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theflyingfeeling · 6 months

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hiiiii, here's a special olli/allu fwb headcanon delivery for you because I too am making poor time management decisions ✨💖

I've been playing with an idea where they become fwb early in 2022 and this situationship lasts for pretty much the whole year, until they confess that they caught feelings around the LA songwriting tour 😌💖

2022 US tour: it starts one night while they're the only ones awake in the tour bus, drinking mountain dew and chatting about life and music and pretty much anything that crosses their mind. One of them (maybe Aleksi) says that it's been a while since he last got laid but that his hand doesn't feel as good as the real deal, so the other (maybe Olli in one of those brain-to-mouth-not-connected moments) says that he could give a... helping hand. It's awkward at first, with both of them trying not to make so much noise as to avoid waking up their bandmates, but they get each other off and it feels better than anything they had since the tour started. They come to a sort of agreement and once in a while, when they're bored late at night or when the adrenaline from the show hasn't worn out yet, their hands would find their way around each other's cock. Not a single kiss is shared because that would be weird, right??? They're friends and they only "kiss" (as in a little peck, nothing more) when they're drunk or wasted.

2022 first EU tour: since the bus they used for this tour had a private area, their bandmates asked them to move their late night talks there, unaware of their other activities. Encouraged by the privacy, someone (most likely Aleksi) proposes the idea of exchanging blowjobs as well, to which the other agrees in a heartbeat. They swap places quite often, until Aleksi cuts his hair shorter and Olli feels betrayed (he just liked pulling on Allu's hair, can you blame him?). They experiment with other things during this time, like frotting and they only talk about the idea of fingering, but it's there to try some other time. The next night after that talk the tour is over and they have to go back home. Oh and still no kisses because its just sex, there's no need to complicate things, right?

I have an "idea" for what comes after that (finnish tour and the EU headline tour) and in the song camps 💕 jsyk they catch feelings so fucking fast but are in sweet denial about it, because they cannot accept that the other could love them back when it seems all they want is sex 😔 (even if pretty much everyone else in the band is like 'dude....... have you seen the way he looks at you?')

okay bye, gonna go back to work 😭

Noooooo come baaaaaaack I wanna hear more about them catching feelings!! 😭😭😭😭😭

Oh my god?? I mean oh my god????? I love this so much my heart is about to burst?!? 😭💞 First of all, they do seem close and comfortable enough to casually talk about sex among other topics, so it would be an easy arrangement for them to make without it feeling too weird or "wrong" but ohhhnnnoooooo maybe they didn't expect it to feel so much better than their own hand? 😌 And secondly waaaaaaaahhhhhh I can imagine them both looking forward to the "benefits" part of their nightly talks more and more every passing day, so obviously the other would be absolutely down (pun intented) for blowjobs as well 🥵 Now tell me, for I need to know because of reasons: since they're not sharing any kisses during the handjobs (or the other activities whatsoever), where are their eyes directed? 👀 Are they looking at each other's cocks (hot), admiring the other's hand stroking their own cock (also hot), or perhaps just staring into each other's eyes in a strangely intimate way with the occasional glance at their mouth maybe (devastating)?

The thought of them blowing each other and frotting in the tourbus with the added thrill of both "doing more than just handjobs" and being walked in is so hot I'm gonna pass out if I think about it too much 😳 And since they didn't get the chance to try out fingering before the tour ended, please tell me they did some experiments... solo? You know, when they were home and apart? And perhaps reported back to each other about how they liked it? 👀🥴 (leaving out the part what they were thinking about when they did that, of course, because denialllllll 😩)

I will continue headcanoning this until you spill the deets about the 'catching feelings' part, because that's very important to me personally, totally cool if you're too busy tonight though no worries at all I love you btw 🥺👉👈💗

#screw the olli/allu timeline i made this is the real shit 🔥#i would cry literal tears of joy to read this in a fic 😭#yayyy poor time-management decisions have been made and responsibilities have been avoided succesfully! thank you ✨#it's fwb hours in this house tonight 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨#if you're reading this while making poor time-management decisions and avoiding responsibilities consider yourself invited 👋#ollixallu #answered asks #catboyolli

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ryro-iii · 2 years

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I’m just amazed of how much mcr have grown musically. They have just become so much better. Every song sounds 1000 times better then before, the lyrics, the guitars... I wouldn’t have expected such a come back in a million years. It’s been like a freaking fire pit come back, the whole EU tour. So glad to be alive in the year of our lord 2022 to be experiencing this, it’s exciting. I’m mind blown.

#mcr #my chemical romance #mcr bonn

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miashyperfixations · 1 year

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EMLYN: NO-ONE CAME TO GRIEVE UK/EU TOUR

30.03.2023 @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester (250 Capacity)

Written April 2023

This was my second show at The Deaf Institute and Emlyn’s first show in Manchester however, this is her last show of the tour with only 2 other dates in London & Berlin, similar to the Dylan show I saw there. There was a Paris show when the tour was announced, but that was cancelled due to another opportunity arising for her album release. Emlyn’s alt-pop sound is a mixture of all of my music tastes - think Demi Lovato's 'confident' era pop anthems meets Taylor Swift's reputation era style mixed with Sabrina Carpenter's heartbreak lyricism.

I started listening to Emlyn’s music mid-pandemic and wanted to go to her album release show in London in the early summer of 2022. However, it clashed with my GCSEs, so I wasn’t able to go. This time, the minute she announced this tour, I made plans to go and was also able to book tickets for her meet & greet before the concert and talk to her, buy merch & have a full conversation with the opening act, Beth Mcarthy.

Her set was amazing, I had only listened to a few of her songs a couple of days beforehand, and what I heard was great. She also played an unreleased song and a cover of Billie Eilish’s ‘Happier Than Ever’. Something I found interesting is that she interacted with the sound tech at the back right beforehand whilst on stage, asking for alterations in her IEMs and double-checking the sound on her guitar. We then saw Emlyn’s band come on to double-check their instruments and IEMs inbetween sets and could see them alter a few monitors/boxes on stage & see the guitarist set up and soundcheck. In the intermission between sets my sister approached Emlyn’s manager to say potentially have a chat and say hi but Emlyn was due to come on stage very soon so told her he'd be hanging around after the show so we could come and find him then. The set itself was absolutely incredible. As I said earlier, I've wanted to see Emlyn live for a while now, and she didn't disappoint. If the fact that she had an entire set of belters and vocally challenging songs wasn't enough, her stage presence clearly showed that she's a pop powerhouse. The emotionally vulnerable lyrics of her ‘sad bitch anthems’ perfectly opposed her 'no-remorse bad bitch' anthems and encapsulated her message that it's okay to be a mess and a badass at the same time. After one of her most emotional songs 'Change For Me' the crowd (including us) held up flowers & pictures of her younger self with sweet messages for her to show her that she isn't alone. The transitions between songs were particularly interesting as some of them were medleys of other songs she didn’t play but had the same themes/vibes of those that she did play. Although I didn’t necessarily relate to any of her songs, it was fun to sing along in a room full of those that did and see how much Emlyn has impacted them/their lives.

After the concert, we weren’t expecting her manager to remember us since we assumed he’d be distracted by work, so we were a little surprised when he came out from backstage and walked directly towards us. We had a full conversation with him as I'm considering going into a music business course post-college, and my sister wants to go into graphic design, specifically in the music industry. He gave us a lot of advice about the industry as a whole and a few specific notes into specific sectors. He seemed really enthusiastic talking to us about it. We were really glad that he took the time to talk to us and have a proper conversation with us.

