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emilysn2019-blog · 5 years

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We love Tanuki, Japan’s magical scrotumonster. Or more accurately, scrotum-monster. If you’re unfamiliar with Tanuki, the Japanese raccoon dog, perhaps you thought these ubiquitous character statues are just a weird thing we are into. Although in fairness, if you are familiar with Tanuki, there’s an even greater chance you thought it was a weird thing we’re into.

For the uninitiated, Tanuki is a real animal–the aforementioned Japanese raccoon dog. More importantly, Tanuki is a key figure in Asian folklore and art. He’s a magical, shapeshifting creature that is mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise, and throughout history has transformed from evil to benevolent. In the words of Al Gore (probably), Tanuki is half raccoon, half dog, half fox.

Oh, and Tanuki has giant scrotum with special powers that signify the ability to stretch money and bring good fortune. That’s right, Tanuki has huge balls with their own magical powers. If you follow Sarah or me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen the above critter in our stories, along with a slew of different odd hashtags expressing our affinity for Tanuki…

If you have not seen these, we post them pretty much daily when we’re in Japan. Here’s just a few of our Tanuki selfies from the last couple of years:

Now, I realize this is a family site that you all trust to educate and culture your children, but any conversation about Tanuki must encompass his scrotum, and that’s a tall order, because they’re so danged big.

If it assuages you, it should be noted that Tanuki’s mammoth scrotum is said to have nothing to do with his sexual prowess or proclivities.

Apparently, the Japanese term for ‘small ball of gold’ (kin no tama) is very close to a term for testicles (kintama), and there was confusion about this in creating in early representations of the character.

Japanese artists had so much fun depicting Tanuki’s testicles in various situations–including stretched out as a rescue parachute and lifeboat–that it just sort of stuck. (For further reading about Tanuki’s history, here’s a pretty comprehensive resource.)

I have no clue to what degree that origin story is accurate, but I love it.

I’ve always been a sucker for folklore, and there’s something especially delightful about the existence of legitimate works of art older than the United States depicting a raccoon dog using his scrotum to save lives.

It’s also quite amusing that no one in Japan, a sexually conservative country, bats an eye at the prevalence of Tanuki.

There are children’s songs about him (and his testicles), television commercials of Tanuki swinging his CGI balls, depictions of Tanuki making music by drumming on his large sack, ‘larger than life’ statues dotting almost every block in Kyoto, and a literal Tanuki Temple in Tokyo (the statue pictured below is from the temple).

Tanuki is so engrained in the culture that he and his giant balls are just taken for granted. I can’t think of any analog in American culture.

I mean, it’s safe to make certain assumptions about Paul Bunyan, but that’s just something that we all tacitly understand, and no one talks about it.

Despite American culture being among the most sexually suggestive in the world, the United States is still, at its core, fairly conservative about sexuality.

I doubt public depictions of Tanuki would ever be accepted in the U.S. due to his scrotum, and it wouldn’t even surprise me if some adults are taken aback by the photos and text in this post.

The beauty of Tanuki is that even though his features are very much overt, he’s innocent and pure. He symbolizes generosity, cheer, prosperity, and nothing even remotely sexual.

I’d hazard a guess this is part of why Tanuki is so popular–he’s a bringer of good fortune, but there’s also a certain understated stupidity to it all–he’s goofy, bizarre, and fun.

This is the basis for our enthusiasm of Tanuki. Although the tone here is tongue in cheek (how could it not be?), we find depictions of Tanuki, his folklore, and his prominence to be very interesting.

In ways, he seems at odds with Japanese culture, and in other ways, totally at home in it. I wouldn’t say we have reverence or respect for Tanuki, as there’s an underlying sense of immaturity to our interest, but it is sincere. We find his place in Japanese culture to be truly fascinating.

One day we were hiking in Ohara, a rural area in the mountains north of Kyoto. We passed by a small shop on the side of the trail selling Tanuki figures.

We always stop for this sort of thing, and were elated to find that a medium-sized Tanuki was only 2,000 yen. We had exactly 2,000 yen on us, which would’ve been perfect…had we not needed bus fare to get back to the city.

From that point on, we got serious about acquiring a Tanuki figure. It’s not that they were difficult to find–a number of shops in touristy areas of Kyoto carry them–it’s that we believed there must be a wholesale purveyor of Tanuki figures selling them for significantly cheaper prices than the stores in tourist districts.

My dream was to purchase a life-sized Tanuki figure. Since I have no clue how tall Tanuki is “in real life,” what I mean by that is one as tall as me. It’s totally impractical, I know, but I think it’d also be pretty awesome.

Logistically speaking, I’m not even sure how we would’ve gotten it home, but in the comical scenario I envision, Tanuki would’ve sat in an empty seat next to us on the return flight.

I knew we’d actually end up settling for a smaller one, but held out hope that somehow we’d find an gigantic one for an inexpensive price, and could have him shipped to us.

Suffice to say, we put a lot of effort and (too much) time into finding a Tanuki to adopt. I researched Japanese hardware, home improvement, and outdoor goods stores, and we visited several in Kyoto, all to no avail.

We also made a special trip to Kappabashi Street in Tokyo, where we did find a store specializing in Tanuki, but it was laughably overpriced.

