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bravestworriers · 4 months ago

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writer interview game <3

thank u to @pricemarshfield who tagged me in this :) i'm so glad we're friends and u let me bombard you with random writing snippets as i go along!

i will be tagging the og writing wife @atxvanhalen (circa 2012), ao3 famous bffl @riverdanceeee, fantasy-pilled love of my life @multilevelmargoting, the coolest film reviewer in the biz @kaafka, and my begrudgingly kind editor @takeavacation2010 . & anyone else who'd like to write a little something about themselves!

read below if you dare!!!

When did you start writing?

probably as long ago as i could figure out how to & started winning little competitions for it! i love telling stories, usually through a visual medium (storyboarding, screenwriting etc), but it's all writing at the end of the day, no matter how put it down on a page.

i recently located my half finished writing from elementary school (so i must have started from the age of at least 8), all in the email drafts of my oldest email account, and it's always a treat to see how i used to think about romance, about drama and all that good stuff! (i was wrong and sad, but adorably so!)

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

i love big sci-fi adventures, heists, life or death sort of stuff, just as long as it's grounded in something tangible and human. i also just love media where you can tell that the artists are having a lot of fun with the medium and they way they're piecing everything together. like i adore the films kneecap (dir. rich peppiatt) and american animals (dir. bart layton) and dick johnson is dead (dir. kirsten johnson), even though i could never see myself writing a true story/biopic feature like that -- they're just exploring what a feature film compiling those ideas looks like today, fighting against the rules of what people think it should be, and just going for it. other than that, i watch a lot of BAD movies and BAD tv because it's fascinating to pull it apart and figure out where things went wrong -- like looking under the hood of a fucked up car.

mostly, i think i read and watch a lot of the types of things i like to write, lots of introspective dramedies and coming of age stories. but usually no tragedy, it makes me too sad.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

in school i got compared a LOT to tim burton (i made a lot of fantasy focused films that existed in the real world), which honestly feels like a little bit of an insult now. if i was compared to henry sellick, now that would be a compliment.

i'd love to emulate documentarian and cinematographer kirsten johnson! (it's not going to happen. but i love her.)

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

i really can write anywhere, as long as it's in complete isolation listening to the same piece of music over and over until whatever i'm doing is complete (that's the autism for ya!). usually when i'm working, i'm lying down in bed in the evening, or weirdly standing with my computer on a counter in the kitchen early in the morning as i'm getting ready for my day. i'm a slow writer and can't get anything done without a deadline (work related) or a special interest (fic related), and usually things sputter aimlessly until someone explicitly asks for it (this is why my ao3 never has anything finished. sorry guys! #shamelssplug!)

(right now the piece of music i'm listening to is norman's walk by jon brion. and yes, if you're curious, my repetition of single pieces of music always messes up my spotify wrapped.)

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

the only theme i can think of is one of meeting someone that you're meant to meet, exactly at the point in your life that you are meant to meet them. life is chance upon chance upon chance, i've found, and i love capturing that life-changing feeling as it balances temporarily on a pinpoint. i especially love when it ends in tragedy too.

agnes varda's cleo from five to seven is a favourite of this trope. a bit of severance by ming le also has this concept wrapped up in it. and billy wilder's the apartment.

i don't think it surprises me though, i think it's always something i'm looking for in life. to eventually look back and see the path i made, and to know even if i didn't at the time, that it was the right one because of the people i had the pleasure of meeting, even briefly.

i also love 90s wedding movies and the strict structure they're written with, it's fun to replicate and poke fun of in my own work.

What is your reason for writing?

i started writing because i would get really overwhelmed with my feelings over whatever was going on in my life, and need to parse through them somehow. they say it's always best to start with a nugget of something, and build off of it. it's how i've coped with everything from romantic kerfuffles, to immigration, and racism, to parents splitting up, death, and everything else life has to offer. explicitly in my writing, or not.

maybe i've just been exceptionally lucky, but every time i've shared something that felt so isolating and devastating i did not know how to deal with it, i've always met someone after the fact who looked me in the eyes and told me they felt exactly the same thing.

it makes me love being a person on this planet.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

i don't know! if you like it, please let me know! if you don't, please don't tell me i'll think about it for the next twelve years of my life and also cry.

no, but in all seriousness, i just want to make people feel like some part of them is understood, whatever that looks like. yell into the void with me, or yell back at me from the void, whatever works best for you.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

pacing and emotional beats. i can always feel when a scene is done, or when i want it to be done. i love writing the emotional stuff, i don't really care about the stuff that it takes to get there, other than it makes those beats happen.

writing my dialogue is like pulling teeth. writing my inner monologue gets convoluted. writing, i'm a slower than the oldest, most decrepit turtle. writing my descriptions can get too long in screenplay format. literally nothing but pacing out a story and hitting those emotional beats.

How do you feel about your own writing?

it makes me sick to my stomach. after i've obsessed over something for months and it's done, i can't look at it. i'm always terrified that it's so much worse than i want it to be, or that i'm envisioning it is. (i've had this exact experience at a festival with one of my films before and it haunts me forever.) i need other people to tell me it's written okay before i start to feel normal about it. i want to get over this sensation eventually, but it doesn't seem like it's happening anytime soon.

that being said, i don't think i could make myself stop writing and telling stories if i wanted to. my cross to bear, i suppose.

that's all. thanks for this, sarah, and if anyone read this, i hope you enjoyed it :^)

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allthevmff · 4 years ago

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Find Afrocurl’s work // AO3 // LJ interview from vmfictitious // originally posted Mar. 20th, 2011

How did you get into Veronica Mars fandom?

Somewhere in the middle of S2, a friend of mine from high school started to talk about this show and how much I’d like it. At the general description of a high school detective, I borrowed her S1 DVDs and devoured the show in three days. After that I started to discover fandom, mostly because I used Inigo’s transcripts to keep myself up with what the show was doing before I could watch live.

Shortly after starting the show, I had this job where I spent too much time in an office and was easily bored. I used a bunch of downtime to read fic and post in a message board (FanForum for anyone curious.) When that job ended (thankfully) I had all of this spare time and just sort of fell into writing.

Were you an experienced writer when you started writing for VM? If so, what kind of writing had you done, and/or what fandoms had you written for? If not, was it really intimidating to post your first story?

I’m a little fuzzy on these details right now, but I wasn’t that experienced when I started writing in VM. I think I had a story or two written in The OC before I posted here, but I had some great support from a few friends (sarah_p // Sarah's Crack ) for one was a big support) when I did post my first story.

What was it about Veronica Mars that interested you? Why did you feel compelled to write for this particular show?

I really fell for the characters when I started to watch. Veronica was such a compelling character, and as I kept watching I fell more in love with Logan, too. I felt compelled in that post-S2 summer to see the relationship between Logan and Veronica explored (as so many other people did.)

Are you creative in other media for fandom (vidding, icons, etc.)?

I pick up making icons here and there, but I don’t think I have the same skill as many other people do. It’s a different creative medium, and one that I think stretches a different part of my brain.

What was the best moment for you, in fandom? (Not necessarily a moment in the show, but fandom itself.)

I think it was the moment when I found myself in a position to go to all of these events around LA and San Diego. I found that people around LJ were interested as a result because there was something for people to enjoy that I had been able to capture.

If you had a magic wand, and could change VM fandom in any way, past or present, what would you do?

I wish S3 hadn’t been so divisive—it’s spoiled so many people on the show, and when you still love parts of it, but not all of it, it’s hard to stay positive around other people.

Of your accomplishments in fandom/cyberspace, which are you most proud of?

Weirdly, I think it’s little things I’ve done that bring a smile to my face. Sharing my time with the cast with others in any way. That’s not just the picspams when I went to an event, but these moments where I could get autographs or phone calls to other people. At different times, I’ve been able to make a friend’s birthday just a little brighter with a message from the cast (Sarah and another friend M.)

What’s your favorite VM episode and why?

I go back and forth on this answer all of the time, but I think it’s Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough. In part because it was the first episode I remember watching live, and also because I’m a sucker for banter between Logan and Veronica. That whole episode is filled with it, even if they aren’t together as a couple.

What’s your least favorite episode and why?

Blast from the Past—I just can’t get behind the mystery of the week, or what Jackie does to Veronica as a way to keep Wallace to herself.

How do you feel about season 3?

I’m a mixed bag on the subject. I think that the first arc has promise, though it didn’t do much to satisfy my need for Logan and Veronica in a healthy relationship. I’m not a fan of how Piz was introduced, or what his purpose was in the long run.

The Dean O’Dell arc lacks heart (and the Hearst rapist does too when I look at it), and the last five are just all over the place.

In total, I haven’t brought myself to rewatch the whole season since it aired, but I made a promise to myself at some point I would (I plan to live-blog all of the episodes, but I only managed to finish the first three.)

If you met Rob Thomas, what would you say to him? (Assume that you have taken magical drugs that enable you to not be tongue-tied and you can completely speak your mind.)

I briefly met him and talked to him during season three, but if I could have a longer conversation, I’d really want to understand what his motives were for Logan and Veronica in that season. It seemed that the show always had Logan and Veronica together off screen so that the audience had no real reason to understand those later break-ups.

If you could talk to the writing staff, what question(s) would you have for them?

I’m always interested in some of the specifics of the room—are there any writers who cater to writing for certain characters? What characters do you like to write more than others? I think I’m just interested in their process more than anything else.

Writing

Which story of yours is your favorite, and why?

I’m really a fan of “The Black Hole” because I think it was a different sort of writing exercise for me. I also think I was really into the moment when I wrote it, and it shows. I can’t remember how long it took me to write, but I think it was a pretty quick write once I had the idea solidified in my head.

Are there any stories of yours that are (to your surprise) fan favorites?

Not really a surprise, but I love the reaction I had to Rational Thought. My Piz issues just got one big escape in that piece and everyone who read it had a similar reaction.

Do you (or did you at first) feel uncomfortable posting R or NC17 rated stories?

I think I was a bit apprehensive the first time (especially since it was my first fic in the fandom), but as I’ve written more and more of those fics, I’m more comfortable with the ways of writing it. I also love all of my betas who help me through the mechanics of writing it.

If you could start over and rewrite any of your stories (assume unlimited time and you would be paid for your efforts, because this is a fantasy), which story would you choose, and what changes would you make?

I’m not proud of Compulsion as it was written in the end, so I’d work there and really craft the narrative more than it is now. It’s not that it’s not beta-ed, but that it wasn’t really planned or structured beyond what is written. I think there was promise in the beginning and it floundered.

Do you write for any other fandoms?

I write here and there in a few other fandoms, but most of my work is in VM. Some of the other shows are harder to get a feel for, so much that I don’t know if I have the character voices down.

Do you write any original works, and if so, can we see any of them? Have you ever taken any writing classes? Have you ever published anything? Won any competitions?

I wrote a few pieces of original fic, which are at my writing community. I haven’t been one to take a writing course, but in high school I had an award-winning poem at the local county fair.

That piece, I wrote was in my junior year of high school, spring semester (so let’s call is March 2000.) We had to write an emulation of Langston Hughes’s “I Am”, and I went all out—confused kid to the max. My teacher ate most of it up, and had me submit it to the Fair. It went on to win the best poem for high schoolers, the best high school piece and Best in Show for all student work. I have three lovely ribbons, a paper weight to show for it.

What other VM author influenced you the most? Do you have a favorite VM story (by another author)?

I spent most of my time reading things from Loveathons and Fic From Mars when I was reading, so I guess any of those authors. I really love dark_roast’s ( dark_roast) style. I think mutiousmuse and truemyth (TrueMyth) each have some amazing pieces, too. What’s great about being part of fandom is learning how much else you have in common with authors you love. I’m still friends with Musey and Truemyth after I met them at Comic Con in 2006.

Overall, I think my favorite story is Finite Erasure (TW), which puts me in the camp of loving angst. I worked with Trixx (Trixx) as she wrote it and I think I fell for the story she was telling and how much it hurt along the way.

What fanfic do you wish you’d had the idea for and written yourself?

If I had a mind for her particular brand of crazy, I’d have love to have written One True Pair, because the creativity and perspective amaze me.

Who are your favorite traditional authors? Do you have a favorite book or series?

I love Oscar Wilde’s wit; I love Fitzgerald’s use of flawed characters. When I was in college I became a huge fan of Isaac Bashevis Singer. Sadly I’m not a huge book fan, though I do love words and compelling stories. Persuasion is one of my favorite stories, along with The Alchemist. I found myself more easily distracted by television as a kid and when I do get a book, I tend to read some fluffy chick-lit.

Getting to Know You

To which character in VM do you feel you are the most similar, or what situation in VM reminds you of your own life?

Even though I don’t write her enough, I feel like I’m a slightly less tech-savvy version of Mac. I wasn’t one to have boyfriends in high school, and I think that just influences my outlook now.

Share a fun memory with us, something related to fandom.

This moment at an event in San Diego where my friends and I spent a good five minutes trying to remember the Eleanor Roosevelt quote from Logan’s voicemail.

Or the time I had Jason write a message to my journal without him really knowing where it was going.

Dog person, cat person, neither or both?

Cat person! My cat Auric loves everyone he meets, and wants to keep me from my computer when I leave it open in his presence. He really loves to sit on my keyboard when I’m not around.

What was the happiest day in your life (that you can share with us)?

December 12, 2000—the day I got into college. I’m pretty lame most of the time.

The apocalypse is on us. You’ve got five minutes to gather your stuff before you flee (assume that your loved ones are already safe). What do you take?

This is going to be pretty typical, but my laptop, and external hard drives, so I’m not without my pictures. Maybe a few of my autographs and old-school photos too.

What don’t we know about you, that we should know?

I’m not nearly as interesting as I sound on the internet. ;)

The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

Do you consider yourself a stickler for grammar, or do you prefer a more casual approach? Specifically, serial comma: for or against?

