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With Law Depot, your online divorce is easily prepared and confidently guaranteed to be accepted by the court. Unfortunately, only a few states are currently eligible for Law Depot's online divorce service.


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Renault Predicts the Future of Formula One With R.S. 2027 Vision Concept
A hybrid prototype race car gets eyeballs at the Shanghai Auto Show.
By Caleb JacobsApril 20, 2017
Caleb JacobsView Caleb Jacobs's Articles
twitter.com/calebjacobs0611
Formula 1 cars seem to be approaching engineering perfection, but according to Renault, there's plenty of room for improvement, as the company has shown with the R.S. 2027 Vision Concept. This prototype is the French automaker's prediction of what the fastest racing series in the world will look like in 10 years.
The R.S. 2027 Vision Concept is an aggregation of seemingly every direction F1 seems to be headed in. It's driven by a hybrid powertrain that produces over 1,300 horsepower while weighing only 1,300 pounds—reaching that perfect 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. It has next-generation safety equipment, including a transparent driver's canopy that covers the cockpit while offering optimal track vision. The car is even connected to the audience in a way that we've never seen, broadcasting its telemetry on the internet for fans to see.
The long and short of it is this: the R.S. 2027 Vision Concept improves on everything F1 is already doing while focusing more on both performance and crowd engagement.
It's substantially different than cars of today. It favors cost-efficiency by ditching expensive hydraulic suspension and instituting an active system that recycles energy back into the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System). Thanks to that, teams can use single suppliers for many of their parts while also making their cars more efficient and, get this, faster. With the help of hybrid technology, the R.S. 2027 Vision is driven by all four wheels with a turbo V6 powering the rear and two electric motors propelling the front -- four wheel steering also makes its debut here. Some autonomous features aid the drivers during caution laps and pit trips as well.
Not only will the machines be more advanced, so will the series as a whole. Renault believes that Formula 1 should take an approach similar to Formula E for crowd-involvement, allowing fans to give drivers "boosts" for popularity, giving them special power ups for the race. This is a new-age twist on the traditional run-what-you-brung concept, but it adds a unique element to the ever-evolving F1 experience. Races would be split in half, making for one longer stint and one shorter one, expanding the event for fan interaction.
It'll be interesting to see how F1 and fellow racing teams will respond to the R.S. 2027 Vision Concept as it demands a reaction. It's a bold statement that stands for the near future, and with Renault remaining a front-runner in innovation, it could set the pace for other manufacturers in the next ten years.
Formula 1: McLaren-Honda Troubles Continue During Bahrain Testing
When will the misery end?
Renault F1's Poster Artist Is Back at it for the Chinese Grand Prix
The work doesn't endear itself like Manor's posters did, but is appreciated nonetheless.
Renault Alpine Teaser Video Released
We get to see a little more of the playful French sports car.
This Renault 5 Turbo is a Fireball Spitting Riot
From rally racing to hillclimbs, the French have got you covered.
Formula 1: Vettel Wins in Bahrain as Penalty Costs Hamilton
"The Easter hunt was on. They were hiding some eggs, but it looks like we found them today," said Vettel after the race.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This Month mask making has become a great interest created from Zhang making superhero masks, this has stemmed into a wider variety of imaginary play. Exploring role play further through creating various masks, crowns, puppets and a puppet theatre and supporting this interest further through the creation of our role play area within our room. We moved our room around in order to create a bigger quiet corner as this was in high demand and implemented things in this area from the children's voices. Our interest in music heavily continues this month, this along with our interest in role play has created a lot of performances within the Joey room this month. We have had an incursion in which Miss Nichol's neighbour came in to share his musical talent with us.
This month in the Joey room we have been exploring the interest of patterns. We have investigated patterns in our environment, in nature, manmade patterns and many more. The project had a great balance of child led and teacher led experiences, which reflected the length and interest of the project as it reached almost six weeks.
We observed lots of role playing and dramatic play as small groups of children put on shows and sang songs in the cubby house.
Music has heavily been incorporated into our room introducing a new music inspired area with various instruments both real and handmade by the Joey's children. This began through Matteo's piano playing skills and Mr Joel playing guitar with the children and introducing new rhythm and beat activities and skills.
Over the last few weeks we have been exploring people in our community and have incorporated a shop learning area into our room. This began as an interest from Xavier and turned into an ongoing collaborative learning process for all the Joey children. We went our first ever Erina Kindergarten excursion to explore and investigate this interest further.
We have recently added a fine motor learning area for the children to visit at their own pace. This has been incorporated into the room as we understand children learn at different speeds and in different ways. The level of difficulty of experiences within this area caters for the children's changing needs.
Reduce, re-use and recycle. We love this phrase and live by it in the Joey room. We love to give old items a new purpose in our room and greatly appreciate any donated items you don't need anymore.
This month in the Joey room we responded to the children's voices and involved them in the decision making process of changing our interest/learning areas. Harry, Ryder and Hunter all said they would like to have dinosaurs out. Within this area we explored the dinosaurs names, focusing on specific characteristics of the dinosaurs to distinguish them. We participated in large group experiments and demonstrated skills such as investigation and curiosity during our play in this area. A lot of parallel and cooperative play was observed as the children played along side each other and formed small groups to play dinosaurs.
We implemented a sorting and classifying learning area, this was in response to Macey and Alannah's interest of sorting in the sandpit with the coloured buckets. We have used real life situations such as noticing difference and similarities amongst ourselves and we have also incorporated our interest in dinosaurs through this concept such as sorting tall and short, two legs and four legs etc. an area has been created to support this interest. We have changed the items to sort as the children request to continue challenging them.
Overall in the Joey room this month we have noticed and responded to an interest in drawing and writing. The children are showing their peers and educators how they are writing letters and their names.
The Joey's participated in a lot of interests and topics this month exploring Space, Shapes and our new space area. For our Space area the Joey's explored the Solar System identifying and exploring each planet in space, the children created spaceships, rocket ships, planets and the star galaxy using different craft tools. This topic was extended on the children's interest via them creating rocket's ships with our wooden blocks.
The Joey's discussed with Miss Nichol about what they would like to change our areas too. The children really shown an interest in fire and emergency equipment, we used intentional teaching to set up this area with the children and allowing the children to create fire trucks with shapes. This allowed Miss Ellie and Miss Nichol to follow on the children's interest in shapes exploring the difference between 3D and 2D shapes during group time.
The Joey's have explored their emotions this week by allowing themselves to learn how to deal with them. Alannah shared her news about our Zebra friend Asha, and how she took him home to see her family! The Joey's discussed about Australia Day this week beginning to learn about the importance about Australia Day and drawing their very own Australian flags. We are finishing our special 'Joey family tree' in the Joey's Room, don't forget to bring in your beautiful family photos!
In the Joey room we have implemented a colour learning area. This was created to extend the interests of Rocco and Jake who came to their educators and shared their thoughts about rainbows and colour mixing experiments.
We would like to take this opportunity to introduce our Joey room pet zebra named Asha. Asha likes to go home with you for about a week and share in some of the adventures that your family's participates in. When Asha comes back your child shares the stories with their peers during news time.
A friendly reminder that toys from home are preferred to stay at home. We have incorporated a 'Toys from home' box in which your child is able to leave their toys from home in if they do need to bring them.
Welcome to the Joey's room!
We have had a beautiful first week settling into the room, learning about each other and making new friends. "Getting to know you!" Was a huge topic this week, allowing the children to learn more about each others interest outside of the Joey's room. We have also been discussing about rainbows and colours, allowing the children to extend on their knowledge about this topic. The Joey's have participated in a rainbow science experiment, mixing colours experiences and getting creative with their drawing and painting.


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Dispatches From Kansas: We're back from the Land of Enchantment..
We're back from the Land of Enchantment..
Green with envy, we are. Love the Pontiac.
The Pontiac Cheiftan is awesome. The approaching storm on your header is frightening. The mess of food looks delicious and the land of enchantment is enchanting!
My favorite photo of the group? Sixth up from the bottom. What a study of light, shadow and geologic time. Well done!
Love your Pontiac grill photos, Tom!


