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Jackie Jensen, "The Golden Boy", was a superstar athlete in the 1940s who seemed destined for greatness as the heir to Joe DiMaggio... only to be supplanted by a different golden boy, the great Mickey Mantle.
Jensen would eventually live up to the hype, but with the Red Sox -- but his career prematurely because, as baseball expanded to the west coast, his fear of flying made road games unbearable!
The Yankees between 1947 and 1964 were utterly dominant, winning 15 pennants and 10 World Series. And it wasn't just the major league team that was successful. The Yankees of this era were loaded up and down the system, from Rookie ball to their two Triple-A teams!
With such a loaded major league roster, the Yankees had many talented players stuck either on the end of the bench or in the minors who would eventually find an opportunity with other teams, including Bob Cerv, Vic Power, Gus Triandos, Lew Burdette, Jerry Lumpe, Bob Porterfield, and Bob Keegan, who would all be All-Stars with other teams. Clint Courtney would be the 1952 A.L. Rookie of the Year runner-up after the Yankees traded him to the Browns, and Bill Virdon was the 1955 N.L. Rookie of the Year with the Cardinals (and then Yankee manager from 1974 to 1975!).
But the most talented player who just couldn't find the playing time in New York was Jack Eugene Jensen, born March 9, 1927, in San Francisco. His parents divorced when he was 5, and he grew up poor, his mother working six days a week, 12 hours a day. Jensen said the family moved 16 times between kindergarten and eighth grade -- "every time the rent came due."
After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Jensen went to the University of California in 1946 on the G.I. Bill. There he became one of the most famous college players in the country, leading Cal to the Rose Bowl. In 1947, he was the starting fullback as well as the team's top defensive back, and in 1948, he rushed for 1,000 yards and was an All-American.
He also was a tremendous two-way baseball player, pitching and hitting for the Golden Bears in 1947 as the won the very first College World Series, beating a Yale team that had George H.W. Bush playing first base. In 1949, he was an All-American in baseball, too.
His blond hair, good looks, and athletic accomplishments earned him the nickname "The Golden Boy."
Halfway through his junior year, Jensen left Berkeley to turn pro. Jensen would later say he couldn't risk playing a career-ending injury playing for free while teams -- baseball and football -- were trying to sign him to big-money contracts.

"There was a money tree growing in my backyard. Why shouldn't I pluck off the dollars when I wanted to?"

Jensen considered a number of offers, including from the Yankees, before signing a three-year, $75,000 contract with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League. Jensen said he thought he'd face better competition in the Pacific Coast League, the top minor league of the era, than he would at the bottom of the Yankee farm system. He was right about it being more of a challenge -- he hit an unimpressive .261/.317/.394 in 510 plate appearances with the Oaks.
At the end of the year, the Oaks sold his contract (and that of Billy Martin, another Northern California kid) to the Yankees.
That same year, Jensen married his high school sweetheart, Zoe Ann Olsen, an Olympic diver. (By age 18, she had won 14 national diving championships and a silver medal in the 1948 Olympics.) "Together they looked like a Nordic god and goddess," Sports Illustrated reported. Nicknamed "the sweethearts of sports," they were the Dansby Swanson and Mallory Pugh of their era. More than 1,000 people attended their wedding.
Jensen would start the 1950 season not in the minors but in the Bronx. He joined the Yankees in a time of flux. They though they'd won the 1949 World Series, the Yankees knew they had to make some changes, with 35-year-old Joe DiMaggio nearing the end of his career. And their heir apparent was not Mickey Mantle -- at the time an 18-year-old shortstop playing in the Class C league, the equivalent of A-ball today -- but the 23-year-old Jensen.
But Jensen disappointed, hitting just .171/.247/.300 in 70 at-bats, and only starting in 13 games. Watching from the bench most of the season, Jensen would later lament the lost year of development, saying he'd have been better off playing every day in the Pacific Coast League.
The Yankees won the pennant for a second straight year, and in the World Series he once again was left on the bench. His only action was as a pinch runner in Game 3 as the Yankees swept the Phillies. That "Moonlight Graham" appearance would be his only taste of the post-season in an 11-year career.
The following year would be DiMaggio's last, and Mantle's first. Jensen began the year as the Yankees' starting left fielder and proved he belonged, hitting .296/.371/.509 through the end of July... and then, shockingly, was demoted to Triple-A and replaced with previously forgotten Yankee Bob Cerv.
I can see why they called up Cerv -- the University of Nebraska stand-out was tearing up Triple-A, leading the American Association in batting average (.349), home runs (26), triples (21), RBIs (101), and total bases (261) -- but why demote Jensen, who had a 140 OPS+ in the majors? Maybe the Yankees felt the brash 23-year-old needed to be taken down a peg. In any event, Cerv hit just .214/.333/.250 in August and was sent back to Triple-A, but Jensen also was left down there. He hit .263/.344/.469 and was recalled after the Triple-A season ended, only getting into three games (he went 3-for-9).
Mantle, too, had started the season with the Yankees, and after hitting .260/.341/.423 through the middle of July, was sent down to Triple-A. But he hit .361/.445/.651 in 166 at-bats, and unlike Jensen was back in the bigs by August 24. He would play pretty much every game the rest of the season, hitting .284/.370/.495 in 95 at-bats.
The torch had clearly been passed -- Jensen was no longer the heir apparent to DiMaggio. In the World Series that year, Mantle was the starting right fielder, and Jensen wasn't even on the post-season roster.
Jensen was so disappointed with how the Yankees had treated him in 1951 that he talked to the San Francisco 49ers about switching to pro football, but ultimately decided to stick with baseball.
Never shy about what he said to reporters, Jensen told The Sporting News on October 24, 1951:

"I felt so badly about the treatment that I received from the Yankees that, although I was in New York at the end of the season, I didn't feel like sticking around to even watch the club play in any of the World's Series games."
"I do not feel the Yankees were justified in sending me to the minor leagues. When I was shipped to Kansas City, I was doing as good a job as any Yankee outfielder and better than some of them. I was hitting .296, which was ten points better than Hank Bauer and 30 points better than Joe DiMaggio, Gene Woodling and Mickey Mantle. Yet Casey Stengel didn't give me the chance I felt I deserved."

Despite blasting his manager in the press, Jensen was still the property of the Yankees. That off-season, teams were circling, hoping to pry away the talented but disgruntled outfielder. There were newspaper reports of offers from the St. Louis Browns, the Detroit Tigers, the Philadelphia Athletics, the Washington Senators, the Cleveland Indians, and the Boston Red Sox -- with one rumor being Ted Williams to the Bronx in exchange for Jensen and several other players. (A Red Sox scout called the rumored deal "a lot of hogwash.")
Sportswriters spent the off-season speculating whether DiMaggio would retire, and if he did, whether Jensen or Mantle would take over as the center fielder, as there were still concerns that Mantle, who had hurt his knee in the 1951 World Series, wouldn't be fully recovered by the start of the season.
On Opening Day, April 16, 1952, it was Jackie Jensen in center and Mickey Mantle in right. Jensen went 0-for-5 with a GIDP; Mantle, 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base! Seven games into the season, Jensen was 2-for-17 (.118) and found himself on the bench. He'd never play for the Yankees again. On May 3, the Golden Boy was traded to the Washington Senators along with Spec Shea, Jerry Snyder, and Archie Wilson in exchange for Irv Noren and Tom Upton.
In two years with the Senators, Jensen hit an impressive .276/.359/.407 (112 OPS+), but the team was terrible, and Jensen wasn't happy. Still just 26 years old, he later said he had almost quit after the 1953 season... particularly after a harrowing flight to Japan for a series of exhibition games with a squad of All-Stars that included Yankees Yogi Berra, Eddie Lopat, and Billy Martin. That experience gave Jensen a lifelong fear of flying, a phobia that became so intense eventually he could only fly with the help of sleeping pills... and a hypnotist!
He might have quit if not for the trade on December 9, 1953, that sent him to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Mickey McDermott and outfielder Tom Umphlett. He was homesick, he hated flying, and he now had two little kids at home. Red Sox general manager Joe Cronin convinced Jensen to come to the Red Sox, telling him that Fenway Park was tailor made for his swing. Cronin was right: Jensen was a career .279/.369/.460 hitter, but .298/.400/.514 at Fenway.
It was in Boston that Jensen finally lived up to the hype, becoming a two-time All-Star and winning the A.L. MVP Award in 1958 and a Gold Glove in 1959. During his seven seasons in Boston, he hit .282/.374/.478 in 4,519 plate appearances. In his MVP season, Jensen hit .286/.396/.535 (148 OPS+) with 31 doubles, 35 home runs, and a league-leading 122 RBIs. During his peak with the Red Sox, 1954 to 1959, Jensen's average season was .285/.378/.490 (127 OPS+) with 28 doubles, 26 home runs, 111 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, and 3.6 bWAR. During those six seasons, no one in the American League -- not Mickey Mantle, not Ted Williams, not Al Kaline -- had more runs batted in than Jackie Jensen.
Of course, Mantle was the far better player -- even in Jensen's MVP season, Mantle had more runs, hits, home runs, walks, and a 188 OPS+ -- but Jensen's 127 OPS+ between 1954 and 1959 would have been an upgrade over the aging Hank Bauer's 110 OPS+ in right or the left field merry-go-round of Norm Siebern (113 OPS+), Irv Noren (107 OPS+), Enos Slaughter (103 OPS+), and previously forgotten Yankee Hector Lopez (101 OPS+). Casey Stengel would later say the Jensen trade was the worst one the Yankees had made while he was manager.
Despite his success, Jensen was sometimes booed by the Boston fans, just as they sometimes booed Ted Williams. There even was an article in Sport magazine, "What Do They Want From Jackie Jensen?", taking Red Sox fans to task for their unreasonably high demands from the Golden Boy. In 1956, in a game at Fenway Park against the Yankees, the hometown fans were razzing Jensen so much that teammates had to restrain him from going into the stands after a fan. Later that same game, Williams misplayed a wind-blown fly ball from Mantle, and the fans booed lustily. The very next play, Williams made a leaping catch at the scoreboard to rob Yogi Berra of a double. But Williams, still furious, spit into the crowd. He was later fined $5,000.
And Jackie was unhappy to be away from home. He and Zoe Ann had bought a house near Lake Tahoe, where they could both ski and golf year-round, as well as hit the casinos. They also had a home in Oakland, and a restaurant there, and each year Jensen hosted a pro-am golf tournament. But the marriage was struggling. Zoe Ann, once nationally known for her Olympic exploits, was frustrated to be a stay-at-home mom in the shadow of her famous husband, and Jackie became angry if she engaged in her favorite outdoor hobbies, suspecting there were men around.
Jensen's fear of flying also had become even more intense. Sometimes he was so drugged up that he had to be carried on and off the plane, fueling rumors that he was a drunk. Other times he took trains or even drove while his teammates flew.
Once again Jensen was talking about retirement, and in Spring Training 1957, the Red Sox allowed him to train with the San Francisco Seals, Boston's Triple-A team, rather than having to go to Florida. But he was still miserable. That year, he told Sports Illustrated:

