We all know that Wired controversy, which I will not link to. Rather, I'd like to lay the groundwork for some potential explorations into Sanderson that might be worth an actual in-depth investigatory piece that Sanderson would not be able to answer in a podcast. I will start off with three themes raised in the infamous article. I hope that others follow up with their own ideas.
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1) How does Sanderson's interrogation of religion in his own work reflect a potential struggle with Mormonism? - This is an issue that the author very much wanted to get at, though instead fell into personal attacks, calling Sanderson "extremely Mormon" and what not. However, that is far from the truth, especially insofar as critics bring up the Mormon analogues in his writing. In Elantris, we see the character Hrathen driven by logic and love of order embrace an "ends justify the means" approach to converting an entire nation in order to "save" it. The effort involves bribery, kidnapping, genocide, etc. However, at the end of the day we see that there is eventually a line too far for Hrathen, once the last resort genocide is instead revealed to be part of a planned "glory to Jaddeth" power move. A great many crimes have been justified as being part of a grander holy plan, with Christianity -- including Mormonism -- taking part. Given that Hrathen came from a lawful evil character in one of Sanderson's role playing games, an exploration of how much of this was inspired from personal reflection could be elucidating.
Likewise, my Sanderson-critic friend critiques the Church of the Survivor as a Mormonism stand in. Yet if that is the case, Sanderson has gone on record a number of times mentioning how problematic Kelsier is. Kelsier constantly uses religion to manipulate and con his way into positions of power and an advancement to his agenda. Apparently Kelsier is even responsible indirectly for the rise of the Set, and Autonomy fan girls over him.
If all of the above are true, then it would seem that Sanderson might be trying to deconstruct his own religion and relationship with it. I personally do not know what the true answer is (i.e. I did not make the connection between Kelsier and Joseph Smith like my friend did) but such an angle could be rewarding.
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2) How much of Sanderson's success is due to the man v. the moment? - Another critical angle, with the idea being that Sanderson got lucky with the advent of the MCU, GoT, and cultural desire for extended universes. Insofar as Sanderson is successful, maybe it is because of his simple prose, which might allow him success now, but not in the long term. Following this line of thought, how much does Sanderson acknowledge this possibility, and how does he prepare for the end of the good times? Did his close family and friends from before have different thoughts on the likelihood of his success before he completed the Wheel of Time series?
While Sanderson has answered to some extent this question, an article length piece all in one place could be useful to those who do not religiously watch Sanderson's podcasts. Might also be topically relevant given the issues Marvel has been having of late.
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3) Has Sanderson been a net boon or detriment to newer fantasy authors? - Building upon the initial kickstarter impetus of the article, Sanderson is one of the most prolific and successful fantasy authors. With his secret projects AND standard books, a casual reader could be reading only his books for years without ever reading another author's work. If this is the case, then the possibility exists that Sanderson might be sucking up all the oxygen for new writers to thrive upon. However, Sanderson likewise is using his position to fight for new creator rights against Amazon, Audible, major publishers etc. Some might view Sanderson as the Machiavellian ideal, using his great power to crush the collective good's enemies all the while creating new institutions. Yet to have so much market power rested in one creative's hands alone might do more harm than good. An investigative piece into "objective" net good v harm of Sanderson's positions, along with Sanderson's reflection on the topic could be great. The author of such an article could even sprinkle in some critiques of what's wrong with Sanderson's style, i.e. continuity over prose or some such.
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In any case, these are just some ideas. Journalists at various newspapers might hopefully take a look at these and produce something new and insightful as opposed to coming to the defense of a pretty sloppy Wired writer. I do believe that there is a lot to explore related to Sanderson, even if it's not in a particularly flattering light. I hope that everyone else in and beyond the community can think up ideas to advance new articles on the topic.

I’m nothing special. I’m lazy, and damn it, I’m happy being lazy. I feel bad about it a lot, but not quite bad enough to actually change. It’s kind of a problem. My spouse has me going to therapy and everything.
I thought I had big dreams. I talked big in high school. I’d get into filmmaking, and use my art to change the world. I was an ass about it too. Scoffing at anyone who didn’t have big ambitions. But then I got to college (on my parents dime) and… something just broke. More likely, it had always been broken, and now that I was out on my own it just finally came to the surface. I don’t know. I didn’t last two years in film school.
One of my classmates writes for tv and has her own IMDB page now. That’s what I was up against. And Christ… I didn’t have the energy, creativity, or passion that those people had. I don't want to have no steady structure to my life. Film sets operate at all hours, anywhere in the world. It’s insanely competitive, and who the fuck has the energy to deal with that shit?
I spiraled into depression. Arguably I found my way out again, but a lot of the world tells me otherwise. I work a dead end job at a movie theater chain, mostly as a cleaner. I’ve worked there for five years now. If I wanted, I could theoretically learn all I could, and break into management, or learn to be a projectionist, so I could make more money and possibly advance. But I don’t have the focus, or the drive. I left myself a reminder on my phone to look into job advancement two years ago. It still pops up every Friday.
That’s how it’s been for most of my adult life. There are ways I could improve. Things I could do. I could be more wealthy. Not by much, mind you. But still. I just don’t care enough. I can barely bring myself to care about the simple job I have now.
Honestly, it’s a miracle that someone fell in love with me, let alone someone as amazing as my spouse. They do have ambition. It’s not self-centered capitalist passion either, like getting famous, or making lots of money. They want to help people. They’re a social worker. They get paid pennies to deal with people at their absolute worst. Some of the people they serve wouldn’t even be there if the courts hadn’t ordered it for their criminal behavior. In just five years, I’ve watched their passion drain, as that selfless job kicked the ever loving shit out of them. And here’s me. Too fucking lazy to pick up the slack so that maybe they can take a shorter shift or a smaller client base.
I plan to. I always plan to. But then we got stuck. Something crazy happened. They got pregnant. Suddenly we couldn’t afford for me to leave my shit job to find another, because we needed healthcare coverage. Our daughter was born two months ago now. That shit does weird things to you. I may be a lazy pos, but I am going to care for this baby as best I can. I don’t even know why. Sure she’s cute, but she screams a lot, she's always hungry, she poops, pees, and vomits on me, and she’s completely upended my life. These things are typically traits that would make me despise other human beings. But with baby Lina? I’m all “daaawww look at you.” Then I start crying and yelling about how much I love this baby. I swear, babies are pure evil, with their insidious cuteness and ability to fill us with “parent” hormones.
But why am I mentioning all this? Why should any of you people care about a boring, lazy pos like me? You shouldn’t really. I just wanted to illustrate to all of you that I’m utterly inconsequential. Useless. There’s nothing special about me, and I’m fucking fine with that. I will find the most amount of money, for the least amount of effort, that will give me enough time to blow on reading, movies, and video games. That’s all I aspire to really. That only changed slightly to accommodate my daughter. So now you have an idea. I'm nothing. One of those beings whose only a step above a societal parasite (except being a parasite makes you a billionaire these days).
And yet? I set the neighbor's dog on fire.
I didn’t do it on purpose. Not really anyway. I think I did it with my freaking mind. It seemed to come out of my fingers. I don’t know. I made fire, and it reduced this big angry mastiff to nothing but ash in a few short seconds. Bones, claws, fur, all of it just disintegrated, then the wind blew the ash away.
I sat there, one hand on Lina’s stroller, the other raised towards where the charging dog had been, my eyes wide with shock and my jaw at my feet. I blinked a few times. Trying to make sense of things.
I tried running through how the hell I reached this point. I was taking Lina for a walk in her stroller, I saw that big jackass dog (I think it’s name was Roofus) who had somehow escaped his yard (for the umpteenth time), and he had come bounding at my daughter and I as fast as his fat doggy legs could carry him. My brain had only just processed that the big, aggressive dog was out again, when it finally clicked that it was bounding towards me and my baby girl. That thing had nipped me in the past, but I never pressed charges. Why should I bother? But now I wish I had. Now it could hurt my baby. Shit. Why didn’t I confront our neighbor? I have to stop it! I thought.
I got between the approaching dog and Lina’s stroller. I raised my hand to do… something. I think I was hoping the dog would slow down. It didn’t. And then… there was a flash of weird yellow light. The dog didn’t have time to make a sound of pain or surprise. It just dissolved in a superheated ball of flames.
I lowered my hand, trying to make sense of it as the ash blew into the wind. I glanced down at Lina. She smiled up at me, and she even laughed. That was the first time I’d ever seen her laugh. I just kind of blinked.
“Ron! Hey Ron!” Someone was running towards me. I kept staring at Lina for a second before it registered. It was Harold. The white trashy dude who owned Roofus and refused to tie him up (while also refusing to either fix his fence or keep a closer eye on his big aggressive dog). You see that flash, man?” It wasn't even noon, and I could already smell the alcohol (despite the stench of burnt fur).
“Uh… yeah.”
“You know what the fuck that was?”
“Uh… no.” It wasn’t a lie.
“Shit. You seen my ‘dawg?’ Roofus done broke the fence again.”
“… no.” That absolutely was a lie.
“Damn, man. What’s that smell?”
“I… smells like a burning animal.” That one wasn’t a lie either.
“Sheeet. Look at the grass here!” He pointed at the spot where his big angry dog had vanished. There was a circle of scorched black grass.
Oh shit. I fucked up miss Peasley’s lawn went my idiot brain. “Huh,” my mouth said.
“Prolly a squirrel blew up on the power line. Ha! That bitch Peasley is gonna be pissed.”
Ugh. You’re such a douche, Harold. Holy crap I blew up your dog. Or did I? Maybe he’s right and it was an electrical line?
“Lemme know if you see Roofus!” Harold went on his way, leaving me utterly bewildered. What could I do? After standing there, terrified, for another minute, I took Lina home and ended up spending the rest of the morning desperately trying to coax her to eat while she screamed at me.
So yeah. I can apparently blow up dogs with my hands. No fucking clue how I did it. That happened a week ago. Miss Peasley got the HOA to contact electricians to check the power lines. They didn’t find any damage, but nobody else could figure out what had scorched Peasley’s lawn. The prevailing theory is Harold’s. An animal got scorched by the power lines and fell on her lawn. So they replaced those lines.
Apparently I’m the only one who knows that Harold’s dog blew up. Nobody else saw a thing. I would feel worse, but Harold managed to be a misogynistic prick even while he was sadly putting up ‘missing dog’ posters (dude was muttering about some teenage girl's shorts, like it was any of his business). And Roofus wasn’t a friendly dog. There were lots of stories about him terrorizing the neighborhood. Harold had even been charged over it.
All the same… I think I fucking blew up a dog and I keep having nightmares about it. I love dogs. I can’t afford to care for one, but Christ, I don’t want to blow one up! How the fuck did I even do that?
I’ve spent the week repeating over and over that it didn’t happen. Even if it did, it couldn’t have been me. Something else blew up the dog. Maybe Peasley secretly planted a land mine? She’s an eighty year old lady, so it’s unlikely… but it has to be more likely than me throwing fire at a dog that disintegrated it, right?
I was almost convinced, then I blew something else up. A little vase. It had housed an orchid at one time, but we’d both failed to keep the poor thing alive. We had yet to throw it away. I had set Lina in her bassinet, and dragged it into the kitchen where I could watch it while I tried to do a few chores. My cat, Sabrina, decided to get the zoomies and started bolting through the house. Eventually, she found herself leaping on top of the kitchen counters while I yelled at her to stop. I startled her, mid run. She lurched. She hit that vase with the dead plant in it.
I panicked. I was utterly convinced that the vase was about to fly straight into the bassinet and give my baby a concussion or worse. Despite the fact that I was nowhere near it, I thought to myself ‘I have to stop it!’ And when I thought that? The fire came back, scorched the little pot, and shattered it into a billion little pieces which clattered to the floor. Only then did it occur to me that Lina’s bassinet was nowhere near any of the counters, much less right next to the falling vase. I tried telling myself that the cat just knocked the vase down. But I fucking saw it happen. I saw the fireball shatter the vase long before it hit the floor. Honestly, I should be glad I didn’t blow up the cat.
Something really fucking weird is going on. I tried setting other things on fire. Nothing works. No matter how hard I “focus” or “concentrate.”
It only seems to happen when I think Lina is in danger. Do parents get superpowers I don’t know about? Is Lina doing this? She’s been weirdly chipper every time it happens. Furthermore, I keep noticing weird shit about her. I swear her eyes changed color. And not just in that ‘newborn baby growing up’ kind of way. It was like a flash of yellow that happened while I was trying to play peekaboo. She hadn’t really reacted to the game, so I figured she wasn’t old enough to register. But I tried one more time, and when I moved my hands, for a second? She had freaking yellow lizard eyes. But the moment passed and they were back to that baby blue. She just giggled up at me, cute as a button. Then she spit up a third of the formula I spent the last hour feeding her. Stuff smelled like pure gasoline.
Somehow? I was still trying to tell myself it was all in my head. The fires were some weird coincidence. Lina had a tummy ache or something that made her spit-up smell weird, and everything else was just in my imagination. I definitely didn’t see Lina floating an inch or so above her sleeping pad. My spouse, Chris, definitely didn’t hear me growling like a monster in my sleep. I definitely didn’t accidentally set fire to the diaper pail. And of course, the disappearance of Roofus, had nothing to do with me.
But then Chris dropped a bomb on me. I was once again struggling to feed our daughter one evening. She just wanted nothing to do with the bottle. Chris never seems to have trouble feeding her, with a bottle or nursing. For some reason? Lina just didn’t want to accept a bottle from me. I was frustrated. Chris saw it on my face.
“Hold on, Ron. There’s… there’s a weird trick I’ve been using. It started by accident. I couldn’t bring myself to tell you because… well… It's insane. And gross. But… It works. I use it in bottles and with nursing. And I never got to add it to the formula pitcher you're using. So you may as well know…” they looked very conflicted. Scared even.
“Chris. What do you mean? Is everything okay?” Chris swallowed nervously, then gathered their courage.
“Here. Let me see her bottle.” Confused, and weirdly intrigued, I handed it over, trying to ignore Lina’s angry wailing. Chris took it and turned around, hiding whatever they were doing. I heard them unscrew the bottle, then briefly hiss in pain, and a few seconds later, they screwed the lid back on, turned around, and handed it back. “Okay. Try feeding her now.”
I cocked an eyebrow, and glanced down at my daughter, who glared up at me (adorably). Cautiously, I offered her the nipple of the bottle. She fussed a bit at first, but then she tasted the liquid. She latched right on and happily began chugging away. I’ve never had her feed so easily with me. “Okay. What the heck did you do? She hardly ever eats this well for me.”
I glanced at Chris. They looked conflicted, and a little pale. They didn’t say a word. They just held up their left hand, and showed me a bleeding cut they had on their palm.
“I… you cut yourself?” I had no idea what they were implying.
“Blood, Ron. I added my blood.”
“You…” it took me a second. Finally my brain caught up. “You’ve been feeding her your blood?” I felt my mouth go dry and my face go pale. I struggled just to ask the question.
“Just adding a bit to the pitcher is usually enough.”
“I… what about nursing?”
They raised an eyebrow at me. “Have you seen my nipples lately?”
Suddenly the empty cases of nip guards and nipple cream made a lot more sense to me.
“How… did you figure it out?” I wondered.
“By mistake. It was when you went to get us food. I was having trouble getting her to latch at first, remember? But then, she started sucking on my finger. Cried when I pulled away. When she stopped I saw I had a cut. She was sucking on my cut.”
“Oh my god,” I said, as I combined my experiences with Chris’s in my head.
I think my spouse misinterpreted my reaction. They seemed to break down in tears, begging me for forgiveness.
“I know it’s fucked up! I didn’t know what to do! She wouldn’t eat unless I added a bit of blood! Please tell me you understand!”
I looked into their pretty blue eyes. The ones I felt so lucky to have fallen for. I was inwardly freaking out myself. All I managed to sputter out was “I think I blew up the neighbor’s dog.” We had a looong conversation after that.
So Chris and I are all caught up with each other. We’re on the same page. There’s definitely some really weird shit going on in our house, but fucked if we know what any of it is. I decided to see if anyone here had some ideas. Neither of us really want to contact the church. But hell. We’re getting desperate. Lina just keeps growing. What will she want when she starts eating solids?

Heya, I've been thinking about something recently.
I was part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland from my birth until about 3 years ago when I officially left it, although I was never keen on the religion or a devout follower of it.
I have several grievances with it that I find difficult to discuss here due to personal and cultural reasons, but what I do remember fondly was the sound of the sermons.
There aren't any rules that require the priests to do it to my knowledge, but I distinctly remember the sermons and prayers being delivered with this shifting melodic tone, similar to the chants and spoken prayers in the Shinto religion.
The reason this is relevant is because I've been watching an anime that portrays spoken Shinto chants. It reminded me of my upbringing and I went "Hey, what if I tried to do that for Horus?"
So I took a poem I had written for Horus, read it a few times to refresh my memory of both the words and the sermons at my old church, clapped my hands a few times (which was mostly to clear my head but might've also been the Shinto influence) and just went for it.
I'd say it was far from perfect, it's been ages since I did that kind of prayer and I stumbled on the words and failed to carry the tune properly, but afterwards I felt incredibly happy and fulfilled to the point of happy stimming. I got the feeling Horus enjoyed it as well.
I was wondering if anyone has experience with this type of prayechant? I'd guess there isn't exactly a kemetic variant, but I'd love to incorporate it into my worship now. Is there a guide or a reference for the rhythm or tune of these chants or should I just make it up as I go? I'm cool with the creativity but I'd love to know if there's a ruleset or a proper way to do these things.
Dua Horus!

