Going for a ride with a famous celebrity on Sunday
Not telling you who though
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Time to go to sleep⊠night night people!
Also: colorize me like one of your French girlsâŠ
Photograph: Colorized print of a Japanese oiran in a carriage, by Suzuki Shinâichi, ca. 1870
Oiran were high ranking prostitutes, who often were paid just for âbeing thereâ as a sign of wealth of the host. Intricate hairdos with wooden pins were a sign of both status and their profession; in a way, the higher-paid an oiran was, the more elements she would wear in her hairdo, meaning that she had skilled servants and was in no hurry, which was a thing when a highly paid oiran could earn in a visit as much as a commoner in a year⊠and maybe not even have any kind of sex. Typically it could take several expensive banquets for the oiran and her entourage with the aspiring host just standing there looking at the oiran, before she deigned to talk to the aspiring host and maybe provide a taste of intimacy before a formal invitation. The bragging rights of being taken as customer by a top ranking oiran were a real thing, as some oiran were Taylor Swift-famous in the Edo era JapanâŠ
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Holy â â â â !!! Frosty learned how to post something besides a screenshot??? 
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I rode bike with this guy way back when.
Marc Surprenant, a triathlon star during the mid-1980s, died on the 25th of May, 2010. He was 49 years old.
Marc was one an original âBeast from the Eastâ at a time when most top triathletes hailed from and lived in California. As was the case with most triathletes of that era, he was competitive across all distances. He finished 8th in the Hawaiian Ironman in 1986, and second at Ironman New Zealand.
But it was his shorter course talent that made him a top-10, and maybe top-5, triathlete across all distances during the middle of triathlonâs formative decade. He appeared on the cover of Triathlete Magazine, and his swimming/cycling prowess meant he appeared at the front of every race he entered.
Marc was a New Englander by birth and upbringing, but moved to California after earning a swim and water polo scholarship to USC. But he returned to Massachusetts and helped popularize triathlon in his home state and region.
He is remembered for his love of life, his accessibility, his playfulness and his outsized personality.
âI remember racing against him at the Cape Cod Endurance Triathlon,â remembers Scott Tinley, âand heâd cajoled a few of his local buds to be out there in a van with the back doors open and the speakers blaring AC/DC. When I finally caught him on the bike he looked at me and asked if I was a real rocker or not.â
While riding in the company of Dave Scott at the Atlanta stop of the United States Triathlon Series, Dave recalls Marc saying to him, " Dave, this is cool, really cool, weâre dropping everyone."
But, while Marc was having fun riding with Dave, that wasnât Daveâs intent. âMy reaction was that I was trying to drop Marc but couldnât,â according to Dave. âHis was totally indifferentâhe just enjoyed the moment as we were both bearing down in the midst of the race.â
Dave continues that, âMarc was a unique competitor in that he never had any animosity nor any vendetta against anyone. He was truly a great, free spirited guy who raced with a passion but more importantly was always there to shake your hand or ask about you. Marc was extremely well liked and respected by everyone.â
âOne weekend this guy traveled from Boston to California to race us heads-up, and killed it,â remembers Mark Montgomery. "That was Marc, and from then on he was a regular fixture on the circuit, as well as a passenger in my old community race van.
âHe raced hard,â according to Montgomery, "partied hard, and lived each day to the fullest. His infectious smile and high energy attitude made it impossible to be anything but upbeat around him. This news saddens me, he was a great friend and travel companion. We have lost a true legend of the sport and one of the uniquely adventurous spirits that Iâm glad to have known.
The âparty hardâ part I remember! He had one month off a yr. Was a friend of my roommate. He could maintain 90 cycles a minute. I could only manage 60. 
We would smoke like Willie Nelson and go ride. My biggest fear was someone would open their car door in the endless traffic jam that is Cape Cod in summer.
Ever heard this song?
I got to meet the âMudshovelâ this song was written about! Friend of the co I work for.
Should not be hard to beat that Zaera! 
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I have one for you , why does it cost 70 dollars to fill up the 2 stroke lawn mower?
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A bit it like me really.
If I come to the states , we must go cycling together and maybe getup to some mishief. 
