1996 provan tiger cx

Archaeotherium, the King of the White River Badlands

2024.05.14 18:08 Mophandel Archaeotherium, the King of the White River Badlands

Archaeotherium, the King of the White River Badlands
Art by Bob Nicholls
Nowadays, when we envision the words “prey,” among modern mammalian fauna, few taxa come to mind as quickly as the hoofed mammals, better known as the ungulates. Indeed, for the better part of their entire evolutionary history, the ungulates have become entirely indistinguishable from the term “prey.” Across their two major modern branches, the artiodactyls (the “even-toed ungulates,” such as bovids, pigs, deer, hippos and giraffes) and the perissodactyls (the “odd-toed ungulates,” including horses, rhinos and tapir), the ungulates too have created an empire spanning nearly every continent, establishing themselves as the the dominant herbivores throughout their entire range. However, as a price for such success, their lot as herbivores have forced them into an unenviable position: being the food for the predators. Indeed, throughout the diets of most modern predators, ungulates make up the majority, if not the entirety, of their diet, becoming their counterparts in this evolutionary dance of theirs. They have become the lamb to their wolf, the zebra to their lion, the stag to their tiger. If there is a predator in need of lunch, chances are that there is an ungulate there to provide it. Of course, such a dynamic is not necessarily a recent innovation. For the last 15-20 million years, across much of the world, both new and old, the ungulates have served as prey for these predators through it all. Over the course of whole epochs, these two groups have played into these roles for millions of years, coevolving with each other in an eons-long game of cat-and-mouse. The shoes they fill are not new, but have existed for ages, and within their niches they have cultivated their roles to perfection. Indeed, with such a tenured history, it seems hardly surprising the ungulates are wholly inseparable from the terms “prey,” itself.
However, while this is the case now, as it has been for the last 15-20 million years, go back far enough, and we see that this dynamic is not as set in stone as we would think. Indeed, back during the Eocene and Oligocene, during the very earliest days of age of mammals, things were very different for the ungulates. While today they are considered little more than food for modern predators, during these olden days, the ungulates weren’t quite so benign. In fact, far from being fodder for top predators, the ungulates had turned the tables, instead becoming top predators themselves. Indeed, though nearly unheard of today, throughout much of the Eocene and Oligocene, carnivorous ungulates thrived in abundance, developing specializations for catching large prey and establishing themselves as top predators that competed alongside the more traditional carnivores, and even dominating them in some instances. Given such success, it’s no wonder that multiple such clades had arisen during this time. Such predators included the arctocyonids, a lineage of (ironically) hoof-less ungulates with large jaws and sharp teeth for capturing large prey. There were also the mesonychians, a lineage of dog-like ungulates with massive skulls and jaws that allowed them to reign as the top predator across much of the Eocene.
However, among these various lineages, one stands stands out among the rest, by far. Arising during the Eocene, this lineage, though superficially resembling modern pigs, hailed from one an ancient lineage of artiodactyls far removed from swine or most other ungulates in general, with few close relatives alive today. Through perhaps not the most predatory of the bunch, it was among the most formidable, as their superficially pig-like appearance came with giant predatory jaws and teeth unlike anything from the modern era. And of course, as if all of that wasn’t enough, this lineage also went on to earn arguably one of the most badass nicknames of any lineage of mammals, period. These predators, of course, were the entelodonts, a.k.a the “hell-pigs.” More so than any other predatory ungulate lineage, these formidable ungulates were the ones to turn the current paradigm upside down, becoming some of the largest and most dominant carnivores in their landscape, even with (and often in spite of) the presence of more traditional predators. Through impressive size, fearsome teeth and sheer tenacity, these animals became the top dogs of their time, ruling as behemoth-kings of their Paleogene kingdoms, domineering all comers, and throughout the ranks, one entelodont in particular demonstrated such dominance the best. Though not the largest or most powerful of their kind, it is one of the most iconic, being among the most well-known members of its lineage to date. Moreover, this enteledont also has some of the most complete life histories ever seen out of this clade, with its brutality and predatory prowess being displayed in the fossil record in a way seen in no other member of its kind. More than anything else, however, it was this predator that best turned the notion of “ungulates being prey” on its head, living in an environment that bore some of the largest carnivoran hypercarnivores to date and still reigning as the undisputed top predator of its domain. This fearsome beast was none other than Archaeotherium, icon of the entelodonts, terror of the Oligocene American west and undisputed king of the White River badlands.
The rise of Archaeotherium (and of entelodonts in general) is closely tied to the ascendancy of carnivorous ungulates as a whole, one of the earliest evolutionary success stories of the entire Cenozoic. Having become their own derived clade since the late Cretaceous, the ungulates were remarkably successful during the early Paleogene, as they were among the first mammalian clades to reach large sizes during those early days after the non-avian dinosaurs had gone extinct. As such, it was with incredible swiftness that, as the Paleogene progressed, the ungulates swooped upon the various niches left empty by the K-Pg mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs. This of course included the herbivorous niches we would know them for today, but this also included other, much more carnivore roles. Indeed, early on during the Paleogene, it was the ungulates that first seized the roles of large mammalian predators, becoming some the earliest large mammalian carnivores to ever live, well before even the carnivorans. Such predators included the arctocyonids, a lineage of vaguely dog-like, hoof-less ungulates with robust jaws and sharpened teeth that acted as some of earliest large carnivores of the Paleocene, with genera such as Arctocyon mumak getting up to the size of big cats. Even more prolific were the mesonychids. More so than what pretty much any other lineage of predator, it was the mesonychids that would stand out as the earliest dominant predators of the early Cenozoic. Growing up to the size of bears and with enormous, bone-crushing jaws, the mesonychids were among the most powerful and successful predators on the market at that time, with a near-global range and being capable of subjugating just about any other predator in their environments. Indeed, they, along with other carnivorous ungulates (as well as ungulates in general), were experiencing a golden age during this time, easily being the most prolific predators of the age. Given such prevalence, it should be no surprise that there would be yet another lineage of predatory ungulates would throw their hat into the ring, and by early Eocene, that contender would none other than the entelodonts.
The very first entelodonts had arisen from artiodactyl ancestors during the Eocene epoch, at a time when artiodactyls were far more diverse and bizarre than they are now. Through today known from their modern herbivorous representatives such as bovines, deer, and antelope, during the Paleocene and Eocene, the artiodacyls, as with most ungulates of that time, were stronger and far more predaceous, particularly when it came to one such clade of artiodactyls, the cetacodontamorphs. Only known today from hippos and another group of artiodactyls (one which will become relevant later), the cetacodantomorphs emerged out of Asia around 55 million years ago, at around the same time that artiodactyls themselves had made their debut. These animals included the first truly predatory artiodactyls, with many of them possessing large skulls with powerful jaws and sharp, predatory teeth. Among their ranks included animals as puny as Indohyus, a piscivorous artiodactyl the size of a cat, to as formidable as Andrewsarchus, a giant, bison-sized predator often touted as one of the largest predatory mammals to ever live. Given such a predatory disposition, it wouldn’t be long until this clade produced a lineage of truly diverse, truly successful predators, and by around 40 million years ago, that is exactly what they did, as it was at that time that the entelodonts themselves first emerged. From their Asian homeland, the entelodonts spread across the world, spreading through not only most of Eurasia but also colonizing North America as well, with genera such as Brachyhyops being found across both continents. Here, in this North American frontier, the entelodonts began to diversify further, turning into their most successful and formidable forms yet, and it was around the late Eocene and early Oligocene that Archaeotherium itself had entered the scene.
Just from a passing glance at Archaeotherium, it is clear how exactly it (as well as the other entelodonts) earned the nickname of “hell-pigs.” It was a bruiser for starters; its body bore a robust, pig-like physique, with prominent neural spines and their associated musculature forming a hump around the shoulder region, similar to the hump of a bison. With such a bulky physique came with it impressive size; the average A. mortoni had a head-body length of roughly 1.6-2.0 m (5.3-6.6 ft), a shoulder height of 1.2 m (4 ft) and a body mass of around 180 kg (396 lb) in weight (Boardman & Secord, 2013; Joeckel, 1990). At such sizes, an adult Archaeotherium the size of a large male black bear. However, they had the potential to get even bigger. While most Archaeotherium specimens were around the size described above, a select few specimens, labeled under the synonymous genus “Megachoerus,” are found to be much larger, with skulls getting up to 66% longer than average A. mortoni specimens (Foss, 2001; Joeckel, 1990). At such sizes and using isometric scaling, such massive Archaeotherium specimens would attained body lengths over 2.5 m (8.2 ft) and would have reached weighs well over 500 kg (1100 lb), or as big as a mature male polar bear. Indeed, at such sizes, it is already abundantly evident that Archaeotherium is a force to be recorded with.
However, there was more to these formidable animals than sheer size alone. Behind all that bulk was an astoundingly swift and graceful predator, especially in terms of locomotion. Indeed, the hoofed feet of Archaeotherium, along with other entelodonts, sported several adaptations that gave it incredible locomotive efficiency, essentially turning it into a speed demon of the badlands. Such adaptations include longer distal leg elements (e.g. the radius and tibia) than their proximal counterparts (e.g. the humerus and femur), fusion of the radius and ulna for increased running efficiency, the loss of the clavicle (collar-bone) to allow for greater leg length, the loss of the acromion to enhance leg movement along the fore-and-aft plane, the loss of digits to reduce the mass of the forelimb, the fusion of the ectocuneiform and the mesocuneiform wrist-bones, among many other such traits (Theodore, 1996) . Perhaps most significant of these adaptations is the evolution of the “double-pulley astragalus (ankle-bone),” a specialized modification of the ankle that, while restricting rotation and side-to-side movement at the ankle-joint, allows for greater rotation in the fore-and-aft direction, thus allowing for more more powerful propulsion from the limbs, faster extension and retraction of the limbs and overall greater locomotive efficiency (Foss, 2001). Of course, such a trait was not only found in entelodonts but in artiodactyls as a whole, likely being a response to predatory pressures from incumbent predatory clades arising at the same time as the artiodactyls (Foss, 2001). However, in the case of the entelodonts, such adaptations were not used for merely escaping predators. Rather, they were used to for another, much more lethal effect…
Such notions are further reinforced by the entelodonts most formidable aspect, none either than their fearsome jaws, and in this respect, Archaeotherium excelled. Both for its size and in general, the head of Archaeotherium was massive, measuring 40-50 cm (1.3-1.6 ft) in length among average A. mortoni specimens, to up to 78 cm (~2.6 ft) in the larger “Megachoerus” specimens (Joeckel, 1990). Such massive skulls were supported and supplemented by equally massive neck muscles and ligaments, which attached to massive neural spines on the anterior thoracic vertebrae akin to a bisons hump as well as to the sternum, allowing Archaeotherium to keep its head aloft despite the skulls massive size (Effinger, 1998). Of course, with such a massive skull, it should come as no surprise that such skulls housed exceptionally formidable jaws as well, and indeed, the bite of Archaeotherium was an especially deadly one. Its zygomatic arches (cheek-bones) and its temporal fossa were enlarged and expanded, indicative of massive temporalis muscles that afforded Archaeotherium astoundingly powerful bites (Joeckel, 1990). This is further augmented by Archaeotherium’s massive jugal flanges (bony projections of the cheek), which supported powerful masseter muscles which enhanced chewing and mastication, as well as an enlarged postorbital bar that reinforced the skull against torsional stresses (Foss, 2001). Last but not least, powerful jaws are supplemented by an enlarged gape, facilitated by a low coronoid process and enlarged posterior mandibular tubercles (bony projections originating from the lower jaw), which provided an insertion site for sternum-to-mandible jaw abduction muscles, allowing for a more forceful opening of the jaw (Foss, 2001). All together, such traits suggest a massive and incredibly fearsome bite, perhaps the most formidable of any animal in its environment.
Of course, none of such traits are especially indicative of a predatory lifestyle. Indeed, many modern non-predatory ungulates, like hippos, pigs and peccaries, also possess large, formidable skulls and jaws. However, in peeling back the layers, it is found there was more to the skull of Archaeotherium that lies in store. Indeed, when inspecting the animal closely, a unique mosaic of features is revealed; traits that make it out to be much more lethal than the average artiodactyl. On one hand, Archaeotherium possessed many traits similar to those of herbivores animals, as is expected of ungulates. For instance, its jaw musculature that allowed the lower jaw of Archaeotherium a full side-to-side chewing motion as in herbivores (whereas most carnivores can only move their lower jaw up and down)(Effinger, 1998). On the other hand, Archaeotherium wielded many other traits far more lethal in their morphology, less akin to a herbivore and far more akin to a bonafide predator. For instance, the aforementioned enlarged gape of Archaeotherium is a bizarre trait on a supposed herbivore, as such animals do not need large gapes to eat vegetation and thus have smaller, more restricted gapes. Conversely, many predatory lineages have comparatively large gapes, as larger gapes allow for the the jaws to grab on to more effectively larger objects, namely large prey animals (Joeckel, 1990).
Such a juxtaposition, however, is most evident when discussing the real killing instruments of Archaeotherium — the teeth. More so than any facet of this animal, the teeth of Archaeotherium are the real stars of the show, showing both how alike it was compared to its herbivores counterparts and more importantly, how it couldn’t be more different. For instance, the molars of Archaeotherium were quite similar to modern herbivores ungulates, in that they were robust, bunodont, and were designed for crushing and grinding, similar in form and function to modern ungulates like peccaries (Joeckel, 1990). However, while the molars give the impression that Archaeotherium was a herbivore, the other teeth tell a very different story. The incisors, for example, were enlarged, sharpened, and fully interlocked (as opposed to the flat-topped incisors seen in herbivores ungulates), creating an incisor array that was seemingly ill-suited for cropping vegetation and much more adept at for gripping, puncturing and cutting (Joeckel, 1990). Even more formidable were the canines. Like the modern pigs from which entelodonts derived their nicknames, the canines of Archaeotherium were sharp and enlarged to form prominent tusk-like teeth, but unlike pigs, they were rounded in cross-section (similar to modern carnivores like big cats, indicating more durable canines that can absorb and resist torsional forces, such as those from struggling prey) and were serrated to form a distinct cutting edge (Effinger, 1998; Joeckel, 1990; Ruff & Van Valkenburgh, 1987). These canines, along with the incisors, interlock to stabilize the jaws while biting and dismantling in a carnivore-like fashion. More strikingly, the canines also seem to act as “occlusal guides,” wherein the canines help align the movement and position of the rear teeth as they come together, allowing for a more efficient shearing action by the rear teeth. This function is seen most prevalently modern carnivorous mammals, and is evidenced by the canine tooth-wear, which is also analogous to modern predators like bears and canids (Joeckel, 1990). Indeed, going off such teeth alone, it is clear that Archaeotherium is far more predatory than expected of an ungulate. However, the real stars of the show, the teeth that truly betray the predatory nature of these ungulates, are the premolars. Perhaps the most carnivore-like teeth in the entelodont’s entire tooth row, the premolars of Archaeotherium, particularly the anterior premolars, are laterally compressed, somewhat conical in shape, and are weakly serrated to bear a cutting edge, giving them a somewhat carnivorous form and function of shearing and slicing (Effinger, 1998). Most strikingly of all, the premolars of Archaeotherium bear unique features similar not to modern herbivores, but to durophagous carnivores like hyenas, particularly apical wear patterns, highly thickened enamel, “zigzag-shaped” enamel prism layers (Hunter-Schraeger bands) on the premolars which is also seen in osteophagous animals like hyenas, and an interlocking premolar interface wherein linear objects (such as bones) inserted into jaws from the side would be pinned between the premolars and crushed (Foss, 2001). Taken together, these features do not suggest a diet of grass or vegetation like other ungulates. Rather, they suggest a far more violent diet, one including flesh as well as hard, durable foods, particularly bone. All in all, the evidence is clear. Archaeotherium and other entelodonts, unlike the rest of their artiodactyl kin, were not the passive herbivores as we envision ungulates today. Rather, they were willing, unrepentant meat-eaters that had a taste for flesh as well as foliage.
Of course, even with such lines of evidence, its hard to conclude that Archaeotherium was a true predator. After all, its wide gape and durophagous teeth could have just as easily been used for scavenging or even to eat tough plant matter such as seeds or nuts, as in peccaries and pigs, which themselves share many of the same adaptations as Archaeotherium, include the more carnivorous ones (e.g. the wide gape, using the canines as an occlusal guide, etc.). How exactly do we know that these things were veritable predators and not pretenders to the title. To this end, there is yet one last piece of evidence, one that puts on full display the predatory prowess of Archaeotherium —evidence of a kill itself. Found within oligocene-aged sediment in what is now Wyoming, a collection of various fossil remains was found, each belonging to the ancient sheep-sized camel Poebrotherium, with many of the skeletal remains being disarticulated and even missing whole hindlimbs or even entire rear halves of their body. Tellingly, many of the remains bear extensive bite marks and puncture wounds across their surface. Upon close examination, the spacing and size of the punctures leave only one culprit: Archaeotherium. Of course, such an event could still have been scavenging; the entelodonts were consuming the remains of already dead, decomposed camels, explaining the bite marks. What was far more telling, however, was where the bite marks were found. In addition bite marks being found on the torso and lumbar regions of the camels, various puncture wounds were found on the skull and neck, which were otherwise uneaten. Scavengers rarely feast on the head to begin with; there is very little worthwhile meat on it besides the brain, cheek-muscles and eyes, and even if they did feed on the skull and neck, they would still eat it wholesale, not merely bite it and then leave it otherwise untouched. Indeed, it was clear that this was no mere scavenging event. Rather than merely consuming these camels, Archaeotherium was actively preying upon and killing them, dispatching them via a crushing bite to the skull or neck before dismembering and even bisecting the hapless camels with their powerful jaws to preferentially feast on their hindquarters (likely by swallowing the hindquarters whole, as the pelvis of Poebrotherium was coincidentally the perfect width for Archaeotherium to devour whole), eventually discarding the leftovers in meat caches for later consumption (Sundell, 1999). With this finding, such a feat of brutality leaves no doubt in ones mind as to what the true nature of Archaeotherium was. This was no herbivore, nor was it a simple scavenger. This was an active, rapacious predator, the most powerful in its entire ecosystem.
Indeed, with such brutal evidence of predation frozen in time, combined with various dental, cranial, and post cranial adaptations of this formidable animal, it’s possible to paint a picture of how this formidable creature lived. Though an omnivore by trade, willing and able to feast on plant matter such as grass, roots and tubers, Archaeotherium was also a wanton predator that took just about any prey it wanted. Upon detecting its prey, it approached its vicim from ambush before launching itself at blazing speed. From there, its cursorial, hoofed legs, used by other ungulates for escape predation, were here employed to capture prey, carrying it at great speeds as it caught up to its quarry. Having closed the distance with its target, it was then that the entelodont brought its jaws to bear, grabbing hold of the victim with powerful jaws and gripping teeth to bring it to a screeching halt. If the victim is lucky, Archaeotherium will then kill it quickly with a crushing bite to the skull or neck, puncturing the brain or spinal cord and killing its target instantly. If not, the victim is eaten alive, torn apart while it’s still kicking, as modern boars will do today. In any case, incapacitated prey are subsequently dismantled, with the entelodont using its entire head and heavily-muscled necks to bite into and pull apart its victim in devastating “puncture-and pull’ bites (Foss, 2001). Prey would then finally be consumed starting at the hindquarters, with not even the bones of its prey being spared. Such brutality, though far from clean, drove home a singular truth: that during this time, ungulates were not just prey, that they were not the mere “predator-fodder” we know them as today. rather, they themselves were the predators themselves, dominating as superb hunters within their domain and even suppressing clades we know as predators today, least of all the carnivorans. Indeed, during this point in time, the age of the carnivorous ungulates had hit their stride, and more specifically, the age of entelodonts had begun.
Of course, more so than any other entelodont, Archaeotherium took to this new age with gusto. Archaeotherium lived from 35-28 million years ago during the late Eocene and early Oligocene in a locality known today as the White River Badlands, a fossil locality nestled along the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. Though a chalky, barren landscape today, during the time of Archaeotherium, the White River Badlands was a swamp-like floodplain crisscrossed with rivers and interspersed with by a mosaic of forests concentrated around waterways, open woodlands and open plains. As with most ecosystems with such a lush disposition, this locale teemed with life, with ancient hornless rhinos, small horse-like hyracodonts and early camels roaming the open habitats while giant brontotheres, small early horses and strange, sheep-like ungulates called merycoidodonts (also known as “oreodonts”) dwelled within the dense forests. Within this locale, Archaeotherium stalked the open woodlands and riparian forests of its domain. Here, it acted as a dominant predator and scavenger across is territory, filling a niche similar to modern grizzly bears but far more predatory. Among its preferred food items would be plant matter such as roots, foliage and nuts, but also meat in the form of carrion or freshly caught prey. In this respect, smaller ungulates such as the fleet-footed camel Poebrotherium, a known prey item of Archaeotherium, would have made a for choice prey, as its small size would make it easy for Archaeotherium to dispatch with its powerful jaws, while the entelodonts swift legs gave it the speed necessary to keep pace with its agile prey.
However, the entelodont didn’t have such a feast all to itself. Just as the badlands teemed with herbivores, so too did it teem with rival predators. Among their ranks included fearsome predators such as Hyaenodon, a powerful, vaguely dog-like predator up to the size of wolves (as in H. horridus) or even lions (as in the Eocene-aged H. megaloides, which was replaced by H. horridus during the Oligocene). Armed with a massive head, fierce jaws and a set of knife-like teeth that could cut down even large prey in seconds, these were some of the most formidable predators on the landscape. There were also the nimravids, cat-like carnivorans that bore saber-teeth to kill large prey in seconds, and included the likes of the lynx-sized Dinictis, the leopard-sized Hoplophoneus and even the jaguar-sized Eusmilus. Furthermore, there were amphicyonids, better known as the bear-dogs. Though known from much larger forms later on in their existence, during the late Eocene and Oligocene, they were much smaller and acted as the “canid-analogues” of the ecosystem, filling a role similar to wolves or coyotes. Last but not least, there were the bathornithid birds, huge cariamiform birds related to modern seriemas but much larger, which filled a niche similar to modern seriemas or secretary birds, albeit on a much larger scale. Given such competition, it would seem that Archaeotherium would have its hands full. However, things are not as they appear. For starters, habitat differences would mitigate high amounts of competition, as both Hyaenodon and the various nimravids occupy more specialized ecological roles (being a plains-specialist and forest-specialist, respectively) than did Archaeotherium, providing a buffer to stave off competition: More importantly, however, none of the aforementioned predators were simply big enough to take Archaeotherium on. During the roughly 7 million years existence of Archaeotherium, the only carnivore that matched it in size was H. megaloides, and even that would have an only applied to average A. mortoni individuals, not to the much larger, bison-sized “Megachoerus” individuals. The next largest predator at that point would be the jaguars-sized Eusmilus (specifically E. adelos) which would have only been a bit more than half the size of even an average A. mortoni. Besides that, virtually every other predator on the landscape was simply outclassed by the much larger entelodont in terms of size and brute strength. As such, within its domain, Archaeotherium had total, unquestioned authority, dominating the other predators in the landscape and likely stealing their kills as well. In fact, just about the only threat Archaeotherium had was other Archaeotherium, as fossil bite marks suggest that this animal regularly and fraglantly engaged in intraspecific combat, usually through face-biting and possibly even jaw-wrestling (Effinger, 1998; Tanke & Currie, 1998). Nevertheless, it was clear that Archaeotherium was the undisputed king of the badlands; in a landscape of hyaenodonts and carnivorans galore, it was a hoofed ungulate that reigned supreme.
However, such a reign would not last. As the Eocene transitioned into the Eocene, the planet underwent an abrupt cooling and drying phase known as Eocene-Oligocene Transition or more simply the Grande Coupure. This change in climate would eliminate the sprawling wetlands and river systems that Archaeotherium had been depending on, gradually replacing it with drier and more open habitats. To its credit, Archaeotherium did manage to hang on, persisting well after the Grand-Coupure had taken place, but in the end the damage had been done; Archaeotherium was a dead-man-walking. Eventually, by around 28 million years ago, Archaeotherium would go extinct, perishing due to this change in global climate (Gillham, 2019). Entelodonts as a whole would persist into the Miocene, producing some of their largest forms ever known in the form of the bison-sized Daeodon (which was itself even more carnivorous than Archaeotherium), however they too would meet the same fate as their earlier cousins. By around 15-20 million years ago, entelodonts as a whole would go extinct. However, while the entelodonts may have perished, this was not the end of carnivorous ungulates as a whole. Recall that the cetacodontamorphs, the lineage of artiodactyls that produced the entelodonts, left behind two living descendants. The first among them were the hippos, themselves fairly frequent herbivores. The second of such lineage, however, was a different story. Emerging out of South Asia, this lineage of piscivorous cetacodontamorphs, in a an attempt to further specialize for the fish-hunting lifestyle, began to delve further and further into the water, becoming more and more aquatic and the millennia passed by. At a certain point, these carnivorous artiodactlys had become something completely unrecognizable from their original hoofed forms. Their skin became hairless and their bodies became streamlined for life in water. Their hoofed limbs grew into giant flippers for steering in the water and their previously tiny tails became massive and sported giant tail flukes for aquatic propulsion. Their noses even moved to the tip of their head, becoming a blowhole that would be signature to this clade as a whole. Indeed, this clade was none other than the modern whales, themselves derived, carnivorous ungulates that had specialized for a life in the water, and in doing so, became the some of the most dominant aquatic predators across the globe for millions of years. Indeed, though long gone, the legacy of the entelodonts and of predatory ungulates as a whole, a legacy Archaeotherium itself had helped foster, lives on in these paragons of predatory prowess, showing that the ungulates are more than just the mere “prey” that they are often made out to be. Moreover, given the success that carnivorous ungulates had enjoyed in the past and given how modern omnivorous ungulates like boar dabble in predation themselves, perhaps, in the distant future, this planet may see the rise of carnivorous ungulates once again, following in the footsteps left behind by Archaeotherium and the other predatory ungulates all those millions of years ago.
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2024.05.14 17:52 theflyhitterss Blank Check covered films that played at Cannes! (2024 Update)