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With Spring Split done and dusted, it's time for my splitual player rankings. Over the course of each game of a split, I provide each player with a score between 0/10 and 10/10, with a 0/10 being an abysmal performance with little to no upside and a 10/10 being a fantastic show to watch. At the end of the split, each player is ranked in order based on their total score across the split. In some cases where substitutions occurred, the substitutes will have their scores combined with the primary player in order to keep the overall sample size the same. I wanted to keep it short and simple this time so I am no longer using my own website for this, instead turning to just using reddit.

Top Lane

1. Fudge - 149/180
2. Impact - 144/180
3. Summit - 118/180
4. Tenacity - 113/180
5. Ssumday - 112/180
6. Licorice - 110/180
7. Dhokla - 105/180
8. Solo+Hauntzer - 102/180
9. Revenge - 82/180
10. Armut - 78/180

Jungle

1. Blaber - 137/180
2. Spica - 136/180
3. Closer - 130/180
4. River - 126/180
5. Inspired - 125/180
6. Contractz -123/180
7. Pyosik - 119/180
8. Bugi - 91/180
9. Santorin - 91/180
10. Kenvi - 76/180

Mid Lane

1. Gori - 128/180
2. Emenes+Diplex - 128/180
3. Palafox - 128/180
4. Vicla - 125/180
5. Bjergsen - 117/180
6. Maple - 112/180
7. Haeri 108/180
8. Jojopyun+Ryoma - 98/180
9. Jensen - 83/180
10. Ablazeolive+Bolulu - 78/180

ADC

1. Berserker - 140/180
2. Prince - 139/180
3. FBI - 131/180
4. Stixxay - 126/180
5. Luger - 116/180
6. Doublelift - 115/180
7. Neo+Wildturtle - 112/180
8. Yeon - 106/180
9. Tactical - 98/180
10. Tomo+Spawn - 66/180

Support

1. Vulcan - 132/180
2. Zven - 130/180
3. CoreJJ - 127/180
4. Winsome+Eyla - 119/180
5. Huhi - 115/180
6. Chime - 114/180
7. Poome - 111/180
8. Busio - 104/180
9. Fleshy - 84/180
10. Ignar+Biofrost - 82/180

Top Lane Takeaways

Fudge and Impact were the clear top 2 for their role. Fudge ended up scoring the most of any player in the league, and is my personal hope for the MVP award. Fudge has been incredibly versatile and simultaneously has been the most deadly carry player in his role. From game to game he was incredibly consistent from the beginning of the split until the end. Impact was just a small margin below this, with more of a baked in style and the same level of consistency. The difference is that Impact fulfills this set role in a way that doesn't reach the same heights as Fudge quite as often.
Beyond this, third place was almost anyone's to take. With just 16 points separating 3rd and 8th, any of those players could have had their place in the top 3. Ultimately I went with Summit as he became a really consistent source of strength for TL where they were pretty wildly inconsistent in most other roles. His strong laning also really helped to forgive the overwhelmingly terrible number of deaths accumulated in the early split. Tenacity trailed Summit by 5 points with a similar trajectory of building up over the course of the split. Starting off as a really unstable talent, he became a rock for his team and enabled Closer to play through the other side of the map to perfection. Ssumday was incredibly consistent at 5th, but rather unremarkable across the split. He was the in third for most of the split but with EG's crash at the end and his general irrelevance, he ended up falling to 5th, just one point behind Tenacity. Licorice snagged 6th through consistent weakside play after a really rough start to the split. While GGS as a whole regressed towards the end, Licorice individually improved rather dramatically. Dhokla was wildly inconsistent, at times finding massively important sidelane advantages, but at other times, getting crushed. Solo and Hauntzer then combined for 102 to end in 8th, with Solo struggling to be that consistent weakside player towards the end. Hauntzer ended up stepping in with a massive Sion performance which wasn't enough to give TSM their chance to make playoffs. Solo scored 89 points, with Hauntzer scoring the remaining 13.
The second big dropoff was to the bottom two players, and despite their position I think each of these players had their merits. Revenge was the second best K'Sante player in the league, and his playmaking on this champion was absolutely insane. On other champions he was far less impressive, but this was easily his best split yet in his career. Showing upwards trajectory right now is crucial because he can make the case that he is still improving and could be valuable on a better team. In the case of Armut he was clearly capable of getting leads, especially when Santorin played around him, but often struggled to do anything with them. He was a player with really high moments mixed with a lot of lows. On a strong team with a reliable hypercarry in another role, I think he can function really well.

Jungle Takeaways

For most of the split, the jungle was a role in high contention between mostly three players: Spica, River and Inspired. With the collapse of Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians towards the end of the split and the surge of 100Thieves and Cloud9, this changed drastically. Blaber ended in first, and while the first half of the split wasn't as strong, with the addition of EMENES, he had a strong laner to rely on when making aggressive moves and it made him look significantly better. While Spica was able to maintain a top 3 spot, he ended in second. His ability to facilitate his strong team was amazing, and he seemed to be really creative, especially with the Amumu picks. In third there was Closer, and he barely scraped in, but throughout his last 5 games, I gave him a streak of perfect 10/10 scores. While Doublelift may have been the primary carry throughout this time, Closer was the popoff machine that 100Thieves needed to make their run into third place. River ended up in 4th, because while the duo of him and Gori continued to be the most oppressive mid/jungle duo in the league, he often wasn't doing enough to set his team up for success in the second half. Inspired ended in 5th because while at first Jojo wasn't playing poorly enough to drag him down, eventually Inspired was dragged down by Jojo's continuous poor performances. Just 2 points below Inspired was Contractz, who was hit or miss, but mostly a hit. He had so many incredible performances this split and often his poor performances were just him trying to make the best of a bad situation. Only four points lower than this was Pyosik in 7th, and I think that while he wasn't consistent, he was never the main reason TL failed to find their wins. His popoff performances were among the best in the league, and his bad games were usually the result of other things going wrong. The top 7 junglers this split were all very closely matched and of a pretty high caliber in my opinion.
However, the bottom 3 also exist and there is a 28 point gap between 7th and 8th that I think is rather deserved. While Bugi got a lot of hype for being the backbone of TSM's early game, I think the amount of games he cost TSM through poor play really hit his overall score. Even his best performances were often blighted by one or two mistakes. He's an incredibly aggressive jungler, and has some great moments, but he was just a much worse version of Contractz, with Chime often making up for some of his bad play. Santorin ended with exactly the same score, because whilst I thought he was individually very good and you could see how he would fit in a different team, he simply isn't the right jungler for Dignitas. Dignitas were a very bad team and Santorin's strengths are as a catalyst to good teams. He isn't usually the type of jungler to put the game on his back on his own and take over. Unfortunately for Kenvi, this split wasn't much better than his last one. While he often had a lot of brief glimpses of greatness, and could succeed on certain picks, he was a liability for his team a lot of the time. His ganks often didn't feel great, sometimes providing the enemy team with more of an advantage, and his champion pool being so limited really hurt the team when his strongest champs weren't the most capable meta champions. IMT were capable of upsets, and he was often a part of that, but it was rare that he played well enough to do so.

Mid Lane Takeaways

I think every player in mid lane had their clear strengths and weaknesses this split. However, there was technically a three way tie for first. I ended up with Gori at first because I thought that while GGS struggled in the latter half, it wasn't due to him. He had some rough moments but he looked like the most capable mid lane carry in the league most of the time. For second place I decided to pin it on whether Palafox could win the tiebreaker. Of course Palafox lost, so Emenes and Diplex got second place. While some would say EMENES played so well that Diplex probably held his score back a little, both of them ended with the same score of 64. This is because while EMENES certainly had much higher highs, Diplex was far more consistent. Diplex was a weak laner but a very stable and strong teamfighter. EMENES was great all round, but had a couple of games where he was a clear reason the team lost. In third was Palafox. I will admit, I wasn't too impressed with Palafox in the first half of the split, but he absolutely killed it in the second half. With a meager 51/90 for the first half, he ended with 77/90 for the second half. Even in CLG's losses he often looked like their best player.
Sitting outside the top 3 was Vicla in 4th. I think while Vicla showed himself to be incredibly capable, he wasn't a very consistent player. Every strong individual play could be followed up by an equally awful case of over-aggression. But with 125/180, he was only a few points lower than the first place players. Bjergsen ended up in 5th. Bjergsen continued to be a really consistent player, but grew a little more unremarkable this split. While he was a viable secondary carry, that was all he could be. While he was still a top half mid laner, he left a lot to be desired, and looked worse than his time on TL. Just below Bjergsen was Maple, and while I thought Maple was often central to many of TSM's wins, he was a pretty bad laner. If TSM needed something to get them into playoffs, slightly stronger laning might have been it. Unfortunately Maple functions better on a lot of champions that get around the map and doesn't really carry games in a traditional mid lane sense.Just behind Maple was a surprising player, Haeri. Haeri started off the split incredibly unremarkably, but grew to be TL's main carry by the end. By all means this was a strong rookie split for Haeri. His laning was solid, his teamfighting was great on certain picks and I think a lot of his mistakes could just be called rookie mistakes. He reminds me of Jojo's first split. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a chance to prove himself in playoff best of 5's.
The biggest surprise for me of all my lists has to be Jojopyun though. With a 20 point dropoff behind Haeri, I think that this split, Jojopyun was reason #1 that EG wasn't a top 2 team. He was consistently getting caught out in almost every game. While some might blame covid for his later split blunders, his early games weren't much better, with 16 deaths in his first 3 games. While it was fair to say he still had some of the highest highs in his role, getting 68 deaths as a mid laner while playing on a team as good as EG is pretty brutal. I don't think any amount of strong laning can make up for this, but I do hope he bounces back. He's really fun to watch and when he's playing well he can make a case for being the best player in his role.
Below him I had Jensen and Bolulu/Ablazeolive. While Jensen may be pretty low on this list, he looked like the main and sometimes only win condition for Dignitas. While the teamplay often wasn't there, his individual play looked fine. On a better team, you'd likely expect that he'd still be towards the top of this list even. Bolulu on the other hand looked fantastic. He scored 49/70 points, and brought a new hope to Immortals that they didn't have before. Ablazeolive unfortunately scored 29/110. He somehow got worse from last year, and he already had a rough year in 2022. As much as I'd have hoped he'd end his career on a high, I do hope he has a nice retirement. His 2021 Summer split was one of the most fun to see from a mid laner.

ADC Takeaways

This split was the split of Prince, until it wasn't. With an amazing first half of the split, I really thought Prince was going to take home the MVP. He was just too good. Unfortunately, he was tailed by Berserker who pounced on him when he showed a moment of weakness. In the first 9 games, Prince scored a mighty 82/90 points, falling to 57/90 in the second half. This is what allowed Berserker to spring forward. Berserker, whilst he didn't have as many highs as Prince, was far more consistent and capable of playing second fiddle than what Prince was. C9 was flexible enough to play through any of their lanes, and it was Berserker's turn, he shone brightly. This is why he ended the split with a 1 point lead over Prince.
But beyond the top 2, this was where the adc list became contentious. Had I included tiebreaker games, Doublelift would have very likely been able to sneak into the top three, however they don't count. So FBI ended up taking third for what was a consistently strong split for him. While he wasn't as good of a teamfighter as Prince or Berserker, he wasn't bad, and he was the best laning adc in the league, pairing incredibly with Vulcan. Stixxay ended up just below this after GGS's collapse in the second half. After the first four games went poorly, Stixxay turned a new leaf and began scoring at a level only seen by Prince and continued this until week 6 where GGS just looked a little lost in general.
10 points below Stixxay were Luger and Doublelift, Luger ending 1 point ahead of Doublelift, likely thanks to the shellacking Doublelift received in their last head to head matchup that wasn't a tiebreaker. Both players were hit or miss, with Luger being inconsistent going from game to game and Doublelift being a little more streaky. If anything, I think Doublelift actually played in a way I'd expect Tactical to play. It was high risk, high reward gameplay where he got caught out regularly despite being an obviously talented player. Wildturtle and Neo combined for 112/180 this split, and while this was respectable, a lot of this was carried by just how well Wildturtle played. When he entered the roster, it felt like TSM had a real carry, where Neo was mostly just okay.
Below them was Yeon, who was decent overall but could have been better. While Yeon was a capable laner, his teamfighting left a lot to be desired in my opinion as he severely underperformed his expected level in the later stages. He has a solid foundation to build upon and the best support he could ask for, so I'm hoping he develops further in Summer. Considering how good Tactical was in his rookie split next to CoreJJ, Yeon has been a little disappointing. Speaking of which, Tactical ended up barely below 100 with 98/180. This split was odd for Tactical. He was the only real win condition for Immortals, but it relied on him having a strong performance. And while I think he was more consistent and made fewer mistakes this split, his laning left a lot to be desired. There were games where he just couldn't seem to recover from a rough lane and never got a foothold afterwards. But with other games he was often a hair away from popping off and completely taking over the entire game. I don't think playing with Fleshy is doing him any favours, but even last year with Mia, Yursan and Shenyi his laning still looked rather good. In last is Tomo and Spawn, and frankly it mostly came down to Spawn. Tomo was a solid player that could slot in nicely as a secondary carry, but Spawn somehow had one of the worst LCS performances I have ever seen. I don't know what happened because by all means, he has the potential to be great, but he scored just 16/90 points during the half of the split he got to play.

Support Takeaways

Vulcan leads all supports in the league. He was incredibly consistent and well rounded on pretty much every pick. He had a big part in helping FBI to once again crush his lane opponents like the old days, and it didn’t really seem to matter what Vulcan played, he was almost always a positive force for his team. In second is Zven who is a little more enchanter based and harder to talk about. He does everything he needs to but doesn’t really provide any standout moments. He functions well as a buff Berserker add-on and was also really solid on mage and adc supports this split. Third place is where I get controversial, but it was CoreJJ, and I will defend that. In my opinion, he gets a bad reputation for not being good on enchanters, but I say he’s probably the best enchanter player in the league. He might not win when he plays Nami, but he’s consistently finding ways to hit his Nami bubbles and generate leads for Yeon. Early in the split, I thought he had a couple of games where he had rough moments and got caught out of position, but as the split progressed this happened less and less, and you got to see CoreJJ have some of the best games of any support in the league and not all of them were on initiation champions. One was for a Sona game where he ran Tactical and Fleshy into the mud, netting Yeon a 2400 gold advantage at 15 minutes and a 45 cs advantage. Despite TL’s struggles, I still thought CoreJJ looked really good most of the time. While his leadership should get called into question, this doesn’t factor into the game to game scores.
Sitting outside of the top 3, we have the middle of the pack player. This starts with Winsome and Eyla who combined for 119/180. While Winsome did end up scoring more of the points than Eyla, this doesn’t mean I think Winsome should be subbed back in. Winsome is consistently solid in a way that Zven would be. On a good team, he won’t stop them from being good, and he will even provide enough that they could still be great. But he doesn’t have the same level of raw talent as Eyla, which we saw from Eyla’s games on Rakan and Nautilus specifically. In fact, the biggest area of weakness for Eyla in my opinion was his lack of synergy with Prince. Sitting 4 points below them in 5th place is Huhi. A lot of people credit Huhi for GGS’s success, and I’d be inclined to agree. He is known as a strong leader behind the scenes. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always translate to strong individual gameplay, and he could be pretty rough at times in that department, getting picked off during objective setups and not quite synergizing well enough with his jungle partner. After Huhi is Chime, who I thought was TSM’s best player this split and he did so while continuing his run of playing with different adcs. So far, he has looked good next to 4 different adcs in 2 splits. With Wildturtle I really feel like he had an option to play through his lane a little more too, which made him more 3 dimensional. Just below this in 7th is Poome, who like the rest of CLG was pretty hit or miss. Poome could seemingly succeed or fail at just about any point of the game and I think he’s cemented himself as the gatekeeper between the good and the bad.
In 8th, I have Busio. Busio is a player who came in with high promise, but really didn’t live up to this promise quite so much. Doublelift looked really good next to him, but Busio unfortunately often looked like an ankle-weight that would release after laning phase. With that said, he got a lot better in the second half of the split and looked much more comfortable when he wasn’t stuck on enchanters and could show off some of his mechanics. After him is a 20 point drop to Fleshy, and while I have to say he looked much better with Bolulu on the team, it was rare that I was actually impressed with him.His best champion might have been Nautilus, where sometimes he could find a series of hooks to win the lane for Tactical, but most of the time he was a non-factor or worse. Despite a couple of strong Nautilus games he had a 4/29/37 KDA on the champion overall. His synergy with Tactical was also incredibly hit or miss, sometimes combing to 2v2 kill their lane opponents and other times looking like it was the first game they ever played together. However there were a pair of supports that sat lower than Fleshy, and it was Ignar and Biofrost. In the case of Biofrost, he’s hard to judge as he had to support for Spawn the entire time. Ignar on the other hand looked very inconsistent, sometimes finding really strong mechanical outplays and other various advantages for his team, and other times getting caught out of position in pretty awful ways.

Make way for Winged Eros: A Letter to Working Youth

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First published: in Molodoya Gvardiya (Young Guard) magazine #3 in 1923, by Komsomol (All-Union Leninist Young Communist League).
Translated: by Alix Holt;
Transcribed: by Joey Ostos.

