#like someone at disney was going to see those and publish the next round of eu novels

[duhragonball]

Continuity

I’m still reading Star Wars comics from the original Marvel run of 1977-1986.   Last night, I made it to the Return of the Jedi adaptation, so now I’ve read all the issues set between that movie and Empire Strikes Back.   As I expected, these comics (#45-80) feel a lot more like authentic Star Wars stories than the pre-ESB issues (#7-38).   The biggest plot hole that I noticed was that Luke still has his lightsaber throughout this period, despite losing it on Bepsin. 

It occurred to me later that this wasn’t necessarily a mistake.   There’s a deleted scene from ROTJ which shows Luke assembling his new lightsaber right before the mission to save Han Solo from Jabba the Hut.   This strongly implies that Luke didn’t have a lightsaber of his own between Episodes V and VI.   This was further supported by the ROTJ radio drama, produced in 1996, which incorporates the deleted scene into the story.   There, Luke expresses frustration with how difficult it is to build a lightsaber, and then he finally realizes that he should have been using the Force to assemble the pieces.   I haven’t read the novelization of the movie, but maybe it was touched on there as well. 

  Later sources indicated that building your own lightsaber is the final ritual for completing your Jedi training.   This is shown in the 2002 Clone Wars cartoon, where Barriss Offee assembles her own saber on Ilum, under the supervision of Luminara Unduli.  I’m pretty sure this scene was inspired by Darth Vader’s line in ROTJ, when he observed that Luke’s training is complete after checking out his badass green lightsaber.   The implication is that building your own lightsaber is difficult enough that Luke would have to be a Jedi Knight just to pull it off.

But in the early 80′s, none of that lore existed, and it would be a simple matter for writers to assume that Luke had no trouble at all getting a spare.  What I find strange is that no one bothered to explain where this spare lightsaber came from.    It’s like the writers just assumed he never lost the first one, but that’s crazy.

Really, the artists on the original Star Wars comics never seemed to be able to keep track of the lightsabers to begin with.    In the early comics, they paid no heed to the color schemes or hilt designs at all.    Not that I would expect late 70′s artists to really worry about props from a movie that had just come out, but they kept coloring all the lightsaber blades at random, and drawing the hilts way too short and thick.  Luke and Vader looked like they were holding soda cans.   The art started to get more true to the movies when Tom Palmer got involved, but one thing I started to notice was how the artists would draw Luke and Vader’s lightsabers on their belts, even when they were holding them, ignited, in their hands.   It was like the artists recognized the lightsaber hilts as part of the characters’ costumes, but they didn’t understand what they were.    I can’t really blame them for this, since the big column of light was what really drew everyone’s attention in the theaters, and it wasn’t like they could look up hilt schematics on Wookieepedia like you can now.  

Anyway, it struck me as kind of interesting how something minor like that can start off as an oversight, and then be easily corrected, or magnified into a major plot hole.    It’d be pretty simple to explain Luke’s between-movie lightsaber. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi had a spare tucked away somewhere, and Luke had been keeping it in storage just in case something like this happened.

Yoda had a spare, and Luke took it with him when he went to Bespin, and put it inside R2-D2′s lightsaber compartment for safe keeping.

Luke found a new lightsaber on a mission.

Luke built a new lightsaber to replace his old one, then lost that guy, requiring him to build the green one in ROTJ.

Luke found/constructed a replacement weapon, but it’s actually a knockoff “laser sword” and it doesn’t work as well as a genuine Jedi design, but it got the job done until he could do the job right.

I find it curious that no one ever bothered to tell any of those stories, though.   The Expanded Universe era of Star Wars multimedia seemed determined to sew up as many continuity problems as possible.   Some writer in the 2000′s did a story to establish that Jedi would swap lightsabers as a gesture of mutual respect, just to explain why Mace Windu’s action figure has a different lightsaber design than the one he has in the movies.   I’m not too worried about this stuff, and I don’t think Jo Duffy or David Michelinie were too worried about this stuff when they wrote Luke carving up Stormtroopers in Star Wars #45-80, but between 1994 and 2008, there were people working for Lucasfilm who were paid to worry about this stuff.   I’m genuinely surprised that no one ever got around to penning Star Wars: Luke’s Spare Lightsaber: The Lobot Chronicles: Dark Tidings.

It’s the little things like this that get lost in the shuffle, I’ve found.   When you read a Star Wars novel or comic book, the major characters are always very consistently portrayed, and the story always sticks very closely to the groundwork laid down in whatever movies were around at the time.   Star Wars #45-80 excelled at this.   Every issue was either about the good guys searching for Han Solo, or dealing with a crisis big enough to pull them away from the search for Han Solo.   I was disappointed that they didn’t spend much time at all having Luke work on his Jedi training, or trying to make sense of Darth Vader being his father, but I think Marvel knew the next movie would address that, so they knew not to wade too deep into that stream.  

The stuff that gets changed the most is the minor characters.   I read one issue where they basically established that Wedge Antilles never made it off the base on Hoth in ESB.   He and “Nice Shot” Jansen had to take cover in the AT-AT Luke blew up, and then they lived in what was left of the base while they waited for the imperials to clear out.   He was stranded there for months, and it was a pretty cool story, but I’m betting that later Star Wars writers decided to ignore this, because they wanted to use Wedge in other stories during that period.  

General Tagge’s another interesting example.   He was the guy on the Death Star in Episode IV, the one who warned that the Death Star was vulnerable while the Rebels had the stolen plans.   Tagge’s kind of a walking continuity error to begin with, because everyone kept getting him mixed up with Admiral Motti, the guy who sassed Vader and got choked out for his lack of faith.  In the Archie Goodwin run on Star Wars, Tagge was killed in the movie when the Death Star exploded, but his brothers and sister turned up as recurring villains with a grudge against the Rebels and Vader alike.  Flash forward to 2015, when Disney took over Lucasfilm, and in the new continuity, Tagge survived the Death Star’s destruction because he happened to leave  right before it went to Yavin IV to get blown up.   This was done mainly to set him up as a rival to Darth Vader in the 2015 Darth Vader comic.    I guess they figured there was no reason to invent new characters when they could just salvage some of the officers from the movie.  Tagge feels more authentic than his siblings because we actually saw him on film.   He’s a “real” Star Wars guy, while rest of his family are just cartoons.    I think that’s the attitude anyway.    Back in 1978, they were probably eager to create new characters because they had tons of world-building to do.   So the 2010′s Marvel comics don’t square with the 1970′s Marvel comics at all, especially where the Tagges are concerned, but Darth Vader’s dealings with them feel pretty consistent.   

The reason I bring up all of this is because I used to think that the continuity in Star Wars was never terribly complicated.   When production of  The Force Awakens got started, Lucasfilm announced that they were rebooting the whole Star Wars canon, declaring all the Expanded Universe content as “Legends”, which no longer counted as official continuity.  The only hard canon sources from now on were the movies, the Clone Wars TV series, and anything published after that announcement.   Naturally, all the post-Return-of-the-Jedi stories would be off the board, which only made sense to me, seeing as Force Awakens would contradict it.   But I figured the other stories could still be made to fit together somehow, since none of them had anything to do with Rey or Kylo Ren or the First Order, or whatever.   

But really, it’s been like that all along.    The novels and comics would introduce some idea, and others would build on it, and then George Lucas would override it with his next project.   Then the writers would have to pick up the pieces.  The 2008-2013 Clone Wars TV series trampled on a lot of continuity from the 2002-2005 Clone Wars books and comics, primarily because George Lucas worked on the TV series, and he was the final word on this stuff.   That announcement in 2014 pissed off a lot of Expanded Universe fans (so much that they bought a bunch of billboards to complain about it), but it was kind of inevitable.   They’ll probably have to wipe the slate clean again around 2040 or so, because there’ll be enough new movies that the comics and novels won’t align with them.

I sort of half-joke about my own fanfiction getting this kind of treatment.   My goal is to write stories that could fit into the established continuity, but I can only work with the continuity I know.    With Dragon Ball, that was easy, until Dragon Ball Super got underway, and Akira Toriyama started writing new stuff.    It was pretty easy to write my own female Super Saiyan, until DBS introduced a couple of their own, and now I have to wonder if they’ll say or do something that might contradict my own take.    Likewise, this Broly movie might establish some new lore that I need to take into consideration.    I can write new material to work around those things, but the stuff I’ve already written is pretty much locked in.    My private joke is that in any of these new animations, a character will just stare at the screen and coldly announce that “Mike’s fanfic never happened.”  

But that’s pretty much what Lucasfilm has been doing to the novel and comics writers for over forty years.    “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” would have been the official sequel to Star Wars if Empire Strikes Back hadn’t been funded.   Instead, Dengar and Bossk looked at the screen and said “Alan Dean Foster’s novel never happened.”    Return of the Jedi killed every Luke/Leia shipper’s hopes and dreams.    “Oh, those fanfics never happened, my young friend,” Ben Kenobi said from beyond the grave.    Attack of the Clones wreaked all sorts of havoc on Boba Fett’s backstory.   The Force Awakens wrecked the Skywalker-Solo family tree.   “Han and Leia only had one kid, and I’m gonna kick his ass!” Rey shouted asskickingly.   And on it goes.    I read that one writer resigned after they retconned all the stuff she had set up about Boba Fett’s home planet, but that’s the way the game is played, unfortunately.   

Me, I’m just writing my stuff for fun, when it comes down to it.    I like to think all the continuity can be fit together, but the reality is that there’s too many redundant pieces, so they can’t all be part of the same picture.  You can either have Tagge or his brothers, but not both.   You can decide to keep Ben Solo or Jan and Jeice Solo from the EU novels, but not both.    Or you can do an AU, I guess.    They’re all AU’s when you get down to it.   

I suppose that, no matter what, I prefer my own assumption that Luke just didn’t have a lightsaber between Empire and Jedi.    I’ve read too many stories about how there’s more to a Jedi than his lightsaber, and how the best Jedi never use them at all, so it makes sense to me that Luke had to make due without one, and use the loss to force him to refocus on his training.    While the others searched for Han, he was doing cool Jedi homework that he should have been doing on Dagobah, and he purposely waited until he was finished before building a new lightsaber.   That just makes too much sense to me, even if some other version is presented.   But the other stories are still fun to read.   They don’t have to be canon to be enjoyable. 

[stupid-stew]

i took notes on the art stream dana did tonight in my own way, yes this is also what my school notes look like so my formal apologies

dana didn’t have many friends or anything in college (self defined recluse)

king is the hardest character to draw due to his specific skull shape

dana loves pokemon and the king resemblance is a coincidence, and she drew everyone to be RIPPED

XENA THE WARRIOR PRINCESS WITH THE ABS LMAOOOO

young entrepreneur out here art queen getting that bag WHY WAS SHE MAKING SHIP ART OF HER CLASSMATES FOR MONEY AT THE AGE OF LIKE 11 IM SOBBING

king ruined the sand castle :(

the mcdonald’s coffe, it sucks apparently

insomnia dana supremacy, felt that

DANA WINS ROUND 1 (against her will)

side note i think i need to start watching more anime, that’s just for me the remember tho

“let’s get weird”- dana terrace 2021

“give us the most uncomfortable furby suggestions please”- also dana terrace 2021

FANFICTION JOURNALS CAN WE GET THOSE PUBLISHED

hard time communicating outside of drawings (one of us 👹)

toh is script driven, sicknasty

her test was turned away SPILL THE TEA

dana proposes to furby suggestion giving chat member

8months struggling for job

turned away from power puff girls boooo

“i called up a friend and we had a drink and i cried :(“ -dana

FURBY WITH HUMAN ANATOMY

YES YES YES MITCHELLS YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

the director had to fight to make the furby scene happen and sir we appreciate it

“androgyny is beautiful”- dana, about a furby

yes girl let jesus take the wheel on that anatomically correct furby

WHY WAS SHE TRYIKG TO TEACH HER FURBY DO CURSE THATS SO FUNNY

“fuck you! fuck you!”- not dana’s furby

$80,000 in debt for this

“shit shit fuck shit”

“as good friends, as disney would say”

dana trying not to lose her job

“AH GOD NO THE FEET THE FEET”

straight black coffee you psycho

DANA LOOSES TO THE CURSED FURBY

HAHAHA TINY NOSE IN THE SIGIL

cannot cook, girlboss, win dana with food

CATBOY SHREK

catchphrase? “AAAAAAAHHH”

scared of spiders

do not wake the cat

“is that a pile of garbage or is that ur self esteem after i fucking demolish you”

-dana terrace 2021

the iconic “byeeeee” was difficult

why can’t she draw shrek

“i need validation please jesus christ”

-dana terrace 2021

someone buy this woman the cat gamer headphones alex hurry up

she does not like the booth but she does it for us thank you queen

dana fainted getting a stick n poke rip

AWWW SHE GOT STEVE BLOOM THATS SO CUTE FOR HER

SHE DISLIKES FANTASY???? BOI WHAT THE HELL BOI

at least she’s having a good time making her own gross little fantasy land, improvise adapt overcome

dana unlocks the idea of things being done in different ways and have them all be good for the masses

“limitation breeds invention”

“wow ur really wise dana”

“….thanks dawg”

“well i didn’t have friends… no one laughed.”

i want the little comics of her pets

cat person dana

DANA WINS CATBOY SHREK

awww little stick and poke on her ankle

does not celebrate her birthday

OOOH THE HAMMERHEAD IS HER FIRST ONE I LOVE THAT ONE

#mood bunny

KERMIT ON STEROIDS

“how can we make this weird” GIRL IT IS KERMIT ON S T E R O I D S

HER LITTLE LAUGH IM SOBBING

this is literally psychological warfare

dana has not watched the muppets but she knows him drinking the tea so winning

DANA THE ANGST QUEEN LMAO

she’s proud about her making dipper and mable fight

DANA ANIMATED FOR NEXT WEEK MARK UR FREAKING CALENDARS

hooty is the owl house canon?

i wish the owl house was like a creature that would have been so funny

CAT APPEARS

season 2 is outline heavy when it comes to the writing

dana knows what she wants for season 2 and we love that

execs up the wall on season 1

DANA LOSES MUSCLE KERMIT

dana has not found the character porn! keep it up girl! stay over there!

oooh bike queen

SWING DANCE OH MY GOD

TAP DANCING

THIS WOMAN IS AN ICON I LOVE HERRRR

yes get that energy out girl

ddr stan, loses to matt braly at gravity falls team bowling hang out

cat is sad :( give her a snack :(

AWW GHOST HAS ASTHMA omg kinnie moment

conspiracy theory enthusiast when intoxicated

vaccination queen

does not believe in ghosts, kill me girl i’ll haunt you don’t worry i’ll prove it

DOG WORKING IN A CAFE

“the ow house get ready to get some boo boo”- this other guy because it made me cry

“you’re gonna have to pay me to write shit because i don’t work for free”

not a music person

DO A FLIP

dana do a flip for charity please i’ll donate like an organ or something

she can canonically do a flip and she’s not gonna show us this is homophobic

AH FUCK MY STREAM CUT OUT

her neighbor is parking yes get it

draw left hand

while holding pen wack

do it in online version of ms paint

“MS pain”- dana not finishing her word

and stick and poke

show us the work stuff dana >:(

an ARTIST

“he’s a strong independent dog”

“4 minutes 20 seconds 😏 h e h e h e”

WHY CANT WE SEE HER HEADBANG THIS IS SO RUDE

not the muscle pulling girl not now

“also dog”

CHAMPION DANA

IMAGINE DANA CALLING UR ART CUTE

H E L P THE FURBYS I CSNOT

ghost gets rejected

“he’s not impressed with ur bullshit”

catra shrek fan girl moment

dana has probably done drugs

“i am a fan of waluigi”

AN ITALIAN POLITICIAN SMACK TALKING THE OWL HOUSE LMAOSJB

note to self dana will only marry you if you look like kermit the frog

also dog comes from a land where dogs eat people at starbucks

LOWES AD

“he’s making out with it! he’s using tongue!”

there are bouncers in cafes where also dog comes from

dana has worked the cash register

someone make real witch merchandise

Q AND A YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

hooty is he has a very he has more he has a backstory it exists it’s written out but we might not ever get it because it’s just for her dana please i am on my knees

would play dnd if she could

favorite episodes haven’t even aired but currently is echoes of the past or keeping up a fear ances because they’re personal especially a fear ances

TOO LATE FOR EXTENDED SEASON THREE BOARDING HAS STARTED IM GOING TO CRY

SPIN-OFFS SHORTS AND COMICS STILL ALLOWED IM LITERALLY DEAD ON THE INSIDE

mentally she is thriving with the show and it’s going to end well 🙏

“it’s just my voice :(“

BYEEEEEEE

[leomitchellart]

So… about this latest Inktober controversy….

