#nq turns 13 very soon

[kiragecko]

Absolutely adored Across the Spiderverse. Characters are all perfect, only ONE secondhand embarrassment moment (mama Rio made a speech), kept recognizing characters and squeeing quietly to The Husband, and I was laughing SO MUCH.

If you appreciate spoilers, one under the cut that explains why all the sites are giving it 3/5 stars, along with the reason it made me laugh for 20 minutes instead:

Movie doesn't have an ending. Right before it's about to hit the climax, we get a 'To Be Continued' narration box. And then it ends. No closure whatsoever. ALL the plots are still unresolved, and they just opened another one.

IT WAS FIRST CLASS COMICS BULLSHIT! I couldn't stop laughing! It's everything I love and hate about comics all wrapped up together in this brazen refusal to be a proper movie. Comics are serial media, so this movie is too. Ugh. Awful. GREAT.

Anyways, I loved it. But if you want a proper, complete, story, you should probably wait until next year. Because this is deliberately half a movie.

[borisbubbles]

ESC2021 Preshow: 20. Estonia

Uku Suviste - “The lucky one”

Semi 2, #02

Going through the motions of 2021′s shitty NF season, it was a given that the critical mass of the “2020 returnees” competing the selections in these would win them hands down. 

So given how much i DISLIKED the offensively boring abomination “What love is”, and how PAINFULLY inevitable Uku’s victory in a decent Eesti Laul (um spoiler for NF corner?) seemed to be, It’s actually a shock I ended up liking Uku? But I do, lol and I’m not apologizing, sorry boos. 

In fact, I was rooting for Uku to win EL as soon as I saw his performance in the semi. “The lucky one”, which suffered from Aggressive Autotune + Forgettable Melody (we need a name for this. I propose Roxen Syndrome?), is legit good live and harps back to the (admittedly better) “Pretty Little Liar”, and that’s good enough for me. 

Of course, I am aware of the obvious ~*SOULLESS HIMBOT FROM THE DREAM FACTORY*~ label attached to this this entry (written by Uku and something called “Sharon Vaughn” are we certain this person isn’t just Kontopoulos in drag?), don’t worry. I rank him twentieth, not seventh. 

Fortunately, Uku is a mandroid from the SAME sweatshop that gave us Lucie Jones a few years back - in other words omfg he’s barely functional. 😍 Droning robot turned incompetent DRAMA KING <333333 The amount of EFFORT that needs to be thrown in to keep a ~pretence of competence~ is the most tangible in the backing vocals, which trail Uku’s like a shadow and STILL his voicecracks come through at key intervals <3

😍😍😍😍😍

The pathos of Uku throwing in high votes he cannot sing and then his voice breaking over the strain each time, gets me, okay? He doesn’t need a crystal ball to show me, baby it’s clear that you don’t know him :SOB:.  So dramatic, so inept, so unintetionally comedic, so Uku <3 

In other news, this lockdown had better end soon because with each passing day I feel like I’m turning further into a cat lady. 

ps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYXNeYXUmEQ&loop=0  😍😍😍

NF Corner - Eesti Laul 2021

Finally a decent Eesti Laul, lol. I wish I could say it was good, but it had one of the weirdest semi split’s I’ve ever seen. EL’s first Semi was without exaggeration the WORST show in the entire season, and the second was a contender for the BEST one across all NFs???? I suppose EXTREME Evil and EXTREME Good balance each other out in blistering adequacy? 

Anyway, I’ll now proceed to ignore Koit and Egert and Karl Killing and Hans and all the other bad (non-Linna/non-Kéa) entries from semi 1, and proceed to an NF Corner composed ENTIRELY of semi 2 songs :-)

Jüri Pootsmann - “Magus Melanhoolia”

It was between Sissi and Jüri for the Token Superfinalist Contender slot on this list, and Jüri is infinitely more notable. Sorry, Sis ur time (to win Eesti Laul?) will come once you figure out to write good music :(

Anyway, what can I even say about Jüri because lmfao what a baffling entry. Registered BARITONE JÜRI POOTSMANN coming back with a an experimental lounge jazz song that is song almost entirely in falsetto. 😍 The camera angles <3 the fact that this already INCREDEBLY short song includes 10 seconds of Jüri standing on the stage looking bored <3 what a fucking baffling entry, I have no opinions, only exclamations of surprise. 

REDEL - “Tarttu”

I HAAAATED “Tarttu” on first listen. 😂😂😂😂 but seriously though, this is downright epic. The UNPLUGGED Meiekündimees MADNESS of it all, now condenced into a equally nonsensical song that is basically like “X is a wooden town but NONE OF THEM ARE AS WOODEN TOWNY AS TARTTU. *incoherent kazoo noises*” 😍😍😍 Once got the chorus stuck in my head at the zoo as I was watching the penguins getting fed and it was one of the most bizarre synesthesic experiences I’ve ever had lmfao <3

Gram-of-Fun - “Lost in a dance”

If you’re wondering what the sort of music I listen to Eurovision is like - this is it. INCREDIBLY good and addictive and EMOTIONALLY tangible 80s New Wave is my fucking jam, can we have entries like this in EVERY selection from here on out? WELL DONE Kristel... on composing this wonderful song, less so on the Kazka-esque vocals that caused it to tragically NQ in the semi. 🙄 Still, BRING THEM BACK (and restrict Kristel to a songwriter only role, plz.)