One of my favourite things about Emlyn is that she’s currently working on her 3rd album yet is still almost entirely independent, working most of the time with just her manager and producer. She’s been in the music industry , working with her manager as a songwriter for almost 6 years, only pursuing a solo career for the last 3 The fact that she’s persevered and stayed chasing her dream just shows how determined she is and how much potential she has to be one of the next biggest names in pop.

I know that I said Dylan @ the o2 institute was my favourite concert, but this one definitely takes the top spot - I love this venue and to see my 3rd top artist of 2022 (below 5 Seconds Of Summer & Taylor Swift) at the Deaf Institute was the best birthday experience I could've ever imagined & I can't wait to hear her next album sometime this year.

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blondevibrations · 2 months

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Strings & Stories: Concert Review of Liang Lawrence and Adam Melchor’s Acoustic Sets at Omeara (18 February 2024)

There is truly no better way to spend a Sunday evening than to immerse yourself in two of the most dazzling acoustic sets that I have witnessed in a long time. On 18th February 2024, Adam Melchor took a short interval from his support slot on tour with the jazzy pop artist (and Grammy award-winning!) Laufey to host his own headline show at Omeara - an iconic venue for Londoners to discover budding talents. And, Adam was accompanied by a Blonde Vibrations’ favourite, singer-songwriter, Liang Lawrence.

Liang Lawrence graced the Omeara stage first in her support slot, and is a perfect match to perform alongside Adam, having previously supported him on his EU tour last year. She shares Adam’s warm musical tone and personal anecdotal on-stage presence, it’s impossible to leave Liang’s set without feeling like you met her in a pub beer garden and found a new best friend. To an audience who may not have discovered her discography yet, Liang described her songwriting process as a bunch of letters that she “didn’t have the guts to send”, a nod to her debut EP ‘letters to myself’, released in August 2023. Liang’s raw and intimate EP details the experiences that all young girls have experienced as they grow up and her storytelling is something you can picture in a typical coming-of-age movie - it’s hard to not associate the therapeutic release of these letters in musical form with the 2018 Netflix teen movie, ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’.

Liang expressed her experience of performing her personal songs as placing her heart on a platter and asking the audience to all “look at it”. A song that stuck with me, having finally been given the pleasure of seeing Liang live was ‘stuck’ (excuse the pun); a song dedicated to her best friend. As someone who absolutely believes in platonic soulmates and has planned to spend the rest of my life with my best friend - see also: Blonde Vibrations - I could cry thinking about this song; the chorus being:

And when I feel like there’s no place on this planet

But I don’t understand the stars

There’s no place that I could’ve crash landed

And I like to be stuck where you are

Liang accurately summarises the feeling of finding the perfect friend who feels like home to you, giving you comfort no matter what external stresses there may be. Throughout Liang’s set, she demonstrated her intricate storytelling, with a sneak peek of an unreleased song inspired by a run-in with an ex in front of a supermarket. A scenario that, let’s be honest, could happen to us at any point and be the subject matter for every friend date for the next foreseeable six months. The song extends this interaction to a metaphor of a funeral in the aisles of a supermarket for the previous relationship, a dramatic analogy that you would expect on Lizzy McAlpine’s 2022 album ‘five seconds flat’. Speaking of similar artists, Liang performed an acoustic version of The Japanese House’s ‘Touching Yourself’ from the album ‘In the End It Always Does’ (2023) - the perfect fit for both the crowd and Liang’s voice. The support slot concludes with Liang’s top song on Spotify, ‘(not) a love song’, partnered with the story of Liang meeting someone on a night out and deciding that they will then spend the rest of their life together, once again who hasn’t done this? Liang and the audience, captivated by her charming anecdotes, giggle at the sweet couples who produce relationship montages to a song that is ultimately based on a delusional potential future. The song’s hook of “oh, to be in it / oh to be in it with you” will be swirling around in your head for days after listening to this tune, and you won’t be mad about it.

After a brief break between acts, Adam Melchor began his headline slot and instantly the audience was in awe at his talent, both vocally and on the acoustic guitar. Adam’s passion for music and live performances shines throughout the set, and he takes a moment to thank the audience for attending the show and emphasising the importance of supporting live music and venues. The audience peacefully sang along to both new and older songs, especially during the deeply personal, ‘The Archer’, a song about Adam losing a friend too soon, and the gap left from this, with the haunting lyrical hook of ‘I need more time’. There were quite a few tears at this point of the set.

Adam’s powerful lyricism shines through strongly during this acoustic set, with the guitar really letting his vocals and words shine in the intimate venue. His potent lyricism is something we would expect from the likes of boygenius (both as independent artists and collectively). For example, in ‘itsjustmyheart’, Adam tells the story of an ex’s car being damaged by a fallen tree shortly after breaking his heart, with the chorus reading:

When the tree fell on your car

And made your windshield fall apart

You called me and I always wondered why

‘Cause I don’t have the auto parts

And you have your insurance card

After singing, Adam chuckles saying how funny it is to hear crowds sing his “silly songs” back to him. When you purchase tickets to an acoustic set by such an emotive artist like Adam, you don’t expect to laugh as much as you do - but it’s a pleasant surprise. Before performing ‘Angel Numbers’, the American singer says how ironic it is to perform the song with the reference to Tower Bridge, which is ‘right over there’; then admits that he’s actually not sure where Tower Bridge is in relation to Omeara.

This headline slot was truly one of a kind, with two surprise guests. Liang returned back to the stage to perform ‘Touch and Go’; a perfect blend between their two voices, we need a studio version of this ASAP. Then for the final song, after the record-short encore break, Adam played his bestselling song ‘Real Estate’ with Searows, a fellow American singer-songwriter, also performing at Omeara the next day. We were blessed with two unreleased songs, ‘Is There Still A Light On?’ (hitting streaming services on 22/02) and ‘Not Good For You’ (release date TBC) with Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For’, a song that took the world by storm with the Barbie hype last year.

Both Liang Lawrence and Adam Melchor’s sets left the Omeara audience in awe with just their voices and guitars; a testament to their magnetic stage presence and undeniable talent. Individually, they produce intricate narratives within their song, jam-packed with emotive language and deep-cut metaphors and it makes for an incredibly captivating live music experience. It’s safe to say that they are going to be long-term favourites over on the Blonde Vibrations podcast.

Written by Lilyemma, Blonde Vibrations co-host.

#podcast #journalism #spotify #blonde vibrations #music #music journalism #concert #concert review #liang lawrence #adam melchor

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chrisryanspeaks · 5 months

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SEE: Girl Rock | Shadow Show - “Mystic Spiral”

