8 1/4 saw blade ace hardware

Not in a particular order- just a generalized idea

And I found...
- I own ~150 more volumes since december. About 10 new series
- I removed one series.
- I bought quite a bit written by Shuzo Oshimi
- I bought quite a bit of Romance
- I bought quite a bit of Shojo/Josei
- I bought relatively little Shonen
- Only 1 in 4 books were to keep the running series updated
- Almost 2 of each 3 books are new series.
- The 1 in 11 remainder are oneshots
- What did I buy?
​
Complete series:
- Assassin Classroom the box 1-21
- Flowers of Evil complete edition 1-4
- My Dress up Darling 1-8
- My Boy 1-9
- Nana 1-21
- Perfect World 1-12
- Sweat and Soap 1-11
- Welcome back, Alice 1-4
- Shiori's Diary 1-3
- Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou 1-2
​
Singles/Oneshots:
- Avant Garde Yumeko
- Pink
- Shino can't say her name
- Helter Skelter
- Is love the answer
​
Volumes adding or finishing series
- Higehiro 6,7
- Komi can't communicate 21-24
- Rent a Girlfriend 13-18
- Sweet Poolside
- Children of the whales 20-21
- Imakoi 4-5
- Mint chocolate 6-7
- Orange: to you dear one
- Takane and Hana 5-18
- Blade of the Immortal Deluxe 7-8
- Blood on the tracks 12
- Blue Period 9-13
- Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction 12
- Gantz Omni 11-12
- Gigant 9-10
- My Wife has no Emotion 4
- The country without humans 3
- The way of the Househusband 9
- I think our son is gay 4
- I want to be a wall 2
- Citrus+ 4
- Doughnust under a crescent moon 5
- Even though we're adults 5
- Given 7
- I can't believe I slept with you 3
- I cannot Rach you 3,5,6
- I hear the Sunspot : Four Seasons
- Monologue woven for you 3
- Sasaki and Miyano 7,8
​
And what got removed?
- On or Off... 1
​
So that's my update. I could have posted a haul, This is roughly the same.

My back porch consists of three 10’x15’ slabs side by side to form a 15’x30’ area. Each of the slabs is essentially level instead of sloping away from the house. Two of the slabs are 1/4”-3/8” low in the center so that the expansion joints and outside edge form raised barriers.
Even though the slabs are under a patio cover, I basically have 2 shallow pools every time it rains because the water hits the outside edge and runs toward the center to fill the pool.
Is there a way to prevent the water from running toward the house from the outer edge? Saw cuts to divert the water? Grind a slight slope on the outer 3’? I’m open to suggestions. Thanks!

So, to explain why this is only being posted now, a full 2 months after kiddo's birth: IDK y'all, having a baby and caring for a newborn is hard and I've been physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.
8 weeks ago I had my 38 week appointment and my doc told me we would be switching to every week appts thereafter. He said I could start doing all the tricks to induce labor and we left happy. I started eating dates and drinking red raspberry leaf tea and continued my daily 1-1.5mile walks and my 40min of yoga daily. On a Saturday, I felt fantastic. At one point in the afternoon I suggested to my SO that we go to the hardware store and buy a few things to build a shelf. It was the best I had felt in more than a month! (Except that I had a very very minor ache in my back right before we left, and a, uh, exciting bathroom trip.)
We got 10 minutes down the road and my backache was getting worse. I had read someone's description of back labor recently and it matched. I had a feeling, so I asked my SO to turn around and drive back home. I was sure it was contractions before we got home. I started timing them, and 1 hour later we were at 4/1/1. So we went to the hospital around 3pm ish. They did a cervical check (which was indeed painful, but not as bad as the contractions, which were getting steadily worse) and said I was at 4cm. They checked an hour later and although the contractions were getting stronger and closer together, they said I was still at 4cm, and the doctor in charge wouldn't let me be admitted until 6cm.
They told me to go home, take some ibuprofen and come back in a few hours or when my water broke. I remember telling the doctor I wouldn't get home before the water broke.
So, we left, forgetting something until they called us a couple minutes later. We turned around and went back. My SO went inside to get the painkillers while I waited in the car. That's when my water broke...on the front seat of the minivan we brought home from the dealer about 28 hours prior. 😱
Cue my SO helping me back to the hospital where we were immediately admitted and a cervical check found me at 6cm.
Holy shit you guys I do not understand how anyone can possibly give birth without medication. I was waiting for death. I knew my time had come. I couldn't help the sounds I was making and I know they were terrible. Any other women in that hospital were probably terrified into getting an epidural just from my sounds. I am needle phobic and initially wasn't sure I wanted an epidural or not but boy let me tell you, I knew I wanted one before we got to the hospital.
It was absolutely excruciating before the epidural. I lost time. I know it was a couple hours before they got the anesthesiologist in to give it to me but it's just a haze, I have no idea how long it was.
Once the epidural was in, everything was so much better. I got to the pushing phase around midnight and got to work. The nurses and doctors were amazing, and we spent a lot of the time joking around.
I can't express how much I appreciate that the head doctor was willing to give me time to work on it, because I pushed for a long time, and I think any other hospital would have pushed me into a procedure. Instead, he said that I was making progress and our vitals were good, so as long as I could keep going and we were making progress, he wouldn't intervene without my permission.
I pushed for around 5 and a half hours. It was difficult and tiring, won't lie. At one point I remember the doctor asking me if I could keep going, and I blurted "I'm not going to lose to a baby!"
I did not lose to the baby. He was born with a partially collapsed lung which they assured us isn't uncommon and usually resolves itself. It did resolve on its own, although we got retained at the hospital for 4 days to be safe. LO is doing great and napping in my lap right now!
For me, the outcome was a 2nd degree tear and two minor abrasions they didn't bother stitching. I also had a hemorrhoid. I was very sore for a while and still do have some feeling of bruise-like soreness, but the hemorrhoid has gone away and the stitches are all gone and, mostly, other than some incontinence on sneezes sometimes (I will be going to a pelvic floor PT soon!) I feel mostly normal.
I was back to taking walks again within the week, albeit short ones, and started some gentle yoga again around two weeks. I started some mild weightlifting this week.
The doctors all told me that if I hadn't been doing a fitness routine like I was, I probably wouldn't have had the stamina to finish the delivery unassisted. It would have been fine if I needed assistance of course--no shame on that!!--but they assured me the recovery was a lot smoother than it may have been if I needed an intervention.
So...just sharing this because I saw SO many negative birth experiences and I was almost expecting something horrible. It was kind of a shock when nothing bad happened. I thought I'd share for people like me, who are afraid. It doesn't always go badly, and the recovery may not be as terrible as you expect.
That said, while labor and recovery was nowhere near as bad as I expected, nothing could have prepared me for taking care of a newborn.
All I want for Christmas is sleep. 😪💤😴🥱
Thank you so much to this community and everyone who contributes to it. I found it such a comfort to have access to such a supportive and amazing community while I went through the journey of pregnancy alongside you, especially since my SO was out of the country until 1 week before delivery. You guys are all amazing and I wish every one of you the best.

Obviously, I am wrong about every one of these but tell me why.
Day 1:
Alisa Amadore: fun, Norah Jones type jazz with her own voice 7/10 on The indie scale
The Beaches: Fun modern rock band with heavy 60s beach rock influence 8/10 indie scale
Talk: raspy Rock and roll, didn't shy away from covers and had a lot of fun doing it 6/10 on the headliner scale
Blue Light Bandits: heavy use of the minor key, very waily, their faster stuff was the best tbh 5/10 on the indie scale
Dropkick Murphys: Old men yell at crowd; crowd yells back 8/10 headliners
Little Fuss: Scott Pilgrim vibes with a female lead with vocals that were flat way more than they should've been. Lots of future potential here if they get a good producer 3/10 indie scale 5/10 when warmed up
Niall Horan: all the way from Brazil(Ireland) along with about 200 raving lunatic women front and center, a very technically sound performance, great use of violin, and oops, I'm now one of the raving women. Discovery of this type of music that was sitting right under my nose is exactly why I came here. Started at 6/10 and built to 9/10
Foo Fighters: wait, who are these guys? 9/10 I think if the drummer went any harder he would ignite fusion and form new elements out of the atmosphere. All gas, no breaks with these guys.
Day 2:
Neemz: R&B/rap performer; the DJ was fantastic and the performance was her singing/rapping over the recording with a very low microphone. Not a bad performance but the style doesn't lend itself well for a live show. 4/10 on the indie scale
Loveless: the world is still producing whiny boy bands and they are pretty good. Okay stage presence. 6/10 headliners scale
The Aces: Buddy Holly meets Funk; I guess that makes them the female Arctic Monkeys. Great stage presence, especially dealing with technical difficulties. I'm not sure what scale to put them on because they were so good. 10/10 indie scale but they won't get that scale next time. Consider me a new fan.
Joy Oladokun: I've heard of her and her one-hit song but I did not expect the sheer joy (pun not intended) she shares on stage. Her other non-hit stuff was a lot less waily and I am now a fan. 8/10 headliner scale
Actor Observer: Maybe because it was hardcore metal but these guys went the hardest of anyone at the festival so far. A lot of musical depth here that really came out when they were harmonizing 9/10 indie scale and this is the reason I wanted to come to this music festival, to discover new music. If you like anything hardcore from rock to metal, check them out. They live right up the street in Boston.
Noah Kahan: local Watertown boy literally draws a bigger crowd than the Lumineers. It was standing room only for the biggest stage and everyone knew the words. I was not incredibly familiar with him before the festival but this was the stage presence that I expected from the Lumineers. The embodiment of northern folk music and it shines bright. 9/10 headliners
The Flaming Lips: Going in not a fan, I saw 15 ft robots, giant balloons popping into confetti on the crowd, and a man singing from an orb. Pure childhood joy bottled, distilled, and injected into your veins. I don't believe in extended scales but the stage presence 100% overcomes any lack of technical talent. 10/10 and they literally stole the show. The words spiritual experience were brought up multiple times from different people.
The Lumineers: maybe the expectations were just too high but these guys had no stage presence. The songs sounded exactly like the album which is skillful and good but not really what live music is about. Great atmosphere in the place made up for it with people dancing and singing along. Obviously, everyone knew the words. It all felt very corporate for folk. 7/10 headliners scale.
Day 3:
Juice: The spiritual successor to Earth Wind and Fire with a lot more depth and variety. Multiple genres, they were the best opening act of the weekend. 8/10 indie scale
Wunderhorse: If you told me that Nirvana had done a colab with White Stripes I would believe you. Stage presence was basically non-existent. 8/10 indie scale because the music was so on point
Workman Song: Christian music that doesn't need to market that way. Blues folk that could stand as the soundtrack to paddle off into the sunset on a southern river. Extra points for some of the chords giving literal chills. 8/10 indie scale
Linda Lindas: Tiny girls as young as 12 sing about their cats. They accidentally rock and roll. What a stage presence... "hey crowd, what's your favorite dinosaur? Stegosaurus ? Trex?" 8/10 headliners scale.
070 Shake: Neemz could learn a thing or two from this performance. Perfect audio levels over the base track. Her vocals really added to a fantastic dj. Probably shouldn't drink mid-performance but it was still fun. 6/10 headliners scale
Sorry Mom: Sorry mom indeed. 9/10 guitar work. Lots of screaming but not so much the vocals to back it up. Don't let the rating fool you, these girls go hard. 5/10 indie scale
Genesis Owusu: Pink Floyd meets the Black Eyed Peas, there's certainly an A+ stage presence and he was all in. 7/10 headliners
Bleachers: Love letter to music production, Queen at Live Aid vibes, they know how to lead a crowd. Perfect music festival act. 8/10 headliners. Bonus points for giant tomatoes and dueling saxophones.
Ali McGuirk: Wonderful blues, Norah Jones if she was really into blues but early on in her career. 7/10 indie
Maren Morris: This woman's voice could single handedly turn the tide of a world war. It was all live and she sang her heart out. Great accompaniment and great blues, the stage was somehow too small. 8/10 headliner
Queens of the Stone Age: Stage presence was hard to determine from where I was but No One Knows was perfectly built into completely making up for any set issues prior. A lot of it felt like just biding time. 8/10 headliners scale
Paramore: What's there to say? Haley's ability to absolutely nail disjunct high notes was there 20 years ago. It hasn't gotten better because it was already perfect. There were some interesting song choices that made the performance drag but the entire stage was set up for them. 9/10
Overall:
All in all it was a fantastic festival. If the goal was to discover new music, it was a complete success. Lots of new Boston locals to appreciate and some headliners that had slipped through. The Flaming Lips, The Aces, Noah Kahan, Nial Horan, and the Linda Lindas all started out barely on my radar and absolutely blew me away.