Today started out good, nice breakfast and the weather outside was sunny, a bit chilly but nice. Everything went south 10mins after I started the spin, both my knees went nuts. The pain wasn't crazy but just enough to be really annoying. I made the decision to not do the planned 5hrs and head back to the hotel, not a good feeling. Back at the hotel I iced my knees, took some anti-inflammatories and broke the news to Andy. I decided to go to the track session that was available in the afternoon, I didn't want the whole day to be a waste.
At approx 12.30pm I headed of to the track, it's takes about 30mins to get to the there from the hotel. When I got there Andy quizzed me on what state I was in and we decided to play it by ear. Figure this out, in the warmup I didn't even feel my knee pain! Seeing the body was ok I was up for a bit of tolerance work which involves going flat out for 6 laps and resting for about 10 laps times 3. It's a pretty nasty session but it feels good to get it done. I did that session twice then headed for the nearest pharmacy to get some painkillers.
I'm sitting in the hotel room now and my head is all over the place, I'm not where I want it to be at the minute and the fact that my knees are playing up out doesn't help me. I'm heading down for dinner soon so i'll leave ya with a photo of my track bike after today's session, I think I need to lose some weight!!


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Best Western Movie About Texas Never Made
All you "Lonesome Dove" fans, listen up!
The best western movie about Texas hasn't been made yet, but it should be. We all need a story to lift us up and make us proud. "John Cody" made me laugh, cry and say a thankful prayer that someone has finally captured how conflicted but caring people can be in small town Texas. Now let's get someone in the film business to get this movie off page and onto the screen!
Best Western Movie about Texas
Here's the background. While I was in hill country a few weeks ago, I met James Earl, a musician and writer. Five years ago he wrote a screen play called "John Cody", about a retired oil wildcatter who goes a little crazy after his wife of 40 years dies. John only finds solace when he's reading his beloved westerns and eventually starts to believe he is back in 1871. It's a beautiful story of how his best friend and his small town pull together to protect him. I read the entire screenplay in an afternoon while sitting outside in San Antonio. We need a feel-good story.
Jim had a few friends who got together to help him film a short trailer to show on youtube for prospective producers. It is shocking what a good job they did with small town acquaintances playing different roles and drones filming the wide open spaces. One of those friends contacted me and that's how I happened to hear about it.
Here's how Jim Earl describes it:
It is set in the 1980's in the small South Texas town of Vaquero. John is a seventy-five year old retired wildcatter, who has just lost his wife and companion of 42 years. He attempts to cope with his loneliness by immersing himself in every western book he can lay his hands on. When an alarmingly rapid form of psychosis takes hold, John starts to have visions of the Old West circa 1871, scenes the film audience experiences through his eyes.
John's best friend and longtime employee, Beau, takes notice. Beau does his best to protect John, ultimately partnering with him in a 24-hour quest for the Old West of John's waking dreams.
The scenery has a starring role
"John Cody" reads like a modern-day version of Cervantes' Don Quixote with the beauty of the Great American West and Texas as its backdrop. At its core, it is this simple and touching tale of friendship, devotion and loyalty – not too shabby a reputation to be stuck with.
Who the heck is James Earl?
If the screenwriter, James Earl, sounds familiar, it is because you may have seen him fronting The Arbuckle Boys.The Arbuckle Boys was a cowboy band that sang authentic cowboy songs from the era of the cattle drives and dressed in authentic cowpoke outfits. They performed for western aficionados like George W. Bush and Lady Bird Johnson, and at venues like the American Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma, the annual cowboy breakfasts at the King Ranch, and at festivals around the US. Because cowboys have such a mystique in Europe and Asia, some of their biggest fans are outside the US borders.
Maybe trail drives and music appealed to James because like me, he was a military brat, moving from place to place. His dad was one of the singing cadets of Texas A&M who met James' mom at a concert in Armadillo.
James' love of all things authentically (cattle) driven led him to create and stage a play in San Antonio called "Trail Drive–1871". Around that same time, James reread the classic Don Quixote. Suddenly the plot for "John Cody" started to gel.
And now, years later, I got to read it on a summer afternoon while sitting in a lawn chair in old town San Antonio.
What can you do to help get it made? Watch the video and share it with friends. Somewhere there is a connection to a Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson, Matthew McConaughey, or Tommy Lee Jones who grew up in San Saba or Uvalde or any of a hundred other small Texas towns. Help Jim find that connection to someone who will give us "John Cody" on 50 foot screen with surround sound to tell a true Texas story.
Send a comment and I'll forward to James Earl or comment on his youtube link.
Filed Under: Featured Post, People · Tagged: Best Western Movie, John Cody, Old West, Western Movie


