text:
My News and Reviews
Last week at Experiments in Manga I posted the Bookshelf Overload for December. It includes a pretty big list of things, in part due to massive holiday sales, so hopefully future months won't be quite as ridiculous. Another thing that happened last week that was kind of cool was related to a post that I wrote back in 2014. My Spotlight on Masaichi Mukaide is probably one of the most noteworthy things that I've ever written and it actually got quite a bit of attention when I posted it. Well, Masaichi Mukaide himself apparently came across it recently and even left a comment.
Probably the biggest manga news from last week was the slew of licenses and other announcements made by Seven Seas. Here's the list of manga:
Absolute Duo by Takumi Hiiragiboshi and Shinichirou Nariie
Alice & Zouroku by Tetsuya Imai
Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage by Leiji Matsumoto and Kouichi Shimahoshi
The Count of Monte Cristo by Moriyama Ena
Cutie Honey a Go Go! by Hideaki Anno and Shinpei Itou
Devilman G by Go Nagai and Rui Takatou
Dragon Half by Ryusuke Mita
Hatsune Miku: Bad End Night by Hitoshizuku-P x Yama and Tsubata Nozaki
Hatsune Miku Presents: Hachune Miku's Everyday Vocaloid Paradise by Ontama
Magical Girl Special Ops Asuka by Makoto Fukami and Seigo Tokiya
Sleeping Beauty by Yumi Unita
Spirit Circle by Satoshi Mizukami
The Testament of Sister New Devil Storm by Tetsuto Uesu and Fumihiro Kiso
Unmagical Girl by Ryuichi Yokoyama and Manmaru Kamitsuki
Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea by Mogeko
Seven Seas is getting back into translating novels and has a deluxe edition of Ryo Mizuno's Record of the Lodoss War: The Grey Witch with illustrations by illustrations by Yutaka Izubuchi in the works, too. Also announced was a full-color edition of Madeleine Rosca's Hollow Fields and five more illustrated literary classics. (I found Seven Seas release of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass to be quite enjoyable.)
It's a pretty interesting group of announcements with a fairly wide range of titles to choose from. There's even a manga from the late '80s (Dragon Half), and not many of those are licensed any more. I'm particularly curious about Moriyama Ena's adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo (the cover art is gorgeous), the josei manga Sleeping Beauty by Yumi Unita (whose Bunny Drop left me with extremely conflicted feelings), as well as the number of titles which are part of classic franchises.
Quick Takes
Devils' Line, Volumes 1-2 by Ryo Hanada. I actually didn't realize it at first, but Devils' Line is the second work by Hanada to be released in English. The first was the doujinshi Good-bye Geist which overall I enjoyed. However, Devils' Line is Hanada's first professional series. In general, I'm liking it, too, except that the artwork is terribly inconsistent. At times it's absolutely spectacular (the cover illustrations are especially great) but within a few panels it may have lost all sense of scale an anatomy. I can't quite tell if this is mean to be deliberate or not; if so, the execution is unconvincing. The story isn't as tight as it could be, but it does have a nice blend of genres, including romance, horror, action, crime, and thriller. And, like Good-bye Geist, the series has a marvelously ominous atmosphere. The plot centers around Tsukasa, who unfortunately seems to be a magnet for both vampires (or "devils") and sexual assault, and Anzai, a half-vampire working for the police in a unit specializing in devil-related incidents. Vampirism in Devils' Line has an intensely sexual component to it; the eroticism often associated with vampires in other stories is in this case incredibly dark and violent.
The Ghost and the Lady, Volume 2 by Kazuhiro Fujita. Admittedly, The Ghost and the Lady is kind of a strange manga series. In part historical fiction and in part supernatural drama, the manga's disparate elements don't always perfectly mesh, but I still enjoyed the series a great deal. In The Ghost and the Lady, Fujita mixes together historical facts and legends, reimagining the life of Florence Nightingale and her accomplishments during the Crimean War with a distinctly supernatural flair. It's clear that Fujita has done a tremendous amount of research for the series; and as the afterword by the series' translator Zack Davisson points out, more or less every named character in the manga has a historical counterpart. There's Nightingale herself as well as the people she knew, Grey is based on a famous ghost of the Drury Lane theater, and even historical figures like the Chevalier d'Éon have prominent roles to play. (Speaking of whom, I really need to find a good biography of d'Éon to read.) Despite the presence of the ghosts, the supernatural aspects of The Ghost and the Lady seem to come and go; I do wish that the eidolons had been utilized a little more in the series' second half because it's great when they are.
Holy Corpse Rising, Volume 1 by Hosana Tanaka. As can be safely assumed by provocative cover art, Holy Corpse Rising is a manga series that includes a fair amount of nudity and scantily clad women. However, despite the occasional ridiculousness, the fanservice is largely keeping with the style and tone of the series as a whole, so it doesn't feel out-of-place; a significant portion of Holy Corpse Rising is intended to be titillating. In general, Tanaka's artwork is quite attractive, though the women in the series are the most beautiful. They're also by far the most powerful characters, both in ability and status. The first volume of Holy Corpse Rising serves as an introduction to the war between the Credic Church and the witches. Nikola, a monk who is a specialist in witch lore, is charged with securing the aid of the coven of first witches in the Church's fight against their descendants. But first Nikola must resurrect them and in the process manages to put himself in some rather compromising situations. So far the first witches each seem to gain their power from a different bodily fluid (tears, blood). And since there are twelve of them, Holy Corpse Rising has the potential to enter some pretty kinky territory.
The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg. I don't recall exactly what it was that brought The One Hundred Nights of Hero to my attention, but I'm so glad that I read it because it is marvelous; I loved the comic. Greenberg takes inspiration from existing stories and even provides retelling of folktales over the course of the graphic novel. The framework is deliberately similar to that of One Thousand and One Nights and there are stories within stories within stories. In fact, The One Hundred Nights of Hero is about the power of stories and storytellers. It's also about love and "brave women who don't take shit from anyone." At the center of the comic is Cherry and her maid Hero, two women who love each other dearly. Night after night, Hero spins tale after tale in an effort to save their lives. The world of The One Hundred Nights of Hero is an incredibly misogynistic one. While different from our own, in some ways it is also tragically reminiscent. The One Hundred Nights of Hero isn't always particularly subtle and can at times feel somewhat heavy-handed, but it's a wonderfully powerful and unabashedly feminist work. I definitely plan on seeking out more of Greenberg's comics.
Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto. Despite being an extremely prolific author and one of the most well-known Japanese novelists translated in English, I haven't actually read any of Yoshimoto's works until now. The story of Moshi Moshi is told from the first-person perspective of Yoshie, a young woman whose father has recently died. A successful musician, the circumstances surrounding his death are somewhat unclear, but it's believed that he committed double suicide with a woman who neither she or her mother knows. The novel follows Yoshie as she tries to come to terms with the unexpected loss of her father by reinventing her life in the chic neighborhood of Shimokitazawa. Her mother joins her there, feeling that the ghost of her husband is haunting the family home, and Yoshie herself is plagued with recurring dreams in which her father appears, searching for his phone. Though Moshi Moshi does tend to drag a little in places, I really liked how Yoshimoto handles the themes of love, loss, and the inevitability of change in the novel. I suspect that Moshi Moshi likely isn't the best introduction to Yoshimoto's work, but for the most part I did appreciate it.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Welcome to chesterpoker.com, your ultimate destination for all things casino-related! Whether you're a seasoned gambler, a curious beginner, or someone who simply enjoys the excitement and thrill of the casino world, our blog is here to provide you with valuable information, tips, and insights.
At chesterpoker.com, we are passionate about casinos and everything they have to offer. Our dedicated team of writers and contributors strive to deliver high-quality and informative content that covers a wide range of casino topics. From game strategies and tips to industry news and updates, we aim to provide our readers with a comprehensive resource to enhance their casino experience.
Why contribute to chesterpoker.com? Here are a few reasons why our blog is an excellent platform for sharing your expertise and insights:
- Expertise: Our team consists of casino enthusiasts and industry experts who have extensive knowledge and experience in the world of gambling. When you contribute to this blog, you have the opportunity to share your expertise and provide valuable insights to our readers.
- Reach: This blog boasts a diverse and engaged audience of casino enthusiasts from around the world. By contributing to our blog, you can reach a wide range of individuals who are eager to learn from your expertise and benefit from your insights.
- Thought Leadership: Publishing your articles on this blog allows you to establish yourself as a thought leader in the casino industry. Your contributions will be seen by our readership, further enhancing your professional reputation and credibility.
- Networking: Our blog fosters a vibrant community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about casinos. By contributing to this blog, you have the opportunity to connect and engage with other professionals, enthusiasts, and industry leaders, fostering valuable networking opportunities.
- Exposure: We actively promote our blog and its contributors through various channels, including social media platforms and email newsletters. Your contributions will receive exposure to our extensive audience, allowing you to expand your reach and grow your personal brand.
If you're interested in sharing your expertise and contributing to chesterpoker.com, we would love to hear from you. We welcome original articles, game guides, casino reviews, and any other valuable content that provides insights and enhances the casino experience for our readers.
To submit your article or discuss potential collaboration opportunities, please contact us using the information provided below. Our editorial team will review your submission and get back to you as soon as possible.
Thank you for considering https://chesterpoker.com/ as your platform for sharing your knowledge and expertise in the exciting world of casinos. We look forward to working with you and providing our readers with exceptional content that enhances their casino journey.
The chesterpoker.com Team


text:
K T Patil College of Nursing was established in the year 2009 to promote nursing education which is a pivot in the health care delivery system and it aids in the progress of research in field of nursing. The institution was initially offering B.Sc in Nursing. But as years rolled on, its rays had spread to other latitudes in nursing education such as General Nursing Midwifery (GNM) in 2011 and Auxillary Nursing Midwifery (ANM) in the year 2011. The college of BSc Nursing is affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Hearth Sciences with an annual intake of 100 seats and recognized by the Indian Nursing Council and by the Maharashtra Nursing Council, Mumbai.
Courses | Intake Seats |
B.Sc. Nursing | 40 |
G.N.M Nursing | - |
A.N.M Nursing | - |
Address: ASPM's K. T. Patil College of Nursing, Siddharth Nagar, Barshi Road, Osmanabad - 413 501
Phone : (02472) 224815., 9423607749
Fax : (02472)228388
E-Mail: [email protected]
Web Site: www.ktpatilnursing.org
Commissioner, State CET CELL, Mumbai Common counseling MBBS/BDS/BAMS/BHMS/BUMS/BPTh/ BOTh/BASLP/BP&O/B.Sc (Nursing) for admission to Health Science course in all Government / Corporation / Government Aided / Government Unaided / Minority Institutions on the basis of merit list of the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET-UG) In order to be eligible for admission to Health Science Courses for a particular academic year, it shall be necessary for a candidate to obtain minimum marks in 'National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test' held for the said academic year, besides obtaining minimum prescribed marks at the qualifying examination as prescribed by respective central council.
No candidate who has failed to obtain the minimum eligibility marks as prescribed by the respective Central Council shall be admitted to respetive Course in the said academic year. All admissions to Health Science courses within the respective categories shall be based solely on merit (AIR) in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test.
The Commissioner, State CET CELL, Mumbai will conduct the admission process for all the Health Science courses in the State of Maharashtra. Online applications will be invited from eligible candidate(s) for admission to all Government/Corporation, Private & Minority Colleges. Online application form will be made available on website www.mahacet.org
Admission processing Fee: Cost of online application form of NEET-UG is Rs. 1000/- for State quota and for Institutional quota Rs. 5000 and for both quota Rs. 6000/-. This application fee is not refundable, hence candidates are advised to go through the Information Brochure and ascertain the eligibility. It is sole responsibility of candidate to ascertain eligibility and also online payment of fees with in prescribed period, failing which online application will be rejected.
The provisional State merit list for seats under State quota in Government / Corporation, Government Aided and all the quota seats in Private/ Minority colleges will be published on the website of State CET CELL as per constitutional and / Or specified reservation claimed by candidate(s). The list of applicants will be prepared on the basis of information submitted by candidate(s) through online process made available on website www.mahacet.org. The provisional state merit list will be prepared on the basis of the information filled in the registration form and the documents uploaded by the Candidate. The verification of Original Documents shall be done by the admitting college authorities in which the candidate submits her/his documents for admission.
The following certificates in original and their attested photocopies must be Produced/ submitted for scrutiny at the time of physical document verification, as well as at the time of admission.