As a person who has lived with their parents up until college, you can say I was spoiled. I was an only child, so I was always a priority. I was in private school my entire life, so I was protected by everything. My mother was a nurse and my father was a surgeon. Anyways, let’s talk about the nightmares.
They first started when I first moved into my dorm. The dorm is really old. 234 years old to be exact. It’s really creepy. People who have lived in the dorms gave me a set of rules to follow;

1. Do NOT look the girl into the eye in the event of a nightmare.
2. If you do look her in the eye, repeat the words ‘I deeply and sincerely apologize and regret my actions’ the girl should start to calm down.
3. If the girl does not calm down, you have failed, and will not wake up.
4. If the girl offers tea, repeat ‘My mother doesn’t allow me to have tea. I do not disobey my mother.’
5. After 8:23 pm, you must get in your bed. All lights will go out for exactly 7 seconds. If you see eyes in the darkness, immediately shut your eyes.
6. Last and final rule, do NOT shove things under your bed. He doesn’t like his home crowded.

After receiving these rules, I got goosebumps. Whose He? What eyes? What girl? I tried watching a movie to calm myself down. I was getting tired so I checked the time. 8:23. Less than 1 minute to get into bed. I turn the TV off, rush to my bed and get under the covers. The lights shut off. 1, 2, 3, I counted. 4 seconds later, it was done. I saw no eyes, so that part was definitely relieving. I try to go to sleep, but I can’t. I have so many questions. Most importantly, Why do we need rules? I shut my eyes and a few moments later, Im sleep. In my dream, there is one table. It’s glowing. Everything else is dark. 2 chairs appear. They are also glowing. A girl appears on one chair. Shes maybe 5 or 6 but her eyes are glowing. I realized the rules. Oh no. She starts crying loudly. I almost start crying. ‘I deeply and sincerely apologize and regret my actions.’ The crying stops abruptly. ‘Would you like tea?’ ‘My mother doesn’t allow me to have tea. I do not disobey my mother.’ ‘Aw, okay. she said. I wake up, sweating.
Lights are off, but I didn’t turn them off. I start sweating even more. I calm myself down. The nightmares counting for the next week. I ask my dorm neighbor about these nightmares and he says these nightmares last 10 days, meaning I have 3 days left. He said if they counting after 10 days, slip a note under your bed with it saying, “Nightmares will not stop. I seek help.’ with a pen. Almost immediately He should slip it back with an answer. If He doesn’t, He cannot help you. 3 nights later, I’m overwhelmed with joy that the nightmares are finally over. I get into bed, excited to have my first normal dream in a while. I go to sleep but, the table is still there? The chairs appear, and so does the girl. I look in her eyes because I was not expecting her. She starts crying. ‘I deeply and sincerely apologize and regret my actions’ ‘Would you like some tea?’ ‘My mother doesn’t allow me to have tea. I do not disobey my mother.’ ‘THATS NOT TRUE!’ she says. ‘What?!’ I wake up. Sweating. I grab my notebook, write ‘Nightmares will not stop. I seek help.’ He didnt send it back. I’m scared. Next day, like everyday, 8:24, lights go off. This time though, I see eyes. I guess I didnt close my eyes fast enough, because after the lights are turned on, the eyes are closer. They come into my body, taking control. “I” start screaming. I can see everything happening, but it’s not like I have control. The paramedics come. ‘There’s no hope, she looked into the eyes.’ ‘Unfortunate’ one paramedic said. They take me into a room full of other people. The same thing happened to them. I’m still in here. Help.

Hey Sportsfans — it's time for Week 9 of baseball Power Rankings: It may be Tuesday, but still thought about how much we dislike your favorite team 8 Days a Week. Also pool side blackjack is now my favorite part of Las Vegas. John Fisher, please ignore.
Every voter has their own style / system and the only voting instructions are these:

"To an extent determined individually, you must take into account how strong a team is right now and likely to be going forward. You must, to some degree, give weight to the events and games of the previous week."

TRANSPARENCY: This link will show you who voted each team where and has added neat statistics!
New Voter Chance: Are you a fan of the Dodgers? Why? We have a new voter oppening. Please check this comment for details.
If something is a little messed up, feel free to pester me let me know.
Total Votes: 28 of 29. So close.