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Coming Out In Israel: How I Embrace Being Gay and Jewish
December 6, 2018 Mikhal Weiner
I would be lying if I said that coming out was easy.
I was born Jewish, and I was born gay. But only one of these facts was immediately obvious. I realized the latter in middle school but only came to accept it in my mid-20s. Being Jewish, though, that was clear from the get-go. I grew up steeped in Jewish culture, ideas, traditions, and philosophy. My family is traditional and was pretty observant while I was growing up in Israel, where your specific location on a spectrum of Jewish observance will usually define everything about your life.
My family is different from most Israeli families, in that our religious observance is egalitarian and liberal. Equal opportunity Judaism is much more widespread in diaspora communities than it is back home, and we were one of the families that stood apart, seeing observance on a spectrum instead of on a binary. I was never afraid that the religion in my home wouldn't accept me. It was the staunch orthodoxy that permeated every other aspect of Israeli society that constructed seemingly impossible barriers to coming out.
Israel in the late '90s and early 2000s, when I was coming of age, was not a gay-friendly place. It's still complicated to be anything other than heteronormative (especially outside of Tel Aviv), but back then, it was just not a thing you could tell people without serious repercussions. I didn't know any out gay people while I was growing up. It was something that folks talked about in hushed voices, if at all. I didn't need to be told that coming out would be a choice to exist on the outskirts of society.
Although being more liberal in our faith placed my family somewhat on the outskirts, Jewish practice still played a major role in our home. We observed all the holidays. We kept kosher. We went to synagogue every Friday evening and every Shabbat morning. Every Saturday, for Shabbat, we abstained from TV, computers, phones, cars, cooking—all of it. It was a day of rest and board games and reading books. Sometimes after synagogue, we would walk a mile to the local library, and we'd sit for hours, reading, and choosing new stories. I remember those afternoons as quiet, but also as full of adventure as my sister and I swallowed book after book, reading our way around the world.
I went to religious schools all the way through ninth grade. Morning prayers. Afternoon prayers. Torah studies. Mishnah. Talmud. I learned to taste the world through Judaism.
When I was fourteen, I started a diary. In it, I wrote about a recurring daydream in which I was kissing a girl in my class.
"Dear Diary," I wrote, "Do you think this makes me a lesbian?"
The next year I transferred out of religious school, starting tenth grade at a secular high school for musicians and dancers. I joined the choir, and dived head first into the culture at my new school. I'd never hung out with secular kids, and they were different. They went out on Friday nights, got drunk, smoked weed, and dressed however they wanted
Soon, so did I.
I had boyfriends, flings, one-night stands. I kept hoping one of these awkward teenage guys would make me feel something. Sometimes, if I was drunk enough, they did… sort of.
There were zero out lesbians at my high school, including faculty. There were two out gay boys in my grade who were somewhat accepted, but mostly just fetishized and fawned over—not really seen as fully human. I did kiss a few girls, but I always blamed it on the booze, laughing it off in the morning.
"Dear Diary," I scribbled, 15 years old and worried, "I think I need to break up with my boyfriend. I'm just not attracted to him. I hope he doesn't think that I'm a bitch."
Around this time I dropped out of my religious youth movement. With all my new extracurricular activities (a lot of choir, but also a lot of partying), there wasn't time for prayer services, holiday gatherings, or study sessions. I also stopped going to synagogue every Shabbat, pleading too much homework, then for most Shabbatot, until I wasn't going at all. By senior year, I could party with the best of them. I was known for it.
I was also totally closeted and totally miserable.
"Dear Diary, I think I'm attracted to women," I wrote in another journal, 18 years old and trying hard to figure this out. "And I don't know why. But what's for sure is that I'll never be able to act on it."
In Israel, after high school, most young people serve several mandatory years in the army, and that's what I did. I re-joined my religious youth movement for my stint in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Almost immediately, I began to pray. A lot.
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1)
I woke up early, every day, to read psalms. I started to keep the laws of Shabbat again, even more fiercely than before. I was strict about keeping kosher and became angry with others when they watched TV on Saturdays. Even if I couldn't go to synagogue, I read the prayers to myself. I tried to imbue the words with intention, tried to find meaning. It was a chaotic time, and the words gave me a core to hold onto.
I wrote in my diary, in various ways, the same words.
"You cannot, cannot, cannot be attracted to women," scribbled on one page, over and over, "Just stop thinking these thoughts. Just stop." I couldn't say the word 'gay' yet.
I repeated these phrases to myself, trying to re-pattern my brain. I'd learned, in therapy, that you can force your mind to learn new patterns if you consciously make yourself aware of your subconscious urges. Sure, my therapist was talking about something else entirely (I hadn't even told her about my thoughts), but it had to apply here, didn't it?
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for You are with me." (Psalm 23:4)
Slowly, the praying started to help—not with quelling undesirable urges, but with finding comfort, solace, and understanding. I was waking up early but reading the psalms in a new way. One morning I looked upwards at the sky and said a prayer of thanks for the ability to pray.
At this point, I was dating a man, but I was slowly coming around to the idea that this thing that I've always known about myself might be an unavoidable truth, something I would have to face, one way or another at some point. The only way out is through.
I was terrified.
"I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.'" (Psalm 91:2)
Eventually, push came to shove. When I met the woman who would be my wife, I could no longer keep on running. I didn't want to anymore. I wanted to feel these things, freely, and I was so tired. Tired of trying to suppress the thoughts that just wouldn't go away. I had given it my best shot, and it wasn't going to happen.
We had met in a songwriting class at the college we were attending outside Tel Aviv, and I couldn't stop thinking about her, making excuses to hang out, offering to do group projects together, study groups, all of it. One evening, when I was helping her with some homework, we'd kissed, and there was really no way back from that earthquake. So we kept meeting up after school, more and more frequently, taking some pretty extreme measures to make sure that no one at school knew. For months I felt like I was sleepwalking. This had to be a dream.
Spending time with her made me feel ablaze, like I'd been struck by lightning. I wanted to keep feeling like that.
I would be lying if I said that coming out was easy, that the strength I found in faith softened everything and it all just worked out. Once it became clear that this relationship was real, and not about to melt away into our pasts, we told our families and our friends at school. Some conversations were harder than others.
The road out wound its way through a lot of tears, anger, arguments, and thorny conversations. My parents were scared for me, they knew what we all knew, that there is a price to pay for being open about who I am. Eventually, they came to understand that the price I paid for hiding is far steeper.
My wife and I ended up moving across the ocean, initially for school, but we became enamored by our sudden surroundings. People didn't look at us strangely here, we could hold hands and even kiss in public.
We made it to the other side.
"Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling, there shall no evil befall you neither shall any plague come near your tent." (Psalm 91:9-10)
I was born Jewish, and I was born gay, and it's taken me the better part of three decades to see these two parts of me come together, give me strength, and inform one another. In many ways, I've had to redefine what it means to me to be Jewish, as I've come to terms with being gay and what that means in the wider Jewish community. I never, ever hide today. Through my journey, I've learned compassion, perseverance, faith, and honesty. And I'm still learning.
These days, in our home, we light Shabbat candles and observe the holidays. Most of the time. I've come to realize that Judaism is more than what we do, or what we did as a family when I was growing up. It's how I think. It's the questions I ask, the books I read, and the food I eat. It's in the community I belong to, the events we host in our home. It's the way I connect to myself, to my friends, to my family, and to my wife. It's one of the ways in which we decide what kind of life we want to live, even as we challenge and ask questions. It's finding our winding way through.
coming outcoming out as gaycoming out as lesbiancoming out as queercoming out storyjewishjewish and queerjewish lgbtqlesbian love storylove storyqueer jewish
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CANCELED 9th Ave: Mikhal Dekel
Friday, November 1, 2019 - 7:30pm
This event will be held at our 9th Ave. location.
Mikhal Dekel discusses her new book, Tehran Children: A Holocaust Refugee Odyssey.
Praise for Tehran Children
"A revelatory history, a saga of flight and welcome, of death and head-down survival, a powerful narrative built for this moment. Dekel's sweeping storytelling is marked by heartbreaking restraint and historical sensitivity."—Charles King, Georgetown University, author of Odessa and Midnight at the Pera Palace
"Though their story is seldom told, most Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust did so by taking the road east, into the Soviet Union. In tracing the harrowing journey of her father's escape, Mikhal Dekel provides a multi-layered and nuanced account. . . . Her exploration of the peculiar refugee world in 1940s Tehran — especially the tense relations between Jewish and Catholic Polish refugees in that city – makes the book an important and timely addition to the literature of the Holocaust and modern refugee history." — Tom Reiss, author of The Orientalist and The Black Count
"In this brilliantly conceived narrative, Mikhal Dekel reconstructs her father's and grandmother's circuitous journeys by land and sea through Iran on the way from Poland to Palestine in the years of the Holocaust. Retracing their lives as she lives her own, in turn she illuminates a series of unexpected places absent from many maps of the refugee experience of the era. A striking book."—Samuel Moyn, Yale University, author of Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World
About Tehran Children
Author Mikhal Dekel's father, Hannan Teitel, and her aunt Regina were two of these refugees. After they fled the town in eastern Poland where their family had been successful brewers for centuries, they endured extreme suffering in the Soviet forced labor camps known as "special settlements." Then came a journey during which tens of thousands died of starvation and disease en route to the Soviet Central Asian Republics of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. While American organizations negotiated to deliver aid to the hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews who remained there, Dekel's father and aunt were two of nearly one thousand refugee children who were evacuated via Polish military transport to Iran, where they were embraced by an ancient Persian-Jewish community celebrating familiar rituals in unfamiliar ways. Months later, their Zionist caregivers escorted them via India to Mandatory Palestine, where, at the endpoint of their 13,000 mile journey, they joined hundreds of thousands of refugees (including over one hundred thousand Polish Catholics). The arrival of the "Tehran Children" was far from straightforward, as religious and secular parties vied over their futures in what would soon be Israel.
Beginning with the death of the inscrutable Tehran Child who was her father, Dekel fuses memoir with extensive archival research to recover this astonishing story, with the help of travel companions and interlocutors including an Iranian colleague, a Polish PiS politician, a Russian oligarch, and an Uzbek descendent of Korean deportees. The history she uncovers is one of the worst and the best of humanity, of fate and destiny, of hospitality and of cruelty, of love and hate. The experiences her father and aunt endured, along with so many others, ultimately reshaped and redefined their lives and identities and those of other refugees and rescuers, profoundly and permanently, during and after the war.
With literary grace, Tehran Children presents a unique narrative of the Holocaust, whose governing symbol is not the concentration camp, but the refugee, and whose center is not Europe, but Central Asia and the Middle East.
Tehran Children: A Holocaust Refugee Odyssey (Hardcover)
By Mikhal Dekel
Availability: ON HAND in at least ONE of our stores. Click through or call for up-to-the-minute availability.
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - October 1st, 2019
Fleeing East from Nazi terror, over a million Polish Jews traversed the Soviet Union, many finding refuge in Muslim lands. Their story—the extraordinary saga of two-thirds of Polish Jewish survivors—has never been fully told.
Books on the Park
Coming up next month...
9th Ave: Mary Ladd and Peter Lawrence Kane
9th Ave: Garth Greenwell and R.O. Kwon
9th Ave: Amina Cain and Rita Bullwinkel
9th Ave: Danielle Svetcov
9th Ave: Conor Dougherty
9th Ave: Jenny Offill and Ethan Nosowsky
9th Ave: Emily Nemens and Emily Bell


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Arujna's arrows had nuclear power, says Bengal Governor
Jagdeep Dhankhar. (File Photo: IANS). Image Source: IANS News
Kolkata, Jan 14 : West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday caused eyebrows to be raised with his interpretation of India's epics, saying that in the "Mahabharata", Arjuna's arrows had "nuclear power" while the "Ramayana" has spoken of aircraft.
Ironically, Dhankhar's comments came during his inaugural address at the 45th eastern India Science Fair and 19th Science and Engineering Fair.
"If we delve into our old scriptures... plane was invented in 1910 or 1911. But in Ramayana, we had uran khatola (aircraft). In Mahabhabharata, we had a situation where Sanjay narrated everything and not from the field. We had those arrows of Arjun that had nuclear power," said Dhankhar.
According to Mahabharata, Sanjaya had the gift of seeing events happening at a distance right in front of him, and narrated them to the blind king Dhritarashtra the action in the climactic battle of Kurukshetra, which includes the Bhagavad Gita.
"The world can no longer afford to ignore India," said Dhankhar.
However, taking a dig at the Governor, Indologist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri said "the problem is these Governors appointed by the centre's BJP government are delving into everything. They are know-alls".
He said there was indeed a reference to weapons like 'pashupat astr'0a in Mahabharata which was "capable of destroying the world and the people", and Ramayana did speak of the very speedy "pushpak rath", "But what people like Jagdeep Dhankhar are totally incapable of fathoming is that great poets have very strong power of imagination." Echoing Bhaduri, scientist Sandip Chakraborty said: "Mahabharata also says mind travels the fastest. That denotes the power of imagination.
The ancient poets described all these things based on their imagination." Chakraborty said ancient India had made very good progress.
"But I feel sorry to say people like Dhankhar are damaging the progress made by ancient India," he added.