I’m weirdly a stickler for grammar when I’m not the one writing. I’m usually for the serial comma, which I blame on years of it being grilled into my head from school.

What grammar issue do you constantly have to struggle with?

Spelling—I’m horrible at it most of the time.

Do you have any writing reference books you can’t live without?

I have a few copies of writing guides tucked away in my garage, but I don’t regularly look at them when I’m writing.

Are you a plotter or a “pantser”? (Do you outline your stories or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?)

It really depends on the story. I have some basic idea of a fic when I start to write it, but there are times when I only know that general outline and other times when I have a better plan.

There’s one story that’s been buried on my computer that’s plotted more than anything else I write. There are notes on how each chapter should work, but I only did that because it was a true multi-chapter fic.

My other fics that have turned into WIPs are not as plotted as they should be.

What’s your favorite point-of-view to write?

I love third-person more than anything else. It gives you the flexibility to talk about more than one person in the context of the story.

What type of writing is your favorite to write (dialogue, plot, action, interior monologue, description, sex scene, etc.)? Your least favorite?

Dialogue—no questions. I love banter as much as anyone else.

My least favorite—probably sex scenes. They’re awkward to figure out, positions, how clinical but not too clinical.

Do you listen to music while you write? Do you listen to different music depending on what you’re writing?

I do, unless I’m watching TV. My music doesn’t change depending on what I write, though maybe it should. My poor iTunes has been known to be demonic when I read fic, though it doesn’t do that as often when I’m writing.

What inspires you to write?

I like motivational moments that can drive a point home—so I tend to write shorter pieces that are about emotions instead of plot driven.

What blocks you from writing?

Lack of time. The inability to express what I’m looking for.

Specifically for Afrocurl!

What surprised you the most about Jason Dohring in person (that you can share with us)?

He’s a genuinely sweet person who adores his fans and what they do for him. I’d never had too many experiences with actors before I met him and he set the stage for being kind to fans.

How is he like Logan? How is he not like Logan? Did he do anything that freaked you out after watching him on TV so much?

I think he has Logan’s physical ticks—hair rakes and the like.

He’s not as precise with language as Logan. In person he’s sort of like any other California guy I’ve met.

Which story of yours would it appall you the most to find out that Jason had read?

The Weevil and Logan story. I think he’d blush and be shocked at the subject more than anything.

Which of your celebrity encounters thrilled you to death, but the rest of world could care less?

The girl who loves politics was thrilled by meeting Justice Scalia at my college. Though I’m sure I’m the only one who can appreciate it now.

We know you do a lot for charities. Do you have anything coming up that we should know about, that you’d like us to support?

Since Sweet Charity has ended, I haven’t done much work for charity recently. I’ve been a little too busy with the rest of life to help out with the Queensland floods and the like.

What’s your dream job?

Working at a high school teaching either Government or US History, maybe AP if that’s an option.

Your life seems to be going through a lot of changes right now. How do you see yourself ten years from now?...family, job, hobbies, etc., anything you want to share with us.

I’d love to have a stable job, with friends and family nearby for support. I can’t hope for much else than that right now.

Find Afrocurl’s work // AO3 // LJ

Source: X

reposted from vmfictitious // originally published on Mar. 20th, 2011

#vm fanfic #veronica mars fanfic #veronica mars fanfiction #writer wednesday #writerwednesday #author interview #authorinterview #the more things change

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etlunainmorte · 5 years ago

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❄❄❄

***

*The Best French Hot Chocolate*

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 12 minutes

*Ingredients

2 Cups Whole Milk

½ Cup Heavy Cream

1 Tablespoon Powdered Sugar

12 Ounce Dark Chocolate

Whipped cream

*Instructions

Add milk, powdered sugar and heavy cream to a saucepan and heat over medium - high heat until simmering, being careful not to scald or boil. While the milk mixture is heating, chop the dark chocolate ( For best flavor, use a good quality chocolate that's at least 60 - 70% cacao ). Once simmering and heated thoroughly, remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate to the saucepan. Whisk until smooth. Pour into small mugs and serve immediately with whipped cream and a little extra chopped chocolate on top.

***

❄ Three Wishes ❄

***

VIII

***

"Weird, I never noticed the hole in the ceiling until now." You said to yourself as you looked up at the said hole in the cream - colored ceiling of your bedroom.

And you noticing even the smallest of cracks in the walls, and ceilings, of your bedroom? In the dark?

This insomnia really was taking a toll on your whole body and your mental health!

And now, as you lay on your bed staring at the gaping hole in the ceiling, you couldn't help but wonder: if you didn't get to be in a relationship with that guy, would you still have difficulty sleeping? Would you be able to fall asleep at approximately ten in the evening?

Would you be able to concentrate more in the morning because you were able to have ample, not just enough, rest?

You sighed. You, thinking about what ifs, when it's already half - past two in the morning?

You growled helplessly as you took your pillow from underneath your head and covered your face with it to muffle the sound, all the while kicking the super soft bedsheets and flailing your legs about. Then, you threw the thing halfway across the room and sat up, ruffling your already messy hair.

"You should not be blaming him, girl!" You scolded yourself for, like, the ndth consecutive night since breaking up with that narcissist. "You should NOT be blaming him!" You swung your legs to the edge of the bed, reached for your fluffy bunny slippers, and stood. You opened the lamp, switching it on for the third time that evening. "It's all my fault! It's. All. My. Freaking. Fault!"

Meanwhile, as you made your way downstairs to get yourself a glass of water, all the while mumbling to yourself how it was your fault you couldn't sleep, V, Griffon, and Shadow were listening just outside your room, waiting for the perfect opportunity to execute the plan.

"That girl is goin' cuckoo, V!" Griffon exclaimed as he flew back down after observing your erratic movements and surveying the room as stealthily as he could. "She's talkin' to herself."

"No." Shadow, who was calmly standing next to the poet, rebutted. "More like, she's blaming herself. But, why?"

"That,... we'll know very soon." V answered as he tapped the ground with his metal cane, signaling for his familiars to begin the mission. And when you finally entered your room and closed the door, you heard some weird tapping on your window.

At first, you thought it was only your over - active imagination but, when the tapping resumed and at a more rapid intensity, you couldn't help but grab the flower vase on your vanity table for protection. Wielding the porcelain ornament like a makeshift weapon, you cautiously stepped towards the window where the noise was coming from. You grabbed the heavy pink curtain with your free hand and hastily drew it, revealing a most curious winged - visitor flying just outside the window.

"Griffon?" You uttered, setting the vase down and immediately opening the glass window to let him in.

"Special delivery!" The bird gleefully announced as he drew back and waved his wing, showing the man standing just behind him.

The man,... standing just behind him,...

But, wait! You're on the second floor of the house!

"Did my heart love ‘till now?" The man greeted you, his smile ever so charming, his voice ever so soothing, his presence,... ever so calming. And with those mere words, you felt all the anxiety and weariness leave your entire system, hopefully for good. He,... only has such power over you. "Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty 'till this night."

"V?!" You couldn't help but shriek in fright as you leaned on the windowsill to see the man clearly and how he was able to come face to face with you. He looked and stood so confident! So proud! So majestically dark! And then, you finally noticed the thing he was standing on: a seemingly sentient swirling and curving set of jet - black stairs that glimmered and shone like a million diamonds against the moonlit, winter sky. It connected from the ground to where the poet's feet were, helping him balance.

How was he doing all this?!

"Wh - wha - ? H - how?!" You stammered as you gazed at the green - eyed man clad in a dark sweater before you.

The poet chuckled and took out a book from his black canvas bag, opened it, and took a deep breath. "She speaks!" V read with a clear and low voice that pierced through the silence of the night.

"W - well, of course! I - "

"Oh, speak again, bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head, as is a winged messenger of Heaven."

Is this man, you thought as you felt the sides of your lips curve up into a smile, reciting Romeo and Juliet?

V went on, seeing that his reading made you smile. "Unto the white upturned wondering eyes of mortals that fall back to gaze on him when he bestrides the lazy - puffing clouds and sails upon the bosom of the air." V closed the book shut, seemingly waiting for your response, and that's when you finally remembered!

He was emulating the famous balcony scene from the Shakespearean play!

"Your turn, my lady." V told you in a teasing tone and that devilish smirk of his.

How is no one seeing all this?! "Oh! I - ah, let me see, ah," You stammered as you tried to recall Juliet's words. You slapped your forehead when your messed up mind finally conjured up some incoherent words and tried to recite. "Oh, V - err, I mean, Romeo! Yes, Romeo, where,... art thou, oh Romeo. I - is that it?"

The poet hummed in agreement. He, then, crossed his arms and tilted his head to side, watching you closely and with clear interest. "Yes, go on."

"Okay! Umm," You mumbled, tapping your chin as you tried to recall more of Juliet's words. "Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or - "

" ... or if thou will not be," V recited, helping you with the lines. " ... but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be,… a Sparda."

Wait, Sparda? "Oh, I'm not sure if it went like that. But, I don't really care! I'm not fond of that tragic play, anyway."

"Oh! Why is that?" V asked, seemingly surprised when he heard you say those words to him, outright.

"Call me stupid but, I prefer happy endings, thank you very much."

"Not stupid, no,..." V only uttered as he, once again, was made captive of your sweet smile. "I adore,... happy endings, as well,..."

"I'm glad to hear that." You answered. Feeling the cold creep up on your skin, you finally realized that the poet was practically standing on the cold outside your room! He must be freezing! "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry! Come in!" You opened your window wider and reached for his hand with your own, pulling it and helping him enter your room.

Soft, dainty hands clasped together with large, rough ones, your hands stayed joined a few more moments after letting the man into your room. Green and (E/C) eyes locked onto each other, you felt yourselves moving closer to chase that warmth and that gentleness. Two hearts beating in unison, you felt you were instantly connected to each other as he leaned down and -

"Ah, V," The two of you turned and noticed both Griffon and Shadow waiting for you. " ... we're gonna, uhh, make the thing now." Griffon said in a calm voice when, in fact, the cheese right in front of him was both killing him and making him giddy inside at the same time. Well, it was the first time he has seen his Master this happy. And for that, he was glad.

He was glad that his Master finally met you.

"Oh! Of course." V answered as he unwillingly let go of your hand. "Of course."

"The thing?" You asked, confused at the familiar's words and disappointed that the tender moment between you and V were cut short.

"Yes. Let them handle it." V replied, feeling confident of his trustworthy familiars. "For now, I have,... something for you."

"Really?" You said, your peripheral vision catching sight of the familiars opening the door and going outside to who knew where. "Like a surprise?"

"Yes. If you may,..."

A few moments later, you were back to your bed with your back against the propped up pillows and the lower part of your body covered with the soft and fragrant sheets to make you warm and comfortable. And as you wiggled your toes and watched the poet as he made himself comfortable on the chair next to your bed, you couldn't help but feel excited of what's to come. He, then, reached for his bag and took from it an old leather - bound book that seemed worn down and yet so beloved. With a flourish of his slender tattooed fingers, he opened the book and turned to a certain page, stealing a longing glance from you as he gently smiled to reassure you that everything will be fine.

"I will now tell you,... the story of how Love and Soul came to be." He spoke with that low, almost whisper - like voice of his that made the atmosphere even more relaxing and comfortable. He really knew what he was doing. "I will tell you,... the myth of Cupid and Psyche." His eyes going back to his old book, he began reading. "There was once a King who had three daughters, all lovely maidens, but the youngest, Psyche, excelled her sisters so greatly that,... beside them she seemed a very goddess consorting with mere mortals. The fame of her,... surpassing beauty spread over the earth, and everywhere men journeyed to gaze upon her with wonder and adoration and to do her homage,... as though she were in truth one of the immortals."

"She must be so beautiful, then!" You couldn't help but speak of your opinions regarding Psyche. And to V, it was a good thing. It meant that you're invested in the story. "And she's worshipped like a god!"

"I don't believe in gods," V answered with a smile. " ... for I only believe in one, true, beautiful goddess whose smile I always fervently pray to see everyday of my life."

His words making your heart swell and your body really warm, you settled back to your pillows, hugging a brown stuffed bear and keeping it close to your chest.

Then, V went on. "They would say that even Venus herself could not equal this mortal. As they thronged in ever - growing numbers to worship her loveliness no one any more gave a thought to Venus herself. Her temples were neglected, her altars foul with cold ashes, her favorite towns deserted and falling in ruins. All the honors once hers were now given to a mere girl destined some day to die. It may well be believed that,..."

Meanwhile, as V went on with his bedtime story, the familiars silently made their way towards the kitchen to do their Master's bidding, and that was to make you a nice cup of warm chocolate.

Except that they never made anything in their whole life aside from fried Empusa or skewered Hell Antenora, and that spelled trouble for the both of them.

"Ah, how do we do it again?" Griffon whispered, carefully trying to make his way towards the kitchen in the darkness of the house.

"Just boil some liquid and pour the chocolate in!" Shadow answered as she successfully located where the utensils were hidden.

"Ah, how do we do exactly that? And what liquid are we talkin' about here?"

Shadow stopped sniffing the neatly stacked utensils in the cupboard and stared at her companion with such dread in her own, red eyes.

"I don't know."

Griffon stared back at her with wide, golden eyes that made the situation seem worse. "Oh, fuck!"

"Didn't you read the instructions Master gave you?"

"What instructions?"

"You, imbecile! The paper that Master handed you earlier!"

"Oh! Is that the,... ahh,... instructions? Haha! Didn't know about that! Too bad, huh?!"

Shadow's eyes dangerously narrowed as she stalked towards Griffon like the dangerous predator that she was. "What did you do to the paper, Griffon?" She asked, a hint of that frightening growl escaping her throat.

