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Food for thought: was Epstein communicating in code when he said he was "calling his mother" the day before he was found in his cell?
2023.06.03 20:27 Best_Club_In_America Food for thought: was Epstein communicating in code when he said he was "calling his mother" the day before he was found in his cell?
| https://preview.redd.it/iz8s4s61iu3b1.png?width=826&format=png&auto=webp&s=ac44fb0e09753096f96568e1c96ddb897f1f9435 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10236091/How-Epstein-lied-said-calling-mother-killing-hours-later.html Epstein's final phone call: Pedophile lied to jail guards and asked to call his mom (who died in 2004) but actually spoke to his Belarus girlfriend, 30, hours before killing himself, NYTimes report reveals - More than 2,000 pages of Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) records were obtained by The New York Times
- The release comes just days before Epstein's alleged co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell is set to start trial revealed
- On the evening of August 10, Epstein was assisted by a unit manager at the Manhattan Detention Center in making a 'social' phone call
- The call was not properly logged and the unit manager said that when he asked Epstein who he was calling, he said it was his mother
- The call was actually to his Belarusian girlfriend Katyna Shuliak, 30, and lasted about 15 minutes
- Epstein helped put Shuliak through dental school. He gave no indication during the call that he was going to commit suicide
Jeffrey Epstein's last hours were spent in part on a call to his girlfriend in Belarus, made under the ruse that the billionaire pedophile was calling his long-deceased mother, according to newly revealed records. More than 2,000 pages of Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) records recently obtained by The New York Times - just days before Epstein's alleged co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell is set to start trial - have revealed Epstein was a con artist up until his last day. On the evening of August 10, 2019, Epstein was assisted by a unit manager at the Manhattan Detention Center in making a 'social' phone call, The Times reported. The call was not properly logged and the unit manager said that when he asked Epstein who he was calling, the prisoner said it was his mother. Epstein's mother has been dead since 2004. The call was actually to his Belarusian girlfriend Katyna Shuliak, 30, and lasted about 15 minutes, records show. Epstein helped put Shuliak through dental school. He gave no indication during the call that he was going to commit suicide, according to the newspaper. It fits with the remainder of the unclassified pages - including a clinical intervention report - which were uncovered after The Times filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The report was filed on July 11, 2019 stated that Epstein 'continues to deny any suicidal ideation, intention or plan.' 'I have no interest in killing myself,' the disgraced financier told a prison psychologist, according to the BOP documents. He also said he was a 'coward' and did not like pain. 'I would not do that to myself,' he added. During another psychological evaluation just days after arriving at the prison Epstein told a psychologist that 'being alive is fun'. He also reportedly requested to speak with his lawyer, brush his teeth and have a shower and the psychologist noted that Epstein was polite and even had a sense of humor. The psychologist wrote: 'He was future-oriented,' and noted that he denied having ever sexually abused anyone and believed he would be released after his renewed bail hearing. But less than a month later, on August 10, the financier hanged himself with a bedsheet, according to the medical examiner. He was pronounced dead while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges and was facing 45 years in prison if convicted. Epstein was tossed into the the federal jail in Lower Manhattan on July 6, 2019, after he was arrested aboard his private jet at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey following his return from Paris. Two years after Epstein's suicide the embattled federal jail closed down. The BOP cited crumbling security measures and infrastructure at the facility, which was once considered one of the most secure detention centers in the country. The 233 inmates at the prison when it closed were transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Maxwell has also been staying. An indictment stated that Epstein had recruited dozens of teenage girls throughout the 1990s and early 2000s to engage in sexual acts with him and his billionaire friends at his mansion in Manhattan, estate in Palm Beach and private island in St Thomas. In exchange he would pay the young women hundreds of dollars in cash, according to the indictment. After the loss of his freedom, the 66-year-old spent a lot of time in conference rooms with lawyers to avoid his dirty cell and spent the days leading up to his death meeting with psychologists to discuss his mental health, The Times reported. Here, Epstein reminisced about his star-studded social circle and even offered psychologists and other inmates investment advice. He also complained that he was 'upset about wearing an orange jumpsuit and being treated like "a bad guy" when he did not do anything wrong in the prison'. He asked why he had to wear the brightly-colored jumpsuit 'due to his being housed in SHU' - also known as Special Housing Units and 'the hole' - which is where the Federal BOP segregates prisoners by disciplinary action. Epstein 'requested that he be placed in a brown uniform during his legal visits,' and 'was told his concerns would be addressed in the SHU meeting'. The report also revealed that Epstein complained about the running toilet in his cell, his difficulty sleeping, numbness in his right arm, 'feeling cold in his cell (and) not having enough water in attorney conference'. According to The Times, the report failed to prove any conspiracy theories that Epstein's death was not a suicide, or that he was assisted in killing himself, to be true. However, they detailed how Epstein consistently lied to correctional officers and reassured those who interacted with him during his 36 days of detention that he had much to live for. The court document noted that 'he did not appear to be in any distress at this time' and even said that he was living a 'wonderful life' despite being on suicide watch. The BOP, which The Times sued in order to access the documents, had created a task force reportedly committed to strengthening its suicide prevention program. One month later, Epstein was found unconscious after hanging himself in his jail cell, leading then-US Attorney General William Barr to blame his death on a 'perfect storm of screw-ups,' according to The Times. Barr said there were 'serious irregularities' at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, and although he failed to elaborate, a 15-page psychological report of the billionaire's death compiled by bureau officials five weeks after Epstein died said that his identity 'appeared to be based on his wealth, power and association with other high-profile individuals,' according to The Times. An intake screening also falsely described Epstein as a black male and noted that he had no prior sex offense convictions - yet he was a registered sex offender in Florida with two convictions in 2008 for solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution, according to The Times. He was sentenced to just 13 months following his guilty plea in 2008. It was also revealed that phone calls he made were also not recorded, logged or monitored, which was against the detention center's policy. Epstein lied to jail officials up until the night he killed himself to get a moment alone, which was not allowed considering Epstein was monitored around the clock and was supposed to be assigned a cellmate. He said he wanted to call his mother, who had died in 2004 but instead phoned his 30-year-old girlfriend Karyna Shuliak, from Belarus. Call logs showed that Epstein called Shuliak on July 30, too. She was one of the largest beneficiaries of several trusts that Epstein set up over the years, according to The Times. Epstein reportedly helped put Shuliak through dental school and people aware of the phone conversation the night before Epstein's suicide noted that he gave no indication that he had a plan to kill himself. The post-mortem report added that therefore, 'likely factors contributing to Mr Epstein's suicide' included 'the lack of significant interpersonal connections, a complete loss of his status in both the community and among associates, and the idea of potentially spending his life in prison'. The BOP declined to comment on Epstein's time at the Metropolitan Correctional Center but wrote in a statement that 'the safe, secure and humane housing of inmates is BOP's highest priority,' according to The Times. The bureau had previously rejected The Time's public-records requests on multiple occasions, which Judge Paul A Engelmayer of Federal District Court in Manhattan later called a 'high-profile epic failure'. 'It certainly does raise a concern' Engelmayer said, adding that 'the wagons are being circled'. Thanks to the settlement between the BOP and The Times the agency handed over internal memos and emails, visitor logs, handwritten notes from inmates and the psychological reconstruction of Epstein's death. The Times reported that some documents were heavily redacted while others remained classified - including records associated with Epstein's earlier suicide attempt. High-profile inmate After being arrested at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport, Epstein was placed in general inmate population, where the jail's security is the most lax. According to one of the 2,000 released According to one of the 2,000 released documents, then-acting director of the BOP Hugh Hurwitz later sent an internal email attributing Epstein's placement into general population as an oversight by the US Marshal Service (USMS). 'Apparently USMS did not indicate that he was a high-profile inmate, and staff were unaware that he was coming so no plans had been established,' he wrote, as reported by The Times. A facilities assistant later noted that Epstein was in cell looking 'distraught, sad and a little confused' in an email sent to three jail officials. 'He seems dazed and withdrawn,' the assistant added. She wrote: 'Just to be on the safe side and prevent any suicidal thoughts, can someone from Psychology come and talk with him?' But according to the records, no one did at first and a day after he was arrested, on July 7, 2019, the center's warden Lamine N'Diaye finally identified Epstein as 'high-profile' and had him moved to SHU, which was located on floor nine of 12. N'Diaye cited 'concerns for his personal safety in general population'. The next morning at 9.30 was Epstein's first psychological evaluation and he was scheduled to make his first court appearance that afternoon. The psychologist anticipated Epstein's bail denial and wrote, according to one of the unclassified documents: 'Inmate Epstein will likely be receiving bad news in court today, and has multiple risk factors for suicidality as identified by BOP statistics. 'Let’s be proactive.' After his hearing Epstein was moved to the less-restrictive 'psychological observation' cell where fellow inmates were tasked with monitoring the disgraced financier in his cell and report his actions every 15 minutes. On July 9, a psychologist confirmed that suicide watch was not necessary for Epstein and he should only be placed on psychological observation 'out of an abundance of caution'. According to The Times, Epstein asked for his own cell but was told he could not be alone 'for safety and security reasons'. On July 10 it was documented that Epstein smirked and asked a psychologist: 'Why would you ever think I would be suicidal? I am not suicidal and I would never be.' Inmates continued to observe Epstein instead and their notes were often lackluster and read: 'Epstein is drinking water at the sink.' On July 18 Judge Richard M Berman denied Epstein's renewed bail request and nearly one week later, on July 23, Epstein made his first suicide attempt. The post-mortem psychological reconstruction seemingly blamed the failed suicide attempt on the denial of bail as a 'significant disappointment' for Epstein, which 'likely challenged his ability and willingness to adapt to incarceration'. The report also noted that a 'psychologist should have assessed Mr Epstein’s mental status upon his return to the institution,' but they did not. He was removed from suicide watch 31 hours after his attempt and placed back on psychological evaluation, according to The Times. A July 29 entry said: 'Epstein is sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in the palm of his hands.' During this time he also consistently complained about the running toilet in his cell, which made him grow increasingly frustrated. A psychologist noted that Epstein told them he would sit in the corner and hold his ears, speculating that he might have autism because of this aversion to noise. Some inmates briefed conversations they had with the jailed social lite, and one said: 'Esptein is talking about celebs he knows.' The entry didn't specifically name any A-listers. Another inmate, whose name was redacted from the bombshell documents, detailed how the two talked about 'prison life and etiquette' for hours and into the early morning. At 2.35am the inmate wrote: 'Class is over' and recorded that Epstein was asleep 10 minutes later. Among the other documents obtained by The Times was an orange-colored sign that read: 'MANDATORY ROUNDS MUST BE CONDUCTED EVERY 30 MINUTES ON EPSTEIN #76318-054 AS PER GOD!!!!' The word 'mandatory' was misspelled and underlined in red pen with a question mark written after it. No records explained why the sign was included in the files and the BOP denied to answer questions about it. It remains unclear when the sign was made, who made it or why. Epstein was put back in SHU on July 30 with cellmate Efrain Reyes, who was serving time for assisting the government in a drug distribution conspiracy case. Epstein had complained that Reyes's talking kept him up at night - at least until August 9, when Reyes was transferred out of the Manhattan jail. That day Epstein also met with lawyers as a federal appeals court released about 2,000 pages of previously classified documents to use in a defamation lawsuit against Maxwell, according to The Times. At 6.30am the next day, Epstein would kill himself. He was pronounced dead an hour later and officials would later predict that the graphic details uncovered in those documents 'further eroded' his mental state. According to The Times, the report failed to prove any conspiracy theories that Epstein's death was not a suicide, or that he was assisted in killing himself, to be true. However, they detailed how Epstein consistently lied to correctional officers and reassured those who interacted with him during his 36 days of detention that he had much to live for. The court document noted that 'he did not appear to be in any distress at this time' and even said that he was living a 'wonderful life' despite being on suicide watch. The BOP, which The Times sued in order to access the documents, had created a task force reportedly committed to strengthening its suicide prevention program. One month later, Epstein was found unconscious after hanging himself in his jail cell, leading then-US Attorney General William Barr to blame his death on a 'perfect storm of screw-ups,' according to The Times. Barr said there were 'serious irregularities' at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, and although he failed to elaborate, a 15-page psychological report of the billionaire's death compiled by bureau officials five weeks after Epstein died said that his identity 'appeared to be based on his wealth, power and association with other high-profile individuals,' according to The Times. An intake screening also falsely described Epstein as a black male and noted that he had no prior sex offense convictions - yet he was a registered sex offender in Florida with two convictions in 2008 for solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution, according to The Times. He was sentenced to just 13 months following his guilty plea in 2008. It was also revealed that phone calls he made were also not recorded, logged or monitored, which was against the detention center's policy. Epstein lied to jail officials up until the night he killed himself to get a moment alone, which was not allowed considering Epstein was monitored around the clock and was supposed to be assigned a cellmate. He said he wanted to call his mother, who had died in 2004 but instead phoned his 30-year-old girlfriend Karyna Shuliak, from Belarus. Call logs showed that Epstein called Shuliak on July 30, too. She was one of the largest beneficiaries of several trusts that Epstein set up over the years, according to The Times. Epstein reportedly helped put Shuliak through dental school and people aware of the phone conversation the night before Epstein's suicide noted that he gave no indication that he had a plan to kill himself. The post-mortem report added that therefore, 'likely factors contributing to Mr Epstein's suicide' included 'the lack of significant interpersonal connections, a complete loss of his status in both the community and among associates, and the idea of potentially spending his life in prison'. The BOP declined to comment on Epstein's time at the Metropolitan Correctional Center but wrote in a statement that 'the safe, secure and humane housing of inmates is BOP's highest priority,' according to The Times. The bureau had previously rejected The Time's public-records requests on multiple occasions, which Judge Paul A Engelmayer of Federal District Court in Manhattan later called a 'high-profile epic failure'. 'It certainly does raise a concern' Engelmayer said, adding that 'the wagons are being circled'. Thanks to the settlement between the BOP and The Times the agency handed over internal memos and emails, visitor logs, handwritten notes from inmates and the psychological reconstruction of Epstein's death. The Times reported that some documents were heavily redacted while others remained classified - including records associated with Epstein's earlier suicide attempt. High-profile inmate After being arrested at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport, Epstein was placed in general inmate population, where the jail's security is the most lax. According to one of the 2,000 released According to one of the 2,000 released documents, then-acting director of the BOP Hugh Hurwitz later sent an internal email attributing Epstein's placement into general population as an oversight by the US Marshal Service (USMS). 'Apparently USMS did not indicate that he was a high-profile inmate, and staff were unaware that he was coming so no plans had been established,' he wrote, as reported by The Times. A facilities assistant later noted that Epstein was in cell looking 'distraught, sad and a little confused' in an email sent to three jail officials. 'He seems dazed and withdrawn,' the assistant added. She wrote: 'Just to be on the safe side and prevent any suicidal thoughts, can someone from Psychology come and talk with him?' But according to the records, no one did at first and a day after he was arrested, on July 7, 2019, the center's warden Lamine N'Diaye finally identified Epstein as 'high-profile' and had him moved to SHU, which was located on floor nine of 12. N'Diaye cited 'concerns for his personal safety in general population'. The next morning at 9.30 was Epstein's first psychological evaluation and he was scheduled to make his first court appearance that afternoon. The psychologist anticipated Epstein's bail denial and wrote, according to one of the unclassified documents: 'Inmate Epstein will likely be receiving bad news in court today, and has multiple risk factors for suicidality as identified by BOP statistics. 'Let’s be proactive.' After his hearing Epstein was moved to the less-restrictive 'psychological observation' cell where fellow inmates were tasked with monitoring the disgraced financier in his cell and report his actions every 15 minutes. On July 9, a psychologist confirmed that suicide watch was not necessary for Epstein and he should only be placed on psychological observation 'out of an abundance of caution'. According to The Times, Epstein asked for his own cell but was told he could not be alone 'for safety and security reasons'. On July 10 it was documented that Epstein smirked and asked a psychologist: 'Why would you ever think I would be suicidal? I am not suicidal and I would never be.' Inmates continued to observe Epstein instead and their notes were often lackluster and read: 'Epstein is drinking water at the sink.' On July 18 Judge Richard M Berman denied Epstein's renewed bail request and nearly one week later, on July 23, Epstein made his first suicide attempt. The post-mortem psychological reconstruction seemingly blamed the failed suicide attempt on the denial of bail as a 'significant disappointment' for Epstein, which 'likely challenged his ability and willingness to adapt to incarceration'. The report also noted that a 'psychologist should have assessed Mr Epstein’s mental status upon his return to the institution,' but they did not. He was removed from suicide watch 31 hours after his attempt and placed back on psychological evaluation, according to The Times. A July 29 entry said: 'Epstein is sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in the palm of his hands.' During this time he also consistently complained about the running toilet in his cell, which made him grow increasingly frustrated. A psychologist noted that Epstein told them he would sit in the corner and hold his ears, speculating that he might have autism because of this aversion to noise. Some inmates briefed conversations they had with the jailed social lite, and one said: 'Esptein is talking about celebs he knows.' The entry didn't specifically name any A-listers. Another inmate, whose name was redacted from the bombshell documents, detailed how the two talked about 'prison life and etiquette' for hours and into the early morning. At 2.35am the inmate wrote: 'Class is over' and recorded that Epstein was asleep 10 minutes later. Among the other documents obtained by The Times was an orange-colored sign that read: 'MANDATORY ROUNDS MUST BE CONDUCTED EVERY 30 MINUTES ON EPSTEIN #76318-054 AS PER GOD!!!!' The word 'mandatory' was misspelled and underlined in red pen with a question mark written after it. No records explained why the sign was included in the files and the BOP denied to answer questions about it. It remains unclear when the sign was made, who made it or why. Epstein was put back in SHU on July 30 with cellmate Efrain Reyes, who was serving time for assisting the government in a drug distribution conspiracy case. Epstein had complained that Reyes's talking kept him up at night - at least until August 9, when Reyes was transferred out of the Manhattan jail. That day Epstein also met with lawyers as a federal appeals court released about 2,000 pages of previously classified documents to use in a defamation lawsuit against Maxwell, according to The Times. At 6.30am the next day, Epstein would kill himself. He was pronounced dead an hour later and officials would later predict that the graphic details uncovered in those documents 'further eroded' his mental state. However, Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most vocal accusers, will not be testifying at the trial despite naming names of those who took part in the billionaire's alleged trafficking ring. It is not yet clear why she is not being called to testify. The now-38-year-old has described Maxwell as 'pure evil,' saying: 'Epstein was a sick pedophile but Maxwell was the mastermind.' Another alleged victim said: 'We thought she [Maxwell] was Mary Poppins because she acted like she was our friend and had that lovely English accent. 'But she turned out to be a monster in designer clothing. She lured us in. She knew exactly what she was doing. I hope she rots in hell.' Giuffre has claimed in media interviews and various depositions that Epstein - together with Maxwell - trafficked her to powerful men. They include Prince Andrew; Alan Dershowitz; former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson; former Democratic Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell; the late MIT computer scientist Marvin Minsky; and MC2 model agency cofounder Jean-Luc Brunel. All of the men have consistently and strongly denied the allegations. submitted by Best_Club_In_America to Epstein [link] [comments] |
2023.06.03 18:37 Punjavepoonpoon Americans who played abroad today: 5/29-6/2/23
May 29th Europe Eliteserien (Norway) Samuel Rogers (Rosenborg BK) Started at RCB and went the full 90’ in a 3-1 Loss at Brann (
7.2/
-)
1/1 shot on target, 29/33 passing Match Highlights Kobe Hernández-Foster (Hamarkameratene) Started at CDM and went the full 90’ in a 0-0 draw with Lilletroem (
7.3/
-)
1/1 shot on target, 40/49 passing Match Highlights
Allsvenskan (Sweden) Kristoffer Lund (BK Hacken) Started at LB and played 46‘ in a 4-1 Win against IFK Gothenburg (
7.1/
-)
0/1 shot on target, 31/31 passing Match Highlights Tomas Totland (BK Hacken) Subbed on in the 90th‘ in a 4-1 Win against IFK Gothenburg (
-/
-)
2/3 passing Joe Gyau (Degerfors IF) Started at LWB and went the full 90’ in a 1-1 draw with Varbergs BoIS FC (
6.8/
-)
17/23 passing, 2 chances created
Betri-Delldin (Faroe Islands) Antonio Chavez Borelli (AB Argir) Started at GK and went the full 90’ in a 2-1 Loss at B36 Torshavn (
-/
-)
Aidan Liu (B68 Toftir) Started at RCB and went the full 90’ in a 1-1 draw at Vikingur (
-/
-)
Úrvalsdeild Karla (Iceland) Aron Jóhannsson (Valur Reykjavik) Started at LCM and played 77‘ in a 3-2 Win at Vikingur Reykjavik.
Assisted on their second goal in the 61st’ and
scored the game winner in the 72nd’ (
-/
-)
Match Highlights
Kategoria Superiore (Albania) Xhelil Asani (KF Erzeni) Subbed on in the 72nd‘ in a 2-1 Loss against KF Tirana (
-/
-)
Match Highlights
May 30th Europe Super Lig (Turkiye) Haji Wright (Antalyaspor) Started at ST and went the full 90’ in a 2-0 Loss at Fenerbahce (
6.0/-)
1/3 shots on target, 6/12 passing, 1 chance created Match Highlights
May 31st Europe Suomen Cup - 5th Round (Finland) Anthony Herbert (FC Haka) Started at RCB and went the full 90’ in a 5-3 Penalty Shootout Loss at AC Oulu (
-/
-)
Lasse Ikonen (AC Oulu) Subbed on in the 62nd‘ in a 5-3 Penalty shootout Win against Haka
Jack de Vries (FC KTP on loan from Venezia FC) Started at RM and played 68‘ in a 4-1 Penalty Shootout Win against IF Gnistan (
-/
-)
South America Copa do Brasil - Round of 16 - Leg 2 (Brazil) Johnny (Sport Club Internacional) Started at RCM and played 66‘ in a 5-4 Penalty Shootout Loss against America-MG (
6.4/
-)
0/1 shot on target, 16/18 passing Match Highlights
June 1st Europe NM Cup - 2nd Round (Norway) Samuel Rogers (Rosenborg BK) Subbed on in the 67th‘ in a 2-1 Loss at Stjørdals/Blink (
-/
-)
Michael Lansing (Aalesunds FK) Started at GK and went the full 90’ in a 6-1 Win at Byåsen (
-/
-)
Match Highlights Kobe Hernández-Foster (Hamarkameratene) Started at LCM and played 58‘ in a 8-0 Win at Mjølner (
-/
-)
Superettan (Swedish 2nd Division) Marcelo Palomino (AFC Eskilstuna) Started at RCM and went the full 90’ in a 0-0 draw at Vasteras SK (
-/
-)
June 2nd Europe 2. Bundesliga - Promotion/Relegation Playoff Leg - 1 (German 2nd Division) George Bello (Arminia Bielefeld) Subbed on in the 73rd‘ in a 4-0 Loss at Wehen Wiesbaden (
6.1/
-)
1/2 passing
Ligue 2 (French 2nd Division) Amir Richardson (AC Le Havre on loan from Stade Reims) Started at RCM and went the full 90’ in a 1-0 Win against Dijon. Le Havre have won the league and are now promoted (
6.8/
-)
0/1 shot on target, 23/32 passing Match Highlights
Bundesliga (Austria) Maurice Malone (Wolfsberger AC on loan from FC Augsburg) Subbed on in the ‘ in a 2-1 Win at Ried (
6.5/
-)
2/3 shots on target, 4/11 passing
First Division (Irish 2nd Division) Ryan Flood (Finn Harps) Started at and went the full 90’ in a 0-0 draw with Kerry FC (
-/
-)
Vincent Borden (Galway Utd) Started at LM and played 63‘ in a 1-1 draw at Bray Wanderers (
-/
-)
Giles Phillips (Waterford FC) Started at LCM and played 56‘ in a 7-0 Win against Treaty Utd. Picked up a yellow in the 31st’ and scored their third in the 38th’ (
-/
-)
Vladislav Velikin (Athlone Town FC) Started at GK and played 90‘ in a 1-0 Win against Longford Town. Picked up a red card in the 90th’ (
-/
-)
Matthew Leal (Athlone Town FC) Started at RB and played 65‘ in a 1-0 Win against Longford Town
Franz Pierrot (Athlone Town FC) Started at ST and went the full 90’ in a 1-0 Win against Longford Town. Scored their goal in the 16th’
Jamar Campion-Hinds (Athlone Town FC) Started at LM and went the full 90’ in a 1-0 Win against Longford Town
Úrvalsdeild Karla (Iceland) Aron Jóhannsson (Valur Reykjavik) Started at LCM and played 11‘ in a 1-1 draw with FH Hafnarfjordur (
-/
-)
1.Deild Karla Omar Sowe (Leiknir Reykjavik) Started at RM and went the full 90’ in a 5-1 Loss at Grotta (
-/
-)
South America Liga 1 (Peru) Alexander Succar (Universitario de Deportes) Subbed on in the 79th‘ in a 1-0 Win against Cusco FC (
-/
-)
Match Highlights
Past weekend's
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ussoccer [link] [comments]
2023.06.03 17:32 HeadOfSpectre The Soldier
"Think of this as a chance at revenge," Sweeney said.
Revenge.
What a moronically quaint idea.
This jumped up little shit had come into my home, interrupted my retirement and here he was talking to me about revenge, as if he knew the first thing about what I’d seen, what I’d been through, why I’d quit.
Looking into his eyes, I knew he didn’t understand. I knew he couldn’t.
I've been hunting vampires for most of my life. I've killed more of them than I can count. But Clementine Di Cesare was no ordinary vampire. Hell, none of the Di Cesares were ordinary vampires, but even among them Clementine was… unique. She was the one all the others quietly feared. The one who was even spoken of with reverence by the Di Cesares masters, those twin Immortals who could not be killed by any weapon of this world. Seeking revenge against her was like seeking revenge against death itself.
“Revenge?” I repeated, with a dismissive scoff.
“You’re really going to tell me that after what she put you through, you don’t want revenge?” Sweeney asked.
“If you knew what she did to me, you’d know why I don’t want revenge,” I replied.
“Really? Sorry Franklin, but I don’t buy that. Look, I get it if you’re reluctant to jump back into the fight. I do. You of all people know just how dangerous the Di Cesare’s are. Especially ‘La Morte’.”
I looked over at him as he said that name. It rolled off his tongue so irreverently. To him, it was just a name. An alias assigned to some vampire he’s only heard of stories. He didn’t utter it with the respect it deserved, and I almost couldn’t be bothered to correct him. Any words spent on this small minded glory hound were probably wasted.
“Yes, I do know.”
“Which is why I need you,” Sweeney said. He almost sounded as if he were pleading with me. “Think of this as an opportunity to set things right… to put that vampire bitch in the ground where she belongs, and save God only knows how many lives in the process!”
I sighed.
He just didn’t get it.
“Mark my words, Mr. Sweeney, if you chase after Clementine Di Cesare, you’ll end far more lives than you save. She didn’t get a name like ‘La Morte’ for nothing. She earned it. Purchased it with the blood of the tens of thousands she’s sent screaming into the maw of Hell. She is not something you chase, Sweeney.”
“She’s a vampire,” Sweeney said dismissively. “She’s another enemy to destroy.”
“That’s what George Bundy said,” I replied. “Then not too long after, he died.”
“I’m not George Bundy,” Sweeney said.
“No. You sure as hell ain’t,” I agreed, before looking the kid in the eye.
He thought he was an up and comer, climbing the ranks of the Brethren. He probably thought of himself as some sort of badass vampire hunter too, when in reality he could never have so much as dreamed of holding a candle to the likes of Bundy… or hell, any of the men who’d died in Brazil.
“You should watch your tone with me,” Sweeney warned.
“Or you’ll do what?” I asked, “You ain’t going to frighten me with vague threats, boy. I’ve walked through Hell, trying to kill the Devil. What have you done?”
Sweeney bit his lip but didn’t respond.
“There’s nothing you can say or do that will intimidate me,” I said, before lighting myself a cigarette. I stared at the road outside of my porch, old memories flooding back to me before looking over at Sweeney again. He sat in his chair beside me like a sulky child. This was the man who wanted to destroy the Di Cesare family? Pathetic.
“Exactly how much do you know about the Brazil Job?” I asked.
“I know it was a failure. Clementine Di Cesare killed most of the men the Brethren sent out… all except for you. You were the only one good enough to beat her.”
“Good enough…” I repeated with a huff, “Hardly… whatever picture you’ve got in your head of some glorified battle, throw it away. Trust me, the Brazil Job was anything but glorious. It was a two hour long trek through Hell. And I didn’t beat Di Cesare at the end of it. I survived her. They’re two different things entirely.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Sweeney said.
“You wouldn’t, would you?” I sighed and took another drag on my cigarette.
This kid wasn’t going to leave until I made him understand… so I told him my story. I told him everything even though I knew he’d learn nothing from it.
***
I’d joined up with the Brethren Knights of St. Fontaine back in the 1980s to hunt monsters. Back then, it seemed like the best use of my skills. I’d done my tours with the army, but even after I got out, I was still looking for an enemy to fight. So naturally, once I found out that vampires were real, I set my sights on them. It seemed like the most sensible thing to do at the time.
The Brethren Knights fancied themselves the descendants of the Knights Templar, and they insisted that their God given mission was to protect mankind from the things that lurked in the shadows. I didn’t really have much love for God at the time, but if the Bretheren were the ones fighting the monsters, then I was happy to tolerate the Jesus freaks in their ranks.
It was 1988 when we first heard whispers of the Imperium. A supposed cabal of vampires, trying to get them organized. At the time, it’d seemed too crazy to be true. Vampires generally went their own way, in my experience. At most, they might have a partner but other than they they didn’t really socialize with their own kind. But supposedly someone out there had the big fucking balls to keep them in line, and whoever they were, they scared the shit out of the Brethren.
They’d started targeting high profile vampires, trying to find someone who was involved in this ‘Imperium’, hoping that maybe they might get someone to talk. And it wasn’t long until they found someone who did.
From my understanding, the vampire they captured didn’t seem to know much about who was actually running the show. But they knew who their second in command was… and that was when I first head about the Di Cesare family.
The name was familiar to some of the higher ups in the Brethren, and I’d heard some stories. Not sure which were true, but the long and short of it was that the Di Cesare’s and the Brethren shared a bloody history, and didn’t particularly like each other too much.
George Bundy explained it to me like this at one point: ‘The Di Cesare’s are an old family. Most of them used to be witches, up until their Matriarch turned them into vampires. Now they’re a whole new kind of nasty. Far as I know, the only time anyone’s actually managed to kill one was about 200 years ago. Anyone who’s tried since has ended up dead, so most folks don’t even bother anymore.’
I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising they’d be involved in the Imperium, but the mere mention of their name ruffled some feathers higher up on the chain of command, and eventually they put out a kill order on them. Most of the Di Cesare’s were generally pretty hard to track down, but the top brass had a pretty good line on their matriarch, Bianca Di Cesare. Supposedly, she’d been spotted near the family’s private estate in Brazil and rumor had it that most of her daughters were there too.
Normally, the brass wouldn’t have sanctioned any kind of attack on them. The Di Cesare’s were already considered off limits, and attacking them at their private estate was considered damn near impossible. The estate was located in a small mining town outside of Manaus called Refugio de Julia, or just Julia for short. The town was fairly remote, being only accessible from a few backroads and most folks tended to avoid it, claiming they’d had various strange encounters in the area. Their accounts described unsettling pale figures with dark hair and large green eyes working in the mines, although some of the more disturbing stories we heard involved sightings of other creatures in the jungle surrounding the town. Massive spiders with humanoid faces, tending rotting corpses filled with stinging bees, giant howling beasts who tore through the forest, hunting prey, and beautiful women who would appear in the nearby towns, betwitching men into coming away with them only to reveal themselves as monsters who fed on the blood of their victims. Some had even claimed the Di Cesares themselves were such beasts… although those claims weren’t taken quite as seriously.
A skeptic might say the stories that surrounded Julia seemed like little more than just local superstition… but the Brethren had been dealing with the supernatural for long enough to recognize when something was probably real, and when it was probably fake and they knew damn well that most of the stories about Julia were probably true. None of them had ever dared set foot in Julia to find out for sure, since doing so would probably be suicide, but the theory was that the Di Cesares had created Julia as something of a refuge for other creatures. Other vampires, werewolves, arachne, karah and all sorts of other hellspawn. They offered them a home and safety in exchange for their labor in the mines. Hell, the name of the town more or less spelled it out.
Refugio de Julia
Julia’s Haven.
