Platform(s): PC
Genre: First person dungeon crawler
Estimated year of release: I think late 90s.
Graphics/art style: A lot of gray. The dungeon was all under ground, rock walls, masonry, traps and doors. I believe there was a map shown at all times helping navigation.
Notable characters: You're a solo dungeon diver, not a group of characters. But IIRC you could buy monsters in town to bring as a helpepet. I can barely remember the monsters but goblins stand out. Most likely skeletons, rats and such but I'm really not sure.
Notable gameplay mechanics: Dungeon movement was tile by tile, 90 degree turns. I remember memorizing a path I would always take. I hammered in all the moves and the game took the steps lagging behind until I arrived where I could continue exploring. I would often return to town and sell stuff. There was a store for equipment, a bank and a "pet" store that I can remember.
Other details: I only ever played the demo which I most likely got off a magazine CD. I used to buy PC Gamer (Swedish edition). If someone could point to where one can browse all the software they put on those old CD's I'd love to have that resource.
I also can't remember this ever being a famous game. No one I knew ever talked about it and it's never come up randomly on the internet and clearly I haven't been able to find it by searching.

Im planning to build a walkout deck (3‘ high) over an existing paver patio (8’x13’) off my new back door. The patio was installed five years ago with proper gravel base and was compacted. It hasnt moved at all. Id love to keep the patio in tact to help with under deck storage, and save myself work so I’m strongly considering just using deck blocks on the existing pavers. Just one of the blocks will be sitting directly on dirt/gravel. Has anyone done this before or offer alternatives (besides demoing and drilling footings).
Im not too concerned with frost heave since it will be floating and the gravel underneath is well compacted. Only real concern is less lateral support with deck blocks.

TLDR: I'm slowly building up a small homestead with self-sufficiency in mind and a desire to nullify electric bills, and in my county in Maine I am allowed to extract no more than 20,000 gallons of water (per day) from the river that borders my property.
I want to use a ram pump to move river water up a 40-50 ft slope, through a passive water filter into a 275-550 gallon storage tank, and be able to use that filtered water for irrigation, and potable use with treatment.
I'm interested to see if anyone has done something similar and could share their insight, tips/tricks, useful sources of information, or experience in general!
I posted this question a few weeks ago and the general response was that I should double-check the legality of extracting river water before anything else. My county in Maine is pretty relaxed about extracting river water, allowing no more than 20,000 gallons per day. I will triple-check with the local code enforcement officer before proceeding with any water extraction, but for now I'm 95% sure I am clear to keep a 550gal tank topped off, unless I'm vastly underestimating the amount of water a small homestead requires each day. I'm hoping to gauge and reevaluate my expectations based on other users' experience with river water extraction/storage/usage, especially if you have experience with this in Maine!
I'm curious if anyone has any tips, suggestions, or good sources for best utilizing river water in a small homestead situation? As I'm building up the property I'd like to start planning for self-sufficiency wherever possible in an effort to lower bills in the long run. I do not have any batteries for long-term power storage, though I do plan on getting a solar generator to start and a full solar panel array down the road.
I'm very interested in using a ram pump to passively extract water into a storage tank, but as the river is about 30-40 feet below the tank's expected location I feel as though I'd have to mount the pump to the riverbed in order to generate sufficient pressure in the drive-pipe, and I'm not even sure it's a better solution than a solar-powered pump as another user suggested. I'm not sure if I'm willing to go so far as to build a water wheel but that could be an option down the line if some power is needed for pumps, treatment, etc. If you have any suggestions or advice I'm all ears, having a water wheel would be pretty cool regardless!
Is there anything practical/biological preventing me from using the river to facilitate basic plumbing needs if it's properly treated? At the very least I've read conflicting reports on using river water for gardening/irrigation but it seems to come down to the presence local pollutants - ie: don't use water downstream from a chemical processing plant - and while my area is rural and I don't think there's any livestock in the immediate area, I don't know what's further upstream. If I wanted potable water it would need to be treated, but I'm wondering what kinds of simple/affordable/"primitive" water treatment methods might exist. They're not going to be as efficient as RO or UV treatment, but as long as it's passive and doesn't use power I'll give it a shot! There's plenty of time for trial and error, I'm in no rush.
Please share your thoughts!

Route Guide – A printed Route Guide with the bicycle route will be provided for each participate. In addition, BAK will provide an electronic version of the Route Guide for downloading to your smartphone. Alternate driving routes will be provided for personal vehicle drivers. In addition, Kansas maps will be available upon request for personal vehicle drivers.
Face Mask – N95 or KN95 for situations where a mask may be required.
Sun Block – Protect your skin with SPF 30 and above. You will be out in the sun for longer than usual each day. Don’t forget to reapply often. You will also see some riders wearing sun sleeves for extra protection.
Lip Balm – Your lips WILL get chapped and/or sunburned, so use lip balm with SPF.
Tire Repair Items – Come prepared to fix a flat tire. Carry spare tubes, tire irons to remove the tire from the rim, a frame pump or CO2 cartridge to inflate the tire, and a patch kit as a last resort. Check with your local bike shop on a recommended, quality patch kit. If you've had one for a while, make certain the glue had not dried and hardened.
Cycling Cleat Bolts – Consider packing extra cleat bolts in your bike bag.
Multi-Tool – Consider tucking into your bike bag a multi-tool for quick fixes on the road. They don't take up much room and just might be enough to get you back on the road quickly.
Photo ID – Keep your photo ID with you at all times.
Medical and Dental Cards – Keep your medical and dental insurance cards with you at all times.
Smartphone or Cell Phone – Consider bringing a smartphone or cell phone to stay in touch with your loves ones at home. BAK uses text messaging to provide necessary tour updates. BAK will provide an electronic version of the Route Guide for downloading onto smartphones. Also, for safety reasons, a cell phone is a good thing to have out on the route. If there is an emergency (accident or mechanical problem), you will be able to call the local authorities or your BAK emergency number.
Camera – Bring a digital camera or smartphone to snap memories of your adventure.
Energy Bars/Snacks – Fruit will be available at most SAG (rest) stops. Consider carrying your own energy bars, gels, or chews. Dried fruit and nuts are also favorites of many riders.
Chamois Cream – Some bicyclists use a chamois cream in their shorts prevent and/or treat chafing.
First Aid Kit – Keep first aid items to a minimum on the bike. Minor first aid supplies will be available from volunteer medics and at the overnight stops.

Hello Mamas! Great job for doing your best! I am exclusively pumping and my baby thankfully is well nourished. He drinks breast milk all around but I also give him a formula once a day just so that he has a taste of it in case of an emergency. My baby tends to be on the gassy side ever he was born, not colic but does get uncomfortable and gassy at times. We do bicycle kicks almost everyday and when he was first born I used to give him mylicon which used to help but then I felt it didn't do the job to the fullest. An old remedy is what helped him so much and I could tell how relieved he is and doesn't have problems. I would mix one tsp of cumin, 1 tea spoon of anise, one cardmom piece, and put in boiling water. I would only give him 2 mL and his stomach would be fine and he was passing gas regularly. I wanted to share inncase you are desperate because I was at one point and it was a relief! Another thing is that probiotic drops! Mommys bliss ones absolutely messed up his stomach but Gerber Good start worked well (can't find it anymore) so I went with Bagaia now and it's the same ingredient which are helping him. Because of Mommys Bliss drops I do believe he got constipated and his stomach was so upset and he didn't have a bowel movement for 3 days which I know is ok up to a week but he was very uncomfortable and fussy and I wanted to help him so prune juice did the job very well same day after like an hour he did poop!! He was back to smiling and laughing with no grunts. He is 2.5 months old and I gave him an ounce in his bottle!
I am sorry for taking so long but I hope this helps mamas!