Gram-of-Fun were my fave, but because they NQ’d somebody else had to fill their shoes in the finale. I’ll now reveal who it was

Kadri Voorand - “Energy”

IT WAS HARD DECIDING BETWEEN SUURED TÜDRÜKUD AND KADRI THOUGH. But given that Charlotte Perelli is guaranteed to appear in Sweden’s NF corner (um is she? :counts on fingers: Clara, Evas, Dotter... ehh sure I’m committed now I guess), it would be best NOT to post Dagmar & Kaire as they fucking clown her lol <3 But their song WAS pretty antiquated schlager...

Kadri otoh... absolutely breaks all records for me by delivering a unicorn: an entertaining stripped-down piano ballad. For the most part because she has incredible emotional delivery that serves personality on a fucking pyrotechnical level, like onn-stop “Loudmouthed Oaf Energy” in the form of a introspective jazz ballad <3 Can you imagine Estonia actually picking this? They could have come left-handside. 

But will Uku do well? :o

Predicted Journey - Estonia

He won’t come top 10, if that’s what you mean by “well”.😂 If you mean “qualify for the Grand Final” then... potentially? Semi 2 is less of a crapshoot than the first semifinal however. At this stage, it’s pretty much “okay, so these twelve acts can qualify... but which ten will?”.

Fortunately for Uku, he is one of aforementionned twelve possible qualifiers. (the others are: san marino, czech rep, greece, moldova, iceland, serbia, albania, bulgaria, finland, switzerland and denmark). UNfortunately for Uku, he’s one of the candidates for the two NQ slots inside that group of twelve.

The problem with Estonia is that their entry is a televote-friendly ballad, stuck in a really televote-UNfriendly slot (#02), in a semi where the jury vote will very likely put them outside the top 10. If we add in a dark stage and Uku’s shaky vocals, they don’t look particularly secure. 

However, I also think Estonia can qualify relatively easily because “televote-friendly ballad” is a unique niche inside that semi; the other ballads (Switzerland is NOT a ballad), won’t be getting many votes and Uku’s appeal as a handsome man with a dramatic song will make him stand out in spite of his spot in the running order, as LONG AS his vocal delivery (or that of the prerecorded backing vocals) remains adequate enough. If not, he’ll be swiftly forgotten and NQ.

Another thing that can cause Uku to qualify is if at least two others of the twelve underwhelm (my money for that would be on Albania, Denmark, San Marino and/or Czech Rep), making Uku the lucky one as he’ll ascend in the ensuing powercreep.

At any rate, it’s really difficult to gauge how well Uku would do since I haven’t really thought about the other BL qualifiers’ odds enough. His televote should be strong enough to avoid bottom 3, I think, and I think it’s safe to say he won’t come top five. Between those values, pffffew, who can possibly tell? I’m not burning my fingers on that. 

Projected placements > Qualifier Tier: Borderline > Semifinal: 6th-14th (out of 17) > Grand Final: 17th-22nd (out of 26)

THE RANKING

01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07. 08. 09. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. ESTONIA - Uku Suviste - “The lucky one” 21. FINLAND - Blind Channel - “Dark side” 22. AZERBAIJAN - Efendi - “Mata Hari” 23. the NETHERLANDS - Jeangu Macrooy - “Birth of a new age” 24. CZECH REPUBLIC - Benny Christo - “Omaga” 25. DENMARK - Fyr og Flamme - “Øve os på hinanden” 26. SLOVENIA - Ana Soklič - “Amen” 27. SWITZERLAND - Gjon’s Tears - “Tout l’Univers” 28. ROMANIA - Roxen - “Amnesia” 29. SERBIA - Huricane - “Loco loco” 30. POLAND - Rafał - “The ride” 31. ISRAEL - Eden Alene - “Set me free” 32. GEORGIA - Tornike Kipiani - “You” 33. PORTUGAL - The Black Mamba - “Love is on my side” 34. SPAIN - Blas Cantó - “Voy a quedarme” 35. NORWAY - Tix - “Fallen Angel” 36. CYPRUS - Elena Tsagrinou - “El Diablo” 37. AUSTRIA - Vincent Bueno - “Amen” 38. NORTH MACEDONIA - Vasil - “Here I stand” 39. GERMANY - Jendrik - “I don’t feel hate”

[adamguthrie]

Who am I?

My full name is Adam George Prentice Guthrie. I am a 19 year old boy with dirty blonde hair, green eyes and relatively short. I was born in Scotland and was living here (in Ayr) right up until I just turned 13. I only came back to Scotland last year. For six years I was living in Qatar, and for most of my teen years grew up there. I went to a school called park house english school which was an international school in Qatar. It was very easy to adapt into the school there as the children/teens are used to expats coming and going constantly. However people struggled to understand my Scottish accent lol.