Julia had been the name of the only member of the Di Cesare family that the Brethren had ever killed, so I guess it was only fitting they named the town after her.
I honestly think using other creatures like them as a workforce was a bit inspired… since it made Julia damn near impenetrable. Reaching their estate at the far side of the town would have been impossible without being noticed by every creature of hell living in that town, and odds are they’d tear anyone apart long before they even reached the gates of the Di Cesare estate. And if one had the bright idea to approach the estate from another angle, they’d be trudging through miles and miles of rainforest to do so, only end up face to face with a massive stone wall that kept the rainforest out.
In effect - the Di Cesare estate was a fortress. Getting in would be no easy feat, to say nothing of confronting the vampires within. But with the fear of the Imperium gnawing at the back of their minds, the Brethren had finally set their minds to trying.
George Bundy had been the one in charge of planning the operation out.
I’d known Bundy before I’d joined up with the Brethren. Hell, Bundy was the whole reason I’d joined the Brethren. He’d been my CO a number of years back, and he’d earned his reputation as a hardass just about ten or twenty times over. Bundy was a gruff looking man with a bushy moustache and intense eyes. During the years I knew him, I don’t believe I ever once saw him so much as crack a smile. He only ever seemed to speak when he felt there was something he needed to say. Otherwise, he was usually dead silent.
He was somewhere in his late fifties back in 88. By all rights, he ought to have retired years ago. But he refused.
“I’m a soldier,” He said, when I asked him about it once. “That’s all I am. I don’t know what else to be.”
Bundy’s initial plan had been to hit the Di Cesare estate from the air. Come in fast and loud with a couple of helicopters and see how those vampires stood up to some good old American flak. The idea got shot down pretty quickly, so to speak. Apperantly, most if not all of the Di Cesares had cursed their own bodies, causing whatever wound one inflicted on them to appear on whoever it was who had wounded them. Going in guns blazing would have ended in a bloodbath… and not for them. There were also some concerns about drawing attention from Julia. With no conclusive data on just what they had living in that town, there was no guarantee we’d be safe in the air. A few eyewitnesses had described seeing giant nests in some of the trees in the jungle, supposedly consistent with the nests made by harpies.
Flying in guns blazing was out. So Bundy went back to the drawing board and what he came back with… well, it was ballsy, but it almost seemed like it just might work. During his reconnisance of the Di Cesare’s estate, he’d noticed a large but shallow tributary flowing into the amazon river that led right through the Di Cesare’s estate. Along the tributary was an abandoned water mill, that connected to the Di Cesare estate.
He’d suggested using the water mill to gain entry to the grounds, and from there, move on the Di Cesare’s. That plan had been approved, and Bundy had been allowed to handpick his team for the operation. He’d chosen fifteen men, all of them ex military, most of them having served under him before.
He’d told us we would be dividing into three teams of five men each. We would leave Manaus by boat, and land at three different areas near the tributary before making our way to the mill on foot, where we would regroup, before moving on the Di Cesares. The reason for the division was to ensure that if any of our teams ran into trouble upon making ground, the entire operation wouldn’t be compromised.
Team 1, led by Bundy himself would depart first and land to the west of the tributary. Team 2, led by a man named Ferdinand Hernandez would make land about fifteen minutes later near the mouth of the tributary and Team 3, to be led by me would land fifteen minutes later to the east.
On the day of the operation, I sat in my boat, watching as the other two left. It was twilight when we set out, and I remember that as my team and I carried out our final checks on our equipment, the only thing I felt was a familiar anticipation.
I’d hesitate to call it fear. Fear is what came later. Anticipation is the better word. I knew we could be walking into a tough situation… but I trusted Bundy. I trusted he’d run a smooth op. God knew, he’d done it a thousand times before.
The team assigned to me wasn’t anything particularly special. They were competent enough, but none of them would’ve been my first choices. Jack McMullen, for instance, who was about the same age as I was at the time. We’d both served under Bundy before, although while I respected Bundy, Jack was wholly devoted to him. I swear, if the man had told him to stuff a live grenade up his ass, Jack would’ve done it without a moments hesitation. I dunno if Jack simply saw him as the father he’d never had or what, but he damn near worshipped Bundy.
I can’t quite say the same for the other guys we had with us, though. One of them, some greenhorn by the name of Pearce Wilson struck me as an airheaded pretty boy who’d never actually had his boots on the ground before, while the other one, Scott Barber had left a bad taste in my mouth last time we’d worked together. Barber was capable… but he was violent. This was a kid with a hell of a chip on his shoulder, and it looked a hell of a lot like that Confederate flag patch he wore on his jacket. He wanted an excuse to shoot something, and I don’t think he cared what. Under most circumstances I’m not sure I would’ve fully trusted him with a gun.
The last one though, Joseph Feng… him I trusted. Feng was the one I knew the least about, and he didn’t seem much for conversation. But he handled himself competently enough and seemed to know when to sit down and shut up.
When Team 2’s boat was far enough away, we got the radio signal to follow. Barber was the one steering the boat, so I gave him the order to cast off and we ventured out into the twilight, unaware of just what was waiting for us out there.
***
We landed in our designated area fifteen minutes after Team 2 confirmed they’d touched down at theirs. Our landing was fairly uneventful. Feng, Barber, and I secured the boat before we radio’d Bundy to let him know we were in position. After that, it was just a matter of making it to the tributary.
As we ventured into the jungle, the world around us was quiet. There was wind, the whisper of the river behind us, and the sounds of animals. But little else. The river fell away behind us as we moved in single file toward the tributary, maintaining radio silence as we did.
It was about a half hour before we heard the gunshot.
Just one, echoing through the twilight. But it was enough to give us pause.
“The fuck was that?” I heard Barber ask. Immediately, the kid was on high alert, with his gun raised as if he were expecting every monster in Julia to come charging at us from all angles.
I just listened, waiting to hear if there was anything else. I half expected my radio to come to life, but it didn’t.
“Team 1, status?” I asked.
The radio crackled with static, but there was no response.
I tried it again, but still with no success. The radio was working, that much I was sure of. Something had to be blocking the signal.
“What’s going on?” Feng asked.
“Dunno,” I replied. “Comms are down.”
“Down?” Wilson asked, “So we’re flying blind out here, then?”
“More or less,” I replied.
“What do we do? Do we go back… if the comms are down…”
“Just because something’s jamming our signal doesn’t mean we’re made,” I said. “Relax. We keep moving for now. You keep your eyes wide open, and your head on a swivel. We’ll make it to the tributary and see if we can’t meet up with the other teams.”
I could tell Wilson wasn’t a fan of my answer, but I didn’t much care. We had a job to do, and I aimed to do it.
I pressed on without a further word and the others followed. Up ahead, I could hear the sound of running water and picked up the pace. I figured the tributary had to be close… and I was right.
I emerged from the brush into the stream, only to pause when I saw what was waiting for us in the water.
In the dying sunlight, it was impossible to mistake the bodies sprawled out on the rocks as anything else… and all I needed to do was look at their uniforms to know they were our people.
“Jesus…” I heard Wilson say under his breath. He froze up, lingering by the bank as I cautiously approached one of the bodies.
It belonged to a somewhat heavyset man with a thin mustache who I recognized as Hernandez. His eyes were still open, although lifeless and staring in different directions, and there was a clean hole in his forehead where a bullet had ended his life. The gunshot we’d heard earlier had likely been the sound of his death.
Looking at the bodies around him, I knew they had to be the rest of Team 2… although it was a little harder pinning down their cause of death. Some sort of bladed weapon, perhaps, judging by the state of them. I realized the odds were that they walked into some sort of ambush.
“What about Bundy and Team 1?” Jack asked, “Any sign of them?”
“No,” I said. “These bodies are all from Team 2… Bundy could still be ahead of us.”
“Then we need to keep going!”
Jack turned, heading up the stream and Barber was right behind him. Feng paused for a moment, thinking this over before following. Only Wilson remained.
“How do we know we’re not walking into a trap?” He asked.
“We’ll deal with that when we get to it,” I said before moving to follow the others.
“With all due respect, Sarge… that doesn’t sound like the best course of action!” Wilson argued, finally following me. “It sounds just like a good way to get killed!”
“Yeah?” I asked, “I’m gonna tell you an ugly truth, kid. That’s the job. Make your peace with it, and it’ll go a lot easier.”
Wilson didn’t like that answer either and trailed off behind me, watching as I continued upstream. For a moment, I half expected him to go back to the boat… but no. I dunno if he found his balls or just didn’t want to get left behind, but he started to follow us again.
I kept trying to raise Team 1 on the radio while we walked, although I still had no luck. The light above us slowly faded into darkness as we trudged through the water in silence, guns sitting comfortably in our hands and mosquitos biting at our necks.
It wasn’t until we lost Feng that I heard anybody so much as make a sound, and when we lost Feng… it happened almost instantaneously. One minute, he was at the head of the group, walking just ahead of Jack and I. The next, he was gone, only barely having the time to let out a scream as he fell into the river ahead of us.
The rest of us paused. Jack seemed to freeze and I pushed past him, calling out for Feng as I did. As punishment for my compassion, I almost went down after him. I only barely stopped myself from stepping on the slippery rocks that had helped send him to his demise.
I could see Feng’s body in the water, and I could see the blood pouring out of him. He twitched a few times, but I knew he was dead. The sharpened wooden spikes jutting out of him confirmed as much.
“What the hell…” Jack said under his breath, staring at Feng’s corpse in disbelief. “That’s a fucking spike trap!”
Yeah.
It was indeed a fucking spike trap.
I could see other spikes jutting out of the water ahead of us, just past a small dam of rocks that were just slippery enough to make it difficult to stop yourself from falling. Some of those spikes had other bodies on them… likely members of Team 1. I only counted two, although that still didn’t exactly bode well.
“They put a fucking spike trap in the goddamn stream…” Jack said, “Who the hell does that?”
“Somebody who’s expecting us to use the stream,” I replied.
“So they know we’re coming?” Barber asked.
“Clearly…” I replied. “And they’ve got a good idea on what our route is too.”
“Yeah, no shit!” Barber snapped. “Christ… let’s get the fuck out of here. There’s probably more fucking traps upstream!”
“Bundy’s orders were clear!” Jack argued.
“Bundy’s probably dead by now!” Barber replied, before looking at me. “Sarge, come on. You have to know this is suicide!”
“Suicide was part of the job description, was it not?” I asked.
“The job is to kill those fucking vampires, not to die in the goddamn process! We need to get out of the stream and into the woods!”
“Judging by the fate Team 2 met, I’m not sure the forest is someplace we want to be right now,” I replied.
“Excuse me?” Barber asked, “What the hell are you talking about, Sarge?”
“Five men dead, but only one gunshot. How did the rest die?”
Barber didn’t seem to be able to answer that.
“By now… yes. It’s clear we’ve walked into a trap. And yes, I understand that it makes sense to try and leave that trap… but I don’t know if we’ll be safer in the jungle. Something jumped Team 2. Cut them apart, and then shot Hernandez as a warning. They didn’t have to shoot him. They did it so we’d hear.”
“Your point being?” Barber asked.
“I don’t think this is just a trap, Barber. It’s a game. Stop playing, and you might just end up like our friends downstream.”
“A game?” Wilson asked, “Sarge, you can’t be serious!”
“From where I’m standing, we have a better chance of surviving in the stream,” I said. “Look, we’re at least halfway to the rendezvous point, and there have to be at least two members of Team 1 left. The safest thing to do right now is to follow them.”
“You’re off your fucking rocker, Sarge,” Barber spat, locking his eyes with mine. For a moment, I thought the boy was going to try and fight me. But no. He was wise enough to stand down.
“If you wanna get yourself killed, go right the fuck ahead. Just leave me out of it! Wilson, come on,” Barber said before trudging over to the edge of the stream. Wilson didn’t even hesitate, just looking back at Jack and I quietly before he disappeared into the forest with Barber.
“You’re not gonna stop them?” Jack asked.
“No,” I replied. “God willing, there’s a chance that pigheaded asshole is right… dunno how much of a chance, but a chance.”
“Then how come we’re not following him?” Jack asked.
“There’s also a chance he’s wrong.”
I turned, before making my way around the spike trap.
“Keep a slower pace,” I said. “Watch for traps.”
Jack hesitated for a moment, but he followed me without any further questions and we walked in silence for a little longer.
We heard nothing from the trees. Nothing that told us about the fate of Barber and Wilson. I wasn’t sure if that was good news or not.
In fact, I don’t think we heard a thing until about a half hour later, when we heard the explosion.
It came out of almost nowhere, but ahead of us I could see a flash of light and hear the screams of men. On instinct, I found myself picking up the pace and could hear Jack behind me. In the low light, I saw a shape float past me in the stream. It took me a moment to realize that it was a severed human arm.
In the water ahead of us, I could see a figure clinging to one of the rocks and trying to pick himself up. I recognized him as George Bundy.
Jack was at his side almost immediately, trying to help the old man to his feet.
“Sir! Are you alright?”
Bundy just wheezed, before his legs gave out from under him. I helped Jack drag him to the shore so he could sit and rest for a moment.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, looking back at the stream.
“Grenade trap… I think…” Bundy panted, “Fucking tripwire… Popkov tripped it, I think…”
Popkov… odds are he was one of the two mangled corpses lying in the river a few feet away from us. It seemed they’d taken the brunt of the explosion, although Bundy still had some shrapnel in his arm that Jack was tending to.
“Christ… whole fucking ops gone to shit…” Bundy spat. “Team 2 got taken out just about as soon as they landed. Someone killed them and dumped them in the goddamn river. Lost half my boys to the fucking spike trap and half to this…”
He looked up at us, before spitting onto the ground.
“Guess you two haven’t done much better.”
“Hard to say,” I replied. “Two of ours took off into the woods, trying to avoid the traps.”
“Then they’re dead,” Bundy replied. “I’ve seen her watching us… always just up ahead, always from a distance… she’s seeing how far we’ll go. How much we’ll take…”
“She?” I asked.
“La Morte. Should’ve figured she’d be the one to greet us.”
“La Morte?” I asked.
“It’s Italian. Supposedly, she earned that name around the time the Di Cesares fled Venice. It’s funny, the Brethren like to act like the Di Cesares leaving Venice was some big victory of theirs, since before they did, they finally killed one of them… hard to call it a victory though, considering how many corpses they made before they fled. And most of them came from La Morte…”
Bundy winced in pain as Jack bandaged his arm before he continued talking.
“See… when the Di Cesare’s left Venice, one of them stayed behind. Clementine, the Scorpio sister. Guess she was unwilling to leave the fight unfinished… and according to the stories, the death toll she personally amassed in the years after the Di Cesare’s left Venice make the bodies they claimed during the Venetian Massacre a hundred and fifty years prior look like a pittance. The Brethren still occupying the city started to call her La Morte. Death. Cuz wherever she went, death followed in her wake… and it seems we’ve walked right into her open arms, haven’t we, boys?”
“You’re sure it’s her?” I asked.
“She’s a Di Cesare… and the shit we’ve seen out here… I don’t see any other Di Cesare setting those traps. It’s her. I’m sure of it. She’s watching us. Seeing how far we’ll go. Seeing if we’ll turn tail…”
“Should we?” Jack asked, and Bundy finally seemed to acknowledge him.
“Excuse me?” He asked.
“Should we? Look, sir… I’d follow you into the mouth of Hell, but right now, we’re down from fifteen men to three. Can’t say I’m optimistic about our chances right now. If this woman is half as bad as you’re saying she is, maybe it’s time we took a step back!”
Jack looked at me, hoping I might back him up, but I remained silent.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Bundy asked.
“What I’m hearing here, is that as of right now, the vampire out there could kill us at any time. She hasn’t. Far as I’m concerned, that’s mercy. Maybe we should be taking it while it’s offered.”
Bundy stared at him, before chuckling. I think it was the first time I’d ever seen him laugh.
“Just walk away, then?” He asked.
“Walk away, and come back better prepared!” Jack corrected.
“Walk away,” Bundy said again. “We walk away now, and there won’t be a chance to come back better prepared. We get one shot at this. One. Failure is not an option. We go in there and we kill them or we die. End of discussion.”
“And how exactly are we even supposed to kill them?” Jack asked, “That curse they have… bullets aren’t gonna do shit, sir!”
“Yours won’t, mine will…”
Bundy pulled his pistol from his holster. I noticed some sort of pattern crudely engraved on it.
“I’ve been doing some research… studied the curse they put on themselves… and I think I’ve found a way to break it. Not sure if it’ll work yet… but we get one chance to test it.”
Jack stared at the gun, then back at Bundy.
“Sir… do you hear yourself?” He asked quietly, “You can’t be serious… right now, even with that gun we don’t stand a chance in he-”
The gunshot echoed through the forest and made me jump. Jack’s voice died in his throat as he hit the ground.
Bundy stared at him for a moment, before huffing and holstering his pistol again. He draped his coat over his shoulders, before looking over at me.
“No room for failure, Frank,” He said calmly.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I stared down at Jack’s body, my mouth hanging open slightly. When I looked back at Bundy, he was already back in the stream.
There was a tense silence between Bundy and I as I followed him along the final stretch of the tributary. He trudged on ahead, covered in sweat and straining with every step, but I could sense the quiet determination he had to see this through. Looking at him, you could’ve told me that George Bundy could wipe out the Di Cesare’s all by himself and I would have believed it in a second.
The night around us was full of sound, and each one drew my attention. I watched the forest, expecting to see some sign of La Morte watching us. But I saw nothing, except for what she wanted me to see.
“Mill’s just up ahead,” I heard Bundy say as we pressed on, although I noticed his steps faltering as he seemed to notice something in the trees above us. I stopped behind him, looking up before seeing what he saw, and when I saw it I felt my stomach turn.
I’d seen death before.
But what Di Cesare had left out for us… that was something else.
Pearce Wilson and Scott Barber weren’t dead.
But if they could have spoke, I’ve got no doubt they would have begged us to kill them. Wilsons pretty face was covered in blood and his pouty lips were parted as more trickled out of him. His curly blond hair was matted and I could see crimson there. Tree branches portruded from his ribs, while the loops of his entrails dangled out of his opened stomach. And Barber was in just about the same state, only he seemed to at least have the ability to turn his head to look at us.
I think he might have tried to speak, but the only sound he seemed to be able to make was a pained whimper.
“Jesus Christ…” I said softly.
“He had nothing to do with this,” Bundy replied. He took one last look at the two dying men hanging from the trees, before moving on.
“We should put them out of their misery, sir,” I said.
Bundy paused, before looking back at me.
“Don’t waste the ammo, Frank,” He replied. “They’re already dead.”
“Not yet they’re not!”
“Give them time. They chose to go into the woods. They can live with the consequences… for however long that lasts.”
With that, he left them. If I were a more compassionate man, I would have put them out of their misery. But no. Bundy moved on and so did I.
He approached the water mill, before examining it. It was an old building, made of stone that had long since been overgrown by moss, and sat right on the wall that separated the Di Cesares estate from the amazon. It hardly looked secure, even if the only entrance hadn’t just been an old wooden door secured with a padlock, finding a way in wouldn’t have been difficult. And it didn’t take much for Bundy to break through that door. All he needed was a couple of well placed kicks and it swung right open.
Drawing his gun, Bundy strode inside and I followed him.
“The Di Cesare’s will be in the main house,” He said. “We should find a way in through the back, try and catch them off guard. Main target should be the matriarch, Bianca. Her we should prioritize keeping alive… the rest are expendable.”
“Much as you are, I’m sure.” A voice called from deeper in the mill, and both Bundy and I froze.
I noticed movement on the floor above us, and through the shadows, I saw a tall woman watching us. She was dressed all in black, with blond hair tied back in a ponytail and the intense eyes of a soldier.
This had to be Clementine Di Cesare.
Bundy aimed his pistol at her, although she only barely seemed to notice.
“Only two of you left… I’m not sure the odds are in your favor,” The woman said. Her voice was low, calm and quiet.
“Only one way to find out,” Bundy growled.
“And only one way to walk out of this place alive,” Di Cesare countered. “You can put the gun down, turn and walk away. I won’t stop you. There’s no shame in living.”
“All the bodies you’ve left in your wake… that’s rich,” Bundy said.
“I don’t relish what I’ve done. I simply don’t know how to do anything else,” She replied. “Think about this, Bundy. Over my lifetime, there have been countless thousands who have come to kill me. All of them are dead, but I am not. Even if you could kill me… you could not kill my sisters. Not all of them. Not before they came for you.”
“Just you, would be enough…” Bundy said, before pulling the trigger.
I knew he’d hit her. I knew the bullet pierced her shoulder. But that woman… she didn’t even flinch. She simply dove out of the way before he could shoot again, taking cover and avoiding his next shot.
“Frank, upstairs!” Bundy snapped, “Flush her out!”
I went, trudging up the old wooden steps with my rifle drawn. Only to see Di Cesare vaulting over the railing and back down to the ground floor as soon as I made it up there.
Bundy shot at her again, only to miss for a second time. I saw Di Cesare’s arm move, and heard him cry out in pain. In the low light, I could see a dagger protruding from his shoulder. He stumbled back a step, leaving himself open for only a split second.
That second was all it took for Di Cesare to raise her own gun and fire just one shot.
George Bundy hit the ground without so much as a final scream. There was just a simple hole in his skull where she had shot him.
I felt my heart start to race faster. My eyes settled on Bundy’s gun, and I ran for the railing, vaulting it and dropping to the ground below with a thud. Di Cesare shot at me, and I felt the bullet tear through my leg. I reached out for the fallen gun and grabbed it before turning it on Di Cesare, only to find myself staring down the barrel of her own pistol. My finger rested on the trigger, but I didn’t have the guts to pull it.
"Kill me, and you will not see the sun tomorrow." She said, her voice still cold and calm.
“Killing you is part of the job…” I replied, but my finger still couldn’t squeeze the trigger.
“And is it worth your life?” Di Cesare asked. “You fail your mission either way.”
“And die with some goddamn honor…”
“There’s no such thing as honor. There is alive and there is dead. Choose.”
I knew what I was supposed to choose.
But my hands were shaking, as I stared into the face of death. My finger couldn’t squeeze the trigger.
The gun collapsed to the floor and Di Cesare kicked it away from me, before huffing and lowering her gun.
“Do not return,” She said softly. “Or next time, I will unleash a hell upon you that will make you beg for simple traps.”
She picked Bundy’s gun up off the ground, and then she was gone. After I finally picked myself up off the ground, I was gone too.
As I walked back along the stream… I passed the corpses of the men we’d left behind. Barber and Wilson, Jack, Feng, Hernandez, and his team. The flies were already feasting on them. Animals had already torn at them. And as I looked down at their cold corpses, I knew I had made the right choice.
I filed my report with the Brethren. Told them that Di Cesare had wiped us out, and a few months later I quietly retired. I never looked back.
***
“You walked away from her?” Sweeney asked in disbelief, “You had her dead to rights and you walked away from her?”
“I chose to live,” I replied. “Can’t say I regret the decision either. Because of the choice I made, I met my wife and had my kids. I’ve lived the life I had because I chose not to throw it away on some vampire.”
Sweeney just shook his head.
“You could have gotten the first confirmed kill on a Di Cesare in two centuries, and you threw it away you fucking coward! I could execute you for that!” I noticed his hand hovering over the gun on his hip.
“You could.” I replied, before quietly unholstering the pistol I kept at my side. I aimed it at Sweeney’s head.
He stared at me like a slack jawed idiot.
“Would you like to give it a try?”
“W-what…?”
“Would you like to give it a try, Mr. Sweeney? Or would you like to see the sun tomorrow?”
He stared down the barrel of my gun, and I already knew what his choice would be.
Sweeney took a step back. I saw his hand move away from his holster, and I lowered the gun with a huff.
“Thought so,” I said.
Mr. Sweeney left me without another word.
I knew he would not return.
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2023.06.03 17:26 HeadOfSpectre The Soldier
"Think of this as a chance at revenge," Sweeney said.
Revenge.
What a moronically quaint idea.
This jumped up little shit had come into my home, interrupted my retirement and here he was talking to me about revenge, as if he knew the first thing about what I’d seen, what I’d been through, why I’d quit.
Looking into his eyes, I knew he didn’t understand. I knew he couldn’t.
I've been hunting vampires for most of my life. I've killed more of them than I can count. But Clementine Di Cesare was no ordinary vampire. Hell, none of the Di Cesares were ordinary vampires, but even among them Clementine was… unique. She was the one all the others quietly feared. The one who was even spoken of with reverence by the Di Cesares masters, those twin Immortals who could not be killed by any weapon of this world. Seeking revenge against her was like seeking revenge against death itself.
“Revenge?” I repeated, with a dismissive scoff.
“You’re really going to tell me that after what she put you through, you don’t want revenge?” Sweeney asked.
“If you knew what she did to me, you’d know why I don’t want revenge,” I replied.
“Really? Sorry Franklin, but I don’t buy that. Look, I get it if you’re reluctant to jump back into the fight. I do. You of all people know just how dangerous the Di Cesare’s are. Especially ‘La Morte’.”
I looked over at him as he said that name. It rolled off his tongue so irreverently. To him, it was just a name. An alias assigned to some vampire he’s only heard of stories. He didn’t utter it with the respect it deserved, and I almost couldn’t be bothered to correct him. Any words spent on this small minded glory hound were probably wasted.
“Yes, I do know.”
“Which is why I need you,” Sweeney said. He almost sounded as if he were pleading with me. “Think of this as an opportunity to set things right… to put that vampire bitch in the ground where she belongs, and save God only knows how many lives in the process!”
I sighed.
He just didn’t get it.
“Mark my words, Mr. Sweeney, if you chase after Clementine Di Cesare, you’ll end far more lives than you save. She didn’t get a name like ‘La Morte’ for nothing. She earned it. Purchased it with the blood of the tens of thousands she’s sent screaming into the maw of Hell. She is not something you chase, Sweeney.”
“She’s a vampire,” Sweeney said dismissively. “She’s another enemy to destroy.”
“That’s what George Bundy said,” I replied. “Then not too long after, he died.”
“I’m not George Bundy,” Sweeney said.
“No. You sure as hell ain’t,” I agreed, before looking the kid in the eye.
He thought he was an up and comer, climbing the ranks of the Brethren. He probably thought of himself as some sort of badass vampire hunter too, when in reality he could never have so much as dreamed of holding a candle to the likes of Bundy… or hell, any of the men who’d died in Brazil.
“You should watch your tone with me,” Sweeney warned.
“Or you’ll do what?” I asked, “You ain’t going to frighten me with vague threats, boy. I’ve walked through Hell, trying to kill the Devil. What have you done?”
Sweeney bit his lip but didn’t respond.
“There’s nothing you can say or do that will intimidate me,” I said, before lighting myself a cigarette. I stared at the road outside of my porch, old memories flooding back to me before looking over at Sweeney again. He sat in his chair beside me like a sulky child. This was the man who wanted to destroy the Di Cesare family? Pathetic.
“Exactly how much do you know about the Brazil Job?” I asked.
“I know it was a failure. Clementine Di Cesare killed most of the men the Brethren sent out… all except for you. You were the only one good enough to beat her.”
“Good enough…” I repeated with a huff, “Hardly… whatever picture you’ve got in your head of some glorified battle, throw it away. Trust me, the Brazil Job was anything but glorious. It was a two hour long trek through Hell. And I didn’t beat Di Cesare at the end of it. I survived her. They’re two different things entirely.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Sweeney said.
“You wouldn’t, would you?” I sighed and took another drag on my cigarette.
This kid wasn’t going to leave until I made him understand… so I told him my story. I told him everything even though I knew he’d learn nothing from it.
***
I’d joined up with the Brethren Knights of St. Fontaine back in the 1980s to hunt monsters. Back then, it seemed like the best use of my skills. I’d done my tours with the army, but even after I got out, I was still looking for an enemy to fight. So naturally, once I found out that vampires were real, I set my sights on them. It seemed like the most sensible thing to do at the time.
The Brethren Knights fancied themselves the descendants of the Knights Templar, and they insisted that their God given mission was to protect mankind from the things that lurked in the shadows. I didn’t really have much love for God at the time, but if the Bretheren were the ones fighting the monsters, then I was happy to tolerate the Jesus freaks in their ranks.
It was 1988 when we first heard whispers of the Imperium. A supposed cabal of vampires, trying to get them organized. At the time, it’d seemed too crazy to be true. Vampires generally went their own way, in my experience. At most, they might have a partner but other than they they didn’t really socialize with their own kind. But supposedly someone out there had the big fucking balls to keep them in line, and whoever they were, they scared the shit out of the Brethren.
They’d started targeting high profile vampires, trying to find someone who was involved in this ‘Imperium’, hoping that maybe they might get someone to talk. And it wasn’t long until they found someone who did.
From my understanding, the vampire they captured didn’t seem to know much about who was actually running the show. But they knew who their second in command was… and that was when I first head about the Di Cesare family.
The name was familiar to some of the higher ups in the Brethren, and I’d heard some stories. Not sure which were true, but the long and short of it was that the Di Cesare’s and the Brethren shared a bloody history, and didn’t particularly like each other too much.
George Bundy explained it to me like this at one point: ‘The Di Cesare’s are an old family. Most of them used to be witches, up until their Matriarch turned them into vampires. Now they’re a whole new kind of nasty. Far as I know, the only time anyone’s actually managed to kill one was about 200 years ago. Anyone who’s tried since has ended up dead, so most folks don’t even bother anymore.’
I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising they’d be involved in the Imperium, but the mere mention of their name ruffled some feathers higher up on the chain of command, and eventually they put out a kill order on them. Most of the Di Cesare’s were generally pretty hard to track down, but the top brass had a pretty good line on their matriarch, Bianca Di Cesare. Supposedly, she’d been spotted near the family’s private estate in Brazil and rumor had it that most of her daughters were there too.
Normally, the brass wouldn’t have sanctioned any kind of attack on them. The Di Cesare’s were already considered off limits, and attacking them at their private estate was considered damn near impossible. The estate was located in a small mining town outside of Manaus called Refugio de Julia, or just Julia for short. The town was fairly remote, being only accessible from a few backroads and most folks tended to avoid it, claiming they’d had various strange encounters in the area. Their accounts described unsettling pale figures with dark hair and large green eyes working in the mines, although some of the more disturbing stories we heard involved sightings of other creatures in the jungle surrounding the town. Massive spiders with humanoid faces, tending rotting corpses filled with stinging bees, giant howling beasts who tore through the forest, hunting prey, and beautiful women who would appear in the nearby towns, betwitching men into coming away with them only to reveal themselves as monsters who fed on the blood of their victims. Some had even claimed the Di Cesares themselves were such beasts… although those claims weren’t taken quite as seriously.
A skeptic might say the stories that surrounded Julia seemed like little more than just local superstition… but the Brethren had been dealing with the supernatural for long enough to recognize when something was probably real, and when it was probably fake and they knew damn well that most of the stories about Julia were probably true. None of them had ever dared set foot in Julia to find out for sure, since doing so would probably be suicide, but the theory was that the Di Cesares had created Julia as something of a refuge for other creatures. Other vampires, werewolves, arachne, karah and all sorts of other hellspawn. They offered them a home and safety in exchange for their labor in the mines. Hell, the name of the town more or less spelled it out.
Refugio de Julia
Julia’s Haven.
Julia had been the name of the only member of the Di Cesare family that the Brethren had ever killed, so I guess it was only fitting they named the town after her.
I honestly think using other creatures like them as a workforce was a bit inspired… since it made Julia damn near impenetrable. Reaching their estate at the far side of the town would have been impossible without being noticed by every creature of hell living in that town, and odds are they’d tear anyone apart long before they even reached the gates of the Di Cesare estate. And if one had the bright idea to approach the estate from another angle, they’d be trudging through miles and miles of rainforest to do so, only end up face to face with a massive stone wall that kept the rainforest out.
In effect - the Di Cesare estate was a fortress. Getting in would be no easy feat, to say nothing of confronting the vampires within. But with the fear of the Imperium gnawing at the back of their minds, the Brethren had finally set their minds to trying.
George Bundy had been the one in charge of planning the operation out.
I’d known Bundy before I’d joined up with the Brethren. Hell, Bundy was the whole reason I’d joined the Brethren. He’d been my CO a number of years back, and he’d earned his reputation as a hardass just about ten or twenty times over. Bundy was a gruff looking man with a bushy moustache and intense eyes. During the years I knew him, I don’t believe I ever once saw him so much as crack a smile. He only ever seemed to speak when he felt there was something he needed to say. Otherwise, he was usually dead silent.
He was somewhere in his late fifties back in 88. By all rights, he ought to have retired years ago. But he refused.
