#fresh off the boat has a lot of issues in terms of production and i wish it was more uncomfortable with asian american experiences but

[crab-milk]

just wanted to chime in and say (like the other anon) i also feel funky abt my mixed asian identity as a westerner. idk it’s weird being in the in-between spaces. i appreciate you talking abt it on the blog a little, makes me feel less like i’m the only one who feels that way

i'm glad i could help out, even if it was just a little :3

for real though, it didn't occur to me how much cringe i'd have to get over myself just to get into learning chinese and talking to other chinese people about being too american; i find that other asians who aren't born or raised western don't get it and probably find it weird that there is that guilty sentiment of not being 'asian enough,' but i think that in itself is a pretty unique experience worth discussing

[flutteringphalanges]

Summary:  “Am I in Hell?” Agatha’s voice was hoarse, a hint of fear in her tone. “That depends on your definition,” Dracula answered. “Perhaps.” His fingers felt cool against her burning skin, the fever raging through her body. “If you’re going to kill me, then do it,” she mumbled. The count chuckled, gazing into her eyes. “On the contrary,” he smirked. “I’m going to save you.”

((In which Dracula cares for a gravely ill Agatha))

Characters: Agatha Van Helsing/Dracula

Rating: M

Read on FFN and AO3

A/N: Thank you all so much for your support! It means the world! Quick shout out to @rheabalaur! She is incredibly knowledgeable about the history of Dracula and Vlad Tepes and though I ended up not exploring human!Drac in this chapter, I wanted to thank her! She’s got some neat posts on the history and I learned a lot! Anywho, feedback is greatly loved and appreciated! Here is the next chapter! 

                                    Chapter Ten (Part Two)

Psychosomatic heart palpitations. The only diagnoses one can give to someone whose heart has stopped so long ago. Settled deep behind his rib cage, Count Dracula could almost swear he felt the dead organ pound against his ancient bones. Its rapid beating battering against his ear drums. Agatha Van Helsing was gone. Vanished without a trace except for a final message scribbled hastily on a scrap of paper. And it was all his fault.

"Fuck, Agatha!" He cursed, feeling the draft from the air outside. She'd neglected to close the doors properly, though that was beside the point. The cold temperature didn't bother him. No, he was immune. But she wasn't. "Dammit!"

Transformation. On foot. But there was the issue of his missing boots. The vampire's mind reeled a million miles a second. Usually he was so good thinking on his feet. Decisions coming easily to his mind. Yet there he was, standing hopelessly like a fool, trying to devise a plan. A way to find her. Agatha. His Agatha. In all of his centuries of life, never had he made such a fatal mistake.

He stared down at the corpse of the young man whose lifeless brown eyes gazed back at him. His skin was so pale, almost lily white after being completely drained of blood. Dracula let out a grunt, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Sloppy. Careless. His new existence as a vampire had yet to come easy to him. Despite being a learned man, he was well on his way of opening Pandora's box if he wasn't careful.

"Oh don't look so stoic." The vampire exhaled, glancing up to the dark sky. "You were far from valuable to begin with. Now what to do with you…"

Thunder rumbled overhead and small raindrops began to fall from above. Dracula frowned and glanced towards the direction of his castle. Experimentation. Understanding what he was didn't just fall on his shoulders. No. There was something interesting he witnessed with each new kill. From cradle to grave and from grave to coffin. Dying from one life into the next. A small smirk crossed his features as lightning crackled from above.

"Perhaps you will prove more use to me after all." He stated, lifting the body with ease. "So we shall see…"

By some stroke of sheer luck, Dracula managed to come across a pair of old boots tucked away in an old closet. Dusty, they gave off an unpleasant smell that even he found rather foul. But his own comfort was far from his concern. Slipping them forcefully on, he hurried out through the front doors and into the winter elements. Going bravely forth into the bitter snowstorm that had begun to stir from its sleep again.

His pace was brisk, each long stride with purpose as he walked away from the castle. Much to his misfortune, the fresh snow had completely covered the ground, burying with it any sign of Agatha's tracks. Not even transforming into a wolf would help at this stage. No. He couldn't sense her and that alone terrified him. If she was...no, no he couldn't think like that. So he pressed on, faster now.

Lovech Province, Bulgaria. At least, that's what he had learned from her blood. A pretty little thing, traveling alone to meet relatives in a nearby village. She'd been an easy target and quite an interesting one at that. Someone he had deemed worthy enough to keep.

"Please!" Dracula heard her wail from her box. "Please let me go! I'm so thirsty!"

"No." The vampire replied simply, so casually as if he was merely telling her the time of day. "No, I think it's best you stay put for now. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you. I always do with my brides."

Brides. He scoffed at his own term. It had been something he had come up with after holding captive several of his victims. Dracula needed to, after all, have some sort of name for them. In a sense, it seemed fitting. They were his after all. Property. Like cattle. Valuable, unusual stock that any bidder would desire and yet not know the horrors they were getting into.

"Let me go!" The woman pleaded. "Please, I promise I won't tell anyone! Just free me!"

"I shall return later." Dracula sighed as he ignored her screams of protest. "Perhaps with something to eat if I feel willing." He paused before looking over his shoulder. "And do try to keep the wailing to a minimum. I hate how it echoes throughout the halls."

Brides. Cattle. He grinned to himself as he exited the cellar. Disposable indeed.

"Agatha!"

He mentally cursed the howling wind that drowned out his voice each time he called out for her. Of all the times for her to disappear, of course it had to be in the middle of a blizzard. On many occasions she had threatened to leave, but the vampire had never thought she'd go through with it. If he had, if he had half the mind to, maybe he could've prevented this. All of this. If he had just been honest. Maybe she'd still be safe. Warm. Tucked away with him in the castle. But she wasn't and he was to blame.

"AGATHA!"

He hadn't quite expected his time with Jonathan Harker to turn the way that it had. It wasn't often that Dracula was left to deal with a slip up-if one would even call it that-but he found himself in a quite peculiar situation. An instance that led him to the steps of St. Mary's Convent in Budapest, Hungary. To her.

Agatha Van Helsing was a creature he'd never seen before. Such wit. Such spirit. She did not fear him like the others. She tested him like a fishman precariously dangling bait off the side of a boat where a shark was spotted. And that very moment when those few drops of her blood met his tongue it was a euphoria he couldn't explain. Seeing glimpses of her past. Of her history. Of who she was and of him. Of the infamous Abraham Van Helsing who had proven for a while to be a thorn in his side. Her grandfather. The product of a vampire slayer. And Dracula wanted...no, needed more.

The next course of action ended grizzly, not that he was quite surprised. But it wasn't until he came upon Agatha and that innocent, weakling Mina that his desire for the nun became curious. In any given dangerous situation, one must choose fight or flight. To defend yourself against your enemy and possibly die, or to out run them in the hopes of living. Agatha did neither. Instead, she offered herself in place of Mina. Seemingly cared nothing for her own life but only that of the woman's.

And so against what he thought at the time was his better judgement, he freed them both. Unknowing that soon enough fate would have them meet again under even stranger circumstances. How delectable and useful just a small amount of blood could be.

He couldn't smell her. No matter how far he walked, he still had yet to pick up any of her scent. That gave him some hope that maybe she hadn't injured herself. That perhaps she had found someone by some chance who had given her a ride somewhere. Unlikely as it was, it gave him a false sense of peace.

But due to the hindrance of his tracking abilities, a part of the Count began to wonder if Agatha's former Convent's beloved God was punishing him. That perhaps his version of Hell was not having her. Losing her. And who was he to deny that truth? Hell had frozen over and with it the former nun's mysterious disappearance. Dammit, Agatha, where could she have gone?

Dracula found himself staring at her for hours when he had first brought her to his castle. Watched as her chest rose and fell with each unstable breath. How her creamy skin was blotched by the red of the fever. At any point he could've killed her. Any second. With how ill she was, she wouldn't even see it coming. But she didn't. Instead, he observed. Quiet as his unaware guest rested.

When she did wake, truly became aware of her surroundings, it was a fond memory. How furious she was. How spiteful. After everything he'd done, Agatha showed no sign of gratitude and quite frankly, the vampire took no offense to that. She was merely an experiment after all. Someone he desired to learn more about. Except, he never expected it to go as far as it did.

"Fuck!"

Dracula's arms shielded him out of pure reflex as a tree fell just a yard away, spraying him with the wet snow that had clung to its branches. He wiped the substance away, his skin cool enough that it didn't immediately melt on impact. The way it clung to his clothes like some form of unwanted camouflage. For the first time in a long, long while, he was starting to despise the stuff.

"Agatha!" He tried again, this time louder. "Agatha, answer me! Where are you?!"

But only the storm returned his calling.

Emotions. Perhaps that's why he found it confusing at first. These feelings that no cold blooded person should experience. But the first real flicker struck him the moment he saw her wearing the dress he'd gotten her to replace that dreadful habit of hers.

Dracula thought of them. The hundreds-thousands of women he'd seen throughout his lifetime. Many whose beauty was beyond compare. But Agatha was different. Something about her, the way she stood there before him. There was so much he wanted to say. And at the same time, he wasn't sure what.

"Well," she said testily. "If it looks bad on me, you might as well-"

"No," he interjected. "No. You look...lovely."

Lovely. Out of everything he could've said, those were the words to spill past his lips. She blushed, but it wasn't the same color as her fever. No, this was different. So it truly began. The start of something he had very much yet to comprehend.

It was growing darker outside and Dracula knew it wasn't just because of the storm. He began to pick up his pace, fear beginning to rise even further than before. How long had he been asleep? A few hours at most? Could she really have gotten this far?

That's when he smelled it. The very faint, but familiar scent of blood. An aroma he was so familiar with that his stomach dropped at the realization. Agatha. It was Agatha. And the sweetness he associated with it only made him want to gag. His worries had been confirmed. Something had happened to his nun.

Maybe it was when they lost control over dinner and ended up having sex so rough, the aftermath of their heated lovemaking shouted to the heavens the next day. Or when she got so furious with him once, she broke her hand against his face. But perhaps the moment it really dawned on him that his feelings for Agatha Van Helsing were far from just a whim of passion was that night he truly tasted her.

The way she trembled against his touch. How he had to hold her as he ran his tongue across the inner thigh and to her very center. Sweet, like her blood, and he savored her like a fine wine. It hadn't been rough. Fueled by aggression. No, the way she melted into him was something far different. And when he was finally inside of her, that same sense of euphoria that he'd experienced those several, several months ago struck him. And he lost it. Completely gave way and pierced his teeth into Agatha's sensitive flesh. Blessed with her indulgence once more. That was his first mistake.

The smell of fresh blood was stronger now and Dracula followed it like a bloodhound. Though he knew he had to be drawing closer, how potent it was becoming only left his stomach twisting into knots. This wasn't a mere scratch. Not with how intense the smell was. There was a significant amount and the vampire dreaded what that could mean. What the outcome he was about to face was. How he wished Agatha had just gone ahead and staked him.

Cruel. That was the proper description for his next actions. Never mind triggering Agatha with old memories of Abraham-a man he knew well enough while, not evil, lacked any sort of endearment towards his granddaughter. He only furthered his stupidity when he abandoned her afterwards, leaving what should've been a good moment with a negative, abrupt ending.

In an almost sadistic, poetic way, the stake to his heart had been the final straw that broke the camel's back. The moment where Agatha's walls completely crumbled to the ground. Where she had, in her actions, admitted her true feelings when he had not. Metaphorically piercing her own heart when she should've done his. And he smiled. Grinned and waved away her affections. If only he realized the cost. The consequences. Those few words scrawled upon a strip of parchment.

Something caused him to stop in his tracks. Not the giant branch that blocked his path, but the feeling that there was something else. And so he hesitantly gazed over the edge, over a set of ragged rocks that dropped down several yards to the bottom. That's when he saw her. A figure lying motionless below wet by something other than snow. Dark. Even from where he stood, his excellent vision could make it out. Blood. Agatha.

"Agatha!"

Dracula leaped with such grace it made the long drop seem like a mere step. He hurried over to her side. Blood. There was so much blood. It stained the rock around her, caked locks of her hair together. And for a brief moment, for a fraction of a second, the vampire thought he was too late. It was only when he heard her pulse, the weak thrumming of her heart, that he knew she was alive. Barely. But still with him. As he exhaled in relief, her eyes opened.

Quickly he knelt beside her, the smell of her blood burning his nostrils. Thirst. Hunger. But he fought it. Battle the feral urge to feast within him. Dracula's hands were warm, sticky and red as he cradled her head ever so gently. She stared back at him unfocused.

The Count wanted to berate her. Scream at her for being so boneheaded. But not because he was furious with her. No, she had terrified him. So many questions. So much to say. Yet he couldn't. There wasn't any time to do so. He was losing her. Right there in his arms, the only person he'd truly ever cared about was withering away. He couldn't let that happen.

"You're dying." And the words held far more emotion than he'd ever had anticipated. "Agatha..."

"I know," she croaked.

The way she said it. Her tone. She wasn't afraid. Far worse. It was as if she was more than willing to accept this horrid fate. This end where one no longer exists. And he had planted the seed that made her okay with that.

"I can save you." There was a tremor in his voice. "This doesn't have to be the end. Let me..." He swallowed, damn how he hated to sound vulnerable. "Let me..."

There was a moment of pause as Agatha struggled to catch a breath. It ached deep within him to hear the pain as she did so. She was so strong. Even in death, she fought with bravery. What a soldier she would've made. What a companion in his human lifetime she would've been.

"Tell me..." Blood bubbled up in the corner of her mouth as she struggled to remain conscious. "Tell me..."

"Agatha!" He spoke to her loudly, trying desperately to keep her awake. "Tell you what?" But the Count already knew what she meant. "Tell you what?!"

"Just..." She was fading now. Fading so fast. "Tell me..."

Tell her. He looked deep within her blue eyes as the light began to fade in them. Tried to hold her stare so she knew he really meant it. Weeks. Months. It was so long overdue and this was far from how he wanted to ever admit it. Open up to her like she had him. But now he needed to. So he swallowed, swallowed so thick as if his very life was caught in his throat.

"I love you." A statement so foreign, and yet, felt so right. Something wet brushed against his cheek. A tear. Was he crying? "I love you, Agatha Van Helsing."

A weight lifted off his shoulders. The entire universe relieving him of the pressure he'd felt for so long. He gazed down at her so longingly it was as if everything had stopped around them. Waited for her final words. Praying she'd give into his demands.

Agatha smiled weakly and closed her eyes at his confession. "Okay," his lover murmured. "Okay…"

And Dracula's fangs plunged into her throat.

[astro-break]

Quick first thoughts on the first ep of the Hypmic Anime. Spoilers beware (and im writing this as I watch so :p)

Otome’s speech is.... questionable from a persuasive point of view. Manga did a great job of introducing her (which you can read here) but they really cut out the more terrifying parts of her speech and how she uses force to show people that she's not to be messed with

Its cool seeing everyone in their respective environments though. thats cool. Though they could have added Sasara and Kuuko (shhh i know why they didn’t let me dream)

I love how poppy the typography is. Its amazing how the visuals just leap out at you. The OP does a great job of this. The first few seconds before the title really gives me Persona 4 OG OP vibes with the influx of information given. The rest is a clear concise and streamlined way that still gives character. Animation is sparse but still carries across a general idea of each character and shows off each character object. Rendering is really nice and pays a bit of homage to the posing artwork thats done for the MVs. They also do their division hand signals and thats cute

Love how the OP has blatant HifuDoppo and DRB matchup foreshadowing

so far I really like what theyre going for. BB is about brotherly familial bonds and they show the goods and the bads. Jiro and Saburo bickering right out the gate really cements the fact that they get along like cats and dogs but you can still see that they love each other, working together when the situation calls for it

Now the 3d models. Theyre... not great but usable if you don’t look too hard. They serve their purpose and don’t actively detract from the viewing experience.

Visual typography in the rap itself are fun and poppy but they dont.... speak to me? like theyre there yes and I appreciate them but the only ones that got me excited were from Ichiro’s rap

I take my words back the group portion was kickass and I apologize

I love how they interpret the Hypnosis Speakers though. Esp. Saburo’s organs. That was super creative and I love it! If there was one thing that I felt was missing from the franchise was a deeper exploration of the speakers but the anime puts a new and fresh spin on it! Love it, especially with their attack patterns!

If the production team ever feels inclined to, Id love to see those info sheets on Otome’s desk released. There seems to be very interesting info and stats written out about each member (like capabilities, personal status etc.) They all seem unique too so I really really really hope they release images of those sheets

OOOOOOOOKAY MTC. I have such a big biased for them so Im very torn to see what unfolds

Rio striking out on his own is interesting. Out of everyone in MTC hes the biggest team player yet here he trusts his teammates to go ahead. This either displays Rio’s willingness to trust his teammates or it becomes very OOC if the anime wants to set him up as a lone wolf like character

I love how they specify its a drug deal. It means that Jyuto surely will show up and it also shows that Samatoki knows Jyuto’s motives and willingly gives black market info that he knows aligns with Jyuto’s goal. Thats A+ detail writing there and a great establishing characteristic for both of them

OOohhhhhhhhhhhhh man Asunama-san’s voice acting is god tier his work as Samatoki is phenomenal. He pulls of Samatoki’s threatening voice so well with those almost calm words before his voice becomes loud and confrontational. Those rolling syllables in contrast to Komada-san’s almost lyrical and airy speech and Kamio-san’s strict and enunciated words is such a delight to hear. It just speaks to how amazing and great these Seiyuu’s are in order to pull of such amazing work

Im so biased but MTC has such a better rap than BB im so sorry. Just by watching Samatoki’s part, the imagery is amazing. Even the arrival of his Hypnosis Speaker was awesome and sent a shiver down my spine. using the lyrics to form blades and blood was such a great thing to do. Theres so much more variety that just him standing there and shots of his hypnosis speaker. The old fashioned vignette shots, the four panel spread, the nods to old Kurosawa era films are great and I love these small details. Even the typography looks better.

Again, the interpretations with the speakers is fresh and new. Its great and I love the different imagery and attack patterns. Each one is so unique but carries across each different style of rap.

The 3d modles aren’t any better tho lol

(Hi this is Astro who is reading over their assessment again and making a note. Yeah I’m a bit harsh on BB’s rap. I’m not going to change it since I still stand by it and this post is supposed to be a documentation of my first impressions. I think one of the reasons why I’m so harsh on BB is because of their dynamic as a trio of brothers. They Have to have a more uniform approach than the other divisions. Which in of itself isn’t a terrible thing, it just doesn’t catch my eye as much as MTC did. Thats all! I definitely don’t hate BB, they’re maybe my 3rd favorite division out of the current lineup [not including TDD era teams like Kujaku Posse, MCD, and Naughty Busters] its just that their rap was pretty meh)

Samatoki crouching like a real gangstar and the cigarette kiss killed me

sadjkhfjkasdghsadjkcsdjhsdfsjhf im dying i love these trio of dumbasses so uch oh y fod someone save me aaaaaaaa (Astro note here! yeah i died when the jyuto and samatoki’s stomach growled im weak please. Samatoki’s face is just so precious and funny I might set it as a profile pic somewhere)

But also my initial assessment of Rio possibly being characterized as a lone wolf is very much jossed and im very thankful for that. It seems that Rio was simply trusting his teammates to carry out their part of the plan while he carried out his own. I like that, it really shows how much of a team these three are and that they genuinely trust each other. He’s also comfortable enough around them to invite them to dinners after work casually and not just for special occasions.

