33 Comments

Nadia: I'm so glad your soul "felt free and happy" ... thank you for sharing your weekend with the likes of us, friend.

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Thank you so much for reading! <3

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So glad to see you had a great weekend. You are quiet a storyteller yourself Nadia. Loved reading this story ❤️.

Also, I somehow did not catch you being a Jersey girl too. Yeeee.

For mt fav towns/ city - spokane, green bluff and Savannah

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Thank you so much, my soul sister. And for sharing the great towns with me!

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Give me that Eurobeat!!!! Although I'd be nervous about driving to it, I'd feel I want to step on the Gas! Gas! Gas!

I'd love to watch that movie ,but region blocked in Canada :( (probably a way around that...)

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Hahaha. Yes, that is the side effect of listening to eurobeat! VPN ;-)

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Lots of things that speak to me in this post!

First, I also love martial arts movies. I’m partial the older kung fu flicks with Jet Li and Donnie Yen.

Second, damn if I’m not jealous you can play Planet of Lana. If only it were available on the Mac or Switch...

Third, I LIVE for London Fog. I get it from Ted’s here in Bucharest every autumn. I just adore it. Romanian grandmas used to make a pasta-based dessert that tasted the exact same, so it brings with it fond memories of childhood.

Fourth, my post tomorrow will also be a story of summer, and as I was writing it I couldn’t help but notice the similarities in vibe with your post. I laughed at the coincidence.

Beautiful writing, as always. Thanks for sharing your adventures, Nadia!

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Oh my goodness, Andrei, i am excited to read your post asap! Are we twins? Lol Wow, I will need to learn how to make that exquisite dessert. And that is awesome, I adore Jet Li and Donnie Yen. I used to not be so into martial arts films. I only watched Jackie Chan films. But now I cannot get enough of them. I am sorry Planet of Lana is not on Mac or Switch. It is odd, because that is a game that should be on Switch. Maybe it will be later on? Let us hope. Have a wonderful weekend ahead! I will be reading your lovely post as soon as I can.

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Really liked this story and was really surprised to see 'Only the Strong' mentioned. I remember watching it for the first time on TV in the 90s and appreciating it as a martial arts B-movie. And I loved martial arts B-movies.

My entire family took great pleasure in catching them on tape or box. And while Dacascos didn't immediately become a household name like Van Damme, he grew to be a favorite over the years, especially during the DVD era, which allowed us to check out some of his non-US efforts.

I remember this one being a little darker, a bit more dramatic maybe than I expected. There was something legitimately upsetting about a student dying in a fire. I also quite appreciated that the movie showcased a different style of fighting than I was used to. Capoeira, with its dance moves, was quite distinct from karate or kung fu. I was pleasantly surprised later to see the style in 'Tekken 3,' whose Eddy Gordo became one of my favorite characters.

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Thanks so much for reading and your thoughts, Mikhail! I imagine maybe not a lot of people know about this film? I was shocked it passed me by all these years. Now I'm excited to see more films with Dacascos. He's an impressive martial artist, and his whole family's story is amazing too. And yes, I was so upset about that student. But it makes sense as a plot device, I suppose. Even though it's B-rated, I find it has good morals and lessons that are universally relatable even today. And I remember Eddy Gordo! Ooof, it has been a while I didn't play Tekken though!

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I highly recommend Steve Wang's 'Drive' (1997) director's cut, if you haven't seen it. One of the best US- Hong Kong Martial Arts B-movies ever made with a dash of scifi and a real showcase of Dacascos' talents.

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Thanks so much! I'm going to watch it ASAP.

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This was such a fun article, an excellent photography, I love small towns in the stories that they tell

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Thank you so much, dear Lara. I feel a bit rusty as it has been a year, but it was still fun to capture the photos and have fun editing them too. Same for me. Especially Somerville for me has many treasures to show every year.

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Dropping that eurobeat while driving would be dangerous...it's an automatic 20 over the speed limit. Cheers!

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Hahaha. It definitely is.

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I am SO glad you are feeling better, Nadia, and sounds like a lovely weekend! My dad grew up in New Jersey, but have only ever spent a few brief days there - I remember lots of green. Those are petunias by the way. Love the weirdling, love curiosities of all kinds, keep 'em coming...

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Oh how nice, where did he grow up? And yes, the green is every where in NJ. It is the garden state after all. Haha. Thank you for letting me know which flowers these are. Petunias - duh! These colorings I haven't seen, so I wasn't sure. Thank you so much for stopping by and reading, my friend!

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So lovely to hear all that. I’m gonna check out that capoeira movie. Have you seen any of the Ip Man movie? Just about my favorites.

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Yes, I love the Ip Man!!! And the second one too. But I need to continue watching the rest of them. There's a bunch, huh! Thanks so much for stopping by! Only The Strong is a fun experience.

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Once again, one of your sweet stories has moved me to tears! What a wonderful feast of many courses this story is...with compelling writing with a wonderful cadence and flow from beginning to end...extended even higher by your excellent pictures! May you have many more awesome days like this in which pain has no ruling influence and your soul can fly free in exaltation! And my the day come soon, when all the pain you have had to endure for far too long, disappears forever, leaving you free to fly on the lovely winds of your life!

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Thank you, thank you, thank you, friend! Your words inspire and empower me! Much love and strength and joy to you and your loved ones!

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What a delight to read and look at. Thanks for sharing all of those pics. What the fresh heck *is* that? (Love that term!) I laughed at the peekaboo, too. Is that the hubby?

Glad you got out and about, that's great to hear.

Planet of Lana is on my list after playing the demo earlier this year. Love anything that gives Limbo'y vibes (as well as any new indie devs breaking into the scene) and it certainly seemed to have a good blend of visuals and enjoyable puzzle platforming. Might be a while before I get to it, though. Tears of the Kingdom likely won't let me go see any other game for a while.

Looked up the location of Somerville on maps to get my bearings :)

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Thanks so much for stopping by and reading, Nathan! Yes, that is the husband poking out. He likes to poke out of things lol. You'll love Planet of Lana then. If you ever need any more recs for platformers, I know so many! I hear Tears of the Kingdom sucks one away. For that reason I'm afraid to try lol! Speaking of Somerville. There's a platformer called that too lol.

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There is! Forgot about that. I heard it wasn't so great, though so I never tried it when I was on GamePass a little while ago.

Hi hubby! I shall be on the lookout for more pics with him poking out ;)

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Yes, alas, the game isn't so great. I enjoyed it at first, but it got confusing in the middle. And all the endings are devastating. But I still commend them on reinventing the formula. I'll make sure to post more photos of him poking out :D.

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So so good! Sounds like a good time was had. I will have to try that game out, it looks great 😊

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Thank you! I'm sure you'll love it!

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I very much will x

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That game sounds super fun!

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It really is! Fun (sometimes tense too) puzzles, touching story.

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That sounded like a really lovely weekend!

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It was the best! Forever will go in my memory. Thanks Priya!

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