#China's Next Top Model

[topmodelcentral]

Ren Rui

~ China (I Supermodel 1) ~

#Ren Rui #CNTM #China's Next Top Model #I Supermodel #season 1 #portrait #knitwear #artistic #embroidery #luscious lips #flowers #stunning #beautiful #gorgeous #fierce

[neil-gaiman]

I found myself having, not exactly an argument recently, but a highly opinionated conversation with someone who did not believe my assertion that once upon a time there were official Hello Kitty vibrators. With the aid of the Wayback Machine, I found this article, and thought the world at large might enjoy it too...

Here's the text of the article:

The history of the Hello Kitty vibrator

By Peter Payne October 4, 2004

Sanrio is one of the top character licensors in the world, having more or less created the business model of doing business by creating something that doesn't really exist and licensing its use to other companies. Sanrio produces nothing -- all their characters, like the Little Twin Star, Minna no Ta-bo, Bad Batz-Maru, exist as legal entities and nothing more. Their most successful character, Hello Kitty, or Kitty-chan as she's known in Japan, is now now thirty years old.

One of the many companies that license Sanrio's characters for their products was a Japanese company called Genyo Co. Ltd. Genyo made a wide variety of products, from bento boxes to children's toys to chopsticks, many with the Hello Kitty character on them. They scored big in the late 1990's with an off-the-wall hit, a series of Hello Kitty toys which featured a different Kitty figure from each of Japan's 47 prefectures, each representing something the prefecture was famous for. (The figure from Gunma Prefecture, where we live, represented a wooden kokeshi doll.)

In 1997, Genyo designed a product that would live in infamy: the Hello Kitty vibrating shoulder massager, which really is a shoulder massager (trust us -- it says so on the package). Sanrio approved this design without batting an eye, and the product enjoyed modest sales in toy shops and in family restaurants like Denny's and Coco's. It wasn't until 1999 or so that people began to catch on to the fact that the Hello Kitty massager had other potential uses, and with amazing speed, they started popping up in adult videos in Japan. The next thing anyone knew, they had changed into a cult adult item, sold in vending machines in love hotels -- after all, what self-respecting man wouldn't buy his girl a Hello Kitty vibrator when she asked him for one?

The emergence of the Hello Kitty vibrator as a cult adult item caused friction between Sanrio and Genyo, and Sanrio ordered the company to stop making the units. Genyo refused, since it had paid a lot of money to license Kitty for their products. There seemed nothing Sanrio could do, since they had approved the item for sale (see the official Sanrio sticker on the boxes). The answer came when the Japanese tax authorities raided Genyo on suspicion of tax evasion. It seems that some creative accounting was going on between the president of the company, a Mr. Nakamura, his vice president, and the owner of the factory in China where the units were made. All three were arrested, and Sanrio had the excuse needed to yank Genyo's license. They seized the molds used to make the vibrators and destroyed them.

And so, the sad, weird chapter of the Hello Kitty vibrator is at an end. The last of the Kitty vibes are gone, so now what will the world do for wacky comic -- and sexual -- relief?

#Hello Kitty #The Hello Kitty Shoulder Massager

[hometoursandotherstuff]

I thought that this 1885 Victorian in Helena, Montana was so pretty with it's colorful paint designs and rounded porches, and it is lovely inside, but it has one peculiar feature. 3bds, 3ba, $500K.

The front door opens to reveal a beautifully delicate railing and an original fireplace. The floor has been replaced and they added a lovely inlaid circle. There's also a wonderful original light fixture.

That divider piece is so pretty.

This entrance hall is amazing. Look at the windows, railing, and fireplace.

In the sitting room is a gorgeous fireplace- look at the tiles! And, even the fire screen is beautiful.

In the dining room is a lovely built-in china cabinet and it looks like the former owners left that sideboard.

And, then we enter the next room. What the hell is this? Beautiful fireplace, a built-in cabinet, original doors with transoms, and this monstrosity of a shower with a toilet standing there. Note the 2 industrial lights above the shower. I think that if they needed a shower it could've been done nicer. This is a big room, they could've enclosed it.

They have a closeup of the beautiful fireplace, but that shower and toilet ruin it.

I'm not keen on the modernized powder room, but I prefer it to the one in the other room.

I kind of like the vintage kitchen.

But, this. The size of this Aga stove. It's worth about $32,000. Also love the exhaust hood. I would buy this house for the stove and tear that stupid bathroom out & redo it.

There's lots of storage. The backsplash would have to go, it's much too modern.

The primary bedroom is large and has a door to the wonderful 2nd fl. porch out front.

This pretty bedroom is a good size and has a sweet stained glass transom. Love the lilac trim and crown molding.

Not lovin' this tub, but the room is kind of cute.

There's lots of potential in the attic and the current owners started to finish it, so the insulation and new windows are in and the other supplies are here.

There's no garage, but there's a large parking area.

Nice big yard. The lot is .29 acre.

Beautiful mountain scenery across the way.

They included this helpful diagram- since an Aga stove has no knobs and is always on, you simply select the oven you need. Like, if you want to roast something, you would choose the upper right oven, and if you want to keep the dish warm after cooking, you just transfer it to the oven on the lower left. Same thing with the burners on top. I think that the newer models come with rings so, if you wanted a lower heat you would use 2 or 3 rings to raise the pot or pan.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1701-Cannon-St-Helena-MT-59601/78160724_zpid/

#victorian house #victorian architecture #old house dreams #houses #house tours #home tour

[accio-victuuri]

Bunny laoshi’s 1005 birthday CPNs Part I 🎂

I am giving it this title cause i’m pretty sure we will have more in the next releases or whatever. So yeah. First, I wanna thank you xiao laoshi for all the shiny presents he gave us for his birthday! we have been so blessed! I mean those photos from XZS? and the biggest CPN of the day which is him featuring the Leica camera we have been screaming about for the past days. Personally, we can skip all of these and that sugar alone is enough. But apparently, there’s more….

I will start with my favorite which is related to the birthday cake he was holding in one of the photos.

The person who designed the cake shared info on their creation. No problem. Anyone would be proud for making a cake for a celebrity like XZ. Yes, it’s camping themed. Which is a recurrent CPN in this fandom since both of them suddenly became camping enthusiasts around the same time.