I really love MTC guys

Oooh! we get Ramuda on his design process which is really cute. the inside of his studio is super cute and retro and i love it. the poppy old music you would hear in a cafe or 90′s resturaunt is also really cute (astro note: yeah i know that in ARB you see the interior of Ramuda’s office but its kinda different seeing it animated)

the translation i have has gentaro speaking in early modern english (Shakespearian english for those who aren’t english nerds like me) but from what I can hear, he doesn’t speak in a particularly old fashioned way? Its more formal than old? and hes speaking without any of his character persona lying thing that he likes to do (as he refers to himself as “Shousei” throughout the segment where hes in Ramuda’s office which is kind of his default pronoun of choice). so its kinda odd for the translation to go in that direction but im not complaining

Gendice banter is gold but it feels... flat? a little? it doesn’t have the same impact as in the drama cds or in the manga? i feel? Also Ramuda using gratuitous english is??? idk how to feel about that

kjshf thats against the rules Ramuda omgggg,,,,,,,, (astro note again: while watching i was under the assumption that using your hypmic for monetary gain such a as buskering [which is what FP is doing] is against the rules. May not be the case but whatever)

FP’s rap might be my favorite in terms of tune and lyrics though. It’s a nice laid back bop and really gives of chill vibes. the integration of 3d and 2d is really nice and i love how they play off each other in the rap. The wordplay is so fun with little nods here and there and the beat is poppy too so it really energizes me.

Ramuda’s rap concerns me slightly since he makes very subtle and small nods towards his past (being created in a laboratory, warfare, and his overall very unpleasant life experiences) but spins it into something cutesy. It could be a coping mechanism, it could be me overthinking it. But it does make me worry a bit. Gentaro and Dice’s rap really play off each other with Gentaro sticking to stories and Dice taking up the baton by carrying on that same imagery but putting his own spin on it.

the self awareness of how scattered they are as a team is interesting though. It doesn’t seem like something you’d speak about in a rap? but i guess since its not really a do or die situation they can afford to be looser on things like this.

Right off the bat, i don’t like how they handled Hifumi and Doppo in relation to Hifumi’s fear of women. Slug made a post once talking about this and I echo many of his sentiments. Hypmic has never been very tactful about tackling this particular issue and while I didn’t have high hopes that the anime would be any better it hurts to see Doppo take away the one thing that allows Hifumi to function within society.

Doppo’s breakdown mirrors a lot of my own mental state when I spiral though its shown a lot quicker than what happens to me oof. that hits close to home. though Jakurai’s advice is. Questionable. Its not the best advice to give to someone but we have no idea what kind of doctor Jakurai is so ill let it slide

Jakurai’s pose looks like hes going to do a mahou shoujou transformation lmao

I don’t have many thoughts about the rap though again. How they visualize the rap is interesting. the different imagery is quite interesting for each of them and the typography is nice a distinct but im still on the fence about the visuals here

The sound is in the same boat. The sound effects either drown out the rap or are too quet but some parts are nice at least. When they talk about Tokyo’s beating heart, the heartbeat sound is a but distracting especially since its only played once. But the imagery is at least nice

I wonder if for the eds they’re going to take a similar approach to what Enstars did and have a four different endings, one for each division. I love the blend of styles here and it really accentuates that although they’re different they mesh well together.

Ramuda’s silhouette though is hilarious. Love it.

:p and thats it. Uh not bad for a first episode. Established all 12 characters really nicely and their dynamics. I had some problems with it but then again nothing is perfect. I look forward to what they show us next week

[nanciluke20]

All about the Gelato near me

The use of medical cannabis these days is contentious, and in recent years the American Medical Association, the MMA, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and other medical organizations have issued statements opposing its use for medicinal purposes. In general, research says medical marijuana is safe and effective in controlling chronic pain, relieving nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, treating wasting syndrome associated with AIDS, and controlling muscle spasms due to multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Several studies have indicated that cannabinoids may prevent many types of cancers from spreading and growing, including pancreaticcancer, lung, leukemic, melanoma, oral, lymphoma and other kinds of cancer. A substantial proportion of oncologists support medical marijuana as an option for their own patients. A breed found in Mexico and Central South America. The sativa plant is tall with narrow, serrated leaves. It's THC - the psychoactive-inducing region of the plant - and the consequences are mostly on the mind and emotions. A strain found in Asia and India and grown in the United States. The plant is short and stocky. Indica's effects are mostly physical and some emotional, including relaxation, sedation and pain decrease. The effect in cross pollination of various strains. The effects are often more powerful than the original strain. Unlike many abused drugs, an overdose of marijuana isn't lethal, according to the National Cancer Institute. Although marijuana may be addictive for many, the capacity for forming a dependence on marijuana is lower than some prescription medication and other abused drugs. But, marijuana has unwanted effects. The primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana is THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, among more than 60 cannabinoids (chemicals unique to marijuana). THC binds to cannabinoid receptors, which can be concentrated in areas of the brain associated with thinking, memory, enjoyment, coordination and time perception. Researchers think that regular cannabis use could have neurotoxin consequences on aging brain structures. A 2012 study at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that people who began smoking before age 18, showed a larger decline in IQ and cognitive functioning compared to people who started taking as adults. More: Heavy adolescent users-an typical of four or more occasions a week-who continued to smoke as adults experienced an 8-point IQ fall which couldn't be blamed on booze, other drugs, or less education. The consequences of marijuana may interfere with focus, judgment and balance. Marijuana also suppresses the immune system, which can be detrimental to many people, but helpful for others with certain health conditions. 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Living in the rural areas where there are tall grass and bushes everywhere, lies a creature that can make you quite sick from its bite. There are lots of different species of ticks, but only few can infect us with a deadly virus. Emedicine.com-"Ticks are arthropods, such as lions. There are over 800 species of ticks across the world." It is true to say that they are uncontrollable and may attach to anybody of any age. Unfortunately, there is hardly much you can do about the number of these in your lawns and surrounding woodlands. They could travel with several different creatures like; dogs, cats, cattle, raccoons, rabbits and humans. They're attracted to warm, dark areas of the body just visible with the human eye, making them even harder to spot. I believe all could agree that a insect clinging to your skin with no knowledge is rather creepy and scary. I am sure we all recall one time or another child or adult, finding one stuck on us. Emedicine.com-"Ticks will be the leading carriers (vectors) of diseases to individuals in the United States, second only to mosquitoes worldwide." That's a staggering comparison statement considering West Nile Virus is at fault to a lot of lost lives through the years. Along with other life threatening ailments mosquitos' carry pose a higher threat too. In schools nationally, health courses teach children proper behavior to stop Deer Tick bites. There are well known precautions that could be made to prevent them from biting such as; long sleeves, boots, jeans, long sleeves and assessing yourselves, together with children, on a basis after being at the backyard, lawn or anywhere they could possibly dwell. Gently remove the tick with tweezers, making sure to eliminate all of the legs from the skin, wrap it in foil, bring to your doctor to have it cleared as a sign with Lyme disease or not. Deer tick bites left untreated show a red, goal like ring around the face area of the bite, resulting in" Lyme Disease" or"Lyme Borreliosis." This is a serious issue, resulting in a lot of pain that you may wind up in a wheel chair or perhaps bed stricken for days at a time. It takes away the enjoyable aspects of life and can create you're everyday routine unhappy. Most of us know suffering from intense pain isn't a laughing matter, and being nauseous always is a burden inside it itself. This is what this disease places in you're body, sucking on precious time from your life, you are mind too. By the early twentieth century, the growth of the combustion engine and the diesel motor finished the era of commercial sailing ships. The production of steel and iron for cable and boats' hulls further removed natural fibers in marine use. However, hemp does seem to be making a resurgence. And it's about time provided the numerous advantages and benefits of this unusually eco fiber. Many countries are waking up to the worth of hemp. Canada, the uk and Germany all resumed commercial production in the 1990s. In total approximately thirty states produce hemp with China being the largest producer. The Hemp Industries Association has estimated that the North American hemp cloths and fabrics market surpassed $100 million in 2007 and is currently growing at around 10 percent each year. Many doctors treat this disorder with a regiment of antibiotics. This really is the efficient method to cure this disease. Although antibiotics can upset you're gut, affecting appetite severely. Which can lead to weight reduction as the disease progress. Headaches come and go and can consist of wretched migraines. They can be so unforgiving and punishable taking a toll on you every single time. Regular sleeping routines will be continuously interrupted causing chronic tiredness and disrupting ones circadian rhythm. Brutal sharp pains running all of the way up your temples causing pain on your forehead and eyes. Stiffness off your neck, back, legs and joints can make you feel helpless, irritable and tired. Lyme disease can come and go, but for a few it wont let up. In most serious cases, this is categorized as" Persistent Lyme Disease" with people suffering constantly, not in spurts. A lot of people with Lyme disease may not believe cannabis may be one of the more affective long-term medications to help alleviate symptoms. Cannabis is a safer, more calming medicine that can eliminate pain in most forms. Medically, cannabis may be used for a lot of reasons. It fights the aches in your joints and pain during your whole body. The stronger the pressure brings on the more potent medicine. This might be the response to questions about cannabis being an alternative medicine together with the people afflicted by"Lyme Disease" who are looking for other, more natural techniques of healing. Cannabis can provide the energy required to create it through the rough days when your symptoms are large. During the day it can make lying down and falling asleep a beautiful occasion, instead of a bothersome nervous one. After a great night sleep, then you could wake up feeling refreshed instead of tired and sore. At the morning cannabis is an unbelievable way to help loosen your muscles and stiffness out of prior nighttime tossing and turning. The unlucky early sunrises if you woke up sick and tired could really be a thing of the past. Ingesting cannabis will make your appetite more powerful, bringing a much needed nutrition. Walking instead of limping, round the home brings weekends. Additionally for the non-smokers that you could have a yummy, potent and fresh raw medicine of your choice. It's surely true that after polyester came on the scene, natural fibres came under threat experiencing considerable economic hardship during the period from 1960 - 1990. However, post the 1990s, cotton made a tremendous recovery, recapturing market share, and it has continued to show good growth ever since. To find further details please discover more here. Ask you're doctor or physician about medical cannabis on what opinions they have. This might be a breaking point in you're life, helping to dissipate most symptoms of Lyme disease. If all other ways of relieving pain eventually become hopeless cannabis could officially help you. Like a general, Lyme disease truly shows no mercy and no surrender; its time to show it whose going to be the last one standing. See further articles in The Cannabis Times. Getting stoned, getting high, getting baked-all keywords for exactly the same thing. Marijuana has the ability to relax the brain and (if used incorrectly) to blur it. Weed can also relax the body and ease pain, however when used incorrectly, may seriously impair motor skills. Different breeds of medical cannabis have different effects on the body and mind-this is your main reason that"bud tenders" at medical MJ dispensaries urge different breeds for different MMJ patients. Here are five different strains of medical-grade bud and how they influence the mind and body. We chose strains of different types of marijuana, a few indica, a few sativa, some blends, to showcase the varied effects of marijuana breeds on the body and mind. Colorado taxpayers voted to pass Amendment 20 in 2000 opening the doorway for an influx of new legal medical marijuana dispensaries. Over the last several years, the Colorado medical marijuana business is now the fastest growing industry in the state. It had been reported in 2010 which the number of all Denver dispensaries has grown to outnumber the number of Starbucks in town. With this overwhelming variety of new cannabis dispensaries opening across the country, it's hard to know where to get started. Therefore, in the event that you have your Colorado medical marijuana registry card and you are wondering how to obtain the finest Colorado dispensaries, then keep searching for a few handy hints. . .The first step in finding a new medical marijuana dispensary is to identify all the dispensaries that are in close proximity to a place. Google maps is an excellent tool for this job because it will actually overlay location markers should you do a search for something such as"Denver Dispensary". As soon as you have a list of a couple dispensaries in your area, you should start researching each by doing another Google search to their particular title and key words. So search for some thing such as"Denver dispensary review" or just"the finest Denver dispensaries" and you should get you the acceptable results. I recommend using the research from these results to further refine your list down to about 3 of the more interesting dispensaries. You have done the appropriate research and read the reviews, now it's time to go to these top 3 medical marijuana dispensaries to watch for yourself. One thing to remember is that because this sector is still so young there is actuallyn't an industry standard when it comes to how individual Colorado cannabis dispensaries operate. What this means for your is that each Colorado dispensary which you visit will be a unique experience! While many Colorado medicinal marijuana dispensaries do not require appointments to access the medication viewing rooms, it's probably a good idea to call ahead and see if there is going to be a wait to be viewed. When creating your own personal evaluation of a new Colorado cannabis dispensary, there are a couple of things that you are going to want to pay close attention to on your first visit. Your first impression will usually be the living room area where you'll have to provide your Colorado medical marijuana registry card to the person at the counter. After that, you will either be immediately carried to the marijuana room or you'll have to wait till your called back. Wait times are usually very brief, often only taking a couple of minutes. I've found many Denver dispensaries don't have any wait at all during none peak times. The most important part of evaluating a brand new medical marijuana dispensary in Colorado is the experience from the bud screening room. For many people, their very first time walking into this room can be overwhelming. With row after row of glass jars packaged with the best Colorado increased medicinal cannabis, patients simply don't know where to start. Well, here's my tips for dealing with this initial experience. Start with the best. Ask to see the A quality, top shelf, red dot or whatever they call their very best cannabis strains. This will immediately give you an notion of the best that they must offer. Also, don't overlook the lower grades of marijuana. . .sometimes it is possible to locate the very best deal for your buck here. Also be sure to observe the pricing structure. This may be a significant determining factor when choosing a primary caregiver for the long run. Many Denver dispensaries provide separate pricing arrangements for members and nonmembers, so make sure you ask each for certain information. After seeing a few places you will begin to see how the overall decoration and air of Colorado cannabis dispensaries can widely vary place to place. Some dispensaries pose a primitive clinical environment that's somewhat like a doctor's office while some will feel more like you are walking into a buddy's comfortable house. Whatever your preference, there's a Colorado medical marijuana dispensary that's ideal for you. This guide isn't an endorsement for marijuana use. Cannabis is still a drug but it is extremely helpful in treating many people with many aliments. The medical marijuana world is rapidly changing so I strongly recommend reading the official Rules and Regulations for Medicinal use of Marijuana in the Colorado Department of Health before making any decisions concerning the medicinal use of cannabis. In the end the best decisions are informed decisions, so make sure you do comprehensive research on any topic involving your health prior to acting. When it comes to collecting, among the most exciting things you can select to collect are cannabis seeds. These contentious little beans are one of the most finely engineered organic products available, probably just slightly behind roses. The amazing characteristics alongside the sheer number of different strains of seed available make them one of the most interesting and most daunting collections to start.

[dirtyfilthy]

I  guess Janis Joplin is very free indeed.

“It is the absolute freedom of every working locomotive to gaze longingly out of it’s own windowpanes, and then -- having caught it’s thoughts on some particularly picturesque piece of scenery or another -- to daydream of that distant mountain range all day long -- and imagine what it would be like to climb up to the peak of it,  to stand on the very tipmost top of that mountain and look out over the clouds. This forlorn place -- I mean the summit, being extremely mountainous and also very rugged and almost entirely made out of snow & rocks & vast sheer cliffs with vertical drops into hundred of meters of nothing, this is most certainly no fit place for a plain ordinary train such as myself. Sadly,  it is also very likely that no rails will ever run there,  because honestly there is no good reason for them to do so, and yet, even then, knowing all of this as I obviously do, somehow this very same train finds it can’t stop itself from wishing...”

Gordon has begun to trail off, looking wistful.  Thomas The Tank Engine began to wonder if this story had any dragons in it, or perhaps some flirtatious passenger carriages (although Thomas often found them to be altogether Very Silly), or maybe it was even a story with an Instructive Moral ending. The Fat Controller was always telling Thomas about Instructive Morals, normally after something very bad had happened. This, reflected Thomas, was entirely the wrong way round. It would be far more helpful to learn the important lesson before the fatal disaster had occurred, rather than afterwards, when it was usually too late to be of any real use.

“Does this story have an Instructive Moral?” asked Thomas, feeling very clever.

“Only one lad”, replied Gordon very gruffly; “that it’s sometimes kinder to strangle Hope in its’ crib, when it is still a baby, rather than slowly battering it death one day at a time over a period of many years”. And with that, he huffed off to the Depot, looking very cross indeed.

It really doesn’t matter if you are the White bishop or the Black bishop, there are simply some squares on the chessboard you will never get to visit. They say we are each free to pursue happiness in our own way, in whatever form that may mean to us personally, and in the idiosyncratic manner best suited to our own inclinations.

Every form of freedom I can think of that is worth actually having either costs a lot of money or has already been made illegal.

Am I free to walk off into the forest and build a log cabin? I mean sure, if I first purchase the land, then get the planning permission & employ a licensed contractor to build it to the safety specification etc etc

Can I take a group of friends and occupy some abandoned industrial factory, then try and turn it into a.rich green garden of over-growing plants and tangled, blooming relationships and perhaps even (in the right season) farm a crop of meaning out of it? 

I think you know the answer to that. You’re free to buy the standard package.

Is there no place left on earth we can still wander & get a little lost in, where if you go they won’t try to follow you? 

The only frontiers that remain exist purely in the realm of the symbolic. The little private fiefdoms we can carve out for ourselves because surveillance is (not yet) all pervasive and enforcement of the law remains an economic game of how best to assign entirely limited resources to practically unlimited crimes. 

Shit man. I think our only chance is to slip like pick pockets into whatever obscure through-fares of ideology that may yet remain unnamed. Look: If the only soil they are going to give us -- the soil we are supposed to farm enough meaning from to supply the entire rest of our lives -- if this “soil” is really just the dead black dust of recycled asphalt & finely ground up plastic 

-- then I think we simply have no other choice but to build a whole new psycho-geography of hope, right there on the top of it.

I leave true revolution to the prayers of the idealists. My only real wish is for there to be enough cracks left in the concrete that something truly wild might get to grow unnoticed. 

I’m old enough to know that confronting power directly is often extremely foolish, and that better results may usually be obtained by simply routing around authority. To be a smuggler of dreams requires nimble feet and a faster speed boat than your opponent, still, it is generally better not to dress too flashy. While staying anonymous, no particular indignity is likely to occur to you beyond the usual laundry list, but if the Eye Of Sauron ever becomes focused in your direction then may god help you because the authorities can easily bring down such  immense force to bear so incredibly quickly, they will  come to your home carrying a huge lever & then not hesitate to use your little life as a fulcrum, merely for causing them some minor irritation.  

This is why finding those phantasmal frontier towns is so important. It’s less about the initial gold rush than it is finding a place for you to finally  stretch your legs. Time to remember what walking normally feels like, before society stuffed it’s hand up so far up your ass you felt more often like a puppet than you did a person.  These new conceptual spaces (the internet, crypto, the CHAZ etc) that continually open up every now and again are normally beyond the rule of law (at least initially, for one brightly shining moment in time, a moment almost always entirely too brief  --  I do find that the sweet songs with a little too much truth in the tune have an unfortunate tendency to end up -- not as chart hits -- but as choked throats or as conveniently cut break-lines. If the coroner actually had any left of his own, he’d have to write “sincerity” as the real cause of death in such cases. The typical verdict, “suicide by song”, isn’t exactly fooling anyone.). 

Looks like you got there just in time! Here before they fenced the prairie. The fresh country air (ah! nothing compares to the old-timey smell of a working industrial coal generator) is alive with the phosphorescent glow of freshly hatched possibility vectors, zipping wildly about, moving around this way and that, and giving off the occasional “pop!” of a dot product whenever they randomly collide together. 

On a night like tonight, on a day like today, you begin to feel like a man might really make something of himself here, perhaps even cast off that rotten old albatross of his past. Maybe he could invent a brand new man (a far better one) to replace the tired old shell that originally stumbled his way down the road and into this town. Besides, I reckon that tired old man has got far too many barnacles of regret & remorse growing on the hull of his soul to do any real sailing these days, not now anyways. Time to scuttle the ship and go claim the insurance.

