Latest news with #QueenofHearts
Chicago Tribune
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Grit Racing Series returns to West Dundee, Elgin with daylong events
The 10-stop Grit Racing Series of cycling races gets underway Friday with the West Dundee River Challenge, and then returns to the area a week later with the Elgin Classic on July 25. Both will once again bring cyclists from around the world to the Fox Valley while offering an array of attractions above and beyond biking. 'We currently have nine homes between East and West Dundee hosting about 23 athletes. Other than domestic riders and maybe some Canadians, six are Aussies,' said Maureen Himmel, who volunteers to promote the Challenge. Himmel and her family are hosting competitors again, sharing their home with Ryan DeWald and other riders from Texas-based Team Cadence Cyclery pb Encore Wire, which is affiliated Team Skyline. 'That is the OG team that stayed with us in 2016, the first year West Dundee hosted the Challenge,' Himmel said. 'Ryan and my family have become very good friends. He and the team haven't been here since 2021, so we're looking forward to that.' DeWald, who lives in Pennsylvania, said he's enjoyed his visits to West Dundee, which he called a Midwestern gem. 'The hilly course is next to a nice park (Grafelman),' he said. 'Our team doesn't race until the evening so the nearby bike path is a good place to keep warmed up without having to worry about getting run over by cars.' In addition to competing, DeWald will be at the event representing Winning the Race With Diabetes, a nonprofit set up to inspire, educate and support people who, like DeWald, are living with Type 1 diabetes. That organization will have a booth at the Challenge. In addition to providing information about Type 1 diabetes, it will also offer information about lifestyle and diet choices for people with Type 2 diabetes, DeWald said. A new nonprofit booth this year will be manned by Project Mobility, a 23-year-old organization founded by The Bike Rack owner Hal Honeyman and his sister, Tammy Simmons. Honeyman's St. Charles business provides adaptive bikes for disabled adults and children. The booth will offer information about and display adaptive bikes and will be selling lemonade to raise money for its effort, Simmons said. Village Squire owner Bob Karas supports Project Mobility's Queen of Hearts fundraising efforts, with drawings held at The Squire Ale House in Campton Hills, she said. 'The Village Squire will be selling buy-one-get-one free Queen of Hearts tickets, too, at their outdoor drink stand at the Challenge,' Simmons said. The Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation will be raising money at the event with a 'Shuck You Cancer' cornhole tournament starting at 8 p.m. in the parking lot of First American Bank, 218 W. Main St. 'Bags are a great way for communities to support the organization, all while having fun,' said foundation volunteer Connie Tracy, of West Dundee. 'As to why a bag tournament, the big problem with neuroblastoma is awareness. The organization itself focuses on helping families and research. We felt being able to let people in the community hear the word while having fun was a great combination.' Back at the Challenge this year will be a kid zone and an open air market in Grafelman Park at 112 N. 5th St., a kid bike parade and an after party off Second Street downtown. 'Our open air market gets bigger every year, and we're hoping with the new West Dundee French Market we'll entice visitors to wander all over town to shop and spectate,' Himmel said. Down the road from West Dundee, the Elgin Classic takes place July 25 on the city's northeast side with a start/finish line at the intersection of Cooper Avenue and Spring Street, adjacent to the former location of Sherman Hospital. Hosted by the Northeast Neighborhood of Elgin, the Elgin Classic has been held since 2017 and honors Dennis Jurs, an avid cyclist who died at age 68 after being struck by an SUV in Hampshire in 2015. His death led to the creation of a state law that mandates that bicyclists have the same right-of-way rights as motorists. As in West Dundee, Elgin Classic organizers find housing for visiting riders. After noticing so many riders spoke Spanish as their first language, they've made an effort to accommodate them, said Eric Larson, chairman of the Elgin Classic host committee. 