#just in case you were under the impression being in the uk means just snapping your fingers and free healthcare works wonders. nope!

[feline-evil]

It wasn't funny at the time but looking back on it man it is genuinely hilarious how my first attempt at getting diagnosed and getting help with my mental illnessess went.

So imagine if you will the skinniest, most unwell, sleepless looking 18 year old, just real Victorian orphan vibes with permanent shakes and a penchant for passing out in fear if he so much as thinks of leaving the house. I need you to know that's the kind of state i was in when i walked into a doctors office to see one of the oldest men i've ever seen in an employed field. He sits me down and asks me what's wrong, he's the GP at my local doctors; that's a general practitioner, if you're outside of the UK maybe that's not a familiar term. Anyway he's not a psychologist, you don't get to see a psychologist unless your GP refers you! Anyway he asks me whats wrong and i explain to him my long list of debilitating anxiety symptoms, i tell him about not being able to eat or sleep or leave the house; i'm in a bad way at this point in my life, it's not a good time for young jay! Lad doesn't even know he's a man yet! Pretty bad time all round!

And so after i explain to him the situation we get our first of the many funny 'i'm not sure this man is qualified to have this conversation' red flags.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Uh oh.

Well no, sir, on account of the not leaving the house socialisation has been tricky, see?

"Oh you need a boyfriend and some friends, that'll help love :)"

Uh oh.

It is at this point in the appointment we are winding down towards the end of my time here at the doctors, and our next big ol' waving red flag hits like a jet liner. And this ones the big one, the one that gives me reason to tell this story and watch people look a mite aghast.

The GP laughs, claps a hand on my shoulder and says "well don't you worry, we won't be locking you up for this one!"

I freeze in shock.

What did this man just say.

Now, i don't wish to imply that this wouldn't be a horrifying thing to say to a different teen riddled with severe mental illness who didn't have a family history of relatives being admitted to psychiatric institutes, but i am suggesting that MAYHAPS. JUST POTENTIALLY. That was a slightly more horrifying sentence to come out of a medical professionals mouth to someone who has that as a family history in his own living memory! So i lock up in horror, alarms blaring in my mind, wondering how the fuck i'm going to politely and finitely end this conversation and meeting and leave vowing never to cross this mans path again in my life; but i don't get much time to ponder what to do, because here comes the final red flag, that second jet liner crashing right in, the final can of petrol being poured on the burning wreck that is the first appointment i have ever made to talk about my mental health.

This man, a complete stranger, i had never met this GP before in my life, hugs me. It is so uncomfortable, i would not say i am the most comfortable with physical contact from strangers even now nearly ten years later, but then? At age eighteen? This is just about the worst thing that could've happened in my eyes! I do not come from a family that hugs, i didn't not know how to hug back then, in that moment it's awkward and weird and i just freeze and wait for it to end, and then i leave the room with the GP beaming and waving after me like he's just performed a miracle and i'll forever be cured from this point on.

I walk to my mom waiting for me in the waiting room, she smiles and gives me a thumbs up.

GENUINELY it couldn't have gone worse, objectively the funniest awful situation i have ever been in.

[the-hindu-times]

Iliza Shlesinger

Hammermith Apollo 6/12/23

I can't imagine anyone likes going to the Hammersmith Apollo; a full body search (whether you're going to see The Muppet Christmas Carol or a solo stand up) and water confiscation, in the hight of illness season, which turned into a water ban, when none was available inside on this particular night.

The name up in lights on the outside of the veune building read "ILIZA LIVE IN LONDON". As if just a first name was enough, like Beyonce, Kylie or Rihanna. In their cases, you know what they do and they are famous enough to go under just their first name. In this case, maybe it did work out for the best that only her fans knew because if it had "comedy night" displayed, you would may have had people coming along, taking a punt but not understanding anything, if not apart of that one social bubble this show was aimed at.

Of course, everyone here tonight knew the sign was for American comedian and actress, Iliza Shlesinger. And, whether or not it's because her second name may be difficult for some to pronounce on first glance, she could well be the most famous Iliza in their lives, as the £41 unsold seats at the rear of the circle had to be compensated by her charging £88.75 for a selfie to a number of fans who snapped up the opportunity and were patiently waiting at the front of the stage after the show.

Like the most successful comedians, Iliza has stuck within the same genre, so fans know that she will pick up where she left off in the previous tour/Netflix show - people are coming to see the act.

With a two day break since her last gig (in Amsterdam), Iliza appeared on other comedians' podcasts and posted Instagram partnerships with beauty companies to help promote her brand further in the UK; working on whatever she could whilst on the tour. As a final push for merch sales, she wore her tour tshirt onstage, as she stumbled over lines, mixed up words and restarted sentences. With no stage set design at all, like in her previous special, it soon became clear that the stand up performance itself came second to everything else in her day. Whether she looked at it as a promo trip or holiday, with an hour's gig as something to do in the evening, most comedians would have wanted to have stayed sharp and iron out the lines by jumping on at a comedy club on their nights off - Top Secret would have been perfect for her, as it's the exact younger crowd her material is for. I'm sure she doesn't really believe that her generalisations are about the majority of people; she knows they're just about the majority of her audience, which is why broader observational comedians like Michael McIntyre, Romesh Raganathern and Josh Widdicombe can sell out multiple nights, whist her appeal falls short of the venue's capacity.

On the surface, it may seem like she's stuck in the Stone Age, or still believing that all girls want to be Barbie who are wanting to impress a Ken... but judging by tonight's audiance, those ethics are still in existence. Being preached at, in the form of comedy, that you don't have to comply with this, is quite worrying and enlightening; that this ideology, created within this group, is not something relateable from the outside, and hasn't broken out into other genres of people, races or religions. They will, of course have their own definitions of expectations and maybe have their own comedians to act as their saviour from their own inventions too. But if Iliza does fix them, what would her next comedy show be about?

Since segregation has returned to London, and the "diversity quota" meaning that people from different cultures can only live and work together if they fit into the same box, tonight's show felt more like a social commentary of this backwards step, where everyone is being forced to be identical - and this may be true in the selection of major cities she's touring, and why London was the only UK date.

Oh, and Iliza's also noticeably pregnant, just to rub her success in Luisa Omielan's face, a bit more.

Nic Bennett

[outlanderalien]

I don't really talk politics on here but i thought i'd do a quick update for anyone curious on whats happening in the UK right now.

Basically our Prime Minister Theresa May has recently resigned due to her failure to unite parliament behind her Brexit deal that took her years to negotiate.

Her resignation means that the conservative party will have to replace it's leader and by consequence, the countries leader in the coming weeks.

Because of the nature of Brexit, how divisive it is and how it's the top priority for the party, Brexit is what dominates the conversation, so the candidates are being judged on their brexit method.

At the time of writing 5 candidates remain (within the next few days there will only be two)

. Boris Johnson

. Michael Gove

. Jeremy Hunt

. Sajid javid

. Rory Stewart

and here is a summary of their Brexit policies simplified:

. All candidates with the exception of 1 (Rory Stewart) are claiming they will go back to the EU to renegotiate a better deal. Despite the EU insisting the deal cannot and will not be renegotiated

. In response to this, all candidates with the exception of 1 (Rory Stewart) are refusing to take the option of no-deal off the table, claiming that it would be a credible threat to the EU and encourage them to re-open negotiations. However it has been heavily reported on how damaging to the UK a no-deal scenario would be, the EU knows this, so it is unlikely to be a credible threat unless we're prepared for some real self-harm. (no-deal btw is basically crashing out of the EU without a deal and would be disasterous for everyone involved)

. All candidates with the exception of 2 (Stewart and Javid) have claimed it is possible for the UK to leave the EU by the October 31st deadline this year. (Yes, fittingly on Halloween)

Individually:

. Boris Johnson is the current favourite. He has cunningly avoided press and the first debate as it seems clear he has no real plan for Brexit, his popularity is helped by how vague and ambiguous his plans are, so that he appeals to a broader demographic.