“Mystic Spiral” is an invitation into the world of Shadow Show. The first single off their upcoming album, Fantasy Now!, presents concepts of escapism, mysticism, and a sonic evolution of all that’s come before. Enjoy the ride!" Hailing from Detroit, Shadow Show is a new sound in light of a new era. Sleek and spellbinding, the music sweeps you up into its frenetic psychedelic grooves and dazzling harmonies. Their music pushes the boundaries of what can be, yet remains deeply rooted in the raw, untouchable Detroit sound. In their truest form, the group represents the love of a time long lost and the will of a time not yet discovered. A power trio of a mysterious hue, Shadow Show combines elements of 60’s garage-psychedelia into a 21st century modern pop-art incarnation. They project a vision to the world in their display: a spectacle of light as curious as shadow. Shadow Show, composed of guitarist Ava East, bassist Kate Derringer, and drummer Kerrigan Pearce, debuted in August 2018. They made their presence known worldwide upon the release of their debut album, Silhouettes, released via Burger Records (US), Greenway Records / Reverberation Appreciation Society (US) and Stolen Body Records (UK) in February 2020. Following their first album, Shadow Show has released several singles while simultaneously focusing on their new epic masterpiece, “Fantasy Now!”. Shadow Show has also ventured out on multiple US/CA tours, as well as a EU/UK tour that they completed in April and May of 2022. They currently have upcoming US/CA and EU/UK tours starting in March of 2024. About The New Album, Fantasy Now! Hailing from Detroit, Shadow Show is an uncompromising power trio that combines elements of 60’s garage-psychedelia into a 21st century modern pop-art incarnation. Sleek and spellbinding, the music sweeps you up into frenetic grooves and dazzling harmonies. Their music pushes the boundaries of what can be, yet remains deeply rooted in the raw, untouchable Detroit sound. Three years ago, Shadow Show released their debut album, “Silhouettes,” in the US (Burger Records) and UK (Stolen Body Records). Since then, they have dedicated themselves to writing, arranging, and producing their epic masterpiece, Fantasy Now!, while occasionally taking breaks for full length US, UK, and EU tours, as well as obtaining support dates with bands like Automatic, Death Valley Girls, The Nude Party, and the 5.6.7.8’s, to name a few. Fantasy Now is a huge step forward from their debut LP, reaching a more ambitious Sgt. Peppery psychedelic vision that includes swirling pop melodies, fuzz guitar hooks, flutes, tympani, backwards surprise twists, and a magical medieval acapella interlude. Shindig Magazine says Shadow Show "transport the listener down a spiral into the mind's eye.” Allmusic praises their "kaleidoscopic explosion of tremolo guitars and mod pop vocal harmonies,” and YouTube user KEVIN_USA1980 commented "These songs, those harmonies and their stylish sensibilities defy all reasonable expectations after hearing them simply described as Detroit Garage Rock." The band has recently completed a USA tour, and full USA and European dates are being booked for Spring 2024. Shadow Show’s transcendental triumph, Fantasy Now! was written, recorded, and produced by Shadow Show in Detroit, MI, with the exception of “Aunt Maizy,” recorded live in London, UK. Mastered by Warren Defever (Third Man Records, His Name Is Alive). The album will be released worldwide February 16, 2024 on Little Cloud Records (US) and Stolen Body Records (UK). Read the full article

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audiofuzz · 5 months

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SEE: Girl Rock | Shadow Show - “Mystic Spiral”

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dublinsradar · 6 months

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GIG RADAR - NOVEMBER EDITION

Start your November off right with these 3 must see Dublin Concerts!

This November is perfect for all of our music lovers! Coming up to Christmas, you deserve a fun filled night out before all of the craziness sets in! Here are our 3 Dublin City Music Concerts that we think you should keep in mind when looking for something fun to do this month.

50 Cent – 6th and 7th of November

50 cent known for his hit songs, ‘Candy Shop’, ‘In da Club’, ‘Many Men’ and many more is returning to Dublin on the 6th and 7th of November 2023 at the 3Arena for his ‘The Final Lap Tour’.

The tour is in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of his game-changing debut album, ‘Get Rich or Die Tyrin’. The special guests for these two nights are Busta Rhymes and Jeremik.

Fans have said that these shows are leaving an incredible mark and reminding us all why he remains a true rap icon. 50 cents music is going to be remembered for generations to come, so why not have the privilege to say you attended one of his most iconic tours? Seating and standing tickets still available. Start your November off the right way!

Louis Tomlinson – 8th of November

Louis Tomlinson from the former boy band One Direction returns to Ireland for the first time as a solo artist! Louis will be performing live at the 3Arena on the 8th of November 2023 with special guests, The Academic and Ava Lily.

Louis released his second album ‘Faith In The Future’ in November 2022. Songs from the album such as ‘Written All Over Your Face’, ‘Out Of My System’ and ‘Silver Tongues’ have collectively been streamed over 85 million times on Spotify. Louis has stated over the years that artists such as the Killers, Oasis and Green Day have been few of many that he has looked up to. It is clear from the popstars albums and writing styles that his inspirations have spiralled from these incredible artists.

Fans who have been to previous shows have stated that Louis not only spoils them with covers of songs such as ‘505’ from the Artic Monkeys, unreleased music such as ‘Copy of a Copy of a Copy’ but also music from One Direction like ‘Night Changes’ and ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’. So if you’re looking for an incredible night filled with great music and some older hits be sure to get down to the 3Arena on the 8th of November while tickets are still available!

Inhaler – 11th of November

‘Inhaler’ the Irish rock band formed in 2012 are coming to Dublin’s 3Arena on November the 11th after an incredible year! The band supported Harry Styles at Slane Castle in June of this year, Sam Fender at James Park, toured with the Artic Monkeys across the UK, EU and North America and performed at TRNSMT, Reading and Leeds Festival. Talk about busy!

Inhalers performance at the 3 Arena will be their biggest headline to date of their huge ‘CUTS & BRUISES WORLD TOUR’. Their support acts include BLOSSOMS and SOAK. The band released their second Album ‘Cuts & Bruises’ in February of this year and although this tour is for that album it is said that fans will also get songs from their debut album ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’ which was released in July of 2021 such as the song ‘My Honest Face’ which has been streamed over 29 million times on Spotify.

Inhaler are one of the newest and upcoming bands out of Ireland and already from their past performances, attendees have stated that the energy and passion they bring to the stage is something very unique and mesmerising. We think you would be crazy to miss out on this one and tickets are still available! Make sure you get out there to support these Irish boys you never know where they may be in years to come!

#blogs #events #music #music industry #dublin #3arena #50 cent #louis tomlinson #inhaler dublin

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upismediacenter · 10 months

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UPIS hosts first post-pandemic international visitors

The University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) hosted its first international visitors in three years from Ehime University (EU), Japan last February 21-28, 2023.

Twenty (20) undergraduate and graduate students, accompanied by three (3) officials and professors; Dr. Manabu Sumida, Deputy Director of EU Institute for International Relations, Dr. Nariko Sugaya, Professor at EU Faculty of Law and Letters, and Ms. Saki Oishi, EU-based Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) officer, visited the Philippines for a week-long internship, as well as a cultural exchange program between UPIS and EU students.

Despite the long time coming, the coordination of UPIS with EU did not stop even during the pandemic. Certain activities (e.g., fully online international exchange, online participation of UPIS students to a hybrid conference at EU, etc.) were conducted to keep the partnership strong.

A PARTNERSHIP. Ehime University students and officials posing for a picture with UPIS teachers. (Photo credit: UPIS Facebook page)

During the first two years of the pandemic, UPIS has undergone full online learning, and the Academic Year 2022-2023 is the first school year where blended learning has been adapted. According to Assistant Professor Lady Angela Rocena, the head of the Committee on International Linkages, this factor posed as a challenge to the said program. Pre-pandemic, students from EU have tried and experienced the usual activities, such as demonstration teaching, to UPIS students both in elementary and high school. Given that the transition to the new normal is still ongoing, this activity cannot be resumed just yet.

Despite these challenges, the EU students were able to see for themselves how the classes here in the Philippines are being held. They observed and participated in class activities of some grade 9-12 classes. A culture exchange activity was also conducted between EU and UPIS students, starting with our fellow iskos introducing our Filipino heritage and common school cultures. Additionally, the students from EU shared their unique school culture in some Grade 9-12 classes by showing a presentation that tackled frequently asked topics such as their school system, the tradition of students cleaning their own classrooms, and the art of bento or Japanese lunch boxes. After presenting, our fellow UPIS students got the chance to interact with them during a Q&A session. Lastly, during the cultural exchange program, our Japanese visitors were given a full study tour within the 3-6 and 7-12 grounds to be able to learn more about the UPIS community.