'We've launched an initiative to include Spanish-speaking or bilingual homes as part of Elgin's contingent of host housing, making the experience even more comfortable for Spanish-speaking riders and highlighting a key component of the greater Elgin community,' Larson said. Loli Gudino and her husband will be hosting four men from a New Zealand team at their home and their daughter's family is doing the same for two others. This is the sixth time she's volunteered to help with the Elgin Classic, she said. In past years she was a race marshal responsible for monitoring intersections. This time she's on the host committee and has been recruiting friends, family and coworkers to get involved in one way or another, she said. 'I've lived in Elgin for 61 years, and there was nothing like this in the old days,' Gudino said. 'The races are a great way for people to see and experience what my neighborhood and Elgin have to offer.' Beyond racing, Elgin Classic organizers will be distributing refurbished bikes and new helmets to youths in need, something they've been doing since 2021. There also will be an evening family fun ride through the city's northeast side and a festival area, set up in partnership with the Kiwanis Club of Elgin, with food trucks and a beer tent. What Larson enjoys about his neighborhood hosting the races is the reaction it gets from people who come to view it. 'Many of them haven't seen competitive cycling before and are surprised to find out how it works,' he said. For more information on the two events, go to and
Time of India
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Host your own Alice in Wonderland tea party
Every July 4th, celebrate the day Lewis Carroll first told Alice's adventures. Host a Mad Hatter hi-tea with playing cards, Queen of Hearts tarts, and 'Eat Me' treats. Transform your space with fairy lights, glowing mushrooms, and a 'Drink Me' bar. Observed every year on July 4, it marks the day when Carroll first shared the story with Alice Liddell, an acquiantance and the subject of his story, during a boat ride. What better way to honour a world where time runs wild, and logic takes a holiday, than by hosting your very own, delightfully mad Alice-themed hi-tea? Add playing cards, serve Queen of Hearts tarts, and don't forget a little 'Eat Me' magic in the menu. After all, in Wonderland – the more bonkers, the better! Host your own Mad Hatter soiree Planning an enchanting hi-tea means transforming your space into a topsy-turvy Wonderland. 'Begin by setting the mood with fairy lights draped on trees or in bottles, glowing mushrooms, and candles in teacups to evoke that 'Mad Hatter's Tea' vibe. Add a 'Drink Me' bar with funky mocktails and an 'Eat Me' corner with themed desserts,' says Ishika Agarwal, founder of an event management brand. Create a riddle station, just like the Cheshire Cat might. For photos, set up a booth with props like rabbit ears, crowns, and grumpy cat smiles. Floating hats, teacups, and golden keys can add to the charm. Blue, bows & beyond For a fresh spin on Alice's iconic look, try a modern Alpha Gen twist with a corset over a slip dress. 'Powder blue is key. It's quintessentially Alice. Keep the silhouette simple with textured fabrics. Lace, ribbons, and a princess bodice with a gathered bottom nod to classic European style,' says stylist Neel Saha. For makeup, focus on wide, innocent eyes with white liner and rosy blush. 'This gives you that youthful, curious gaze,' adds Sonam Jaiswal, makeup artist. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trending in in 2025: Local network access control [Click Here] Esseps Learn More Undo Finish with loose waves and a black ribbon headband for a perfect Wonderland touch. Tea time with a twist of whimsy Johanne Mantosh, who styled the table for us, suggests to keep the theme whimsical, chaotic, but calm. 'I've used colourful flowers, mismatched cutlery, and elements like a horse spoon!' For that 'Drink Me' vibe – 'mix black and white jars with red and green ones, balance it with vibrant crockery, blooms, and potion-like drinks,' she says, adding, 'Include different types of tea, such as Matcha, and offer puff pastry, dim sums, cupcakes, and pastries. Go with whatever sparks your dopamine.' Add elements inspired by the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat. Alice is a believer and a dreamer who follows her path and so do I. The whole set up and outfit made me feel like a princess. The shoot was dreamy – Angana Roy, actress
Business Upturn
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Upturn
Alice in Borderland Season 3: Everything we know so far
