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It's looking a little lean, with only two cheeses in it, but I love checking it every day.
There's almost 3kg (6.5lbs) Caerphilly started March 4th, which should be cut in the next week or so. Can't wait for that. I may wash the rind with one of my meads once or twice before I do. Just a little flavour to the rind and the alcohol will help tamp down the blue mold.
There's also a 2.3kg (5.2lb) Vacchino Romano aging away. It's really developed that amber cast to the rind, and the rind is nicely developed. Normally, I don't rub the rind with olive oil until 2 months, but I'm thinking this one, having formed a good looking and dry rind at this point, may e oiled in the next week or so.
The expected cut date, should everything go well, is March 2024, about 12 months of aging. Fittingly, I made a batch of blaand with Vacchino whey and the plan is to open it when the cheese is ready for what I hope to be an excellent mead & cheese pairing.
Link to 59 second video.
https://youtu.be/bETju7S6gQM

Hello it seems that my mother accepted you and i to have a sleepover at their house. Mine is relatively easy so dont worry. If you follow the rules found on this piece of paper you will be safe (Atleast i think so)
Rule 1: Be here before 7pm. Because after 7pm is when they are the most active. If you end up not being here before 7 call me dont just disappear.
Rule 2: Dont go to my parents room. In under any circumstances you should never go there. If you do it then it wont be long before they will get you
Rule 3: Me and my siblings are all named after greek gods and goddesses you should introduce yourself with a fake greek god/goddesses name it will intimedate the things. If you dont then refer to rule 4a and 4b
Rule 4a: Kill yourself.
Rule 4b: You will say your kidding and introduce yourself with the fake name name. If your fail to do so refer to rule 4a.
Rule 5a: My oldest brothers Castor and Cadmus are twins both are 20. If start talking to you. Curse them and walk away. Cursing them and not walking away will result in a fate worse than death.
Rule 5b: If my brothers are casually talking with my dad run and hide. My brothers has different father than the rest of my siblings. Thus they despise eachother.
Rule 5c: If one of my brothers call you to talk feel free to do whatever you want to do. Reject their offer or accept. They dont care. Its the real them
Rule 6: We have a dance studio and workout room inside the house. They are on the 2nd floor. Also there is only one bedroom there that happens to be mine. So if you cant find a workout room or dance studio on the 2nd floor. Leave immedietly before you have time.
Rule 7a: I have an infant sister Alecto. Do not say her name boyish. Although she is an infant be afraid of her. The things are very fond of her.
Rule 7b: Dont go to inside the nursery. Especially if Alecto is inside. The things are very protective of her.
Rule 8: My dad is from Germany. So he speaks German from time to time ignore it. Even if you know German he is from Bavaria you wont understand his accent. Put on your earmuff
Rule 9a: We have a cat, a dog and rabbits. But the rabbit is always inside the backyard. We never let them in. However if you see rabbits inside the house. Pray that my dog or my cat is near. If you fail to do so refer to rule 4a.
Rule 9b: Dont go to the backyard. The rabbits and the things dont like people.
Rule 10: We have a mealplan stuck up on the frigde for the day. If the food is anything other whats on the mealplan. Dont eat it. Give it to my dog. He knows what to do.
Rule 11a: Before going to sleep, you should have an earmuff and sleep mask its crucial for survival. If you dont have it refer to rule 4a.
Rule 11b: Be up before 9a.m
Rule 11c: Be asleep before 12p.m. If you arent then refer to rule 4a.
Rule 11d: Say "I shall be protected by whoever wants to protect me" my dog likes having things to do especially during the night.
Rule 12: Your parents should pick you up at exactly at 11:00. Not 10:59 not 11:01 just 11:00. And always have track of time.
Ok i think you read all the rules. I hope we will have a fun time! Bye see you tommorow
As i read this paper left by my classmate Athena. I wondered if she was crazy. I mean i had heard some crazy stuff about her. About how people went missing after having sleepovers with her or her brothers being prisoners who escaped i didnt believe any of them. They were just crazy. I decided to go what could happen. I didnt had to convince my parents. They quickly accepted. Odd. But whatever.
As they dropped me off at her place. It was 6:36. One rule followed. As she opened the door her house looked super nice. The furniture, decor. Everything just screamed expensive there were animal heads everywhere and fur carpets. I dont understand why people dont like her. I introduced myself as Hera. Again one rule followed. I saw both Cadmus and Castor walk towards me. I said "Fuck you two" and quickly walked away. One rule followed. It was dinnertime. And i looked at their fridge an lo-and-behold there was the mealplanner. It was lasagna for dinner. I dont have any problem. They served me steak. I gave it to the dog. Again one rule followed. She dragged me to see her sister Alecto. I didnt say anything about her name and left. One rule followed. I put in my earmuff and my sleep mask. And as i said "I shall be protected by anyone who wants to protect" her dog came at me. It was a mastiff too big to be inside but he was protecting me i dont care. One rule followed. But the day after. My head was hurting super bad i wanted to cry. When i woke up it was almost 11 a.m."Shoot i must've overslept". My parents were here to pick me up as Ms.Gorey (Athena''s mother) said i excitedly hurried to the front door. When i saw my parents car outside. I almost cried. After i got inside my parents asked what time did i wake up at. I told them "I dont know". They once again asked me when did i wake up.

