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Ethereal Etiquette
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UFO TIMELINE PROJECT Books
Nick Pope
Goodreads Author
in London, The United Kingdom
http://www.nickpope.net
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Paranormal, Science Fiction, Nonfiction
Nick Pope used to run the British Government's UFO project. From 1991 to 1994 he researched and investigated UFOs, alien abductions, crop circles and other strange phenomena, leading the media to call him the real Fox Mulder. His government background and his level-headed views have made him the media, film and TV industry's go-to guy when it comes to UFOs, the unexplained and conspiracy theories.
As the world's leading expert on UFOs, Nick Pope has consulted on, and helped to promote a number of alien-themed movies, TV shows and video games. He has presented, consulted on and contributed to numerous TV shows, has written five best-selling books, and lectures all around the world.
Nick Pope lives in America. Nick Pope used to run the British Government's UFO project. From 1991 to 1994 he researched and investigated UFOs, alien abductions, crop circles and other strange phenomena, leading the media to call him the real Fox Mulder. His government background and his level-headed views have made him the media, film and TV industry's go-to guy when it comes to UFOs, the unexplained and conspiracy theories.
Nick Pope lives in America. ...more
Nick Pope's books
Nick Pope Average rating: 3.88
· 1,469 ratings · 158 reviews · 33 distinct works • Similar authors
Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World's Best-Documented UFO Incident
Nick Pope (Goodreads Author),
Jim Penniston,
3.96 avg rating — 392 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions
The Uninvited : An exposé of the alien abduction phenomenon
Operation Thunder Child
Open Skies, Closed Minds: Official Reactions to the UFO Phenomenon
Operation Lightning Strike
4.29 avg rating — 24 ratings — 5 editions
Alien Encounters - UFOS - ETs - CONSPIRACIES
Die UFO-Akte
OFFICIAL DISCLOSURE - UFOS - ALIENS - CONSPIRACIES
Tim R. Swartz
it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2012 — 2 editions
Saucers and Aliens E-Magazine
UFO GUY,
William Knell
did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2009
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Repatriation and Erasing the Past
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Quotes by Nick Pope (?)
"To be fair, what looks like conspiracy often turns out to be bureaucracy."
― Nick Pope, Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World's Best-Documented UFO Incident
tags: bureaucracy
"Perhaps the most significant contact was with Jesus, who revealed that he was himself an extraterrestrial. Jesus told him that extraterrestrials were living on Earth, and mixing freely with humans, from whom they were physically"
― Nick Pope, The Uninvited : An exposé of the alien abduction phenomenon
"Meier is a Swiss farmer, whose story centres around his alleged contacts with aliens from the Pleiades and his production of literally hundreds of relatively clear, colour photos of UFOs. Many ufologists regard these photos as simply too good to be true, and believe them to be fakes. The sceptics point to"
See all Nick Pope's quotes »
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California suspends some Wells Fargo business amid scandal
3 years 3 months 2 weeks ago Thursday, September 29 2016 Sep 29, 2016 September 29, 2016 3:06 AM September 29, 2016 in News
By: APNewsNow
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California Treasurer John Chiang says he's suspending some of the state's business with Wells Fargo amid a scandal over millions of accounts allegedly opened without customers' permission.
Chiang, a Democrat, said Wednesday he wants to send a message that the bank's behavior was unacceptable and he hopes his colleagues in other states will follow suit.
Chiang's office is the nation's largest issuer of municipal debt. He says for the next 12 months he will stop using Wells Fargo as the managing underwriter on certain categories of bond sales, will avoid buying Wells Fargo securities and won't use the bank as a broker for investment purchases.
Wells Fargo spokeswoman Jennifer Dunn says the bank understands the concerns and is working to rebuild trust with customers.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Tools from Lake Mungo in Australia. The raw material for most of the Lake Mungo toolkit is silcrete. Silcretes are very hard layers of silica-enriched materials formed beneath the surface in soils, unconsolidated sediments, and permeable rocks.


Stop slideshow: mouse over picture. Full screen mode: click F11.
Let dry in the dark.
Exposure time 20 mn in full sun.
Rince in distribution water: 10 mn..
Soak in water + 10% hydrogen peroxide..
Rince until water remains clear.
Dry, preferably in open air.


In an article called Buried Secrets in The New Yorker magazine, Patrick Radden Keefe takes an in-depth look at what is fast becoming the corruption trial of the century and a test case on transparency that will have huge implications for the global mining industry.
The Simandou mountains in Guinea groan under some of the richest iron ore anywhere on the planet and winning the licence to mine the steelmaking raw material brings with it billions of dollars for decades to come.
The battle for Simandou features many players including African warlords and dictators, billionaire philanthropist George Soros, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, the top two iron ore miners in the world – Brazil's Vale and Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto – the FBI, the US Dept of Justice and the UK's Serious Fraud office, but at the center of the saga is Guinea's President Alpha Condé and Isreali diamond magnate Beny Steinmetz's exploration company BSGR.
Click here to read Buried Secrets at the New Yorker.


Check out the schedule for the fest right here.
But that's not all that's happening 'round these parts this weekend. Horse Feathers is back, with two shots thrown at you to catch 'em. And one of our new favorite things is Mat Davidson (of Spirit Family Reunion)'s solo venture, Twain. You can catch him along with our pal, known in this context as Leland Sundries, on Monday at Rockwood. Check out this Twain performance from 2010. It'll give you feelings.
Twain "I'll Be Fooled Again" from Possum Den Productions on Vimeo.
Man, that Brooklyn Folk Festival lineup is one that won't quit. It'll be quite a show I'm sure.
Between the current and former Chocolate Drops members, Frank Fairfield, Down Hill Strugglers, and Jerron Paxton, you've got many of the big names in folk and old time music.
And though its sad to see Spirit Family sans Mat, it's great knowing that that heavenly voice of his will likely get more use.


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Address: 3417 Canton Rd
Patient Portal Online Bill Payment
Sunrise Pediatric Neurology
3417 Canton Rd
Meet Dr. Frazier
Home Cherise Frazier, MD
Cherise Frazier, MD
Dr. Cherise Frazier was born in New York City and grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She attended Clark Atlanta University where she majored in Biology. From college she went to the University of Florida Medical School and graduated in 2002. Dr. Frazier completed her Pediatric Residency in 2005 at Westchester Medical Center. In 2008, she completed her Pediatric Neurology Residency at State University of New York Downstate where she was the chief resident her last year. From there, Dr. Frazier completed a Neurophysiology Fellowship at Emory University in 2009. Dr. Frazier was Board Certified in Pediatrics and is Board Certified in Neurology.
Dr. Frazier has worked in Georgia with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) and Emory University, where she was an Assistant Professor for the past 7 years. She learned a lot during that time and worked with many wonderful and knowledgeable physicians. Although her specialty is seizures/epilepsy, she sees patients with most neurological problems.
Dr. Frazier is a member of the Child Neurology Society, American Academy of Neurology, and the American Epilepsy Society.
Home | Cherise Frazier, MD | Our Services | Patient Center | Location | Contact Us
© 2022, Sunrise Pediatric Neurology, Marietta, GA.
3417 Canton Rd, Building 1