“I’m a soldier,” He said, when I asked him about it once. “That’s all I am. I don’t know what else to be.”
Bundy’s initial plan had been to hit the Di Cesare estate from the air. Come in fast and loud with a couple of helicopters and see how those vampires stood up to some good old American flak. The idea got shot down pretty quickly, so to speak. Apperantly, most if not all of the Di Cesares had cursed their own bodies, causing whatever wound one inflicted on them to appear on whoever it was who had wounded them. Going in guns blazing would have ended in a bloodbath… and not for them. There were also some concerns about drawing attention from Julia. With no conclusive data on just what they had living in that town, there was no guarantee we’d be safe in the air. A few eyewitnesses had described seeing giant nests in some of the trees in the jungle, supposedly consistent with the nests made by harpies.
Flying in guns blazing was out. So Bundy went back to the drawing board and what he came back with… well, it was ballsy, but it almost seemed like it just might work. During his reconnisance of the Di Cesare’s estate, he’d noticed a large but shallow tributary flowing into the amazon river that led right through the Di Cesare’s estate. Along the tributary was an abandoned water mill, that connected to the Di Cesare estate.
He’d suggested using the water mill to gain entry to the grounds, and from there, move on the Di Cesare’s. That plan had been approved, and Bundy had been allowed to handpick his team for the operation. He’d chosen fifteen men, all of them ex military, most of them having served under him before.
He’d told us we would be dividing into three teams of five men each. We would leave Manaus by boat, and land at three different areas near the tributary before making our way to the mill on foot, where we would regroup, before moving on the Di Cesares. The reason for the division was to ensure that if any of our teams ran into trouble upon making ground, the entire operation wouldn’t be compromised.
Team 1, led by Bundy himself would depart first and land to the west of the tributary. Team 2, led by a man named Ferdinand Hernandez would make land about fifteen minutes later near the mouth of the tributary and Team 3, to be led by me would land fifteen minutes later to the east.
On the day of the operation, I sat in my boat, watching as the other two left. It was twilight when we set out, and I remember that as my team and I carried out our final checks on our equipment, the only thing I felt was a familiar anticipation.
I’d hesitate to call it fear. Fear is what came later. Anticipation is the better word. I knew we could be walking into a tough situation… but I trusted Bundy. I trusted he’d run a smooth op. God knew, he’d done it a thousand times before.
The team assigned to me wasn’t anything particularly special. They were competent enough, but none of them would’ve been my first choices. Jack McMullen, for instance, who was about the same age as I was at the time. We’d both served under Bundy before, although while I respected Bundy, Jack was wholly devoted to him. I swear, if the man had told him to stuff a live grenade up his ass, Jack would’ve done it without a moments hesitation. I dunno if Jack simply saw him as the father he’d never had or what, but he damn near worshipped Bundy.
I can’t quite say the same for the other guys we had with us, though. One of them, some greenhorn by the name of Pearce Wilson struck me as an airheaded pretty boy who’d never actually had his boots on the ground before, while the other one, Scott Barber had left a bad taste in my mouth last time we’d worked together. Barber was capable… but he was violent. This was a kid with a hell of a chip on his shoulder, and it looked a hell of a lot like that Confederate flag patch he wore on his jacket. He wanted an excuse to shoot something, and I don’t think he cared what. Under most circumstances I’m not sure I would’ve fully trusted him with a gun.
The last one though, Joseph Feng… him I trusted. Feng was the one I knew the least about, and he didn’t seem much for conversation. But he handled himself competently enough and seemed to know when to sit down and shut up.
When Team 2’s boat was far enough away, we got the radio signal to follow. Barber was the one steering the boat, so I gave him the order to cast off and we ventured out into the twilight, unaware of just what was waiting for us out there.
***
We landed in our designated area fifteen minutes after Team 2 confirmed they’d touched down at theirs. Our landing was fairly uneventful. Feng, Barber, and I secured the boat before we radio’d Bundy to let him know we were in position. After that, it was just a matter of making it to the tributary.
As we ventured into the jungle, the world around us was quiet. There was wind, the whisper of the river behind us, and the sounds of animals. But little else. The river fell away behind us as we moved in single file toward the tributary, maintaining radio silence as we did.
It was about a half hour before we heard the gunshot.
Just one, echoing through the twilight. But it was enough to give us pause.
“The fuck was that?” I heard Barber ask. Immediately, the kid was on high alert, with his gun raised as if he were expecting every monster in Julia to come charging at us from all angles.
I just listened, waiting to hear if there was anything else. I half expected my radio to come to life, but it didn’t.
“Team 1, status?” I asked.
The radio crackled with static, but there was no response.
I tried it again, but still with no success. The radio was working, that much I was sure of. Something had to be blocking the signal.
“What’s going on?” Feng asked.
“Dunno,” I replied. “Comms are down.”
“Down?” Wilson asked, “So we’re flying blind out here, then?”
“More or less,” I replied.
“What do we do? Do we go back… if the comms are down…”
“Just because something’s jamming our signal doesn’t mean we’re made,” I said. “Relax. We keep moving for now. You keep your eyes wide open, and your head on a swivel. We’ll make it to the tributary and see if we can’t meet up with the other teams.”
I could tell Wilson wasn’t a fan of my answer, but I didn’t much care. We had a job to do, and I aimed to do it.
I pressed on without a further word and the others followed. Up ahead, I could hear the sound of running water and picked up the pace. I figured the tributary had to be close… and I was right.
I emerged from the brush into the stream, only to pause when I saw what was waiting for us in the water.
In the dying sunlight, it was impossible to mistake the bodies sprawled out on the rocks as anything else… and all I needed to do was look at their uniforms to know they were our people.
“Jesus…” I heard Wilson say under his breath. He froze up, lingering by the bank as I cautiously approached one of the bodies.
It belonged to a somewhat heavyset man with a thin mustache who I recognized as Hernandez. His eyes were still open, although lifeless and staring in different directions, and there was a clean hole in his forehead where a bullet had ended his life. The gunshot we’d heard earlier had likely been the sound of his death.
Looking at the bodies around him, I knew they had to be the rest of Team 2… although it was a little harder pinning down their cause of death. Some sort of bladed weapon, perhaps, judging by the state of them. I realized the odds were that they walked into some sort of ambush.
“What about Bundy and Team 1?” Jack asked, “Any sign of them?”
“No,” I said. “These bodies are all from Team 2… Bundy could still be ahead of us.”
“Then we need to keep going!”
Jack turned, heading up the stream and Barber was right behind him. Feng paused for a moment, thinking this over before following. Only Wilson remained.
“How do we know we’re not walking into a trap?” He asked.
“We’ll deal with that when we get to it,” I said before moving to follow the others.
“With all due respect, Sarge… that doesn’t sound like the best course of action!” Wilson argued, finally following me. “It sounds just like a good way to get killed!”
“Yeah?” I asked, “I’m gonna tell you an ugly truth, kid. That’s the job. Make your peace with it, and it’ll go a lot easier.”
Wilson didn’t like that answer either and trailed off behind me, watching as I continued upstream. For a moment, I half expected him to go back to the boat… but no. I dunno if he found his balls or just didn’t want to get left behind, but he started to follow us again.
I kept trying to raise Team 1 on the radio while we walked, although I still had no luck. The light above us slowly faded into darkness as we trudged through the water in silence, guns sitting comfortably in our hands and mosquitos biting at our necks.
It wasn’t until we lost Feng that I heard anybody so much as make a sound, and when we lost Feng… it happened almost instantaneously. One minute, he was at the head of the group, walking just ahead of Jack and I. The next, he was gone, only barely having the time to let out a scream as he fell into the river ahead of us.
The rest of us paused. Jack seemed to freeze and I pushed past him, calling out for Feng as I did. As punishment for my compassion, I almost went down after him. I only barely stopped myself from stepping on the slippery rocks that had helped send him to his demise.
I could see Feng’s body in the water, and I could see the blood pouring out of him. He twitched a few times, but I knew he was dead. The sharpened wooden spikes jutting out of him confirmed as much.
“What the hell…” Jack said under his breath, staring at Feng’s corpse in disbelief. “That’s a fucking spike trap!”
Yeah.
It was indeed a fucking spike trap.
I could see other spikes jutting out of the water ahead of us, just past a small dam of rocks that were just slippery enough to make it difficult to stop yourself from falling. Some of those spikes had other bodies on them… likely members of Team 1. I only counted two, although that still didn’t exactly bode well.
“They put a fucking spike trap in the goddamn stream…” Jack said, “Who the hell does that?”
“Somebody who’s expecting us to use the stream,” I replied.
“So they know we’re coming?” Barber asked.
“Clearly…” I replied. “And they’ve got a good idea on what our route is too.”
“Yeah, no shit!” Barber snapped. “Christ… let’s get the fuck out of here. There’s probably more fucking traps upstream!”
“Bundy’s orders were clear!” Jack argued.
“Bundy’s probably dead by now!” Barber replied, before looking at me. “Sarge, come on. You have to know this is suicide!”
“Suicide was part of the job description, was it not?” I asked.
“The job is to kill those fucking vampires, not to die in the goddamn process! We need to get out of the stream and into the woods!”
“Judging by the fate Team 2 met, I’m not sure the forest is someplace we want to be right now,” I replied.
“Excuse me?” Barber asked, “What the hell are you talking about, Sarge?”
“Five men dead, but only one gunshot. How did the rest die?”
Barber didn’t seem to be able to answer that.
“By now… yes. It’s clear we’ve walked into a trap. And yes, I understand that it makes sense to try and leave that trap… but I don’t know if we’ll be safer in the jungle. Something jumped Team 2. Cut them apart, and then shot Hernandez as a warning. They didn’t have to shoot him. They did it so we’d hear.”
“Your point being?” Barber asked.
“I don’t think this is just a trap, Barber. It’s a game. Stop playing, and you might just end up like our friends downstream.”
“A game?” Wilson asked, “Sarge, you can’t be serious!”
“From where I’m standing, we have a better chance of surviving in the stream,” I said. “Look, we’re at least halfway to the rendezvous point, and there have to be at least two members of Team 1 left. The safest thing to do right now is to follow them.”
“You’re off your fucking rocker, Sarge,” Barber spat, locking his eyes with mine. For a moment, I thought the boy was going to try and fight me. But no. He was wise enough to stand down.
“If you wanna get yourself killed, go right the fuck ahead. Just leave me out of it! Wilson, come on,” Barber said before trudging over to the edge of the stream. Wilson didn’t even hesitate, just looking back at Jack and I quietly before he disappeared into the forest with Barber.
“You’re not gonna stop them?” Jack asked.
“No,” I replied. “God willing, there’s a chance that pigheaded asshole is right… dunno how much of a chance, but a chance.”
“Then how come we’re not following him?” Jack asked.
“There’s also a chance he’s wrong.”
I turned, before making my way around the spike trap.
“Keep a slower pace,” I said. “Watch for traps.”
Jack hesitated for a moment, but he followed me without any further questions and we walked in silence for a little longer.
We heard nothing from the trees. Nothing that told us about the fate of Barber and Wilson. I wasn’t sure if that was good news or not.
In fact, I don’t think we heard a thing until about a half hour later, when we heard the explosion.
It came out of almost nowhere, but ahead of us I could see a flash of light and hear the screams of men. On instinct, I found myself picking up the pace and could hear Jack behind me. In the low light, I saw a shape float past me in the stream. It took me a moment to realize that it was a severed human arm.
In the water ahead of us, I could see a figure clinging to one of the rocks and trying to pick himself up. I recognized him as George Bundy.
Jack was at his side almost immediately, trying to help the old man to his feet.
“Sir! Are you alright?”
Bundy just wheezed, before his legs gave out from under him. I helped Jack drag him to the shore so he could sit and rest for a moment.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, looking back at the stream.
“Grenade trap… I think…” Bundy panted, “Fucking tripwire… Popkov tripped it, I think…”
Popkov… odds are he was one of the two mangled corpses lying in the river a few feet away from us. It seemed they’d taken the brunt of the explosion, although Bundy still had some shrapnel in his arm that Jack was tending to.
“Christ… whole fucking ops gone to shit…” Bundy spat. “Team 2 got taken out just about as soon as they landed. Someone killed them and dumped them in the goddamn river. Lost half my boys to the fucking spike trap and half to this…”
He looked up at us, before spitting onto the ground.
“Guess you two haven’t done much better.”
“Hard to say,” I replied. “Two of ours took off into the woods, trying to avoid the traps.”
“Then they’re dead,” Bundy replied. “I’ve seen her watching us… always just up ahead, always from a distance… she’s seeing how far we’ll go. How much we’ll take…”
“She?” I asked.
“La Morte. Should’ve figured she’d be the one to greet us.”
“La Morte?” I asked.
“It’s Italian. Supposedly, she earned that name around the time the Di Cesares fled Venice. It’s funny, the Brethren like to act like the Di Cesares leaving Venice was some big victory of theirs, since before they did, they finally killed one of them… hard to call it a victory though, considering how many corpses they made before they fled. And most of them came from La Morte…”
Bundy winced in pain as Jack bandaged his arm before he continued talking.
“See… when the Di Cesare’s left Venice, one of them stayed behind. Clementine, the Scorpio sister. Guess she was unwilling to leave the fight unfinished… and according to the stories, the death toll she personally amassed in the years after the Di Cesare’s left Venice make the bodies they claimed during the Venetian Massacre a hundred and fifty years prior look like a pittance. The Brethren still occupying the city started to call her La Morte. Death. Cuz wherever she went, death followed in her wake… and it seems we’ve walked right into her open arms, haven’t we, boys?”
“You’re sure it’s her?” I asked.
“She’s a Di Cesare… and the shit we’ve seen out here… I don’t see any other Di Cesare setting those traps. It’s her. I’m sure of it. She’s watching us. Seeing how far we’ll go. Seeing if we’ll turn tail…”
“Should we?” Jack asked, and Bundy finally seemed to acknowledge him.
“Excuse me?” He asked.
“Should we? Look, sir… I’d follow you into the mouth of Hell, but right now, we’re down from fifteen men to three. Can’t say I’m optimistic about our chances right now. If this woman is half as bad as you’re saying she is, maybe it’s time we took a step back!”
Jack looked at me, hoping I might back him up, but I remained silent.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Bundy asked.
“What I’m hearing here, is that as of right now, the vampire out there could kill us at any time. She hasn’t. Far as I’m concerned, that’s mercy. Maybe we should be taking it while it’s offered.”
Bundy stared at him, before chuckling. I think it was the first time I’d ever seen him laugh.
“Just walk away, then?” He asked.
“Walk away, and come back better prepared!” Jack corrected.
“Walk away,” Bundy said again. “We walk away now, and there won’t be a chance to come back better prepared. We get one shot at this. One. Failure is not an option. We go in there and we kill them or we die. End of discussion.”
“And how exactly are we even supposed to kill them?” Jack asked, “That curse they have… bullets aren’t gonna do shit, sir!”
“Yours won’t, mine will…”
Bundy pulled his pistol from his holster. I noticed some sort of pattern crudely engraved on it.
“I’ve been doing some research… studied the curse they put on themselves… and I think I’ve found a way to break it. Not sure if it’ll work yet… but we get one chance to test it.”
Jack stared at the gun, then back at Bundy.
“Sir… do you hear yourself?” He asked quietly, “You can’t be serious… right now, even with that gun we don’t stand a chance in he-”
The gunshot echoed through the forest and made me jump. Jack’s voice died in his throat as he hit the ground.
Bundy stared at him for a moment, before huffing and holstering his pistol again. He draped his coat over his shoulders, before looking over at me.
“No room for failure, Frank,” He said calmly.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I stared down at Jack’s body, my mouth hanging open slightly. When I looked back at Bundy, he was already back in the stream.
There was a tense silence between Bundy and I as I followed him along the final stretch of the tributary. He trudged on ahead, covered in sweat and straining with every step, but I could sense the quiet determination he had to see this through. Looking at him, you could’ve told me that George Bundy could wipe out the Di Cesare’s all by himself and I would have believed it in a second.
The night around us was full of sound, and each one drew my attention. I watched the forest, expecting to see some sign of La Morte watching us. But I saw nothing, except for what she wanted me to see.
“Mill’s just up ahead,” I heard Bundy say as we pressed on, although I noticed his steps faltering as he seemed to notice something in the trees above us. I stopped behind him, looking up before seeing what he saw, and when I saw it I felt my stomach turn.
I’d seen death before.
But what Di Cesare had left out for us… that was something else.
Pearce Wilson and Scott Barber weren’t dead.
But if they could have spoke, I’ve got no doubt they would have begged us to kill them. Wilsons pretty face was covered in blood and his pouty lips were parted as more trickled out of him. His curly blond hair was matted and I could see crimson there. Tree branches portruded from his ribs, while the loops of his entrails dangled out of his opened stomach. And Barber was in just about the same state, only he seemed to at least have the ability to turn his head to look at us.
I think he might have tried to speak, but the only sound he seemed to be able to make was a pained whimper.
“Jesus Christ…” I said softly.
“He had nothing to do with this,” Bundy replied. He took one last look at the two dying men hanging from the trees, before moving on.
“We should put them out of their misery, sir,” I said.
Bundy paused, before looking back at me.
“Don’t waste the ammo, Frank,” He replied. “They’re already dead.”
“Not yet they’re not!”
“Give them time. They chose to go into the woods. They can live with the consequences… for however long that lasts.”
With that, he left them. If I were a more compassionate man, I would have put them out of their misery. But no. Bundy moved on and so did I.
He approached the water mill, before examining it. It was an old building, made of stone that had long since been overgrown by moss, and sat right on the wall that separated the Di Cesares estate from the amazon. It hardly looked secure, even if the only entrance hadn’t just been an old wooden door secured with a padlock, finding a way in wouldn’t have been difficult. And it didn’t take much for Bundy to break through that door. All he needed was a couple of well placed kicks and it swung right open.
Drawing his gun, Bundy strode inside and I followed him.
“The Di Cesare’s will be in the main house,” He said. “We should find a way in through the back, try and catch them off guard. Main target should be the matriarch, Bianca. Her we should prioritize keeping alive… the rest are expendable.”
“Much as you are, I’m sure.” A voice called from deeper in the mill, and both Bundy and I froze.
I noticed movement on the floor above us, and through the shadows, I saw a tall woman watching us. She was dressed all in black, with blond hair tied back in a ponytail and the intense eyes of a soldier.
This had to be Clementine Di Cesare.
Bundy aimed his pistol at her, although she only barely seemed to notice.
“Only two of you left… I’m not sure the odds are in your favor,” The woman said. Her voice was low, calm and quiet.
“Only one way to find out,” Bundy growled.
“And only one way to walk out of this place alive,” Di Cesare countered. “You can put the gun down, turn and walk away. I won’t stop you. There’s no shame in living.”
“All the bodies you’ve left in your wake… that’s rich,” Bundy said.
“I don’t relish what I’ve done. I simply don’t know how to do anything else,” She replied. “Think about this, Bundy. Over my lifetime, there have been countless thousands who have come to kill me. All of them are dead, but I am not. Even if you could kill me… you could not kill my sisters. Not all of them. Not before they came for you.”
“Just you, would be enough…” Bundy said, before pulling the trigger.
I knew he’d hit her. I knew the bullet pierced her shoulder. But that woman… she didn’t even flinch. She simply dove out of the way before he could shoot again, taking cover and avoiding his next shot.
“Frank, upstairs!” Bundy snapped, “Flush her out!”
I went, trudging up the old wooden steps with my rifle drawn. Only to see Di Cesare vaulting over the railing and back down to the ground floor as soon as I made it up there.
Bundy shot at her again, only to miss for a second time. I saw Di Cesare’s arm move, and heard him cry out in pain. In the low light, I could see a dagger protruding from his shoulder. He stumbled back a step, leaving himself open for only a split second.
That second was all it took for Di Cesare to raise her own gun and fire just one shot.
George Bundy hit the ground without so much as a final scream. There was just a simple hole in his skull where she had shot him.
I felt my heart start to race faster. My eyes settled on Bundy’s gun, and I ran for the railing, vaulting it and dropping to the ground below with a thud. Di Cesare shot at me, and I felt the bullet tear through my leg. I reached out for the fallen gun and grabbed it before turning it on Di Cesare, only to find myself staring down the barrel of her own pistol. My finger rested on the trigger, but I didn’t have the guts to pull it.
"Kill me, and you will not see the sun tomorrow." She said, her voice still cold and calm.
“Killing you is part of the job…” I replied, but my finger still couldn’t squeeze the trigger.
“And is it worth your life?” Di Cesare asked. “You fail your mission either way.”
“And die with some goddamn honor…”
“There’s no such thing as honor. There is alive and there is dead. Choose.”
I knew what I was supposed to choose.
But my hands were shaking, as I stared into the face of death. My finger couldn’t squeeze the trigger.
The gun collapsed to the floor and Di Cesare kicked it away from me, before huffing and lowering her gun.
“Do not return,” She said softly. “Or next time, I will unleash a hell upon you that will make you beg for simple traps.”
She picked Bundy’s gun up off the ground, and then she was gone. After I finally picked myself up off the ground, I was gone too.
As I walked back along the stream… I passed the corpses of the men we’d left behind. Barber and Wilson, Jack, Feng, Hernandez, and his team. The flies were already feasting on them. Animals had already torn at them. And as I looked down at their cold corpses, I knew I had made the right choice.
I filed my report with the Brethren. Told them that Di Cesare had wiped us out, and a few months later I quietly retired. I never looked back.
***
“You walked away from her?” Sweeney asked in disbelief, “You had her dead to rights and you walked away from her?”
“I chose to live,” I replied. “Can’t say I regret the decision either. Because of the choice I made, I met my wife and had my kids. I’ve lived the life I had because I chose not to throw it away on some vampire.”
Sweeney just shook his head.
“You could have gotten the first confirmed kill on a Di Cesare in two centuries, and you threw it away you fucking coward! I could execute you for that!” I noticed his hand hovering over the gun on his hip.
“You could.” I replied, before quietly unholstering the pistol I kept at my side. I aimed it at Sweeney’s head.
He stared at me like a slack jawed idiot.
“Would you like to give it a try?”
“W-what…?”
“Would you like to give it a try, Mr. Sweeney? Or would you like to see the sun tomorrow?”
He stared down the barrel of my gun, and I already knew what his choice would be.
Sweeney took a step back. I saw his hand move away from his holster, and I lowered the gun with a huff.
“Thought so,” I said.
Mr. Sweeney left me without another word.
I knew he would not return.
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2023.06.03 15:35 Shreeking_Tetris Is Canada just a buffer state between US and Denmark?
2023.06.03 15:20 Jakimcikas First time japan travel report 04.25-05.17
Alrighty, I'll describe my first time travel in japan, what went well, what didn't go well, my overall impression of Japan. We travelled trough quite a few cities, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible as I'm not much of writer. And we've visited quite a few places, so if you'd like more details, comment and I'll go more in-depth :).
A bit about the travelling party. Me(25M) and a work colleague(26M), Lithuanians(Europe) software engineers, reasonably fit and somewhat fluent in english, Omnivores(my colleague is allergic to cheese), our height is around ±185cm.
TL;DR
Cities/islands visited
Tokyo(Shinjuku) -> Osaka -> Nara -> Kyoto -> Onomichi Islands -> Matsuyama -> Hiroshima -> Miyajima -> Kumamoto -> Aso(region) -> Fukuoka -> Nagasaki -> Nagoya -> Takayama -> Magome -> Matsumoto - > Tokyo(Chuo) -> Tokyo(Shibuya) -> Tokyo(Teito) -> Hakone.
Expenses
I was slightly more conservative with my spending so my expenses are on the cheaper side, my colleague spent quite a bit more, especially on food and booze.
Total amount spent: slightly more than 3k euros in japan + 1.1k euros flights back and forth.
EDIT:
Daily food expenses: 30-40 eur or 5k-7k yen. Daily food expenses: 3k-4k Daily travel fares(bus, metro), museums and other activities: 1k-3k
Average hotel stay: ~60euro
Food: - Breakfast - usually something from a convenience store. Chicken, power gels, chocolate, melon bread(my favourite), - Lunch - something from a convenience store or a restaurant - Dinner - restaurant usually a ramen place
Activities
Museums, castles, shrines, forests, mountains, walks around the city. We did a lot of walking, total around 400km of walking(at leasts that's what google fit shows)
Alright that's a brief summary, now for the more in-depth write up.
My key takeaways
- Japan is a very safe country, I felt safe everywhere, even in the shady parts of Tokyo.
- People are very polite, they'll go out of their way to help you, even if they don't speak english.
- People are very quiet, you won't hear people talking on the phone, or talking loudly in public transport.
- Be polite, if you don't understand or thing that this is not how it should be, don't be rude, just accept it and move on. You are an alien in their country, not the other way around. So please don't ever raise your voice, japanese people are not malicious, they'll try to help you, but they might not understand you.
- If you want to feel appreciated, learn at least the basics on japanese, it's not that hard, and it'll make your life easier. I did it through doulingo, reached unit 14 in a month and that was sufficient to have very simple conversation.
This is it for the TL;DR part. I'll go more in-depth for the rest of the post.
Planning for the trip
We started planning the trip, where we'll go, where we'll stay, what we'll do, expenses, trains, all that you can plan was started to be planned around a month prior to the trip. We created a word doc as our itinerary, that was around 60 pages long. From what I've read on this page about you can't plan everything. Well I believe we did, we might've even over planned :D.
So we booked the following hotels: - Tokyo - Apa Hotel Higashi Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower(04.25-04.26) - Osaka - APA Hotel Namba Kita Shinsaibashi Ekimae(04.26-04.30) - Onomichi island - TOMARIGI Hostel(04.30-05.01) - Matsuyama - Hotel Patio Dogo(05.01-05.02) - Hiroshima - Wholeearth Ryokan Hiroshima(05.02-05.04) - Kumamoto - Hotel Wing International Select Kumamoto(05.04-05.08) - Nagoya - Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagoya Shinkansenguchi(05.08-05.10) - Magoame - Magomechaya(05.10-05.11) - Matsumoto - Hotel M Matsumoto(05.11-05.12) - Tokyo - APA Hotel Ginza Kyobashi Tokyo Station Yaesu South Gate(05.14-05.17)
Extra things we bought in advance: - Water proof bags - Hiking boots and socks - Bigger backpacks - JP Rail pass, we booked the trains in advance, but honestly that wasn't necessary even during golden week - Bandages for foot blisters, medicine(for headaches, motion sickness, diarrhoea). - Ubigi eSim internet(10GB was plenty for me throughout the trip) - Sun screen(did not use and got sunburned to a point where I was shinning red) - Portable battery
The trip
Day 1(04.25)
We arrived at the Haneda aiport, exchanged some cash to yen(was at a better course than locally), printed out our JR passes(
IMPORTANT TO DO SO HERE, only major stations let you print it out) and went to the metro. We took the train to Shinjuku, and walked to our hotel to check-in. We were quite tired, bought some chicken from lawson and went to explore a few places, a few drinks in golden gai district and ramen in a nearby place. Eventually we ended up at rock bar mother. Really cool place, for each drink you can request 2 songs to be played. After that back to hotel, visit the top floor onsen and sleep
Day 2(04.26)
Got up early, travelled to osaka. Left our luggage in the hotel, we were too early for a check in. We went to see Osaka castle(quite beautiful), tried takoyaki there. More city exploring, then we went check-in. After that we went to see the Umeda Sky Building in the evening(we bought the ticket in advance) very beautiful, it was very clear and beautiful. Got back to the city, got some ramen, went to the hotel and sleep.
Day 3(04.27)
Went to USJ, bought tickets(basic, no express stuff) in advance. We went there 30minutes before opening, and there was already a huge line. We went to Nintendo first, the zone looked very nice, but ride it'd say was okay'ish for me. After that the dinosaur rides, minion land, grabbed chinese food for lunch, went to the harry potter zone, at this point the lines got quite long around 1h to 1h 30min of wait time. After that we went to see Water world where they were doing a play, was really awesome, I'd say a must see even if you don't understand Japanese, the acting is very good. After that we went to Osaka aquarium(no lines, thank god), it was beautiful, cute chonks and other sea creatures.
Day 4(04.28)
Trip to Kyoto from Osaka. We went early by metro, to see the bamboo forest(7:40'ish), beautiful, few people. Walked around the park then climbed the mount a fed the monkeys(50 yen for a bag of fruits or nuts), very cute, tried petting the hand of one, didn't go well got an aggressive show of teeth. After that we visited Ryoanji temple, went to nishi market, we we're running a bit late so we took a taxi to Kiyomizudera, we saw the geish district on our way to there, looked interesting. After the temple we went to a bar and got back to Osaka and then after a bowl of ramen to our hotel.
Day 5(04.29)
We went to Nara, took this hiking
track saw the deer, bought some food, did the whole bow thing then fed them. One thing to keep in mind is to crumble the cookie and give it in small pieces, otherwise you'll run out of food to give quickly. They might be very "assertive" and try to take it from you, don't be afraid, just stick your empty arm out to get some distance and that's it . They're not gonna bite you. After that we went to see the Todaiji temple, it was beautiful, the buddha statue was huge. Got back to Osaka, got some ramen, went to the hotel, scheduled to send our luggage to our next hotel and went to sleep.
Day 6(04.30)
Got up early, went to Onomichi, rented some bikes and began our cycling journey through the islands. A lot of cool bridges, very beautiful nature. We cycled to north Omishima port, where we transfered to rabbit island pet and fed the rabbits, got back and cycled to our ryokan and straight to sleeping.
Day 7(05.01)
More cycling, more cool bridges, more beautiful nature. We arrived at Imabari, returned our bikes and took the train to Matsuyama. We ate some stree food, relaxed in the open hot springs for feet. Walked around and went to sleep. To be honest I'd say this was the favorite city of the whole trip for me. I liked the vibe, the people, the food, the nature, the onsen, the layout, the architecture. In general, beautiful city.
Day 8(05.02)
Early in the morning visited a public onsen nearby, then went to see the Matsuyama castle, it was beautiful, tried the orange juice there, it was really good, got back to our hotels, got some dango. Packed our stuff, got a taxi and went to the port and took the ferry to Hiroshima. Checked in the ryokan. Took a train to Hiroshima city center, visited the castle and then the nuclear museum. Get the english audio for best experience. It took me around 2hours to walk through everything, read it and take it in. It was very nerve racking, but I'd say a must see. After that we went out to eat some Okonomiyaki, it was delicious, then back to the ryokan and sleep.
Day 9(05.03)
Went to Miyajima island first by train then transfer by ferry. It was very beautiful, the mountain hike was also fun, the view on top was amazing. When we came down from the mountain there was a low tide, so we could go near the Itsukushima shrine. Got back to Hiroshima, went to the city center for a couple of beers, got back to Ryokan and went to sleep.
Day 10(05.04)
First day of the Golden week, wouldn't say that I've noticed anything different, maybe because we were travelling to the far south of Japan - Kumamoto. This is one of those cities that I also enjoyed more than the big common ones, it looked very nice, had a beautiful castle, was not crowded as Hiroshima, Osaka or Tokyo. We rented out bikes, cycled to Honmoji park(the place near Honmoji park is god damn maze, keep you google maps always open or you will get lost) found a place to eat, visited Lafcadio Hearn House and went to our hotel and then to sleep.
Day 11(05.05)
We rentend a car and went to Aso, highly recommend renting a car here, since the public transport is not that good. The drive was very nice, we went to see active volcano crater, luckily it was not erupting, so we were allowed to get close. Then we went around and climbed the other inactive mountain caps. Climbing that was one of the most fun hikes I've had. It was very windy, you could barely see past 5 meters anywhere, because of the fog. There was no smell of sulfur, so it was safe. We visited Mt. Nakadake, Mt. Takadake, overall the place looked like Mordor, the vibes, the weather everything. After that we visited Ayugaeno Falls, the ravines and everything was just majectic. After that we got back to Kumamoto, gave back the car and went somewhere to eat. Car rental cost around ~7k yen in total. So I'd say a good price. After eating, we went to our hotel and then to sleep.
Day 12(05.06)
We went to Fukuoka, by train, walked around the city, visited Tochoji temple, Fukuoka castle ruins, Ohori park and explored the huge ravine type shopping mall. Went to the science museum(big mistake, it's for kids...). After that we tried Ichiran ramen(originated in Fukuoka so we thought it be better). Was the same as everywhere else. It was rainy so we got back pretty early to our hotel and went to sleep.
Day 13(05.07)
We went to Nagasaki, by train, visited the atomic bomb museum, it was very interesting, just as good as the one in Hiroshima. We took a boat ride to see Gunkanjima, though we couldn't get on the island, because of the weather, it was still very interesting to see and hear the history of the island. Explored the Dutch district, walked around the shops, tried some whale meat. It was raining the whole day, so we also got back quite early and went to sleep.