#		Team	Δ	Comment	Record
1		Rays	0	Everyone's favorite myliobatiformes played another good week of baseball with the return of Tyler Glasnow. The Rays took an exciting series against the Dodgers after recharging during a weird mid-series rest day against the Blue Jays. Wander Franco is making his case to be starting SS in the All-Star Game, just make sure you don't accidentally vote for one of his brothers. It's still super weird to watch the offense carry while the bullpen struggles, but with guys coming back it should be f--, wait, Fairbanks is hurt again.	39-17
2		Rangers	+1	Series wins against both the Pirates and Orioles the last week has the club holding the 3rd best overall record in the majors. Go Stars. We're still having fun.	34-19
3		Braves	-1	3-4 last week and we started this week off with a loss against the Oakland "Triple A's" which is not good Bob. On the VERY brightside, we saw Soroka pitch from an MLB mound for the first time in almost 3 years. He pitched well and we need him to perform as we are absolutely depleted by injuries. Riley is starting to come to life. We hold a 4 game lead on the scond place MARLINS. Our division doesn't want to take advantage of our recent struggles, that's fine by me.	32-22
4		Dodgers	+1		33-22
5		Orioles	-1	A few weeks ago, I said if the Orioles can go at least .500 in May then they are for real. They wrapped up a winning month yesterday and have three games to go. They continue to play well, even though they lost the series against the Rangers, and seem to play better away from Camden Yards. They did, however, send Grayson Rodriguez down this week to AAA. He just has some stuff to figure out. He was getting crushed in his past few starts, and it was the right move to make. This solidifies the fact they need a frontline starter if they are going to make a serious push to get to and make noise in the post-season.	34-20
6		Astros	0	Jose Abreu finally hit a home run. All is right with the world. Unless the world's name is Lance McCullers Jr., who had another discomforting setback and we have no idea when we will see him this year. I still blame his hair. Anyway, our other Jose hit a grand slam at MMP this weekend. Where have we heard that before?	31-22
7		Yankees	0	It certainly would’ve been nice to take 2/3 from Baltimore, but it’s very hard to be mad at the Yankees’ month of May. Since May 1, the Yankees are 18-9, a huge turnaround from a .500 April. As we enter the dog days of summer, the top of the AL East is tightening up, but the Yankees don’t face either of the teams ahead of them again until July. The Yankees have to keep playing at this pace, and a Stanton (and maybe Rodon??) return could seriously help that.	33-23
8		D-Backs	+1	The Diamondbacks had a decent week, barely missing out on a sweep of the Phillies before dropping a series to the Red Sox. The offense gets on base but has been allergic to driving in RISP, and the starting rotation continues to be a merry-go-round, as none of the rookie pitchers on the team seem to be able to string together several good starts in a row without getting blown up once or twice.	31-23
9		Blue Jays	+1	The Jays' first series win since May 14th pulled us out of a bad-vibes tailspin the likes of which this fanbase hasn't seen since, well, the last time everybody freaked out over a losing streak. The usual suspects' continued confounding slow starts (Manoah, Kirk, Varsho, etc) have dropped us 10 games back from TB, last place in the best division in baseball. And YET, hope springs. Berrios (3 or fewer ER in 8 of his last 9 starts) finally appears to be pitching to the level expected of him when he was signed, and is pumping out quality starts along with Gausman and Bassitt. Kikuchi has slipped as Kikuchi does but has been very solid for a #5. We don't have the depth to send Manoah down for some needed alone time, but he's pushing it. Vladdy has been scuffling, Springer is heating up, and Bichette is an MVP candidate. With a little bit of lucky regression to the mean with abysmal RISP numbers, this team is just a few turns away from being very good. As long as we don't have to play too many games vs AL East teams. That should be fine.	28-26
10		Twins	-2		28-26
11		Mariners	+4	Just what the doctor ordered - 6-1 in the homestand so far. Some momentum is just what this team needs before two big series with teams they're chasing for playoff spots. If the M's can handle business over the next week, they'll be right back in the thick of it. Bryce Miller, do your thing. Up next: 3 vs. Damn Yankees, 3 @ Globe Life ParkFieldStadiumGardensArenaDomewhatever they're calling it these days	28-26
12		Red Sox	-1	Scoring four runs total while getting swept by the Angels isn't a great look. This team is in many ways aggresively mediocre, always making sure that every win streak is followed up by an equally painful gut-punch. This is mainly due to the reliance on the offense to carry us to victory (2-17 when scoring <=3 runs), when the bats get cold, you're safe to turn off the game. Whitlock returning from injury and Bello/Sale both stepping up their game in May (2.74/2.42 ERA respectively) are good steps towards this team becoming Actually Good™ though. We'll see what June brings us...	28-25
13		Brewers	-1	Taking two of three from the Astros was nice. Barely avoiding a sweep from the Giants was not so sweet. Milwaukee has some issues with hitting in "close" situations. The Brewers either lose after having multiple opportunities to tie it up, or get absolutely blown out.	28-25
14		Angels	0	Did I travel out of state and all the way to Anaheim just to watch the team get swept by the Marlins? Perhaps. Was that objectively worse than what the Reds voter is going through? It's impossible to say.	29-26
15		Mets	-2	The Mets, who I proclaimed to be "good at baseball" last week, ended up dropping 2 of 3 against the Cubs and doing the same against the Rockies. I just don't know what to believe anymore. The only thing I know for sure is that Francisco Alvarez has got that fucking dawg in him, he's GOATed, he's him, he's on fleek, he's poggers, he's a proper legend, he's got an .885 OPS, he's a top bloke, he's got swag, he's fresh, he's Gen Z Mike Piazza, he's lit, he's making me feel old because he was born after 9/11, he's Francisco Alvarez.	27-27
16		Gigantes	+4	The Giants won yesterday, but strictly talking about last week, they went 5- 2 on an extremely acceptable road trip without any off days. Defeating two competent teams like the Twins and Brewers should feel good. On both losses, they gave up 7 runs, on every win they gave up 3, 1, or 0 runs. So, they threw two games out of 7 – that’s allowed. In the bad news department, Joc, Joey, and Thairo all not expected back until June 6th. I think we’re okay with more Bailey Patrick and this also means another look at unpredictable slugger David Villar. Slater continues covering for Joc. Let’s look a the numbers: 13th in MLB in Run Diff (+6 spots), 12th in RS / G (+6), 15th in RA / G (+2), 23rd in Bullpen ERA (+5). All of that is good and especially the bullpen is promising recently. The Giants continue at home vs the Pirates and wrap the homestand with 3 against our orange and black brothers in Baltimore.	28-26
17		Pirates	-1	Would I have been happy to learn on Opening Day that the Pirates would be around .500 at the end of May? Yes. But if you told me they got there after starting 20-8 I would be pretty disappointed. Here's hoping the pendulum swings the other way in June.	26-27
18		Marlins	+3	Yet another appearance of sweepy, the meme that was promised. After a rough series against the rox, we sweep the angels to settle into the third NL wild card spot. Our starting pitching is coming along after a bumpy start to several of our starters. Eury perez is gonna be a stud, just wanna remind yall. Also, shout out to Jorge Soler, who has been crushing baseballs the last week and change. In other miami sports related news, boston is the first city ever to lose two game 7s at home in both the NHL and NBA playoffs in the same year. Go Heat and go Panthers!	28-26
19		Phillies	-2	After losing 2 to the Diamondbacks and going down 5-0 in the 3rd game, the Phillies season looked as bleak as it could in late May while only being 4 games under .500. However, the team rallied and Trea Turner tied it in the 9th before going onto win it in 10. Then, they went down to Atlanta and split a 4 game series. It could've gone far worse. The Phillies most pressing need is now seemingly a 5th starter who isn't a guaranteed loss, as this week they trotted out Dylan Covey, who hadn't started a game since 2019. He got 2 outs and gave up 7 runs. He took the spot of Bailey Falter who, after a surprisingly productive 2022, started the season 0-7. Falter is the far better option, but Dave Dombrowski will likely be looking to upgrade until Andrew Painter can finally return. This week, the NL East road trip continues with their first 3 games against the Mets and 3 in Washington. Here's hoping June Schwarber shows up again this year.	25-28
20		Padres	-1	My Dad tells me it’s ok that the Dad’s lost 2 / 3 to NY; the Dodgers lost 2 / 3 to the Rays! The Pads aren’t in the same stratosphere as the Dodgers right now, though. 5 games under .500, 10th in the NL standings, 3 games out of the last wildcard slot. Of course there’s quite a bit of time to change it, there’s plenty of time to go on a run, or a slow and steady good month to gain ground. With every day that passes however, that goal becomes a bit harder to reach; I don’t think Pads fans were hoping for a wildcard spot by the end of this season, but that’s the position the team has to get to before even thinking of catching LA. The Padres are 4th in the NL West, and only a half game out of last.	24-29
21		Cardinals	-3	2-2 @ CIN; 1-2 @ CLE; 0-1 v KCR; another struggle week for the Cards. The fandom's been a bit kneejerk because of two good weeks before this. Their mistake. I'll say it a third time, the Cards playing at or beyond their expected level doesn't change the rotten FO. Yeah Marmol's pretty close to being fired, that's not a fix when the problem is John Mozeliak.	24-32
22		Tigers	+2	The most fun part of this past week has been watching the resurgence of Akil Baddoo. His energy is infectious and adds an exciting dimension to the lineup. As we head into the last few days of May, Baddoo has sported a .302/.405/.508 slash and a 155 wRC+ this month. Although he's still been hitting mostly in the 6 hole, if this keeps up he might find himself much higher in the order real soon. This week: 2 more vs. TEX and 3 at CWS.	25-27
23		Guardians	0	The Guardians won a series this week. I would like to see them win some games by more than one run, but it's clear this season, we have to take what we get.	24-29
24		Cubs	-2	Another terrible week for the Cubs, as a promising series win against the Mets was followed up by an embarrassing sweep against the Reds. The starting rotation was terrible, and the bullpen was somehow worse. Fans have had enough of David Ross, and Jed Hoyer is starting to come under pressure. Barring a dramatic turnaround, the Cubs will be sellers for the 3rd trade deadline in a row	23-30
25		Reds	+1	Okay guys, I’m here to be calm this week. I have been told by my wife’s attorney, Tom, that they are “aware” of my online activity regarding our impending divorce, so today let’s have a nice, calm, relaxing, perfectly fine, good old fashioned talk about Reds baseball. The Reds are just sorta middling. They’re not great but they’re not horrible. Unlike my marriage. Our starting pitching has resgressed, just like my marriage, and it’s very unfortunate to see, because our bullpen has been quite reliable unlike my wife. We still can’t hit home runs for some reason, but overall unlike my marriage the Reds on the upturn. There, are you happy Tom? I didn’t mention all the crap that’s been going on lately. I didn’t mention how I had to leave the Motel 6 I was at because I found a used needle in the bathroom, and by the way Tom, I know that you’re trying to use that as evidence that I can’t take care of my kids. I don’t even know who’s needle it was, it was like wedged behind the toilet. Believe me, I only found it because I dropped my phone while using the toilet. It wasn’t even visible, I had to like get on my hands and knees and crawl behind the toilet to grab my phone. So it puts the image in my head of some heroin addict or whatever sitting behind a toilet at a Motel 6 trying to get high, which honestly that just seems like an even worse situation than the one i’m in. Do I think it’s a coincidence that the day after I left the Motel 6 because of this, you’re requesting a drug test from me before I can see my kids? Huh Tom? How did you know about this incident Tom? The only people that know are the Motel 6 staff I notified, I don’t think any police showed up, so either you questioned them like i’m some criminal, or you’re following me. I know you’re reading this Tom, you’ve made several references to my posts on the baseball power rankings insinuating it’s me writing them, and yeah Tom you’re right it is me, can everybody in the comments give praise to Tom for being a regular Sherlock Holmes? Yeah everybody come on, Congratulations Tom! You’re the man! I’m gonna let you go home and fuck my sister, oh wait Tom I forgot, YOU ALREADY ARE. When you get home tonight tell Caitlin her brother says hi. Alright, I think I got that out of my system. Anyway, I think once more of our prospects are called up, probably around June or July, we may get hot and finish more closely to .500 than initially thought, and if this division stays like it is, and those prospects can deliver on their promise, it's entirely possible we could be in contention for the division. But a lot of this is gonna depend on if our Starting Rotation can get things back under control. Also we swept the Cubs so lol.	24-29
26		Nationals	-1	Week after week, I expect this Nats team to take a nose dive. I expect them to crumble and slip into a double-digit losing streak but it just isn't happening. They lead the NL in batting average (.267), are third in OBP (.330) and have the lowest strikeout rate in MLB. They still have their own troubles, but this team is alive (4 games out of a WC spot)	23-31
27		Rockies	+1	I don't have time to write a real blurb this week so you don't have to print this. Actually, you probably don't read these, I'm not sure anyone really reads them anyways besides the Reds guy's life breaking down, and this will probably get printed regardless.	24-31
28		White Sox	-1	Liam is back. I can't overstate how great that is to hear. He is one of the best people in the game and it's nothing short of amazing for him to be pitching in May. If you missed it, it was recently revealed that he had stage 4 lymphoma, not an early stage. He started treatment just over 3 months ago! Nothing on the field matters for this team, but at least there's that silver lining.	22-34
29		Royals	0	As of the time that this blurb is being written (Monday at 11:39 AM), only two teams in the majors have a record below .400. Yup, the Royals are there with the A's. I suppose the positive is that the team figured out that they can get rid of useless players in Hunter Dozier, but they still have a lot more work to do.	17-38
30		Atléticos	0	The A's have given up 10+ runs in a game 7 more times than they've won. It's a mix of bad roster building (the bullpen), under-preforming vets (Ramon Laureano 74 wRC+, Tony Kemp 38 wRC+), injuries (Seth Brown and Paul Blackburn are just now returning), and no fans in the stands since 2019. It's soul crushing to watch and the national media's constant condecention toward this particular poor team and it is even more annoying this year.	11-45

Out there - Patreon (for all those curious or wanting to support :))
At the Beginning
Adventure Arc - Arc 2
Wilderness Arc - Arc 3
Academy Arc - Arc 4
Previously on Leveling up the World…
 