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text:
Bulletproof Blues 3e EN:GM Resources
1 Extraordinary Attributes
1.1 Attribute Cost
1.2 Agility
1.3 Brawn
1.4 Power Level
2 Hostile Environments
2.1 Darkness
2.2 Dehydration
2.3 Exposure
2.4 Falling
2.6 Poisons
2.7 Pressure
2.8 Radiation
2.8.1 SIDEBAR: Liefeld Radiation
2.9 Sleep Deprivation
2.10 Starvation
2.11 Suffocation
2.12 Vacuum
3 Mass
5 Telling A Story The Kalos Comics Way
5.1 Story Arc Plot
5.1.1 Exposition
5.1.2 Rising Action
5.1.3 Climax
5.1.4 Falling Action
5.1.5 Resolution
5.2 Kishōtenketsu
5.2.1 Ki (Introduction)
5.2.2 Shō (Development)
5.2.3 Ten (Twist)
5.2.4 Ketsu (Reconciliation)
5.3 The Kalos Comics Way
5.4 The Big Example
5.4.1 Step 1: Story Arc Plot
5.4.2 Step 2: Kishōtenketsu
5.4.2.1 Blueshift
5.4.2.1.1 Motivations
5.4.2.1.2 Complications
5.4.2.1.3 History
5.4.2.1.4 Kishōtenketsu
5.4.2.2 Manticore
5.4.2.3 Monolith
5.4.3 Step 3: Integration
5.4.4 Step 4: Fill in the Details
This chapter provides additional information for the game moderator, such as the movement capabilities of beings with attributes far beyond human limits, the mass of commonplace objects, and the speed of various creatures and vehicles.
Extraordinary Attributes
A character's attributes in Bulletproof Blues are normally ranked on a scale from 1 to 10. The tables below provide values for attributes above 10.
Attribute Cost
Table: Extraordinary attribute cost
Cost Per Point
Agility determines a character's base movement speed (running, swimming, etc.). Peak human potential is marked in red.
Table: Extraordinary Agility
(Base Move)
(Double Move)
(All-out Move)
2 m 4 m 12 m 7 km/h
4 m 8 m 24 m 14 km/h
7 m 14 m 42 m 25 km/h
13 m 26 m 78 m 47 km/h
40 m 80 m 240 m 140 km/h
130 m 260 m 780 m 470 km/h
400 m 800 m 2,400 m 1,400 km/h
1,300 m 2,600 m 7,800 m 4,700 km/h
4 km 8 km 24 km 14,000 km/h
13 km 26 km 78 km 47,000 km/h
40 km 80 km 240 km 140,000 km/h
130 km 260 km 780 km 470,000 km/h
400 km 800 km 2,400 km 1,400,000 km/h
1,300 km 2,600 km 7,800 km 4,700,000 km/h
4,000 km 8,000 km 24,000 km 14,000,000 km/h
13,000 km 26,000 km 78,000 km 47,000,000 km/h
40,000 km 80,000 km 240,000 km 140,000,000 km/h
130,000 km 260,000 km 780,000 km 470,000,000 km/h
400,000 km 800,000 km 2,400,000 km 0.99 c
1,300,000 km 2,600,000 km 7,800,000 km 0.9999 c
Fast Swim
Swim Sprint
1 m 2 m 6 m 4 km/h
22 m 44 m 132 m 79 km/h
70 m 140 m 420 m 260 km/h
220 m 440 m 1,320 m 790 km/h
700 m 1,400 m 4,200 m 2,600 km/h
2 km 4 km 12 km 7,900 km/h
7 km 14 km 42 km 26,000 km/h
22 km 44 km 132 km 79,000 km/h
Brawn determines how much a character can lift and how far they can throw things. Peak human potential is marked in red.
Table: Extraordinary Brawn
Lift Example
25 kg medium dog 1 m 0 m
55 kg pony keg of beer 1 m 1 m
120 kg heavy adult 2 m 1 m
260 kg large brown bear 5 m 2 m
550 kg polar bear 11 m 5 m
1,700 kg full size car 35 m 11 m
5,500 kg empty dump truck 110 m 35 m
17 t Polaris missile 350 m 110 m
55 t loaded tanker truck 1,100 m 350 m
170 t locomotive 3,500 m 1,100 m
550 t 747 passenger plane 11 km 3,500 m
1,700 t Space Shuttle 35 km 11 km
5,500 t Eiffel Tower 110 km 35 km
17,000 t nuclear submarine 350 km 110 km
55,000 t aircraft carrier 1,100 km 350 km
170,000 t large office building 3,500 km 1,100 km
550,000 t ultra large crude carrier 11,000 km 3,500 km
1,700,000 t enormous skyscraper 35,000 km 11,000 km
5,500,000 t Great Pyramid of Giza 110,000 km 35,000 km
17,000,000 t Three Gorges Dam 350,000 km 110,000 km
55,000,000 t Great Wall Of China 1,100,000 km 350,000 km
Lift indicates the greatest weight that the character can "deadlift" (pick up off the ground to the level of the hips). A character carrying or supporting such a weight can take at most one or two steps per round. A character can move normally while carrying a weight corresponding to one less than their Brawn. For example, a character with Brawn 8 could carry up to 17 tonnes and suffer no penalties to their movement while doing so.
Throw (25 kg) indicates the farthest distance that a character could throw a compact object weighing 25 kg. To see how far a character can throw heavier objects, subtract the Brawn required to lift the object from the character's total Brawn. Look up the difference in the "Brawn" column: this indicates how far the character can throw the object. For example, a character with Brawn 8 could throw an object weighing 65 kg (such as a cooperative slender human) up to 350 meters.
Standing Long Jump indicates the character's standing long jump. With a running long jump, the character's ground movement is added to their long jump distance.
Obviously, there are values which are far below or far above what appears in this table. The Moon, with mass of roughly 7.3 × 1019 tonnes, is far more than even a character with Brawn 20 could move, while a baby or a housecat has a Brawn less than 1. Don't worry about it. At such extremes, the GM should just use their best judgement, and the rest of the players should roll with it.
The effectiveness of some powers is based on the character's Power Level.
Table: Extraordinary Power Level
General Effect
2 55 kg
16 550 kg
32 1,700 kg
125 17 t
500 170 t
1,000 550 t
2,000 1,700 t
8,000 17,000 t
16,000 55,000 t
32,000 170,000 t
125,000 1,700,000 t
500,000 17,000,000 t
1,000,000 55,000,000 t
Hostile Environments
Table: Hostile environments
Darkness Attack and defense penalties
Dehydration Maximum Endurance reduced by one per day; penalty die on all tasks
Exposure Maximum Endurance reduced, from one per hour to one per six hours
Falling Lose one Endurance for each five meters fallen
Fire Damage depends on heat and intensity, once per round
Poisons Maximum Endurance reduced, from one per round to one per hour
Pressure Maximum Endurance reduced, from one per round to one per minute
Radiation Maximum Endurance reduced by one per week; penalty die on all tasks
Sleep Deprivation Attributes reduced by one per day: Reason, then Agility, then maximum Endurance
Starvation Maximum Endurance reduced by one per week; penalty die on all tasks
Suffocation Maximum Endurance reduced by one per minute
Vacuum Maximum Endurance reduced, from one per round to one per minute
Darkness, fog, rain, blizzards, and other visual impediments can make combat much more difficult. If an attacker can't see the defender, the attacker incurs a penalty die. Conversely, if a defender can't see the attacker, the defender incurs a penalty die.
A character with the appropriate powers, or equipment permitting them to perceive normally, suffers no ill effects from darkness.
A character who goes more than 24 hours without drinking begins to suffer the effects of dehydration. Initially, the character experiences headaches, loss of appetite, and dry skin, followed by rapid heart rates, elevated body temperatures, and fatigue. After three days without water, the character experiences tiredness, irritability, and dizziness. Severe dehydration results in death.
If a character is suffering from dehydration, their maximum Endurance is reduced by one per day until they are rehydrated or until their maximum Endurance is reduced to zero. Additionally, the character incurs a penalty die on all rolls. Once the character is rehydrated, their maximum Endurance is restored at the same rate it was lost.
A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by dehydration.
Extremes of heat and cold can be dangerous to those without adequate protection. If a character is exposed to extreme temperatures, their maximum Endurance will be gradually reduced until they find shelter or until their maximum Endurance is reduced to zero. How quickly their maximum Endurance is reduced depends on the severity of the conditions. A hot summer day without shade or water, or a frosty winter night without a coat, would reduce their maximum Endurance by one every six hours or so: brutal, but not immediately life-threatening. If the same character were in a blazing hot desert or in the middle of a blizzard, their maximum Endurance would be reduced by one every hour. Once the character is no longer exposed to the extreme temperatures, their maximum Endurance is restored at the same rate it was lost.
A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by extreme temperatures.
Falling is treated as a normal attack which inflicts Endurance damage. The power level (PL) of a fall depends on the distance fallen: +1 PL for each five meters fallen (rounded down), up to a maximum of PL 20. Particularly soft or yielding surfaces can reduce the power level of the fall by as much as half.
Fire is treated as a normal attack which inflicts Endurance damage. The power level (PL) of a fire depends on its heat and intensity.
A character with Environmental Immunity gains a defense bonus against the fire.
Table: Fire
Campfire, torch 3
Burning building 6
Molten lava 9
Very cool and very hot fires are outside of this range. A lit cigarette can cause painful burns, for example, but it's less damaging than PL 3. On the other hand, the surface of a star is far beyond even PL 9.
Poisons and pathogens are substances which disrupt biological processes when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism. Described here is a generic poison: your character may encounter poisons or pathogens which are more complicated than this example.
Immediately after exposure, a poisoned character must make a moderately difficult (DV 3) Survival (Brawn) roll against the poison. If the Survival (Brawn) roll is successful, the character takes no damage from the poison and suffers only incidental side-effects such as nausea. If the Survival (Brawn) roll is not successful, the character has succumbed to the poison, and their maximum Endurance is reduced by one. Periodically thereafter, the character must attempt another Survival (Brawn) roll (once a round for very potent poisons, once an hour for very weak poisons, and once a minute for normal poisons, at the GM's discretion). Each failed Survival (Brawn) roll results in another reduction of the character's maximum Endurance. This continues until the character successfully makes a Survival (Brawn) roll, or they are administered the appropriate antidote (if one exists), or their maximum Endurance is reduced to zero. Once the character successfully makes a Survival (Brawn) roll against the poison or is administered the appropriate antidote, their maximum Endurance is restored at the same rate it was lost.
Some poisons and pathogens have additional effects, such as blindness or paralysis.
A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by poisons and pathogens.
If a character is exposed to extreme atmospheric pressure, their maximum Endurance will be gradually reduced until they return to their natural atmosphere, or until their maximum Endurance is reduced to zero. How quickly their maximum Endurance is reduced depends on how prepared they are and the severity of the conditions. If a trained diver were 30 meters under water (approximately 3 atmospheres, or 30 decibars), their maximum Endurance would be reduced by one maximum Endurance per minute: life threatening, but not immediately fatal. If the same character were 300 meters under water (approximately 30 atmospheres, or 300 decibars), their maximum Endurance would be reduced by one maximum Endurance per round. Once the character has returned to their natural atmosphere, their maximum Endurance is restored at the same rate it was lost.
A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by high pressure.
