#My desire to create a “your favourite has vices!” Blog | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

7wanderingpaws · 5 years ago

Text

He Loves Love

Pairing: (cocky) Baekhyun x reader

Genre: drabble

Warnings: none

A/N: this is just something that came out after the whole magazine thing........... I dont know. If you could leave a feedback I would be increadibly grateful but I know it is too much to ask! Anyway, stay home and drink water everyone please!

Edit: There will be a TWO-PART story for this drabble, so if you are interested, keep an eye on the blog! 💕 Thank you for the feedback!

“It is being said you had many girlfriends,” you stated looking him straight in the eyes, not afraid to call him out on gossips that have been roaming around for a while now. The forever pure, innocent face of his had to be saved somehow, and you were willing to give him a helping hand by denying the rumours.

That was, of course, only if he would accept.

Which, he did not.

“Oh, I did have many girlfriends,” he replied calmly, a glint in his eyes as he sat back more comfortably. Slightly, he bent his head, looking at you from behind of his lashes curiously, ready to give you the fruit you did not ask for. “And I loved them. Every one of them. Oh, so dearly, so passionately. I still could tell you their favourite food or favourite clothing. Whatever it may be, I sure know it. I know my women well.”

There was no chance you would give him the luxury of physically showing him what you were actually thinking, and what you desperately wanted to do: stand up, slap him and leave. But the cameras were rolling, lights were on, strong and shiny, the exact opposite of your own weak and dull being. You couldn't leave and he knew it, too. He knew you so well, just like he insisted he knew all his previous lovers. Despite all of this, he wanted to gift you something - your interview, your chance to shine and make yourself known as a good reporter, good writer for the fashion magazine you had been so diligently working for. A writer that just won a prize by getting information that no one ever was successful enough to get.

Was he really doing this for you?

As soon as the pages would be in the printer, the world would know. Surely, nobody could keep this a secret and wait till the magazines hit the shelves of the newstands. Somebody would sneak a picture of the interview, upload it… And the bomb would go off, taking him down. Hm, who could you trick? His managers and assistants - everyone present from his company - were trying hard not to go mad, instead going behind the rolling cameras and showing him hand gestures to stop the bullshit he was pulling.

Nobody must know.

“Mhm, how about you tell me about your favourite piece of clothing?” you resumed, easing the tightening of your hand on the notepad that was lying on your thigh as you were sitting cross-legged on the uncomfortable chair opposite him. “Since the highlight of the photoshoot is the collaboration with high-fashion brands, there has to be something incredibly rare in your wardrobe that you like so much to wear.”

Before answering, he licked his lips, still giving you a curious stare that by now had a knowing glint to it - he knew what you were doing, and he was trying not to show the slight disappointment. He liked to play, especially with someone like you. Someone, who was so unreadable it made his open-minded self go crazy; that was, of course, back when he just saw you and could know you through a simple “hi” and through a very hasty “bye”. He couldn't have you the way he wanted although he could instantly tell the raging want behind your shy eyelashes. A raging want that you were denying so hard and he didn't understand why when the attraction was present.

“Well…”

“We are so late,” murmured your colleague Hyeri, a senior to you, a simple intern who was trying hard to make it into the fashion magazine and trying to graduate school. At that time, you also had another wish: for the fashion magazine to offer you a job once you graduate. That was how it worked for the people who were successful in Korea. Mostly. So getting scolded, being commanded, controlled, told what to do (but not be told HOW to do it correctly), what not to do. You have gotten so used to it you might have forgotten the creative freedom that you were always craving for when interviewing an interesting person or writing a short story into your shabby notebook. “And we are getting so scolded,” continued Hyeri as you were already inside the building, fast-walking through reception.

You braced yourself unknowingly, staring into the marble floor ahead of you, ready to face something you have gotten used to until you and Hyeri ran into somebody to whom Hyeri immediately bowed almost 90 degrees. You followed, immediately.

“Oh, hello, Baekhyun ssi!” she hurdled, an immediate blush steady on her foundation covered cheeks. “So nice to see you here after years!”

“Hello,” smiled the famous singer, his eyes falling on a very surprised, innocent face of yours. “I don't think we collaborated before, have we?” he asked you, bowing slightly, the polite person he was.

Gulping, you shook your head. “No, we have not.”

“She is just an intern,” spoke Hyeri at the same time, not even sparing you a glance.

Baekhyun, the singer, looked back at your colleague, his eyes shining. “I suppose she is going to be one of you guys.”

Understanding this conversation about you did not include you anymore, you decided not to talk. “Maybe. It depends how she will do in her tasks.”

Baekhyun once again looked at you, not showing his surprise at how your face remained unaffected by Hyeri's words nor his strong presence. “I am sure she will do well.”

Managers urging him to take his leave, while giving you apologizing smiles, made him give you a final bow. However, this time, ignoring Hyeri completely, he looked you in the eyes. “I shall see you soon. I will wait for you until you make it.” Wink.

“Sure, there are many pieces I adore. But how I like to categorize them is what matters to me. I believe clothes can bring you luck, or vice versa. Maybe the first loves could be about the colour red - passion, love, complete desire.” You took in a deep breath, slowly, so that the raising of your chest can go unnoticed by a prying eye. “Then there could be the colour yellow, right? With this one I would also categorize the textile. Hm, cotton. Safe, deep, incredibly enriching feeling when you are enchanted by someone you cannot stop thinking about. I categorize my clothes as I do the women I spent time with.”

How did he manage to turn the conversation around and go back to the forbidden territory was beyond your common sense, but this was nothing to be shocked about anymore.

Just like him, you also knew your Baekhyun. Not through clothes, but through his mind-

“Then, there is my utmost favourite one: the cream, the vanilla and the cashmere. Gentle and purely sensual. Oh, yes, my favourite one,” he smiled at you, his face dreamy as he remembered the just mentioned textile sliding down your body, pooling around your feet as it finally gave way to his wandering hand. When he finally touched you, when he finally kissed you and you allowed him, reminding you that he knew you would make it...

...make it into his heart.

And he also knew you would make it where he knew you wanted to be badly. The magazine, the writer, the creator.

So now, he wanted you to create him, to re-create him, because that was who he was and he wanted you to be the one to do it.

Baekhyun loved love.

In all forms.

And now it was your turn to shine, and he would make sure all the spotlight is yours, even when it was about him.

#baekhyun fic #baekhyun scenario #baekhyun one shot #baekhyun imagine #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun au #baekhyun fanfic #baekhyun fanfiction #my writings #exo fanfic #exo fic #exo scenario #exo one shot #exo imagine #exo au

179 notes · View notes

jrenvs3000 · 4 years ago

Text

Personal Ethic as a Nature Interpreter

Here we are, delving into our last blog posts of the semester! I have truly appreciated this course for so many reasons. Sharing perspectives and ideas about nature interpretation and the beauty of this marvelous planet with my classmates has really inspired me. It has been exciting to read about all of our unique experiences and I do feel as though it has allowed me to view aspects of nature in new ways.

In order to describe my personal ethic as a nature interpreter, I must start out by stating my core personal ethics that I carry with me in my daily life. These are as follows: compassion, empathy, kindness, honesty, dedication, respect, responsibility and fairness. These are the values I actively strive to live by every day, and certainly try to bring forth into my role as a nature interpreter. As a wildlife biology and conservation major at the University of Guelph, some of my greatest love and passion is found within nature. I have a strong desire to learn all I can about the animals and plants with whom we share this planet, and in doing so I hope to play a significant role in environmental sustainability and education.

I believe that we as humans have a profound responsibility of preserving and honouring the creatures we share the earth with. Nature is their home, and though we all enjoy its beauty, it is essential that we take our knowledge as nature interpreters to do our absolute best to care for it. I have always had a great deal of empathy for wildlife, from little bugs to majestic eagles. I also love plants, and I feel connected to nature each time I am out in the world and take the time to look around at the world of greenery around me. I love using plant identification apps on my phone to learn about new species and share this information on the apps so more people can learn of the whereabouts of these species! It is so incredible to bring people together through a love of nature. The same goes for birdwatching, which is another activity I really love. I love tagging the location of birds I see in nature so it can provide data for others to share. In case anyone is interested, I really enjoy “Seek” by iNaturalist for plant identification, and Merlin Bird ID from Cornell Lab of Ornithology for birdwatching. It is always exciting to hear a familiar call of a favourite bird when out enjoying nature, and sharing this information with people who are with you.

The Black-Capped Chickadee (30 seconds)

(A 30 sec clip of a black-capped chickadee from Hinterland Who’s Who- you can learn so much in half a minute!)

Reviewing the main questions continually asked throughout this course, I believe it is relevant now to answer them on a personal note.

Who am I as an interpreter?

I am an advocate for wildlife, their habitats and trying to bridge a connection between nature and humans in order to create a better world.

2. Who is my audience?

My audience is people of all ages who can contribute in a meaningful way to wildlife and their environment. As mentioned in the course, kids always seem like the most impactful audience because the influence we can have when they are young and learning about the world can stay with them for the rest of their lives.

“Whether you introduce a child to a pileated woodpecker, you provide tools to allow them to make safe decisions when on a hike with friends, or something else, you are offering a spark to be fanned and developed” (Hooykaas, A., 2021

3. How can I make this experience meaningful?

My experience as a nature interpreter, as a steward of the earth, can be made meaningful by making connections with others. In forming connections with other people and educating each other, holding each other accountable, and speaking for the voiceless (ie; nature), this experience can be extraordinarily meaningful.

I feel a great deal of responsibility in my role as a nature interpreter. As a young woman who is incredibly passionate about our natural world, I know my education is a privilege and a tool in my belt that can be used to connect people to nature. It is a circle, the importance of wildlife to people and vice versa. Humans take comfort in nature in order to recharge, whether that be out birdwatching, hiking, or canoeing. On some level, we all take comfort in nature and amongst our beautiful wildlife. However, wildlife really depend on us to ensure their survival based on how we value them and their habitats, which we coexist in. Wild animals are so important to us, not only on an emotional level, but their wellbeing is also a direct correlation to the health of our ecosystems and even our economy (Hinterland, n.d). Education is power, and the responsibility of teaching fellow Canadians about our natural world is one I am more than happy to take on.

Hinterland Who’s Who from the Canadian Wildlife Federation, courtesy of Environment and Climate Change Canada has an incredibly informative website regarding the importance of wildlife, and I will include it in my citations for anyone who is interested to read!