text:
Elaine Tedesco
Elcio Rossini
Élida Lima
Elida Tessler
Elisa Tkatschuk
Emília Teles da Silva
Enrico Rocha
Érica Zigano
Ericson Pires
Espaço Coringa
Esqueleto Coletivo
Esquizo Barcelona
Fabiana de Barros
Fabiana Rossarola
Fabiane Borges
Fabianne Balvedi
Fabiano Gonper
Fabiano Gullane
Fabrício Lopez
Fafá Noronha
Fausto Fawcett
Felipe Brait
Felipe Fonseca
Felix Guattari
Fernanda Albuquerque
Fernanda Carvajal
Fernanda Gassen
Fernanda Gomes
Fernanda Nogueira
Fernanda Pitta
Fernando Augusto de Souza Lima
Fernando de La Rocque
Fernando do Nascimento Gonçalves
Fernando Duarte
Fernando Limberger
visualizar apenas um item por página
Cidade (s): Amsterdam
{do site do seu instituto}
Geert Lovink, founding director of the Institute of Network Cultures, is a Dutch-Australian media theorist and critic. He holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and in 2003 was at the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Queensland. In 2004 Lovink was appointed as Research Professor at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and Associate Professor at University of Amsterdam. He is the founder of Internet projects such as nettime and fibreculture. His recent book titles are Dark Fiber (2002), Uncanny Networks (2002) and My First Recession (2003). In 2005-06 he was a fellow at the WissenschaftskollegBerlin Institute for Advanced Study where he finished his third volume on critical Internet culture, Zero Comments (2007). Email: geert [at] xs4all.nl.
Geert Lovink (Amsterdam), media theorist, net critic and activist, studied political science on the University of Amsterdam (MA) and holds a PhD at University of Melbourne. In 2003 he was a postdoc fellow at University of Queensland in Brisbane. 2004 he was appointed research professor at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (interactive media) and associate professor (new media) at the University of Amsterdam. His position was renamed as the Institute of Network Cultures (www.networkcultures.org). His instute so far organized five international new media conferences: one on the history of webdesign (www.decadeofwebdesign.org), one on alternatives in ICT for Development (www.incommunicado.info/conference), another on urban screens (www.networkcultures.org/urbanscreens), MyCreativity on the creative industries research (www.networkcultures.org/mycreativity) and the Art & Politics of Netporn (www.networkcultures.org/netporn).
In 2002 The MIT Press published two of his titles: Dark Fiber, a collection of esssays on Internet culture (translated into Italian, Spanish, Romanian, German and Japanese) and Uncanny Networks, collected interviews with media theorists and artists. V2 in Rotterdam published his second study on Internet culture, My First Recession, in 2003 (trans. in Italian). His inaugural speech in February 2005, The Principle of Notworking, has been published by Amsterdam University Press. In 2005-2006 he was a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg, the Centre for Advanced Study in Berlin where he finished the third volume of an ongoing research on Internet culture, Zero Comments, to be published by Routledge New York in 2007.
Geert Lovink is a member of Adilkno, the Foundation for the Advancement of Illegal Knowledge, a free association of media-related intellectuals established in 1983 (Agentur Bilwet auf Deutsch). From Adilkno the following books appeared: Empire of Images (1985), Cracking the Movement (1990) on the squatter movement and the media, Listen or Die (1992) on free radio, the collected theoretical work The Media Archive (1992 – translated into German, English, Croatian and Slovenian), the collection of essays The Datadandy (1994 – in German) and the book/CD Electronic Solitude (1997). Most of the early texts of Lovink and Adilkno in Dutch, German and English can be found at http://thing.desk.nl/bilwet. Geert Lovink's recent online text archive is: www.laudanum.net/geert.
He is a former editor of the media art magazine Mediamatic (1989-94) and has been teaching and lecturing media theory throughout Central and Eastern Europe. He is a co-founder of the Amsterdam-based free community network 'Digital City' (http://www.dds.nl) and the support campaign for independent media in South-East Europe Press Now http://www.dds.nl/pressnow. He was the co-organizer of conferences such as Wetware (1991), Next Five Minutes 1-3 (1993, 1996 and 1999) http://www.n5m.org, Metaforum 1-3 (Budapest 1994, 1995 and 1996) http://www.mrf.hu, Ars Electronica (Linz, 1996 and 1998) http://www.aec.at and Interface 3 (Hamburg, 1995). In 1995, together with Pit Schultz, he founded the international 'nettime' circle http://www.nettime.org which is both a mailinglist (in English, Dutch, French, Spanish/Portuguese, Romanian and Chinese), a series of meetings and publications such as zkp 1-4, 'Netzkritik' (ID-Archiv, 1997, in German) and 'Readme!' (Autonomedia, 1998). From 1996-1999 he was based at De Waag, the Society for Old and New Media (http://www.waag.org) where he was responsible for public research. Since 1996, once a year he has been coordinating a project and teaching at the IMI mediaschool in Osaka/Japan http://www.iminet.ac.jp. A series of temporary media labs was started in 1997 at the arts exhibition Documenta X in Kassel/Germany called Hybrid Workspace (for archive see http://www.medialounge.net which continued in Manchester (1998) and Helsinki, in the contemporary arts museum Kiasma (http://temp.kiasma.fi).
Lovink organized the Tulipomania Dotcom conference, which took place in Amsterdam, June 2000, focussing on a critique of the New Economy www.balie.nl/tulipomania. In early 2001, after having moved to Australia, he co-founded www.fibreculture.org, a forum for Australian Internet research and culture which has its first publication out, launched at the first fibreculture meeting in Melbourne (December 2001). Other meetings took place in the MCA, Sydney (November 2002) and Powerhouse, Brisbane (July 2003). Since 2000 he is a consultant/editor to the exchange program of Waag Society (Amsterdam) and Sarai New Media Centre (Delhi). He recently co-organized Dark Markets on new media and democracy in times of crisis (Vienna, October 2002, http://darkmarkets.t0.or.at/) and Crisis Media, Uncertain States of Reportage (Delhi, March 2003, http://www.sarai.net/events/crisis_media/crisis_media.htm.). In April 2004, together with Trebor Scholz, he organized the conference Free Cooperation on the art of (online) collaboration, held at SUNY Buffalo (www.freecooperation.org).
Three books document his collaboration with the Dutch designer Mieke Gerritzen which he co-edited: Everyone is a Designer (BIS, 2000), Catalogue of Strategies (Gingko Press, 2001) and Mobile Minded (BIS, 2002) Together with Mieke Gerritzen in 1998 he co-founded the Browserday events (www.browserday.com), a competition for new media design students.
Site: http://networkcultures.org/geert/biography/
Tecnopolíticas em ação
Mídiatatica.info
ABC da Midia Tática
Nome: coletivos, Senha: colaboração


