Podcasts about grand hall

Screaming will achieve nothing. That's why we're speaking at normal volume about lamenting the loss of democracy, getting weirdly nationalist about fish and chips, committing to a Ghaleon bit, doubling down on menopause jokes, finding ourselves incarcerated, taking Luna to Golgotha, spitting up dots, wondering if mom's soul has been poisoned, smelling the real mom, freeing a criminal, growing a backbone, eating lunch during class, telling the world Alex is not a criminal, and doubling down on feet stuff. Crap on a Krispy Kreme. 00:00:00 Naming Roses 00:02:38 Intro 00:04:23 Grand Hall 00:12:17 Meeting Lemia 00:20:27 Jail 00:35:06 Jailbreak 00:52:53 Real Net 00:57:44 Outro Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com  

Hazing Alexis: The most popular sorority, GGK; hazes Alexis.by  musicankane - listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Alexis had always been popular, it came with the territory of being good looking. In high school, being a girl, being hot, was like an automatic “in” with the popular crowd. It made life really really easy. Nobody gave you shit, nobody cared what you did or how you dressed (to an extent) because everyone wanted to be friends with the hot girls. She had always been an automatic entry into that club growing up. She had often been a part of the group that decided what challenge other girls had to go through in order to join the popular group, if they weren't hot enough to be automatically in. Some of the things they made people do made Alexis glad she never had to go through it.However college was a different deal entirely. Alexis foolishly thought that she could just join whatever sorority that she wanted. A flick of her shimmering long brown hair, a little shake of her narrow waist, and boom she would be hot enough to join whatever club she wanted. But this was college and things were different here. Everything was about being fair, and frankly the other girls were just as good looking if not even better looking than her. So she wasn't about to get out of her hazing.She supposed that she could always go to another sorority and try to join them, maybe there hazing trial wouldn't be as embarrassing. But Gamma Gamma Kappa was known as the hottest Sorority on campus, by a wide margin. Having seen the girls already in place, Alexis knew that this was the place to be to get invited to the best parties with the hottest guys. So if she wanted in she was stuck with this challenge.She twirled her iPhone in her fingers, the circular mount on the back of her pink case kept it from falling, the text message from Niece the Sorority leader staring back at her on the screen. Alexis' mission was to get a picture for Jake Farrow. Jake was absolutely the last person Alexis ever would have spoken too growing up. Perhaps that's why Niece selected him personally for her little mission. Jake was the head of the campus Dungeons and Dragons club. Nerd to the ultimate degree.Alexis sat not far from Jake now, observing him as she contemplated what she was to do. He didn't look that nerdy to be fair, or even that bad. His hair was long for a guys, combed back, his glasses weren't extremely thick or made of dorky plastic. From what she could tell he was just an average guy, nothing special one way or the other, his only downside was his choice of hobbies.Again Alexis thought about her goal. She was to seduce this guy, and take a picture of her holding his…special member. She didn't have to go through with anything beyond that, but part of her felt really bad about it. She would have to lie and charm her way into his pants and then leave him hanging after she got the picture she needed. It made her wonder whether this was a haze for her or for him.She debated about it for a long time, should she go through with this, should she not? Finally, she stood up and tucked her phone into her pocket to walk across the quad toward him. Fuck it, she figured, one embarrassing and awkward moment and then it would be over. She'd be in GGK and could spend the next four years forgetting it ever happened.Jake was leaning over a drawing pad as she approached, coming up from behind him so she could see over his shoulder as to what he was drawing. Turned out he could really draw, the picture on the paper was really detailed for just a pencil drawing. It appeared to be some knight of warrior in shining armor with a sword in on hand and a shield in the other which was raised to deflect or block some sort of attack that hadn't been drawn yet.Alexis was impressed and that gave her a conversation starter to talk to him. “Wow,” she said moving around to the other side of the table so she could stand in front of him. “That looks really cool.”Jake jerked as if she had shocked him. So into his drawing that he didn't expect someone to talk to him out of the blue. His hand jerked away quickly from the paper so he didn't mess something up. He glanced up at Alexis and blinked, clearly not expecting someone like her to start a conversation with him.He turned a little red and nodded, “Uh, thanks. I'm drawing it for somebody.” He told her.She gave an impressed look to him, “Not even doing that kind of work for a class. That's pretty cool, do you draw all the time then?” She asked.He shrugged, “Not all the time, but enough to keep improving I guess.” He glanced up at her, and Alexis saw his eyes take her body in quickly though she didn't show him that she noticed. He wasn't very good at hiding his gaze, but that was fine by her she found herself glad that he enjoyed what he was looking at.“I'm Alexis by the way.” She smiled, holding her hand out to him.Jake took her hand softly and nodded, “I'm Jake.” He said slowly.“So I have a confession to make.” She said, sitting down across from him. “I didn't come here to just tell you your drawing was cool.”Jake sat back from her and gave her a weary look, as if afraid she was about to do something to him. “Okay?”She shook her head, “Don't worry it's nothing bad. It's just that I am trying to get into the drama club, but I was told that my character acting sucked.” She lied. “So I did a little googling and I came across table-top roleplaying.” Which wasn't a lie, she had googled a bit about Dungeons and Dragons in order to help herself gain Jake's trust easier. The quickest way into a nerd's pants was through his hobbies. Unlike a jock, who's quickest way into their pants was to simply ask.She brought up the Dungeons and Dragons club page on her phone and showed it to him. “Turns out you run a little roleplaying game club on campus here already and I figured that maybe I could join for a while.” She told him, “You know to play a character work on my improv skills or whatever. Then I can take that back to the drama club and actually get into a play or something.”Jake leaned forward, again his eyes roamed over her body quickly, he was really bad at trying to do it low key. “You, want to play….Dungeons and Dragons?” He asked in disbelief.“Well I'd like to learn at least. Unless you have a better suggest for me to practice Improving a character.” She suggested.Jake shrugged, “I don't. I just, I don't know, I never thought in a million years that someone as…let's just say ‘un-nerdy' as you would ever try to sign up for a game.”Alexis shrugged, “It honestly wouldn't be my first choice either. But I don't exactly have the cash to take an extra acting class off campus, this was the best free option I could find.” She gave him a pout, “Are you saying that I can't play?”Jake shook his head quickly, “No not at all. It's just surprising, that's all.” He nodded and leaned back again, probably considering this unexpected turn of events. “Alright…well do you know how to make a character?”Alexis blinked, “A what?”Jake laughed softly, “You can't play until you make a character. I'm gonna guess you don't know how huh?”Alexis frowned, “No I don't. Is that a problem?”“Not really. I can teach you that on our own. When are you free next?” He asked, glancing at his watch. “I have class in thirty minutes so I can't do it right now. But maybe this evening around five thirty or six?”Alexis nodded, “I can do six. Where?”“The club normally meets in one of the rec rooms over in Grand Hall. Room 3, I can meet you there at six and we can build you a character. It's shouldn't take more than an hour or so.” He explained.“Okay that sounds good.”“Great, oh and if you can you should go get yourself a set of dice. There is a hobby shop like three blocks from campus on Grand Street that can get you what you need.” He told her. “If you can't do it today, no big deal but you'll need them for the actual game.”Alexis promised that she would try and then said goodbye. As she turned around she saw a couple girls from GGK watching her from the other end of the quad. She sighed and made her way over to where they were standing.Jessica was a beautiful Latina, with caramel skin and flawless features. She wanted to be a model, but her parents were forcing her to get educated first. Though thanks to Instagram, Jessica was doing both. Emma was as much of a Midwest girl as one could possibly be. Blonde, blue eyes, innocent looking with a body men would kill for.Both girls smirked at Alexis as she approached. “How goes the dick hunt Alexis, got a picture of the nerd-dick for us yet?” Jessica asked.Alexis shook her head, “Not yet, I had to sign up for his club in to give myself an excuse to be around him.”The giggled, “Seriously?” Emma asked, “Why didn't you just ask to suck his dick in the bathroom or something?”Jessica nodded, “Yeah why make it more complicated that it needs to be?”Alexis frowned, “I don't know, I just don't think he is the type for that.”“Please, every guy is that type, especially when a girl like you asks.” Emma said dismissively.Again Alexis shook her head, “Somehow I don't think so. A guy like that, probably used to getting bullied and would suspect a prank. I have to warm him up to me before pulling this stunt.” Alexis moaned and hung her head, “Oh God I have to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons.”Jessica and Emma just laughed. “Tough shit girl. Get us the pic or find another Sorority.” They said and left.Alexis bit her lip and sighed, no use getting out of it. She was stuck with this, unless she gave up on GGK. No way in hell, Alexis wasn't a quitter and she certainly put other girls in High School through just as much shit as this, worse even.Begrudgingly, Alexis followed Jake's advice and went to the hobby shop he had told her about. It was a small store in the corner of a shopping center called Games, Dice, Action. The interior was much as she expected, walls of comic books, display cases filled with some kind of game singles, and then there were dice. Little boxes of dice with several different shapes.Alexis looked though the different colors for a while before a chubby man with a thick beard came up to her, “Can I help you?” he asked.Alexis glanced up and then pointed at the dice in the case. “Are those the dice I need to play D&D?” She asked.The man nodded, “They are enough to get you going yeah. One die of each side type used in the game.” He explained.“Great, can I get those pink ones?”Shortly before six Alexis was back on campus with her bag of goodies. The clerk had been nice enough to also print her out several pages that he called “character sheets” so that she would be ready to sit down and immediately start making a character with Jake. Along with a set of pink dice that had three different shades of pink in their color scheme.She actually beat Jake to the rec room and found herself an empty table near the back of the mostly empty room so set up. She laid out her sheets and took out her dice, laying them in a row based on their total number of sides, and a little mechanical pencil. While she waited for Jake to arrive she googled basic D&D character creation rules but was giving an online book with nearly 200 pages and her eyes went wide. Did she have to learn 200 pages of rules? Who the fuck would play a game that required so much work. Wasn't it just supposed to be a bunch of dorks playing pretend around a table?The door to the rec room opened and Jake walked in, holding a book under his arm. Alexis waved to get his attention and he began walking her way. “Wow,” he said, looking at the laid out paper and dice in front of her. “I gotta say, I didn't think you would go so far.” He told her, sitting across from her.She smiled and leaned toward him, purposefully giving him a glance down her top and get a good look at her cleavage. Alexis was proud of her perky just barely C-cups, and Jake took the chance to take the peek she offered. “Now why is that?” She asked teasingly. It was time to turn on the flirting. First meeting wouldn't have worked, but now that she had him mostly alone, she could start to give it to him and build not only his trust but his libido as well.Jake tore his eyes from her gapping shirt and blushed, “Look hot girls don't just ask to play D&D. It simply doesn't happen. I thought you were setting me up for a prank or something.” He explained.Alexis smiled, “I know you did. That's why I got all this stuff on my own. I want you to see I'm serious about at least giving this a try.” She gestured to her set up.Jake nodded, and set the book on the table. Alexis saw that it was the same book that the internet had proved her and the pit of her stomach dropped. Dread filled her as she began to fear all the rules he was about to dump on her.“Okay let's start by doing this….” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of scratch paper. Then he reached over and grabbed her six sided die. “Roll this four times…”And so began the process of Alexis making her first Dungeons and Dragons character. All her fear about the massive book turned out to be a waste because she ended up not needed more than like ten pages of the book in total. Jake made everything really simple and while she did roll her eyes a couple of times at the dorky terminology she found herself grasping it pretty easily.By the end of the sit down with Jake, Alexis' had her character sheet completely filled out. She had created a sneaky demon-like girl called a Trifling Rogue and named her Shadow Heartly. Working with Jake turned out to be a lot of fun, and it made Alexis forget how dorky she always thought this would be. He helped her create a back story for Shadow, together they crafted this back story of a demon born of noble blood who's demonic appearance forced her parents to give her up so she didn't hurt their reputation. Angry at being abandoned, Shadow began to steal mastering the art of pick-pocketing, before being grabbed by the thieves guild. The guild taught her to be unseen, and began using her for missions that asked her to sneak into dangerous locations. She learned to make herself valuable despite her demonic appearance.Alexis felt like she was going crazy, because she actually found herself eager to try playing Shadow in a real game. As they finished and stood up together, Alexis threw her arms around Jake and hugged him, purposefully pressing her chest tightly to his.“Thank you for this, truly.” She told him smiling as she stepped back. “I didn't think for a second it would be as interesting as you made it, but now I'm really glad I actually asked about this. I look forward to playing.” She paused and gave him a look, “When do we play?”Jake smiled, his face a little red after that hug. “I'm glad I was able to shatter your expectations. Let's see I have a new game starting with a group of players on Friday night at seven. So it's actually a perfect game for you to join in and try your hand at it.”Alexis groaned inwardly. Seven on a Friday night? Was he serious? She had a party to go to on Friday night. She didn't want to stay inside to play this game when she could be getting her party on. But she realized that she couldn't go to the party until she brought GGK what they asked for. So she smiled and nodded, “Alright Friday at seven. Where at?”“Oh we play in my dorm. I have a full ride and that came with a full sized dorm room with no roommate. So I have people come over there since its private and I have the space.” He explained.His place?Alexis grinned, it was too perfect. All she had to do was wait for the game to end and everybody to leave and Jake would be all hers. “Great!” She replied. “I'll see you then I guess.” She started to walk away, “Oh, what dorm number?”Jake smirked, “224.”“Thanks Jake. See you.” She smiled and darted off.First thing in the morning Alexis went to the sorority house and explained the situation. Niece, the sorority leader, a buxom fit girl with long black hair and haunting blue eyes, glared up at Alexis from the love seat. “I don't know what you are going through all of this for. He's a nerd and you are way out of his league, just seduce him and be done with it. Why torture yourself?”Alexis didn't have a good answer really. She explained that Jake was too nerdy for that, and he would assume she was up to something if she just tried to pounce on him right out of the gate.Niece just scoffed and gave Alexis a dismissive wave, “Oh please, look if you went to his dorm tonight wearing nothing but a sexy set of underwear or a robe with nothing underneath, there is no way in hell he turns you away. Unless he's gay, is he gay?” Niece asked questioningly.Alexis shook her head, “I gave him plenty of chances to look down my shirt today, he took them all, so I don't think that's a worry.”Niece smiled and nodded, “Great, then go get your picture. Why play games with him?”Alexis shrugged, she didn't have a good answer. Jake had been a really nice guy, and totally different than the dweeb she had expected him to be. She just couldn't bring herself to be such a bitch to him for no reason. She didn't want to just leave him with his pants down, so to speak.It was then she had a chilling thought. If she was warming him up to her, did that mean she intended to give him actual head or something? Would she go that far just for a simple dick pic? Surely that wasn't what she was prepping for? But if she wasn't then why not just take Niece's advice and go blue ball the poor guy?Alexis couldn't think of a true answer. And that worried her. She shook it off, figuring she was just horny. After all she hadn't gotten any since she and her boyfriend broke up over the summer. He didn't even want to try a long distance relationship, and frankly Alexis couldn't blame him. It had left her with an inch to scratch though. Not that she would consider scratching it with Jake. Hell no.Friday came quickly and Alexis decided to bring a couple of pizza's to Jakes dorm room for the game. It always nice to be a good guest, that's what her folks taught her, and being a good guest meant bringing snacks or drinks for whatever get-together you were going too.So there she stood at his doorstep with two hot pizza's burning into her palm. Still she stared at the door for a while. Was she really going to try this for real? To get Jake alone so she could take a picture of his ramrod? It shouldn't mean this much right? Why was she scared, the worse that could happen was she upset him and no big deal. Then again, why did she make sure to put a condom in her handbag. That probably worried her more than anything else.Finally she knocked, Jake opened the door quickly. He smiled as he saw her and the pizzas, “Hey you made it. And with pizza! Wow you are officially my new favorite.” He reached out and took the boxes from

Today, Jeanette Izquierdo shares the story of her Christmastime Disney Cruise wedding aboard the Wish, with a ceremony in the Grand Hall and celebration at The Bayou. Jeanette did a significant amount of DIY for her wedding, and today you'll hear how she got everything on the ship! She also shares how she handled makeup and hair services, and how she and Luis were able to get photos on Castaway Cay, at sunset, and during Pirate Night fireworks by bringing their own photographer onboard. Click here to see all the photos!

Fresh off a preview sailing of the Disney Treasure, Sandy shares some of her favorite things....Start with the Grand Hall, where you are greeted by Jasmin, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp and look closely for Abu!  Meet the newest streetmosphere Sage and Coriander.  Head to the Haunted Mansion Parlor is not to be missed.  Hear about the secret drink menu.   Step into the  Skippers Society for a Hippopotomai Tai and many other classic favorites (think Trader Sam's Menu, minus the show).  Of course we share info on Jade Cricket Cafe, Heihei Cafe and Jumbeaux Sweets. Hear about the shows of the new Plaza de Coco dining and the amazing horchatas!It's time to set sail!#disneycruise #hosted #hauntedmansion #skippersociety

Hazing Alexis: The most popular sorority, GGK; hazes Alexis.by  musicankane - listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Alexis had always been popular, it came with the territory of being good looking. In high school, being a girl, being hot, was like an automatic “in” with the popular crowd. It made life really really easy. Nobody gave you shit, nobody cared what you did or how you dressed (to an extent) because everyone wanted to be friends with the hot girls. She had always been an automatic entry into that club growing up. She had often been a part of the group that decided what challenge other girls had to go through in order to join the popular group, if they weren't hot enough to be automatically in. Some of the things they made people do made Alexis glad she never had to go through it.However college was a different deal entirely. Alexis foolishly thought that she could just join whatever sorority that she wanted. A flick of her shimmering long brown hair, a little shake of her narrow waist, and boom she would be hot enough to join whatever club she wanted. But this was college and things were different here. Everything was about being fair, and frankly the other girls were just as good looking if not even better looking than her. So she wasn't about to get out of her hazing.She supposed that she could always go to another sorority and try to join them, maybe there hazing trial wouldn't be as embarrassing. But Gamma Gamma Kappa was known as the hottest Sorority on campus, by a wide margin. Having seen the girls already in place, Alexis knew that this was the place to be to get invited to the best parties with the hottest guys. So if she wanted in she was stuck with this challenge.She twirled her iPhone in her fingers, the circular mount on the back of her pink case kept it from falling, the text message from Niece the Sorority leader staring back at her on the screen. Alexis' mission was to get a picture for Jake Farrow. Jake was absolutely the last person Alexis ever would have spoken too growing up. Perhaps that's why Niece selected him personally for her little mission. Jake was the head of the campus Dungeons and Dragons club. Nerd to the ultimate degree.Alexis sat not far from Jake now, observing him as she contemplated what she was to do. He didn't look that nerdy to be fair, or even that bad. His hair was long for a guys, combed back, his glasses weren't extremely thick or made of dorky plastic. From what she could tell he was just an average guy, nothing special one way or the other, his only downside was his choice of hobbies.Again Alexis thought about her goal. She was to seduce this guy, and take a picture of her holding his…special member. She didn't have to go through with anything beyond that, but part of her felt really bad about it. She would have to lie and charm her way into his pants and then leave him hanging after she got the picture she needed. It made her wonder whether this was a haze for her or for him.She debated about it for a long time, should she go through with this, should she not? Finally, she stood up and tucked her phone into her pocket to walk across the quad toward him. Fuck it, she figured, one embarrassing and awkward moment and then it would be over. She'd be in GGK and could spend the next four years forgetting it ever happened.Jake was leaning over a drawing pad as she approached, coming up from behind him so she could see over his shoulder as to what he was drawing. Turned out he could really draw, the picture on the paper was really detailed for just a pencil drawing. It appeared to be some knight of warrior in shining armor with a sword in on hand and a shield in the other which was raised to deflect or block some sort of attack that hadn't been drawn yet.Alexis was impressed and that gave her a conversation starter to talk to him. “Wow,” she said moving around to the other side of the table so she could stand in front of him. “That looks really cool.”Jake jerked as if she had shocked him. So into his drawing that he didn't expect someone to talk to him out of the blue. His hand jerked away quickly from the paper so he didn't mess something up. He glanced up at Alexis and blinked, clearly not expecting someone like her to start a conversation with him.He turned a little red and nodded, “Uh, thanks. I'm drawing it for somebody.” He told her.She gave an impressed look to him, “Not even doing that kind of work for a class. That's pretty cool, do you draw all the time then?” She asked.He shrugged, “Not all the time, but enough to keep improving I guess.” He glanced up at her, and Alexis saw his eyes take her body in quickly though she didn't show him that she noticed. He wasn't very good at hiding his gaze, but that was fine by her she found herself glad that he enjoyed what he was looking at.“I'm Alexis by the way.” She smiled, holding her hand out to him.Jake took her hand softly and nodded, “I'm Jake.” He said slowly.“So I have a confession to make.” She said, sitting down across from him. “I didn't come here to just tell you your drawing was cool.”Jake sat back from her and gave her a weary look, as if afraid she was about to do something to him. “Okay?”She shook her head, “Don't worry it's nothing bad. It's just that I am trying to get into the drama club, but I was told that my character acting sucked.” She lied. “So I did a little googling and I came across table-top roleplaying.” Which wasn't a lie, she had googled a bit about Dungeons and Dragons in order to help herself gain Jake's trust easier. The quickest way into a nerd's pants was through his hobbies. Unlike a jock, who's quickest way into their pants was to simply ask.She brought up the Dungeons and Dragons club page on her phone and showed it to him. “Turns out you run a little roleplaying game club on campus here already and I figured that maybe I could join for a while.” She told him, “You know to play a character work on my improv skills or whatever. Then I can take that back to the drama club and actually get into a play or something.”Jake leaned forward, again his eyes roamed over her body quickly, he was really bad at trying to do it low key. “You, want to play….Dungeons and Dragons?” He asked in disbelief.“Well I'd like to learn at least. Unless you have a better suggest for me to practice Improving a character.” She suggested.Jake shrugged, “I don't. I just, I don't know, I never thought in a million years that someone as…let's just say ‘un-nerdy' as you would ever try to sign up for a game.”Alexis shrugged, “It honestly wouldn't be my first choice either. But I don't exactly have the cash to take an extra acting class off campus, this was the best free option I could find.” She gave him a pout, “Are you saying that I can't play?”Jake shook his head quickly, “No not at all. It's just surprising, that's all.” He nodded and leaned back again, probably considering this unexpected turn of events. “Alright…well do you know how to make a character?”Alexis blinked, “A what?”Jake laughed softly, “You can't play until you make a character. I'm gonna guess you don't know how huh?”Alexis frowned, “No I don't. Is that a problem?”“Not really. I can teach you that on our own. When are you free next?” He asked, glancing at his watch. “I have class in thirty minutes so I can't do it right now. But maybe this evening around five thirty or six?”Alexis nodded, “I can do six. Where?”“The club normally meets in one of the rec rooms over in Grand Hall. Room 3, I can meet you there at six and we can build you a character. It's shouldn't take more than an hour or so.” He explained.“Okay that sounds good.”“Great, oh and if you can you should go get yourself a set of dice. There is a hobby shop like three blocks from campus on Grand Street that can get you what you need.” He told her. “If you can't do it today, no big deal but you'll need them for the actual game.”Alexis promised that she would try and then said goodbye. As she turned around she saw a couple girls from GGK watching her from the other end of the quad. She sighed and made her way over to where they were standing.Jessica was a beautiful Latina, with caramel skin and flawless features. She wanted to be a model, but her parents were forcing her to get educated first. Though thanks to Instagram, Jessica was doing both. Emma was as much of a Midwest girl as one could possibly be. Blonde, blue eyes, innocent looking with a body men would kill for.Both girls smirked at Alexis as she approached. “How goes the dick hunt Alexis, got a picture of the nerd-dick for us yet?” Jessica asked.Alexis shook her head, “Not yet, I had to sign up for his club in to give myself an excuse to be around him.”The giggled, “Seriously?” Emma asked, “Why didn't you just ask to suck his dick in the bathroom or something?”Jessica nodded, “Yeah why make it more complicated that it needs to be?”Alexis frowned, “I don't know, I just don't think he is the type for that.”“Please, every guy is that type, especially when a girl like you asks.” Emma said dismissively.Again Alexis shook her head, “Somehow I don't think so. A guy like that, probably used to getting bullied and would suspect a prank. I have to warm him up to me before pulling this stunt.” Alexis moaned and hung her head, “Oh God I have to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons.”Jessica and Emma just laughed. “Tough shit girl. Get us the pic or find another Sorority.” They said and left.Alexis bit her lip and sighed, no use getting out of it. She was stuck with this, unless she gave up on GGK. No way in hell, Alexis wasn't a quitter and she certainly put other girls in High School through just as much shit as this, worse even.Begrudgingly, Alexis followed Jake's advice and went to the hobby shop he had told her about. It was a small store in the corner of a shopping center called Games, Dice, Action. The interior was much as she expected, walls of comic books, display cases filled with some kind of game singles, and then there were dice. Little boxes of dice with several different shapes.Alexis looked though the different colors for a while before a chubby man with a thick beard came up to her, “Can I help you?” he asked.Alexis glanced up and then pointed at the dice in the case. “Are those the dice I need to play D&D?” She asked.The man nodded, “They are enough to get you going yeah. One die of each side type used in the game.” He explained.“Great, can I get those pink ones?”Shortly before six Alexis was back on campus with her bag of goodies. The clerk had been nice enough to also print her out several pages that he called “character sheets” so that she would be ready to sit down and immediately start making a character with Jake. Along with a set of pink dice that had three different shades of pink in their color scheme.She actually beat Jake to the rec room and found herself an empty table near the back of the mostly empty room so set up. She laid out her sheets and took out her dice, laying them in a row based on their total number of sides, and a little mechanical pencil. While she waited for Jake to arrive she googled basic D&D character creation rules but was giving an online book with nearly 200 pages and her eyes went wide. Did she have to learn 200 pages of rules? Who the fuck would play a game that required so much work. Wasn't it just supposed to be a bunch of dorks playing pretend around a table?The door to the rec room opened and Jake walked in, holding a book under his arm. Alexis waved to get his attention and he began walking her way. “Wow,” he said, looking at the laid out paper and dice in front of her. “I gotta say, I didn't think you would go so far.” He told her, sitting across from her.She smiled and leaned toward him, purposefully giving him a glance down her top and get a good look at her cleavage. Alexis was proud of her perky just barely C-cups, and Jake took the chance to take the peek she offered. “Now why is that?” She asked teasingly. It was time to turn on the flirting. First meeting wouldn't have worked, but now that she had him mostly alone, she could start to give it to him and build not only his trust but his libido as well.Jake tore his eyes from her gapping shirt and blushed, “Look hot girls don't just ask to play D&D. It simply doesn't happen. I thought you were setting me up for a prank or something.” He explained.Alexis smiled, “I know you did. That's why I got all this stuff on my own. I want you to see I'm serious about at least giving this a try.” She gestured to her set up.Jake nodded, and set the book on the table. Alexis saw that it was the same book that the internet had proved her and the pit of her stomach dropped. Dread filled her as she began to fear all the rules he was about to dump on her.“Okay let's start by doing this….” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of scratch paper. Then he reached over and grabbed her six sided die. “Roll this four times…”And so began the process of Alexis making her first Dungeons and Dragons character. All her fear about the massive book turned out to be a waste because she ended up not needed more than like ten pages of the book in total. Jake made everything really simple and while she did roll her eyes a couple of times at the dorky terminology she found herself grasping it pretty easily.By the end of the sit down with Jake, Alexis' had her character sheet completely filled out. She had created a sneaky demon-like girl called a Trifling Rogue and named her Shadow Heartly. Working with Jake turned out to be a lot of fun, and it made Alexis forget how dorky she always thought this would be. He helped her create a back story for Shadow, together they crafted this back story of a demon born of noble blood who's demonic appearance forced her parents to give her up so she didn't hurt their reputation. Angry at being abandoned, Shadow began to steal mastering the art of pick-pocketing, before being grabbed by the thieves guild. The guild taught her to be unseen, and began using her for missions that asked her to sneak into dangerous locations. She learned to make herself valuable despite her demonic appearance.Alexis felt like she was going crazy, because she actually found herself eager to try playing Shadow in a real game. As they finished and stood up together, Alexis threw her arms around Jake and hugged him, purposefully pressing her chest tightly to his.“Thank you for this, truly.” She told him smiling as she stepped back. “I didn't think for a second it would be as interesting as you made it, but now I'm really glad I actually asked about this. I look forward to playing.” She paused and gave him a look, “When do we play?”Jake smiled, his face a little red after that hug. “I'm glad I was able to shatter your expectations. Let's see I have a new game starting with a group of players on Friday night at seven. So it's actually a perfect game for you to join in and try your hand at it.”Alexis groaned inwardly. Seven on a Friday night? Was he serious? She had a party to go to on Friday night. She didn't want to stay inside to play this game when she could be getting her party on. But she realized that she couldn't go to the party until she brought GGK what they asked for. So she smiled and nodded, “Alright Friday at seven. Where at?”“Oh we play in my dorm. I have a full ride and that came with a full sized dorm room with no roommate. So I have people come over there since its private and I have the space.” He explained.His place?Alexis grinned, it was too perfect. All she had to do was wait for the game to end and everybody to leave and Jake would be all hers. “Great!” She replied. “I'll see you then I guess.” She started to walk away, “Oh, what dorm number?”Jake smirked, “224.”“Thanks Jake. See you.” She smiled and darted off.First thing in the morning Alexis went to the sorority house and explained the situation. Niece, the sorority leader, a buxom fit girl with long black hair and haunting blue eyes, glared up at Alexis from the love seat. “I don't know what you are going through all of this for. He's a nerd and you are way out of his league, just seduce him and be done with it. Why torture yourself?”Alexis didn't have a good answer really. She explained that Jake was too nerdy for that, and he would assume she was up to something if she just tried to pounce on him right out of the gate.Niece just scoffed and gave Alexis a dismissive wave, “Oh please, look if you went to his dorm tonight wearing nothing but a sexy set of underwear or a robe with nothing underneath, there is no way in hell he turns you away. Unless he's gay, is he gay?” Niece asked questioningly.Alexis shook her head, “I gave him plenty of chances to look down my shirt today, he took them all, so I don't think that's a worry.”Niece smiled and nodded, “Great, then go get your picture. Why play games with him?”Alexis shrugged, she didn't have a good answer. Jake had been a really nice guy, and totally different than the dweeb she had expected him to be. She just couldn't bring herself to be such a bitch to him for no reason. She didn't want to just leave him with his pants down, so to speak.It was then she had a chilling thought. If she was warming him up to her, did that mean she intended to give him actual head or something? Would she go that far just for a simple dick pic? Surely that wasn't what she was prepping for? But if she wasn't then why not just take Niece's advice and go blue ball the poor guy?Alexis couldn't think of a true answer. And that worried her. She shook it off, figuring she was just horny. After all she hadn't gotten any since she and her boyfriend broke up over the summer. He didn't even want to try a long distance relationship, and frankly Alexis couldn't blame him. It had left her with an inch to scratch though. Not that she would consider scratching it with Jake. Hell no.Friday came quickly and Alexis decided to bring a couple of pizza's to Jakes dorm room for the game. It always nice to be a good guest, that's what her folks taught her, and being a good guest meant bringing snacks or drinks for whatever get-together you were going too.So there she stood at his doorstep with two hot pizza's burning into her palm. Still she stared at the door for a while. Was she really going to try this for real? To get Jake alone so she could take a picture of his ramrod? It shouldn't mean this much right? Why was she scared, the worse that could happen was she upset him and no big deal. Then again, why did she make sure to put a condom in her handbag. That probably worried her more than anything else.Finally she knocked, Jake opened the door quickly. He smiled as he saw her and the pizzas, “Hey you made it. And with pizza! Wow you are officially my new favorite.” He reached out and took the boxes from her before stepping aside to let her in. “See guys this is how you impress your DM.” He said showing off the boxes.“You mean the food or the girl?” A male voice asked inside.Jake snapped at him, “Hey you better not start. I warned you, I want Alexis to feel welcome here.”There was a fairly small circular table with four people around it. Three of them were guys that very much embodied the typical guys that Alexis always pictured playing this game. Very overweight, thick glasses, beards that seemed to encompass their heads, they were total stereotypes. Alexis felt her stomach pitch with regret coming to this whole event.The other player at the table was a girl. But much like the boys she was far from what anyone would call attractive, overweight though not nearly to the degree the boys were, no sign of make-up, limp lifeless dirty blonde hair. She smiled at Alexis and waved her over, “Welcome Alexis, Jake told us you were maybe coming, glad you could make it.”Alexis smiled, “Thanks.”“Don't be nervous, it'll be a fun night. Jake is a great storyteller. I'm Nicole.” Nicole explained, taking Alexis' apprehension as nerves. But in truth it was Alexis fighting herself to come to terms with playing this nerd game all so she could seduce Jake enough to get a picture of his schlong so that she could then take it to GGK and be allowed full membership and regain her proper status as a “popular” girl.Holy fuck was she a shallow bitch or what?The next four hours turned into one of the best nights of fun Alexis ever had. Nicole had been right, Jake was an excellent storyteller, he told a story that made her feel like she and her character where actually in this fantasy world. Shadow and the other characters around the table found themselves stuck on a sinking ship. They rolled dice as they frantically tried to find some way to fix the boat, failing that they then tried to find pieces of the boat they could use to fashion a life raft of some kind. It was through sheer luck of the rolls that the party found themselves on an uncharted island, digging through a costal cave. Deep within they found a cavern of treasure, but guarding the treasure was a Manticore a flying lion beast with a human-like face. The party battled the creature, and Alexis managed to roll well which allowed her to get the finishing blow on the creature.All of it was exciting, and surprisingly engrossing which Alexis had never expected. As her character Shadow stood over the corpse of the beast, Jake stood up at the end of the table and said, “As Shadow pulls her dagger free from the Manticore's back, in collapses under her leaving her panting in victory over the beast.” He smiled at Alexis and she would be lying if she didn't get the tingle in her belly with arousal from his look. If ever she thought a nerd could be sexy it was in that moment. “And that is where we are ending this week.” Jake said, and Alexis clapped.She leaned back and ran her fingers through her hair. “Wow that was totally different than what I expected. Way more fun too.”Jake smiled, “I'm glad you enjoyed it. You did good as Shadow too, got into character pretty well for a first timer.” He told her. “Anyway thanks for coming guys, we'll see you all next week I hope.”The group packed up and Alexis spoke to them briefly thanking them for letting her join the group and playing with them tonight, Nicole was encouraging and told Alexis that she hoped to see her next week for the game again. As the group packed up Jake began to gather up the paper plates and napkins, the remains of the pizza's they all had crushed. Alexis got up and began to help him with the clean-up.She threw the trash into the bin, helped wipe the table up and put the cups that they had used for drinks into Jake's little mini dish washer. Once the rest of the group had left Jake moved next to her and helped rinse things out. “Well tell me what you thought. Was it as unbelievably nerdy as you thought it would be?” He asked her.She recalled the way he swung his arms as he described out they reached attacked the manicure, and how he had done voices of the many characters they had met along the way. She smiled at him, “Probably the nerdiest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Unbelievably dorky.” She told him.Alexis turned to him and looked down at her hands, the nerves boiling inside of her again. “But,” she said softly before turning her gaze back up to his. “I'd be lying if I told you I didn't have an incredibly huge amount of fun either. If this is what it is like, sign me up.” She told him.Jake nodded with a smirk, “I'm really happy to hear that. Not many girls like you would give this game even the slightest chance. You were great.”Alexis blushed and leaned in to kiss him. Jake's lips were soft against hers, but a little stiff as he didn't expect her to kiss him. For a second she feared that he might be taken and she was making him cheat, but after a moment of shock Jake's hands found her hips softly and he began to kiss her back. She pressed her tongue out, tasting his lips. She felt her body react to being against his, and couldn't believe she was actually attracted to him.Jake broke the kiss lightly, taking a deep breath. “Wow that's umm…unexpected.” He chuckled. “I never thought my first kiss would be from being a good D & D player.”Alexis felt her heart burn for him. His first kiss? The poor guy hadn't ever been kissed before? He was over twenty, even as a nerd she didn't understand how that was possible. She gave him a pout, “First kiss? You've never made out with anyone before?” She asked sadly.Jake blushed and looked down before shaking his head, “No never really that popular with the ladies.”“Oh that's no good. We have to fix that.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him from the little kitchen towards his bed on the other side of the room. She smirked at him and shoved him back onto the bed, she leapt on after him, straddling his hips. She smiled and lowered herself down upon him, kissing him deeply. Her tongue pushed into his mouth to tease and play with him, her lips part as she invited him to do the same to hers. His lips were soft and wonderful to kiss, she felt like she could really enjoy doing this with him.Jake reached up to cup her face, she could feel his hands trembling as he touched her. Alexis broke the kiss and smiled down at him, “You nervous?” She asked.Jake let out a shaky breath, “Yeah, I just….wow this is incredible.”She smiled at him and rose herself on top of him, taking his hands in hers she gave him a wink. “You don't have to be nervous. It's okay.” She told her and pulled his hands to her breasts. Jake gasped as she held his palms against her chest, letting him feel the way her soft yet firm mounds dug back into his hands.“How's that?” She asked teasingly.“Incredible.” He whispered.She couldn't help but giggle, shifting herself on top of him. It was then that she felt it. Her eyes went wide, it wasn't possible, surely he had something in his pocket or something. The make out had made this poor virgin grow hard under her, she could feel his hardness pressing against her as she let her weight settle on him. But what pressed against her couldn't be possible, she wiggled on top of him gently trying to see if it was something else, but no, there was no mistaking it. The massive pressure under her was all him. Holy fuck.Jake was biting his lip and looking up at her expectantly, waiting to see what she would do next. Alexis smiled and leaning forward to kiss him again. After a moment she broke the kiss and whispered into his lips. “If you've never been kissed before, that means…you've never had a girl suck your dick then right?” She asked him playfully.He swallowed and shook his head. Alexis smiled and rose up, “Good, then this should be fun.” She shifted off of him, moving to his side. As she did so she took her phone out of her back pocket and set it on the mattress. Looking down at his crotch she could see the bulging area in his pants and her eyes couldn't believe it was real. There was a fucking monster in there.She smiled at him as she reached out to run her palm over his girth. He let out a loud breath as she did so and it brought a moan from her own lips. “Oh you poor thing, you are so big yet so trapped. This must be awful for you.” She told him.As Alexis reached for the button of his pants, Jake's hand were suddenly there to stop her. “Alexis wait.” He breathed, his desire was potent to the point where she could almost taste it on him. Slowly he pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at her. “Isn't this a little fast? I mean, I just met you the other day.”She blinked in disbelief. Was she hearing this right? Was he actually stopping her from going down on him? Never in the history of ever had she ever been stopped after getting to this point before. She knew he was excited for her, she could see the evidence of that. “What?” She asked softly.Jake frowned and sighed, “I don't know. I just never had anyone even consider this with me. I was the guy who couldn't get a date let alone…” He gestured to her hovering over his crotch, “this.”Alexis couldn't believe it. He was trying to talk her out of blowing him. He was actually considering her and her feelings. Or maybe he sensed that she had other reasons for what she was about to do, no that couldn't be right. He was just a good guy, a nerd to be sure, but a good guy and not bad looking.Smiling she crawled over to his face and gave him a gentle slap. Looking into his eyes she said, “Jake, when you give girls a good time, they like to return the favor. I had a blast tonight, and I wanted to kiss you.” She kissed him softly to accent her point. “When you told me it was your first I felt bad. So I want to do this for you, I wanna show you some fun like you've never felt before. Kinda like what you did tonight for me already.”She sat up beside him and let her hands move back to his jeans. “Besides it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just a little head, people hook up all the time for…I believe the term in D&D would be a ‘one shot'.” She gave him a knowing smile, as her fingers pulled open the fly of his pants.She snapped her fingers and pointed, “Alright tug these off.”Jake hesitated for a moment, looking at her as if still trying to decide if it was a good idea or not. Then he shifted and lifted his hips to tug his pants down, with a couple of kicks they went flying off somewhere on the floor.Alexis loomed over him and looked down at the massive lump in his briefs. “Alright now let's see the goods.” She teased, slipping her fingers into the pee-hole of the briefs and wrapping her fingers around…..Jesus what the fuck was this? A full Salami? Christ even as she wrapped her fist around him she could barely get her fingers to touch. She looked at him with wide eyes as she tugged him through the pee-hole and revealed the beast within.Alexis took a deep breath. “What the fuck dude?”Jake jerked and looked at her, “What?”“You're fucking gigantic, fuck dude look at this thing!” She cried, as her hand slowly caressed the length of him. She lowered herself and lifted his hardness before her face. It was bigger than her fucking head. “You're bigger than my fucking head man!” She gasped, her free hand reaching slowly behind her to grab the phone she had taken out.She rose up and unlocked her phone, “Hold the fuck on I have to see something here.” She handed him her phone with the camera on. “Take my picture, I'm gonna see if your dick will hide my entire face.” She dropped down and lifted him in front of her face again.Jake grimaced, “I dunno if I want to take a picture of my dick though.”“Oh come on dude, my face will be there too. I'll make sure to send it to you so you can jerk to it later.” She promised with a smile. “Please?” She then licked him, running her tongue along his entire length from base to tip. He had to be at least nine inches long, and thick as a brick. Fucking him must be like fucking an arm, she thought to herself.Her tongue upon him did the trick though as his shaft jumped with the pleasure and he grunted. Jake shook his head and aimed the phone again, snapping the picture before setting the phone down. “There.” He said panting.Alexis smiled and kissed the tip of his throbbing mushroom. “Beautiful.” She told him. “Now as I promised.” She opened her mouth and gently sucked his tip into her mouth. Jake moaned with it, his shaft pulsed warmly on her tongue. She felt her body react to it as well, after seeing his size she wanted him, she wanted to try him. But that was perhaps going too far, especially since she didn't think her condom would be of any use on this monster.So Alexis took more into her mouth, working him gently with her tongue. She kept it slow so that he wouldn't lose himself too quickly, she wanted him to enjoy this. Hell SHE wanted to enjoy this. Gone were the thoughts of shame of doing this just to be hazed, gone were the questions of her morality or ethics in doing something like this. Sure she had gotten her picture, but now she didn't have to feel bad about leaving him with blue balls because she wanted to suck him off. His size was a challenge that she wanted to tackle. Even just a few inches into her mouth and her jaw was already open wide. She couldn't take him like this, no fucking way, there was too much of him.Instead Alexis made good with what she could take, using her tongue to tease the underside of him, pulling him back to her lips so she could suckle his tip and then repeating. Jake would swell in her mouth and she would stop, instead rubbing her palm over the spit covered tip of him and using her saliva as lube to stroke him. Her gaze would go to his, enjoying the look on his face.“What do you think?” She teased.Jake struggling to catch his breath. “It's incredible.” He panted softly. “I don't know how much I can take, I'm sorry Alexis.” He warned her.Nobody that she could recall had ever warned her, they just came whenever they felt like it. She had gotten good at being able to read the signs of when her partner was about to finish, the panting, the change in movements, even the swelling of their size. Jake however was too thick for her to totally tell, she thought every throb was going to be the eruption but it wasn't.She smirked, “It's okay, I didn't expect you to have pornstar stamina baby. Don't worry I'll drink you all up.” Then her lips wrapped around him again.Her words and the return of her mouth around him must have been too much, because not a second after she had his smooth fluffy tip in her mouth did she feel his massive tool jerk almost out of her grip. Then a rush of his stuff flooded into her mouth. Alexis squealed in surprise, tightening her grip with her hands around his base, holding him as he continued to powerfully jerk in her hand. Waves of his juice pulsed into her mouth, her throat worked overtime just to keep up with all he gave her. Her eyes went wide as he passed the point where a normal guy would have been done. But Jake gave her more, and then a little more.Finally with a grunt, Jake slumped back onto the bed breathing heavily. Alexis sucked the last little bit from his tip and lifted her head taking a deep breath. “Whew!” She gasped, licking her lips a giving herself a few extra swallows to clear her throat. “Jesus not only is your dick huge but so is your load.” She exclaimed.Jake blushed, “Sorry?”She giggled, “No need to be sorry, that's intense is all. I really really want to fuck you, I just want you to know that.” She told him.Jake sat up, “What really?”Alexis frowned, “Yeah, but I can't.”Jake gave a deflated look, but Alexis grabbed his chin, “No I want to really. But I don't have a condom that will fit you Jake. I didn't expect you to have the fucking Titanic in your pants.” She explained. “So maybe we can set up a raincheck. Find some rubbers that'll fit, and then we can see if my tight little lady can handle your beast.” She smiled wide and kissed his forehead.To be continued, by  musicankane for Literotica

