Podcasts about slouches

In they crawled through the long-shuttered gates, slowly they slithered into the world—the Dark-kin have arrived at last! And as we go on our flipthrough of Denizens of the Dreaming, we realized... well, not all of them are all that Dark. And they don't much act like kin. And are they even really all "of the Dreaming" any more than the Kithain? (OK, mechanically, maybe so.) We deal with these questions, and many more than we thought we'd have before we opened the thing, in this mid-Spooptober installment. The last major tranche of kiths introduced to the game, the adhene are a hodgepodge of ideas drawn from myths worldwide and tied heavily into the original game's sunset metaplot. Sworn to the Fomorians, they are the vanguard of Winter, and therefore Bad News... Check out the book at: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/111?affiliate_id=3063731. We also mention material from Charlie Cantrell's excellent supplement, Harbingers of Winter, which expands on the Dark-kin and gives a write-up (finally!) for the aslynthi: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/388455?affiliate_id=3063731. And the usual mishmash of social things from our side: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) keeps a jar of ground Tarrarom in the cupboard for chicken, fish, and egg dishes. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) greatly admires the films of Kureksarra. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? —W.B. Yeats, "The Second Coming"

Joined by The Slouches! Philly guys who play incredible courses and post on The Gram. Sepp Straka takes home the John Deere Classic, a preview of The Fox Sports The Gambler Swing it & Ding It Open benefitting The Magical Mila Foundation and preview The Genesis Scottish Open and The Barbasol Championship.See The Line with DraftKings Sportsbook with some longshots, Top 5/10's, Matchups and More!Thank you to our Sponsors: DraftKings Sportsbook, Mall Chevrolet, Comcast Business, Rita's Water IceGambling Problem? Call (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA), Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY),If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (CO/IL/IN/LA/MD/MI/NJ/OH/PA/TN/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MA/MD/MI/NJ/NY/OH/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Void in NH/OR/ONT. Eligibility restrictions apply. Odds Boost: Valid 1 per new customer. First-time depositors only who have not already redeemed $200 in bonus bets via OH or MA prelaunch offer. Min. $5 deposit. +1000 Odds Boost Token valid only on a pre-tournament bet on any golfer to win a PGA tournament. Max $10 bet. Token expires 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded. Promotional offer period ends 09/30/2023 at 11:59:59 PM ET. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/golfterms. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS).

If you had told people 150 years ago how well off the world would become, they would have anticipated paradise. So why do things feel so broken? A former advisor to President Clinton and a professor of economic history at Berkeley, Brad DeLong's magnum opus Slouching Towards Utopia is a big 150 year history of the creation of the modern world.

Clayton and Habby breakdown the guys they are Vouching for this week, and letting you know who the Slouches of the week are.You can get out updated Rankings every week at https://fantasyfootballfromupnorth.com/Do not forget to head over to www.247clash.comSIGNUP with REFERRAL code 'NORTH" On initial deposits: For every $20 deposited you will receive a free pools card (through credits) (Example: $20= 1 Free Pool Card)Each free pool card is released to the customer after $25 is wagered.Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channelhttps://youtube.com/@fantasyfootballfromupnorth4942

Clayton and Habby talk about who we are VOUCHING for this week, who our SLOUCHES are and a couple deep, deep sleepers. We have partnered up with "247 Clash Daily Sports Entertainment", please follow the link below and signup for this new DFS site. When signing up, please use the referral code: NORTH Once you make a deposit, message me on Twitter so i can enter you into a draw for some FFFUN swag.https://247clash.com/ Lets win some money together!!!

Clayton & Habby breakdown our Vouches, and Slouches of the week.

In today's podcast, Patrick is sore from excessive computer programming and wonders what's happening to his muscles. Listen from Doctor Power today!

Clayton & Habby breakdown some of the Vouches and Slouches of the week!!

Clayton and Habby get into who we are Vouching for, who the Slouches are for the Week and the Sneaky plays.