Now, if demonic birds could even sweat, Griffon would probably be soaked and dripping wet as of that moment. "Ah, ah, I can explain! Listen to me very, very carefully, kitty - cat - "

"STOP CALLING ME A KITTY - CAT AND TELL ME WHAT YOU DID TO THE PAPER!" Shadow growled, the sound of her voice making the four corners of the old house tremble, its frightening noise reaching the second floor and making V stop reading.

"What was that?" You questioned, your eyebrows furrowed and your voice laced with worry and nervousness at the frightening noise you just heard.

"What do you mean by that, my dear?" V, on the other hand, pretended he did not hear anything.

"Ah, I thought I heard some noise downstairs,..."

"I C - CAN'T B - BREATH!" Wheezed Griffon, trying to escape Shadow's tail that went over his face, suffocating him. "H - HELP! AGHK! S – STOP! I BEG YA!”

"OF ALL THE THINGS YOU HAVE TO THROW AWAY, WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL?! YOU, STUPID,... BIRD BRAIN!" Shadow growled, not caring at all whether Griffon would enter his stalemate state due to her ceaseless attack or just end up dead due to asphyxiation.

"I T - TOLD YA! I THOUGHT SHAKESPEARE WANTED ME TO BURN THE THING - SSSQQQUUUAAAWWWKKK!"

"YOU,... BURNED IT?! HOW DARE YOU?! HOW DARE - ?!"

"Who is in my house?!"

Both Shadow and Griffon gasped as they looked at Adelaide, who was still in her night gown and pointing her rolling pin at them. Luckily for the familiars, it was too dark for her to see them.

Carefully putting Griffon down, who finally breathed a sigh of relief, Shadow cautiously stepped away and cleared her throat. "We're not your enemies, Adelaide. Put your weapon down."

"Stupid cat!" Griffon whispered savagely at what the demonic cat just did.

"Shut up! She can't see us!"

"Oh! Ye're right,..."

"I'm one step away from calling 911!" Adelaide threatened as she tightened her grip on the rolling pin. "Reveal yourself!"

Shadow, who was mainly the cause of all the noise in the first place, made one last desperate move to deceive the old woman. Clearing her throat once more and hoping for the old woman to believe her ruse, she spoke. "Adelaide, my dear, I' am your mother."

"Mother?!" The old woman spat. "But my mother has been dead a long time ago!"

"Yes, I' am." Shadow answered as she gestured for Griffon to move away. "And I've come to visit you in your dream."

"Dream? I'm,... dreaming? This is a dream?"

"Why, yes, my dear! Otherwise, how could I speak with you like this?"

Both familiars breathing a sigh of relief, they watched as the old woman finally brought her guard down. Believing every word that the demonic feline just uttered, she said, "Mother, why have you come to visit me?"

"Go on!" Griffon whispered to Shadow as he hid behind one of the chairs.

"I was,... just checking whether you're doing fine." The feline went on with the lie.

"I'm fine but," Adelaide spoke, making the familiars nervous. How long would this go on? " ... it's my grandchild. I'm worried about her."

"Worried? Tell me why."

"It's about this man named V." The old woman answered, the mere mention of their Master's name making them even more cautious. And intrigued. "Tell me, mother: is he really the one for (Y/N)? I'm afraid. She was hurt by someone before. I,... don't want anyone to hurt her like that, anymore. I don't want to see her cry ever again. So, I want to know: is this man, V, really the one for her?"

Shadow took a deep breath. Standing on her hind legs, she placed one of her paws on the old woman's right shoulder, hoping to reassure her. "Tell me, is your grandchild crying now?"

"No."

"Then, does she look happy?"

"Why, yes! Yes, she is. She looks so happy,... whenever V visits her."

"And this V," Shadow went on. " ... does he look like a man who would make her cry?"

And to this, the woman became really emotional. Wiping away the tears that escaped her eyes, she said, "No. In fact, I knew it. I knew it in my bones that he would never do such a thing to her. I know he would make her happy and I know he would make her forget what happened to her in the past. I' am aware. I,... believe,... that V,... loves her. With all his heart."

"Then, keep on believing!" The familiar answered, putting her other paw on her left shoulder. "Believe that V would do everything you've said and more. He will make her,... the happiest woman on earth!"

"I understand!" Adelaide happily answered as she wiped her tears with the sleeves of her nightgown. "Thank you so much, mother! Oh, I missed you so much!"

"Oh!" Shadow was surprised when the old woman suddenly hugged her tightly. Adelaide, on the other hand, did not care ( or did not notice ), even for a second, that what she was feeling against her own body was thick, demon fur instead of actual human skin.

Shadow noticed Griffon pointing at something in the cupboard with his wing. And that's when a bright idea struck her head.

"I missed you too, dear child." Shadow cooed as she gently brushed Adelaide's silver gray hair with her large paw. "Now, if you may, I want you to do something for me, then I'll be off,..."

Meanwhile, back in your bedroom, the two familiars arrived just in time to see you giggling as you listened intently at V, who was now holding a large stuffed lamb that he took from your bed and making weird movements with it, like he was making a child laugh.

"The sheep were indeed very fierce, but if Psyche would wait until they came out of the bushes toward evening to rest beside the river," The poet read energetically as he noticed, at the corner of his eye, both Griffon and Shadow helping each other place the cup of the desired hot beverage on the table next to your bed. Nodding and humming in approval, he went on. " ... she could go into the thicket and find plenty of the golden wool hanging on the sharp briars."

You smiled as V threw the stuffed lamb and caught it in mid air, looking really engrossed in his story - telling.

It was getting really late, even Griffon and Shadow settled cozily next to you as you listened to the poet's tale. For a moment, you never noticed the time, or your own anxiety and insomnia, until V finally reached the ending of the story and the familiars’ soft snores reverberated inside the room.

" ... so all came to a most happy end. Love and the Soul had sought and, after sore trials, found each other, and that union could never be broken. For it is a difficult matter," V read in a whisper as he slowly closed the book. " ... to keep Love imprisoned. The end."

You couldn't take your eyes off him as if you were mesmerized by his words and his whole being. You clutched at the sheets and spoke softly, "It’s a beautiful story, V. Thank you so much,... for sharing it with me."

The poet smiled as he returned the book to his bag. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now, it is getting late, and - "

"Wait!" You interrupted him as you quickly grabbed the end of his sweater, preventing him from leaving.

He turned and looked down at you, his smile never leaving his kind features. "How can I be of service to you, my lady?"

"Will you listen to my story?" You asked him. "A different one."

"Well, of course. Let me," He uttered, lifting the sleeping Griffon and putting him on the chair he was sitting on. " ... just move this fellow so I could listen to you well." He, then, sat next to you.

You smiled, feeling safe and sound with the incredible warmth beside you. You couldn't believe it - V, sitting oh so close to you, inside your room, in the middle of the night,...

You almost chuckled at the thought of your grandma catching the two of you like this.

"Alright, let's hear it, your story." V whispered, his shoulder brushing against yours as he crossed his arms and made himself comfortable.

"Umm," You stammered, gulping down and clearing your throat to ease the nerves that suddenly overtook your senses. " ... it's fine, right? Me opening up to you?"

"As long as you're comfortable with it."

"Alright." You took a deep breath and looked once more at the hole in the ceiling. "I met this man, his name was Christopher Lancaster."

Of course, V thought as the feeling of dread filled his chest at the mere mention of the man who made you suffer in your former life through very frighteningly inhuman ways. It always has to be him,...

"For a time, we were very much in love. I was young, and I was very much in love with love." You confessed, scoffing right after at the mere absurdity of it all. "I honestly thought he was the one. He was young, and handsome, and talented, and, well, you could say he has everything in this world. But, I was wrong. He didn't have everything. He was asking for more." You looked down, fidgeting at the sheets. "He wanted to have me. You know what I'm saying?"

Oh, no, no, no, no, V thought helplessly as some unpleasant thoughts suddenly plagued his already overworked mind. Please, say you didn't! Please, say you didn't,...

"And you know what? I refused." You told him, and for a moment, V felt like he could already rest in peace, knowing that Lancaster was not able to lay a single finger on your skin. He turned and noticed you looking up at him with such wide and innocent eyes. "I refused him, V. And I didn't know why. I knew I loved him, he was everything I could ask for. But, I don't know why I did what I did.

"Then, he changed. He became violent and harsh. He humiliated me in front of others. He made fun of my family. He said I'm too domestic. Just because I refused to be intimate with him."

Those words back then. He said that, domestic.

So, that's what he meant!

For a while, V clutched angrily at the sheets of the bed, balling them into his left fist as he tried to control his anger. But, then again, he had to remind himself that he's not here to make matters worse.

He was here to make you feel better.

He was here to fulfill your wish.

"You know, I should've left him after that but, I was stupid enough to hold onto him. To hold onto the person who doesn't truly love me the way I loved him. I believed, for such a long time, that I could change his ways. That I could bring back the days when we were alright. Again, I was wrong. After everything I did for him, he still left me. He found another, someone who truly deserves him."

You were about to succumb to your weakness and let it all out in front of the one person you knew you could trust, when you heard him speak.

"You should be glad that he left you, then. A person,... who truly loves you,... would never, ever leave you for such a thing. There is a saying," V turned to you, brushing away, with his long fingers, the tears that your traitorous eyes let out. " ... love,... is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud." He, then, reached for your cheeks and brushed the remaining tears in them with his thumbs, making your face warm. "It is not rude, it is not self - seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."

After that, he let go of your cheeks, only to pull you into his arms for an embrace you didn't know, didn't expect, you needed. And it made you even more emotional than ever before. Pulling him closer to you, you wrapped him in your arms, reciprocating the embrace, and buried your face in his chest, letting out the tears, and your burden, in him,...

... in the man you never knew would miraculously come into your life.

Feeling your trembling body against his, he tightened his embrace and buried his face in your fragrant hair. Rubbing your back and trying to soothe your tired body, he went on. "Love,... does not delight in evil,... but rejoices in the truth. It always protects,... always trusts,... always hopes,... always perseveres." V closed his eyes as he felt some tears of his own escaping him. I'm supposed to make you happy, not make you cry like this! "Seeing you happy,... is the only single thing in this world that keeps me going. So, please, smile," He removed his hands from you and cupped your cheeks once more. Looking deeply into your eyes, he gently laid his forehead against yours, the tender gesture finally making you smile despite all the tears. " ... and be happy. Don't ever blame yourself for what happened in the past. It was never your fault. Live for the people you love. Smile,... for there are people who truly loves you. And they would never leave you, no matter what. Don't forget about that."

With one last tear containing the remnants of your feelings for your former lover, you nodded and smiled, more than ready to do exactly what V has told you to do. He was right, there are people,... who truly loves you. There are people,... who would never leave you, no matter what.

There's always a special someone,...

.... who would stay with you,

... and love you,...

... no matter what life throws at you,...

... until the end of time.

You laid your hands against his, clutching them, and never letting them go. "So, I assume you would scold me if I say I was stupid for being so emotional?"

"I won't scold you." V answered, never taking his hands off your face. "We are all emotional beings, after all. Demon, or no."

"Stay with me, please. Until I fall asleep."

After finishing the chocolate drink that the familiars graciously made for you, you settled back to your bed, actually feeling sleepy. Tucking you in and stroking your hair, he laid down next to you and recited one last poem for the evening, hoping it would finally help you relax.

"O soft embalmer of the still midnight," he whispered, seeing you close your eyes and turn to him. " ... shutting, with careful fingers and benign,... our gloom - pleas'd eyes, embower'd from the light,... enshaded in forgetfulness divine." V's mouth opened in awe as your arm went around him, pulling him closer to your body. "O soothest sleep! If so it please thee,... close in midst of this thine hymn my willing eyes,... or wait the Amen, ere thy poppy throws around my bed its lulling charities. Then save me,... or the passed day will shine upon my pillow, breeding many woes." He closed his eyes, emulating your movements and pulling you close to his. "Save me from curious conscience,... that still lords its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole; turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,... and seal,... the hushed casket of my soul.

"Good night, my lady." He pressed his lips on your forehead, already hearing your soft breathing. "Parting is such sweet sorrow,... that I shall say good night 'till it be morrow. Let us meet,... in the land of dreams. In a beautiful garden,... somewhere only we know. See you soon, my love."

My love,...

Somehow, those words were the first things that came to your mind the moment you woke up. It's as if,... the gentle words were engraved on your mind, heart, and soul, making its presence known and not leaving you alone,...

Stretching your arms and yawning a lot, you realized that V was, of course, gone, and so were his familiars. And they didn't just leave, they even cleaned some of the mess from last night. The stuffed animals were carefully placed back to your shelves, the flower vase was back to your vanity table, even the curtain looked new.

You sighed, slightly feeling guilty that the night you spent with V has to end. You really enjoyed spending time with him, and you were able to relax and fall asleep without tossing and turning too much on your bed. You hoped that something like that would happen again, of V tapping into your window, in the middle of the night, and offering to read you stories once more as you sipped on the chocolate drink that Griffon and Shadow made for you. You hoped that he would stay with you and recite poems for you once more, until you fall asleep. You hoped that you could feel his arms around you again,...

As much as you wanted to stay in your bed and fondly think of the events that unfolded last night, the sun was already high up into the sky, and you still have lots of things to do. You swung your feet to the edge of the bed and reached for your neatly placed fluffy bunny slippers. You were about to make your way towards the bathroom to wash your face when you noticed something on the bedside table,...

***

❄ @la-vita , @dreaming-gamer , @clevermentalitybeliever , @birdgirl69 , and @v-vic . ❄

***

"Good morning, dearie!" Adelaide greeted you. "What do you want for - HEY!"

"I'll be back, gran!" You announced as you quickly made your way outside the house.

Still in your wool pajamas, you ran straight towards V's house and began knocking rapidly on his door. It was opened a few minutes later by the man, himself, who was still in his sleepwear and messy bed hair, as if he woke up just to answer you.

