#it gives great insight into artists struggling with trying to fit into a box that a major label feels they should fit into | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

song-of-oots · 3 years

Text

Fuchsia Groan: my (un)exceptional fave

A while ago a friend of mine was asking for people to name their favourite examples of strong female characters, and my mind immediately leapt to Gormenghast’s Fuchsia Groan because it always does whenever the words “favourite” and “female character” come up in the same sentence. In fact scratch that, if I had to pick only one character to be my official favourite (female or otherwise) it would probably be Fuchsia. There are not sufficient words in the English language to accurately describe how much I love this character.

The issue was that I’m not sure Fuchsia Groan can accurately be described as “strong”, and until my friend asked the question, it hadn’t even occurred to me to analyse her in those terms…

Actually this isn’t completely true; Mervyn Peake does describe Fuchsia as strong in terms of her physical strength on multiple occasions. But in terms of her mental strength things are less clear cut. She’s certainly not a total pushover, and anyone would probably find it tough-going to cope with the neglect, tragedy and misuse she suffers through. In fact, this is something Mervyn Peake mentions himself – whilst also pointing out that Fuchsia is not the most resilient of people:

“There were many causes [to her depression], any one of which might have been alone sufficient to undermine the will of tougher natures than Fuchsia’s.”

Anyway, this has gotten me thinking about Fuchsia’s other traits and my reasons for loving her, going through a typical sort of list of reasons people often give for holding up a character as someone to admire:

So, is Fuchsia particularly talented?

No.

Is she clever, witty?

She’s definitely not completely stupid, and her insights occasionally take other characters by surprise, but she’s not really that smart either.

Does she have any significant achievements? Overcome great adversity?

Not really, no.

Is she kind?

Yes. Fuchsia is a very loving person and sometimes displays an incredible sensitivity and compassion for others. But… she can also be self-absorbed, highly strung, and does occasionally lash out at other people (especially in her younger years).

So why do I love Fuchsia so much?

Well, I’ll start be reiterating that I don’t really have the vocabulary to adequately put it into words, but I will try to get the gist across. So:

“What Fuchsia wanted from a picture was something unexpected. It was as though she enjoyed the artist telling her something quite fresh and new. Something she had never thought of before.”

This statement summarises not only Fuchsia but also the way I feel about her (and for that matter the Gormenghast novels in general). Fuchsia is something I’ve never really seen before. On the surface, she fits the model of the somewhat spoiled but neglected princess, and yet at the same time she cannot be so neatly pigeon-holed. It’s not just that her situation and the themes of the story make things more complex (though that is a factor); Fuchsia herself is so unique and vividly detailed that she manages to be more than her archetype. She feels like a real person and, like all real people, she is not so easy to label.

Fuchsia is also delightfully strange in a way that feels very authentic to her and the setting in general (which is particularly refreshing because it can all too often feel as though female characters are only allowed to be strange in a kooky, sexy way - yet Fuchsia defies this trend).

She’s a Lady, but she’s not ladylike. She’s messy. She slouches, mooches, stomps and stands in awkward positions. Her drawing technique is “vicious” and “uncompromising”. She chews grass. She removes her shoes “without untying the laces by treading on the heels and then working her foot loose”. She’s multi-faceted and psychologically complex. Intense and self-absorbed, sometimes irrational and ruled by her emotions more than is wise, but also capable of insight and good sense that takes others by surprise. She is extremely loving and affectionate, and yet so tragically lonely. Simultaneously very feminine and also not. Her character development from immature teenager to adult woman is both subtle and believable. She has integrity and decency – she doesn’t need to be super clever or articulate to know how to care for others or stand up for herself.

Fuchsia is honest. She knows her own flaws, but you never catch her trying to put on airs or make herself out to be anything other than what she is. She always expresses her feelings honestly.

She’s not sexualised at all. I don’t mean by this that she has no sexuality – though that’s something Peake only vaguely touches on – but I don’t really feel like I’m looking at a character who was written to pander to the male gaze (though her creator is male, I get the vibe he views her more as a beloved daughter than a sexual object).

Finally, I find her highly relatable. I am different to Fuchsia in many ways, but we do have several things in common that I have never seen so vividly expressed in any other character. This was incredibly important to me when I was a teenager struggling through the worst period of depression I ever experienced – because she was someone who I could relate to and love in a way I was incapable of loving myself. Her ability to be herself meant a lot to me as someone struggling with my own identity and sense of inadequacy. It didn’t cure my depression, but it helped me survive it.

What am I trying to say with all this?

I love Fuchsia on multiple levels. I love her as a person and also as a character and a remarkable piece of writing. I mention some of the mundane details Peake uses to flesh out her character firstly because I enjoy them, but also because it’s part of the point. Her story amazes me because it treats a female character and her psychological and emotional life with an intense amount of interest regardless of any special talents or achievements she happens to exhibit. She doesn’t fit the model of a modern heroine but neither does she need to – she’s still worth spending time with and caring about.* To me the most important things about Fuchsia are how different and interesting and relatable she is – and how real she feels.

* To be honest, this is part of the point of the Gormenghast novels in general. The story is meant to illustrate the damage that society – and in particular rigid social structures and customs – can do to individuals with its callous indifference to genuine human need. Fuchsia is one of many examples of this throughout the novels. These characters don’t need to be exceptionally heroic in order to matter – they just need to exist as believable people. And despite how strange they all are, they often do manage to be fundamentally relatable.

Why am I talking about female characters in particular here?

The focus on “strong” female characters and the critique against that is pretty widely acknowledged. Growing up, I definitely noticed the lack of female characters in popular media and the ensuing pressure this then places on the ones that do exist to be positive representations of womankind – someone girls can look up to. It’s very understandable that we want to see more examples of admirable female protagonists, given that women were traditionally left to play support roles and tired stereotypes. The problem is that the appetite for more proactive female heroines can sometimes lead to characters who are role models first and realistic human beings second (characters who I mentally refer to as Tick-All-The-Boxes Heroines). It’s not a problem with “strong” proactive heroines per se, but rather lack of variation and genuine psychological depth (not to mention a sometimes too-narrow concept of what it even means to be strong).

Male characters tend not to have this particular problem because they are much better represented across the whole range of roles within a story. You get your fair share of boring worn out archetypes. You get characters who are meant to represent a positive version of heroic masculinity (and now that I come to think of it, having a very narrow and unvarying presentation of what positive masculinity looks like is its own separate problem, but outside the scope of this particular ramble). We don’t usually spend time obsessing over whether a piece of fiction has enough examples of “strong” male characters though, because we’re generally so used to seeing it that we automatically move on into analysing the work and the characters on other terms. And because there are often more male characters than female, they don’t all bear the burden of having to be a positive representative of all men everywhere. They exist to fulfill their roles, and often exhibit more variety, nuance and psychological depth. They are also often allowed to be weird, flawed and unattractive in ways that women usually aren’t (which is a damn shame because I’ve spent my whole life feeling like a weird outsider and yet this perspective is so often told primarily through a male lens).