text:
Hachinan tte, Sore wa Nai Deshou!
Shika no Ou
Tale of the Mismarca Kingdom
D-Genesis
Dungeon Battle Royale
Hakai no Miko
Nidoume no Jinsei wo Isekai de
Novel Illustrations
The Spearmaster and the Black Cat
Summoned Slaughterer
I work as Healer in Another World's Labyrinth City
Imperial wars and my stratagems
Kakei Senki wo Kakageyo!
Maou no Utsuwa
Chapter 193 – B Rank Examination and the Blind Girl
<– Previous Chapter | Glossary | TOC | Next Chapter –>
In the middle of a weather that made the leaves rustle in the wind, with Helme dwelling my left eye and Rollo sitting on my shoulder, I went to the adventurer guild together with Yui, Viine, and Kaldo, and applied for the B rank promotion exam at the reception.
By the way, Rebecca and Eva were acting independently, and had gone window shopping at a new store.
Mysty was busy at her school event. She told me that she'd like me to visit the Magic Academy Ronberge next time…
While I was thinking that it might be fine to go have a look at some point, the receptionist returned.
"Thank you for waiting. Your application is complete. We will keep your adventurer card here for the time being. Please follow me then." The receptionist said.
We descended a gently-sloping path through the guild's inner area, and arrived at an imposing octagonal arena in the basement. The floor was made out of paved stones, albeit without a wire mesh pattern.
Adventurers were fighting with wooden swords and spears in the arena while wearing light attires. It reminded me of mixed martial arts' matches, and at the same time I recalled martial arts tournaments carried out in the basement of Tokyo Dome.
Even in this world they are considered to be scarier than nuclear weapons… I wonder whether I will also find here the strongest person with a demon face on their back.1
"…Such a place in the basement…" I was surprised.
"Yes. You didn't know, Master?" Viine revealed that she already knew about it.
"No, I didn't." I confirmed.
"It's my first time, too." Yui joined in.
"Of course it's the same for me as well, milord." Kaldo added.
Yui and Kaldo had just registered as adventurers.
The receptionist led us to one of the octagon's sides where several adventurers were gathering.
"The exam will take place here very soon. Please follow the instructions of the examiners and do your best," the beautiful receptionist explained. After I told her, "Okay, thanks for bringing us here," she left us.
Right afterwards, a rough voice could be heard, "We will carry out the B rank promotion exam from now on! You C rank brats will fight five times against the examiners over here. Those managing to win all five matches will definitely get promoted."
It was the deep voice of a muscled man with a bald head.
『His muscles are moving.』
Helme analyzed the muscled baldie. Without mentioning anything about his mana, she only pointed out the matter with his muscles.
"Aye." "I'm ready to go." "I'm going to win!" "So I just gotta win five times, eh?"
All the adventurers were full of motivation.
Then another examiner spoke up, "There might be all kinds of people who are good at close combat, ranged combat, or magic, but the weapons allowed in the exam are wooden swords, spears, wands, and bows using headless arrows. You may only wear light armor. In order to avoid deaths and injuries from magic, you have to state beforehand that you will use magic. Those specialized on ranged attacks will have another exam at the neighboring grounds, so please move over there. We're going to start the exam then."
I wonder whether close combat is okay.
The adventurers taking the exam headed to different areas in the arena while holding wooden spears and swords. Same applied for the archers and magicians.
I also followed them with a wooden spear in hand.
"Who's going to challenge me?" The bald, muscular examiner hurled that question at the challengers while shouldering a wooden sword.
"I will go first," a tall, handsome adventurer, who appeared to be a knight type, stepped up towards the examiner.
The handsome adventurer and the examiner faced each other in the middle of the octagon. A dangerous atmosphere hung in the air.
"Come at me whenever you want, brat." The examiner said in a high-handed manner.
"Humph!" The instant the adventurer furrowed his eyebrows, he nimbly stepped in and swung his wooden sword diagonally from the shoulder, but the bald examiner twisted his body, dodging the sword's blade at hair's breadth. Performing a sharp upward slash as counter from that position, he hit the torso of the adventurer with his wooden sword, blowing him away to the side.
"Guhaa." The handsome adventurer laid on top of the stone paving. The clothes he wore were cut into six parts while being turned up. Traces of red sword lines were clearly visible on his muscled upper body. Since he suffered a full blow, albeit with a wooden sword, it looked painful, even if it might have been nothing but a body hit.
"Only small fries this week?"
"It doesn't look as if we will have a turn with Mezu here."
"Certainly, there's no one releasing strong mana…"
It seemed there were also examiners who can use Magic Observation. They ridiculed the challenging adventurers.
『Their mana manipulation is quite good, but in the end they are only humans…they don't appear to be excellent people that see through Your Excellency's greatness like Collector the other day.』
The tiny Helme said while adopting a strange pose with the blue-colored leaves across her entire body swaying oddly.
"I'm next!" A female adventurer yelled.
"Come!" Mezu replied.
She challenged the examiner, but lost consciousness after being easily slapped on the ground.
For a while one adventurer after the other challenged the examiner, but not a single one of them could defeat him. And then it was my turn.
"Shuuya, do your best," Yui cheered me on.
"If it's Master, it will take an instant," Viine stated confidently.
"I shall certainly make sure of milord's spearmanship with these eyes." Kaldo also joined in.
Yui, Viine, and Kaldo rooted for me. While hearing those cheers behind me, I faced the bald examiner with my wooden spear at hand.
"An adventurer possessing subordinates? Or one of those noble little shits I hate? Seein' your lackin' foundation, a small fry noble, huh? Humph." Mezu said in displeasure.
Foundation?
"…I don't know what you're misunderstanding here, examiner or whatever you are. Has the match already begun?" I asked to make sure.
"Yeah, I'm ready whenever." Mezu announced.
I guess I will shut up his arrogant trap.
"I see――" With those words I lightly kicked the floor, shortened the distance to the examiner with his shiny, smooth head, and after powerfully stepping forward with my left foot, I rotated my waist.
Just like that I twisted my right arm and unleashed a <Thrust>, which I pushed out with such a force that the wooden spear in my hand was about to break, towards the abdomen of the examiner who had readied his sword in a seigan stance.
The spiraling wood spear easily flicked the examiner's sword away, and cleanly stabbed into his solar plexus. The examiner's body took the shape of a く, and was blown away to the back.
"Guaaaah――" The examiner screamed.
Just in case I went easy on him, but…the head of my wooden spear ended up breaking.
"For Mezu to be stabbed while unable to react…"
"Who's that adventurer…?"
The examiners all talked with their faces steeped in surprise.
I threw away the broken spear, and picked up a new one from the stack placed at the edge of the stone paving.
And then, while throwing a sidelong glance at the examiner who didn't move while crouching at the side, I said to another examiner, "――That examiner can't get up, so what are we going to do next?"
"I will take you on…" An examiner with long hair and a tattoo on his forehead appeared, holding a spear in his hands.
He probably trained spearmanship, seeing how his seigan stance was reasonably good.
"Please." The instant I hurled that word at him, he released a beast-like roar and came charging at me.
However, only his roar had been first-class. His thrust was half-hearted and ordinary.
I really don't know about the greatness of the Divine King ranker's martial arts families…
Since there was no need to block his spear, I ran towards him in a forward-bent posture, and avoided the approaching spear thrust so narrowly that my left cheek got grazed by shifting half my body slightly to the side. Then I scooped up my spear diagonally with the image of returning my shifted body to its original position, slashing the examiner as if tearing his chest open in the process.
At the time my spear hit him, the wooden spearhead was pulverized once again.
"Geeeh――" Probably because he got struck by my spear as a counter, the examiner was blown to the edge of the venue while tumbling across the ground, even though I had held back on him.
The grounds fell completely silent, and the remaining examiners had apparently realized their own fate.
In this way I finished off all the examiners that took me on, securing a complete victory.
One of the other examiners came close, and said, "Magnificent. A splendid feat. If you're this powerful, no one will dispute you becoming B rank. Please take this to the receptionist."
He gave me a silver badge, and I thanked him shortly.
At that point Yui and Viine ran up to me from behind.
"I sensed that your spear's speed was slower than usual." Yui observed.
"Indeed. I had the impression that your speed was a lot slower than the yellow spear's new thrusting technique that you used during today's training while happily saying that you'd test this." Viine stated.
I guess I can't deceive the eyes of my chosen bloodkin.
"You're right. I focused a bit on it." I readily affirmed.
"Yeah, but, the examiners are normal humans, so…" Yui worried.
"I think it will be fine since I went easy on them. Look, they have just fainted." I calmed her.
One of the defeated examiners was getting up while being looked after.
"Yeah." Yui noticed in relief.
"On top of going easy on them, you easily broke the hard wooden spears. It's truly the same as being peerless. I want to personally watch your spear work on the battlefield. You allowed me to see splendid spear handling," praised Kaldo who had experienced battlefields. His loyal look possessed the dignity of a warring states commander.
I felt motivated and humbled.
"The battlefield, huh…? Well, I'm confident in my spearmanship. Come, let's go to the reception." I started to walk while indicating to them to follow me.
"Yes." Viine answered.
"Okay." Yui confirmed.
"Yes, milord." Kaldo said.
Going back up, we returned to the guild's ground level. Given that the beautiful receptionist from a while ago was present, the adventurers swarmed her reception desk and waited for their turn in a line.
And then, "The exam is finished. I was told by the examiner to give you this." I handed the silver badge to the receptionist.
"Congratulations. This settles your promotion to B rank. Please wait a moment," asked the receptionist and went to make some detailed written notes at a place in the back with many documents piled up, talked with several staff members, and vanished from sight after going up a set of stairs.
『Your Excellency, you have finally risen to B rank. Congratulations.』
『Thanks. I'm happy because it's a promotion through finishing requests normally.』
As I was telepathically talking with Helme, the receptionist returned in a jog. Since she was lightly dressed, her boobs were shaking slightly.
"――Thank you for waiting. This will be your new adventurer card." Saying so, she handed me a card that shone in silver.
Name: Shuuya Kagari
Title: Dragon Slayer
Race: Human
Occupation: Adventurer B Rank
Affiliation: none
Combat Occupation: Spear Warrior – Chain User
Completed Requests: 50
"Thanks. Bye then." I turned my back on the reception desk and walked through the guild. And while fiddling around with the brand new card, I chatted up Viine and the others who walked next to me. "I guess I have joined the group of competent adventurers with this?"
"Master, you were a splendid male from the very start." Viine said something slightly unrelated while tucking her silver hair behind her long ear.
"Even though you hadn't been an adventurer when we met for the first, you're already at B rank. That's awesome. But, I heard that adventurers gain trust by steadily piling up accomplishments. However, in your case S is much more fitting than B rank, Shuuya." Yui commented.
"Yes, he's a great male who's stronger than the rank gives away." Viine threw her chest out and announced it with an attitude as if talking about herself while walking.
"Either way, it's wonderful. Together with Yui, I also want to get closer to milord by raising my adventurer rank," chipped in Kaldo while exchanging looks with Yui.
"Yeah, if we're going to do it anyway, I want to have the same rank as Shuuya." Yui added.
"If it's you guys, it should be possible to achieve it quickly, if you accept several subjugation requests, and hunt in the prairie or dive into the labyrinth, shouldn't it?" I asked.
"Yes. We will do our best, Yui, right?" Kaldo answered.
"No way. I want to have the same rank, but right now spending time with Shuuya is important. Dad, go yourself, okay?" Yui denied Kaldo.
Due to the unexpected cold words of his daughter, Kaldo seemed about to cry and looked at me…ugh, even if you want me to help you, I'm not sure what I should say here. Oh well, I guess I will speak while coming up with something.
"…Kaldo, you're presently my only <Servant Leader>…I think you can work together with Mel and the others at 【Remains of the Moon】. I'm actually considering whether I should assign you to be the 【Head Advisor】. Moreover, it might be a good idea to polish your abilities as commander of a platoon, seeing as you had dived the other day into the labyrinth as adventurer while leading the combat slaves." I fumbled my way through.
I haven't told Mel anything about this, but well, I guess it'll be alright if I explain to her later.
"…What kind words…I shall accept the position as 【Head Advisor】 in 【Remains of the Moon】 as <Servant Leader>. I will show you how we're going to take control of Pelneet's underworld." Kaldo announced full of motivation.
"Dad, you're all fired up, aren't you? You have been naturally releasing mana from your body exceeding the range of Magic Combat Style. …But certainly, for me and Dad it might be easier to work in the dark than as adventurers." Yui said.
While strictly staring at Yui with the expression of an assassin and soldier, Kaldo answered, "But, the job as adventurer and the experience against monsters is valuable, you understand? After all you have to also assume that your opponents will use inhumane means in interpersonal combat."
"Okay, you got a point there." Yui conceded.
We walked along the bustling ring road in such a manner.
"Please stop――"
Suddenly something like the scream of a woman could be heard.
Once I shifted my eyes in that direction wondering what was going on, tall men, who seemed to be adventurers, had started a quarrel with the blind girl.
Using Magic Combat Step, I dashed forward with such a force that the ground got burned, and got close on the spot.
"Stop it!" I grabbed the arm of a tall man who was about to hit the herb-selling girl.
"Hah? The hell are ya!?"
"Broth, your arm…"
Right, I had put a little strength into my grip. His thick arm broke, and a mark of my hand was left on his wrist.
"Geeeaaaaaah."
"Hiii, what the hell is that guy!?"
While glaring at the hoodlums, I warned them lightly, "Stop pestering that girl."
"No deal. Day after day she's annoyin' 'bout sellin' those crappy plants that dun' sell anyway. She not sellin' anythin' and yet she seems to have some dough, ya know…?"
"Yeeeah! This is the turf of Ans Carolina-sama, the head of Spirit Light, and Dryzen-sama, okay? A little cheeky herb seller is not needed here." A man with protruding eyes and the shrill voice of a merchant yelled in the middle of the hoodlums.
Turf, they say?
If they are from the underworld, they should obediently fall back if I confront them with an underworld name, right?
"…You're sure noisy. Such things don't matter. Starting with today, this place belongs to the turf of 【Remains of the Moon】." I irresponsibly announced while knowing jack about turf disputes.
"Eh? R-Remains of the Moon? N-No way!? You related to the strongest dark guild in this city?" The hoodlums, who had been surrounding the blind girl, all looked surprised. Gradually losing all color in their faces, they became pale.
The blind girl turned her white eyes left and right.
She's bewildered? I guess I ended up surprising her.
And then she apparently inferred who I am from the sound of my voice.
『Your Excellency, shall I bury stakes into their butts, freeze them, and leave them out in the open?』
『No, it's okay.』
I finished the usual telepathic conversation in an instant.
"Master, shall I get rid of this dirt right here and now?" Viine asked.
"Milord, please leave it to me if it comes to creating a sea of blood." Kaldo joined in as well.
Even after I cut the telepathic conversation short, it turned out like this as I have many hotblooded subordinates besides Helme.
"Hey, both of you, for now it's alright." Yui stopped Viine and Kaldo who were about to draw their weapons.
How lucky, Yui is a calm girl. However…I think I will threaten them a bit.
"…As if it's at the level of just being related to them, this is――" I said and summoned my Magic Halberd in my right hand.
"Hieeee, do-donch' chell meee…"
"S-Spearmaster…Remains of the Moon…"
"Nyagooah." Rollo jumped while changing into a black panther. She got angry while meowing something along the lines of 『I'm here as well nya』.
"Black cat…No doubt, it's the spearmaster and the black cat."
"R-Run away. Zenji, count me out――"
"M-Me too~~. E-Excuse me."
Other than the shady merchant, everyone, including the injured man, ran away.
"I'm selling the black lily of illusions. If it's right now, I will give you a discount…" The pop-eyes goldfish merchant, who seemed to have some gills, apparently escaped reality.
I guess he plans to get through this by playing dumb. As if to gloss over, he was selling medicinal plants while turning his face left and right.
"Hey, you, the dumb black lily seller, don't sell your goods here." I ordered him.
"Hiii, don't come any closer! I'm going to inform Ans Carolina-sama, the head of Spirit Light, and Dryzen-sama of this!" With those parting words, he escaped…the merchant with the abnormally big eyes.
Maybe he's a half with his parents being fishman and human.
"U-Umm, thank you very much." The blind girl said.
"Don't worry about it. I just came here to buy medicinal plants." I answered.
"Ah, really…? Thanks, kind and strong adventurer-sama. This time it ended with my goods being safe and nothing being stolen." The girl bowed modestly.
"Nyaon." At that moment Rollo rubbed her head against the girl's leg.
"Hauu, the sensation of fur. A kitty-san?"
"Nyaa."
She shook her head left and right, searching for the Rollo's location. Her hands grabbed empty space several times.
Does Rollo comprehend that she can't see her? She brought her small head close to the palm of the blind girl on her own accord. Rollo…you're too kind…
"…Oh my, fufu, she's licking my hand, isn't she…? Cute." The blind girl joyfully said.
"…By the way, this time means your goods were damaged before?" I asked.
While caressing Rollo's head, the girl pointed her pure white face upwards and responded to my voice, "…Yes. All my medicinal plants were taken away, and my money was stolen as well. But, once I gathered new medicinal plants in the Benrack Village and was about to sell them here again, I was obstructed by the same people…"
Ah, that's why she hasn't been here since the other day, huh?
"So that's what happened." I comprehended the circumstances.
"Oh, I didn't thank you yet. Umm, kind adventurers, it's just a small display of my gratitude, but this…" She stopped playing around with Rollo and stood up. Then she held out the few copper coins she earned through her sales.
…Uuh, she's too lovable. It makes me cry.
"Keep that to yourself." I strongly refused.
"But…" She tried to talk back.
"It's the thought that counts." I interrupted her.
"Understood…" The blind girl yielded while tears welled up in her white eyes.
Oh damn, I didn't intend to make her cry…
Once I looked at Yui and Viine, the two smiled gently in joy.
"Master, you're a supreme being, but at the same time you're a kind person. Herb-selling girl, we don't need that money." Viine said.
"Indeed, Shuuya is kind. Especially to women." Yui unnaturally talked like Rebecca. Her words were a bit thorny, but not that I mind.
"So your name is Shuuya-sama. My name is Amelie." The blind girl introduced herself.
"Amelie-san, huh? Please treat me well from now on." I responded.
"Yes, Shuuya-sama."
I think I will use this opportunity to ask her for the reason why she's selling medicinal plants.
"I know it's abrupt, but you have a bad eyesight, don't you Amelie-san? Why are you going this far to sell your medicinal plants?"
"That's because I want to heal Dad's sickness which can't be cured with medicinal plants or potions. After I had gathered the necessary amount of money, I had a healer cast healing magic on Dad once at the church, but after he got better for a little while, Dad's health deteriorated again, and the sickness got worse. He coughs up blood. But I don't have enough money to get him healed at the church a second time." Amelie explained her circumstances.
A blind girl doing her best for her sick father, huh?