By Aman Shukla Published on June 28, 2025, 19:00 IST Last updated June 28, 2025, 12:24 IST Hey there, Alice in Borderland fans! The thrilling Japanese sci-fi series is gearing up for its third season, and we're just as excited as you are to dive back into the wild, dangerous world of Borderland. After the jaw-dropping ending of Season 2, complete with that mysterious Joker card, there's so much to look forward to. Here's a rundown of everything we know so far about Alice in Borderland Season 3. Alice in Borderland Season 2 Release Date Get ready to mark your calendars— Alice in Borderland Season 3 is set to hit Netflix in September 2025! While we don't have an exact date yet, Netflix confirmed the release window during their Next on Netflix 2025 Japan event, along with some tantalizing first-look images. Filming kicked off in September 2023 and wrapped sometime in early 2024, so the show's been in post-production to bring those epic game sequences to life. Given the nine-month gap between filming and release for Season 2, September 2025 feels right on track. Stay tuned for a precise date as we get closer Alice in Borderland Season 2 Cast Update The heart of Alice in Borderland is its characters, and we're thrilled to know some fan favorites are returning. Netflix has confirmed that Kento Yamazaki will reprise his role as Ryōhei Arisu, the clever, video game-obsessed hero, and Tao Tsuchiya is back as Yuzuha Usagi, the tough mountain climber who's Arisu's partner in survival (and maybe more). Their chemistry carried us through the first two seasons, and we can't wait to see how their story evolves. Other characters who survived Season 2 and might return include: Nijirō Murayama as Chishiya , the sly and strategic player. Aya Asahina as Kuina , the fierce fighter with a heart of gold. Ayaka Miyoshi as Ann , the cool-headed analyst. Dori Sakurada as Niragi , the unpredictable troublemaker who somehow keeps surviving. Shô Aoyagi as Aguni , the tough-as-nails leader with a tragic past. Yuri Tsunematsu as Heiya, the archery-skilled high schooler who became a fan favorite in Season 2. There's also buzz about Riisa Naka possibly returning as Mira, the Queen of Hearts, maybe as a ghostly figure like Hatter in Season 2, though nothing's confirmed. And with the Joker card looming, we might see new faces or even characters like Banda and Yaba from the Jack of Hearts game stepping up as villains. No full cast list yet, but we're keeping our fingers crossed for more updates Alice in Borderland Season 2 Potential Plot Season 2 ended with a massive twist: after Arisu and Usagi defeated the Queen of Hearts and woke up in a hospital, thinking they'd escaped Borderland, a gust of wind scattered a deck of cards, leaving only the Joker card behind. This has fans buzzing—does it mean they're still trapped in the game? Here's what we can piece together about Season 3's plot: An Original Story : The first two seasons adapted Haro Aso's manga, but Season 3 will dive into uncharted territory with an original storyline, since the main manga ended where Season 2 did. Manga creator Haro Aso is still involved, so expect the same mind-bending intensity. The Joker's Role : In the manga, the Joker is a 'ferryman' who guides players back to the real world, but the show's teaser hints at a more sinister role, possibly as a manipulative game master. This could mean new, psychologically twisted games that mess with reality itself, testing Arisu and Usagi's grip on what's real. Alice in Wonderland Vibes : The show loves its Alice in Wonderland references, and Season 3 might introduce characters like Tweedledum and Tweedledee , who haven't appeared yet. Expect more trippy, fairytale-inspired challenges. Reality or Illusion?: The Season 2 finale suggested the players were in a limbo state after a meteor strike, caught between life and death. Season 3 could explore whether they're truly back in the real world or stuck in a virtual reality—or even a new layer of the Borderland games. There's also talk of drawing inspiration from Aso's spin-off manga, like Alice in Borderland: Retry , where Arisu returns to Borderland as a married man, or Alice on Border Road , set in Kyoto. While these might not be adapted directly, they could spark ideas for new games or settings. Whatever happens, expect high-stakes action, emotional depth, and plenty of surprises. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Yellowjackets Finally Reveals the Antler Queen and Girl in the Pit in Season 3 Finale — Grade It!