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Love as a socio-psychological factor
You ask me, my young friend, what place proletarian ideology gives to love? You are concerned by the fact that at the present time young workers are occupied more with love and related questions than with the tremendous tasks of construction which face the workers’ republic. It is difficult for me to judge events from a distance, but let us try to find an explanation for this situation, and then it will be easier to answer the first question about the place of love in proletarian ideology.
There can be no doubt that Soviet Russia has entered a new phase of the civil war. The main theatre of struggle is now the front where the two ideologies, the two cultures – the bourgeois and the proletarian – do battle. The incompatibility of these two ideologies is becoming increasingly obvious, and the contradictions between these two fundamentally different cultures are growing more acute. Alongside the victory of communist principles and ideals in the sphere of politics and economics, a revolution in the outlook, emotions and the inner world of working people is inevitably taking place. A new attitude to life, society, work, art and to the rules of living (i.e. morality) can already be observed. The arrangement of sexual relationships is one aspect of these rules of living. Over the five years of the existence of our labour republic, the revolution on this non-military front has been accomplishing a great shift in the way men and women think. The fiercer the battle between the two ideologies, the greater the significance it assumes and the more inevitably it raises new “riddles of life” and new problems to which only the ideology of the working class can give a satisfactory answer.
The “riddle of love” that interests us here is one such problem. This question of the relationships between the sexes is a mystery as old as human society itself. At different levels of historical development mankind has approached the solution of this problem in different ways. The problem remains the same: the keys to its solution change. The keys are fashioned by the different epochs, by the classes in power and by the spirit” of a particular age (in other words by its culture).
In Russia over the recent years of intense civil war and general dislocation there has been little interest in the nature of the riddle. The men and women of the working classes were in the grip of other emotions, passions and experiences. In those years everyone walked in the shadow of death, and it was being decided whether victory would belong to the revolution and progress or to counter-revolution and reaction. In face of the revolutionary threat, tender-winged Eros fled from the surface of life. There was neither time nor a surplus of inner strength for love’s “joys and pains.” Such is the law of the preservation of humanity’s social and psychological energy. As a whole. this energy is always directed to the most urgent aims of the historical moment. And in Russia, for a time, the biological instinct of reproduction, the natural voice of nature dominated the situation. Men and women came together and men and women parted much more easily and much more simply than before. They came together without great commitment and parted without tears or regret.
Prostitution disappeared, and the number of sexual relationships where the partners were under no obligation to each other and which were based on the instinct of reproduction unadorned by any emotions of love increased. This fact frightened some. But such a development was, in those years, inevitable. Either pre-existing relationships continued to exist and unite men and women through comradeship and long-standing friendship, which was rendered more precious by the seriousness of the moment, or new relationships were begun for the satisfaction of purely biological needs, both partners treating the affair as incidental and avoiding any commitment that might hinder their work for the revolution.
The unadorned sexual drive is easily aroused but is soon spent; thus “wingless Eros” consumes less inner strength than “winged Eros.” whose love is woven of delicate strands of every kind of emotion. “Wingless Eros” does not make one suffer from sleepless nights, does not sap one’s will, and does not entangle the rational workings of the mind. The fighting class could not have fallen under the power of “winged Eros” at a time when the clarion call of revolution was sounding. It would not have been expedient at such a time to waste the inner strength of the members of the collective on experiences that did not directly serve the revolution. Individual sex love, which lies at the heart of the pair marriage, demands a great expenditure of inner energy. The working class was interested not only in economising in terms of material wealth but also in preserving the intellectual and emotional energy of each person. For this reason, at a time of heightened revolutionary struggle, the undemanding instinct of reproduction spontaneously replaced the all embracing “winged Eros.”
But now the picture changes. The Soviet republic and the whole of toiling humanity are entering a period of temporary and comparative calm. The complex task of understanding and assimilating the achievements and gains that have been made is beginning. The proletariat, the creator of new forms of life, must be able to learn from all social and psychological phenomena, grasp the significance of these phenomena and fashion weapons from them for the self-defence of the class. Only when the proletariat has appropriated the laws not only of the creation of material wealth but also of inner, psychological life is it able to advance fully armed to fight the decaying bourgeois world. Only then will toiling humanity prove itself to be the victor, not only on the military and labour front but also on the psychological-cultural front.
Now that the revolution has proved victorious and is in a stronger position, and now that the atmosphere of revolutionary élan has ceased to absorb men and women completely, tender-winged Eros has emerged from the shadows and begun to demand his rightful place. “Wingless Eros” has ceased to satisfy psychological needs. Emotional energy has accumulated and men and women, even of the working class, have not yet learned to use it for the inner life of the collective. This extra energy seeks an outlet in the love-experience. The many-stringed lyre of the god of love drowns the monotonous voice of “wingless Eros.” Men and women are now not only united by the momentary satisfaction of the sex instinct but are beginning to experience “love affairs” again, and to know all the sufferings and all the exaltations of love’s happiness.
in the life of the Soviet republic an undoubted growth of intellectual and emotional needs, a desire for knowledge, an interest in scientific questions and in art and the theatre can be observed. This movement towards transformation inevitably embraces the sphere of love experiences too. Interest is aroused in the question of the psychology of sex, the mystery of love. Everyone to some extent is having to face up to questions of personal life. One notes with surprise that party workers who in previous years had time only for Pravda editorials and minutes and reports are reading fiction books in which winged Eros is lauded.
What does this mean? Is this a reactionary step? A symptom of the beginning of the decline of revolutionary creativity? Nothing of the sort! It is time we separated ourselves from the hypocrisy of bourgeois thought. It is time to recognize open that love is not only a powerful natural factor, a biological force, but also a social factor. Essentially love is a profoundly social emotion. At all stages of human development love has in different forms, it is true, been an integral part of culture. Even the bourgeoisie, who saw love as a “private matter,” was able to channel the expression of love in its class interests. The ideology of the working class must pay even greater attention to the significance of love as a factor which can, like any other psychological or social phenomenon, be channeled to the advantage of the collective. Love is not in the least a “private” matter concerning only the two loving persons: love possesses a uniting element which is valuable to the collective. This is clear from the fact that at all stages of historical development society has established norms defining when and under what conditions love is “legal” (i.e. corresponds to the interests of the given social collective), and when and under what conditions love is sinful and criminal (i.e. contradicts the tasks of the given society).
Historical notes
From the very early stages of its social being, humanity has sought to regulate not only sexual relations but love itself.
In the kinship community, love for one’s blood relations was considered the highest virtue. The kinship group would not have approved of a woman sacrificing herself for the sake of a beloved husband: fraternal or sisterly attachment were the most highly regarded feelings. Antigone, who according to the Greek legend risked her life to bury the body of her dead brother, was a heroine in the eyes of her contemporaries. Modern bourgeois society would consider such an action on the part of a sister as highly curious. In the times of tribal rule, when the state was still in its embryonic stage, the love held in greatest respect was the love between two members of the same tribe. In an era when the social collective had only just evolved from the stage of kinship community and was still not firmly established in its new form, it was vitally important that its members were linked by mental and emotional ties. Love-friendship was the most suitable type of tie, since at that time the interests of the collective required the growth and accumulation of contacts not between the marriage pair but between fellow-members of the tribe, between the organizers and defenders of the tribe and state that is to say, between the men of the tribe, of course; women at that time had no role to play in social life, and there was no talk of friendship among women). “Friendship” was praised and considered far more important than love between man and wife. Castor and Pollux were famous for their loyalty to each other and their unshakable friendship, rather than for the feats they performed for their country. For the sake of friendship or its semblance a man might offer his wife to an acquaintance or a guest.
The ancient world considered friendship and “loyalty until the grave” to be civic virtues. Love in the modern sense of the word had no place, and hardly attracted the attention either of poets or of writers. The dominant ideology of that time relegated love to the sphere of narrow, personal experiences with which society was not concerned; marriage was based on convenience, not on love. Love was just one among other amusements; it was a luxury which only the citizen who had fulfilled all his obligations to the state could afford. While bourgeois ideology values the “ability to love” provided it confines itself to the limits set down by bourgeois morality, the ancient world did not consider such emotions in its categories of virtues and positive human qualities. The person who accomplished great deeds and risked his life for his friend was considered a hero and his action “most virtuous” while a man risking himself for the sake of a woman he loved would have been reproached or even despised.
The morality of the ancient world, then, did not even recognize the love that inspired men to great deeds – the love so highly regarded in the feudal period – as worthy of consideration. The ancient world recognized only those emotions which drew its fellow-members close together and rendered the emerging social organism more stable. In subsequent stages of cultural development, however, friendship ceases to be considered a moral virtue. Bourgeois society was built on the principles of individualism and competition, and has no place for friendship as a moral factor. Friendship does not help in any way, and may hinder the achievement of class aims; it is viewed as an unnecessary manifestation of “sentimentality” and weakness. Friendship becomes an object of derision. Castor and Pollux in the New York of London of today would only evoke a condescending smile. This was not so in feudal society, where love-friendship was seen as a quality to be taught and encouraged.
The feudal system defended the interests of the noble family. Virtues were defined with reference not so much to relations between the members of that society as to the obligations of the individual to his or her family and its traditions. Marriage was contracted according to the interests of the family, and any young man (the girl had no rights whatever) who chose himself a wife against these interests was severely criticized. In the feudal era the individual was not supposed to place personal feelings and inclinations above the interests of family, and he who did so “sinned.” Morality did not demand that love and marriage go hand in hand.
Nevertheless, love between the sexes was not neglected; in fact, for the first time in the history of humanity it received a certain recognition. It may seem strange that love was first accepted in this age of strict asceticism, of crude and cruel morals, an age of violence and rule by violence; but the reasons for acceptance become clear when we take a closer look. In certain situations and in certain circumstances, love can act as a lever propelling the man to perform actions of which he would otherwise have been incapable. The knighthood demanded of each member fearlessness, bravery, endurance and great feats of individual valour on the battlefield. Victory in war was in those days decided not so much by the organization of troops as by the individual qualities of the participants. The knight in love with the inaccessible “lady of his heart” found it easier to perform miracles of bravery, easier to win tournaments, easier to sacrifice his life. The knight in love was motivated by the desire to “shine” and thus to win the attention of his beloved.
The ideology of chivalry recognized love as a psychological state that could be used to the advantage of the feudal class, but nevertheless it sought to organize emotions in a definite framework. Love between man and wife was not valued, for the family that lived in the knightly castle and in the Russian boyar’s terem was not held together by emotional ties. The social factor of chivalrous love operated where the knight loved a woman outside the family and was inspired to military and other heroic feats by this emotion. The more inaccessible the woman, the greater the knight’s determination to win her favour and the greater his need to develop in himself the virtues and qualities which were valued by his social class. Usually the knight chose as his lady the woman least accessible, the wife of his suzerain, or often the queen. Only such a “platonic” love could spur the knight to perform miracles of bravery and was considered virtuous and worthy. The knight rarely chose an unmarried woman as the object of his love, for no matter how far above him in station and apparently inaccesible the girl might be, the possibility of marriage and the consequent removal of the psychological lever could not be ruled out. Hence feudal morality combined recognition of the ideal of asceticism (sexual restraint) with recognition of love as a moral virtue. In his desire to free love from all that was carnal and sinful and to transform it into an abstract emotion completely divorced from its biological base the knight was prepared to go to great lengths, choosing as his lady a woman he had never seen or joining the ranks of the lovers of the Virgin Mary. Further he could not go.
Feudal ideology saw love as a stimulus, as a quality assisting in social cohesion: spiritual love and the knight’s adoration of his lady served the interests of the noble class. The knight who would have thought nothing of sending his wife to a monastery or of slaying her for unfaithfulness would have been flattered if she had been chosen by another knight as his lady, and would have made no objections to her platonic friendships. But while placing so much emphasis on spiritual love, feudal morality in no way demanded that love should determine legal marriage relationships. Love and marriage were kept separate by feudal ideology, and were only united by the bourgeois class that emerged in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The exalted sophistication of feudal love existed. therefore, alongside indescribably crude norms of relations between the sexes. Sexual intercourse both within and outside marriage lacked the softening and inspiring element of love and remained an undisguisedly physiological act.
The church pretended to wage war on depravity, but by encouraging “spiritual love” it encouraged crude animal relations between the sexes. The knight who would not be parted from the emblem of the lady of his heart, who composed poetry in her honour and risked his life to win her smile, would rape a girl of the urban classes without a second thought or order his steward to bring him a beautiful peasant for his pleasure. The wives of the knights, for their part, did not let slip the opportunity to enjoy the delights of the flesh with the troubadours and pages of the feudal household.
With the weakening of feudalism and the growth of new conditions of life dictated by the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, a new moral ideal of relations between the sexes developed. Rejecting platonic love, the bourgeoisie defended the violated rights of the body and injected the combination of the spiritual and physical into the very conception of love. Bourgeois morality did not separate love and marriage; marriage was the expression of the mutual attraction of the couple. In practice of course the bourgeoisie itself, in the name of convenience, continually sinned against this moral teaching, but the recognition of love as the pillar of marriage had a profound class basis.
Under the feudal system the family was held together firmly by the traditions of nobility and birth. The married couple was held in place by the power of the church, the unlimited authority of the head of the family, the strength of family tradition and the will of the suzerain; marriage was indissoluble. The bourgeois family evolved in different conditions; its basis was not the co-ownership of family wealth but the accumulation of capital. The family was the guardian of this capital; in order that accumulation might take place as rapidly as possible, it was important that a man’s savings should be handled with care and skill: in other words, that the woman should not only be a good housewife but also the helper and friend of her husband. With the establishment of capitalist relations and of the bourgeois social system, the family. in order to remain stable, had to be based not only on economic considerations but also on the co-operation of all its members, who had a joint interest in the accumulation of wealth. And co-operation could serve as a more powerful factor when husband and wife and parents and children were held together by strong emotional and psychological bonds.
At the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, the new economic way of life gave rise to a new ideology. The conceptions of love and marriage gradually changed. The religious reformer, Luther, and the other thinkers and public figures of the Renaissance and the Reformation, understood the social force of love perfectly. Aware that the stability of the family – the economic unit on which the bourgeois system rests – required that its members be linked by more than economic ties alone, the revolutionary ideologists of the rising bourgeoisie propagated the new moral ideal of a love that embraced both the flesh and the soul. The reformers of the period challenged the celibacy of the clergy and made merciless fun of the “spiritual love” of chivalry that kept the knight in a continual state of aspiration but denied him the hope of satisfying his sensual needs. The ideologists of the bourgeoisie and the reformation recognised the legitimacy of the body’s needs. Thus, while the feudal world had divided love into the sexual act (relations within marriage or with concubines) on the one hand, and spiritual, platonic love (the relations between the knight and the lady of his heart) on the other, the bourgeois class included both the physical attraction between the sexes and emotional attachments in its concept of love. The feudal ideal had separated love from marriage; the bourgeoisie linked the two. The bourgeoisie made love and marriage inseparable. In practice, of course, this class has always retreated from its ideal; but while the question of mutual inclination was never raised under feudalism, bourgeois morality requires that even in marriages of convenience, the partners should practise hypocrisy and pretend affection.
Traces of feudal tradition and feudal attitudes to marriage and love have come down to us, surviving the centuries and accommodating themselves to the morality of the bourgeois class. Royal families and the higher ranks of the aristocracy still live according to these old norms. In these circles it is considered “amusing” but rather “awkward” when a marriage is concluded on the basis of love. The princes and princesses of this world still have to bow to the demands of birth and politics, joining themselves for life to people they do not care for.
In peasant families one also finds that family and economic considerations play a big part in marriage arrangements. The peasant family differs from that of the urban industrial bourgeoisie chiefly in that it is an economic labour unit; its members are so firmly held together by economic circumstances that inner bonds are of secondary importance. For the medieval artisan, love likewise had no role in marriage, for in the context of the guild system the family was a productive unit, and this economic rationale provided stability. The ideal of love in marriage only begins to appear when, with the emergence of the bourgeoisie, the family loses its productive functions and remains a consumer unit also serving as a vehicle for the preservation of accumulated capital.
But though bourgeois morality defended the rights of two “loving hearts” to conclude a union even in defiance of tradition, and though it criticized “spiritual love” and asceticism, proclaiming love as the basis of marriage, it nevertheless defined love in a very narrow way. Love is permissible only when it is within marriage. Love outside legal marriage is considered immoral. Such ideas were often dictated, of course, by economic considerations, by the desire to prevent the distribution of capital among illegitimate children. The entire morality of the bourgeoisie was directed towards the concentration of capital. The ideal was the married couple, working together to improve their welfare and to increase the wealth of their particular family unit. divorced as it was from society. Where the interests of the family and society were in conflict, bourgeois morality decided in the interests of the family (cf. the sympathetic attitude of bourgeois morality - though not the law – to deserters and to those who, for the sake of their families, cause the bankruptcy of their fellow shareholders). This morality, with a utilitarianism typical of the bourgeoisie, tried to use love to its advantage, making it the main ingredient of marriage, and thereby strengthening the family.
Love, of course, could not be contained within the limits set down by bourgeois ideologists. Emotional conflicts grew and multiplied, and found their expression in the new form of literature – the novel – which the bourgeois class developed. Love constantly escaped from the narrow framework of legal marriage relations set for it, into free relationships and adultery, which were condemned but which were practised. The bourgeois ideal of love does not correspond to the needs of the largest section of the population – the working class. Nor is it relevant to the life-style of the working intelligentsia. This is why in highly developed capitalist countries one finds such an interest in the problems of sex and love and in the search for the key to its mysteries. How, it is asked, can relations between the sexes be developed in order to increase the sum of both individual and social happiness?
The working youth of Soviet Russia is confronting this question at this very moment. This brief survey of the evolution of the ideal of love marriage relationships will help you, my young friend, to realize and understand that love is not the private matter it might seem to be at a first glance. Love is an important psychological and social factor, which society has always instinctively organized in its interests. Working men and women, armed with the science of Marxism and using the experience of the past, must seek to discover the place love ought to occupy in the new social order and determine the ideal of love that corresponds to their class interests.
Love-comradeship
The new, communist society is being built on the principle of comradeship and solidarity. Solidarity is not only an awareness of common interests: it depends also on the intellectual and emotional ties linking the members of the collective. For a social system to be built on solidarity and co-operation it is essential that people should be capable of love and warm emotions. The proletarian ideology, therefore, attempts to educate and encourage every member of the working class to be capable of responding to the distress and needs of other members of the class, of a sensitive understanding of others and a penetrating consciousness of the individual’s relationship to the collective. All these “warm emotions” – sensitivity, compassion, sympathy and responsiveness – derive from one source: they are aspects of love, not in the narrow, sexual sense but in the broad meaning of the word. Love is an emotion that unites and is consequently of an organizing character. The bourgeoisie was well aware of this, and in the attempt to create a stable family bourgeois ideology erected “married love” as a moral virtue; to be a “good family man” was, in the eyes of the bourgeoisie, an important and valuable quality. The proletariat should also take into account the psychological and social role that love, both in the broad sense and in the sense of relationships between the sexes, can and must play, not in strengthening family-marriage ties, but in the development of collective solidarity
What is the proletariat’s ideal of love? We have already seen that each epoch has its ideal; each class strives to fill the conception of love with a moral content that suits its own interests. Each stage of cultural development, with its richer intellectual and emotional experiences, redefines the image of Eros. With the successive stages in the development of the economy and social life, ideas of love have changed; shades of emotion have assumed greater significance or, on the other hand, have ceased to exist.
In the course of the thousand-year history of human society. love has developed from the simple biological instinct – the urge to reproduce which is inherent in all creatures from the highest to the lowest – into a most complex emotion that is constantly acquiring new intellectual and emotional aspects. Love has become a psychological and social factor. Under the impact of economic and social forces, the biological instinct for reproduction has been transformed in two diametrically opposed directions. On the one hand the healthy sexual instinct has been turned by monstrous social and economic relations, particularly those of capitalism, into unhealthy carnality. The sexual act has become an aim in itself - just another way of obtaining pleasure, through lust sharpened with excesses and through distorted, harmful titillations of the flesh. A man does not have sex in response to healthy instincts which have drawn him to a particular woman: a man approaches any woman, though he feels no sexual need for her in particular, with the aim of gaining his sexual satisfaction and pleasure through her. Prostitution is the organized expression of this distortion of the sex drive. If intercourse with a woman does not prompt the expected excitement, the man will turn to every kind of perversion.
This deviation towards unhealthy carnality takes relationships far from their source in the biological Instinct. On the other hand, over the centuries and with the changes in human social life and culture, a web of emotional and intellectual experiences has come to surround the physical attraction of the sexes. Love in its present form is a complex state of mind and body; it has long been separated from its primary source, the biological instinct for reproduction, and in fact it is frequently in sharp contradiction with it. Love is intricately woven from friendship, passion, maternal tenderness, infatuation, mutual compatibility, sympathy, admiration, familiarity and many other shades of emotion. With such a range of emotions involved, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish direct connection between the natural drive of “wingless Eros” and “winged Eros,” where physical attraction and emotional warmth are fused. The existence of love friendship where the element of physical attraction is absent, of love for one’s work or for a cause, and of love for the collective, testify to the extent to which love has become “spiritualized” and separated from its biological base.
In modern society. sharp contradictions frequently arise and battles are waged between the various manifestations of emotion. A deep intellectual and emotional involvement in one’s work may not be compatible with love for a particular man or woman, love for the collective might conflict with love for husband, wife or children. It may be difficult for love-friendship in one person to coexist with passion in another; in the one case love is predominantly based on intellectual compatibility, and in the other case on physical harmony. “Love” has many faces and aspects. The various shades of feeling that have developed over the ages and which are experienced by contemporary men and women cannot be covered by such a general and inexact term.
Under the rule of bourgeois ideology and the capitalist way of life, the complexity of love creates a series of complex and insoluble problems. By the end of the nineteenth century the many-sidedness of love had become a favourite theme for writers with a psychological bent Love for two or even three has interested and perplexed many of the more thoughtful representatives of bourgeois culture. In the sixties of the last century our Russian thinker and writer Alexander Herzen tried to uncover this complexity of the inner world and the duality of emotion in his novel Who Is Guilty?, and Cheryshevsky tackled the same questions in his novel What is to be Done?, Poetic geniuses such as Goethe and Byron, and bold pioneers in the sphere of relations between the sexes such as George Sand, have tried to come to terms with these issues in their own lives; the author of Who Is Guilty? also knew of the problems from his own experience, as did many other great thinkers, poets and public figures. And at this present moment many “small” people are weighed down by the difficulties of love and vainly seek for solutions within the framework of bourgeois thought. But the key to the solution is in the hands of the proletariat. Only the ideology and the life-style of the new, labouring humanity can unravel this complex problem of emotion.
We are talking here of the duality of love, of the complexities of “winged Eros”; this should not be confused with sexual relations “with out Eros,” where one man goes with many women or one woman with a number of men. Relations where no personal feelings are involved can have unfortunate and harmful consequences (the early exhaustion of the organism, venereal diseases etc.), but however entangled they are, they do not give rise to “emotional dramas.” These “dramas” and conflicts begin only where the various shades and manifestations of love are present. A woman feels close to a man whose ideas, hopes and aspirations match her own; she is attracted physically to another. For one woman a man might feel sympathy and a protective tenderness, and in another he might find support and understanding for the strivings of his intellect. To which of the two must he give his love? And why must he tear himself apart and cripple his inner self, if only the possession of both types of inner bond affords the fullness of living?
Under the bourgeois system such a division of the inner emotional world involves inevitable suffering. For thousands of years human culture, which is based on the institution of property, has been teaching people that love is linked with the principles of property. Bourgeois ideology has insisted that love, mutual love, gives the right to the absolute and indivisible possession of the beloved person. Such exclusiveness was the natural consequence of the established form of pair marriage and of the ideal of “all-embracing love” between husband and wife. But can such an ideal correspond to the interests of the working class? Surely it is important and desirable from the proletariat’s point of view that people’s emotions should develop a wider and richer range? And surely the complexity of the human psyche and the many-sidedness of emotional experience should assist in the growth of the emotional and intellectual bonds between people which make the collective stronger? The more numerous these inner threads drawing people together, the firmer the sense of solidarity and the simpler the realization of the working-class ideal of comradeship and unity.
Proletarian ideology cannot accept exclusiveness and “all embracing love.” The proletariat is not filled with horror and moral indignation at the many forms and facets of “winged Eros” in the way that the hypocritical bourgeoisie is; on the contrary, it tries to direct these emotions, which it sees as the result of complex social circumstances, into channels which are advantageous to the class during the struggle for and the construction of communist society. The complexity of love is not in conflict with the interests of the proletariat. On the contrary, it facilitates the triumph of the ideal of love-comradeship which is already developing.
At the tribal stage love was seen as a kinship attachment (love between sisters and brothers, love for parents). The ancient culture of the pre-christian period placed love-friendship above all else. The feudal world idealized platonic courtly love between members of the opposite sex outside marriage. The bourgeoisie took monogamous marital love as its ideal. The working class derives its ideal from the labour co-operation and inner solidarity that binds the men and women of the proletariat together; the form and content of this ideal naturally differs from the conception of love that existed in other cultural epochs. The advocacy of love-comradeship in no way implies that in the militant atmosphere of its struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat the working class has adopted a strait-jacket ideology and is mercilessly trying to remove all traces of tender emotion from relations between the sexes. The ideology of the working class does not seek to destroy “winged Eros” but, on the contrary, to clear the way for the recognition of the value of love as a psychological and social force.
(Continues in comments)