CONNECTING. Japanese students from Ehime University sharing a presentation to Prof. Laurice Pineda’s class. (Photo credit: UPIS Facebook page)

As UPIS starts accommodating more visitors from different universities abroad, we also asked Assistant Professor Lady Angela Rocena on what more can we expect from UPIS’ cultural exchange program in the coming years.

“Hopefully homestay and demonstration teaching will resume (with EU), as well as more UPIS student participation as class schedules become more regular, and more frequent online interactions (in addition to face-to-face visits) since that is already possible these days… We can explore new connections and start with online activities to get the partnership going.” //by Sophia Dormiendo and Wynelle Llaguno

#MC2024 #News #English #Sophia Dormiendo #Wynelle Llaguno

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artfantasiesyt · 11 months

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I2023-06-13 Anthauptenalm & Vogelspitz / LattengebirgeDeutsch:

Wir starten unsere Radtour auf dem Parkplatz Wachterl in der Ramsau unterhalb der Reiteralm. Der ausgebaute Kiesweg hinauf zur Anthauptenalm und weiter zum Vogelspitz (1285 m) beginnt nur rund 50 Meter unterhalb des Parkplatzes auf der anderen Seite der Alpenstraße. Zu Fuß geht man wohl rund 2 1/2 Stunden, aber die Strecke wird zumeist von e-Bikern benutzt. Der Kiesweg schlängelt sich oberhalb des Tales stetig nach oben, wobei man weite Strecken direkt neben dem Abgrund fährt und deshalb einen guten Blick sowohl auf die Reiteralm sowie dann hinaus Richtung Lofer hat. Auf dem Hochplateau angekommen geht es erstmals bergab bevor man über eine wunderschöne weite Wiese fährt. An deren Ende lassen wir unsere Räder stehen und gehen weiter zum Vogelspitz. Dort angekommen eröffnet sich uns ein wunderschönes Panorama auf die umgebenden Berge der östlichen Chiemgauer Alpen sowie hinein in die Loferer Steinberge und auch der Wilde Kaiser lässt sich im Südwesten am Horizont ausmachen.

English: Our tour begins at the parking place at Wachtel in the Ramsau, district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, right below the Mountain Reiteralm. The gravel road up to the hut Anthauptenalm and further to the summit of Mount Vogelspitz (1285 m) starts roughly 50 meters below of the parking place ant the other side of the highway Alpenstraße. It would take around 2 1/2 hours for hikers but the whole route is mostly used by e-bikers. The gravel road goes above the canyon and leads us steady upwards, whereby a big part of the distance is placed directly by the abyss and let us have a free view to Mount Reiteralm or out of the valley to Lofer, Austria. On the plateau we first ride a little down before we come to a wide open mountain meadow with uncountable flowers. We leave our bikes at the end of that area and hike up to the summit of Mount Vogelspitz. There we get a stunning view of the mountain scape of the eastern Chiemgauer Alps as well to the massif of the Loferer Steinberge and in the distance we also can see the Mountain Wilder Kaiser.

Music by Christian Thanbichler:

1. 2023-03-08 eu amo rio de janeiro ISWC: T-315.969.639-2, ISRC QZES72379488 2. 2023-03-02 When you are with me ISWC: T-315.858.687-5, ISRC QZES62341033 3. 2022-01-15 running in Portland 5 am ISWC: T-308.673.464-3, ISRC: QZFZ22213587

#youtube #Anthauptenalm Vogelspitz Ramsau Berchtesgadener Alpen Chiemgauer Alpen Reiteralm Ramsau Christian Thanbichler artfantasies

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thxnews · 11 months

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UK Starts Post-Brexit Trade Deals with Australia and New Zealand

- Australia and New Zealand trade deals to enter into force at midnight on Wednesday - Special shipments of handpicked UK goods including signed Beano comics, personalised Cambridge Satchels, Brighton Gin and Burleigh pottery among very first to be sent under the new arrangements - Deals remove tariffs on all UK goods exports Down Under and could mean lower prices for UK consumers From today , UK businesses will be able to sell to Australia and New Zealand more easily as the UK’s trade deals with the countries, the first negotiated from scratch since we left the EU, come into force. Under the deals’ beneficial terms tariffs on all UK goods exports to Australia and New Zealand will be removed, unprecedented access to these markets for services unlocked, and red tape slashed for digital trade and work visas. Each region and nation of the UK is expected to benefit. Tailored to the UK’s strengths, the deals are set to deliver an economic boost by driving bilateral trade up by 53% with Australia and 59% with New Zealand. The agreements could also mean reduced prices for UK consumers on favourites such as wine, Tim Tams and kiwi fruit and lowered costs on machinery parts for UK manufacturers. The announcement comes after the UK, Australia and New Zealand completed their domestic ratification processes, allowing the deals to enter into force. In the UK this required primary legislation in the form of the Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill.

Kemi Badenoch October 2022 official Cabinet portrait. Photo by Skskwekjefbbffjske. Wikimedia. Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: Today is a historic moment as our first trade deals to be negotiated post-Brexit come into effect. Businesses up and down the country will now be able to reap the rewards of our status as an independent trading nation and seize new opportunities, driving economic growth, innovation and higher wages. International Trade Minister Nigel Huddleston will tour DHL’s Southern Distribution Centre near Heathrow to see off two handpicked consignments of UK goods, some of the first to be sent to Australia and New Zealand under the new deals. Iconic British goods from across the country including signed Beano comics, Penderyn Single Malt Welsh Whisky, Brighton Gin, The Cambridge Satchel Co. bags and Fever-Tree mixers are all among the items which will be sent from the UK government to the Australian and New Zealand trade ministers. Many of the items included will benefit from the removal of tariffs under the deals. The parcels will also include an England cricket top signed by James Anderson and Emma Lamb, a Wales rugby shirt signed by the men’s team and a real tennis racket from Gray’s of Cambridge.