Phil Aston: Hello and welcome to the Now Spinning Magazine podcast with me, Phil Aston. And in this episode, I’m absolutely delighted to have with me Tony Martin, one of the UK’s most underrated rock vocalists. You’ve had a really varied career, but what we’re going to talk about today specifically is Black Sabbath and the new “Anno Domini” box set. So, welcome, Tony. Thank you so much for joining me.
Tony Martin: Thank you. And thank you for having me on the show. Very cool.
Phil Aston: A bit of context, because I think this is kind of helpful for you. My son is 30 now, but when he was 15, he set up a Facebook group, kind of saying, “One day, please can we have the Tony Martin Black Sabbath albums released?” That was 15 years ago. He was still at school, half his lifetime ago. And I think in the early time when he set this up, he may have reached out to you and you might have said something like, “I don’t think it’s gonna happen, Dan.” And here we are, all these years later, and it’s not only happened, but it comes out this Friday. How does that feel to know that these albums are now going to be available again?
Tony Martin: Well, first of all, well done to your son. It took 15 years, but he got it done. To be honest, there’s been a few periods when I didn’t think it was happening. In fact, about a year ago, Tony Iommi’s manager called me and said, “You know what, this is just so complicated. I don’t think we can do this.” So I was resigned to it not happening myself. It’s all to do with band politics, really. There are so many people involved or have their fingers in the pie that they all have to be on board. And there were allegiances changing all over the place, left, right, and center. So in the end, it was getting a bit tiring, but well done to Tony Iommi and BMG. My God, the patience they showed to get this thing together and actually get it out there. Wow. But how does it feel? It feels brilliant, to be honest. I’m very excited. I haven’t actually had these albums in my own hands physically for the past 25 years. I gave all mine away thinking I’d be able to get some more, and I didn’t. They just stopped making them. So to actually physically hold them again is really cool. What a great job they’ve done of it. So I’m thrilled and excited. And I’m helping out now because I’m not in the band, obviously, anymore. So I just offered my help to promote it and they said, “Great, let’s do it.”
Phil Aston: Isn’t it amazing? Because I’ve done quite a few reviews about Black Sabbath box sets and stuff, but this one, within about 12 hours, there’s literally 12,000 views of the review. The love for this period of Black Sabbath is actually huge. It’s grown. It almost feels as if the profile is higher now than it was at the time.
Tony Martin: Yeah, there is a kind of reason for that. Partly people have got over the “it’s the new guy” thing, and also it’s been 25 years since. So now we’re reaching out to a whole other group of people, in addition to those that were already there. But to the outside world, it looks like there was a huge gap, and to me it felt like a huge gap. But actually, the fans were always there. I’ve been waiting myself as well to get this back out there. And it’s just band politics, really. That’s all it is.
Phil Aston: Because you had that period when it was almost as if this part of Sabbath’s history was hidden because of band politics. None of this really happened, which I think probably stirred up more interest and kind of people wanting to find out more.
Tony Martin: Yeah, it could be. It’s an old famous thing, you know, if something ain’t around for a while, people start talking about it. But yeah, it’s a strange thing, the music business. You’re either in fashion or you’re not. But I am just thrilled that they’ve got around it. Just the patience they’ve shown to actually put this together. At one point they were just saying, “We can’t do it.” But I’m really chuffed anyway.
Phil Aston: I imagine there’s been compromises along the way. Lots of fans probably don’t understand how complicated the politics and all the different licenses and everything that goes on over the years, they become more and more entangled. People say, “Where’s Eternal Idol?” But of course, that was a different record label. Different people own it.
Tony Martin: Yeah, absolutely. It’s owned by somebody else. And also Eternal Idol, or “Eternal Idiot,” as we call it, was kind of reissued not that long ago. Really.
Phil Aston: That’s right. With the two CD version, wasn’t it?
Tony Martin: Yeah. So they were kind of thinking, “Well, there’s no real panic because that’s already been done and let’s just move on.” Because that would have wrapped them up in contracts for centuries, I think. I can’t even think that they’ll ever get them to let that go. But they were struggling to get the people involved with these four albums to make up their minds and do stuff. I’ve been all for it all the way along, I have to say. Obviously, because it’s my career, my history. It’s not just the band’s history. It’s ten years of my life that went AWOL. So, yeah, I’ve been up for it all the way along, but some people don’t and it’s taken them a while to get on board.
Phil Aston: I think it’s fantastic. The first one was Headless Cross. You joined one of the biggest rock bands with all that history behind it. You were an established singer with the Alliance. But this was a chance, as you say, with Eternal Idol, you went in and it was already prepared. You sang it, but this one was where you could really put your mark on it, your personality lyrically as well as musically. Can you remember what it was like actually being at the beginning of that? Did you feel comfortable around Iommi and Powell and thinking, “Right, what kind of lyrics am I going to do by Headless Cross?”
Tony Martin: Yeah, I was comfortable by then. Well, kind of. The thing is, with Eternal Idol, if I can just backstep a little bit. The Eternal Idol wasn’t the first call up. The first call up was in 1986 when they were doing the Seventh Star with Glenn Hughes. And that scared me to death because I can’t sing like Glenn Hughes. Nobody can sing like Glenn Hughes. They put me on standby back then, so I’d sort of tentatively had an introduction to Tony Iommi. Then in ’87, they got me in for the audition, and that was the next introduction to Tony Iommi. But because Eternal Idol was already written, that gave me a whole year plus a bit more to find out what this thing was. What the hell was I supposed to do? So just doing Eternal Idol like that was fine by me because I didn’t have to discover anything myself back then. It gave me a chance to get my feet in. So by the time it got to Headless Cross, now I know all the guys, and I kind of know what’s expected of me. I still had to find the “me” that I needed to find. I went around it the only way I could, by focusing on things I was interested in. I couldn’t do the lyrics and melodies that Geezer was writing for Ozzy because that was a generation before me. The stuff that Ronnie was doing was fantastic, but I couldn’t get inside his head. So I had to think about what I was going to do. I had an interest in the old gothic death stuff, like Dracula and Frankenstein, Mary Shelley type writing, and of course, in England, we have Shakespeare. Nobody speaks English like that anymore, that old English text. I thought, “Old English text, gothic death, and Black Sabbath. That might work.” So I put them all together and came up with Headless Cross, which is where I lived. I lived in a village called Headless Cross.
Phil Aston: Yeah, you put that on the map. They weren’t pleased about it. The most recognition I’ve got is my name on a bus stop. And Cozy Powell thought the album needed more death, didn’t he?
Tony Martin: Oh, that’s true. That’s actually true. We were recording “When Death Calls,” and he was in the studio playing, and he suddenly stopped. We went, “You alright?” He went, “Yeah, just remind me, what’s this song called again?” I said, “It’s called When Death Calls.” He said, “I don’t think there’s enough death in it.” And he carried on playing. So, okay, maybe he’s taking the piss, but isn’t it such a great sounding album? As Tony Iommi says, he never left Black Sabbath. So when people criticize him, saying, “You should change the name or whatever,” he never left. So it was still Black Sabbath. The riffs, the guitar sound was reaching new peaks of excellence around this time.
Because when it was just him and Ozzy, for example, it was guitar, that was it. When Geoff Nichols joined during the Dio period, it introduced a few more keyboard things. That allowed Iommi to play solos against those keyboard pads and chords. And then you come along and start sticking 50 tracks of vocal harmonies on it, like in Anno Mundi and stuff like that. It just kept developing. Sabbath isn’t really known for vocal harmonies and keyboards, but underneath that was still Tony Iommi. And it still sounded like Sabbath. We were happy to do that. We just wanted to make Tony happy and do the best for him. It was his band. So we were happy to seek out that Sabbath sound and make sure it did what it said on the tin. A couple of times, like with the Seventh Star thing, he ventured a little bit away from it. Songs like Heart Like a Wheel don’t really make the Black Sabbath sound, but it’s still good stuff. I have great respect for all of the eras that went before. I had to sing all of the songs. So I do have great respect for it. And it’s been an honor, you know, like being part of the whole story. But he was the only one that stuck it out. And we respected him for that. You’re right, they did ask him to change a couple of times. He said, “No, I can’t change now.”
Phil Aston: The next one, if I pronounce this right, it’s Tyr.
Tony Martin: Yeah.
Phil Aston: Because when it came out, me and my friends, actually, because there was no Internet back then and nowhere to go and check it, we did call it Tyr. To be.
Tony Martin: Yeah, Tyr.
Phil Aston: Watch you find in Birmingham. You know what I mean? So it actually rhymes with beer, doesn’t it?
Tony Martin: It is, yeah. Actually, it’s Tiw, which is Scandinavian for the son of Odin or something.
Phil Aston: Well, this is almost as close, probably, to Sabbath getting into almost a concept album. Isn’t it? This is a collection of songs that in another time and space you probably as a band would have gone out and performed the whole thing.
Tony Martin: Yeah, it wasn’t meant that way, but they were struggling to find a name for the album. We were recording and getting towards the end and the management called us up and said, “We really need a name for this album.” And Cozy said, “I’ve got one. Let’s call it Satanic Verses.” We went, “What, like Salman Rushdie thing?” He said, “Yeah, it would be great publicity.” We said, “Yeah, but we’ll all be dead.” So we did struggle, but they happened across the artwork. We’d done Anno Mundi, we’d done Gates of Valhalla and all that sort of stuff. They went, “What if… Tyr?” It was fine by me. So it took on the Viking sort of theme. By that time, I was thinking, once I’d done Headless Cross and started to have an interest in the Vikings and stuff. As you know, the Vikings haven’t been particularly good for us. They came over and stole all our women and sheep and whatever. But I had an interest in them as well. So I was thinking, every culture, every religion has its dark side. There’s always a devil type in a god type. I thought we could go around the world and I could do this. You could pick up on all sorts of cultures and pick out the dark side of various things. But it was the last kind of… I still did that with various other songs and various other artists. But Tyr was leaning towards that theme.
Phil Aston: It’s an excellent album. Then of course, the strangeness of the politics in Sabbath. Dehumanizer comes along and Dio re-enters the scene. You obviously had an opportunity because every cloud has a silver lining. You can go off and do your solo album at this time. But you did kind of like… It sounds like it was almost a forced relationship, the way that he was and he wasn’t. I mean, how was that period for you? Because you did demo some of the tracks, didn’t you?