Anyway, this story is entirely in past tense because we’ve completed our quest for Tanuki. One day while wandering in the Arashiyama district of Kyoto, we decided to stop at Kotouen, a ceramics store we had passed many times before (in fact, there are a handful of photos of its life-size Tanukis in past posts here).

Previously, we had stopped in Kotouen but the prices of the giant Tanuki figures gave us sticker shock. Out of options, we decided to do a more thorough search this time. It turns out that Kotouen is actually a fairly reasonably priced shop with beautiful goods. (It’s located between Jojakkoji and Nisonin Temples–you’ll walk right past it during our 1-Day Western Kyoto Itinerary.)

After a bit of browsing, we found a smaller Tanuki that was reasonably priced–at least compared to prices we had seen in Tokyo, or even Gion and Higashiyama.

The price coupled with “adopting” our Tanuki from a shop with which we were familiar made it a no-brainer. We had to do it.

And so we did. It was really exciting, and the shopkeepers went to great lengths to build a custom box for our Tanuki so he would fit in our carry-on suitcase. (On the flight home, almost everything else in Sarah’s suitcase was relegated to a checked duffle.) It was a joyous occasion, and we took turns carrying Tanuki all around Kyoto that day.

Now, our Tanuki lives on a shelf that’s also fittingly home to books about Kyoto and Japan. And now you know more about Tanuki, and our obsession with the magical little guy, than any normal person should!

If you’re planning a trip to Japan that includes Kyoto, we recommend that you start by consulting our Ultimate Guide to Kyoto, Japan to plan all aspects of our vacation. You should also check out our other posts about Japan for ideas on other places to visit!

Your Thoughts

Have you seen Tanuki figures in Japan? Wondered what they were, or why they’re so popular? What do you think of this heroic little guy? How many Tanukis do you own? Any thoughts or tips of your own to add? Any questions about what we’ve covered here? Does visiting this spot in Kyoto interest you? Hearing about your experiences—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

The post A Tribute to Tanuki: Japan’s Magical Scrotumonster appeared first on Travel Caffeine.

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segadores-y-soldados · 8 years

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Soldier: 76 Fact Sheet, References, and Some Analyses

Alright, so this is a list of facts, ideas, and analyses based on: 1) current issues or hypothesized trajectories for history, 2) confirmed Soldier: 76 lore and personal history, and 3) confirmed Overwatch timeline stuff. Note that all of these can change since Blizzard basically says “fuck it” and changes their lore every three months. Some of these are analysis-based; stuff that is hypothesized/headcanon/food-for-thought status will be denoted as such. Some NSFW language and swearing is included. Also some political and social hypotheses and interpretations.

Main article: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/19809396/

Other resources:

Reaper Art Assets

Reaper References

Reaper and Soldier: American Cultural References

Here we go:

Indiana:

This is by no means an exhaustive list of stuff about Indiana, but these are basically quick soundbites for people who want a jumping off point.

Bloomington, Indiana currently has a population of about 90k in the city proper, and about 180k in the metropolitan area. It’s not a massive city by any means, but it’s not some small country town either.

Bloomington is a “college town”: it has the most populated public university in the state.

This means that just under half of the population is roughly young, college-educated adults and students.

“Bloomington is a regional economic center anchored by Indiana University and home to a diverse business community involved in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, technology, health care, and the arts. Bloomington's concentration of employment in the life sciences is six times greater than the U.S. average, and employment in the technology sector has grown by over 80 percent in recent years.” - Wikipedia

In heavy contrast to this, Indiana is currently the meth capital of the U.S. Indiana is also currently facing a massive heroin and HIV epidemic.

And I’m not talking that “glamorized Breaking Bad” shit.

Things could’ve stood a chance of improving before the U.S.’s new Vice President and former governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, royally fucked over many of the state’s social structures and services.

Read this: https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/53c313/mike_pence_says_his_role_model_for_vice_president/d7rxk07/

Read this too: http://www.idsnews.com/article/2017/01/indiana-opiod-problem

Let me reiterate: Mike Pence fucked up Indiana so hard there’s a fucking HIV epidemic in parts of the state. He bullied a female elected official out of office. He cut funding for fucking preschools. He destroyed Indiana’s energy system.

Now imagine being Jack Morrison, born probably in the next year to 7 years, living in the aftermath of this.

Watching business cut positions, watching people pursue higher education in your home city, but knowing that every other person in your school has a family member who got ruined by meth or HIV or struggled to make ends’ meet. Roughly 40% of the people in your home city are young adult students attending the largest public university in your state. The city is predominantly politically liberal. Your state is struggling. Your country elected the man who helped devastate it into the White House. You grow up in the aftermath of a Pence governorship and a Trump presidency.

“On the rare occasions when I cross paths with other living souls, they describe young Morrison in different ways. He was a rambunctious youth. A humble, salt-of-the-earth farmer's son. But these people all agree on one thing: Morrison was never destined to live out his days in the land of rolling plains and deep blue skies. At eighteen, Morrison packed his bags and joined the military. He had planned to serve a brief stint in the armed forces and then return home to the family farm, but his work ethic and courage caught the eye of the military brass.”

Military:

Canon: Jack Morrison joined the military at 18 years old and was eventually brought into the Supersoldier Enhancement Program.

There, he met Gabriel Reyes and the two became best friends.

Analysis: I have a hard time believing that Reyes would’ve been friends with Morrison if he’d been a huge jerk or ultra politically conservative.