A list: Some of my favorite live concert drumming performances.

I am reluctant to call these performances "best", this is a subjective territory, and my taste is not yours. I am of the opinion that these differences in subjective tastes should be appreciated not pointlessly competed over. I have always been a big fan of live performances for several reasons. It is in concert where the rubber meets the road. Unlike the studio, there are (generally) no second takes. The live performance is where the drummer's countless hours of practice, lessons, and rehearsals are employed to demonstrate their talents and acquired skills. Not only is there always a chance for things to go wrong in a public setting, but there is also a wide spectrum of other factors that come into play. Drum tuning, choice of heads, drum miking, the sound of the room, and the anxiety of a live performance. It has always been my view that live performance is the ultimate endeavor for musicianship to showcase not only what we do, but why we do it. To invoke emotion in others, to express our art in a way to conveys a feeling. An activity so deeply ingrained in the intrinsic nature of our species that with every performance we continue on a ceremony that is as old as our species itself. The ceremony of the universal language of music.
I have set basic criteria for my choices to make this list. The first and most important is obviously the performance of the drummer. But also considering the historical importance and continuing influence of the performance. Finally, the overall sound of the recording. While it could be argued that the overall sound of the recording is a group effort involving drum techs, stagehands, engineers, and the final mastering of the recording. Without a solid foundation provided by the drummer firstly, it would never make this list to begin with. Clearly, my personal bias and taste are going to influence my choices here.

Gene Krupa's "Sing, Sing, Sing" on The Ed Sullivan Show on June 26, 1960

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyAUKU_ImNg&ab_channel=TheEdSullivanShow
The historical importance of this performance cannot be overstated. For drummers in the modern era, this performance is analogous to the pilgrims landing on Plymouth rock. While Gene plays with his normal concentrated intensity, he is calm and in complete control. This performance is also significant because it was an early example of bringing the drums to the forefront of the music. There is no doubt in my mind that many if not all of my lifelong drumming heroes first gained their burning desire to pick up a pair of sticks after seeing this very performance.

Joe Morello- The Dave Brubeck Quartet- At Carnegie Hall (1963)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFrnCnbEJMQ&list=PL64D93478E0879D5B&ab_channel=Bundle813
My bias is clearly showing here, I was very fortunate to have taken lessons from Joe when I was much younger. But I am not alone in my appreciation of his drumming. In usual form, Joe is right on point with his playing. His detailed drumming is exquisite. Joe is a great example of how listening to the other musicians around you is just as important as whatever it is you're executing. The musicality of his drumming is really unmatched as far as I'm concerned. His precision performance is a masterclass in dynamics. Incredible drumming that is supportive and complementary to the songs. This record has gotten a lot of play in my house.

Buddy Rich- Rich in London (Recorded live at Ronnie Scott's-1972)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYe4_Xc5Vlg&ab_channel=Dustman
Yes, I got to see Buddy play in concert twice, both times in the US. I am very lucky. I actually think this recording sounds a bit "thin". But damn, his drumming is just spectacular. Strong start to this concert also, Dancing Men as an opener is like a Tyson fight. But what the hell, it's Buddy Rich. There are a lot of live recordings of Rich, but this official release was very influential in my childhood, so this is what I am choosing. "Buddy Rich in Miami", (quartet), is also really good, it was difficult to choose.
​

Michael Shrieve- Santana: SOUL SACRIFICE: Woodstock Music Festival, August 1969

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBG6IaSQCpU&ab_channel=DavidFerriera
"Michael Shrieve was the original drummer with Santana, at the age of (just turned) 20 (born July 6, 1949), and was the youngest performer at Woodstock." Santana's entire segment is epic, but this is without question the highlight for me.

Dennis Chambers with Steely Dan, "Alive in America" -September 18, 1994

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8GRCTcW-dE&list=PL4cFJtUcmjZmjF2mPx7qubkntwUM2xbJ5&index=5&ab_channel=LoneStar
The album comprises recordings from their 1993 and 1994 tours. Chambers' solo in "Josie" is always a highlight for me. Truly inspirational drumming. As always, the Steely Dan recording is stellar, and Chambers is an absolute force. What I have always admired about Chambers' playing is that he delivers some really complex drumming while making it seem effortless, he is just so relaxed in his approach it just exudes cool.

Tommy Aldridge-Ozzy Osbourne Centre of Eternity 1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WhvojT62lA&ab_channel=ASHANTISSSSSS
Wow, just wow. There are dozens of recordings of Tommy playing live, but this concert clip really captures the essentials of his drumming. Aldridge is an institution of rock drumming.
​

Vinnie Colaiuta- Jeff Beck (Performing This Week..Live at Ronnie Scott's) [Ronnie Scott's, London / 2007]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_3Pg_7FBO0&list=PLCWR7cftUj6RG5kii1MyQSEFawPMTfXF4&index=12&ab_channel=SilverBell
This is probably one of the more interesting picks on my list because I really believe although this performance is now 16 years in the past, its impact and importance are still being realized. Vinnie is of course absolutely brilliant. This concert really seems to be a moment of setting the bar just that much higher. This is how it is done moment in time. The entire concert is amazing, and "Scatterbrain" is epic all around.

Simon Phillips- Toto- ("Live In Amsterdam")- 2003

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdSqPPRPI1o&ab_channel=Mercury
Not taking anything away from Jeff Porcaro's legacy, but Simon is brilliant here filling the shoes of a legend. I could have chosen anything from Simon's long career and certainly could have included some honorable mentions of his drumming from his work with Pete Townsend and his band Protocol, but decided to hit a more centered target with Toto. This is simply brilliant drumming from a master. He honors Jeff with his performance.

Cozy Powell- Rainbow with Dio (Live München Olympiahalle) -1977

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d26itnU1WhM&ab_channel=DIOSAVA
Cozy's snare sound alone gets him a place on my list, but his drumming is amazing here. This is really old-school rock drumming that never gets old and never goes out of style. What an absolute treasure, and what a loss.

Stanley Randolph- Stevie Wonder - Live At Last -2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqxs2WutrzQ&ab_channel=JULIKI
You can't go wrong playing the drums for Stevie Wonder, Randolph just knocks it out of the park with this performance. What an amazing drummer, and what a band! Simply timeless.

Chester Thompson/Phil Collins - Genesis - Live at the Lyceum Theatre 1980

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb_QIfoI9ko&t=2750s&ab_channel=RyanMartin
Full disclosure, I am generally not a fan of the two-drummer format, but these two really make it work in a great and interesting way. This is some generally fantastic and creative drumming that hits the mark, especially during the drum duet.

Keith Moon- The Who - Live at Leeds (1970)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiWG11Ldk4Q&ab_channel=lethalintoxication4900
For me, this is Keith at his very best. What a great-sounding album, built on the foundation of great drumming.

Neil Peart - Rush - Exit ... Stage Left (1981)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTUaMg0_MMQ&list=PLvsYXqtYjMYfVs-3pQ3YAcYeGA69ChtBA&index=4&ab_channel=Rush-Topic
You know it had to be here, this is about as good as it gets. Regardless of your feeling about this band, Neil's talent and influence on the world of drumming is undeniable. There are plenty of live recordings I could have chosen from with Rush, but this record is in my opinion a benchmark of live performance. Perhaps a bit of youthful nostalgia on my part.

John Bonham- Led Zeppelin (Live at The Royal Albert Hall 1970)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOb8otk7Y0U&ab_channel=LedZeppelin
While this concert was never officially released, a version of "I can't quit you Baby" from this performance did find its way onto Coda. Also, there are other really great examples of John's drumming live that are iconic. "The Song remains the Same", "How the West was Won", and the Knebworth Festival 1979, and many others. The drum sound at this Royal Albert Hall concert, and his playing is just sublime. It really seems like all the planets were in line to make this one of the most stellar drum sounds I have ever heard from a live concert. To me, this is exactly how drums should sound. That blonde maple Ludwig kit just sounds perfect in the hands of Bonham.
​
I'm sure that I left many other great performances out, let me know what some of your favorite live drumming performances are. I have only scratched the surface for sure with these.

Out church (NALC) has been without a pastor since July 2022. I knew there was a shortage of pastors, but its worse than I thought. Nearly 20% of NALC churches are without a pastor. The current “answer” to this issue is to have lay leaders in the church do a 2 year Ordination Under Special Circumstances degree. I find this ”solution” greatly lacking. Many of these students are people who are retired and will like be in ministry for several years. Also, the rate of burnout among pastors is no secret. I have to wonder why more hans’t been done to address this issue.
Anyways, I’m wondering what other people think may help creatively solve this issue? Not necessarily to get more pastors, but how churches can function without seminary-trained leaders long term. Also, what needs to be reconsidered in order to reduce pastoral burnout?

[SELL][CANADA to USA & Canada][PERFUME]

TAT 3 calendar days or less
SHIPPING TO USA: $11 without tracking and $15.75 with tracking. I'm shipping from Canada.
SHIPPING TO CANADA: For samples only, $4. With tracking, it starts at $15. Tracked shipping price in Canada varies by region.
All samples or decants, unless marked as FS.
All purchased new, unless marked as RIS.
ALL PRICES ARE IN USD. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALPHA MUSK

• WILD WILD HORSES, slink-sized decant, RIS $2: a blend of ethereal amber, fuzzy musk, and the sand and sea.
• WILD WILD HORSES, half-full thick vial $2: a blend of ethereal amber, fuzzy musk, and the sand and sea.

ARCANA

• LUGHNADSADH , decant $5: The scent of fresh water, white coconut, moonlight reflected on the ocean, smooth amber, seaweed absolute, rain-drenched juniper tips, and a drop of ruby red grapefruit.

ASTRID

• ALCHEMY & SURF, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Aquatic ozone, metallic gold accord, vetiver, rosemary, benzoin, fig, and moss.
• AQUAMARINE, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Peach blossom, cucumber, water lily, green cognac, a blend of citrus, blue musk, Japanese peppermint, and sunny sea water accord.
• COVER, 1/4 Bottle, RIS, $6: An enveloping blanket of rice flower, sandalwood, cream, and a touch of cooling bergamot mint.
• FLOATING ON THE WAVES FOREVER AND EVER, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Honeydew melon, aquatic ozone, jasmine, lemon, and wild lilies.
• MERCI #27, decant in a thick vial, $2.75, RIS: Lotus, orchid, banana, tropical ivy, and torrential rain accord
• RAIN ON THE OCEAN, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Aloe, salt water accord, juniper, pale patchouli, white musk, eucalyptus, and a whisper of spearmint.
• SPELLCASTING ON THE ROCK, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Sun-warmed wood, sand, amber, rose geranium, and patchouli.
• WITCHSHIP, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $4.25: Blackened amber, Alaska cypress, deep musk, oakmoss, sea spray, bergamot, lavender, oceanic ozone, and lemon.