Nil used to say that even the greatest challenge became simple once the logic behind it was unraveled. At the time, the old echo was referring to awakening trials, but vortexes were surprisingly similar. Given enough resources and information, even life could be treated in the same fashion. Dallion had a while to go before reaching that level. The current vortex, though, was a different matter.
Creating potions wasn’t an easy experience. Aside from everything else, it required a good understanding of nymph magic methods and the ability to perform them. Thankfully, Dallion’s randomly esoteric interests had prepared him for such an eventuality.
After his protective layer of magic threads was complete, he approached the sea. Same as before, a dozen tendrils shot out in his direction. Summoning his thread splitter dagger, Dallion sliced the tips off, encasing the free elements in aether spheres of his own. That was another thing about magic—it always went towards those that were stronger. One careless move and even a high-level mage might have his magic stolen, by a creature, rival, or even the vortex environment itself. However, with enough skill and ingenuity, the opposite was also true.
One by one, the bubbles of captive magic were consumed, then released again, only this time forming an entirely new set of spells.
Swords? Onda asked. That’ll hardly work.
“Think of it as a meat grinder,” Dallion replied. All he needed was a makeshift drill to let him make his way through the sea. Having his own liquid spells fight the rest of the sea was only going to grant him a bit more time. Between that and the protective magic layer, it had to be enough.
No, I mean it won’t work. The moment you—
Let him learn his own mistakes, Harp interrupted. Her tone was calm, even pleasant, but it had the effect of lightning from a clear sky. It’s the only way he can progress.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Dallion kept collecting magic threads for a few more minutes, then did another point attack. The start of a tunnel opened up on the sea’s surface. Quickly, Dallion threw all of his liquid spells inside, then followed. Same as before, the mass of the sea attempted to fill in the void, but this time it was hindered by the liquid wall of swords.
​
VORTEX BREACH
Overall stability 99%
​
Spells clashed against each other, filling the air with hundreds of purple rectangles. The damage was minuscule, and still a constant reminder of the eternal struggle between invader and realm. It was no wonder that mages were so cutthroat: there was only one thing certain upon entering a vortex: someone was going to absorb the other. The Academy’s main role was to teach novices how to survive.
Just like hunting, Dallion thought. On the other hand, he had never been the typical hunter. When it came to vortexes, there could be no offer of draw or surrender.
Twisting around, Dallion performed another point attack, drilling further into the sea. The number of rectangles doubled. Meanwhile, the size of the hold was reduced by half. The amount of spells Dallion had poured in—seemingly cast initially—was now wearing thin.
Maybe you should have spent a bit more time fathering threads, the armadil shield said.
“It’s all a formula.” Dallion did another point attack. “If the stability of the tunnel is decreased, I just need to go faster.”
All of his instincts shouted for him to split into instances, or at the very least create a few echoes to help in. His wisdom told him not to. All he had to do was remain calm. The emblems and artifacts he was wearing ensured that he’d be ejected from the vortex. Of course, there was never a guarantee. The higher the vortex level, the greater the danger it posed.
Summoning his hammer, Dallion did a double point attack, up and down, to keep the tunnel collapsing above him. He had gone so deep that the opening was the size of a coin.
“I told you it’ll work, Onda,” he said with a touch of glee. “It’s all logic and magic principles.”
No sooner had he said that than a mass of magic pierced through Dallion’s wall of spells, ending up in the tunnel. Believing his wall of swords to have been breached, Dallion unsummoned both his weapons and cast a new series of spells to plug the hole. That proved to be a mistake.
​
MODERATE WOUND
Your health has been reduced by 20%
​
What the heck? Dallion pulled back, summoning his harpsisword again.
Five feet away, the mass of magic had changed into a creature.
​
VORTEX MINION
Species: AETHERCORN
Class: MAGIC
Health: 0% HP
Traits:
- BODY 20
- MIND 20
- PERCEPTION 20
- REACTION 20
- MAGIC 40
Skills:
- ATTACK
- GUARD
- SPELLCRAFT
- ENTANGLE (Species Unique)
- RAIN OF BLADES (Species Unique)
- CHARGE (Species Unique)
Weakness: HOOVES
​
A unicorn? Dallion deflected the creature’s next attack with his weapon.
Looking at it, the minion was no different from a bladicorn, only created entirely out of threads of magic.
Tried to warn you, old man, Onda said from his realm. Vortexes adapt. You make a counter, they counter your counter.
Dallion was too busy fighting the creature to respond. Magic adaptability was well known. Having loose threads spontaneously create a creature, that was something new. No doubt there was some tome describing the theoretical process in vast detail. Seeing it in practice, though, was a lot.
Without wasting any time, Dallion flew down, then infused his harpsisword with spark, as he did an upward strike. Knowing what such a creature was capable of, his only course of action was to kill it as before it could start casting spells. The difficulty was not destroying his own spells in the process. For all the power of point and line attacks, they were going to do as much damage to Dallion’s own spells, resulting in him winning the encounter, but losing the overall fight.
The aethercorn quickly caught on, moving away and to the side of the tunnel. As long as it increased the distance and remained close to Dallion’s wall of blades, it would have the upper hand.
Sneaky bastard. Dallion cast several aether barriers.
Magic symbols covered the minion’s entire body. As they appeared, Dallion went through all the memorized spells in real time. Normally, he could tell easily what someone was casting once several of the major symbols had formed. In this case, the creature planned to create an aether explosion. In the real world, Dallion wouldn’t even bat an eye. Explosions were a lot less efficient against mages as one might think. Here, though, things were different; the minion wasn’t targeting him, but the wall of blades itself. If there were an explosion, the entire tunnel would collapse, leaving Dallion to rely on his “second skin”.
A new aether barrier appeared next to the aethecorn, then shoved it into the wall before the spell could be completed. The threads—representing aether blades in liquid form—mercilessly sliced into its body, causing the being to lose stability. The entire form burst like a popped balloon, spilling magic threads everywhere.
The moment Dallion saw that, he knew that his time was running out. Although inefficient, the vortex had found a way to breach his protective barrier. The only solution was to pass through the sea before the overall collapse.
Want a boost, boss? Lux asked. The firebird knew better than to assist uninvited.
“No!” Dallion said firmly, casting a new flight spell. “Return to my realm.”
Several more breaches occurred along the tunnel. Aethercorns emerged in front and behind Dallion. Some attacked him directly, others started casting spells to weaken the tunnel. At this point, dealing with them was an impossible task. Still, Dallion did several more point attacks, clearing out as many as possible. Unfortunately for him, that didn’t prove to be a lot. The minions were both fast and intelligent enough to keep to areas that were difficult to hit. Only the ones that attempted to outright block Dallion’s progress ended up being destroyed.
Gritting his teeth, Dallion started casting the flood spell. It was a move that verged to desperation, but the only thing that could help him right now. Within seconds, the portal emerged, then vanished behind Dallion. With a bit of luck, it was going to keep the minions occupied a bit longer.
Behind him, the top of the tunnel collapsed. The threads he had used to create his wall of swords was too thin to coat the entire space created by the point attacks. The purple sea splashed in, mixing with the water coming from Dallion’s portal.
​
MODERATE WOUND
Your health has been reduced by 20%
​
Another alicorn managed to stab Dallion’s leg with its horn as he flew by, effectively halving his health.
Leave the vortex, Harp said.
“I can do this.” Dallion had unsummoned the hammer, focusing on doing point attacks forward, while using his left hand to boost his speed. “I’m close to the end. I can feel it.”
You’re not ready for this vortex. You’re close, but you still aren’t there yet.
“I am.” Dallion insisted. It wasn’t that he had become complacent, but the last few months his progress had crawled to a stop. He might have learned a vast number of magic symbols and spells, but his magic trait remained at twenty-three. There was no way he was giving up a level four vortex, especially this one. “I am there,” he whispered.
Purple water kept seeping in. The top of the tunnel had completely collapsed. Spells created by vortex minions darted past him. Some even made contact, repelled by his protective layer of magic threads.
“Just a few seconds more,” Dallion said, more to himself than Harp.
He had been going through the sea for quite a while. As far as distance was concerned, it had to range in the dozens of miles, if not more. While space in any magic realm was an illusion, there was a limit to how much something could be stretched. Sooner or later, the sea had to come to an end.
“Ruby, create some wind,” he ordered.
Keeping firmly to Dallion’s shoulder, the shardfly flicked its wings, sending a flurry of wind slashes forward. This was by no means an elegant way to breach the tower, but as long as it worked Dallion had no intention of complaining.
Further and further down he went. His speed had increased to the point that he couldn’t see new aethercorns emerge. And yet, it all kept on going. It seemed that he had entered a bottomless pit. The sensation of doubt emerged. Was it a good move to keep persisting? If he quit now, would it all go to waste? There was no telling how long the vortex would remain. Maybe it would last for a few more hours. If he was lucky, it might appear again in another week or so.
No! Dallion told himself. If he couldn’t complete this, what chance did he stand against Grym and the traitorous battlemages? They had accumulated their magic for decades. If he didn’t take advantage of every opportunity presented to him, he might as well become a clerk at the Academy.
Point attacks kept pushing the tunnel further and further down until suddenly they didn’t. It only lasted a fraction of a second, but Dallion was able to catch it. The devastating amount of force had been effortlessly pushed to the sides, like water being poured on a mirror.
That was it—the end of the sea. Dallion had finally reached the solid barrier. At this point, he’d usually take the time to find a weakness, then slice through it and create a portal leading to the other side. With time being a luxury he didn’t have, Dallion resorted to the second best thing. Increasing the number of point attacks, he cast the magic depletion spell he had learned from Raven.
Lightning shot out in all directions, instantly ending Dallion’s flight spell as well as causing all magic threads to pull back.
“Shield!” Dallion summoned the armadil shield. “Cocoon me!” He performed one final point attack with his harpsisword.
The armadil shield expanded, becoming a metal sphere around Dallion. Half a second later, the impact tossed Dallion to the inside of it.
​
MINOR WOUND
Your health has been reduced by 5%
​
BREACH ENFORCER
(+2 Body)
Inertia and the force of will helped you breach into the tower’s core. You were lucky you didn’t go splat.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this story, consider joining my patreon or check out my other stories on redditserials:
The Scuu Paradox (a Space Opera Sci Fi)
The Cassandrian Theory (a Space Opera Sci Fi)
The Impeccable Adventure of the Reluctant Dungeon (Dungeon Core Adventure Comedy)
Uncharted Waters (An Urban Fantasy Detective Noir)
Book 3 will be available on Amazon from midnight tonight :D There will be an official post tomorrow, but here's a heads up to all impatient ones :D

So I was on a camping trip with family and 3 young cousins between 4-6. This camping trip was 8 hours away and we were staying there for 1 week. On the 3rd day something happened I'd never expect. When it was time time for dinner, my young cousins didn't want to eat and wanted to play with the ball instead. So it was just me and 4 other people at the picnic table. And at our camping area, we have a large open space and the young kids were playing in that area and everything. They went around the corner to a tree. And soon after they did that I felt something between my legs. I literally thought at first that one of the kids were playing with my feet, and I didn't have any shoes on I was thinking what they were doing. But the feeling was constant and it was moving. Im like "what is that?" Then I thought someone's feet were touching mines.
And then I looked under a table and it was a huge snake. I screamed super loud and got up from the table and ran. My family was looking at me and then when they saw it they got up and ran too. Since we saw it, we never ate at that table and even when I was at other picnic tables, I made sure my feet were on the bench and not touching the ground.

Hey everyone! We’re the MSU Global Tech Experience, and we're excited to provide an internship-alternative online program this summer that delivers early-career work experience before graduation. We saw so many students graduate without the skills and experience needed to succeed in the modern workforce, so we decided to do something about it. When you enroll in The Experience, you can expect to gain:

1. The experience that employers demand - aka, skills in ecommerce & social media, data analysis, web coding, or data coding
2. A portfolio that proves you know your stuff, allowing you to impress interviewers with even the best poker face
3. Skill badges for you to share on LinkedIn that never expire
4. 6 MSU Credits
5. An expanded professional network that includes experts who have worked at global companies like Intel, Google and Zillow - and several opportunities to pick their brains
6. Access to industry tools you wouldn’t normally get hands-on experience with until well into your career - tools like Google Ads, Tableau and the back-end of Shopify
7. An advantage over your peers, a stellar resume, and the confidence that you’ll ace a job interview in any industry

…And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We know you have questions - let us answer them!