“In baseball you get to the point where you don’t think you have a family. It just looks like I’m not built for this life like some ballplayers. You are always away from home and you’re lonesome, and as soon as I can, I intend to get out.”

The 32-year-old Jensen announced his retirement after the 1959 season, and he spent 1960 home with Zoe Ann and their children and running his restaurant. But he returned in 1961. After hitting just .130 in April, Jensen took a train from Detroit home to Reno, determined to quit once again. After a week away, he rejoined the team and had six hits in his next 10 at-bats. By the end of the season he was at .263/.350/.392, and this time he quit for good.
After leaving baseball, Jensen invested in real estate and a golf course, but lost most of his money. He then got a job working for a Lake Tahoe casino, was a national spokesman for Camel cigarettes, Wonder Bread, and Gillette, and even tried selling cars. Ironically, Jackie found himself on the road almost as much as he had been as a ballplayer. In 1963, he and Zoe Ann divorced, remarried, and then divorced again.
In 1967, Jensen became a TV sportscaster, married his producer Katharine Cortesi, and eventually teamed up with Keith Jackson calling college football games for ABC and a college baseball coach, first at the University of Nevada-Reno and then at the University of California, and he managed the Red Sox team in the New York Penn League in 1970. In 1977, Jackie and Katharine moved to Virginia and started a Christmas tree farm while he coached baseball at a military academy. About five years later, on July 14, 1982, he died of a heart attack at age 55.
You Don't Know Jack(ie):

• How good would Jackie Jensen have been as a Yankee? Maybe not great. He was a career .279/.369/.460 hitter, but just .238/.326/.398 at Yankee Stadium, which -- especially in that era -- was famously death on right-handed batters. Fenway Park was much more to his liking!
  
• Born in San Francisco in 1927, it's no surprise Jensen's favorite player as a kid was Joe DiMaggio, who made his debut with the San Francisco Seals when Jensen was a 5 years old. When Jensen made his major league debut, on April 18, 1950, DiMaggio went 3-for-6 with a triple in a 15-10 win over the Red Sox. Two weeks later, on May 3, Jensen made his first start, playing left field and batting second, and DiMaggio was in center and batting fourth.
  
• Jensen wore #36 at Cal. When he came up with the Yankees, he was first issued #40, then switched to #27, and finally to #25. (With the Senators, he wore #8, then #4; in Boston, he first wore #30 but primarily wore #4.) Currently, #40 is worn by Luis Severino. Other famous 40's include Chien-Ming Wang (2005-2009), Andy Hawkins (1989-1991), and Lindy McDaniel (1968-1973). #27 has been worn by Giancarlo Stanton since 2018; prior to him, it was worn by Austin Romine (2016-2017). It also was the number worn by Bob Wickman (1993-1996), Butch Wynegar (1982-1986), and Woodie Held (1954-1957). Gleyber Torres has worn #25 since 2018; it also was worn by Mark Teixeira (2009-2016), Jason Giambi (2002-2008), Joe Girardi (1996-1999), Jim Abbott (1993-1994), Tommy John (1979-1989), and Joe Pepitone (1962-1969).
  
• Jensen is one of six major leaguers to graduate from Oakland High School, but the only Yankee. Cal has sent 83 players to the majors, including twenty Yankees -- most notably, early 1990s pitcher Chuck Cary, 1930s infielder Lyn Lary, and 1990 A.L. ROY runner-up Kevin Maas.
  
• The Yankees during spring training in 1951 tinkered with the idea of using Jensen into a pitcher. Jensen had been a star pitcher at Cal, including pitching in the 1947 College World Series, and had pitched in a winter league that off-season. But he was bombed in a handful of spring training innings -- while crushing as a hitter -- and the Yankees decided to leave him in the outfield.
  
• College teammates said Jensen wasn't afraid of flying at Cal. His second wife Katharine said the phobia came from a near-miss experience on a flight early in his baseball career -- he looked out the window and saw another plane coming straight at him! The two planes managed to avoid each other, but he was never comfortable on a plane again.
  
• Billy Martin, who also had grown up in Northern California and was Jensen's teammate on both the Oakland Oaks and the Yankees, was merciless when it came to teasing Jensen about his fear of flying. In 1953, on a flight from Okinawa to Honshu to play a series of exhibition games in Japan, the plane ran into a bad storm and was bouncing pretty hard. Jensen, who wouldn't get on a plane without the help of tranquilizers, was blissfully sleeping through the turbulence. Martin found a lifejacket and put it on, then stood over Jensen and shouted "We're going down!"
  
• Arthur Ellen, a hypnotist that Jensen had used to try to cure his fear of flying, believed Jackie wasn't aerophobic at all. It was really a fear of losing his family. "Subconsciously, it developed as a good reason to leave the Red Sox and go home," the hypnotist said.
  
• Jensen is featured prominently in Norman Rockwell's famous 1957 painting, The Rookie. Jensen is the one seated on the bench tying his shoe in the middle of the painting. Standing behind him is Ted Williams, and sitting on the bench next to him is pitcher Frank Sullivan (#18). Wearing the catcher's mitt in the foreground is Sammy White, and the player with his hand over his mouth to the far right is Billy Goodman. Jensen, Sullivan, and White had gone to Rockwell's studio in Massachusetts to pose for the painting; the images of Williams and Goodman were based on photos. The shirtless player was one of Rockwell's assistants, and "the rookie" holding the suitcase was a local high school student!
  
• Boston sportswriters named Jensen the team's MVP in 1954, when he hit .276/.359/.472 with 25 home runs and 117 RBIs. I guess they were tired of giving the award to Ted Williams, who hit .345/.513/.635 that year, albeit in just 117 games as he had broken his collarbone in spring training. Williams didn't qualify for the batting title that year because he had only 386 at-bats... mostly due to his league-leading 136 walks. The rule was subsequently changed from at-bats to plate appearances.
  
• After Jensen was acquired by the Washington Senators, manager Bucky Harris -- who managed the Yankees when they won the 1947 World Series -- pulled him aside and told him he was the right fielder and he'd hit third. "No pep talk, no nothing, but he made it sound like I was the right fielder and third place hitter for a long time to come," Jensen later recalled. "It made me feel good." The 1950s Senators had a number of ex-Yankees and several of them told reporters that Harris was a much more low-key, hands-off manager than Casey Stengel, and Jensen agreed. "With Stengel it was always 'watch for that curve ball' or 'watch for that change up'," Jensen said. "Bucky leaves you on your own up there." But Jensen would later say Stengel was the smartest manager he'd ever had.
  
• Stengel obliquely mentioned Jensen in his famously long, rambling testimony before the Senate Anti-Trust and Monopoly Subcommittee on July 8, 1958. Asked about legislation that would exempt baseball from federal anti-trust laws, Stengel said about 7,000 words without really saying anything. The hearing was held the day after the All-Star Game -- the Stengel-managed A.L. All-Stars won, 4-3 -- and in the American League starting lineup were Jensen and two other ex-Yankees, Bob Cerv and Gus Triandos. Stengel was asked if the Yankees were going to continue to "monopolize" the World Series, and his confusing answer: "Well, I will tell you. I got a little concerned yesterday in the first three innings when I saw the three players I had gotten rid of [Jensen, Cerv, and Triandos] and I said when I lost nine what am I going to do? And when I had a couple of my players I thought so great of that did not do so good up to the sixth inning I was more confused but I finally had to go and call on a young man in Baltimore that we don't own and the Yankees don't own him and he is doing pretty well and I would actually have to to tell you that we are more the Greta Garbo-type now from success. We are being hated. I mean from the ownership and all we are being hated. Every sport that gets too great or one individual -- but if we made twenty-seven cents and it pays to have a winner at home why would you have a good winner in your park if you were an owner? That is the result of baseball. An owner gets most of the money at home, and it is up to him and his staff to do better or they ought to be discharged." After befuddling the committee with answers like that for 45 minutes, Stengel was excused and Mickey Mantle called upon. His opening statement: "My views are just about the same as Casey's."
  