This time the customer wanted to make a camping model, so I started looking for some pictures from my colleagues. But because Master Fang doesn’t make other store models, He finally decided to use the scene of Xinjiang grassland then add with other camping accessory of ours~

AND THIS CAKE SHOP IS LOCATED IN HANGZHOU. Who is in HZ? Who frequents HZ? Definitely not ZZ. So who had this commissioned??? I’m sorry but as soon as I heard Hangzhou, what came to mind is WYB. I swear. He is that city’s adopted son or something.

Out of all ZZ’s “hobbies” who would decided let’s do camping. I can only think of Bobo. And the delivery fee is 3k. There is really nothing top expensive when it comes to each other.

Next is how photos were with him holding the Leica. Kind of like how the camera was posted in WYB’s photosets in Paris. They are both showing off. Clearly.

When you put the bday messages from their studios side by side — it appears that the theme and pattern is the same. 😂😂😂😂

lament about how time flies >> one year role review >> talk about life >> good wishes

I mean it’s not the most unique format but it’s so cute seeing how similar. even how it’s split in paragraphs.

Tho I have to say wyb’s was very very special. That message made me tear up.

WYB is about to go home, Paris to China and he is wearing Ralph Lauren. Yes, ZZ is endorsing the fragrance but it’s still an interesting choice.

I am cackling tho cause you can see that WYB was online at midnight! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It got some people nervous. Will he greet XZ? Will he comments on XZ’s bday post? I mean what’s going on???

Turns out, WYB posted about his experience with the Chanel PFW. This is the perfect time cause he is literally leaving Paris. What’s funny tho are the people commenting. It’s BXGs. Because come on, who’s awake? It’s us. We are awake cause it’s GG’s bday. I took a screenshot, just look at the pfps. I think by the time I publish this post, it will be overtaken by so/os cause one fan club asked other so/os to comment. Lol.

Some are saying the first words he used to describe the show are actually for ZZ’s photos but i really don’t buy that. and well, he is gonna see the love of his life soon ^^ I really hope they get to spend sometime 1005 or over the weekend 😌😌😌

and well the repost on ZZ’s birthday post on his own weibo is another story too 😂😂😂

==================

AND SOME LAST WORDS ABOUT ZZ PULLING OFF THIS CAMERA CANDY TODAY. It’s actually a joint effort. Intentional or not, I’m all for it. It goes to show that the way we speculate on things actually make sense and are not too out there. They could easily hide the camera if they want to block all the cpf talk but they didn’t. It was displayed proudly.

It’s one of those things where I think they/their team really listen in on what’s going on in the turtle fandom and they get to decide which ones will be given more fuel or not. Again, their relationship is between them, but imagine them willingly sharing this personal part of their life to us is making me 😭😭😭.

Whether it’s the exact same camera or not. XZS’ posting closed the loop of doubt. It’s not all on WYB’s side, ZZ claimed it too. and that to me is an iron clad cpn. No one can say that “WYB is just trying to feed the cpfs…”. It’s mutual.

It’s a lesson on believing in them. A couple of times this year, I’ve seen people question them. Always throwing tantrums for “lack of candy” and being annoying. Be patient. You will be rewarded if you just wait — appreciate them as people and enjoy the content they put out. It will come to us in time. Trust them. 🤍

-END.

#yizhan #bjyx #there is no science here i’m just clowning like i always do #happy birthday to xz but we are the ones being showered with gifts!!! bishhhh!!!!!!

[yourtongzhihazel]

How does the DOTP work in China? I'm a westerner (sorry) so I don't have a lot of knowledge on the way the Chinese political system works. Unfortunately my brain is also corrupted by electoralism so it's hard for me to conceive of how figures in power could be held accountable without robust voting and the like, not to say that I don't think such a system could exist of course, just that due to my environment I've been insulated from it. If you have some good books/articles/websites on the topic that'd be great too 👍!

Sure! Just right off the bat, it's not true that there's no elections in the PRC; elections happen on a local level, who then elect representatives to the next level and so on and so forth until you reach the National People's Congress (NPC). This distributed voting system means that to have corrupt party/government officials reach high echelons of power, they'd have to plan over the course of an entire lifetime and collude with millions of people and party members. Of course, its not impossible, which is why there's anti-corruption initiatives. So you have top down and bottom up accountability. Its not a perfect system of course, but it has worked pretty well so far.

On how the DOTP works in China, here's a textbook called How The CPC Works (谢春涛 (Xie Chuntao)) which covers the details about government structure and party functions. It's a bit old, published in 2013, but it still solid.

I want to remind you and other readers that the PRC is only one of many models of people's democracy in action. You can look at how things are run in Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, even the DPRK if you're lucky enough to get one of their textbooks. The key point is to see how these models interact with each country's respective material conditions and see what kind of model would best fit your material conditions.

#Hazel's press releases

[inbabylontheywept]

The Defanging of FAANG

So taking this from the top.

Facebook's own prognosis is that their userbase has already peaked. Worse, their entire business model - harvesting user data in order to deliver targeted advertisements - has proven to be less effective than actual random ads. It's fucking magic beans.

Apple's problem is that their industrial base is in China. The US saw how bad Europe bled over its relationship with Russia and decided to pre-empt the problem. Bad news is that caused an inflation spike. Good news is that it did pre empt the problem. The next generation industrial country for the US is going to be Mexico, but the competition for their workers has already been won by Samsung. Apple is in for a rough twenty years.

Amazon makes most of its money from its server service, and it is looking down the barrel of an anti-trust lawsuit. It has no political allies and is very likely to lose.

Netflix is part of a supersatured hypercompetitive market over an increasingly small market share. Their entire model is not sustainable, and never has been.

Google makes their money in exactly the same way that Facebook does, and is looking at death by the same mechanism. It's a one-trillion dollar company whose main product is about to become worthless.

My suspicion is that this is why AI is getting so much money thrown at it. There are a lot of big players with shitloads of cash, but no long term future. If they were human beings, they'd take the money and bow out, but corporations don't actually care about cash - they care about living. And they only get to live as long as they can grow.