So, possibly maybe perhaps, at this time, at this place, you might just have found that right sized slice of peace you need to actually live with yourself for a bit

That is: until the great meat grinder of government finally gets wind there is a good thing going. Then, when enough of the bureaucratic cogs have joylessly rotated into their designated satanic alignments, something eldritch will start to rumble deep within the grim bowels of the machine.  A bell tolls. It is time. Somewhere in the pits of hell, within an anonymous, windowless office, orders are issued. They will now send in the police. Each officer is proudly armed with the latest in “non-lethal” crowd control technology, a shiny new police issue woodchipper, polished to a mirror finish. They are here to clean up the streets, remove all the riff-raff  and generally make the place reputable for ordinary decent law-abiding citizens who speak with the right accent and don’t look suspiciously “foreign”.

Of course,  the new sheriff will have to hang a few skellywags and neer-do-wells to really get his point across. There’s a new law in town! Examples must be made, standards must be set, and any deviance, degeneracy or drunken shenanigans of any sort must be quickly and severely punished ( for the sake of clarity,  “shenanigans” also includes decadence and/or diabolism). There are no ifs, buts, or caveats; a new curfew is now in place: from sunup to sundown, “if you think you might, don’t”; additionally, there is absolutely no tom-foolery to be had without a permit (permits are NEVER issued), and any vagrants (exact definition of this term is left to the Sheriff’s discretion) found without a leash or collar in a public park will be first taken to the city Pound and, if unclaimed at the end of seven days, humanely euthanised. Tickets to perform humane euthanisations are available at a cost of forty dollars and strictly provided on a “first-come, first-served” basis. 

Looks like it’s time to move on. 

ˇ

[orbemnews]

Analysis: Rotting fish, lost business and piles of red tape. The reality of Brexit hits Britain While it should be a source of embarrassment for the PM that his deal has made life very difficult for many of the industries that he has championed post-Brexit, Johnson’s public statements on the matter suggest he is oblivious to the reality that many are facing. When asked for comment on the immediate consequences of the trade barriers implemented as a result of the deal, a UK government spokesperson told CNN Business: “From the outset we were clear that we would be leaving the customs union and single market which meant that there would be new processes after the end of the Transition Period. These were widely communicated through our public information campaign.” The starkest example of what Brexit is doing to British business comes from Scotland’s fishing industry. Despite the government’s claims during Brexit negotiations that the fishing industry was very near the top of its priority list, there is a real fear that the entire industry could collapse in a matter of weeks. “We had an entirely new system for exporters to get their heads around that hadn’t been tested prior to use. The result, somewhat inevitably, was that it started going wrong straight away,” says James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food and Drink. “This isn’t as simple as an IT glitch that needs fixing. In a matter of days, we went from being able to send fresh food to Madrid with a single cover sheet of paperwork. Now there are roughly 26 steps for each transaction.” The real-world impact of this means that some exporters have had the European market cut off overnight. Almost every day, pictures circulate on social media of virtually empty fish markets and boats tied up. Withers has heard stories of Scottish boats sailing 48 hours to process catches in Denmark, just to get their stock into the single market. In an industry where profit margins are often thin, every hour spent working around red tape is critical to both the freshness of the product and the productivity of the business. When pushed on the matter, Johnson has said that he thinks these are merely teething issues and not the fault of his deal or the barriers it’s created. His spokesman explains that the government is providing £23 million ($31.4 million) for the industry to ease the process. When asked specifically about the fishing industry earlier this week, Johnson once again denied that the problems facing exporters had anything to do with his deal, but instead were due to restaurants being shut because of the pandemic. However, Withers believes that money “will run out quickly” and without coming to some new sort of arrangement with the European Union, “this sort of exporting might not be sustainable” and will “almost certainly lead to the very people the [Prime Minister] said he was fighting for losing their jobs.” The scenes in Scotland might not be as dramatic as the food shortages and lines of backlogged trucks that many predicted post-Brexit, but the damage is already showing up in economic data. Brexit issues are exacerbating a slowdown caused by pandemic restrictions, IHS Markit said on Friday, and lengthening suppliers’ delivery times. While 33% of manufacturers reporting a drop in exports linked the decline directly to the pandemic, some 60% linked the drop to Brexit, according to IHS. ForagePlus, a horse nutrition business based in Wales, had dozens of parcels bound for Europe returned this week due to glitches in its shipping company’s new systems for processing customs information. “It’s just a shambles basically,” ForagePlus founder Sarah Braithwaite told CNN Business, adding that it had been nearly a month since the company was able to ship anything into Europe due to the pandemic and Brexit. There is real concern among trucking companies and logistics firms that things are going to get much worse in the coming months. Multiple sources within the affected sectors told CNN Business that British consumers won’t feel much disruption yet, as January is a typically quiet month at ports and the United Kingdom did stockpile goods to prepare for a possible no-deal Brexit. But that could change as trade volumes increase over the coming months, putting border systems under additional pressure. This could result in a gradual reduction in the variety of fresh produce available to British shoppers. According to a spokesperson for Logistics UK, “in the short term, while supply chains sort themselves out, it may be that we return to a more seasonal approach to shopping or have a more limited range to choose from.” This could mean that after decades of fresh fruit and vegetables at all times of the year, Brits might have to start seeing strawberries as summer treat, for example. The region where food shortages could fast become a real issue is Northern Ireland, where images of empty supermarket shelves have circulated on social media. Due to the unique position of Northern Ireland, it has split with the rest of the United Kingdom and remained inside the EU single market, making it a lot harder to import food from Great Britain. Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, said that images showing empty shelves in Northern Irish supermarkets were “clearly a Brexit issue” and “part of the reality” of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. Trade experts are concerned about the gradual decline in EU-UK trade. “The slow decline is in some ways more dangerous than sudden food shortages,” says David Henig, UK director at the European Centre For International Political Economy. “I am particularly concerned about exporters being unable to fulfill orders and losing customers or just giving up completely. The long-term message that sends could be very damaging for inward investment,” he adds. There are legitimate questions as to why things have been so bad, despite the United Kingdom having years to prepare for the cliff edge. “We’ve known about the risks of not being prepared for five years,” says Anna Jerzewska, founder of Trade and Borders, which assists exporters and importers across Europe. Jerzewska says that her clients are reporting numerous complaints, but most worryingly a failure of support from the UK government to resolve their issues. “Getting an answer to a technical question could take 48 hours, which is obviously a problem for fresh produce. People in the call centers can only really point to guidance, but the guidance isn’t currently fit for purpose.” And despite everyone involved working hard to resolve the early issues, Jerzewska fears this won’t be enough to save struggling British exporters. “At the moment it’s shock, but the underlying costs are not going away. And for traders who work at thin profit margins, an extra couple of percentage points could be the end.” Many of Johnson’s Conservative lawmakers are struggling with how to reply to their constituents. “The party gave us lines to read out when the deal came through presenting it as a huge success, but as time goes on, it’s clear there’s quite a lot of nasty surprises in Pandora’s box,” says one Conservative member of parliament who is not permitted to speak on-the-record about government policy outside of their brief. Others say that small local businesses are up in arms at finding out that if they want to visit Europe to sell their goods, they might need a work permit from foreign governments or paperwork allowing them to move goods into the European Union. There isn’t much optimism that things will improve in the near future among moderate Conservatives. Many are extremely worried that the gradual decline caused by Brexit will ultimately lead to Europe trying to lure Britain’s golden goose to the continent: The City of London, which hosts many of the world’s biggest banks. “Once the fog of Covid lifts, financial and professional services firms looking to expand globally will see London and realize that we have given up quite a lot of our competitive advantage,” says the Conservative member of parliament. The trade deal Johnson signed bizarrely didn’t address either of these, despite them making up a huge part of the UK economy. Banks and traders in London are now hoping to be granted “equivalence” by the European Union, a designation that would allow them to continue serving EU clients with limited disruption. “If no deal is reached on equivalence for financial services or data, that could kickstart a squeeze on the city from EU regulators and leave businesses wondering what the benefit of setting up in London is if you want to serve the European market,” says Henig. The European Union and United Kingdom are supposed to reach an agreement in March on financial services, but the mood music from both London and Brussels right now suggests that the United Kingdom is unlikely to be pulled back into the EU regulatory sphere any time soon. Many Brexiteer lawmakers felt vindicated when the world didn’t fall off its axis in the immediate aftermath of Brexit, as plenty of the anti-Brexiteers’ worst nightmares failed to materialize. However, if the current trajectory of gradual decline continues, the slide could become uncontrollable. Those politicians will have to explain to voters why they encouraged their prime minister to pursue such a hard Brexit despite the warnings of its consequences. They have a couple of months before things get really bad to put pressure on Johnson to start engaging with the reality of Brexit a little more. The question that matters most to those struggling is how bad things must get before those who most vocally supported Brexit are willing to break ranks and admit the truth: that leaving the world’s largest trading bloc has immediate consequences. Source link #Analysis #Brexit #Brexit:Rottingfish #Britain #Business #Fish #hits #Lost #lostbusinessandpilesofredtapehitBritain-CNN #piles #reality #red #Rotting #Tape

[dipulb3]

Analysis: Rotting fish, lost business and piles of red tape. The reality of Brexit hits Britain

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/analysis-rotting-fish-lost-business-and-piles-of-red-tape-the-reality-of-brexit-hits-britain/

Analysis: Rotting fish, lost business and piles of red tape. The reality of Brexit hits Britain

While it should be a source of embarrassment for the PM that his deal has made life very difficult for many of the industries that he has championed post-Brexit, Johnson’s public statements on the matter suggest he is oblivious to the reality that many are facing.

When asked for comment on the immediate consequences of the trade barriers implemented as a result of the deal, a UK government spokesperson told Appradab Business:

“From the outset we were clear that we would be leaving the customs union and single market which meant that there would be new processes after the end of the Transition Period. These were widely communicated through our public information campaign.”

The starkest example of what Brexit is doing to British business comes from Scotland’s fishing industry. Despite the government’s claims during Brexit negotiations that the fishing industry was very near the top of its priority list, there is a real fear that the entire industry could collapse in a matter of weeks.

“We had an entirely new system for exporters to get their heads around that hadn’t been tested prior to use. The result, somewhat inevitably, was that it started going wrong straight away,” says James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food and Drink.

“This isn’t as simple as an IT glitch that needs fixing. In a matter of days, we went from being able to send fresh food to Madrid with a single cover sheet of paperwork. Now there are roughly 26 steps for each transaction.”

The real-world impact of this means that some exporters have had the European market cut off overnight. Almost every day, pictures circulate on social media of virtually empty fish markets and boats tied up. Withers has heard stories of Scottish boats sailing 48 hours to process catches in Denmark, just to get their stock into the single market. In an industry where profit margins are often thin, every hour spent working around red tape is critical to both the freshness of the product and the productivity of the business.

When pushed on the matter, Johnson has said that he thinks these are merely teething issues and not the fault of his deal or the barriers it’s created. His spokesman explains that the government is providing £23 million ($31.4 million) for the industry to ease the process.

When asked specifically about the fishing industry earlier this week, Johnson once again denied that the problems facing exporters had anything to do with his deal, but instead were due to restaurants being shut because of the pandemic.

However, Withers believes that money “will run out quickly” and without coming to some new sort of arrangement with the European Union, “this sort of exporting might not be sustainable” and will “almost certainly lead to the very people the [Prime Minister] said he was fighting for losing their jobs.”

The scenes in Scotland might not be as dramatic as the food shortages and lines of backlogged trucks that many predicted post-Brexit, but the damage is already showing up in economic data. Brexit issues are exacerbating a slowdown caused by pandemic restrictions, IHS Markit said on Friday, and lengthening suppliers’ delivery times. While 33% of manufacturers reporting a drop in exports linked the decline directly to the pandemic, some 60% linked the drop to Brexit, according to IHS.

ForagePlus, a horse nutrition business based in Wales, had dozens of parcels bound for Europe returned this week due to glitches in its shipping company’s new systems for processing customs information. “It’s just a shambles basically,” ForagePlus founder Sarah Braithwaite told Appradab Business, adding that it had been nearly a month since the company was able to ship anything into Europe due to the pandemic and Brexit.

There is real concern among trucking companies and logistics firms that things are going to get much worse in the coming months.

Multiple sources within the affected sectors told Appradab Business that British consumers won’t feel much disruption yet, as January is a typically quiet month at ports and the United Kingdom did stockpile goods to prepare for a possible no-deal Brexit. But that could change as trade volumes increase over the coming months, putting border systems under additional pressure.

This could result in a gradual reduction in the variety of fresh produce available to British shoppers. According to a spokesperson for Logistics UK, “in the short term, while supply chains sort themselves out, it may be that we return to a more seasonal approach to shopping or have a more limited range to choose from.” This could mean that after decades of fresh fruit and vegetables at all times of the year, Brits might have to start seeing strawberries as summer treat, for example.

The region where food shortages could fast become a real issue is Northern Ireland, where images of empty supermarket shelves have circulated on social media. Due to the unique position of Northern Ireland, it has split with the rest of the United Kingdom and remained inside the EU single market, making it a lot harder to import food from Great Britain. Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, said that images showing empty shelves in Northern Irish supermarkets were “clearly a Brexit issue” and “part of the reality” of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.

Trade experts are concerned about the gradual decline in EU-UK trade. “The slow decline is in some ways more dangerous than sudden food shortages,” says David Henig, UK director at the European Centre For International Political Economy. “I am particularly concerned about exporters being unable to fulfill orders and losing customers or just giving up completely. The long-term message that sends could be very damaging for inward investment,” he adds.

There are legitimate questions as to why things have been so bad, despite the United Kingdom having years to prepare for the cliff edge. “We’ve known about the risks of not being prepared for five years,” says Anna Jerzewska, founder of Trade and Borders, which assists exporters and importers across Europe.

Jerzewska says that her clients are reporting numerous complaints, but most worryingly a failure of support from the UK government to resolve their issues. “Getting an answer to a technical question could take 48 hours, which is obviously a problem for fresh produce. People in the call centers can only really point to guidance, but the guidance isn’t currently fit for purpose.”

And despite everyone involved working hard to resolve the early issues, Jerzewska fears this won’t be enough to save struggling British exporters. “At the moment it’s shock, but the underlying costs are not going away. And for traders who work at thin profit margins, an extra couple of percentage points could be the end.”

Many of Johnson’s Conservative lawmakers are struggling with how to reply to their constituents. “The party gave us lines to read out when the deal came through presenting it as a huge success, but as time goes on, it’s clear there’s quite a lot of nasty surprises in Pandora’s box,” says one Conservative member of parliament who is not permitted to speak on-the-record about government policy outside of their brief.

Others say that small local businesses are up in arms at finding out that if they want to visit Europe to sell their goods, they might need a work permit from foreign governments or paperwork allowing them to move goods into the European Union.

There isn’t much optimism that things will improve in the near future among moderate Conservatives. Many are extremely worried that the gradual decline caused by Brexit will ultimately lead to Europe trying to lure Britain’s golden goose to the continent: The City of London, which hosts many of the world’s biggest banks.

“Once the fog of Covid lifts, financial and professional services firms looking to expand globally will see London and realize that we have given up quite a lot of our competitive advantage,” says the Conservative member of parliament.

The trade deal Johnson signed bizarrely didn’t address either of these, despite them making up a huge part of the UK economy. Banks and traders in London are now hoping to be granted “equivalence” by the European Union, a designation that would allow them to continue serving EU clients with limited disruption.

“If no deal is reached on equivalence for financial services or data, that could kickstart a squeeze on the city from EU regulators and leave businesses wondering what the benefit of setting up in London is if you want to serve the European market,” says Henig.

The European Union and United Kingdom are supposed to reach an agreement in March on financial services, but the mood music from both London and Brussels right now suggests that the United Kingdom is unlikely to be pulled back into the EU regulatory sphere any time soon.

Many Brexiteer lawmakers felt vindicated when the world didn’t fall off its axis in the immediate aftermath of Brexit, as plenty of the anti-Brexiteers’ worst nightmares failed to materialize. However, if the current trajectory of gradual decline continues, the slide could become uncontrollable.

Those politicians will have to explain to voters why they encouraged their prime minister to pursue such a hard Brexit despite the warnings of its consequences. They have a couple of months before things get really bad to put pressure on Johnson to start engaging with the reality of Brexit a little more.

The question that matters most to those struggling is how bad things must get before those who most vocally supported Brexit are willing to break ranks and admit the truth: that leaving the world’s largest trading bloc has immediate consequences.

[freakflagbyiana]

Pretty without the Poison

I have had my eye on the “Toxic-free” or “Clean Beauty” movement for a while, since I switched to sulfate free shampoo around 2013. As a small business owner, finding the balance between my realistic budget and the ideal products can be difficult. The struggle is fully real nowadays, as the industry is currently completely polarized. It was true before the pandemic and it is has only intensified as we compulsively sanitize everything we touch. On one side we have the evil empire of giant corporations that is basically the embodiment of the boogey man: testing on animals, buying out small companies and destroying their formulas, weakening your immune system or causing cancer... On the other side we have the coven of luxury hippie companies that cost more because they make everything in small batches with handpicked pollen from the butts of free range bees and oh btw there’s no preservatives so you have to use this $70 cream by next week or it gets moldy...

Now, I lean towards the latter camp, I’d rather be woo-woo than toxic. But for everyday consumers it’s not a question of ideals, it’s a question of budget. The cheapest ingredients are synthetics and carcinogenic, the best ingredients are natural and expensive to process gently and efficiently. Meanwhile most of us are not in the 1% tax bracket. The money for “real shit” has to come from somewhere and it can be difficult to see your beauty routine as “real shit” when you’ve got rent and car payments due. I get it, I’m in the same boat.

The thing to be cautious of with Clean Beauty is, just because its “natural” doesn’t mean its automatically good for your hair. After all, lead is natural, arsenic is natural, cocaine is natural, opium is natural... Start with making sure your products are toxic-free, but do further research. Be weary of alcohol, salt, and silicones. I’m making a more detailed glossary of specific chemical ingredients but here is a basic understanding of the terms I use.

Surfectants: detergent, soap, the thing that makes the bubbles happen. Used to cut grease but at the price of stripping moisture. Think “dish pan hands” but your hair. I’m not a fan of surfectants because the more moisture you strip, the more you have to put back in, and your scalp usually produces more grease to compensate. When I was using shampoo I was also having to follow it with a deep conditioner mask every time. Now I don’t use either. (see my previous blog, what type of shampoo should I use?)

Endocrine disruptors: Such as parabens and pthylates. These may not affect your hair in a noticeable way, you may not have an allergic reaction or breakage. But there are so many in the products we use every day that the harmful affects easily accumulate over the years. It can contribute to hormone imbalances like PCOS or endometriosis. Fragrance/Parfum/Perfume: Basically the get out of jail free card for chemicals. A company can put anything in a fragrance and does not have to disclose what it is, in the name of preventing corporate espionage. Every successful luxury brand product has a generic dupe and that dupe needs to smell as close to the original as it can. However, fragrances often include endocrine disruptors. Not to mention, for the number of people who are highly allergic to “fragrance” - It’s unfair that they don’t get to know what chemical they are actually allergic to. Silicones: Think of them as plastic food wrapping... It coats the hair with “plastic” with shiny results but at the cost of preventing moisture from getting in. Clients who have used silicones for years have to go through several clarifying washes to get rid of all the buildup. Afterwards the hair is bound to feel rough from the combination of silicone damage and clarifying shampoo. It’s like having to sand a piece of furniture before re-varnishing, it feels rough at first but the hair is much better off after recovering. Shea butter: This is one of those things that used to be good but is somewhat problematic now. It’s natural but the cheaply processed shea butter (what most people are using) is just as bad at coating the hair and blocking moisture as silicones. Cold-pressed high quality shea butter can be okay, so to determine if the product is “good” or “bad” requires deeper research on the specific brand. Sodium Chloride: Table salt. A natural, non toxic ingredient that is still bad for your hair in large quantities. If you have ever been to the ocean with fresh haircolor, you know. I once spent a week in Tulum; as an experiment I started with fresh dark teal and lime green hair and I returned with pastel minty blue. Salt is powerful when it comes to stripping haircolor and moisture. I would avoid in shampoo, but with styling products like salt sprays? It really depends on the rest of the ingredients, imo. Generally, if the only product you use contains salt and your hair feels dry or the color is fading - stop using it and try something else. But if your scalp and hair feels okay, no harm no foul. Charcoal: Everything with charcoal is so tempting because it’s my favorite color, so TRUST I get it. But think about this - if you take birth control or other important medication, they warn you not to eat or drink anything containing activated charcoal while those pills are in your stomach. It is so good at “detoxing” that it detoxes the medicine right out of you! Dentist’s have denounced charcoal toothpaste as too harsh for everyday use. It wears down the enamel in your teeth, which is much stronger than your hair. Charcoal is natural but powerful, use sparingly.