Time to begrudgingly chuck in my two penneth… (Remeber you can always press “J” to skip this post altogether)

As most of you may or may not know, Alphonso Dunn released a Youtube video wherein he publicly accused Jake Parker, and creator of the Inktober challenge, of plagiarising his book. Both of these men are public figures, artists specialising in pen & ink. In the video Dunn looks at the preview pages and flip through footage of Parker’s “Inktober All Year Round” and says they draw many similarities in the illustrations, language and layout that he used in his own book, “Pen & Ink Drawing”. Parker’s book was set to this month. Hense why Dunn only used footage and not a physical copy.

Since the video’s release, the art community has been very spilt down the middle. The book’s publisher has halted the launch of Parker’s book until the matter can be investigated. Even DeviantArt cancelled their own Inktober event thing (I’ll admit I don’t keep up with these things DA keeps doing). Parker has since released a statement in the matter. Now it’s up to the courts to decide what’s happening next. The video itself is an hour long, but it’s crucial to see it yourself. 

People are, understandably, outraged after seeing it. This seems like a shitty thing to rip-off Dunn - not to mention stupid. Since Dunn is the more popular pen & ink artist with more social media followers and name recognition. Many have called to boycott inktober and condemn Parker. I’ll admit, I was right alongside them at first, at least for feeling outraged. The similarities are there. But if YMS’s Kimba video has taught me anything, it’s that, even if an accusation of plagiarism may be obvious at a cursory glance, sometimes it’s important to take a more critical eye and do more research to learn that things aren’t as cut and dry as they first seem. If there’s a lesson I can take away from the internet as a whole, it’s that no one thinks about the consequences of mob mentality.

The most common defence of Parker is that because they’re both books about pen and ink drawing, then they’re inevitably going to be similar. I’ll admit that, when you pick-up so many art books, a lot of them will cover the same basic grounds of materials, tutorials, strokes, techniques etc. The parts about rendering textures on spheres and cubes isnt new. Look up “texture study” and you’ll see so many examples of artists rendering these kinds of things digitally. I’ve also noticed a common theme of people more formally educated in art pointing out how none of these are original. Everything down to the steps and illustrations are things they’ve learned from years ago. Since I'm a pen & ink artist, inspired by my love of comics, I have quite a few books about inking: Dunn’s included. I own both his books and still highly recommend them. I didn't even preorder Parker’s book. Ironically because I didn't think it could offer anything new that my other books hadn’t already.

While Ethan Becker took the time to cross-examine Dunn and Parker’s books with several others, there weren’t many of the ones I actually owned. So I looked to my shelves to see what I could find. Books like:

“The Art of Comic Book Inking” by Gary Martin & Steve Rude

“How Comics Work” by Dave Gibbons & Tim Pilcher

“The DC Comics guide to Inking Comics” by Klaus Janson

“Making Comics” by Scott McCloud

“Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics”

I’m sure there’s plenty more examples out there. I was planning to go through all of these and take pictures. But ultimately that’s not the core point of these post. Plus it would’ve taken WAY too long and this post itself, is long enough.

Of course, none of the them are 100% close to Dunn’s in the way they’re displayed. Not as close as Parker’s could be considered. That being said, I know Dunn is trying to claim that he invented these techniques. The nucleus of the issue is how similar they are in terms of order and how these pages are displayed. Some I can chock-up to standard practice, while others seem more coincidental.

If there’s one thing I’m adamant about, it’s that I think that Dunn should’ve messaged Parker first before making the accusation public. Some try to dispute that this would've made it easier for Dunn to be “silenced”, whatever that means; but that sounds a bit conspiratorial to me. Ideally, you confront him about it in private, if he makes any threats or blows you off, get your lawyer on the phone and then make the video. Not only is it the more civil thing to do - but it’s the smarter thing to do. This is a serious legal matter, not just internet drama. While I’m sure Dunn had no intention of tearing Parker down or getting a mob onto him, that’s unfortunately what’s happened. A backlash both from the general artisan community and several companies. Wherein it was left to Parker himself to make this an official legal matter. If Parker’s found not guilty, then this could easily leave the gate open for him to sue Dunn for damages, loss of revenue, defamation of character or whatever else, should he see fit. As could the publishers, given how this affected their sales. Companies responded to the accusation of the video alone, before an investigation could be launched. Sure, it wouldn't be “acting the bigger man” but he’d be well within his right to do it. Dunn showed that Jake has mentioned him before, shown admiration for his career and referenced him in other posts. If it comes to light in court, that Dunn is even cited as an inspiration or source in the book itself, then it’s case closed. 

Then there’s the other possibility that Parker might not have done this on his own, but that he has a team behind the book. If that’s the case, the most I can accuse Parker of is being a hack. I worry Dunn has kneecapped himself for just how badly he’s handled this situation. Made worse by him not having an actual physical copy to assess and just had footage of preview pages to go on. So far, the circumstances don’t seem on his favour. 

I don’t think ill of Dunn. I do think he believes he’s been wronged and no malice in his intentions. I just think he’s made some critical errors on how to handled this. As for Parker himself, I couldn't give a donkey’s doo-dah about him. I’m sure you could accuse me of playing devil’s advocate earlier, but to me, he was the guy who released the annual prompt list. If it really does turn out that he’s a plagiarist and had malicious intent, then fuck ‘im. I never regarded him as an inspiration of mine or paid much attention to him outside of that. It was the community that made Inktober what it is. I’ve never met Parker. Maybe he’s a cool guy? Maybe he’s a bellend? I don’t know.

Granted this isn't the first time Parker has proved himself to be a controversial figure: - Last year people were upset about him trademarking (not copywriting, as many have erroneously claimed) the word “Inktober” and some artists were stopped from selling their related work or zines. Parker would issue a statement: claiming the takedowns were a mistake of “overzealous lawyers” and it’s just a matter of the logo being trademarked. People can sell their Inktober works and even mention they are Inktober-related. Just not use the official logo. On the one hand, from a business standpoint, I get it. It’s the bare minimum you need to do to protect your IP, especially when you have a store. BUT, like most people, I don’t like how, what’s intended as a community challenge, has slowly become more of a brand associated with one man. Hardly a surprise it left a bad taste in so many people’s mouths. But, since it doesn't actually effect anyone’s ability to take part in the challenge, outside of personal principle, I went ahead with it the previous year. 

 - The year before, when asked if one can do Inktober digitally, Parker said the following:

I know some are still bitter about that, but speaking as someone who inks traditionally and digitally, this came across as needless whinging and blowing things out of proportion. Claiming that Jake had derided digital artists and said they were invalid etc etc. Take it from me, challenging yourself to try out different methods to ink traditionally can greatly improve the work you do digitally. It’s like how learning traditional fundamentals of art can still be applied to digital. Plus he never said “No.” he just gave valid reasons about how it makes it a different experience. That said, if you’re someone who can’t afford any kind of inking equipment or pens and only have a selected application to draw on - then none of this applies to you. Just the aforementioned few who took it upon themselves to get angry over nothing. Recently I’ve heard from subscribers of his newsletter that he’s now embraced the idea of people doing inktober digitally, to the point of selling digital brushes for inktober. I’m sure some will call this “backsliding” or “money grubbing” because people aren’t allowed to change their minds or update their statements.

For weeks I’ve been torn on what to do, not being able to solidify one stance over another. One minute I thought #JusticeForAlphonsoDunn then I wonder “Wait maybe I should look again?” to “But wait, those are way too similar!” Having splinters in my arse from sitting on the fence for so long. The longer this went on, however, I began to realise that I can’t take one stance over another. This case is far too muddy and complicated. I don’t have enough sufficient knowledge or evidence. Nor do any of you. We literally only have Dunn’s video to go on. While it’s a good start, it’s not enough to be taken 100% as gospel when it’s the only thing to hand. 

As previously mentioned, a lot of artists have decided to not take part in Inktober at all, or follow different prompt lists. That’s completely fine. A lot of them are based around a specific theme: halloween, kinky stuff, bears, transformers, OCs, Disney or whatever. That has massive appeal. I just can’d do it myself. I prefer the focus on random words, rather than all centred on a single subject; allowing me to be creative with my ideas and execution. I actually did try to make a list of my own random words. Problem is, I worried that because I was choosing my own, I might be subconsciously bias towards certain prompts and not truly challenging myself. Even narrowing down my options was taking too long. In the end…. I’ve decided to just do the official prompts again this year.

For me, that’s what it ultimately came down to. TIME. It’s the middle of September. I can’t afford to wait for the court case to be settled. No other prominent artists I respect have released their own prompt lists. I know there’s been some shitty people who are condemning this choice. Attacking others, accusing them of supporting plagiarism, looking to block anyone who does the official prompts. Even trying to make this a racial issue. Just…. no. 

If someone doesn’t want to take part in Inktober, that’s fine. If someone wants to do the official prompts, that’s fine. If someone wants to do their own prompts, that’s fine.

Don’t go around aggressively making snap judgements or accusing people of taking a side. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. This has been a shit year, let people enjoy something.

If you look at this situation and it makes you feel angry, and you don’t feel comfortable in taking part in a challenge because of it’s creator. I get that, I literally get that. It’s why I haven't done Mermay. And please don’t mention Pinktober, I’m aware of it, but given his insta video on the subject and the things he said, I quickly came to the conclusion that I can’t take this person seriously. I’m sure this might make me seem hypocritical, but how this differs, if only for me, is the sheer amount Inktober means to me. It’s more than a simple challenge. Inktober's the one thing I’ve been most excited about all year. As it was ruined for me in 2019, when I lost my home and I didn't get to complete every prompt. (Long story, I’m okay now). As we all know, 2020, has been an AWFUL year. We’ve got to take whatever joy we can. As I’ve looked longer at the official prompts, I found ideas I’m really excited for. 

Once I started to really dedicate myself to it, it became a massive event. I hype myself up as I prepare for the busy month. Buy in supplies, clean the house and workspace, cook and freeze meals in bulk to save time, printing off a sheet that allows me to jot down ideas as I plan ahead.  Then once it’s done, after so much work, it makes the reward all the sweeter: Ordering a takeaway, celebrating a great halloween night and still rocking those vibes throughout November. Feeling proud of myself for doing it and seeing myself improve my technique, discipline and earning a few lie-ins to make up for the sleep I lost working. I’m like a kid waiting for Christmas. That said, don’t think that there’s something wrong with you when you understandably can’t dedicate that amount time for a simple art challenge. If anything that’s plenty of reason to why you’re smarter than me. You have a life and don’t push yourself too much.

Now, I need to crack on with the preparations. If you want to boycott Jake Parker, just not buying any of his products should be enough. Doing the inktober challenge doesn't bring attention to him, as I doubt most people even know him as the creator, nor does it even line his pockets. I just hate how cancel culture can do such serious damage like this and then try and put pressure on others to act accordingly without even doing any research themselves. 

As long as you’re not harassing anybody. Just do what YOU want to do. That’s fine. 

[chaes-tea]

Life Changes [Bad Boy! Joshua]

[original date of writing: 20.01.27]

This was sitting in my drafts for almost eight months, so I decided to publish it. I wrote everything in one day and never looked back, so this is unedited besides the formatting of the text itself. This is inspired by another Seventeen fanfiction written by someone else, so that’s why the synopsis sounds similar to another oneshot on a different Tumblr blog.

Bad Boy!AU, Joshua x Reader

[oneshot, angst/”slice of life”] [word count: 1214]

[warnings: one or two cuss words?]

[synopsis: “Seasons change, and so did you.”]

We lived in the same apartment complex, you being on the floor above me. Our parents knew each other; almost everyone in the complex knew each other.

I remember when you first moved in. You were a shy boy, about twelve, and never did anything to upset your parents. My mother brought me with her when she went to welcome you to the neighborhood, and that’s when I first met you. My mother had decided to show your parents around town, and they had allowed us to stay at the park across from the complex. 

It was a nice spring day. The sun was shining and the grass had the slightest touch of moisture on them. We walked past the sandbox full of freshly built sandcastles, and walked past the grandmothers doing their morning walks until we reached the swing set. 

“So… What your name?”

“I’m Joshua, yours?”

“(Name).”

After swinging around and playing multiple rounds of twenty questions, I had thought you were an interesting person. You liked eating chocolate pizza with milk on the side, and you thought that chicken heals hearts from hard work. 

We went to the same school. Everyone already had their own friend groups, and weren’t very open to new people. Ever since you moved here, we were stuck together like glue. No one ever questioned why you were friends with me or how we knew each other - they just left us alone and that was how we liked it.