[svt-chanel]

Chanel being ✨️ICONIC✨️

1.☆ Chanel was once spotted in a bar trying to pull someone and all of the comments were "w rizz"

2.☆ One of her pics went viral and even locals were asking who she was

3.☆ Many companies wanted Chanel as their Trainee and even tried to bribe her but she ended up chasing Pledis

4.☆ Prada, Dior, Chanel, Miu Miu, and even Celine wanted and even argued over her on TWITTER...So Chanel decided to become each brands Ambassador over the years. (The brands cried on twitter once it wasn't their turn anymore)

5.☆ The president of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Australia all admitted to being Chanel fans. 6.☆ Everything she wears/eats becomes viral and sells out almost immediately.

7.☆ Momo of TWICE, all BLACKPINK members, and other kpop idols have told Chanel about her being the Asia role model and are even look up to her.

8.☆ many western artist want to collaborate with her.

9.☆ A famous painter has admitted that Chanel is the muse of his most famous paintings.

10.☆ She winked at an interviewer and they just kept stuttering.

11.☆ A flirty idol blushed when she winked at the camera.

12.☆ All of the girl aussies (Danielle, Lily, Hanni, and Rosé) started to fangirl over her in a live and eventually said "I need to touch grass." Becoming a famous moment between all those fandoms and especially Carats. (Due to her having solo schedules she couldn't make it to the live)

13.☆ A few idols argued over who she would sit next to at an award show.

14.☆ She had once manspread in a live and it became a famous moment with Carats simping over it and making edits.

15.☆ Carats meow instead of bark at concerts and her satisfied reaction becomes famous.

16.☆ A clip of her hands at a fansign go crazy viral "IDK WHO SHE IS BUT PLEASE CHOKE ME"

17.☆ On a solo live she read put a comment that said "mommy? Sorry." And then laughed and said "Mommy? Yeah you can call me that." Whike smirking.

18.☆ Once during an interview she stared at on object (hella) hard but everyone brushed it off thinking she was zoning out until that exact object fell while she just smirked and looked away.

19.☆ A fan had been secretly recording her in an airport and she immediately found the camera but when she looked at the camera her eyes turned fully white as if she was possessed scaring everyone around her and they left.

20.☆ In all of the group M/Vs that she films people say they see her behind her members copying their EXACT movement once the company heard about this they released a statement saying that you're never behind your members but somehow they still see you.

21.☆ A picture of you was shown on the news because of you're album sales but as soon as you showed up everybody's TV glitched and all they saw was you for 10 minutes straight and lots of people said that after a few minutes the picture started smiling.

22.☆ During an award show 2 of her tts top charts then compete against each other.

23.☆ Even antis dont deny that she's the 3rd gen it girl.

24.☆ When dancing on stage the top of the award broke off and she went viral for it.

25.☆ She passed out on stage but she was still singing her lines somehow.

26.☆ On a live with SEVENTEEN she was off to the side doing her own thing while the members were playing around but the fans attention was on you only and they couldn't figure out why. (There was even theories made about it)

27.☆ Chanel is chosen to represent Vietnam, Korea, and Australia for MRS UNIVERSE every year (2017-2024) and once she even won for all three countries.

28.☆ Once at the mall a kid (13 year old) saw her there and said "Isn't that Chanel from SEVENTEEN? She's so pretty." And she couldn't help but blush.

29.☆ Her debut (solo) song "Smart" broke the guineas world record for the most streamed debut in history.

30.☆ She died her hair as a blue and black wolfcut and it immediately became known as the "Chanel Hair"

#kpop female member #kpop female addition #fictional kpop community #14th member of seventeen #chanel svt #femaleidol #idol oc #🦢: chanel solo #🦢.svt #woo verse ִֶָ ࣪៹ chanel #Chanel svt

[riaaanna]

Paywall alert so I pasted the article below...

It happens to be international Stereoscopy Day on the day that I interview Brian May. The rock star marks it by wearing a T-shirt from which a portrait of a Victorian scientist, Charles Wheatstone, looks out. Not that I would recognise him. This musical instrument-maker turned scientist is hardly a household name — unless of course you are a follower of the astrophysicist turned lead guitarist of Queen. Then you may well have stumbled across him because May is quite possibly Wheatstone’s biggest fan.

His passion dates back to his childhood days in suburban Feltham, he explains. May turns 76 next month, “But I still remember the moment as clearly as if was yesterday,” he says. “I opened a Weetabix packet at breakfast and found a little card inside, only a few inches across. It had two coloured pictures on it, of hippos. They looked the same and I wondered why they were giving me two. ‘For glorious full-colour realism send off now for your 3D viewer,’ the instructions said. [He still has them.] So I sent off one-and-sixpence — I earned pocket money for doing chores like mowing the grass — and a packet top and a little viewer arrived in the post.

A James Elliott stereoscope, Ophelia

“I put the card in the viewer. It was like looking through a window. I felt as if I could touch those hippos. I could almost smell their breath. I could almost have fallen into their mouths. And I thought if this is what photography can do, why is anybody bothering with flat pictures? Why isn’t this stereoscopy everywhere?”

Stereoscopy — creating a three-dimensional illusion from flat images using small changes in angle — preceded the invention of photography, May explains, and Wheatstone was quick off the mark in spotting its potential. Producing the first working model, he coined the term “stereoscope” at a Royal Society unveiling in 1838. “The Victorians were completely knocked out. It became an enormous craze. Before, people had only seen drawings of the pyramids or tea planting in China. Suddenly they could look into this little dark box and feel as if they were there. And it was utterly astonishing to them.”

May too was entranced by this new kind of magic. “I was hooked. I quickly figured out how it was done and took pictures of Mum and Dad in the garden. And I was a stereoscopist from then on. I even invented my own imaginary company called See Through Ltd. And years and years later with the help of friends we founded, or rather re-founded, the London Stereoscopic Company, which had been such a major force in Victorian times.”

This month the Watts Gallery in Compton, Surrey, will be hosting a stereoscopic celebration in the form of an exhibition, Victorian Virtual Reality. It will present more than 150 images from May’s now massive archive built up over the course of 50 years — at first little by little when he was a student, but subsequently amassed at a voracious rate by a rock star who, according to recent estimates, is worth about £167 million.