Artist: VA Title: Defected Ibiza 2023 June 2023 Genre: House, Tech House, Deep House, Dance / Electro Pop, Afro House, Melodic House & Techno, Minimal / Deep Tech, Nu Disco / Disco Release Date: 2023-05-31
DOWNLOAD in 320kbps: https://sharing-db.club/djs-chart/436304_va-defected-ibiza-2023-june-2023/
Tracklist: 1. ANOTR, Abel Balder – Relax My Eyes (3:12) 2. Butch, Nic Fanciulli – I Want You (3:07) 3. Jansons – Nite Life (Original Mix) (5:00) 4. HoneyLuv, Seth Troxler, Paul Johnson – Sex & The City (MK Remix) (3:07) 5. PRUNK, Rona Ray – Keep It Simple (3:04) 6. HoneyLuv, Dope Earth Alien – Sway (feat. Dope Earth Alien) (2:47) 7. Majestic, Sara Sukkha – Dance All Night (feat. Sara Sukkha) (3:22) 8. Chris Stussy – All Night Long (3:54) 9. Michael Bibi, KinAhau, Audio Bullys – Different Side (3:13) 10. Floorplan – We Give Thee Honor (3:11) 11. Jack Swift – Can I Wait (5:48) 12. Mihalis Safras, Yvan Genkins – Las Solteras (4:00) 13. Joshwa – Bass Go Boom (2:58) 14. Shouse, Dennis Ferrer, Seth Troxler – (still) WON’T4GETU (6:14) 15. Larse – A Part Of (Riva Starr Saturn Mix) (3:25) 16. Kitty Amor, SomaDina – I Saw An Angel On The Roof & Wept (Kitty Amor ‘s Remix) (3:03) 17. Manda Moor – Picante (5:44) 18. MK, Dom Dolla – Rhyme Dust (3:01) 19. Cajmere, Dajaé, Marco Lys – Brighter Days (Marco Lys Remix) (6:22) 20. Mason Collective – A Little Affection (2:22) 21. Sam Divine, Hayley May – Face In The Crowd (3:04) 22. Radio Slave – Wild Life (Disco Mix) (5:49) 23. The Shapeshifters – Lola’s Theme (VIP) (7:18) 24. George Davis – Marimba Disco (Kai Alcé’s NDATL Interpretation) (6:37) 25. Tuccillo, Howard Perry – I Believe (feat. Howard Perry) (7:44) 26. Chloé Caillet, Falle Nioke, Wekafore – In The Middle feat. Falle Nioke & Wekaforé (3:37) 27. Hannah Wants, Ara – The One (feat. ARA) (2:57) 28. Cevin Fisher – Love You Some More (Harry Romero Remix) (3:25) 29. G Club, Banda Sonora – Guitarra G (8:46) 30. Dateless – Geekin (3:35) 31. Wallace – Breaking Up (5:38) 32. Melé – Groove La Afrika (2:49) 33. Angelo Ferreri – A Chance (3:13) 34. Ben Rau – You Got Me Running (6:07) 35. Darius Syrossian, George Smeddles – Back In The Dance (3:26) 36. Kolter – I Feel It Right (3:04) 37. Archie Hamilton, HQA – Let The Light In (feat. HQA) (3:08) 38. Jaden Thompson – Memories (7:17) 39. Jamie Jones – My Paradise (3:31) 40. Route 94 – Clapped (3:30) 41. Boogie Vice, Deep Aztec – Promises (N-You-Up Dub Mix) (3:40) 42. Kerri Chandler, Dreamer G – Hurry Up [Ministry of Sound] (Kerri’s Again Mix) (6:55) 43. Renato Cohen – Suddenly Funk (Andrea Oliva Remix) (3:58) 44. Low Steppa, Crusy – BFG (Extended Mix) (5:42) 45. Marco Lys – The Story Continues (4:50) 46. Melé, Toure Kunda – Talkin’ Drums (3:00) 47. Airborn Gav, Hurricane – Work (Atjazz Remix) (4:10) 48. Joeski – Afro Latinism (6:54) 49. Jovonn – RAISE UP (Raise Up High) (5:47) 50. Riva Starr, Mike Dunn – Feel The Heat (feat. Mike Dunn) (2:51) 51. Dennis Cruz – Una Rumbita (5:44) 52. salute, Sammy Virji – Peach (5:45) 53. Hannah Wants, Clementine Douglas – Cure My Desire (feat. Clementine Douglas) (2:59) 54. Atmos Blaq – Kwa Mama (6:30) 55. Made By Pete – Horizon Red (Extended) (7:07) 56. Cristoph, Awen – Time (4:18) 57. Ezel, Rona Ray – History Repeating (7:31) 58. Franky Rizardo, Ros T, T-Connection – Do What You Wanna Do (Live It Cool) (3:26) 59. Simon Kidzoo – 1 Thang (Original Mix) (3:21) 60. Riva Starr – Flying High (2:59) 61. The Martinez Brothers, Tokischa, Beltran – KILO (Beltran Remix) (4:07) 62. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Redlight – Regulate (2:34) 63. Jovonn, Prunk, M-High – Story Of House (Original Mix) (6:43) 64. A’Studio, Polina – SOS (feat. Polina) (Skylark Remix – Nic Fanciulli Edit) (3:24) 65. Mr. V – Mr. Bongo (Hello Children) (Butch Remix) (4:00) 66. Masters At Work – MAW Apes Groove (6:22) 67. Yours – IN THE MORNING (3:06) 68. Eddie Fowlkes – AHYEE (4:09) 69. Dennis Cruz, Martina Camargo – El Sueño (feat. Martina Camargo) (5:48) 70. Makez, dreamcastmoe – Phases (feat. dreamcastmoe) (VIP Mix) (4:35) 71. Radio Slave, NEZ – Wait A Minute (Dixon Extension) (6:27) 72. Yours – CALLING (3:30) 73. Ben Rau, Oden & Fatzo – Calling Out Your Name (I Can’t Sleep) (Oden & Fatzo Remix) (4:10) 74. Dirty Channels – Make You Cry (4:11) 75. Tensnake – Coma Cat (Chloé Caillet Remix) (3:35) 76. Francis Mercier, Nitefreak, Idd Aziz – Kamili (3:46) 77. Dennis Quin – Dedication To House Music (3:30) 78. Roach Motel – Movin’ On (Darius Syrossian 5am Remix) (3:14) 79. Eats Everything, Shezar – Get Up (3:06) 80. Low Steppa – The Feeling (Edit) (3:17) 81. Harry Romero, Inaya Day – Just Can’t Get Enough (Jamie Jones Edit) (3:28) 82. Shermanology – Souljack (3:44) 83. Arielle Free – You Can’t Stop Me (Edit) (4:05) 84. Classmatic, Nfasis – Toma Dale (5:23) 85. Junior Sanchez, NEZ – Hit It (feat. NEZ) (3:41) 86. Oden & Fatzo – Lauren (I Can’t Stay Forever) (3:20) 87. Todd Terry, Meca, Volkoder, Tristan Henry – Little Woman (feat. Tristan Henry) (3:48) 88. Mr. G – U Feel Mi (Kai Alce’s New Feel) (5:25) 89. Honey Dijon, Dope Earth Alien – It’s Quiet Now (feat. Dope Earth Alien) (3:02) 90. S.A.M., Sarah Ikumu – Spotlight (feat. Sarah Ikumu) (Sam Divine Remix) (2:45)