The thing I struggle with, the thing that prevents me from being fully on board with this movement, is I’ve tried expensive natural organic small batch small business brands and was also disappointed by the results. Innersense Organic Beauty: A brand I had heard a lot of good things about. Mostly from people who use them but also from my co-worker who specializes in curls. My coworker has been following the Toxic-Free movement more closely due to her specialty being all ends of the curly hair spectrum. She explain to me that shea butter is becoming a big problem, but that the shea butter contained in Innersense was okay because it’s high quality and all of their ingredients are cold-pressed. I raised an eyebrow about the shea butter but the cold-pressed ingredients sounded promising, so I tried it anyway. I ordered an intro kit for $66, which is a lot of money to shell out on something that you may completely hate... and it turns out I did! I wasted no time putting Innersense’s “Color Awakening Hair Ceremony” to the test. As with most lines, the conditioner isn’t really problem, but the shampoo is a dealbreaker. Innersense Color Awakening Hairbath is natural and organic but instead of surfectants, the main cleansing ingredient is Sodium Chloride... common table salt! I used it a couple of times and immediately watched my neon green color come out of my hair and circle down the drain. I hadn’t used any type of shampoo since I started using New Wash last year, but Innersense faded my color just as much as my sulfate-shampoo days. Not only that but my scalp was so dry, I had more scratchy flakey scalp problems after shampooing with Innersense than I do after BLEACHING MY ROOTS. That’s insanity to me! Your scalp should not be more upset with your shampoo than it is with a chemical bleach solution that, if left unattended for hours, can melt your hair off. Reverie: This is brand that I’ve seen all over instagram alongside brands I use already, and it looks like it’s a really good quality line, too good. I inquired about wholesale and trying it out. The line is so expensive that the sample kit of all 7 products is $157. If it’s too expensive for me to try right now can I really expect my clients to pay $52 for Ever hair oil or $72 for Cake scalp tonic? Furthermore, I fundamentally can’t get on board with brands that make you buy multiples of all the products in order to get wholesale pricing. It doesn’t work for my small space and if I only sell one product from that line, then I’m stuck with a bunch of expensive stuff that no one wants. I also am turned off when I want to see an ACTUAL ingredient list and they only list the luxury ingredients and the ingredients they don’t use.. but won’t provide the list itself. We need to normalize TRANSPARENCY about ingredients! So this is where I find myself at a crossroads. Is it really too much to ask for something to be organic and natural AND color safe? I fundamentally believe it is chemically possible to do both, but then it is very difficult to find brands that people can realistically afford in a pandemic-induced recession...

Good News, Everyone! Clean Beauty brands I’m using now

Cult+King: This line is so rad! I straight up swiped their “pretty without the poison” tagline for the title of this blog. It’s the first brand I’ve truly felt an ideological kinship with. They don’t gender their products (because that’s stupid), they prioritize people and planet over profits, and everything is so natural and nontoxic that you can use the hair Balm on your face. I love that they use beautiful glass bottles and offer refills in recyclable aluminum containers. I do have one little issue... Their only offering for shampoo is in bar form, which is cool, but it has charcoal in it and is not recommended for colored hair. Which would be 90% of my clientele. The shampoo bar smells AMAZING and I really want to use it, can we please get a charcoal-free option? I’ve been using Jelly on myself and my clients. Full disclosure, I was worried about it because it also contains salt, but it hasn’t faded my color and it actually feels more moisturizing than drying. I’m guessing it’s because the main ingredient is banana leaf juice, not the salt. I love their Tonik, it smells amazing and I use it to refresh my curls in the morning. It’s also a scalp tonic that can be used if you have any break outs or, in my case, ingrown hairs from shaving my mohawk myself - quarantine problems, amirite?

Hairstory: New Wash is what I have been using instead of shampoo for nearly 2 years. It was so nourishing that it helped me realize I actually have curly hair now! Plus my hair never fades, which is great for my clients but problematic for me when want to change it up. It’s a higher price point for New Wash, but actually $40 for a product that replaces shampoo + conditioner is no different to paying $20 for each one. You scrub your scalp (with their amazing scalp brush) and leave it in a few minutes to condition, so you’re using half the product. New Wash scents are all botanical, free from chemical fragrance. Their styling line is also very versatile, I use Dressed Up before diffusing to set my curls in place. They also have refillable aluminum containers which can be recycled (along with the scalp brush) and their refill packaging can be flat packed, creating much less waste. Plus they have an amazing subscription option so you can buy refills in bulk and get the best value for money. Afterworld Organics: A promising line I found often tagged alongside these other two brands. I just started using them and I’m in loooove. They, like Hairstory, provide a combination of scalp brush and 2-in-1 soap free hair cleanser. Hair Glow comes in two fragrance-free scents, Royal Lavender and Amberwood, which is great because on rare occasions I’ve met people who hate lavender... they exist. Moisture Lock is my absolute favorite! It’s used like a gel and dries with extreme hold, but it leaves your hair insanely shiny and soft. Hair Healer is a heat protectant that also nourishes and smooths. Texture Mist is a gentle, buildable salt spray. Afterworld does a great job of explaining the use of salt in their Texture Mist “Atlantic sea salt and Polyquat 20 work together to increase texture and volume while hydrating the hair.  Polyquat-a powdered extract made from plant cell fibers- binds moisture to the hair, acting as a barrier against the drying nature of the sea salt.” Overall, they do a great job of explaining the use their ingredients. Their About page contains a note on “alcohol ingredients” that talks about fatty alcohols being different from isopropyl alcohol. All of these lines have something in common, they focus on glass, recyclable, and overall less wasteful packaging. They are concerned with the long term effects of their ingredients on the human body and the ecosystem. These lines also allow me to earn commission while offering products for sale online for your convenience. This is imperative for a small business like mine to stay afloat. With such little retail space and in the middle of a recession, small businesses need all the help we can get. No more overhead cost for me to gamble on selling products. You can order what you want and it comes right to your door without fear of breaking quarantine. This is especially valuable for those of you working from home and, due to being high-risk, still having zero contact with people outside of your household.

On principle, I use brands that assume your intelligence, not depend on your stupidity to sell their snake oil. The integrity of their ingredients can speak for itself.

Stay safe, stay clean, and...

Beware of false prophets.

[bigyack-com]

Vir Das Is Afraid of Not Having It

Vir Das is, in his own words, a small things guy. The 40-year-old, best known for his stand-up comedy, doesn't stress about stuff too much. His biggest concern? Getting home in time to walk his nine-year-old bulldog Watson, whom he hasn't seen much of because he's been travelling. Das namechecks pollution — “if I had to pick a big issue,” he adds — before returning to the small things. “I act, I do stand up, and I do music,” Das tells Gadgets 360 from Chennai. “And I've done a heavy amount of acting and I've done a heavy amount of stand-up, but I haven't made a lot of music. So I've been missing my band a little bit.” If you haven't heard of his music career, Das' band is called Alien Chutney, self-described as India's first comedy rock band. “Alien Chutney has always been one of those things that I think Vir saw as a holiday from the stand-up and acting,” the band's pianist Kaizad Gherda, who has known Das for 12 years, says. Within the other two, it's largely been stand-up recently. Das hasn't had a film role in over two years. That's in part due to his deal at Netflix, where he released his first hour-long stand-up comedy special — Abroad Understanding — in 2017. That led to a 36-country world tour in 2018, plus a second special — Losing It — in late 2018. “I consciously didn't because I fell back in love with stand-up,” Das notes. “You don't get to perform in Oslo and try and figure out what they find funny without some serious commitment to that process. And I just hadn't done that before. So, I took a year-and-a-half to really get good at stand-up.” But that's been slowly changing. In early 2019, Das was part of the short-lived ABC action comedy-drama series Whiskey Cavalier — it aired on Colors Infinity and can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video — which was cancelled after a season. In late 2019, Das acted in sketches for Jestination Unknown, an Amazon comedy travel reality series he also hosted. That's set to continue in 2020. In addition to two unnamed films, Das has a series called Hasmukh — he wouldn't reveal the platform attached — about a comedian who's a serial killer, which he has written, creative produced, and acted in. Das thinks it has elements of crime dramas Dexter and Fargo. It's currently in post-production, so expect to see that on your screens soon. “It's nice to do some Hindi stand-up, and it was nice to murder people every episode, I enjoyed that as well,” Das adds with a chuckle. “Hopefully, an avatar of me people will not expect.” Before that, Das can be seen alongside Preity Zinta in an episode of Fresh Off the Boat — it airs on Hotstar Saturday — the immigrant sitcom that's currently in its sixth and final season. On it, he plays someone “who has infectious enthusiasm and zero pragmatism. He's fully 900 percent into everything but has no clue how to do it whatsoever.” If it does well for its network ABC, it could end up being turned into a spin-off series. Das says it was “the luck of the Irish” how the Fresh Off the Boat role came together. In July last year, he was at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal when he got a call. Das flew down to Los Angeles to meet with writer Rachna Fruchbom and executive producer Melvin Mar. 48 hours later as he landed in India, he was told he had the job.

Das and Zinta in Fresh Off the Boat Photo Credit: ABC And then there's the new stand-up special — his third, which makes him one of just six comics to hit that milestone on Netflix. Titled For India, it's out Republic Day — Sunday — on the streaming service globally. With it, Das also makes his directorial debut, co-directing alongside Ajay Bhuyan, whom he previously worked with on Jestination Unknown. “I really got into the theme of this special,” Das adds. “And the shot-taking and the breakdown and how visually a special — yes, it's a piece of stand-up comedy but it's also a piece of cinema. There is an artistry to how to shoot a special. I learnt on this special to not have the fancy stage or the fancy lights or the swag suit or the big set. There's basically no set in this special.” That's not an exaggeration. In For India, Das — in loose-fitting clothing and a pair of jootis — walks out of a blue door that's placed in the middle of nowhere and then takes his place on the three steps that follow. The only thing next to him is a kulhad. The audience, sitting on lit-up chairs, surround him in a semi-circle. “I really wanted this special to feel intimate, because you can't do a special about India without making Indians as much a part of this special as the artist,” Das says. “Usually the audience is dimly lit; we've deliberately brightly lit. So if a joke works, you can see them laughing at it, and if they're uncomfortable with a joke, you can see that too. You're watching the audience as much as you're watching the comedian.” That intimacy isn't a natural environment for Das, who admits he's never been a “conversationally confident” person through his life. But those inhibitions magically disappear on stage, he adds: “Ever since I was a kid, school grades, debating, dramatics, ‘What's the Good Word?', quizzes, poetry recitals, anything on the stage, I was up for it.” Das was born in 1979 Dehradun, a small town on the foothills of the Himalayas, some five hours north of India's capital New Delhi. Just a few months old, the Das family — including his elder sister, Trisha — moved to the bustling Nigerian port city of Lagos, where he spent most of his early childhood. But his parents wanted him to have an Indian education, so at age nine, he was sent off to a boarding school in the sleepy town of Kasuali, five hours west of his birthplace. After splitting his time between India and Africa throughout school, Das came down to Delhi — his family had also moved back in the interim — for college, opting to study political science. But halfway through his degree, he packed his bags and moved to Chicago on a scholarship. There, Das would have his first taste of stand-up, writing and performing a 90-minute show in the final year of drama school. Soon after, Das was on his way to a master's degree in theatre in Alabama. But life had other plans. Das returned to Delhi for five months before he started grad school. During that time, he got another lick at stand-up. Loving it and wanting to become a full-time comic, Das dropped out of university in three months. His upbringing has made him “the perpetual outsider”, Das notes, “and that's something that I've had to make peace with. I'm very Indian for American audiences and very Western for Indian audiences. I'm way too Bollywood for music festivals and I'm way too indie for Bollywood. But I do believe that not getting lost in either one of those bubbles is a very valuable thing. “It took me a while to figure out comedically that I couldn't write for a particular audience because I didn't come from a particular audience. I just kind of had to write for myself and pray to God that the audience came along.” Back in India in the early 2000s, Das did anything and everything that came his way. That included stand-up specials, hosting TV shows, doing improv, and being part of a larger comedy ensemble. During one of those specials, Das thought of pairing comedy and music. “The only reason that I play with Alien Chutney is because it stands out,” Gherda says. “Even though the song has the same joke or the same punchline, it always lands differently for different crowds. Vir may have to twist it and turn it for different cities when we tour India. It's not like we're trying to play it perfectly. We're trying to ensure that the joke always remains funny.” Around the same time, Das would make his way into Bollywood, which included a leading role in the black comedy thriller Delhi Belly. Alongside, Das wrote a play called History of India.

Kunaal Roy Kapur, Imran Khan, and Das in Delhi Belly Photo Credit: AKP/UTV In fact, that was the original title for the new special — now called For India — an insider told Gadgets 360, before it underwent an overhaul of sorts. It still retains the essence, which involves Das looking at “what it means to be Indian in today's world. A mix of nostalgia and social commentary and just little s--t from India that I thought was funny.” For an hour and 15 minutes, Das talks about everything from chyawanprash to Ram Mandir, making a big deal out of little things and making light of controversial topics. He channels that outsider perspective by working two crowds — one Indian and the other foreign — in the same room. Every time he lands on a very-Indian thing like chyawanprash, the lighting changes as Das addresses the Westerners to explain it in their words. What's more interesting, in terms of what Das discusses, is the how. By and large, every time he wants to arrive on a political joke, he approaches it via a cultural association, be it a film, a book, a drink, or Indian uncles. It's a clever bait-and-switch, though viewers will likely see it coming after the first few instances. Mowgli is linked to Amit Shah, and Indian uncles are tied to Babri Masjid. “Sometimes you're like, ‘I want to write a joke about Doordarshan's Jungle Book.' And then you arrive at a political joke somewhere just because that's kind of floating around in your subconscious,” Das explains. “I did want to write a show that brought all Indians to the table because I think that the show — sort of a celebration of India — would need it as well. But at the same time, you don't want to stay away from things that — I do have beliefs.” For India is also like a homecoming for Das, who hadn't shot a special in the country in two years. And it kicks off a self-proclaimed “interesting” year, he says: “2020 is a year I decided not to repeat myself. The movies that I'm doing are extremely different and challenging. I don't look or sound like myself. I have a new show that I'm touring the world with and it's an incredibly personal show. “I'm going to release a hip-hop album at the end of the year, which is something I'm excited about because I think I'm at rap, and I wanna see if I can try and take Alien Chutney in a new direction. We're getting into the studio in a week to lay down like seven tracks.” “I think he's pretty good at that, because we previously had done a song called ‘Government Man' in that style and he was a little nervous as to whether everything would land or not,” Gherda remarks. “But it became quite a catchy and popular song. I think it's given him confidence to do right in that zone now.” “I love playing big music festivals with my band. I don't get to do that enough,” Das adds later, asked what he misses the most about his early years. “And I really enjoyed the job at CNBC. Because I was just this kid who they let on the nine o'clock news bulletin to joke and I had nowhere near the intelligence or maturity of anybody in that office building. “But they still put me on air on prime time, so I used to enjoy just being a kid raised in the newsroom. That was interesting. Sometimes I miss being part of a topical comedy show, and I think that's something I might do later in my career is get back to the Jon Stewart, John Oliver kind of game.” In his fifteen-or-so-year career so far, Das has explored virtually every art form available to him. Gherda says he does “a billion things” and adds: “There were days when it was just us. And Vir used to answer a call, and Vir used to quote for us, and Vir used to organise a car, and Vir used to book our tickets and our hotel. He had the motivation to do this without the celebrity attached to him.” Is there something Das can't do? “If I know that I can't do it, I usually want to do it,” he replies, before adding with a laugh: “Even if I'm going to be terrible at it.” That fearlessness has made him one of India's highest-earning comedians. Das' biggest fear is “not having it. I never want to get to the point where I'm not nervous before the show. I never want to get to a point where I'm not nervous about some of the products that I'm putting out. I never want to have a first day at work on a new project where I'm not terrified, because I think those three are good signs about artistic evolution. “If you constantly feel like a newcomer, and you're probably not good enough to do it, chances are you'll work that much harder.” Read the full article

[theticklishpear]

Hello Pear! I am currently worldbuilding for a fantasy setting on a planet that has about 90% of its surface covered in water, so sailing and the logistics of living, trading and being able to grow certain foods is important. But since I've lived my whole life thoroughly landbound and nowhere near coasts, these things are not well-known to me, and I don't know how they would affect daily life. Do you know any good sources for such information? Or well-written examples of life at sea in fiction?

This is a really interesting question because it’s almost entirely different than what sailors of our world were working with. In our world, ~70% of the surface is water, so that’s 20% more land to work with. Our sailors were supplying up for the times between landing, where yours need to be able to sustain. It’s a different mindset, and I know you’re aware of it already. So looking at historical references will only get you so far, but let’s see what we can do.

Food and water are going to be your most important resources to figure out. How do they obtain fresh water and keep their food stocks medium-to-high-ish? What’s readily available to them, obviously, are the fish and creatures living in the seas they’re sailing, which are protein and good for sustenance if you can work out how to keep over-fishing to a minimum.

Of course, ale, wine, and liquor were exceptionally common on ships for things like seasickness, morale, disinfectant, and the simple fact that they knew it wouldn’t have contaminants in it. Unfortunately, alcohol will not keep someone hydrated–in fact, it’ll dehydrate them, so fresh water is key. Rain barrels may be an option, but if these are not only seafaring peoples but also sea-living people, it’s likely they’ll have apparatuses for desalination processes. A convenient byproduct of desalination is the twice-as-salty brine that remains behind can be used as a preservative for excess fish, meats, and fats that may be acquired.

Fresh fish and meats are always going to be better than dried stuff, but your peoples aren’t likely to just catch foods based on daily needs, but will have some stores (though perhaps less due to space, ventilation, and nutrition restrictions) for times when the fish may not be “in-season” so to speak. Try to keep the amount of dried and salted foods to a minimum because they’ll also dehydrate, and water is at a premium on ships, but it’s likely there’ll be some deck space for drying and salting of seafood.

Now, we all know of the dangers of scurvy and not getting enough vitamin C while at sea, but there are some places your folks will be able to get it from, seaweed for one. Seaweed is packed with vitamin C and drying it into sheets would probably be the easiest way to make sure folks are getting what they need. In addition, things like beets, kale, asparagus, spinach, potatoes, tomatoes, peas, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, and some squash have a higher tolerance for salt in their soil, and some are particularly suited to hydroponic gardens that could be constructed on-deck depending on the level of technology and practical/critical thinking your cultures are at, or growing inside cloches (maybe even cloches for desalination for low-tech hydroponic gardens?). Sprouts, in particular, such as alfalfa, broccoli sprouts, mung beans, sprouted oats, and radish sprouts will help provide protein, vitamin c, and a host of other nutrients. Best yet, the growing of sprouts is fairly easy to accommodate.

