Entertainment
This Low-Key Lakeside Wedding Is a Breath of Fresh Air
“When dating, I was meeting people who weren’t ‘it,’ and I wanted to clarify what ‘it’ was for me,” says Daisy, who lives in Duluth, Minnesota. So, she created a note on her phone with 17 things she was looking for, like ‘emotionally available’ and ‘lives a joyful life’ and ‘can start a fire or change a tire.’ She met Ted in 2019 and said that she manifested him. They got married in July 2021 on Lake Superior. Here, Daisy talks about Goodwill wedding decor and a joke in her vows that people told her not to make…
“During the pandemic, we had date nights where we dressed up, cooked a nice dinner, drank wine, and danced around our apartment. It was very sweet. At one of those dinners, Ted proposed. We try to make things special, but we don’t necessarily do a lot of pomp and circumstance. So, our wedding wasn’t going to be a big production. We wanted to celebrate in a way that felt super chill and true to who we are.”
“I know this may sound like some people’s nightmare, but we picked a date one month away and told everyone. Then we had to find a place. Duluth is gorgeous in the summer, and we wanted to do it outside. We found a community center at the beach with a slot open in the afternoon. I think it was $125 to rent. Day of, we showed up, took a swim in the lake, and then got ready in the community center. I wanted flowers in my hair, and my friend brought baby’s breath. I got the dress off the rack from Nordstrom and did my own makeup.”
“In summer 2021, with Covid travel restrictions, my family and friends from Tanzania couldn’t come. So they Skyped in.”
“We walked down to the beach together, and the tall grass formed an aisle.”
“Before the wedding, we came up with the idea to do the ceremony with our feet in the water. It felt right given our love of Lake Superior. My best friend officiated.”
“We had a gathering the night before for out-of-towners, and I joked that I was going to start my vows with ‘Someday, we’re all going to die…’ Everybody thought that was a terrible idea. In this photo, I’m laughing because I went with that opener. For me, it was about death being a reminder to maximize life. In my vows, I said I wouldn’t want to spend my life with anyone else.”
“It’s a public beach, and when we kissed, strangers nearby cheered and clapped along with our friends and family. That was lovely.”
“The community center is a government building, so it’s not the cutest, but having the party outside helped. I went to Goodwill and found lace panels, which made it feel more private and intimate since the field is pretty big and along a street. A friend who is an interior designer helped with set up. Someone else brought their lawn games.”
“I could totally feel the wedding industrial complex. We briefly worked with a wedding coordinator who was used to doing more extravagant weddings. Whenever we suggested something, they’d take it up five notches. I just kept thinking, I don’t care about this stuff, and I’m not going to go into debt for it. We stopped working with them and put our money toward the particular things we did care about. Like, we cared about food, but we didn’t care if the meal was fancy. We hired a food truck, and it was great. Total, I think we spent around $2,000.”
“Our friend Peter Witrak, a musician, did such a great job as our DJ. He also strummed a guitar on the beach before the ceremony.”
“It felt like a backyard hang with friends when a good song comes on and people just get up to dance. We had the perfect wedding for us.”
Thanks so much, Daisy!
P.S. More wedding posts, including four New York city hall weddings, and a stoop wedding in Brooklyn.
(Photos by Liz Pawlik.)
Entertainment
Get Ankers 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Dock for $60 less at Amazon
SAVE 15%: As of April 22, you can get the Anker Prime 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Dock for $339.99, down from $399.99, at Amazon. That’s a 15% discount or $60 savings.
$339.99
at Amazon
$399.99
Save $60
Working off a laptop is great until you realize you only have two ports and need to plug something in. If you’re hooked up to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse, you’re pretty much out of luck on the rest. Not only that, but your previously uncluttered desk will most likely look like a Best Buy exploded (a rat’s nest of cords isn’t cute or helpful for anyone getting work done).
If you literally hate mess and cords as much as I do, you need a docking station to hide all that chaos and protect your aesthetic. Right now, Anker’s Prime TB5 Docking Station is on sale for $339.99 at Amazon, down from $399.99. (That’s a $60 price cut.)
Mashable Deals
Are you going to use all 14 ports at the exact same time? Probably not, but you’ll never have to dig through your bag for a specific adapter again. You just plug a single cable into your laptop, and the dock handles the rest. It features a Thunderbolt 5 upstream port, two Thunderbolt 5 downstream ports, two USB-C ports, three USB-A ports, SD and TF card readers, a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port, an audio jack, and your choice of HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 2.1. It’s also fast enough to transfer a 150GB file in 25 seconds.