I love talking to people and making new connections, I feel like I am a inviting person and I genuinely for most parts, are an open book. I don’t really have many hobbies other photography, editing and rotting in my room :.(. however, i do love my cats and I love fashion, eating, and watching Netflix. I have an older sister and an older brother.

About a year ago I was accepted into NQ photography at city of Glasgow college, it was an amazing experience and I loved the time I got to go into the college, I met some amazing people and going to Glasgow from Ayr was definitely something that felt quite independent and I never had done it before. My mums dad was very into photography so I might get it from him.

Fast forward to more recently I was accepted into HND, which I was excited about. It is sad that we’re not back to our full days and getting to socialise with each other but hopefully that can happen some time soon/in the near future.

As for school I did the English curriculum, I got a B in English language IGCSE and a C in English Literature and a 2 I think in Art, lol I got a D in maths but IT WAS 2 marks away from a C 😭 but we move.

Last year I got to experience my first club with friends from the NQ course, that was short lived but hopefully can happen again when the pandemic “dies down”. I think Glasgow is a great city and would like to live there, there’s a lottttt more to do and I prefer living in cities.

I am still getting to know who I am, I don’t think I have been able to express myself due to culture and living in the Middle East the way I would be able to here. I am still growing and getting to know who Adam Guthrie is :)

To interpret that into my Who are you brief is hard, I think there is some ideas that come to mind. For example the motion blur, which could resemble being trapped, then bright colours like flowers (possibly a pink/red rose which are my favourite flowers) because I have quite a vibrant personality and also flamboyant.

[rickjsposts]

Government Shutdown = V Bottom? My thoughts

New Post has been published on https://www.rickjshandicappingpicks.com/government-shutdown-v-bottom-my-thoughts/

Government Shutdown = V Bottom? My thoughts

Who would have thought. The stock market is + almost 13% since the shutdown. Trump’s political opponents have to be getting concerned:)

Afterall, a nice market crash would fit right into their game plan. But the stock market as it is prone to do as trump would say ” is a tricky business”)

Most everything is in the green this morning except TLT the the metals. This to me is a positive configuration and I would not be thinking this morning of a gap fill trade.

Where this ends is anyone’s guess. Myself, I do not think a V shaped recovery is in the cards. We are right at resistence, the 50% pullback line from the lows of the previous highs.

I am hard pressed to think that we do not turn lower very soon. But you cannot trade this until we actually do turn lower. Or at least have some intraday guidelines to go by.

Today 1647 on the ES is a reasonable start. If we break that then you might consider looking for some short setups. But even then I would be looking at higher timeframes for the Stoch to start turning down.

Another good technical indicator to use as a screen is the RSI below 45 on your shorter time frame with the Stoch and Rsi on the higher ones trending down.

As far as new trades right here, not for me. I may miss out but, I still have a basket of a diverse group of investments so I am not missing out on much.

My TLT trade is under water, and my FXE trade is on the cusp of getting stopped out. So neither have been stellar swing trades so far. FXE is right at the decision point, and TLT for me is also a semi hedge. And even so neither has a very large loss.

Keep in mind, the political environment has not changed it has only gotten worse. I do not see it improving, especially as the media is providing a shield for the disinformation that is rolled out on a daily basis.

If your getting your info from the main stream media , you are sadly living in an alternate reality. And your trading will suffer. Its essential you get unbiased objecting reporting as a backdrop to figuring out the trading environment the market is in.

In addition, the Mueller report is coming out, at least as to collusion and perhaps obstruction any time now. To complicate thing Barr is heading into confirmation hearings and it looks like it will go through the Senate Judiciary along party line.

The excuse for voting no on confirmation of Barr is that he refuses to say he will violate established DOJ policies that have been in place for years. So of course, the Dems are voting against him. If Lynch were being confirmed now, they would all vote yes, despite she told Comey to tell everyone the Clinton investigation was a matter. That was fine with them:)

But that is politics. It gets more interesting in the final vote in the Senate. The odds are pretty high that Barr gets approved easily. Myself, I am not that convinced.

There are two issues here. Does the Senate try to hold off the final confirmation vote until after Mueller releases his report and do any Republicans vote no. And if more than 4 vote no he goes down, as Schumer will have every Dem voting no if that happens.

The reason this is important is that this is a market moving event. There will be a lot of misreporting both before and after the report. In other words, it will be chaos as usual:)

So as usual:

If you want to follow some of my trades along with my thoughts typically given after the open you can go to @rickjswings. Typically I talk about the overall day expected with the markets and also give some levels on the ES and NQ for failed breakout scalping.

It’s my private twitter feed for the stock market and its free. Sports Handicapping is the subscription-based part of this site. But considering the cost of joining it’s almost free:)

Good Luck Today

RickJ

RickJ’s Handicapping Picks

https://rickjshandicappingpicks.com/investing

Skype: Ricca