Day 14(05.08)
We got up early and went got straight to the train station, and caught the train to Nagoya. The longest train ride by far. We arrived at Nagoya, checked in our hotel, went to the city center, visited the castle, it was very beautiful, then we wanted to explore the abandoned tunnel near Aichi. Apparently it was closed, we decided we're going to enter through the exit, like rascals, but apparently after we circled around there was a police officer that was guarding traffic through the bridge and wouldn't let us through. So our trip ended there. After comming back to Nagoya we visited the sky scrapper, it had interesting installations on the windows. We had our stay got back to hotel and went to sleep.
Day 15(05.09)
We went to Takayama, by train, one of the most scenic train rides so far. We strolled around the city center, visited the early morning market, bought some souvenirs, tried some white strawberries, mushroom tee and other local cuisine. Visited Takayama Showa Museum, which was 10/10. You could touch almost everything, the museum gave a great vibe, it was like you were in a house of a family that lived there. There was also an old nintendo with mario kart that you could play, put on a old yukata and take photos. Play pachinko(no money needed), watch an old-school movie. We visited a few sake tasting places, I've found a few flavours that I liked. After that back to Nagoya, eat ramen and sleep.
Day 16(05.10)
We sent out our luggage to Matsumoto, caught a train to Nagiso and then hiked the Nakasendo trail to Tsumago and then Magome where we checked in and stayed at the local ryokan. The hike was very nice and relaxing one of the easier hikes I've had, the places we saw we're quite old and beautiful. At ryokan we met people one American and one from Germany, they had a guitar so we chatted a bit, played the guitar and had a few beers. The dinner at ryokan was amazing, looked very traditional Japanese dinner. Was also very tasty, would definitely recommend this place. After that we went to sleep.
Day 17-19(05.11)
Got up early and took a bus to Nakatsugawa Eki-mae station where we travelled to Matsumoto. We left our bags and went to the RubyKaigi conference. Overall good conference, I've learned somethings, but most importantly I've had bit of time to rest and catch up on some sleep, since we weren't exploring new cities. So overall the following 3 days were wake up -> breakfast -> conference -> lunch -> conference -> drinks -> dinner -> sleep.
Day 20(05.14)
Slept in, had breakfast and travelled to Tokyo by train. Left our luggage at the hotel and moved on to explore the Chou region. Walked around the Ginza, Imperial palace, Yasukuni shrine and went to check in. After that it was getting dark, so travelled to Akihabara to experience the anime night life, was quite bright and interesting. Though the amount of requests to visit a maid cafe was too damn high. If your planning to buy a PS5, a new GPU or Nintendo switch, this could be the place, I saw PS5 with two controllers for 60k yen, with a 10% tax refund that is around 370 euros. After some exploration, got back to our hotel and went to sleep.
Day 21(05.15)
This was our Hakone day trip, we bought the 3 day pass for it, so we could use the train, bus, ropeway and boat. Was worth it, even for one day. We climbed Mt. Kintoki, thankfully the weather was great and we could see Fuji. The climb was very nice, the view was amazing, the weather was great, no bears to be seen. After climbing down, we played some golf that was near there. Travelled back to the station were we used the rope-way to get around the mountains, the view was just majestic, we saw the sulfur pits, the stench was, well strong to say the least, but overall enjoyed the experience. We didn't make it time to the boat, so we had to travel back by bus, which wasn't so bad, since the scenery was amazing.
Day 22(05.16)
Explored more Tokyo, so we went to Teito district, went to the Ueno zoo, National science museum. After that we went to Kaminarimon gate, Asakusa shrine and moved to Shibuya next. There we went to the Yoyogi park, Meiji Jingu shrine, paid our respects to Hachiko statue. The last activity was to visit TeamLabs Planets, which were amazing, one most interesting experiences, not gonna spoil any details, overall great experience, would do it again. As it was getting late we got back to Shibuya, walked around more, had a drink and went back to our hotel.
Day 23(05.17)
Last day in Japan was spent buying souvenirs, snacks and other stuff to bring back home. Packing our luggage, to accommodate for the extras, getting to Haneda airport and back to Lithuania.
I'm very happy I had the opportunity to go on such a trip, I enjoyed it a lot even though, I'm quite the couch potato so 3 weeks is a bit much for me, but nonetheless, wouldn't change a thing.
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2023.06.03 08:30 BruhEmperor Presidential Term of Thomas Custer (1889-1893) American Interflow Timeline
| After 12 years of trials and errors, Thomas Custer would finally rise and claim the presidency in a Post-Barnum era. With the nation being fundamentally changed in the past 8 years and with the effect of Barnum’s administration still very prevalent, like the still persistent Revelationist and Communard issues, Custer would need to uncharacteristically tread carefully to prevail in such a climate. President Thomas Custer’s Cabinet Vice President - Alfred A. Taylor Secretary of State - Francis Cockrell Secretary of the Treasury - Adlai Stevenson I Secretary of War - John Potter Stockton Secretary of the Navy - Arthur Sewall Secretary of the Interior - Thomas Goode Jones Attorney General - Jesse Root Grant II Secretary of Sustenance - Sylvester Pennoyer Secretary of Public Safety - Lyon G. Tyler (resigned May 1891), John R. McLean (read about the campaigns against the radicals here) Left? Right? No, Custerite! During his election campaign, the president promised a wide-range of groups things he would do in a future administration. Appealing to liberals, conservatives, nationalists, populists, militarists, anti-imperialists, and pro-reconciliationists, Custer would be flexible and non-partisan in his policies in order to fulfil such promises. Custer would first appeal to the anti-imperialist wing of his support by renegotiating to United States' promised port in the Congo during the Berlin Conference, crafted by Secretary Francis Cockrell, the United States would sell their land claims to the French on August 1889 for $1,250,000. The move would receive praise from anti-imperialists like Senators George Boutwell (F-MA) and Grover Cleveland (C-NY), and Representatives Edward Atkinson (C-MA) and John Wanamaker (P-PA), although opposition was brought in by some Commons and the old Barnumites like Representative William McKinley (F-OH). Land designated for the United States (dark blue) were sold to the French Empire Appealing to the pro-reconciliationists would be a harder feat than any of this. Ever since the end of the Civil War, stigmatism between the black and white communities in the south grew, it was further boosted by the barring policy of the Davis and Hamlin administrations which divided communities between whites and blacks to prevent violence. Forced integration was implemented by Custer with the Integration and Co-operation Act of 1889 which merged local segregated communities and forced some citizens living in those communities to live within the other group's area. Anti-reconciliationists like Senator Arthur Pue Gorman (C-MD) and Representative Benjamin Tillman (C-SC) opposed the bill, as they were elected within or with the backing of a white-only segregated community, though the pro-reconciliationists, which composed of both of the old pro and anti Barnumites, populists, salvationists, and progressives pushed the bill to pass Congress. Capitol Building 1889 The act faced major scrutiny from both black and white anti-reconciliationists, which pushed it as dictatorial and a breach of their civil liberties. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case Jennings v. Gibbs, in which Florida county lawyer William Sherman Jennings sued Representative Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs (F-FL) for 'infringing on and decrying civil liberties' by his support of the act. Gibbs' lawyers sighted the act was to end possible future violence between the two groups and claimed it was for the overall wellbeing of the country and to the citizen as their move was paid for by the government itself and that it was within the government's authority to enforce such acts, while Jennings sighted the First Amendment, claiming to this act violated the right of petition the government as the citizens were more or less forced into integrating without a say. The court decided on June 10th, 1890, and sided 5-4 in favor of Gibbs, claiming that it was within the government's right to enforce such an act. Although the court did also sort of sided with Jennings, pushing that the citizens moved out of their communities must give their consent and approval of moving out. Justice Robert Roosevelt wrote the majority opinion: " It is within Congress' right to enforce such laws that they apply, although it is also important to receive the consent and approval of those being affect by the laws they apply, as without it is simple tyranny.". The Supreme Court just marked pro-reconciliation acts as constitutional. Lawyer William Sherman Jennings and Representative Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs With Custer getting the greenlight on reconciliation, he began to deal with those dissenting on his new laws. Some violence and unrest arose from anti-reconciliation protestors causing riots and clashes with the police, in one incident, an anti-reconciliation mob beat one police officer to death and threw in body in the streets. The incident shocked the nation and many demanded justice, this gave Custer the backing to enact another plan he had. In the span of June-August, thousands of anti-reconciliationist rioters were arrested and sent to ' re-education facilities' to be 're-educated' about their beliefs, those re-educated would be release after a month and if they caused more dissent they would be thrown back into the facilities to be 're-educated' once again. No one exactly knows what happens in the facilities but rumors going from torture to brainwashing are common, but those released from the facilities never talk about their experience there. Although, anti-reconciliation violence has been significantly reduced ever since the program was created. Custer's Politics for Dummies The Presidential Cabinet has always been more or less been aligned with the president's beliefs, although in this case, with the president's beliefs all over the place, the cabinet would be quiet diverse. Some would have quite populistic beliefs like Treasury Secretary Stevenson and Sustenance Secretary Pennoyer, some would be traditionally conservative like Navy Secretary Sewall, War Secretary Stockton, and Secretary of Public Safety Tyler, and some would be considered more liberal like Secretaries Cockrell and Jones, and Attorney General Grant. This caused some division in the cabinet, with many members having different opinions on issues, like the admission of more states in the plain, with the more populistic members being for it and the conservative ones being against it. Vice President Alfred A. Taylor, who was often the most moderate within the cabinet, often had headaches due to the amount of bickering in the cabinet, privately saying, " I would rather have been the presidential cook than a member of this cabinet.". Taylor was known for serving delicious Tennessee Cornbread during cabinet meetings and public events, which were from his own recipe. On the Congressional front, politics there too was starkly changing. The Radical People's and Christian Salvation Parties had faced a significant decline over the last election and were facing even complete dissolution. The bells did toll for the Salvationists, as on June 1, 1889, waiting for a train going from his hometown of Freeport, Illinois to Chicago, Senator Charles J. Guiteau was shot by an assailant who was connected to the Salvationists. The bullet did not puncture his heart though and he was immediately treated by doctors. The doctors, however, operated on him with unsterilized fingers and tools trying to find the bullet, and Guiteau contracted an infection which slowly weakened his health. Guiteau would pass away on June 30th, which ended a major figurehead for the Salvationists. With their main leader gone, the Salvationists and their party were now certainly going to fall, so once again they turned to the Populists to help, they proposed a merge of their parties, unlike the Visionary Alliance back in 1884, this move would be permanent. A joint Radical People's-Christian Salvation convention was called in D.C., in which they decided to form the Reformed People's Party which would incorporate both Populist and Salvationist agendas. All Salvationists and Populists would run on this party's banner starting on the 1890 midterms, causing a wave of new support of their joint movements to grow. Representatives like Jerry Simpson (RP-KA), Charles Tupper (CS-NS), and Marion Butler (RP-NC), and Senator John P. St. John (CS-KA), although notably the party leader Senator James B. Weaver (RP-IA) did not outright support the merger. Representative Jerry Simpson and Senator John P. St. John. Troubles also arose within the ruling party itself. With Custer's moves in office being controversial not only nation-wide but also within his own party. Many Commons were repulsed by Custer's appeal to nationalists and populists, like his push for isolationism, labor reform, free trade, and anti-gold standard policies, which saw as the reason why the current economy was entering a small recession. The Custer administration was also known as notoriously corrupt, though Custer himself was more blind to the issue than actually involved in it, it was well-known that politicians like Secretary Tyler were making backdoor deals with businessmen like J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie, even personally aiding in putting down worker strikes. Representative William Kissam Vanderbilt (P-NY) even once said, " The difference between a crafty serpent and a pro-big business politician? They have heels, I suppose.". These anti-reform and anti-Custerite politicians within the Commonwealth Party were called ' Reactionaries'. The reactionaries would included members like Senators Arthur Pue Gorman and John M. Palmer (C-IL) and Representatives like John Carlisle (C-KY). The reactionaries would form a major bloc within the party, often favoring militarism and traditional values in Congress, as seen from there opposition of the pro-reconciliation bills and their support for things like the gold standard and imperialism. But also from the other side of the spectrum are the people who see Custer as not reforming enough. Although they weren't as loud as the reactionaries and still mainly accept the situation, many still want more reform coming from the high office. The groups members included the likes of Representatives Samuel M. Jones (F-OH) and Charles N. Felton (C-CA), advocating mostly for internationalism, taxes, anti-corruption measures, and tariff reduction. Though more extreme politicians like Jones would call for monopoly busting, strong regulation, and direct elections. Senator Arthur Pue Gorman and Representative Charles N. Felton would represent two very different sides of the same party The Freedom Party had faced its largest split since the Federalist-Freedomite split during Henry Clay’s term. After the elections of 1888, the former Anti-Barnumites had taken control of most major positions in the main Freedom Party after the Conservative Freedom Party remerged with them. Staunch Anti-Barnumites like the pragmatic Representative Thomas Brackett Reed and stanch conservative Senator William Pierce Frye (F-MA) would all head their party in Congress. The remaining former Barnumites such as Representative William McKinley sought to amend the wounds between their counterparts and began the works to begin reconciling between the factions. Though many Freedomites were unsure about reconciling with the other faction, members like McKinley, Reed, and Representative Henry Clay Evans (F-TN) were influential in eventually mending their relations by the 1890 midterms, showing a mostly fully united party. This also was partly helped by the fact that former President Phineas Taylor Barnum would call for his old party’s unification, which had some mixed reactions in the party. The aging former President P.T. Barnum who would later die on April 1891 (read here about the Military Crisis of 1890 here) The Military's Resolve The government would once again refused the military extremists' demands of increased power. As such, the 700 or so extremists would attempt to storm the White House, with others were sent to seize government buildings and offices against the capitol. The D.C. police was immediately called to hold back the group and a shootout immediately ensued outside the White House. 2 hours passed as the shootout continued and both rebels and police were shot dead, the White House received significant damage due to artillery brought by the rebels, with some rebels even entering the now evacuated building. As the 3rd hour mark hit, military loyalist finally arrived at the scene, led by Harrison Gray Otis and Arthur MacArthur, the 3,000 loyalists sent engaged the rebels who were now resorting to guerilla warfare. 3 more hours would pass as the loyalists would trek to find the rebels scattered around Capitol Hill, it finally cease as the loyalists would find and capture both Jacob H. Smith and J. Franklin Bell hiding in an abandoned building, the remaining rebels would surrender in the 7th hour. Over 500 people would die in the so-called " Battle of Capitol Hill". Government loyalist in the outskirts of D.C. looking for rebels The affair caused a uproar across the nation, with some siding the government claiming the military was being spoiled, while some supported the rebel's calls claiming the remaining restrictions were still ruining their careers. It also divided the military more, with some siding with the loyalists and some adhering to the rebel's calls. Fears began to rise of a second Civil War due to such divisions, as some Reactionary politicians began to support the militarist cause. Immediate calls within the government were pushing for appeasement to the militarists to avoid another rebellion. Thus negotiators began to work on something to ease the stress of the military resulting in quite the controversial move. The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution would add 9 seats to the House of Representatives that would be designated for the military. Called the 'Military Representatives', 9 servicemen would be chosen from either branch of the military to serve as Representatives for the military's interests. The Representatives would be appointed by the president and approved by the Senate and members could be removed by the president during House elections. The amendment was ratified with astonishing speed, being ratified only two months after it was proposed on February 23, 1891 right before the 52nd Congress met on March 4th. Custer also personally backed the amendment, with others like Representative Thomas B. Reed and William Kissam Vanderbilt supporting it. The 9 Military Representatives were sworn in along with the other 349 normally elected Representatives. Despite the amendment being quickly ratified, it still faced major opposition from anti-militarists and especially the remaining Populists and Salvationists. Representative Henry Clay Evans about the amendment, " If this amendment were to pass, we would be nothing but lapdogs to the armed forces, always in fear of a military rebellion.". Senator Daniel W. Voorhees (P-IN) stated, " Giving any more powers to the military would strip our fairly elected government of independence and reason, as fear would now dominate our politics.". Speaker Alexander S. Clay (C-GA) would be ousted as Speaker by John Wanamaker after the midterms in an anti-Commonwealth vote, Clay would later state, " Was supporting the amendment to the Constitution the right action? I do not know that answer. Yet I know one thing. It was the only action there was." Results of the 1890 House of Representatives Elections Results of the 1890 Senate Elections Tommy the Man After the meltdowns of the past two years, Custer would focus in his domestic and foreign policy. Custer would continue his pro-reconciliation policies, achieving slow success across the south, with some forcefully integrated communities prospering and with some having being burnt to the ground. Both pro-labor and pro-business policies would be implemented, such as an 8-hour work day and a shorter work week, other than this, businesses would be usually deregulated and were given reigns in handling any of their practices, with businessmen such as J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller emerging as powerful figures nationally, with their monopolies being wide reaching. Cartoon mocking the rise of corporations and their growing power over politics Custer's more reformist policies would deter some of his allies against him, as the likes of Public Safety Secretary Lyon G. Tyler, who disliked Custer's rowdiness in politics in general. Tyler basically had enough went Custer vetoed many legislations that were drafted by the Commons themselves. Tyler resigned as Secretary on May 1891, being replaced by the more moderate John R. McLean. Despite being bashed for his reforms, Custer would also be criticized for his more conservative policies too. A believer in laissez-faire economics and free trade, Custer would refuse to intervene in the economy even when it entered a recession during 1890-91. Custer would often get criticized for allowing big business to skyrocket out of control with their monopolies and trusts, though he would claim his concern was only of the workers' well being. Governor Nathan Goff Jr. (P-VA) would criticize Custer's domestic policies by stating, " Protectionism, direct elections, and internationalism are core things we need in this day and age, not only in Virginia but nationally, yet the president has rejected all of them.". Custer's domestic policies would see opposition from the new reformed populists, which called the Commonwealth Party the party of ' Business, Booze, and Boors'. Custer, despite being a self-proclaimed 'isolationist', often had interest in foreign affairs yet couldn't act on them as fearing it would deter his supporters. When war broke out in South America in December 31, 1891, when Argentina, who is run by the dictator Nicholas Levalle who recently staged a coup against the government, and Bolivia invaded Chile and Paraguay (more on in the foreign events section), Custer privately sought intervention in favor of Chile and Paraguay to preserve their democracies. Yet Congress and the general public were staunchly against any intervention in South America as they saw as another foreign war. Anti-intervention sentiment grew even further when the Empire of Brazil intervened in favor of Chile and Paraguay on April 1, 1892, their force now being called the ' Continental Alliance', causing the scale of the war to increase and the death toll to grow. Though the public opinion was firmly sympathetic to the Continental Alliance, some in government sought to aid the ' Golden Alliance' of Argentina and Bolivia, as they saw helping them as a way to control their economy and politics, though yet again the majority rejected intervention. Custer did consult his cabinet on what to do on the matter, which Secretaries Sewall and Jones were in favor of intervention, though other like Secretary Cockrell and Attorney General Grant were against it which ultimately led Custer to not intervene for the time being. The US did sell highly demanded imports to both sides of the conflict, which yielded major profit. - Major Foreign Events - The War Down Even More South High inflation, corruption, and bad worker rights in Argentina caused major unrest against the government. The Revolution of Park broke out against the government then run by the conservative National Autonomist Party on July 26, 1890. The rebels captured an arms and ammunition facility in the city and began to arm themselves as government began to apprehend them. The government forces were caught off guard by the now armed rebels and were forced to retreat, the rebels then turned to the Casa Rosada and the president, the revolutionaries successfully broke through the guards and stormed the building, forcing President Manuel Celman to resign. A revolutionary junta was put in place of the government as a new larger government loyalist force was organized to recapture the capitol, which led was by General Nicholas Levalle. The loyalist force successfully defeated revolutionary resistance in the capitol and entered the Casa Rosada, the revolutionary junta was defeat although President Celman had been executed and Vice President Pellegrini had fled the city. Levalle, seeing an opportunity, declared himself emergency president, even rejecting Pellegrini when he returned to the city. Over the past months, Lavalle would style himself with dictatorial powers over the Argentine government, which only fueled his ego. General Nicholas Levalle of Argentina Lavalle was a man who opposed the resolve of the border dispute between Chile in Patagonia which restricted Argentina outside the Pacific Ocean. In tandem, Bolivia's Gregorio Pacheco, who succeeded his very pro-Chile predecessor, had designs on Chile after Bolivia had lost the War of the Pacific, as well as Paraguay. Lavalle had secret meetings with Pacheco regarding their plan on Chile, later including Paraguay to the discussion, many meetings later and they decided on a plan to demand land from both nations. Their militaries were built up in the coming months to prepare for the incoming conflict. On December 26, 1891, Bolivia sent an ultimatum to Chile demanding their coastal provinces lost in the War of the Pacific to be returned, Argentina would back them the next day. On the 27th, Bolivia demanded full recognition of the control of the Chaco region from Paraguay, which Argentina backed the same day. Given until the 31st to respond, the Chilean and Paraguayan governments refused to respond to the ultimatums, so on the 31st, Bolivia declared war on Chile and Bolivia, Argentina would declare war on January 2nd. The campaigns at first favored the 'Golden Alliance' of Argentina and Bolivia, which saw advanced in the north of Chile and southern Paraguay. By February, the Golden Alliance would be nearing the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, which worried their neighbor to the east, the Empire of Brazil. Empress Isabel I was facing a waning popularity, especially after her father abolished slavery, and the public were firmly against the Golden Alliance. Fearing Argentina's and Bolivia's victory would shatter trust in her even more, she decided to intervene. An ultimatum was sent to Argentina, dictating to end the war or face a blockade, the Argentinians ignored the order. Brazilian ships would begin a naval blockade against Argentina, but oddly some ships were ordered to go dangerously close to the Argentina coast on February 25th. As the ships grew near, the Argentine coast guard were unable to recognize the vessels and assumed they were Chilean and open fired. Despite Argentina apologizing for the incident, the affair caused enough outrage in Brazil to secure that a war was a certain. Brazil declared war on both Argentina and Bolivia on April 1st, forming the 'Continental Alliance' with Chile and Paraguay. The war would rage on from April-August as many foreign nations watched, with both sides gaining the upper hand many times and thousands dead or wounded. By August, both sides would be exhausted by war and bloodshed and needed something to tip the scales. Empress Isabel I of Brazil View Poll submitted by BruhEmperor to Presidentialpoll [link] [comments] |
2023.06.03 05:48 Zenseng Tips and Suggestions ; Road trip: Bay area to Grand Teton and Yellowstone
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2023.06.02 19:24 Ultim8_Lifeform Respect Godzilla! (Godzilla (Hanna-Barbera Cartoon))
GRAWWWWWWWWR
The Calico is a research vessel that sails all around the world investigating mysterious phenomenon. This often results in the ship's crew encountering all sorts of monstrous creatures and other dangers, but luckily they have friends in low places. With a push of the button (or a scream from their pet monster Godzooky), they are able to send a signal into the ocean's depths, summoning Godzilla to their aid. Using his fire breath, laser eyes, and incredible strength, Godzilla acts as a protector of humanity that constantly finds himself doing battle with other monsters and generally helping people that are in danger.
Strength
Striking
Lifting/Throwing
Other Monsters
Objects
Pushing/Pulling
Other
Speed/Agility
Durability
Blunt
Falling
Explosive
Heat
Cold
Other
Other Attacks
Firebreath
Laser Eyes
Misc.
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2023.06.02 08:53 WonderWomanPhi Summer To Do List
Here’s a list I’ve compiled of all the major summer events, thought it would be helpful:
Taste of Syracuse • June 2-3 11am-10pm • Clinton Square
Syracuse Bike Party • Last Saturday of each month, 6:45 meet time • Clinton Square (or alternative site)
Fayetteville Farmers Market CNY • Every Thursday, 12-6pm • Fayetteville Town Center
Syracuse Downtown Farmers Market • Every Tuesday, 8am-2pm • Clinton Square
Cazenovia Farmers' Market • Every Saturday, 9am-2pm • Memorial Park on Albany Street
Bank Alley Urban Market • June 11, July 16, August 13 • 11am-4pm • Bank Allley Downtown Syracuse
Bank Alley Social Club • Shop Small Sundays • June 18, July 23 • 11am-5pm • Located at Salt City Market
Syracuse Shakespeare In The Park • June 2-11 • Thornden Park Amphitheater
St. Sophia’s Greek Cultural Festival • June 8-10 • 325 Waring Road
CNY Pride Festival & Parade • June 10, 11am parade, 12-5pm festival • Inner Harbor
2023 New York State Blues Festival • June 15-17 • Chevy Court
Westcott Art Trail • June 17, 10am-6pm • Westcott Community Center
Polish Days in Syracuse • June 9-11 • Clinton Square
Syracuse Jazz Fest • June 21-25 • Hanover and Clinton Square
St. Elias Middle Eastern Festival • July 13-16, various times • 4988 Onondaga Road
Syracuse Nationals • July 20-22 • NYS Fairgrounds
M&T Bank Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival • July 28-30 • Columbus Circle
Skaneateles Antique and Classic Boat Show • July 28-30 • Skaneateles, NY
Visit Syracuse Hanover Square Thursdays • Live music every Thursday in August • Hanover Square Downtown
Madison Bouckville Antique Week • August 14-20 • Rt 20 Bouckville, NY
The Skaneateles Festival • Live music events • July-August, various dates • Downtown Skaneateles
St. George Macedonian Festival • August 4-6 • 5083 Onondaga Road
CNY Scottish Games • August 12, 9am-8pm • Long Branch Park, Liverpool
Syracuse Irish Festival • September 8-9 • Clinton Square
Strathmore Art on the Porches • September 9, 11am-5pm • Ruskin Ave
Golden Harvest Festival • September 9-10, 10am-5pm • Beaver Lake Nature Center
Festa Italiana Syracuse • September 15-17 • Corner of Montgomery and Washington Streets (in front of city hall)
Westcott Street Cultural Fair • October 1, 12-6:30pm • Westcott Neighborhood
LaFayette Apple Festival • October 7-8 • 5330 Rowland Road, LaFayette
Syracuse Mets Home Games June: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 28, 29, 30 July: 1, 2, 3, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 August: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 September: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Rosamond Gifford Zoo • Open every sinlge day • 10:00am - 4:30pm
Museums: • Skä•noñh - Great Law of Peace Center • Everson Museum of Art • Museum of Science & Technology - MOST • Erie Canal Museum • Salt Museum • Onondaga Historical Association
Theaters and stages: • The Palace Theatre Syracuse • Landmark Theatre • The Westcott Theater • The Oncenter • Syracuse Stage • Redhouse Theater
Some parks and beaches, more below: • Beaver Lake Nature Center (has lots of activities and programs!) • Clark Reservation • Green Lakes State Park • Sylvan Beach Amusement Park • Thornden Park
Onondaga County Parks • Find parks, beaches, and activities here:
https://onondagacountyparks.com Syracuse Parks & Rec • Find parks and activities here:
https://www.syr.gov/Departments/Parks-Recreation New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation • Find parks, beaches, activities, and historic sites here:
https://parks.ny.gov The Great New York State Fair Free/reduced price/theme days: ⭐️Thursday, August 24, 2023 Student Youth Day Youth and Students under 18 years of age are admitted free on this day. ID showing date of birth may be requested.
⭐️Friday, August 25, 2023 Pride Day The first state fair in America to host an official Pride Day to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community.
New Americans Day Witness approximately 100 people as they complete a long and challenging process to pledge their allegiance to the United States and become Americans. Ceremony will be held at Daniella’s Seafood & Pasta House in the Art & Home Center.
⭐️Monday, August 28, 2023 Law Enforcement Day We honor the men and women of law enforcement in New York State with free admission to any active or retired law enforcement or corrections personnel who presents a badge or picture ID from the department from which they are or were employed.
⭐️Tuesday, August 29, 2023 Fire & Rescue Day We honor the brave men and women of fire and emergency services agencies with free admission to any active or retired member of a fire department or emergency services organization who has a picture ID from that department or organization.
⭐️Wednesday, August 30, 2023 Women's Day A mini-fair will be held from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Chevy Court Pavilion featuring many advocacy groups for women… feel free to stop by to get information, learn, and ask any questions.
⭐️Thursday, August 31, 2023 Armed Forces Day We celebrate all members of the military with free admission to any active duty or veteran with military identification (Military ID Card, form DD-214 or NYS Driver License, Learner Permit or non-driver ID card with a veteran designation).
⭐️Friday, September 1, 2023 Native Americans Day We honor all members of Native American tribes with free admission on this day. ID is not required. Make sure to visit the Indian Village throughout the day for cultural performances and crafts.
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2023.06.02 07:12 sphericalduck Two days, 8 weeks post surgery
My husband and I (mid 50s) will be visiting for a couple of days two weeks from now. It will be my fifth time, his first. I will be 8 weeks out from ACL reconstruction surgery, so I should not walk as much as I normally would. 2-3 miles will be fine, and I can handle a flight or two of stairs, but I shouldn't spend too much time on my feet. My surgeon has okayed the trip as long as I avoid Times Square.
My ideas of things to do while sitting down are: see shows, eat food, ride ferries, sit outside listening to music, and sit in a comfortable place having a nice beverage. I would appreciate any advice about doing those things and any other ideas of things to do.
We're coming from the west coast, so we will be sleeping in and staying up late (we normally are up from 6am - 11pm, so what we would consider late is not really very late for a lot of people).
So far this is the itinerary:
Friday Arrive EWR at 8 am Take train to Penn Station Drop bags at Moxy times square Find food to eat 12:30 - 2:30 live piano at Bryant Park Hopefully room is ready by now, go back to hotel and rest 5:00pm dinner at Kochi 7:00pm Funny Girl 10 pm Find food and drinks
Saturday Eat bagels (Liberty Bagels is close) Take the St. George ferry from W 39th to Staten Island. Take the St. George ferry back up to Battery Park, see 9/11 memorial, eat at Eataly Take subway back to hotel Alternate idea: Take St George ferry to Staten Island, then Staten island ferry back to whitehall, then take east river ferry to East 34th. Fit lunch in somewhere. Rest at hotel, or find a nice park or something Eat dinner somewhere, probably in Hell's Kitchen, maybe Tradisyon? 8:00pm Hadestown 11pm more food and drink if needed
Sunday Need to be at the airport by 1:30 (flight leaves at 3:30 but we have brunch reservations at United's "secret" restaurant)
Any ideas, especially for places we could sit outdoors and hear live (but not too loud) music?
There's a ridiculous looking bar on the roof of our hotel called Magic Hour, should we check it out? It's not the sort of place we'd normally go but it's right there.
Thanks for any advice, and thanks for all the advice you've given other people. I've learned a lot from browsing this subreddit.
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2023.06.02 05:56 NeedleworkerSad357 Overview of the Blackmail Running Our World
This post is an overview of some of the blackmail tactics used to control most of the influential people and governments around the world. Obviously I cannot cover everything in a single post, so as with my previous posts I highly encourage you to research further yourself. All sources and links are at the bottom of the post. An understanding of what trauma-based mind control programming (MKULTRA/MONARCH) is, and how it works, is again necessary to understanding much of this. My other posts here:
The world is run on blackmail, mind control, and shame.
There exist many collections of videotapes of 'high-up' people engaging in some of the worst, sickest things imaginable. Drugs, torture, pedophilia, and murder are common themes to these videos. These tapes are in the hands of many different people, groups, and especially intelligence agencies. 'Honey-trap' operations are constantly being run to gather compromising and incriminating evidence on people of importance. Child slaves will be used to compromise people on video. Global leaders are often covertly videotaped doing perverted things with sex slaves sent to them by intelligence agencies, the Illuminati, or other groups, and this is then leveraged. Rape and murder of a child (forced or not), one of the most repulsive things possible, is many times filmed to ensure future compliance.
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Back in 1966, Rothstein became the first police detective assigned to investigate the prostitution industry. Almost immediately he discovered an underground sexual blackmail operation that compromised politicians with child prostitutes. ‘Human Compromise’ is what he labelled the honey-trap process. Rothstein and his colleagues found that approximately 70 percent of top US Government leaders were compromised in this way. Rothstein said, the CIA conducted the human compromise operation, while the FBI was tasked with covering up any leaks."
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One of the things I found out over the last ten years of studying governments and listening to intelligence and counter-intelligence is that those in government are sexually compromised, and their sexual secrets are collected and then they are promoted into governments and into judiciaries and into all the positions of importance. Paedophilia is the preferred dirt as it is easily photographed, easily presented in a range of media, immensely shameful, and the public demands your resignation."