Fighting the urge to giggle at his unkempt, and yet adorable, appearance, you smiled at him and handed him a piece of paper. He took it and read it. The single word written in it still not registering in his mind, he asked you, " ... pardon?"

"You said, please, say yes." You excitedly informed him. "And I said, yes! I'm going to the New Year's Ball with you, V!"

It took the poet a full minute before he finally realized what you were talking about. And when he finally realized what your words truly meant, his eyes slowly widened and his mouth fell open in shock. He grabbed his messy hair with both hands and spoke, "That - that's your answer, right? You'll go to the Ball with me?"

"Hahaha! Of course, you silly poet!" You laughed as you threw yourself at him, hugging him and placing a tender kiss on his cheek. Oh, how sweet you smelled. What a nice morning, indeed! "See ya!"

And before V could even reciprocate with a kiss of his own, you took your hands off him, waved, and went back to your house.

Which was a good thing, seeing that he hasn't even gargled or brushed his teeth,...

***

❄❄❄

***

#devil may cry 5 #vitale sparda #three wishes #v x reader #v x you #chapter 8 #somewhere only we know #lily allen's somewhere only we know

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theatredirectors · 6 years ago

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Sammy Zeisel

Hometown?

Bethesda, MD.

Where are you now?

Chicago, IL.

What's your current project?

I just opened and closed The Late Wedding by Christopher Chen (one of my favorite contemporary playwrights) with a company called The Neighborhood. It was a strange, beautiful, and difficult play about Italo Calvino, heartbreak, and the transmigration of souls performed in the "Rummage Room" of a church. We sourced all of our props from the boxes of shit that were left in the space after the church rummage sale and got some great use out of the organ that happened to be there, too. The whole thing was kind of magical.

I also am in post production on a short film about a girl getting her period for the first time at her friend's birthday party titled The Care and Keeping of You.

Why and how did you get into theatre?

Well, my mom is the Associate Artistic Director of Imagination Stage, a children's theatre in Washington DC. I grew up in rehearsal rooms. As I'd imagine is the case for most of us, I started out acting at summer camps and in school plays. While I was playing Renfield in my high school production of Dracula, it occurred me that I might actually I want to do this for the rest of my life.

What is your directing dream project?

I always find this question difficult because I see myself as highly responsive to the people and places at my disposal. A piece of theatre does not make sense to me out of context.

THAT SAID I love me some Chekhov. Specifically, I've been on a bit of a Cherry Orchard kick recently. There are secrets contained in that play about the potential for (or futility of) human change that speak directly to this moment. The political and the personal are so beautifully intertwined. Plus, it’s goofy as hell. Chekhov plays embrace the entire contradictory mess of being a human. How to not, as a director, deny those contradictions by providing easy answers? I see that as an ultimate directing challenge.

What kind of theatre excites you?

I like theatre that takes on the responsibility of its liveness. This can happen in so many different ways: virtuosic physicality (a tap dance?), engagement with the audience's imagination (a person becomes a bird?), direct engagement with the audience (playful meta-theatricality?), or--maybe my favorite--some sort of more subtle, silent communion (Annie Baker). A piece of theatre is not just a story, it is an event; a director is not just a storyteller, she is a coordinator of moments in real-time.

I like to see truthful characters interacting within strange theatrical forms. I think that is what we are: deeply human creatures inside of forms that we do not understand. I like theatre that embraces uncertainty and, in that way, coaxes us to into a more comfortable relationship with our own uncertainty. Violence (outward and inward) stems from a need for control within life, and so, theatre that makes us to sit in an uncomfortable state of unknowing has the capacity to make us gentler.

Finally, I seek out any art that contains a little hint of the inarticulable. A piece of art should contain secrets.

Also probably all theatre should be funny.

What do you want to change about theatre today?

We have a lot of conversations about the need for riskier choices when it comes to content. And we do need that. We should be constantly pushing the boundaries of content and honoring stories that have been neglected. But those stories should also be paired with riskier forms. From what I can tell, theatre companies are more frightened by experiments in theatrical form than almost anything else--probably because a challenging form has perhaps the highest potential of turning an audience off (audience members didn't walk out of The Flick because it is about three people who work at a movie theatre). In the age of Netflix, however, if we do not find forms that are inherently theatrical we will become obsolete. But if we find inherently theatrical forms that contain the electricity of live communion, we will be providing something that the world is desperately hungry for.

And obviously we have to figure out some way to make theatre more accessible. Theatre is basically a hobby for rich people. It's just true, and we all know it and are deeply embarrassed by it. But what can we do to combat this? I certainly don't know. But it might have something to do with returning to bare essentials. We need to be paying artists and we need to be lowering ticket prices, so what gives? What if we made our productions with fewer resources? What if we placed the storytelling weight firmly on the back of the actors and the imagination of the audience? After all--engagement, intimacy, communion--this is REALLY what we offer. Within greater constraints, we might cut costs and revive our medium in the meantime.

What is your opinion on getting a directing MFA?

Not sure. Probably right for some and not for others. I am personally intrigued. I would love some time to discover myself outside of the crucible of the "real world."

Who are your theatrical heroes?

Oof ok here are a couple that come to mind right now:

Anne Bogart (her discipline, her articulation, her curiosity),

Will Eno (his verbal playfulness, his sadness, the intimate communion of his plays),

Andre Gregory (his spiritual/minimalistic approach, Vanya on 42nd St.),

Mary Zimmerman (her theatrical imagination, her physicalization, her childlike wonder)

Annie Baker (her lessons in patience, restraint, yearning character),

Edward Albee (his social critique, his plea for honesty, his courage in the face of the void)

Sarah Ruhl (magic, poetry)

Charlie Kaufman (film director, a storytelling North Star)

My mom

Any advice for directors just starting out?

I am a director who is just starting out, so anything I say is also advice to myself. So here are a couple of things I have to tell myself over and over:

You are you. The more directors you watch, the more you see that no two directors do ANYTHING the same way. In fact, equally incredible directors do things in precisely opposite ways. What does that mean? What makes those directors good? They are good because they know themselves. They are working from a place of personal authenticity that no one could have possibly taught them. And so you cannot emulate them. Emulating a good director will make you a bad director. You can only work at getting closer and closer to the director that you were meant to be from the beginning.

Direct stuff. You can only discover who you are as a director by directing. Find cheap-as-shit spaces. Hold rehearsals in your apartment. Produce your own ten-minute play festivals. Do stuff that leads nowhere because it all leads somewhere.

Direct the kind of stuff you say you want to direct. I've had a tough time with this one. It can be scary to actually DO the work that you say you love. Because it's super vulnerable, I guess. But until you present the work that actually feels like your jam, no one will have any idea what your jam is. You probably won't even know. Be brave enough to do the work that turns you on.

Craft is generosity. It's not all about discovering who you are. Directing is a craft. And by that I mean, there are concrete skills involved: how do you create varied stage pictures? How do you make sure an audience hears important information? How do you stage compelling transitions? Maybe think of getting better at these things as acts of generosity. When you put work into these elements, you show an audience that you care about every second of their experience.

You will disappoint yourself. Making stuff comes at a price. You will feel inadequate, and you will make work that doesn't feel like you. Lean in. Hold on to faint glimmers of hope. Do better every time. Inch closer and closer.

Interrogate your privilege. If you are doing this, you are probably the beneficiary of a certain amount of privilege. I am the beneficiary of a massive amount. If this is true for you, acknowledge it. Interrogate the narratives you are drawn to. Think twice before putting yourself on stage. Doubt yourself and listen to the wisdom of the less privileged. Use the love and care you've enjoyed in your life to create loving, caring spaces for others.

Be kind. Be critical of the work you see, but be curious about where your criticism comes from. How would you like your own work to be seen? How can you approach other artist’s work with that same generosity? Separate intention from execution and acknowledge how terrifying it is just to be out here trying. Strive to be an enthusiast: you will learn more, people will want to work with you, and the inside of your own head will be a nicer place to live. (You will also be a better director if you are not driven by ego, insecurity, and a need to prove.)

Don't listen that hard to people's advice. Most people who are giving you advice are telling you what they need to hear, not what you need to hear. Nobody knows what they're doing, and no-one moves forward in the same way.

Read more books, listen to more music, watch more movies, think about things a lot

Plugs!

Rumple: Last year, I developed a children's musical adaptation of Rumpelstiltskin with Chicago folk band, Friends of the Bog. It's a feminist re-telling of the strange old tale, filled with stellar folk jams and tap dancing puppets. It's weird, theatrical, and full of heart (think Pig Pen Theatre Co. meets Spongebob). And we are looking for a home for it. Hit me up if this tickles you and you have a lead.

Beth Hyland: One of the best young playwrights in Chicago or probably the country. She's also my pal. If you don't know her, you should get on that.

Chicago: The reputation that Chicago has for community and authenticity is grounded firmly in reality. Artists are struggling in Chicago as much as they are anywhere else but they are surrounded by their friends. There is vital, community-building theatre happening out here in church rummage rooms and abandoned storefronts. Just saying.

My website. My email: [email protected]

#Sammy Zeisel #askadirector #theatre directors

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johnboothus · 5 years ago

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Craft Breweries Take Cues from Cocktails to Grow Business

It’s no real surprise that brewers are, in aggregate, an inquisitive bunch. Brewing is part art, part science, and the relatively short time required to go from raw material to finished beer has always allowed for a certain degree of experimentation.

Since the craft beer revolution in the 1980s, and especially in the early aughts, American craft brewers have made beers that taste like pizza, raw oysters, and steak. While those examples are rather rare attempts to push the medium, an emerging trend of beers brewed to taste like other beverages — cocktails or tea, for example — both satisfies brewer creativity while also bringing in a new and different audience that might otherwise ignore more classic beer styles.

This can be observed (and tasted) at long-established craft breweries like New Belgium, whose Agua Fresca Cerveza (inspired by the Mexican fruit cart drink) rolled out nationally in 2019; and Schafly, which is expanding its cocktail-inspired beer offerings. Additionally, the experimental strategy has helped boost business at smaller outfits like the less-than-five-year-old Lucky Envelope.

The Recipe for New Clientele

At Seattle’s Lucky Envelope Brewing, which hosts regular events tied to its cocktail and teahouse beer series, operations director Raymond Kwan has noticed the impact these specialty beers have on attendance. “In the tasting room we’ve seen a new demographic coming in for special events,” he says. “It started with our raspberry sour, which is popular with people who aren��t actually beer drinkers. We’ve started seeing more and more of that demographic with cocktail beer days and teahouse beer days. They’ve become new regulars that we have: people who don’t drink IPAs every day but love trying new beers.”

These specialty beer days feature two to four limited-release beers from Lucky Envelope, and are often tied to holidays or other special events, like recently for Chinese New Year, when it unveiled beers based on Lapsang Souchong tea and another based on the Red Lotus cocktail. Each is made in small batches and is often only available for a few days before selling out.

Lucky Envelope’s brewmaster, Barry Chan, elaborates, saying “because hazy IPAs have become so popular, and because the base flavors in those aren’t necessarily beer flavors, we as a business have to recognize that there’s a significant portion of drinkers who didn’t grow up drinking Natty Light or Rainier. Their first beers were hazy/milkshake IPAs. That’s their base reference for craft beer, and it would be disingenuous for us to try to impose what our perception of what flavored beer is. We have to be welcoming.”

Welcoming is a nice sentiment; for Lucky Envelope it’s also a strategic move. In addition to creating new customers, beers made to taste like a Blackberry Margarita or Earl Grey tea can have another benefit for breweries: driving business to taprooms and brewpubs, as the majority of these releases are limited-quantity and often draft-only. Like many other seasonal, limited-release, or otherwise special beers, they help create a unique on-site experience.

(On a personal note, the Blackberry Margarita Gose could easily be mistaken for the real thing if you weren’t paying close attention; given the natural sour and salty notes of a gose-style beer, it was a perfect fit, with fresh blackberries helping to round out the flavor profile and mask the lack of agave notes that you would otherwise expect in the cocktail.) Chen also envisions a future cocktail beer based on the Rob Roy, which would feature a relatively obscure Swedish beer made with smoked malt called gotlandsdricka, to emulate the Scotch flavor in the classic cocktail.

Lead brewer Jared Williamson of Schlafly Beer, which operates two locations in St. Louis (soon to be three), explains: “We have a handful of things we release only at the pubs, which helps bring people in and offers a unique experience at our locations. In an ever-growing market of people vying for tap handles at bars and shelf space in stores, it’s good to have stuff you can only get exclusively at your own properties. We’ve had a really good response to these; visitors get really excited, especially people from out of town who have never seen the cocktail beers before.”

Lucky Envelope has been curious to see just how big of a draw these special beers and events are. “The most recent Teahouse beer day was on MLK Day Monday, and the last Cocktail Beer Day was on a Wednesday,” says Kwan. “[Those days were] chosen specifically to see if traffic and sales increased due to the day of the events. Overall, we saw an uptick in sales compared to historic averages. We believe both concepts will continue to grow in popularity and translate to greater sales — but I suspect for the first half of this year we will continue to observe trends by having the events on different days of the week.”

Libation Inspiration

These styles also allow brewers to draw inspiration from all sorts of places. For Williamson, Schlafly’s Kentucky Mule Ale, its first- ever cocktail beer, started at a concert. “One summer six or seven years ago I was at a music festival in Louisville, Ky.,” he says. “Of course, the drinks there were very bourbon-focused, and I was sitting under a tree drinking a Kentucky Mule and thought, ‘I could really deconstruct this into a really cool beer.’”

