#nothing happened between august of 45 and february of 22

[travazap]

Imagine getting paid to write an “analysis” like this. Imagine having the historical knowledge of a newborn child.

[conradscrime]

Cleveland’s Most Notorious Missing Person’s Case: Where is Beverly Potts?

February 05, 2021

Missing persons cases to me are definitely among the most bone chilling within the true crime genre. It becomes 10x the amount of chilled bones when the missing person is a child. Ten year old Beverly Potts went missing on August 24, 1951. She has never been seen since. If Beverly were still alive today she would be turning 80 years old. 

Beverly Rose Potts was born on April 15, 1941. She was a beautiful young girl with blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. She was 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 90 pounds around the time of her disappearance. Beverly is classified as an “endangered” missing person. 

Beverly was from Cleveland, Ohio and was described as a shy and quiet girl who had a love for performance arts. Beverly lived with her parents, Robert and Elizabeth Potts and older sister Anita who was 22 years old at the time. 

On August 24, 1951 Beverly and her friend Patsy Swing both got permission to see the Showagon, an annual children’s performance that was being held in the evening at Halloran Park. The park was less than a quarter mile away from the girls’ homes. According to Wikipedia it says that this park was typically considered “unsafe” after dark because the trees would block the streetlights, however I couldn’t tell if this was information that is just common knowledge to the people at this park or if it was a rule that Beverly and Patsy were given by their parents. 

The girls arrived at the park via bicycle at around 7pm, however after a while they decided it would be easier to just walk around on foot so they could move around the crowd. The girls decided to drop their bikes back off at their homes around 8pm and were back to the park before 8:30 pm. 

At 8:45 pm, Patsy told Beverly they should start to head home soon, as she had promised her parents she’d be home before dark. However, Beverly said her parents had given her permission to stay for the duration of the show, which wasn’t supposed to end until after 9pm. Patsy left Beverly and went home by herself, which I definitely don’t blame Patsy for doing this, she had to go home at that time, and I feel sorry for her because I bet that’s a choice that has haunted her for life. 

At around 9:30 pm when the show had ended and people started leaving, a boy who recognized Beverly saw her walking toward the corner of Linnet Avenue and West 117th Street. This would’ve been the easiest way for Beverly to get back home, and she would’ve only been a few minutes away from her house at this point. 

Other witnesses said they noticed a girl who looked like Beverly standing near a “battered” black 1937 Dodge coupe on West 117th Street. The girl was talking to two young men inside the truck and the witnesses said they saw this happen anytime between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm which is a huge time gap, however none of these witnesses noticed this girl getting into the truck at any point. 

When 10 pm hit and Beverly still had not returned home her family began to look for her. At around 11pm when they had had no luck in locating Beverly, they called the police. 

The police began to search for Beverly but could not find a trace of her. They started a door-to-door canvassing of neighbourhoods, following up on suspicious cars, searching vacant lots and used a plane to survey open railway cars. 

Thousands of tips came in and a lot of this had to do with the amount of coverage of the disappearance. This case was huge and is actually still one of the most well known missing person’s cases in Cleveland. None of the tips police received led to any solid leads. Beverly’s family was soon cleared as having nothing to do with her disappearance and they had determined that Beverly’s home life was quite good and happy, there was no reason for her to run away from home. 

Beverly was known to be very shy especially around boys and she was also very cautious of strangers which means that it is very unlikely that she would’ve went off with someone she didn’t know. Whoever knew where Beverly was most likely knew Beverly well, it probably was not a random stranger. Some theorize that maybe Beverly was murdered by a neighbour and they had buried her in or around one of the houses on her street. However, the police did check the basement of one nearby auto body shop in 1973 but found nothing, and there has never been a local suspect uncovered. 

Shortly after Beverly went missing there was a $1500 reward, which would be almost $15,000 (in 2019) and this reward was offered by Robert Potts’ union, AFL-Stagehands if anyone could give any clues to Beverly’s whereabouts. 

In 1955 a drifter named Harvey Lee Rush who was from Cleveland told police in California that he was responsible for Beverly’s disappearance. He claimed he had killed the girl after luring her to a bridge with the promise of candy in 1952. But Beverly went missing in 1951 and shortly after being extradited back to Cleveland he recanted his confession. 

In 1980 two retired detectives claimed they received a tip from a local attorney that one of their client’s brothers had confessed to kidnapping Beverly. The police found this brother and questioned him. This man said he lived near Halloran Park in 1951 and had a “habit” (barf) of picking up girls and molesting them in the area. This man did not remember Beverly in particular but said he had “flashes” of memory that involved a girl named Beverly. The two retired detectives believed that this man was responsible for Beverly’s disappearance but the prosecutor’s office refused to look further into the case as there was a lack of evidence. 

A man from Ohio who used to work at a carnival named William Henry Redmond was indicted in 1988 for the murder of an eight year old girl named Jane Marie Althoff in Pennsylvania in 1951. When he was in prison William confessed to his cellmate that he had murdered three other girls. When he was questioned about Beverly’s case in particular he refused to make a statement about it. He is a potential suspect because he was around the area Beverly went missing and he had a record of child molestation since 1935. However, his victims were often younger than Beverly but to me this makes no sense because his other victim was eight and Beverly was ten… doesn’t seem like that much of an age difference to me.  

Then in 1994 a letter was discovered under a carpet in a Cleveland home written by a woman he said she saw her husband disposing of Beverly’s body in their furnace. When questioned by the police the woman said this was false, she had only written the letter as revenge against her husband because he was very abusive towards her. 

Other letters were sent to a reporter named Brent Larkin of the Cleveland Plain Dealer beginning in the year 2000, supposedly from an elderly man who wanted to confess to molesting and murdering Beverly before he died. This man remained anonymous in his letters and said that he was planning to turn himself in on August 24, 2001, which would be the 50th anniversary of Beverly’s disappearance. Shortly before this was supposed to happen the man wrote another letter saying he had to go into a nursing home and was unable to turn himself in. An investigation began to try to find the identity of this man but they never found anything and Brent Larkin believes himself that this was all a hoax, which I believe too because if you really wanted to reveal yourself I don’t think entering a nursing home would stop that, the man could simply have given the address of the nursing home and reveal his name at any point during the letters. 

If Beverly is still alive today she would be turning 80 years old in April. She will have been considered a missing person for 70 years this August. 

Beverly’s mother Elizabeth died in 1956, only 5 years after Beverly’s disappearance. It is said she died from a broken heart over her daughter. Beverly’s father, Robert, died in 1970. Anita, Beverly’s older sister continued to search for her missing sister until she died in 2006. There is a memorial of Beverly next to her parents graves. 

Author of Legendary Locals of Cleveland, Thea Gallo Becker says that Beverly’s case “remains one of the most haunting and heartbreaking mysteries in Cleveland history.” So what do you guys think? I personally believe that the witnesses who noticed a girl resembling Beverly talking to two men in a beat up truck is the most likely scenario and somehow she either knew them or they promised her something to lure her in. This is an extremely heart-breaking case and I feel as though it probably will not ever be solved.

[onlyeverydaysa]

3. Africa and the novel coronavirus.

Africa enjoyed a short bit of time before the novel coronavirus hit its shores. Here, however; the amount of time that lapsed till the first few reported confirmed cases made the world question whether or not we would be ready to handle a health crisis of this magnitude. Kind of ironic because the entire world including first world countries were and are still not equipped to handle a pandemic of this magnitude as we can clearly see from the numbers and how different areas have shifted to become the epicentre. But I digress. 

The first known and confirmed cases in Africa originated from Egypt, and was said to be someone who was not of Egyption nationality who had recently travelled to an area affected by COVID-19 and was reported on the 14th of February, 2020. The last African country to catch COVID19  was Lesotho who recorded their first case on the 13th of May, 2020. 

Then on the 5th of March, 2020 the first known and confirmed case was recorded / reported to South Africa. South Africa was ‘the 7th African country to  have a citizen test positive for the disease’. The person was said to be a 38 year old male who had travelled to Italy with his wife in a group of 10 people. Here, South Africa was held to be ‘one of 2 countries on the continent with reliable testing capabilities’. But testing capacity has since improved in other countries due to the rapid spread and severity of coronavirus and the need to  be able to take care of our people. Here, the rand was said to weaken against the dollar after confirmation of our first corona case. 

We watched the novel coronavirus spread rapidly across Africa in quite a short period of time. It almost looked, well, too co-ordinated. Was that just coincidence? I don’t know but again this takes me back to whichever theory you believe in about it’s origins; as that theory might have an answer that suits you. -sips tea- However, one must also take into consideration how much travelling was still allowed during the earlier days of COVID19 and how in general, mild cases have been allowed, in most cases to treat themselves at home - which means the potential for underreporting of real COVID19 cases  throughout the world; whilst some non-COVID cases have been misdiagnosed as covid cases potentially inflating numbers in some areas will cause problems for us when analysing what needed to be done, what has been done and what still needs to be done to fight COVID19. 

But here is what we do know: every country’s experience of coronavirus is different and as a result everyone has had to respond differently to try address the unique challenges facing their country. The one size fits all approach couldn’t be used to treat this virus, as it has been used to treat other viruses and we are seeing in some instances this difference in approach paying off in some countries whilst going wrong in others which has been both eye opening and scary as the entire world realises that the entire health system has been greatly neglected. 

However, despite having been praised for trying to get ahead of the curve by WHO and many others (and also praising WHO for their role in helping to combat COVID19) in our earlier days dealing with coronavirus, our numbers have since drastically shot up (currently sitting at about 23 615 as of the 25th of May, 2020 - Africa Day) and are expected to peak only around August / September/ Also, despite efforts by government to keep people calm and despite efforts by everyone to try and focus on the facts and the science of it all there have been some later decisions that have arguably taken us backward or caused us as citizens to question whose interests are best being served by some of the implementation measures introduced by government to combat / curve / reduce the spread of COVID-19. 

But with regards to my experience in South Africa, I would definitely say we tried to do the best we could with the cards that we have been dealt and as critical as I am of politicians, authority and structures I would say that some of the decisions that have been taken have been quite impressive actually, despite potential political, racial and class differences that the country is facing. Also I am very proud of our healthcare sector and how they have managed to actually also encourage us to stay calm by leading by example from our Health Minister, to doctors, nurses, lab techs, scientists, pharmacists, paramedics and other essential staff that work at the health facilities including cleaning staff, security, food suppliers etc. Everyone has just been calm in the public eye. Our response between mid-march up until early April definitely inspired a sense of feeling safe (health wise), albeit not physically; because the army & the police were unleashed on the people causing greater distress.

Some controversial issues raised were in relation to class and how lockdown impacted on the unemployed, underprivileged and working class in a society that is so deeply unequal - actually even known as the most unequal country in the world. Social media has opened the door for all these different debates, with many people openly questioning and criticizing some of the decisions taken by the government. Most notably, the open letters to the president written by Ntsiki Mazwai and Gareth Cliff which caused a stir. For which I will definitely say at the time Ntsiki raised some valid concerns even though her tone was harsh. Gareth’s letter stated nothing new, but then when he was questioned on it, on the popular South African tv show the Big Debate SA he didn’t really articulate himself well and quite frankly was quite rude and unfortunately played into critiques belief that he was clout chasing and seeking relevance (a story for another day). (This all depends on which side of the debate you fall on, I guess).

Meanwhile, round-about mid to late-April (21 April, 2020) Madagascar announced a herbal mix remedy called COVID Organics that is preventative and curative in nature. The remedy is said to contain Artemisia Annua, a plant used in medicines to combat malaria, for which it has been critiqued to say that this plant does not fight malaria in its plant-like state. Here, several African countries had opted to try it by mid-May, including: Liberia, Equitorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Tanzania, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Congo who have all ‘received some bottles’ of COVID Organics. The emergence of this remedy sparked growing debate around the usefulness / effectiveness in herbal and traditional medicine in combating COVID19 here on the African continent even though China has been exploring this option since February. This resulted in WHO cautioning against herbal remedies that are untested but criticism for the centering of Western medicine as the solution has grown. This led to a call to boycott WHO on social media which never really went further and was then resolved when WHO was rumoured to have agreed to look into COVID Organics but concerns were raised around the non-disclosure clause said to be agreed upon between the two (also rumour, as the sources on this are now more scarce). However Madagascar is still a member of WHO and supporting WHO. Madagascar was recently elected (22 May) on their executive board. 

Personally, I believe a combination of both forms of medicine must be looked into, because some homemade remedies have proven effective in combating or helping to boost our immune systems against flu and if flu is a virus that logic holds. But on the other hand, noting that respiratory illnesses like pneumonia require antibiotics and other inflammatory and other drugs as well as liquids, rest, and possible oxygen therapy a more impactful drug with organic properties may be what is needed. But again I am not a medical expert so I am merely stating an opinion based on my understanding - its not fact. Anyway, interestingly enough: Madagascar only had 121 cases and no deaths at the time of releasing COVID Organics. Now by the 25th of May, 2020 they had 527 cases (I stand to be corrected). This is still significantly less than most countries especially for a population of 27.6 Million people so they must be doing something right even if it might not be linked to medicine - it could just be that they have disciplined citizens who are taking care of their health by eating healthy and practicing effective social distancing and sanitization.

To date, Africa as a whole continent has had 111 812 confirmed cases of COVID!9, with 3 354 deaths and 45 001 recoveries as of 6am, (25 May, 2020). In blog posts to follow, I will continue to touch on South Africa as my primary example of what is happening (for obvious reasons as you can tell by the name of this blog) and I will then try to give examples of what has been done in other countries. 

*Disclaimer (again): images aren't mine. I just use pics from the net from the sources I touch on, for my posts. 

*Wrote this piece on Africa Day, but struggled to post it. 

*A reminder that  the blog posts in the 21 Conversation series are just bits & pieces of the COVID19 experience that I have found worth talking about touching on some facts, some opinion and some theories you may or may not agree with, I have linked some of the sources that speak to these issues in all the posts that range from news to stats and facts to blogs to youtube so take everything with a pinch of salt. But always keep up to date with coronavirus news through reliable sources and keep up to date with your country’s rules, regulation and other legislation through official government sites.  I hope lockdown is treating you well if you are in lockdown and if you happen to be reading this and your country isn’t on lockdown let us know how your country is handling it. Stay safe everybody. 