. Michael Gove has essentially the same plans as Boris. Famously he knifed Boris Johnson in a prior Tory leadership contest. He is under the impression he can renegotiate with the EU and is keeping No-Deal as a real option.

. As far as Brexit policy goes, all the candidates with a few exceptions are the same. Hunt follows suit with Gove and Boris, Javid is almost identical but he does not push for a Halloween deadline as fully, he wants a deadline but believes they should be flexible.

. Rory Stewart is the only different candidate who believes No-Deal isn't an option, believes that renegotiation isn't an option, but also wants to respect the referendum. So his plan involves setting up a citizens assembly (as seen in the Republic of Ireland) and taking advice from ordinary people randomly selected across the UK on how to handle Brexit, he is essentially pushing for the same deal Theresa May failed to get parliament behind, which is not what conservatives want to hear. Strangely his approach has been most popular with the general public, but it's not the public deciding on the next PM, its the Tory party.

. There have been calls for a General Election, however that would mean months of campaigning, which pushes all Brexit talk back, and everyones sick of Brexit, so most would rather it just be dealt with.

. A snap election could be an option, however that was Theresa Mays mistake during her leadership, she was at the height of her popularity so she sought to increase her mandate, but famously it resulted in a Hung Parliament (no party securing enough seats to enter parliament) and the Conservatives having to buy their way into a coalition with the DUP with a £1billion bribe. So basically it's unlikely the Tory government would seek out a General Election or Snap Election.

If Rory Stewart fails to get into the final two in the leadership race, then it seems were looking at only one outcome, No-Deal. And i'm afraid he is not popular among the conservatives, despite receiving very influential backing.

The final 2 will include Boris Johnson who is, aside from clownish and chaotic, also a compulsive liar. He has been likened to a mini-Trump and was even endorsed heavily by Trump.

---

This is the state of things currently, as things happen i might edit/update information, but in case you were wondering why we're so miserable, look no further then the state of Brexit. If you have any questions, i'd be happy to answer!

---

[qiller-queen]

Highland Holiday (Part Two) // Ben Hardy x Reader

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader

Rating: PG (for now ;) ) Warnings: swearing, drinking

Word Count: 2.7k

A/N: It took me so long to figure out where I wanted this story to go, but I finally have an idea! This chapter’s a little longer than the first one, and there are a few cameos ;-) Read part one here. Let me know what you think!

***

You passed out less than 20 minutes after Ben had left, the hectic evening finally catching up to you. When you woke up later, you felt disoriented and restless. You needed to stretch your legs and there was hardly enough room to stand in your compartment. So, you spent some time changing into a more presentable set of clothes—definitely not in case you run into Ben again—grabbed some work to do, and went to go explore the train.

You remembered that a couple cars down was the dining room, so you decided to go see what was happening there. It was late enough that you had missed formal dinner, so the tables had all been moved out of the way to allow for a more casual set up with armchairs and coffee tables. You picked a chair and set your pile of papers down on the table next to it.

At least I can get some work done so I’m not behind when I get back, you thought, eyeing the substantial stack.

Suddenly, your stomach rumbled and you realized how starving you were. Making eye contact with the bartender, you wandered up to the bar.

“Hey there, miss. How can I help you?” he asked. You smiled, noting the man’s clearly American accent.

“Hi, do you have anything to eat right now? I know I missed dinner, but I’m starving. Are the kitchens open?”

“Well, I’m not technically supposed to have any food right now, but I do know for a fact that the chef still has some under the warmer. Let me ring and ask him what’s still up for grabs.”

“Thank you so much! I really appreciate it, …Joe,” you said, glancing at his nametag.

Joe smiled and nodded as he hopped on the phone to the kitchen

“Hey, I got a lady out here who is really lookin’ for some dinner, what do you got still good to go in the kitchen?”

A garbled response came out of the receiver, and Joe thanked the chef and hung up.

“Well, you’re in luck, because it seems he’s still got some chicken parmesan that’s ready to eat. I told him to bring it on up.”

“Thank you so much! You didn’t have to do that.”

“Aw, sure I did! Who would I be if I didn’t help out my fellow Yank? That’s practically treason. Especially around all these ‘red coats,’” Joe joked.

“Haha,” you laughed, “guilty as charged. Us rebels have to stick together.”

Joe paused as he was wiping down the counter. “So, what brings you to the UK, miss?” he asked.

“Well, I graduated college and wanted to see the world, so I figured here was a good place to start. Now I work as an editor for a publishing company. Been here a few years now, which is crazy. I realized I’d never been up to the Scottish Highlands, so I decided to take a couple days off work and go have a self-vacation. I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m giving you my whole life story,” you finished, realizing you’d been rambling.

“No worries. I asked, didn’t I?” Joe smiled.

Before you could respond, the door to the car burst open and in came a tall man carrying a plate of food and wearing a white coat. The chef, you assumed.

“Gwil!” Joe exclaimed. “Thank you so much for bringing this kind lady her food.”

“Ah, no problem,” said the man apparently named Gwil. “I always keep some extra food ready to go… never know when you’ll be accosted by an angry passenger who slept through dinner!” he looked at you, eyes shining at his joke.

You blushed in response, hoping they couldn’t tell that you’d been napping earlier.

You grabbed your food and moved to eat at your armchair while Joe and Gwil kept chatting. You quickly finished your dinner and realized you had forgotten to bring your phone with you to the dining car.

“Hey Joe, I’m just gonna pop back to my compartment really quickly to get my phone. Can I leave my stuff here?” you asked, motioning to your array of papers.

Joe nodded, “Yeah no problem. There don’t seem to be too many people vying for your spot,” he joked.

You looked around, seeing that he was right. It was well after 10 pm, and the dining car was deserted. You didn’t pass anyone on the way back to your room. Guess everyone’s turning in early tonight, you thought. You grabbed your phone and groaned as you realize you had forgotten to charge it.

Oh well, you thought as you ambled back to the dining car. It will be good to disconnect for the night! Might help you to actually focus, your inner voice tried scolding you. Come to think of it, your inner voice was starting to sound a little like your mom.

Busy giving yourself a mental “talking-to,” you hardly noticed that Joe was preoccupied with another customer as you reentered the car. It wasn’t until you heard someone clear their throat that you snapped out of your reverie and focused on the two men in front of you. The customer still had his back to you, but it was Joe who was trying to get your attention.

“Hey, care for a drink?” he asked, making a drinking motion with his hand. You decided that one drink couldn’t hurt, and nodded to him. Setting your dead phone down on your armchair, you made your way up to the bar to wait for your cocktail. As you came up next to the man already sitting there, you did a double-take.

“Ben?!” you asked, surprised to see the conductor from earlier. He turned to face you, a grin lighting up his face as he realized that it was you beside him.

Just my fucking luck, you thought. Of course. Of course! OF COURSE I run into him again. A simple, non-embarrassing night in the dining car would be too easy!

“(Y/N), fancy seeing you here,” Ben grinned. “Any more mishaps since I saw you last?”

Before you could answer, Joe popped back into the conversation, “You two know each other?”

Ben laughed, and filled Joe in on the circumstances of your meeting earlier that day. You blushed, remembering how much of a bumbling mess you had been.

“Wow,” Joe looked impressed. “Now that is a woman after my own heart,” he said. He handed you your drink—a whiskey sour, you noted—and turned around to tidy up the bar a bit.

“Joe has the most chaotic energy of anyone I’ve ever met,” Ben explained. “You two would get along.”

You opened your mouth, about to protest at being dubbed ‘chaotic,’ but you stopped yourself. Chill, out (Y/N)... Talking to a cute guy is not the time to get combative.

Changing the subject, you turned to Ben and asked, “So, what’s with the no uniform, huh? Playing hooky, drinking on the job? These are all reportable offenses, Ben.”

Ben cracked a smile, and Joe chuckled from the sink where he was washing glasses.