• Casey Stengel later said Jensen plus Spec Shea, Jerry Snyder, and Archie Wilson to the Senators for Irv Noren and Tom Upton was the worst trade the Yankees made during his tenure. But in reality it was pretty much a wash for the Yankees. Jensen, in two seasons, would be worth 4.9 bWAR for the Senators before being traded. Shea, a right-handed pitcher who had been an All-Star with the Yankees as a rookie, pitched four years in Washington and was worth 2.9 bWAR. Snyder was a good-glove, no-hit infielder worth -0.1 bWAR in seven seasons with the Senators. (You must have a really good glove to last seven seasons with a 55 OPS+!) Wilson, at one point seen as a good prospect but now a 28-year-old minor league journeyman, only played 26 games in Washington before being traded. In exchange, the Yankees received the 27-year-old Irv Noren, an outfieldefirst baseman who played five years in New York and was an All-Star in 1954; he was worth 7.9 bWAR, making the trade essentially even by bWAR. (The other player the Yankees received, minor league infielder Tom Upton, never made it back to the bigs.) Prior to the 1957 season, Noren was traded to the Kansas City Athletics as part of a monster 13-player trade that included Clete Boyer, third baseman of the early 1960s dynasty!
  
• The two players Washington got from Boston for Jensen, Mickey McDermott and Tom Upton, were both future Yankees. McDermott was a left-handed pitcher whose father, Maurice McDermott, had played in the minors with Lou Gehrig. Mickey was just 25 years old at the time of the trade but had been in the majors for six seasons, going 48-34 with a 3.80 ERA (114 ERA+). In two years with the Senators, McDermott went 17-25 (but with a 3.58 ERA), then prior to the 1957 season was traded to the Yankees as part of a seven-player deal; he went 2-6 with a 4.24 ERA as a swingman, and closed out the Game 2 win in the 1956 World Series. After that one season in New York, he was part of the trade with the A's that brought back Clete Boyer.
  
• Umphlett, a 22-year-old infielder, was traded back to the Red Sox in 1955, and then the Red Sox traded him to the Yankees in 1962 for infielder Billy Gardner. He would spend 1962 and 1963 in Triple-A for the Yankees, then ended his career in the minors with the Minnesota Twins -- the team that had been the Senators until 1961.
  
• In 1956, the anthology television show Cavalcade of America had an episode called The Jackie Jensen Story. Jackie had a cameo as the adult version of himself, but the 30-minute episode was focused on Jackie's teenage years and the influence of his middle high school coach, a man named Ralph Kerchum who became a father figure. The coach was played by Ross Elliott, a Bronx native whose most memorable role might have been as the director in the Vitameatavegamin episode of I Love Lucy.
  
• Jensen's MVP in 1958 broke a string of four straight MVP awards for Yankees -- Yogi Berra in 1954 and 1955 followed by Mickey Mantle in 1956 and 1957. Nellie Fox of the White Sox won it in 1959, and then the Yankees won it four years in a row again -- Roger Maris in 1960 and 1961, Mantle in 1962, and Elston Howard in 1963. Then a long drought -- the next Yankee to win it would be Thurman Munson in 1976.
  
• Going by bWAR, Mantle should have won it a third straight year in 1958 -- his 8.7 bWAR led the league, followed by Frank Lary at 6.7 and Al Kaline at 6.5. Jensen's 4.9 was 10th that year. Of course, they didn't have bWAR back then!
  
• Jackie won a Gold Glove in 1959; it was just the third year of the award's existence, or he might have won more. "Right field in Boston is a bitch, the sun field, and few play it well," Ted Williams said. "Jackie Jensen was the best I saw at it." Jensen was renowned for his throwing arm -- he twice led the league in assists, and twice led the league in double plays as an outfielder. One Yankee scout said he had the best arm he'd seen since previously forgotten Yankee Bob Meusel, usually said to have the best cannon in baseball history until Roberto Clemente came along.
  
• Jensen was well known for his brashness, especially compared to Mantle's aw shucks attitude. Mantle, asked if he thought he could beat out Jensen to replace DiMaggio in center field, humbly replied that there were three positions in the outfield and he hoped to win any one of them. Jensen, on the other hand, vowed he'd "out-run, out-hit, and out-throw" Mantle, an arrogant answer that didn't go over well with teammates. Joe DiMaggio, asked what he thought of the duel for his old job, quipped that Mantle was "out-quoting" Jensen.
  
• When Mantle was asked what he thought about Jensen's quote, he replied: "I don't know what to make of that guy." Jensen would later say he was misquoted, but reports of his cockiness would follow him throughout his Yankee years. Later in life, Jensen said people mistook his shyness and anxiety for arrogance and rudeness.
  
• According to Sports Illustrated, Jensen is the only player to have played in the East-West football game, the Rose Bowl, the World Series, and the Major League All-Star Game. I'll take their word for it!
  
• As a freshman at Cal, the first time Jensen touched the ball -- on a punt return -- he ran it back for a 56-yard touchdown. Cal quarterback Charles Erb said they'd never seen anything like it. "He was all over the field, dodging and leaping over guys. The rest of us just stood there on the sidelines with our mouths open. Finally somebody said, 'Who in the hell is that guy?' "
  
• Jensen is one of two "forgotten" Yankees in the College Football Hall of Fame -- the other is 1960s catcher Jake Gibbs. (Other Yankees in the College Football Hall of Fame include John Elway, who was in the Yankee minor league system before joining the Denver Broncos, and Deion Sanders, who was on the Yankees in 1989 and 1990.) Jensen also is a member of the Cal Hall of Fame, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, and... ugh... the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.
  
• Despite his speed -- Jensen led the league in triples in 1956 and in stolen bases in 1954, and was in the top five in stolen bases in six seasons -- Jackie also was prone to grounding into double plays, leading the league in 1954, 1956, and 1957. His 32 GIDPs in 1954 was the major league record until Boston's Jim Rice hit into 36 in 1984, which is still the single-season record. Rice also had 35 in 1985. Jensen's 32 is tied for third with four others. The most by a Yankee? Dave Winfield with 30 in 1983, which is tied for 14th.
  
• Jensen lost most of his baseball earnings through a series of bad investments. His ex-wife, former Olympian Zoe Ann, later became a blackjack dealer in Reno to pay the bills.
  
• Jensen had four appearances on the popular show Home Run Derby, and set a record for most home runs in one match when he defeated Ernie Banks, 14-11, in Episode 24. The 25 combined home runs also was a record. He took on Mickey Mantle in Episode 3, with Mantle winning, 9-2, then defeated Rocky Colavito, 3-2, in Episode 25. He rematched against Mantle in Episode 26, with Mantle winning again, 13-10. Jensen set another record in that contest when he became the only player to hit four home runs in a row, and then a fifth home run in a row. That episode was supposed to be the season one finale, but it turned out to be the last episode of the series: The show's host and producer, Mark Scott, died of a heart attack at age 45, shortly after the last episode aired, and two months later the show's 64-year-old director Benjamin Stoloff also died. Rather than replacing them, the show was cancelled.
  
• Jensen's last game came against the Yankees, on October 1st, 1961, at Yankee Stadium. He appeared as a pinch hitter and popped out to shortstop Tony Kubek. In the 4th inning of that game, Roger Maris hit his 61st home run, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record!
  
• Jackie and Zoe Ann had two sons, Jon and Jay, and a daughter, Jan. Jay's son, Tucker Jensen, was a pitcher in the Blue Jays farm system in 2011 and 2012.
  

In 1958, Jensen told Sports Illustrated that the biggest thrill of his career wasn't being an All-American or an All-Star, it wasn't winning an MVP or a World Series. "The biggest is having played in the same outfield with both DiMaggio and Williams."

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I (34m) recently reconnected with a childhood friend (34f) of mine from elementary school through tinder. She was my favorite friend from those early years, we lived across the street from each other. Even my very first memory from my very first year of school is of her. She moved away sometime after fourth grade.
She wasn't just some random girl I fell for, she was one of my best childhood friends. A part of who I am today.
We connected quickly, sparks flying in text, and decided to move it to instagram. She was very enthusiastic in meeting me and we set up a date. I picked her up from her home and we went for a walk in a park with my dog. It was unbelievable how much we had in common, from interests to values. It was too good to be true. After the walk I casually mentioned I had placed a reservation at a restaurant near her. She was happy to extend the date so we drove to her place and walked to the restaurant. Ended up being a 4hr date, felt fucking magical. At the end of the date we hugged and she suggested we meet again next week.
The next few days I text her once a day, but I get this dreadful feeling I've felt before. She was pulling back, not being as responsive as before.
Finally she texts me this: "I've been thinking and need to say it out loud. Two things that I feel are semi red flags. First you said on your tinder profile you're not sure if you want kids. I had to end my last relationship because of this and I don't want to go through it again. Second, we are at nowhere at the same place in life. I'm completely done with my backpacking trips and ready for the next chapter of my life."
Now, I want to travel more but I exaggerated my desire a bit to, not really impress her, but express my adventurousness. But I'm never going on a long backpacking trip at this point tbh. And regarding kids, I was not being honest/accurate on tinder. I want a family more than anything in this life. (I've learned my lesson, I thought for some reason it would push girls away, and boy was I fucking stupid, ofc it pushes girls away but those are not the right girls for me) I explained both to her in text.
And just to be clear, I really want a committed relationship and a family more than anything.
I double texted a few hours later, thanking her for the date and telling her I hope we could still be friends. I thought this text might give her a way out, if she really wanted out.
Then my dumb ass triple texted her at 2am because I was having an anxiety attack like I've never had before. It felt like I was drugged up, I have never experienced something like this. My text was: "I can't sleep because of how dumb I was to not be honest. I want a family with the right girl, and I believed it might be you. It would take priority over all dumb travel plans. Sorry for opening up like that, I feel like a total idiot."
She did not log into ig for about 2 days after she sent me her message and so didn't read any of my messages until then.
She finally replied "Sorry, I had a bit of a breakdown. I think I'm not ready yet, I think I need a bit more time before I can continue. Thanks for the evening though, it was very nice. Can I maybe contact you later when I'm feeling better."
I would have taken it as a rejection if she hadn't added that last line "can I maybe contact you later when I'm feeling better". I don't understand why she added that line if she was rejecting me.
I replied of course, and that she should take her time.
Two weeks pass, and my anxiety and depression is killing me. I decide to send her a message saying "Hey, how are you feeling? I know it's not been long, but I just wanted to check up on you. I want you to know I fully understand if you are healing and need more time. Emotionally I am ready to try to build up a relationship and would be more than happy to meet you again if you feel the same."
She read the message. 3 weeks have passed since then.
My mental health has plummeted. I continued talking to and dating other girls, because I know I can't just stop and wait for her, because I don't even know if she'll reach out to me again. But all I can think about is her. And that is not fair to other girls I'm dating. If she reached out I would drop all other girls.
Am I out of line here thinking there is still a chance? Wtf do I do? I am trying to move on but I just can't because there is still this tiny hope. I've kinda just accepted I have to live with this crazy anxiety for the foreseeable future because wtf am I supposed to do? I can't force myself to forget her, I've often thought of her before we reconnected. And I can't just go to her house and demand an answer, that's fucking stalker territory and I would just selfishly be making this about me when she clearly expressed she was still processing her previous breakup.
Back in my mind I fear she was rejecting me and is seeing other guys. But I can't reach that conclusion because of our history and the last thing she said to me.
Ultimately I will need an answer though. This is not your typical ghost story so don't tell me I have my answer if she never contacts me again. We were friends. I wanted to regain my childhood friend even if a relationship would not work out. I feel as if I lost my friend all over again, and that is the worst part.