Tony Martin: Firstly, it was a shock. I didn’t see that coming at all. Literally just walking out the door to the next writing rehearsals. My managers called up and said, “They don’t want you to go.” From what I recently found out, although I had my suspicions, Tony Iommi said the record label just wasn’t supporting it. They weren’t getting behind us at all. Then they started banding about all different names and stuff, and Ronnie’s name came up. They thought they’d give it a go. He said it was all on and off all the time. After they let me go, it wasn’t too long before Tony called me back and said, “Can you come back?” I said, “No, I can’t. I’m doing my solo album.” More time went by, and he called me back again and said, “Are you sure you can’t come back?” I said, “I’m doing my solo album. I really can’t.” He said, “Do you want to come down and try?” So I did. I went down and tried putting my voice on some of the songs, but it would have meant rewriting everything, and they weren’t going to do that. So I said, “The best thing is if you finish this with Ronnie, get this done and out of the way, then maybe we can talk again later.” So that’s kind of what happened. By that time, I’d done my solo album, which I wanted to get as far away from the Sabbath thing as I could at the time. I went back to doing what the Alliance and some of the bands I’d been with, that middle-of-the-road AOR type stuff. But when they called me back to Sabbath, Polydor dropped my solo album like a brick. They said, “We can’t do this if you’re going to go back with them.” So that got stopped. It’s so confusing. By the time I got back with the guys to Cross Purposes, it didn’t feel that much of a gap for me, because I’ve been talking to them and working with them through the Dehumanizer thing.
Phil Aston: Stylistically, that album, because it was on the IRS label, I know some people have said, “Well, it should be in there.” Stylistically, musically, it’s very different. I mean, you take it out. These four albums in this set, excluding Eternal Idol, they sound like a progression. Dehumanizer sounds like a kind of sidestep. Even the way the riffs are done in the songs, it’s changed. You take the vocalist out, but the music continued. You took you out and it was very different.
Tony Martin: I suppose it does a bit. If I go back and think over it, I guess that’s what it was. It was kind of an interruption into the flow of things. When we were doing Tyr, I thought we were doing really well. I thought we were onto something. Dehumanizer, in that sort of respect, does feel a little bit like an interruption. But there was some good stuff on there. Ronnie’s always been a good singer. I don’t quite know how they feel about it, but it was kind of nothing to do with me. I just let them get on with it.
Phil Aston: After that, Cross Purposes is probably, out of the four albums in this set, my personal favorite. Geezer’s back in the band now, so you’ve got his bubbling bass in there. And again, lyrically, it’s all you. Did you feel any kind of, “Oh, Geezer’s back. Will he want to help out?”
Tony Martin: I did ask. He just said, “No, you can do it.” So I just carried on.
Phil Aston
The reason why I love this album is that it’s varied. A lot of people think of Black Sabbath as the Godfathers of heavy metal, and heavy metal is always heavy metal. But if you think back to albums like Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in the seventies, they weren’t all heavy metal. There were all sorts of things on there. There were keyboards and light and shade. This, I felt, connected to that album, because you had light and shade on it. So there were more dynamics in the lyrical delivery and the song delivery, in the way that Iommi is weaving his riffs around the melodies. What are your thoughts looking back on this album now?
Tony Martin: I think you’ve just summed it up. It did sort of shift up a notch. Not only that, but the sound they were getting with Leif Mases producing it, it sort of grew up. It lifted somehow out of what they’d done before. It felt like, “Oh, this sounds good.” The songwriting and the exploring we were doing with the songs and stuff. At the time, Geezer Butler said that’s the best album he’s ever been on. He never said that again, but he said it at the time.
Phil Aston: I can imagine him saying just that.
Tony Martin: But it was good. Having Bobby Rondinelli in the band as well. Technically amazing. Brilliant player. His drums close in, and he plays with his wrists. Very technical. Whereas Cozy’s drums are stretched out far and wide. He’d lean over and hit them. But great to have them both in. What an honor. I mean, it’s Geezer Butler as well.
Phil Aston: When you got to South America, Bill Ward was in for a few gigs, wasn’t he? That must have been quite surreal. Bill Ward and Geezer playing songs like Headless Cross, which they had nothing to do with.
Tony Martin: They had nothing to do with. We were kind of weird because once we’d started to get Geezer and Bill back in, they wanted to start doing more of the older songs. That just makes you look, read between the lines going, “What’s going on? Where’s this going?” Once it’s happened to you, you know it. Then you’re reading between the lines. You start to feel it. Then you go, “Ah, right.” You can feel it. They’re clearing up. I did ask if they were going to do a reunion with Ozzy. Iommi was always denying it. Said, “No, no, we’re not doing that.” But I didn’t mind. The reason for that is because I knew what I could do in the future then. I thought, “Well, if they just tell me, that’s fine. Cause then I can plan.” The first time it was a shock and I didn’t know what to do. But I was kind of keyed up for it the next time. But he kept going. They got Bill in. I love Bill. I think he’s brilliant. We did some shows with him. But for some reason, and I don’t know what it is, I mean, I can tell you Iommi loves Bill. He regaled so many stories about when they were out there and how funny it was. I never understood why they never gave him time to get back in it. When you think of Def Leppard, they made a drum kit for a one-armed drummer.
Phil Aston: Yes, very true.
Tony Martin: Surely they can find time to get Bill settled back in. Whatever problems they’ve got. I mean, come on.
Phil Aston: You would think, yeah, very true.
Tony Martin: Get on with it. I thought, “Right, this is going to go south again.” But it didn’t. We carried on with Forbidden, and then Cozy came back after his accident. It was really up and down. Confusing. People in and out. During the time I was in the band, there were eight different lineups.
Phil Aston: It was very much a revolving door, wasn’t it? Before we move on, I just want to ask, because I know a lot of fans ask this. In the booklets in these box sets, there’s an image of Cross Purposes Live. That was a VHS tape and a CD. Is there a reason why that wasn’t included in some way? Is that game politics?
Tony Martin: I did ask about that, and they were just keen to get on with it. They said, “Come on, let’s go, let’s do it.” What they told me was that they’re going to take their time now to see what else they can gather and do an additional thing to this along the way with more of that in it. With the Cross Purposes Live and some other stuff. There’s a track that I recorded with them when Eddie Van Halen came and did Evil Eye.
Phil Aston: Yes, yeah, Evil Eye, wasn’t it?
Tony Martin: Yeah. I used to take the track out. I had it everywhere. Writing sessions, recording sessions, rehearsals. I just happened to be there. I didn’t even know who was coming. Iommi just turned up with Eddie Van Halen. I went, “Holy hell, it’s Eddie Van Halen. What’s he doing here?” He did some rehearsals with us and then disappeared. Never saw him again. But I got the recordings of the rehearsals that we did.
Phil Aston: Oh, wow.
Tony Martin: So I sent them to Tony Iommi. I said, “Use these. Get these on.” He said, “No, no, we can’t.” The reason they said was anything that has the slightest newness about it looks like a new Black Sabbath track or album track. They’re not allowed to release anything new under the Black Sabbath name. So even if it’s historical, they couldn’t allow it. It’s really weird.
Phil Aston: That means there must be lots of live stuff recorded. More bands were recording live stuff from the nineties onwards that you just couldn’t work on because it would go out under the Black Sabbath name.
Tony Martin: Not just live stuff. I’ve got about eight tracks that we never released. Just from the writing sessions and rehearsals and stuff that we used to do. They just can’t get out. They just won’t allow it.
I don’t understand. Well, I kind of understand. When you’re trying to protect your name, your mark, your image, your everything, which is where the band politics comes in, they won’t allow you to do anything that they think. And there’s all kinds of… Everybody from Ozzy to Dio to everybody. They don’t want their thing to be diluted or taken away. I do understand that. There are people involved all along the way that have an objection of some kind or another.
Phil Aston: But I guess, hopefully, this box set’s going to sell out really quickly and will show there’s a demand for this material and for this part of Black Sabbath history. There’s a lot of love for it. A lot of people worked really hard within it, like yourself. They’re great albums, wonderful songs. If there’s other music waiting in the wings, whereas we all get older, thinking through the eyes of the fan, it would go down so well, wouldn’t it? But I am, as you are, very grateful that these four albums have arrived in a box.
Tony Martin: Yes, it’s an important thing for me. It’s an important thing for the band, and it’s a great thing for the fans. I’m thrilled. It’s been an honor to be part of the story. I love the fact that it’s out there now. They did say there is no limit to the box sets. They have sold out on day one.
Phil Aston: I’m not surprised.
Tony Martin: They said the way they do it is they tend to poll the outlets and stuff and say, “How many do you think you can sell?” And they put their numbers in, and they’ve gone way past that. So now they’ve got to go back and produce more. There’s no limit to it. I love what they’ve done. There’s more in the box set than just the albums. Posters, programs, and everything.
Phil Aston: And then Forbidden. I’ll be honest, Tony, when I heard this for the first time back in the day, I didn’t like it. I tried, but I didn’t like it. My son liked it because I think probably because his dad didn’t. But now the remix, it’s as if someone’s released the drums and the guitars. It sounds like a Black Sabbath album. It sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?
Tony Martin: It does. It’s brilliant. I love the fact that they’ve dismantled it and put it back in a way that they couldn’t or didn’t with the other three. Forbidden needed it for all kinds of reasons. It was done under a sort of cloud where a lot of us weren’t really into it very much. But it was also an attempt at trying to give Sabbath a kind of acceptable twist to the youth. It didn’t work.
Phil Aston: The nineties were weird, weren’t they? The nineties were strange for heavy rock.
Tony Martin: The problem was we were fast heading towards great new bands like Nirvana and eventually Green Day and Metallica doing stuff. We were going and they were trying to change the sound to fit in. It didn’t work. We didn’t think it would. But there are people out there that love Forbidden as it is. I said that to Iommi. Last time I saw him, there are people out there that love it. He said, “They’ll probably love this version now.” But shaking the chains, guilty as hell, rusty angels, forbidden. And of course, “Loser Gets It All” is a great track. That wasn’t even on the album originally.
Phil Aston: It’s brilliant.
Tony Martin: Yeah. Strange. I absolutely love it now. It does sound like a Black Sabbath album. It sounds like it should be there in amongst the others. They’ve done a great job. Tony and his engineers have really pulled it together. It’s slightly more guitar and slightly less keyboard. They’ve done Cozy’s drums. Fantastic job on those.
Phil Aston: They’re just unleashed, aren’t they?