Radioactivity is caused by the decay of the atomic nucleus of an unstable atom. Living things exposed to high amounts of ionizing radiation develop acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation poisoning or radiation sickness. Acute radiation syndrome is an umbrella term for a variety of symptoms which occur within 24 hours of exposure and which may last for several months.
The symptoms of acute radiation syndrome depend on the exposure. Relatively small doses of radiation result in nausea and vomiting, headaches, fatigue, fever, and a reddening of the skin. Intermediate exposure can result in more severe gastrointestinal disorders and symptoms related to a drop in the number of blood cells, such as infection and bleeding. Larger doses can result in neurological effects such as dizziness, headache, or decreased level of consciousness, followed shortly thereafter by death.
Twenty-four hours after exposure, a character exposed to radiation must make a successful Survival (Brawn) roll against the radiation. Failure indicates that the character has developed acute radiation syndrome and their maximum Endurance is immediately reduced by one. Each week thereafter, the character must attempt another Survival (Brawn) roll against the radiation. Each failed Survival (Brawn) roll results in the character's maximum Endurance being reduced by one. This continues until the character successfully makes the Survival (Brawn) roll, or until their maximum Endurance is reduced to zero. Once the character successfully makes the Survival (Brawn) roll against the radiation, their maximum Endurance is restored at the same rate it was lost.
A character suffering from acute radiation syndrome incurs a penalty die on all rolls. However, suitable treatment grants a bonus die on the victim's Survival (Brawn) roll. Small doses of radiation are treated with blood transfusions and antibiotics, while greater doses of radiation require exotic treatments such as bone marrow transplants. Large doses of radiation are invariably fatal to normal human beings.
A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by radiation.
Table: Radiation
3 Fallout from a recent nuclear explosion
6 Vial of plutonium
9 Interior of a nuclear reactor
SIDEBAR: Liefeld Radiation
Exposure to Liefeld radiation typically results in spontaneous painful deformity followed by death. Symptoms include atrophy of the hands, feet, and abdomen, and a grotesque increase in musculature in the chest and thighs. However, in rare and isolated cases, exposure to Liefeld radiation has resulted in a permanent transformation from human to posthuman. Such cases are one in a million, at best.
A character who goes more than 24 hours without sleep begins to suffer the effects of sleep deprivation. Initially, the character experiences weariness, confusion, and irritability. After three days without sleep, the character experiences hallucinations and decreased cognitive ability. Prolonged, complete sleep deprivation results in weight loss and ultimately death.
If a character goes more than 24 hours without sleep, their Reason is reduced by one. Each day that the character remains awake, their Reason is reduced by one, until their Reason equals zero. Once the character's Reason is reduced to zero, their Agility is reduced by one per day until their Agility equals zero. Once the character's Agility is reduced to zero, their maximum Endurance is reduced by one per day until their maximum Endurance equals zero. Under normal circumstances, the character will fall unconscious at this point and remain so for at least a day. However, if the character is physically prevented from losing consciousness, they will eventually die. Once the character has resumed a normal sleep pattern, their attributes are restored to their normal values, although they may experience some lingering fatigue.
A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by sleep deprivation.
A character who goes more than 7 days without eating begins to suffer the effects of starvation. Initially, the character experiences weakness, confusion, and irritability. After three weeks without food, the character experiences hallucinations and convulsions. Starvation eventually results in death.
Each 7 days a character goes without eating, their maximum Endurance is reduced by one, until their maximum Endurance equals zero. Additionally, the character incurs a penalty die on all rolls. Once the character has resumed a normal diet, their maximum Endurance is restored at the same rate it was lost.
A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by starvation.
If a character needs to breath but is unable to do so, such as someone drowning or suffocating, their maximum Endurance is reduced by one per minute until they can breathe freely again, or until their maximum Endurance equals zero. Once the character is able to breathe normally, their maximum Endurance is restored at the same rate it was lost.
A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by suffocation.
If a character is exposed to vacuum, their maximum Endurance will be gradually reduced until they return to their natural atmosphere, or until their maximum Endurance is reduced to zero. How quickly their maximum Endurance is reduced depends on how prepared they are and the rapidity of the loss of atmosphere. If a trained astronaut were exposed to a loss of atmosphere over the course of a minute, their maximum Endurance would be reduced by one maximum Endurance per minute: life threatening, but not immediately fatal. If the same character were exposed to a hard vacuum without warning, their maximum Endurance would be reduced by one per round. Once the character has returned to their natural atmosphere, their maximum Endurance is restored at the same rate it was lost.
A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by vacuum.
Table: Item mass
Brawn (to lift)
medium dog, full suitcase 20 kg 1
full pony keg of beer, small sea turtle 45 kg 1
slender adult, large dog 65 kg 1
full keg of beer 75 kg 2
typical adult, small floor safe, wooden chest 90 kg 2
heavy adult 125 kg 2
racing motorcycle, refrigerator, wooden table 150 kg 3
weapon locker, gun safe, large sea turtle 200 kg 3
large brown bear, dolphin, harpsichord, lion 225 kg 3
motorcycle, medium floor safe, tiger, a Twinkie 11 meters long 300 kg 4
grizzly bear, large desk, riding horse, touring motorcycle 400 kg 4
polar bear, empty light wagon 500 kg 4
cow, draft horse, small sailboat 600 kg 4
compact car, piano, loaded light wagon 900 kg 5
civilian helicopter, medium missile, grand piano 1,000 kg 5
full size car, large herbivore, hippopotamus 2 t 6
small military helicopter, Humvee 3 t 6
armored Humvee 4 t 6
elephant, empty dump truck 5 t 6
light jet fighter plane 7 t 7
large military helicopter, empty tractor-trailer 9 t 7
jet fighter plane 10 t 7
international marijuana shipment, Polaris missile 20 t 8
loaded dump truck 20 t 8
private jet plane, empty train car 30 t 8
empty C-130 cargo plane, loaded tractor-trailer 40 t 8
Easter Island stone head, loaded tanker truck, bank vault 50 t 8
suburban house, Trident missile, M1 Abrams tank 50 t 8
loaded C-130 cargo plane 80 t 9
blue whale 90 t 9
loaded train car 100 t 9
locomotive, fishing trawler 200 t 10
empty 747 passenger plane 300 t 10
typical train 400 t 10
loaded 747 passenger plane 400 t 10
Space Shuttle 2,000 t 12
Coast Guard cutter, passenger train 3,000 t 12
Saturn V rocket 3,000 t 12
Eiffel Tower 6,000 t 13
freight train 7,000 t 13
destroyer, nuclear submarine 8,000 t 13
10 story building 9,000 t 13
Brooklyn Bridge 10,000 t 13
long freight train 10,000 t 13
large nuclear submarine 20,000 t 14
aircraft carrier 80,000 t 15
loaded tanker ship 100,000 t 15
cruise ship 100,000 t 15
large office building, loaded large tanker ship 200,000 t 16
Empire State Building, empty Ultra Large Crude Carrier 400,000 t 16
Ben Franklin Bridge, loaded Ultra Large Crude Carrier 600,000 t 17
Golden Gate Bridge 800,000 t 17
enormous skyscraper 900,000 t 17
Great Pyramid of Giza 5,000,000 t 18
Table: Item speeds
avg human running 20 km/h 3
max human running 40 km/h 4
fast submarine 80 km/h 5
fast bird, cheetah, sailfish 120 km/h 5
arrow 240 km/h 6
fast car 320 km/h 6
fast helicopter 400 km/h 6
F5 tornado wind 480 km/h 6
terminal velocity 530 km/h 7
bullet train 560 km/h 7
airplane 800 km/h 7
pistol bullet 1,100 km/h 7
sound 1,200 km/h 7
supersonic airplane 2,000 km/h 8
rifle bullet 3,000 km/h 8
superjet 10,000 km/h 9
escape velocity 40,000 km/h 10
rocket 50,000 km/h 10
solar winds 483,000 km/h 12
interplanetary speeds 4,700,000 km/h 14
light 1,079,252,848 km/h 19
Telling A Story The Kalos Comics Way
A game of Bulletproof Blues is, at its core, storytelling. When any RPG campaign loses the story telling focus, and devolves into a series of battles, the characters are no longer characters at all. They become writing on a piece of paper, just complicated tokens pushed around the game board of the campaign setting.
The players look to the game moderator to provide that setting and a series of problems or situations to resolve. Generally, this sequence of events is referred to as the plot. Sections of the overall plot that take multiple game sessions to resolve are called a story arc. The key to an engaging, thrilling experience for players and game moderator is for the GM to connect the individual game sessions together in a way that engages the persona each player is playing.
It is important to note a plot dynamic in Bulletproof Blues games which does not occur in comicbooks -- unlike a comicbook, each player in the group sees their PC as the main character of the story. The GM needs to give equal "spotlight" time for each player to roleplay in situations that explore their character's motivations, complications, and history. GMs can use the Kalos Comics Way to build a story that features all of the PCs equally.
For comicbook writers, the Kalos Comics Way requires development of two types of structures. First is a conventional, western-style narrative structure for each story arc, containing the classic five elements: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Writers are encouraged to embed some foreshadowing exposition from the next story arc into the rising action and falling action of the current story arc, in order to create a bridge from one story arc to the next.
Second, writers must produce an eastern-style narrative structure known as Kishōtenketsu for each major character. In the Kalos Comics Way, the purpose of the Kishōtenketsu is to communicate how the "person behind the mask" will be engaged in the story arc. The PC hero, after all, isn't a hollow shell with powers. The character is a person (or alien or robot) who lives in the world, and who has worldly emotions, concerns, and desires. GMs are encouraged to use the hero's motivations, complications, and history to build each Kishōtenketsu.
Because Kishōtenketsu is a technique useful for merging two seemingly unrelated plot threads without requiring direct conflict, it is used in the Kalos Comics Way to bring the mask and the person behind the mask together in the story.
In the Kalos Comics Way, after the story arc plot is laid out, and a Kishōtenketsu is done for each major character, they are all woven together to form the basis for the storyboard of the comic art. In Bulletproof Blues, they are all woven together to provide the framework for the game moderator's campaign.
Story Arc Plot
