#idea approximation: 89%

[septusuki]

Shiun-san is late. No. Sumika-san is late; she told you to call her that, the first time you met. You owe her that much at least, if you genuinely intend to be her producer. Her P-cchi. You have every intention in the world of acting as her producer, but it seems the feeling isn't terribly mutual. She's cute, cool, and perfectly fashionable — the only thing missing is any actual desire to be an idol. So much for coming to a school for idols. She told you that, too, when you first met her. She's not cut out for it. She's not made for it. She's not got it in her. Apparently. You'd be better off producing someone else, or at the very least, not her. Despite her best protests, you did your own best bet at insisting, and managed to negotiate a tentative middle ground. A date.

"Ugh," her voice strikes you, and you're immediately by the fact that it'd be an amazing tone for singing. It almost sends a tingle down your spine; she makes it dull on purpose, but she could spin her voice into a real orchestra if she wanted. "sorry for being late, P-cchi!" Ten minutes late. Not much, but for a producer, that's an awful lot. For someone who has a stringent timeline they need to stick to, Sumika Shiun has wasted ten minutes of it. She'd better make up for it. "Time for our date, right?" She giggles, her voice already becoming teasing and taunting. You wonder if you'll actually survive an entire afternoon of this.

As soon as you turn, the facts strike you straight in the face. Sumika has no intention of making good on her promise of a heart-racing date. "Sumika-san?!" You scowl, your breath catching as you take every inch of her in. Every pound; every kilo. Perhaps this date will be heart-racing, after all — just not in the way you'd imagined. "You've gotten..." you drawl, almost mumbling as you try to explain what you're seeing.

"Huh?" Sumika smirks, her free hand pushing it's way down her body as her other stuffs a straw into her mouth. She takes a healthy, not-so healthy slurp of her milkshake, and lets her full cheeks fill up with a deep blushing. "Aaah! I've gotten... What?" She knows; of course she does. She's practically thrusting it in your face. Sumika knows that she's fat, but she's being obtuse on purpose, just to make you say it. She's obese.

Every cell in your body seems to tense up; they draw in, hardly able to comprehend what it's seeing, and what that thing is asking of it. "S-Sumka-san, you're," as you stand there, blubbering and blabbing, Sumika grows closer. With every step, her inflated front wobbles oh-so pendulously. She's showing off. She takes another slurp from her shake, and wiggles in place. For some godforsaken reason, she's wearing a crop-top, and with every mouthful, that top seems to grow tighter. "you're fat." You spit the word out. It's the truth, though; this would-be idol is a total fatso.

"I guess!" Sumika laughs, clapping and plapping away at her huge, hanging tummy with one hand. It's so sweaty, so sodden with her own exhaustion, that the sound is almost stressful. "A total fatty, right?" So careless in concern to her own obesity, Sumika looks down at it as if it isn't there. A pillow-sized belly, that sloshes over her hips and hangs a good foot down her legs. She's gained this weight so quickly that any proper fold or roll hasn't had any time to accumulate: the fat-sack is simply stuffed full of blubber, proudly pumped-up.

Staring at Sumika's thick, doughy skin, the fact of the matter starts to sink in. You wizen up to Sumika's plan in a few seconds. "Sumika-san, you've gained this much in a week?" You scoff, looking up to her puffy cheeks, and then down to her plump belly. Her plump belly, which wasn't there, a week ago. When you'd first reached a stalemate with Sumika, she wasn't this fat. She was an ideal student, and a perfect idol. Now though, you wonder what she is.

"On purpose?" Swirling a finger around her belly-button, as if teasing the poor thing, Sumika pouts as she ponders it all. "Yeah, I guess!" She concludes after a moment, that same finger prodding deep into her belly fat, all of a sudden. "I mean, I just gobbled up whatever I saw in front of me! It was all totally yummy!" With another laugh, Sumika tries to tug down her top, and fails absolutely. The hem just sits on the horizon of her belly, refusing to cover another inch. Seemingly satisfied, Sumika retreats to her milkshake. Thick, creamy and calorific; no doubt it's going to make her fatter.

"Even though you knew I wanted to be your producer?" You try to hold onto your decency as Sumika's belly 'accidentally' bumps you. It's so large, so thick, and so voluminous, that it almost has a mind of it's own. "Even though you're trying to become an idol?" As you watch Sumika fondle and inspect her fatness with a similarly plump hand, and terribly tubby fingers, you blush; for just a second, you wish you could be doing that too, if only to check that it's all actually there.

"You still wanna be my producer, P-cchi?!" Sumika pretends to look alarmed. She suddenly tries to sort out her leggings, and appear as if she hasn't been stuffing her face all afternoon. "Even if... I'm this big?" She makes a cute little noise, patting her belly as she retreats. "Even if I'm this greedy?" She slurps on her shake, just for good measure. Just to prove, to you, that this pig is beyond saving. Of course idols shouldn't be this fat; that's what Sumika is counting on. A proper idol shouldn't be some kind of fat pig. "Uff... If I'd known, I woulda gone on a diet, instead!" She giggles, and then tries to laugh off her embarrassment. With one final prod of her pooch, she capitulates, and her little production comes to a complete end. "I guess I can't be an idol at this size, can I?"

You give Sumika one last look, almost ready to agree with her. Then, your eye catches the shine of her stomach. Stuffed, from a morning of gorging, and now yet another milkshake. It sloshes, sags and yawns out from Sumika's deformed middle. It looks deep, almost. You imagine her with another two-hundred kilos. You imagine that tiny little tear, on the hip of her leggings, at twice the size. You imagine that crop-top, with boob-fat hanging out. To put it simply, you imagine this fatso of an idol, even fatter — and you like the image it conjurs up. "Actually..."

[zahri-melitor]

I am trying to fit this time line of self destruction on Dick's part together and seriously events seem to go like this:-

Nightwing #80-82 (June-Aug 2003): Slade turns up to harass Dick in Bludhaven, Dick is fired from the BPD.

Outsiders #1 (Aug 2003): Roy asks Dick to join Outsiders and promises that he doesn't need to be friends/family with the team. (Roy is unknowingly being fed targets by Slade)

Outsiders #5 (Dec 2003): Roy gets shot 5 times in the chest, Dick feels guilt over it and has to take full charge of the team.

Outsiders #6 (Jan 2004): The Outsiders have to allow the entire inhabitants of the Slab to break out and escape as the Slab is destroyed. The team are blamed in the media for this.

Nightwing #87 (Jan 2004): Babs tells Dick they need to take a break.

Nightwing #88 (Feb 2004): Haly's Circus burns down.

Nightwing #89 (March 2004): Dick's apartment building blows up killing all residents apart from Dick and Amygdala.

Nightwing #93 (July 2004): Dick turns away as Catalina shoots Blockbuster, Dick has a panic attack, Catalina comes to find Dick on the rooftop as he despairs and she sexually assaults Dick.

Nightwing #95 (Sep 2004): Catalina tries to pressure Dick into marrying her, is blocked by Bruce calling Dick to come back to Gotham due to War Games.

War Games (Oct-Dec 2004): Dick has to fight a gang war and is assigned by Bruce to work with Catalina through it as Dick hasn't spoken to Bruce about what happened. Dick ends up with a serious leg injury.

Outsiders #19-20 (Feb-Mar 2005): Lian is kidnapped by child slavers and rescued. (Arguably could take place prior to War Games)

Outsiders #20-22 (Mar-May 2005): Bruce revealed to be funding the Outsiders, Dick goes and yells at Bruce about this, Slade revealed to have been funneling information to Roy and pretending to be Batman. (Again cannot be long after War Games, probably before)

Nightwing #100 (Feb 2005): Dick and Babs officially break up, Dick walks away from being a superhero, Dick has not spoken to Bruce.

Teen Titans & Outsiders #24-25 (July-Aug 2005): Both teams have characters get controlled - Kon by Lex and Indigo by Brainiac 8, at the end of the storyline Dick quits. This has to be after Identity Crisis but must be not long after Nightwing #100 given Dick has not yet gone undercover. Also Dick has theoretically been hiding a leg injury and brace for a period here.

Outsiders #26 (Sep 2005): Dick has sex with Kory.

Nightwing #107 (June 2005): Dick is now undercover with the mob and has been for some time. MUST come after the events above.

Nightwing #112 (Nov 2005): Slade talks Dick into training Rose.

Nightwing #114 (Jan 2006): Roy turns up, mad, and argues with Dick to come back.

Nightwing #116: (March 2006): Bludhaven has gone boom. Thanks so much, Slade.

TL:DR; there's a whole chunk of Outsiders in 2005 that has to have happened approximately around War Games due to Dick's knee injury, and since Teen Titans spent six months of title hopping through time immediately prior, you can shift both titles for their crossover right up to very shortly after War Games/Identity Crisis in terms of 'Jack is dead but Dick's not yet undercover'.

Actually thinking about it more, it's even more complicated than that, because Teen Titans #20 suggests Outsiders #16 occurred after it, unless Kory's been simultaneously on both teams. I think I have to read this as Kory has been on both teams at the same time to make any of this make sense.

This results in Dick having broke up officially with Babs and then almost immediately had Bad Idea Sex with Kory (after also having been assaulted by Catalina at least once and potentially multiple times while he's in the daze where Catalina tries to convince him that they should get married).

(Seriously why is everyone in Outsiders having random sex with people who are a Very Bad Idea)

[absolutelynotararr]

TWO ACHILLES

(Now I will format all headcanons/thoughts with links to previous parts, so... PART 1)

Rar!

Okay, one of my favorite headcanons is that Patroclus and Achilles had their own little turtle during the Trojan War

He just climbed into the guys' tent one day because it was cooler there than on the hot sand and the two kept him for themselves. The turtle's paw was injured, by the way ; and the turtle was named....

Little Achilles :D

Cause this little cute creature loved to bite, showing his temper, his shell was so dirty yellow with spots, approximately similar in color to the hair of Achilles and he had a damn wounded paw!