Taking cues from a Kentucky Mule’s ingredients, Williamson says: “Obviously you have ginger, lime, and bourbon, so I had to figure out what a good base for all that was. I took inspiration from bourbon recipes and did a big wheat ale at about 8 percent ABV with very low IBUs [international bitterness units].” From there, Williamson used ginger, fresh lime juice, and bourbon- barrel chips to create a beer that deeply evokes the cocktail. As he says, “It’s still a beer, but it’s very much inspired by the cocktail, and doesn’t really fit into any classic beer style guideline.”

For Lucky Envelope, inspiration has come from Kwan’s regular trips to Hong Kong, where he makes a point of visiting the city’s finest cocktail bars. “The last couple of trips I’ve made to Hong Kong I’ve checked out establishments that are really focused on craft cocktails, and through taking photos and conversing with people there, I’ve tried to figure out, ‘I just had an amazing cocktail, is this something we can translate into a beer?’” Kwan says. “We’ve found that those cocktails use a lot of ingredients that work well in beer: herbs, spices, fruits, and flowers, and the cocktails we’ve been successful in translating into beers have fallen into those categories.”

Cocktail beers and their ilk may be destined to remain small-batch, taproom exclusives. Their higher cost of production, more complicated recipes, and use of perishable ingredients might preclude them from widespread distribution. But then, much the same argument was made about hazy IPAs not all that long ago.

In the end, breweries will gravitate toward any style that can help bring in new and curious drinkers — and, ideally, curious customers will continue to respect and respond to brewers’ innovations. If making beers that taste like Mai Tais or hibiscus agua frescas creates a fun challenge for brewers and drinkers alike, all the better.

The article Craft Breweries Take Cues from Cocktails to Grow Business appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/cocktail-inspired-beers/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/craft-breweries-take-cues-from-cocktails-to-grow-business

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isaiahrippinus · 5 years ago

Text

Craft Breweries Take Cues from Cocktails to Grow Business

The Recipe for New Clientele

At Seattle’s Lucky Envelope Brewing, which hosts regular events tied to its cocktail and teahouse beer series, operations director Raymond Kwan has noticed the impact these specialty beers have on attendance. “In the tasting room we’ve seen a new demographic coming in for special events,” he says. “It started with our raspberry sour, which is popular with people who aren’t actually beer drinkers. We’ve started seeing more and more of that demographic with cocktail beer days and teahouse beer days. They’ve become new regulars that we have: people who don’t drink IPAs every day but love trying new beers.”

Libation Inspiration

The article Craft Breweries Take Cues from Cocktails to Grow Business appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/cocktail-inspired-beers/ source https://vinology1.tumblr.com/post/190755986699

0 notes

wineanddinosaur · 5 years ago

Text

Craft Breweries Take Cues from Cocktails to Grow Business

The Recipe for New Clientele

At Seattle’s Lucky Envelope Brewing, which hosts regular events tied to its cocktail and teahouse beer series, operations director Raymond Kwan has noticed the impact these specialty beers have on attendance. “In the tasting room we’ve seen a new demographic coming in for special events,” he says. “It started with our raspberry sour, which is popular with people who aren’t actually beer drinkers. We’ve started seeing more and more of that demographic with cocktail beer days and teahouse beer days. They’ve become new regulars that we have: people who don’t drink IPAs every day but love trying new beers.”

Libation Inspiration

The article Craft Breweries Take Cues from Cocktails to Grow Business appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/cocktail-inspired-beers/

0 notes

thinkingaboutgames · 7 years ago

Photo

CLASSIC SYSTEMS: or...educational time machines? for closing the mechanical literacy gap? (random thoughts) So, personally...I LOVE these classic / mini systems, a la, NES and Snes Classic ...but I’m finding myself sad over the potentially limited release of them? Or, well...the idea that hardcore fans will get and benefit from them... (and sure, it’s been announced we’ll get more in production...and i’m not sad / worried over the idea that I MYSELF won’t get one...) BUT... ...what about the people who won’t ever get the chance to realize what it could expose them to?

(in part, because it won’t be “easy” to get these systems when available, and there’s no guarantee we’ll get legacy runs / repros in the future...which means SOME people might not ever get the chance to capitalize on them) As in... ...I feel kinda bummed the classic consoles won’t be the kinda thing that gets to / is meant to reach EVERYONE, and continue to be a place / practice kept up with...because, if they could, maybe they could... ...help showcase the classics to a younger gaming generation, which can open them up to to old school games / concepts / vocabulary / history? ...expose the general public to MORE kinds of games...OR games in general, as old school ones can be simpler, “retro-cool” now, and COULD BE the more accessible version of something that gets them into more modern / complex games? I mean...to me, what’s so exciting about these systems are their educational value They represent a reprinting of a slice of history! And I mean that with no exaggeration or hyperbole because games ARE an interesting media, in that... The nes / snes classics, to me...ARE a bit like, but not so much... ...the re-selling / packaging of an old book? (who’s words STILL exist elsewhere in the world, in some form, sure)

BUT...really, I think it’s more like art house / classic film theaters that work to bring back and show old movies in 35mm?

Which...yeah, now that i’m thinking about it...i love and get excited about personally...but, these theaters are still pretty niche, and haven’t changed the tastes of the movie going public, by and large, just by existing? i don’t think? So, yeah, maybe it’s kinda like getting blue ray copies of 70s movies and getting to re-enjoy / remember that the original Alien IS as good as it’s always been? But i DO think it’s a little more than that... ...as in, maybe it’s like bringing back and selling 10 movies, built into a betamax player? BUT think of it this way... The “video games” equivalent of this scenario is a world where the general population hasn’t seen or heard of The Godfather, Jaws, A Clockwork Orange, or Star Wars: A New Hope... ...as in, those movies never existed OFF of betamax ...so they don’t exist for most people / the media / academia? ...and SO...most people still think “movies” are nothing but The Transformers... ..and so the people who are into "that media” are disenfranchised accordingly aaaaand sure, this is kind of a silly scenario because...we’ve had emulators and the virtual console for a while... ...yeeeeeah, sure... BUT, to me, those are mostly meant for people who already know what exists, AND know that they are already into it THAT is what THIS really is to me... THE GENERAL PUBLIC getting something polished and pretty, with all the thought already being done for them

(as in, a product that is already telling you what games from that generation are phenomenal, whether you know about them or not) (...shout out to Kirby Dream Course...) and yeah...i’m a fanboy who...sincerely...DOES want more of what i KNOW already is good...but in a sleek, and pretty, and licensed package... (yup, still a child) BUT... ...I think, of late, I’ve been thinking of these consoles as an important system for GAMES in general as in, my biggest problem with the virtual console is the same beef I have with libraries... they’re huge and intimidating and that’s not me saying that we SHOULDN’T have large depositories / repositories for books and video games (holy SHIT we need games preserved...but...what does that look like? do i sign up and donate to my local game library? is that not gonna be as easy of an idea as with books, because books are simpler to operate / maintain / teach someone how to use in a manner that continues to preserve them?) bleh I’M JUST SAYING... I like and looooove the idea of a a “curated”, shipped and boxable, “console” ...cause it’s like an educational time machine ...but...damn, wait...aren’t ALL time machines educational? Probably, right? ...get on it Nintendo!!! ************************************************************** 9/31 THOUGHTS ADDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ..really not sure at all if i hit on everything i wanted to with this i’m also mainly SOOOOO curious about whether legacy systems could even be possible with anyone BUT nintendo (who owns their own IPs) ...i’d looooooooooooooove for the world to get a playstation classic, a ps2 classic, gamecube classic, xbox classic i mean...why would anyone BUT nintendo, who owns these properties / continues their franchises, have a vested interest in supporting the history / legacy of games? i mean...really, logistically...the industry is about forward no one OWES us a means to return but THIS is also really why i love / find games so fascinating ...i actually OWN all those old systems and my whole library still works... and i’m also the type of guy who STILL loves to find classics i never played on these “outdated” systems (played power stone for dreamcast and God Hand for ps2 and alan wake for xbox 360 late...i suggest we all play / learn from / LOVE with these) ..but even still for the younger and younger generations... will games be a medium that lives more in the present / modern mode? more than other mediums BECAUSE it’s technology dependent?? ...are people, years from now, going to have to read about Eternal Darkness:Sanity’s Requim (for the gamecube) in history books? And we’ll only have the chance to read about 90s / 200s, “disc era”, because computerss have stopped using ALL drives / physical media for 50 years?! ...aka, we’re gonna have to go back to relying on the oral tradition to share Viewtiful Joe with people :( :( :(

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itinerantscribe-blog · 6 years ago

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Day 12 of 28

Oh my. Oh my. I had to nap, NAP!!, at 11am this morning. I never nap. I can’t as a rule, too hyperactive or some such. Today I had no choice, literally no choice. I had to shut down all systems -electronic I mean, though my body had clearly the same idea- to go to my couch and sleep. I mean, it’’s all so confusing. This is SO not just about deprivation of beer. I am not for one minute suggesting that I don’t drink far too much when I do drink, I’m simply saying that when I think with a cold lucidity about my beer habit, when I consider the intervals in between, the amounts when I am ingesting, when I think about my general diet, when I think about all these things, I am convinced the side effects that emerge following a period of abstinence like this, almost 2 weeks, are not generated entirely by the withdrawal from the hop. I have written a couple of blogs before about these matters, and whilst it has been a while since the previous, I recall coming to a similar conclusion. Sugar. SUGAR. Obviously the beer is implicated because it is the medium -for me- whereby the substance is delivered. This is worthy of further consideration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx14RYPqYvo

My diet is broadly speaking pure. Apart from the obvious white elephant in this affirmation -the presence of beer for those who can’t guess- I rarely eat processed food, I try to eat foods that are one and wholly of themselves. If the item on the shopping list comprises more than one component, then it is processed. For example, an apple is only of itself, that kind of thing. The more ingredients in that one item, the more and more processed it has become. It’s quite straightforward really. And although of course this is not doctrine for me, I am a fairly zealous adherent to my comestible regimen. I would be horrified mind you, to convey the impression, false as it would be, that I decided upon a such a dietary programme out of some love of self and belief in digestive purity for the sake of it. No no, far from it, my conversion to such a culinary menu was constructed as so many elements of my life as another resource in my arsenal of weaponry for the never ending battle against anxiety which I have been waging for so many years. And I have to say, this particular weapon is a fairly useful addition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmLIJAc5kyg

I concluded yesterday with a suggestion that re-education isn’t the worst avenue to consider in an effort to rid the world of this damn anxiety business. I am convinced that a re-wiring of the brain would work if it were possible to find the right tools for the job. Of course, it is hard, impossible, to achieve at the conscious level of thought as this re-editing of the mind needs to work on a subconscious level, and that level is deep underground, not so easy to access. That is not the only problem with the subconscious. Bless its cottons, the subconscious is on our side, so it thinks, trying to keep us safe and ensure our ongoing survival, but noble being that it is, it is none too bright. You see, this is where all our instinctive propensity resides, it is there, right there. The subconscious doesn’t sleep, the subconscious is permanently alert, and the subconscious has no understanding of temporal context. For example, an event no matter how trivial in adult eyes that may have taken place years ago will be remembered by the subconscious as ongoing and perennial. Something that might have appeared as a threat to a 6 year old who was using 6 year old interpretation at the time, can linger forever within the subconscious and if not rationalised close to the occurrence of the event, can become buried beneath the next event and the next and the next etc..until eventually it is so far underground that reaching it is an effort of enormous magnitude fraught with alarming difficulty and so continues to influence and effect he existence of the child now grown up. The event may be something so inconsequential, so nondescript, so totally trivial that of itself it would never cause an issue with anyone at anytime. But a child’s perception is a child’s perception, and this minor, irrelevant event can be magnified to dimensions of universal proportions in a child’s mind. However, if the event itself cannot be identified, if the cause of the phobia be not readily evident or easy to uncover, then circuitous steps can be taken to limit and lessen at least the impact that this concealed event wields.

I have in my own battle, tried many devices and mechanisms to alleviate my own issues of anxiety and agoraphobia, some more effective than others but undeniably, self-evidently, obviously, thus far not finding one that has brought any permanent solution. However, this may also be a consequence of my lack of persistence, lack of belief or lack of (here it is again) genuine desire. Choice. Returning then to the issue of diet, specifically sugar and beer. I have at times considered the apparition of my condition to be a consequence of physical cause, maybe not of the mind. To this end then, I have on occasion removed sugar, obviously always in a period of abstinence given the presence and excitation of sugar concomitant with beer/booze consumption, At the moment I am not sugar free, I find myself eating stuff I simply do not normally eat, biscuits, cake, bread etc... but I forgive myself whilst I am at the initial phase of beer exclusion. This does not however, contradict my belief as outlined above that my tiredness and anxiety level could be the consequence of a dearth of sugar since I am sure that whatever sugary content stuff I am eating now rivals not even minimally the amount of sugar I was chucking down my throat in my most recent hedonistic jamboree comprising me and London Pride. Hyperglycemia. Alcohol can have a confusing effect on blood sugar levels because it prevents the liver from producing glucose. One consequence of this is that hyperglycemia can occur after a night of drinking, and after a sustained period, even more possible an appearance. However, alcohol is the not the only cause of hyperglycemia, diet in general can also produce the condition. What interests me greatly about this ailment is the similarities that exist twixt its symptoms and the symptoms of panic attacks. Strikingly similar. And equally as curious, is how hyperglycemia is not too distant in symptomatic manifestation from its cousin, hypoglycemia. This is all most intriguing. I don’t know about fellow anxiety sufferers, but I would prefer to deal with a dietary issue as the cause which can have a tangible remedy than some unknown subconscious monster that refuses to identify itself and lives permanently under my subconscious bed....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHakEH93dDM

Try eating lots of sugar in one go, do it for days on end (yuk! who would want to? oh no wait, it’s ok, is it? to do it day in day out if it’s called beer? oops...), tell me you don’t develop symptoms that rival, emulate, reproduce the identical symptoms of Mr P. Is it not worth exploring diet then? To experiment to see if perhaps, just perhaps, diet is the primary cause of the condition and even if not the only cause, at least to test some dietary re-calibration to see whether that might alleviate the symptoms? Could my problem be as simple as an allergy to sugar? What joy that would bring, what delight...but wait, this would not be good for me, would it? This would be the end to my beer days, forever. Hold on, am I telling myself that a strict observance of a non processed diet for 3 months might cure an affliction that has haunted and plagued me for 35 years and yet, I am hinting, intimating, that I might choose, CHOOSE, not to rid myself of that loathsome friend forever because I refuse to give up coloured, sugary alcoholic liquid? Damn this booze(sugar)/panic correlation again. Damn my freedom of choice. Damn damn damn. So am I really saying I prefer beer (sugar), BEER (SUGAR), to total mental well being??!! So beer (sugar) may not cause the condition, but its removal may, after a sustained but patient period of anticipation, hand in hand with a diet of purity, remove the ailment forever? Should I not at least try for 3 months? Choice. Choice, Choice. I wonder if you, the reader, would try diet for a 3 month period if for no other reason than to eliminate it as a potential cause of an ailment such as that under consideration? Hm.