So I've built a robot that can plot vector images on an egg (for Easter) I'd like to convert a photo of my daughter to line art so it can be drawn by the robot on the eggs. However I can't find a proper way to do so. Could you help me out please?
Things I've tried:

• Img2img with sd-1-5-inpainting checkpoint with inpainting conditioning mask strength at 0, 0.5 and 1. Also played with denoising strength from 0.5 to 1. With prompt keywords like "line art, monochrome, vector illustration" - But I've never managed to generate a real monochrome lineart picture. All the results were colored.
• Img2img with Vector Studio script. - It crashed when trying to generate SVG, but I checked the temporary outputs and they still were colored, so even if it'd work, it won't be what I need.
• Several webpages - 'linify' was creative, but wouldn't work irl. The one called 'vanceAI' worked the best yet (with test photos) , but I'm not quite fond of uploading photos of my family to random websites. (thus using even SD locally)

Is there a way to convert a photo into black and white plottable line art using SD (or any other open source tool)?

For some background. My current net worth is about $66k.
Cash accounts include:

• Bank of America Checking at $6k (Only keeping this much in my checking because Uncle Sam will be withdrawing about $4k sometime next week).
• Bank of America Savings at $10k
• HYSA w/ Ally currently holding $24k w/ an interest rate of 3.75%
• High Yield CD 12-Month holding $5k w/ a fixed interest rate of 4.50%

Investments include:

• Roth IRA I opened up 2 years ago and maxed out both years ($6k in 2021 and $6.5k in 2022). So a total of $12,800 so far.
• 401k currently at $7k.

My question is that I have $2k in cash just sitting in my individual brokerage account and I don't know what to do with it. I've always been very conservative with how I invest, but I want to try a new approach and invest with a high-risk/high-reward mindset. This $2k is something I'm ok with losing. Just want to see where it can take me. Anybody have some advice on what I should do with the $2k?
Thanks!

Current base weight: 7.5kg
Given this is winter and my partner is joining I am optimising more for safety and comfort over going as light as possible. The last time I did the Overland was a few years ago in late March or April and it snowed most days, but my total pack weight was still only around 7kg including food. I have done 3-4 day fastpacks using an 18L running bag before, and this isn't going to be one of them.
Location/temp range/specific trip description:
Overland Track, TAS (82km)
July 24th (leave transport) - 28th (arrive Cynthia Bay)
Average min temperature: 2c, but given it is winter will plan for temps to hit -5c to -8c
Average max temperature: 9c
Budget: N/A, but mainly looking for validation.
Non-negotiable Items: Garmin InReach Mini, Forerunner 955, X Therm, SWD Big Haul
Solo or with another person?: Group of 3
Additional Information / Questions:

