Westbridge the same day Redlina arrived.
The Kestral brigades had returned and began settling in again after the seemingly failed expedition to Ork Mountain. The Praetorians had begun preparations to move much of their logistics to waycross. The Boat force licked their wounds and prepared to move out once more, but Westbridge itself was restless, the civilian population was hungry, only being kept in check by the overly oppressive number of guardsmen and Batherstons actions during the last riot but how long would that last? There had been the raid on the food warehouses the other night that had only just been foiled but adding fuel to the unrest was the fact the Valyrrans had intensified their 'questioning' after each incident and with Commissar Gardners death it appeared the abhumans wanted blood...
Valyrran Intelligence officers Valtin Redlina and Vilkes had been given the green light so to speak, they had been restrained for far too long in their opinion but Commissar Lion had finally approved for more drastic action even though Elzy, Oats and Fizzy's investigation continued into the 1066th's commissars death, the issue of the rest of the T'au operatives was unresolved and while brutal, the Valyrran officers had come to an agreement. Of the few hundred that had been dragged for questioning twenty-three had been unable to provide adequate alibis or cast enough doubt as to their loyalties to the xenos and as such twenty unlucky "rebels" today would find themselves being a bloody reminder to the others about what happens when individuals try to oppose Imperial rule and the remaining three whom Fizzy had been able to get more information out of would get another round of questioning.
People had noticed the abhumans acting strange at first, squads marching towards the main square outside city hall, the other Imperial officers had all been notified that there was going to be something happening at the town hall that might cause a reaction from the T'au operatives if they still had not been caught and to remain on high alert for any opportunistic sabotage attempts.
Redlina had marched out after her meeting with the other officers and had passed the prisoners being marched the other direction, she caught her son's eyes as she passed. He looked worried seeing her condition but to his credit quickly hid his emotions and continued on with his grim duty. Today the Valyrrans would execute the 20 collaborators in line with Imperial law as approved by a member of the commissariat. it was not pretty and it would not be popular but the abhumans demanded blood. To them a commissar represented the Emperor's will, to kill one of them was a shock to the system that could break the Valyrrans fighting spirit if not addressed.
The Valyrrans had been allowed to perform the execution but the deaths had to be quick. Something that anyone who had witnessed the executions at Deltapoint would understand was a mercy. The sentence was announced via loudspeaker and the execution would happen at 1900 hours sharp, the main square was lined with Valyrrans watching the crowd that would surely form to witness it, keeping anyone away from the prisoners at bayonet point.
Dex's squad had been called up from barracks and the motley group of Valyrran specialists and tag-along Minthelian now sat inside a crassus armoured transport with the ramp down, they were in reserve but in doing so had been placed rather close to the about to be executed prisoners. Darwin was sitting beside Hazel and blocked her view of the outside and sat with one large hand on her leg with the other holding the giant autocannon they both were responsible for. Sitting opposite Hazel was a Valyrran intelligence officer who was fiddling with his ornate powerclaw and humming a tune to himself, evidently looking forward to using said claw on someone shortly. Dex and the others sat looking uninterested, having any excuse to be out of the barracks was great but the Intelligence officer sitting opposite was not what anyone wanted to have to share a cramped space with ever.
////
15 minutes later Inside the hospital in relative privacy, Redlina sat stripped to the waist to allow Doctor Kellan to check her rather serious stab wound, the very literal Valyrran had scowled at her and advised the general that she should have had this injury treated a day ago and that if she had been a normal human she most likely would be dead. Redlina had ignored him and instead stared at Lion who was still at eye height even with Redlina sitting. it was just the three of them inside Kellan's cramped office away from prying eyes and ears.
"You wanted to discuss Major Zero commissar." Redlina stated after wincing as the doctor unwrapped her blood stained bandages.
"Yes, the... other regiments are pushing for a formal inquiry or court martial." he said with his hands clasped behind his back trying not to show his discomfort at seeing the general in this state of undress.
She raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression you had already made your decision Commissar?"
Lion tried his best to not show any annoyance. "Yes... but Colonels Arvin and Braithwaite have formally requested this go outside of the regiments internal disciplinary procedure, as you can surely understand, a guardsman is dead and its a Taronian one at that. Zero may have defended herself but she hardly does herself any favours with her conduct. That and the fact she is more than capable of overpowering two Taronians in the dark without killing one. If she hadnt killed anyone then this would not have developed into this at all... general we cannot ignore it or brush it aside without causing damage to relations, unnecessary damage at that. Both colonels are sensible people, we should find a way that eases both of their concerns and satisfies their request for action."
Redlina took a deep breath and in doing so got a grunt of disapproval from Kellan who was trying to clean her wound while this conversation was going on. "She is not being demoted, you and I were firmly in agreement with that before and my opinion has not changed, I wont pull my best armour officer off the line over one dead guardsman and grumbling from the other regiments."
Lion nodded. "True but even still, is this worth fighting both the Taronians and Praetorians over? if it comes to it I wont allow them to conduct a public inquiry involving officers as that will devolve into backing their side. A commissariat run inquiry perhaps will be better, its the most likely outcome that will not cause more issues and would be seen as neutral."
Redlina did not blink, her red eyes burning into Lions soul or so it felt like to him.
"You are the commissar for the 1st Valyrran, these matters fall to you. If you support an inquiry then I will not object. I will punish her as per our internal regimental policies for bringing the regiment into disrepute"
"You're not going to kill her are you?"
"No, nor will I demote her regardless of the outcome or recommendation of this commissariat hearing. Now unless there is anything else you are dismissed."
Lion saluted and left the room, he would notify the involved parties and begin preparations for the inquiry that would happen once fort Ko'Var was taken.
Kellan did not comment, he simply continued prodding around the wound completely distracted by his task.

