#2017 was my breakthrough year after all

[kifu]

Sappho. I wanted to know if I could under layer shading with markers. That failed. HOWEVER, I took a picture of my greyscale marker drawing before I obliterated every ounce of shading with grotesque color so that I could play with it digitally. I'm ecstatic. She is GORGEOUS.

[zombielesbean]

Long post incoming! Since my minecraft creative world has been getting a lot of attention lately, I thought I'd do a post about the history of it!

previously I had thought it started in 2018, but looking into it it turns out I started it in 2017, which is the first year I played minecraft before that point, my sibling was really into it, but I'd never really been into it that much. the switch came out in 2017 and we got one pretty close to launch, and, not long after that, minecraft released for the system, and we got it so my sibling could finally play, and I gave it a try myself, too

I ended up getting very into it, my first base was this big building built into the side of a mountain :) after that, I got very into the building aspect of minecraft, much more than I liked survival, so I ended up trying out building in creative mode, and built this big house

it had a pool in the basement and lots of simulated furniture like a sink and refrigerator in the kitchen hehe

after this experience, I realized that building in minecraft creative mode is essentially having an infinite supply of legos, and I'd been really into videos about people's giant lego cities or terrain builds or big model train dioramas, and I realized this was the perfect way for me to get to build my own landscapes and such

and so, I generated a flat world

in minecraft for nintendo switch, you could generate a flat world with structures, plus some trees and water features, so that's what this was

the first thing I did was just, plant a huge forest, with little terraforming, and then I built a giant castle

and then I built a mountain

and then I started building an ocean

and here's just some other things I built around that time:

after that, I didn't play for awhile, until 2018, when they ported bedrock to the switch, and I picked up the game again because the performance improvements were really good, and also, it just spurred me on to play again in general ehe

here's a look at basically the entire world at that point:

not terribly long after that I met @da-mous and we started playing minecraft together and building stuff in this world together :)

After that there was another pretty long hiatus, I didn't really work on it more until 2020

before that it'd basically just been me and my sibling working on the world together, me doing all the terrain and that kind of stuff, and they were adding lil buildings to the village, but after meeting cass I started playing with more friends, such as @bisthefairy, who added trains to the world :)

at this point my plan was to build a big cliffside around the entire area and make it into a big valley, and then build more stuff (like an "evil" village and castle to oppose the "good" one I'd already built), and I'd started work on the cliff on the side of the world where I wanted that castle to be

but shortly after that, the first real breakthrough occurred: cass gave me new tools, using command blocks

she gave me tools that could do things like build a massive pillar of dirt below me every tick down to the world limit, build a massive square sheet of dirt below me, fill in a space with water, or paint blocks in front of me into whatever type of block I wanted

this absolutely changed everything, and the cliff project and the ocean project turned from things that would have taken me weeks or even months to complete working by hand, down to only days

and, my landscape structures no longer had to be simply hollow facades, but they were now solid all the way through and I could more easily make things like caves, too!

things started going so fast after that point, the entirety of the world I had built went from this area:

...to this (above pictured area is circled, and not everything pictured here was already built back then)

everything I had done in the last three years was suddenly dwarfed in only a few months

I finished the cliffs, I finished the ocean, I built a custom desert (based on the high desert in Oregon), I built volcanoes, I built mountain ranges, I built the evil castle, I built villages across the ocean, I built huge sloping plains, I built a huge underground cavern with a fairy village in it and fake stars on the ceiling... my projects had gotten so much bigger and more numerous

some time after this, I had to move to the PC version finally, because of an incident involving 14,000 end crystals being spawned into the world, which ruined my save file by creating an inescapable black hole of frame rate loss, and we needed to fix that lol

but anyway, that opened up a lot to me, I had much greater performance and draw distance, and I could play with using structure blocks to steal things from normally generated minecraft worlds, like buildings and just pieces of already generated landscapes, and the plop them into the world and then smoothly integrate them into my already built world, which was really fun

structures can only be of a certain size at a time too, so I had entire notebook pages dedicated to mapping out the pieces I was taking so I could copy paste them all back together seamlessly, ehe

also now that I was on PC, I started dabbling a little bit in external tools, mostly so that I could change the biomes; as a flat world, the entire world was the plains biome, and that really bugged me

I found one that was, honestly, pretty clunky, but did what I wanted with biomes, and that was pretty cool! there weren't a lot of tools for bedrock back in those days, so I did what I could haha

but, now my desert was actually a desert! it would actually snow on top of my mountains! huzzah! and I also took the opportunity to just copy paste ocean all around my world, so that it would become a continent surrounded by water, and I built a jungle island far away

after that, I played a little bit here and there, but wasn't really focused on it too much, I didn't really play at all in 2022 or 2023, I was just doing gamedev nonstop pretty much all year last year

that is, until Grey Area finally released, and @chemkitt had showed me a really cool mod for java edition called 'axiom' that's made specifically for terrain building, like a supercharged version of cass's command block tools, and the fire to work on my minecraft world was lit anew

it was just like the renaissance that occurred when cassie made those tools, suddenly things that had previously taken weeks now took mere days, I was able to completely finish the continent and surrounding lands in mere hours, built a giant archipelago in only a day, and could now change biomes and copy paste millions of blocks in an instant

finally satisfied with the size of the world, I also figured out how to go into the files and complete another long held dream I'd had for the world, to change it back to a normal minecraft world, and let the outer edges generate like normal, essentially kind of sealing in my world, and making it so that the outer edges are no longer endless nothing, which I felt was kind of creepy ehehe

and that's where we are today! my little flat world has grown so much :) my current project is building a new entire (even bigger!) giant continent to the east of the original, and another, smaller, southern continent as well!

and most recently, I've been building a big flower garden type of place full of lots of trees and foliage over on the original continent :)

it's been so so nice seeing so many people enjoy the work I've done here! I'm hoping to do a whole video tour of the place sometime soon, there's so much more to see and talk about than I even did here, ehe!

and there's lots and lots of space to decorate and build things and plant forests and all that, so I hope to invite more people over to add to it in the near future, too!

thanks for reading :3

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday to the bubbly bonnie Ashley Jensen born in Annan on August 11th 1969.

Raised single handedly by her mother Margaret, Ashley knew from an early age she wanted to be an actress. She grew up glued to British sitcoms, especially Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em with Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer. And after her mum saved up for her to attend the National Youth Theatre in London, the 16-year-old returned home determined to pursue a career on the stage.