“I’m technically not ‘on the job,’ not right now, anyway,” Ben explained. “When we do these 12-hour journeys, we’ve got do it in shifts, or everybody would be bloody zombies near the end. So, today I worked evening hours and then I just have to do breakfast duty in the morning. Got a bit lucky this time, I think my manager pitied me. He knows I’m not a huge fan of the overnight stuff.”

You nodded, understanding. “Yeah, that makes sense. Don’t want a zombie train!” you joked. Wince.Not funny.“And I guess that explains the civilian’s clothes,” you added quickly, gesturing to Ben’s sweater and jeans.

Ben took a sip of his drink, humming in agreement. “Can’t have passengers bothering me when I’m off the clock. Have to go incognito,” he winked at you.

Your breath caught in your chest.

Trying to remain calm, cool, and collected, you snorted. “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t reveal your secret. Discretion is my middle name,” you said, miming as if you were locking up your lips. Ben smiled, eyes trailing down to where your fingers met your mouth.

At this point, Joe walked back over in front of the two of you. “Hey,” he interjected, looking at Ben, “you will never believe what Gwil told me earlier…”

You took that as your cue to go back to your armchair.

Once you sat down with your drink and your work, though, you found it hard to concentrate on the pages in front of you. You kept glancing back up at the two men at the bar. Joe caught you looking a couple of times, making you blush and quickly avert your eyes.

You had finally managed to read three pages without being distracted when you sensed someone in front of you. You looked up, startled to find Ben standing over you with two drinks in hand.

“Looked like you could use a refill, mind if I join you?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah—I mean no—of course!” you responded, maybe a little too enthusiastically. You moved to take your papers off of the chair next to you and Ben handed you one of the drinks.

You glanced back at the bar, looking for Joe. Ben, sensing your train of thought, explained.

“He ran down to the kitchen to hang out there for a bit. I told him I could hold down the fort here.”

You nodded, still not knowing how to continue this conversation. You felt like you had exhausted all avenues of small talk, and you had no idea where to steer the conversation now.

You looked at Ben. He was casually flipping through your papers on the table, reading them with mild interest. He looked up at you and smiled. You furrowed your brow at him.

He put down your papers and motioned to the pages in your lap. “What are you reading?”

You set them down and sighed. “Well, it’s a manuscript that got turned in to my publishing company. So, I have to read it and decide whether or not it’s worth our time to publish. This one’s pretty average so far, but I’m sure this author has a trick or two up her sleeve. I have a good feeling about her.”

Ben nodded, thinking. “I thought maybe it was some sort of bootleg copy of The Orient Express,” he said, harkening back to your earlier conversation.

You chuckled, shaking your head. “Unfortunately, I am not that meta. Or forward-thinking. Would’ve been a good idea, though. Make this train ride a bit more interesting.”

“Hmm, I don’t know, I think this journey has been plenty interesting so far,” Ben countered, eyeing you pointedly over the top of his glass.

You felt yourself flush under his gaze, glancing back down to the pages in your lap. Looking back up at him, you recalled his distaste for overnight voyages.  “I thought you hated sleeper trains. What could possibly have managed to change your mind in such a short period of time?” you asked, taking a sip of your whiskey.

Ben grinned at you. “Well, when I got off work early and got to continue flirting with a pretty girl, that might have convinced me that I should rethink my opinion.”

You spluttered, feeling your heart rate spike at his blatant compliment.

Your brain was in near meltdown mode. Oh my god, what?! Don’t blow this by panicking and getting weird. Please, PLEASE, for the love of god, act casual.

Trying to quiet your mind and swallow your near spit-take, you looked at him with eyes the size of dinner plates.

In an attempt to regain your composure, you schooled your face into an expression which you hoped seemed unbothered. “Oh, is that what we’re doing?” you responded, raising your eyebrows.

Now it was Ben’s turn to get flustered at your remark. “Oh, well, I—um, yeah I was just—” he stuttered. You cut him off with a chuckle and a hand on his arm.

“Relax, Ben. I’m just messing with you,” you said, smiling at his sudden nervousness.

Ben looked at your smirk and visibly calmed down, slipping back into his previous confident persona. He took another sip of his drink, finishing it.

“Care for another?” he asked, standing and motioning to your nearly empty glass.

You paused, considering it. It was probably close to—if not past—midnight, and you were starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. It might be a good idea to head back to your bed.

On the other hand, you definitely did not want to stop talking to Ben.

What the hell, you thought. I’m on vacation!

Throwing caution to the wind, you nodded. He smiled, grabbing your glass from you.

“Trying to get me drunk, Ben?” you teased.

He laughed, already walking toward the bar. “That depends… are you trying to get drunk, love?”

You grinned, feeling warmth spread in your chest at his use of the pet name.

Walking over and settling into a stool across the bar from him, you watched as he took out two glasses. He started to open all the cabinet doors, looking for the bottle of whiskey Joe had used earlier.

“Are you sure you’re licensed to operate this bar, Benjamin? It doesn’t seem like you know your way around very well.”

Ben looked at you, rolling his eyes playfully. “I’m sure I can manage making us drinks. And only my mum calls me Benjamin. Aha!” he exclaimed as he finally found the liquor cabinet.

“Oh, I’m sorry… is Benny better?” you asked, trying to push his buttons.

Ben groaned as he finished making your drink and handed it to you. “Nobody’s called me Benny since primary school, Y/N.”

“Well, I like it,” you said decisively, stirring your glass. “It suits you.”

You glanced back up at him and there was a moment of quiet as you met his eyes. Ben’s slightly exasperated expression shifted into something different—something heavier. Your breath caught in your throat as you looked at him, neither one of you breaking eye contact. The air around you shifted, the dining car walls closing around you until it felt much more intimate. You felt yourself drawing closer to Ben, leaning over the bar like you were being pulled by a magnet. Ben opened his mouth to say something and you held your breath.

Just then, Joe and Gwil busted open the door to the dining car, breaking the spell. You and Ben jumped at their entrance, your startled heads whipping around to look at them. You took a shaky breath, feeling strangely as if you’d been caught.

“Oh, hey you guys!” came Joe’s chipper greeting. “I didn’t expect you two to still be here.”

“Hey—hey, Joe. Gwil,” Ben said, clearing his throat. A light blush crept up his neck.

Gwil nodded in Ben’s direction, then turned to face you. “Sorry to break up the party folks, but we’ve been instructed to lock up this car—bar included—for the night.”

Your heart sank. “Of course. Yeah, yeah, it must be getting late” you murmured. Ben’s eyes flitted over to you, clearly also hesitant to leave. You opened your mouth to bid goodnight, already committed to the idea that soon you would be meandering dejectedly back to your compartment alone.

Sensing your reluctance, Joe interjected before you could do so. “Hey Ben, I know we don’t technically have to shut down the lounge at night, but I think maybe I left a light on? You don’t mind going down there and checking, do you? Don’t wanna be wastin’ energy all night, especially when there’s nobodydownthere,” Joe said pointedly, looking at Ben with a small, knowing smile.

Recognition flitted over Ben’s face and he flushed a bit more. You looked between the two of them, a little lost at the context of the exchange.

Glancing at you and Ben, Gwil grabbed Joe by the arm. “I believe that’s our cue, Joseph! You two kids have fun!” he said as he started dragging Joe back toward the door.

You directed your gaze at Ben, still confused. He met your eyes, looking excited. “Come on, we should go, too,” he said.

Even more confused than before, you paused. “Go where, Ben?”

“I’m going to show you my favorite spot on this train.”

tag list: @onceuponadetectivedemigod, @deathbyinternets

[prettythoughtful]

I’m coming at you with a little bit of something different today.

First off, the obligatory ‘this is not a sponsored post’ warning. Second off… this is a very womxn-centric post.

Today I wanted to talk about reusable period pads! Huzzah, I know! It’s a ‘taboo’ topic for many, which just goes to show what kind of sexist world we live in (why, oh why, do UK supermarkets place period products in a section they call ‘female hygiene’??), but I’m hoping that this post is helpful to anyone looking to make their monthly period more sustainable and, hey, even more comfortable!!