(And also Patroclus is just so incredibly in love with Achilles that he decides to name their adopted son/pet child after him))))) )

The turtle outlived both of them! But he still ended up with them in the Underworld.He outlived his fathers and was looked after by Odysseus/Briseis/Phoenix

And, oh, Pyrrhus, before he knew the turtle was his father's pet, he was thinking about turning the turtle into soup, but then he began to consider Little Achilles as his father's sacred animal and abandoned the idea

But the turtle escaped from him anyway and ended up in the Underworld anyway! >:]]]]

Imagine Little Achilles with Patroclus and Achilles swimming in the hot spring of the Underworld, a bit of an illogical event(??), but JUST IMAGINE, IT'S SO DAMN CUTE

P.s. : The turtle looks like hermann's tortoise, Just look at these turtles! I'm crying from cuteness

(　ＴДＴ)/

And also just remember one of the aporias of the ancient Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea, just about Achilles and the turtle and their speed! So 89% of this headcanon is a reference to that and friendly banter with Achilles ,xd

[petiteclover]

LYLE MENENDEZ & STACY FELDMAN

Lyle sent flowers to his former girlfriend Stacy Feldman on Valentine’s Day in 1989, three years after they had already been broken up. (I think this shows how much Lyle continued to care about Stacy even after all that time had passed since they separated.) He was dating Jamie Pisarcik at this time and the following is her testimony regarding the incident.

••••

“When do you believe you broke up with Lyle Menendez, prior to the death of his parents?”

“Um… in, I believe it was in April, late April.”

“Did Lyle Menendez do something special for you on Valentine’s Day that year with regard to the dorm room the two of you were living in?”

“… I never lived in a dorm room with Lyle Menendez.” [chuckles]

“He didn’t decorate the dorm room for you?”

“I don’t recall.”

“Do you remember having an argument with him with regard to him having sent flowers to a former girlfriend named Stacy?”

“No.”

“And do you remember telling the police and the prosecution that you split up with Lyle Menendez because you had had an argument with the roommate you had at the time Donovan Goodreau and then Lyle pursued the friendship with Donovan Goodreau and you were upset about him not taking your side, something like that?”

“Could you please restate that?”

“Why did you and Lyle Menendez breakup in the spring of ‘89?”

“Well we had been engaged at the time and um… one of the reasons was because I had lived with Donovan Goodreau and uh… Donovan had… or some money had disappeared from my apartment um… and I just did not feel comfortable living with him at the time, that was one of the reasons.”

“Ok, so is it fair to say that after you and Lyle Menendez split up then Lyle Menendez and Donovan became very good friends?”

“Yes. They were friends at the same time, during our relationship as well.”

“And were you still involved with Lyle Menendez when he took a trip to California with Donovan or was that after your split up?”

“I don’t recall.”

“You don’t remember… if you were going with him and he was gone for say a week to California do you think you might remember?”

“It was a long time ago.”

“So you don’t remember?”

“I don’t recall that instance.”

“Do you remember Donovan moving into the dorm room with him?”

“I do. Yeah, I remember because I kicked Donovan out of our apartment.”

“Ok, and do you remember when Donovan left Lyle’s dorm room, when he was thrown out of there?”

“No I do not.”

“Do you remember how long Lyle Menendez and Donovan Goodreau spent time together and Donovan lived in his dorm room?”

“No.”

“Would it be fair to say you were not really involved with Lyle Menendez during the period of time he and Donovan were very close?”

“… um.. there was a part when we were not, yes.”

“Ok, how much of a part? How long?”

“… I don’t remember exactly, I mean Lyle and I broke up in as I said late April, so approximately that time.”

“Have you followed this case much?”

“No.”

“Do you watch it on television?”

“I try not to.”

“Do people tell you what is being said however?”

“Not really, I don’t listen, I… it’s not a topic of conversation.”

“So no one tells you anything about the testimony in this case?”

“… um…”

“Is that your testimony?”

“… [annoyed sigh] I… ya know people have mentioned things but ya know, newspaper, tv…but I don’t follow it.”

“When you say newspaper and tv is that you read the newspaper and watch the tv or people tell you about what’s in the newspaper and what’s on the tv?”

“Well I read the paper and I watch the news and ya know, I don’t…”

“So you have an idea of what’s been going on in the case as it’s reported in the newspaper and on the news? Is that true?”

“Correct.”

— Jamie Pisarcik cross examination with Lyle’s attorney Jill Lansing regarding Stacy Feldman and Donovan Goodreau

[altrbody]

Edouard Glissant - Poetics of Relation (some concepts)

by Erin Manning

Errantry (errance)

18- errantry does not proceed from renunciation nor from frustration regarding a supposedly deteriorated (deterritorialized) situation of origin; it is not a resolute act of rejection or an uncontrolled impulse of abandonment.

- The thought of errantry is a poetics, which always infers that at some moment it is told. The tale of errantry is the tale of Relation.

21- The thinking of errancy conceives of totality but willingly renounces any claims to sum it up or possess it.

20- The thought of errantry is not apolitical nor is it inconsistent with the will to identity, which is, after all, nothing other than the search for a freedom within particular surroundings.

Rhizomatic thought / rhizome

18- the rhizome- prompting the knowledge that identity is no longer completely within the root but also in Relation.

Poetics of Relation

11- each and every identity is extended through a relationship with the Other

20- in the poetics of Relation, one who is errant (who is no longer a traveler, discoverer or conqueror) strives to know the totality of the world yet already knows he will never accomplish this - and knows that is precisely where the threatened beauty of the world resides.

Relation

34- What took place in the Caribbean, which could be summed up in the word creolization, approximates the idea of Relation for us as nearly as possible. It is not merely an encounter, a shock... a métissage, but a new and original dimension allowing each person to be there and elsewhere, rooted and open, lost in the mountains and free beneath the sea, in harmony and errantry.

131- The thing recused in every generalization of an absolute, even and especially some absolute secreted within this imaginary construct of Relation: that is, the possibility for each one at every moment to be both solitary and solitary there.

154- the thought of the Other is sterile without the other of Thought

155- The other of Thought is always set in motion by its confluences as a whole, in which each is changed by and changes the other.

157- Distancings are necessary to Relation and depend on it: like the coexistence of sea olive and manchineel.

Identity

141-142 The old idea of identity as root, whenever it proves hard to define or impossible to maintain, leads inexorably to the refuges of generalization provided by the universal as value.

142- Identity as a system of relation, as an aptitude for "giving-on-and-with" (donner-avec) is in contrast, a form of violence that challenges the generalizing universal and necessitates even more stringent demands for specificity.

Creolization

34- carries along...into the adventure of multilingualism and into the incredible explosion of cultures. ... It is the violent sign of their consensual, not imposed, sharing.

89- only exemplified by its processes and certainly not by the "contents" in which these operate.

-Creolizations bring into Relation but not to universalized the principles of creoleness regress toward negritudes, ideas of  Frenchness, of Latinness, all generalizing concepts, more or less innocently.

Creole

69- in addition to this obligation to get around something, the Creole language has another, internal obligation: to renew itself in every instance on the basis of a series of forgettings. Forgetting, that is, integration, of what it starts from: the multiplicity of African languages on the one hand and European ones on the other, the nostalgia, finally, for the Caribbean remains of these.

93- The Creole language is a fragile and revealing écho-monde, born of a reality of relation and limited within this reality by its dependence.

-Echos-monde are not exacerbations that result directly from the convulsive conditions of Relation. They are at work in the matter of the world; they prophesy or illuminate it, divert it or conversely gain strength within it.

Plantation

65- one of the focal points for the development of present-day modes of Relation.

67- socially, the Plantation is not the product of a politics but the emanation of a fantasy.

74- The Plantation, like a laboratory, displays most clearly the opposed forces of the oral and the written at work - one of the most deep-rooted topics of our discussion in our contemporary landscape. It is there that multilingualism, that threatened dimension of our universe, can be observed for one of the first times, organically forming and disintegrating.

Earth

13- Relation to the earth is too immediate or too plundering to be linked with any preoccupation with identity - this claim to or consciousness of a lineage inscribed in a territory

151- An aesthetics of the earth? ... Yes. But an aesthetics of disruption and intrusion.  ... Imagining the idea of love of the earth...with all the strength of charcoal fires or sweet syrup. Aesthetics of rupture and connection. ... Territory is defined by its limits, and they must be expanded. A land henceforth has no limits. That is the reason it is worth defending against every form of alienation. Aesthetics of a  variable continuum, of an invariant discontinuum.

[goldenpinof]

Terrible Influence Tour: Australia & New Zealand leg

15.12.2024, Melbourne

Plenary (MCEC)

Capacity: 5 564 (we have 3 862)*

Start: 20:00

General promoter: Bohm Presents

As of the morning 15.12.2024, tickets are still available on Ticketek

Seating chart close to ours (3 882 seats) (Balcony wasn't on sale, thus it's blurred):

we have a bit different assignment of accessible seats, but the overall amounts of seats in sections are the same.

the official seating chart is here. 3 882 seats are because i think they counted 4 removed rows in 3 892 but didn't count accessible seats. 3 892 + 35 - 89 + 43 = 3 881 (close enough). where: 35 – accessible seats; 89 – 4 removed rows; 43 – 2 of those removed rows that we actually have. also, i have no idea what they count in 5 564. math is not mathing. the seating plan says 3 882, we have this seating.

Available tickets as of 15.12.2024 (3 882 seats):

Some prices:

Screenshots from 28.06.2024 (the 1st sale day) (3 271 seats) and 11.10.2024 (3 882 seats):

*Weren't on sale (were blocked) from the beginning, at least:

10 and 10 seats in Rows J and K in Section Gala-5.

The list of seats that are blocked on 28.06.2024 but became available sometime after 05.12.2024:

15 and 15 seats in Rows S and T in Section Tiered-5;

9, 9, 9 and 8 seats in Rows K, L, M and N in Section Gala-6;

9, 9, 9 and 8 seats in Rows K, L, M and N in Section Gala-4.

Total - 20 seats. 3 882 - 20 = 3 862 seats, approximately.

(there's a small chance that they released and sold those 20 seats between 06.12.2024 and 13.12.2024 (the day i caught everything else being released), but idk, what i didn't see didn't happen)

[godmybackhurts]

Finis Kale was surrounded by troopers of the Zura Empire. Outnumbered, outgunned, and almost certainly outmatched. But he would get out alive. He always did. Was it luck? Perhaps. Was it skill? Maybe. But he would survive- not unharmed, of course, but alive nevertheless. They always managed to outnumber him, but he always got away.

Click.