Bob, Cuts and Bear Down clear up some in-house controversy and discuss their top 5 beers

As in certain fantasy series of some repute, Winter has been coming for a very long time in the mythos of Changeling: the Dreaming, but never quite fully arriving. With the release of Harbingers of Winter, we get one take on what it might look like in the 20th Anniversary Edition, in the shape of the various antagonists who populate the world of the game: Autumn People, Thallain, Dauntain, and more. In this episode, we have a conversation with C20 writer, STV contributor, and longtime community fixture Charlie Cantrell about his stewardship of the project under the banner of his group Radio Free Arcadia. Join us as we talk about his history with the game, the genesis of the book, and a chapter-by-chapter exploration of how to deploy these foes—some updated, some brand new—for your chronicle. notable artworks! There's much scuttlebutt in the episode about the Brood Mother Fomorian, who churns out chimerical monstrosities from the grist of changelings sacrificed to her maw. (Gross.) Charlie mentions a piece of artwork originally from Denizens of the Dreaming that seems to portend all her squoodly glory twenty years later: It seems her image was lingering in the pages of canon, just waiting to get a write-up somewhere down the line... Also, we talk about the excellent art of Alaina Milare, who did the maeghar splat artwork near the end of the book, which is this mopey fae vampire guy here: Please check out her work at https://www.alainamilareart.com/ ! Much of it is Changeling-focused character work that evokes the spirit of the game and has a very classic splat-portrait feel. ... poll: who's your favorite fomorian? Just as a shameless attempt to get some awareness out there about our Discord (the link, as always, is https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5j), we'll have a poll there for your favorite Fomorian character (or general Court, if you can't decide). Because there are over twenty options from the named Fomorians given some details and backstory in the Harbingers book, here are the six heavyweights that you can pick from: Balor: the original Big Bad of the Fomorians, with the evil eye to end all evil eyes (as well as anyone who it gazed upon)Z'laad, Storm of Color: a pure tempest of primordial and colorful Dark Glamour, rampaging like a cluster headache oil slick through the DreamingEnphida, Goblin Queen of Machines: inventor of despicable war machines, whose inspiration took everywhere from the Unseelie nocker freehold of Goblin Town to (apparently) a tryst with an Etherite mageBrood Mother: see above for all you need to know, reallyBres: the surprisingly beautiful grandson of Balor who was briefly tapped as ruler of the fae by the Tuatha (until it didn't go so well for all involved)Marena: Queen of Frost and embodiment of all the cruelty of winter And if you can't decide, you can always just vaguely vote for The Green Court (inscrutable, nigh-Lovecraftian beings), The Red Court (unthinkably powerful and bloodthirsty war-titans), or The White Court (cold and calculating grand-scale manipulators). Whoever wins, we'll do... something. A write-up? A series of story hook ideas? A ritual sacrifice? Only time will tell! ... optional shapes of things It's important to remember that the shape of Winter in this book is just one possibility—as we mention a couple times in this episode's discussion, the Golden Rule of White Wolf games, and Changeling in particular, is that you can and should reshape things to better serve your game. If something doesn't fit with your vision, change it! Not everyone wants to imagine the world of the fae going in a direction quite so dark or horrific (or maybe their brand of horrific just looks different). Harbingers of Winter features antagonists who would go against the Kithain for a variety of reasons, each of which comes with their own baked-in set of themes and narratives, but none of them are set in stone. If you want to include Thallain as part of a redemption arc, new and complicated varieties of Dauntain, or Tithed who have a less antagonistic relationship with their fae "twins," go for it. Winter is to some extend what you make of it at your table, both in-character and out-of-character. Will it be slow and eternal, or just another passage of a season? Will it be exceptionally brutal, with Kithain cutting each other's throats for the barest hint of Glamour and Fomorians rampaging through the Dreaming, or will it be a much more boring, Banal affair where the fae are slowly smothered into forgetfulness? How aware of it are the characters, if at all? Is their narrative arc one of bleak fatalism, determined questing to bring on a new Spring, or unified survival in the most hidden parts of the world? To some extent, these are the questions that underlie the discussion of what Changeling 5th Edition (in the distant, possibly alternate, future in which that appears) might look like. So far, Vampire is our only point of reference in print, and it's both grittier and more low-level-focused (at least at its base) than the setting was for many years prior. If we assume that all the games that get a 5th edition will go in that direction, certainly Winter could become a central theme of Changeling, displacing petty concerns like courtly intrigue and romps through the Dreaming as the fae struggle to maintain their inner spark in the darkest world they've seen for a long time. But that theme has always been part of the game, as have the permutations of how they deal with it, so a refocus on that aspect isn't totally out of nowhere, just... something to think about, that perhaps more tables should have been thinking about already. (And we affirm that Harbingers of Winter is a good book for getting some of those thoughts going.) ... more from charlie cantrell If you want to see more of what Charlie has been/is up to... You can find him on Twitter, @PookaKnight !On Facebook, Radio Free Arcadia is a place to see the latest news about what he and his team might be up toHarbingers of Winter itself is available now on Storyteller's Vault......as is Kiths of Arcadia, another work by Charlie and Radio Free Arcadia that brings into C20 the kiths from the brief-lived but beloved Arcadia: the Wyld Hunt CCGCharlie's homebrew conversion guide to 5th Edition for Changeling is freely available as well (though note that you might need some familiarity with V5 to use it properly) (but that's probably why you're looking it up anyway, isn't it?) ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (he/him) is uncomfortable with the adjective "phlegmatic." Pooka G (any pronoun/they) questions all uses of the verb "extrude." ... The darkness drops again; but now I know   That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,   And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,   Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? —W.B. Yeats, "The Second Coming" (psst! email us at podcast@changelingthepodcast.com if you want) (and join our Discord at https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5j !) (support us on Patreon! it's now live at https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast)