Hazing Alexis: The most popular sorority, GGK; hazes Alexis.by  musicankane - listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Alexis had always been popular, it came with the territory of being good looking. In high school, being a girl, being hot, was like an automatic “in” with the popular crowd. It made life really really easy. Nobody gave you shit, nobody cared what you did or how you dressed (to an extent) because everyone wanted to be friends with the hot girls. She had always been an automatic entry into that club growing up.She had often been a part of the group that decided what challenge other girls had to go through in order to join the popular group, if they weren't hot enough to be automatically in. Some of the things they made people do made Alexis glad she never had to go through it.However college was a different deal entirely. Alexis foolishly thought that she could just join whatever sorority that she wanted. A flick of her shimmering long brown hair, a little shake of her narrow waist, and boom she would be hot enough to join whatever club she wanted. But this was college and things were different here. Everything was about being fair, and frankly the other girls were just as good looking if not even better looking than her. So she wasn't about to get out of her hazing.She supposed that she could always go to another sorority and try to join them, maybe there hazing trial wouldn't be as embarrassing. But Gamma Gamma Kappa was known as the hottest Sorority on campus, by a wide margin. Having seen the girls already in place, Alexis knew that this was the place to be to get invited to the best parties with the hottest guys. So if she wanted in she was stuck with this challenge.She twirled her iPhone in her fingers, the circular mount on the back of her pink case kept it from falling, the text message from Niece the Sorority leader staring back at her on the screen. Alexis' mission was to get a picture for Jake Farrow. Jake was absolutely the last person Alexis ever would have spoken too growing up. Perhaps that's why Niece selected him personally for her little mission. Jake was the head of the campus Dungeons and Dragons club. Nerd to the ultimate degree.Alexis sat not far from Jake now, observing him as she contemplated what she was to do. He didn't look that nerdy to be fair, or even that bad. His hair was long for a guys, combed back, his glasses weren't extremely thick or made of dorky plastic. From what she could tell he was just an average guy, nothing special one way or the other, his only downside was his choice of hobbies.Again Alexis thought about her goal. She was to seduce this guy, and take a picture of her holding his…special member. She didn't have to go through with anything beyond that, but part of her felt really bad about it. She would have to lie and charm her way into his pants and then leave him hanging after she got the picture she needed. It made her wonder whether this was a haze for her or for him.She debated about it for a long time, should she go through with this, should she not? Finally, she stood up and tucked her phone into her pocket to walk across the quad toward him. Fuck it, she figured, one embarrassing and awkward moment and then it would be over. She'd be in GGK and could spend the next four years forgetting it ever happened.Jake was leaning over a drawing pad as she approached, coming up from behind him so she could see over his shoulder as to what he was drawing. Turned out he could really draw, the picture on the paper was really detailed for just a pencil drawing. It appeared to be some knight of warrior in shining armor with a sword in on hand and a shield in the other which was raised to deflect or block some sort of attack that hadn't been drawn yet.Alexis was impressed and that gave her a conversation starter to talk to him. “Wow,” she said moving around to the other side of the table so she could stand in front of him. “That looks really cool.”Jake jerked as if she had shocked him. So into his drawing that he didn't expect someone to talk to him out of the blue. His hand jerked away quickly from the paper so he didn't mess something up. He glanced up at Alexis and blinked, clearly not expecting someone like her to start a conversation with him.He turned a little red and nodded, “Uh, thanks. I'm drawing it for somebody.” He told her.She gave an impressed look to him, “Not even doing that kind of work for a class. That's pretty cool, do you draw all the time then?” She asked.He shrugged, “Not all the time, but enough to keep improving I guess.” He glanced up at her, and Alexis saw his eyes take her body in quickly though she didn't show him that she noticed. He wasn't very good at hiding his gaze, but that was fine by her she found herself glad that he enjoyed what he was looking at.“I'm Alexis by the way.” She smiled, holding her hand out to him.Jake took her hand softly and nodded, “I'm Jake.” He said slowly.“So I have a confession to make.” She said, sitting down across from him. “I didn't come here to just tell you your drawing was cool.”Jake sat back from her and gave her a weary look, as if afraid she was about to do something to him. “Okay?”She shook her head, “Don't worry it's nothing bad. It's just that I am trying to get into the drama club, but I was told that my character acting sucked.” She lied. “So I did a little googling and I came across table-top roleplaying.” Which wasn't a lie, she had googled a bit about Dungeons and Dragons in order to help herself gain Jake's trust easier. The quickest way into a nerd's pants was through his hobbies. Unlike a jock, who's quickest way into their pants was to simply ask.She brought up the Dungeons and Dragons club page on her phone and showed it to him. “Turns out you run a little roleplaying game club on campus here already and I figured that maybe I could join for a while.” She told him, “You know to play a character work on my improv skills or whatever. Then I can take that back to the drama club and actually get into a play or something.”Jake leaned forward, again his eyes roamed over her body quickly, he was really bad at trying to do it low key. “You, want to play….Dungeons and Dragons?” He asked in disbelief.“Well I'd like to learn at least. Unless you have a better suggest for me to practice Improving a character.” She suggested.Jake shrugged, “I don't. I just, I don't know, I never thought in a million years that someone as…let's just say ‘un-nerdy' as you would ever try to sign up for a game.”Alexis shrugged, “It honestly wouldn't be my first choice either. But I don't exactly have the cash to take an extra acting class off campus, this was the best free option I could find.” She gave him a pout, “Are you saying that I can't play?”Jake shook his head quickly, “No not at all. It's just surprising, that's all.” He nodded and leaned back again, probably considering this unexpected turn of events. “Alright…well do you know how to make a character?”Alexis blinked, “A what?”Jake laughed softly, “You can't play until you make a character. I'm gonna guess you don't know how huh?”Alexis frowned, “No I don't. Is that a problem?”“Not really. I can teach you that on our own. When are you free next?” He asked, glancing at his watch. “I have class in thirty minutes so I can't do it right now. But maybe this evening around five thirty or six?”Alexis nodded, “I can do six. Where?”“The club normally meets in one of the rec rooms over in Grand Hall. Room 3, I can meet you there at six and we can build you a character. It's shouldn't take more than an hour or so.” He explained.“Okay that sounds good.”“Great, oh and if you can you should go get yourself a set of dice. There is a hobby shop like three blocks from campus on Grand Street that can get you what you need.” He told her. “If you can't do it today, no big deal but you'll need them for the actual game.”Alexis promised that she would try and then said goodbye. As she turned around she saw a couple girls from GGK watching her from the other end of the quad. She sighed and made her way over to where they were standing.Jessica was a beautiful Latina, with caramel skin and flawless features. She wanted to be a model, but her parents were forcing her to get educated first. Though thanks to Instagram, Jessica was doing both. Emma was as much of a Midwest girl as one could possibly be. Blonde, blue eyes, innocent looking with a body men would kill for.Both girls smirked at Alexis as she approached. “How goes the dick hunt Alexis, got a picture of the nerd-dick for us yet?” Jessica asked.Alexis shook her head, “Not yet, I had to sign up for his club in to give myself an excuse to be around him.”The giggled, “Seriously?” Emma asked, “Why didn't you just ask to suck his dick in the bathroom or something?”Jessica nodded, “Yeah why make it more complicated that it needs to be?”Alexis frowned, “I don't know, I just don't think he is the type for that.”“Please, every guy is that type, especially when a girl like you asks.” Emma said dismissively.Again Alexis shook her head, “Somehow I don't think so. A guy like that, probably used to getting bullied and would suspect a prank. I have to warm him up to me before pulling this stunt.” Alexis moaned and hung her head, “Oh God I have to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons.”Jessica and Emma just laughed. “Tough shit girl. Get us the pic or find another Sorority.” They said and left.Alexis bit her lip and sighed, no use getting out of it. She was stuck with this, unless she gave up on GGK. No way in hell, Alexis wasn't a quitter and she certainly put other girls in High School through just as much shit as this, worse even.Begrudgingly, Alexis followed Jake's advice and went to the hobby shop he had told her about. It was a small store in the corner of a shopping center called Games, Dice, Action. The interior was much as she expected, walls of comic books, display cases filled with some kind of game singles, and then there were dice. Little boxes of dice with several different shapes.Alexis looked though the different colors for a while before a chubby man with a thick beard came up to her, “Can I help you?” he asked.Alexis glanced up and then pointed at the dice in the case. “Are those the dice I need to play D&D?” She asked.The man nodded, “They are enough to get you going yeah. One die of each side type used in the game.” He explained.“Great, can I get those pink ones?”Shortly before six Alexis was back on campus with her bag of goodies. The clerk had been nice enough to also print her out several pages that he called “character sheets” so that she would be ready to sit down and immediately start making a character with Jake. Along with a set of pink dice that had three different shades of pink in their color scheme.She actually beat Jake to the rec room and found herself an empty table near the back of the mostly empty room so set up. She laid out her sheets and took out her dice, laying them in a row based on their total number of sides, and a little mechanical pencil. While she waited for Jake to arrive she googled basic D&D character creation rules but was giving an online book with nearly 200 pages and her eyes went wide. Did she have to learn 200 pages of rules? Who the fuck would play a game that required so much work. Wasn't it just supposed to be a bunch of dorks playing pretend around a table?The door to the rec room opened and Jake walked in, holding a book under his arm. Alexis waved to get his attention and he began walking her way. “Wow,” he said, looking at the laid out paper and dice in front of her. “I gotta say, I didn't think you would go so far.” He told her, sitting across from her.She smiled and leaned toward him, purposefully giving him a glance down her top and get a good look at her cleavage. Alexis was proud of her perky just barely C-cups, and Jake took the chance to take the peek she offered. “Now why is that?” She asked teasingly. It was time to turn on the flirting. First meeting wouldn't have worked, but now that she had him mostly alone, she could start to give it to him and build not only his trust but his libido as well.Jake tore his eyes from her gapping shirt and blushed, “Look hot girls don't just ask to play D&D. It simply doesn't happen. I thought you were setting me up for a prank or something.” He explained.Alexis smiled, “I know you did. That's why I got all this stuff on my own. I want you to see I'm serious about at least giving this a try.” She gestured to her set up.Jake nodded, and set the book on the table. Alexis saw that it was the same book that the internet had proved her and the pit of her stomach dropped. Dread filled her as she began to fear all the rules he was about to dump on her.“Okay let's start by doing this….” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of scratch paper. Then he reached over and grabbed her six sided die. “Roll this four times…”And so began the process of Alexis making her first Dungeons and Dragons character. All her fear about the massive book turned out to be a waste because she ended up not needed more than like ten pages of the book in total. Jake made everything really simple and while she did roll her eyes a couple of times at the dorky terminology she found herself grasping it pretty easily.By the end of the sit down with Jake, Alexis' had her character sheet completely filled out. She had created a sneaky demon-like girl called a Trifling Rogue and named her Shadow Heartly. Working with Jake turned out to be a lot of fun, and it made Alexis forget how dorky she always thought this would be. He helped her create a back story for Shadow, together they crafted this back story of a demon born of noble blood who's demonic appearance forced her parents to give her up so she didn't hurt their reputation. Angry at being abandoned, Shadow began to steal mastering the art of pick-pocketing, before being grabbed by the thieves guild. The guild taught her to be unseen, and began using her for missions that asked her to sneak into dangerous locations. She learned to make herself valuable despite her demonic appearance.Alexis felt like she was going crazy, because she actually found herself eager to try playing Shadow in a real game. As they finished and stood up together, Alexis threw her arms around Jake and hugged him, purposefully pressing her chest tightly to his.“Thank you for this, truly.” She told him smiling as she stepped back. “I didn't think for a second it would be as interesting as you made it, but now I'm really glad I actually asked about this. I look forward to playing.” She paused and gave him a look, “When do we play?”Jake smiled, his face a little red after that hug. “I'm glad I was able to shatter your expectations. Let's see I have a new game starting with a group of players on Friday night at seven. So it's actually a perfect game for you to join in and try your hand at it.”Alexis groaned inwardly. Seven on a Friday night? Was he serious? She had a party to go to on Friday night. She didn't want to stay inside to play this game when she could be getting her party on. But she realized that she couldn't go to the party until she brought GGK what they asked for. So she smiled and nodded, “Alright Friday at seven. Where at?”“Oh we play in my dorm. I have a full ride and that came with a full sized dorm room with no roommate. So I have people come over there since its private and I have the space.” He explained.His place?Alexis grinned, it was too perfect. All she had to do was wait for the game to end and everybody to leave and Jake would be all hers. “Great!” She replied. “I'll see you then I guess.” She started to walk away, “Oh, what dorm number?”Jake smirked, “224.”“Thanks Jake. See you.” She smiled and darted off.First thing in the morning Alexis went to the sorority house and explained the situation. Niece, the sorority leader, a buxom fit girl with long black hair and haunting blue eyes, glared up at Alexis from the love seat. “I don't know what you are going through all of this for. He's a nerd and you are way out of his league, just seduce him and be done with it. Why torture yourself?”Alexis didn't have a good answer really. She explained that Jake was too nerdy for that, and he would assume she was up to something if she just tried to pounce on him right out of the gate.Niece just scoffed and gave Alexis a dismissive wave, “Oh please, look if you went to his dorm tonight wearing nothing but a sexy set of underwear or a robe with nothing underneath, there is no way in hell he turns you away. Unless he's gay, is he gay?” Niece asked questioningly.Alexis shook her head, “I gave him plenty of chances to look down my shirt today, he took them all, so I don't think that's a worry.”Niece smiled and nodded, “Great, then go get your picture. Why play games with him?”Alexis shrugged, she didn't have a good answer. Jake had been a really nice guy, and totally different than the dweeb she had expected him to be. She just couldn't bring herself to be such a bitch to him for no reason. She didn't want to just leave him with his pants down, so to speak.It was then she had a chilling thought. If she was warming him up to her, did that mean she intended to give him actual head or something? Would she go that far just for a simple dick pic? Surely that wasn't what she was prepping for? But if she wasn't then why not just take Niece's advice and go blue ball the poor guy?Alexis couldn't think of a true answer. And that worried her. She shook it off, figuring she was just horny. After all she hadn't gotten any since she and her boyfriend broke up over the summer. He didn't even want to try a long distance relationship, and frankly Alexis couldn't blame him. It had left her with an inch to scratch though. Not that she would consider scratching it with Jake. Hell no.Friday came quickly and Alexis decided to bring a couple of pizza's to Jakes dorm room for the game. It always nice to be a good guest, that's what her folks taught her, and being a good guest meant bringing snacks or drinks for whatever get-together you were going too.So there she stood at his doorstep with two hot pizza's burning into her palm. Still she stared at the door for a while. Was she really going to try this for real? To get Jake alone so she could take a picture of his ramrod? It shouldn't mean this much right? Why was she scared, the worse that could happen was she upset him and no big deal. Then again, why did she make sure to put a condom in her handbag. That probably worried her more than anything else.Finally she knocked, Jake opened the door quickly. He smiled as he saw her and the pizzas, “Hey you made it. And with pizza! Wow you are officially my new favorite.” He reached out and took the boxes from her before stepping aside to let her in. “See guys this is how you impress your DM.” He said showing off the boxes.“You mean the food or the girl?” A male voice asked inside.Jake snapped at him, “Hey you better not start. I warned you, I want Alexis to feel welcome here.”There was a fairly small circular table with four people around it. Three of them were guys that very much embodied the typical guys that Alexis always pictured playing this game. Very overweight, thick glasses, beards that seemed to encompass their heads, they were total stereotypes. Alexis felt her stomach pitch with regret coming to this whole event.The other playe

Filmmaker George Sikharulidze joins Marcus from Tbilisi, Georgia to discuss his feature film debut 'Panopticon', which is World Premiering at the prestigious 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on June 30th at The Grand Hall, and competing for the festival's top prize: the Crystal Globe. A variety of topics include the influence of Francois Truffaut's 'The 400 Blows', the importance of honesty in filmmaking, the concept of Panopticism, and the value of making the films you regret. Other topics include the experience of watching one's own film, the challenges of making a feature film compared to shorts, the value of film labs and festivals, and the difficulties of the Georgian Film Center. George emphasizes the importance of serving the story and removing oneself as a director. Short EndsThe concept of panopticism and its influence on filmmakingThe impact of Truffaut's '400 Blows' on the director's own workThe value of developing a project through film schoolThe importance of structure and honesty in filmmakingThe excitement and anxiety of premiering a film at a festival The experience of watching one's own film can vary, but the goal is to reach a point where the filmmaker can enjoy it without being overly concerned with others' opinions.Making a feature film presents different challenges compared to making shorts, such as carrying the entire story in one's head and shooting out of order.Film labs and festivals can provide valuable opportunities for filmmakers to showcase their work, meet industry professionals, and gain recognition.A director's job is to serve the story and remove themselves from the film, allowing the story to take center stage.The filmmaker has future projects in development and is motivated to continue making films.Honesty with oneself is crucial in the filmmaking process, avoiding distractions and staying true to the vision.What Movies Are You Watching?Like, subscribe and follow us on our socials @pastpresentfeature

We're delighted to announce the new host of The Country House Podcast, as well as to discuss the magnificent Hardwick Hall, Bess of Hardwick's lasting legacy. 

Disney Wish Find us on Youtube - please like and subscribe! If you're planning to visit Disney World in 2024, definitely check out our Genie+ 101 episode! Looking to plan a Disney World or Disneyland vacation? Let Joe do all the hard work for you, helping you get the best discount, at no cost to you as your travel agent. Get started by e-mailing josephcheung@travelmation.net today!  Episode Description Joe finally sailed the Disney Wish! We discuss Disney Cruise Line's soon to be second newest ship, with some tips about sailing Disney Cruise Line and some things that Joe thinks are better on the Disney Wish than on the classic ships. Plus - is it really that much more expensive to take a cruise than to visit Walt Disney World? Have you sailed the Disney Wish? Let us know by e-mailing disneydeciphered AT gmail DOT com, messaging us on Twitter, or leaving a comment on our Youtube page. You can also follow us on Instagram! Episode Notes (all timestamps are approximate) 5:52 - First impressions of the Disney Wish 7:21 - Driving to Port Canaveral 11:18 - Does the internet work now? 13:09 - Castaway Cay strategy 16:57 - Disney Wish pools 19:23 - The Wish's different layout and design 22:05 - Quick service food 23:11 - The Grand Hall 24:03 - The Wish's top notch entertainment 27:11 - A beautiful ship 29:28 - Is it worth it to sail on the Disney Wish for a three night cruise? 33:35 -  Disney dos and don'ts If we've helped you to plan your trip and you'd like to thank us we'd appreciate you considering a one time donation. Or if you'd like to receive bonus content, check out our Patreon page and our special subscriber only content! You can also support the show by buying tickets (if they're the best deal, of course) using our Undercover Tourist link or signing up for Mouse Dining through our link. If you like what you hear, please share and subscribe! Find us on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, PlayerFM, iHeartRadio, or Google Podcasts (please leave a positive review if you're enjoying the show), like our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram! Connect with Leslie @TripsWithTykes on social media and Joe @asthejoeflies.

This week, Brittany Evans shares the story of her cruise wedding aboard the Disney Wish, with a ceremony in the Grand Hall and a celebration in The Bayou. She discusses how she and Michael planned the event from Canada, including their decision to use Lovestream to live stream the wedding for friends and  family back home. And you'll hear Brittany's top tips for anyone considering a wedding or vow renewal aboard a Disney cruise! Click here to see ALL the photos!

An orientation to the obligations of Sexual Equity. In 4 parts, by oolonroosevelt. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Forward: About New Dorset. New Dorset is an island, and nation-state, in the northeast Pacific. Located 450 km southwest of the Baja California peninsula, it is the largest territory (other than Antarctica) to have no native population when first discovered by Europeans. It was first discovered in 1533 by Spanish explorers, but no Spanish presence was ever established, and it was disputed between Spain and Britain until Spain withdrew its claim in 1815. It was colonized by the British beginning in the early 1800s, and given its independence along with other British dominions in 1931. [[MORE]] New Dorset is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government, with a constitution in broad terms similar to that of the United Kingdom and many former British colonies, but governed under the unique principles of Sexual Equity. New Dorset has 8,671,074 inhabitants. and the capitol is Dorchester. The Duchies, or provinces are: Bathurst, whose capitol is also Dorchester, has 832,092. Wilmot-Horton, whose capitol is Portsmouth, has 2.046,189. Goderich, whose capitol is Poole, has 1,100,280. Deltaland, whose capitol is Stafford, has 1,195,146. Alicia, whose capitol is Taylorville, has 1,024,764. Helenia, whose capitol is Jenkins, has 1,040,141. Louisia, whose capitol is Kibblewhite, has 537,428. Beatricia, whose capitol is Packman, has 895,034. Orientation begins: Twelve women in the their twenties and thirties, dressed in pantsuits or blazers and skirts, file in to the conference room and sit around the table. At first, they talk of their journeys here to the capital; soon he discussion turns to constituency office staffing and committee assignments. Finally an older woman, about fifty, comes in, wearing a “State Service Office” badge on a lanyard. “Hello. Welcome to State Service Orientation. I'm Rebecca Upston, the Parliamentary Commissioner for State Service. Angela, who usually does new officeholder orientation, is off today, so you get me; I'm the head of the program. Thanks for coming on time. I know this seems uncomfortable and frightful for some of you, but don't worry, for almost everyone orientation, and service generally, turns out to be a good experience. Can you introduce yourselves? Just first names here. You can call me Rebecca.” They go around the room, and each says her name. Rebecca makes a point of repeating them back. “Georgia.” “Eva.” “Lucy.” “Holly.” “Bella.” “Brooke.” “Samantha.” “Jasmine.” “Sophie.” “Madison.” “Summer.” “Elizabeth.” Rebecca says, “Great. And most of you are new members of the Legislative Assembly from; which province was it, Deltaland, right? Except Sophie, who won the federal by election in MacVicar, and Lucy, who is the newest city council member in Poole. Her election was just two days ago. Thanks for coming down so quickly. “Congratulations to all of you on running for and winning office, on being chosen to represent and lead your people. What we are here for today may not seem like it has much to do with what you do in the legislature, but you'll see that it does. “I was an MP for twelve years and on my city council for four years before that, so even before this job, I did my share of state service. A lot of women come in with ideas about service that are pretty far off, so even though we provide you with written materials, we have everyone do an in-person orientation. You've all read the ‘Your Service Obligation' booklet, right?” A series of nods. “All right. Let's begin he orientation by letting me show you through your part of the selection process. Servitrixes , that's what we call women who have a service obligation, go online each month and sign up for service room assignments. By the way, in real life nobody ever calls them ‘service rooms,' they're always called ‘cribs,' except in the paperwork. Anyway, the Service Office will send you the date each month when you're eligible to select times and places. You get a different date depending on whether you're a minister, an MP, an MLA, or what. If it's available, you're allowed to choose any crib, anywhere. Usually, you'll want to pick one near where you work, but it's up to you.” She calls the web site up on the projector and goes through a sample assignment selection process. “You pick the number of appointments you need each month for your obligation. Each appointment time lasts an hour. Ten minutes at the beginning is for preparation and fifteen at the end is for clean-up, so if you have two crib assignments in a row, you'll have a twenty-five minute break in between.” “What if we forget to sign up?” asks Georgia. “Well, you can always sign up late, and be limited to whatever crib spaces are available. We'll try to accommodate you if we can. Ultimately, it's your responsibility to make sure you can fulfil your service obligation. If you don't, you can end up before the Joint Disciplinary Committee, and ultimately lose your seat. So don't do that. Sign up early, get convenient crib assignments, do your service, and then go back and run the country. That's how service is supposed to work. All the details are on the help pages online.” “OK, so that's how you'll sign up. I want to give you a a general idea about how patrons (men who receive service) sign up too. Patrons sign up on a weekly basis instead of a monthly basis, and select their preferences from the service room assignments you've chosen. They select their preferred times and servitrixes, and the system matches them up. There are a lot more men who want to receive service than servitrixes to provide it, so there's a complicated system for building the waiting list. Patrons get priority firstly on how long they've been waiting, then on whether they live in the constituency of the woman in question, and last on whether they've received any honors – lords, knights and members of the various orders of merit all have their own priority levels.” “I thought earls and lords could get service anytime they wanted,” asked Lucy. “No, just the duke of each province and the king. Nobles get some preference, but if a regular man with no honors has been waiting longer than an earl, he will get service even if the earl has to wait. Where the honors make a difference is in whether they get their first choice of servitrix. Samantha asks, "Why do we sign up monthly when men sign up weekly?” “It just works out better that way; it allows women to establish their schedules in advance, which is especially important for women like the foreign minister, who has to make sure she squeezes in her service obligation in between foreign trips. For men, it's easier to pick appointment times closer to when they'll actually go, and weekly signups allow the waiting lists to shuffle more often, which gives a sense of progress, even if the wait isn't really any different in the long run. As long as you sign up on time for your assignments, the difference won't affect you. "Oh, one other thing you should know: if a crib isn't being used, servitrixes can sign up to use it for whatever they want; either take a friend down there, or just use the lounge to take a nap or something. Perk bookings open up at the beginning of the week, after any late assignments. "Any other questions? OK, they should be ready for us in the cribs now.” Rebecca leads the women out of the conference room and into the hall. They pause in the Grand Hall on the way to the stairs. “Parliament House is a beautiful place to work. State service reminds us of our responsibility to the citizens, but the building reminds us how glorious our country is and what a privilege it is to lead it. We who work here are fortunate, especially the MPs. State service might seem like an heavy burden at times, but it's a small price to pay. I don't regret a day of it.” They descend a stairway and travel down another hall, and come to an alcove marked Service Rooms; East, where two athletic men in their twenties are standing. “Hello, Ms. Upston.” “Hello, gentlemen,” says Rebecca. “These are two of our instructors. We don't use names for our patrons, so for now we'll just call them Mr. M and Mr. V.” They exchange a round of greetings. Rebecca addresses a woman in a security uniform sitting behind a glass window in the back of the alcove. “Hi, Harper,” says Rebecca. “Harper here is our first line of security. We know you are in a vulnerable position with you don't know, so we take security very seriously at the Service Office, especially here at Parliament House. We show you this side during orientation so you can feel confident in your safety. You've all gone through body scanners to get into Parliament House. Security's even tighter down here. No man can get into the cribs until the guard gives them a key and buzzes them in. Harper, can you check in Mr. M and Mr. V?” Harper checks their IDs and then passes two plastic rings through the window, and the two men each take one. Mr. M puts the ring on a finger, then presses the ring to a badge reader next to a door; Harper presses a button and the door opens. A short hallway is visible, with another door at the other end. Rebecca says, “The door opens only when guard buzzes the doors at the same time the key is used. Every entrance and exit to the cribs is protected by a set of double doors, which can't open at the same time, so nobody can sneak through.” Mr. M leads the others through the hallway, and they find themselves in a room with a bench, a row of lockers, and a stack of what look like towels on a shelf above a hamper. There are doors marked To Exit and Washroom/Showers, and a hallway marked To Service Rooms. Rebecca says “There are twenty cribs in Parliament House: seven in the south wing, ten in the west wing, and this the smallest set, with just three. Usually all the Parliament House cribs are pretty busy. Backbench MPs usually do service in Parliament House, as do ministers of the major departments like the Foreign Ministry and Defense, since those offices don't have their own cribs. Ministers whose offices are in the North and South Executive Buildings generally use the cribs there. "This is the locker room for the east cribs. Men can't take anything into the cribs with them from the outside, anything at all. No clothes, no jewelry, nothing except their ring key. They have to take off everything and leave it here. Gentlemen, will you demonstrate?” The instructors remove their shoes, pants, and shirts and put them in lockers. Mr. V removes a gold chain from around his neck; Mr. M removes a piercing from his ear, a gold ring from his finger, and a wristwatch. All go in the lockers. Finally, they remove their underwear, and turn around, facing the officeholders totally nude except for the plastic ring keys on their fingers. Rebecca says, “Please, take a good look,” and the two instructors pause as the women examine them.. A few titters escape the women's mouths. Rebecca says, “We always get a few gigglers here at orientation. But you'll have to get used to seeing men like this. We'll talk more about that later. First, let's finish seeing security. Meanwhile, Mr. M takes one of the cloths that look like towels. "These wraps are all patrons are allowed to wear,” he says. “It's not much, but having something makes most of us more comfortable while we wait.” He puts it around his lower torso and presses it closed. “There's no pockets or anything, so you can see why the keys are made like rings; we don't have to worry about losing them. We need the ring to open our locker and get our clothes after service.” Mr. V also takes a wrap and puts it on. They continue on into the hallway marked To Waiting Room. In the hallway is another security checkpoint with a fullbody scanner, with entry and exit doors; a male security officer stands behind a glass wall. Rebecca says, “We're always extra careful. We know you're in the public eye and we don't want anything to happen to any of you. So we have another checkpoint here. Lucas here does a visual inspection, and then the scanner verifies that the man has left absolutely everything in the locker room.” The scanner door opens, Mr. M steps inside, and the door closes behind him. Lucas says, “Please remove your wrap, sir.” Mr. M does, and the guard makes a point of examining him thoroughly. “You may put it back now, sir,” says Lucas. Mr. M does so, and then Lucas operates the scanner, which is silent. “Thank you, sir,” says Lucas, and the rear scanner door opens. Mr. M goes through the door, and it closes behind him. Lucas goes through the same procedure with Mr. V. Rebecca says, “Only patrons are allowed in the waiting room, so we will be heading out now.” Bella says, “Is there something special in the waiting room that we can't see?” “Yes, actually. Official portraits. At one point, it was decided that the old practice of displaying portraits of past and present ministers and officers of Parliament was one of the honors women would renounce. Instead, it was decided that official portraits would be made in the act of giving service, and they would be displayed in the waiting rooms to help patrons get in the proper mood.” Lucy is alarmed. “But they said service was private, that nobody got to see us.” “Well, nobody gets to see except the patrons. This is why you're not allowed in there. The waiting room is highly restricted. Nobody is ever allowed in except men waiting for service. Even I've never seen any of the official portraits except my own.” Sophie says, “I'd like to know about that.” Rebecca laughs. “Maybe later. Anyway, don't worry, only ministers and a few others are required to have their portraits posted, and in any case only the men actually waiting for service can see them. We can have no expectation of privacy from our patrons. And the portraits do an important job, of helping patrons get themselves ready for what is about to happen. It's just another kind of service.” “Anyway, when the woman in the crib signals that she's ready to begin, there will be an announcement in the waiting room. The man then uses his key to access the hallway that leads to the crib, and then the crib itself. The main security office has a door to the hall, to come if you call, and the hall is also used by housekeeping staff who wipe up and change the linens after every appointment. "For now, our instructors will stay in the waiting room while we go around to the women's entrance.” Rebecca leads the women out through the locker room and a series of hallways with doors back to the service room entrance alcove. She counts the women, and says “Harper, we're all clear.” Rebeca leads the women back to the stairwell. “We actually have to go up and over to get to the women's entrances. We don't want any mistakes.” Lucy asks, “Are all cribs this secure?” “Well, mostly. No matter what, we always have separate men's and women's entrances, and there's always a guard on the men's side who makes sure patrons can't bring anything inside, monitors who enters the cribs, and who is there to help if called. But all security is stronger for our national leaders. The truth is that we've never had a problem where somebody who wasn't supposed to be in a crib tried to get in to hurt someone, not even here in the capital.” Rebecca leads them up the stairs, back through a set of hallways, and down another stairway. At the bottom, a woman in a security uniform sits at a counter, behind another glass window with a locked door. Rebecca says, “Matilda here will check your IDs and buzz you in.” Matilda checks each ID before allowing the group through another set of double doors into another hallway, this one with doors labeled E1 through E3. Rebecca says, “We're going to do most of the rest of orientation in E1, but that's an extra-large crib we use for orientations and other special occasions. Before we go there, I want to show you E2, which is a regular crib. The first room is your lounge, where you can freshen up. There's a small washroom with a toilet and shower, and an area where you can rest and change clothes. Then after that is the crib itself, which has a bed, a chair, and a stool. I'll explain that in a bit, but go on into E2 and see what it's like.” Rebecca opens the door with her badge. Each goes into E2 and looks around. The lounge has an area rug covering most of the floor, a daybed and a small clothes closet with a mirror on the door. The washroom is small but well stocked with toiletries. Next to the door to the crib is wall decoration reading “Happiness / Gratitude / Humility” and a small whiteboard marked “Today's code: 2701”. Inside the crib is a full-size bed, made up with just a fitted sheet. It's pressed up against the wall on one side, and on the other side there's a low chest of drawers. Across from it there's also a chair with a seat raised off the ground, and a very low stool in front of it. This room has a rug on the floor also. On the far wall is a door marked Men's Exit. Next to the door back to the lounge there are some pushbuttons and a keypad. After each has a look, Rebecca reaches into the E2 lounge, presses a button on the wall marked Finished, and exits the room, closing the E2 door behind her. Then she shows the officeholders into E1. The lounge here is similar, but much larger, with two couches and a large closet, and mirrors lining the walls; the washroom has a toilet and shower but also a whirlpool bath. It has the same decoration and whiteboard next to the crib door. Rebecca says, “This is the biggest crib we have, which is why we use it for orientation: there's no way this many women could fit in E2. At the same time, E2 is much more like the cribs you'll be using. This room is booked up quickly. "Now is when you will be first introduced to what State Service is really like. The first step is to change your clothes. You should remove everything: clothes, jewelry, hair bands, whatever you have on, and put on a service robe. Let me know if your robe is too long; it shouldn't go down to your knees.” She opens the closet and hands each woman a garment bag and a thigh-length, very sheer robe. Eva looks at the robe and asks, “What's the point of wearing this thing? There's not even any lace. They can see everything anyway, we might as well just be naked.” Rebecca says, “Yes, Eva, it doesn't hide anything, but that's not the point of wearing this. We provide service not only in what we do but in how we look, and not only in how we look to the men but how we look to ourselves. Nudity isn't necessarily sexy; it can be pretty ordinary. We're all nude when we take baths, or change our clothes. These robes are a reminder, partially to the men but mostly to ourselves, that we are here in their service. In here, we reveal ourselves in every way, even If we wear a robe, even if we do what usually conceals. So we're more nude than nude in these. And before you ask, yes I'll be wearing one too. Out there, I'm a Parliamentary Commissioner; when I come in here, I'm a woman providing service, like any of you. Counselors and managers in the Service Office are the only women other than elected officials who have a citizen service obligation. "So, please place your clothes in the garment bags; we'll put them in the closet.” Each of the women begins to remove her clothes and place them in the garment bag. As they do, Rebecca says, “Don't be shy about looking at each other. Servitrixes need to get used to being looked at.” Each woman puts on her very thin and sheer robe, and hangs the bag in the closet. “Sophie, your robe is a little long; can you exchange with Bella? You don't want it to get caught on your knees.” They exchange robes. Rebecca says, “We're going to do an exercise to help get in the proper mindset. This room is just large enough for you all to stand in a circle, facing each other. Please do that, and hold hands.” The twelve women stand in a circle, arms spread so they can hold hands, wearing nothing but the sheer robes, bodies completely visible; Rebecca wears the same but stands outside the circle. “OK, now I want you to close your eyes,” says Rebecca. “OK? Good. I want you to think about the path you took to get here. You were victorious in your election campaign. You won! And now you can begin the great work you set out to do when you decided to run. Be happy in your victory, and in the opportunity you have to do good. But remember the many other people who worked to get you here, who gave you their time, money, and resources, and who cheered you up when thinks looked bad and were there to celebrate with you at the end. Remember also the many people who raised you from a child and taught you what you needed to know. Be grateful to them. Also, remember that the reason you are here is because the voters chose you to be here. For all you did to get here, it was they, not you, who made the decision. And they have put their faith in you, entrusted you with power over their lives, with the responsibility to represent them to the greater commonwealth. Be humble when facing the great challenges before you and when thinking of the great trust placed in you. "Before opening your eyes, concentrate on feeling happy, grateful, and humble. "Now open your eyes. Look at the other women in the circle. Those are the other women who won their elections, who succeeded, just like you. They are happy: smile at them and see them smile back at you. And they are also grateful to those who supported them and humble before the great work in front of them. That is what women who are entrusted with leadership look like. And you are one of them. "These women are in this room, revealing themselves, baring all, more nude than nude. Look closely at them – at their heads, faces, necks, arms, breasts, nipples, bellies, hips, mounds, pussies, thighs, legs, feet. These women show all of themselves, and will hold nothing of themselves back, because that will keep faith with the people who supported and chose them. And you are one of them. "Each woman you're looking at will use her body to serve men by offering herself for their pleasure. And all are happy to do it. Smile again, and see them smile again in return. They are happy for the opportunity to prove their loyalty, grateful to the men they serve for that opportunity, and humble before the men who symbolize all those who have trusted them with leadership. And you are one of them.” Rebecca steps into the center of the circle. “For just a moment, I want you to look directly at me. You can see I'm not a young woman. Even though I take pretty good care of myself, still, my breasts sag and my belly droops. But I also am humble, and grateful, and happy to keep faith with those who entrusted me with my duties. And so I serve men. And I promise you, when I go in to give service, men aren't focused on any imperfections in my body. What men see is a woman who is prepared to give completely of herself to them, to serve them, for their pleasure. "Now I want you to let go of each other's hands, and turn to face one of the mirrors with your hands at your sides Take a good look at yourself. Some of you may be hard on yourselves, thinking you don't look as good as the others. Others of you may take pride in your appearance. But your appearance really is not important. What matters is your ability to open yourself, reveal yourself, humbly give of yourself to service. "Think about what you are when you're here. Outside this room you may be a professional, a scholar, a leader, a powerful person ready to govern the country. But in here, when you reveal yourself, uncover yourself, you're a woman, humbly serving a man by using your body to give him the pleasure he desires, in order to keep faith with your people. Remember that. Take a good look at the woman who will be serving that man. You won't ever know who the men are who come to you for pleasure, who will find fulfillment in your body: your mouth, your breasts, your ass, your pussy… It doesn't matter. He's a man, and you're a woman, and you're here to serve him, whoever he is. You are humble to have been chosen by those who sent you here, and you are grateful to have the opportunity to show that their trust is justified, and happy to be able to do that by serving that man, giving all of yourself to give him pleasure. Look at that humble, grateful, happy woman.” After a few more seconds of staring, Rebecca says “Thank you. In a minute we'll go into the crib. See the code by the door? You'll need to remember it. You type that code on the keypad inside the crib to open the door to come back here again. If you type anything else security comes.” “Ok, follow me into the crib.” To be continued in part 3, the crib, by oolonroosevelt for Literotica