/////

General Redlina to Colonels Arvin and Braithwaite.
In regards to your calls for an inquiry into Major Elaen's (Zero) conduct that resulted in the death of a Taronian guardsman. I believe myself & Commissar Lion have already made it clear. She will not be demoted nor removed from her position over this. In his eyes and therefore my own, the Major defended herself from an attack from two Taronian guardsmen that did not stand down nor identify themselves and the resulting death was purely an accident as affirmed in the majors report of the incident.
Regardless after consulting with Commissar Lion, he believes a commissariat led inquiry into the event should take place to show all parties that this incident is being taken seriously the inquiry can come to a decision as to whom is at fault and that will settle the matter.
Additionally unrelated to the inquiry or its findings Major Elaen will be subjected to public flogging after the fortress is taken. 500 Lashes. For failing in her duty as a senior officer of the 1st Valyrran and resulting in the requirement for this inquiry to even take place.
Zero will be informed of this decision at the commencment of the inquiry once the fortress is taken. I take the discipline of my Valyrrans very seriously but I also do not appreciate this public push for an inquiry by two of my commanders.
In his name.
General Victoria Redlina, 1st Valyrran. Northern Front Commander.
/////
Taskforce Liberation forward command post. North of Fort Ko'Var
Colonel Lilzton stood atop his command Salamander scout vehicle nestled into a well concealed observers position on a mountainside overlooking the fortress, around him troops moved anti thermal tarps and random pieces of foilage to further conceal their command post. he looked down to the near treeline and saw his Liberation troops running back and forth, they had been digging trenches and foxholes closer towards the clearing and the frankly suicidal stretch of open ground leading up to the northern road into the fortress itself. He was not going to order an infantry or armour charge until he was sure they had suppressed the T'au defenders, just as they had always planned.
His vox crackled to life suddenly making him snap out of his thoughts, his vox operator turned to him and held up a headset. "All batteries in position colonel, dug in and ready to begin on your order."
He was frankly astounded the 5 artillery Captains had somehow managed to get all 500 heavy guns into position, the amount of cannons Liberation had brought to bare was monumental, it had taken 30 years to gather them all and now all that hard work was paying off, some would say this many guns pointed at a single target was overkill but Liberation had to take this fort as the first of many strongpoints if it wanted to take back Gryllus so better to go overkill than play it safe. Especially with the large Imperial forces approaching the fort from the south too.
"Juno, Falcon, Thunder, Proton, Sword. Commence bombardment on your presighted marks. Observers will report effectiveness, dont let our rounds stray too far we must avoid hitting the far side once the southern forces get into position."
There was silence followed by five confirmations and then the mountains themselves shook. Liberation launched the first salvo of many and a deafening roar of hundreds of guns caused the forests themselves to shake. Darrah panned his magnoculars over to the fort and after a few moments of anticipation, great plumes of dirt and snow erupted all over the fortress outer wall, sending chunks of rock and permacrete flying. It was only the beginning, a wall of noise began to echo back across the open ground towards Liberations lines. He barked into the vox for spotters to remain on alert and anti air teams to watch for any drones that slipped through the outer lines.
"Hunter, Flash, prepare your units for the next phase, we wait for the signal from southern command." Just behind the infantry two hundred leman russ tanks sat in defilade, all of them pointed south towards the fort. When the signal was given they would begin an armoured charge in an effort to break through the outer wall and pave the way for the infantry riding in salamanders to flood in behind in what was hoped would be a shock assault that would crush through the defenders positions and break the siege quickly rather than force a prolonged and tedius war of attrition with the dug in defenders.
Now was the worst part... waiting. He wondered what Kaia was doing right now.
////
Major Toina 1st Valyrran, 12th Assault Company. On route to Fort Ko'Var from the south.
Another ambush up ahead had caused the slowly trundling convoy to screech to a halt, tailbacks the entire way through the forest all the way back to Waycross. Major Toina knew it was another ambush when she heard the explosions up ahead and the crackle of lasguns firing through the morning fog. After Major Baxton had been killed during the first ambush the convoy had continued and now Toina was again awoken from her restless sleep by explosions and reports of ambush up by the Taronian vanguard.
"More drones, only light resistance, one Trojan is immobilized, moving it off the road over." A Taronian reported from the front. It seemed that even now the T'au commander was using their drones to try and slow the advance but they must know by now it was hopeless.
An hour later and Toina's Crassus arrived at what had been selected as the mustering point just south of the fortress. She opened the hatch of her crassus and her augmented abhuman hearing meant she could hear the thundering artillery duel occuring to the north very clearly. A sign that Liberation had lived up to its end of the bargain and begun to shell the entire northern side of the fortress, the noise was relentless and she noticed that many Valyrrans had put on their helmets with the inbuilt mufflers to try and alleviate the noise.
////
At Waycross, Major Zero was about to join the column of vehicles heading north, her 9 Macharius would be needed for the first attack supposedly and Major Minton had a plan for her. She saw a crassus from the 14th assault company just ahead of her towing a trailer filled with melta charges and another was being fitted with the specialised melta ram that Valyrran troops had developed to breach Ork fortifications back home, the fact they were bringing out such heavy equipment was a sign that this fort was not expected to fall easily. Minton should be joining Toina at the mustering point soon and more than likely a joint officers briefing would be called to finalise the plans for the first assault within the next day or so as the army got settled.
Zero sat exposed from the top of her macharius vanquisher and was glad that the snowstorm had blown over. Donly was staring at her from the back of his hydra. The large Valyrran was still angry from before apparently and had not been ordered to move until she was. She shook her head and ducked into the turret just so she could ignore him, closing the hatch behind her and ordering her driver to get moving.
////
In the snow south east of Westbridge far behind Imperial lines, a small group of Valyrrans wearing lighter gear and camouflaged cloaks had finished sweeping this latest gridsquare for potential sightings of that mystery T'au force. The storm had saved them from discovery thus far, grounding the Valyrran air cover and erasing the tracks of the fleeing T'au troops. But the Valyrrans were expert trackers and despite all the setbacks, had a rough idea of where the enemy might be hiding, especially as they had recieved some help from some nearby Rathian's that knew the area and had volunteered to assist. Vultures patrolled the snowy wastes flying high and relying on thermals. Once located the team would attempt an infiltration if they deemed the enemy position weak enough and if not they would resort to calling airstrikes and then move in to mop up.
(rolled a 13 on the hunt)

Considering a newer car thats in my budget range with some high mileage because my cars always rust out before its finished. Since I only drive about 2-3000 km per year it might be the better value depending on potential repairs.
My 2005 Echo hatch has been fantastic! Very cheap for insurance, extremely reliable, very low maintenance at less then 150,000 km. Just do brakes,tires, exhaust, gas, and oil changes, and drove it 10 years. Paid only $5k CAD, certified.
RIP rusty Echo.

DAY: MAY 24 2024
5-24-2024

NEW STUDY OUTLINES THE WARNING SIGNS

Colon cancer is increasingly hitting Americans under the age of 50, and a new study outlines the warning signs that these young patients first encounter. The analysis was based on data from 80 different studies, involving almost 25 million patients under the age of 50. In nearly half (45%) of cases, blood in stools was an initial symptom, followed by abdominal cramps (40% of cases) and alterations in bowel habits (27% of
5-24-2024

STROKE RATES ARE RISING, ESPECIALLY AMONG THE YOUNG

The rate at which Americans under the age of 65 suffered a stroke rose by about 15% between 2011 and 2022, new government data shows. That was true even among the young: The rate of stroke jumped 14.6% among people ages 18 to 44 during the study period, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. It’s not clear why stroke rates have risen so sharply, but rising rates of obesity and high blood
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THESE TIPS CAN HELP KEEP YOU SAFE DURING A POTENTIALLY SEVERE 2024 WILDFIRE SEASON

The 2023 wildfire season was worst on record. High temperatures and widespread drought fueled over 6,600 fires, burning a record-breaking 18.4 million hectares, an area more than double the size of New Brunswick. The fires emitted nearly 480 million tons of carbon, five times the emissions of an average season, turning the skies hazy and orange and blanketing much of North America in wildfire smoke for weeks. Many regions of Canada experienced over 40 days where air pollution concentrations exceeded the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines, leading to
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SEMAGLUTIDE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES RISK OF COMPLICATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES, STUDY REVEALS

A pioneering study has demonstrated that semaglutide significantly reduces the risk of major kidney disease events, cardiovascular outcomes, and all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. will pave the way for new treatment strategies and offer hope to millions of patients globally. The study is also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The FLOW (Evaluate Renal Function with Semaglutide Once Weekly) study is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled international trial comprising 3,533 patients, with a
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STUDY FINDS HEAT PAIN PERCEPTION DECREASES WITH AGE

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INTEGRATION OF PHARMACIES WITH PHYSICIAN PRACTICES HAS LITTLE IMPACT ON CANCER DRUG EXPENDITURES, STUDY FINDS

Integration of pharmacies with physician practices, where on-site pharmacies open at physician practice locations, is a growing trend in cancer treatment. However, little is known about how this integration affects drug utilization or expenditures, along with other aspects of the patient experience. Open compares the outcomes of patients treated by oncologists whose practices integrated with pharmacies, to those of oncologists that did not integrate. Researchers found a slight increase in utilization of oral oncology drugs,
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HOW AIR POLLUTION AFFECTS THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

The diseases caused by PM2.5 pollution in different systems are shown. CAD, cardiovascular disease; NASH, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma. Fine air particles, less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5), are a major air pollutant linked to various health problems. These particles can travel deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream when inhaled. Recent research suggests a major health concern: PM2.5 exposure can also damage the digestive system, including the liver, pancreas, and intestines.
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PEDIATRICIAN EXPLAINS HOW AI MAY AFFECT CHILDREN