It wouldn’t be a blog post without a personal story so let me tell you about MY period, so that you have a heads up before I get into the actual thang.

When it comes to looking into new period products it’s obvious you have to take into consideration your own monthly cycle – how heavy is it? How long does it last? How do you feel?!

That last one, for me, is the most important. I don’t know if it’s getting older or just being more aware of myself, but over the last few years my emotions have been more trackable than ever. And with emotions comes feelings about my body and also comfort levels of what is on my body.

I generally have very varying cycle. I can have totally light months and months where it’s like a horror movie down there… tmi? Whatever! And I tend to be ‘on’ my period for 5-7 days (with my heavy day being day 2 and 3).

My usual go-to for period products is pads, because tampons make my body literally convulse. I can’t even think about it… *shudder* and despite my desire to reduce waste and try to be more sustainable it was only recently that I really thought about how awful regular period products are for the environment. I have seen diva/moon cups on the market for a while and I’ve mulled it over and realised if I can’t even think about tampons putting anything else up there is probably not a good idea!

I have also seen period pants like Thinx on the market but they’re expensive. Very expensive, if you ask me.

There’s the argument that, after a while, the cost would even out but I would need to spend hundreds on pants to cover my 7 day cycle… which is crazy.

So the magic that is social media must have known I was in the market for a change and served me some ads for reusable period pads.

A lot of the ones I saw were based in other countries, which I tend to avoid unless I am supporting friends businesses because of shipping costs and carbon footprint issues, but knowing that pads were an option gave me a good base for some Googling and I found a UK brand called Floating Lotus and they sell the pads (see the pics) that you just snap into your pants.

Now, I’ve only had to use them once since I bought them but I can honestly say they are amazing!

The first point is: comfort

I was a little bit worried that I would feel like I was wearing something very visible and very uncomfortable at a time when that’s the last thing I want but it wasn’t the case. Feeling a different type of material down there was strange for about 2 minutes and then I totally forgot.

Depending on the underwear I’m wearing the pads can move a bit so maybe twice I had to slid the pad one way or the other ever so slightly but it was no big deal.

Secondly, how much they hold?

In short; SO. MUCH.

I used to have to switch out a sanitary pad at least 4-5 times a day on a heavy day and on a regular to light flow day around 3 times. I used to think that my heavy days were really bad and let’s not even talk about the night on the 2nd day.

They’re the most absorbent thing in the world and there’s nothing messy about them. I don’t know about you but with regular pads and I’m sure tampons, the switch over can be messy and unsightly but the material of these pads means you never really see the blood? It’s like magic and I’m 99% sure that disposable products are actually designed to not hold a lot so you have to use more of them!

I would never go back.

Lastly, how easy they are to clean.

If you’ve been grossed out at any point of this post you’re not going to enjoy the next part! They’re easy to clean but you have to get ‘involved’. Because I’m gross I actually found this part pretty satisfying to be honest – before popping them into the wash (which is just a normal wash at about 40 degrees with similar colours (or if you’re like me, when you wash everything you own in one batch)), you have to give them a rinse under the tap with cold water. This is where you’ll see how much liquid they hold because you can hold these bad boys under the water and watch how it disappeared into the pad like it’s no big deal… like I said before, it’s like magic. You then get to give them a good squeeze and… well you can imagine the next part. Even better, once washed they dry incredibly quickly so you don’t have to wait long to reuse them if needed.

To cap it all off, they fold up nicely in a little water proof wash bag that comes with them, which is handy. All in all I am so impressed and so annoyed it took me this long to make the switch. Using disposable pads seems so awful and wasteful and gross compared to these so if you’re on the fence about it I’d suggest just going for it. These cost me £25 – as I went for the 6 pack with medium and large option – and so it will only take me about 3 months to break even based on how much I spent each month previously.

Let me know your thoughts and if you’ve made the switch over to sustainable period products.

Until next time!

– Sam

Talking about women things today - reusable period products! If you were thinking about making a sustainable switch give this blog post a read! I’m coming at you with a little bit of something different today. First off, the obligatory ‘this is not a sponsored post’ warning.

[endenogatai]

Depop, a social app targeting millennial and Gen Z shoppers, bags $62M, passes 13M users

The rising popularity of omni-channel commerce — selling to customers wherever they happen to be spending time online — has spawned an army of shopping tools and platforms that are giving legacy retail websites and marketplaces a run for their money. Now, one of the faster growing of these is announcing an impressive round of funding to stay on trend and continue building its business.

Depop, a London startup that has built an app for individuals to post and sell (and mainly resell) items to groups of followers by way of its own and third-party social feeds, has closed a Series C round of $62 million led by General Atlantic. Previous investors HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Balderton Capital, Creandum, Octopus Ventures, TempoCap and Sebastian Siemiatkowski, founder and CEO of Swedish payments company Klarna all also participated.

The funding will be used in a couple of areas. First, to continue building out the startup’s technology — building in more recommendation and image detection algorithms is one focus.

And second, to expand in the US, which CEO Maria Raga said is on its way to being Depop’s biggest market, with 5 million users currently and projections of that going to 15 million in the next three years.

That’s despite strong competition from other peer-to-peer selling platforms like Vinted, Poshmark, and social platforms that have been doubling down on commerce, like Instagram and Pinterest, but on the other hand the opportunity is big: a recent report from ThredUp, another second-hand clothes sales platform, estimated that the total resale market is expected to more than double in value to $51 billion from $24 billion in the next five years, accounting for 10% of the retail market.

Prior to this, Depop had raised just under $40 million. It’s not disclosing its valuation except to say it’s a definitely upround. “I’m extremely happy,” Raga said when I asked her about it this week.

The rise of the bedroom entrepreneur

The funding comes on the heels of strong growth and strong focus for the startup.

If “social shopping”, “selling to groups of followers”, and the “use of social feeds” (or my headline…) didn’t already give it away, Depop is primarily aimed at millennial and Gen Z consumers. The company said that about 90% of its active users are under the age of 26, and in its home market of the UK it’s seen huge traction with one-third of all 16-24 year-olds registered on Depop.

Its rise has dovetailed with some big changes that the fashion industry has undergone, said Raga. “Our mission is to redefine the fashion industry in the same way that Spotify did with music, or Airbnb did with travel accommodation,” she said.

“The fashion world hasn’t really taken notice” of how things have evolved at the consumer end, she continued, citing concerns with sustainability (and specifically the waste in the fashion industry), how trends are set today (no longer dictated by brands but by individuals), and how anything can be sold by anyone, from anywhere, not just from a store in the mall, or by way of a well-known brand name website. “You can now start a fashion business from your bedroom,” she added.

For this generation of bedroom entrepreneurs, social apps are not a choice, but simply the basis and source of all their online engagement. Depop notes that the average daily user opens the app “several times per day” both to browse things, check up on those that they follow, to message contacts and comment on items, and of course to buy and sell. On average, Depop users collectively follow and message each other 85 million times each month.

This rapid uptake and strong usage of the service has driven it to 13 million users, revenue growth of 100% year-on-year for the past few years, and gross merchandise value of more than $500 million since launch. (Depop takes a 10% cut, which would work out to total revenues of about $50 million for the period.)

When we first wrote about Depop back in 2015 (and even prior to that), the startup and app were primarily aiming to provide a way for users to quickly snap pictures of their own clothes and other already-used items to post them for sale, one of a wave of flea-market-inspired apps that were emerging at that time. (It also had an older age group of users, extending into the mid-thirties.)

Fast forward a few years, and Depop’s growth has been boosted by an altogether different trend: the emergence of people who go to great efforts to buy limited editions of collectable, or just currently very hot, items, and then resell them to other enthusiasts. The products might be lightly used, but more commonly never used, and might include limited edition sneakers, expensive t-shirts released in “drops” by brands themselves, or items from one-off capsule collections.