Gabriel Reyes grew up in LA, which is by and large liberal within the metropolitan area.

This may be unknown to many people, but California is EXTREMELY CONSERVATIVE outside of the majority cities. Even within the majority cities, you are likely to encounter people who are NOT liberal on a regular basis. The odds of Gabriel having never met “a conservative individual” are literally less than zero.

However, the odds of Jack being “politically and/or social conservative” are also pretty damn low. Naive possibly, but Jack “being shocked” over crime, drug problems, gang violence, cultural differences, or urban lifestyle stuff is less likely than I think many in the fandom realize.

So it’s not exactly an age-old tale of “young, naive, wide-eyed man from the Midwest meets a hardened, sarcastic, street-smart man from the urban jungle,” although that is what Overwatch lore wants to portray it as. When you dig a little deeper, things get more complex.

Omnic Crisis:

Jack was probably the only member of the First Strike team to double as a medic. This is evidenced by him carrying Biotic Fields as both Soldier: 76 and Strike-Commander Morrison.

Ana’s Biotic Rifle was not invented until sometime later, after Angela Ziegler (Mercy) had joined Overwatch. We know this because of the released blueprints of the Biotic Rifle with notes by both Torbjörn and Angela (the blueprints are addressed to “J. Morrison” and “G. Reyes”), in which Angela expresses concerns about the “weaponization” of her biotechnology.

We also know from concept art and the first “Ana” comic that Ana functioned primarily as a regular sniper before the development of the Biotic Rifle.

This means that Jack probably performed most of the healing in the field and during battles for the majority of the Omnic Crisis.

Analysis: this may be one of the reasons why the United Nations considered Morrison to be the “heart and soul” of the First Strike team: “Leadership of Overwatch fell to Reyes, but Morrison would have a greater impact on the group in the long term. He brought out the best in the people around him and helped mold Overwatch's diverse (and sometimes conflicting) agents into a cohesive fighting force. In unity, they found the strength to defeat the robots and end the Omnic Crisis.”

Hypothesis: this may provide a lore-based reason for why Solder: 76 always announces the deployment of his Biotic Fields to his teammates in-game.

Overwatch:

Hypothesis/Speculation: I find it INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE that Gabriel Reyes would continue to work for an organization - more specifically, to under Jack Morrison - for another twenty years if he truly hated it. I take this bit of “canon lore” with a massive pinch of salt.

Timeline: It is very likely that the first major playable character hired by Jack after he became Strike-Commander is Mei-ling Zhou, probably for her breakthroughs in climatology.

Jack almost certainly approved of the “hiring” of other playable characters like Jesse McCree and Genji Shimada, even with all the problems and issues surrounding them.

Jack probably recruited Angela Ziegler (Mercy) to be the head of the medical sciences division at Overwatch.

Jack probably saved, rescued, or assisted Winston after his escape from the moon colony.

Jack almost certainly had a familial relationship with Fareeha Amari, given their in-game interactions and the Ana Origins video.

Jack and the other early members of Overwatch canonically participated in Halloween parties where they all dressed in costumes.

It is implied by the same Halloween comic that Gabriel Reyes designed the uniforms for Overwatch, probably including Jack’s Strike-Commander uniform.

Canon: Jack liked Old Western films.

Probable Canon: Jack has been to many different places around the globe - all the known Watchpoints, and likely all the U.N. Headquarters as well. As Strike-Commander of Overwatch, he may have spent a considerable amount of time in New York City, which is where the main U.N. Headquarters are located.

“Strike Commander Morrison envisioned a bright new future for humanity. Under his leadership, Overwatch served as a global peacekeeping force and an engine for innovation, making advances in scientific fields as varied as space exploration and medical research. But even as Overwatch grew in power, Morrison stayed dedicated to the people around him. He trained new agents, instilling in them Overwatch's noble goals and ideals. At Morrison's memorial service, Reinhardt Wilhelm, one of the group's original members, said, "He devoted everything he was to Overwatch. He was our moral compass. Our inspiration. Our friend."”

Analysis: Jack Morrison was dedicated to helping develop the betterment and progress of humanity through medicine, technology, and the sciences.

Contrary to what Reaper says in the “Old Soldiers” comic, Jack did not actually deliberately leave Ana in the field. In the “Ana” comic, Ana chooses to turn off her comms and chooses to continue pursuing the enemy sniper. The last thing Jack says to her is “Everyone, move! Ana, you too! Evac’s on its way! Wheels up in two! Now beat feet! Disengage, Ana! That’s an order -” (emphasis from comic).

Given all the controversies around Reaper and how long he has “existed,” it is important to point out that Gabriel/Reaper blames Jack for a very specific event, probably the event where he became Reaper (although when specifically this event occurs is...well, debatable, I guess). This is described in the Old Soldiers comic through direct dialogue from Reaper. Ana removes Reaper’s mask and asks “what happened to you…?” (probably about whatever his current appearance is), and Reaper replies: “He did this to me, Ana. They left me to become this thing. They left you to die. They left me to suffer… ...Never forget that.” (emphasis from comic itself).

Food for Thought: there is no mention of the promotion or anything related to it in the Old Soldiers comic, which implies that perhaps the decision was actually not as big an issue between Jack and Gabriel as stated (or as other people thought?). In fact, there’s no mention of the promotion in any of Jack or Gabriel’s lines, dialogue, or character interactions. At best, Gabriel throws some shade through lines like “Finally, some recognition.” but neither character actually mentions the issue directly, nor do any of the others.