• Although I skied for 15 years when I was younger, after moving to Australia around 15 years ago I have spent relatively little time in the snow.
• The other two people I am going with are also quite experienced in being outdoors (off track, 40+km days, etc); I have probably been on close to 10 overnights with them each separately. One of them is my partner, and I will try to carry as much as she will let me purely because I have better muscular endurance and as she says "really stubborn". This explains why I have some 2p items in here but am not planning on splitting the weight
• I currently sleep cold, hence the double quilt and down pants and down booties.
• We have a short two night trip planned to KNP end of May to test out equipment, as it will be easier to bail if there are any unexpected failures.
• Question 1: if you have hiked TAS in July, would you recommend microspikes? Likelihood of needing snowshoes?
• Question 2: I am a huge fan of my rain skirt, yet am open to getting rain pants to better block the wind and sideways rain. Thoughts?
• Question 3: All of us are currently planning on wearing trail runners with waterproof socks. The last time I was in TAS I hiked with trail runners and normal socks, and was OK, yet thought this would be a fun experiment to see if things could be more comfortable. I would be open to getting a pair of waterproof boots if someone can put forward a good case, yet I haven't work boots in 10+ years, and my shoe rack is pretty full. Thoughts?
• Question 4: I think I might decide to swap out my Sawyer + CNOC combo for my BeFree, as I remember there being water everywhere. I may opt to drop one of the bottles, too, and only carry 1.6L. One of my notes from last time was that 1L would be enough.

Lighterpack notes:
Red Star Items, still to purchase, Open to change
Green Star Items, Purchased, still to arrive, should be before July.
Yellow Start Items, multiple options I already own. Not a high priority.
Lighterpack Link: https://lighterpack.com/qot3qw
​
Appreciate in advance any answers you may have to the above questions! Have a great weekend everyone.

https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8aeebaceb285a11ba8d76190d9 https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Ne8Q6Ijd2GDtx078fEpQ3 April 1, 2023
In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.
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TMT bars, also known as Thermo-Mechanically Treated bars, are commonly used in the construction industry for reinforcement purposes. They are made by a combination of mechanical and thermal processes that alter the physical and chemical properties of the steel to make it stronger and more durable. These bars are a vital component of concrete structures, such as buildings, bridges, dams, and flyovers, as they provide the required tensile strength to the concrete.
There are three main processes involved in the production of Best TMT bars in India:
Quenching: The hot-rolled steel bar is passed through a series of water jets at high pressure, which rapidly cools the surface of the bar while keeping the core hot. This process hardens the surface layer of the steel, making it tougher and more resistant to external forces.
Self-Tempering: The hot core of the steel bar, which was not directly cooled during quenching, starts to cool down slowly after quenching. This process results in a gradual transition of the steel’s internal structure, which makes it more ductile and malleable.
Atmospheric Cooling: The steel bar is left to cool down in the open air, which completes the tempering process and stabilizes the internal structure of the steel. This process also imparts the required strength and ductility to the steel, making it more resilient to stresses and strains.
There are different types of TMT bars available in the market, each with specific properties that make them suitable for different applications. The following are the most common types of TMT bars used in the construction industry:
Fe 415 TMT Bars: These TMT bars are used in small and medium-scale constructions, such as residential buildings, small bridges, and other similar structures. They have a minimum yield strength of 415 N/mm2 and are suitable for general-purpose construction.
Fe 500 TMT Bars: These TMT bars are used in large-scale constructions, such as high-rise buildings, flyovers, and other heavy-duty structures. They have a minimum yield strength of 500 N/mm2 and are suitable for applications where higher strength and durability are required.
Fe 550 TMT Bars: These TMT bars are used in critical and heavy-duty constructions, such as dams, nuclear power plants, and other similar structures. They have a minimum yield strength of 550 N/mm2 and are suitable for applications where extreme strength and durability are required.
Fe 600 TMT Bars: These TMT bars are the strongest and most durable among all the types of TMT bars. They have a minimum yield strength of 600 N/mm2 and are suitable for applications where the highest level of strength and durability is required, such as in the construction of tall buildings, bridges, and other critical structures.
In addition to these types, there are also corrosion-resistant TMT bars, known as ‘CRS TMT Bars,' which have an added layer of protection against corrosion. These bars are particularly suitable for constructions in coastal areas, where the risk of corrosion is higher due to the salt content in the air.
TMT bars have several advantages over other types of reinforcement materials, such as plain steel bars and mesh. Firstly, they offer higher strength and durability, which makes them suitable for heavy-duty constructions. Secondly, they have excellent ductility and malleability, which allows them to bend and shape easily during construction. Thirdly, they have a low carbon footprint and are environmentally friendly.
In conclusion, TMT bars are a vital component of the construction industry and are used extensively in the reinforcement of concrete structures. They are made by a combination of mechanical and thermal processes, which result in a product that is stronger, more durable, and more resilient than other types.