The story arc plot is the sequence of events in the current section of the overall story. The plot is made up of five elements centered around how the main characters confront and eventually (hopefully) overcome the source of the conflict. The five elements are:
The exposition is where the heroes are placed into the location of the story arc setting, key NPCs are identified, background information is provided through dialogue or explanation, and the game moderator provides clues or explicit instructions that lead the heroes into the rising action.
Rising Action
The rising action is a series of conflicts or problems that grow more and more complicated and challenging for the heroes. The resolution of one conflict leads to the next. The rising action builds excitement as each danger is vanquished or mystery solved. The Kalos Comics Way uses two to four combats or encounters to build the rising action.
The climax is the turning point of a story, novel, or script. It is the moment where it seems like the main character is in danger or could even possibly fail at resolving the conflict. Depending on the kind of conflict being faced (man vs. man, man vs. self, etc.), the actions at this point in the work can be either physical or mental.
Falling Action
Taking place after the climax, the falling action includes events that will help to fully resolve the conflict. The results of actions that the main character has taken are presented as well as the results of decisions that have been made, whether good or bad for the character.
The end of a story, novel, or script includes the last plot element -- the resolution. It is here that loose ends are tied up, conflicts are concluded, outcomes are revealed, and a happy or sad ending takes place. As many of the final actions have already taken place, a resolution can be made up of a just a summary of where the main character will end up in the future, instead of including any more active events.
Kishōtenketsu is a compound word formed from the Japanese Kanji characters that explain the structure. The examples here are from poet Sanyō Rai.
Ki (Introduction)
Daughters of Itoya, in the Honmachi of Osaka.
The first element places the character in the context of what is important in the character's life. Typically, the Ki element sets the scene, forming the basis for how the things the character cares about will become part of the story.
Shō (Development)
The elder daughter is sixteen and the younger one is fourteen.
The second element, Shō, expands on the first element and typically contains an action that develops on the scene identified in Ki.
Ten (Twist)
Throughout history, warriors have killed the enemy with bows and arrows.
The third element is the climax, in which an unforeseen development occurs. Typically, the relationship of the content of Ten to the first two elements is not readily apparent. In other words, there is not a linear progression from Shō to Ten.
Ketsu (Reconciliation)
The daughters of Itoya kill with their eyes.
The fourth element, Ketsu, is the conclusion. Ketsu merges Ten into the narrative direction of Ki and Shō.
The Kalos Comics Way
In the Kalos Comics Way, the comic writer or GM assembles the pieces of the story in the following manner:
The first step is to assign draft events to the five story arc plot elements. These events may change during the process. The climax is identified first, then the rising action that builds up to it, followed by exposition. Falling action and resolution are done last, then all 5 are reassembled in their chronological order.
The second step is to create a Kishōtenketsu for each major character based on their motivations, complications, and history.
Third, the Kishōtenketsu are inserted into the five elements where it makes the most sense from a story and character standpoint.
And finally, in the fourth step, for the comic writer the assembled plot is reviewed with the editor, then sent to the pencillers and turned into a story board. For the GM, this step is where the descriptions are filled in, and NPC and villain characters are created or taken from sourcebooks.
The Big Example
Below is an example that illustrates how you can use the Kalos Comics Way in your games.
Step 1: Story Arc Plot
The GM wants to use the story arc to reveal a new master villain: Dr. Virago, a super scientist bent on world domination, who has been cryogenically frozen since 1973. Dr. Virago's technology was 100 years ahead of its time in 1973, so it is still advanced, but also strangely dated. The GM intends for Dr. Virago to become one of the PC group's long-term arch nemeses.
With that in mind, it is important that Dr. Virago survive the climax of the story arc in a way that propels the campaign forward. The GM decides that the best way to keep Dr. Virago as an active antagonist is to not have Dr. Virago directly involved in the climax. Instead, Dr. Virago's 1970s-style robot bodyguard/killing machine will take the brunt of the heroes' wrath, and Dr. Virago's involvement will be revealed in the falling action after the climax of the story arc.
Climax: The heroes think they have found the lair of Dr. Virago, but instead they've fallen into a trap! They've been sealed in a subterranean base with Dr. Virago's monstrous death robot, MX-ML1, who's been programmed to kill!
The GM decides that Dr. Virago wants to acquire some bio-weapon technology -- an area that has seen tremendous strides while she was in cryogenic hibernation. Her investigation has led her to Lance Doughty, a virologist, who had a history of selling his private research. But not all of Doughty's research is in government or corporate hands -- Dr. Virago's "sources" say key formulas are stored in a safe deposit vault owned by Doughty's estate.
But Dr. Virago is no fool. She doesn't want to be directly involved at all. So she hires three mercenary villains: Razor, Cacophony, and Equinox. Razor has gang affiliations, so Dr. Virago tells him to hire some local muscle to do the actual break-in. She provides some vials of a mysterious, powerful Transformation Serum so the thugs will agree. Plus, the gang can have everything in the bank vault, as long as they turn over Doughty's safe deposit box unopened and unharmed.
Rising action 1: A 911 call leads the heroes to a couple of gang members who have taken the Transformation Serum. The chemicals have warped their bodies, making them far stronger and tougher than normal, and wildly violent.
Rising action 2: After questioning one of the malformed thugs, the heroes go to the gang's safehouse to recover the stolen goods and the rest of the Transformation Serum. Clues lead the heroes to the mercenary villains.
Rising action 3: The heroes find Razor, Cacophony, and Equinox, and bring them to justice. The villains reluctantly agree to reveal the location of Dr. Virago's hideout.
The police begin to realize they are out of their depth when they see the hole ripped into the brick wall of Metro City National Bank. Their fears are realized when they see three monstrous men on the security tape, so naturally they call the heroes.
Exposition: A call from Metro City police ask the heroes to help capture three "creatures" who broke into Metro City National Bank.
After the heroes defeat Dr. Virago's monstrous death robot, MX-ML1, they hear an odd clacking sound from another room. They enter to find a telex machine sending the last page from a stack of documents. A cursory glance reveals that documents contain complex formulas and engineering specifications. Behind the telex machine is a bank of two dozen 16" tube type color televisions. The screens flicker on, showing a test pattern, then the aged, malevolent face of the dreaded Dr. Virago! She is surprised and angry that the heroes defeated MX-ML1, and swears vengeance.
Falling action: After defeating MX-ML1, the heroes discover that Dr. Virago has been the mastermind behind the bank robbery and the Transformation Serum. The evil genius' whereabouts are unknown.
Once the federal government finds out that Dr. Virago has somehow returned, dozens of agents swoop in on the subterranean base, seizing the documents and the remaining Transformation Serum. The heroes are "debriefed". The gang members who broke into the bank are identified and charged with the crime. Razor, Cacophony, and Equinox are long gone -- they escaped from custody while they were being transferred to jail.
Resolution: Local police and federal law enforcement coordinate to secure Dr. Virago's base. The gang members who broke into the bank are charged with robbery, but Razor, Cacophony, Equinox, and Dr. Virago herself remain free, leaving the heroes frustrated.
In chronological order, the story arc plot is:
Resolution: Local police and federal law enforcement coordinate to secure Dr. Virago's base. The gang members who broke into the bank are charged with robbery, but Razor, Cacophony, Equinox, and Dr. Virago herself remain free.
Step 2: Kishōtenketsu
For our example, we'll use a team of three PCs:
Blueshift – Speedster martial artist hero, reformed criminal
Manticore – Flying, armored superhero persona of an international celebrity
Monolith – Massive, immensely strong hero who advocates for children's charities
These PCs are established heroes from Kalos Comics who we're teaming together. Along with each hero's motivations, complications, and history is that hero's Kishōtenketsu.
Blueshift
Guilt: The character is a reformed criminal who is driven by a desire for redemption from the sins of her past.
Rebellion: The character struggles with social interactions; this isolates her and reinforces her sense that she doesn't fit into society at large.
Enemy: Blueshift is still hunted by Project Genesis, and not everyone has forgiven her criminal past.
Outsider: Blueshift's unease around normal people is often taken as disdain.
For Blueshift's history, please see her full character write-up on page XXX.
The GM decides that Blueshift's background as a leader of Master Sin's strike team would be a good way to bridge the gap between the gang members and the mercenary villains. Equinox, when she isn't using her fire and ice powers to commit crimes, is an alcoholic: a rough and tumble country girl who drowns her sorrows in cheap whiskey and drugs at honky-tonk bars. Having worked with her before, Blueshift knows Equinox's habits, recognizes the description given by one of the thugs captured at the gang's safehouse, and knows how to find her.
Ki (Introduction): Blueshift and three armored troopers hide outside an industrial complex, watching the guards patrolling behind a razor wire fence.
Shō (Development): The troopers give Blueshift confused, questioning looks as she checks her watch then looks past them to the horizon and the glowing haze above a nearby town.
Ten (Twist): A woman is slumped against the bar in a seedy dive, one hand clutching an empty glass, eyes barely open.
Ketsu (Reconciliation): Blueshift grits her teeth as she slings the woman's arm over her shoulder and drags her out of the bar, in spite of the woman's protests.
The GM can use this Kishōtenketsu series of events as a flashback so Blueshift's player can suggest canvassing local honky-tonk dive bars with a description of Equinox. In addition, this knowledge can be used after the story arc is complete as foreshadowing for future story arcs concerning Blueshift's past and/or the continued pursuit of Dr. Virago.
Adventure: The character has an adventurous spirit and rarely turns down a quest.
Protection: The character wants to protect others, particularly the innocent and the helpless.
Vulnerability: All of Manticore's powers are dependent on her armor and equipment.