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Time to go to sleep⊠night night people!
Also: will grow into it eventuallyâŠ
Photograph: âGirl With Bicycleâ, The Coombe, Dublin, by Evelyn Hofe (1966)
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She is a litle mischief like my mum, who used to pinch her mumâs bicycle when she lived in a village and go for a ride. She also used to escort her big sister to shcool with a big stick to portect her from the boys.
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Was hoping to learn more about who rode alongside you the other day.
You always seem to start a journey though never end with details.
/
That wonât cut it fang.
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Who knows, might visit Ausutralia to see the Kangaroos and Frostpackers , but could you keep up with me? But donât worry sweetie, will be getting a tandem soon.
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Either youâre an idiot who buys premixed, prepackaged fuel or some big orange clown who I did not vote for is Fâing up almost everything he touches. 
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I would need a new back rim and tires. For some odd reason, road bikes donât seem to mind going airborne but have a hard time with the landing. 
The tires are just old and you canât get the ones I like anymore.
Oh gawd, I can just imagine the police and news reports of an epic pub brawl. Link our belts together back to back and take on the world!
Please, you have to rat them out!
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There is no way I can match those numbers anymore. 
But the max spd explains how I bent the back rim. Too many driveways and not enough bike lanes here. Rural New England is kinda like Europe in some ways. Narrow roads, single lane traffic but with far more Massholes!
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I can turn you to a darker side. 
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Just spending some quiet time at parks.
A view of Ăankaya district in the distance from the Castle of Ankara streets.
Happy evenings:
EVE has the most loving people:
Iâve been watching the âContent Machineâ channel on YT and theyâre covering everything about social issues and life.
EDIT:
By the way, those document drops website I linked in the Astronomy thread I shared are mindblowing.
EDIT2:
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Time to go to sleep⊠night night lovelies!
Also: heâs coming hereâŠ
Photograph: Robert Francis Prevost (left) with his mother Mildred Prevost and brothers John and Louis, outside Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, 1959. Later in life he pursued his career to the top and eventually changed his name for it, to Leo XIV.
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Wow, that was a long post.
Like and subscribe!
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Time to go to sleep⊠I keep tinkering with generative AI imagery, still using the big storefronts rather than specialized tools, and so far each storefront has a kind of⊠personality⊠Copilot (Dall-E) is enthusiastic, often gets it wrong and then never gets it back right⊠Gemini (Nano banana) is competent but all the faces are ugly⊠ChatGPT (Dall-E) is a bit of hit and miss⊠and Meta AI, whatever error diffusion model they use, is downright yucky.
Hereâs what I mean, same prompt to each storefront:
Copilot:
(Incarna is supposed to be a doll, not a real size mannequin / person⊠but here CCP is proud to have killed it?)
Gemini:
Just competent. Could use fine tuning.
ChatGPT:
(Incarna is supposed to be a doll, not a full-size doll / person⊠and here CCP looks downright mean)
Meta AI:
(Thatâs the less bad out of 4⊠I didnât ask for the old hag scorning poor Incarna⊠and Meta canât decide how a gray-haired redhead would look like, but at least all 4 version are doll-sized)
Nobody has really pulled a part with âwas pretty but is bad-preservedâ, but then itâs just the same basic prompt run through these storefronts, probably would get better with fine tuning but this all started with a fast & cheap image for a post outside of OOPE.
And now Iâm off to bed. Night night lovelies!
PS: the prompt, translated from Spanish:
Prompt
âA realistic image, in 16:9 landscape format, depicts a scene reminiscent of Danteâs ninth circle of Hell (the frozen wasteland of traitors). An elderly, disheveled woman, her hair still red but turning gray, a smoker, once beautiful but now poorly preserved for her age, sits in a rickety chair, looking around with a sour expression. She is dressed in rags and wears a faded t-shirt emblazoned with the letters âCCPâ in large white letters over what was once black. In front of her, a beautiful, well-dressed doll in futuristic clothing lies on the ground with a sash across her shoulders that reads âIncarna.â The imageâs context is that the old woman betrayed Incarna, and now both lie in the frozen hell.â
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