Waste removal and/or recycling will be an issue, especially if most of your peoples are sea-living. Dumping it in the ocean is going to create massive problems very quickly with that kind of at-sea population. Much of your products will be made from materials which are likely to be biodegradable unless technology is so far advanced that you’re dealing with plastics. But honestly, if a majority of your world is water, and a majority of your peoples are living on the water, your people are going to be much more likely to be using natural products created from natural fibers and whatnot that are biodegradable. You should probably look into mulching and using food waste as fertilizer where needed. Even human waste can be put to use with the right kinds of bacteria to break it down properly. That one will take some thinking, and while you don’t need to outline the process in your story, you should be aware of what those processes are.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of resources on conducting trade while also on a boat at sea, or at least historical ship-to-ship transfer information is slim from what I was looking at. I imagine they’d need to find a way to flag each other down and let them know their intentions, and carefully maneuver the two ships side-by-side without the danger of scraping the sides of the ships together but close enough to extend crossing boards (or rope bridges thrown to each side or whatever kind of crossing apparatus they use), and then conduct trade that way between the ships. It’s probably more likely they’d do it via smaller pilot boats traveling from each vessel to meet. They’re less likely to do serious damage to each other, and easier to lash together during the trading procedures. I think what technology is available will kind of help you figure out the logistics of this one.

BOOKS:

Here are some Goodreads lists that might give you some options to look into (my search keyword was just “sea”). Secrets of the Realm by Bev Stout seems to be a popular pick, as is Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader from C.S. Lewis, The Floating Island from Elizabeth Haydon, and Red Seas Under Red Skies from Scott Lynch are a few that came to mind off the top of my own head.

Nautical Tales Goodreads listMaritime Classics Goodreads listShip ahoy! Goodreads listTrue Nautical Stories (Non-Fiction Only) Goodreads listBest Seafaring History books Goodreads listGreat Stories: Sailors, Ships & Sea Adventures (fiction only) Goodreads listBest Sea Adventure Novels Goodreads listBest Adventure Books with or about Sailing Goodreads list

RESOURCES:

May or may not be helpful. Some are probably not talking about exactly the same setting (such as growing food on your yacht) but the principals may be helpful:

FOOD:

Practical Cruising - Grow Food on Your BoatHow to Prevent ScurvyHow To Preserve FishFive ways to preserve fish without refrigerationLife at Sea During the Age of Captain Cook(Actually, The Mariners’ Museum where I used to hang out is a really great resource. Check out the “Online Learning” section of their navigation bar, found under “Learn.”)What Did Sailors Eat? (and other life-at-sea links)

VOCABULARY:

(Links courtesy of University of Southampton from @beezarre)CogBottom structureInner structureCross sectionSailing ship rig typesSails on a full-rigged shipParts of a sailing rigBasic Terminology of Shipbuilding (book)Shipbuilding TermsIllustrated Terminology from the Age of Sail

[sprucebodylab1]

Prosolution Gel Review

My Prosolution Gel Review

Hello all, Justin here.

Today I am going to talk about a topic that is kind of taboo, but affects A LOT of guys out there.

This topic is erectile dysfunction.

If you suffer or have suffered from this, then you know it is horrible and embarrassing.

Thankfully, there are products out there that can help, like Prosolution Gel.

Quick Navigation

Summary of my experience

What is Prosolution Gel?

My Experience With Prosolution Gel

First Few Days

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Verdict

If you suffer from erectile dysfunction, then you will no doubt have tried countless products on the market.

I am in the same boat as you.

My erectile dysfunction comes and goes, and when it ‘comes’, it tends to be pretty bad.

I tried about fifteen different products on the market with varying results, but not one of them offered a long-term solution…until I was introduced to Prosolution gel.

Prosolution Gel is, without a doubt, one of the best erectile dysfunction products I have ever used.

It is quick and easy to use too.

Just rub it on your penis and you should be ‘good to go’.

It is also one of those products you can rely on. It always works, no matter if you are stuck in a rut when it comes to your erectile dysfunction.

Summary of my experience

Works in seconds

Thicker and fuller penis

Erections last long

Great orgasms

Discrete

What is Prosolution Gel?

Prosolution Gel is a product designed specifically for those suffering from erectile dysfunction.

It isn’t a pill that you need to take or anything like that, you just apply a small amount to your penis and it works its magic on its own.

Without getting too scientific, because this is something that I struggle to understand myself, the Prosolution Gel helps to boost nitric acid levels in your body.

This increases blood flow into your penis which, ultimately, gives you that rock solid erection.

It gets you hard in seconds, when you normally need to wait for hours for other similar products on the market to work…which is amazing. It means that you can have sex there and then.

The brilliant thing about Prosolution Gel is that it doesn’t look like anything for erectile dysfunction at all.

Your secret is going to be safe with you (my wife knew I suffered erectile dysfunction so I couldn’t really keep that secret from her).

It looks just like lube.

In fact, it actually functions as if you have some lube, so nobody will ever know if you don't want them to.

Fancy having a blow job? Well, Prosolution gel is going to help with that too. It tastes minty fresh, so your lover is going to love it!

The best part about Prosolution Gel is that it is 100% natural, and you won’t need a prescription to use it.

This means you won’t need to ‘embarrass’ yourself by going to a doctor and asking for Viagra or something like that.

It does not have the cost associated with it that other major products on the market have too…which is nice.

I, for one, was spending a lot by buying all those erectile dysfunction products so it was great that I was able to find something that was so ‘safe’ to use, as well as cheap to boot.

My Experience With Prosolution Gel

Detailing the week-by-week experience with Prosolution gel is actually going to be pretty difficult for me.

This is because it is unlike any other product on the market.

Generally, when you try natural erectile dysfunction products, you normally have to wait for weeks for them to really start working, but Prosolution Gel is a product which is going to work from the very first application.

This means that your week by week experience is not going to change that much.

Mine did, ever so slightly, but even then, expect Prosolution Gel to work the second you apply it for the first time.

​

First Few Days

​

The first few days that I had with the Prosolution Gel, I was still weaning myself off some natural supplements that I had.

I barely suffered any erectile dysfunction that week because, as I said, it is something which does not happen that often, but when it does hit me, it hits hard.

This means that during the first few days, I was not actually using the Prosolution Gel to give myself an erection, but I certainly had to use it later in the week.

The Prosolution Gel felt just like a proper lube. Water-based, did not feel oily or greasy at all, and my wife commented on how great it felt (not that she needed some lube in the first place!).

In addition to this, the Prosolution Gel smelled amazing. 

As mentioned previously; it is a minty-flavored Gel. It does not actually smell overpowering, it is a light minty taste.

While I did not personally taste the gel, my wife did say that it smelled great, and it did not have a chemical taste to it.

So, if you have a partner who is not always that thrilled about putting lube in their mouth, I reckon that this is going to be a good way to go!

Week One

​

It was the second week where I really started to get into the swing of things.

Erections were not doing their thing for me, which meant that I needed to use the Prosolution Gel for more than just giving the woman a little bit of a good taste when she stuck my penis in her mouth.

​

I am not going to lie; the Prosolution Gel worked amazingly well.

I applied it to the penis, felt a little tingle, and seconds later I was getting nice and hard.

This was crazy, considering not too long prior I was struggling to ‘get it up’.

​

The one amazing thing that I noticed about the Prosolution Gel (other than the speedy erection), is the fact that I never really lost the erection during the sex.

 Some of the other erectile dysfunction supplements I had used in the past were not fool proof.

There were some sex sessions I was having with those supplements where I was losing my erection within seconds of penetrative intercourse which, of course, ended up causing you to basically ruin your sex, which was not a good feeling at all.

Week Two

Week 2, I was very much back to normal when it came to my erectile dysfunction.

I was not really going to give up using the Prosolution Gel because it had felt good for my wife.

She said that there was something great about the lube which made the sex feel a little bit better for her.

​

One thing that I did notice during the second week of using the Prosolution Gel was the fact that it made my penis feel a little bit thicker when I got an erection. 

I have no idea if this was the product building up the natural parts of my penis or something, but it did feel great to have a penis which felt a little bit larger.

My wife tended to comment on the thickness of my penis too, which was awesome.

​

I also noticed that when I orgasmed, it felt ‘better’.

​I had a quick read through the list of benefits to Prosolution Gel, and they said that this was one of the benefits of the product.

Again, not sure of the exact science about it, but it did make the orgasm that much better. My wife said that it felt good for her too.

Week Three

​

The third week was the week that I decided that I did not need any other supplement again.

I didn’t need those little blue pills.

I didn’t need those natural supplements which promised the world but failed to deliver.

I just needed Prosolution Gel.

That is it.

​

I was having a terrible week when it came to erectile dysfunction but, at the risk of bragging, I was having sex every single day.

We did it try it a little bit without me getting hard at first, but it was just not happening.

So, we put on the Prosolution Gel and it was taking seconds to get an erection.

This was far, far quicker than any other product I had used before.

​

I swear this week I worked out that the gel had done something positive to my penis.

It was even thicker than before, and those orgasms felt even better than they did in the past.

It really was that fantastic and it felt great.

I would have told my friends about this product but, obviously, nobody wants to talk about erectile dysfunction issues with their friends…so I am going to be telling you instead!

Verdict

If you suffer from random erectile dysfunction, then you may struggle to find something better on the market than Prosolution Gel.

It is not a product that is going to work for everybody, I don’t think there is a single product on the market that will work for everybody that has tried it, but take this from a person who has used erectile dysfunction products a lot: Prosolution Gel is, without a doubt, the best product I have ever tried.

This is the only one that I will ever use from here on out, and I promise you that pretty soon (after you have checked it out too), it is fast going to become the only supplement that you ever need too.

Hit the link below and you can pick it up at an affordable price!

Thank me later!

Click Here To Buy Prosolution Gel

Hello all, Justin here.

Today I am going to talk about a topic that is kind of taboo, but affects A LOT of guys out there.

This topic is erectile dysfunction.

If you suffer or have suffered from this, then you know it is horrible and embarrassing.

Thankfully, there are products out there that can help, like Prosolution Gel.

Quick Navigation

Summary of my experience

What is Prosolution Gel?

My Experience With Prosolution Gel

First Few Days

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Verdict

Discount Coupon Code

If you suffer from erectile dysfunction, then you will no doubt have tried countless products on the market.

I am in the same boat as you.

My erectile dysfunction comes and goes, and when it ‘comes’, it tends to be pretty bad.

I tried about fifteen different products on the market with varying results, but not one of them offered a long-term solution…until I was introduced to Prosolution gel.

Prosolution Gel is, without a doubt, one of the best erectile dysfunction products I have ever used.

It is quick and easy to use too.

Just rub it on your penis and you should be ‘good to go’.

It is also one of those products you can rely on. It always works, no matter if you are stuck in a rut when it comes to your erectile dysfunction.

Summary of my experience

Works in seconds

Thicker and fuller penis

Erections last long

Great orgasms

Discrete

What is Prosolution Gel?

Prosolution Gel is a product designed specifically for those suffering from erectile dysfunction.

It isn’t a pill that you need to take or anything like that, you just apply a small amount to your penis and it works its magic on its own.

Without getting too scientific, because this is something that I struggle to understand myself, the Prosolution Gel helps to boost nitric acid levels in your body.

This increases blood flow into your penis which, ultimately, gives you that rock solid erection.

It gets you hard in seconds, when you normally need to wait for hours for other similar products on the market to work…which is amazing. It means that you can have sex there and then.

The brilliant thing about Prosolution Gel is that it doesn’t look like anything for erectile dysfunction at all.

Your secret is going to be safe with you (my wife knew I suffered erectile dysfunction so I couldn’t really keep that secret from her).

It looks just like lube.

In fact, it actually functions as if you have some lube, so nobody will ever know if you don't want them to.

Fancy having a blow job? Well, Prosolution gel is going to help with that too. It tastes minty fresh, so your lover is going to love it!

The best part about Prosolution Gel is that it is 100% natural, and you won’t need a prescription to use it.

This means you won’t need to ‘embarrass’ yourself by going to a doctor and asking for Viagra or something like that.

It does not have the cost associated with it that other major products on the market have too…which is nice.

I, for one, was spending a lot by buying all those erectile dysfunction products so it was great that I was able to find something that was so ‘safe’ to use, as well as cheap to boot.

My Experience With Prosolution Gel

Detailing the week-by-week experience with Prosolution gel is actually going to be pretty difficult for me.

This is because it is unlike any other product on the market.

Generally, when you try natural erectile dysfunction products, you normally have to wait for weeks for them to really start working, but Prosolution Gel is a product which is going to work from the very first application.

This means that your week by week experience is not going to change that much.

Mine did, ever so slightly, but even then, expect Prosolution Gel to work the second you apply it for the first time.

​

First Few Days

​

The first few days that I had with the Prosolution Gel, I was still weaning myself off some natural supplements that I had.

I barely suffered any erectile dysfunction that week because, as I said, it is something which does not happen that often, but when it does hit me, it hits hard.

This means that during the first few days, I was not actually using the Prosolution Gel to give myself an erection, but I certainly had to use it later in the week.

The Prosolution Gel felt just like a proper lube. Water-based, did not feel oily or greasy at all, and my wife commented on how great it felt (not that she needed some lube in the first place!).

In addition to this, the Prosolution Gel smelled amazing. 

As mentioned previously; it is a minty-flavored Gel. It does not actually smell overpowering, it is a light minty taste.

While I did not personally taste the gel, my wife did say that it smelled great, and it did not have a chemical taste to it.

So, if you have a partner who is not always that thrilled about putting lube in their mouth, I reckon that this is going to be a good way to go!

Week One

​

It was the second week where I really started to get into the swing of things.

Erections were not doing their thing for me, which meant that I needed to use the Prosolution Gel for more than just giving the woman a little bit of a good taste when she stuck my penis in her mouth.

​

I am not going to lie; the Prosolution Gel worked amazingly well.

I applied it to the penis, felt a little tingle, and seconds later I was getting nice and hard.

This was crazy, considering not too long prior I was struggling to ‘get it up’.

​

The one amazing thing that I noticed about the Prosolution Gel (other than the speedy erection), is the fact that I never really lost the erection during the sex.

 Some of the other erectile dysfunction supplements I had used in the past were not fool proof.

There were some sex sessions I was having with those supplements where I was losing my erection within seconds of penetrative intercourse which, of course, ended up causing you to basically ruin your sex, which was not a good feeling at all.

Week Two

Week 2, I was very much back to normal when it came to my erectile dysfunction.

I was not really going to give up using the Prosolution Gel because it had felt good for my wife.

She said that there was something great about the lube which made the sex feel a little bit better for her.

​

One thing that I did notice during the second week of using the Prosolution Gel was the fact that it made my penis feel a little bit thicker when I got an erection. 

I have no idea if this was the product building up the natural parts of my penis or something, but it did feel great to have a penis which felt a little bit larger.

My wife tended to comment on the thickness of my penis too, which was awesome.

​

I also noticed that when I orgasmed, it felt ‘better’.

​I had a quick read through the list of benefits to Prosolution Gel, and they said that this was one of the benefits of the product.

Again, not sure of the exact science about it, but it did make the orgasm that much better. My wife said that it felt good for her too.

Week Three

​

The third week was the week that I decided that I did not need any other supplement again.

I didn’t need those little blue pills.

I didn’t need those natural supplements which promised the world but failed to deliver.

I just needed Prosolution Gel.

That is it.

​

I was having a terrible week when it came to erectile dysfunction but, at the risk of bragging, I was having sex every single day.

We did it try it a little bit without me getting hard at first, but it was just not happening.

So, we put on the Prosolution Gel and it was taking seconds to get an erection.

This was far, far quicker than any other product I had used before.

​

I swear this week I worked out that the gel had done something positive to my penis.

It was even thicker than before, and those orgasms felt even better than they did in the past.

It really was that fantastic and it felt great.

I would have told my friends about this product but, obviously, nobody wants to talk about erectile dysfunction issues with their friends…so I am going to be telling you instead!

Verdict

If you suffer from random erectile dysfunction, then you may struggle to find something better on the market than Prosolution Gel.

It is not a product that is going to work for everybody, I don’t think there is a single product on the market that will work for everybody that has tried it, but take this from a person who has used erectile dysfunction products a lot: Prosolution Gel is, without a doubt, the best product I have ever tried.

This is the only one that I will ever use from here on out, and I promise you that pretty soon (after you have checked it out too), it is fast going to become the only supplement that you ever need too.

Hit the link below and you can pick it up at an affordable price!

Thank me later!

Click Here To Buy Prosolution Gel

Hello all, Justin here.

Today I am going to talk about a topic that is kind of taboo, but affects A LOT of guys out there.

This topic is erectile dysfunction.

If you suffer or have suffered from this, then you know it is horrible and embarrassing.

Thankfully, there are products out there that can help, like Prosolution Gel.

Quick Navigation

Summary of my experience

What is Prosolution Gel?

My Experience With Prosolution Gel

First Few Days

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Verdict

If you suffer from erectile dysfunction, then you will no doubt have tried countless products on the market.

I am in the same boat as you.

My erectile dysfunction comes and goes, and when it ‘comes’, it tends to be pretty bad.

I tried about fifteen different products on the market with varying results, but not one of them offered a long-term solution…until I was introduced to Prosolution gel.

Prosolution Gel is, without a doubt, one of the best erectile dysfunction products I have ever used.

It is quick and easy to use too.

Just rub it on your penis and you should be ‘good to go’.

It is also one of those products you can rely on. It always works, no matter if you are stuck in a rut when it comes to your erectile dysfunction.

Summary of my experience

Works in seconds

Thicker and fuller penis

Erections last long

Great orgasms

Discrete

What is Prosolution Gel?

Prosolution Gel is a product designed specifically for those suffering from erectile dysfunction.

It isn’t a pill that you need to take or anything like that, you just apply a small amount to your penis and it works its magic on its own.

Without getting too scientific, because this is something that I struggle to understand myself, the Prosolution Gel helps to boost nitric acid levels in your body.

This increases blood flow into your penis which, ultimately, gives you that rock solid erection.

It gets you hard in seconds, when you normally need to wait for hours for other similar products on the market to work…which is amazing. It means that you can have sex there and then.

The brilliant thing about Prosolution Gel is that it doesn’t look like anything for erectile dysfunction at all.

Your secret is going to be safe with you (my wife knew I suffered erectile dysfunction so I couldn’t really keep that secret from her).

It looks just like lube.

In fact, it actually functions as if you have some lube, so nobody will ever know if you don't want them to.

Fancy having a blow job? Well, Prosolution gel is going to help with that too. It tastes minty fresh, so your lover is going to love it!

The best part about Prosolution Gel is that it is 100% natural, and you won’t need a prescription to use it.

This means you won’t need to ‘embarrass’ yourself by going to a doctor and asking for Viagra or something like that.

It does not have the cost associated with it that other major products on the market have too…which is nice.

I, for one, was spending a lot by buying all those erectile dysfunction products so it was great that I was able to find something that was so ‘safe’ to use, as well as cheap to boot.

My Experience With Prosolution Gel

Detailing the week-by-week experience with Prosolution gel is actually going to be pretty difficult for me.

This is because it is unlike any other product on the market.

Generally, when you try natural erectile dysfunction products, you normally have to wait for weeks for them to really start working, but Prosolution Gel is a product which is going to work from the very first application.

This means that your week by week experience is not going to change that much.

Mine did, ever so slightly, but even then, expect Prosolution Gel to work the second you apply it for the first time.

​

First Few Days

​

The first few days that I had with the Prosolution Gel, I was still weaning myself off some natural supplements that I had.

I barely suffered any erectile dysfunction that week because, as I said, it is something which does not happen that often, but when it does hit me, it hits hard.

This means that during the first few days, I was not actually using the Prosolution Gel to give myself an erection, but I certainly had to use it later in the week.

The Prosolution Gel felt just like a proper lube. Water-based, did not feel oily or greasy at all, and my wife commented on how great it felt (not that she needed some lube in the first place!).

In addition to this, the Prosolution Gel smelled amazing. 

As mentioned previously; it is a minty-flavored Gel. It does not actually smell overpowering, it is a light minty taste.

While I did not personally taste the gel, my wife did say that it smelled great, and it did not have a chemical taste to it.