He heard them bring their blasters to bear, ready to shoot the moment he came out of cover. Three. Two. One. He jumped out of cover, his bright orange lightsaber blazing in his right hand, and his 8-E4 blaster pistol in his left, blocking and shooting in tandem. He didn't know what guided his blade, for he certainly wasn't force-sensitive as far as he knew, but every bolt that got too close, he blocked with extreme precision. Sometimes, bolts seemed to curve away from him just before hitting; others seemed not to go in the correct direction at all.

Finis didn't care, though. He was surviving, and that's all that mattered. He began running to his ship, vaulting over railings and off of rooftops. Eventually, he reached his AE-89 Skyrunner, and started it up. He had precious little time to escape, because the Zura Empire would soon have a fleet in-system, and no amount of luck or skill would be able to save him then.

—-------------------------------------------------

Corde Kale watched her great-great-grandson fondly, watching as he blasted off the dusty rock they called Bellia-6, swearing at his ship to fly faster and for his luck to hold. Though of course, he may not know it, but the Jadeii Master had been the one protecting him, using his inherent, yet unknown to him, trust in the force to guide the lightsaber she built as a Padawan, as well as making the blaster bolts miss their marks. He was the last of her line, and while he didn't know it, the strongest in the Force.

Finis Kale would not die, not under her watchful gaze. At least, not until he was old. He was young still, only 20 years of age. And despite his arrogance, he was still destined to live a long life. So she would not, no, could not let him die before his time. He would be safe. That she could guarantee.

—-------------------------------------------------

After approximately 12 hours of flight in hyperspace, Finis arrived at Drisi. He instinctively looked over to the copilot's seat, feeling like someone was there, watching him, but as usual, he saw nobody.

“Drisi port authority, this is AE-89 Skyrunner-variant Wanderer requesting permission to land,” Finis said over the comms; it was always a good idea to contact the planetary port authorities before they contacted you.

“AE-89 Wanderer, you have permission to land. Proceed to docking bay dorn-12.”

“Understood, proceeding now.”

Finis landed his ship in the specified docking bay before opening the main hatch to exit. Drisi had always been cold, but never enough before to seep through his armor and undersuit. His helmet’s built-in thermometer told him it was -40, which was significantly colder than normal. He began heading to the nearest cantina, sure that he'd be able to find at least one job. It was the outer rim, after all. There was scarcely a cantina without any this far from the core.

He entered with a sweep of his cloak, before going to sit at the bar. The bartender was always the person to ask first.

“I'll take some dragonjuice, thanks. And some information. Any jobs around here? Anybody in particular I should ask?”

“Yeah, there's a board over to your right, and in the corner behind you to your left is someone seeking passage to Naboo. Didn't say why.” With that he was given his drink, and he tipped his helmet up to slug it back.

Finis then went over to the booth in the corner, where he sat across from his prospective customer.

“I heard you need a ride. And I'd be willing to give you one, at a cost.”

“What's it to you?” the ride-seeker answered, her face hidden by her hood.

“I need money. And Naboo's a fairly difficult route these days, with the Zura Empire and Cygnus Hive fighting over the Enarc Run. So that means there's something important there for you. Which means you're willing to pay good money.”

“Sure. Let's say you're right. Maybe there is something there. Maybe I will pay well. How can I be assured that you'll actually take me there, instead of being a coward and taking me somewhere like New Alderaan, or drugging me and dumping me on Tatooine?” She had a fast mouth and mind, both of which were things that made for either a good passenger or a terrible one.

“Firstly, I'm not a coward, and frankly I'm insulted you would even suggest that. Secondly, I have no interest in that sort of osik. I'm assuming you won't pay until arrival. Which means that in order for me to get paid, you'd need to arrive.”

The fact she had even insinuated he would do something unscrupulous was an insult. He may be a murderer, and a bounty hunter, and all other sorts of unsavory things, but he was not a backstabber. Going against his word was not something his mother had taught him.

“And, besides, you seem like you've been here for awhile already. So either you've told everyone no, or I'm your first offer,” he stated. Now or never to reel this job in.

“Fine. I'm willing to pay 5,000 credits up front. I'll pay-”

“Only 5,000? Typically it's half up front, half upon completion. So that'll only be 10,000. That's barely enough to get me to the closest system,” he butted in, quite unhappy.

“You didn't let me finish. I'll be paying 5,000 up front, and 60,000 upon arrival,” she finished, sounding quite annoyed. If this man was going to be like this the whole time, she would consider getting someone else.

“65 thousand? Yeah… I can work with that. I can definitely work with that. I'm guessing it's easier to avoid getting tossed out an airlock when you can pay good money upon completion?” he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Something like that. It isn't important, though. What's important is that I get there.” Her voice had evened out, and he could see a hint of a smirk on her lips.

“When will you be ready to go? I want to pick up a few off-planet jobs before heading out.”

---------------------------------------------------

And that's Will Of The Force so far! Beta-read by the excellent @legally-a-bastard and (hopefully) @athena-cat-wizard-official!

As well, @musewrangler wanted a tag, so here you go!

(And for those wondering when it takes place, about 2,000 ABY)

[dzeehome]

What's The Difference Between A Bath Towel And A Bath Sheet

For more visit: www.dzeehome.com

Towels are an essential part of everyday life, and they come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. When it comes to bathroom towels, the two most common types are bath towels and bath sheets.

These two types of towels serve the same purpose, but they differ in size and functionality. Just rely on DZEE Home for the best bath towels and know the difference between Bath Towel vs Bath Sheet!

Bath Sheet vs Bath Towel: What Should You Look For? 

The choice between bath towels and bath sheets comes down to personal preference and what you need from your towel. 

Size:

A bath towel is ideal if you prefer a smaller towel that is more versatile and easy to wash and dry. On the other hand, if you prefer a larger, more luxurious towel that provides more coverage and a softer feel, then a bath sheet is the way to go. Another factor to consider is the size of the person using the towel. If you are taller or have a larger body, then a bath towel may be more comfortable to use as it provides more coverage. 

Prices:

It is worth noting that bath sheets are often more expensive than bath towels, as they require more material to produce. If you are on a budget, then Belem’s bath towels may be a more cost-effective option. Regardless of which type of towel you choose, proper care and maintenance will ensure they remain soft, absorbent, and long-lasting, which brings us to the third point.

Care Instructions:

To care for your towels properly, wash them before first use to remove any excess dye or chemicals. Wash your towels in warm water with mild detergent at a medium temperature of around 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Avoid using fabric softener, as this can reduce the absorbency of the towel. Dry your towels on medium heat, or hang them outside to air dry. 

Avoid drying your towels on high heat, as this can damage the fibers and reduce the softness of the towel. Also, avoid using chlorine bleach on your towels, as this can cause them to turn yellow or become damaged. Replace your towels every 1-2 years or when they begin to feel thin or lose their absorbency.

Material & GSM:

You should also consider the weight and material of the towel. Towels are measured in grams per square meter (GSM), with a higher GSM indicating a denser and more absorbent towel. Belem’s bath towels usually have a GSM between 400 and 600. Our towels are made from 100% premium fine cotton yarn to establish warmth, comfort, durability, and absorbency.

Color:

Finally, it is worth considering the style and color of your towels. Bath towels and bath sheets come in a wide range of colors and patterns, so you can choose one that matches your bathroom decor or personal style. It is also a good idea to have a few extra towels on hand, so you can rotate them and give them time to dry between uses.

The Difference Between Bath Towel vs Bath Sheet

A bath towel is a rectangular-shaped towel that measures approximately 27 inches by 50 inches (68.5 cm by 127 cm). Bath towels are a standard size and are designed to be versatile, meaning they can be used for various purposes. The size of bath towels makes them ideal for drying off the body, wrapping around the head, or laying on the ground as a barrier between the body and the floor. 

Bath towels are usually made from cotton. Cotton towels are the most popular and are soft, absorbent, and durable. They come in a range of colors and patterns to suit any bathroom decor. 

On the other hand, bath sheets are more significant than bath towels, measuring approximately 35 inches by 60 inches (89 cm by 152.5 cm). Bath sheets are usually made from the same materials as bath towels, including cotton, bamboo, or microfiber. However, because of their larger size, they are more absorbent and take longer to dry than bath towels, but they can be challenging to manage because of their enormous size.

Looking For Bath Towels?

In conclusion, the difference between a bath towel and a bath sheet comes down to personal preference and what you need from your towel. Bath towels are versatile and practical, while bath sheets provide a more luxurious and indulgent experience. DZEE Home has the best bath towels to offer you an unparalleled experience in the comfort of your own home. Simply visit our website DZEE HOME or contact our professionals to place an order for your bath towel!

[xtruss]

The Little-Known History of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics

— By Olivia B. Waxman | Published: September 20, 2022 | Tuesday January 23, 2025

The cover of American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First ParamedicsHachette Books

Paramedics are lifelines in U.S communities, responding to all kinds of medical emergencies. And yet, the history of the emergency medical services (EMS) is little-known.

In American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics, author Kevin Hazzard, a former paramedic, spotlights the Black men in Pittsburgh who pioneered the profession and formed a model for emergency medical services that other cities copied.

In 1966, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published a white paper that was a damning indictment of the nation’s emergency response system. “Essentially, paramedics weren’t plentiful enough to be there when you needed them and then weren’t well trained enough to be of much use when they were there,” Hazzard says.

Ambulances were, in some cases, hearses that were driven by undertakers from the funeral home that would later plan the patient’s funeral. In other situations, the sick and injured might be tended to by police officers or volunteer firefighters who were not trained to provide emergency care. Americans were more likely to survive a gunshot wound in the Vietnam War than on the homefront, according to the NAS report, because at least injured soldiers are accompanied by trained medics. “In 1965, 52 million accidental injuries killed 107,000, temporarily disabled over 10 million and permanently impaired 400,000 American citizens at a cost of approximately $18 billion,” the report said. “It is the leading cause of death in the first half of life’s span.”

This lack of emergency care hit home for Peter Safar, an Austrian-born anesthesiologist at the University of Pittsburgh and a pioneer of CPR who helped to develop the modern hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He lost his daughter in 1966 to an asthma attack because she didn’t get the right help between her house and the hospital. So he coped with the loss by designing the modern ambulance—including the equipment inside, plus its paint scheme. Perhaps most crucially, he also designed the world’s first comprehensive course to train paramedics.