Hi, Stitchers!
It's June, which means we're officially halfway through 2023! This month's featured designer is one near and dear to the CrossStitch community heart: Stephanie Rohr, aka [StephXStitch]([https://stephxstitch.com)!
Stephanie has been around these parts for a long time, and her designs have become fan favorites over the years. I first came across her work with the now-iconic Barren Fields pattern, which was absolutely mind-blowing to me as a stitcher who learned from her very southern grandma. She's known for her subversive, feminist cross stitch, and has been featured in multiple magazines and news articles about our beloved craft.
To help our community celebrate Pride month, she's sharing her Pride flag pattern for free!
As an added bonus, use the code Reddit20 at checkout only on her website for 20% off any order of $10 or more! This discount can be used on any items, including patterns, kits, books and finished pieces, for the entire month of June.
Q&A
Who are you?
I'm Stephanie! I am a cross-stitch designer and author and I live in Chicago. I am the author of the books "Feminist Cross-Stitch" (2019), and "Self-Care Cross-Stitch", (2022). I have had my cross-stitch design business, stephXstitch, since 2010. My work has appeared in several cross-stitch publications, as well as on the shows "Key and Peele" and "We're Here" on HBO. I have been a guest on the Craft Industry Alliance Podcast and A Coffee With Makers. I was a speaker at Midwest Craft Convention in (early) February 2020. Thanks to this very subreddit, I was interviewed in the New York Times about my first book getting banned/destroyed by Michaels stores due to "language". Though cross-stitch is my main gig, I went to school for theatre, and I still perform in and direct shows, sing with an all-female band called The Bangers, and I teach voice lessons. Besides stitching I love: biking, dogs, reality TV, podcasts, karaoke, reading, playing piano, a good cheese board, being cozy, and hiking the the woods.
How did you get started cross stitching?
My mom was a big cross-stitcher in the 80s, and when I wanted to learn she bought me a kids' kit from the craft store. (Looking back it was more like needlepoint; it had a plastic grid and used yarn). I think I was always meant to cross-stitch, because as a child I loved to color in graph paper more than actual coloring books. I would use a thin-tipped marker and make designs using the grid. I started actually cross-stitching around 12-13 years old, using kits from the craft store. I loved how relaxing it was.
When and how did you start designing?
I gave up stitching during high school/college, partly because I was too busy, but also because I wasn't really interested in the designs that were available. I went to grad school in London and afterwards I was poor and bored. (Auditioning for shows, working in a pub, living in a very expensive city). One day I got the idea to try stitching again. I got some supplies and some graph paper, drew out a simple geometric design, and used it as my own pattern. Shortly after, a friend asked if I would be able to make a custom stitch as a gift for their family. I said sure, and designed and stitched the piece for them. It then clicked that my skill was something people were actually interested in. This was around the beginning of the subversive cross stitch movement started by Julie Jackson. I got her first book and stitched up some of those for fun, and also continued making my own patterns. I moved back to Chicago and invested in MacStitch software, and in 2010 I opened my Etsy shop so I could sell the patterns and pieces I was creating. The rest is history!
Where do you find your inspiration?
It is definitely all over the place. Stitching is such a time-consuming effort, I always say you should stitch something you love, something that is important to you, or something that amuses you. Sometimes my designs are inspired by my political/feminist rage based on current events. Sometimes it's a hilarious quote from a favorite film or TV show. Sometimes it's more visual, like my stained glass patterns, or re-creating famous images like Rosie the Riveter or Bernie and his mittens. Sometimes certain color combos inspire me, or styles of fonts I want to try.
Describe your designs using only adjectives.
Witty, vibrant, folksy, intricate, snarky, colorful
What cross stitch project did you have the most fun designing and why?
I think the most fun to design was my stained glass "It'll Pass" piece based on the show Fleabag. I worked really hard to capture the look of light coming through a stained glass window, stitched on black aida.
What is your favorite DMC floss color?
This is like asking me to choose a favorite child!! But one I always go back to is that lovely dark purple 154
Where can we find you on the internet?
Website
Etsy
Instagram
Patreon
Please give her a warm subreddit hello, and be sure to tag u/StephXStitch in your comments so she sees them!

This is the Quality Contributions Roundup. It showcases interesting and well-written comments and posts from the period covered. If you want to get an idea of what this community is about or how we want you to participate, look no further (except the rules maybe--those might be important too).
As a reminder, you can nominate Quality Contributions by hitting the report button and selecting the "Actually A Quality Contribution!" option. Additionally, links to all of the roundups can be found in the wiki of /theThread which can be found here. For a list of other great community content, see here.
These are mostly chronologically ordered. Here we go:

Quality Contributions in the Main Motte

@ControlsFreak:

• "No one thinks that when you go to the grocery store, or go to buy a TV, a refrigerator, or car, or anything else, that you should first have to just give them all your financial information so that they can tailor your price."

@OracleOutlook:

• "A definitive list of Catholic Dogmas and their teaching weight has been made, yes."

@DaseindustriesLtd:

• "High-performing brains ride the edge of metastability and wrangle representations easily; low-performing ones waste power fending off chaos and lose track of the context."

@Ethan:

• "Coed settings have their own dynamic."

@gattsuru:

• "A lot of gatekeeping discourse in trans spheres reflected practices based around WPATH SoC v6; while this officially only ran from 2001-2011 (most of that under the name Harry Benjamin International Genders Dysphoria Association), it had a pretty significant foundational effect..."

@Unsaying:

• "So it seems to me that if I'm to be a Christian, this directly implies feeding my child to the dogs. And if I'm to do otherwise, this fully generalizes to Hitler."

@netstack:

• "That’s why, whenever a demagogue starts to gesture at the Other, we think of Hitler. He demonstrated that full arc, from growth to apex to disaster."

@ymeskhout:

• " But ultimately, how scary is it to know your deeply held convictions are subject to materialistic opportunism?"

Contributions for the week of May 1, 2023

@Quantumfreakonomics:

• "The purpose of empathy is to approximate good decision theory."

@ApplesauceIrishCream:

• "I've been trying to get myself to do a writeup of Walter Russell Mead's four traditions of American foreign policy..."

@FiveHourMarathon:

• "A world where Bud Light's customers do at least a little critical examination of what they consume will probably improve the world."

@RandomRanger:

• "Steal money, buy compute."

@Primaprimaprima:

• "Covid didn't really teach us anything new. But I do think it was possibly the first example that showed how spectacularly easy it is to manipulate mass sentiment in the social media age."

@raggedy_anthem:

• "Tourist pamphlets play up Louisiana’s French-ness. In reality, the Creole elite has not been in the driver’s seat since Reconstruction, and arguably since before the Civil War."

@Goodguy:

• "No, we should not allow insane people to roam the subways threatening others. But there are many possible solutions between 'do nothing' and 'kill them all'."

@Felipe:

• "tl;dr - recently I did a flyout for a humanities job in the US, and wow, it put me off returning to US academia in a big way."

@coffee_enjoyer:

• "Christians are not golems designed to do good for outsiders continually."

Contributions for the week of May 8, 2023

@self_made_human:

• "An Indian Abroad in Thailand"

@Folamh3:

• "American cultural exports"

@naraburns:

• "More than 77% of all sex discrimination complaints filed with the OCR are filed by a single person, at a rate of about 20 complaints per day..."

@FiveHourMarathon:

• "Shakespeare, Honor, Unitary Leadership, and How To End the Culture War"

@MadMonzer:

• "Interestingly, I think the difference between the Special Olympics and the Paralympics is a very good intuition pump for the trans and intersex in women's sports issue."

@ymeskhout:

• "Defamation Bear Trap"

@cjet79:

• "Our legal system increasingly resembles a system of 'might makes right' if you have enough powerful people on your side then the law can literally be what you want it to be."

Contributions for the week of May 15, 2023

@Pasha:

• "So yesterday Turkish Presidential and Parliamentary elections took place. I wanted to give an overview of the main characters and themes."

@huadpe:

• "The ironic outcome of this is that for advocates of increased densification, you end up trying to make a fundamentally capitalist argument (less regulation will make us richer) on terms of anything but capitalism."

@Primaprimaprima:

• "I think those high-falutin' art snobs do get some things right (it would be weird if they were so dysfunctional that they got everything exactly wrong)."