An orientation to the obligations of Sexual Equity. In 4 parts, by oolonroosevelt. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Forward: About New Dorset. New Dorset is an island, and nation-state, in the northeast Pacific. Located 450 km southwest of the Baja California peninsula, it is the largest territory (other than Antarctica) to have no native population when first discovered by Europeans. It was first discovered in 1533 by Spanish explorers, but no Spanish presence was ever established, and it was disputed between Spain and Britain until Spain withdrew its claim in 1815. It was colonized by the British beginning in the early 1800s, and given its independence along with other British dominions in 1931. [[MORE]] New Dorset is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government, with a constitution in broad terms similar to that of the United Kingdom and many former British colonies, but governed under the unique principles of Sexual Equity. New Dorset has 8,671,074 inhabitants. and the capitol is Dorchester. The Duchies, or provinces are: Bathurst, whose capitol is also Dorchester, has 832,092. Wilmot-Horton, whose capitol is Portsmouth, has 2.046,189. Goderich, whose capitol is Poole, has 1,100,280. Deltaland, whose capitol is Stafford, has 1,195,146. Alicia, whose capitol is Taylorville, has 1,024,764. Helenia, whose capitol is Jenkins, has 1,040,141. Louisia, whose capitol is Kibblewhite, has 537,428. Beatricia, whose capitol is Packman, has 895,034. Orientation begins: Twelve women in the their twenties and thirties, dressed in pantsuits or blazers and skirts, file in to the conference room and sit around the table. At first, they talk of their journeys here to the capital; soon he discussion turns to constituency office staffing and committee assignments. Finally an older woman, about fifty, comes in, wearing a “State Service Office” badge on a lanyard. “Hello. Welcome to State Service Orientation. I'm Rebecca Upston, the Parliamentary Commissioner for State Service. Angela, who usually does new officeholder orientation, is off today, so you get me; I'm the head of the program. Thanks for coming on time. I know this seems uncomfortable and frightful for some of you, but don't worry, for almost everyone orientation, and service generally, turns out to be a good experience. Can you introduce yourselves? Just first names here. You can call me Rebecca.” They go around the room, and each says her name. Rebecca makes a point of repeating them back. “Georgia.” “Eva.” “Lucy.” “Holly.” “Bella.” “Brooke.” “Samantha.” “Jasmine.” “Sophie.” “Madison.” “Summer.” “Elizabeth.” Rebecca says, “Great. And most of you are new members of the Legislative Assembly from; which province was it, Deltaland, right? Except Sophie, who won the federal by election in MacVicar, and Lucy, who is the newest city council member in Poole. Her election was just two days ago. Thanks for coming down so quickly. “Congratulations to all of you on running for and winning office, on being chosen to represent and lead your people. What we are here for today may not seem like it has much to do with what you do in the legislature, but you'll see that it does. “I was an MP for twelve years and on my city council for four years before that, so even before this job, I did my share of state service. A lot of women come in with ideas about service that are pretty far off, so even though we provide you with written materials, we have everyone do an in-person orientation. You've all read the ‘Your Service Obligation' booklet, right?” A series of nods. “All right. Let's begin he orientation by letting me show you through your part of the selection process. Servitrixes , that's what we call women who have a service obligation, go online each month and sign up for service room assignments. By the way, in real life nobody ever calls them ‘service rooms,' they're always called ‘cribs,' except in the paperwork. Anyway, the Service Office will send you the date each month when you're eligible to select times and places. You get a different date depending on whether you're a minister, an MP, an MLA, or what. If it's available, you're allowed to choose any crib, anywhere. Usually, you'll want to pick one near where you work, but it's up to you.” She calls the web site up on the projector and goes through a sample assignment selection process. “You pick the number of appointments you need each month for your obligation. Each appointment time lasts an hour. Ten minutes at the beginning is for preparation and fifteen at the end is for clean-up, so if you have two crib assignments in a row, you'll have a twenty-five minute break in between.” “What if we forget to sign up?” asks Georgia. “Well, you can always sign up late, and be limited to whatever crib spaces are available. We'll try to accommodate you if we can. Ultimately, it's your responsibility to make sure you can fulfil your service obligation. If you don't, you can end up before the Joint Disciplinary Committee, and ultimately lose your seat. So don't do that. Sign up early, get convenient crib assignments, do your service, and then go back and run the country. That's how service is supposed to work. All the details are on the help pages online.” “OK, so that's how you'll sign up. I want to give you a a general idea about how patrons (men who receive service) sign up too. Patrons sign up on a weekly basis instead of a monthly basis, and select their preferences from the service room assignments you've chosen. They select their preferred times and servitrixes, and the system matches them up. There are a lot more men who want to receive service than servitrixes to provide it, so there's a complicated system for building the waiting list. Patrons get priority firstly on how long they've been waiting, then on whether they live in the constituency of the woman in question, and last on whether they've received any honors – lords, knights and members of the various orders of merit all have their own priority levels.” “I thought earls and lords could get service anytime they wanted,” asked Lucy. “No, just the duke of each province and the king. Nobles get some preference, but if a regular man with no honors has been waiting longer than an earl, he will get service even if the earl has to wait. Where the honors make a difference is in whether they get their first choice of servitrix. Samantha asks, "Why do we sign up monthly when men sign up weekly?” “It just works out better that way; it allows women to establish their schedules in advance, which is especially important for women like the foreign minister, who has to make sure she squeezes in her service obligation in between foreign trips. For men, it's easier to pick appointment times closer to when they'll actually go, and weekly signups allow the waiting lists to shuffle more often, which gives a sense of progress, even if the wait isn't really any different in the long run. As long as you sign up on time for your assignments, the difference won't affect you. "Oh, one other thing you should know: if a crib isn't being used, servitrixes can sign up to use it for whatever they want; either take a friend down there, or just use the lounge to take a nap or something. Perk bookings open up at the beginning of the week, after any late assignments. "Any other questions? OK, they should be ready for us in the cribs now.” Rebecca leads the women out of the conference room and into the hall. They pause in the Grand Hall on the way to the stairs. “Parliament House is a beautiful place to work. State service reminds us of our responsibility to the citizens, but the building reminds us how glorious our country is and what a privilege it is to lead it. We who work here are fortunate, especially the MPs. State service might seem like an heavy burden at times, but it's a small price to pay. I don't regret a day of it.” They descend a stairway and travel down another hall, and come to an alcove marked Service Rooms; East, where two athletic men in their twenties are standing. “Hello, Ms. Upston.” “Hello, gentlemen,” says Rebecca. “These are two of our instructors. We don't use names for our patrons, so for now we'll just call them Mr. M and Mr. V.” They exchange a round of greetings. Rebecca addresses a woman in a security uniform sitting behind a glass window in the back of the alcove. “Hi, Harper,” says Rebecca. “Harper here is our first line of security. We know you are in a vulnerable position with you don't know, so we take security very seriously at the Service Office, especially here at Parliament House. We show you this side during orientation so you can feel confident in your safety. You've all gone through body scanners to get into Parliament House. Security's even tighter down here. No man can get into the cribs until the guard gives them a key and buzzes them in. Harper, can you check in Mr. M and Mr. V?” Harper checks their IDs and then passes two plastic rings through the window, and the two men each take one. Mr. M puts the ring on a finger, then presses the ring to a badge reader next to a door; Harper presses a button and the door opens. A short hallway is visible, with another door at the other end. Rebecca says, “The door opens only when guard buzzes the doors at the same time the key is used. Every entrance and exit to the cribs is protected by a set of double doors, which can't open at the same time, so nobody can sneak through.” Mr. M leads the others through the hallway, and they find themselves in a room with a bench, a row of lockers, and a stack of what look like towels on a shelf above a hamper. There are doors marked To Exit and Washroom/Showers, and a hallway marked To Service Rooms. Rebecca says “There are twenty cribs in Parliament House: seven in the south wing, ten in the west wing, and this the smallest set, with just three. Usually all the Parliament House cribs are pretty busy. Backbench MPs usually do service in Parliament House, as do ministers of the major departments like the Foreign Ministry and Defense, since those offices don't have their own cribs. Ministers whose offices are in the North and South Executive Buildings generally use the cribs there. "This is the locker room for the east cribs. Men can't take anything into the cribs with them from the outside, anything at all. No clothes, no jewelry, nothing except their ring key. They have to take off everything and leave it here. Gentlemen, will you demonstrate?” The instructors remove their shoes, pants, and shirts and put them in lockers. Mr. V removes a gold chain from around his neck; Mr. M removes a piercing from his ear, a gold ring from his finger, and a wristwatch. All go in the lockers. Finally, they remove their underwear, and turn around, facing the officeholders totally nude except for the plastic ring keys on their fingers. Rebecca says, “Please, take a good look,” and the two instructors pause as the women examine them.. A few titters escape the women's mouths. Rebecca says, “We always get a few gigglers here at orientation. But you'll have to get used to seeing men like this. We'll talk more about that later. First, let's finish seeing security. Meanwhile, Mr. M takes one of the cloths that look like towels. "These wraps are all patrons are allowed to wear,” he says. “It's not much, but having something makes most of us more comfortable while we wait.” He puts it around his lower torso and presses it closed. “There's no pockets or anything, so you can see why the keys are made like rings; we don't have to worry about losing them. We need the ring to open our locker and get our clothes after service.” Mr. V also takes a wrap and puts it on. They continue on into the hallway marked To Waiting Room. In the hallway is another security checkpoint with a fullbody scanner, with entry and exit doors; a male security officer stands behind a glass wall. Rebecca says, “We're always extra careful. We know you're in the public eye and we don't want anything to happen to any of you. So we have another checkpoint here. Lucas here does a visual inspection, and then the scanner verifies that the man has left absolutely everything in the locker room.” The scanner door opens, Mr. M steps inside, and the door closes behind him. Lucas says, “Please remove your wrap, sir.” Mr. M does, and the guard makes a point of examining him thoroughly. “You may put it back now, sir,” says Lucas. Mr. M does so, and then Lucas operates the scanner, which is silent. “Thank you, sir,” says Lucas, and the rear scanner door opens. Mr. M goes through the door, and it closes behind him. Lucas goes through the same procedure with Mr. V. Rebecca says, “Only patrons are allowed in the waiting room, so we will be heading out now.” Bella says, “Is there something special in the waiting room that we can't see?” “Yes, actually. Official portraits. At one point, it was decided that the old practice of displaying portraits of past and present ministers and officers of Parliament was one of the honors women would renounce. Instead, it was decided that official portraits would be made in the act of giving service, and they would be displayed in the waiting rooms to help patrons get in the proper mood.” Lucy is alarmed. “But they said service was private, that nobody got to see us.” “Well, nobody gets to see except the patrons. This is why you're not allowed in there. The waiting room is highly restricted. Nobody is ever allowed in except men waiting for service. Even I've never seen any of the official portraits except my own.” Sophie says, “I'd like to know about that.” Rebecca laughs. “Maybe later. Anyway, don't worry, only ministers and a few others are required to have their portraits posted, and in any case only the men actually waiting for service can see them. We can have no expectation of privacy from our patrons. And the portraits do an important job, of helping patrons get themselves ready for what is about to happen. It's just another kind of service.” “Anyway, when the woman in the crib signals that she's ready to begin, there will be an announcement in the waiting room. The man then uses his key to access the hallway that leads to the crib, and then the crib itself. The main security office has a door to the hall, to come if you call, and the hall is also used by housekeeping staff who wipe up and change the linens after every appointment. "For now, our instructors will stay in the waiting room while we go around to the women's entrance.” Rebecca leads the women out through the locker room and a series of hallways with doors back to the service room entrance alcove. She counts the women, and says “Harper, we're all clear.” Rebeca leads the women back to the stairwell. “We actually have to go up and over to get to the women's entrances. We don't want any mistakes.” Lucy asks, “Are all cribs this secure?” “Well, mostly. No matter what, we always have separate men's and women's entrances, and there's always a guard on the men's side who makes sure patrons can't bring anything inside, monitors who enters the cribs, and who is there to help if called. But all security is stronger for our national leaders. The truth is that we've never had a problem where somebody who wasn't supposed to be in a crib tried to get in to hurt someone, not even here in the capital.” Rebecca leads them up the stairs, back through a set of hallways, and down another stairway. At the bottom, a woman in a security uniform sits at a counter, behind another glass window with a locked door. Rebecca says, “Matilda here will check your IDs and buzz you in.” Matilda checks each ID before allowing the group through another set of double doors into another hallway, this one with doors labeled E1 through E3. Rebecca says, “We're going to do most of the rest of orientation in E1, but that's an extra-large crib we use for orientations and other special occasions. Before we go there, I want to show you E2, which is a regular crib. The first room is your lounge, where you can freshen up. There's a small washroom with a toilet and shower, and an area where you can rest and change clothes. Then after that is the crib itself, which has a bed, a chair, and a stool. I'll explain that in a bit, but go on into E2 and see what it's like.” Rebecca opens the door with her badge. Each goes into E2 and looks around. The lounge has an area rug covering most of the floor, a daybed and a small clothes closet with a mirror on the door. The washroom is small but well stocked with toiletries. Next to the door to the crib is wall decoration reading “Happiness / Gratitude / Humility” and a small whiteboard marked “Today's code: 2701”. Inside the crib is a full-size bed, made up with just a fitted sheet. It's pressed up against the wall on one side, and on the other side there's a low chest of drawers. Across from it there's also a chair with a seat raised off the ground, and a very low stool in front of it. This room has a rug on the floor also. On the far wall is a door marked Men's Exit. Next to the door back to the lounge there are some pushbuttons and a keypad. After each has a look, Rebecca reaches into the E2 lounge, presses a button on the wall marked Finished, and exits the room, closing the E2 door behind her. Then she shows the officeholders into E1. The lounge here is similar, but much larger, with two couches and a large closet, and mirrors lining the walls; the washroom has a toilet and shower but also a whirlpool bath. It has the same decoration and whiteboard next to the crib door. Rebecca says, “This is the biggest crib we have, which is why we use it for orientation: there's no way this many women could fit in E2. At the same time, E2 is much more like the cribs you'll be using. This room is booked up quickly. "Now is when you will be first introduced to what State Service is really like. The first step is to change your clothes. You should remove everything: clothes, jewelry, hair bands, whatever you have on, and put on a service robe. Let me know if your robe is too long; it shouldn't go down to your knees.” She opens the closet and hands each woman a garment bag and a thigh-length, very sheer robe. Eva looks at the robe and asks, “What's the point of wearing this thing? There's not even any lace. They can see everything anyway, we might as well just be naked.” Rebecca says, “Yes, Eva, it doesn't hide anything, but that's not the point of wearing this. We provide service not only in what we do but in how we look, and not only in how we look to the men but how we look to ourselves. Nudity isn't necessarily sexy; it can be pretty ordinary. We're all nude when we take baths, or change our clothes. These robes are a reminder, partially to the men but mostly to ourselves, that we are here in their service. In here, we reveal ourselves in every way, even If we wear a robe, even if we do what usually conceals. So we're more nude than nude in these. And before you ask, yes I'll be wearing one too. Out there, I'm a Parliamentary Commissioner; when I come in here, I'm a woman providing service, like any of you. Counselors and managers in the Service Office are the only women other than elected officials who have a citizen service obligation. "So, please place your clothes in the garment bags; we'll put them in the closet.” Each of the women begins to remove her clothes and place them in the garment bag. As they do, Rebecca says, “Don't be shy about looking at each other. Servitrixes need to get used to being looked at.” Each woman puts on her very thin and sheer robe, and hangs the bag in the closet. “Sophie, your robe is a little long; can you exchange with Bella? You don't want it to get caught on your knees.” They exchange robes. Rebecca says, “We're going to do an exercise to help get in the proper mindset. This room is just large enough for you all to stand in a circle, facing each other. Please do that, and hold hands.” The twelve women stand in a circle, arms spread so they can hold hands, wearing nothing but the sheer robes, bodies completely visible; Rebecca wears the same but stands outside the circle. “OK, now I want you to close your eyes,” says Rebecca. “OK? Good. I want you to think about the path you took to get here. You were victorious in your election campaign. You won! And now you can begin the great work you set out to do when you decided to run. Be happy in your victory, and in the opportunity you have to do good. But remember the many other people who worked to get you here, who gave you their time, money, and resources, and who cheered you up when thinks looked bad and were there to celebrate with you at the end. Remember also the many people who raised you from a child and taught you what you needed to know. Be grateful to them. Also, remember that the reason you are here is because the voters chose you to be here. For all you did to get here, it was they, not you, who made the decision. And they have put their faith in you, entrusted you with power over their lives, with the responsibility to represent them to the greater commonwealth. Be humble when facing the great challenges before you and when thinking of the great trust placed in you. "Before opening your eyes, concentrate on feeling happy, grateful, and humble. "Now open your eyes. Look at the other women in the circle. Those are the other women who won their elections, who succeeded, just like you. They are happy: smile at them and see them smile back at you. And they are also grateful to those who supported them and humble before the great work in front of them. That is what women who are entrusted with leadership look like. And you are one of them. "These women are in this room, revealing themselves, baring all, more nude than nude. Look closely at them – at their heads, faces, necks, arms, breasts, nipples, bellies, hips, mounds, pussies, thighs, legs, feet. These women show all of themselves, and will hold nothing of themselves back, because that will keep faith with the people who supported and chose them. And you are one of them. "Each woman you're looking at will use her body to serve men by offering herself for their pleasure. And all are happy to do it. Smile again, and see them smile again in return. They are happy for the opportunity to prove their loyalty, grateful to the men they serve for that opportunity, and humble before the men who symbolize all those who have trusted them with leadership. And you are one of them.” Rebecca steps into the center of the circle. “For just a moment, I want you to look directly at me. You can see I'm not a young woman. Even though I take pretty good care of myself, still, my breasts sag and my belly droops. But I also am humble, and grateful, and happy to keep faith with those who entrusted me with my duties. And so I serve men. And I promise you, when I go in to give service, men aren't focused on any imperfections in my body. What men see is a woman who is prepared to give completely of herself to them, to serve them, for their pleasure. "Now I want you to let go of each other's hands, and turn to face one of the mirrors with your hands at your sides Take a good look at yourself. Some of you may be hard on yourselves, thinking you don't look as good as the others. Others of you may take pride in your appearance. But your appearance really is not important. What matters is your ability to open yourself, reveal yourself, humbly give of yourself to service. "Think about what you are when you're here. Outside this room you may be a professional, a scholar, a leader, a powerful person ready to govern the country. But in here, when you reveal yourself, uncover yourself, you're a woman, humbly serving a man by using your body to give him the pleasure he desires, in order to keep faith with your people. Remember that. Take a good look at the woman who will be serving that man. You won't ever know who the men are who come to you for pleasure, who will find fulfillment in your body: your mouth, your breasts, your ass, your pussy… It doesn't matter. He's a man, and you're a woman, and you're here to serve him, whoever he is. You are humble to have been chosen by those who sent you here, and you are grateful to have the opportunity to show that their trust is justified, and happy to be able to do that by serving that man, giving all of yourself to give him pleasure. Look at that humble, grateful, happy woman.” After a few more seconds of staring, Rebecca says “Thank you. In a minute we'll go into the crib. See the code by the door? You'll need to remember it. You type that code on the keypad inside the crib to open the door to come back here again. If you type anything else security comes.” “Ok, follow me into the crib.” To be continued in part 3, the crib, by oolonroosevelt for Literotica

An orientation to the obligations of Sexual Equity. In 4 parts, by oolonroosevelt. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. Forward: About New Dorset. New Dorset is an island, and nation-state, in the northeast Pacific. Located 450 km southwest of the Baja California peninsula, it is the largest territory (other than Antarctica) to have no native population when first discovered by Europeans. It was first discovered in 1533 by Spanish explorers, but no Spanish presence was ever established, and it was disputed between Spain and Britain until Spain withdrew its claim in 1815. It was colonized by the British beginning in the early 1800s, and given its independence along with other British dominions in 1931. [[MORE]] New Dorset is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government, with a constitution in broad terms similar to that of the United Kingdom and many former British colonies, but governed under the unique principles of Sexual Equity. New Dorset has 8,671,074 inhabitants. and the capitol is Dorchester. The Duchies, or provinces are: Bathurst, whose capitol is also Dorchester, has 832,092. Wilmot-Horton, whose capitol is Portsmouth, has 2.046,189. Goderich, whose capitol is Poole, has 1,100,280. Deltaland, whose capitol is Stafford, has 1,195,146. Alicia, whose capitol is Taylorville, has 1,024,764. Helenia, whose capitol is Jenkins, has 1,040,141. Louisia, whose capitol is Kibblewhite, has 537,428. Beatricia, whose capitol is Packman, has 895,034. Orientation begins: Twelve women in the their twenties and thirties, dressed in pantsuits or blazers and skirts, file in to the conference room and sit around the table. At first, they talk of their journeys here to the capital; soon he discussion turns to constituency office staffing and committee assignments. Finally an older woman, about fifty, comes in, wearing a “State Service Office” badge on a lanyard. “Hello. Welcome to State Service Orientation. I'm Rebecca Upston, the Parliamentary Commissioner for State Service. Angela, who usually does new officeholder orientation, is off today, so you get me; I'm the head of the program. Thanks for coming on time. I know this seems uncomfortable and frightful for some of you, but don't worry, for almost everyone orientation, and service generally, turns out to be a good experience. Can you introduce yourselves? Just first names here. You can call me Rebecca.” They go around the room, and each says her name. Rebecca makes a point of repeating them back. “Georgia.” “Eva.” “Lucy.” “Holly.” “Bella.” “Brooke.” “Samantha.” “Jasmine.” “Sophie.” “Madison.” “Summer.” “Elizabeth.” Rebecca says, “Great. And most of you are new members of the Legislative Assembly from; which province was it, Deltaland, right? Except Sophie, who won the federal by election in MacVicar, and Lucy, who is the newest city council member in Poole. Her election was just two days ago. Thanks for coming down so quickly. “Congratulations to all of you on running for and winning office, on being chosen to represent and lead your people. What we are here for today may not seem like it has much to do with what you do in the legislature, but you'll see that it does. “I was an MP for twelve years and on my city council for four years before that, so even before this job, I did my share of state service. A lot of women come in with ideas about service that are pretty far off, so even though we provide you with written materials, we have everyone do an in-person orientation. You've all read the ‘Your Service Obligation' booklet, right?” A series of nods. “All right. Let's begin he orientation by letting me show you through your part of the selection process. Servitrixes , that's what we call women who have a service obligation, go online each month and sign up for service room assignments. By the way, in real life nobody ever calls them ‘service rooms,' they're always called ‘cribs,' except in the paperwork. Anyway, the Service Office will send you the date each month when you're eligible to select times and places. You get a different date depending on whether you're a minister, an MP, an MLA, or what. If it's available, you're allowed to choose any crib, anywhere. Usually, you'll want to pick one near where you work, but it's up to you.” She calls the web site up on the projector and goes through a sample assignment selection process. “You pick the number of appointments you need each month for your obligation. Each appointment time lasts an hour. Ten minutes at the beginning is for preparation and fifteen at the end is for clean-up, so if you have two crib assignments in a row, you'll have a twenty-five minute break in between.” “What if we forget to sign up?” asks Georgia. “Well, you can always sign up late, and be limited to whatever crib spaces are available. We'll try to accommodate you if we can. Ultimately, it's your responsibility to make sure you can fulfil your service obligation. If you don't, you can end up before the Joint Disciplinary Committee, and ultimately lose your seat. So don't do that. Sign up early, get convenient crib assignments, do your service, and then go back and run the country. That's how service is supposed to work. All the details are on the help pages online.” “OK, so that's how you'll sign up. I want to give you a a general idea about how patrons (men who receive service) sign up too. Patrons sign up on a weekly basis instead of a monthly basis, and select their preferences from the service room assignments you've chosen. They select their preferred times and servitrixes, and the system matches them up. There are a lot more men who want to receive service than servitrixes to provide it, so there's a complicated system for building the waiting list. Patrons get priority firstly on how long they've been waiting, then on whether they live in the constituency of the woman in question, and last on whether they've received any honors – lords, knights and members of the various orders of merit all have their own priority levels.” “I thought earls and lords could get service anytime they wanted,” asked Lucy. “No, just the duke of each province and the king. Nobles get some preference, but if a regular man with no honors has been waiting longer than an earl, he will get service even if the earl has to wait. Where the honors make a difference is in whether they get their first choice of servitrix. Samantha asks, "Why do we sign up monthly when men sign up weekly?” “It just works out better that way; it allows women to establish their schedules in advance, which is especially important for women like the foreign minister, who has to make sure she squeezes in her service obligation in between foreign trips. For men, it's easier to pick appointment times closer to when they'll actually go, and weekly signups allow the waiting lists to shuffle more often, which gives a sense of progress, even if the wait isn't really any different in the long run. As long as you sign up on time for your assignments, the difference won't affect you. "Oh, one other thing you should know: if a crib isn't being used, servitrixes can sign up to use it for whatever they want; either take a friend down there, or just use the lounge to take a nap or something. Perk bookings open up at the beginning of the week, after any late assignments. "Any other questions? OK, they should be ready for us in the cribs now.” Rebecca leads the women out of the conference room and into the hall. They pause in the Grand Hall on the way to the stairs. “Parliament House is a beautiful place to work. State service reminds us of our responsibility to the citizens, but the building reminds us how glorious our country is and what a privilege it is to lead it. We who work here are fortunate, especially the MPs. State service might seem like an heavy burden at times, but it's a small price to pay. I don't regret a day of it.” They descend a stairway and travel down another hall, and come to an alcove marked Service Rooms; East, where two athletic men in their twenties are standing. “Hello, Ms. Upston.” “Hello, gentlemen,” says Rebecca. “These are two of our instructors. We don't use names for our patrons, so for now we'll just call them Mr. M and Mr. V.” They exchange a round of greetings. Rebecca addresses a woman in a security uniform sitting behind a glass window in the back of the alcove. “Hi, Harper,” says Rebecca. “Harper here is our first line of security. We know you are in a vulnerable position with you don't know, so we take security very seriously at the Service Office, especially here at Parliament House. We show you this side during orientation so you can feel confident in your safety. You've all gone through body scanners to get into Parliament House. Security's even tighter down here. No man can get into the cribs until the guard gives them a key and buzzes them in. Harper, can you check in Mr. M and Mr. V?” Harper checks their IDs and then passes two plastic rings through the window, and the two men each take one. Mr. M puts the ring on a finger, then presses the ring to a badge reader next to a door; Harper presses a button and the door opens. A short hallway is visible, with another door at the other end. Rebecca says, “The door opens only when guard buzzes the doors at the same time the key is used. Every entrance and exit to the cribs is protected by a set of double doors, which can't open at the same time, so nobody can sneak through.” Mr. M leads the others through the hallway, and they find themselves in a room with a bench, a row of lockers, and a stack of what look like towels on a shelf above a hamper. There are doors marked To Exit and Washroom/Showers, and a hallway marked To Service Rooms. Rebecca says “There are twenty cribs in Parliament House: seven in the south wing, ten in the west wing, and this the smallest set, with just three. Usually all the Parliament House cribs are pretty busy. Backbench MPs usually do service in Parliament House, as do ministers of the major departments like the Foreign Ministry and Defense, since those offices don't have their own cribs. Ministers whose offices are in the North and South Executive Buildings generally use the cribs there. "This is the locker room for the east cribs. Men can't take anything into the cribs with them from the outside, anything at all. No clothes, no jewelry, nothing except their ring key. They have to take off everything and leave it here. Gentlemen, will you demonstrate?” The instructors remove their shoes, pants, and shirts and put them in lockers. Mr. V removes a gold chain from around his neck; Mr. M removes a piercing from his ear, a gold ring from his finger, and a wristwatch. All go in the lockers. Finally, they remove their underwear, and turn around, facing the officeholders totally nude except for the plastic ring keys on their fingers. Rebecca says, “Please, take a good look,” and the two instructors pause as the women examine them.. A few titters escape the women's mouths. Rebecca says, “We always get a few gigglers here at orientation. But you'll have to get used to seeing men like this. We'll talk more about that later. First, let's finish seeing security. Meanwhile, Mr. M takes one of the cloths that look like towels. "These wraps are all patrons are allowed to wear,” he says. “It's not much, but having something makes most of us more comfortable while we wait.” He puts it around his lower torso and presses it closed. “There's no pockets or anything, so you can see why the keys are made like rings; we don't have to worry about losing them. We need the ring to open our locker and get our clothes after service.” Mr. V also takes a wrap and puts it on. They continue on into the hallway marked To Waiting Room. In the hallway is another security checkpoint with a fullbody scanner, with entry and exit doors; a male security officer stands behind a glass wall. Rebecca says, “We're always extra careful. We know you're in the public eye and we don't want anything to happen to any of you. So we have another checkpoint here. Lucas here does a visual inspection, and then the scanner verifies that the man has left absolutely everything in the locker room.” The scanner door opens, Mr. M steps inside, and the door closes behind him. Lucas says, “Please remove your wrap, sir.” Mr. M does, and the guard makes a point of examining him thoroughly. “You may put it back now, sir,” says Lucas. Mr. M does so, and then Lucas operates the scanner, which is silent. “Thank you, sir,” says Lucas, and the rear scanner door opens. Mr. M goes through the door, and it closes behind him. Lucas goes through the same procedure with Mr. V. Rebecca says, “Only patrons are allowed in the waiting room, so we will be heading out now.” Bella says, “Is there something special in the waiting room that we can't see?” “Yes, actually. Official portraits. At one point, it was decided that the old practice of displaying portraits of past and present ministers and officers of Parliament was one of the honors women would renounce. Instead, it was decided that official portraits would be made in the act of giving service, and they would be displayed in the waiting rooms to help patrons get in the proper mood.” Lucy is alarmed. “But they said service was private, that nobody got to see us.” “Well, nobody gets to see except the patrons. This is why you're not allowed in there. The waiting room is highly restricted. Nobody is ever allowed in except men waiting for service. Even I've never seen any of the official portraits except my own.” Sophie says, “I'd like to know about that.” Rebecca laughs. “Maybe later. Anyway, don't worry, only ministers and a few others are required to have their portraits posted, and in any case only the men actually waiting for service can see them. We can have no expectation of privacy from our patrons. And the portraits do an important job, of helping patrons get themselves ready for what is about to happen. It's just another kind of service.” “Anyway, when the woman in the crib signals that she's ready to begin, there will be an announcement in the waiting room. The man then uses his key to access the hallway that leads to the crib, and then the crib itself. The main security office has a door to the hall, to come if you call, and the hall is also used by housekeeping staff who wipe up and change the linens after every appointment. "For now, our instructors will stay in the waiting room while we go around to the women's entrance.” Rebecca leads the women out through the locker room and a series of hallways with doors back to the service room entrance alcove. She counts the women, and says “Harper, we're all clear.” Rebeca leads the women back to the stairwell. “We actually have to go up and over to get to the women's entrances. We don't want any mistakes.” Lucy asks, “Are all cribs this secure?” “Well, mostly. No matter what, we always have separate men's and women's entrances, and there's always a guard on the men's side who makes sure patrons can't bring anything inside, monitors who enters the cribs, and who is there to help if called. But all security is stronger for our national leaders. The truth is that we've never had a problem where somebody who wasn't supposed to be in a crib tried to get in to hurt someone, not even here in the capital.” Rebecca leads them up the stairs, back through a set of hallways, and down another stairway. At the bottom, a woman in a security uniform sits at a counter, behind another glass window with a locked door. Rebecca says, “Matilda here will check your IDs and buzz you in.” Matilda checks each ID before allowing the group through another set of double doors into another hallway, this one with doors labeled E1 through E3. Rebecca says, “We're going to do most of the rest of orientation in E1, but that's an extra-large crib we use for orientations and other special occasions. Before we go there, I want to show you E2, which is a regular crib. The first room is your lounge, where you can freshen up. There's a small washroom with a toilet and shower, and an area where you can rest and change clothes. Then after that is the crib itself, which has a bed, a chair, and a stool. I'll explain that in a bit, but go on into E2 and see what it's like.” Rebecca opens the door with her badge. Each goes into E2 and looks around. The lounge has an area rug covering most of the floor, a daybed and a small clothes closet with a mirror on the door. The washroom is small but well stocked with toiletries. Next to the door to the crib is wall decoration reading “Happiness / Gratitude / Humility” and a small whiteboard marked “Today's code: 2701”. Inside the crib is a full-size bed, made up with just a fitted sheet. It's pressed up against the wall on one side, and on the other side there's a low chest of drawers. Across from it there's also a chair with a seat raised off the ground, and a very low stool in front of it. This room has a rug on the floor also. On the far wall is a door marked Men's Exit. Next to the door back to the lounge there are some pushbuttons and a keypad. After each has a look, Rebecca reaches into the E2 lounge, presses a button on the wall marked Finished, and exits the room, closing the E2 door behind her. Then she shows the officeholders into E1. The lounge here is similar, but much larger, with two couches and a large closet, and mirrors lining the walls; the washroom has a toilet and shower but also a whirlpool bath. It has the same decoration and whiteboard next to the crib door. Rebecca says, “This is the biggest crib we have, which is why we use it for orientation: there's no way this many women could fit in E2. At the same time, E2 is much more like the cribs you'll be using. This room is booked up quickly. "Now is when you will be first introduced to what State Service is really like. The first step is to change your clothes. You should remove everything: clothes, jewelry, hair bands, whatever you have on, and put on a service robe. Let me know if your robe is too long; it shouldn't go down to your knees.” She opens the closet and hands each woman a garment bag and a thigh-length, very sheer robe. Eva looks at the robe and asks, “What's the point of wearing this thing? There's not even any lace. They can see everything anyway, we might as well just be naked.” Rebecca says, “Yes, Eva, it doesn't hide anything, but that's not the point of wearing this. We provide service not only in what we do but in how we look, and not only in how we look to the men but how we look to ourselves. Nudity isn't necessarily sexy; it can be pretty ordinary. We're all nude when we take baths, or change our clothes. These robes are a reminder, partially to the men but mostly to ourselves, that we are here in their service. In here, we reveal ourselves in every way, even If we wear a robe, even if we do what usually conceals. So we're more nude than nude in these. And before you ask, yes I'll be wearing one too. Out there, I'm a Parliamentary Commissioner; when I come in here, I'm a woman providing service, like any of you. Counselors and managers in the Service Office are the only women other than elected officials who have a citizen service obligation. "So, please place your clothes in the garment bags; we'll put them in the closet.” Each of the women begins to remove her clothes and place them in the garment bag. As they do, Rebecca says, “Don't be shy about looking at each other. Servitrixes need to get used to being looked at.” Each woman puts on her very thin and sheer robe, and hangs the bag in the closet. “Sophie, your robe is a little long; can you exchange with Bella? You don't want it to get caught on your knees.” They exchange robes. Rebecca says, “We're going to do an exercise to help get in the proper mindset. This room is just large enough for you all to stand in a circle, facing each other. Please do that, and hold hands.” The twelve women stand in a circle, arms spread so they can hold hands, wearing nothing but the sheer robes, bodies completely visible; Rebecca wears the same but stands outside the circle. “OK, now I want you to close your eyes,” says Rebecca. “OK? Good. I want you to think about the path you took to get here. You were victorious in your election campaign. You won! And now you can begin the great work you set out to do when you decided to run. Be happy in your victory, and in the opportunity you have to do good. But remember the many other people who worked to get you here, who gave you their time, money, and resources, and who cheered you up when thinks looked bad and were there to celebrate with you at the end. Remember also the many people who raised you from a child and taught you what you needed to know. Be grateful to them. Also, remember that the reason you are here is because the voters chose you to be here. For all you did to get here, it was they, not you, who made the decision. And they have put their faith in you, entrusted you with power over their lives, with the responsibility to represent them to the greater commonwealth. Be humble when facing the great challenges before you and when thinking of the great trust placed in you. "Before opening your eyes, concentrate on feeling happy, grateful, and humble. "Now open your eyes. Look at the other women in the circle. Those are the other women who won their elections, who succeeded, just like you. They are happy: smile at them and see them smile back at you. And they are also grateful to those who supported them and humble before the great work in front of them. That is what women who are entrusted with leadership look like. And you are one of them. "These women are in this room, revealing themselves, baring all, more nude than nude. Look closely at them – at their heads, faces, necks, arms, breasts, nipples, bellies, hips, mounds, pussies, thighs, legs, feet. These women show all of themselves, and will hold nothing of themselves back, because that will keep faith with the people who supported and chose them. And you are one of them. "Each woman you're looking at will use her body to serve men by offering herself for their pleasure. And all are happy to do it. Smile again, and see them smile again in return. They are happy for the opportunity to prove their loyalty, grateful to the men they serve for that opportunity, and humble before the men who symbolize all those who have trusted them with leadership. And you are one of them.” Rebecca steps into the center of the circle. “For just a moment, I want you to look directly at me. You can see I'm not a young woman. Even though I take pretty good care of myself, still, my breasts sag and my belly droops. But I also am humble, and grateful, and happy to keep faith with those who entrusted me with my duties. And so I serve men. And I promise you, when I go in to give service, men aren't focused on any imperfections in my body. What men see is a woman who is prepared to give completely of herself to them, to serve them, for their pleasure. "Now I want you to let go of each other's hands, and turn to face one of the mirrors with your hands at your sides Take a good look at yourself. Some of you may be hard on yourselves, thinking you don't look as good as the others. Others of you may take pride in your appearance. But your appearance really is not important. What matters is your ability to open yourself, reveal yourself, humbly give of yourself to service. "Think about what you are when you're here. Outside this room you may be a professional, a scholar, a leader, a powerful person ready to govern the country. But in here, when you reveal yourself, uncover yourself, you're a woman, humbly serving a man by using your body to give him the pleasure he desires, in order to keep faith with your people. Remember that. Take a good look at the woman who will be serving that man. You won't ever know who the men are who come to you for pleasure, who will find fulfillment in your body: your mouth, your breasts, your ass, your pussy… It doesn't matter. He's a man, and you're a woman, and you're here to serve him, whoever he is. You are humble to have been chosen by those who sent you here, and you are grateful to have the opportunity to show that their trust is justified, and happy to be able to do that by serving that man, giving all of yourself to give him pleasure. Look at that humble, grateful, happy woman.” After a few more seconds of staring, Rebecca says “Thank you. In a minute we'll go into the crib. See the code by the door? You'll need to remember it. You type that code on the keypad inside the crib to open the door to come back here again. If you type anything else security comes.” “Ok, follow me into the crib.” To be continued in part 3, the crib, by oolonroosevelt for Literotica

Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player.  Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium

With Stewart Howden and Guests Mike Jones of Antique Auto Club and Dave Hutchison also of AAC plus Ragtops & Roadsters restoration.

Andrew Armstrong is a pianist who has performed for audiences all over the world, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, London's Wigmore Hall, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw's National Philharmonic. He has performed with conductors including as Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Günther Herbig, Stefan Sanderling, Jean-Marie Zeitouni and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and has appeared in solo recitals and in chamber music concerts with a bunch of Quartets and as a member of the Caramoor Virtuosi, Boston Chamber Music Society, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players.

