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Condition and Dye Your Own Hemp Rope
By mcvarij
In this Instructable, I will guide you through the process of conditioning raw hemp into soft and beautiful rope.
"Step 1: Tools and Ingredients
1. Hemp rope - I'm using 83 meters of raw 4 mm rope but the process is the same for thicker sizes. I buy Ecolution Romanian hemp rope through greenboatstuff.com. It's sold by weight so if you buy thicker rope you won't get the same length.
2. EMT safety shears
3. Stock pot or pressure cooker - large enough to hold all your rope and cover with water
4. Washer and dryer
5. Mesh laundry bag or old pillow case
6. Dye (optional) - use any brand you like, just make sure it's for natural fibers and that you follow the instructions. I'll be using Rit-Dye.
7. 1 cup salt (for dying)
8. Water
9. Rough towel or piece of burlap
10. Gas burner or alcohol lamp
11. Mineral oil - get the kind sold as a laxative at the drug store. It's much more refined than other kinds at the hardware store [I wonder if something else could be used instead of mineral oil]
12. Masking tape
13. Measuring tape.
14. Whipping twine or strong thread"Learn more:
https://www.instructables.com/Condition-and-Dye-Your-Own-Hemp-Rope/ -
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Dinner!Pulled the beef into shreds, added 2 blocks of unsweetened dark chocolate, and plated it on a corn tortilla, with cheddar*, a quickie salsa of even more 👩🌾 tomatoes, 👩🌾 chives, 👩🌾 purple masquerade pepper, garlic, last straggly bits of 👩🌾cilantro, lime juice and a pinch of salt.
Container gardening is how I make a little go a longer way.
It probably helps that I literally grew up with my parents owning a restaurant, so I can cook.
I envision a little anarchist old age community with a central garden and regular shared meals. 😊
And we grow things, and we preserve things, and we have a central area with things people use infrequently, rather than everyone having a redundant instance of.
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* I have four kinds of cheese, but none are a queso fresca. I go with a friend to Costco and share the ridiculous quantities with him.
#GardeningWithAnarchists #gardening #ContainerGardening #GrowYourOwn #GigiGarden
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This year, I thought the Hugo finalist novels & novellas were mostly great, but the entries in Best Novelette (longish short stories, between 7500 and 17500 words) were mostly just OK, and I don't have much to say about them. Check out any that seem interesting to you!
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed: a wizard who's lost her powers is given an apprentice, and has to prepare for an impending dragon-related disaster. http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/by-salt-by-sea-by-light-of-stars/
“Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou: one day the protagonist misses a reunion with an old friend; she can't see her friend even though she's sitting at the same bus stop. This then spreads to her family as she slips further into a parallel existence. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/loneliness-universe/
“Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker: the protagonist has a reunion with her estranged sister, and learns a magical family secret. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/signs-of-life/
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer: a woman moves to Massachusetts with her family. She was forced to give up her grad-school research on seals, and discovers her seal research subjects are still alive and now living offshore from their new home. Coincidence, or something else? https://asimovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/TheFourSisters_Kritzer.pdf
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha: a Bradburyesque story about books and videos in a near-future where they're obsolete. The narrator is disposing of his deceased mother's possessions, and stumbles across a Brotherhood that preserves retro technology. https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_05_24/
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This year, I thought the Hugo finalist novels & novellas were mostly great, but the entries in Best Novelette (longish short stories, between 7500 and 17500 words) were mostly just OK, and I don't have much to say about them. Check out any that seem interesting to you!
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed: a wizard who's lost her powers is given an apprentice, and has to prepare for an impending dragon-related disaster. http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/by-salt-by-sea-by-light-of-stars/
“Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou: one day the protagonist misses a reunion with an old friend; she can't see her friend even though she's sitting at the same bus stop. This then spreads to her family as she slips further into a parallel existence. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/loneliness-universe/
“Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker: the protagonist has a reunion with her estranged sister, and learns a magical family secret. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/signs-of-life/
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer: a woman moves to Massachusetts with her family. She was forced to give up her grad-school research on seals, and discovers her seal research subjects are still alive and now living offshore from their new home. Coincidence, or something else? https://asimovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/TheFourSisters_Kritzer.pdf
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha: a Bradburyesque story about books and videos in a near-future where they're obsolete. The narrator is disposing of his deceased mother's possessions, and stumbles across a Brotherhood that preserves retro technology. https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_05_24/
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This year, I thought the Hugo finalist novels & novellas were mostly great, but the entries in Best Novelette (longish short stories, between 7500 and 17500 words) were mostly just OK, and I don't have much to say about them. Check out any that seem interesting to you!
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed: a wizard who's lost her powers is given an apprentice, and has to prepare for an impending dragon-related disaster. http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/by-salt-by-sea-by-light-of-stars/
“Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou: one day the protagonist misses a reunion with an old friend; she can't see her friend even though she's sitting at the same bus stop. This then spreads to her family as she slips further into a parallel existence. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/loneliness-universe/
“Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker: the protagonist has a reunion with her estranged sister, and learns a magical family secret. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/signs-of-life/
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer: a woman moves to Massachusetts with her family. She was forced to give up her grad-school research on seals, and discovers her seal research subjects are still alive and now living offshore from their new home. Coincidence, or something else? https://asimovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/TheFourSisters_Kritzer.pdf
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha: a Bradburyesque story about books and videos in a near-future where they're obsolete. The narrator is disposing of his deceased mother's possessions, and stumbles across a Brotherhood that preserves retro technology. https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_05_24/
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This year, I thought the Hugo finalist novels & novellas were mostly great, but the entries in Best Novelette (longish short stories, between 7500 and 17500 words) were mostly just OK, and I don't have much to say about them. Check out any that seem interesting to you!