Tl:dr; Fuchsia Groan is a character who feels like an answer to so many of those frustrations that I felt growing up without even truly understanding why. A large part of why I love her is simply because of how much I relate to her on a personal level. I admire her emotional honesty and her loving nature… But there’s also a part of me that was just so relieved to find a female character who exists outside of the usual formulae we seem to cram women into. She is unique, weird and wonderful (but non-sexualised). Psychologically nuanced and vividly written. She isn’t exceptionally heroic or talented or a high achiever – but she does feel like a real person.

Female characters don’t need to tick all the right boxes in order to be interesting or worth our time any more than the male ones do.

#fuchsia groan #gormenghast #mervyn peake #female characters #mental health #depression #long

29 notes · View notes

tarotmum13 · 5 years

Text

Tarot Lessons for Beginners - Part 3

Hello my lovely students! It's your Friendly Neighbourhood Tarot-Teacher again...

Time to take our lessons to the next level. For those of you who are late to the party, here is a link to part 2, which in turn includes a link to part 1, so you can start at the beginning and study at your own pace:

https://tarotmum13.wordpress.com/2019/01/07/tarot-lessons-for-beginners-part-2/

Today we will be talking Spreads and exercises that will increase your confidence and familiarity with your cards.

One of the simplest and most helpful practices for any Tarot Reader is that of drawing a card for the day. You can use this exercise in different ways.

You can just pull one card every day that you want to study further. You can really think about all the different meanings this card can embody, Google the card to look at different artist's interpretations and different meanings attached to it, making notes of any information you find interesting or that feels true to you. This card can be drawn at any time of the day, whenever suits you most.

Or, you can pull a card in the morning, intended to represent the energy for that day, any lessons to be learned, things to watch out for etc. Then you can reflect on that card in the evening and write down how this card's energy may have been present during the day.

Or you can pull a card in the evening and try to see if this card can be used to gain further insight in the events that took place that day. There is no right or wrong way to use this exercise so go with what feels most helpful to you.

For example : My card of the day might have been the 6 of Cups - during that day I might need to get something from my Mum's attic and come accross an old box of photgraphs. Because I remember the card I pulled earlier, I decide to take this box downstairs and spend some time reminiscing with my Mum about my childhood. In the process of doing this I may feel closer to my Mum or even learn to see some of my daughter's behaviours in a different light as I am reminded of my own thoughts and feelings as a child.

It can be very helpful to keep a note of your daily draws - this can help you reflect, see patterns and even make you aware of certain Stalker Cards, cards that keep cropping up and that have a particular message or lesson for you! All through 2018 I kept getting the 4 of Swords popping up to remind me to use my energy appropriately and rest up when I could to avoid falling deeper in to the bottomless pit that is Chronic Fatigue...

At times when you want to ask the Tarot for more specific advice and guidance you may want to use a Spread. Please don't think this needs to be a complicated process with an esthetically pleasing outcome! A spread can be anything from just one or two cards, pulled with intent to answer a very specific question, to a full Celtic Cross consisting of 10 cards. You may pull as many or as few cards as you like but remember: more is not necessarily better!

The 3 card spread is one of the most versatile spreads that can be adapted to your specific needs and can give you a wealth of information! It is important when laying out a spread that you decide beforehand which questions you will ask, and which card will represent what answer. The clearer you are on this, the more informative and easy to read your answers will be! A muddled spread will lead to erratic, unhelpful replies as your cards reflect your unordered mind.

Here are some helpful subjects for your 3 card spread:

Past/Present/Future

Past Life/Current Life/Future Life

Me/Spirit Guide/How to Connect

Me/My Partner/Our Relationship

My Hopes and Dreams/How to take a step towards fulfilling them/What is Holding me back?

Weakness/Strength/Guidance

Mind/Body/Spirit

Situation/Lesson/Advice

What to Embrace/What to Let Go/What to Develop

How I see Myself/How Others See Me/Who I Truly Am

Seed/Water/Bloom

Thoughts/Words/Actions

Problem/What to Do/What not to Do

Dreams/Fears/Reality

Problem/Cause/Solution

Pro/Con/Best Action

As you can see, the possibilities are endless! If, at any time, you feel a card is not clear to you, you may pull a clarifier to receive more insight in to that particular aspect.

Another helpful thing to do is to look at the card at the bottom of your deck, known as the Shadow Card, as this card may reflect a hidden part of information, something you haven't thought of or have been ignoring but should be brought in to the light.

The best kind of questions to ask the Tarot are open-ended, empowering questions. Can you ask yes/no questions? Of course you can! But usually it will be more helpful for instance to understand WHY something is or is not going to happen and what YOU (or your querent) can do to get closer to the desired outcome. Therefore, the most helpful questions are those starting with words like Why? How? Who? What? Where? Or even When?... rather than Will I? Or Can I?

For example, asking "Will I find Love" might get a resounding "yes!" in the shape of The Sun card... but how much information does this really give you?

Had you asked "How can I open myself up to finding Love?" you may have received the Ace of Cups, telling you to make sure your Cup is full of Love for yourself first, so that you can pour from it freely and in doing so attract Love in return. Or you could ask "When will Love come in to my Life" and Tarot may show you the 3 of Swords, to let you know that you will find another love once you have given yourself the time and opportunity to heal from a previous heartache or betrayal.

The following are examples of clear, open-ended, empowering questions that will allow you to adjust your course in life and to gain a deeper understanding of how you can help yourself (or others) to get to where you want to be:

What Blessings in my life am I not seeing?

How can I move past this difficult period in my life?

What can I learn from this situation?

Where can I find the inspiration I need to complete this project?

What can I do to support my partner at this time?

Who can I turn to for help with this issue?

What is the best course of action to take at this moment in time?

Maybe you have already been practising on other people aside from yourself. Great! There is absolutely no need for you to wait until you are a proficient, confident Tarot Reader who doesn't need to glance at card meanings to interpret a Spread. As long as you are letting people know that you are still learning, it can be very helpful to get feedback from friends, family or even strangers, when you practise your reading skills.

But not everyone feels confident or has the opportunity to do this! Not to worry, you can still do readings for others. Just read for your pets! Or, pick a fictional character, from a book, film or fairytale, and do a spread for them! The great thing here is that, since you are familiar with their story, you can immediately check the accuracy of your reading!

Here you can find the story of Disney's Mulan as an example:

Mulan is trying to find where she fits in - she transforms herself and leaves her home behind to set out on a quest - she learns how to handle herself in battle - she is wounded and loses the affection of the one she loves - but she finds a way to rise above this heartache, saving herself as well as the Emperor in the process - she ends up a truer version of herself and learns that she can be accepted and loved for who she is.