It may have started as a way of decluttering by shifting unused items of your own, but it’s become a more serious endeavor for some. Raga notes that Depop’s top sellers are known to clear $100,000 annually. “It’s a real business for them,” she said.

And Depop still sells other kinds of goods, too. These pressed-flower phone cases, for example, have seen a huge amount of traction on Twitter as well as in the app itself in the last week:

Ordered a new phone case off this woman from depop who makes them with pressed flowers n she sent me this :’) pic.twitter.com/oBtRtQ1MJc

— megan (@__meganbenson) June 1, 2019

Alongside its own app and content shared from there to other social platforms, Depop extends the omnichannel approach with a selection of physical stores, too, to showcase selected items.

The startup has up to now taken a very light-touch approach to the many complexities that can come with running an e-commerce business — a luxury that’s come to it partly because its sellers and buyers are all individuals, mostly younger individuals, and, leaning on the social aspect, the expectation that people will generally self-police and do right by each other, or less risk getting publicly called out and lose business as a result.

I think that as it continues to grow, some of that informality might need to shift, or at least be complemented with more structure.

In the area of shipping, buyers generally do not seem to expect the same kind of shipping tracking or delivery professionals appearing at their doors. Sellers handle all the shipping themselves, which sometimes means that if the buyer and seller are in the same city, an in-person delivery of an item is not completely unheard of. Raga notes that in the US the company has now at least introduced pre-paid envelopes to help with returns (not so in the UK).

Payments come by way of PayPal, with no other alternatives at the momen. Depop’s 10% cut on transactions is in addition to PayPal’s fees. But having the Klarna founder as a backer could pave the way for other payment methods coming soon.

One area where Depop is trying to get more focused is in how its activities line up with state laws and regulations.

For example, it currently already proactively looks for and takes down posts offering counterfeit or other illicit goods on the platform, but also relies on people or brands reporting these. (Part of the tech investment into image detection will be to help improve the more automated algorithms, to speed up the rate at which illicit items are removed.)

Then there is the issue of tax. If top sellers are clearing $100,000 annually, there are taxes that will need to be paid. Raga said that right now this is handed off to sellers to manage themselves. Depop does send alerts to sellers but it’s still up to the sellers themselves to organise sales tax and other fees of that kind.

“We are very close to our top sellers,” Raga said. “We’re in contact on a daily basis and we inform of what they have to do. But if they don’t, it’s their responsibility.”

While there is a lot more development to come, the core of the product, the approach Depop is taking, and its success so far have been the winning combination to bring on this investment.

“Technology continues to transform the retail landscape around the world and we are incredibly excited to be investing in Depop as it looks to capture the huge opportunity ahead of it,” said Melis Kahya, General Atlantic Head of Consumer for EMEA, in a statement. “In a short space of time the team has developed a truly differentiated platform and globally relevant offering for the next generation of fashion entrepreneurs and consumers. The organic growth generated in recent years is a testament to the impact they are having and we look forward to working with the team to further accelerate the business.”

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8204425 https://tcrn.ch/31fTo5u via IFTTT

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 30th September 2018

I said last episode was going to be short (it ended up not being all too short at all) but, honestly, this episode is even more rushed, even more slap-dash and probably even shorter, despite how many new arrivals there are to talk about. The UK Top 40 is feeling really uninteresting for me right now and I think focusing on other projects like my own music, BLAST TO THE PAST and my upcoming year-end lists is what I’ll be doing until January rolls around, or at least something interesting happens. Anyways, that’s enough of me rambling, here’s the top 10.

Top 10

How to describe the top 3 songs in a nutshell? “How?” How is it still here? How is it still being successful? First of all, we have “Promises” by Calvin Harris and Sam Smith not moving at number-one despite a clear lack of any real hook.

At number-two, the runner-up spot, we have “Eastside” by benny blanco, Khalid and Halsey, also not moving despite a clear lack of any real... anything, really.

And at number-three, we have a meme overstaying its welcome, as “I Love It” by Kanye West and Lil Pump featuring Adele Givens is still at number-three in its third week, due to insane streaming.

“Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille unfortunately moves up one space to number-four, which means...

“Body” by Loud Luxury and brando is kicked down a spot to number-five.

“Taste” by Tyga and Offset is hanging in there, not moving at number-six.

“Electricity” by Silk City and Dua Lipa, however, has moved up three whole spaces to number-seven.

In case that was too much excitement, glorified mash-up “In My Mind” by Dynoro and Gigi D’Agostino is staying still at number-eight.

We have a new entry into the top 10 at number-nine, with “All I Am” by Jess Glynne, making way for the album release.

Whilst all this is happening, however, “Falling Down” by Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION debuts at number-ten, and man, I don’t want to talk about this, so let’s just skip straight to the Climbers first.

Climbers

There’s one of them, and it’s only a five-space increase for “Lost Without You” by Freya Ridings, entering the top 20. Good song and all, but geez, those are all the notable climbers? That’s kinda sad, and telling of the charts right now.

Fallers

Now this is where it gets slightly more interesting. First of all, Eminem: “Lucky You” featuring Joyner Lucas is down five spaces to #13, whilst “Fall” lives up to its name, plummeting 12 spaces to #25. Just to be fair to Em, however, I might as well mention “RAP DEVIL” by Machine Gun Kelly leaping off a cliff down 15 positions to #30. Hip-hop and R&B didn’t have a great week overall, actually, with “FEFE” by 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj featuring Murda Beatz down six spaces to #34 and “God is a woman” by Ariana Grande falling nine spots to #39, while EDM suffered as well, as “Don’t Leave Me Alone” by David Guetta and Anne-Marie jumping down nine spots to #27, and “Rise” by Jonas Blue and Jack & Jack NOT living up to its name as it slips down six spaces to #38. Oh, and “Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer is making its way down the charts, eight spaces down to #37. It had a good run.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Adding to Eminem’s losses is “The Ringer”, dropping out from #17, joining “Ay Caramba” by Stay Free Get Lizzy featuring Fredo and Young T & Bugsey out from #40, “This is Me” by Keala Settle and The Greatest Showman Ensemble out from #35, “One Kiss” by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa out from #39, “Solo” by Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato out from #38, and very sadly, “Panic Room” by Au/Ra and CamelPhat out from #34, as one of the many, many drop-outs this week, making way for our SIX new arrivals. Let’s get into them, starting with a name I haven’t heard in years.

NEW ARRIVALS

#40 – “Guiding Light” – Mumford & Sons

So, you remember Mumford & Sons, right? The somewhat insufferable folk-rock band that had a major mainstream burst in the early 2010s because they were... actually a pretty weird time for pop music, but great for indie pop, which I guess Mumford & Sons can creep under. I’ve never necessarily been a fan of Mumford and his sons, but I’ve never listened to a full-length project either, so I can only form opinions off of the hit singles and, yeah, they don’t do much for me. So, has this new single given me any hope for your next record or at least any desire to listen to it?

Yeah, no. Hell, no. This really sucks. The dude’s voice is more nasal than ever, and there’s no rhythm in the constant guitar strumming and poppier piano melodies. It just feels all too still for what it is; I appreciate the electric guitars in the mix after the second verse, and the chorus isn’t necessarily a bad hook, it’s just that the song is monotonous and unfinished. The transitions are choppy, the songwriting skills are simply not there, some synths are pushed into the bridge for no reason, and more importantly, it’s almost cluttered, especially in the final chorus. This could have used some polishing but that’d probably be even worse – then it’d also be boring, and, yeah, I’d rather have it subtly infuriating.