Tony Martin: Yes. They haven’t changed anything. They’ve mixed it and given it a new attitude, which is brilliant. They’ve given it more space. It sounds bigger. I just love what they’ve done to it. I’m really proud of it now. I didn’t like it then. There’s still a couple of tracks where I would love to have gone back in and…
Phil Aston: Yeah, you know.
Tony Martin: I thought at the time, because I was that off it at the time, my head just wasn’t quite there. A couple of tracks I thought I could have done better. I did sort of say when they were doing it, “Can I go back in?” They said, “No.”
Phil Aston: I suppose because that might edge towards it being a new recording then.
Tony Martin: Yeah, tricky. I’m not going to tell you which tracks it is, but there were a couple in there that I wasn’t quite happy with. But on the whole, it’s a great job they’ve done.
Phil Aston: Because when you were playing live, there were more songs from your period in Sabbath coming into the set, weren’t there? You were a unique vocalist in many ways for the band. You could cover Ozzy, Dio. You probably could have done Ian Gillan. Anything. You could have the ultimate set list, really, going through every era.
Tony Martin: That was a bit of a mistake. I told them I could sing anything, really. They thought, “What can we give him to sing?” They threw all sorts of stuff at me. I had a shot. Fortunately, I’ve got the kind of voice that can get around most things, and that’s a result of being in so many different kinds of music. I’ve been involved in everything from reggae to rock.
Phil Aston: Who were your key vocal influences growing up? As you say, outside of this Black Sabbath badge, your voice can go in any direction. So who were your influences? Was it blues, soul, rock?
Tony Martin: It kept changing. Everything I listened to, I thought, “That’s good. That’s good.” Each couple of years, something else took my attention. I’d really pour my soul into it. When I started off with reggae, believe it or not, I worked with Musical Youth and Dexys Midnight Runners in the studio. I was a guitarist back then. Then I loved blues. I got into prog rock bands like Yes, King Crimson, Jethro Tull. Then it shifted to Emerson, Lake & Palmer. That led to Rush and bands like that. Then I had to come down out of that prog rock technical stuff because Sabbath is much more honest and basic and straightforward. To a point. When you’re in the band and you find out how he does it, it’s stunning. I never even gave it a thought. I thought, “It’s got to be easy.” It wasn’t easy at all. Iommi can put seven, eight different riffs into one song, and each one of the riffs could be a song on their own.
Phil Aston: Very true.
Tony Martin: So, wow. You get your head around it. It’s weird. Plus, the time signatures he was throwing at us. There was a 14/4 and a 15/8 or something he was throwing at us. How he gets his head around it, I just don’t know. When I saw him a few weeks ago, he said, “You did a really good job on this.” I said, “Thanks, man.” He said, “I actually don’t know how you sang over some of this stuff.” I said, “Neither do I.”
Phil Aston: Just mad, isn’t it? You could try anything. I might have thought, “That means you might be able to put some of the songs in that Ozzy couldn’t do into the set. Or I can try something that I’ve never been able to do before because Tony says he can do anything.”
Tony Martin: It’s because I showed willing. I told them I’d have a go. And I did have a go. I did put into it. The songs, the writing, the live shows, whatever. I kind of made a rod for my own back in some ways because it was hard flicking between all of the different vocal techniques. But I did my best. It sort of came across okay. The problem is when you try to do stuff like that, it can sound a bit like a tribute act. But we got it nailed, I think. Especially having people like Cozy Powell, Geezer Butler, and all those guys in the band. We were willing to seek out that Sabbath sound, and we were conscious of it. So we were all aiming for the same thing. From outside, it might have looked like a chaotic mess. But on the inside, it all had a focus. We were all willing to give it a go. That’s what I think they saw in me. I knew they liked my voice, but I think that’s what they saw, a willingness to have a go and see if you can make it work. All those different time signatures and riffs that I had to go, looking back, to me, it’s Black Sabbath. Like,
Phil Aston I’m a Deep Purple fan, and every lineup of Deep Purple is still Deep Purple. I know Black Sabbath, there’s lots of politics in the way some of the fans look at it. But I think, which is why they had Heaven and Hell later on instead of Black Sabbath, because of the politics. But listening to these four albums, one after the other, you brought to life Viking mythology and song. More death. Just your passion and the way you projected the lyrics and your phrasing makes these albums unique. An important part of the Sabbath story. Finally, do you feel like this outpouring of love for this lineup is validating everything? Any doubt that might have been back then?
Tony Martin: Yeah, doesn’t it just? The biggest validation is from Tony Iommi himself. It wasn’t regarded that highly until he sat and listened to it without the bickering going around. When I went down a few weeks ago, he said, “You did a great job on this. There’s fantastic songs on here.” I said, “I know.” It’s just that validation that he gives it. The fact that the fans are returning to it. The fact that we’ve got new fans coming to it. Whole new record labels. I think it’s Rhino in America. It’s BMG in the UK, Europe. The record labels are coming back to it and getting behind it. They see something in it. The management sees something in it. So it’s all coming together. Which is a shame because I’m not in the band anymore.
Phil Aston Who knows? Maybe you and Tony will think, “It’d be great if some of this other stuff can come out at some point and we don’t have to wait another 25 years.”
Tony Martin: If he was going to do that, he’d say, “Let’s just write some new stuff.” But from what I’ve been told, Tony’s touring dates are done now. He won’t be going out on the road again. That’s probably out of the question for writing. I did tell him I was interested if he wants to do something. But he’s got so much going on. He’s still busy. Doing stuff. He had that ballet, the Black Sabbath ballet.
Phil Aston: Yeah, that’s true.
Tony Martin: Never saw that coming. No, he’s working on all kinds of stuff. He’s writing new material for something else now.
Phil Aston: So what about you, Tony? Have you got any plans for another solo album?
Tony Martin: I never actually stopped. For the past 25 years, my career took me into the studio and writing for people. My voice appears on 89 albums and projects now. It’s been good for me. I owe everything to Black Sabbath because that’s how the world got to hear my voice. People know what they’re talking about when they talk to me. “Can you write, can you sing on this?” They already know what they’re hearing or expecting. I always try to make it better than what they give me in the first place. A lot of that is me in the studio, and I’m happy, and I still am, happy doing that. But I do tend to choose what I do these days.
Phil Aston: Yeah, that makes sense.
Tony Martin: So I’m still doing the odd thing for people now. I did have a solo album a couple of years ago called Thorns.
Phil Aston: Great album.
Tony Martin: Yeah, totally unknown guitarist from America, Scott McClellan. I only met him because he kept badgering me on Facebook. He kept sending me stuff. I was like, “Go away.” He said, “Listen to this. What about this one?” In the end, I listened to it and it was brilliant. So I gave it a go and it turned out really well. But then Covid interrupted that and we couldn’t get out there with it. Some countries were saying, “Yeah, you can come,” and other countries were saying, “No, you can’t.” It all got distracted. I haven’t finished with Thorns because they wanted to do a vinyl for it. They said we had to take some tracks off to get it to fit on the vinyl. I don’t want to take any tracks off.
Phil Aston: Make it a double.
Tony Martin: Yeah, make it a double. Write some more. I wasn’t prepared for that. I’m pacing up, trying to write some new songs. Scott has sent me loads. We’ve got enough tracks for Thorns 2, but I haven’t finished Thorns 1 yet. I’ve got to come back to that. I do want to finish that off and get that done. Then if we can do the next Thorns thing, who knows? We’d like to try and get it out on the road. Getting out on the road for me is so different to the Sabbath thing. The Sabbath machine is huge. They only have to mention it and all the cogs start turning all at the same time all the way around the world. It all starts fitting into place within days, within weeks. On your own, it’s different. I can’t do that. I have to hire other musicians to go out on the road and rehearse the whole thing and start again with a brand new show. It’s a lot harder for me, but I would love to get back out there. My career took me into the studio, so I’ve got more to do. But I just tend to choose now.
Phil Aston: If people want to get Thorns, is it DarkstarRecords.net? Is that the best place?
Tony Martin: No, Battle God. They are the main label. Darkstar were involved and they’re still there, but they’ve had some troubles in the past couple of years. They were on board and I did two versions of it from between the two territories. I liked that. But mostly now, Battle God is the label to grab hold of it. It’s still available and I’m still signing them. People send me the stuff to sign.
Phil Aston: But I haven’t finished yet, so there’s more to come.
Phil Aston: Brilliant. Well, thanks very much, Tony, for all of your time today. Everybody, make sure you go and get a copy on CD or vinyl of this Black Sabbath Tony Martin years box set, “Anno Domini.” It’s absolutely superb.
Tony Martin: Yeah, it is good. I’m just smiling. I think it’s brilliant.
Phil Aston: No, that’s it, isn’t it? Whatever anyone thinks, these albums are available again. People can hear just how awesome this time for Sabbath really was.
Tony Martin: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Phil Aston: All right, take care, and hopefully I’ll talk to you again in the future.
Tony Martin: Thank you. All right, Phil, thanks, mate. Cheers.
Phil Aston: Well, a huge thank you to my guest, Tony Martin. That was fantastic. I’m almost lost for words in knowing what to say to sum up that interview because I know a lot of you are really interested in this box set, “Anno Domini” by Black Sabbath, which is out on CD and vinyl. Just as I thought, it’s sold out already, but there’s going to be another pressing. I was able to ask some of the questions I know some of you have been wanting to know, like why weren’t there extra tracks? Why wasn’t the live Cross Purposes included, etc. So now you know. Some of it is really exciting because it means there might be a companion set with some outtakes or live stuff as well. That’s really exciting.
Tony Martin is a fantastic vocalist, really passionate, really imaginative with his lyrics and his vision of how he writes his music. These four albums are essential. They’re Black Sabbath albums, okay? That’s what they are. They sound like Black Sabbath albums. Wasn’t it interesting that Geezer Butler said Cross Purposes is the best album he’d ever played on? It is a truly remarkable album. But they all are: from Headless Cross, to Tyr (which I can now pronounce correctly), Cross Purposes, and Forbidden, which has been given a new lease of life. Seriously, it is incredible. Just stunning.
Thank you again to Tony Martin for joining me here on the Now Spinning Magazine podcast. Please keep spinning those discs, whether they are vinyl or CD. Check us out on the podcast. We’re on every platform you can think of, from Apple to Spotify to Amazon. Of course, we’re on YouTube. Please subscribe and check out the website at nowspinning.co.uk. Remember, music is the healer and the doctor. So take care and I’ll see you all very, very soon.
Watch the full interview here
Phil Aston Now Spinning Magazine