So, were they who you thought they'd be? Yellowjackets' Season 3 finale, which began streaming Friday, finally brings the teens' story to the point where we first met them: the hunt in the woods that kicked off the series' premiere. (Take a walk down cannibalistic memory lane here.) More from TVLine From ER to The Pitt: Shawn Hatosy Talks 20-Year Relationship With John Wells and Hopes for Abbot in Season 2 Grey's Recap: A Villain From Simone's Past Shakes Up Her Present - Plus, Did the Truth Set Owen Free... of Teddy? The Pitt Season 2 Premise, Time Jump and Premiere Month Confirmed - Plus, Who Is (and Is Not) Returning From the way that sequence was shot, and given that most of the girls were wearing face coverings, we couldn't see who the victim was nor who was underneath the leader's antler crown. And those identities remained a mystery — and fodder for lots of fan discussion — throughout the Paramount+ With Showtime drama's first two seasons. But this week's episode reveals that the girl who died in the hunt was Mari, who'd drawn the Queen of Hearts card, marking her as the latest sacrifice. Van and Tai had tried to rig the draw so that newbie Hannah would be picked. But Shauna, sensing that something fishy was going on, changed her place in the circle so that Mari wound up with the death card. What might throw viewers at first is that, when the hunt begins, Mari wears pants, a jacket and shoes, and the girl in the series premiere was barefoot and wearing only a short nightgown. But as the chase goes on, Mari takes off many of her layers, including her footwear; she's left in just the nightie and Jackie's necklace, which Shauna had fastened around her neck moments before. She cuts her foot as she runs, accounting for the bloody footprints. And when she accidentally steps on the camouflage hiding the pit's opening, she falls in and is impaled on several sharp stakes. Is it important that, just before she plummets to her death, she runs into Lottie? Who even knows with this show anymore? After the kill, Shauna orders Natalie to butcher their former teammate, who is dragged, naked, through the snow back to camp. And that night they all eat, while Shauna — in her new Antler Queen getup — presides over the affair. Unbeknownst to Shauna, though, Natalie has slipped away with the newly refurbished radio. She climbs to the highest point she can find and is successful in turning it on. 'Can anyone hear me?!' she screams into the microphone. 'I can hear you,' a man's voice answers through the static. Are we on the precipice of actual salvation here?! Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) View List Meanwhile, the adult versions of the survivors have quite an episode, as well. Tai buries Van's body, but not before ripping into it, cutting out an organ (her liver?) and taking a big, bloody bite. Misty confronts Callie about killing Lottie, and the teen confesses. Turns out, when she came to Lottie's apartment building to get Mel's tape back, Lottie led her into the stairwell and started talking about how 'It' is in the teen the same way that its darkness is in Shauna. Callie then pushed Lottie, causing her to fall backwards down the stairs to her death. After Callie tells Jeff about her part in the death, he packs her up and they leave without telling Shauna where they were going. In a rage, Shauna journals about how the reason that the survivors have had such a hard time remembering exactly what they went through out there was that they didn't want to face the fact that 'we were having so much fun.' She laments that 'I was a warrior. I was a f–king queen' and 'I let all of it slip away from me. It's time to start taking it back.' At the end of the hour, we see Tai in a restaurant, talking to someone about how Shauna is responsible for Natalie and Van's deaths, and how Shauna will be the last woman standing unless they do something about it. She asks the other person if they want that outcome. And when the camera angle changes, we see that her companion is Misty. 'No, I definitively do not,' Misty replies. Outside, Walter watches them from his car. Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Grade it, and the season as a whole, via the polls below, then hit the comments with your thoughts! Best of TVLine Mrs. Maisel Flash-Forward List: All of Season 5's Futuristic Easter Eggs Yellowjackets Recap: The Morning After Yellowjackets Recap: The First Supper
The Independent
05-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
My dad had nine lives – so why was his death still such a shock?