Turnout in the previous election was 57 per cent. That wasn't great, but it was respectable these days for Canada. This time, voter turnout was just 43 per cent. GUEST: Tamara Ugolini

The men's 4 x 10 k relay itself lacked for drama, but fortunately there's plenty going on in the Norwegian team for us to talk about. Devon and Nat are back to break down Russia's convincing win in the relay, the most disappointing silver ever for Norway and a gold-like bronze for France. Send questions and feedback to devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com. We'll be back Wednesday.Related reading: “Burmania”: Swedish xc skier's snack-sampling video goes viral in ChinaThe Chinese Ski Team's Path to Beijing (Part 1)

Zach and Stephen jump on to discuss their thoughts and reactions to everything as it pertains to the Indianapolis Colts Week 2 of Training Camp. From Michael Strachan to Bobby Okereke...From Wentz to Eason and everything in between. They will touch on it all. Also, they giveaway 2 free tickets to the Colts vs Panthers game this weekend.

episode 18 y'all! presented by Diaza Sportswear. this episode is a little more NPSL-centric, but we find time to get into UPSL, WPSL, and even USL 1. Danny made a special trip to Greenville, SC to take in Greenville Triumph - Union Omaha A top of the table clash at the top of the Expedition Division leaders Bowling Green FC vs Pumas FC; a seven-goal thriller in Rochester MN between hosts Med City and South Dakota Thunder went down to the wire; and Danny's own Charlotte Eagles dominated their first match of the season in a win over Independence Central. Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

welcome one, welcome all! episode 17 of the smallworld scoresheet pres. by Diaza Sportswear. on this episode, we get into UPSL Georgia, Midwest Premier League, and NISA matches. we also touch on the Florida Gold Coast League. Kalonji Pro-Profile v Atletico Atlanta (UPSL); DeKalb County United v RWB Adria (MWPL); Stumptown AC v MD Bobcats (NISA) are the highlighted matches this week. Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

welcome one, welcome all! episode 16 of the smallworld scoresheet pres. by Diaza Sportswear. on this episode, we talk about the NPSL for the first time in 2021. we also touch on the Midwest Premier League and NISA. lastly, congrats to our friends at Himmarshee FC and NY International FC for their wins this past weekend! Georgia Storm v GA Revolution (NPSL), Rockford FC v Milwaukee Bavarian SC (MWPL), and Detroit City FC v MD Bobcats FC (NISA) are our highlighted matches this week. Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

it's a new day here at smallworld soccer. after taking last week off, the new and improved smallworld scoresheet is here! on this episode, we cover Bowling Green FC - AFC615 (UPSL Expedition Premier Division) and Livonia City FC - WM Bearings (Midwest Premier League). we also touch on the NISA Legends Cup Final between Detroit City FC and Chattanooga FC. lastly, we'll tell y'all about some matches that should be on your radar for the weekend ahead. Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We're starting to change things up a bit here on the scoresheet. As soccer season gets into full swing, Danny and I will each be covering matches that we attend. We'll still give scores in some divisions, but the focus will be on breaking down individual matches. UPSL Georgia and Mid-Atlantic Divisions get the stage again today! We also chat about the Florida Gold Coast League as it nears completion. We also talk about the WPASL schedule release - we're looking forward to that June 6 matchweek and you should too. Please consider leaving a rating (and review on Apple)! Listen to Danny commentate the Atlanta Elephants - Seas Jamaica match (and see some amazing goals) here: https://youtu.be/3FtC1yzYqHs Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 Link to watch NISA Legends Cup matches on BeIN Sports Xtra via Pluto TV is here: https://pluto.tv/welcome --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This is a firework of an episode, y'all. Danny and Josh go deeper into the Georgia and Mid-Atlantic divisions. There's also mention of the EPSL and the FGCL. Before all that - and perhaps more importantly - the lads talk about jam and the release of the MWPL 2021 inaugural schedule. Let's get into it. Please consider leaving a rating (and review on Apple)! Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Episode 12 incoming! We talk about the soccer, but all we really want is to discuss Pop Tarts. We're adding a new UPSL division every week this time of year; this week is the Expedition Division's turn. Just because we bring a new division into the fold doesn't mean we won't talk at length about the competitive Georgia and Mid-Atlantic divisions. There's also mention of FGCL and last week's hot drama, PASL, EPSL, and the Bay State Soccer League which also kicked off this past weekend. Let's get into it! Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Welcome one, welcome all. It's episode #11! Things are heating up in the southeast. We have Georgia and Mid-Atlantic Premier action out of the UPSL. We have some EPSL, FGCL, and PASL action. There's also the cup competitions going on in Maryland. There's A LOT. Buckle up, folks. Soccer szn is just beginning, and smallworld is here for it. Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