Some statistics from this particular page made me a little bit emotional. As we all know, working and studying in the field of nature interpretation, can be very daunting and sometimes feel hopeless. When we are constantly bombarded with news of environmental destruction and loss, it feels like we are fighting a losing battle. However, I will share these statistics in this blog post so at a glance it may lift your spirits a bit to see just how many Canadians truly care about our natural world!

-14.5 million Canadians (70 percent of the population) participated in wildlife-related activities around their residence or cottage. These activities included feeding, watching, studying, or photographing wildlife. Some 6.6 million people put out special feed for wildlife.

-3.9 million people made trips or outings whose primary purpose was to enjoy wildlife.

-1.9 million Canadians belonged or contributed to wildlife organizations.

-17.7 million Canadians (85 percent of the population) took part in activities such as watching wildlife films or television programs, reading wildlife books or magazines, visiting game farms, zoos, aquariums, or natural history museums, or purchasing wildlife art, crafts, or posters.

(Statistics Canada, on behalf of the Canadian Wildlife Federation)

As I have come to realize, the approaches to nature interpretation that are most suitable to me are those that are hands on and directly helpful to nature. Throughout my hopefully very long career in wildlife research and conservation, I plan on learning more about our beautiful natural world and making it a better place.

A final note, I want to thank everyone so much for a great course! I feel like I have learned so much about myself and others and my perspective of nature interpretation has broadened so much.

Citations

1. Seek by inaturalist · inaturalist. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app

2. Hinterland who's who - benefits of wildlife. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.hww.ca/en/issues-and-topics/benefits-of-wildlife.html#:~:text=Wildlife%20is%20important%20to%20natural%20processes&text=These%20ecological%20processes%20are%20essential,and%20by%20preventing%20waste%20accumulation.

3. Merlin Bird ID. (n.d.). Home page. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

4. HinterlandWW. (2010, March 23). The Black-Capped chickadee (30 seconds). Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjl9MUojYzY&t=30s

#final blog post!

3 notes · View notes

givenchyic · 5 years ago

Text

To be frank, we cannot deny the alluring lustre that Paris and French Culture has on us a society. Is it the quintessential cobbled streets with the utopian French shutters and curling iron balconies? Is it the dreamlike rosy haze of hopeless romance that fills the air or the nonchalance of gestures and attitude that pervades French culture, enchanting us because it is so mysterious? Is it the delicate lilt of the French tongue that curls softly around the drunken red grapes of merlot, the soft oozy camembert and fresh hot fluffy baguette?

All these sensual things and fragments are what culturally, and yet stereotypically, epitomises being French. And that stereotype, or perhaps archetype, is something that I will gladly have and gladly bite into.

But why is this the case? Why are we a partisan of the Parisian? The unmistakable allure and fantasy has gripped me for years.

I first visited Paris when I was a child and I was enchanted by how beautiful it was, and it continued to excite me for years to come. I had dreams of myself moving there, travelling around on a pink moped, fall in love with a Parisian artisté, and live in a quaint airy apartment overlooking the Seine. It inspired me to take French at GCSE (even though I was better at Spanish), because I simply wanted to learn the language of fashion, the language of love, and the language of sophistication.

Sadly, as I found French quite difficult and I had natural talents in other subjects, I didn’t pursue French to A-Level, but it is something that I would love to take up again, alongside learning Italian. I dream about getting married in a French Chateau, eating my weight in brie, and possessing that effortless character that all French women seemed to have. So much so, that after my first breakup I bought the ‘How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are’ book so I could ‘reinvent’ myself.

This fascination with French culture pervaded throughout university and afterwards too. I dedicated a whole chapter in my dissertation to Victorian Paris Fashions and the French Fashion Industry. I still gravitate towards anything remotely Parisian or French themed including that I chose to go to Paris again this year for my birthday (which was my 4th visit), and I will most certainly want to go again in future.

Plus, throughout my current job as a content executive for a digital marketing agency, I try to slip in Paris and French culture anyway that I can in blogs that I am writing for various businesses. From tips to transform your home into a Parisian apartment or choosing which fashion capital to move to – it is safe to say that I am hooked.

Brief History of Fashion and France’s Strong Relationship

Yet, I couldn’t help but wonder – why does this fascination occur, and I am certainly not alone in this. Fashion simply loves the French and vice versa.

Paris and France have been the cradle for fashion and art movements since the 17th century. from Louis XIV’s to Marie Antoinette’s ostentatious displays at Versailles to the entire reconstruction of Paris in the 19th century. Paris was rebuilt after the French revolution favouring the romantic ornate buildings and large boulevards which invited the French to easily stroll down the streets and look in shop windows – thus first developing the laisse-faire stereotype. Then came the invention of shopping malls like Le Printemps, which started to flourish at the time that mass produced fashion became the norm. Generally speaking, these shopping malls were considered safe spaces for women to frequent outside the home. As women being seen alone on the streets, no matter their class, would create associations with prostitution as they were subjected to men’s advances. Therefore, this was something that women tried to avoid, so they spent a lot of time shopping in fashion malls or doing domestic tasks.

Then came the establishment of Parisian haute couture houses in the 19th and 20th centuries from Charles Frederick Worth to Chanel, hereby transforming the fashion industry and making Paris the epicentre of design. Plus, this was combined with the fact that by this point Paris was being frequented by multiple artists and writers – attracted to its allure. Overall, making Paris and France the place to be for creatives – whether you are an artist, designer, writer, thinker or poet. All of these historic changes and shifts has not only cemented Paris as a fashion capital, it’s inhabitants take the same status too.

Below, this lil blog of mine will take a closer look as to how today we still love French ‘\culture and design. From the romanticising of the beautiful apartments to French sloganed tees, we will explore this conjecture as to how you can become French without uttering more than ‘Bonjour!’ or ‘Salut!’.

French Sloganed Tees

Though we are not obviously French, we can at least pretend to be wearing a French sloganed tee. Though, it wouldn’t quite be the same if we saw a French person walking around with a sweatshirt with ‘London’ or ‘Angleterre’ – which we have to admit, has some undeniable Brexit undertones. With that in mind, we still relish in anything French sloganed, simply it because it references a culture that is more sophisticated, more fashionable and cooler than us. Below is my pick of my favourite French sloganed tee’s that I probably already have in my basket.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

French Girl Style

Is it the slightly unkempt hair, the half tucked shirt, or the natural smokey eye from 4 hours sleep – one cannot put a finger on it but we all desire to have French girl style. It is the balance between putting effort in how you look, but at the same time – not at all. So, what is this? For me, this encapsulates the classic jeans and a nice top, the wrap dress, and the power suit. As mentioned in the ‘How to be Parisian Wherever You Are’, it simply states the following:

‘you don’t have to spend a decade’s worth of salary on your wardrobe, or flaunt designer brands the whole time. All you need is one signature item: the one you wear when you feel strong.’

I also interpret this as the subtle nuances of accessories – from the straw hat or beret, to the dainty mary jane, classic Veja trainers or a slung over the shoulder Longchamp – these all for me is the must haves for cool French girl style. Below are some of my picks from high street retailers that possesses je ne sais quoi factor.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I hope you have enjoyed reading a little insight into not only my love, but fashions love for Paris. Perhaps you will notice this trend more and more now whether you are shopping in Cabot Circus or Park Street in Bristol, to Oxford Street or Selfridges in London, just like our ancestors used too.

Molly x

DISCLAIMER: All photos, unless stated, are not owned by myself and are credited to the relevant shops and websites. Go to their website to purchase their products – simply type in the name of the product (same as the caption of the image) and voila!

Websites and shops used in this blog post

& Other Stories

Topshop

ASOS

Verge Girl

Rouje

Weekday

Bershka

Whistles

A Partisan of the Parisian – The Allure of French Culture and Design To be frank, we cannot deny the alluring lustre that Paris and French Culture has on us a society.

#Fashion Blogger #lifestyle blogger #paris #paris fashion #paris fashion blog #style blog #style blogger #travel #travel blog

1 note · View note

sambart93 · 7 years ago

Text

2017.12.14 Adekan 2 [Review]

I was so excited to go and see this! I was surprised how small the theatre ended up being! I thought 12th row would be like the middle of the threat but turned out to be the second to last row! But even though it was a smaller venue, the boys felt so much closer to us! The stage everything felt really close which is gooood!

CAST and CHARACTERS

Sakurai Keito as Yoshizawa Shiro Mikami Shun as Yoshizawa Anri Suehara Takuma as Yamada Koujiro Tanoue Marina as Mutsukuchi Hayashino Takeshi as Tachibana Shinzou Noda Hirotaka as Wakabayashi Kenichi Kano Kazuma as Yugami Murata Hisashi as Sakura Haruto Kato Ryosuke as Uchiuma Akito Ensemble: Okada Agasa, Yoshino Teppei, Osawa Shinji, Takashi Yukiya and Akama Hide

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: If you thought the last one was nose-bleedy and sexy enough, WAIT until you see this one! Oh my! I don’t remember the first one having THIS much nakedness, this much implied sex, this many kisses nor these many moans! It was so bad! Seriously, we girls in the audience.. some people DID squeal because some parts really did get you hot and sweaty. BUT past all the sexiness, there’s actually a really good story and a heart-touching one too; we all ended up crying by the end of it! I was weeping like a baby by the end. This was a lot of fun, very sexy, but also has a real solid story. I really have no qualms or complaints about this one ^_^ Rating: 8/10

SPOILER REVIEW

Where do I start with this.... the story I guess? I’m a little fuzzy on the details but I’ll try my best:

STORY

There has been a series of people being killed and decapitated near a run-down community. Shiro goes to investigate and discovers it’s a community of ex-convicts or simply people who want to escape their past. The owner of the community accepts everyone and anyone, and makes it a rule that people don’t pry in others business when it’s not wanted; he’s not interested in what they did or might have done so long as everyone is good; everyone deserves a second chance, is the life lesson he’s living by. And of course his brother Anri gets involved a long the way and part of Shiro’s past comes up.

DONE! Without getting into all the spoils >.<

Now for the real spoils!

So Anri goes undercover to find out what’s happening at the community as well as Mutsukuchi experimenting on people and turning them into abominations; one also being the culprit who's taking people and decapitating them because they have the desire to eat human flesh. During one of the fights, Shiro gets seriously injured but luckily an old friend (Sakura) and his comrade (Akito) turn up to help him - they too have come to Shiro for help.