So, if you have a partner who is not always that thrilled about putting lube in their mouth, I reckon that this is going to be a good way to go!

Week One

​

It was the second week where I really started to get into the swing of things.

Erections were not doing their thing for me, which meant that I needed to use the Prosolution Gel for more than just giving the woman a little bit of a good taste when she stuck my penis in her mouth.

​

I am not going to lie; the Prosolution Gel worked amazingly well.

I applied it to the penis, felt a little tingle, and seconds later I was getting nice and hard.

This was crazy, considering not too long prior I was struggling to ‘get it up’.

​

The one amazing thing that I noticed about the Prosolution Gel (other than the speedy erection), is the fact that I never really lost the erection during the sex.

 Some of the other erectile dysfunction supplements I had used in the past were not fool proof.

There were some sex sessions I was having with those supplements where I was losing my erection within seconds of penetrative intercourse which, of course, ended up causing you to basically ruin your sex, which was not a good feeling at all.

Week Two

Week 2, I was very much back to normal when it came to my erectile dysfunction.

I was not really going to give up using the Prosolution Gel because it had felt good for my wife.

She said that there was something great about the lube which made the sex feel a little bit better for her.

​

One thing that I did notice during the second week of using the Prosolution Gel was the fact that it made my penis feel a little bit thicker when I got an erection. 

I have no idea if this was the product building up the natural parts of my penis or something, but it did feel great to have a penis which felt a little bit larger.

My wife tended to comment on the thickness of my penis too, which was awesome.

​

I also noticed that when I orgasmed, it felt ‘better’.

​I had a quick read through the list of benefits to Prosolution Gel, and they said that this was one of the benefits of the product.

Again, not sure of the exact science about it, but it did make the orgasm that much better. My wife said that it felt good for her too.

Week Three

​

The third week was the week that I decided that I did not need any other supplement again.

I didn’t need those little blue pills.

I didn’t need those natural supplements which promised the world but failed to deliver.

I just needed Prosolution Gel.

That is it.

​

I was having a terrible week when it came to erectile dysfunction but, at the risk of bragging, I was having sex every single day.

We did it try it a little bit without me getting hard at first, but it was just not happening.

So, we put on the Prosolution Gel and it was taking seconds to get an erection.

This was far, far quicker than any other product I had used before.

​

I swear this week I worked out that the gel had done something positive to my penis.

It was even thicker than before, and those orgasms felt even better than they did in the past.

It really was that fantastic and it felt great.

I would have told my friends about this product but, obviously, nobody wants to talk about erectile dysfunction issues with their friends…so I am going to be telling you instead!

Verdict

If you suffer from random erectile dysfunction, then you may struggle to find something better on the market than Prosolution Gel.

It is not a product that is going to work for everybody, I don’t think there is a single product on the market that will work for everybody that has tried it, but take this from a person who has used erectile dysfunction products a lot: Prosolution Gel is, without a doubt, the best product I have ever tried.

This is the only one that I will ever use from here on out, and I promise you that pretty soon (after you have checked it out too), it is fast going to become the only supplement that you ever need too.

Hit the link below and you can pick it up at an affordable price!

Thank me later!

Click Here To Buy Prosolution Gel

Hello all, Justin here.

Today I am going to talk about a topic that is kind of taboo, but affects A LOT of guys out there.

This topic is erectile dysfunction.

If you suffer or have suffered from this, then you know it is horrible and embarrassing.

Thankfully, there are products out there that can help, like Prosolution Gel.

Quick Navigation

Summary of my experience

What is Prosolution Gel?

My Experience With Prosolution Gel

First Few Days

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Verdict

Discount Coupon Code

If you suffer from erectile dysfunction, then you will no doubt have tried countless products on the market.

I am in the same boat as you.

My erectile dysfunction comes and goes, and when it ‘comes’, it tends to be pretty bad.

I tried about fifteen different products on the market with varying results, but not one of them offered a long-term solution…until I was introduced to Prosolution gel.

Prosolution Gel is, without a doubt, one of the best erectile dysfunction products I have ever used.

It is quick and easy to use too.

Just rub it on your penis and you should be ‘good to go’.

It is also one of those products you can rely on. It always works, no matter if you are stuck in a rut when it comes to your erectile dysfunction.

Summary of my experience

Works in seconds

Thicker and fuller penis

Erections last long

Great orgasms

Discrete

What is Prosolution Gel?

Prosolution Gel is a product designed specifically for those suffering from erectile dysfunction.

It isn’t a pill that you need to take or anything like that, you just apply a small amount to your penis and it works its magic on its own.

Without getting too scientific, because this is something that I struggle to understand myself, the Prosolution Gel helps to boost nitric acid levels in your body.

This increases blood flow into your penis which, ultimately, gives you that rock solid erection.

It gets you hard in seconds, when you normally need to wait for hours for other similar products on the market to work…which is amazing. It means that you can have sex there and then.

The brilliant thing about Prosolution Gel is that it doesn’t look like anything for erectile dysfunction at all.

Your secret is going to be safe with you (my wife knew I suffered erectile dysfunction so I couldn’t really keep that secret from her).

It looks just like lube.

In fact, it actually functions as if you have some lube, so nobody will ever know if you don't want them to.

Fancy having a blow job? Well, Prosolution gel is going to help with that too. It tastes minty fresh, so your lover is going to love it!

The best part about Prosolution Gel is that it is 100% natural, and you won’t need a prescription to use it.

This means you won’t need to ‘embarrass’ yourself by going to a doctor and asking for Viagra or something like that.

It does not have the cost associated with it that other major products on the market have too…which is nice.

I, for one, was spending a lot by buying all those erectile dysfunction products so it was great that I was able to find something that was so ‘safe’ to use, as well as cheap to boot.

My Experience With Prosolution Gel

Detailing the week-by-week experience with Prosolution gel is actually going to be pretty difficult for me.

This is because it is unlike any other product on the market.

Generally, when you try natural erectile dysfunction products, you normally have to wait for weeks for them to really start working, but Prosolution Gel is a product which is going to work from the very first application.

This means that your week by week experience is not going to change that much.

Mine did, ever so slightly, but even then, expect Prosolution Gel to work the second you apply it for the first time.

​

First Few Days

​

The first few days that I had with the Prosolution Gel, I was still weaning myself off some natural supplements that I had.

I barely suffered any erectile dysfunction that week because, as I said, it is something which does not happen that often, but when it does hit me, it hits hard.

This means that during the first few days, I was not actually using the Prosolution Gel to give myself an erection, but I certainly had to use it later in the week.

The Prosolution Gel felt just like a proper lube. Water-based, did not feel oily or greasy at all, and my wife commented on how great it felt (not that she needed some lube in the first place!).

In addition to this, the Prosolution Gel smelled amazing. 

As mentioned previously; it is a minty-flavored Gel. It does not actually smell overpowering, it is a light minty taste.

While I did not personally taste the gel, my wife did say that it smelled great, and it did not have a chemical taste to it.

So, if you have a partner who is not always that thrilled about putting lube in their mouth, I reckon that this is going to be a good way to go!

Week One

​

It was the second week where I really started to get into the swing of things.

Erections were not doing their thing for me, which meant that I needed to use the Prosolution Gel for more than just giving the woman a little bit of a good taste when she stuck my penis in her mouth.

​

I am not going to lie; the Prosolution Gel worked amazingly well.

I applied it to the penis, felt a little tingle, and seconds later I was getting nice and hard.

This was crazy, considering not too long prior I was struggling to ‘get it up’.

​

The one amazing thing that I noticed about the Prosolution Gel (other than the speedy erection), is the fact that I never really lost the erection during the sex.

 Some of the other erectile dysfunction supplements I had used in the past were not fool proof.

There were some sex sessions I was having with those supplements where I was losing my erection within seconds of penetrative intercourse which, of course, ended up causing you to basically ruin your sex, which was not a good feeling at all.

Week Two

Week 2, I was very much back to normal when it came to my erectile dysfunction.

I was not really going to give up using the Prosolution Gel because it had felt good for my wife.

She said that there was something great about the lube which made the sex feel a little bit better for her.

​

One thing that I did notice during the second week of using the Prosolution Gel was the fact that it made my penis feel a little bit thicker when I got an erection. 

I have no idea if this was the product building up the natural parts of my penis or something, but it did feel great to have a penis which felt a little bit larger.

My wife tended to comment on the thickness of my penis too, which was awesome.

​

I also noticed that when I orgasmed, it felt ‘better’.

​I had a quick read through the list of benefits to Prosolution Gel, and they said that this was one of the benefits of the product.

Again, not sure of the exact science about it, but it did make the orgasm that much better. My wife said that it felt good for her too.

Week Three

​

The third week was the week that I decided that I did not need any other supplement again.

I didn’t need those little blue pills.

I didn’t need those natural supplements which promised the world but failed to deliver.

I just needed Prosolution Gel.

That is it.

​

I was having a terrible week when it came to erectile dysfunction but, at the risk of bragging, I was having sex every single day.

We did it try it a little bit without me getting hard at first, but it was just not happening.

So, we put on the Prosolution Gel and it was taking seconds to get an erection.

This was far, far quicker than any other product I had used before.

​

I swear this week I worked out that the gel had done something positive to my penis.

It was even thicker than before, and those orgasms felt even better than they did in the past.

It really was that fantastic and it felt great.

I would have told my friends about this product but, obviously, nobody wants to talk about erectile dysfunction issues with their friends…so I am going to be telling you instead!

Verdict

If you suffer from random erectile dysfunction, then you may struggle to find something better on the market than Prosolution Gel.

It is not a product that is going to work for everybody, I don’t think there is a single product on the market that will work for everybody that has tried it, but take this from a person who has used erectile dysfunction products a lot: Prosolution Gel is, without a doubt, the best product I have ever tried.

This is the only one that I will ever use from here on out, and I promise you that pretty soon (after you have checked it out too), it is fast going to become the only supplement that you ever need too.

Hit the link below and you can pick it up at an affordable price!

Thank me later!

Click Here To Buy Prosolution Gel

It's your man Rob here.

As you guys might know already, I am a big fan of nootropics.

It just so happens that one of my favourites is noopept.

I know there are a lot of different brands of noopept around, so today I am going to talk about my experience with one of the best in the market: Absorb Health's Noopept.

So let's begin!

Quick Navigation

Summary of my experience

Intro on Noopept

My Experience With Absorb Health's Noopept

First Four Days

Week One

Week Two

Weeks Three Through Four

Verdict

Discount Coupon Code

If you are here, you have heard of Noopept before and are probably considering trying it out.

​

In that case, let me tell you something.

​

DO IT.

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If you don't like it (which I highly doubt), stop taking it.

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However, if you do like it, you will be glad you found out about this gem.

​

Here is a brief overview of my experience with this nootropic.

Summary of my experience

One of the best nootropics out there

Great focus

Felt a great improvement in mood

No side effects

Improved cognitive function

Click Here For For A Great Deal

Intro on Noopept

Noopept is one of the most well-known nootropics around and also one of my favourites.

​

However, just like with any popular supplement, there are many low-quality and downright fake products.

So why did I choose to buy from Absorb Health and not another brand?

Not only are they a respected brand, but I had also tried their products before and liked them.

But let me get back to talking about how this nootropic works in general.

People usually take Noopept to improve their focus and cognitive capacity (studying, long hours at work, etc.).

​

As you might have guessed, Noopept has been the subject of various trials and proven to be effective at enhancing your cognitive capabilities.

​

Did you know that Noopept is said to be 1000x more potent than Piracetam?

So how does Noopept work?

In order to not over-complicate things and make it sound too scientific, it is absorbed by your intestines and later goes to your brain.

Easy right?

It is absorbed really quickly by your body, and if you take the recommended dose, it will reach your brain in about 20 minutes.

Basically, 20 minutes after taking this nootropic you will have heightened focus, more energy and better mood.

That, to me, is a win.

To give you a little bit more detail, this is how Noopept works in your brain:

Inhibits the breakdown of glutamate receptors, which are the most critical neurotransmitters related to your cognitive function. By doing so, it increases your memory and cognitive capacity.

Improves your focus, elevates your mood and gives you a sense of clarity by increasing the quantity of oxygen in your brain.

Improves your energy and mood by increasing the metabolism of glucose in your brain.

To maximize effects, you should take three doses a day

If you have never taken any nootropics before, it is recommended that you start taking 5mg three times a day to get a feel for it.​

​

Usually, people take between 15mg to 30mg per day, splitting into three doses. 

​

Obviously, this will depend on your tolerance.

It is important to know that it is not recommended that you take more than 60mg a day as it may cause adverse side effects.

​

Up to this date, there has been no evidence of harmful side effects if you take the recommended dosage, except for feeling light-headed in the first few days or a little headache.

So, now that you know the basics of Noopept let me tell you about my personal experience with it.

Click Here For For A Great Deal

My Experience With Absorb Health's Noopept

After I completed my purchase on Absorb Health's website, I just had to wait two days for the product to arrive at home.

By the way, shipping was free!

​

Product came properly packed, and when I opened it, I just couldn't wait to begin taking it.

​

The problem was that I opened the package at night, so I waited until the next morning to try it out.

​

First Four Days

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It is a known fact that the first three to four days are crucial for you to assess how your body will react to a supplement. 

It is during this phase that most people decide if they are going to stick to using the supplement or not and it is why I have separated these days first.

​

Some negative things you might experience during the first days are headaches, nausea, anxiety and jitteriness.

Much to my delight, I did not feel any of these negative side effects during my first days of taking this nootropic.

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On the contrary, I actually felt great.

I had planned to take one pill on an empty stomach right after I woke up, one at around 10:30 AM and another after lunch.

​

In hindsight, this was an excellent strategy, and I definitely recommend doing this (after you have assessed your tolerance, of course).

As was expected, the first time I took the capsule I felt the effects in just over 20 minutes.

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I felt a sense of clarity and focus, which is one of the reasons why I love nootropics.

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I did not want to "waste" this fantastic feeling, so I went for a run.

​

And what an amazing run that was.

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I felt in the ZONE.

Feeling the wind brushing against my hair was a great sensation, but unfortunately, I had to go to work.

When I got to work I was still in the zone, the effect had not worn off.

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Even so, sticking to my plan, I took another capsule at 10:45 AM.

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And what can I say?

I was feeling great. 

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People noticed I was in a better mood than usual.

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I even heard I was more attractive!

​​​My mood was great, and I felt like I could multitask and do anything very well.

​

Also, as expected with a quality nootropic, I did not feel burned out at the end of the day.

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I just felt like I had a great day and was very productive.

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Noopept for the win.

Click Here For For A Great Deal

Week One

Not many surprises here.

​

The effects I felt during the first days were the same effects I felt during the first week.

​

As I looked back, I realized I actually had a great week.

​

I was productive at work, felt energetic, was in a good mood, and I actually was sleeping really well at night.

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I did not feel any negative side effects that can be common with inferior quality products.

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It left me wondering, why can't we just feel this way, every day, without any supplements?

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That would be amazing.

Week Two

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Again, nothing changed by the second week.

I was thinking, what a great supplement this is!

The feelings of well-being and focus were just as strong as the first week.

As a consequence, I was hitting it up like mad at the gym and running more than before.

All of this added up to me being in an even better mood.

​

I was loving it.

Weeks Three Through Four

I know this might be getting repetitive, but what else can I say?

I was feeling great, just like I felt the first two weeks.

I was really amazed at how some capsules could make such a difference in my daily routine.

​

This past month was great for me.

​

I achieved more at work, exercised more and was just plain happier.

​

My one month experience with Noopept was enough for me to order three more bottles of this incredible nootropic on week three.

​

I honestly could not see myself not taking this supplement every day for the rest of my life.

​

This is, without a doubt, the best Noopept out there and one of the best nootropics available overall.

Verdict

​

There is literally no other Noopept that I could recommend more than Absorb Health's.

With all the fake and low-quality nootropics on the market, it is refreshing to know that I have found myself a top-notch product.

During my time taking Noopept (which I still am taking, by the way), I felt great and had no crashes, no burn-out feeling, no negative side effects at all.

I plan on taking this for a long time.

If you haven't tried this yet, don't stay on the fence and trust me on this one.

BUY IT.

You will not regret it.

P.S. Absorb Health offers a 100% Money Back Guarantee, so there is literally no risk for you.

Discount Coupon Code

Make sure to use the Absorb Health coupon code below for a 5% discount when you buy Noopept or any other product on their website.

Code: 53ig92

Click Here For For A Great Deal

source https://sprucebodylab.com/body/prosolution-gel-review/

[readersforum]

Paid social requires sharpening your blade in 2019

New Post has been published on http://www.readersforum.tk/paid-social-requires-sharpening-your-blade-in-2019/

Paid social requires sharpening your blade in 2019

Something that never fails to shock me is how much things change from one year to the next in paid social.

Things we evangelized a year ago were either: in their infancy (using Facebook ads as a sales funnel instead of only bottom of funnel) or they were at peak maturation (setting and forgetting your ads for conversions and getting stellar results). There was almost nothing in-between.

Cutthroat creative makes a comeback

Consumer attention spans are low, out of necessity. Prolific levels of advertising volume cause users to protect their attention, saving it only for more remarkable things that connect with them quickly. Throwing more ad dollars at more impressions will never solve that problem, which leaves a lot of brands examining their budget and outputs for 2019.

What is already happening (and, indeed, is what I think must) is a circling-back of sorts to a creative focus. While no one has ever doubted the importance of creative, everything in paid social was new and fresh, so it didn’t have to be thought about as much.

Now?

The gimmicks have been found and exploited. Tired copy tropes, shaky UGC video and all its ilk, wrung every last drop of out of easier, low-budget shortcuts.

Clients are frustrated things that worked six months ago no longer do, but that effort needs to be put into moving forward, not grasping desperately to old ways. More budget needs to be allocated to strategizing smart creative because it is not a sunk cost. Better, smarter creative means spending MORE on the creative strategy, and LESS money on media running things that won’t work because they’re stale. Invest more up front for more efficient spending once it’s live.

Facebook’s foibles and frailty

Another evolution: some spectacular failings by Facebook for its ads platform are driving cries for diversification of budget allocation.

The unreliability of Ads Manager is shaking the confidence of media managers, to say nothing of Facebook’s external-facing company issues. Advertisers, thirsty to move funds elsewhere, most haven’t because there is no alternative with Facebook’s ad volume. It’s not because they feel loyal to the platform. This may spell trouble for Facebook as places like Pinterest (who hired their first CMO recently) and Twitter (who started to turn the corner this year on ad revenue) continue to innovate and grow.

The customer attention span noted above is also an issue for advertisers coming up against users who are blind to most ads in an environment with already capped out ad inventory. While Facebook scrambles to try new placement types for inventory expansion, advertisers are largely yawning at them. Even the pockets of successful offerings aren’t large enough for the scale that would fulfill advertiser-side demand.

Shifting sands of attribution

As the paid social avenues have grown, diversified and stumbled, there’s a growing awareness among advertisers about the perils of relying on last-click attribution. When these tried-and-true methods fail, there is no safety net. Media dollars are getting torched with no backup plan and an over-reliance on myopic portals of attribution.

Advertisers are getting savvier about the customer journey, however. The last-click infestation that was largely started by paid search being the main avenue of spend for many advertisers is waning. A growing realization that users exist and pass among multiple touchpoints daily, weekly and monthly is forcing brands to focus on driving awareness of something they can own: their own name.

This also coincides with the rise of Amazon’s domination of the e-commerce marketplace. Advertisers are feeling the burn of smaller margins, and the financial fortitude required to advertise against Amazon to try and keep users on their platform. Accepting this reality, advertisers are (ever so slowly) shifting to diverting money back to brand awareness and I believe they will continue to do so.