@Soriek:

• "Consolidated Markets in Healthcare"

@FCfromSSC:

• "The reason Anheuser-Busch being boycotted is that they got dragged into the culture war."

@FarNearEverywhere:

• "[T]here are people who shoplift because they genuinely have no money and are hungry or their kids are hungry. The vast majority are not these cases."

@raggedy_anthem:

• "You could call Rangel an unwitting pawn of white supremacy, but then you would have to explain the other 95% of his career."

Contributions for the week of May 22, 2023

@ymeskhout:

• "What are the limits of the weak man?"

@cjet79:

• "I sort of lean towards weak-manning not being a thing, and any view that anyone holds is fair game."

@DaseindustriesLtd:

• "I suspect that the biggest intellectual deficit of the rationalist culture is precisely this preoccupation with the meta."

@SecureSignals:

• "The point here is that Holocaust Revisionism went from being a quirky movement of libertarian-adjacent autists to a genuine political dissident movement."

@Soriek:

• "International Updates"

@hydroacetylene:

• "Texas politics update: Articles of impeachment are being floated against attorney general Ken Paxton, the most important culture war figure you don't think of very often."

@urquan:

• "We rarely agree on things, but I absolutely agree with you that the gay and trans movement is motivated by the same impulse that motivates individualist, get-the-government-out-of-my-wallet libertarian conservatism."

@erwgv3g34:

• "Most of what you think you know about sex/romance/dating is a feminist lie, fed to you through a combination of the education system and the media, or people repeating falsehoods they themselves learned from school and movies and TV shows."

@felis-parenthesis:

• "One of the rival positions is monocensorship. The other position is bicensorship."

@HlynkaCG:

• "As I've said before I feel like the left's dominance of academia and traditional media has effectively left a Hobbes-and-Burke-shaped hole in the discourse."

@FCfromSSC:

• "Our established systems are failing en masse, and there's a blatant disconnect between the way things are hypothetically supposed to work, and the way they actually work."

Contributions for the week of May 29, 2023

@ryandv:

• "The message of reddit is no longer the actual thoughts of its users: it's the message of reddit as medium - that is, a highly restrictive diet of information curated by those wanting to impose a particular reality tunnel on its users."

This is the Quality Contributions Roundup. It showcases interesting and well-written comments and posts from the period covered. If you want to get an idea of what this community is about or how we want you to participate, look no further (except the rules maybe--those might be important too).
As a reminder, you can nominate Quality Contributions by hitting the report button and selecting the "Actually A Quality Contribution!" option. Additionally, links to all of the roundups can be found in the wiki of /theThread which can be found here. For a list of other great community content, see here.
These are mostly chronologically ordered. Here we go:

Quality Contributions in the Main Motte

@ControlsFreak:

• "No one thinks that when you go to the grocery store, or go to buy a TV, a refrigerator, or car, or anything else, that you should first have to just give them all your financial information so that they can tailor your price."

@OracleOutlook:

• "A definitive list of Catholic Dogmas and their teaching weight has been made, yes."

@DaseindustriesLtd:

• "High-performing brains ride the edge of metastability and wrangle representations easily; low-performing ones waste power fending off chaos and lose track of the context."

@Ethan:

• "Coed settings have their own dynamic."

@gattsuru:

• "A lot of gatekeeping discourse in trans spheres reflected practices based around WPATH SoC v6; while this officially only ran from 2001-2011 (most of that under the name Harry Benjamin International Genders Dysphoria Association), it had a pretty significant foundational effect..."

@Unsaying:

• "So it seems to me that if I'm to be a Christian, this directly implies feeding my child to the dogs. And if I'm to do otherwise, this fully generalizes to Hitler."

@netstack:

• "That’s why, whenever a demagogue starts to gesture at the Other, we think of Hitler. He demonstrated that full arc, from growth to apex to disaster."

@ymeskhout:

• " But ultimately, how scary is it to know your deeply held convictions are subject to materialistic opportunism?"

Contributions for the week of May 1, 2023

@Quantumfreakonomics:

• "The purpose of empathy is to approximate good decision theory."

@ApplesauceIrishCream:

• "I've been trying to get myself to do a writeup of Walter Russell Mead's four traditions of American foreign policy..."

@FiveHourMarathon:

• "A world where Bud Light's customers do at least a little critical examination of what they consume will probably improve the world."

@RandomRanger:

• "Steal money, buy compute."

@Primaprimaprima:

• "Covid didn't really teach us anything new. But I do think it was possibly the first example that showed how spectacularly easy it is to manipulate mass sentiment in the social media age."

@raggedy_anthem:

• "Tourist pamphlets play up Louisiana’s French-ness. In reality, the Creole elite has not been in the driver’s seat since Reconstruction, and arguably since before the Civil War."

@Goodguy:

• "No, we should not allow insane people to roam the subways threatening others. But there are many possible solutions between 'do nothing' and 'kill them all'."

@Felipe:

• "tl;dr - recently I did a flyout for a humanities job in the US, and wow, it put me off returning to US academia in a big way."

@coffee_enjoyer:

• "Christians are not golems designed to do good for outsiders continually."

Contributions for the week of May 8, 2023

@self_made_human:

• "An Indian Abroad in Thailand"

@Folamh3:

• "American cultural exports"

@naraburns:

• "More than 77% of all sex discrimination complaints filed with the OCR are filed by a single person, at a rate of about 20 complaints per day..."

@FiveHourMarathon:

• "Shakespeare, Honor, Unitary Leadership, and How To End the Culture War"

@MadMonzer:

• "Interestingly, I think the difference between the Special Olympics and the Paralympics is a very good intuition pump for the trans and intersex in women's sports issue."

@ymeskhout:

• "Defamation Bear Trap"

@cjet79:

• "Our legal system increasingly resembles a system of 'might makes right' if you have enough powerful people on your side then the law can literally be what you want it to be."

Contributions for the week of May 15, 2023

@Pasha:

• "So yesterday Turkish Presidential and Parliamentary elections took place. I wanted to give an overview of the main characters and themes."

@huadpe:

• "The ironic outcome of this is that for advocates of increased densification, you end up trying to make a fundamentally capitalist argument (less regulation will make us richer) on terms of anything but capitalism."

@Primaprimaprima:

• "I think those high-falutin' art snobs do get some things right (it would be weird if they were so dysfunctional that they got everything exactly wrong)."

@Soriek:

• "Consolidated Markets in Healthcare"

@FCfromSSC:

• "The reason Anheuser-Busch being boycotted is that they got dragged into the culture war."

@FarNearEverywhere:

• "[T]here are people who shoplift because they genuinely have no money and are hungry or their kids are hungry. The vast majority are not these cases."

@raggedy_anthem:

• "You could call Rangel an unwitting pawn of white supremacy, but then you would have to explain the other 95% of his career."

Contributions for the week of May 22, 2023

@ymeskhout:

• "What are the limits of the weak man?"

@cjet79:

• "I sort of lean towards weak-manning not being a thing, and any view that anyone holds is fair game."

@DaseindustriesLtd:

• "I suspect that the biggest intellectual deficit of the rationalist culture is precisely this preoccupation with the meta."

@SecureSignals:

• "The point here is that Holocaust Revisionism went from being a quirky movement of libertarian-adjacent autists to a genuine political dissident movement."

@Soriek:

• "International Updates"

@hydroacetylene:

• "Texas politics update: Articles of impeachment are being floated against attorney general Ken Paxton, the most important culture war figure you don't think of very often."

@urquan:

• "We rarely agree on things, but I absolutely agree with you that the gay and trans movement is motivated by the same impulse that motivates individualist, get-the-government-out-of-my-wallet libertarian conservatism."

@erwgv3g34:

• "Most of what you think you know about sex/romance/dating is a feminist lie, fed to you through a combination of the education system and the media, or people repeating falsehoods they themselves learned from school and movies and TV shows."

@felis-parenthesis:

• "One of the rival positions is monocensorship. The other position is bicensorship."

@HlynkaCG:

• "As I've said before I feel like the left's dominance of academia and traditional media has effectively left a Hobbes-and-Burke-shaped hole in the discourse."

@FCfromSSC:

• "Our established systems are failing en masse, and there's a blatant disconnect between the way things are hypothetically supposed to work, and the way they actually work."

Contributions for the week of May 29, 2023

@ryandv:

• "The message of reddit is no longer the actual thoughts of its users: it's the message of reddit as medium - that is, a highly restrictive diet of information curated by those wanting to impose a particular reality tunnel on its users."

So I have been cleaning up for my son as a mother and have been cleaning up for my partner also. Now I need to point a few things:

• I do work at a theatre to clean so my hours are different on each week
• My partner works to provide for our family
• I am on benefits so I cannot do too many hours of work due to my disability plus mental health.

So basically, I'm tired of having to wash mine and his dishes. I don't mind it if he cooks for the both of us but whenever he cooks for himself he never washes the plates. It gets so bad that I end up having to wash his plates because there are none left. I've told him multiple times and he whines at me and tells me not to pester him. We have argued before and especially when he says “why isn't there any clothes washed?” Because I'm taking care of the child or I'm just wanting to spend time on myself because I never get any freedom anymore.
Then says he does all the work even though I'm taking care of finley constantly. He knows I can't do work as I'm on benefits. So he knows very well that I cannot do too much work since I have my own issues. Another thing, I work for theatre for cleaning and I have to let him know when I'm heading out or he decides when I have to go for in the mornings which truthfully isn't fair. As I am having to wake up early just to get my son out of bed at 7:30AM. EVERYDAY.
Whenever I get back from work, I ask him if he's fed finley he's like "no because I forgot or I just wanted to relax". This is at 1pm after work which means my son hasn't eaten for at least something. It isn't hard to give him finger foods. I have woken up this morning finding spilt milk on the floor and loads of bags near the toilet on the stairway so I nearly fell down the stairs. I'm just tired and can't be with him anymore. I can't take care of him and finley at the same time. He's making it become a habit and because of that habit he's now lost his partner. At the same time I don't want to leave him as finley won't have a mother but I can't be with somebody who doesn't help me or is staying with the same old habits.
Another reason why I don't want to leave is because we have good times together and enjoy spending time together I just feel like I'm constantly looking after two children.
What should I do?

