you live — did you ever think of moving back to the U.K. permanently?

I usually go back a lot anyway. But Dom (Howard), the drummer of the band, did actually go down that road of “I want to go home, I want to go back to England, where it feels safe.” And when you go to England after being somewhere like L.A. for a long time, England does seem very safe by comparison. In America in general, obviously there’s the gun culture and everything here that doesn’t exist in the U.K., and natural disasters that you get in California, and also the political division. We do get that in the U.K, but it doesn’t come in the same format that it comes here, which is genuinely quite crazy. But oddly, I went the other way. I actually wanted to stay here and be in the eye of the storm, if you like, because America is where it’s going down. It’s where the whole world is, America right now. And where’s this going? America’s a couple of steps away from going in a really crazy direction, you know? We just don’t know. I’m talking more about the division and the potential for real civil unrest, on a grand scale.

And so I think being literally where we are right now in this room, looking out that window during the making of the album, was really kind of fascinating. I saw everything out that window, from the initial shutdown of everything, a lot of the shops going out of business, to the looting and smashing windows. I had this place boarded up at one point. And then the National Guard coming in with tanks, and people walking around with machine guns on this street — seeing all that happen just right outside that window just was pretty full-on. I’ve never made an album that close to real shit happening.

So the passion and the sense of threat in those songs is not just manufactured.

Yeah, I mean, you add the wildfires into the equation, where we got evacuated from our home; then you add the January 6 riots to this equation. We had a baby in June 2020, and shortly after was when I started coming in here to work, and I was alone, largely, on a day-to-day basis, when I was working here. All that stuff I described all happened here right in front of us. And when [the original owner of the studio] moved to Vermont, and the general vibe was like Dom saying, “I wanna get back to England,” I was like the only one that’s like, “No, I want this space. I wanna be honest. I wanna stay here and see what happens.” [The trio did a lot of the work on the new album over Zoom, but convened to put the finishing touches on the record at Abbey Road in London.]

You have described yourself as formerly a left-leaning libertarian who is looking for a new term to describe yourself or where you’re at. Centrism isn’t enormously popular nowadays, but you are still interested in hearing what people are saying on all sides and interested in solutions that you think could address grievances that you think different political factions may have in common, although they don’t realize it.

With the division that’s going down in America, I am watching it from an outsider’s perspective, being from the UK. And having some basic understanding of geopolitics, I feel like finding common ground between these two crazy factions in the United States that dislike each other, to get back to a state where the people of the U.S. feel unified as one on some issues, at least, is not just a matter of national security. It’s a matter of international security. I think that’s how serious it is, in my opinion, you know? I feel like, if it falls into disarray, then bigger, powerful entities are gonna move in. Not necessarily physically move in, but they’re gonna move into the global stage as major players, and therefore their ideologies are going to start to infiltrate everything in the West.

Your songs have been coopted by the left and right. When there’s an anti-authoritarian theme to them, maybe everyone believes it’s the other side that’s authoritarian.

I’d say the most common theme is fighting for some kind of freedom, or having that instinct of wanting to reject elements of where you feel like your freedom’s being taken away. And obviously that can be hijacked by extremists on both sides. … If there is any common ground at all between these two extremely different viewpoints that are battling themselves out as the West kind of crumbles in on itself, it’s the idea that there needs to be something that puts the powers that be, let’s say — or the elites; I hate using those words — in check. The populism that we’ve seen emerging in the last 10 years on both sides, I’m intrigued by: What’s the common theme? … It seems to be the idea that there’s kind of powerful entities, powerful corporations, and even maybe potentially powerful individuals, which are not necessarily doing anything for the gain of the people. They’re doing things for the gain of, you know, shareholders — call it whatever. And I think keeping grotesquely large power in check is what I see as the common theme… I think we see a lot of a hell of a lot of words being thrown at each other and loads of division essentially emerging out of something where I’m wondering if there is actually a common ground there — about keeping large, centralised power in check, and especially huge corporations that do massive environmental damage, keeping them in check.

If it could ever happen, if we could ever get there, I don’t know how we do it necessarily, but if there could be a type of change that could take place that could make some of the divisions we’re seeing now dissipate to some extent, there’d be a new power structure that could work. It’s a little vague because there’s certain things I can say that actually do resonate with both sides. And that’s the confusion in me. It’s like, I do believe in individual freedom, but I do also believe in shared land ownership. So how do you pair those things off?

But flipping the story a little bit, something else I enjoy about being in California is also that the types of people that are here are really big risk-takers. And I think that might be connected to the fact that everyone’s living on the edge of a tectonic plate. I don’t know what it is! But for some reason it seems to attract people that are really risk-taking, entrepreneurial people. Obviously you get a hell of a lot of hustlers as well. But it’s fascinating seeing all those people working in the startup industry, if you like, from obviously Silicon Valley all the way down to here. I’ve had some involvement in that, and I’ve been lucky enough to rub shoulders with really great people working in the fields of solving issues to do with climate change and stuff like that. And getting involved in that investment community a little bit has really actually given me a lot of hope about some of the solutions and the biggest problems that we face, like climate change.

For example, there’s really amazing things happening with geothermal as being a real genuine solution to the fossil fuel industry issue, and there’s lots of new startups in that space now. Also, nuclear fusion is another amazing technology, which is probably about a couple decades away. But I feel like that’s another reason why I like being here. It’s not just being around all the creative people that live in this part of the world, but also being around the people that are really technologically genius creators as well.

The new album climaxes with “We Are Fucking Fucked.” With the optimism you have about something like geothermal, it sounds like that level of pessimism is not necessarily where you are right now. But maybe that song is you in one mood that doesn’t define where you’re at all the time.