Consider this: the money spent on raising brand awareness secures real estate in a user’s mind for a length of time to come versus the quick hit of the sale. It’s a longer-term strategy, but it’s the one that battens down the hatches against platforms you can’t outsell. Examining things like direct traffic growth and brand search growth through your media efforts may prove to be a formidable place for your media spend if competing directly against platforms like Amazon leave too little margin to be worth it.

Accept the reality of it, and adapt if possible. Brand awareness CPMs tend to be cheaper than conversion-focused bidding models. That’s not to say advertisers should abandon hope, but rather plan for spend to not be 100 percent on sale/immediate lead acquisition as in the past. Carving off a percentage for brand-based awareness is a “rising tide to lift all boats” strategy on third-party platform sales, helping offset the sometimes insanely high costs paid for a quick sale.

Never a dull moment, so sharpen your blade

As certain tactics reach the point of maturation, paid social remains in its infancy. Facebook has been a pioneer but the cracks are starting to show. Their grasp on advertiser loyalty driven by their reliability and results is tenuous, at best. Whether it’s growth that wasn’t managed well or sheer arrogance, it’s forcing advertisers to remember nothing is guaranteed and constant reevaluation on their methods is crucial in today’s environment.

Invest in your brand and your creative in 2019. If Facebook Ads are failing you, it’s time to move that money and test elsewhere. Accept that successful tests may not be measured by quick hits like they were, and open your eyes to the longer-term wins so you can plan accordingly for them. In the age of “crushing it,” the hares get the press, but the tortoises are the ones who are still around a few years later these days. Best practices in marketing still apply, no matter what the year’s number is. Keep your principles timeless.

More Expert Predictions

20 expert predictions: Here’s what successful marketers will do in 2019

20 expert predictions: Here’s what successful marketers will do in 2019

‘Hey Alexa, how do I get my product visible in Amazon search in 2019?’

Want to create better experiences and brand loyalty? Lean on your data

The post Paid social requires sharpening your blade in 2019 appeared first on Marketing Land.

[albinohare]

Who will win the Volvo Ocean Race? With two legs to go it’s tense at the top

Just three points split the top three boats in the Volvo Ocean Race – the in-port races might yet decide the winner. We report from Cardiff on how the race is winding up to its conclusion in the Hague in two weeks’ time

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 3 on board Brunel. Peter Burling thinks Vestas 11th Hour has tacked and fever sets in. 22 May, 2018.

Dongfeng Race Team won today’s Sky Ocean Rescue in-port race in Cardiff today. At the beginning of this edition of the round the world race it looked like the in-port series might be an interesting sideshow to the main event. Now it might just become a deciding factor in determining who wins the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race.

With two offshore stages to go (in fact, for the VO65s they are closer to a long coastal race and an overnighter, first 1,300 miles to Gothenburg and then a 700-mile hop to the Hague), the top three boats are separated by just three points. With two bonus points also up for grabs for the Leg 10 and 11 wins, there are a lot of mathematical combinations which could see a tie at the top when the seven teams finally arrive in the Hague later this month. If that’s the case, then the in-port race results suddenly become critical as the tie-breaker. Potentially letting things really go to the wire, there is a final in-port race in The Hague after the last offshore has finished.

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 06 on board MAPFRE, speed record day. Xabi Fernandez holding on the aft pedestal. 25 May, 2018.

Each of the three teams on the leaderboard podium – Dongfeng Race Team, MAPFRE and Team Brunel – has their own demons to shake off. Charles Caudrelier and Dongfeng made no secret of their ambition to win the race. Their whole team structure was changed from the previous race to give them the best chance of achieving that whilst still having a Chinese crewman on board for every leg.

Dongfeng is the current overall leader, but has not yet won a leg. It’s entirely possible to win the Volvo Ocean Race by hammering out 11 consistent results, but missing out on the bonus point for every leg win will be making the job harder for the Chinese-flagged team.

MAPFRE took the overall early lead, only losing it after a poor 5th in the Auckland to Itajaii double point leg. Then it happened again, on the double points transatlantic leg. They have wrestled solid results from poor placings – their 5th to 1st comeback into Newport being the most impressive – but Xabi Fernandez’s team will want to avoid putting themselves in those situations. With the next leg running to just 1,300 miles there is also no room left to make such a dramatic recovery.

Watch Rob Greenhalgh, watch leader on MAPFRE, discuss the last two legs here:

Team Brunel’s form turnaround has been the most dramatic in the race. Expectations were high that the seven-times Volvo Ocean Race veteran skipper Bouwe Bekking would be an early contender, in fact the first half of their race was decidedly lacklustre, with a 6th, 4th, 4thand 5th. But Brunel suddenly had a change of form on the massive Auckland to Itajai leg, winning for double points. Then again, as MAPFRE faltered, Brunel soared, taking the double points transatlantic win. You cannot count any one of these three out right now.

Other factors may come into play though. Watching the practice race in Cardiff Bay earlier this week it was surprising that, even after close to 40,000 miles of sailing these boats and all the weather forecasting and navigation power the teams can muster, several teams hugely over-stood the top mark layline. Simple mistakes can still win and lose points here.

Fatigue is setting in amongst some teams – and some are wearier than others. Some teams have rotated crew more than others throughout the race, making a trade off between consistency and fresh energy. MAPFRE has retained the same crew the whole way round, Brunel solidified their team in the latter stages of the race, while Dongfeng is continuing a planned programme of crew rotation into the final stages. For the next stage three of the 12 crew will switch, including the addition of Fabien Delahaye, who is very experienced in performance analysis and navigation. Having a second navigator may prove to be a strength on these short, stressful, sleep-deprived final stages.

As the unstoppable Volvo Ocean Race juggernaut rolls towards its conclusion, the move back to Europe has also amped up the sponsor activity for many teams. I was a guest of Helly Hansen and MAPFRE in Cardiff, and one of the reasons so many of the Helly Hansen office was in town was to get feedback from the crews. It’s too late to amend anything for this race (the team have already had five iterations of kit from Helly Hansen, subtly improved for their very specific demands over the course of the race) but it’s the last chance to get the sailors’ comments for ongoing product development before they all disappear off to the America’s Cup, maxi Med circuit, kiteboarding road trips, or simply turning all their emails off for a well deserved break.

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 09 on board Dongfeng. 28 May, 2018.

There is a slight end of term feeling to the race. Friendships have been solidified, many of the younger sailors are grabbing the opportunity to enjoy everything this bizarre round the world circus has to offer before it’s time to say goodbyes – for example going on a mass outing to the Beyonce and Jay-Z concert in Cardiff.

Spending time in the MAPFRE base it was interesting to see how an easy familiarity has developed – Blair Tuke casually leaning on skipper Xabi Fernandez as he delivered a safety briefing to guests on deck. “Very Latin” was how one team member described the MAPFRE atmosphere – warm, with plenty of affectionate teasing evident, and no doubt the odd explosive moment behind the scenes.

What happens after term ends is also on everyone’s mind – the teams have their key stakeholders in their team bases or top of their contacts list right now. In just two weeks’ time the CEOs and CMOs who make the decision whether to sign, or not to sign, for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will be gone, back to accounts sheets and boardroom negotiations. Now is the time to capture enthusiasm for the race, to share what it can offer. Unsurprisingly, there is plenty of speculation about what format that race might take – we’ll look at this in more detail in the next issue of Yachting World, out 12th July.

The post Who will win the Volvo Ocean Race? With two legs to go it’s tense at the top appeared first on Yachting World.

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[jazminhupp]

CannaInsider Podcast Interview with Jazmin Victoria Hupp

In this podcast from 2015, I share all the information on why women will be successful at running cannabis businesses and how to get started.

Key Takeaways: 1:25 – What is Women Grow 2:47 – Jazmin talks about how Women Grow came about 4:30 – The different areas in the cannabis industry in which women can get involved 5:41 – Can women get in the industry if cannabis isn’t legal in their state yet 7:03 – Jazmin talks about Lobby Days 9:44 – Jazmin talks about women’s purchasing decisions in cannabis 10:39 – How do you make cannabis products women friendly 13:26 – How will Women Grow evolve over the next few years 14:48 – Jazmin explains what a Women Grow event is like 17:32 – Success story of Women Grow 18:41 – Women Grow sponsorship opportunities 19:59 – Jazmin talks about her key takeaways from her travels around the country 22:34 – Contact details for Women Grow

  Full Transcript

Matthew: Hi, I’m Matthew Kind. Every Monday and Wednesday look for a fresh episode where I’ll take you behind the scenes and interview the leaders of the rapidly evolving cannabis industry. Learn more at www.cannainsider.com. That’s www.cannainsider.com. Are you looking for a fulfilling and lucrative career in the cannabis industry? Visit www.cannainsider.com/careers. That’s www.cannainsider.com/careers. Now here’s your program.

Women Grow connects, educates and empowers cannabis industry leaders by creating community and events for aspiring and current business executives. I am pleased to welcome Jazmin Hupp, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Women Grow to CannaInsider today. Welcome Jazmin.

Jazmin: Thank you so much for having me.

Matthew: Sure. To give us a sense of geography where are you today?

Jazmin: I am mostly based out of a suitcase. Today I am in New York City. Women Grow was founded in Denver. The majority of our national staff are there, but I have bases in New York City and San Francisco, but I’m mostly on the road. We have chapters operating in 20 cities, and my goal is to visit every city at least once a year.

Matthew: Wow. For listeners that may not have heard of Women Grow in the past, can you just give us a high level overview of what it is?

Jazmin: Sure. Women Grow is a professional networking organization that supports female leaders in all segments of the cannabis industry. Our goal, as you said, is to connect, educate and empower women to lead America’s fastest growing industry. Our largest program is the signature networking events which our held on the first Thursday of every month in 20 cities across the country. We also hold cooperative events with the top conferences, host webinars, publish a lot of content. And on February 12th we recently brought together 76 women in cannabis in Washington, D.C. Then I flew to San Francisco, held an event for 200 entrepreneurs and investors called Creating Cannabis Products for Women featuring 6 of the top female cannabis business owners in the Bay Area. And then I went to the Emerald Triangle and met with women organizing in Humboldt. That’s a pretty typical month for me in Women Grow.

Matthew: Jazmin you’re so lazy. We’re going to have to talk to somebody about that.

Jazmin: Of course.

Matthew: Now I want to rewind a little bit. I want to talk about the, you know, making cannabis products more friendly to women, but I want to rewind a little bit to back in the very beginning with you and Jane. What was the impetus to start Women Grow? What was the conversation you were having with Jane, and how did women grow spark? What was the first spark where you said we got to do this?

Jazmin: Sure. And you’ve interviewed Jane before so I will have to reference your listeners to her edition to get her perspective on it because of course it’s a little different from mine. But Women Grow was announced at NCIA’s national conference last June by Jane, and I was sitting in the audience. Jane had organized the top women business owners in Colorado who wanted more women to join the industry but had run out of steam to do it in their spare time.

She had been producing events for international organizations like UNICEF and G Medical. I had launched six businesses before this and had about a decade of practice in branding and communications. And I had been working with an organization called Women 2.0 based in the Bay Area. And Women 2.0’s mission was to get an equal amount of venture capital funding for women in technology, and I had helped Women 2.0 from grow from the Bay Area to do events in 6 countries for about 100,000 entrepreneurs. But even after 9 years of Women 2.0 only about 4% to 6% of venture capital funding goes to women which severely limits the types of technology products we see on the market. The script for how technology funding worked had already been written and it wasn’t inclusive. Coincidentally Jane had fashioned the Women Grow launch after Women 2.0. So we decided it was meant to be and started collaborating right away.

Matthew: Great idea. Now there are a lot of different areas under the cannabis umbrella where women can get involved, but they may not be aware of all the different ways they can get involved in the cannabis industry. Could you name a few to help add some color around that?

Jazmin: Sure. Well your audience is probably a lot more sophisticated about the types of cannabis businesses out there because you’re interviewing all these great people. But a lot of people start out thinking that there’s only two jobs in cannabis. Either you’re producing cannabis products or you’re selling them. And the truth is that this is a multibillion dollar industry with dozens of different specialties.

Some of the areas that I don’t see a lot of competition in, but I think women are particularly great at are cloning banks, trim crew services, HR services, marketing and training. We have a webinar that should be available by the time this podcast is released. It goes into depth about all the different industry opportunities and how to decide which one might be right for you.

Matthew: Great point. We also interviewed one of the founding members of Women Grow from Cannabis Trainers, Maureen McNamara. And she’s an excellent trainer. So that’s to your point, you know, there is a lot of opportunities in training as the other aspects you mentioned. Now for women that are in states where cannabis is currently not legal, what should they do? Should they just wait or is there any opportunities to get started doing something now?

Jazmin: Yeah, you’ll notice that a lot of the successful business owners in cannabis actually came from the legalization movement. Working to legalize in your state will instantly connect you with other like minded people, educate you on all the issues and give you the confidence to move forward. Additionally having women help write this legislation make it more likely that the final results appeal to women who are often cited as the swing vote in legalization. And it helps make sure that the final results are fair and inclusive.

So if you’re in a prohibition state, find the legalization organizations near your and volunteer. Some of the groups that we partner with are NORML, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Marijuana Policy Project, MAPS which is the Multidisciplinary Associate for Psychedelic Studies and so on. And so get connected with those folks and start volunteering and start making a difference.

Matthew: That’s an excellent point about the volunteering and activism because you are dead right. There is so many people I’ve met that are really leaders in the space from a commercial side that have their origin story in the activism. So it was a natural progression. So a lot of people out there what are listening that are wondering how to get in that is an excellent suggestion. Now you were recently at Lobby Days, what is that and why is it important?

Jazmin: We just had our first annual Lobby Day event, and it was a fantastic experience for everybody that attended. To steal a line from my friend Joe Brezny, “If you’re in the marijuana business, you are now also in the policy business”. And the cannabis industry is one of the most closely regulated, and we don’t expect that to change any time soon. Unlike most developed industries where multibillion dollar companies pay hoards of lobbyists, there are actually few lobbyists involved in cannabis. So each individual person can actually make a big impact on how we get to serve patients. After 80 years of Reefer Madness, the staffers creating marijuana policy may know very little about what we do and why we do it. So we have to show up and tell them.

As you would expect from an industry that is legal at the state level but illegal federally, there are a lot of conflicts to be resolved in a short term. So as your listeners probably know, access to banking for cannabis businesses is spotty at best. One of our founding members,Brook leads the Live Green Group in Colorado, and they’ve lost 34 bank accounts over the last five years. Last year they did over $10 million in revenue and didn’t have banking services for half of that. So forcing these cannabis businesses to be conducted in cash benefits no one, and that’s why we were there supporting HR 2652 which is the Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act of 2013. Notice it’s of 2013 because we’re still trying to get this passed.

The second major conflict that we were working on is the section of the tax code called 280E. I don’t know if your listeners are familiar with 280E.

Matthew: Sure, you can cover that briefly.

Jazmin: Well so 280E prohibits businesses involved with drug trafficking from deducting normal business expenses from their income. This was written so that drug cartels couldn’t write off their speed boats for example. Unfortunately the IRS has interpreted that to apply to our state legal cannabis businesses. So many dispensaries pay 50% to 70% of their net income, not profit, income in federal taxes because they can’t write off salaries, health insurance, retirement benefits, business equipment, rent, marketing, utilities, so on. Cannabis business owners want to pay their fair share of taxes, but we need to make it fair.

Matthew: Gosh that is totally unfair. You’re right. Now you have somewhat of a controversial position on women’s purchasing decisions of cannabis. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Jazmin: Yes. Women are going to be the dominant cannabis product buyers after national legalization. Right now it appears that more men than women consume cannabis, but that’s mostly related to its illegal status and the types of products on the market, not because there’s anything about cannabis that’s better for men versus women. Once prohibition is lifted cannabis products become just like any other household good, and we know women already control the majority of household spending. On top of that women are more likely to be diagnosed with a chronic illness, more like to try alternative health therapy, and are more likely to be in charge of the wellness decisions for their families. One on five women will face depression. One in eight will face breast cancer. There is no scenario where I can imagine where women don’t become the dominant buyers of cannabis products.

Matthew: Right so make your cannabis products very women friendly and how do they do that?

Jazmin: Well the first step is to get more diversity on your leadership and marketing teams. Having an inclusive team where people of all genders and colors are heard are going to help you make the best decisions day in and day out for your brand to attract an inclusive audience. I especially encourage you to pick a woman to run your social media marketing. We’re seeing a ton of brands take the easy route for quick attention by posting bikini babes with bongs. If you’re treating women like decoration to attract men instead of serious customers, you’re missing out on a loyal audience. A loyal audience that very few brands are actively serving. I think anyone who probably picked up a podcast with Women Grow on it gets this, and I can’t wait to see the new products and services you come up with. The guys with their heads stuck in the sand will be quickly surpassed.

Matthew: Now is there any examples you’ve seen recently of companies that have put out in the market women friendly cannabis products that you were impressed with?

Jazmin: Absolutely. We’re seeing a lot of great work being done on the edibles front to serve a more diverse customer than just candies or cookies. So in Colorado one of our founding members is Julie Dooley, and Julie’s Baked Goods specializes in gluten free edibles with no refined sugar. Which honestly she was just a patient on the market who had to be gluten free herself due to a health concern, and there were no products available on the market for her. And so she brought those products out to the market and they’re wildly popular. We have another brand called Auntie Delores out of California who sponsors Women Grow who is going to rapidly expand into multistate operations because they’re creating products that just nobody else was in a brand that’s friendly to both men and women.

Matthew: You know one other thing that Julie Dooley is doing that’s interesting is she actually names the strain too on her edibles so you know exactly, it allows you to dial in your experience which is very helpful which I don’t see a lot of edibles doing. I know Julianna and Lauren at Auntie Delores, you know, they talk a lot about their ingredients and being very transparent with the ingredients and that’s helpful. And they also talk about, you know, doing things that other people aren’t doing. They’re like hey there’s a lot of chocolate bars out there, we’re not going to make a chocolate bar. So being innovative in that way I think really helps you stand out. So great points. Now Women Grow is still a young organization. Where do you see it going? I mean even since we had Jane on, maybe Q3 of last year, it’s changed. The scope has changed. How are things evolving? Where do you see it going in the next few years?

Jazmin: I mean it was just since you’ve interviewed her we really seen what an amazing opportunity we have to create a new industry with a new script that’s diverse from the very very beginning. This is an industry that’s going to serve people of all colors, of all genders, of all ages, and the best way to do that is to invite all of those people into the industry. So from our humble beginnings as a professional networking organization we’re now working to create programs to push women into the cannabis and up to the top.

Our monthly events in 20 cities are a great introduction to the cannabis industry for women. They can learn a bit about the industry in a supportive environment without quitting their day job or investing $1,000 up front. We hope that our events and content online are part of a very successful research phase that convinces them to get their first job or launch their first company in cannabis. From there we hope they attend one of our national events like our leadership summit which teaches women how to grow and expand their businesses to rise to the top of the market. And we’re just going to keep going from there.

Matthew: So walk me through what it’s like to attend a Women Grow event. For someone that’s walking in for the first time, what can they experience? What’s it like? What do they do? How long do they last? What’s the vibe like?

Jazmin: So our monthly networking events in these 20 cities across the United States are the first Thursday of every month. So you have a consistent time and place that you can plan to, you know, make your first entry or your fifth entry into the cannabis market. And that was something that no other organization across the country was offering was a consistent, pre-planned time to meet which seems so simple, but consistency is one of the things that this industry is lacking on many levels.

So when you arrive we hope that you will be greeted with a crowd that is the exact opposite in ratio from what you would see at a typical cannabis industry event. The majority of cannabis industry events are about 80% men and 20% women, and our events are the exact flip of that. So you’re going to have 80% women and about 20% men at our events. You’re going to have time to mix and mingle. And again these people tend to be very open and welcoming. The marijuana industry is blue ocean right now, blue sky. There’s no reason for us to even treat each other like competition because the market is going to be large enough that there is room for everyone right now. And then we listen to an industry speaker and get a current perspective on what’s going on in the market.