Another edition of Cannes Film Festival is starting today, premiering tons of new films that certainly will dominate the minds and hearts of cinephiles around the world for the next months and years - and of course, discurse in this community...
So, to celebrate this magical time, as I did last year I compiled of list for movies covered by the Blank Check gang that had their world premiere or European premire at the Croisette. As you will see, its a fascinating bunch of films.
Quick notes:
  1. The list it's most comprised of main feed episodes & director filmographies, with an exception for bonus episodes on Patreon, didn't count the franchises on Special Features (so no Oceans 13 here);
  2. I only counted movies which premiered at Cannes at the time of release, discounted retrospective screenings and the Cannes Classics sidebar, so that's why Carpenter, Kubrick & Keaton don't have films here.
So, here's the list:
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George Lucas:
Attack of the Clones (2002, out of the competition)
Revenge of the Sith (2005, out of competition)
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Lily & Lana Wachowski:
The Matrix Reloaded (2003, out of competition)
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James Cameron:
Ghosts of the Abyss (2003, out of competition)
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Steven Spielberg (Post 1st Oscar Era):
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull (2008, out of competition)
The BFG (2016, out of competition)
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Paul Verhoeven (Hollywood Years & French-Language Movies):
Basic Instinct (1992, in competition)
Elle (2016, in competition)
Benedetta (2021, in competition)
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Ang Lee:
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994, Directors' Fortnight)
The Ice Storm (1997, in competition. James Schamus won the award for Best Screenplay)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, out of competition)
Taking Woodstock (2009, in competition)
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Tim Burton:
Ed Wood (1995, in competition)
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Michael Mann:
Thief (1981, in competition)
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Jonathan Demme:
Something Wild (1987, out of competition)
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George Miller:
Mad Max Fury Road (2015, out of competition)
Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022, out of competition)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024, out of competition)
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John Musker & Ron Clements:
The Little Mermaid (1990, out of competition)
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John Singleton:
Boyz N' the Hood (1991, Un Certain Regard)
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Jane Campion:
Two Friends (1986, Un Certain Regard)
Sweetie (1989, in competition)
The Piano (1993, in competition. Campion won the Palm D’or, tied with Chen Kaige for Farewell My Concubine – and the 1st movie Blank Check covered to do so)
Bright Star (2009, in competition)
Top of the Lake: China Girl (2017, out of competition)
​
Sam Raimi:
(Worth noting that The Evil Dead had his notorious exibition in the 1982 festival that sealed the fame the movie got, but since it wasn’t programmed in none of the sidebars and probably was a market screening I separated from the list)
The Quick and the Dead (1995, out of competition – closing film)
Drag Me to Hell (2009, out of competition)
​
Bob Fosse:
Sweet Charity (1969, out of competition – opening film)
Lenny (1975, in competition. Valerie Perrine won the award for Best Actress)
All That Jazz (1980, in competition. Fosse won the Palm d’or, tied with Kurosawa for Kagemusha. 2nd Palme D'or winner covered by Blank Check)
​
Danny Boyle:
(Shallow Grave was screened at the 1994 festival, but it was a market session, outside the oficial programming)
Trainspotting (1996, out of competition)
​
Park Chan-Wook:
Oldboy (2004, in competition. Park won the Gran Prix)
Thrist (2009, in competition. Park won the Jury Prize, tied with Andrea Arnold for Fish Tank)
The Handmaiden (2016, in competition)
Decision to Leave (2022, in competition. Park won the award for Best Direction)
​
David Fincher:
Zodiac (2007, in competition)
​
David Lynch:
Wild at Heart (1990, in competition. Lynch won the Palme D’or. 3rd Palme D’or Winner covered by Blank Check!)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992, in competition)
The Straight Story (1999, in competition)
Mulholland Drive (2001, in competition. Lynch won the award for Best Direction, tied with the Coen Brothers for The Man Who Wasn’t There)
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017, out of competition)]
​
Odd ones, One-offs:
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018, out of competition)
​
Of course, if the reference at the Millenium Actress episode will pan out, Horizon: An American Saga (premiering out of competition at this year festival) could be a future episode. If it's not a jest from the one and only Griffin Newman...
submitted by theflyhitterss to blankies [link] [comments]