"That's the reason why you're selling medicinal plants?" I confirmed.
"Yes. I need one silver coin per healing. It's expensive, but if I can get him healed several times in succession, I'm sure Dad's sickness will get better. And, gathering medicinal plants and selling those is the only thing I can do. That's why I'm saving money. I will get Dad cured. I definitely won't give up. Definitely, absolutely not…" Her eyes were white, but she had a determined look.
『Your Excellency, how about having this girl's father drink my blessed water?』
『Ah, good idea. It might work. You can come out of my eye.』
『Yes!』
Helme was released from my left eye in a spiral.
"Kyaa, cold." Amelie was surprised by Helme's appearance, seemingly having felt the sheets of spray.
"Good morning, spirit-sama." Viine greeted.
"Hello, spirit-sama." Yui followed Viine's lead.
"Enviable spirit-sama, who dwells in milord, this Kaldo is at your service." Kaldo went down on one knee and bowed his head.
Helme nodded with a generous and calm attitude, and then said, "Good morning. I'm His Excellency's water, Helme. Since I listened to your conversation, greetings are unnecessary, Kaldo and everyone else."
"Yes, spirit-sama. You're as beautiful as ever…" Kaldo praised Helme.
"Thank you. Kaldo, you also got a bit younger since becoming a <Servant Leader>, haven't you? Devote yourself to His Excellency from now on. Ah, His Excellency's butt is off-limit, though." Helme jokingly mentioned my butt.
"Yes, ma'am! Understood!" Kaldo bowed and answered while smiling.
"…Eh? Spirit-sama? What…?" Amelie asked while looking around restlessly.
"Amelie-san, it's sudden, but can you let us meet your father?" I requested.
"Eh? Yes, that's fine, but why?" Amelie inquired.
"We won't do anything bad to him. Please lead us to your house." I asked her.
"Y-Yes. However, it's small and in the slums…" She said timidly.
"No problem. Take us there." I insisted.
"Yes…" She looked confused, but still started to walk towards Pelneet's east.
◇◇◇◇
Amelie's house was a small, cosy house located in a corner of the slums on the southeastern side.
"There's not much space, but please sit down over here." Amelie guided us to a table with some chairs around it.
"Thanks, excuse us for disturbing." I replied.
Since there weren't enough chairs, Yui and Kaldo remained standing. Rollo climbed on the table and stayed there quietly.
Looks like she intends to observe the whole situation.
Amelie's sick father was sleeping on a bed in the same room. Hearing us entering, he got up from his sickbed, and spoke up with trembling hands, "A-A-Amelie, these people are…"
"Ah, Dad, lie down. These people are Shuuya-san and his adventurer friends. They saved me when I was about to have my income and medicinal plants stolen. Besides, he's the adventurer who always bought my herbs for a lot of money, you remember?" Amelie explained.
"Ooh, what surprise…you're that kind adventurer she mentioned the other day…Shuuya-san? I'm truly thankful. Not just the medicinal plants, but even my daughter…" He broke out into a coughing fit.
"Jeez, Dad, it's okay already. Get some rest. I'm going to boil some of the medicinal plants now, so lie down!" Amalie instructed her father.
Amalie's dad crouched down while coughing violently, and then lied down on the bed.
"Excuse me. I'm going to make a medicinal tea." Amalie apologized, and started to work in the kitchen.
Once she caused some sparks by hitting the flints against each other, the wood chips in the stove caught fire. She tried to grab the handle of an earthenware pot filled with water, but letting her hand wander aimlessly, she seized empty space several times before finally tightly grasping the pot's handle.
"Should I help you?" I asked after watching this.
"Master, me too." Viine offered her help, too.
"No, it's alright." Amelie answered while talking rapidly as if being slightly angry.
"Shuuya, it's not good if you get in her way, okay?" Yui cautioned me.
Thereupon Amelie's father got up again.
"I'm sorry. That child certainly has a bad eyesight…but, because of her wholehearted wish to help me, she has become a child who isn't satisfied unless she does everything by herself. Even though she's still small, she keeps becoming more stubborn the harder she works." Her father defended Amalie.
"Hey Dad, lie down!" Amalie turned her unfocused eyes towards her father and admonished him.
"It's okay now. The fits don't occur in succession." Her father soothed her.
"You have to drink the tea I'm making now, okay?"
"Yeah, I know." Amalie's dad agreed.
A very young daughter who worries about her father, huh?
"…Isn't she a wonderful daughter? Even while still young and having a bad eyesight, she runs about to gather and sell medicinal plants to save her father. That gentle nature of hers is worth to be respected." I praised her.
"Yes, she's such a truly nice child that she's wasted on me. However, I really worry and worry about her gathering medicinal plants…" Tears became visible in the eyes of Amelie's father as he answered me while nodding in agreement with my words.
"Jeez, Dad it's embarrassing, so stop it." Amalie said bashfully.
"No, you're my pride. …If only not for the Magic Resonance of Emptiness…" Her father said.
"Magic Resonance of Emptiness, you say? Did she personally experience the moment of a spirit's birth? Don't tell me…that's the cause for her eyes…" Viine reacted.
Magic Resonance of Emptiness? Somehow I remember having heard about it before. 2
"Yes…" The blind Amalie nodded at Viine's conclusion, and continued, "…In the past we lived in the Benrack Village. Back then I went to play on the Light Cross Hill, saw a dazzling light, and my eyes became like this…" Amalie touched her face around the area of her eyes.
"What's that Magic Resonance of Emptiness?" I asked Viine.
"The 【Light Cross Hill】 is famous for having a Glittering Light Phenomenon since the past. If young children see that dazzling light, it will cause an impairment to their minds or a loss of eyesight called Divine Punishment. That's what I've heard." Viine said.
"Such a place exists?" I asked back.
Viine nodded once and explained what she seemed to know about the phenomenon on the hill, "Yes. It's known as a place where magic sources easily gather. But that's unrelated to light spirits. It appears to simply be a phenomenon caused by the accumulation of magic sources. I heard that it's the birthplace of all kinds of spirits such as lightning, wind, earth, fire, and water spirits and as such causes a resonance. It has turned into a very nutritious land, and the number of sacred springs and rivers has grown. At the same time goblins, ethereal bodies and other kinds of monsters are drawn to it."
"…Spots where spirits are born should be omnipresent. It's just a guess, but it might originally be a place where the threshold is thin." Helme supplemented Viine's explanation.
At that point, Yui and Kaldo spoke up to supplement Viine's information while nodding.
"…Milord, I also heard about a place said to cause Divine Punishment in the Zamalia territory. The place's name is different, but it's a similar spot." Kaldo said.
"Yeah, as Dad says. I happened to talk with a researcher-like person about this. It overlaps with what spirit-sama said, but I was told it's something resembling scarred places related to the gods of the spirit world, a dimensional focal point, where the threshold is thin and magic sources naturally accumulate, or something like that. I don't really understand the meaning, though." Yui added.
While listening to them, I recalled that Master had mentioned something slightly similar, too.
But, a divine punishment, eh…? Maybe my Permeated Drops of the Sacred Flower would work on her, but Priestess Marin Peladas mentioned that it won't affect "sicknesses you possess since birth" and "divine punishments." I guess the Permeated Drops of the Sacred Flower won't work here.
But, for something that has the possibility to blind a child for just being close-by, huh?
"…Is it that close to the Benrack Village?" I inquired.
This time Amalie spoke up, "Yes. It's southeast from Pelneet. Since medicinal plants I can easily tell apart by smell are growing in the forest over there, I go to gather them there."
"Although I'm telling her to not go since it's dangerous…" Amalie's father commented while looking gently at his daughter.
"However, it's relatively safe since there are very many adventurers there. There are also many goblins, but…the monsters above the ground are being constantly hunted…" Amalie defended herself.
I joined in while smiling, "I see. But, you're making your Dad worry. Going to places with monsters despite your missing eyesight is a bad idea, isn't it?"
"Money is necessary to live, to survive. Even Dad said that it's inevitable the other day…" Amalie countered.
Amelie's father muttered while casting his face down, "If I didn't have such an illness…"
"I see…?" I said.
If I can't help Amalie, at least her father should…
Accordingly I looked at Helme, and asked, "Helme, can you pour your water in the cup on the table over there?"
"Yes." Just as she did when watering the trees in our courtyard, Helme made the blue and bluish black leaves on her skin flutter, extended her arm, and poured water into the cup from her fingertips. The cup filled up in no time.
"Amelie and Amelie's father, she's a water spirit. Her water is special. It might help with the cure of the sickness. Please drink it." I grabbed the cup and handed it to Amelie's father.
"S-Spirit-sama…what to say…" Amelie's father said in surprise.
"Is she really a spirit?" Amelie tried to trace Helme with her white eyes.
"Yes, I'm the Water Spirit of Everlasting Darkness, Helme. …I'm His Excellency's water." Helme turned into a liquid on the spot, and then reverted back to a human body in an instant.
"Ooooh, it's true. Thanks, thanks, thanks, I will drink it at once…" Amelie's father joined his hands together as if praying to a god, and after offering a silent prayer, he grabbed the wooden cup, brought it to his mouth, and drank Helme's clear water.
At that moment his state changed. As he started to have a violent coughing fit while suffering, an eerie, black fog oozed out his mouth. A particle-like aura of the black fog covered his light outfit, transformed into a face with an expression twisted in rage, then to one of a distorted monster that seemed to be screaming, just to finally leaping into the air as if escaping from his body while coiling around itself.
Landing on the floor with a splash, it disappeared like a sludge that permeated into the ground.
"Nyago!" Rollo jumped at the black mist, but it had only left a stain on the floor.
"Helme, do you know what that was just now?" I asked her.
"I'm sure it was something small connected to a god of the spirit world." Helme answered.
"The darkness attribute worked on it as well?" I wondered.
"Yes. If it had been the normal darkness attribute, I think nothing would have happened, but a faint amount of Water Goddess Akreshys' virtuous pedigree is contained in my water. Although it's only a little, it was apparently effective. In case the opponent were to be an atypical, greater evil spirit, it might have failed to show any effect." Helme explained.
If the light attribute had been its Achilles heel, my blood might have worked as well.
No wait, is it different if the target belongs to a god's genealogy? I'd like to test it out, but it has already disappeared.
"…That evil spirit-like being was an enemy, right?" I checked back.
"Yes." Helme confirmed.
"I wanted to cut it…" Yui said while looking at the black stain on the floor in disappointment.
Cutting that…ah, can it be cut if it's a katana clad in mana?
However, I suppose that means something like that had possessed Amelie's father.
But where did something like that come from…? Was it an evil spirit from the Benrack Village that attached itself to him during the Magic Resonance of Emptiness? Or did the negative emotions in these slums summon a kin of a spirit world's god…?
As I'm pondering about such things, I heard Amelie's voice.
"Dad, how's your body? What happened?"
"I'm alright. My body feels unbelievably light…this is amazing." Amelie's dad rejoiced.
"Great…Dad, are you cured?" Amelie tried to ascertain.
"Not completely, but…I think something at the level of the church's healing will work now." He put her mind at ease.
"No way…amazing…it's a miracle… Spirit-sama, Shuuya-sama, thank you very, very much. Uuh…I wonder how I should ever thank you…" Overcome with emotions, Amelie cried.
"No need. We will add Helme's water to the water jug over there, too. As long as you continue drinking it, you will become completely cured sooner or later. Helme, pour your water into it." I instructed Helme, and she confirmed with a "Yes."
Helme swiftly moved to the water jug, and poured her water into it from her fingertips.
"T-Thank you very much. But, there's nothing we can pay you back with in our home…"
"Please don't misunderstand. It's free."
Tears streamed down from Amelie's father's eyes, as he asked in surprise, "Why are you, someone who's unrelated to all of it. doing this…?"
"Why? Even if you ask me that, it's simply what I want to do. After all, I got acquainted with Amelie-san in front of the labyrinth." Hearing my words that were tinged with a smile, Amelie and her father became dumbfounded.
Silence dominated the place for a short time…
Amalie's father wiped away the tears on his cheeks with his hand, and started to speak very awkwardly, "…Thanks. Shuuya-san, you're the messenger of Aria, the goddess of love."
Goddess of Love Aria…those vagrants, huh?
At present I'm not wandering, rather, as for that, I'm an Evil King.
"…It's true. Shuuya-san, on top of saving me, even father's illness…I have never felt such a strong feeling of gratitude in my chest since being alive…really, really, thank you very much! It's great that I didn't give up." Tears endlessly streamed down from Amelie's white eyes.
"Amalie, you said that you wouldn't give up and that you would definitely save your father. Your steadfast heart led us here. That heart itself might be the power of Aria, the Goddess of Love." I said.
Her father wailed in response to my words, and tightly hugged his daughter.
Helme had replaced the water of two, big water jugs. Since it's somewhat embarrassing, I think it's about time for us to leave.
"Well then, we are going back home. So see you again and stay healthy." I bid farewell.
"Nya, nya, nya~o." Rollo waved her forepaw, and after tapping Amelie's leg with her paw as if saying 『Take care of yourself nya, okay nya?』, she returned on my shoulder.
Taking Viine, Helme, Yui, and Kaldo along, I left Amelie's home. Immediately after going outside, I heard Amelie's footsteps.
"Shuuya-sama, please wait!" She yelled.
"Mmh?" I turned around.
"I wonder whether you can call this a thanks…we have nothing but this, but please take all the remaining medicinal plants." She held a box that contained many bundles of medicinal plants.
I guess it's her very own way of showing her gratitude.
Previously I had refused, but since it's not like I'm fussy about it anyway, I think I will accept at least a few.
"Just a few then――"
"Ah, that's too little!"
"It's enough. See ya then." After waving my arm with a smile, I turned on my heels.
Everyone else also turned around and started to walk after me.
A bird does not foul the nest it is about to leave.
I could hear Amelie's voice resounding with a "Thank you very much" from behind.
Help out filling the Glossary of this series with life! Anyone is free to join by clicking >here< !
Translation Notes:
Reference to Baki
I think one of the announcers on the First Ring Road mentioned it before
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Irregular - Tale of the Mismarca Kingdom
Monday - The Spearmaster and the Black Cat
Tuesday - Dungeon Battle Royale
Wednesday - Hakai no Miko / Madan no Ou to Vanadis (in parts) - in alternation
Thursday - Shika no Ou (in parts)
Friday - The Spearmaster and the Black Cat
Saturday - D-Genesis + Nidome no Jinsei wo Isekai de
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text:
The 2018 Brick Hill Awards: Finalists!
https://www.brick-hill.com/forum/thread/18806
Well, Brick Hillians, what seems like a mere 8 months and 9 days ago, the finalists of the Brick Hill Awards were announced (see the thread linked above). Now, as I know you have all been waiting, the winners of each category of the 2018 Brick Hill Awards will be announced!
Out of the entire community of Brick Hill, the users narrowed down the finalists to 77 users, out of which the winners of each category were picked by the users (with some staff aid when necessary).
Most Helpful:
ratatooie
ratatooie was chosen as most helpful for his activity and immersion with other played, helping new users around, and donating hefty sums out of pocket to just about anyone! It's indisputable that he has a big heart and wholesomely deserved this spot!
Most Active:
blocky
What can we say, this user has gone to hell and back to make sure he's online every single day! Having never missed a Special and almost never missed an item (we've seen his reactions!), it was only fair to give him this spot, especially considering he practically shifted his sleep schedule to keep up with our upload schedule.
Best Moderator:
Oh, how times change. While egg was a moderator, he never failed to do his job, and do it right. He'd be on everyday, helping out users and participating in the community. If he weren't staff at the time, he'd probably be a good contender the Most Helpful award!
Best Set:
Leon's Hide n' Seek
Leon's Hide n' Seek is simply an amazing game. Beating the limits of GML, he's shown that even now, you can truly make anything you set your mind to, and he smashed it! It's a very fun game and makes use of many of the features within the client.
Funniest Video:
FireCatMagic's spacebuilder's special e accidentUndoubtedly, this award goes to FireCatMagic, an iconic user in the community, especially for his range of Brick Hill videos! Namely, "spacebuilder's special e accident" takes the cake here, showing both his creative talents, as well as his efforts as a Blender animator!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h40LK9cFwuo
Most Helpful Video:
Ole's Building in Brick-Hill - A Basic HouseA humble user, but definitely a talented one. Ole wins this category for his expertise in the client, and his efforts to help users get the know-abouts in the Workshop! This is a well deserved award.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlQW2jpvbPg
Best Hat:
brick-luke's Fedora
Out of just a handful of hats, brick-luke's Fedora took the place as best hat. Whether it be for it's stylish design (as we all know, it's a very sought after item), or because of the meaning and legacy behind it, this hat was naturally going to take this space.
Funniest Username:
PickleTickler
I think this speaks for itself! Anyone will look at this user's name and wonder whether they should actually be reading it. Having sparked a few comments (and reports!), I think that PickleTickler deserves this spot as it's definitely a peculiar name, to say the least!
Builder of the Year:
Once again, we see Ole on the list, and I cannot say I'm surprised. He's an excellent builder, and has really pushed the limits of Brick Hill with his creations. I'd love to see what more he can do, especially in the new and upcoming Workshop, that we might be seeing at the end of this month!
Most Unique Hat:
Sausage Head
A humble award, but I think we can agree that the Sausage Head is owed this award. It's quirky uniqueness would make you think you'd just left a butcher's, and this has caught the attention of many traders!
Best Fan Art:
Cloth's artwork is definitely some to admire. You've probably seen a lot of his work circulating out Twitter, as well as a lot of our blog posts, contests, and games! He's also known for his big heart, and absolutely loves illustrating!
Best Clan:
Space Rangers
What can I say, this clan rocks! Being totally unbiased, I can safely say this clan is the best thing since sliced bread. A dedicated cause and passionate members, the Space Rangers are definitely the number one clan, and one-hundred percent deserved to win!
Staff Member of the Year:
brick-luke
brick-luke was a hardworking, motivated, and spirited individual since we were sitting in school and decided we wanted to make a game about bricks. He had always been the go-to for any help, ideas, or problems, that both the users and staff had. He put so much work and passion into Brick Hill that I am sure it would not be the same without him. This is why brick-luke deservedly so earned the position as Staff Member of the Year.
YouTuber of the Year:
FireCatMagic
Another two-time winner of the Brick Hill Awards! That said, he definitely earned this spot as previously stated, putting so much effort into all his videos, and a steady dedication to Brick Hill since he joined!
Well, Brick Hillians, that pretty much wraps it up! I hope you've enjoyed this year's Brick Hill Awards, the suspense was killing me! If you didn't manage to win this year, you'll always have another chance next year.
Thanks for sticking around, you are what makes Brick Hill!
spacebuilder's Picture
spacebuilder
Spooky Halloween Building Competition
Greetings, gouls of Brick Hill, to another building competition! This year we will be building under the theme of…
Hat Design Contest!
By ClothEver wanted to express your creativity? Wanted to wear something unique that was truly yours? Well, now you…
Brick Hill © 2021