#31 – “Better” – Khalid

Oh, Khalid, how I love your mellow voice and how I hate your hit-and-miss production. I hated “Love Lies” and “Eastside” for just feeling like bland, dull re-hashes, but “Young Dumb & Broke”, “Location” and “OTW” really hit the mark for me, so, with this new single, I’m curious to what he brings with the table... and unlike “Love Lies”, Khalid wins the battle of similarly-titled hit songs against Post Malone, as under that bouncy trap percussion, simple piano melody, female spoken word vocal samples and the seductive murmuring from Khalid is a real groove in that bassline, which I really like. That hook is catchy and fun too, with the added finger-snapping in the bridge just being the cherry on top. It’s not a masterpiece by any means, and I really would like some more natural percussion or some more intelligible vocals from Khalid (although I do like how they’re treated in the vocoder during the final chorus), but it’s a pretty great R&B track, with some subtle throwbacks to classic 90s music of the same genre (the talkbox) that I appreciate, that I simply do not have much to say about. Khalid will go down as a legend for making some of the most blandly fantastic music, I’m telling you. I recommend it, but don’t expect to exactly remember how it goes.

#21 – “No Stylist” – French Montana featuring Drake

So French Montana really does have a surprisingly large fanbase here in the UK, or at least sizeable enough for him to pretty frequently debut at similar positions. This track in particular, however, had the help of a Drake boost, meaning it could have potentially debuted in the top 20, and probably will rise to the top 20 next week or so. Does it deserve that? No, of course it bloody doesn’t, it’s a French Montana song. Sure, the Latin trap-inspired beat is okay and I do like the guitar loop, but the repetitive autotuned chorus with falsetto Montana is pretty freaking awful, the vocals (and to an extent, the instrumental) is mixed horribly, and Drake’s contributions are basically nonexistent – his verse is as short and cookie-cutter as a Drake verse could potentially be. This would be a waste of anyone’s time to listen to. You can get better Latin-influenced trap, you can get better Drake and you can get better music, full stop. Skip this.

#14 – “Let You Love Me” – Rita Ora

Rita Ora has never exactly impressed me as much as I think she should. I hated “Girls”, but a lot of her work is just mediocre and plain, which is typical of a UK pop girl with consistent success, but also pretty exhausting as a critic having to talk about her every few weeks, and this new single from her upcoming album isn’t really any different. It reminds me way too much of benny blanco’s “Eastside” for its own good, mostly because similarly to that song, it follows that recent washed-out, minimalistic tropical sound without adding any twist or great execution to give it any point in really existing... Rita Ora’s vocals are really not great on this, and no matter how much the finger-snapping and synth explosions in the chorus and drop (as well as that weird reverse instrumental moment) try and desperately add anything new to the song, it doesn’t succeed and this is just another disappointment from Rita Ora. Sorry, but this isn’t it.

Wow, four songs in a row, all of which, of varying quality, are not worth talking in-depth about, incredibly forgettable and most importantly of all, not interesting, on either side of the spectrum. I have nothing to talk about when it comes to Rita Ora, Khalid of French freaking Montana, however I do have a lot more to say about this next artist (and I’ve already said a lot).

#13 – “KILLSHOT” – Eminem

Weeks ago, we reviewed “RAP DEVIL” by Machine Gun Kelly, a great instrumental ruined by sloppy flows, a garbage hook and some really pathetic disses. It didn’t even seem worth Marshall’s time to return and hit back at Kelly, and I don’t think he even did that here – his bars aren’t consistently top-notch, the beat is just a pretty typical trap-rap beat that I heard on Kamikaze about 13 times, and he could have of dug even harder into MGK (especially with that shovel he had in the “RAP DEVIL” music video), but Eminem, even when he has a couple blunders, rarely ever fails with diss tracks, as he knows right where to hit them. He starts the song mocking some of MGK’s stranger disses, like how his beard is weird, before going straight into the verse, where somehow he sounds pretty awesome whilst blatantly lying about having relations with Rihanna, because, of course he does, it’s Eminem. On top of interpolating his hit song “Stan” to reference Kelly’s constant complementing of Em on “RAP DEVIL” and older Tweets, he brings up how Eminem’s age, although being referenced in “RAP DEVIL” frequently, was completely irrelevant, as at 45, Em still outsells Kelly... by a freaking landslide. His flow switching up throughout is pretty fantastic, and I love how the song works outside of the diss for the most part. He also lands some essential Eminem diss-track lines, such as, uh, asking the victim what he’s eating?

Are you eating cereal, or oatmeal? / What the f***’s in the bowl, milk? Wheaties and Cheerios? – Eminem, “KILLSHOT”

Your mouth is open, you’re disgusting, what the f*** you eat for lunch? What, you munch a bunch of Crunch and Munch? – Eminem, “Big Weenie”

Although it’s best we just don’t mention “Big Weenie” at all...

Pippity-ka-ka-poo-poo! – Eminem, “Big Weenie£

Some of the highlights of “KILLSHOT” include lines about how Em made his career just to destroy it a week later (which seems currently to be entirely true seeing as how Kelly has been doing since), and him going as far as to just briefly develop old rumours into borderline conspiracy theories about how Diddy shot 2Pac (although he IS just playing, as he clarifies later on), although not all lines hit. Kelly’s not exactly a “mumble-rapper”, Eminem criticising Auto-Tune is hypocritical and the “dictionary” hashtag rap line is just bloody stupid. He ends off pretty effectively, though, saying that Kelly should “leave Em’s d*** in his mouth and keep his daughter out of it”, referring to a few tweets Kelly made about a 16-year-old Hailie a few years back. Oh, and I can’t forget my personal favourite line:

How you gonna name yourself after a damn gun / And have a man-bun?

#10 – “Falling Down” – Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION

Okay, yes, as much as it sickens me to see two tragic deaths being milked by the label so blatantly without any care for the fans or the original artists’ wishes and how we’re replacing an openly gay rapper’s verse with someone who nearly beat a gay man to death in prison for looking at him, as well as putting him on the same track as Lil Peep, who stated several times before he died that he didn’t like X, just to add insult to injury, and as much as it sickens me to see the scripts flipped after the release, as ILoveMakonnen and each rappers’ families covering up the fact that it is graverobbery due to label pressure and their fear of bad publicity is frankly disgusting on the label’s part, I’m trying not to care because I feel like too much attention on that will cloud my judgement on the music, and, well, like most of X’s music, it’s hard to separate the art from the artist. Listen, I love this beat to death, the synths and guitars are so cutesy and fun, but Peep’s vocals perfectly contrast them in their rough emo angst (no, X adds nothing at all worthwhile to the track until the interlude, but we’ll get to that). It’s a fun emo-pop bop that although I feel guilty doing so, will probably be listening to... or at least I would, if he didn’t have an annoying spoken word interlude with X talking about Lil Peep’s death, and how it intrigued him to watch interviews and collaborate, which parallels a certain situation with X, who will soon be featured on hit singles by Lil Wayne and Kanye. Oh, and the fact that I’m pretty sure Peep says “Ko’” in referral to ILoveMakonnen on the chorus, which does kind of put me off considering Ko’s no longer there, but that’s not an issue and I could be easily mishearing “come” as Genius lists the lyrics as currently.

Conclusion

Okay, so, six new arrivals, four titles. Eminem would get the Honourable Mention for “KILLSHOT” if not for the implications of “Falling Down”, but with them, he gets Best of the Week. A tied Honourable Mentions between Lil Peep, XXXTENTACION and Khalid for both “Falling Down” and “Better” sounds like a nice compromise. French Montana and Drake clearly earn Worst of the Week here, for “No Stylist”, but the Dishonourable Mention for Mumford & Sons with “Guiding Light” is giving them close competition. See ya next time!

[first-and-ten]

2017 Week 3 Recap

Wow.

Week 3 was like the 2016 election: None of the results made sense, and everyone was very angry at donald trump.

The shows of solidarity were so vast in range that it’s hard to unpack it all. We had teams not leaving the locker room because they are united against racism. We had teams not leaving the locker room because they didn’t want to address the issue. We had a military veteran who is pro-protest and anti-racism stand in the tunnel with his hand over his heart during the anthem, both because he wanted to and because it was part of the terms of his endorsement from USAA, only to later regret that his choice was misconstrued by people wanting to frame the protests as anti-miliraty. We had teams intending to stay in the locker room but being dragged onto the field by the league/network. We had teams kneeling all together before the anthem and then standing with linked arms while it was sung. We had singers kneeling. We had fans booing their own team for kneeling. We had teams with some players kneeling and some standing and some raising fists.