2024.05.14 16:25 Mophandel Archaeotherium, the King of the White River Badlands

Archaeotherium, the King of the White River Badlands
Art by Bob Nicholls
Nowadays, when we envision the words “prey,” among modern mammalian fauna, few taxa come to mind as quickly as the hoofed mammals, better known as the ungulates. Indeed, for the better part of their entire evolutionary history, the ungulates have become entirely indistinguishable from the term “prey.” Across their two major modern branches, the artiodactyls (the “even-toed ungulates,” such as bovids, pigs, deer, hippos and giraffes) and the perissodactyls (the “odd-toed ungulates,” including horses, rhinos and tapir), the ungulates too have created an empire spanning nearly every continent, establishing themselves as the the dominant herbivores throughout their entire range. However, as a price for such success, their lot as herbivores have forced them into an unenviable position: being the food for the predators. Indeed, throughout the diets of most modern predators, ungulates make up the majority, if not the entirety, of their diet, becoming their counterparts in this evolutionary dance of theirs. They have become the lamb to their wolf, the zebra to their lion, the stag to their tiger. If there is a predator in need of lunch, chances are that there is an ungulate there to provide it. Of course, such a dynamic is not necessarily a recent innovation. For the last 15-20 million years, across much of the world, both new and old, the ungulates have served as prey for these predators through it all. Over the course of whole epochs, these two groups have played into these roles for millions of years, coevolving with each other in an eons-long game of cat-and-mouse. The shoes they fill are not new, but have existed for ages, and within their niches they have cultivated their roles to perfection. Indeed, with such a tenured history, it seems hardly surprising the ungulates are wholly inseparable from the terms “prey,” itself.
However, while this is the case now, as it has been for the last 15-20 million years, go back far enough, and we see that this dynamic is not as set in stone as we would think. Indeed, back during the Eocene and Oligocene, during the very earliest days of age of mammals, things were very different for the ungulates. While today they are considered little more than food for modern predators, during these olden days, the ungulates weren’t quite so benign. In fact, far from being fodder for top predators, the ungulates had turned the tables, instead becoming top predators themselves. Indeed, though nearly unheard of today, throughout much of the Eocene and Oligocene, carnivorous ungulates thrived in abundance, developing specializations for catching large prey and establishing themselves as top predators that competed alongside the more traditional carnivores, and even dominating them in some instances. Given such success, it’s no wonder that multiple such clades had arisen during this time. Such predators included the arctocyonids, a lineage of (ironically) hoof-less ungulates with large jaws and sharp teeth for capturing large prey. There were also the mesonychians, a lineage of dog-like ungulates with massive skulls and jaws that allowed them to reign as the top predator across much of the Eocene.
However, among these various lineages, one stands stands out among the rest, by far. Arising during the Eocene, this lineage, though superficially resembling modern pigs, hailed from one an ancient lineage of artiodactyls far removed from swine or most other ungulates in general, with few close relatives alive today. Through perhaps not the most predatory of the bunch, it was among the most formidable, as their superficially pig-like appearance came with giant predatory jaws and teeth unlike anything from the modern era. And of course, as if all of that wasn’t enough, this lineage also went on to earn arguably one of the most badass nicknames of any lineage of mammals, period. These predators, of course, were the entelodonts, a.k.a the “hell-pigs.” More so than any other predatory ungulate lineage, these formidable ungulates were the ones to turn the current paradigm upside down, becoming some of the largest and most dominant carnivores in their landscape, even with (and often in spite of) the presence of more traditional predators. Through impressive size, fearsome teeth and sheer tenacity, these animals became the top dogs of their time, ruling as behemoth-kings of their Paleogene kingdoms, domineering all comers, and throughout the ranks, one entelodont in particular demonstrated such dominance the best. Though not the largest or most powerful of their kind, it is one of the most iconic, being among the most well-known members of its lineage to date. Moreover, this enteledont also has some of the most complete life histories ever seen out of this clade, with its brutality and predatory prowess being displayed in the fossil record in a way seen in no other member of its kind. More than anything else, however, it was this predator that best turned the notion of “ungulates being prey” on its head, living in an environment that bore some of the largest carnivoran hypercarnivores to date and still reigning as the undisputed top predator of its domain. This fearsome beast was none other than Archaeotherium, icon of the entelodonts, terror of the Oligocene American west and undisputed king of the White River badlands.
The rise of Archaeotherium (and of entelodonts in general) is closely tied to the ascendancy of carnivorous ungulates as a whole, one of the earliest evolutionary success stories of the entire Cenozoic. Having become their own derived clade since the late Cretaceous, the ungulates were remarkably successful during the early Paleogene, as they were among the first mammalian clades to reach large sizes during those early days after the non-avian dinosaurs had gone extinct. As such, it was with incredible swiftness that, as the Paleogene progressed, the ungulates swooped upon the various niches left empty by the K-Pg mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs. This of course included the herbivorous niches we would know them for today, but this also included other, much more carnivore roles. Indeed, early on during the Paleogene, it was the ungulates that first seized the roles of large mammalian predators, becoming some the earliest large mammalian carnivores to ever live, well before even the carnivorans. Such predators included the arctocyonids, a lineage of vaguely dog-like, hoof-less ungulates with robust jaws and sharpened teeth that acted as some of earliest large carnivores of the Paleocene, with genera such as Arctocyon mumak getting up to the size of big cats. Even more prolific were the mesonychids. More so than what pretty much any other lineage of predator, it was the mesonychids that would stand out as the earliest dominant predators of the early Cenozoic. Growing up to the size of bears and with enormous, bone-crushing jaws, the mesonychids were among the most powerful and successful predators on the market at that time, with a near-global range and being capable of subjugating just about any other predator in their environments. Indeed, they, along with other carnivorous ungulates (as well as ungulates in general), were experiencing a golden age during this time, easily being the most prolific predators of the age. Given such prevalence, it should be no surprise that there would be yet another lineage of predatory ungulates would throw their hat into the ring, and by early Eocene, that contender would none other than the entelodonts.
The very first entelodonts had arisen from artiodactyl ancestors during the Eocene epoch, at a time when artiodactyls were far more diverse and bizarre than they are now. Through today known from their modern herbivorous representatives such as bovines, deer, and antelope, during the Paleocene and Eocene, the artiodacyls, as with most ungulates of that time, were stronger and far more predaceous, particularly when it came to one such clade of artiodactyls, the cetacodontamorphs. Only known today from hippos and another group of artiodactyls (one which will become relevant later), the cetacodantomorphs emerged out of Asia around 55 million years ago, at around the same time that artiodactyls themselves had made their debut. These animals included the first truly predatory artiodactyls, with many of them possessing large skulls with powerful jaws and sharp, predatory teeth. Among their ranks included animals as puny as Indohyus, a piscivorous artiodactyl the size of a cat, to as formidable as Andrewsarchus, a giant, bison-sized predator often touted as one of the largest predatory mammals to ever live. Given such a predatory disposition, it wouldn’t be long until this clade produced a lineage of truly diverse, truly successful predators, and by around 40 million years ago, that is exactly what they did, as it was at that time that the entelodonts themselves first emerged. From their Asian homeland, the entelodonts spread across the world, spreading through not only most of Eurasia but also colonizing North America as well, with genera such as Brachyhyops being found across both continents. Here, in this North American frontier, the entelodonts began to diversify further, turning into their most successful and formidable forms yet, and it was around the late Eocene and early Oligocene that Archaeotherium itself had entered the scene.
Just from a passing glance at Archaeotherium, it is clear how exactly it (as well as the other entelodonts) earned the nickname of “hell-pigs.” It was a bruiser for starters; its body bore a robust, pig-like physique, with prominent neural spines and their associated musculature forming a hump around the shoulder region, similar to the hump of a bison. With such a bulky physique came with it impressive size; the average A. mortoni had a head-body length of roughly 1.6-2.0 m (5.3-6.6 ft), a shoulder height of 1.2 m (4 ft) and a body mass of around 180 kg (396 lb) in weight (Boardman & Secord, 2013; Joeckel, 1990). At such sizes, an adult Archaeotherium the size of a large male black bear. However, they had the potential to get even bigger. While most Archaeotherium specimens were around the size described above, a select few specimens, labeled under the synonymous genus “Megachoerus,” are found to be much larger, with skulls getting up to 66% longer than average A. mortoni specimens (Foss, 2001; Joeckel, 1990). At such sizes and using isometric scaling, such massive Archaeotherium specimens would attained body lengths over 2.5 m (8.2 ft) and would have reached weighs well over 500 kg (1100 lb), or as big as a mature male polar bear. Indeed, at such sizes, it is already abundantly evident that Archaeotherium is a force to be recorded with.
However, there was more to these formidable animals than sheer size alone. Behind all that bulk was an astoundingly swift and graceful predator, especially in terms of locomotion. Indeed, the hoofed feet of Archaeotherium, along with other entelodonts, sported several adaptations that gave it incredible locomotive efficiency, essentially turning it into a speed demon of the badlands. Such adaptations include longer distal leg elements (e.g. the radius and tibia) than their proximal counterparts (e.g. the humerus and femur), fusion of the radius and ulna for increased running efficiency, the loss of the clavicle (collar-bone) to allow for greater leg length, the loss of the acromion to enhance leg movement along the fore-and-aft plane, the loss of digits to reduce the mass of the forelimb, the fusion of the ectocuneiform and the mesocuneiform wrist-bones, among many other such traits (Theodore, 1996) . Perhaps most significant of these adaptations is the evolution of the “double-pulley astragalus (ankle-bone),” a specialized modification of the ankle that, while restricting rotation and side-to-side movement at the ankle-joint, allows for greater rotation in the fore-and-aft direction, thus allowing for more more powerful propulsion from the limbs, faster extension and retraction of the limbs and overall greater locomotive efficiency (Foss, 2001). Of course, such a trait was not only found in entelodonts but in artiodactyls as a whole, likely being a response to predatory pressures from incumbent predatory clades arising at the same time as the artiodactyls (Foss, 2001). However, in the case of the entelodonts, such adaptations were not used for merely escaping predators. Rather, they were used to for another, much more lethal effect…
Such notions are further reinforced by the entelodonts most formidable aspect, none either than their fearsome jaws, and in this respect, Archaeotherium excelled. Both for its size and in general, the head of Archaeotherium was massive, measuring 40-50 cm (1.3-1.6 ft) in length among average A. mortoni specimens, to up to 78 cm (~2.6 ft) in the larger “Megachoerus” specimens (Joeckel, 1990). Such massive skulls were supported and supplemented by equally massive neck muscles and ligaments, which attached to massive neural spines on the anterior thoracic vertebrae akin to a bisons hump as well as to the sternum, allowing Archaeotherium to keep its head aloft despite the skulls massive size (Effinger, 1998). Of course, with such a massive skull, it should come as no surprise that such skulls housed exceptionally formidable jaws as well, and indeed, the bite of Archaeotherium was an especially deadly one. Its zygomatic arches (cheek-bones) and its temporal fossa were enlarged and expanded, indicative of massive temporalis muscles that afforded Archaeotherium astoundingly powerful bites (Joeckel, 1990). This is further augmented by Archaeotherium’s massive jugal flanges (bony projections of the cheek), which supported powerful masseter muscles which enhanced chewing and mastication, as well as an enlarged postorbital bar that reinforced the skull against torsional stresses (Foss, 2001). Last but not least, powerful jaws are supplemented by an enlarged gape, facilitated by a low coronoid process and enlarged posterior mandibular tubercles (bony projections originating from the lower jaw), which provided an insertion site for sternum-to-mandible jaw abduction muscles, allowing for a more forceful opening of the jaw (Foss, 2001). All together, such traits suggest a massive and incredibly fearsome bite, perhaps the most formidable of any animal in its environment.
Of course, none of such traits are especially indicative of a predatory lifestyle. Indeed, many modern non-predatory ungulates, like hippos, pigs and peccaries, also possess large, formidable skulls and jaws. However, in peeling back the layers, it is found there was more to the skull of Archaeotherium that lies in store. Indeed, when inspecting the animal closely, a unique mosaic of features is revealed; traits that make it out to be much more lethal than the average artiodactyl. On one hand, Archaeotherium possessed many traits similar to those of herbivores animals, as is expected of ungulates. For instance, its jaw musculature that allowed the lower jaw of Archaeotherium a full side-to-side chewing motion as in herbivores (whereas most carnivores can only move their lower jaw up and down)(Effinger, 1998). On the other hand, Archaeotherium wielded many other traits far more lethal in their morphology, less akin to a herbivore and far more akin to a bonafide predator. For instance, the aforementioned enlarged gape of Archaeotherium is a bizarre trait on a supposed herbivore, as such animals do not need large gapes to eat vegetation and thus have smaller, more restricted gapes. Conversely, many predatory lineages have comparatively large gapes, as larger gapes allow for the the jaws to grab on to more effectively larger objects, namely large prey animals (Joeckel, 1990).
Such a juxtaposition, however, is most evident when discussing the real killing instruments of Archaeotherium — the teeth. More so than any facet of this animal, the teeth of Archaeotherium are the real stars of the show, showing both how alike it was compared to its herbivores counterparts and more importantly, how it couldn’t be more different. For instance, the molars of Archaeotherium were quite similar to modern herbivores ungulates, in that they were robust, bunodont, and were designed for crushing and grinding, similar in form and function to modern ungulates like peccaries (Joeckel, 1990). However, while the molars give the impression that Archaeotherium was a herbivore, the other teeth tell a very different story. The incisors, for example, were enlarged, sharpened, and fully interlocked (as opposed to the flat-topped incisors seen in herbivores ungulates), creating an incisor array that was seemingly ill-suited for cropping vegetation and much more adept at for gripping, puncturing and cutting (Joeckel, 1990). Even more formidable were the canines. Like the modern pigs from which entelodonts derived their nicknames, the canines of Archaeotherium were sharp and enlarged to form prominent tusk-like teeth, but unlike pigs, they were rounded in cross-section (similar to modern carnivores like big cats, indicating more durable canines that can absorb and resist torsional forces, such as those from struggling prey) and were serrated to form a distinct cutting edge (Effinger, 1998; Joeckel, 1990; Ruff & Van Valkenburgh, 1987). These canines, along with the incisors, interlock to stabilize the jaws while biting and dismantling in a carnivore-like fashion. More strikingly, the canines also seem to act as “occlusal guides,” wherein the canines help align the movement and position of the rear teeth as they come together, allowing for a more efficient shearing action by the rear teeth. This function is seen most prevalently modern carnivores mammals, and is evidenced by the canine tooth-wear, which is also analogous to modern predators like bears and canids (Joeckel, 1990). Indeed, going off such teeth alone, it is clear that Archaeotherium is far more predatory than expected of an ungulate. However, the real stars of the show, the teeth that truly betray the predatory nature of these ungulates, are the premolars. Perhaps the most carnivore-like teeth in the entelodont’s entire tooth row, the premolars of Archaeotherium, particularly the anterior premolars, are laterally compressed, somewhat conical in shape, and are weakly serrated to bear a cutting edge, giving them a somewhat carnivorous form and function of shearing and slicing (Effinger, 1998). Most strikingly of all, the premolars of Archaeotherium bear unique features similar not to modern herbivores, but to durophagous carnivores like hyenas, particularly apical wear patterns, highly thickened enamel, “zigzag-shaped” enamel prism layers (Hunter-Schraeger bands) on the premolars which is also seen in osteophagous animals like hyenas, and an interlocking premolar interface wherein linear objects (such as bones) inserted into jaws from the side would be pinned between the premolars and crushed (Foss, 2001). Taken together, these features do not suggest a diet of grass or vegetation like other ungulates. Rather, they suggest a far more violent diet, one including flesh as well as hard, durable foods, particularly bone. All in all, the evidence is clear. Archaeotherium and other entelodonts, unlike the rest of their artiodactyl kin, were not the passive herbivores as we envision ungulates today. Rather, they were willing, unrepentant meat-eaters that had a taste for flesh as well as foliage.
Of course, even with such lines of evidence, its hard to conclude that Archaeotherium was a true predator. After all, its wide gape and durophagous teeth could have just as easily been used for scavenging or even to eat tough plant matter such as seeds or nuts, as in peccaries and pigs, which themselves share many of the same adaptations as Archaeotherium, include the more carnivorous ones (e.g. the wide gape, using the canines as an occlusal guide, etc.). How exactly do we know that these things were veritable predators and not pretenders to the title. To this end, there is yet one last piece of evidence, one that puts on full display the predatory prowess of Archaeotherium —evidence of a kill itself. Found within oligocene-aged sediment in what is now Wyoming, a collection of various fossil remains was found, each belonging to the ancient sheep-sized camel Poebrotherium, with many of the skeletal remains being disarticulated and even missing whole hindlimbs or even entire rear halves of their body. Tellingly, many of the remains bear extensive bite marks and puncture wounds across their surface. Upon close examination, the spacing and size of the punctures leave only one culprit: Archaeotherium. Of course, such an event could still have been scavenging; the entelodonts were consuming the remains of already dead, decomposed camels, explaining the bite marks. What was far more telling, however, was where the bite marks were found. In addition bite marks being found on the torso and lumbar regions of the camels, various puncture wounds were found on the skull and neck, which were otherwise uneaten. Scavengers rarely feast on the head to begin with; there is very little worthwhile meat on it besides the brain, cheek-muscles and eyes, and even if they did feed on the skull and neck, they would still eat it wholesale, not merely bite it and then leave it otherwise untouched. Indeed, it was clear that this was no mere scavenging event. Rather than merely consuming these camels, Archaeotherium was actively preying upon and killing them, dispatching them via a crushing bite to the skull or neck before dismembering and even bisecting the hapless camels with their powerful jaws to preferentially feast on their hindquarters (likely by swallowing the hindquarters whole, as the pelvis of Poebrotherium was coincidentally the perfect width for Archaeotherium to devour whole), eventually discarding the leftovers in meat caches for later consumption (Sundell, 1999). With this finding, such a feat of brutality leaves no doubt in ones mind as to what the true nature of Archaeotherium was. This was no herbivore, nor was it a simple scavenger. This was an active, rapacious predator, the most powerful in its entire ecosystem.
Indeed, with such brutal evidence of predation frozen in time, combined with various dental, cranial, and post cranial adaptations of this formidable animal, it’s possible to paint a picture of how this formidable creature lived. Though an omnivore by trade, willing and able to feast on plant matter such as grass, roots and tubers, Archaeotherium was also a wanton predator that took just about any prey it wanted. Upon detecting its prey, it approached its vicim from ambush before launching itself at blazing speed. From there, its cursorial, hoofed legs, used by other ungulates for escape predation, were here employed to capture prey, carrying it at great speeds as it caught up to its quarry. Having closed the distance with its target, it was then that the entelodont brought its jaws to bear, grabbing hold of the victim with powerful jaws and gripping teeth to bring it to a screeching halt. If the victim is lucky, Archaeotherium will then kill it quickly with a crushing bite to the skull or neck, puncturing the brain or spinal cord and killing its target instantly. If not, the victim is eaten alive, torn apart while it’s still kicking, as modern boars will do today. In any case, incapacitated prey are subsequently dismantled, with the entelodont using its entire head and heavily-muscled necks to bite into and pull apart its victim in devastating “puncture-and pull’ bites (Foss, 2001). Prey would then finally be consumed starting at the hindquarters, with not even the bones of its prey being spared. Such brutality, though far from clean, drove home a singular truth: that during this time, ungulates were not just prey, that they were not the mere “predator-fodder” we know them as today. rather, they themselves were the predators themselves, dominating as superb hunters within their domain and even suppressing clades we know as predators today, least of all the carnivorans. Indeed, during this point in time, the age of the carnivorous ungulates had hit their stride, and more specifically, the age of entelodonts had begun.
Of course, more so than any other ettelodont, Archaeotherium took to this new age with gusto. Archaeotherium lived from 35-28 million years ago during the late Eocene and early Oligocene in a locality known today as the White River Badlands, a fossil locality nestled along the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. Though a chalky, barren landscape today, during the time of Archaeotherium, the White River Badlands was a swamp-like floodplain crisscrossed with rivers and interspersed with by a mosaic of forests concentrated around waterways, open woodlands and open plains. As with most ecosystems with such a lush disposition, this locale teemed with life, with ancient hornless rhinos, small horse-like hyracodonts and early camels roaming the open habitats while giant brontotheres, small early horses and strange, sheep-like ungulates called merycoidodonts (also known as “oreodonts”) dwelled within the dense forests. Within this locale, Archaeotherium stalked the open woodlands and riparian forests of its domain. Here, it acted as a dominant predator and scavenger across is territory, filling a niche similar to modern grizzly bears but far more predatory. Among its preferred food items would be plant matter such as roots, foliage and nuts, but also meat in the form of carrion or freshly caught prey. In this respect, smaller ungulates such as the fleet-footed camel Poebrotherium, a known prey item of Archaeotherium, would have made a for choice prey, as its small size would make it easy for Archaeotherium to dispatch with its powerful jaws, while the entelodonts swift legs gave it the speed necessary to keep pace with its agile prey.
However, the entelodont didn’t have such a feast all to itself. Just as the badlands teemed with herbivores, so too did it teem with rival predators. Among their ranks included fearsome predators such as Hyaenodon, a powerful, vaguely dog-like predator up to the size of wolves (as in H. horridus) or even lions (as in the Eocene-aged H. megaloides, which was replaced by H. horridus during the Oligocene). Armed with a massive head, fierce jaws and a set of knife-like teeth that could cut down even large prey in seconds, these were some of the most formidable predators on the landscape. There were also the nimravids, cat-like carnivorans that bore saber-teeth to kill large prey in seconds, and included the likes of the lynx-sized Dinictis, the leopard-sized Hoplophoneus and even the jaguar-sized Eusmilus. Furthermore, there were amphicyonids, better known as the bear-dogs. Though known from much larger forms later on in their existence, during the late Eocene and Oligocene, they were much smaller and acted as the “canid-analogues” of the ecosystem, filling a role similar to wolves or coyotes. Last but not least, there were the bathornithid birds, huge cariamiform birds related to modern seriemas but much larger, which filled a niche similar to modern seriemas or secretary birds, albeit on a much larger scale. Given such competition, it would seem that Archaeotherium would have its hands full. However, things are not as they appear. For starters, habitat differences would mitigate high amounts of competition, as both Hyaenodon and the various nimravids occupy more specialized ecological roles (being a plains-specialist and forest-specialist, respectively) than did Archaeotherium, providing a buffer to stave off competition: More importantly, however, none of the aforementioned predators were simply big enough to take Archaeotherium on. During the roughly 7 million years existence of Archaeotherium, the only carnivore that matched it in size was H. megaloides, and even that would have an only applied to average A. mortoni individuals, not to the much larger, bison-sized “Megachoerus” individuals. The next largest predator at that point would be the jaguars-sized Eusmilus (specifically E. adelos) which would have only been a bit more than half the size of even an average A. mortoni. Besides that, virtually every other predator on the landscape was simply outclassed by the much larger entelodont in terms of size and brute strength. As such, within its domain, Archaeotherium had total, unquestioned authority, dominating the other predators in the landscape and likely stealing their kills as well. In fact, just about the only threat Archaeotherium had was other Archaeotherium, as fossil bite marks suggest that this animal regularly and fraglantly engaged in intraspecific combat, usually through face-biting and possibly even jaw-wrestling (Effinger, 1998; Tanke & Currie, 1998). Nevertheless, it was clear that Archaeotherium was the undisputed king of the badlands; in a landscape of hyaenodonts and carnivorans galore, it was a hoofed ungulate that reigned supreme.
However, such a reign would not last. As the Eocene transitioned into the Eocene, the planet underwent an abrupt cooling and drying phase known as Eocene-Oligocene Transition or more simply the Grande Coupure. This change in climate would eliminate the sprawling wetlands and river systems that Archaeotherium had been depending on, gradually replacing it with drier and more open habitats. To its credit, Archaeotherium did manage to hang on, persisting well after the Grand-Coupure had taken place, but in the end the damage had been done; Archaeotherium was a dead-man-walking. Eventually, by around 28 million years ago, Archaeotherium would go extinct, perishing due to this change in global climate (Gillham, 2019). Entelodonts as a whole would persist into the Miocene, producing some of their largest forms ever known in the form of the bison-sized Daeodon (which was itself even more carnivorous than Archaeotherium), however they too would meet the same fate as their earlier cousins. By around 15-20 million years ago, entelodonts as a whole would go extinct. However, while the entelodonts may have perished, this was not the end of carnivorous ungulates as a whole. Recall that the cetacodontamorphs, the lineage of artiodactyls that produced the entelodonts, left behind two living descendants. The first among them were the hippos, themselves fairly frequent herbivores. The second of such lineage, however, was a different story. Emerging out of South Asia, this lineage of piscivorous cetacodontamorphs, in a an attempt to further specialize for the fish-hunting lifestyle, began to delve further and further into the water, becoming more and more aquatic and the millennia passed by. At a certain point, these carnivorous artiodactlys had become something completely unrecognizable from their original hoofed forms. Their skin became hairless and their bodies became streamlined for life in water. Their hoofed limbs grew into giant flippers for steering in the water and their previously tiny tails became massive and sported giant tail flukes for aquatic propulsion. Their noses even moved to the tip of their head, becoming a blowhole that would be signature to this clade as a whole. Indeed, this clade was none other than the modern whales, themselves derived, carnivorous ungulates that had specialized for a life in the water, and in doing so, became the some of the most dominant aquatic predators across the globe for millions of years. Indeed, though long gone, the legacy of the entelodonts and of predatory ungulates as a whole, a legacy Archaeotherium itself had helped foster, lives on in these paragons of predatory prowess, showing that the ungulates are more than just the mere “prey” that they are often made out to be. Moreover, given the success that carnivorous ungulates had enjoyed in the past and given how modern omnivorous ungulates like boar dabble in predation themselves, perhaps, in the distant future, this planet may see the rise of carnivorous ungulates once again, following in the footsteps left behind by Archaeotherium and the other predatory ungulates all those millions of years ago.
submitted by Mophandel to Naturewasmetal [link] [comments]

2024.05.14 15:00 Honestly_ Not just EA Sports: *All* NCAA college football game covers & athletes, including Sony's NCAA GameBreaker, Sega Sports, and a few others

With the EA Sports College Football 25 cover being released this Thursday, I thought it would be interesting to look back at all covers — and not just the EA covers, but the athletes featured on covers of rival games by Sony, Sega, and other competitors.
Competition is a good thing. Putting these in chronological order takes me back to the era where there were options (I bought my first game in the '90s, and played a lot of 2k2).
If you count the 2 players that are identifiable off of "College Football USA 96" there have been 36 cover athletes across 34 editions of college football games (plus an active coach, mascot, two band members, and an unidentified player)
This post is going to look cleaner in "old" view. You can swap the "www" with "old" in the URL or just click here.
Year Publisher Game Title (image) Cover Athlete (wiki) Heisman? Formats Notes
1993 EA Sports Bill Walsh College Football STAN Coach Bill Walsh N/A Sega Genesis, SNES, Sega CD No licenses so generic names/logos
1994 EA Sports Bill Walsh College Football '95 STAN Coach Bill Walsh N/A Sega Genesis Schools licensed now
1994 Mindscape NCAA Football NCAA Logo over generic players N/A Sega Genesis, SNES
1994 Sega Sports College Football's National Championship ND Notre Dame Stadium N/A Sega Genesis
1995 EA Sports College Football USA 96 KSU¦MICH¦FSU¦WIS¦USC "Generic" photos* No Sega Genesis see below*
1995 Sega Sports College Football's National Championship II COL Folsom Field No Sega Genesis
1996 EA Sports College Football USA 97 NEB QB Tommie Frazier No Sega Genesis, SNES 1st true cover athlete
1996 Sony NCAA Football Gamebreaker OSU RB Eddie George HEISMAN! PS1 1st Heisman winner on cover
1997 EA Sports NCAA Football 98 FLA QB Danny Wuerffel HEISMAN! PS1, PC
1997 Sony NCAA Gamebreaker 98 FSU RB Warrick Dunn No PS1
1998 EA Sports NCAA Football 99 MICH CB Charles Woodson HEISMAN! PS1, PC 1st of 2 defensive players ever
1998 Sony NCAA GameBreaker 99 NEB QB Scott Frost No PS1 1st future head coach
1999 EA Sports NCAA Football 2000 TEX RB Ricky Williams HEISMAN! PS1
1999 Sony NCAA GameBreaker 2000 UCLA QB Cade McNown No PS1
2000 EA Sports NCAA Football 2001 ALA RB Shaun Alexander No PS1
2000 Sony NCAA GameBreaker 2001 WIS RB Ron Dayne HEISMAN! PS1, PS2 1st 6th generation console game
2001 EA Sports NCAA Football 2002 FSU QB Chris Weinke HEISMAN! PS2
2001 Sega Sports NCAA College Football 2K2 PUR QB Drew Brees No DC
2002 EA Sports NCAA Football 2003 ORE QB Joey Harrington No PS2, GC, Xbox
2002 Sony NCAA GameBreaker 2003 MIA RB Clinton Portis No PS2 [Sony skipped 2002]
2002 Sega Sports NCAA College Football 2K3 NEB QB Eric Crouch HEISMAN! PS2, GC, Xbox
2003 EA Sports NCAA Football 2004 USC QB Carson Palmer HEISMAN! PS2, GC, Xbox, N-Gage 1st handheld on Nokia's disastrous system
2003 Sony NCAA GameBreaker 2004 PSU RB Larry Johnson No PS2
2004 EA Sports NCAA Football 2005 PITT WR Larry Fitzgerald No PS2, GC, Xbox
2005 EA Sports NCAA Football 06 MICH WR Desmond Howard PS2, Xbox 1991's Heisman
2006 EA Sports NCAA Football 07 USC RB Reggie Bush HEISMAN! PS2, Xbox, 360, PSP
2007 EA Sports NCAA Football 08 BOISE QB Jared Zabransky No 360, PS3, PS2, Xbox
2007 Aspyr Black College Football: BCFX: The Xperience Generic player, cheerleader, drum major No PC, 360 (2009) HBCU teams
2008 EA Sports NCAA Football 09 CAL WR DeSean Jackson No PS2 Multi-cover
2008 EA Sports NCAA Football 09 BC QB Matt Ryan No PS3 Multi-cover
2008 EA Sports NCAA Football 09 WVU FB Owen Schmitt No PSP Multi-cover
2008 EA Sports NCAA Football 09 MSU mascot Sparty No Wii Multi-cover
2008 EA Sports NCAA Football 09 ARK RB Darren McFadden No 360 Multi-cover
2009 EA Sports NCAA Football 10 TEX LB Brian Orakpo No PS2 Multi-cover; 2 of 2 defenders
2009 EA Sports NCAA Football 10 UTAH QB Brian Johnson No PS3 Multi-cover
2009 EA Sports NCAA Football 10 USC QB Mark Sanchez No PSP Multi-cover
2009 EA Sports NCAA Football 10 TTU WR Michael Crabtree No 360 Multi-cover
2010 EA Sports NCAA Football 11 FLA QB Tim Tebow HEISMAN! PS3, 360, PS2, iOS
2011 EA Sports NCAA Football 12 ALA RB Mark Ingram II HEISMAN! PS3, 360 Fan-vote cover athlete
2012 EA Sports NCAA Football 13 BAY QB Robert Griffin III & OKST RB Barry Sanders YES! PS3, 360 Fan-vote for older athlete
2013 EA Sports NCAA Football 14 MICH Denard Robinson No PS3, 360 Fan-vote cover athlete
2024 EA Sports EA Sports College Football 25 TBD TBD PS5, Xbox Series X/S
*Photos on College Football USA 96 cover are USC Trojan drum major, a Wisconsin band member, unidentified Florida State player (zoomed in on helmet), but also easily identified K-State WR Kevin Lockett & Michigan RB Tim Biakabutuk (both played in '95 season after this came out)

Various developers:

EA Sports's developers:
  • High Score Productions (1993: Genesis, Sega CD; 1994-96)
  • Visual Concepts (1993: SNES)
  • Tiburon Entertainment (1997-98), bought/renamed EA Tiburon (1999-2013), renamed EA Orlando (2024)
  • Exient Entertainment (2003: N-Gage)
Sega Sports's developers:
  • BlueSky Software (1994-95) [developers of Joe Montana series]
  • Visual Concepts & Avalanche Software (2001-02) [NFL 2K & NFL Blitz, respectively]
Sony Computer Entertainment America's developers:
  • Sony Interactive Studios America (1996-97), renamed Red Zone Interactive (1998-99), renamed 989 Studios (2000)
Aspyr Media's developer:
  • Nerjyzed Entertainment (2007: Windows; 2009: 360)

Further notes:

Bill Walsh was picked because there was an early-theme of having big names on sports video games.
  • EA actually started this back when they were the cool, bad boy of games in the 1980s (I'm that old, they packaged their games like records and put photos of their programmers that made them look like musicians on the back) with the pioneering PC game One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird (1983), later updated to Jordan vs. Bird: One on One (1988).
  • Nintendo got into it by localizing Punch-Out! as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (1987) for NES. EA brought out John Madden Football (1988) for PC.
  • Sega was wild about this when they launched the Genesis with Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf (1989), Tommy Lasorda Baseball (1989), Pat Riley Basketball (1990), Joe Montana Football (1991).
  • 1993: Bill Walsh! There even was an EA Coach K college hoops game.
Bill Walsh may have got the cover curse:
  • While he had retired from the San Francisco 49ers on top, after winning his 3rd Super Bowl, he had only returned to the Farm for a year when he was picked (he had a good first tenure in the 70s before jumping to the 49ers).
  • In 1992 he took the Cardinal to a Blockbuster Bowl win and a #9 rank. Signed this deal for EA.
  • After the first game came out he had two bad seasons and re-retired for good.
The progression of teams is fun to see.
  • 1993: the top 24 college football teams from 1992 + 24 of the all-time greatest teams since 1978. The teams were unlicensed so they used city and state names, especially where similar to their real names (e.g. Michigan). But you got some fun results like a spirited game of "South Bend, IN" vs "Raleigh, NC"
  • 1994: 36 Division I-A teams, but the bowls were still not included: Instead we get Maple Bowl, Palm Bowl, Pecan Bowl, and Redwood Bowl
  • 1995: first version to feature all (108 at the time) Division l-A teams, the real bowl games like Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose. Includes older names but also the Pacific Tigers, which actually dropped football before the game was released.
The rights to the title "NCAA" license wasn't obtained by EA until 1998 (as you can see there was an earlier one-off by Mindscape). Its ability to use the NCAA's brands in the the football game was actually the secondary result of a licensing deal intended primarily for an EA "March Madness" basketball game.
submitted by Honestly_ to CFB [link] [comments]

2024.05.14 07:10 Ok_Pay6836 Sefirat HaOmer - Day 21

Izzy Goldstein wore #21 for the 1932 Tigers (go back to Day 7); so did Garrett Stubbs for the Phillies starting in 2022 and continuing until …….today, Elliot Maddox for the 1977 Orioles and the Mets from 1978-80, and Dick Conger for the Phillies in 1943, his final season - also the season in which he pitched in 13 games (10 starts), 54.2 Innings, going 2-7 with an ERA of 6.09.
Jason Marquis played in 15 seasons; he wore #51 as a rookie with the Braves in 2000, before switching to #38 for 2001-03, before being traded with Ray King and Adam Wainwright to the Cardinals for JD Drew and El iMarrero (the Cardinals got the better end of that deal). He wore #21 with the Cards from 2004-06, and then with the Cubs (2007-08), Rockies (2009), Nationals (2010-11), D’Backs (2011), Twins (2012) and Padres (2013 - he wore #38 for the Padres in 2012 when John Baker wore it) before wearing #31 for the Reds in his last season, 2015. Mike Milchin wore #21 for the Orioles in 1996 (and #51 for the Twins in the same year). Norm Miller wore #21 for the Astros between 1967 and 1973 (he also wore #54 in 1965 and #34 in 1965-66) and then doubled his number to #42 when he was traded to the Braves in 1973-74.
Steve Stone wore 9 different uniforms in his 11 year career, including #21 for the Orioles in 1979; he also wore #32 for the Orioles that year as well as in 1980-81 (he won the Cy Young award in 1980, the only year he made the All Star team). He started his career wearing #33 for the Giants in 1971 (he also wore #35 that year), and then #29 in 1972. He switched to #32 in 1973 for the White Sox, then #30 when he went north the Cubs (as part of the trade for Ron Santo) for 1974-76, before going back to #32 when he went back south as a free agent for 1977-78.
submitted by Ok_Pay6836 to jewishbaseball [link] [comments]

2024.05.14 04:42 Crafty_Salamander188 1996 greater Milwaukee open(tiger woods debut) guest pass

Found this old guest pass with an autograph on it but after doing some searching I still have no clue whose it is. Any help or leads would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
submitted by Crafty_Salamander188 to AutographAssistance [link] [comments]

2024.05.13 23:22 Ok_Pay6836 Sefirat HaOmer - Day 21 - Yom HaAtzmaut

Izzy Goldstein wore #21 for the 1932 Tigers (go back to Day 7); so did Garrett Stubbs for the Phillies starting in 2022 and continuing until …….today, Elliot Maddox for the 1977 Orioles and the Mets from 1978-80, and Dick Conger for the Phillies in 1943, his final season - also the season in which he pitched in 13 games (10 starts), 54.2 Innings, going 2-7 with an ERA of 6.09.
Jason Marquis played in 15 seasons; he wore #51 as a rookie with the Braves in 2000, before switching to #38 for 2001-03, before being traded with Ray King and Adam Wainwright to the Cardinals for JD Drew and El iMarrero (the Cardinals got the better end of that deal). He wore #21 with the Cards from 2004-06, and then with the Cubs (2007-08), Rockies (2009), Nationals (2010-11), D’Backs (2011), Twins (2012) and Padres (2013 - he wore #38 for the Padres in 2012 when John Baker wore it) before wearing #31 for the Reds in his last season, 2015. Mike Milchin wore #21 for the Orioles in 1996 (and #51 for the Twins in the same year). Norm Miller wore #21 for the Astros between 1967 and 1973 (he also wore #54 in 1965 and #34 in 1965-66) and then doubled his number to #42 when he was traded to the Braves in 1973-74.
Steve Stone wore 9 different uniforms in his 11 year career, including #21 for the Orioles in 1979; he also wore #32 for the Orioles that year as well as in 1980-81 (he won the Cy Young award in 1980, the only year he made the All Star team). He started his career wearing #33 for the Giants in 1971 (he also wore #35 that year), and then #29 in 1972. He switched to #32 in 1973 for the White Sox, then #30 when he went north the Cubs (as part of the trade for Ron Santo) for 1974-76, before going back to #32 when he went back south as a free agent for 1977-78.
submitted by Ok_Pay6836 to u/Ok_Pay6836 [link] [comments]

2024.05.13 17:19 scauk Daz Ellis (Undercover Agent/Splash) tribute set

Hi all,
As you may or may not know, we lost a legend of our scene on 20th March 2024: Daren (Daz) Ellis, AKA Undercover Agent and Splash. I dedicated my weekly radio show to him a couple of weeks ago, playing only his tunes (including some remixes of his tunes) over a three-hour set, and I wanted to share it with you all: Daz Ellis tribute vinyl set.
Most of his tunes straddle that time when drum n bass was emerging as a distinct sound from original jungle; you can really hear the sound changing from the mashed up jungle beats of 1994 to the more regulated 2-step drum pattern beats of 1996/7 and beyond (the tunes are not in chronological order but you can generally tell which tunes are earlielater). The tunes are probably considered a mix of 'late original jungle' and 'early drum n bass' depending on who you ask so I do believe this adheres to rule #2 "Keep it Jungle". Main point is, they are all badboy tunes and archetypal of the period.
My personal favourite is the Jah Works alternative studio mix around the 1:33 mark. Excellent drum programming, clean and interesting samples and effects, and a nice bouncing bassline. Looking forward to playing this tune out next time I have a set of this era.
This post is not about self promotion, more about sharing the love for this legend and sharing his tunes with everyone. I really enjoyed recording this live show (thankfully most of the mixes are just about passable) and I hope you enjoy listening!
1 M.T.S. – Inspiration ('95 Original Remastered)
2 Undercover Agent – Bass Kick Mix 2 ('96 Exclusive Unreleased Version From DAT)
3 M.T.S. – Baad Boy Sound ('95 VIP From DAT (Unreleased))
4 Undercover Agent – Dangerous ('96 Original Remastered)
5 Splash Collective – Rebels (12") (1998)
6 Undercover Agent – Dub Plate Circles ('96 Original Remastered)
7 Daz Ellis – Identity (Daz VIP Version) (Unreleased) (1995)
8 Undercover Agent & The Kriminal – World Mash Up (Original '95 Studio Master)
9 Undercover Agent – Oh Gosh! (12") (1995)
10 M.T.S. – Assembly Line (Remastered 95 Original Version)
11 Undercover Agent – Rougher Pt.3 ('94 Original Remastered)
12 M.T.S. – Brothers & Sisters ('95 Original Remastered)
13 M.T.S. – Revolution ('96 Original Remastered)
14 M.T.S. – Hard Disk (12") (1996)
15 Undercover Agent – The Instrumental (12") (1995)
16 Splash – Babylon (DJ Trace Remix) (12") (1995 (2008 repress))
17 Undercover Agent – Hypnosis (Remix) (Remastered 97 Original Version)
18 Undercover Agent – Warriors (12") (1997)
19 Undercover Agent – Rougher (X Nation Remix) (2022)
20 Undercover Agent & The Kriminal – Jah Works (Exclusive '95 Alternative Studio Mix (Unreleased))"
21 Splash Collective – Tiger Shark (12") (1998)
22 Undercover Agent – Five Tones (97 Daz VIP Mix (Unreleased))
23 Undercover Agent – Understand (12") (2002)
24 Undercover Agent – Slaughter (Remix) (12") (1999)
25 Splash – Babylon (12") (1995 (2008 repress))
26 Undercover Agent – Barracuda (Original 94 Remaster)
27 Undercover Agent – Oh Gosh! (Daz' 95 Dubplate (Unreleased))
28 Daz Ellis – Liquidizer (Splash 005 Dubplate 1995) (Unreleased)
29 Undercover Agent – Dream (96 Dub Mix) (Previously Unreleased)
30 Undercover Agent – Hypnosis (12") (1997)
31 M.T.S. – International (12") (1996)
32 Undercover Agent – Searchlight (12") (1999)
33 M.T.S. – Hard Disk (DJ Zinc Remix VIP Dubplate (Unreleased)) (1996)
34 Undercover Agent – Oh Gosh! (B-Key Remix) (2022)
submitted by scauk to jungle [link] [comments]

2024.05.12 19:47 OShaunesssy Book report guy back and I just read a book written by Bret Hart's ex-wife Julie and she has some crazy accusations of physical abuse and heavy drug use by both her and Bret, and shows a more shameful side of Bret than his own book depicted.