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed: a wizard who's lost her powers is given an apprentice, and has to prepare for an impending dragon-related disaster. http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/by-salt-by-sea-by-light-of-stars/
“Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou: one day the protagonist misses a reunion with an old friend; she can't see her friend even though she's sitting at the same bus stop. This then spreads to her family as she slips further into a parallel existence. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/loneliness-universe/
“Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker: the protagonist has a reunion with her estranged sister, and learns a magical family secret. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/signs-of-life/
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer: a woman moves to Massachusetts with her family. She was forced to give up her grad-school research on seals, and discovers her seal research subjects are still alive and now living offshore from their new home. Coincidence, or something else? https://asimovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/TheFourSisters_Kritzer.pdf
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha: a Bradburyesque story about books and videos in a near-future where they're obsolete. The narrator is disposing of his deceased mother's possessions, and stumbles across a Brotherhood that preserves retro technology. https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_05_24/
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This year, I thought the Hugo finalist novels & novellas were mostly great, but the entries in Best Novelette (longish short stories, between 7500 and 17500 words) were mostly just OK, and I don't have much to say about them. Check out any that seem interesting to you!
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed: a wizard who's lost her powers is given an apprentice, and has to prepare for an impending dragon-related disaster. http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/by-salt-by-sea-by-light-of-stars/
“Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou: one day the protagonist misses a reunion with an old friend; she can't see her friend even though she's sitting at the same bus stop. This then spreads to her family as she slips further into a parallel existence. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/loneliness-universe/
“Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker: the protagonist has a reunion with her estranged sister, and learns a magical family secret. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/signs-of-life/
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer: a woman moves to Massachusetts with her family. She was forced to give up her grad-school research on seals, and discovers her seal research subjects are still alive and now living offshore from their new home. Coincidence, or something else? https://asimovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/TheFourSisters_Kritzer.pdf
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha: a Bradburyesque story about books and videos in a near-future where they're obsolete. The narrator is disposing of his deceased mother's possessions, and stumbles across a Brotherhood that preserves retro technology. https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_05_24/
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Dear alternative Friends,
In real life (RL) I have this morning:
- Checked out #EasyOS Linux. Not yet ready for auto-update of the Next Release. I am awaiting... with spare laptop at the ready... Oz OS? Coming...
- Installed an old working ionizer to collect micro-dust on a clean bit of paper next to my pillow
- Had no sugar, vegan muesli for breakfast and seeded bread with low salt yeast type spread
- Emailed those interested in https://www.yourparty.uk/#// an ultra popular pro peace pro NHS, pro people, pro community housing party etc started by a former leader of the opposition. 300 000 people interested in joining and counting...Ah well bang goes my anarchic un-principles... :agummyhug:
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Dear alternative Friends,
In real life (RL) I have this morning:
- Checked out #EasyOS Linux. Not yet ready for auto-update of the Next Release. I am awaiting... with spare laptop at the ready... Oz OS? Coming...
- Installed an old working ionizer to collect micro-dust on a clean bit of paper next to my pillow
- Had no sugar, vegan muesli for breakfast and seeded bread with low salt yeast type spread
- Emailed those interested in https://www.yourparty.uk/#// an ultra popular pro peace pro NHS, pro people, pro community housing party etc started by a former leader of the opposition. 300 000 people interested in joining and counting...Ah well bang goes my anarchic un-principles... :agummyhug:
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After our lengthy threads yesterday about #banchan, #kimchi, and #fermentation, I managed to get 2 styles of cucumbers made. One is 오이무침, seasoned Korean cucumber, and the other is fermenting spicy dill pickles, made with the last of my kimchi brine. Pretty sure I added way too much salt to the first, and too many Alleppo chili flakes to the second, but I'm more likely to eat these than plain old cukes, especially in the quantity I received.
Today is also meant to be #borscht day, but I'm struggling with vertigo, so I've been watching #kdrama (Sh**ting Stars) instead. -
New #Disintermedia blog post, on the challenges of keeping communications private in networked software;
https://disintermedia.net.nz/get-a-room
As I say at the outset, I am not a security professional, and this is not security advice. I’m just an old school Direct Action activist and indymediatista, with some information to add to the mix. Add a grain of salt and stir well.
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* Risky Medications: The FDA has given more than 20 foreign factories a special pass to continue sending drugs to the U.S. even though they were made at plants that the agency had banned.
* Troubled Factories: The medications came mostly from plants in India where inspectors found contaminated drugs, filthy labs and falsified records.* FDA Secrecy: The agency did not proactively inform the public when drugs were exempted from import bans, and it did not routinely test the medications to ensure they were safe.
https://www.propublica.org/article/fda-drug-loophole-sun-pharma
"Questions are surfacing about the immigration detention of a 19-year-old college student from Utah after a traffic stop in Colorado this month.