55@$1
Total Price: $55
Make and Model: Spyderco Endela VG-10 with black FRN
Timestamp and Pics: https://imgur.com/a/rHCX80H
Price Justification: 65 - https://www.reddit.com/Knife_Swap/comments/106qs0c/wtswtt_spydercobenchmadechavez
Description: PLEASE BE THOROUGH. EXPLICITLY STATE ALL ISSUES : believe I'm the third owner, but seems to be barely used. Very good condition, save a very slight roll on the edge about 1mm long. Vg-10 blade with pinned black FRN scales.
Comes with OG box. Will ship parcel post.
International shipping: us proxy
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Nettie Peterson has known me at my best and at my worst, and after everything that's happened lately, I think I can finally say the same. I'm admittedly not very good at comforting her, though. I haven't had much practice, is all. Historically speaking, she's always been the one to take care of me. My introduction to earth was a confusing, horrifying time for me, and she had dealt with all of it. She'd handled every panic attack, brought me back from every low. When I woke up one night to a drilling pain in my stomach and blood soaking my panties, she managed to keep me calm while explaining that this would now happen every month.
What I'm saying is that the woman is insanely skilled.
Me, not so much. After we had gotten out of the cave, I tried to provide emotional support by petting her hair and talking soothingly. Seeing as I was also distressed, she was doing the same to me, so we were basically sitting on the beach holding each other. To the outside observer, we must have looked rather strange. I was relieved to finally get back to her house. We sat down in front of the TV and ate cupcakes. We have a special system for eating cupcakes. I peel off the frosting and give her rest. It's messy and I have to keep hand wipes nearby everytime, but it's how we do it. We both eat cupcakes whole when we're by ourselves, so it doesn't make much sense either, but when we share, it's always like this.
Once I was sure she was alright, I left her to go off to bed while I made my way back to the hotel, bracing myself for what I expected to be an extremely uncomfortable conversation.
The lobby was dim and quiet. The large, bright ceiling lights had been turned off with only a couple floor lamps illuminating the hall. I walked past the unmanned reception desk and up the stairs, then rapped my knuckles against the door to Frankie's room. After a couple seconds, he opened up. Upon meeting my gaze, he let out a soft gasp, but it wasn't followed by a smile this time. He made way for me to step inside, wordlessly, and I entered without breaking the silence. I sat down on the sofa where he joined me after placing a glass of coconut water in front of me.
For a beat, we both stared at the drink. I didn't take it.
"What you did felt really off earlier," I began. "You were trying to embarrass Nettie. If you were testing your boundaries, if you were trying to see how I'd react, you got your answer. Don't ever make me choose between you two. You'll lose."
"Yes," he said quietly.
"If you don't get along with Nettie, that's one thing. You don't need to. But she was needling you and you made a real effort to be cruel." I paused. "You act so strange sometimes. All bossy and cagey."
"Yes," he repeated, briefly falling silent as he worked away on his gum in slow, contemplative motions. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I did it. I wanted to unsettle her. It's not that I don't like her, she's fine, but at that moment, I simply loathed her. I couldn't tell you why. But I wish I'd kept quiet. I feel gross for spouting off like that."
"Then… why?"
"I don't know! There's this weird feeling, it comes over me and makes me remember stuff that's in the past… Then I get caught up and confused. I run my mouth, but I don't want to make you upset. I swear I won't do it again. I'll rein myself in."
"Will you? This doesn't seem right." I took a deep breath. "Frankie, I have no idea what you are. Even though you know everything about me."
"Not everything," he argued. "You never said a thing about what life was like where you're from. Or who you were before. Yes, that's not what this is about, but I'm just speaking technically."
"You shouldn't have to rely on technicalities to make a point."
"No. Look, I keep wondering what I'm even doing here. I like you a lot. But I haven't thought this through and by now, I'm scared to."
"Stop talking in riddles," I implored him.
He huffed out a chuckle. "I'd have to stop thinking in them first." Before he could add anything else, his phone started vibrating on the TV table. "Oh, dammit," he muttered. Shooting me an uncertain gaze, he reached out for it, his hand hovering above the screen. "Can I?"
"Sure." I let go of a long breath, snatched up the glass and leaned back in my seat as Frankie answered the call. I pick up on a woman's voice talking on the other end.
He kept glancing over at me almost sheepishly as he mumbled words of affirmation into the phone. "Yes… Yeah, I remember… Well, it's not a good time, but I'll do it. Bye." Dropping the device into his lap, he gave me a twist of the mouth. "That was Mae-Lynn. She works at—"
"The diner with you," I cut him off. "I do take note of the other staff there, for your information." I took a sip of my water. "Occasionally."
"I promised to do some shopping for her. She's come down with the flu. Store's closing soon, though, so I'll have to go now."
"Well, that's convenient."
"I was going to ask you to come along."
I agreed. Having lost track of the conversation, the drive was a grim, quiet affair. Frankie took us to one of the more expensive stores in the area, saying that he wanted to treat Mae-Lynn.
"Take a cart," I ordered, and once he had acquired one, I had him hold it still while I climbed inside. He regarded me with a bemused expression but refrained from commenting as he began to roll me down the aisles.
Grocery shopping at night is something else. Eighties music was playing over the radio at a low volume, but the otherwise quiet space made it sound decidedly louder. There was almost the hint of an echo. Safe for two of three singular, tired-looking individuals, Frankie and I were the only people in the store. I had nestled against the back of the cart, my head tipped back to watch Fran's face from below as his eyes roamed the shelves. Occasionally, he'd stop to check the list Mae-Lynn had texted him on his phone.
"If you want anything, speak up," he told me.
"I'm out of cereal," I said, just as we passed the respective aisle. He turned the cart back around, let me pick out a carton of cornflakes and took up walking again. After five minutes of stoically regarding him from my mobile vantage point, I piped up again. "Go back. Wrong ones."
"Well, which ones do you want? I'll get them, it's faster than pushing this thing around."
I shook my head. "No, no, I have to look at them. Go back."
He shook his head to himself but obediently maneuvered the cart back to the shelf with the breakfast items. I took my time picking out a different box, then settled back down.
"Happy?" Fran asked.
"Delighted."
After fifteen minutes, we were getting close to finishing Mae-Lynn's list. Frankie was starting to move towards the cash register, only for me to tug on his arm. "Turn back," I told him, holding up the box. "I don't want them after all. I need different ones."
He stifled a groan. "Sure, Sunshine." I let him roll me all the way back to the cereal aisle where I studied the colorful boxes intensely. "Nevermind," I said, turning back to him. "Let's go."
He started making his way over to the register again when I cleared my throat. "Actually, I think I might have another look."
"Are you kidding me?" he squeaked, only for me to hold his gaze with a smile. "You are," he choked out. "I oughta send you rolling right into that stack of cans."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Is that a challenge?" He glanced about himself, finding that we were alone. Then, he pushed the cart, and it swerved, sliding across the shiny floor. The thrill of the launch washed over me and I started laughing. He lunged for it, grabbing it just in time to prevent the collision.
"Do it again!" I demanded.
He indulged me, sending me swerving and spinning a couple more times. Eventually, he took a running start and pushed me down a long, empty aisle at a breakneck speed. The giggles died in my throat when, seemingly out of thin air, someone appeared at the end of the aisle. My jaw dropped and I reflexively gripped the sides of the cart to protect myself from the impending crash, but the person simply reached out and caught the cart by its edges. Within the blink of an eye, they had managed to steady it. My vehicle had come to a standstill. It all happened incredibly fast, and for a moment, I found myself unable to react. One of the other person's hands had come to rest over mine in the process. Still at a loss for words, I raised my head to meet their gaze.
Those eyes.
My heart, already thundering in my chest, dropped entirely into my stomach. There were pupils filling the void in that formerly uninterrupted pale vastness this time, but I recognized them either way. Seeing them sit in an actual face instead of behind a nondescript black mask was strange, but there was not a doubt in my mind. It was them.
The cultist had jarringly pleasant features that struck me as neither overtly feminine nor masculine. Their tawny skin had an almost bronze sheen to it and short locks of platinum blond hair stuck to their smooth forehead, slick with the same sweat that formed stains beneath the armpits of their light gray t-shirt.
It was like time stood still. The interaction could not have been longer than two seconds in total, but it felt like a full hour. From me staring at our linked hands, to locking eyes with them, to the cold, raw realization, it seemed to me as though forty minutes or more had gone by, followed by another twenty when I watched the crude smile forming on their lips. Their fingers clamped down on my own, and before I knew it, it had happened.
The lights in the store had changed color, taking on a dimmer, sickly green tint. The shelves around us had emptied and the gentle, melodic hum of the radio had been replaced by a deep, droning buzz of static. I was still sitting in the shopping cart, and the cultist was still leaning over me, but their expression had morphed into one of shocked disbelief. Seeing fear on the face of the person who'd stabbed me might have been a great satisfaction to me in any other situation, but right then and there, I was equally as terrified.
I had switched dimensions and was now alone with my attempted murderer.
The thought took a while to sink in, but the clearer it became, the more I felt the need to scream. And yet, not a sound left my lips. My own saliva had turned sour, filling my mouth with an acidic taste. Dread pooled in the pit of my stomach like icy, chilled water and tears were stringing the corners of my eyes. I blinked them away in a hurry, redirecting my gaze at the cultist. They were staring past me in a daze, taking in our changed surroundings before fixing me with a sharp glare.
"Seriously?"
"What?" The word somehow slipped past the lump in my throat.
The cultist made a sweeping gesture at our surroundings. "Where are we? What the hell is this? You don't even have your dimension hopping under control? Not gonna lie, I had higher expectations of you."
"What?" I repeated eloquently.
"You just switched dimensions on my ass. And seeing as you literally crashed into me, I don't think you planned on doing that."
"I didn't," I confirmed.
"That's what I'm talking about."
"You know about dimensions?"
The cultist palmed their face, emitting a deep, low groan. "Clearly."
I scrambled back in the cart, trying to bring some distance between the two of us. I bared my teeth at them, both rows elongating and curving outward. At least I was getting the hang of my physical transformation. "If you come any closer, I'll rip your hand off," I hissed, spittle flying out between my fangs.
"I believe you," they replied, narrowing their eyes at me. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
"That's hard for me to believe."
"Yes, sure. I did and I would again, but not here. Not now. You understand?" they asked pointedly, their voice cutting like a razor blade.
"I'm not sure I do."
"Well, without you, I won't get out of here, and I've stuff to do on the other side." They stepped behind the cart and grabbed onto the handle.
I hastily twisted around to face them. "You know about the finer details of dimension hopping but you can't do it yourself?"
They let out a soft sigh as they began pushing the cart, with me inside, down the empty aisle. "I managed to do it once. Just once. Never again. It's not a great surprise to me that you should be able to switch to the other sides, but I'd thought you'd be able to control it. I think I have your number. I'm pretty sure I know what you are, and we have more in common than you could have probably guessed. That boy you were with on the other hand… I won't lie, he freaks me out. He's got the strangest face and he didn't react to my eyes at all."
"What are you?" I queried, quick to steer him away from the topic of Frankie Preston even though I didn't really expect an honest answer. "How'd you do that the other night? Your… your eye thing?"
"That unsettled you, didn't it? It's not anything I do per se." They shrugged leisurely. "I could just as well ask you where you're hiding your tentacles."
"So you're not human. I didn't think you were," I stated. "What's your business with the Collective? What are you after? Are any of you normal people?"
"As far as I know, I'm the only one who's not." They steered the cart around the corner with a swift, forcible yank and I bumped painfully against the side of the cart. Stifling a yelp, I kept my face straight, looking over the shelves as we passed them. I noticed that some of them weren't entirely empty—there were a couple jars, cans and bags of various goods standing scattered throughout. They looked almost lonely. The cultist, registering my wandering gaze, stopped and grabbed a random plastic jar that looked like it could be containing peanut butter or something of the sort. The label was faded and partially peeled off. They inspected it from all sides before thrusting it into my hands. "Here, open it," they commanded.
"I certainly won't," I replied, a mix of rage and apprehension bubbling in my chest.
"Aren't you curious?"
"No. But if you are, go on and open it yourself."
They grunted, grabbing the jar and unscrewing the red lid. They dropped it to the floor where it bounced off once and rolled away into the darkness. Peering in, their expression remained unchanged. "Nothing. Look." They held it out to me and sure enough, it was empty. I let them hand it to me, intrigue winning me over as I started examining the small container. It was completely unremarkable. I reached two of my fingers inside only for the digits to suddenly be stricken with a searing pain. It flashed through my bones like lightning and I cried out, withdrawing my hand. Suddenly, the floor seemed to quiver. The lights in the store flickered, seeming startlingly bright for a split second only to turn dimly green once more. The cultist let out an involuntary shriek, staggering back before managing to steady themself as everything went back to its former solid state.
"What the fuck was that?" they wheezed.
"An earthquake?" I suggested, not quite knowing what else to say. My pulse was thrumming in my ears, hard enough to split my head in half. It took me a minute to regain a relative state of calm.
"An earthquake? In another dimension? You're messing with me."
"I don't know! Maybe it was… maybe I was nearly jumping back, I have no idea." I shook my head, ignoring the throbbing pain shooting through my temples. "I don't have it all figured out yet, but it's an emotional response. Whenever my flight instinct gets triggered, these dimension switches happen. It was the jar. The jar is painful inside."
"What do you mean?" they asked, eagerly reaching for the jar and sticking their pinky finger into it. They pulled it back out with a howl, letting the jar drop to the floor. "What the hell is up with this place?"
"How would I know?" I argued hotly.
"Yeah, well. Anyways." All of a sudden, their hand was in my hair, tugging on my braid. They yanked my head to the side, and before I could break out my tentacles or try to snap my jaws at them, I could feel their hot breath on my nape. A scream died in my throat, equal parts painful and shocked. My eyes burned, my vision swimming when the cultist dragged their teeth across my skin, leaving a trail of warm saliva. And then, fast and without mercy, they bit down.
The lights turned bright white. The static buzzing that had been hanging in the stale air changed to the familiar eighties music tunes. Squinting into the sudden brightness, the colors of the countless types of packaged products filling the shelves almost seemed to be screaming at me.
We were back.
The cultist disentangled themself, quickly stepping away from me. I looked up, still dazed, to see why. Frankie Preston had come up behind us, snatching the cart away from the other person and pulling it out of their reach. I immediately scrambled up to wrap my arms around him. "That's them," I breathed. "From the Collective."
"I know," he said tonelessly. His eyes, trained on the blonde, spelled murder. "You should get out of here," he added, addressing them. "The shelves here are rickety, they might fall on you."
The cultist's expression was a frozen mix of suppressed uncertainty and confusion. Still, they held the server's gaze. "You should maybe not… do anything stupid," they uttered, their voice almost equally as flat as his.
"I'm all about stupid."
"Then I guess I ought to leave. See you guys soon. It was a pleasure." They threw us a smile that was faker than Frankie's when he waited tables before marching off, leaving the two of us alone in the aisle.
"Are you alright?" Fran asked, running a hand over my mussed braid. "What happened? I'm so… one minute you were here and the next…"
"We switched dimensions."
"I pieced that together. You weren't gone for long… just a couple minutes." He nervously twisted his wet bubble gum around the tip of his finger, drawing nervous strings.
"Were you worried?"
"Out of my mind," he said in a low voice, not meeting my gaze. "I mean, I knew you'd be okay on your own, I wasn't saying that—"
"I wasn't. I'm not," I interrupted him. "I got out alright, sure I did, but I'm not okay right now." I swallowed. My throat was bone dry. "I need to call Mary Markov. She should hear about this."
Frankie nodded along. "Do you want me to do it for you? I'm certain I can give her an accurate description."
I declined and sat back in the cart. Per my request, Fran brought me home after we'd paid for everything. I needed some time alone to relax and pretend everything was normal. I cleaned my room and then looked through job listings, which I admittedly haven't done in a little while. When I couldn't find any other way to procrastinate, I made the call to Mary Markov, which went about as well as could be expected. She wants to see me tomorrow, though. I wish she'd told me about what. For a newsreader, she's really not very forward with her information.
X
1
2: deadbeat roommate
3: creepy crush
4: relocation
5: beach concert
6: First date
7: Temp work
8: roommate talk
9: a dismal worldview
10: warehouse
11: staircase
12: explanation
13: hurt
14: hospital
15: ocean
16: diner
17: government work
18: something in the caves

The second edition of ESC took place in Frankfurt, Germany. Does that mean one of the German songs won in 1956 as the usual tradition is? Well no it was Switzerland who also hosted the first edition but apparently didn't want to host another the next year. To this day rumours persist that Germany got second place probably with "Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück" from Walter Andreas Schwarz but since no ranking was released to this day we can't know for sure. Some even believe Germany won. Anyway the good thing about this contest is that this contest can be fully watched with moving images. The director of this was Michael Kehlmann, an Austrian movie director. I sinceryly hope he was better at camerawork for his movies as it was filmed rather static and with a persistence of keeping the artists heads in close-up for lengthy periods which felt rather disturbing to me. Quality wise the songs were in my opinion a lot weaker than the previous edition with most contestants playing it rather safe and with little variety.
1957 saw the introduction of a real jury system where each country had to divide 10 points over the rivaling countries. So here it was made clear you can't vote for your own country, a rule which probably was not in place in 1956 but as of 1957 it was set in stone and never changed. Don't really know if that meant that 1 country could give the full 10 points to just 1 country. I notice however that only France divided their points over 2 countries while all other countries divided their points over 3 to 6 countries. No one ended up with 0 points and every country got points from at least 2 countries. Strange system but at least better than the shady backroom voting from the previous edition, which certainly was put into question and led to protest. To this day there is still a points system and no matter the result there is always people not understanding why song X ended up so low and song Y so high. Some things never change and this adds to the fun. Apparently the points system was borrowed from UK's 'Festival of British Popular Songs' which decided on the entry representing the UK in the ESC. So a scoreboard was introduced which was adapted after each call (by a traditional phone) from one of the juries of the competing countries.
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With the 3 countries broadcasting but not sending a song for various reasons (UK, Austria, Denmark) last year now joining the competition there was no more need for each country to send 2 songs. So 1 song per country (and this remained so for later editions) but 2 people were allowed on stage (in 1956 only solo artists on stage). So more countries involved (10 vs 7 in 1956) but less songs (10 vs 14 in 1956). Last change was a rule stipulating that songs could not exceed 3 minutes but a few countries really went over that limit by quite a margin. Maybe that rule was introduced quite late and therefore no one was disqualified for exceeding it.
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We saw a first duet with Denmark. Italy and the Netherlands had a musician accompanying the singer. We also saw a first prop emerging (Germany) and some other costumes than the traditional tuxedo or evening gown (Denmark).
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For those wanting more info about this edition check the wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1957
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The full show can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViOi13j5cO8&t=4s
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1. Belgium - Straatdeuntje - Bobbejaan Schoepen (32 years) starts at 3:15