An exercise to help you gain a deeper, more personal, understanding of your card meanings beyond the descriptions found in guidebooks or online, is to attach something of meaning to each of your cards (or just the cards you struggle to remember!). This could be anything from a favourite quote, a song, a poem, a painting or an excerpt from a book.

For example: The 6 of Swords, usually represented by a character with a child being ferried accross a body of water. To me, this card brings to mind a scene from the book The Mists of Avalon, where the High Priestess Viviane is taking her ward Morgaine to the Isle of Avalon (or Morgaine taking Nimue later in the story). This helps me to give some soul to the card in question. The 6 of Swords represents receiving help to get out of an undesirable situation or to be brought closer to your true purpose in life. Both of these children are being brought to Avalon to be trained as Priestess to the Goddess and they could never have reached the Isle without an experienced Priestess calling down the mists through which Avalon can be entered. In the same vain, I may associate The Ace of Swords with Excalibur, the sword given to Arthur to ensure he has the Blessing and Protection of the Old Gods of Avalon in battle.

Can you think of any card that brings to mind a scene to help you remember the power in that particular card? Have a ponder...

You may also choose to rename your card, give it a subtitle if you please, so that the name reflects the true meaning that card represents to you personally. "Death" for instance can become "Mortality" or "Transformation", "Temperance" can be renamed "Mediation", the "4 of Wands" can be "Stability", the "7 of Swords" may be better known as "Slyness" to you...

Attaching these names to your cards may help you get to the essence of the card and remember the meaning more easily. But remember that these meanings are fluid, and can change according to the situation you are reading for or even the deck you are using! The artists' depiction may influence how you feel about a particular card - always follow your gut instinct!

I hope you will enjoy practising your readings.

In the next part we will look in to how to get even more information from your spreads by looking at basic numerology and card interactions.

I will also put out an adendum to these lessons with some key words and phrases for card interpretations, for those of you who find that helpful. See you soon!

Xxx

#tarot lessons for beginners #daily draw #stalker cards #shadow card #3 card spread #tarot questions #reading for fictional characters #renaming your cards

7 notes · View notes

christsoupas · 4 years

Text

Week 5 - Activate The Collection

This week I delved deep into the theory component of the course spending around 10-12 hours reading over and studying all theory and video resources in the canvas shell from weeks 2-5 in order to brush up for Assignment 1 which we submitted on Friday. I chose Metamodernism as the theoretical framework for my artworks/projects and then the methodologies that fall under it – Art Thinking and Design Thinking. I struggled to fully grasp these concepts and feel there is a lot more I need to understand. (For the sake of keeping this blog concise and rather than listing all course material I will only outline some of the main resources that I explored).

In order to understand Metamodernism one must first understand Modernism and Postmodernism. I found a great YouTube video from the channel “Tom Nicholas” in which he explains Modernism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_pywMFS8G0 and then this one in which he outlines Postmodernism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6s_sW6FZ2g

This video provided in course literature gives a great insight into what Metamodernism is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5USomyB3mZQ It’s a Ted Talk by Dr. Daniel P. Görtz who is a renowned Sociologist and Theory artist.

I found that I was still struggling to grasp the concept of Metamodernism so I kept digging for videos and found this one which gives another insightful take on this theoretical framework - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA9QdD8jP0Q&t=171s

This however is the best one in terms of production, examples and relevant, or clear context, in popular culture at least.. The Philosophy of SHIA LABEOUF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dsECbVahBw

Shaun Wilsons paper was also very insightful prying between the main theoretical frameworks and bringing to light and analysing the transitionary frameworks that bridged the bigger ones such as Neomodernism, Post-Neomodernism. I need to read this again as a lot of it went over my head. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322579217_What_is_Post-neomodernismAbsolute_Multiplicity_Post-Truth_DIsruption

Ultimately I’m still trying to find context for a metamodernism in music or an example of standalone music that is metamodernist.

Having no real base understanding of the methodologies of Design Thinking and Art Thinking I found that I needed to research and study these methodologies in order to fully grasp them and employ them effectively. I began with reading this article provided in the course material called “What is design thinking” from the Interaction Design Foundation

https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/design-thinking

…its quite authorative and also includes this Ted Talk by Designer Tim Brown on the topic of Design Thinking and how effective it can be in solving complex problems. But its not n context to AV or Music so I struggled to find context

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAinLaT42xY&feature=emb_title

I also referred to other class literature here to assist in grasping this concept and gaining a deeper understanding on how to employ it in the context of music and video – as most of the online sources I found discuss don’t discuss this methodology in context of music but rather other disciplines such as UX etc. I found myself having to “bend” these concepts to fit the exact context of what im doing. This however could also be the result of having not fully grasped these concepts.

Although I feel I haven’t fully grasped the theoretical framework and the methodologies what I have taken has been more beneficial and has greater context to creating and understanding art than I initially thought. The theoretical discourse helps to contextualize important works in history and made me look at some of my favorite works in a completely different or at least evolved light. Guernica by Picasso is one example. I’m now looking at this work and his cubist movement in general in a much different way through the lens of Modernism.

PROJECT 1

This week I also did intensive in-depth work on my NASA project dedicating 3 full days to researching tutorials and studying 3 main ones and then applying the concepts and techniques in drafts for my project. I’m also looking at After Effects tutorials to understand how certain edits are performed in a 3D application and drawing inspiration and finding hacks in the 2D video apps that I work in to emulate these advanced techniques and end up with different but interesting results. This project is starting to form a bit of a nucleus now after the last few weeks of a scouring the archives provided in course materials and testing ideas from ACMI home movie collection that were largely unsuccessful and seemed to not have a lot of potential, and then delving deeper into other space related online archives and resources as well as general free resources. I tried and tinkered with many different archives and subject matter/themes until I found that the NASA or space related collections probably offered the most in terms of content. Im also interested in eye catching and visually stunning imagery so ultimately a space theme seemed to have the most when it came to this

I researched many videos films and short films relating to the concept of space and astronauts by Michele Gondrey and Mark Romanek in terms of music videos Both directors here used minimalism very effectively to portray space environments artificially and in turn uncluttered sets and the use of bold imagery juxtaposed against stark backgrounds. I also researched films such as Solaris and 2001.

My intensive drafting of the last few weeks found a bit more focus as I had to submit some drafts for this presentation assignment. I brought to fruition part of one of artistic concepts/techniques that I had been imagining from the moment I first saw the NASA collection - that I mentioned in class in week2, which involved complex video editing comprising of the use of keying, masking animation of masks and automation of plugins– I am merely scratching the surface at this stage and if anything this week has shown me how involved this discipline really is and how little I actually know about it, but was still able to achieve one draft that would be seemingly impossible in a 2D video program to a layman or beginner.

