Here's a nice, heart-warming moment to help restore your faith in humanity.

At IWA Midsouth's "Big Ass Christmas Bash" last week in Indiana, wrestler Ace Perry had a surprise for his number one fan Amanda.

The high school junior who has autism, has been to every one of his matches and has even reached out to him on Facebook.

So when he asked her if she would go to prom with him, she was – of course – ecstatic.

Third part of Aphra goes happily into action adventure temple exploring mode. Highlights include: not keeping up on current affairs. needy droids! Wookiees, winning! Archaeology! Stuff! Things! It’s available from your local comic shop or digitally. Preview here.

I wrote this in the newsletter about this one… It’s an especially horrible issue, but one I’m intensely proud of. It’s one of those rare books that I think may actually be unique for its genre, and the logical end point of the line of thinking that’s run through all my work in superheroes. Namely, […]

A big issue, this, both in terms of events and pages – it’s 3 pages longer than normal due to (er) me writing it longer and not realising until it was too late, and then Jamie adding an extra page for extra motorbike. Something for everyone in this, I think. Also HOT NINE PANEL GRIDS. […]

I’m so excited to announce this today! If you live somewhere in the vicinity of Northeast Kansas – or if …

Unless it’s absolutely necessary, do not accept a provisional ballot. Watch this clip from our recent Save Your Vote broadcast to find out why — and what to do if someone tries to shunt you to a provisional "placebo" ballot.... READ MORE

Frosty Entertainment via Eneba has 50-Day of Game Pass Ultimate via Xbox Live Gold Conversion for ~$7.75 when you follow the instructions below.

Note, this offer is for Current/Existing Game Pass Ultimate Members only. Expired/New users can redeem up to 3-Years worth of Xbox Live Gold codes and convert their Xbox Live Gold membership to 2-Years of Game Pass Ultimate by joining Ultimate Membership. (3:2 Ratio)
 
Deal Instructions:

• Click here to visit the product page
• Click Buy Now and go to cart
• Click on "Got discount code?" and apply code GoldUS
• Proceed to checkout
• Select payment method PayPal/Credit Card (service fees will be applied here)
• End-price should be ~$7.75
  • Note, price is subject to change by a few cents due to currency exchange rate volatility.
• Redeem code on Microsoft Store or on your Xbox Console/App
• Your Game Pass Ultimate membership will be extended for 50 days per each code.

About Game Pass Ultimate

• Includes Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass with over 100 high-quality games to play with friends on console, PC, phones, and tablets, plus an EA Play membership, all in one membership. (see the current list here)

Current prices are now a deal, get them while you can or cancel your subscription in protest. Many vendors have already increased prices.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/08/31/time-to-cancel-playstation-plus-as-sony-quietly-raises-prices-through-the-roof/?sh=e43dfc0c9ac6

Update: Alienwarearena Celebrating Intel® Gamer Days event is over. 

Alienware Arena

New Topic:

Earn up to 1000 Dell Reward Points(DRP) Every Week by playing the spaceship game after completing 4 DAILY QUESTS.

Earn additional ARP/DRP by logging daily via the Monthly Advent Calendar reward. (Day 20,26 for DRP)

Alienware Reward Points(ARP) can be redeemed for MARKETPLACE rewards for physical/digital products.

Tier rewards: You can choose to claim one game each month provided you have enough ARP and Tier status.

100 DRP = $1 Dell Credit 

1 APR = up to ~2cents

 Points expire on the 15th day of the 4th month after earn date.
 

*NOTE: Linking reward account

When registering with Alienware make sure to use the same email address that you use for Dell.

Extra: Earn 100 DRP by Logging into your Dell Reward profile(Earn once a week, Reset every Monday)

My BB Members only

ACER PREDATOR NEO I5 4050 16" $799.99

CORSAIR - I7K - 4080 FE $2899.99

Logitech LOGITECH G29 DRIVING FORCE WHEEL PS4 $199.99

ASUS - ROG Ally $599.99

and more

https://cag.vg/bbbf

Eneba offers 50-Day of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate via Xbox Game Pass Core Conversion for around $11.05 when you follow the instructions below.