Constitutional reservation claim:- a) Caste Certificate b) Caste Validity Certificate (CVC) c) Non-Creamy Layer Certificate (for VJ, NT1, NT-2, NT-3, & OBC including SBC) issued by appropriate authority as specified in the Government Resolutions from time to time and should be valid up to 31/03/2023. (Annexure-G) d) Eligibility Certificate for (EWS) economically weaker section. |
Specified Reservation Claim:- a) Defence Category Claim (Annexure-C) b) Person with Disability (PWD) (Annexure-D) c) MKB Claim (Annexure-E) d) HA Claim (Annexure-F) |
Document Supporting Religions Minority Status of the candidate: (a) The person belonging to Jain / Muslim / Christian minority have to produced School leaving certificate stating that Candidates belongs to Jain / Muslim / Christian minority,and / or (b) Certificate from Religious place that they belongs to Jain / Muslim /christian Minority. (c) Affidavit stating that they belong to Jain / Muslim/Christian Minority. |
Applicant belongs to Gujrathi/Sindhi Minority: (a) The person belonging to Gujrathi/ Sindhi minority have to produce School leaving certificate stating that Candidate belongs to Gujrathi,/ Sindhi, and / or (b) Affidavit stating that they belongs to Gujrathi / Sindhi Minority. |
Applicant belongs to Hindi Linguistic Minority : (a) The candidate belonging to Hindi Linguistic minority should produce school / College Leaving Certificate stating the candidate mother tongue in Hindi or the Certificate of Head Master/ Principal certifying that his/her mother tongue is Hindi. And (b) Affidavit of Candidate / Parents stating that he /she belongs to Hindi Linguistic Minority |
DISTRIBUTION OF SEATS TO BE ALLOTTED BY THE COMPETENT AUTHORITY: for In Government / Corporation / Government Aided / Private Unaided / Minority colleges.
The candidate should have claimed the constitutional reservation in the original Online application form for the State of Maharashtra. For claiming of category, Request for category claim after submission application form will not be granted. During document verification process, if constitutional category claim is found to be incorrect, same will be rectified as per the document(s) available with the candidate. However no fresh claim for constitutional reservation i.e. from open category to reservation category will not be considered. The Caste Certificate and the Caste/ Tribe Validity Certificate:- If a candidate claiming reservation in online application form does not submit online / produce document, then he/she will be automatically considered in open category if otherwise eligible for Open Category
(i) Scheduled Castes and Schedule Caste converted to Buddhism (S.C.)
(ii) Scheduled Tribes including those living outside specified area (S.T.)
(i) Vimukta Jati (DT) (A)
(ii) Nomadic Tribes (NT1(B))
(i) Nomadic Tribes (NT2 (C))
(ii) Nomadic Tribes(NT3 (D))
iii) Other Backward Classes (OBC) including SBC
Caste | Reservation in Government Colleges | Reservation in Private Unaided Institutions/Colleges |
Nomadic Tribes (NT-1) NT-B | 2.50% | 1.25% |
Nomadic Tribes (NT-2) NT-C | 3.50% | 1.75% |
Nomadic Tribes (NT-3) NT-D | 2% | 1.00% |
Other Backward Classes (OBC) including Special Backward Class (SBC) | 19% | 9.5 |
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Caste converts to Buddhism (SC) | 13% | 6.50% |
Scheduled Tribes (ST) | 7% | 3.50% |
Vimukta Jati (VJ) DT-A | 3% | 1.50% |
Total | 50% | 25% |
If the seats still remain vacant then these seats will be filled by Inter-se ,merit from the above three combined common group of reserve candidates., | ||
If the seats still remain vacant then these seats will be filled by Inter-se merit among the candidate of the common state merit list. | ||
The seat(s) remaining vacant – from EWS category will allotted to general category candidates |
RESERVATION FOR FEMALE CANDIDATES: 30% seats at the disposal of the Competent Authority shall be reserved for female candidates in all the courses. This reservation shall be for all the categories like SC, ST, VJ, NT-1, NT-2, NT-3, OBC, , EWS, Common, HA, MKB & DEF and will be operated in parallel. If requisite numbers of female candidates are not available, then these seats shall be offered to male candidates of that category.
TO Download Information Bulletin of B.Sc Nursing | Click Here |
First Round And Second Round
Steps Of Counseling |
Release of information brochure |
Online Registration/ Application form and payment through Online gateway |
Publication of registered candidates |
Declaration of MBBS/BD Course seat matrix |
Document Verification: Candidates are required to choose any one center for document verification at the time of registration. |
Document Verification for NRI |
Document Verification at Centres Physical |
Online Preference (Choices) Filling Process for MBBS/BDS Course |
Release of first seat allotment list |
Last date of reporting at the allotted institute |
Second round Counselling |
Release of seat matrix |
Release of second round seat allotment |
Last date of joining |
Mop-Up Round (s): After conducting two or more CAP rounds of seat allotment for Government /Corporation /Private aided / Private Unaided / Minority colleges, if seats remain vacant due to nonallotment, nonreporting for admission and resigning after joining or any other reason, those seats will be filled in Mop-Up round(s). The details of the CAP Mop-Up round will be declared on the website in due course
A) Eligibility for MOP-UP Round(s):
1. All candidates admitted in 1st round, 2nd round and secured the admission but not filled status retention form in the respective group.
2. All the candidates who are waitlisted and to whom choice was not available during 1st round and 2nd round in respective group.
B) Candidates NOT ELIGIBLE for Mop-Up Round(s):
a) Candidate to whom a seat has been allotted in computerized CAP rounds and not joined in the respective group.
b) Candidate who has filled status retention form
c) Those candidates who are joined and resigned after allotment of seats in previous rounds.
Mop-Up Round |
Publication of Vacancies for Mop up- round |
Publication of selection list for Mop up- Round |
Joining period of Mop up-Round |
Last date for filling Status Retention form |
Commencement of Academic Session |
INSTITUTION LEVEL ROUND FOR VACANT SEATS AFTER CAP Mop-Up ROUNDS: If the seat(s) remain vacant in Private Unaided /Private Minority Colleges after all CAP Mop-Up Rounds, the said seats shall be filled in by the Institution through Institution Level Round with the prior approval of the Competent Authority. The Dean or Principal of the institutions shall carry out the admission for these vacant seats by calling applications from eligible candidates for State quota on the basis of inter-se merit from the list of NEET-UG.