Hypothesis: it is entirely possible that the “problems over the promotion” have been largely dropped from the “lore,” and Old Soldiers more closely represents “the new direction” Blizzard is moving towards with regards to the Jack-Gabriel rivalry, split, fall-out, fight, battle, whatever you want to call it.

Post-Fall/Soldier: 76:

Canon: Soldier considers “a part of himself” to have died in the Swiss Base explosion (Origin video). It is not stated what “part of him” that is - take it as you will.

Canon: Soldier does not consider himself a “vigilante”: “Truth is...I’m just a soldier.”

Canon: Soldier: 76 is canonically anti-corporation. This is evidenced by his personal investigation into LumériCo, as well as him breaking, entering, and vandalizing corporations and financial institutions in the U.S.: “A masked vigilante whom authorities have named "Soldier: 76" is considered the prime suspect in these incidents. In addition to bombing corporate offices and financial institutions in the United States, this individual has breached a number of former Overwatch bases. Soldier: 76 has stolen valuable technologies from these sites, including experimental weaponry, causing untold damages in the process.”

Analysis/Hypothesis: Given the current state of Indiana and U.S. national politics, the above bullet point is not particularly surprising.

Canon: Soldier: 76 is anti-gang or anti-crime-organization. Just...watch Hero again or something. But also consider that Soldier has the line “Reyes should’ve cleaned up the Deadlock Gang a long time ago,” said with mild frustration that the Deadlock Gang still exists.

Canon: Soldier: 76 does not want Overwatch restored. This is demonstrated by his Gibraltar lines, and his new interaction with Winston. He considers Winston’s actions “illegal” and “breaking the law” - “same as me.”

Canon: Soldier: 76 does have many memories of Gibraltar - “they weren’t all bad.”

Canon: Soldier: 76 feels “terrible” for all the scientists of Overwatch (Ecopoint Antarctica specifically). He has a new interaction with Mei, where he says that the frontlines of the battlefield are no place for a scientist. Mei teases him as a retort, saying, “I guess it’s a good thing I have you to watch my back.”

Analysis/Hypothesis: Mei recognizes who Soldier: 76 is and is referencing the fact that Jack hired her, and watched over her progress.

Canon: Soldier: 76 has numerous voicelines about activating a Biotic Field, all of which are directed at his teammates. He never activates a Biotic Field for himself (although as a Soldier main I can tell you that I absolutely activate Biotic Field for myself 95% of the time. The other 5% of the time is for the tank. On extremely rare occasions, I have activated Biotic Fields for friendly DPS or Defense units who stay close to me or ask for healing from me).

Canon: the worst “insults” that Soldier has ever said about Reaper is that he’s a “bad guy” and “kind of a jerk” (on the flipside, Reaper’s sitting at a solid “boy scout” as his only insult for Soldier).

Canon: Reaper addresses Soldier by the name of “Jack” in Old Soldiers. The only other character to do this is Ana (on the flipside, the only two characters to call Reaper by the name “Gabriel/Gabe” are Ana and Sombra).

Alternate (?) Canon - Junkenstein’s Revenge: Immortal: 76 “does not care for the nobility” but is siding with the lord of the castle to take down “a common foe - The Reaper.” He tells Hanzo that The Reaper is “the worst kind” of monster there is - “a wicked man.”

Alternate (?) Canon - Junkenstein’s Revenge: Immortal: 76’s faith is in science and alchemy as “the things that keep him alive.” In an interaction with McCree, McCree states that “pumping someone full of chemicals and electricity and whatnot” makes the individual “not a man, but a monster.” This is a reference to Junkenstein’s Monster, but also to Jack and Gabriel “in the main canon,” who were “pumped full of chemicals” in SEP.

Alternate (?) Canon - Junkenstein’s Revenge: Ana describes that Immortal: 76 “attracts strange companions” - “just as it has always been.” This is yet another reference to Jack assembling Overwatch’s diverse crew during its peacetime era.

Interpretation: While some of Soldier’s interactions can be seen as patronizing, I believe it’s more likely that he is strongly concerned for characters like D.Va, Tracer, and McCree. As shown with the Mei interaction, he comes across as gruff or harsh, but well-meaning. His other interactions with Ana and even Reaper to an extent show that Soldier is extremely tired, jaded, and possibly depressed from the wars he has waged - both physical and political/social - and that he likely does not want to see young people get drawn into similar situations.

Hopefully people keep finding these little essays and fact sheets useful. I’m less familiar with the Midwest than the West Coast, but I figured it was useful to throw down some pointers for people who may not know where to start. I also hope that condensing a lot of the “lore” around Jack Morrison/Soldier: 76 helps people get hone in on some key characteristics and ideas about him.

