#me and my very important thoughts dot biz

[mslullabies]

headcanon that if movieverse Deadpool and Wolverine are the same height, and if they get into petty disagreements about this and stand up very straight and get up on their tippytoes to stare each other down like dumb elementary school kids, it'll turn out Wade wins, because he can go up on pointe.

[thebibliomancer]

Archaia’s Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance #12

The Journey into the Mondo Levidian Part 4

In this installment, they do not journey into the Mondo Levidian at all. Maybe this should have been titled Into the Guts and Back Again: A Gelfling’s Tale.

In part one, newly All-Maudra’d Mayrin deals with a Sifan separatist crisis but also plenty of unresolved mother-induced insecurity issues. She charters a ride with Captain Kam’Lu to speak to the separatist leader Fenth but a sea monster sinks the ship.

In part two, Mayrin and Kam’Lu are adrift at sea on a raft following the sinking but then they get eaten by a sea monster. The two meet the monster gut dwelling Boblings and learn that they have a limited time before the Mondo Levidian returns to the deeps and then there’ll be no escape for a trine. With the Bobling King’s daughter Gunda, the two set off on a journey out of the Mondo Levidian.

In part three, Mayrin, Kam’Lu, and Gunda set off on a journey to the Mondo Levidian’s porticol and fight a lot of Zoa. Mayrin and Kam’Lu become friends on the basis of name-shortening. And Mayrin flies Kam’Lu out of the closing porticol to save him from Zoa and prove her mom wrong.

So they’re out of the giant fish so what more is left of the story at this point? The answer is beneath the keep reading.

So let’s get started!

Dot arrives on SkekSa’s totally sweet monster/ship which she is very proud of.

SkekSa: “Greetings and welcome to the greatest behemoth in the Silver Sea, Ambassador Dot’leth! You’re aboard an unstoppable ship built with Skeksis ingenuity. Does our mastery of nature itself make you tremble in awe?”

Dot: “I assume you mean the second greatest behemoth in the Silver Sea, considering the attack on the Sifan ship that cost the lives of All-Maudra Mayrin and Captain Kam’Lu --”

SkekSa: “Well, yes, that was reported... but the captain of this ship has yet to find any proof of the alleged creature that destroyed the Sifan ship.”

Now, at first blush, this seems like SkekSa slipping up and accidentally admitting culpability like Prince Humperdinck in Princess Bride and his fastest ships.

But when the Mondo Levidian emerges from underwater, SkekSa goes from ‘what the heck’ to ‘i WANT that.’

SkekSa: “Second-greatest behemoth in the sea... bah! What does that ignorant old Vapran know about the sea! The only monsters here are --”

Mondo Levidian: -emerges-

SkekSa: “Oh. What other secrets are hiding in this infernal world...?”

And

SkekSa: “It’s been many trine since SkekSa discovered such a wonder -- and a majestic creature such as this deserves a naming ceremony! Vassa... You will be mine! The Mariner sails only the greatest creature -- er, ship -- in all of Thra!”

I had been assuming that the Mondo Levidian attack was a conspiracy by SkekSa to seize power for her preferred Gelfling clan. But it seems like it was just crazy random happenstance that she and Fenth got opportunistic over.

Also, holy crap, Dot has a full name?

And Fenth and Dot are implied to have History, being a little awkward around each other.

Over on top of the sea monster, Mayrin and Kam’Lu discover that the Zoa (led by the Zoa wearing clothes. The Necrozoa?) are following them up and out of the porticol. Mayrin and Kam’Lu have to take to the air again to try to escape to SkekSa’s ship.

Watching all of this happen, SkekSa settles on ‘bored of this.’

SkekSa: “New plan. SkekSa doesnt’ care anymore about your Gelfling squabbles.”

Fenth: “But...! But....! You said I could have power! We had a deal!”

SkekSa: “And SkekSa is bored of politics. I want that creature. I will be unstoppable, and all of Thra will be mine to explore! Entire lands waiting to be named -- named after me!”

I kind of like that SkekSa’s priorities are 1) Giant monsters, 2) Naming a lot of shit after herself, 3) The Sifan, I guessss. 2.5) is probably ‘ugh Skeksis politics uuugh.’

Mayrin manages to lead most of the Zoa swarm in front of the Mondo Levidian which jumps up and eats them.

She lands on the deck of SkekSa’s ship and has a moment with Kam’Lu.

This very good friendship has just become a kissing relationship.

It has been a hell of an enemies to lovers for them, huh?

The remaining Zoa and the Zoa-in-clothes, identified as being a queen Zoa? land on SkekSa’s dreadnought and Mayrin declares that the Zoa stand before a United Thra “Vapran courage and Sifan honor!” and for the Zoa to turn back or be destroyed.

Then there’s a massive Zoa vs Gelfling fight scene with SkekSa yelling for them to get off her ship.

I adore her.

Fenth gets upset that Mayrin is uniting the Sifa and Vapra and decides ‘hey, all kinds of things can happen in the heat of combat’ and throws an entire ass sword at Mayrin’s back.

But Kam’Lu blocks the attack with the goo shield (which he evidently kept). And its a bit of a broken pedestal moment considering Kam’Lu’s personality in issue one was ‘hey did you hear this cool stuff Fenth is saying??’

Kam’Lu: “Vile traitor! I trusted you! I believed in your lies and your wisdom! I thought you would lead us to something better... But you are the poison to all Gelfling-kind -- a poison I can no longer willingly imbibe!”

Good for you, Kam’Lu.

The war against the bugs ends when Mayrin stabs the queen Zoa in the eye and yells a defiant speech to her.

Mayrin: Queen, I am not one for violence -- But I will resort to it if I must! I will do whatever is necessary to save my kind -- just like you. We are the same! Please! Turn away! Turn away and end this needless bloodshed!”

