#Something where they reintroduce the spring concept

[pokemonfrommemory]

Evolution has freed him from the curse (of eternally bouncing)

[sullina]

hey

are you someone who would like to write but can't seem to get started? Despite being at no loss of ideas?

Here's a tip. Especially for your first work and especially the first draft.

forget originality

that sounds mean now, but listen: every concept imaginable has been done by someone before. There will always be unoriginal concepts in every single work.

But that doesn't make these concepts bad

Because what actually matters is how you use them.

So if you're trying to write something, one of the best first steps you can take is probably just getting laid out what you want to write. Like, what concepts do you want in your work? What things did you like from other works? What characters from other works do you like, and why?

For your very first draft, when you're just starting out, it's perfectly fine to borrow building blocks from others.

Because here's a little secret: unless you're copying one single media word for word, those building blocks will rarely look the same after you've written down your idea and trying to fit everything together.

it's 100% fair to take concepts from other works and use them in your own writing. Because over the course of actually writing your own story, you will also make those borrowed concepts your own.

Sure, it's been done before...

but no one's done it like you yet.

And here's a second tip: if an idea you had or concept you like doesn't work for the thing you're writing anymore, it's okay to let go.

You don't have to throw it out completely, but maybe put it on the shelf for now. Once you're further along with your writing, you might just see the perfect opportunity to reintroduce it in a new way.

I wouldn't call myself an experienced writer just yet, but if there's one thing I've learned already, it's that crafting a story is NOT a straight line. There's bumps and sometimes you go in circles, and then there might be a point where you have an absolute genius idea or you realize that something you already wrote is an amazing setup for this next thing.

So it's not linear. At all. But you have to keep going.

Not everything you write is gonna make it into the final work, but it's still important that you write it. Because you can't make a thing without going through the process of making it. Fails and dropped ideas are as much part of this process as every success and genius idea.

And one final tip for you. Choose a medium to write in that you actively like doing, and doing a lot. By this i mean: writing on your computer is convenient for sure, but it's not the only way to write.

I've found that I fucking love writing by hand with a fountain pen, and it's something that I can do for hours at a time. And don't get me wrong, I do like typing on a computer and I'm not half bad at it, but going back to fix typos? Super annoying. it's fine if I'm making a short tumblr post like this (though i probably have a different definition of "short" than most people), but the outline of my current work in progress is almost 80 pages now. if that were digital, it would probably be more like... 40 pages or something, depending on the font and size, but my point is that digital typing, while convenient, is also annoying to me, personally.

And, ironically, also too quick. I like to think as I write and with digital typing, i have to focus too much on actually typing, but when I'm handwriting, i don't have that problem. I can go relatively quick and it's not like I don't make typos while handwriting, but crossing out one letter and putting the correct one over it is much faster than having to backspace and re-write an entire word (I could use the arrow keys but like. who has the damn time. too fiddly.)

My point here is not that digital writing is terrible and sucks, my point is that if you're gonna write, then you're gonna be doing the action of writing a whole damn lot, so make sure you can do it as comfortably as possible. For me, that's handwriting, for you, it might not be.

...if there's anyone who WILL spring for handwriting though, let me give you one final piece of advice: it might be wise to not go for pretty notebooks, for fear of "ruining" them. I knew this from myself already, so i instead went for regular notebooks, the kind that i used to use for school. The paper is good quality and the fountain pen that I have feels so nice when writing on it. You might think "but that's just small stuff!" and yeah it is, but small stuff can quickly become very very big stuff if it's building up over months or years.

[nullvoidface]

Thinking about how in Denmark. In 2014. Wolves reintroduced themselves to the country after 200 years of being extinct (they walked across the border from Germany, apparently the Wild Boar Fence was not enough to stop them<3)

And it sent the country into a heated discussion where you were either PRO or ANTI wolf.

Anyway I don’t remember when, but eventually some farmer SHOT a wolf, despite this being HIGHLY illegal (i forget the details but he was basically in literally no danger).

And this one guy gets super mad about it, so what do we call him? The Wolf Champion. (Kinda, sorta, “the man who fights for the wolves” doesn’t flow off the tongue nearly as well as Ulveforkæmperen). His name is just as metal though, it’s “Storm Balderson” (am I biased because my name is equally as Norse?? Probably)

So he’s like threatening these people and obviously that’s illegal, so like maybe don’t do that. But also as an autistic person with low empathy I sort of don’t care like these people killed an adult wolf despite wolves having extremely tight-knit family structures where the parents teach their pups everything for at least two years.

Also this all happened in Ulfbeck. Aka Wolf Creek.

And THEN- it becomes spring and this man, this Champion of Wolves, he decides he has to do something as news pop up about the puppies being born.

So he decides to grafitti a church?? (Denmark is not very religious, don’t let the stat of “oh 70% of danes are members of the church” fool you, this is just to make burial easy cause otherwise you can’t go to a graveyard with your family when ya die)

What did he write on the façade of the church?? I’m so glad you asked.

“Blood is not forgotten.” And “Nature before humans.” Absolute banger poetry if you ask me.

So then eventually he’s arrested, and the police is like “??why????”

And ofc the Wolf Champion explains that he did this to get the attention AWAY from rhe pups.

So he gets 40 days in jail, which like…whatever….who cares, removing the graffiti was probably like- a bucket of water and at most two hours of pay for some dude, the tax money certainly isn’t being used to properly take care of the churches so at least they managed to find a use for ‘em.

ANYWAY- skip to the pandemic and I become rather big on Danish Queer Tiktok (yes every genre of tiktok FYP has country specific variants) and somehow I wake up to him FOLLOWING my account. At first I’m like “??” Cause I’m faceblind and I see someone looking scandinavian (idk if american’s get what I’m saying, but Europeans probably get it??) with a lot of tattoos and I think “oh god it’s a nazi” but no. It was him. The Champion of Wolves.

(For guidance: Norse tattoos + Speaks english really well = Nazi. BUT Norse tattoos + Sounds like the swedish chef a bit when speaking english OR like they have a throat conditiom?? = probably just a scandinavian nerd who thinks Valhalla is really cool as a concept)

And he was watching my videos singing about how my internal dialogue has been replaced with Hank Green for two weeks.

The world is small, but Denmark is like a leaf in the garden of life.

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 21: This Ol' Gal's the Leader of the Amazon Tribe!

*checks watch* Oh, hey, it’s time for more Ranma 1/2! Hope things are going well for you, person reading this. I’m...fairly sure I know what’s coming? I just don’t really remember exactly how it happens. Will I like it? Will I not? We’ll have to see, next paragraph, after I’ve seen the episode again.

That was...not what I was expecting? This storyline is both moving much faster and much slower than I remember, if that makes any sense. How? Well, let me recap it a bit first.

The episode starts with someone flying into the city on birds. More specifically, a bunch of small birds supporting a larger bird who doesn’t seem to fly, and the person is riding on that bird. It’s weird. She arrives in a construction zone, an old woman with a walking stick taller than she is, and she says something about looking for her son-in-law. Actually, she says it a lot. A steel girder almost falls on her head, but she hits it with her stick in mid-air, shattering the metal into dust, before running off.

It cut from that to Ryoga attacking Ranma. Why? Well, Ryoga doesn’t really need a reason, but this time he does. Namely, the whole Ranma kissing Akane thing from the last episode. Of course, Ranma was in cat-mode at the time and doesn’t remember it at all, no matter how much Ryoga tells him it’s real. After Ryoga gets splashed with cold water, Ranma is then attacked by Sasuke and Kuno for the same reason, and combined with piglet-form Ryoga’s help, Ranma actually gets kinda beat up in the process.

Heading back to the home, he realizes that Akane’s probably mad if it is true, and we see her in the dojo, but she isn’t really working out the way she usually does when she’s mad. If anything, Akane seems conflicted. Ranma shows up to talk about it with her, and immediately apologizes. Akane asks if he remembers doing it, and he admits he doesn’t. Then, Akane wonders, did it not matter? Would Ranma have kissed anyone, and it just happened to be her?

Not understanding what is going on, Ranma stumbles over answering too long, until Akane starts actually getting riled up, calling him a flirt. That pisses Ranma off, so they get into an argument. There’s also a scene where their dads are playing shogi, and they wonder about that pink cat Shampoo sent them, especially since it’s unlikely she knew about Ranma’s fear of felines.

The answer to that comes as Ranma goes to take a nice, hot bath to clean off after the fights he’s had. The cat jumps in with him, and before he can freak out about his greatest fear being in the room, Shampoo emerges from the bath right where the cat had been, and she’s very naked. Yep, the cat was her that whole time!

In a case of Ultimate Bad Timing, Akane comes to take a bath herself and sees Ranma in the bath with a naked Shampoo. We cut directly from that to Ranma practicing what to tell Akane later. Namely, that he won’t apologize or back down, instead being firm on the fact that it wasn’t what it looked like and he did nothing wrong. And we wonder why Ranma has relationship problems.

Akane appears, and she seems fine...before knocking Ranma into a pond. Not long after the water changes him into his cursed form, the old lady from the beginning appears, and Ranma has a very hard time fighting her. She won’t explain who she is or why she’s fighting him, then disappears. That felt...a bit pointless, honestly.

Later, Shampoo comes by the house again, with food. It seems she has moved to Japan officially, and lives and works at a nearby ramen shop. As everyone’s eating the food, the old woman shows up again, taking a place at the table to eat. It’s revealed that she is Shampoo’s great-grandmother, named Cologne, and she’s there to make sure that Shampoo and Ranma get married. Soun fires back about the engagement Ranma already has to Akane, but Shampoo seems to think she has a good argument for why she should be the one to take Ranma’s hand.

She takes him into the bathroom and uses cold water to turn back into a cat, and it’s revealed exactly what happened. Heading back to China, she was shamed for failing to either kill or marry Ranma, and thus had to train with Cologne. They did that at Jusenkyo, for some reason, and Shampoo fell into the Spring of Drowned Cats. So, apparently the curse is Ranma’s fault, and thus he has to marry her. He rightfully points out that’s utter nonsense, but Cologne doesn’t care.

They fight for a bit, with Cologne showing off one of those moves where it looks like there are a bunch of her but only one is real. Ranma uses food and Cologne’s hunger to figure out the real one, but that doesn’t really matter. She’s a bit impressed by him, but still knows he’s far too inexperienced to ever really stand a chance against her. Then she hits him with her stick, and says something about how he’ll be begging to marry Shampoo in a few days.

Why is that? Well, it seems she did something quite diabolical. She apparently hit a pressure point that has caused Ranma to be incredibly sensitive to water. Even cold water feels boiling hot, but it still activates his curse. To turn back to his preferred form, he’d need to use hot water, but with how sensitive his skin is, hot water would be torture to endure. Thus, he can’t turn back into his uncursed state unless he does exactly what Cologne tells him.

Let me start with the stuff I like about this episode. First off, this is a really interesting way to build a story arc that’s very different from the ones that came before. All the story arcs in season one were pretty typical for anime. Each event led directly to the next, it all felt like single stories that just took multiple episodes to tell.

But if you didn’t know the last episode was part of a story arc, you wouldn’t guess that to be the case. It felt like a single-stand alone episode. And it kind of was. Only two things really carried over: Shampoo the Cat being mailed to them, and Ranma kissing Akane at the end of the episode. In fact, when I saw Ryoga and Ranma fighting, it took me a second to realize what they were talking about, because I didn’t think that event from last episode would be carried over.

I really like how it was done, though. The show made it pretty clear that Akane was feeling some feelings about the whole thing, but Ranma was too caught up in the idea that she’d just be plain angry about it to miss what she was really telling him. She wanted him to tell her that actually it did mean something that in his cat-state, he still sought her out and was affectionate towards her. She didn’t want it to be meaningless. That’s really cute, and the miscommunication there was less annoying than it sometimes is and more adorable. Free relationship tip: learning how to properly communicate to your partner is really important!

The concept of finally introducing a character who is actually a better fighter than Ranma is good. Cologne isn’t Ryoga or Shampoo or Kuno. He can’t just beat her in a cool fight, she’s far more experienced and skilled, something that from here will kind of drive the entire arc. The fact that Shampoo ended up with a cursed form that Ranma finds so terrifying is also interesting. She’s kind of scary to him anyway, this unrelenting force who won’t leave him alone no matter what he does, so making her cursed form that but to the tenth degree is pretty neat.

Last good thing: I really love how nonchalant Kasumi is with Shampoo. Like, to her it’s just like, “Oh, Shampoo! You’re back, that’s lovely, do you want to stay for a meal?” Either Kasumi doesn’t understand the complex romance plot going on, or she does and finds it not reason to stop being a good host.

What didn’t I care for? Well, like I said at the start, it feels like this arc is moving too fast and too slow at the same time. In one episode, this story resolves the Akane/Ranma kiss from last episode, the mystery of the pink cat, introduces a new focal player in the story, and curses Ranma with something he’ll have to fix. That’s a lot to happen, and I was really shocked the pressure point thing happened in this episode too.

But at the same time...I really found my interest waning in the back half of this episode. The Cologne fight just isn’t super gripping, to me anyway, especially when the technique she uses just feels very bland. There’s a good five or so minutes, about a quarter of the runtime of the episode, that I was just bored in.

I also like reintroducing Shampoo, only three episodes after she left, was a bit of a mistake, especially when she’s basically a main character from here on out. I know she was very popular, but even then giving the audience some time away from her let’s them miss her, if that makes any sense.

There was originally going to be a Cologne based Character Spotlight, but then I decided not to because we still haven’t seen a lot from her, and also I’m very tired and my birthday was Monday please stop bullying me

So, yeah, if you couldn’t tell I’m kind of meh on this episode. It’s not bad. It’s not great. I enjoyed the first half quite a bit, but the back half was a little more of a struggle. It was in fact a big enough dip that I’m putting this episode fourth from the bottom, just above the P-Chan introduction episode.

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’  

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 19: Clash of the Delivery Girls! The Martial Arts Takeout Race

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Episode 20: You Really Do Hate Cats!

Episode 16: Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 21: This Ol' Gal's the Leader of the Amazon Tribe!

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Episode 18: I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!?

But hey, maybe things will be different next time? I’m actually pretty sure I’ll like it better, because now we’re really getting into the stuff I can remember. Namely, Ranma is going to be introduced to what will be his signature technique in “Behold! The 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire' Technique”. I’ll be there next week, and I hope you will too.

[somar78]

A Brief History of the Bricklin SV-1 – Everything You Need To Know

The Bricklin SV-1 – A Canadian Match for the Corvette

In April 1975 Car and Driver magazine had the opportunity to do a head to head test of the Chevrolet Corvette and a new Canadian built rival, the Bricklin SV-1. You can read the full May 1, 1975 test here, but in summary the performance of the two cars was near identical.

The Corvette had a North American rival that not only matched its performance, but which also matched it in terms of style and crowd gathering ability.

The Bricklin was looked upon with great interest by another prominent Detroit figure, John Z. DeLorean.

DeLorean found that he and Malcolm Bricklin could not form a business partnership so he went off to begin a project of his own: the car with gull-wing doors that he created was the one Doctor Emmett Brown turned into a “time machine with style” for the movie “Back to the Future” and it bore a striking resemblance to the Bricklin SV-1 with its gull-wing doors and clean angular styling.

The Bricklin SV-1 however could get to 88 miles per hour rather more quickly than the DeLorean thanks to its 220 hp V8 engine.

Plumbing Supplies And The Subaru 360

The story of the Bricklin SV-1 began as Malcom Bricklin dropped out of college and invested his time and talents into his father’s hardware and plumbing supplies franchise, which was based in Orlando, Florida. With his strong entrepreneurial skills Malcom managed to turn the family’s business into a multi-million dollar franchise of a chain of hardware stores and with such an elegant sufficiency of finance behind him, not to mention being flushed with success, he decided not to stop there but to see what other projects his Midas Touch might make possible.

By this time it was the mid 1960’s and to understand Malcom Bricklin’s next choice of project it is helpful to see his decision in the historical perspective – what was going on in the world at that time?

The 1956 Suez Crisis had shown people the ease with which their supplies of fuel could be threatened and in that period of post-war austerity the Suez Crisis caused the British government to reintroduce fuel rationing while in the US and Canada the idea that the future would herald the demise of the big American car and see its replacement with smaller and more economical modes of transport gained some traction.

This was the period in which the “bubble cars” from such makers as Heinkel and BMW Isetta became popular in Britain and Europe and even had a footprint in the United States: a young rock ‘n roll singer named Elvis Presley had been driving around in his Messerschmidt bubble car before his career took off.

In Britain this was the period that gave birth to the iconic Mini, and motor scooters also became fashionable with young people. Seeing these things Malcom Bricklin could see an opening for establishing a franchise business just like the one he’d just set up for hardware, but this time selling small cars and motor scooters.

He found a Japanese company – Fuji Heavy Industries – who were wanting to establish a foothold in the North American market – and who made the Fuji Rabbit motor scooter, and who also made the Subaru 360 micro car which was basically a bubble car with four wheels instead of three. So his next venture was to set up Subaru America and start selling franchises for those products.

While the Fuji Rabbit motor scooters sold like little hotcakes the Subaru 360 was dealt a death blow when the Chicago based  “Consumer Guide” magazine reviewed the Subaru 360 and found it fared worse than anything else in crash tests, so they stated that it was “the most unsafe” automobile on the market. The little Subaru that had proved to be a perfect small car for Japan and her roads back in the mid-1960’s was way out of its depth on roads shared with the huge American cars and pickup trucks.

This led Malcom Bricklin to conclude, perhaps too hastily, that Subaru America had no future, and so he sold his interest in the company and with all that lovely investment capital burning a hole in his bank account he got thinking about how best to invest it in a new money-making venture.

The “Safety Vehicle 1”

1965 had seen the publication of Ralph Nadar’s book “Unsafe at Any Speed” and it was in this environment that Malcom Bricklin began putting together his ideas for a car for the 1970’s. He seems to have reasoned that there would be little point in trying to produce a standard family car as the major manufacturers were already doing that and he could not be competitive. To begin in the car industry he needed a Halo automobile, and that meant a sports car.

He could create an exotic sports car and, just like Lotus Cars of Britain, he could make it economically on a small scale. Toyota were making their 2000GT, Mazda made their Cosmo, and Chevrolet the Corvette. He could do something similar but he needed an angle to make his car something different and desirable. Safety seemed to be high in the public interest at that time so he decided to build the Bricklin Safety Vehicle. This was to be a car that delivered what British car maker MG promised in their advertising for their sports cars – “Safety Fast”.

Bricklin established a new company, General Vehicles Inc. based in Phoenix, Arizona, and went looking for a suitable place to set up manufacturing. His research would ultimately take him to Canada, to the maritime province of New Brunswick, where the Premier Richard Hatfield would embrace the project as a way to provide employment for local workers.

With this in mind the provincial government would provide an initial subsidy of USD$4.5 million to get the first run of cars into production. Not only that but they would also provide an empty factory building and a promise to subsidize the worker’s wages.

As the project took shape two production facilities would be established in New Brunswick, one in St. John and a body construction works in Minto.

Design and Development: From Prototypes to Production

Malcom Bricklin got started on the concept and development of his new sports car in 1971. The original concept work was entrusted to Bruce Meyers of Meyers Manx fame but was transferred to a designer named Marshall Hobart who worked to perfect the design in collaboration with Richard Dean Sawitskas, who is best known by the name Dick Dean.

Dick Dean had become famous during the mid-late 1960’s, particularly because of his 1969 Shalako which made the cover of several magazines including Car & Driver, Rod & Custom, Motor Trend, Hot Rod, and Playboy. It was because of one of these cover stories that Malcolm Bricklin sought out Dick Dean to help with his car project.

Malcolm Bricklin’s initial idea was to make something a bit like a British Lotus in concept. It was to be powered by a four cylinder Opel engine and was to have a fully independent suspension to give it superb handling.

The four cylinder engine idea was scrapped quite early, presumably because the car’s performance would have been on a par with the Brazilian Volkswagen SP1 and SP2 “sports” cars which were notably under-powered. So a Chrysler “Slant Six” was installed instead. This Chrysler engine was the one used in the popular Chrysler Valiant sedan and it had an excellent reputation as well as being common. It was an engine that most mechanics would know how to fix, and for which parts were readily available.

The design was done in the conventional way for building a new production car; from clay mock-up models, and then the development and construction to create a running prototype. This first running prototype is interesting as it shows the nature of the original design concept. Dubbed the “Gray Ghost” because it was painted silver-gray this car mated the Chrysler engine to a four speed manual gearbox and also used a Datsun 510 rear differential and fully independent trailing arm rear suspension.

This combination would make that Bricklin prototype quite like the 1969 Datsun 240Z in terms of performance and handling potential. The car used a range of off the shelf parts from Datsun, Toyota and GM Opel and had a tilting steering wheel assembly from a Chrysler.

Malcolm Bricklin began working with Herb Grasse Design and Advanced Vehicles Concepts (AVC) of Michigan in 1972 to work from the “Gray Ghost” and re-engineer it into a production ready car. Significant in this process was the work of Tom Monroe who would go on to become the Chief Engineer of Bricklin’s company.

In this period AVC built seven of the next eight prototypes.

These prototypes provide a summary history of the re-engineering and development of what would become the production car.

The first of these was painted red and had a fiberglass body on a steel perimeter chassis. The engine used was an AMC 360 V8 which was later changed to an AMC six cylinder. This car did not use the Datsun 510 fully independent rear suspension but instead used a front and rear suspension from the AMC Hornet. This meant it had unequal “A” arms with coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers at the front and a live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. The brakes were also from the AMC Hornet and comprised discs at the front and drums at the rear.

The second also had a fiberglass body and was painted in yellow-ochre. This was the first prototype to have a fully fitted out interior. Its first engine was an AMC 360 which was then changed to a Ford 351 with automatic transmission. This car was later painted red.

The third was fitted with a red acrylic body and had an AMC 360 engine and automatic transmission.

The fourth had a white acrylic body and four speed manual transmission.

The fifth car was used for crash testing and had a white acrylic body and automatic transmission.

The sixth prototype was not completed but was only made as a chassis, frame, and “bird cage”.

The seventh was fitted with a “Suntan” acrylic body and automatic transmission.

The eighth and last prototype was made with an acrylic orange body and was used for crash/impact tests. This prototype was built by General Vehicle Incorporated (GVI).

The Bricklin SV-1 Production Cars

The production of the Bricklin SV-1 began in 1974 with 774 cars made. These cars were built on a steel perimeter chassis with a tubular steel cage around the passenger compartment to provide a safe cocoon for the occupants, and it was also fitted with an integral roll bar to provide roll-over protection.

This was a period in which it was thought that US regulators might ban convertible cars because of their lack of roll-over protection and Malcolm Bricklin’s team were doing all they knew to do to ensure their car would pass or exceed the most stringent safety regulations.

Much changed from the original concept of a lightweight sports car with a fully independent suspension. The engine grew from four cylinders, to six cylinders, to eight. To accommodate the power of the V8, and to use affordable “off the shelf” parts, the rear suspension was changed to a live axle with leaf springs. The original fiberglass body was changed to fiberglass with an acrylic top layer which had the color of the car molded in so the car did not need to be painted, and minor scratches could be buffed out.

The engine used in the first production Bricklin SV-1 was the AMC 360, a V8 that was used in the Jeep J-Series, Wagoneer SJ and Cherokee SJ, as well as being used in the AMC Rebel and Matador passenger cars of that era. This choice of engine was without doubt influenced by availability issues: GM would not have wanted to supply engines to a company that was going to build a car that was in direct competition with the Corvette for example.

The AMC 360 engine as fitted to the SV-1 had a displacement of 5,896.1 cc (359.8 cu. in.) and was fitted with a four barrel carburetor. When development of the SV-1 began in 1971 this engine had been producing 285-295 hp, but as emissions regulations came in during mid-1971 this was reduced to 220 hp.

Had the engine not been subject to those emissions restrictions the SV-1 would have had a 5.9 liter 285 hp V8 under the hood and would have been a lively little performer. As it was though the 220 hp V8 was an impressive feature of the SV-1: we can be sure it looked good when the hood was raised, that it sounded gorgeous, and that it performed nicely despite having 3,470 lb of car to haul around – the SV-1 was no lightweight and would have benefited greatly from extensive use of aluminum alloy – but steel was cheaper and much easier to weld.

For the early production cars the available gearbox was either a BorgWarner T-10 four speed manual or Chrysler Torque Command 3 speed automatic sending the power to a live rear axle with a ratio of 3.15:1 which was mounted on semi-elliptic leaf springs with telescopic shock absorbers. The front suspension was by unequal “A” arms with coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers. Brakes were 11″ vented discs at the front and 10″ drums at the rear providing a swept area of 328 square inches.

Being a “Safety Vehicle” the design team incorporated what were probably over-engineered impact bumpers front and rear. To their credit these bumpers were integrated into the body styling beautifully and were one of the starring aspects of the SV-1 design.

As a small scale production vehicle the designers of the SV-1 had to use off-the-shelf parts wherever possible and for the tail lights Herb Grasse decided to use the same tail light assembly as he had on his De Tomaso Pantera. This was a tail light set made by Italian company Carello and were also used on cars from Lamborghini and Maserati: so “off-the-shelf” can be pretty exotic.

Stylish, but more controversial was the decision to use gull-wing doors. Gull-wing doors were chosen ostensibly as a safety feature as the doors would not open into the passing traffic flow. They are also good for getting in and out of a vehicle in the limited space of a car-park. However, on the downside, a gull-wing door has to be lifted up rather than just swung open and so the weight of the door becomes an important factor.

Each gull-wing door of the SV-1 tipped the scales at around 90 lb, which was too heavy for a person to lift open unassisted. These gull-wing doors were power operated by a hydraulic system which made door opening push-button effortless, but which was noted for being slow. If the hydraulic system failed however opening the doors manually was very difficult and beyond the muscle power of many people.

A major drawback to the hydraulic system used in the SV-1 was that if one attempted to raise one door at the same time as lowering the other one it would cause the hydraulic pump to fail. This is a failing that should never have found its way into a production sports car, but it did.

In 1975 Bricklin was forced to change engines from the AMC 5.9 liter 220 hp V8 to a Ford 351 cu. in. (5.8 liter) small block Windsor V8 which was rated at 175 hp, that modest power being partly due to its breathing through a two barrel carburetor. Although this was a distinct drop in power by comparison with the AMC’s 220 hp we should consider that the Ford Windsor V8 had been the engine fitted to the Ford Mustang, Shelby Cobra and Sunbeam Tiger in various forms.

So although in the Bricklin of 1975 it was not an engine that would cause neck straining acceleration it was an engine that would have allowed for some significant tweaking. Carrol Shelby had his Windsor V8’s getting up to 390 hp. So the potential was there, but Bricklin were in financial trouble by that stage and were not going to be able to capitalize on that potential.

Murphy’s Law Manifests

Most readers will be aware of Murphy’s Law which tells us that “Nothing is as easy as it looks, everything takes longer than you expect, and if anything can go wrong it will, at the worst possible moment.” For those who aspire to building a sports car we should probably add “Everything will cost more than you expect.” And all of these things came to pass for the Bricklin SV-1 just as they had for the creators of the original Chevrolet Corvette.

As originally created the Bricklin SV-1 was intended to be a direct competitor to the Corvette and if things had gone according to plan it would have been. The cost estimates for the SV-1 originally predicted the car would sell for around USD$4,000. When it entered the market in 1974 the Bricklin actually cost USD$7,490, which was almost double the original price estimate.

By comparison in 1974 a base model Chevrolet Corvette sold for USD$6,082. The price of the SV-1 would continue to spiral upwards and by 1975 the Bricklin price was USD$9,980 and the base Corvette USD$6,810. Despite that Bricklin managed to establish more than 400 US dealerships and had thousands of cars on order at the time the company was forced into receivership.

The things that killed the Bricklin were the same things that killed many other automotive startups – poor quality workmanship, over pricing, and labor relations problems. The cars were built using mechanical parts made in the United States and so those parts posed no problems. At the St. John works the factory hands were tasked with the job of assembling the cars. This was the first point of difficulty as the quality of that assembly was sub-standard and this was particularly acute in the first year of production 1974.

The second major area of difficulty was the Minto body works where the problems encountered in getting the acrylic layer to bond with the fiberglass resulted in a wastage of about two thirds of panels produced. Bricklin brought in Archie Hamielec, an expert from the McMaster University of Hamilton, Ontario. With his help the wastage rate for panels was reduced to around a fifth of production, which was obviously a lot better than two thirds but still not ideal.

The final straw was that Bricklin was hiring workers in a place where unemployment was at around 25%. This must have meant he was getting a lot of unskilled and under-skilled labor. There is reported also the problem that when hunting season came a large portion of the workforce left work and went hunting, leaving the factory badly understaffed.

So to sum up, the Bricklin was not killed because it was an inferior design – although if you were 6 foot tall you’d be much better off with a Corvette – but it was killed off by problems related to labor, quality control, and unforeseen technical problems related to the bonding of the acrylic and fiberglass of the body panels.

Despite having a backlog of orders on the books Bricklin was forced into receivership in 1975 with the last few cars being built from remaining parts in 1976.

Bricklin SV-1 Specifications

Chassis and Body: Steel perimeter frame with roll bar and tube steel cage around the passenger compartment. Fuel tank protected on five sides against impact damage. Body made of fiberglass with a colored acrylic layer bonded to it obviating the need for painting. Colors available were Safety Orange, Safety Red, Safety Green, Safety White, and Safety Suntan.

Engines: For 1974; 5,896.1 cc (359.8 cu. in.) AMC 360 OHV V8 engine delivering 220 hp and 315 lb/ft of torque. For 1975 and the few cars made in 1976; Ford 351 Windsor 351 cu. in. (5,752 cc) OHV V8 delivering 175 hp and 286 lb/ft of torque.

Transmission: For the AMC 360 engine – BorgWarner T10 four speed manual gearbox (137 cars), Chrysler Torque Commander three speed automatic gearbox (635 cars). For the Ford 351 Windsor engine – Ford FMX thee speed automatic (approximately 2,100 cars). Rear live axle from AMC Hornet with final drive ratio of 3.15:1.

Suspension and Brakes: Suspension system taken from the AMC Hornet. Front; Unequal “A” arms with coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers. Rear; Hotchkiss live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and telescopic shock absorbers. Servo assisted braking system from the AMC Hornet. Front; 11″ vented discs. Rear; 10″ drums. Total swept area 328 square inches.

Steering: Recirculating ball sector and gear. Turning circle diameter 34′ wall to wall.

Wheels and Tires: 15″ Wheels wearing FR 60 x 15 tires. No provision for a spare tire.

Dimensions: Length 178.6″ (4,536 mm), Width 67.6″ (1,717 mm), Height 48.25″ (1,226 mm), Wheelbase 96.0″ (2,438 mm), Kerb weight 3,520 lb (1,597 kg), Fuel tank capacity 21 US gallons. Ground clearance 5.5″.

Performance: Standing quarter-mile 16.6 seconds (attaining 83.6 mph). Top speed 118 mph (190 km/hr).

The End of the Bricklin SV-1 Story

The Bricklin SV-1 was a pioneering automobile and like any trailblazer it contained features that were new, unfamiliar, and therefore features that would attract negative criticism from reviewers. One area of criticism was the thickness of the “A” pillars and general lack of visibility from within the vehicle.

This was caused by the integration of the cage around the passenger compartment and integral roll-bar and the aerodynamic body style. Nowadays cars are constructed with integral roll-over protection and commonly have air bags installed in the “A” pillars which makes them sufficiently thick that the blind spot created can obscure an entire car from view. This is something that drivers of modern cars are used to and have learned to compensate for, but that was not the case in 1974.

The Bricklin went to market as an unfinished prototype and suffered accordingly. It was created by a highly competent design team who got most things right – except for the mechanism for the gull-wing doors. Added to that the factory was staffed with workers who had mostly not worked on an automotive production line before and had to learn on the job. The resulting sub-standard workmanship would appear to have resulted from what would seem to be a lack in leadership, and a failure to train workers adequately. Financial pressures, including pressure to get cars rolling off the production line quickly, would seem to be the principal underlying cause behind putting an unfinished model into production in a factory that had been hastily established and staffed.

Nowadays the Bricklin SV-1 has a keen support network in the form of the Bricklin International Owners Club. Many of the surviving Bricklins have been stripped and completely restored and in that process the faults, including the gull-wing door mechanism, have been fixed so these restored cars are examples of what should have been, but wasn’t back then, but is perfected now.

The gull-wing door fix is the design creation of Terry Tanner and you can find more details from Bricklin Parts of Virginia.

Another good source for Bricklin SV-1 happiness is Big H Bricklin Parts and Service who are located in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Bricklin SV-1 appears on “worst cars” lists from time to time. From a design standpoint it doesn’t really belong on any “worst cars” list; the faults were in quality control and the need to cut costs during production. Had the money been there to give the car impeccable manufacturing quality control, sort out the door design, tweak up the suspension, and give the engine the Carrol Shelby treatment, a Bricklin could have been quite a machine. Which makes the Bricklin SV-1 a historic classic that is as yet largely undiscovered.

Perhaps its real moment of fame will come if the classic car collector market discovers it.

Photo Credits: Bricklin, Subaru America, Mecum Auctions.

The post A Brief History of the Bricklin SV-1 – Everything You Need To Know appeared first on Silodrome.

source https://silodrome.com/bricklin-sv-1-history/

[karenpage]

1!!!!!!! For the prompt!

1. “We’re not just friends and you fucking know it. 

It’s cold in January, wet cold, the kind cold that has Karen Page clutching her coffee like a lifeline to her numb fingertips. Anything to thaw out as she stands with snow melting into puddles at her feet, in the hallway outside of Ellison’s office. She’s started staking him out every day - in between meetings, editorial reviews, and even at his favorite hot dog stand. You’re stalking me, he pointed out a handful of times, only to be met by Karen listing the practicalities of giving her her job back (and she has not nor will she ever take ‘no’ for an answer).

They settle someplace in the middle. Compromise, it’s called, where Karen will be a freelance journalist and provide the Bulletin with pieces that come from her and are run as an advocate for the independent New Yorker’s voice.

But, he’d lifted his finger up to tone down her giddy, delighted outburst, you have to run a piece on Frank Castle, an honest one.

There’s no shortage of suspicion, edged under the rim of his glasses or how he sees Karen, really and truly sees her - until she’s forced to reluctantly concede.

So that’s where she is now, sitting cross-legged at the foot of her bed with only the title of ‘He’s not who they say he is’ and a long, blank page beneath it mocking her.

How does she begin to quantify her relationship with Frank? Does she start from the beginning? How and where she knew she could trust the man every media outlet painted as a monster?

Karen’s fears are rooted in selfishness; what will people think of her, if they knew. If they knew that she smiled at him, bruised and bloody. If they knew that he’d used his body as a shield from bullets, and she’d held on just a little bit longer than necessary. If they knew she cried when the roses started to wilt or when setting them on her window sill became a melancholic habit, knowing he wouldn’t call.

She slams her laptop shut, the glow of the screen had been the only source of light in her room, leaving Karen staring into the abyss like it might provide inspiration. Pretending that even now, her broken heart doesn’t cast a shadow in the dark.

This is her chance to get back into Ellison’s good graces and she’s not going to martyr herself over it. It’s just an article. She’s written a thousand of them about a thousand different people and it didn’t matter then, so why does it now?

Frank’s the one who is gone. She doesn’t owe him her silence after a year of his.

Karen grabs a beer from her fridge, brings her laptop into the living room, and gets to typing. It doesn’t have to be an extensive expose, the nitty-gritty details can be glossed over. The public wouldn’t care if she tweaked some things, painted Frank as a friend she needed, not necessarily as one she chose.

It’s a lie. A column’s worth of it. But by the time six A.M rolls around, Karen’s done. She stares at what she’s just written, neatly packaged as an attachment in the email sent to the Bulletin’s newest editor, and feels nothing like the thrill she’d had, bringing down scandals, exposing criminals, doing right by the downtrodden and exacting justice onto the cruel. It’s the least excited she’s ever been to see her byline and knows that Ellison won’t believe a word of it anyway.

But it’s her shot to reintroduce normalcy into her life and at this point, Karen is desperate to have a routine.

She’s mad at Frank, Karen realized the moment she pressed send. And somehow, admitting that to herself in the cold, dim light of dawn, is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. She’s sobbing on her couch, big and ugly, gasps ripped out of her throat and tears so thick she can’t see, can’t blink them away. They’re like tar. Keeping all the hurt inside has rotted her, and she’d done it for so long. For everything. For everyone.

Locked away Ben, Daniel, Kevin, even James Wesley. There’s so much she should have written about. So much she should have said.

Maybe tell the world that Frank Castle had kissed her cheek, that he’d pleaded with her with a broken voice, haunted by all he’d already lost, that he couldn’t lose her too. She’d called him a friend, and what’s worse, she’d written like it was … an anecdote. Not something, or someone, who’d kept her going through the worst of it. When the world had been the cold steel of a bomb at her back, and Frank had come for her.

It’s pulling venom from a wound, too long left neglected.

Karen cries and cries until it’s noon and the only thing she has to show for a morning well spent is red, puffy eyes and a raging migraine. Two painkillers washed down the remainder of last night’s beer, and she opens her laptop right back up, squinting until she fumbles to turn the brightness down.

She’d write something real, this time. It wouldn’t be for the public, it isn���t something constructed for accolades or clout. It’s … a diary, maybe. An autobiographical apology to everyone she’s let down and hoping that letting out this ache, venting it, might keep her from falling to pieces entirely.

Karen spends the next twelve hours writing nonstop. The blur of her fingers over the keys fades into the backdrop, she doesn’t stop to eat or drink, she doesn’t even edit grammatical mistakes that sit there, underlined in red.

It starts with Kevin. And it ends with Frank.

She falls asleep holding the still-warm computer to her chest. No concept of what time it is, or what she’d even written, only the satisfaction in knowing she’d actually said something she meant, regardless of whether or not anyone ever saw a word of it.

Karen wakes up to wind rushing across her living room, bringing with it the bone-chill of winter in Hell’s Kitchen - she’s frazzled, disoriented - she could swear up and down that she’d closed that window last night long before she’d drifted off.

When she stands to close it, however, there’s a shadow standing in the hall, and Karen freezes until the headlights of a passing car illuminate him.

Frank.

“Jesus,” her hand falls to her chest, heart pounding underneath it. “I have a front door, you know. With a doorbell. It works and everything.” Karen’s go-to defense mechanism; dry humor. Pretending that the sight of him doesn’t spring tears to her eyes (when she’d made the mistake of thinking she’d cried them all away). She’s already turned towards the kitchen - it’s still dark out, so grabbing another beer can hardly hurt.

He’s got something in his hand, it’s – a newspaper? His fingers are fisted around it, knuckles white and he’s breathing like he’d just run a marathon to get here, eyes wild, unfocused, far away.

“What’s that –?” trailing off, she points to the paper with her beer before twisting the cap off and padding her way back to the couch on socked feet.

Her phone is dead, fantastic, and she’s immediately distracted by the hunt for her charger cable, plugging it into her laptop with a victorious sound. Frank hasn’t moved, and she’s doing just about everything she can to ignore him. Out of spite, fear, or guilt, Karen hasn’t decided.

When her phone powers on, Karen frowns at the screen - it’s not tomorrow, it’s tomorrow’s tomorrow. Evidently, her writing catharsis had been more like a coma and she’d slept for twenty-six hours. No wonder she’s in a fog.

“We’re not just friends and you fucking know it.”

“—what?”

“We’re not just friends and you fucking know it,” Frank says, slower, through his teeth. Like he’s… Like he’s mad at her for not understanding the first time around. She blinks owlishly at him, surprised by the sudden display of rage.

He throws the newspaper at her, opened up to page four and wrinkled to hell but - she makes out the article Ellison had run. She smiles sleepily at her byline – it’d been a wild forty-eight hours – and then her brows furrow as comprehension settles in and then it’s a punch to the get when she realizes what he said.

“Frank I–”

He’s pacing. Hands shoved into the shallow pockets of his windbreaker and jaw tight (the muscle in it jumps, flexing every time he rotates to pace the other way).

“That what you think of me, Karen? Just… some schmuck who came into your life an’ sure, maybe I saved it a couple’a times but it’s just par for the fuckin’ course for our friendship?” The last word catches on his teeth, broken, and it breaks Karen just a little bit too.

She stumbles up, hand on the edge of her couch while her feet slide against the hardwood floor. It might be a comical sight, under any other set of circumstances, but as it stands, it just makes Karen look every inch of the fool she felt then, “You know - you know that’s not what I think about you, Frank. You should know me better than that.” It’s hollow, and Frank barks a humorless laugh.

That just makes Karen angry.

“You left.” Interjected, stiff upper lip and all, “-you – you left without a word, Frank. Gone. I had to reach out to Agent Madani just to hear that you’d been granted some leeway by the CIA and homeland … I was … I thought you were dead.” Her resolve is wavering, the words tremble at the end, betraying the false front of her composure.

Frank’s fingers twitch at his side, but he doesn’t reach out to her. Doesn’t speak. He hangs his head a bit, tilted towards her so she knows he’s still listening.

Her eyes glance, briefly (and treacherously) towards the roses, half-dead on the ledge of her window and she hopes he didn’t notice. But he does. Of course, he does. He’s Frank, and he draws in a staggered breath before speaking.

“Karen… the dust settled an’ I was.. I needed time, alright? You’re right I shoulda… shoulda called, maybe yeah.. And I sure as shit didn’t expect you to wait for me, some Jane Doe with her man out to war but.. This?” his voice is that low, steady thunder that makes her toes curl and her heart stop, but Karen can only continue to let the tears fall down her cheeks in silence. He picks up the article, crumples it in his fist, “I have killed for you. Nearly died for you. I’m not just your fuckin’ friend,” Frank means it to sound stalwart, but in the context, it just comes across like: please.

“What – what more do I gotta do to show you, Kar? I” His adams apple bobs, rough as sandpaper but he’s asking her, the honesty of it makes him tremble. He’s afraid of her answer.

“Stay.” and that’s the core of it. He left her. He always left and most of the time it’s alright because she knew he had to but he’d been safe. They could have been, safe, and he’d been gone all the same so she doesn’t have a solution at the ready. She just wants him to – “stay, Frank. Please.”

Frank takes one step forward, hesitating before the next. And after a few more tense moments of this swaying in the space between them, he closes the distance and wraps her up in his arms, only to find out that she too, is shaking.

“You know I can’t,” at her ear, a frantic whisper but in it is a desperation that she has to hear, has to know. “Not all of the time but I will… I’ll stay, an’ when I can’t, when I gotta go I’ll come back to you - if you want me. If you want me here I’ll be here, Karen.” He pulls back because she’s not speaking, there’s doubt cut into the crease of her brow. A sadness in her eyes that he’d put there and is kicking himself for it.

Frank reaches under the collar of his shirt, pulls a silver chain over his head and slips it over Karen’s wordlessly, his thumb sweeping the raised letters on the dog tag that comes to rest just beneath her collarbone. “I’m makin’ a promise to you, Miss Page. I still got things.. Loose ends.. I might need time an’ shit but I will always come back for you.”

[paleorecipecookbook]

The Epic Guide to Seasonal Eating

Eating more fruits and veggies that are grown seasonally and locally is optimal. Conventional or out of season produce can be bland and lacking the best nutrients compared to produce that has been vine or tree ripened and picked during peak season. (1)

The best place to start your seasonal procurement is by checking out your local farmer’s market. Most people who are growing the food that they are selling are more than happy to share information about the flavors and benefits that eating seasonally can have on not only your taste buds but the environment and your local community.

What is Seasonal Eating?

Eating seasonally means that you are eating fruits and veggies at the same time of year that they are grown. When growing food organically and without pesticides, the health of the soil, as well as the climate, will dictate what grows.

Seasonal eating is not just a vogue or trendy concept. It is the way things used to be done before mega-markets carried anything and everything year-round. Eating what grows in season is as sustainable as it gets as a consumer. Creating more demand for seasonal food fare supports sustainable growing and harvest practices as well.

3 Benefits of Seasonal Eating

Seasonal eating is a new concept for some, but it is rooted in simplicity and sustainability.

1. Buying local is good for the environment

When you choose your fruits and veggies while they are in season, you have more options of purchasing from local producers. Seasonal eating is tastier, and more sustainable than eating foods out of season. (2) Try eating what your local farmers are growing.

Because roughage is more readily available locally, it doesn’t need to travel as far to get to your local grocer or farmer’s market which cuts down on your contribution to the carbon-footprint. Less motor travel equals less pollution.

2. Seasonal eating is tastier

When you eat seasonally, your fruits and veggies are at their peak freshness and flavor. The weather and the soil want to start fruiting apples in the late summer so that they are ripe and ready to eat in the fall. It’s natural.

When your food has to travel far distances, it is usually being picked before it has ripened. When the food arrives at its destination, it typically needs to be artificially ripened in a hot house, which leads to fibrous, bland, and often rotten fruits and vegetables. (3)

3. Seasonal eating doesn’t have to be all or nothing

Having fresh, and not frozen, berries on the shelf of your local grocery store in the middle of winter is more of a luxury than a natural occurrence. Because of importing and exporting as well as pesticides, monoculture, and conventional farming practices, we can virtually shop for any vegetable or fruit any time of year that we want! We are absolutely a convenience nation.

If you were to only eat what is in season, this would throw a wrench in your current lifestyle and become a full-time job to procure only seasonal items for every single meal. The idea is not to make our lives more difficult, but to make better choices. You can add in bits of seasonal eating with normal grocery shopping habits to find a happy balance. You don’t need to stop eating avocados, for example, because they don’t grow locally. Just try incorporating more local produce into your day-to-day diet when it is actually growing.

What’s Growing & When

Vegetables are classed as either ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ season vegetables. (4) Depending on the climate of where you live, fruits and veggies my come into your farmer’s market scene at slightly different times. This seasonal eating guide will help you keep a look out for what is coming into peak season during the autumn, winter, spring, and summer!

Fall Produce: September, October, November

The beginning of the cozy season comes with the fall. Lots of sturdier squash start to show themselves as well as more roots and tree fruits. Time to start in on the soups and roasts for your meal preparations with these amazing ingredients:

Kabocha squash

Pumpkin

Delicata squash

Beets

Apples

Broccoli

Broccoli rabe

Cabbage

Brussels sprouts

Celery

Celery root

Figs

Pears

Sweet potatoes

Mushrooms

Shallots

Fennel

Try these recipes: Savory Pumpkin Soup, Roasted Beets with Balsamic Glaze, Brussels Sprout and Apple Salad

Winter: December, January, February

Depending on where you live, if the colder months do not have deep frosts you may still be able to buy fresh locally-grown food. Hearty varieties of greens, roots, and sturdy squash can often face the cold naturally. Cold frames and greenhouses may offer your veggies a little more protection against the cold.

Now is the time to break into your jams, pickles, ferments, and frozen berry supply! Roasting, soups, stews, casseroles, and other warming dishes really make this cold season something to look forward to. The foods most commonly in season during this time are:

Kale

Cauliflower

Sweet Potatoes

Onions

Horseradish (sweetest in the winter months!)

Rutabaga

Turnips

Chicory

Parsnips

Pomegranate (grown in Arizona and California)

Citrus (grown in Florida, Texas, and Arizona and sweetest in the winter)

Try these recipes: Warm Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Salad, Creamy Bacon and Parsnip Soup

Spring: March, April, May

Spring produce is a welcomed celebration after the cold season! Many foraged items come into play like dandelion greens and mushrooms, as well as special short-season items like ramps, or wild leeks. Reintroducing cooking methods like blanching, steaming, and light sauté is very spring appropriate. Spring seasonal foods include:

Asparagus

Carrots

Leeks

Salad greens

Ramps

Rhubarb

Spinach

Morels

Artichokes

Radishes

Garlic

Arugula

Dandelion greens

Kohlrabi

Sorrel

Try these recipes: Asparagus with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts, Rhubarb Sorbet, Arugula and Leek Frittata

Summer Produce: June, July, August

Summer is like hitting the motherlode of fresh fruits, berries, melons, and vegetables! Summer climates can certainly vary depending on where you live, but wherever you are, this is your peak season.

Fresh and raw preparations are the best way to go for these warm months. Think lots of whole fruits and vegetables for on the go, leafy and fresh salads, thinly sliced raw vegetables, and lightly sautéed or marinated dishes! Summer seasonal foods include:

Berries

Eggplant

Chard

Cherries

Chili peppers

Sweet peppers

Cucumbers

Herbs

Stone fruits

Tomatoes

Melons

Summer squash

Winter squash (actually a warm season squash but gets its name because they store well through the cold season)

Salad greens

Avocados

Try these recipes: Beets and Berries Smoothie, Smoked Salmon Cucumber Bites, Avocado Salsa

4 Ways to Prep Your Food for Winter

As the weather changes, so does what’s growing. Part of eating seasonally is learning how to properly store your foods for the winter! Provisioning up by learning some tried and true storing methods while in the blooming and producing seasons will make for a tasty winter when you can reap your storing rewards and will keep you entertained with variety during the cold seasons.

1. Dry herbs

Drying fresh herbs is easy! Gather herbs into bundles and tie with string, invert, and hang until fully dry. My favorite herbs to dry are oregano, marjoram, and lavender. You can use the dried oregano and marjoram in savory coconut-cream sauces, or a more traditional tomato and garlic ragout sauce for zucchini noodles.

Lavender is delicious when mixed into grass-fed butter or ghee and used as a compound butter on your protein pancakes and muffins. Dried lavender is also delicious when pulsed together with other dried herbs to create spice rubs for lamb, chicken, and fish. Try pulsing dried lavender, oregano, thyme, white pepper, and a little Himalayan salt together and sprinkle over salmon or your fish of choice.

2. Freeze fruits

Freezing berries and cherries is the best way to enjoy your Paleo breakfast and pre- or post-workout shakes throughout the non-berry-bearing season.

My favorite smoothie to enjoy after a workout, and even for dessert, is dark sweet frozen cherries, half a banana, raw cacao powder, Brazil nuts, a handful of fresh or dried mint leaves, and a touch of grade B maple syrup. Add the ingredients to a high powered blender along with your favorite nut milk and protein powder, and you have yourself a delicious superfood shake or dessert!

3. Pickle veggies

My favorite pickles are a mix of cauliflower, fennel, and beet! Simmer two parts apple cider vinegar to one part water and honey/maple syrup, and add lots of fresh garlic, herbs, peppercorns, and hot peppers. Pour over your veggies and proceed to ‘jar.’ Your pickles will turn pink from the beet, and you may not be able to wait until winter to enjoy them.

4. Ferment just about anything

Sauerkraut is one of the most recognizable ferments on the market. There are lots of trendy varieties and brands on the shelves of your local grocer these days, but go ahead and try your hand at making your own. My favorite combo to whip up is Napa cabbage, red cabbage, dill, horseradish, and garlic. Shred ingredients, salt, and massage well to release the natural juices from your cabbage. Pack tightly into a jar, pressing down so the natural liquid line is well above the veggies. Cover with a cheesecloth and a rubber band and continue to press and pack down every day. Taste as you go. It is ready to jar, can, or eat when the taste is right for you.

Storing Your Foods for the Cold Season

There are many ways to stow away your harvest bounty for the winter, as well as kitchen methods to help you preserve the warm season abundance properly. Here are some ways to help you turn your kitchen, cellar, freezer, and pantry into a seasonal eater’s dream, and the best produce for the job.

Root Cellar

Only store produce that is in the best shape in a root cellar, or any dry and cool storage space. When fruits and vegetables are bruised, cut into, or damaged, they will spoil quicker. (5)

Longer storage life:

Winter squash

Sweet potatoes

Celeriac

Cabbage

Onions

Shorter storage life:

Brussel sprouts

Carrots

Beets

Apples

Freezer

When freezing items for storage it is best to lay out clean, dry, and chopped (if necessary) items out on a parchment or freezer paper-lined sheet pan. Be sure that your berries, peaches, etc. are not touching. Freeze 4-8 hours, or overnight, then simply transfer your now-frozen items into freezer bags. Better yet, use a vacuum packer.

Best items to freeze:

Berries

Stone fruits

Chanterelle (cooked first)

Morels (cooked first)

Dehydrating

By dehydrating your fruits and veggies, you are removing the water content from the item, therefore extending its shelf life. (6) You can make crunchy snacks by slicing and seasoning produce first before dehydrating, or simply dehydrate items to reconstitute later for a recipe!

Best foods to dehydrate:

Apples

Kale

Carrots

Beets

Mushrooms

Jarring & Canning

There are a number of ways to jar and can your foods. A popular at-home method is a water bath. The more fresh and tasty the food is when it’s picked, the more delicious the jarred or canned product. You can essentially jar/can anything, but when preserving alkaline and acidic foods together you must use a high pressure canning method to ensure safe storage and inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria. (7)

When jarring most fruits without adding sugar, be aware that your fruit may turn a little mushy or lose color, but also, know that you reap the benefits of not adding unnecessary sugar. (8)

Pickling

Pickling is a tasty way of preserving savory goods before storing. Salt and vinegar added to items like carrots and asparagus make for great snacks or wintery salad toppers during the cooler season.

Best foods for pickling:

Asparagus

Chard stems

Peppers

Tomatoes

Beets

Carrots

Peaches

Sweet potatoes

Pears

Plums

Fermenting

In the days prior to refrigerators, mankind used to heavily rely on fermentation to store their food through the winter. (9) This method of food storage nurtures the healthy bacteria growth of your veggies. Incorporating ferments into your diet may also be beneficial for optimal gut health. (10)

Fermented foods often taste of vinegar, but there is no vinegar actually added in the process. Popular fermented dishes include kimchis and krauts.

Best foods to ferment:

Cabbage

Carrot

Daikon radish

Vegetable and fruit juices

Tomatoes

Coconut milk, for a probiotic kefir drink

Apples

Berries

Bottom Line

Eating seasonally is not only delicious, it’s fun! Try new and unique varieties of fruits and vegetables and experiment with different, tried and true sustainable cooking and preserving methods, so that you may feed your health year round.

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The post The Epic Guide to Seasonal Eating appeared first on Paleo Plan.

Source: http://ift.tt/10qRbxJ

[infjtarot]

Page of Pentacles ~ Wildwood Tarot.

Page of Stones ~ Lynx ~ Wildwood Tarot.

  The lynx crouches in a bare tree, seeking its quarry.  It was thought that lynx had become extinct over four thousand years ago, but bones dated to one and half thousand years ago were discovered in Yorkshire. The fact that the llewin (literally ‘little lion’) or lynx is mentioned in a 7th century Cumbrian lullaby may indicate some scattered survivals of this splendid cat which still inhabits a wide swathe of northern Europe and Asia.  Hunting by smell and sight, it often uses a high perch to search out prey, usually at dusk or dawn. Adult lynxes live solitary after they leave the litter.  There have been plans to reintroduce it to Britain as a means of keeping deer numbers under control.

 As a person in your life: The Page of Stones is a person of common sense and dedication.  He enjoys learning skills that make him efficient or that lead to prosperity and comfort.  As a friend, he values the authentic aspects of your character and sticks to his commitments. Can be an idle good-for-nothing or fall into a fatal inertia that’s hard to shift.  If he or his skills are not valued or recognized, he can be wild and undisciplined in the face of authority.

  As an aspect or process: Learning the ropes as a beginner. Keeping things down to earth or actual rather than virtual. Setting practical goals. Being busy. Vandalizing public property or mocking concepts of authority.

  As an event/happening: Apprenticeship. Study. Schools or training programmes. Concentration. Messages of prosperity or benefit. Theft or pillage. Public disorder.  Inertia.

  Questions: What data do you need to gather to make a good decision?  Where do you need to get out of your head and into your body? What needs your dedicated commitment?  What can you learn from this situation?

 http://thewildwoodtarot.blogspot.com/2012/01/caitlin-matthews-wildwood-tarot-courts.html

 Page of Stones ~ Lynx~ Wildwood Tarot.

 The energies of the Knight of Stones now makes way for the Page of Stones, Lynx. We have met Lynx already, with The Woodward.

 This shy creature is one of the top three European predators – third only to his senior Stones Courts - Wolf (King of Stones) and Bear (Queen of Stones).

 Lynx is a beginner when it comes to physical things and he heralds a time where you will benefit from focusing on your body and your own personal environment.

 Lynx is very much a hands-on learner, rather than someone who studies books – an apprentice rather than a student.

 The word 'Lynx' derives from an Indo-European root 'leuk' which means brightness and light – perfect for the Court who supports us through to Imbolc and the beginnings of spring.

 The Page of Stones blends in with his surroundings in winter or summer and so it is with the Page as a person. This quiet and gentle-natured person might be easy to over-look, preferring to get on with the job in hand than create any drama or draw attention to themselves.

 Page of Stones says:

 “Now is the time to look after your own body and treat it with the love and respect that it deserves. Begin something new that supports your health – perhaps a yoga class for strength and flexibility or reassess how your fuel your body with food.

 “Start looking at your finances too, begin a new savings plan or resolve to understand your existing plans!

 “This is the time to begin the work, without drama or fanfare, whatever your work may be.”

 What small changes can you make to improve your health?

What new approach can you bring to your finances?

 https://www.facebook.com/TheWildwoodTarot/posts/the-page-of-stones-the-energies-of-the-knight-of-stones-now-makes-way-for-the-pa/1038337702876883/

[hollowsentinel]

Hey! Tell me about your OC’s! Out of your OC’s, who do you think is the most badass? Who would stay up all night to help a friend study? Who would rather be caught dead than in last years fashion trends? If you don’t like these questions that’s fine! I just wanna know more about your characters. Your writing is really good, you’re really creative and I’m excited to know more about what kind of people you’ve thought up. Hope you have a good night. :)

Yay, an ask! Also, whoops, I forgot I was working on this, and I am really bad at givong short amswers so yeah. Anyways, these questions are fine. The fashion one really got me thinking. It’s nice knowing that you enjoy what I put out.

Badass: At first, I though Matthieu Marchand. He survives spending his teenage years in a sugar-sweet death world that made no sense, resists demonic possession, circumvents the fact that he should be unable to use magic, and is ready to fight gods when he gets home. Also, he eventually gets to the point where he travels between realities, finds a world with a rape-y version of himself, and erases that version and derivatives thereof from existence.

But then I remembered Ruos Illinde. She’s this sweet little farmgirl that’s madly in love with this witch that visits town now and again. Sh held on to this crush since she was a wee little lass, and when it comes time that the witch doesn’t mind their age gap, shit goes down.

Monsters attack town and people get cut to pieces. Ruos gets cornered, and she decides that she is too gay too die to a bunch of lycanthropes that have been terrorizing humanity since the beginning of time. Also, it would be terrible manners to schedule a date and not show up because she died. So she proceeds to outperform her local militia, takes a scythe to these monsters, and saves what’s left of town basically on her own.

Later, her witchy girlfriend runs away (she fucked up Ruos’ voice and felt mad guilty about it, also more monsters to deal with, but that’s just am excuse), and Ruos tries to go after her. Sometime during her search she forgets that aging is a thing, and just stops getting older for inexplicable reasons, and all the while, she’s hunting down monsters (saving people feels great yo).

Society falls over a bunch of times, but Ruos lives through thousands of years of monsters and people come to know her as the best damn monster hunter to live. Add to that the fact that she reintroduces the concept of guns and other technology people lost to monsters killing too many people (destroying production lines, methods, amd knowledge), and it gets pretty wild.

Oh, and there’s a practically immortal monster that is legit afraid that Ruos can actually do him in once and for all. Entire armies struggle to make him care about getting hurt beyond the immediate pain and PTSD triggered by fire. So yeah, Ruos is top badass.

Honorable mentions go out to Plan B (helps keep superheroes and supervillains safe from each other; is mundane himself until shenanigans, but he kept up before that), Jill (like Matthieu, she was in a weird place for a long time and became super scary), Sorec (princess; gets a genie to turn her country into a desert to get out of an arranged marriage and becomes a god), and the aunt (?) from last year’s botched NaNoWriMo (would travel during winter to get ingredients for medicine in spring probably among other things). I could go on, but This bit is long enough.

All-night Study Buddy: Canonically, Matthieu, but I have others that would probably also qualify. There’s my gun-slinging witch-prince, the budding archmage that goes (not hoes, though the typo makes for an interesting image) with him, Dodger Stone, Aster Xilhu, Lillian… huh, I thought the list would be longer. But anyway, Matthieu.

When he’s like twelve or thirteen, he’s hanging out the the library in all his free time. He crams as much magic theory into his head as he can so he can try to apply that to a new style of magic that he doesn’t need hereditary bullshit to use. There he meets this bright-eyed little girl (she’s like eight or nine at the time), and he ends up tutoring her.

Matthieu makes the mistake of asking if she's cramming for magic school, and suddenly she wants to apply at any cost. They camp out in the library, visit each other's homes, and they have marathon study sessions to get her into the school (and maybe they play nerd games when they get tired, I don't know).

But yeah, that's a canon thing.

Trendster: I had to think about this. Most of my characters don't have hard and fast visual designs, muh less prefered fashions. Multiple outfits and following trends isn't something I think about for most of my characters.

In lieu of an actually trendy dresser, let me talk about Hunter Halsey. His fashion is completely dictated by a very wealth vampiric patron. It's old, early 19th century stuff. Tight pants, boots up to his knees, hat, cane, tailcoat, waistcoat, floofy shirts, and junk. He ends up fitting right in when he gets shunted back in time, but the rest of the time, he looks really out of place.

Other characters with "known" and notable fashions include Caine Oschn... and that might be it. His (ex?) boyfriend Prince Cearus might actually fit the trendster thing, but unconfirmed.

[ntrending]

The king behind Machu Picchu built his legacy in stone

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/the-king-behind-machu-picchu-built-his-legacy-in-stone/

The king behind Machu Picchu built his legacy in stone

Popular Science’s new series, The Builders, takes you behind the construction tape to reveal the individuals responsible for history’s greatest architectural works.

Glance at an Incan brick, and you’ll notice there’s very little that’s conventionally bricklike about it. There are no right angles, no proper corners. And it’s not a rectangle at all, but a trapezoid: one side wider and squatter than the other. Look at another. Then another. Then another. No two are exactly the same, each a polygonal version of the unique rock it started as.

Carefully stacked together like a 15th-century game of Tetris, these seemingly haphazard blocks have withstood 500 years of disasters, both natural and human. The signature style of the pre-Columbian empire, these stones marked the Inca expansion some 2,500 miles down the backbone of South America. The sprawl took just a few decades, propelled by the strength of a man named Pachacuti, the ninth Sapa Inca (the indigenous Quechua term for “king”). His most impressive building project was Machu Picchu, a 200-building, mountain-hugging summer resort for the ruler and his extended family. But this wonder of the world is just one place where Pachacuti carefully recorded his legacy—and building concepts that continue to help us create more-resilient cities—stone by stone.

Born in 1438 as Cusi Yupanqui, Pachacuti didn’t plan his rise to power. When the Chankas, an enemy ethnic group invaded, his father, then king, and his brother, the future ruler, retreated. Cusi Yupanqui had to defend the Inca’s fertile Peruvian valley alone. The puma-shaped crown city of Cusco occupied a sacred spot in between two forking rivers, and the Chankas wanted to call the prestigious place their own.

As the Chankas made their way toward the gold-plated Temple of the Sun, part fortress and part temple, Cusi Yupanqui led his men into a battle so ferocious that the stones beneath the warriors’ feet rose up to fight alongside them—or so the story goes. In the aftermath, the victorious Inca rechristened their leader Pachacuti, or “Earth Shaker.” After his brother’s eventual murder and his father’s death, Pachacuti ascended the throne as the sole king of Cusco.

Unsatisfied with this one little valley, he set about conquering swaths of the Andes, knitting together lands in the vast quilt of the expanding Inca Empire, which at its zenith stretched from Quito, Ecuador, in the north, down a long coastal strip to Talca, Chile in the south. The Inca laid roads and raised cities among diverse natural ecosystems, from the Atacama—the only desert drier than the poles—to the rainforests of Cusco to the flood zones of Machu Picchu. Everything they built, they built to last, with the aid of Pachacuti’s soldiers, engineers, and stones.

In colonizing the land outside Cusco, Pachacuti used architecture to “mark their presence on the landscape,” says Stella Nair, an art historian at the University of California at, Los Angeles, and an expert in indigenous art and architecture in the Americas. Absent a written language, he used construction to put his stamp on every conquered village, reminding potential enemies of his power. “The [Inca] are a really small population, and within 100 years, they conquer the western rim of South America,” Nair says. “You have to convey the idea that you’re there.”

The hallmark of their stonework is the trapezoid, a form that lends the structures extraordinary strength. Without modern earthmovers to dig foundations into bedrock or advanced metallurgy to imbue strength, the Incas wisely focused on shaping their buildings to their environment, instead of taking risks on the assumption their materials would hold up against earthquakes and other disasters. Each element, from an individual block to an entire building, is bigger at the bottom than the top, which forms sturdier foundations. Most structures were single-story: The squatter the building, the more likely it was to hold up. It’s also why most builders eschewed mortar: The paste holds bricks together, but in a seismic event, a bit of glue is meaningless. These clever strategies prevented earthquake damage, a pressing concern on the Pacific’s tectonic Ring of Fire.

Inca structures were surprisingly easy to assemble. With polygonal stones, there’s no reason to strive for individually perfect cubes. “When you’re working a stone, your most fragile part is your corners,” Nair says. “If you’re trying to make a rectangular block [and you break a corner], you just ruined your block.” Instead, a head wall-maker would direct a team of masons in matching the slopes of each new stone to the one that preceded it.

The Inca way of carving stone blurs the boundary between the natural and the man-made. “When they carve a stone, they’ll leave enough of the cortex to give some sense of its original shape,” Nair says. Experts attribute this both to the culture’s reverence for the landscape, and their desire to distort time and history to make it appear the Inca had ruled for longer than they had. Today, many indigenous people continue to build in the style of their ancestors. It’s at once an homage to this great legacy and out of necessity: Many descendants—modern-day Peruvians—live in poverty and make their homes of local stone and homemade adobe (the Spanish word for “mudbrick”).

RELATED: By destroying this female pharaoh’s legacy, her successor preserved it forever

Builders in the region continue to cap their stout structures with carefully woven reed roofs, though they’re considerably thinner than their ancestors. Thatching eclipsed two-thirds of each building, according to Nair. Some roofs were gabled, with opposing slopes, while others were hipped, in which all sides slope downward. Every one was like a three-dimensional textile, secured to the building with clever knotting (the Inca did not have nails).

Designs also followed a profound philosophical or spiritual principle. Builders selected sites based on their orientation to the natural world. “The Incas paid a lot of attention to where you can see sacred features from different spots,” Nair says. Mountain peaks, rushing springs, and spiritually significant rivers were not just premium views, but elements that defined the shape of entire complexes, even entire cities.

Pachacuti chose the location for Machu Picchu, a sprawling summer resort for his family and entourage, with great intention. It rises out of the Sacred Valley, where Inca culture originated, and overlooks the Urubamba River, which irrigated agricultural lands all the way to Cusco. But opting for this special location brought his builders new challenges. In addition to regular seismic activity, a constant flow of meltwater marks the Andes mountains; it pours downhill from its glacial origins, instigating landslides along the way. Machu Picchu’s wet season lasts roughly half the year, unleashing twice the annual average rainfall of the continental United States. “It’s just horrible if you want to think about stable landscapes to build on,” Nair says. But the hallowed nature of the site, combined with the temperate relief it provided in summer, was likely enough to convince Pachacuti to invest in such a perilous project.

To cope, the Inca rigorously surveyed the potential building sites, and developed tricks for stabilization. Machu Picchu’s structural stability comes from a series of 700 terraces, which still meet contemporary geotechnical standards for retaining walls. Like a set of stacked window boxes, they corralled water as it came rushing down the hills. The sturdy barriers prevented soil erosion, trapping dirt inside. The structures also provided flat arable land for growing crops, such as corn, squash, and beans—all essential for feeding the king’s 1,200-person entourage. Water still found its way into the heart of the complex, so engineers built 130 drainage holes into the walls of the royal city.

But preventing floods was only one of the architect’s goals. Residences cluster around drinking wells. At the top of the mountain, near a rushing spring, engineers dug a canal that stored freshwater, which then trickled down through the Stairway of Fountains. Pachacuti’s palace was at the topmost well and therefore received the freshest water, civil engineer Ken Wright told Nova. The municipal tap flowed down from there, always separate from the drainage system. The system could handle 25 gallons of water each minute to accommodate the spring’s peak flow—something Wright estimates the Inca likely calculated as part of a yearlong research and development phase before they began construction.

It’s that type of careful planning and rigorous technique that allowed Pachacuti and his people to thrive, wherever his empire expanded. That’s why architects, engineers, and enthusiasts still revere Inca designs to this day. We see their influence in the words we use: In 2010, meteorologists in alpine Europe named a method for measuring rainfall in mountainous areas the Integrated Nowcasting through Comprehensive Analysis, or INCA.

It’s also increasingly in the way we think. As drought wrinkles many parts of the Andean desert and climate change brings still-harsher weather to the region, researchers are reexamining Inca water-storage practices for insight into how we might survive our desolate future. In contemporary Cusco, where Pachacuti’s journey began, archaeologists are helping locals restore water-retaining terraces, which remain damp deep into summer. Smaller Inca strategies work too. By reintroducing gravel into the soil, farmers can prevent landslides without inhibiting growth. And by switching to local crops, which are already adapted to the regional climate, they can ensure a better harvest than less-hardy imported varieties.

Despite their long and revered history, the indigenous people of the Andes—the direct descendants of this ancient civilization—get short shrift. They’re displaced by new airports and growing hotel chains and other hidden costs of tourism. Many live in poverty. And, Nair says, among many Westerners with cable TV and YouTube access, wild theories about Machu Picchu’s alien origins are more popular than the very real Inca men and women who built these lasting monuments to their empire’s strength. Pachacuti’s legacy may be written in stone, but conspiracies zipping around the internet threaten to erase him.

Written By Eleanor Cummins

[limejuicer1862]

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger. The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Karen Jane Cannon

is a UK poet and author. Her poetry has been published widely in literary journals and anthologies in the UK and USA, including Acumen, Envoi, Mslexia, Orbis, Obsessed with Pipework, The Interpreter’s House, Ink, Sweat & Tears, and Popshot. She was a 2017 finalist in the Mslexia Poetry Competition and was commended for the Flambard Poetry Prize in 2014. Emergency Mints, her debut poetry pamphlet, was published in Spring 2018, by Paper Swans Press

Her novel Powder Monkey (as Karen Sainsbury) was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2002 and Phoenix in 2003.

Karen is also an award-winning radio playwright. She has an MA with distinction in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, where she lectured for three years. She is a PhD Candidate at the University of Southampton. Karen is creator of Silent Voices: found poetry of lost women

https://karenjanecannon.com/

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

I started writing poetry when I was very small and was encouraged enormously by various teachers. I entered competitions and read lots of poetry ‘how to’ guides. When I was studying English as an undergraduate, I suddenly became frustrated and frightened by poetry, lost the unselfconscious way of writing I’d had as a teenager—for two decades I didn’t have anything to do with poetry, became totally poetry-phobic. After having several articles published, I started writing radio plays and then a novel, but I felt I wasn’t really a storyteller—fiction seemed too contrived and unreal. I entered quite a bad depression. Felt I had lost my way as a writer and the only way out for me was through rediscovering poetry. I remember picking up Ted Hughes’ Moortown Diary and thinking poetry could be real and earthy and alive. I decided to try and be the thing that terrified me most—a poet! Or at least conquer my fear of it. Orbis published my first poem a year later. In 2017 I was delighted at being a finalist in the Mslexia Poetry Competition. This has really boosted my confidence.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I’m not sure. Maybe, I found out by myself, at the library when I was at primary school searching out Walter de la Mare and Kipling. Taking my MA in Creative Writing I was inspired by the work of Philip Gross who taught me for a semester—I really connected with The Wasting Game, but was still suspicious of poetry. Another tutor, Tracy Brain reintroduced me to Sylvia Plath via The Bell Jar, and her love for all things Plath was very contagious.

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

Writing poetry, you are always aware of walking in the footsteps of others. It’s normal for a poet to think, how do I get my voice heard? Why is my voice relevant? I think it’s either huge ego or that persuasive fluttering muse that makes you think your contribution is worthy. As a writer, you have to develop a thick skin and learn to do what makes you happy. Rejection is a healthy part of the writing process—the biggest thing that will make you stop and re-evaluate your work and seek to improve it. The Poetry World is hugely competitive.

Studying English at degree level, I became frustrated by the study of poetry—not being able to get a poem to immediately yield all its secrets. I remember very simplistically thinking, for example, why can’t a poem be just about blackberries?! Why does there have to be a whole subtext behind it?  I was too immature to understand that this is the challenge of any piece of art. Every time you re-examine a text, you read something new into it—that’s what makes a reader return to it years later, why it stays in the head. Every text means something different to every reader. That’s the power and joy of poetry.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I write daily, every morning, either on new work, editing or submitting. Creativity isn’t something you can control—new poems can magically pop up at any time and need writing down before they vanish. I am very organised when it comes to writing or studying. The rest of my life is somewhat haphazard.

5. What motivates you to write?

Above anything, I am a writer of place. From my first articles, to my plays, novel and poetry, I write landscape, both physical and emotional. That is what motivates me to write. I have always chosen to live in strange and fascinating places, from the second highest village in Scotland, to a village on the edge of Longleat Safari park, going to sleep each night to the sound of roaring lions and howling wolves. I was brought up a mile from the sea in Worthing, West Sussex, and spent much of my childhood either on the beach or on the beautiful South Downs. The sea, its dynamic movement and power, is a great source of inspiration for me. My first pamphlet, Emergency Mints (Paper Swans Press, 2017), is set on the south coast. Now I live in the magical New Forest National Park, a surprising wilderness in the heart of the south of England. The main themes running through my work are loss and motherhood—the two ends of the circle. I am fascinated by maps and boundaries—both real and imaginary—and the industrial footprint left in the landscape. These things all motivate me creatively, but I am motivated also by success and becoming a better poet.

6. What is your work ethic?

I have a hugely strong work ethic when it comes to creativity. I am a perpetual student—it’s important to me to improve and grow as a writer, to hopefully reach my potential. I am in the 2nd year of a part time PhD at the University of Southampton, researching poetry and place. It is a very stretching and rewarding experience. I am very focused. I don’t go on holidays—I go on research trips! My husband is very supportive—on our last ‘holiday’ we ended up down a stone quarry, because I wanted to write about it!

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

That’s difficult to gauge. I write about the effects of industry on the landscape and its inhabitants and I wonder if Blake’s Songs of Experience—and the whole Romantic movement— influenced this. I remember being moved by these poems when I was a young teenager, the hopelessness and inevitability of change. Even childhood reading like Enid Blyton has shaped my connection to the countryside. I was obsessed with the War Poets when I was sixteen—maybe they influenced the themes of loss that always run through my work, the long connection between war and poetry is fascinating and paradoxical.

In reality, it was growing up in the 1970s that has influenced my writing more than anything else. The Seventies were a dismal decade to be a child—a time of dissatisfaction and misery. This was represented across popular culture—even sitcoms such as The Likely Lads and Butterflies portrayed an adult world of frustration and yearning. The lingering after-effects of the war, sexual revolution and political turmoil were frightening and unsettling. Nothing was stable—not even the concept of family—no one was happy. Everyone trapped by something—sex, class, respectability.  But, ironically, it was all these things that made me become a writer. I rejected the restraints and limitations of the previous generation and chose my own path.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

I have spent the last twelve months immersing myself in books on place—from Dorothy Wordsworth’s wonderfully rich journals and Nan Shepherd’s beautiful The Living Mountain, to Roger Deakin’s Waterlog and Wildwood. And of course, Alexandra Harris, Luke Turner, Richard Mabey, Philip Hoare and everything Robert MacFarlane writes! Groundwork, edited by Tim Dee, is an excellent introduction to the genre. These writers share the ability to conjure a place from the page with their knowledge and love for it. They create value.  ‘Local’ doesn’t mean parochial, it reflects the whole. I am also interested in how different genders approach the writing of place.

I have also been reading a lot of ecopoetry—one approach to ecopoetry is of the close observation of place proposed by Linda Russo. This genre needs careful handling as it involves writing with intent, which is problematic. The Ground Aslant, edited by Harriet Tarlo, is an excellent example of how to get it right.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

I have had ideas about doing other things, but I am only driven to write. I have other useable skills—ones that would pay better—but I have no heart for them. I think I may be quite lazy. As I said above, I have had plays produced and a book published. Poetry uses the least words! What I love about poetry is the journey it takes you on. I read a lot of fiction and I find so many authors only have the one brilliant book in them. Poets by contrast keep growing and expanding.  That’s a huge draw to me. It’s rewarding.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

I would say, to be a good writer, you have to be a good reader. To paraphrase Reynolds on art, you gather the pollen to create your own honey. Experiment. Be flexible—you may start off thinking you want to be a poet, but may discover you are an amazing playwright. See where writing takes you. Write with your heart and not with your head. And if you want to improve, get critical feedback. You are unlikely to get this from friends or family. They will either tell you your work is brilliant, or that it’s not their cup of tea! Constructive criticism is invaluable. The Poetry School offers fantastic courses for all levels. And, really importantly, read contemporary work if you want to see your work published—styles change!

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I am just finishing my second pamphlet, based around my experience of living 1400 feet up in the Lowther hills of Southern Scotland without electricity in an old leadminer’s cottage. I am working on two full collections—one set on the South coast and its industrial footprint, and a second more experimental work centred around the New Forest, which is part of my PhD. I am loving the writing of all of these book

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Karen Jane Cannon Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.

[angstylittlecatboy]

memories of my sprite comic nobody read

I'm not sure if I believe in the whole angel numbers thing anymore but I think they want me to reintroduce my sprite comic (saw 111 while thinking about it.) I just feel like talking about it, idk. I know nobody cares.

Barring a few standout strips I don't think Purrnout the Edgy Cat (covering my bases here, but the comic predates me meeting FP by two years, “edgy” refers to how stuff like Linkin Park and Shadow the Hedgehog is referred to as edgy) was a good comic, most of it's gags fall flat, the backgrounds and walking sprites were mostly ugly (if my more detail-oriented brother was downstairs he'd insist I do better,) and I could never get a story arc off the ground, but I only made it to kill the bore (in the description it said "updates whenever boredom strikes") and I had fun making it.

The idea was to be a sprite comic (believe me, I’d draw the comic if I were any good at drawing, but I learned my lesson from having DeviantArt) that was something of an affectionate parody of early 2000s sprite comics while avoiding a lot of the common complaints about them, also throwing in some punk/goth/emo culture. Specifically, all of it's characters were original, only one was a recolor (and his name was Recolor the Hedgehog, he was the deuteragonist and straight man, I planned to make him the only character who can't do cool superpower stuff for irony,) I didn't use backgrounds from Google Images, it didn't directly take place in the universe of something else (my idea was that it took place in a nonsense universe where every work of fiction is somehow canon, though I wanted to be pretty strict about seeing concepts and objects but never characters from other works, but other than showing Recolor losing rings, nothing ever came of it,) I tried not to mainly use reference or shock humor, and I tried to use a consistent sprite style for the characters and backgrounds (I confess to ripping effects.) I don't think it ever achieved parody of 00s sprite comics, I wanted to eventually make some stuff like DBZ-style sprite battles and teen melodrama, but I ended up making a gag-a-day strip mostly utilizing cringe comedy. At least, all the good or least bad strips are cringe comedy. I tried teen melodrama but it was mostly big lipped aligator moments that went nowhere, especially both aborted story arcs (though the latter was going to be less teen melodrama and more band melodrama.) If I reupload the comic, the arc comics won’t be reuploaded with the rest as I consider them non-canon since neither got past two strips and the first attempt would have honestly ruined the comic if it finished. I guess there were two continuous strips where Purrnout commited tax fraud (I think this predated the Yoshi meme) but I don’t see that as a story arc. Actually the first three comics were sorta a story arc but they mostly just introduced the main two, explained why Purrnout is living in an apartment (I think I needed to explain this as I intended it as a Chekrov’s Gun for a later story arc,) and made some obscure Green Day references. Maybe the arc comics could get re-added at a different place on the timeline if I felt like completing the arcs. A huge problem is that I didn’t make an outline for them tbh.

The style I settled on for the backgrounds and sprites was that of the Neo Geo Pocket Color. The panels were in either that system’s resolution or one close to it (they were tiny.) I ignored palette limitations, but so did most sprite comics.

I must admit that the title character is a self-insert fantasy to some extent, he was admittedly, like 16-year-old me but cooler. Well, not really cooler since the comic revolves around him being a loser, but he was an emancipated minor and a good punk/alt rock guitarist, both tying into my fantasies at the time, and he was a lonely emo teenager trying to not be mainstream. If I brought the comic back, I’d continue to write Purrnout as 16YO me and not as 18YO me. I’m still a loser, but my spiritual beliefs, dedication to kindness, and inconsistent attitudes towards life WOULD NOT mesh with the character. Purrnout cannot have reverence to things that control the world or talk about peace and love, he needs to be angry at the world and be a bit of a deliberately insensitive asshole to the people he doesn’t like. Sort of a much less extreme version of an incel (I identified as such at the time.) Wouldn’t call him a Mary Sue, though it’s not really my call to make since I’m the author and this is the only creative work of mine that can kinda be considered “completed” that I’m still fond of in a way. Maybe I’ll cringe someday, but not today.

There’s not much to say about Recolor the Hedgehog, he’s very much a pretty normal guy other than having nerdy interests and Purrnout as a best friend. He more or less exists to be a straight man. He was a composite of my brother and an ex-friend.

I might as well mention the comic’s other non-antagonist character since I’ve already talked about both Purrnout and Recolor. Love the Golden Retriever, a rich, smart, pretty normie girl with a Pollyanna viewpoint, a wish to heal people like Purrnout, and a crush on Recolor. She was based on a variety of girls who tried to become my friend out of pity and were nice enough but we didn’t connect. Purrnout finds her annoying, while she considers Purrnout a friend. I also introduced another one, but she was part of the first aborted attempt at an arc. 

A third main character was planned as well, but she was supposed to be introduced in a story arc that I planned but never even tried to start. She wouldn’t make it into the comic if I start it up again, at least not without heavy modification, as I eventually met someone who was very similar to the character I had in mind. So similar that adding them now would look creepy.

The comic’s most common antagonist was a cat named Muffin. He was basically Chad Thundercock, probably the most shallow character in a comic that wasn’t long enough to get deep. I also introduced another character intended as an antagonist in an admittedly-hamfisted way named Felicity the Once-Golden Retriever, Love’s best friend who used to be a highly optimistic normie with a promising modelling career before Muffin cheated on her, and then became an angsty anti-society rebel who thinks cutting her hair and dying her fur darker makes her ugly. She hated Purrnout because she felt that Purrnout hadn’t suffered like she had and is moping for no reason, which annoys her. I think I was trying to do a straw feminist character minus the actual feminism, but don’t quote me on that. I had a third antagonist that I wanted to introduce, my favorite antagonist made for the comic actually, and he already cameoed, but I never ended up writing him. Maybe if I had my PC through Summer/Fall 2018 I would’ve made more (the last one was Spring 2018.)

But anyway, it doesn’t really matter. My brother was the only person who really read Purrnout, but I do remember him getting a chuckle out of it. I posted it on Tumblr (now deleted) and I got one follower, who was likely a bot. I never posted a link to it on my main Tumblr, partially because I wanted to see it gain an organic audience first (it didn’t lol) and partially because I was scared of it being seen as cringe. You may have come across it if you browsed the “sprite comic” tag on here. I know Tumblr is a bad place to host webcomics (at least if it’s the only place you’re hosting the webcomic) but it’s free, I was familiar with it, and I wasn’t making any plans to profit off of or take the comic seriously (it ran Summer 2016 - Spring 2018 and only had twenty strips.)

I’m still hesitant to bring back the comic because I honestly want to use the universe (most of it, obviously modifications would need to be made) for a video game idea I have, though that would be 10+ years in the future if I ever have credibility as a game developer since I couldn’t see myself doing that one without a team (”3D hack n’ slash platformer” is a lot harder than “2D JRPG.”) Hell, I originally made the sprite for a Zelda II clone I wanted to make with Purrnout using side mounted guns (because Shadow the Edgehog,) but for some reason, be it laziness (not wanting to re-learn Game Maker) or wanting to use the character for something more character driven, I ended up making a sprite comic instead. Another route I could do is redesigning and renaming Recolor, and removing all sprites ripped from other games, but I’m extremely hesitant to mess with Recolor’s design since his worried face is a running gag and if I did continue I’d still want to eventually make jokes that don’t work without him being a Sonic recolor.

Also, it wasn’t a furry webcomic, at least not entirely. “pet sized” (cats, dogs, wolves, foxes, etc.) characters would stand on fours while characters of much smaller or much larger stature (cows, hedgehogs,) than that would be anthropomorphic.

[caveartfair]

Everyone’s a Curator. That’s Not (Always) a Bad Thing

Dear Curator, . UBIK Sabrina Amrani

According to Merriam-Webster, you can’t call yourself a “curator” just because you recently organized an art exhibition. In fact, the dictionary is more apt to permit you this title if you feed zebras than if you mount paintings and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art. The definition reads: “One who has the care and superintendence of something; especially: one in charge of a museum, zoo, or other place of exhibit.” Here, it’s the concern and attention to objects (or animals), not their particular arrangement, that matters.

It’s a nice thought at first—that curatorship equals care, and that specialized museum staffers are tending to artifacts that offer a narrative about human history and making. And it’s true that this is how many institutional curators think about their jobs, and how they operate. But in general, that conception of the word “curator” is woefully outdated in light of how we actually use the word today. Some of the most thoughtful contemporary exhibition organizers work outside the institutional context, offering new ideas about art through displaying objects that aren’t actually theirs for the caretaking. And they’re also challenging received notions about the very purpose of museums.

Yet progress always has its detractors. “Although barely 200 years old as an institution, the art museum until recently existed primarily to preserve and nurture a love of art,” Roger Kimball wrote in a recent editorial for the Wall Street Journal, complaining that today’s museums are about “entertainment…snobbery and money…and politics, politics, politics.” He overlooks the fact that art museums have always been political spaces, and that the curators who work there are always individuals with their own agendas—be it to promote art by vaunted white men, or not.

Merriam-Webster’s entry now seems quaint, nostalgic, and reliant on possession: It fetishizes art objects at the expense of considering the humans that make them and the community that engages with them. As it stands, the word doesn’t account for anyone at a Kunsthalle, or a non-collecting institution, which must relinquish works that have been loaned. The same goes for anyone who works with public art. The term, and our acceptance of who counts as a curator, is necessarily expanding.

And while that’s a good thing, for the most part, popular culture is simultaneously extending the moniker to people who definitely don’t deserve it. The longstanding broadening (or bastardization, depending on whom you ask) of the word “curator” reaches far beyond the art world. An app that allows users to make what are essentially on-screen mood boards calls itself “Curator.” The idea of “curating experiences” turns marketers into elite gurus. These days, even your home decor can be “curated,” which suggests that anyone with decent taste in end tables has an expertise that’s on par with art history Ph.D.’s. “On the commercial side,” artist Seth Cameron told me, “[curator] seems like a word that sounds nicer than ‘trendcaster.’” Right now, profit-seeking entities—both businesses and cash-hungry schools—often try to act as gatekeepers, asserting who can and can’t use the moniker.

It seems as though everyone wants to be a curator, and universities are more than happy to offer programs that offer (pricy) stamps of approval. Cameron, a member of the artist collective Bruce High Quality Foundation—which launched a free educational wing they cheekily called BHQF University from 2009–17—has a skeptical view of the “curatorial studies” masters degrees that have only been offered for around the past 30 years. He believes that the universities realized they could charge for a series of courses that would ultimately allow students to call themselves curators “without having to learn a second language or complete a full dissertation.” At the School of Visual Arts, you’ll pay around $34,000 per year for a masters in curatorial practice. Compare this to Ph.D. programs—while some do charge, many are fully funded.

John Patrick Leary goes so far as imply in his forthcoming book, Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism, that this definitional debasement of the word “curator” is about economics: “Like entrepreneurship and innovation, curating as a business practice presents profit-seeking activities as the pursuit of truth and beauty.” In his mind, if you’re misusing the word “curator” to describe your work in a commercial industry, you’re not just committing a linguistic faux pas—you’re perpetuating a rapacious system.

Without overextending the term in unfortunate ways, I think that we can also enlarge our ideas about thoughtful exhibition-making. Institutions shouldn’t demand that advanced degrees be a prerequisite for curating. In an ideal world, universities would receive more funding, and anyone could afford to attend art history graduate programs and courses. Student bodies would be more diverse. Earlier this year, the Brooklyn Museum hired a white curator to lead its African art department, and opponents raged—why not hire someone of African descent? Expanding the pool of applicants for such positions would surely help. Until that happens, institutions would do well to frequently look for fresh curatorial outlooks, whether or not they come with advanced degrees.

“Anyone can be an artist; anyone can be a curator. A curator is really a facilitator,” Roya Sachs, curator of the Lever House Art Collection and art director of Spring Place, recently told me. “A curator is someone who connects people and ideas and creativity and finds a way to create a universal language between them.” Sachs has an undergraduate degree in history from New York University, but never went on to study for the advanced degrees that most institutions require their curators to possess. She has organized new commissions by contemporary artists Katherine Bernhardt, Peter Halley, Adam Pendleton, and more—with both an ostensibly larger budget and smaller amounts of bureaucratic hassle than anyone working at a New York museum. Of course, as major collectors, her employers Aby Rosen and Alberto Mugrabi are also more deeply tied to the art market than most art museum directors. Yet institutions, too, often cater to corporate interests and board members with their own collections and business affiliations.

The Raft of Medusa, 2007. Bruce High Quality Foundation Richard Taittinger Gallery

The Bachelor of Avignon, 2007. Bruce High Quality Foundation Richard Taittinger Gallery

Osman Can Yerebakan expresses a similarly open-minded approach. An art writer who holds an MA degree in fine and studio arts management (not curatorial studies), he’s also organized shows at the Queens Museum and the Center for Book Arts, and expresses a similarly open-minded approach. “It’s not law, it’s not science, it’s not medicine,” he said. It’s not about the technical know-how needed to sell a company or conduct a blood transfusion—curating is about having “a certain way of being able to see things that’s different, or being able to see connections” between artworks.

Francisco Correa Cordero—who runs the Tribeca gallery Lubov, works as executive coordinator at Independent Curators International (ICI), and serves as a “guest curator” for Foundwork (a new online platform for emerging artists)—began his career studying photography and studio art. Calling himself a curator, he now helps artists realize new projects and organizes public programs. The role, for him, is less about objects than about engagement. “Artists bring an entirely different approach of conceiving shows and working around ideas,” he told me. Such examples are myriad: Earlier this year, Maurizio Cattelan organized a major show at the Yuz Museum in Shanghai, which centered on the idea of copying, or appropriation (his contributions included a small replica of the Sistine Chapel). MoMA gave David Hammons curatorial credits for last winter’s “Charles White—Leonardo da Vinci” show; Julie Ault contributed and curated her own eclectic art collection into a two-part exhibition at Artists Space in 2013; the Whitney invited Robert Gober to curate an exhibition of paintings by Charles Burchfield in 2010; the list goes on and on.

Artists also understand the process of working in a studio better than most academics. It’s silly, and elitist, to dismiss what Cordero does as non-curatorial because he’s taken an alternative route to get there.

But where do you draw the line? It’s simple enough to malign self-proclaimed “curators” outside the art world. Back in 2012, Choire Sicha wrote a stellar takedown of all the bloggers calling themselves “curators” in his publication, The Awl. “This precious bit of dressing-up what people choose to share on the Internet is, sure, silly, but it’s also a way for bloggers to distance themselves from the dirty blogging masses,” he wrote. “You are no different from some teen in Indiana with a LiveJournal about cutting.”

Yet the word’s allure, with its relatively new connotations of luxury and expertise, is apparently inescapable. Sicha is now the New York Times style editor. Since July, his section has published multiple articles with curation-happy headlines: “Kimberly Drew Is a Curator of Black Art and Experiences,” “Can You Curate a Town?” and “A Curator of the Montauk Summer Scene.”

“Being super-sensitized to the word’s overuse in the last 15 or so years, I think we then began to reintroduce it with some irony, then of course promptly forgot that there was supposed to be some irony, then just decided it was a straight-up useful term of art,” Sicha wrote to me recently, admitting that some of the headlines were “a bit *raised eyebrow*,” but defending its application to Kimberly Drew.

Drew is indeed an interesting case. In 2011, she launched a Tumblr called “Black Contemporary Art,” which aggregated pictures of and information about art made by people of African descent. Its popularity, in part, led to an influential position as the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s social-media manager. Brooklyn’s long-standing A.I.R. Gallery granted Drew its inaugural Feminist Curator Award—despite the fact that she doesn’t regularly take on any traditional curatorial responsibilities for brick-and-mortar exhibitions. In September, she told Broadly: “My thoughts on the word ‘curator’ haven’t changed very much. It’s really a word that’s much more about ‘care’ than anything else. I am definitely a curator in that sense.” No one ever said that curatorial care necessarily had to be limited to the real, and not digital, realm (and even Sicha seems to have come around to accepting and promoting such alternative platforms and definitions).

In fact, online art exhibitions (and even Tumblrs) are uniquely able to transcend some of the major issues with institutional shows: They don’t fetishize any objects, since the exhibited art is available to anyone with a wifi connection, and they democratize the typically pricey process of finding appropriate real estate in which to house the works. Since launching in 1996, New York–based organization Rhizome has become known for its digital art shows. This January, the New Museum will honor the platform with its own physical presentation within institutional walls. Rhizome staff members Michael Connor and Aria Dean receive curatorial credits—for their “care” of 16 works of net art.

Brian Droitcour, current associate editor at Art in America, formerly contributed to Rhizome’s website and organized online art exhibitions for the platform. For him, curating still means “putting together exhibitions in an institutional context, conducting research on works of art,” and taking care of them. Yet he also believes that the heyday for star curators is over. Instead, today’s most interesting conversations are about how institutions are run: how they treat their employees, and other administrative affairs.

Droitcour mentions that smaller alternative spaces are making the most progress in this realm. Instead of further glamorizing individual personalities and that elusive and rarified act of “caring” for objects, they’re focusing on how to change the structures themselves. They’re removing the curator from a questionable pedestal—not by expanding the term in wacky new directions, but by directing attention to more significant issues surrounding labor. While such spaces do facilitate exhibitions and new artistic commissions, public programming and outreach are just as integral to their missions.

Nevertheless, as long as the word is in circulation, its application requires more mindfulness. “To ‘keep the treasures’ does mean to put them out into the world in a way that educates the public,” Cameron said about his own understanding of what “curator” means. “I suppose it has something to do with whether or not you see certain exhibitions as having a really vital educational imperative versus when they feel more part of a market engine.” In an ideal world, the term “curator” connotes a responsibility to the public, not to financial stakeholders. The job is about sharing, not hoarding—about stewardship, not selling things. Many people outside institutional contexts are actively fulfilling this role, which has very little to do with possessing a degree.

Yes, the word “curator” is overused, especially in a commercial sense. But there’s a lot to be gained by expanding who we accept as a curator in the art world. Broadening the definition promotes a greater range of perspectives about what art can mean, and for whom it’s intended. Let’s keep calling out egregious misuse—you are not a curator for naming five different cannabis strains, for instance—while welcoming more diversity in art-viewing spaces.

from Artsy News

[divewatchhq-blog]

The Long History of the Omega Seamaster

https://www.divewatchhq.com/?p=8145 It doesn’t seem to happen so much anymore, but back in the day luxury watch brands liked to celebrate their significant birthdays by releasing entirely new collections. That was certainly the case when Omega chalked up its centenary, commemorating 100 years in business way back in 1948. They marked the anniversary with the release of a line touted as the ideal watch for customers looking for something robust yet elegant, a model suitable for ‘town, sea and country’. Its name—the Seamaster.

The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Coaxial

Over the last seven decades, the family has grown to become the most varied in Omega’s whole lineup, the name adorning everything from sophisticated dress pieces to gargantuan chunks of solid steel. In between, they have been the favored timepieces of underwater pioneers, royalty and military action men, both real and fictional. Below, we will take a look at the Omega Seamaster history and key references.

Omega Seamaster History: Let’s Start at The Beginning

The original Seamaster was a relatively simple affair, taking its inspiration from the models Omega had supplied to the British armed forces in the Second World War. Known as W.W.W watches, for ‘watch wristlet waterproof’, they were prized for their sturdy build quality and excellent legibility, two elements that formed the groundwork on which the Seamaster was, and still is, constructed.

Omega reissued their original Seamaster at Baselworld 2018

Although ostensibly meant as a more formal wear, there was an inherent toughness to the design, with the brand already having plenty of experience with waterproofing; the Omega Marine had come out in 1932, considered in some quarters as the father of the dive watch, although it bears little resemblance to the concept as we know it today. Even so, Omega had cultivated the reputation and when the Seamaster landed it only strengthened the company’s position. Key to much of the watch’s ability was the use of rubber O-ring gaskets, which were able to retain their shape, and therefore their imperviousness to water, over a vast range of temperatures far better than the shellac or lead seals used by rival manufactures. In 1955, the Swiss Laboratory for Watch Research tested 50 Seamaster cases to a depth of 60 meters, and the results from that successful study, and the subsequent experimentation with new materials, gave rise to a trio of tool watch collections among the most popular ever made.

The Professionals

1957 saw Omega roll out the first Seamaster 300, a true diver’s watch that made its debut alongside the consistently underrated Railmaster, a model for scientists and engineers that lined up against the Milgauss, and the inaugural Speedmaster, which needs no introduction.

The original Seamaster 300 is one of the most iconic dive watches ever made

The original reference, the CK2913, showcased the brand’s new Naiad winding crown, their answer to the screw down design, the patent for which was still held over at Rolex.   Omega’s invention was mounted on a specific type of spring inside the winding tube that created an ever tighter seal under increasing water pressure. It meant the deeper the watch was taken, the more protected it became; the downside of which was a certain vulnerability at shallower depths. Nevertheless, as its name suggests, the Seamaster 300 was rated waterproof to exactly…200m! I know; the reason for the discrepancy is, depending on which story you prefer, the fact that the testing equipment of the time could only simulate pressures of 200m maximum, or it might equally be that Omega just thought 300 sounded better from a marketing standpoint. The choice is yours. Whichever is true, the watch was an instant hit, arriving at just the right time to capitalize on the craze for recreational Scuba diving as well as drawing the eye of one legendary name who explored the underwater world for a living. When, in 1963, Jacques Cousteau embarked on his Precontinent II expedition, the French oceanographer’s experiment to develop a permanent subaquatic habitat, the Seamaster 300 became the timepiece of choice for him and his team.

Continental Shelf Station Two was an experiment by Jacques Cousteau, where he first wore a Seamaster

The watch went through a redesign in 1964, with an enlarged bezel as well as the case increasing in size overall from 39mm to 42mm, and receiving the twisted bombe lugs still present on most models today. Military customers followed, particularly the British Special Boat Service (SBS), although the limitations of the Naiad crown made the association a relatively short one, giving way to the Rolex Milsub Submariners in the 1970s.

600 and Beyond

New technology gave rise to industrial saturation diving in the 60s and 70s, and with it, new challenges to overcome for watch manufacturers. The main hurdle concerned the gas mixtures being used at the enormous depths crews were now required to work at. A Trimix blend allowed divers to breathe far deeper than with a standard air mixture, but with the drawback of having to use helium. With one of the smallest molecules of any chemical element, the tiny helium bubbles easily penetrated the cases of watches, and then expanded as divers ascended to the surface and forced out the dial crystals.

The Rolex 5513 Submariner was retrofitted with a helium escape valve, courtesy of DOXA

Three manufacturers sought to address the problem. Rolex teamed up with Doxa and devised the Helium Escape Valve (HEV), a small, one-way regulator fitted into the side of the case to allow the gas to seep back out of the watch before it could cause any damage. It was first retrofitted onto a ref. 5513 Submariner, before becoming the defining feature of the all-conquering Sea-Dweller in 1967. Omega went a different way. Their solution was to stop the helium getting inside in the first place and so came up with the Ploprof (PLOngeur PROFessional—professional diver) Seamaster 600.