• Note, this offer is for Current/Existing Game Pass Ultimate Members only.

• Click here to visit the product page.
• Click Buy Now and go to cart.
• Apply discount code XGPC
• Select payment method PayPal/Credit Card (service fees will be applied here)
• Proceed to checkout with end-price of ~ $11.05
• Click here to redeem your 3-Month Xbox Live Gold Membership code(s).
• You will be prompted to extend your Game Pass Ultimate by 50 days. The renewal date should be the same as your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate plus 50 days (Maximum 36 months).

• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Membership includes Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass with over 100 high-quality games to play with friends on console, PC, phones, and tablets, plus an EA Play membership, all for one low price.

Good deals, just grabbed FF16, AC VI, and Jedi Survivor, don't forget to use the coupon for an extra 10% off!

https://www.gamefly.com/games

Apparently tomorrow is Monday.

Rock on.

A little ragtime.

Rock on. Neil was 50 then. Time is funny.

And endlessly customizable. READ MORE...

It's perfect for decorating your tree! READ MORE...

It’s so easy to make and personalize! READ MORE...

There’s no better time to upgrade your sleep setup than Black Friday and Cyber Monday — two of the biggest sale events of the year. As usual, there are tons of great deals on top-rated mattresses, from trusted names like Tempur-Pedic and Mattress Firm to direct-to-consumer favorites like Purple and Naturepedic. We recommend taking advantage of all these sleep brands impressive sales, especially since a majority of them have already started. Yup, weeks ahead of schedule! READ MORE...

These are the 12 best! READ MORE...

Plus, 24 more to check out! READ MORE...

Above, "making all his nowhere plans for nobody."

Dedicated to the GOP/RNC: "It's a Dead Man's Party."

.
.

Open thread below... Share your inspirational tunes as well!

read more

There are a lot of games on and whether you are watching alone, with a few friends and family, or throwing a big party, it’s pretty much a requirement to have some tasty snacks to enjoy while watching! With that in mind I have gathered some of my favourite game day munchies recipes and they...

Read On →

The post 100 Game Day Snacks appeared first on Closet Cooking.

By Ryan Menezes Published: November 11th, 2024

By Keegan Kelly Published: November 12th, 2024

The post 7 Ideas for Rainy Day Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

When the weather gets rainy, most photographers put away their gear – but in my view, that’s a mistake! There are literally hundreds of great rainy day photography ideas. They don’t take great technical expertise, fancy equipment, or waterproof housing; in fact, all of them can be done from the comfort of your own home. […]

The post 7 Ideas for Rainy Day Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

By Sara Truuvert

When your novel is deemed "the greatest idea for a book ever", you're probably on to something. That certainly seems to be the case for debut author Victor Piñeiro, whose novel Time Villains has garnered a starred review from Kirkus and a spot as an Amazon Best Book of the Month. The book promises time-hopping high jinx, historic and literary Easter eggs, and even some one-sentence Puerto Rican recipes.

Time Villains follows sandwich-obsessed Javi Santiago, who has to nail his homework assignment if he wants to pass sixth grade. The assignment seems simple enough: if you could invite any three people to dinner, who would they be? Plus, Javi has his best friend Wiki and little sister Brady to help him. What could go wrong? Turns out, a lot! The trio accidentally uses an antique dining table to summon the dinner guests for real. Now, Blackbeard the Pirate is on the loose, and Javi, Wiki, and Brady must figure out how to send him back (perhaps with the help of other historical figures...). Time Villains is the first novel in a three-part series. It launched on July 6th, 2021 with Sourcebooks and is widely available to order. 