Caroline Dias Goncalves, a student at the University of Utah, was driving on Interstate 70 outside Loma on June 5 when a Mesa County sheriff's deputy pulled her over.
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office did not say why. Relatives told The Salt Lake City Tribune the deputy claimed she was driving too close to a semi-truck.
The stop lasted less than 20 minutes, and 'Dias Goncalves was released from the traffic stop with a warning,' the sheriff’s office said in a news release Monday.
Then, shortly after she exited the highway, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped her, arrested her and took her to an immigration detention center.
'She has no criminal record and she was not shown a warrant,' her attorney, Jon Hyman, said in an email.
(. . .)
Dias Goncalves was born in Brazil and was brought to the United States as a 7-year-old. She has lived in Utah since she was 12 and has an asylum case pending.
Friends and relatives question how immigration authorities were alerted to her location.
As part of an ongoing 'full administrative review,' the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office determined that the deputy who stopped Dias Goncalves was part of a communication group that included local, state and federal law enforcement partners participating in 'a multi-agency drug interdiction effort focusing on the highways throughout Western Colorado.'
'We were unaware that the communication group was used for anything other than drug interdiction efforts, including immigration,' the sheriff's office said. 'We have since removed all Mesa County Sheriff’s Office members from the communication group.'
Colorado law restricts coordination between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, but it does not fully prohibit it."
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A Common Yellowthroat Explores the Blooming Hawthorn Trees
On the morning of May 24, 2025, I watched a Common Yellowthroat flit all over one of the two hawthorn trees near the main bend of the Salt Marsh path. I stayed with this charming masked warbler for around fifteen minutes as it looked for anything good to eat.
Common Yellowthroat. May 24, 2025. 7:20 a.m.The Common Yellowthroat seemed completely engaged with the microscopic life of this tree— a Cockspur hawthorn or thorn (Crataegus crus-galli), a native of eastern North America. The clusters of white flowers that bloom in late May are followed by small red fruit.
Common Yellowthroat. May 24, 2025. 7:21 a.m.The trees here are not in the best of shape. They are wrecked by storms and high winds. The Common Yellowthroat may have found insects to eat here. Another old hawthorn on the south side of the main inlet shows the same vulnerabilities.
Common Yellowthroat. May 24, 2025. 7:30 a.m.Just as a healthy marsh supports the vitality of the shorebirds and wading birds, the overall health of the forest canopy and existing ornamental trees sustains both migrating birds and the park regulars. While the Yellowthroat flew about, a Downy Woodpecker arrived to forage on insects in the bark. A Blue Jay alighted for a moment, too.
On the following morning, I returned to the hawthorn trees for another inspection. As I was watching the small white feathers fall to the pavement below, the little Yellowthroat flew into one of the trees for more foraging opportunities.
Common Yellowthroat. May 25, 2025. 6:29 a.m.I would like to thank this particular Common Yellowthroat for the close encounters and the resulting clear images. They usually hide from me in the bushes.
Cover: Common Yellowthroat in a hawthorn tree. May 24, 2025. 7:21 a.m. Inwood Hill Park. New York, NY.
Related posts about birds and trees
Cedar Waxwings in the Juneberries
Birds in the Tulip Trees of Inwood
https://birdsofinwood.com/2024/02/19/birds-in-the-tulip-trees-of-inwood/
May 2025 Sightings
The gift of spring migration keeps on giving. I spotted a Willow Flycatcher in the marsh regeneration area. I also managed to take recognizable images of a male Blackpoll Warbler high in the trees. Just this morning, I came across a Red-eyed Vireo high up on the eastern ridge. See May 2025 Sightings for more.
Red-eyed Vireo. May 26, 2025Latest posts
- Birds in the Garden of Eden: A Field Trip to Untermyer Park and Gardens in Yonkers, New York
- An Evening Walk with a Great Egret, and Spring Migration Report
- Birds on the Forest Floor: Ovenbird and Veery
- A Flurry of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Flickers Flickering, and a Great Egret Returns
- The Kinglets of the Forest, with More Stories and Tech-Related Mishaps in the Age of Digital Birding
Subscribe to Birds of Inwood
#birding #InwoodHillPark #nature #photography #trees -
CW: Long discussion of Hugo nominees
Now I've caught up with the rest of the non-series written word categories for the Hugos, some thoughts. (I thought all the Short Stories were extremely close to each other)
Novelette:
"The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video" - of all the works in this category, this felt most like a warning of the future. It's quite stylised, and it didn't quite grab me the way some others did, but it has some chilling moments.
"By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars" - a story about loss, what teaching is, and growing old I guess. I did like this, but uniquely amongst the Novelettes I felt this would have been better at Novella length.
"The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea" - I always just like the way Kritzer writes, and as an academic there's a bit that outraged me deeply (as intended)... but it also does telegraph itself a little too much.
"Lake of Souls" - I'm not sure this is the strongest work in the collection this is from even... but Leckie is good, and there's some unexpected twists along with the worldbuilding.
"Loneliness Universe" - horror that takes a little *too* long to get going, and feels like it's trying to make a metaphorical point that doesn't quite hit.