Enemy: Chloe Zhang is internationally famous, which makes her a very easy target for her enemies.
For Manticore's history, please see her full character write-up on page XXX.
For this story arc, the GM uses Manticore's significant experience as a hero and her numerous encounters with the subversive groups that plague the modern world. Recently Manticore defeated a group of infiltration specialists and armored stormtroopers working for ASGARD. Among the information gathered from the defeated agents was a list of contacts.
When the Metro City police show the heroes the security video of the bank robbery, they also have a list of the owners of the safe deposit boxes. One box belonged to the estate of Lance Doughty.
Ki (Introduction): Five years ago, Manticore and her teammates Mr. Shade and Ladon, Guardian of Ages, stand over the unconscious bodies of a group of Vidar: dangerous agents employed by the evil organization ASGARD.
Shō (Development): Just behind Ladon, a Vidar agent attempts to erase data from a handheld device, but Manticore notices and leaps to stop him.
Ten (Twist): A disheveled man in a lab coat accepts a thick envelope labelled "Doughty" from a disinterested woman. He gets out of her car, and with a nervous backward glance walks into the night.
Ketsu (Reconciliation): Manticore can see a phrase, "Doughty 1471" flash across the display as the device melts through the agent's trembling hand.
The GM decides to foreshadow this recollection in the exposition, then drop the reference into the story arc plot during the fight with the mercenary villains. Manticore doesn't have to associate the list of deposit box owners (from the bank manager) with the name from the ASGARD device. Instead the GM will mention "1471" as if by accident while roleplaying the braggart Razor or the uncontrolled Equinox during the fight. Manticore will make the connection, then the team can use their Investigation skills to trace from the safe deposit box, to Doughty's estate, to recent contacts with the estate, to a landline phone call from an abandoned warehouse just outside of town that disguises the entrance to one of Dr. Virago's underground bases.
Justice: The character seeks to ensure that misdeeds are met with appropriate punishment.
Enemy: Monolith has made many enemies, but Cesspool is the most vile and persistent.
Uncontrolled Power: Monolith's size and weight make it impossible for him to have a normal life.
For Monolith's history, please see his full character write-up on page XXX.
The GM decides that commitment to charity work would be an excellent opportunity to connect the "human elements" of the story. In the course of his volunteer work, Monolith has met one of the thugs who robbed the bank. Monolith doesn't think the young man is a criminal type, so there must be some other explanation.
Ki (Introduction): Monolith attends a charity event -- a ribbon cutting for a new inner city playground.
Shō (Development): One of the organizers introduces Monolith to a teen, Abe Washington, who is good student, but who is having trouble in his tough neighborhood.
Ten (Twist): Three deformed, monstrous humanoids tear through the wall of a bank and loot the vault.
Ketsu (Reconciliation): While watching the security video of the bank robbery, Monolith sees that one of the humanoids has the distorted face of Abe, the boy from the playground.
With this information in hand, the GM decides to add a wrinkle to the story arc plot: the genetic damage caused by the Transformation Serum is potentially lethal, and there is no known anti-serum. Two of the gang members involved in the bank robbery have died from the side effects. Only the young man Monolith befriended is alive, but time is running out. As the boy lay dying, he refuses to speak with anyone other than Monolith. As he slowly slips into a coma, he explains to Monolith that Razor threatened his family if he didn't take the Transformation Serum and participate in the robbery. The clock is ticking. Will the heroes find a clue to an antidote in Dr. Virago's subterranean base?
Step 3: Integration
In chronological order, the story arc plot with Kishōtenketsu added is:
Exposition: Monolith is interviewed by a local news reporter about his attendance the day before at a ribbon cutting for a new inner city playground. A senior Aegis agent stops by to see Manticore and thank her personally -- the only surviving ASGARD Vidar agent from a recent raid has been found guilty of espionage. A call from Metro City police ask the heroes to help capture three "creatures" who broke into Metro City National Bank late last night. While on her way to the precinct station, Blueshift passes by a honky-tonk bar she remembers from a time years ago when she worked for Master Sin. At the station, the bank manager gives the detectives information about what was stolen, and the detectives show the heroes the security camera footage. Monolith recognizes one of the humanoids as Abe, a boy from the playground.
Rising action 1: The heroes' next steps are interrupted by a frantic 911 call. The heroes fight a couple of gang members who have been transformed, their warped bodies making them far stronger and tougher than normal, and wildly violent. One of them is the boy from the playground. The effects of the transformation begin to take their toll: the boy is dying. He refuses to speak with anyone other than Monolith, revealing the involvement of Razor, a known posthuman criminal, and discloses the location of the gang's safehouse.
Rising action 2: The heroes go to the gang's safehouse to recover the stolen goods and find out more about the drug that turned the gang members into monsters. After a battle with the thugs, some transformed and some not, but all armed, the heroes question the gang about the location of Razor and the origin of the serum. The gang doesn't know much, but one of them describes an associate of Razor's with half her body on fire, and the other misted over with ice. Blueshift recognizes the description as Equinox, and has an idea of where to find her.
Rising action 3: The heroes ask around at the bar where Blueshift had found Equinox years ago. The bartender is tight lipped, but a local drunkard gives directions to a fancy hotel where the heroes find Razor, Cacophony, and Equinox preparing to skip town. The villains fight until defeated. During the fight, one of the posthumans complains that they better not go to jail just for 1471. The reference reminds Manticore of her experience with ASGARD's Vidar agents. The name Doughty isn't common. Maybe the two are connected? With the help of police detectives and a list of safe deposit box owners from the bank manager, the investigation leads from the safe deposit box to Doughty's estate, to phone records, to an abandoned warehouse outside of town.
Climax: Descending into the depths in a secret elevator, the heroes think they have found the lair of Dr. Virago, but instead they've fallen into a trap! They've been sealed in the subterranean base with Dr. Virago's monstrous death robot, MX-ML1, who's been programmed to kill! Can they defeat the robot in time to defuse the self-destruct mechanism? Will they find an antidote to the Transformation Serum and save Abe's life?
Falling action: After defeating MX-ML1, the heroes disarm the self-destruct mechanism and find a shortwave telex machine sending the last page from a stack of documents. A cursory glance reveals the documents contain complex formulas and engineering specifications -- Doughty's research notes for a massive virus bomb. Behind the telex machine, two dozen 16" tube type color televisions flicker on, showing the aged, malevolent face of the dreaded Dr. Virago! She is surprised and angry that the heroes defeated MX-ML1, and she swears vengeance. The screens click off: the evil genius' whereabouts are unknown. A quick search reveals a few vials of antidote among the dusty boxes of Transformation Serum. The heroes return to town as fast as they can. All of the other young men who took the serum have died -- only the boy from the playground still lives. With the antidote in his system, he slowly returns to normal.
Resolution: Local police and federal law enforcement coordinate to secure Dr. Virago's base. The boy from the playground is the only survivor of the three who broke into the bank, and without any evidence of him being coerced, Abe is charged with robbery. Razor, Cacophony, and Equinox are long gone -- they escaped from custody while they were being transferred to jail. If Doughty had plans for a virus bomb in his estate, what did he sell to ASGARD five years ago? But perhaps most troubling is Dr. Virago herself. What new terror will she unleash on the world? How will she wreak vengeance on our heroes? Only time will tell.
Step 4: Fill in the Details
With the story arc plot and Kishōtenketsu merged together, the last step for comicbook writers using the Kalos Comics Way is to meet with the editors who ensure continuity with the Kalos Universe, crisp pacing, pithy dialogue, and good taste in character development. The last step for the GM is to fill in the blanks with the materials needed to run the story arc with the gaming group. Here are a few key things you'll need:
Descriptive passages to give some color and personality to the key locations. These are very helpful when the PCs move from one location to another, since they provide a box of text the GM can read from to set the scene with key details. Think about all five senses: what the characters will smell, and hear, whether the ground is hard or soft, crunchy or slippery.
Write-ups for the villains. It seems obvious, but improvised villains can prove one dimensional. It's one thing to role-play an unspeaking villain like Cacophony, but having a reference that lists her skills, or the scope of her devastating sonic attacks, or her claustrophobia can be important. Write-ups from Bulletproof Blues sourcebooks are naturally encouraged.
Maps for complex places, especially for fight scenes. Even a crudely hand drawn map is a better visual reference for GMs and players alike than nothing at all. Think of unusual elements in the environment that can be used in fun and interesting ways.
Names and one sentence descriptions for NPCs. What are the detectives' names? Was the reporter who interviewed Monolith sympathetic, or did she seem slightly hostile? Little details can go a long way toward improving the game.
Ideas that build on the events in the story. If the heroes go back to ask the drunkard how he knew where the posthuman villains were, what do they find out? Is he an Aegis agent in disguise? Or was it really Dr. Virago trying to tie up loose ends? Having ideas like these ahead of time can help you dovetail this story arc into the next one.
An expectation of the unexpected. Role-playing game players are crafty and inventive. Sooner or later they will derail your prepared plot and take the game in a direction you didn't think about. Be ready to improvise!
The most important thing you'll need is a sense of fun and adventure. Bulletproof Blues is a game in a dark setting. The PCs are surrounded by malevolent corporations and sinister government initiatives run amok in a world shell-shocked from the unprecedented destruction wrought by Paragon. But Bulletproof Blues is a game. It's intended to be a fun way for a few friends to get together and work as partners fighting the good fight. Enjoy it!
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GM Resources