Jeremy Durdan scored 19 of his game-high 31 points in the second half as Flanagan-Cornell pulled away from host Lexington for a 67-47 Heart of Illinois Conference victory at The Fort Tuesday night.
The game was only a nine-point affair at the half with the Falcons up 35-26. But Durdan hit for 10 points in the third quarter as Flanagan-Cornell chalked up 18 points in doubling the Minutemen's effort for a 53-35 advantage.
Durdan added nine in the fourth period as the Falcons pulled away.
Karson Kimpling added 18 points, Braden Wallace threw in 6 and Drew Eckhoff scored 5 for the Falcons. Tyler Harms had 4 and John Trainor contributed 3 points.
Trevor Keagle and Andrew Olson led Lexington with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Xavier Moore added 8 points and was followed by Josh Hardman with 7 and Jake Devore with 5. Clayton Haase hit for 2 points and Evan Birkenbeil tallied 1 marker.
CULLOM — Putting the game away has been an issue for Tri-Point and Tuesday night's River Valley Conference makeup contest with Beecher was no exception. The Chargers were unable to hold off the Bobcats, who rallied in the fourth quarter for a 56-51 victory at The Point.
Tri-Point was cruising along nicely with 15 points in the first quarter and 14 in the second in building a 29-22 halftime lead. Each side scored 10 points in the third that made it 39-32 with one period to play.
Beecher erupted for 24 points in the fourth quarter and the Chargers managed 12 in taking the loss.
Brian Curling had 17 points for Tri-Point while Chace Cathcart added 11 and Hayden Lane netted 10 points. Tyler Platz scored 8 points and Conor Cardenas had 5.
MORRIS — It was the home team prevailing in this Route 47 battle on Tuesday. Morris held Dwight to six points in the last stanza in taking a 41-33 decision.
The Redskins took a 14-6 lead in the first quarter and held a 19-12 halftime edge.
The Trojans scored 15 points in the third quarter in closing the deficit to 29-27 entering the final frame. DTHS managed just a 3-pointer from Dakota Wahl, a Cole Hahn deuce and a Lane Thompson free throw in the fourth to fade back.
Wahl had 9 points while Thompson and Logan Graham each scored 7 for the Trojans. Colton Holm hit for 6 with Hahn and Dane Rodosky each scoring 2 points.