And the queen Zoa does.

Whether actually moved or cowed by Mayrin’s speech or because she’s smart enough not to go in for sunk cost, the queen and the remaining Zoa take off.

Good job, Mayrin.

Although, it is funny that you tried to sue for peace when you earlier described the queen Zoa as “a monster filled with blind hate, resentment, and beastly rage. Something born in the pit of despair and darkness... Something that knows only hunger and power.”

But it won’t be the first time that Gelfling were way off in regards to the Arathim slash offshoots, nor the last.

Still, it feels right that the final boss of Mayrin’s plot was a giant monster queen wearing her mother’s clothes that she fends off by confidently telling to buzz off.

Fenth tries to blame the whole situation on Mayrin for leading the bugs to the ship, which is technically true. But Kam’Lu has become Mayrin’s biggest supporter because the boy believes with all his heart.

Kam’Lu: “You’re wrong! Mayrin is here because she had to save us at all costs! She is here because she is fighting to keep the seven clans together! She has been through a bizarre adventure, struggling through the stomach of monsters unknown!”

“I was just like Fenth -- I distrusted Mayrin because she was a Vapran. But Mayrin has saved my life too many times to count. She proved her strength in the toothrakes! She outwitted the horrifying King Bobling! She fought bravely and earned the respect of the greatest warrior of Bajula! She is what the Sifa clan needs. What all Gelfling need! In the darkness of the Mondo Leviadin, Mayrin led the way. I believe in her.”

“LONG LIVE ALL-MAUDRA MAYRIN!”

“And I swear, from this day to my last, when my body is taken by Thra, that I will fight for her -- by her side. As her friend... Her captain... Her...”

And then he trails off there because Mayrin holds his hand and the poor boy only has so much processing power.

Also, he kinda embellished Mayrin’s accomplishments by saying she outwitted the “horrifying” Bobling King. That guy was a kitten.

The Sifan Maudra is intrigued by all this love biz and asks Mayrin what she would do if the Sifans do decide to leave the clans.

Mayrin: “If we are to separate, then the seas will weep for the lonely Sifa clan. The mountains of Ha’rar will shake in the bitter Vapran gales. We must be the shining light of Thra -- together!”

“We are the living monuments of everything that touches us, be it the good and warm that gives us hope... or the malice and greed that drives us down darker paths. And... I wear my mother’s colors. I know it. I feel it -- I accept it. But I am not my mother.”

“I promise that I will bleed for you! I will fight for you! I will break my body in half to ensure that you have yours! To sail the sea as you see fit! So please, give me the chance to prove it to you! Give me the chance to fail and to succeed! if you do... Perhaps we may all grow old together -- knowing what unity is meant to be... knowing what love is --”

WOO!

Fenth is less than thrilled. Not just for his thwarted ambitions but because SkekSa has thoroughly gotten sick of him and is probably annoyed that she had to sit through all these speeches without even getting a giant sea monster.

She grabs him and drags him away through the crowd while everyone is distracted being jubilant.

SkekSa: “Take a long look at the Silver Sea, Fenth -- It will be many trine before you witness it again... Skeksis friend SkekTek the Scientist has plans for Gelfling who fail!”

Huh. Wonder what that means. This is way too soon for draining to be on the table.

Later, WEDDING TIME!

On the cliff above Raunip’s pass, the Sifan and Vapran come together for the wedding of Mayrin and Kam’Lu.

Dot assumes that Mayrin chose the venue so she can fly Raunip’s Pass with the power of love but Mayrin chose the venue so she can deliberately not do that because she’s done following her mom’s path.

Mayrin: “You have taught me the most important thing, Kam’Lu -- that I am the only one responsible for the path I fly. That we must all chart our own path -- and that we cannot do that when the dense cloud of grief fogs our vision. And that to be my best self -- no matter who it is that I am -- I must be myself. Faults and failures and scars and all. Understanding that acceptance is not the same as failure. We must think of the future of our kind.”

Its also implied that Mayrin is already pregnant as she declares that she’ll name her firstborn Seladon, after Mayrin’s mother.

... It is incredibly ironic. Mayrin declares that she’s going to set her own path and then chooses her mother’s name for her daughter. The daughter that she’s going to repeat a lot of Seladon I’s parenting mistakes with, giving Seladon II a whopping case of insecurity and unfortunately no character building adventure with a hunky sea captain.

Hm. I wonder what happens with Kam’Lu. That whole family situation probably would have been less of a timebomb with him around. Alas, the sea is a harsh mistress. Full of fish and salt.

So, the last arc of Archaia’s Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal Age of Resistance comics. I still have two of the YA novels to read but with the cancellation of the show, who can say when there will be more comics.

But the comic ends strong. We visit another parent when they’re young and get to see more wild Thra life. We get to see SkekSa! She’s a delight. We get to see another side of the Sifan than the brief appearances in the show.

Thanks for the good times, Archaia’s Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance comic.

[theauthenticcommunicator]

10 Tips To Vastly Improve Your Public Speaking

As a coach of speaking and communication skills, I've learned that the same strategies apply to almost every situation where we're sharing our thoughts and ideas.

Graduation speeches, job interviews, eulogies, first dates, sales pitches, monologues and scenes for theater and film, wedding speeches, keynote speeches, and presentations at work are all made better by applying the following recommendations.

01 Breathing

It's the very first thing and the very last thing we do in this life. Improving the quality of your breathing on a daily basis can lead to better physical, mental and spiritual health. How you breathe in the ten minutes before you speak in front of a room full of people will make or break your presentation. Calming your breathing through exercises is something you can start to work on today, so that later when you are called upon to make an impromptu speech you'll be able to master your physiology.