Well, I think I learned this from a film study class I did once. Films usually follow a straightforward pattern, which is a kind of equilibrium that goes into disequilibrium, then it comes back to equilibrium at the end for the happy ending. But whenever someone creates a film or a book that ends on a sort of tragedy of some kind, or ends on something bad, what happens is, it leaves the viewer or the listener in a state where they can’t help but feel compelled to do something about creating an equilibrium that isn’t there. When I was studying films briefly, that’s what someone told me: If you wanna do something where you leave it to the actual person who’s watching or reading or consuming the art… if you leave them in a state with an unhappy ending … they can walk away from it and go, “Maybe I need to do something about this.” So that was one of the reasons why I put “We Are Fucking Fucked” at the very end. Hopefully people come away from it and go like, “Well, are we? I don’t know about that. Maybe I’ll do this…”

In practical terms, it seems like it also would probably be hard just to follow a song called “We Are Fucking Fucked.”

Yeah, the other thing is that it didn’t fit anywhere else on the album.

You have these massive arena tours around the world, but you’ve said you don’t get much recognized out on the street. It feels like that must be the best of both worlds, as rock stars have it — being this bigger-than-life stage persona and then being able to have somewhat of a normal life.

Yeah, for sure. I’m glad. I’ve seen all sides, though. I was in a relationship with someone much more famous than me [Bellamy was engaged to and has a son with Kate Hudson; that relationship ended in 2014], and I’ve seen insane levels of fame, where everywhere you go, someone is putting cameras in your face. That is not for the faint-hearted, that’s for sure. Especially if you have any kind of introverted personality traits, then that’s not gonna go down well. But we’re very, very lucky to be where we are, and I think it’s nice (how) if I ever bump into someone who knows who we are, someone sees me, usually somebody’s like, “Oh, I saw you a couple years ago. Great show, blah, blah,” and there’s a little picture or something. It’s never invasive or problematic in any way. I have experienced the other, though.

Do you have a sense of who the average Muse fan is these days?

It’s a huge age range now in our shows. It wasn’t like that in the early years, for sure. The crowd always seemed to be mainly our age or just a bit younger. We never really had a big teenage fan base until we had a song called “Supermassive Black Hole” that went into a “Twilight” film, and suddenly our shows had a lot of teenagers turning up. I think it’s gone the other way now, where we now have people at our age and their kids are now coming into teenage years.

And then there’s the older crowd that likes us, because I think we are maybe one of the last rock bands around that still have overhangs of what the 20th century rock sound was — even going back to the ‘60s, but more so the ‘70s kind of rock leanings. I think that brings in some of the older kind of Queen/Pink Floyd fans, maybe. So we literally see an absolutely full, probably three-generation age range now in our shows, and we love that.

You’re also considered alternative rock, and that in itself has become kind of an oldies format, with a concentration on stuff from the mid-‘90s through to the mid- or late 2000s, which means your early stuff is considered the reliable “classics” of that format at this point.

Rock obviously is not a global force in the way that it was in the mid-20th century, but it’s still got a longevity to it. It’s one of the few genres of music where you can actually grow old. It’s been proven now I think you can grow gracefully and rock. I mean, the Rolling Stones have proven it, and it looks like U2 are on their way to proving it. And I think there’s not many other musical genres really where you can do that. I think pop and dance music and all that kind of stuff, having a career that spans three decades is probably a lot harder, you know?

Your fan base crosses boundaries also because so few acts are capable of coming up with those grand melodies for something that has some real aggression to it.

And the melodic sense, I guess, is what’s really missing in sort of heavy or heavy-ish music. So I think rock as just a wide term that describes all of the music from the ‘60s on or ‘50s on… you feel like you’re just slightly less inhibited by fashion and by trend. It’s just not quite as important as it is if you’re a pop act, where you’ve gotta have your finger on the pulse and gotta be working with the right producers and the right video makers and gotta just be hot all the time. That’s kind of exhausting.

I think for us, we’ll all happily take influences from any point in time in music, but also the history of rock is something we have on our side. I mean, we could go down a road of where we could do a song that sounds a bit like Queen, we can do a song that sounds a bit like U2, we can do a song that sounds a bit like Depeche Mode — and we could do all of that within one song. And all those things are multiple decades out of fashion, in a way, but it doesn’t really matter. Because I think operating in the sphere of rock is almost like the new jazz, or the new classical — it’s kind of timeless. I hope it feels like it’s become like a timeless genre, which is no longer in the mainstream, but is still important to a lot of people.

[saint-ambrosef]

“My sister was a horse girl and we shared a room until I was 14“ Does this mean you and your sister bit each other, since wolves occasionally prey on horses and horses (and donkeys) have a natural hatred for Canidae, combined with general sibling enmity, one could reasonably conclude that you and your sister engaged in physical combat-

this is a joke question but my sister would 100% do that sort of thing when we played pretend as kids. one time she stepped in dog poop in the yard and tried to make me clean it off her foot with a twig to simulate "picking a horse hoof" (it did not work).

[wealmostaneckbeard]

The Indie game [SIGNALIS] and table top role playing game Monster Of The Week both belong in the survival horror genre. They both feature monsters, mysteries, guns, and dwindling resources. MOTW is more of a power fantasy while Signalis is kind-of the opposite... like a Mortality Simulator?

Therefore it is not surprising that after reading my old copy of the 2nd Edition MOTW, I think I could set a campaign in the Signalis universe. Whenever the manual mentions the word magic, I swap it out for Bioresonance.

I've written some notes already:

The first set of notes are some light details for locations in District 0123 on Heimat. The main residential bloc is packed with refugee-immigrants from the planets Kitezh and Vineta. In another area, a criminal gang operates a black market venue out of a condemned cathedral to The Empress. There's also a vertical hydroponics farming silo that provides food and employment. Finally there is a big multi-purpose community facility that has stuff like a toboggan run family fun center, Blockwart headquarters, train yard, and a shopping mall. Underneath all of it is a network of infrastructure tunnels, with maintenance barracks, that all flow towards a waste reclamation facility where convicted gestalts and defective replikas work under armed supervision. AND in some forgotten corner of the sewers is Bioresonance Laboratory #03, originally built by the empire and then abandoned after The Incident, where a flesh-hole to Nowhere has recently opened. Out of which has come ghosts of gestalt scientists and guards, as well as corrupted first/second generation replikas.