Hello, everyone.
Sorry for my broken English as it is not my native language.
I am 32 years old male from Turkey who is extremely lazy and carefree. I have never worked in my life despite the insistence from my family. When I was 16 years old during the summer break of high school, my mother told me to get a summer job at a restaurant as a server and I refused saying "I will rather break the plates and still would not work" and continued playing video games. After I graduated my university at 23, my elder brother told me to get a job at the stores ( at bookstores, at clothing stores, or as an usher at a cinema) in the shopping center near my home. I find excuses to avoid work such as "my boss or my coworkers will reprimand me or humiliate me" to avoid work and started preparing for university exams again and started my second undergraduate degree for avoiding work again. I graduated with this degree at 29, and didn't do any internship and until now I did a very few gig jobs from which I gained a few dollars. I am no way rich but just own a house which I inherited from my father, I am living with my elder brother right now who is working as a front desk clerk and my mother lives in another city but visits us from some time to time. I am currently mooching them. When I was 30 and 31 years old I refused so many job offers such as working at a translation agency, doing video editing at home ( a job offer from my cousin who owns a company) etc.

So I happened to watch GB update #4, which is mostly about conventions. They splice together a bunch of old clips and there I am. This feels incredibly intrusive considering I’m no longer a witness and the reason I left is because the love they are trying to claim they have is utterly false.
Besides all that, I haven’t spoken to my parents since I faded some years ago. I’m sure they will see me in the montage and it will bring up all kinds of painful feelings. I didn’t want that for them.
Since they are using my image to promote a false narrative I think it’s necessary to set the record straight regarding my international convention experience.
I was in my early twenties and had done quite a bit of traveling but this convention was about as far away as a person could go so I thought it was a good opportunity to go to a place hard to get to. I had thought since it was being arranged through a witness travel agency and there were a lot of Americans traveling that they would have gotten some good deals. They didn’t; it was incredibly expensive and they wouldn’t let you make your own cheaper arrangements. Later I came to realize that it was all most likely a grift, it never should have been that expensive.
There wasn’t a lot of love but there was a lot of weird. I was traveling single so I was put together with another single guy who happened to be the bus captain’s son. The son was about 16 and was super creepy. He never said a word to me even though we shared a hotel room for a week, he just watched sports on tv. The kid didn’t like getting up in the morning so he would go to bed in his dress clothes and then get up at the last minute. His dad later excused his son by saying he was super constipated. Yeah, his dad, the bus captain, was even weirder. He had crazy interpretations of the directions from the branch, so he made us wear dress clothes everywhere we went. If you weren’t dressed properly you couldn’t get on the bus. No matter what. Imagine how ridiculous you would look being at the Grand Canyon hiking in a suit and tie in 100 degree weather. Regular people looked at us like we were insane, a fair deduction I guess. Speaking of insane……….as I mentioned previously, I had traveled a bunch and I liked to travel light. I had one small bag and I was young so I immediately was given pack-mule duty for an older sister who had three large duffel bags. I didn’t mind helping out an older sister so I grabbed two of her bags and nearly broke my back. I asked her what she had in the bags that would make them so heavy? Water. She had packed all the water she was going to drink for two weeks because she was afraid of foreign water. And now I was going to carry two weeks worth of water. Once during the trip I was standing behind her at a gift shop. She was trying to buy some things but her credit card wouldn’t work. Finally she told the cashier it was probably because she keeps her credit cards in her shoes next to the magnets in her shoes, which might have demagnetized all the strips. I love weird and different people, but most of the people I was traveling with were just problematic for everyone around them.
All of the things you see in the videos about international conventions are manufactured experiences. They don’t show you people fighting on the bus, getting drunk in the hotel bars, treating the servers at restaurants and flight attendants on airplanes like garbage, the constant complaining. Since the trip was expensive, many of the witnesses on the trip were relatively wealthy. I was poor. I was shocked at how terribly fellow witnesses would treat the workers at the hotels, restaurants, and airports and then justify it by how much they had paid for the trip.
I was completely disillusioned by the experience, although it still took me quite a few more years to walk away.
I’m not going to tell you the exact place in the video that I’m talking about but the behind the scenes story of what was really going on is hilarious and perhaps illustrative of everything watchtower. So imagine the cutest little JW kid in their dress clothes eating lunch with their mom outside. It’s a grassy, shady area so there’s lots of witnesses relaxing and eating. While the watchtower videographer is getting his closeup, just off to the side a bunch of kids are playing, all of the sudden one of the kids stops and pulls down his pants and takes a huge dump in front of all of us. A thousand flies seemed to appear instantly for the poo meal and we all wonder what was the history of the grass beneath us and the food we were eating. True story, that’s the real scene. And that sums up everything watchtower when you look just beyond the frame.

Hi everyone I'll be arriving 530 pm in Istanbul with a 3 pm departure to the US the next day. I am hoping to see some sights in the city while I am there (first time visitor).
Some questions:
1) Thoughts on using the taxi from the airport to get into the city? This is the fastest way I am assuming? I want to prioritize the little time I have rather than trying to save a few dollars
2) Can I use US dollars/euro/Visa for taxi and restaurants, or should I convert some to Lira?
3) Three things I am hoping to see are the blue mosque, Hagia sophia, and galata tower. Would you recommend getting a hotel near the mosques, or the tower side, and can I reasonably walk between these places
4) I heard getting through airport security for US bound flights is a nightmare; how early should I arrive for my flight?
​
TIA!