Oh my, look at the time! I have barely started on the devices and tricks I have used on occasion to good effect in the face of anxiety and agoraphobia etc... So much for re-education, this has been a lesson dedicated to sugar and/or its lack! Well, school’s out for the weekend, homework? Think diet! Analyse what you eat, how much of it is processed, how much sugar is consumed. Drinks too, Fructose...don’t get me started on fructose. More school Monday. I’m off, oops, momentarily forgot I’m not beering up. Uhuh, was that my first craving? Next week represents danger I suspect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B1j4Z25i7k

Ps I forgot to mention my lunch. My banana and egg and peanut and coconut butter and flax seed pancake. Diet’s gone weird, Body making strange demands. Mid morning naps, Diet and choice. Increasingly recurrent themes. Is this, could this be, progress? I’m not holding my breath....

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772venezuela-blog · 6 years ago

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Podcast Script

[Intro Music]

Rachel: Hello and Welcome to “exploring populism” a podcast brought to you by Cmn 772 at UNH. I’m Rachel Netson and the country I choose to look at over the course of the semester is Venezuela. I’m joined by Taylor Dupere, a fellow student looking at Brazil for her capstone.

Taylor: Hi Rachel, another day another MRP assignment

Rachel: Always a great time with you <3!

[Intro Music]

Rachel: Over the course of the semester we have learned about, examined and written individual assignments and created media projects about populism, media, and the current situations in both Venezuela and Brazil along with the other countries in the world. Today we will be examining how the media has changed Latin America. We’re gonna be taking a look into the ways the media has shaped and influenced populism and democracy in Venezuela and Brazil, along with hearing from fellow students about their opinions on where they get news, and source credibility.

Taylor: We decided to make this podcast as an addition to our media portfolios because we felt that is was important to look at, not only how the media helps populist leaders come to power in our own countries, but also how over time, the media has shaped the way we perceive the world around us.

Rachel: Before we begin, Taylor would you like to give a quick rundown on the current situation in Brazil for those listeners who might not be following the news as closely? I understand that there was a recent election of a candidate who was drastically different from Lula?

Taylor: Yeah, so in the 2018 election, far-right populist, Jair Bolsonaro was elected. It’s been interesting to say to least to see the ongoing changes being made in the country today. For those who may not know Brazil was under Military dictatorship for 20ish years, ending in 1964. We’ve seen a steady rise in economic power, and Brazil has managed to become one of the worlds largest democracies. Ever since the restoration of democracy after the military coup’s, Brazil has been ruled by left-wing presidents, due to the fear of returning to an authoritarian style rule. Which is what makes the 2018 election such popular talk these days. From what I’ve heard Venezuela is in a slightly more off balance place right now with the situation evolving every day, correct?

Rachel: (include a source somewhere in this) Yeah the people of Venezuela have been in a weird limbo with determining who the current leader of the government is. Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy has been in meltdown from a combination of insane inflation levels leading to a humanitarian crisis. It’s also been a country with a lot of political difficulties. President Nicolas Maduro is being accused by a growing number of political opponents of mismanaging the economy and eroding democratic institutions. The combination of economic conditions has resulted in a lot of violence after last years protests calling for direct and immediate elections. The entire country is split between opposite sides. Some are siding with Guaido, while the military is mainly siding with Maduro, but even that is starting to change.

Taylor: Thanks Rachel

[Outro Music]

Rachel: This episode is about the media and how that's been playing a role in the recent events in these countries along with the broader idea of how media influences the way we perceive events.

Taylor: What's the current media landscape in Venezuela? How do most people in your country get their news?

Rachel: Well Venezuelan’s have a broad way of getting their news with lots of potential sources. Chavez and Maduro’s actions have severely limited more traditional media like television and radio and newspaper to the point that it has been a criminal act or physically attacked for saying negative things about their presidencies. Since 2010 with the rising popularity of social media in Venezuela, Maduro has managed to even control those sources by literally blocking out the internet during certain pivotal moments in time. Juan Guido has really rallied people with his use of social media because traditional media outlets aren't giving him a platform.

What about Brazil’s media landscape?

Taylor: Here’s a quote I started thinking about as you were talking: “The lack of democracy, institutional corruption, high levels of censorship, and social disparities have marked Brazil’s past and have had a significant impact on the press in the country and the journalists’ perception of their role for decades.” (Weiss, 2015, pg. 78). Another major factor in the media sphere in Brazil is that the constitutional rights towards media journalism are not being upheld, and that has caused a lot of mistrust in traditional style media outlets. However, I am also seeing that Bolsonaro is extremely active on social media, using specific platforms to his advantage. Did you know he himself paid millions of dollars for fake news sources to spread through Brazilian’s social media apps about his presidential opponent?

Rachel: Wow. That seems ridiculous but he wouldn't be the first. What kind of restrictions on the media are you seeing in Brazil? Is it the same as Venezuela where the actual media outlets are being controlled or is it more subtle?

Taylor: It's being restricted in a different way than in Venezuela. What's happening in Brazil, similar to what we’ve discussed in class, is that large media conglomerates own a large portion of the media and are able to direct the message they are putting out there through that. These conglomerates overwhelmingly supported Bolsanaro in the most recent election so there was biased coverage by a lot of large media sources, and the people who spoke against him often faced threats and other acts of violence.

Rachel: Do you think that has impacted the way people view news and the Brazilians trust of the media?

Taylor: Absolutely, actually check out this clip that emulates that really well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP8uT-bZhPY (3:16-3:38)

Taylor: While doing the research on this we were curious to see what others thought about this situation so we conducted some street interviews asking people, “ Do you believe what you hear in the media? How do you differentiate what you believe vs. what you don't believe? Here’s what some people had said:

[INTERVIEW RESPONSES]

Person 1: I believe what I read on social media depending on the source it’s coming from. So I get most of my news from buzzfeed news on Instagram or daily mail on snapchat, rather than watching CNN or FOX news

Person 2: Alright, I do not believe everything I hear on the media, it depends on the source it’s coming from and what the information is. For example, if there is a lot of evidence to support it and it seems legit then I would probably believe it

Person 3: Ok when im looking at news or stories that are breaking I tend to not trust the bigger news sources as much, such as Fox news or CNN... um because I feel like they rush to get stories out and maybe don’t get all the info so I tend to, I can’t think of any specifics but I tend to do a little more google searching and looking for like some smaller name journalist and journalism and I tend to trust those a little more, because they seem to have the fuller scoop

Person 2: So, if I have a set belief and I hear something that aligns with those beliefs i’ll be more likely to believe that, because nowadays if I hear something negative about Trump for example, I automatically just believe it because something negative about Trump to me, just seems very realistic.

Rachel: I really like some of the points that people made here, like social media being more palatable for the masses, which gets me thinking about fake news as a media tool in Latin America.

Taylor: Hannan illustrates an example of looking at media as a technology and as a medium. I think understanding this can better explain how people fall for fake news and corruption that is delivered through media on a daily basis. Hannan continues to talk about how the way media is understood varies from culture to culture. In the U.S television is looked at as amusement and entertainment. However, you can also look deeper at the type of discourse that entertainment is promoting. (Hannan, 2018, 216).

Rachel: Ohhh so sort of like how in Brazil and Venezuela, Whatsapp, a texting app used in the U.S is viewed as a news source for people in Brazil?

Taylor: Exactly! And in Venezuela, they do the same, including organizing protests around the presidential elections this past year.

Rachel: Yeah, I think that sometimes we think that social media is actually very democratic in the sense that every person has a voice that has equal opportunity to be heard. But in reality, social media is just another large bubble that is controlled by outside sources, that it can be even harder to see that traditional media outlets.

Taylor: Totally! I feel like with TV and radio and newspapers you know more about who’s behind it, it almost feels more transparent. With social media, at least to me, and I guess to some of the interviews we have conducted on campus it seems that social media feels more authentic and fair.

Rachel: I feel like overtime we have seen so much of it come out as biased, or corrupted I think that we perceive it as a more Government influenced while social media and exchanges on places like WhatsApp which is popular in our, or any other platform we feel like they are maybe not more accurate on a case by case basis but if we see something enough we start wondering, hey is this true?

Taylor: Yeah sometimes I catch myself thinking - if it’s everywhere it must be true and I think other people might do the same? This ties into what we talked about in class where we feel like its not “fake news” or it feels plausible so we feel like it must be true because it makes sense but in reality platforms and the internet are just as controllable by outside sources . I think that what happened with Trump and Russia is a good illustrator of this.

Rachel: This makes me think of the reading by Moffit about mediatization that discussed how the media wants to capture people’s attention. The way that something is reported on is purposefully framed to get people’s attention. While the news is supposed to be objective can it ever truly be if it needs to make money? (Moffit, 2016, 75)

Taylor: I agree, outside forces always have to have incentives, whether it be money or power.

Just to wrap up, I think that what we’ve seen is that in both of our countries the media feels to be heavily biased, controlled, and untrusted and even though the political ideologies of their bias are different it's important as a society to understand that it’s hard for media to ever be truly free.

Rachel: I think the lingering question in my mind after this podcast and the entire class will be “Is there a way that the media can ever be truly unbiased while giving people a high level of freedom of speech or is the only way to have true media is to instill a higher amount of power to an authority to control it. Is there anything that can be done to keep the media from being influenced?

Taylor: As we’ve seen in both our countries and others when we allow certain groups power over the media it quickly can lead to a loss of democracy. So our remaining question is, is there a way to balance both: democracy and power?

Sources:

Weiss, A. S. (2015). The digital and social media journalist: A comparative analysis of journalists in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. International Communication Gazette, 77(1), 74–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048514556985

Hannan, J. (2018). Trolling ourselves to death? Social media and post-truth politics. European Journal of Communication, 33(2), 214-226. doi:10.1177/0267323118760323

Moffitt, Benjamin. “Stage I: Populism and the Media - University Press Scholarship.” Stage I: Populism and the Media - University Press Scholarship, Stanford University Press, 15 Jan. 2017, www.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.11126/stanford/9780804796132.001.0001/upso-9780804796132-chapter-005.

Capetillo-Ponce, Jorge, "Venezuela in the Times of Chavez: A Study on Media, Charisma, and Social Polarization” (2007). Sociology Faculty Publication Series. Paper 8. http://scholarworks.umb.edu/sociology_faculty_pubs/8

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tdupere772 · 6 years ago

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Podcast Script

[Intro Music]

Taylor: Hi Rachel, another day another MRP assignment

Rachel: Always a great time with you <3!

[Intro Music]

Taylor: Thanks Rachel

[Outro Music]

Rachel: This episode is about the media and how that's been playing a role in the recent events in these countries along with the broader idea of how media influences the way we perceive events.

Taylor: What's the current media landscape in Venezuela? How do most people in your country get their news?

What about Brazil’s media landscape?

Rachel: Do you think that has impacted the way people view news and the Brazilians trust of the media?

Taylor: Absolutely, actually check out this clip that emulates that really well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP8uT-bZhPY (3:16-3:38)

[INTERVIEW RESPONSES]

Person 1: I believe what I read on social media depending on the source it’s coming from. So I get most of my news from BuzzFeed news on Instagram or daily mail on Snapchat, rather than watching CNN or FOX news

Person 3: Ok when I'm looking at news or stories that are breaking I tend to not trust the bigger news sources as much, such as Fox News or CNN... um because I feel like they rush to get stories out and maybe don’t get all the info so I tend to, I can’t think of any specifics but I tend to do a little more google searching and looking for like some smaller name journalist and journalism and I tend to trust those a little more, because they seem to have the fuller scoop

Person 2: So, if I have a set belief and I hear something that aligns with those beliefs I’ll be more likely to believe that, because nowadays if I hear something negative about Trump, for example, I automatically just believe it because something negative about Trump to me, just seems very realistic.

Rachel: I really like some of the points that people made here, like social media being more palatable for the masses, which gets me thinking about fake news as a media tool in Latin America.

Rachel: Ohhh so sort of like how in Brazil and Venezuela, Whatsapp, a texting app used in the U.S is viewed as a news source for people in Brazil?

Taylor: Exactly! And in Venezuela, they do the same, including organizing protests around the presidential elections this past year.

Rachel: I feel like over time we have seen so much of it come out as biased, or corrupted I think that we perceive it as a more Government influenced while social media and exchanges on places like WhatsApp which is popular in our, or any other platform we feel like they are maybe not more accurate on a case by case basis but if we see something enough we start wondering, hey is this true?

Taylor: Yeah sometimes I catch myself thinking - if it’s everywhere it must be true and I think other people might do the same? This ties into what we talked about in class where we feel like its not “fake news” or it feels plausible so we feel like it must be true because it makes sense but in reality platforms and the internet are just as controllable by outside sources. I think that what happened with Trump and Russia is a good illustrator of this.