We enjoyed each other’s company. Every summer we would go down to the ice cream vendor in the park, and every weekend we would watch the same Disney movies on repeat. When autumn came, we would gather leaves together in a big pile at the park and jump in them. During the winter, we made snow forts and had snowball fights. 

Everything was normal, until high school started.

We were in different classes, so we had to work with different people. You started to spend time with your new friends, and I with mine. Slowly, you started changing. I didn’t realize how much of an influence those new friends of yours had on you, and I didn’t realize what kind of people they were. We didn’t walk home together anymore; you were always with your group of friends. We didn’t have our weekly movie nights or our annual snowball fights. 

Another year had passed, along with four more seasons. We passed by each other while walking down the stairs to the lobby. Your hair was orange and slicked back, your left ear had two piercings and what you were wearing was definitely going to get you sent to the principal’s office. 

During school, girls were gossiping about the hot guy that got sent to the dean’s for breaking dress code. I knew it was you. 

I kept seeing less and less of you as the seasons passed. Every summer night, you would be out partying with your friends, and I would hear someone stumbling up the stairs at three in the morning. 

One morning, I was bringing up a package that was mistakenly delivered to my door to someone who lived on the same floor as you. It just so happened to be your neighbor.

I was about to leave when suddenly you were pushed out of your door.

“Come back when you learn how to behave!” Your mother had said to you. 

You just shrugged, stuffed your hands in your pockets and walked away, not even sparing me a glance, and not looking back. You never went home after that night, from what I heard. 

A few weeks later, I decided to stop by the store and grab some late night snacks. I had to walk past a group of motorcyclists standing by the lamppost next to the store, the strong scent of smoke came from them. Someone spoke, and I immediately recognized it.

It was you. I hadn’t seen you in weeks, and you already dyed your hair into a different color. You didn’t seem to notice me, so I walked into the store. 

While I was paying, I heard the engines of the motorcycles roar. A number of them drove past me as I walked through the door. 

However, there was one left. 

You hadn’t left - you hadn’t even turned it on yet. You leaned against it, as if you were waiting for something to happen. I was about to walk past you, until you spoke up. 

“(Name).” I stopped in my tracks and hesitated to face him. After all, he hadn’t bothered to talk to me for years. Why had he suddenly wanted to talk now?

“What do you need? I would like to get back before it gets too late.” 

I heard him walk behind me, the scent of smoke lingering on him. 

“I know we haven’t talked in a while, but I would appreciate it if you could give this to my mother.” He grabbed my wrist and slipped the letter between my fingertips. “And also…. I hope you’ll allow me to do this just this once.” 

I felt my body be pulled back towards someone else’s, arms encircling my waist and I felt him lay his forehead on my shoulder, his hair tickling my cheek.

“Thank you.” He said, before letting me go. I heard an engine roar again. “Goodbye…”