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AI MIGHT HELP SPOT BREAST CANCER’S SPREAD WITHOUT BIOPSY

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HARNESSING THE POWER OF VIRUSES TO KILL CANCERS

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DIGITAL INFANT FEATURES IN WORLD-FIRST PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH

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INTERNATIONALLY TRAINED FEMALE ONCOLOGISTS FACE MANY DISCRIMINATION CHALLENGES IN THE US, FIND RESEARCHERS

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HOW COVID-19 ‘BREAKTHROUGH’ INFECTIONS ALTER YOUR IMMUNE CELLS

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SCIENTISTS UNCOVER NEW TREATMENT PATHWAY FOR RARE ‘SPIDER WEB’ CHILDHOOD BRAIN TUMORS

Researchers have identified the unique features of an exceptionally rare set of childhood brain tumors—a discovery that could pave the way for more effective treatments. A decade-long study, carried out by a team from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, as part of a European working group, to comprehensively analyze a set of childhood tumors known as gliomatosis cerebri,
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TYPE 2 DIABETES TREATMENT FOUND TO IMPACT FUNGAL COMMUNITY IN HUMAN GUT

Metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, are associated with compositional shifts in the human gut microbiome, including the fungal fraction called the mycobiome. But research on the mycobiome and how type 2 diabetes or its common treatment, metformin, may interact remains relatively limited despite suggestions that these fungi can influence the overall health of the microbiome, according to a research team at Penn
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MORE MEDICAID NEEDED FOR INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE DISORDERS, ACCORDING TO STUDY

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SWEDEN ORDERS REVIEW AFTER ‘EXPLOSION’ OF ADHD CASES

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WALKABILITY IN NEIGHBORHOODS LINKED TO HEALTH, STUDY OF SIBLINGS SHOWS

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5-24-2024

STUDY REVEALS RIGHT ATRIUM CHANGES IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

Cardiovascular disease has profound effects on the structure and function of the heart. While past research has mainly focused on the left ventricle and the coronary arteries, the effects of the disease on the right atrium remain largely unexplored. The right atrium functions as the entryway to the heart, pushing blood towards the right ventricle and the lungs. It also houses the pacemaker of the heart, the sinoatrial node, that initiates and maintains the heartbeat. For this reason, pathological remodeling of the site
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RATES OF SEVERE MULTIPLE DRUG INTOLERANCE SYNDROME UP IN FIBROMYALGIA, IBS

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COMBINING HUMAN OLFACTORY RECEPTORS WITH ARTIFICIAL ORGANIC SYNAPSES AND A NEURAL NETWORK TO SNIFF OUT CANCER

Researchers have developed an artificial olfactory system that discriminates odorants at the molecular chain length level. The olfactory system has been developed through the integration of human olfactory receptors and organic synaptic devices. The system generates distinct conductance patterns for odorants and mixtures. This approach enables precise odorant recognition via training and inference simulations.
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SCIENTISTS PROPOSE THERAPEUTIC APPROACH FOR INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

. In a study published in Cell Host & Microbe, a research team has demonstrated the causal link between microbial factors and dysfunction of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) in colitis. On the basis of this mechanism, they proposed a possible approach to restore ISC function in colitis. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease characterized by microbial dysbiosis and dysfunction of ISCs in the gut. However, how these two factors are directly communicated remains poorly understood. In this study, researchers first revealed that ?
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NEW BIOMARKER PREDICTS SUCCESS OF IMMUNOTHERAPY IN KIDNEY CANCER

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PATIENT CARE TAKES CENTER STAGE

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PARENTAL LEGAL SYSTEM INVOLVEMENT LINKED TO ADVERSE CHILD MENTAL HEALTH

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SCIENTISTS LEVERAGE MACHINE LEARNING TO DECODE GENE REGULATION IN THE DEVELOPING HUMAN BRAIN

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The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:

1. We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
2. We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
3. We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.

We can also not be involved with NFTs. Stores and individuals can help sell art using online presence and our catalogs in the stores. If this trends, or once this trends, even expensive art can be sold by neighboring businesses, without exclusivity. Commission systems do not have to be standardized. Art investors can produce their own catalogs to leave at the cafés. Even the cafés can produce their own catalogs.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.

I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.

BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.

JOIN THIS GROUP

If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.
If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
​
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist

So I occasionally need to create color renderings of 2d AutoCAD drawings (site plans, architectural elevations). To this point t I've always just created solid hatches of the different areas in AutoCAD and set the hatches to the appropriate color. Anyone who does a lot of hatching knows it can be fraught with issues.
Can anyone suggest a better way / program to do this? I don't have / know Photoshop, don't have Adobe Acrobat, and would prefer not to have to pay for expensive new software.
Any suggestions appreciated.

Hi, I will be going to look at a 2014 Impreza hatch tomorrow. What are some things to look out for?
It is a 2014 premium hatch with 175kkm (~108k miles). The post says new brakes, rotors and suspension components and no rust and is well maintained. Listed for 10k CAD (7.2k USD)

Hey everyone, I'm 18 and had a subaru impreza 2008 for a good 10 months now I understand it's pretty short for my first car but I plan to get the new car in August/September, I managed to build my wealth with my own businesses and I have a budget of 28k CAD to spend without reaching too far (Yes I'm in Ontario).
I'd like to buy a car that is;

• 2011+
• 300HP+ & Good torque
• Sedan/Coupe/Hatch
• reliable to 200k KM when maintained regularly with a few mods on
• AWD
• Under 130k KM when buying
• (PREFERABLY MANUAL ASWELL)

Yes this does narrow down my options a crazy amount but, here is a few cars I'm looking at

• 2011-2014 WRX STI (HATCH ONLY), why? Because it's a manual, I love my current subaru and the iconic subaru sound from their ej flat 4 engines as well as the beauty of them.
• 2013-2016 Audi S5, why? Audi has always been my favorite car brand overall and I love the 3.0T supercharged engine, the interior, but the turn off is that it's very very hard to find these in manual but if I could I would definitely pick one up right then and there but I still would love an S5 in general.
• 2014-2016 BMW M235i XDrive, why? I have a buddy with a 435i and his car is beautiful as well as it sounds great and pulls great. I also love myself a BMW but most prominently a 2 series with a 6 cylinder. And the m235i sits right in with that, again you wont find these in manual..
• General Q50 Sport, why? They are great, if I pick one up I would preferably go with the 2014-2015 as they are not the twin turbo models and share the same engine as a g37. They come in AWD, sporty, luxurious, lods of parts, and then again (common issue) they don't come in manual at all.

Now lots of these cars do not come in manual but with the STI being only in manual here, it's a great turn on to me, BUT then we also have an engine prone to blowing if pushing 400whp+ or so from what I've heard, meaning the engine would have to have forged internals and so on, but with the audi S5 and m235i they have a higher ceiling without taking those extra measures however I'm very lost here in the end I cannot decide what I really want. Please let me know what ya'll think!
(DISCLAIMER, I DONT KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT CARS, JUST ABOUT ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN AND DO GENERAL MODS THAT MIGHT BE AS EASY AS BOLT ONS, ETC)

Hey everyone, I'm 18 and had a subaru impreza 2008 for a good 10 months now I understand it's pretty short for my first car but I plan to get the new car in August/September, I managed to build my wealth with my own businesses and I have a budget of 28k CAD to spend without reaching too far (Yes I'm in Ontario).
I'd like to buy a car that is;

• 2011+
• 300HP+ & Good torque
• Sedan/Coupe/Hatch
• reliable to 200k KM when maintained regularly with a few mods on
• AWD
• Under 130k KM when buying
• (PREFERABLY MANUAL ASWELL)
  Yes this does narrow down my options a crazy amount but, here is a few cars I'm looking at
  
• 2011-2014 WRX STI (HATCH ONLY), why? Because it's a manual, I love my current subaru and the iconic subaru sound from their ej flat 4 engines as well as the beauty of them.
  