At this stage my method requires that I keep scouring videos with a rough storyboard in mind as I search and continue to stylize and do complex editing to build a new archive of stylized and original footage to draw from or “activate” – effectively im deep in the microcosm of video art and therefore haven’t taken the macro view of audio-visual relationships, so therefore I don’t have anything to discuss in terms of an AV relationship at this point. I’d say im at the primary stage at this juncture, where some, not all, of my drafts are close reflections of my references.. my goal is to finish primary stage and then move to secondary stage where im pushing any of those drafts into new areas or “re-sampling myself”. The next stage in the process is bringing it all together with an edit and then the addition of a score and sound fx. I am looking to begin the AV relationship in week 9 which gives me 3 weeks from now to complete all video art and editing and which is also a week before the Individual consultations on the 28/09 - and it is also around 3 weeks before submission deadline on the 16/10 – leaving me enough time to bring the AV aspect of the project together

PROJECT 2

In terms of my project with Bobo, I worked on more studies into portraying a split or multiple personality disorder sonically. I used one of the references she sent me which was a scene from the film “Black Swan” starring Natalie Portman. I ultimately employed the use of whispering voices to imply that the protagonist is not alone and that there are other “personalities” present and used it as an opportunity to broaden my palette of sonic ideas and music to draw from when doing the score. In this film the director uses mirrors to visually portray a split personality. It’s a very effective device and executed very well through exemplary video editing. I feel that its easier to portray this disorder through imagery alone rather than audio alone.. in terms of an audio-visual relationship, one can certainly inform the other, and in my study into this concept last week where I relied only upon audio only to portray this disorder I found that I had to really think outside of the box and realized that there is a lot less on offer if only exploiting the audio realm as opposed to the visual having seemingly infinite possibilities. That’s not to say that there still isn’t an array of ingenious audio concepts and the use of design thinking can be helpful here to incite ideas. Another idea I came up with similar to the 1st study I did which was to use the stereo field more effectively. Space “above and below” or “back and forward” in the stereo field can be utilized artificially as it were through clever eq-ing and volume trickery, as opposed to merely a more orthodox utilization of Left-Centre-Right. I’m looking forward to my collaboration kicking off fully with her when she presents me with a draft in a couple of days.

0 notes

topfygad · 5 years

Text

A Journey through La Boca: Buenos Aires Most Colourful Neighbourhood

La Boca is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires that is very popular with visitors to Argentina. Tourists from all over the world flock to La Boca to visit La Bombonera, the home of the Boca Juniors, one of the most popular football teams in Argentina and to visit the colourful pedestrian street known as the Caminito where tango artists perform and artists showcase their work. We visited La Boca on a day tour organised by our Buenos Aires hostel, Milhouse and despite being horrendously hungover from trying to party with the Argentinians, had a fantastic day learning about this unique, colourful neighbourhood and the triumphs and struggles of the people who call it home!

Welcome to La Boca!

La Boca has a really interesting history and owes its name to its geographical position at the mouth of the Riachuelo River, with ‘La Boca’ translating to ‘the mouth’. Its proximity to the river is the very reason for La Boca’s very existence as the area was the port of call for thousands of immigrants from Italy, Spain and other European countries. The neighbourhood consisted solely of shipyards and houses for the workers and their houses were built with leftover building materials which consisted mainly of planks, sheet metal and corrugated iron. Our tour guide told us that the river is one of the most polluted in the world and if you drink directly from it you will die in a few minutes. I definitely can’t confirm the validity of that fact, however the river did look really dirty so I wouldn’t recommend drinking from it (if for some reason you were planning on it)…

Most people who come to La Boca will come to visit two attractions, the La Bombonera football stadium and the Caminito.

The Caminito

The Caminito is an iconic, colourful pedestrian street in La Boca. In 1960, a local artist Benito Quinquela Martin painted the walls of an abandoned street of houses in bright colours and erected a makeshift stage for performers. He encouraged artists and performers to showcase their work and it very quickly became a haven for artists, tango dancers and performers alike. Today the cobblestoned street is lined with vibrant, brightly coloured corrugated-iron houses and is filled with tango dancers performing and artists showcasing their work both on the street and in the studios.

La Bombonera Stadium and the Boca Juniors

The second main reason people visit La Boca is to see La Bombonera, the stadium of the Boca Juniors, one of the most popular football teams in Argentina and the club of famous Diego Maradona. Diego Maradona was known as one of the best football players of his time and famously led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup! The stadium is known as the “candy box” due to its bright yellow and blue colours and holds 49,000 people. I imagine watching a game there would be an unforgettable experience, apparently the whole stadium shakes like crazy because of the screaming fans!

We visited the stadium as part of our tour and had a guided tour through the stands, the stadium and hall of fame where there is a statue and many tributes paid to Maradona, Argentina’s favourite son. There are companies that do tours to games as well if you’re brave enough to join the diehard La Boca fans in the stands!

Safety

Whilst we felt completely safe on our tour, La Boca is an economically disadvantaged neighbourhood and we were warned that the area can be dangerous for visitors who stray off the tourist path, which includes Caminito and the few surrounding blocks. If you’re unsure then just take a tour like we did! Tours are great because you have safety in numbers, you know where to visit without getting lost and you can generally learn a lot more from your guide then you can a guidebook! We’d had a huge night the before at a tango class and show and so I can safely say, if we hadn’t pre-booked and paid for the tour, there was little chance we would have made ourselves. I always travel with medication for various illnesses that you can get whilst travelling (including hangovers)and usually ordered my medication through click pharmacy when living in the UK.

Final Thoughts

La Boca is a really unique neighbourhood and is an easy day trip on public transport from central Buenos Aires. We had a great day on our tour where we learnt a great deal about the interesting history of this colourful neighbourhood, about the struggles and successes of its people and about the main places of interest, Caminito and La Bombonera. La Boca is a bright, vibrant and colourful neighbourhood filled with beautiful street art, the proud blue and yellow of the Boca Juniors and the bright primary colours of Caminito. A visit to La Boca during your time in Argentina will give you a completely different insight and perspective into life for some in Buenos Aires.

Have you been to colourful La Boca?

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/30V5SxO via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Cheapr Travels

0 notes

survivorssurplus · 5 years

Text

UFC Nashville: Stephen Thompson vs. Anthony Pettis Toe-to-Toe Preview – A complete breakdown

Stephen Thompson vs. Anthony Pettis headlines UFC Nashville this March 23, 2019 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Stats

Record: Stephen Thompson 14-3-1 Draw | Anthony Pettis 21-7

Odds: Stephen Thompson -335 | Anthony Pettis +305

History / Introduction to the fighters

David: Thompson was supposed to be the next Raymond Daniels. A protege of Chuck Norris’ personal YAMMA pit. A good fighter when you’re trying to replicate the random fight scene between John Cusack and Benny the Jet. Less so when the punches are actually landing. Instead Thompson carved out a respectable early stretch before showing with his huevos in tow for a fight that Matt Brown didn’t completely embarrass him in. Not only did Thompson develop like a typical fighter learning the ropes, but he curved beyond what his skillset would seem to allow.