Simply defined, breathing is the interchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body. When we have too much carbon dioxide in the bloodstream, we begin to feel dizzy and experience shortness of breath. Chronic shallow breathing causes anxiety, high blood pressure, digestive problems, sleep disorders, and more. Re- learning to breathe more deeply is one of the most valuable skills to improve.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

02 Nix the Notes

If you're a hard worker and you want to get things exactly right, you are likely planning to work with notes during your presentation. You'll rehearse over and over with the goal of getting it exactly right - maybe even close to perfect. The problem with using notes is that it becomes too easy to start reading from them when we're nervous. This will result in a pretty flat presentation. If you memorize your speech word for word, you'll be stuck in your head - remembering. You might get every word right, but you won't be present with your audience because you'll be chained to the script. Structuring the framework of your speech in a way that you'll easily remember is a better approach.

Investigate how you structure your ideas. Get feedback about how you organize your thoughts. This will help you to become more comfortable when you have to speak on the fly without any prep (and bonus: you'll sound smarter). You should absolutely prepare your speech, but there is a point in the preparation where you must trust yourself and put down the index cards.

03 Stand And Deliver

What we do with our bodies tells a story. Crossing your arms looks closed off and defensive. Putting your hands behind you will cause people to distrust you. It's important to allow people to SEE you, which can feel incredibly awkward. You don't want to appear too stiff. You also don't want to seem too casual. The best thing you can do is to get balanced on your own two feet.

Stand with your feet a little more than hips-width distance apart. Roll a little forward onto your toes, and then rock back toward your heels. Then, side to side. Find where your body feels the most centered and balanced. Stack your bones. Your knees over your ankles. Hips over your knees. Shoulders over your hips. Balance the weight of your head over the structure of your bones. Then relax your arms by your side, palms facing slightly forward.

Do this often. In the grocery store. In the kitchen. When it becomes second nature you will start to feel confident in this sturdy and solid stance. This neutral, ready-for-anything posture is your home base.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

04 Remember Who Is Listening

The speech you're giving isn't for you. You've been selected to give it, and all eyes are on you, but you are meant to be talking TO other people. If you lose sight of that you will find yourself talking AT them. Youtube videos and Zoom presentations are rife with this talking AT business because we lose the sensory feedback of our audience and have only the tiny red or green dot of the camera to address. It's easy to disconnect from the listeners.

How can you connect with your listeners? With your voice? With your eyes? With your intentions? This is also related to allowing people to SEE you. Awareness is half the battle. A coach can help you activate your presentations.

Sometimes we forget to talk with all of the people in the room. At weddings, the Best Person or Person of Honor often forgets to address the family and friends of the new partner in their toast (I did this!). Executives speak at a company-wide meeting but are often just addressing upper management and not the entire supporting staff.

Work to be inclusive of every body in the room.

05 Watch Yourself

Record yourself as you practice a speech and then watch it a few times. Look for the good stuff. Repeat this. This isn't so you'll hate what you're doing and fix and fix and fix. This is so you'll get comfortable watching yourself.

The more you watch yourself, and accept yourself - your voice, your body, and your presence - the more you'll accept that others will appreciate what you have to offer.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

06 Be Truly You

I receive a good many queries about Accent Reduction training and cultivating Executive Presence. I urge you to be thoughtful about these pursuits.

If you're speaking English as a second language, you are a rock star because English is a tough language to learn. In terms of accent reduction, how much is sufficient to reduce? What does it really mean to sound more "American" or "British"? Is it to sound more "white"? Why should you sound more "white"? If you are pronouncing a great many English words incorrectly, you will need to buckle down in your ESL work. But your accent is a part of YOU.

If anyone asks you to develop Executive Presence, press them for a very specific actionable definition. Are there specific skills you need to develop?

An Executive is someone who can be trusted to lead in the good times and the lean times. Executive Presence = Confident Leadership. There are many kinds of leaders out there. What kind of leader are you? Cultivate this.

You are enough. You are delightful. You are better off being you than trying to pretend you're somebody else. Humility and authenticity are more highly-valued than a suit jacket you can barely afford.

07 Bring In The Funny

It feels risky to reveal our sense of humor. Humor shows people who we really are and how we see the world. There are more appropriate times for humor than others, but sometimes nudging the boundaries a little is good for letting down our collective shoulders.

When our audience is distracted they are many separate people. When they are tuned in to a speaker they become a collective and present entity. Laughter connects us.

As a speaker, you control the energy in the room. It's important to read the room. Who are these people? Why did they come here? Are they hot? Are they hungry? Anyone in the theater or comedy biz will tell you that every audience is different. If a joke flops they will still connect with you more for trying. A planned recovery line ("Tough crowd, tough crowd...") can win them over.

Humor in a speech will humanize you. It's worth the risk and if you bring down the house you have everything to gain.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

08 Say Nice Things

If you beat up on yourself all the time with harsh thinking, you are going to be hard-pressed to believe yourself when you're mustering up the confidence to give a speech or to walk in proudly for the job interview.

If the messages you are always receiving inside yer noggin' are critical and damning, it's time to switch things up. We wouldn't talk to a child in the same way that we often talk to ourselves. It's incredibly important to change your self-talk immediately.

Start by writing a mini-speech called "My Favorite Things About Me". Give this short speech to yourself often. Recite it out loud. Recite it silently. Say good things about yourself when you're talking to other people. Say good things in your mind while you are brushing your teeth. Say good things a lot so you'll always know that you have YOU in your corner.

09 Skip the Sweet, the Sour, the Salty, the Spicy, the Sloppy, and the Stimulating

Sugar, chocolate, onions, garlic, dairy, pepper, chips, french fries, citrus, booze, and caffeine are ...amazing. They are also terrible dietary choices for presentation days.