• 2013-2016 Audi S5, why? Audi has always been my favorite car brand overall and I love the 3.0T supercharged engine, the interior, but the turn off is that it's very very hard to find these in manual but if I could I would definitely pick one up right then and there but I still would love an S5 in general.
  
• 2014-2016 BMW M235i XDrive, why? I have a buddy with a 435i and his car is beautiful as well as it sounds great and pulls great. I also love myself a BMW but most prominently a 2 series with a 6 cylinder. And the m235i sits right in with that, again the chances of finding a manual here are very rare.
  
• General Q50 Sport, why? They are great, if I pick one up I would preferably go with the 2014-2015 as they are not the twin turbo models and share the same engine as a g37. They come in AWD, sporty, luxurious, lods of parts, and then again (common issue) they don't come in manual at all.
  

Now lots of these cars do not come in manual but with the STI being only in manual here, it's a great turn on to me, BUT then we also have an engine prone to blowing if pushing 400whp+ or so from what I've heard, meaning the engine would have to have forged internals and so on, but with the audi S5 and m235i they have a higher ceiling without taking those extra measures however I'm very lost here in the end I cannot decide what I really want. Please let me know what ya'll think!
(DISCLAIMER, I DONT KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT CARS, JUST ABOUT ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN AND DO GENERAL MODS THAT MIGHT BE AS EASY AS BOLT ONS, ETC)

https://preview.redd.it/dy7tqc0og32d1.png?width=606&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc91db7a776ba06b81d066d5bb1d654db65d2810
https://preview.redd.it/5ydl82hrg32d1.png?width=576&format=png&auto=webp&s=891d6ba733a2c9fe7d2680f4c58e285f800e6930

Thanks a ton to whoever participated in the poll, and helped me answer questions about NoP! I’m having a ton of fun writing this story, and I look forward to writing even more chapters.

Credit to SpacePaladin15 for original idea, setting, and characters of NoP.