Ashley went on to study drama at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh before fulfilling her dream by landing roles treading the boards in London. From theatre she moved into TV, ealy roles included wee parts in City Lights and Rab C Nesbit , and a 1991 film called Tickets for the Zoo, which was set in my hometown Edinburgh, she the started racking up credits in popular dramas such as The Bill, Casualty, Clocking Off and EastEnders. Other Scottsih roles were in Taggart and Rebus.

It was her part as Ricky Gervais’ hapless sidekick in the popular Extras that was to be Ashley’s breakthrough role, though. As well as making her a household name in Britain it also gave her the opportunity to appear alongside Hollywood heavyweights such as Kate Winslet, Samuel L Jackson and Orlando Bloom, all of whom made guest appearances. The part also brought official recognition when she was named both best actress and best newcomer at the 2005 British Comedy awards - accolades which she celebrated in typical low-key fashion with a cod sandwich from a roadside chip van.

Ashley saw fame in the US follow playing the straight-talking Christina in the sitcom Ugly Betty, leading her to relocate to LA and renting a house in the Hollywood Hills. While the role was originally meant to be American, the casting agents fell in love with her Scottish accent and it stayed.

Ashley may be a star in the US now but her feet are firmly on the ground I found this quote from her “Even now I think I might never work again. I’m still a bit like that. I probably always will be, “This from one of her best friends who has a chippy in Annan speaks volumes "She has her head screwed on and won’t be changed by the star treatment.” Recalling a visit to her LA home soon after Ashley relocated, he says: “We were holding hands and jumping up and down. She was shouting, 'Can you believe it? What am I doing here?’.” Ashley’s acting career has seen in her in many shows, my faves include, Catastrophe with fellow Scot Mark Bonnar, Trust Me, with Jodie Whittaker, which was set in Edinburgh, and again with Ricky Gervais in Afterlife, as well as the comedy drama Agatha Raisin, where she plays the title role, a cotswolds-based PR guru turned amateur sleuth.

Tragedy struck for Ashley in 2017 when she discovered her husband, Terence Beesley body at the wheel of his car in the garage at their Somerset home. The couple, who met in 1999 while they were both involved in a London theatre production of King Lear, were married for ten years. A verdict of suicide was later ruled on at the coroners court.

As well as her work as an actress Ashley has narrated a couple of shows recently, Inside The Balmoral: Scotland's Finest Hotel, about the hotel that takes pride of place at number I Princes Street and The Airport: Back in the Skies about London Heathrow.

Ashley took over in the lesd role in Shetland, I think she did well, filling the huge boots of Dougie Hensall was a big ask, two seasons are planned the first coming soon. I like the lass and read in an interview she said that her greatest achievement was; 'That my son is kind and loves David Bowie.'

[mostlysignssomeportents]

On the Media on the enshittification (pt 1)

This afternoon (May 6), I’ll be in Berkeley at the Bay Area Bookfest for a 3:30PM event with Glynn Washington for my book Red Team Blues; tomorrow (May 7), it’s an 11AM event with Wendy Liu for my book Chokepoint Capitalism.

Weds (May 10), I’m in Vancouver for a keynote at the Open Source Summit and a book event at Heritage Hall and Thu (May 11), I’m in Calgary for Wordfest.

I'm many kinds of writer - novelist, journalist, activist, editorialist, screenwriter - but at core, I'm a blogger. Every bit of interesting stuff that crosses my path gets turned into a blog post, which gets lodged in both a WordPress database and my mind, where it rubs up against other interesting stuff and crystallizes into longer, more considered pieces:

https://doctorow.medium.com/the-memex-method-238c71f2fb46

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/06/people-are-not-disposable/#otm

It's an iterative process, and it follows a predictable and often very exciting life-cycle. First, I encounter an idea in the wild that niggles at my attention and I try to capture what it is that's making it so interesting. The act of writing about some little fragment for strangers makes me think about it harder. That means that I end up making connections to other ideas that I've thought about, and things I continue to encounter in the wild.

As I write about the subject over and over again, over days, then weeks, then years, it gets sharper and more focused. I get better at talking about it, sure, but I also get better at thinking about it. This is an activity @brucesterling​ once called "advancing and demolishing potential political arguments that have never been made by anybody but me":

https://locusmag.com/2017/06/bruce-sterling-reviews-cory-doctorow/

At a certain point, the idea "tips." The act of repeatedly writing about it, relating it to new stuff happening in the world, makes it clear enough to me that it becomes clear enough to explain it to other people, too. Then I'm no longer "advancing and demolishing arguments" for myself - everyone gets in on the act.

That's what happened with enshittification. I coined the term while on vacation last summer:

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1550457808222552065

Though I was just tossing the idea off idly, it stuck with me. I dusted it off in November to talk about Amazon and ad-tech:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/28/enshittification/#relentless-payola

Then in December to write about an aspect of online speech that is wildly important but rarely considered:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen

A week later, the rapid-onset enshittification of Twitter got me thinking about the subject again:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/19/better-failure/#let-my-tweeters-go

And again, just before Christmas, thanks to a magisterial essay by Cat Valente:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/23/semipermeable-membranes/#free-as-in-puppies

The idea percolated over the holidays, and I revisited it in January:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/08/watch-the-surpluses/#exogenous-shocks

And then, in late January, I had a conceptual breakthrough, thanks to some excellent reporting on TikTok by Emily Baker-White:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

That was the essay that broke the idea out of my own endless argument with myself into the wider world. Wired reprinted it, using the Creative Commons license on the piece:

https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/

(All the essays on my Pluralistic blog are licensed Creative Commons Attribution-only - you can republish them, too, including in commercial forums, provided you follow the license terms!)

After that essay went viral, I started to hear from lots of people about the subject and it kicked into overdrive - you can see how it went after that by looking at the "enshittification" tag on my blog:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/enshittification/

The best part of this phase of the process is the move from arguing with myself to having serious discussions with others. And I just got to spend a week doing just that, with some of the smartest, most challenging discussants I could ask for: the producers of On the Media, and its host, Brooke Gladstone.

I'm a giant On The Media fan. I don't think I've missed an episode in decades. And I loved Gladstone's graphic novel about media theory:

https://memex.craphound.com/2011/07/07/influencing-machine-brook-gladstones-comic-about-media-theory-is-serious-but-never-dull/

So I went into this discussion with high hopes, but those hopes were met and exceeded in every way. My conversations with Rebecca Clark-Callender and Katya Rogers brought these ideas into a new focus for me, and then, over the course of many hours, Gladstone and I put them into an orderly progression that was transformative.