BPAL (all purchased new)

• A WINTER'S WALK IN THE CEMETERY, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Lilith’s lavender and my Dorian on a rambling walk through soft, sweet grass, cypress trees, piles of maple leaves, and bright bouquets of lilies and roses.
• CYCLING FOR PLEASURE, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Sea water, sea salt-dusted cypress, pink carnation, oakmoss, and white vetiver.
• O HUSHED OCTOBER MORNING MILD, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Dried forest pansy leaves, grape vine, grass, lavender buds, thyme, creeping fig, paw-squished soil, and a whiff of coffee drifting down from the kitchen.
• RING OF LIGHT, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Radiant pale musk, artemisia, white lavender, neroli, white pepper, and zingy white aldehydes.
• SKATE PUNKS, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Crabgrass, dandelion sap, white clover, purslane, and soil unsettled by skateboard wheels.
• SURPRISE EJACULATION, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: White pear, white champaca, pink grapefruit, and effervescent white musk.
• THE LAST SYLLABLE, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Photos pinned to cool plaster walls, discarded papers, a web of strings, a mirror, a doll, singed straw, scattered books, and unfurled magnetic tape.
• UPSLOPE FOG, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Moist clouds rolling lazily up and down low hills of wild grasses, sagebrush, and wildflowers, curling gently around gnarled oaks, majestic pines, and craggy stones.
• URBAN UNDINE, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $5.5: Ocean spray, sea salt, ambergris accord, and lavender.
• VIAL OF HOLY WATER: The gleaming, indescribably clean scent of purified, ritually consecrated holy water.
• WATER OF NOTRE DAME direct , $3.5: Aquatic

DARLING CLANDESTINE

• MISHIGAMI, approx 1/5 full, $3 (These roller-balls were swiped only 2-3x! I’ve decanted out the liquid as soon as I got them): Inspired by that greatest of lakes, Lake Michigan, my very favorite lake in the world, and all its moods and shores. Much more than an ""aquatic"" fragrance, this has indescribable, sandy depth.

DECONSTRUCTING EDEN (all purchased brand new, $2.75 each)

• ALCUIN: White musks and white amber, the pale greens and grays of his marque, with moss and a chypre accord and a base of soft wood.
• HOMESICK: Dogwood, wisteria, tulips, sunflowers ocean air.
• INSOMNIAC: white nightgowns, clean sheets, lavender buds, a drop of chamomile, wood floors, skin musks
• SEPTEMBER SUN: Sun brightened (vegan) honey, fossilized amber, bergamot, Somalian Frankincense CO2, Gurjun Balsam, Calendula flowers, and golden woods.
• SNOW WHITE: Clean white musk, blood-red roses, ebony wood, and a touch of the forest, and that infamous apple.

KYSE (all purchased new, 3 mL, SPRAYED TWICE, $5.5 each. These vials are much thicker than their old 2 mL vial)

• VANILLE DE CEDRE: Himalayan Cedarwood, Tahitian Vanilla Beans, Oakmoss, and a hint of a sweet musk base

NAVA

• BASTET’S AMBER, 2 mL Well-Aged Shop Sample, $13: Amber Resin imported from Alexandria and lit from the truest essential oil of Rare and Exotic Guiacwood and Crystal Benzoin and Crystal Frankincense. Using the base of the Amber described above the resin has been turned into a fossilized perfume resin from ancient recipes and then turned back into perfume oil diluting nothing
• BASTET’S MUSK, 2 mL Well-Aged Shop Sample, $13: Bastet's Musk is a fresh, clean and light skin musk, intimately sensual. A magnetic skin musk made from a soft white floral blend of Tuberose, Mallow, Angelica, Musk Flower, and White Lily all balanced exquisitely through Enfleurage methods of oil extraction.
• COUNT CHOCO, Ajevie Slink, $4: Count ChocoCocoa Absolute of Persia, India and the West Indies, Cocoa liquor, Wheat, Cocoa Powder, Vanilla Powder, Mallow and Chocolate Soy Milk.
• DEVIL CAKE, Ajevie Slink, $4: Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting, Sugar, and Cocoa dust.
• ETERNAL ANKH, slink-sized decant, RIS, $5: White Amber, Powdered and reconstructed oil of Egyptian Vanilla Husk, Vanilla fleck, African White Vanilla and the scent of soft Egyptian Sands (from the White Amber accord)
• VANILLA MUSK, 1 ml Decant in Chonky Vial, $7.45: Bastet's Ice Cream accord made from fresh and dried Madagascar Vanilla beans, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute, Vanilla Sugar, Mallow Root extract and soft white floral blend of Tuberose, Mallow, Angelica, Musk Flower, and White Lily all blended beautifully into Bastet's Musk base Madagascar Vanilla beans have been beautifully aged for two years specifically for this blend.

NUI COBALT DESIGNS (all purchased new)

• BROTHER OF MOONS , 1.15 ml, $3.5: Young coconut, green fig, melissa leaf, budding blue lotus, tonka, white sandalwood and the softest touch of lamb’s wool.
• DEEP HEALING, 1.15 ml, $3.5: Deep ocean water, bracing wind, cold clary sage, and fresh rain-drenched greens.
• DENDROPHILIA - THE LOVE OF TREES, 1.15 ml, $3.5: The love of Trees.Moss-covered deadfall, birchwood and pine, lingering resins and sunlight through the leaves, a trace of woodsmoke, the memory of vetiver and cedar.
• FROST GIANT , 1.15 ml, $3.5: Himalayan cedar, towering oak, nagarmotha, frozen sage, moss-covered stone, cucumber, and fog.
• GREY WOLF, 1.15 ml, $3.5: White sandalwood, black amber, icy sage, cashmere, stone musk, lichen, softly smoked birchwood, grey suede, mountain springwater, and white peppercorn.
• MERFOLK, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials), $3.75: The mineral scent of sand, salt, and shells upon the mist, ambergris accord, turquoise musk, warm orris, olive trees, and neroli.
• ORNITHOPHILIA - THE LOVE OF BIRDS, 1.15 ml, $3.5: A wistful effusion of angelica, kava kava, elderflower, linden, mugwort, saffron, acacia wood, purple heliotrope, and mugwort.

OSMOFOLIA

• CIRRUS, RIS, $3: TOP/WET: sugar ✦ cold air ✦ blueberries MID/HEART: cotton candy ✦ white lilac ✦ heliotrope BASE/DRYDOWN: paper ✦ orris ✦ humidity"

POSSETS (ALL PURCHASED NEW; unless marked as FS, all are samples from direct or decant from Ajevie that are $2.5 each)

• 4 SEASONS OF SUMMER: Bamboo, silk, Japanese incense, a hint of water, and fresh green shoots, and a small introduction of sandalwood in the mix to send a cooling breeze your way.
• ALASKA: the chill in the air, but also the perfume of the riot of summer blossoms as they race the sun every year.
• ARC OF VENUS: Sexy sandalwood base, black lavender, calendula, “abstract” musk, sharp grey musk
• ARC OF VENUS, FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: Sexy sandalwood base, black lavender, calendula, “abstract” musk, sharp grey musk
• BEATRICE: The Silver base & five of the most beautiful musks: Skin musk, 2 white musks, "Crystalline" musk,and a grey musk.
• BERENICE: Champagne musk, pink grapefruit, a dash of lemon zest, a veil of dragons' blood
• BIRTH OF VENUS: jasmine, aquatic blend, light citrus blend
• BRIDAL CHORUS, FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: a lot of Hawthorne here, a very sugary musk, a kiss of a ""silky musk"" and it's all about silky skin
• DANCE WITH ME, FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: A classy variation of everyone's favorite lavender vanilla but substituting grapefruit for lavender and under-girding it with white musk.
• EVITA PERON: "Egyptian musk unusual leather component that conjures up the scent of violets (!), dry white amber, a kiss of ginger"
• FASCINATOR: sparkling, very high-key bright crystalline musk, emollient backup musk, sandalwood, cedar and rosewood.
• FLYING HORSE: Bamboo, grated ginger, green tea, luan wood, white floral note
• FROG PRINCESS: To an aquatic base, subtle hints of coconut and mint are added.
• HATSHEPSUT: Bitter beautiful galbanum pairs with the smoothness of labdanum, a bit of oude gum, and a very small amount of the best skin amber.
• HEATHCLIFFE AND CATHERINE EARNSHAW: Heather of the moors, lavender of English, a drop of wildness, oude
• HYLAS AND THE NYMPH: pooled water, lush vegetation, and sneaking scent of sex
• IN GALLARUS ORATORY: A cold yet cozy perfume with a waft of a turf fire in the distance, the sea lapping at the shore below, and the fragrance of stone. Remarkable in its chill, but also somehow familiar.
• ISABELLA: rose are combined with a light resin, white tea leaf and a rare honey/milky/cream musk. A light dusting of familiar spices.
• LOLA MONTEZ: green of Irish grass accord, deeply green aquatic note, dark and thick labdenum, tonka infusion, animalic musk.
• LOTUS OF THE NILE: The lotus is the prime fragrance in the bouquet, but it is followed by bits of roseate beauty, a sort of dark incense which has been winnowed through the air, and faint aquatic background scent.
• LYRA: White Amber, white oude, white (sharp) musk, a small small amount of a water accord, a tobacco flower background, a small amount of silk fragrance.
• MADAME X, FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: Skin musk, wax, cream, lemon zest, champagne, and a kiss of bitter vanilla.
• MADAME X SQUARED: White ginger, wheat blossoms, Deep white musk, sunflower pollen, Lemony but with no lemon in the blend
• MADAME X 3 (TO THE THIRD POWER), FS, Brand New Never Used, $16: the bees-waxy vanilla for which the Madame is so famous, dry vanilla and a woody vanilla, hint of yuzu, a drop of Haitian vetiver.
• MORNING WALK: The deep greenery of a shady dell, an accord which is the jetty side of chorophyll, combined with the scent of green tea brewing and a goodly waft of coumarin from a blooming sweet woodruff.
• SHIP OF FOOLS: tang of the sea and added a bit of refined leather to get things started, a roll of key lime zest and a goodly portion of faux ambergris.
• SWAN: cool with a light kiss of olive leaf, a blend of three blue musks (from light to dark and a mid tone one), a bit of cork (!) extract, a small amount of osmanthus.
• TERRA NOCTURNA: violet, vetiver, leather, ozone, pepper, sugar, and a crystal musk
• THE WATER BURNS: The essence of earth and high greenery--a hint of smoke but smelled from far away, boxwood, galbanum, and a light hint of Mysore sandalwood.
• XUONG CUONG: A cold green leaf bats against a ghost wood, a lash of green chlorophyll and crystal musk, a bit of luan wood, and a soft ambient earth scent, finished off with sandalwood and yuzu, the latter adds an air of almost black walnut and nutwood-like nuance to the whole.

SIXTEEN92 (all purchased new unless marked as RIS)

• ALL IS BRIGHT Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials). $4: Quiet snowfall, brisk winter ozone, warm peppermint tea, tightly laced ice skates on a glistening frozen pond
• ALL IS BRIGHT, $5: Quiet snowfall, brisk winter ozone, warm peppermint tea, tightly laced ice skates on a glistening frozen pond
• ANDROCTONUS AUSTRALIS, $5: Rum, wild fig, dry papyrus, sweet tobacco, oud
• AQUILA, $5: Juniper, chilld white tea, mountain laurel, soft cotton, airy musks
• AQUILA, $5: Juniper, chilld white tea, mountain laurel, soft cotton, airy musks
• AQUILA, $5: Juniper, chilld white tea, mountain laurel, soft cotton, airy musks
• BEAUTIFUL. POPULAR. LOVED. FEARED. Ajevie 2020 Half Slink, $1.5: Moonflower, tiare, bitter almond, blond woods, heat lightning, asphalt
• BEFANA, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): Black currant and dried fig, black pepper, forest berries, pressed flower petals, creamy amber, winter spices
• BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, Ajevie Slonk (cute screw-top vials). $4: Dusty magic shop shelves, dried sage leaf, crystal ball, darkened amber musks, a puff of smoke
• BOOK OF STARS, $3 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 1/4 full): The smell of space (meteor dust, ozone, metal, ethyl formate) blended with grounding white sandalwood, papyrus, & earthy musks.
• CHILLED CHAMPAGNE, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle)
• CHIROMANCY, $5: Orris, worn leather, ink, porcelain, black truffle
• COCONUT FLAN, FREE (original bottle with a few drops left) - just ask!
• FOOL FOR LOVE, $5: Leather jacket, chipped black nail polish, burning roses, bad poetry
• GRETA, $5: Frosted glass, chilly aldehydes, citrus blossom, elderflower, snow accord
• GRASS HARP, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): Orange blossom, clover, hyacinth, ruby red grapefruit, sweet basil
• GROOM LAKE, Ajevie Slink, $3.5: Arid scrub, creosote, empty night sky, yucca bloom, high desert air, aircraft fuel, barbed wire, dim fluorescent hum, Element 115, sanitized metal, ❚❚❚❚❚❚REDACTED❚❚❚❚❚❚
• HELIOPHOBIA, decant in chonky vial, $3: Climbing ivy, faded magnolia blooms, moonlit vines, cracked solarium glass, splintered wood, peeling wallpaper, humid air, fog & shadow, feral musk
• I AM ATREYU!, $5: The hopes of all Fantasia: Luck dragon fur, glimmering gold and worn suede, sumac, fire, equine musk
• I AM ATREYU!, $5: The hopes of all Fantasia: Luck dragon fur, glimmering gold and worn suede, sumac, fire, equine musk
• I WANNA BE AN AIRBORNE RANGER!, Ajevie Half Slink $2.5: Breakfast cereal, melted marshmallow, strong coffee, library books, denim jacket, teen angst
• LOUISE, Direct, $5: Sultry amber, red ink, black kohl, night blooms, Tonkin musk (synthetic), wormwood, soft suede, glistening strands of pearls
• LYCANTHROPE, Direct, $5: Monkshood, warm fur, tuber, elm bark, artemisia, galbanum, weathered rock, silver moonlight
• LYCANTHROPE, Direct, $5: Monkshood, warm fur, tuber, elm bark, artemisia, galbanum, weathered rock, silver moonlight
• LYRA, $5: Misty aldehydes, mandora blossom, spring hyacinth, forsythia, new leaves, melted snow
• MIDWINTER DUSK, $5: Chilled evergreen boughs and bunches of mistletoe, a blanket of evening frost, distant sleigh bells, the soft glow of gas lamps on snowy cobblestone streets
• MIDWINTER DUSK, $5: Chilled evergreen boughs and bunches of mistletoe, a blanket of evening frost, distant sleigh bells, the soft glow of gas lamps on snowy cobblestone streets
• PAPER MOON, $5: Soft vanilla musk, benzoin, oakmoss, trailing ivy, peach blossom, rose
• SAVE FERRIS, Ajevie Slink, $3.5: "Funnel cakes & lemonade from Wrigley field, salted pretzels, bright blue skies, cool Lake Michigan breeze, Bueller… Bueller… "
• SINTERKLAAS, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): Cake flour and sugared dough, royal icing, mulled wine, foil-wrapped candies, speculaas cookies, a cozy hearth
• SOLSTICE BONFIRE, $5: Dark rum, grey ash, black amber, firewood bales, pine needle, charcoal, cedar, & billowing smoke on crisp winter air
• TALIA, $5: Vanilla, moss, ivy, soft musk, stone
• THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, RES BATCH, half decant in a thicker vial, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): Tuberose absolute, soft skin musk, oakmoss, fresh earth, vanilla, iris
• THE NOTHING, $5: The emptiness that’s left: Black clouds, stormy winds, broken mirrors, deep water, rock dust, I will just sit here and let it take me away too
• TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT, $5: Swirls of tranquil incense, flickering farolitos, piñon and juniper wood, far-off carols drifting on desert wind
• TURTLE DOVES, Ajevie Slink, $3.5: Frasier fir, frozen sidewalks, snowy park benches, twinkling fairy lights and silver bells, a flurry of soft feathers, warm mittens, a wooden toy chest, delicate porcelain musk
• VILLAINS, $5: Candle soot, pine rosin, blood red pomegranate, howling forest winds, darkened crystals, sacred herbs
• VULPECULA, $5: Pools of rainwater, soaked pebbles, tomato leaf, decaying tree bark, wild brambles, dusty fur
• WAKING IN WINTER, half decant in a thicker vial, $3.5 (decanted into a thicker vial that’s approximately 2/3 full but measured to be around 1/5 of a bottle): fir needle, hemlock, soft snow, pale woods, delicate mint, frost-blanketed leaves, cold metal, distant hearthsmoke

SORCELLERIE all Sorcellerie are RIS (some cheaper than others to account for fill level differences)

• C'EST NOEL, $3: Coffee, freshly baked cinnamon bread, roasted chestnuts, blown out candles, lingering church incense, and softly falling snow
• WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE, $2.75: Immortelle absolute, lemon meringue pie, pearlescent vanilla musk
• YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS A BADASS, $3: Yellow cake with fudge icing, oakmoss, Himalayan cedar, forest floor

STEREOPLASM (YellingCat Decant) $1.5 each

• POTTED CHIPTUNIA: (petunia/leaf/fresh soil/clay/static) - A refreshing, inhibiting flower, grown and engineered in Chiptown.