PAYMENT OF FEES: The fee for the course should be paid at the respective college by Demand Draft from any Nationalised / Scheduled Commercial Bank in favor of Dean/Principal of College, as applicable.
Note: The Admission Process is written as per the ordinance of the official Counselling Agency.
Course | Annual Tuition fee per annum Rs. | Development Fee per annum Rs. |
B.Sc Nursing | 14,300 | … |
Apart from the above-stated Tuition fees, the other facilities provided by the institution shall be charged as under: | ||
Admission Fee | 1,500 | at the time of admission |
Gymkhana Fee | 500 | per annum |
Hostel Fee | 4,000 | per annum |
Library Fee | 2,000 | Deposit - once - At the time of admission |
1,000 | per annum |
Fee Approved by Fees Regulating Authority, Maharashtra for Academic Year 2020-21 | ||||||||
Inst ID | Inst Name | District | Stream | Status | Date of Meeting | Tuition Fee | Development Fee | Total Fee |
BSCN0047 | ADARSH SHIKSHAN PRASARAK MANDAL'S K.T. PATIL COLLEGE OF B.SC. NURSING, OSMANABAD | Osmanabad | BSCN | No Upward Revision | 05-01-2019 | 81818 | 8182 | 90000 |
Note: The Fee Structure is as per the Notification of the official Counselling Agency, Please visit the official website in subject to any changes.


text:
When the Veterans of Foreign Wars asked students to write about "what patriotism means to me," 11 Chapman School students in grades 6-8 took the challenge.
Three of those students — placing first, second and third in the local competition sponsored by VFW Post 10221 in Anchor Point — were recognized at a special assembly at the school on March 7:
• First place, $300: Kyle Wells, eighth grade;
• Second place, $200: Julianna Johnson, seventh grade;
• Third place, $100: Ginger Inman seventh grade.
"VFW believes strongly in good citizenship and fostering patriotism. That's why we encourage youthful minds to examine our nation's history and their own experiences in modern American society through our Patriot's Pen youth essay-writing contest," said Jennifer Henley of Post 10221.
The competition is open to students in public, home school, private or parochial schools in the U.S., its territories or its possessions. The theme for the annual event is selected by the VFW's commander-in-chief.
A 300-400 word limit requires students to keep their writings focused. Entries were submitted by the Nov. 1 deadline, and then reviewed by judges selected by the post's program chairman. Each essay was read by each of the judges, with points given for knowledge, theme development and clarity of ideas.
"In past years we have had as many as 69 entries," said Henley. "Every year we head to our schools and present teachers with a packet of Patriots Pen Essay entry forms in hopes we have our youth participate. Not only are they given to our local schools, but they are also mailed out to villages."
The contest includes four levels, beginning with the post. For every 15 entries at the post level, a first-place winner advances to a regional level. The first-place at that level advances to the VFW Department (state) level. First-place winners at the department-state level continue to national competition.
"We are already looking forward to this year's essays to arrive," said Henley, anticipating the 2014-2015 competition.
This year's theme is "why I appreciate America's veterans."
"Look for this in your schools around August or the beginning of September," said Henley.
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Writing about what patriotism means to him, Chapman School eighth-grader Kyle Wells was awarded first place in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10221 essay competition.
Patriotism by Kyle Wells
The dictionary says patriotism means the love for one's country. I disagree. I think it is more than love. I think it is the willingness to defend, sanitize, rebuild and protect one's country.
Since I was a toddler, my father was in the Army. When he would come home, he would tell me about the things he did in Turkey, Kuwait and Iraq. Listening to his stories of pride, risk and loss taught me what he was willing to do for his country. That is where I learned the meaning of patriotism.
As an American citizen I exercise my rights every day. Every day I exercise my rights of religion, press and speech. At school I give my opinions and I write essays stating those opinions. I exercise my right of religion by believing in a god and going to church on Sundays. I have never exercised my right of gathering in the sense of protesting, boycotting or rebelling. Every day millions of Americans look around and think of how proud they are to be an American, and how thankful they are to have the rights previously listed and others, which are listed in the American Constitution.
Millions of Americans each year celebrate the one holiday that shows more patriotism than George Washington wearing a red, white and blue suit. It's Independence Day. For one whole day each year millions of proud Americans rejoice and celebrate the day that our great country gained independence from Britain.
Every day normal people show their patriotism without even knowing it. The U.S. Army deploys soldiers all over the world to help protect our country along with many others. We currently have hundreds of soldiers overseas, helping and fighting to keep our country safe from foreign invaders. We even have soldiers fighting to win a war over chemical weapons and mass killings. These men and women risk their lives to save our country. So that is what patriotism means to me.


text:
Fossilized bones discovered in Texas from a flying reptile that died 89 million years ago may be the earliest occurrence in the world of the prehistoric creature known as Pteranodon.
Previously, Pteranodon bones have been found in Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming in the Niobrara and Pierre geological formations. This likely Pteranodon specimen is the first of its kind found in Texas, according to paleontologist Timothy S. Myers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, who identified the reptile.
The specimen was discovered north of Dallas by an amateur fossil hunter who found various bones belonging to the left wing.
Pteranodon was a type of pterosaur that lived about the same time as some dinosaurs, about 100 million to 65 million years ago. The only reptiles to dominate the ancient skies, pterosaurs had broad leathery wings and slim torsos.
The specimen identified by Myers is an adult pterosaur of the toothless variety and while larger than most birds, wasn't among the largest pterosaurs, Myers said, noting it had a wing span between 12 and 13 feet, or 3.6 to 4 meters. It was discovered in the Austin Group, a prominent rock unit in Texas that was deposited around 89 million years ago, early in the geological time period called the Late Cretaceous.
Pterosaurs, many of which survived on fish, lived at a time when a massive ancient sea cut across the central United States. The Western Interior Seaway was a shallow body of water that split North America in half from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
More than a thousand Pteranodon fossils have been unearthed from the middle part of the seaway. But no definitive Pteranodon specimens have emerged from the southern part that is now Texas. The SMU specimen, if it is Pteranodon, would be the first discovered so far south in the Western Interior Seaway, said Myers, a postdoctoral researcher in SMU's Huffington Department of Earth Sciences.