This is an industry that’s difficult to research online. Remember it was illegal not too long ago, and it’s still illegal in a lot of states. So there’s not a ton of information available online. You really do have to show up in person and talk to the folks doing this and do the research on your feet to really get a sense of where the market’s going and where you might belong in it. So you’ll get some great information from an industry speaker. And then we do some sort of activity at almost every meeting that will force you to introduce yourself to as many people as possible. So for example my meeting here in New York, we go around the room and everyone gets up for 15 seconds and just says who they are and what they’re interested in so that after we have the speaker people can just jet over to meeting new people. When is the last time you went to a networking event and knew all 50 people in the room, that’s the type of event that we hope to create.

Matthew: Do you have an example of a woman that came to Women Grow and didn’t have any background or history in the cannabis industry and was successful in kind of breaking into it, because I want to leave listeners with actionable information or examples on how they can get into it. You mentioned a little bit about the social media and women tend to gravitate to that because they’re good at it. That’s an excellent way you can provide value I think out of the gate. Do you have any other examples of how women kind of busted into the industry with no previous background into it?

Jazmin: Sure. I think a lot of people think that you know you had to be an underground grower for the last 20 years to be a part of this industry, but the truth is the vast majority of people getting into this industry are new to the industry. They’ve got great professional backgrounds in maybe related fields, but being new doesn’t make you unqualified. It just makes you kind of like everybody else. And so one example is we had a member come out to our Denver chapter named Lauren Gibbs, and she runs a business that does social media strategy and was able to very quickly assess what the cannabis industry needed in comparison to our other clients, and now has cannabis clients within her larger social media strategy business.

Matthew: Now there’s a lot of cannabis companies out there that are looking to get their brand out there in a national way, and you offer some sponsorship opportunities that I think do this well because everything is so compartmentalized in states or cities. Can you talk a little bit about the sponsorship opportunities you have?

Jazmin: Absolutely. Like you said there are very few national organizations in cannabis. I actually was just in Humboldt County last week, and the women there asked me well what are the women doing at a national level. How are the women organizing at a national level? And I kind of looked over my shoulder and I was like oh shoot we are the women organized at a national level. There really isn’t anybody else. And that applies to the industry in general is that there’s only a very few organizations working on a national, and we’re lucky enough to be one of those.

We’ve been really fortunate to have nearly 50 companies come out to support making cannabis an inclusive industry, and in order to make our events as affordable as possible we depend on this companies who want to be known for attracting female customers and female employees to sponsor us, and that covers the majority of our expenses. So if anything I’ve said resonates with you and you want to be part of creating something awesome, email Julie@womengrow.com to talk about those sponsorship options. The cannabis industry will never be this small again. And so your small gesture now can make a big change to our collective future.

Matthew: And before we close, you were just on a bunch of trips all around the country. Can you just give us a few nuggets of what you learned or key takeaways, you know, visiting different people in different parts of the country?

Jazmin: Oh wow. I mean I think the thing that you learn the most is that this is a very very local industry, and what is so stunning to me is how different everything is, you know, in Colorado versus Washington and Washington versus California. And then once you get within California the difference between Humboldt and L.A. they’re just different planets. So I guess my first advice is to recognize that to the outside world we may look like one cohesive industry, but there is actually so much happening and so much that varies depending on the local level, and that’s why we do have these local chapters that can talk to people about what’s happening locally in their state because a program that I might give in San Francisco that generates a ton of interest… so for example we did Creating Cannabis Products for Women for 200 in San Francisco and we got great feedback from people who said yes I’m going to start my business now, yes that really encouraged me to start fundraising, yes that was exactly what I wanted to hear. And then I drove up to Humboldt and started talking to women there about becoming executives and leaving the industry and they were like hold the phone, we don’t think of ourselves as executives. We think of ourselves as farmers. We don’t think of, you know, we’re not out here to lead an industry. We’re out here to protect our families and to protect our livelihood. It’s just a whole different mindset and a whole different set of priorities. So I think the first tip is just to remember just how actually diverse the industry is.

Matthew: Now for women listening right now, you said 20% of the people that come to you, the different chapters are men, do men come? What are the reasons that men come?

Jazmin: Men come because they are very smart and they know that what we’ve got going on is pretty powerful. Many come just as a support or maybe they’re business partner is often very common, but the other guys who come on their own without a female friend, you know come because they tell me that they understand how well connected and how fiercely intelligent the women are that are a part of this industry, and they want to be a part of that. They’re looking for female cofounders. They’re looking to add women to their team, and we’re a great event for that.

Matthew: Now as we close how can listeners learn more about Women Grow online?

Jazmin: Definitely go to www.womengrow.com and sign up for our list. That’s how we publish all of our future events, all of our content. Go to our blog and just read everything I’ve ever written about how to research the industry, how to figure out what event is right for you in the industry. We also encourage you to make a plan to attend a national conference this year if you haven’t already attended a national conference. It’s a great way to give you a good picture of the industry, and we host kick off events for the largest of the national conferences. So you can join us in May in Chicago. In June we’ll be in both New York City and Denver, and in November we’ll be in Las Vegas, and we do these kick off events to set you up to be more successful and make connections there. You can also follow Women Grow on Facebook and on Twitter.

Matthew: Jazmin thanks so much for being on CannaInsider today. We really appreciate it.

Jazmin: Absolutely. Thank you Matt.

Matthew: If you enjoyed the show today, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes, Stitcher or whatever app you might be using to listen to the show. Every five star review helps us to bring the best guests to you. Learn more at www.cannainsider.com/itunes. What are the five disruptive trends that will shape the cannabis industry in the next five years? Find out with your free report at www.cannainsider.com/trends. Have a suggestion for an awesome guest on www.cannainsider.com, email us feedback at cannainsider.com. We would love to hear from you.

CannaInsider Podcast Interview with Jazmin Victoria Hupp was originally published on JazminHupp.com

[rnrmarineservices-blog]

Who will win the Volvo Ocean Race? With two legs to go it's tense at the top

Just three points split the top three boats in the Volvo Ocean Race - the in-port races might yet decide the winner. We report from Cardiff on how the race is winding up to its conclusion in the Hague in two weeks' time

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 3 on board Brunel. Peter Burling thinks Vestas 11th Hour has tacked and fever sets in. 22 May, 2018.

Dongfeng Race Team won today's Sky Ocean Rescue in-port race in Cardiff today. At the beginning of this edition of the round the world race it looked like the in-port series might be an interesting sideshow to the main event. Now it might just become a deciding factor in determining who wins the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race.

With two offshore stages to go (in fact, for the VO65s they are closer to a long coastal race and an overnighter, first 1,300 miles to Gothenburg and then a 700-mile hop to the Hague), the top three boats are separated by just three points. With two bonus points also up for grabs for the Leg 10 and 11 wins, there are a lot of mathematical combinations which could see a tie at the top when the seven teams finally arrive in the Hague later this month. If that's the case, then the in-port race results suddenly become critical as the tie-breaker. Potentially letting things really go to the wire, there is a final in-port race in The Hague after the last offshore has finished.

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 06 on board MAPFRE, speed record day. Xabi Fernandez holding on the aft pedestal. 25 May, 2018.

Each of the three teams on the leaderboard podium – Dongfeng Race Team, MAPFRE and Team Brunel – has their own demons to shake off. Charles Caudrelier and Dongfeng made no secret of their ambition to win the race. Their whole team structure was changed from the previous race to give them the best chance of achieving that whilst still having a Chinese crewman on board for every leg.

Dongfeng is the current overall leader, but has not yet won a leg. It's entirely possible to win the Volvo Ocean Race by hammering out 11 consistent results, but missing out on the bonus point for every leg win will be making the job harder for the Chinese-flagged team.

MAPFRE took the overall early lead, only losing it after a poor 5th in the Auckland to Itajaii double point leg. Then it happened again, on the double points transatlantic leg. They have wrestled solid results from poor placings – their 5th to 1st comeback into Newport being the most impressive – but Xabi Fernandez's team will want to avoid putting themselves in those situations. With the next leg running to just 1,300 miles there is also no room left to make such a dramatic recovery.

Watch Rob Greenhalgh, watch leader on MAPFRE, discuss the last two legs here:

Team Brunel's form turnaround has been the most dramatic in the race. Expectations were high that the seven-times Volvo Ocean Race veteran skipper Bouwe Bekking would be an early contender, in fact the first half of their race was decidedly lacklustre, with a 6th, 4th, 4thand 5th. But Brunel suddenly had a change of form on the massive Auckland to Itajai leg, winning for double points. Then again, as MAPFRE faltered, Brunel soared, taking the double points transatlantic win. You cannot count any one of these three out right now.

Other factors may come into play though. Watching the practice race in Cardiff Bay earlier this week it was surprising that, even after close to 40,000 miles of sailing these boats and all the weather forecasting and navigation power the teams can muster, several teams hugely over-stood the top mark layline. Simple mistakes can still win and lose points here.

Fatigue is setting in amongst some teams – and some are wearier than others. Some teams have rotated crew more than others throughout the race, making a trade off between consistency and fresh energy. MAPFRE has retained the same crew the whole way round, Brunel solidified their team in the latter stages of the race, while Dongfeng is continuing a planned programme of crew rotation into the final stages. For the next stage three of the 12 crew will switch, including the addition of Fabien Delahaye, who is very experienced in performance analysis and navigation. Having a second navigator may prove to be a strength on these short, stressful, sleep-deprived final stages.

As the unstoppable Volvo Ocean Race juggernaut rolls towards its conclusion, the move back to Europe has also amped up the sponsor activity for many teams. I was a guest of Helly Hansen and MAPFRE in Cardiff, and one of the reasons so many of the Helly Hansen office was in town was to get feedback from the crews. It's too late to amend anything for this race (the team have already had five iterations of kit from Helly Hansen, subtly improved for their very specific demands over the course of the race) but it's the last chance to get the sailors' comments for ongoing product development before they all disappear off to the America's Cup, maxi Med circuit, kiteboarding road trips, or simply turning all their emails off for a well deserved break.

Leg 9, from Newport to Cardiff, day 09 on board Dongfeng. 28 May, 2018.

There is a slight end of term feeling to the race. Friendships have been solidified, many of the younger sailors are grabbing the opportunity to enjoy everything this bizarre round the world circus has to offer before it's time to say goodbyes – for example going on a mass outing to the Beyonce and Jay-Z concert in Cardiff.

Spending time in the MAPFRE base it was interesting to see how an easy familiarity has developed – Blair Tuke casually leaning on skipper Xabi Fernandez as he delivered a safety briefing to guests on deck. “Very Latin” was how one team member described the MAPFRE atmosphere – warm, with plenty of affectionate teasing evident, and no doubt the odd explosive moment behind the scenes.

What happens after term ends is also on everyone's mind – the teams have their key stakeholders in their team bases or top of their contacts list right now. In just two weeks' time the CEOs and CMOs who make the decision whether to sign, or not to sign, for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will be gone, back to accounts sheets and boardroom negotiations. Now is the time to capture enthusiasm for the race, to share what it can offer. Unsurprisingly, there is plenty of speculation about what format that race might take – we'll look at this in more detail in the next issue of Yachting World, out 12th July.

The post Who will win the Volvo Ocean Race? With two legs to go it's tense at the top appeared first on Yachting World.

[markwatkinsconsumerguide]

Consumer Guide / No.49 / Entrepreneur Tarba Gill with Mark Watkins.

MW : You live in Cambridge(shire) , what's best about the area in terms of work, rest and play?

TG : I live in a small village just outside Cambridge, which is perfect for our family. Thank goodness for good broadband, otherwise work would be more challenging. I have two small children who enjoy the countryside and it's lovely to see fields at the bottom of the garden, which is also home to some sheep. The children are really lucky to see various farm animals and it's perfect for family walks. There's easily access to the A14 and commuting to London isn't too painful. The only downside is there's no pub...

MW : Your new project, 'Tarba's House', is webcam based and social media interactive. What’s it all about? Your hopes for?

TG: I've always been interested in broadcast and technology, having left my job in London with a major broadcaster in 2016. I started missing that element of my life. It's in my blood. I explored the idea of trying a 'TV-style' format on the Facebook platform. So, along came the idea for Tarba's House, which is streamed live from my kitchen. Currently, I interview guests either at home or use Skype/Face Time. We interview a wide range of guests, from business through to music. Initially it was going to just be focused on music, but with copyright and licence issues it's very complicated. The sound for live music is also very important and we are still very much learning how to get it perfect. All of which is something we will have to get our heads around eventually.

TV viewing behaviour is changing, even more so with the younger generation and I really believe LIVE broadcast across social media platforms will take off. America are already ahead. Currently, we are only one of three people in the UK using the software...in America it's in the thousands...

Apart from wanting to learn and play with new technology, I wanted to start pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I was looking for someone to present it, whilst I worked behind the scenes, but no one stepped forward. I haven't presented in a long time. I'm pretty rusty but I'll keep going even when I really feel like I'm out of my depth. I'd rather be criticised for doing something rather than being someone that doesn't do anything.

My hopes for Tarba's House is carry on tinkering around with the content of the show until we are happy. It's been great seeing the number of 'likes' grow and the support has taken me by surprise. I do have a brilliant 'fairy god man' who I've never met, he believes in what we are trying to do and has helped so much. A few people have got in touch about re-introducing the comical stuff but that's likely to end up on a You Tube channel. More likely to be a 'mock-doc' but not until 2018.

MW : You founded, Buzzella, tell me about that...

TG : My very new website! It's a listing site, hopefully to help parents like myself.

Every birthday, my children always seem to have ambitious ideas for their parties. My daughter wanted a film party for her 6th birthday. So we googled to see if we could find a cost effective option - locally. Nope. She gave us her film storyboard and wanted all her friends to star in it. Our jaws dropped. Borrowing some equipment, we managed to shoot the film in our garden with around 30 children.

The next bit was to show her film, so we got in touch with the local cinema. We hadn't realised that they actually hire the screens out, and at an affordable rate. That's when I thought it would be really good to have a site that helped parents find out what is available locally. Also, hoping that it does inspire people to have fun doing something different. Slowly businesses are finding us and traffic seems to be increasing, which is great :-)

MW: You've over 21 years experience at all levels in the broadcasting industry, including radio and television. Tell me about your Radio Avalon days and your different adventures with Red TV and Cambridge Presents community TV...

TG : Radio Avalon (Glastonbury Festival's radio station) played such an important part in my life. I learnt so much and it really did drive my love for radio. It was really hard work, especially walking from one field to another. The site is so huge. I really enjoyed doing the live shows. I have some brilliant and fun memories from that time. Most of the interviews were set up before going on site, and catching them before or after their performances. I've had to do interviews while the bands are being driven across to stages and even one in someone's tent, whilst it rained heavily, with their girlfriend's knickers and clothes everywhere.

I wanted to see and understand how the television production side worked, lucky to spend time with a local television station called Red TV. The only way I could get through the door was to offer to produce a show. I had no idea what I was doing. Eventually I found myself running the TV station, with little experience. But, for me it was a dream come true. Red TV lead me to working for a major broadcast company in London, where I was for nearly 11 years until 2016.

A former boss of mine got in touch after the local TV licence for Cambridge was advertised, and asked if I was interested in helping with the application for Cambridge Presents. Putting the application together wasn't straight forward and getting the right people on board was equally challenging. Staring at spreadsheets trying to get the financials less daunting. We did try to find additional backers and people that really believed in producing local television but Cambridge is better known for tech rather than broadcasting. Earlier this year the station was sold due to the main stakeholder running for local mayor.

MW : Who have you most enjoyed interviewing, and why? Who would you like to chat to, but have yet too, and your reasons?

TG : It's got to be the small bands, they are so fresh and excited to do interviews. They haven't had the same questions fired at them over and over again. On the other hand, the more famous are the more challenging trying to come up with interesting questions. There are quite a few famous names, but probably Muse - when they were supporting Skunk Anansie. Years ago. They were completely exhausted, and I remember they just wanted to watch the band and then do the interview. I ended up on their tour bus, doing an interview whilst they were almost nodding off!

Who would I like to chat to? Mmmm... that's a hard question! When I was younger it was all about bands and music, now I find myself wanting to chat with anyone who has gone through the tough times and come out the other end through a good fight, with a successful story to tell. They don't necessary have to be famous. Those are the people that inspire me - and others.

If I had to go for someone famous, it would have to be Stephen King. Brilliant novelist who kept going despite hardship and rejection. I'd love to know what he's like as a person. I have been bold enough to email his agent to see if I could get an interview. I wasn't surprised when I got a 'no, but thank you' response.

MW : Tell me about the last gig you went to, and the biggest/best you've attended to date...

TG : The last gig was Beth Orton in Cambridge as I was curious to hear her new music. Beth was one of the first interviews I did at Glastonbury... years ago! I don't get the chance to go out to gigs as much since becoming a parent! Now that the children are a bit older I'll be making up for lost time!

Nothing will ever beat seeing 'The Prodigy' at Glastonbury Festival. I was totally blown away by the atmosphere. Watching Keith walking on people's shoulders in the audience. The lighting. The crowd going wild.

MW : Why is creating so important to you, and where does this unique talent from do you think?

TG : My dad. He was very knowledgeable, creative, and above all eccentric. My childhood wasn't a conventional one - Hippy parents - and living most of my childhood in different parts of Africa. It was normal for me to catch fire flies, spy on lizards laying eggs through to seeing puffer fish on beaches. My childhood wasn't a fairy tale either and imagination is certainly a way of escapism. As a coping mechanism as a child I use to write lots of short stories, full of fairies and unicorns! I also watched my dad try to run his business, whilst looking after 4 young children when my parents split up. He always seem to have the ability to survive but do it in a way that was far from straightforward, especially when he had to give up his business to look after us as a single parent.

I don't remember hearing him moan about money, that would be a waste of his time, instead he would find ways of making money. He seem to have a constant flow of ideas from wood craft kits to sell one week. By the next, we would find ourselves on a boat at Henley selling strawberries and cream to surprised passersby.

He was also a great storyteller and always seem to have a captive audience. Some of his stories were greatly exaggerated, which made them more interesting and funny. So, yes,definitely my dad.

MW : What are your book and music recommendations?

TG : I tend to read biographies and 'helpful' books. We were given a brilliant book called ‘Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls’ by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, which centres on a 100 real heroic women. I've been working my way through this.

My fiction fix is reading bedtime stories to my children. ‘Paper Dolls’ by Julia Donaldson always leaves a lump in my throat. It's such a beautiful story. It's also a reminder that children grow up quickly and that time is precious.

I've been listening to a local indie-rock band called History & Lore, really think they are the next big thing. Heard them on the radio and have been listening ever since.

MW : Tell me about your record collection...

TG : Please don't remind me... my collection use to be around 20,000 CDs until I managed to get it down to around 10,000. Recently, I'm having to start going through the process of clearing it down again. Find the whole process pretty awful. Just don't have the space. I have CD collections all around the house ; I even have boxes under the bed.

My collection is very mixed. You'll find Jeff Buckley next to DeeJay Punk-Roc, Tchaikovsky next to Metallica, and so on. Somewhere I even have a Sam Mendes CD!

MW : What's your favorite pizza topping and favorite fizzy drink to go with?

TG : Veggie Supreme! Usually with an orange juice or water. If I'm lucky, a small beer! I don't tend to drink fizzy drinks.

MW : Plans for the rest of 2017?

TG : At the moment it will be about growing www.buzzella.co.uk and Tarba's House by means of cross-promotional marketing with a few other companies that we are talking to.

I will probably be armed with lots of books learning more about SEO too. An area that I'm not familiar with, but extremely important in terms of helping develop any brand or company.

We are also having to look at new ways to engage and book guests. In an ideal world I will have guests booked well in advance for Tarba's House!

Feel free to get in touch at tarba@buzzella.co.uk

© Mark Watkins / September 2017