Just like previous edition the ESC kicked off with a song sung in Dutch however this time it comes from the Dutch/Flemmish speaking part of Belgium (Flanders). Bobbejaan Schoepen was the first Flemmish singer to try. Even though his success period was far before my time I knew that whistling was a trademark of his. He even had a song dedicated to whistling 'De jodelende fluiter' (The yodling whistler). Bobbejaan had an obsession with the Far West and often dressed with a cow-boy hat and later founded a theme park with a Wild West theme giving it his name 'Bobbejaanland'. Here of course he was as expected in a suit but with his hands in his pockets immediately giving him a pretty laid back attitude. The song is indeed a happy one about a melody he hears everywhere he goes making him happy. Don't think this had a chance winning, enjoyable definitely but in the end a bit too simplistic.
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1. Luxembourg - Amours mortes aka Tant de peine - Danièle Dupré (29-30 years) starts at 7:25

Language: French - Result: 4th (tied) - Points: 8
Just like last year Luxembourg send a female French singer to represent them. As expected she went for a French chanson about a break up. I'm absolutely no fan of these type of songs unless it has some quicker pace. Also I often compare French chansons with Edith Piaff whose famous hits at least had some recognizable melody and chorus. Danièle's birth date varies from the source. The most common is that she was born in 1927 but other sources say her birth year is 1938 which is a huge difference. Looks to me 1927 is correct as she already had quite a bit of songs as a minor star and retired from the music business in 1958. She would during the show become long lasting friends with her compatriot entering for France Paule Desjardins.
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1. United Kingdom - All - Patricia Bredin (22 years) starts at 10:55

Language: English - Result: 7th - Points: 6
Patricia Bredin had the honour to be the UK's first ESC entry. She won as part of the Malcolm Lockyer Quartet the first Festival of British Popular Songs convincingly. Patricia was in the first place an actress (Malcolm Lockyer was a film composer and conductor so makes sense) but also did musicals. Presenter Anaid Iplicjian (from Armenian descent) referred to the UK as England a few times. With a duration of 1'52 this song remained the shortest in ESC history until 2015 when Finland came with a song of only 1'27. So yeah I can be pretty short about this entry too. She has a high soprano voice so even if your English is good it's just hard to understand what she is singing most of the time. It felt more like an opera song and I guess that's why it didn't do too well here. Was the disappointing result the reason UK didn't enter in 1958 and also didn't organise the Festival of British Popular Songs? However from 1959 they wouldn't miss a single ESC. Patricia's song was never recorded or released on a single.
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1. Italy - Corde della mia chitarra - Nunzio Gallo (28 years) starts at 13:35

Language: Italian - Result: 6th - Points: 7
In previous edition two young females were sent, this time a male artist got a try. Nunzio Gallo was accompanied by a guitar player who gets quite a bit of exposure with some solos (a really long one at the start). Nunzio sings a ballad which gave me much more latino/Spanish vibes than Italian. He sings a love song not for a woman but for his guitar. This theme actually reminds me of the Belgian entry of 2010 Tom Dice with "Me and my guitar". The biggest problem is the song's duration with over 5 minutes going well beyond the maximum time limit. Also its very slow pace makes it very hard to sit through. Fortunately Italy would bring a real hit in the next edition.
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1. Austria - Wohin kleines Pony - Bob Martin (34 years) starts at 19:45

Language: German - Result: 10th - Points: 3
Debut for Austria but Bob Martin wasn't the first Austrian performing in ESC. That honour goes to Freddy Quinn entering in 1956 for Germany with "So geht das jede Nacht". The song is accompanied by jazzy music. Of course a 30+ guy singing about riding his pony through the fields is a tad weird but at least he seems to be having a good time smiling a lot during his performance. It's also the only song which is (slightly) more uptempo than the other entries. A last place is rather harsh but I can understand this song perhaps didn't really fit well in the contest. After ESC he remained popular in southern Austria. His real name was Leo Heppe.
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1. Netherlands - Net als toen - Corry Brokken (24 years) starts at 23:20

Language: Dutch - Result: 1st - Points: 31
The winning song and this time even a critical one like me will find it hard to disagree. If they stuck to the rules this entry would be disqualified as it is going approximately 1 and half minute over the 3 minutes time limit. However it doesn't feel like ever lasting like Italy's due to a good pacing, great vocals and some really good music accompanying the song. Dutch conductor Dolf van der Linden was so eager to start making the orchestra start before Corry Brokken reached the microphone. Corry's previous entry was a break up song now it's again about a relationship but one that is already lasting a very long time. So yes the couple especially the man have become old (and grey) and their love has become a bit stale. But since he can still flirt (with other women I suppose) his wife wishes he would be sweet and gallant towards her, give her roses, say she is beautiful and all that jazz just like the time they first fell in love (referring to the song's title). Yes it's kinda weird given the young age of Corry and it's rather schmulzy. Also the style is a bit the same as her 1956 song "Voorgoed voorbij". However her vocals and the accompanying music really make up for that. About halfway a violin joins her on stage who also gets a solo towards the end. I'm not surprised this won quite convincingly and deservedly.
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1. Germany - Telefon, Telefon - Margot Hielscher (37 years) starts at 28:30

Language: German - Result: 4th (tied) - Points: 8
Host Germany did the opoosite of Italy after sending 2 men in 1956, now a woman was selected. Margot Hielscher already tried her luck at the German National final in 1956 but was unsuccessful. In 1957 she won and became the first woman to represent Germany at ESC. She was the first artist to use a prop on stage. What was more applicable than a telephone since that was the instrument for many years to come for the juries of the participating countries to send their points. Margot used the phone for another purpose though, expecting a call from her lover. Between talking in several languages (mostly saying hello) she sings in a calm and soft voice. The song in itself is not that special but the phone as gimmick is cool. Her song was also too long almost like 4 minutes. Placing 4th wasn't too bad and we would see her return the next year with a more uptempo song (and another prop). For the German audience she was no unknown being active since the 1940s as both singer and actress.
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1. France - La belle amour - Paule Desjardins (34-35 years) starts at 33:40

Language: French - Result: 2nd - Points: 17
A song about love in a French café. I liked this one more than the French song from Luxembourg. It came second and I don't think that is undeserved given she has a lovely voice even though the song in itself quickly fades from my memory. Paule had moderate success with a musical career lasting until 1962. When she married she stopped singing and started working as designer for the lingerie company of her husband. Her full birth date is unknown, Spanish wiki mentioned she was born in 1922.
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1. Denmark - Skibet skal sejle i nat - Birthe Wilke (20 years) and Gustav Winckler (31 years) starts at 38:00

Language: Danish - Result: 3rd - Points: 10
Denmark made its debut bringing the ESC its first duet. They were actually the only contestants in the first Dansk Melodi Grand Prix where 6 songs were entered 2 by them as duet and 2 by each as solo artists. As native Dutch/Flemmish speaker I can clearly hear it's from the same language family (German) as mine even though I hardly understand a word of it. I like the sound of it though and while it's nice that the presenter tells us that the translation of the song is "when the ship is sailing out" looking at the man's uniform it's pretty clear he is a sailor saying goodbye to his beloved girlfriend and future wife who is also wearing a typical dress from the country. There is also some gestures like him kissing a picture of her indicating he will be thinking about her on his trip and putting a ring on her finger meaning they will marry when he comes back. Actually the sailing theme is already clear before we see the couple as the orchestra starts with the sound of a ship's horn. It's all lovey dovey and cute but it works and they sing in harmony, complementary. A top 3 placing was well deserved in my opinion. Oh yes and there was in the end an 11 second kiss which definitely shocked the audience. They were applauded anyway. Did that hamper their chances to win, nah I think the Dutch entry was just too strong.
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1. Switzerland - L'Enfant que j'étais - Lys Assia (33 years) starts at 42: 30

Language: French - Result: 8th (tied) - Points: 5
Lys Assia returned to defend the ESC crown of Switzerland. The new crown however went to the other returning performer from 1956 Corry Brokken. Interesting to note that her birthday was the 3rd of March, the same day as the the contest of 1957 took place. I can't think of any other reason why the ESC took place so early (usually it's in May). She wasn't however gifted a good end result finishing a tied 8th with Belgium. Hard to understand as I found this song about a happy childhood very sweet and more captivating than her entries from 1956. However it was also too long about 4 minutes. But vocally I found her a lot better than the French songs from Luxembourg and France. Was it perhaps too childish or too happy? Notice that the other 2 songs in the bottom 3 were Belgium and Austria both upbeat songs. However Lys would still come back for a third consecutive time in 1958 just like winner Corry Brokken. Lys would do well a year later but Corry suffered even a worse fate as title defender than Lys.
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My top 10 was a bit harder to compile except the top 2 which stuck with me after 1 hearing. The rest is not too memorable for me.
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1. Netherlands
2. Denmark
3. Switzerland
4. Germany
5. Austria
6. Belgium
7. France
8. Luxembourg
9. Italy
10. UK

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Deceased artists
Paule Desjardins (1962) 39-40 years (only the Spanish wiki has a year of decease)
Gustav Winckler (1979, cause: car crash) 53 years
Bob Martin (1998) 75 years
Nunzio Gallo (2008) 79 years
Bobbejaan Schoepen (2010) 85 years
Danièle Dupré (2015) 88 years, French wiki has birth year 1938 and decease in 2013 (75 years)
Corry Brokken (2016) 83 years
Margot Hielscher (2017) 97 years
Lys Assia (2018) 94 years
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Alive artists
Patricia Bredin (88 years)
Birthe Wilke (87 years)
You can check reviews also on RelivingEurovision