But it turns out Sakura just wanted to manipulate and take Shiro's power; when he turns on Shiro and tries to cut off his arm, Anri is too late to help but ends up using his power in order to save Shiro's life. It's implied that Anri's body has gone back to that of a child in order to help save Shiro, but it's never revealed or confirmed.

I'll leave the rest to surprise you.

The ending is what makes it though; the old man of the community, Yugami, had taken Anri in and taken a liking to him, but after he learns that Anri was just manipulating and using him, he starts to doubt his life and feels like leaving because so many in the community see him as this god-like leader. There is one character who is a super old man, who goes to visit Yugami every day to show him his flower, and at the end of this scene while Yugami is having his real down moment and yelling 'I am not a god! What do these people want from me! It's better if I die! Kill me! Kill me! There is no point in me living any more! Kill me!!!' the old man just walks on stage and finally, his flower has bloomed (this is where I started balling!) and he had come to show him but he over hears all these. When Yugami realises the old man heard everything, he's distraught, but the old man tells him that he wanted to show him the flower everyday, it doesn't matter what he did, he gave the old man a new way of life so now it's time for him to give Yugami meaning in his life too. I am not doing this scene justice at all because it's just heartbreaking and heartwarming all in about the space of 5 minutes. It's one of my favourite scenes from the stage.

Other favourite scenes would be:

This also relates to my favourite character which is DEFINITELY Wakabayashi, the Mousou King. He is absolutely hilarious! He essentially daydreams about having sex with Shiro all day, but because it's only in his head and his imagtination, he claims he isn't gay xD he is absolutly hilarious and kudos to Keito because during Wakabayashi's first scene Keito is literally naked on stage bar a metal disk that he's holding to cover his private area. And then Wakabayashi gets behind him and starts thrusting and the doors close as Shiro starts seriously moaning. It was a very raunchy scene! And then another scene with Wakabayashi is actually a higawari/daily-change scene when he meets Sakura and suddenly he's like 'Oohhh Yamada and Sakura together?!'. The day I went he gave three commands; The first was that Yamada puts his head on Sakura's lap, and the second; turn the other way so his face is in Sakura's crotch and grope his chest, to which Sakura started moaning, and the final command; to nozzle their noses. He left them to do it for like a good minute and Yamada was like 'can we stop now? Can we stop?!' and Wakabayashi was like 'nah, I'm good. Keep going ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... okay that's enough' I'm pretty sure the actors hated him after xD I know Murata wrote on his blog that he was embarrassed and is always worried every show for that scene because he doesn't know what Wakabayashi is going to say >.<

Another scene I loved was with Tachibana. Just after Anri infiltrates and gets in with the community leader, Anri is left in his room and he opens the side wall and BAM Tachibana had been eaves dropping. He tries to get through the small square in the wall but really struggles. Eventually he does. On his way out he struggles again and ends up going back through butt first xD

Another great scene is when Mutsukuchi is telling off Anri but he doesn't want to deal with responsibility. She tells him to get out and he says something like 'okay I'll go and strip!' and goes down the aisle and starts taking his kimono/cloak off. BUT before that scene, Anri enters from the right side door and approaches a girl on the either and tells her to touch him, and to touch him more but Mutsukuchi turns up and tells him to stop xD

However, one scene that really hurt my heart though is towards the end; I really liked Sakura and Akito, even when Sakura turned on Shiro, I still liked him (blame it on the actor-biasness). BUT THEN(!!!!) he turns on Akito and kills him!! He tells him that they were never friends, that all he even did was manipulate him into doing Sakura's bidding! But after Akito is dead, Sakura says 'the last part (he said he hated him) was a lie'. But you can't completely blame Sakura because in ANOTHER scene, we see him stripped of his upper clothing and is getting whipped to crap by his dad! So clearly there's abuse and mental issues there with Sakura -- I hope Shiro can save him in the next stage. But I am SO upset Sakura killed Akito! I wanted more gayness and adventures with them two! They were a great pair =[ I was so shocked at him betraying Akito.

Going back to the sexy things that happened: There were so many kisses! There were some between Anri and Akito. Another between Anri and Mutsukuchi which shocked everyone and especially after the kiss where he so softly saying 'I really do like you'.

Now to character/acting points:

Of course Keito did a great job as Shiro! He definitely went all out this time! It takes guts to go all out naked on stage with nothing but a metal disk covering your parts, and he did look do a few times to make sure he was completely covered! Of course, the fight scenes he was in were great too! In fact all the fact scenes were great!

I really liked how this time Yamada has trouble trusting Shiro and vice-versa and it creates a distance between them. Yamada really struggles and he has a moment where he's like 'Am I even Shiro's friend?! I don't even know anything about him!' but luckily they finally meet up again towards the end and it's a beautiful moment of 'yes these two were always friends. How could they not be!' ^_^

Speaking of fight scenes; there's one moment where he's fighting against Sakura and he does his signature 'crotch in the face' pin down xD Poor Murata >.< it was fabulous haha Also I'm now super interested if he really meant it to Mutsukuchi when he said he liked her. Because it was a proper kiss and everyone went silent in shock and the way he said he liked her sounded so serious and true.

I really liked Murata in this and his character! Naturally, I appreciated the shirtless whipping scene even though it sounded super duper painful. Also the fact that his weapon is a damn whip!! OH YEAH!! xD But still(!) he's freaking switch-a-ro and betraying his friend was a huge shocker1 But damn he better be back in the third stage!! And I freaking LOVE his outfit! And fighting in THOSE heels?! DAMN! xD

Also Kato did a great job as Akito too! I am so upset we won't be coming back though -- or at least it seems like it! I really, really liked his and Sakura's relationship. Also the fight scene where he just kept getting kissed was hilarious too!

I have nothing else left to say except GIVE ME A SECOND LIVE AND/OR A THIRD STAGE ASAP PLEASE!!!

GOODS

Even the goods are riskee o_O

And we’re done! I’m super excited to see which higawaris made the DVD recording and stuff >.<

#sakurai keito #murata hisashi #suehara takuma #mikami shun #noda hirotaka #kato ryosuke #adekan #review #stage #2.5次元

65 notes · View notes

batvish-blog · 5 years ago

Text

Role of Goodreads Author Program in Book Marketing

After toiling sedulously in writing a book and putting whatever is left in getting it published, the chief task of book marketing it still lingers. Cut-short the quandary with the ‘Goodreads Author Program’- a free-to-use book marketing and promotional tool for authors

You might be an enthusiastic bookworm, a budding writer or an established author; you are like Kim Kardashian without Twitter if you haven’t tried using Goodreads yet. In simple words, you’re missing out on a gold mine sitting right in front of you. For starters, Goodreads is the ‘Facebook cum LinkedIn’ for book readers and authors. The 40-million-plus population of this platform, which was taken over by Amazon in 2013, should give you a fair idea of its prowess. Goodreads is a tailor made social media solution, catering to all the desires of a reader, author and publisher.

Do you feel confident about your decision to delve into the story-telling realm knowing that the career you’ve picked is held in high regard in the industry? Most definitely, your answer is a resounding yes! However, the online presence of many of the top-selling authors does not quite reflect the creative nature of stories that are in your eccentric mind. Goodreads Author Program is the missing piece of that puzzle. With countless activities and offerings like book reviews, book listings, blog linking, book giveaways, event pages, reader groups, featured groups, etc; it is a paradise of untapped possibilities. A completely free-to-use utility, this program is an ideal setting for both new and established authors to network their books and connect with a vast number of readers in one place.

The catch is that there’s no catch. You’ve got nothing to lose. If anything, you only stand to gain. Which makes it all the more worth a shot.

How to Get Started:

To begin with, register on the Goodreads website. After creating a basic ‘User profile’, you can upgrade to the ‘Author profile’. While filling the details, make sure that the profile sounds professional, authoritative and authentic.

In some cases, there’s a chance that somebody has already listed your book in the Goodreads database, meaning that the book is credited to your name and a basic author profile already exists. All you have to do is claim your profile using a link that says, “Is this you? Let us know.” and generate a request to join the author program. If not, add your book(s) manually using these simple steps on the Goodreads Author Program page:

Click “My Books” along the top

Click “Import/Export” along the left side

Click “manually add books” along the top

Hone your Goodreads Author Profile:

Make your Goodreads author profile look more appealing with these simple steps:

Add a profile photo

Write a detailed and likeable bio

Link your personal blog with your author profile

Share videos

Linking your blog with your profile is highly recommended; given that it helps you gain a new reader base through the ‘Goodreads’ community (The blog can be linked via RSS feeds). It is absolutely imperative that you keep your profile trending by constantly engaging in activities like writing book reviews, rating books, and creating book shelves. Users can have multiple book shelves pertaining to and categorising books, namely the ones that you’ve read, ones that inspired your writing, ones that are on your bucket list, etc.

If you write reviews on Amazon, copy and put them here or vice versa. Find friends and fellow authors with similar interests and add them to your profile to improve your network. Comment on their activities, and ‘Like’ their posts and reviews just like you do on any other social networking site. (Goodreads lets you import your friends from Facebook).

Additionally, participate in featured lists and pick favourites (For example – Best Horror Books of the 21st century). Vote on existing polls or create your own polls.

A sample of the Author Profile page

Explore the Exciting Features:

Review badges and widgets

Book listings

Groups

Featured groups

Book Giveaways

Events

Reviews:

As a writer, you may realise the importance of getting an honest review; you may also understand how difficult it is to get one. Utilise the Goodreads Author Program to amass a cluster of reviews from its vast community. Whenever somebody reviews your work, the activity shows up on both your and their ‘Newsfeeds’. This automatically gives a lot of exposure to your work. The goal here is to garner as much reviews as possible. A heavily reviewed piece will act as a magnet that attracts many new readers.

Goodreads does its bit by syndicating the reviews to various e-commerce and library sites, subtly increasing the number of reviews on your books in other places too. Furthermore, Goodreads provides an innovative concept of badges and widgets. Encourage your friends and fans to award you a Goodreads badge or add a widget to their Facebook page, website or blog. Be open to the possibility of getting negative reviews. Accept their views. You may acknowledge the feedback of the reviewer, making a note of the areas for improvement, and move on without reacting or ranting.

Book Listings:

Maintain a business arrangement of your published books on the bookshelf of your Goodreads Author Profile. You can do this by manually adding them and feeding all the necessary information relating to the book (excerpts, plot, sample passage, etc). Import your books from other online stores like Amazon and Kindle. Don’t forget that you can upload the eBook versions of your novels, making them available for reading online.