M.T.M

Sources:

1. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/egypt-confirms-coronavirus-case-africa-200214190840134.html

2. https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/world-news/first-coronavirus-case-south-africa-who-is-it-where-reported/

3. https://techcentral.co.za/first-case-of-coronavirus-in-south-africa/96364/

4. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/05/africa/south-africa-first-coronavirus-case/index.html

5. https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/03/05/south-africa-confirms-first-case-of-covid-19/

6. https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/coronavirus-in-sa-who-boss-praises-south-africas-response-to-covid-19-pandemic-45923836

7. https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/04/09/african-union-reaffirms-support-for-who-amid-covid-19-pandemic/

8. https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/who-again-heaps-praise-on-south-africas-response-to-covid-19/

9. https://mg.co.za/article/2019-11-19-why-sa-is-the-worlds-most-unequal-society/ 

10. https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-04-04-poverty-shows-how-apartheid-legacy-endures-in-south-africa/

11. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52125713

12. https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/396473/handling-of-the-covid-19-crisis-makes-mkhize-a-stand-out-leader-analysts/

13. https://www.cnbcafrica.com/africa-press-office/2020/05/12/coronavirus-south-africa-employment-and-labour-praised-for-prompt-payment-of-coronavirus-covid-19-temporary-employer-employee-relief-scheme-ters-benefits/

14.https://select.timeslive.co.za/news/2020-03-23-sa-states-response-to-covid-19-gets-a-huge-thumbs-up/

15. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52619308

16. https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/395685/extending-lockdown-would-not-delay-south-africas-coronavirus-peak-by-much-mkhize/

17. https://citizen.co.za/lifestyle/your-life-entertainment-your-life/entertainment-celebrities/2261937/ntsiki-mazwai-pens-scathing-open-letter-to-ramaphosa-opposes-lockdown/

18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFPD2zj6DCE&t=6s

19. https://www.garethcliff.com/dear-mr-president/

20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8iGnW2cSYc 

21. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/madagascar-population/

22. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-madagascar-idUSKBN22K1HQ

23. https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/madagascar-launches-miracle-drink-for-coronavirus-infection/ar-BB12WZoM

24. https://africa.cgtn.com/2020/04/21/madagascar-president-backs-unproven-herbal-treatment-for-coronavirus/

25. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/coronavirus-madagascar-herbal-remedy-covid-organics-200505131055598.html

26. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52374250

27. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/who-to-study-madagascars-drug-to-treat-covid-19-/1840971#

28. https://africacheck.org/fbcheck/no-madagascar-hasnt-quit-world-health-organization/

29. https://www.africanews.com/2020/05/25/coronavirus-in-africa-breakdown-of-infected-virus-free-countries/

30. https://www.webmd.com/lung/understanding-pneumonia-treatment

31. https://www.drugs.com/condition/pneumonia.html

[nettheworldonfire]

Less Than.

It’s been awhile.  Let’s catch you up to speed.

June 13th I had a CT scan that showed NO progression, and POSSIBLY necrosis on some of the tumors on my liver.  (Necrosis = death, so yay!) Dr. Rose said that was as good as we could have hoped for and thought we should move forward with possible embolization through Penn since they seem to be the experts in NETs. He wasn’t sure if the clinical trial of chemo/bland embolization was running currently due to Covid, so he said I should reach out.   I scheduled the consultation appointments, which were originally not until August, but got bumped to July 22nd.  

My in-home phlebotomist was a no-call, no-show on the 30th, so I called my office and found out there was a mix up, and they were scheduled to come the same day as my injection, so I had to go to Labcorp in person.  I was pretty anxious about that since we aren’t do to much real-worlding these days, and they may or may not be doing Covid testing there, but I mustered the courage, and went.  There was only one person in the waiting room and only two employees, one of which dealt with me from beginning to end exclusively.  Everyone was masked up; it was smooth and painless. (Shout out: I ALWAYS have a good experience at the Labcorp on Easton Road in Abington, near the hospital.  They are rockstars!) Those results came back looking a-okay. 

I had my 5th Lanreotide injection on July 2nd and met with a very stressed Dr. Rose who still may or may not be retiring, due to some major changes with the hospital. He said labs and scans were good, and to keep him posted about my appointments with the folks at Penn.  Overall, I felt fine after the injection.  My GI issues are still relatively prevalent after the Whipple, so I never know if what I am dealing with is “normal” or an issue.  And right now, with you know, the world crumbling, it could just be stress.

So fast forward to the 21st, the day before my appointments, and I get a call that Penn doesn’t have the scan images or pathology report and that maybe we should reschedule my appointments (you know, the ones I’ve been waiting a month for).  They said the problem with this was that the doctors like to look at them in advance.  Although, a point I brought up to the nurse, I don’t see how much advance looking was going to be done after 6 pm the night before.  So we rescheduled my 10:30 a.m. call with Dr. Soulen to 6 p.m. so there was time to review, in the hopes that SOMEHOW I could get both reports and images to their office between the call and the appointments. Without any other options, my gracious husband made the one hour drive, and carted them into Penn at 7 am on the 22nd.  (Only to spend 20 minutes there looking for the building, since I was never told any information as to where the doctor was located with my appointment being through telehealth, and like a dummy, didn’t ask.)  Images delivered, and I get a call at 9:45 ish saying Dr. Soulen is still calling me at 10:30  again (and now my mother, the child pacifier, won’t be here in time, since I told her to come later when the appointments were rescheduled).  

My first call was with Dr. Michael Soulen in interventional radiology.  I introduced him to the two-legged noise makers who would provide a classic toddler soundtrack, and he seemed pleasantly on board with the situation.  

My mom did show up during the call just as things got hairy (Charlie had all the cushions off of the couch and my cat litter barricade was no longer stopping Olive from making a bee-line for the steps).  Gram to the rescue, as per usual.

Dr. Soulen liked my June scan.  He said it was great because that meant we didn’t HAVE to embolize (despite him mentioning several times how seeing a liver like mine makes him drool because of how much he enjoys embolizing livers).  Dr. Soulen said that the treatment plan should be “to ride the horse until it gets tired” because we only have so many horses.  Therefore, we stay on the Lanreotide until it stops doing what it is supposed to before trying something new, as the treatment options are limited and there isn’t data on whether or not they can be repeated multiple times successfully.  Especially with someone who has a history of a second cancer (Hodgkins) and chemotherapy.  He also clarified some things about the embolizations.  He said that a bland embolization and chemoembolization both cut off the blood flow to the liver, something we cannot do, because during my Whipple they removed a duct that helps my pancreas get rid of bile and bugs, which now filter into my liver.  Normally, this isn’t a major issue, but when you embolize a liver like this, it will cause a liver abscess in 20% of patients, landing them in the hospital for a while (because a serious infection like this requires IV antibiotics) and obviously with two little ones and Covid, that’s not something I’d like to risk right now.  There is a third type of embolization - radioembolization - that instead of cutting off the blood flow, shoots in little radioactive beads that are attracted to the tumors and give a very direct dose of radiation to them.  This makes patients a bit more fatigued, but only has a 5-7% rate of abscess or infection, which is better, of course.  That being said, none of this is the plan for now, and may not be for several years, as long as the Lanreotide keeps doing its job (he estimates 3-5 years at best).   

With all of that information and hearing that the Lanreotide is not expected to work forever, I really wanted a more accurate prognosis, although nothing is certain in the world of cancer.  He said that he has some patients who do these drugs and trials and make it into the double decades - but those are usually the grade 1 tumor patients (I am a grade 2, grade 3 being worse).  So, he said a single decade is more in tune with what patients in my situation should expect - but that 5, 10, 15 years is possible.  While I WANTED to hear some real talk, and I didn’t expect to hear that everything is good, that was still a little jarring.  At 37, and with a 1 and 3 year old, 15 years might not even get me to high school graduation, and that’s the high end.  Thinking about leaving my family in the next 5-10 years is beyond terrifying.  He said that my liver right now is functioning as it should.  It’s “more cheese than holes.”  I should be glad for that.  I am.  

Here you can see my two scans.  Left is June, right is February.  This may not be the perfect shot (I was trying to take a screenshot while we were talking), but you can kind of see some of the white spots (cancer) with some blackness (necrosis), so, that’s cool.  

The second call was with Dr. Ursina Teitelbaum, the oncologist who specializes in neuroendocrine cancer.  She was awesome to chat with, as always, and agreed to take over my care - something I needed to ask because Dr. Rose is ready to pass me along like the worst re-gifted patient ever.  I also asked her some morbid questions and was particularly surprised to hear her response, too.  She said had my June scan indicated progression in any way, it would have likely meant a 1-2 year prognosis.  I am a little annoyed and confused as to why no one said anything like this to us in previous visits.  I mean, you’d think someone with toddlers deserves to know that they may only have 12 months to live, especially when they are currently spending their time in quarantine and not doing any of the things that mean the most to them.  She agreed with Dr. Soulen, we should hold off on the embolization for now, and wanted to see me again (virtually) in September.  She also said she would get another scan scheduled for me for before that appointment and that we could plan for someone to come to my home to do the Lanreotide injections, rather than have to get into Penn each month for that when I am trying to work and parent this fall.  

One thing that she said that stuck with me, was that she believes this pandemic is going to get a lot worse this fall, and that regardless of what happens, we should be careful, but not limit visits with loved ones.  We need our family and friends around us for support.  We need that connection.  While maybe her message was to “live like you are dying” because I am, in a way, dying, I think she is living this way too.  I think she believes that the damage that months and maybe years of this will do to our psyches may be greater than the risk of getting Covid (not worse than actually getting it, but again, being “safe” and careful, in masks, etc.)  Just something to think about, especially for my family.

In other news, my anxiety has been through the roof (not surprisingly so - I did get diagnosed with cancer exactly a month before we got hit with a global pandemic, ya know).  After a talk with my primary, we upped my Lexapro dosage from 5 mg to 10 mg last week.  According to my OBGYN, that’s still a very low dosage (they said they prescribe 20 mg to woman for PMS sometimes, so there’s that), so we will see.  I really think I need something for panic attacks, other than a 32 ounce frozen margarita from Mad Mex.  They get costly.  My primary has given me a couple Ativan doses to hold me over as the new dosage of Lexapro kicks in and wants me to follow up in three weeks.  Til then, expect more of a “hot mess” than you’ve seen before.  Please note, hot does NOT indicate I look good right now, and “seen” is perhaps the wrong word, too, since, I barely SEE anyone.  Just forgive me, I’m losing it.  

* Dark side: Change in plans: Cancer probably WILL kill me, afterall.  

* Bright side: Being chronically ill may help to keep me working from home this fall, instead of returning to the cesspool known as high school.  Maybe.

* Next steps: 

7/27/20 between 8:30-10:00 a.m. - home visit from phlebotomist 

7/30/20 at 9:30 a.m. - Lanreotide injection #6 and appointment with Dr. Rose

9/20 - Next CT scan in Valley Forge (instead of my super close Willow Grove location), date TBD

9/22/20 at 9 a.m. - Telehealth appointment with Dr. Teitelbaum

Morbidly accurate GIF: 

[dweemeister]

2017 Movie Odyssey

So ends the 2017 Movie Odyssey. Last year, I wrote that I did not foresee ever surpassing the 200+ movie mark for a long, long time. But look what happened here (outside of May because that was a hectic time in the Master’s program for sure). The 2017 Movie Odyssey consisted of 232 films - 180 feature-length films and fifty-two shorts. A century of filmmaking was covered this year, from 1917 to 2017. If I do have one regret this year... it’s that African films were not featured this year (due to availability issues and me not having enough money; I tend to watch things legally if possible). I hope to assuage that next year for a more representative Movie Odyssey.

For all of you out there who supported the Movie Odyssey in your own ways – whether reading, liking, commenting, or reblogging a write-up or sitting down with me to a new movie or talking to me about any movie... my thanks to all of you. None of this possible without you, and I hope you find that, through this blog, classic movies seem more approachable and welcoming and you are inspired to see some and learn about them yourself. A Happy New Year to all, and I’ll see you for the 2018 leg of the Movie Odyssey very soon (oh boy the Winter Olympics and World Cup are gonna chip away at the final count next year)!

As many know, all ratings are based on my imdb rating and half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here. A 6/10 is considered the borderline between “passing” and “failing”. Feature-length narrative films, short films, and documentaries are rated within their respective spectrums.