Myers reported and described the specimen in "Earliest Occurrence of the Pteranodontidae (Archosauria: Pterosauria) in North America; New Material from the Austin Group of Texas" in the Journal of Paleontology. See www.smuresearch.com for a link to the abstract and the article, and to see a video of Myers talking about the fossils.
Left wing suggests Pteranodon; cause of death a mystery
Key to identifying the SMU fossils as Pteranodon is a humerus of 5.7 inches, or 14.5 centimeters. The humerus is the uppermost bone in the wing and attaches to the torso. The humerus of the SMU specimen, while complete, did suffer some damage during fossilization when it became compressed and distorted through millions of years of compaction.
"If it wasn't crushed so badly, it would be possible to determine if it really is Pteranodon," Myers said. "These bones are easily flattened. They are hollow inside, because they have to be lightweight to allow a pterosaur to fly. So they compress like a pancake as they're embedded in layers of rock."
While it's difficult to narrow the humerus definitively to a specific genus and species, some features clearly identify the specimen as part of the Pteranodontidae family, most likely the genus Pteranodon. It exhibits, for example, the prominent warped deltopectoral crest that is characteristic of members of the Pteranodontidae family, called pteranodontids, he said.
Discovered along with the humerus were parts of the elongated fourth finger that in pterosaurs forms the wing. The SMU specimen's metacarpal — at 20 centimeters — is incomplete, missing an estimated 37 percent of its length.
The fossils do not solve the mystery of the reptile's cause of death, Myers said. But it appears the animal probably died in flight over the sea and then fell into the water. Its carcass probably floated for some time, so that when the flesh decomposed the bones separated at the joints, known as "disarticulation," before they settled to the sea floor and were buried.
"We know it was disarticulated when it was buried because the bones weren't preserved in correct anatomical position," Myers said. "Abrupt truncation of the broken end of one of the bones and infilling of the break with sediment also indicates that the breakage and disarticulation took place prior to burial."
May be oldest Pteranodon in world
If the specimen represents Pteranodon, Myers said, it would be the oldest one in the world by 1 million to 2 million years, and the second oldest pteranodontid in the world.
Pterosaurs were alive from the Late Triassic — more than 200 million years ago — to the Late Cretaceous, evolving from small-bodied creatures to some of the largest animals to ever inhabit the skies, Myers said. An older pteranodontid specimen, belonging to the genus Ornithostoma, previously was identified in England.
"Any pterosaur material is fairly rare to find unless you have exceptional preservation conditions. They are frail, fragile bones, and they require rapid burial to be well preserved," Myers said. "The SMU specimen was deposited relatively far offshore in deep water, perhaps 50 to 80 feet deep. It's fairly exceptional because of the number of elements. Typically you'll only find one piece, or one part of a piece in the local rock."
During the Early Cretaceous, many types of pterosaurs lived around the world, Myers said. The earliest ones had thin, razor-sharp teeth. In the transition from Early to Late Cretaceous, the toothed variety disappear from the fossil record and toothless forms, like the SMU specimen, become more common, he said.
Dallas area specimens illustrate pterosaur evolution
North Texas is fortunate to have had both the toothed and toothless kinds discovered in the area, illustrating the evolutionary transition, noted Myers.
Besides the toothless specimen just identified by Myers, an older toothed pterosaur, Aetodactylus halli, previously was discovered in the Dallas area. Aetodactylus, also identified by Myers, lived 95 million years ago.
"This new specimen adds a lot more information about pterosaurs in North America," Myers said. "It helps constrain the timing of the transition from toothed to toothless because there's only a few million years separating this specimen and Aetodactylus."
Amateur fossil collector Gary Byrd of Rockwall, Texas, discovered the new SMU pterosaur fossils about 10 years ago.
A roofing contractor who keeps an eye out for fossils, Byrd made the find after stopping to look at two freshly excavated culverts while driving through a new subdivision in Collin County. Using a hammer and pick he dug out the bones and brought them to SMU paleontologists Louis Jacobs and Dale Winkler. Jacobs and Winkler indicated the fossils were likely a pterosaur. Byrd donated the fossils to SMU's Shuler Museum of Paleontology.
"I found a couple parts of a fish, and then when I saw these my initial thought was that they weren't fish," Byrd recalled. "I kind of knew it was something different — a birdlike thing. It's very rare you find those thin, long bones."
This isn't the first time Byrd has hit it lucky finding fossils. In 1994 he discovered dinosaur bones that he donated to SMU's Shuler Museum. The specimen was identified as a rare primitive duck-billed dinosaur and named Protohadros byrdi after Byrd.
SMU is a private university in Dallas where nearly 11,000 students benefit from the national opportunities and international reach of SMU's seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.
SMU has an uplink facility on campus for live TV, radio or online interviews. To speak with Dr. Myers or to book him in the SMU studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.


text:
Retro-Ramble: Sid Meier's Colonization
This one's about closure. Despite playing it zealously for weeks on end back in 1994, I didn't ever complete a game of Sid Meier's Colonization, a sequel of sorts to the first Civilization. Powered by Brian Reynolds as much as it was Meier, it's a turn-based strategy tale of establishing colonies in the New World or Americas, and eventually winning independence from their avaricious motherland. My copy silently, immediately and cruelly crashed to a DOS prompt whenever I finally bested my imperial oppressors, denying me the ending sequence and sense of victory I so richly deserved. Disheartened, I duly forgot about the game for a decade and a half, but lately it flitted across my brain by chance, and a curious longing awoke within me. I need to win my colonies their independence at last. I need to know what happens. I don't care how brief or stupid or hilariously low-tech it is. I need to know.
The unfortunate crash was, I later established, because the ending sequence wasn't actually there, having somehow been ripped from the game's files so it'd fit onto a couple of biro-inscribed floppy disks. Up until fairly recently, and truly ubiquitous broadband, piracy has had a fascinatingly utilitarian approach to games – getting the nuts and bolts of a new release into the unpaying hands of as many people as possible was an unblinking priority, so the trappings that feed emotional attachment were sacrificed in the name of filesize. Cinematics, music, sound effects – these were so often removed entirely, or later supplied as add-ons by the mysterious, glory-hungry pseudo-altruists who circulated these game rips.