Families are invited to come out for an enjoyable family skating at the Cassie Campbell Community Centre. The rink will be used exclusively for Autism Ontario Peel for the hour.
A limited number of loaner skates are available at no cost, if needed. Learn to skate instructors and skate aids also on hand for assistance.
This event is open to all families with Autism Spectrum Disorder children, youth and adults.


Hay Enamel Bowl - Brown | Article.
The Hay Enamel bowl in Brown from the Hay Homeware Enamelware collection.
The Hay Enamel bowl is made from enamelled steel and capable of withstanding hot and cold temperatures.


text:
Q: GitHub Gist API patch doesn't work? I am creating anonymous Gists using Postman. The Gists get created successfully but when I try to patch them, I get:
{
  "message": "Not Found",
  "documentation_url": "https://developer.github.com/v3/gists/#edit-a-gist"
}

The URL I am using is:
https://api.github.com/gists/14694f43065a32ec28ad

If I do a GET, it works fine. If I do a PATCH, I get an error message.
What's wrong here?

A: You can read and create anonymous gists, but you cannot edit them. If you want to create, read, update and delete, use authentication.
In the Authentication section, it says:

You can read public gists and create them for anonymous users without a token; however, to read or write gists on a user's behalf the gist OAuth scope is required.

You will get the same 404–Not found error if you just try to git push some commits into an anonymous gist.
$ git push
Username for 'https://gist.github.com': IonicaBizau
Password for 'https://IonicaBizau@gist.github.com':
remote: Repository not found.
fatal: repository 'https://gist.github.com/anonymous/5801....d2f/' not found

They don't even provide an edit button on the Gist page, for anonymous gists. They do have a Delete button associated with the IP (any user having the anonymous Gist link, being connected on the same network, assuming they get the same public ip, can delete the anonymous gist).
Otherwise you have to contact support for deleting the anonymous gist.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In a sudden twist in events, I'm off down to London to collect my prize - cheque not chickens! I'll make my 2nd national press appearance in Saturday's The Sun newspaper. How exciting. So exciting in fact i'm lost for words so i'll keep this one short.


Overdue reviews is a section on the blog where I finally get to play and review a game a while after the game has launched. Chances are you already own it by the time I post these up (not in the case of the game I'm looking at today perhaps), so these reviews are purely to get some content up on the blog in these early days, with games I never reviewed elsewhere being the ones I focus on.
The first time I heard about TurnOn for the Xbox One was back in March, when hearing about an event called earth hour run by the WWF (damn them guys for ruining my wrestling childhood), in which turning off your lights for an hour was all you had to do.
The fact sheet for the game does a better job than I can of explaining the game to you, so here it goes.
"The whole city has been plunged into darkness. After an accident at the power station, a living electric spark must restore electricity to the city and give citizens back their safe and carefree lives. TurnOn tells the spellbinding tale of a brave alien creature and its striking journey through blackout world, in an incredibly colourful and detailed platformer without platforms."
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today revealed some information around the season pass for LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is set for release here in the UK on June 28th.
The Season Pass, which will set you back just £7.99, will extend the the game with exciting new content not seen in the movie as well as new characters to play with.
Three level add-on packs will allow players to experience key events from the film in different ways, including Poe Dameron's journey back to the Resistance base after crash landing on Jakku, the assault on Maz Kanata's castle through the eyes of Kylo Ren, and finally the collapse of Starkiller Base from the perspective of two Resistance pilots.
The Season Pass will also include five Character Packs featuring well-known Star Wars heroes, villains and Droids.
A complete breakdown of the Season Pass content can be found below.
I think it's fair to say that Homefront perhaps never saw the best release when the game launched back on May 20th here in the UK, with the game seeing a ton of mixed reviews and previews around the Internet. Because of this, before I even got a hold of my copy and playing it for myself I was a little worried as to what the game had in store for me. I'm not one of these guys who played the original Homefront back on the 360 either, so if you want a review from someone who has played that one too, I suggest looking elsewhere.
A few titles have been added to the BC list on the Xbox One today, with DuckTales: Remastered Hexic 2, Magic 2012, Domino Master & Unbound Saga, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown being the games now available to play again via this service. The current list of games now available with the service can be found on the blog of Major Nelson, which you can go take a look at by clicking here. Now Excuse me why I have an excuse to listen to the DuckTales theme song again and again.
Microsoft have just announced what two Xbox 360 and Xbox One games they can expect to download as part as their Xbox Live subscription thanks to Games With Gold, and turns out they are alright.
Xbox Live Gold members can look forward to downloading Goat Simulator first on the Xbox One, with the game being available from June 1st. Following up on June 16th right through until July 15th you can also get your hands on Ubisoft's The Crew.
As for Xbox 360 owners, they will get Super Meat Boy from June 1st right trough until June 15th. Then on June 16th they can download the next choice with XCOM: Enemy Unknown Taking over. Both 360 games are of course also available via backwards compatibility on the Xbox One.
Earlier this week I was thinking to myself how well things had been done to promote Overwatch, a game now available on PS4, XB1, and PC.
Not only have we seen characters from the game be turned into giant figures in public places, but we've also seen some of the best damn trailers via the shorts that the game has seen in recent weeks.
Check out the amazing shorts by clicking here, and why not watch me getting a play of the game in a stream from late last night, one of many that I plan to do on Overwatch in the next week or so.
A review on Overwatch is being worked on as we speak, so expect that on the blog very soon.
I had been looking forward to playing this later this week, but yesterday came the news I had been expecting with Dovetail being pretty quiet on release week. The Xbox One version will be seeing a delay "due to the game still being in testing and certification" said the post on the website. The post went on to say "We are working very hard to make this delay as small as possible and we will of course keep you up to date with our progress and give you a new launch date shortly."
Hopefully we are not waiting too long for this, as I was genuinely really looking forward to getting my hands on this. I will be sure to keep you posted on future updates, and as I soon as I learn of a new release date I will be sure to pass the news on.
With this game only coming out on the game preview program earlier in the week, while downloading it I never actually found the time to play it until late last night. In my previous post I said I expected pretty much a No Man's Sky experience but in water, but man was I wrong. While the game is indeed about exploration and crafting items while surviving, I have to say in my short time with the game so far it has me hooked, so much so that I am going to buy it next week.
Since leaving my previous place or writing, as you would expect certain publishers are not as giving and friendly as they once were when I had 3,000+ followers and such on social media. As a father of two and a stay at home Dad, going out and picking up every new release for the Xbox One so I can review it on the website, is an option that just simply will never happen. Talking with the Wife about bills and dropping into conversation"Mirror's Edge Catalyst is out soon love" followed by a wink, just doesn't have the same effect it did back when we were young, free, and not having to dress and feed the two kids we have. Games are bloody expensive these days, and the days of picking up a new release for under £30.00 like you could do on the Xbox 360 is just not possible now in the age of new-gen.
Had my eye on this for a few weeks, as consoles have been screaming out for a decent fishing game since SEGA Bass Fishing. Euro Fishing has been out on Steam now since late last year, and now has a target release scheduled for the Xbox One on May 26th. If you also fancy a bit of settee fishing you can expect to pay £14.99, $18.49, €18.49 when picking it up if all goes well for the release next week.
No gameplay or anything like that just yet, but look out sometime next week when hopefully review code is made available and I will be sure to take a good look at it. For now though here are some bullet points from the Xbox One store page for the game as well as the original treailer for the Steam release.
Basic Cast Control: An entry level (power bar style) casting system for new users to experience the game before trying to master "Total Cast Control"
Think one game that has done a superhero well in a videogame, and Batman would be if not top near the top of that list. It's no surprise then that Warner Bros have just announced that Return To Arkham, a remaster of two much loved Batman Games, are coming to both the PS4 and Xbox One on July 29th, with a suggested retail price of £39.99.
This remaster will offer fans a chance to play both Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, with this version also including all Game of the Year bonuses and downloadable content from both games. The games will also see improved graphics as well as upgraded models, environments, lighting, effects and shaders.
Last week saw me being review free for the first time since starting the blog up back at the end of March, so I took a look around at some recently released games and decided one deserved the review treatment from me. I have a load of these in the pipeline through games I've recently bought or got through a rental service I recently joined for more content on the blog, but the guys at ChAIR Entertainment were kind enough to email me over a review code for this game which released wayyyyyy back on March 16th.
With the game releasing today for those in America, a launch trailer for Homefront: The Revolution has been dropped to celebrate this fact. For guys and girls in the UK like myself we will see a release for the game this Friday (May 20th), with a review for this game coming in the next few weeks, once I get my hands on it.
Also revealed today alongside the trailer was further details on the Expansion Pass.
"The Expansion Pass includes access to the three currently planned single player campaign expansions, and unlocks some exclusive bonuses for use in Homefront's online co-operative experience known as Resistance Mode!
A much larger expansion – Beyond the Walls – will follow in 2017, with more details to follow."
Competitive gaming is massive right now, so much so that kids see it these days as an actual career path, which still blows my mind. Truth be told it will always be something I never get, but that's just because I'm old. Turtle Beach however are all over it like a rash, and are looking to make a headset available to all gamers that looks to have the edge in things you never knew a headset actually needed until now.
The Elite Pro Tournament headset will set you back £169.99 on the Turtle Beach website, and you can pre-order the headset from May 24th. This pro headset offers the following things for your cash.
ComforTec™ Fit System - A revolutionary adjustment system for truly personalized comfort.
Aerofit™ Ear Cushions - Groundbreaking material technologies combine to deliver cooling comfort, better sound and passive noise isolation.
ProSpecs™ Glasses Relief System - Patented technology alleviates ear cushion pressure for gamers who wear glasses.
Deals are to be had this week, as another assortment of games are now on offer at cheaper prices. Thanks to Major Nelson for the info. Some decent games there such as Unravel for just £7.50 and some of the Square Enix stuff is worth taking a look at.
Title of the post says it all really, but for those that want links and such read on. Both Peggle (360) & Costume Quest 2 (XB1) are now available as a free download thanks to the Games With Gold promotion. While I already own Peggle, and am a bit meh about Costume Quest 2, I'm not one to stick my nose up at a free game (I say free, you of course pay for Xbox Live). Trailer, download link and some information can be found below for each game.
Superhot for me was a game I only heard about earlier in the year, as an old website I had a hand in saw one of the guys always talking about it. Starting out life out as a game jam project which saw the game made in just seven days by a group of friends way back in 2013, Superhot is as indie as they come. Releasing the prototype of Superhot onto the Internet closely afterwards it quickly become very popular, seeing it feature on many of the big gaming sites available. Since then Superhot has gone through the Steam Greenlight process during just one weekend, as well as seeing a Kickstarter campaign that saw the game funded within the first 23 hours, with it receiving over $250,000 by the time it ended.
All the above was mostly taken and tweaked from the official website, all information which passed me by when it was actually taking place. So I went into my review of Superhot not knowing that much about it at all, which sometimes is the best way to go into these sort of games.