My dad very rarely, if ever, cried. But when he told me the story of how he collapsed in front of me when I was three, and all I did was calmly get him a pillow for his head and go and get my mum, his eyes would glisten slightly. I didn't remember this event, but I could well believe it, and when I think back now, three was probably about the age when I first understood that my dad was going to die. By the time I was born, he'd already had a motorbike accident, a car accident, a career-ending football injury that led to his most severe illness – chronic osteomyelitis – and more than a dozen surgeries, including a tumour removal when my sister was six weeks old. He took dozens of tablets, was in and out of every hospital in the region, and struggled severely with his mental health. When I was seven, Dad was paralysed after a surgery went awry. My mother worked, solo-parented and visited him on the other side of London to our Essex home. When she took us to see him, he sent us away after 10 minutes because he was so abundantly ill. He didn't want to die in front of his children. However, he didn't die, and, in time, he regained use of the leg and came home. He even returned to work. The next decade was hard. My dad's illnesses were so severe, his hospital visits so unjustifiably frequent, that after a while, people at school stopped believing me. Surely, if he was that ill, he would die. I called home on lunch breaks sometimes just to check he was still there, or had got off to work okay. If my phone ever rang, I jumped out of my skin to answer it in a panic. No one else I knew had an ill parent so perilously close to death. They either got ill and recovered or got ill and died. My dad didn't seem to do either. I had no one to relate to, no one outside my family who could understand. One day, on my way home from school, there was an ambulance outside our house. My sister and I shut ourselves in the lounge, but it didn't shield us from the sound of Dad screaming as the paramedics carried him down the stairs. They tracked an infection from his foot as it steadily gained pace towards his femoral artery. It didn't make it. But he did. Dad underwent a surgery at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital – by the mid-2000s, it had become his home from home – in which the fluid surrounding his brain was accidentally drained. To say it gave him a headache would be a massive understatement. He was in critical condition, as critical as it gets. While I was studying for my A-Levels, Dad had a triple heart bypass that went badly. He was in so much pain that doctors told us he was at high risk for a stroke or a heart attack. The likelihood was he wouldn't survive whichever he had. In the end, he had neither. He miraculously recovered and came home. I duly went to university. Dad's fragility plagued but also inspired me – I wrote top-mark exam essays on father and daughter relationships in Shakespeare and a short story about the Queen of Hearts becoming so on the day her father died. When I trained as a journalist, I had a particular interest in Paralympic sports and wrote about my experiences as a carer. In 2011, a planned two-hour surgery turned into a seven-hour ordeal so traumatic that the surgeon took a sabbatical afterwards. The defibrillators came out, and Dad told me he remembered hearing the doctors arguing about whether using it was even worth it, as he was 'already gone.' But he wasn't. He recovered again. By my twenties, I was a nervous wreck who needed at least five to seven business hours to recover from an unplanned phone call. The surgeries and hospital visits continued. I left work on occasion to sit with him at A&E. By my early thirties, other people started losing their hitherto very healthy parents. An old school friend lost his dad a mere six weeks after diagnosis. The feelings it stirred in me were complex – was I jealous? Not of their loss, but of the speed of which their ordeal took hold and completed? Yes, I suppose I was. The fear and the anguish were exhausting. I had treatment for a fatigue that no doctor found the root cause for. In 2022, when my daughter was three months old, Dad developed sepsis and spent nine weeks in the hospital, including a brief stint in an end-of-life ward. It weakened him severely, but he made it once again. I wondered if anything was ever going to kill him. We joked in the family that after decades of torment, he'd outlive every one of us. After twenty years of my jumping for the phone, Mum didn't call when the time came, but sent a text. 'Dad isn't going to make it. If you don't want to come, I understand.' I held his hand when he took his last breath. He was ready; I wasn't. I was 33. 'Mister Nine Lives,' I wrote on Facebook. 'Foiled at last.' What shocked me most about the reactions to Dad's death was people's surprise. Colin? No. It cannot be. In turn, I was surprised by their surprise, given that he was the sickest man any of us knew. I realised then how we'd all taken his repeated recoveries for granted. Despite the constant dread, it seemed none of us had believed he really would ever die, and we didn't know until it happened. Exactly six months to the day of Dad's death, my mother's dear friend lost her husband to a heart attack in the middle of the night. The shock all but killed her too, and their kids. His funeral was held in the same place as my dad's, and when I saw them all at the wake, I realised to my shame that, of course, they were just like us. They looked as we had looked. They spoke as we had spoken.