15 years ago, buying new games was a financial impossibility for me, so I depended on a drip-feed of pirated titles from more affluent... I hesitate to call them 'schoolfriends', but 'school-people-who-also-owned-PCs- when-most-didn't' is not a pretty phrase. Oddly, the process was a little like reviewing games for a living is now – I didn't really have any choice about what I played. I got what I was given. It's highly unlikely the scifi-obsessed, ADD-cursed oik I was back then would otherwise have played a turn-based strategy game about trade in the New World circa 1500-1800. Frankly, I'd still need word of mouth recommendation to consider it now. Floppy-diskian nurture, not enquiring-minded nature, made me into quite the gaming omnivore back then – I played flight sims, racing games, football games, many of which I sometimes struggle to remain open-minded about today, without apprehension or preconception. Of course, this was as much a natural result of growing up a gamer, during an era when this still newish medium was determinedly exploring places far beyond its arcade roots, as it was my own choiceless straits.
Each and every one of these new delights was borrowed and copied from a friend – I treasured my fat notepad full of scribbled passwords and folded-up photocopies of codewheels. While I don't wish to condone today's wide-scale, remote gluttony of bittorrenting games, without a doubt this social piracy was a key factor in making me into the occasionally convincing simulacrum of a games journalism I am today. Each Monday, after a weekend spent with some fresh digital wonder, I was armed with new anecdotes, celebrations and complaints to prop up my otherwise sparse playground chat. Being admonished in front of the entire class for drawing crude Dune 2 ornithopters onto every page of my history exercise book was perhaps the grandest sign of just how hard I had fallen for PC gaming.
God only knows how I managed to figure out how to play Colonization at the time – there's no tutorial, and replaying it from an old budget version, fired up in DOSBOX, this past week required more referring to the manual (which wasn't supplied with that pirated floppy copy) than I was entirely comfortable with. And yet, the occasional yearning for tooltips aside, once I did understand it, it all seemed so straightforward. The interface creaks a bit and the AI can be gamed a little too easily, but this remains oddly fresh.
I thought of Civilization 4, acclaimed for restoring some veneer of accessibility and charm to the hitherto increasingly sombre and glacial old-hand of TBS. And it suddenly seemed so clunky, so fussy, so overloaded with minor detail that might well serve to make its veteran players think they're smart, but in many ways was just layers of fiddly obfuscation between the player and the game. Colonization floats in such a small pool of numbers, is devoted to its key concepts, not sideline frippery, and it's honestly a better game for it. Feature creep pleases players who feel they've seen everything already, who want new angles of approach to the game – Colonization didn't have to worry about that. Though a sequel to Civ, it was enough its own game to just knuckle down and get on with its job.
As a sequel, it's a fascinating creature. We're now accustomed to new Civ iterations every few years, while pretty much any game that's reached franchise status has as its priority refinement, graphical progress and often continuation of a narrative, not exploring new territory. In 1994 though, there had only been one Civilization game. Civilization II was still two years off. Instead, Colonization was the breathlessly-awaited Civ sequel, and, boldly, its approach was not Civ-but-bigger, but rather Civ-but-smaller – focusing in on and expanding a very specific part of the game. Establishing remote colonies and trading were only minor parts of Civ, mere footnotes to its tale of global conquest and technological progress. Colonization zooms into and fills in this sketchy back-story. It could be said to born of the same quiet-the-mewling-fanbase thinking as the Star Wars prequels, only rather than simply filling in all the gaps on Wookieepedia it genuinely has its own purpose.
I choose to play as the Dutch. My tendencies towards anti-patriotism means I tend to shun the English option, while the Spanish emphasis on military might isn't how I prefer to play Civlikes, lily-livered liberal pacifist that I am. And the French... well, maybe I am suffering from some patriotism after all. Actually, it's simply that the Dutch focus on profits strike me as the most sensible way to approach a game that's so trade-centric.
I sail for the new world. My pioneers make landfall at a lovely coastal spot, with ideal conditions for sugar plantations, a nearby mountain rich with ore, and lush forests providing endless timber. Yes, I shall call this place home. Or 'New Amsterdam', to be specific.
Things go well. A few return trips to Europe with a cargo of excess sugar and lumber swells my population enough to set up a small rum distilling business. I meet the natives, the amiable Arawak tribe, and we proceed with some gentle trading. Handily, they seem to have a taste for rum. This is the life. Fort Orange is founded in short order – or tobacco town, as I like to think of it. Then Fort Nassau set ups just along the coast, the local deer population making it a fur trapper's haven. My colonies' slim population means I'm dependent on the high prices Europe pays for my fancy overseas goods for now – gold is all, but it's an easy enough life.
Things fall apart; the self-made centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the New World. The hated Spanish arrive, and quickly seize the cotton-rich corner of land I had my eye on for my next expansion. We eye each other with diplomatic mistrust, but so long as their newly-founded Santo Domingo doesn't stand on New Amsterdam's toes, they can stay. Oh look, they're off to meet the Arawak. I sure hope they're not selling rum too!
My native chums' nearest village is wiped out within a couple of turns. Oh. That's right – Spain are conquistadors. I'm furious – not only were the Arawak a vital source of trade income, but, y'know, they were my neighbours. I'm from the future, after all – I know full-well what European settlers do to indigenous tribes, but I was not gonna be the pseudo-Holland to do it, no siree. Spain! Spaaaiiiiiiin! You'll pay for this! Except, of course, my peaceful nature means I'm almost entirely devoid of muskets and artillery. And so my economy becomes a war one, but by the time I've painstakingly purchased and transported a small army from the motherland, it's too late. The Arawak are gone. The Spanish are now headed towards the nearby Sioux with murderous intent. Tellingly, they're also crowding troops around two of my colonies. They're not attacking, but they are blocking access to my trade wagons. I can offer the Spanish leader a few hundred gold to move 'em, or... Well, peace treaty, my arse.
The battle is swift, as mercifully Spain had yet to invest in artillery. There's no rock, paper, scissors to speak of in Colonization's battles – simply the escalating power of men, guns, horses and cannons. Santo Domingo is a fine town, it transpires, its cotton fields plentiful, and exactly what my newly-arrived Master Weaver needs to create hugely profitable cloth. Isabella too is a welcome addition to the Dutch colonies. Mainland Spain ships over a couple more, ultimately futile expeditionary forces, but eventually offers peace and grumpily sets up shop anew on the other side of the continent. The Sioux are saved. They don't thank me, but they do trade with me, and that's enough.