Groups:

Just like fan pages or groups, Goodreads offers the option of creating groups for like-minded people to come together and interact. These groups can either be genre-specific or dedicated to a particular book or author. Participating in groups is an effective way to get noticed, eventually generating interest amongst members in your work. Join as many groups as you wish, only that there are rules to abide by. Spamming a group with requests for reviews right away will make you look unprofessional and can end up in you getting banned from the group. Remember to contribute in the group first. Engage in roundtable discussions, participate in group polls, share your views, answer queries; all of which will help you make your presence felt in the group. Eventually, you can start promoting your work.

Certain groups have freebie days, where you can openly promote your books, announce Goodreads giveaways, send out event invitations, etc. Many groups have a dedicated bookshelf. You can request the moderator to have your book(s) placed on it, but again after a fair amount of selfless involvement first.

Featured Groups:

Promote your upcoming book by creating what Goodreads calls ‘The Featured Author Group.’ This forum allows direct interaction with your readers and fans through activities that help generate buzz. You might have come across those hour-long fan interaction sessions that celebrities indulge in on Twitter these days; do something similar with a Q&A session on your featured group. A heavily trafficked group gets featured in the ‘Author and Groups’ section of Goodreads’ homepage. Create a featured group and do everything possible to get it buzzing. Just make sure that you abide by the rules.

Giveaways:

Like the name says, the program lets an author give away free copies of his/her books, again a highly effective technique of creating interest in your new book.

Goodreads gives you the liberty of deciding on the number of books that you want to give away, the duration of the Giveaway and the countries that can participate. The whole procedure is handled by Goodreads. However, you are required to send over the books to the winners.

Events:

Your Goodreads Author Profile acts as a tool for promoting virtual as well as physical events like book launches, book tours, author appearances and signings, book club meetings, book swapping activities, and much more. With the Goodreads Events page, readers can find all the details pertaining to your event in one place. Put up a link of the promotion page which will redirect your invitees to your blog. Exploit this facility for eBook launches, blog tours, and eBook giveaways.

Remember writing a book is just half the work done. The path that you choose after plays a significant role in the success of your book. Goodreads provides you with ample opportunities to make this journey a fruitful one. It puts you on the podium. What you do from there is up to you.

0 notes

lopezdorothy70-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Why Coconut Oil, or Any Saturated Fat, Cannot Raise Cholesterol Levels (LDL levels)

Comments by Brian Shilhavy Editor, Health Impact News

Scottish medical doctor, Malcolm Kendrick, has just written a brilliant expose on his blog explaining, scientifically, why it is impossible for saturated fats to raise LDL cholesterol levels.

As I have written many times over the years, this is the kind of information that can save your life and help you make wise dietary choices, but it is information that the U.S. government, Big Pharma, and the corporate-sponsored “mainstream” media cannot afford to publish.

Because to do so would be to admit guilt in one of the biggest medical scams of all time: the lipid theory of heart disease.

This theory, which has been proven scientifically to be false, has been an economic success for cholesterol-lowering statin medical drugs, the most profitable class of medical drugs all time. This theory also promotes the low-fat diet which encourages consumption of carbohydrates from U.S. subsidized crops, as well as polyunsaturated oil, also derived from U.S. subsidized crops.

This theory of heart disease, which condemns cholesterol and saturated fat, has probably been responsible for many millions of people's early deaths and the life-long suffering of autoimmune diseases for an entire generation.

Why saturated fat cannot raise cholesterol levels (LDL levels)

by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick DrMalcolmKendrick.org

“Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem - neat, plausible, and wrong.” H.L. Mencken.

Of all the flaws of the human mind, the number one must be the overwhelming desire to find simple, easy to understand answers – to everything. I think this is why my favourite film of all time is Twelve Angry Men. It was a stage play first.

A black youth is accused of killing his father. The evidence that is presented by the prosecution seems utterly overwhelming. A unique knife is used for the murder, one that the youth was known to carry. He was seen leaving the apartment after shouting 'I'll kill you' and suchlike. Most importantly, however, he was a young black youth, and young black youths are widely considered to be the sort of person who do such things.

In the film, prejudice presses down heavily on most of the jurors. Some of them, it is hinted, would have found him guilty no matter if there had been any evidence, or not. Here we have all the worst aspects of human decision making on show. Confirmation bias, prejudice, gathering together only the evidence that supports a case, the desire to 'get on with it' and not hang about listening to people who just want to make things complicated.

In my mind, for many years, I have changed 'black youth', into the word 'cholesterol' as I watch the 'heart disease jurors' in action. A suspect was found, fitted up, put on trial and found guilty by people who were just desperate to get on with it. At the very first congressional meetings on dietary guidelines, any attempts to wait until there was sufficient evidence, were railroaded.

'When the US government introduced “Dietary Goals for the United States”, they did not have unanimous support. The guidelines, which urged the public to cut saturated fat from their diet, were challenged by a number of scientists in a Congressional hearing. The findings were not based on sufficient evidence, they argued.

They were ignored. Dr. Robert Olson recounts an exchange he had with Senator George McGovern, in which he said: “I plead in my report and will plead again orally here for more research on the problem before we make announcements to the American public.” McGovern replied: “Senators don't have the luxury that the research scientist does of waiting until every last shred of evidence is in.'

youtube

Senator McGovern might as well have said. 'Listen son, we know that saturated fat raises cholesterol and causes heart disease, we don't need any damned evidence.' Of course, they didn't have any evidence at all. None. But they still managed to find saturated fat and cholesterol guilty. Some people would call this proper leadership. Make a decision and go with it.

I would call it monumental stupidity.

As you can see I am stepping back in this blog to look at saturated fat – again. Because I am going to share some thinking with you, which I have not really shared before. Some of you will know that I am a 'first principles' kind of guy. I take very little at face value, and I am certainly highly critical of accepted wisdom: I usually translate it, in my mind, into accepted stupidity.

So, I am going to try and explain to you that saturated fat cannot raise blood cholesterol levels. By which I mean low density lipoprotein levels (LDLs) as this is the substance which someone or another ended up calling 'bad' cholesterol. It is the lipoprotein that is thought to cause CVD.

However, LDL is not cholesterol, it never was. We do not have a blood cholesterol level – but we are seemingly stuck with this hopelessly inaccurate terminology for all time.

Anyway, the idea that saturated fat raised cholesterol was driven by Ancel Keys in the late nineteen forties. The first point to make here is that, when Keys first started his anti-fat crusade, no-one knew that there was such a thing as LDL. You took a blood test, gathered together all the lipoproteins you could find (good, bad, and indifferent) and measured them all. Quite what they were measuring is a good question.

Despite this rather important gap in his knowledge, Ancel Keys was able to create an equation to exactly predict the effect of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet on serum cholesterol levels.

Change in serum cholesterol concentration (mmol/l) = 0.031(2Dsf − Dpuf) + 1.5√Dch

[Where Dsf is the change in percentage of dietary energy from saturated fats, Dpuf is the change in percentage of dietary energy from polyunsaturated fats, and Dch is the change in intake of dietary cholesterol].

This became the accepted wisdom. You could believe, given the apparent precision of this equation, that he did some proper research to prove it was true. Frankly, it seems bloody unlikely, as the equation contains the 'change in dietary cholesterol' as a key factor in raised blood cholesterol levels. It is now accepted that cholesterol in the diet has no significant impact on blood cholesterol levels. Keys even knew this himself.

To quote him from a paper in 1956:

'In the adult man the serum cholesterol level is essentially independent of the cholesterol intake over the whole range of human diets.'

In 1997 Keys wrote this:

“There's no connection whatsoever between cholesterol in food and cholesterol in blood. And we've known that all along. Cholesterol in the diet doesn't matter at all unless you happen to be a chicken or a rabbit.” Ancel Keys, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota 1997.

More recently, the fact that cholesterol in the diet has no impact on 'cholesterol levels' or CVD was reaffirmed. In 2015, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee in the US, having reviewed all the evidence made this statement:

“Cholesterol is not considered a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.” 2

This was even supported by the likes of Walter Willet and Steven Nissen:

'Nutrition experts like Dr. Walter C. Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, called the plan a reasonable move. Dr. Steven Nissen, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, told USA Today “It's the right decision. We got the dietary guidelines wrong.'3

Anyway, Keys had started out with a hypothesis that cholesterol in the diet raised cholesterol levels in the blood but discarded it after feeding eggs to volunteers (eggs contain more cholesterol than any other food) and finding that their cholesterol level remained stubbornly unchanged.

Undaunted, he did what no scientist should ever do. He simply changed the hypothesis. The nutrient of concern was no longer cholesterol, it was saturated fat. So, what is it about saturated fat that can raise LDL? I wanted to know the exact, proven, mechanism.

We start with the certain knowledge that the body is exceptionally good at keeping all substances in the blood under strict control. If the level of something rises too high, mechanisms are triggered to bring them back under down, and vice-versa. The entire system is known as homeostasis.

Thus, if saturated fat intake really does cause LDL levels to reach damaging levels, it must be overcoming homeostasis, and breaking metabolic and physiological systems. How does it do this?

To try to answer this question we should look at what happens to saturated fat when we eat it. The first step is that it binds to bile salts in the bowel. Bile salts are a form of mildly adapted cholesterol, synthesized in the liver and released from the gall bladder. Without bile, fat cannot be absorbed well, if at all, and simply passes through the guts and out the other end.

The absorbed saturated fat is then packed into a very large lipoprotein (known as a chylomicron). Once a chylomicron is formed it travels up a special tube, called the thoracic duct, and is released directly into the blood stream. It does not, and this is important, pass through the liver.

Chylomicrons then travel around the body and are stripped of their fat, shrinking down until they become about the size of an LDL. At which point they are called chylomicron remnants. These are absorbed back into the liver – using LDL receptors – and are then broken down into their constituent parts

Therefore, a small amount of fat that you eat will end up in the liver. However, the vast, vast, majority will go straight from the guts to fat cells (adipose tissue). Whereupon they are stored away for later use.

In fact, this is the fate of all types of fat: saturated, polyunsaturated, or monounsaturated. There is nothing unique about saturated fat in the way that it is absorbed and transported around the body. Anyway, as you may have noticed, none of this has anything to do with LDL whatsoever. Nothing. Ergo the consumption of saturated fat, or any fat, can have no direct impact on LDL levels.