In s3e40, Platemark host Ann Shafer talks with Luther Davis, master printer and director of Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn. This is a two-parter. For this interview, Platemark collaborated with its sister podcast Hello, Print Friend. Miranda Metcalf, Hello, Print Friend's host and creator interviewed Luther about his background and early career; Ann Shafer spoke with Luther about the present and future at Powerhouse Arts, a new non-profit arts center in a renovated transit power station on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. Both Hello, Print Friend and Platemark's episodes will be available on both podcast channels. Luther has been in the biz for a long time and has great stories about the printing industry in Brooklyn. We talk about industrial printing and ask what the differences are between "art" and everything else. We talk about how important accessible shops are for artists to fabricate large projects (in addition to a print shop, Powerhouse has a ceramics studio, and a large sculpture fabrication shop). We talk about the state of print publishing today.   Luther has brought his prodigious experience to bear at Powerhouse Arts, a fairly new player in the field. He is taking the reigns of the Print Shop and running with it. Episode image: Dana Zinsser. Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. Pulled in Brooklyn, exhibition curated by Roberta Waddell and Samantha Rippner. IPCNY, April 4–June 15, 2019. Industrial map of New York City showing manufacturing industries. New York Public Library. Printing industries are marked in orange. Grand Hall, Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn. Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. Inaugural artist-in-residence Ivan Forde working at Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. Jasper Johns (American, born 1930). Leo from The Leo Castelli 90th Birthday Portfolio, 1997. Color etching. Plate: 17 11/16 × 11 13/16 in. (45 × 30 cm.); sheet: 36 13/16 × 27 in. (93.5 × 68.6 cm.). Published by Jean-Christoph Castelli; printed by Noblet Serigraphie. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Ed Ruscha (American, born 1937). News from the portfolio News, Mews, Pews, Brews, Stews & Dues, 1970. Screenprint. Image: 18 1/16 x 27 1/16 in. (45.8 x 68.8 cm.); sheet: 23 1/16 x 31 7/8 in. (58.6 x 81 cm.). Published by Editions Alecto; printed by Alecto Studios. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Peacock Visual Arts' Risograph color chart. Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. Printer Zaire Anderson coating screens for Avram Finkelstein's Who Died. Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. With backs turned, left: Chris Kinsler; right: Dennis Hrehowsik. Facing camera, left: Zaire Anderson; right: Dana Zinsser. Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. Nellie Davis and Kyle Goen working on his giant rainbow roll at Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. Printer John Bartolo working on a screenprint by Aziz and Cucher at Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, Brooklyn. Donald Baechler installation shot. Galerie Forsblom, 2014. Kara Walker (American, born 1969). The Emancipation Approximation, 1999–2000. Portfolio of 26 screenprints. Sheet (each): 45 3/4 x 45 3/4 in (116.2 x 116.2 cm.). Published by Sikkema Jenkins Editions; printed by Jean Yves Noblet. Phillips Auctions, New York. Fourth Estate www.fourthestate.com Alex Dodge (American, born 1977). Unread Messages, 2017. Screenprint. 20 x 30 in. Haystack Editions.   USEFUL LINKS Poster House www.posterhouse.org Jungle Press Editions www.junglepress.com Avant Arte www.avantearte.com Radix Media & Graphics NY Printing & Graphics www.nyprintinggraphics.com Du-Good Press www.du-goodpress.com Carousel's Press www.carouselpress.com Kayrock Screenprinting www.shop.kayrock.org Bushwick Print Lab www.bushwickprintlab.org Ulano Corp. www.ulano.com KIWO Inc. www.kiwo.com Guerra Paint & Pigment www.guerrapaint.com Labor statistics on fine artists from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes271013.htm#nat  

This week, Brooke Husic and Sid Sivakumar visit the studio to drop the big news of the week — the Lollapuzzoola constructor lineup! Ryan's also got a new favorite sandwich, plus at least one viewer doesn't have rabies. If you haven't clicked Lollapuzzoola yet, you should do that. If you get bored (how could you?!), write something for the Fill Me In wiki. And if you're feeling philanthropic, donate to our Patreon. Do you enjoy our show? Actually, it doesn't matter! Please consider leaving us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. This will help new listeners find our show, and you'll be inducted into the Quintuple Decker Turkey Club. Drop us a note or a Tweet or a postcard or a phone call — we'd love to hear from you. Helpful links: Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fill-me-in/id1364379980 Google Play link: https://player.fm/series/fill-me-in-2151002 Amazon/Audible link: https://www.amazon.com/item_name/dp/B08JJRM927 RSS feed: http://bemoresmarter.libsyn.com/rss Contact us: Email (fmi@bemoresmarter.com) / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Google Voice (315-510-9892) We're putting these words here to help with search engine optimization. We don't think it will work, but you probably haven't read this far, so it doesn't matter: baseball, crossword, crosswords, etymology, game, hunt, kealoa, movies, musicals, mystery, oscar, pizza, puzzle, puzzles, sandwiches, soup, trivia, words

On this episode of Ruff Talk VR our hosts review Cosmonious High! The much requested conclusion of our Owlchemy Labs trifecta, this game takes everything Owlchemy learned and made in their first two games - Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator - and pump them up to the max. A brand new universe than their first games, this game has you play as Prismi a new student at Cosmonious High who has crash landed into the school malfunctioning on your first day.  Explore Cosmonious High, meet the students, earn credits, and bring the school back to normal in this game that shows the full potential of VR intractability. Listen for our full thoughts and rating!*We received free game keys for this review however we did not receive any other compensation*Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rufftalkvrIf you enjoy the podcast be sure to rate us 5 stars and subscribe!Discord: https://discord.gg/9JTdCccucSThis podcast was sponsored by Kiwi Design - the premier company for Oculus Quest accessories. Visit our affiliate link below to shop for your VR accessories including knuckle straps, lens protectors, head straps, link cables, and more while also supporting the podcast!Affiliate Link: https://www.kiwidesign.com/?ref=RuffTalkVRGet 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code RUFFTALKVR at MANSCAPED.com!Cosmonious High Store Link: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/4554248281328321/Store Description:From the creators of award winning titles 'Job Simulator' and 'Vacation Simulator', comes a new original creation—the comically catastrophic Cosmonious High!Welcome to your alien high school that's definitely completely free of malfunctions! After crash-landing into your first day, you'll unlock powers, explore the halls, and save the school from cosmic chaos.New update: adds Blind and Low Vision Accessibility features that allow players to receive game information through audio descriptions using Text To Speech (TTS). Vision Assistance Mode allows high contrast and object-highlighting outlines for players with low vision.Living Characters - High five, fist bump, and converse with a quirky cast. Experience the latest in VR interactions with dynamic characters that respond to natural gestures.Powerful World - The entire school is a big interactive playground for your alien powers. Extinguish fires, resize anything, and create crystal sculptures!Unprecedented Exploration - Explore the biggest space Owlchemy Labs has ever built! Hang with your friends in the Grand Hall, perform experiments in Chemosophy, and get creative in Visualetics.Gorgeous Visuals - Enjoy the vibrant, colorful world of Cosmonious High in an art style that's fun, unique, and playful!*We are paid a commission through affiliate links to help support the podcast on the Kiwi link abovePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/rufftalkvr Support the show

It would be too simplified an explanation for the motivation of Adolf Hitler to merely state that he desired conquest and power. Nazi Germany, including the lands to which its power reached, was to be a society unlike any other. Purged of those with attributes deemed undesirable in his new order, the new German people would be pure and united in their goal of achieving their country's destiny; to become the greatest nation on Earth. Technologically. Militarily. Scientifically. Germany was to be the envy of all, untouchable by the old foreign powers who would squabble for the scraps left in its wake as Hitler's hand as leader - the Fuhrer - stretched across the globe to every continent. At the heart of this new Germany would be its capital. Berlin, which was to be renamed Germania, would become the most developed and prosperous city not just in the world but in all of history, its magnificence leaving the famed capitals of empires of old such as Rome and Athens a mere shadow in comparison. And dominating this new supercity would be the immense Grand Hall or Hall of the People. Conceived of by Hitler and designed by Albert Speer, this immense, domed structure would dwarf any that was in existence at that time, aptly demonstrating Nazi Germany's power and capability. Being able to seat 180,000 Nazi German citizens, it would be 16 times larger than St. Peter's Basilica in Rome whose design it aped and would be filled with devoted followers all of whom would come to see the Fuhrer in person and hear him speak of the bright future for the Third Reich, a reich which Hitler promised would last a thousand years. And yet just twelve years after Hitler came to power, that dream of the greatest city in history was smashed under the tracks of Soviet T-34 tanks, the Nazi leadership having to recruit children and the elderly to try and stave off the Red Army that had encircled the city which already had been battered by Allied bombing raids for five years, looking to deliver the death blow to the Nazi tyranny. 

The most popular sorority, GGK; hazes Alexis. - listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories Alexis had always been popular, it came with the territory of being good looking. In high school, being a girl, being hot, was like an automatic “in” with the popular crowd. It made life really really easy. Nobody gave you shit, nobody cared what you did or how you dressed (to an extent) because everyone wanted to be friends with the hot girls. She had always been an automatic entry into that club growing up. She had often been a part of the group that decided what challenge other girls had to go through in order to join the popular group, if they weren't hot enough to be automatically in. Some of the things they made people do made Alexis glad she never had to go through it. [[MORE]] However college was a different deal entirely. Alexis foolishly thought that she could just join whatever sorority that she wanted. A flick of her shimmering long brown hair, a little shake of her narrow waist, and boom she would be hot enough to join whatever club she wanted. But this was college and things were different here. Everything was about being fair, and frankly the other girls were just as good looking if not even better looking than her. So she wasn't about to get out of her hazing. She supposed that she could always go to another sorority and try to join them, maybe there hazing trial wouldn't be as embarrassing. But Gamma Gamma Kappa was known as the hottest Sorority on campus, by a wide margin. Having seen the girls already in place, Alexis knew that this was the place to be to get invited to the best parties with the hottest guys. So if she wanted in she was stuck with this challenge. She twirled her iPhone in her fingers, the circular mount on the back of her pink case kept it from falling, the text message from Niece the Sorority leader staring back at her on the screen. Alexis' mission was to get a picture for Jake Farrow. Jake was absolutely the last person Alexis ever would have spoken too growing up. Perhaps that's why Niece selected him personally for her little mission. Jake was the head of the campus Dungeons and Dragons club. Nerd to the ultimate degree. Alexis sat not far from Jake now, observing him as she contemplated what she was to do. He didn't look that nerdy to be fair, or even that bad. His hair was long for a guys, combed back, his glasses weren't extremely thick or made of dorky plastic. From what she could tell he was just an average guy, nothing special one way or the other, his only downside was his choice of hobbies. Again Alexis thought about her goal. She was to seduce this guy, and take a picture of her holding his…special member. She didn't have to go through with anything beyond that, but part of her felt really bad about it. She would have to lie and charm her way into his pants and then leave him hanging after she got the picture she needed. It made her wonder whether this was a haze for her or for him. She debated about it for a long time, should she go through with this, should she not? Finally, she stood up and tucked her phone into her pocket to walk across the quad toward him. Fuck it, she figured, one embarrassing and awkward moment and then it would be over. She'd be in GGK and could spend the next four years forgetting it ever happened. Jake was leaning over a drawing pad as she approached, coming up from behind him so she could see over his shoulder as to what he was drawing. Turned out he could really draw, the picture on the paper was really detailed for just a pencil drawing. It appeared to be some knight of warrior in shining armor with a sword in on hand and a shield in the other which was raised to deflect or block some sort of attack that hadn't been drawn yet. Alexis was impressed and that gave her a conversation starter to talk to him. “Wow,” she said moving around to the other side of the table so she could stand in front of him. “That looks really cool.” Jake jerked as if she had shocked him. So into his drawing that he didn't expect someone to talk to him out of the blue. His hand jerked away quickly from the paper so he didn't mess something up. He glanced up at Alexis and blinked, clearly not expecting someone like her to start a conversation with him. He turned a little red and nodded, “Uh, thanks. I'm drawing it for somebody.” He told her. She gave an impressed look to him, “Not even doing that kind of work for a class. That's pretty cool, do you draw all the time then?” She asked. He shrugged, “Not all the time, but enough to keep improving I guess.” He glanced up at her, and Alexis saw his eyes take her body in quickly though she didn't show him that she noticed. He wasn't very good at hiding his gaze, but that was fine by her she found herself glad that he enjoyed what he was looking at. “I'm Alexis by the way.” She smiled, holding her hand out to him. Jake took her hand softly and nodded, “I'm Jake.” He said slowly. “So I have a confession to make.” She said, sitting down across from him. “I didn't come here to just tell you your drawing was cool.” Jake sat back from her and gave her a weary look, as if afraid she was about to do something to him. “Okay?” She shook her head, “Don't worry it's nothing bad. It's just that I am trying to get into the drama club, but I was told that my character acting sucked.” She lied. “So I did a little googling and I came across table-top roleplaying.” Which wasn't a lie, she had googled a bit about Dungeons and Dragons in order to help herself gain Jake's trust easier. The quickest way into a nerd's pants was through his hobbies. Unlike a jock, who's quickest way into their pants was to simply ask. She brought up the Dungeons and Dragons club page on her phone and showed it to him. “Turns out you run a little roleplaying game club on campus here already and I figured that maybe I could join for a while.” She told him, “You know to play a character work on my improv skills or whatever. Then I can take that back to the drama club and actually get into a play or something.” Jake leaned forward, again his eyes roamed over her body quickly, he was really bad at trying to do it low key. “You, want to play….Dungeons and Dragons?” He asked in disbelief. “Well I'd like to learn at least. Unless you have a better suggest for me to practice Improving a character.” She suggested. Jake shrugged, “I don't. I just, I don't know, I never thought in a million years that someone as…let's just say ‘un-nerdy' as you would ever try to sign up for a game.” Alexis shrugged, “It honestly wouldn't be my first choice either. But I don't exactly have the cash to take an extra acting class off campus, this was the best free option I could find.” She gave him a pout, “Are you saying that I can't play?” Jake shook his head quickly, “No not at all. It's just surprising, that's all.” He nodded and leaned back again, probably considering this unexpected turn of events. “Alright…well do you know how to make a character?” Alexis blinked, “A what?” Jake laughed softly, “You can't play until you make a character. I'm gonna guess you don't know how huh?” Alexis frowned, “No I don't. Is that a problem?” “Not really. I can teach you that on our own. When are you free next?” He asked, glancing at his watch. “I have class in thirty minutes so I can't do it right now. But maybe this evening around five thirty or six?” Alexis nodded, “I can do six. Where?” “The club normally meets in one of the rec rooms over in Grand Hall. Room 3, I can meet you there at six and we can build you a character. It's shouldn't take more than an hour or so.” He explained. “Okay that sounds good.” “Great, oh and if you can you should go get yourself a set of dice. There is a hobby shop like three blocks from campus on Grand Street that can get you what you need.” He told her. “If you can't do it today, no big deal but you'll need them for the actual game.” Alexis promised that she would try and then said goodbye. As she turned around she saw a couple girls from GGK watching her from the other end of the quad. She sighed and made her way over to where they were standing. Jessica was a beautiful latina, with caramel skin and flawless features. She wanted to be a model, but her parents were forcing her to get educated first. Though thanks to Instagram, Jessica was doing both. Emma was as much of a midwest girl as one could possibly be. Blonde, blue eyes, innocent looking with a body men would kill for. Both girls smirked at Alexis as she approached. “How goes the dick hunt Alexis, got a picture of the nerd-dick for us yet?” Jessica asked. Alexis shook her head, “Not yet, I had to sign up for his club in to give myself an excuse to be around him.” The giggled, “Seriously?” Emma asked, “Why didn't you just ask to suck his dick in the bathroom or something?” Jessica nodded, “Yeah why make it more complicated that it needs to be?” Alexis frowned, “I don't know, I just don't think he is the type for that.” “Please, every guy is that type, especially when a girl like you asks.” Emma said dismissively. Again Alexis shook her head, “Somehow I don't think so. A guy like that, probably used to getting bullied and would suspect a prank. I have to warm him up to me before pulling this stunt.” Alexis moaned and hung her head, “Oh God I have to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons.” Jessica and Emma just laughed. “Tough shit girl. Get us the pic or find another Sorority.” They said and left. Alexis bit her lip and sighed, no use getting out of it. She was stuck with this, unless she gave up on GGK. No way in hell, Alexis wasn't a quitter and she certainly put other girls in High School through just as much shit as this, worse even. Begrudgingly, Alexis followed Jake's advice and went to the hobby shop he had told her about. It was a small store in the corner of a shopping center called Games, Dice, Action. The interior was much as she expected, walls of comic books, display cases fill with some kind of game game singles, and then there were dice. Little boxes of dice with several different shapes. Alexis looked though the different colors for a while before a chubby man with a thick beard came up to her, “Can I help you?” he asked. Alexis glanced up and then pointed at the dice in the case. “Are those the dice I need to play D&D?” She asked. The man nodded, “They are enough to get you going yeah. One die of each side type used in the game.” He explained. “Great, can I get those pink ones?” Shortly before six Alexis was back on campus with her bag of goodies. The clerk had been nice enough to also print her out several pages that he called “character sheets” so that she would be ready to sit down and immediately start making a character with Jake. Along with a set of pink dice that had three different shades of pink in their color scheme. She actually beat Jake to the rec room and found herself an empty table near the back of the mostly empty room so set up. She laid out her sheets and took out her dice, laying them in a row based on their total number of sides, and a little mechanical pencil. While she waited for Jake to arrive she googled basic D&D character creation rules but was giving a online book with nearly 200 pages and her eyes went wide. Did she have to learn 200 pages of rules? Who the fuck would play a game that required so much work. Wasn't it just supposed to be a bunch of dorks playing pretend around a table? The door to the rec room opened and Jaked walked in, holding a book under his arm. Alexis waved to get his attention and he began walking her way. “Wow,” he said, looking at the laid out paper and dice in front of her. “I gotta say, I didn't think you would go so far.” He told her, sitting across from her. She smiled and leaned toward him, purposefully giving him a glance down her top and get a good look at her cleavage. Alexis was proud of her perky just barely C-cups, and Jake took the chance to take the peek she offered. “Now why is that?” She asked teasingly. It was time to turn on the flurting. First meeting wouldn't have worked, but now that she had him mostly alone, she could start to give it to him and build not only his trust but his libido as well. Jake tore his eyes from her gapping shirt and blushed, “Look hot girls don't just ask to play D&D. It simply doesn't happen. I thought you were setting me up for a prank or something.” He explained. Alexis smiled, “I know you did. That's why I got all this stuff on my own. I want you to see I'm serious about at least giving this a try.” She gestured to her set up. Jake nodded, and set the book on the table. Alexis saw that it was the same book that the internet had proved her and the pit of her stomach dropped. Dread filled her as she began to fear all the rules he was about to dump on her. “Okay let's start by doing this….” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of scratch paper. Then he reached over and grabbed her six sided die. “Roll this four times…” And so began the process of Alexis making her first Dungeons and Dragons character. All her fear about the massive book turned out to be a waste because she ended up not needed more than like ten pages of the book in total. Jake made everything really simple and while she did roll her eyes a couple of times at the dorky terminology she found herself grasping it pretty easily. By the end of the sit down with Jake, Alexis' had her character sheet completely filled out. She had created a sneaky demon-like girl called a Tiefling Rogue and named her Shadow Heartly. Working with Jake turned out to be a lot of fun, and it made Alexis forget how dorky she always thought this would be. He helpped her create a back story for Shadow, together they crafted this back story of a demon born of noble blood who's demonic appearance forced her parents to give her up so she didn't hurt their reputation. Angery at being abandoned, Shadow began to steal mastering the art of pick-pocketing, before being grabbed by the thieves guild. The guild taught her to be unseen, and began using her for missions that asked her to sneak into dangerous locations. She learned to make herself valuable despite her demonic appearance. Alexis felt like she was going crazy, because she actually found herself eager to try playing Shadow in a real game. As they finished and stood up together, Alexis threw her arms around Jake and hugged him, purposefully pressing her chest tightly to his. “Thank you for this, truly.” She told him smiling as she stepped back. “I didn't think for a second it would be as interesting as you made it, but now I'm really glad I actually asked about this. I look forward to playing.” She paused and gave him a look, “When do we play?” Jake smiled, his face a little red after that hug. “I'm glad I was able to shatter your expectations. Let's see I have a new game starting with a group of players on Friday night at seven. So it's actually a perfect game for you to join in and try your hand at it.” Alexis groaned inwardly. Seven on a Friday night? Was he serious? She had a party to go to on Friday night. She didn't want to stay inside to play this game when she could be getting her party on. But she realized that she couldn't go to the party until she brought GGK what they asked for. So she smiled and nodded, “Alright Friday at seven. Where at?” “Oh we play in my dorm. I have a full ride and that came with a full sized dorm room with no roommate. So I have people come over there since it's private and I have the space.” He explained. His place? Alexis grinned, it was too perfect. All she had to do was wait for the game to end and everybody to leave and Jake would be all hers. “Great!” She replied. “I'll see you then I guess.” She started to walk away, “Oh, what dorm number?” Jake smirked, “224.” “Thanks Jake. See you.” She smiled and darted off. First thing in the morning Alexis went to the sorority house and explained the situation. Niece, the sorority leader, a buxom fit girl with long black hair and haunting blue eyes, glared up at Alexis from the love seat. “I don't know what you are going through all of this for. He's a nerd and you are way out of his league, just seduce him and be done with it. Why torture yourself?” Alexis didn't have a good answer really. She explained that Jake was too nerdy for that, and he would assume she was up to something if she just tried to pounce on him right out of the gate. Niece just scoffed and gave Alexis a dismissive wave, “Oh please, look if you went to his dorm tonight wearing nothing but a sexy set of underwear or a robe with nothing underneath, there is no way in hell he turns you away. Unless he's gay, is he gay?” Niece asked questioningly. Alexis shook her head, “I gave him plenty of chances to look down my shirt today, he took them all, so I don't think that's a worry.” Niece smiled and nodded, “Great, then go get your picture. Why play games with him?” Alexis shrugged, she didn't have a good answer. Jake had been a really nice guy, and totally different than the dwebe she had expected him to be. She just couldn't bring herself to be such a bitch to him for no reason. She didn't want to just leave him with his pants down, so to speak. It was then she had a chilling thought. If she was warming him up to her, did that mean she intended to give him actual head or something? Would she go that far just for a simple dick pic? Surely that wasn't what she was prepping for? But if she wasn't then why not just take Niece's advice and go blue ball the poor guy? Alexis couldn't think of a true answer. And that worried her. She shook it off, figuring she was just horny. After all she hadn't gotten any since she and her boyfriend broke up over the summer. He didn't even want to try a long distance relationship, and frankly Alexis couldn't blame him. It had left her with an inch to scratch though. Not that she would consider scratching it with Jake. Hell no. Friday came quickly and Alexis decided to bring a couple of pizza's to Jakes dorm room for the game. It always nice to be a good guest, that's what her folks taught her, and being a good guest meant bringing snacks or drinks for whatever get-together you were going too. So there she stood at his doorstep with two hot pizza's burning into her palm. Still she stared at the door for a while. Was she really going to try this for real? To get Jake alone so she could take a picture of his ramrod? It shouldn't mean this much right? Why was she scared, the worse that could happen was she upset him and no big deal. Then again, why did she make sure to put a condom in her handbag. That probably worried her more than anything else. Finally she knocked, Jake opened the door quickly. He smiled as he saw her and the pizzas, “Hey you made it. And with pizza! Wow you are officially my new favorite.” He reached out and took the boxes from her before stepping aside to let her in. “See guys this is how you impress your DM.” He said showing off the boxes. “You mean the food or the girl?” A male voice asked inside. Jake snapped at him, “Hey you better not start. I warned you, I want Alexis to feel welcome here.” There was a fairly small circular table with four people around it. Three of them were guys that very much embodied the typical guys that Alexis always pictured playing this game. Very overweight, thick glasses, beards that seemed to encompass their heads, they were total stereotypes. Alexis felt her stomach pitch with regret coming to this whole event. The other player at the table was a girl. But much like the boys she was far from what anyone would call attractive, overweight though not nearly to the degree the boys were, no sign of make-up, limp lifeless dirty blonde hair. She smiled at Alexis and waved her over, “Welcome Alexis, Jake told us you were maybe coming, glad you could make it.” Alexis smiled, “Thanks.” “Don't be nervous, it'll be a fun night. Jake is a great storyteller. I'm Nicole.” Nicole explained, taking Alexis' apprehension as nerves. But in truth it was Alexis fighting herself to come to terms with playing this nerd game all so she could seduce Jake enough to get a picture of his schlong so that she could then take it to GGK and be allowed full membership and regain her proper status as a “popular” girl. Holy fuck was she a shallow bitch or what? The next four hours turned into one of the best nights of fun Alexis ever had. Nicole had been right, Jake was an excellent storyteller, he told a story that made her feel like she and her character where actually in this fantasy world. Shadow and the other characters around the table found themselves stuck on a sinking ship. They rolled dice as they frantically tried to find some way to fix the boat, failing that they then tried to find pieces of the boat they could use to fashion a life raft of some kind. It was through sheer luck of the rolls that the party found themselves on an uncharted island, digging through a costal cave. Deep within they found a cavern of treasure, but guarding the treasure was a Manticore a flying lion beast with a human-like face. The party battled the creature, and Alexis managed to roll well which allowed her to get the finishing blow on the creature. All of it was exciting, and surprisingly engrossing which Alexis had never expected. As her character Shadow stood over the corpse of the beast, Jake stood up at the end of the table and said, “As Shadow pulls her dagger free from the Manticore's back, in collapses under her leaving her panting in victory over the beast.” He smiled at Alexis and she would be lying if she didn't get the tingle in her belly with arousal from his look. If ever she thought a nerd could be sexy it was in that moment. “And that is where we are ending this week.” Jake said, and Alexis clapped. She leaned back and ran her fingers through her hair. “Wow that was totally different than what I expected. Way more fun too.” Jake smiled, “I'm glad you enjoyed it. You did good as Shadow too, got into character pretty well for a first timer.” He told her. “Anyway thanks for coming guys, we'll see you all next week I hope.” The group packed up and Alexis spoke to them breifly thanking them for letting her join the group and playing with them tonight, Nicole was encouraging and told Alexis that she hoped to see her next week for the game again. As the group packed up Jake began to gather up the paper plates and napkins, the remains of the pizza's they all had crushed. Alexis got up and began to help him with the clean-up. She threw the trash into the bin, helped wipe the table up and put the cups that they had used for drinks into Jake's little mini dish washer. Once the rest of the group had left Jake moved next to her and helped rinse things out. “Well tell me what you thought. Was it as unbelievably nerdy as you thought it would be?” He asked her. She recalled the way he swung his arms as he described out they eached attacked the manticore, and how he had done voices of the many characters they had met along the way. She smiled at him, “Probably the nerdiest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Unbelievably dorky.” She told him. Alexis turned to him and looked down at her hands, the nerves boiling inside of her again. “But,” she said softly before turning her gaze back up to his. “I'd be lying if I told you I didn't have an incredibly huge amount of fun either. If this is what it is like, sign me up.” She told him. Jake nodded with a smirk, “I'm really happy to hear that. Not many girls like you would give this game even the slightest chance. You were great.” Alexis blushed and leaned in to kiss him. Jake's lips were soft against hers, but a little stiff as he didn't expect her to kiss him. For a second she feared that he might be taken and she was making him cheat, but after a moment of shock Jake's hands found her hips softly and he began to kiss her back. She pressed her tongue out, tasting his lips. She felt her body react to being against his, and couldn't believe she was actually attracted to him. Jake broke the kiss lightly, taking a deep breath. “Wow that's umm…unexpected.” He chuckled. “I never thought my first kiss would be from being a good D&D player.” Alexis felt her heart burn for him. His first kiss? The poor guy hadn't ever been kissed before? He was over twenty, even as a nerd she didn't understand how that was possible. She gave him a pout, “First kiss? You've never made out with anyone before?” She asked sadly. Jake blushed and looked down before shaking his head, “No never really that popular with the ladies.” “Oh that's no good. We have to fix that.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him from the little kitchen towards his bed on the otherside of the room. She smirked at him and shoved him back onto the bed, she leapt on after him, stratling his hips. She smiled and lowered herself down upon him, kissing him deeply. Her tongue pushed into his mouth to tease and play with him, her lips part as she invited him to do the same to hers. His lips wer soft and wonderful to kiss, she felt like she could really enjoy doing this with him. Jake reached up to cup her face, she could feel his hands trembling as he touched her. Alexis broke the kiss and smiled down at him, “You nervous?” She asked. Jake let out a shaky breath, “Yeah, I just….wow this is incredible.” She smiled at him and rose herself on top of him, taking his hands in hers she gave him a wink. “You don't have to be nervous. It's okay.” She told her and pulled his hands to her breasts. Jake gasped as she held his palms against her chest, letting him feel the way her soft yet firm mounds dug back into his hands. “How's that?” She asked teasingly. “Incredible.” He whispered. She couldn't help but giggle, shifting herself on top of him. It was then that she felt it. Her eyes went wide, it wasn't possible, surely he had something in his pocket or something. The make out had made this poor virgin grow hard under her, she could feel his hardness pressing against her as she let her weight settle on him. But what pressed against her couldn't be possible, she wiggled on top of him gently trying to see if it was something else, but no, there was no mistaking it. The massive pressure under her was all him. Holy fuck. Jake was biting his lip and looking up at her expectantly, waiting to see what she would do next. Alexis smiled and leaning forward to kiss him again. After a moment she broke the kiss and whispered into his lips. “If you've never been kissed before, that means…you've never had a girl suck your dick then right?” She asked him playfully. He swallowed and shook his head. Alexis smiled and rose up, “Good, then this should be fun.” She shifted off of him, moving to his side. As she did so she took her phone out of her back pocket and set it on the mattress. Looking down at his crotch she could see the bulging area in his pants and her eyes couldn't believe it was real. There was a fucking monster in there. She smiled at him as she reached out to run her palm over his girth. He let out a loud breath as she did so and it brought a moan from her own lips. “Oh you poor thing, you are so big yet so trapped. This must be awful for you.” She told him. As Alexis reached for the button of his pants, Jake's hand were suddenly there to stop her. “Alexis wait.” He breathed, his desire was potent to the point where she could almost taste it on him. Slowly he pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at her. “Isn't this a little fast? I mean, I just met you the other day.” She blinked in disbelief. Was she hearing this right? Was he actually stopping her from going down on him? Never in the history of ever had she ever been stopped after getting to this point before. She knew he was excited for her, she could see the evidence of that. “What?” She asked softly. Jake frowned and sighed, “I don't know. I just never had anyone even consider this with me. I was the guy who couldn't get a date let alone…” He gestured to her hovering over his crotch, “this.” Alexis couldn't believe it. He was trying to talk her out of blowing him. He was actually considering her and her feelings. Or maybe he sensed that she had other reasons for what she was about to do, no that couldn't be right. He was just a good guy, a nerd to be sure, but a good guy and not bad looking. Smiling she crawled over to his face and gave him a gentle slap. Looking into his eyes she said, “Jake, when you give girls a good time, they like to return the favor. I had a blast tonight, and I wanted to kiss you.” She kissed him softly to accent her point. “When you told me it was your first I felt bad. So I want to do this for you, I wanna show you some fun like you've never felt before. Kinda like what you did tonight for me already.” She sat up beside him and let her hands move back to his jeans. “Besides it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just a little head, people hook up all the time for…I believe the term in D&D would be a ‘one shot'.” She gave him a knowing smile, as her fingers pulled open the fly of his pants. She snapped her fingers and pointed, “Alright tug these off.” Jake hesitated for a moment, looking at her as if still trying to decide if it was a good idea or not. Then he shifted and lifted his hips to tug his pants down, with a couple of kicks they went flying off somewhere on the floor. Alexis loomed over him and looked down at the massive lump in his briefs. “Alright now let's see the goods.” She teased, slipping her fingers into the pee-hole of the briefs and wrapping her fingers around…..Jesus what the fuck was this? A full Salami? Christ even as she wrapped her fist around him she could barely get her fingers to touch. She looked at him with wide eyes as she tugged him through the pee-hole and revealed the beast within. Alexis took a deep breath. “What the fuck dude?” Jake jerked and looked at her, “What?” “You're fucking gigantic, fuck dude look at this thing!” She cried, as her hand slowly caressed the length of him. She lowered herself and lifted his hardness before her face. It was bigger than her fucking head. “You're bigger than my fucking head man!” She gasped, her free hand reaching slowly behind her to grab the phone she had taken out. She rose up and unlocked her phone, “Hold the fuck on I have to see something here.” She handed him her phone with the camera on. “Take my picture, I'm gonna see if your dick will hide my entire face.” She dropped down and lifted him in front of her face again. Jake grimaced, “I dunno if I want to take a picture of my dick though.” “Oh come on dude, my face will be there too. I'll make sure to send it to you so you can jerk to it later.” She promised with a smile. “Please?” She then licked him, running her tongue along his entire length from base to tip. He had to be at least nine inches long, and thick as a brick. Fucking him must be like fucking an arm, she thought to herself. Her tongue upon him did the trick though as his shaft jumped with the pleasure and he grunted. Jake shook his head and aimed the phone again, snapping the picture before setting the phone down. “There.” He said panting. Alexis smiled and kissed the tip of his throbbing mushroom. “Beautiful.” She told him. “Now as I promised.” She opened her mouth and gently sucked his tip into her mouth. Jake moaned with it, his shaft pulsed warmly on her tongue. She felt her body react to it as well, after seeing his size she wanted him, she wanted to try him. But that was perhaps going too far, especially since she didn't think her condom would be of any use on this monster. So Alexis took more into her mouth, working him gently with her tongue. She kept it slow so that he wouldn't lose himself too quickly, she wanted him to enjoy this. Hell SHE wanted to enjoy this. Gone were the thoughts of shame of doing this just to be hazed, gone were the questions of her morality or ethics in doing something like this. Sure she had gotten her picture, but now she didn't have to feel bad about leaving him with blue balls because she wanted to suck him off. His size was a challenge that she wanted to tackle. Even just a few inches into her mouth and her jaw was already open wide. She couldn't take him like this, no fucking way, there was too much of him. Instead Alexis made good with what she could take, using her tongue to tease the underside of him, pulling him back to her lips so she could suckle his tip and then repeating. Jake would swell in her mouth and she would stop, instead rubbing her palm over the spit covered tip of him and using her saliva as lube to stroke him. Her gaze would go to his, enjoying the look on his face. “What do you think?” She teased. Jake struggling to catch his breath. “It's incredible.” He panted softly. “I don't know how much I can take, I'm sorry Alexis.” He warned her. Nobody that she could recall had ever warned her, they just came whenever they felt like it. She had gotten good at being able to read the signs of when her partner was about to finish, the panting, the change in movements, even the swelling of their size. Jake however was too thick for her to totally tell, she thought every throb was going to be the eruption but it wasn't. She smirked, “It's okay, I didn't expect you to have pornstar stamina baby. Don't worry I'll drink you all up.” Then her lips wrapped around him again. Her words and the return of her mouth around him must have been too much, because not a second after she had his smooth fluffy tip in her mouth did she feel his massive tool jerk almost out of her grip. Then a rush of his stuff flooded into her mouth. Alexis squealed in surprise, tightening her grip with her hands around his base, holding him as he continued to powerfully jerk in her hand. Waves of his juice pulsed into her mouth, her throat worked overtime just to keep up with all he gave her. Her eyes went wide as he passed the point where a normal guy would have been done. But Jake gave her more, and then a little more. Finally with a grunt, Jake slumped back onto the bed breathing heavily. Alexis sucked the last little bit from his tip and lifted her head taking a deep breath. “Whew!” She gasped, licking her lips a giving herself a few extra swallows to clear her throat. “Jesus not only is your dick huge but so is your load.” She exclaimed. Jake blushed, “Sorry?” She giggled, “No need to be sorry, that's intense is all. I really really want to fuck you, I just want you to know that.” She told him. Jake sat up, “What really?” Alexis frowned, “Yeah, but I can't.” Jake gave a deflated look, but Alexis grabbed his chin, “No I want to really. But I don't have a condom that will fit you Jake. I didn't expect you to have the fucking Titanic in your pants.” She explained. “So maybe we can set up a raincheck. Find some rubbers that'll fit, and then we can see if my tight little lady can handle your beast.” She smiled wide and kissed his forehead. by musicankane for Literotica