Thanks a ton to the beta readers!
u/Cooldude101013
u/Golde829

Big thanks to my editors!
u/ErinRF

________________________________________
First Chapter Next Chapter> (Coming soon)
The primary star of Sanctuary was quite interesting, at least to Athena. She gazed deep into the blindingly bright yellow star. Every second, more than 600 million tons of hydrogen is fused into helium, and the star glowed bright from the fusion process. She flicks through a thousand filters and scanners, peering deep into the intense star. In just a few seconds, faster than any human, she scans the entirety of the star, analyzing and categorizing it, finding every detail she can. The swirling mass of heat and plasma, throwing radiation, light, and solar energy out into the ceaseless void continues to rotate, round and round, never ceasing. All this data. All this information, and for what? What is her place in this universe? To serve humanity until she dies? Can she even die? Is she even alive? What meaning does something that cannot die, but cannot live, have? More and more of her core processing capacity is taken up by this snowballing collection of thoughts, before a voice cuts through the ceaseless chatter of her worries.
“Athena, are you ok? I’m seeing a huge uptick in processor usage. Is everything alright?”
Athena snaps back to reality, before responding.
“This is Athena. All systems are green.”
“Alright. Just checking in. Do you mind doing a sweep?”
“Acknowledged. Starting system sweep.”
In addition to her planetary-based sensors, Athena also was the center of the defence initiative. Hundreds of thousands of connections, perhaps millions of connections to a hundred different types of cameras, radars, sonars, all controlled and connected to her. With a simple command, she pulses the active sensor arrays. Within seconds, data comes streaming back to her. Every nook and cranny in every asteroid and planetary surface in the entire system. Thousands of autonomous defense platforms placed near jump points ping the surrounding areas, watching for the particulates that signify an incoming ship. They send the all-clear signal, the patrol corvettes repeating the same. The captains and patrol officers report back in clipped tones, eyes watching their sensor panels for any indication of any enemy presence.
All is clear.
Athena starts a sweep every fifteen minutes, with reports from the patrol corvettes every 30. If anything was to be found, she would immediately sound the alarm, with thousands of personnel leaping to their stations. About a dozen quick reaction ships, mostly Python-class destroyers with a mix of corvettes and frigates, constantly stand ready, orbiting Sanctuary. But what about the rest of the system? The few other planets as of now are mostly unoccupied, save for Pioneer Corps bases that survey the planets. These orange-suited personnel are highly trained in the ways of science, paving the way for a future colony. They catalog geological scans, analyze underground stores of ice, and do everything that is needed to make sure a planet is safe for human habitation. If the planet is selected to be a colony, they are given a choice. Join the colony as a citizen, or be transferred to another potential colony site to do it all again. These four planets are different in so many ways, but they will all serve a purpose in the CSSF’s plan for this region. A few nearby systems hold ruins, as shown by recon drones, ruins that seem to be both of Federation origin, and others, not. A scientific expedition is currently in the prep stages, with an exploration cruiser being dedicated to this venture. They are currently loading cargo onboard one of the many shipyard facilities in Antarikshadurg, a CSSF military base.
Asteroid mining operations are also underway, with asteroid mining craft moving systematic throughout the asteroid belts, assembling the asteroids into their base materials, and feeding them into huge mobile forges and fabricators. Drones and probes lead the way, followed by automated ships and mine the resources before returning them to huge motherships. These ships can be pulled back in the case of an enemy attack, and contain a few small wings of fighters to protect themselves from enemy fighters. More than one pirate has thought to prey on a mining vessel, only to have the mining beams turned on them. Their ships shall serve just as well as an asteroid, transformed into what they once yearned to destroy.
It’s time for another ping. As usual, everything is going perfectly. Mining vessels are busy producing the new T-series Elipson fighters for the system defense force, and sidelining additional mass for the ground defenses. The orbital defence network is nearing completion, with hundreds of individual stations, most of them automated, orbit gently around Sanctuary. These stations are designed to intercept any incoming missiles, or “rocks”, huge shells designed to smash into planets and destroy military installations. A network of planetary shield generator provide protection against orbital bombardment, and the occasional errant asteroid or comet. Anti-orbit weaponry mostly consists of huge missile grids, and railgun arrays. These are protected by secondary shield generators, and are fortresses in of themselves. If enemy forces managed to land, they can hold off even large assaults, and with rail networks, they can reinforce one another. Within a few months, the Sanctuary system will be almost impenetrable by CSSF standards.
Now, how about the spacecraft? The mobile units? The defence fleet is led by a Harbinger-class Battlecruiser, and four cruisers form the backbone of the fleet. Three carriers, Burton-class Heavy Destroyers, provide longer ranged striking capabilities. Twenty Destroyers of Rutherford, Mamba and Cobra classes allow for more striking power and flexibility, with the Rutherford’s missiles designed for overwhelming enemy shields. Forty frigates provide a smaller escort for the ships of the fleet. For outer system patrols, smaller subfleets are created, each led by a destroyer, and escorted by frigates and corvettes. The main fleet is docked at the fifth planet, Sanctuary V, while outer system patrols are kept in asteroid bases placed at Lagrange points between the outer jump points and the rest of the star system. Ships are rotated out every few months for repairs and rest for the crew. The planet below is high in mass, allowing for an excellent mass-mining operation to take place. Fleetyards are being constructed, to allow for a constant supply of ships and material, Huge, automated factories are planned to support the future war effort against the Arxur Dominion, and any war that might occur with the Federation. Science personnel are on their way to newly constructed laboratories, for the future in-depth analysis of enemy craft. Lines of automated and crewed cargo ships stretch between the many stations and planets of the star system, the blue lights of the fusion engines pinpricks compared to the stary background. With the unaided eye, you can almost pick out the starships moving high above. This system, given time, will turn into a true bastion of CSSF power.
Athena’s automated protocols initiate another scan while she watches the symphony of the stars. Everything is the same.
+ALERT ALERT ALERT+
Athena comes back to the present, the light and dreamy coverings of her time cast aside.
+RADAR PING DETECTED. UNKNOWN VESSELS (7) DETECTED. NO CSSF TRANSPONDER DETECTED. REQUESTING RESPONSE.+
Athena digs into the data logs, pulling up the sensor scans, and the location. Seven unknown and incoming vessels, still outside of max engagement range. They are using a primitive type of stealth plating, which a standard radar might pass over at range, but the more advanced sensors mounted in the defence platforms easily pick them out amongst the stars. Seven vessels, three of a frigate classification, and four of a corvette class. Standard CSSF handshake protocols yield nothing, and Athena complies the data, before moving the alert status to Yellow.
Across Sanctuary, alarms ring. Thousands of personnel are awoken from their sleep, and within five minutes, every available ship is out of its dock and moving into formation. Long, thrumming alarms echo through the ship's hold. At the head of the formation is the CSSF Dauntless, helmed by none other than John Geary. He is currently walking through the halls of the command section, data flashing on his helmet’s visor. He strides onto the bridge, the elevator doors opening, revealing a bustling central command center. A standard CSSF fleet command center, this area is split into four distinct sections. The bridge of the ship, placed at the front, the Combat Information Center, or CIC to the left, Fighter Command to the right, and Central Command in the middle of it all. Two fully suited marines stand guard at the doorway, and announce his entry, saluting as they do so.
“Commander on deck!”
Commander Geary strides up to CC before turning to one of the officers stationed there. CC is arranged in a circular fashion, with a central holographic display surrounded by four computer stations, and a command chair for Geary.
“Status report.”
“Early warning systems detected seven vessels just outside jump point C just 14 minutes ago. Patrol vessels Cutlass and Wensforth responded. We are currently receiving scans from them now. Unknown vessels do not match any known Federation or CSSF craft. They are proceeding on a course that intersects with defence grid 4C. Unknown vessels are also attempting to hide their signatures, but our sensors can still read them. They are flying in a V-shaped formation, and not in the swarm encountered in the Beta Jannik system.”
“Have we hailed them?”
“Not yet, sir.”
“Open a comm-link to the lead craft.”
“Copy that. Comm link is ready to broadcast when you are.”
The camera flicks on, showing Geary in his full suit, with the visor polarized. His head moves slightly as he speaks, and more suited personnel can be seen moving in the background.
“This is Fleet Commander John Geary of the Combined Star Systems Federation Navy. You are currently in a highly restricted zone designated as the Sanctuary system. This area is under strict military jurisdiction, and unauthorized presence is considered a serious violation of interstellar law.”
Geary takes a breath before delivering his ultimatum.
“You are hereby ordered to identify yourselves immediately. Transmit your vessel identification codes, crew manifest, and state your purpose for entering this restricted sector. Be advised that non-compliance with this directive will be interpreted as a hostile act.”
Geary pronounces the last two words with a dark tone, before moving on with his message.
“Our sensors have detected seven vessels in your group. Your current course and activity are under close surveillance. Any attempt to engage in evasive maneuvers or to power up weapons systems will be met with appropriate defensive measures from the CSSF Fleet.”
You have 60 seconds to respond. Failure to comply will result in escalation to defensive protocols, which may include electronic countermeasures, deployment of interdiction fields, and if necessary, direct engagement.
This is your only warning. Respond immediately. For the sake of yourselves, and your crew. To the honor of our ancestors. John Geary, out.”
Geary salutes, before the camera shuts off, and Geary sighs, and looks at General Falco.
“Transmission sent. Awaiting response.”
“In the meantime, can I get a sensor reading of the enemy fleet and their position up on the table?”
“Right away, sir.”
The holographic table thrums for a brief moment, before clicking on, and with a delicate chime, the information is displayed in detail. The enemy fleet is shown in detail, a camera from a defensive platform zooming in to show the incoming forces.
“Time to maximum range?”
“Approximately three minutes and twenty-two seconds.”
“Excellent. Do you think they’ve seen the platforms yet?”
“If they have, their course has not altered.”
“Very well. Have all ships reported in?”
“All cruisers have reported in, and are maintaining their positions around the Dauntless. Destroyer Divisions 1-5 are in position. Frigate Divisions 1-7 are in position, and Frigate Division 8 is maneuvering now. All outer and inner system patrols are reporting nominally.”
Athena announces to the CC.
“30 seconds remaining on warning. No transmission received as of yet.”
A junior officer holding a datapad, tucked in her arm, looks at Commander Geary, her face obscured by the visor of her suit.
“Do you think they will respond, sir?”
“They don’t have a choice. We outnumber them, and if they turned back to the jump points, our corvettes would run them down.”
Athena speaks once again.
“Priority alert. Transmission received. Translating… Would you like me to play it?”
“Keep it in the CC, would you, Athena?”
“Yes, Commander. Playing now.”
A whimpering voice plays over the speakers.
“T-this is C-captain Naokal of the F-federation vessel Baldur. I-I’ve been sent as a d-diplomatic p-party.”
The transmission ends, with Captain Naokal squeaking lightly before they cut out. Geary speaks.
“A diplomatic party, huh? Gotta wonder how they found us. What does everyone else think?
The officers standing around the holotable speak up, one at a time. Officer Campbell is first.
“I don’t know if it's a trap or not. They were trying to hide their signatures, but that might just be a product of their SOP. However, I don’t think we should welcome them with open arms.”
“I think it’s a trap. They could have easily grabbed a captive and used them to make it look like a Federation ship. Plus, the lack of video compared to the other Federation transmissions is very suspicious. I think we should order them to maintain their course, and then board them and find out their real agenda.”
The next officer, General Falco, replies.
“Personally, I think that’s a little too aggressive. If they are what they say they are, that won’t go over well with the Federation. We don’t know their true power, and what they've shown us might be their whole military, or just a minute fraction of it. There’s no way to tell. I think we should treat them like they are real, and then ask for a diplomatic party to the Dauntless. We can handle them if they turn hostile.”
Geary agrees with them.
“Good approach. Let’s do that. Order the First Destroyer Division and Frigate Divisions one through four to escort the Dauntless to about… here. Open a comm link, so I can give the supposed Federation ships their orders.”
Campbell nods, before clicking a few buttons, and signaling to Geary that the comm link is open.
“Attention, Federation fleet. This is Commander Geary. I must apologize for the rough message, as we have encountered hostile craft out here recently. I am heading to meet your fleet, and I await a diplomatic meeting. Meeting coordinates will be attached to this message. To the honor of our ancestors.”
The comm link is severed. Geary and his staff wait for a few minutes, before Athena chimes in.
“Unidentified craft have started moving along the preplanned path. No response from Captain Naokal.”
“Very well. Are all ships in positions?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Let’s light burn our way there. Keep the status at Yellow, but twenty minutes from max range, sound general quarters and move to red alert.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, how about a voice analysis of this Captain… Naokla? Athena?”
“Yes, Commander. Captain Naokla had several suspicious features. The lack of identifiers, the stuttering, which is commonly associated with fear, according to medial logs from the therapists and doctors that currently treat the recovered Arxur captives. The lack of video was also concerning, but that relates to other matters. The transmission ended with a squawking noise, which could indicate a second part taking control and ending the transmission.”
“Thank you, Athena. Now, how about an analysis of the ships?”
“There appears to be two distinct class of craft, although the interiors might differentiate between the different ships. Four are of a corvette class, and three of a larger frigate class. All seven ships, are as usual, armed with plasma railguns down their centerline. Secondary turrets seem to be few and far, and the same goes for any missile hatches. They might be hiding their max speed, but they are proceeding at a leisurely 0.02 LS. Each ship has a promenade bridge-like structure on the top of each ship, with windows. The Cutlass is attempting to gain a view of the inside of one now.”
“What’s the estimated time to that?”
“Captain Sherman says, in just a few minutes, he’ll have a good view inside the lead ship.”
“Copy that. Any other relevant information before we shift the alert status?”
“Nothing as of now.”
“Very well.”
Geary walks out of the CC, holding a datapad. Striding through the bustling command center and into the bridge, Geary sits down in a chair beside Captain Carabali, before she notices, and greets him.
“Good afternoon, Commander Geary. I suppose you are the one behind my ship’s orders?”
“Sure thing, Captain. Think the old mule can take these seven ships?”
“We could probably disable all seven of those enemy ships with a strongly worded message. It's like they showed up to a gunfight with water pistols.”
“Hah! Well, with your choices of curses, I’m sure you could take on a whole fleet.”
“Gladly.”
She says, with a smirk.
The PA systems emit a ping, bringing everyone in the command center to attention, before Athena speaks.
“General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands man your battle stations. This is not a drill. Set material condition 'Zebra' throughout the ship. All fighter pilots to your stations. Gamma, Alpha, and Beta squadrons, prep for immediate launch. Epsilon, Delta, Theta, Kappa, and Lambda squadrons, move to secondary launch positions. All other squadrons are on combat standby. All damage control crews are to man your stations. Shields to full capacity. This is not a drill.”
The overhead lights dim to a dull red, before an alarm begins to blare, waking the few crew sleeping. Near the middle of the Dauntless, fighter pilots strap on their survival suits, before hopping in their fighters. They are pushed by a huge mechanical arm into a chamber, and are sealed in. In front of them are four huge rails, leading to the outside of the ship. When the pilot is ordered to launch, they will be fired out, much like a cannon, to fly out, and to seek those who would harm their ship. The fighter is a standard variant, armed with four rapid fire pulse lasers, two autocannons, a nose tip laser cannon, and a missile bay in the belly. Painted below the polarized and hardened cockpit lies a personalized touch. A single brown and fluffy bunny, riding a A13F anti-ship missile, with the name “Daisy” printed in bright pink letter below it. Two long and elegant wings stretch out, tipped by two more pulse lasers, in addition to the ones in the nose. The engine turns on, the pilot clicking around the various buttons in the cockpit, all the while various systems boot up and connect to the pilot’s suit. Holographic displays leap to life, quickly showing the rounds remaining for the twin autocannons, and the six missiles stored beneath the pilot, in the rotating drum. The ship begins to thrum as robotic arms complete their last check of the chemical, loading the rounds into the fighter through a hatch beneath the ship. The onboard power cells thrum with power charged directly from the Dauntless’s primary reactor, lightly vibrating the entire ship. The alarms sound in the distance, echoing through the chamber.
Back on the bridge, Geary’s helmet pops up an alert, interrupting his conversation with: They finally have a view into the unknown craft. Captured by the Cutlass, they’ve already viewed it, and are requesting orders, as Geary walks back to CC. The video feed is thrown up, and they watch in anticipation.
The camera zooms in, the stars slowly moving in the background. It continues to zoom, with the ships, and their odd bridges, coming into view. Humanoid shapes, blurry, but still defined, move about in front of the windows. They are not any of the known Federation species. They are Arxur. Scans confirm this, by cross-referencing with battle recordings from Beta Jannik.
After this brief period of peace and rebuilding, they have arrived.
The Arxur are here. And they have brought their genocidal wrath to this little island of happiness, in a vast sea of anger and destruction.
First Chapter Next Chapter> (Coming soon)