Author Kevin Hazzard. Photo Credit: Bonnie J. Heath Photography

The first people to take the course in 1967 were a group of Black men who were in Freedom House, an organization that originally provided jobs delivering vegetables to needy Black Americans. At first the idea was to switch the delivery service from delivering food to driving people to medical appointments. But, within eight months, the drivers were trained to handle emergencies including heart attacks, seizures, childbirth, and choking. Their first calls took place during the uprising following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968.

And data showed that the training worked. One 1972 study of 1,400 patients transported to area hospitals by Freedom House over two months found the paramedics delivered the correct care to critical patients 89% of the time. By contrast, the study found police and volunteer ambulance services delivered the right care only 38% and 13% of the time, respectively. One Freedom House member, Nancy Caroline, wrote a textbook on EMS training that became the national standard.

Despite the success of Freedom House, the city nixed the program in 1975. Pittsburgh Mayor Peter Flaherty thought he could create a better system and replaced Freedom House with an all-white paramedic corps. Hazzard tells TIME that he believes racism was at play. As he puts it, “What other reason could he have for not wanting this organization, which was so successful and was a model around the country and around the world, other than the fact that they were an almost entirely Black organization.”

The real story “doesn’t make the city look good,” Hazzard says, so that’s why he thinks the story of the nation’s first paramedics is not better known. But Hazzard believes there are lessons in this story that are useful for all professions, not just paramedics. Many of the Freedom House participants went on to get master’s degrees, Ph.D.s, or medical degrees—or pursued careers in politics or the upper echelons of police, EMS, and fire departments.

“These were really successful people who came from nowhere and where it all began was an opportunity in 1967,” Hazzard says. “All it took for a group of young men that the world had written off was one opportunity, and they never looked back from that point. Anyone can reach great heights. They just simply need a single opportunity.”

[septusuki]

DOES THE DISSEDENT NATION KNOW NO SHAME?

The dissident nation, which we cannot dare gift with a name, has once again shown us the depths of depravity that its cruel culture is so capable of. It seeks to destroy our great empire from WITHIN!

The dissident nation knows nought of Just War. The dissident nation knows nought of respect, or even dignity. Our pilots, our great and glorious pilots, are the targets of its latest SCHEME! They do not seek to fight them in fair combat. They do not seek to give them the fair and honest fight they are owed. They use OUTLAWED virus weaponry to infect their blessed frames! They DARE to spread data-viruses through our ranks, and dissolve any sense of morality within them. They seek to reflect their own depraved taste in our most exalted of warriors. This shall not be tolerated. This is an attack of the highest calibre against our Empire's sacred traditions and long-favoured technologies.

From HANDLER PRIME - JESSIUS KNOX:

Their latest corruption seeks to disrupt our valiant pilot's nutrition systems. All those with HANDLER permission-clearance or higher are implored to keep OS software up-to-date, to avoid errant infections. The virus causes the frame's nutrition systems to forgo its correct hourly routine, and dump it's ENTIRE payload into a pilot's digestive organs at once. To avoid the worst-case scenario, ensure that nutrition systems run at 23% power, and are stocked only to 8%, with LOW FAT rations.

[IMAGE ID: Pilot 1240-45, Known as Fortis, sits atop a small box. The image is rendered in black-and-white, but it is not hard to see the bulge of Fortis' stomach. Still in her plugsuit, the fact that it is far too tight for her is blatantly obvious. Her eyes are empty as she sits, perfectly straight, save for the sag of her belly. Her short hair, perfectly black even in the photo's muted colour-scheme, reaches down to her chest — or what would be her chest, if it wasn't so ballooned that her nipples slosh down to her tummy, where her ribs might once have been. As you look at the photo for longer and longer, the tiny tears in the elastic of her whitish plugsuit become more obvious, as if they are tearing in real-time. Her eyes are empty, as she starts to sob. Her hands, fat and chubby, grasp the sides of her body as if they need to be held in place. The interjector ports on her right arm are covered by fat. Her left arm is hooked up to an auto-medical device, the syringes of which have to plough through tub to reach their own ports. Her eyes are empty, save for the slight reflection of the camera-flash, that took the photo.]

Remember, the war effort counts on YOU!

[zahri-melitor]

Wonder Woman by Messner-Loebs (#63-#100, #0)

Well. That was A Lot.

This is a difficult run to read, and not just because it backs up straight off George Perez’s iconic run. It’s a slog with writing that is painfully outdated and that will throw you out of the story if you’re not paying attention.

It’s very much a run in which I feel one of the biggest problems is that it’s written by a man who wants to believe that women have interiority and motivations, but is hopelessly out of touch with what actual real life women think and believe and act. Interesting concepts, poor execution. I have to believe he didn’t understand the sheer level of all the misogyny he portrayed characters as experiencing, and that he thought it was a good power fantasy to see those women overcoming that systemic and specific misogyny.

Let’s get into the good aspects.

Christopher Priest gets a two-part story (#88-89), which is used to bring Circe (in her traditional appearance) out to explain why Themyscira has been missing for the whole run so far and what happened. I quite enjoy Priest’s writing and this story had enough twists to it to be interesting, but also leaned into an aspect I love seeing pop up in Wonder Woman stories…the inevitability of fate and prophecy. Circe promises Diana that she will restore Themyscira…but Diana must sacrifice an innocent’s life. The story tangles with this well. Truly a lovely little tension release in the run, and shifted the story arc from the first 25 issues over to the last dozen.

Circe as the overarching big bad of the whole run is actually a good shout. Circe’s a manipulator, and having a run where she’s pulling the strings all over the place while also cosying up to Diana in disguise is quite fun.

On that vein…honestly I enjoyed all the ‘Donna Milton’ stuff, despite how much I was ragging it as I read it. Someone taking advantage of Diana’s trust in that way was a betrayal, but you can also see her affected by the role she took on. Also it was just really funny to offset Ares being so hamhanded about his incarnation in comparison. Plus, the existence of Lyta Milton is going to pay off into the future.

While I’m STILL going on about Circe: it’s fascinating to me that multiple of Diana’s female villains not only want to bang her but are compelled to be friends with her, even as they also run around being evil. Like it’s a lovely redemption arc for the 30 seconds it will be permanent.

I don’t hate the idea of The Contest, and it’s one of the better conceptualised stories across the whole run. The concept (has Diana lost her skill and her direction compared to the wishes of the Amazons? How does she compare to champions of Bana-Mighdall? What is the direction that the Amazons should be pursuing in Man’s World?) has a lot to chew on and Artemis as a character does a fair chunk of rehab to the concept behind Bana-Mighdall and moving it into a part of the mythology that writers can actually use, rather than being the racist stereotype Perez created. There are additional valid reasons for the Banas to feel betrayed, and Herakles screwed over both Amazon tribes (Unfortunately at the expense of Hippolyta’s characterisation, but she’s all over the place in this run). The execution however, didn’t measure up to the concepts.

Things I think didn’t work:

The run had three overarching arcs that I think can be approximately broken down into: the space pirate arc; Ares and ‘Donna Milton’ screw with Diana’s life; Artemis as Wonder Woman. They’re not really coherent with each other? Stuff that was happening in one arc just gets dropped and ignored to move onto the next arc.

I think Messner-Loebs had a vision of taking Diana down to see the gritty hardship and violence of women’s lives. Unfortunately, I don’t think that particularly worked as a run for Wonder Woman. It’s a book that at its best is imbued with hope and connections to mythology and epic plots, rather than street-level storylines. Diana running around worrying about paying her bills and working in a fast food restaurant and for a private investigator taking on cases like shaking down men for unpaid child support? I had Common People by Pulp running though my head the whole time. I do like Diana to be concerned with even small scale problems and outraged by institutional sexism. I don’t think this was the right approach to show it.

Then there was the way Messner-Loebs contrasted this with Artemis, by using Artemis as a foil to say “you can’t just go out and beat up institutional sexism and misogyny, the work is harder than punching people in the face and declaring that women should be strong!” Thank you, Messner-Loebs, we really needed that strawman created for Artemis as a character. Artemis and her plot once she leaves Themyscira is just a series of take that strawmen using some very 90s plot ideas (not helped by Deodato literally drawing the sort of Image Comics villains that it is railing against, and giving them stupid names). It’s a very, very blantantly obvious, Captain Planet sort of approach to ‘why are women treated differently to men’ and it needed a lot more subtlety and interrogation of the concepts involved.

Messner-Loebs is also struggling with the fact that he simply doesn’t have the language or conception to describe a lot of the feminist and queer themes he is playing around with. There are several storylines or offhand comments that, were they written today, would be explicit trans storylines or discussions of intersexuality and assigned gender, but in what we get, written in the early nineties? It’s stereotypes about what makes someone flamboyantly gay, or ‘secretly’ female.

Downsides of the run:-

Mike Deodato Jr’s art. It’s everything people rag on about 90s art. He’s not Rob Liefeld, but that’s almost worse, because as I’ve said previously, Liefeld basically only does Hawk & Dove work for DC (with an occasional foray into Deathstroke and ‘projects Jeph Loeb asked all his friends to contribute to’), while Deodato here is getting to draw DOZENS of women and particularly Amazons in that extremely Image House Style way. Not a lot of internal organs, a lot of wedgies. I suppose he was picked for the end arc in that his art style played with the messages Messner-Loebs was trying to convey (“stereotypes bad! Image Comics villains silly! Feminism involves hard work!”) but is let down by the fact that, yanno, all the characters are drawn in that style.

Messner-Loebs just forgetting what his plot involving Cheetah was. At the start of the run, he banished Barbara Minerva into a demon dimension. She then reappears right near the end of the run, with the extremely boring villain I have avoided mentioning this entire write up (sorry, Asquith Randolph is SO dull) having pulled her back and…sent her out to attack Diana? Caged her? Great work there Messner-Loebs, no notes.

Just so much blatant misogyny and violence against women, and the way Diana and Artemis were portrayed as fighting it was nowhere near sufficient catharsis for putting me through reading it.

Do I think you should read this run?