I found lurking on this forum really useful for planning our trip, so thought I'd return the favour by posting about our trip here - with some extra tips for travelling as vegan or vegetarian! We just got back a few days ago and I'm already itching to go again. I think our interests generally align with what many people want when they go to Japan - nerdy stuff, food, temples and pretty locations. I hope the below is useful to someone, and happy to answer any questions (whether on food or just something we visited!).
**General tips:*\*
1) Learn some basic Japanese: I've seen this one come up quite a few times and can only echo it - while there certainly are Japanese people with excellent English skills, it will smooth the way so much more if you learn to speak some Japanese. Any attempts at Japanese were always met with a much friendlier response than tourists we saw speaking English, and it was especially helpful in the two ryokans we stayed at, where we had much more conversation with our hosts and they seemed much more comfortable communicating in Japanese (also we got some free apple jam!). Personally I taught myself from the basics because I had time/that's how my brain works (hiragana, katakana, then learning vocab + grammar) - but learning some modular phrases will help, e.g. '____ doko desu ka?' (where is ____?), '____ arimasu ka?' (is there ____?), and 'kore wa hitotsu/futatsu/mittsu o kudasai' (one/two/three of this please).
2) For dietary requirements, do your research and book in advance: There are quite a few helpful guides online for vegan diets, including the IG account 'tokyoveganguide', the website 'isitveganjapan' (https://isitveganjapan.com/food-on-the-go/507-2/), Vegewel (https://vegewel.com/en/area/) and some articles on matcha-jp (https://matcha-jp.com/en/7716). We ate really well while out and about and could pick up certain street snacks - but again, being able to communicate in Japanese helped a lot here (see tip 1). As you probably know, vegan diets aren't well understood in Japan, and they're often shocked to find out you won't eat fish OR fish-based dashi. I've mentioned some of the standout places we ate at below. At conbini/kiosks, plain rice and salted onigiri, as well as the salted ume (plum) onigiri are typically vegan. Mochi are also often a good bet, as are jelly sweets (tend to use agar rather than gelatin). It can be helpful to know the kanji for fish (魚), meat (肉) and eggs (卵). Milk products are often listed in katakana as cream (クリーム) or similar, but could be listed as cow's milk (牛乳). Translate apps can be helpful but it's about 50/50 helpful versus 'hilarious result'.
3) As a vegan, don't expect your western-style hotel to provide breakfast (but a ryokan will!): We generally found that big western style hotels just.. did not provide anything viable for breakfast. You might have been able to negotiate a bowl of plain rice and a piece of fruit, but ultimately we ended up eating breakfast elsewhere (but see tip 4!) and in the future I wouldn't bother opting in for breakfast unless I could verify with the hotel in advance that they had options. However, ryokans were very accommodating so long as you communicated with them in advance, and the two we stayed at provided a list of dietary requirements at the start of our stay that we could tick to indicate what we could eat.
4) Most coffee shops/food places won't open until 10am: It was a bit of a struggle to find places open early enough for us to have breakfast before heading out. We did bring a few cereal bars for this eventuality! But if you research you can find a few places that open at 7am (in Tokyo we went to Komeda Is in Ginza, in Kyoto, the IMU hotel).
5) Always have some cash: We didn't need a phenomenal amount of cash on our trip, although we were also not skimping on spending (we took out 70,000 yen, or about £400, and that was about right) - many taxis, shops and restaurants took cards if needed. However, cash-only purchases did pop up unexpectedly - for example, in one of our very nice upmarket hotels that 100% had a card reader, sending our luggage by takkyubin for some reason was a cash-only purchase. A lot of smaller shops and little cafes will take cash only. If you want to use a card, you can check at the till with the phrase "caa-do wa ii desu ka?" (is card ok?).
6) Be prepared to walk: I know this one is said a lot - it depends what you're used to. We did in the range of 15-30,000 steps a day, and I was fine with a pair of foldable ballet flats and a pair of Vans. However we did bring blister plasters and a blister stick just in case! We also found lots of fun little shops/places by simply walking instead of taking transport, so if you have time it's highly recommended. As you will see below, we broke up the two major destinations (Tokyo/Kyoto) with smaller, slower-paced places. That helped a lot!
7) Build in extra time for navigating public transport: Yea, you probably think you're used to big transit systems - we certainly did. However it's just not always clear which exit you want to get to or how to get there, especially if you're not familiar with the station and surrounding area. Whenever we were pressed for time (for example, when transferring to shinkansen or needing to grab snacks before getting a train) we looked up a map of the station first to plan our route. You probably already know this, but I promise you are NOT ready for Shinjuku station.
8) If you're worried about temple fatigue, collect goshuin: This has been written about extensively elsewhere although I'm happy to share my experiences. Goshuin are a stamp/calligraphy combination you can get at many temples and shrines. They're a very beautiful memento. You need a special accordion-style book (goshuincho) for them that you can buy in advance (I did) or at your first temple (usually 1200-2000 yen). Collecting a goshuin usually costs 300-500 yen and a couple of minutes of your time. You should only collect a goshuin after paying your respects at the temple. Generally the process is just to approach the desk (it's generally quite obvious, and there may be pictures of goshuin on the window of the booth - in some places you choose which one you want), and present your book with both hands, open to the relevant page, asking 'goshuin o onegaishimasu'. They might take your book and give you a number (in which case, you need to wait), or they might do the goshuin then and there - it depends on how busy the temple is.
9) You probably won't be able to check-n early: Of all the places we stayed, only one allowed us to check in before 3pm. However, you should be able to leave any bags with them - just be prepared! If you want to drop off your bags, you can say the following: "Nimotsu o azukatte mo ii desu ka?" (more or less: May we leave our luggage here?).
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**Brief trip report:*\*
Day 0: We got our flight to Tokyo (14h). We flew Japan Airlines - the vegan meals were.. ok? But the snack was the infamous (iykyk) banana. Everyone else got an interesting snack, so it was sad to just have a banana. I would pack my own snacks next time!
Day 1: Land in Tokyo. Staying in the Ginza area. We got in to the airport relatively late (6pm) so we grabbed a snack locally once we got to our hotel (2foods Ginza) and went to sleep!
Day 2 Tokyo (~26,000 steps). Breakfast at Komeda Is, Ginza. Kokyo Gaien National Gardens (near to our hotel), then walk around the Yanaka Old District, bought some tea/crackers (often vegan but check), train to Asauksa to see Senso-Ji (there happened to be a festival on while we were there so it was packed, but I got a special goshuin!), then across to Akihabara. It started raining but was mostly ok as we were running from indoor shop to indoor shop. We had lunch at a shojin-ryori place in Akihabara station. In the evening we went on a vegan ramen tasting tour (highly recommended!) in Shibuya/Shinjuku.
Day 3 Tokyo (~25,000 steps). Breakfast at Komeda Is, Ginza. Then to Team Labs Planets (we had tickets for the earliest entry). Despite some of what I've read on here, we really enjoyed the experience (happy to say more if asked!). Then we headed across to Shibuya, wandered around, went to the Pokemon Centre and Nintendo store in Shibuya Parco, had lunch at Izakaya Masaka in the basement of Shibuya Parco (highly recommended) and headed over to Yoyogi Park, Meiji Jingu and walked up through Harajuku. We continued walking up through to Shinjuku and walked around there for a while, including going up the Tokyo Government Metropolitan building (free) for a view over Tokyo. We had dinner at Wired Bonbon.
Day 4 Yudanaka (~12,000 steps). We sent our bags via takkyubin to Kyoto, and then got the train over to Yudanaka (we had breakfast at Komeda Is again - honestly, great menu! and picked up onigiri in the train station for the train ride). At Yudanaka, we travelled over to the Snow Monkey Park, and then back to our ryokan to chill in the bookable private onsen. Our feet needed the rest! We stayed at Seifuso in Yudanaka, which was lovely and inexpensive - our host drove us over to the park (we got a bus back). The food was excellent.
Day 5 Nagano and Hida Furukawa (~11,000 steps). We travelled from Yudanaka through to Hida Furukawa, stopping off at Nagano on the way to visit the Zenko-Ji temple. For lunch we picked up oyaki from Irohado in Nagano, which were delicious (there are 3 shops - one in the station, one in a mall outside the station, and one by the temple)! By the time we got to Hida Furukawa it was relatively late, so we just had dinner. We stayed at one of the Iori Stay apartments, which provide dinnebreakfast (vegan if specified in advance).
Day 6 Hida Furukawa and Takayama (~15,000 steps). We went to Takayama in the morning to visit the markets and see a few temples, as well as pick up some traditional sashiko for my mother-in-law. Then in the afternoon we chilled and walked around Hida Furukawa (shrines, shops and so on) - we had lunch at Sobasho Nakaya in Hida Furukawa, which has clearly marked vegan options. A number of other traditional soba shops have vegan options. There was a little sweet shop near the main street with the koi carp that sold yam-based mochi-type sweets and had a full list of ingredients you could look at.
Day 7 Kyoto (~20,000 steps). We arrived in Kyoto at about 1pm (picked up onigiri and snacks on the journey), and walked from our hotel (located on Shijo Dori) to Nijo Castle and then to the Imperial Palace gardens. We had dinner in AWOMB Nishikiyamachi, which was excellent (sushi).
Day 8 Kyoto (~30,000 steps). For breakfast today we found out our hotel couldn't accommodate our diet (whoops) and we ate cereal bars and mochi from the nearby Life supermarket. We mostly stayed around the Gion area this day and visited a lot of the temples and shrines there - Yasaka Jinja, Kyomizyu-dera, Kodai-Ji (picked up some dango here), Kennin-Ji and others. There is a little bamboo forest at Kennin-Ji which is much quieter than Arashiyama and in my opinion, nicer. We ate lunch at Uno Yukiko (vegan and gluten-free ramen). We also went to the Pokemon Centre in Kyoto! In the evening we ate dinner at the IMU Hotel (you had to book via instagram), and then headed over to Fushimi Inari at night. It was very quiet and highly recommended. We walked up to the first viewing point where you can see across Kyoto (my phone registered this as about 40 floors).
Day 9 Kyoto (~25,000 steps). For breakfast we headed over to the IMU hotel who alternate Japanese/Western breakfast by day. It was only 1000 yen, and really good. In the morning we headed to Arashiyama, and did the usual - the bridge, the bamboo forest (it was fine, very busy even early on) - and had matcha shaved ice with mochi for lunch nearby. Very healthy..! In the early afternoon we had a calligraphy class. After that, we went to Kinkakuji, then slowly walked across to the Kyoto Imperial gardens, stopping off at shops and for coffee on the way. We had dinner at Kanga-An - our most expensive meal, but delicious. You have to book in advance.
Day 10 Hakone (~12,000 steps). We sent our bags by takkyubin to Tokyo. We had breakfast at the IMU hotel and then travelled over to Hakone. It was not a clear day but we saw about 2/3 of Mt Fuji out of the window (you need to be in seats D/E on the shinkansen). Based on conditions we decided not to go down to Lake Ashi. We went to the Open-Air museum which was honestly a lot of fun, then hung out in our amazing ryokan (Fukuzumiro). We had our own private onsen and I wish we had spent another night here! It was not a cheap stay but it was wonderful.
Day 11 Tokyo (~23,000 steps). We arrived in Tokyo at about 11am, and went to our hotel to drop off our backpacks - and were able to check in early! To note, this is the only time we could ever check in before 3pm, although we could always drop off our bags. We were in Ginza again, and had lunch at Ain Soph Ginza (expensive compared to everywhere else, but tasty - you must book, it's very small). We visited a little shrine and then walked to Hamarikyu gardens were we had matcha and wagashi in the tea house. Then we walked down to the Tokyo ToweZojo-Ji to have a look around. Finally we headed back to Shibuya to wrap up any shopping and sightseeing, have dinner at Izakaya Masaka (so good we went twice!) and then did a little karaoke at Joysound by the station - a great end to our trip. On our way back we stopped off at Don Quijote Ginza for any final bits.
Day 12 Fly home. Because of changes to flight paths, our flight home ended up being much earlier than it was when we originally booked (moved to 9am). So we couldn't do anything that day but go to the airport. We flew with Japan Airlines [edit - from Tokyo Haneda airport] and everyone can go into the Sakura Lounge who flies with them - nice and quiet, with a few limited vegan options for food (pasta). The vegan meals on the flight back were much better than the flight there - our snack on the way back was a sandwich, much better than a banana!