Sugar, dairy, spice, and salt can create a bad scene in your gut and when that comes back into your throat at some point (sometimes you aren't even aware of it returning - it can be subtle), you'll find your voice sounds weaker, and will even begin to crack more. Citrus or dairy will put you into an alternating cycle of a dry throat and excess phlegm production. Booze is a bad idea for a number of reasons. Caffeine and nerves are a sweaty combination.

Eat some simple protein. Some rice. A few cooked veggies. Stop eating a couple of hours before you speak. Drink a whole lot of water up to an hour before your presentation. After that, just small sips.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

10 Feel The Feelings

You're nervous. You just are. Folks reach out to me to figure out if there's a way to stop feeling nervous. There really isn't. The reason why you're feeling this way is that there are so many unknowns. Public speaking is truly heightened uncertainty! The fear of public speaking has a name: Glossophobia.

It's like a roller coaster. You wait in line and start to psyche yourself out. You feel like you want to change your mind and RUN. Then there's a point of no return - you move forward - you're gonna DO this! And then you're a couple of minutes away from speaking and things get realllly uncertain.

Feeling fear can be a really fantastic way to get to know yourself. Feel it in your body. Relax your shoulders. Unclench your jaw. Breathe your calming breaths. See yourself in this moment. Tell yourself you're into it and that you'll enjoy the ride. You're gonna DO this thing - this crazy thing! You might even find yourself smiling about being in this crazy situation. That's exactly when you know you're ready.

Speaking and communicating well will benefit you in all areas of your life.

You can make great progress and get to a place where you aren't dreading presentations, meetings, or speeches. Communication skills are just that: skills to learn and practice. It might even become fun. It might even become something you love doing.

Reach out to me with questions. It would be a treat to hear from you.

Good luck to you!

aimee@theauthenticcommunicator.com

[nprmusicwnyc]

From uploading songs to YouTube to being hailed as one of pop’s most promising new prodigies, Ryan Beatty is forging his own unique path and he’s not looking back.

It’s been nearly a decade since Ryan Beatty posted a cover onto YouTube and people started twigging that he was something a lil’ bit special. Originally pushed onto the ‘Justin Bieber path’ - y’know the one: millions of hits, record deal, smile for the cameras - he soon realized this wasn’t what he had in mind, retreating from the spotlight to learn more about himself, before releasing hypnotic debut album ‘Boy in Jeans’ back in 2018.

After sharing second record ‘Dreaming of David’ earlier this year, he’s older, wiser and fully ready to flex his newfound musical and lyrical muscles to prove himself among other pop names. Blending experimental melodies with R&B hues, he’s also found time between experimenting with his pop stylings to hang out with “best friends” BROCKHAMPTON to collaborate on several tracks, including both the recent remix of ‘SUGAR’ with Dua Lipa, as well as the original.

We caught up with Ryan to reflect on his near-decade in the biz and what pop’s most promising new prodigy has in store next.

For those unaware, can you give us a little summary of how you first started out?

Music was the one thing that I’ve always felt drawn to since I can remember. Singing was a natural talent that I was born with and then it’s like what do you do with it? There are a lot of talented vocalists out there and to be an artist is something else. Naturally I could sing, then as I got older, I started to see where I could go with it. That was when social media was really cracking off and people were posting videos of them singing and getting recognised for it. I would post on my sister’s channel and that’s really how I got my start. Just seeing the feedback even back then reminded me that I had a talent in this.

It wasn’t until I was probably 20 that I felt like I was a songwriter. That’s when I felt like things really started for me because that’s when I connected all the dots of a vocalist, singer, visually knowing what I like… It was all these things coming together at once.

You were originally compared to Justin Bieber. What was the experience like?

It definitely made me angry because I felt like people were saying that in a condescending way. It felt like a lot of the times people would say that in a way to diminish me as if that’s already been done before. It’s so funny because that’s just such a surface level thing to compare me to!

“This time around feels different because I actually really enjoy it.”

Obviously you retreated away from the spotlight after that happened, what were you doing during that time?

Being 17/18 and realising that I don’t really know myself at all or that I knew that I wasn’t in a place I wanted to be and what I was doing then wasn’t going to last forever, I definitely felt a sense of a search for something greater than what I already had and it started off with me just being a normal 18 year old and exploring my own identity and what I liked and didn’t like.

It took a long time for me to really understand myself. It’s hilarious to think about though, since I started this at such a young age, I feel so old and weathered now that when I talk about this I forget that it’s nearly a decade since this all started!

This time around feels different because I actually really enjoy it. Before I felt like I was a character for other people and really submitting to the audience and playing that up. At the end of the day, back then I had the crowd that I had and I had the attention that I had, and it’s like, if I were to really be myself it would’ve gone against what people liked about me. It was all a really scary time. I had no clue if I would ever come out the other side and that’s why this time around I’m really excited and find the joy in it all because this could have all gone completely differently. The fact that I’m in a place where I feel like an artist that people appreciate for the art and what I create just proves that I wasn’t wrong.

'Boy In Jeans' was really about self-discovery and reflecting on my youth and talking about all that I went through in my late teens and early twenties. It was very much a reminiscent of my life. 'Dreaming Of David' is very immediate, very what I’ve been going through in my life right now, and I think even more introspective than the previous one to the point where a lot of the details on the record I don’t even think people will understand because it’s so specific lyrically, which I actually really enjoy.

Writing like that must have been quite a cathartic experience?

Writing is something I love just as much as singing, and to write and sing about the things that I’m going through and experiencing just helps me understand it all really. It helps me make peace with the things I find difficult and helps me understand relationships because it allows me to reflect on them. I can be writing something and what I’m writing and looking back on it seeing what I actually meant versus what I thought I was talking about can be completely different at times. This is a place where I can be very honest with myself at sometimes.