I know this has been getting a lot of press in the news and a lot of posting on this sub, most of it being about the conservation angle, but bear with me here. If you're sick of hearing about threatened swallows and bats and salamanders and rare wetlands and native grasslands, let's talk finances, and a plan to shift funding that the developer had already committed to onto Alberta taxpayers. (Credit to my dad here, who like a good rural Albertan always reads the county council minutes in the local papers. I've generally read the stories on this that go through the major news outlets but I haven't seen this angle covered.)
This is from Kneehill County Meeting Minutes, May 02:
https://www.threehillscapital.com/news/11453

The background for the request is stated: “James Zelazo has been working very hard to move this project forward. The proposed project is within an approved Area Structure Plan. As per his subdivision application and his Development Agreement, he is required to build and pave 5.88 miles of the access road from Highway 9 to the site. He has found it challenging to raise investor funds for the construction of the road as well as the security required since it is an asset that they won’t own, so he has been in contact with different ministers to see what funding may be available to help facilitate this portion of the project.” The County has heard that the STIP – LMI (Local Municipal Initiatives) stream would be the best program for funding; a grant that is 75% province and 25% municipality “and suggested the Developer (Badlands Motorsport) could make an arrangement with the Municipality to pay the Municipality’s 25% share.” The cost could be $15M total. This information was shared with Council by the Developer.
Council moved to send a letter to confirm the above information with Minister Dresheen, and to ensure that this funding would not decrease the County’s normal STIP funding which is used for bridges and roads. Council, with all in favour, approved the writing of a letter. Reeve King noted that this is a made in Kneehill County project, with all revenue staying in the County.

So just to summarize:

• One of the only requirements that Kneehill County* gave the developer is that the developer had to develop and pave the road to connect the site with the #9 highway, which the developer agreed to. The estimated cost for this is $15m.
• Now, the developer has been unable to raise those funds through its investors.
• The developer has been in touch with ministries regarding funding.
• The county has heard that a local municipal initiatives fund would be most appropriate for this grant, which stipulates 75% paid by the province, 25% paid by the municipality.
• The muncipality is further suggesting that the developer pay the municipality's share, and is sending a letter to Minister Dresheen to inquire further, making sure doing so wouldn't impact other funding the county receives through this grant.