Bonjour! I’m in Paris for 2 days and would love to go eat out in a nice restaurant without fear of getting sick. I cannot eat gluten, nuts or cow milk products.
Is there restaurants near Le Jardin du Luxembourg that are known for being good at accommodating allergies?
Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

Introduction:
Nestled in the serene hills of Himachal Pradesh, Kasauli is a picturesque destination that offers a perfect blend of tranquillity and natural beauty. Known for its pleasant climate, lush greenery, and breath-taking views, Kasauli attracts travellers seeking a peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. To enhance your experience in this enchanting hill station, there are several luxurious hotels that provide world-class amenities and services. In this article, we will explore the best hotels in Kasauli that offer a truly indulgent and memorable stay.
The Allure of Kasauli:
Kasauli's charm lies in its unspoiled beauty and serene atmosphere. The town is dotted with colonial-era buildings, charming streets, and scenic trails that offer stunning views of the surrounding hills and valleys. Whether you're a nature lover, adventure enthusiast, or simply looking for a relaxing getaway, Kasauli has something for everyone. And to make your stay even more extraordinary, the best hotels in Kasauli offer a luxurious retreat amidst this captivating destination.
Unveiling the Best Hotels in Kasauli:
1. Luxurious Amenities and Facilities:
The best hotels in Kasauli boast opulent amenities and facilities that ensure a truly luxurious experience. From spacious and elegantly designed rooms to private balconies offering panoramic views, every aspect is meticulously crafted to provide comfort and indulgence. State-of-the-art fitness centers, swimming pools, and rejuvenating spa treatments are also available for guests to unwind and rejuvenate.
2. Scenic Locations and Breath-taking Views:
These hotels are strategically located to offer breath-taking views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Whether you choose a hotel perched on a hilltop or nestled amidst lush green forests, you can wake up to the sight of mist-covered hills and enjoy mesmerizing sunsets from the comfort of your room.
3. Exquisite Dining Experiences:
The best hotels in Kasauli pride themselves on their exquisite dining options. From fine dining restaurants serving a variety of cuisines to cosy cafes offering delectable snacks and beverages, guests can indulge in a culinary journey that delights the taste buds. The use of locally sourced ingredients adds a touch of authenticity to the dining experience.
4. Spa and Wellness Retreats:
To enhance your relaxation and rejuvenation, these hotels offer world-class spa and wellness retreats. Pamper yourself with therapeutic massages, holistic treatments, and wellness therapies amidst a tranquil and serene setting. Expert therapists and wellness professionals ensure that every guest experiences a state of blissful harmony and renewal.
5. Impeccable Hospitality:
The best hotels in Kasauli pride themselves on providing impeccable hospitality that caters to the individual needs and preferences of each guest. From personalized services to attention to detail, the staff ensures that your stay is nothing short of exceptional. Whether you need assistance with travel arrangements, sightseeing recommendations, or special requests, the warm and friendly staff is always ready to assist you.
Conclusion:
If you're seeking a luxurious and unforgettable experience in the serene hills of Kasauli, the best hotels in the region are ready to exceed your expectations. With their luxurious amenities, scenic locations, exquisite dining experiences, spa and wellness retreats, and impeccable hospitality, these hotels offer a haven of relaxation and indulgence. Immerse yourself in the beauty of Kasauli while enjoying the finest comforts and services. Your stay at one of these hotels will truly be an experience like never before.
FAQ:
Q1: Do the best hotels in Kasauli provide transportation services for sightseeing?
A1: Yes, many hotels in Kasauli offer transportation services for sightseeing and local exploration. You can inquire about these services at the hotel reception.
Q2: Are the spa and wellness facilities at these hotels open to non-guests?
A2: While the spa and wellness facilities primarily cater to hotel guests, some hotels may offer day packages or services for non-guests. It's recommended to contact the hotel directly for more information.
Q3: Can I enjoy outdoor activities and adventure sports near the best hotels in Kasauli?
A3: Yes, the region around Kasauli offers a range of outdoor activities and adventure sports, including trekking, paragliding, and nature walks. The hotel staff can provide information and assistance in organizing these activities.
Q4: Are the dining options suitable for dietary restrictions and preferences?
A4: The best hotels in Kasauli understand the importance of catering to dietary restrictions and preferences. They offer a variety of options, including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free dishes. It's advisable to inform the hotel in advance about any specific dietary requirements.
Q5: Can I book a room at the best hotels in Kasauli online?
A5: Yes, most hotels in Kasauli offer online booking facilities through their official websites or other travel booking platforms. You can check availability, compare prices, and make reservations conveniently.
Q6: Can I book a room at the best hotels in Kasauli online?
A6: Yes, most hotels in Kasauli offer online booking facilities through their official websites or other travel booking platforms. You can check availability, compare prices, and make reservations conveniently.
Q7: Are there family-friendly activities and amenities available at the best hotels in Kasauli?
A7: Absolutely! The best hotels in Kasauli cater to families and offer a range of family-friendly activities and amenities. These may include dedicated play areas, children's pools, kids' clubs, and special menus for young guests.
Q8: What is the best time to visit Kasauli for a memorable stay at these hotels?
A8: Kasauli is a year-round destination, but the best time to visit depends on your preferences. The summer months (March to June) offer pleasant weather and are ideal for sightseeing and outdoor activities. The monsoon season (July to September) brings lush greenery and a refreshing atmosphere. Winter (November to February) brings cold temperatures and occasional snowfall, making it perfect for those seeking a cosy retreat and beautiful mountain views.
Q9: Are the best hotels in Kasauli pet-friendly?
A9: While policies may vary among hotels, some of the best hotels in Kasauli do offer pet-friendly accommodations. It's advisable to contact the hotel directly and inquire about their pet policy before making a reservation.
Q10: Do the best hotels in Kasauli provide transportation to and from the nearest airport or railway station?
A10: Many hotels in Kasauli offer transportation services to and from the nearest airport or railway station. It's recommended to check with the hotel in advance and make arrangements for convenient transfers to ensure a smooth arrival and departure experience.

The wife and i have Science on the rocks tickets for Marvel in June. I work uptown and we have not been out since covid, really, due to ...well, uptown has been dead except for the upscale restaurants. Anyway, does anyone have any suggestion for good food that won't break the bank near discovery place? like walking distance? we used to eat at Vida or Vapiano's and were considering bella Ciao but i thought i'd ask.
if not uptown, then something on the south side of charlotte near uptown but with parking?
Thanks as always!

Looking for roommate. Listing a private bedroom in a 2 bed/2bath unit in El Segundo near downtown! Close to stores, restaurants, airport and downtown El Segundo. Less than 1.5 miles from the beach! Complex has pool and hot tub.
Available July
Rent - $1600
Potential candidate to sign 12 month lease or we can discuss other options.
In unit laundry! Deposit would be 1 month's rent. No pets. No couples. Easy parking. Room unfurnished (Can possibly provide bed if needed).

The Pixar Nest nearly fell through due to Horst. Theorizer mentions that Horst realized that something was off, killing the CEO of BNL and creating a hole in the ozone layer over France and robbing a bank
We also know the importance France holds in the DreamWorks theory. It can be seen as the stronghold and origin of FEET itself
Here is where things tie in. Horst was capable of killing a man with his thumb: This connects to forced-evolution and strength. We also know Remy is capable of cooking: This connects with intelligent animals rising up slowly, as the other rats begin to help Remy with his cooking. I'd also like to note that Skinner is short, likely showing that Pixar is in the later stages of the Sky Gods' assimilation if humans grow weaker and are forced harder at the end of the timeline. Horst, also causing a hole in the ozone layer, would show supernatural or intense capabilities from one man or his actions
These are all motifs that point to something relating to Mort or The Sky Gods all at once. It's likely that Skinner only was against Remy cooking and was suspicious because he wanted to end another intelligent beast from rising up. The restaurant at the end might have even been shut down not for contamination issues but because FEET wanted Remy gone, using contamination as a cover-up (Remy also is shown to be clean and is smart enough to wash his hands) Horst was not as aggressively against Remy. This could be why he killed the CEO of BNL and tried to destroy their funds. These funds would also be the one thing holding them together, besides The Sky Gods blessing them with divine supernatural powers, as they would require proper advancements to evolve themselves or exterminate animals (and remember, we see a short exterminator as well located in France). Due to being the closest to intelligent animals yet likely a member of FEET, he would be chased as a rouge member. Remember, someone like Dubois is above the law. The fact Horst was arrested means that FEET might have bailed him out with ease (and money). But after realizing that France can move forward with intelligent animals like Remy, he killed their CEO with his bare thumb, using force-evolved brutal tactics
He then would've tried to drain their funds, which would include funds for weapons like the ones that Dwayne used that was hinted ar being used to kill Mort. This could explain the hole in the ozone, perhaps it was used as a last-ditch effort against a rouge footman who was trained to kill a man with his thumb
Another few details I noticed are things like Remy being a four-letter named rodent like Mort (hinting at a future host from another universe?), the themes of cooking that don't hint at sacrificial food yet, and that other connected universes could tie in well. We see intelligent animals in Up (the dogs, and we can add that Charles Muntz is quite well at fighting for an old man who lived in isolation AND whose only job was to HUNT a specific animal), Finding Nemo, and we see memetic control through BNL's alleged plans to air Buzz Lightyear cartoons. And consider how much music also ties into movies like Ratatouille, as well as France's culture itself. Maybe they're honing in power from The Sky Gods even further. FEET could even be trying to use BNL to destroy the Monsters' society in Monsters Inc because they fall under the category of intelligent Beasts
Here is what I think is happening: Along the events of the later DreamWorks universe, FEET reached out to another multiverse to anchor themselves in another France. This is BNL, and this is their back-up plan or practice of sorts. They are also trying to rebel against intelligent animals, evolving humans and creating the Supers we see, using memetic control via Easter eggs and attacking the most powerful and intelligent beasts ever: Monsters. However, one of their footman sided with yet another rodent of intelligence with four letters in their name. At the heart of France itself, this footman tried to remove every back up plan they had to collapse their corporation. However, this forced FEET to work harder, cementing themselves into the multiverse. This is because if FEET isn't native to Pixar and they go completely broke, they also cannot fight back in their home DreamWorks universe, losing to Mort. This is why their endgame DOES show lazy, fat, short humans, but also a lack of any intelligent animals. Any that exist, exist through the Monsters Inc universe that they use for energy. They exploit these intelligent animals as well, such as the giraffe too, so they can travel back home if anything happens. Bridging the Pixar multiverse allows them to travel across it and back to DreamWorks with ease, using this experience and/or energy to finally defeat Mort by draining an entire multiverse dry This means FEET is at the top while BNL is the franchise they introduce into Pixar that takes over. BNL is merely a hand that FEET (ironically) uses to test their plans in a new multiverse