Victor Piñeiro is an author and a Creative Director at HBO Max. He has also done a multitude of other cool things, like teach, make documentaries, lead content/social strategies for Big Spaceship, YouTube, Hasbro, and Google, and answer these interview questions while caring for his two-week-old child. You can find out more about Victor on his website, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Q. A huge congratulations on your literary debut! Would you tell me a bit about your journey to publication?

A. Thank you! Being a published author has been the dream since I was a kid, so it’s been quite the journey! In my teens and twenties I couldn’t silence my inner critic long enough to write novels, so I turned to poetry and screenplays, writing and producing documentaries for a spell. I finally coaxed a book out in 2017 after writing daily on my (long) commute for three years. It was a very unconventional first book—the only kind I could coax out on my first try—so I shelved it and started working on Time Villains. 

Three drafts in I sent Time Villains to a bunch of agents, and after chatting with a few, a friend put me in touch with Elana Roth Parker. I feel so incredibly lucky to work with Elana—she saw the seed of something in my draft and we developed it into something far more compelling. When Annie Berger at Sourcebooks showed interest in the book, it felt like winning the lottery twice. Annie and the whole team have been the most incredible partners—thoroughly brilliant and a complete joy to work with. And here we are—the book just hit shelves this week and I’m not sure what to do with myself!

Q. Would you please introduce us to the novel’s hero, Javi Santiago? (I must know what level of dedication to sandwiches it takes to be classified as ‘sandwich-obsessed’!)

A. Javi’s an aspiring chef and sandwichéaste (think cinéaste but for sandwiches) who’ll do anything to pass sixth grade. He’s a zany kid with an overactive imagination and a penchant for asking deep questions about food (because what makes a sandwich a sandwich, really?). He peppers in one-sentence recipes throughout the book—some of Puerto Rico’s most delectable dishes, mixed in with his own recipes (like the Spanglish Sandwich aka The Spanglo Sando™). And while he’s fun and eccentric, underneath the silliness he’s a first generation Puerto Rican kid struggling with imposter syndrome as he tries to excel at something in his life. 

Q. You offer us such a hilarious dynamic between your protagonists – we have the almost-failing student, Javi, paired with his best friend, Wiki, the human Wikipedia/young professor (plus, Javi’s little sister, who wants to be the president’s bodyguard!). How did you land on this dynamic? Is it something you envisioned from the get-go?

A. The characters were floating around my head disparately but when I put them together I realized how fun their dynamic would be. 

I know a few folks who are so brilliant they seem weighed down by their intelligence—it’s made them world-weary. I thought that’d be really fun to capture in an extremely-precocious sixth grader. As I was coming up with the character I remembered a line in a hip hop song I love, “Catch me solving mysteries like Wikipedia Brown.” And that’s where Wiki’s name emerged and the character solidified in my head.

In terms of Brady, I knew I wanted a hot-headed sibling/partner to steal the spotlight and do much of the butt kicking because I love that dynamic in stories, going all the way back to Frodo and Sam. I also have a few friends with wild kid sister energy and they’re the life of any party, so I knew I wanted to bring that to the trio. 

Q. You had to develop a wide array of voices for this story, including kid Mozart, the Earl of Sandwich, and Blackbeard the Pirate. Was that a challenge? A joy? A spiralling research nightmare?

A. A spiralling research dream! This series gives me the best excuse to research my favorite folks in history and fiction, and it’s been a blast. I loved reading old texts on pirates, delving into the specifics of Mozart at age twelve and dusting off copies of old novels with iconic characters as I researched this book. And I knew nothing about the Earl of Sandwich before writing this, but how could Javi not invite him?

There was one aspect of research that was a bit frustrating. A big focus of this series is exploring characters more representative of the world’s history and fiction, because I’m hoping this book is ultimately a gateway to other books, characters and historical figures for kids to explore. Finding a wealth of information about some historical and mythological figures from other cultures was incredibly difficult. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I wasn’t prepared for it to be quite so challenging—which invigorated me to include more of them in the book!