JANUARY

1. Marnie (1964) – 6/10 2. The Moon Is Down (1943) – 7/10 3. Sense and Sensibility (1995) – 8.5/10 4. The Big House (1930) – 7.5/10 5. Manchester by the Sea (2016) – 7/10 6. The Far Country (1954) – 7/10 7. Kung Fu Hustle (2004, Hong Kong/China) – 7/10 8. Road to Singapore (1940) – 6/10 9. A Clever Dummy (1917 short) – 5/10 10. Hidden Figures (2016) – 7.5/10 11. Teddy at the Throttle (1917 short) – 7.5/10 12. The Last of the Mohicans (1920) – 7/10 13. Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – 10/10 14. The Red Turtle (2016, France/Belgium/Japan) – 9/10 15. Life, Animated (2016) – 7.5/10 16. In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong) – 10/10

FEBRUARY

17. Lion (2016) – 7/10 18. It’s Always Fair Weather (1955) – 7.5/10 19. Fences (2016) – 8.5/10 20. Shenandoah (1965) – 7/10 21. Caged (1950) – 8/10 22. Pearl (2016 short) – 7.5/10 23. Blind Vaysha (2016 short) – 8/10 24. Asteria (2016 short) – 6/10 25. The Head Vanishes (2016 short) – 6/10 26. Once Upon a Line (2016 short) – 7/10 27. Pear Cider and Cigarettes (2016 short) – 8/10 28. Sing (2016 short, Hungary) – 7.5/10 29. Silent Nights (2016 short, Denmark) – 6/10 30. Timecode (2016 short, Spain) – 7/10 31. Ennemis intérieurs (2016 short, France) – 8.5/10 32. La femme et le TGV (2016 short, Switzerland) – 8/10 33. Joe’s Violin (2016 short) – 7/10 34. Extremis (2016 short) – 8/10 35. 4.1 Miles (2016 short, Greece) – 9/10 36. Nashville (1975) – 7.5/10 37. The Romance of Transportation in Canada (1952 short) – 7/10

MARCH

38. My Life as a Zucchini (2016, Switzerland) – 8/10 39. Lili (1953) – 7/10 40. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) – 6/10 41. Captain Blood (1935) – 9.5/10 42. Logan (2017) – 7/10 43. Friendly Persuasion (1956) – 9/10 44. Ducks and Drakes (1921) – 7/10 45. What Dreams May Come (1998) – 6/10 46. Bright Road (1953) – 6/10 47. Snow Gets in Your Eyes (1938 short) – 5/10 48. Jungle Cat (1959) – 6.5/10 49. The Salesman (2016, Iran) – 8.5/10 50. Good Scouts (1938 short) – 7.5/10 51. All in a Nutshell (1949 short) – 8/10 52. The Hound That Thought He Was a Raccoon (1960) – 7/10 53. Winter Storage (1949 short) – 7/10 54. Out of Scale (1951 short) – 8/10 55. The Incredible Journey (1963) – 7/10 56. Follow Me, Boys! (1966) – 7/10 57. Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar (1967) – 5.5/10 58. Belladonna of Sadness (1973, Japan) – 6/10 59. Ponyo (2008, Japan) – 7/10 60. My Cousin Rachel (1952) – 7.5/10 61. Road to Perdition (2002) – 9/10

APRIL

62. The X from Outer Space (1967, Japan) – 3/10 63. The Blue Gardenia (1953) – 6.5/10 64. Get Out (2017) – 7.5/10 65. Fantastic Planet (1973, France/Czechoslovakia) – 8/10 66. 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007, Japan) – 6/10 67. Your Name (2016, Japan) – 7.5/10 68. The Outlaw and His Wife (1918, Sweden) – 7/10 69. Mail Early (1941 short) – experimental film, score withheld 70. Boogie-Doodle (1948 short) – experimental film, score withheld 71. A Chairy Tale (1957 short) – 9/10 72. Very Nice, Very Nice (1961 short) – experimental film, score withheld 73. Fine Feathers (1968) – 7/10 74. What on Earth! (1967 short) – 8/10 75. Walking (1968 short) – 7/10 76. Notes on a Triangle (1966 short) – experimental film, score withheld 77. The Three Faces of Eve (1957) – 7.5/10 78. Peeping Tom (1960) – 7.5/10 79. Porco Rosso (1992, Japan) – 8/10 80. MacArthur (1977) – 6/10

MAY

81. Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) – 4/10 82. Scarlet Street (1945) – 8.5/10 83. Tremors (1990) – 7/10 84. The Crucified Lovers (1954, Japan) – 7.5/10 85. Akeelah and the Bee (2006) – 8/10

JUNE

86. Wonder Woman (2017) – 7/10 87. Pollyanna (1960) – 7.5/10 88. Mickey’s Polo Team (1936 short) – 8/10 89. Tales of Manhattan (1942) – 7/10 90. The Horse with the Flying Tale (1960) – 7/10 91. Sound of the Mountain (1954, Japan) – 9/10 92. Return of the Fly (1959) – 4/10 93. Friday the 13th (1980) – 4/10 94. The Tattooed Police Horse (1964) – 6/10 95. Dr. Jack (1922) – 7/10 96. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) – 7/10 97. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) – 5/10 98. The Great Man (1956) – 8/10 99. Sparrows (1926) – 7.5/10 100. Seven Days to Noon (1950) – 9/10 101. My Neighbor Totoro (1988, Japan) – 8.5/10 102. The Pocket Man (2016 short, France) – 7/10 103. Snack Attack (2012 short) – 7/10 104. You Were Never Lovelier (1942) – 7/10 105. San Francisco (1936) – 7.5/10 106. Eraserhead (1977) – 6.5/10

JULY

107. The Beguiled (2017) – 7/10 108. Summer Magic (1963) – 6/10 109. The Southerner (1945) – 9/10 110. The Statue of Liberty (1985) – 6/10 111. They Live by Night (1948) – 8/10 112. A Little Romance (1979) – 6/10 113. Conflagration (1958, Japan) – 6.5/10 114. The Naughty Twenties (1951 short) – 5/10 115. The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) – 7/10 116. For Your Eyes Only (1981) – 6/10 117. A Man There Was (1917, Sweden) – 9.5/10 118. His Royal Slyness (1920 short) – 6/10 119. Now or Never (1921 short) – 6.5/10 120. Among Those Present (1921 short) – 6/10 121. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) – 7.5/10 122. Independence Day (1996) – 5/10 123. Yoyo (1965, France) – 8/10 124. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) -  6.5/10 125. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) – 7.5/10 126. The Lady Vanishes (1938) – 10/10 127. Funny Face (1957) – 9/10 128. A Brighter Summer Day (1991, Taiwan) – 9.5/10 129. A Sailor-Made Man (1921) – 6/10 130. Much Ado About Nothing (1993) – 8/10 131. Dunkirk (2017) – 8.5/10 132. Lost Horizon (1937) – 8/10 133. The Man from Snowy River (1982) – 7.5/10 134. A Touch of Zen (1971, Taiwan) – 10/10

AUGUST

135. A Double Life (1947) – 6/10 136. Tokyo Chorus (1931, Japan) – 7/10 137. In a Heartbeat (2017 short) – 7.5/10 138. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) – 4.5/10 139. Twelve O’Clock High (1949) – 9/10 140. The Big Clock (1948) – 7/10 141. Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982) – 8/10 142. Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947, Japan) – 9/10 143. Octopussy (1983) – 6/10 144. West of Zanzibar (1928) – 6/10 145. Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949) – 7/10 146. Detroit (2017) – 5.5/10 147. That Funny Feeling (1965) – 6/10 148. Kid Galahad (1962) – 6/10 149. Tokyo Twilight (1957, Japan) – 10/10 150. In This Corner of the World (2016, Japan) – 7/10 151. The Bedford Incident (1965) – 7.5/10 152. Johnny Express (2014 short) – 6/10 153. Carpark (2013 short) – 6/10 154. Castle in the Sky (1986, Japan) – 8/10 155. The Goonies (1985) – 7.5/10 156. State of the Union (1948) – 6/10

SEPTEMBER

157. Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) – 3/10 158. Muscle Beach Party (1964) – 4/10 159. The Nutty Professor (1963) – 7/10 160. Camille (1921) – 6.5/10 161. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972, West Germany) – 8/10 162. Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) – 2/10 163. It (2017) – 7/10 164. Ocean Waves (1993, Japan) – 6/10 165. Monterey Pop (1968) – 8/10 166. Don’t Look Back (1967) – 9/10 167. Tyrus (2015) – 8.5/10

OCTOBER

168. A Star Is Born (1937) – 8/10 169. Swiss Family Robinson (1960) – 6/10 170. Revenge of the Nerds (1984) – 5/10 171. Horton Hears a Who! (2008) – 6/10 172. Freaky Friday (1976) – 6/10 173. The Great Muppet Caper (1981) – 7.5/10 174. Mr. & Mrs. ’55 (1955, India) – 8/10 175. Island of Lost Souls (1932) – 9.5/10 176. The Little Broadcast (1943 short) – 6.5/10 177. Hoola Boola (1941 short) – 6/10 178. The Sleeping Beauty (1935 short) – 7/10 179. Tulips Shall Grow (1942 short) – 8.5/10 180. Charulata (1964, India) – 8/10 181. Together in the Weather (1946 short) – 6/10 182. John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946 short) – 7.5/10 183. Philips Cavalcade (1934 short) – 7/10 184. Jasper in a Jam (1946 short) – 8/10 185. Tubby the Tuba (1947 short) – 9/10 186. The Puppetoon Movie (1987) – 7/10 187. Brides of Dracula (1960) – 7/10 188. Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968) – 7/10 189. Candleshoe (1977) – 6/10 190. Jigoku (1960, Japan) – 5.5/10 191. Blacula (1972) – 6/10 192. Willard (1971) – 4/10 193. Ben (1972) – 4.5/10

NOVEMBER

194. The Coward (1965, India) – 7/10 195. The Happening (2008) – 2/10 196. Tom Thumb (1958) – 6.5/10 197. Strike (1925, Soviet Union) – 7.5/10 198. Loving Vincent (2017) – 7/10 199. Destry Rides Again (1939) – 7.5/10 200. The Master Race (1944) – 6/10 201. Justice League (2017) – 6/10 202. Sissi (1955, Austria) – 7.5/10 203. Sissi: The Young Empress (1956, Austria) – 7/10 204. The Sandlot (1993) – 7/10 205. Olaf’s Frozen Adventure (2017 short) – 4/10 206. Coco (2017) – 8/10 207. Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress (1957, Austria) – 7/10 208. The Florida Project (2017) – 8.5/10 209. The Mortal Storm (1940) – 7/10 210. The Breadwinner (2017) – 8/10 211. Spencer’s Mountain (1963) – 6/10 212. Lady Bird (2017) – 9/10

DECEMBER

213. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) – 8.5/10 214. The Secret Life of Bees (2008) – 7/10 215. Murder on the Orient Express (2017) – 5.5/10 216. So You Think You’re Allergic (1945 short) – 5/10 217. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) – 7.5/10 218. The Shape of Water (2017) – 8.5/10 219. Lonely Are the Brave (1962) – 9.5/10 220. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) – 7/10 221. They Won’t Forget (1937) – 8/10 222. It Came from Outer Space (1953) – 6.5/10 223. Brave Little Tailor (1938 short) – 8/10 224. The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952) – 6/10 225. The Sign of Zorro (1958) – 5/10 226. Kong: Skull Island (2017) – 6.5/10 227. Flipped (2010) – 6/10 228. Bardelys the Magnificent (1926) – 7.5/10 229. There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954) – 7/10 230. Swim Team (2016) – 7/10 231. Toby Tyler (1960) – 5/10 232. The Liberator (2013, Venezuela) – 6/10

All scores are subject to change (upgrades and downgrades) upon a rewatch.

[maritimecyprus]

(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The cruise ship, owned by Louis Hellenic Cruises, sank on April 5 2007 after ramming  a reef near the Aegean island of Santorini with 1,195 passengers and 391 crew on board. All onboard were safely evacuated except a French man, Jean Christophe Allain (age 45) and his daughter Maud (age 16), who were never found.

The Sea Diamond in good days

History

Originally named Birka Princess, the ship was built by the Finnish state-owned company Valmet at their Vuosaari shipyardin Helsinki at a cost of 350 million Finnish mark (€58,9 million). She was delivered in 1986 and operated for Birka Line in the Baltic Sea cruiseferry market, sailing on 24-hour cruises between Stockholm in Sweden and the Åland Islands in Finland. Between 1990 and 2003 she also made longer cruises around the Baltic Sea during the summer season.

MS Birka Princess in her original exterior appearance and livery.

Between 1992 and 2002, the ship’s exterior was used to portray the fictional ship MS Freja in the Swedish TV soap operaRederiet.

As built, she had a small car deck, with space for 80 passenger cars and a rampon the port side in the rear. Like most cruiseferries in the Baltic Sea, she was built to ice class 1A.

In 1999 she was extensively refitted at Lloyd Werft in Germany at a cost of approximately US$26 million. The fore superstructure was extended and streamlined and 62 new passenger cabins were added, including a new deck of cabins above the bridge. In October 2004, when the new MS Birka Paradise was delivered, the Birka Princess started making two-night cruises from Stockholm to Turku, Helsinki and Tallinn, as well one weekly 24-hour cruise from Stockholm to Mariehamn. The new itineraries proved largely unsuccessful, and on January 2, 2006, the ship was laid up in Mariehamn and put up for sale.

In February 2006 she was sold to the Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines for US$35 million (€29.4 million). As built, the ship only had an indoor pool in the sauna section on deck 2 in the bow of the ship. A new outdoor swimming pool was installed and the sundeck area increased at Turku Repair Yard, Naantali. She entered service in the Mediterranean Sea as the second former Birka Line ship in the Louis Cruise Lines fleet, after MS Princesa Marissa, the former MS Prinsessan/Finnhansa. After the sale she was registered in Valletta, Malta. She changed flags in late 2006. At the time of her sinking she was owned by Elona Maritime Ltd, a company based in Malta,but registered at Piraeus, Greece.

Attempts to prevent the stricken cruise ship from sinking

Sinking

On April 5, 2007, at around 16:00 EEST (13:00 UTC) the ship ran aground on a well-marked volcanic reef east of Nea Kameni, within the caldera of the Greek island of Santorini, began taking on water, and listed up to 12 degrees to starboard before her watertight doors were reportedly closed (a report which was later refuted when the wreck was examined).  The 1,195 passengers, mostly Americans and 60 Canadians, were initially all reported to be safely evacuated in three and a half hours, with four injuries. Some passengers, including a group of 77 students from Paisley Magnet School in North Carolina, were evacuated from the car ramp through the former car deck onto boats, but some passengers had to climb down rope ladders from the higher decks. The ship was towed off the rocks, and her list stabilized. Later, it was reported that two French passengers were missing.

The Santorini caldera, the final resting place (marked) of Sea Diamond

The large amount of water taken on board led to the ship sinking shortly before 7:00 EEST on April 6, 2007, only a few hundred meters from the shore. Video footage shows that, toward the end, the ship completely inverted before settling stern first onto the sea floor. It was later reported that the tip of the bulbous bow was only 62 meters (203 feet) below sea level, but the stern was in water up to 180 meters (590 feet) deep. It is feared that the wreck would soon slide deeper and sink into the submerged caldera of the volcanic island. It has been speculated that the deep, almost vertical shore of the bathtub-like caldera made it impossible to beach the ship and save her from becoming a total loss.

Missing

Two French citizens, Jean Christophe Allain, aged 45, and his daughter Maud, 16, were listed as missing. Allain’s wife said her cabin filled with water when the ship struck rocks and that she narrowly escaped. She was not sure whether her husband and daughter made it out because the events happened so suddenly. Her son was on deck at the time and was evacuated safely. The family were accommodated in cabin 2014 an outside standard cabin on the starboard side of the vessel on deck 2, the lowest passenger deck.

Divers examined the wreck on April 6 to gather information on the ship’s current position and to seek the missing passengers. The underwater search of this cabin recovered nothing. Divers continued searching on April 10, but nothing was reported. Later in the same day, local governors apologized to the French family for their missing relatives. The black box containing the recordings of the conversations before the crash was discovered on April 15, while the bodies of the two missing persons were never found.