Phil: Thompson was broadly expected to be less-fun Michael Page: a unique, weird kickboxer who would get badly exposed by the first serious grappler that he came up against and who would then shrug, tick the “competed in the UFC” box and then leave the sport to go and teach kids how to stand up to the Cobra Kai at his dad’s gym. But he took that Matt Brown loss with surprising gameness, and developed a surprisingly effective MMA-ready style which took him to a title shot, twice.

David: Things started out well for Pettis. His only loss early in his career was an illegitimate decision loss to Bart Palaszewski. Then the Guida fight happened. Then Pettis appeared to figure it out. Somewhere along the way Pettis went from Wheaties model to a cable TV main event. Somewhere along the way Pettis went from a cable TV main event to an action movie star. He’s not very good at it, but he is very entertaining. I don’t know when Pettis turned into the martial arts hero sidekick who makes it halfway through the movie, but I’m not complaining.

Phil: I’m not sure if there was ever a “Pettis era” but much like BJ Penn, it seemed absolutely inconceivable that he ever could have been staring down the barrel of what could be a genuinely shocking UFC record: if he goes down on Saturday he’s at 8 wins and 8 losses. He was never untouchable, but he was so incredibly threatening as both a striking and submission threat that it was hard to see how other fighters could stay consistent enough to beat him. But… they did. Henderson and Melendez opened the door a little bit, and then RDA stormed through, and that was the end of Pettis the champion. His career has largely been in the service of meaningless fun since then: down to featherweight to fight Holloway, brief surges of success which kept him in the conversation, and then shut-out losses which confirmed that he was never getting back to a belt. This seems like something of a culmination of that journey, and not in a particularly good way.

What’s at stake?

David: It’s a tough fight for both guys, but it’s not a tough decision for the UFC matchamking. If one guy wins, he gets another fight. The guy who loses, gets another fight. Apologies for the lame tautologies, but both fighters are in the hyperbaric chamber right now.

Phil: Ehh. This feels like a couple of things: the UFC not knowing what to do with either of these men, and then looking to ensure that they can rehabilitate at least one of their highlight reel wacky strikers for the purpose of throwing them back into title contention storylines. The loser is likely to have some serious struggles in clawing their way back up.

Where do they want it?

David: The last stretch of fights have been…odd. Against elite competition over the last five bouts, Thompson has managed to technically break even going 2-2-1. I think part of this is a function of style. Fighters who have karate bases have to be effective on a specific axis on the feet. Different styles don’t neutralize them so much as disrupt the general flow of the action. Just look at Machida. A lot of his early fights were kind of awful. Against Sam Hoger, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and even Tito Ortiz — Machida’s striking felt dormant at times. I wonder if Thompson isn’t experiencing that evolution in reverse. As he gains more experience, he feels like he needs to adjust his striking against his opponents, not realizing that what he’s good at already works like gangbusters. It’s the whole “don’t leave it in the hands of people paid to do their job effectively” part that he hasn’t beat.

Phil: The strange thing about Thompson is that other than Matt Brown, no one has really been able to beat him yet. Not really. Sure, he’s had some awful, neutralizing, point karate performances and has technically lost two of them, but there was nothing decisive there. In some ways it feels like he’s gotten to that same point that Machida did, where opponents figured out that they could just match his incredibly slow pace by just never attacking him, apart from when they’d try and steal brief moments of unpredictable offense (see: Machida vs Davis, Henderson, etc). Conversely, though, Machida also had decisive losses (Shogun, Jones) whereas Thompson has never been stopped. At least partially this is because Wonderboy is far bigger and more comparatively athletic by the standards of his division: no-one has really been able to plow forward and mess him up, or really hurt him by leveraging a range advantage. Aside from that he remains who he is: bouncing around on the outside, he likes to favour southpaw to draw opponents into that pull counter, while pecking with lead leg side kicks, or switching to orthodox for a more traditional round kick series.

David: Pettis is the kid in the sandbox who will play fun games with everyone as long as he brings his toys and only his toys. The other kids are cool with it. Until they realize that the toys Pettis brought aren’t even real GI Joe’s. They’re knockoffs with no points of articulation: like a bunch of Ram Men without a copyright. It’s fitting that as Pettis’ recent fights have become increasingly blood-soaked and chaotic, he’s been less effective. By now we’ve all read the book. Give Pettis time and space, and he will work some choreographed magic. Take away time and space, and Pettis will look like every kickboxer-turned-parttime mixed martial artist. Of course, Pettis’ submission game is very good. Which is why he’s not a fight illiterate. Still, Pettis has yet to adapt to the things that work against him. He hasn’t yet figured out how to slow the fight down. And worse, he hasn’t yet figured out how to manipulate range in the middle of a sequence.

Phil: Pettis is a more definitively mirrored fighter than Thompson, and this is something which comes through in a couple of ways. Firstly, he’s relatively ambidextrous in his approach. While Thompson has more defined strikes from either stance, and hence has strategic uses for both of them (power from orthodox, “pestering” from southpaw), Pettis really is fairly similar in approach whichever stance he’s in. The one-two is used to feed through to the rear leg head and body kick, primarily. Mirrored also tends to define his approach to his opponents, as well. In the quest for the open stance body kick, he generally tends to specifically favour open stance: going southpaw against orthodox fighters, and orthodox for southpaws. That presents an interesting quandary here, because he’s at a major height and size disadvantage. I’m not sure whether he should actually want to maximize the distance between the two fighters by going open stance. Other than that, Pettis’ flaws remain well-known: he has terrible defensive and offensive footwork, mediocre general defense, and lacks significant clinch or wrestling offense to bail him out if he’s pressured. On the other hand, though, he remains one of the most purely dangerous kickers we’ve ever seen in the sport (more dangerous shot-for-shot than Barboza, for my money) and a tremendous submission threat.

Insight from past fights

David: Nothing worth noting. Their styles are worlds apart, and they fight in different divisions. “Insight” is worth mentioning at the level of psychology. When Pettis gets hit, he doesn’t counter. He doesn’t move. He tries to reset when the attack is either done, or has subsided. That’s not a good sign against a fighter who will chain offense together when he lands, who is tall enough that he won’t need to move quick to find him.

Phil: Barboza and Holloway represented two of Pettis’ more damning losses, in part because they finally crushed the “he just struggles with powerful wrestlers” myth. That should have been quashed by the RDA beating anyway, but what they showed was something more important. Primarily, that Pettis struggles to close down his opponent’s movement at least as much as he struggles with moving away from pressure. In both fights he defaulted to doggedly plodding around after his more mobile opponent, who constantly peppered him with shots.