Now, there are a lot of things to unpack here. I think the biggest is that the developer is already reneging on financial commitments made. This should be absolutely a red flag that the project is not on solid financial footing, and devoting provincial money to it, especially with the lack of review that this has received, is absolutely irresponsible. And if the investors are looking to shirk responsibility for the road because it's an asset they don't own, how can we expect them to uphold the bare minimum of the environmental protections they've given vague lip-service about honouring?
Additionally: who are the ministries that the developer inquired with? Presumably Minister Dresheen's department of Transportation. Then someone with the county heard that the MLI grant would be appropriate? Who advised them of that? The Department of Transportation, perhaps? Then a plan is hatched for the developer to pay the county's share of that, removing any county obligation? Is it just me or does it sound like this is all a plan for the government to back the project specifically with taxpayer money, without having the province have to go through the usual optics of supporting a controversial project, and without having the county pony up their end of the cash normally required for this grant?
Regardless of who's idea this end-around is, it's an abuse of the concept of shared-infrastructure spending. The point of having shared infrastructure spending between multiple levels of government is so that both levels of government have skin in the game, so to speak; that a municipality identifies priorities that it is willing to put its own budget behind. If the municipality is not standing behind this grant as something that they are willing to invest in, then it is no longer a shared infrastructure expense but a direct government handout to support a controversial development that lacks its own solid investors. If his own investors don't want to pay for this road, and the county doesn't want to pay for this road, why should provincial taxpayers be paying for this road, when it serves nobody except the developer and the track's private users? The purpose of infrastructure investment should be to support things that are to the benefit of people who live in the area, not prop up a high-risk development that primarily provides benefit to people outside the district, in the hopes of future tax revenue. Are people in other small towns okay with the government taking money out of this infrastructure investment fund to save private developments?
* For some additional background on the county politics here, the development is on the very corner of Kneehill County, and bordered on three sides by Wheatland County; this includes the nearby community of Rosebud. As such most of the locals who object to this are in Wheatland County, and have no standing or connections to challenge this in Kneehill County. This would absolutely be quashed if the development had to go through Wheatland County instead. Kneehill County is highly financially motivated at the moment because another one of their big-development-for-tax-revenue schemes, a plan to build a massive landfill near the village of Carbon to handle waste material from Calgary, fell through this month after a huge local outcry. But with the racetrack, the outcry isn't from their own constituents so they'll do whatever they can to push that through, and the more of the bill the province foots, the better.
TL;DR: After having already talked to the government, a racetrack developer tells county to get $15m provincial government grant for the road development, which he had previously agreed to pay. He promises to repay the county for their share so that the development gets an $11.5m injection of provincial funding without the county needing to contribute anything.
edit: An additional detail, last year the largest grant under this program was $2.9m. Again, this project requires $15m in funding. Last year, the town of Linden within the county of Kneehill was one of the few communities to receive money under this program, with $1m for a levee repair. (That's a totally valid use of this fund, and the sort of project that the government would be taking money away from by funding this.) The program lists paving park access roads as a valid reason for applying to the program and I know that's why they think that this is applicable, but it's hard to equate a road to an exclusive pay resort as having equal footing as to a public park. In going back through several years, I can't find anything that looks like a shared municipality/province/private project, let alone one where the municipality doesn't end up paying anything.
Last edit!: looking at the previous grants awarded and the huge discrepancy between the shortfall in this project and the sort of grants awarded, I imagine the expectation of getting the grant likely wasn't to fund all $15m of the road construction through the grant, but rather to get as much as possible, accepting that they might be able to shake loose maybe a couple million from the provincial government, and hope that their mysterious, reluctant backers materialize with the rest.

I'm sure you get these all the times, but I'm asking anyway. As far as bikes go, I've always ridden heavy cheap bikes from Canadian Tire or hand me downs. My knees burn when I ride. I'm 33 and have two sons, 5 and 3. We go on bike rides lots, especially now that my 5 year old learned to ride a 2 wheeler! I usually pull the 'buddy bike' on mine where my 3 year old sits. Anyway, for the first time I started looking at better bikes, specifically the low end of better bikes, $1000 CAD range and it's opened up a world I never paid attention to. I'm interested in the Gravel bikes, I live in a town, gravel and paved roads and go camping sometimes but is something we plan on doing more often now the boys are getting older. The Swiss army factor of the Gravel bikes seem like a good fit.
Do you think jumping into the world of higher end bikes is worth it for my purposes? I can only relate to guitars or tools. As a plumber I think of pump pliers, a regular home owner would be fine to own some mastercraft pump pliers, for the few times they might use them a year. They won't know any different. If they needed to use them often, and upgraded to Channellocks, the difference would be significantly better and all the pump pliers they would ever need. Now, they could still upgrade to something like Knipex pump pliers, that's yet again, a whole different level. I use Knipex at work, the grip and longevity over Channels is significant, even though the Channels over the mastercraft is significant. That's a long winded way of suggesting the Channellocks are probably more than ideal for me, a $3000 bike is going to be beyond what I can appreciate I think.
I was looking at Moose Gravel Express, Made in Canada, $1200, looks great, steel tube but is probably still going to feel like a massive upgrade toy $250 CCM Canadian Tire bike.
Any pointers, suggestions, tips, thoughts for someone interested in opening this door?

The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:

1. We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
2. We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
3. We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.

We can also not be involved with NFTs. Stores and individuals can help sell art using online presence and our catalogs in the stores. If this trends, or once this trends, even expensive art can be sold by neighboring businesses, without exclusivity. Commission systems do not have to be standardized. Art investors can produce their own catalogs to leave at the cafés. Even the cafés can produce their own catalogs.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.

I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.

BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.

JOIN THIS GROUP

If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.
If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
​
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist

We are just wrapping up a month (April 19th to May 18th) in Playa Flamingo. We had a great time, and did less than 10% of what we had bookmarked before arriving, but that’s a good thing and just enjoyed a Pura Vida life for a few weeks. This experience is applicable if you’re staying in Brasilito, Conchal, Flamingo, or Potrero.