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Paul Bonacci, one of the victim-witnesses in the Franklin affair, also clearly stated Larry King used him in blackmail operations in New York and Washington. The latter was in connection with the activities of a close associate of Larry King, Craig Spence, who was involved in a prostitution ring consisting of underaged boys that were supplied to Washington's upper class, which went right up to the White House."
- The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks [11]
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The thing about pedophilia is it holds the most shame, therefore it has the most control over judges and lawyers, and Queen's councils and politicians and ministers. Sexually bent politicians in denial of their sexuality to the public are a threat to their own country and policies. They are easily setup, photographed, politically bribed, toppled, and supported in the destruction of their country. This method of altering a country’s policies is epidemic and now endemic to politics."
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Bob (Hope) was politically connected and knew how to lure people in and insure they would work for him. He invited them to his parties and dangled various kinds of illegal or immoral perversions in their faces. Once their perversions were uncovered, he could blackmail or control them. That is how Bob worked. Bob was very good at this. I watched him do it to people over and over. He lured them in, detected their weaknesses, then used that knowledge in his favor, for his connections, and ultimately for his personal gain."
These blackmail 'practices' are often used in conjunction with trauma-based mind control. This mind control is an integral component of, and is deeply intertwined with child trafficking, sex slavery, Satanic ritual abuse, and many other horrific crimes. Many of the children used for blackmail are programmed, and many of the people being blackmailed (including (sometimes future) politicians, leaders, presidents, etc.)
are also programmed themselves.
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My personal belief, based on my experiences, is that over the years, more leaders were under mind control."
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Fritz Springmeier notes that 'It is a standard tactic of the Illuminati, their New World Order and its various branches to use fear and blackmail to bring people into line.' Cheryl Beck had a 'sexy Sadie' program that was used to blackmail government and military people as a child prostitute seductress. Cathy O’Brien’s daughter Kelly was 'being prostituted to the CIA for blackmail purposes.' Svali notes that using child prostitutes to blackmail political leadership outside of the Illuminati was very common."
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Beryl-Green said Epstein knew about MKULTRA. He was into mind-controlling victims and satanic ritual abuse (SRA). Epstein was into DNA mixing, human cloning and he knew about New World Order plans."
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This dirty game has been honed to a fine art, which is a standard feature of the Illuminati/intelligence groups. The CIA term for blackmail is an 'OK FIX.' When they use a person’s past sins to force someone to do something they refer to this as 'biographic leverage.' Any weak point in a person can and will be exploited. Sexual entrapment for blackmail is referred to as a 'HONEY TRAP'. Black widow alters are being trained and sent out for this purpose. In order to blackmail, or threaten, you have to have something to threaten the person with. Men are frequently entrapped by sexual behavior which is criminal. Sometimes they are also entrapped by murder. The Monarch slave will be allowed to have children so that they can be blackmailed into complying to save the children or grandchildren. The Monarch slave in turn may be used to blackmail others. Certain alters are trained in this. A Monarch Beta model is highly trained in seduction. Many politicians and ministers are operating under blackmail today. The extent that blackmail is being used by the NWO would boggle people’s minds. Porn films are taken of the Monarch victims, so that they can be used to blackmail the victim. Monarch victims are forced to commit ritual murders which are photographed and then used to blackmail the mind-controlled victim."
Intelligence agencies all over the world utilize blackmail, routinely employing and exploiting it as much as possible. It is an extremely important 'tool' of theirs. Operations are done to gather the incriminating evidence.
"
Other 'neutralisations' verge on the bizarre. An individual who must remain nameless for a variety of reasons - but whose name is known to this writer - underwent an experience that is both horrific and chilling. I shall call this individual 'Mr. X' or, simply, 'X'. Mr. X was a leader of one of the largest CIA-backed Contra groups. He recently testified before the US Senate Intelligence Committee. Formerly, X was a senior executive in a South American subsidiary of a leading US soft drinks corporation. During his Senate testimony, he denied any knowledge of CIA involvement in the narcotics trade, adding that condoning such activity would have been foreign to his way of life. Not so, says Tatum. Mr. X had been recruited into the CIA by then-Director William Casey, with the assistance of Oliver North. In 1990, when Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega announced there would be 'free elections', X was ecstatic. He began jostling for position and asked President Bush to ensure he be given a prominent position in the new government - in return for his years of toil at the behest of the CIA and the Enterprise. The pressure came in a form that Bush could not ignore. Failure to help his friend would result in X's intimate knowledge of Bush's involvement in the dope trade being made public. His threat left Bush with a sour taste. A Pegasus team was assigned to 'neutralise' him in early 1990. Mr. X, Tatum states, 'fancied himself a lover of women. Tall, large-breasted blondes were his favourite. It was determined that, if effectively neutralised, [X] could be an asset. Therefore, it was decided that intimidation would be used to control [X].' They chose to use the drug Scopolamine, which also went by the nickname 'Burundanga' or 'the Voodoo drug'. The drug is extracted from the pods of a flowering shrub that grows in remote regions of South America. In its processed, powdered form, Scopolamine is 'void of smell, void of taste'. When properly administered 'it causes absolute obedience' without this being 'observable by others'. Importantly, the target will not recall any of the events that occurred during the period they were under the spell of the drug. Tatum states that X was invited to spend a relaxing weekend at a luxury hotel as a guest of his friend George Bush. His host for the weekend was a trusted 18-year veteran field-intelligence officer. The evening started with cocktails and was followed by a fine meal. ''Nothing but the best' were the orders.' Following the meal, he was ushered into the suite of a 'blonde bombshell' supplied by the CIA. Mr. X had already ingested a dose of Burundanga during pre-dinner cocktails. X was gallant with the blonde as they both moved into the bedroom where video cameras were already set up in one corner. In short order, the blonde had X standing naked in front of her and began to indulge his desires. All the while, the video cameras whirred. Slowly stripping off, the 'blonde' revealed his manhood in all its glory. Mr. X was instructed to reciprocate the favour and perform fellatio. He obliged, his intimate activities recorded at 24 frames a second on videotape. Tatum says the male prostitute was hired from a bar in New York and killed that same evening. Two weeks later, X - wholly unaware of the events of that evening - was visited in Nicaragua. He was presented with a copy of the video footage, along with instructions. Tatum says that X can never allow that video to be seen: 'Not only does it reveal his homosexuality, but it also reveals his bestiality and satanic worship rituals.' As frame after frame flicked by, X reportedly wept, forced to watch himself kill his homosexual 'lover' and then engage in the most grisly cannabalistic ritual imaginable. Neutralised, Mr. X became a leading member of the Nicaraguan government a few short weeks later."
"
Check out the FBI records on Scarlett: What was his original HOOK that got him so deeply embedded into UK Illuminati culture? He murdered the nanny of Lord Lucan in the 1970's. Lucan wasn't actually involved. Scarlett got it wrong. He was under mind control at the time. How we all laughed on his training sessions when we heard that one. Not funny, really. We were all in the same boat. Each had something terrible attached to us, in our past. That is all part and parcel of the Illuminati contract. Young people forced under mind control to commit murder when young and then later on, picked up by British Intelligence to be used and abused as they wished - as loyal servants of the British Crown. One can only hope that by exposing these HOOKS, that some sort of amnesty can prevail. If these people are freed from the demonic Illuminati contract by exposing their HOOKS - one can only hope that they will come forward as a sizeable and influential body of political and public figures, in order to put an end to it. Here's hoping. Check out Rimington's hook to see what sort of mind ran MI5 for so long. It's a game called 'mafia' and it is ALL about blackmail."
"
...He had previously signed off on Epstein’s 'sweetheart deal' because Epstein 'had belonged to intelligence.' Acosta, then serving as US attorney for Southern Florida, had also been told by unspecified figures at the time that he needed to give Epstein a lenient sentence because of his links to 'intelligence.'"
"
Detective Rothstein found that the CIA were behind a blackmail operation in which child prostitutes were used to honey-trap and compromise politicians, military brass, top businessmen, and key government officials. Rothstein, who arrested the key Watergate perpetrator, said Watergate solely concerned this human compromise racket, and specifically was an attempt to obtain a list of compromised pedophile VIPs and their proclivities that was held at the Democratic National Headquarters."
"
Michael Aquino was in the military. He had top Pentagon clearances. He was a pedophile. He was a Satanist. He founded the Temple of Set. And he was a close friend of Anton LaVey. The two of them were very active in ritualistic sexual abuse. And they deferred funding from this government program to use in this experimentation on children. Where they deliberately split off the personalities of these children into multiples, so that when they're questioned or put under oath or questioned under lie detector, that unless the operator knows how to question a multiple-personality disorder, they turn up with no evidence. They used these kids to sexually compromise politicians or anyone else they wish to have control of...they were taken to be used by professional pedophiles. People that have the money to buy what they want, take the kids wherever they want...and by splitting the children’s personalities they could then train each one of the personalities to do a different function. And the rest of the personalities within that host personality would not be aware of it or remember it."
- Noreen Gosch, Johnny Gosch's mother (of the 'Franklin Boys') [1]
"
Vinson also told Nick Bryant that Spence and Larry King were 'partners' and 'hooked up with the CIA', stating specifically that 'King and Spence were in business together, and their business was pedophilic blackmail.' They were transporting children all over the country. They would arrange for children to be flown into Washington, DC and also arrange for influential people in DC to be flown out to the Midwest and meet these kids. Per Vinson, Larry King had confided in him that he had clients who liked to torture and even kill children: 'King said they had clients who actually liked having sex with kids as they tortured or killed the kid. I found that totally unbelievable.' After Vinson said this to Nick Bryant, he asked Bryant later on in the interview if King’s disclosure had indeed been true. He was unaware at the time that other evidence, including witness testimony, had suggested that it was."
"
According to fugitive ex-CIA officer Frank Terpil, CIA-directed sexual blackmailing operations were intensive in Washington at about the time of the Watergate scandal. One of those operations, Terpil claims, was run by his former partner, Ed Wilson. Wilson's base of operations for arranging trysts for the politically powerful was, Terpil says, Korean agent Ton Sun Park’s George Town Club. In a letter to the author, Terpil explained that ‘Historically, one of Wilson’s Agency jobs was to subvert members of both houses [of Congress] by any means necessary. Certain people could be easily coerced by living out their sexual fantasies in the flesh...A remembrance of these occasions was permanently recorded via selected cameras...The technicians in charge of filming were TSD [Technical Services Division of the CIA]...The unwitting porno stars advanced in their political careers, some of whom may still be in office.'"
- The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks [11]
"
Intelligence and counter intelligence ‘work’, and they ‘work together’ to create scenarios that are so unbelievable that they cannot be published in the mainstream media, and if they are, they will appear like a joke. The information to blackmail a country, to blackmail its politicians, to blackmail its Prime Ministers and Presidents, to blackmail its judges and lawyers is a very serious matter."
The Illuminati and other cults also engage in the same blackmail operations. There is a
huge overlap between secret societies/cults and intelligence, with top intelligence usually being run by them. All of them do this.
"
I was able to have first hand access to the Jeffrey Epstein case investigation documents. According to the documents, Epstein was the head of a global fraternity related to the Shriners called The Royal Order of Jesters. This order is covered with scandals and lawsuits related to human trafficking, but they are very protected because many members of the order are high-profile political figures and businessmen. It is crazy how these people manage to operate under the radar for so many years, decades...Now you may ask how they do this? Easy...By using blackmail tactics, they manage to have Judges and Law Enforcement licking their feet. That's how Jeffery Epstein got assassinated. After he was out of the game, the whole business is run by other people. Major names are involved and many high-profile people who are all bound to the order by means of blackmail. This is particularly disturbing when you find out that the cases of Catholic priests involved in sex scandals are events organized by The Order of Jesters. They run blackmail operations with the purpose of seducing people in power...With those videos in their power, the careers and the public image of many people are in the Jester's hands. They are free to do anything, they can turn even the President of the United States into a slave."
-- "Jeffrey Epstein Post" [7]
"
Illuminati 'FROG ON A LILYPAD' programming: The FROG as a paedophile - with no 'tadpole tail/tale', as in no memory of what he/she has done until they get past 40 years old. It becomes clear that so many people were forced to be paedophiles and to abuse their children - only to wake up to all of this later on - post 40 years old. Then to have Stella Rimington on their doorstep with a videotape - telling them that she will send it to the police if they do not do precisely what she says. The ultimate blackmail weapons combined: A tape of you committing paedophilia - and even worse - incest with your own children. Guaranteed to 'silence' most people for life. The scope of this Illuminati blackmail project has been immense, in British society and it has to be exposed. There is safety in numbers."
"
(Sue) Arrigo adds that the kids with the most smarts and/or looks, about 5% are skimmed off the top by the Luciferians in charge like the Bushes and used as either spies or corporate sex slaves or both. They’re typically pimped out on high priced loans to influential politicians as house boy and girls to ensure the puppets in Congress are happy and blackmail-able for control."
"
The Masonic leadership of Freemasonry in a given area will have thousands of 'blackmail' files on essentially everyone of importance in their area. Upper echelon people such as judges, lawyers, and politicians are generally controlled via IRS infringements, and many of the lower echelon people are controlled through weird sexual items. This is where the Delta and Beta Monarch slaves are so helpful to the Illuminati. (This information comes from several witnesses who are informed about the blackmail files & their methods for blackmailing.)"
These people are already in power, and have set their system up so that nobody rises to a prominent, powerful, or influential position without being selected, extensively compromised, controllable, and usually under mind control. They are all 'in it together', and because of this they protect eachother. Most have 'insurance' on one another.
"
The most common phrase associated with that one was ‘talk about the pot calling the kettle black’, meaning that each Illuminati slave had been caught on camera and from an early age – doing something terrible – as Rimington was fond of saying ‘we are all as bad as each other and all in it together.’"
"
Oftentimes when I and others were prostituted to various government (New World Order) leaders, Dante had hidden cameras filming perverse sexual acts apparently for future blackmail leverage. These videos were scandalous in proportion and were usually ordered by Reagan. Dante turned the videos over to Reagan, and covertly kept copies to protect himself. Dante converted a small room of his Beverly Hills mansion into a security vault, where he kept his personal copies of the international blackmail porn tapes there. Blackmail was openly initiated to ensure that each criminal participant understood that if one fell, they all fell. Maintaining 'dirt' on each other through this Mafia-style method was seemingly the only way these criminals implementing the New World Order kept each other 'honest.'"
"
The Watergate break-in was strictly based on one thing - the pedophile records that were being kept at the Democratic National Headquarters."
- Detective James Rothstein (NYPD, Retired) [6]
"
In 1972, Rothstein arrested one of the five Watergate burglars, CIA operative Frank Sturgis. During a subsequent two-hour interrogation, Rothstein discovered the truth about Watergate (plus Sturgis’ and the CIA’s involvement in the Bay of Pigs incident, and the related assassination of JFK). Sturgis told Rothstein, the Watergate burglars sought something they nicknamed ‘The Book’ which listed the Democratic and Republican politicians who accessed child prostitutes, their sexual proclivities, the amounts they paid to rape kids, etc."
There are certain places known for this, two famous examples being Little St. James island or Bohemian Grove (there are many, many others).
"
For those of you who are interested in Bohemian Grove and the current list upon the Internet of those poor unsuspecting 'invitees' who will be pressganged into going (and subsequently blackmailed out of their minds afterwards, by the Illuminati)...the entrapment going on at Bohemian Grove is of an avaricious and esoteric nature - in relation to all of those unlucky 'invitees' who want to join this 'prestigious club' but then get videoed doing things that they wouldn't want anyone to know about - 'guests' who are then subsequently blackmailed out of their brains...and for the rest of their lives. But then that was what the Illuminati cult and their Sat B'hai contract has always been about...promising that you would get everything for nothing (if you agreed to be unquestioningly obedient to the Crown) and that you would now be part of an 'esoteric' prestigious Satanic club."
"
Numerous videos are covertly produced at the supposedly secure political sex playground in northern California, Bohemian Grove. High tech undetectable cameras use fiber optics, and fish-eye lenses were in each of the elite club's numerous sexual perversion theme rooms. I was programmed and equipped to function in all rooms at Bohemian Grove in order to compromise specific government targets according to their personal perversions. 'Anything, anytime, anywhere with anyone' was my mode of operation at the Grove. My perception is that Bohemian Grove serves those ushering in the New World Order through mind control, and consists primarily of the highest Mafia and U.S. Government officials. Project Monarch mind controlled slaves were routinely abused there to fulfill the primary purpose of the club: purveying perversion. Bohemian Grove is reportedly intended to be used recreationally, providing a supposedly secure environment for politically affluent individuals to 'party' without restraint. The only business conducted there pertained to implementing the New World Order, through the proliferation of mind-control atrocities, giving the place an air of 'Masonic Secrecy'. The only room where business discussions were permitted was the small, dark lounge affectionately and appropriately referred to as the Underground. The wooden sign was carved to read: 'U.N.DERGROUND'. My purpose at the Grove was sexual in nature, and therefore my perceptions were limited to a sex slave's viewpoint. As an effective means of control to ensure undetected proliferation of their perverse indulgences, slaves such as myself were subjected to ritualistic trauma. Slaves of advancing age or with failing programming were sacrificially murdered 'at random' in the wooded grounds of Bohemian Grave, and I felt it was 'simply a matter of time until it would be me'. Rituals were held at a giant, concrete owl monument on the banks of the Russian River. These occultish sex rituals stemmed from the scientific belief that mind-controlled slaves required severe trauma to ensure compartmentalization of the memory. I witnessed the sacrificial death of a young, dark-haired victim at which time I was instructed to perform sexually 'as though my life depended upon it'. I was told, 'The next sacrifice victim could be you.' The club offered a 'Necrophilia' themed room to its members. I was so heavily drugged and programmed when used in the 'necrophilia' room, that the threat of actually 'slipping through death's door' and being sacrificed 'before I knew it' did not affect me. Other perversion theme rooms at the Bohemian Club included what I heard Ford refer to as the 'Dark Room'. When he not so cleverly said, 'Let's go to the Dark Room and see what develops,' I understood from experience that he was interested in indulging in his perverse obsession for pornography. In the Dark Room, members had sex with the same mind-controlled slave they were viewing in porn on a big screen television. There was a triangular glass display centered in a main through way where I was locked in with various trained animals, including snakes. Members walking by watched illicit sex acts of bestiality, women with women, mothers with daughters, kids with kids, or any other unlimited perverse visual display. I was once brutally assaulted by Dick Cheney in the Leather Room, which was designed like a dark, black leather-lined train berth. There was a room of shackles and tortures, black lights and strobes, an opium den, ritualistic sex altars, a chapel, group orgy rooms including poster beds, water beds, and 'kitten' houses. I was used as a 'rag doll' in the 'toy store,' and as a urinal in the 'golden arches' room. From the owl's roost to the necrophilia room, no memory of sexual abuse is as horrifying as the conversations overheard in the Underground pertaining to implementing the New World Order. I learned that perpetrators believed that controlling the masses through propaganda mind manipulation did not guarantee there would be a world left to dominate due to environmental and overpopulation problems. The solution being debated was not pollution/population control, but mass genocide of 'selected undesirables'."
News 'headlines' with hidden symbolic communication are also used by intelligence and other groups, many times referring to blackmail (among the many other varieties of covert operations).
"
'Nuclear' is a comm used all over the world to symbolize extraordinarily explosive information, like blackmail. Which is why if we reconcile blackmail with news about nuclear, a secret truth will become clear. The two most powerful blackmailers ever? That would probably be Jeffrey Epstein and Hugh Hefner. And this is why the deaths of blackmailers like Hugh Hefner and Jeffrey Epstein both coincided with 'Nuclear Accidents':"
08/09/2019 Is Putin covering up a Nuclear disaster? - 08/09/2019 = Russia Hides a Nuclear Accident!
- 08/10/2019 = CIA Blackmailer Epstein Dead
- 09/26/2017 = Russia Hides a Nuclear Accident!
- 09/27/2017 = CIA Blackmailer Hefner Dead
09/26/2017 Nuclear explosion kept secret by Russia "
Why are CIA blackmailers dying the day after Russia declares nuclear accidents? The reason for the -1 day in Epstein’s case is they likely died before the official day, and these comms were to give agents a heads up on the upcoming BOOM before it hits papers. In Hefners case they had to signal people to move the blackmail. The point as stated is a lot of 'nuclear' is all about blackmail. Not all of it, but a lot of it."
- "Symbolic Communication" [9]
Blackmail is a worldwide 'practice', with all countries and their governments engaging in aquiring and utilizing it to the fullest.
"
Just as the 1986 Mirano scandal, the X-Dossiers contain evidence that sexual blackmail operations, whoever is running them, are not limited to the United States. In 1996, X1 reported how the same activities had been going on in Brussels."
"
As the bewildered Belgians tried to make sense of what was going on, incredible rumours began circulating that Dutroux might have been protected in some way, that he had friends in high places. Pornographic videos taken from his home were said to feature prominent individuals, one a senior member of the Roman Catholic church. It almost defied belief. Who would protect a psychopath, other than people with something truly terrible to hide?...'It is quite obvious,' said Katarin de Clercq, Belgian coordinator of the pressure group End Child Prostitution Abduction and Trafficking, 'that some people were protecting Dutroux. The government tried to convince us that he was a lone serial killer and psychopath, but now we hear stories about unnamed famous personalities being involved in sex orgies and blackmail and pornographic video tapes. People feel that something is completely wrong here and we have to show we will not tolerate it.'"
- The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks [11]
"
I was unfortunate enough to attend the IHS Templar Castle rite in 2001. Amongst the people in attendence were: J. K. Rowling. Gordon Brown. David Miliband. Stephen Daldry. Stella Rimington (she was the Dr. Mengele of the organisation, organising the torture and murder of kidnapped children). Dr. Joanne Collie. Andrew Marr (he spent most of the time naked and screaming - off his head on some form of narcotic). John Scarlett (he was so drunk/drugged up that he had very little idea of what was going on around him). The Templars had captured a large amount of people whom they called the 'snakes' i.e. slaves in a large dungeon underneath the castle. One brave person managed to set them free and the result in the neighbouring village of Mons and other places nearby, ensured that the British Army had to move in. Thus began the most incredible cover-up in recent European history. It was like WACO, Guyana. I was one of the 'slaves' taken at that castle but subsequently freed by the British Army (who also know what happened - a MASSIVE cover-up). The British Army ordered those in the Castle to come out. They then sent a tank in to bulldoze the walls. Prince Philip and Prince William were in that Castle. Both of them had murdered countless tiny children in their rites. The British Army assembled watched as both walked out with large, dark, woven potato sacks over their heads. They were then bundled into a van and driven away. The name SPUDNIKS was coined because Prince Philip and Prince William had to exit the castle with potato sacks pulled down over their heads and bodies. The British Army present at the time - may or may not have had any idea who they were but the SIS general there, certainly did. They might have managed to cover it up regarding the ordinary soldiers there but the videotapes are now on sale worldwide. The whole event had been closely monitored for blackmail purposes."
The CIA also blackmails incestual/pedophilic parents for their children to use in trauma-based mind control slave projects like
MONARCH.
"
My Uncle Bob, also implicated in manufacturing the porn, out of apparent desperation informed my father of a U.S. Government Defense Intelligence Agency TOP SECRET Project to which he was privy. This was Project Monarch. Project Monarch was a mind-control operation which was 'recruiting' multigenerational incest abused children with Multiple Personality Disorder for its genetic mind-control studies. I was a prime 'candidate,' a 'chosen one'. My father seized the opportunity as it would provide him immunity from prosecution."
"
The expendables are the children of parents who were blackmailed into turning their children over to the CIA. This is all hidden by the power of the National Security Act. These are children, who have been sold by pedophile fathers, or pornographic parents. The programmers/masters program them with the expectation that they will be "thrown from the freedom train" when they get to age 30. (Freedom Train is the code word for the Monarch trauma-based mind-control. To be thrown from the Freedom Train means to be killed.) The CIA and the Illuminati are skilled at blackmailing parents to give up their children. They would watch the mail for porn. Pedophile and murderers who abuse their children are warned that they will go to prison for long lengths of time if they do not cooperate by selling their children into mind-controlled slavery. In return for the parent’s cooperation, they provide rich financial rewards to the parent(s). It’s clearly a case of 'if you don’t cooperate you lose in life big time, if you do cooperate you win big time.'"
Blackmail is the glue holding all of the sick people in charge together, one of the top methods of control.
This is the truth. Blackmail, pedophilia, and mind control are how this world is really run. "
Former CIA director William Colby giving advice to John DeCamp, urging him to quit his investigations into the Franklin child abuse affair:"
"
'What you have to understand, John, is that sometimes there are forces and events too big, too powerful, with so much at stake for other people or institutions, that you cannot do anything about them, no matter how evil or wrong they are and no matter how dedicated or sincere you are or how much evidence you have. This is simply one of the hard facts of life you have to face.'"
- The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks [11]
"
Again, it’s built in, entrenched foxes guarding the predatory henhouse that permeate all levels of government, military, courts, law enforcement, entertainment and news media, corporate global finance and education. With pedophile puppet masters controlling the pedophile puppet strings of blackmailed, compromised and controlled Western politicians, courts and law enforcement, their diabolical infrastructure has afforded them living above the law continuing to rape and kill our innocents for centuries."
Links and Sources [1] -
Noreen Gosch Speaks About - Jeff Gannon, Johnny Gosch And The Attempted Theft Of Her Book 'Why Johnny Can't Come Home' [2] -
Master List of Quotes and Comments - Ex MI5/MI6 Agents and Royal Arch Illuminati slaves
[3] -
Trance-Formation of America [4] -
One Nation Under Blackmail [5] -
Thanks for the Memories [6] -
Eyes Wide Open [7] -
"I had access to classified documents about the Jeffrey Epstein case" [8] -
Child Trafficking, Ritual Sex Abuse & MK-ULTRA Are A Single Worldwide Operation, Run by the U.S., U.K. and AUS Secret Services [9]-
Symbolism Communication [10] -
An Illuminati Primer - Veronica Swift, Jessie Czebotar
[11] -
The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks [12] -
The Hallett Report No. 1 [13] -
The Pegasus File [14] -
Anatomy of the Luciferian Elite’s Global Child Sex Trafficking Pedophile Operations - Joachim Hagopian on CathyFoxBlog
[15] -
The Illuminati Formula Used To Create An Undetectable Mind Control Slave - Fritz Springmeier and Cisco Wheeler
[16] -
Deeper Insights Into the Illuminati Formula - Fritz Springmeier and Cisco Wheeler
[17] -
Hope Beryl-Green Article submitted by
NeedleworkerSad357 to
conspiracy [link] [comments]
2023.06.02 04:29 ccaarrssoonn Looking for a valuation model template
I am in the early stages of looking at buying a short term rental in St George, Utah and was hoping to find a valuation and cashflow model template if anyone had one handy. So if you have one or know where to find one, let me know!
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2023.06.02 03:27 discosanfrancisco Favorite Hidden Spots
In response to a post saying that this sub is super toxic (which it is), I wanted to post some fun stuff!
I’ve lived within 40 miles of San Francisco my whole life and have lived in the City longer than anywhere else. I also used to work as a tour guide.
Favorite hidden, off-the-beaten-path places in San Francisco:
Wave Organ (Marina District) Prayerbook Cross (Golden Gate Park) El Polin Spring (Presidio) Harry St Steps (Fairmount/Glen Park) Philosopher’s Way (McLaren Park) Athens-Avalon Stairs (Excelsior) Quesada Gardens (Bayview) House Boats (Mission Bay) McElroy Octagon House (Cow Hollow) Pretty much everything on Angel Island
Please add yours!
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2023.06.02 02:19 hackzubbard 2024 Post-Spring/Pre-Summer Recruiting Overview
We're now in that sweet spot after A-Day and before Summer OVs/Camp Season where it makes sense to take note and reflect. Remember that camp season likely changes this board dramatically and we'll see a good # of decision (both to Alabama and elsewhere) throughout June and early July.
Rankings Note: Every comic is someone's first so here's how to read/interpret/understand the rankings listed below: Commits and Top Targets will show their 247 Composite Rank, their On3 Composite, and their Comp
2 Ranking, which is just the raw average of the 2 composite ranks, rounded down. This overview will just reflect the pre-summer top targets/names to know and not the full list. Summer camp season will drastically change this list (new big board in July/August)
# of 4/5* change each year but I like a little consistency so here's generally how I arbitrarily split it, based on the average year-over-year data:
5*: #1-#32
4*: #33-#350
3*: #351-#2000
QB (1 Needed/1 Commited) Overview: Barring something crazy, a team's QB will be the most important player on the field 9 times out of 10. Bama's looked around for a potential 2nd option but is pretty content with their 5* QB of the Future already commited
Name | H.S. | Rank | Notes |
Commits | | | |
1. 5* Julian Sayin | Carlsbad in Carlsbad, CA (SoCal) | 247: #11 , On3: #14, Comp2: #12 | One of the most "ready" prospects in the 2024 class, Julian is very skilled at every facet of QB play - might not be the highest ceiling from an NFL perspective but very likely the highest floor. Julian commited to Alabama somewhat out of the blue but has been locked in since and the Tide's primary leader on offense in this class. This is your QB of the Future. |
RB (1-2 Needed/0 Commited) Overview: Alabama has good RB depth heading into 2023 but could very likely lose both Jase and Roydell at the end of the year so 2 RBs again this cycle feels right. It's doubtful it'll have the star power of the Haynes/Young duo from '23 but I would not sleep on the 2024 targets.