What in tarnation is a "Sawdust City?" Episode #10 of the scoresheet! Josh and Danny get into the UPSL Georgia division, Florida's brand spankin' new Premier Amateur Soccer League, and some of the usual suspects from the last few weeks. Josh goes more in-depth on the e1776 FIFA League than ever before, and he now has a list of names for accuracy! We enjoy accuracy. Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

happy internationals women's day! nothing we put here could articulate how we feel about the women in our respective lives. josh and danny dig into the UPSL Finals, but we also find some time to talk about the First Flight League and Eastern Premier Soccer League. the eSports world is still fresh in our minds with the e1776 FIFA League taking center stage this week. rip Lower League eCup 2021; you were here, and now you're gone (press F to pay respects). Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as the theme music. You can listen to more here: paperholland.bandcamp.com Thank you to swim for the interlude. Check out more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 Didn't watch the UPSL finals? Check out the streams on MyCujoo! Semifinals: Ginga (Atletico) Atlanta vs Brockton FC United; Capital City SC vs Olympians FC Third Place: Brockton FC United vs Capital City SC FInals: Ginga Atllanta vs Olympians FC --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

No UPSL from the weekend leaves the lads scratching their heads. Maryland, Georgia, and Florida soccer gets the spotlight instead. The Lower League eCup is coming to a close, but the e1776 FIFA League has only begun. Also - has Danny replaced Austin? Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" for our intro and outro music. You can listen to more here: PaperHolland.bandcamp.com Thank you to Swim for our interlude track. You can listen to more here: https://soundcloud.com/swim95 Non-League America UPSL watch party info (don't sleep!)https://twitter.com/NonLeagueUSA/status/1366433217411186689?s=20 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

www.bodyaltar.org/underworldparty for more video version here: https://youtu.be/v7oMuNzjDr4 Donations happily received at www.paypal.me/daresohei

The lads talk about the final two UPSL conference finals and the latter stages of the Lower League eCup playoffs. We also bring back the ADASL and make some mentions of two other regional amateur leagues! Danny is lagging behind and gets pretty sentimental when we talk about the eCup, so definitely stick around for that. Paper Holland contributed "Slouches" for our intro and outro music. You can listen to more here: https://PaperHolland.bandcamp.com Watch the full replay of Rovers FC and Majestic SC here: https://mycujoo.tv/en/view/event/ckleg4q5u121v0gcjzom5znl4 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The lads chatted about the usual suspects (UPSL and Lower League eCup). There's mention of an amateur division returning to play this past weekend and a new virtual FIFA tournament as well! Danny learns firsthand what it's like to live in Wisconsin and witnesses a piece of equipment that is so prevalent in Wisconsin for the first time ever. Tune in to find out what that was, how the UPSL and LLeC playoffs are coming along, and more on this week's scoresheet. Thank you for listening and supporting this podcast. Please consider leaving a rating and review. Thanks to Paper Holland for providing "Slouches" as our music. You can check out more of their music here: https://paperholland.bandcamp.com Watch the Ginga Atlanta - OFC Barca match here: https://mycujoo.tv/en/view/event/ckl050qquu2cf0gdr9h4d15va --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We start today's episode with another UPSL Playoff roundup. There were three great matchups this past weekend and we go into depth on one of them. We also preview the upcoming weekend's matches and make our picks for the neutral. We then switch gears and review some of the early Lower League eCup playoff matchups across each platform. There's some mention of food and post-recording plans. It's all good fun! Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as our intro and outro music. You can listen to more of their music here - PaperHolland.bandcamp.com Check out the recent match between La Maquina and Tulsa Athletic Project here - https://mycujoo.tv/en/view/event/ckkr3ta30hi8j0gdrdbgmw0bi --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The guys are talking about the UPSL playoffs and the Lower League eCup again to absolutely no one's surprise. Can Spring come any quicker? We really need to talk about something else. The UPSL playoff picture develops a little further this week and we find out who's automatically qualified for the Lower League eCup playoffs as well. We also find out who wins the Twitter competition between Danny and Josh - the winner may surprise you. Please give us a rating and review! That helps our podcast get noticed by the Spotify and Apple algorithms and in turn by new fans of the lower league soccer community. Thank you to Paper Holland for contributing "Slouches" as our theme music. You can check out their other music here - https://paperholland.bandcamp.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