Q. You have such lovely, concise, concrete writing advice available on your website. Is there any advice my-novel-is-getting-published Victor would give I’m-starting-to-write-a-novel Victor?

A. So much advice! I think there are a few super important things that would’ve had me writing novels decades ago, so I take any chance I can get to relay them to other aspiring/young writers.

1. An hour a day can be enough. I always thought I needed to quit my job and write eight hours a day to finish a novel, which held me back for years. Then I read a Murakami interview where he said he completed his first novel by writing an hour a day after work. In that moment I felt like the universe gave me permission to write mine. 

2. Lower the bar far lower than you’re comfortable with for that first draft. (No, lower!) There are passages in the first draft of my books that are barely intelligible, but I now know that’s okay. The first draft is about discovery and getting the story out of your head and onto the page. It’s far too early to be precious about anything. Just get it all out and see what you’ve got when you’re done.

3. Don’t dread rewriting—it’s far more fun than expected. Before writing my first book I was terrified of it, but it’s become one of my favorite aspects of writing. (Which is a good thing considering it’s 75-90% of what you do as a writer!) 

Q. Do you have any advice for young writers in general?

A. Absolutely. Besides everything I said above, read about writing and join online writing communities. Screenwriting books are great for story structure basics, Stephen King’s On Writing is great for process, Brandon Sanderson’s free writing course on YouTube is absolutely brilliant, Neil Gaiman and David Mamet’s Master Class courses are gold, and Reddit’s /r/writing is a fantastic place to learn alongside others in the trenches. I also love John Truby and Lisa Cron’s books. But maybe it’s best to start with this short Ira Glass video. Or this brilliant reflection on writing advice Chuck Wendig just wrote.

Q. Finally, I read that you used to be a documentary filmmaker and a blogger. What are some questions you would ask Blackbeard, if you met him?

A. It’d be one of those long interviews—the kind that take up the entire documentary and usually take the film crew multiple days to shoot—because I’d want to lead up to asking him how many people he actually killed. (Some historians say almost zero!) And I’d also want to ask him a lot of questions about Stede Bonnet, “The Gentleman Pirate” who was an equally fascinating and thoroughly hilarious character. He was rich, had a midlife crisis, became a pirate, and got thoroughly swindled by Blackbeard. (Side note: I was so happy when I heard the news that Taika Waititi would be creating a show about him!) Finally, I’d ask him to get battle ready. Before a skirmish Blackbeard would light fuses or small candles in his beard, since the smoke gave him a demonic appearance. It was his favorite scare tactic. I’d love to see it live!

------------------------------------------------------------------

Sara Truuvert completed her MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of St Andrews. She also holds a Certificate in Creative Writing from the Humber School for Writers and a BA in English, Drama, and the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Toronto. Her work has appeared in the Literary Review of Canada among other publications.

For more interviews, see the Inkygirl Interview Archive. Also see Advice For Young Writers and Illustrators, a compilation of tips generously offered by children's book creators Inkygirl.com has interviewed over the years.

I've been gradually adding new and older BookADay posts to my new Bookstagram. One of the most recent:

SOUP DAY by Melissa Iwai (Henry Holt): Celebrates the importance of making a nutritious meal and sharing in the process as a famly. Also be sure to check out Melissa's newest book, DUMPLINGS FOR LILI (Norton Young Readers).

Here we have two hardened, wild bunnies of the north! Perfectly camouflaged to blend in with their wintery world.

-Sally Squeeps

This widdle rabbit is obviously a big fan of Beatrix Potter's books about Peter Rabbit.

-Sally Squeeps

Find more squeedorable moving pictures over at Animal Gifs!

I’m designing a photographic history exhibit for a prestigious university. The project requires a series of panels that each depict a different decade, from the 1930s to the present.

Client: “You know, this is all great, but it could use a little more diversity. Right now, there are a lot of photos of all white men, and we don’t want to send the wrong message.”

Me: “Okay, that’s a reasonable request. I could pull some photos of your black student organizations and women’s center and add those to the panels showing the school’s more recent history.”