Investigations

On April 7, Greek authorities announced that they were charging the captain and five other officers with negligence. State television reported they were charged with causing a shipwreck through negligence, breaching international shipping safety regulations and polluting the environment. Additional charges could be made depending on the fate of the two missing passengers. All six were released until further notice but if convicted they could face a five-year prison sentence.

On April 13, 2007, it was reported that investigators using a remotely controlled submarine found the ship’s data recorder (VDR). In a struggle to protect the data, they secured it in a special sterilized bin and the authorities were to have transferred it to the United States in order to reveal the saved data, an action that only the manufacturer of the VDR can perform. The Greek Merchant Marine Ministry said the recorder could reveal details of the sinking of the ship which could be used in the prosecution of crew members.

  DNV, one of the world’s leading classification agencies, stated in their press release that “At the time of the accident, DNV had issued class certificate, safety management certificate and ship security certificate. Sea Diamond had no overdue surveys and no condition of class”. For the Sea Diamond to have been issued a Class certificate, her water-tight doors would have to have been fully operational.

Investigations carried out by the defense team of the Master of the Vessel and Louis Cruise Lines, after a lawsuit had been filed against them, have included a new hydrographic survey of the area of the accident in Santorini. This survey was carried out by Akti Engineering, and discovered discrepancies between the actual mapping of the sea area and the official charts used by the Sea Diamond (and all other vessels) at the time of the accident. The detailed survey claimed that the reef, which the Sea Diamond struck, is in fact lying at 131 meters (429 feet) from shore and not at a distance of 57 meters (187 feet) as is incorrectly marked on the nautical chart. The official chart also shows the depth of the water at the area of impact varying from 18–22 meters, whilst the recent survey shows that it is only 5 meters.

The findings obtained by Akti Engineering have since been passed on to the Hellenic Hydrographic Office of the Hellenic Navy and other responsible authorities, with the aim that the necessary changes to maritime charts should be made and similar accidents to be prevented. According to a branch reviewing source, the Hellenic Hydrographic Office initially rejected the new mapping, but a later study confirmed the findings of Akti.

A Greek scuba diver gathering evidence for a judicial investigation of the Sea Diamond shipwreck died in October 2007 from decompression sickness after ascending too quickly.

Aftermath

In order to avoid an oil spill, plans were made to recover some 450 tonnes (496 short tons) of fuel from the ship’s tanks. As of September 20, 2007, fuel had started to leak into other parts of the ship, but not yet into the surrounding environment. In June, 2009, the fuel was pumped off the wreck. On May 14, 2007, it was announced that Louis Cruise Lines had bought M/S Silja Opera (renaming it M/S Cristal) to replace the Sea Diamond.

On June 19, 2007, the owners, operator and captain of the Sea Diamond cruise ship were fined €1.17 million for causing marine pollution.

On August 21, 2007, a lawsuit was filed in United States federal court on behalf of the passengers who were aboard the ship when she sank.

After six years in the courts, the Sea Diamond captain and an insurance company employee were given 12 and 8 years jail sentences, respectively. The Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia (now defunct) speculated no actual jail time would be served.

The Piraeus appeals court ruled the captain of the Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines vessel, which ran aground near the island’s Athinios port, the first mate and the head of operations ashore were all guilty of negligence. Capt. Yiannis Marinos, 38 at the time, was handed a five-year jail sentence, which he can buy out for €5 a day, some €9,125 ($12,400) in total. At the initial trial he had received a sentence of 12 years and two months. The head of operations was given a three-year term suspended for three years, and the first mate a 26-month suspended sentence. However, five others, including two representatives of the cruise company, were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Raising

After the sinking there was much demand from the residents of Santorini for the wreck be raised and removed. Further questions were posed but never answered as to why the ship was moved to deeper water to be allowed to sink in the first place. In May 2011, the Greek government claimed that removing the Sea Diamond would be “too costly” and said that the 150-million-euro cost of raising the ship should be the responsibility of the insurers and company that owned the ship. The latter two have no plans to raise the ship, however, and nothing will be resolved.

In October 2017 the Merchant Marine Ministry of Greece announced the wreck will be raised, out of environmental and navigational concerns.

    Flashback in maritime History – Sea Diamond sinking at Santorini 5 April 2007 (www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The cruise ship, owned by Louis Hellenic Cruises, sank on April 5 2007 after ramming  a reef near the Aegean island of Santorini with 1,195 passengers and 391 crew on board.

[piilokarsastus]

End of the year ask game - 2019

1. Favorite book you discovered this year? Not sure if I’ve started any new books this year

2. Favorite movie that was released this year? It seems I also didn’t go to the movies this year apart from one time but the movie wasn’t that good

3. Favorite TV show you discovered this year? Fargo

4. Favorite artist you discovered this year? I don’t really do “artists”

5. Favorite music album that was released this year? The kind of music I listen to doesn’t come in albums but Veli Kujala’s Violin Concerto “Auseil” has got to be one of the greatest modern pieces of music I’ve heard.

6. If you are using a music streaming platform that provides you with stats about this year, post them! I’m not

7. Favorite memory of this year? Maybe the time I went biking with a good friend in July

8. Favorite song this year? It’s so hard to pick favourites, but Grieg’s Jeg elsker dig always has a special place in my heart

9. Post a selfie from January of this year and one from today. I literally haven’t changed at all so no

10. Favorite travel destination of this year? I didn’t really travel much but our short excursion to Lappeenranta was fun

11. Did you make new friends this year? How? Yeah, I’ve made a lot of new friends in university, and also one of the students I hung out with during my work period at OUAS in 2018-2019 has since become a close friend. I got many other friends of varying levels there but she’s the only one I still see and talk to regularly.

12. Did you lose a friend? Why? Well not really, but kind of. We’re still officially friends and we recently even texted each other for the first time in months but I just can’t bring myself to connect with her more since I have this feeling that she isn’t really interested in seeing me because I had a crush on her a year ago. The fact that she never texts first doesn’t help either.

13. Any deaths in your social environment this year? My grandpa passed away in September at 83

14. Any newborns in your social environment this year? no, although my cousin and his wife have a baby under way

15. Favorite concert you´ve been to this year? This one concert of new music in Oulu, in October

16. Favorite festival (music or other) you attended this year? Uuden musiikin lokakuu (see previous question)

17. Did you quit a job/an education this year? I didn’t exactly quit, my work period just ended as scheduled

18. Did you start a new job/education this year? Yeah, I started university

19. Did your relationship status change during the year? If it stayed the same, did your perception of this status change? nope, still single

20. Any new piercings this year? no

21. Any new tattoos this year? no

22. Any other body modifications this year? no

23. Favorite clothing item of this year? I just got a really cute shirt for Christmas, so I’m choosing that even though it’s only been in my life for a few days :D

24. Favorite person this year? that would be a certain HK. Funnily enough those initials can refer to two people, both of whom played an important part in my life at different parts of the year: one in December-February and the other especially from May onwards. 

25. Favorite place to be this year? (can be a city or just a place like a library, home, a certain forest and so on…) Ever since I moved out, my old home (at my mum’s) has been my favourite place since I come there on holidays to do nothing except relax and enjoy life.

26. Any dreams you fulfilled this year? Started studying in the university I wanted to study in and now I finally have a genuine friend squad who actually do fun stuff together outside of school and we just have a really great group spirit. It’s something I’ve always wanted to have but never had. I’ve mostly just had singular close friends and all the friend groups I’ve been in before rarely did anything outside of school or just weren’t very close friends to begin with. I did have a small group completely separate from school in 2014-2016 but we hung out quite rarely and have since lost touch completely even though I really enjoyed my time with them.

27. Which was your happiest month? Why? I can’t decide on one favourite but the happiest times for me were January (when I had recently met someone special and was heavily crushing on her and life seemed great for a while), July (when I spent a lot of time with an aforementioned friend) and then October (or any month in autumn because I’ve had a great time in uni)

28. Which was this years worst month? Why? On Feb 27 the preceding period of happiness ended and my dreams were crushed, and that sadness was present for the entirety of March and for some time after that as well.

29. Anything you started this year? (sports, drawing, tarot…) university, as I’ve already mentioned more than once.

30. Did you move this year? If not, did you change anything about your place of residence? Yes

31. Did you change anything about your look or your style during this year? Not exactly, but I can feel that change is in progress in a way I can’t yet describe. And last winter (starting already in late 2018) I did start preferring sweaters to button-ups

32. On a scale of one to ten, ten being the best: how would you rate this year? a solid 8,5

33. Any political scandal in your country this year? yeah our government fell after barely six months in office, but as a result we got an even better one with the worlds youngest (and female!) prime minister. 

34. Any global event that happened this year that had a strong impact on you or your way of thinking? I can’t remember whether it was this year or the year before but the IPCC reports have certainly made me more aware of how doomed capitalism is

35. Anything you did for the first time this year? (Bungee jumping, drinking alcohol, traveling by plane ….) nothing I can think of

36. Any big mistake you made this year? yyyeah about that Feb 27th thing... I confessed my feelings to someone I was really really interested in but nothing good ever came out of that decision and my self-esteem hasn’t been the same since

37. Favorite Youtuber this year? muyskerm probably

38. Favorite music artist this year? didn’t we go over this already?

39. Favorite hobby this year? making music, same as always

40. Relfect on the year: what are the strongest memories? In the first half of the year, I had a great time at OUAS and there were many memorable moments in that job. My favourites were maybe when I was teaching aural skills classes and when I worked as an accompanist for the opera ensemble class. In May, a large-scale piece of mine was finally performed after I worked on it for the entirety of 2018, which was a big milestone for me as a composer. And finally, in August, we had a super fun orientation day at uni and it was the first time I spent some true quality time with my new squad, sitting in a dark corner talking about music :D

41. Which goals that you had for this year did you reach? Come to think of it, I’m not really a goal-setter.

42. Which goals that you had for this year did you not reach? it would’ve been nice to get into a relationship or even just have sex at least once

43. Any injuries or major diseases you had this year? no

44. Did you have to go to the hospital this year? yeah, but just for a root canal treatment

45. How much/how often did you travel this year? not very often, mostly just between Oulu and Helsinki

46. Did you spend most of your time alone or with others? If with others, who was/were this persons(s)? Well I lived at home until August so my parents, I guess

47. Any new blogs you made on tumblr? yeah, just a private place for a new kind of aesthetic

48. Any blogs you deleted on tumblr? no

49. Any social media that you started with that year? Well I finally got into tiktok but I don’t make content there

50. Favorite food this year? pizza, as always

51. Favorite sweets this year? chocolate, as always

52. Favorite drink/beverage this year? water, as always

53. Any celebrity you really looked up to this year? nah

54. Tell us a quote that inspired you during this year. I’m not a quote person

55. Any new device you bought this year? no

56. If you are wearing makeup: Did your makeup style change during this year? makeup isn’t part of my current style

57. Are you looking forward to next year? I kind of am actually, not really for anything specific but I just have a good feeling about things

58. What are your goals for next year? to learn a lot of new things, discover a lot of good art and basically just continue rebuilding my identity and self-esteem and make myself into the best person I can be. And yeah that girlfriend would be nice too :(

59. What would your biggest dream for next year be? To have a private lesson with my favourite musicologist who will be a visiting professor at my university next year

60. What do you hope will change on this world withing the next year? can we like finally eat the rich, please?

61. Any changes within your own life you have planned for next year? I’ve considered starting working out again since I haven’t done much since school started

62. What are your fears about the next year? that school’s going to be even more stressful since I have more classes

63. How and with whom are you going to spend new years eve? alone and with my mum, currently am

64. Any song that is connected for you to new years eve? no

65. Any new years eve traditions you practise? no

66. Any travels planned for next year? no

67. What do you want to focus on more during the next year? I’d like to make more art but we’ll see how much time I have

68. Any release you are looking forward to next year? a number of tv shows are set to release a new season

69. Any behaviour you want to get rid of during next year? I wish I could stop dwelling on the past

70. Do you think this year changed you? Why? Definitely, I can’t really put it to words but I’m on my way to feeling a lot happier being who I am

71. Do you think next year will change you? Why? hopefully for the better

72. Any changes planned for next year already? (moving, job change etc.) no

73. What major changes happened for you during this decade? In the beginning of 2010 I was year 4 in primary school and now I’m first year in university, so there were a lot :D Biggest ones were maybe starting puberty and my parents splitting up in 2013, starting to compose music seriously in 2014, getting my first girlfriend in 2015 and my second, longest-to-date relationship in 2017, as well as said relationship ending in 2018. And yeah, in 2019 I moved away from home.

74. Post a picture of you from 2009 and one from 2019. lol not going to happen

75. New people that came in this decade into your life? pretty much all of my friends except for like 3

76. People you lost during this decade? Grandpa I lost literally although we weren’t that close, and there are several friends who are still friends but who I’ve lost in a way since we just don’t stay in touch anymore and we just aren’t as close as we used to.

77. Dreams you fulfilled during this decade? When I downloaded musescore in late 2013 and typed in my first, cringey attempts at composition, I could only dream of being able to write music like Mozart. And here I am now, pursuing a career as a composer. 

78. Favorite music artist of the decade? I still don’t do artists

79. Favorite movie of the decade? there are so many

80. Favorite TV series of the decade? you could just ask me my favourite tv series altogether, it’s equally impossible to decide 

81. Favorite book of the decade? Does this mean books published in or books I just read this decade? I’m picking the latter: while they’re perhaps not the best books of all time (although still really good), nothing has impacted my adolescent years more than the Harry Potter series.