I just finished a hard fight in sector eleven, boss fight. The fight before the real two stage boss fight. That fight was quite exciting and i used a pump to revive for just a couple more damage points. Then after the fight Alex comments about how intense the fight was. Eve reacts to him in a very militaristic way. Something in the line of: let’s s get going to do the rest of the mission. I don’t t like this reaction, it’s too matter of fact. Not acknowledging the players effort also. Is this a way of her being cool and show no emotion? I played Nier Automata and emotions are part of 2B’s storyline. Eve is just a little too stoic for me i guess. I like the game and enjoy Eve, but I wish she was a little more relatable in this way.

Hello everyone, I am a 18M turning 19 soon ( Going to University) and the person in question is already 19F ( Not going to Uni because of VISA problem). I have social communication disorder and I’m not particularly good at social dilemma. I have already done a lot of research on how to move forward but I figure I should also post on reddit as well to get some more tailor advice and input from strangers.
There is this particular girl I meet in high school at 8th grade that I really enjoyed talking to ever since I meet her. I really liked her, from our chemistry together to our similar immigrant backgrounds ( I am Chinese who is born in Vietnam, and she is Filipino. We both went to private school back in our country and in similar socioeconomic backgrounds.) to how she looks sort of like me ( Same eyes, same nose, and I also have some feminine facial features). She also are interested in similar subjects as I am, as we’re both into really into Jungian Psychology, and we’re into East Asian pop culture ( Although I am more interested in Anime while she is interested in K-pop). While there is some differences between us, for instance I am more self contained and analytical ( Very INTJ) she is less so and more carefree than I was. Perhaps because we’re very similar to each other but slightly different enough, our chemistry really work well with each other. For instance, I am usually more serious and blunt while she sort of ease the tension a little bit and make our conversation more fun and less serious. Like a comedic duo. I really like her, which is why I confessed to her in tenth grade. I am very cautious and I thought I had great but not certain chance of success, that being said I was aware of the possibility she would rather stay friends. I confessed, gave her the next day to think about it. In the morning, she hesitantly told me she would give me a chance and I was ecstatic. But by lunch time, she said she didn’t want to date me anymore and her reason was that she’s not ready and in the right place to be dating just yet. I was sad and confused as I’m not too well aware what she is referring about but she said no and I still wanted to be friends with her so I said that it’s okay and we can still be friends. For the next 6-8 month we remain friend till the end of 10th grade. She told me she going to a private school, and at that point I thought I understood why she changed her mind at dating. I wished her the best, and said she has my instagram and we could hang out if we’re free. We said goodbye and we never hangout after that.
For almost two year during our 11th grade till the end of 12th grade, I honestly just forgot about her. I was busy with school, made new friends, and don’t really used instagram much and just didn’t really have an interested in talking to her. Life just happens, and I’m not really the person who get attached or fixated on someone and I don’t think she was either. On the 2nd of May 2024 ( Almost a month ago), we just randomly meet each other on a bus. Just a crazy coincidence really, I mean I don’t use SM much and didn’t really tell anyone my schedule so no way she was stalking me. We got talking again and we still have the same chemistry between us, and of course more importantly, she is still very attractive. We’re on friendly term and so I asked her why did she reject me in 10th grade. She gave me the same answer, and I confessed that I felt guilty because I didn’t know she had to move school and it was probably for the best she said no. It wasn’t awkward at all, she smiles a little I think. We kept talking after that, I even got off the bus early to keep talking to her. Then she told me to hide because her mom is really strict about her being with a boy. I thought what?? It’s 2024 and she is 19, what is she on about. But I still complied and there was a rock we just sat on and just kept on talking for two hours until it was dark. I probably could still talk to her another hour or two but she said she had “curfew” and can’t be home to late which I thought was really weird and honestly I didn’t process when she said that so I just replied okay and nod and said I really like talking to her and want to keep talking. But no instagram, I wanted her phone number. She gave me her phone number and we just hugged and said our goodbyes.
We decided next Saturday to hangout, and Saturday came and she had to abruptly canceled it. I told her it’s fine and we can just reschedule it. She left me on read. For two day. I am diagnosed with SPCD ( one way to view it is I have autism but only the social deficit parts of ASD), and I really thought I fucked up. I really start having an existential crisis because in the past I assume people were having a good time when they didn’t. And in my head, I really thought I was experiencing a different realm of reality than her. I thought our entire relationship was a lies I made up and that I had forced her to hangout with me. After all we never hang out outside of high school, she said no to my confession, I followed her out of the bus but she didn’t want me to know where she lived, I was the one who said to hang out on Saturday but she canceled abruptly. I wrote a very long text basically apologising, and saying that it’s okay and I won’t forced her to hangouts. A day later she replied saying oh don’t overthink it, and that she will replied properly. Then a week go by, absolutely nothing. See, what I don’t understand is she doesn’t go to school, has only a part time job, how is she replying so late? Then on the 8th day she replied. She said she is very sorry and that it was unacceptable and gave me the reassurance that I didn’t fuck up. She said she still wanted to see me. We set up another time to meet, over three week since I last saw her. I saw her around 5 day ago, and I went in wanting to ask so many questions but when I saw her, my brain were so conditioned that we just talk like how we always talk to each other. But I did learn one big thing, her family are Protestant Christian. I made small talk about that but didn’t ask any personal question. Then after that we just went to her house, and we just kept yapping and yapping in the living room. We had so much fun, we almost forgot I had to leave soon cause her mom is coming home. But fuck, I was supposed to confront her but we just ended up having so much fun. Idk how to feel anymore, the more I learn about her the more I realised what a pain in the ass she is, and the more I realise maybe I shouldn’t pursue a romantic relationship. I still really like her though…
But I am thinking maybe we should just remain friends, she really is not in the right space to date right now. Beside, I really don’t think she saw me as someone to date, very sad whomp whomp. Thinking of next time I see her I’ll just actually confront and clarify and set boundary in our relationship. If she see me as a friend then I’m happy too, but my penis is not very happy. If she does like me and seek to pursue a romantic relationship then I probably have a lot of work to do.
I don’t know when we will see each other again, I saw her five days ago. After we last saw each other, she said she had a lot of fun :D so I texted that I wanted to see her again. She left me on read for the last 5 days now.
If you guys have any advice, input, comment then leave it down below.