My second set of notes has been pairing MOTW hunter archetypes with types of Gestalts (humans) and Replikas (bio-mechanical clones) which has yielded some interesting character ideas. A normal Kolibri (telepathic cop with an addiction to coffee) would be a Spooky Hunter whereas one that's been exiled from her hive mind would be a conspiracist Flake Hunter. Falke's are supernaturally powerful so they could be a Spell-Slinger or Divine Hunter, with the former representing older combat focused models while the latter represents newer administrative/propaganda oriented models. Mundane, Crooked, and Wronged Hunters could be regular Gestalts and civilian grade Replikas. The Monstrous Hunter could either be a mutated Replika or the ghost of a Gestalt, both created by harmful Bioresonance exposure. Gestalts that have undergone special training or their military grade Replika counterparts could be Initiate, Chosen, Expert and Professional Hunters.

This is all I've got for now. Hopefully someone likes what I'm proposing here. I'm thinking I could get some interested players from signalis discord servers...

[space-ace-beleren]

Making Things

I'm... not great with my hands. I've tried crocheting and I made the hell out of a line but never got any better with it. I'm not stellar at drawing. Motor issues are a hell of a thing and I'm sure if I tried long enough at one particular thing I'd become better at it but my brain would still hate it because, you know, perfectionist. So instead I do little things in a video game that make other people happy and they can go oooh and ahhh and I work with what I have to combine things and make builds that are interesting and cozy for their benefit in Valheim. It's kind of a Norse purgatory simulator survival game. Viking Minecraft. Anyway, here are a few of my builds: Viltis Farms This one is a farmhouse made for a friend of mine who recently got out of the hospital. He hasn't had a chance to play but when he does, I want him to have a place of his own. In the LARP we're in, one of his main NPCs to drive the story is a human potato farmer that helps the player characters.

This one is an outside view, with the yard fenced in to the side so wild animals and monsters can't get to his crops. There is a windmill in the back for milling barley.

Downstairs is a cozy coop area for the chickens. You can't see it from this angle, but in the back there's a storage box for chicken feed.

A few of the chickens have escaped containment and headed upstairs, where there's a Yule tree with presents. I made him a little desk with potions, mushrooms, a health potion and various foodstuffs by his bed and used a stool as a nightstand with a glowing mushroom placed on it. To the far left corner of the room, away from the stairs, I put a table with three chairs. Viltis, Kymisha, and "T" are the three main NPCs who have helped characters so I made them all place settings with tankards.

[dreamsandroots]

Birds of Paradise

Every soul cursed with the unfortunate delusion of identifying themselves as ‘creative’ must be familiar with the feeling of having too many frayed edges. There is an inexplicable and omnipresent sense of pressure emerging from the legions of piecemeal, fragmentary documents on my desktop. Questions arise, or to be more accurate, they insist on themselves: would it be most productive to open one or another of them up in order to fix attention? Or would it serve best to open up everything you’ve put together during [current year] and flick through them all, haphazardly, until something leaps from the page (or, more realistically, the screen)? A similar fork in the path exists at the juncture of writing something new. Those of the auto-writing persuasion would have us at all times armed with a pen and a notebook, or with our phone’s ‘notes’ app always ready at hand, at any moment to translate our thought processes into poetry. We’re not all Andre Bréton’s (nor, indeed should we want to be), we can’t all spit out poetry from our orifices on command, although maybe it’s enough to try, given that we keep in mind the failures of the surrealists with their overconfidence and their (in retrospect) communal cultural cringes. A couple of pages a day can’t hurt, right?

Birds of prey in the garden.

As I sit at my desk with its ample, back-yard-facing windows, I can’t help but wonder whether, perhaps, I would feel better if I were to do the mowing, even though it’s winter time and the grass isn't that long, all things considered. I think about how, maybe, such a task will play into some unconscious conception of resistance to that which slowly creeps forth from the underground, threatening to engulf us. But my thoughts aren’t underground today.

The birds transmit nuanced messages back and forth. Cheerful to our ears.

You could do worse also than to try to finish off one of the many, many texts you’ve started. Some, you’ve even started today. Various articles from a number of auslit journals sit at your fingertips, a few clicks and you’re there at the SRB, or Overland or Meanjin. All of them filled with detailed tapestries of text, in the form of literary criticism, fiction, poetry, personal essay and many hybrids in between, by well-deserving and hard working writers. Each one prompting you to question: will I ever be good enough to land something like this? Do I have it in me to keep up with this facade that I have something important and/or relevant to contribute to literary society? Concerns which bleed into the fixed gravity of the insta-gaze: all of these seemingly effortless faces that permeate ideals of belonging, success, beauty, unquestioned cultural acceptance, and the clout and capital arrived at therein. Much like the birds, there is undoubtedly more going on there, slightly beneath the surface, but the idea of deciphering these hidden motives remains just as impenetrable.

Birds of glorious colour.

Maybe another coffee, another cigarette, or some other writerly cliche, is the key. The way we imbibe the stimulant is a way to simulate the stressors from which we believe the real work will emerge. Artificial tension in the blood. Skin itching. Some mild anxiety at the thought of yet another potentially ‘wasted’ (a writer's melodrama!) day between the cracks of some top-down intentional idea of productivity.

The deep green noise of daydreams under 2D skies. I find myself staring at fluttering clouds as the birds flicker across my vision.