#soldier 76 #jack morrison #my essays #my writing #references #resources #I know people have liked the other ones #sorry this one gets so political #but I've seen people trying to make Jack into some ultra conservative asshole #or some bitter patronizing jackass #and it's frustrating to me because canonically #Jack isn't like that at all #the man helped lead the world to peace #he valued diversity and unique viewpoints above all else #he prioritized hiring doctors and scientists and visionaries before anything else #let the old man rest #let him be happy

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hermanwatts · 5 years

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Sensor Sweep: The Night Land, Fritz Leiber, Scott Oden, Viking Prince

Horror Fiction (Too Much Horror Fiction): Known for penning the novel The Night of the Hunter upon which the classic 1955 movie was based, Davis Grubb (1919-1980) was a West Virginia native well-versed in the pride, poverty, tribulations and superstitions that were endemic to that region. This collection of short stories ranging over 20 years, Twelve Tales of Suspense and the Supernatural (paperback edition from Fawcett Crest, June 1965) includes some Weird Tales works as well as tales first published in popular magazines like Ellery Queen, Nero Wolfe, Woman’s Home Companion, and Collier’s.

Science Fiction (Classics of Science Fiction): The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson is not the kind of book you can recommend people rush out and buy. It is legendary for being difficult to read, and many consider it boring and tedious. However, The Night Land is one of those cult classics that have inspired a selective group of writers and readers. I had no trouble listening to an unabridged audiobook edition of the book that was just over eighteen hours long. I think hearing it rather than reading let me appreciate the archaic style Hodgson developed for telling his story.

Science Fiction (Strange at Ecbatan): Fritz Leiber was born on Christmas Eve in 1910. He died in 1992. One of my favorites among his novels, The Sinful Ones, and its earlier version, “You’re All Alone.” The Sinful Ones had an odd publication history. It began as a novella called “You’re All Alone”, slated for John Campbell’s fantasy companion to Astounding, Unknown. When the World War II paper shortage killed Unknown, Fritz Leiber had to abandon it.

Publishing (Kairos): Some significant context: digging under the following data points turned up that it predominantly applies to oldpub. In that regard, they make for a pretty accurate snapshot of oldpub’s readership ca. 2014. What do we find?

Women prefer to read books written by women.

Men prefer to read books written by men.

Women read more fiction than men–about four times more according to some sources.

Women like reading new books more than men do.

Pulp Magazines (Wasteland and Sky): Welcome to our final installment of this short series on Ron Goulart’s Cheap Thrills history of pulp book. Even though it has only been three entries, we have been through much. But now it is time cover what I believe the majority of the readers of this blog have the most interest in.

In this last entry we will cover the concluding three chapters of the work, hopefully leaving us with one last impression of what the pulps were truly about. In the previous post I discussed the majority of the book to show just how many similarities there were between the old and the new, and how heroes and hope were the mainstays of the form.

Fiction (DMR Books): Sax Rohmer exploded onto the pop lit scene in 1913 with the publication of The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu—published in the U.S. as The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. Sax’s tale of the machinations of the “Devil Doctor” was an instant sensation. Rohmer would write two more Fu-Manchu—or “Fu Manchu” as it came to be spelled—novels in the next four years. He wouldn’t write another such novel for nearly fifteen years, but the impact of those first three reverberated for decades.

Comic Books (Broadswords & Blasters): Most Sword & Sorcery fans consider “Crom the Barbarian” by Gardener F. Fox and John Giunta (Out of This World #1, June 1950) the first true S&S comic. One can make the case that even earlier was the Prince Valiant comic strip back in 1937. This strip by Hal Foster influenced everything that came after. Prince Valiant follows the adventures of a knight in Arthurian times, has an encounter with a dinosaur and a witch. Does that make it S&S? Not really since the bulk of the strip isn’t supernatural but a costume drama. Fox’s Crom is truly a Howardian pastiche like no other.

Old Science Fiction (Pulp net): Captain Future, published by Thrilling (aka Ned Pine‘s Better), was probably its third most-popular pulp hero and possibly the only explicitly sf pulp hero. Editor Mort Weisinger developed the idea for the character, but main author Edmond Hamilton took that idea and turned it into Captain Future. Most likely people today would remember him from the poster in the TV series The Big Bang Theory, which is a blowup of one of the pulp covers.

Sherlock Holmes (The Passing Tramp): In January 1959 madly prolific Wisconsin author August Deleth (1909-1971), the so-called sage of Sauk City, wrote in a column in the Madison Capital Times about a recent query he had had from a reader that had obviously hit home. Late in the previous year he had published The Return of Solar Pons, his latest volume of adventures about Solars Pons, a detective who had started off as a Sherlock Holmes pastiche but taken on a life and (admittedly much narrower) following of his own; and the Derleth reader in question had written Derleth questioning why the author spent so much time on these stories, when he was “certainly capable of better things.”

Westerns (Brain Leakage): The Benteen name was the one Haas used when writing the Fargo series, about professional soldier of fortune Neal Fargo. Taking place in the early 1900s, the Fargo series sees its hero traveling around the world, taking dangerous jobs for money. A rough wanderer with a talent for fighting, Fargo has been described by fans of the series as “Conan with a shotgun.” And that’s pretty damn accurate. Alaska Steel is #3 in the series, but like all good pulp or adventure fiction, you can read them in any order.

RPG (Emperor Ponders): I recently read a Twitter conversation about high-level cleric characters in D&D and their effects on the game, and I thought about writing something on that. But as usually happens, I can’t tell the difference between things I have already written or just things I have thought about, because as it turns out, I already had a post about this very same thing.

Gaming (Rlyeh Reviews): If you are of a certain age, then you will remember Apocalypse. Not the ‘Apocalypse’, but Apocalypse: The Game of Nuclear Devastation, a board game published by Games Workshop in 1980 in bookcase format along with Valley of the Four Winds and Warlock. It saw generals fighting for territory in a near future Europe in conflicts that would quickly escalate into nuclear confrontations and inevitably, nuclear devastation.