And that was the last time I saw Joshua Hong.

~~~ // ~~~

After giving Joshua’s mother the letter, I returned to my apartment. It was silent, as my parents were out on vacation visiting their school friends. I placed the bag of snacks I bought from the store on the table, and began taking them out.

Instead of feeling the wrapping of a bag of chips, I felt something soft. I pulled it out and realized it was a letter addressed to me.

“When did he…?” I mumbled.

I opened the letter.

Dear (Name), 

I know I haven’t been the best person to you over the past few years. I was reckless, and I know how much I fucked up whatever relationship we had left. All those times we walked passed each other, I saw the disappointment in your eyes. 

I’m sorry I changed; I realize it too. Every time I see you, I remember all the times we spent together watching movies and eating ice cream. I remember the puddles, the piles of leaves, and the snowball fights that always ended in a tie. And most of all, I would remember your smile in all of them. 

I liked you, (Name). Ever since the day I met you, and even now. If I could turn back time, I would tell you what you meant to me. How much I cared about you. How I would go to the depths of the Earth and back just for you. Like probably isn’t even enough - I love you. So fucking much. I hate how I abandoned you like that. I hate how I was too scared to tell you how I felt about you, and I hate how I can’t tell you this in person. 

I’m so sorry (Name). I truly am. 

I love you. Thank you for the memories.

Joshua Hong

A tear slipped onto the corner of the letter. 

“Oh, Joshua, how you have changed.” 

[soraka-in-warhammer40k]

It’s curious to see Riot lore being boosted by their internal release schedule. In the past Riot had only two variants of content released: new champions and “buy these skins”-events, which mostly dived into AU lore, such as Star Guardian or Odyssey. So that left only new champion releases, and even then we would only get lore if the champion in question had direct ties with already established characters. That effectively meant a new bit of lore every few months while established lore was developed further maybe twice a year for a very small group of characters. This was the situation for almost 8 years.

At some point they also tried to throw lore out of the window completly, but were absolute incompetent morons about it. Yes, the Institute of War storyline was a mistake from the start and had to be culled, but at least be honest about it. Luckily someone in Riot managed to slap some sense into the head-honcho there and pointed out how important lore is to tie a cross-media franchise together.

Unlike in the past we now have a lot of different outlets for lore as it is spread over multiple games. Card-Interactions and flavor in LoR are one part, and nice to get some bonus-fluff out there, but there is something much bigger in the future: “Ruined King”, a stand-alone game made by Airship Syndicate in cooperation with Riot Games. The teaser trailer was published December 2019, so a release in late 2020 is reasonable to assume. Why do I focus on this? Well...

After Spirit Blossom the Yona-Cinematic has Ahri and Yasuo bound for Bilgewater. Bilgewater as a whole is Riot’s most-developed, most-well-recieved, and most-non-controversial region to date. Guess you can’t really go wrong with Pirates and “the monsters of the depth” in terms of aesthetic - and they are lucky Disney has managed to run their PoC franchise into the dirt. If those had been one movie better than the last, we’d now be flooded with pirate-stories of all sorts as the entertainment industry is mostly a bunch of neurotic parrots and monkeys jumping on whatever sells. But like this Riot can boldly say they have the only “pirates in a fantasy setting”-theme going on.

So not only does it have a unique selling point, Bilgewater as a location is usually perfect as almost every single character can end up there. It’s a city of merchants, travellers, and criminals. You need to track a stolen McGuffin? Usually its here. You need to find a person that does not want to be found? Or purchase spicy information? Bilgewater is usually the place. At the same time the setting is flexible: The narrative lends itself to both pirate squabbles in the street and fighting epic sea-monsters in equal measure.

And to round it all out: Bilgewater is the ONLY REGION UNTIL NOW THAT IS DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THEIR NEIGHBORS, the Shadow Isles. Due to its location, Bilgewater pretty much gets hit by most of the Harrowings, which means you can add “fight the undead” to an already flexible setting. Oh and would you look at the time, once Spirit Blossom is over the next relevant thing on the event-calendar is Halloween. 

My guesses are:

* The next event will take place in Bilgewater, as it’s “the safe bet”

* It will be a Harrowing event on Halloween, also a “safe choice” from a “sales-point-of-view”, and we will get a ragtag group of champions fight aginst the evil undead hordes. So far, so basic. Might appear bland but dependes on the execution.

* The event will end with a final trailer for “Ruined King”, which will release sometime after the event (as not to split the audience between multiple titles).

* The story will probably be mostly Bilgewater “politics” until the kinda-hard-to-ignore Flood of the Dead forces people to put their difference aside. The city survives and people consider a counter-attack on the isles, which will lead to whatever scenario the new game has to offer.

And meanwhile we will get a TON of new lore coming our way, compared to the content drought of seasons 3-8 this is definetly a welcome change. Something is very fascinating to watch tho: this is Riot’s first rodeo with stuff like that, so they try to roll it as safe as possible: the safest location, the most-non-controversial setting, Ahri and Yasuo being extremly safe character picks when going by popularity in the playerbase, doing a spooky event on Halloween...

My only fear is that they try to be too safe with their choices and it just appears bland, but that mostly dependes on the execution. One way other another, there’s a LOT of lore coming our way. Sure, they still take their time, but at least now we know it’s coming...

[disneytva]

The Walt Disney Company NOT Interesed in Buying Nexon Games 

Last month, a report surfaced that claimed Disney was looking to acquire Korean PC and mobile game company Nexon in a deal that would see the former splash a massive $13.2 billion to acquire the large gaming company. The report came way of Korean newspaper The Central Times, which also claimed that Nexon Chariman Jung-ju Kim, who currently owns a majority share of the company worth 98 percent, was the one who approached Disney about striking a deal. However, now a new report out of The Chosun llbo, one of the biggest newspapers in South Korea, says Disney has no intention on acquiring the company.

More specifically, according to the South Korean newspaper Jung-ju Kim visited Disney and made his pitch, but Disney wasn't interested. Apparently there's a shortlist of potential buyers, but the Nexon founder was hoping to sell his company to Disney, who he's been an admirer of for quite some time. But it doesn't look like it's going to happen, with the next round of bids scheduled to take place this month. According to the aforementioned newspaper, numerous companies, such as Tencent, are monitoring the situation.

For those that don't know: Nexon is a big player in the gaming industry thanks to its presence in South Korea and other Asian markets. The company was founded in 1994, and roughly employs 7,000 employees. As a big company, it naturally has its hands in a lot of pots, but it's best known for its large presence in the mobile space and for publishing titles like the MapleStory series.

While Disney may not be acquiring Nexon, it looks like someone could very soon. Jung-ju Kim seems intent on selling his majority share, and it's probably safe to assume Nexon will be in new hands before the year is over.

[minimotives]

First and foremost:

I am absolutely sorry for the last blog post that you may or may not have seen if you subscribe to this blog (It’s gone now).  I was not hacked but apparently James was.  Also, apparently he was set as a contributor to this blog.  So someone hacked into his account and published some sub-par English (like I have any room to complain!) post about something or another… I am sorry to be a cruddy email in your inbox though and thank you so much for those of you who let me know so I could handle it!  It has been fixed and I’ll do my very best to not let it happen again!

Quick Recap!

So, 13 months, to the day, is how long we were on the road.  And 39,998 miles (I’d like to just round that up bat I can’t do it).  In that time we were able to hit 45 national parks (all of them in the lower 48 excluding 4 island parks accessible only by boat or plane).  We can all, including Denver, say we’ve been to 48 of the 50 states.

I did technically take a computer but it was not easy to hook it up to the internet (I attached via phone).  Then, every time I did my computer wanted to update.  So any time I wanted to write a blog post I had to basically wait 2-4 hours and hope I remembered enough to scribble it down.  As you can see, I think I wrote about 6 blog posts the whole time we were out and that was from my phone (its not easy to blog via touch pad!).  I’m sorry for that but it was a lot more fun exploring the country!!  Hopefully, if you wanted you were able to find us on Instagram where I still updated.

We left in the middle of some hot and heavy tiny house discussions and it’s pretty much been tabled the whole time we were away.  We are very happy to be back thought to finish working through the nuances and hopefully make it easier to live tiny in Idaho at least!

Before That Happens Though:

We have to find a home base.  The thought of mooching off any family while we figure it out is not appealing.  We have great tenants in our ‘real’ house and have no ambition to kick them out just so we could live there a little while.  We can’t occupy the tiny house. Short term (or long term) rentals are astronomical in Boise right now. (Click here for a special link to Yahoo about our hometown)

This left us with one logical answer.  When James moved in to the tiny he never fully downsized.  He just kind of put his things in boxes and then built a basic, detached garage for his ‘real house’, then stored all of his stuff in there.  So we’re converting that garage into some temporary housing for our family of four!

Our Anniversary

We didn’t just end our trip 13 months to the day after take off, we also ended it one our anniversary.  Every year we take a family photo in front of our home as a snapshot of the year.  I am glad to get another picture with ‘Lil Beastie! (our camper).  Here are our anniversary photos to date, I wonder what next year’s will look like! ha!

We lead a pretty cool life, I am so glad I, on a whim, started taking these pictures!

Year six, can you believe we were on the same vacation as the picture taken one year earlier! 🙂

Year Five, new home on wheels for a while

Year four, no new family members!, yea!

Year three, Miles is just about done cooking!

Year two, surprise baby Hazel!

Year one, the day Denver came to live with us!

First date – who even gets this picture??

Now The Downsizing Begins Again!

James has been hardcore into the real downsizing efforts.  A year on the road has been pretty eye opening for both of us on what we really need (spoiler: less than what we currently own!).  Honestly, I have cleared the tiny house of several truck loads of stuff!  Our kids have grown up in a year and they really don’t need all the baby stuff we had.  James has gone through box upon box.  We’ve taken two truck loads to the dump, were planning a yard sale for anything else.  Whatever doesn’t sell will be donated to start a new life elsewhere.  Hazel and Miles have been going through all their stuff, they are excited to earn money from their toys AND plan on hosting a lemonade stand for cool refreshments.  I absolutely cannot believe the amount of STUFF we have accumulated in our tiny little places!

Building Anew!

After this weekend we really get going!  We will be adding a kitchen, a custom playhouse/fort for the kids, and doing all those little projects that take a garage to a home for a family of four and their dog!  I will try to do updates because its totally relevant to ‘tiny homes’ and living in small spaces.  Sometimes Instagram is just easier for me because it’s quicker (and can be done from my phone).  I will definitely update on the legalities once that conversation gets going too.  I am happy to be back and ready to rock this world again!  In the mean time here are some of my favorite pictures of our adventures!

Also, this is not the end of our travels, we absolutely plan to make it to those four parks we skipped and are already planning our trip to Alaska (my last state) for next summer followed by celebrating James’s 40th birthday next fall in Hawaii!  We should be able to see all these amazing National Parks before too long!

Oh, P.S.

Our cat is mad we are back.  Did you know we had a cat? It’s probably because I am a dog person ;-).

He misses his bachelors pad and all the fancy parties he used to throw! While we were away we had an RFID cat door programmed to his microchip so that he could enter and exit the house at will (but nothing else could).  We set up a camera pointed at his food so we could make sure he was alive and eating.  Any time the food got low we would order another bag from Amazon and have James’s sister or mom run over and fill his dish.  Pretty sure he enjoyed that set up a whole lot more than he enjoys our company!

The Pictures

Tetons NP

Washingtons Peninsula

Cascade NP

Mt. Rainier NP

The Oregon Coast

Crater Lake NP

Redwoods NP

Patricks Point, CA

Everglades NP

Bug watching, She is the best at finding lizards, frogs and catipilars

Bryce Canyon NP

Death Valley NP

Suguaro NP

Florida dog beach

Grand Canyon NP

Yosemite NP

California Free Camping

Zion NP

Zion Hike

Utah Farm

Mesa Verde NP

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

The dop of the highest sand dune in North America, Great Sand dune NP

Petrified Forest/Painted Dessert NP

Painted Desert NP

Spring in Death Valley NP

Death Valley

Death Valley Dunes

Joshua Tree NP

Saguaro NP

White Sands NM

White Sands NM

Big Bend NP

One of MANY awesome aquariums (this one is in Mississippi)

Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans!

Cocoa Beach with Poppy

Furthest South Point in the US

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Disneys Magic Kingdom

Florida

North Carolina

Playgrounds across America!

Mammoth Cave NP

Smokey Mountain NP

Random Virginia picture (such a pretty state!!)

Shanendoah NP

Shanandoah NP

West Virginia

Washington DC

Wild ponies!!

Birthday Boy in Maine

Furthest east point in the US

Denver could not contain himself around that much water!

thousand Island area in New York

Hot springs

Sibling bonding

Denver got a lot of this!

He learned to fake his first smile and I caught it on camera!

Sand dunes in Michigan

Teddy Roosevelt NP

National Grasslands

Idaho is kinda pretty too 🙂

Learning new tricks

Glacier NP

Teton NP

Mt. Rushmore

Badlands NP

Rocky Mountain NP

Happy Campers!

Colorado bonding

Great Salt Lake

Spiral Jetty, UT

Great Salt Lake

AND… We’re Back! First and foremost: I am absolutely sorry for the last blog post that you may or may not have seen if you subscribe to this blog (It's gone now). 

[aion-rsa]

Flash Gordon’s Original Ending Revealed

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Following our enlightening Flash Gordon 40th anniversary interview with the film’s director, Mike Hodges, we got to have an in-depth conversation with author John Walsh. Titan Books published Walsh’s exhaustive coffee table book Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film last November. It was a labor of love for Walsh that delves into the making of the movie and celebrates its enduring appeal.

Walsh is a Trustee of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, and was also behind the BBC’s critically acclaimed documentary series Sofa Surfers, which explored childhood homelessness, and the BAFTA-nominated film My Life: Karate Kids, which tackled issues of bullying among disabled children.

Den of Geek: You’ve been involved with preserving the legacy of the late Ray Harryhausen, and your first book through Titan was about some of his work. You first met him at film school in the 80s?

John Walsh: That’s right. I was BBC Young Filmmaker of the Year when I was 15. I was offered a place in London Film School when I was doing my A-levels and they sort of scooped me up. At the end of your first year you do a 16mm documentary film. I found Ray Harryhausen‘s name in the London telephone directory. I asked my parents for permission to use the phone, as you did in those days. My mom said “Ring after six when it’s cheaper.” So I rang him up and said “I’m making a film about your life and work” and he was very gracious about it. 

I went to see him. I’d done some very basic animation as a youngster but was fascinated by all his creatures and everything else. We stayed in touch over the years. He asked me to become a trustee of his foundation, so I’ve been helping to look after the vast collection, which is the largest of its kind outside of the Walt Disney Company. His daughter, Vanessa Harryhausen, and I run it with one member of paid staff. Then I did the book – Harryhausen: The Lost Movies.

At what point did you decide that Flash Gordon was next for the John Walsh treatment?

The Lost Movies was stories about films that we think we know but hadn’t been told. Titan are very good at making books on our favorite films – like Dark Crystal and Labyrinth – and those films which maybe we liked on VHS but weren’t successful when they came out theatrically. I was just thinking, gosh, no one has done a Flash Gordon book yet.

It took about eight months to get Universal Pictures and King Features, who were the rights holders for the Flash Gordon character, and Studio Canal, who now own the physical asset of that 1980 film, to come together and put a deal together. 

What happened after the deal was done?

I thought “they’ll give me all their photos because there’ll be a gazillion photos in the archive” – I got the shock of my life when there were no photos or any assets worth putting into a book! I was like “oh no, what have I done?” I drank from the poison chalice to some extent, because I thought that the work had finished when we got the rights, and it had really just started. 

Universal Pictures had some of the publicity photos, but not enough to put into a book like this. Nothing ‘behind the scenes’. I went begging around the world asking fans and different people, “please may I have your pictures if I credit you in the book?” A big part of the introduction of the book ended up being the story of how the assets had been dispersed or thrown away. The film cost three times what Star Wars cost. It cost somewhere in the region of $35 million. The idea that nobody kept any of the assets from it, the original artworks for the paintings, for the posters – gone. The models, gone. The costumes were mostly gone. 

A rare behind the scenes look at the making of Flash Gordon

It kept me up at night. I was genuinely quite worried about whether we’d get enough high quality images that would be good enough, but ultimately I got everything I wanted. I even managed to get a high quality unpublished image of Queen from 1980 for a publicity round they did in Japan. Virtually every page has something unseen, never before published, recently found.

It was around the clock. Sometimes it took 20 or 30 hours just to get one image. It was pretty all labor intensive. The easiest part was speaking to the people like the actors, but another problem existed there as well. If you take the Star Wars universe as a comparison, the various actors and filmmakers speak so regularly that you can pretty much find a consensus on how things happened and where they happened. But on this, [lead actor] Sam Jones – naughty, naughty Sam Jones! –  lovely Sam Jones, and Brian Blessed…

Brian tends to be quite creative, doesn’t he? Every time he tells a story there’s a new spin on it.

Mike [Hodges, director], told me “It’s not true what Brian says in your book that he directed one of the fight sequences.” He said “I love Brian dearly but there’s no way he directed one of the fight sequences. I was there every day and I never would have allowed him to do that. It’s just not what happened.” So between Brian and Sam, they’ve kind of filled in the gaps. As actors often do, they will inflate their parts! 