The second edition of ESC took place in Frankfurt, Germany. Does that mean one of the German songs won in 1956 as the usual tradition is? Well no it was Switzerland who also hosted the first edition but apparently didn't want to host another the next year. To this day rumours persist that Germany got second place probably with "Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück" from Walter Andreas Schwarz but since no ranking was released to this day we can't know for sure. Some even believe Germany won. Anyway the good thing about this contest is that this contest can be fully watched with moving images. The director of this was Michael Kehlmann, an Austrian movie director. I sinceryly hope he was better at camerawork for his movies as it was filmed rather static and with a persistence of keeping the artists heads in close-up for lengthy periods which felt rather disturbing to me. Quality wise the songs were in my opinion a lot weaker than the previous edition with most contestants playing it rather safe and with little variety.
1957 saw the introduction of a real jury system where each country had to divide 10 points over the rivaling countries. So here it was made clear you can't vote for your own country, a rule which probably was not in place in 1956 but as of 1957 it was set in stone and never changed. Don't really know if that meant that 1 country could give the full 10 points to just 1 country. I notice however that only France divided their points over 2 countries while all other countries divided their points over 3 to 6 countries. No one ended up with 0 points and every country got points from at least 2 countries. Strange system but at least better than the shady backroom voting from the previous edition, which certainly was put into question and led to protest. To this day there is still a points system and no matter the result there is always people not understanding why song X ended up so low and song Y so high. Some things never change and this adds to the fun. Apparently the points system was borrowed from UK's 'Festival of British Popular Songs' which decided on the entry representing the UK in the ESC. So a scoreboard was introduced which was adapted after each call (by a traditional phone) from one of the juries of the competing countries.
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With the 3 countries broadcasting but not sending a song for various reasons (UK, Austria, Denmark) last year now joining the competition there was no more need for each country to send 2 songs. So 1 song per country (and this remained so for later editions) but 2 people were allowed on stage (in 1956 only solo artists on stage). So more countries involved (10 vs 7 in 1956) but less songs (10 vs 14 in 1956). Last change was a rule stipulating that songs could not exceed 3 minutes but a few countries really went over that limit by quite a margin. Maybe that rule was introduced quite late and therefore no one was disqualified for exceeding it.
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We saw a first duet with Denmark. Italy and the Netherlands had a musician accompanying the singer. We also saw a first prop emerging (Germany) and some other costumes than the traditional tuxedo or evening gown (Denmark).
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For those wanting more info about this edition check the wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1957
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The full show can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViOi13j5cO8&t=4s
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1. Belgium - Straatdeuntje - Bobbejaan Schoepen (32 years) starts at 3:15
   Language: Dutch - Result: 8th (tied) - Points: 5
   

Just like previous edition the ESC kicked off with a song sung in Dutch however this time it comes from the Dutch/Flemmish speaking part of Belgium (Flanders). Bobbejaan Schoepen was the first Flemmish singer to try. Even though his success period was far before my time I knew that whistling was a trademark of his. He even had a song dedicated to whistling 'De jodelende fluiter' (The yodling whistler). Bobbejaan had an obsession with the Far West and often dressed with a cow-boy hat and later founded a theme park with a Wild West theme giving it his name 'Bobbejaanland'. Here of course he was as expected in a suit but with his hands in his pockets immediately giving him a pretty laid back attitude. The song is indeed a happy one about a melody he hears everywhere he goes making him happy. Don't think this had a chance winning, enjoyable definitely but in the end a bit too simplistic.
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1. Luxembourg - Amours mortes aka Tant de peine - Danièle Dupré (29-30 years) starts at 7:25
   Language: French - Result: 4th (tied) - Points: 8
   

Just like last year Luxembourg send a female French singer to represent them. As expected she went for a French chanson about a break up. I'm absolutely no fan of these type of songs unless it has some quicker pace. Also I often compare French chansons with Edith Piaff whose famous hits at least had some recognizable melody and chorus. Danièle's birth date varies from the source. The most common is that she was born in 1927 but other sources say her birth year is 1938 which is a huge difference. Looks to me 1927 is correct as she already had quite a bit of songs as a minor star and retired from the music business in 1958. She would during the show become long lasting friends with her compatriot entering for France Paule Desjardins.
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1. United Kingdom - All - Patricia Bredin (22 years) starts at 10:55
   Language: English - Result: 7th - Points: 6
   

Patricia Bredin had the honour to be the UK's first ESC entry. She won as part of the Malcolm Lockyer Quartet the first Festival of British Popular Songs convincingly. Patricia was in the first place an actress (Malcolm Lockyer was a film composer and conductor so makes sense) but also did musicals. Presenter Anaid Iplicjian (from Armenian descent) referred to the UK as England a few times. With a duration of 1'52 this song remained the shortest in ESC history until 2015 when Finland came with a song of only 1'27. So yeah I can be pretty short about this entry too. She has a high soprano voice so even if your English is good it's just hard to understand what she is singing most of the time. It felt more like an opera song and I guess that's why it didn't do too well here. Was the disappointing result the reason UK didn't enter in 1958 and also didn't organise the Festival of British Popular Songs? However from 1959 they wouldn't miss a single ESC. Patricia's song was never recorded or released on a single.
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1. Italy - Corde della mia chitarra - Nunzio Gallo (28 years) starts at 13:35
   Language: Italian - Result: 6th - Points: 7
   

In previous edition two young females were sent, this time a male artist got a try. Nunzio Gallo was accompanied by a guitar player who gets quite a bit of exposure with some solos (a really long one at the start). Nunzio sings a ballad which gave me much more latino/Spanish vibes than Italian. He sings a love song not for a woman but for his guitar. This theme actually reminds me of the Belgian entry of 2010 Tom Dice with "Me and my guitar". The biggest problem is the song's duration with over 5 minutes going well beyond the maximum time limit. Also its very slow pace makes it very hard to sit through. Fortunately Italy would bring a real hit in the next edition.
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1. Austria - Wohin kleines Pony - Bob Martin (34 years) starts at 19:45
   Language: German - Result: 10th - Points: 3
   

Debut for Austria but Bob Martin wasn't the first Austrian performing in ESC. That honour goes to Freddy Quinn entering in 1956 for Germany with "So geht das jede Nacht". The song is accompanied by jazzy music. Of course a 30+ guy singing about riding his pony through the fields is a tad weird but at least he seems to be having a good time smiling a lot during his performance. It's also the only song which is (slightly) more uptempo than the other entries. A last place is rather harsh but I can understand this song perhaps didn't really fit well in the contest. After ESC he remained popular in southern Austria. His real name was Leo Heppe.
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1. Netherlands - Net als toen - Corry Brokken (24 years) starts at 23:20
   Language: Dutch - Result: 1st - Points: 31
   

The winning song and this time even a critical one like me will find it hard to disagree. If they stuck to the rules this entry would be disqualified as it is going approximately 1 and half minute over the 3 minutes time limit. However it doesn't feel like ever lasting like Italy's due to a good pacing, great vocals and some really good music accompanying the song. Dutch conductor Dolf van der Linden was so eager to start making the orchestra start before Corry Brokken reached the microphone. Corry's previous entry was a break up song now it's again about a relationship but one that is already lasting a very long time. So yes the couple especially the man have become old (and grey) and their love has become a bit stale. But since he can still flirt (with other women I suppose) his wife wishes he would be sweet and gallant towards her, give her roses, say she is beautiful and all that jazz just like the time they first fell in love (referring to the song's title). Yes it's kinda weird given the young age of Corry and it's rather schmulzy. Also the style is a bit the same as her 1956 song "Voorgoed voorbij". However her vocals and the accompanying music really make up for that. About halfway a violin joins her on stage who also gets a solo towards the end. I'm not surprised this won quite convincingly and deservedly.
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1. Germany - Telefon, Telefon - Margot Hielscher (37 years) starts at 28:30
   Language: German - Result: 4th (tied) - Points: 8
   

Host Germany did the opoosite of Italy after sending 2 men in 1956, now a woman was selected. Margot Hielscher already tried her luck at the German National final in 1956 but was unsuccessful. In 1957 she won and became the first woman to represent Germany at ESC. She was the first artist to use a prop on stage. What was more applicable than a telephone since that was the instrument for many years to come for the juries of the participating countries to send their points. Margot used the phone for another purpose though, expecting a call from her lover. Between talking in several languages (mostly saying hello) she sings in a calm and soft voice. The song in itself is not that special but the phone as gimmick is cool. Her song was also too long almost like 4 minutes. Placing 4th wasn't too bad and we would see her return the next year with a more uptempo song (and another prop). For the German audience she was no unknown being active since the 1940s as both singer and actress.
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1. France - La belle amour - Paule Desjardins (34-35 years) starts at 33:40
   Language: French - Result: 2nd - Points: 17
   

A song about love in a French café. I liked this one more than the French song from Luxembourg. It came second and I don't think that is undeserved given she has a lovely voice even though the song in itself quickly fades from my memory. Paule had moderate success with a musical career lasting until 1962. When she married she stopped singing and started working as designer for the lingerie company of her husband. Her full birth date is unknown, Spanish wiki mentioned she was born in 1922.
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1. Denmark - Skibet skal sejle i nat - Birthe Wilke (20 years) and Gustav Winckler (31 years) starts at 38:00
   Language: Danish - Result: 3rd - Points: 10
   

Denmark made its debut bringing the ESC its first duet. They were actually the only contestants in the first Dansk Melodi Grand Prix where 6 songs were entered 2 by them as duet and 2 by each as solo artists. As native Dutch/Flemmish speaker I can clearly hear it's from the same language family (German) as mine even though I hardly understand a word of it. I like the sound of it though and while it's nice that the presenter tells us that the translation of the song is "when the ship is sailing out" looking at the man's uniform it's pretty clear he is a sailor saying goodbye to his beloved girlfriend and future wife who is also wearing a typical dress from the country. There is also some gestures like him kissing a picture of her indicating he will be thinking about her on his trip and putting a ring on her finger meaning they will marry when he comes back. Actually the sailing theme is already clear before we see the couple as the orchestra starts with the sound of a ship's horn. It's all lovey dovey and cute but it works and they sing in harmony, complementary. A top 3 placing was well deserved in my opinion. Oh yes and there was in the end an 11 second kiss which definitely shocked the audience. They were applauded anyway. Did that hamper their chances to win, nah I think the Dutch entry was just too strong.
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1. Switzerland - L'Enfant que j'étais - Lys Assia (33 years) starts at 42: 30

Language: French - Result: 8th (tied) - Points: 5
Lys Assia returned to defend the ESC crown of Switzerland. The new crown however went to the other returning performer from 1956 Corry Brokken. Interesting to note that her birthday was the 3rd of March, the same day as the the contest of 1957 took place. I can't think of any other reason why the ESC took place so early (usually it's in May). She wasn't however gifted a good end result finishing a tied 8th with Belgium. Hard to understand as I found this song about a happy childhood very sweet and more captivating than her entries from 1956. However it was also too long about 4 minutes. But vocally I found her a lot better than the French songs from Luxembourg and France. Was it perhaps too childish or too happy? Notice that the other 2 songs in the bottom 3 were Belgium and Austria both upbeat songs. However Lys would still come back for a third consecutive time in 1958 just like winner Corry Brokken. Lys would do well a year later but Corry suffered even a worse fate as title defender than Lys.
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My top 10 was a bit harder to compile except the top 2 which stuck with me after 1 hearing. The rest is not too memorable for me.
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1. Netherlands
   
2. Denmark
   
3. Switzerland
   
4. Germany
   
5. Austria
   
6. Belgium
   
7. France
   
8. Luxembourg
   
9. Italy
   
10. UK
    

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Deceased artists
Paule Desjardins (1962) 39-40 years (only the Spanish wiki has a year of decease)
Gustav Winckler (1979, cause: car crash) 53 years
Bob Martin (1998) 75 years
Nunzio Gallo (2008) 79 years
Bobbejaan Schoepen (2010) 85 years
Danièle Dupré (2015) 88 years, French wiki has birth year 1938 and decease in 2013 (75 years)
Corry Brokken (2016) 83 years
Margot Hielscher (2017) 97 years
Lys Assia (2018) 94 years
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Alive artists
Patricia Bredin (88 years)
Birthe Wilke (87 years)