Company Name	Title	City
Best Oriental Massage	Massage therapist	Minneapolis
Kenworth Sales	Outside Parts Sales Representative	Altura
ALDI	Shop Hand	Baxter
Peet's	Route Sales Rep Vacation Relief	Bemidji
Zimmer Biomet	Territory Sales Associate Representative - Sacramento CA	Brooten
Schwan’s Home Delivery	Sales Driver	Canby
Pilgrim's	PM Technician	Cold Spring
Delivery Drivers, Inc.	LTL Driver	Dilworth
Adams Publishing Group LLC	Little Falls Reporter	Eden Prairie
UnitedHealth Group	Major Clients Account Manager	Eden Prairie
Advance Auto Parts	Commercial Parts Pro	Elk River
Farmer Bros.	Route Sales Representative (RSR)	Faribault
Mission Linen	Route Sales Driver - Linen RSSR - $1000 Sign on Bonus	Faribault
Delivery Drivers, Inc.	LTL Driver	Frontenac
Delivery Drivers, Inc.	LTL Driver	Hibbing
Polaris	CNC Machinist	Howard Lake
Delivery Drivers, Inc.	Carryout	Lake George
Andersen	Manager - Corporate/Commercial	Lakeville
Worldwide Equipment Enterprises, Inc.	Outside Parts Sales	Lakeville
Delivery Drivers, Inc.	LTL Driver	Laporte
Frito Lay North America	Route Sales Representative	Maple Grove
FRITO LAY	Route Sales Representative	Maple Grove
MarketSource	LG Vacuum Territory Account Representative	Medford
Winn Dixie Retail Stores	Seafood Associate	Medford
Mastronardi Produce	Grader - A1 Day Shift	Minneapolis

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in mn. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

FRIDAY

• Trevor Noah, DPAC, Durham
• Straight Jokes! No Chaser Comedy Tour Featuring Mike Epps, Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, Earthquake & D.C. Young Fly. PNC Arena, Raleigh
• Adam Friedland, Goodnights Comedy Club, Raleigh
• Tim Dillon, Raleigh Improv, Cary
• COLORS: a Colorful Dance Party Experience, The Matthews House, Cary
• Tray Wellington Band with Matt Phillips, Transfer Co. Ballroom, Raleigh
• S.G. GOODMAN with H.C. McENTIRE, Motorco Music Hall, Durham
• EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, The Cary Theater, Cary
• National Collegiate Fencing Championships, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham
• RetroGothic Film Series, Carolina Theatre, Durham
• FantaSci, DoubleTree RDU, Durham
• An Evening with Elaine Hsieh Chou, Rubenstein Arts Center, Ruby Lounge, Durham
• Brahms Symphony No. 3, North Carolina Symphony, Raleigh
• An Evening of Romance with Annie Rains, Reese Ryan, and Nancy Naigle, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh
• Apex Restaurant Week, Various Locations, Apex
• Big Wild: The Efferusphere Is Here Tour, The Ritz, Raleigh
• Churchill, Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh
• Film Screening: "Los Silencios", Rubenstein Arts Center Film Theater, Durham
• Larry & Joe's Nuevo South Train Album Release Party, Durham Fruit & Produce Co., Durham
• Fred Raimi, cello: Music of Bach and Weinberg for solo cello, Nelson Music Room, East Duke Building, Duke University, Durham
• The Second City Swipes Right: An Incomplete Guide to the Ultimate Date Night, Carolina Theatre, Durham
• Perfect Kiss: All Vinyl New Wave & 80’s Dance Party, Rubies on Five Points, Durham
• Winter Jam 2023, PNC Arena, Raleigh
• The Live from the Living Room Tour, The Fruit, Durham
• United House Productions Presents Max Low And Luxo, The Fruit, Durham
• Dreaming of the 90’s Dance Party, The Pinhook, Durham
• Final Friday Fish Fry, St. Matthew Catholic Church, Parish Center, Durham

​
SATURDAY

• NHL Carolina Hurricanes vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, PNC Arena, Raleigh
• North Carolina Courage vs. Kansas City Current, WakeMed Soccer Park, Raleigh
• Trevor Noah, DPAC, Durham
• Los Tigres Del Norte - Siempre Contigo Tour, Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh
• Lecrae: The Final Church Clothes Tour, The Ritz, Raleigh
• The COT Signature Series: Orpheus and Eurydice, Carolina Theatre, Durham
• Brahms Symphony No. 3, North Carolina Symphony, Raleigh
• Carolina Ballet presents Mozart: Symphony No. 40, Memorial Auditorium at Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh
• Adam Friedland, Goodnights Comedy Club, Raleigh
• Tim Dillon, Raleigh Improv, Cary
• Apex Restaurant Week, Various Locations, Apex
• Away with the Fairies, Mordecai Historic Park, Raleigh
• Backyard Bounty! – Shiitake Mushroom Inoculation Workshop, Sweet Peas Urban Garden, Raleigh
• Balsam Range, Garner Performing Arts Center, Garner
• Bizarre Bloodsuckerz Vampyre Ball, Ruby Deluxe, Raleigh
• Cars & Carnivores Street Festival, The Forks Cafeteria, Wake Forest
• Cocktails & Cuisine Class: Shaken Not Stirred, The Willard Rooftop Lounge, Raleigh
• Etchings in Stone Film Screening, North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh
• Live Music: Dave Hawkins, Gizmo Brew Works, Brier Creek/Raleigh
• Living Rhythms African Drumming, Alston-Massenburg Center, Wake Forest
• Marchtoberfest, Clouds Brewing, Raleigh
• Spring Blooming - Vinyasa Flow, Raleigh Rose Garden, Raleigh
• Spring Fling, Ting Stadium, Holly Springs
• Triangle LUNGe Forward 5K Run, Walk & Celebration, Koka Booth Amphitheatre, Cary
• National Collegiate Fencing Championships, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham
• RetroGothic Film Series, Carolina Theatre, Durham
• FantaSci, DoubleTree RDU, Durham
• BB's Crispy Chicken 1 Year Anniversary, BB's Crispy Chicken, Durham
• Mystic Highland Games, Mystic Farm & Distillery Company, Durham
• The Unsustainables, Durty Bull Brewing Company, Durham
• Live Script Reading: Lady Pearl, Boxyard-RTP, Durham
• Trio du Jour, Succotash, Durham
• Kate McGarry & Keith Ganz, Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham
• Saints and Sinners Burlesque Show, The Pinhook, Durham
• Tetzlaff-Tetzlaff-Doerken Trio, Baldwin Auditorium, Durham
• Exotic Car Show, Carolina Exotic Car Club (CECC), Raleigh
• Raleigh Arbor Day Festival, John Chavis Memorial Park, Raleigh
• NATURE PLAY DAY, Prairie Ridge, Raleigh

​
SUNDAY

• NHL Carolina Hurricanes vs. Boston Bruins, PNC Arena, Raleigh
• Apex Restaurant Week, Various Locations, Apex
• Carolina Ballet presents Mozart: Symphony No. 40, Memorial Auditorium at Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh
• Jazz Brunch with Aaron McCoy, Transfer Co. Food Hall, Raleigh
• Live Music at The Night Rider Bar featuring Crunk Witch and Animalweapon, The Night Rider, Raleigh
• Aravind SA's We Need to Talk, Garner Performing Arts Center, Garner
• DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling presents DPW Forever, Durham Armoryr, Durham
• National Collegiate Fencing Championships, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham
• FantaSci, DoubleTree RDU, Durham
• RetroGothic Film Series, Carolina Theatre, Durham
• BB's Crispy Chicken 1 Year Anniversary, BB's Crispy Chicken, Durham
• Venezuelan Market, Pavilion at Durham Central Park, Durham
• Organ Recital Series: Robert Parkins, Duke University Chapel, Durham
• The Boom Bap with #SampleSaleMusic, Hayti Heritage Center, Durham
• Sweet Home / Bonies / Frankie and the Slight Incline, The Pinhook, Durham
• (An English and) Bohemian Rhapsody, Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, Raleigh
• Drag Brunch, Ruby Deluxe, Raleigh
• Modern Apotheca Makers Market, The Burnt Pot Cafe, Raleigh
• Wolfgang A Cappella Spring Concert, Talley Student Union, Stewart Theatre, Raleigh
• COAL MINER’S DAUGHTER, The Cary Theater, Cary

​
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Every single time I drive down Pine Street or Maple Street or Flynn Avenue some idiot is crossing the yellow line driving towards me. I know you think it's harmless and cute to allow at least 6 feet between you and the parked cars or curb but it's the fucking law. Crossing in to oncoming traffic is wildly inconsiderate and selfish.
Seriously, this is a huge problem and it's actually kind of new, unlike some other nuisances.
It's amazing how we feel like beating the same little drum over and over diminishes the value of our shared forums. Even a cause celebre like leashes and poop gets so so old. Let's start more discussion about other petty annoyances that are by no means new, here are some other topics to choose from:
Use your damn turn signals!
Don't park facing traffic!
Don't bike or smoke on Church Street!
Come to a full stop at stop signs!
Cross at crosswalks!
Yield to oncoming traffic when appropriate!
The left lane is only for passing!

From my travel report (2005/2006):
During our 1st Australia trip we already spent some time in PERTH and therefore knew the city and surroundings quite well. Towards the north we had already visited the Pinnacles and Monkey Mia with the dolphins in Shark Bay.
Therefore, we now wanted to look at the rather unknown southwest.And it was worth it!
From Perth we first drove south through the so-called Wheat Belt to get to HYDEN. This is a place where you really only go to see the WAVE ROCK. After we checked into our room at the Hyden Motel, we visited the Magic Lake about 1 km away - the water there is poison green.
Because of the heat we walked to Wave Rock and Hippo's Yawn in the late afternoon. Unfortunately we couldn't stay there too long, because even in December there were many flies. Hippo's Yawn was formed by erosion and actually looks like a hippo's mouth.Wave Rock, 15 meters high and 110 meters long, is an amazing rock formation, created by chemical erosion over thousands of years. Rainwater created pink and gray streaks on the huge granite wave.
To get to Kalgoorlie - our next destination - one normally drives via Mount Walker, Narrembin, Merredin and South Cross. But our landlord recommended us to drive the unpaved road - actually not allowed with rental cars - from Hyden to the Great Eastern Highway - because this route is much shorter. And since the road was completely dry, we did it that way. We drove through the beautiful bush landscape with many flowers to the Great Eastern Highway, and on the approx. 2 hours long drive we encountered "believe it or not" only 8 cars.
KALGOORLIE is an interesting old gold mining town. We spent the night at the Quality Inn Railway. It was so hot there that we didn't explore the town until late afternoon. There are many historic buildings, especially on Hannan Street.
We drove to the Mont Charlotte Lookout with a nice view of the city and the surrounding area. Mount Charlotte is the site of the O'Connor Water Reservoir. The pipeline brings water from about 560 km away near Perth to Kalgoorlie.
The heritage of the mining pioneers is still alive in the city, although nowadays, of course, only modern mining technology is used.
Australia's wealth depends on its mines. After mining, however, it unfortunately looks like a lunar landscape.... But it is interesting all the same!
The next morning we drove to the Super Pit Lookout to have a look into the depth, where giant machines look like toy cars. The Super Pit is 320 m deep, 3.2 km long and 1.3 km wide. In 1893 gold was found for the first time and until today there is the largest open pit mine in the world, where gold is mined and since the 1960s also nickel, uranium and lead. We also visited the Mining Hall of Fame, where extensive memorabilia from the old mining days was displayed in a large open-air area.
We also drove to BOULDER. This town was merged with Kalgoorlie in 1989. In Boulder only the railroad station is of interest, because the Indian Pacific stops here.
From Kalgoorlie we went on to ESPERANCE. We stayed overnight at the Best Western Hospitality Inn, located directly on the beautiful bay. Esperance took its development around 1895 because many people set out from there for the Gold Spring. Esperance has a mild climate and very beautiful surroundings with many small islands, great beaches and huge nature parks.
The next morning we first explored the Great Ocean Drive near Esperance with some very nice beaches. We made stops at Rotary Lookout with a view of Esperance, the bay and islands, at Twilight Beach and Blue Haven Beach and at Pink Lake.
Another excursion we made was of course to CAPE-LE-GRAND National Park. The national park is located about 50 km from Esperance in southern direction. It is one of the most spectacular parks of Australia with the wild coast, the heath landscape, the granite peaks and the rocks formed by erosion. The first stop we made was at Rossiter Bay.
Lucky Bay has been awarded several times as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. The beach is simply gorgeous, but unfortunately the crystal clear water is so cold that you can probably only swim there with a wetsuit. Each bay is uniquely enclosed with striking granite rocks - simply picturesque postcard motifs!
The imposing Whistling Rock can be seen from far away. It got its name because it seems to whisper depending on the strength of the wind. The sound is created when the wind whistles through the cracks and holes in the rock.
Hellfire Beach - my favorite beach - is located in a sheltered bay and framed by flat rocks. The whole area with the beautiful beaches was completely deserted. After all, we were there for a few hours and didn't see a single person there. The Grand Beach is really - as its name says - huge, also with almost white sand. Unfortunately it was so windy there that we didn't stay there for long.
We went on to ALBANY. Before the harbor in Fremantle was built, Albany was the most important harbor for the British Crown in Australia at that time. Albany has about 16,000 inhabitants and has an extensive natural harbor in the bay "King George Sound". It is the oldest settlement in Western Australia. We were able to rent a nice little house in Albany for a few days. During a walk through the town we saw some nice historic houses. The former whale station is a museum. From Albany you can still watch whales very well. St. John's Church from 1848 is the first Anglican church in Western Australia and reminds of an English country church. From Mount Clarence you have a nice view of the bay and the city.From there we drove to Emu Point beach, but unfortunately there were many annoying flies, so we did not stay long.
The next day we drove over the French Bay Road to the TORNDIRRUP National Park with the Natural Bridge and the Gap. Here you can see fantastic rock formations, formed 47 million years ago when Australia and Antarctica broke apart. Unfortunately the "Blow Holes" did not "blow", but instead there were many annoying flies. The park is 3900 ha large and offers cliffs, crevices and spout holes as well as beaches and lush vegetation between the headlands. A point of interest is the Natural Bridge made of granite. From the "Gap" you can look into a 30 m deep rock cut.
We also made a "side trip" to the 1913 founded STIRLING RANGES National Park. Of the 298 km there we drove 42 km on natural roads. The mountains in the national park are famous for their magnificent play of colors and are partly over 1000 m high and altogether more than 65 km long. There are well signposted but steep hiking trails and many picnic areas. Outside the park is a replica of a 16th century windmill that was still in full operation. A Dutch couple runs a small restaurant in the original 1924 railroad building next door. The highest peak is Bluff Knoll at 1063 meters. After a picnic at Bluff Knoll Lookout we drove the almost 300 km back to Albany.
We continued our trip on Beach Road via Denmark with good surfing possibilities to WALPOLE-NORNALUP National Park. This national park is about 18.000 ha big with rivers, over 400 years old up to 70m high Karri trees with a circumference up to 20 m, waterfalls and many wild flowers in spring. An attraction is the 600 m long Tree Top Walk up to 40 m above the ground, where you get a good impression of the huge trees. Maybe this walk is one of the reasons that the Valley of Giants is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Western Australia
We stayed overnight at the Best Western in Pemperton. From there we made a trip to GLOUCESTER National Park. This park is best known for the huge 62 m high Karri tree. Since 1947 there is one of the highest fire lookouts in the world on this tree. From up there you have of course a fantastic view, if you dare to go up there. My husband was brave enough and climbed up to the "Fire lookout".
AUGUSTA was founded in 1830 and is the third oldest town in Western Australia. We stayed there at the "Holiday Unit Cove". A beautiful beach near Augusta is located in Flinders Bay, and again many annoying flies. This bay is especially popular with surfers. We still ventured - despite heavy rain - to CAPRE LEEWIN, 9 km away. Unfortunately we couldn't get out of the car, it was too stormy to open the car doors. In addition, the rain then became a real downpour. The next day we got out of the car at the lighthouse, which was built more than 100 years ago. Cape Leeuwin is the geographical point where the Indian and the Southern Ocean meet and is also the most southwestern corner of Australia. We still admired the "Water Wheel" that the workers used to get fresh water when building the lighthouse.
MARGARET RIVER was settled by Europeans in 1850 and became a center for agriculture and logging. Now, however, it is dominated by vineyards, as the climate is ideal for growing grapes. The town is located about 10 km from the sea, on the coast there are beautiful beaches and also ideal surfing. It was Christmas Day and we spent the afternoon at Gnarup Beach. We had tried in vain to enjoy a nice Christmas dinner, but unfortunately most restaurants were closed. And those that were open were, of course, fully booked. Fortunately, we had an emergency supply with us, which we then more or less "enjoyed" on the terrace of our room at "Comfort Inn The Grange".... The 2nd Christmas Day then went better: we made a wine tour at various wineries with a gourmet lunch in the program. It went to the wineries "Windance" - had for me the best wines, but they were quite expensive- "Flying Fish" and "Knotting Hill Winery". And finally we visited the Colonial Brewery, a real "hangout" for the Australians.
We continued via Dunsbury at the beautiful Geographic Bay to BUSSELTON. In this area there are about 30 km of beaches to Cape Naturaliste, ideal for all water sports. On the road between Dunsbury and Busselton two kangaroos ran across the road in front of us, which is rarely seen. Because mostly they lie dead on the roadside. Well, these two had survived at least for the moment.
The 2 km long 140 year old "Jetty" in Busselton is a wooden construction, one of the longest jetties in Australia and reminds of the beginnings of the town as a timber handling port. The jetty is only secured on one side, so you have to be careful not to take an involuntary dip. There wasn't too much choice of recommendable accommodation in Busselton, so we only stayed for one night.
BUNBURY is the second largest city in Western Australia and is located on a peninsula. Since the 19th century, the city developed into a busy port and regional industrial center. We had no trouble finding accommodation here, at the "Lighthouse Beach Resort". Bunbury is a good place to watch dolphins. In a large supermarket in Bunbury we bought supplies, because we had rented a small townhouse (Ocean Villas) for a few weeks at our next destination - Scarborough.
SCARBOROUGH or SCARBORO is a small town with about 12,000 inhabitants, 15 minutes by car from Perth. Directly on the beach is the only higher house - a luxury hotel. Otherwise there are luxury villas as well as simple smaller houses - often for rent. At the esplanade you can find restaurants, cafes and small stores. There is a supermarket and of course the "bottle store", which is almost obligatory in Australia, selling alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. A few minutes by car further north you will find a bigger supermarket, and fruit and vegetables can be bought cheaper in Wannerou Market a bit east of Scarboro. There is a bus connection to Perth if you don't want to drive.
Scarboro is known for its beautiful white sand beaches, but the surf is usually very strong. At the beach of Scarboro is actually always "something going on". The kite surfers or bodysurfers can be found on the beach every day in the conditions. On the weekends there are mostly events on the beach, e.g. competitions of the Baywatch teams from different places.
To Trigg Beach, 1.4 km away, you can walk along the promenade and don't have to trudge through the deep sand. South of Scarboro there is Cottesloe Beach or closer to Perth City Beach and further north Sorrento Beach at Hillarys - so you are spoiled for choice with the beaches. It was of course very hot at this time of year, and sporting activities - except water sports - are best postponed to early morning or sometimes late afternoon. Because in the afternoon occasionally came the "Fremantle Doctor" - that is a refreshing wind that blows in the hot summer from Fremantle towards Perth.
On New Year's Eve, we ordered a table in time in a restaurant with first-class seafood, because we didn't want to experience the same disappointment as at Christmas in Margaret River. It was relatively quiet in Scarboro that evening. We drank the chilled champagne in "our" house, since drinking alcohol on the street or on the beach is prohibited. This was also controlled by the police - well, maybe one has made bad experiences.
From Scarboro we also made a trip to JOODALUP LAKE to see the black swans, which to my knowledge only exist in Western Australia.
PERTH with about 1.4 million inhabitants is the third largest city in Australia. It is very remote, because the next bigger city - Adelaide - is about 2700 km away. Perth was founded in 1929 and is today a modern metropolis with high-rise towers, pedestrian zones in the center, shopping centers, many parks and a lively cultural and art scene. In the Australian summer it is very hot and dry, so the already mentioned "Freemantle Doctor" is always welcome. In winter, however, the average temperature is "only" about 17°. Perth is one of the most beautiful cities in Australia and is located at the Swan River and not at the sea as some might assume. The center is easy to explore on foot. Otherwise there are free cat buses with three different routes where you can get a good overview of the city. Worth seeing is the bell tower at Barrack Square and the shopping street "London Court". Directly at Barrack Square there is a much frequented "Hangout". The district of Northbridge is known for many restaurants and entertainment in the evening. Interesting for shopping is the "Outlet Mall Harbour Town". In Perth, despite many modern buildings, there are still historic buildings: e.g. Government House from 1864, Town Hall from 1867 and His Majesty's Theatre from 1904.
The approx. 400 ha large Kings Park was founded at the end of the 19th century and is located above the city center. In former times it was a holy place for the Aborigines. Today the park is still mostly original bush land. It is worth coming here for the beautiful view of the Perth skyline and the Swan River alone. Of course you can also hike and picnic in this large park. The Perth Zoo is located on the south bank of the Swan River and is worth a visit. If you haven't seen kangaroos in the wild, at least you have that opportunity here.
A special for us unforgettable experience in Perth was Australia Day. We exceptionally went by bus from Scarboro to Perth, because on this day parking places in the city are scarce. This day is celebrated like a big folk festival, especially on the banks of the Swan River, which forms a lake here. The Australians organize a huge picnic with the whole family. There is music everywhere and countless events and displays on the water with boats and in the air with helicopters and aerobatic squadrons. As it got dark, 2 helis flew over the water. One with a huge Australian flag, the other illuminated this flag with a spotlight. In addition, the Australian national anthem sounded, which was eagerly sung along. A "goose bumps" experience that we will certainly never forget. Finally, there was a huge fireworks display.
The SWAN VALLEY is mainly known for wine growing. The main town is Guildford. Of course we did not miss the opportunity to visit some wineries, to taste and buy wine. In the Swan Valley you can drive along the Swan Valley Drive. There you will pass the oldest church in Western Australia "All Saints Church". At "Oggies Ice Creamery" you can eat delicious ice cream. And in the German beer garden "Duckstein Brewery" you can drink beer.
We also took a trip from Scarboro to AVON VALLEY. NORTHAM on the Avon with many historic buildings is the largest town in the interior of Western Australia and is located in the heart of the Avon Valley and originated as an agricultural center at the beginning of the colonial period. Around 1890 the town was also one of the gateways to the goldfields of Kalgoorlie. TOODYAY is also home to 19th century architecture. YORK originated in 1831 with many historic 19th century houses is the oldest town in the Avon Valley. In all three villages there are suspension bridges for pedestrians over the river, the longest is in Northam.
The 18 square kilometers large WALYNUGA National Park is located in the Avon Valley. Here was one of the largest Aboriginal settlements in the Perth region. In summer the Avon River has calm, water-filled pools for swimming, but in winter it becomes a raging river with numerous rapids.
YANCHEP National Park is located about an hour's drive north of Perth. The park, about 28 square kilometers in size, was established in 1957 and is rich in fauna and flora. Most people come here to admire koalas. We wanted to hike on the Wetland walk trail - passing Wagurdu Lake and Loch McNess. But unfortunately we had to turn back after 2/3 of the way. A bush fire had destroyed two bridges further ahead - was not indicated at the beginning of the trail...
On the 240 m long Koala Boardwalk you can observe the animals in a natural environment. They are busy either eating or lounging. The area for the koalas is a separate fenced part of the national park - so not quite "free range". But theoretically the animals could leave the area. The big gray kangaroos, which should also be in the park, we have unfortunately not seen - perhaps the wrong time of day.
In FREMANTLE directly at the sea south of Perth - which we already got to know well on a previous trip - there are free cat buses as well. A much visited "hangout" in this town is "Little Creative Brewery" with good pub food. You can also sit outside right on the water.