Having read a comprehensive book detailing the Hart Family/ Stampede Wrestling, as well as books by Bret Hart, Bruce Hart and Dynamite Kid, I can say it was great to hear from someone who was spoken about in all those books. It is fascinating to see all the intersecting points of view when it comes to anything Hart Family related.
Bret Hart book
Bruce Hart book
History of Stampede Wrestling book
History of the Hart Family as documented in various books
Dynamite Kid book
This book was short and a quick read, but you could tell it was written with honesty and truth. She doesn't shy away from her own mistakes and issues while detailing the own POV on a relationship where most people have only heard from Bret.
As always, it's done in chronological order. I hope you find it as interesting as I did...
Julie had a truly wild and horrific youth experience between being sent to juvenile detention centers and dealing with genuinely abusive step parents. She is honest and critical of her own behaviors as well and doesn't like the choices she made. I grew up in the area where she spent her teenage years, and I can confirm that the seedy ghetto areas of Saskatchewan are genuinely gross and terrifying places to be when you're young and directionless.
She talks about how she was r*ped while hitchhiking as a teenager and got pregnant. She gave the baby up for adoption and tried to press charges but got cold feet and ran to another neighboring city. She was afraid the man who assaulted her would escape the charges and come after her again. She was young and naively thought that if she had just switched towns, she could escape everything. When a cop found her, he accused her of running because she was lying about the assault. This type of bullshit is why women don't come forward.
Julie was working in Regina, Saskatchewan, at the arena where wrestling was held when it came in town. That's where she first saw Bret Hart, and Bret saw her too. He ended up asking her boss Gil to introduce the two. Bret spoke about this in his book, too, how Julie caught his eye while he was in the ring. Gil later warned Julie that dating a wrestler is risky because they have a lot of "stops on the road." Julie didn't understand that Gil wasn't criticizing or accusing Bret of anything, but how he knew how wrestlers were on the road, in terms of meeting women.
Julie speaks favorably on how Bret treated her younger sister Michelle (the future wife of Dynamite Kid) but I remember in Bret's book, him describing in detail how attracted he was to the underage Michelle when he met her. Julie says Bret treated her like a sister, and her book came out after Bret's, so I'll take her word for it.
Julie moved in with Bret in Calgary just a few months into their relationship and she remembers being a wreck of nerves and anxiety ay the start, unable to cook or even attend the big Hart Family Sunday dinner. Eventually, Bret got her out to the Hart house where she met Stu and Helen Hart. Helen was a sweetheart, but she remembers Stu eying her up and down, with Julie saying, "He gave me the once over." Adding, "Stu judged women on their teeth and legs." She said Stu stared at her teeth and legs as if she were a race horse he was inspecting.
Julie remembers how Stu would turn any conversation into something about wrestling. She mentioned being a Saskatchewan Roughrider fan (Canadian football team), and Stu went on a rant about Gene Kiniski, who briefly played for the Edmonton Eskimos This made me chuckle as Stu and Gene had a but of a rough relationship since Stu gave up on Gene when he was a rookie and hurt his knee. Gene went to Toronto where "Whipper" Billy Watson essentially turned Gene into the big name star he was known for.
In Bret's book, he described the first night Julie came to the Sunday Hart dinner and when Julie passed on the salad, Bret's sister Diana Hart snapped on her saying, "What, you're too good for fuckin' salad!?" Bret says his mom responded by saying to Julie, "So you met Bret's sister Diana." In Julie's book, she describes this event as well but doesn't mention the funny line from Helen. She says Bret just took Julie and decided to leave immediately. Bret's other sister, Georgia, followed them outside and apologized on behalf of Diana and excused Diana by pointing out how pregnant Diana was at the time.
Julie actually puts over Diana quite a bit and says she actually came to admire Diana for how outspoken she was. She says Diana had a great style and was a gifted artist. After reading so many Hart related books, it's refreshing to hear something positive about Diana. Diana is the "Black sheep" who married "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Diana would write a scandalous and legal minefield of a book in 2001 called "Under the mat." It was quickly pulled from shelves after Owen Hart's widow Martha threatened legal action over what was said about her and Owen. Bret and Bruce Hart also denounce the book, calling it mostly lies, but not everything can be written off as fiction, including stories, some wild stores about Dean Hart. I desperately need this book.
Julie said she never got over the sight of Bret Hart eating an avacado as if it were an apple.
While Bret was in Japan wrestling with his brother Keith, Julie said she spent a lot of time with Keith's girlfriend. It was Keith's girlfriend who smartened Julie up to how wrestling works. Up to this point, she believed it to be legit, and even Bret had been selling it like this to her. She was furious, and when Bret called, she told him they were done and hung up on him. The next day, Bret's older brother Bruce stopped by to help her understand kayfabe and how silly it all was. Julie says she ended up feeling bad for reacting like that and yelling at Bret, but she says he forgave her immediately. Bret tells this same story in his book, adding details of how Julie would worry and stress about Bret Hart being brutalized every night.
Here's something I dont remember from Bret's book. He knocked up Julie very early into their relationship, and Julie got an abortion. She said they both weren't ready for being parents, but Julie says she was deeply saddened by their choice. She never expressed these misgivings with Bret, and assumes Bret was relieved, she didn't make it any more difficult on them. To Bret's credit, maybe he didn't mention it in his book for Julie's benefit. Or he did mention it very briefly, and I missed it.
Julie remembers accompanying Bret on a trip overseas where they went to a freaky sex show place where they had "baby tigers and lions and torture rooms."" She says at one point Bret got tied up on a table and was playfully whipped.
On this trip, Julie remembers a woman hitting on Bret right in front of her and had to yell at her to back off while Bret laughed. Julie was pissed and made them go back to the hotel. Once there, Julie was mouthing off to Bret before he grabbed her and "bodyslammed" her into the flower bed. He offered to help her up afterwards but she told him to fuck off.
A week later Bret came home smelling of perfume and Julie says she just snapped. She said she grabbed him and dug her finger nails into his face and eyes. She says Bret later would tell her that he never saw her the same after this incident. I don't remember Bret describing Julie ever getting physical like that in his book, but he did describe a lot of shouting matches.
Julie says she and Bret got married after her younger sister and Dynamite Kid. She says they got married in secret because Bret didn't like his siblings much and said they didn't deserve to be part of it.
When Julie was pregnant again this time they felt ready to start a family. Though Bret made Julie not tell anyone for the first 5 months of her pregnancy and when he "told" his parents, it was through a letter he left on their bed before he left for a wrestling tour. Julie remembers feeling hurt by this because Bret would say his parents always wanted their children to start families with someone who had money, a significant name and an education. Julie had none of those things and while she doesn't say it, you get the feeling that she thinks Bret was ashamed or embarrassed by her.
When she got pregnant again, she says Bret was mad at her for not being more careful with birth control. She says she became very irritable and bitchy throughout the pregnancy and always found something to be mad at Bret for. She is super critical of her behavior here and doesn't excuse it.
The night she gave birth, Bret left to go out for drinks, despite Julie asking him not to in case her water broke. When she woke up at 5am to her water breaking, she was furious that Bret didn't come home yet and had to call a friend to get her to the hospital. Bret was a no-show for her entire delivery and missed his second child being born. Julie says she was furious and seriously considered divorcing him then.
When Bret started touring with WWF, he was gone for much longer periods of time and this strained their marriage. Working for WWF really put a strain on Bret and filled him with confidence issues as well. She said between his self doubt and her loneliness, their marriage was barely holding on.
She remembers how Bret would call from the road and bemoan about how lonely he was. I'm reminded of his book, how he would complain about feeling lonely, then complain that the guilt of cheating on Julie was too much.
Julie says she got a literal itch and went to a doctor who told her that she caught "something" from a public washroom. A suspicious Julie went home and threw all her bedding in the garbage and then thought to check on her suspicion. She looked through their phone bills to find that Bret was placing a ton of calls to a girl from New Jersey and that he even kept the receipt for a Christmas present he bought this girl!
Julie describes how Bret called and she just screamed "I want a divorce!" Before she hung up and ripped the phone cord out of the wall. Eventually she agreed to go meet him and they started yelling at each other in a parking lot after a show. She says at one point Bret through a can of budweiser at her head, hitting her! She says wrestler Les Thorton got between the two and tried to calm them down. She remembers screaming how she won't get in the car with Bret and Bret yelled back, "Don't be stupid, get in the car! Your embarrassing yourself!" She says Bret later said the girl meant nothing to him and Julie should be greatful that Bret isn't addicted to drugs. Wild. At one point when they were back in the hotel room, a girl called the room asking for Bret and Julie snapped, breaking a lamp.
In Bret's book, he described how he decieved both Julie and this girl from New Jersey, neglecting to tell this side girl that he was married until she was head over heels in love with him. Bret talks about how tough this was for him and says that Stu and Helen Hart talked Julie out of leaving him.
Julie says their relationship was never the same after the affair. She couldn't trust him again.
Julie says when her grandmother died a few months after the affair, Bret was calling her everyday to check in but she said "I couldn't have cared less about those calls."
Julie says it was around this time that she and Bret started to regularly do cocaine. She said the coke helped her not think about the affair and how she would ask Bret to score some if she couldn't get it out of her head. She said she would do coke and sleep in the car just to avoid Bret. She suggests this all slowed down when Vince started cracking down on coke use with drug tests.
She speaks highly of Vince McMahon, this book was written in 2013, and she is greatful for what Vince was able to provide for her family and the opportunity he gave Bret. She says when she first met Vince, he was wearing a suit and sneakers. When she asked Bret why he wore sneakers, Bret said "so he can get around." During the show she noticed Vince was all over the place during matches, never sitting still and always running around from one person to another.
Julie remembers meeting Ozzy Osbourne at Wrestlemania 2 and "marking out" because he was her idol as a teenager. After the show, she says Ozzy was present as everyone had drinks at the hotel and Dynamite Kid spiked her drink. She said she could barely stand and Dynamite just laughed at her the whole time.
Julie notes how devoted Bret was to making sure his kids had the best toys, and how Bret would drive to every toy store before Christmas and find what the kids wanted. She appreciates this but also wishes Bret didn't miss so many plays and dances and activities due to his schedule. She was starting to really resent wrestling and wanted Bret to quit. She hated having this big house that felt empty most of the time without Bret home. In Bret's book, he wanted her to get a job to fix her loneliness.
She says her 3rd pregnancy was easier than her second and Bret was very sweet to her and praised how good she looked.
Julie brings up how devastated Bret was when his brother Dean died in 1990. She remembers watching him wrestle the next night at Survivor Series ppv and seeing the pain on his face. Bret talks about how tough this was in his book and how much shame he felt. Dean needed a kidney transplant and none of the Hart brothers stepped up. Bret didn't want to derail his career. Though you can't blame anyone more than Dean himself, who was stubborn and often went against doctors orders, so even with a mew kidney, Dean may have still died.
Julie talks about continuing her partying and drug lifestyle into the early 90s when she would party with a local band and inviting them to live at her house. She said Bret was very understanding and never pushed her for details on those nights out. Some nights Bret would watch the kids all night while Julie was getting fucked up and partying.
On of those musicians, Marc, was very close with Julie and while Julie never says she hooked up, she does say her younger sister Michelle did hook up with Marc, a bunch of times in secret. She doesn't specify if this was before or after Michelle left Dynamite Kid, but she says Marc did move in with Michelle and help her with the kids. This would have been after Dynamite went back to UK, since I'm sure Dynamite would have kicked the door down and attempted to murder Marc if this were in the final months of of Michelle and Dynamite's marriage.
Julie's brother committed suicide and Julie didn't have the support system around to prevent her from spiraling into heavy drinking.
In 1996, Bret Hart was filming a movie (Sinbad) in South Africa and halfway through, asked Julie to come join him. Julie is very honest about how she was self sabatoging her life at this point but was still deeply in love with Bret. She was excited to read an early draft of some Shakespeare work that was at a museum, but Bret couldn't be bothered to go with her so she went by herself.
She says her and Bret shared a perfect moment watching the sun set, but Bret got mad at her when she decided to record it.
Julie describes sneaking cigarettes because Bret didn't know she picked the habbit up again.
The trip ended when Julie was asking Bret something but he just ignored her several times in a row. When she finally looked at what had his attention, she saw he was gawking at a topless sunbather on the beach. She stormed off to the hotel room after telling Bret to show her more respect than that. Julie says Bret followed her to the room, with him saying she always ruins these trips. When Julie started packing her bags, she says Bret pushed her hard onto the bed. She started spewing insults at him, before, she says, Bret grabbed her by the hair and threw her from the bed and onto the floor! Julie says she started crying and demanding that Bret get her home immediately or else she would find someone who would. Bret screamed at her "Get the fuck out! I've had it with you! We're fucking done! I will put you on a plane tonight, but don't expect to win me back!"
Having read Bret's book, he does mention the trip to South Africa where he filmed the Sinbad movie. But Bret makes no mention of inviting Julie on the trip and instead points out how it coincided with a WWF tour in South Africa at the same time. Bret does talk about how the Dutch found the area and how beautiful itnwas there, which was something Julie mentioned as well that Bret talked about. Bret does mention getting a lot of ladies phone numbers on the last few days of the trip and seeing a drunk Yokozuna swapping spit with some South African PR woman when they were both very drunk. Bret makes no mention of Julie being there or how he got physical with her.
The Hart's always try to shy away from controversial truths, just ask any one of them where Bruce Hart met his wife. They will all say at a wrestling show, and neglect to mention how Bruce Hart was a 33 year old substitute teacher who knocked up his 17 year old student. Gross. (I'll never not bring this up when talking about the Hart's btw)
Julie talks about Mathew Hart, Georgia and BJ's son who died in 1996 from Necrotizing Fasciitis, a legitimate flesh eating virus. From everyone's account, the poor boy suffered for 2 weeks until he died. Julie says she and Bret took their kids on vacation when the poor kid died. A lot of people act as though the Hart Family curse started at the Screwjob in 1997, but really it started with Dean in 1990 and Mathew in 1996.
Julie remembers how gleeful Bret was when he called her up and bragged about giving a drunken Vince McMahon his tag team finishing move. Julie warned Bret that Vince wasn't the type to forget that and she suspects that it played a part in the screwjob. This sounds silly imo but what do I know, I found it an interesting and unique take if nothing else.
Julie remembers the morning of the 1997 Survivor Series ppv, someone warned Bret that Vince and Shawn were seen the night before talking and getting into an elevator together.
Julie says she and her lawyer were sitting somewhere in the arena as the Montreal Screwjob happened. Julie says she got up, looking at the monitor and said, "Holy shit, that's not supposed to happen!" And her lawyer, also shocked, said, "No, it is not."
Julie says she and the layer had to sprint to catch up to Bret and Vince and she describes her scolding of Triple H and Shawn Michaels, saying the words just poured out of her. It's maybe the most memorable scene of that documentary, watching Triple H and HBK shrink into children as Julie dresses them down.
Julie says the 1997 holidays were anything but cheerful and says she was boozing a lot and doing coke "from time to time."
Julie wanted to get a nanny or house keeper but Bret refused and put his foot down on the subject.
Julie says Bret asked for a divorce in early 1998 and she handled it poorly. She is critical of her immediate response to run away from home and stay at a hotel. When she returned home for clothes, her confused daughter asked her what was going on and a rageful Julie said "Your dad wants a divorce and I can't stay in the same house as him anymore! Julie says she was so blinded by her anger she didn't see the damage she was doing then.
Julie says that the Wrestling with Shadow's documentary crew needed Julie and Bret to reshoot something that didn't come out right when they originally shot it. So Julie and Bret had to pretend to be a in a marriage again talking things out about Bret's career. Julie says her and Bret slept together after they shot the scene and she was hurt when Bret said afterward, "One for the road, I guess."
The next time she heard from Bret, he told her to get a lawyer because he had one already.
Julie says she and Bret spent many nights yelling at eachother over the phone, with Bret calling her a whore and saying he didn't take all those bumps so Julie to take all his money. This is a statement Bret would repeat a lot to Julie over the years of them fighting. He would call her a money grabbing whore and how he didn't take a bunch of bumps so Julie could end up with the money.
Just as Julie was ready to sign custody papers, Bret's personal assistant contacted Julie and told her that Bret had been seeing some girl in the States for months. The assistant said she felt guilty arranging their meetups behind Julie's back. Julie said she later told Bret that she isn't signing shit and she needed to contact her lawyers with the new developments. She said Bret first tried denying it, calling his assistant jealous and a liar. Then Bret blamed Julie because Bret said he "couldn't get past her traumatic past." What the fuck Bret, I'm pretty sure he is referring to Julie being sexually assaulted as a teenager. (He makes this clear later in the book) Then he bragged about his new girl looking better than Julie and being younger than Julie, with Bret also saying the kids will love the new girl. Bret even later said Julie was getting heavier and letting herself go.
Pretty wild story here. Julie says that Bret started neglecting the kids, even when he was in town, and often skipped out on seeing them altogether. For Canada Day 1998 Bret promised to take them out and to the fireworks. Julie says they waited all day, expecting a fun evening with their dad. But Bret didn't show up with their friend Dean, until after 9pm, (stoned and drunk according to Julie) after Julie tried to call Bret repeatedly and got no answer.
Julie isn't proud of this, but says before Bret arrived that night, Julie had sat the kids down and told them Bret was off smoking pot with a new girlfriend. Julie knew immediately she shouldn't have said it, she saw her kids starting to cry and knew she tarnished how they look at their dad.
Bret was pissed off that Julie decided to take the kids to the fireworks, and when Julie had herself and the kids in the car, an enraged Bret started punching the drivers side window until Julie agreed to get out and talk.
Bret grabbed and dragged her off around the corner of the house where Julie defiantly told him that the kids know he smokes pot and is seeing someone else.
Julie says Bret snapped, slammed her hard up against the wall and yelled, "You bitch! I hate you! I hate you!" Then Julie claims that Bret grabbed her by the throat and slammed her on the ground where he continued to choke her until their son Blade came around the corner and screamed at Bret to get off his mom!
As Julie was catching her breath, their friend Dean, who was still there and in shock, tried to help Julie up. Bret took off with their son Blade and a panicked Julie called the police. She foolishly said to the 911 opperater that her husband pro wrestler, Bret Hart, had taken her child againt her will. The police arrived and seemingly didn't know who Bret was, tried to get Julie to press charges. The police were able to call Bret and convince him to bring the kid to the police station, so the cops could bring him home. Bret makes no mention of this in his book.
Julie says Bret stopped by the next day and apologized and tried to ask her to sit down for coffee. Julie explained how they scarred their children for life the night prior and she wasn't interested in speaking to him in friendly terms yet.
Julie defends Bret a bit by saying she could see in person that she wasn't the cause of his anger and that he was just deeply angry and disappointed with things. This would be 1998 and even Bret describes how bitter and despondent he was at this time. Julie says he stopped being around the kids and it hurt them, especially their boys Blade and Dallas who started getting a chip on their shoulders and seeking conflict. One time Julie asked Dallas about Bret and Dallas said, "He never calls and is never around."
Julie says things were getting stable but she and Bret started secretly sleeping together again and complicated things. She says Bret would pick her up and drove to a seedy part of town before casually dropping her off at home after. She says she was initially amused by this but eventually began to wonder how many other women Bret does this with. It made her feel uncomfortable to say the least.
One time as she was being dropped off, Julie asked Bret if he was happy. Bret said no and that he couldn't get happy. Then Bret asked if Julie was seeing anyone, but didn't let her answer, he just said "of course you are." Julie realizes now that Bret was suffering some deep depression and at the time she mistook codependency for love.
Eventually Bret's other girlfriend caught wind of his and Julie's rendezvous and made Bret break things off. Julie could hear the woman on the other end of the line when Bret called to inform Julie that they need to set boundaries in their relationship now.
Julie says Bret once called her to say he tested for hepatitis and that Julie should get checked out as well.
Julie later found out that the girl Bret was seeing was nearly the same age as their daughter.
Julie says her and Bret continued to sleep together behind his girlfriends back though, with Bret always asking for "coffee" before making a move, which Julie always reciprocated.
Bret would break up with his girlfriend near the end of 1998 and ask Julie if he can spend the holidays with her and the kids. Julie relents, and soon they seem to be trying to salvage their relationship with Bret more present then he ever has been.
Soon after the new year, Bret and Julie take a trip together to Hawaii. Julie finally builds up the courage to ask Bret what he thinks of them getting back together, and Bret says he doesn't want to get "trapped" again. Julie snapped and said, "That's it I'm done, I can't keep playing these games with you!"
During this conversation, as Julie was walking away, Bret randomly said, "My therapist said that sometimes girls, like the ones your age when all that stuff happens to you, they like it." Julie burst into tears and ran out of the room. What the fuck Bret, to imply that that when his wife was a 16 year old girl, she liked getting r*ped!
Helen Hart died a few weeks after 9/11 in 2001. She was from New York, and Julie remembers how devastated Helen was following the September attacks. Helen went back to New York a few weeks later to visit her sister, but due to the border concerns, she was held up for hours after her plane landed back in Calgary. She wasn't able to reach her insulin and eventually went into a coma.
Helen was on an off ventilation a few times while at the hospital, and one day Alison (Bret's sister) called and told him to come visit asap, because Helen was back on a ventilator and it wasn't looking good. Bret thought Alison being an alarmist and decided to visit the next day. Julie says she wishes they had visited that night, because Helen passed away a few hours later.
One afternoon, Julie came home to find her son Dallas on the phone, when she asked him who he was speaking to, Dallas said, "It's dad, but he sounds drunk." Bret told Julie that he fell off his bike and couldn't get up. He wasn't speaking clearly and couldn't properly explain where he was. Julie and her daughter Beans, drove around looking for Bret based off his perception and directions.
Julie and Beans found him laying casually in the grass, as if he was resting. She said one of Bret's eyes was wide open and the other was closed, and half his mouth was dropping. She struggled to move him as he slurred his words and insisted he was fine. Eventually an ambulance was called and Bret was loaded in.
Julie says the stroke changed him, made him mooder and more depressed. She isn't casting judgment, just pointing out changes she noticed as she spent every day at the hospital with him, helping to feed and cloth Bret, even helping him to the bathroom.
Julie remembers one night that Bret confided in her that he feared he got a stroke as punishment for all the bad things he done. He told her that the morning he got a stroke, he was planning on signing the divorce papers.
Several months later, with Bret moving aorund more, he spent Easter with Julie and the kids, but Julie found an email from some woman in Italy, directed to Bret and it suggested some heavy sexual stuff. Julie felt stupid and used again. When she confronted him on it, he denied anything and she reluctantly believed him.
A week later as Bret prepared for a trip, she found a plane ticket to Italy, when she asked Bret where he was going, he said England. Julie drove him to the airport and told him to get the fuck out.
Bret went to Italy to be with a fan he met at a contract signing, who was obsessed with him since she was a little girl. Julie says she is exactly what Bret needed to feel like the Hitman again. After reading Bret's book, this assessment is completely accurate.
The Italian woman's name was Cynthia and she was also just a year older than Bret's daughter Jade. Julie said Jade had the hardest time accepting Cynthia, whom Bret was determined to integrate into the family.
When Bret's dad Stu died, Julie remembers how she, Bret and Stu's granddaughter Jenni all stood by the bed and watched as he passed. She remembers how she kissed his cheek and told him he could go see Helen now, he didn't need to be here and longer. I remember the speech Stu gave at Helen's funeral, with one line in particular staying with me, "I'm glad for the time I had with her," he said full of love, but his pain was on display too, "Ill never get over this" he finished solemnly, "I don't have enough time."
Julie remembers one day that their son Blade called her from Bret's house, begging for her to pick him up. Blade and Bret started arguing about Cynthia, with Bret saying to his own son, "Don't make me pick between you and Cynthia, because I'll pick Cynthia! And if you don't like it you can get the fuck out!"
Julie started calling Bret "Hitman" when he acted like this to his children, with Julie telling them that their father still loves him and not to worry about what The Hitman says, because it's coming from a broken mind.
One day after Julie bought a house, Bret randomly showed up with a turkey and tried to hit on her. Julie found it amusing and asked him if Cynthia knew he was there. Bret tried to make a move on her but Julie made it clear that won't happen so Bret left. As he left, he told Julie, "I still have cravings for you and I'm not sure I'll ever get over them." To which Julie just cooly responded with, "You will."
After Bret left that day, Julie called his assistant who confirmed that Cynthia was literally on a plane back to Italy right then. Julie laughed at how pathetic it was for Bret to say goodbye to Cynthia and then an hour or two later, show up at Julie's with a turkey and looking for sex.
Bret secretly married Cynthia and months later told the kids after the fact. Their son Blade was so furious he could barely speak to Julie when he got home and eventually blurted out, "Dad married that girl!" Their other son Dallas was also furious and explained how Bret callously told the kids "tell your mom, make sure you tell your mom." He was clearly trying to hurt Julie and used the kids to do so.
When Bret was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006, Julie insisted on going and told Bret if he doesn't find a way for her to be there, then she would call Vince McMahon herself and arrange it. Bret promised her she would be there but asked her to be discreet about it.
Julie got asked to do an online interview leading up to the Hall of Fame, and she let slip that she would be at the show to support Bret. Later, an irate Bret called her, yelling about how she was supposed to be discreet. Julie clued in on the fact that Bret didn't tell his new wife yet about Julie coming and now he was in hot water. In the end, Bret refused to allow Julie to come to the Hall of Fame to support him.
In Bret's Hall of Fame speech, he just talked about his new wife and how Cynthia was there for him after his stroke and just put her over big. He didn't mention Julie and only mentioned 2 of his 4 children. She says her children were extremely hurt by this and calls it the ultimate betrayal.
Julie started running low on money in 2008 and even attempted to be on a reality show. It was all a BS scam though and she had to invest money into it and eventually it all fell through. She speaks of this with a bit of shame while framing it as something she learned from.
Julie was facing bankruptcy and foreclosure on the house, so as a last resort, she called Bret. She asked him for 9 grand to cover 3 mortgage payments so she can sell the house. Bret chastised her for having money problems before ultimately saying no. He suggested that she rent the house out or have the kids pay rent. As they left, Julie warned him that if she loses the house, Bret may need to take the kids at him place. She doesn't say what he said to this, but she does say, "His response was too cruel to put into writing." Good lord, considering all she told so far, I wonder what Bret said that was so bad, Julie didn't want to even write it down?
Julie does point out that Bret didn't owe her a damn thing and she was in this situation by her own doing. Julie felt like she was letting her kids down most of all.
Julie would move in with her daughter Beans where they split the rent together. She got a job making $14/hour working as a janitor at a local middle school and Julie notes that she was living well below the poverty line.
Julie remembers how absurd it was for her to show up to her janitor job driving a Lexus.
Julie ended up selling her Lexus to her daughter Beans, and Julie bought herself a 1999 Sunfire. It was the first car she ever bought with her own money.
Julie's father died in 2012 and Julie says she wrote a letter to him, promising to make him proud, and stuffed it inside his coffin.
Julie says she spends most of her days being a grandma to Jade's daughter and how grateful she is to be close to her kids still.
Bret can't say the same, Julie notes how he travels alone or with his wife and never offers invites to his kids. She says it breaks her heart to see how far Bret drifted away from their children, even if all her kids insist that they don't care. This was in 2013, so potentially Bret and his kinds could have a better relationship by now.
Julie spends the last several pages of the book detailing her kids and all the ways she loves them. You can tell she is a mother first and foremost, you can tell she loves them unconditionally. Jade, Dallas, Beans and Blade, weird names for kids but I also have a weird name so I can't judge.
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2024.05.12 17:49 ZappaOMatic [OC] In 1939, DePauw running back Alex Vraciu threw an eraser at his professor during a quiz and jumped out the second-story window as part of a prank that made national news. He went on to become a flying ace in World War II with 19 victories, including 6 in the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.

Alexander Vraciu was one of the Navy's finest flying aces during World War II. But before that, he was a simple lad at DePauw University who played football and a prank for the ages.

At DePauw

The son of an East Chicago policeman, Vraciu earned the four-year Edward Rector Foundation Scholarship to DePauw on May 3, 1937 out of Washington High School, where he was the editor-in-chief for the school yearbook and captained the tennis team.[1] The scholarship, worth $1,000 ($21,689.72 today), was awarded to 110 high schoolers across sixteen states that year.[2]
Upon matriculating at DePauw that fall, he tried out for football—in secret, against his parents' wishes—and joined the freshman team as a halfback.[3] They struggled early on, getting shut out 32–0 by Butler (in fairness, Butler's freshmen had not lost to anyone in four years at this point) while playing Wabash to a scoreless tie.[4] Still, his contributions earned him a starting spot on the varsity roster.[5]
In 1938, DePauw's 50th season began with a 13–0 win over Franklin. Playing in all three phases like many at the time, Vraciu was the backup halfback behind the baseball team's star pitcher Karl "Curly" Randells while also doubling as a linebacker and the Tigers' lead return man. His special teams value came in handy in the third quarter when Franklin was forced to punt from their own end zone and Vraciu returned it to the 17-yard line, which set up John Scott's one-yard touchdown run to break the scoreless draw.[6]
His season was upended in the following week's 41–0 victory over Evansville College when he twisted his knee in the second quarter; fellow backup running back Robert Soule was also knocked out for the year with an arm injury.[7][8] Not wanting his parents to know that he was playing football behind their backs, he had to hide the injury from them, which proved difficult as he was also a member of the mile relay and tennis teams.[3] Even with his football career cut short, he still earned a spot on a postseason all-American roster, kind of: he was first-team All-Unpronounceables, for players whose names all-star team creator Ed Nace could not say properly.[9]

The Prank

In the summer of 1939, Vraciu was attending a psychology class taught by Paul J. Fay. The class was intended to study "a human's ability to observe, and accurately recall what was observed," and Fay tested his students perhaps a bit too zealously as he frequently started random "fights" before asking the class who was involved and what happened.[3][10]
Tired of this, Vraicu decided to see if Fay "could take some of his own medicine." On the final day of class, while taking a quiz, he suddenly stood up and threw an eraser at the professor. Vraciu then proclaimed, "I just can't stand it any longer!", and made a beeline for the window before jumping out.[10]
Since the classroom was on the second floor, Fay immediately rushed to the window in horror. Upon gazing down, he saw Vraciu laying on a tarp held by his Delta Chi fraternity brothers and thumbing his nose at him.[10][11]
The prank made national headlines. The Chicago Tribune, who had Vraciu and his friends re-enact the prank for a photo, quipped, "Give him an A in the course!"[11][12]
"I like to see students on their toes," Fay remarked.[13] "Vraciu is an excellent jumper and a good student besides. I'm giving him an A in the course."