The Omega Seamaster 600 Ploprof was forged from a block of stainless steel, in case you couldn’t already tell (photo: toolwatch)

Forged from a single block of stainless steel, with a 4mm thick crystal, it was more barn door engineering than Rolex’s elegant response, albeit a highly effective one.

Hydrostatic tests rated it waterproof to 1370 meters, but with a lumpy 54mm case, it wasn’t much of a looker and was a commercial failure. Its even hardier follow-up, the Seamaster 1000, suffered much the same fate. Even so, the 600 accompanied divers on a record breaking expedition in the Ajaccio Gulf in France, spending four hours a day over eight days at depths of 253 meters, and coming up smiling. The public may have been indifferent, but professionals loved it.

Image Boost

The Seamaster range expanded into several distinct lines throughout the 70s and 80s. Chronographs emerged with styling a world away from the original but very much of their era. For the 300 however, the best was yet to come. After a six year absence from the screen, James Bond was back and in need of a new timepiece.

The Omega Seamaster got a new lease on life with their introduction into Bond films

In 1995 Omega scored a massive coup by replacing Rolex as watch supplier to the world’s favorite secret agent. In Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan sported the Seamaster 300M, a new collection released a year before, complete with its own Helium Escape Valve. The quartz-powered model with a distinctive blue dial and bezel, the ref. 2541.80, catapulted the watch instantly into the category of ‘must-have’. So far, the franchise has used various references in a total of eight Bond films, with Omega surviving the leap from Brosnan’s super smooth portrayal to Daniel Craig’s far more gritty interpretation. In Casino Royale, Craig’s debut outing from 2006, he unveils the Seamaster Planet Ocean for the first time. A contemporary reimagining of that original CK2913, the Planet Oceans are even tougher, with thicker cases and waterproof to 600m. They are also the first Seamasters to be given Omega’s Master Chronometer Co-Axial movements, with their massive magnetic resistance.

James Bond switched things up a little bit in Casino Royale with a Planet Ocean from Omega

Bond has stayed loyal to Omega and the different models in the Seamaster family. In 2012’s Skyfall, we see him wear the so-called entry level piece, the Aqua Terra, aimed more at a life spent riding the ocean waves on a luxury yacht rather than exploring below. And in Spectre, the most recent adventure from 2015, he goes into battle with a special commemorative edition of the 300 created to observe the CK2913’s birthday.

Latest Models

The professional Omega range goes from strength to strength, with 2017’s release of a nostalgia drenched trio which were an almost mirror image of the original Railmaster, Speedmaster and Seamaster from 1957, updated with the very latest in the brand’s industry-leading calibers. This year they were at it again, diving even further back in time with the limited edition Seamaster 1948 duo (pictured above). A revival of the first watches to bear the name, launched some 70 years ago, they are a pair of 38mm dress pieces in either a central seconds version, or with a small seconds sub dial at the six o’clock. Reintroducing the same dauphine hands and elegant triangular indexes, they are about as faithful a likeness of the watches that started it all as you could wish for.

The Omega Seamaster history is full of lessons and key victories

The Omega Seamaster history is incredible – the longest continuously running model from a brand not short on heritage. Whether from the professional or dress lines, the watch has always been a fan favorite—and will continue to be so for many years to come. The post The History of the Omega Seamaster appeared first on Bob's Watches

[cathrynstreich]

Making the Move to Rebrand: Is It Worth It?

“The Rebranding Challenge: Fit for the Future While Preserving Your Roots” at RISMedia’s 2018 Real Estate CEO Exchange (Credit: AJ Canaria of PlanOmatic)

Call it a facelift or a “refresh,” we’re in the age of the rebrand, when brokerages are pivoting, aligning with changing consumer needs and redefining their role in transactions. At RISMedia’s 2018 Real Estate CEO Exchange, held in New York City September 5 and 6, brands and brokers discussed how they embarked on their revamp—and the pitfalls in the process.

A Brand Reimagined Century 21’s overhaul started with “a hard look in the mirror,” said Nick Bailey, CEO/president of Century 21 Real Estate. “It all started with a new mission statement—which came out long before the visuals—which is ‘to defy mediocrity and deliver extraordinary experiences.’ Unfortunately, because of the barriers of entry we have in this industry, mediocrity exists. We had to admit that and decide that we stand against it.”

Nick Bailey, CEO/President, Century 21 Real Estate (Credit: AJ Canaria of PlanOmatic)

Bookended by both goals, the brand was reintroduced this spring, abandoning the gold house in its logo for a mellower, more sophisticated tone, along with a fresh seal and signage.

According to Bailey, the concept and design were driven by the “it’ names today—companies with deeply entrenched followings and recognition.

“Flat design right now is where it’s at,” he explained. “We are following different companies, from Amazon to Uber to eBay, to make sure that not only we are positioning ourselves well with consumers in real estate, but [also] fitting into the well-known brands consumers currently interface with, because that will make it easier to connect with us.”

The change was embraced by many, and met with opposition by others—an outcome Bailey expected, given the organization’s sheer size.

“We had a feeling one or two might not like it,” he quipped. “We’ve been very upfront in knowing that some of you are going to love it, some of you are going to say, ‘not sure, I need to warm up to it,’ and others have said ‘you’ve wrecked my life.'”

A Legacy Renewed For Halstead, a fixture in the New York City region, the brand’s growth necessitated a shake-up. Though founded in 1984, the company has expanded at a quickened pace in the past 12 years, growing from six offices in 2006 to 38 in three states today. The brand’s green palette was retired this spring, along with its “H” motif, and the company nixed “Property” from its name—all to better connect with consumers.

“We needed to convey to the consumer just how multidimensional we were as a firm, versus the strong, flat, iconic, staid logo we just put to pasture,” said Diane Ramirez, CEO/chairman of Halstead. “What we created is something that still has the history, it’s strong and it’s who we are, but also feels like it’s going in the direction of our future.”

Diane Ramirez, CEO/Chairman, Halstead (Credit: AJ Canaria of PlanOmatic)

The result? An iconographic logo (with the option to rotate), and colors different to each marketplace: Manhattan, the Boroughs and the suburbs.

“Each region truly loves and owns their color,” Ramirez said. “It’s created a lot of excitement.”

The change was not without missteps, noted Ramirez—and ego can be an issue, especially for those heavily invested. Ramirez herself co-founded the firm with Clark Halstead, and was involved in the marketing of the organization from the outset.

“You’re the one that created what was in that mirror, so it’s hard to look at what you thought were great, bold moves and [say] ‘Maybe these aren’t so great and bold anymore,” she shared.

A Community Icon Reintroduced In Berkeley, Calif., a brokerage with 40 years in the marketplace recognized it was time for an update, as well—no easy feat, given the area’s counterculture leanings. Red Oak Realty’s symbol, a tree, was well-known, but needed a refresh.

“If we are working with consumers who are investing in the prepping of their house on average $30,000-$50,000 before they get it on the market…you have to walk the same walk,” said Vanessa Bergmark, CEO/owner of Red Oak Realty. “Even if that isn’t the reality of how it looks, making sure you fit within that paradigm is really important.”

Vanessa Bergmark, CEO/Owner, Red Oak Realty (Credit: AJ Canaria of PlanOmatic)

With an agency on tap, Red Oak created a new palette with several shades, which would be applicable to a freshening-up in the future. There were challenges during the process, including assessing the company’s goals and timing.

“Sometimes it felt like working with a psychologist, where you had to talk about what you wanted, the next generation, where you saw the company going…all of that had to be taken into account,” Bergmark said.

While buy-in is critical, announcing the change prematurely can set you back, she noted.

“If you want to get it right, don’t get a lot of input from the people you’re rolling it out to. So many people have so many different opinions…you’ll start doubting yourself.”

The End Game In an astonishing turnaround, Century 21 completed its rebrand in five months, with execution now in the works; Halstead and Red Oak took a little longer, though still on the fast track, at roughly two years. Although an arduous—and for some, ongoing—undertaking, Bailey, Bergmark and Ramirez were in agreement: the results speak for themselves.

“What it’s done is created attention,” said Bailey. ” We’re telling brokers to use it—as we all do when something’s new and fresh—to your advantage.”

“What agents hate more than change is you not investing in them,” said Bergmark. “No matter if its 100 agents or 10,000 agents, they want to know you are committed to the company…It was an emotional investment between me and the agents that I’m leading.” “The culture of our firm is our No. 1 most important aspect,” said Ramirez. “The fact that through the rebrand, they got the culture and are resonating with it…I know the ROI is there.”

For continuing coverage of this year’s CEO Exchange sessions, stay tuned to RISMedia.com:

CEO Exchange Keynote: Leadership, in Every Sense of the Word

Disruptors vs. Innovators: CEO Exchange Redefines Roles

CEO Exchange Exclusive: Helen Hanna Casey on Succeeding in Any Market

The Forefront of Innovation: CEO Exchange Showcases Real Estate Changemakers

Photo Recap: CEO Exchange Welcome Reception at Tavern on the Green

Eliminate Distractions, Lead With Clarity: One-on-One With Dermot Buffini

Suzanne De Vita is RISMedia’s online news editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at sdevita@rismedia.com. For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.

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[olwog]

One dark and stormy night Oswald’s mum had been sitting by the fire when she realised there was not enough wood to see them through the night so she set out to gather more. In those days it was a case of finding broken branches and twigs from the trees that grew in the fields and on the moors.

It was snowing and the biting cold wind had blown through the gaps in the hedges to form drifts that were approaching the bottoms of the roofs of some of the cottages. She had wrapped up well but the combination of wind, snow and intense cold was beginning to penetrate her meagre clothes and she’d begun to shiver and convulse as her muscles and nerves went into a freezing shock that preceded the sudden feeling of warmth and well being. In less than fifteen minutes she’d collapsed and the snow was beginning to cover her.

Oswald, was known locally as Os but no-one would dare to use the diminutive in front of his mum, he’d waited an hour then began to worry as the wind howled around the outside of the cottage threatening to lift the roof and rattling the shutters giving him false hope that this was his mother returning and the shutters were the sound of the door.

After a dozen episodes of these sounds, he accepted that this was an empty wish and he would have to go out to find her. He’d only been out in the intense cold for twenty minutes when he discovered her frozen and lifeless body lying partially covered in drifting snow. He screamed at her to get up and took hold of her arm in an effort to help but realised it was too late as he felt the stiffness in her fingers and saw her lifeless, staring eyes that were beginning to be covered with large flakes of cold snow.

Oswald was distraught and threw himself on to his mother wrapping his arms around her in a bid to conduct heat from his own body to hers and within minutes he too was dead both lives claimed by the snow and the cold, cold wind.

They were found several days later and the hamlet that grew as new cottages were built was named after the victims of this tragedy. “OS by his MOTHER LAY”.

Who’d have thought that many years later the slightly changed spelling of Osmotherley would be the jewel in the crown on this side of the moors with its own school and a toilet that’s won awards as the best in the country on numerous occasions?

  So, yet again, we’ve used the excellent Abbott’s bus service and with the benefit of our old farts passes (OFPs) we’re in Osmotherley, poor Oswald’s village of birth and tragic death, only this week, it’s not covered with snow.

We leave the bus and take the same route as last week towards Cod Beck Reservoir. It’s an easy climb up the hill which leaves us slightly out of breath and enjoying the views down to Cote Ghyll, although, last week’s winter wonderland was rather more impressive.

At Sheepwash we turn neither right nor left this time and take the route well trodden over Near Moor towards Whorlton Moor. It’s a steady climb and there’s a fair amount of water still running down the track although there is less mud than expected.

The wind blowing across the moors is from a friendly southerly direction but it must have been somewhere else before that because it’s as cold as it was on Os’s last night, but at least there’s no snow.  As we turn right to walk parallel to Clain Wood a drystone wall makes a welcome appearance and shelters us from the wind’s cutting edge.

We stop to enjoy a banana break and take advantage of some snow drifts that have survived the warmer winds and rain that have washed the covering from these hills over the last four days. A group photo is called for so there’s a stampede to avoid it but no-one wins and the proof is herewith.

After 20 minutes we’re off again this time towards Stoney Ridge where the tracks join together in a ‘Y’ junction and we take the return leg doubling back towards wonderful Scugdale.

Scugdale was named after the wild scugs that would terrorise the area on New Moon nights before The Whorlton Anti Terrorist Squad (errr, you do the acronym) removed them in a spectacular operation that’s still talked about as the lunar cycle takes its course. The Scugs were supernatural creatures used extensively by local men who’d formed a secret occult with a one objective agenda:-

“to use the boiled eyeballs of these mystical creatures to perform feats of alchemy by changing the iron that had been mined locally, into gold” (you can follow this statement with an evil, echoing laugh that fades away slowly)

Needless to say, the Scugs were not happy with this but they got even more pee’d off when The Whorlton Anti Terrorist Squad routed them.

As we approach the gate and cattle grid we’re confronted with a large chain and a sign stating that this area is now private, there’s also another one next to it that challenges the claim with a single word, ‘bullshit’. Ah well, it looks like the scugs are having their revenge.

Cardiac Hill is significant when approached from Swainby, indeed, George explains that when we first started walking together it would be seventy-five minutes to get up here to the cattle grid but nowadays it takes about fifty. Out fitness levels have increased and so has our stamina. Today; however, we’re going down so there’s no issue with either but it does tug on the fronts of our legs and tends to leave us with some sensitivity around the knees.

The views through the trees are wonderful with Whorl Hill in the foreground and Roseberry in the distance. It’s yet another day looking at the same countryside but seeing something quite different.

  Towards the bottom of the hill, we meet two men one of whom is nursing a newly rebuilt heel and is reintroducing the concept of walking with significant care and it’s good to see that his friend is ensuring his safety. It reminds me of the care and attention that I received from my friends whilst recuperating from a ‘AAA’ operation over two years ago and the ready acceptance of the group when Alan joined us prior to starting his own journey of recovery treatment over the next few months – you really can’t beat good friends.

A few more yards and we’re on the road and walking past some harbingers of spring, aconites showing their brilliant yellow petals through the winter jaded grass and white snowdrops gazing down at the earth naughty puppies, just beautiful.

We reach the Rusty Bike Cafe in Swainby yet again and all feel the hug of warmth as we enter. The food, drinks, and staff are excellent and I would urge you to give it a try, the pies are extraordinarily good!

An hour later and we’re back on the Abbott’s bus OFP’s in hand for our free return trip.

It’s 11km (just under 7 miles. Enjoy the snaps…G..x

Oswald, his Mother and The Whorlton Anti Terrorist Squad One dark and stormy night Oswald’s mum had been sitting by the fire when she realised there was not enough wood to see them through the night so she set out to gather more.