This cat is holding a bunch of wildflowers. Text on the bookmark: Gather Wildflowers, Drink Moonlight, Thank The Stars, Remember To Dream, To Laugh, To Sing, To Dance...Live To Celebrate Life! The bookmark is 2 1/4" wide x 7" high. Comes in its own plastic sleeve.


text:
Restoring the Front Parlor
Home Preservation Restoration Projects Completed Projects Front Parlor
George and Martha Washington's front parlor is now opened to the public, after a multi-year restoration project. Visitors can see the newly restored and refurnished room on their Mansion tour.
general admission tickets
Located in the Mansion
The Front Parlor
Front Parlor Restoration
Restoration Work Color Change History of the Room FAQs Video
New Room Blue Room Chintz Room Roof Restoration
The front parlor was a site of formal entertainment, featuring fine furnishings and architectural elements. More than thirty years have passed since the room was last completely restored. New forensic analysis of the architecture and significant documentary discoveries have combined to reveal more about the appearance and evolution of the room than was previously known.
The rediscovery of a ledger kept by the Fairfax family of Belvoir plantation provided documentary evidence of the original furniture in the room, furniture that was purchased in London and given by George William Fairfax to his close friend George Washington. While none of the original pieces survives, the curatorial team worked to replicate the Fairfax-Washington furniture based on comparable period examples. The original upholstery fabric—a highlight of the room—is documented as being a silk and worsted wool damask dyed "Saxon blue," a bright and vibrant color that curators worked to replicate.
Object Spotlight
Fairfax Family Ledger
This ledger contains the financial records of William and George William Fairfax. Including the furniture acquisitions that George…
1937 image of the chimneypiece in the Front Parlor. MVLA.
The last comprehensive conservation of the room's paneling occurred more than half a century ago, and the current work addressed problems identified in recent years. Earlier restoration efforts used techniques that prevent the paneling system from expanding and contracting in response to natural seasonal changes in humidity. They also obscured small details of moldings that made the room a showpiece.
During the course of the work, the architecture team removed several panels for conservation, thereby providing access to the earlier architectural features predating the current paneling (installed between 1757 and the early 1760s). In addition, the architecture team reanalyzed the previous generation of paint analysis and determined that the room was painted a cream color during George Washington's life rather than the current blue. At the conclusion of this project, the room was repainted cream using hand-ground pigments replicating the original. The architecture team also addressed needed repairs to the ceiling and windows, as well as conserve the mantel, overmantel, hearth, and floors.
Paint removal from one of the east wall panels.
Reinstalling panels on the east wall.
Temporarily removing the chair rail.
A glimpse behind the east wall paneling.
In-situ, early generation molded plaster paneling behind the wood paneling.
Profile of the early molded plaster paneling.
Cataloging the molded plaster paneling.
The greenhouse built for wood paneling rehumidification.
Wood paneling rehumidification underway.
In-situ conservation efforts to treat the south wall paneling.
Prepping the chair rail for paining.
East wall and chimneypiece after treatment and repainting.
Restoration Work
The restoration of the room required extensive research, physical investigation, and conservation and restoration work.
One of the most exciting and intensively-studied discoveries during the front parlor restoration project was that the color on the room's woodwork was conclusively not blue during the Washingtons' lifetimes, but a stone or cream color.
Since the start of the front parlor restoration project, visitors have asked a variety of questions about the project and the history of the room.
Changes through Time
Since the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association purchased Mount Vernon, the organization has worked to restore each room to how it was during Washington's life. Over the years, a number of changes have occurred in the front parlor.
Object Spotlight: The Fairfax Ledger
Re-Creating the Front Parlor Chairs
Front Parlor Update: The Ceiling
Front Parlor Update: Restoring the Panels
The Front Parlor Renovation Project 2017-2018
Front Parlor Restoration: Project Introduction
The restoration of the Front Parlor was made possible through the generous support of The Founders, Washington Committee for Historic Mount Vernon; the Dr. Scholl Foundation; Dr. and Mrs. James S. Reibel; the Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; Richard and Susan Ammerman; Mr. Paul Neely; Mr. Harold B. Smith; and hundreds of donors from across the country.
Front Parlor
The front parlor and its furnishings and architecture are a complex compilation of objects that evolved over more than forty years of the Washingtons' marriage.