Among the images on show will be one of the youthful May taken when his trademark bushy hair — now completely grey — was still black. Visitors will be invited to look at pictures that range from Egyptian pyramids to a portrait of Charles Dickens or rural scenes by May’s “ultimate hero”, the photographer TR Williams, to a Waterloo veteran with three-cornered hat and wooden legs.

It’s easy to understand how thrilling they must once have been. But May, who studied astrophysics at Imperial College London, is interested also in stereoscopy’s futuristic relevance.

Freddie Mercury and May at Live Aid, 1985

As a teenager he built his iconic Red Special guitar and, later, quit a PhD in astrophysics (A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud) to follow his rock dreams. He eventually completed his doctorate, almost 40 years later, and now spends a lot of time working with Nasa. As a self-confessed “stereoscopic evangelist” he loves bringing this Victorian technology to play in present-day situations.

About seven years ago, he explains, Nasa launched a mission, Osiris Rex, which involved sending a spacecraft to an asteroid about half a kilometre in diameter. “The whole point of the project,” he says, “was to bring a sample back, which meant that they had to land the craft momentarily upon the surface. But this object is not solid; it’s a rubble pile — an aggregation of rocks and pebbles and dust. It’s very uneven and so hard to find a spot where you can land safely. If the spacecraft fell over, the whole mission would fail.”

What stereoscopy was able to do, May explains proudly, was put together 3D images of the terrain and so find a safe site. “They landed the craft, sucked up the stones and rubble that they wanted, and now it’s on its way back to Earth,” says May, who plans shortly to publish a book, Bennu 3-D: the first atlas of an asteroid, with the added dimension of 3D.

And how does stereoscopy come to bear upon his own future? He describes virtual reality as “the grandchild of the stereoscope”. So will Queen go virtual? Will they create their own version of the hugely successful Abba Voyage show? Will a hologram bring Freddie Mercury back to the limelight?

“Not while we are alive,” May says. “We have toyed with these things. We actually use some images of Freddie in our show. But we prefer to keep it more real. The whole thing about Queen is that we never play to clicks. We don’t have backing tracks; we just play live and dangerous. And if there was too much jiggery-pokery going on with regards to Freddie, I think we would lose that.

“I was told in school that I couldn’t be an artist and a scientist, that I had to choose,” May continues. “I resented that and I think I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to prove people wrong. I believe that to be a complete person you should have all these facets. The truly creative minds understand both. Isaac Newton was a musician as well as a scientist. And a lot of scientific discoveries and concepts are fuelled by an artistic appreciation of nature. Think of Watson and Crick who discovered the double helix: they didn’t discover it through electron microscopy. It was intuition. They woke up and thought, ‘Oh, I wonder if it was a spiral and things were connected across the middle?’ They were being like artists and scientists at the same time.

“I spend a lot of my time still with astrophysicists. I spend a lot also making music. But I also spend a lot of my time trying to rescue wildlife and to change the laws that should be protecting it. To me it’s all part of the same thing — part of being a complete three-dimensional human being.”

At his Save Me Trust — a campaigning wildlife institution founded by May, who is vice-president of the RSPCA — a couple of hundred hedgehogs overwintered last year. There are also rescued deer, foxes, mice and bats. But badgers appear to be his presiding obsession. “One of the great tragedies of our lifetime, and I think the greatest crime against wildlife in our generation, is the culling of badgers,” he says. “Culling them is a tragic mistake. It hasn’t achieved anything. It hasn’t saved a single cow’s life; it hasn’t made a single farmer’s life better.”

May acknowledges that managing the environment is very complex. Soil microbes, veganism and food miles all crop up in the course of his impassioned conversation. If he had to recommend one action that we could all take tomorrow, it would be to get rid of all our pesticides. “Go into your garden shed and get rid of anything that’s poisonous for the sake of your wildlife, for the sake of your children and for the sake of the birds who eat the snails and slugs. Don’t ever use a slug killer again.

“And don’t eat meat,” he adds — he is a vegetarian verging upon vegan, but still partial to the occasional bit of fish — “because meat is one of the biggest polluters of the planet and it’s one of the biggest contributors to global warming. Every responsible prime minister should be telling us not to eat meat.”

May nearly died during lockdown. He suffered a heart attack followed by stomach problems that led to him coming “close to dying”. But he is back on top. At the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee he followed his extraordinary Golden Jubilee performance on the roof of Buckingham Palace with an equally iconic appearance and even persuaded the Queen to tap along. He’s always ready to innovate and adapt. Knighted this year, he confesses that he wrestled for a while with whether he would like to be known as “Sir” or “Dr”. “I worked really hard for my doctorate and I didn’t like giving it up. But the easiest thing is to move on, so I went with the new appellation. Sir Bry is fine. I don’t mind what people call me really. As long as they don’t call me late for dinner,” he adds, quoting Groucho Marx.

Rock bands and badgers, Nasa and the RSPCA all come together in this family man (he is married to the actress Anita Dobson and has three children with his first wife, the model Chrissie Mullen) and musical icon, calmly spoken interviewee and political ranter (look at his online blog, Brian’s Soapbox). Little wonder that May is so entranced by stereoscopy. You need that sort of vision to pull all his many facets into one whole.

Victorian Virtual Reality is at the Watts Gallery (wattsgallery.org.uk) in Compton, near Guildford in Surrey, July 4 to February 25

(Thank you renrensoh for sharing!)

#queen band #brian may #interview #article

[distractivate]

Trivia (Wednes)day

Creators: give a “behind the scenes” look at one of your works. This could be things that got removed or changed, the origins of ideas/details, whatever you like!

Thanks to @smblmn​ for tagging me!

When I had a lot more free time than I do now, I often created digital models of the locations where my fics were set (AUs or outside of SC). My background is in design, so this activity was not totally out there for my interests, if still a bit unhinged lol. Making the model usually helps me percolate and develop details that find their way into the story. Making a model of the Rose Video store for The Last Rose Video gave me the idea that David would turn the adult video room into the community room that was a huge part of boosting the store's success. In Blackbird, Fly, the model of the bunker gave me the idea for David to use the service ramp as his own kind of meditation walk, which ended up opening the fic.