I’m lucky that I’ve surrounded myself with people that I work with that I don’t feel any judgement towards and I feel very supported with all my ideas. I think it’s very important that you create that environment.

“At the end of the day you have to be your biggest cheerleader and you have to believe in everything that you’re doing.”

So when did ‘Dreaming Of David’ start taking form?

I started working on this album March 2018. The first song I made for it was the title track and it’s a title track and kind of a concept in my mind that I’d had for a second. The way that it all came together was exactly what I hoped for, which is the most natural and following my instincts. It’s funny because I had such a fear after I made my first album. I felt like I’d made something so personally great I was like 'How do I follow up on this?' I think I’ve answered that question with this album. Also, my last album laid out expectations of who I am as an artist, this album kind of goes against that in a way that not a lot of artists do right away after their first album.

I just had rapidly started growing and changing right after I made that album. The confidence that making ‘Boy In Jeans’ created, it made this thing in me that made me go deeper into the feelings I had and made me realise that I could flesh out these ideas I had and create something. That confidence just unlocked and unleashed something within me that felt really powerful. At the end of the day you have to be your biggest cheerleader and you have to believe in everything that you’re doing and that’s what I lean on a lot. When things can feel tough and really hard on the outside of things, I always go back to the music and realise that I need to be doing this and I’m glad that I’m doing this and people are going to enjoy this.

To be an artist is almost to be seen constantly. I feel like I still hold on to a lot of my privacy and that’s something that I’ve learnt form the past from the early days in my career, that I don’t have to give everything away, that I can still keep things for me, and that I can still be successful.

Is it weird knowing some of those personal stories will be heard by the world?

There are definitely parts of the album which are scary to think about with like I’m telling this story and this is gonna come out, but I obviously did it for a reason. I’m not over thinking it and I’m not stressed, but knowing that the person you wrote it about will probably know that it’s about them too that’s more so the interesting part.

The album all about exploring personal relationships with many different people, whether it be friends or family or past relationships or current relationships, and the way that those relationships have affected me. Part of it is a lot about letting go of things and people that mean a lot to you but knowing that you have to in order to move forward or learn anything else about yourself. There’s a bittersweet feeling to the whole thing. A lot about what I write about on this record is kind of sad if you look at it and really read the lyrics, but there’s still a lot of hope in it and realising that even if you’ve just gone through these things there’s still a light at the end. It’s kind of that moment of self-awareness, I guess.

And what overall are you hoping that people take away from the record?

I just want it to be heard, really. I want this music to be heard. However people take it is how they take it. I want the chance, at least, for people to hear it because I think they’ll really understand where I'm coming from a lot. I feel good in my position and the way people see me. When you make stuff that is exactly what you want to say, that’s when you’ll be perceived in the way that you really want.

[benjaminreevesart]

WHY DOES FORTUNA DISAPPOINT ME SO?

In November of 2018 DE released its latest OpenWorldTM Fortuna, an update I had been waiting for with bated breath from the edge of my seat since its announcement last year. At the time of launch I was logging in every day just for the chance to be one of the first to experience it.

Now over a month later, I sit here struggling to convince myself to go back. Yes, even after the heist update. A sentiment seemingly shared among many others in the community. So as with all things in life we must ask ourselves… why?

-Aesthetic: they decided to drop this thing in November, so I guess instead of going outside to play in the snow users could stay inside log on to warframe and play… in the snow. Yay.

I find myself missing the familiar exotica of not-africa and its kind-of-alive-but-not-really-except-its-made of-flesh-and-you-can-eat-it-wtf-DE? tower. (that bothers me). Just standing in these updates’ respective hub-areas and listening to the ambiance of the environment speaks volumes. The plains has haggling traders, merchants announcing their wares, wind rustling through the many canopies and tent flaps of hand hade fabric, it feels alive where fortuna feels like a cold mechanical day job. If you say that’s intentional… well, I hardly think boredom is anything to aspire to.

I get that they’re going for a sci-fi-punk feel, but it just comes off as monotonous, hopeless, and impersonal.

-Personal connection: Sure Saya’s Vigil was stupid romantic melodrama, sure onko’s decision is lame, sure it was kinda dumb to give newby players a warframe blueprint they couldn’t build until after reaching the mid-game, but ya know what? It worked.

I know who saya and konzu are, i have been with them on their story, every time I see konzu standing there with his girl I know that is because of me. My journey, my struggle, my effort brought these people together. Its simple its small, its human.

I mean who the hell is eudico anyway, why does she fight? Why caste shade on biz’s origins, and are we just going to gloss over an innocent person getting their head chopped off and their organs harvested in the open fucking street???????? There are constant references to people being “brain-shelved” which I can only assume means they get their brain put in a jar and thrown in someone’s freezer, and we get ZERO resolution for that! I mean sure there are fragments to find and scan, but they don’t really tell us anything that couldn’t already have been inferred. With exception to the relationship between biz and little-duck, not that it seems to play into any of their interactions at all. The business does have his conservation thing, which is a part of his character, an old war veteran understand the fragility of life and working to preserve it through peaceful means. But the spirit of it is robbed when they give the same shtick to the random bird guy from cetus. Why? while I could buy Nef Anyo hunting whole species to extinction for profit, nothing about the setting of the plains suggests the animals are in any kind of danger from the grineer. Its just pointless. I mean you could’ve just used the business for both, maybe he’s building a zoo for critters from all over the system, I wouldn’t have questioned it. Heck, it could even have been a nice little unlock to see the place once you catch one of every animal.

Weirdly enough the one character I think is kind of done right here is ticker. Yeah, the kiosk guy above biz’s shop whose only purpose is to sell you debt bonds so you can increase your standing. Maybe its just a dumb stereotype but I like tickers flair for the theatrical, I find it charming. Plus, his first fragment is so terribly depressingly human it just makes me want to give the poor dude a hug.