82. Favorite music album of the decade? I’m just going to say Mozart, okay?

83. Favorite celebrity of the decade? The idolisation of celebrities is a phenomenon I don’t really endorse but the Justimusfilms guys are a precious bunch of idiots I’m always happy to see whatever they do

84. Favorite author of the decade? I haven’t read nearly enough and diversely to consider this a valid assessment but of the few authors I have read, Herman Koch seems like a really interesting one

85. Celebrities you admired that died this decade? Christopher Lee, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Alan Rickman

86. Favorite actor/actress of the decade? I find it hard to name a favourite, I don’t really enjoy a particular actor but rather the roles they play if they’re written well and played convincingly

87. Favorite travel desitnation of the decade? Italy (2011) and St. Petersburg (2017)

88. Any changes in believe this decade? no

89. Did your main occupation (student, working fulltime etc.) change during this decade? it did for one year but now I’m a student again

90. Favorite memory of this decade? I’m happy my life has been meaningful enough that this question is entirely impossible to answer. Besides, there are two very distinct periods in this decade, late childhood and teenage years, which are hard to compare

91. Hobbies you gave up upon during this decade? violin and badminton

92. Hobbies you started during this decade? piano, writing, composing... and violin and badminton

93. What new did you learn during this decade? (Languages, arts, crafts…) basically anything I’ve ever learned after 4th grade, including, but not limited to, the Swedish language, music theory and composition, and how to boil potatoes 

94. On a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, how would you rate this decade? Since I’ve only lived through two, I don’t really have much to compare it with but I’d say 9. Overall I’ve had a really nice and happy youth but there are things I wish went differently especially in middle school.

95. Favorite quote during this decade? “yolo swag” -Albert Einstein

96. Which body modifications did you get during this decade? none

97. New dreams you gained during this decade? all of them

98. Dreams you gave upon during this decade? I once thought of becoming an author but music took me in the end

99. Worst year of this decade? Why? 2012. the end of sixth grade was pretty okay but seventh grade sucked tbh + atmosphere at home wasn’t the best. Meanwhile I was still a kid so everything was hard and I didn’t control anything that happened in my life. I did start writing that year, which was nice.

100. Best year of this decade? Why? I’ve thought about this a lot. I remember 2010-2011 being nice with many lovely memories of playing with my best friend of the time. Many of those adventures are the basis of my eternal WIP novel and I have a special nostalgia for those years but they were so long ago and I was so young that I can’t really tell them apart as distinct years and I still think I can’t compare them with the other years since I’m a very different person now.

2012 sucked ass as I’ve already discussed. 2013 wasn’t as bad but not great either. Some of the shit from the previous year carried over, along with my parents separating, but on the other hand, I had my first date ever with my crush (even though she rejected me) and it was the beginning of my teenage years with many nice moments.

2014 is a strong contender: I met some new friends at confirmation camp, started gradually enjoying middle school and started hanging out with the girl I would eventually start dating. There’s not much bad to say about 2014 but overall nothing very big happened.

2015 was both the end of 9th grade (where I had a lot of fun at school since our group spirit was amazing) and the beginning of high school. I was doing well in life, got new friends and I also got into my first-ever relationship and that, along with the events leading to that, was a time of great happiness for me. Although our breakup in November kind of ruined the end of the year for me, 2015 has got to be one of the best years of the decade.

For some reason, my mental image of 2016 isn’t very distinct. I spent the better half of the year feeling a bit depressed because of the breakup, but there were happy times especially from May onward when I started growing closer with a good friend. That summer we texted literally every day, we basically just became best friends and I also eventually fell in love with her. From August to the end of the year I have nothing but good memories and I’m very nostalgic for that time.

Which leads us to 2017. I went to prom with my crush (which itself was really fun) and we started dating in March. I was so so happy, especially in the summer. I also had some early break-throughs as a composer and made some of the best pieces I’ve conceived to date. School was fun too, and generally I just enjoyed high school a lot.

2018 is a year I’m very divided about. I was still in a relationship and had some of the happiest times with that person in April-June. Then again, we had some communication issues and I had a recurring paranoia that she just doesn’t want to be with me anymore, which was a constant source of anxiety in January-March and July. The breakup did come in August and of course for the rest of the year it weighed me down quite a bit. However, generally speaking I was somewhat more fine than with my first breakup since I had new exciting things going on in my life such as my work at OUAS which helped keep my thoughts away from the loneliness and also introduced new friends into my life. And in December, I had what was probably the best date of my life with a new, interesting person, which ended 2018 on a positive remark.

2019 was a year of change, even more so than the previous one. A lot of things changed for the positive, although there is also a certain sadness to leaving old things behind. I was happy at work and now I’m happy at school, but I’ve also felt lonely and unattractive, especially after getting rejected in February by someone I had such high hopes for. Suddenly I was back to the preceding sadness and my self-esteem dropped drastically while I was left wondering why I wasn’t enough. Still, I’ve had so much fun with friends and so much personal and professional growth that 2019 is still up there in the top 5.

As you’ve probably noticed already, I suck at picking favourites. Every year had its moments, some of them more than the others. Overall, I’ve been very happy especially in 2014-2019, but of all those years, 2017 was maybe the coolest and had some of the best memes as well.

[lbat1901]

Yeah, I’ve done the unspeakable and made one of these. However instead of an art summary, it’s a complication of things things that happened hence the title “Lbat1901’s Best of 2019”.

January 2019 - (I know that the pic for the January slot is to its side, but I couldn’t fit the full image without cutting most of it out) This was the month where I posted the prologue marking the first release of my Eddsworld based story, At World’s End. It was very successful and it is available on Tumblr, Quotev, Wattpad, Fanfiction.Net, and Ao3.

Also it is worth nothing that January saw the the prologue to Dropshot, an AU that is takes the elements to the High School AU but uses basketball elements in the universe that is Eddsworld.

February 2019 - This was the month where I launched my series Channel 7 Lucky Hour along with the first chapter to Dropshot. Plus this was the month were the first ever piece of UTFTF content was released

March 2019 - This was the month where I got bored one day and decided to open up Photoshop to make a silly edit of Patryck dancing to Never Gonna Give You Up. I regret nothing and Dropshot’s progress was a little lanky in terms of new chapters being released when the fourth chapter was released.

April 2019 - This was the month where the five and sixth chapters to Dropshot were released and was the month were the last chapter to At World’s End was published. Plus this is the same month where I gave everyone the first taste to Eddbusters which was a Ghostbusters AU for Eddsworld. Another thing that had happened in this month was I posted a rant about TBATF which blew up and has everyone on the Eddsworld Animo talk about the situation. I was the third person to make a TBATF rant and I am proud of it.

May 2019 - This was the month were seven chapters to Dropshot were released after getting my crap together.

June 2019 - This was the month were Dropshot gotten serious in terms of new chapter releases. It was crazy. I also posted the prologue to UTFTF on accident, but despite of it, it was successful.

July 2019 - July was the month where the plot to Dropshot was nearing to its end in an epic basketball match between Edd’s team and a team lead by the story’s true villain and his team that was considered to be very ruthless in order to save the world.

August 2019 - I know what you’re thinking, the Eddbusters cover art was revealed in September. Why is it in the slot for August? That’s because Eddbusters was fully completed and was in its editing state. The cover art was also made during the editing process and there were many concepts for it. I ended up basing it on the official DVD cover for the first Ghostbusters film since the story was entirely based on the movie.

September 2019 - Speaking of Eddbusters being based entirely on the first Ghostbusters film, even though it had the same plot, some things were left out to make sure that Eddbusters sticked to Eddsworld along the its charm and jokes. However nothing was changed from the main source material, so there’s that.

October 2019 - October was really a busy month in terms of new content being shared. First off was Inktober which I did some drawings for it last year and second, Eddbusters made its debut on October 12th which ended up receiving huge loads of feedback. Who knows, maybe it would get a direct sequel in 2020. A man can dream.

November 2019 - Nothing interesting really happened in November expect for Eddbusters still going strong and of course the release of Pokemon Sword and Shield. I even drew Inteleon for it.

December 2019 - The last and final month of 2019 and the ending cap for the 2010s. Main, where did time even go? Pokemon Sword and Shield had some controversy and I made an entire about the situation along with explaining the flaws of my beloved Pokemon Charizard, but despite that, I had a great time playing through Pokemon Sword. No matter what people say about a Pokemon game, I am still going to enjoy it. Oh and uh, December saw the last chapter release to Eddbusters and saw the few special looks into UTFTF which I’ve almost neglected.

Oh and here’s the entire chapter list for Dropshot which are in chronological order in terms of release. Just take it:

Prologue - January 6th 2019 (92 views) Chapter 1 - February 4th 2019 (80 views) Chapter 2 - February 13th 2019 (90 views) Chapter 3 - February 26th 2019 (87 views) Chapter 4 - March 12th 2019 (88 views) Chapter 5 - April 2nd 2019 (122 views) Chapter 6 - April 16th 2019 (61 views) Chapter 7 - May 1st 2019 (80 views) Chapter 8 - May 6th 2019 (77 views) Chapter 9 - May 10th 2019 (59 views) Chapter 10 - May 14th 2019 (48 views) Chapter 11 - May 16th 2019 (63 views) Chapter 12 - May 24th 2019 (71 views) Chapter 13 - May 29th 2019 (52 views) Chapter 14 - June 3rd 2019 (49 views) Chapter 15 - June 6th 2019 (54 views) Chapter 16 - June 10th 2019 (68 views) Chapter 17 - June 13th 2019 (61 views) Chapter 18 - June 16th 2019 (45 views) Chapter 19 - June 19th 2019 (56 views) Chapter 20 - June 25th 2019 (63 views) Chapter 21 - June 27th 2019 (41 views) Chapter 22 - July 5th 2019 (54 views) Chapter 23 - July 10th 2019 (42 views) Chapter 24 - July 17th 2019 (61 views) Chapter 25 - July 25th 2019 (37 views) Chapter 26 - July 29th 2019 (64 views) Chapter 27 - July 31st 2019 (69 views)

[kansascityhappenings]

In 46 weeks this year, there have been 45 school shootings

They have taken place across the country. From Georgia to California. At elementary, middle and high schools. On college and university campuses.

One student died and eight others were injured in a shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch. Two male students were charged with murder and attempted murder; one of them told police he sought to target classmates who had bullied him.

In 46 weeks this year, there have been 45 school shootings. That’s nearly an average of one school shooting a week.

Of those, 32 of them were at facilities serving Kindergarten through 12th grade.

Since there is no single definition for what qualifies as a school shooting, CNN set the following parameters:

The shooting must involve at least one person being shot (not including the shooter).

The shooting must occur on school property, which includes but is not limited to buildings, athletic fields, parking lots, stadiums and buses.

We included accidental discharge of a firearm as long as the first two parameters are met, except in instances where the sole shooter is law enforcement or a security officer.

We included injuries sustained from BB guns, since the Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified them as potentially lethal.

November 15

Pleasantville, New Jersey

Gunfire erupted at a high school football game, injuring an adult and two minors. Five men were charged.

“Unlike some of the shootings that have occurred on school premises throughout the country, this incident had nothing to do with the students of Pleasantville High School or Camden High School,” Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner said.

“The venue simply presented an opportunity for criminals to pursue their own form of petty vengeance against one another.”

November 14 Santa Clarita, California

Two students were killed and three injured in a shooting at Saugus High School. The 16-year-old shooter turned the gun on himself and died in a hospital the next day.

November 11 Baltimore

A 19-year-old student was shot by a masked gunman while getting out of a car at Achievement Academy, a high school. His injuries were non-life-threatening. Authorities believe an altercation occurred between the victim and shooter.

November 5 Langston, Oklahoma

A man was shot in the leg outside a dorm on the Langston University campus. He was taken via helicopter to an Oklahoma City hospital.

November 4 Warrensburg, Missouri

A University of Central Missouri student was shot and killed after a gun was accidentally discharged in an on-campus apartment.

November 3 Waco, Texas

A 30-year-old student was shot in the chest and killed in a Texas State Technical College housing facility. Police believe the 20-year-old shooter and the victim were involved in a relationship dispute that turned into a physical fight.

October 27 Clarksville, Tennessee

A 22-year-old man was shot and killed outside an Austin Peay State University residence hall. Police believe the incident was a drug deal gone wrong.

October 27 Laurel, Maryland

A 38-year-old woman was shot during a nighttime gathering in the parking lot of Laurel Woods Elementary School, police say.

October 22 Santa Rosa, California

A 16-year-old student was shot by another student outside Ridgway High School in what police believe to be a gang-related incident. The victim was taken to the hospital and later released.

October 18 Grambling, Louisiana

A student and a police officer were shot and injured in a Grambling State University assembly center. During an event, two men were involved in an altercation when one produced a gun and shot the other twice in the chest. As police tried to intervene, an officer was shot in the leg.

Both victims were transported to the hospital. The officer sustained non-life-threatening injuries, while the other man was in critical condition.

October 13 Nashville

A 19-year-old student was shot in the abdomen and killed in a Tennessee State University dorm. The incident occurred after an 18-year-old classmate discharged a stolen gun he was playing with. The shooter and victim thought the gun was a pellet gun.

October 11 Rayne, Louisiana

After a football game at Rayne High School’s stadium let out, multiple shots were fired into the parking lot, according to police. One person was hit and taken to the hospital. Police have arrested the men believed to be involved in the shooting.

October 9 Lowell, Massachusetts

Two men entered the playground at Greenhalge Elementary School and shot indiscriminately at children with BB guns, hitting five children. Two injured children were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

October 8 Houston

A gun was discharged after school hours at Westbury High School, injuring one student.

September 20 Orangeburg, South Carolina

Two women were shot outside a South Carolina State University residential building, according to university officials. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

September 16 Fayetteville, North Carolina

A 20-year-old former college football player was found with numerous gunshot wounds on Fayetteville State University‘s campus. He was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

September 14 Fort Worth, Texas

A woman and a girl were injured when a fight between a group of parents led to a shooting at an Eastern Hills Elementary School football game, police said.

September 13 Newport News, Virginia

A teenager was shot outside Todd Stadium after a Newport News High School football game ended. The stadium is owned by Newport News Public Schools.

August 30 Toledo, Ohio

A 16-year-old was shot following an altercation as crowds left a high school football game at Central Catholic High School, police say.

August 30 Mobile, Alabama

At least 10 teenagers were injured in a shooting at Lad Peebles Stadium during a football game between LeFlore High School and Williamson High School.

August 27 Los Angeles

A boy was shot in the jaw while waiting in line for school lunch at Hollenbeck Middle School. Authorities believe the shots came from off school campus.

August 24 Philadelphia

On a playground at William C. Longstreth Elementary School, a teenager was shot in the back of the head. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition where he would later die.

August 23 Conyers, Georgia

A 12-year-old boy was shot at Peek’s Chapel Elementary School and rushed to the hospital. Another 15-year-old boy was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery in connection with the event.