Official portrait of Nigel Huddleston MP. Photo by Richard Townshend. Wikimedia. Minister for International Trade, Nigel Huddleston, said: It is incredibly exciting to be visiting DHL to see some of the first shipments leave the UK, knowing that when they arrive Down Under they will benefit from our brand new deals. Australia and New Zealand are two of our closest friends and likeminded partners and our trade deals secure favourable terms for British exporters, removing tariffs on all UK goods and slashing red tape. Alongside the new trade agreement with Australia, more young Brits will benefit from life-changing opportunities Down Under thanks to the expansion of our shared Youth Mobility and Working Holiday Maker visa schemes. On 1 July 2023 the age limit for UK applicants going to Australia will go from 30 to 35 years old, and from 1 July 2024 Brits will be able to stay in Australia for up to three years without having to meet specified work requirements. The consignments will be sent via express air freight with DHL, which is accelerating to low carbon operations with a commitment to reach zero emissions logistics by 2050 globally. Moving more than 100,000 shipments per day for UK businesses, Australia, New Zealand and other CPTPP countries are popular markets, with expectations for continued growth. CEO of DHL Express UK Ian Wilson said: The new free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand provide businesses with a great opportunity to capitalise on the demand in these markets for British goods. We are delighted to have marked the commencement of these deals with a visit from the International Trade Minister to our site today, in which he had the chance to meet businesses and see the important role our colleagues play in the global economy. Through our recent collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade, we have been able to explain the new deals through webinars and simplified guides which we hope will help our customers achieve even greater international growth. Both free trade agreements are also part of the UK’s strategic tilt to the Indo-Pacific region and complement our accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – a huge trade bloc which will have a total GDP of £12 trillion once we join. The deals include robust protections for British farmers, including staging tariff liberalisation for sensitive goods over time. Other key benefits of the deals include: - Access to Australian work visas for UK service suppliers without being subject to its changing skilled occupation list and enabling Brits to work in New Zealand more freely - Flexible rules of origin and removal of tariffs on all UK exports to both markets - Advanced rules on digital trade which cut red tape, unlock the free flow of data and give businesses confidence their valuable intellectual property will be protected - Access to government contracts and investment opportunities, including equal footing to compete for an additional £10 billion of Australian public sector contracts per year and high investment screening thresholds for New Zealand - Progressive opportunities to grow our low-carbon economy through liberalised tariffs on environmental goods and encouraging investment in low-carbon technology - Environment chapters reaffirming our commitments to the Paris Agreement and recognising our right to regulate to meet Net Zero Founder and Managing Director of Brighton Gin Kathy Caton said: In an increasingly competitive and global market removing trade barriers is exactly the support that the British gin industry needs. With a Brighton in every state in Australia, one of our goals is to see Brighton Gin being served in every one! Hopefully the free trade agreement gets us one step closer to that. CEO of Frugalpac Malcolm Waugh said: Frugalpac produces the world’s first paper bottle for wines and spirits and the machines that make them. Our Frugal Bottles, which are made from 94% recycled paperboard and have a carbon footprint six times lower than a glass bottle, are now sold in 22 countries including Australia and New Zealand. The Department for Business and Trade has been hugely supportive of Frugalpac and these free trade agreements will boost our plans to export machines to help the Australian and New Zealand drinks industry to further decarbonise. The Department for Business and Trade is working with firms of all sizes from across the country to explain how they can harness these trade agreements to grow their business. Dedicated resources are available to help businesses every step of the way as they seize these new opportunities. Sources: THX News, Department for Business and Trade, Nigel Huddleston MP & The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP. Read the full article

#AustraliaandNewZealandtradedeals #Bilateraltradeincrease #Businessopportunities #Digitaltrade #Economicboost #LowerpricesforUKconsumers #Reducingredtape #Tariffsremoval #UKgoodsexports #Workvisas

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newstfionline · 1 year

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Saturday, April 22, 2023

World could face record temperatures in 2023 as El Nino returns (Reuters) The world could breach a new average temperature record in 2023 or 2024, fuelled by climate change and the anticipated return of the El Nino weather phenomenon, climate scientists say. Climate models suggest that after three years of the La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, which generally lowers global temperatures slightly, the world will experience a return to El Nino, the warmer counterpart, later this year. “El Nino is normally associated with record breaking temperatures at the global level. Whether this will happen in 2023 or 2024 is yet known, but it is, I think, more likely than not,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Thieves steal nearly $15M in gold, other cargo in Toronto airport heist (Washington Post) Thieves at Canada’s busiest airport made off with gold and other valuables estimated to be worth just over $20 million Canadian dollars ($14.8 million), police said Thursday. No arrests have been made yet and an investigation is underway. The high-profile heist occurred after a flight carrying the cargo landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday evening, Peel Regional Police Inspector Stephen Duivesteyn told reporters. After the plane was unloaded, the shipment was brought to a holding facility, from which it was removed “by illegal means,” he said. The theft comes amid surging demand for gold, which jumped 18 percent in 2022, according to the World Gold Council—a spike it attributed to geopolitical uncertainty and inflation. The airport heist could rival some of the more famous—and intriguing—thefts in Canadian history. Among them is the so-called maple syrup heist, in which 9,571 barrels of the sap, worth nearly 18 million Canadian dollars—around $13.3 million—were secretly drained and replaced with water.

Tornadoes kill 3 in Oklahoma (AP) Crews scrambled Thursday to restore power to thousands of residents after tornadoes plowed through Oklahoma during another deadly spring storm in the U.S., killing at least three people and damaging dozens of homes. A day after at least eight tornadoes spun through Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt said authorities were still assessing the scale of destruction. He toured the aftermath in Shawnee, where nearly every building at Oklahoma Baptist University showed damage. “The damage is unbelievable when you walk through there,” Stitt said after touring the city.

Distrust in America: Small mistakes, deep fear—and gunfire (AP) In suburban Detroit, it was a lost 14-year-old looking for directions. In Kansas City, it was a 16-year-old who went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers. There was the 12-year-old rummaging around in a yard in small-town Alabama, the 20-year-old woman who found herself in the wrong driveway in upstate New York and the cheerleader who got into the wrong car in Texas. All of them, and dozens more across America, were met by gunfire. Some were injured, some killed. In a nation where strangers are all too often seen as threats and fear has been politicized, honest mistakes and simple acts like going to the wrong address or car in a parking lot, or even just ringing the wrong doorbell, can seem like a fateful question of trust. In the early 1970s, surveys showed that about half of America believed most people were trustworthy. By 2020, that number had fallen to less than one-third. Meanwhile, Americans have believed for decades that crime is going up—even in years when it is going down—and also wildly overestimate their chances of being a crime victim. This American mistrust, when mixed with legal confusion, easy access to weapons, poor firearms training and sometimes outright racism, has produced a string of shootings like these that never seems to end.

Argentine peso hits record low in black market as economy creaks (Reuters) Argentina’s peso currency sank in widely used parallel markets on Thursday, hitting a record low against the U.S. dollar as concerns grew about the Latin American country’s economy, with 104% inflation, reserves dwindling and drought hitting exports. The black market peso , one of several unofficial rates that have flourished as tight capital controls have limited access to official forex markets, weakened almost 4% to 438 per dollar, roughly double the official rate of 218 pesos. Argentina, the world’s top exporter of processed soy and a major supplier of corn, beef and wheat, is battling to keep its economy stable as a historic drought crimps foreign currency income, fans local prices and drains central bank reserves.

Hungary food prices spike most in EU (AP) Magdolna Gozon nibbles spicy green peppers from a fruit and vegetable stall at a sprawling indoor market in Budapest, sampling them to make sure they’re hot enough for a soup she’s cooking. The 83-year-old retiree can’t afford to buy more if they don’t have enough kick—not with her small pension and Hungary facing the biggest spike in food prices in the European Union. “I don’t buy fruits. We got potatoes from the municipality, so we don’t have to buy that, but onions became expensive,” said Gozon, who has stopped buying dairy and rarely shops for meat. Food prices have risen dramatically across Europe in recent months, jumping 19.6% in March from a year earlier and becoming the main driver of inflation as energy costs have fallen. But in Hungary, food prices have surged more than 45% over the year, according to EU statistics office Eurostat, far surpassing the next highest figure of just over 29% in Slovakia.

Russia accidentally strikes its own city, state media says (Washington Post) A Russian warplane accidentally fired on the Russian city of Belgorod, the country’s defense ministry said, according to Tass, a Russian news agency. The incident resulted in damaged residential buildings, Tass reported. The governor of the Belgorod region said that the explosion caused three injuries but no deaths. Belgorod is about 20 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine’s battle for Bakhmut (Washington Post) Ukraine continues to hold Bakhmut’s western edge, despite suggestions from Washington months ago that Kyiv cut its losses and let the city go, according to a leaked classified U.S. assessment obtained by The Post. The document cautioned that “steady” Russian advances since November “had jeopardized Ukraine’s ability to hold the city,” and Ukrainian forces would probably be “at risk of encirclement, unless they withdraw within the next month.” Ukraine has since clung onto western Bakhmut, framing its defense as an imperative far greater than the city’s strategic military value.