Hmm, it depends. It’s an interesting introduction to Artemis and is probably important context to know about her for any story going forwards. I can see how the Donna Milton stuff is going to pay off in the future when other people draw out the storyline built in here. The choice of classic villains in this run is actually solid. Dr Psycho’s appropriately horribly creepy, Circe’s turn is triumphant, Ares is causing problems, Cheetah is sympathetic but wrong in all the right ways. On the other hand, we start with the process of fridging the Kapatelis family, it’s just chock full of storylines that you stare at going ‘why is this HERE?’, it tends to pick up an idea, play with it and then drop it without pulling it back to develop a theme, it gets bogged down in feminist concepts that were outdated even for the early 90s, and it just felt unpleasant to read. This is some storytelling that desperately needed a woman in the room to consult and talk ideas over with, and as close as they got was the colourist.

[cfs-melkire]

I'm complete up to Dawntrail. Assuming you mean who I think you mean, EW spoilers under the cut.

The Loporrits near the end of 6.0 refer to how the summoning process as taught to the beast tribes allied societies is a flawed process. The exact quote comes from Livingway during the Lv. 89 quest "Unto the Heavens." Image below.

So there's two things going on here. First: the desire to assimilate is what the Ascians incorporated into the corrupted summoning method that they taught to others, not the ability to temper. This doesn't say that creation magick generated primals can't temper, just that they have no desire to. Second: Livingway acknowledges that a primal of sufficient scale can influence those in the proximity just by dint of existing.

Tempering, from what we learn over the course of the game, is what happens when one is sufficiently exposed to a primal's aether such that their aether is aspected to an elemental extreme matching the primal in question. An extreme enough tempering results in physical alterations, as with Leviathan's Drowned as seen in Sastasha, but an individual will find themselves tempered even before reaching that point.

So what are we to believe? A quick examination of Livingway is in order (if you think this is unfair, please refer to the hundreds if not thousands of examinations of Emet-Selch elsewhere across the internet; I am simply saving us time).

1. The Loporrits were created by Hydaelyn for the express purpose of her contingency plan, and the knowledge she imparted to them appears to largely suit this purpose. They were not present at either her own summoning or Zodiark's.

2. The Loporrits, so far as we have seen and from what little we know of their history, have had neither cause nor opportunity to summon deities/primals before this point.

3. Livingway is providing us with her understanding of the situation, but her knowledge of the Ascian method stems largely from the accounts she's read, which is to say that this is her best guess as to the difference between the Ascian method and the Ancient method. She is, in short, conjecturing. We can trust that she knows her stuff like the back of her hand when it comes to creation magicks, but the rest needs to be examined in this light.

Given all the above, I think it's fair to say that "tug" might have been an understatement to assuage concerns. I'm really curious to see how the Japanese, French, and German text read there. It's not an issue in the context of that moment of the story, because the Loporrits take care to break down the Mothercrystal into many deities/primals using as many faiths as they have available on hand; not one of them have sufficient "mass" nearing what Zodiark or Hydaelyn had. And Zodiark had mass: half of all Ancients, themselves approximately twice what the average Spoken is today, sacrificed themselves to summon him. The Zodiark we fight in the MSQ trial is a Zodiark at 8/14ths his usual strength.

It seems perfectly plausible to me that Zodiark may have tempered the Ancients just by being summoned, i.e. it was an accident. He was the first such tremendous concentration of Darkness i.e. astral-aspected aether; the Ancients would have had no precedent for what to expect.

The alternative is... what? That Emet was lying, after all? Seems a pointless exercise when, for most of Shadowbringers, he was perfectly content with sharing the truth as he understood it. On one hand, we've got "Emet was lying or mistaken about being tempered," (I find the idea that a 12,000+ year old being of his intelligence and skills could be mistaken about this to be unlikely) in which case he's likely trying to foist off the responsibility for his actions. On the other hand, we've got "Emet was telling the truth and he really was tempered," in which case he's a tragic figure who knows and recognizes that his faculties are warped but cannot bring himself to care or to do anything about it.

I find the latter more compelling, and if we're going to examine him with a fine-toothed comb then we really ought to take that approach to Livingway as well. Which is to say: either we accept what the text tells us at face value across the board, or we critically examine all of it.

Not gonna reblog the person answering a good-natured ask because I don't want to be That Person, so instead I'll just post this here.

The unsundered Ascians were tempered by Zodiark. This is canon. We get the optional dialogue (read: optional as in, "if you do not speak to the NPC that doesn't have the quest marker, you will miss this bit of dialogue/lore") from Emet-Selch himself during the Lv. 76 quest "Best Way Out." Image below.

[onlyjaeyun]

greetings my dear zadie 😁 i missed u sm (sorry for the disappearance- i really missed filling ur inbox like this pls don’t mind me💔) & i genuinely have no idea where to begin from because i just got caught up with like 30 chapters of strictly business and i haVENT BEEN SLEEPING SINCE YESTERDAY BECAUSE I CANT CLOSE MY PHONE 🧍‍♀️ first of all what the FUCKKKKK IS GOING AWNNNNN😨 like what the hell what the fuck the whole family situation is so heartbreaking then we have the fucking mind blowing jaw dropping earth shattering identity crisis inducing universe colliding inducing smut to have ever grazed tumblr idk if it’s the severe daddy issues but my GOD thewayjongseongisaservicedommakesmegentearup also can i just say as someone who’s been reading your masterpieces since hype boy i absolutely adore. like ADORE 🧎‍♀️ the way you write your smuts they always like ooze out love and i adore it sm like it’s like that one meme where u know it’s not a quick nut but smth made with love & care and that’s exactly how you be writing your shit dawg like you’re so talented?? out here making me close my phone every 5 mins just to giggle and calm myself down. now when i tell you my legs r aching bcs of the amount of hours i just spent swinging them while giggling because of the shit i was reading for HOURS BRO. 😀 like i’m so obsessed with how you write i want to kiss & appreciate each every single one of your neuron cells and axons for connecting to eachother to form such beautiful ideas mamas. anywho back to the story FUCK YOU SHIAH UGLY ASS PREHISTORIC ASS BITCH THE FUCK IS YOUR GODDAMN PROBLEM DAMN. like you’re genuinely a miserable grandma if you’re out here in your 30s or smth pushing 89 and you’re bullying & talking shit about a girl who’s 21 💀 like girl go teach at unis what u learned about dinosaurs since you’ll be talking straight up from experience. i bet yo ass she was there at the last supper arriving with her horse and all that like GIR- sorry excuse me for the disrespect fr 🙏🏼GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMA. GET YOUR GODDAMN SHIT TOGETHER AND BACK THE FUCK AWF 🤺 anywho now that we talked about the literal cause of the big bang theory let’s go talk about jongseong 🤭 no because i love this man with my whole entire heart i just- i <3 mature men <333 he’s so cool & mature & understanding & it’s making him so much more sexier than he already is it’s actually driving me crazy because wHERE do i find a replica of the man i just read about. like sir. SIR im losing my mINDDDD 🤸‍♀️🕳️ and then going to yn i love her sm :( she’s so smart & kind and she did not deserve anything that happened to her she’s such a sweet girl i can’t do this i can’t stand kind hearted people getting their souls hurt like this like pls she deserves sm better (i’m literally coming for you shiah. sleep with one eye fucking OPEN.) i’m so glad she has jimin & aeri w her i love them all so much and nayeon (btw making nayeon jongseong’s older sister single-handedly saved approximately 26392 lives and prevented 6 million deaths im telling u, ur mind? legendary.) and then we have seoul’s fav four oh mY GOD i love jaeyun sm. he’s so hilarious like bros always speaking & asking the ACTUAL questions he’s so funny i love him sm & hoon is just hooning he’s a bad bitch & a serious mf i love him sm for that fr always serving shit and all that a fucking icon he’s so real 💯 and oh lord 30 year old hee? is going down in the history books i fear 🚨 u making hee this attractive right after poison is just so ooooooo i wanna fight you so bad (w kisses & hugs duh!) but like gen. easily one of the best stories i’ve ever came across, easily one of the best authors/writers i’ve had the chance to read the works of and witness with my own eyes 🙏🏼 like thank u so much for your service fr i love u sm pls take care of urself & don’t tire yourself out (i’m ignoring all events that took place in the most recent chapter because no.) sending u sm love & kisses zadie ! <33

actually no fuck that what the fuck do you mean the engagement is ACTUALLY GONNA HAPPEN. didn’t jongseong already put that bitch in her place like GRANDMA???? R U NOT EMBARRASSED THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING. chasing after a dude when he literally told u all ur shitty fantasies AINT GONNA HAPPEN and someone who put u in ur goddamn place and SO OBVIOUSLY HAS SOMEONE ELSE HES INTERESTED IN (WHICH TALK YOUR FUCKING SHIT JONGSEONG 🗣️💯 SPEAK UR TRUTH DONT LET THEM SILENCE YOU!!) IS SO LIKE ??? girl stand up fr you’re famous ig & hella rich u can find someone else leave my babies alone i beg. and oooo girl jongseong’s dad fr about to make me become a lawyer to jail his stupid ahh alongside yn’s father (and her brothers) 👩‍⚖️ now one thing shitty men will always excel at is being a fucking asshole to everyone including your family yet excluding your side chicks! like at your prehistoric grown goddamn age you’re gonna force your son to marry someone he doesn’t even like 😧? shit’s wild fr. anyways fuck you shiah fuck every single dad in the story and fuck you shiah (pt2) cuz u ain’t SHIT. you will never be SHIT with your horrendous pick me attitude and with your personality that’s literally revolved around being a trophy wife (and being in a marriage with a man who doesn’t even want you??? like do u have no shame. no self respect. like idgaf if this is about business and allat the man DOESNT WANT YOU 🫤 get that shit in your thick ass head grandma) like that shit’s crazy and fuck that account that posted that shit i hope yn’s okay and jay makes shit up for her cuz come on now 😐

-⁉️ <3

MY BABY IS BACKKKKKK HI BABY 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 you have no idea how much i giggled and smiled seeing you in my inbox imagain i MISSED YOUUUUU and hope life has been treating you well baby 🥺💞 pls tell me you havent been overworking yourself or i will have to fight you 💔

and please the way i couldn't even hold back my ugly laughs while reading bc you expressed my thoughts and feelings about yoo shiah in strictly business too spot on 😭😭😭😭

when i tell you the part where you started complimenting me, the smau and my writing made me tear up like i dont think you guys know how much your words mean to me and i will forever keep them super close to my heart so thank you so, so much baby. sending you the fattest kiss right now pls accept 🥺💞🩷💞🩷💞🩷

[sunshinesesequencing]

More Conditional Breakbeat Sequences

Elektron sequencer focussed

Abbreviations

K : Kick S : Snare C : Closed Hihat O : Open Hihat S : Snare R : Rim shot

<Drum> : Step@%% or Elektron conditional trig PRE : if previous step hit _PRE : if not previous hit NEI : If neighbour track hit _NEI : if neighbour track didn't hit

Tighten Up - Archie Bell and the Drells - Billy Butler

bpm133

C 1,3,5,7 @ 100, 9@75

R 8@100, 12@_NEI, 13@PRE, 16@100

O 1,5,9, 13 @ 100

S 2,5  @100, 6@75, 10@100, 13@75, 14@100

K 1,3,7 @100, 11@75, 15@_PRE

The variations are mainly due to the last bar of four.