My partner and I have good sex. He's the first person who has been able to make me cum reliably and often without any of my input, and I'm good at making him feel good too.
But I lack imagination and I would like to think of some new simple things to try out for funsies.
We have various tools, but I don't really know what to do with them aside from use them during sex/foreplay to make me cum lmao. We've got:

• a silicone dildo
• a bluetooth g-spot vibrator
• one of them claw shaped gspot/clit vibrators
• a little bullet type vibe
• ben wa balls

I like sensation play, but I have never really tried it. I'd like to try a blindfold because I can't cum easily with my eyes open but keeping them shut is sometimes distracting for other reasons.
Also, sex is quite predictable in terms of timing in that we go to bed and that's when we will start to mess around - I would like to have more unpredictably timed sex but I also don't really know how to go about doing that for some reason. Any tips there would be super welcome too. We've spoken about how we'd like to have sex at different times but it's hard when we're doing other things that we also want to do during the day. It's also usually on the bed, so changing the place would be fun. But it's a small 1 bedroom apartment so I'm outta ideas lol.

This morning my wife woke me up freaked out because her car door was open, and all the shit in the console and dash were strown about the interior. Scared the shit out of her but I don't think they took anything? Then I checked my car and found similar results but saw a mysterious leather glove sitting squarely in the driver's seat.
Anyways, guess it isn't too serious as I don't think they stole or broke anything, just freaked both of us out. Her car door locks automatically so not sure how they got in there without busting the window, but I leave my doors unlocked because my car is a piece of shit and I'd rather them just open the door than bust the window.
Happy April Fool's! Anyone else starting the joking spirits early today?

Hi ladies 😊 I’ve recently been exploring my sexuality via Reddit and I would love to find a woman to relentlessly flirt with, share what I’ve discovered about myself, and the fantasies and desires I’ve been having. Preferably looking for women over 25. Not looking to swap pics, I’m not interested in that just yet 😂 But dirty talk is my favorite!
Dm’s are open 😉, I will not respond to messages from men.

A little about me I have B.A. in Accounting but i know absolutely nothing about it and have little to no passion in the subject.
For those who care my mbti whatever is ISTP if you'd like to tell me about it or something go ahead lmao.
Half Asian half white wahoo.
Hobbies
Videogames: The games I play mostly, are league, tft, Minecraft, terraria, valheim, maplestory and a bunch single player RPGs. Chances are I'm familiar with whatever games you may play and I'm open to suggestions.
Music: I play a couple musical instruments so if you play any I'm interested in hearing about it.
Outdoor activities: I often go biking and like to go to new places any chance I get.
We don't need to necessarily have the same hobbies and I'm down to learn more about whatever you may be into.
Last thing is I use discord mostly and If you'd like to vent or just need an outlet to get stuff out I'm fine with listening so don't hesitate if something is on your mind.
Prefer if you add me on discord:
Also I'm only comfortable in talking to people who are 18+ thanks.