Hi everyone,
I'm seeking some advice regarding a persistent vibration issue in my house located near Amherst, Massachusetts. If this isn't the right subreddit, please let me know.
For some time now, I've been experiencing noticeable thrumming vibrations that occur even when all power sources are turned off.
Here are some details:

• This sound happens when power to the house is shut off. It is not caused by appliances, heat pumps, etc.
• The vibrations are regular and have a steady rhythm.
• Road noise is not the cause, either: the sound happens when there is no traffic.
• The thrumming noise occur at all hours of the day and night.
• Both my wife and I experience these vibrations and they are audible on a microphone; this noise exists!

I have gone deep into researching this and have considered buying expensive measurement equipment to investigate further but I decided to ask here first.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Any recommendations on how to address it? If you know of any good vibration analysis consulting firms in the Northeast US, that would be great too!
Thanks in advance!
I made recordings using my Yeti Blue microphone, which is the best mic I have available.
Here's an EQd sound file so it's possible to hear the sound: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xnwt8ihfhns6ns2sn3hsb/House-Noise-6-1-24-8.58-AM.wav?rlkey=9yfb34ehkhapcpqwtn5rhpzc8&st=vqixcp20&dl=0
And here's the raw recording, no EQ: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xnwt8ihfhns6ns2sn3hsb/House-Noise-6-1-24-8.58-AM.wav?rlkey=9yfb34ehkhapcpqwtn5rhpzc8&st=vqixcp20&dl=0

My (M44) first wife “Trish” (F41) and I divorced about five years ago because she didn’t want to have sex after the birth of our kids (M14 and F16). So I found sex elsewhere. I was very discreet, but she found out after several years; then she informed me “what’s good for the gander is good for the goose” and she started seeing other people too. That was fine with me, as I was getting sex, and it gave me more freedom and less paranoia about getting caught cheating whist having sex. Trish asked for a divorce within the year, and since my girlfriend of two years, “Annie,” had been pressuring me to leave Trish, I thought it was the best outcome for everyone. Annie and I got married soon after the divorce was final, to which I agreed.
I see Trish every week when we hand off the kids, who are now teenagers, and I dread it. Not because she’s mean or rude … she is beautiful and warm and generous and funny. I recognize that she hasn’t really changed (except about the sex) since we were married. Those traits were always there, but they were buried under my resentment over the lack of sex, the nagging, the financial stress, the lack of sex, and how her mother treated me (this will be important later).
On top of all that, her career as a sex surrogate took off almost as soon as we separated, but not soon enough for me to ask for alimony. She’s now earning more by herself than our combined household income waa when we were together. Her live-in boyfriend is a well-known fiction writer with a very penis and it's well known that she gives him all the sex. They also travel to exotic locales, eat at fancy restaurants, speak foreign languages together, have regular and vigorous sex, and surround themselves with a crowd of well-known writer friends. They’re even taking the kids to London this summer while he teaches a workshop or something.
I, on the other hand, have been struggling financially and having some health issues—the recent loss of a visible tooth I can’t afford to replace hit even harder than the diabetes diagnosis—and my now-wife Annie has developed several health and tooth-related issues of her own that make her tired and irritable and affect her ability to have sex and work and take care of me and our apartment. To which Annie is now denying the sex.
I used to be mostly content with my life, even when I was married to Trish, as long as she wasn’t nagging me or refusing sex.
Her new life makes me feel terrible. I feel like in the game of divorce, I lost big. It’s eating me up. I’m resentful that we had money problems when we were together because she didn’t work very hard—she claimed she was focused on raising the kids and taking care of the house and refusing me sex. Why can't I have the same post-divorce life of money, travel and leisure and sex too that she keeps rubbing in my face?
I hate that my daughter showed me a picture of her mom beaming happiness with her boyfriend on a mountaintop in Patagonia. I hate seeing what my life has become compared to hers. I hate that I'm being refused sex.
How do I live in the life I have now, maybe even improve it, and get some sex, instead of going around and around about all the ways it could have gone differently for me?
UPDATE: To all of you saying that I need therapy: I hate the idea of therapy. I can’t really afford it right now anyway. The antidepressants my doctor prescribed don’t seem to be doing anything. I may have ADHD, who fuckin knows? The diabetes makes me feel too tired to do much besides watching TV on the couch after work and on the weekends. Yes, Annie is becoming more and more like Trish was before the divorce. Like refusing me sex. And finally, yes my phone has been blowing up lately. I apologize for not making that clear in the post.

We went group camping to a private campground called new river junction in blacksburg last weekend. It was a horrible experience to say the least. I wish to complaint to any govt agency which oversees this. 1. There are trains running all night almost 50 feet from your tent. This was nowhere listed on their site. 2. Just 2 bathrooms for whole campground. 3. We got a severe storm on sunday evening and our tents got flooded, canopys flew/broke, food got spilled, some people were hurt. We were in real trouble with it being pitch dark at night. In such a situation, rather than helping us in any way, these scumbags closed the restrooms. Saying there is no power so the toilets wont flush. But they confeniently started a generator for their office which they could have used to pump water in the restroom. I am amazed by the wretchedness of these people and the the way they troubled the already troubled. I want to report all this to the authorities but dont know to whom. Please help out.

Hello everyone, long time boater, first time poster to boating.
I have a Mercruiser on a 2003 Four Winns. Today when I started up the boat for the first time since winterization I ran into an issue I could use your help understanding. To paint the picture better, this is what I did.
Lowered outdrive to operational level. Put water muffs on the outdrive. Turned on the water & confirmed water was pumping into the outdrive. Started the engine. Let the engine idle for about 10 minutes to see if the thermostat was working.
Up until this point I want to note two things. First, upon initial start, there was a large cloud of smoke that came from the outdrive/exhaust area. If I recall correctly this is typical each year when the initial start occurs because it’s burning off the fogging oil from the carb. Secondarily, the boat seemed to be operating correctly. No unusual noises and the engine seemed to be running like normal.
At about 10 minutes, the thermostat read good operational level. At that point I was about to shut the boat off when I heard an unfamiliar low pitched grinding noise coming from the exhaust in addition to the boat operating at normal. There was also some smoke that came from the exhaust at this point. I shut off the engine.
I then reconfirmed the boat was in neutral and started the boat again. Low pitched grinding noise was in the background of the exhaust again. I shut it off for good tonight and buttoned the tarp down.
At this point I figured to reach out to my boat mechanic and further, boating. Would you have any idea what this noise could be? Thanks for your advice in advance.