The most popular sorority, GGK; hazes Alexis. - listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories Alexis had always been popular, it came with the territory of being good looking. In high school, being a girl, being hot, was like an automatic “in” with the popular crowd. It made life really really easy. Nobody gave you shit, nobody cared what you did or how you dressed (to an extent) because everyone wanted to be friends with the hot girls. She had always been an automatic entry into that club growing up. She had often been a part of the group that decided what challenge other girls had to go through in order to join the popular group, if they weren't hot enough to be automatically in. Some of the things they made people do made Alexis glad she never had to go through it. [[MORE]] However college was a different deal entirely. Alexis foolishly thought that she could just join whatever sorority that she wanted. A flick of her shimmering long brown hair, a little shake of her narrow waist, and boom she would be hot enough to join whatever club she wanted. But this was college and things were different here. Everything was about being fair, and frankly the other girls were just as good looking if not even better looking than her. So she wasn't about to get out of her hazing. She supposed that she could always go to another sorority and try to join them, maybe there hazing trial wouldn't be as embarrassing. But Gamma Gamma Kappa was known as the hottest Sorority on campus, by a wide margin. Having seen the girls already in place, Alexis knew that this was the place to be to get invited to the best parties with the hottest guys. So if she wanted in she was stuck with this challenge. She twirled her iPhone in her fingers, the circular mount on the back of her pink case kept it from falling, the text message from Niece the Sorority leader staring back at her on the screen. Alexis' mission was to get a picture for Jake Farrow. Jake was absolutely the last person Alexis ever would have spoken too growing up. Perhaps that's why Niece selected him personally for her little mission. Jake was the head of the campus Dungeons and Dragons club. Nerd to the ultimate degree. Alexis sat not far from Jake now, observing him as she contemplated what she was to do. He didn't look that nerdy to be fair, or even that bad. His hair was long for a guys, combed back, his glasses weren't extremely thick or made of dorky plastic. From what she could tell he was just an average guy, nothing special one way or the other, his only downside was his choice of hobbies. Again Alexis thought about her goal. She was to seduce this guy, and take a picture of her holding his…special member. She didn't have to go through with anything beyond that, but part of her felt really bad about it. She would have to lie and charm her way into his pants and then leave him hanging after she got the picture she needed. It made her wonder whether this was a haze for her or for him. She debated about it for a long time, should she go through with this, should she not? Finally, she stood up and tucked her phone into her pocket to walk across the quad toward him. Fuck it, she figured, one embarrassing and awkward moment and then it would be over. She'd be in GGK and could spend the next four years forgetting it ever happened. Jake was leaning over a drawing pad as she approached, coming up from behind him so she could see over his shoulder as to what he was drawing. Turned out he could really draw, the picture on the paper was really detailed for just a pencil drawing. It appeared to be some knight of warrior in shining armor with a sword in on hand and a shield in the other which was raised to deflect or block some sort of attack that hadn't been drawn yet. Alexis was impressed and that gave her a conversation starter to talk to him. “Wow,” she said moving around to the other side of the table so she could stand in front of him. “That looks really cool.” Jake jerked as if she had shocked him. So into his drawing that he didn't expect someone to talk to him out of the blue. His hand jerked away quickly from the paper so he didn't mess something up. He glanced up at Alexis and blinked, clearly not expecting someone like her to start a conversation with him. He turned a little red and nodded, “Uh, thanks. I'm drawing it for somebody.” He told her. She gave an impressed look to him, “Not even doing that kind of work for a class. That's pretty cool, do you draw all the time then?” She asked. He shrugged, “Not all the time, but enough to keep improving I guess.” He glanced up at her, and Alexis saw his eyes take her body in quickly though she didn't show him that she noticed. He wasn't very good at hiding his gaze, but that was fine by her she found herself glad that he enjoyed what he was looking at. “I'm Alexis by the way.” She smiled, holding her hand out to him. Jake took her hand softly and nodded, “I'm Jake.” He said slowly. “So I have a confession to make.” She said, sitting down across from him. “I didn't come here to just tell you your drawing was cool.” Jake sat back from her and gave her a weary look, as if afraid she was about to do something to him. “Okay?” She shook her head, “Don't worry it's nothing bad. It's just that I am trying to get into the drama club, but I was told that my character acting sucked.” She lied. “So I did a little googling and I came across table-top roleplaying.” Which wasn't a lie, she had googled a bit about Dungeons and Dragons in order to help herself gain Jake's trust easier. The quickest way into a nerd's pants was through his hobbies. Unlike a jock, who's quickest way into their pants was to simply ask. She brought up the Dungeons and Dragons club page on her phone and showed it to him. “Turns out you run a little roleplaying game club on campus here already and I figured that maybe I could join for a while.” She told him, “You know to play a character work on my improv skills or whatever. Then I can take that back to the drama club and actually get into a play or something.” Jake leaned forward, again his eyes roamed over her body quickly, he was really bad at trying to do it low key. “You, want to play….Dungeons and Dragons?” He asked in disbelief. “Well I'd like to learn at least. Unless you have a better suggest for me to practice Improving a character.” She suggested. Jake shrugged, “I don't. I just, I don't know, I never thought in a million years that someone as…let's just say ‘un-nerdy' as you would ever try to sign up for a game.” Alexis shrugged, “It honestly wouldn't be my first choice either. But I don't exactly have the cash to take an extra acting class off campus, this was the best free option I could find.” She gave him a pout, “Are you saying that I can't play?” Jake shook his head quickly, “No not at all. It's just surprising, that's all.” He nodded and leaned back again, probably considering this unexpected turn of events. “Alright…well do you know how to make a character?” Alexis blinked, “A what?” Jake laughed softly, “You can't play until you make a character. I'm gonna guess you don't know how huh?” Alexis frowned, “No I don't. Is that a problem?” “Not really. I can teach you that on our own. When are you free next?” He asked, glancing at his watch. “I have class in thirty minutes so I can't do it right now. But maybe this evening around five thirty or six?” Alexis nodded, “I can do six. Where?” “The club normally meets in one of the rec rooms over in Grand Hall. Room 3, I can meet you there at six and we can build you a character. It's shouldn't take more than an hour or so.” He explained. “Okay that sounds good.” “Great, oh and if you can you should go get yourself a set of dice. There is a hobby shop like three blocks from campus on Grand Street that can get you what you need.” He told her. “If you can't do it today, no big deal but you'll need them for the actual game.” Alexis promised that she would try and then said goodbye. As she turned around she saw a couple girls from GGK watching her from the other end of the quad. She sighed and made her way over to where they were standing. Jessica was a beautiful latina, with caramel skin and flawless features. She wanted to be a model, but her parents were forcing her to get educated first. Though thanks to Instagram, Jessica was doing both. Emma was as much of a midwest girl as one could possibly be. Blonde, blue eyes, innocent looking with a body men would kill for. Both girls smirked at Alexis as she approached. “How goes the dick hunt Alexis, got a picture of the nerd-dick for us yet?” Jessica asked. Alexis shook her head, “Not yet, I had to sign up for his club in to give myself an excuse to be around him.” The giggled, “Seriously?” Emma asked, “Why didn't you just ask to suck his dick in the bathroom or something?” Jessica nodded, “Yeah why make it more complicated that it needs to be?” Alexis frowned, “I don't know, I just don't think he is the type for that.” “Please, every guy is that type, especially when a girl like you asks.” Emma said dismissively. Again Alexis shook her head, “Somehow I don't think so. A guy like that, probably used to getting bullied and would suspect a prank. I have to warm him up to me before pulling this stunt.” Alexis moaned and hung her head, “Oh God I have to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons.” Jessica and Emma just laughed. “Tough shit girl. Get us the pic or find another Sorority.” They said and left. Alexis bit her lip and sighed, no use getting out of it. She was stuck with this, unless she gave up on GGK. No way in hell, Alexis wasn't a quitter and she certainly put other girls in High School through just as much shit as this, worse even. Begrudgingly, Alexis followed Jake's advice and went to the hobby shop he had told her about. It was a small store in the corner of a shopping center called Games, Dice, Action. The interior was much as she expected, walls of comic books, display cases fill with some kind of game game singles, and then there were dice. Little boxes of dice with several different shapes. Alexis looked though the different colors for a while before a chubby man with a thick beard came up to her, “Can I help you?” he asked. Alexis glanced up and then pointed at the dice in the case. “Are those the dice I need to play D&D?” She asked. The man nodded, “They are enough to get you going yeah. One die of each side type used in the game.” He explained. “Great, can I get those pink ones?” Shortly before six Alexis was back on campus with her bag of goodies. The clerk had been nice enough to also print her out several pages that he called “character sheets” so that she would be ready to sit down and immediately start making a character with Jake. Along with a set of pink dice that had three different shades of pink in their color scheme. She actually beat Jake to the rec room and found herself an empty table near the back of the mostly empty room so set up. She laid out her sheets and took out her dice, laying them in a row based on their total number of sides, and a little mechanical pencil. While she waited for Jake to arrive she googled basic D&D character creation rules but was giving a online book with nearly 200 pages and her eyes went wide. Did she have to learn 200 pages of rules? Who the fuck would play a game that required so much work. Wasn't it just supposed to be a bunch of dorks playing pretend around a table? The door to the rec room opened and Jaked walked in, holding a book under his arm. Alexis waved to get his attention and he began walking her way. “Wow,” he said, looking at the laid out paper and dice in front of her. “I gotta say, I didn't think you would go so far.” He told her, sitting across from her. She smiled and leaned toward him, purposefully giving him a glance down her top and get a good look at her cleavage. Alexis was proud of her perky just barely C-cups, and Jake took the chance to take the peek she offered. “Now why is that?” She asked teasingly. It was time to turn on the flurting. First meeting wouldn't have worked, but now that she had him mostly alone, she could start to give it to him and build not only his trust but his libido as well. Jake tore his eyes from her gapping shirt and blushed, “Look hot girls don't just ask to play D&D. It simply doesn't happen. I thought you were setting me up for a prank or something.” He explained. Alexis smiled, “I know you did. That's why I got all this stuff on my own. I want you to see I'm serious about at least giving this a try.” She gestured to her set up. Jake nodded, and set the book on the table. Alexis saw that it was the same book that the internet had proved her and the pit of her stomach dropped. Dread filled her as she began to fear all the rules he was about to dump on her. “Okay let's start by doing this….” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of scratch paper. Then he reached over and grabbed her six sided die. “Roll this four times…” And so began the process of Alexis making her first Dungeons and Dragons character. All her fear about the massive book turned out to be a waste because she ended up not needed more than like ten pages of the book in total. Jake made everything really simple and while she did roll her eyes a couple of times at the dorky terminology she found herself grasping it pretty easily. By the end of the sit down with Jake, Alexis' had her character sheet completely filled out. She had created a sneaky demon-like girl called a Tiefling Rogue and named her Shadow Heartly. Working with Jake turned out to be a lot of fun, and it made Alexis forget how dorky she always thought this would be. He helpped her create a back story for Shadow, together they crafted this back story of a demon born of noble blood who's demonic appearance forced her parents to give her up so she didn't hurt their reputation. Angery at being abandoned, Shadow began to steal mastering the art of pick-pocketing, before being grabbed by the thieves guild. The guild taught her to be unseen, and began using her for missions that asked her to sneak into dangerous locations. She learned to make herself valuable despite her demonic appearance. Alexis felt like she was going crazy, because she actually found herself eager to try playing Shadow in a real game. As they finished and stood up together, Alexis threw her arms around Jake and hugged him, purposefully pressing her chest tightly to his. “Thank you for this, truly.” She told him smiling as she stepped back. “I didn't think for a second it would be as interesting as you made it, but now I'm really glad I actually asked about this. I look forward to playing.” She paused and gave him a look, “When do we play?” Jake smiled, his face a little red after that hug. “I'm glad I was able to shatter your expectations. Let's see I have a new game starting with a group of players on Friday night at seven. So it's actually a perfect game for you to join in and try your hand at it.” Alexis groaned inwardly. Seven on a Friday night? Was he serious? She had a party to go to on Friday night. She didn't want to stay inside to play this game when she could be getting her party on. But she realized that she couldn't go to the party until she brought GGK what they asked for. So she smiled and nodded, “Alright Friday at seven. Where at?” “Oh we play in my dorm. I have a full ride and that came with a full sized dorm room with no roommate. So I have people come over there since it's private and I have the space.” He explained. His place? Alexis grinned, it was too perfect. All she had to do was wait for the game to end and everybody to leave and Jake would be all hers. “Great!” She replied. “I'll see you then I guess.” She started to walk away, “Oh, what dorm number?” Jake smirked, “224.” “Thanks Jake. See you.” She smiled and darted off. First thing in the morning Alexis went to the sorority house and explained the situation. Niece, the sorority leader, a buxom fit girl with long black hair and haunting blue eyes, glared up at Alexis from the love seat. “I don't know what you are going through all of this for. He's a nerd and you are way out of his league, just seduce him and be done with it. Why torture yourself?” Alexis didn't have a good answer really. She explained that Jake was too nerdy for that, and he would assume she was up to something if she just tried to pounce on him right out of the gate. Niece just scoffed and gave Alexis a dismissive wave, “Oh please, look if you went to his dorm tonight wearing nothing but a sexy set of underwear or a robe with nothing underneath, there is no way in hell he turns you away. Unless he's gay, is he gay?” Niece asked questioningly. Alexis shook her head, “I gave him plenty of chances to look down my shirt today, he took them all, so I don't think that's a worry.” Niece smiled and nodded, “Great, then go get your picture. Why play games with him?” Alexis shrugged, she didn't have a good answer. Jake had been a really nice guy, and totally different than the dwebe she had expected him to be. She just couldn't bring herself to be such a bitch to him for no reason. She didn't want to just leave him with his pants down, so to speak. It was then she had a chilling thought. If she was warming him up to her, did that mean she intended to give him actual head or something? Would she go that far just for a simple dick pic? Surely that wasn't what she was prepping for? But if she wasn't then why not just take Niece's advice and go blue ball the poor guy? Alexis couldn't think of a true answer. And that worried her. She shook it off, figuring she was just horny. After all she hadn't gotten any since she and her boyfriend broke up over the summer. He didn't even want to try a long distance relationship, and frankly Alexis couldn't blame him. It had left her with an inch to scratch though. Not that she would consider scratching it with Jake. Hell no. Friday came quickly and Alexis decided to bring a couple of pizza's to Jakes dorm room for the game. It always nice to be a good guest, that's what her folks taught her, and being a good guest meant bringing snacks or drinks for whatever get-together you were going too. So there she stood at his doorstep with two hot pizza's burning into her palm. Still she stared at the door for a while. Was she really going to try this for real? To get Jake alone so she could take a picture of his ramrod? It shouldn't mean this much right? Why was she scared, the worse that could happen was she upset him and no big deal. Then again, why did she make sure to put a condom in her handbag. That probably worried her more than anything else. Finally she knocked, Jake opened the door quickly. He smiled as he saw her and the pizzas, “Hey you made it. And with pizza! Wow you are officially my new favorite.” He reached out and took the boxes from her before stepping aside to let her in. “See guys this is how you impress your DM.” He said showing off the boxes. “You mean the food or the girl?” A male voice asked inside. Jake snapped at him, “Hey you better not start. I warned you, I want Alexis to feel welcome here.” There was a fairly small circular table with four people around it. Three of them were guys that very much embodied the typical guys that Alexis always pictured playing this game. Very overweight, thick glasses, beards that seemed to encompass their heads, they were total stereotypes. Alexis felt her stomach pitch with regret coming to this whole event. The other player at the table was a girl. But much like the boys she was far from what anyone would call attractive, overweight though not nearly to the degree the boys were, no sign of make-up, limp lifeless dirty blonde hair. She smiled at Alexis and waved her over, “Welcome Alexis, Jake told us you were maybe coming, glad you could make it.” Alexis smiled, “Thanks.” “Don't be nervous, it'll be a fun night. Jake is a great storyteller. I'm Nicole.” Nicole explained, taking Alexis' apprehension as nerves. But in truth it was Alexis fighting herself to come to terms with playing this nerd game all so she could seduce Jake enough to get a picture of his schlong so that she could then take it to GGK and be allowed full membership and regain her proper status as a “popular” girl. Holy fuck was she a shallow bitch or what? The next four hours turned into one of the best nights of fun Alexis ever had. Nicole had been right, Jake was an excellent storyteller, he told a story that made her feel like she and her character where actually in this fantasy world. Shadow and the other characters around the table found themselves stuck on a sinking ship. They rolled dice as they frantically tried to find some way to fix the boat, failing that they then tried to find pieces of the boat they could use to fashion a life raft of some kind. It was through sheer luck of the rolls that the party found themselves on an uncharted island, digging through a costal cave. Deep within they found a cavern of treasure, but guarding the treasure was a Manticore a flying lion beast with a human-like face. The party battled the creature, and Alexis managed to roll well which allowed her to get the finishing blow on the creature. All of it was exciting, and surprisingly engrossing which Alexis had never expected. As her character Shadow stood over the corpse of the beast, Jake stood up at the end of the table and said, “As Shadow pulls her dagger free from the Manticore's back, in collapses under her leaving her panting in victory over the beast.” He smiled at Alexis and she would be lying if she didn't get the tingle in her belly with arousal from his look. If ever she thought a nerd could be sexy it was in that moment. “And that is where we are ending this week.” Jake said, and Alexis clapped. She leaned back and ran her fingers through her hair. “Wow that was totally different than what I expected. Way more fun too.” Jake smiled, “I'm glad you enjoyed it. You did good as Shadow too, got into character pretty well for a first timer.” He told her. “Anyway thanks for coming guys, we'll see you all next week I hope.” The group packed up and Alexis spoke to them breifly thanking them for letting her join the group and playing with them tonight, Nicole was encouraging and told Alexis that she hoped to see her next week for the game again. As the group packed up Jake began to gather up the paper plates and napkins, the remains of the pizza's they all had crushed. Alexis got up and began to help him with the clean-up. She threw the trash into the bin, helped wipe the table up and put the cups that they had used for drinks into Jake's little mini dish washer. Once the rest of the group had left Jake moved next to her and helped rinse things out. “Well tell me what you thought. Was it as unbelievably nerdy as you thought it would be?” He asked her. She recalled the way he swung his arms as he described out they eached attacked the manticore, and how he had done voices of the many characters they had met along the way. She smiled at him, “Probably the nerdiest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Unbelievably dorky.” She told him. Alexis turned to him and looked down at her hands, the nerves boiling inside of her again. “But,” she said softly before turning her gaze back up to his. “I'd be lying if I told you I didn't have an incredibly huge amount of fun either. If this is what it is like, sign me up.” She told him. Jake nodded with a smirk, “I'm really happy to hear that. Not many girls like you would give this game even the slightest chance. You were great.” Alexis blushed and leaned in to kiss him. Jake's lips were soft against hers, but a little stiff as he didn't expect her to kiss him. For a second she feared that he might be taken and she was making him cheat, but after a moment of shock Jake's hands found her hips softly and he began to kiss her back. She pressed her tongue out, tasting his lips. She felt her body react to being against his, and couldn't believe she was actually attracted to him. Jake broke the kiss lightly, taking a deep breath. “Wow that's umm…unexpected.” He chuckled. “I never thought my first kiss would be from being a good D&D player.” Alexis felt her heart burn for him. His first kiss? The poor guy hadn't ever been kissed before? He was over twenty, even as a nerd she didn't understand how that was possible. She gave him a pout, “First kiss? You've never made out with anyone before?” She asked sadly. Jake blushed and looked down before shaking his head, “No never really that popular with the ladies.” “Oh that's no good. We have to fix that.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him from the little kitchen towards his bed on the otherside of the room. She smirked at him and shoved him back onto the bed, she leapt on after him, stratling his hips. She smiled and lowered herself down upon him, kissing him deeply. Her tongue pushed into his mouth to tease and play with him, her lips part as she invited him to do the same to hers. His lips wer soft and wonderful to kiss, she felt like she could really enjoy doing this with him. Jake reached up to cup her face, she could feel his hands trembling as he touched her. Alexis broke the kiss and smiled down at him, “You nervous?” She asked. Jake let out a shaky breath, “Yeah, I just….wow this is incredible.” She smiled at him and rose herself on top of him, taking his hands in hers she gave him a wink. “You don't have to be nervous. It's okay.” She told her and pulled his hands to her breasts. Jake gasped as she held his palms against her chest, letting him feel the way her soft yet firm mounds dug back into his hands. “How's that?” She asked teasingly. “Incredible.” He whispered. She couldn't help but giggle, shifting herself on top of him. It was then that she felt it. Her eyes went wide, it wasn't possible, surely he had something in his pocket or something. The make out had made this poor virgin grow hard under her, she could feel his hardness pressing against her as she let her weight settle on him. But what pressed against her couldn't be possible, she wiggled on top of him gently trying to see if it was something else, but no, there was no mistaking it. The massive pressure under her was all him. Holy fuck. Jake was biting his lip and looking up at her expectantly, waiting to see what she would do next. Alexis smiled and leaning forward to kiss him again. After a moment she broke the kiss and whispered into his lips. “If you've never been kissed before, that means…you've never had a girl suck your dick then right?” She asked him playfully. He swallowed and shook his head. Alexis smiled and rose up, “Good, then this should be fun.” She shifted off of him, moving to his side. As she did so she took her phone out of her back pocket and set it on the mattress. Looking down at his crotch she could see the bulging area in his pants and her eyes couldn't believe it was real. There was a fucking monster in there. She smiled at him as she reached out to run her palm over his girth. He let out a loud breath as she did so and it brought a moan from her own lips. “Oh you poor thing, you are so big yet so trapped. This must be awful for you.” She told him. As Alexis reached for the button of his pants, Jake's hand were suddenly there to stop her. “Alexis wait.” He breathed, his desire was potent to the point where she could almost taste it on him. Slowly he pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at her. “Isn't this a little fast? I mean, I just met you the other day.” She blinked in disbelief. Was she hearing this right? Was he actually stopping her from going down on him? Never in the history of ever had she ever been stopped after getting to this point before. She knew he was excited for her, she could see the evidence of that. “What?” She asked softly. Jake frowned and sighed, “I don't know. I just never had anyone even consider this with me. I was the guy who couldn't get a date let alone…” He gestured to her hovering over his crotch, “this.” Alexis couldn't believe it. He was trying to talk her out of blowing him. He was actually considering her and her feelings. Or maybe he sensed that she had other reasons for what she was about to do, no that couldn't be right. He was just a good guy, a nerd to be sure, but a good guy and not bad looking. Smiling she crawled over to his face and gave him a gentle slap. Looking into his eyes she said, “Jake, when you give girls a good time, they like to return the favor. I had a blast tonight, and I wanted to kiss you.” She kissed him softly to accent her point. “When you told me it was your first I felt bad. So I want to do this for you, I wanna show you some fun like you've never felt before. Kinda like what you did tonight for me already.” She sat up beside him and let her hands move back to his jeans. “Besides it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just a little head, people hook up all the time for…I believe the term in D&D would be a ‘one shot'.” She gave him a knowing smile, as her fingers pulled open the fly of his pants. She snapped her fingers and pointed, “Alright tug these off.” Jake hesitated for a moment, looking at her as if still trying to decide if it was a good idea or not. Then he shifted and lifted his hips to tug his pants down, with a couple of kicks they went flying off somewhere on the floor. Alexis loomed over him and looked down at the massive lump in his briefs. “Alright now let's see the goods.” She teased, slipping her fingers into the pee-hole of the briefs and wrapping her fingers around…..Jesus what the fuck was this? A full Salami? Christ even as she wrapped her fist around him she could barely get her fingers to touch. She looked at him with wide eyes as she tugged him through the pee-hole and revealed the beast within. Alexis took a deep breath. “What the fuck dude?” Jake jerked and looked at her, “What?” “You're fucking gigantic, fuck dude look at this thing!” She cried, as her hand slowly caressed the length of him. She lowered herself and lifted his hardness before her face. It was bigger than her fucking head. “You're bigger than my fucking head man!” She gasped, her free hand reaching slowly behind her to grab the phone she had taken out. She rose up and unlocked her phone, “Hold the fuck on I have to see something here.” She handed him her phone with the camera on. “Take my picture, I'm gonna see if your dick will hide my entire face.” She dropped down and lifted him in front of her face again. Jake grimaced, “I dunno if I want to take a picture of my dick though.” “Oh come on dude, my face will be there too. I'll make sure to send it to you so you can jerk to it later.” She promised with a smile. “Please?” She then licked him, running her tongue along his entire length from base to tip. He had to be at least nine inches long, and thick as a brick. Fucking him must be like fucking an arm, she thought to herself. Her tongue upon him did the trick though as his shaft jumped with the pleasure and he grunted. Jake shook his head and aimed the phone again, snapping the picture before setting the phone down. “There.” He said panting. Alexis smiled and kissed the tip of his throbbing mushroom. “Beautiful.” She told him. “Now as I promised.” She opened her mouth and gently sucked his tip into her mouth. Jake moaned with it, his shaft pulsed warmly on her tongue. She felt her body react to it as well, after seeing his size she wanted him, she wanted to try him. But that was perhaps going too far, especially since she didn't think her condom would be of any use on this monster. So Alexis took more into her mouth, working him gently with her tongue. She kept it slow so that he wouldn't lose himself too quickly, she wanted him to enjoy this. Hell SHE wanted to enjoy this. Gone were the thoughts of shame of doing this just to be hazed, gone were the questions of her morality or ethics in doing something like this. Sure she had gotten her picture, but now she didn't have to feel bad about leaving him with blue balls because she wanted to suck him off. His size was a challenge that she wanted to tackle. Even just a few inches into her mouth and her jaw was already open wide. She couldn't take him like this, no fucking way, there was too much of him. Instead Alexis made good with what she could take, using her tongue to tease the underside of him, pulling him back to her lips so she could suckle his tip and then repeating. Jake would swell in her mouth and she would stop, instead rubbing her palm over the spit covered tip of him and using her saliva as lube to stroke him. Her gaze would go to his, enjoying the look on his face. “What do you think?” She teased. Jake struggling to catch his breath. “It's incredible.” He panted softly. “I don't know how much I can take, I'm sorry Alexis.” He warned her. Nobody that she could recall had ever warned her, they just came whenever they felt like it. She had gotten good at being able to read the signs of when her partner was about to finish, the panting, the change in movements, even the swelling of their size. Jake however was too thick for her to totally tell, she thought every throb was going to be the eruption but it wasn't. She smirked, “It's okay, I didn't expect you to have pornstar stamina baby. Don't worry I'll drink you all up.” Then her lips wrapped around him again. Her words and the return of her mouth around him must have been too much, because not a second after she had his smooth fluffy tip in her mouth did she feel his massive tool jerk almost out of her grip. Then a rush of his stuff flooded into her mouth. Alexis squealed in surprise, tightening her grip with her hands around his base, holding him as he continued to powerfully jerk in her hand. Waves of his juice pulsed into her mouth, her throat worked overtime just to keep up with all he gave her. Her eyes went wide as he passed the point where a normal guy would have been done. But Jake gave her more, and then a little more. Finally with a grunt, Jake slumped back onto the bed breathing heavily. Alexis sucked the last little bit from his tip and lifted her head taking a deep breath. “Whew!” She gasped, licking her lips a giving herself a few extra swallows to clear her throat. “Jesus not only is your dick huge but so is your load.” She exclaimed. Jake blushed, “Sorry?” She giggled, “No need to be sorry, that's intense is all. I really really want to fuck you, I just want you to know that.” She told him. Jake sat up, “What really?” Alexis frowned, “Yeah, but I can't.” Jake gave a deflated look, but Alexis grabbed his chin, “No I want to really. But I don't have a condom that will fit you Jake. I didn't expect you to have the fucking Titanic in your pants.” She explained. “So maybe we can set up a raincheck. Find some rubbers that'll fit, and then we can see if my tight little lady can handle your beast.” She smiled wide and kissed his forehead. by musicankane for Literotica

The most popular sorority, GGK; hazes Alexis. - listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories Alexis had always been popular, it came with the territory of being good looking. In high school, being a girl, being hot, was like an automatic “in” with the popular crowd. It made life really really easy. Nobody gave you shit, nobody cared what you did or how you dressed (to an extent) because everyone wanted to be friends with the hot girls. She had always been an automatic entry into that club growing up. She had often been a part of the group that decided what challenge other girls had to go through in order to join the popular group, if they weren't hot enough to be automatically in. Some of the things they made people do made Alexis glad she never had to go through it. [[MORE]] However college was a different deal entirely. Alexis foolishly thought that she could just join whatever sorority that she wanted. A flick of her shimmering long brown hair, a little shake of her narrow waist, and boom she would be hot enough to join whatever club she wanted. But this was college and things were different here. Everything was about being fair, and frankly the other girls were just as good looking if not even better looking than her. So she wasn't about to get out of her hazing. She supposed that she could always go to another sorority and try to join them, maybe there hazing trial wouldn't be as embarrassing. But Gamma Gamma Kappa was known as the hottest Sorority on campus, by a wide margin. Having seen the girls already in place, Alexis knew that this was the place to be to get invited to the best parties with the hottest guys. So if she wanted in she was stuck with this challenge. She twirled her iPhone in her fingers, the circular mount on the back of her pink case kept it from falling, the text message from Niece the Sorority leader staring back at her on the screen. Alexis' mission was to get a picture for Jake Farrow. Jake was absolutely the last person Alexis ever would have spoken too growing up. Perhaps that's why Niece selected him personally for her little mission. Jake was the head of the campus Dungeons and Dragons club. Nerd to the ultimate degree. Alexis sat not far from Jake now, observing him as she contemplated what she was to do. He didn't look that nerdy to be fair, or even that bad. His hair was long for a guys, combed back, his glasses weren't extremely thick or made of dorky plastic. From what she could tell he was just an average guy, nothing special one way or the other, his only downside was his choice of hobbies. Again Alexis thought about her goal. She was to seduce this guy, and take a picture of her holding his…special member. She didn't have to go through with anything beyond that, but part of her felt really bad about it. She would have to lie and charm her way into his pants and then leave him hanging after she got the picture she needed. It made her wonder whether this was a haze for her or for him. She debated about it for a long time, should she go through with this, should she not? Finally, she stood up and tucked her phone into her pocket to walk across the quad toward him. Fuck it, she figured, one embarrassing and awkward moment and then it would be over. She'd be in GGK and could spend the next four years forgetting it ever happened. Jake was leaning over a drawing pad as she approached, coming up from behind him so she could see over his shoulder as to what he was drawing. Turned out he could really draw, the picture on the paper was really detailed for just a pencil drawing. It appeared to be some knight of warrior in shining armor with a sword in on hand and a shield in the other which was raised to deflect or block some sort of attack that hadn't been drawn yet. Alexis was impressed and that gave her a conversation starter to talk to him. “Wow,” she said moving around to the other side of the table so she could stand in front of him. “That looks really cool.” Jake jerked as if she had shocked him. So into his drawing that he didn't expect someone to talk to him out of the blue. His hand jerked away quickly from the paper so he didn't mess something up. He glanced up at Alexis and blinked, clearly not expecting someone like her to start a conversation with him. He turned a little red and nodded, “Uh, thanks. I'm drawing it for somebody.” He told her. She gave an impressed look to him, “Not even doing that kind of work for a class. That's pretty cool, do you draw all the time then?” She asked. He shrugged, “Not all the time, but enough to keep improving I guess.” He glanced up at her, and Alexis saw his eyes take her body in quickly though she didn't show him that she noticed. He wasn't very good at hiding his gaze, but that was fine by her she found herself glad that he enjoyed what he was looking at. “I'm Alexis by the way.” She smiled, holding her hand out to him. Jake took her hand softly and nodded, “I'm Jake.” He said slowly. “So I have a confession to make.” She said, sitting down across from him. “I didn't come here to just tell you your drawing was cool.” Jake sat back from her and gave her a weary look, as if afraid she was about to do something to him. “Okay?” She shook her head, “Don't worry it's nothing bad. It's just that I am trying to get into the drama club, but I was told that my character acting sucked.” She lied. “So I did a little googling and I came across table-top roleplaying.” Which wasn't a lie, she had googled a bit about Dungeons and Dragons in order to help herself gain Jake's trust easier. The quickest way into a nerd's pants was through his hobbies. Unlike a jock, who's quickest way into their pants was to simply ask. She brought up the Dungeons and Dragons club page on her phone and showed it to him. “Turns out you run a little roleplaying game club on campus here already and I figured that maybe I could join for a while.” She told him, “You know to play a character work on my improv skills or whatever. Then I can take that back to the drama club and actually get into a play or something.” Jake leaned forward, again his eyes roamed over her body quickly, he was really bad at trying to do it low key. “You, want to play….Dungeons and Dragons?” He asked in disbelief. “Well I'd like to learn at least. Unless you have a better suggest for me to practice Improving a character.” She suggested. Jake shrugged, “I don't. I just, I don't know, I never thought in a million years that someone as…let's just say ‘un-nerdy' as you would ever try to sign up for a game.” Alexis shrugged, “It honestly wouldn't be my first choice either. But I don't exactly have the cash to take an extra acting class off campus, this was the best free option I could find.” She gave him a pout, “Are you saying that I can't play?” Jake shook his head quickly, “No not at all. It's just surprising, that's all.” He nodded and leaned back again, probably considering this unexpected turn of events. “Alright…well do you know how to make a character?” Alexis blinked, “A what?” Jake laughed softly, “You can't play until you make a character. I'm gonna guess you don't know how huh?” Alexis frowned, “No I don't. Is that a problem?” “Not really. I can teach you that on our own. When are you free next?” He asked, glancing at his watch. “I have class in thirty minutes so I can't do it right now. But maybe this evening around five thirty or six?” Alexis nodded, “I can do six. Where?” “The club normally meets in one of the rec rooms over in Grand Hall. Room 3, I can meet you there at six and we can build you a character. It's shouldn't take more than an hour or so.” He explained. “Okay that sounds good.” “Great, oh and if you can you should go get yourself a set of dice. There is a hobby shop like three blocks from campus on Grand Street that can get you what you need.” He told her. “If you can't do it today, no big deal but you'll need them for the actual game.” Alexis promised that she would try and then said goodbye. As she turned around she saw a couple girls from GGK watching her from the other end of the quad. She sighed and made her way over to where they were standing. Jessica was a beautiful latina, with caramel skin and flawless features. She wanted to be a model, but her parents were forcing her to get educated first. Though thanks to Instagram, Jessica was doing both. Emma was as much of a midwest girl as one could possibly be. Blonde, blue eyes, innocent looking with a body men would kill for. Both girls smirked at Alexis as she approached. “How goes the dick hunt Alexis, got a picture of the nerd-dick for us yet?” Jessica asked. Alexis shook her head, “Not yet, I had to sign up for his club in to give myself an excuse to be around him.” The giggled, “Seriously?” Emma asked, “Why didn't you just ask to suck his dick in the bathroom or something?” Jessica nodded, “Yeah why make it more complicated that it needs to be?” Alexis frowned, “I don't know, I just don't think he is the type for that.” “Please, every guy is that type, especially when a girl like you asks.” Emma said dismissively. Again Alexis shook her head, “Somehow I don't think so. A guy like that, probably used to getting bullied and would suspect a prank. I have to warm him up to me before pulling this stunt.” Alexis moaned and hung her head, “Oh God I have to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons.” Jessica and Emma just laughed. “Tough shit girl. Get us the pic or find another Sorority.” They said and left. Alexis bit her lip and sighed, no use getting out of it. She was stuck with this, unless she gave up on GGK. No way in hell, Alexis wasn't a quitter and she certainly put other girls in High School through just as much shit as this, worse even. Begrudgingly, Alexis followed Jake's advice and went to the hobby shop he had told her about. It was a small store in the corner of a shopping center called Games, Dice, Action. The interior was much as she expected, walls of comic books, display cases fill with some kind of game game singles, and then there were dice. Little boxes of dice with several different shapes. Alexis looked though the different colors for a while before a chubby man with a thick beard came up to her, “Can I help you?” he asked. Alexis glanced up and then pointed at the dice in the case. “Are those the dice I need to play D&D?” She asked. The man nodded, “They are enough to get you going yeah. One die of each side type used in the game.” He explained. “Great, can I get those pink ones?” Shortly before six Alexis was back on campus with her bag of goodies. The clerk had been nice enough to also print her out several pages that he called “character sheets” so that she would be ready to sit down and immediately start making a character with Jake. Along with a set of pink dice that had three different shades of pink in their color scheme. She actually beat Jake to the rec room and found herself an empty table near the back of the mostly empty room so set up. She laid out her sheets and took out her dice, laying them in a row based on their total number of sides, and a little mechanical pencil. While she waited for Jake to arrive she googled basic D&D character creation rules but was giving a online book with nearly 200 pages and her eyes went wide. Did she have to learn 200 pages of rules? Who the fuck would play a game that required so much work. Wasn't it just supposed to be a bunch of dorks playing pretend around a table? The door to the rec room opened and Jaked walked in, holding a book under his arm. Alexis waved to get his attention and he began walking her way. “Wow,” he said, looking at the laid out paper and dice in front of her. “I gotta say, I didn't think you would go so far.” He told her, sitting across from her. She smiled and leaned toward him, purposefully giving him a glance down her top and get a good look at her cleavage. Alexis was proud of her perky just barely C-cups, and Jake took the chance to take the peek she offered. “Now why is that?” She asked teasingly. It was time to turn on the flurting. First meeting wouldn't have worked, but now that she had him mostly alone, she could start to give it to him and build not only his trust but his libido as well. Jake tore his eyes from her gapping shirt and blushed, “Look hot girls don't just ask to play D&D. It simply doesn't happen. I thought you were setting me up for a prank or something.” He explained. Alexis smiled, “I know you did. That's why I got all this stuff on my own. I want you to see I'm serious about at least giving this a try.” She gestured to her set up. Jake nodded, and set the book on the table. Alexis saw that it was the same book that the internet had proved her and the pit of her stomach dropped. Dread filled her as she began to fear all the rules he was about to dump on her. “Okay let's start by doing this….” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of scratch paper. Then he reached over and grabbed her six sided die. “Roll this four times…” And so began the process of Alexis making her first Dungeons and Dragons character. All her fear about the massive book turned out to be a waste because she ended up not needed more than like ten pages of the book in total. Jake made everything really simple and while she did roll her eyes a couple of times at the dorky terminology she found herself grasping it pretty easily. By the end of the sit down with Jake, Alexis' had her character sheet completely filled out. She had created a sneaky demon-like girl called a Tiefling Rogue and named her Shadow Heartly. Working with Jake turned out to be a lot of fun, and it made Alexis forget how dorky she always thought this would be. He helpped her create a back story for Shadow, together they crafted this back story of a demon born of noble blood who's demonic appearance forced her parents to give her up so she didn't hurt their reputation. Angery at being abandoned, Shadow began to steal mastering the art of pick-pocketing, before being grabbed by the thieves guild. The guild taught her to be unseen, and began using her for missions that asked her to sneak into dangerous locations. She learned to make herself valuable despite her demonic appearance. Alexis felt like she was going crazy, because she actually found herself eager to try playing Shadow in a real game. As they finished and stood up together, Alexis threw her arms around Jake and hugged him, purposefully pressing her chest tightly to his. “Thank you for this, truly.” She told him smiling as she stepped back. “I didn't think for a second it would be as interesting as you made it, but now I'm really glad I actually asked about this. I look forward to playing.” She paused and gave him a look, “When do we play?” Jake smiled, his face a little red after that hug. “I'm glad I was able to shatter your expectations. Let's see I have a new game starting with a group of players on Friday night at seven. So it's actually a perfect game for you to join in and try your hand at it.” Alexis groaned inwardly. Seven on a Friday night? Was he serious? She had a party to go to on Friday night. She didn't want to stay inside to play this game when she could be getting her party on. But she realized that she couldn't go to the party until she brought GGK what they asked for. So she smiled and nodded, “Alright Friday at seven. Where at?” “Oh we play in my dorm. I have a full ride and that came with a full sized dorm room with no roommate. So I have people come over there since it's private and I have the space.” He explained. His place? Alexis grinned, it was too perfect. All she had to do was wait for the game to end and everybody to leave and Jake would be all hers. “Great!” She replied. “I'll see you then I guess.” She started to walk away, “Oh, what dorm number?” Jake smirked, “224.” “Thanks Jake. See you.” She smiled and darted off. First thing in the morning Alexis went to the sorority house and explained the situation. Niece, the sorority leader, a buxom fit girl with long black hair and haunting blue eyes, glared up at Alexis from the love seat. “I don't know what you are going through all of this for. He's a nerd and you are way out of his league, just seduce him and be done with it. Why torture yourself?” Alexis didn't have a good answer really. She explained that Jake was too nerdy for that, and he would assume she was up to something if she just tried to pounce on him right out of the gate. Niece just scoffed and gave Alexis a dismissive wave, “Oh please, look if you went to his dorm tonight wearing nothing but a sexy set of underwear or a robe with nothing underneath, there is no way in hell he turns you away. Unless he's gay, is he gay?” Niece asked questioningly. Alexis shook her head, “I gave him plenty of chances to look down my shirt today, he took them all, so I don't think that's a worry.” Niece smiled and nodded, “Great, then go get your picture. Why play games with him?” Alexis shrugged, she didn't have a good answer. Jake had been a really nice guy, and totally different than the dwebe she had expected him to be. She just couldn't bring herself to be such a bitch to him for no reason. She didn't want to just leave him with his pants down, so to speak. It was then she had a chilling thought. If she was warming him up to her, did that mean she intended to give him actual head or something? Would she go that far just for a simple dick pic? Surely that wasn't what she was prepping for? But if she wasn't then why not just take Niece's advice and go blue ball the poor guy? Alexis couldn't think of a true answer. And that worried her. She shook it off, figuring she was just horny. After all she hadn't gotten any since she and her boyfriend broke up over the summer. He didn't even want to try a long distance relationship, and frankly Alexis couldn't blame him. It had left her with an inch to scratch though. Not that she would consider scratching it with Jake. Hell no. Friday came quickly and Alexis decided to bring a couple of pizza's to Jakes dorm room for the game. It always nice to be a good guest, that's what her folks taught her, and being a good guest meant bringing snacks or drinks for whatever get-together you were going too. So there she stood at his doorstep with two hot pizza's burning into her palm. Still she stared at the door for a while. Was she really going to try this for real? To get Jake alone so she could take a picture of his ramrod? It shouldn't mean this much right? Why was she scared, the worse that could happen was she upset him and no big deal. Then again, why did she make sure to put a condom in her handbag. That probably worried her more than anything else. Finally she knocked, Jake opened the door quickly. He smiled as he saw her and the pizzas, “Hey you made it. And with pizza! Wow you are officially my new favorite.” He reached out and took the boxes from her before stepping aside to let her in. “See guys this is how you impress your DM.” He said showing off the boxes. “You mean the food or the girl?” A male voice asked inside. Jake snapped at him, “Hey you better not start. I warned you, I want Alexis to feel welcome here.” There was a fairly small circular table with four people around it. Three of them were guys that very much embodied the typical guys that Alexis always pictured playing this game. Very overweight, thick glasses, beards that seemed to encompass their heads, they were total stereotypes. Alexis felt her stomach pitch with regret coming to this whole event. The other player at the table was a girl. But much like the boys she was far from what anyone would call attractive, overweight though not nearly to the degree the boys were, no sign of make-up, limp lifeless dirty blonde hair. She smiled at Alexis and waved her over, “Welcome Alexis, Jake told us you were maybe coming, glad you could make it.” Alexis smiled, “Thanks.” “Don't be nervous, it'll be a fun night. Jake is a great storyteller. I'm Nicole.” Nicole explained, taking Alexis' apprehension as nerves. But in truth it was Alexis fighting herself to come to terms with playing this nerd game all so she could seduce Jake enough to get a picture of his schlong so that she could then take it to GGK and be allowed full membership and regain her proper status as a “popular” girl. Holy fuck was she a shallow bitch or what? The next four hours turned into one of the best nights of fun Alexis ever had. Nicole had been right, Jake was an excellent storyteller, he told a story that made her feel like she and her character where actually in this fantasy world. Shadow and the other characters around the table found themselves stuck on a sinking ship. They rolled dice as they frantically tried to find some way to fix the boat, failing that they then tried to find pieces of the boat they could use to fashion a life raft of some kind. It was through sheer luck of the rolls that the party found themselves on an uncharted island, digging through a costal cave. Deep within they found a cavern of treasure, but guarding the treasure was a Manticore a flying lion beast with a human-like face. The party battled the creature, and Alexis managed to roll well which allowed her to get the finishing blow on the creature. All of it was exciting, and surprisingly engrossing which Alexis had never expected. As her character Shadow stood over the corpse of the beast, Jake stood up at the end of the table and said, “As Shadow pulls her dagger free from the Manticore's back, in collapses under her leaving her panting in victory over the beast.” He smiled at Alexis and she would be lying if she didn't get the tingle in her belly with arousal from his look. If ever she thought a nerd could be sexy it was in that moment. “And that is where we are ending this week.” Jake said, and Alexis clapped. She leaned back and ran her fingers through her hair. “Wow that was totally different than what I expected. Way more fun too.” Jake smiled, “I'm glad you enjoyed it. You did good as Shadow too, got into character pretty well for a first timer.” He told her. “Anyway thanks for coming guys, we'll see you all next week I hope.” The group packed up and Alexis spoke to them breifly thanking them for letting her join the group and playing with them tonight, Nicole was encouraging and told Alexis that she hoped to see her next week for the game again. As the group packed up Jake began to gather up the paper plates and napkins, the remains of the pizza's they all had crushed. Alexis got up and began to help him with the clean-up. She threw the trash into the bin, helped wipe the table up and put the cups that they had used for drinks into Jake's little mini dish washer. Once the rest of the group had left Jake moved next to her and helped rinse things out. “Well tell me what you thought. Was it as unbelievably nerdy as you thought it would be?” He asked her. She recalled the way he swung his arms as he described out they eached attacked the manticore, and how he had done voices of the many characters they had met along the way. She smiled at him, “Probably the nerdiest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Unbelievably dorky.” She told him. Alexis turned to him and looked down at her hands, the nerves boiling inside of her again. “But,” she said softly before turning her gaze back up to his. “I'd be lying if I told you I didn't have an incredibly huge amount of fun either. If this is what it is like, sign me up.” She told him. Jake nodded with a smirk, “I'm really happy to hear that. Not many girls like you would give this game even the slightest chance. You were great.” Alexis blushed and leaned in to kiss him. Jake's lips were soft against hers, but a little stiff as he didn't expect her to kiss him. For a second she feared that he might be taken and she was making him cheat, but after a moment of shock Jake's hands found her hips softly and he began to kiss her back. She pressed her tongue out, tasting his lips. She felt her body react to being against his, and couldn't believe she was actually attracted to him. Jake broke the kiss lightly, taking a deep breath. “Wow that's umm…unexpected.” He chuckled. “I never thought my first kiss would be from being a good D&D player.” Alexis felt her heart burn for him. His first kiss? The poor guy hadn't ever been kissed before? He was over twenty, even as a nerd she didn't understand how that was possible. She gave him a pout, “First kiss? You've never made out with anyone before?” She asked sadly. Jake blushed and looked down before shaking his head, “No never really that popular with the ladies.” “Oh that's no good. We have to fix that.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him from the little kitchen towards his bed on the otherside of the room. She smirked at him and shoved him back onto the bed, she leapt on after him, stratling his hips. She smiled and lowered herself down upon him, kissing him deeply. Her tongue pushed into his mouth to tease and play with him, her lips part as she invited him to do the same to hers. His lips wer soft and wonderful to kiss, she felt like she could really enjoy doing this with him. Jake reached up to cup her face, she could feel his hands trembling as he touched her. Alexis broke the kiss and smiled down at him, “You nervous?” She asked. Jake let out a shaky breath, “Yeah, I just….wow this is incredible.” She smiled at him and rose herself on top of him, taking his hands in hers she gave him a wink. “You don't have to be nervous. It's okay.” She told her and pulled his hands to her breasts. Jake gasped as she held his palms against her chest, letting him feel the way her soft yet firm mounds dug back into his hands. “How's that?” She asked teasingly. “Incredible.” He whispered. She couldn't help but giggle, shifting herself on top of him. It was then that she felt it. Her eyes went wide, it wasn't possible, surely he had something in his pocket or something. The make out had made this poor virgin grow hard under her, she could feel his hardness pressing against her as she let her weight settle on him. But what pressed against her couldn't be possible, she wiggled on top of him gently trying to see if it was something else, but no, there was no mistaking it. The massive pressure under her was all him. Holy fuck. Jake was biting his lip and looking up at her expectantly, waiting to see what she would do next. Alexis smiled and leaning forward to kiss him again. After a moment she broke the kiss and whispered into his lips. “If you've never been kissed before, that means…you've never had a girl suck your dick then right?” She asked him playfully. He swallowed and shook his head. Alexis smiled and rose up, “Good, then this should be fun.” She shifted off of him, moving to his side. As she did so she took her phone out of her back pocket and set it on the mattress. Looking down at his crotch she could see the bulging area in his pants and her eyes couldn't believe it was real. There was a fucking monster in there. She smiled at him as she reached out to run her palm over his girth. He let out a loud breath as she did so and it brought a moan from her own lips. “Oh you poor thing, you are so big yet so trapped. This must be awful for you.” She told him. As Alexis reached for the button of his pants, Jake's hand were suddenly there to stop her. “Alexis wait.” He breathed, his desire was potent to the point where she could almost taste it on him. Slowly he pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at her. “Isn't this a little fast? I mean, I just met you the other day.” She blinked in disbelief. Was she hearing this right? Was he actually stopping her from going down on him? Never in the history of ever had she ever been stopped after getting to this point before. She knew he was excited for her, she could see the evidence of that. “What?” She asked softly. Jake frowned and sighed, “I don't know. I just never had anyone even consider this with me. I was the guy who couldn't get a date let alone…” He gestured to her hovering over his crotch, “this.” Alexis couldn't believe it. He was trying to talk her out of blowing him. He was actually considering her and her feelings. Or maybe he sensed that she had other reasons for what she was about to do, no that couldn't be right. He was just a good guy, a nerd to be sure, but a good guy and not bad looking. Smiling she crawled over to his face and gave him a gentle slap. Looking into his eyes she said, “Jake, when you give girls a good time, they like to return the favor. I had a blast tonight, and I wanted to kiss you.” She kissed him softly to accent her point. “When you told me it was your first I felt bad. So I want to do this for you, I wanna show you some fun like you've never felt before. Kinda like what you did tonight for me already.” She sat up beside him and let her hands move back to his jeans. “Besides it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just a little head, people hook up all the time for…I believe the term in D&D would be a ‘one shot'.” She gave him a knowing smile, as her fingers pulled open the fly of his pants. She snapped her fingers and pointed, “Alright tug these off.” Jake hesitated for a moment, looking at her as if still trying to decide if it was a good idea or not. Then he shifted and lifted his hips to tug his pants down, with a couple of kicks they went flying off somewhere on the floor. Alexis loomed over him and looked down at the massive lump in his briefs. “Alright now let's see the goods.” She teased, slipping her fingers into the pee-hole of the briefs and wrapping her fingers around…..Jesus what the fuck was this? A full Salami? Christ even as she wrapped her fist around him she could barely get her fingers to touch. She looked at him with wide eyes as she tugged him through the pee-hole and revealed the beast within. Alexis took a deep breath. “What the fuck dude?” Jake jerked and looked at her, “What?” “You're fucking gigantic, fuck dude look at this thing!” She cried, as her hand slowly caressed the length of him. She lowered herself and lifted his hardness before her face. It was bigger than her fucking head. “You're bigger than my fucking head man!” She gasped, her free hand reaching slowly behind her to grab the phone she had taken out. She rose up and unlocked her phone, “Hold the fuck on I have to see something here.” She handed him her phone with the camera on. “Take my picture, I'm gonna see if your dick will hide my entire face.” She dropped down and lifted him in front of her face again. Jake grimaced, “I dunno if I want to take a picture of my dick though.” “Oh come on dude, my face will be there too. I'll make sure to send it to you so you can jerk to it later.” She promised with a smile. “Please?” She then licked him, running her tongue along his entire length from base to tip. He had to be at least nine inches long, and thick as a brick. Fucking him must be like fucking an arm, she thought to herself. Her tongue upon him did the trick though as his shaft jumped with the pleasure and he grunted. Jake shook his head and aimed the phone again, snapping the picture before setting the phone down. “There.” He said panting. Alexis smiled and kissed the tip of his throbbing mushroom. “Beautiful.” She told him. “Now as I promised.” She opened her mouth and gently sucked his tip into her mouth. Jake moaned with it, his shaft pulsed warmly on her tongue. She felt her body react to it as well, after seeing his size she wanted him, she wanted to try him. But that was perhaps going too far, especially since she didn't think her condom would be of any use on this monster. So Alexis took more into her mouth, working him gently with her tongue. She kept it slow so that he wouldn't lose himself too quickly, she wanted him to enjoy this. Hell SHE wanted to enjoy this. Gone were the thoughts of shame of doing this just to be hazed, gone were the questions of her morality or ethics in doing something like this. Sure she had gotten her picture, but now she didn't have to feel bad about leaving him with blue balls because she wanted to suck him off. His size was a challenge that she wanted to tackle. Even just a few inches into her mouth and her jaw was already open wide. She couldn't take him like this, no fucking way, there was too much of him. Instead Alexis made good with what she could take, using her tongue to tease the underside of him, pulling him back to her lips so she could suckle his tip and then repeating. Jake would swell in her mouth and she would stop, instead rubbing her palm over the spit covered tip of him and using her saliva as lube to stroke him. Her gaze would go to his, enjoying the look on his face. “What do you think?” She teased. Jake struggling to catch his breath. “It's incredible.” He panted softly. “I don't know how much I can take, I'm sorry Alexis.” He warned her. Nobody that she could recall had ever warned her, they just came whenever they felt like it. She had gotten good at being able to read the signs of when her partner was about to finish, the panting, the change in movements, even the swelling of their size. Jake however was too thick for her to totally tell, she thought every throb was going to be the eruption but it wasn't. She smirked, “It's okay, I didn't expect you to have pornstar stamina baby. Don't worry I'll drink you all up.” Then her lips wrapped around him again. Her words and the return of her mouth around him must have been too much, because not a second after she had his smooth fluffy tip in her mouth did she feel his massive tool jerk almost out of her grip. Then a rush of his stuff flooded into her mouth. Alexis squealed in surprise, tightening her grip with her hands around his base, holding him as he continued to powerfully jerk in her hand. Waves of his juice pulsed into her mouth, her throat worked overtime just to keep up with all he gave her. Her eyes went wide as he passed the point where a normal guy would have been done. But Jake gave her more, and then a little more. Finally with a grunt, Jake slumped back onto the bed breathing heavily. Alexis sucked the last little bit from his tip and lifted her head taking a deep breath. “Whew!” She gasped, licking her lips a giving herself a few extra swallows to clear her throat. “Jesus not only is your dick huge but so is your load.” She exclaimed. Jake blushed, “Sorry?” She giggled, “No need to be sorry, that's intense is all. I really really want to fuck you, I just want you to know that.” She told him. Jake sat up, “What really?” Alexis frowned, “Yeah, but I can't.” Jake gave a deflated look, but Alexis grabbed his chin, “No I want to really. But I don't have a condom that will fit you Jake. I didn't expect you to have the fucking Titanic in your pants.” She explained. “So maybe we can set up a raincheck. Find some rubbers that'll fit, and then we can see if my tight little lady can handle your beast.” She smiled wide and kissed his forehead. by musicankane for Literotica