Some other bits are true. Sam did get stitches, and Dino [De Laurentiis, producer] was ready to kill someone. Two days before principal photography, there’s the lead actor getting stitches in his face. 

When I was researching the film for our piece, I couldn’t really establish how much of Sam’s audio had been replaced in post-production.

Some of Sam’s dialogue is in there! Some has been voiced on top of his voice, and some is a completely different actor in different places. If you were to cut together the different sounds and hear them all together, they sound higher and then lower.

There isn’t actually a record of who the actors are, not because anyone is trying to create conspiracy around it all, it’s just that’s one of the many assets of the film that were tossed aside. It’s more than one [other voice] Mike told me.

That’s new information to me. I knew that there was one other; I didn’t know there was more than one!

It’s more than one, and it’s Sam as well. There are at least three voices that make up Sam’s dialogue. There’s kind of a little Frankenstein’s Monster of dialogue in most places for Sam.

Do you remember the first time you watched Flash Gordon? 

Yes, it was a good movie at the time. I loved anything with science fiction! I’ll tell you what I was disappointed by: there were no robots. To me, if it had a robot in it I was like, “that’s it, I’m there, I want to buy the robot from that film.” So, I was kind of disappointed. There are no robots. 

I was obsessed with the Superman movie and how the flying sequences were created at the time. When this film came out, I thought “this is going to be better than Superman, it’s got hundreds of people flying.” But the flying sequences aren’t as sophisticated in this as they are in Superman, so my first time seeing Flash Gordon was tinged with a kind of geek boy technical disappointment about some of those aspects, and no robots. I haven’t told anyone that.

When researching the book, what ended up being the most surprising revelation?

There were two big moments. The first was when I discovered there had been an entirely different film planned – and we got the artwork, it’s in the book. Then, I found out that the film was supposed to have an entirely different ending. 

Where the film ends now, at the wedding crashing, that was the start of a new major sequence that was going to involve Ming turning into fabulous creatures and fighting Flash, the Hawkmen and the Arboria Tree Men. It all had to be cut. Literally, the pages were pulled. They were like “no time for that, haven’t got time for that.” They had the money for it, but no time.

At the back of my book are all of those scenes, and in some cases photos of scenes they shot that were cut because they couldn’t complete the effects for them, and then comprehensive storyboards with major characters like Lion Man, who was going to accompany Flash Gordon throughout the film like a Chewbacca character.

Wasn’t Lion Man in the cartoons as well as the serial? 

Yes. We got the original artwork from when Dino was going to make the film for Paramount Pictures. It shows Lion Man as part of this fantasy concept poster.

Flash Gordon concept art featuring Lion Man

When I talked to Mike last year, he still seemed somewhat baffled that he was the one who was chosen to take over from Nicolas Roeg as director. Do you think that Nic’s original vision would have worked on screen if Dino had just gone along with it?

No. For tax purposes it was very difficult to get a director in from America to do a picture, particularly in the late 70s. It was a big tax kerfuffle. British directors who’ve done major Hollywood films would have included Alan Parker, maybe John Boorman, Ridley Scott. Nic Roeg and Mike Hodges were the right fit, even though they hadn’t done special effects films.

Roeg’s version couldn’t have worked because the content was adult in tone, and also he came up with some concepts that were outside of the comic strip that would have made it much more adult-themed as well. For an audience to have followed it and enjoyed it and for the film to have had a chance to make back it’s $35 million, I think he was right to pull the plug on the Nic Roeg version. It needed to be a film that had a much broader base to make that money back. There were two sequels planned!

And Mike was originally brought in as an option for the second film.

Yes, that’s right. It was Roeg who suggested him, because he knew Mike and thought Mike would be a good fit. Mike had just been sacked from Omen II so he was suddenly available at the point when Dino parted company with Nic. It wasn’t a marriage of convenience, he was the right fit. 

Dino did this thing where if he liked your face, then you got the part or you got the work. It wasn’t about having a pretty face or anything, it was if he thought your face was sympathetic. It’s kind of an Italian superstition that you can kind of trust a man by his face. Dino wouldn’t get on an airplane if he looked at the pilot and didn’t like their face.

Wow.

Your natural instincts are often right. Dino’s were often right. He said to Mike, “I like-a your face Mike, and that’s why I chose you for this-a film.” Doing a very credible Italian accent there! I interviewed [Dino’s wife] Martha extensively for the book – she said Dino would have liked my face.

We’ve heard so many myths and legends about the Flash Gordon sequels. It seems like everyone you talk to has heard a rumor about what the story would have been. Has your own research revealed any new sequel information? 

Dino had great, great plans. Dino’s plan was to buy Pinewood Studios and to film three Flash Gordons back to back. That’s ambitious by any movie standard, isn’t it? 

Brian Blessed first put me on the trail of what the second film would have been about – it was going to be Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars – based on the second cinema serial. In that, Flash Gordon meets the Clay Men and other people on Mars where Ming has set up base. 

Flash Gordon storyboards

40 years on, what do you think the enduring appeal of the movie is?

Flash Gordon has survived the critique of not having state of the art special effects. It’s a much more fun film to get into than Empire Strikes Back and Star Trek: The Motion Picture – two comparable big budget films of the era – as they’re kind of heavy going. 

This film was also perceived to be a Christmas film, it premiered at Christmas and received it’s TV premiere in 1983 on the BBC at Christmas. So for most people, it has a special Christmas vibe and a happy vibe about it. It looks like a Christmas ornament. 

It’s separate from other science fiction films of the time, it went in the opposite direction: rock score, kind of camp humor, brighter lit with more colors. There isn’t another film you could compare it with, except Barbarella from the 60s.

Recently, it’s come into criticism for its racial stereotyping – Ming playing effectively as a Chinese Fu Manchu character.

Yes, the BBFC has added a warning to the film now. Has the problematic nature of Ming’s portrayal changed the way you view the film?

For me it hasn’t, because when Max von Sydow played the part he didn’t have a darkening of his skin. That’s his natural facial pallor. The accent he chose is English – he decided to speak it as an English officer or an English monarch. There’s quite a kind of clash of cultures there. The facial makeup and the costume itself is definitely Red China from 1936, as Alex Raymond had envisaged. 

But I think it’s quite right the film should have a warning. I don’t think the film should be stopped, or that he should be pixelated out. I think Dino and Mike Hodges chose the best actors from the time to play these roles. You needed people who had played hard roles in films before. If they remake Flash Gordon, then I’ll be quite happy to see someone of Southeast Asian origin in the role of Ming. I think that would be spectacular.

There are levels to which this works and doesn’t work. The more extreme argument is “you wouldn’t cast a serial killer as a killer would you?” Well no, because if you’re casting for Dennis Nielsen you cast a good actor. David Tennant happens to be Scottish. I’m sorry he’s not a serial killer in real life.

That we know of, John.

That we know of. You can never trust actors, you know? Never leave them on their own in a room. But yes, I think where it’s possible and where it’s practical, it’s respectful.

Have you made any decisions about what you would like to do next, now we’ve had your take on Harryhausen, and Flash Gordon?

I’m literally in the process of delivering a manuscript for my next book. It comes out in September!

I will definitely check it out. Thank you, you’ve been brilliant.

Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film is available now from Titan Books. You can check out John’s The Official Story of the Film Podcast right here.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Subscribe to Den of Geek magazine for FREE right here!

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from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2Nq8q6h

[sandralmuller]

10 tips to help you become a more productive, prolific and profitable writer

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to be a more productive, prolific and profitable writer.

These tips work for me. I experiment a lot and love discovering how our brains work. I use this to my advantage. I like knowing the hows and whys behind our behaviour.

This list is what I do to improve the quality and quantity of my output. This isn’t about what you SHOULD do. I hate that word ‘should’. You need to find the things that will help you focus and become a more productive, prolific and profitable writer. Not all of these tips will apply and fit the way your brain works.

I can smash out blog posts and sales pages for my paying clients quite quickly. I can easily write 1000 quality words in about an hour. This is for tasks where I don’t have to worry about content design, ponder high-level concepts and how all the bits fit together. Those sorts of pages take a lot longer.

The quicker I can write, the more profitable I become.

So can you.

1. Decide yesterday

I decide each evening what to wear the next day, what my son will wear, what he needs to take to school, what I’ll eat for breakfast, what I’ll do if it’s pouring and I can’t go for my morning walk.

We all get crippled by decision fatigue as the day wears on, so any decisions I can make the night before leaves more space in my day for the more important decisions.

2. Don’t look at your phone for the first hour of your day

Most days I don’t switch on my phone until after I’ve done the school drop off, and even then it’s just to listen to a podcast on my walk home.

The longer I leave it to check email, social media, notifications and other messages, the less hold those things have on me during the day. I feel less drawn to checking my phone during the day and less likely to feel the lure of Facebook as a distraction.

This has been like magic for me.

Give it a go for a week and see if you notice a difference, too.

3. Believe you’re a good writer

I’ve been doing this word herding thing for years.

I know I’m a good writer.

I don’t worry or fret about what my clients will think because I know I’m a good writer and whatever their feedback, I’ll be able to action it.

I don’t let that nagging doubt get in the way of smashing out the words. It’s rare that I miss. A tweak here or there and lately my first drafts have ended up online without a second look from me. The amount of fretting we do does not equate the outcome.

Why bother fretting about the words when I know my clients will be happy? Less fretting helps me become a profitable writer.

I don’t doubt myself. Neither should you.

In situations where I’m writing about an unfamiliar topic, I pay someone to run their eyes over it for me to give me that assurance.

4. Outline outline outline

I rarely, if ever, write a page without an outline.

It’s something I’ve built into my process.

Then when I sit down to write those posts, I can smash them out in about 1-1.5 hours. But my clients pay me for the outcome, not my time. This is one way I’m becoming more profitable.

In my outlines, I include:

headline

dot points for the introduction

heading 2s and 3s

bullet points of ideas under each heading

the wrap-up

the call to action (CTA)

Two things happen when I follow this process.

I fiddle with the structure the order of priority and while I’m doing that…

My subconscious mind writes the thing for me.

Sometimes I’ll share these outlines with clients before I write them to make sure I’m on the right track. This avoids wasting time and helps deliver the content my client wants.

5. Set time limits and be accountable

I run Pomodoro sessions, which are 25-minute work sprints, with my mastermind business buddies.

Apparently, 25 mins is the sweet spot for getting stuff done.

Pom sessions, as we fondly call them, are a great way to keep you and your business besties focused and accountable.

Plus they have the social benefit of being a virtual water cooler. A bit of banter, a problem solved, and we’re all back into it for another 25 minutes.

We meet face-to-face via a video chat tool like Google Meet, Whereby or Zoom. We turn the sound off, but leave the video on.

6. Avoid social media

Last year I tracked all my social media usage and found I was on it 20-25 hours per week. That’s like a solid part-time job.

Once I realised that, I dropped my usage back to something more reasonable, under 10 hours per week. That left me with more hours to create and invoice. Hello, profitability.

Avoiding my phone in the morning helped with that. When I’m super focused, I won’t even check socials until after hours.

But if I need to visit Facebook to check something or round up my business buddies for a pom session, I set an alarm. Facebook is designed to suck us into its vortex. That quick check is lost to 20 minutes of scrolling. Ooops.

7. Ditch the To Do list

Controversial, I know. I hear the intake of breath from here.

If it ain’t scheduled, I ain’t doing it.

Just like I don’t run a notebook for capturing ideas (because if it’s a good idea I’ll remember it – if it’s crap, I won’t nor should I), I don’t run a To Do list.

I used to have notebooks filled with To Do lists of all the ideas for each of my businesses listing all the things I would, could and ‘should’ do… one day.

I’ve killed that that stuff to lighten my mental admin load. And it feels great.

If it’s important, instead of writing it down as a task to tick off a list, I’ll schedule it in my calendar and actually do it.

There’s a massive mental load that comes with carrying infinite to do lists around with us. I’d rather give that energy to something that will make me more profitable.

If a task is important enough, I’ll remember to do it. But otherwise, there’s my calendar spreading out tasks over the week. I know at a glance how much capacity I have (or don’t have) to take on more work.

8. Write faster

I am forever grateful for learning to touch type on a rickety old typewriter in high school. And for my job as a media monitor during my last year of uni. I had to summarise news — radio and TV — for about 9 hours a day, 3 nights per week.

My typing speed jumped from a peckish 40 wpm to more like 100 wpm.

I probably do about 80 wpm these days and 100 wpm when I’m in the zone.

If you’re doubtful you could ever become a fast typist, experiment with dictation software like otter.ai and the dictation function in Google Docs. We speak faster than we type.

I’ll experiment with dictation software over the coming months to see if it improves my writing speed and overall productivity.

9. Junk in = junk out

Y’all are prolly gonna hate this one. No sweetie treats to fuel your day.

I also experimented and found that I work well when I’m a bit hungry. Not hand-shakingly fatigued hungry. But a little hungry.

So, I eat lightly for breakfast and lunch. I don’t snack at all in between meals.

I’ve been doing this for 6 weeks straight. It has improved my focus and output immensely.

On the weekend, I cook a big batch of soup or lentils and eat that for lunch every day. Again, it means less decision making. I don’t mind eating the same thing every day, so long as it’s yummy.

The same junk in= junk out theory applies for what you’re binge-watching or reading.

I haven’t watched commercial TV for years now when I come across it, it’s as irritating as a fly stuck in my ear.

When I lived in Korea, I didn’t watch any TV for about 3 years other than Game of Thrones and the odd series here and there.

I finally succumbed to Netflix earlier this year, and Disney and Amazon Prime, and my reading level dropped off from 1 to 2 books per week to zero per month. Ooops. But I choose my programs judiciously and I’ve since reduced my Netflix time and started reading again.

10. Schedule exercise

If I don’t exercise first thing in the morning, it doesn’t happen at all.

Taking a brisk 30 minute to 1 hour walk is the best thing for my focus and clarity.

I don’t think of it as taking time out of my day.

Even if you do none of the above tips, this trumps it all.

Exercising adds time to your day.

Blaze your own trail to becoming a profitable writer

This is definitely not a list of shoulds. And I don’t do all the things on this list all the time. But the more I do, the more productive and profitable I become.

If your goal is to become a more productive and profitable writer, then I recommend experimenting with what works best for you.

What are your best tips for improving your writing efficiency? Let me know in the comments below.

10 tips to help you become a more productive, prolific and profitable writer was originally published on The Smarter Writer

[anotherlipstick]

GOODBYE & HELLO Part IV

I woke up to aching muscles and body. I looked beside me and was surprised to find Becca wasn’t next to me. I managed to get to my feet and walk into the kitchen and was relieved to see coffee already made. I poured myself a cup while noticing the time 3:39 in the morning. I then went into the other room where we had our offices.

I almost dropped my coffee as the entire room was a disaster. My books was all piled on the floor with what appeared to be from the file cabnet, several tables and our laptops was missing, and Becca sitting on the floor taking a sip of coffee with sweat pouring off her.

“Is the coffee good? I wasn’t sure how many scoops you put in.” I took a sip and knew she put way to much coffee in. However, I couldn’t recall when she made coffee before and looking at the room strong coffee is what I’m going to need. “It’s tastes fine. How many scoops did you put in?” “I don’t know… six? I couldn’t sleep so I figured I would get started on this so we can hopefully have our room back tonight. The sooner this is cleared out the sooner we can go see about beds. We should go early to make sure they can be delivered today.

I was shocked as I couldn’t believe she was putting so much effort into this. I set my coffee down and walked over to her. "Okay, let’s do this!”

By the time the kids woke up it was going on eight a clock and the room was cleared out. Not only that we found room to set up our computers and tables in the living room though most of my books would have to go out to the garage.

we got the kids ready and went to get breakfast and then shopping for beds for them. we did have Madison’s key but Becca felt it would be to much trouble to move that stuff back and forth especially once she was released. We ended up purchasing two complete beds with matching nightstands and dressers and they was able to deliver and set everything up by three so we would have plenty of time to visit Madison.

——————————————

Just over a month had gone by since we took in Caleb and Mariah. While they did have a few rough nights they seemed to be doing well. They missed their mom and I couldn’t blame them. We went everyday to visit her when Becca got back from Femsational and sometimes we even would go earlier as well.

They had cut her hair do to the chemotherapy and her skin was heavily flaking but otherwise she seemed like she was going to beat this and that made seeing her in this condition a much better. Becca had bought her a wig that looked great on her and got a lock of her hair in a zip-lock bag that we held for her for safe keeping.

Madison was all smiles as we walked in today. “The doctor said my red blood cell count is a lot better. He wants to wait till after my next chemotherapy treatment and then he said I could probably return home.” “That’s wonderful Madison. I’m so happy to hear that.”

We stayed about an hour before heading home again. She was always so full of energy when we first arrived but she would quickly get tired so we would go and let her rest.

I was a bit sad at the news as I had actually gotten use to the kids being with us. We had both had worked so hard on their room and Becca had even put up comic book Superhero’s and Disney princesses all over it. She really had gone all out in it and it looked amazing.