Name | H.S. | Rank | Notes |
Top Targets | | | |
1. 4* Kevin Riley | Tuscaloosa County in Northport, AL (Tuscaloosa area) | 247: #97, On3: #102, Comp2: #99 | A homegrown talent, Riley does it all, running with great balance, breaks contact and gets going in a hurry. Top 3 of Bama, Auburn, UGA - this should end up being an Iron Bowl battle that Alabama wins, though it does appear Riley might take his time. If Alabama pushes hard, he could be a summer commit. |
2. 4* Daniel Hill | Meridian in Meridian, MS (E MS) | 247: #196, On3: #194, Comp2: #195 | One of the more unique RB prospects, Daniel Hill is a big bodied guy but plays a ton of receiver as well - not a comparison but could have a Najee Harris-esque roll. Alabama is battling South Carolina here, with the Cocks having some buzz after an early Bama lean. Bama is not done here but might need to press harder. |
3. 4* Nate Frazier | Mater Dei in Santa Ana, CA (SoCal) | 247: #76, On3: #74, Comp2: #75 | One of the nation's top RB prospects with some of the best long speed, Nate Frazier will push for #1 back status in 2024. Frazier is pretty wide open currently, being highly desired by both the local west coast school and the SEC powerhouses. I'd have trouble projecting him anywhere yet but it would be really cool if it was Alabama. |
WR (2-4 Needed/2 Commited) Overview: Alabama has taken 10 non-transfer WRs over the past 2 cycles so while I think they'll take a normal # in 2024, I'd lean more towards 3 than 4 total, unless a 'best available' type wants in
Name | H.S. | Rank | Notes |
Commits | | | |
1. 5* Perry Thompson | Foley in Foley, AL (Mobile area) | 247: #27, On3: #29, Comp2: #28 | A taller receiver, Perry thrives with straight-line speed and a suprising ability to weave through space - Thompson earned his offer last season in camp routing up 2023 5* DBs. As a high-ranking prospect, Perry is somewhat keeping his options open and will likely take visits but has repeatedly reaffirmed his commit - Alabama's steady pursuit should allow them to hold on. |
2. 4* Rico Scott | Bishop McDevitt in Harrisburg, PA (Cent PA) | 247: #372, On3: #289, Comp2: #330 | A real smooth operator - plays RB and WR and is at his best going up the field. A bit of a suprise to some, Bama had seen him previously in camp and then watched his fall progress and saw what they needed to pull the trigger. I think we'll finish in the top 150-170 |
Top Targets | | | |
1. 4* Amari Jefferson | Baylor School in Chattanooga, TN | 247: #270, On3: #288, Comp2: #279 | My favorite realistic WR addition - his vertical and lateral speed POP off the screen, looks like a top 75 guy. Currently a Tennessee baseball commit, football is his likely future, as Alabama and Georgia battle it out. This will be a tough battle but one I very much hope the Tide wins. |
2. 4* Aeryn Hampton | Carthage in Carthage, TX (E TX) | 247: #116, On3: #126, Comp2: #121 | More fast than quick, Aeryn runs like a RB, weaving through traffic and hitting the jets. Aeryn has been up-front about his love for Alabama and has narrowed his list to Bama and Texas, his former commitment. Aeryn has the green light to commit but seems like a guy who could go back and forth so unclear where this ends up. |
3. 4* Cam Coleman | Central in Phenix City, AL (E AL) | 247: #54, On3: #25, Comp2: #38 | This guy's the real deal - big bodied but with slot speed and one of the best high-pointers in the class. Alabama's been trying to get him on campus and he's been uninterested, so the communication has been laid back. Cam and Perry Thompson kinda fill the same role so it's not a huge concern but Auburn is leading here and would give Hugh Freeze a real weapon. |
TE (1-2 Needed/0 Commited) Overview: I think *how* Tommy Rees constructed/called his ND offenses is a bit overblown in how his Bama offenses will look (you play with the talent you have) but Bama has been trying to find their Kyle Pitts/Brock Bowers/Michael Mayer for years now - really since OJ Howard/Irv Smith with a brief detour into Jahleel Billingsley. Alabama would like multiple bodies here if available but would really like a least one really good on in 2024
Name | H.S. | Rank | Notes |
Top Targets | | | |
1. 4* Caleb Odom | Carrollton in Carrollton, GA (W GA) | 247: #85, On3: #69, Comp2: #77 | A true mismatch nightmare, Odom is a true receiving threat TE, big bodied with room to grow but a little slender currently. Caleb is kinda wide open at the moment but this feels like one where Bama should start to push, with UGA snagging two of their targets in Jaden Reddell and Colton Heinrich |
OL (4-5 Needed/0 Commited) Overview: Alabama brought in a big OL class in 2023, which is already living up to expectations behind the scenes. They'll try to repeat the process in 2024, as they continue to re-tool their OL room
Name | H.S. | Rank | Notes |
Top Targets | | | |
1. 4* OT Daniel Calhoun | Walton in Marietta, GA (Atlanta Metro) | 247: #86, On3: #106, Comp2: #96 | A mammoth of a prospect, Calhoun has the look of a SEC lineman, able to play on the left or right side of the offensive line. Top 3 of Bama, UGA, and Texas but suprise suprise, this looks like another Bama/UGA battle. Feel better about Bama in this one but it's close and OVs will be big. |
2. 4* IOL Casey Poe | Lindale in Lindale, TX (E TX) | 247: #142, On3: #134, Comp2: #138 | One of the most coveted interior prospects, Poe boasts both a mean streak as well as the ability to move the center, making him about as A1 as you can get for an interior OL prospect. Top 3 currently would be Alabama, Oklahoma, and UGA. Will be a tough battle but Alabama is the perceived leader heading into visits. Bama REALLY wants him. |
3. 4* OL Jordan Seaton | IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL (Originally from Washington DC) | 247: #41, On3: #42, Comp2: #41 | Big, athletic frame who could end up playing inside or out - Seaton prefers OT but somecurrently leaning towards IOL. Ohio State was and is very involved but Bama/UGA feel like the primary players since making the move to IMG. I believe he visited for the A-Day game and it certainly seems like Bama will be an option until the end here. |
4. 4* OT Marques Easley | Kankakee in Kankakee, IL (NE IL) | 247: #263, On3: #240, Comp2: #251 | A longer and leaner tackle prospect, Bama and UGA are again involved with Tennessee being the 3rd team in the mix, as well as the possible leader. Despite the Vols' early lead, this one can really go any direction after visits. |
5. 4* OT Weston Davis | Beaumont United in Beaumont, TX (SE TX) | 247: #180, On3: #124, Comp2: #152 | A basketball-first prospect with high-upside as an OT, Davis has some interest in Bama but local programs like Texas A&M are getting some good recent buzz. Think it'll be paramount for Weston to camp. |
DL (3-4 Needed/1 Commited) Overview: Another unit Alabama's been trying to step-up, talent is a necessity in 2024
Name | H.S. | Rank | Notes |
Commits | | | |
1. 4* DE Jeremiah Beamon | Parker in Birmingham, AL | 247: #103, On3: #98, Comp2: #100 | Alabama's most recent commitment, Jeremiah is a FORCE rushing the passer, a little undersized with plenty of room to grow before a potential reneissance. If that sounds like Quinnen Williams, it's because that's the comp he's been getting. Many thought he'd be a sooner or later kinda commit and he went ahead and stopped messing around. |
Top Targets | | | |
1. 5* DE Eddrick Houston | Buford in Buford, GA (Atlanta Metro) | 247: #15, On3: #15, Comp2: #15 | High upside, athleticism, and flexibility - bit of a tweener for the Saban defense who could slim down to an Anfernee Jennings role and add some weight to try and emulate Jonathan Allen. Another prospect that I think comes down to Bama and UGA, I feel better about Bama's chances here than with Eddrick's Buford teammate, KJ Bolden. |
2. 4* DT Terrance Hibler | Holmes County Central in Lexington, MS (Cent MS) | 247: #281, On3: #368, Comp2: #324 | A bit undersized, Terrance makes up for it with violence, punch, and pure 'want-to'. Alabama has made a great early impression, alongside local Miss State, and the Tide are in a great spot if they choose to push here. |
3. 3* DE Utah Commit Isaia Faga | Central in Phenix City, AL (E AL) | 247: #733, On3: #676, Comp2: #704 | Alabama has seen some recent success with Pacific Island players but it's rare to have one so local. Isaia excels at getting through traffic and getting into the backfield. Isaia's uncle is the Utah DL coach, leading to the early commitment, but Alabama is interested in seeing him camp and who knows where it could go from there. |
EDGE (1-2 Needed/1 Commited) Overview: The highest star rating per capita, talent is hardly a problem here but we'd love to have more.
Name | H.S. | Rank | Notes |
Commits | | | |
1. 4* Cayden Jones | Christ School in Arden, NC (W NC) | 247: #147, On3: #171, Comp2: #159 | Alabama has been looking more and more at hybrid LB types who could end up on the EDGE or off-ball (Jihaad Campell, Qua Russaw) - Cayden Jones is another, playing a ton off-ball and walking down to the edge and will likely project into a Terrell Lewis/Dallas Turner - type role. Since last year, Cayden had been up-front about wanting the green light to commit and jumped on it when he got the chance. |
Top Targets | | | |
1. 5* Dylan Stewart | Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington DC | 247: #10, On3: #9, Comp2: #9 | Maybe the top pure Edge guy, Dylan reminds me of Keon Keeley from last cycle; similar build, bend and length. Visits to Alabama, Ohio State, Miami, South Carolina and UGA have put all 5 in contention, similar to Keeley. I'd give the Gamecocks and Hurricanes the edge going into the summer but Alabama is RIGHT there and another visit to campus could flip the script. |
2. 4* Jordan Ross | Vestavia Hills in Birmingham, AL | 247: #38, On3: #33, Comp2: #35 | A high-end Edge, Jordan flashes natural talent that can only grow with development. A little undersized, Alabama has told him to gain weight and camp prior to a serious pursuit, giving UGA and Tennessee an early lead. This could change quickly this summer, as Jordan finds his way onto campus. |
3. 5* Colin Simmons | Duncanville in Duncanville, TX (DFW Metro) | 247: #4, On3: #3, Comp2: #3 | One of the Nation's top athletes, Simmons effortlessly flies around off the edge. LSU and Texas are battling it out thus far but Alabama will continue to work here. |
LB (2-3 Needed/1 Commited) Overview: There's somewhat of a logjam of older player at the LB position so I would expect attrition after 2023, which will need to be replaced by incoming players.
Name | H.S. | Rank | Notes |
Commits | | | |
1. 4* Sterling Dixon | Mobile Christian School in Mobile, AL | 247: #188, On3: #164, Comp2: #176 | Similar to Cayden Jones, Sterling is another hybrid type - beginning as an edge type with some off-ball experience, Sterling will transition to ILB this offseason for Mobile Christian and then at Alabama. A long-time commit, Sterling will take some visits but there's not a huge concern there. |
Top Targets | | | |
1. 5* UGA Commit Demarcus Riddick | Chilton County in Clanton, AL (Cent AL) | 247: #25, On3: #38, Comp2: #31 | Demarcus is an excellent example of a modern LB and exactly what Alabama wants from the position: excellent weaving through traffic, sideline-to-sideline movement and can shade down to rush the passer. An early UGA commit, the strength of that commitment has wavered significantly and while there's still some work to do, the feeling is he could very likely flip to Alabama over the summer. |
2. 5* Justin Williams | Oak Ridge in Conroe, TX (Houston area) | 247: #13, On3: #12, Comp2: #12 | Similarly archetypal LB prospect: a bit slight at the moment, he makes up for it with WR-level speed and burst, making him a real weapon against a high-powered offense. Oregon, Alabama, and UGA are the likely top 3 - Bama made a good impression this spring but needs to get him back on campus ASAP - feels like UGA could swoop in here if Riddick flips. |
3. 4* Bradley Shaw | Hoover in Hoover, AL (Birmingham area) | 247: #176, On3: #139, Comp2: #157 | More of a traditional ILB, football IQ and sure tackling give him a Shaun Dion Hamilton feel. Alabama, Auburn, and UGA are the top 3 schools and this feels like Iron Bowl battle, where Alabama will win or lose based on how they push to reel him in. |
DB (4-5 Needed/1 commited) Overview: You gotta take a solid # of DBs every cycle but CB is one of the most important/most needed positions in 2024 after losses to the transfer portal.
Name | H.S. | Rank | Notes |
Commits | | | |
1. 5* CB Jaylen Mbakwe | Clay-Chalkville in Pinson, AL (Birmingham area) | 247: #19, On3: #17, Comp2: #18 | A legitimate two-way player, Mbakwe, like Kool-Aid before him, could have been a 5* WR as well as DB but prefers defense. Jaylen is the defensive leader of the class and will be pretty instrumental in how the defensive class comes together. |
Top Targets | | | |
1. 5* CB Charles Lester III | Riverview in Sarasota, FL (Cent FL) | 247: #16, On3: #19, Comp2: #17 | An all-around athlete with the ability to play multiple DB positions, CL3 could be commited or off the board at any moment. There's a clear interest in Alabama on his end but the Tide have yet to really push, leaving the door wide open for FSU. He OVs on June 3rd so it's likely that we'll have a better idea of where Bama goes after that. |
2. 4* CB Jameer Grimsley | Tampa Catholic in Tampa, FL | 247: #230, On3: #195, Comp2: #212 | Somewhat of the prototypical Saban corner, with a long and lean build and a wingspan for days. Jameer has seen his recruitment skyrocket this spring and schools like Bama, FSU, and Penn State are pushing. Bama's got a great shot for this prospect who should continue to rise. |
3. 4* S UGA Commit Peyton Woodward | St. John Bosco in Bellflower, CA (SoCal) | 247: #69, On3: #70, Comp2: #69 | Peyton shows good play speed and flows to the target in run defense; a good balanced safety. Peyton has not been shy about letting other programs try to flip him from the Dawgs and his family is full of Alabama fans, making the Tide a very possible flip option. |
4. 4* CB Zabien Brown | Mater Dei in Santa Ana, CA (SoCal) | 247: #57, On3: #56 , Comp2: #56 | Zabien is a physical pass defender who excels at getting in passing lanes and making plays on the ball - not a specimen but a true competitor. As a Mater Dei kid, the axiom has been USC most often has first right of refusal so we'll see how the summer visits go and if Bama can/will make a push here. |
5. 5* S KJ Bolden | Buford in Buford, GA (Atlanta Metro) | 247: #8, On3: #5, Comp2: #6 | Likely the top DB in the 2024 class, KJ is how they come; a true 5* safety. UGA has a healthy lead thus far but Bama (alongside others) will have a chance to fight back during summer OVs |
6. 5* CB UGA Commit Ellis Robinson IV | IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL (Originally from CT) | 247: #5, On3: #7, Comp2: #6 | One of the stickiest DBs in the class, Ellis was the other 5* CB alongside Alabama freshman Desmond Ricks at IMG in 2023. Alabama led early but UGA got the momentum and the commitment. It's likely Ellis will take visits, including a potential OV to Alabama, but I would not predict a flip to Alabama at this time or in the future. |
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2023.06.01 22:09 clearliquidclearjar TALLAHASSEE WEEKLY EVENTS, 6/1 – 6/7
Events are listed by the day. Events that happen every week appear first, one time stuff after that. If you have anything you’d like people to know about, comment here or message me and I’ll add it in. If you’d like further info about any of the events, look it up! I usually don’t have any extra to add.
Large Scale, Ongoing, and Multi-Day Events Local Running, Walking, and Biking Info: https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/ OutdooFarmer’s Markets: - Lake Ella Grower's Market: Wednesday, 11am-2pm. You can always find organic vendors, and foragers: The Holistic Cannabis Community, Artzi Farms, Hickory Nut Gifts, and others. Including Pita Queen! Farmer's Market Nutrition Program Coupons gladly accepted!
- Frenchtown Market: 524 N MLK Jr Blvd. Saturdays, 10am to 2pm. Come grow community and support your local farmers and makers, while you get your groceries for the week! Don’t forget! We match SNAP/EBT, so you DOUBLE your money to go towards locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables!
- Tallahassee Farmers Market: 2904 Kerry Forest Pkwy, Saturdays, 8am to Noon. Come see us at Tallahassee's longest-running farmers market! We are a year-round market, featuring local farms and vendors that provide the best seasonal produce, meats, baked goods, and more. We welcome you and your whole family (leashed pets included) to come out and meet your local farmers! Ample parking is available between our lot and the shopping center lot next door (by Red Elephant). Come early for the best selection.
- Tallahassee Downtown Market: Ponce de Leon Park, Saturdays, 10am-2pm. Join us for a stroll in the park among local makers, bakers, artists and farmers as live music is played by local musicians!
THURSDAY, 6/1 - Blue Tavern: Happy Hour Pickfoolery. 5pm
- The Hub at Feather Oaks: Bingo. 6pm
- Dreamland BBQ: Weekly Open Blues Jam. If you'd like to sing, please bring your own mic. 6pm
- Blu Halo: Upside Avenue. 6pm
- Lake Hall: Thursday Night Paddle Series. Weekly paddles at Lake Hall every Thursday starting at 6PM. The park closes on a sliding scale each night dictated by sun set. The park entrance fee is $6.00 (the ranger station closes at 5:30 and they typically do not charge for entry after this time). While there is no fee for this event ALL paddlers must have filled out the ACKC insurance waiver. Link here: https://form.jotform.com/JLAagency/apalachee-canoe--kayak----club-waiv Welcome to our weekly Thursday night paddling event at Maclay Gardens State Park in Tallahassee, Florida. Our event is designed to be both casual and instructional, offering paddlers of all skill levels the opportunity to improve their kayaking abilities while enjoying the beautiful surroundings. Starting at 6pm and ending at sunset, our weekly paddling event will provide participants with the chance to learn and practice different strokes, capsize recovery, and kayak rolling techniques. Sometimes there will be knowledgeable instructors on hand to provide guidance and instruction helping you to develop your skills and build your confidence on the water. Whether you are a beginner looking to learn the basics of paddling or an experienced paddler looking to improve your technique, our event is perfect for you. We welcome all skill levels and provide a supportive and encouraging environment to help you achieve your goals. Join us each Thursday evening at Maclay Gardens State Park and experience the thrill of kayaking while learning new skills and making new friends. Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to improve your paddling abilities and explore the beauty of Tallahassee's natural surroundings. 6pm
- The Great Games Library: Solforge Fusion Sealed-Deck Tournament. Anyone interested in SolForge: Fusion, please come out! Thursday nights at 6:00pm to 9:00pm ish will be dedicated to SolForge Fusion gameplay and weekly tournaments. If you play or have played MTG but would like to spend less, this is a great alternative CCG with inexpensive entry and minimal purchases to enjoy playing competitively. In-store and online tournaments may be played with the same decks purchased at any store. SolForge was created by the same designer for MTG, Netrunner, and Key Forge, Richard Garfield, and the designer for Ascension, Justine Gary. 6pm/$35 Entry Fee for 4 Sealed Half-decks, Special Art Playmat Prize for 1st Place
- Oyster City Brewing Co: Open Mic Night! Join us on Thursdays from 6:30-9:30 PM for Open Mic Night hosted by the incredible Mike Ingram of The Brown Goose! 🎙️ 🎶 This is your chance to show off your skills! Whether you're a musician, poet, comedian, or have a hidden talent, we can't wait to see what you bring to the stage. 6:30pm
- World of Beer: Trivia Night. 7pm
- Lake Tribe III: Trivia. 7pm
- Smitty's Taphouse: Trivia Lab Thursdays. Teams of 6 or fewer players can compete for $30 / $20 / $10 Prizes + The Golden MacGuffin prize table! New format! Interactive smartphone answering for your comfort and safety! 6 Fun Rounds - 42 Total Questions. 7:30pm
- House of Music: Prime Rib Thursday & Karaoke. 7:30pm
- Cap City Video Lounge: Red Zone Cuba: MST3K May the Fourth Double Feature. Join us Thursday as we climb aboard The Satellite of Love along with Joel, Tom Servo and CROOOOWas the Gang riffs filmmaker Coleman Francis' 1966 neo-noir art film magnum opus, RED ZONE CUBA! immediately proceeded by the short, SPEECH: PLATFORM, POSTURE AND APPEARANCE! 8pm/free but donations encouraged
- Fire Bettys: Electronic Thursdays. There will be rotating music genres from local artists! 8pm/free/21+
- Poor Pauls: Trivia. 8/21+
- 926: Karaoke. 9pm
- La Casa: Comedy Night! 9pm
- Fire Bettys: Electronic Show. Join us for Experiment 002 and take a mind-bending trip into the sound of the future! Our electrifying music party will transport you to another dimension with cutting-edge beats and non-stop excitement. 9pm
- Bird’s: Karaoke with Nathan. 9pm
- Blue Tavern: Bluegrass Jam with Dennis Hardin. 5pm
- Blue Tavern: Wasted Potential Brass Band. 8pm
- House of Music: Steeln’ Peaches: The Music of the Allman Brothers Band. 8pm
FRIDAY, 6/2
- Lake Tribe: Flannel Friday. Flannel Fridays will be featuring a wide range of fall themed 'Pop-up' activities such as food trucks, live music, campfires, s'mores roasting, new seasonal brews, and more! Come dawn your flannel and cozy up to the simpler things in life. Our beers taste like the outdoors feel, let our tasting room be your Friday cabin retreat. 4pm
- Gamescape: MTG Friday Night Magic. FORMAT: Standard Constructed. Swiss rounds as determined by the number of players with a maximum of 5 rounds. 7pm/$5
- Hobbit West: Friday Night Dart Tournament. Anyone can Enter! Sign ups at 7:30, Darts fly at 8:00/$10 entry fee
- Ouzts Too: Karaoke with DJ Nathan. Best karaoke DJ in town. 8pm
- Club Downunder: CDU X Hip Hop Club Presents Freestyle Friday. Show off your freestyle rap or poetry skills at Freestyle Friday! Doors are at 7:30 with the show starting at 8:00 in Club Downunder! Send an email to [email protected] to sign up! 8pm
- The Bar at La Casa: Karaoke with DJ FUSION. 9pm
- Just One More: Karaoke with DJ Rah. 9pm-11pm/21+
- 926: The Hot Friday Night Party and Drag Show. 9pm/$5/18+
- Pixels and Pigments: First Friday PRIDE. 2pm
- Blue Tavern: Everett Young. 5pm
- Pedro’s: Billy Rigsby. 5:30pm
- Square Mug: Jordie Hendrix. 6pm
- Common Ground Books: Artist Workshop Series June Crochet Workshop. * Join us as we crochet the night away! Friday June 2, 2023 from 6-8pm for our Monthly Crochet Workshop taught by Peter's Crochet Array! Beginner and intermediate crocheters welcome. No crochet knowledge is needed before attending this class. Space is limited. All ages welcome. All participants will need a crochet hook (between size 4-6mm) and a skein of yarn. Participants can bring their own supplies, or we will be happy to provide them at cost. Space is limited. Make sure to sign up on our website to save your spot!* 6pm/$20 per person, (Optional) Supply fee: $8.00
- The Plant: Maker’s Market featuring local artists selling handmade items and live music by Bad Weather, High Speed Suicide, Speed Runner, ArsonGender, and Computer Man. 6:30pm
- Lake Tribe: Jonathan Reid Project. 6:30pm
- Ology Midtown: Kanise featuring Facey. 7pm
- Mickee Faust Club: First Friday Queer As Faust Kickoff. Bring your Pride to First Friday at Railroad Square's Art Walk. We'll be kicking off our month-long festival of Queer events, culminating in our 16th annual Queer As Faust Cabaret live show. While you enjoy the many shops and events Railroad Square Art Park has to offer, be sure to stop by our theater for some fun and festive activities including community art canvas, kids bubble zone, and music by our house band, Rodentia Preharmonium! 7pm
- Oyster City Brewing Co: Brett Wellman and the Stone Cold Blues Band! 7pm
- Island Wings: Lee C Payton performs a tribute to Kathryn Belle Long. 7pm
- The Wine House on Market Street: Midnight Caravan. 7pm
- Fire Bettys: Groove Merchants. 8pm/21+
- Duke’s and Dottie’s: Jared Walker. 8pm
- Barrel Proof: Kade Williamson. 8pm
- The Bark: Saturnalia, Gangs of Paris, Headfoam, and Wojtek. 8pm
SATURDAY, 6/3
- Brinkley Glen Park: Invasive Plant Removal. Join Master Gardener Volunteers at this weekly invasive plant removal event. This is a great way to learn to ID our invasive plant species and how to remove them. We recommend wearing long pants and sleeves, closed-toed shoes, gloves, a hat and mosquito spray. Bring gardening tools such as hand clippers, loppers, trowels, etc. if you have them. We are removing coral ardisia bushes and berries, nandina, tung trees, Tradescantia flumenensis, cat's claw vine, winged yam, Japanese climbing fern, skunkvine and more. Directions: The best way to get there is to take Meridian Rd to Waverly Rd, go to the next intersection and turn left onto Abbotsford Way, then turn left at the next road called Woodside Dr. At the stop sign turn left onto Lothian. Lothian ends in a cul-de-sac and there is a sign that says Brinkley Glen Park. 8:30am-11:30am
- The Rose Room: The Rose Revue. Performances by your favorite entertainers and special guests! Shows at 8pm, 10pm, & Midnight! A unique cast EACH show! 7pm
- Duke’s and Dottie’s: Line Dancing Plus Lessons. 7pm/21+
- Bird’s Oyster Shack: Laughterday Night Fever. This week: Five Year Anniversary Laughterday Night Fever! Join us every Saturday at Bird's Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack for a free comedy show! 8:30pm
- La Casa Bar: Karaoke With Nathan. 9pm-1am
- The Bark: Sickening Saturday Drag Show. 10:30/$10/18+
- Civic Center: Leon County Press the Chest. The annual Press the Chest community CPR training event is back on Saturday, June 3! Hosted by Leon County EMS, people of all ages are invited to learn the lifesaving skills of adult hands-only CPR, child CPR with breaths, adult and child choking relief, and AED awareness. Each participant will receive an American Heart Association CPR Anytime Kit containing a CPR manikin, DVD, and educational materials. Participants can take these personal CPR kits home to train family and friends. Register and learn to save lives at LeonCountyFL.gov/PressTheChest. 10am
- Midtown Reader: Donut Day Kidtown. Celebrate National Donut Day with us! We will be reading a fun donut-themed story and decorating donut holes! 11am
- Big D BBQ: Tally Bounce Fest. 11am/ages 12 and under to bounce
- Ology Powermill: Smoke Fest 2023. It’s going be a good time with BBQ, Cigars, Live Music, and Outdoor Festivities. We can’t wait to see everyone! Noon to close
- Mickee Faust Club: Basics of Burlesque Workshop. Join Sally B. Dash for a 75-minute workshop where you will learn a classic strip-tease routine with various options to make it your own! No previous dance or burlesque experience is necessary to have a great time! What to Bring: 1. A Button up shirt, robe, or another garment that opens from the front. 2. Wear clothing that you can move in but that also makes you feel good. 3. Wear shoes that will securely stay on your feet, heels if you want! Sally B. Dash is Florida’s Countess of Caricature, bringing her brand of funny to the fine art of striptease! A bawdy, boobalicious burlesquer, she has been tickling Gainesville’s fancy (and funny bone!) since 2013. 2pm/18+
- Rising Om Yoga: Emo Yoga Flow. 3:15pm/$20
- Midtown Reader: MEET AND GREET: Anne P. DePrince w/ Every 90 Seconds. 3:30pm
- Blue Tavern: First Saturday Swim with Bluegill Bill. 5pm
- Tally Print Studio (225 E Pershing St): Grand Opening featuring local printmakers, food vendors, live screen printing, clothing swap, and live music from DJ Enigumatic, Danitza, Rachel Hillman, and Sleep John B. 5pm-10pm
- Common Ground Books: Perfectly Queer- Interview and Q&A with Author Jillian Abby. 6:30pm
- Oyster City Brewing Co: Mechanical Lincoln. 7pm
- The Bark: Boy Named Sue, Teens In Trouble, and Copyright Claim. 7:30pm
- Square Mug: Suddenly, Bench Warmer, and Sarah Morrison. 8pm
- Mickee Faust Club: Queerlesque. Weirdos unite for an unforgettable evening of burlesque entertainment featuring an all-star cast from around the state! 8pm/18+
- Blue Tavern: Prine Time: Local Songwriters cover the music of John Prine. 8pm
- House of Music: The Funky ‘Taters featuring Lili Forbes and friends. 8pm
- Fire Bettys: Pop Punk & Emo Night. 10pm/$10
SUNDAY, 6/4
- Bicycle House: Sunday Ride. Ride at 10:30 AM from Bicycle House. We will ride the Cascades trail to the St Marks trail and down to Wakulla station and return, about 31 miles. Ride speed is 12 to 14 mph, with periodic regroups. Vernon Bailey is the ride leader. Vernon is a new CCC member who’s been biking for 50 years enjoys riding with small groups and weekend touring. 10am
- Gamescape: Pokémon League. Come learn, play, and trade with the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the Pokémon video games! We LOVE seeing new players, so come learn how to play! We play both the Trading Card Game and the Video Game casually and competitively. The store offers lots of different seating arrangements to meet our group's needs, as well as food, drinks, and Pokémon products for purchase. We are also hold regular, officially sanctioned tournaments for Pokémon Trading Card Game and Video Game Competitions! 2-4pm
- Lake Tribe: Colby Scheib. 3pm
- House of Music: Songwriter Sunday. Songwriters of Tallahassee hosted by Rachel Hillman. Bring your original songs on Sunday - sign up is at 4:30. No Cover Songs please - this is an event celebrating original music. Accompanists and Bands Welcome - you must be able to set up within two minutes, so no crazy pedals or amp shenanigans. No Backing Tracks - Please find someone to play your song with you. 5pm
- The Plant: Open Jam. All instruments, all players welcome. 5pm-9pm
- House of Music: Perkins Street Pickers. 5pm
- Oyster City Brewing: Comedy Night. Come have some laughs with us on Sunday nights! If you are interested in participating in the show, reach out to [email protected] 7:30pm
- The Rose Room: Synful Sunday. 8pm
- Common Ground Books: Clothing Swap. Clothing Swap! This event will take place the first Sunday of every month (unless otherwise noted). Bring your clothes you no longer want, fit, or no longer feel like "you", and switch them out or just donate them to others. Clothing for all ages welcome. Please bring clothes in a bin or box so they can be easily browsed. Any clothing left will be considered a donation and held for the next swap or be made available for those in need. 2pm
- Red Shed: First Sunday Blues Jam. 3pm
MONDAY, 6/5
- Just One More: Bingo. 5pm-6:30pm
- American Legion Hall: Cha Cha - Weekly Lessons. 6:15pm/$5
- Hangar 38: Bingo. 6:45pm
- Vino Beano: Tipsy Trivia. 7pm
- The Rose Room: Karaoke Night. 8pm
- Oyster City Brewing: The Bachelor Watch Party! 8pm
TUESDAY, 6/6
- Blue Tavern: Happy Hour with Paddy League. 5pm
- World of Beer: Poker Night. 6pm
- The Rose Room: Drag Bingo and Open Stage Night ft. Britney T. Foxx! 6pm
- Crafty Crab: BOOMIN' Karaoke. 7pm
- Ology Midtown: Jazz Jam Sessions. 7pm
- Island Wings: Trivia. 7pm
- House of Music: Tuesday Trivia & Karaoke. 7pm
- Burrito Boarder: Karaoke with DJ Roldus. 8pm
- Blue Tavern: Tuesday is Blues Day. Every Tuesday is Blues Day @ the Blue Tavern and Blues Meets Girl is a Tallahassee favorite. This perfect, intimate venue provides just what you need for both a mid-week break and authentic blues music experience. 8pm
- 4th Quarter: Professor Jim's Tuesday Night Trivia. Popular for a reason! 8pm
- Argonaut Coffee: Trivia Tuesday. 8pm
- 926: Tacos and Trivia. 9pm
- Fire Betty’s: Comedy Show. 9pm/21+
- Retrofit Records: Janelle Monáe “The Age Of Pleasure” Album Listening Party. 8pm
WEDNESDAY, 6/7
- Rose Room: Women's Wednesday. Featuring Our Rose Roulettes and drink specials all night long. A night for all of our female-identifying friends to enjoy a safe space and an awesome happy hour! 5pm-2am
- Blue Tavern: The Wednesday Night Lab Session. 5pm
- Sugar and Spice Tally: Game Night. Join us every Wednesday Night for community game night. Bring your own or use ours! Let me know if you need to reserve space for a large group. Free to attend! 5pm
- Tara Angel’s Magic: D&D Experience - Adult (18+) Group. Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition - Candlekeep Mysteries. A one-shot is a D&D event that starts and finishes in the same session, typically lasting 3 - 4 hours. We have pre-generated characters for players to choose from. WHAT TO BRING: Pencils, Dice (can be purchased in store), Mask (encouraged for unvaccinated participants), Enthusiasm! Please sign up in advance to reserve a spot in this campaign. Tickets can be purchased in-store, over the phone, or on the website. For more information, please email [email protected], or call: (850) 878-4555 6pm-9pm
- Goodwood: Wonderful Wednesday. 6pm/$5
- Level 8 Rooftop Lounge: Trivia. 6pm
- The Great Games Library: Open Game Night. 6pm/free
- American Legion Hall: Sue Boyd Country Western and More Dance Class. Session 2 - Beginner 6:30 to 7:45 pm What: East Coast Swing and Waltz. Cost: $8.00 per person. Wear comfortable shoes you can turn in. 7:45 to 8:15 - Practice dance with paid admission. 8:15 to 9:30: Intermediate - 2 Step and WCS. $8.00 per person or $13.00 for both classes. Vaccines are required. Face masks are optional. Changing partners is optional. 6:30pm
- Perry Lynn’s Smokehouse in Quincy: Wed Night Open Mic w/ Steven Ritter and Friends. 6:30pm
- Hangar 38: Trivia. 6:45pm
- Oyster City Brewing Tallahassee: Trivia. Teams up to 6 players for three rounds with 10 questions and a tie breaker each round. Winners are by round so don’t worry if you need to come late or can’t stay the whole time! Prizes include a round of beer, a 6 pack and a gift card! 7pm
- Proof: Trivia. 7pm
- Vino Beano: Wine Bingo. 7pm
- Fermentation Lounge: Trivia. 7pm
- House of Music: Open Mic at House of Music. Join us Wednesday nights for open mic in the bar with host Mike Ingram of The Brown Goose. Come early for Happy Hour and dinner! 8pm
- Blue Tavern: Warehouse Wednesdays Open Mic Night. The open mic night that has run continuously for almost 20 years, once housed at the Warehouse, lives on at the Blue Tavern. Doc Russell continues as the host with the most. Sign up starts at 8pm/free to attend
- Fire Betty’s: Karaoke! 8pm/21+/free
- Dukes and Dotties: College Night and Line Dancing Lessons. 8pm
- The Bark: Karaoke with DJ Nathan. Best karaoke DJ in town. 9pm
- 926: Dragged Out Wednesday. 10pm
- The Bark: Dikembe, Glazed, and Professional Businessman. 7:15pm
submitted by
clearliquidclearjar to
Tallahassee [link] [comments]
2023.06.01 21:31 Clay_Bricks Every retiring LEGO set (June 2023 update)
Another month, another retirement update! A lot of sets changed dates this month, and even more new sets got added! Which reminds me, I'm considering making a
/legoleak Discord server in order to expand more on leaks, answer questions, and provide daily retirement updates. If there's interest in that, I'll work on having it done before the next list!