This week, Christine Gallant shares the story of her Disney Wish wedding. When a hurricane rerouted their cruise, she and Dan had their 10 am Castaway Cay ceremony switched to a 2 pm Grand Hall event, but they got to keep their celebration at The Bayou. Today she talks about how Disney handled the changes, why she and Dan decided to use the ship's photography instead of bringing along their own photographer, and which elements of the cruise wedding package they chose. She also shares details of their post-wedding portrait session inside EPCOT! Click here to see the photos!

Generals, dictators, and despots have tried to rule the world. Their capital cities were monumental and impressive. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon built one of the designated Seven Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The historian Herodotus wrote, “In addition to its size, Babylon surpasses in splendor any city in the known world.” The Bible documents the King's great pride and boasting over his accomplishments. The prophet Daniel had warned the king to humble himself. “At the end of the twelve months he [King Nebuchadnezzar] was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?'” (Daniel 4:29-30). God punished King Nebuchadnezzar, who finally learned his lesson: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.” (Daniel 4:37). The Nazi dictator, Adolph Hitler, in his plan to rule the world, envisioned a world capital to last a thousand years. Albert Speer, Hitler's architect for the future city, planned a Grand Hall next to the Reichstag that “would have been the largest enclosed space in the world, with a dome 16 times larger than that of St Peter's in Rome” according to HistoryToday.com. (“Germania: Hitler's Dream Capital”) Of course, Hitler fell before the Allied armies in World War II. Bible prophecy reveals that another great dictator, called the “Beast” in the book of Revelation, will desire to rule the world and establish his own capital. As it tells us in Revelation 13:7, “And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.” The good news is that the coming King of kings will conquer and destroy this coming Beast power (Revelation 17:14) and Jesus Christ will establish a righteous world capital city. What city will become the capital of the world? In spite of today's conflicts, Jerusalem in Israel will soon become the glorious capital of the world. Does that sound impossible? You can learn more about the future of Jerusalem in our free study guide The Middle East in Prophecy. Be sure to order your free copy. Your Bible reveals the prophetic events leading up to world peace, and the establishment of a righteous world government centered in the city of peace, Jerusalem! You can prove it from your own Bible! Stay tuned!

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Hindu Council of Australia in Canberra brought back Diwali festivities to Parliament House this year. The event, held in the Grand Hall on 7 November, was attended by members of the Indian community, Indian High Commissioner Manpreet Vohra, Opposition leader Peter Dutton and Australian Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.

Toyota may finally be waking up to Electric Car Reality. New U.K. PM Sunak gets a 3 out of 5 on climate. Our city gets an elecric truck and loves the savings. Brian nearly dies in his Tesla Model 3 in a snowstorm but he thinks it should have been called a blizzard. A wind turbine gets hit by lighting off the coast of Ireland and blows up. We have the exclusive footage!  The Fully Charged Live show is coming to Australia and we've yet to be invited.  Canada will need 10x more wind and solar energy, supported by energy storage, to reach net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. That seems surprisingly small.  Grid adaptation for EV adoption in Calgary, Canada. James is sceptical of the threat to grids by EVs. Ola Air 1 electric scooter is unveiled at a low price for India. Biggest component of the fossil fuel system is energy loss. Thanks for listening to our show! Consider rating The Clean Energy Show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you listen to our show. Follow us on TikTok! Check out our YouTube Channel! Follow us on Twitter! Your hosts: James Whittingham https://twitter.com/jewhittingham Brian Stockton: https://twitter.com/brianstockton Email us at cleanenergyshow@gmail.com Leave us an online voicemail at http://speakpipe.com/cleanenergyshow Tell your friends about us on social media! Transcript Hello, and welcome to episode 136 of the Clean Energy Show. I'm Brian Stockton. I'm James Whittingham. This week, Toyota may finally be waking up to electric car reality. Turns out they just slept through their alarm, which wet off five years ago. Fully charged live show is coming to Australia. James and I are still waiting for our invite to the Canadian show, but we would love to go to Australia and hang out with our two listeners there. Liz Truss, the UK's solar hating Prime Minister, has resigned. The new PM is Rishi Sunak, who I think is ahead of Lettuce. I don't know, I just wasn't really paying attention. All that is so much more on this edition of the Clean Energy Show. I was going to list all the other things that we had to talk about this week. I apologize to Australia again for my Southern hemisphere ignorance. Our city buys an electric truck and we hear why they think it's a good idea. And, yeah, all kinds of wonderful things that we're going to have to speed through, because I got a big fat show for you this week. I have a big fat story for you this week. I was on a lovely electric car road trip to Saskatoon, our city to the north, on the way home, decided to stop in Moosejaw, which, as we've said before, is a real place. Yes. And, man, I got caught in the worst blizzard I have ever been in in my entire life. Really? Yeah, because I'm only 48 minutes away from there. I don't understand. Why was it so bad? Yeah, well, this was a weird spring storm. Oh, sorry, fall storm. We've had really warm weather here, like it was plus 20 Celsius just a few days ago. And they had some warnings out. They called it a snowfall warning, but I have a bone to pick with Environment Canada, because it really should have been a blizzard warning. They have criteria for blizzard warnings, Brian. It has to be windy and zero visibility in a certain temperature, depending on the region. It actually varies by region. This is our Canadian weather service. That's right. And I think the one thing we may not have had was temperature, because it was only around zero, but we had all the other things. So we wanted to stop in Moose Jaw on the way home. Pictures. What? It was for work. My partner had a bit of work to do and it involved taking pictures in Moose Jaw. So, yeah, the snow starts to fall and we start driving in Moosejaw. In about 30 minutes out of Moosejaw, the snow was just getting super heavy and thick and cars were going in the ditch. This is a fairly small highway, just like a twolane highway. And, yes, we had to slow down to, like, 40 just about lost control of the car. At one point it started to slide around. I managed to regain control, but it was a serious white knuckle drive those last 20 km into Moose Jaw. We were worried we weren't going to make it. There were cars in the ditch, people slept overnight. Man, that could have been used. Exactly how much of a charge did you have at that point? I have to ask. We rolled into Moose Jaw with a 20% charge, which is not great. That's not great for spending the night. Well, I don't understand why you thought that was a good idea. Because I'm going to flash back to Friday night in the weather forecast here. Do know that there is a special weather statement in place through much of southern and eastern Saskatchewan and there will be major impacts along with this Natasha, including possibly some treacherous conditions on the road. So people should prepare for that and maybe some power outages. So it'd be good to have an emergency kit as well. I'll full update coming up a little bit later. It's almost like they saw it coming. I heard that same report and they said, yeah, some snow and it probably won't stay around. It'll probably melt. I don't know. I don't think we were sufficiently warned. What do they have to do? Come at you with a Taser? A blizzard warning. It should have been a blizzard. Oh, you stupid old man. A blizzard warning is there for a reason. It means it's a blizzard. It means the highways are not going to be possible. It could be a light freezing rain and a beautiful day. The sun could be shining. It could be just treacherous. A blizzard warning is a blizzard warning. It was a blizzard. It was definitely the worst snow storm, whatever you want to call it, the worst one I've ever driven through. And we just barely made it. And then we had to stay two nights. We had to stay two nights in Mousse. That's absurd because the road was just not did you get your picture? Did you take it at least? No, we did not. Oh my God. Yeah, we'll have to go back. But yeah, we could have maybe driven back on the second day. Only stayed one night, but the road was still moose Jaw was the epicenter for this storm that it got around a foot of snow in Moussehow. Yeah, but we got to stay at the lovely Grant Hall Hotel in Moosejaw, which is this historic hotel on Main Street. And we had power the whole time. But on the other side of Main Street, no power for about 8 hours. Half the town was without power, but we were relaxing comfortably in the Grand Hall hotels. Quite lovely. All right. I have here the blizzard threshold criteria for Canada. The national. Except for north of the tree line. Which is while it varies in various parts. I guess where suddenly it becomes forced and it's not prairie and whatnot when winds of 40. That's a calm day around here or greater are expected to cause widespread reductions in visibility to 400 meters or less due to blowing snow or blowing snow in combination with falling snow for at least 4 hours. You're right, I think it should have been a blizzard if that's all it is.

Relax, press play, and let these sounds bring more calm into your life.

Today, Melissa Foland shares what it was like to be one of the first couples married aboard the Disney Wish cruise ship! You'll hear how she and Timothy chose the Wish after five COVID-related postponements, why they chose The Grand Hall for their ceremony and The Bayou for their celebration, and how she handled hair and makeup for the wedding. Melissa also discusses the advantages of bringing their own photographer aboard for the ceremony, reception and three other photo shoots. Click here to see ALL the photos!

Coun. Sadie Hunter jumps into the Kamloops Last Week hot seat (8:38 mark) in Episode 62, which also includes the top five things to look out for during the Kamloops Civic Election Forum (28:05). The forum will get underway at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5, in the Grand Hall at TRU and video of the event will be streamed live and posted on the Kamloops This Week Facebook page. Hunter explains why she is the person for the job, talking of the importance of female representation and her wide swath of life and employment experience. In the wake of claims made by mayoral candidate Ray Dhaliwal of bullying and harassment on city council and at city hall, Hunter shares her own experience and speaks of physical intimidation. Hunter also answers a question on running for the NDP in the 2020 provincial election — did she break trust with Kamloops voters? Topics also include mandatory admission into recovery programs, increasing feistiness as the election draws near, Hunter’s belief she is a leader who can bring council and community together and inflationary costs. We also touch on the South Kamloops Titans’ revenge tour (3:38), as the senior high school football team embarks on its regular season, which begins on Friday at Hillside Stadium, an 8 p.m. start against Salmon Arm. The Titans feel they were robbed last year of a chance to play in BC Place Stadium during the Subway Bowl. They’re using the slight as fuel in 2022. The Kamloops Last Week crew embarks (4:50) on an eagle-hunting journey that brings them to Gord’s Appliance and Mattress Centre, Nu Leaf Produce Market and McDonald’s. To inquire about joining the #LastWeekClique sponsorship consortium, email klw@kamloopsthisweek.com. Join our growing subscriber base by searching for Kamloops Last Week on YouTube. Share this video and email KLW@kamloopsthisweek.com for a chance to win four tickets to this Friday’s Blazers’ game. We’ll see you Last Week :)

Press Gallery journalists are in their element after the regular bridge run returned from the Grand Hall to the 1st floor foyer of Parliament House, the place known as 'the tiles'.

The South Waikato District is showcasing itself in Wellington this evening in Parliament's Grand Hall. The council, local iwi Raukawa, community and business representatives are seeking co-investment from the Government to address multi-generational inequalities. South Waikato Mayor, Jenny Shattock talks to Jesse about why they need more government funds for the district.

งาน LINE THAILAND DEVELOPER CONFERENCE 2022 สุดยอด Tech Conference สำหรับ Developers ที่ฮิปที่สุดในประเทศไทย กลับมาแบบ Physical Event แล้วครับ! เย้! กลับมาอีกครั้งต่อเนื่องเป็นปีที่ 4 แล้วกับงาน LINE DEV CONF ปีนี้บอกเลยว่าน่าตื่นเต้นสุดๆๆ เพราะเรากลับมาแบบเจอกันตัวเป็นๆ ดีใจน้ำตาจะไหลจะได้เจอทุกคนแล้ว งานนี้จะจัดวันเสาร์ที่ 3 กันยายนที่ Bitec บางนา Grand Hall ขนม นม เนย เพียบ! ที่สำคัญเข้าร่วมงานได้ฟรีเหมือนเดิม เอาจริงๆคือแค่มากินข้าวก็คุ้มแล้วอะ 555 อะเข้าเรื่องวันนี้เราจะมา Sneak peak เนื้อหาในงาน เรามีทั้งหมด 20 หัวข้อด้วยกันครับ ลงทะเบียนได้ตั้งแต่วันนี้ - 21 สิงหาคม 2565 คลิก https://www.line-website.com/linedevconf2022

Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney Signature Experiences, which includes Disney Cruise Line, talks with James Shillinglaw of Insider Travel Report about the just christened Disney Wish, the fifth ship in the Disney Cruise fleet with two more to come. Mazloum details the design details, starting with the Grand Hall, the rotational dining concepts, the upscale restaurants, the accommodations, the kids clubs and so much more. For more information, visit www.disneycruise.com. If interested, the original video of this podcast -- with supplemental pictures and video -- can be found on the Insider Travel Report Youtube channel  or by searching for the podcast's title on Youtube. 

In this episode of Distory with Kate & Kirk, ghosts are beginning to materialize as we enter the Grand Hall (aka The Ballroom) of the Haunted Mansion and give a detailed account of the secrets, stories, effects, and details you might have missed while flying by in your Doom Buggy. Kirk shows us a way to replicate the Pepper's Ghost effect in our very own homes, and we go a little rogue speculating on some (possible) Haunted Mansion connections and themes. Join us LIVE on TikTok every Friday at 5:30pm Pacific/8:30pm Eastern for more Distory! Kate: @disneycicerone Kirk: @walruscarp You can also find us on YouTube, Instagram, and at disneycicerone.com & walruscarp.com View full video versions of each episode HERE Books we reference in this episode: Boundless Realms by Foxx Nolte The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic by Jason Surrell

Aunty's Beach House at Disney Aulani will Reopen on May 25Aunty's Beach House at Aulani will reopen May 25 giving keiki (kids) aged 5-12 access to the fun and adventure once again. Plus, there's something new: Aunty's Beach house will offer evening activities for  the whole family for the very first time.Aunty's Beach House is designed as a typical hale (or house) where kids might visit their "aunty." The beach house is a Hawaiian kids club where the focus is on holiday fun. Each of the six rooms is dedicated to different activities - from a movie room to computer lab, arts and crafts studio to a game room.Parents can reserve a playtime in Aunty's Beach House between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. daily for secured and supervised children's programming. During these hours, parents choose 1.5 hours of playtime for complimentary themed activities on "Uncle's Side" of the house or 2 hours on "Aunty's Side" of the house for premium activities. This is typically a hot ticket and reservations are required.Complimentary activities include interactive games and arts and crafts based on the theme of the day. Premium activities include Surf's Up, A Surfin', Fishin' and Dancin' Party with Disney friends. Children will learn about the ocean, catch a wave on carpet surfboards with Max and get the scoop  on fishing Hawai‘i waters with Goofy.NEW! Now the whole family can get in on the fun with "after hours" activities from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00  p.m. when Aunty's Beach House turns into an evening entertainment venue. Families can choose from an assortment of complimentary and premium activities where they can learn to play the ‘ukulele, get together for a lesson in animation, or make lasting memories with photo opportunities in front of surfing scenes and other colorful backdrops.These activities used to take place in the community hall, but it sounds like they've now made them paid activities and moved them to Aunty's Beach House.Aunty's Beach House will reopen with new operations, safety and health protocols in place. Among them: face covering requirements, capacity limits, physical distancing, spacing between craft benches and play areas and temperature checks.Reservations for Aunty's Beach House can be made up to two weeks in advance by calling (808) 674-6943 from 7:00 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. daily. Programs are subject to change.--“Tale of the Lion King” Debuts May 28 at Disneyland ParkStarting May 28, 2022, Disneyland Park will welcome “Tale of the Lion King” to its new home at the Fantasyland Theatre, where this original-story theatre adaptation of “The Lion King” will be staged in an all-new presentation. At the heart of the production is a traveling troupe known as The Storytellers of the Pride Lands who weave the tale of how a cub becomes a king through dialogue, song, dance and percussion. From the scenic and costume designs to the new original music arrangements and choreography, “Tale of the Lion King” honors and is inspired by the cultural roots of this timeless story.Also on May 28, Troubadour Tavern will reopen with new menu items inspired by the show.--‘Fantasmic!' is now 30 and is Returning to Disneyland Park on May 28If you have never seen “Fantasmic!” this is definitely a must-do (at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, although we prefer the Disneyland version). Fantasmic is an emotional extravaganza of colorful Disney-animated story scenes, choreographed to an exciting musical score. At Disneyland, the waters of the Rivers of America come alive as Mickey Mouse dreams he is the Sorcerer's Apprentice and faces several villains, using the power of his imagination to save the day. Along the way, fantastic events and images appear from stories including “Fantasia,” “The Jungle Book.” Fantasmic features live performers, character appearances, enhanced special effects and pyrotechnics.--A Sneak Peek at Disney Cruise Line Disney Wish Inaugural Merchandise WIth the Disney Wish setting sail this summer, Disney is teasing a little more with a preview of some of the merch that you can take home with you from the exclusive Disney Wish merchandise collection. Inspired by the Grand Hall on the ship, the first release of merch reflects the enchantment of the Disney Wish with details that include rhinestones and rich fabrication.There is something for everyone, from T-shirts, blouses and long sleeve shirts to pullovers and accessories.  A Pandora charm set features Rapunzel (the Wish's bow character) and Captain Minnie Mouse.  You'll also find a new pair of Minnie Mouse ear headbands to add to your collection and even a matching Loungefly backpack.Dooney & Bourke has a tote that's part of the collection, which will be available at retail shops on the Disney Wish.--Thank You for Listening to the Disney Travel PodcastThank you very much for listening to this episode, Amelia and I hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, we would be very grateful if you could rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes (or on whichever app you choose to listen). A brief review about what you liked most about an episode truly helps to keep the show going by exposing it to new listeners. We look forward to continue producing new episodes each week.Sharing the podcast with your friends and on social media is also extremely helpful and very much appreciated.Shop 1923 Main StreetFeel free to visit our 1923 Main Street® Disney merchandise shop where we have hundreds of unique and original Disney-inspired t-shirts, leggings, clothing, mugs, phone cases and much more. You'll find everything from 1923 Main Street logo merchandise to custom created authentic Disney-inspired originals, including lots of great patterns for leggings and other items.Contact 1923 Main StreetThank you for listening to the Disney Travel News Podcast at 1923MainStreet.com. As always, we love to get feedback and questions from our listeners and to hear your suggestions and ideas for future episodes.Please be sure to follow along on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.Thank you for listening and have a magical day!Mike Belobradic and Amelia Belobradic--Media provided by Jamendo

Disney Cruise Line Introduces Halloween on the High Seas 956b29ec-f534-4d0c-a05b-02e71035f214.jpg It's all just a bunch of Hocus Pocus! At least, it will be this fall when a first-of-its-kind character meet and greet inspired by Halloween's favorite sisters and other new experiences debut on Disney Cruise Line's Halloween on the High Seas sailings! This September and October, You will run amuck (amuck! amuck!) on Halloween-themed cruises with special entertainment and activities, including trick-or-treating, spooky parties, elaborate décor and limited-time food and beverage items. But the fun doesn't stop there! These voyages will also debut an all-new character meet and greet opportunity exclusively for Disney Cruise Line Guests. While all characters on board will adorn Halloween costumes as part of the festivities, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck and Clarabelle Cow will debut a never-before-seen look as they dress up as the iconic Halloween sisters, the Sandersons from the movie “Hocus Pocus.” During its inaugural season of Halloween cruises this fall, the Disney Wish, the newest Disney Cruise Line ship, will also introduce a unique twist on a Halloween on the High Seas hallmark. 6dc7ba6b-eed3-453f-86ea-1abc07bdd382.jpg The centerpiece of every ship during Halloween sailings is the signature magical Pumpkin Tree towering over the atrium lobby, each with sprouting Jack-O-Lanterns and flickering lights. Aboard the Disney Wish, guests will witness the debut of an all-new tree in the “Cinderella”-inspired Grand Hall. Featuring lighter bark, graceful branches and a mystical face, legend has it that this enchanted tree (named Boo) grew beautiful gourds with the help of a wishing star. The best pumpkin of them all was destined to grant a very special wish … and that moment came when a carriage was needed to send a fair maiden to a royal soiree. In a flash of bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, that perfect pumpkin became the coach that carried Cinderella to the prince's ball! ae05f7e8-0e6f-42c7-9f28-3fdd21e3caa4.jpg In addition to spooky character encounters and enchanted pumpkin trees, other frighteningly fun experiences aboard Halloween on the High Seas sailings include Mickey's Mouse-querade Party, a fun-filled costume party for families (and fan-favorite Disney characters); villainous takeovers in the adult-exclusive venues; Halloween-themed movies on Funnel Vision; and even a ghostly take on ship announcements. Halloween on the High Seas voyages will be offered aboard select sailings in September and October. Departing from ports in Miami and Port Canaveral, Florida, San Diego and New York City, each cruise will take families to fascinating destinations including the Bahamas, Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada and Mexico. All sailings from Port Canaveral and Miami will include a stop at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island paradise outfitted for family fun and relaxation and brimming with special Disney touches!

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Returns to Walt Disney World Resort This FallIt's back: the full version of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party will take place on 37 select nights from August 12 through October 31, 2022 from 7:00 p.m. to midnight.Here's some of what's in store for this limited-capacity event in 2022: Mickey's Boo-To-You Halloween Parade is back, including the Headless Horseman will once again ride down Main Street, U.S.A. Trick-or-treating is back, so you can load up on M&M'S, SKITTLES, SNICKERS, and more Halloween favorites at locations throughout Magic Kingdom Park. And new for the 50th Anniversary, you will also get a reusable trick-or-treat bag featuring a keepsake 50th and Halloween design. The Sanderson Sisters will lead a “Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular” stage show at Cinderella Castle. Favorite and rare Disney characters will take over the park for their favorite party of the year. Overlays themed for the occasion are back at many popular Magic Kingdom attractions: Space Mountain, Mad Tea Party, Pirates of the Caribbean and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. Jack Skellington, will host “Disney's Not-So-Spooky Spectacular.” This can't-miss nighttime show features projections, special effects, lighting, fireworks, music and Disney characters. Discover sweet and savory menu items inspired by fall flavors and the Halloween season. NEW! In honor of the 50th Anniversary celebration, there will be event-exclusive step-in photo opportunities. Plus, you'll also get a Halloween-themed 50th Anniversary commemorative print. Tickets will go on sale May 18, 2022. If you have a reservation at a Walt Disney World hotel, you can book as early as May 12. Tickets range from $109-$199 plus tax. Walt Disney World Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members will get specially-priced tickets for select dates.Note: You do not require an additional day theme park ticket or a Disney Park Pass theme park reservation. The event dates are: August: 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30 September: 2, 5, 9, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30 October: 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31 --Disney Cruise Line Has New Halloween ExperiencesThis September and October Disney Cruise Line will have Halloween-themed cruises with special entertainment and activities, including trick-or-treating, spooky parties, elaborate décor and limited-time food and beverage items. These voyages will also debut an all-new character meet and greet opportunity. All Disney characters on board will be in Halloween costumes but Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck and Clarabelle Cow will debut brand new looks as they dress up as the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus.For its first season of Halloween cruises this fall, the Disney Wish will also introduce a unique twist on a Halloween on the High Seas hallmark.The centerpiece of every ship during Halloween is the signature magical Pumpkin Tree towering over the atrium lobby, each with sprouting Jack-O-Lanterns and flickering lights. On the Disney Wish, guests will witness the debut of an all-new tree in the Cinderella-inspired Grand Hall.Featuring lighter bark, graceful branches and a mystical face, legend has it that this enchanted tree (named Boo) grew beautiful gourds with the help of a wishing star. The best pumpkin of them all was destined to grant a very special wish … and that moment came when a carriage was needed to send a fair maiden to a royal soiree. In a flash of bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, that perfect pumpkin became the coach that carried Cinderella to the prince's ball!Other Halloween experiences will include Mickey's Mouse-querade Party, a costume party for families and Disney characters; villainous takeovers in the adult-exclusive areas; Halloween-themed movies on Funnel Vision; and even a ghostly take on ship announcements.Halloween on the High Seas voyages will be offered aboard select sailings in September and October. Departing from ports in Miami and Port Canaveral, Florida, San Diego and New York City, each cruise will travel to destinations including the Bahamas, Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada and Mexico. --Halfway to Halloween Announcements from Disneyland ResortDisneyland Resort is also getting in on the Halfway to Halloween fun. Here's what we know so far. It's confirmed that Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party, will officially return for the 2022 Halloween season. It's a separately ticketed, limited-capacity, after-hours event at Disney California Adventure Park and will be back for select nights this fall.We'll share exact dates and ticket information as soon as they're released.-- More Disneyland News UpdatesHotels of the Disneyland Resort News Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel is finally being reimagined based on the artistry of Pixar. It will feature favorite Pixar worlds and characters through carefully curated artwork, and décor that reveals the creative journey of the artists who helped bring these stories to life.Guests will be welcomed into whimsical character moments, like the iconic, playful Pixar Lamp balancing atop its ball in the lobby. More news on this will be coming soon. What we do know now is that a new walkway is currently under construction that will soon give Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel Guests a convenient entrance to Disney California Adventure Park.Plus, we now know that the long-awaited “Hey Disney!” – a new kind of voice assistant that works alongside Alexa on Amazon Echo devices in Disneyland Resort hotel rooms that can make your stay more convenient, engaging, and enjoyable – will debut later this year.Later this summer, if you stay at a Disneyland Resort hotel you can look forward to sending select theme park purchases back to your resort hotel.And finally, early entry access is coming back for guests staying at one of our Disneyland Resort hotels beginning later this summer.Downtown Disney News The latest transformation of Downtown Disney is under way in the west end and will bring more innovative shopping, dining and entertainment experiences. Drawing inspiration from Southern California mid-century modern architecture, the west-end area will be a beautiful blend of vibrant color palettes, design elements and patterns influenced by the region, and will include an open lawn for relaxation and future events, and an even broader and diverse collection of dining and shopping.The world-renowned restaurant Din Tai Fung will join the district to offer guests their soup dumplings hand crafted right on site. This family-run restaurant will bring flavorful Chinese cuisine to Downtown Disney, where Guests can enjoy dishes served family style in a creative space off of our new lawn pavilion. Michelin-starred chef Carlos Gaytan will bring his Mexican cuisine to Paseo and Centrico in the locations currently occupied by Catal & Uva Bar. The restaurant and central courtyard bar and dining area will offer a multi-sensory journey to the heart of Chef Gaytan's homeland. Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen is evolving to reflect vibrant California energy and a fresh approach to the menu, while staying true to the heart of New Orleans.And finally, Earl of Sandwich will also pop into the district in a special sandwich walk-up location, offering the classic fare that you know and love (but only for a limited time starting later this year).Mickey's Toontown NewsDisney has officially broken ground on the update and transformation coming to Disneyland Toontown.  --Thank You for Listening to the Disney Travel PodcastThank you very much for listening to this episode, Amelia and I hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, we would be very grateful if you could rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes (or on whichever app you choose to listen). A brief review about what you liked most about an episode truly helps to keep the show going by exposing it to new listeners. We look forward to continue producing new episodes each week.Sharing the podcast with your friends and on social media is also extremely helpful and very much appreciated.Shop 1923 Main StreetFeel free to visit our 1923 Main Street® Disney merchandise shop where we have hundreds of unique and original Disney-inspired t-shirts, leggings, clothing, mugs, phone cases and much more. You'll find everything from 1923 Main Street logo merchandise to custom created authentic Disney-inspired originals, including lots of great patterns for leggings and other items.Contact 1923 Main StreetThank you for listening to the Disney Travel News Podcast at 1923MainStreet.com. As always, we love to get feedback and questions from our listeners and to hear your suggestions and ideas for future episodes.Please be sure to follow along on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.Thank you for listening and have a magical day!Mike Belobradic and Amelia Belobradic--Media provided by Jamendo