On today's episode, we break down two important UPSL playoff matches from the past weekend and preview some critical matches of the next week. We then get into the Lower League eCup and breakdown the first week of matches, who's faring well, and who has to play catch-up. We also touch on our own personal contest on Twitter surrounding the eCup. Thank you to Paper Holland for letting us use "Slouches" as our intro and outro music. https://paperholland.bandcamp.com Stay weird and support local soccer!

A final festive Payneful reflection at the end of a disconcerting year. (See below for what to expect over the Christmas holidays.)Just when we thought we were mooching towards a passably standard Christmas, we find ourselves once more (in my part of the world) in a state of covid anxiety. Will we be allowed to gather for Christmas services? Will Christmas lunch go ahead? Will we ever see our relatives again?There is some cause for hope. For example, will we ever see our relatives again?But the general mood of weariness and dislocation sends Christmas preachers and commentators off to rummage through their kitbag of cliches. Everything is ‘unprecedented'; plans have been ‘thrown into disarray'; ‘things fall apart; the centre cannot hold'. That final over-used phrase has been wheeled out more than once during this crazy, disconcerting 2020. It comes from one of the most rummaged-through poems of the 20th century, The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats. Written in the aftermath of the First World War and the Bolshevik revolution, it speaks of a disintegrating world, where innocence has been drowned in blood and anarchy, and where any pretence that Western culture has an authoritative voice to guide it is now abandoned. Here is the famous first stanza. Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.Like a wheeling falcon now out of reach of its falconer's voice, the world seems to have lost connection with its authoritative centre, and everything is falling apart. The best know that there is nothing any more to be sure of; the worst gleam with a fierce-eyed intensity to impose their will on the chaos. Rarely has a year felt more like this than 2020. The less well-known second stanza looks with dread on what might be coming to fill the void—a Second Coming, not of Christ, but of a nameless beast, stepping out of the apocalyptic visions of the Old Testament: Surely some revelation is at hand;Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus MundiTroubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleepWere vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?What dread future did Yeats see coming? Was it the rise of National Socialism, or of Communism, or of the juggernaut of modern hi-tech capitalism? We tend to read our own worst nightmares into the figure of that pitiless beast, making its inexorable, slouching way towards the centre of our culture—the place that Bethlehem once had. Like all really great poems, The Second Coming names something that is true in our experience in words that somehow say more than they say. It captures the emptiness at the centre of modern life and politics and culture. We no longer hear an authoritative voice. The best of us wearily resign ourselves to making what we can of a world without a central guiding truth. The worst of us rush to occupy the void for our own exploitative ends. In some ways, the sentimental, consumerist emptiness of the modern Christmas only reminds us of what has been lost. Instead of celebrating the birth of a king, sent from outside to save and to rule, we celebrate ourselves and our families and our insatiable capacity for getting and spending. Interestingly, though, the sense of loss in Yeats's poem is very passive. It hardly seems the falcon's fault that its ever-widening spirals take it beyond the reach of its master's voice. No-one seems to be culpable for the breakdown of the centre. Things just fall apart. Anarchy and the blood-dimmed tide ‘are loosed'; innocence ‘is drowned'. The voice of the verbs is as passive as the falconer, standing and calling, impotent to reach the falcon. In common with many other modern and post-modern observers who wistfully notice the loss of a Christian centre in Western culture, Yeats is unwilling to admit culpability. He glides past the conscious and relentless rejection of the Christian revelation by Western society over the previous two centuries. It is not that the falconer's voice has become distant and dim, left behind by the glorious progress of the falcon. It's that we have closed our ears to his voice, and flatly refused to acknowledge that the lion of Judah has already come, and is seated on his throne. For Yeats, there seems to be no going back. But going back—or repentance, as it is otherwise known—is the only valid response, if the Son of God has indeed come, and lived and died and risen, and been appointed as Lord and Saviour of all. Frustratingly for those of us who have put our trust in this Lord, turning back to Christ is a door that Western culture now considers closed. Yet he knocks at the door, and will come in some time soon to judge and to save. And when the Lion of Judah does come again, he will come looking like a lamb that was slain (Rev 5:5-6). He gaze will not be blank and pitiless, but piercing and merciful, full of justice and forgiveness. And if that seems like an impossibly strange image of our future—a fierce and regal lion coming with the look of a lamb that was slain—it is no more incongruous than the stunning contrast we remember at this time of year. Born of a woman. Born as a man. God in a manger. PSAs a good Anglican, I am full of ‘most humble and hearty thanks' for God's goodness and kindness in this past year, and in particular for all that he has done through your kindness and support for The Payneful Truth. I am very grateful for everyone who has signed up to the list, everyone who has emailed and commented, and particularly everyone who has become a ‘Payneful partner' and supported the whole venture financially. (And if you'd like to start doing that, it's not very hard! Just click on the button and follow the options.)I think we all deserve a break for a couple of weeks—me from writing, and you from my writing. So, here's what to expect over the next little while: * Later this week, before I clock off for the year, I'll send around to the partner list a very-close-to-final draft of the revised Two ways to live outline that I've been working on. Many of you have already given very useful feedback—any final comments or thoughts will be gratefully received.* Then, after a short break, I'll start rolling out a little series of light-hearted holiday-reading articles on the first Tuesday in January (taken from some dusty old pieces I found lying in the vault). They may or may not have something to do with golf, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them nevertheless. (These will go out free to everyone on the list—it's Christmas time after all.)* And then I'll be back in earnest on January 26 with the first proper edition of 2021. Until then, may God bless you with rest and rejoicing as we remember the coming of his Son.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.twoways.news/subscribe