Pop Culture (Walker’s Retreat): I’ve said plenty on Corporate IP ownership, and that the quality of Corporate-owned pop culture productions depend greatly on the adherance of to a concept of stewardship. If a regime holds to it, you get good stuff. If not, you get trash. Regimes turn over, so this can happen to IPs in a cyclical format. For reasons I won’t go into here, the regime that control the Gundam property have been more good than bad about being stewards of the property in the last decade and as Gundam’s 40th anniversary goes on we’re seeing this continue. The below is from the GundamOfficial channel on YouTube.

History (Didact’s Reach): The Kings and Generals channel on YouTube features a great many superb videos on many historical figures, battles, and civilisations of the past, with a distinct focus on military history. One of the best videos out of the bunch – and given the quality of their catalogue, that is saying something – is about the legendary Roman general and military commander, Nero Claudius Drusus (or Tiberius Claudius Nero – it is not quite clear exactly what his true birth name was). We know him today as Germanicus, one of the few truly unsullied heroes of the early Roman empire. His wars against the Germanic tribes, and the way in which he comported himself in these wars, is worthy of study.

Author Interview (Paint Monk): If you’ve been following Marvel’s re-acquisition of our favorite Cimmerian for the past year, then you’ve probably already caught on to one of the shining highlights of an otherwise uneven relaunch of Savage Sword of Conan — Author Scott Oden’s brilliant novella, The Shadow of Vengeance. Set after Robert E. Howard’s “The Devil in Iron” (Weird Tales, August 1934), Oden takes us on a breathtaking adventure of daring and swashbuckling sword and sorcery that is immediately reminiscent of Howard’s legendary writing.

Fiction (DMR Books): Being out of town, I stopped by a bookstore/newsstand. There was Bard II. I was familiar with the protagonist of the novel, Felimid Mac Fal, from a Keith Taylor story in the classic Swords Against Darkness II. The Maitz cover was gorgeous and the blurbs sounded cool, so I bought it. It was a rainy day, so when I got home, I proceeded to dive into Taylor’s book. As is usual with the Bard novels—as I learned later—it starts in media res, with a full-on sea battle in progress by the second or third page.

Sensor Sweep: The Night Land, Fritz Leiber, Scott Oden, Viking Prince published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

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ronnykblair · 7 years

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10 Years of Running This Business: My Top 10 Red-Pill Truths

Ten years ago this week, I officially launched M&I.

If you do a quick survey of your friends, acquaintances, and co-workers, you probably can’t find anyone else who has held the same job for 10 years.

Which makes me lucky, insane, or a bit of both.

To put the time in perspective, I started out when Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns still existed, and when Donald Trump was best known for The Apprentice.

The first iPhone had been released months ago, everyone was incredulous at Facebook’s $15 billion valuation (it’s now worth $500+ billion), and people were certain that Hillary Clinton would be the next President.

And I was young, naïve, and eager to quit my job and live the dream running an online business from a beach in Thailand.

Since then, I’ve taken the red pill.

I’ve launched products and services, hired and fired people, survived crazy relationships in both New York and Korea, and traveled and lived around the world.

And I’ve I learned some uncomfortable truths in the process.

I came up with dozens, but here are my top 10:

1) If You’re an International Student, Watch Out! Universities Are Exploiting You

There has been a massive increase in the number of international students at universities in the U.S., U.K., and other Western countries over the past decade.

Universities might claim they’re doing this to “embrace diversity” or “go global,” but don’t be fooled: It’s mostly about the money.

International students in the U.S. are not eligible for most government aid, so students must pay close to the list price – which means they either come from wealthy families or borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Many universities, especially in the lower tiers, are in dire straits financially, so they need the money. It’s a match made in heaven.

Just one small problem: It is very difficult to get a work visa after graduation, especially if you majored in a non-STEM subject. And even if you do get a work visa, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get to stay in the country indefinitely.

So, you apply, accept admission, pay a small fortune… and then get sent back after graduation.

To get around this, you need to start early and major in a STEM subject, attend a Master’s program and do the same, or give up and return to your home country.

2) The Fundamentals of Recruiting Don’t Change, But the Details Do

The truth is, not that much about finance recruiting has changed, despite what random 18-year-olds say online.

I just glanced at my emails from 2007-2008, and there were a lot of questions about networking, winning interviews from an unknown state school, overcoming low grades, and moving into banking as a career changer.

And today… the questions and comments are virtually identical.

Even in the reader interviews I conduct, the accounts of networking and interviewing at banks have stayed consistent over the years.

The top three points that have changed are:

Candidate Pool – Banks can no longer get “the best and the brightest” because finance jobs have become less appealing. Smart and accomplished people from top schools still go into the field, but the average quality is lower.

Timing – Summer-internship recruiting and buy-side recruiting now start so early that it is almost comical; these early start dates partially explain why banks no longer get the best candidates. If this trend continues, banks will soon be recruiting summer interns from elementary school, 15 years in advance of internships.

Required Technical Knowledge – You need to know significantly more about accounting, valuation, and financial modeling to win offers these days, particularly at the elite boutiques.

These points may seem significant, but think about how much has not changed:

Your story is still critical, and you still tell it in a similar way.