On The Media turned those discussions into an hour-long, three-act series. They've just aired part one, "Why Every Platform Goes Bad":

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/enshittification-part-1-where-did-it-all-go-wrong-on-the-media

It's a superb piece of radio (the FCC_mandated bleeps on the "shit" in "enshittification" are hilarious). Though I'm mostly a sole practitioner, it's a forceful example of the power of collaboration, from Gladstone's challenging questions to the superb editing.

The rest of the series will air in the coming weeks, and I'm told they're going to air it as a complete hour this summer. I hope you'll give it a listen!

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Berkeley, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, DC, Gaithersburg, Oxford, Hay, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!

[Image ID: Jean-Leon Gerome's painting Pollice Verso, 1872, depicting gladiators in an arena with noble onlookers giving a thumbs-down gesture. The tapestry before the nobles has been replaced with a US $100 bill in which Ben Franklin's mouth has been replaced by an Amazon smile logo.=

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To The Most Hottest & Alluring Talented Algerian Actress, Dancer & Model On The Planet

Hailing All The Way From Algiers, Algeria 🇩🇿

She was born in the Bab El Oued district of Algiers, Algeria, to an architect mother and a jazz musician father, Safy Boutella. Her brother, Seif, works as a visual effects artist in the entertainment industry. Her surname means "the men of the mountains". She was raised in a fairly secular household that cultivated artistic expression and creativity. She described her childhood as a happy one, stating that she was "blessed to be born into a family that allowed me to express myself, to be myself and let out all sorts of colours that were living in my imagination and in my heart."

Her breakthrough as a dancer came in 2007, when she was picked for the Jamie King choreography for Nike Women's "Keep Up" campaign, serving as a role model of femininity and hip-hop. This was a major boost to her career and led to more work alongside stars like Madonna, in her Confessions Tour, and Rihanna. She credits her work with Madonna for helping her learn English.

She successfully auditioned for the Michael Jackson This Is It concerts but could not attend due to the extension of the Madonna tour, whose dates coincided with the Jackson tour. She was the main character in the music video for "Hollywood Tonight" by Michael Jackson in February 2011.

2014, after 12 years as a dancer, She sought a career in acting. Initially, she purposefully avoided auditioning for lead roles, wishing to play supporting characters so as to learn from more experienced actors. In 2015, she appeared in her first major film, Kingsman: The Secret Service, which jump-started her career as an actress. One year later, she appeared as the alien warrior Jaylah in Star Trek Beyond, released on 22 July 2016.

In 2017, she portrayed a French secret agent in the David Leitch film Atomic Blonde, which also featured Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman and Toby Jones.

The same year, she played the titular role in

THE MUMMY

& Now She is The Star 🌟 Of Netflix's Scifi Action Adventure 🎬 Original Movie Directed By Zack Synder

REBEL MOON 🌙

Please Wish This Rising, Mesmerizing & Totally Far Out Algerian Actress, Dancer, & Model A Very Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

MS. SOFIA BOUTELLA 🇩🇿

#SofiaBoutella #TheMummy #RebelMoon

[johnschneiderblog]

Part Two: Ardis and the agony of not knowing

Although Ardis Renkoski lived only a few houses down the block from us, we were fairly new to the neighborhood and didn’t get to know her until the 1990 disappearance of Ardis’ 30-year-old daughter, Paige, forced Ardis into the full glare of the media.

As a newspaper columnist, I interviewed the grieving mother a number of times immediately following Paige’s disappearance - and many times after that as the months, then years, then decades, passed without a single significant breakthrough.

As I mentioned in Tuesday’s blog, this is on my mind after reading about a team of MSU filmmakers at work on a documentary about the case.

Another connection with Ardis was our mutual membership in a local Catholic parish. We often chatted with her before, or after, mass.

In 2002 our daughter drowned and suddenly we had another bond with Ardis. At the time - 12 years after Paige disappeared - we thought of that bond as parents of daughters who had died, but, in fact, Ardis didn’t know for sure whether Paige was dead or alive.

That, she said, was the worst part of it. The not knowing.

In her memoir, “It’s Hard Being You,” Sharon describes an encounter with Ardis at church on  Mother’s day 2004 - 14 years after Paige’s car was found on the shoulder of I-96, its engine running, her purse and shoes still in the car.

“I’ve been missing Jess for not quite two years.” Sharon writes. “And I also have the consolation of knowing where she is ... Paige is presumed dead; no one really knows. But does Ardis presume ...?”

“Ardis and I pray together. We sing together. And in what must have been our spiritual destiny for that day, we offer each other the only salve we know: ‘Peace be with you.’”

Ardis died in December 2017, never knowing what became of her daughter. We can only hope she now has the peace that eluded her all those years.

[mykpopwire]

media release: 2023 KIM SEON HO ASIA TOUR in KUALA LUMPUR <ONE, TWO, THREE. SMILE>

Excitement fills the air as Korean heartthrob KIM SEON HO prepares to make his way to KUALA LUMPUR for his highly anticipated fan meeting, the 2023 KIM SEON HO ASIA TOUR in KUALA LUMPUR <ONE, TWO, THREE. SMILE> powered by PULP Live World and Happee Hour, happening on August 18, 2023, 8PM at the MEGA STAR ARENA.

KIM SEON HO, a name that has become synonymous with talent and charm, has taken the Korean entertainment industry by storm. With his magnetic presence, versatile acting skills, and undeniable charm, KIM SEON HO has emerged as one of the most beloved and sought-after actors in recent years.

KIM SEON HO made his acting debut in the drama series Good Manager (2017), cementing his reputation as a versatile actor capable of both comedic and dramatic roles. He also appeared in the fourth season of the Korean variety show 2 Days & 1 Night (2019), where he won ‘Rookie of the Year’ at the 2020 KBS Entertainment Awards. He afterwards starred in numerous notable dramas and series, one of these is Start-Up (2020) which marked his breakthrough role, earning him widespread recognition and a massive fan following.

His performance in Start-Up was recognized by various award-giving bodies. He was nominated for a Supporting Actor for TV award, and won Most Popular Actor at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards and Best Emotive at the 2020 Asia Artist Awards. KIM SEON HO is also known for his lead role as ‘Hong Du Sik’ in the hit series Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021). This drama became one of the highest-rated series on television, and he was named ‘Gallup Korea's Television Actor of the Year’ for his role as Chief Hong.

KIM SEON HO’s rise to stardom has been accompanied by an ever-growing fan base both in South Korea and internationally. His infectious smile, warm personality, and humble demeanor have made him a favorite among fans of all ages. And this year, he is set to embark on an exciting fan meeting tour across Asia which includes Kuala Lumpur as one of his tour stops.