So this is a comment of mine from an earlier post. I'm posting it as a standalone to get your views. I believe churches and church leadership needs to be more intentional about connecting their single people with each other. "Of course we go to church first for the word and salvation. BUT we also go for fellowship. An important aspect of this fellowship is ALSO single people meeting each other. If we, as a church, are very serious about letting church folks marry each other and not be unequally yoked with the world, pastors must begin to encourage after-church hangouts for singles. Make it a THING. Throw in some hot chocolate and baked things. You may even fry certain things. Make it delicious. [Make this week's a throwback theme]. Some throwback worship songs in the background from the Don Moen era. Guys, I'm trying to start a creative brainstorming session here.
I mean which other group (apart from nigh clubs) gets to meet every weekend? That's right! Church. So, put Tinder aside, give your young or single people a weekly opportunity to perhaps speed-date on Saturdays [or Sundays after church] (a knowing-me-knowing-you session).
I get so irritated when I hear about Singles Summits without the actual opportunity for singles to actually interact. It's only a married speakepreacher addressing the singles without "unleashing" them upon each other. LOL. Do you have any idea how many people would start godly relationships out of that, when ordinarily they would never have such opportunities?
Deprive single church folk of these types of creative interaction and they're only left with tinder, night clubs, bumble, and sad subreddits... It's true."

The 185th nest migration happened Wednesday!
[Calgary Nest Map] Direct link (http://bit.ly/YYCNestMap)
Nest Migration start: Mar 15, 5 pm
Next Nest Migration: Mar 29, 5 pm
Nests are as accurate at time of reporting. Please keep in mind that sometimes nests change when certain events begin/end.
The majority of the nest list has been provided by https://www.theraidmap.com/ If you want more pokemon, please consider subscribing.
In order to keep the nest list updated as timely as possible I would kindly request that nest only be reported in top level comments and avoid editing previous posts to include new nests. The easiest way for me to see when the list needs to be updated is to see when I have a notification from reddit and I only receive those on new top level comments. Thank you very much!
Thank you to all our nest reporters! Without you, this wouldn't be possible!
Please keep the following in mind when reporting nests:
Spawn points in nests have a 25% chance to spawn the nest Pokemon. If a nest only has a handful of spawn points it is common to not see any of the nesting Pokemon if you are only at the nest for a short period of time. Due to this please ensure you have spent enough time in a nest before reporting your findings.
Happy hunting!!

Reported Nests

Downtown Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points

North East Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points

North West Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points

South East Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points

South West Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points

Unreported Nests

Downtown Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points
??	Barb Scott Park	4
??	Bow River Pathway Eau Claire	5
??	Central Memorial Park	5+
??	Century Gardens	4+
??	Connaught Park	5
??	Connaught School	3
??	Eau Claire Park	?
??	Harley Hotchkiss Gardens	4+
??	Harry Hayes - Red Machine Stop	2
??	Haultain Park	3
??	James Short Park	2
??	Lougheed House	5
??	McDougall Centre	10+
??	Nat Christie Park	5
??	Olympic Plaza	6
??	Princes Island Park	20
??	Rouleauville Square	5+
??	Shaw Millennium Park	6
??	Sien Lok Park North	3
??	Sien Lok Park South	?
??	South Bow Park	3
??	Stampede Park	49
??	The Family of Man	?
??	Thomson Family Park	?
??	Tomkins Park	?

North East Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points
??	40th Ave Park	5
??	Abberfield Playground	3+
??	Airways Park	?
??	Bridgeland Park	2
??	Bridgeland Sport Fields / Park	6
??	Cityscape Music Playground	?
??	Coral Shores Pathway	3
??	Coventry/Country Hills Pond	11
??	Coventry Community Garden	3-4
??	Coventry Nose Creek Park	?
??	Crossroads Park	2-3
??	Deerfoot Athletic Park	9
??	Deerfoot Business Park	?
??	Don Hartman Northeast Sportsplax NESS	4
??	Ecole la Mosaique in Martindale	2
??	Edward H. LaBorde Viewing Area	?
??	Genesis Centre	9
??	Grant MacEwan School	?
??	Harvest Community Garden	?
??	Harvest Hills Playground	?
??	Highland Park Urban Beautification	2
??	Lester B Pearson School Field	?
??	Marlborough Community Association	?
??	Marlborough Park	20
??	Martha Haven Cricket Ground	?
??	McCall Lake Off Leash Dog Park	?
??	Monterey Community Centre	?
??	Monterey Park Fields	13
??	Murdoch Park	5
??	Munro Park	10+
??	Nose Creek Parkway / Confluence Park	22
??	Pinecliff Park Soccer Field	3+
??	Pinehill Playground	2+
??	Pine Ridge Road Playground	?
??	Pineridge Playground	2
??	Prairie Winds Park	10
??	Redstone Participark	3
??	Renfrew Athletic Park	?
??	Rotary Park	5
??	Rundle Community Association	2-3
??	Rundle Park	?
??	Rundlelawn Park	?
??	Skyview Landing Playground	7+
??	St. Patricks Island Park	11
??	St. John Paul II School	?
??	Temple Community Centre	?
??	Templegreen Park	4+
??	The District Outdoor Gym	4
??	Tom Campbell Park	7
??	Tuxedo Park Community Association	3
??	Village Square Leisure Centre	?
??	Whitehorn Community Centre	4
??	Whitehorn Field	10-15

North West Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points
??	12 Mile Coulee Pathway	15
??	14th Street Pathways	10
??	Arbor Lake School Park	5
??	Baker Park	10
??	Blakiston Park	?
??	Botanical Gardens of SS/Sarcee Park	13
??	Bowmont Park	15
??	Bowness Park	12
??	Bow River Pathway - Kensington	10
??	Bow River Pathway - Point McKay	2-3
??	BP Birthplace Forest	6+
??	Brenner Park	5
??	Brentwood Community Garden	6
??	Canmore Park	6
??	Castle Ruins	3
??	Catherine Nichols Gunn School	3
??	Childrens Village School Field	?
??	Chipmunk Playground (Ranchlands)	2
??	Citadel Pathways	3
??	Citadel Way Playground	?
??	Confederation Park	29
??	Confederation Golfcourse Playground	4
??	Country Hills Golf Course	?
??	Crescent Heights Park	?
??	Crowchild Twin Arenas	2
??	Crowfoot Crossing Pathway	5
??	Crowfoot Library	3
??	Dale Hodges Park	24
??	Dalhousie Community Association	10+
??	Dalhousie LRT Pathway	3
??	Dalton Park	4
??	Edgemont Off Leash 3	15
??	Edgemont Park	?
??	Edgemont Ravine	14
??	Egerts Park	3
??	Evansborough Way Playground	2
??	Evanston Pathway / Ball Diamond	3
??	Evanston Pathways	5-10
??	Foothills Athletic Park	?
??	Funny Wood Pillars	?
??	Giddy-Up Playground/Silvercreek Park	?
??	Hamptons Athletic Park	5
??	Hamptons Park	?
??	Hawkwood Pathways	3
??	Helicopter Playground	?
??	Hidden Valley Pathways North	10
??	Hidden Valley Pathways South	5
??	Hidden Valley Pond	2
??	Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Assn.	4
??	Huntington Blue & Red Playground	2-3
??	Huntington Hills Community Centre	10+
??	Huntington Hills Skatepark	?
??	Inland Athletic Park	?
??	John Laurie Park	7
??	John Laurie Pathway: 14th to 19th St	10
??	John Laurie Pathway: 19th St to Charleswood	8
??	John Laurie Pathway: Charleswood to Brisbois	5
??	Karl Baker Offleash Park	10+
??	Laycock Park	11
??	Macewan Glen Park	?
??	McHugh Bluff Park	20
??	Montalban Park	?
??	Montgomery Ave Playground	3
??	Nolan Hill Park	8
??	Nolan Hill Playground	5
??	Nolan Lake Pathways	8-10
??	Nose Hill Park	35
??	Nose Hill Spring Park	2-4
??	Panatella Hill North Pathway	3+
??	Panatella Hill South	2-3
??	Panora Close Playgroundy	?
??	Panorama Hills North Pathway	10
??	Panorama Hills Pathway	4
??	Panorama Soccer	3+
??	Parkdale Community Centre	3
??	Patches Hill	?
??	Patrick Burns Gardens	?
??	Poppy Plaza	?
??	Queen Elizabeth Park	?
??	Ranchlands Community Association	4-5
??	Ranchlands Off-Leash Dog Park	5-10
??	Research Park	4
??	Riley Park	9
??	Rocky Ridge Pathways	7
??	Rocky Ridge Point Pathway	3-4
??	Rocky Vista Park	6
??	RRROCA Park	3
??	Rosedale Park	2
??	Sage Hill Pathways	3
??	Sandstone Area 3 Off Leash Dog Park	4-5
??	Sandstone Macewan	1-4
??	Sandstone Park	15+
??	Sandstone Place	2+
??	Shouldice Aquatic Centre	?
??	Shouldice Athletic Park	15
??	Silver Spring Nature Park	20
??	Silver Springs Outdoor Pool	?
??	Triwood Community Association	4
??	Triwood Park	?
??	Tuscany Club	6
??	Tuscany Fire Hall Greenspace	5+
??	Tuscany Valley Playground	2+
??	U of C: C Train Station	2-3
??	U of C: Gallagher Library	2
??	U of C: Prairie Chicken	?
??	U of C: Science Theatres	?
??	Utah Drive Park	12
??	Varsity Estates Park	?
??	Varsity Ravine Park	?
??	Varsity Sport Fields	?
??	Varsity Soccer Pitch	4
??	Varsity Village Park	5-8
??	Watermark Community Gazedo	5-8
??	West Hillhurst Community Assn.	10+

South East Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points
??	Acadia Community Garden & Art Society	?
??	Acadia Tennis Courts	3
??	Applewood Park	7
??	Auburn Bay Kids Only Pokestop	?
??	Auburn Bay Kids Park	?
??	Auburn House	?
??	Carburn Park	14
??	Chapala Drive Playground	?
??	Chaparral Ridge Circle	12
??	Copper Pond	?
??	Copperfield Community Centre	3
??	Copperfield Hoodoo Park	3
??	Copperfield Park	6-7
??	Copperfield Park II	?
??	Copperfield Park III	?
??	Copperfield Trifecta	2
??	Copperstone Blvd Park	?
??	Copperstone Grove Park	3
??	Dogwood Crescent Park	?
??	Douglas Glen Park	4
??	Douglas Glen Pathway	?
??	Douglasbank Park	?
??	Eaglequest Golf Pathway	?
??	Eastside City Church	4
??	Elliston Park	3
??	Fairview Off Leash Dog Area/Flint Park	?
??	Fairview Park	6
??	Fish Creek Park	100+
??	Flavelle Road Park	?
??	Fonda Park	7
??	George Moss Park	?
??	Great Plains Recreational Facility	5
??	Harry Huish Park	?
??	Inglewood 11th Ave Playground	2
??	Inglewood Bird Sanctuary	20
??	Inglewood Golf Course	?
??	Inglewood Wildlands	5
??	Inverness Park	?
??	Jack Setters Park	5
??	Lake Bonavista School Field	?
??	Lake Sundance	12
??	Legacy Playground	?
??	Max Bell Centre	?
??	McKenzie Meadows Golf Club	?
??	McKenzie Towne Park	?
??	New Brighton Central Park	6
??	New Brighton Park Playground	3
??	Pearce Estate Park	25
??	Pop Davies Athletic Park	13
??	Penbrooke Meadows Park	6
??	Prestwick Fountain Park	2
??	Prestwick Inukshuk	2
??	Olympia Drive Off-Leash	3
??	Quarry Park Pathway	?
??	Raddison Heights Park	?
??	Raddison Heights Park East	6
??	Rainbow Park	?
??	Ralph Klein Park	?
??	Ramsay Community Association	5
??	Ramsay School Park	6
??	Reader Rock Gardens	4+
??	Remington YMCA in Quarry Park	?
??	Riverbend Community Centre	6
??	Riverbend Pathway	?
??	Southview Park	10
??	Sue Higgins Park	15+
??	The Lone Pony	?
??	Valleyview Park	3
??	Walden Playground	?
??	Willow Park Gardens Playground	?
??	Wyldewood Estates Trellis	?