"Signs of Life" - I really did enjoy this, especially the "homely horror" aspects.I think for me this is probably going to be between The Four Sisters... and Signs of Life (and I didn't expect to not have the Leckie in that top 2!).
next, Novella.
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ALIVE GIRL / GODSTAR MEGAMAX / PRIVATE LIVES
Van Horne Underpass, Thursday, May 29 at 08:00 PM EDT
First IFO bridge show of the year!
ALIVE GIRL (Chicago, IL)
massive dreamy glitchy pop
GODSTAR MEGAMAX (Chicago IL)
if you like Slint you're gonna love this one!
https://godstarmegamax.bandcamp.com/album/nagamo-piping-plover
PRIVATE LIVES
they got new songs! and the old ones were great too! power pop never dies
https://privatelivesmtl.bandcamp.com/album/salt-of-the-earth
STARTS AT 8 SHARP
BRING CASH FOR THE TOURING BANDS
RESPECT THE UNDERPASS
https://montreal.askapunk.net/event/alive-girl-godstar-megamax-private-lives
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Utena was, uhh, artistic and trippy but also very male fantasy and a bit of a stinker. I'd really like to file the stink under criticism of real life but it's a bit tough...
There was some yuri in the show, can't deny that. It just felt like a footnote compared to how much all the straight, uh, activities got screen time. But it was something, considering the times?
For an old show, it was kind of fun, I guess. Best enjoyed with a chunk of salt and no yuri goggles, though.
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Yarraville is the featured suburb this time round. I like it there, have visited on and off since the '90s. Cute narrow streets and old buildings. Highly gentrified now, of course.
"This transformation has been so thorough that I’ve recently heard people from the other side of the bridge refer to Yarraville as the Elwood of the west. Why Elwood of all places? Yarraville has no stinky canal for a start, although it does have a stench. More on that later.
"The habit of attaching puzzling names to my suburb goes back to the 1850s. As Melbourne was being subdivided for settlement, it was thought that putting Yarra in its name, of all the places the river passes, might make it more attractive to settlers. I guess it worked. The Maribyrnong, which also skirts my suburb, was then known as The Salt Water River and Yarraville sounds more appealing than Saltwarterriverville, especially as that river was, by that stage, already home to the kind of noxious industry that would characterise the region for the next century or more."
#Melbourne #Yarraville #Gentrification https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/my-suburb-is-known-as-the-elwood-of-the-west-but-it-s-actually-better-apart-from-the-stench-20250130-p5l8d1.html
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I should take the #doggies for #walkies this afternoon because it will get incredibly cold here in the #Boston area this week. I've seen predicted lows down around 1ºF / -17.22ºC, which is crazy cold here. The rain yesterday finally got rid of the snow from a couple of weeks ago, but tonight's snow will certainly be hanging around. The dogs don't mind the cold (the salt on the road is another story), but I'm getting wimpy in my old age. I'd rather stay inside and just crank the heat!
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Tell me, what did you eat last night?
"The electric tongue says the soup needs more salt."
"It got more salt!"
Mothers and daughters have been bickering about seasoning ever since the stone age. One person's "too salty!" is another person's "you call that flavour?!" It is amazing kitchen knives are only ever rarely used to dispatch a disobedient daughter-in-law or to remind a nagging matriarch that she's overstepping the mark.
The electric tongue was supposed to solve all of those petty disagreements. When it was first released, back in the '30s, the tongue was a tangle of sensors with poor accuracy and an unnerving habit of leaking battery acid and microplastics into whatever was being tasted. A fad that wouldn't last the decade, they all said. Nowadays, fat bundles of them can be found in every kitchen. The modern tongue was a disposable bunch of circuitry which you threw at the bottom of the pot and then threw away after cooking. Zap-to-taste. It is a hundred times more accurate than its predecessor and can discern ten thousand spices, flavours, and ingredients.
It didn't stop the arguing though.
"It won't be strong enough for your great-grandpa. You know his tongue never worked right after coming home from the war."
"Grandpa has his own eChopStix. He'll be fine. The rest of us have to eat this stuff as well, you know?"
Family legend said that great-grandpa once ate a half-dozen genetically-engineered chilli peppers in order to win a bet with a soldier from the other side. The two men taking it in turn to prove their masculinity by shovelling gigapepps into their mouths. Honour was duly satisfied and both men walked away knowing their regiment was proud of them. These days, the great-grandchildren could barely remember which side had won the war. All they knew was that the old man didn't use milk in his tea; he used whiskey.
The eChopStix hung permanently on great-grandpa's belt. They were washed once a week, whether they needed to be or not, and were recharged at the same time. The old man would shuffle to the dinner table and stick the sticks into any dish he liked the look of. The casing of the chopsticks glowed depending on the level of spice. Too little and they remained duck-egg blue. Acceptable levels turned them a light orange. If he wanted something tasty, he added hot sauce until the sticks turned bright red. They pulsed ominously to warn other family members not to eat his specially prepared food.
It was the anniversary of the end of the war - although the old man hated to think about it - and the TV had been blaring memorial news all day long. As the first dish came out, he struggled to his feet with the aid of a grand-daughter whose name he'd forgotten. He cleared his throat, spat on the ground, and gave an impromptu speech in the formal dialect of his youth.