text:
Parashat Chayei Sarah
by John Paul Bolano
Parashat Chayei Sarah – Erev Shabbat 22 November 2019
Week of 17-23 November 2019
Torah portion: Gen. 23:1-25:18 Haftarah: 1 Kgs. 1:1-31
Theme: : Passing on to the next life, passing on to the next generations
In this parashah and haftarah, we can notice a parallelism of "passing on." On both accounts, there is a mention of characters passing on to the next life: Sarah at the beginning of the parashah and Abraham at the end, while the haftarah recounts the event of the last days of David. However, we can also notice that the stories are not merely stories of characters passing on to the next life but stories that involve an act of passing on to the next generation things of value: land, security, family, kingship.
In the parashah, we need to be reminded, as what Rabbi Sacks also notes, that G-d called Abraham to leave his homeland to settle in a strange land which G-d will give him and his descendants as an inheritance (Gen 12:1). Yet in the parashah, he did not have any piece of land to call his own, that he even had to prostate himself before the Hittites, pay a hefty price just to have a burial site for Sarah. Likewise, in the same promise, God promised that Abraham will become the father of many nations. Yet in the parashah, we notice that the promise was not yet fulfilled and that he even had to make his servant Eliezer promise to find Isaac a wife, and thus for Isaac to establish a family. At the twilight of his life, Abraham still lives in the uncertainty of whether G-d's promise will be fulfilled, yet he soldiers on. He sees to it that he passes on to Isaac even just a hint of the fulfillment of the promise: a parcel of land, and a promise of continuity, a wife.
On the other hand, in the haftarah, David is now advanced in age and we can very well say that despite his misgivings in the past, he is in a well-off position: he is still the king of a great nation, with power and wealth at his disposal. These he passes on to the next generation, but not without conflict. His sons, Solomon and Adonijah, and their allies are caught up in a power struggle, of dividing the inheritance even before he actually dies.
Here we can find a glaring difference between the manner of the passing on of the two characters. Abraham, passes on a tiny flicker of hope to his descendants coming from a place of want, of a promise yet to be fulfilled. He passes on a piece of land, and his act of helping his son find a wife. David passes on a kingdom, power, and wealth. David however passes on these valuables in a situation of conflict among his children, a power struggle, even of violence. Abraham passes these on and passes on with his sons' reconciliation, marked by seeing Isaac and Ishmael being together to bury their father. Fishbane comments that "Abraham and David represent two distinct models of aging." He ages and dies with harmony, peace, wholeness. His death ends with the reconciliation of his sons. David, on the other hand, as Fishbane notes, "enters old age more catastrophically. . . David's 'fullness' (kol) is one of will and conceit, far removed from the noble 'wholeness' of Abraham."
Taking this to our own experience, we go through the process of receiving what the earlier generation has passed on to us, and eventually, we will pass on what we hold valuable to the next generation. In this process of receiving and passing on, we look at how we as individuals, as communities and as societies pass on, what we pass on, what remains after we have passed on. We hope that the legacy we leave is that of shalom, of fullness, of wholeness, like that of Abraham.
For Reflection and Discussion: [1] What kind of family, community, society do we pass on to the future generations? [2] By imagining we are at our life's end, how would the next generation remember us?
Bibliography: Michael Fishbane, "Haftarah for Chayyei Sarah" in The JPS Bible Commentary Haftarot (Philadephia, 2002), 34; Jonathan Sacks, "A Journey of a Thousand Miles," in Covenant and Conversation Chayei Sarah 5777 (http://rabbisacks.org/journey-thousand-miles-chayei-sarah-5777/).
Parashah CommentariesWeekly Commentaries
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text:
Bratislava: Slovak government overthrown by vote of no confidence
In Slovakia, the conservative-populist government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger was overthrown by a vote of no confidence.
15 December 2022 Thursday 10:56
In Slovakia, the conservative-populist government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger was overthrown by a vote of no confidence. In the Bratislava parliament on Thursday, 78 out of 150 MPs voted in favor of a motion of no confidence from the liberal Freedom and Solidarity Party (SaS). Until the beginning of September, the SaS itself was still a member of the governing coalition of the EU and NATO member states.
Who will govern Slovakia in the future now depends primarily on President Zuzana Caputova. It can provisionally instruct the fallen government to continue its work until a new coalition is formed. But it can also set up a government of experts.
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A multipurpose senior center offering a variety of recreation and education programs such as physical fitness, crafts, support groups, bridge, ceramics and yoga. Publishes a newsletter of activities and information of interest to seniors in Pacifica. Staff provide information about community services to persons age 60 or over and their families. Appointments can be made with appropriate agencies and transportation can be located if needed. Assistance is available for questions related to housing, employment, household help and repairs, recreation and social activities, financial assistance, health and counseling services, services to the homebound, home delivered meals and more. Maintains information about special discounts for seniors. Tax assistance is offered by AARP. Keeps a file of housing available. Health insurance counseling is available by appointment. Serves a hot meal at noon five days a week for persons age 60 or over. Arranges to deliver meals to the homes of residents unable to prepare their own food and who have no one to cook for them (call 650-738-7350). Other services offered regularly include podiatry service, and nutrition and health lectures. Volunteer participation is needed in the areas of delivering Meals on Wheels, teaching, staffing the gift shop, food services, reception and in the SASH (Shopping Assistance for Seniors who are Homebound) program. Free movies shown every Friday. SIA members 60 or over can make an appointment on the first and third Monday of each month for a $10 haircut.
SAMTRANS stops at center. Transportation to the center can also be arranged for $2.50 round trip donation. Transportation to medical appointments in Daly City (Seton) and South San Francisco (Kaiser) is $20.
$3 suggested donation for meal. Cash and checks accepted.


Could the secret to improving health be…on your finger? This stretch Good Health Ring of pearl-like coated hematite stone features a center bead of rose quartz, which some say promotes healing. Wear on different fingers to help with different problems-may help with headaches, arthritis, menstrual pains, food cravings and more. One size fits most.
Note: This product is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Magnetic jewellery should not be worn by people who have pacemakers, are pregnant or are nursing.


It all started in 2008 on auction sites, selling to the UK and rest of the European Market. A wide range of products aimed at companies and general consumers were sold. What was found was, buyers wanted their purchases sent to them as quickly as possible, so the aim was to deliver most items, within 1-2 working days with international recognized, top courier companies at low prices.
Using the knowledge and experience gained from selling online, DirectstoreUK went into development in 2009-2010 & in 2011 became DirectStoreUK Ltd . The company's aims are to sell products at low prices, getting them delivered to you as quickly as possible, achieving high customer satisfaction.
We compare prices of hundreds of items with major high street stores and internet sellers, including ebay stores, to provide the most competitive prices. We also provide the latest, top quality products, available on the market, imported from all over the world, getting your purchases delivered straight to your door, using recognized couriers.
Here at DirectStoreUK we are working with Local Businesses, to reduce Cardboard ending up at Landfill. We have weekly Collections, where we collect packing materials, such as cardboard that has been used for transporting/ Packing for other goods, & pick out the re-usable bits.
This recycled cardboard is then used as extra packing material along side our regular packing material, providing extra protection, whilst goods are in transport from our warehouse to your door. The Bits we don't use are dropped of at our local mini recycle centre.
Aswell as becoming Greener, re-used packaging, and also means reduced cost for shipping your items.
The Greener future campaign not only involves DirectStoreUK Ltd & Local Business but our customers too are contributing, simply by buying from DirectStoreUK Ltd.
DirectStoreUK Recycle Campaign has been running almost a year now & has been successful & we thank all the local business, our staff & our customers for being part of the Greener Future Campaign.


text:
Other Religions Paganism and Wicca
Luis Diaz Devesa / Moment / Getty Images
Sabbats and Holidays
Rituals and Ceremonies
Wicca Gods
Wicca Traditions
Wicca Resources for Parents
Paganism Expert
B.A., History, Ohio University
Patti Wigington is a pagan author, educator, and licensed clergy. She is the author of Daily Spellbook for the Good Witch, Wicca Practical Magic and The Daily Spell Journal.
When Valentine's Day looms on the horizon, many people start thinking about love. Did you know that the modern Valentine's Day, although named for a martyred saint, actually has its roots in an early Pagan custom? Let's take a look at how Valentine's Day evolved from a Roman festival into the marketing behemoth that it is today.
The festival of Valentine's Day may have evolved from a Roman love lottery, held around the time of the Lupercalia.
The holiday got an overhaul as Christianity took hold, and was renamed for Saint Valentine.
Around 500 c.e., Pope Gelasius decided that a lottery of saints was more pious than selecting potential love partners out of a jar.
Lupercalia's Love Lottery
February is a great time of year to be in the greeting-card or chocolate-heart industry. This month has long been associated with love and romance, going back to the days of early Rome. Back then, February was the month in which people celebrated Lupercalia, a festival honoring the birth of Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of the city. As Lupercalia evolved and time went on, it morphed into a festival honoring fertility and the coming of spring.
According to legend, young women would place their names in an urn. Eligible men would draw a name and the couple would pair off for the rest of the festival, and sometimes even longer. As Christianity progressed into Rome, the practice was decried as Pagan and immoral, and done away with by Pope Gelasius around 500 C.E. Recently there's been some scholarly debate about the existence of the Lupercalia lottery–and some people believe it may not have existed at all–but it's still a legend that brings to mind ancient matchmaking rituals perfect for this time of year!
A More Spiritual Celebration
Around the same time that the love lottery was being eliminated, Gelasius had a brilliant idea. Why not replace the lottery with something a bit more spiritual? He changed the love lottery to a lottery of the Saints; instead of pulling a pretty girl's name from the urn, young men pulled the name of a saint. The challenge for these bachelors was to try to be more saint-like in the coming year, studying and learning about the messages of their individual saint.
Who Was Valentine, Anyway?
Fototeca Storica Nazionale / Contributor / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
While he was trying to convince Rome's young nobleman to be more saintly, Pope Gelasius also declared St. Valentine (more on him in just a bit) the patron saint of lovers, and his day was to be held every year on February 14. There is some question about who St. Valentine actually was; he may have been a priest during the reign of the Emperor Claudius.
The legend is that the young priest, Valentine, disobeyed Claudius by performing wedding ceremonies for young men, when the Emperor preferred to see them roped into military service rather than marriage. While imprisoned, Valentine fell in love with a young girl who visited him, perhaps the daughter of the jailer. Before he was executed, he allegedly sent her a letter, signed, From your Valentine. No one knows if this story is true, but it certainly makes St. Valentine a romantic and tragic hero.
The Christian church had a hard time maintaining some of these traditions, and for a while St. Valentine's Day disappeared off the radar, but during medieval times the lover's lottery regained popularity. Chivalrous young men paired off with ladies, and wore the names of their lover on their sleeves for a year. In fact, some scholars blame poets like Chaucer and Shakespeare for the evolution of Valentine's Day into today's celebration of love and romance. In a 2002 interview, Gettysburg College professor Steve Anderson said that it wasn't really a big deal until Geoffrey Chaucer penned The Parliament of Fowls, in which all of the birds on earth get together on Valentine's Day to pair up with their mates for life.
"[Gelasius] hoped that early Christians would celebrate their romantic traditions a day early and dedicate them to the saint rather than to the Roman love goddess Juno... the feast day stuck, but the romantic holiday didn't... Unlike Pope Gelasius's feast day, Chaucer's 'lovebirds' took off."
Modern Valentine's Day
Around the end of the 18th century, Valentine's Day cards began to appear. Small pamphlets were published, with sentimental poems that young men could copy and send to the object of their affections. Eventually, printing houses learned there was a profit to be made in pre-made cards, complete with romantic pictures and love-themed verse. The first American Valentine cards were created by Esther Howland in the 1870s, according to Victorian Treasury. Other than Christmas, more cards are exchanged at Valentine's Day than any other time of the year.
Wigington, Patti. "Valentine's Day." Learn Religions, Sep. 1, 2021, learnreligions.com/valentines-day-pagan-celebrations-2562121. Wigington, Patti. (2021, September 1). Valentine's Day. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/valentines-day-pagan-celebrations-2562121 Wigington, Patti. "Valentine's Day." Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/valentines-day-pagan-celebrations-2562121 (accessed January 19, 2022).
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