The C,O,R can be any hat or ride sound.

Accents and other hit variations are not shown and up to the programmer.

Last Bar Ideas

Octatrack 

Neighbour track with 

filter settings to 0 Base 0 width for 4:4 or 8:8

General 

Main track with A:B trigger with the silenced notes at 0 VOL and the Neighbour track the _NEI

- precludes randomisation

- with the Rytm if the same drum is required then the track may have to double up in machines

Express Yourself - Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - James Gordon

C 1:41, 1-10@100, 11@75, 12@89, 13-15@100, 16@75

O 1:_NEI, 11@_NEI

S 2@13, 4@25, 5@75, 6@13, 7@41, 8@81, 10@59, 12@59, 13@75, 15@13, 16@89

K 1@67, 2@25, 4@67, 5@25, 8@41, 9@41, 10@41, 11@25, 12@59, 13@13, 14@59, 15@13  

There are lots of probability in this patten. I did not see a structure that fit into Elektron conditionals.

The probability numbers are rounded to Electron conditional values.

Only the first 7 bars used as the last bar is more of a fill. 

Use Me - Bill Withers - James Gadsen

bpm:78

H1a 10@4:4, 12@4:4, 14@4:4,

H1b 11@4:4, 13@4:4, 15@75 16@50

H1a and H1b are on the same track but with p-locked variations or sample changes.

Alternatively just use 25% instead of 4:4 for more variation.

C 1-9@100, 10-16@ _NEI

R 5@100, 8@100, 16@75

The score has a rim click but try snare, claps or anything.

K 1,2,6 @100, 8@25, 9@100, 10@50, 11@25, 12@100, 14@25, 15@50

Here Comes the Meterman - The Meters - Joseph 'Zigaboo' Modeliste

bpm 91

Interpretation of the main groove

R1 1,9 @ 100

R2 3,5,7,11,13,15 @100

S 2@50, 3@50, 8@50, 13,15@100

K 1@100, 4@100, 6@100, 9,10,@100, 12@100, 13@50, 14@50, 15@50

R1, R2 - Ride sounds

S - Snare

K - Kick

Cr - Crash

Approximation of an approximation  of the first four bars of the break

R1 1@50, 7@50, 8@25, 14@25, 16@25

R2 1@50, 2@25, 3@25, 5@25, 6@25, 7@25, 8@25, 9@50, 11@100, 14@25, 15@25

S  1@25, 2@50, 3@25, 5@50,6@75, 8@25, 9@50, 11@75, 12@50,13@25, 14@50, 15@25, 16@25

K  1@75, 2@25, 4@75, 5@25, 6@50, 7@25, 8@75, 10@100, 11@50, 12@25, 13@50, 14@50, 15@25, 16@50 4@100, 6@100, 9,10,@100, 12@100, 13@50, 14@50, 15@50

Cr 1@1st

The actual break hits has a percentage chance of each of the sounds or nearly all of the trigs. 

An option would be to fill in a selection of trigs for the machines and then dial in a probability value on the trig page. out.

To make the patten more steady one of the tracks could have most hits at 100%

Adamo in his writeup of the break notes his work is an approximation with 'a lot of unaccountable sounds'.

Do the Funky Penguin - Rufus Thomas - Al Jackson Jr, Willie Hall or Bobby Hunt

H1 1,2,5,7@ 100, 9,11,13@ 75, 15@25

H2 9,11,15@ _NEI

H3 13@25 (should be _NEI but not a neighbour)

S  2@25, 5@100, 10@75, 12@4:4, 13@75. 14@4:4. 15@4:4, 15@50

(Alternatives -4 :4 could be 25 or FILL)

K  1@100, 3@50, 4@2_PRE, 8@100, 11@100

For the name

I'm Glad You're Mine - Al Green - Al Jackson Jr.

bpm 81

CH 1@75, 3,5,7,9@100, 11,13,15@50

OH _1@NEI, 11@_NEI

LT 16@2:2 

SD 3@25, 5@75, 6@_PRE, 8@PRE, 10@PRE, 13@50, 14,15@PRE

BD 1@1:2, 2@4:4, 4@25, 5@25, 8@PRE, 9@25, 12@1:2

The original conditional sequence was all random percentages however this was a bit too IDM. The X:Y conditional trigs provide a foundation on which the random elements can be added.  

Kit: RYTMLINJE from the Default project.

The Crooked Cop - The Bamboos - Danny Farrugia

CY 1@1st

CH 1@_1st, 5:59, 7:59, 9@100, 13@75, 15@75

OH 2@Fill, 3@100, 6@1:4, 11@59

SD 3@Fill, 4@Fill, 5@100, 6@75, 7@59, 8@59, 10@59, 13@87, 14@Fill, 15@Fill, 16@100

BD 1@_Fill, 3@_Fill, 8@25, 11@100

The CH and OH can be interchanged as required.

Example 8 bars: Kit: X11I (Default)

Unity Part 1 (The Third Coming) - Afrika Bambaataa and James Brown - Keith LeBlanc

CH 1@100, 3@300, 5@75, 7@100, 8@25, 9@100, 10@25, 11@100, 13@25, 14@25, 15@100

OH 25@_NEI, 13@_NEI

SD 5@100, 6@8:8, 8@50, 10@100, 12@7:8, 14@75, 16@100

BD 1@100, 4@75, 9@5;8, 10@25, 11@100, 14@50

Example 8bars

KIT

Kit: BABALOG (Default)

In the example BT is used instead of BD, LT in place of SD as the lower machines are set up as bass.

Funky Cat - James Knight and the Butlers - Robert 'Blind" Jackson

bpm 132

CH 1@1100, 3@13, 5@100, 7@33, 9 @100, 11@33, 13@87, 15@13

OH 13@_NEI, 15@_NEI

SD 2@50, 3@13, 5@87, 7@25, 9@59, 11@13, 13@50, 15@59, 16@59

KD 1@87, 3@57, 4@25, 6@13, 8@25, 9@67, 10@13, 11@33, 12@67, 14@41

In the audio example KD 1 is at 10O to get a definite down beat. The patten can become too random so some certainty could be added be added for the kicks and snares.

Example 8bars

Kit: HAILDO (default)

Love at First Sight - John Timmons

bpm 111

CY 1@1ST

CH 1@_1st, 3@100, 4@_1st, 5@100, 7@100, 9@100, 11@100, 12@_1st, 13@100, 15@100

SD 2@50, 5@100, 6@100, 10@100, 13@100, 14@100, 16@100

BD 1@100, 7@100, 8@100, 11@100, 15@100

A straight forward patten take from a 4 bar score. My next step would be to randomise  the snares then a couple of BD trigs. In the audio snippet I use the CP track as a bass takes the SD slot.

Example 8 bars

Kit: SU-CEK (Default)

Baby Don't Cry - The Third Guitar

The first break

bpm 102

CY 1@1:2

CH 1@2;2, 3,4,5@100 , 6@59, 7@Pre, 8@Pre, 9@59, 10@33, 11@50, 12@59, 13@Pre, 14@Pre

SD 2@2:8, 5@100, 7@6:6, 8@59, 9@3:3, 10@50, 11@2:2, 12@6:8,  14@25, 15@3:8, 16@100

BD 1@100, 3@75, 8@25, 9@59, 11@1:3, 12@2:8, 16@50

In this I wanted to try more X:Y conditionals, both frequent repetitions such as 3:3 and the more occasional such as 3:8. 

Recognize - Breakestra - Drums: Miles Tackett

bpm: 96 - Swing: 56

OH 1@25, 3@25, 9@N_NEI, 11@_NEI

CH 1@59, 3@59, 5@81, 7@100, 9@81, 11@75, 13@15, 15@75

SD 1@13, 2@81, 4@25, 5@75, 6@60, 7@13, 8@100, 10@q00, 11@13, 12@33, 13@59, 14@50, 15@50, 16@81

BD 1@100, 3@59, 4@25, 6@25, 9@50-, 11@75, 12@13, 13@13, 14@50, 15@13

If both OH and CH occur on 1 or 3 only OH will be heard as it has precedence.

This will allow silences to develop. Swing is used for the first time given the notes in the Adamo interpretation.

Organ Donor - DJ Shadow

bpm: 110

CH 1,,3,5,7,9,11,13,15@100

SD 1@8:8, 2@25, 4@6:8, 5@75, 6@8:8, 8@25, 9@8:8, 10@100, 11@8:8, 12@4:8, 13@75, 14@8:8, 16@100

BD 1@100, 3@75, 5@6:8, 6@7:8, 7@50, 8@_PRI, 9@59, 11!100, 12@8:8, 15@4:4

If just one hit appeared on a trig then that became a X:Y. I have still to worked out how to program hits which appear in every bar but the last as there is not a (not)X:Y conditional. They could be put as 87% to see what turns out but because in this patten it was on the 1 I rounded up to 100%. 

Ain't It Hard - Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Homer Steinweiss

CH 1@75, 3@75, 5@75, 7@87, 9@75, 11@75, 13@87, 15@87

OH 1@25, 3@25, 5@12

CY 7@12, 9@12

CP 1.3.5@8:8

LT 15,16@8:8

MT 13,14@8:8

SD 3@12, 5@59, 8@62, 9@12, 10@25, 11@50

BD 1@100, 5@33,9@59, 11@25, 13@25, 15@59

The hat conditionals and sounds related to the kit. The original interpretation the CY sound is a half open hat. The CP sound is supposed to be crash but the cymbal which could be use as the alternate hat and not really emphatic. Hence the CP.