July 11 Hartford, Connecticut

A man, 34, was riding his bike through a Bulkeley High School parking lot when he was shot at least once. He died from his injuries.

July 2 Anchorage, Alaska

A 22-year-old shot a teenager at the basketball court of Williwaw Elementary School after a fight broke out among a group of people, according to authorities. The teen was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries but survived.

July 1 Bronx, New York

A 13-year-old boy was shot in the chest at the School of Science and Applied Learning‘s playground. He was transported to the hospital in serious but stable condition.

June 21 Flint, Michigan

A 15-year-old student was critically injured in a shooting at a parking lot outside Carman-Ainsworth High School. The incident happened after a fight among dozens of students had broken out on school property and expanded to the area where the teen was shot, according to police.

June 6 Chicago

A 25-year-old man was playing basketball at Genevieve Melody STEM Elementary School when he was shot in the leg, the Chicago Police Department told CNN.

May 17 Jacksonville, Florida

A student was shot during a spring football game at Terry Parker High School. The victim was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, but police later said he was in stable condition.

May 7 Savannah, Georgia

One Savannah State University student was shot near a campus residential facility and transported to a hospital. The student was expected to recover. The alleged shooter was not a student.

May 7 Highlands Ranch, Colorado

One student died and eight others were injured in a shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch. Two male students were charged with murder and attempted murder; one of them told police he sought to target classmates who had bullied him.

May 4 Eugene, Oregon

A 21-year-old man died from a gunshot wound after being shot in a parking lot near a fraternity house at the University of Oregon.

April 30 Charlotte, North Carolina

A gunman opened fire on the final day of classes at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, killing two people and wounding four others — three of them critically, authorities said. The shooter, 22, was a former student.

April 1 Prescott, Arkansas

A student shot a fellow 8th-grade student in the hallway of Prescott High School, sheriff’s deputies said. The injured boy was airlifted to the hospital. The school district said the shooting appeared to be a premeditated attack.

March 27 Lexington, Mississippi

A 10-year-old student riding the bus home from Holmes County Elementary School was injured after he was struck by a bullet in his left hand. It’s unclear where the bullet came from. The fifth-grader said another student on the bus shot him, but the school district said the bus was the target of a drive-by shooting.

March 7 Grambling, Louisiana

A gun accidentally discharged in a Grambling State University dorm, injuring one student.

February 26 Montgomery, Alabama

A 17-year-old student at Robert E. Lee High School was shot in the arm in the school’s gym. The student’s injury was non-life-threatening. Authorities said the suspect was a minor and likely a fellow student.

February 17 Centennial, Colorado

A 46-year-old man was shot multiple times by his neighbor at Eaglecrest High School amid an ongoing argument over a parking spot. The victim died from his injuries.

February 12 Kansas City, Missouri

A 15-year-old girl was shot outside Central Academy of Excellence during a basketball game. Police said the victim had fought with two shooting suspects, 21 and 18, during the game. The suspects were escorted out of the game and allegedly shot the girl when she left the building a short time later.

February 8 Baltimore

A Frederick Douglass High School staff member was seriously injured after a 25-year-old man entered the school and shot him. The shooter is a family member of the victim, police said.

January 31 Humble, Texas

A 16-year-old student was shot at Atascocita High School while trying to buy marijuana from a 17-year-old student, sheriff’s deputies said. The student who was shot suffered non-life-threatening wounds, and police identified the shooter after he posted about the incident on Snapchat.

January 31 Memphis, Tennessee

A 14-year-old student at Manassas High School ROTC was sent to the hospital for injuries after he was shot with a pellet gun at school.

January 30 Lithonia, Georgia

A man was injured when he was shot outside Miller Grove High School after school hours. The victim, who was not a student, was running on the school’s track when he saw someone trying to break into his vehicle. When he confronted the man, he was shot once, police said.

January 25 Mobile, Alabama

Two men, ages 17 and 20, got into an altercation outside W.P. Davidson High School that led to the exchange of gunfire, police said. Both were injured. At least one of the men was not a student at the school, the principal said.

January 7 Belmont, California

A 17-year-old high school student was fatally shot outside Central Elementary School. Police said the victim knew the shooter and it was not a random crime.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/11/19/in-46-weeks-this-year-there-have-been-45-school-shootings/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/11/19/in-46-weeks-this-year-there-have-been-45-school-shootings/

[chapsgenstore]

NOTE: I originally published this collection of memories on February 12, 2004. It mostly consists of input from people who knew or knew of Clyde Beatty. 

NOTE X 2: I mentioned on Facebook that I’d recently observed a Clyde Beatty Exhibit or Museum in a Bainbridge storefront. A friend sent me this link to the exhibit and its hours of operation. Click HERE.

Bainbridge’s Clyde Beatty

My wife is a black and white game show addict. During the night, when she can’t sleep, she often watches old reruns of What’s My Line, I’ve Got A Secret, etc. When she sees something that I may be interested in, she will frequently record it for me. Last night she was watching a rerun of What’s My Line and the featured “Mr. X” turned out to be Bainbridge’s own Clyde Beatty. If you’re too young to remember Clyde, he was a renowned animal trainer who appeared in several movies and with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus for many years. I did a little Internet snooping and came up with the following information:

Clyde Beatty was a renowned circus owner and animal trainer known for his daring stunts involving wild beasts. He appeared in several adventure serials and feature films during the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Clyde Beatty Facts: Date of birth, June 10, 1903 Place of birth, Chillicothe, Ohio Date of death, July 19, 1965 Place of death, Ventura, California Cause of death, cancer

Clyde Beatty’s Movie Career: (1953) Perils of the Jungle (1949/1952) Abbott and Costello Double Feature – Africa Screams/ Jack and the Beanstalk (1949) Africa Screams (1936) Darkest Africa (1934) The Lost Jungle Vol 2. Chapters 7-12 (1934) The Lost Jungle Vol 1. Chapters 1-6 (1934) The Lost Jungle Besides movies, Clyde Beatty also appeared in a series of radio programs aimed at children. Titles include: C04241 # 1 The Devil Cat

2 Crisis On The Set

C04242 # 3 Danger Unrehearsed

4 Elephant Stampede

C04243 # 5 Cage Boy

6 Man Eater Of Burma

C04244 # 7 Tiger Escape

8 The Juju Stones

C04245 # 9 Beauty And The Beast #10 Leopard On The Loose

C04246 #11 Dangerous Ambition #12 Contest In Danger

C04254 #33 Daniel In The Lion’s Den #34 Kodiak Killer

C04255 #35 Amazon Adventure #36 Brush With Death

C04256 #37 Land Of The Giants #38 Death In Stateroom B

C04257 #39 The Flying Politos #40 Baquiri Bravery C04260 #45 Mystery Island #46 Wombo’s Strange Pet

C04261 #47 Oklahoma Hoax #48 Arabian Nightmare C04247 #17 Never Trust A Gilly #18 Zombie

C04248 #19 For Children Only #20 The Bear

C04249 #21 The Princess And The Tigress #22 Time Off For Trouble

C04250 #25 Ghost Cat Of Guatemala #26 The King Of Clowns

C04251 #27 The Fabulous Ike #28 Danger In The Deep

C04252 #29 The White Rogue Of Siam #30 The Wild Man From Borneo

C04253 #31 The Marvelous Marvins #32 Jungle Joe C04258 #41 Borneo Devil Beast #42 Caine Courage

C04259 #43 Jungle Medico #44 The Lost City C04263 #51 Adventure In Australia #52 Tiger Town C04262 #49 Hold That Tiger #50 In Search Of A Myth

Evidence exists that there was also a series of Clyde Beatty comic books.

Clyde Beatty’s son, Clyde Junior, has made a name for himself as a designer and builder of quality surfboards in California. To honor his father, several of his designs are named after dad or one of dad’s cats.

Clyde Beatty Circus: The Clyde Beatty Circus was founded by Clyde Beatty (1903-1965), an animal trainer. He formed his own circus in 1945 after touring with several circuses including Hagenbeck-Wallace in his early career. Beatty toured his circus in conjunction with Russell Brothers Pan-Pacific Circus in 1946, then decided to open a show under his name only. In 1956, the circus was sold to the Acme Circus Corporation, and Beatty was hired as a star attraction. In 1957, the Acme Circus Corporation acquired the Cole Bros. name and the show became Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus. Beatty remained the star of the show until his death in 1965.

I found this email exchange (dated 7/3/03) about Beatty on an Internet bulletin board. Question: Does anyone know anything about his origins/ethnic background/real name. His own son thinks that the name is made-up and is not sure of who he might have been really. Death certificates, etc. don’t have any father listed, as is usual. Any ideas? Answer: Clyde Beatty is his REAL name, he was born in Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio….he is the son of Margaret Beatty Tong, his half-sister Madelyn Tong still lives in Bainbridge.. his mother and my grandfather are brother and sister…email me and I will share what info that I have…

Clyde Beatty is buried in Forrest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles. I found this photo of his tomb on the Internet.

The Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus still exists and has recently been the target of several animal rights activist groups. in August 2003 they were the subject of a suit involving the expulsion of a protester from one of their shows in NYC. I’ll let you decide how serious the charges are, but there exists a multitude of charges against the Cole Bros. circus, as well as most others who maintain troops of animals.

Here’s a bulletin board posting from a person who was an assistant to Clyde Beatty:

Posted by Roger Smith on January 28, 2004: I first saw Clyde Beatty in person in 1947, in Tyler, Texas. I was 4, and remember nothing else about the circus except him. I became his assistant and apprentice in 1964, and have researched him throughout my life. I was surprised to find AFRICA SCREAMS had slipped into the public domain, and anyone can sell copies. But I have a good one. Beatty’s wry observation about Costello’s on-set prank of throwing pies into everyone’s face, except Beatty’s was, “The little bum didn’t dare.” Lucky for Lou. Mr. Beatty was likable but unassailable.

FEEDBACK

Your list of Clyde’s movies includes “The Lost Jungle” twice, and omits “Ring of Fear” (1954), “Here Comes the Circus” (1946) and “Cat College” (1940). Curiously, the Internet Movie Database imdb.com only credits Clyde as a technical advisor on “Ring of Fear”, although he gets top billing. Of little interest to the general public, Bro. Beatty was a Freemason, initiated into Craftsman Lodge No. 521, Detroit.

Trevor W. McKeown, GH, [ admin@freemasonry.bcy.ca ], 2007

From: Donaldwilldew@wmconnect.com Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007, 12:07 PM

Subject: Armstrong-Beatty relationship

Dear Sir: My Great Grandmother Myrtle (Cork) Armstrong, born and raised in Bainbridge, almost raised Clyde Beatty as a young man and was best friends with my Grandfather, Tom Armstrong in Bainbridge. After a long trip, he would spend Sunday evenings with the family for dinner. My Mother (still alive and daughter of Tom) said he would take off his shirt and there was not a place on his back without a scar from claw marks. My Best Regards, Don Dewey, Saint Augustine, Florida.

From: Lori Badry [ mailto:lbadry@peru.k12.in.us ] Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2007, 11:55 PM

What are Clyde’s ties to Peru, Indiana?

From: Bob Good [ mailto:goodcir@ptd.net ] Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 2:40 PM

Subject: comic book

I have one he gave me. There were definitely comic books.

I just found this website and decided I should tell a little about Clyde Beatty. Roger Smith, Dave Price, and others knew my Dad and knew of his close friendship with Clyde. He used to stay at our home in the 1950s and ’60s while showing in Allentown. It was always a great occasion to have Clyde around. He was a peppy, upbeat type of guy when he was around us. I was a teenager at that time and I used to bet on fights with Clyde. He loved sports.

My Dad became friends with Clyde in the ’20s when he was on the Hagenbeck Wallace show. They were both the same age and Clyde enjoyed visiting my grandfather’s drug store and eating ice cream. Harriet and Jane were both friends of my parents. I have a picture of Clyde holding me at about a year or so in the backyard of his show. That is the first show I ever saw so they say!

If you would like more information perhaps from time to time I can tell some Clyde Beatty stories. Bob Good [ mailto:goodcir@ptd.net ] 2007

Clyde was born in the home of Dr. John Little of Cynthiana. His mother was a domestic worker. My wife, a granddaughter of Dr. Little Jr., heard this from her grandmother. Mother and child left shortly afterward. Your picture of Clyde is a dead ringer for my father – in – law. John S Pelzer, 2007, [ John.S.Pelzer@usa.dupont.com ]

Hello, I enjoyed seeing your website on Clyde Beatty. I hope you can clear up something from one of my earliest memories. My dad took me to see Clyde Beatty sometime between 1949 and 1953 in Tacoma, Washington. My memory is that he was attacked by one of his cats that day, bloodied a bit, but he got up to control the cat, get it through the gate and turned to take a bow before leaving for treatment. A couple of guys helped him by prodding the cat with poles, but he got up to resume control. Did this happen, or did I imagine it? I don’t recall whether the lion or the tiger was the troublemaker. I was about 4 or 5. If you can clear up this mystery for me, I’d be most grateful.

Sincerely,

Bill Ransom, billransom@hotmail.com, http://www.sfwa.org/members/ransom 8/2/05

Hello, Clyde Beatty is the son of Margaret Beatty Tong, late of Bainbridge, Ohio. My grandfather Charles Beatty Sr. was a brother to Margaret. I spent many a time looking at pics of Clyde taken with his famous cats at my Dad’s Uncle Frank’s house, Frank is Margaret & Charles brother. Margaret was very secretive over who Clyde’s father was. Those in the family who knew would never reveal his identity. I was always proud to tell people that Clyde Beatty was my cousin. I have been in correspondence with Mr. Smith who was his assistant, who stated he was one of the finest men he ever the privilege of knowing. I do remember meeting Clyde one time when I was a young girl growing up in Greenfield., when he visited his Uncle Frank & Aunt Velma Beatty who resided on Milburn St. If in my research of the Beatty family I turn up any more info on Clyde Beatty I will gladly share it. Thanks. Karen Beatty Gander goose8@cox.net 2/13/04

It was either 1947 or 1948. I was working at a radio station in Billings, MT (my first job out of college) when the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus came to town. Since we were the local radio station most visiting organizations came to the station for a publicity interview. Since I was the announcer on duty that day the chore fell on me to conduct the interview. Well, knowing of Clyde Beatty and being from Greenfield I jumped at the chance. I met Clyde in the studio about 15 minutes before we were to go on the air just to get acquainted with one another. And I asked him where he was from and he told me he was from Chillicothe, Ohio. I looked at him and said that I thought he was from Bainbridge and got a very startled reaction from him. I then told him I was from Greenfield and we had a great interview then and there. We discovered we mutually knew several families in the Bainbridge-Greenfield area and I also told him that we were probably very distant cousins. My Great-Grandmother (Maria Beatty McCann) was from Bainbridge also. This episode is one of the many highlights in my radio and television career and one I had cherished throughout the years. Thanks for the article on Clyde Beatty. Robert McCann Zeeck robzeeck@msn.com 2/13/04

We published a full-length article on Clyde Beatty in the July-August 2002 issue of Timeline, the Ohio Historical Society’s popular-history magazine. The article also features numerous illustrations. For more information, contact timeline@ohiohistory.org or visit the OHS Website: http://www.ohiohistory.org. Christopher S. Duckworth, cduckwor@columbus.rr.com 2/28/04

Hello and a question,

My name is Steve and I live in Santa Cruz California. I can’t tell you how impressed I was with your web page and quality of your research on Clyde Beatty.