World War II

A pre-medicine major, Vraciu had plans of becoming a doctor after graduating.[14] Those plans were dropped when the United States entered the Second World War, and he opted to enlist in the Navy in 1942 as an aviation cadet. He underwent training at Naval Air Station Glenview.[15]
In November, while training in California, his training plane collided with another mid-air, forcing him to "re-enact" his prank again as they hopped out.[16] DePauw's student newspaper even headlined their story "Vraciu Parachutes from Wrecked Plane; Repeats Procedure of Stuent Prank."[11]
His first assignment was over Wake Island in October 1943, flying an F6F Hellcat for Fighter Squadron 6 (VF-6) under Edward O'Hare, who would receive the Medal of Honor after being killed in action the following month. Vraciu scored his first victory in just his second day, then became a flying ace with his fifth kill by January of the following year. By the time VF-6 was rotated out, he already had nine wins.[17]
Still, he elected to continue serving and was reassigned to VF-16.[17]
Vraciu's finest day came on June 19, 1944, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. In a day that came to be known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot", he shot down six Japanese bombers flying close in formation in eight minutes. He told a correspondent for The New York Times:[18]
We went out at a high altitude and from a far range we could see scattered groups of from twenty to fifty Jap planes each coming toward our carriers. They were all Judys. As squadron leader, I tallyhoed to the carrier and climbed to 25,000 feet, about 2,000 feet above the enemy planes.
For unknown reason they were all massed together with the groups at various altitudes. It was a brilliantly clear day, about 10:30 a.m. and from my observations there were enough Japs around to satisfy everybody in my squadron.
They were thirty-five miles away when we started after them, and as they tried to separate from their groups I was able to apply the simple process of picking them off the edges. You might say it was comparable to riding herd in the sky.
Just as the first Jap approached, my belly tank ran dry and I shifted to an auxiliary and took that one out easily. In making the shift, a lot of oil got on my windshield and made the vision so poor I had to go within 150 yards of the next one before stopping it. The next two were knocked out on a run of about fifteen seconds.
Next in line were three heading for an American destroyer. I was able to get two of those, and must have hit the bomb of one of them, for he exploded, scattering plane parts through the air. The third was foolish enough to attack a battleship, which was the end of him.
Although nominated by seven Navy admirals for a Medal of Honor for his performance that day, Vice Admiral George D. Murray of the medal review board instead gave him a Navy Cross. They tried again after the war in 1947 but was rejected by Murray again.[19]
"I do not, in any way, mean to detract from the very enviable record made by Lt. Vraciu during the war," began Murray.[20][21] "His superior performance of normal duties brought distinction upon himself. His failure, if it had occurred, to engage the enemy, on 19 June 1944, would have brought censure upon himself."
In 1990, Army veteran and aviation buff Harry Block convinced Rep. Andy Jacobs Jr. to organize a United States House Committee on Armed Services hearing to review the case. Although most of the committee including chairman Les Aspin were supportive of Vraciu, Navy assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs Barbara S. Pope—the lone Navy representative in attendance—questioned the need for a hearing 46 years later. Although Vraciu was supposed to testify, the hearing ran out of time and ended without a decision. The only positive takeaway was that the committee agreed Murray's reasoning for denying him the MOH was poorly written and missed numerous key points like listing Vraciu with the wrong squadron and aircraft carrier.[22][23]
By Vraciu's death in 2015, he was still without the MOH.
His last combat flight came in December 1944 when his oil tank was punctured by a Japanese bullet over the Philippines, forcing him to—you guessed it—jump from his plane. He was rescued by the Filipino resistance and supported them before returning to American ends.[18] At war's end, he had 19 victories in the air and 21 on the ground.[17]

References

[1] Washington High Senior Given $1,000 Scholarship, The Times, May 3, 1937
[2] DEPAUW LISTS 110 RECTOR AWARDS, The Indianapolis Star, May 2, 1937
[3] STORY OF LEGENDARY WORLD WAR II HERO ALEX VRACIU '41 TOLD BY CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER, DePauw University, February 24, 2003
[4] Shooting From Taw—Out of Butler's Delta by Wm. F. Fox Jr., The Indianapolis News, November 11, 1937
[5] 21 Varsity Letters, 15 Frosh Numerals Awarded at DePauw, The Indianapolis News, November 20, 1937
[6] Tigers Tally Twice in Second Half For 13-to-0 Triumph Over Franklin, The Indianapolis Star, September 25, 1938
[7] TIGERS SWAMP EVANSVILLE ELEVEN, 41-0, The DePauw, October 3, 1938
[8] Aces Smothered By Tiger Passes, The Indianapolis Star, October 2, 1938
[9] Inside Stuff, The Morning Call, November 20, 1938
[10] Prof. Proves He Can Take It As Well As Dish It Out to Class by the Associated Press, The Courier-Journal, June 2, 1939
[11] Pranker pursued flying by Heather Crawford, The DePauw, November 15, 1996
[12] STUDENT SCORES 'A' MARK FOR LEAP OUT OF WINDOW, Chicago Tribune, June 8, 1939
[13] Psych Pupil Turns Tables On Professor, The Honolulu Advertiser, June 9, 1939
[14] Always a diverse city, many contributed to rise of culture by Lu Ann Franklin, The Times of Northwest Indiana, February 23, 1993
[15] TRAINING CAMP NEWS, Chicago Tribune, December 28, 1941
[16] DePauw Alumnus (December 1942)
[17] Vraciu, Alexander, Gathering of Eagles Foundation
[18] Five Down and Glory: A History of the American Air Ace by Gene Gurney (1958)
[19] World War II pilot anticipates Medal of Honor by the Associated Press, Journal and Courier, July 25, 1990
[20] H.J.Res. 33 (104th): For the relief of Alexander Vraciu.
[21] Medal of Honor sore subject for World War II flying ace by Rex Redifer, The Indianapolis Star, September 13, 1988
[22] Navy won't reconsider medal for Hoosier by Rex Redifer, The Indianapolis Star, January 31, 1990
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2024.05.11 04:50 argrock3 Daniel Tiger Songs Rip off Oasis & Chemical Brothers Songs?

While I was watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood with my 3 year old, I realized the "Having Mixed Feelings Song" is note by note "Let Forever Be" by The Chemical Brothers featuring Noel Gallagher and now I can't unhear it.
It's not the first time Daniel Tiger has raided the Noel Gallagher songbook: "When You Feel Jealous" sounds like either early Oasis singles or something off of Be Here Now. This version of "Grr Out Loud" sounds like Oasis covering "Eye Of the Tiger" while this version of the song is bit more metal AC/DC with O the Owl sounding a bit like Bon Scott.
Another one I have is "Everyone Is Big Enough To Do Something" sounds a lot like producefilm soundtrack composer Jon Brion.
Have any you noticed any other similarities between Daniel Tiger songs and other musical artists?
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2024.05.10 11:41 HighninUchiha Guys, what do the cars I (M97) have owned say about me?

submitted by HighninUchiha to carscirclejerk [link] [comments]

2024.05.10 02:11 wtfwafflezor (Selling) 550 Titles Batman 2022 4K $3.50 Gran Turismo HD $3 Deadpool iTunes 4K $1.50