The toms are your choice.

The hits for the 8:8 could be used as a fill instead.

The original score has a 7/8 and a 8/8 bar which I wrangled in to 4/4.

Speak E.Z. - Lettuce - Adam Deitch

bpm: 83

CY 1@1st

CH 1@_1st, 3@100, 5@25, 7@75, 8@3:4, 9@1:4, 10@2;2, 11@75, 13@3:4, 15@100, 16@2:4

OH 5@25, 13@4:4

SD 2@20, 3@3:4, 5@75, 6@50, 8@100, 9@2:2, 10@3:4, 11@4:4, 13@75, 15@2:2, 16@75

BD 1@100, 2@2:2, 4@75, 7@2:4, 9@1:2, 10@100, 12@75, 14@2:4, 16@4:4

The first four bars which are improvised through the song (Adamo)

Example 8 bars

Kit: DNMXTWO (Default)

You Got Me - The Roots - Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Main Drum Groove

bpm: 81

CH 1-16@100

SD 5,13@100

BD 1@75, 3@4:4, 5@4:4, 8@1:2, 9@4:4, 10@1:2, 11@4:4, 14@4:4, 16@2:4

In a later parts of the song the CH is more random so the overall trigger probability can be less than 100%.

The BD play on bars 1,2 and 3 but not 4 so the 75% is to cover the unavailability of _X:Y. 

In the song's outro there are 1/32 CH and SD trigs. To do this set the tempo to PTN (patten). In the Scale menu [Func + Page]:

Mode: ADV

Track: 32:32 with 2X (speed)

Master Len 32

So 1 bar is now 32 triggers.

This is Questlove playing to replicate the J Dilla style of drumming programmed with with an MPC. "Its the full circle" wrote Adamo. I think it is a misapplication of talent and technology.

Kit: KLAZ

You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse - Homer Steinweiss

bpm: 104

OH 8,11@25

CH 1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15@100

SD 5@100, 7@75, 8@100, 10@50, 13@100, 15@2:6

BD 1@100, 7@25, 11@100, 15@100

This is the last score from the Breakbeat Transcriptions chapter in the "Breakbeat Bible" by Mike Adamo. It is a book a recommend as there a a number of techniques and shorter transcriptions through out which make a great starting point. 

This did introduce me to techniques (and music) beyond the 4x4 these can be introduced especially with the snares and hats which moving the kicks to the standard 1,5,9,13. 

I enjoyed doing this and I am pleased it is useful to other drummers.

Thanks for the comments and if there are any questions put these in the replies as I still follow the thread.

Thank you.

[curatoroffiction]

Jamil And You Are At Odds Part 2

Chapter 1 of this can be found here! ----- The Savanaclaw student was too excited for the contest to be contained for the remainder of the meeting. Once he got his list, he tore off to collect wishes, leaving you and Jamil to work out the rest of the planning. Jamil relays all the goals to you, and you showcase how much you've already planned out and done prior to the meeting so the only real issues that need addressing is the collection of the wishes. "And hopefully, even if we lose the competition, that guy will have collected enough that I'll be able to collect the rest myself with little issue." You explain and shrug, telling Jamil your thought process behind why you did what you did. "Have I made myself seem irresponsible?" Jamil scowls at you at the idea that you wouldn't rely on him. Without skipping a beat as you start packing up to leave, you decide to give him a piece of your mind. "I think you're kind of a bitch. Besides, I know you're busy with Scarabia, and if I let you take any charge on this, you'd play the martyr about how your responsibilities are SO intense, and how the rest of us are doing SO LITTLE- I just wanted to give you zero excuses to complain. I just wanna get this over with and done so I can go back to my own issues." Your bluntness and attitude surprises and irks Jamil. He doesn't like how you see him, but what really stands out is that you're so definitive about him. You act like you've figured him all out. And you're entirely wrong about it. Which wouldn't bug him usually, so why does it bug him so much? As you hand the copy of his list of students to him, it hits him; He doesn't know you well enough. You've seen more out of him than most people, and you hate him. He rarely lets his façade slip, and you've dug your way under his skin more times than he can count. You know so much about him, and yet he knows so little about you. The person he expected you to be wouldn't have done all this work, and definitely not to the degree you did it to. The side of you he's seeing right now is incredibly.. Different than he anticipated. Why does *that* bother him so much? --- The next three days are an all-out battle between you three Starsenders as you collect wishes. There's approximately 800 students going to Night Raven College, which means you have to collect approximately 800 wishes as a group. You three finally get together to compare your numbers at the end of the three days. You worked your ass off and collected 89 wishes. Jamil, with all his resources, collected 166 wishes. The Savanaclaw student collected 348 wishes. You and Jamil stare at him in pure shock. Jamil demands to go over his work to ensure he wasn't cheating, and the Savanaclaw student smugly leans back with his arms crossed and lets you two check out his collected wishes and his list. After about an hour of checking his work... It came up perfectly above-the-board. "How...?" You just look at him exasperatedly. He begins giggling and he jumps up from his sitting place. He points at you. "All I had to do was tell the other Savanaclaw students that I was in a competition against YOU, and everyone wanted a piece of the action! I had most of the dorm working to make sure I beat you!" You're stunned. They really do hold grudges over there at Savanaclaw. Jamil stares hard at the paper. You two are going to have to work together for the dance. Is that even going to be possible? "You two best get practicing, because if you make my drumming look shitty with your dancing, I'm gonna be annoyed!" The Savanaclaw student grins and takes his bounty - The drumming equipment and music sheet. "I gotta practice drumming away from you guys so you can use the dance music to practice. We'll meet up when I've got this beat DOWN!" He laughs and leaves. --- You and Jamil scowl at each other. Neither of you wants to be here. You sigh and stand up, clicking the music to start playing on the music player. You hold a hand out to Jamil. "I figured I was going to have to be a dancer, so I already started learning. C'mon, I'll teach you." Jamil looks at your hand and scowls. "I've already been learning as well. I'm probably well ahead of you." "Yeah, I bet. We have to start somewhere. Let's get this over with." He takes your hand and you two begin to dance to the music. --- At first, you two have to dance together, and then you have to separate to do individual dancing. Neither of you wants to dance hand-in-hand, but you both take the job seriously. Which is why.. You're a bit rough with Jamil. And Jamil's a little too fluid for you. When you pull away for the first time, you both immediately begin griping at the other for where the other is fucking up the dance. It turns into an all-out fight where you two end up using some very cutting language to tear the other down, resulting in you both staring each other down in anger from across the dance area. You're practicing under the tree because it's the most effective use of your practice time to practice in the area you'll be dancing in. Jamil scoffs as he turns to start packing up his stuff. "I shouldn't have even tried this. I'm already exhausted." You scowl, leaning against the tree, arms crossed. "Oh yeah, it's MY fault we can't work together." "OF COURSE it is! I can work with anyone! Even people I HATE!" Jamil spins on his heel, starting up the fight again. "But I can't do SHIT with someone who doesn't WANT to learn!" "I don't want to learn, because you're not learning anything yourself! You're so self-obsessed that you think you're the only one who is putting effort in, that whenever I tell you I need you to put in more effort, you act like I'm telling you to do MY job!" "That IS your job! You keep telling me that I'm moving TOO fluidly! You're telling me that I need to dampen my skills to match YOURS! It's YOUR job to get BETTER!" "I can't improve and become more fluid WITH A PARTNER WHO ISN'T MOVING WITH ME! Teamwork is a joint effort! And if someone's falling behind, you work WITH them from where they're AT!" The scowl on Jamil's face as he glares at you makes you feel like you're being unreasonable. You hate that feeling. He's so good at making you feel like you're overreacting. "Fuck you." You hiss, getting up and off of the tree. "Let's go again." "What?" "You heard me. Pissing around fighting isn't going to get us better at this, and I'm not about to let Ortho down." "..." Jamil's anger drips away as he sees you taking the initiative. He started packing up to leave because he figured the fighting meant you wouldn't try anymore. Once again, he was wrong about you. He sees you heading for the music player again and he sets his stuff down, readying to dance with you again. "Don't get fancy with it until we get a groove." "Don't push me around." You two continue to practice the dance. --- The first week of dance practices you two have are intense. Repeated fighting. Griping with each other. And yet, through it all, you both keep trying. Neither of you giving up or giving in, as much as you can't stand each other. And over time, through that fighting, you two begin to build a respect for each other. It's about the sixth practice in when Jamil starts to learn more about you. --- You groan as you look at your phone, approaching the practice area. Jamil's already there, and he looks up to see you. "There a problem, ___?" "I'm hoping not." "..." "Give me a minute, and I'll be ready to dance." He nods, watching you turn away. You appear to be calling someone. "Heyyyy - I have a weird request. Crowley's food budget for me and Grim isn't going through, and we need something for food tonight- God, okay, thank you. Perfect. I'll stop by the dorm to pick it up on my way home from practice tonight. Yeah, I still have to do that. Yeah, it's a pain. Please keep an eye out for Grim for me." You hang up and turn towards Jamil. "Okay, let's go." "What was that about a food budget..?" That's not a standard arrangement for a dorm, and he knows it. "Dorm stuff." "Yeah, shouldn't that be cared for by the school..?" "Not in our case, apparently." "..." He wants to pry, but you start the music. You two practice the dance, and you're both a lot quieter this time. Neither of you really fight when things go wrong. --- The next day at practice, Jamil has a cloth bag. He motions to it. "We ended up making extra food for some feast Kalim wanted to throw last minute. He said he was bringing 25 people over, but only 22 of them arrived. Figuring you're apparently starving, I brought it for you." You pause and stare at the bag. It's pretty big. Big enough that it's likely got enough food for dinner AND breakfast in it. You're not much in a position to turn it down, so you just quietly thank him for it. "... Don't think much of it. Food should go to people who need it, and we had extras. It only makes sense." What would have felt condescending and tired comes across as gentle kindness in this brief glimpse at Jamil's heart. He doesn't like to see people struggle for food. --- Jamil giving you food has become a regular occurrence with practice. You're not so proud as to turn it down, and Grim's never been happier and fuller. Besides, Jamil seems to really like hearing praise for his food. At first you just mention how Grim liked features of his food, but he began asking your thoughts. "Well.. ahh.. That last set of dishes you gave us, there was this.. It had a fried bread component that was really good when I warmed it up again in the oven at Ramshackle. That was kinda good." "You like the fried bread?" "I liked the crunch to the dish. The bits of fried meats going in the soup gave a textural difference that I really liked. It added crunch without making the soup crunchy." "Hmm. I see." Your dancing is improving. --- You find more foods that fit the descriptions of things you like in Jamil's food gifts, and he never makes you feel weird about it. When you ask what he's getting out of giving you food, he always has a new, equally as good answer; 'You need to be in good shape for our dance. It only makes sense.' 'People shouldn't go hungry. It only makes sense.' 'We had too much, and giving it to you saves me the trip of taking it into the city. It only makes sense.' And soon, it just makes sense to you. By the time the Savanaclaw student rejoins you two for practice, you've gotten the dance down pretty well. Your group takes time to adjust to working together, but once you two get to understand the Savanaclaw student's flourish on the beat, you two begin to make the tempo your own again. Jamil's a fluid dance partner, and he's good at helping you figure out maneuvers you're struggling with. You're sturdy, and when the dance requires a little more muscle, you're the one who can make it work. Together, you make the routine work. --- By the time the Starsending festival comes around, you and Jamil have gotten to a point of a fairly... Playful rivalry. Jamil doesn't have to hold back for you, and you can match him at his energy level in the dance. You both bring your own spice to the movements, and you've thoroughly melded your own styles into a uniform one. When you two do your dance, the entire school looks on in awe, which causes the Savanaclaw student to get a little jealous that he seems to be taking a backseat to you two. Mid-dance, he changes up the tempo a little, and you two have to adjust on the fly to keep pace - Surprising each other with your abilities to adapt on the fly. No one could tell that the tempo shift had been unplanned and unpracticed, and when students began cheering for the drummer, he was satiated with how 'cool' he'd been able to be. The event closes with Ortho taking all of the wishes up into the edge of the atmosphere once again, letting the glimmer rain down across the skies. You and Jamil come to a close on the dance, and you both move to collapse on the floor. Jamil is dousing himself with water from his waterbottle as you drink from yours, and you both look up to the sky. It's like you just finished basketball practice with how exhausted you both are. It's finally over, and you two have gotten free of your obligations. --- The school raves about your Starsending for months. You three and Ortho are all the talk of the school. It's hard to ignore the pride you feel with a job well done, and the pride of getting to see the other three so excited about their work. --- Even though you went into the dance at odds, you and Jamil have become a lot closer. Over time, your rivalry builds into a good friendship. One where you expect the best out of each other, but slow down to help the other when they're struggling.