Nicholas's address today coincided with the US Presidential Election and the general malaise or "unwellness" being felt by many as we ponder the fragility of the democratic process  - at home and abroad. This malaise has coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic. It is driving the rise of extremist, right-wing politics that thrives on inequality, fear, ignorance, and denial, and threatens to fracture civil societies  - especially those that allow their citizens to own and carry assault weapons along to political rallies to intimidate those with whom they may disagree. Nicholas commences today's address "Being Unwell - a reflection" with Jennie reading W.B. Yeats's "The Second Coming".  "....The best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity........And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?" Yeats wrote this poem in 1919  - in the aftermath of the First World War and the bitterness and violence of the "Easter Rising" in Ireland. Instead of celebrating the end of hostilities in Europe, the poem captures the general malaise and sense of foreboding felt in Ireland and exacerbated by the Spanish Flu. Comparisons between these two pandemics, and the political turmoil and the malaise being driven by them are palpable. Yeats's fear was that "the centre cannot hold"-  that civil society will be torn asunder. Nicholas asks: "How do we listen to the wildness in our own soul  - the wildness of our yearning?" He offers wise spiritual counsel and sees hope and renewal through the creative arts, through our histories, through our stories and through the social "glue" of community  - the "UU wheel of practice" to "hold our centres together" and help us through the current malaise. This is essential listening for all!

Matt rambles about the Mensheviks, BAP, and wokeism. __ And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

“For behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth… Be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create” (Isaiah 65).   “When I left college and set out to be a poet I thought of nothing but writing a poem that would live forever. That’s just how I phrased it: live forever. It seemed to me the only noble ambition… It was, I suppose, a transparent attempt to replace soul with the self.”[1] Christian Wiman writes this to explain how poetry abandoned him, about how becoming a Christian required him to give up the fantasy that his words could last forever. What fantasy do you need to leave behind for the sake of faith? It is hard to believe that it has been less than a month since the devastating fires here because so much happens every day. On Friday for instance, another school shooting took place here in California (Santa Clarita). The president pardoned a list of American men convicted of war crimes. On the same morning former ambassador to Ukraine Marie L. Yovanovitch testified before a Congressional impeachment hearing. As she spoke the president derided her on Twitter. She talked about election interference and its effect on foreign policy. She wondered, “How could our system fail like this? How is it that foreign corrupt interests could manipulate our government?”[2] It feels a little like W.B. Yeats’ (1865-1939) poem “The Second Coming.” “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer; / Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, / The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere / the ceremony of innocence is drowned / The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity. / Surely some revelation is at hand; / surely the Second Coming is at hand.”[3] Indeed make no mistake the Second Coming is at hand. Our Gospel this morning speaks of three moments, three realizations of this truth. In the 8th century BC the prophet Isaiah wrote to inspire a people who had been held captive in distant Babylon. He conveys God’s message to them, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered…” (Isa. 65). But “the former things” do “come to mind.” The gladness and rejoicing will come as reversals of the terrible tragedies that have afflicted them. Children dying, sinners never finding atonement, people who after laboring have their houses and fields taken from them – these things will no longer happen. Isaiah conveys God’s promise of a new day of peace when the “wolf and lamb will feed together.” By the time of Jesus the temple in Jerusalem has been both restored and corrupted. Every Sunday for the last six months we have been following Jesus’ travels in Luke only to arrive at this very point. This is Jesus’ last public sermon. Immediately before this Jesus warns the people to beware of religious leaders who love being honored, who draw attention to themselves through their long prayers. In contrast Jesus admires a poor widow who gave two cents because it was all she had. Jesus hears people admiring the way the temple is adorned. The Greek word for this is kekosmētai. It combines a sense of both beauty and order like our words cosmos or cosmetic.[4] So imagine someone complimenting the architecture of the United States Capitol and you have a sense for what is happening. Jesus explains that everything they see will be utterly destroyed. What the disciples and these people so desperately hope for is a warrior king who will overthrow the foreign Roman occupying army and the collaborators in charge of all social institutions. The disciples desperately resist what Jesus is teaching them. He gives them a completely upside down picture of servant leadership in which the greatest is “servant of all” (Mk. 9:35). God is not merely changing who is in charge but overthrowing that whole way of existing. In the realm of God, which is unfolding all around us, love matters more than power. That is why Jesus warns the people to beware of false leaders who still exalt power over love. He says people will come in his name saying “Eigo eimi” which we translate as “I am he,” but which really means simply “I am.” John’s gospel repeats this all the time. Jesus says, “I am the true vine” (Jn. 15:1), “I am the light of the world” (Jn. 8:12, 9:5). This is an echo of Moses’ encounter with God at the Burning Bush. Moses asks who God is and God says “Eigo eimi” “I am.” False leaders will say the time is at hand. They will say the chairos, the fulfilled time is near. Do not go after them. The telos, which is more than a simple end but a fulfillment,  a completion, “will not follow immediately” (Luke 21). Jesus’ last public sermon points to a second moment in history. When the region revolted against Roman rule the Emperor Vespasian sent troops to crush the people. After a four month siege in the year 70 AD the Romans (under the future emperor Titus) destroyed the temple and the city. Thousands of people were killed and it seemed like a great culture and religion had been utterly destroyed. Biblical scholars are not exactly sure when Luke composed this gospel but they believe it might have been some time around these events.[5] In the first and second centuries it was illegal to be a Christian. Because we inhabit a different age and culture we have difficulty imagining a world in which politics and religion were so thoroughly intermixed. Christians refused to make the required sacrifice to the Roman emperor and this was regarded as a grave political crime. When things went wrong in society like earthquakes, wars, plagues, famines and signs in the heavens it was common to persecute the Christians.[6] The same emperor Vespasian built a Roman coliseum that seated 50,000 people. Killing Christians in gruesome ways was entertainment in that society. They made no distinction between capital punishment and a sacrifice to the gods. We have a written account of the details around the execution of Perpetua, Felicitas and their companions in the year 203 AD. Perpetua was a twenty-two year old noblewoman and was nursing her infant in prison before being killed in the amphitheater by wild animals and the sword.[7] And to the people of this moment Jesus speaks frankly about the way they will be arrested (paradidomi) and persecuted, brought before kings and governors for his name’s sake (Lk. 21). Jesus says to them. This will be a time for you to bear testimony (marturion). To people in the most extreme circumstance Jesus has such a simple message. Don’t agonize over preparing what you will say, “for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” You will be betrayed by those who are supposed to love you, “[b]ut not a hair of your head will perish.” The final moment the gospel speaks to is of course our own. In this time of political turmoil it is hard for us to see past the headlines. Everywhere so many prominent leaders violate accepted conventions concerning power and civility, and as the internet amplifies the most extreme voices, we cannot help but suffer from a kind of outrage fatigue. And meanwhile we face the most serious threat in recorded history. Modern society may make the planet uninhabitable for humans and countless other species. In the words of a recent commentator we have radically underestimated the effects of our actions. Twenty-five years ago it would have been inconceivable to us that within such a short time, “a single heat wave would measurably raise sea levels an estimated two one-hundredths of an inch, bake the Arctic, produce Sahara-like temperatures in Paris and Berlin.”[8] This is the most important news from summer. This is the story of our generation. I want to suggest two small things that you might do as servant leaders to help. First, in all our conversations we need to be honest about this reality. This week an acquaintance was talking about fires that were “just normal not from climate change or anything.” I just let this go instead of clarifying what she meant by this comment. At your Thanksgiving dinner tables I encourage you to let a lot go – but not this. Our generation has a unique responsibility in all human history. Second, when you work alone it is hard to be effective and easy to become discouraged. At Grace Cathedral everybody counts. Volunteer, make a pledge, join a group or form one. Become a teacher, an usher, an acolyte or a docent. Exercise leadership and worship here because this is part of how God is saving the world. We are so much stronger together than we are as individuals. And the very poorest and most ignored person here may make the offering that will save us. On this ingathering Sunday the world will see in us the opposite of Yeats’ poem. At Grace Cathedral the center does hold, things that fell apart are being repaired, innocence is not drowned but nurtured. The best have conviction and the worst find forgiveness for their sins. Although it may seem strange in this world of wars and rumors of wars, of persecutions and betrayals, the second coming is incredibly good news to us. God has written a poem that will live forever. It is not a political party, or a system of government, or even a religion. It is not even this world. The poem is you. And you will not perish. Leave your fantasies behind because we have reason for a far greater hope. God is creating a new heavens and a new earth. Be glad and rejoice forever.   [1] Christian Wiman, He Held Radical Light: The Art of Faith, The Faith of Art (NY: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2018) 6-7. [2] Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Ex-Envoy to Ukraine ‘Devastated’ as Trump Vilified Her,” The New York Times, 15 November 2019. The next day (Saturday) we heard that the Chinese government could have sent as many as one million people into internment camps in just the last few years. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage [3] The rest of W.B. Yeats’ poem: “The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” W.B. Yeats, “The Second Coming.” https://poets.org/poem/second-coming [4] keko/smhtai [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus and, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(70_CE) [6] In about the year 197 the North African Tertullian wrote, “If the Tiber reaches the walls, if the Nile does not rise to the fields, if the sky doesn’t move or the earth does, if there is a famine, if there is a plague, the cry is at once, ‘The Christians to the lion…” Margaret R. Miles, The Word Made Flesh: A History of Christian Thought (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005) 19. [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_of_Saint_Perpetua,_Saint_Felicitas,_and_their_Companions [8] Eugene Linden, “How Scientists Got Climate Change So Wrong,” The New York Times, 8 November 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/opinion/sunday/science-climate-change.html