The 2023 KIM SEON HO ASIA TOUR in KUALA LUMPUR <ONE, TWO, THREE. SMILE> this August 18th, 2023, 8PM at the MEGA STAR ARENA is an opportunity for KL Seonhohada to witness his charm, wit, talent, and genuine connection firsthand. To all Seonhohada in Kuala Lumpur, brace yourselves for a romantic Friday filled with laughter, joy, and precious moments with our good boy, KIM SEON HO!

This show is proudly brought to you by SALT Entertainment, APLANET Entertainment, ACO Media, and Philippines’ Live Show giant and K-Pop Concert Pioneer, PULP Live World and Happee Hour.

For show updates, please stay tuned on our social media accounts, PULP Live World on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and visit our website.

Don’t forget to like, follow and subscribe to MY K-POP WIRE for more K-Pop interview, debut, comeback and event updates!

*photo courtesy of PULP Live World

Twitter: mykpopwire

Instagram: mykpopwire

Threads: mykpopwire

TikTok: mykpopwire

Facebook: MY K-POP WIRE

YouTube: MY K-POP WIRE

Connect with KIM SEON HO!

Instagram: seonho__kim

[valessacat]

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 41.

And it pisses me off.

Throughout my entire life, I never slept well. I struggled with insomnia because my brain would just not turn off at night. I was restless. Even when I laid there, exhausted, my mind and body just refused to relax. I spent a lot of time in bed, on the couch, in front of a computer. My parents and teachers said I was lazy.

My grades were either As or Ds. Very little in between. I devoured history text books and wrote loooong papers and book reports, struggling to stay under word count. I nearly failed every math class I took because none of the information stuck in my brain. Trying to do my math homework was literally painful and I’d have rather touched a hot stove than muddle through long division. My parents grounded and spanked me for being lazy, but all it did was motivate me to find ways to cheat.

I went to a psychiatrist when I was 20. He was an older man who saw me for about 15 minutes, told me I had anxiety, and wrote me a script for Celexa. I told him I wasn’t worried at night, my head was filled with too many things. He didn’t listen and I stopped taking the meds after a week because he never explained how SSRIs work so I have no idea if it would have helped me or not.

When I got into the workforce, the problems persisted. I excelled at the tasks that tickled my brain and dragged my feet on the tedious tasks. I got passed over for promotions and even written up a few times for poor performance. I was convinced I was a lazy piece of shit and helpless to change.

After being denied an annual raise in 2017, I finally went to a psychiatrist again. I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Moderate Depression. I was given Effexor, which made my insomnia worse and made me sweat like a pig. Switched to Lexapro. Since my doctor explained that I needed to wait 2-4 weeks for results, I followed her instructions. It helped a little and made me feel much more even-keeled. But I didn’t see a breakthrough until I started on the Welbutrin.

Now, Welbutrin is often prescribed off-label for milder cases of ADHD because it is an upper and it’s not as tightly regulated as other options. My sleep improved almost immediately. I didn’t have to drink an *entire* pot of coffee to feel semi-normal and it got me through my workday. This was the first time a drug actually did something really significant for me, so I started to do some googling.

The Welbutrin didn’t seem to be working as well after six months or so I asked my doctor “are you sure it’s not ADHD?” She said that GAD and ADHD can present similarly in adult women and offered to let me try Ritalin since there was a long-ass wait list for psych testing.

It was like seeing a rainbow after years of clouds and rain. I woke up feeling refreshed. I fell asleep at night. I could perform tasks I needed to get through without feeling paralyzed. She switched me to the Concerta after I told her I wanted an extended release since the crash after the Ritalin wore off was super annoying.

Life is beautiful, but I’m angry. I’m angry at all the life I didn’t get to live. At all the missed opportunities. Doctors who didn’t listen. My mom who thought ADD (what it was called when I was a kid) was a made-up illness. I’m angry that AMAB individuals get diagnosed as kids but AFAB folks just “worry too much.”

My beautiful friends: find a doctor who listens to you and is willing to walk you through your medication and diagnosis. Whether it’s ADHD or something else, you deserve to live your best life. Some of us just need a little extra help to get there.

[zhangsanhzgb]

After a sluggish cryptocurrency market, I published the third part of a series of articles. This article is called "The Universal Quiet Exit", and previous articles include "There is No Excuse That This Stuff Works or Will Work" and "Financial Nihilism: The Zeitgeist of Young America". These articles have sparked widespread discussion, especially in the cryptocurrency community, and they accurately captured and predicted the current market conditions.

The Universal Quiet Exit

Recently, I have noticed a new trend in the cryptocurrency community - "quiet exit". This is a relatively new concept that describes the phenomenon of people choosing to quietly withdraw after losing confidence in a certain field. This attitude is partly derived from my two previous articles, which explored the actual application of cryptocurrencies and their future potential.

The cryptocurrency space has experienced a period of extreme optimism in the past few years. From 2017 to 2022, the market was full of hope for the future of cryptocurrencies, and investors and users believed that these technologies could solve real-world problems and gain widespread application. However, over time, many projects that were once seen as the future pillars of cryptocurrencies, such as decentralized finance (DeFi), NFTs, stablecoins, etc., have failed to change the world as expected. Even as Bitcoin adoption and prices rise, many people are beginning to question the actual achievements and future potential of cryptocurrencies.

This skepticism became more pronounced during past bear markets. Even at the most pessimistic times, enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies remained. However, the current situation appears more severe. Many people have gradually realized that the actual progress and effectiveness of many cryptocurrency projects are far below expectations. The Memecoin craze and the points-for-airdrop activities are seen as meaningless attempts, reflecting that the market's confidence in these projects has been shaken.

The Dilemma of Cryptocurrency

In the cryptocurrency field, the phenomenon of "quiet exit" is particularly evident. Many people are no longer willing to invest time and resources, although they may still hold some crypto assets. The reason for leaving is not only disappointment in the potential of the project, but also anxiety about the future prospects. Even if some people choose to stay in this field, their motivation and confidence have obviously weakened.

In this situation, some people choose to continue to pay attention to cryptocurrencies, mainly because they still believe that the long-term returns of cryptocurrencies are attractive relative to other investment options. Although this view seems contradictory, it actually reflects a complex psychological state: despite disappointment with the current situation, there is still hope to find valuable opportunities in the future.

Market Status and Future Outlook

Currently, the main focus of the cryptocurrency market has shifted to emerging areas such as decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN). However, in addition to DePIN, there is a lack of other breakthrough applications worthy of attention in the market. At the same time, the cryptocurrency venture capital investment environment has also been criticized. Venture capital often obtains high returns through early investment projects, which may fail to make substantial progress in their intended use. This misaligned incentive mechanism makes some investment behaviors in the market increasingly irrational.