Technical questions still cover the same topics.

You still use emails, LinkedIn, and informational interviews to network in the same way.

I have been revising and updating articles on this site, but that’s mostly because I didn’t capture everything correctly the first time around – not because there have been massive changes.

3) Your University Friends & Network Are Incredibly Valuable… But Only Up to a Certain Age

I’ve lived and worked around the world in the past decade: South Korea, Australia, Argentina, Finland (kind of), Spain, and more.

But I’ve made almost no long-term friends in these places.

Almost everyone in my current social circle is from university or is connected to it in some way (friend of a friend, referral, etc.).

In school, you don’t need a specific reason to become friends with someone, which makes it easier to develop friendships “just because.”

Once you graduate, friendships tend to become more situational and transient.

You might become friends with someone at your new job, but once the person leaves, that’s it.

But the network you develop in school tends to withstand work and geographical changes more readily.

On the other hand, it also gets weaker over time as people settle down, have families, and drift into new fields.

So, you need to replace lost connections and develop a non-university network as you get older.

I’ve done a poor job of this, so I’m not sure I have any specific tactical advice.

But I have observed that “work friends” tend to disappear more quickly than others, so a starting point might be to depend more on activities/hobbies and less on co-workers.

4) Don’t Build a $5,000 Product for a $500 Market

One of my biggest mistakes, detailed in Part 5 of my Life Story, was taking the financial modeling courses and guides I created in 2009-2011 and revamping them to make them 10x more detailed.

Each new case study was based on a real company or deal, and there were SEC filings, press releases, industry research, channel checks, and more.

There were 32-page stock pitches, 50-slide pitch books, Excel models with thousands of rows, and 100+ hours of video.

And… no one cared.

Crickets.

I made the mistake of listening to a vocal minority who wanted “more advanced material” rather than the vast majority who simply wanted efficient training.

Also, I ignored the ugly truth that most people who buy educational products – even expensive ones – do not use them.

We get customers who pay $1,000 or $2,000 and then don’t even open the files or submit their resume/CV for editing.

And if someone does use the product extensively, he/she still tends to value brevity more than 543,123 hours of training.

More comprehensive products don’t necessarily sell better; people are willing to pay a certain amount for certain products/services, and “quality” is tough to define and use as a selling point.

I’m now reversing this mistake by replacing the courses with shorter, simpler versions, but I should never have gone down this path in the first place.

5) Don’t Hire Friends, Family, or Acquaintances

Almost all my hiring mistakes have happened because I hired a friend, a friend-of-a-friend, or an acquaintance rather than a professional.

If you run a business, you may be tempted to hire someone you know because “He/she would be great, and you already know him/her!”

But as Admiral Ackbar might say, it’s a trap!

People you already know personally tend not to respect you as an authority figure, and they often drag personal issues into the job.

One time, I hired a friend to do some design work in the early days of M&I, and he was 6 months late finishing the project because he was busy with his new band.

Another time, a friend I had hired in a customer support role couldn’t answer questions because his roommate locked him out, and he had to use an ax to force open the door.

No joke – he sent me the photos of the broken door.

You get the idea.

You could make a case for co-founding a company with a friend, family member, or acquaintance, but stay away from hiring them as subordinates.

6) If Customer Service is Killing You, You’re Doing Something Wrong

You read a lot of stories about “customer-centric” companies like Zappos killing it because they are responsive and willing to chat with you on the phone 24/7 to resolve problems.

I followed a similar philosophy a long time ago.

I used to kill myself staying up until 3 AM fixing customers’ Excel files, answering every incoming pre-sales question, and even offering phone consultations.

If someone wasn’t happy with even one small part of the product, I went out of my way to please them with free bonuses, services, and my own time.

But eventually, I realized it was all pointless:

80%+ of Customers Don’t Even Ask Questions: There are about 34,000 active BIWS accounts and ~13,000 submitted questions right now. Even if you assume that each question is from one unique customer, 62% of our users have never even asked a question. And the real percentage is much higher – probably 80-85% – because the same 5-10 users tend to ask questions repeatedly.

Fewer Than 5% Ask Questions Before Buying: Yes, even with products priced at $197, $497, $997, and $1,497, we get relatively few questions. Be skeptical of people who claim you “need” to do phone or in-person sales above a certain price point.

The problem with the “Zappos approach” is that someone with complex or demanding requests is unlikely to be satisfied by any response.

You can go out of your way and spend hours attending to the problem, and the person will still not be satisfied because he/she is inherently a difficult person.

So, why bother?

“Customer service” might be a differentiating factor in a commoditized business (online shoe sales), but if you’re selling highly specialized or luxury products/services, don’t kill yourself.

Get the offer, the pricing, and the marketing right, and provide competent-but-not-Zappos-like service afterward.

7) The Facts Don’t Matter – Only the Story Does

When I started this site, I had a serious problem: I knew the industry, and I was confident I could coach clients and teach the technical side, but I had zero credibility.

I was very young, and in real life, I didn’t come across like the stereotypical banker at all.

I seemed more like a tech/startup person, and people sometimes didn’t believe I was in finance.

So, I did what any good storyteller would do: I invented a new identity (“The Inquisitor”) that was better aligned with the market.

If I could demonstrate my competence with content and client results, my actual credentials and qualifications – or lack thereof – wouldn’t matter.