X-Factors

David: A lot’s been said about size, but the smaller fighters have done well after moving up because they know how to maximize their quickness. Pettis doesn’t do any of this. Pettis would be better served moving down in weight because at least there his strength can potentially even out the technique-disadvantage, and his power is potent even at 155. At welterweight, his power becomes less potent, and his speed is a wash since all of his quickness comes from the mechanics of his punches — not his ability to sequence pressure and offense together.

Phil: Mainly how Pettis responds to going up to welterweight. Even if he looks great, I don’t think it’s going to help a lot, to be honest. He’s not a fast-moving blitzer who’s going to be zipping in inside Wonderboy’s reach, and I think he’ll miss having approximate reach parity quite a lot.

Prognostication

David: It’s always possible to see Pettis land a bomb of a kick to Thompson’s ribs, and Thompson just caves in. That wouldn’t shock me. A bad fight wouldn’t shock me. What I expect — however — is Thompson landed a good strike here and there, and using those strikes to flurry Pettis into a turtle shell of offense. Stephen Thompson by Decision.

Phil: There are a few ways this one goes. In the funniest, Pettis just outduels Thompson in a kicking battle, by battering his lead leg, and potentially takes him out in a sudden submission scramble. In the much more likely ones, Thompson either draws him onto counters repeatedly, and exploits his mediocre head movement to light him up with karate blitzes. In the worst timeline they have a terrible, low-paced fight where they show each other flashy moves and nod and high five one another while everyone groans. Let us pray it does not come to pass. Stephen Thompson by unanimous decision.

Latest From Our Partners

Latest From MMA Warehouse

Source Article

The post UFC Nashville: Stephen Thompson vs. Anthony Pettis Toe-to-Toe Preview – A complete breakdown appeared first on SURVIVORSSURPLUS.

Learn More: http://www.survivorssurplus.com/ufc-nashville-stephen-thompson-vs-anthony-pettis-toe-to-toe-preview-a-complete-breakdown/

0 notes

hellaspicaay-blog · 7 years

Text

@ my crush(er) A.H

I’ve been hurting, crying, and drowing in my thoughts. I reminisced on the great times we had during summer school p.e. Everything was a learning experience. I learned so much from being around you and having you in my life. You made me want to better myself. I remember after realizing that I was digging you I knew I wanted to change my lifestyle. I wanted to eat healthier for you. I would try to enhance my features for you. I’d elevate my physique and all for you. Although you were so nice to me and would compliment me, I realized that behind your actions towards me was just a friendly motivated one. I read too deep into it. I interpreted everything so that’s it’d match how I felt about you. I projected my feelings onto you so that the whole thing would fall on hope to keep it going. I remember when I was with Taylor and Jenn at the quad talking about something during fall of 2015 and you came into the circle to talk to me. You told them that you needed to talk to me and I felt so special because you grabbed me by the arm and lead me out the circle just so that it’d be the both of us having a conversation. I remember that shy awkward smile you were giving me while asking me if I was gonna do cross country and I said yeah. I remember the excitement on your face. The tone of your body movements. You made me feel like a somebody. You made me feel capable. I’d always have you on my mind. Not sexually though. Your character and the way you just were was enough for me. Your beautiful mind and generous heart enchanted me. You believed in me. You hyped me up. You would always say hi to me whenever I’d pretend I didn’t see you during passing period. Was this always how you treated your guy friends? I felt honored to have you in my life. I remember taking a make-up test for Ms. D and I turned it into her. As i turned in my paper to her, you came in the door and greeted her. Then you told her how she should give me an A. After that you were complimenting me from my glasses, to my shirt, to my whole outfit and said how cool I looked. I was so awkward and was like “noooo” but with an awkward smile. I don’t know. Maybe I read too deep into your actions. Maybe I just have never met a guy that’d be so nice to me like you have to me. It was refreshing to see a guy interact with me so deeply like that. I will be honest, I joined cross country because I wanted to get fit and try something totally new but also because you told me to do it. You were the one that made me think “yeah I think I wanna do this” because I still wanted to be around that energy. I remember before the first cross country practice we passed by each other and I asked if you were going to practice and you were like “aww nahh man. Not today. But I’ll be going to the next one.“ I was kinda disappointed but I understood your decision. A few practices came and you still never showed up. I was filled with disappointment. Then finally you showed up to one practice and you acted like a stranger to me (or maybe you. Were just neevous around me and tried to conceal your feelings for me lmao 😭😭 I thought ahhaha). There I was hurt. It was weird cuz you’d treat me like I was a somebody sometimes then you’d treat me like you didn’t know me other times. As conflicted and frustrated I was trying to make sense of our whole relationship. Trying to understand you and my place in your life. I’d convince myself that it was no big deal. You were a straight guy just bein hella nice to me. Then track season came and I was excited to do hurdles. This time I did it for me (but kinda for you too cuz I didn’t wanna lose hope on a future with you in it 😭😭). But anyways on one bus ride to the practice you saw me sitting alone. But you just ignored me, no “hi” no “heyy man” nothing. I was questioning my worth to you. Then the next practice you were cheering me on on hurdles then we were talking about something and you started awkwardly laughing with that cute ass smile. Omg. Now you got me even more confused. But fast forward to senior year, I knew it was a new beginning. I was looking to forget bout you and build a new foundation within myself. I’ve “accepted” that you were not gonna be my bf. I’ve gotten through months not checking your Instagram on a daily basis. I thought I was healed. Then spring of 2017 came and it was college decision time. I got accepted into your school and some others. I was conflicted on whether i should choose sj or ucm. If I chose sj, I knew my feelings for you would rekindle and I’d look for hope again for the both of us. But while making my decision, it brought back all of those suppressed feelings. I tried to hide them again. I remember I unfollowed you prior to this dm on instagram. I dm’d you on how sj was and why you chose sj. Of course, you replied and gave me some good insight. Nothing more and nothing less. I was conflicted and frustrated again so I asked you some more questions yet I got the same tone in response. You had a girlfriend already at this point. Anyways, I had to think of my future too, so I chose ucm cuz I knew I’d be away from you. This was unhealthy for me to be so stuck on you and attached to your energy.