South West Nests

Pokemon	Nest Location	Spawn Points
??	AD Ross Park	3-4
??	Babbeling Brook Park	3-5
??	Bankview Community Association	2
??	Battalion Park	25+
??	Battalion Park School	3+
??	Braeside Park	10+
??	Braeside Park Tennis Courts	7
??	Britannia Slopes	9
??	Buffalo Park (Garrison)	?
??	Canada Olympic Park	40
??	Champlain Park	2
??	Christie Estates Playground	5
??	Discovery Ridge Pathways North	?
??	Discovery Ridge Pathways NE	?
??	Discovery Ridge Pathways NW	2
??	Discovery Ridge Ponds	5
??	Douglas Fir Trail Lookout Platform	6
??	Edworthy Park	?
??	Edworthy Park (river side)	?
??	Eversyde Park	3
??	Flanders Park	3
??	Galbraith Park Playground	3
??	Glamorgan Park	?
??	Glenbrook Park	3
??	Glendale Meadows Park	?
??	Glenmore Athletic Park	12
??	Griffith Park Playground	10+
??	Griffith Woods	30
??	Haysboro Community Park	10+
??	James H Gray Park	?
??	Jenny Elliot Elementary Field	2
??	Killarney Glengarry Community Assn.	5
??	Lakeview Community Assn.	20+
??	Lindsay Park	20+
??	Mahood Commons - Ambrose University	2+
??	Meadowlark Park	?
??	Millcrest Park	3
??	Millview Greenspace	3
??	North Glenmore	13
??	Old Banff Coach Hill Off Leash Park	1+
??	Optimist Park	40+
??	Patterson Place	2
??	Peacekeeper Park	3
??	Picnic Park	4
??	Poplar Park	2-3
??	Prominence Park	7-9
??	River Park	13
??	Riverdale Park	?
??	Roxboro & Erlton Offleash	7
??	Sandy Beach	9
??	Shaganappi Park	5-10
??	Shawnessy Pathway	10
??	Sienna Hills Playground	3
??	Signal Hill Old Fashioned Playground	4
??	Signal Ridge Playground	6+
??	Simcoe Playground	3
??	Silverado Skies Pathways	3
??	Sirocco Park	10+
??	Somerset Water Park	6
??	South Calgary Park	12
??	South Glenmore Park	?
??	South Mount Royal Park	2
??	Springborough Playground	5+
??	Sprucecliff Community Association	?
??	Stanley Park	14
??	Strathcona Christie Aspen Community Association	?
??	Sunalta Park	5+
??	Turtle Hill Park	6+
??	Valour Park	2-3
??	Westside Soccer Field	5+
??	Wildwood Community Association	3
??	Woodbine Athletic Park	4

Thank you to our nest hunters!
Nest locations only: http://bit.ly/YYCNestLocations

Here’s a list of all the references I could find throughout the Final Girl games. It’s as comprehensive as I could get it, but I have no doubt that I’m missing things. If you notice something that I didn’t, let me know in a comment.
I don’t have season 2 yet, but those of you who do can feel free to let me know possible references in the comments as well.
Marked for spoilers, just in case.

Feature Films (Season 1)

The Happy Trails Horror
Camp Happy Trails is directly inspired by Friday the 13th’s Camp Crystal Lake. Hans is inspired by the “slow-moving hulk” type of slashers—Jason, Michael Myers—with a dash of Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Sawyer family and a sprinkle of spooky German vibes.
German shame masks (schandmaske) were used in the 17th century to punish those who acted inappropriately for their station. Masks styled as pigs were used for the gluttonous, drunken, or sloppy.
Some people have suggested that the location and killer are a reference to the famous Die Hard line, “Happy trails, Hans.” I personally think it’s more of a coincidence but I figured it’s worth mentioning.
The Haunting of Creech Manor
Both the location and the killer are inspired by the 1982 film Poltergeist. The little girl, Carolyn, is named for Carol Anne, the movie’s iconic creepy/psychic child. The main mechanic of this killer is a reference to the movie’s plot as well, as both require rescuing a young girl from malevolent spirits.
There is a Terror card titled “Did that clown... just move?” wherein the Final Girl is attacked by a clown doll. A clown doll also features in the movie.
The Terror card “The trees are alive!” references an event in the movie where a tree breaks a window and pulls one of the character outside.
The name of the manor may be a reference to Thomas Eugene Creech, an American serial killer. Like Robert Creech in the manor’s backstory, Thomas Creech’s wife also died by suicide.
Slaughter at the Groves
It doesn't seem like there are any specific films being referenced here, but it may be partially inspired by Mondo films from the 60’s. Inkanyamba also bears some resemblance to a Predator in modus operandi (noted by CFH_101proof), though their motives are quite different.
Inkanyamba is a legendary serpent of Zulu mythology. Specifically, it’s said to reside at the bottom Howik Falls, South Africa. According to lore, only sangomas (traditional healers in southern Africa) may approach its home safely and only with the intent to worship it. Like the Sacred Groves, Howik Falls is a popular tourist attraction.
One of the item cards is called Shaman’s Bones. Sangomas throw bones to divine the future. Like in the illustration, animal bones, dice, shells, and stones can be used as part of this process. Contrary to what the flavor text says, I didn’t find anything to suggest that human bones are used.
Despite the references to South Africa, the lore book specifically mentions west Africa.
One of the setup cards is called Swamp Thing. Swamp Thing is a DC comics character. Wes Craven wrote and directed the 1982 film adaptation of the character.
Carnage at the Carnival
The carnival is based off of the many carnival/circus-based horror movies, but The Funhouse seems to be the strongest inspiration. Geppetto is named for the fictional character who created a puppet, Pinnochio, as his son. His abilities are based off of the Puppet Master franchise.
Frightmare on Maple Lane
The killer, location, and film title are very obviously based off of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Many of the Terror cards also reference the movie. Most notably, there are cards that almost exactly mimic the Freddy Kreuger nursery rhyme.
The Bicycle item card has the flavor text “Hi ho silver! Away!” In the novel It (and its adaptations), Bill would shout that phrase when he rode his bike. The phrase itself references The Lone Ranger.
One of the setup cards is titled A Quiet Place, sharing its name with the 2018 horror movie. However, there’s no resemblance between the setting and the movie.
Terror from Above
This vignette is based off of Hitchcock’s The Birds.
The Terror in the Groves scenario references a mint-condition alpha Black Lotus card. This is an extremely rare and valuable card in Magic: The Gathering. In 2023, one such card was sold for $540,000. Buying all the Final Girl games doesn't seem like such a big investment anymore, does it?

Feature Films (Season 2) - In Progress

I don’t yet own these expansions, so I’m only able to speak in broad strokes. For those of you who got the games ahead of the official release, please feel free to share any details.
Into the Void
Killer and location are a reference Alien.
Terror at Station 2891
Killer and location are a reference to The Thing. The station number may be the reverse of 1982, the year The Thing was released (noted by Invicta71).
A Knock at the Door
The location and killer in general are references to home invasion movies. However, the killer being three masked characters specifically references The Strangers. The killer wearing the sack is a reference to the Man in Mask killer from The Strangers. The killer wearing a skull looks similar to the cult from 2021’s Wrong Turn. I don’t recognize the third killer’s mask as anything specific, but there are some masks from The Purge series that are somewhat similar.
The title of the film may be derived from the 2015 film Knock Knock.
Once Upon A Full Moon
The killer and location is a reference to classic fairytales, particularly Little Red Riding Hood.
Madness in the Dark
The setting is based off of the many hospital/asylum horror movies. The killer, The Ratchet Lady, may be a reference to the antagonist of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Mildred Ratched. Her appearance seems at least partially inspired by the nurse monsters in the Silent Hill series, specifically the first movie adaptation.
Terror from the Grave
This vignette is a reference to various zombie horror movies.

Final Girls (Season 1)

Laurie Carpenter
Laurie’s first name is a clear reference to Halloween’s final girl, Laurie Strode. Her last name is a tribute to filmmaker, John Carpenter, who created Halloween and many other iconic horror movies.
Reiko Rivers
Reiko is a common Japanese name, so there are a few possibilities, but most likely it’s a reference to the protagonist of the original Japanese Ring. Rivers is possibly a reference to Clear Rivers, a character in the first two Final Destination movies.
Note: There are a lot of ways to write Reiko in kanji, but assuming that our Reiko uses the same kanji as the movie character, her name would be written as 玲子.
Alice Cranston
Alice is named for the original Friday the 13th’s final girl and/or the final girl of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. Not sure what, if anything, her last name references.
Selena Villanueva
Her first name is reference to a character in 28 Days Later. Not sure what, if anything, her last name references.
Barbara Romero
First name is a reference to actress Barbara Crampton who has starred in numerous horror movies and shows. Last name references filmmaker George Romero, famous for his Night of the Living Dead films.
Adelaide Jordan
First name is a reference to the main character of Us. Last name is almost certainly a reference to filmmaker Jordan Peele.
Charlie Aja
Not sure what, if anything, her first name references. Last name is a reference to French filmmaker Alexandre Aja, known for Haute Tension (aka High Tension or Switchblade Romance), 2006’s The Hills Have Eyes, and Horns.
Her appearance bears some resemblance to Marie from Haute Tension.
Eihi Asami
Both names are references to the antagonist of the 1999 Japanese horror film Audition. The character is named Asami Yamazaki and portrayed by Eihi Shiina. So far, she’s the only final girl to be referred to primarily by her surname and also the only final girl to be named for a villain.
Asami’s special item brings to mind the belts the movie character wears around her waist.
Note: In Audition, Asami is the character’s given name and written as 麻美 in kanji. Here, Asami is the surname and is likely written using the kanji 浅見 or 浅海. Phonetically, however, they are identical. Eihi is written as 英姫 (assuming it uses the same kanji as the actress).
Sheila Smalley
First name references Sheila Kopecky, a character in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4; the characters share a resemblance (noted by GoodTimesBadMovies). Surname possibly references early filmmaker Phillip Smalley, but I don’t think it’s a strong case.
Nancy Lang
Clearly named for Nancy Thompson, the final girl of the first A Nightmare on Elm Street. Her surname may be derived from Nancy’s actress, Heather Langenkamp, or it may be a reference to filmmaker Stephen Lang.
Melanie Brown
First name for the protagonist of The Birds. Not sure what, if anything, her last name references.

Final Girls (Season 2) - In Progress

I don’t yet own the season 2 lore book, so I don’t have the full names of the final girls. For those of you who got the games ahead of the official release, please feel free to share any details.
Ellen
Named for the final girl of Alien.
Jenette
Named for Jenette Goldstein, the actress who portrayed Private Vasquez in Alien.
Kate
A reference to the protagonist of 2011’s The Thing. The characters share a similar appearance.
Uki
Reference to Slash/Back.
Ava
References the final girl of The Cloverfield Paradox.
Ginny
Not sure what the reference may be.
Red
Named for the fairytale character Little Red Riding Hood. It may also reference the main antagonist of Us.
Gretel
Named for the fairytale character Gretel from Hansel and Gretel.
Heather
Likely named for Heather Mason, the protagonist of Silent Hill 3. The characters also share a similar appearance.
Veronica
Possibly named for the titular protagonist of the 2017 Spanish film Verónica.
Vignette Final Girl
This is a placeholder until I learn this character’s name.

Some call it the Second Galactic Revolution. Some call it the Third.
Some decry the dangers of the current age, and say the galaxy would be better off had it never begun.
Some say that ignorance is bliss, and others that knowledge is power.
Some say, some say, some say. They are each of them right, and each of them wrong.
Mostly they miss the point.
No one missed the entry of Terra and especially of the humans onto the wider galactic community. Barely had they discovered FTL-C, when they went a step further and improved it.
Now this was a big hint to the rest of us that there was something different about the humans. All other species were more than satisfied on discovering FTL-C. But no, not the humans. They had barely discovered it when they improved it, and not by a little or even a lot, but beyond the imagining of everyone else.
Before the humans, FTL-C messages were quick but mostly constrained to within the local region. Messages could in theory be sent elsewhere, but the patchwork of FTL-C systems in the Milky Way made that difficult to the point of being nearly pointless to try. Humans turned FTL-C from the equivalent of local telegrams across town to near real-time communications anywhere on the planet.
But that was not good enough for the humans. Humans who always need to know what's over the next hill. Humans looked at the history of species across time across the galaxy being limited to relativistic travel at best, and frowned. "No, no, no, this would not do! Messages, pictures, and videos from across the galaxy are nice, but better to see them in person. No one knows how to FTL-T ? Bah, details. We want to see the other side of that hill!"
So, the humans threw themselves at the idea of FTL-T, and like the few who tried before them went splat.
"Huh, a challenge" said the humans to themselves, before they rolled up their sleeves and went to work.
Now, FTL-C necessarily involves learning to communicate with other species. Terra is unique in oh-so-many ways, but the most relevant at the moment is the number of sapient or near sapient species on her. Human curiosity being ignited to not just a flame by FTL-C, but a bonfire, they turned many of the same concepts to trying to open real communications with their fellow Terrans. To the surprise of everyone but themselves, they quickly succeeded!
Humans had been communicating back and forth in a limited way with a bewildering number of their fellow Terrans since prehistory, but never really in such a way as to pass on detailed abstract concepts. This new-found ability enabled cross-species conceptual pollination such to stun everyone not Terran.
Now, just about everyone in the galaxy has the idea of an idea meeting, to gather together and discuss thoughts on a topic. Humans though, the human equivalent is called a brain-storming session. Impressive as those are among an only-human gathering, put humans together with some other species and stand back from the explosion of ideas.
One such session between humans and dolphins sparked the idea of reaching into the C+ domain to greatly improve the specific impulse of propulsion. While not enabling FTL-Travel itself, this had the potential to shorten trips across the Solar System from years to weeks at a fraction of the cost in fuel. Also present at this session were the whales, who had their own ideas.
Unfortunately, while dolphins and humans are each very excitable and chatty, whales tend to be more deliberate and polite. In time, the whales managed to get a word in edgewise and got their fellow Terrans' attention. "Well, why didn't you say so?" they each said to the whales. This is the first recorded instance of the whales' desire to have human style limbs, as a Gibbs slap looked to be very therapeutic.
In remarkably little time the MW3 was developed and adopted, and the first C+ core was produced, then the second. Now humans never hid the concept nor even the detailed schematics of their C+ designs from the rest of the galaxy, let alone their fellow Terrans. No one off Terra believed a word of it of course, or at least not until the first time the Terrans came to visit.
Something very like panic set in as the non-Terrans realized what C+ travel could mean for the Vampire Empire's desire to expand. Relief was quick in coming, though from an unexpected source. Vampirus Primus was rapidly conquered by Terra, but not by the humans. By the felines.
Now, every military planner off Terra had a near heart attack once that was confirmed. The Vampires were not conquered by the humans, nor by the other C+ founding species, nor even by man's best friend, but by yet another Terran species that few had ever heard of before. Needless so say, examining Terra from a military defense perspective became an urgent priority for many.
The humans gave their traditional scolding to the felines ("No, bad kitty!"), and the felines responded with their traditional nonchalance, and everyone went about their normal business.
Humans looked at the fear evident in their neighbors and thought, "No, this will not do." and proceeded to make C+ travel not just possible, but easy. While human nanoscale manufacturing had been a known strength for a long time, they under-appreciated just how far other species off Terra would have to catch up. So, they did what humans do, they took an old idea and updated it and started the Postal Union.
Belatedly realizing that few other species in the galaxy take as well to the necessities of bureaucracy and paperwork as they did, the humans sweetened the pot by offering cheap C+ cores and leadership positions within the PU to members. Membership exploded in numbers as soon as the appropriate forms could be filled out.
Now, the neighbors to the Terrans had an automatic step up compared to everyone else. Past colonization attempts (or in some cases successes) by the Vampires had cross-contaminated everyone in the local region. While barely noticed on Terra (see definition of not just a death-world, but of the death-world), this produced tragic results on their neighbors' biomes. Each sentient species had recovered by the time the humans discovered FTL-C, so they were able to rapidly join the Postal Union without nearly as much work to prevent contamination, as it had already happened.
With the examples of both Terra Herself, as well as the multi-species society rapidly evolving on Vampirus Secundus under the leadership of Buffy, the local region quickly started exchanging not just ideas and goods, but even people. Few others would dare set foot on Terra, or could survive to tell the tale. Unfortunately, this also increased the difficulties of trading with everyone outside the local FTL-C bubble.
The humans took this as everyone who knew the humans expected, as a challenge. "We can only easily travel in the local bubble or we'll contaminate everyone else we meet? But we want to see the rest of the galaxy now!" We expect a breakthrough at any time, and the PU is already making detailed plans.
So, where other species would look to the galaxy with fear, or greed, or murderous intent, the humans looked to the galaxy's other inhabitants and said "Hello there new friend. Nice to meet you! Let us show you around."
So, no. Don't worry about bowing to your new human overlords...unless you want to give them a good laugh. Just worry about trying to keep up with them while we all enjoy the new playground they have opened up that we call the Milky Way.