But at least there’s plenty of snow in the sandbox… er…

-The sandbox is full: I may not be in the console market these days but there have been a lot of sandbox games as of late, like… ALOT! Its basically the only game Ubisoft makes anymore. A wide-open area filled to burst with pointless shallow time wasting minigames of no real importance. OpenWorldTM. The announcement said Orb Vallis would be twice the size of Eidolon and good god does it feel like it! The very construction of the map itself restricts you from moving around it. With its massive board blocking Tim Burton mountains, and how those same mountains prevent you from utilizing the full freedom of the hoverboard, a new vehicle introduced with the update. Sure, there’s a new pet and new guns, but we already had fishing, we had mining, we had a new faction of peaceful traders and merchants to interact with. Outside of new shooty-tubes and endo dumps I don’t really see what’s so special here, especially when the terrain itself renders the races more chore than a challenge without delivering on any significant or memorable locations. Which is weird since there are interesting set pieces in the Vallis that are just never used. Of all the bounties I did getting to “old mate” rank the only location used was a data vault spy mission. You know, the building with the profit taker on it, yeah, you know the one the worst part of the map. Its built like a maze, is too easy to get lost in, has too many BIG rooms going into tiny vents you need an eagle eye to find, and its just an unenjoyable mess. This is especially infuriating as there are numerous more interesting locals around the map, they could use for practically any of the bounties. But no, its never the big Nef Anyo statue we’re fighting under it’s that damn farm thing again. Its never that cool cavernous road through the mountains, its that same damn bridge right in front of Fortuna. Its never a big base filled with enemies and tons of vertical platforms, its always that one generic outpost just down the road.

-Environmental Story: what’s even worse for the environment is its total lack of connection to the rest of the universe. The Plains weren’t just some vaguely African safari area, it was a battlefield. Haunted with the remains of shattered sentient contained within a massive forcefield that also happened to protect it from the deadly radiation and poisons of the outside world. The strange rocks which dot the landscape are the remains of alien spacecraft and its soils are stuffed with all manner of deadly armaments and tools. So, it makes perfect sense that the grineer or other factions would covet this area for its agricultural and military resources. The vallis just looks like a giant sink of effort and resources that could be put to more productive use elsewhere, doubly so considering it’s the corpus funding the whole operation. Which is even more sad given that environmental stories are the one story telling mechanic exclusive to video games. There is no other medium which allows a reader or a viewer to experience its world at their own pace to seek information in their own ways. Making this literary opportunity not only a waste of warframes universe but of the medium itself.

This is naturally only compounded upon with how the resources of the vallis seem even more restricted to fortuna than the plains did to cetus. The toroids are the worst offence in this, but I think I’ll save my thoughts on this growing problem in warframe for when I get around to covering the jovian concord as the issue of resource gating is more blatant there.

-The warframes: so garuda and baruuk, while I find it strange that DE released two frames around the same time that where functionally immortal, I just find their acquisition boring. Garuda’s main blueprint is just handed to you after finishing the introduction mission, and baruuk is straight up just another item you buy. The only difference between buying baruuk for real money and buying him for in game currency is time, and a lot of it given how rare the resource to get him is. Now I know garas main was given at the end of sayas vigil too but there it was built up as an ancient relic of mystical origin. A man left his wife and home to keep this powerful artifact out of enemy hands, sacrificing his whole life and happiness to keep them safe. You weren’t building just another tank with tits; you were reviving a warrior of legend who slew giants and protected the innocent. Revenant as well, had a deific entity granting visions to a child guiding you to the grave of an ancient warrior who fought and eventually fell to the control of his hated enemy. This might sound like a re-tred of inaros for most of you but at least gara and revenent look their parts, rather than just a mish mash of infested gunk slapped onto a skeleton. Point is worldbuilding matters, especially for the warframes. Being the name-sake of the game they deserve some kind of gravitas behind them. Treating a new warframe like another commodity to be bought off a shelf or passed out like a gold star from kindergarden is just… condescending. At least hyldryn got a boss fight out of her release, which is more of a backhanded compliment when you realize almost every other warframe gets a boss fight by default. Soooo… yeah.

 Conclusion:

Maybe I’m jaded, just sick of snow, or maybe I’m projecting my exhaustion with the OpenWorldTM genre, I don’t know. There are a lot of reasons I find fortuna unfulfilling, but ultimately, I think its this; fortuna and the vallis were supposed to be an extension to the warframe universe, a playground to explore new perspectives and build on its mythos. It didn’t do that. We went from space travelling assassins trying to fight a war on many fronts to make the galaxy a better place, to a plucky resistance force against an evil conglomerate. It just doesn’t fit with the world we’ve already seen. everything “new” that was introduced here may be new to warframe but has been done much better within any title from the cyberpunk genre.

Its really a shame too as just looking a around can be breathtaking at times, some caves and structures are genuinely beautiful to look at. A lot of work was clearly put into this update, just not in the right places. Gameplay has a few upgrades, the environments are pretty if frustrating to traverse, but the story just comes up short. Sure, we can tolerate illogical grinds and only semi-complete mythologies for our new areas, but without a good story to keep us coming back, to tie everything together, its just disappointing.

-END OF LINE.

[somar78]

An Australian Custom BMW R100RT – The Ellaspede EB882

This post was written by Hughan Seary of Ellaspede, with contributions by the bike’s owner Sam K. When possible we like to bring you the story of a custom motorcycle in the words of the people who built it to cut out the middle man and give you insight into their thought process and methods.

It’s not surprising that the iconic silhouette of a Boxer motor could be the memory to spark Sam’s 1982 BMW R100RT build. Here’s how a fleeting childhood encounter planted a seed for a custom project decades later.