I suppose the next question to ask is simple. Where does LDL come from? LDL is created when VLDLs (very low-density lipoproteins) shrink down in size. VLDLs are the type of lipoproteins that are synthesized in the liver, then released into the bloodstream. They contain fat and cholesterol and, as they travel around the body, they lose fat and become smaller and smaller, until they become an LDL -which contains proportionately more cholesterol.

Almost all LDL molecules are removed from the circulation by LDL receptors in the liver. They are then broken down and the contents used again. Some LDL continues to circulate in the blood, and cells that need more cholesterol synthesize an LDL receptor to bind to LDL molecules and bring the entire LDL/LDL receptor complex into the cells.

Just to re-cap. Saturated fat (any fat) is absorbed from the gut and packed into chylomicrons. These travel around the body, losing fat, and shrink down to a chylomicron remnant – which is then absorbed by the liver. There is no connection between chylomicrons and LDL.

Instead LDL comes from VLDL. VLDLs are made in the liver, they contain fat and cholesterol. VLDLs leave the liver, travel around the body and lose fat, shrinking down to become an LDL.

As the only source of LDL is VLDL, this leads to the next obvious question. What makes VLDL levels rise? Well, it sure as hell isn't fat in the diet. What causes VLDL levels to rise is eating carbohydrates. The next quote is a bit jargon heavy but worth including.

'De novo lipogenesis is the biological process by which the precursors of acetyl-CoA are synthesized into fatty acids [fats]. In human subjects consuming diets higher in fat (> 30 % energy), lipogenesis is down regulated and extremely low; typically This percentage will increase when dietary fat is reduced and replaced by carbohydrate.'4

To simplify this as much as possible. If you eat more carbohydrates than your body needs, or can store, the liver converts the excess (primarily fructose and glucose) into fat in the liver. This process is called de novo lipogenesis (DNL) The fats that are synthesized are saturated fats, and only saturated fats. Once synthesized they are then packed into VLDLs and sent out of the liver.

In short, if you eat fat, the VLDL level falls. If you eat carbohydrates the VLDL level rises. Which is pretty much what you would expect to see.

Moving the discussion on, as VLDLs are the only source of LDL. you now have a conundrum to solve. How can you connect saturated fat intake to a rise in LDL levels, when saturated fat consumption reduces VLDL synthesis? What is the mechanism? The mechanism does not exist!

You could counter by saying, what of the many studies that have shown a fall in LDL when saturated fats are replaced by polyunsaturated fats? Well, this seems to have been shown often enough for me to believe it may even be true.

The explanation for this finding is most likely the fact that, in these studies, saturated fats were replaced by polyunsaturated fats, from plant oils. Plant oils contains stanols (the plant equivalent of cholesterol).

Stanols are known to lower LDL levels, see under Benecol and other suchlike 'low fat' spreads. Because stanols compete with cholesterol for absorption there is an impact on the 'measured' LDL levels. What this means, in turn, is that the studies that demonstrate a lower LDL, with a reduction in saturated fat consumption, fall foul of the two variables problem.

Namely, if you change two variables in an experiment at the same time, you cannot say which of the variables was responsible for the effect you have seen. Was it the reduction in saturated fats, or the increase in plant stanols, that lowers LDL?

This is all tacitly accepted in this Medscape article – again heavy on jargon: 'Saturated Fat and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD): It's Complicated.'

'In a meta-analysis of over 60 trials, higher intakes of saturated fat were associated with increases in both LDL-C and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and decreases in triglyceride levels [VLDL}, for a net neutral effect on the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol.

Although saturated fats increase LDL-C, they reduce the LDL particle number. Total LDL particle number quantifies the concentration of LDL particles in various lipid subfractions and is considered a stronger indicator of CV risk than traditional lipoprotein measures.

As for stearic acid, the allegedly non-cholesterol-raising fat, while it appears to lower LDL-C relative to other SFAs, one analysis concluded that it raised LDL-C, lowered HDL-C, and increased the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol in comparison with unsaturated fatty acids. And this is one of the confounders of much nutrition research-observations about a given nutrient are highly dependent on what you compare it to.'5

Which is a long-winded way of saying that everything we have been told about saturated fat, its impact on LDL, and its impact on CVD is – frankly – complete bollocks. And if it is complete bollocks, the Keys equation – which has driven all research in this area for seventy years – is also bollocks.

In truth, all possible combinations of LDL going up, down, and staying the same have been found in dietary studies. But I would like to focus on the most recent study. It formed the basis of an episode of a programme called 'Trust me I'm a doctor', on the BBC. Researchers studied the impact of different types of saturated fat on LDL and HDL levels.

For the experiment, the team recruited nearly one hundred volunteers, all aged over fifty. They were split into three groups and every day for four weeks each ate fifty grams of coconut oil (about two tablespoons), or fifty grams of olive oil – an unsaturated fat already known to lower bad LDL cholesterol – of fifty grams of butter.

This amount of coconut oil contains more than forty grams of saturated fat, twice the maximum recommended daily amount for women, according to Public Health England, but is the level previous research has revealed is necessary to show measurable changes in blood cholesterol over a four-week period.

Before the experiment, all the volunteers had their bad LDL and good HDL cholesterol measured, as well as their height, waist, blood pressure, weight and body fat percentage. Four weeks later, these tests were repeated.

The group who ate butter saw their bad LDL levels rise by about ten per cent, as expected. But the olive oil and coconut oil saw no rise in bad LDL – despite coconut oil having more saturated fat than butter.'

Even more surprisingly, while butter and olive oil both raised good HDL cholesterol by five per cent, coconut oil raised it by a staggering fifteen percent, meaning that it seemed to have a more positive effect on cholesterol related health than olive oil.' 6

It is worth pointing out that this was the largest study of the kind ever to have been done. This may surprise you, but in many nutritional studies the number of subjects is often in single digits. In case you are thinking we can simply ignore a study done by the BBC, it was carried out to high standards, and has since been published in the BMJ. Equally I can see no reason why the BBC would have any desire to bias the conclusions in any direction.7

What they found was that coconut oil, containing the highest percentage of saturated fat, had absolutely no impact on LDL. But it did raise HDL (so-called 'good' cholesterol) by 15%. Which is no surprise. If VLDL goes down, HDL goes up. And in this experiment they kept everything else the same, but just added saturated fat. A single variable.

Anyway, the thing that interests me most, and the reason for writing this particular blog is that I have come to the realisation that the best way to find the answer to a scientific question is to immerse yourself in the science. I would like to believe the published research, because it would be lovely if you could look at a study and believe it to be correct/true/unbiased. But that is no longer possible, most especially in the connected fields of heart disease, and nutrition.

'It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgement of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines.” Marcia Angell – long-time editor of the NEJM.

'The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue…science has taken a turn towards darkness.' Richard Horton – editor of The Lancet.

'The poor quality of medical research is widely acknowledged, yet disturbingly the leaders of the medical profession seem only minimally concerned about the problems and make no apparent efforts to find a solution.' Richard Smith – long time editor of the BMJ.

It is always, of course, risky to base your thinking and conclusions on what is known about the basic science. New facts can come along to upend your thinking at any time. However, with mainstream medical research in such a corrupt mess, I do not know how else to do it. The basic research tells us that there is no mechanism whereby saturated fat can raise LDL levels, and the research, such as it can be disentangled, appears to fully support this.

I looked at this blog again, and again, and I thought: Why did I write it…for sure? I wrote it because I wanted to make you aware of three things. First, how powerful a thought can be. Saturated fat raises the LDL level, and how difficult this is to shift. The power of a simple idea.

Secondly, so that you can see that the truth is out there. It is not to be found amongst the experts in the field. It cannot be found by reading the research, or the guidelines. But it is out there, if you look hard enough.

Third, the mainstream just will not change its mind. A recent conference in Switzerland, organised by the BMJ, and others, tried to discuss the dietary guidelines and the role of Saturated fat. I was invited, but did not go, as I was working. Zoe Harcombe went, and wrote a blog about it.8 As she wrote about the conclusion of the conference:

'At the recent Swiss Re/The BMJ Food for Thought conference, the closing speakers tried to find some agreement on dietary fat guidelines…

Fiona (Fiona Godlee, editor of the BMJ) started with: “The point about saturated fat is: the evidence is now looking pretty good, but the guidance hasn't shifted… there doesn't seem to have been an enormous 'mea culpa' from the scientific community that we got it so wrong. That does surprise me.”

Salim replied: “We got brainwashed by a very questionable study, called The Seven Countries Study, many years ago and it was ingrained in our DNA and generations of us were brought up with that… Somebody said that you need to wait for guidelines committees to die before you can change the guidelines committees”!

Fiona then said: “Maybe one outcome of this meeting would be for this meeting to say 'that's gone now', the science has changed. Am I right Salim? Am I right Dariush? It seems to be that should be an outcome of some sort from this meeting.”

Alas, the UK guidelines committee shows no signs of such change, let alone the 'mea culpa' that Fiona suggests might be in order.'

Read the full article at DrMalcolmKendrick.org

References

1: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/in-depth/every-last-shred-evidence-low-fat-dietary-guidelines-never-introduced/

2: http://time.com/3705734/cholesterol-dietary-guidelines/

3: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/panel-suggests-stop-warning-about-cholesterol-in-food-201502127713

4: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12133211

5: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/839360

6: https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20180109/282643212945759

7: http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/3/e020167

8: http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2018/07/saturated-fat-consultation-sacn-my-response/

0 notes

hedgarmusictech-blog · 7 years ago

Text

My blog on mixing and mastering techniques by Harry Edgar:

Mixing and mastering are necessities in the creation, production and distribution of music that can drastically alter how the end product (usually an album) can sound. There are may components that go into making a track sound perfect to the ears listening to it, the techniques I shall be talking about today include:

· Mixing with EQ

· Balance/Depth

· Compressors/advanced compressing techniques

· Using a noisegate

· Using effects processing (reverbs, delays, modulations etc)

· Mastering EQ techniques

· Using a brick-wall limiter

· Master bus/multi band compression

· Enhancing stereo width.

Mixing with EQ:

EQ is a vital tool in mixing, this is because when you’ve recorded all the instruments for the composition that you’re working on, in almost all circumstances there will be instruments competing for certain frequency ranges. For example, instruments such as guitars, vocals and piano may all be competing for mid range frequencies; therefore equalisation is necessary to ensure all instruments have a pocket to sit in so to speak, so that they all can be heard clearly in the mix.