A couple months later, it was July 04, 2017. My brother’s girlfriend gave me the idea to throw a going away party. I was diggin the idea. Long story short. I was contemplating on inviting you or not but i ended up inviting you and you said “aww thank you so much man, I’ll definitely be there” or something along those lines. I was excited yet had doubts that you wouldn’t come. Fast-forward to my party day. After taking pictures with some people my bro opens the door and it’s you. YOU. My mind and heart could not process it. You, A.H. Came to my party (omfg 😭😭). So I give you that bro handshake and I tell you that they’re all in the backyard. I end up not walking you there cuz I’m nervous as fuck and I don’t wanna make it obvious that I got feelings for you. So I walked to the front door instead and went outside acting like it was for a purpose 😭. Then you started vibin and catching up with some old friends etc. omg. THEN Bodak yellow plays and I’m groovin to it and I see you groovin to it too. You start dancing towards me and reach for a bro shake. I come to you like a magnet and say “you know this song?l and you’re like “Bodak Yellow. Heck yeah man.” Then we start jammin to it. Then you start up a conversation with me. And my ears are all open and listening. BUT THEN my dad had to tap me on the shoulders and tell me to bring the box of pizza to the table for my other friends when they could just go inside and eat what they please. Anyways, I follow the order. And walk back out and you’re already talking to jamie L. So I give you your space and just go back to doin my thing.

After that party I cried so much about how blessed I was. I cried about 5-8 times on and off (even when I was brushing my teeth lmao). That was the highlight of my fuckin life deadass. So I start thinkin about all the ways you made me feel. Etc. i just had to let myself feel it all out. Make sense of it all. Try to accept what was and what is. I asked one of my favorite artists (and he responded. ILY Steve Lacy) about this and he gave me a some great insight on everything. I just had to connect all the dots and ask so many questions to the universe and myself. I’m a firm believer of “EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING WHAT IS MEANT TO BE WILL BE.” I had to reconnect with my inner-self. And keep myself with myself. I did hurt. It was hard to sleep. It was hard to keep you off my mind. And it was hard to not feel. I had “not in that way” by Sam Smith on replay along with “Bad Religion” by Frank Ocean and other songs on replay because of all the overwhelming and frustrating feelings that I’ve been keeping suppressed. This is my only outlet (tumblr). I didn’t feel comfortable telling anyone even my cousins (even though they tried so hard to get it out of me and open up about my struggles. IM GAy. There I said it. But I hate telling people because they just disregard all the baggage and deep pain you went through living with all the internal conflicts. It’s so heavy on me. I guess I hate how no one will understand my pain which is why I refuse to open up about my sexuality. Along with it comes so many misconceptions and negative assumptions that I just cannot deal with. Anyways, back to you A.H. I realized that I do love you even if we only talk here and there. Even if you don’t feel the same. I’ve learned to accept that you won’t be my bf. And I guess I’ve been holding onto you for so long because I relied so heavily on hope that things would eventually work out for us. It’s been two years. Ever since the summer of 2015 to today August 08, 2017. I realized that the Universe has been sending me signals to move on and to let go. And to understand that what is for me will come into my life. God knows what he’s doing and maybe you just weren’t the right guy for me even though I really wanted you to be. So yeah, even as I type this I have doubts. I worry that what if I’m just not trying hard enough and that you’re just struggling to let your feelings out for me and all of that. But then, I reexamined your instagram and our convos. You have all you need. You have a girlfriend, you have a wonderful family, and you have so many people who love you. You are happy and that is all that matters. I love you and I’m working to fall out of love with you for myself. It’s time for me to heal. And it’s time for me to invest in myself more and the people who truly love and care for me. I’ve been so lost because of my selfish motives. It was such a blessing to cross paths with you it truly was. You made me who I am today. I definitely learned so much about “love” and friendships. I learned about myself and the universe. You will always have a place in my heart, but we just were never meant to have something more than what I thought we should have. Maybe I’ll see you next lifetime? Hmm, who knows. The Lord is beyond amazing and I need to trust him/her more and build with him/her more. I love you A.H. This is me releasing all of my suppressed thoughts about you so that I can be one step closer to healing myself. You will do so many amazing things in life especially since you’re such a great soul. I’ll be here on the side cheering you on. ILY. And I’ll miss you.

Sincerely, PJPT 💛💧✨💜✨💗✨

#unrequited feelings #unrequited crush #unrequited love

0 notes

medicalmarijuana-news · 7 years

Text

High Horoscopes | Jan. 26, 2017

The HIGH TIMES weekly astrological forecast, complete with strain recommendations!

Ask Aelie anything! Find her on Facebook and Twitter.

ARIES

Ripped from the headlines: Jetpack firefighting system showcased in Dubai! It’s called the ‘Dolphin’ and it’s exactly what you might imagine: a jet ski and a water jet pack that allows the firefighter to raise themselves up to the height of a bridge in order to douse the flames. This way they are guaranteed an endless stream of water and never to be stuck in traffic on the way to the emergency. Leave it to Dubai to come up with such an expensive solution, and one that seems only useful for the rare fires that occur right next to bodies of water. Still, there’s ingenuity at play here, which I admire. Plus I imagine the hardworking firefighters might enjoy the bit of fun it affords. This frivolous approach to solving a real problem is a cosmic example for you this week. A light-hearted take on a nasty issue might be just what you need to turn the tides. Strain recommendation: Chiquita Banana

TAURUS

Ripped from the headlines: Bullfighting returns to India! In the state of Tamil Nadu, the practice of bullfighting (a.k.a. Jallikatu) is considered part of the Tamil cultural traditions and a key element of their harvest festival. Animal rights groups appealed to the Supreme Court, which banned the sport in 2014, but recent massive protests have led the central government to overturn that decision, declaring a temporary lift on the ban. This isn’t the first time culture and social change have butted heads, especially when respect for life confronts respect for tradition. No matter your personal opinion, the lesson to be taken from this example for you, is that fighting for what you believe in can create change. This story, plus the global protests happening this past week, should hopefully be enough to finally inspire you to speak up. Strain recommendation: Snow Bud

CANCER

Ripped from the headlines: Iraqi Kurdish fashionistas create a gentleman’s gathering group called Mr. Erbil! Some 30 or so men in war torn northern Iraq are trying to change their peoples’ image and effect some social change along the way, by adopting the more modern Western hipster fashion trends, mixed with styles sported by their traditional landowning class, the effendis. Fitted coats, gloves and ties, tight pants and manicured beards are all the trend, as are shout-outs to local ladies fighting for women’s rights. Fashion and politics are strange bedfellows, though this is not the first time their pairing has been used to great advantage. Their message is spreading; the group now has over 25,000 Instagram followers. This spirited and joyful way to hype change has been chosen to inspire you to do the same; think outside of the box on how to get your mission statement out, to preach beyond the converted, to outstretch the typical haters, to reach those unlikely supporters waiting on the outskirts of your natural environment. Strain recommendation: Silver Bubble