It’s hard to keep one’s focus, it’s hard to keep shape or form when flowing over the surfaces encountered here on the ocean-sky, ephemeral flotsam. The point at which my body begins and the cyborg’s organs end. Suspicions of AI faces and machinate intent. You’d have sworn you’d seen all of this before, in a dream.

Raptors hunting for the next meal. The comet, or the fallen star, charting time’s furious arrow.

How to unlearn this autonomic fixation on the landscape in which we lack certain existence? Or, how to acclimatise to the feeling that, to enter into the conversation, one must learn, primarily, to replicate the extant code of our existential rule-book? Speak loudly and clearly. Active voice. To the point. Pass oneself and one’s intent on like a parcel, until someone sees some material reason, some marketable product, in your warbling cries.

The birds are tweeting and I am struggling to speak.

[midoropalace]

Yakuza: Like a Dragon -1-

To help me feel connected to, and immersed in, the games I play, I've decided to start a blog that is part diary, part let's play. My first post will be about Yakuza: Like a Dragon! I've already poured 40 hours into this game, so this blog is going to pick up right from where I left off. Hopefully it makes sense...

When I last left off, I defeated the Omi Alliance in Chapter 11 and began Chapter 12. Ichi meets with the leaders of the Ijin Three to discuss how to deal with Masato's political machinations. Ichi declares that the Ijin Three should prevent Kume from taking office at all costs, and suggests that they run a counter campaign against him instead. Chairman Hoshino agrees to help find a suitable candidate, assuming Ichi can muster up 3 million yen to cover campaign costs. Which means...

...we're back to the grind at Ichiban Holdings! I had about 6 billion yen in capital the last time I played, and I decided to grind out the 10 billion yen needed to get the "Make That Money" trophy. Sweet. The frequent earnings from the shareholder meetings shot me up from just shy of 3 million to about 12 million yen. Hopefully this is the last time I need to do Management Mode. The grind was fun, but being at the top makes the minigame feel more tedious than anything.

With the 3 million yen in tow, Ichi head back to Survive, where he gets a call from his aniki telling him to meet with Masumi Arakawa in Sotenbori. Ichi insists on going alone, but his friends insist on tagging along with him, much to his displeasure. Despite what Ichiban feels, his fight truly is his comrades' fight. We're instructed to head back to the Seiryu Clan HQ, but we deal with some stray Part-Time Hero Missions on the way there. The mission in Chinatown was particularly annoying, with high-level enemies soaking up damage like it's nothing. Not even the mighty Orbital Laser could take care of it.

After delivering the cash to Hoshino, Ichi and his gang head to Sotenbori, where Masumi Arakawa will be meeting with the newly-freed chair of the Omi Alliance. The party hangs out at Grand Cabaret, where Ichi waits for a call from his aniki. He does get a call, but it's from Nick Ogata -- he expresses delight over finally meeting Kamulop. So cute! Ichi loses his patience and hangs up on him. What the hell, Ichi? No need to be so rude to the best character. Frustrated over waiting, Ichiban decides to storm the Omi Alliance HQ unannounced.

We are then dumped in Sotenbori, which is a touch smaller than Ijincho, but still has plenty to do. After ordering everything off the menu at a nearby restaurant and getting triple EXP up buffs, my first encounter was with a golf range. I never tried out the one in Ijincho, so I decided to give it a go here.

The controls are... interesting, but not nearly as awful as the batting cage minigame. The only confusing part for me was the inconsistency between the wind simulation and the distance units used. The wind is measured in terms of meters (I assume?) but the distance to the hole is measured in yards. I wish they stuck with one or the other. Either way, though, I manage to get a hole-in-one at one point, and I get 100 points pretty consistently. I guess you could say I'm a master at--

Nevermind.

The next stop is the nearby SEGA Club, where I decide to try and get some UFO catcher prizes. A Part-Time Hero request asks for these bird things, which I see in the UFO catcher. I managed to get them with little effort.

The enemies in Sotenbori are pretty standard fare, but the real delight is that the music changes from dubstep to... I guess jazz fusion would be the best description. I also completely forgot that Eri was still in the Night Queen class. Her pole dancing attack makes quick work of the relatively weak enemies. Strangely, I encountered some baseball players on the south side of town that hit like trucks.

Zhao tells the party to head to a shopping center on the south side of Sotenbori. When they arrive, they are greeted by a Maria the robot knock-off who introduces the party to the Sotenbori Arena, a multi-floor "dungeon" that consists purely of fighting. Each fight contains a special objective that can be completed for extra rewards, and the game indicates that special equipment can be found here. I decide to try it out for a bit.

For the most part, the battles in the arena aren't too much trouble, and completing the "special objectives" aren't that difficult. What is pretty insane about this place is the amount of EXP and job points I got per battle. By the end of the arena, everyone jumped up a couple of levels. The free healing made the battles easier as well. I made it to my first checkpoint at floor 5 before exiting to continue exploring. Incidentally, I got a pretty nice sword for Zhao from doing this.

The story points me in the direction of a nearby taxi, telling me to head to the Omi Alliance HQ. I decide to hold off on now, and wrapped up my remaining playtime by hunting down several gold safes around the city. There are a lot of hidden nooks and crannies with secrets in them. My favorite was this multistory apartment building that had treasures on every floor. I also gained a lot of Tojo Clan crests, though I still contend that the prizes available for trade-in don't seem all that worth it.

[alexdelray1]

A Witch Without A Hat.

Prologue.

What a beautiful garden. And that tree in the middle. Just a miracle. It proudly towers over all the trees and bears fruit that could only come from the Garden of Eden. I feel myself floating. It's a nice feeling. I want to go up. So why am I falling?

-Charlie, we are here.- says my friend Noah. I feel like I just jumped and landed in a dream. What was I dreaming about?

-FUTURE LAWYER!- Noah shouts at me.

-Fuck off.- I say irritated and get out of the car. I checked if I have my phone and wallet in my pocket and then straighten my pants leg.

-I didn't need to waste fuel.- Noah said as he locked the car.

-What are you talking about?- I ask him and he started coughing. He fucking choked on his own saliva. Well, it would be weird if it was mine.

-Well, with traffic jams, we drove here for about 15 minutes. Without the car, we would have been here in about 5 hours - says Noah and I just close my eyes and clutch my neck. The first thing. My neck hurts like hell. Second. Only 15 minutes? But I'm the one with fast dreams. Well, I'm not surprised that I fell asleep so quickly. Lectures exhaust me. I hope I don't fall asleep in the store. A certain chair may seem too comfortable or something. Although it was my first time falling asleep in the car. I wasted 15 minutes of my life sleeping in the car when I could have been listening to music. Rihanna's songs are too good not to listen to them.

-Shall we go inside?- the boy asks, putting his hands in his pockets.

-Sure.- I reply and glance at the store. The building is made in the Japanese style. There is a sign on the door that says "Welcome." The yard mostly consists of trees and a sidewalk with lanterns.

-Alexandra said this one was the best. And your cousin always liked this kind of thing. Your father probably liked them too.- Noah says. The boy walks to the door and pushes it lightly, then enters and after a while I do the same.

-Stop. I don't even know if he's really my biological father. - I giggled quietly with a banana on my face as I entered the room. -

Good morning.- said the woman behind the cash register reading a book.

-Good morning.- We replied together. The woman seemed a bit... strange to me. I think I saw her somewhere. Brown hair, brown eyes, navy blue glasses, a romantic crime novel in hand and tea...

-Alexandra? So you recommended this store to me only because you work there? You have a head for business. - Noah said sarcastically, recognizing the cashier. Oh yes. Alexandra is the type of girl who plays life simulators in her free time and often reads books at school. As she says, "If I have to waste my precious time at school, at least I will spend it somehow useful." That is, making your astigmatism worse.

-Of course. And you have to please the boss. - replied the girl. She has always overestimated sugar and even around the age of 10 to 15 she was overweight, but due to her training she now has a body similar to Marilyn Monroe. I remember she once told me that she managed to stick to the diet all morning, but the chicken defeated her.

-Alexandra, maybe go clean the shelf. - As lightning crackled, her boss appeared behind my friend. She looked like she was my age. Only she had Asian beauty.

-Of course, Mrs. Noroi.- Alexandra said. She placed the book on the shelf next to her and walked deeper into the store, giving us an apologetic look.

-Are you looking for something in particular?- the girl asked with a slightly bored expression.

-Do you have anything that qualifies as paranormal?- Noah asked, scratching his head.

-Depends. Do you prefer something that is paranormal or something that looks like it is not? - she asked and stirred Alexandra's drink with a spoon. She raised the spoon, but quickly put it down, seeing that the tea was not tea with sugar, but sugar with tea.

-One that looks like it but isn't. I'm looking for a gift for a 13-year-old girl. - I replied, playing with my fingers. Damn, she doesn't look that bad.

-Come, follow me.- she said and started walking towards one of the shelves. The girl had short black hair and was wearing a white button-up shirt and black pants. She had black flip-flops and white socks on her feet. A strange style, but she won't wear high heels all day. The woman walked with us to the shelf and picked up a casket. This thing looked like it was old.

-Do you like it? - she asked me.

-Yes, but what is it? - I asked and approached the doll, which was the size of a small boy and looked like a small boy.

-It's not for sale.- she replied without any deeper feeling.

-He's pretty. Are you sure it's not for sale? - I asked and touched the doll's cheek.

-I don't advise you to compliment him. He'll follow you home. I advise you to close your doors and windows tightly today. Even those on the second floor. This way this guy found his way here.- she said and tapped him lightly on the head.

-Someone left it at your place?- I asked, trying to find a rational explanation.

-I wish... Are you taking the casket? - she answered the question with a question.

-Yes. Definitely yes.-

[homeimprovement31311]

How To Improve Golf Swing At Home?

How To Improve Golf Swing At Home?

Introduction 

Improving your golf swing at home can be a convenient and effective way to enhance. Your performance on the golf course. Whether you are a beginner looking to develop fundamental skills or an experienced golfer aiming to refine your technique or  practicing at home provides valuable opportunities for improvement.

For more: How To Improve Golf Swing At Home?

 In this guide we will explore a range of exercises or drills and tips that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine to enhance. Your golf swing and ultimately lower your scores on the course. So grab your golf clubs or find a suitable space in your home or yard and let’s get started on the journey to a better golf swing.

How Can I Make My Swing Perfect at Home?

Perfecting your golf swing at home is achievable with consistent .Here are steps to help you improve your golf swing

Understand the Basics: 

Start by understanding the fundamental components of a golf swing. This includes grip or stance, posture and alignment. Online tutorials and instructional videos can provide valuable insights. 

Mirror Work: 

Use a full length mirror or record videos of your swing. This allows you to visually assess your posture or  alignment and swing mechanics. Compare your movements to professional golfers to identify areas for improvement. 

Balance and Stability:

Balance is crucial in golf. Practice balance exercises like standing on one foot or performing yoga poses. This will improve stability during your swing.

Swing Plane: 

Create a makeshift swing plane by using a broomstick or alignment sticks. Swing the club along the plane to develop a more consistent and on target swing path. 

Strength and Flexibility: 

Incorporate exercises that enhance your core strength and flexibility. Focus on your lower back hips and abdominal muscles as they play a significant role in your swing. 

Indoor Putting Practice: 

Set up a putting mat or create a putting area with a cup and practice your putting indoors. This helps develop your putting stroke. which is essential for a lower score. 

Impact Bag or Pillow Drill: 

An impact bag or a heavy pillow can simulate the impact position of your golf swing. Practice making solid contact with the bag to improve your ball striking skills.

Slow Motion Swings:

Practice your swing in slow motion to break it down into its components. This allows you to focus on specific aspects.Like takeaway backswing, downswing, and follow through.

Alignment Sticks:

Use alignment sticks to ensure your clubface or body and target are properly aligned. This helps develop a more consistent setup. 

Mental Visualization: 

Spend time visualizing a perfect swing. This mental practice can improve your swing consistency and effectiveness. 

Grip and Posture Drills: 

Work on your grip and posture regularly. Proper grip and posture are the foundation of a good golf swing.

Review Professional Instruction: 

Seek online lessons or instructional from professional golf instructors. They can provide personalized feedback and guidance based on your swing.

Practice Routines: 

Develop a structured practice routine. Dedicate time to different aspects of your swing such as pitching and driving during each session. 

Golf Simulators: 

If you have access to a golf simulator.It can be a valuable tool for practicing your swing indoors with realistic feedback.

Stay Fit: 

Maintain overall fitness through cardio and strength training exercises. Being physically fit can enhance your golf swing  power and endurance.

Remember that consistent and deliberate practice is key to improving your golf swing. It is also beneficial to periodically seek feedback from a golf professional to fine tune your technique. With determination and the proper approach. You can make significant strides in perfecting your golf swing from the comfort of your home.

What Drills can I do to improve my golf swing?

Improving your golf swing involves practicing specific drills that target different aspects of your swing mechanics.

Alignment Stick Drill: 

The Alignment Stick Drill is a golf training exercise or drill used by golfers to improve. Their alignment and consistency in their swing. It involves the use of alignment sticks. Which are typically long slender rods or sticks. That can be placed on the ground to help golfers set up and maintain the correct alignment. Their body and clubface in relation to the tar.

The Alignment Stick Drill is a valuable tool for golfers of all skill levels to improve. Their alignment which is crucial for hitting accurate and consistent shots. It helps golfers develop muscle memory for the correct setup and swing path ultimately leading to better performance on the golf course.

Slow Motion Swing Drill:

A Slow Motion Swing Drill is a golf practice technique. Where a golfer deliberately swings the golf club in slow motion. A much slower pace than their regular swing. The purpose of this drill is to break down the golf swing into its individual components. The golfer focuses on proper form balance and mechanics. It can be a valuable training method to improve swing consistency and identify and correct flaws in one technique.

Once you have practiced the slow motion swing drill and feel comfortable with the correct mechanics. You can gradually increase the speed of your swing to transition back to your regular full speed swing while maintaining. The improvements in your form and technique.

Impact Bag Drill: 

The Impact Bag Drill is a training exercise commonly used in sports like golf and martial arts to improve technique and develop muscle memory. It involves striking or swinging at a target, typically a soft bag or cushion, to work on specific aspects of form or power, and control.

The Impact Bag Drill is beneficial because it allows golfers to work. Their impact position without the pressure of hitting an actual golf ball. This helps in building muscle memory and improving the mechanics of the golf swing. It is often used as part of a broader training regimen to enhance golfer overall performance on the course. Golfers of all skill levels can benefit from this drill to refine. Their swing and achieve better results in their golf game.

Swing Speed Training: 

Swing speed training is a golf specific training method aimed at increasing a golfer’s clubhead speed during their golf swing. This training is designed to help golfers hit the ball farther off the tee and achieve greater distances with their clubs. Ultimately improving their performance on the golf course. Increasing swing speed can be particularly beneficial for golfers looking to gain more distance and be competitive in various golf formats.

It’s important to note that swing speed training should be approached with caution and under the guidance of a golf professional or fitness expert. Overexertion or improper training techniques can lead to injury. Golfers should aim for a balance between power and control in their swings as simply. Increasing speed without maintaining accuracy can lead to inconsistent results on the golf course.

How Can I Increase My Golf Swing Power?

Increasing your golf swing power requires a combination of physical conditioning, improved technique, and consistent practice. Here are some tips to help you enhance your golf swing power.

Strength Training: 

Strength training also known as resistance training or weight training is a form of exercise.That aims to increase an individual. Physical strength by using resistance or weights to overcome muscular resistance. The primary goal of strength training is to develop and enhance the muscles ability to generate force. Which can lead to improvements in muscle size or endurance and overall functional capacity.

Remember that increasing golf swing power is a gradual process. It is essential to strike a balance between power and control. Work with a golf professional to assess your swing and provide personalized guidance on how to enhance your power. While maintaining accuracy and consistency in your game.

For more: How To Improve Golf Swing At Home?

[oberoirealtylimited]

TRANSFORMING SPACES INTO EXTRAORDINARY DESTINATIONS

Spaces serve as gateways to our collective imagination, holding immense potential for growth and the realization of our bold ambitions. At Oberoi Realty, we have established a reputation for breathing life into unfamiliar locations and elevating them to preferred destinations. Fueled by innovative ideas and unwavering determination, we embarked on a journey to transform the vast industrial landscapes of Goregaon into a thriving hub of urban living.

With a prophetic vision for placemaking, Oberoi Garden City (OGC) metamorphosed Goregaon into a vibrant destination that has captivated the imagination of discerning homebuyers, leading businesses, international travellers, retail mavens and seekers of world-class education. Spread across 80 acres, OGC stands among global examples of transformative destinations, such as New York's Hudson Yards, London's Battersea Power Station and Canary Wharf, and Singapore's successful rejuvenation of Paya Lebar Quarter.

OGC effectively introduced the concept of mixed-use development to the locales of Goregaon by combining residential, commercial, retail and recreational spaces. This dynamic and all-encompassing environment inspires people to live, work, and play in the area, firmly establishing Goregaon as an influential hub of complete lifestyle experiences.

Our integrated developments are an extension of our belief in the principles of New Urbanism, where everything a resident needs can be reached within by walking or public transit. On the back of our success at Oberoi Garden City – Goregaon, we are about to revitalise the suburb of Borivali with Sky City.

At Sky City, Oberoi Realty is continuing its commitment to its design philosophy by creating an unparalleled ecosystem of premium residences, an unmatched retail destination and an upcoming luxury hotel in close proximity to the Metro, the Western Express Highway and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Sky City has already become the defining identifier of the suburban skyline.

A promise of a splendid lifestyle, its spacious apartments, architectural quality, generous landscaping and wholesome facilities for wellness, rejuvenation and entertainment bring luxury and convenience to your doorstep. The upcoming Sky City Mall will house retail outlets, dining experiences, leisure options, and signature rooftop restaurants offering panoramic and uninterrupted views.

We broaden the horizon of a perfect life with over 30 amenities that facilitate holistic living. Incorporate a healthy workout regime with amenities like yoga/meditation rooms, jogging tracks, and gymnasiums. An array of contemporary facilities including a swimming pool, squash court, golf simulator, multipurpose courts, cricket nets and abundant greens encourage homeowners and residents to utilise their leisure time as they please.

With its endless amenities, spacious homes and an enviable location, Sky City offers residents recreation, entertainment, hospitality, connectivity, all under one sky. We are transforming the lifescape of Borivali and Oberoi Realty is further poised to create new benchmarks of urban living across various geographies.

Ref: https://www.oberoirealty.com/blog/transforming-spaces-into-extraordinary-destinations

[golfupnorth]

February 1, 2023 Newsletter

Anxiously Awaiting Golf Season!

As football is winding down all that is left is the big game. Not my choice of teams to be in the Super Bowl but The Chiefs and the Eagles should be fun to watch. Even though my Lions didn’t make the playoffs (I’m not going there), I have watched every game leading up to this. The only consolation of my team not being in the Super Bowl is that no matter who wins I won’t be crying in my beer (in my case Captain Morgan).

Once the Super Bowl is done I will really start obsessing about getting out on the golf course (my weekends are now open). I have mentioned numerous times that I got new clubs last season and how much I loved them. Especially my Big Bertha 7 wood. I have also mentioned numerous times how much I struggle with irons.

Do I need Irons?

I am slowly getting to the point where I may never need an iron other than a pitching wedge and sand wedge.

My set came with a 3 wood, 5 & 6 hybrids and I added the 7 wood. Those clubs are my go-to clubs for fairway shots. There are still times where I have to grab an iron and because I don’t believe I can hit them well, I rarely do. Santa is trying help me with the under 100 yard lies that my current woods/hybrids just won’t work with and my irons are hit or miss with. Woke up Christmas and found a Big Bertha 9 wood under our tree. I have not had a chance to try it and am planning to go to a simulator and give it a try. We will see how that works out.

Simulators, Driving Ranges, and Practice Swings

I am not a patient woman and not a fan of doing something that doesn’t have immediate measurable results. Because of that I don’t take practice swings, I am bored at driving ranges and simulators seem silly. That said I want to try my 9 wood and that may be the only way and I can suck it up and try it again.

My lack of patience and unwillingness to practice is probably why I haven’t seen under 100 yet. Now I do love playing at Top Golf, which has goals and scores in a way that makes sense to me. Simulators have a weird algorithm that using my club speed, angles, etc. to determine how far and where my ball landed. I am just not sure what to do with simulators.

Are you asking yourself this?

Why am I reading a newsletter by someone that hasn’t golfed for that long and that really doesn’t know enough about golf to write about golf? You are exactly right, I don’t know enough, but I love this game. I hope my passion and commitment to the sport comes through. That my struggles with my irons and getting below 100 have you remembering when you were in my shoes (maybe you still are). That every year I am sure I will break 100 and get so excited about the first par of the year reminds you of your early years of golf. Maybe even have you chuckling here and there.

This newsletter is not meant to make you a scratch golfer or provide tips that will get you to the top of the leaderboards. It is entertainment about my experiences on various courses. My perspective is not from a “good” golfer’s views, but someone still learning and just having fun on the course.

Why a Newsletter?

Funny story, I never planned to write a newsletter. A website (more on that later) that I dreamed up was built. The webmaster added the option to sign up for a newsletter. I missed that in the final walk through before going live and before I knew it we had subscribers.

Oh sh*t! I am barely a golfer, how will I write about golf?

Our first issue was stiff and boring, a recap of the stats/specs of a few golf course up north. I was falling asleep writing it. I can only imagine what our readers thought. Surprisingly, nobody unsubscribed and our subscribers started growing. Now I was really on the line to be witty and charming to folks I have never met. What have I done?

Based on our newsletter open rates every month and growing subscribers we must be doing something right. I appreciate all the wonderful feedback and comments. I am having a blast with coming up with content and writing this newsletter.

What about the Website?

golfupnorth.com came about out of my need. When I started golfing I became a tad obsessed. I wanted to golf every course I could find in northern Michigan. Wanting to book stay and play trips every weekend. I would search for courses in northern Michigan. Then have to visit their website to see if they offered lodging. It was not as easy as you would think in this digital day and age to find options easily.

There are several national and statewide websites for courses. Having to go down too many rabbit holes to find courses. I was not able to see all courses available in an area on one page. Going course by course to see what they offered and writing notes on scrap paper.

I wanted to enter an address of a hotel or an area I wanted to visit and see what courses were nearby and basic information about them. None of these sites offered me a way to see several courses and what they offered “at a glance” within a certain mile range of a location.

Frustration breeds Innovation

In my frustration I started a data base in an excel document of courses and what they offered. That soon got clunky and I would have to reduce the file on the screen so much that I could barely read the rows and columns. It just wasn’t easy to manage and didn’t provide what I wanted.

My needs are simple. I want to be able to go to one place and find courses that offered stay and play packages in different parts of northern Michigan. To find other courses in that general area/region. To show me those courses on one screen so I could compare. That is where the website idea came up. Could we do a filter command that would allow me to sort my database in a way that provided the information I wanted in a format that worked for me. Turned out we could.

Golf Up North was Born

I never thought others would use golfupnorth.com or even find it. The site was to make my life easier and it has. I use it all the time to find courses to play at.

I should have suspected that if golf is in the domain name you will be found. Next thing you know folks are using the site the same as I am. And signing up for this newsletter.

Finding courses that may not be easily found any other way. Many of the smaller courses don’t have the marketing budget to advertise or join tourism groups. It can be hard to get their name out there. They subsist on word of mouth and locals. I have found that the places only the locals know about are typically the best whether it is a restaurant, beach, or a golf course.

I love going to courses that I have read about, and everyone raves about. Who wouldn’t want to golf some of the best courses in the country? But northern Michigan has some jewels hiding off the beaten path. If you haven’t explored more than just the “known” courses you are missing out.

Having so much fun we added more websites!

Discovered I enjoy writing and this led us to create a few blog sites - Adventures in Northern Michigan and Northern Michigan History.

Seeing the favorable response to Golf Up North, we have also created the same type of directory websites for other industries in northern Michigan - Up North Breweries, Up North Wineries. We are having a lot fun with this and have more sites coming in the near future. We love northern Michigan and happy to promote it!

Golf Up North's Top 5 Golf Balls

A few people have written us and suggested I do reviews on balls, clubs, etc. I laughed and laughed. While I appreciate the confidence, but let us be real, do you really want to take my word on clubs or balls? I am 7-8 years into playing and because my first used set of clubs were Callaway and the first balls I was given were Callaway, bet you can guess what I use. 😊

Since my giving intelligent and insightful reviews was not going to happen I decided I could take a different approach. I started watching what clubs, shoes, balls, etc. that golfers on courses I visited were using. Because I am very adept at being annoying, I would ask when I would run into them at the clubhouse, the turn, even the parking lot what they used and why.

I was Charming, Not Creepy at All!

Well, a little creepy LOL. This led to some remarkably interesting conversations. Did not change my mind about Callaway but wasn’t expecting it to. I have compiled all that data and working on putting it all together to share. The first one I completed was the top 5 golf balls. This is based on hundreds of golfers I talked to. You can read the top 5 picks on our website.

You may have noticed we are now an amazon affiliate. This helps us maintain the site and to continue to offer free schwag. We felt this was a better option than having a lot of annoying ads constantly popping up. If you are inclined and need some golf balls, use the links in the article or click on the images and order your golf balls on Amazon through those links. We receive a small percentage of the sale and it does not affect your price at all.

Follow us on Social Media

Join the discussion on Golf Up North Facebook Group

Let us know your favorite course, tips or anything golf related! We encourage golf courses to share their news and specials with our group.

You can also like and follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram where we share information on golf courses Up North and what we think are funny or interesting tidbits about golf.

Share Your Favorite Course With Us

We would love to hear about your favorite Course in the Upper Peninsula or Northern Lower Michigan. Send pictures of golfing your favorite course and a couple of sentences about why you love the course. We will share your pictures and recommendations with our readers and on our social media accounts. If you include a mailing address, we will send you some Golf Up North schwag as a thank you!! Send your pictures and comments to marisa@golfupnorth.com

Find your Up North Golf Course

If you would like to find your perfect Up North golf course visit Golf Up North.

We hope you enjoyed our latest issue of The Golf Up North Newsletter.

Disclosure: We never tell a course who we are when we book and play a course. We do not ask nor will we accept free rounds to write about a course. We pay full price for our rounds for everyone in our group.

Golf Up North is part of the Up North Entertainment Group. Our family of sites also includes Up North Entertainment, Up North Wineries, Up North Breweries, Golfing Northern Michigan, Adventures in Northern Michigan, and Northern Michigan History.

[henryandrewsdufrais]

AWESOME TIMES WITH CAROLINE

Good work during the week at lacrosse and hip hop and also scoring a virtual hole-in-one with Taylor. Henry went down with a stomach bug Saturday so I got some bonus time with just Caroline. She had a bit of hesitation prior to lacrosse so I insisted on accompanying her to her first field hockey games—a doubleheader where the Purple Pandas were facing off against the Green Dragons and then the Golden Gorillas. Not a ton of fierce competitors on the Pandas. Of the dozen girls or so I’d say two or three refused to get on the field, five or so played infrequently and Caroline and a couple girls played almost the entire time. Caroline didn’t stand around and watch but probably had her stick on the ball dribbling or more often taking on three opponents half the time while her teammates watched. I’ll get out the dry erase board this week and give her some strategy. We played nine holes together after that on a beautiful night where I was disappointed my phone/camera ran out of battery. She got an 8 on 1st hole from real tee box (457 yards) and almost had a real hole-in-one on 7th hole (from 80 yards). We crushed a slab of prime rib together on the terrace after. Sunday morning we stayed quiet to avoid waking up mama so we didn’t have to go to church. Went to hit balls at the simulator and had an early dinner at Oak House and caught playoff holes of RBC Heritage. Spieth was inches away from sinking putts to win it on each of first two playoff holes but Caroline put a hex on him so he missed. We were rooting for Matt Fitzgerald because he is a Northwestern guy (Wildcat Golf Academy adjacent) who grew up going to Pete Dye’s Harbor Town much like kids are growing up going to Pete Dye’s courses at Casa de Campo. Fitzgerald hit his approach shot within feet on the third playoff hole and sealed the deal after another successful Caroline hex of his opponent and we cheered.