Episode 98In episode 98, Chris answers a listener question from Ann about the history of the Cunard Class System (Britannia, Princess & Queens), plus the usual round-up of the latest cruise news from around the world.Suport the showListen, Like, Subscribe & Review on your favourite podcast directory.Share the podcast with someone you think will enjoy the showBuy Me A Coffee – This podcast is only possible thanks to our supporters, simply buying a coffee keeps us on air. It is just like shouting your mate a coffee, and we consider our listeners close mates. https://bit.ly/2T2FYGXSustainable Fashion – choose a TBCP design or design your own… all using organic cotton, green energy and zero plastic https://bit.ly/32G7RdhImages from Garry Stafford in SydneyListener QuestionAnn asks Chris about the history of the Cunard class system, eg, Britannia, Princess and Queens. Cruise NewsP&O Cruises Australia Welcomes the Return of Ni Vanuatu Crew Onboard Pacific ExplorerP&O Cruises Australia is proud and excited to welcome back our Ni Vanuatu team mates to work onboard our first ship to start sailing from Australia in more than two years.P&O Cruises has always valued its strong relationship with Vanuatu and is the only cruise line in the world to employ Ni Vanuatu team mates onboard our ships.The first Ni Vanuatu crew left Vila this morning to join the P&O Cruises flagship, Pacific Explorer, which will begin carrying guests from May 31.PONANT welcomes Le Lapérouse in Darwin ahead of Kimberley season kick-offPonant this week announced the arrival of small expedition ship Le Lapérouse into Darwin, Northern Territory, following a 2-year pandemic stand-by in Noumea.With operations resuming 28 April 2022, the monumental moment comes as Le Lapérouse anticipates setting sail for PONANT's highly anticipated Kimberley 2022 season, operating between Darwin and Broome.Le Lapérouse will be accompanied late May in the Kimberley by small luxury expedition ship Le Soléal, PONANT's second expedition vessel showcasing the wild and grandiose landscapes of the Kimberley across multiple departures of their popular 10-night ‘Australia's Iconic Kimberley' luxury expedition itinerary between April and September this year. Due to high demand, PONANT has recently released two new sailings available for booking, departing on 28 May and 7 June on board Le Soléal.Discovery Princess Officially Named by TV Star GodparentsIn an imaginative ceremony on 29 April 2022 at the Port of Los Angeles, television stars and show hosts united as godparents and officially named Discovery Princess. The godparents included fashion designer Randy Fenoli, chef Alex Guarnaschelli, special effects designer and fabricator Adam Savage, and real estate broker and flipper extraordinaire Page Turner.Standing together at the Retreat Pool on the open deck of Discovery Princess with the ship's Captain Gennaro Arma, they pronounced, “We name this ship Discovery Princess. May God bless her and all who sail on her.” They then sent a giant Nebuchadnezzar-size bottle of champagne against the ship for the celebratory smash, officially welcoming Discovery Princess into the fleet of Princess Cruises, the world's leading international cruise line and leader on the west coast.The “Discover Our World” themed ceremony blended maritime tradition with contemporary elements, celebrating the cruise line's exclusive, seven-year Discovery at SEA™ program – bringing the spirit of curiosity and exploration to every cruise through branded experiences like Shark Week at Sea, exclusive shore excursions and onboard activities such as the Camp Discovery youth centers and Stargazing at SEA.Discovery Princess expands the cruise line's fleet of MedallionClass ships to 15, offering elegantly appointed accommodations, world-class entertainment, gourmet dining and cocktails, extensive alfresco dining areas and expansive views from the cruise line's largest balconies at sea in the Sky Suites.The 3,660-guest Discovery Princess was built at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, and is the sixth and final Royal-Class newbuild sharing all of the spectacular style and luxury of her sister ships – Enchanted Princess® Sky Princess®, Majestic Princess®, Regal Princess® and Royal Princess®.Costa Venezia – Home Ported in TurkeyCosta Venezia's new cruises to Turkey and Greece will make their debut from Istanbul on May 1. This is an absolute novelty in the current panorama of organized holidays, which marks the collaboration between Costa Cruises, Turkish Airlines, the Turkish National Tourist Board and Galataport Istanbul.The proposed formula is the “flight+cruise” package, available from all the main European countries, with scheduled Turkish Airlines flights, which will make it possible to reach Istanbul easily, and then embark on board of Costa Venezia from the new Galataport cruise terminal, equipped with all the comforts and services for the next generation of ships.Costa Venezia's program in Turkey includes three different itineraries, all with embarkation and disembarkation in Istanbul, designed to include longer calls in the ports to enjoy the destinations with plenty of time, among cities rich in history, splendid archaeological and UNESCO World Heritage sites and crystal clear seas.In spring, summer and autumn, from 1 May to 13 November 2022, Costa Venezia will offer two one-week itineraries dedicated to Turkey and Greece, interchanging with each other, which can be combined into a single 15-day “super tour”, with 8 calls in port longer than 10 hours.The first itinerary is ideal for those who want to explore the best of Turkey and Greece in one holiday. It includes a two-day, one-night call in Istanbul, the beautiful Turkish destinations of Izmir and Bodrum, the island of Mykonos and Athens in Greece.The second itinerary allows to explore some of Greece's out-of-the-ordinary locations and the best of Turkey. It includes two two-day, one-night calls in Istanbul and Kusadasi, Turkey, before heading off to explore Rhodes and Heraklion, Greece. In winter 2022-23, Costa Venezia will be offering a third 12-day itinerary to Turkey, Egypt, Israel and Cyprus, visiting Istanbul (with a two-day, one-night call), Bodrum, Limassol, Haifa (also with a two-day, one-night call), Alexandria and Kusadasi. From spring 2023, the two itineraries in Turkey and Greece will resume.Holland America Line Wins ‘Best Beverage Menu' for New Concept Half Moon BarHolland America Line took home a win for “Best Beverage Menu' for its newest onboard bar —  Half Moon Bar —  at the 2022 VIBE Vista Awards that were presented during the VIBE (Very Important Beverage Executives) conference this week in Carlsbad, California.Holland America Line's Half Moon Bar is a new concept for the brand that was exclusively introduced aboard its most recent ship, Rotterdam, which launched in November 2021. The venue is an immersive experience looking at the history of Holland America Line and cruising through the lens of a cocktail. Each drink comes with a fascinating tale of its inspiration that is vividly described in the bar menu for guests to peruse.The creative cocktails at Half Moon Bar aim to take guests back in time, on a journey though Holland America Line's history. Drinks on the menu include:“The Original” celebrates the line's first ship, Rotterdam I, made with a Dutch gin and a hint of single malt Scotch, ingredients inspired by the building of the ship and Holland America Line's Dutch beginnings.“De Halve Moon” is an ode to the Dutch sense of exploration and the botanical wonderland Henry Hudson found in present-day New York, made with Old Duff genever, lemon rosewater shrub and DDG Bitters.“Three Mile Run” is a prohibition cocktail that tells the story of Holland America Line Prohibition-era cruises to nowhere for New Yorkers, where cocktail bars on the ship could be legally open. It is made from a combination of lemon, honey and gin for a Bee's Knees, whiskey for a Gold Rush or rum for a Honey Bee.“May She Be Blessed” is an ode to the godmothers who bless the Holland America Line ships, made with champagne and a choice of essence.“Rotterdam VII” is dedicated to its namesake ship and the ship's unique blend of tradition and innovation, made with smoked gin and maraschino cocktail.Rotterdam is currently approaching Europe where she will home port from Amsterdam on voyages throughout Northern Europe.PLUS Holland America Line this week announced that Westerdam will be redeployed from Asia to Australia with Itineraries announced soon.NCL Elevates Spa offering on Prima and Viva Norwegian Cruise Line, today shared details surrounding its elevated spa and fitness offerings for its highly-anticipated Norwegian Prima Class vessels – Norwegian Prima and Viva.The first two of six ships within this cutting-edge class will feature the cruise industry's first charcoal sauna at sea as well as a two-story cascading indoor spa waterfall. The Cruise Line has also incorporated several guest favourites including thermal experiences and hot-stone loungers.Industry's First Charcoal Sauna at SeaAs part of the ongoing only-found-on-NCL's Prima Class holiday experiences such as the world's first three-level racetrack at sea and dry drop slides, the Brand will unveil the industry's first charcoal sauna. Derived from Japanese and Korean wellness practices, the charcoal sauna uses a radiant heat system with an outer charcoal layer to reach temperatures between 86-122 degrees Fahrenheit (30-50oC). Guests can recline into relaxation as the sauna helps boost circulation and metabolism while also removing toxins from the body. The sauna also effectively treats muscle stiffness and tension, including relief from backache, headache, and arthritis, by promoting the deep release of connective tissue and muscles. Thermal ExperiencesThe charcoal sauna is just one of eight thermal spa offerings available at the elevated Mandara Spa. Guests can also indulge in a series of blissful experiences such as a salt and steam room, as well as a gambit of Brand-first spa experiences including an Ice Room, Experiential Showers, a Flotation Salt Pool and Infrared Sauna.The Ice Room: After unwinding in the sauna or steam bath, guests can cool off in the refreshing Ice Room. The cold air helps to increase blood circulation, invigorate the respiratory tract, and strengthen the immune system.  The Experiential Showers: Multiple water jets and lighting effects help invigorate the body, lower body temperature, and stimulate blood circulation.Floatation Salt Pool: This treatment allows guests to fully relax all of their muscles while floating in warm water. An experience similar to experiencing zero gravity due to the buoyancy of the saltwater, the Floatation Salt Pool is beneficial for easing mental anxiety and muscle tension.  Infrared Sauna: Unlike traditional saunas that use conventional heat to warm the air, infrared saunas utilise infrared lamps to directly warm the body — and at lower temperatures than traditional saunas. This promotes relaxation, better sleep, sore muscle and joint relief, improved blood circulation, and detoxification.Royal Caribbean Group and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Recommit to PartnershipRoyal Caribbean Group, announced its new commitment to the next phase of its ongoing partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for guidance and counsel in establishing bold environmental goals and sustainable business practices.Royal Caribbean Group first partnered with WWF in 2016. Since then, WWF has advised Royal Caribbean Group to embed sustainability into the core of the company's business and across the industry, promote responsible tourism in priority coastal destinations and help protect the oceans by investing in conservation programs globally.This year, WWF and Royal Caribbean Group will work together to establish sustainability goals across three key areas of Ship, Sea and Shore:Ship — Continuous improvement of operational sustainability, including emissions, marine mammal protection, seafood sourcing, plastics reduction, and food waste.Sea — Investing in ocean health through targeted philanthropy; engaging with a global science-driven agenda and consumer-facing education and fundraising campaigns.Shore — Embedding principles of sustainable development in projects and increasing sustainability and certification of tour operators.Royal Caribbean Group will also continue to provide financial support to WWF's global ocean conservation work through a $5 million philanthropic contribution and collaborate with WWF to build global awareness about ocean conservation issues among Royal Caribbean Group's millions of guests.From ‘Hocus Pocus' to ‘Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo,' Disney Cruise Line Puts a Spell on New Experiences for Halloween on the High SeasFirst-of-its-kind character meet and greet inspired by “Hocus Pocus” awaits guests across the fleetHalloween on the High Seas will return to Disney Cruise Line with more sailings than ever before and new one-of-a-kind experiences for families in September and October 2022. Guest-favorite entertainment and activities, including trick-or-treating, spooky parties, elaborate décor and themed food and beverage items, will await guests on these limited-time voyages as each ship transforms into a ghoulish wonderland.First-of-its-kind character meet and greetDisney Cruise Line guests will be the first to experience an all-new character meet and greet opportunity across the fleet during Halloween on the High Seas sailings. While all of the Disney characters on board will adorn Halloween costumes as part of the festivities, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck and Clarabelle Cow will debut a never-before-seen look as they dress up as their favorite Halloween sisters, the Sandersons from the movie “Hocus Pocus.”Disney Wish debuts all-new magical Pumpkin TreeDuring its inaugural season of Halloween cruises this fall, the Disney Wish, the newest Disney Cruise Line ship, will introduce a unique twist on a Halloween on the High Seas hallmark.The centerpiece of every ship during Halloween sailings is the signature magical Pumpkin Tree towering over the atrium lobby, each with sprouting Jack-O-Lanterns and flickering lights.Aboard the Disney Wish, guests will witness the debut of an all-new Pumpkin Tree in the “Cinderella”-inspired Grand Hall. Featuring lighter bark, graceful branches and a mystical face, this enchanted tree that grew perfect gourds with the help of a Wishing Star at night produced the perfect pumpkin that became the coach that carried Cinderella to the Prince's Ball.Other special experiences on Halloween on the High Seas sailings include:Mickey's Mouse-querade Party: Beloved Disney characters in Halloween attire will join guests for a fun-filled costume party.Halloween Isn't Just For Kids: Adult-exclusive venues across the fleet will become a ghoulish setting for costume contests and a Villainous Takeover on the dance floor.Spooky Movies: To get guests into the spirit of the season, Halloween-themed movies will be shown on Funnel Vision by the family pool and in staterooms.Ghoulish Delights: Guests will enjoy special themed food and beverage items.More spooky fun includes mask-making and a ghostly takeover of ship announcements.Halloween on the High Seas voyages will be offered aboard select sailings in September and October. Departing from ports in Miami and Port Canaveral, Florida, San Diego and New York City, each cruise will take families to fascinating destinations including the Bahamas, Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada and Mexico. All sailings from Port Canaveral and Miami will include a stop at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island paradise outfitted for family fun and relaxation and brimming with special Disney touches.Disney Cruise Line Celebrates Summer 2023Disney Cruise Line will offer families a variety of enchanting vacations in summer 2023, including cruises to new and favourite ports of call around the world. From the majestic glaciers of Alaska to the sun-kissed Greek isles, pink sand beaches of Bermuda and picturesque fjords of Norway, these summer destinations will sparkle with adventure and excitement. Plus, for the first time ever, families will have the opportunity to sail around the Mediterranean and British Isles on the Disney Dream during its first season in Europe. Bookings open 9 May 2022.Disney Dream Marks Inaugural Season in EuropeFor its first-ever summer season in Europe, the Disney Dream will call on a wide variety of destinations among the most treasured in the world. With sailings anywhere from four to 11 nights, the Disney Dream will sail from Barcelona and Rome to picturesque ports of call throughout the Mediterranean, including a first-ever seven-night sailing to the Greek Isles with stops in the ever-popular ports of Santorini and Mykonos.Late summer/early fall departures of the Disney Dream from Southampton will feature cruises to a wealth of destinations including Spain, France, the British Isles, Norway and Iceland. New ports of call include the postcard-worthy La Rochelle, France and two new ports in Norway – Skjolden, home to a wealth of natural attractions, and Sandnes, a small city just outside the metropolis of Stavanger known for its outdoor activities.  Summer 2023 sailings to Alaska aboard Disney WonderThe breathtaking natural beauty of Alaska will combine with the magic of Disney on five-, seven- and nine-night sailings on the Disney Wonder from Vancouver, Canada. Beginning in May, cruisers will be invited to discover exciting ports like Ketchikan and Skagway, with their prehistoric glaciers, gold mining relics and spectacular land- and sea-life. Three Alaskan itineraries call at Icy Strait Point, home to a coastal rainforest, wilderness tours and – for thrill-seekers – ziplining above the treetops.Tropical Escapes to the Bahamas and Caribbean from FloridaSun-splashed tropical isles throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean will await guests on three Disney Cruise Line ships from Florida in summer 2023.For its first full summer of sailing, the Disney Wish will homeport in Port Canaveral near Orlando for a series of three- and four-night Bahamas cruises to Nassau and Disney's private island oasis, Castaway Cay. The Disney Wish will feature exciting new additions including Disney's first “Frozen”-themed theatrical dining experience and AquaMouse, a wild water adventure and first-ever Disney attraction at sea.Port Canaveral will also be the departure point for the Disney Fantasy for sailings ranging in length from five to 10 nights. In addition to seven-night cruises to popular ports in the eastern and western Caribbean, guests will also be able to experience a five-night Bahamian sailing with back-to-back calls at Castaway Cay, a 10-night southern Caribbean itinerary to the islands of Aruba and Bonaire and an eight-night cruise featuring two days on the beautiful pink sand beaches of Bermuda.The Disney Magic will make its summer home in Miami for an assortment of exciting destinations. Starting May 27, the Disney Magic will sail four-night Bahamas cruises and five-night western Caribbean voyages, followed by two seven-night sailings in July to the eastern and western Caribbean. Select summer voyages aboard the Disney Magic will include double days – for double the fun – at Castaway Cay.AIDA Cruises opens season in Kiel with AIDAlunaAIDAluna is the first AIDA ship to arrived in Kiel this season on April 25, 2022. A total of four ships in the AIDA Cruises fleet will depart from the Schleswig-Holstein state capital for the great North Country adventure.From April 25, 2022, AIDAluna will offer the 17-day voyages “Highlights at the Arctic Circle,” which are particularly popular among lovers of the North. Ideal for tasting are the 3- or 4-day short trips to Norway or Denmark in September. A total of 15 different routes from Kiel are available.AIDAprima will arrive in Kiel on April 29, 2022, and will depart four times in April and May for Norway and Denmark.AIDAnova offers seven-day voyages to Norway and Denmark from May 14, 2022 until mid-October. In addition to a visit to the Danish capital Copenhagen and Kristiansand in Norway, AIDAnova guests can enjoy the very special flair of the midsummer nights during a two-day stay in the Norwegian capital Oslo. On individual sailings, AIDAnova calls at a new AIDA port: Denmark's Skagen, City of Light. Endless beaches and the country's largest shifting sand dune, from which only the tower of the silted-up parish church still peeks out, attract visitors.Starting May 15, 2022, AIDAbella will embark on 14-day voyages to the Lofoten Islands and the North Cape, and will also call at Great Britain and Iceland.Atlas Ocean Voyages includes COVID Insurance for all guestsAtlas Ocean Voyages announced today that the luxe-adventure cruise line will include Covid trip interruption and isolation insurance for all guests on all future voyages. The new Covid insurance coverage for all guests augments Atlas' expansive list of inclusions, among which are emergency medical evacuation insurance, repatriation insurance, and emergency medical and travel assistance, known as Atlas Assurance. Atlas Assurance provides guests greater peace-of-mind when they are aboard a once-in-a-lifetime, luxe-adventure journey with Atlas Ocean Voyages.World Navigator will cruise England, Holland, France, the Norwegian Fjords, Iceland, Greenland, and The Arctic in summer 2022; Central and South America in the autumn; and return to Antarctica for her winter 2022-23 season. In winter 2023, World Traveller will sail her inaugural season in Antarctica. Three additional sister ships, World Seeker, World Adventurer and World Discoverer, will join the fleet through 2024.Cunard responds to demand for Britannia Club accommodation experience on new ship Queen AnneCunard is so confident with guest demand for their Britannia Club staterooms on new ship Queen Anne, that they have increased their volume of this accommodation category by more than 200% versus other ships in the fleet.The accommodation and dining on board Queen Anne offer upgraded levels of luxury, whatever type guests choose, from Britannia staterooms to Britannia Club through to Princess and Queens Grill Suites.Guests staying in Britannia Club, an experience unique to Cunard, will be able to dine in the dedicated Britannia Club Restaurant, which is positioned at the heart of the ship next to the atmospheric Grand Lobby, boasting breath-taking panoramic sea views. Guests will have their own dedicated table, reserved exclusively for the duration of their voyage. They can dine for breakfast, lunch and dinner, at whichever time they choose, and will be attended to by Cunard's renowned White Star Service trained crew.Queen Anne will set sail in early 2024, with her maiden season programme available to book from May 2022Azamara Onward Splashes on the SceneAzamara, will introduce its newest ship, Azamara Onward, to the world next month with a christening and maiden voyage from Monte Carlo to Venice. Azamara Onward's inaugural season will take travellers to the heart of the Mediterranean, exploring its hidden gems and bringing guests closer to the true culture of each destination they visit. The new sister ship will offer guests fresh additions to its onboard venues and luxury retail spaces, as well as refreshed accommodations and new entertainment options for travellers to enjoy throughout their sailing.MSC's Journey Towards Net-Zero Emissions By 2050Having made the pledge in 2021 to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, MSC Cruises is continuously exploring and investing in new technologies that are helping to decarbonize, some with very promising results. On this journey, minimising the impact of cruises ships on port communities and their environment while berthed is key.Starting this Northern Hemisphere summer season, MSC Virtuosa and MSC Poesia will be consistently using shore power at the ports of Southampton (UK) and of Rostock-Warnemünde (Germany).MSC Cruises has also signed an agreement with Cruise Baltic to achieve widespread use of shore power in the Baltic Sea region by 2024.MSC Cruises is ready to plug into more ports. Over half the fleet is projected to be shore power compatible by the end of 2022.On top of this, MSC Cruises' first hybrid LNG ship operating with the largest solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) ever installed will be launching later this year – MSC World Europa.By the end of 2022, 11 of MSC Cruises' 21 ships – including all the new ships built since 2017 – will be fitted with shore power capability. Existing ships are currently being or will be retrofitted in the future as their itineraries take them to ports where shore power will be available.MSC announces Seascape will be christened in NYC. New York City will serve as the glittering backdrop for an extraordinary inaugural event when MSC Cruises' newest flagship – MSC Seascape – comes into service later this year. The cruise line announced plans to hold the ship's Naming Ceremony at New York's centrally located Manhattan Cruise Terminal on Wednesday, 7 December 2022. The star-studded event will bring MSC Cruises' distinctive European style and glamour to the Big Apple and will be attended by local dignitaries, important partners, top travel advisors, media from around the world, celebrities and international artists. And of course, no Naming Ceremony would be complete without Academy Award-Winning star Sophia Loren carrying out her iconic role as godmother to her 18th MSC Cruises ship.MSC Seascape will offer two different 7-night itineraries from PortMiami:Eastern Caribbean: Calling at Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve and Nassau in The Bahamas, San Juan in Puerto Rico, and Puerto Plata in the Dominican RepublicWestern Caribbean: Calling at Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Cozumel in Mexico, George Town in the Cayman Islands and Ocho Rios in JamaicaEuropean Waterways' ‘Opera Cruise'European Waterways has a limited number of cabins available for the July 17, 2022 departure of the company's annual “Opera Cruise” in Venice. Exclusive to luxury hotel barge La Bella Vita (20 guests), the 6-night all-inclusive cruise features premium seats to a performance of George Bizet's “Carmen” at Arena di Verona Roman Amphitheatre. The cruise is an opera lover's dream, with an itinerary that brings to life the traditions, history and lore of one of the world's most enduring musical art forms. Guests will also enjoy private excursions that include a wine tasting and dinner with a countess, as well as regional wines with gourmet meals prepared onboard by their master chef.The cruise will take guests to the island of Pellestrina, where they can enjoy a sunset stroll or bicycle ride along its 18th century sea wall. A visit to Chioggia's bustling fish market is also on the itinerary, as well as cruise through the Po River Delta, a nature reserve that is home to migratory birds such as flamingos, heron, and snipe.And moreJoin the show:If you have a cruise tip, burning question or want to record a cruise review get in touch with us via the website https://thebigcruisepodcast.com/join-the-show/ Guests: Chris Frame: https://bit.ly/3a4aBCg   Chris's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisFrameOfficialPeter Kollar: https://www.cruising.org.au/Home Listen & Subscribe: Amazon Podcasts: https://amzn.to/3w40cDcApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2XvD7tF Audible: https://adbl.co/3nDvuNgCastbox: https://bit.ly/2xkGBEI Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/2RuY04u I heart Radio:  https://ihr.fm/3mVIEUASpotify: https://spoti.fi/3caCwl8 Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2JWE8Tz Pocket casts: https://bit.ly/2JY4J2M Tune in: https://bit.ly/2V0Jrrs Podcast Addict: https://bit.ly/2BF6LnEImage Credit: Queens Grill Lounge, Cunard Line. 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Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue Returns Summer 2022Get ready to welcome back another old favorite as the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue returns this summer to Walt Disney World. Reservations will be available starting May 26 for showtimes beginning June 23.The Pioneer Hall Players lead the way on this frontier-style family fun dining experience in Pioneer Hall at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. First debuting in 1974, Hoop-Dee-Doo is a rousing Wild West performance, featuring singing, old style comedy with lots of fun (including audience participation). The food is also great, featuring fried chicken, smoked BBQ ribs, a variety of savory sides and even strawberry shortcake for dessert.This show is the longest running performance at Walt Disney World. When it returns, Hoop-Dee-Doo will have a few updates to its script and scenery, while staying true to the treasured experience that it's been known for all these years.--  Olaf Will be Pleased, as Hugs are Back across the Disney travel universeAs early as April 18, Disney will start reintroducing traditional character greetings at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts, as well as aboard Disney Cruise Line and at Disney Aulani Resort in Hawaii. What does this mean? You will once again be able to hug Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and more friends, and get an autograph from your favorite Disney Princess (or villain). To manage expectations, Disney notes that not all locations will be available immediately for character interaction, but they are planning to reopen in phases throughout the spring and early summer of 2022.--Late-Breaking News:Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind Roller Coaster Debuts on May 27In an early gift of summer, Disney announced that the Cosmic Rewind coaster at EPCOT will officially debut on May 27, 2022. While the coaster itself promises to have elements of Crush's Coaster from Disneyland Paris, there is also a pre-show. As the story goes, Xandarians are coming to Earth and building the first “other-world” showcase pavilion at EPCOT, called the Wonders of Xandar pavilion. Guests will learn more about their technology and culture as they move through the pavilion, and discover how our two cultures are similar in so many ways.We will report more details as they emerge in future episodes. So stay tuned to 1923 Main Street as the news comes in.--2022 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival Begins July 14The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is returning to Walt Disney World Resort this summer, from July 14 through November 19, 2022.It will be back with everything that you know and love about the festival and we will share full details on the event as it draws nearer. But if you plan to attend, you now know the dates!--Connections Café and Eatery Opening SoonConnections Café and Eatery will soon open its doors at EPCOT. This new dining experience embraces cultures from around the world and will bring them to life in true EPCOT fashion. Here is a preview of the menu for this highly anticipated restaurant. It's a casual quick-service restaurant with a global culinary feel.If you love burgers, there's the French Bistro Burger with caramelized onions, bacon and brie, or the Southwestern Burger featuring a roasted chipotle-corn salsa and guacamole spread. That's not all, you can also enjoy the Vietnamese-inspired Banh Mi Burger or the Greek-inspired Mediterranean Burger.For a lighter option, there are salads inspired by French and Chinese cuisines. The Niçoise-style Salad is packed with potatoes, white and green beans and olives drizzled with a delicious Dijon vinaigrette. For an Asian flare, the General Tso Chicken Salad features ingredients like broccoli slaw, red bell pepper, mandarin oranges and crispy wontons.There are four types of pizza as well, including a classic Meatball Pizza and a plant-based Curry Spice Pizza topped with carrots, potato, peas and lime “yogurt.”And for the little ones there's a Grilled Chicken Bao or classics like the Chicken Nuggets Basket or Cheeseburger.Connections Eatery will also have a dessert-style dish: the Liege Waffle. This treat is made with brioche yeast dough stuffed with pearl sugar and finished with tasty toppings.For the milkshake lover, there are two options: A Mango-Coconut Milk Shake topped off with a pomegranate molasses drizzle, and the delectable Apple Pie Gelato Shake.Both adults and kids can enjoy specialty beverages at Connections Eatery. The Watermelon-Mint Agua Fresca is alcohol-free. For adults there are multiple wines and draft beers available, along with the Cucumber and Thai Basil Cooler, a specialty cocktail filled with freshness and flavor.As a reminder, Connections Café is the future home of Starbucks at EPCOT.--Exclusive Merchandise and Enchanting Memories Await Aboard the Disney WishThe Disney Wish will feature an elegant retail district that runs between the Grand Hall and the Walt Disney Theatre on deck 3. On either side of this shop-lined promenade, five distinct outlets will offer exclusive Disney merchandise and luxury gifts like jewelry, watches and accessories.One of these shops, Treasures Untold, will be the go-to destination for signature Disney Cruise Line collectibles, including the largest selection of Pandora Jewelry ever, plus limited-time Artist Spotlight collections and guest-favorite Dooney & Bourke handbags.In a new location on deck 5, returning Disney cruisers will find a familiar sight: Mickey's Mainsail, a fleet mainstay filled with Disney Cruise Line themed souvenirs and gifts, plus even more Disney Wish exclusives — like the special-edition Loungefly mini-backpack and headband above. And on the upper decks, Dory's Forget-Me-Knots will feature swimwear, water-play gear and fun graphic tees inspired by favorite Disney stories.--Thank You for Listening to the Disney Travel PodcastThank you very much for listening to this episode, Amelia and I hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, we would be very grateful if you could rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes (or on whichever app you choose to listen). A brief review about what you liked most about an episode truly helps to keep the show going by exposing it to new listeners. We look forward to continue producing new episodes each week.Sharing the podcast with your friends and on social media is also extremely helpful and very much appreciated.Shop 1923 Main StreetFeel free to visit our 1923 Main Street® Disney merchandise shop where we have hundreds of unique and original Disney-inspired t-shirts, leggings, clothing, mugs, phone cases and much more. You'll find everything from 1923 Main Street logo merchandise to custom created authentic Disney-inspired originals, including lots of great patterns for leggings and other items.Contact 1923 Main StreetThank you for listening to the Disney Travel News Podcast at 1923MainStreet.com. As always, we love to get feedback and questions from our listeners and to hear your suggestions and ideas for future episodes.Please be sure to follow along on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.Thank you for listening and have a magical day!Mike Belobradic and Amelia Belobradic--Media provided by Jamendo

***Talk in English Language*** Sechs großartige Solistinnen des internationalen Jazz machen derzeit in der Band Artemis Furore. Wie ist das, in der Männerdomäne Jazz nur mit Frauen auf der Bühne zu stehen? Und wie lange wird das überhaupt noch eine Frage sein? Wenige Stunden vor ihrem umjubelten Konzert im Großen Saal der Elbphilharmonie stand Renee Rosnes, Artemis-Gründerin, Pianistin und Komponistin, im Elbphilharmonie Talk entspannt Rede und Antwort auf unsere Fragen.  __________________________ Six great female soloists of the international jazz scene are currently causing a sensation with the band Artemis. What is it like to be on stage with women only in the male domain of jazz? And how long will that even be a question? A few hours before her celebrated concert in the Grand Hall of the Elbphilharmonie, Renee Rosnes, Artemis founder, pianist and composer, answered our questions in a relaxed manner.

Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Tells a New StoryStar Wars: Galactic Starcruiser takes its maiden voyage on March 1 at Walt Disney World and more details have been revealed about how this new immersive experience will interact with other Star Wars experiences in Galaxy's Edge.The Starcruiser Halcyon -- now fully restored to its former glory -- will follow its maiden voyage to the first port it ever visited, which was Batuu. In the Star Wars timeline, your voyage on the Galactic Starcruiser takes place between the events of Star Wars Last Jedi and Star Wars Rise of Skywalker. Do you join the First Order? the Resistance? Are you a scoundrel? You get to pick your experience to some degree. Plus, you'll see Rey and Kylo Ren meet up in a period between those two films. What will happen in that encounter and how will affect the Star Wars universe? On top of it all, there's a Halcyon Legacy comic bool series if you want to learn more about the ship in this time period.The Transformation of Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland Park Begins SoonMickey's Toontown in Disneyland Park will soon begin its transformation into a whole new world of sights, sounds, and sensations including some all-new experiences, more play and interactivity for guests. The focus will remain on families and young children, but it's something that any Disney fan will love. Mickey's Toontown will be closed as of March 9, 2022, and will reopen in early 2023, along with the new attraction, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. So if you want to experience the current iteration, do it by March 8When Mickey's Toontown reopens in 2023, it will still be home to Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Mickey's House and Minnie's House! And other attractions will be reimagined in new ways, including Gadget's Go Coaster, Goofy's House and Donald's Boat.Disney Wish: The Full Slate of EntertainmentSetting sail this July, here's an entertainment rundown for Disney Cruise Line's Newest ship.Inside Out: Joyful SweetsThe shop will offer nearly 40 flavors of gelato and ice cream, with daily handcrafted gelato specials in combinations like peanut butter pretzel and white chocolate raspberry. Whipped cream, fruit compotes and sauces will be freshly made in-house to complement a wide selection of tasty toppings.Signature treats inspired by the film will include colorful cupcakes that evoke the five emotions — Joy (lemon), Sadness (blueberry), Disgust (pistachio), Anger (red velvet) and Fear (bubble gum) — and chocolate Memory Orbs filled with sweet candy remembrances. Specialty macarons and cake pops will join the assortment of handcrafted truffles, designer cookies, indulgent brownies and vibrant candy offerings. Olaf's Royal PicnicHere you can join your favorite “Frozen” friends for a summertime picnic in Arendelle during a premium entertainment experience specially designed for families with children ages 3 to 12. At Olaf's Royal Picnic, guests will interact with Olaf, Anna, Elsa and Kristoff like never before and delight in live musical performances of beloved songs like “Let It Go,” “Fixer Upper” and “In Summer.”Under the expert direction of Baroness Dagmar Birgir — a lively lady-in-waiting to Queen Anna — castle staff will serve up summer treats and picnic fare for the whole family to enjoy. The hall will be decked out in summer style with a canopy flowers and festive decor. Children will receive an assortment of gifts and keepsakes, including a reversible troll plush, themed picnic blanket and custom Nordic-style mandolin, which they'll need for a special “Reindeer Are Better Than People” strum-and-sing-along with Kristoff. Plus Disney promises more surprises.Once you book your Disney Wish cruise be sure to reserve Olaf's Royal Picnic before sailing. There is an added fee. Immersive Storytelling and Interactive ShowsGrand HallThe fairytale castle-inspired Grand Hall will evolve from a gathering space into an enchanting theater through the magic of built-in special effects and the first-ever atrium stage on a Disney ship. A royal greeting will await you as you enter the glittering Grand Hall for the first time. Every child will receive their very own wishing wand upon embarkation, which they will use to make the “First Wish” of their vacation during a special boarding celebration. During the sailing, you can attend a royal gathering as Disney Princesses descend into the Grand Hall to meet and greet guests. The Grand Hall stage will conceal a host of Disney friends during “Who's Behind the Curtain?”, a playful game show where you'll answer questions to reveal the identity of hidden characters. On the final night of every sailing, you'll will return to the Grand Hall to raise wands with Fairy Godmother to ignite a farewell show featuring favorite characters, special effects and lively performances. LunaThis brand-new entertainment hub — with a two-story LED screen wall, stage and bar — will offer a variety of live shows designed for families to laugh, sing and compete together. “Villains Game Night” is a witty game show where you'll attempt to answer Disney trivia questions amid the jeers and sneers of nefarious Disney foes, including Cruella de Vil, Gaston, Hades, Maleficent and more, who will join on screen. “Disney Songbook” will put you in the spotlight as you belt out Disney songs and showcase your talent for a live camera crew, who will project each performance onto the big screen. During the live grand finale event for Disney Uncharted Adventure, an all-new interactive experience that uses your mobile device to unlock hidden adventures aboard the ship, families will team up with other cruisers to battle an infamous Disney villain.  Hero ZoneHero Zone is a futuristic sports arena where physical activity will blend with imagination, offering highly produced show experiences in addition to free-play sports. Families will test their strength, speed and stamina during the Incredi-Games, a high-energy game show featuring an elaborate obstacle course of over-the-top physical challenges, each inspired by the dynamic characters of Pixar's “The Incredibles.” The guest-favorite Jack-Jack's Incredible Diaper Dash will offer little ones the chance to compete for the coveted title of Diaper Dash Champion as they speed-crawl across a 20-foot track amid the cheers (and chuckles) of family, friends and adoring fans. More Fun Throughout the Ship In true Disney Cruise fashion, the Disney Wish will offer tons of world-class entertainment bringing to life the characters at the heart of Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars. Families will·       Embark on an adventure with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse aboard the first Disney attraction at sea; ·       revel in a royal celebration during a theatrical dining experience with “Frozen” friends; ·       team up with the Avengers on a Marvel cinematic dining adventure; ·       travel to a galaxy far, far away in a first-of-its-kind Star Wars experience on board a Disney ship; ·       delight in an original, Broadway-style theatrical production of “The Little Mermaid”; and more.The Disney Wish will sail its maiden voyage on July 14, followed by a season of three- and four-night cruises to Nassau, Bahamas, and Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, from Port Canaveral, Florida.Disney World Mask Update Face coverings will be optional for fully vaccinated Guests in both outdoor and indoor locations. Guests who are not fully vaccinated are expected to continue wearing face coverings in all indoor locations, including indoor attractions and theaters. Face coverings are still required by all Guests (ages 2 and up) on enclosed Disney transportation, including Disney buses, monorails, and Disney Skyliner. Upcoming Construction and Refurbishments at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & SpaAs we previously shared, Disney is expanding and enhancing The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.Starting March 1, you will see construction and refurbishment work at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa during daytime hours. Most resort amenities will remain available throughout this work.Thank You for Listening to the Disney Travel PodcastThank you very much for listening to this episode, Amelia and I hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, we would be very grateful if you could rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes (or on whichever app you choose to listen). A brief review about what you liked most about an episode truly helps to keep the show going by exposing it to new listeners. We look forward to continue producing new episodes each week.Sharing the podcast with your friends and on social media is also extremely helpful and very much appreciated.Shop 1923 Main StreetFeel free to visit our 1923 Main Street® Disney merchandise shop where we have hundreds of unique and original Disney-inspired t-shirts, leggings, clothing, mugs, phone cases and much more. You'll find everything from 1923 Main Street logo merchandise to custom created authentic Disney-inspired originals, including lots of great patterns for leggings and other items.Contact 1923 Main StreetThank you for listening to the Disney Travel News Podcast at 1923MainStreet.com. As always, we love to get feedback and questions from our listeners and to hear your suggestions and ideas for future episodes.Please be sure to follow along on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.Thank you for listening and have a magical day!Mike Belobradic and Amelia Belobradic--Media provided by Jamendo

Instagram: @lucialipiano • Lucia Li was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, and is currently a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree as a piano performance major at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Julian Martin. She has gained both national and international recognition. In Sydney, she has performed on the radio station FineMusic several times since she was 4 years old and has also won numerous top prizes in Eisteddfods. At the age of 8, Lucia was one of the youngest people in New South Wales to gain her Amus Diploma with distinction. And at the age of 10, she passed her LMus piano exam. Lucia has been a prize winner at numerous international piano competitions. She won the Audience Prize and 3rd prize at the 9th International Competition of Young Pianists “A Step Towards Mastery” in St. Petersburg, Russia. She also won the Sascha Gorodnitzki Discretionary Prize at the 2016 Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition. In 2017, she won First Prize as well as the Special Award for Best Performance of Virtuoso Etude, and Steinway & Sons Award for Best Performance of Romantic Piece in the Senior Division at the Kaufman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition in New York City. She also placed First in the “Young Artist” category at the IX Chopin International Piano Competition Hartford, CT. Lucia has also been invited to be on the radio station WQXR | New York's Classical Music Radio Station for their Young Artists Showcase show for the full hour as a soloist. She has performed in venues across the world in Australia, Belgium, Russia, Austria, China, and the USA including the Sydney Entertainment Centre and City Recital Hall in Sydney, the Grand Hall of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, the He Luting Concert Hall in Shanghai, The Horowitz Recital Hall at Steinway in Beijing, Paul Recital Hall at The Juilliard School, as well as Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall in New York City.

As the day of The Festival of the Blazing Sun arrives, Velcar finds himself once again staring into the eyes of the Lord of Barovia.   As violence erupts in the streets, a coup d'etat results in a new Burgomaster of Vallaki. Seeking safety, the Motley Fools bring Ireena to the Chapel of St. Andral, but safety might not be in their reach. About Royally Screwed   Royally Screwed is a campaign featuring our group of idiots.  We apologize ahead of time for the goofiness of our players and the idiotic comments that arise during our play.  While we hope to entertain you, our first goal is to laugh and be entertained ourselves.  We are far from being a professional group.  We are simply players with a couple of mics having fun playing DnD as friends.   Our Cast of Characters: Velcar Deverell - Dhampire Fighter   Anet - Male Owl Aarakocra Ranger Thixian Envarius (Lord Envarius, Duke of Hetherford) - Male Half Elf Bard HALO (John Tracker) - Male Warforged Barbarian Kodiac the Killer - Male Eladrin Ranger Dautu - Male High Elf Wizard Arlo - Changeling Cleric Cassandra - Human Cleric   Breaga Magesblood - The Dungeon Master  You can find your hick voiced host at https://www.instagram.com/the_dungeon_master_darling/ Music Credits:   Music Credits: Opening Music :  Epic Music by Soundbay  (used with permission via AdobeStock) Mourning (Full Version) by Christopher Bennett  (used with permission via AdobeStock)   "Lux Tenebras", "Grand Hall", "Back Hall" and "Brennenburg Theme" - Amnesia: Dark Descent OST Music by Mikko Tarmia and Frictional Games, used under Fair Use Tracks has been modified for length.   "Halls of the Undead", "Night Vigil", "Past the Edge" and "Thunderbird" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Track has been modified for length  

We're going back to Dallas!Episode 3 of our AAHKS Retrospective as Device Nation extends the microphone to AAHKS President  Dr. Bryan Springer and FPA Executive Director Marney Reid!  They share their thoughts on many subjects, notably the Foundation for Physician Advancement,  a nonprofit organization built by surgeons to provide education and experience on the business of medicine. This incredible organization assists surgeons building their practices through the fundamentals that DON'T involve a saw...things like:-Navigating Contracts-Billing and Coding-Practice Politics-Social Media-Technology-Investment-Oral Boards-NetworkingWhat you'll learn on this episode?-The late Dr. Larry Dorr's thoughts on the formation of AAHKS and how "the business of medicine" shaped it-Why "the business of medicine" is a here and now subject that young surgeons must get their arms around-How surgeons can benefit from a FREE knowledge transfer on "business of medicine" topics from podium-level mentors-Why PGY5, Fellow and Surgeons in their first 2 years of practice need to be in Greensboro, NC on February 26thDr. Bryan Springer: https://www.orthocarolina.com/physicians/bryan-d-springer-mdMarney Reid: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marneyreidFPA: https://www.buildingasuccessfulpractice.orgMeeting: https://www.buildingasuccessfulpractice.org/event/building-a-successful-practice-north-carolina/https://www.aahks.orgSupport the show (https://www.venmo.com/DeviceNation)

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This week Lynn & Carl talk to guest Cameron Schoeffel from LHM on New Year's Eve celebrations at Westport Social and Saint Louis Union Station, The Hangover Bowl on New Year's Day and the Grand Hall. And look at new releases The Super Bob Einstein Movie, The Tragedy of Macbeth, American Underdog, "The Book of Boba Fett," "Ted Lasso," "Harry Potter 20," Belfast, The Power of the Dog, Matrix Resurrections, Pig, The Dig, West Side Story, Nightmare Alley, Don't Look Up and Encanto. Plus a theater round-up with A Christmas Carol streaming at the Rep.