text:
Placidus Cajetanus Laurentius von Camerloher (Murnau am Staffelsee, 9 augustus 1718 - Freising, 21 juli 1782) was een Duits componist.

Leven
Camerloher was de zoon van een klerk. Hij studeerde aan de ridderacademie in de Abdij van Ettal, waar men zijn muzikaal talent stimuleerde. Na het voltooien van zijn opleiding begon hij een theologiestudie in Freising en werd in 1744 tot priester gewijd.

Prins-bisschop Johan Theodoor van Freising stelde Camerloher aan als kapelmeester. In 1748 werd hij kanunnik in het klooster van St. Vitus niet ver van Freising en hij werd in 1753 kanunnik van het St. Andreasklooster in Freising. Nadat Johan Theodoor van Freising in 1744 het prinsbisdom Luik had overgenomen werd Camerloher ook dirigent van kamermuziek en begeleidde de prins-bisschop op zijn vele reizen.

Camerloher stierf op 63-jarige leeftijd. Hij lag begraven onder het orgel van de inmiddels afgebroken St. Andreaskerk in Freising. Er zijn straten naar hem vernoemd in Ismaning bij München en in Freising, evenals het muzikale Camerloher-Gymnasium in Freising.

Literatuur
 Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl: Camerloher, Placidus in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, S. 728.

Externe links
  Artikel zur Gedenktafel für Placidus von Camerloher in Freising

Klassiek componist
Duits componist

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia