Magic: The Gathering has plenty of well-established decks and strategies, but there's fun to be had in creating something completely unexpected.

At any given time, Magic: The Gathering has a set of popular deck archetypes, metas and staples that show up game after game. On some level, they're comforting; you can never go wrong with Modern Burn, and your Commander deck will always have a slot for a Sol Ring. Seeing the same archetypes over and over can get a little old, though, and following trends is rarely a path to innovation. What brings so manyback toMagicagain and again is the vast, ever-growing number of possibilitiesfor any given format, so that even when the meta seems rigid, some clever upstart can always crack it open again.

One doesn't need to change the world when building aweirddeck, however, and what makes a deck weirdcan vary. Does the deck showcasean unlikely synergy? Does it use an old mechanic in a new way? Does it include obscure or underused cards? A weird deck isn't constrained by concepts of"good" or "optimal." It just needs to do something interesting. And if that interesting thing wins you a game or two, the victories will be all the sweeter for it. Like with any creative project, challenging yourself with unorthodox methods means you're bound to learn something new and improve your skills along the way.

Related: Magic: The Gathering - Double Masters' Artifact Cards Are Powerful in Any Deck

The first step to building a weirddeck is always research and exploration. Be curious about eachMagicset. Older sets can reveal cards that were ignored or overlooked at their release but may become relevant in the future.By the same logic,keeping up with the latest sets can reveal new possibilities in relation to your knowledge of Magic's "backlog." With all this information rattling around by taking careto notice which cards and mechanics pique your interest the most,it's only a matter of time before something clicks.

For example, the mechanic "Morph" wasn't well supported in Commander until the release of Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer. Previously unsupported tribes like Unicorns, Bears, Satyrs and Devils have all gottentheir own tribal Legendaries over the last year,and Morophon the Boundless can make just about any creature type a tribe. Zirda, the Dawnwaker has some infinite mana combos, but it also makes cards with otherwise far too costly activated abilities cross the threshold of viable into great value.

Related: Magic: The Gathering - Double Masters' Multicolored Cards Boost Various Archetypes

This all depends, of course, on your favored formats. Magic's "backlog" won't really apply to Standard, for instance. But for Commander and Modern, knowing some of the older, weirder cards is productive. Commander in particular has a great starting place for finding inspiration in the form of EDHRec, a database with statistics for every Commander released so far. Finding a Commander that's particularly strange is just a matter of browsing through each color combination and scrolling down to the lesser-used ones.Many arejust plain bad (like a five-cost 3/3 with no abilities), but others do something unique, and the cards often used in conjunction with unusualCommanders are often unusual in turn.

Above all, keep an eye on the spaces others ignore, and question the status quo. Reject the prevailing metas, and believe in whatever "brain bugs" you catch during your research. Be preparedfor your trails to go cold and to find yourself rushing back asa newreleaselights the way.If you do this, you may just happen upon something no one else has ever thought of.

KEEP READING:Magic: The Gathering - How to Build Your First Modern Jund Deck

Animal Farm: What to Expect From the Next Game From the Makers of Reigns

Daniel Lindsley is a writer, a Seattleite, and a UC: Santa Cruz graduate with a Bachelor's in Literature and Creative Writing. His degree taught him how to tell a story, and it turns out games have a lot of that sort of thing. Conveniently, so does news writing. The overlap makes for a guy who knows his way around TTRPG systems, keeps up with the latest, and can write about both. He spends his spare time working on personal projects, playing games, and drinking frozen-banana-and-chocolate-ice-cream protein shakes.

Continued here:
Magic: The Gathering - How to Build the WEIRDEST Decks (And Why You Should) - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Feral chickens strut their stuff in front of the Tervis Store on Front Street in Key West. The chickens have become the citys unofficial mascots. COURTESY PHOTO

FOR ALMOST 200 YEARS, WANNABE comedians have been asking why the chicken crossed the road.

But in Key West, chickens dont just cross roads. They congregate on one-way streets in groups, mamas stopping traffic for their fuzzy little chicklets. They roost in the trees and perch on bike handles. They casually wander into bars and restaurants. And they crow at all hours of the day, no matter the suns position.

If youve been to Key West before or have only strolled around the island for a day, youve undoubtedly noticed our unofficial mascot. To some, Key Wests gypsy chickens are a novelty, another fixture that gives the island a funky and unique vibe. To others, theyre worse than a nuisance, unsanitary, loud and obnoxious. But opinions aside, Key Wests colorful roosters and hens are as iconic as Sloppy Joes and theyve been around a lot longer than Hemingways favorite bar has.

Key Wests first wave of chickens arrived in the 1800s, when Cuban and Caribbean settlers brought the large and aggressive Cubalaya breed to the island as both a food source and a sporting accessory. Hens provided eggs and their male counterparts provided endless hours of back alley cockfighting entertainment. A second wave flooded the island in the 1950s, when revolution in Cuba displaced both humans and their fowl.

Key West Wildlife Center rescues, heals and places feral chickens in safe places. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY KEY WEST WILDLIFE CENTER

Key West banned cockfighting in the 1970s, which sent many roosters to the streets. In addition, Key Wests evolution away from agrarian traditions resulted in fewer backyard chicken coops and more grocery meat counters.

Protected by local wildlife regulations and without homes or distractions (or a significant source of avian population control, however barbaric), the chicken population proliferated exponentially so much so that in 2003, Key West city officials declared war on the crowing creatures, rounding up roosters and installing holding pens where hens and chicks could be held while awaiting relocation.

In 2004, the city hired Armando Parra, a local barber and self-trained bird catcher, to serve as the official city chicken catcher. The intention was to move the birds to free-range facilities in Miami-Dade County, but when officials suspected the birds were secretly being killed, local chicken advocates were furious. The chicken controversy commotion resulted in ChickenFest, a one-time, four-day festival dreamed up by local chicken-loving event coordinators in 2005.

Fowl enthusiasts flocked to the festivities, dressing in feathered headdresses and chicken suits and donning plush chicken caps and rooster beaks to compete in the Fowl Follies talent and costume competition. There was a Fowl Ball, a rooster crowing challenge, a Funky Chicken dance contest and a Foghorn Leghorn lookalike contest. The event culminated in a Poultry in Motion parade that featured dancing chickens, a Colonel Sanders lookalike and Chicken Caesar, a 12-foot-tall, toga-wearing rooster. And even Mr. Parra, whose chicken catching antics were the impetus for the festival, got in on the action, selling T-shirts and judging the chicken beauty contest.

And so, despite city officials best efforts and assisted by the urging of zealous poultry lovers, the gypsy chickens remain. And when Key Wests winged residents get birdie boo-boos, the Key West Wildlife Center makes sure the injured, sick and orphaned chickens are well cared for.

The Wildlife Centers stated mission is to ensure the future of our diverse native wildlife by providing timely rescues and quality rehabilitation with the hope of release back to the wild. The Wildlife Center acts as a field hospital and trauma center for native wild birds and holds both state and federal rehabilitation permits from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Key West Wildlife Center sits on seven acres of land inside the Indigenous Park at 1801 White St. and is open to the public every day but Wednesday. The nature trail inside the facility includes a freshwater pond and two aviaries and is a great place from which to observe migratory birds during the fall and spring migrations. The Wildlife Center also operates an onsite clinic, which enables the staff to provide treatment to injured and sick wildlife 24/7, amounting to over 1,400 native wild birds annually, including hawks, pelicans, osprey, egrets and herons.

In 2009, the Wildlife Center entered into a concession agreement with the city of Key West to provide rescue, medical care and adoption services for the islands feral chickens. The Wildlife Centers other rescue and rehabilitation services are funded solely through donations, but the chicken services are funded through the concession agreement with the city of Key West. The center emphasizes cleanliness and nutrition and provides a high protein chicken feed enhanced with fresh produce donated by St. Marys Star of the Sea Food Pantry.

According to Tom Sweets, director of the Key West Wildlife Center, the center currently has about 30 local hens, roosters and younger chickens residing in its aviary. The chickens suffer from a variety of ailments, from avian pox and botulism to cock-fighting injuries and broken wings. We get a high number of rescue calls each year regarding Key West chickens struck by vehicles, abandoned by owners, fallen or trapped in storm drains, shot by darts and pellet guns, and many other sick, injured and orphaned birds, Mr. Sweets said. We have had interesting survival stories of roosters. One was shot through by a bow and arrow, and we treated several birds that survived dart gun attacks after being shot. We were able to successfully remove the various projectiles and the birds did survive.

A Key West chicken makes a new friend at Peat Marsh Ranch outside Lake Okeechobee. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY KEY WEST WILDLIFE CENTER

Though the Wildlife Center is happy to provide a temporary loving home to birds in need, it does not actively seek out the birds themselves. Residents can borrow a trap from the Wildlife Center for a refundable deposit, then bring the captured birds in for rehabilitation. We act as a rescue for sick and injured birds we do not trap birds ourselves, Mr. Sweets said. We will accept birds that are brought to our center from local Key West residents and businesses. We do not remove feral chickens from residential or business situations. There are private companies in Key West that provide removal services for those that want it.

Although the general goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to provide professional care to sick, injured and orphaned wildlife so that they can ultimately be returned to their natural habitat, the chickens rehabilitated at the Key West Wildlife Center typically do not get turned back out onto the streets. We provide rescue services, care and treatment with an emphasis on cleanliness and a quality diet, Mr. Sweets said. We then find the chickens great free-range adoptive homes in mainland Florida that adhere to strict criteria.

Since June 2011, the Key West Wildlife Center has worked to partner with a number of mainland properties who can provide care and good homes for the rehabilitated Key West chickens. The Wildlife Center moves more than 1,000 birds a year to participating properties. Peat Marsh Ranch, located just north of Lake Okeechobee, is a 1,200-acre facility where the birds can live free range. The Wildlife Center also partners with an eight-acre property outside of Fort Myers, where many chickens have found a loving home.

At organic farms on the mainland, Key Wests chickens provide natural pest control. To prevent hungry birds from eating the crops, the chickens are released into large net tubes that stretch between the crops. In the tubes, the chickens can eat invasive insects and naturally fertilize the soil.

Even though birds are exported by the thousands, it often seems like there are more chickens in Key West than people. But Mr. Sweets cant say for certain whether the birds are more populous lately than usual. Without doing a survey count, it would be impossible to say what the current trends are in the feral population numbers, he said. The feral chickens move around and exploit different areas for food and then move on, so it would be hard to say about overall numbers without a survey or count.

However, there is one chicken-related trend that Mr. Sweets finds disturbing.

There is a trend of more people feeding them, which will bring chickens into an area or neighborhood to stay, he said. Feeding these birds is never good it leads to disease being quickly spread through a population and usually leads to more birds being struck by vehicles when they are fed in streets or parking lots. Put simply, these feral birds do not need to be fed by humans it causes all types of problems for them.

In the KNOW

Key West Wildlife Center

Sonny McCoy Indigenous Park 1801 White St. Open daily, except Wednesdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 305-292-1008 http://www.keywestwildlifecenter.org

KEY WEST WILDLIFE CENTER CHICKEN TIPS:

NEVER feed them! If you do, they will stay in your area. Help educate neighbors around you not to feed them as well. If they are not fed, they usually will keep moving.

Dont interfere with Mother Nature. If a hawk attempts to catch a chicken, let it. This is difficult to watch, but the hawk needs to eat, too. This is natures way of naturally reducing the chicken population. Never take a bird away from a hawk. The prey often is so injured it will die anyway. The result will be the hawk losing its meal and the prey losing its life.

Secure the perimeter of your house, blocking areas that chickens can get under to lay eggs. If you do find eggs, they can be discarded. Chickens lay eggs over a period of a couple weeks before they start to incubate them, so it is unlikely that there are baby chicks inside the eggs. Eggs also can be brought to the Wildlife Center for disposal.

If all else fails and you are finding chickens to be a nuisance in your area, the Wildlife Center rents traps for a $100 refundable deposit.

See original here:
It's all hens on deck as nonprofit group tends to Key West fowl in need - Florida Weekly

Setting up elaborate dinner table decorations, organizing beachside picnics, and deflating inflatable slides are all in a day's work for a yachtie, a term used to refer to a crew member working on a yacht. On Bravo's Below Deck series, though, they often up the ante.

There's a swarm of mosquitos hovering around the food as the crew struggles to serve in 90 degree temperatures, for instance. Or there's an intoxicated guest that invites even more drunk guests on board and requests a 7-course tasting menu for the table, minutes before dinner is meant to be served. Each crew member is abnormally good-looking and single, meaning they fight with one another, make up, sleep, rinse, and repeat, and all in the same day.

Since 2013, the Below Deck franchise has become a reality television phenomenon in its own right, replacing the aging Real Housewife franchise as the relevant mainstay on Bravo. (Its ratings now surpass a majority of the Housewife city franchises.) It's spawned two spinoffs (Med and Sailing Yacht) and turned some of its crew members into bonafide reality stars. (See: Captain Lee, the soon to be longest-running cast member on the series who now has more than 400,000 followers on Instagram.)

But the series isn't without its controversial faults. Things came to a head during its seventh season, when crew member Ashton Pienaar punched a window after being rebuffed for attempting to kiss his fellow crew mate, Kate Chastain, without her consent. On social media, Pienaar and the rest of the male deckhands were called misogynists. Each of the guys apologized after the episodes aired, but viewers complained it wasn't enough.

Lauren Cohen, who appeared on the second season of Below Deck: Med, dealt with sexism first-hand, both on the show and off. She says it's common in the yachting world for roles to be split along gender-lines, as is the case with the show. Most deckhands (who work on the exterior of the boat) and captains are male and most stews (who work on the interior) are female.

And sexism is rampant in yachting because of these roles, says Cohen. "There's no HR," she says. "I've been told I need to be a certain size to even get an interview for certain boats or asked to dye my hair a certain color because the captain didn't like brunettes." Things are maybe worse because of cameras. Unlike the real world of yachting, producers cast the series and have done little to change those notions of gender roles on the show. (Across the series, there have been just eight female deckhands and one male stew.)

Cohen, 30, says her experience during the second season of Below Deck: Med was tense, largely because of her working relationship with another male crew member. She recalls one confrontation with him that led her to stop actively participating with producers. "Halfway through production, I'm talking to the camera guy, saying 'this guy's really about to punch me in the face. Are you going to stop this?'"

The scene, she says, never made it to air. "I completely shut down to the point where I didn't want to get involved in anything to do with the show." Cohen says she brought the issue up to leadership on the yacht, but was told to "suck it up," in more or less words.

Rhylee Gerber, 34, appeared in two of the series' most highly contentious seasons. In season six, she resisted against her leaders in a spectacularly splashy fashion. The show portrayed her as mostly outspoken, eager to put up a fight at a moment's notice. She says it wasn't entirely inaccurate, but editing painted both her and her then leader, Ross Inia, in specific roles. "He also instigated a lot with me," she says, "and maybe not in a purposeful way, but [for the show], it was best to keep showing my reaction and his calmness. After the show, Ross was literally arrested for threatening a police officer, but everybody wanted to call me aggressive."

Gerber joined midway through the polarizing seventh season of the show, after another female deckhand quit. She says she joined for a little bit of redemption after her portrayal from the previous season. Things didn't fare much better, as the season was marked mostly by a vocal division between the men and women on board. After the window incident involving Pienaar, Gerber was glad the scene played out for viewers to see. "It was his true personality."

BravoGetty Images

Now in its eighth year, there are signs the franchise's popularity might soon wane. In the last year, both Below Deck and Below Deck: Med have lost their resident chief stews, Chastain and Hannah Ferrier, both of whom in the past have claimed issues of sexism while working with male crew members on the show. (Its second spinoff, Sailing Yacht, was polarizing and may have also tipped the scales as to how and if the show will continue to expand.)

And so, likely bowing to the pressures of staying both popular and progressive, the show has apparently tried to make up for its rocky past. The latest season of Below Deck: Med features the first female bosun in the series' history, Malia White, who appeared in the show's second season. Unlike Below Deck, Med also has a female captain, Sandy Yawn. Still, the series can't seem to get a handle on its gender problem.

In July, crew member Peter Hunziker (who was fired from the show in July for posting an image of a Black woman in chains on his personal Facebook) was reprimanded for sexualizing conversations with another crew member, Bugsy Drake. Drake brought the issue to Yawn, who later reprimanded Hunziker. "It's not okay in the world, much less on a boat," she told him.

"He saw women as an object and he treated them like that," says Gerber of the new season. "If he called me 'sweetie,' I probably would've taken his sunglasses and shoved them up his ass."

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site.

Original post:
Sexism on Bravo's Below Deck: Rhylee Gerber and Lauren Cohen Tell All - Men's Health

We've got another four-game slate of playoff games tipping off Thursday night! Can the Lakers and Bucks bounce back from their opening game defeats? Meanwhile, the Pacers and Thunder look to level their first round series'. We've got you covered with a look ahead at what's at stake in each matchup.

It's been an exciting start to the 2020 postseason, with no shortage of surprise results.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers' opening game defeats marked the first time since 2003 that both no.1 seeds have lost their opening first-round games.

Day 4 features another four-game slate, with the Houston Rockets and Miami Heat both looking to go up 2-0 in their respective series'. We've got you covered with a rundown of the day's games and what's at stake in each matchup:

All win probabilities are per FiveThirtyEight's NBA Predictions model. All times in IST.

Win probability: Heat 59%

Despite their Game 1 loss, the Pacers will take plenty of confidence into Game 2. Already without All-Star Domantas Sabonis and after Victor Oladipo exited the game in the first quarter with an eye injury, they were still in the game late in the fourth quarter.

Oladipo was officially listed as questionable for Game 2 on the injury report, with the Pacers optimistic he will make it back to help them try and level the series.

The Heat will need another big game from Jimmy Butler, who took over down the stretch in Game 1, scoring 10 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Win probability: Rockets 68%

Expect another big performance from James Harden as the Rockets will be without Russell Westbrook again for Game 2 (right quad strain).

OKC will be looking for their three-guard lineup to come out aggressively in Game 2 after they struggled to get going in their opening defeat. The trio of Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined for just 35 points in Game 1, 20 of which came from Paul.

The Rockets outscored the Thunder 44-38 in the paint, doing their best to keep big man Steven Adams out of the paint on both ends, but will they be able to neutralise the Thunder's size advantage two games in a row?

Win probability: Bucks 79%

The Bucks suffered an upset loss in Game 1, thanks to a well-oiled defensive effort from the Magic. Orlando limited Milwaukee's transition buckets (10 points) and punished their turnovers, creating 25 points.

Will they be able to bring that same defensive intensity in Game 2?

The Bucks will be looking for Khris Middleton to create more scoring after the All-Star managed just 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-6 from three. As a team, the Bucks converted 14 of their 42 attempts from beyond the arc.

Aaron Gordon, who missed Game 1 (strained left hamstring) has been listed as questionable for Game 2, while Michael Carter-Williams (strained tendon, left foot) remains doubtful.

Win probability: Lakers 74%

Can the Blazers go up 2-0 on the no.1 seed Lakers?

They will take plenty of confidence from Game 1 after they held the Lakers to just 93 points, and all eyes will be on Damian Lillard, who continued his scorching form in the bubble with 34 points.

The Blazers will be without Zach Collins for Game 2, with the big man set to be re-evaluated in a week. Collins underwent a follow-up MRI and was diagnosed with a stress reaction injury in his left ankle.

Meanwhile, the Lakers find themselves in unexpected territory, down 1-0 against the Blazers and will look to bounce back after a rough shooting night. They hit just 5-of-32 from the 3-point line in Game 1.

Anthony Davis struggled from the field, shooting 8-of-24 on in the loss and Lakers will need him at his best against the Blazers' big frontline in Game 2.

Rajon Rondo was upgraded to 'questionable' for Game 2, per ESPN after missing five-and-a-half weeks with a fractured thumb in his right hand.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its clubs.

The rest is here:
NBA Playoffs 2020: Previewing the four-game slate on deck for Day 4 of the postseason - NBA IN

Target (TGT) - Get Reportshares were down almost 2% on Tuesday, struggling against a broader market that was trading flat on the day.

The decline comes a day after the stock hit a new all-time high and as retail stocks begin to report earnings. For Target, the company is scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday before the open, along with Lowes (LOW) - Get Report.

Weighing on Target on Tuesday is the post-earnings dip were seeing in Home Depot (HD) - Get Reportand Walmart (WMT) - Get Reportdespite better-than-expected results.

Better known as a sell the news event, these names are dipping after a strong rally ahead of solid results. Now the fear with Target is that the same thing will happen Wednesday.

Will this quarter mark the high for Target stock? It may top temporarily near current levels, but I dont expect this name to be down forever - if its down at all.

Daily chart of Target stock.

Chart courtesy of Stockcharts.com

The price action in this name has been beautiful, technically speaking. The sharp rise off the March and April low resulted in a multi-month wedge pattern from May through July (blue lines).

With Target doing well amid the pandemic and likely doing well in the most recent quarter shares ultimately resolved to the upside. Unlike many stocks, Target topped in December 2019, not in February 2020.

In August, shares broke out over those prior highs near $127.50, then pulled back that mark and held it as support. Resistance turning to support is textbook bullish price action.

Target stock has been a strong run recently, coming with pennies of the 123.6% extension at $138.05. On earnings, I want to see if shares can clear and close above this mark, putting the 138.2% extension in play at $143.77. Above that and a longer-term price target of $153 can be used, which is the 161.8% extension.

On a decline, bulls may consider buying the dip on a decline to the 20-day moving average and/or the prior highs near $127.50.

With Tuesdays dip, Target stock is working off some of its overbought condition. Even with the decline though, shares are still up more than 11% over the last few weeks, and coming into Tuesday, had risen in 12 of the prior 15 trading sessions.

Lets see how shares handle earnings from here. A dip isn't the end of the world.

View post:
Is Target Hitting a Top With Earnings on Deck? - TheStreet

Get ready to dive even deeper into the world of Below Deck Mediterranean. The Wellington crew is taking you inside all the yachting drama in the upcoming Below Deck Med Season 5 After Show.

Yes, the Below Deck Med After Show returns to these shores on Monday, August 17. And trust us when we say that the Below Deck Med After Show is exactly the kind of thing that would be at the top of every fan's preference sheet. The Wellington yachties will not only be breaking down everything we saw in the latest episode of the show, but they will also be spilling behind-the-scenes secrets you won't want to miss.

It's all there in the After Show, premiering with new installments on BravoTV.com and YouTube following the latest episode of Below Deck Med.

Want more Below Deck Med? New episodes air every Monday at 9/8c or catch up on the entire series through the Bravo app.

To tide you over until the premiere of the Below Deck Med Season 5 After Show, relive all the awesomeness of the Below Deck Med Season 4 After Show, below.

The Daily Dish is your source for all things Bravo, from behind-the-scenes scoop to breaking news, exclusive interviews, photos, original videos, and, oh, so much more. Subscribe to The Daily Dish podcast, join our Facebook group, and follow us on Instagramfor the latest news hot off the presses. Sign up to become a Bravo Insider and be the first to get exclusive extras.

Continue reading here:
Below Deck Med Season 5 Is About to Get Even More Jaw-Dropping with the Return of the After Show - Bravo

Alex Radcliffe left quite the impression on Andy Cohen during his appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen: @ Home on July 6.

After Alex revealed that he was wearing a shirt featuring Andy and his own face Photoshopped onto the body of the WWHL host's real BFF John Mayer that had "best friends" written across it, Andy admitted that he was "getting a little crush" on the Below Deck Mediterranean deckhand during that episode's After Show (clip above).

Of course, Alex took that as the utmost compliment when The Daily Dish caught up with him over the phone on July 15. "I wasnt surprised after the shirt I had on and us kind of bantering back and forth," Alex said abouthearing Andy was "getting a little crush" on him. "I was flattered."

Alex said his WWHL: @ Home debut with fellowBelow Deck Medcrew member Hindrigo "Kiko" Lorrancouldn't have gone any better. "I had a blast. I had a good time," he recalled. "I think we just joked around the whole time. It was fun, though."

Alex said that he was glad to see his T-shirt was such a hit with Andy. "I was trying to tell Andy, me and him are like gonna be best friends, so might as well make a shirt," Alex explained. "So, I think were working towards that right now, definitely after that episode."

"I think were on the verge of being best friends," Alex added.

Want moreBelow Deck Med? New episodes air every Monday at 9/8c or catch up on the entire series through theBravo app.

The Daily Dish is your source for all things Bravo, from behind-the-scenes scoop to breaking news, exclusive interviews, photos, original videos, and, oh, so much more. Subscribe to The Daily Dish podcast, join our Facebook group, and follow us on Instagramfor the latest news hot off the presses. Sign up to become a Bravo Insider and be the first to get exclusive extras.

See the original post here:
Below Deck Med's Alex Radcliffe Reacts to Andy Cohen's "Little Crush" on Him - Bravo

RISING SUN - There is this episode of The Simpsons that spoofs The Shining. And in it, they tackle the famous all-work-and-no-play bit.

However, instead of being a dull boy, Homer Simpson recites All work and no play makes Homer go something, something.

His wife Marge answers Go crazy?

To which her husband replies DONT MIND IF I DO!

I had kind of been feeling stuck in that mindset. I had far exceeded being simply a dull girl and had inched my way into perhaps something we could call, Corona Crazy. Symptoms include restlessness, crabbiness, general feelings of malaise and temporary amnesia that this weird thing called carefree fun used to exist.

Well, it wasnt just the pandemic weighing down my sense of fun like a heavy, wet blanket. It was all the other obligations that stack up. We managed to wrap a few of those major things up and I came up for air; realizing it was August and we had not done hardly anything relaxing and definitely not anything recreational.

So Saturday, we managed to get out of the quarantine rut and we got out of the house and went on an adventure.

We didnt go too far though, just up to Sidie Hollow Lake in Viroqua. We wanted to take the canoe out at least once this year and this seemed like a pretty easy option. We thought that if it all went horribly wrong and the kids hated it, well at least we could bail out quickly.

Surprisingly though, they loved it. Especially Wayls. We often joke that Thatcher is just a mini version of me and Bop is a tiny Chascaboth in looks and personality. That really shined through as we got in the green Coleman canoe and Thatcher immediately began being a Nervous Nellie.

I dont know about this dad, its a might bit TIPPY! He uttered, his voice heavy with regret and reluctance.

Waylon on the other hand plopped into the boat like a turtle sliding off a log. With a thud and a wiggle he positioned himself between his dads knees and proceeded to relax with his breadstick from Kwik Trip and juice box in hand.

We paddled around a bit in the shade and watched people jump off the rope swing and turtles slide into the water. We found a rickety dock to paddle up to and decided to do a little fishing.

Did you see that big thumper fish? It fumped itself right into the water, Thatcher squealed with delight.

Even more delightful was the steady stream of people walking on the nearby path. Thatcher, you see, is a people person. He takes after both his grandpa Mark and Papa Tom with his ability to strike up a conversation with anyone he can.

A gaggle of teenagers on their way to swim were caught in his web of conversation for quite some time. He told them about the fish he caught, that his name started with a T and that it was a mighty fine day out today especially for him and his fwend bowwwwder (Boulder is his favorite action figure.) As they attempted to get away, he told them to have a great day! Wear your mask and eat your food so you can get BIG MUSCLES!

Always the sweet and silent type, Waylon just waved and smiled.

We casted our poles, well I should say Thatchers poles for he is the only one in our house with nice fishing poles anymore. And managed to catch a few tiny bass. Everyone was able to inspect and pet them before releasing them gently back into the weedy depths.

When we decided to set sail once more as Thatcher called it, we paddled slowly to watch the schools of bluegill, perch, and even the biggest bass any of us had seen in a long time swim by.

If that wasnt enough, we even got home and prepped 10 gallons of cucumbers for pickle mania and a whole lot of lawn mowing. Evening out our fun and kinda lazy afternoon with the chores that always need to be done.

We set out on Sunday with a long to do list that got turned into pickle making and naps. While Chasca ran to grab a few groceries with Bop, Thatcher stayed back for a little time with his Sweetheart mama. He diligently filled my jars with the bread-and-butter pickle brine I cooked up and helped make 10 pints of the slices before deciding that simply drinking the leftover brine with a spoon was a much better job.

Go here to read the rest:
Enjoying the important things together - Swnews4u

Sarah Colburn, Special to the Times Published 10:15 a.m. CT Aug. 20, 2020

Katie Ballantine and her dog, Shire.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Katie Ballantine)

COLLEGVILLE TOWNSHIP Interior designer and artist Katie Ballantine has spent decades helping people make things beautiful through balancing art, space and natural light.

Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing many families to work and learn from home, Ballantine is seeing more people seek beauty through balance in their homes.

Specializing in both residential and commercial interior design, Ballantine likes to bring in nature and work with artists to put the finishing touches on the spaces she creates. As a local artist herself, who works in clay and paint, she connects all her worlds.

The common denominator for me is conceptualizing space and describing space, said Ballantine, who operated The Ballantine Company Store until about 2006.

As parents across Central Minnesota begin to think about back-to-school Ballantine is seeing more calls from people wanting to balance their work, home and school spaces.

Recent interior design work by Katie Ballantine of The Ballantine Company.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Katie Ballantine)

School is coming and people are realizing this isnt going away, she said.

Though she said its a relatively new phenomenon, that balance is created using some of the same steps to good design that she always focused on in her business.

Her store carried essential oils, natural cleaning products, work from local artists and it encompassed a plant nursery.Ballantine has continued many of those same veins as she stepped away from the storefront and continued her company.

Home is a sanctuary in ways its never been before, she said. There are so many people working from home, creating home offices, they need to re-think how they use their space and how to get privacy. They need more sanctuary from their space than theyve ever had before.

Ballantine works with clients in a number of ways from color consultations to one- or two-hour consultations about a space that needs a new look, to landscape design and consulting on full-house builds. Some of her clients meet with her to conceptualize a space and then do the legwork themselves to save on cost.

I think everybody gets to have beautiful spaces, Ballantine said.

And thats why she works the way she does, letting the client talk about what they need from her and her services.

When Ballantine enters a clients space, she often focuses on orienting the room to optimize the natural light. She has conversations about how the room is used and sometimes, she said, she just sits in an area and watches how the family lives in a room.

When I leave a space, I want it to look like them, not me, she said.

She listens to people and reads them, understanding their vision for the space or helping them to create one if they feel completely lost.

Recent interior design work by Katie Ballantine of The Ballantine Company.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Katie Ballantine)

I want to surround them in a place thats safe and warm and comfortable and feels like home, she said.

Ballantine has a plant nursery and still grows the orchids shes known for in addition to vegetables and heirloom tomatoes she brings to the Minnesota Street Market in St. Joseph.

That connection with the earth, with growing things, is something she works to incorporate into her room designs between indoors and outdoors.

Sometimes, she said, that grounding connection is made through the use of plants and other times, when shes working on a new build, she envisions where the light would come into the home at different times throughout the day and how that particular space would be used during different times of the day,.

She works with architects as they draw up the space, she is available to assist with concept work and material selection, paint selection, furniture layout and artwork. She has not only been commissioned herself to create artwork for spaces, she makes connections between her clients and local artists when a project deems it a good fit.

Recent interior design work by Katie Ballantine of The Ballantine Company.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Katie Ballantine)

She has working relationships with artists who create in metal, those who build custom furniture and those who can make knobs out of stones, tree roots, wood or clay.

Its completely original, she said. Even if an artist did the same thing for two different houses it would be very different. Artists are innovators by nature so it brings a certain spirit into a space, it becomes a collective of those spirits that have created and collaborated to create this bigger than us thing.

To contact Katie Ballantine at The Ballantine Company, send her an email at ballantineco@gmail.com

Support local journalism. Subscribe to sctimes.com today.

Read or Share this story: https://www.sctimes.com/story/life/2020/08/20/interior-designer-brings-balance-homes-families-spend-more-time-them/5609321002/

Follow this link:
Interior designer brings balance to homes as families spend more time in them - SC Times

Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020

If youre stuck at home and looking for something to do, join the thousands of people starting home improvement projects. We get some tips on this trend and find out how to get the best return on your investment when you embark on your own improvement project.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a lot of us spending much more time than normal in our homes. Many are working from home. And all this time in the same place has given us an opportunity to really see where we live.

Evidently, a lot of people dont like what they see because right now there is a wave of folks who have decided they need to spruce things up. Yes, home improvements and renovations are on the uptick.

But how do you renovate safely during a pandemic? If you plan to sell in the future, what colors and textures and trends will help? And which home fix-up projects give you the best return on your investment?

We talk to some pros about that and more.

Guests

Melissa Lee, principal designer, New South Home, an interior design firm in Charlotte

Kim Trouten, real estate agent with Allen Tate SouthPark

Chris Duncan, partner with Four Oaks Builders, a home building and remodeling company in Charlotte

Go here to read the rest:
Charlotte Talks: Home Improvements Projects On The Rise In Quarantine - WFAE