Was it wrong to feel this way? I wasn’t sure but I felt awfully guilty about it. I had often thought about kids but Becca had said several times she had no such desires. Then out of nowhere two amazing children fall in our lap and Becca’s all for it. Maybe it is because of how much she cares about Madison, but it works.

I looked over and could tell Becca was depressed about the idea of giving them up as well. She had been such a different person the past four weeks but now she was moody and snappy a fair amount of the time.

“Hey it’s okay.” I walked over and gave her a hug as we got ready for bed. “ I’ll miss them too, so you’re not alone in this.” Becca just nodded then got into bed without a word. I decided not to push it we’ll see how things go.

—————————————-

Midnight Maiden started playing waking both me and Becca up. I looked at the clock that read a quarter to five. “Who is it?” Becca asked upset. “I don’t know” I looked at the name that listed initials I didn’t reconize. I decided I better answer it just in case. “Hello”

“Hello I’m calling to speak with either MC or Becca. Is one of them available please?” Said the gentleman on the other line. “This is MC, who is this and what is the reason for this call so early?” “I’m apologize ma'am but I’m calling from General Hospital and we have you listed as an emergency contact for A Ms. Madison Eckhart. "Oh yes! I’m so sorry, what can I do for you? is something wrong?”

Becca had rolled over as if asleep so I hit her leg a few times and she sat up. “I’m afraid Ms. Eckhart suffered two large seizures last night nearly right next to each other…” “Oh my god!” “It was a close call but I am pleased to say we did manage to get her stabilized. We’re not really sure of the cause of the seizers but it’s believed to be a reaction to the antibiotics she has been on. We have changed them and hoping that takes care of things. Ms.Eckhart is of course very weak, but is insisting on seeing you and Becca as soon as you’re able.” I looked over at Becca who had a worried look “Wake the kids!”

——————————————

Madison had been moved to the ICU on the 3rd floor. Becca notified the staff with the phone attached next to the door and we heard the buzzing of the door unlock.

Madison was like a ghost from even the day before when we had visited. Her skin looked like it had never seen sunlight and her eyes was sunken in.

What the hell do you say to someone like that? I was a published author yet I couldn’t think of anything appropriate. We definitely need more ways to greet someone besides ‘How are you?’

“Madison….I…” “I want you two to keep the Caleb and Mariah. I don’t trust my family and I don’t want them….” Madison started coughing a few times. Becca filled up her glass with some water and held it for her as she took a few drinks from the straw.

“I don’t want them to go into some foster home and I know…” “You think for one minute we would allow that to happen? Don’t you worry about them at all. Besides, this was just the antibiotics and those have replaced. You are going to be fine so dont be thinking like that!”

Becca could hardly even form the words. She constantly had put her down since we were in college but there was no mistaken how much she cared about her as she kept wiping the tears that flowed. She looked like she was going to fall apart at any moment.

Mariah and Caleb picking up on the tension started crying. Both of them had been wanting to be with their mom and in her shape we couldn’t let them. Before we could use hand sanitizer but now the chance of Madison getting any germs was to much.

“I’m going to take them down to the cafeteria and get them some breakfast. They haven’t eaten yet and I’m sure they’re both hungry. Why don’t you two talk alone for a bit.”

I had got them some oatmeal and Apple juice but both Mariah and Caleb was too upset to eat more than a few bites no matter what I tried. I figured I was probably wearing more than I managed to get them to eat. At least they did drink the juice.

Becca came down after about 40 minutes. I have never seen her look that way. “You want something to eat they didn’t…” Becca shook her head and I decided to drop it. I tossed what was left in the trash and we left.

By the time we got back home the kids had settled down a bit but was now acting hungry. I needed something to do so I figured we would try round two. “I’ll make some eggs and sausage. You should eat too, honey. You had even less than they did.” Becca shook her head. “I’m not hungry. Besides, I have things I need to take care of. "Like what? You should eat and we have things we need to discuss.” “I need to get going!” Becca turned and headed for the door. “Becca!” She didn’t stop. The only reply was the slamming of the door.

[plogan721]

I want to do something fun…My favorites so far 2020

Please note:  I am doing this topic for several reasons, including that I would love to collaborate with someone both in video and or blogging.  I am also available for freelance work.  You can contact me through my email address plogan721@att.net.  I take serious people as I had a scammer back in November for my graphic work.  This caused a major shift in how I accept writing and graphic gigs.  I am not bitter about the experience and I caught it in time, or my identity could have been compromised.  Sorry, I am mentioning this on such a fun topic as the one you are about to read.  With that being said, on with today’s topic.

Disclaimer(s): P. Lynne Designs is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

P. Lynne Designs is also a participant partner in the Erin Condren affiliate program which is designed to provide a 

means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Erin Condren. 

Ok, that last topic took something out of me.  I am not going to lie when I say that that the blog post was the fourth one I had written and the first one I am proud of since Corona broke out, landed in the United States, and showed herself out.

Now I am done.  I have said my piece for now about her. I am ready to have some fun writing topics.  I am ready for the doom and gloom to go away for a while.  I was reminded of that last week by my pastor.

I attend an online bible study via Facebook Live.  This is how I have been attended church worship services too, and except for a few times when my computer has not quite cooperated in either task or the two weeks I had to deal with my cat, Gizmo going through heat issues. Yes, Gizmo is a girl, my girly girl, and she was named after the Mogwai Gizmo from the movie, Gremlins, who is a boy.  Yes, you can feed her after midnight, although I do not suggest dealing with her during heat because she turns into a little Gremlin, LOL.  Anyway, she is my little gremlin,

Anyway, My pastor said of African Americans who have been killed in the last few months because of the continued hatred from certain types of white folks, that you can post all you want to about how much you hate what is happening from Trevon to Breanna, the RN who was killed because someone reported to police about some drug activity going on in her apartment, and she was sleeping after a grueling shift, and it was the wrong apartment.  If you do not act on how much you hate it, and make people aware of the problem in this country, then you are part of the problem.

What does that have to do with the coronavirus?  Same thing and the best thing to do at this point is to stay at home, wash your hands, and stay 6 feet apart.

Okay, enough of that.

Just making a list of my favorites.  (photo by Pixabay.com)

What is today’s topic? 

I want to give all my writers and journal writers a task this week.  Yes, this week.  This will break you out of your mode of “normal” writing, and if this is not your thing, then try it once.  You may like it.

I normally write about lifestyle things on my other blog, Home Prep and those topics are on organization, decorating on a budget, and anything that is home-related.  Every once in awhile, you would see something about travel, and the reason was I had a travel portion on the blog.  I found after writing about my plans for a family Disney trip in December 2019 (see the previous post on THIS BLOG) about the problems leading to me canceling the trip.  I decided it would be best if I had a separate trip blog.

Anyway (count how many times I write, “anyway”), I want to write on this blog my favorite writing things or products of 2020 SO FAR. So in no particular order, I will have my list, and I will reference them with a link if I find the product on Amazon, Erin Condren, Walmart (which I do not get a commission on, but I love) or information I think you can use.  Again, you are not obligated to make a purchase.

Favorite item to use while writing:

These are routines, products, or tips that help me get into the mood of write.  Note:  Lately, I have not felt like writing much.  My mind had been scattered all over the place in terms of what topics to write.  Remember, I have chosen to write 3 blogs (soon to be 4), and it was not the number of blogs I write in, but how I write them.  So, the first thing I did was a little soul searching.  I turned to the very thing that got me started writing in the first place, which I mentioned that is was my friend, Lois, and writing in a personal journal.  In that journal, which is now an OneNote Notebook on my computer, it has allowed me to really think about what I am supposed to do.  It is the one thing that connects me to her, even though Lois died in 2002 to advanced breast cancer.  

Another thing is surprising, my pastor also journals.  He came to my congregation last year, and he has been a blessing.  He is younger than me, but I find him very relatable.  He is also an accomplished author, and has written a couple books and has a blog himself.  Personally, I felt that in the year since he has presided over the congregation (along with our “sister”, Westley United Methodist Church), my pastor has given me some insight on how a “woman of God”, “God’s child”, a Christian should govern over herself.

 Next, My favorite tea, which has to be decaf.  I do drink caffeinated coffee and tea, but I need something to calm me down, especially if I write at night.  I started writing at night because it was the only time that I did not have the noise of the day.  Up until February 25, 2020, my nephew and his girlfriend stayed here with me until they found an apartment.  Well, my great-niece came, and they are staying with my parents until they were able to save a little money for an apartment, which they had found, but corona reared up her head, and since he had been working double shifts at a shipping company (due to everyone online ordering and PPE stuff shipping in), they have not been able to move in.  since they have been gone, I still write at night, along with my tea, which is nothing more than Celeste Seasons fruit tea bags-assorted.  I used to drink Chamomile tea or CS Sleepytime tea, but I love these teas better.  I think it helps Gizmo calm down that I am not moving around so much.

What I use to write with?  That is simple, MS Word.  I will write down as much as I could, edit later.  Tip:  it helps to write it all down, then come back later to edit for clarity.  You may not have the same thoughts as you did when you first write it down.  This is why it takes me a long time for one blog post.  My blog post writing routine is:

·         Write for the thought process

·         Edit for clarity (this is where I add and take away)

·         Add bullet points, bold and italic and other ideas I want to emphasize.

·         Decide my font (which will go away once I start writing this blog in WordPress format)

·         Paste to Blogger (or WordPress when I start writing in that format)

·         Edit for Grammarly

·         Finally, add my title (which is already written in MS. Word), scheduled to publish, add Keywords/SEO, summarize, hook up my links, and add photos and capture points.

It sounds like a lot, but it really is not.  I did not mention the hard part (yes, there is), which is promotion.  I post a link to Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Favorite ways to write.

What is that?  I have several ways to write, and some I like because most of the time, it is for continuity, a flow, while others have to be for the style.

·         Narrative.  Most of the time, I will write in a narrative-style or first person.  I am given you an account of my day, a routine, or even a place that I have visited. 

·         Ghost-writing.  I am writing in the style of the author or blog writer.  Yes, it is my work, but I cannot put my name in the by-line.  The byline has to be the person who publishes it on their blog. I cannot offer my bio either.  It has to look like the blog poster wrote it themselves.

·         Guest-writing.  I offer to write a blog post or article for a magazine or blog to name a few, and my name goes in the by-line, as well as my bio at the end of the article.

·         Lists.  This is still fairly new to me, but I like it just the same as the other styles of writing.  For example, I can write, “20 reasons to visit Walt Disney World”, or “20 reasons not to visit Walt Disney World”.  The trick is to do your homework or research before attempting to create lists.  I usually research to see if what I have to say is the truth.

·         SEO/Keyword.  Okay, I will admit it, I like it and I hate it.  It all depends on the post.  I have done some ghost-writing that required me to mention “body-building” 5 times in six 1000-word articles back in 2011.  I found that the subject was very boring, and I had to stomach through all 6 articles that I needed to write by the end of the week.  Three weeks later, I had to write 8 articles mentioning the words, “organize” and “cabinets” 8 times in 500-word articles and I wanted to write more. So, it all depends.

·         Journaling.  Yeah, you knew this was going to come up soon or later.  I have mentioned how many times I have enjoyed the art of journaling, decorating journals, and now I can add planners to the mix.  You can now journal in your planners, and visa versa.  You know I am here for that.  This is the reason I have the horizontal version of the Erin Condren Life Planner. I am a detailed person, and the more detail I can get, the better.  In addition, I get to put what date I want in this planner.  In addition to the Life Planner, I love using the Duo-tip markers, stickers (even though I make my own as well- coming soon to my shop and website), and petite books, which are perfect for sermon notes, goal setting, and project planning.

Well, that is it for this round.  I will update later in the year with new things.  Oh, I love to write in loungewear, and the pants I love are from Target, which is the Women’s perfectly cozy wide-leg lounge pants by Stars Above™.  I use any top that is comfy to me.  Right now as I write, I have on a tank top.  In the wintertime, I have on my Laura Ashley fluffy robe that I bought for Christmas.  I now have to find one that is perfect for summer.

Finally, I love writing in the dark.  Let me explain….

At night, when it is nice and quiet, and it is past midnight, I may get into the mood of a nice fluffy robe, my sock, loungewear on, and I turn off the overhead light in my office and have on only the lamps illuminating my screen.  It gives me the sense of a warm blanket, and this is one way that I cocoon.  The other way of cocooning is having 3-4 blankets on my bed and turning off the heat in the wintertime or turning on the air conditioner in the summertime, and snuggle.  Another conversation for a different day.

Anyway, I also have a sense that I am in some sort of secret cave and it is just me and the computer, then Gizmo wants something and ruins the moment, LOL.  But between the time I settle in and Gizmo’s wanting, I can get a lot done with my writing.

Fact: Dealing with an almost 3-year-old cat (who is still a kitten) is like dealing with a human toddler, but I like human toddlers better, LOL.   I do not have to dress this one or listen to it say, “Mommy, mommy, mommy”.  Oh, wait, constant meowing is the same as “mommy, mommy, mommy”.  Never mind, LOL.

Have a good day.

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[thedrowsydoormouse]

1. What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

I don’t really know what would qualify as “weird” but yesterday I ordered fried zucchini and tex mex eggrolls from Cheesecake Factory as my dinner and they were real fucking good!

2. Who was your childhood hero?

Shirley Temple. She’s part of why I started dancing. I didn’t leave my room for a week when I found out she had died.

3. What food have you never eaten but would really like to try?

Poke bowls. I love sushi and other stuff like sushi so I think I’d really love them!

4. If you could time travel what year would you travel to and why?

I’d probably make a big vacation out of it and make multiple stops in multiple years at all the Disney parks around the world so I can see some of the stuff I never actually got to that I would’ve loved.

5. What was your biggest fear as a child?

Spiders. And it still is. I have legit PTSD because of spiders and no, I am not joking.

6. What is something you’d like to accomplish in the next year?

I really want to finish writing my book and at least try to get it published if not actually start the process of publishing a book.

7. A new hobby that you would like to learn?

I kind of already know how to do this but I haven’t mastered it yet but I really want to start making candles again because I can never find ones that smell like what I want outside of a two week window in September when brands bring out their Halloween/fall collections before they start throwing Christmas at us by mid-September.

8. What is your dream holiday destination?

My two favorite places I’ve been on vacation were New York and New Orleans for two very different reasons. I love New York for the theatre scene and how there’s always something going on and I love New Orleans for the food and the spooky shit. If I could find somewhere that is both of those mixed together I’d be the happiest girl in the world!

9. What is your ideal meal for your last supper?

Going back to the last question, the crayfish ettoufee at Deanie’s in the French Quarter in new Orleans. It was hands down the best thing I’ve ever eaten and I still crave it almost a decade later!

10. If you had one superpower what would it be?

In my dreams I always wind up flying in some way, shape, or form so I would love to be able to fly. But at the same time I think something like time travel or teleportation would be awesome.

11. Where are some unusual places you’ve been?

I haven’t been to that many unusual places. I’m not nearly as well-traveled as I’d like to be.

12. What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?

Princess Bride! Or Singin’ In The Rain! Both of those will always be two of my all time favorites and can instantly lift me out of a shitty mood!

13. What animal would be cutest if scaled down to the size of a cat?

I think it’d be adorable to have a tiny little panda friend or something similar that’s just kind of round and fluffy.

14. If you couldn’t be convicted of any one type of crime, what criminal charge would you like to be immune to?

Murder because there’s an infestation in DC that needs to be dealt with. And by that I mean I would murder the president and all of his cronies.

15. In the past people were buried with the items they would need in the afterlife, what would you want to be buried with you so you could use it in the afterlife?

A laptop with internet, spotify, and portable speakers so I can still listen to music and watch movies and shit. Even in the afterlife I’m a lazy couch potato.

16. What was the last photo you took? 

My dog on the couch snuggling with a pillow and serving major sassy vibes!

17. What’s the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten?

Ghost pepper hot sauce straight from the bottle. All I could taste was the mustard seed they put in it. There was almost no spice to me but my mom thought she was dying.

18. What riddles do you know?

Why is a raven like a writing desk.

19. What mythical creature do you wish actually existed?

Phoenix. I’d love to have one as a pet.

20. What are you interested in that most people aren’t?

The psychology of people who are obsessed with serial killers. Not the killers themselves. But the people who lose their fucking minds over them.

21. If you were given a Ph.D. degree but had no more knowledge of the subject of the degree besides what you have now, what degree would you want to be given to you?

Probably psychology because I already know way more about it than I let on and way more than you would think someone who’s never taken a single psych class would know. 

22. What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis?