Funding the Taliban? (CNN) On Wednesday, John Sopko, the head of the U.S. government’s oversight authority on government spending in Afghanistan, told members of the House that he couldn’t guarantee that U.S. aid to the country is “not currently funding the Taliban.” Over the years, the U.S. has given about $146.68 billion in aid to the country, with $8 billion provided since the U.S. finished withdrawing its forces in 2021. “While I agree, and we all agree Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian and economic situation, it is critical that our assistance not be diverted by the Taliban,” Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), said to the House Oversight Committee. “Unfortunately, as I sit here today, I cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban.” “I haven’t seen a starving Taliban fighter on TV, they all seem to be fat, dumb, and happy,” he said. “I see a lot of starving Afghan children on TV, so I’m wondering where all this funding is going.” Since the U.S. withdrawal, Washington has been sending aid to the country through a network of NGOs and international organizations, with little in the way of actual on-the-ground oversight. Sopko added that the Biden administration’s lack of cooperation in tracking down the billions of dollars in aid sent to Afghanistan “is unprecedented in the nearly 12 years that I have been the SIGAR.”

Israel’s Right-Wing Government Has Jewish Democrats at a Loss (NYT) Last month, as demonstrations across Israel convulsed politics in the Jewish state, Jewish Democrats in the House who have made up the bulwark of Israel’s support on their side of the aisle met privately with the country’s ambassador. Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island. In meetings with liberal groups on and off Capitol Hill, where support for Israel has grown more tenuous by the month, he had always fallen back on what he called the shared democratic values of Israel and the United States, Mr. Cicilline told the ambassador, Michael Herzog. But the new far-right government in Jerusalem, with its efforts to undermine Israel’s independent judiciary and its inclusion of extremist politicians, was making even that plea “much, much more difficult,” Mr. Cicilline recounted in an interview. In the ensuing weeks, the strains between Israel and the Democratic Party, and particularly an American Jewish community that remains predominantly liberal, have only grown worse. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, may have put his overhaul of Israel’s judiciary on pause, but the beating of Muslim worshipers during Ramadan in the Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem—known to Jews as the Temple Mount—the bloodletting on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide and the empowerment of far-right ministers in Mr. Netanyahu’s government are fraying relations between the world’s two largest Jewish communities, Israeli and American.

U.S. Positioning Troops for Evacuation of American Embassy in Sudan (NYT) The Pentagon is moving more troops to the African nation of Djibouti to prepare for a possible evacuation of U.S. Embassy staff in Sudan, where fierce fighting between two warring generals has led to the swift deterioration of conditions in the capital, according to two officials. Senior U.S. officials acknowledged that it would not be easy to get embassy staff out, let alone the estimated 19,000 American citizens who are believed to be in the country. The international airport in the capital, Khartoum, has been the target of heavy shelling, leaving destroyed planes littering the tarmac. Sudan’s air space is also closed. Vedant Patel, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said on Thursday that because of the fighting at the Khartoum airport, “it is currently not safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of U.S. citizens.” More than 330 people have been killed in Sudan in six days of fighting between the army and a powerful paramilitary force, including one American citizen, the State Department told CBS News Thursday. More than 3,180 have been wounded in the incessant clashes.

Amid joy and tragedy, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr holiday (AP) The holiday of Eid al-Fitr ushered in a day of prayers and joy for Muslims around the world on Friday. The celebration was marred by tragedy amid the explosion of conflict in Sudan, while in other countries it came against the backdrop of hopes for a better future. After the Ramadan month of fasting, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr with feasts and family visits. The start of the holiday is traditionally based on sightings of the new moon, which vary according to geographic location. The streets of Arab capitals Damascus, Baghdad and Beirut were crowded with worshippers heading to mosques and cemeteries. Many Muslims visit the graves of their loved ones after the early morning prayer on the first day of Eid al-Fitr. Visitors toted bouquets of flowers, jugs of water for plants, and brooms to clean gravestones.

Long after heyday, soda fountain pharmacies still got fizz (AP) The jukebox plays Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” as Malli Jarrett and Nathaniel Fornash take turns at the Griffith & Feil Drug food counter preparing old-fashioned, soda-fountain phosphate drinks. Soda fountains like this were hugely popular a century ago. Often located in pharmacies, they were a gathering spot during Prohibition when bars shut down. But over the past half century, their numbers fizzled, relegating soda fountains to the scrapbooks of U.S. history. In West Virginia, Ric Griffith is keeping the tradition going. His 131-year-old business is a Norman Rockwell scene and time-travel tourism all wrapped into one. “When you had a soda fountain, people would stay longer, they’d sit down and they’d share stories,” Griffith said. “It would not become the place where you grabbed lunch. It was a place where you had an experience.”

#headlines #news

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worldwidevoltage · 1 year

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Travel Abroad With the Right Travel Converters to Keep Your Gadgets Operational

The year 2022 has brought a glimmer of optimism to all those people who enjoy traveling. All those who are addicted to traveling are getting ready to pack their bags and go on new adventures now that the restrictions on their travels appear to have been relaxed. These are the people who are always traveling and who you can recognize from a mile away. They always look prepared for their trips, carrying a stylish bag on their shoulders and keeping a portable charger and a travel adapter for use in other countries close at hand. They are experts in all aspects of travel.

But did you know that even the most experienced traveler can make a number of gaffes when it comes to using technology while on the road? Despite the fact that this is a minor oversight, it has the potential to cause significant disruptions to your travel plans. This is because the time that you would have spent touring your favorite location will now be spent looking for the appropriate multi-adaptor plug, which will consume all of your available time and leave you with no spare minutes.

These clumsy blunders can lead to wasted money on travel and a disappointing experience. The good news is that we're here to help you avoid common technological mistakes so that your trips are memorable and trouble-free. Continue reading to stay powered on at all times during your foreign trip:

1. Stay powered all the time:

A happy traveler understands that there is no such thing as having too much backup power. You should bring at least two phone chargers, as well as a set of plug adaptors and a portable charger, for security reasons. If there is a chance that your portable charger will run out of battery while you are traveling from one location to another, an additional accessory that you have the option of bringing along with you is a car charger.

If you want to keep all of your electronic device charging accessories within easy reach, it's a good idea to label and organize your chargers and outlet converters.

2. Packing the incorrect travel plug:

Did you know that there are numerous varieties of power adapters, one for each country? Not all power adapters can be used with every device. Just like in the United States, there are two distinct types of plug adaptors: Type A and Type B. Plug type A has two flat parallel pins, while plug type B has two flat parallel pins and a grounding pin.

Other than the United Kingdom and Ireland, plug adaptors in Europe use a different standard than in the United States. For use in Europe, plug your appliance into a two-pronged round outlet known as an "EU adapter."

Unfortunately, it's no longer a good idea to just throw in an adapter that won't work where you're going. The best course of action is to research which adaptors will function properly at your destination and buy at least two of them before you leave.

3. One thing you definitely don't want to mess with is voltage:

You can't ignore the voltage issue. To illustrate, let's say that, after checking into a hotel, you plug your phone into the wall outlet using the adapter you normally use, and the phone immediately explodes because the voltage is incorrect. Or, God forbid, you accidentally start a fire in your hotel room and the entire building loses power.

Electronics in various countries operate at different voltages. The United States uses a voltage range of 100–120 volts for its electricity grid, while the rest of Europe, along with the United Kingdom, Australia, and Singapore, use a range of 220–240 volts. It is therefore recommended that you check the device's voltage setting. The types of plugs it can work with and the voltage it can handle will be written on the plug adaptor.