As always, we owe a massive thanks to
ZombieYeti from the
BrickHound Discord for providing this valuable data. If you're looking for real-time in-stock/deal alerts for Lego.com and other sites, make sure to check out his server:
https://discord.gg/BwezK2t5qf This information is scraped directly from Lego's website, and all dates are subject to change.
ZombieYeti is currently developing a website to host this data and offer real-time updates. In the meantime, here is a list of every set and their corresponding retirement date as per LEGO's system!
FULL LIST ON GOOGLE SHEETS HERE <-- If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Due to Reddit's character limits, we can't include everything here, but the full spreadsheet contains every set.
CHANGES IN JUNE: Theme | Set # | Set Name | Old Date | New Date | Change |
Avatar | 75577 | Mako Submarine | Dec 31, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | -1 year |
Avatar | 75578 | Metkayina Reef Home | Dec 31, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | -1 year |
Classic | 11020 | Build Together | Dec 31, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | -1 year |
Duplo | 10966 | Bath Time Fun: Floating Animal Island | Dec 31, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | -1 year |
City | 60388 | Gaming Tournament Truck | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Creator | 31143 | Birdhouse | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Friends | 41735 | Mobile Tiny House | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Harry Potter | 75969 | Hogwarts Astronomy Tower | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Icons | 10306 | Atari 2600 | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Ideas | 21331 | Sonic the Hedgehog - Green Hill Zone | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Jurassic Park / World | 76946 | Blue & Beta Velociraptor Capture | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Jurassic Park / World | 76951 | Pyroraptor & Dilophosaurus Transport | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Marvel | 76226 | Spider-Man Figure | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Marvel | 76241 | Hulk Mech Armor | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Marvel | 76243 | Rocket Mech Armor | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Marvel | 76245 | Ghost Rider Mech & Bike | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Marvel | 76256 | Ant-Man Construction Figure | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Speed Champions | 76906 | 1970 Ferrari 512 M | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Speed Champions | 76907 | Lotus Evija | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Star Wars | 75333 | Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi Starfighter | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Star Wars | 75344 | Boba Fett's Starship Microfighter | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
Technic | 42138 | Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 | Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2024 | +1 year |
NEW SETS ADDED: Theme | Set # | Set Name | Retirement Date |
Holiday / City | 60381 | City Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Friends | 41758 | Friends Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Harry Potter | 76418 | Harry Potter Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Marvel | 76267 | Marvel Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Star Wars | 75366 | Star Wars Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71777 | Kai's Dragon Power Flip | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71778 | Nya's Dragon Power Drift | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71779 | Lloyd's Dragon Power Spin | Dec 31, 2023 |
Batman | 30653 | Batman 1992 Polybag | Dec 31, 2024 |
Batman | 76224 | Batmobile: Batman vs. The Joker Chase | Dec 31, 2024 |
Batman | 76252 | Batcave – Shadow Box | Dec 31, 2024 |
Batman | 76264 | Batmobile Pursuit: Batman vs. The Joker (4+) | Dec 31, 2024 |
Batman | 76265 | Batwing: Batman vs. The Joker | Dec 31, 2024 |
City | 60367 | Passenger Airplane | Dec 31, 2024 |
City / 2K Drive | 60395 | Combo Race Pack | Dec 31, 2024 |
City / 2K Drive | 60396 | Modified Race Cars | Dec 31, 2024 |
City / 2K Drive | 60397 | Monster Truck Race | Dec 31, 2024 |
Creator | 31144 | Exotic Pink Parrot | Dec 31, 2024 |
DREAMZzz | 40657 | Dream Village | Dec 31, 2024 |
Friends | 41756 | Holiday Ski Slope and Café | Dec 31, 2024 |
Friends | 41760 | Igloo Holiday Adventure | Dec 31, 2024 |
Harry Potter | 76419 | Hogwarts Castle and Grounds | Dec 31, 2024 |
Harry Potter | 76421 | Dobby the House-Elf | Dec 31, 2024 |
Icons | 40634 | Icons of Play | Dec 31, 2024 |
Mario | 71422 | Picnic at Mario's House | Dec 31, 2024 |
Marvel | 76249 | Venomised Groot | Dec 31, 2024 |
Marvel | 76261 | Spider-Man Final Battle | Dec 31, 2024 |
Marvel | 76262 | Captain America's Shield | Dec 31, 2024 |
Marvel | 76263 | Iron Man Hulkbuster vs. Thanos (4+) | Dec 31, 2024 |
Marvel | 76266 | Endgame Final Battle | Dec 31, 2024 |
Minecraft | 21247 | The Axolotl House | Dec 31, 2024 |
Minecraft | 21248 | The Pumpkin Farm | Dec 31, 2024 |
Minecraft | 21249 | The Crafting Box 4.0 | Dec 31, 2024 |
Minecraft | 21250 | The Iron Golem Fortress | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71789 | Kai and Ras's Car and Bike Battle (4+) | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71790 | Imperium Dragon Hunter Hound | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71791 | Zane's Dragon Power Spinjitzu Race Car | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71792 | Sora's Transforming Mech Bike Racer | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71793 | Heatwave Transforming Lava Dragon | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71794 | Lloyd and Arin's Ninja Team Mechs | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71795 | Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71796 | Elemental Dragon vs. The Empress Mech | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71797 | Destiny's Bounty - Race Against Time | Dec 31, 2024 |
Ninjago | 71798 | Nya and Arin's Baby Dragon Battle (4+) | Dec 31, 2024 |
Sonic | 76993 | Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot | Dec 31, 2024 |
Star Wars | 75359 | 332nd Ahsoka's Clone Trooper Battle Pack | Dec 31, 2024 |
Star Wars | 75360 | Yoda's Jedi Starfighter | Dec 31, 2024 |
Star Wars | 75365 | Yavin 4 Rebel Base | Dec 31, 2024 |
Star Wars | 75368 | Darth Vader Mech | Dec 31, 2024 |
Star Wars | 75369 | Boba Fett Mech | Dec 31, 2024 |
Star Wars | 75370 | Stormtrooper Mech | Dec 31, 2024 |
Duplo | 10987 | Recycling Truck | Dec 31, 2025 |
Duplo | 10994 | 3-in-1 Family House | Dec 31, 2025 |
Duplo | 10997 | Camping Adventure | Dec 31, 2025 |
Ninjago | 71799 | NINJAGO City Markets | Dec 31, 2025 |
Technic | 42161 | Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica | Dec 31, 2025 |
Icons | 10323 | PAC-MAN Arcade | Dec 31, 2026 |
Technic | 42160 | Audi RS Q e-tron | Dec 31, 2026 |
SETS RETIRING IN 2023: Theme | Set # | Set Name | Retirement Date |
Classic | 11015 | Around the World | Jul 31, 2023 |
Creator | 31123 | Off-Road Buggy | Jul 31, 2023 |
Disney | 10780 | Mickey and Friends Castle Defenders | Jul 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43203 | Aurora, Merida and Tiana's Enchanted Creations | Jul 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41962 | Unicorn Creative Family Pack | Jul 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71404 | Goomba's Shoe | Jul 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71407 | Cat Peach Suit and Frozen Tower | Jul 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71409 | Big Spike's Cloudtop Challenge | Jul 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71412 | Big Bad Island | Jul 31, 2023 |
Mindstorms | 51515 | Robot Inventor | Jul 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21187 | The Red Barn | Jul 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71738 | Zane's Titan Mech Battle | Jul 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71754 | Water Dragon | Jul 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71756 | Hydro Bounty | Jul 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71759 | Ninja Dragon Temple (4+) | Jul 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71762 | Kai's Fire Dragon EVO | Jul 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71770 | Zane's Golden Dragon Jet | Jul 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71773 | Kai's Golden Dragon Raider | Jul 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42129 | 4x4 Mercedes-Benz Zetros Trial Truck | Jul 31, 2023 |
Minifigures | 71038 | LEGO® Minifigures Disney 100 | Aug 31, 2023 |
Architecture | 21054 | The White House | Dec 31, 2023 |
Art | 31203 | World Map | Dec 31, 2023 |
Art | 31205 | Jim Lee Batman Collection | Dec 31, 2023 |
Art | 31206 | The Rolling Stones | Dec 31, 2023 |
Art | 31207 | Floral Art | Dec 31, 2023 |
Avatar | 75571 | Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch | Dec 31, 2023 |
Avatar | 75573 | Floating Mountains: Site 26 & RDA Samson | Dec 31, 2023 |
Avatar | 75577 | Mako Submarine | Dec 31, 2023 |
Avatar | 75578 | Metkayina Reef Home | Dec 31, 2023 |
Batman | 76181 | Batmobile: The Penguin Chase | Dec 31, 2023 |
Batman | 76220 | Batman versus Harley Quinn (4+) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Brickheadz | 40540 | Lion Dance Guy | Dec 31, 2023 |
Brickheadz | 40541 | Manchester United Go Brick Me | Dec 31, 2023 |
Brickheadz | 40542 | FC Barcelona Go Brick Me | Dec 31, 2023 |
Brickheadz / Avatar | 40554 | Jake Sully & his Avatar | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Disney | 40377 | Donald Duck | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Disney | 40378 | Goofy & Pluto | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Disney | 40476 | Daisy Duck | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Disney | 40477 | Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey & Louie | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Disney | 40550 | Chip & Dale | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Disney | 40553 | Woody and Bo Peep | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Disney | 40622 | Disney 100th Celebration (Oswald, Mickey, Snow White, Tinker Bell) | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Harry Potter | 40495 | Harry, Hermione, Ron & Hagrid | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Harry Potter | 40560 | Professors of Hogwarts | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Minecraft | 40624 | Alex | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Minecraft | 40625 | Llama | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Minecraft | 40626 | Zombie | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Star Wars | 40539 | Ahsoka Tano | Dec 31, 2023 |
BrickHeadz / Star Wars | 40623 | Battle of Endor Heroes | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 30590 | Farm Garden & Scarecrow Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 30638 | Police Bike Training Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 30639 | Dog Park and Scooter Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 41723 | Donut Shop | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 41726 | Holiday Camping Trip | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60253 | Ice-Cream Truck | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60313 | Space Ride Amusement Truck | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60314 | Ice Cream Truck Police Chase | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60315 | Police Mobile Command Truck | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60317 | Police Chase at the Bank | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60318 | Fire Helicopter | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60319 | Fire Rescue & Police Chase | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60320 | Fire Station | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60321 | Fire Brigade | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60322 | Race Car Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60323 | Stunt Plane | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60324 | Mobile Crane | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60325 | Cement Mixer Truck | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60327 | Horse Transporter | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60330 | Hospital | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60332 | Reckless Scorpion Stunt Bike | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60333 | Bathtub Stunt Bike | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60335 | Train Station | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60338 | Chimpanzee Smash Stunt Loop | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60339 | Double Loop Stunt Arena | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60341 | The Knockdown Stunt Challenge | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60342 | The Shark Attack Stunt Challenge | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60343 | Rescue Helicopter Transporter | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60346 | Barn & Farm Animals | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60348 | Lunar Roving Vehicle | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60349 | Lunar Space Station | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60350 | Lunar Research Base | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60351 | Rocket Launch Centre | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60353 | Wild Animal Rescue Missions | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60354 | Mars Spacecraft Exploration Missions | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60355 | Water Police Detective Missions | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60356 | Bear Stunt Bike | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60357 | Stunt Truck & Ring of Fire Challenge | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60358 | Cyber Stunt Bike | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60359 | Dunk Stunt Ramp Challenge | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60360 | Spinning Stunt Challenge | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60361 | Ultimate Stunt Riders Challenge | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60371 | Emergency Vehicles HQ | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60382 | Vet Van Rescue | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60385 | Construction Digger | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60390 | Park Tractor | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60393 | 4x4 Fire Truck Rescue | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60394 | ATV and Otter Habitat | Dec 31, 2023 |
City | 60398 | Family House and Electric Car | Dec 31, 2023 |
Classic | 11014 | Bricks and Wheels | Dec 31, 2023 |
Classic | 11018 | Creative Ocean Fun | Dec 31, 2023 |
Classic | 11019 | Bricks and Functions | Dec 31, 2023 |
Classic | 11020 | Build Together | Dec 31, 2023 |
Classic | 11021 | 90 Years of Play | Dec 31, 2023 |
Classic | 11022 | Space Mission | Dec 31, 2023 |
Classic | 11031 | Creative Monkey Fun | Dec 31, 2023 |
Classic | 30510 | 90 Years of Cars Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 30641 | Panda Bear Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 30644 | Vintage Car Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 31111 | Cyber Drone | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 31118 | Surfer Beach House | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 31127 | Street Racer | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 31128 | Dolphin and Turtle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 31130 | Sunken Treasure Mission | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 31131 | Downtown Noodle Shop | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 31132 | Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 40461 | Tulips | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 40469 | Tuk Tuk | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 40568 | Paris Postcard | Dec 31, 2023 |
Creator | 40646 | Daffodils | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 10777 | Mickey and Minnie's Camping Trip | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 30646 | Moana's Dolphin Cove Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 40521 | Mini Disney The Haunted Mansion | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 41168 | Elsa's Jewellery Box | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43187 | Rapunzel's Tower | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43189 | Elsa and the Nokk Storybook Adventures | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43194 | Anna and Elsa's Frozen Wonderland | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43196 | Belle and the Beast's Castle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43197 | The Ice Castle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43198 | Anna's Castle Courtyard | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43199 | Elsa's Castle Courtyard | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43202 | The Madrigal House | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43204 | Anna and Olaf's Castle Fun | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43207 | Ariel's Underwater Palace | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43208 | Jasmine and Mulan's Adventure | Dec 31, 2023 |
Disney | 43209 | Elsa and the Nokk's Ice Stable | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 30560 | Pineapple Photo Holder & Mini Board Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41801 | My Pets Bracelet | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41802 | Unicorns Forever Bracelet | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41803 | Extra Dots series 8 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41805 | Creative Animal Drawer | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41806 | Ultimate Party Kit | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41807 | Bracelet Designer Mega Pack | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41947 | Mickey and Friends Bracelets Mega Pack | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41948 | Cute Banana Pen Holder | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41950 | Lots of DOTS - Lettering | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41951 | Message Board | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41957 | Adhesive Patches Mega Pack | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41959 | Cute Panda Tray | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41960 | Big Box | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots | 41961 | Designer Toolkit - Patterns | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots / Disney | 41963 | Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse Stitch-on Patch | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots / Disney | 41964 | Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse Back-to-School Project Box | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots / Harry Potter | 41808 | Hogwarts Accessories Pack | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots / Harry Potter | 41809 | Hedwig Pencil Holder | Dec 31, 2023 |
Dots / Harry Potter | 41811 | Hogwarts Desktop Kit | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10411 | Learn About Chinese Culture | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10872 | Train Bridge and Tracks | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10882 | Train Tracks | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10930 | Bulldozer | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10938 | Dinosaur Nursery | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10944 | Space Shuttle Mission | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10948 | Parking Garage and Car Wash | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10949 | Farm Animal Care | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10955 | Animal Train | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10956 | Amusement Park | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10964 | Bath Time Fun: Floating Red Panda | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10966 | Bath Time Fun: Floating Animal Island | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10968 | Doctor Visit | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10972 | Wild Animals of the Ocean | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10973 | Wild Animals of South America | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10974 | Wild Animals of Asia | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10977 | My First Puppy & Kitten with Sounds | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10978 | Creative Building Time | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 10979 | Wild Animals of Europe | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo | 30648 | Whale Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo / Disney | 10899 | Frozen Ice Castle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo / Disney | 10960 | Belle's Ballroom | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo / Disney | 10962 | Buzz Lightyear's Planetary Mission | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo / Holiday | 10976 | Santa's Gingerbread House | Dec 31, 2023 |
Duplo / Marvel | 10963 | Spider-Man & Friends: Funfair Adventure | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 30633 | Skate Ramp | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 30634 | Friendship Flowers Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41443 | Olivia's Electric Car | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41677 | Forest Waterfall | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41696 | Pony-Washing Stable | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41697 | Turtle Protection Vehicle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41699 | Pet Adoption Café | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41703 | Friendship Tree House | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41704 | Main Street Building | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41705 | Heartlake City Pizzeria | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41707 | Tree-Planting Vehicle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41708 | Roller Disco Arcade | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41711 | Emma's Art School | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41712 | Recycling Truck | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41713 | Olivia's Space Academy | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41714 | Andrea's Theatre School | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41715 | Ice Cream Truck | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41716 | Stephanie's Sailing Adventure | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41717 | Mia's Wildlife Rescue | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41718 | Pet Day-Care Center | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41719 | Mobile Fashion Boutique | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41720 | Water Park | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41721 | Organic Farm | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41722 | Horse Show Trailer | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41729 | Organic Grocery Store | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41732 | Downtown Flower and Design Stores | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41733 | Mobile Bubble Tea Shop | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41741 | Dog Rescue Van | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41742 | Cat Hotel | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41743 | Hair Salon | Dec 31, 2023 |
Friends | 41751 | Skate Park | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 30435 | Build Your Own Hogwarts Castle Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 30651 | Quidditch Practice Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 75968 | 4 Privet Drive | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 75979 | Hedwig | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76386 | Hogwarts: Polyjuice Potion Mistake | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76398 | Hogwarts Hospital Wing | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76399 | Hogwarts Magical Trunk | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76400 | Hogwarts Carriage and Thestrals | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76401 | Hogwarts Courtyard: Sirius's Rescue | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76403 | The Ministry of Magic | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76406 | Hungarian Horntail Dragon | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76408 | 12 Grimmauld Place | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76409 | Gryffindor House Banner | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76410 | Slytherin House Banner | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76411 | Ravenclaw House Banner | Dec 31, 2023 |
Harry Potter | 76412 | Hufflepuff House Banner | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday | 40426 | Christmas Wreath 2-in-1 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday | 40522 | Valentine Lovebirds | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday | 40523 | Easter Rabbits Display | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday | 40570 | Halloween Cat and Mouse | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday | 40571 | Wintertime Polar Bears | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday | 80110 | Lunar New Year Display | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday | 80111 | Lunar New Year Parade | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / City | 60381 | City Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Creator | 30584 | Winter Holiday Train Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Creator | 30642 | Birthday Train Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Creator | 30643 | Easter Chickens Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Friends | 41758 | Friends Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Harry Potter | 76418 | Harry Potter Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Icons | 10293 | Santa's Visit | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Marvel | 76267 | Marvel Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Holiday / Star Wars | 75366 | Star Wars Advent Calendar 2023 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 10265 | Ford Mustang | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 10266 | NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 10273 | Haunted House | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 10276 | Colosseum | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 10289 | Bird of Paradise | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 10290 | Pickup Truck | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 10292 | The Friends Apartments | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 10299 | Real Madrid - Santiago Bernabéu Stadium | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 10497 | Galaxy Explorer | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons | 76989 | Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons / Modular | 10255 | Assembly Square | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons / Modular | 10270 | Bookshop | Dec 31, 2023 |
Icons / Modular | 10278 | Police Station | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ideas | 21325 | Medieval Blacksmith | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ideas | 21326 | Winnie the Pooh | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ideas | 21329 | Fender Stratocaster | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ideas | 21337 | Table Football | Dec 31, 2023 |
Jurassic Park / World | 76943 | Pteranodon Chase (4+) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Jurassic Park / World | 76945 | Atrociraptor Dinosaur: Bike Chase | Dec 31, 2023 |
Jurassic Park / World | 76947 | Quetzalcoatlus Plane Ambush | Dec 31, 2023 |
Jurassic Park / World | 76948 | T. rex & Atrociraptor Dinosaur Breakout | Dec 31, 2023 |
Jurassic Park / World | 76950 | Triceratops Pickup Truck Ambush | Dec 31, 2023 |
Jurassic Park / World | 76956 | T. rex Breakout | Dec 31, 2023 |
Lightyear | 76830 | Zyclops Chase (4+) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Lightyear | 76831 | Zurg Battle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Lightyear | 76832 | XL-15 Spaceship | Dec 31, 2023 |
Mario | 30509 | Yellow Yoshi's Fruit Tree Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71406 | Yoshi's Gift House | Dec 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71413 | Character Packs Series 6 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71414 | Conkdor's Noggin Bopper | Dec 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71415 | Ice Mario Suit and Frozen World | Dec 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71416 | Lava Wave Ride | Dec 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71417 | Fliprus Snow Adventure | Dec 31, 2023 |
Mario | 71418 | Creativity Toolbox | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 10781 | Spider-Man's Techno Trike (4+) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 10784 | Spider-Man Webquarters Hangout (4+) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 10790 | Team Spidey at Green Goblin's Lighthouse (4+) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 30652 | Doctor Strange's Interdimensional Portal Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76187 | Venom | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76193 | The Guardians' Ship | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76206 | Iron Man Figure | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76207 | Attack on New Asgard | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76208 | The Goat Boat | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76209 | Thor's Hammer | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76211 | Shuri's Sunbird | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76212 | Shuri's Lab (4+) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76213 | King Namor's Throne Room | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76214 | Black Panther: War on the Water | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76215 | Black Panther | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76216 | Iron Man Armory | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76225 | Miles Morales Figure | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76230 | Venom Figure | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76242 | Thanos Mech Armor | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76253 | Guardians of the Galaxy Headquarters | Dec 31, 2023 |
Marvel | 76255 | The New Guardians' Ship | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21164 | The Coral Reef | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21170 | The Pig House | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21172 | The Ruined Portal | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21177 | The Creeper Ambush | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21180 | The Guardian Battle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21181 | The Rabbit Ranch | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21183 | The Training Grounds | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21184 | The Bakery | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21185 | The Nether Bastion | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21186 | The Ice Castle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21188 | The Llama Village | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 21190 | The Abandoned Village | Dec 31, 2023 |
Minecraft | 30647 | The Dripstone Cavern/The Stalactite Cave Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Miscellaneous | 40174 | LEGO Chess | Dec 31, 2023 |
Miscellaneous | 40382 | Birthday Set | Dec 31, 2023 |
Miscellaneous | 40393 | LEGOLAND Fire Academy | Dec 31, 2023 |
Miscellaneous | 40584 | Birthday Diorama | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 30656 | Monkey King Marketplace Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 80008 | Monkie Kid's Cloud Jet | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 80030 | Monkie Kid's Staff Creations | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 80032 | Chang'e Moon Cake Factory | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 80033 | Evil Macaque's Mech | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 80034 | Nezha's Fire Ring | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 80035 | Monkie Kid's Galactic Explorer | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 80037 | Dragon of the East | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 80038 | Monkie Kid's Team Van | Dec 31, 2023 |
Monkie Kid | 80039 | The Heavenly Realms | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 30649 | Ice Dragon Creature Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71757 | Lloyd's Ninja Mech (4+) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71760 | Jay's Thunder Dragon EVO | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71761 | Zane's Power Up Mech EVO | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71763 | Lloyd's Race Car EVO | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71765 | Ninja Ultra Combo Mech | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71766 | Lloyd's Legendary Dragon | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71767 | Ninja Dojo Temple | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71768 | Jay's Golden Dragon Motorbike | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71769 | Cole's Dragon Cruiser | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71771 | The Crystal King Temple | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71772 | The Crystal King | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71774 | Lloyd's Golden Ultra Dragon | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71775 | Nya's Samurai X MECH | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71776 | Jay and Nya's Race Car EVO | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71777 | Kai's Dragon Power Flip | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71778 | Nya's Dragon Power Drift | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71779 | Lloyd's Dragon Power Spin | Dec 31, 2023 |
Ninjago | 71781 | Lloyd's Mech Battle EVO | Dec 31, 2023 |
Speed Champions | 30657 | McLaren Solus GT Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Speed Champions | 76900 | Koenigsegg Jesko | Dec 31, 2023 |
Speed Champions | 76901 | Toyota GR Supra | Dec 31, 2023 |
Speed Champions | 76910 | Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro and Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Speed Champions | 76911 | 007 Aston Martin DB5 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Speed Champions | 76912 | Fast & Furious 1970 Dodge Charger T | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 30654 | X-wing Starfighter Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75288 | AT-AT | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75292 | The Razor Crest | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75300 | Imperial TIE Fighter | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75301 | Luke Skywalker's X-wing Fighter | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75309 | Republic Gunship (Ultimate Collector Series) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75312 | Boba Fett's Starship | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75317 | The Mandalorian & The Child | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75318 | The Child | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75320 | Snowtrooper Battle Pack | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75322 | Hoth AT-ST | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75323 | The Justifier | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75324 | Dark Trooper Attack | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75326 | Boba Fett's Throne Room | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75327 | Luke Skywalker (Red Five) Helmet | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75329 | Death Star Trench Run Diorama | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75330 | Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75332 | AT-ST (4+) | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75334 | Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75335 | BD-1 | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75336 | Inquisitor Transport Scythe | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75338 | Ambush on Ferrix | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75339 | Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75342 | Republic Fighter Tank | Dec 31, 2023 |
Star Wars | 75343 | Dark Trooper Helmet | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 30655 | Forklift with Pallet Polybag | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42096 | Porsche 911 RSR | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42107 | Ducati Panigale V4 R | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42111 | Dom's Dodge Charger | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42117 | Race Plane | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42118 | Monster Jam Grave Digger | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42122 | Jeep Wrangler | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42123 | McLaren Senna GTR | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42125 | Ferrari 488 GTE 'AF Corse #51' | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42127 | The Batman - Batmobile | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42128 | Heavy-Duty Tow Truck | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42131 | Cat D11 Bulldozer | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42132 | Chopper | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42133 | Telehandler | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42134 | Monster Jam Megalodon | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42135 | Monster Jam El Toro Loco | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42137 | Formula E Porsche 99x Electric | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42139 | All-Terrain Vehicle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42140 | App-Controlled Transformation Vehicle | Dec 31, 2023 |
Technic | 42144 | Material Handler | Dec 31, 2023 |
submitted by
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2023.06.01 21:00 DiscoverDurham Things to Do in Durham this Weekend (Jun 1-4)
Check out our full
Durham events calendar.
If you'd like to add an event to our calendar,
submit an event here. Please check with the event organizers to see if events change due to weather. Have a great weekend!
June Featured Events
53rd Annual Bimbé Cultural Arts Festival at Rock Quarry Park
- This family-oriented event is a celebration of African and African American history, culture, arts, and traditions.
- Headlined by Intro, Mr. Cheeks, Petey Pablo, and KRS-One
- Free admission
1776 at DPAC
- The show is based on the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, telling a story of the efforts of John Adams to persuade his colleagues to vote for American independence and to sign the document.
- This Tony Award-winning Best Musical is tuneful, witty, and constantly surprising, especially in this revolutionary new production from directors Jeffrey L. Page (Violet) and Diane Paulus (Waitress) with a cast that reflects multiple representations of race, gender, and ethnicity.
- Jun 1-4
- $15+
PLAYlist Concert Series: Raíces, Rutas, y Ritmos at
Durham Central Park - Raíces, Rutas, y Ritmos highlights the importance of music-making among Latin American migrants in North Carolina, as well as the prominence of Latin American-derived music in the Triangle area.
- 6:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
- Free admission
Venue Weekend Schedules
Events at
The Carolina Theatre Events at
The Pinhook Events at Motorco Music hall
Events at
The Fruit - Fri, Jun 2 at 11:00 p.m. - Job Fruit Residency: IN2IT
- Sat, Jun 3 at 10:00 p.m. - Paradox: A 90s Rave Experience
- Sun, Jun 4 at 12:00 p.m. - The Fruit Flea: Monthly Flea Market
Live Music at
Blue Note Grill Events at
Moon Dog Meadery - Thursdays - Free Board Games
- Thu, Jun 1 at 7:00 p.m. - Trivia
- Fri, Jun 2 at 8:00 p.m. - First Friday Swing Dance Night with Nitelife Boogie!
- Free dance lesson at 7:30 p.m.
- Sun, Jun 4 at 6:30 p.m. - Moon Dog Open Mic
Live Music at
Sharp 9 Gallery Events at
Arcana - Thu, Jun 1 - Jay Hammond & Andy Stack with Joe Westerlund and Tarot with Virginia
- Fri, Jun 2 - Russell Favret and Tarot with Heiltje
- Sat, Jun 3 - Bardo Bloom and Tarot with Rene
- Sun, Jun 4 - Matty Famartino and Tarot with Joy
Events at
Rubies on Five Points Events at
Durty Bull Brewing Company - Thu, Jun 1
- 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Food Truck: Safari Eatz
- 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Thursday Trivia with Nick
- Fri, Jun 2
- Sat, Jun 3
- 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Food Truck: Chop House BBQ
- 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - DJ Jack Bonney
- 4:00 p.m - 6:00 p.m. - Taxicab Preacher
- Sun, Jun 4
- 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Food Truck: Charlie C's Hotdogs On Wheels
- 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Hammered Trivia with Thor
Live Comedy at
Mettlesome Events at
Boxyard RTP Events at
Glass Jug Beer Lab in RTP Events at
Glass Jug Beer Lab in Downtown Durham Local Sports
Durham Bulls Home Stand at the
Durham Bulls Athletic Park - vs Jacksonville
- Thu, Jun 1 - Pride Night
- Fri, Jun 2 - Friday Night Fireworks
- Sat, Jun 3 - Saturday Night Fireworks
- Sun, Jun 4 - Kids Run the Bases
- $10+
Running of the Bulls 8K at
Historic Durham Athletic Park - The 15th running of Durham’s premiere community road race! This scenic course will wind through the historic and revitalized neighborhoods of downtown Durham, American Tobacco Campus, Trinity Park and Old North Durham neighborhoods, and finish with a lap of the warning track inside the historic Old Durham Athletic Park!
- Sat, Jun 3 at 7:00 a.m.
- $10-45
Thursday, Jun 1
Thirsty Thursdays at
Dashi - Each month Dashi's Thirsty Thursday drink specials revolve around a monthly theme – spirits, cocktails, special ingredients, brand, location, etc. – with new sips every Thursday. Learn more about upcoming themes on their website or visit them in person – there's always something new to try from their expansive bar!
- 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Vinyl Night with DJ Deckades at
Gizmo Brew Works - Enjoy fresh vibes on the patio with DJ Deckades. Bring your own vinyl to share or just listen to what the DJ is spinning.
- 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
- Free admission
Boulders & Brews Meetup at
Triangle Rock Club - Durham - Show up and climb at TRC Durham, then head over to Hi-Wire for some brews. Don't worry if it's your first time or haven't bouldered before; everyone's welcome.
- Your first visit to the gym with the Meetup includes free admission and gear rental, and subsequent visits with the meetup are $15 and include harness rental (outside of meetups, day pass rates of $19 apply and do not include rentals).
- 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Trivia Night w/Big Slow Tom at
Clouds Brewing Brightleaf Square - Join Clouds Durham for Big Slow Tom's Trivia Night, every Thursday. Win some prizes, drink some beer, and show your smarts.
- Enjoy $4 select draft and $5 rotating bartender's choice all night.
- 7:30 p.m.
- Free admission
Friday, Jun 2
Tasting at Ten at
Counter Culture Coffee - Every Friday morning at 10 am, Counter Culture Coffee opens their Training Centers to coffee lovers who want to learn more about Counter Culture Coffee’s high-quality, sustainably sourced menu.
- 10:00 a.m.
- Free, but donations accepted
Garden Printing: Cyanotypes and Hammered Flower Prints on Fabric at
Duke Campus Farm - Visitors to Duke Campus Farm can come take a tour of the space, learn more about what is grown and why, and choose from a number of plants from the garden to experiment with two printing techniques that highlight the shape and color of fresh produce and flowers. With cyanotype printing, we will use either the plant as a silhouette to make sun prints using UV light, or make use of parts of the plants to create a composition on the blue-tinted paper.
- 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Free admission (registration encouraged)
Saturday, Jun 3
Durham Farmers’ Market at
Durham Central Park - The Durham Farmers’ Market offers locally grown fruits and vegetables, meats, eggs, cut flowers, artisanal cheeses and breads, home-baked pies, honey, handmade chocolates, preserves, local wines, handmade soaps, fresh pasta, and artwork of all sorts!
- 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
- Free admission
South Durham Farmers' Market at
Greenwood Commons Shopping Center - The market strives to support new and growing farms and vendors in the greater Durham area, and they are also home to some of the most iconic Durham brands around.
- 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
- Free admission
parkrun Durham at
Southern Boundaries Park - A free, fun, and friendly weekly 5k community event. Walk, jog, run, volunteer, or spectate. It's up to you!
- 8:00 a.m.