Normally the models aren't that pretty to look at, but I was really stuck on Good Winter, and I spent a lot of time avoiding writing modeling the Brewer Family fishing cabin and thinking about what objects Patrick could discover and ruminate about. It helped me brainstorm how those objects would tell the story of his emotional state, his family history, and his relationship with Rachel. I worked back and forth, from model to fic draft to model, adding details to both.

I vividly remember writing the excerpt below about Marcy and her dishes, which came to me so clearly while laying out the kitchen in the model.

Patrick nods and ponders that as he sits down next to him with their cups of tea. That’s maybe what he’s doing here. Finally.

“Are these antique?” David asks, studying the delicate blue floral pattern on the soft white china.

“I assume. They were my grandmother’s.”

“They’re fancy,” he says appreciatively, taking another sip.

His dad didn’t even question it when his mom unpacked the box of china that first summer after her mother died. He just turned fond and kissed the top of her head, and they spent summers eating fried fish on the same fine china she’d used for big family dinners since she was a girl. They’re so out of place here at the end of a very long road from nowhere to nowhere, but he loves them, loves the way his mother said yes to wilderness and no to being wild about it.

After his week here, he can see she was always doing that, adding touches to the cabin to soften it. His dad complained once about how fishing cabins were supposed to be rough, but just once. Patrick suspects he actually loves it.

The will to bend places to suit, instead of the other way around, is something he admires about David, too. Sometimes Patrick complains about how quickly they go through candles, but he loves walking into the bedroom, the Cedar and Suede reminding him of home and work and partnership in every sense of the word.

Anyway this is my one surefire way to kick writer's block, and I miss having more time to work this way.

Tagging @likerealpeopledo-on-ao3 @olive2read @icmezzo and anyone else who wants to join.

#behind the scenes #writing #writing process #good winter #schitt's creek fanfic #sc fanfic #trivia tuesday

[itcars]

Huracan #20,000 Rolls Off Lamborghini Line

Automobili Lamborghini announces Huracán number 20,000: an STO model in glorious Grigio Acheso Matt for a client in the Principality of Monaco. While the Huracán Super Trofeo Omologata is the pinnacle of Huracán performance in a road car with racing spirit, it heads an extended family of Huracán models that have delivered aspirated performance with characterized dynamic handling and driving emotion since its 2014 launch.

Eight years’ success since 2014

The Huracán's success has endured for eight years, an attraction maintained over time thanks to a wide range of versions: 12 road and three racing versions.  Since 2014, 71% of customers have chosen the coupé versions and 29% the open-air derivatives. Top of the markets is the United States, where more than 32% of all Huracán versions have been delivered in the last eight years, followed by the UK and Greater China. This solid success continues also today: Huracán models largely contributed to the 2021 sales record with a strong increase sales up to 2,586 units, due partly to the impetus from the very positive customer response to the Huracán STO.

2014: the first coupé version, LP 610-4                                                            

The first Huracán coupé (LP 610-4) debuted at the 2014 Geneva motor show with four-wheel drive, 610 hp, acceleration from 0-100 km/h of 3.2 secs and a top speed of 325 km/h. Innovations included Lamborghini ANIMA drive mode selection, on-board gyroscope LPI system, dual fuel injection and LEDs lights throughout the car: an industry first in the super sports segment. The Huracán LP 610-4 Spyder was unveiled at Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2015. The 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 is the same as in the coupé and develops 610 hp. The 0-100 km/h sprint is covered in 3.4 seconds and the top speed is 323 km/h.

2015: Huracán LP 580-2, a two-wheel drive experience

Compared to the LP 610-4, it differs in that it has a lower-powered engine and rear-wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive. It has the same 5.2-litre V10 as the 610-4 but with power reduced to 580 hp and torque of 533 Nm. Thanks to the absence of four-wheel drive, Lamborghini's engineers have achieved a weight saving of 33 kg compared to the Huracán coupé, at just 1,389 kg. Top speed is 320 km/h. A Spyder RWD variant of the Huracán LP 580-2 was unveiled at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November 2016. The 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 is the same as the coupe and develops 580 hp. A 250-off, limited edition Avio model in 2016, celebrated the aviation and aeronautic inspiration in Huracán styling.

2016: the Huracán Performante debut and the Nürburgring lap record

The 640 hp Huracán Performante stormed into markets in 2016: with Lamborghini’s patented ALA active aerodynamic innovations, it took the Nordschleife Nürburgring lap record for production cars and won awards around the world. In 2018, the Huracán Performante Spyder took the zenith of Huracán developments: the sublime combination of peerless technological innovation, performance and open-air driving. Like the Performante coupé, the Spyder outputs 640 hp at 8,000 rpm, producing 600 Nm of torque at 6,500 rpm, accelerating from 0-100 km/h in 3.1 seconds and 0-200 km/h in 9.3 seconds.

2019: the new Huracán EVO - the next generation V10 super sports car

In 2019, the Huracán EVO ‘evolution’ debuted. The distinctive design defined the aerodynamic superiority and enhanced driving dynamics of this new model taking the 640 hp and extraordinary abilities of the Performante combined with rear-wheel steering, torque vectoring and LDVI with predictive logic. The EVO Spyder adopted the next-generation vehicle dynamic control and aerodynamics developed for the coupé, with the 5.2-liter naturally aspirated Lamborghini V10 engine uprated for a higher power output and incorporating Titanium intake valves. In 2020, the Huracán EVO Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) was presented delivering 610 hp of power at 8,000 rpm and 560 Nm of torque at 6,500 rpm to a lightweight car with rear-wheel drive and dynamic steering for maximum driving fun. The Huracán EVO RWD has a top speed of 325 km/h and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.3 seconds.  In the same year, Automobili Lamborghini was the first automotive brand to use Augmented Reality (AR) for the virtual launch of a new model, the Huracán EVO RWD Spyder. Using Apple’s AR Quick Look, the company brought its latest V10 super sports car directly to customers and fans worldwide.

2021: the Huracán STO – Lamborghini Squadra Corse at its heart

The Huracán STO (Super Trofeo Omologata) launched in 2021 delivered Lamborghini’s motorsport experience and know-how in a homologated road car. It has been inspired by the Huracán EVO Super Trofeo developed by Squadra Corse for Lamborghini’s own race series, as well as the Huracán EVO GT3, three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona and two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring. With its 640 hp naturally aspirated V10 engine generating 565 Nm at 6,500 rpm, the rear-wheel drive Huracán STO delivers exhilarating acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.0 seconds, from 0 to 200 km/h in 9.0 seconds, and a top speed of 310 km/h.