Although there are no rules in mixing, and sound is purely subjective, there are frequencies believed to be specific to certain instruments that can be boost or cut. For example, when equalising a bass drum, it is widely recommend to put a low pass filter on to cut out any sub-bass frequencies below 50Hz (unless these are required such as in a dance track) and to boost the region of around 60-80hz to emphasise the bass of the kick. Also, boosting around 3KHz is recommended in this day and age for a kick drum, as this will boost the sound of the beater, therefore giving the kick definition even in small speakers such as Apple earphones. EQ is vital in removing any unwanted frequencies that an instrument may produce, for example it’s widely recommended to cut around 200Hz on an acoustic guitar, as there’s often a persistent ringing that is unpleasant to the ear.

Balance/Depth:

Leading on from EQ, balance and depth are two very important procedures in making sure each track has space to be heard in a song. Balance simply refers to monitoring audio and reducing gain or volume accordingly, ensuring that others aren’t overpowering certain tracks. Depth on the other hand is reference to the perception of the listener of how close a certain instrument feels to them, if every track were at the same depth then it would be hard to distinguish each track from each other. There are a few ways altering depth can be achieved, through reverb (which I will go through in more detail later), through balancing (as a louder track seems closer to the listener, and a quitter track seems further away) and through EQ. Depth is affected by the EQ of the track, as a warmer (more bass heavy) track seems further away to the listener, and a brighter (more treble/mid range boosted track) seems to be closer. Tracks altering in depth help to isolate them more in a mix, therefore making them easier to hear.

Compressors/advanced compression techniques:

Compressors are vital in mixing and mastering; the function of a compressor is to reduce the dynamic range of the track you are using it on. The result of this is a more consistent sound, and a situation where this can be useful is for instance on an acoustic guitar being played by a player with lacklustre picking consistency, to avoid heavier picking resulting in harsh string snap, a compressor gives the guitar track a very consistent sound which counteracts the picking inconsistencies.

These are the main parameters of a compressor:

Attack:

This dictates how fast the compressor kicks in after the volume of the track goes over the threshold.

Ratio:

This dictates by how much your original sound is decreased by, the higher the ratio the higher decrease in volume.

Release:

This dictates how quickly the compressor ceases to function after compression the sound.

Threshold:

This dictates what volume you set as the cut of point before the compressor has to kick in.

Gain:

This compensates for the volume lost when compressing, so the track stays at the same volume as before, but keeps it’s shortened dynamic range.

Examples of advanced compressing techniques include side chaining and parallel compression. Parallel compression is where you send your original track (usually drums and bass for this technique) to a bus in your DAW, this therefore essentially creates two identical copies of the track that are blended together. On the bus, you must then proceed to heavily compress the signal, to an extent that you would normally consider excessive, and then turn the volume on the bus down so that it creates an audible difference when removed, but cannot be outright heard. The effect this creates is the two tracks blending together to create a bigger sound that is compressed, but still retains the natural dynamics of a very dynamic instrument such as drums.

Sidechaining on the other hand, is the act of compressing a track in accord to another track, most commonly used in EDM music to create a pulse effect. To do this, you may create a drone using a synth pad, and then recording a MIDI kick drum doing 4 beats a bar, you’d then utilise the sidechaining option on the compressor of the kick drum and sidechain the kick to your synth. Then, after muting the kick drum, whenever the kick drum would be played, the sound of the synth ducks out, creating the desired pulse. Here is a youtube video further explaining this concept:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mhdw-r9YYE

Using a noisegate:

Noisegates are extremely effective when mixing tracks that contain loud instruments that create feedback such as an electric guitar. The function of a noisegate is to set a threshold of sound in decibels that it will let through, and any sound quieter than said threshold is not allowed through and therefore the signal is shut off. This is useful for getting rid of any feedback that a guitarist may get from their amp between playing their parts. The parameters of a noisegate obviously includes the threshold, the time it takes the gate to kick in (attack), and the time it takes the gate to open (release).

Using effects processing:

Effects processing is an umbrella term covering many aspects of mixing. First, there’s reverb, which as I mentioned earlier is useful in creating depth within your tracks. As the function of reverb is to emulate the natural decay that playing in large rooms would give an instrument, the more reverb added to a track therefore, the further away that track is perceived and vice versa. An application of this that is a personal favourite of mine is the reverb used on the vocal track of Lou Reed on the Velvet Underground’s track “Sunday Morning”, as the track develops, more reverb is added to the vocal making it seem as if it’s progressively moving further away from the listener. Here’s a link to this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qK82JvRY5s

Another common example of effects processing is the use of delays, a delay simply repeats the signal of a track and can be manipulated as to how many times it does this, how often it does this, and how loudly the repeats are. Delay can be utilised to create more stereo width (which I shall talk about in more detail later), and to create intricate rhythms on simple tracks to enhance them. An example of this can be seen in David Bowie’s track “Let’s Dance” as Nile Rodgers’ guitar track has been subject of a delay during mixing. A link to the track is hear for you to have a listen for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4d7Wp9kKjA

Other common effects processors include modulation, this includes effects such as chorus, flangers, vibes and phasers. These are commonly used for guitars and can be bought in physical form of an effects pedal, however in some instances have been used on whole tracks, an example of this being on the latter half of the Jimi Hendrix Experience song “Bold as Love”, as the whole track has had a phaser added to it. You can listen for yourself on Spotify, Apple music, Itunes or any alternative streaming site, as unfortunately there’s no studio version of the song on Youtube.

Mastering EQ techniques:

Equalising a whole song demands a different approach than just a singular recorded track. For example, a main difference is that when using EQ whilst mastering, it is advised very strongly that no extreme changes are made to the EQ of the track, as the mix should already be close to what the artist required. Professionals advise that the Master EQ band should contain anywhere from 5-12 minor alterations to the EQ o the song, with nothing boosted or dipped by more than 2db. There are additional techniques that can be used, for example it is common to make an exception to the above rule regarding decibels as removing any frequencies under 50hz (aka the “sub-bass) as these frequencies are only useful for dance tracks and not much else. In addition, mastering engineers are also known to put a shelf on any frequencies in the range of 10k or above of about 2-4db, as this is known as “adding air” to the track.

Using a brick-wall limiter:

A brick-wall limiter is a more extreme form of compression. Much like a compressor, a threshold is set that no sound can go over without being reduced, the difference with a limiter is that the effect is much more immediate than a compressor, and the ratio used to reduce the sound is usually a lot higher. This is useful for removing any clipping or digital distortion in a track, however misuse can result in the destruction of the dynamic range of a song, and therefore a brick-limiter must be used carefully. Examples of albums that have been over limited to the point of removing dynamics include Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication” and Metallica’s “Death Magnetic”.

Master bus/multi band compression:

Master bus compression takes place during the mastering stage and is the compression of the whole song and much like master EQ, is a very subtle process. No dramatic changes are usually made at this stage, as to preserve hat dynamics that the mix has provided you with. Therefore, when utilising master bus compression, mastering engineers advise that a small ratio is used, and a slow attack is also dialled in, this will therefore give the song a consistent sound, without it then becoming lifeless and undynamic.

Multi band compression on the other hand, are compressors that work to specific frequency ranges. This may be useful for example in making basslines and kickdrum hits more consistent, as these are two examples of instruments that we don’t necessarily want varying dynamics. The specificity of multi band compressors means that when mastering, you don’t have to sacrifice the whole track to fix a very specific problem.

Enhancing stereo width:

There are two very common ways to achieve the enhancement of stereo width. Firstly, there’s the method of panning tracks, which is simply the act of placing tracks on different points of the stereo spectrum, all the way from the right speaker to the left. This is used in every stereo mix ever produced, as this is a way to ensure that all of the instruments recorded have their own space in the mix and can be heard clearly. Commonly, instruments such as vocals, drums and bass aren’t panned and are kept central however, but as there’s exceptions to every rule, a lot of 60’s recordings pan vocals and drums. This technique has since been left behind, but panning is still rife in mixing to enhance the stereo width.

Another method commonly used is a ping pong delay. To do this, you send the signal of whatever track it is you wish to enhance to a stereo bus, and then add the stereo delay plug-in to the bus. On this delay, you will dial in a very short delay time (perhaps a quaver on one side, and a semi-quaver on the other) and make other subtle differences to each speaker using the other parameters on the delay. Next, you must EQ the bus, adding both a high pass and low pass filter. Finally, you must add the bus into the mix so that in can be very subtly heard, this gives the original signal the effect of being double tracked. This therefore enhances the width of the track.

0 notes

vdbstore-blog · 7 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on Vintage Designer Handbags Online | Vintage Preowned Chanel Luxury Designer Brands Bags & Accessories

New Post has been published on http://vintagedesignerhandbagsonline.com/come-together-how-rave-returned-to-the-cultural-mix-society/

Come together! How rave returned to the cultural mix | Society

Before the May bank holiday in 1992, Castlemorton Common in the Malvern Hills was chiefly known only to walkers keen to hike through its 600 acres of unspoilt, unenclosed land. After that bank holiday, however, it became known as the site of Britain’s biggest-ever illegal rave.

Partygoers arrived in such numbers that Castlemorton featured on TV and in the newspapers – which brought more revellers. In the end, an estimated 20,000 people flocked to the site. By the Tuesday, it had induced moral panic in the Daily Mail: “A walk through the hippy encampment was like walking into a scene from the Mad Max movies. Zombie-like youngsters on drugs walked aimlessly through the mobile shanty town or danced to the pounding beat,” it reported. By 1994, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act was passed, with the now infamous ruling against parties playing music “characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats”.

Twenty-five years after Castlemorton, rave is back in the pop culture mix. The aesthetic, culture and sound has trickled down to everything from the growth of the festival to the concept of chill-out, to your DayGlo wallet, clubbing scenes in Girls, a weekend in Ibiza and the Kirakira app’s sparkles. Most people might not be regularly indulging in four-day parties but, in 2017, rave’s cultural legacy extends far and wide.