"Mates! Innit though? They was all chonkie bois and yas-kweened their top life. Chat, if you've got signal after being un-alived, Prime is on me. Like and subscribe."
The family around the table stopped livestreaming long enough to solemnly give their likes-and-subscribes. They ate their meal in silence.
Great-grandpa's belly exploded in the night, killing him instantly and unexpectedly redecorating the room.
That's where we came in. The death of a war veteran - even one dishonourably discharged for fraternising with the enemy - warranted a full investigation. There were no shortage of witnesses to interrogate. Nowadays we don't bother locking people in windowless rooms and beating them with a rubber hose; it's a barbaric and unhelpful practice. We aren't even allowed to strap humans into the mind-machine and crank up the voltage until their secrets come tumbling out. Inhumane, apparently. Besides, humans lie and forget. So we go straight to the source - their domestic appliances.
The electric tongue wasn't very talkative. It stored a log of all the sensations it had detected over the last week. Someone had been under-seasoning the meat. Not a capital crime and nothing for us to investigate. The household was getting plenty of iodine in their meals, which is probably why the old bastard lived so long. Someone had been baking sweet treats which was usually a sign of smuggling, but the family would probably have just claimed to have been pooling all their sugar rations.
Besides, none of the other family members had exploded in the night. We upgraded the electric tongue to a newer model which could report any illicit sugar usage back to HQ and moved on.
The next obvious step was the chopsticks. They were vintage! He probably picked them up when he was distributing surplus memes to the enemy. Sure, most soldiers had a side-hustle, but this wide-boy was found with industrial quantities of weapons-grade hentai. His service record showed that he'd been flogged and chewed half his tongue off before he gave up the names of his suppliers and customers. He left with no medals, but obviously got his hands on a few keepsakes. The chopsticks' hardware only had a limited memory, enough for a few meals to be uploaded to a long-since obsolete social network. There was a record of the spice levels and how many 🌶 points he'd accumulated - but no indicators of poison.
Newer versions of the chopsticks had a firmware update feature which meant they could detect biological nasties like salmonella, e-coli-max, and norovirus-76. Too late for him, obviously.
Super Toilets were supposed to last all summer long. That's what the marketing promised. Only having to upgrade your potty's hardware twice a year was a major selling point, especially in large families. This brick-shithouse was installed barely three months ago and should have been pristine. In theory it was monitoring the waste output of every family member for disease and disharmony. An instant Bluetooth alert if your piss tasted of cancer or your poo smelled of heart disease. Your smart-toilet would alert the public health authorities and they could quarantine you before you had a chance to spread anything infectious to your community.
One of the great-grand-kids, probably the terrified looking one, had hijacked the firmware. My guess is that he didn't want it to report back to the central bureaucracy just how much ultra-weed he was smoking. The boffins didn't care about that; a docile population is a peaceful population. But no one had managed to breed the paranoia out of the pot that freely circulated the enclave. So dope-heads fried the circuits of their shitters until the whole family's bowel movements were replaced with generic synthetic data. The whole lot of them may have been riddled with worms, on the verge of diabetes, or developing allergies to the mandatory vaccines and no one would have a clue. Grandpa's bowel bomb could have sat there for ages waiting to go off.
The lights didn't reveal anything. The washing machine's lint trap was an amalgam of half the street's washing. The TV camera showed the old man mostly dozing in front of ancient TikToks. For some inexplicable reasons, they still had a dumb-toaster! Who can live without Internet-connected bread?
Who watches the watches? We do. The wristwatch was blown to smithereens by the explosion, but its data was uploaded every hour to an encrypted server located somewhere outside our jurisdiction. Naturally, we recorded every packet entering or leaving the territory, just in case. Luckily, the format of the communication was entirely predictable so the obfuscation was functionally useless. His blood pressure started spiking about a week ago, around the same time as his heart rate became erratic. He was even sweating more than usual. Suspicious. Of course, there was no reason recorded - but it began to paint a picture of a man not entirely calm and collected.
The last interrogation was the smoke detector.
Oh ho! This was interesting.
The smoke detector had been sniffing farts for years. Officially, it was only meant to be detecting smoke particles so it could alert the fire brigade, insurance companies, and documentary crews. But, evidently, someone in the manufacturing team had a fetish! A dozen years ago, a university research team had received a government grant to study digestion. There had been general outcry when the university had produced an open-data release of flatulence. Noises, moisture levels, smells - this database had it all! The head researcher had been demonised in the press and was probably working down a reclamation mine somewhere in the DMZ. I made a note to pay that professor a visit to let her know she helped solve a murder.
Great-Grandpa's farts were legendary in his family. They probably should have been bottled to fling at the enemy. A noxious combination of chemicals and amino acids with names I couldn't even pronounce emanated from his arse at regular intervals in the night. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't choke to death every evening. He was made of strong stuff. Well, except for his stomach.
The digital nose had recorded a subtle change a few weeks ago. Whereas once his nighttime emanations had been entirely organic (though brewed in the fiery pits of Satan's own hellhole) they were suddenly filled with synthetic compounds. Weird plastics and reconstituted hydrocarbons were leaking out of him. Hints of ozone and tetrachlorides that shouldn't be produced in a normal human body were suddenly part of the nightly symphony. Evidently, something unnatural was inside him and wanted to come out.