I have many mixed feelings. The Steelers, for instance, were by my estimation just masking their own discord by not appearing for the anthem, while the Seahawks I truly believe were all in on saying ‘this is what we think of your anthem.’ Teams like the Broncos didn’t really have a united front, leaving the team culture as open to expression but on the whole apolitical, with Actual Angel From Heaven Brandon Marshall playing successfully alongside Guy Who Thinks White Supremacy Is Just An Opinion Derek Wolfe. Honestly, the dust is still settling.

One thing I do know is that this all is happening within the confines of capitalism. This is one more instance of the NFL being about the money: going against trump is marketable, so the owners will make symbolic gestures. Lots of people are tuning in, checking out who did what. Next week, they’ll be back to unabashedly exploiting labor and supporting wealth inequality and opportunity gaps.

Teams that need Kaepernick: America, BAL, CIN, CLE, IND, JAX, MIA, NYJ, CHI, MIN, CAR, NYG, ARI, SF

Hot seats: Marvin Lewis, Hue Jackson, Chuck Pagano, Todd Bowles, Mike McCarthy, John Fox, Sean Payton, Ben McAdoo, Bruce Arians

Teams on Bye: N/A

LAR 41 - 39 SF [L] Game ball: Melvin Gordon From my preview: “The Niners haven’t even scored a touchdown yet, but I think they can catch the Rams tired on a short week. Either that or they’ll get shut out, one of the two.” Smart. I was up against Sammy Watkins in fantasy. Ugh. In the highest-scoring game in TNF history. Why. Wade Philips, why must you betray me in this way?

BAL 7 - 44 JAX [L] Game ball: Blake Bortles somehow “If I had any guts I would pick the upset. The Jags have more of a home field advantage in the UK than they do in Florida.. The problem, though, is trying to come up with a way that the Jags are gonna score. It’s just not gonna happen.” Genius. If you had told me that both Flacco and Bortles would sit out the last quarter of this game, I would have assumed Bortles threw 5 pick-sixes and Flacco got injured, not that Bortles was sitting on a 40-point lead and Flacco was deemed less worthwhile than Ryan Mallett. 

HOU 33 - 36 NE [W] Game ball: Tom Brady, because Why is it that absurd parity in the NFL never applies to the Patriots? They were down 5 points at 3rd and 18 on their own side of the field with 45 seconds left, and they won the game by 3. The Pats defense has never let a rookie have the game DeShaun Watson had, which is I guess encouraging for everyone outside of New England but especially the Texans. Houston was up in Brady’s face all game, including a Jadeveon Clowney fumble return score in the first half and the two throws that won the Pats the game.  Brandin Cooks finally looked like the #1 WR the Pats needed him to be. This offense is rolling, and if they keep winning on days when they don’t play well it’s another easy path to the #1 seed.

NYG 24 - 27 PHI [W] Game ball: Jake Elliott I’m not sure whether it was actually his plan or whether he just saw the idea on twitter and thought it was a good out, but OBJ’s explanation of his dog peeing TD celebration as a reference to the sons of bitches comment is actually quite clever. Especially if the peeing is a reference to... Well... Anyway, that celebration came after the first of two mind-blowing TD catches Beckham pulled off. Without him making those plays, the Giants would have scored 8 fewer points, meaning Jake Elliott probably wouldn’t even have had to kick the longest field goal (61 yards) in Eagles history to keep us from overtime. All this to say: PAY THE MAN! HE IS YOUR ENTIRE OFFENSE!  The Eagles are a threat to Dallas in the division, and their running game made progress technically but it also lost Darren Sproles when he broke his arm and tore his ACL in the same play, which is likely a career-ending injury at over 30 years old. Godspeed, Philly.

ATL 30 - 26 DET [L] Game ball: Devonta Freeman I was SO CLOSE! This thrilling game came down to the wire, and when Marvin Jones appeared to score the game-winning touchdown with 8 seconds on the clock, I thought I was a genius. But a review revealed him to be down at the half-a-yard line, and it came with a ten-second runoff, ending the game. Should a review in the final seconds come with a runoff? Sure, the Falcons would have an equally legitimate case if the Lions were allowed to line up on the half a yard line with 8 seconds still on the clock. But would the Lions have gotten another play off in those 8 seconds if the play had been called dead on the spot? After what Stafford did against the Cowboys a few years ago, winning on a fake-spike-QB-dive with no time remaining, you can’t convince me the game should have been over. Maybe run an untimed down? There’s no easy solution to this, because you essentially have to take as much time as you could reasonably assume it would take to get set for a play off of the clock. That’s anywhere from 6-ish seconds to a full minute.

MIA 6 - 20 NYJ [L] Game ball: Josh McCown somehow “Could easily be a trap game, but based on the first two weeks I think it’ll be pretty easy for the Dolphins to run all over the Jets.” Don’t let those 6 points fool you, this was a shutout. The score was 20-0 for the entire second half. The Jets, after getting run all over for two weeks, finally showed up and stopped Jay Ajayi. Jay Cutler couldn’t carry the team, and Josh McCown actually made some real plays. 

NO 34 - 13 CAR [L] Game ball: Drew Brees “The Panthers defense has been impressive, allowing only 6 points so far, but they’ve played Brian Hoyer and Tyrod Taylor, so take that with a grain of salt. I’m picking Carolina because the Saints have struggled there, but this could easily end like 10-21 the other way.” Yeah, Brees shredded Carolina. Panthers, you have some real worries. Get Cam right and then just restart. I wouldn’t put it past the Saints to start shaping up before falling into a midseason slump and finishing out strong. That is their pattern. 

PIT 17 - 23 CHI OT [L] Game ball: Jordan Howard “Yeah, Ben struggles on the road, but defense travels, and they have depth to cover for Watt’s absence. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mitch Trubisky’s first snaps in this game.” Ben struggled indeed. This game wouldn’t even have been close if the Bears hadn’t gotten Beebe’d on a blocked FG return to end the half. What I forgot was that the Steelers’ annual road loss to a future 6-10 team is a law of the universe, and that John Fox doesn’t need a goddamn QB.

TB 17 - 34 MIN [L] Game ball: Stefon Diggs This was a stupid one, I should not have trusted the Buccs defense after one game. This Vikings offense is baffling, because it is taking subpar QBs and making every game their best game. After last year, though, I am not trusting them until at least halfway through the season.

CLE 28 - 31 IND [L] Game ball: Jacoby Brissett Brissett lit up the Browns, and we’re back to square one. The Browns’ points almost all came in garbage time. DeShone Kizer got them back in the mix but threw a pick on 3rd and long with 8 seconds remaining. I think it mostly goes to show how far the Browns have to come: Right now they just need to get through the season with one quarterback and win more than one game. 

DEN 16 - 26 BUF [L] Game ball: Tyrod Taylor I thought this could happen. The Broncos outplayed the Bills for much of the game, but without getting a real edge there was nothing for them to lean on and the mistakes piled up. Lots of false starts and miscues. There were receivers left open in the secondary and poor decisions from Trevor, and a couple of bad luck things too, like getting flagged for a silly prank and some tipped balls that landed where Buffalo wanted them. No shame in this loss, I just hope we know what we need to do to prepare better for the road and play more maturely.

SEA 27 - 33 TEN [W] Game ball: DeMarco Murray That Murray TD run was the longest run allowed in the Pete Carroll era. The Seahawks defense is cracking under the strain of carrying the team. And now Doug Baldwin is out. 

KC 24 - 10 LAC [W] Game ball: Kareem Hunt again Predictable, TBH.