Castlemorton 1992 … the Malvern Hills beauty spot became the site of Britain’s bigest illegal rave. Photograph: Murray Sanders/ANL/Rex/Shutterstock

“Artists see it as a halcyon age,” says Seb Wheeler, head of digital at dance and clubbing magazine Mixmag. “I’m 29 and acid house started in the late 80s, so that’s my whole lifetime of dance music to explore … There are dance music legends that you will hear from your older brother or your parents and you’re like: ‘I’m going to check that out,’ and head down a wormhole on YouTube or a specialised playlist on Spotify.” Wheeler points to Bicep, the dance music duo, as the act most influenced by the rave sound, which itself developed from acid house roots in Chicago. Since 2008, the duo’s Feel My Bicep blog has brought their favourite tracks from the genre to other fans. These fans will soon also be able to watch the story unfold: Irvine Welsh, the author of Trainspotting, is working on a TV series, Ibiza87, about the roots of the movement. Matthew Collin’s upcoming Rave On, meanwhile, is a follow-up to his acid house book Altered State, telling the story of how rave went from underground to ubiquity.

Fashion brands including Charles Jeffrey, Molly Goddard, Christopher Shannon and Comme des Garçons – more known for conceptual experimentation than clothes for the dance floor – have all brought rave to the catwalk. The latter’s menswear show was a highlight of the SS18 season, with young men dancing, coloured lights and clothes made of neon glittery fabric last seen on Camden Lock market stalls in the 90s. Meanwhile, Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy, currently fashion’s golden boy, staged his spring collection in St Petersburg’s first-ever rave venue. He also published a zine with 90s images of teenagers on the rave scene in Russia, at clubs such as Tunnel.

Elrow party, Glastonbury 2017. Photograph: Alicia Canter for the Guardian

For these designers, rave is inspiring as an authentic youth culture. Goddard says she was influenced to turn her SS17 show into a rave from watching videos of raves at Lewisham library and thinking about her own youth going out to “parties in Hackney Wick and posh clubs in Mayfair”. Shannon’s sportswear aesthetic is influenced by the Joe Bloggs and Naf Naf clothes he saw his older brothers wear going out dancing. “I can remember wearing an acid house T-shirt on a school trip and getting told off,” he says. “Even if I didn’t understand it, [rave] taught me about clothes’ ability to antagonise things.”

Artists are also exploring rave. Jeremy Deller uses rave’s smiley face repeatedly in his work, and his Bless This Acid House posters are almost as popular as the Strong and Stable My Arse versions in households prone to making arty liberal statements. As part of Frieze art fair in October, Jarvis Cocker staged his Dancefloor Meditations, a kind of lecture-meets-disco with lasers, 808s and total darkness.

Nav Haq, the curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, staged an exhibition on the impact of rave, Energy Flash, last year. He says the period is relevant now because it shows what we are lacking: rave is typically seen as the last genuine subculture. “It’s hard to see something emerging in the same way now. People talk about the digital realm but that’s difficult because it gets corporatised very quickly. Youth movements emerge through things that happen in the world – the riots in 1968, the recession in the late 80s and early 90s. We’re in a similar period of time, but we have not been able to create that movement somehow.”

Jeremy Deller’s Joy in People at the Hayward Gallery, London. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

As with any subculture, rave has become mythologised. It is remembered as a scene where community was key and money was insignificant, but that was not the case for long. The popularity of ecstasy had repercussions beyond breaking down barriers on the dancefloor – it brought with it organised crime. By the 90s, drug dealers with baseball bats were found at rave mecca The Haçienda and rising security bills contributed to the club’s closure. Rave going mainstream spawned opportunists ready to cash in, too. Wheeler points to Tony Colston-Hayter, the Sunrise rave promoter – and later fraudster. “This is a weekend youth culture,” he told an interviewer at the time. “A city banker can shed his suit, put on his dungarees, dance all Saturday night away.” Parties such as his – that do not fit the narrative of rave as cultural disrupter – have their own legacy in clubs as business: see the phenomenon of Elrow, a party organiser from Barcelona that will host 132 events globally this year, reaching an audience of 1.7 million people. In a recent article, Resident Advisor called it “the world’s most popular clubbing brand”.

The Facebook page Humans of the Sesh was started in 2015 by two friends calling themselves Brown Sauce and Grand Feen. It is dedicated to detailing the bantz around the house party, the after party and impromptu bender, all under the umbrella of the “sesh”. Brown Sauce, though, is convinced his fun will never live up to what he sees calcified in grainy images of ravers. “There is a massive feeling that everyone went to a great party but we were too late,” he says. “Our idea of a good party – the huge speakers, the warehouse space – is based on the idea of a rave, even if you don’t know what a rave is. There’s a nostalgia to that era even if you weren’t around then.”

There are some trying to make their own versions on the free party scene, working against how corporate the mainstream nightlife scene has become by going back to the ideology of rave. Scum Tek, the collective that organised the “Scumoween” party in 2015 that ended in confrontation with the police, has members from the original scene, and an anti-establishment feel. A Vice documentary last year, Locked Off, told the story of various collectives that aim to put on illegal parties around the country in disused warehouses and squats, a cat-and-mouse game between organisers and the police. Footage shows teenagers dancing to a backdrop of lasers, jumpers tied around their naked torsos, dummies in the mouths – convincing facsimiles of the ones in the original rave pictures but for the balloons of Nitrous Oxide. “It’s not simply a bunch of guys with a bunch of speakers in a field,” says a partygoer at one point. “It’s bringing people together in a way that nothing else really does.”

The political backdrop of rave will feel familiar to the young people of today. It’s one of a less-than-stable Conservative prime minister (John Major then, now Theresa May) who reached power through a resignation; a crash in recent memory (1987 then, 2008 now); high levels of youth unemployment (800,000 18-to-24-year-olds in the early 90s, around 850,000 16-to-24-year-olds in 2016), and general unrest expressed through riots and demonstrations (the 1990 poll tax riots; the Brexit and Grenfell Tower protests). “People will always create music to escape when they’re skint and there’s a Tory government inflicting spending cuts,” says Wheeler. “It’s a form of rebellion.”

Clubbers at Raindance, 1991. Photograph: UniversalImagesGroup/UIG via Getty Images

Will Stronge is trying to fuse the anger of disenfranchised young people with the desire to dance. The theorist found himself in the spotlight in September when the concept of Acid Corbynism – coined by Jeremy Gilbert and fleshed out by Matt Phull and Stronge – went viral. While the Acid Corbynism event at the Labour Party conference looked closer to Peep Show’s Rainbow Rhythms than a Spiral Tribe rave, the theory is interesting. Taking acid house as one of its bases – a scene where the collective ruled and everyone was welcome on the dancefloor – Stronge and Phull argue that encouraging similar values now could upset the establishment in a joyful way. “The ecstatic moments on the dancefloor tie into what it is to be a person, a person [who is] part of a community,” Stronge says. “Dance music as a collective experience means it’s already political, but it’s whether or not you can maintain that political experience as part of a larger cultural project.”

Stronge, 27, who is off to a six hour Erol Alkan DJ gig after I speak to him, is far from nostalgic. In an article for Red Pepper magazine, he namechecks contemporary musicians including Jam City and the Circadian Rhythms record label as signs that something is happening. Circadian Rhythms even apparently pepper their radio show with shout-outs to Diane Abbott. Stronge believes a genuine subculture could emerge from this scene – one that could outsmart the corporate world’s tendency to jump on anything young people flock to. “This is a call to say, ‘Let’s find ways that youth culture can become counterculture.’ How do we not make the mistakes so our revolutions aren’t sold back to us?” he says. “At its core, dance culture is where we can have individual pleasure through collectivity.” Or, in the words of Jarvis Cocker at Dancefloor Meditations, “Having fun is the most profound form of protest there is.”

Source link

#Fashion

0 notes

shawneesouthern-blog · 7 years ago

Text

18 Vital Bootstrap User Interface Editors.

Although VR is about to receive even more budget-friendly, because of Microsoft's alliance along with Acer in developing a $399 (regarding ₤ 310, AU$ 540) blended fact package, it's still a far cry from the mainstream standing it so precisely should have. Thus if you've ever would like to possess your very own wolf pack, soar like a bald eagle, ride a bear or maybe only have the entire bunny populace stoop their blurry ears to you, this is actually the game. We have actually been awaiting down our leading 25 video games of the year over recent full week, as well as today our company finally peak five. Later on Wednesday our experts got a new trailer for Time 7, which focuses once again on the develop to The Great War. I desired to avoid past Bailey's chapters, Friedrick Thiessan's sections, and also a few extra phases that slowed down guide down between. The Night Festival is actually a wonderful, amazing book filled with such heartbreaking and bittersweet apprehension that practically acquired me to rips. This tries therefore challenging though, despite everything I only discussed, and also duplicates a GREAT DEAL from the exclusive Far Cry collection of games. Our company've obtained a ton of well-liked indie activities at affordable prices today alongside a handful of that are a bit additional mainstream. Lego Wonder's Avengers is ranked PEGI 7 in Europe & ESRB E10+ in The United States for every person 7 to Ten Years or more mature. There are actually few activities as near to their source material as The Hitchhiker's Overview of the Universe. Wall surface's The Rock Papers Scissors Production business have to upgrade the computer animation each opportunity a new time begins, including every new place that seems, as well as noting each urban area with the taking up royal's coat from arms. When I initially found your blog post concerning these , I resembled, Oh oh, another thing I cannot have along with my restricted diet plan, but amazingly, a lot of the ingredients I may have! This game consists of Comic strip Physical violence and also Pictures or appears likely to be distressing to kids. Gradac Playground, on the outskirts of the historic center, is actually the setup for the comically lawless Joffrey Baratheon's wedding celebration feast and also subsequential comeuppance, while the room from the left Lodging Belvedere is actually where Oberyn Martell suffers a gruesome ending in season 4. The favorite set off Bethesda Softworks is lastly acquiring the parlor game therapy. Proficiency Video games: Games as well as exciting activities for ages 4 with 11 that focus on structure proficiency skill-sets. Producers used synthetic snowfall in period one, however have relied on the wilds from Iceland since. Still, along with the nightmarishly long wait prior to Time 7, our team've reached take whatever disputes of info our team can easily obtain. The EOBS (edge of publication crap) would certainly possess slammed this up to 5 superstars if this manual wasn't 5 stars for me. Before the components deep-seated plunges commenced, Mike Ybarra, Corporate Vice-President from the Xbox as well as Windows Gaming Platform dropped by to outline exactly what he referred to as the '4 pillars' behind Scorpio: regaining the souls and minds from designers, providing adequate electrical power to hand in a great 'real 4K' experience, giving total being compatible with existing software and hardware (and managing outdated activities much better) as well as - crucially - being sure that Scorpio can 'light up' 1080p Televisions. For one reason or another, this publication reminds me of autumn, my preferred period (probably because of the abovementioned correlation to One thing Wicked By doing this Comes), and I assume probably this is going to become an annual read for me, when I inevitably begin to believe that take to view orange, odor pumpkin, and also hear the dry out rustling from lifeless fallen leaves as they dance down the road. Minister Holidays (0203 733 4931;) delivers a five-day Game from Thrones tour to Iceland that includes a day among Jon Thor Benediktsson. In 1984 his moms and dads bought him his very first pc, a Commodore 64. Like several 15-year-olds from the moment, Wildenborg primarily used the equipment to play video games, yet quickly his passion expanded to feature the means games were created. The Video game On set has been among my favourites and The Hot Shot was an incredible addition to the collection. Unlike the apple iphone, the volume from dedicated games controllers for Android phones is a little a lot more boring, as there typically aren't as many for certain phone versions ... and also the video games that sustain them may be differed also. UNITED STATE launch of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, boosted models from the initial Silver and gold activities. Yet they both know that they have to conform up until this is actually finished as well as only one from them can be the winner, while the loss will definitely give up every thing. I will inflict any individual that may discuss the plot of this manual (or even why there is actually no plot) and create me comprehend why the hell folks assume that's thus remarkable. Should you loved this article and you would want to receive more details about http://codziennezycie24.info generously visit our site. Response: When you are actually already conforming in any kind of amount, press the time out switch and also in the menu that turns up you will certainly find the Most likely to Area" possibility. Between its futuristic Earth as well as its spectacular imagination world, the video game is regularly having you to surprising brand-new places. Yet lately it was starring in Activity From Thrones, that made him famous to millions worldwide.