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Back to the Future (1985) (MA/HD) $4
Bad Boys Collection 1-3 (MA/HD) $12
Bambi (1942) (MA/HD) $5.75 (GP/HD) $4.25
Barbie (2023) (MA/HD) $5.50
Batman, The (2022) (MA/4K) $3.50
Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham (2022) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $5.50
Battle of the Sexes (2017) (MA/HD) $4
Beast (2022) (MA/HD) $5.50
Beirut (2018) (MA/HD) $4
Better Off Dead (1985) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $6.50
Big (1988) (MA/HD) $6
Big George Foreman (2023) (MA/HD) $5.50
Big Wedding (2013) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3.50
Birds, The (1963) (MA/HD) $4.75
Birth of the Dragon (2017) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4.25
Biutiful (2010) (Vudu/HD) $5.50
Black And Blue (2019) (MA/HD) $5.75
Black Phone, The (2021) (MA/HD) $4.50
Blacklight (2022) (MA/HD) $3.50
Bleed for This (2016) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4
Bloodshot (2020) (MA/4K) $7 (MA/HD) $3.50
Blue Bayou (2021) (MA/HD) $6
Blue Beetle (2023) (MA/HD) $6.50
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) (MA/4K) $4.75 (MA/HD) $3
Bond: Skyfall (2012) (Vudu/4K) $6.50 (Vudu/HD) $1
Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023) (MA/HD) $5.25
Boss Baby (2017) & Family Business (2021) (MA/HD) $5.50
Boss Baby (2017) (MA/HD) $1.25
Bourne Collection 1-5 (MA/4K) $25 (iTunes/4K) $18 (MA/HD) $14
Boxtrolls, The (2014) (iTunes/HD) $4.50
Brave (2012) (MA/4K) $8 (iTunes/4K) $6.25 (GP/HD) $4.50
Braveheart (1995) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $6 (Vudu/HD) $4.50
Breakthrough (2019) (MA/4K) $6
Breathe (2017) (MA/HD) $5.75
Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4
Brightburn (2019) (MA/4K) $7.50 (MA/HD) $6.75
Bring It On: Worldwide #Cheersmack (2017) (MA/HD) $3.25 (iTunes/HD) $1.25
Bullet Train (2022) (MA/4K) $5 (MA/HD) $3.50
Bye Bye Man (Unrated) (2017) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $2.50
Call Me by Your Name (2017) (MA/HD) $5
Call, The (2013) (MA/HD) $3.75
Calvary (2014) (MA/HD) $5
Candyman (2020) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $4.75
Captain America: Civil War (2016) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $4.75 (GP/HD) $2.25
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) (MA/4K) $8 (MA/HD) $6 (GP/HD) $4.50
Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014) (MA/4K) $7.25 (MA/HD) $5 (GP/HD) $2.25
Captain Marvel (2019) (MA/4K) $4.75 (iTunes/4K) $4 (GP/HD) $1.75
Carrie (2013) (Vudu/HD) $5.50
Case for Christ, The (2017) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4.50
Celebrating Mickey (2018) (MA/HD) $5.25
Change-Up, The (2011) (Unrated) (2011) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $5.50
Chaplin (1992) (Vudu/HD) $5
Chappie (2015) (MA/HD) $3.75
Charlie's Angels (2000) (MA/4K) $6.50
Chicago (2002) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4.50
Choice, The (2016) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3
Chronicle (2012) (MA/HD) $4
Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) (MA/HD) $6.75
Chronicles of Riddick (Unrated Director's Cut) (2004) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $5
Cinderella (1950) (MA/4K) $7 (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $5.75 (GP/HD) $3.75
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002) (MA/HD) $6.50 (GP/HD) $5
Citizenfour (2014) (Vudu/HD) $5.50
City of Lies (2018) (iTunes/HD) $5.50
Clerks III (2022) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $5.50
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013) (MA/HD) $3.50
Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $5.50
Cocaine Bear (2023) (MA/4K) $7 (MA/HD) $5.50
Cold Pursuit (2019) (Vudu/4K) $6.50 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $3
Collateral (2004) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $7.50
Courier, The (2021) (Vudu/4K) $4.75 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $4.25
Croods (2013) & A New Age (2020) (MA/HD) $6.25
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001) (MA/4K) $6.50
Da Vinci Code (2006) (MA/4K) $6.50
Dances With Wolves (1990) (Vudu/HD) $6
Dark Tower (2017) (MA/HD) $2.75
Dawn of The Planet of The Apes (2014) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $3.75
Deadpool (2016) (MA/4K) $6 (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $1.50
Deadpool 2 (2018) (MA/4K) $7.50 (MA/HD) $3
Death on the Nile (2022) (MA/HD) $5 (GP/HD) $3.50
Dentist Collection 1-2 (1996-1998) (Vudu/HD) $5
Despicable Me Collection 1-3 (MA/HD) $12.50
Devotion (2022) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $5.75
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012) (MA/HD) $3.75
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017) (MA/HD) $2
Die Another Day (2002) (Vudu/HD) $7
Die Hard 1-5 (MA/HD) $14
Dirty Grandpa (2016) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $5.50 (Vudu/HD) $4.75
Disaster Artist, The (2017) (Vudu/HD) $5.50
Doctor Strange (2016) (MA/4K) $6.50 (iTunes/4K) $4 (MA/HD) $3.50 (GP/HD) $1.75
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) (MA/HD) $2.75 (GP/HD) $2
Dolittle (2020) (MA/HD) $3.25
Don't Breathe (2016) (MA/HD) $5
Don't Breathe 2 (2021) (MA/HD) $7.50
Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) (MA/HD) $3.75
Dragonheart Collection 1-5 (MA/HD) $14
Dumb Money (2023) (MA/HD) $5.50
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/4K) $6.50
Dying of the Light (2014) (Vudu/HD) $2.25
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) (MA/4K) $5.75 (iTunes/4K) $5 (MA/HD) $3
Edward Scissorhands (1990) (MA/HD) $3
El Mariachi (1993) (MA/HD) $6.50
Elemental (2023) (MA/HD) $5.75
Elysium (2013) (MA/4K) $7 (MA/HD) $3
Emoji Movie (2017) (MA/HD) $2.25
Empire Records (1995) (MA/HD) $5.75
Equalizer (2014) (MA/4K) $7.50 (MA/HD) $4
Equalizer 3 (2023) (MA/HD) $5.75
Escape from L.A (1996) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $5.50
Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019) (Vudu/HD) $3.25
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) (Vudu/4K) $6.50
Evil Dead (2013) (MA/4K) $6.50
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987) (Vudu/HD) $4.75
Ex Machina (2015) (Vudu/4K) $6.25 (Vudu/HD) $3
Exorcist: Believer (2023) (MA/4K) $7.50 (MA/HD) $6.50
Expendables 1-3 (Vudu/4K) $15 (Vudu/HD) $4.50
Fabelmans (2022) (MA/HD) $5.50
Fast & Furious Collection 1-10 (MA/4K) $28
Fast & Furious Collection 1-8 (MA/4K) $23 1-9 (MA/HD) $10
Fast X (2023) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $5.50
Father Stu (2022) (MA/HD) $5.25
Fatman (2020) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $5.50
Ferdinand (2017) (MA/HD) $3.25
Fifty Shades of Grey 3-Movie + Unrated (MA/HD) $9.75
Finding Dory (2016) (MA/4K) $5.75 (iTunes/4K) $3.50 (GP/HD) $1.25
Finest Hours, The (2016) (MA/HD) $6.25 (GP/HD) $3.75
First Man (2018) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $4
Five Nights at Freddy's (2023) (MA/HD) $6.50
Flash, The (2023) (MA/4K) $6.75 (MA/HD) $5
Footloose (2011) (Vudu/HD) $5 (iTunes/HD) $3.50
Forever Purge (2021) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $5.50
Foxcatcher (2014) (MA/HD) $3.75
Frankenstein (1931) (MA/4K) $6.25
Free Guy (2021) (MA/4K) $7.25 (MA/HD) $4.50 (GP/HD) $3
Frozen (2013) (MA/4K) $5.50 (MA/HD) $3.50 (GP/HD) $1.50
Frozen Sing-Along Edition (2014) (MA/HD) $3.50 (GP/HD) $1.50
Gattaca (1997) (MA/4K) $6.25
Get on Up (2014) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $4.50
Ghost In The Shell (2017) (Vudu/4K) $6.25 (Vudu/HD) $2.25 (iTunes/4K) $2.75
Ghostbusters II (1989) (MA/HD) $3.50
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) (MA/HD) $3.50
Glory (1989) (MA/4K) $6.50
Godfather (1972) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/4K) $4.75
Godfather Trilogy (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $14
Gods of Egypt (2016) (Vudu/HD) $2
Good Boys (2019) (MA/HD) $3.75
Good Dinosaur (2015) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $5.25 (GP/HD) $2.75
Goosebumps (2015) (MA/HD) $4.75
Gran Turismo (2023) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $3
Grease (1978), 2 (1982), Live! (2016) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $14
Great Wall (2016) (MA/HD) $2.50
Green Knight (2021) (Vudu/4K) $5.25
Grinch (2018) (MA/HD) $6.50
Grizzly Man (2005) (Vudu/HD) $5
Groundhog Day (1993) (MA/4K) $6.50
Grudge (2020) (MA/HD) $6.50
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) (MA/HD) $4.25 (GP/HD) $1.25
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) (MA/HD) $6.25
Hacksaw Ridge (2016) (Vudu/4K) $4.25 (iTunes/4K) $3.50 (Vudu/HD) $2.25
Hail, Caesar! (2016) (MA/HD) $3.50 (iTunes/HD) $2
Happy Death Day 2U (2019) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $6
Hardcore Henry (2016) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3.50
Hell or High Water (2016) (Vudu/HD) $2.25 (iTunes/4K) $3.75
Hellboy (2019) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $4.25
Hercules (1997) (MA/HD) $6.50
Hidden Figures (2016) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $5.50
Hocus Pocus (1993) (MA/4K) $6.75 (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $4.75 (GP/HD) $2.25
Holiday, The (2006) (MA/4K) $6.50
Home (2015) (MA/HD) $2
Home Alone (1990) (MA/HD) $3.50
Home Alone Collection 1-2 (MA/HD) $6.50
Hook (1991) (MA/4K) $6.50
Hotel Transylvania (2012) (MA/HD) $5.75
Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) (MA/HD) $6.50
Hotel Transylvania Collection 1-3 (MA/HD) $16
House of 1,000 Corpses (2003), Devil's Rejects (2005), 3 From Hell (2019) (Vudu/HD) $6
House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) (MA/4K) $5.50 (MA/HD) $3.50
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) (MA/HD) $2
How to Train Your Dragon Collection 1-3 (MA/HD) $7.50
Hunger Games Collection 1-4 (Vudu/HD) $6
Hunter Killer (2018) (Vudu/4K) $5.25 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $3
Huntsman: Winter's War - Extended Edition (2016) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2.75
I Feel Pretty (2018) (iTunes/HD) $1
Ice Age Collection 1-5 (MA/SD) $16
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) (MA/HD) $4.25
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) (MA/HD) $5.25
Imitation Game, The (2014) (Vudu/HD) $3.25
Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks (2017) (iTunes/HD) $3.50
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) (MA/HD) $6
Indiana Jones Collection 1-4 (Vudu/4K) $24 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $20
Inside Out (2015) (MA/4K) $5.75 (iTunes/4K) $4 (GP/HD) $1.50
Insidious: The Red Door (2023) (MA/HD) $5.25
Instant Family (2018) (Vudu/HD) $2 (iTunes/4K) $1.50
Invisible Man (2020) (MA/4K) $6.25 (MA/HD) $3.75
Iron Man (2008) (MA/4K) $7.25 (iTunes/4K) $7 (GP/HD) $3
Iron Man 1-3 (iTunes/4K) $16 (GP/HD) $7.50
Iron Man 2 (2010) (MA/4K) $7.25 (iTunes/4K) $6.50 (GP/HD) $3
Iron Man and Hulk: Heroes United (2013) (MA/HD) $5 (GP/HD) $4
Isle of Dogs (2018) (MA/HD) $5.50
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) (Vudu/4K) $5 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $4.50
Jason Bourne (2016) (MA/4K) $5.25 (iTunes/4K) $3.50 (MA/HD) $3
Jaws (1975) Jaws 2 (1978) Jaws 3 (1983) Jaws: The Revenge (1987) (MA/HD) $15.50
Jerry Maguire (1996) (MA/4K) $6.50
Jesus Music, The (2021) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4.50
Joe (2014) (Vudu/HD) $4.75
John Wick Collection 1-3 (Vudu/4K) $16 (iTunes/4K) $14.50 (Vudu/HD) $8
Jojo Rabbit (2019) (MA/4K) $7.50
Jumanji (1995) (MA/4K) $6.50
Jumanji: Next Level (2019) & Welcome to the Jungle (2017) (MA/HD) $7
Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997) (MA/4K) $6.50 (iTunes/4K) $3.50 (MA/HD) $2.75
Jurassic World (2015) (MA/4K) $4.50 (iTunes/4K) $3.50 (MA/HD) $2.50
Jurassic World Collection 1-5 (iTunes/4K) $17.50 (MA/HD) $8.50
Jurassic World Collection 1-6 (MA/HD) $11
Jurassic World: Dominion + Extended Cut (2022) (MA/4K) $6.25 (MA/HD) $3.75
Justice League: War World (2023) (MA/HD) $5.50
Karate Kid (1984) (MA/4K) $6.50
Killerman (2019) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3.75
Killing Kennedy (2013) (MA/HD) $6
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2016) (MA/4K) $7 (MA/HD) $6.25
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2.75
Knives Out (2019) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $5
Knocked Up (Unrated) (2007) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $5.50
Kung Fu Panda Collection 1-3 (MA/HD) $15
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure (2001) (MA/HD) $7 (GP/HD) $5.50
Last Night in Soho (2021) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $5
Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) (MA/HD) $7.50
Leap! (2017) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3.25
Leon: The Professional (Extended Cut) (1994) (MA/4K) $6.50
Les Miserables (2012) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $2.75
Let Him Go (2020) (MA/HD) $5
Let's Be Cops (2014) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2.50
Life of Pi (2012) (MA/HD) $2.50
Lighthouse (Vudu/HD) $6
Lightyear (2022) (MA/4K) $4.75 (MA/HD) $2.50 (GP/HD) $1.75
Lion King (2019) (MA/4K) $6 (iTunes/4K) $4 (GP/HD) $1.25
Little Mermaid (1989) (MA/4K) $7 (iTunes/4K) $5 (GP/HD) $3.25
Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000) (MA/HD) $6.50 (GP/HD) $5
Little Women (2019) (MA/HD) $5.50
Live Die Repeat: Edge Of Tomorrow (2014) (MA/4K) $5.50
Logan (2017) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2.50
Long Shot (2019) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/4K) $4.25
Looper (2012) (MA/4K) $5.25 (MA/HD) $2.75
Lost City, The (2022) (Vudu/4K) $5.50 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $5
Luca (2021) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $3.75 (GP/HD) $3.25
Lucy (2014) (MA/HD) $2
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022) (MA/HD) $4.25
M3GAN + Unrated (2023) (MA/HD) $5.50
Madagascar Collection 1-4 (MA/HD) $15
Mama (2013) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $3.25
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) (MA/4K) $6.50
Man on a Ledge (2012) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $6.25
Marlowe (2023) (MA/HD) $6.50
Mary Poppins (1964) (MA/HD) $4.25 (GP/HD) $2.75
Mary Poppins Returns (2018) (MA/4K) $6.50 (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $4.50 (GP/HD) $2
Mary Queen of Scots (2018) (MA/HD) $6
Maze Runner (2014) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $5.25
Maze Runner Collection 1-3 (MA/HD) $14.50
Mechanic: Resurrection (2016) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $3
Meg 2: The Trench (2023) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $5
Meg Collection 1-2 (MA/HD) $8.50
Memory (2022) (MA/HD) $3.50
Men (2022) (Vudu/HD) $5
Men in Black (1997) (MA/4K) $6.50
Men in Black Collection 1-3 (MA/HD) $14.50
Mickey & Friends 10 Classic Shorts - Volume 2 (2023) (MA/HD) $6.25 (GP/HD) $5
Mickey & Minnie 10 Classic Shorts - Volume 1 (2023) (MA/HD) $5.25 (GP/HD) $3.75
Midway (2019) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $3.75
Mile 22 (2018) (iTunes/4K) $1.75
Million Dollar Arm (2014) (MA/HD) $4 (GP/HD) $3
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) & Minions (2015) (MA/HD) $7.25
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $5
Missing Link (2019) (MA/HD) $5
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/4K) $7
Mission: Impossible Collection 1-6 (iTunes/4K) $20 (Vudu/HD) $18
Mission: Impossible Fallout (2018) (Vudu/4K) $2.75 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $2.50
Monster Trucks (2016) (Vudu/HD) $2.25
Monsters University (2013) (MA/4K) $6.75 (iTunes/4K) $5.75 (GP/HD) $3.50
Monsters, Inc. (2001) (GP/HD) $5
Monuments Men (2014) (MA/HD) $2
Moonfall (2022) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $4.75
Morbius (2022) (MA/4K) $5 (MA/HD) $3
Mortal Engines (2018) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $3.50
Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2014) (MA/HD) $3.25
Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match (2023) (MA/4K) $6.75 (MA/HD) $5.50
Mother! (2017) (Vudu/HD) $3.25
Mother's Day (2016) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4.75
Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) (MA/HD) $3.50
Much Ado About Nothing (2013) (Vudu/HD) $4.25
Mulan (1998) (MA/4K) $6.75 (MA/HD) $5 (GP/HD) $3
Mummy, The (2017) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2.75
Muppets Most Wanted (2014) (MA/HD) $5.75 (GP/HD) $4.25
Murder on The Orient Express (2017) (MA/HD) $2.50
My Dinner with Herve (2018) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4.25 (GP/HD) $2.75
My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3.50
Night at the Museum 3-Movie (MA/HD) $11.50 (MA/SD) $8
Nightmare Alley (2021) (MA/HD) $4.50 (GP/HD) $3.50
No Hard Feelings (2023) (MA/HD) $5.50
No Time to Die (2021) (iTunes/4K) $3.50
Non-Stop (2014) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $2.75
Nope (2022), Get Out (2017) & Us (2019) (MA/HD) $9
Norm of the North (2016) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $2.75
Northman (2022) (MA/4K) $6.75 (MA/HD) $3.75
Notting Hill (1999) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3.75
Nun 2 (2023) (MA/HD) $6
Office Christmas Party (2016) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $2.25
One Direction: This is Us + Extended Fan Edition (2013) (MA/HD) $3.25
Onward (2020) (MA/4K) $5.25 (MA/HD) $3.75 (GP/HD) $2
Oppenheimer (2023) (MA/HD) $7
Oranges, The (2011) (MA/HD) $4.50
Other Guys, The (2010) (MA/4K) $6.50
Ouija (2014) & Origin of Evil (2016) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $8
Outfit (2022) (MA/HD) $7
Over the Hedge (2006) (MA/HD) $6.50
Paper Towns (2011) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $4.25
Passengers (2016) (MA/HD) $2.25
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/4K) $6.50
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $5.25
Pearl (2022) (Vudu/HD) $6
Perfect Guy (2015) (MA/HD) $3.50
Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) (Vudu/HD) $1.75
Pet Sematary (1989) (Vudu/4K) $5.50 (iTunes/4K) $4 (Vudu/HD) $3.75
Pet Sematary (2019) (Vudu/4K) $4 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $2.50
Peter Pan: Return to Neverland (2002) (MA/HD) $6 (GP/HD) $4.50
Peter Rabbit (2018) & 2 (2021) (MA/HD) $7.50
Peter Rabbit (2018) (MA/4K) $5.75 (MA/HD) $4
Philadelphia (1993) (MA/4K) $6.50
Philomena (2013) (Vudu/HD) $2
Pitch Perfect (2012) (MA/HD) $2.50 (iTunes/4K) $3.50
Pitch Perfect Collection 1-3 (MA/HD) $11.50
Pixar Short Films Collection, Vol. 3 (2018) (MA/HD) $5.25 (GP/HD) $3.25
Pixels (2015) (MA/HD) $5.50
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/4K) $5
Planet of the Apes 1-3 (Newer) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $11
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998) (MA/HD) $5.50 (GP/HD) $3.25
Poltergeist (Extended Cut) (2015) (MA/HD) $5
Pope's Exorcist (2023) (MA/HD) $5.75
Predator (1987) (MA/HD) $3.50
Prince of Egypt (2002) (MA/HD) $5.50
Princess and the Frog (2009) (MA/4K) $7 (iTunes/4K) $5.50 (GP/HD) $3.25
Prodigy (2019) (Vudu/HD) $5
Pulp Fiction (1994) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $5.25 (Vudu/HD) $4
Purge: Anarchy (2014) (MA/4K) $5.50 (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $4.25
Purge: Election Year (2016) (MA/4K $5.25 (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2.75
Puss in Boots (2011) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $5.50
R.I.P.D. (2013) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) (MA/4K) $5 (MA/HD) $4.25 (GP/HD) $1.50
Rambo Collection 1-5 (Vudu/HD) $12.50
Rambo Last Blood (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $2.75
Rampage (2018) (MA/4K) $6.50
Ratatouille (2007) (MA/HD) (iTunes/4K) $7.50
Ray (2004) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $4.75
Ready or Not (2019) (MA/HD) $6.50
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) (MA/4K) $7
Red 2 (2013) (Vudu/4K) $5.75 (iTunes/4K) $3.25 (Vudu/HD) $1.50
Rescuers Down Under (1990) (MA/HD) $5.75 (GP/HD) $4
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) (MA/HD) $2.25
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $3
Riddick Collection 1-3 (Unrated) (MA/HD) $13.50
Ride Along 1-2 (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $5 $2.75 Each
Rio 2 (2014) (MA/HD) $2
Rise of the Guardians (2012) (MA/HD) $3
Robin Hood (2018) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $3
Rock Dog (2016) (Vudu/HD) $4
Rock the Kasbah (2015) (MA/HD) $6.50
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) (MA/HD) $3.50
Rudy (Director's Cut) (1993) (MA/4K) $6.50
Rumble (2022) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $5.50
Safe (2012) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $1.75
Safe House (2012) (MA/HD) $3.50 (iTunes/HD) $2.50
Saint Maud (2020) (Vudu/HD) $6
Santa Clause (1994), 2 (2002), 3 (2006) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $10.50 (GP/HD) $6.50
Sausage Party (2016) (MA/HD) $4.75
Saw Collection 1-7 (Vudu/HD) $9.75
Scary Movie Collection 1-3 (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $13.50
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $3
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) (MA/4K) (iTunes/4K) $5.75 (MA/HD) $5
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) (iTunes/HD) $2.75
Scream 5 (2022) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $5
Scream 6 (2023) (Vudu/4K) $7 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $6.50
Scream Collection 1-3 (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $13.50
Second Act (2018) (iTunes/HD) $1.50
Secret Headquarters (2022) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/4K) $5.50
Secret Life of Pets Collection 1-2 (MA/HD) $7.25
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $4.50
Shallows, The (2016) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD $3.50
Shark Tale (2000) (MA/HD) $5.25
Shrek the Third (2007) (MA/HD) $6
Shutter Island (2010) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $6.50
Silent Night, Deadly Night: 3-Film Collection (1989-1991) (Vudu/HD) $5.50
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) (Vudu/HD) $2
Sing (2016) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2.50
Sing Collection 1-2 (MA/HD) $6
Sixteen Candles (1984) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $4.25
Skyscraper (2018) (MA/4K) $5 (MA/HD) $1.75
Sleepy Hollow (1999) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $6.75
Smile (2022) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/4K) $6.25
Smurfs 2 (2013) (MA/HD) $3
Snake Eyes (2021) (Vudu/4K) $6.75 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $4
Snatched (2017) (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $1
Snitch (2013) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $1.75
Snow White and the Huntsman (Extended) (2012) (iTunes/4K) $3.25 (MA/HD) $2.25
Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937) (MA/HD) $6 (GP/HD) $3.75
Snowpiercer (2013) (Vudu/HD) $5.50
Social Network (2010) (MA/4K) $6.50
Son of a Gun (2015) (Vudu/HD) $5.50
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) (Vudu/4K) $6 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $4.50
Spider-Man Collection 1-8 (MA/HD) $26
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) (MA/4K) $7 (MA/HD) $5.50
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $3.50
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) (MA/4K) $7.50 (MA/HD) $1.50
Spies in Disguise (2019) (MA/HD) $3.50 (GP/HD) $2.50
Spirit Untamed: The Movie (2021) (MA/HD) $5.50
Split (2017) (MA/4K) $6.25 (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2.75
SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) (Vudu/HD) $4.75 (iTunes/HD) $3.50
Spy (Unrated) (2015) (MA/HD) $2
Star Trek Collection 1-3 (Vudu/HD) $9.50 (iTunes/4K) $13.50
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) (Vudu/HD) $1.75 (iTunes/4K) $3.25
Starship Troopers (1997) (MA/4K) $6.50
Step Brothers (2008) (MA/4K) $6.50
Step Up Revolution (2012) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3
Still Alice (2015) (MA/HD) $3.25
Stoker (2013) (MA/HD) $4.50
Strange World (2022) (MA/HD) $5 (GP/HD) $4.25
Stronger (2017) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4.50
Studio 666 (2022) (MA/4K) $7 (MA/HD) $6.25
Super 8 (2011) (Vudu/4K) $5.50 (Vudu/HD) $3.25 (iTunes/4K) $5
Super Buddies (2013) (MA/HD) $4.75 (GP/HD) $3.25
Super Mario Bros Movie (2023) (MA/4K) $7.25 (MA/HD) $5.50
Super Troopers 2 (2018) (MA/HD) $3
Survive the Night (2020) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $2.75
SW: A New Hope (1977) (MA/4K) $7 (GP/HD) $3.50
SW: Force Awakens (2015) (MA/4K) $5.25 (iTunes/4K) $3.50 (GP/HD) $1
SW: Last Jedi (2017) (MA/4K) $5.75 (iTunes/4K) $3.75 (GP/HD) $1
SW: Phantom Menace (1999) (MA/4K) $7.50 (GP/HD) $3.50
SW: Return of the Jedi (1983) (MA/4K) $7.25 (GP/HD) $3.50
SW: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) (iTunes/4K) $5 (GP/HD) $3.50
T2 Trainspotting (2017) (MA/HD) $7
Taken Collection 1-3 (MA/HD) $9
Talk to Me (2023) (Vudu/4K) $6.50
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) (MA/4K) $6.50
Tangled (2010) (MA/HD) $4.75 (GP/HD) $3.50
Tar (2022) (MA/HD) $5.75
Taxi Driver (1976) (MA/4K) $6.50
Ted (2012) (Unrated) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3.75
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) (Vudu/4K) $7.50 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $6.50
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $4.50
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) (Vudu/4K) $6.50 (Vudu/HD) $3 (iTunes/4K) $2.50
Terms of Endearment (1983) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4.25
Thanksgiving (2023) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $5.50
Theory Of Everything (2014) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $3.75
This Is 40 (2012) (MA/HD) $3.75
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) (MA/4K) $6.75 (MA/HD) $3.25 (GP/HD) $2
Thor: Ragnarok (2017) (MA/4K) $7.50 (MA/HD) $3.50 (GP/HD) $1.75
Ticket to Paradise (2022) (MA/HD) $5.75
Till (2022) (iTunes/4K) $6.50
Titanic (1997) (Vudu/4K) $6.50 (Vudu/HD) $4.75 (iTunes/4K) $6
Tomorrowland (2015) (MA/HD) $5.50 (GP/HD) $3.50
Tower Heist (2011) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $3.75
Toy Story 1-4 (MA/4K) $23 (iTunes/4K) $21 (GP/HD) $11.50
Trainwreck (2015) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $1.50
Transformers 1-5 (Vudu/4K) $25 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $23
Transformers: Last Knight (2017) (Vudu/4K) $4.25 (iTunes/4K) $2 (Vudu/HD) $1.75
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) (Vudu/4K) $7 (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $6
Trolls Band Together (2023) (MA/HD) $6.50
Trolls Collection 1-2 (MA/HD) $5.75
Turning Red (2022) (MA/4K) $6.25 (MA/HD) $3.75 (GP/HD) $2.50
Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $6.50
Uncharted (2022) (MA/4K) $5.25 (MA/HD) $3.25
Underwater (2020) (MA/HD) $5.50
Untouchables, The (1987) (Vudu/4K) (iTunes/4K) $5.50
Up (2009) (MA/HD) (iTunes/4K) $7.50
Up in Smoke ‘Cheech and Chong’ (1978) (iTunes/HD) $2.75
Us (2019) (MA/HD) $4.75
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) (Vudu/HD) $3.75
Venom (2005) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4
Venom (2018) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $3
Vice (2015) 'Bruce Willis' (Vudu/HD) $2.50
Vice (2018) 'Christian Bale' (MA/HD) $5
Victor Frankenstein (2015) (MA/HD) (iTunes/4K) $5.50
Violent Night (2022) (MA/HD) $5.75
Vow, The (2012) (MA/HD) $3.25
Walk, The (2015) (MA/HD) $4.25
WALL-E (2008) (MA/HD) (iTunes/4K) $7.50
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) (MA/4K) $6.75 (iTunes/4K) (MA/HD) $2.75
Watch, The (2012) (MA/HD) $4
Waterworld (1995) (MA/HD) $5.50
Waves (2019) (Vudu/HD) $5.50
Way, Way Back, The (2013) (MA/HD) $4.75
Weird Science (2008) (iTunes/HD) Ports to MA $5.75
Whale, The (2022) (Vudu/HD) $6
What Men Want (2019) (Vudu/HD) $1.75 (iTunes/4K) $1.25
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) (MA/HD) $3.75
Whiplash (2014) (MA/4K) $6.50 (MA/HD) $5.50
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) (iTunes/HD) $2
White House Down (2013) (MA/HD) $3.25
Wind River (2017) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4.75
Wings (1927) (Vudu/HD) (iTunes/HD) $4
Wizard of Lies (2017) (iTunes/HD) $4.25 (GP/HD) $3
Wolf of Wall Street (2013) (Vudu/4K) $6 (iTunes/4K) $4 (Vudu/HD) $3.50
Woman King (2022) (MA/4K) $5.75 (MA/HD) $4
Wonder (2017) (iTunes/4K) (Vudu/HD) $2.75
Woodlawn (2015) (MA/HD) (iTunes/HD) $3.50
X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) (MA/HD) $14
X-Men: First Class (2010), Days of Future Past (2004), Apocalypse (2014) (MA/HD) $10.50
Zombieland (2009) (MA/4K) $7.25
Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) (MA/4K) $7.25 (MA/HD) $5.25
submitted by wtfwafflezor to DigitalCodeSELL [link] [comments]

2024.05.10 01:54 Quick_Zoo Mako VS Marlin

Both Marlins and Mako sharks are some of the fastest if not THE fastest predators in the ocean these underwater speed demons make the ocean look like a children's playground. As apex predators, they are always contesting for food. But Who would reign supreme in mortal kombat? Will the Marlin's lethal bill outmaneuver the Mako's relentless jaws? Or will the Mako's ferocious bite prove too much for the Marlin to handle? Lets dive in and find out!
The ‘Mako Shark Genus’ is spilt into two species, ‘Isurus Oxyrinchus’ and ‘Isurus paucus.’ or the Short finned and Long finned mako sharks.’ Both are known for their extremely aggressive nature and demon-like speed despite being slightly smaller than average compared to most other large predatory sharks, (SHOW IMAGE). Mako sharks are without a doubt apex predators. They have been recorded hunting Sea Lions, Tuna, Dolphins, Turtles and even Billfish. However, they have no natural predators but this does not mean they don't have competition. Other large sharks such as Tiger Sharks, Great Whites and other ocean predators including Marlin, Bluefin Tuna and Orcas all hunt similar prey and often fight with Mako sharks when they meet. One thing that makes mako sharks extremely unique amongst sharks is the fact that While most sharks are cold-blooded, Mako Sharks are warm blooded, this allows them to generate and maintain a higher body temperature to reach insane speeds.
Marlins are a type of Billfish and are also endothermic, having warm blood, to heat up muscles making them significantly faster and more energetic predators. Marlins belong to the ‘Istiophoriform Family’ or Marlins. are split into 5 unique species, the largest and most powerful being the ‘Blue Marlin’ and the black marlin which we will focus on for this video. Both the Blue and black marlin are exceptionally fast and the black marlin, is the fastest fish being even faster then sailfish which were once thought to be the fastest fish The Sailfish reached recorded speeds of 110km/hr. But the black marlin is now known to be able to reach 130km/h which smashes this record both of these marlins are is highly migratory. Following warm ocean currents for 1000’s of kilometers. They typically feed on Tuna, Mackerel, Dolphinfish and even dive deep to hunt squid. weirdly There have also been recorded cases of Blue Marlins and Mako sharks working together to hunt small whale sharks. Like the mako, marlins are also considered as Apex predators, few creatures can match a fully-grown marlin's strength, speed, aggressiveness, and their lethal bill serves as a dangerous weapon.
One known fact is that, Gravity does not have the same effect on land as in water, allowing marine creatures to grow to absurd sizes without consequences. The largest Mako Shark recorded was off the coast of California in 2013. Reaching 4.45m or 14.6ft in length, weighing 600 kg or 1300 lbs. However the largest recorded Marlin was a black marlin that reached a length of 4.4m or 14.5ft long and weighed 707 kg or 1560 lbs. Also these underwater missiles are hefty with a girth of 2m or 6.7ft.
Off the coast of New Zealand in 2020, a Shortfinned Mako’s bite force was recorded at 13,000 Newtons or 3,000 Pounds-of-force. The bite force of marlins is controversial and somewhat subjective as their, Biteforce has never been directly recorded. However a study from the University of South Florida suggests they can generate 306 Pounds-of-force. Now this is somewhat weak. But since Billfish only have very small teeth and swallow prey whole, they have no need for strong jaws.
Both of the torpedoes have fast-twitch fiber muscles and a streamlined body that allows them to power through water. Additionally they both have specialized blood vessels that allow them to keep their body temperatures higher than surrounding water giving them both insane amounts of stamina. The mako has been recorded jumping 20 feet above the surface and going from a dead still to 100 feet in less than two seconds. For reference, the Human world record is 3.81seconds. Meaning the mako can easily reach speeds of 100 km/hr or 60mph. Yet this is still no match for the Billfish family. The BBC has reported Marlin reaching speeds of 130 km/hr or 80mph. In other words this is 36m per second or 120 feet. Many of you don’t realize how impressive both of these speeds are as water is at least 830 times more dense than air. when it comes to agility, the Marlin also beats the Mako. Due to its more streamlined body and larger fins which can extend for turning and braking and subdue for speed.
Having the one of the highest brain to body ratios among all shark species, makos are highly intelligent, being observed using their own body to ram prey before eating it. On the other side, Marlins are not incredibly smart. Having an extremely high prey drive, they would much rather chase a fish down then feed on an already dead one, the hunting strategies of these two animals are also much different. The Mako uses its 5 senses, sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, plus two special senses which are electroreceptors and lateral lines. These two allow the Mako to detect electric fields in their environment, similar to a 3D sonar. As well as sense vibrations and movement all around them. Abusing this Makos exploit their speed and charge any prey with intentions of a devastating bite . Where as, Marlins do not have electroreceptors, giving them a huge disadvantage. Using a similar tactic to Makos, they also exploit their speed and use their Bill to rather slashing or stabbing prey.
Shark skin is an underwater masterpiece. Being incredibly rough, tough, and streamline, (SHOW IMAGE). Armored with tiny, overlapping scales called dermal denticles. These denticles are exceptionally hard and provide protection against abrasions and potential injuries. Whereas, the marlin's skin is coated in small, thin, overlapping scales, the Mako sharks number one weapon, their jaws have sharply pointed and curved teeth, perfect for catching and holding onto fast-moving fish and other prey. A completely different style of weaponry is the marlins spear like bill. Reaching just over a meter or 3.5 feet. Marlins can use this to stab or slash at prey, stunning and impaling them.
A weakness for both creatures is their inability to stay still or swim backwards. As they need constant flow of oxygen over their gills for respiration. If the marlin was to get suck and impale an animal, it must thrash vigorously side to side to escape, dealing immense damage, yet ultimately vulnerable from everything else. Another weakness is its soft skin, which makes the marlin one shot or nothing.
Don’t forget, you might be listening and not subscribed. The next few weeks we have a lot of major and interesting topics planned. And you don’t want to miss those, along with everything else. So the only way to ensure you don’t is by clicking the subscribe button, it's free, it supports the channel and it makes me happy. So please go and do it, Thank you.
So who will win Between a Mako shark and a Marlin? Well not gonna lie, it's a tough call. However, the two factors which give us a clear winner relate to their intelligence and weaknesses. Here at QuickZoo, we truly believe that 9 times out of 10, the Mako Shark would easily subdue a Marlin. This is because of its clear advantage of jaws, its electroreceptors which give it greater perception ability and its incredibly tough skin. The Marlin does have the speed and agility advantage, however people underestimate the strength and durability of shark skin.
if you agree, like the video? And if you don’t dislike it? Actually don't do that, anyways Let me know what you think in the comments!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDcd3p4YH4w
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2024.05.09 23:41 blankblank Chronological list of sneaker innovations

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2024.05.09 23:38 clikrcs Officer 3 attained

Officer 3 attained submitted by clikrcs to RoadtoValorWWII [link] [comments]

2024.05.08 23:52 IDontKnowWhatToEat93 [WTS] Small and random Gold

All sold!
Proof: https://imgur.com/a/ffMpAlX
Venmo/PayPal. Open to offers (just don’t offer melt)
1853 Gold $1 PCGS slabbed/Genuine - $290.00
Below items are sold
2020 Sierra Leone Big Cats - $55.00ea or all 3 for $150.00 * Panther * Tiger * Cougar
Tonga 10 and 20 Pa’anga gold coins - $90.00 (Melt is around $81.00)
2022 Cook Island Ptolomaios 0.5g - $55.00
1996 Chinese 1/20 gold Unicorn - $125.00
Shipping is $5.00. Package will be shipped usps ground advantage unless something else is requested.
submitted by IDontKnowWhatToEat93 to Pmsforsale [link] [comments]

2024.05.08 19:22 AdrenalineRush1996 Big Six North American major league statistics

Big Six North American major league statistics
The six in question are Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL), National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Canadian Football League (CFL) and Major League Soccer (MLS).