Summary

In general, the current "quiet exit" phenomenon in the cryptocurrency field can be explained by the general disappointment with the current market status and future prospects. While some people in the market still have hope, many people are disappointed with the actual achievements of cryptocurrencies and choose to reduce investment or exit. Future opportunities may emerge in emerging areas with practical application prospects, such as DePIN. If the policy environment changes, it may further promote the real development of the altcoin market. Therefore, despite the many challenges at present, it is still necessary to pay close attention to these potential development directions.

How to buy BTC

How to buy cryptocurrency on the exchange

Investing in BTC has never been easier! Registering on an exchange, verifying your account, and paying by bank transfer, debit or credit card, with a secure cryptocurrency wallet, is the most widely accepted way to get cryptocurrency. Here is a guide on how to buy cryptocurrency on an exchange.

Step 1: Register on OKX (click on the link to register) You can register by email and phone number, then set a password and complete the verification to pass the registration.

Step 2: Identity verification - submit KYC information to verify your identity

Please verify your identity to ensure full compliance and enhance your experience with complete identity verification. You can go to the identity verification page, fill in your country, upload your ID, and submit your selfie. You will receive a notification once your ID has been verified successfully, bind your bank card or credit card to start trading.

[msftsn]

rough timeline in kazimirs lore for my own overview; since i don't want to mess up the timeline too badly.

2013 : kazimir is created after an explosion that left his original body 85% destroyed - in order to save him he is turned into a cyborg while the remaining human parts are altered to make it less obvious who had been so gruesomely turned into a murder weapon against his will.

2014 : prima iliaster is discovered, considered to have been nothing but myth research is conducted in several high profile facilities. kazimir has attuned to his body and begins his killing sprees in attempts to get closer to the researchers behind prima iliaster.

2016 : research of prima iliaster comes to a breakthrough, leading to the belief it can be use to alter the human body to give control over ones own thoughts - some research facilities cease to pursue the subject out of fear of it's theoretically limitless power. kazimir brahms begins trying to halt research on prima iliaster by targetting shadier suppliers of the facilities.

2016 : news of a mass murder spread; an unknown source cause explosives to go off in an abandoned factory used by a drug ring. the brutality and sheer number of victims suggest multiple assailants. the butcher is still at large, rumored to be the head of this operation. meanwhile valeria klein becomes lead researcher on prima iliaster.

2017 : research manages to create a sample of prima tinctura, a substance believed to harness most of prima iliasters ability. government refuses funding for further experimentation publicly, though a generous sponsor secretly funds continuation of it; the sponsor would later in a scandal be revealed to be the former president. to avoid harming subjects without knowing the full scale effect on the human body valeria klein injects herself with it, becoming the first and only iliaster mutant in recorded history.

2018 : valeria klein is given a honorary doctorate in science, however she retires from researching prima iliaster; before she can empty out her laboratory however all scientists involved in it are killed and any existing simples outside her bloodstream are destroyed.

2018 : valeria klein is confronted by kazimir "the butcher" brahms, who claims her research is far too dangerous and declares her a fool for injecting herself with it, saying that the sacrifices of people before them were for naught should her research see the light of day. valeria makes it out of the confrontation unharmed, relying on her wit to escape any trap set by the butcher.

2019 - 2024 : throughout the past five years kazimir brahms and valeria klein have been at odds, clashing heads and having violent confrontations where either of them barely make it out. brahms recognizes her ability to match and outwit him, klein recognizes he's grown smarter and more ruthless since becoming a cyborg. neither seem to address the tension of their past and their history together.

[wordexpress]

Pak Admits Violating Pact With India, Nawaz Sharif Says "Was Our Fault"

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday admitted that Islamabad had "violated" an agreement with India signed by him and ex-prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, in an apparent reference to the Kargil misadventure by Gen Pervez Musharraf.

"On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that Vajpayee Saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement…it was our fault," Sharif told a meeting of the PML-N general council that elected him president of the ruling party six years after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court.

After a historic summit here, Nawaz Sharif and Ata Bihari Vajpayee signed the Lahore Declaration on February 21, 1999. The agreement that talked about a vision of peace and stability between the two countries signalled a breakthrough. Still, a few months later Pakistani intrusion in the Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir led to the Kargil conflict.

"President Bill Clinton had offered Pakistan USD 5 billion to stop it from carrying out nuclear tests but I refused. Had (former prime minister) Imran Khan like a person been on my seat he would have accepted Clinton's offer," Sharif said on a day when Pakistan marked the 26th anniversary of its first nuclear tests.

Sharif, 74, talked about how he was removed from the office of the prime minister in 2017 on a false case by then Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. He said all cases against him were false while the cases against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder leader Imran Khan were true.

He also talked about the role of former ISI chief Gen Zahirul Islam in toppling his government in 2017 to bring Imran Khan into power. He asked Imran Khan to deny that he was not launched by the ISI.

"I ask Imran not to blame us (of being patronised by the army) and tell whether Gen Islam had talked about bringing the PTI into power," he said and added Khan would sit at the feet of the military establishment.

The three-time premier talked about receiving a message from Gen Islam to resign from the office of prime minister (in 2014). "When I refused, he threatened to make an example of me," he said.

Sharif also praised his younger brother Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for standing by his side through thick and thin. "Efforts were made to create differences between us but Shehbaz remained loyal to me. Even Shehbaz was asked to become PM in the past and leave me but he declined," he said.

[greensparty]

2024 IFFBoston Wrap-Up

From May 1 to 8, I got to attend my favorite film festival in Boston, in New England and possibly the world, the Independent Film Festival Boston (read my previous coverage here). I have a special place for this festival: in 2014 my documentary Life on the V: The Story of V66 had its World Premiere at the festival, and in 2015 I was on the Documentary Jury. This was one of the best line-ups in a while. There was a common theme from a number of the films I saw (both narrative and documentary) about disabilities, conditions and anxieties. It was nice to see the amount of inclusion and accessibility represented in this year's fest. Here is my lightning-round of this year’s fest:

Wed. May 1:

Sadly I missed the opening night, just stopped by to pick up my badge :(

Thurs. May 2:

I went to the Brattle to see one of the most highly-anticipated movies of this year, I Saw the TV Glow about two teens who bond over their fandom of a mysterious TV show. I caught director Jane Schoenbrun’s last film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair when it was was at the 2021 IFFBoston and while I had a mixed response to the film, I was excited about this new one. Taking place over the course of 27 years, we see young teen Owen in 1996 who be-friends Maddy, a few years older as he takes an interest in the TV show The Pink Opaque, a 90s WB-type series (a serious Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed reference). As time goes on, Maddy leaves VHS tapes of the show for Owen since his parents won't let him stay up for it. A few years later, the show gets canceled and Maddy leaves town. The lines between fiction and reality begin to blur after that. I choose to not give away much more to avoid spoilers. I've thought about this film every day since I saw it and all I can say is OMG - Wow, this movie rocks! Much has been made about how this movie is an allegory for Schoenbrun's own experience of transitioning, but even without that backstory, it is truly the work of an artist who is using film to comment on our relationship with pop culture. There have definitely been times for me as a teen (and since) when I related more to fictional characters than IRL people around me, which is what's being presented with Owen. Schoenbrun is showing how pop culture can be something that brings people together as they sit silently watching a show, while connecting with that show. Whether the show was actually good is another story altogether, but the point is it spoke to you at a time when you needed it. There are definitely parts when this is bowing at the altar of David Cronenberg or Donnie Darko, but when this works, it's on the level of Twin Peaks for a depiction of suburbia not being what it seems. It's also one of the rare times when you see a character return to pop culture that they loved when they were young and when they are older they have a different view of it. As someone who has addressed pop culture and nostalgia in all of my work, it's no surprise that I was moved by this, but it truly is a film that lives up to the hype. Side note: Schoenbrun is receiving the Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award from Coolidge Corner Theatre tonight!

Fri. May 3:

I caught up with some filmmaker friends and press friends at the after-party. Good times!

Sat. May 4:

I caught the documentary The Road to Ruane about Billy Ruane. Let me back up: After my friend Michael Gill passed away in 2022, my hope was that his long in the works documentary about Ruane, the eccentric promoter of legendary Boston rock club The Middle East (actually Cambridge, but a big part of the Boston music scene), would somehow get completed and released. I met up with Gill a few times before he moved around 2017 as I had heard about his doc and there was a lot of overlap with his doc and my doc Life on the V: The Story of V66 in terms of interviewees and subject matter (both of us filmed interviews with Ben Deily of The Lemonheads, Dana Colley of Morphine and Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo and there's loads of overlap with other bands too). I am thrilled to see that co-director Scott Evans completed the doc and it is finally premiered. The fact that the doc features loads of Middle East archival footage and interviews with a who's who of Boston rock got my attention.

Ruane was a Harvard-educated trust fund child (Warren Buffet was his Godfather) and when he stayed in Boston he took to the local music scene and began booking and promoting bands at The Middle East. But beyond the "this band got their start and played there before they were famous" stories (of which there are many) it's really a story of someone who couldn't hide from his family trauma compounded with his bipolar disorder. It serves as a cautionary tale of money can't buy happiness. But beyond just being a tribute to Ruane, it is also a tribute to Gill and his own connection to The Middle East as an employee and with his band The Damn Personals, covered here too. This is a music doc for Boston music geeks!

Afterwards I went upstairs to the Crystal Ballroom for the karaoke party and jury awards!

Sun. May 5:

In the afternoon I caught Tallywacker, which had already won a jury award before the screening. It's a comedy-drama about a two-person rock band Tallywacker. Guitarist-singer Aleister is disabled and drummer Emmett has been his friend and bandmate for 15 years. When Aleister gets a chance to tour with a major rock star he brings Emmett along to help out, but not perform with the band. This, of course, tests the friendship and the band. I out and out loved this movie! It got into the trope of movies about bands, but the trick was that the funny parts are really funny and the dramatic parts were really emotional and the indie rock soundtrack was really good too. There were a lot of films at this year's festival about disabilities and one of the common themes was the need for equality. While that theme is present in this film, it actually brought up an interesting question, which Emmett asks Aleister - are audiences liking and watching you for the right reasons or are you being exploited? It's an entertaining movie with some strong themes and ideas to it!

My friends director Dan Habib and editor James Rutenbeck were at the 2018 IFFBoston with the great doc Intelligent Lives. Now they are back with a new doc The Ride Ahead co-directed by Dan’s son Samuel about his own personal journey to becoming an adult. Samuel, a disabled young person, tells his story of figuring out what's next and making a film about it by talking with other disabled activists and entertainers. Dan is a very gifted filmmaker and it's truly beautiful to see he and his son Samuel open up themselves to share their story with the world. Talent runs in their family!

Mon. May 6:

My friend Mark Phinney’s film Fat was at 2014 IFFBoston when I was there with Life on the V: The Story of V66. We’ve remained good friends since then and this year he premiered his new feature Fear of Flying about a man struggling with his anxieties while trying to maintain his relationships. It is impossible for me to be objective about this film as Mark is a friend of mine and I actually read an early draft of the screenplay and gave him my notes. But I will say this, this is a good example of what a small character-driven indie film can do on a low budget and it has a lot to say about people who live with anxiety and the personal toll it can take and inhibit progress, relationships and career. The cast is solid and Mark made something really personal. Way to go Mark!

Vanyaland's Michael Christopher, director Mark Phinney and the cast/crew of Fear of Flying

Tues. May 7:

The fest moved over to the Coolidge Corner Theatre (one of their new cinemas I might add). In My Own Normal, director Alexandre Freeman turns the camera on himself: living with cerebral palsy since age two he is now an adult about to become a new father and how his parents react to this. My friend Ariana Garfinkel (she’s an IFFBoston alum as well) is a consulting producer on the film. The film gets deep into parenthood and what it is for someone with disabilities to become a parent, a husband and a filmmaker. Truly moving!

Wed. May 8:

The Closing Night film at Coolidge was the comedy Thelma starring Oscar-nominee June Squibb as an elderly woman who is scammed by a caller claiming to be her grandson and goes on a city-wide quest to get back what’s hers. Of all the films I saw at IFFBoston this year, this was easily the lightest and dare I say, most commercial. But there was a charm to it and it's constructed with a lot of the tropes of action movies but adapting them to an elderly cast. I was especially excited to see Richard Roundtree (who passed away last October) in one of his final roles as Thelma's friend who helps her out with his scooter and is also the voice of reason. The cast definitely elevated what could have been a sitcom-ish premise. Watch for it when it opens in June. Afterwards I swung by the party in one of the new spaces at the Coolidge.

me at 2024 IFFBoston

Congrats to all my pals who had films this year and to the IFFBoston team for swinging it out of the park once again!

For info (and ways to support) IFFBoston

[rcox808]

Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024), known professionally as Toby Keith, was an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s.

Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in late 1999. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4× Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.

When DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He had released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun, 2011's Clancy's Tavern, 2012's Hope on the Rocks, 2013's Drinks After Work, 2015's 35 MPH Town, 2017's The Bus Songs, and 2021's Peso in My Pocket, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.