Getting an adapter that includes a transformer is the best option.

4. Using a USB cable to power your devices:

If you pin all of your hopes on a USB cable charging, then you are doomed to face some dire consequences. The ability to charge via USB is not universally available in all countries. And if you find yourself in this situation while traveling abroad, you should be ready to spend a big chunk of your vacation time looking for an adapter plug.

In the past few years, charging devices through USB has become more popular because it eliminates the need for complicated voltage conversions. But the main problem with charging via USB is that it is not common in all countries. Our recommendation is to always favor an appropriate travel adapter.

5. Small is the New Big:

Transporting a bulky plug adapter can be an inconvenience. In many hotels, the outlets are in the strangest places. So, your big travel voltage converter might be too big or heavy to fit into the recessed sockets.

Whether you're going across the pond for a weekend or backpacking around the world, a compact travel adaptor will come in handy. Carrying a heavy load on your shoulders for the entire day is something you should avoid doing at all costs.

We at World Wide Voltage offer a large variety of plug adapters and small travel voltage converters, and you can easily choose the one you need for the destination to which you are planning to travel.

#Right Travel Converters

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lightgaze · 1 year

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Eu postei 13.002 vezes em 2022

Foram 9.437 posts a mais do que em 2021!

199 posts criados (2%)

12.803 posts reblogados (98%)

Blogs que você mais reblogou:

@voidster69

@mrdinomaiz

@charmps-you-grickly

@kurara-black-blog

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Eu marquei 2.068 posts meus em 2022

#ace attorney - 34 posts

#for later - 20 posts

#unreality - 12 posts

#artists on tumblr - 12 posts

#my art - 11 posts

#ace attorney fanart - 11 posts

#goncharov - 10 posts

#yeah - 9 posts

#miles edgeworth - 9 posts

#phoenix wright - 9 posts

Maior tag: 139 caracteres

#i watched this show with my siblings and i couldn't laugh bc they wanted to pay attention but i was grinning so much during this scene like

Meus principais posts em 2022:

Sketchdump from 2021

Ver o post inteiro

52 notas - publicadas em 4 de janeiro de 2022

I love it when people remember that phoenix is a crybaby I love it when phoenix cries even if he's older let older man cry he's been through a lot he gets to cry for a bit

60 notas - publicadas em 6 de maio de 2022

Irrational fears I have for AA7

Miles Edgeworth dying to artificially deepen the plot

Phoenix dying for the same reason

Trucy becoming a world star and doing a tour a.k.a being left aside

Phoenix having an off-screen wife

Phoenix marrying Thalassa

Apollo getting another backstory

We get a gay character in the worst way possible

Franziska coming back and having an off-screen husband

Maya getting kidnapped again

Maya getting framed for murder AGAIN

Capcom further taking phoenix personality away

And finally

The next game being staged in space

167 notas - publicadas em 26 de janeiro de 2022

Ok I binge read the spy x family manga and i CANNOT BELIEVE some of you really think that nightfall would be a better partner for twilight at operation strix like she wouldn't blow the cover out of the window during interviews and make Anya run away

210 notas - publicadas em 24 de abril de 2022

Meu post nº 1 de 2022

Spy x family is so good I love fucked up people finding comfort in each other like yes kings give us fake dating surprise adoption found family mafia au all in ONE series

407 notas - publicadas em 16 de abril de 2022

Veja a sua Retrospectiva 2022 →

#tumblr2022 #retrospectiva #Minha Retrospectiva 2022 #Sua Retrospectiva 2022 do Tumblr #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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iamvoid0 · 1 year

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Nintendo issues apology for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Smash World Tour gets cancelled, God of War becomes franchise best seller, and the FTC may block Microsoft!

🕹️ The Console War Rages On

God of War: Ragnarok has become PlayStation's fastest-selling first-party launch title. In a tweet by PlayStation's official Twitter account, they congratulated Sony Santa Monica on the success of God of War: Ragnarok. The game has sold 5.1 million units as of its first week, becoming the fastest-selling first-party launch and breaking records for the franchise. (Source)

FTC may go after Microsoft's Activision-Blizzard acquisition. A new report by Politico indicated that the FTC is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft's USD 69 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Though the case has not been filed, according to insiders, the acquisition is being thoroughly investigated, with FTC being skeptical of the arguments provided by Microsoft. This is an ongoing story. (Source)

Microsoft may offer EU concessions in Activision-Blizzard acquisition - According to an exclusive report by Reuters, Microsoft is willing to concede to specific demands made by European Commission. The concession would mainly consist of offering a 10-year licensing deal to Sony. (Source)

Nintendo Cancels Smash World Tour 2022 - In a Medium Post, Smash World Tour organizers stated that the day before thanksgiving, they received a notice from Nintendo saying that their Tour was unauthorized and they would have to cancel the event, or instead, they implied it. Kotaku reached out to Nintendo and received some Press Speak, effectively denying that they outright said to cancel events. However, many players in the Smash scene have noted that the Panda Cup organizers and CEO have been using their 'license' for Smash Brothers to coerce and bully players, and organizers, into signing onto Panda Cup. These issues muddy the waters regarding Smash World Tour, as the ongoing accusations regarding the personalities involved in the Smash Pro Scene have understandably caused damage for any significant company willing to associate with the scene, including Nintendo and their 'family-friendly' moniker. Despite this, however, Nintendo has issued an additional statement to Kotaku stating that Smash World Tour's decision to cancel their events remains with them. They doubled down on their partnership with Panda Global and indicated that Nintendo cares about the Smash Community and its fans. The decision to reevaluate their relationship with Smash World Tour resulted from the 'Protection of the health and safety of the community'. This has raised criticism of Nintendo as the Smash community has asked Nintendo to look into the actions of Panda Global. Additional information is found, and you are encouraged to read for yourself in the Medium Post, the Kotaku article, and @LDeeep Twitter. (Medium, Kotaku, Twitter)

GameStop leaks their customers' data to their other customers - According to GameStop, a bug has caused multiple users to receive the data of other users. Users noticed that when refreshing their order pages, they would see orders from other users. GameStop has indicated that this was a bug, and the data was test data that was used internally to validate the system. Despite this explanation, some users report searching for the data provided would connect to real people. (Source)

Monster Hunter: Rise to get a 4K60 release on current-gen consoles & Game Pass in 2023 - Monster Hunter: Rise will be available on the 20th of January, 2023, with the Sunbreak expansion launching in the Spring of 2023. The game will also be coming to Game Pass. (Source)

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet get Version 1.1.0 and an apology from Nintendo. In the recent patch notes for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Nintendo has noted that some players may encounter issues with performance, and they have apologized for the inconvenience. Nintendo has also stated that they are working on improvements for the games. (Source)

✨ Going to Events Spiritually

PlayStation has launched their End of Year Sale. Be sure to browse and pick up any games you might be on the fence about. A lot of games are discounted by up to 84%. (Source)

Xbox Games with Gold gets Colt Canyon and Bladed Fury. (Source)

🎮 Where's My Controller?

Oh, you know where. I've been pouring hours upon hours into Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Well, I started with Pokemon Violet. I am so far having a lot of fun, the game's mechanics are leaps and bounds better than Sword & Shield, and it makes me very excited for the expanded DLC and the next generation. However, the unfortunate poor performance and unacceptable launch state might have killed any chance for another Pokemon Mania like we saw in the 1990s. It is important to note that the game performs very well, except when it doesn't. If you watched any gameplay footage, you'd begin to see just how large of a scope this was for GameFreak, and though it might have had better-looking games on Switch, there is a lot to unpack here. From the ability to see every corner of the world while having a few dozen pokemon rendered with their own AI within your range to the surprisingly gorgeous cities with lots going on. This game needed a delay, three to six months might not have fixed everything, but it should have been enough to get a majority of those issues and at least give us a fully stable framerate. I hope GameFreak learns from this and continues to update Scarlet & Violet, carrying what they learned here into the next generation since we know that Generation X is already in development.