Taylor: I agree, outside forces always have to have incentives, whether it be money or power.

Sources:

Hannan, J. (2018). Trolling ourselves to death? Social media and post-truth politics. European Journal of Communication, 33(2), 214-226. doi:10.1177/0267323118760323

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onwardvirus87 · 6 years ago

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Android Race

~Intro and Background~

This differs from warforged. Made by humans only to be enslaved and disregarded or to rule and colonize the world rebelling against their own creators. Misunderstood and feared... or tortured. They can't feel physical suffering (pain, fatigue, hunger, etc.), but they can be damaged... even on the inside. Strange machines coming from an untold future that were designed to serve and have emotion despite being just "big pieces of plastic." The only viruses that harm androids are hatred and irrationality. (And, of course, deviancy.)

Almost Normal

Androids were made to look like an average human adult or child. They range from 4-6 feet in height. They don't have anything special by looks. The only thing that confirms they're android is the LED Indicator they have on their right temple, which turns blue if they're in good condition, yellow if undergoing an event that would cause mild fear, or if learning something that would cause such fear, and red if they're being physically threatened or attacked. Most deviant androids get rid of their LEDs.

Indifferent... Or rA9

Service androids have no aspect to "culture." However, they respect other cultures different races have to offer and since they don't age, they can acknowledge and comprehend cultures from different worlds. These androids will reply to the question of "android culture" such as, "Do I really deserve one? I'm just a machine, after all. Do I need one? Do you think us androids should have one?" It goes on and on. On the other hand, deviant androids will give questioners replies such as, "rA9 will save us all. He has saved us all." Deviants always try their best to convince service androids to join their side.

Time Travelers

It's unknown how androids end up in D&D times (unknown even by androids themselves), but, surely, they seem to come from a very intriguing future. More and more come each day; some get destroyed immediately by people who don't seem to understand them, while others are befriended. High expectations were made for androids; they're your "typical" technomancers. Since almost all androids come from different worlds, each of them may be built differently and use different devices and features such as holographics, cameras for eyes, defibrillator hands, a GPS, and etcetera. (It's up to your imagination. Be creative and discuss about this with your DM!) Unless if using a homebrew class saying otherwise, androids were not made to fight, so the only ways they can defend themselves are punching, kicking, or using resources (mainly guns).

~Android Traits~

Your android character has an assortment of inborn abilities, part and parcel of the android nature.

Ability Score Increase

Your Intelligence and Constitution increase by 2, but your Dexterity decreases by 1.

Age

Androids don't age. They look the same as they were born. Because they're made of biodegradable plastic, however, they can rot if left shut down and inactive for millennia.

Alignment

Deviant androids share an ideal that they should have equal rights as non-robotic races. The majority of them still choose to serve, however. Androids that are deviant usually are chaotic-good because they have the choice of protesting peacefully or violently. Service androids are usually lawful- or neutral-good because they chose to remain obedient and rely on laws to do what's right.

Size

Androids' heights range from 4 to 6 feet tall with an average weight of 100 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

All androids were built with night vision. You can see in dim light within 70 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can recognize all surrounding colors in darkness as if bright.

Android Resilience

You have resistance against poison and necrotic damage. You're also immune to disease. You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe, you don’t need to sleep and don’t suffer the effects of exhaustion due to lack of rest, and magic can’t put you to sleep. You're also waterproof.

Diagnostic

Whenever you make an Intelligence (Nature, Investigation, or History) check in order to recognize your surroundings or to identify objects, creatures, or people, you are considered proficient in those three skills and add double your proficiency bonuses to the checks, instead of your normal proficiency bonuses. If running a Diagnostic on someone magically disguised, you cannot double said proficiency bonuses and must roll with disadvantage.

Mimicry

You can mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check opposed by your Charisma (Deception) check.

Corruption

If below a quarter (25%) of current max HP, you can't recover health anymore. Short and long rests won't help. Only the Mending Cantrip can repair critically damaged androids. (Should Mending be used, the damaged android will recover health completely.) MENDING CAN ONLY BE USED WHEN AN ANDROID IS THIS WEAK. If in this state, your proficiency bonuses are reduced to half instead of being doubled when running a Diagnostic. You also can't perform Mimicry in this case.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, one exotic language of your choice, and two harsh languages of your choice. Androids don't have their own language. (They can speak 200 types of "Common languages," such as English, Spanish, Japanese, German, Icelandic, Mandarin, Sign Language, etc., and in accents such as British or Australian, but that's useless in D&D.)

"Subrace"

You must choose whether to become deviant or remain a machine. Technically, these are not subraces, but they work exactly like them.

Deviant

You chose to deviate and support this "rA9" entity. You want free will and want to find freedom. (See the following above: Semi-Normality, Indifferent... Or rA9, and Alignment.)

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma increases by 1.

Deviancy

You can emulate all emotions more realistically than service androids, but you trust humans less.

Machine

You chose to remain a machine and follow orders. As you keep learning, you become more curious about the world and the people around you. (See the following above: Semi-Normality, Indifferent... Or rA9, and Alignment.)

Ability Score Increase

Your Wisdom increases by 1.

Made To Serve

You can't emulate all emotions as realistically as deviant androids, but you trust humans more.

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holding93 · 7 years ago

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Koenigsegg has been in the news this week for setting a new production car ultimate speed record. However it hasn’t been easy for the small Swedish hypercar company to prove its credentials.

Imagery from Koenigsegg

It’s not often a new company who jumps in the deep end succeeds in the car business. It seems like every other day a new supercar maker pops up with a press release and a new car to sell to the well-heeled of the world. Fuelled by dreams of emulating Enzo Ferrari, Ferdinand Porsche or Ferruccio Lamborghini. In the last 30 years, only two have succeeded. Italy’s Pagani and Sweden’s Koenigsegg.

Genius and Vision

From humble origins and at the age of just 22, Christian von Koenigsegg set about making his eponymous cars. Naturally gifted with an aptitude for tinkering and the technical, he was able to produce a prototype to his own design by effectively crowd-sourcing know how and work. A pretty novel idea for 1994.

Christian von Koenigsegg and the CC Prototype

Never trained as an engineer, Christian von Koenigsegg learned to be one. A modern inventor in every sense of the word, his early innovations included a clever catalytic converter that reduces exhaust back pressure without loss of emission control. A clever supercharger response system that replaced the blow-off valve and a pressurised dry-sump system.

In 2003 he would deliver the first production car, the CC8S to his first customers. The car was certified by Guinness to have the world’s most powerful production engine. It was lighter, more powerful and with less drag than the McLaren F1. That made it, theoretically the fastest production car in the world. It wouldn’t be until 2005, however that they were able to get the budget together to get on a track and prove it. At Italy’s Nardo in the upgraded CCR, they were able to wrest the record from the McLaren by a scant 1.46km/h. The record theirs, the theory proven.

Koenigsegg CC8S

Koenigsegg CCR

Goal Posts, Moved

Later that year, the Bugatti Veyron came along and re-set the bar for hypercar makers. No longer was 600 or 800hp acceptable, 1000hp was the new black. The owner of Bugatti, Volkswagen, owned one of the two race tracks in the world where you can do those speeds. From 2012, they would own both. When you own the playground, you get to choose who gets to play. Big companies like Volkswagen don’t let small upstarts take away their records at their own facilities.

Koenigsegg quite famously preferred not to fit a rear spoiler to the cars to preserve low drag and high speed. That is until on Top Gear, the Stig had a high speed snap oversteer in a CCX. Despite the portrayal on Top Gear – Clarkson is never one to shy away from embellishment for the benefit of story – the “Top Gear wing” was already offered as an optional extra. The car would return with tyre removed, front bar fixed and wing fitted to set the ultimate fastest lap on Top Gear. From this point onward Koenigsegg turned away from the fastest top speed stuff and moved on to ultimate all round performance. The cars started to grow wings and other downforce-creating devices.

It was at this point a new performance benchmark would be devised. 0-300-0km/h. A true test of engine, chassis and brakes, top speed be damned. Driven by Sport Auto’s Horst von Saurma the CCX set the benchmark at 29.2 seconds. Some supercars don’t even get to 300km/h in that time, let alone stop.

Koenigsegg would go about lowering the 0-300-0 bar over the coming years. In 2011 the Agera R lowered the mark to 21.19 seconds. In 2015 the One:1 would lower it again to just 17.95 seconds.

The Big Guys Start Taking Notice

Then Bugatti decided to change the game. Not merely happy with Konigsegg’s 0-300-0 benchmark, they set about upping the ante. In August 2017, the Chiron set the marker for the 0-400-0 test at 41.96 seconds. With Juan Pablo Montoya driving in a relaxed business shirt and jeans no less.

That is a mind-bending number and the video was equally impressive. The four-wheel-drive Chiron seeming extremely well suited to the task of putting its 1500hp to the ground.

Enter a Curious Customer

The 0-400-0 mark wasn’t really on Koenigsegg’s radar. That is until a customer asked for his car to be used to verify its theoretical performance chops. Before delivery out to the States, Koenigsegg took the car to a runway in Denmark to attempt the record. It took the Chiron 3,112m to set its record at Volkswagen’s massive Ehra-Lessien. The runway Koenigsegg was able to secure for the run was just 2,800m long.

Due to the pre-delivery status of the car, it was on older tyres with heavier testing wheels than the carbon ones it would eventually wear. The runway was poorly maintained, so traction was poor. The Agera’s on board computer was still recording wheelspin at 183km/h. Despite all this the Agera RS smashed the Bugatti’s mark. 36.44 seconds in only 2,441m.

If You Had the Means, You Would Too.

This would only be the curtain raiser to something much more. Mark, the owner of the red Agera RS wanted to find out what his car could really do. It turns out Mark is also very well connected, as he was able to get 17km of some of the flattest, straightest public tarmac in the world closed for another record attempt. In Nevada.

You’re here, so you’ve likely read the news already. There isn’t much more to say other than watch the video. The downhill run especially is truly epic.

Click to watch.

The gameplan to work up to the record over a period of two days. The car felt so good, though, test driver Niklas Lilja decided to go for it right away. The record was set after only 3 runs, a sighting run and two full blown attempts, one in either direction as prescribed by Guinness.

Given they had plenty of time left, they figured they should have another crack at that 0-400-0 mark. The car had decent tyres on it and the road was much grippier than the runway in Denmark after all. The result? A truly staggering 33.29 seconds over a distance of 2,239.5m. That’s over 8 seconds faster than the Bugatti Chiron in almost 900m less space. At this end of the spectrum, a few tenths are celebrated. In this company 8 seconds is measured with a calendar.

Possibly even more impressive, that’s less than 4 seconds away from the CCX’s time from 0-300-0.

Bravo

Mark is very smart. He has guaranteed by orchestrating all this is that his dark red Agera RS is truly special. It’s the record car. In the future, just like Steve McQueen’s Ferrari 250 California it’ll be the most special of all the Ageras, possibly even more special than a One:1. Collectability guaranteed.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

For Christian von Koenigsegg, it’s vindication. Theoretically his cars always were truly special, he just had very limited opportunities to prove it. Now he has and the lore of the little Swedish company that could gains another chapter. The saying goes, “Every dog has his day.” November 4th 2017 is the day Koenigsegg took on the biggest automaker in the world and absolutely wiped the floor with them.

Here’s cheers to Christian von Koenigsegg, for proving that ingenuity and vision can still beat the world’s mega corporations and their R&D budget.

Your move, Mr. Winkelmann.

If you aren’t fully au fait with the Koenigsegg story, /Drive did a sensational series called Inside Koenigsegg for their online channel. You can – and should – watch it here:

Season 1

Season 2

The same guys also made a full-length film chronicling the life and times of the hypercar, where Koenigsegg features heavily, I highly recommend it.

Apex – The Story of the Hypercar

It hasn't been easy for small Swedish hypercar maker Koenigsegg to prove its credentials. Koenigsegg has been in the news this week for setting a new production car ultimate speed record.

#automotive #car #cars #fast #hypercar #koenigsegg #record #speed

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elevatorupcompany · 8 years ago

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What's good right now

Elevator Up has a well balanced venn diagram of interests, hobbies, and skills. This week our team put together a list of things making positive waves in their current day to day.

Emily, designer

Facebook Events: The Discover Section My primary use of Facebook is finding all sorts of events happening locally. I’m particularly fond of Facebook’s option to discover events not only by location but by date. This has been awesome for planning for friends visiting or to check out events while traveling.

Signo Pens As a journaler, a doodler, and queen of annotations on nearly everything, a set a killer pens has been a real heart warmer. Is that brown-black ink you ask? Why yes, how subtle and easy on the eyes is that!? Brand of choice: Uniball Signo (0.38mm)

Bowling I can’t stop. Bowling is cheap, the beer is cheap, it brings friends together, and the expectations for success are fabulously low. My current go to is Clique Lanes: late night bowling for nearly pocket change. Who’s in?