2022: the Huracán Tecnica, designed & engineered for both worlds

The latest in the Huracán family, unveiled in April 2022, is the Huracán Tecnica: the next-generation rear-wheel drive V10, developed for pilots seeking driving fun and lifestyle perfection on both road and track. The Tecnica’s moniker embodies the advanced evolution of the Huracan’s technical prowess and, instantly distinguishable as much a Huracán innovation externally as it is under the hood, with its new looks accenting improved aerodynamics for heightened performance, stability and ease of use, particularly on a circuit.  Taking its engine from the Huracán STO, with an increase of 30 CV over the Huracán EVO rear-wheel drive (RWD), the powertrain delivers 565 Nm of torque at maximum 6,500 rpm and improved acceleration of 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds.

From connectivity to the digital world of E-sports

In 2021 Lamborghini became the first automaker to incorporate complete vehicle system control by Amazon Alexa in the Huracán EVO, and also first to adopt the what:three:words function for accurate navigation anywhere in the world. Lamborghini fans enjoy the Huracán in a host of video games and E-sports competitions including FORZA Horizon and Gran Turismo, Rocket League and Assetto Corsa Competizione.

60% of Huracáns feature Ad Personam customization

More than 60% of Huracáns delivered have featured Ad Personam customization drawing on a vast palette of colors, trims and special materials. The Ad Personam program now offers around 300 exterior colors, but a customer can always request a unique option. Customers in central Europe, Japan and UK are the most inclined to tailor-made customization. Everyday objects such as furniture, sofas, bags, clothes, but also make-up (eye shadows, nail varnish), precious stones and watchstraps inspire Lamborghini customers. They need to feel free to create something that represents them: their tastes, personality and everyday life. A Huracán rear-wheel drive for the Pope was created in papal colors and presented in the Vatican City to be auctioned for charity.  

Huracán Polizia: a long-standing relationship with the Italian Police

Several Huracán’s have been delivered to the Italian police in a long-standing relationship: mainly used in medical emergencies, last year a Huracán delivered a transplant organ across 489 km from Padua to Rome in just over two hours.

Visitors touching down at Bologna’s Guglielmo Marconi airport have enjoyed the sight of Huracán follow-me cars leading planes onto aprons.

Huracán Adventures & Expeditions around the world

Huracáns have adventured across landscapes from Transylvania to the Scottish Highlands and Norwegian Lofoten islands, and amazed participants in Lamborghini Accademias on tracks and ice with their dynamic prowess.

From the road to the racetrack with Huracán Super Trofeo

The Huracán and its EVO successor have also created history on the racetrack. Almost 500 Huracán race cars have come off the production line in Super Trofeo and GT3 guise, including a limited Squadra Corse edition celebrating 10 years of Super Trofeo in 2019. Huracán GT3s have taken over than 40 championship titles and 117 victories in more than 12 series worldwide: Lamborghini is the only automaker to win the 24 Hours of Daytona GTD class three consecutive times, with the GT3 and GT3 EVO also winning the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring double, two years in a row between 2018 and 2019.

#lamborghini #huracan #news #industry news #lamborghini huracan #Automobili Lamborghini

[marzipanandminutiae]

Whenabouts do we start to see the shift from your stereotypical "Beloved Doll With Too Many Outfits" being modeled on adults to being modeled on children?

That sort of thing goes in cycles, it seems to me! And neither ever fully goes away- ther are always ladies in the Child Doll Eras, and vice versa. But in terms of broad market dominance, it fluctuates back and forth.

So in the late 18th-early 19th centuries, you mostly have lady dolls. Then wax or china dolls that primarily look like children become popular. That carries over into the beginnings of the French fashion doll movement in the late 1850s, with so-called Mode Enfantine (children's fashion) dolls like those of Adelaide Huret, Leontine Rohmer, and some by the Barrois and Blampoix firms. Around the mid-1860s, a shift back towards lady dolls occurs, and then in the late 1870s-1880s things trend in a child-doll direction once more.

Child Doll Supremacy hung on for quite a long time that go-round, continuing to hold sway until around the mid-late 1950s when dolls like Miss Revlon, Cissy, and of course Queen Barbie herself begin to enter the market.

(Barbie was not, as often cited, the first fashion doll, nor even the first 1950s fashion doll. However, she was groundbreaking in a number of ways: she was much smaller than fashion dolls had tended to be in the previous century and a half, at 11" tall, and therefore she and her clothes had a lower price tag than, say, Madame Alexander's Cissy. She was also one of very few fashion dolls since the turn of the 20th century that had an adult-looking face, as opposed to simply a child-doll face on an adult body. Or a full-on child doll merely dressed in adult clothing, perhaps with some bosom padding but few other nods to maturity.)

And...I'm not really sure things have swung back towards child dolls since. I feel like the two factions had a detente going in my childhood- most of the Gimmick Dolls like Surprise Hat Suzy or Pretty Sparkle Dancer were children, and of course American Girl, but Barbie's remained fairly consistent at the top of the heap. Or if not, her challengers have been other teen/adult dolls like Bratz, Monster High, etc.

What's next? Who knows!

#ask #thedupshadove #dolls #side note I'm realizing that I definitely had a Baby Gay Crush on my Pretty Sparkle Dancer doll #when I was like nine #I used to stroke her face and not understand why she elicited a different reaction than my other equally pretty dolls #is that weird? that's not weird #I also had Baby Gay Crushes on friends so

[absolutebl]

Hello ABL,

After looking at your spreadsheet of doom, can you tell us how many shows have been released this year 2022 (including the shows that ended in 2022 like bad buddy) compared to the last 2 years by country. It will provide some perspective.

Thank you ❤️

I can but I usually do exactly that at the end of the year since the number announced is different from the number that actually air, so I have to wait until forth quarter closes.

So can you wait until the end of the year for the true stats in proper analysis?