[exitrowiron]

2022 Trek Travel Cross-Country Bike Trip Epilogue

The stats

21 riders including 8 women, 42 riding days, 4 rest days, 14 states, My personal stats - 3,735 miles (avg 89 miles/day), 142K ft ascent, 232 hrs moving time, 16 mph avg speed, $0 prize money

For comparison, the stats of the 2022 Tour de France

176 male riders, 21 riding days, 3 rest days, 2,081 miles (avg 98 miles/day), 157K ft ascent, 80 hours moving time, 26 mph avg speed, $2.7M prize money

I'm guessing that the average age of the Trek group was approximately double the age of the average Tour rider - we were older and slower but went considerably farther.

In anticipation of your questions:

Most memorable part of the trip: The rides in the Western States brought stunning views and memorable climbs/descents. If I had to pick one segment, I would recommend the Columbia River Gorge.

Most difficult part of the trip:

Days of temps in the 90s/100's turned asphalt roads into broilers, cooking us from our cleats to our helmet. Also, cold rain is no fun but we only had a few days of this. I also had a stomach bug that caused me to DNF a day and suffer the next few days as I recovered, but fortunately it was relatively short lived. Due to the DNF I missed 54 miles/4k ft ascent of the trip.

Physical impact:

Yes, I lost weight, but not more than 10 lbs. My body composition changed though; I lost fat and gained muscle. I didn't grow giant quadriceps like a pro rider but my cycling V02 max improved by 15% to 60. I never got sore like I do when I run and my only injuries were saddle sores in weeks 2-3 and a mild case of cycling elbow (i.e. tennis elbow) the last few days of the ride.

Was it easier or more difficult than I expected:

I really had no idea what to expect. I got stronger and faster as the ride progressed and was less sore than I expected. The ride was challenging, but it wasn't torture and I'm proud of averaging 16 mph.

Would I do it again?

No. I wanted to see the country from the saddle of a bike and to physically challenge myself and I've accomplished those goals. As the guides attested at the closing dinner, we had an extraordinary group of riders (kind, fun, thoughtful, strong) and I can't imagine being able to repeat that good fortune. Lastly, 47 days is a long time to be away from Beth, family and friends.

Things I learned riding coast to coast across the northern US:

1. It is ridiculous to think that 21 people in their 50s and 60s (and one in his 70s!) can bike across the country in 46 days. But what if they were provided:

• A training plan 8 months in advance;

• The best road bikes available;

• A GPS attached to their bike with turn-by-turn directions of the carefully planned route;

• White glove service managing all the logistics (luggage, hotels, meals, etc.);

• Refueling stops with water, sugar, salt, and encouragement every 17 miles in addition to a fully catered lunch stop each day;

• The support of 5 of the best guides in the business?

If you do all of that, then a group of ordinary (albeit highly motivated) men and women can do the extraordinary.

2. We live in a truly beautiful country; the Columbia River Gorge and South Dakota badlands were breathtaking, but so too were the simple pastoral beauty of the Midwest and the charming towns and villages of New England.

3. The vastness of US agriculture production is astounding and difficult to comprehend. Given the amount of land devoted to producing corn, the rise of electric vehicles and decline of gasoline/ethanol consumption will be nearly as disruptive to the farming community as it is to petroleum producers.

4. If political signs, flags, and bumper stickers are to be believed, there is a deep and troubling political divide between rural and urban America. This divide is being stoked by selfish interests and must be reconciled.

5. Those thick black rubber bungee cords with metal hooks on the ends that people use to secure things to their car or truck? They don’t work. Beth and I have picked up tens of them in the two miles of I90 that we’ve adopted, and I dodged hundreds of them lying on road shoulders while riding across the country. They should be taken off the market.

6. This trip reminded me of a lesson I first learned when I began Ironman training. The average human body is capable of amazing things, much more than you imagine. I occasionally hear the advice, “Listen to your body.” I think it is important to clarify that advice. Remember that your body evolved to crave an afternoon on the couch with a bag of chips in one hand, a cookie in the other and a milkshake to wash them down. So, when you’re listening to your body, listen carefully. Distinguish between when your body doesn’t want to do something and when your body can’t do something. At mile 14 on day 19, sick with a stomach bug, my body said it couldn’t continue and I listened. On the other mornings when my body said it was tired, I ignored it.

7. Bicycling is much easier on your body than running. Over 47 days of riding I never felt sore (with the temporary exception of my butt); I never needed a massage or used my Theragun. As an older athlete I plan to incorporate biking more regularly into my training regime to give my body more time to recover from the impact of running.

8. It is a privilege to do this ride. It is a privilege to have the good health, time, resources, and support (thanks Beth and all of you) to pursue an odyssey like this for 47 days. It isn’t lost on me that there was no racial diversity on this ride; that’s likely a reflection of the privilege this ride requires and the work we have left to do as a society.

9. When riding a bike a long distance, nothing matters more than the wind. Depending on the wind, a 40-mile ride could either be a thrilling 2-hour sprint or a grinding 3-hour sufferfest and in this respect, this cross-country ride is a metaphor for life.

Riders are quick to complain about a headwind, but very few will acknowledge a strong tailwind; on those days riders are more likely to credit their pace to their fitness and fortitude. This is a natural human tendency, despite the profound and more importantly, invisible influence of the wind. Bikers likewise compare their segment times to the results of other riders on different days despite those comparisons having little meaning without an acknowledgment of the wind (which never happens). Some riders have lighter, faster bikes, but those differences are visible, more easily accounted for and generally have less impact the invisible wind.

Riding against the wind isn’t just a physical challenge, it is mentally and even emotionally draining. I have a power meter in my pedals, and it tells me how much power I am producing. 220 watts with a good tailwind can easily propel me at 20 mph. Conversely, when riding into a headwind those same 220 watts may not get me above 14 mph. Here’s the interesting thing; even though I’m working equally hard in each scenario, pedaling at 220 watts for an hour with a tailwind is easy and fun; I’m going fast and making great progress. By contrast, I can rarely keep up a 220 watt effort for more than 30 minutes when facing a headwind; the slow pace and drone of the wind whistling in my ears are simply too frustrating and discouraging. It’s the same amount of work, but one feels considerably more difficult than the other.

Of course, a headwind isn’t necessarily an inevitable, unavoidable obstacle. A rider may be able to alter his course to one which is protected from the wind but still reaches the same destination. Or a rider could pick an entirely new destination, one which turns the headwind into a tailwind but arrives at a different but equally suitable destination. These options are usually only available to riders who are familiar with the area, riders who have been there before or have seen other riders navigate the optional routes and destinations successfully. Rookie riders are unlikely to deviate their course or destination and will generally attempt to grind it out in the absence of knowledge of the alternatives.

Sometimes a headwind is simply unavoidable, however. On those days, riders can help each other by taking turns pulling at the front, shielding those behind from the wind and giving them a chance to rest and recover. On many occasions during my trip, stronger riders would pull weaker riders for hours to the destination simply because they could and they didn’t need the help of the weaker rider.

At the risk of being preachy here (probably too late) I had the tremendous good fortune to be born with a strong tailwind. I saw other riders (my parents and their friends) reach my intended destination and I followed their course. In addition to a tailwind, I had the benefit of being pulled by older, more experienced riders (work mentors and great bosses like Jack ONeill). And finally, Beth Koetting is a strong and capable teammate who is riding with me and sharing the work.

3,735 miles taught me to be appreciative of a tailwind and acknowledge it’s contribution. More importantly, it’s taught me to recognize when others are struggling with a headwind. Odds are good that these riders would be equally successful with the benefit of a tailwind. I am reminded to help them find a new route or destination, or better yet move to the front and give them a chance to rest and recover.

10. The love and support of family and friends can make even the most challenging journey more enjoyable and for that I thank all of you.

Thanks for following along.

Mike