Entertainment
How I scored ad-free Paramount+ Premium for only 99 cents
SAVE $26: As of April 22, returning subscribers can score two months of ad-free Paramount+ Premium for only 99 cents per month with the code N8C27L. Usually $13.99 per month, that’s $26 in savings. Just note that your mileage may vary.
$0.99/month for 2 months (save $13/month) with code N8C27L
If you’re looking to save some money on your streaming lineup, my number one recommendation is to cancel your subscriptions. While it doesn’t work for every streamer, many will offer you a special discount to come back. Not to mention, you’ll be eligible for any new deals that may appear that are marketed to “new and returning customers.” Case in point: as of April 22, returning subscribers can get two months of ad-free Paramount+ Premium for just 99 cents per month.
I’ve tested this out myself, so I can vouch for it. When you navigate to Paramount+ and sign in to your existing account, you’ll be prompted to pick a plan. Select the Paramount+ Premium monthly plan for $13.99 per month. On the “Welcome back!” page, scroll down to the box that says “Have a promo code?” and enter N8C27L. Once you hit “apply” the price should drop to just 99 cents per month.
Credit: Paramount+
That’s all, folks. You can take advantage of two full months of ad-free Paramount+, Showtime, BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, CBS live TV, UFC fights, and more for less than two bucks. That’s $26 total in savings.
Mashable Deals
Paramount+ has a surprisingly hefty library. Subscribers can enjoy Paramount+ Originals like Landman and RuPaul Drag Race All Stars, Showtime series like Dexter Resurrection and Yellowjackets, CBS hits like Survivor and NCIS, and nostalgic shows from Nickelodeon and MTV. Not to mention, there’s a lineup of movies that’ll keep you fully entertained for your two-month promotional period. Just be sure to cancel again before the second month is over if you want to avoid paying full cost. You can always sign up again when another deal arises. I know I will.
Entertainment
How Stargate SG-1 Used A Classic Trope To Emotionally Wreck Its Fans
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Garfield and Friends said it best: “Oh no, we’ve resorted to an evil twin storyline.” Star Trek: The Original Series did it the best with Mirror Universe Spock, and ever since, it’s been a lazy excuse for every series to use when they run out of ideas. The exception is Stargate SG-1’s sixth episode, “Cold Lazarus,” which plays with the trope by making the twin less evil and more confused.
When fans say they skip this episode when rewatching, it’s not because it’s a lazy, poorly written episode. In fact, it’s the opposite. The ending of “Cold Lazarus” is a pivotal character moment for Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and a gut punch to the audience.
Stargate SG-1’s First Evil Twin
“Cold Lazarus” opens with the SG-1 team on a planet that doesn’t look like Vancouver (it was a giant pile of sulfur at the port of Vancouver). The desert landscape is dotted with shattered blue crystals that look like the remnants of a civilization until we see a crystal eye-view of O’Neill, a mysterious light knocks him out, and all of a sudden, a second O’Neill is looking down at the first. Turns out, the crystals are the civilization.
Fake O’Neill is trying to figure out who O’Neill is and what SGC is all about. When he pulls out photos of his family, it takes Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) by surprise. O’Neill’s never mentioned his wife, Sara, or his son, Charlie. Confused, the Fake O’Neill goes to the home, where Sara is disgusted he’d come by and thinks it’s a sick joke that he’s asking about Charlie. If you’re wondering if you missed a key part of O’Neill’s backstory, don’t worry, this is the first time that either Sara or Charlie is mentioned, and tragically, we soon learn why.
No One Ever Dies
Charlie shot himself with O’Neill’s gun. Fake O’Neill starts to piece this together when he goes into Charlie’s old room and breaks down, prompting Sara and him to finally have the conversation about their shared grief. Back in SGC, the crystal’s nature is revealed to be an energy alien calling itself Unity, which accidentally killed a Jaffa, and the Goa’uld shattered them in retribution. That’s when O’Neill stumbles back through the Stargate, and the team realizes the mistake they made.
The Fake O’Neill is soon captured at a local hospital, suffering from Earth’s radiation, where he explains that he sensed O’Neill’s pain after he took his form and wanted to help ease the suffering, as nothing ever truly dies to Unity. To prove its point, Unity transforms into Charlie, giving O’Neill and Sara one last chance to see their child. Fans who haven’t lost a child can understand the emotion, but for fans who have, this scene is emotional torture, in the best way possible.
Jack knows this isn’t Charlie, but he talks to him like he is, and then they walk together through the Stargate back to Unity’s planet. It’s a beautiful moment that explains so much about O’Neill’s throwing himself into work and how even his friendships remain professional. “Cold Lazarus” may have started out with the “evil twin” trope in full effect, but the ending is proof that even early during its run, Stargate SG-1 was going to be the greatest.
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