Keith had released 19 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, and 5 compilation albums, totaling worldwide sales of over 40 million albums. He had charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 22 additional top 10 hits. His longest-lasting number one hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13, 2021.

In June 2022, Keith announced that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer at the end of the prior year, having undergone chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery for the past six months. In December 2022, in a press release, Keith said that his battle with cancer is "pretty debilitating".

Keith died in his sleep on February 5, 2024, at the age of 62.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday to the bubbly bonnie Ashley Jensen born in Annan on August 11th 1969.

Raised single handedly by her mother Margaret, Ashley knew from an early age she wanted to be an actress. She grew up glued to British sitcoms, especially Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em with Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer. And after her mum saved up for her to attend the National Youth Theatre in London, the 16-year-old returned home determined to pursue a career on the stage.

Ashley went on to study drama at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh before fulfilling her dream by landing roles treading the boards in London. From theatre she moved into TV, ealy roles included wee parts in City Lights and Rab C Nesbit , and a 1991 film called Tickets for the Zoo, which was set in my hometown Edinburgh, she the started racking up credits in popular dramas such as The Bill, Casualty, Clocking Off and EastEnders. Other Scottsih roles were in Taggart and Rebus.

It was her part as Ricky Gervais’ hapless sidekick in the popular Extras that was to be Ashley’s breakthrough role, though. As well as making her a household name in Britain it also gave her the opportunity to appear alongside Hollywood heavyweights such as Kate Winslet, Samuel L Jackson and Orlando Bloom, all of whom made guest appearances. The part also brought official recognition when she was named both best actress and best newcomer at the 2005 British Comedy awards - accolades which she celebrated in typical low-key fashion with a cod sandwich from a roadside chip van.

Ashley saw fame in the US follow playing the straight-talking Christina in the sitcom Ugly Betty, leading her to relocate to LA and renting a house in the Hollywood Hills. While the role was originally meant to be American, the casting agents fell in love with her Scottish accent and it stayed.

Ashley may be a star in the US now but her feet are firmly on the ground I found this quote from her “Even now I think I might never work again. I’m still a bit like that. I probably always will be, “This from one of her best friends who has a chippy in Annan speaks volumes "She has her head screwed on and won’t be changed by the star treatment.” Recalling a visit to her LA home soon after Ashley relocated, he says: “We were holding hands and jumping up and down. She was shouting, 'Can you believe it? What am I doing here?’.” Ashley’s acting career has seen in her in many shows, my faves include, Catastrophe with fellow Scot Mark Bonnar, Trust Me, with Jodie Whittaker, which was set in Edinburgh, and again with Ricky Gervais in Afterlife, as well as the comedy drama Agatha Raisin, where she plays the title role, a cotswolds-based PR guru turned amateur sleuth.

Tragedy struck for Ashley in 2017 when she discovered her husband, Terence Beesley body at the wheel of his car in the garage at their Somerset home. The couple, who met in 1999 while they were both involved in a London theatre production of King Lear, were married for ten years. A verdict of suicide was later ruled on at the coroners court.

As well as her work as an actress Ashley has narrated a couple of shows recently, Inside The Balmoral: Scotland's Finest Hotel, about the hotel that takes pride of place at number I Princes Street and The Airport: Back in the Skies about London Heathrow.

Ashley was last on our screens in the fantastic two part drama Mayflies, I am looking forward to seeing how she is in the new series of Shetland, taking over as the lead role after Dougie Henshall left.

[ha2na14]

*Ethos, Pathos, Logos*

In this entry, I will examine the critical question(s): What is the main purpose of this artifact's message and how are ethos, pathos, and logos used in this rhetorical artifact to achieve that purpose? Is the way that these rhetorical appeals are used ethically?

To investigate these questions, I examined the acceptance speech by Camila Cabello after she received the “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” at the Billboard Women in Music 2017 as my rhetorical artifact. Camila Cabello uses ethos, pathos, and logos to honor women, specifically her mother, for her contributions to her children’s successful career and life. Overall, this is an ethical speech because she shares the credit by effectively underscoring the profound impact women, especially mothers, have in shaping the lives or success of their children.

Camila Cabello is a famous American singer and songwriter. After she left Fifth Harmony - one of the most famous girl groups in the world, she debuted in 2017 with a solo album and followed with her best single “Havana”, inspired by the name of the largest city in Cuba, where she was born. The single helped her achieve many rewards and be at the top of many record charts around the world and “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” at Billboard Women in Music 2017 was one of them. In her acceptance speech, she expressed a moment of celebration and acknowledgment of her mother’s contribution to her solo success. She highlights her mother as an immigrant from Cuba, arriving with little more than the clothes on her back. She emphasizes the resilience, courage, and perseverance of her mom that enabled her to overcome obstacles. Camila Cabello conveys that, although she stands on the stage, her mother's influence and example are the driving forces behind her success. She praises her mother's qualities with many roles such as a protector, confidant, healer, and best friend. The speech underscores the deep love and appreciation Cabello has for her mother and the importance of recognizing the powerful role that women, especially mothers, play in their children’s lives.

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, introduced the concepts of ethos, pathos, and logos as fundamental elements of persuasive communication in his work on rhetoric. These concepts are essential to understanding how effective arguments and persuasive messages are constructed. James A. Herrick discusses how Aristotle conceptualized rhetoric as the art of persuasion and argumentation. He observes Aristotle’s idea of rhetoric and calls these modes of persuasion “three artistic proofs” (Herrick 78), and their significance in effective communication. He explains these concepts are “logos or arguments and logical reasoning, pathos or the names and causes of various emotions, and ethos or human character and goodness” (78).  Logos is the logical or rational appeal of an argument. It is based on using evidence, reasoning, facts, and structured arguments to support a claim or persuade an audience. Logos appeals to the audience's intellect and their capacity for logical thinking, which separates us from natural animals based on Aristotle. Pathos is the use of emotional language, storytelling, and vivid imagery to evoke feelings, empathy, and passion in the audience. Pathos is employed to connect with the audience's emotions, making them more receptive to the message and influencing their decisions and actions. Ethos refers to the ethical or moral character of a speaker or author. It is an appeal to the audience's perception of the speaker's credibility, trustworthiness, and expertise. In persuasive communication, ethos involves establishing the speaker's or writer's authority on the subject matter, demonstrating honesty and integrity, and fostering trust. 