I got to see his act and his circus 5-6 times in the late ’50s and early ’60s at Palisades Amusement Park in NJ, near Manhattan.

I would like to share an anecdote that occurred, in a promotional effort. It is very impressive. In approximately 1956, Clyde’s circus would perform on the parking lot of Palisades Amusement Park in the spring. It coincided with the Ringling Brothers Circus in Madison Sq. Garden in midtown Manhattan. In a publicity stunt, Palisades Amusement Park’s PR guy connected with a publicity stunt: They had an elephant water ski (on pontoons, pulled by a high-speed craft, and had a showgirl on its back) across the Hudson River to 42nd street and up to the George Washington Bridge.

I have interviewed the PR guy almost 12 times, he is 79 and at this point, a warm friend. He was convinced it was 1956, and the date was April 17, the opening day for Major League baseball. Well, in lieu of him opening his records in storage, this is an incorrect date. Life Magazine apparently bought the photo from International News Photos or from the NY Daily Mirror.

I contacted the Bergen Record and every Life/Look magazine for 1956. It is not this year.

Do you know anything about this water skiing elephant? Can you direct me to someone who might pull out some archives on it or has a passion for Clyde Beatty as we do?

I am most appreciative, I can share all the details for your web page at any time. I am in need of a date and a picture of it for my project. Thanks.

Steve Balbo, steven_balbo@hotmail.com 6/28/2004

Hi, I enjoyed your piece on Clyde Beatty. I was a circus billposter for nine years in my youth and spent four of those years on the advance of the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros Circus 1960-1963. I wonder if you might have seen our exhibit when my wife and I brought part of our Clyde Beatty collection to the Fall Festival of Leaves in Bainbridge five times (1978, 1979, 1984, 1986 and 1988)?

I am attaching a couple of pictures of our little collection here at home. We wanted to move to Bainbridge years ago and open a museum but unfortunately, neither of us could find a job near there. This was in the late 1970s when the area was very depressed.

I am happy to see that you have Mr. Beatty’s birth date correct. Many writers list it wrong, but I wrote his mother back in the 1950s and she said he was born June 10, 1903. But, he was born in Bainbridge rather than Chillicothe. The stories written about him often said Chillicothe, I assume because they thought most people wouldn’t recognize the name, Bainbridge.

Anyway, thanks for the nice article. I like to see Mr. Beatty remembered; so many have forgotten him.

Regards,

Dave Price, 12/06/2004

Clyde Beatty – Bainbridge’s King of the Big Top! NOTE: I originally published this collection of memories on February 12, 2004. It mostly consists of input from people who knew or knew of Clyde Beatty. 

[gethealthy18-blog]

11 Marriage Tweets That Will Make You Cry-Laugh For Days

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/getting-healthy/getting-healthy-women/11-marriage-tweets-that-will-make-you-cry-laugh-for-days/

11 Marriage Tweets That Will Make You Cry-Laugh For Days

Anjala Farahath March 19, 2019

Is it too late to say that marriage is a universally accepted and acknowledged institution that gives us free access to a daily dose of drama, humor, romance, and love? At times, all at once, and sometimes, none at all. No matter which part of the world you live in, the relationship between married couples is pretty much the same. We discover how much we love ourselves and how much we tolerate our significant other. We fight over asinine issues like toilet paper, and we laugh our sorrows out. We basically sign up for a lifetime course on each other. To prove this, we compiled some popular and totally relatable tweets about marriage. Take a look-

1. Marriage Is Like Adopting A Child

My wife said I need to grow up. I was speechless.

It’s hard to say anything when you have 45 gummy bears in your mouth

— Josh (@iwearaonesie) October 10, 2014

Don’t you think it’s time to universally accept that almost every man is a man child? Okay, all of you who are ready to hurl a #Notallmen hashtag at me, I explicitly said that *most* of them are just overgrown children in bodies of adults. Now, maturity is something that comes with age. But, that can’t be said for men. They just get bigger cars, get better at pranks, and make better excuses. At least, that’s what this man’s life looks like. Don’t you think?

2. Dirty Texting Takes A Whole New Meaning

MARRIED SEXTING: I’m not wearing any underwear…because you never put the laundry in the dryer like I asked you to 100 flipping times.

— Christie Johnson (@cjohnsonking5) September 19, 2015

Well, there’s nothing like a sweet, surprising, kinky and dirty text message from your spouse in the middle of the day, right? But this is probably what happens when you start dealing with life together and have to remind each other about doing the chores in an unconventional manner. Or maybe, that’s how intimate texting works after the holy union of marriage and living together for years.

3. The Never Ending Wait

99% of marriage is waiting in the car for your spouse.

— Sammy Rhodes (@sammyrhodes) January 30, 2016

Have you ever seen anyone complain about waiting for their partner when they’re dating? The men voluntarily wait, and the woman use the waiting time to perfect their makeup. But, when the game changes and when we talk about waiting among married couples, waiting feels like the worst punishment that we voluntarily signed up for, doesn’t it?

4. Ah, That Feeling Of Looking At The Love Of Your Life

That moment when u look at the love of your life n think: I’d really like to punch u in the face right now. #MarriedPeopleIssues #TrueStory

— Paymefornada (@cbbrankley) August 17, 2015

When you look at the love of your life, your soulmate, your life partner, you feel a lot of things — butterflies, oxytocin releasing in your bodies (love hormone), you see your future with them, etc. But, there’s another important feeling that you acquire when you get married. You feel like punching them in the face, but you don’t. Because you love them. Sigh, the struggle is real, after all!

5. Main, Meri Patni Aur Humaara Blanket

At least 10% of divorces can be avoided by buying bigger blankets

— X Alqee (@Xalqee) July 9, 2012

Whether you roll up in your blanket like a caterpillar or whether you build a tent for yourself to read your book in bed, your partner might be planning a revenge plan against you for not sharing the blanket with them fairly. And that is a big deal! Of course, we love our partner and we can do anything for them, but no, we cannot sacrifice our blanket!

6. When You Spend Time Together…And Wish You Hadn’t

We’re assembling a crib from Ikea… Which option on their toll free number gets you a marriage counselor?

— Mommy Honesty (@momesty) March 11, 2015

When you’re married, you have to do a lot of things together…like fixing your table, setting up your house, pacifying babies, etc. And since the unsaid rule of marriage is to always disagree with the partner, it would be nice of our toll free folks to connect us to a marriage counselor.

7. Tonight’s Gonna Be A Good Night

I’m at the level of marriage where “getting lucky tonight” just means we’re having tacos for dinner.

— mark (@TheCatWhisprer) July 27, 2015

If you’re thinking that a good romp in the sheets can make your night a good one, you are in for a surprise. A good night is when you’re getting a special dinner, which is loaded with some nachos, cheese, and lots of unhealthy stuff. Now, that’s more orgasmic than you know…?

8. Marriage Is About Others

Marriage is mostly about knowing which hand towels you can use and which ones are for the better people who visit your wife’s home.

— Troy Johnson (@_troyjohnson) May 28, 2015

Be it your porcelain dishes or the cabinet full of chinaware, it’s not meant for you. It’s for the guests. The broken, worn out and old stuff is for you to use. Well, those are the rules. Who made them? Trust us, if we knew, we wouldn’t let them live peacefully.

9. Oh, How Can One Refuse Such Requests?

keeping our marriage fresh/exciting via texts pic.twitter.com/XB3dktiSnA

— Jeff Lyons (@usedwigs) January 16, 2016

Now, isn’t that so romantic? No kidding, it’s a sign that your relationship has reached a level of comfort that’s unfathomable. You can talk about each other’s poop patterns, you can talk about your nasty vices, and you can even talk about exchanging pictures of the commode. Anything is possible when you’re married.

10. Opinions Do Matter…Maybe?

Relationship status: My wife asked me what I wanted for dinner and then told me I was wrong.

— James Breakwell, Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) February 22, 2016

We value your opinion and that’s why we ask for it. But, we don’t decide based on your opinion. We just don’t want you to feel like you don’t have a say, because you do. And that’s why we ask.. It’s just up to us to consider that opinion.

11. Your Partner Will Always Be There Beside You

When I awoke from the car accident in a full bodycast, my wife was right at my bedside to let me know that childbirth is still more painful.

— Kent Graham (@KentWGraham) May 24, 2015

Remember your vows? You promised to be there for each other in sickness and in health and to love and cherish till death does you apart. In those vows was one hidden vow that you didn’t notice. You partner vowed to remind you, every breathing second, that their pains are greater than yours. After all, it’s the labor pain we are talking about. And we agree, don’t we? (Go back to point number 11).

Marriage isn’t easy, but trust us, it’s a lifetime subscription of humor and drama. Who needs Netflix, right? Were you able to relate to any of these marriage truths? Tell us about the annoying things that you face in a marriage that are so silly yet so irksome.

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[smoothshift]

In-Depth Cost & Ownership Analysis of W220 Mercedes S-Class via /r/cars

In-Depth Cost & Ownership Analysis of W220 Mercedes S-Class

Hello r/cars! I've owned a 2001 Mercedes-Benz S500 for a little over a year now and I decided to do a fairly lengthy write-up on my experience with its cost and ownership. You always hear people say "There's nothing more expensive than a used luxury car" in response to the temptation of buying a cheap, heavily depreciated used Mercedes or BMW, so I decided to put this to the test and bought one myself. In my area the W220 generation of S-Class can be had for as low as three to five grand, and I managed to buy mine for $2700 at the very end of 2015. For a car that cost nearly $90000 back in 2001, I figured I'd gotten one hell of a deal. I've documented all of my costs for the 2016-2017 period, as well as some of my thoughts on the W220 S-Class as a whole.

General W220 Info: If you are not familiar with the W220, it is the internal designation for the 2000-2006 model years of Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which was and still is the flagship line for Mercedes. The W220 was offered in two variants, the S430 and the S500. The S430 came with the 4.3 liter version of the Mercedes M113 V8 engine, which produced 275hp and 295ft-lb of torque, while the S500 came with the 5.0 liter M113, producing 302hp and 339ft-lb of torque. The W220 received a facelift in the 2003 model year, with changes to the headlights, front bumper, wheels, navigation system, and some minor interior differences.

My S500 is a pre-facelift 2001 model year. Post-facelift W220s are said to be more reliable than the pre-2003 cars, but those are usually in the 5-9k range in my area and thus were out of my price range when I bought mine. I was drawn to the W220 S-Class because it fit the bill for me for a large, luxurious, V8-powered RWD sedan at a cheap upfront price. My example was nicely optioned, with the AMG Sport Appearance package (giving it the much better looking AMG front/rear bumpers and chrome 18" AMG Monoblock wheels), heated and cooled power adjustable seats, and Bose sound system, among other things. I did a fair amount of research before purchasing, mainly browsing the forums over on MBWorld and Benzworld, where there is a wealth of information on Mercedes-Benz cars as a whole. To keep costs down for me compared to what dealers charge and as a DIY'er when it comes to car maintenance I decided that I would be doing as much of the maintenance myself.

Purchasing/First Impressions: I scoured Craigslist for about a month before deciding on my particular example, a sliver exterior with black leather interior, and negotiated the seller, an older gentleman, down to $2700. It had some issues, but most importantly had no check engine, other warning lights, and no codes when scanned with an OBD2 scanner. Importantly, the previous owner had documented replacement of all four air shocks within the last year. W220s come with the Airmatic air suspension, which is notorious for failure. Quality rebuilt air shocks from the aftermarket would run around $300 apiece, and OEM ones even more, so it would be a pricey repair if it was needed. The car had just over 163k miles when I bought it, which was a little high, but the car was in good enough condition and priced well enough that I decided to take my chances with it. I documented all issues I found with the car and they are listed below, as well as whether I've addressed them. Most were/are simply minor cosmetic issues or small annoyances that do not affect the car's drivability or function.

Interior: -Driver's seat front plastic trim partly broken off -Driver's side sun visor light out -Passenger side door pull inside leather coming loose (Glued back into place.) -Driver's side door wood trim loose (glued back into place.) -Dash sometimes displays "MALFUNCTION-TURN SIGNAL". (The side-mirror turn signals work perfectly fine, so I chalk this up to a minor electrical problem and clear the message if it pops up.)

Exterior: -Minor dent in passenger side fender (Had the dent pulled) -Paint chipping and cracking on small portions of the bottom front and rear bumpers -Crack in front bumper -Small rust spot on driver side door (I live in SoCal so I'm not too worried about the rust spreading.) -Headlights yellowed (Will finally be polishing them in the next week or so.)

Ownership Experience Driving the S500 is a comfortable experience, which was perfect for me, as I wanted a luxurious daily driver for my commute to work and school. Inside the car it is very quiet due to the double-paned glass and heavy sound deadening. The M113 V8 is quite smooth and plenty quick. I love all the features the car has, with pretty much power everything in the interior. The front seats are comfortable and supportive, and can be adjusted many different ways, while the rear seats have ample legroom due to the long wheelbase. The car is pretty terrible on gas in the city, averaging 13-15 MPG, while on the highway I usually see 22-23 MPG. It requires premium gasoline, and the gas tank is rather large at nearly 23 gallons, so fill-ups are expensive. Due to my driving being mostly heavy stop-and-go in the city, I was refueling rather often (curse high California gas prices.)