Here's last year:

BL 2021 STATS & TRENDS BY COUNTRY (I reposted for ya) 

Here’s some rough numbers on the major producers that I track (includes microfilms and added new discoveries to previous years):

THAILAND

2020 = 22 

2021 = 42 

2022 = 108 so far

flipping heck, I genuinely thought their exponential growth would start to plateau at this point, no wonder I am struggling to keep up 

TAIWAN

2020 = 4

2021 = 11

2022 = 5 so far 

I don’t think we are due many more this year, maybe 2 if we are lucky 

KOREA

2020 = 7 

2021 = 17

2022 = 16 so far 

I thought they’d get over 20 this year and I think they still might make it. 

JAPAN

2020 = 8 (but 3 of those are pinks)

2021 = 6

2022 = 17 so far 

This was the biggest trend I did not see coming. I had no idea Japan, of all places, would respond to market pressure like this. Honestly I think it’s mostly a “HAY, we started this, what is Korea doing? Oh, I don’t think so. Let’s show em how its done.” AKA they aren’t taking this like they did Jpop, subconscious attitude. 

My 2022 BL Trend & Growth Expectations from 2021 were:

THAILAND will produce the same kind of thing as they did in 2021 with perhaps a few darker offerings, better queer rep, and a fall off in the pulps as money dries up. I don’t see how they can possibly keep up this level of exponential growth, their overall quality is seriously suffering. If we’re lucky, we will get at least 6 experimental pieces with stronger story and atypical setting (like KinnPorsche). ANNOUNCED? 73 BLs for 2022 (many of these are seed project fundraisers, I expect about half to die in pre-production or move to 2023.)

TAIWAN has increased steadily over years but I think they’ll go down from 2021, and 6 is the max we can expect in 2022. I want them to do a gay spoof on Boys Over Flowers but they don’t have the funds. *sad sigh* (This is assuming China doesn’t carry out its political threats, in which case the world’s got more serious problems to worry about.) ANNOUNCED? 5 BLs for 2022 

KOREA. I expect them to double their BL output next year (from 11 to 20+), perhaps including something a little longer after the success of Light On Me. Of course, imma pipe dream Yuri on Ice staring Enhyphen’s Park Sung Hoon and you can’t stop me (but Japan probably will). ANNOUNCED? 15 BLs for 2022

JAPAN, look I have cried out for years for ninja/yakuza yaoi adaptations and something more adult domestic like Our Dinging Table, and Japan has announced both. BOTH I tell you. I am SO EXCITED for Japanese BL in 2022. Come on Japan, you can do eeet! ANNOUNCED? 4 BLs for 2022

VIETNAM should continue to improve steadily, and give us as many as it can, I’m just hoping it doesn't fall down the Pinoy rabbit hole of no story. They are evolving quickly, if Mr Cinderella is any indication, good things are coming. ANNOUNCED? 2 BLs for 2022

CHINA nothing but a few heavily censored bromances. ANNOUNCED? 1 bromance co-project with Thailand for 2022

2022 BL line up (announced projects, trailers, etc) as of the end of 2021 is here.

2021 audience analysis and thoughts here. I discuss growth in terms of audience, investment, and international market penetration. How I think pandemic viewing #s figured into it. Possible new production models. And changes in BL actors and their pairs. (Pure speculation since I don’t have access to these numbers.)

2021 BL Wrap Up - Top Trends analyzed & discussed

#asked and answered #bl stats #bl by numbers #actual proper data question #i'm very excited to get this kind of thing

[shopsignbd]

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[mariacallous]

Joe Biden wants the US government to make wider use of artificial intelligence—and to keep commercial AI on a tighter leash. Those are two prominent themes of a sprawling executive order Biden will sign today, which issues dozens of directives for federal agencies to complete within the next year, on topics ranging from national security and immigration to housing and healthcare.

The order places reporting requirements on companies developing powerful AI technology, such as that behind OpenAI's ChatGPT. Biden will use the Defense Production Act, a law that can compel businesses to take actions in the interest of national security, to require the makers of large AI models to report key information to the government, including when they are training a new model and what cybersecurity protections they have.

That will include disclosing results of so-called red teaming exercises, intended to reveal vulnerabilities in AI models, such as those that can be used to evade controls that prevent malicious use cases such as generating malware. The goal is to monitor the potential threats AI technology can pose to national security, public health, and the economy.

Another part of the order requires companies that acquire, develop, or possess large-scale computing clusters, essential to training the most powerful AI systems, to report their activity to the federal government. This rule is intended to help the government understand which entities, including those from nations competing with the US, have strong AI capabilities.

The executive order also directs the Department of Energy to evaluate how AI outputs can contribute to biological or chemical attacks, or cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. The UK government included the possibility of advanced AI enabling biological and chemical attacks in a report last week on potential threats posed by the technology.

White House deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, who is chair of a newly formed White House AI Council to ensure compliance with the order, calls it “the strongest set of actions any government in the world has ever taken on AI safety, security, and trust.”

Help Wanted

The measures in Biden's executive order aimed at powering up US government AI include the creation of a dedicated job portal hosted at AI.gov to draw more experts and researchers familiar with the technology into government. Another initiative asks for a new training program to produce 500 AI researchers by 2025.

Divyansh Kaushik, an associate director at policy research group the Federation of American Scientists, who helped draft portions of the executive order, says those could be among the most influential pieces. “People often forget that talent is the biggest bottleneck in the federal government,” he says.

Kaushik also welcomes the way Biden’s order demands changes to immigration policy to make it easier for AI talent to come to the US. A plan to allow immigrant workers to renew their visas inside the US, for example, could remove the need for hundreds of thousands of STEM students to travel to their home countries for in-person interviews.

Although the US has a majority of the world’s top AI talent today, only 20 percent of them received undergraduate degrees in the US, Kaushik says, indicating that many are immigrants. He says it’s in the US interest to make it easier for AI experts to come from overseas, to compete against other destinations such as China, Canada, or the UK.

Biden’s new executive order acknowledges that AI projects can be harmful to citizens if not carefully implemented, singling out the potential for discrimination and other unintended effects in housing and healthcare. The order calls for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to develop guides and tools to help government employees who purchase AI services from private companies make good choices.