Someone, as the old folks say, had set him up the bomb.
An old soldier makes many enemies. While hostilities have officially been on hiatus for several decades, the wounds of war linger on. It would have been unlikely that the other side had him as a priority target. He was never particularly highly ranked and hadn't committed any particularly egregious war crimes. The smuggling buddies he'd given up under torture were as low-level as it gets. No one on their side cared about the old man enough to waste him.
That left our side.
Shit. This investigation was about to get complicated…
Thanks for reading
I'd love your feedback on this story. Did you like the style of writing? Was the plot interesting? Did you guess the twist? Please stick a note in the comments to motivate me 😃
Hungry for more? You can read:
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This week's #ThursdayFiveList them is #TheCollab, five songs done as a collaboration.
I've got this. Wait. Have I got this? Yes.
FEUERSCHWANZ - Warriors Of The World United (feat Thomas Winkler, Saltatio Mortis & Melissa Bonny)
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKOoM7S6mw
Invidious: https://youtu.be/-rKOoM7S6mw
I love this Manowar cover, and Melissa Bonny's vocals on this in particular are 🔥. I am in awe of that woman's pipes.Electric Callboy vs Saltatio Mortis - Hypa Hypa
YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Saltatio Mortis love collabs and so do Electric Callboy (renamed with an apology when they were made aware that their old name was offensive).Pendulum & Scarlxrd - 'Mercy Killing'
YT: https://youtu.be/wCPZ9ifMivA
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=wCPZ9ifMivA
I was going to go Pendulum feat In Flames, but fuck yeah, ScarlxrdDark Tranquillity ft. Nell Sigland - Insanity's Crescendo (Live)
YT: https://youtu.be/dHRjHfe75y4
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=dHRjHfe75y4
Nell Sigland is best known for her work with The Crest and Theatre of Tragedy, but also provided vocals to DT's album Fiction.Dark Globe feat Amanda Ghost - Break My World
YT: https://youtu.be/ENwdQSRE0z0
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=ENwdQSRE0z0
Trivia fact: singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost was, rather briefly, president of Epic Records off the back of her production career, but was sacked for what is described as "erratic behaviour". Queen shit, tbh. You've definitely heard music she's written. -
This week's #ThursdayFiveList them is #TheCollab, five songs done as a collaboration.
I've got this. Wait. Have I got this? Yes.
FEUERSCHWANZ - Warriors Of The World United (feat Thomas Winkler, Saltatio Mortis & Melissa Bonny)
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKOoM7S6mw
Invidious: https://youtu.be/-rKOoM7S6mw
I love this Manowar cover, and Melissa Bonny's vocals on this in particular are 🔥. I am in awe of that woman's pipes.Electric Callboy vs Saltatio Mortis - Hypa Hypa
YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Saltatio Mortis love collabs and so do Electric Callboy (renamed with an apology when they were made aware that their old name was offensive).Pendulum & Scarlxrd - 'Mercy Killing'
YT: https://youtu.be/wCPZ9ifMivA
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=wCPZ9ifMivA
I was going to go Pendulum feat In Flames, but fuck yeah, ScarlxrdDark Tranquillity ft. Nell Sigland - Insanity's Crescendo (Live)
YT: https://youtu.be/dHRjHfe75y4
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=dHRjHfe75y4
Nell Sigland is best known for her work with The Crest and Theatre of Tragedy, but also provided vocals to DT's album Fiction.Dark Globe feat Amanda Ghost - Break My World
YT: https://youtu.be/ENwdQSRE0z0
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=ENwdQSRE0z0
Trivia fact: singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost was, rather briefly, president of Epic Records off the back of her production career, but was sacked for what is described as "erratic behaviour". Queen shit, tbh. You've definitely heard music she's written. -
This week's #ThursdayFiveList them is #TheCollab, five songs done as a collaboration.
I've got this. Wait. Have I got this? Yes.
FEUERSCHWANZ - Warriors Of The World United (feat Thomas Winkler, Saltatio Mortis & Melissa Bonny)
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKOoM7S6mw
Invidious: https://youtu.be/-rKOoM7S6mw
I love this Manowar cover, and Melissa Bonny's vocals on this in particular are 🔥. I am in awe of that woman's pipes.Electric Callboy vs Saltatio Mortis - Hypa Hypa
YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Saltatio Mortis love collabs and so do Electric Callboy (renamed with an apology when they were made aware that their old name was offensive).Pendulum & Scarlxrd - 'Mercy Killing'
YT: https://youtu.be/wCPZ9ifMivA
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=wCPZ9ifMivA
I was going to go Pendulum feat In Flames, but fuck yeah, ScarlxrdDark Tranquillity ft. Nell Sigland - Insanity's Crescendo (Live)
YT: https://youtu.be/dHRjHfe75y4
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=dHRjHfe75y4
Nell Sigland is best known for her work with The Crest and Theatre of Tragedy, but also provided vocals to DT's album Fiction.Dark Globe feat Amanda Ghost - Break My World
YT: https://youtu.be/ENwdQSRE0z0
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=ENwdQSRE0z0
Trivia fact: singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost was, rather briefly, president of Epic Records off the back of her production career, but was sacked for what is described as "erratic behaviour". Queen shit, tbh. You've definitely heard music she's written. -
This week's #ThursdayFiveList them is #TheCollab, five songs done as a collaboration.