On this week’s show, Bree and Justin look at the frenzy of preparations for WoW Classic, explore more of Middle-earth, talk about Aion for the first time in about forever, and talk about how studios could better handle the senior citizen years of MMORPGs. It’s the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you’d like to send in your own letter to the show, use the “Tips” button in the top-right corner of the site to do so. Show notes: Intro Adventures in MMOs: Chronicles of Spellborn, City of Heroes, SWG News: Blizzard preps fans for WoW Classic, posts server list, financials down News: Square Enix's financials are up News: LOTRO pushes out an interesting patch News: Aion has a meaty content update coming News: DCUO launches on Switch, Legends of Aria releases Mailbag: Finding your way when you're lost in an MMO Mailbag: Planning an exit strategy for operational MMOs Outro Other info: Podcast theme: "Lakrum Fortress" from Aion Your show hosts: Justin and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Twitch If you’re having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.

Magic by Smash Mouth. Cameron demands to be eaten and put in a bag (in that order), Nathan is gleekin' from both ends, and Smash Mouth? You might know them from "All Star" that is in Shrek. Announcement: next week, we'll be running a bracket of listener suggestions to choose our next artist. Drop us a line at email@boxset.website or tweet at @totbspodcast to suggest an artist! Learnin' Links: Krampus Smash Mouth's cookbook Hawk Nelson Yeats' poem "The Second Coming" Gleeking Steve Harwell "Brokeback" photo Listen along to Magic here! You can support us in several ways: Kick us a few bux on Patreon! By becoming a supporting member, you'll gain access to special bonus episodes, including a new weekly mini-show, What's in the Box Weekly! Buy T-shirts, sweatshirts, and more at our merch page!

The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats   Turning and turning in the widening gyre    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;    The best lack all conviction, while the worst    Are full of passionate intensity.     Surely some revelation is at hand;    Surely the Second Coming is at hand.    The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out    When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi    Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;    A shape with lion body and the head of a man,    A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,    Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it    Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.     The darkness drops again but now I know    That twenty centuries of stony sleep    Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

And what rough podcast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

AGF 257 ‘Ruling the Hemisphere” URNING and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.   Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? We also discuss the 1987 film Walker.

Easter! A time for rebirth, renewal, and awakening. Spring has sprung and chocolate-y eggs dot the newly green grass. That which once was dormant and seemingly gone from the Earth wakes anew and blossoms! But what if it wakes up… different this time? Poetry gets a bad rep as a thing for sissies and flopsy [...]