“Being normal is vastly over rated.” That’s one of my favorites. I also tend to talk in movie quotes a lot but people never seem to notice.

23. Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money?

I’m not going to answer this because there are multiple that are all equally as deserving that would do a lot of good in this world and to say one is more deserving than another would be extremely unfair to the others.

24. What TV show character would it be the most fun to change places with for a week?

Either Abby Sciuto or Kasie Hines (but I’d prefer Abby because her apartment/closet is FAB) because I’d love to spend a week solving crimes with the NCIS team but I don’t actually want to go out into the field. Plus then I could just hang down in autopsy with Palmer the whole week if there isn’t a case which would be awesome!

25. If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?

Something to clean my room to get my mom off my ass about dusting.

26. What movie, picture or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it?

Pretty much anything with funny animals or people doing stupid shit that makes them fall off things or anything that would be on AFV.

27. If you could have an all-expenses-paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose?

The Eiffel Tower because then I could eat all the French food and go to all the fab shops in Paris and someone else would be paying for literally the entire thing!

28. What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought?

A custom baby doll of the Hatbox Ghost from the Haunted Mansion. It’s ridiculous but I love it so much!

29. What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to?

Zip-lining. Or bungee jumping. Or skydiving. I’m shockingly an adrenaline junkie for someone who hardly ever leaves her room!

30. What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them?

Anything that was played in any of my dance classes when I was a kid (which was a weird amount of Janet Jackson) or anything I’ve danced to during any recital. Or Seasons of Love because I’m musical theatre nerd trash!

@anangelamuse-castiel-spnfam Now it’s your turn (if you haven’t already done this by the time I’m done typing)!

[preciousmetals0]

Bezos’ Saudi Blunder; NFLX Buffers; NIO Chunders

Bezos’ Saudi Blunder; NFLX Buffers; NIO Chunders:

Phishing With Princes

“This is soooo funny! Like and share to see what happens!”

Few things in the English language get my blood boiling more than phrases like these. They come in emails, on Facebook posts, in direct messages and through texts. What’s even more infuriating is that people I know send this stuff to me — even though they know better!

No, Uncle Jerry, the Nigerian prince isn’t going to send you any money. And neither is Bill Gates. Stop sharing this crap!

If you want to know the dangers of sharing these emails/texts/messages, just ask Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.

Back in 2018, Bezos’ iPhone was hacked after he viewed a video sent to him via WhatsApp. The sender wasn’t a Nigerian prince … but someone connected to the Saudi prince. The hackers lifted personal images that complicated Bezos’ divorce that year. They also reportedly skimmed gigabytes of data in the process, but exactly what they got hasn’t been revealed.

The situation has since escalated well beyond a romantic spat, however. The United Nations (U.N.) is now involved. That’s serious.

“The information we have received suggests the possible involvement of the Crown Prince in surveillance of Mr. Bezos, in an effort to influence, if not silence, The Washington Post’s reporting on Saudi Arabia,” U.N. representatives said in a statement this morning. The U.N. is calling for an immediate investigation. (FYI, Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)

The Saudis have rejected the claims as “absurd.”

Still, FTI Consulting, the business advisory firm that carried out the hacking investigation, says it has “medium to high confidence” that Bezos’ phone was hacked by malware from an account used by the Saudi crown prince.

The Takeaway:

There are two takeaways here:

Don’t open any message, attachment or link you don’t recognize!

Don’t open any message, attachment or link you don’t recognize!

Yes, No. 1 and No. 2 are the same. Yes, it’s that important. It doesn’t matter whom the message, attachment or link comes from. This includes relatives and friends … especially relatives and friends!

No one will send you money, no matter how many forwards or “likes” you get. No amount of laughter is worth opening that “funny” image/video — it isn’t that funny anyway.

And if you think: “It won’t happen to me! I’ve got great security on my devices!” — just remember Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and the richest guy in the world.

His security was far beyond anything that you or I could afford. What’s more, he was using arguably two of the more secure platforms on mobile: an iPhone and WhatsApp — both so encrypted that even the U.S. government can’t crack them.

So, no, Uncle Jerry, that copy of Norton/McAfee won’t keep you safe. Once you open a message, click an attachment or visit a link, you’ve given your permission to whatever is on the other side. Not even the best cybersecurity in the world can help you at that point.

In these situations, just remember Great Stuff’s words to live by: When in doubt, delete it out — at least until the world runs completely on blockchain.

Blockchain? What’s that?

Right, blockchain! You know, the ultra secure digital ledger that records transactions like no one’s business? This tech is perfect for our less-than-secure world … especially for when your “long-lost cousin” is “totally stranded” in an “Indonesian airport.”

Blockchain tech could disrupt everything about how we use money, from banking to retail to real estate.

But Mr. Great Stuff, can you tell me more about what blockchain is? I bet there’s a way to invest in it, too…

I could tell you more, but it’s best that you hear it from famed tech expert Paul Mampilly. Thousands of Great Stuff readers love Paul Mampilly’s insights into the latest tech trends … and blockchain is no different.

Click here to hear why blockchain is so disruptive — and the gigantic profit potential it’s unleashing.

Good: Earnings Don’t Mean Squat

I tried to warn you on Friday when Great Stuff previewed earnings for Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX). Did you listen? I hope so.

By all conceivable measures, Netflix’s quarterly report was out of this world. Earnings skyrocketed 333% to $1.30 per share from $0.30 a year ago. Revenue soared to $5.5 billion. Wall Street expected earnings of $0.50 per share and revenue of $5.4 billion. Heck, even the Whisper Number projected a mere $0.58 per share in earnings.

And what did NFLX get for its troubles? A loss of more than 2% on the day.

But why? Netflix said it now has more than 60 million subscribers worldwide. It reported 8.3 million new international subscribers, beating expectations.

The reason for the 2% drop? Domestic growth concerns. Netflix only added 420,000 subscribers domestically, versus expectations for 618,000 adds. What’s more, 2020 guidance only called for 7 million new subscribers, compared to 9.2 million new subs in 2019.

Subscriber growth is slowing, and investors fear that Netflix has hit peak saturation. With the company spending billions on content this year, that could mean lower returns and higher negative cash flow.

That said, Netflix proved that it could execute even amid a fresh assault from The Walt Disney Co.’s (NYSE: DIS) Disney+. Furthermore, I think both investors and analysts are discounting international subscribers way too much. It is a global market after all, and Netflix is quickly doing to the rest of the world what it did stateside last decade.

In short, keep your eyes on Netflix, as this dip might be a buying opportunity.

Better: Old Dog, New Tricks

Surprise! International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is relevant again.

Big Blue is among the last of the old-school tech giants to move to the cloud, and it’s paying off big. The company reported earnings of $4.71 per share, $0.02 better than the consensus.

Revenue was also ahead of expectations at $21.78 billion.

The kicker for IBM? A 21.8% jump in cloud revenue to $6.8 billion. It’s amazing what charging to support a free operating system can do for your bottom line — thanks Red Hat Linux!

Things are going so well, IBM also boosted its 2020 outlook above analyst expectations.

This is the most excitement IBM investors have seen in years. Seriously. The stock has basically gone nowhere in the past five years.

As boring as it sounds, maybe paying $34 billion to buy out software company Red Hat really was the best thing to happen to IBM. I’m still having trouble getting excited about this dinosaur, though … if you couldn’t tell.

Best: Look out Below!

So, when I started out writing on Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO) this morning, the shares were up about 5%. I was impressed … truly. Nio was on its way to an unprecedented 10-day rally, gaining more than 60% in the process.

But, in true Nio fashion, those gains were not to last. The stock rolled over sharply this afternoon, as investors decided that $5 per share was too much to pay for the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker.

The $5 area could be quite the hurdle for Nio. The company is riding high off December’s stellar earnings call, reports of a $1 billion cash infusion from GAC Group and Tesla Inc.’s (Nasdaq: TSLA) EV success in China.

In fact, NIO shares have more than tripled in the past three months. With that level of speculation, however, comes an equal level of volatility. There’s no bad news making the rounds on Nio today, so this sudden midday drop is likely due to profit-taking.

I mean, if you banked a 200%-plus gain on a speculative Chinese EV stock, wouldn’t you take profits?

The company has investment potential (if you have the risk tolerance). But, if you’re looking to jump in, you should probably wait until the stock comes back to earth a bit more.

Let’s revisit our two rules, shall we?

Don’t open any message, attachment or link you don’t recognize!

Don’t open any message, attachment or link you don’t recognize!

Thank you.

Great Stuff: Feed the Beast

You better believe it’s that time again.

You have less than 12 hours to drop me a line at GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com to make this week’s edition of Reader Feedback.

We take all kinds here: comments, questions, witty remarks and secret recipes. As always, no cursing, please. We can’t publish that s#&%.

I’ll get the festivities started for you:

Have you kept up with the Senate impeachment trials?

Would you spot a cyber hack or phishing scam — before it’s too late?

Have you ever made ridiculous profits off speculative Chinese stocks?

Are you keeping your New Year’s resolutions? (And is your local gym back to being empty?)

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out Great Stuff on social media. If you can’t get enough meme-y goodness, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[goldira01]

Phishing With Princes

“This is soooo funny! Like and share to see what happens!”

Few things in the English language get my blood boiling more than phrases like these. They come in emails, on Facebook posts, in direct messages and through texts. What’s even more infuriating is that people I know send this stuff to me — even though they know better!

No, Uncle Jerry, the Nigerian prince isn’t going to send you any money. And neither is Bill Gates. Stop sharing this crap!

If you want to know the dangers of sharing these emails/texts/messages, just ask Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.

Back in 2018, Bezos’ iPhone was hacked after he viewed a video sent to him via WhatsApp. The sender wasn’t a Nigerian prince … but someone connected to the Saudi prince. The hackers lifted personal images that complicated Bezos’ divorce that year. They also reportedly skimmed gigabytes of data in the process, but exactly what they got hasn’t been revealed.

The situation has since escalated well beyond a romantic spat, however. The United Nations (U.N.) is now involved. That’s serious.

“The information we have received suggests the possible involvement of the Crown Prince in surveillance of Mr. Bezos, in an effort to influence, if not silence, The Washington Post’s reporting on Saudi Arabia,” U.N. representatives said in a statement this morning. The U.N. is calling for an immediate investigation. (FYI, Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)

The Saudis have rejected the claims as “absurd.”

Still, FTI Consulting, the business advisory firm that carried out the hacking investigation, says it has “medium to high confidence” that Bezos’ phone was hacked by malware from an account used by the Saudi crown prince.

The Takeaway:

There are two takeaways here:

Don’t open any message, attachment or link you don’t recognize!

Don’t open any message, attachment or link you don’t recognize!

Yes, No. 1 and No. 2 are the same. Yes, it’s that important. It doesn’t matter whom the message, attachment or link comes from. This includes relatives and friends … especially relatives and friends!

No one will send you money, no matter how many forwards or “likes” you get. No amount of laughter is worth opening that “funny” image/video — it isn’t that funny anyway.

And if you think: “It won’t happen to me! I’ve got great security on my devices!” — just remember Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and the richest guy in the world.

His security was far beyond anything that you or I could afford. What’s more, he was using arguably two of the more secure platforms on mobile: an iPhone and WhatsApp — both so encrypted that even the U.S. government can’t crack them.

So, no, Uncle Jerry, that copy of Norton/McAfee won’t keep you safe. Once you open a message, click an attachment or visit a link, you’ve given your permission to whatever is on the other side. Not even the best cybersecurity in the world can help you at that point.

In these situations, just remember Great Stuff’s words to live by: When in doubt, delete it out — at least until the world runs completely on blockchain.

Blockchain? What’s that?

Right, blockchain! You know, the ultra secure digital ledger that records transactions like no one’s business? This tech is perfect for our less-than-secure world … especially for when your “long-lost cousin” is “totally stranded” in an “Indonesian airport.”

Blockchain tech could disrupt everything about how we use money, from banking to retail to real estate.

But Mr. Great Stuff, can you tell me more about what blockchain is? I bet there’s a way to invest in it, too…

I could tell you more, but it’s best that you hear it from famed tech expert Paul Mampilly. Thousands of Great Stuff readers love Paul Mampilly’s insights into the latest tech trends … and blockchain is no different.

Click here to hear why blockchain is so disruptive — and the gigantic profit potential it’s unleashing.

Good: Earnings Don’t Mean Squat

I tried to warn you on Friday when Great Stuff previewed earnings for Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX). Did you listen? I hope so.

By all conceivable measures, Netflix’s quarterly report was out of this world. Earnings skyrocketed 333% to $1.30 per share from $0.30 a year ago. Revenue soared to $5.5 billion. Wall Street expected earnings of $0.50 per share and revenue of $5.4 billion. Heck, even the Whisper Number projected a mere $0.58 per share in earnings.

And what did NFLX get for its troubles? A loss of more than 2% on the day.

But why? Netflix said it now has more than 60 million subscribers worldwide. It reported 8.3 million new international subscribers, beating expectations.

The reason for the 2% drop? Domestic growth concerns. Netflix only added 420,000 subscribers domestically, versus expectations for 618,000 adds. What’s more, 2020 guidance only called for 7 million new subscribers, compared to 9.2 million new subs in 2019.

Subscriber growth is slowing, and investors fear that Netflix has hit peak saturation. With the company spending billions on content this year, that could mean lower returns and higher negative cash flow.

That said, Netflix proved that it could execute even amid a fresh assault from The Walt Disney Co.’s (NYSE: DIS) Disney+. Furthermore, I think both investors and analysts are discounting international subscribers way too much. It is a global market after all, and Netflix is quickly doing to the rest of the world what it did stateside last decade.

In short, keep your eyes on Netflix, as this dip might be a buying opportunity.

Better: Old Dog, New Tricks

Surprise! International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is relevant again.

Big Blue is among the last of the old-school tech giants to move to the cloud, and it’s paying off big. The company reported earnings of $4.71 per share, $0.02 better than the consensus.

Revenue was also ahead of expectations at $21.78 billion.

The kicker for IBM? A 21.8% jump in cloud revenue to $6.8 billion. It’s amazing what charging to support a free operating system can do for your bottom line — thanks Red Hat Linux!

Things are going so well, IBM also boosted its 2020 outlook above analyst expectations.

This is the most excitement IBM investors have seen in years. Seriously. The stock has basically gone nowhere in the past five years.

As boring as it sounds, maybe paying $34 billion to buy out software company Red Hat really was the best thing to happen to IBM. I’m still having trouble getting excited about this dinosaur, though … if you couldn’t tell.

Best: Look out Below!

So, when I started out writing on Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO) this morning, the shares were up about 5%. I was impressed … truly. Nio was on its way to an unprecedented 10-day rally, gaining more than 60% in the process.

But, in true Nio fashion, those gains were not to last. The stock rolled over sharply this afternoon, as investors decided that $5 per share was too much to pay for the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker.

The $5 area could be quite the hurdle for Nio. The company is riding high off December’s stellar earnings call, reports of a $1 billion cash infusion from GAC Group and Tesla Inc.’s (Nasdaq: TSLA) EV success in China.

In fact, NIO shares have more than tripled in the past three months. With that level of speculation, however, comes an equal level of volatility. There’s no bad news making the rounds on Nio today, so this sudden midday drop is likely due to profit-taking.

I mean, if you banked a 200%-plus gain on a speculative Chinese EV stock, wouldn’t you take profits?

The company has investment potential (if you have the risk tolerance). But, if you’re looking to jump in, you should probably wait until the stock comes back to earth a bit more.

Let’s revisit our two rules, shall we?

Don’t open any message, attachment or link you don’t recognize!

Don’t open any message, attachment or link you don’t recognize!

Thank you.

Great Stuff: Feed the Beast

You better believe it’s that time again.

You have less than 12 hours to drop me a line at GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com to make this week’s edition of Reader Feedback.

We take all kinds here: comments, questions, witty remarks and secret recipes. As always, no cursing, please. We can’t publish that s#&%.

I’ll get the festivities started for you:

Have you kept up with the Senate impeachment trials?

Would you spot a cyber hack or phishing scam — before it’s too late?

Have you ever made ridiculous profits off speculative Chinese stocks?

Are you keeping your New Year’s resolutions? (And is your local gym back to being empty?)

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out Great Stuff on social media. If you can’t get enough meme-y goodness, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[theliterateape]

Hope Idiotic | Part 20

By David Himmel

Hope Idiotic is a serialized novel. Catch each new part every week on Monday and Thursday.

MICHELLE WAS IN THE DUCHESS IDOL FINALS. It came down to her and a younger, blonder girl who wore lower-cut dresses and sang songs from popular Disney movies. From the start of the competition, they all knew this girl was the only other real competitor. Duchess Cruises was known for attracting an older crowd to its ships, mostly because it was one of the more expensive cruise lines. Michelle and Lou were the youngest passengers on board by at least twenty years. Well, except for the Disney Girl, and that made her all the more special.

Lou encouraged Michelle to sing songs familiar to the judges and audience. This strategy worked well for what she had in her repertoire. It’s what got her to the finals. And though Michelle had a stronger voice with far more range than the Disney Girl, ultimately, the title of Duchess Idol eluded Michelle.