I've been saving up diamonds for literal weeks to buy a legendary chest, I had around 1,700 of them and today when I opened the game I saw that I suddenly have 345... No idea what happened, and as far as I can tell I didn't accidentally spend them because I don't see anything new that I could've bought. It'd have to be something that costs about 1300 diamonds and I don't even see anything like that in the store. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there some kind of purchase history to check if I accidentally misclicked and spent them?

So one night after, I and some friends went to my bestfriends house, us 3, deciding to go on a little night walk. The roads we went on were surrounded by wood. We came to this little open field and we were just talking about things like what we don't need to do while we are out there, just a little rule list and talking about other entity's and such. We are still beside the field at this point and come to a little tree on the side of the road and something was standing there in the little ditch connecting the road and the field and it I guess was like a white shape couldn't make out to well but it just stood there, everyone still and standing our ground, it stared at us and then took off and it didn't look like a deer from the outline of it. My friend Val, since we started walking, felt a bad presence after that when we walked a little more up the road. So we walked a little farther and stood under a street lamp to stay in the light. We decided to go back after that. Val is a very intelligent and wise individual when it comes to things like this, and he doesn't think it was a deer or anything like that .
At Vals house, there is a Skinwalker that usually lurks around his place. He lives pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, btw. But another night it was a little stormy and we were chilling talking in the dark about things but we heard scratching on the door like something wanting in I told him about it and he knows and it wants in.