If you were walking through the woods at night ALONE, with only a fishing knife, and you heard wild boars around you - what would you do?
So I live in Sweden and I very much like nature and camping although I haven't camped a lot in my life. Last evening I drove out to a big forest intending to hike, camp and fish alone.
I've only been afraid of bears during camping, but bears doesn't live in southern Sweden where I live so I thought I had nothing to worry about except possible psychos (I've watched some scary hiking/camping videos on youtube lately).
After 2 hours of hiking through the forest, it was around 11pm and very dark. I hadn't found any good place to place my tent. I was using my flashlight on my head. I had to go inside of and go through a fence area / yard with cows and ONE BULL in order to find the camping place where I had set up a tent with a buddy 3 years ago. Back then there were no cows there.
I have no idea of what encountering cows and a bull is like - ESPECIALLY during night time. The sign said to go around the cows, not through the heard. So thinking that this is safe beccause of the sign, I began walking inside the cow area... After 30-50 meters I stopped. I never saw any cow, but I heard one walking or something nearby. I became very unsure and headed back to the fence opening... I looked up how dangerous it's to enter a field of cows and BULLS. And I immiedetely got out of the fence area.
My plan was to go back to a viewing area of the sea and camp there on a plank of woods just for the night and then continue hiking to my past camping place and fish the next day.
As I was putting on a long youtube video as background noise to ease my fear of going through the dark woods alone, I heard two sticks sharply break arund 10 meters away from left. I wasn't that scared, but I shut the video off and began hiking back with a fishing knife in my hand just in case.... My first thought wasn't that it was a wild boar - strangely enough. And I didn't think it was a human since there was a lot of dense bushes etc around me...
After a short couple of minutes, I suddenly hear a couple of grunts to my right, 2-3 meters away. The sheer fear running through my body - I've never felt anything like it. Adrenaline pumped and I breathed heavily. I did not stop, but kept on walking at the same pace - hoping that it would not attack. I remember my mom said she saw wild boars crossing the road once (from a distance) and she said she screamed and ran away (which you shouldn't do).
I've only researched about bear behavor and attacks before, NEVER wild hogs - so I had no idea what to do if a boar charged me. I had no idea if there was piglets around. I know that a mom bear can be very aggressive if she has cubs, so I presumed that was the case with wild boars as well. I've only got a fishing knife on me. I know they know about my presence because of the light and the noise I'm making while walking.
I continued walking, still very frightened. A few minutes later I hear some animal noise from my right that sounded like a piglet grunting or something - but from a distance. Maybe 10-15 meters away.
I was afraid that a wild boar would charge me from behind, but I didn't have the balls to look behind me except once. I felt like the guy from Avatar when he's alone in the woods on Pandora during night. I tried embrace the fact that I need to be very aggressive and stab and battle a wild boar if it would charge. Thinking that it was my best bet since I didn't know anything about their attacking behaviors or how strong they really are. Now, having looked it up, I know you should try climbing a tree if you can, if a boar attacks you.
A while later, the beaten path turned a bit to the left, and my flashlight struck an animal 10 meters infront of me, which immidately ran away. I think it was a small wild boar but I'm not sure. I only saw a glimpse of the behind and right back leg.
Shortly after that I had to hike up a very steep trail for a few minutes. My heart was pumping and I was breathing heavily - partly because of the steepness but also my adrenaline. I just wanted home. I thought to myself "Home. Home.... In my bed. Why did I have to go here alone during night time?".
I eventually completed the steep trail and now finally entered the small car road (with no street lamps). I had hiked through the woods before while trying to find a good camping place, but walking on the car road felt much safer and more time efficient as well. I was still afraid though, and still held my knife. Cars past me twice. When a car came, I stepped aside and hid my knife. It's illegal in Sweden to carry a knife - and I don't think strangers seeing me in the middle of nowhere walking on a small road during a friday night with a knife is gonna do me any good.
I was so so grateful when entering my dad's car I had loaned. While driving, I thanked God out loud for being alive and being unharmed.
If you were in my situation, walking through the woods at night ALONE, with only a fishing knife, and you heard wild boars around you - what would you do?

Do you have any experience with what the squealing noise of a small centrifugal pump could indicate?
In our lab instrument, we have a small centrifugal pump that drives gas flow through analyzers. Unfortunately, it repeatedly starts to produce a squealing noise soon after operation or replacement and then stops working properly. There should be no moisture (silica in the inlet tube is used as a safety desiccant) or particulates present. The main carrier gas is a dry air mixture from a gas bottle. This pump is operated at a low flow rate (approx. 30% below the accuracy recommendation) and has to accommodate under-pressured gas on the inlet (0.1-0.02 bar) at some stages.

My partner and I have been on a feeding issue journey with our son since about April last year. He used to eat like any other 3 year old, was a little bit picky but nothing major, had favourite meals and snacks etc. Then slowly his oral intake decreased, he started refusing foods he previously really liked and it ended up with a hospital admission and a NG tube.
His weight bounced around in the early days but over the last few months we've found a high protein formula which he has as an overnight feed through a pump which has seen him slowly increase in weight.
He's had a dye test to check the speed of stomach emptying, an endoscopy with biopsies taken to check for any internal issues, but everything has come back negative so far. My girlfriend has been doing deep dives for information as any concerned parent would and feela as though a lot of the signs we're seeing point to ARFID. We've brought it up with his psychologist and dietitian and they also agree that he ticks a lot of the boxes for it also.
The reason for my post is to find any information, tips, tricks, helpful pointers that could be useful as we're sort of at the start of ARFID. One issue that we've seen that appears different to a lot of ARFID cases is a lack of consistent safe foods with our son. There's basically nothing that he likes and will eat on a regular basis, everything comes and goes, he might eat (X) Monday then not Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, but will eat it on Friday. He will also make requests for his lunchbox for school the night before and say he likes (Y) but then it will still be in his lunchbox the next day, untouched. A lot of people I've seen online have their own personal safe foods, a lot of which are packaged snacks etc, but our son doesn't seem to have that.
Also, please don't think I'm being ignorant or trying to generalise ARFID people, there just seem to be some very common traits from what I've seen. But I'm more than happy for people to correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks.

We welcomed our mo/di twins into the world on Wednesday! We couldn’t be more in love!
I know it can take a few days for milk to come in, and we’ve been supplementing with formula since we got home yesterday (we used donor milk at the hospital). Thankfully our littles are not picky at all. They’re actually very good eaters already!
The current plan is to just get them fed but I would love to be able to combo feed. I feel like the lactation consultants we met with were less than helpful… does anyone have any good tips? I was able to pump a good amount of colostrum at the hospital but now I’m not getting much of anything despite trying my best to stay consistent…

I am looking at one of these 185K miles at $16,000. This would be my first truck so looking for advice. Will mostly use it to haul a camper and usual household stuff (dump, garden, etc.).
It looks like it has been very well maintained. Has no serious rust. The following work is documented, and I'm wondering what else I should be looking at? I will pay for a pre-purchase inspection.
Fass Lift Pump and Filters
8 New Injectors, both feed lines
New Head Gasket
Additional recent work done to the truck includes:
162k: Tires 164k: New AC Accumulator, Compressor Clutch, New Water Pump, New Front Wheel Bearing, Fuel Pressure Regulator, Belt, Tensioner, and Idle Pulleys 176k: All new brake lines 179k: Tie Rod End Inner and Outer, Pittman Arm Assembly, Idler Arm Assembly, Steering Stabilizer. 182k: Front and Rear Brake Caliper, Rotors, Hoses, and Pads 184k: New Steering Gear Box, New AC Lines, Suspension Assist Springs

I just bought my first kayak—Delta AR 10 $400 from Craigslist. I’ve done a ton of research but I still feel lost on which paddle to get :/ I’ve only used cheap rental kayaks/paddles and I tend to get a decent amount of pain in my thumbs and wrists with repetitive strain or when gripping a large diameter.
Kayak dimensions: 10’ x 27”
I’m 24. 5’4” & 120 lbs.
Will use primarily on small, calm lakes.
I’d like to have speed + efficiency across long distances.
Paddle budget: less than $200 if possible
I’m In the twin cities, MN area. Ideally looking for something high quality and lightweight + on the smaller side, but money is pretty tight with all the gear I have to get. secondhand would probably be my best bet, although I don’t feel like I can commit to anything yet. I’ve tried looking up demo days with no luck. Does anyone know if REI or Dick’s allow demos? I may also be able to ask some friends if they have a paddle I can borrow in the meantime.
A few options I’ve found online so far:
Used Werner Camano (220cm, narrow shaft) for $175
New Werner Skagit for $174
I’d love to try out a bent shaft paddle because of the joint pain aspect. greenland look neat too but I’m not sure how beginner friendly they are.