CIN 24 - 27 GB OT [W] Game ball: Aaron Rodgers duh Was there any doubt, when the Packers were down 21-7 late, that this was gonna happen? Rodgers did two things he’s never done before: beat the Bengals, and won an OT game. He did so with some incredible throws, I mean the margin of error on the game-tying pass to Jordy Nelson was like half an inch in either direction and a split second window of time. Nice for the Bengals to get back into the end zone, but they are still in some shit. The near-miss this week has to translate into a win next week.

OAK 10 - 27 WSH [L] Game ball: Kirk Cousins “Could be a harder one for Oakland than expected, as I really don’t think much of their defense, but in the end they are just a significantly better team.” Washington came out and embarrassed Oakland on both sides of the ball. The receivers DC fielded were making plays left and right. Just a bizarre night where a supposedly inferior team shut down a high-class opponent, I guess. 

DAL 28 - 17 ARI [W] Game ball: DeMarcus Lawrence As I expected, the Cardinals gave their best performance yet and hung around for a little, but got outpaced by Dallas. The Cowboys run on swagger, and they got it back on Monday night. Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald may not be totally finished, but if Arizona can’t even win when they’re both clicking that’s bad news.

Record this week: 6-10 Record this season: 24-23 Locks record: 9-2 (Survivors used: ATL, SEA, NE) Upsets record: 4-9 2014 pace: 33-15 Pickwatch leader: 33-14 (Patrick Schmidt, Fansided)

NFL Title Belt: WSH (defended from OAK)

DSA candidates: KC, ATL

MMA candidates: NYG, CIN, CLE, SF, LAC

The Room Where It Happens: N/A

Fallen Tributes: N/A

FANTASY CORNER

Danger Squirrels 120 - 204.3 Team Kabdebo [L, 1-2]

Ugh, bizarro week hit fantasy too. It was pretty much over after Thursday when Sammy Watkins went off, but it just got worse. Christian McCaffrey chooses now to take over Jonathan Stewart? CJ Anderson takes a backseat to Jamaal Charles? Paul Richardson runs up the score? Marcus Mariota outscores Drew Brees? I have some thinking to do. Siemian the Finals 127.28 - 167.67 Soviet Skulls [L, 2-1]

I decided to start Stafford over Rodgers, and will not do so again. Tedd Ginn and Mommy Graham had a fun time trolling me. Thursday was a nightmare for my defense. The two things that went right: Duke Johnson and Zach Ertz. 

[luxus4me]

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This week's 'Skim: Google decided to become the world's biggest job search platform; Snapchat introduces location-sharing maps to encourage users to meet up in real life; Music.ly's makes a foray into original programming with big partners that you'll need to pay attention to; LinkedIn makes comments more expressive; Instagram Stories user growth skyrockets. Also: how to add links to your brand's Instagram Stories; America's love for GIFs and their 30th anniversary; and much more...

Skim for your weekly social media briefing!

1. Google decided to become the world's largest job board last week

No more need to scour countless job websites like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Monster to make sure you're seeing the latest job postings and matching your needs. Google just did it for you.

The Internet giant added some features to its search so that it now aggregates job listings from all those sites, and it can even set up alerts and email notifications for users, all under the umbrella "Google for Jobs."

Google says it's not paying to index the job listings, and that monetization, aside from regular ads, isn't currently in the works. We'll see how long that lasts.

VIDEO

2. Snapchat releases new location-sharing map feature

It's called Snap Map, and it's a new way for users of Snapchat to meet up IRL (in real life) by enabling location-sharing, making users appear on the map for friends to see. Snap suggests the new feature is meant to help users discover and get inspired to go on new adventures. Those with privacy concerns can either disable it completely or temporarily block it via Ghost Mode.

Snap Maps will also incorporate location-based Stories, meaning users now have another way to discover snaps they might otherwise never see unless they dig into the other buried features of the app.

The Snap Map rolled out to all Android and iOS users on Wednesday, so check out the video to see how it works:

VIDEO

3. Music.ly enters original content game with Viacom, NBCUniversal, and Hearst

The music-based social network where users create, share, and discover short music videos, is working on original content with the likes of Viacom and NBCUniversal.

Music.ly members create and share content all the time—often with their faces on camera—so it makes sense that the original content plans be interactive: Users respond to the shows with personal responses using hashtags.

For now, Music.ly's 500 million users won't be exposed to ads during the programs, nor has the app paid publishers to create the shows, but we can certainly consider it a significant test for the viability of Music.ly in today's race toward social network TV-like shows.

4. LinkedIn users can now add images to their comments

Although the social network's senior director of corporate and product communications makes it sound like LinkedIn's invented the next Snapchat Story, the ability for users to add images to comments on LinkedIn is indeed a notable change for the social network, and brands should take note.

Users can now provide more detail—whether infographic screenshots or bits of a whitepaper—that help engage others on posts and illustrate their contributions or questions.

5. It looks like the Snapchat stock skeptics may have been right

After briefly trading at over $25 per share, Snap Inc.'s stock price fell to its IPO level of $17 last week, a sign investors continue to be nervous about the app's sluggish user growth.

As has been the case with Twitter, such struggles could lead the social network from being able to attract top talent, which might be why Snap has itself commissioned studies to highlight how engaged—and thus valuable—its users are.

But, with worrying declines in downloads compared to previous years, Snap might have to do more to reassure Wall Street.

6. Facebook unveils new, mobile-focused tools for marketers

The social network took to Cannes last week in part to introduce marketers to new tools on its platform meant to help brands test and distribute the ads they make in Creative Hub.

Creative Hub lets brands and agencies more easily create Facebook and Instagram ads online, and the first major update gives those parties a snapshot of video performance and insights so marketers can optimize their creatives for mobile devices.

The second major update lets brands and their agency partners create—and distribute—ads directly on the platform itself, avoiding much back and forth or reformatting needed when normally sending creative assets between parties. Check out the video of how it works.

Have you given Creative Hub a shot?

7. Instagram Stories still growing like wildfire

In case you were wondering, Instagram Stories added 50 million users in just two months, marking accelerated growth since the social network overtook Snapchat Stories back in April.

Instagram also changed its policy on live videos, and now lets users add them to their Stories, meaning they no longer disappear after broadcast but can instead live on the platform for 24 hours.

So now here we are: 100 million more people are using Instagram's copycat version of Snapchat Stories than Snapchat's, and that makes us sad, but also impressed.

8. How to add a link to your brand's Instagram Stories

It's time to spice things up in your brand's Instagram Story. The Facebook-owned social network started rolling out the ability for verified accounts to link to Web pages last month, and slowly and quietly expanded that feature to business profiles that have more than 10,000 followers.

From starting a Story and adding the link to editing and publishing, Social Media Examiner has great ways to drive traffic to your blog, shake things up with new types of content, and promote your products or services in a new way with links on Instagram Stories.

9. It's the GIF's 30th birthday, and Americans are more in love with GIFs than ever

June marks 30 years of GIFs. That's right, we had no idea they were that old, either, but a new study from Gfycat—the largest user-generated GIF platform—shows that 63% of Americans use GIFs. Even more impressive, 39% make their own!

Fully 70% of those surveyed who didn't know how to make their own GIFs would like to learn, so if your brand hasn't yet taken advantage of the comic relief a GIF can provide your social media content calendar, you're not alone!

Inspire yourself with one of our personal favorite GIFs from the old days:

10. We'll wrap with Google's toughening stance on extremist content

The world is getting concerned. Extremists are remaining unknown to authorities despite red flags on their social media pages, and so European countries, including France, Germany, and the UK, are considering legislation to hold social networks responsible for being too lax on extremist content. Germany has already adopted such legislation.

Responding to the pressure, Google has published an op-ed in The Financial Times to highlight just how the company is leading new efforts to fight against online extremism.

The technology titan will use increased machine-learning technology to identify terrorism-related videos, add up to 50 new "expert" NGOs as flaggers of inappropriate content across its platforms, take a tougher stance on controversial (but unblockable) videos by adding interstitial warnings to them, and expand counter-radicalization efforts with a "Redirect Method" that use targeted advertising to divert could-be radicalized individuals to anti-terrorist messages and videos.

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