🎵 Turn it up to 11!

It's finally back! Back Again!

While I've been away from this section, I've been discovering new albums and OSTs; one I completely forgot until I heard someone recommend it is Ecco The Dolphin. I loved playing this when I was younger, though I had to emulate it. The entire soundtrack for the first Ecco the Dolphin is good, but for me, the stand-out tracks were "Open Ocean", "Ice Zone", and "Time Travel". "Time Travel" is easily the best song on that entire OST, and I recommend you start with that one. It's constant swinging between your ears makes for a haunting, ethereal journey, as time travel would be. Listen to the full soundtrack on YouTube.

📝I don't know what a pen looks like.

I've been getting back into the groove of writing. So what can you expect during December? Well, my original goal was to write decently long pieces. However, I might scale that back since I've been having trouble completing and editing my Yakuza 0 piece. The following essay is being written, and that's as much as I can say. In the meantime, please check out my article on Pokemon Legends Arceus and why it was important for Nintendo.

💖 Enjoy this newsletter?

Forward to a friend and let them know where they can subscribe (hint: it's here).

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authenticjapanesecuisine · 2 years

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The renewal of Georgia's visa-free one-year-stay permission in half a day

Georgia, a small country in the Caucasus, allows Japanese passport holders a visa-free stay of one year. This also means you must leave the country once before one year has passed since your last entry. In 2021, I had several trips between Georgia and other countries, so I did not have to think about the day renewal of visa-free permission, but in 2022, I have not been outside Georgia at all. At the end of September, the deadline for my departure is approaching. I wish I could have traveled somewhere, but this time I didn't have the chance, and the time has come.

The Georgian currency, the Lari, has been appreciating against the US dollar and the Euro in the past six months, especially against the Japanese yen, which has increased about 1.5 times in the past year, and the image that many people had of Georgia as a low-cost country where you can spend a long time has completely disappeared. It is unclear why the Lari is this high, but one factor may be that there are no notable concerns about energy supply like in the EU countries. However, there is no doubt that electricity and gas prices have risen considerably over the past year, although not to the same extent as in Western Europe. Looking at the price tags at the local French supermarkets, food prices and other prices have been rising slowly and steadily. Because of the strong Lari exchange rate, imported goods should be cheaper, but unfortunately, this is not the case. Therefore, those coming to Georgia from Japan, the US, or other countries should expect to spend more than twice as much on living and accommodation as they did a few years ago. Living in rural Japan and the U.S. may be less expensive than in urban Georgia. Summer is the high season here in Batumi, and hotel charges and apartment rent always have expensive. Still, since the beginning of this year, it has increased dramatically. Combined with the mysterious, strong Lari exchange rate, I can imagine it is becoming harder for the average traveler from abroad to visit.

I'm getting sidetracked, but I decided to do renewal of visa-free stay-permission before the September departure deadline. Renewing visa-free stay-permission means leaving the country before the expiration date of the stay and re-entering the country not much later. I had the experience of renewing visa-free stay permission overland several times when I was in Thailand about ten years ago. At that time, entry to Thailand by land was a 14-day visa-free stay, and I remember having renewed visa-free stay permission every two weeks. I think it took about 4 hours from Bangkok to Cambodia's border. There was a bus tour with a dedicated vendor, so we took that, and it took us a whole day. Maybe things are very different now, though.

So, this is the renewal of Georgia's visa-free stay permission in half a day. Once re-entry is granted, Georgia allows an additional year of visa-free stay from that time, regardless of air or land travel. It is about 20 km from Old Batumi to the Turkish border village (Salpi), and it takes about one hour by city bus, but it costs only 0.3 Lari (about USD 0.1) each way! It can be said to be conscientious because the same flat rate as in the city is applied even for 20 kilometers. This is still three times the price of 0.1 Lari, which was 0.1 Lari until last year.

If you take bus #16, you should be able to enter the border checkpoint without getting lost, as the last stop is right near the entrance to the checkpoint.

The entrance to the border checkpoint is at the far right of the photo above, and as soon as you enter, you will see the Georgia passport control booth. I just had my passport ready and took it out when it was my turn, and I could leave the country smoothly without any problems. Following the route, we continued walking down the long aisle toward the Turkish side, and now the Turkish immigration booth appeared. Perhaps because it was around midday in the height of summer in late August, there was already no line, and we finally arrived at the booth after nearly an hour of chaos. The immigration inspector just checked my passport quickly and stamped my entry into Turkey without asking me anything in particular. It was so easy that it was a little discouraging. It was probably the shortest immigration check I have ever gone through, except for Japan, my home country. I have a lot of stamps and expired work visas left in my passport, so some countries take a lot of time to check my passport carefully. So I was a bit impressed this time. After immigration, there is a baggage check, just like at an airport. When I was about to remove my belt from my pants, as is my habit, the customs official informed me that I did not need to do so because we were not in an airport. That's right, and I was a little embarrassed.

After baggage screening, you walk a short distance and down the stairs to the Turkish side of the building.

There was nothing exceptional around the Turkish side, and there seemed to be only one cafeteria cum store nearby. Oh, yes, and don't forget. A mosque was there to welcome us, as it is in a Muslim country. However, there is a mosque next to my apartment in Batumi, so I did not feel I had entered Turkey.

Since this is a renewal of visa-free stay permission in half a day, there is no reason to stay longer on the Turkish side, as I did not have the Turkish Lira ready. I will be re-entering Georgia immediately. A little thought crossed my mind that if I were too early, there was a possibility that the entry data might not have gone to the Turkish side at passport control, so I ended up hanging around outside for an hour or so.

Now, re-entering Georgia, I was a bit nervous because I had never challenged the renewal of visa-free stay permission through such a short stay (less than an hour) before. You have to enter the checkpoint from the Turkish side entrance, about 30 meters away from the exit where you entered Turkey. There were far fewer people at this time than at the time of entry, and my turn came quickly. I was expecting to be asked something after submitting my passport as usual, but I was not asked anything and was able to leave the country smoothly as well. Turkey is the coolest!

Next up is the riskiest of all: re-entry into Georgia. As someone who had left the country just two hours earlier and was about to re-enter in such a short time, it was no wonder I was asked any questions I might have. I didn't have any answers prepared in advance; I just thought I would give honest answers when asked. I knew I would not be taken to another room, but I was still worried. As it happened, there was only one other person besides me in the immigration booth on the Georgia side, and immigration inspection began immediately. I submitted my passport and the immigration officer started checking it. As I was waiting to see what he would ask me, the immigration officer seemed to say something. I said, "Excuse me?" and he said, "Hideyuki?" When I answered "Yes, he said "Welcome" and stamped my passport. I was able to re-enter the country, and my renewal of Georgia's visa-free stay permission was a success. It may be my imagination, but it seems that every time I enter Georgia, I am asked for only my first name, not both my last name and first name. Oh well, it doesn't matter either way.

As a result, it took about four hours from when I left home to when I returned.

Incidentally, Georgia and Turkey do not require proof of vaccination or PCR testing at immigration. Batumi, which once had PCR testing stations all over the city, has lost all trace of its former glory. I sometimes see people wearing masks, but the percentage is definitely less than 1%. Japan seems to be a somewhat different world, though.

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