In their day the BMW R100RT (T for Touring model) was one of the most expensive production bikes you could buy and although they were well reviewed for touring purposes and had a great production run from the mid 70’s to early 90’s, they gained a bit of a reputation as an ‘old man’s bike’.

Maybe it was the massive fairing (that was actually wind tunnel developed and decreased fuel consumption for touring despite the extra weight) or the high price only ‘older people’ could afford. But whatever the case, BMW had built an excellent bike with the type of 80’s german quality that would position it as a ‘forever bike’ to eat up the miles and last a lifetime.

So how did a young Engineer from Sydney with an eye for design end up with an ‘Old Man’s Bike’ from the 80’s? These days it’s usually because they spotted a cool one on social media, but we’ll let owner Sam start his story…

“I randomly have this vivid memory of an Airhead of some description growling down the streets of Newcastle when I was a kid. The cylinders all ‘pokey-outey’ and the block sitting at that weird jaunty angle somehow etched itself into my memory. I didn’t get into bikes for a couple of decades after that, at which point I joined the dots on what I’d actually seen and realised I’d have to have one at some point. Fast forward a few years and everything lined up to get my hands on one. I was keen on one of the early/mid 80s models, but still with the iconic tank shape from that era and the ‘snowflake’ wheels.”

Sam actually did such an awesome job detailing the bike build when we asked him a few questions we’re going to let him carry on…

“I’ve had the beamer for a few years now. She’s been a very faithful weekday commute, as well as a bunch of fun out on the old windy roads out of Sydney whenever I’ve found a chance to stretch her legs.”

“I bought the bike from a bloke who was keeping himself busy in his retirement bringing otherwise totalled old bikes back to life out of his garage. I don’t have a long history of the bike; only that he’d brought it out from South Australia in pretty good knick but with a big old crack across the crankcase. He took the opportunity to do a full mechanical rebuild and get her back on the road before passing it onto me to free up space for a new project.”

After a few years riding around Sydney with the BMW in ‘old boy status’ Sam knew that the next step was going to be a custom build.

“I guess it boils down to self-expression. I wanted a bike that I knew there was only one of in the whole world, and that it reflected me and my tastes. In going custom I’m so happy we were able to create something uniquely mine but also objectively good looking, and still practical that I can enjoy for many years to come.”

“I’d been following Ellaspede on the socials for a few years before hitting them up about doing a build. Through that I’d built a bit of an understanding of their aesthetic and what they uniquely offer. Not strictly related to the build, but I also love that Ellaspede have such a strong focus on community and brand. “

“I’m an engineer by day, and from that have built an appreciation for good results coming from a solid understanding of the foundations/first principles of what’s being designed. Having a shop approach the process from industrial design principles was a real draw-card. I don’t have that knowledge, and also have no shortage of crazy ideas, so working with someone with those design foundations steering the project (and my ideas) was important.”

With contact made and some plans laid out it wasn’t long before the R100RT was rolled off the transport truck and into the workshop. Sam also sent through some inspiration from classic auto designs and picked bikes from some of our favourite international builders to help us get an idea of the direction we were heading…

“When poking around for inspiration for the build, I found CRD49 build by CafeRacerDreams. It really resonated how they’d taken a classic colour way (silver smoke it was called I think?) but reimagined with a unique/modern spin. The idea of taking old and making new was super cool but the idea of applying that to the green and gold paint on my bike wasn’t really setting me off. I researched other classic airhead colour schemes and discovered the fairly rare ‘Exklusiv Sport / Lufthansa’ colours that came on a limited run of R90S’s in the 80s. It just jumped out at me. That inspiration, mixed in with a fair bit of Ellaspede magic, and we’ve got the colours on the tank today.”

“Other inspiration for the tank design came from me digging a whole bunch of retro 70s tanks with the big block colours and bold curves of that era. I also wanted to see those rad stripes when I was riding so wrapping the curves over the top of the tank was a must!”

“The anthracite grey frame and forks was an interesting one. I think the idea came from my day job in the graphic design biz where there is a soft rule to never use absolute hard black when designing (as it can look a little bit unnatural/inorganic in that medium). I instinctively followed this idea and thought that a dark grey could also really complement the blues and silvers on the tank/ seat/grips and also the shimmery aluminium of the vapour blasted pieces. It actually came out a bit lighter than we expected but it was a good surprise as I think it really works well.”

We really liked Sam’s intent for the bike and went to work on the build. The R100RT models are rumoured to have a slightly higher compression ratio than some of the other R100’s, presumably to push that big touring fairing around. So once the fairing and other stock parts started to come off the bike it really became evident how much lighter the bike had become, even just pushing it around the workshop. That’s some free performance gains right there!

As usual, most of the stock gear wasn’t going to find its way back on and the parts that did were all refurbished, replaced or got the usual paint or polish. A stack of custom fab went into the bike with some key input from Sam on aesthetics and an intent to keep most of it looking like factory fit and finish as if BMW might have done on a ‘stripped back’ version of the day.

Our favourite parts of the build are definitely the custom subframe which can be tricky to get looking right with the ‘offset BMW geometry’ and holds quite a lot of elements together while still looking super clean. We also used this bike as a tester for an upcoming Ellaspede universal muffler that we’ve been developing and were pretty excited to have them looking and sounding just the way we wanted when this bike rolled out.

When we asked Sam about his favourite parts… “I love the way that the curves in the subframe flow into the rear fender. That whole piece was a bit of a yolo… I tossed the idea out there and you folks ran with it but it turned out fantastically!”

“I also love how tidy the front end came out. From the switchgear that kind of disappears into the bars, the beautifully placed bates-style lamp, and just the right amount of fork lowering. It really is a very elegant package. Elegant is weird for what I guess is kind of a “scrambler”, but hey I think that speaks to the unconventional nature and unique mix of styles going on in the bike that I love.”