Client: “Actually, we’d love more diversity in the early panels too.”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Client: “Like this panel depicting the university in the 30s. All the photos are of white men!”

The school did not admit black students until the 1970s.

On March 15, 44B.C. Julius Caesar, the "dictator for life" of the Roman Empire, was murdered by his own senators at a meeting in a hall next to Pompey's Theatre. The conspiracy against Caesar encompassed as many as sixty noblemen, including Caesar's own protege, Marcus Brutus.

Caesar was scheduled to leave Rome to fight in a war on March 18 and had appointed loyal members of his army to rule the Empire in his absence. The Republican senators, already chafing at having to abide by Caesar's dec

Don't be such a shlemiel, Jacob! Stripes is just FINE already, and the Rabbi says you can wear that coat to the synagogue!

the old days were much more dangerous for infants

In this episode I'm joined by Tim Stillman to chat about the idea of rivalry in the wake of Man City beating Spurs, and whether that's something managers should pay attention to. We also discuss Mikel Arteta's influence on this Arsenal team and how fans bought into his communication, in contrast to how Tottenham fans reacted to Ange Postecoglou's comments. Then we consider the final day of the season, and how we've pushed City all the way with the outside chance of still winning the league.

Then Tim reflects on the Arsenal career of Vivianne Miedema who's departure was announced this week, as well as some chat about that decision, how it came to pass, and what might happen on the final day of the season.

Follow Tim @stillmanator

Buy Is Yours Gold here - https://www.legendspublishing.net/product/is-yours-gold/ – and use GOLD20 to get 20% off.

Get extra bonus content and help support Arseblog by becoming an Arseblog Member on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arseblog

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I'm joined by Phil Costa to talk about Arsenal's 0-0 draw with Atalanta on Thursday night. We discuss the difficulty of playing against the Italian side, especially in a week where this is the second of three very tough away games, but also conclude that we could have done more on the ball. We also chat about a lack of creativity without Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey's penalty concession and David Raya's superb save which helped save a point. There's also some focus on Gabriel Martinelli who missed a big chance to score, and lots more.

Get extra bonus content and help support Arseblog by becoming an Arseblog Member on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/arseblog

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

November 9 is the 96th birthday of Harrison Ruffin Tyler, a retired chemical engineer and a historical preservationist who lives in Virginia. His claim to fame is that he is the grandson of U.S. President John Tyler, our tenth president who served in office from 1841 to 1845. That's like, 180 years ago. How is that possible?

President Tyler fathered 15 children. The thirteenth was Lyon Gardiner Tyler, born in 1853, when the former president was 63 years old. Lyon Gardiner Tyler had six children, the fifth being Harrison Ruffin Tyler, who was born in 1928 when his father was 75 years old. Therefore, a president who was born 234 years ago has a living grandchild today. 

Harrison Ruffin Tyler is also a descendant of Pocahontas and several other prominent figures from both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Happy Birthday, Mr. Tyler. -via Boing Boing

(Portrait of President Tyler from Wikimedia Commons)

George Takei really sucks—and he's proud of it!

The Star Trek legend and Internet darling had the prefect response this week for a Facebook troll trying to bring him down.

He shared a screenshot of the exchange with the caption: "Sorry, couldn't help myself.‪ #‎Trollololollol‬"

BOOM!

Takei is known for his epic Internet takedowns, so mark this one down as another win for Sulu.

If this keep up I'll have no choice but to start calling dogs "goggies."

Prime Day sees some pretty tempting deals and discounts on science gifts, but is it worth waiting for Black Friday to potentially save even more?

Google said it discovered a zero-day vulnerability in the SQLite open-source database engine using its large language model (LLM) assisted framework called Big Sleep (formerly Project Naptime). The tech giant described the development as the "first real-world vulnerability" uncovered using the artificial intelligence (AI) agent. "We believe this is the first public example of an AI agent finding