“She only won because she is so young and cutsie, and she reminds everyone of their granddaughter,” Michelle mocked.

“If my granddaughter puts her rack out there like that, there’s gonna be trouble,” Lou said.

“Okay, their slutty granddaughter,” replied Michelle.

“Hey, it’s okay. Her strategy wasn’t much different than ours. She played to the people. She sang Disney princess songs; songs that little kids sing. And old people love little kids. I wish I’d thought of it before she went up that first night.”

“But all she sang were Disney songs. It’s so boring.”

“It’s a karaoke contest, babe. There are no points for originality.”

“Whatever. Maybe I should just push my boobs up to my chin and sing stupid cartoon songs.”

“Okay, Michelle. That’s enough of that. Don’t be a sore loser,” her mother said.

“I’m getting a drink,” Michelle said.

At another bar across the ship from the Crooners Lounge & Bar, the four of them raised their martini glasses high and toasted Michelle for a well-fought competition. “I should have won,” Michelle said. The other three agreed with formality.

“Are any of you interested in being in the Royal Duchess Star Search tomorrow night?” interrupted a member of the ship’s crew. She placed a flyer in front of them. Lou picked it up.

“What is it?” he inquired.

“It’s a talent show. Tomorrow night in the Royal Theater. You can do any talent at all. Sing, dance, magic, comedy; whatever you like. You can have as many people in your act with you as needed. The winner gets five hundred dollars and a trophy.”

“You should enter,” Lynn told Michelle.

“How do you sign up?” asked Lou.

“The list is outside of the Theater. There’s a mandatory meeting for all contestants at eleven tomorrow morning. It’s a sea day, so you should be aboard.” She paused for a laugh that never came. “So, anyone here want to sign up?”

“Michelle,” her mother encouraged again.

“No, thank you. I think it’s best that I retire.”

“I’ll do it,” said Lou. His girlfriend and her parents looked at him, surprised.

“Great!” said the crew member. “Sign up or just come to the meeting at eleven, and we’ll get you registered there. But slots may fill up fast, so it’s better to get your name on the list tonight.” She placed another flyer on the bar and moved on to the next group of people.

“I guess I should go and put my name down,” Lou said.

“What are you going to do?” said Michelle.

“I guess I’ll do some stand-up.”

“Really? That’s great! Oh, you’ll do so well,” she said.

“I’m a little out of practice, but I’m just drunk enough tonight to not care. I’ll panic tomorrow and try to write something.”

“Whatever it is, you’ll be great,” said Michelle.

The four of them raised their martini glasses high and toasted to Lou to have a great show tomorrow.

✶

HE REGRETTED HIS DECISION TO BE A CONTESTANT IMMEDIATELY AFTER HE WOKE UP. But he wasn’t going to back out. He and Michelle had some morning sex, and they headed to breakfast with her parents. The day at sea was set to be a beautiful one. Michelle and her parents were going to suntan their hangovers away. Lou, on the other hand, was going to lock himself in the stateroom, leaving only for the mandatory meeting at 11.

He had two to five minutes of performance time to fill. For a singer or a dancer or a group of people doing a skit, meeting that time requirement would be a breeze. But two to five minutes of stand-up — and good stand-up at that — was far more challenging. Plus, he hadn’t written a new joke in two years. He considered the audience he’d be playing to — old people on a boat — and started writing. He tailored everything to ship humor. The food, the high prices of drinks at the bar that you don’t know you’re paying until you see your bar tab at the end of the trip, the ship’s manic focus on hand sanitization as a way to prevent a norovirus outbreak, which is openly admitting that someone on the ship has poop on their hands.

He memorized as much of his script as he could. He practiced it in front of the bathroom mirror over and over again. He was concerned that it was a little hacky, and not really his own style, but it was the best he could do with the time he had. His old stuff from two years ago would be no good. It was either outdated or too dark for the expected audience.

“I’m really not sure what you’re upset about. Is it because you didn’t win the karaoke contest?”

“No, Lou. It’s because you always steal my spotlight.”

There were twenty-four other contestants. The show order was picked at random. The judges were a who’s who of ship personalities: the captain, the head chef, a showgirl from the dance troupe, the ship’s house comedian and the lead singer of the band that played on the pool deck. Lou and a seventy-something man were the only two doing stand-up. The show was emceed by the ship’s social director Darrin. The other notable performances were a couple doing a waltz, a man juggling, a woman doing an operatic sonata and the Disney Girl performing “Somewhere Out There­” — not a song from a Disney movie.

Lou killed it. Even the least funny of all the jokes landed: “The only thing more disappointing than the ice cream not being served twenty-four hours is when Darrin denied my request to watch Titanic in the ship’s screening room.” He was a finalist with — believe it — Disney Girl. The judges said it was close. But there could be only one. Lou had to win. With Disney Girl up there again, it was personal.

Darrin announced the winner, dragging out the suspense. “The winner… of the 2008 Royal Duchess Star Search… and recipient of five hundred dollars and a beautiful trophy is… …………..Lou Bergman!”

Lou shook Disney Girl’s hand. He could see that she was crying. Suck it up, kid. Life only gets worse, he thought. A pair of showgirls brought out the foot-high trophy and one of those Publisher’s Clearing House-sized checks made out for five hundred bucks. The audience cheered. Darrin congratulated him and asked him if he’d like to say anything.

“Maybe say hello to friends or family in the audience?”

“I’m a little concerned this won’t fit in the overhead compartment on the plane back home,” he said holding up the novelty check. The audience roared. Jesus, these people will laugh at anything, he thought.

After a few rounds of drinks paid for by strangers who wanted to congratulate him and remark how they enjoyed his jokes, Lou and Michelle, and Lynn and Barry turned in.

“That was a lot of fun tonight. I miss doing that,” Lou said as he and Michelle undressed in their stateroom.

“Uh-huh,” she replied.

“You know that Disney Girl was crying when she lost. That’s what happens when you mess with my baby: I’ll make a bitch cry.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You okay?”

“What is it you miss doing, Lou?”

“What?”

“You said that you miss doing ‘that.’ What do you miss doing?”

“Oh. Stand-up. It felt good being up there again.”

“Because I thought you meant that you missed stealing the spotlight from me. Because I would have reminded you that you shouldn’t miss it because you do it all the time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t have to make such a big deal out of winning some stupid talent show on a cruise ship filled with the walking dead.”

“How am I making a big deal about it? I thought you were glad I won.”

“I’d rather have you win than anyone else up there, but do you need that big fucking check, too?” She pointed to the large cardboard check leaning against the sliding door to the balcony.

“Um, they gave me that check. What would you like me to do with it?”

“It’s not even a real check.”

“Obviously, but should I have just left it on the stage? That would have been rude.”

“So what?  And I suppose you’re going to bring it home with you?”

“No. I guess I’ll just leave it here.”

“You don’t think that’ll be rude?

“I’m really not sure what you’re upset about. Is it because you didn’t win the karaoke contest?”

“No, Lou. It’s because you always steal my spotlight.”

“What spotlight are you talking about? There’s no spotlight to steal. We weren’t competing with each other. Our two shows were a day apart and on different decks for fuck’s sake!”

“It’s not about the shows! It’s about you stealing the spotlight!”

“The spotlight, right. Okay. Then I have no idea what you mean.”

“I assume you know what five hundred dollars means. Because you can just give me your winnings to help pay for your trip.”

Lou stared at her. That five hundred was the most money he’d made doing what he loved in a long, long time. Winning — just performing — was the best he’d felt in just as long. Michelle wasn’t letting him enjoy it. Was she really jealous of his win? And while he could have given her the full five hundred bucks to help pay for the trip, it wouldn’t have made much difference — not with what the whole thing cost anyway. Besides, he’d thought about treating himself to a new blazer and a pair of jeans since he hadn’t bought himself any new clothes in two years. He also thought he’d take Michelle out for a really nice evening, like the one where he would propose to her. This is bullshit, he thought as they engaged in a stare-down. He should have said something, but instead, he shrugged his shoulders in defeat and mumbled, “Fine.” Then he left to wander the ship’s decks drinking a glass of scotch until he had calmed down and figured Michelle had fallen asleep.

In the morning, she apologized. She admitted she was a little drunk and yes, a little jealous. But she was so proud of him and wanted him to keep the money. It was his, she said. Maybe he should buy himself a new blazer, she said. Or they could go out for a nice dinner. She was incredibly loving that day, completely smitten with Lou and beamed every time someone on the ship recognized him. She was so happy he was hers, she said.

And what choice did he have but to believe it?

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Part IX Part X Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19

[bruhsauraus]

Armando Iannucci: I was saved from being a reject by comedy

The king of satire, back with a new film about Soviet-era Russia after Stalins death, talks about being uncool, Veep and building a spaceship in London

Armando Iannucci arrives for our 3pm meeting with a small amount of his lunch still clinging to his shirt. We discuss retouching the mark for the Observers pictures but, admirably, he doesnt seem to care either way. It is tempting to describe the 53-year-old Iannucci as the most feared political satirist of our age. Certainly, his output in the past decade the BBC sitcom The Thick of It, the companion film In the Loop, and latterly Veep has been untouchable in skewering the vanity, incompetence and plain childishness of people in power. But, in person, nothing about Iannucci is remotely scary: he is self-effacing, smiley, quick to laugh. At the end of the day, hes just a guy with a tomato stain on his shirt.

Iannuccis latest target is Stalin and his cronies. His new film, The Death of Stalin, is set in 1953 and depicts with unexpected historical accuracy the undignified scrabble for dominance that followed the demise of the Soviet despot. It is silly, moving and revelatory, all at once, with deft, pitch-perfect turns from Simon Russell Beale as Beria and Steve Buscemi as Khrushchev. Iannucci, who never likes to have fewer than seven plates spinning at any moment, has also just published a book on classical music, Hear Me Out, about a lifetime of listening to Mahler and Britten in open defiance of the keepers of the cool.

Was it easier than you expected to make a comedy about Stalin and his inner circle that was also factually accurate? Yeah. When we were researching it, we found out things like Vasily, Stalins son, really did lose the ice-hockey team in a plane crash. And because the comedy is the comedy of hysteria, you want to be true to what happened and how people responded. So anything that was so-bizarre-and-yet-true was a candidate for going in. I thought about having This is a true story, but then I thought, no, just watch it for what it is, and it would be great if you subsequently found out that the bulk of it was true.

These men are vicious, but your film also gives them a human side. They have families they fear for; they play practical jokes. Did your feelings towards them change? Um, no. But I did think, what must they have done to have survived and ended up so close to Stalin, and what has it done to them? The fact, for example, that he would almost taunt them and mock them and play them off against each other With all these things its about posing the question, What would you have done in those circumstances?

Power corrupts? Yeah, it was almost like Animal Farm by the end, and yet they all lived near each other and popped in and out of each others houses. He might have had your brother shot and all that, but they had to sublimate that as just part of the process of moving forward. But, you know, you read that Boris Johnson and Michael Gove were the biggest enemies and are now reconciled. Im not saying they are like Stalin, but in that febrile environment where you see each other every day, in order to survive, just psychologically, you must have to close off a bit of your emotion.

Watch a trailer for The Death of Stalin.

So there are lessons about todays political landscape? Trump gets all his closest associates in over the past three or four months, and has to say, By the way, youre fired because I need to survive now. So could you go away? And eventually hell be saying that to his daughter and his son-in-law: Youve now become an albatross, I cant be seen with you anymore. Or after the general election, Theresa May turns to her two very close advisers and says, Its you or me. And they all kind of understand that. Its like that thing in The Godfather: Its not personal, its strictly business.

Is it true there have been calls in Russia for the film to be banned? You say Russia its a person in a country of 200 million people. Just somebody somewhere said something.

Were you expecting a reaction? I was wondering what it would be. I was surprised to hear we sold it to a Russian distributor. Stalins been making a comeback. There have been busts of Lenin, Stalin and other key figures going up in Moscow for the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Its that sense of, dont be frightened of strong men. Thats the message in Moscow at the moment.

Theres a line in your book Hear Me Out where you describe film directing as an astonishing ego trip, and that you wouldnt recommend it to anyone who has the slightest psychotic tendencies. Is it a job you feel comfortable doing? Ha! It is, but you do spend all day ordering people around, and everyone will do what you say. My wife teases me when I finish a shoot that it takes about a week and a half before I stop going, Right, shall we have a cup of tea? You, get a cup of tea I can see how, especially if you do shoots that go on for months, you become like a medieval lord with all these serfs, just ordering them around and torturing them and asking them to tell jokes and fetch food.

As the creator and showrunner on HBOs Veep for the first four seasons was it a difficult decision to give it up in 2015? No. It might have been the British thing that we dont do that many episodes of TV shows in the UK. Plus, it was three months of the year going out to Baltimore, backwards and forwards, and it was an all-year-round thing of the writing, the shooting, the edit, the publicising and then the writing And I knew the show could carry on, but fundamentally Id taken it to where I wanted to take it.

The show will end next year with a final, seventh series. Do you know whats going to happen? No, no, no. They asked if I wanted to stay on, but I knew I was going to do Stalin and I just thought, I cant be on set and get a call saying, Can you look at this script? But its great, because I watch it as a viewer and you realise though I always knew this what an amazing cast it is and how funny they all are. And also, I genuinely dont know what they are going to say next, which is really great.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as vice-president Selina Meyer in Veep. Photograph: HBO

It was recently announced that youre making a new show with HBO called Avenue 5. Whats the idea behind that? Ive always wanted to do sci-fi, so this will be set mostly in space, in about 40 years time. Its not going to be Blade Runner, but there will be an element of realism to it. Ive been out to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and Virgin Galactic, looking at where it might be in about 40 years time. Ive mapped out the season and were writing the pilot episode and well shoot that sometime next year. And because its in space, its not location specific, so we can shoot it in a studio or a hanger in London. Well just build a spaceship here.

What impact do you think streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are having on terrestrial TV? Well, the good thing is that content producers writers and producers have more places to go. And also, whats great, and HBO paved the way with this: quality stuff is profitable. Thats their business model: youll only subscribe to HBO if you think youre going to get good stuff thats different from whats on the networks. So they need it to be better and well thought out and high production values and all that.

But is the quality always better? I do worry that simply because theres so much money available from the big streaming companies, theyll say, Oh well make your movie. We know no one else wanted to, and we realise why, because it was slightly indulgent or whatever, but well make it. And you watch it and you think, it was fine but For all the criticism of the studio process, if youre making something that costs someone else money and which is going to be available commercially, you want people to go and see it. So it does force you to think: have you made it as well as you can? Or have you really thought this through?

In Hear Me Out you write about the tyranny of the keepers of cool. Was liking classical music a reaction against them? Well, I was never really into fashion or clothes. I just wasnt that bothered. I wanted to read a good book. I was saved from being written off as a complete reject by the fact I could do comedy.

You started to learn piano in your 40s. Was that difficult? I found it hard. It was learning a language: Oh, I can speak music! And suddenly these dots and whatever started to make sense. But it was hard work. Some people can do it instinctively and I couldnt. My son would lean over me, hed be practising the violin, and go, No, no, no, its like this. And he hasnt had a piano lesson.

Do you listen to any non-classical music? I kind of like Radiohead, the Beatles, Bowie, its not extensive, but Im always trying. Whats interesting now is, because everything is available, kids can listen to Sinatra when theyre 12 and theres no real sense of: Youve got to listen to this because its out now. But you cant listen to that because thats from 20 years ago. They are a lot more experimental in what they are listening to and that then feeds into the music thats being produced. Its influenced not just by music from two years ago, but music from 20 or 30 years ago.

How can classical music stay relevant? Its up to the classical music establishment, for want of a better word, to open it up. Concerts neednt be off-putting and expensive and you dont have to dress up and you dont have to understand the technical complexities. Just talk to the audience. One of the weird things about a concert is that nobody says anything to you, so youve got to just accept whats in front of you and work it out. Somebody should sit down and explain: This piece, when it was first composed, caused a riot. Now it might sound a bit more conventional because its been used in a Walt Disney movie. I dont know, I think its just useful.

Stalin had a great passion for classical music. So listening to it doesnt make you a better human being then? George Steiner writes about how Goebbels was into Mozart and played the piano beautifully. Wagner was an antisemitic bastard, so actually, no. Thats the sad thing: it doesnt make any difference. It really doesnt.

Can you put that aside when you listen to the music? I dont know. I always got taken by the grandiosity of Wagner, but the more I listen to it now the more I think, it does sound fascist, doesnt it? But its interesting, that thing of, Can you excuse? Like Polanski. That whole, Great film-maker, but should you be watching his movies? I dont know what the answer is.

The Death of Stalin is released on 20 October.

Hear Me Out by Armando Iannucci is published by Little Brown (14.99). To order a copy for 12.74 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of 1.99

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/oct/15/armando-iannucci-the-death-of-stalin-hear-me-out-interview

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