- Free admission
Hayti Walking History Tour at
Hayti Heritage Center - So, how do you pronounce H-A-Y-T-I ? What are the Hayti Neighborhood's connections to the island of Haiti? ...to Black Wall St.? ...to the city of Durham at large? These questions are answered while many more are raised in this 75-minute tour of Fayetteville St., the commercial center of Durham’s largest African American residential neighborhood. Stops include the neighborhood’s founding institutions: St. Joseph’s AME church, The Carolina Times, Stanford L. Warren Library and more!
- Stories include: Women of Hayti, Power of Black Churches and Urban Renewal. The tour begins and ends at the Hayti Heritage Center.
- 10:00 a.m.
- $20+
Nasher Community Celebration at the
Nasher Museum of Art - An outdoor party featuring GRAMMY Award-winning producer 9th Wonder and friends. Celebrate Spirit in the Land with pop-up children’s book readings in the galleries. At 2 p.m., Alberto Barrantes, an author visiting from Costa Rica, will give a reading from his new bilingual book Arts for Diversity. Art activities will be inspired by artists María Berrío and Andrea Chung.
- The Museum of Life and Science will join us with StarLab to view the night sky—and insects to study up close. Piedmont Wildlife Center will also bring several animals. Everyone can sample free cotton candy by Wonderpuff. Also fun to try: temporary tattoos inspired by the natural world. Assorted sandwiches and beverages from the Nasher Museum Cafe will be available for purchase. Cash bar.
- 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Free admission
MAKRS Pop-up at
Durham Central Park - Shop from 55+ local artists and makers, plus food trucks and coffee.
- 4:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
- Free admission
Crafternoons at
Gizmo Brew Works - Free pint with purchase of craft box. Choose from a variety of craft packages available for all ages.
- 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Beaver Queen Pageant — Once Upon a Wetland... at
Duke Park - The Beaver Queen Pageant is the Triangle’s own special mix of folly, pageantry, and humor. Contestants take on beaver personalities and compete for the title of Beaver Queen with their fashion, talent, and personality. There will be music, a kid's art activity station, food trucks, and much more!
- Enjoy the fun at this family-friendly and free event which raises funds for the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association. Vote for your favorite contestants - or bribe a judge - at www.beaverqueen.org. You are not going to want to miss this truly weird and delightful Durham experience.
- 4:00 p.m.
- Free admission
Sunday, Jun 4
Al Strong Presents Jazz Brunch at
Alley Twenty Six - Al Strong, the Grammy-nominated jazz trumpeter, composer and recording artist, will bring a rotating lineup of musicians to perform during Sunday brunch at Durham's Alley Twenty Six. Weather permitting the band will perform in the bar’s namesake alley.
- Brunch from 10:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
- Music 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Art-n-Soul Market at
Mystic Farm & Distillery - Shop handmade in this special setting. Mystic Farm & Distillery in Durham offers a unique place to gather and enjoy local spirits. The Art-n-Soul Market brings the best local artisans, food trucks and live music out to the farm for bourbon tastings, craft cocktails, food trucks and distinctive gifts you won't find anywhere else. Bring your friends and meet us at the bourbon farm! Dogs welcome.
- 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Free admission
Public Tour at
Duke Chapel - Learn about the history, architecture, and life of Duke Chapel in this tour, which is free and open to the public. The tour begins at 12:15 p.m., or immediately following the conclusion of the Sunday morning service, and lasts approximately forty-five minutes.
- No reservation is required but if you plan to bring a large group please notify us in advance. Meet the docent on the front steps of the Chapel.
- Paid parking is available on a first come, first served basis in the Bryan Center Parking Lot at 125 Science Drive. ADA parking is available in the Bryan Center Surface Lot at the same address.
- 12:15 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Trivia at
Navigator Beverage Co. - Hosted by the Triangle’s Trivia team, Hammered Trivia, gather your team and post up to compete for prizes and enjoy an afternoon of great drinks, great friends, and great games.
- 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Free admission
Running Art Exhibits
upstART Gallery: A Jim Lee Project at
Pop Box Gallery - upstART Gallery will host its first group show at Pop Box Gallery & The Art Chose Me’s residency in Old East Durham. The show features 27 artists who were selected through an open call review process. Artists were challenged to create work especially for this unique space, scaled 1:12 (one inch = one foot).
- Wed-Sat from 12:00 p.m - 6:00 p.m.
- Runs through Jul 1
Exhibit at
21c Museum Hotel - Truth or Dare: A Reality Show
- Open 24 hours
- Free admission
“Extra-Spectral” at the
Durham Art Guild Truist Gallery - This exhibit highlights several NC-based artists that, on the surface, use colors that are “extra” (which is where their commonality ends) to evoke their intent through a combination of this color with forms and imagery as well as the concepts embedded in color’s many identities. Artists Jane Cheek, Jerstin Crosby, Zach Storm, Tonya Solley Thornton and Leif Zikade all require color to play a primary role in their work and their relationship to an audience.
- Mon–Sat from 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. and Sun from 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
- Runs through June 4
- Free admission
Donna Stubbs, Featured Artist at
5 Points Gallery - 5 Points Gallery in downtown Durham introduces a new exhibit featuring the work of our member artist, Donna Stubbs. Donna uses an archaeological approach to painting, as she lovingly photographs her surroundings and unearths discarded items in thrift stores to create abstract mixed media works.
- Free admission
Chieko Murasugi & Renzo Ortega at
Craven Allen Gallery - An exhibition featuring both abstract and figurative works by two artists with international backgrounds. The SEQUENTIAL exhibition invites the observer on a visual journey, generating an organic relationship between the artworks and the gallery's visitors. Through the dynamics of color, form, ideas, and narratives, Chieko Murasugi and Renzo Ortega seek to generate a dialogue and the experience of art appreciation with the audience.
- Sat, May 20 at 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - opening reception
- Runs through July 8
Spirit in the Land at the
Nasher - Spirit in the Land is a contemporary art exhibition that examines today’s urgent ecological concerns from a cultural perspective, demonstrating how intricately our identities and natural environments are intertwined. Through their artwork, 30 artists show us how rooted in the earth our most cherished cultural traditions are, how our relationship to land and water shapes us as individuals and communities
- Tue-Fri from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sun from 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Runs through Jul 9
- Free admission
Andy Warhol: You Look Good in Pictures at the
Nasher - Andy Warhol: You Look Good in Pictures explores the breadth of the artist’s relationship with photography through several distinct bodies of work including screenprints of celebrities, all of which were taken from photographs, a group of Polaroids and black and white snapshots illustrating his social circles, and an early silent film of the curator Henry Geldzahler from 1964.
- Tue-Fri from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sun from 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Runs through Aug 27
- Free admission
Art of Peru at the
Nasher - This gallery features ceramics, textiles, metalwork and carvings produced by ancient cultures across what is known as present-day Peru.
- Tue-Fri from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sun from 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Runs through Dec 2
- Free admission
submitted by
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2023.06.01 19:33 portcullis357 (SPOILERS EXTENDED) The Case for Daenerys Landing at Casterly Rock
This isn't a very popular theory, but please hear me out. First, let me break down why Daenerys must go to Casterly Rock at some point. According to GRRM in his Dec 23, 2022 Notablog:
The Lannister castle is not ON TOP of the Rock. It is INSIDE the Rock. All of it. Barracks, armories, bedchambers, grand halls, servant’s quarters, dungeons, sept, everything. That’s what makes the Rock the strongest and most impregnable seat in all of Westeros. The Eyrie, Winterfell, Storm’s End, they all have formidable defenses… but none of them can match Casterly Rock. When Harren the Black built Harrenhal, he thought his immense new castle could defy even dragons. Stone does not burn, he reasoned. But stone does melt, and dragons fly, and… well, you know the rest. And Balerion’s flames proved hot enough to turn Harren’s massive towers molten.
But Casterly Rock is a mountain, and its chambers and halls are buried deep inside, under tons of solid stone. No curtain wall in Westeros, however thick, can even come close.
What does this all mean?
Maybe nothing. I just wanted to set the record straight. Give you all something to think about.
Casterly Rock will not remain forever offstage, I hope. I have two more novels to go, and my plan is to have one or more of my viewpoint characters visit the Rock in THE WINDS OF WINTER or A DREAM OF SPRING, so I can show you all the wonders and terrors and treasures of House Lannister first hand. Meanwhile, feel free to ponder… could Casterly Rock stand against dragons?
We know it can be taken by apes.
George is surprisingly open in saying that Daenerys will invade Casterly Rock. Apparently, GRRM is also joking about apes that populate Gibraltar, but this could also be a reference to what many call the "monkey demon" or "monkey man" Tyrion Lannister:
"We have become swollen, bloated, foul. Brother couples with sister in the bed of kings, and the fruit of their incest capers in his palace to the piping of a twisted little monkey demon. Highborn ladies fornicate with fools and give birth to monsters!" - Tyrion V, ACOK
"The dwarf, the evil counselor, the twisted little monkey demon. I'm all that stands between them and chaos." - Tyrion X, ACOK
The dwarf pushed his black dragon across a range of mountains. "But what do I know? Your false father is a great lord, and I am just some twisted little monkey man. Still, I'd do things differently." Tyrion VI, ADWD
Now I think the method of invasion is also pretty spelled out. In season 7 of the show, Tyrion conquered Casterly Rock by using the sewer system he was in charge of in this youth and this was hinted at in ADWD too.
So to mark his manhood, Tyrion was given charge of all the drains and cisterns within Casterly Rock. Perhaps he hoped I'd fall into one. But Tywin had been disappointed in that. The drains never drained half so well as when he had charge of them. - Tyrion II, ADWD
Daenerys used the same strategy to take Meereen:
It had been a moon's turn since the last good rain, and the sewers were only thigh-high. The oilcloth they'd wrapped around their torches kept them dry, so they had light... They took some wrong turnings, but once they found the surface Strong Belwas led them to the nearest fighting pit, where they surprised a few guards and struck the chains off the slaves. Within an hour, half the fighting slaves in Meereen had risen. - Daenerys VI, ASOS
We can learn a lot about the books from the show. In the show, Daenerys takes over the Dothraki hordes at Vaes Dothrak and sails to Westeros. Daenerys was last seen at the end of ADWD with the Dothraki. The 1993 outline by George already states that Daenerys is destined to invade with a Dothraki horde, so I think this is basically a guarantee to happen in the books. Daenerys has to light a second fire for death, which will likely be at Vaes Dothrak, burning the khals and Dosh Khaleen crones that refuse to submit to her. This will also fulfill the prophecy that her son (the dragon Drogon) will be the stallion that will mount the world and trample nations into dust. She will inevitable return to Meereen to find Tyrion has taken over power, allying with Victarion, Marwyn, Moqorro, the Second Sons, and Barristan. Then, she will need to address the war with Qarth that was setup in Daenerys III of ADWD when Xaro declared war. She will also have to reunite with Quaithe who has told her "To go north, you must go south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward you must go back, and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow."
Now this cryptic prophecy could be fulfilled by her going east from Meereen to Qarth and then going west to the Free Cities and from there going to Westeros. However, Daenerys does not need to go to the Free Cities herself. Including Victarion's fleet, she'd still have a limited number of ships that can maybe carry 20,000. Even if she gets more ships, it will never be enough to carry the over 100,000 Dothraki. She can easily leave a couple generals to lead the remaining Dothraki to take the Free Cities in her stead. I think after Qarth she can sail to Asshai and pass through the shadow beyond to Westeros.
In the show she landed on Dragonstone, where she was born. This is poetic, but it's strategically stupid. She will need to ship her main army of Dothraki calvary by boat, and the absolute worst choice possible would be a volcanic island near King's Landing where they'll be sitting ducks for Aegon and his allies to destroy. She can't go straight to King's Landing because Dothraki calvary are not trained to siege cities. They need open fields to be effective.
The only option to land would be a place far from King's Landing where she can access plains. Lannisport is perfect for this. It will be a great base to land, allow her access to large resource to feed her army and supply it, ports, plains and a mountain base for her dragons to reside. She will have time to forge alliances in a foreign land and easily conquer places nearby like Riverrun, Highgarden, and Oldtown, as well as using Victarion to take back the Iron Islands. If Aegon aligns with the Tyrells and Martells to defeat Cersei before Daenerys lands, then it makes sense for her to take down these key houses first. She will have more time to gather alliances that would be more effective in sieging and taking King's Landing than the Dothraki.
Now say somehow Daenerys would be able to land near King's Landing, take the city and defeat Aegon. Why would she need to conquer Casterly Rock afterwards? Wouldn't they simply bend the knee? Once King's Landing falls, they could make an alliance with the North and go straight through the Riverlands, Stormlands, Dorne, Highgarden, and Oldtown. Casterly Rock is literally the last place she and her horde of Dothraki would go, and by the time they conquer everything, they don't even need to invade Casterly Rock. Like Aegon the Conqueror, she can raid a few key capitals and the rest will bend the knee. It also seems like a pretty quick and easy 2nd Dance with Dragons war to just immediately take King's Landing and sweep the rest of the kingdom. I think taking King's Landing first is unrealistic, frankly boring, and not going to happen in the books.
Now some may argue that the sunset sea is untraversed and would be a bad start to try and cross because its unknowable and perhaps too vast, which I understand, but hear me out. George introduced glass candles in AFFC, which allow you to see things far away, even across the seas, so these would be the obvious tool to see what's beyond east of Essos. Conveniently, everyone with a glass candle is intertwined in Daenerys' storyline. If Marwyn reaches Daenerys like he plans, then he can provide his glass candle to her. Daenerys is also likely going to Qarth after Meereen, where she can also use Quaithe's glass candle.
In addition, George loves using history as inspiration and subverting it. Columbus famously crossed the unknown Atlantic to land in America, and the Natives were slaughtered. The Dothraki are based primarily on the Golden Horde and Native Americans. It would be great subversion to have the tribes inspired by Native Americans invade and slaughter the white people rather than the other way around. It feels very Martinesque.
But anyways, this is my thoughts about it. It's certainly not set in stone, but I feel like there's a very strong case for Daenerys to land in the Westerlands first.
Let me know your thoughts! Agree? Disagree?
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2023.06.01 16:54 Hunor_Deak A Staten Island ferryboat sails toward St. George as smoke billows in the background after the collapse of the Twin Towers. (Staten Island Advance/Michael McWeeney).
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2023.06.01 15:47 Particular_Fig_49 (spoilers main) Something about Ghost I'm confused about.
How did Ghost get onto Skaggos? In the first Jon chapter he has a vision of ghost interacting with Shaggy dog eating a unicorn, obviously implying they are on Skaggos. Did the wolf swim to Skaggos?? I suppose if part of the ocean was frozen he could walk across it but there's no indication that that's going on as far as I'm aware.
How Rickon and Osha were able to get on to the island without rumors involving a demon wolf spreading are also beyond me. Skaggos does not hug the coast from what I can tell by the various maps I've seen, they couldn't have gotten there safely without a reasonably sized vessel.
But at the end of the day they are capable of getting onto a boat and sailing and I'm sure George will have a convoluted story about how they were able to do it.
I have no idea how Ghost getting on to Skaggos can be explained
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2023.06.01 15:41 gdore15 Trip report : Three months in Japan including one in Kyushu.
In this report, I'll mostly list the city I visited during my trip and give my general impression or talk about what I did.
I spend a total of three months in Japan, the first 11 days around Tokyo, two weeks to move between Osaka and Hiroshima one month across Kyushu and finally back in Tokyo for a month, with some overnight trips in the Kanto area.
You can check my
itinerary for Kyushu, it will give more detail on location I planned to visit in each city (I mostly followed it) and also gives a bit more info about me. I also wrote about
traveling as a Hololive fan and posted on the dedicated sub, but here I posted about
anime shopping a bit more in general.
If you want to get my extra tips that you would not usually read here or in other guides, I posted
my tips on JapanTravelTips.
Walked from 9k to 31k steps by day, an average of 15k to 20k depending on the month I look at. Total cost including flight was about 8000CAD, I mostly stayed in hostels or similar accommodation, did not use JR Pass and mostly eat food in restaurant while moving around, but back in Tokyo I did much more convenience store/grocery store shopping for food. It did include a lot of craft beer and a bit of souvenir shopping.
Feel free to ask question, especially if I mention a place that you would like to visit, I can give more info. Or if you want to see picture of anything I mentioned, let me know I can try to share.
Kansai/Chugoku - Arima : I only visited during the day, but if you are looking for a nice onsen town close to Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe, then I would recommend. The ambiance might not be as charming as Kinosaki, but you still have the feeling that you are in a small town that revolve around onsen and that is easy to walk. The two main onsen are fine, pretty typical onsen experience if you ask me. Sure you can find nice ryokan too.
- Kobe : Went before and to different area, went to two sake breweries in Nada on my first time and would recommend if you want to know how sake is made. This time I went around Chinatown around lunch and it was a great experience, there is so much street food vendors and people everywhere, really recommend. Finished the day with a night view from Venus Bridge, the view was better than from the Nunobiki Herb Garden.
- Akashi : The main shopping street was really busy, lot of restaurant that serve the local specialty, Akashiyaki, a kind of takoyaki but much eggier taste and texture, you dunk it in soup to eat it (instead of putting sauce on it). The castle is skippable unless you hunt stamps and the history museum is heavily in Japanese.
- Himeji : The castle is huge. Honestly I really recommend to try to see one of the original castle and this one is usually the one that make the most sense to people. Went there close to opening time and could visit the castle and Kokoen garden before lunch. Then hiked Mount Shosha to see Engyo-ji. The hike is not too difficult, the temple is nice but really big, it will take a while to walk around even if you take the ropeway (it was under maintenance when I went).
- Ako : Could interest history buff as it is the city from where the 47 ronin from the Chushigura story come from, so the local shrine and the history museum do have things related to it. I actually liked going to see the salterns at Ako Seaside Park. Ako was know to be a big sea salt produced in the past and there is outside exhibit that show how it is done. They also do workshop and weekly demonstration, but even without that I found it interesting.
- Bizen (Imbe) : Unfortunately went when the museum was close for change in exhibition. This is a really different sightseeing experience as there is little to no "sight", spent most of the day going from one pottery store to the other. It's easy to get an idea of the Bizen-yaki style, I did not like the red-ish items that much but got a nice tea cup in darker color.
- Okayama : The castle and garden are ok, might not be my first recommendation for that combo (Himeji would probably win). The castle focus on the sengoku era, so if you like that part of history you might appreciate. Then went to Kibitsu-jinja where there is a long corridor. Can also learn about the story of Momotaro. If the weather had been better, cycling around Kibi is apparently nice. Do not try the Doppo Peach Pils, I would barely call it a beer, too sweet.
- Kurashiki : By the video I saw, it made it sound much bigger. The historic area is not that large, so if you do the boat ride, it won't be that long. There is still a nice vibe and you can get a good taste of a more preserved neighborhood.
- Fukuyama : Mostly used this as a convenient place to stay, there is not much to do. When you go to the touristic information and they tell you the top two things are the castle and Tomonoura, well, it show that this is not a top touristic destination. Took a more relax day and only walk to some temple/shrine.
- Tomonoura : Here we can also get a taste of preservation of older neighborhood, bus on a smaller scare and different building style compared to Kurashiki. If you are into history and specifically Bakumatsu, you might want to see the small museum about the Irohamaru and Sakamoto Ryoma as the boat sank nearby. The nearby island is nice and you can go for a relatively easy hike, but nothing special.
- Onomichi : Love Onomichi, I've been several times already. The city is always as quiet with as little attractions, but still like the vibe. Cherry blossom where quite nice in Senko-ji park. While I have not done the cycling, I visited the islands on Onomichi side. This time I went to Mukaishima for a hike and the view was fantastic. Yes, doing the Shimanamikaido cycling is a way to enjoy it, but it is not the only way to enjoy the islands and the view they can offer. Got recommended a really nice bar that it next to impossible to find without being told (can give more info).
- Hiroshima : After several days without seeing much international tourist, here the main sight like the peace park and even the castle are obviously popular destinations. I do not think I have much to add about Hiroshima that you cannot find elsewhere.
Kyushu - Fukuoka : Went before and from my first trip would recommend the Fukuoka City Museum for a nice history museum. This time went to see teamLab, was my first experience and it was quite fun, I can give more info on that too. Went to Maizuru park (Fukuoka castle ruin) and had beautiful cherry blossom.
- Yoshinogari : While most historical location showcase more modern aspect of Japan, it was a really interesting experience to see a larger scale location dedicated to Yayoi era. Usually you might see one of the house from that era build in a random park/museum, but here you have the full village with different type of building and the whole walls around. Quite interesting if you are into older Japanese history.
- Saga : Was a convenient stop for accommodation, but there is not that much to see. The castle ruin have a reconstructed palace, one of the (if not the) first to be reconstructed. While it is nice, it is really not as flashy as the one in Nagoya castle (in Nagoya city, not Nagoya castle ruin in Saga) or Kumamoto castle.
- Arita : Similar to Bizen as the day was focused on visiting pottery/porcelain shops. Here the Kyushu Porcelain Museum was open and I would really recommend, especially as it's free. Really nice experience to see the different style of porcelain made around Arita, it did contrast with my perception that the style was kind of the same across all what is produced, but there is actually a lot of different style.
- Takeo : My main reason to go was to see teamLab exhibition, but along the way stopped by different nice garden. Was kind of in a strange time, cherry blossom was almost over and azalea just starting, so I had a bit of both, but not peak of either. teamLab I also did the Mikuneyama Rakuen onsen. While you pay a bit of a premium price, I think that you do have a good onsen experience. The exhibition was also quite nice and despite seeing some other people, I mostly had the art installation for myself. Can give more info if you want.
- Nagasaki : Second time in Nagasaki, found the Chinatown a bit dead compared to Kobe. Did the must do things on my first trip like peace museum, Dejima and Mount Inasa at night (would recommend to do these), this time did Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture that is interesting as it focus on the trace with various foreign country, Clover garden that is nice if you are interested in Late Edo/Meiji presence of westerners in Nagasaki. Also did Kameyama Shachu Memorial Museum as I like Bakumatsu and Ryoma. Will continue to recommend two days in Nagasaki.
- Unzen : Really unique to walk around Unzen Hells. Did some hiking around, but if you have a chance, going to Nita Pass and up the ropeway is probably better, but the bus to Nita Pass was not running when I went ant the only other option was an expensive taxi ride.
- Shimabara : While the castle have nothing unique, the exhibition inside is quite interesting as it will tell more about the Shimabara rebellion and the hidden Christians. Also tried a local sweet that is like small dango in a sweet syrup that strangely taste a lot like maple syrup.
- Kumamoto : While it is a major city in Kyushu, I felt that appart from the castle, there is not that much to do. Right now the castle is only partially reopen as they are still repairing the damage caused by the 2016 earthquake.
- Hitoyoshi : Unfortunately difficult to access by public transport because of the Hisatsu Line was severely damaged by floods in 2020, you can still go by bus, but it makes it more difficult. You might think that goin by car is the better option, but considering that Hitoyoshi is known for Kuma Shochu (made with rice), you might want to walk to the shochu distillery to partake in some tasting. Also went into a miso and soy sauce factory, that was interesting. Overall not a lot of things to see but still nice countryside town.
- Kirishima (Myoken onsen) : The onsen area is not the most convenient to access by public transport, but there is still a bus going. It's getting more difficult if you want to visit some sights around. I ended up being quite lucky as two different person stopped to offer me a ride to my next location. Would only recommend if you have a car or if you are really a big fan of Sakamoto Ryoma.
- Kagoshima : I was expecting to need more than a day to visit Kagoshima, but for the city itself, a day seems alright. Shukkei-en is nice and offer a good view of Sakurajima, the garden is also beautiful. Just make sure to get in the sightseeing bus that stop at the entrance. Went to the Meiji Restoration Museum, especially as I like the bakumatsu era. I could have spend my second full day in Sakurajima instead, but the rain was not especially pushing me to do outside activities.
- Yakushima : The car ferry was not running so had to pay 22 000yend for the jetfoil. This also changed my total ferry schedule. I initially planned a single day of activity, but ended up leaving in the afternoon of the second day so could re-schedule. On my first full day I went to Hirauchi kaichu onsen, that is a onsen in the ocean, only accessible at low tide, was kind of interesting, but it's mixed gender and you are technically supposed to go naked... except that the other people ether had swimsuit or towels to properly hide themselves, while I had a borderline too small towel. Only had 15 minutes to enjoy the water before going back on the bus to Ohko waterfall, that is quite nice. There I met someone who offered me a drive. My initial plan to walk toward Seibu Rindo, a forest road with wild deer and monkey. Let's say that considering the distance, I realize that my initial plan was not that good. Second day wend to Shiratani Unsuikyo, really nice hike with a great view if you reach the end of the train. The bus schedule does allow to easily do the hike if you start in the morning. Overall, I think Yakushima is doable by public transport, but it does require much more planning, kind of glad I had a ride. Also was lucky to get great weather all the time I was there.
- Ibusuki : I asked for recommendation of places to go and was recommended Chiringashima twice, not bad if you have some time to walk around the island and you are on time for low tide, but terrible bus schedule, so I went by bus and returned by walking. A bike rental would have made things easier. The special thing in Ibusuki is the sand bath, it is a strange feeling to be buried in the sand. The main place where you can do it is big and really well organized, I saw a place in Beppu that offer sand bath, but they seemed to have a somehow long wait. Appart from that, you need to go outside of town if you want to do more things.
- Makurazaki : a bit of a pain to reach by train/bus. My main goal was to see a shochu distillery. Honestly not totally sure it's worth going that far especially considering I saw other places easier to access. They also produce sweet potato based beer, not bad, but also not the best I tried during my trip. Had to eat some bonito as the city is know to be a big producer of katsuobushi.
- Shishibu : Mostly went because I wanted to visit a tea farm. Went to Osumi Teanery, they have a member of their staff that is American and that will do the tour with you. There is just so much we can see of the process in the factory as it is a running factory (at least in season) that is not build to have viewing deck on the production, then despite the rain we went to see the fields and talk about how the tea is cultivated. Also did a hojicha workshop, so that was fun to learn how to roast your own tea. While the place is not the easiest to access, the staff helped me get there so at the end it was relatively easy to do.
- Nichinan (Obi) : Kind of fun castle town, they have a special map with coupons and a list of participating restaurant. You buy the map then you can exchange the coupons of food items to eat while visiting the town. The castle does not have anything exceptional, but still fine.
- Miyazaki : First day was initially dedicated to Aoshima, but I ended up not spending as much there as I thought. The rock formation is interesting, that is for sure. Used the rest of the day to go to Udo-Jingu (that is technically in Nichinan), not sure it's worth the full cost of the bus, but it's an interesting shrine built in a cave close to the ocean. Miyazaki city in itself does not have that much, the nature and history museum is nice, but as many nature museum, I feel more geared toward child, but it was free, so why not.
- Hyuga : Honestly my biggest surprise. I was initially only planning it as a stop before getting in the bus to Takachiho. Ok, it's quite a long walk so a car or maybe a bike would be better, but Umagase was really a natural wonder, it's really beautiful and you can feel the power of the ocean. You might as well stop by the Sea Cross observatory and a point called Sanpo (next to the sea cross). Then you can also check Omi shrine and Uto shrine, the second being a small shrine build in a cave quite close to the ocean.
- Takachiho : Again after a while just seeing tourist once in a while, it show that Takachiho is a popular spot for tourist (both Japanese and Foreign. While the gorge is nice, I was much more impressed by Umagase. Also you cannot always ride the boat and it was close the days I was there. For me the Takachiho Kagura was more interesting than the gorge. One difficulty was to find a good hostel as the one easy to book is next to Amanoiwato shrine, that is a bit far from Takachiho shrine and no bus at the time of the kagura plan. But I found guesthouse sankaku thatwas perfectly located and the host, Asuka, was really friendly. Went to Amanoiwato shrine the next day and I think that more than the shrine in itself, the mythology around it is much more interesting. While it is only in Japanese, they do a small tour almors every half hour so you can see the sealed entrance of the cave where Amaterasu hid.
- Takamori : That was one more intermediary stop, got to see one of the One Piece statue (that I do not really care about). Got great view on Mount Aso. Went to Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine (that is a good walk or infrequent bus from the station), and was surprised to see what felt like a tour bus stop there. Yeah, it's nice to see the torii and the staircase in the forest, but I would not do a day trip from Kumamoto to there as I've seen people here wanting to do that. Also the train line is supposed to fully reopen this summer so it will be easier to access.
- Aso : My worst day. It rained and the top of the mountain was in clouds. Honestly I should have saved my money and not go on top. But if you are blessed with good weather, I am sure that it is fantastic, I can say that just by the gorgeous view I had on the mountain the previous day.
- Beppu : Yes, Beppu is know for their onsen, but I do not especially feel a special vibe about the city. When I went to the tourist info to have recommendation, appart from the hells that I already visited previously, it was pretty much just to get out of the city to attractions around. Got recommended Takegawara Onsen, it's fine but the bath is small and there is no soap, so bring your own if you want to wash. They also do sand bath, but seems to take time as the place have limited space. It's also located in what I would call a red light district with plenty of girls bakyabakura/soapland, so that is also... interesting. Would highly recommend Beppu Brewery, that seems to be fairly new. Got their tasting set that include a kabosu weise, kabosu is Oita local citrus, then tried the kabosu session. But if you see kabosu beer at the souvenir shop, do not try Kabos and Honey, it's the second worst beer I had on my trip, really sweet. (I wat getting into fruity beers before going to Japan, sour beer are good, not sweet beer).
- Oita : Listening to people, I felt that Oita was not really getting much appreciation here, but I found that there was more museums than in Beppu, like the Oita Prefecture Art Museum and Oita Art Museum (but I'm not that into art museum). While yes, there is no that much around the station area, I wished I had searched a bit more about the history of the city, the great discovery was the Old Otomo Residence and Garden, It is a small museum that will introduce you to Otomo Sorin, probably more know as the christian daimyo, would have liked to see if there is more locations related to that part of the region's history. The castle ruin was less interesting as there is not much exhibition, so pretty much only went to get the castle stamp. Getting a car to get to the interesting points a bit further around the city could have been more interesting tho.
- Usuki : My first idea here was to visit a series of temples as part of a pilgrimage, but it ended up not being much of a good idea as the second temples I went to was close, so I kind of abandoned the idea. Then I rented a free bicycle from the tourist information and rode it toward the stone carved buddha, unfortunately the back tire went flat and I decided to walk back instead of going all the way to the buddha. Was a bit unfortunate, but the city had some nice streets with older buildings and the food was good.
Kanto - Sakura : Not much people go there but I would really recommend the history museum. If you decide to go, make sure you bring you phone with headphones and a power bank, if you listen to all the audio guide, you can spend hours in the museum.
- Narita : While I might not recommend as a day trip from Tokyo, I would absolutely recommend for people who are doing a long layover at Narita and that want to have a taste of Japan without going all the way to Tokyo.
- Kamakura : Second time going, while it's kind of possible to do a day in Kamakura and Enoshima, I think that spending two days over the two places is much better. This time I went to Hokokuji and their bamboo grove is really beautiful. While I've seen bamboo elsewhere, like in Sakura, here the place is really clean, all the dead bamboo have been removed and properly disposed. Usually in natural bamboo groves, it is full of dead or broken bamboo or there is piles of bamboo that was gathered in a corner. It was not too crowded and quite enjoyable, but it is not super big. Other than that there is plenty to see in Kamakura, totally recommend.
- Enoshima : Went for the first time, while a full day might be a bit much, not too hard to spend a good part of the day walking around. Went on the first day of my Kamakura trip as the weather was nice and I hoped for a Mount Fuji view and I could see it. I had the impression you had to be at a specific spot to see it, but no you can see it right from the bridge (I think the specific spot is if you want to see both Enoshima and Mount Fuji). Despite no cloud, it was not super clear, this can be because of humidity in the air or because of Asian dust (or China Dust) that is more prevalent in spring.
- Chichibu : Kind of surprisingly, there is many anime that are taking place in Chichibu, so if you like any of them, that would be a great destination. One of the main thing advertise about Chichibu is nature, but I found that it would work much better with a car to get to the flower fields outside of the town center, or maybe by renting a car. If you want to bungee jump you can do it here (pretty sure it's the place where Chis Broad and Connor went). If you want to go to Mitsumine Shrine, then that will likely require a car rental. I stayed not to far for the night, but the bus service was... let's say not the most convenient. There would also be a bunch of hiking trains in the area around the western side of Chichibu.
- Nagatoro : Walking next to the arakawa river is a must and you might want to also do a boat dire on the river. I then hiked Hodosan, but it was not that exciting. There is a famous kakigoori place there, super popular, that's the restaurant I waited the longest for in all my trip, then you get serve a big pile of shaved ice (with the syrup of your choice) and it cost more than a lot of full meals that I had, but I do not regret the refreshment on that hot day.
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