Suresh Venkatasubramanian, director of the Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination, and Redesign at Brown University, says those rules could be impactful. Within the federal government, procurement is “number one on everyone's agenda because everyone understands that is the way to effect change,” he says. He previously helped the White House assemble an AI Bill of Rights for federal agencies issued by Biden last year.

However, Venkatasubramanian says some of the most critical government use cases for AI in the US will largely go unaffected by the new executive order. Biden’s directives apply to federal agencies, but much AI used in criminal justice and policing is deployed by state and local law enforcement. False positives from AI-powered technology like ShotSpotter gunshot detection and face recognition have led to false arrests, and police departments currently use predictive policing software that doesn’t work as advertised.

To force state agencies to also adopt the standards in the executive order, Venkatasubramanian says federal lawmakers could make compliance a condition of funding for state and local law enforcement agencies.

This is the first executive order of the Biden presidency solely focused on artificial intelligence, and it follows two by former president Trump, in 2019 and 2020. So far, government agencies have a spotty record of complying with them.

The 2019 order focused on investments in AI research and development. A December 2020 executive order and the Advancing American AI Act passed last year require federal agencies to annually disclose an inventory of algorithms in use. But a Stanford Law School study found a pattern of inconsistent compliance, warning of a national AI “capacity gap.” If Biden’s new order, the most ambitious presidential directive on the technology to date, works as intended, it will significantly expand that capacity.

[madhattersez]

Model Kit Build: "Chinagguy" by Bandai

Okay! Here she is: Chinagguy. Undoubtedly the most ridiculous and cutesy model kit I've put together so far.

Are you familiar with the actual Gunpla that this one is cosplaying? Here ya go - The equally silly KUMA-03 Beargguy III:

The most uncuddlable teddy bear since Roosevelt.

Anyways, let's get started, shall we?

Here we have another one of those horrifying face masks, like the Mrs. Loheng-Rinko model had. I'm just gonna hurry up and put the head together before this thing Chuckys me.

Ahh, much better. Here she is. Much cuter now.

So, this kit had the option to use these "invisible lens" style frames or an actual pair of plastic glasses that kind of made her eyes bigger, like real ones. I wanted to use those instead, but I really botched putting the red frames on them because they were a tiny, slivery sticker. Ah well, these are nice, too.

And the torso shot. There's not a lot of photos for this build because it had a surprisingly low amount of parts and stickers for a High Grade kit! I built this one in maybe about an hour, and I was taking my sweet time.

I legit wish all Gundams had a thigh gap like this. They would all be able to actually stand sturdy if that were the case, haha.

In this state, this also looks like some sort of Loli fashion Fryguy or some shit. Maybe I should have just stopped here to confuse people, or just popped the head on top!

But I'm not a monster (?!).

Here she is in full bear costume glory! Ms. China Kousaka, ready to kick your Gunpla's ass.

In an adorable way. Look at that ridiculous maid-style outfit! I love it, y'all.

What's next for building?

I have a teeny, tiny little Gundam that fits in a literal Cup Noodle container. Stay tuned!

For more of my model kit builds on Tumblr, click here:

#chinagguy #china gguy #gundam build fighters #gundam #gundam model #model building #model kit #model kits #bandai models #hattersmodelbuilds #gunpla

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Casting Wary Eyes on Russia’s Air Strength Japan Is Planning a Mighty Sky Armada,” Brantford Expositor. February 7, 1933. Page 3. ---- Top image: Trim fighting planes like those pictured above represent Japan's bid for "a place in the sky” --- It was no futile gesture of defiance that Japan made through its war minister, General Sadao Araki, when it was announced that Nippon's military air forces would be strengthened to equal those of Soviet Russia. 

For Japan has the factories, the men, and the technical skill to build a mighty armada of the air. For additional money, it needs do only what has been done before: in 1931, 68 planes were purchased by public subscription within a few months after the launching of a patriotic appeal. 

Newly established in Manchukuo and hemmed In by China and the U.S.S.R., Japan has made no secret of the fact that she fears war with the Soviet Union. And Soviet airplanes, thousands of them, are ready to sweep into action, it is this air threat that Japan is especially anxious to meet— not only in Manchukuo and Korea, but especially In her desperately small and over-populated homeland across the Sea of Japan. 

Nippon had crude fighting planes and a plan of aerial combat before the beglnnlg of the World War. Her flyers saw service on the Italian front and later in Siberia. They used foreign-built planes and motors then but began to manufacture their own in 1918. 

Military and civilian schools were established, flying clubs organized, and scores of pilots turned out. French, English, and American aviators went to Japan to teach everything from transport flying to acrobatics. Commercial lines began regular operation. 

In 1931, airplanes in use by the army and navy numbered only about 500. To-day there are probably 1500. Only the Japanese war ministry knows how many more are being rushed to completion. The next Diet in April will receive enormous military budget to provide for pro-posed training camps fields and new airplanes. The only announced object is to match Russia pilot for pilot, plane for plane. 

LANDING HELDS SCARCE The greatest single hindrance to the development of Japanese aviators has been the scarcity of landing space. The country, being both mountainous and small, has had to sacrifice a large proportion of its valuable flat lands to make aerodromes. Since there are plenty of sheltered harbors for seaplane landings, however, naval aviation has prospered. In fact, the navy now is proposing to spend $50,000,000 for the construction of five new naval air bases. 

More than $2,500,000 being spent for anti-aircraft armament including artillery searchlights, sound detectors, and range-finding equipment. There defenses are concealed in strategic and carefully-guarded localities. 

One of the world's finest institutes of aeronautical research was opened recently near Tokyo. It is complete with huge wind tunnels for the testing of new types of planes, a large field for actual flying, and a $1,900,000 building, containing the most advanced scientific equipment in Japan as in the United States, children and college students compete in the building and flying or model planes. And when Japanese youths serve their compulsory term in the army, many more apply for aviation training than can be accommodated. 

There are about twelve busy airplane factories in Japan to-day and the largest the Mitsubishi company at Nagoya employs 3000 workmen At least a score of aviation schools including those conducted by the government are tinning out fledgling pilots.  ---- Bottom image: These new super-sensitive ears designed to detect the approach of enemy airplanes has been officially adopted as part of Japan's highly modern anti-aircraft equipment.

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