I've got this. Wait. Have I got this? Yes.
FEUERSCHWANZ - Warriors Of The World United (feat Thomas Winkler, Saltatio Mortis & Melissa Bonny)
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKOoM7S6mw
Invidious: https://youtu.be/-rKOoM7S6mw
I love this Manowar cover, and Melissa Bonny's vocals on this in particular are 🔥. I am in awe of that woman's pipes.Electric Callboy vs Saltatio Mortis - Hypa Hypa
YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Saltatio Mortis love collabs and so do Electric Callboy (renamed with an apology when they were made aware that their old name was offensive).Pendulum & Scarlxrd - 'Mercy Killing'
YT: https://youtu.be/wCPZ9ifMivA
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=wCPZ9ifMivA
I was going to go Pendulum feat In Flames, but fuck yeah, ScarlxrdDark Tranquillity ft. Nell Sigland - Insanity's Crescendo (Live)
YT: https://youtu.be/dHRjHfe75y4
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=dHRjHfe75y4
Nell Sigland is best known for her work with The Crest and Theatre of Tragedy, but also provided vocals to DT's album Fiction.Dark Globe feat Amanda Ghost - Break My World
YT: https://youtu.be/ENwdQSRE0z0
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=ENwdQSRE0z0
Trivia fact: singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost was, rather briefly, president of Epic Records off the back of her production career, but was sacked for what is described as "erratic behaviour". Queen shit, tbh. You've definitely heard music she's written. -
This week's #ThursdayFiveList them is #TheCollab, five songs done as a collaboration.
I've got this. Wait. Have I got this? Yes.
FEUERSCHWANZ - Warriors Of The World United (feat Thomas Winkler, Saltatio Mortis & Melissa Bonny)
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKOoM7S6mw
Invidious: https://youtu.be/-rKOoM7S6mw
I love this Manowar cover, and Melissa Bonny's vocals on this in particular are 🔥. I am in awe of that woman's pipes.Electric Callboy vs Saltatio Mortis - Hypa Hypa
YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=AOpHFHCko3s
Saltatio Mortis love collabs and so do Electric Callboy (renamed with an apology when they were made aware that their old name was offensive).Pendulum & Scarlxrd - 'Mercy Killing'
YT: https://youtu.be/wCPZ9ifMivA
Invidious: https://iv.nowhere.moe/watch?v=wCPZ9ifMivA
I was going to go Pendulum feat In Flames, but fuck yeah, ScarlxrdDark Tranquillity ft. Nell Sigland - Insanity's Crescendo (Live)
YT: https://youtu.be/dHRjHfe75y4
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=dHRjHfe75y4
Nell Sigland is best known for her work with The Crest and Theatre of Tragedy, but also provided vocals to DT's album Fiction.Dark Globe feat Amanda Ghost - Break My World
YT: https://youtu.be/ENwdQSRE0z0
Invideous: https://invidious.privacydev.net/watch?v=ENwdQSRE0z0
Trivia fact: singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost was, rather briefly, president of Epic Records off the back of her production career, but was sacked for what is described as "erratic behaviour". Queen shit, tbh. You've definitely heard music she's written. -
Scripture
Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.
Reading
Now, an explanation of my long silence. Of course, it is not just a lack of time. When it is absolutely necessary, I always take the time to write. And I would always take it for you if something could come of it for you. However, I have come to doubt that. The last letter showed me that currently it does not make any sense to speak about my inner concerns. Do not consider that an accusation against you. Certainly, the greatest part of the guilt lies with me for, probably, I began the letter rather undiplomatically. Presumably, it would have gone better if we could have spoken about it all. So, we are both missing the concrete awareness of the emotional situation that would be required for a meaningful discussion.
Letter 87 to Dr. Roman Ingarden
14 December 1924Prayer
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross,
called from the people of the Old Covenant,
help us to live together in peace and
to foster reconciliation between peoples and religions;
graced with the freedom of the spirit,
be close to all who seek the meaning of their lives,
the truth, and deliverance from all bondage.(here mention your intentions)
Perfected in the wisdom of the Cross,
accompany us and all people
in every distress of body and soul.Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…Saint Edith Stein, pray for us.
Novena prayer from the Carmel of Mary of Peace in Cologne, Germany
Image of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) © 2023 Ruben Ferreira. Used by kind permission. Visit rubenferreiraart.com to explore more inspirational art by Ruben Ferreira.Stein, E. 2014, Edith Stein: Letters to Roman Ingarden, translated from the German by Hunt, H, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.
Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Edith Stein.
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/07/26/edithnov24-9/
#conversation #difficult #emotions #fault #guilt #honesty #intercession #novena #prayer #RomanIngarden #silence #StEdithStein #StTeresaBenedictaOfTheCross
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Sweet Aurora, our newly adopted formerly-stray #cat, has an appointment to get fixed this morning. Poor thing. We can tell she's already had one litter before - probably why she got turned out in the first place. She's so scrawny and has thin hair patches even though she's maybe a year old. She doesn't need another. She was so salty with me for not feeding her this morning!