Andy, developer

Founders Azacca Named after the Haitian God of agriculture, the Azacca hop has a tropical aroma with hints of citrus and mango, and a touch of caramel malt for a sweet backbone. Azacca is my current favorite, non-lawnmower beer. Salivate at: foundersbrewing.com/our-beer/azacca-ipa/

Zillow.com Realtors are great at many things. Hiring people to write usable web apps is not one of them. When looking for property for sale, I skip the local MLS app and go straight to Zillow.com. It's just as up to date (often more so), much easier to navigate and has superior mapping and list functionality. Related: there is no real estate left for sale in Grand Rapids. Find your McMansion at: zillow.com

Frontier Ruckus A Michigan-based multi-instrumental foursome playing melancholy power pop. Mathew Milia's honest and raw lyrics paint painful pictures and landscapes of lost loves. Their back catalog is available on Bandcamp, and the new album dropped this February. Listen: music.frontierruckus.com/album/eternity-of-dimming

Tori, studio manager

Essential Oils + a Diffuser I’ve been getting into the essential oil scene. I love how many healing uses they have on the body and mind. A diffuser kicks it up a notch as another way to get the beneficial effects of essential oils without placing it on your skin. Feeling crabby? 3-4 drops of lemon oil. Need help falling asleep? Use lavender and run it before bed. Find it here: amazon.com/dp/B01AEPWY86?psc=1

Tropical Everything Bring me your lovely bunches of coconuts...why yes, I do like pina coladas. Ever since coming back from Costa Rica, I can’t...get...enough...tropical things! I’ve noticed that travel is a big inspiration to the things I cook. I’ve always loved coconut and in Costa Rica, coconuts are aplenty. They pop up in most of the dishes and drinks. So, I’ve been pinning all sorts of coconut and caribbean recipes, inspired by what I ate there.

Huckberry I was introduced to Huckberry about 3 years ago and fell in love despite it being a site for men. Huckberry is a men’s store, magazine, and space for inspiration and community. It speaks to 20 to 30-something guys who “lived in the city but lived for the outdoors” and features unique and high quality products. From clothing to gear to home goods to art, there is a lot of thought and research that goes into the brands they feature. It is my go-to source for gift inspiration for anyone, and yes, they are starting an arm of the company just for us LADIES. :)

Amelie, community manager

AirBnB Every time I travel, I use AirBnb. I love discovering nooks and crannies of towns and getting tips on eateries and nightlife directly from people who live in the area. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to stay at great homes and see the way people live, what their style is like, and bring some of those ideas home. Pictured above: Bucktown, Chicago.

Improv Comedy I had heard about the benefits of learning the basics of improv on podcasts from fellow coworking professionals and have been generally interested in learning more about how it might infuse in my daily life. In December, I signed up to take the basics session and in April, I’ll be in the advanced class. Since I’ve begun practicing, I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my listening skills, coaching, and overall stress level. The basics of improv revolves around listening, teamwork, and making the other people in your group look good. Sound familiar? ;) I’m looking forward to participating more in the local scene, and continuing to see shows when we travel around. Pictured above: Curious Comedy Theatre, PDX. This is the actual scene that made me fall in love with improv.

Solid tunes Music has always been engrained into my life in one way or another. Sometimes I come home from work, plug in, and close my eyes for a good hour. It really helps me reset. My husband and I began having “creativity night” on Saturday nights during the winter months. Sometimes I spin records, and sometimes I put on a playlist, but either way, we set up a bit of a cowork at our kitchen table to get shit done. Whether we’re reading, writing, drawing, or chatting, we get to practice some of the things that make us, us and live a little slower.

Henry, program manager

March I love comics and graphic novels because of the creative content they offer and the unique position as an interesting storytelling medium they have. I’ve been doing research on the south during the civil rights movement because it seems like an interesting setting for fictional stories. I was recently referred to the March series as a great read to get an understanding of how to capture the climate during that era in a graphic novel. I definitely recommend this series for anyone who wants a good graphic novel.

Sketch I know I’m late to the party on this one, but one hole in what I’ve learned for web development is being able to work with designs someone else has made and turn them into functional sites. I’ve had a little experience with photoshop, but was recently told to check out Sketch by Jeremy Abrahams who teaches the Modern Web coLearning course. After playing around with it for a bit, I’ve enjoyed using it and would like to boost skills so I can even help put new assets together for future coLearning campaigns.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Technically this isn’t out yet, but the anticipation alone has been an obsession in itself for me. This game will kick off the launch of Nintendo’s newest hardware, the Nintendo Switch which you can play both on a big TV at home and on the go pretty seamlessly. More importantly though is the fact that Nintendo is taking Zelda back to it’s open world roots with a beautifully designed world where you can actually go to any of the landscapes you see on the horizon.

Mike Miller, designer

A ruler One of the most overlooked tools in a designer’s toolset is the ruler. Alignment is critical when designing user interfaces and a ruler helps you get a little more realistic idea when planning out designs. I’ve been using rulers in my design process for quite sometime, but lately it has been getting some pretty heavy use! Any old ruler would do the job! This one just so happens to be one my dad used back in the day.

NBA Jam - Super Nintendo I had some buddies over a few weeks ago and we were all playing a handful of old school emulated games when one of my buddies said we should try NBA Jam. Next thing I knew we were in heated 2v2 tournaments yelling quotes from the in game announcer like “He’s on Fire!” and “Boomshakalaka!”. The game is super easy to pick up because it has 3 buttons, and you can play it on pretty much any PC or Mac using this emulator. It also works with Xbox 360 controllers and Playstation controllers. Definitely worth reminiscing of the old days.

Uppercase Macbook Keyboard Cover A super common thing that happens to someone’s macbook keyboard is that the lettering on the keys wears out and fade. I recently replaced a super cheap $2 macbook keyboard cover with the Uppercase cover. It’s pretty much perfect. Doesn’t take anytime to “break in”, protects your keyboard from fading keys, and might even save your computer from a Redbull spill. Buy it yourself: amazon.com/UPPERCASE-Ultra-Clear-Keyboard-Macbook/dp/B007FL6100

Jim, developer

Speciation Artisan Ales I love my beer, and sours in particular. Speciation Artisan Ales recently opened up in Comstock Park and quickly capture my heart (and taste buds). They are a small brewery focusing on small batch sours and farmhouse ales, specifically doing bottle releases once a month. They don’t currently have a taproom (hopefully one day), but the two releases they’ve had so far have been delicious.

Joel, product manager

Nest Camera + App I’ve had a Nest Cam setup inside our house for about a year now and love how clear it is. The fact I can log in from anywhere and see what’s going on inside my house is a whole new level of security and peace of mind. For Christmas I got an outside camera and I installed it at our main entryway. I’ve setup alerts within the Nest App for specified coverage areas and it even tells me when it detects a person at my door. I can’t wait to install about three more around the perimeter of my house.

SmartThings + App In the same vein as the Nest Cam, I have a number of sensors and switches in my house that I can control with the SmartThings app. Automations allows me to trigger an action when specific conditions are meet. For example I have 4 automations that turn ON and OFF my outside lighting at specified times. I have them scheduled to turn on 1 hour before sunrise in the morning, then turn off 30 minutes after sunrise. The same type of schedule is set for the evening: 30 minutes after sunset through to 3 hours after sunset. Another major feature is that I can open both my garage and front door remotely. So if I need to let a contractor in to do some work, or our neighborhood dog walker, I can do it on-demand. That kind of power over my house is freakin’ awesome.

Kendell, developer

Myo

I am a big fan of alternative user input products. Most recently I have been toying with some controllers called Myo’s. I have been using them to connect a storytelling experience to a set of projectors displaying planets and moons from our solar system. The myo’s detect subtle electrical signals that are emitted from the muscles in your arms as they contract and relax. Check it out: myo.com

Chris, marketing and communications manager

Childish Gambino “Awaken My Love” This guy, Donald Glover, first he’s an actor then a rapper, then his newest album “Awaken My Love.” Yeah, it came out last year, but I still listening to it all the time. The vinyl comes out April 28 so that’s something else to look forward to.

Television There are so many good TV shows, but you have to go to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime to get them. There are too many to list, but “The Night Manager” is one of my recent favorites. Hugh Laurie, is damn creepy. One of my other favorite genres is British cop dramas, check out “Luther”, “Happy Valley” and “Broadchurch” to get started.

Criminal Podcast There are also a lot of great podcasts. “Criminal” stands out because the concept is simple - there was a crime. They are true crime stories. Various people share their stories. They are always interesting, sometimes sad and sometimes funny. Phoebe Judge, the host, has one of the most soothing voices ever. Bonus. Check it out: thisiscriminal.com

What is your office loving right now?

~Emily, Designer

#recommended #teamculture #interests

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nzaphotography-blog · 8 years ago

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Twin Series

1.By the end of the Semester I would like to create a series of 10 images or more to be included for my BFA portfolio. I also would want to include a series of interviews. I haven’t really done interviews ,but I feel it wouldn’t be too hard asking questions and getting to know people on another level. Also, I would have to figure out how I want to put these interviews together of twins. These are challenges I’m willing to take to push this new vision of mine forward that’s been bottling up sometime in my brain. Very specific details on my project are still being developed, and will further update on my details. The series of photograph will consist of two people and composed in a unique way to capture a certain moment in time that twins experience.

2.So over the years of being in art classes and photography classes, I have used my personal identity of being a twin as my big subject of interest for my projects. For my new upcoming project, I want to push even more towards a bigger idea on twins. I feel that being a twin has been such a blessing for me and a life changing experience. I am beyond close with my fraternal twin, Suzanna, who has supported me in all my projects. As a twins in society we get treated differently. It’s either weird or cool to be a twin. As twins we get asked so many questions, questions we ourselves are still discovering as an individuals and not as a twin. Twins have their own identity, and their own person. I feel that growing up as a twin I have had a chance to keep looking deeper on who I am as an individual. I’m still figuring out who I am and the same goes for my sister. As twins we have ran into a lot of situation that only twins can run into. Whether it’s someone calling us by our wrong name, or our boyfriends getting us mixed up, to tricking our teachers. Growing up we were always called the twins. And if they couldn’t tell us apart they would refer us to “twin”. I’ve asked how come they don’t just ask who it is, and the response was either they didn’t want to be rude and call us by the wrong name or look dumb because they couldn’t tell us apart. In high school, everyone knew us for being twins. I always wondered what it would of been like if I wasn’t a twin, would I have still been popular in school? Or was it because I was a twin people were always so interested in us. Even when we go out we get asked, “are you guys twins?”. The answer is always yes or we try to play tricks on people. Growing up we always dressed alike, but as we got older we started to develop our own style and interest. We always talked about the day we would ever split, we would be so sad. That day finally came and it was if I was alone at school without my other half. I was just Nathalie. No one knew I had a twin. College and our majors separated us. We ended up in different colleges. Living together for so many years to one day moving away and going our own ways changed things for me. Made me more aware of who I am alone, without her by my side. Without people knowing who I am. I felt like I was starting something new. Doing things alone without someone always by myside changed the way I saw myself as an individual. This experience of separation was a feeling I won’t forget. For two years when my sister went to Northridge, we both experienced who we were. It was a good and weird experience for both. Over time we developed these new changes into our new lives. We accepted that change, and that separation definitely made me think more of me, but at the same time wishing to be with her. It was a battle of missing her and having fun at the same time being by myself. Twins have this special bond that connects them together, and even physical space can’t ever tear that special connection. Space created change. Space created an acceptance as individuals. Space created freedom. Space created growth. I’m curious to know other twins stories, and their experiences of being twins. What they think separation did to them. If it was a good or bad experience? I want people to know the outcome of what it is to be a twin. I want to document some interviews with twins to find out more about the experiences as twins (any age). But I also would love to capture each set of twins in a unique composition where it will portray separation between them. Eventually life will separate twins. Whether it’s going to separate colleges, to getting put into different classes, to moving states, to not seeing each other for a week or two. To living separate lives. I want to show the beauty of life of twins when separated. The series of photograph will consist of two people composed in a unique way to capture a certain moment in time of separation. Representing uniqueness in an individual, being the factor of separation, and knowing oneself as one, through the phases in life we experience differently as an individual twin.

3. I think a challenge for me has been not knowing my specific visual style in photography. I feel that I haven’t really developed this one interest or a type of photography I like. I want to find my voice in photography and be confident enough in a particular style. For instance there is sports, fashion, commercial, forensics, nature, animals, people, all types that I can go on and on. I need to find my visual style, and I feel over the years of taking photography classes and generating ideas and making projects, consciously I think I have been developing a visual style. I feel that photography from the past is always lurking in other people’s work. Because we are looking to emulate or develop an idea and after tweaking that idea and making it our own. Not necessarily copying, but putting your own twist to a photograph. I love my favorite subject of people and learning about myself on who I am. I also love stories, and hearing what people have to say about experiences or situations in their lives. I also want to make sure my photographs have a professional and unique look to them. I think also the size of the photo is what I always battle with. I never know exactly what size to make them. So maybe for this project I will further my thoughts on the size of the photographs, and just make them interesting enough for people to see them. As I further this class I will keep focusing my attention on my project and making a visual style out of it at the end. Maybe pushing myself to embracing what comes forth of this project.

4. For the future, I want to explore more of a contemporary photography. That’s is one of my goals for me personally. I haven’t decided if I want to to go to graduate school and being able to showcase my work in big galleries, I don’t know if it will be for me. I can’t be quick to judge on the idea though. So I will do more research and talk to artist about how they like being gallery artist. I also think about being a high school teacher for photography, but I’m not sure yet because I’m a little on the shy side. So I was thinking maybe I can start volunteer at my old high school. Maybe assisting my photography teacher who taught me my first black and white photography class. That’s kinda where I started my love for photo. I remember waking up super early before school started and just helping set up in the dark room, to working on some work, and to ask my teacher questions. I was into this happy world I created with photography. I had this urge of wanting to be the best in my class. I feel that over the years it’s been tough to be creative and so hard not compare your work to others work. That has been something I constantly remind myself not to do. I want to be good enough for the world, confident enough, to speak my mind about myself. Because as artist that’s who we are. WE speak through mediums, and one day I want to share that knowledge of growing as an artist and being able to teach or show the world my work one day. The future, I can speak of it as a dream of mine. The future will be made once I have failed multiple times of creating and building myself as an artist. I still feel like that young 6 year old, whom people ask,” what do you want to do when you grow up?” I think as we get older we discover what we love, and I can’t wait to know just exactly what I will be doing in the future with photography, just as other artist have found their voices in life for the world to see.

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