In one of Colonization's more interesting mechanics, each Spanish soldier I defeated is not killed, but demoted to a mere colonist - the game's key resource, able to perform any unit function in the game, and to be switched to another at will. Sure, a colonist can learn a specific function, so a Master Distiller will produce more rum than simply a colonist working in the distillery, but that doesn't preclude you from sticking a fishing rod or a musket in his hands to cover some production deficit. Human beings are infinitely adaptable creatures, something other strategy games entirely overlook. So, I capture these unarmed Spanish strays, and my own populace swells.
My 20-turn war has not only won me two new colonies, but a steady influx of brainwashed enemies into the existing settlements transforms them into bastions of industry. I'm a little confused. I'd presumed this war would, even if it didn't prove the end of me, so severely impact my economy that I'd be on a back foot for the next century. Instead, what I've inadvertently done is unite two colonial factions, pooling their peoples into something that's very nearly self-sufficiency. Peace through tyranny.
I ship over a few more malcontents and hired trade specialists from Amsterdam, set up a pair of new colonies, and then, there it is. I'm making everything myself – food, weapons, profitable luxuries, horses... I can and do sell them to Europe for a tidy sum, but crucially, I don't /need/ to. While Civilization is characterised by sudden technological leaps, Colonization's resources of war and economy are the same throughout. A musket is a musket, and the only possible way to improve it is to give it to a veteran soldier. The change in the game's nature is beautifully gradual, an almost invisible escalation from struggling to turn a buck into a self-fuelling engine of industry and, finally, into a proud nation that will fight for its independence.
Which isn't something I can just do on a whim. There's a metaphysical resource in Colonization in addition to all that ore and lumber collection: liberty bells, a sense of nation and of discontent with the escalating taxes Europe demands for tradegoods. Each colony generates a few of these, but dedicated statesmen increase it exponentially. Building printing presses and newspaper offices squeak out a few more. Liberty bells erode the Tory sympathy in colony – once that's less than 50% averaged across the entire new world population, I can set my people free.
This is where Colonization's resource management system really shines; a politician may well rouse the populace, but sitting in an office shouting about liberty hardly gets the fields ploughed, does it? On top of that, he's another mouth to feed – each city can only generate so much crops and fish, so a large population can be untenable. To support a couple of statesmen in a given colony, alongside the harvesters and specialists, elaborate trade networks are required - wagons and ships conveying a constant rotation of one colony's excess to feed another's deficit. It's hard work. I'm never going to get enough bells to declare independence by 1800 at this rate.
I'm saved by Thomas Jefferson. Throughout the game, I've been choosing Founding Fathers to form my continental congress at irregular intervals (again dependent on how many Liberty Bells I was generating), each of whom bestows a meaty bonus. My ships sail further thanks to Ferdinand Magellan, I can trade with foreign powers thanks to Jan De Witt, and Francis Drake has been a big help in my secret high seas piracy operation.
Now, old Tom increases my liberty bell production by 50%. This is enough to lure over Simon Bolivar in no short order, who increases my population's desire for independence by 20%. The time is now. I'm almost trembling with pride as I click the magic button. Independence! Unalienable rights! Life, liberty, and the pursuit of reasonably-priced rum!
The king's forces are upon me within moments. My privateers and frigates are no match for his Men O'War, which plough through them until they reach land, onto which they spew a horde of veteran soldiers and cannons. Fort Nassau, Isabella, Vlissingen and New Holland barely last a turn. There is no way I can win this. No way whatsoever. I sigh, and reach for the Load/Save menu.
Before I can do so, everything changes.
No. Fucking. Way. My liberty bells have hit critical mass, and it's enough to convince a foreign power that the Dutch king should not claim the colonies as his own. Well, Spain wasn't going to help, after that messy Santo Domingo business, while France rumbled that I was the guy behind the privateers who'd been robbing their galleons blind. England I hadn't troubled. England, my England, with the Man O'War full of veteran fighters it's just gifted to me. One-by-one, I reclaim my colonies. I'm on something like my 16th hour of the game at this point (spread over a weekend), and I've had my 10834-song MP3 collection on random all that time. As I gear up for the final push, the moment I've waited fourteen years for, iTunes pulls up Rag Doll, by Kevin Rowland (the second track at that link).
You'll know Kevin as the lead singer of Dexys Midnight Runners, a band most folk sadly judge by Come On Eileen and the theme from Brush Strokes. I adore Dexys dearly, but Rowland's solo stuff has never made it past curio status for me. 1999's My Beauty was intended as a comeback after years in the drug-addled wilderness; legend has it the album sold just 500 copies, which can be at least partially attributed to its front cover:
Good work, Kevin. On top of that, the album was a consciously irony-free, super-glossy collection of covers of heart-on-sleeve songs Rowland claimed helped him through difficult times - including Whitney Houston's The Greatest Love of All and The Beatles' Long & Winding Road. It's a fascinating work, but I'd hesitate to say it was a great one. It certainly wasn't a smart one. Of course, Rowland didn't know that at the time, so for him the songs constituted something like self-celebration, having been persuaded by Creation Records' Alan McGee that the world was breathlessly awaiting his comeback. I'm now in the state I (arrogantly) presume Rowland was in when he recorded the album - I've been denied glory for so long, and now, at last, I'm about to get what I deserve. I'm about to catch my Moby Dick. I'm going to beat Colonization. Rag Doll, ridiculously melodramatic and in so many other circumstances more than a little embarrassing, is here laughably inappropriate and ecstatically appropriate all at once. "Shiiiiiiiine!" trills an angelic backing choir as my Dragoons seize back Isabella."Shiiiiii-eee-iii-eee-iiine!"
There are tears in my eyes. Real tears. Then Rowland leans into the mic and intones one of the spoken-word sections he's so prone to. "That beautiful choir. They're all singing for you. They're singing for you." For me? "That's yours. It belongs to you." Yes! This is my moment. "It's over. The bad stuff's over." No more imperial tyranny - my independence awaits! "Here we go." My last cannon closes in on Vlissingen, just as Isabella declares a Tory uprising and half its populace take up arms anew for the enemy. No. I've waited fourteen years for this moment. If that cannon is defeated...
It's been a long time since a game made me quite this overjoyed. My reward is coming. Closure. Triumph. Rapture. I'm ready for it. I've been ready for years. Just... don'tcrashdon'tcrashpleasedon'trcrash. Shiiiiiiiiiiine.