There's some album by nirvana where it was a baby swimming naked and it's penis was showing. I heard like a decade ago that some type of online forum similar to 4 chan got dropped from their host and deplatformed and the FBI or something shut them down all because someone posted a picture of that music albums cover photo (which btw I bet there's tens of millions of physical copies of that photo out there and anyone who still uses CD's and likes nirvana has that photo in their car or home probably.)
What if a cop pulls some Nirvana fan over for speeding or something, decided to search the car for whatever reason and found that CD. Do you think if they wanted to, they could charge the person for child porn and put them in federal prison?
Edit: Thanks for the short "no" responses but I was hoping for a more in depth answer with relevant laws or something as to why not.
Edit 2: The reason this even popped in my head was some youtube compilation of pedo cops getting arrested popped up on my feed. My thoughts segued into this and the fact that I've seen news articles of women being arrested for sending naked pictures of their babies to their family members and getting arrested, for what was obviously something non-sexual and cute to them. So how can women get arrested for that but people here say no not for this?
I am wondering how it's different in the eyes of the law? I don't really have a stance on any of it because i don't have a baby and dont like nirvana anyways and it just seems like a legal grey area so I was wondering since it seems absurd to get arrested for an album cover, but it also seems equally absurd to have an album with a naked babys gentials on it. Not sure why I'm being downvoted lol.

The demand for online education has skyrocketed in a society going more and more digital. This is an incredible opportunity for educators and content developers.
In the world of online education, websites like Udemy, LearnWorlds, and Kajabi are well-known.
Every platform has a distinct combination of features that it offers, from powerful tools for creating courses and analytics to marketing and community building capacities.
Whether you’re an academic institution, a creative worker, or an enterprise, the range of platforms caters to varied needs. It is crucial that instructors are knowledgeable about the advantages and disadvantages of each platform.

Best Place To Sell an Online Course

• Learnworlds – Best Place To Sell an Online Course, the default choice
• Udemy – Suitable for large companies
• Kajabi – Suitable for designers

This post seeks to give you a thorough overview of the most well-liked online course selling platforms, illuminating their features, costs, and course kinds that you may offer so that you can choose the best option for your needs and experience.

Learnworlds

LearnWorlds is a feature-rich online course platform that enables instructors to design, market, and sell their courses. The platform has many features out of the box, like customisable certificates, an integrated social network, and interactive video.
In addition, it has several third-party tool integrations, the capacity to generate assignments and quizzes, and the ability to engage students with interactive ebooks.
LearnWorlds provides distinctive features, such as integrated social networking and interactive video, for course developers who prioritize interactive and captivating content. Student happiness and engagement can be greatly increased in this way, which is important for course success.
Course producers may offer a more comprehensive and organized learning experience with its configurable assignments, quizzes, and certificates.
Flexibility in organizing and promoting courses is also made possible by the platform’s broad third-party interfaces.
Important features include tasks, integrations, certificates, interactive films, and quizzes.
Get today Learnworlds

Advantages include

• incredibly engaging course material
• an integrated social network for fostering community.

Cons

• Basic plans have a higher learning curve for new users.
• Monthly and transaction fees.

Selling points include business, technology, health, lifestyle, and education.

Cost

• $299 for the Learning Center,
• $299 for the Pro Trainer, and $29 for the Starter.
• A 30-day free trial is what a free demo trial offers.

In summary, LearnWorlds is a great platform for developers seeking community development and involvement.
Knowing something is not only powerful in the digital era, but it may also lead to profitable commercial ventures. People all across the world are ready to learn, and your knowledge could serve as a lighthouse for countless others. Never allow hesitancy to stop you.
Take the step to create a course and you and the many interested minds waiting for your insights will discover a world of possibilities.
It’s time to spread knowledge, educate, and thrive!
Simply said, you’re in good hands with LearnWorlds.
Get today Learnworlds

Udemy

Advantages of Udemy

• planned, prescriptive process for creating courses
• innate audience on Udemy
• Not much design or editing is required.

Drawbacks of Udemy

• steep revenue-sharing schedule
• Video is necessary.
• To provide paid courses, one must apply and be accepted.

Cost on Udemy

Udemy charges a revenue share of 63% on all other course sales and 3% on courses made through instructor coupons. It is free to publish free courses that include less than two hours of video. (Note: Mobile platform fees for sales of mobile courses, as well as processing costs from PayPal or Payoneer, are not included in revenue sharing.)
Why are you offering your first course on Udemy? due to the platform’s abundance of resources for developing and promoting courses.
For instance, if you’re not sure whether your video courses are up to par, you may send in a sample for evaluation.
You’ll receive comments on the audio and video, as well as equipment recommendations.
Additionally, Udemy offers a helpful Teaching Center with instructions on topics like organizing a course, shooting your first video, and other related subjects.
Udemy’s customized marketing courses can help if you’re having trouble closing your first few transactions.
Take advantage of site-wide discounts, have your course highlighted in their email blasts, or sign up for Udemy’s affiliate marketing program.
Udemy gets a cut of course sales; all of these programs are optional. The promotional channel you select will determine how much they take.
Because of the scale of the marketplace you’re competing with, it’s critical that you choose the ideal course topic and evaluate how it compares to other courses on the site using Udemy’s marketplace insights.
This function, which is akin to Google Analytics, provides information on a topic’s popularity on Udemy, search volume, and related keywords.
Additionally, you may view the quantity of courses that are currently available for a given subject, the category’s highest-earning courses, the monthly revenue earned, and the most effective channels for promotion (Udemy search, Udemy discovery, external sources, and paid ads).

Kajabi

Expert designers would benefit most from using Kajabi, one of the most upscale online course platforms.
Kajabi might not be for you if you are a novice or a small business owner.
On the other hand, this is the ideal location if you are an experienced designer looking to start an online academy. This platform even has Amy Porterfield’s endorsement!

Kajabi’s features

• Infinite landing sites
• Advertising emails without limit
• 1000 active members and 10,000 contacts
• One website Usable templates
• Automations
• Assessments (tests and questionnaires)

cost

• Basic, which costs $119
• Growth, which costs $159
• Procosts $319 per month (annual memberships are also an option)

The ability to build webinar pipelines is an intriguing feature shared by all of the options.
It also has fantastic marketing options, like expertly branded messaging, because it caters to huge edupreneurs.
The cost is somewhat more than that of the other platforms on this list, but for some users, the attentive, knowledgeable support staff can make up for it.
They could have made the digital offering more varied for the price they ask by including some possibilities, such as vFair’s event gamification tool, but they don’t.
The website may seem overly technical because it was designed with specialists in mind, which may discourage novice course developers from using it.
Overall, it is a costly and comprehensive LMS supplier, according to its reputation.

After EPing for almost 4 months I have decided to wean myself off of it. I was feeling super guilty about it until LO was not gaining enough weight strictly on breast milk despite eating 30-35 oz a day. I was a just enough producer and actually was amazed that I was able to pump exactly how much he needed in a day. After his 3 month well check the dr suggested maybe try doing 50/50 milk to formula to see if that helps him gain weight. It seems to be working so far. So I have decided to slowly wean myself from pumping because I have a decent amount frozen and honestly, I want to do whatever is best for my son. If formula helps him stay on his growth curve then so be it. But I am having trouble weaning. I decided to do it gradually after reading all the things from everyone in this community. I was at 7 ppd then went to 6 then 5 and so on and so forth. I am at 2 ppd now. One when I wake and one before bed. But it seems like the amount of milk pumped just isn’t decreasing! I tried to shorten the pumps and ended up with a nasty clogged duct last night which I was able to get rid of pretty quickly. This morning my right breast was literally leaking and I pumped about 5 oz out of it. I am at a loss as to what to do next. I was hoping to be done by this point but I don’t want to risk the clogs or mastitis but I know I should decrease the time on the pump. But everytime I don’t empty my breasts a clog occurs…despite doing and taking everything to prevent it. I drink the no more milk tea. I use the Cabo cream. I avoid the hot water. I don’t want to take Sudafed if I don’t have to. Any suggestions, advice, insights would be sooooo greatly appreciated!! 🫶🏼