Early articles made it sound like I was Patrick Bateman crossed with Jordan Belfort from The Wolf of Wall Street.

I never gave detailed information about myself because I wanted you to come up with your own story about me.

Any story that you create and tell yourself is far more powerful than any story that I could tell you.

It worked!

Back in 2008-2009, many visitors assumed that I was an anonymous Director or Managing Director at a large investment bank.

Anyone who read between the lines and beyond the lines was skeptical, but this is the Internet: Critical thinking is an endangered species.

The usual reaction was: “He has a ton of helpful, in-depth content. Judging by this content and my interactions, he must be an experienced banker who knows this stuff really well.”

To get around my lack of formal credentials and qualifications, I relied on the story.

And if you want to get ahead, so should you.

8) Raise Prices

When Tim Ferriss interviewed Marc Andreessen on his podcast, he asked him the famous “billboard” question:

Tim Ferriss: “If you could have one billboard, anywhere with anything on it, what would you put on it? If you wanted to convey a short message to as many people as possible.”

Marc Andreessen: “I’ve got one, I’ve actually thought about hiring a skywriter to do this one. Right in the heart of San Francisco would be a billboard with just two words on it: Raise Prices.”

Pricing is the #1 mistake that startups make.

It’s certainly one of the top 2-3 mistakes I’ve made.

And it’s almost always the same mistake: Entrepreneurs price their products and services too low, which sets the perception that their products and services can’t be any good.

Then, they can’t afford the sales & marketing required to sell them… and when nothing sells, they cut prices again, making their products look even worse and even harder to sell.

Here are my top pricing mistakes:

Industry-Specific Courses: Initially priced at $97, even though competitors’ courses were in the $497 – $997 range. I should have started at $247 or $347 at the very least; when I finally increased prices to $247, units sold increased!

Interview Guide: Started at $47, went to $97 after a year, and stayed at $97 for almost a decade, even as the content and services multiplied. When we raised the price to $197 in June this year, the dollar volume of sales increased by 2.5x.

Releasing New Versions for Free: When Microsoft releases a new version of Office, do you get it for free? No! You pay for an upgrade, or you get it as part of an annual or monthly subscription.

If I could go back in time, I would fix everything above and gradually increase prices over the years.

9) Make Your Money Early – But Not Too Early

As I’ve written about before, money affects you in unexpected ways.

Coming from a lower-middle-class family and graduating from university with over $100K in student loans, I’ve become more isolated as I’ve gained wealth.

It’s difficult to relate to friends and family members who are struggling to earn more when I have the opposite problem (money, but almost no free time).

But… I’m much happier to be in this position than the “I’m in my mid-to-late 30s, don’t have a stable career, and don’t have enough money” position.

Once you reach that age, it becomes difficult to amass significant wealth with conventional methods.

Careers like investment banking, consulting, and private equity are shut off, so your main options are to start your own business, join a VC-backed startup and win the lottery, or start a side hustle such as real estate.

Those sound nice in theory, but your free time and motivation drop as you get older.

Having kids will annihilate your free time, but even without them, you’ll get sucked into more family/legal/other issues, you may develop health problems, and your day job will get busier with age.

So, if your goal is wealth, act on it when you’re young.

But there is one corollary: Don’t make too much money when you’re too young.

Most of my friends and acquaintances who hit the jackpot by working at companies like Facebook or Google in their early 20s haven’t done much since then.

Making millions or tens of millions at that age is like entering a cheat code in a video game: You win the game, but the boss battles are boring.

It’s good to struggle, fail, pivot, and change because it makes the journey more interesting and the final boss battle more rewarding.

As a rough guideline, I’d say that 20 years after university graduation is a good time frame to target for “financial security.”

I won’t define that term precisely because it means different things to different people.

At that point, you could downshift and focus on family or double down and feel secure enough to start another venture.

10) Don’t Stay in the Finance Industry for the Long Term

You could still make a strong case for starting out in investment banking and spending a few years there.

You gain a well-defined skill set, a solid network, and client/transaction experience that will be valuable everywhere.

But the long-term industry prospects have become much worse – everything from compensation to automation to the increasingly-under-pressure hedge fund/asset management/private equity industries.

Plus, you do nothing useful for the world.

Most of your work involves making rich people even richer, so you arguably make the world worse.

There are occasional exceptions, but they are few and far between.

The only good reasons to stay in finance for the long term are:

You Care About Money and Nothing Else – For example, $1 million is not enough; you need at least $10-20 million, or you’ll be a failure.

You Find the Work Legitimately Interesting – If you enjoy the process of digging into financial statements, wining/dining clients, or advising on deals, then sure, knock yourself out.

Another 10 Years?

As you can tell from the tone of this article, my enthusiasm has declined quite a bit.

I could explain that in many ways: Worsening market conditions, sillier and sillier questions, less rewarding interactions, and increased time spent on minutiae.

But the simplest explanation is often the best one: Ten years is a really long time to spend on one job, especially when that job barely changes.

I don’t necessarily want to quit, but I do expect to change the format of this site in the future.

For example, I may delete the less-popular articles, focus on keeping the top 100-200 updated, and occasionally write something new.

The good news is that I’m more interested in expanding/improving the BIWS courses, so you’ll see updates there far into the future.

I could see that lasting for another decade – even if M&I, in its curren from ronnykblair digest https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/10-years-top-10-red-pill-truths/

#ronnykblair digest

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