0 notes

carl-edwards · 8 years ago

Text

Creative futures week

Monday 27th February

Creative futures is a 4 day creative conference for students at Glyndwr University.

It’s a diverse mix of talks, workshops and lectures. It was kicked off by Dr Claire Taylor (Deputy Vice-Chancellor) and Professor Alec Shepley (Head of the School of Creative Arts and Professor of Contemporary Art Practice). The opening speeches consisted of the usual welcomes and outlined the benefits that can be had from visiting various lectures and workshops etc.

There was also some encouraging stats given to back up the worth of the creative arts to the economy of Wales. Such as £1in £10 of UK exports are generated through the creative arts, 1.5million people are employed within our industry in the UK. STEAM was also an interesting topic which Alec Shepley talked about. Science Technology Engineering Mathematics or STEM has now become STEAM with the inclusion of Arts, a clear indication that our industries contribution is now being taken seriously at last, as it should be given our contribution to exports and employment. The main Theme of Creative futures seams to be that of collaboration, I hope I’m not by myself in thinking it’s the future (sorry). Any thoughts #creativefutures17.

Collaboration in the creative industries.

A Panel Session with:

Tamara Harvey - Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd. Alfredo Cramerotti - Director of MOSTYN Gallery & Visual Arts Centre. Gareth Jones - The founder of Welsh ICE, Andy Cheetham – Founded Cheetham Bell in 1992 with partner David Bell. Jo Marsh – Oriel Wrecsam has worked as a freelance artist, curator.

Hosted by Mike Corcoran.

This was an open discussion about the importance of collaboration from the five diverse arts practitioners mentioned above. It was encouraging to hear that the general consensus was that “collaboration is a good thing” be it from a theatre, arts/gallery or commercial perspective. Coming from the same industry as Andy Cheetham I related to many of his observations, and agreed strongly with “never be afraid to work with people that you perceive to be better than yourself”. After all it’s the sum of the parts that makes the whole and everyone learns something from collaboration even if it’s not to work with them again. Andy also made the point, that even when collaborating, someone must be responsible for steering the ship. Or “how many statues have you seen that commemorate committees” to paraphrase Mr Cheetham. That’s why some have the title director (creative director, art director) the clue’s in the name. The art is to create an open and honest, creative environment were everyone feels comfortable enough to say anything. If you don’t bounce the ideas around they don’t get off the ground.

Simon Amor on how to get a job.

Simon’s primary job roll at Qubit is Web design where he designs the UX/Ui of the company site. This talk consisted of the usual and sensible advice given to any creative arts student, work hard, knock on doors, present yourself well, yada yada yada. Simon has only been working for at most 2 years which may well explain why he had some incredibly naive views. One such view was that A.I. created logos were perfectly acceptable and the inevitable future. This just shows a total lack of understanding when it comes to brand. Yes a logo is only a pneumonic for a brands values, but if you don’t care about the logo that represents those brand values what do you care for the values themselves. Short term fly by night ventures please form an orderly queue at Simons (Fiverr.com) Amor’s door. Students deserve better advice.

To be sickened even further visit http://illustrationfriday.com/blog/?s=fiverr

Wednesday 1st March (Dydd gwyl Dewi)

Barry Purves - What is Art?

Barry Purves is a renowned animator and has been involved in stop motion animation for forty years. Amongst his prolific output he’s directed many short films for children such as Wind in the Willows, Rupert Bear and Toby’s Travelling Circus. Barry has also made many films for adult audiences: Achilles, Screen Play, Next, Rigoletto, Plume and Tchaikovsky, they have won awards around the world, receiving Oscar and BAFTA nominations. Barry has also received several life time achievement awards and honorary Doctorates. As you may suspect after 40 years in the creative business this is only the tip of Barry's iceberg, Barry was also involved with Mars Attacks! And King Kong. Barry has written books, he also teaches and leads many workshops in Universities and studios. He’s even directed and designed several dozen theatre productions. You really need to visit http://www.barrypurves.com to understand how much great work he’s responsible for.

Did I find out the answer to the question “What is art?”

No, but I suspect raising the question was Barry’s intention, not to answer it. What I did take from this Keynote Address? I learnt the importance of storytelling and the role of devices within storytelling. One of my favourite examples, was the talking umbrella in Mary Poppins, used as the inner voice/conscience of Mary. There were many more examples from Shakespeare, greek mythology, folklore etc. How devices can be used to create a contract of understanding between the work and the viewer, Barry sighted many examples one being the opening credits of Star Wars.

It tells the viewer up front that this is a fantasy story, come along for the journey. A simple contract of suspended belief is entered and the story can begin. Let the viewer understand the technique it creates an understand and a bond. All of Barry's advice and observation could be well applied whatever your chosen discipline, all art is a contract between the creator and the recipient.

Making Arts Events Happen in Wales

Neal Thompson, co-founder of FOCUS Wales, and conference booker for the FOCUS Wales festival.

Sarah Jones, FOCUS Wales Festival Assistant.

Meilir Tomos, is one of Wales most exciting, intriguing and provocative musicians.

Hosted by Mike Corcoran.

This was a panel discussion which provided some expert advice on setting up and delivering arts events of all kinds. The discussion was conducted bilingually and seamlessly. One point that stuck me, was the observation that most music events are now truly of mixed language, not exclusively Welsh or English in nature. As a first language Welsh speaker I found this very encouraging, I personally believe that Welsh only acts gigs are sometimes insular and don’t encourage an understanding of or desire to learn our beautiful native tongue. For further information on a complex subject that I can’t do justice to in a blog please visit http://www.focuswales.com

A proud and important day to any Welshman and Welshwoman was brilliantly celebrated by a great bilingual set performed by Meilir Tomos, shame it wasn’t a longer set.

Thursday 2nd March

Channel 4, All 4 and the future of On-Demand

Speaker: Thom Gulseven, Tom Jenkins and Laura Rankin

Thom Gulseven, Commissioning Editor of All4 talked about Channel 4’s ground-breaking digital platform. Thom informed us that it was 2016 when the old 4OD site was re named and branded as ALL4. The new site was in response to changing consumer needs and patterns.

The screen above was the basic goal for the new branding.

This was what the new brand was to offer it’s chosen target audience.

Yes I know the slide says brief but I would say this slide was the new brand positioning or proposition.

Thom went on to explain what his job titles (Commissioning Editor) role was to choice content for All4, and that it took him a couple of weeks to get to grips with what this really meant. He had a chat with someone he considered to be a mentor, who advised him that he should simply choose the things that he liked.

This pricked my marketing ears, making me ask the question who’s actually acting as brand guardian at ALL4?. Surely content must be guided by the brands objectives? not just Thom and his fellow Commissioning Editor’s personal tastes, there must be more of a plan at All4, isn’t there? Unfortunately there wasn’t the opportunity for me to ask the question, any views?

Tom Jenkins and Laura Rankin from 4Mashed then finished of the talk.

As it say on the banner 4Mashed bring you the lucky consumer, sweet cartoons every week, in a short form content. One very interesting fact that Tom threw out was that You Tube vales a 4 minute viewing of a 10 minute video higher than a complete viewing of a 3 minute video, I personally find this really intriguing and would love to know more about there reasoning. If anyone know the answers please get in touch. Laura Rankin closed the talk nicely with some insights into her techniques.

Building a brand

Kirsten Hall

This was a solid useful talk with good case studies to back up the worth of brand building. It is the foundations on which brands build success and Kristen at Fogg Associates demonstrated a thorough and clear understanding of why and how to build a brand. Below is an example of some of the work for Warrington Rugby League done by Kirsten.

Personally I wish that more disciplines (illustrators, animators, photographers, etc.) understood what makes a brand and how a brand personality is built. It’s time for creatives to empower themselves with that knowledge. A brand that’s had the input of creative thinking by creative people before a pencil has been put to paper or typeface perused, now that’s a thought Mr Marketing Director.

INSPIRE Closing keynote address

Speaker: Tim Wallace

As you’d expect a well presented slick talk from an experienced pro photographer at the top of his game. This talk also consisted of the usual and sensible advice given to any creative arts student, work hard, knock on doors, present yourself well, yada yada yada, the difference with Tim’s advice was it wasn't interspersed with unsubstantiated bad advice based a blink of an eye career and ignorance. Enough bile.

If there’s one point I’ll take from Tim’s talk it would be “respect yourself and your work”. It’s reminded me to respect my own work, it’s very easy when you've been in the business for as many years as I have, to forget your value, achievements ability.

That’s how to value your work. If you don’t respect it why should others. How do you frame a PDF? Ever said, that PDF felt good, nice weight and texture? It’s made me think.

0 notes