First of all, Camila Cabello uses ethos appeal to appear as a pious and humble woman by dedicating a big reward to her mother and showing how important her mother is in her life. After receiving the award, she stated “I'd just like to say the only reason I'm standing here on this stage, in this auditorium, and on this soil, in this country, is because of one woman, and that's my mom. Tonight, we're celebrating women of this year, and I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to the woman of my life” (0:16). By using the phrase “the only reason,” Cabello immediately underscores the central role her mother played in her success. She already proved that she has talent by receiving this award but her whole speech was about her mom. This phrase emphasizes her humility and gratitude while positioning her mother as the key figure in her life. In addition, by referring to the event as a celebration of women, Cabello aligns her gratitude with the theme of the awards ceremony. She emphasizes her mother's significance as a representative of all women to connect her personal message to the broader context of honoring women's contributions to support their children’s achievements.

Secondly, Cabello uses a narrative about her mother coming to a new country with her desire to provide a better future for Cabello as a pathos appeal to encourage her audience to feel inspired to overcome obstacles and work toward a better future. She says with a shaking voice “She came to this country from Cuba with nothing but her clothes on her back for me. Breaking through doubt, breaking through fear, literally breaking through barriers. and when I hear the word perseverance when I hear the word love it has a face and it's hers” (0:40). Cabello highlights her mother's courage and selflessness by noting that she arrived in a new country with very little, symbolized by “nothing but her clothes on her back.” This emphasizes the immense sacrifice her mother made to provide her with a better life. Her mother decided to overcome the difficulties in a new country to secure a better future and obviously helped Camilla Cabello become a successful and kind artist. This description of the journey evokes inspiration, touch, and pride from her audience for what she's achieved and what her mom has sacrificed for her. These emotions suggest a powerful motivation that doubts or fears should not hold one back and they should break through all the challenges and take risks to pursue their aspirations. Again, she connects the award she just received “Breakthrough Artist” with the repeated term “breaking through” to remind her audience that the theme of the award is honoring women, especially all the mothers who have done everything just to bring a better future for their kids

Finally, Camila Cabello uses logos appeal with a logical structure of evidence and argument to highlight her mother's guidance and support as a model of good parenting, ultimately honoring women as influential figures for the success of their children. She states “She tells me the only way to live life is to live it intensely and she showed me whenever you are the most afraid that's when you got to make the jump. So you might see me up here on the stage tonight, but behind me backstage, looking at me right now, hi, Mama, I have the most incredible example of what it means to be a woman. An unstoppable storm, a healer of heartbreak, a protector, a confidant, a therapist, a psychic, and my best friend” (0:57). Cabello begins by sharing the life lessons and wisdom her mother has imparted, such as “the only way to live life is to live it intensely” and the advice to “make the jump” when you are most afraid. She values her mother’s guidance and applies it in her life to grow up and gain achievements as the public perceives. Her words not only celebrate her own mother but also serve as a broader tribute to women in the role of mothers. She goes on to enumerate the various roles her mother plays in her life, using phrases like “an unstoppable storm, a healer of heartbreak, a protector, a confidant, a therapist, a psychic, and my best friend.” This enumeration serves as evidence of why Cabello really believes in her mother's advice. It logically supports the claim that her mother embodies the qualities of a good parent. The statement she makes when she claims that all the things her mother has done are “the most incredible example of what it means to be a woman” reinforces the idea that her mother has had a positive effect on her life and has had a major influence on her development as a successful artist or daughter. It also serves to empower women that they are powerful, supportive, and multi-talented.

In general, this is an ethical speech as the speaker underscores the importance of recognizing and appreciating women's roles, which is also suitable for the theme of the scene she’s standing to speak: Women. Throughout her address, Cabello expresses deep gratitude and admiration for her mother and, by extension, for all women and mothers. She acknowledges the pivotal role women play in the lives and successes of their children, emphasizing their contributions. Besides that, she not only attributes her success to her mother but also extends this recognition to all women. This sharing of credit demonstrates humility and acknowledges that individual achievements are often intertwined with the support and sacrifices of others, particularly mothers.

In conclusion, Camila Cabello's acceptance speech at the 2017 Billboard Women in Music awards is a moment of women recognition and empowerment. The speakers effectively use Aristotle's concept of a persuasive speech with ethos, pathos and logos to achieve her message's purpose. Cabello appears on the stage as a humble artist through ethos, shares personal story about her mother, the only person qualified to be a woman in her life, to inspire audiences to face challenges and break through barriers to pursue their goals, and connects her love to her mother to the appreciation of all the women in the world. Her main purpose is to highlight the importance of good parenting and women’s role, especially mothers, in raising children, shaping the right direction to success for their children.

Works Cited

Herrick, James A. “Aristotle on Rhetoric.” The History and Theory of Rhetoric, 2013, pp. 69–81, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315664019-10. 

YouTube, 1 Dec. 2017, https://youtu.be/C7LN_szqUmc?si=GX_-IEYcoR2tzD-1. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023. 

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To The Most Hottest & Alluring Talented Algerian Actress, Dancer & Model On The Planet

Hailing All The Way From Algiers, Algeria 🇩🇿

She was born in the Bab El Oued district of Algiers, Algeria, to an architect mother and a jazz musician father, Safy Boutella. Her brother, Seif, works as a visual effects artist in the entertainment industry. Her surname means "the men of the mountains". She was raised in a fairly secular household that cultivated artistic expression and creativity. She described her childhood as a happy one, stating that she was "blessed to be born into a family that allowed me to express myself, to be myself and let out all sorts of colours that were living in my imagination and in my heart."

Her breakthrough as a dancer came in 2007, when she was picked for the Jamie King choreography for Nike Women's "Keep Up" campaign, serving as a role model of femininity and hip-hop. This was a major boost to her career and led to more work alongside stars like Madonna, in her Confessions Tour, and Rihanna. She credits her work with Madonna for helping her learn English.

She successfully auditioned for the Michael Jackson This Is It concerts but could not attend due to the extension of the Madonna tour, whose dates coincided with the Jackson tour. She was the main character in the music video for "Hollywood Tonight" by Michael Jackson in February 2011.

2014, after 12 years as a dancer, She sought a career in acting. Initially, she purposefully avoided auditioning for lead roles, wishing to play supporting characters so as to learn from more experienced actors. In 2015, she appeared in her first major film, Kingsman: The Secret Service, which jump-started her career as an actress. One year later, she appeared as the alien warrior Jaylah in Star Trek Beyond, released on 22 July 2016.

In 2017, she portrayed a French secret agent in the David Leitch film Atomic Blonde, which also featured Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman and Toby Jones.

The same year, she played the titular role in

THE MUMMY

Please Wish This Rising, Mesmerizing & Totally Far Out Algerian Actress, Dancer, & Model A Very Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

MS. SOFIA BOUTELLA 🇩🇿