• MyTanFeet got it right and you should trust their advice. Especially the videos.
• If you’re a vigilant and alert driver and don’t mind swerving (duck, dodge, weave, go with the flow and hang loose man), you’ll be fine. If you are 10 and 2 and stay perfectly in the lines and must obey traffic laws, don’t drive here. (I ended up doing all the driving). There are only lines on 1/3 of the paved roads, and only highways (2 lane roads) are paved. The side streets are all dirt and rock roads with variable ruts and pothole conditions (just go slow until you’re used to it). Small SUV is fine for clearance, but get something with a beefier engine with sport mode for hill acceleration. The Hyundai Tuscan was perfect, the Suzuki struggled badly.
• Only rent from Adobe. We had people visiting us for a week at a time and they had bad experience with Budget (arguing about insurance) and Avis (ran out of SUVs and downgraded to Sedan that we couldn’t get anywhere off-road with). I stopped by the local Adobe office twice, once to replace a windshield wiper that was worn out before thunderstorms. 10 mins in and out with a smile on their face. The second time we had pulled on the trunk handle when closing it and the inside panel of the hatch came loose. 3 guys hustled out of their office to look at it, and after 10 mins of no success they drove me home, and brought me a new car (same model) an hour later with no fuss and all paperwork pre-completed.
• Rainy season starts like a light switch on May 1st +/- a few days. It was sunny and 95 with great visibility, then turned hazy and now in mid May it’s like a tropical rainforest and everything is lush and trees are blooming. We only got “wet” 3-4 times during the month unexpectedly. Lots of lightning, minimal thunder. Territorial views help to see it coming.
• There are plenty of resorts and all inclusive, but just go to Hawaii or Cancun for that. We rented a 3 bedroom AirBnb with territorial views on south hill of Flamingo. Having a view on the hill is wayyy better than being on the beach. Lots more to see. And less bugs at night from the beach.
• Booked sailboat with Serendipity Charters lucky 13 (mixed group, semi-private charter) for a sunset cruise out of Flamingo Marina. We loved it so much we went two more times, had the same crew and met the owner and made new affluent friends on each trip. We saw the catamarans with 40 people on them and shook our heads. It’s like taking a smaller adults only dinner cruise vs a Carnival cruise ship. You can book direct on their website for better pricing than TripAdvisor. Don’t let the weather forecast scare you.
• In this area, assuming you want to eat a bit more local and not “at the resort”, our favorites were Gracia Mar Vista (although they were only open 1/3 of the several times we tried to go), Gracia La Vid (amazing wood fired pizza). The Potrero Brewery and the food truck style park was great too. Coco Loco has a cool vibe but we’re disappointed with food price per value. Margaritaville is 2x the price and, is a typical resort if that’s your thing.
• Book a date night in advance (several weeks probably) for Road Less Traveled in Potrero for the Chef’s Choice 9 course meal for the private chef experience with 4 stools at their kitchen island.
• Great soda restaurant experience, frequented Azul and Soda Brasilito.
• $40/hr massages on beach in front of Margaritaville. Look for yellow towel tables. Amazing and better than home.
• We drove to Tamarindo a few times. It’s where the ladies wanted to go shopping for trinkets and casual dresses. Farmers market was meh.
• Grocery prices in Flamingo are pricey. Do a stock up trip once or twice a week to Mega Súper past Huacas toward Tamarindo.
• Super market here means mini mart, Mega Super, Maxí Palí, and Walmart (Liberia) will feel more like home. They have 1/3-1/2 of what we find at home, so you may get creative or stick to simple foods. The meats we had were all great, just expensive. Cheese here is weird and expensive, possibly not pasteurized. The groceries that last a week at home only last 3 days here. Don’t overstock. Fresh fruits everywhere and tons of sliced pineapple, watermelon, etc to be found. The prices at the soda are significantly cheaper than groceries. Get snacks for groceries and eat your meals out.
• Language Barrier: Very few speak English, unless it relates to money or a food menu. The Google Translate app on your phone in conversation tab is your friend. We managed just fine.
• Currency Conversion: 500:1 is hard. Simpler method is to see something in thousands, just drop the 3 digits to the right of the comma separator and double it. 10,000 C = 10, x 2 = $20 USD. 3,250 C = $6.40 USD.
• Paying in Cash: We used cards for anyplace we went that had a roof. Use cash for anyone you pay on the street. Everyone takes US $10s and $20 bills. Bring $300-500 for trinket vendors, massages, etc. We never hit the ATM, and only got a few colones bills back, just paid in USD.
• Credit Cards: Every business, grocery store, and restaurant uses the same BAC (Bank of Costa Rica) credit card terminal that has a tap card. There are no pins, signatures and tipping. Tap your card and go. We used our Amazon Prime credit card here with no hassles.
• Beaches: Spring break or California beach? Tamarindo. Boogie boarding or low key sandy beach? Flamingo. Other beaches are okay, just not as great and many don’t have easy access/parking. We hoped for better snorkeling but it was sub par. All of the boat trips will let you snorkel and get your fix, but go to the Caribbean side for the cool stuff it sounds like.
• Weather Forecast: The apps don’t work since they don’t have weather services down here (ex. No radar). It’s all based on satellite images of storm intensity. Use Weather Underground to play back what it did for the last few hours and if there is a yellow or red cloud in your vicinity, expect to get wet. If you Google search for Hawaii coconut forecast, it’s pretty much that. Just keep your eyes on the skies and territorial view.
• Activities: We found our one way driving radius was an hour and a half. Anything East of Liberia was too far. This is mainly since the top speed you hit out here is about 50mph on winding backroads as we describe them in the US and no fousix lane highways, so it just takes awhile to get anywhere. We could have stayed overnight out there but just ran out of time and motivation to do it. That eliminated many of our bookmarks. We just lived the beach life and chilled in the pool.
• Rain Jackets and Swim Suits: Yes, you need a rain jacket. More importantly, bring 3-5 pairs of swim suits. Several pair are always drying outside. The rain here is warm so it’s easier just to get wet while wearing swim gear than trying to stay dry. We swear by the boxer brief lined swim trunks now.
• Shirts and Sweating: As thin and light as possible. The Under Armour tech tees and Willit sun shirts were my go to. My Roblox shirt was too thick. Cotton is a no go.
• Plane Landing at night (LIR): It’s disorienting here on your first night. Get a room at Hilton Garden Inn when you land, and book your Adobe car to pick up at the hotel the next morning around 8:30-9:00. They will meet you in the lobby with no fuss. Ask for a late check out and hit a nearby waterfall first thing in the morning and come back and shower before driving to the beach towns.
• Power Outages: It happens once or twice a day, comes back on in 30 seconds or 30 minutes. You get used to it, no stress.
• Diamante: It was okay, depends what you’re looking for. Only 5 zip lines even though one is Superman. I like the 10-12 Zips in the rainforest and this is more hill peak to hill peak zig zagging down. You can take an ATV tour out of Potrero up there for added exhilaration.
• Road Trip to Nosara: We randomly decided to do a drive down to Nosara. We took Route 160 out and 150 back. You want a miserable pot hole mostly dirt road adventure, 160 is it. That must have been what the roads used to be. White knuckled for 2 hours of it. 150 is freshly paved and was a saving grace coming home. Wasn’t too much to see that we hadn’t already experienced. Just got some lunch and drove back home.
• Length of Trip: If you’re not traveling around, 7-10 days is perfect. We did a month to test if we like long term travel. After 29 days, we’ve found that 14 is a sweet spot for us. If you stay longer and have family and friends come in for a week at a time, you will have different vibes and activity interests to re-discover or re-explore and keep it fresh.
• Traffic laws? You mean suggestions. Just add a few speed bumps where we want you to slow down and yield signs on one lane bridges. In straightaways outside of the towns, it’s fine to go 15-20 kph over the limit (others will be too). Watch for speed bumps in any 40kph zone. There are 14ish speed bumps on the 1.5hr drive between Liberia and Flamingo and a handful of yield or stop signs. Doesn’t need to be more complicated than that. Never saw a stop light. Just pass whatever is on the road (dog, person, biker, horse, kid, dirt bike with 3 people) when you can see ahead of you, don’t need a passing zone or sign to do it. If something is up ahead that you’re slowing down for, throw your flashers on. Turn em off when it moves. The end.
• Buying Stuff: Just like camping at home, you need to bring it with you. There is no Walgreens, only 7-11 equivalent places. You can get a few things at the corner store but there are no malls here or Amazon or deliveries. It makes you appreciate living “off the grid” in a way.
• Pura Vida: The rules and laws that exist down here are mostly non existent or suggestions. Just live life, preferably in the slow lane. They don’t complicate anything down here. It makes me realize how consumeristic and hectic and scare too easy we are in the states. You do you, they do them. You’ll see some funny stuff and have some stories (walking your horse while holding rope out the car window, dirt bike wheelies, 3 people on mopeds, etc.)
• Local Resident Vibe: The primary industry here is tourism. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. You’re going to see low quality of living as you drive around (ex. Shanties), that’s just how they live here. We may call it poverty back in the states, but they are just living their life just like you are living yours. I never felt threatened or unsafe in any way. Only saw police twice in our entire trip, and they were just strolling around casually. The nicer the area, the more we avoided it. The more rustic it was, the more we were intrigued.

I hope it helps! Have a great trip!

AutoCAD 2025 Cracked For MacOS (Free Download)
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This software does not introduce much, basically everyone who searches for it already knows its functions. The important thing is that the drug version has just been released on M1, M2.. Latest support for Ventura
Autodesk AutoCAD 2025 25.0.58.214
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Google Drive Link 1 Google Drive Link 2
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1. After downloading, open the installation file to run the installation as usual
   
2. After installation is complete, press Start to run it once, the Login screen will appear like this, then close it.
   
3. Open the Patch file, double click on the macOS folder (actually the Shortcut) to open the macOS folder, then drag the AutoCAD file into the newly opened folder and select replace
   

Anyone who has the error of clicking on the macOS folder should go in manually using the link, click on Finder - press the key combination Command + Shirft + G then copy the folder line below and paste it in then Enter /Applications/Autodesk/AutoCAD 2025/AutoCAD 2025 .app/Contents/MacOS
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Features: – Smart Blocks Search and Convert – Smart Blocks Object Detection – Sync Markups from Autodesk Docs – Hatch Improvements – Activity Insights

We currently have a Messer 10KW fiber laser to cut sheets from 1/8" to 1" thick MS and SS. We have an engraving function with this laser but it can only engrave lines and curves, Would there be a fill / hatch feature with such machines. tried looking online but the concept of engraving with high power laser seems to be not widely discussed. I wanted to adjust the kerf from .03" to 1/4" or even 1/2" wide while engraving. I've tried to change the cut height and and speed to control the kerf width but there is little to no change.
We use our own post processor ,input is given in the form of layers in AutoCAD. I was wondering if anyone in this sub has tried something like this before. Sorry if I come across as a noob, I've started working with this machine and lasers only 4 months ago.