GEMINI

Ripped from the headlines: In Wuhan, China, 19 buildings were demolished in 10 seconds using 5 tons of explosive! It’s a remarkable thing to witness on video, but the thing that really stuck out to me was that the second to last building didn’t seem to fall. Perhaps that’s why they say 19 instead of 20? It seems unbelievable that it wouldn’t topple over when surrounded by so much destruction. Perhaps it falls after the video finishes or maybe it was never meant to fall, but to me it appeared to me like that little flower that makes its way up through the cement cracks to reach sunlight on the sidewalk. This is your chosen symbol for the week, Gemini; be that little survivor, beat the odds, don’t give up. You can thrive in the midst of this soul-crushing madness. Strain recommendation: Blueberry Silvertip

LEO

Ripped from the headlines: Ants use Sun to navigate! Despite the teeny tiny, pinpoint brain size of the ant, their navigational skills are very sophisticated compared to the rest of the insect world. Apparently, no matter which way they face, they can use celestial cues to make their way home. Understanding this behavior has inspired scientists to model the neural circuits of robot systems on the ant’s brain. This all goes to show that you can find much of life’s knowledge in the natural world, even insight into man made technology. I encourage you to do the same: study your pets or the local fauna to gather some insight on tackling the human made dilemma facing you. Pay special attention to the silent cues they offer new acquaintances, there is much to be learned by the way they inform strangers exactly the way they want to be approached. Strain recommendation: Space Bomb

VIRGO

Ripped from the headlines: Russia’s rage rooms help relieve stress! Rage rooms, places where you can rent an hour’s worth of time to destroy everything within it using a sledgehammer, are popping up all over Russia. 60% of the clients are young women, some psychiatrists bring groups there, and 75% of the proceeds go to charity. Now that you know the facts, are you ready to smash some shit up? You could use a little tension reliever this week, and crushing computer monitors or throwing plates might be your way through it. If you don’t have such means, I’d suggest folding a piece of paper 6 times and then try ripping it, or maybe making a Jackson Pollack-type painting with foodstuffs. You need release and to exercise your muscles—if not, the lid might just prematurely fly off this pressure cooker. Strain recommendation: ACDC

LIBRA

Interesting historical fact: The longest war in history lasted 335 years and had no casualties, while the shortest war lasted 38 minutes and had 501 casualties. You’re not exactly fighting a war this week but you have been living through some pretty arduous times. Even though it might feel like a familiar old battle, try to remember that each experience is different and you have no idea if this bout will be long or short, damaging or not. Try to be patient with yourself. If you really embrace the idea that no two moments are the same then all the worrying and anticipating is for naught. Strain recommendation: Ewok

SCORPIO

Interesting historical fact: Kim Jong Il wrote 6 operas. It shouldn’t come as a great shock that a dictator also had artistic aspirations. He wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but it actually is. We have a pervasive, irrational belief that artists are more sensitive people and therefore less likely to display cruelty. Logically there is no sense in this but we learnt it as kids so we rarely confront weird ideas like that until the universe forces us to. For example, there is no reasonable excuse for you feel unworthy of genuine love, but sometimes you struggle with it. This is another mistaken belief you adopted at a young age. Well, here’s your chance to challenge it before the cosmos force you to reckon with it. Take this hint and explore how this thought stops you from moving forward. Strain recommendation: Jr

SAGITTARIUS

Interesting historical fact: Lord Byron kept a tame bear as a pet while studying at Trinity University! The bear lived with him at his lodgings near Cambridge. Apparently, he found the ‘no dogs’ rule at school so draconian that he challenged it by bringing the bear. He won his case, and was known to walk his bear on the grounds on a leash, as if it were a dog. Take a page out of Byron’s book this week and face down any rule you find outdated and unfair. Don’t let the bureaucrats and officious managers stop you. Flaunt your modern ways before the naysayers and let them clutch their pearls if they must. ‘No more’ must be your mantra. Strain recommendation: Red Dragon

CAPRICORN

Interesting scientific fact: Outer space has a smell. It’s a mix of diesel fumes, gunpowder and barbecue! Supposedly, this comes from the fumes of dying stars. While we might imagine encountering the soundless infinity of space with a majestic awe, we, in reality, could find ourselves simply reminded of July 4th in small-town Kentucky. Our expectations are rarely correct. Even when they are surpassed, we can still experience a slight disappointment because we were so prepared for another outcome. It is time for you to finally put aside this childish behavior of creating anticipation and then being let down. There are other ways to get excited about a new person or challenge. If you allow yourself to live in the present, even a typical situation can become fresh and stimulating. Strain recommendation: Alien Wrench

AQUARIUS

Interesting historical fact: In 1912, a Parisian orphanage held a fundraising lottery and the prizes were live babies! Sounds horrible, but considering that otherwise they would have been doomed to a dire existence in a dilapidated state-run children’s home or left to care for themselves on the streets, a give-away to wanting parents might not be such a bad idea. It’s all about context. Are you seeing yourself in context? Try, if you can, to identify yourself in an imagined crowd of your colleagues: where do you stand in relation to them? Are you the king of the castle or the dirty rascal? Getting some outside perspective could be useful now. If you are surprised by how far ahead you are, will you ease up on the self-battery? If you are further behind, will you be motivated and not discouraged? The cosmos urge you to stay positive, no matter where you find yourself situated. Strain recommendation: Obama Kush

PISCES

Interesting scientific fact: Some cats are allergic to humans! Sadly, they can’t tell us that our mere presence makes them ill. We adopt them, keep them in our homes, and cuddle them constantly: all the while they are sneezing their furry little faces off. Someone in your life is making loving them difficult. Similar to these poor cats, you are a bit trapped in their life, so avoiding them isn’t an option. You do have genuine affection for this person but these itchy feelings of displeasure and coughs of irritability won’t go away unless you find a remedy. Try connecting to other similarly afflicted folk. You’ll discover you aren’t the only one being driven up the wall here, and maybe a combined effort of compassionate group pop-psychologizing might help this person to reduce their allergen producing ways. Strain recommendation: Space Queen

from Medical Marijuana News http://ift.tt/2kpoXV8 via https://www.potbox.com/

#Medical Marijuana News

0 notes

topfygad · 5 years

Text

A Journey through La Boca: Buenos Aires Most Colourful Neighbourhood

Welcome to La Boca!

Most people who come to La Boca will come to visit two attractions, the La Bombonera football stadium and the Caminito.

The Caminito

La Bombonera Stadium and the Boca Juniors

Safety

Final Thoughts

Have you been to colourful La Boca?

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/30V5SxO via https://ift.tt/2NIqXKN

0 notes

topfygad · 5 years

Text

A Journey through La Boca: Buenos Aires Most Colourful Neighbourhood

Welcome to La Boca!

Most people who come to La Boca will come to visit two attractions, the La Bombonera football stadium and the Caminito.

The Caminito

La Bombonera Stadium and the Boca Juniors

Safety

Final Thoughts

Have you been to colourful La Boca?

source http://cheaprtravels.com/a-journey-through-la-boca-buenos-aires-most-colourful-neighbourhood/

0 notes