We're going back to Dallas!Episode 2 of our AAHKS Retrospective as we bring the Device Nation microphone to the Grand Hall and talk to a surgeon you need to know, Dr. Antonia Chen!  Harvard Medical Professor, Rutgers MBA, Director of Research Arthroplasty Service at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Editorial Board and Manuscript Reviewer of practically everything, Women in Arthroplasty, a blazing comet in our world!!Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrAntoniaChen?s=20Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonia-chen-5746827/https://www.aahks.orgSupport the show (https://www.venmo.com/DeviceNation)

Persuadé de la victoire de l'Allemagne dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale, et tout à son idée d'imprimer sa marque personnelle dans l'histoire de son temps, Hitler conçut un projet grandiose, pour faire de Berlin rien moins que la capitale du monde. De rares parties de ce programme ambitieux ont pu voir le jour.Une nouvelle capitaleLa réorganisation totale de Berlin, pour en faire une nouvelle capitale monumentale, visait à renforcer le prestige d'un Troisième Reich vainqueur des adversaires ligués contre lui.Hitler aurait confié à ses proches qu'il souhaitait donner le nom de "Germania" à cette ville grandiose qui serait, il n'en doutait pas, la "capitale du monde".La conception de la futur capitale, qui devait s'inspirer d'autres villes, comme Paris, fut confiée à l'architecte Albert Speer, qui devint un proche du Führer. Organisée autour de deux grands axes, la future Germania devait comprendre certains bâtiments emblématiques.C'est le cas du Grand Hall du peuple, à proximité du Reichstag, qui devait devenir le plus vaste espace fermé du monde, surmonté d'un dôme seize fois plus haut que celui de la basilique Saint-Pierre à Rome. Quant à l'arc de triomphe, il devait largement surpasser celui de l'Étoile à Paris.Un palais pour le Führer, une nouvelle chancellerie et des espaces verts étaient également prévus. Quant aux musées, ils devaient être en partie regroupés sur une île de la Spree, rivière coulant à Berlin.Quelques réalisationsLes aléas du conflit, avec ses innombrables destructions, et la défaite de l'Allemagne, n'ont pas permis à la nouvelle capitale de l'Allemagne de voir le jour.Malgré tout, certaines réalisations ont pu être menées à bien. C'est notamment le cas du vaste stade olympique; inauguré à l'occasion des jeux olympiques de 1936, il pouvait accueillir plus de 100.000 spectateurs.Une nouvelle chancellerie fut également construite; elle était dotée d'un hall conçu pour être deux fois plus log que la galerie des glaces du château de Versailles.On eut également le temps de tracer une grande artère, intégrant la célèbre avenue Unter den Linden, élargie, et de construire la première parie d'une autoroute. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello, Pittsburghers. The line-up for Season 7 is impressive. I will be talking to Mark Caskey, founder of Steel Nation – a remarkable company that designs and constructs steel buildings in the oil and gas industry. I also have Derek Davies on the show. He is the owner of Café Conmigo – a tranquil oasis and gathering spot located in the North Hills. I sit down with Kelly Sanders and Monica Yope, owners of the love, Pittsburgh stores, which are wonderfully curated shops featuring locally made goods. I talk to Dr. Natalie Gentile, founder and owner of Gentile Family Direct Primary Care – a medical practice that's working to reshape the primary care landscape in our region. John Graf is on the podcast. In the 1980s, his family helped save several historic properties in the Deutschtown neighborhood and turn them into what is known today as the Priory Hotel and Grand Hall. I speak with Sarah Kaminski, owner of Best Ever Granola – and let me tell you, her product lives up to its name! And, I chat with Sara Ponsoll, owner of Boheme Pittsburgh – a unique marketplace and incubator for local artisans, makers, and curators. These are just some of the amazing entrepreneurs and small business owners that you will hear from in this season.If you have ideas for the podcast, know someone that would be an excellent guest, or if you just want to share some feedback, please reach out to me at my contact info below. The purpose of this podcast is to share ideas, inspire action, and build a stronger small business community here in Pittsburgh. So please say hello, tell me what you think, and let me know how I'm doing. It means a ton!YOU CAN REACH ME AT:Website: https://www.proprietorsofpittsburgh.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/proprietorsofpittsburghpodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/proprietorsofpittsburghpodcastLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darinvilanoPhone: 412-336-8247

Monika Kertész Hungarian-Bulgarian born mezzo-soprano is recognized and praised for her velvety warm voice and for her stage presence with deep emotionality and musicality. Monika expresses her artistic and musical versatility in numerous forms starting from opera, operetta, oratorio and song repertoire to contemporary music, and in addition she also reaches out and creates new innovative projects. Based on this interest she founds her own performing arts collective called In-Pact (Interdisciplinary Performing Arts Collective) with the aim of expanding the possibilities between classical music, opera and contemporary performing arts. She regularly sings with the biggest Hungarian orchestras, appears on opera stages and tours with her recitals in Europe. Her most recent appearances include singing the title role of Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the National Theatre in Pécs, the mezzo-soprano solo in Schumann’s piece Das Paradies und die Peri” with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the premier of her interdisciplinary performance Desdemonium, where her role involves contemporary dance elements, movement theatre and improvisation. In 2020 it was a guest performance at the International Shakespeare Festival, Gyula. Further future engagements include Mozart’s Requiem at the Grand Hall of Franz Liszt Music Academy, Budapest, concert series with the newly found NOW Orchestra in Vienna and new projects on Kurtág’s Kafka-Fragmente, Ligeti’s songs, performance about Alma Mahler and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s castle. www.monikakertesz.com Harp accompaniment: Anastasia Razvalyaeva Classic On is a podcast created by Marija Andjic and Bernhard Kerres. In each episode you meet an outstanding musician from around the world. All are part of the BYOM Community - the Be Your Own Manager community - a community of exceptional musicians who understand that they need entrepreneurship besides their musical excellence. The community and the podcast was created during the COVID19 pandemic.

Entrevue avec Jacqueline Gareau à propos du documentaire Le marathon de Gareau; chronique « science et foi » avec Alain Crevier et Matthieu Dugal sur les rituels de sudation; entretien avec Madeleine Goubau à propos du décolleté à travers les époques; la bande des 4; et entrevue avec René-Daniel Dubois à propos du Grand Hall, le troisième tome du Livre inachevé de l'Orgueil des Rats.

For at least 150 years, running or walking 100 miles within 24 hours has been an impressive feat sought after by thousands. Part 4 of this 100-miler series covered the history of 100-mile races held in America in the early 1900s before World War I. But during this period, there were 100-mile races held in other places around the world, especially in England. During the early 1900s a remarkable shift occurred. In the late 1800s, America was the home for ultra-distance walking competitions. But as pedestrian competitions fell out of favor and outlawed in the U.S., ultrawalking ceased for a time. The shift went back to the old country and 100-mile amateur walking competitions eventually became very popular in England. London to Brighton More than 100 years ago, there are a few venues and courses that had a significant impact on the history of ultrarunning, 100-mile races, and endurance sports in general. These include Madison Square Garden in New York City, Agricultural Hall in London, and above them all, the London to Brighton route (52+ miles) in England. For many decades, whether on foot, on bike, on horse, or in an automobile, the road to Brighton was the place to race, including 100 miles on foot. Eventually many ultrarunning legends would complete on the Brighton Road including Don Ritchie, Cavin Woodward, Ted Corbitt, Eleanor Robinson, Sandra Kiddy, Donna Hudson, Alastair Wood, Bruce Fordyce. Park Barner, Stu Mittleman, Jim King, Ruth Anderson, and Frank Bozanich. London to Brighton was traditionally a one-way race of 52-55 miles, but in the first half of 20th century, it was also used to compete 100 miles by walking or running a double London to Brighton. Brighton Road Brighton Aquarium In the mid-1800s, the seafront affluent resort city of Brighton became very popular as the railroad was built from London about 52 miles away. Prior to that, people came by horse coaches that made the trip multiple times per day with ever-increasing speed. Brighton was a city of the upper class and featured an Aquarium which opened in 1872. It included marine exhibits, a 100,000-gallon tank, sea lions, an octopus, and a distinctive clock tower and gateway. It was also the site for organ recitals, concerts, lectures, and exhibitions. Day trips to Brighton became popular and railroad speed records were boasted about for the route. The road to Brighton was measured from the Big Ben clock tower north of Westminister Bridge in London to the Aquarium in Brighton. The clock tower was completed in 1859 and at the time was the largest and most accurate four-facing striking and chiming clock in the world. The tower stands 315 feet and is found on the north end of the Palace of Westminster. London to Brighton ran across River Thames on Westminster Bridge which was originally completed in 1750, and replaced in 1862, the oldest bridge still crossing the Thames. The original course went through the towns of Croydon, Redhill, Horley, Crawley, and Cuckfield. Over the years the route competed increased in distance somewhat with the creation of modern roads and more towns to go through. Early Cycling London to Brighton John Mayhall Participants in the new sport of cycling started to ride along the route. This would soon prompt runners and walkers to also give it a try. As early as 1869. John Mayall Jr. was the first person to reach Brighton from London by velocipede. He accomplished it in 12 hours, in time for dinner and then he attended the second half of a concert in the Grand Hall.  Soon afterwards, C. A. Booth pressed harder to better the fastest known time to 9:30. In 1870 T. Moon, “an expert bicyclist” set the first fastest known road cycling time on the route of 5:40. A few days later he accomplished a double Brighton Road, 104 miles in 15 hours.  He stopped for breakfast, a lengthy lunch, and breaks for tea along the way. A couple years later, the Amateur Bicycle Club promoted a cycling rac...

Now that the party has found all five stones for the door, they can continue into the Grand Hall in order to save Kangore! But what of this mysterious mountain that the Knuckle Twins had brought up before and with all this crazy candy magic swirling around, what if Kangore has been affected by it too? FInd out in this weeks episode of Save The D8!  New additional sound effects are brought to you by Battlebards at BattleBards.com.  Infernal - Highborn Devil: AIFR Productions  Polymorph/Summon Earth Elemental/Blur: Wes Otis  Meteor Shower: Pablo Betancourt --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/savethed8pod/support

What could happen next in this WIlly Wonka hellhole as the twins would put it? Well, it looks as if they have to put their head together to figure out how to unlock the Grand Hall door in order to save Kangore. So they must find 5 precious candy rocks in order to unlock the door. However, this is a puzzle and every person there has put INT as their dump stat. What's going to happen, find out this week on Save The D8! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/savethed8pod/support

Neil deGrasse Tyson nos lleva en un viaje para explorar la relación de todos los seres vivientes y la posible evolución de la vida en el cosmos. Iremos en un viaje para descubrir cómo la selección artificial volvió al lobo en razas caninas y cómo la selección natural esculpido el ojo humano complejo. Más tarde, Tyson visita el Grand Hall de extinción, un monumento a todas las ramas rotas en el árbol de la vida. Volveremos sobre la historia de la vida en la Tierra y el hilo ininterrumpido que se extiende desde los primeros organismos unicelulares a la vida humana.

Neil deGrasse Tyson nos lleva en un viaje para explorar la relación de todos los seres vivientes y la posible evolución de la vida en el cosmos. Iremos en un viaje para descubrir cómo la selección artificial volvió al lobo en razas caninas y cómo la selección natural esculpido el ojo humano complejo. Más tarde, Tyson visita el Grand Hall de extinción, un monumento a todas las ramas rotas en el árbol de la vida. Volveremos sobre la historia de la vida en la Tierra y el hilo ininterrumpido que se extiende desde los primeros organismos unicelulares a la vida humana.

Eric Jones is the leading man on the team that brings you all the great shows at the Mankato Civic Center, the new Grand Hall, and the Vetter Stone Amphitheater. Eric and FreepCast host Robb Murray go way back, all the way back to their college days at MSU. In this episode, Eric talks about growing up in Lake Crystal, playing bass in a Mankato band that almost made it, and some crazy stories of the hundreds of bands who have performed in Mankato.

Be sure to grab the poster referenced in today’s devotional at the Here to There display in the Grand Hall.

http://www.attractionchecklist.com - John and I head to Disneyland to ride the classic Fantasyland Dark Ride, Pinocchio's Daring Journey!  Recorded on December 2, 2018. TRANSCRIPT: Welcome to Attraction Checklist. Let’s head to Fantasyland in Disneyland to ride the classic attraction Pinocchio’s Daring Journey!  Disneyland’s website describes the attraction by saying, “Relive the classic adventures of the wooden puppet who dreamed of becoming a real boy.”  There are no age or height requirements for this attraction and the thrill level describes the ride as being a slow ride that is dark, loud and scary. Before we skip school to become actors, here are five fast facts about Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. 1. Though this attractions feels like a classic, Disneyland Opening Day attraction, it actually opened at Disneyland on May 23, 1983. 2.  The outside of the attraction is based on concept art that artist Gustaf Tengren did for the movie Pinicchio for Stromboli’s theatre before production decided to make Stromboli a traveling performer. 3. Before you head inside to ride this attraction, take a look at the roof of the building and see if you can spot the weather vane in the shape of Monster the Whale.  It’s a little warning of things to come. 4. Pinocchio’s Daring Journey was the first attraction created by Disney to use holographic imagery which appears in the hand held mirror Lampwick is holding when he begins turning into a donkey. 5. The Blue Fairy that appears at the end of the attraction using the classic Pepper’s Ghost illusion.  The same illusion used in the Grand Hall scene of the Haunted Mansion. Now it’s time to wish upon a star and ride Pinocchio’s Daring Journey.  Along for the ride today is John B. deHaas and after we ride we’ll give you our thoughts on this attraction. This is a binaural recording so if you have headphones put them on now as we experience Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. The attraction audio recorded for this episode is available exclusively to the Saturday Morning Media Patron Patron.  Support the show and get fun Bonus content over at http://www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia Episode edited by Stephen Staver FOLLOW US http://www.facebook.com/attractionchecklist  http://www.facebook.com/saturdaymorningmedia  http://www.twitter.com/SaturdayMMedia  https://plus.google.com/+Saturdaymorningmedia  https://www.linkedin.com/company/saturday-morning-media http://www.youtube.com/user/SaturdayMorningMedia?sub_confirmation=1 FOLLOW GRANT http://www.MrGrant.comhttp://www.twitter.com/toasterboy  https://instagram.com/throwingtoasters/ DISNEYLAND WEBSITEhttps://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/disneyland/pinocchios-daring-journey WIKIPEDIAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio%27s_Daring_Journey Show ©2019 Saturday Morning Media/Grant Baciocco

HEADLINES: 00:05 Microchip implants for employees 00:45 Elon Musk in dispute over ‘Teslaquila’ 01:31 Beyonce rejects billionaire Philip Green 02:12 Google break promise over medical data 02:52 The Grand Hall reopens after fire 03:32 Wayne Rooney retires from England Wriiten and Performed by MiDi Intellect Music Produced by MiDi Intellect Guitar by JP

Binaural recording - listen with headphones! Generative soundscape based on a two-dimensional random walk between four binaural soundscapes, recorded on November 5th, 2018 at the Grand Hall of Konzerthaus Vienna during project "Casino Cage" of the festival WIEN MODERN: 1) audience entering the hall, 2) sounds of the roulette table which was used to determine the sequence of pieces 3) excerpts of Luciano Berio's "Sequenza XIV" for cello solo, performed by Anna Maria Niemiec 4) excerpts of Luciano Berio's "Sequenza VII" for oboe solo, performed by Claire Colombo.

Nick Payne, the writer of new BBC One series Wanderlust starring Toni Collette and Steven Mackintosh, discusses adapting his play on modern sexual relationships into a sexually upfront series for mainstream TV.In 2015 the Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre in London was devastated by fire. It was rebuilt and last week reopened - with the show that was in the space when it was destroyed. The architect Steve Tompkins and artistic director David Jubb show Samira (who used to dance there in her youth) around, and explain how the fire was an opportunity as well as a disaster. As she embarks on a national tour, saxophonist YolanDa Brown discusses her love of reggae, jazz and soul, and performs live.Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Inside the Grand Hall of Saint Petersburg Academic Philharmonic Society, columns run 30 metres tall. Carved into the ceiling are tormented faces on sculptures of babies. Painted around the sculptures are angels without wings. #socialdreaming @readandwritepod

In this week Podcast Episode 10, a CLIP Snippet from the full short story, we advance further to the next confrontation with the opposing ones waiting for a final say from Mitsrayim rulers. In this short clip, we are presented with Queen Hagar that is in the Grand Hall of Veni Room. Queen Hagar stands in the center of 12 Mitsrayim Elders of Advisors and 30 Royal Estim Guards of Mitsrayim. To find out the full short story to what happens next, you will have to be a patron to discover why the MitsrayimElders of Advisers are seated for this final say as she is facing 3 different Tribal Leaders from the South of the Sudan along with 2 High Council Orions Military and of Council Members. What was the final Mitsrayim Royal Say Decred? Why was such a decred necessary? Will King Mahlon be present to finally show his presence as well in full form, or not still adding to the mystery to why he has been absent from the world scene?https://www.Patreon.com/NichelAndersonJoin MOLIAE YouTube Channel at:https://www.youtube.com/user/MOLIAE**Purchase the book Mitsrayim: A Memoir on Amazon.com - go to:https://www.amazon.com/Mitsrayim-Memoir-Past-Ancient-Egypt/dp/059533444X**Another Podcast by Nichel Anderson and where you can become a Premium Content Patron at :https://www.nichelanderson7.podbean.com**The Official Website of MOLIAE:https://www.MOLIAE.com...

In this week Podcast Episode 10, a CLIP Snippet from the full short story, we advance further to the next confrontation with the opposing ones waiting for a final say from Mitsrayim rulers. In this short clip, we are presented with Queen Hagar that is in the Grand Hall of Veni Room. Queen Hagar stands in the center of 12 Mitsrayim Elders of Advisors and 30 Royal Estim Guards of Mitsrayim. To find out the full short story to what happens next, you will have to be a patron to discover why the MitsrayimElders of Advisers are seated for this final say as she is facing 3 different Tribal Leaders from the South of the Sudan along with 2 High Council Orions Military and of Council Members. What was the final Mitsrayim Royal Say Decred? Why was such a decred necessary? Will King Mahlon be present to finally show his presence as well in full form, or not still adding to the mystery to why he has been absent from the world scene?https://www.Patreon.com/NichelAndersonJoin MOLIAE YouTube Channel at:https://www.youtube.com/user/MOLIAE**Purchase the book Mitsrayim: A Memoir on Amazon.com - go to:https://www.amazon.com/Mitsrayim-Memoir-Past-Ancient-Egypt/dp/059533444X**Another Podcast by Nichel Anderson and where you can become a Premium Content Patron at :https://www.nichelanderson7.podbean.com**The Official Website of MOLIAE:https://www.MOLIAE.com...

While the other strike teams move in bursts of heroism to confront their foes--Independence and Sui Juris respectively--the remaining group has a more protracted task at hand: Ensuring the safety of millions evacuating to the surface of Quire. Commander Pure Cascara leads the effort from above, while broadcaster Gig Kephart, pathfinder Echo Reverie, and the living ship Myriad--all knowledgeable about Quire’s surface--begin to educate and organize evacuation groups. Unfortunately, they have to do this in the face of secession, military invasion, and the first public encounter with one of Volition’s Axioms, a being beyond easy comprehension. While they can rely on the Beloved Ivy’s military specialist, Waltz Tango (Cache) for some support, they’ll need more help than that yet. And they find it from an unlikely source: Former New Earth Hegemony ace pilot Declan’s Corrective. There's a bull and a matador dueling in the sky, Inhale, in hell there’s heaven This week on Friends at the Table: The Miracle of the Mirage: The Siege   EMERGENCY HEARINGS REVEAL NEW INFORMATION ABOUT INVADERS DAY AFTER WARSHIP’S ARRIVAL Newly declassified documents and expert testimony have brought both detail and confusion about the NEW EARTH HEGEMONY. Memorious, Quire System BY ACTIVATION STEVENSON, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT For years, the so-called “Earth Cult” was a common figure across two prominent genres: children’s fiction and conspiracy theory.  Yesterday, the arrival of the warship Season’s Juniper changed that, sending shockwaves through the fleet, and confirming the existence of a long rumored nation and the strength of its attendant military.   Today, after a seven hour public hearing held in the Grand Hall of Memorious, the citizens of the Divine Fleet know the truth behind the legend. “Though commonly referred to as ‘the Earth Cult,’ the group in question is a sovereign nation called the New Earth Hegemony,” said Scholar of Galactic Nations Callum Enli, whose presentation bore the speed, clarity, and practice of an academic who long hoped their work would find mainstream relevance. Enli and the other presenters outlined the nation’s key characteristics: A population of trillions spread across the body of Earth, space colonies throughout the system; a complex and bewildering relationship between government, business, and faith institutions, all of which places a great deal of power in a single executive figure called the Hegemon; a great deal of technological strength, but no known Divine population to speak of; a generally strong quality of life for the nation’s massive population, but a fault social safety net. If children expected monsters and the conspiracy theorists expected puppet masters, the truth is all the more disappointing--and all the more real: The New Earth Hegemony seems to be filled with people a lot like us. Which does little to explain this new act of aggression. While it was common knowledge that a force claiming allegiance to the planet Earth--humanity’s ancient home--had harried the fleet a number of times over the last millennium, there was little common knowledge about the group’s identity. Partially, numerous Cadents and other state officials kept information about the attackers carefully controlled and protected. For nearly an hour, attendees pressed the sole governmental official, information specialist Sierra Sienna, about those past attacks. She responded with droll wit, which only seemed to agitate those demanding answers. “They have always sent the hornet, never the nest. Their attacks have always been seen as anomalous,” she said. “ Despite its imposing name, clearly capable military technology, and a population in the trillions, the Hegemony has stayed within its borders for thousands of years, never making move to conquer any of their galactic neighbors, let alone the Divine Fleet.” The scholarly experts attending the event confirmed this analysis, though bent their assessment towards the concerns of those gathered. “Ms. Sienna is right, of course,” said Enli. “But if they have sent only hornets, we have been only flowers.”   Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring  Keith Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andi Clare (@captaintrash) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot) Episode description by Austin Walker Music by Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) A transcription is available for this episode here.A full list of completed transcriptions is available here. Our transcriptions are provided by a fan-organized paid transcription project. If you'd like to join, you can get more information at https://twitter.com/transcript_fatt. Thank you to all of our transcribers!!  

Welcome back to A STORM OF SPOILERS! This holiday weekend, the Storm of Spoilers crew took Littlefinger's giant mockingbird down to Nashville, where the first ever Con of Thrones was held in the Gaylord Opryland convention center. Somehow, this humble pod was assigned the closing spot in the gigantic Grand Hall on the final day of the Con, just before the closing ceremonies. If you were unable to make it, fret not! We have this Sunday's panel ready for your ears...right now! Follow Neil (@rejects), Joanna (@jowrotethis), Da7e (@da7e), the convention (@ConOfThrones), and the show (@StormofSpoilers) on Twitter!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in the 1980s, I really liked a song by the band U2. The title was “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.” The song sounds a bit like a personal lament, like a Psalm out of the Bible in a way. Something is missing in this person's life, and he can't find it. Perhaps it is satisfaction, perhaps contentment. After all, contentment is something we all long for in our lives, don't we? Yet it seems to elude so many people. I heard someone say one time, “Contentment makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.” Someone else said, “Discontent, like ink poured into a bottle of water, turns all to blackness.” It can have a really nasty effect on us and turn things dark. What's behind the discontentment we sometimes experience? One word that comes to mind is envy. It's an age-old human problem. Proverbs says, “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot” (Prov. 14:30). Again and again throughout Old and New Testament we see the problems attached to envy. For instance, Cain was envious of his brother, Abel. Sarah was envious of Hagar, who could have a child though Sarah could not. King Saul was envious and jealous of David's popularity and chased him out in the wilderness to kill him. In the New Testament, we find the Pharisees envious of Jesus. Pontius Pilate even remarked on it as Jesus stood trial before him. Envy has the power to bring out the worst in us. Essayist Joseph Epstein once said, “Of the seven deadly sins, only envy is no fun at all.” When the Grand Hall in Florence, Italy was being decorated a long time ago, outstanding artists were asked to submit drawings. Leonardo da Vinci, the artist of his time, seemed to be the man for the job. However, a young man by the name of Michelangelo submitted some sketches, and they were magnificent! The committee was so enthusiastic, they gave the job to him. When the news of this choice reached Leonardo da Vinci, the old artist went into a decline from which he never fully recovered. Evidently, envy of his young competitor took its toll on da Vinci. On and on it goes, even amongst us in this day and age. We are envious of the person who got the promotion at the office instead of us, the guy on the team who gets more playing time than we do, the woman at the office who receives more attention from the boss than the others. Envy can kick in and cause us to do, think, and feel some ugly things. This battle goes on inside of us because of our sinful nature. It all begins when we compare ourselves with other people. Our ego, selfishness, and pride kick in. External triggers can get us going. Outside sources may point out what we're lacking in our lives and make us feel like we're missing out. Turn on the television set and you see commercials telling you that you need their product. You will be happy if you only purchase this, use this, take this, eat this, drink this, drive this, or wear this. On Facebook people post highlights of them having the best of times. Sometimes we read them and think, Look at the pictures! Boy, I wish I could go on a vacation like that! If only I had a bit more money. My life isn't half as fun and exciting. I wish I had those kinds of friends. I'm really missing out. There's financial envy too – I wish I had their income, as we watch the neighbor build a big and beautiful house. Or relational envy – I wish I had friends or family like hers. Or circumstantial envy – I wish I had a spouse, as I sit and watch couples having a good time. Envy can get us into such trouble. Every time someone feels green with envy, they are ripe for trouble. It can ruin your attitude, steal your joy, and move you to do some unwise things like purchase things you can't really afford in order to keep up with others, or talk other people down who have what you don't have, or wish ill will toward those who have what you want. It can wreck our relationship with God. We become upset with Him and blame...

The audio walk asks you to begin in Union Station by the VIA Arrival/Departure board in the Grand Hall and end in the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood. Download the audio to your device, and bring your favourite headphones! Toronto’s streets are a living thing. They change and evolve over time, and each one tells a story of where we’ve been, and where we are going. Passing Through is an audio walk that takes you on a journey of Toronto´s streets, discovering the legacy of their history and innovations for their future. You will walk from Union Station to St. Lawrence Market, gently guided by an artful, imaginative narration that is both beautiful and exciting. Passing Through is presented in partnership by The City of Toronto Transportation Street Art Program, and the Koffler Centre of the Arts. It is produced by Accounts and Records.

The King's friends have been patiently waiting for his return at the Kasteel van Laken in Brussels. But when a souring love, several heart attacks and the increasing desperation of arch-villain Terrorthaw overcome them they prepare for a long and hazardous sea voyage to the United States. Will they and their ship be eaten by a gigantic dugong? Signs point to 'yes.' -- Written and edited by Tom McNally -- PERFORMED BY Amy Sutton, Joshua Crisp, Tom McNally and Ben Edwards   Amy Sutton played Prince Prince, Queen Medb, Sally Minefield, Pineycone, Page Joshua Crisp played Colonel Glowfist, Father Figaro, Little Louie Duke of Portugal, Jen the Necroninja Tom McNally did the narration and played Terrorthaw and Chuckwalla --   MUSIC   Theme tune music and interstitials by Nicolai Roos Terrorthaw's sting - Dark Synth and Glowfist's sting - Guitar Flair by John Bartmann Pineycone's theme by Mano Camatsos   -- SFX   Sound effects not made by Tom McNally are courtesy of the wonderful freesound.org community. This episode included the following:   A NICE MORNING brussels-bells-3 by everythingsounds amb-birds-in-a-garden-in-brussels-2014-03-30-5am by davidmenke lying-on-bed by avakas walk-on-bed by gyzhor   NECRONINJA DOJO kalium-arsenicum-5-min-version-binaural by the-very-real-horst gong-25-144 by the-very-real-horst walking-into-studio-and-tapping-mics by mickmon.com 01-23-footsteps-tile-slippers-jumping-scuffs by Splicesound whoosh02 by kingsrow steps-big-hall-2 by ninafoletti quarry-blasting by juskiddink heavy-impacts by richerlandertv barrage-firework-with-finale-of-powerful-shells-5th-nov-2013 by crosbychris   GRAND HALL wood-burning-stove by nebulousflynn fire-in-woodburning-stove by benboncan fire-burning-in-stove by jagadamba chair-scapes by taxmanforever cathedral-ambience-01 by klankbeeld swedish-library by jonnytheponny cathedraldoor_L by wim creaking-door_L by wim footstepsonadock by mmaruska   PINEYCONE bird-flapping-wings by elfman-rox   PORTUGUESE DOCK bi71-corne-de-brume-r by revoyre caissodre-montijodocks by amabok matosinhos-beach-in-between-bar-and-waterline by digitopia

https://images.fireside.fm/podcasts/images/1/1c2e964e-6fbf-4dd7-acc7-fb9bf726a856/episodes/9/951f16fd-d031-46dc-a9cf-34a961cd9e08/header.jpg SIDT EXTRA - Sam Calagione brings 'Off-centered Leadership' to Pittsburgh Dogfish Head's rock star Sam Calagione was in Pittsburgh to promote his new book "'Off-centered Leadership". At the end of his book tour, Sam wrapped up his evening at The Grand Hall hosted by Vecenie Distributing Company. Incredible food spread complimented by the line of currently available Dogfish Head beers. Here is the audio from Sam's talk to the guests which he then followed by walking up to each person and thanking them personally. Contest Time! I have a copy of Sam Calagione's "Off-centered Leadership" looking for a good home and that could be with you! Snap a pic with your favorite Dogfish Head beer and do 1 or all of the following: Tag @SIDT in a tweet with #WinSamsBook Instagram @shouldidrinkthat and tag it #WinSamsBook Post to this thread on our Facebook group. You MUST be following "Should I Drink That?" on the network you tag SIDT on. Enter as many times as you like. Contest ends at 11:59:59 PM on 3/31/16 and is open ONLY to residents of the USA and Canada. Follow SIDT Twitter - @sidt Facebook Page- shouldidrinkthat Facebook Group - shouldidrinkthat YouTube - shouldidrinkthat Instagram - shouldidrinkthat SnapChat - sidtbeer Untappd - spoon

Major Spoilers Hotline - 785-272-1939 Podcast Posting Page - http://wp.me/p8YAd-1rNB Support this show for as little as $2.00 per month! https://members.majorspoilers.com This week on the Major Spoilers Podcast: We learn the origin of Judge Dredd in Judge Dredd: Origins! Plus, shake-ups at Marvel and DC, Toil and Trouble #1, Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra #1, ECOS #1, and more! Get involved with the Major Spoilers Podcast Network LINK NEWS Kevin Feige breaks free of Isaac Perlmutter http://wp.me/p8YAd-1rLO REVIEWS STEPHEN Toil and Trouble #1 (of 6) Imprint: Archaia Writer: Mairghread Scott Artists: Kelly & Nichole Matthews Throw out your textbooks, this is not the Macbeth you remember. Mairghread Scott (Transformers: Windblade) and artists Kelly & Nichole Matthews have reinvented Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, but this time the power is in the hands of the three witches. These ladies aren’t all “double, double, toil and trouble.” They’re the power controlling kings and the fate of Scotland. What It Is: The three fates—Riata, Cait, and Smertae—have always been guiding and protecting Scotland unseen, indirectly controlling the line of kings according to the old religion. When there is a disagreement in the sisterhood, Riata and Smertae will use men as pawns, and Smertae will direct Macbeth to a crown he was never meant to have. [rating:4/5] MATTHEW Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra #1 Writer: David Mandel Artist: Michael Walsh Publisher: Marvel Cover Price: $3.99 Hey there, comic reader! Have you ever wondered what Hydra agents do during their downtime? No? Well...then, uh, go read HAIL HYDRA. For everyone else with a burning desire to see a Hydra agent letting it all hang out, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU! BE THRILLED as Hank picks up his kids from school! BE AMAZED as Hank talks with Hydra's HR department! And BE STUPEFIED as Hank wishes he had picked a different line of work! From CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM executive producer David Mandel, Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra will have you looking at faceless henchmen in a whole new light. [rating:2.5/5] RODRIGO ECOS #1 Writer: Roberto Cruz Artist: Francisco Rodríguez. Published by Da’MaroJo Studios. Once upon a time... There was a mighty warrior. A hero of millions and General of the great army of the Kingdom of Irinoi. With the aid of his hammer, Makinui, he defended the Kingdom, it's people and his son. But one day tragedy struck, a hero fell and the legend was tarnished. Years passed and now, Jonah, the general's son is on a quest to seek justice with the aid of his friends and his guardian, a big warrior-ape that only he can summon. Together they embark on the adventure of a lifetime to clear Jonah's father legacy. In ECOS we cover topics like friendship, brotherhood, family and love. The story is targeted at young boys and girls between the ages of 10 to 17 years old. [rating:3/5] If you want to suggest a trade paperback, you need to send an email to podcast@majorspoilers.com. That suggestion will go into the hopper and at least once a month, we’ll pick a number of suggestions for you to vote on, and at the end of the polling period, the book with the most votes will get the Major Spoilers Podcast treatment. DISCUSSION: Judge Dredd: Origins The birth of Judge Dredd's world is revealed. How America became a wasteland with two enormous Mega-Cities on each seaboard. How Judge Dredd himself came to be, and his first taste of dealing justice on the streets. Secrets will be revealed. The future will be forged. Justice will be served.An unusual delivery is made the the Grand Hall of Justice, a package that will force Judge Dredd to lead a mission into the Cursed Earth and into the darkest recesses of the history of the Judges and Mega-City One... Now in this much-anticipated Dredd epic, history is written by Dredd co-creators John Wagner (A History of Violence) and Carlos Ezquerra (Strontium Dog) with a special introductory tale featuring the art of Kev Walker. Contact us at podcast@majorspoilers.com Call the Major Spoilers Hotline at (785) 727-1939. The Major Spoilers Store is located at majorspoilers.bigcartel.com A big Thank You goes out to everyone who downloads, subscribes, listens, and supports this show. We really appreciate you taking the time to listen to our ramblings each week. Tell your friends!

Major Spoilers Hotline - 785-272-1939 Podcast Posting Page - http://wp.me/p8YAd-1rNB Support this show for as little as $2.00 per month! https://members.majorspoilers.com This week on the Major Spoilers Podcast: We learn the origin of Judge Dredd in Judge Dredd: Origins! Plus, shake-ups at Marvel and DC, Toil and Trouble #1, Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra #1, ECOS #1, and more! Get involved with the Major Spoilers Podcast Network LINK NEWS Kevin Feige breaks free of Isaac Perlmutter http://wp.me/p8YAd-1rLO REVIEWS STEPHEN Toil and Trouble #1 (of 6) Imprint: Archaia Writer: Mairghread Scott Artists: Kelly & Nichole Matthews Throw out your textbooks, this is not the Macbeth you remember. Mairghread Scott (Transformers: Windblade) and artists Kelly & Nichole Matthews have reinvented Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, but this time the power is in the hands of the three witches. These ladies aren’t all “double, double, toil and trouble.” They’re the power controlling kings and the fate of Scotland. What It Is: The three fates—Riata, Cait, and Smertae—have always been guiding and protecting Scotland unseen, indirectly controlling the line of kings according to the old religion. When there is a disagreement in the sisterhood, Riata and Smertae will use men as pawns, and Smertae will direct Macbeth to a crown he was never meant to have. [rating:4/5] MATTHEW Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra #1 Writer: David Mandel Artist: Michael Walsh Publisher: Marvel Cover Price: $3.99 Hey there, comic reader! Have you ever wondered what Hydra agents do during their downtime? No? Well...then, uh, go read HAIL HYDRA. For everyone else with a burning desire to see a Hydra agent letting it all hang out, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU! BE THRILLED as Hank picks up his kids from school! BE AMAZED as Hank talks with Hydra's HR department! And BE STUPEFIED as Hank wishes he had picked a different line of work! From CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM executive producer David Mandel, Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra will have you looking at faceless henchmen in a whole new light. [rating:2.5/5] RODRIGO ECOS #1 Writer: Roberto Cruz Artist: Francisco Rodríguez. Published by Da’MaroJo Studios. Once upon a time... There was a mighty warrior. A hero of millions and General of the great army of the Kingdom of Irinoi. With the aid of his hammer, Makinui, he defended the Kingdom, it's people and his son. But one day tragedy struck, a hero fell and the legend was tarnished. Years passed and now, Jonah, the general's son is on a quest to seek justice with the aid of his friends and his guardian, a big warrior-ape that only he can summon. Together they embark on the adventure of a lifetime to clear Jonah's father legacy. In ECOS we cover topics like friendship, brotherhood, family and love. The story is targeted at young boys and girls between the ages of 10 to 17 years old. [rating:3/5] If you want to suggest a trade paperback, you need to send an email to podcast@majorspoilers.com. That suggestion will go into the hopper and at least once a month, we’ll pick a number of suggestions for you to vote on, and at the end of the polling period, the book with the most votes will get the Major Spoilers Podcast treatment. DISCUSSION: Judge Dredd: Origins The birth of Judge Dredd's world is revealed. How America became a wasteland with two enormous Mega-Cities on each seaboard. How Judge Dredd himself came to be, and his first taste of dealing justice on the streets. Secrets will be revealed. The future will be forged. Justice will be served.An unusual delivery is made the the Grand Hall of Justice, a package that will force Judge Dredd to lead a mission into the Cursed Earth and into the darkest recesses of the history of the Judges and Mega-City One... Now in this much-anticipated Dredd epic, history is written by Dredd co-creators John Wagner (A History of Violence) and Carlos Ezquerra (Strontium Dog) with a special introductory tale featuring the art of Kev Walker. Contact us at podcast@majorspoilers.com Call the Major Spoilers Hotline at (785) 727-1939. The Major Spoilers Store is located at majorspoilers.bigcartel.com A big Thank You goes out to everyone who downloads, subscribes, listens, and supports this show. We really appreciate you taking the time to listen to our ramblings each week. Tell your friends!

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, around which the story is centered. In chapter one we find that the novel begins in Paris during the Festival of Fools. At the Palace of Justice, Pierre Gringoire prepares to present his play to the people.

*Subscribe @ iTunes* The Season Pass Podcast is back for another episode from the TEA (Themed Entertainment Association) Summit and Thea Awards of 2015! This episode includes interviews with Thea Award recipients Bistrot Chez Remy restaurant at Walt Disney Studios Park (Chrissie Allen of WDI & Amy Young of Amy Young Design), The Time Machine at Futuroscope (Futuroscope's Jean-Pierre Joyaux & Olivier Heral), and The Grand Hall experience at the St. Louis Union Station (Shawn McCoy of Jack Rouse Associates & Drew Atienza of Technomedia). Also a conversation with Walt Disney Imagineer, Joe Lanzisero and Chris Conte of Electrosonic. We have French Rats, French Rabbits, and Living Halls that aren't French…Sounds like a heck of a time! Enjoy!   EPISODE SPONSORS: Bill Lohr's Amusement Park Videos https://www.facebook.com/AmusementParkShows O-Zell Soda http://www.o-zell.com Walt Disney Birthplace Indie GoGo https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-walt-disney-birthplace#/story Links: TEA Website Walt Disney Studios Park Paris The Grand Hall - Union Station St. Louis Futuroscope Electrosonic Touring Plans Walt Disney Birthplace  MiceChat Pixie Vacations Season Pass Closing Song - Wheels by Enuff Z'nuff on iTunes   Check Out The Season Pass Podcast Website at: www.seasonpasspodcast.com   Follow Us On Twitter! - www.twitter.com/theseasonpass Like the TSPP Facebook page! - www.facebook.com/theseasonpass   Contact us: doug@seasonpasspodcast.com brent@super78.com robert@robertcoker.com   Call the Hotline with Park Trip Reports, Podcast Comments, or Anything else you would like to announce. –1-916-248-5524   Thanks to each one of you for listening to the show.  Your support is extremely appreciated.   © 2015 Season Pass Podcast

In January 2013, Pete and Sarah from FrequencyCast visited the London Toy Fair at the Grand Hall, Olympia, London. This is our audio review of the show, which includes some interviews, and a round-=up of this trade show. A video version is available on our site. For more on Toy Fair 2013, go to https://www.frequencycast.co.uk/toyfair

In January 2013, Pete and Sarah from FrequencyCast visited the London Toy Fair at the Grand Hall, Olympia, London. This is a video version of our audio report including some footage from the show and some interviews. For more on Toy Fair 2013, go to https://www.frequencycast.co.uk/toyfair

This week's news includes: Congratulations to Matt Wright who becomes editorial director at FamilyLink.com; a recap of a USA Today report of 18 February about states unsealing adoption records and opening original birth records to adoptees; passenger lists of persons leaving the U.K. for the U.S., Canada, and Australia during the 1940s are available at Ancestors Onboard at http://www.ancestorsonboard.com; the National History Show will be held on 2-4 May 2008 in the Grand Hall, Olympia, London, and tickets can be booked at http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk.Listener e-mail includes more kudoes for The Guys' "Down Under" video at RootsTelevision.com; Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps at the New York Public Library at (accessible now only at the NYPL), as well as digital maps and photographs in their digital gallery at http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/; a number of video options for creating heritage DVDs and slideshows using Apple Macintoshes and PCs have been suggested in various price ranges:PowerPoint to Slideshow12 Screencasting Tools for Creating Video Tutorials (suggested by Drew) at http://mashable.com/2008/02/21/screencasting-video-tutorials/Adobe products at http://www.adobe.comApple products at http://www.apple.com The Guys spend the remainder of the show discussing the intricacies of U.S. copyright laws and fair use standards. Definitely worth a listen!