Yankee-Doodle plays. Fireworks explode. Tri-corner hats are hurled skywards in celebration.
It's everything I ever wanted it to be.


text:
Go to realastrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny's expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text message horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at (877) 873-4888 or (900) 950-7700.
Latest Article|September 3, 2020|Free
::Making Grown Men Cry Since 1992
7 min read
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Sometimes I think too fast and too much. My logic gets sterile. My ideas become jagged and tangled. When this happens, I head off to Turtle Back Hill for a hike through the saltwater marsh. The trail loops around on itself, and I arrive back where I started in about 15 minutes. Sometimes I keep walking, circumambulating four or five times. Going in circles like this seems to help me knit together my fragmented thoughts. Often, by the time I'm finished, my mind feels unified. I recommend you find your own version of this ritual, Aries. From what I can tell, you need to get rounder and softer. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the mid-19th century, French art was dominated by the government-sponsored salon, whose conservative policies thwarted upcoming new trends like Impressionism. One anti-authoritarian painter who rebelled was Camille Pissarro. "What is the best way to further the evolution of French art?" he was asked. "Burn down the Louvre," he replied. The Louvre, as you may know, was and still is a major art museum in Paris. Judging from your current astrological omens, I surmise that you might want to make a symbolic statement equivalent to Pissarro's. It's time for you to graduate from traditions that no longer feed you so you can freely seek out new teachers and influences.GEMINI (May 21-June 20): "Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil," is a request that Christians make of God when they say the Lord's Prayer. If we define "temptation" as an attraction to things that feel good even though they're bad for you, this part of the prayer is perfectly reasonable. But what if "temptation" is given a different interpretation? What if it means an attraction to something that feels pleasurable and will ultimately be healthy for you even though it initially causes disruptions? I suggest you consider experimenting with this alternative definition, Gemini. For now, whatever leads you into temptation could possibly deliver you from evil.CANCER (June 21-July 22): "You get tragedy where the tree, instead of bending, breaks," said philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. But you don't have to worry about that outcome, Cancerian. The storm might howl and surge, but it will ultimately pass. And although your tree may bend pretty far, it will not break. Two weeks from now, you won't be mourning your losses, but rather celebrating your flexibility and resilience. Congratulations in advance.LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): It's a perfect time to start reclaiming some of the superpowers you had when you were a child. What's that, you say? You didn't have any superpowers? That's not true. Before you entered adolescence, you could see things and know things and feel things that were off-limits, even unknown, to most adults. You possessed a capacity to love the world with wild purity. Your innocence allowed you to be in close touch with the intelligence of animals and the spirits of the ancestors. Nature was so vividly alive to you that you could hear its songs. Smells were more intense. The dreams you had at night were exciting and consoling. Your ability to read people's real energy—and not be fooled by their social masks—was strong. Remember? VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Not all darkness is bad. You know that. Sometimes you need to escape from the bright lights. It can be restorative to sit quietly in the pitch blackness and drink in the mystery of the Great Unknown. The same is true for silence, stillness and aloneness. Now and then you've got to retreat into their protective sanctuary. Dreaming big empty thoughts in the tranquil depths can heal you and recharge you. The magic moment has arrived for this kind of rejuvenation, Virgo.LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the movie Clueless, the character played by Alicia Silverstone describes someone as a "full-on Monet." What she means is that the person in question is like a painting by French Impressionist artist Claude Monet. "From far away, it's OK," says Silverstone. "But up close, it's a big old mess." You may still be at the far-away point in your evaluation of a certain situation in your own life, Libra. It appears interesting, even attractive, from a distance. When you draw nearer, though, you may find problems. That doesn't necessarily mean you should abandon it altogether. Maybe you can fix the mess so it's as engaging up-close as it is from far away.SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your power animal for the coming months is the Bateleur eagle of Africa. In the course of searching for its meals, it covers about 250 square miles every day. It thinks big. It has a spacious scope. I hope you get inspired by its example, Scorpio. In 2014, I'd love to see you enlarge the territory where you go hunting for what you want. Fate will respond favorably if you expand your ideas about how to gather the best allies and resources. As for this week, I suggest you get very specific as you identify the goals you will pursue in the coming months by exploring farther and wider.SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The standard dictionary says that "righteous" is a word that means virtuous and highly moral. The slang dictionary says that "righteous" describes someone or something that's absolutely genuine and wonderful. Urbandictionary.com suggests that "righteous" refers to the ultimate version of any type of experience, especially "sins of pleasure" like lust and greed. According to my analysis, the coming week will be jampacked with righteousness for you. Which of the three definitions will predominate? It's possible you will embody and attract all three types.CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In the dreams you're having at night, Capricorn, I bet you're traveling through remote landscapes in all kinds of weather. Maybe you're recreating the voyage of the Polynesian sailors who crossed hundreds of miles of Pacific Ocean to find Hawaii 1,500 years ago. Or maybe you're hiking through the Darkhad Valley, where the Mongolian steppe meets Siberia's vast forests. It's possible you're visiting places where your ancestors lived or you're migrating to the first human settlement on Mars in the 22nd century. What do dreams like this mean? I think you're trying to blow your own mind. Your deep self and your higher wisdom are conspiring to flood you with new ways of seeing reality.AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It wouldn't be too extreme for you to kiss the ground that has been walked on by people you care about deeply. And it wouldn't be too crazy to give your special allies the best gifts ever, or compose love letters to them, or demonstrate in dramatic fashion how amazed you are by the beautiful truths about who they really are. This is a unique moment in your cycle, Aquarius—a time when it is crucial for you to express gratitude, devotion and even reverence for those who have helped you see what it means to be fully alive.PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway described his vision of paradise. It would have a trout stream that no one but him was permitted to fish in. He'd own two houses, one for his wife and children and one for his nine beautiful mistresses. There'd be a church where he could regularly confess his sins, and he'd have great seats at an arena where bull fights took place. From my perspective, this is a pretty vulgar version of paradise, but who am I to judge? I suggest you draw inspiration from Hemingway as you come up with your own earthy, gritty, funky fantasy of paradise. It's an excellent time for you to get down to earth about your high ideals and dreamy hopes.Homework: Everyone fudges the truth and hides the whole story now and then. What are your top three deceptions? Confess at freewillastrology.com.