Major League Baseball

The official logo for the MLB.
  • Founded: 1869
  • American teams: 29
  • Canadian teams: 1
  • Most titles: New York Yankees, 27 titles
  • Championship: World Series
  • Most appearances: Pete Rose, 3562 games (1963-1986)
  • Number of teams from first season (1901): 16 - American League: Chicago White Stockings (Chicago White Sox), Boston Americans (Boston Red Sox), Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Athletics (Oakland Athletics), Baltimore Orioles (New York Yankees), Washington Senators (Minnesota Twins), Cleveland Blues (Cleveland Guardians) and Milwaukee Brewers (Baltimore Orioles); National League: Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Superbas (Los Angeles Dodgers), St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Beaneaters (Atlanta Braves), Chicago Orphans (Chicago Cubs), New York Giants (San Francisco Giants) and Cincinnati Reds
  • Most watched game on TV: New York Mets vs. Boston Red Sox (World Series Game 7); 55-60 million (NBC) - October 27, 1986

National Hockey League

The official logo for the NHL.
  • Founded: 1917
  • American teams: 25 (1 upcoming)
  • Canadian teams: 7
  • Most titles: Montreal Canadiens, 25 titles
  • Championship: Stanley Cup
  • Most appearances: Patrick Marleau, 1779 games (1997-2021)
  • Number of teams from first season (1917-18): Four - Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Hockey Club (Toronto Maple Leafs), Ottawa Senators and Montreal Wanderers
  • Most watched game on TV: Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Black Hawks (Stanley Cup Finals Game 7); 12.41 million (CBS) - May 18, 1971

National Football League

The official logo for the NFL.
  • Founded: 1920
  • American teams: 32
  • Canadian teams: None due to CFL
  • Most titles: Green Bay Packers, 13 titles
  • Championship: Super Bowl
  • Most appearances: Morten Andersen, 382 games (1982-2007)
  • Number of teams from first season (1920): 14 - Akron Pros, Decatur Staleys (Chicago Bears), Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Cardinals (Arizona Cardinals), Rock Island Independents, Dayton Triangles (Indianapolis Colts), Rochester Jeffersons, Canton Bulldogs, Detroit Heralds, Cleveland Tigers, Chicago Tigers, Hammond Pros, Columbus Panhandles and Muncie Flyers
  • Most watched game on TV: Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers (Super Bowl); 123.4 million (CBS) - February 11, 2024

National Basketball Association

The official logo for the NBA.
  • Founded: 1946
  • American teams: 29
  • Canadian teams: 1
  • Most titles: Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, 17 titles
  • Championship: NBA Finals
  • Most appearances: Robert Parish, 1611 games (1976-1997)
  • Number of teams from first season (1946-47): 11 - Eastern Division: Washington Capitols, Philadelphia Warriors (Golden State Warriors), New York Knicks, Providence Steamrollers, Boston Celtics and Toronto Huskies; Western Division: Chicago Stags, St. Louis Bombers, Cleveland Rebels, Detroit Falcons and Pittsburgh Ironmen
  • Most watched game on TV: Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz (NBA Finals Game 6); 35.89 million (NBC) - June 14, 1998

Canadian Football League

The official logo for the CFL.
  • Founded: 1958
  • American teams: None due to NFL
  • Canadian teams: 9 (1 upcoming)
  • Most titles: Edmonton Elks, 11 titles
  • Championship: Grey Cup
  • Most appearances: Lui Passaglia, 408 games (1976-2000)
  • Number of teams from first season (1958): Nine - Western Interprovincial Football Union: Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Edmonton Eskimos (Edmonton Elks), Saskatchewan Roughriders, Calgary Stampeders and BC Lions; Interprovincial Rugby Football Union: Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes, Ottawa Rough Riders (Ottawa Redblacks) and Toronto Argonauts
  • Most watched game on TV: Montreal Alouettes vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders (Grey Cup); 6.1 million (TSN) - November 29, 2009

Major League Soccer

The official logo for the MLS.
  • Founded: 1993
  • American teams: 26 (1 upcoming)
  • Canadian teams: 3
  • Most titles: LA Galaxy, five titles
  • Championship: MLS Cup
  • Most appearances: Nick Rimando, 514 games (2000-2019)
  • Number of teams from first season (1996): Ten - Eastern Conference: Tampa Bay Mutiny, D.C. United, NY/NJ Metrostars (New York Red Bulls), Columbus Crew and New England Revolution; Western Conference: Los Angeles Galaxy (LA Galaxy), Dallas Burn (FC Dallas), Kansas City Wiz (Sporting Kansas City), San Jose Clash (San Jose Earthquakes) and Colorado Rapids
  • Most watched game on TV: Inter Miami vs. Cruz Azul (Leagues Cup); 12.5 million (FS1) - July 21, 2023
submitted by AdrenalineRush1996 to u/AdrenalineRush1996 [link] [comments]

2024.05.06 14:37 sonofabutch No game today, so let's remember a forgotten Yankee: Poison Ivy Andrews

"He always said he wasn’t a star player, but that he played with the stars." -- Josephine Andrews, Ivy's widow
"Poison" Ivy Andrews book-ended his career with the Yankees, starting in 1931 with Babe Ruth and Earle Combs and ending in 1938 with Joe DiMaggio and Joe Gordon. In between he played for three other teams and with a total of 16 Hall of Famers!
Ivy Paul Andrews -- Poison was the nickname, Ivy was his given name, and who knows why his parents gave him that first name -- was born May 6, 1907, in the coal mining city of Dora, Alabama. His father was a coal miner, as well as at least three of his brothers.
Andrews played football, basketball, and baseball for his high school team, and the Daily Mountain Eagle called him "possibly, the greatest athlete ever produced in Walker County."
After high school, he played semi-pro baseball and was signed by a minor league team in Mobile. There, he was spotted by scout Eddie Herr, who convinced the Yankees to spend $25,000 to purchase his contract.
Andrews spent the next four years in the minors, having some good years -- he went 9-1 for Albany in 10 games in 1929 -- but also some injuries that derailed his progress. In 1931, at the age of 24, he was pitching for the Jersey City Skeeters in the International League. The manager there was former major league pitcher and Previously Forgotten Yankee Bob Shawkey, who helped turn several promising prospects into bona fide pitchers, including Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez, Johnny Allen, and another previously Forgotten Yankee, Spud Chandler.
Ivy wasn't great for the Skeeters, 7-12 with a 4.29 ERA, but the Yankees were struggling and needed a pitcher. More impressive than his minor league numbers was a start Andrews made in an exhibition game against the Reds in Cincinnati, throwing a shutout. Five days later, Andrews was in Detroit for his major league debut against one of the worst teams in the league, the Detroit Tigers. It wasn't pretty -- he gave up four runs, three earned, on 10 hits in six innings -- and he left with the Yankees trailing 4-1. But the Yankees rallied with a three-run 8th inning to tie it up and it went to extra innings and finally won it after 16 innings. Babe Ruth homered and Tony Lazzeri went 4-for-8 with an RBI.
He stayed with the Yankees the rest of the year as a swingman, three starts and four relief appearances, and finished his debut season 2-0 with a 4.19 ERA (96 ERA+) and a 1.282 WHIP in 34.1 innings.
The following year he started the season in the same role, getting one start and three relief appearances. In 24.2 innings, he had a 1.82 ERA and 1.176 WHIP, but the Yankees -- already eyeing October after a 32-14 start -- wanted a more veteran pitcher. On June 5, the rookie was traded to the Red Sox for Danny MacFayden. Though only two years older, MacFayden was in his seventh season in the majors and had won 16 games the previous year.
MacFayden was no doubt happy to be out of last place Boston, but it wasn't a bad move for Ivy, either, as he finally earned a spot in the rotation. He went 8-6 with a 3.81 ERA (117 ERA+) in 141.2 innings with the Red Sox.
The following year Andrews went 7-13 with the Red Sox, then was traded to the St. Louis Browns for Carl Reynolds, a former Washington Senator who in 1932 was in one of the most famous brawls of the era against the Yankees' Bill Dickey.
Ivy had three pretty good years for a bad Browns team, going 24-30 with a 4.29 ERA (117 ERA+). In 1937, the Cleveland Indians acquired him from the Browns, along with former Yankee Lyn Lary and former Yankee prospect Moose Solters, for two future Yankees in Oral Hildebrand and Bill Knickerbocker, plus Joe Vosmik, who the Yankees nearly had a deal for in 1935.
Ivy made his Indians debut at home in Cleveland on April 24, 1937... and got a rude welcome! The Sporting News reported on April 29, 1937, that Andrews was booed by the home fans because he took the mound in relief of teenage sensation Bob Feller, who had been pulled from the game after six innings.
The boy's withdrawal, as already recorded, brought good-natured Andrews to the box and he went to work in a mild chorus of cat-calls, not directed at him, of course, but at the sudden disappearance of Feller.
Andrews won the crowd over with three scoreless innings of relief. The fans didn't know until later that Feller, who struck out 11 but also gave up four runs on four hits and six walks, was pulled due to elbow pain; he'd make just three more appearances over the first half, but after the All-Star Break made 17 starts and posted a 3.29 ERA.
On May 8, Andrews threw a four-hit shutout against the Yankees, out-dueling Lefty Gomez. It was, believe it or not, the first time we had been shut out that season, and we wouldn't be shut out again until the end of September.
The 1937 Yankees were indeed a powerhouse, with a double-digit lead on 1st place in the middle of August. But trouble was brewing as Spud Chandler's chronic arm troubles were flaring up again.
Five years earlier the Yankees had a big lead and were thinking of adding a veteran pitcher for October when they traded the rookie Andrews to the Red Sox. Now, in 1937, the situation was reversed. On August 14, we bought the contract of the veteran Andrews from Cleveland for $7,500 and put him back into his swingman role, and over the final six weeks of the season he went 3-2 with a 3.12 ERA (145 ERA+) in five starts and six relief appearances. In the postseason that year, he was used as a reliever in the Yankees' only loss of the series, a 7-3 defeat in Game 4. (Previously forgotten Yankee Bump Hadley was bombed for five runs on six hits in the first two innings, and Andrews pitched the next six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks.) It would be the only postseason appearance of his career.
The following year, despite battling a leg injury that caused him to miss about a month, Andrews posted a 3.00 ERA (153 ERA+) and 1.417 WHIP in 48.0 innings mostly in relief. On September 28, 1938, with the Yankees coasting into the World Series with a 9.5 game lead, Ivy got his only start of the season in a game against the Washington Nationals. He gave up four runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk, taking the 4-1 loss. No one knew at the time, but it was the 31-year-old's final major league appearance. He was on the World Series roster but not needed as the Yankees used only four pitchers in a sweep of the Chicago Cubs.
In 1939, Andrews opened the year with the Yankees' top minor league team, the Newark Bears. Used as swingman, he went 7-5 with a 3.13 ERA in eight starts and 27 relief appearances. One of Ivy's teammates on that team was prospect Marius Russo, a previously forgotten Yankee. When the Yankees needed another starter in June, it wasn't Andrews but the 24-year-old Russo -- who had a 1.97 ERA in 10 starts for the Bears -- who got the call.
After the season, Andrews was traded to the Pacific Coast League in exchange for a prospect with the intriguing name of Rugger Ardizoia. He'd play in the minors for a few more seasons, with some good games here and there -- he threw back-to-back shutouts in 1944, crediting it to a "horseshoe and two rabbit feet" -- but never got back to the Show. In 1945, almost 38 years old, he hoped for one more season in the minors with the Mobile Bears but didn't make the team out of spring training and retired.
Poison Ivy remained active as a high school football and basketball coach and referee, and in the late 1940s was the pitching coach for his hometown Birmingham Barons. But his primary occupation was as a carpenter and contractor. His wife, Josephine -- he married her in 1934 -- became a history teacher at his alma mater, Dora High School. Andrews died in 1970 at the age of 63.
In 1975, the Andrews Award was established at Dora High School in his memory. It recognizes a senior with good grades who played two or more sports, as selected by the coaches, principal, and seniors. In 1979, a baseball field at Dora Municipal Park was named in his honor.
In 1985, Andrews was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. As Andrews was being considered for posthumous induction, Joe DiMaggio and Bill Dickey wrote letters of support:
"I remember Paul as a quiet, soft spoken affable man. But, inside that quiet reserve, he had a fiery competitive spirit that made him such a valuable asset to the Yankees that it was easy for him to fit into our teams of that era." -- Joe DiMaggio
"Paul made himself a fine pitcher with hard work and determination. He was aggressive, a gentleman and an asset to every club he was with." -- Bill Dickey
A Little More Poison?
In four seasons with the Yankees, Ivy Andrews was 8-6 with a 3.12 ERA (140 ERA+) and 1.327 WHIP in 156.0 innings. That ERA+ reveals just how good he was, albeit in limited usage, while in pinstripes. Overall, in eight seasons, he was 50-59 with a 4.14 ERA (114 ERA+).
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2024.05.06 06:06 Stellar_lady Children book of short stories, from the 90s, for preschoolers, lots of illustrations few words, has a cover of a child falling from the ceiling into some lady spaghetti dinner

I can’t remember the title. It was a fiction book, there were lots of small stories in it.
The two stories I remember are one in black and white, maybe some sepia colors too about a little prince and his small horse that went to look for a dragon along the way the book narrated the sounds the horse made with his hooves on the terrain and the sounds the other animals made: like ‘clip clop clippity clop’ ‘croak croak’ ‘splash splash’ or something along those lines. They found the dragon and it got angry so it roared very loud making the prince and his horse scared so they ran back to his small castle making a lot of noise disrupting the forest, swamp and all the places they passed until they returned and closed the gate then went to sleep. The second one I remember was about a girl who went to the zoo and dreamed about owning a lion or tiger and having it as a pet, taking care of it and putting ribbons in its mane. It was a preschool book of stories.
It was hardcover, had the illustration of a blond kid using yellow pajamas I think, falling from the ceiling onto an old lady’s spaghetti dinner. There probably was parts of a bed falling too can’t remember very well. Also had a golden ribbon printed on a side probably from some award the book won.
It wasn’t a long book but it was a bit in the big side for a small child. It was in English.
I read it around 1996 I think. I was 6 years so it was age appropriate.
It was my sister’s book from school the one they used to encourage children to read.
Thanks for the help!
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2024.05.04 17:03 subredditsummarybot Your weekly /r/BeatsNRhymes roundup for the week of April 27 - May 03, 2024

Saturday, April 27 - Friday, May 03, 2024

New Videos

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5 1 comments [New Video] Napoleon Da Legend & Rhettmatic - The King Walk [Sp] [AM] [BC] [Dzr]
3 1 comments [New Video] J57 ft. Slug (Atmosphere), Santa Fey - THE HEART IN MY SOUL [Sp]
3 1 comments [New Video] Roc Marciano - LeFlair [Sp] [AM] [Dzr] [SC]
3 2 comments [New Video] The Bad Seed - Ronnie Home (prod by Nam Nitty)
2 0 comments [New Video] Pyraminds Crew feat K-Prez - Bring It Back
 

New Songs

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5 1 comments [New] Ghostface Killah feat Nas - Scar Tissue [Sp] [AM]
5 1 comments [New] Madlib x Black Thought x Your Old Droog - REEKYOD [Sp] [AM]
3 0 comments [New] Tragedy Khadafi - Ill Allah Spit
3 1 comments [New] DJ Semi - Juggernauts (feat. Conway the Machine & Royce Da 5'9") [Sp] [AM] [Dzr]
3 1 comments [New] Guilty Simpson & The Alchemist - Giants Of The Fall (prod. Kong The Artisan) [Sp] [AM] [Dzr]
 

Freestyle

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2 0 comments [Freestyle] Papoose - Food For Thought (Prod. by Beats by Dee)
 

Live

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3 0 comments [live] Buckshot (Black Moon) - Weinheim, Germany 2024 (live)
3 0 comments [live] STYLES P / SHEEK LOUCH BRING THE SMOKE TO THE 4/20 BUD DROP SHOW 2024 NYC
2 0 comments [live] De La Soul - Live At Tramps, NYC, 1996 (Full Concert)
 

BeatsNRhymes

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3 1 comments [BeatsNRhymes] Q-Unique - The Set Up [Sp] [AM] [BC] [Dzr] [SC]
3 1 comments [BeatsNRhymes] Diabolic - Game Time (Ft. Sean Price & Vinnie Paz) (prod. by 5th Seal) [Sp] [AM] [Dzr] [SC]
3 0 comments [BeatsNRhymes] Streetlife Feat. Method Man - Story Of My Life
3 0 comments [BeatsNRhymes] Tone Spliff Feat. Percee P & King Magnetic - Check The Beatdown
3 0 comments [BeatsNRhymes] Godfather Don x Debonair P - The Ill Tone Generator (Album)
 

Throwback

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3 0 comments [Throwback] Domingo Feat. Bamboo - Not the Ones To Sleep On
3 1 comments [Throwback] Def Squad - Full Cooperation [Sp] [AM] [BC] [Dzr] [SC]
2 0 comments [Throwback] Havoc - Hear Dat
 

Top Remaining

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2 0 comments [New] Roc Marciano - Hennessey In A Tea Cup
2 0 comments [BeatsNRhymes] Mooch & Raticus Feat. Milano Constantine - Dope Heaven
2 1 comments [BeatsNRhymes] Eddie Kaine & Big Ghost LTD Feat. Rim - Crooktown
2 1 comments Your weekly /BeatsNRhymes roundup for the week of April 20 - April 26, 2024
 
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2024.05.04 11:50 EvanDeadlySins Post NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2024 Day 2 Discussion Thread

Watch

Venue
Fukuoka International Center
Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
Attendance: 4,238
Results
Match Notes
Togi Makabe & Katsuya Murashima def. (7:08) Naoki Sakurajima & Jet Wei "Frontier Zone" Tag Team Match
TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) def. (8:08) Tiger Mask IV & Shoma Kato Tag Team Match
United Empire (Great O-Khan & Francesco Akira) def. (7:54) Just 2 Guys (Yuya Uemura & DOUKI) Tag Team Match
TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita) def. (9:27) United Empire (Jeff Cobb & Callum Newman) Tag Team Match
Hikuleo, El Phantasmo, Shota Umino & El Desperado vs. (7:26) House of Torture (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) Eight Man Tag Team Match
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Boltin Oleg def. (8:57) Just 2 Guys (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku) Tag Team Match
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) def. (9:56) Bullet Club (Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo) Eight Man Tag Team Match
Bullet Club (KENTA & Chase Owens) def. (12:44) Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (c) IWGP Tag Team Championship Match
Shingo Takagi (c) def. (21:23) Gabe Kidd NEVER Openweight Championship Match
David Finlay def. (15:34) Nic Nemeth (c) IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship Match
Jon Moxley (c) def. (25:18) Ren Narita IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match
Useful Links

#NJDontaku

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http://swiebodzin.info