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È da troppo tempo che qui non parlo di riparazioni arronzate… beh, l’altro pomeriggio non sapevo che fare, quindi ne ho approfittato qualche ora per cercare di sistemare quei dettagli che mi mancavano sulla PSP… non è andata benissimo. Con la varia roba presa da AliExpress qualche settimana fa, c’era anche la seconda membrana sostitutiva (di sinistra), dopo che avevo scoperto che anche il tasto L aveva iniziato a fare le bizze. Beh, quello è stato indolore, il casino invece si è verificato per quell’altra cagata… 🥶
Ho fatto un macello per mettere lo stick sostitutivo (“madonna che disastro”), che invece avevo ormai da parte da 6 mesi (!!!), ma che al tempo non c’è stato verso di far funzionare semplicemente appoggiandolo (come tutte le guide di riparazione suggeriscono); quindi l’unica era saldarlo, e cazzarola se l’ho saldato. Salto il piagnisteo su come le saldature mi vengono sempre male e non so mai se è colpa mia o del saldatore, facendomi perdere infiniti quarti d’ora per qualcosa che macbook repair man farebbe in 3 minuti, però alla fine è venuto e la continuità era buona e sembrava ripiegarsi bene nonostante i fili enormi (erano comunque i più sottili che avevo, non ho quelli laccati senza guaina). 🤯Ovviamente, iniziando a richiudere sono sorti i problemi. Innanzitutto, non riuscivo a collegare la scheda madre sulla piccola scheda secondaria dell’output AV, perché con gli enormi fili lì non riuscivo a spingere tutto per bene in basso avendo i due pezzi allineati (il connettore è quel rettangolino cagoso proprio affianco ai pad dello stick), e nell’altro verso la scheda non si abbassa proprio per via del bordo della scocca, quindi… ho sacrificato con le tronchesine (o come cavolo si chiamano) il più piccolo pezzo di scocca che potevo, cioè la parte proprio sopra l’output AV, così da poter prima attaccare i pezzi, e poi spingere da sopra senza regalare alcun fottuto. 💀
E infine, ehm, lo stick, come dire… funziona… per bene solo in orizzontale, però. Per via dei fili grossi, probabilmente a seconda di come si muove il tutto quelli fanno corto, e quindi falsi input. Con le saldature lì grosse, il nastro isolante si teneva malissimo (e la colla a caldo avrebbe fatto troppo spessore), quindi ho dovuto inserire tutto così con al massimo un pezzo di carta in mezzo per isolare. Pare essere meglio di niente, ma comunque non buono. …Se con il CFW inibissi gli input verticali, lasciando alla console leggere solo gli orizzontali, quali giochi potrei giocare che col solo DPad non potrei? 😕Vi risparmio cosa c’è tra la mutilazione della plastica e il testing dello stick, ve lo tengo per la prossima volta, ma vi assicuro, nulla di bello… spoiler: la scocca non si chiudeva più bene. Però ho come la sensazione che lo stick debba soltanto “stabilizzarsi”, perché avendolo riprovato a distanza di un giorno già non era più così problematico. Forse forse, me ne esco fuori con un analogico un po’ marcio ma comunque totalmente funzionante… mamma mia, questa PSP mi chiede pietà e di terminare le sue sofferenze, e io continuo a tentare di aggiustarla… 😱
https://octospacc.altervista.org/2024/06/10/playstation-mortable/
#input #elettronica #soldering #analogico #bodge #repair #old #tascabile #hack #controlli #stick #saldatura #Sony #portatile #PSP #PlayStationPortable #gaming #handheld #riparazione #console
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With Qingming Festival behind us, it’s time to assess the latest experimentation in qingtuan fillings. Gone are the days when the only acceptable fillings were red bean paste and black sesame. In 2016, a pork floss-salted yolk combo exploded the old ways like a vengeful umami bomb, and we haven't been the same since. This year's entrants include crumbly nuts, creamy tea, cheesy fruit jam, and the ever-contentious durian. #Qingtuan #Qingming #Shanghai #ChineseFood #Asia #青团 #清明 #上海 #中国
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With Qingming Festival behind us, it’s time to assess the latest experimentation in qingtuan fillings. Gone are the days when the only acceptable fillings were red bean paste and black sesame. In 2016, a pork floss-salted yolk combo exploded the old ways like a vengeful umami bomb, and we haven't been the same since. This year's entrants include crumbly nuts, creamy tea, cheesy fruit jam, and the ever-contentious durian. #Qingtuan #Qingming #Shanghai #ChineseFood #Asia #青团 #清明 #上海 #中国
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With Qingming Festival behind us, it’s time to assess the latest experimentation in qingtuan fillings. Gone are the days when the only acceptable fillings were red bean paste and black sesame. In 2016, a pork floss-salted yolk combo exploded the old ways like a vengeful umami bomb, and we haven't been the same since. This year's entrants include crumbly nuts, creamy tea, cheesy fruit jam, and the ever-contentious durian. #Qingtuan #Qingming #Shanghai #ChineseFood #Asia #青团 #清明 #上海 #中国