Issues & Maintenance through the year In February I experienced my first issue with the S500. The car was hesitating on acceleration, with a delay between the pressing the gas pedal and then the car would lurch forward a second or two later, and subsequently died a few times upon attempting to accelerate from a stop. Restarting the car after this would usually solve the problem, but it persisted for several days. I used my OBD2 scanner and discovered a code (P0100) for the MAF sensor. Upon research on the forums I learned that MAF problems are somewhat common on M113 V8 engines. I tried cleaning the sensor with MAF cleaner, but that did not solve the problem, so I ordered and installed a new Bosch MAF sensor unit using a YouTube guide, which took about an hour. This solved the problem and it has not reoccurred since.

In May it was time for a Mercedes "Service B", according to a message on the dash. "Service B" is basically a glorified oil change with some other things, so I ordered the requisite oil filter, air filter, engine air filter, and Mobil 1 0W-40 oil and changed them all out. A cool feature of the W220 is that you can change the oil through the top without having to jack the car up, so I ordered a Topsider fuel pump off Amazon. All you have to do is pump it up, remove the oil cap and filter, stick the hose down until it reaches the bottom, and wait about 30 minutes while it drains all the oil out. This is actually how MB techs do oil changes for these cars, and it was the easiest oil change I've ever done. When I was in there I also noticed that the driver's side air intake was cracked nearly through, which had been causing a faint whistling sound during acceleration, so I ordered a new one and installed it too.

At the end of June the biggest problem I've had with the S500 arose. I noticed the car was having difficulty starting and was taking noticeably longer to start. Eventually after a few days of this the car died and would not start. The dash would light up when I inserted the key but when I turned to start it nothing would happen. Reading through the MB forums I was advised to first replace the battery, as apparently it's a common symptom for starting problems due to lack of power. I bought a new battery and installed it, but that did not solve the problem. I next attempted to replace some of the starter fuses in the forward fuse box, but this did not help either. I clued into the starter itself, and with the help of a mechanic friend removed the old starter and took it to a local place for it to be remanufactured. Upon reinstalling the starter the car still would not start, and in fact seemed to be worse, because now the dash was acting strange. Admitting defeat, I had the car towed to a highly rated local independent European car shop, where they had a special Mercedes STAR computer to properly diagnose my problem. It turned out that it was indeed a starter problem, and when the remanufactured starter was reinstalled by us, it was accidentally wired incorrectly, causing the main fuse under the passenger seat to blow when I attempted to start the car. I had to shell out for a new Bosch starter, Mega fuse, and the labor. A costly fix due in part to our mistake, but the car was running again.

In July it was time for all four tires to be replaced as they were extremely worn. I purchased four Sumitomo HTR Z III tires off an online website and picked them up at their warehouse which was local to me. I initially was wary of the Sumitomo tires due to their budget nature but these particular ones had very good reviews and grip well. I am very satisfied with how they ride and feel. Due to the AMG Sport package, the car is equipped with staggered wheel sizes, so it needs 245/45/18 tires in the front, and 275/40/17 tires in the rear.

In August the sunroof stopped functioning properly. It would retract all the way to the rear but go forward in spurts. A simple reset procedure by holding the button backwards and forwards for a few seconds solved the issue.

In November the glove box latch broke, and the box would not lock shut. I ordered a used one off eBay that matched my interior color, unscrewed the old box, and installed the new glove box. For whatever reason you cannot just replace the latch itself, so you have to replace the whole glove box unit.

Costs Breakdown: In total, here are the costs broken down. I only ever used OEM parts as cheap eBay parts are a quick way to cause problems and premature failure.

Registration: -SMOG check $60 -title transfer/tags $105 $165

Maintenance Parts: -Bosch MAF Sensor $167.81 -Mobil 1 0W-40 5qt x2 $45.76 -Mann oil filter kit $10.30 -MBZ Gas cap $43.44 -Mann Engine Air Filter $26.95 -MBZ Passenger Air Intake $24.64 -Duralast Platinum AGM Battery $194.84 -MBZ Starter relay "L" $15.77 -Rebuilt Bosch starter $95 -Shop's new Bosch Starter, Mega fuse relay $412.40 -2x 245/45/18 Sumitomo HTRZ III, 2x 275/40/18 HTRZ III $501.96 -MBZ turn signal light bulb $6.18 -MBZ USED Glove Box $35.11 $1580.16

Other: -Goo Gone spray bottle $4.19 -3M trim glue $7.18 -CRC MAF cleaner $9.66 $21.03

Tools: -OBD2 scanner $22.29 -Topsider fluid pump $58.84 -CTA Oil Filter tool $7.99 $89.12

Labor: -Independent shop labor charge for Starter/fuse repair $312.50 -Tires mounted/balanced $99.96 $412.46

TOTAL: $2267.77+ $750 GAS

Final Thoughts: All in all, after factoring in everything for cost of ownership including purchase price of the car, gas, parts, labor, tools, and registration, the total cost of ownership for my first year of W220 S-Class ownership was $5717.77. Though my car, like many other used luxury sedans, had its share of problems, it was certainly worth it to me. I would advise others looking at these cars or similar used luxury vehicles to budget carefully for potential faults and the increased cost of parts. If you do as much maintenance as you can by yourself and research all your car's potential issues before choosing one to buy, a W220 S-Class has nearly every comfort you could possibly want.

TL;DR: Bought and drove a used Mercedes S-Class for a year. Total cost of ownership was just over $5700 including gas and purchase price.

[maritimecyprus]

(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The cruise ship, owned by Louis Hellenic Cruises, sank on April 5 2007 after ramming  a reef near the Aegean island of Santorini with 1,195 passengers and 391 crew on board. All onboard were safely evacuated except a French man, Jean Christophe Allain (age 45) and his daughter Maud (age 16), who were never found.

The Sea Diamond in good days

History

Originally named Birka Princess, the ship was built by the Finnish state-owned company Valmet at their Vuosaari shipyardin Helsinki at a cost of 350 million Finnish mark (€58,9 million). She was delivered in 1986 and operated for Birka Line in the Baltic Sea cruiseferry market, sailing on 24-hour cruises between Stockholm in Sweden and the Åland Islands in Finland. Between 1990 and 2003 she also made longer cruises around the Baltic Sea during the summer season.

MS Birka Princess in her original exterior appearance and livery.

Between 1992 and 2002, the ship’s exterior was used to portray the fictional ship MS Freja in the Swedish TV soap operaRederiet.

As built, she had a small car deck, with space for 80 passenger cars and a rampon the port side in the rear. Like most cruiseferries in the Baltic Sea, she was built to ice class 1A.

In 1999 she was extensively refitted at Lloyd Werft in Germany at a cost of approximately US$26 million. The fore superstructure was extended and streamlined and 62 new passenger cabins were added, including a new deck of cabins above the bridge. In October 2004, when the new MS Birka Paradise was delivered, the Birka Princess started making two-night cruises from Stockholm to Turku, Helsinki and Tallinn, as well one weekly 24-hour cruise from Stockholm to Mariehamn. The new itineraries proved largely unsuccessful, and on January 2, 2006, the ship was laid up in Mariehamn and put up for sale.

In February 2006 she was sold to the Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines for US$35 million (€29.4 million). As built, the ship only had an indoor pool in the sauna section on deck 2 in the bow of the ship. A new outdoor swimming pool was installed and the sundeck area increased at Turku Repair Yard, Naantali. She entered service in the Mediterranean Sea as the second former Birka Line ship in the Louis Cruise Lines fleet, after MS Princesa Marissa, the former MS Prinsessan/Finnhansa. After the sale she was registered in Valletta, Malta. She changed flags in late 2006. At the time of her sinking she was owned by Elona Maritime Ltd, a company based in Malta,but registered at Piraeus, Greece.

Attempts to prevent the stricken cruise ship from sinking

Sinking

On April 5, 2007, at around 16:00 EEST (13:00 UTC) the ship ran aground on a well-marked volcanic reef east of Nea Kameni, within the caldera of the Greek island of Santorini, began taking on water, and listed up to 12 degrees to starboard before her watertight doors were reportedly closed (a report which was later refuted when the wreck was examined).  The 1,195 passengers, mostly Americans and 60 Canadians, were initially all reported to be safely evacuated in three and a half hours, with four injuries. Some passengers, including a group of 77 students from Paisley Magnet School in North Carolina, were evacuated from the car ramp through the former car deck onto boats, but some passengers had to climb down rope ladders from the higher decks. The ship was towed off the rocks, and her list stabilized. Later, it was reported that two French passengers were missing.

The Santorini caldera, the final resting place (marked) of Sea Diamond

The large amount of water taken on board led to the ship sinking shortly before 7:00 EEST on April 6, 2007, only a few hundred meters from the shore. Video footage shows that, toward the end, the ship completely inverted before settling stern first onto the sea floor. It was later reported that the tip of the bulbous bow was only 62 meters (203 feet) below sea level, but the stern was in water up to 180 meters (590 feet) deep. It is feared that the wreck would soon slide deeper and sink into the submerged caldera of the volcanic island. It has been speculated that the deep, almost vertical shore of the bathtub-like caldera made it impossible to beach the ship and save her from becoming a total loss.

Missing

Two French citizens, Jean Christophe Allain, aged 45, and his daughter Maud, 16, were listed as missing. Allain’s wife said her cabin filled with water when the ship struck rocks and that she narrowly escaped. She was not sure whether her husband and daughter made it out because the events happened so suddenly. Her son was on deck at the time and was evacuated safely. The family were accommodated in cabin 2014 an outside standard cabin on the starboard side of the vessel on deck 2, the lowest passenger deck.

Divers examined the wreck on April 6 to gather information on the ship’s current position and to seek the missing passengers. The underwater search of this cabin recovered nothing. Divers continued searching on April 10, but nothing was reported. Later in the same day, local governors apologized to the French family for their missing relatives. The black box containing the recordings of the conversations before the crash was discovered on April 15, while the bodies of the two missing persons were never found.

Investigations

On April 7, Greek authorities announced that they were charging the captain and five other officers with negligence. State television reported they were charged with causing a shipwreck through negligence, breaching international shipping safety regulations and polluting the environment. Additional charges could be made depending on the fate of the two missing passengers. All six were released until further notice but if convicted they could face a five-year prison sentence.

On April 13, 2007, it was reported that investigators using a remotely controlled submarine found the ship’s data recorder (VDR). In a struggle to protect the data, they secured it in a special sterilized bin and the authorities were to have transferred it to the United States in order to reveal the saved data, an action that only the manufacturer of the VDR can perform. The Greek Merchant Marine Ministry said the recorder could reveal details of the sinking of the ship which could be used in the prosecution of crew members.

  DNV, one of the world’s leading classification agencies, stated in their press release that “At the time of the accident, DNV had issued class certificate, safety management certificate and ship security certificate. Sea Diamond had no overdue surveys and no condition of class”. For the Sea Diamond to have been issued a Class certificate, her water-tight doors would have to have been fully operational.

Investigations carried out by the defense team of the Master of the Vessel and Louis Cruise Lines, after a lawsuit had been filed against them, have included a new hydrographic survey of the area of the accident in Santorini. This survey was carried out by Akti Engineering, and discovered discrepancies between the actual mapping of the sea area and the official charts used by the Sea Diamond (and all other vessels) at the time of the accident. The detailed survey claimed that the reef, which the Sea Diamond struck, is in fact lying at 131 meters (429 feet) from shore and not at a distance of 57 meters (187 feet) as is incorrectly marked on the nautical chart. The official chart also shows the depth of the water at the area of impact varying from 18–22 meters, whilst the recent survey shows that it is only 5 meters.

The findings obtained by Akti Engineering have since been passed on to the Hellenic Hydrographic Office of the Hellenic Navy and other responsible authorities, with the aim that the necessary changes to maritime charts should be made and similar accidents to be prevented. According to a branch reviewing source, the Hellenic Hydrographic Office initially rejected the new mapping, but a later study confirmed the findings of Akti.

A Greek scuba diver gathering evidence for a judicial investigation of the Sea Diamond shipwreck died in October 2007 from decompression sickness after ascending too quickly.

Aftermath

In order to avoid an oil spill, plans were made to recover some 450 tonnes (496 short tons) of fuel from the ship’s tanks. As of September 20, 2007, fuel had started to leak into other parts of the ship, but not yet into the surrounding environment. In June, 2009, the fuel was pumped off the wreck. On May 14, 2007, it was announced that Louis Cruise Lines had bought M/S Silja Opera (renaming it M/S Cristal) to replace the Sea Diamond.

On June 19, 2007, the owners, operator and captain of the Sea Diamond cruise ship were fined €1.17 million for causing marine pollution.

On August 21, 2007, a lawsuit was filed in United States federal court on behalf of the passengers who were aboard the ship when she sank.

After six years in the courts, the Sea Diamond captain and an insurance company employee were given 12 and 8 years jail sentences, respectively. The Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia (now defunct) speculated no actual jail time would be served.

The Piraeus appeals court ruled the captain of the Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines vessel, which ran aground near the island’s Athinios port, the first mate and the head of operations ashore were all guilty of negligence. Capt. Yiannis Marinos, 38 at the time, was handed a five-year jail sentence, which he can buy out for €5 a day, some €9,125 ($12,400) in total. At the initial trial he had received a sentence of 12 years and two months. The head of operations was given a three-year term suspended for three years, and the first mate a 26-month suspended sentence. However, five others, including two representatives of the cruise company, were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Raising

After the sinking there was much demand from the residents of Santorini for the wreck be raised and removed. Further questions were posed but never answered as to why the ship was moved to deeper water to be allowed to sink in the first place. In May 2011, the Greek government claimed that removing the Sea Diamond would be “too costly” and said that the 150-million-euro cost of raising the ship should be the responsibility of the insurers and company that owned the ship. The latter two have no plans to raise the ship, however, and nothing will be resolved.

In October 2017 the Merchant Marine Ministry of Greece announced the wreck will be raised, out of environmental and navigational concerns.

    Flashback in maritime History – Sea Diamond sinking at Santorini 5 April 2007 (www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The cruise ship, owned by Louis Hellenic Cruises, sank on April 5 2007 after ramming  a reef near the Aegean island of Santorini with 1,195 passengers and 391 crew on board.