​
The Vikings - 1958
​
The Vikings is a 1958 epic semi historical/romance movie directed by Richard Fleischer (the son of the great american animatoinnovator and early cartoon producer Max Fleischer, responsible for the creations of Popeye the Sailor man, Betty Boop and many more), who after having spent years in the B movie industry, was now riding high on the success of his Walt Disney produced 1954 adaption of the classic Jules Verne novel "20,000 leagues under the sea" (also starring Kirk Douglas) when he decided to take on the helms of this larger scale and more adult orieneted epic full of love, lust and bloodshed all set in the Viking Age of England and Scandinavia.
With the starring role of this picture going to the mammoth of acting that was Kirk Douglas (although before the more well known "Spartacus" from 1961, this is after he had played the part of Perseus in the 1956 "Ulysseus" movie, so he was already on top), fresh off his hot streak with his new sidekick of a director from "20,000" (Douglas personally hired Fleishcer for this, being that it was his own production company behind the financing). He is non-casually joined by the all time (and/or old time) Hollywood couple Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh (progenitors of the now Scream Queen of old, not to mention still world class beauty, Jamie-Lee Curtis) making this their fifth out of eleven movies together, as well as a big old bowl of Ernest Borgnine dumped on top, having already solidified himself on the big screen as both a well known character actor and a main star. Now, when a movie can boast about having such a combination of high quality talent as this, you know it's bound to be great (although, there are exceptions).
The prologue title sequence of this movie alone is worth note, giving us the audience the pleasure of hearing the stern but soothing (if that makes any sense) voice of the great Orson Welles as he explains to us the whos, whats, whens, and why's of the Norse-Viking expansions and invasions into the British Isles, as well as the political landscape of England itself at this time in history. This is done as we're shown a bunch of spectacuclar tapestry/parchment paper drawings of Vikings battling against Englishmen, complete with a more than perfectly passionate orchestral theme that invokes the thought of the King Arthur tales of yore, all coming together to add a real sense of authenticity to this epic that we've yet to even see begin...which it does with a bang.
Or the swipe of a sword to be more exact, as the Viking leader Ragnar (Borgnine) and his band of warriors fall down upon the camp of the English King Edwin of Northumbria. The two leaders enter into a private duel in the King's tent, with Ragnar slaying his foe and further forcing himself down upon the deadman's wife, Queen Enid, ultimately and unknowingly impregnanting her before disappearing back into the Northlands. Knowing that the child is that of Ragnar's, but will still be seen as a threat to the new King Aella (Frank Thring), Enid gives birth to the child whom she names Eric, in secret and finally sends him away to Italy with her most confident of priests, placing the hilt stone of the King's rightful sword on a rope around his next to later one day be indentified as true heir to the throne of Northumbria.
Years later at the court of King Aella, we come to meet princess Morgana of Wales (Janet Leigh), as her Father pledges her to Aella as a token of alliance between their two kingdoms. King Echbert of Wessex (James Donald) is then brought up on charges of aiding the Vikings in their raids on England's kingdom's in order to protect his own lands, and is thrown into the dungeons to die. We learn that the charges are true when Echbert escapes from Northumbria and finds refuge with the Viking leader Ragnar aboard his longship. The vikings travel back to Scandinavia with Echbert and his promises to continue providing them with coastline and river maps for further raid and plunder.
The incredbily wide shot scenes of the long ships coming into port in the fords of Norway are truly spectacular (clearly being filmed on location), elevated by the realistic built sets that make up the Viking and village (not to mention the ships themselves), as well as the dozens of costumes and hairstyles worn by the extras that are showcased throughout (and a really awesome Viking horn blower welcoming the warriors back home each time, echoing the fantastic sounding orchestral theme of the movie yet again). Also, we now get some of that real over the top barbarian type behaviour being portrayed by Ainar (Douglas), son of Rangar, as we, the mostly uneducated in history average film-goer, would expect out of any and all vikings on screen (it is pretty awesome though); complete with beer guzzling, barell smashing, deranged angry tones, and wishes for barrels of blood to guzzle down instead of that of beer.
Ainar hates all Englishmen, but agrees to his Father and Chieftain's demands to keep after Echbert and see that he wants for nothing. One day while breaking in their hunting hawks, Ainar starts up a confrontation with a slave named Eric (Tony Curtis), the unknowing son of Ragnar, subsequent half brother of Ainar, and true King of Northumbria, who had been abducted from his ship en-route to Italy all those years ago. Eric then sicks his own hawk that he's recently found onto his oppressor, leaving Ainar with only one good eye, and himself now with a guaranteed death sentence.
At the feasting hall however, a volva woman steps in against Ragnar's judgement of death, claiming that the gods do not wish for Eric to die by any man's hand, to which Ragnar outsmarts and has Eric taken instead to a rock pool off the coast at high tide to await an eventual death from drowning. Echbert though finds the stone from around Eric's neck and, realizing who he is, goes down to the rock pool to save him and claim him as his own slave in order to keep him safe from Ainar. We also get some more awesome over the top barbarian type behavior, now complete with ass smacking, random kissing orgies, more beer guzzling and axes being thrown at a Viking's wife's hair braids to judge whether she's been faithful or not (this movie's about as toxic male chauvinist as it gets, but still... really awesome).
Echbert eventually finishes his maps for the Vikings, as well giving them the idea to abduct and ransom Princess Morgana before her marriage to Aella, with Ainar carrying out the task and giving us a pretty decent battle at sea in the process. Ainar though, now falls madly in love with Morgana and wishes to claim her as his own. When back at the hall once again, we get even more over the top barbarian behavior, beer guzzling, rape jokes, etc, etc, (what do you want from them?, they're Vikings), all this before Ragnar finally concedes to his son's wants and needs, allowing him to claim Morgana as his own. But when Ainar tries to force himself upon her, Eric appears from behind and knocks him out, bringing Morgana to escape with him on a boat to England.
A really-rad boat chase scene ensues through the fog filled fjords, culminating in the collision of both Ragnar and Ainar's boats into one another, sending half of the Vikings to their deaths. All but Ragnar that is, who's saved and pulled onto Eric's boat, heading straight for the King of Northumbria. Ainar swears revenge against Eric, while the two escapees fall madly in love en-route to England.
At the court of King Aella, Eric hands over Ragnar then asks that Morgana be relieved of her pledge of marriage, to which she agrees with. The King demands that she take more time to reflect with her priest, then forces Eric to try to take part in the execution of Ragnar by pushing him into a rabid wolf pit. Eric refuses by cutting Ragnar's bonds and giving him a sword, so that he may die a warrior's death and be aloud to enter Valhalla, giving us an extremely climactic ending of Ernest Borgnine's character in this tale as he raises his arms and voice to summon Odin the All-Father, before jumping to his death in the wolf pit, sword in hand and smile on his face (man Vikings were badass!).
Eric has his hand chopped off as punishment and is set adrift into the sea, but not before the priest and Morgana find the King's "pummel[stone" amongst Eric's belongings, coming to the realization that he is the true heir of Northumbria. Morgana then runs in the room just in time to see Eric's amputation, letting out a horrific scream at the sight of it (she wasn't called America's first "Scream Queen" for nothing folks. So this is where Jamie-Lee gets it from eh).
Back in Scandinavia, Ainar is now King of the Vikings, but can't seem to raise an army to retrieve Morgana, until Eric comes back and tells them of Ragnar's death. The two (still unknowing) half brothers now team up to defeat the tyrant King Aella, to both gain revenge for Ragnar and to rescue Morgana, leading the "Great Heathen Army" across the sea to England (in the year of our lord 865 for those of you history buffs).
Between the ships leaving of Scandinavia, and the army's landing and setting up of their assault on Northumbria, you really come to ask yourself as to why film-goers are NEVER treated to such a large scale production as this anymore (well, at least not since The Lord of The Rings as I recall). The amount of extras, costume pieces and props required for this must have been incredible, but all completely necessary in the creation of a full on believable historic setting such as this.
So the Vikings land and lay siege unto Aella's stronghold, battering rams, catapults, axes, spears, swords, the works (not to mention Kirk Douglas scaling the Castle's front door using only axes for leverage. Again, you just don't see stuff like this anymore). Ainar cuts his way through to Morgana's room, but upon realizing that she loves Eric, and that Eric is also a son of Ragnar, he takes her to confront his half brother and fight for their prize.
Eric meets Ainar at the top of the castle and the two enter into an extremely well coordinated battle of the blades, until Ainar breaks Eric's sword that is. But Eric seizes a moment of hesitation that befalls Ainar, and stabs his half brother in the gut with the broken down blade of his sword. Ainar then drops his sword, but Eric picks it up and gives it back to him, again allowing for a true Viking death. He uses the last of his strength in a final roar to summon up Odin, then Ainar is no more. Eric and Morgana embrace each other with love bringing us to the end of this movie, but not before treating the audience to an authentic Viking cremation funeral for Ainar, in which he is cast off to see in a ship and flaming arrows sent flying to the mass. We watch the ship and Ainar's body burn as the credits to "The Vikings" comes up once more, leading us into the ending credits with more authentic looking parchment scroll drawings of the Vikings battling against Englishmen, and finally coming together as one (accompanied again by the awe inspiring orchestral themes of yore every step of the way).
To sum it all up, "The Vikings" (1958) is literally THE - BEST Viking movie that's ever been made. Full of high quality A-list stars (to which I'd say is one of both Kirk's and Tony's coolest characters ever portrayed on screen), and a great group of secondary character actors like James Donald, Frank Thring, Eileen Way and many more. The story is well put together by screenwriters Calder Willingham and Dale Wiserman (based on a novel by Edison Marshall), with the underlying theme being the coming together of two peoples, as well as giving us a pretty cool backstory for a very real and historic time in Northwestern Europe. The wide scale shots and surrounding sceneries caught by DP Jack Cardiff are truly amazing, joined by epic scale (and pretty damn authentic) sets-props-hairstyles and makeups, very well coordinated swordfights and stunts, and lets not foget the awe inspiring orchestral theme of yore laid down by composer Mario Nascimbene and conductor Franco Ferrara. All this is brought together perfectly by director Max Fleischer in what was definitely the largest scale movie of his career. I would recommend this movie not only to fans of retro cinema, but to anyone who loves epic scale warrior movies, as well as to general ancient world history buffs.
And that's all she wrote folks.
Thanks for reading.
Ryan D. Hurley