“Then of course there’s the tank… which again was also a bit of a gamble. I’d never tried designing a tank livery before, but had a gut instinct for what I thought would look cool and fortunately that gamble paid off (with the crucial contribution of Ellaspede picking out specific colours). There was an awful lot of umming and ahhing in our house over whether it was going to look striking (in a good way) or be a bit ostentatious, but it definitely turned out to be an absolute ripper.”

Building a custom R-series BMW these days is a reasonably well travelled path, but Sam’s shown that by drawing on some quality inspiration and committing to a well thought out build you can achieve a bike that looks like a classic custom BMW but also highlights the individuality of it’s owner.

We find that when a custom bike is done ‘right’ then many of the subtle details and design cues disappear at first glance, instead blending into an overall aesthetic that perfectly fits together. Luckily Sam shared much of that vision with us and as a result has got himself an R100RT with a timeless style that you don’t often see on custom builds.

“Reflecting on the process, I’m really glad we took a few gambles on ideas that popped into my head rather than tried-and-true strategies for customising these bikes. That, mixed with Ellaspede’s wisdom and experience in effective ways to bring those ideas to life and we’ve ended up with a final result that I absolutely love and can’t wait to get out and about on every day.”

The only shame for us about doing builds for interstate clients is that we don’t get to see the finished bike (and owner) popping back into the shop for a coffee now and then! But we’re hoping Sam keeps us updated with ride photos so we can also enjoy seeing one of our favourite Bavarian builds out and about.

“The bike has now slotted back into my life as my weekday commuter where she catches an awful lot of eyes and compliments around the streets of Sydney. She’s made it out onto the back roads for a few cheeky rides since coming back home, but it’s been a tough run lately with the air thick with bushfire smoke. When it hasn’t been thick with bushfire smoke it’s been thick with (very welcome) rain. With some good weather back I’m looking forward to some solid weekenders through the national parks and along the rivers around the city.”

Here’s to a lifetime of enjoyment on your R100RT Sam! We’re sure it won’t only be kids that are turning heads when you’re blasting through the backroads of Sydney now. With that iconic motor now surrounded by some classic custom design you’ll be making memories for motorcycle enthusiasts for years to come!

If you’d like to see more from Ellaspede you can visit their website here, or you can follow them below.

Follow Ellaspede – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – Tumblr

Images courtesy of AJ Moller Photography Instagram: @ajmollerphotography

The post An Australian Custom BMW R100RT – The Ellaspede EB882 appeared first on Silodrome.

source https://silodrome.com/custom-bmw-r100rt/

[dawnajaynes32]

Connecting the Dots of Marketing: How One Designer Does it

Daniela Garza of Anagrama, Joshua Chen of Chen Design Associates, and Mackey Saturday of Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv await your work in the HOW Promotion & Marketing Design Awards.

Enter by March 12 for your chance to win a main-stage trophy presentation, a lunch date with a HOW Design Live speaker, a spot in a gorgeous, all-new hardcover book from HOW+PRINT and so much more.

One of the main problems I see with designers and their marketing is that it can be a bit all over the place and haphazard—a blog post here, a networking event there, and maybe a little follow-up with past clients.

But what I’ve seen consistently over the years as I’ve been mentoring designers is that haphazard marketing efforts are worth very little. Unless you can reach the right people with the right message at the right time, it’s almost not worth doing.

What does reaching the right people with the right message at the right time look like?

John Hartwell of Hartwell Studio Works is a case in point.

Hartwell’s niche is sports branding, with a focus on schools. Last year, we mapped out a simple marketing plan with a few essential tools that he could commit to and do regularly without being overwhelmed by his marketing tasks.

As he wrote to me last month with an update, “Things have been busy busy with Hartwell Studio Works promotions and biz dev, with some results I thought you’d find interesting.”

Logo for Georgia Perimeter College by Hartwell Studio Works. Read more about the project background, process and results here.

Prospecting

Hartwell is on a prospecting schedule, reaching out to a select group of schools each month with a 4-week series of personalized email messages. The contacts come from a list he pulled together through various research efforts, and he does enough research on each prospect to customize his message so they know it’s not a mass email.

This type of prospecting is a long play. The goal is to plant seeds, build awareness and instill trust over time. John knows that. He doesn’t expect every person to respond or everyone who does respond to have an immediate need. That only happens once in a while.

Wrote John, “Unsurprisingly, I do not hear from the vast majority of the prospects. Next are folks who ask to not receive further emails. I rarely hit someone actively looking for my services—in fact, I got my first positive ‘I’m looking for your services now’ response this month.”

But John is not discouraged because he knows that the key to this kind of prospecting is realistic expectations—on average 10% will be ready and willing to continue the conversation. That’s one out of every 10 well-researched prospects, no more!

At the end of John’s four-week sequence, he lets them know he’ll stay in touch unless he hears from them otherwise—a classic opt-out strategy—and he then adds them to his auto-drip email newsletter list.

Email Newsletter

John isn’t new to email marketing. In the past, he’d share new work and send out a fun “Holiday League” promo. “All well and good, but I can’t say it’s really been effective over the long haul. Specifically, I am keenly aware that if I’m going to send the newsletter to these non-responsive prospecting contacts, then it had dad-gum well better have content that is worth their time.” (Here’s the latest edition.)

That said, he’s been pleasantly surprised. “Since I started the prospecting schedule, I’ve added about 100 names to my list. Here’s the surprising part: Of those 100, only four have unsubscribed, which, I will admit, has blown me away. I was fully expecting up to 50%, because who the hell wants to be added to yet another email list? Yet, not only have so few unsubscribed, several have opened multiple newsletters. I’m very encouraged.”

Well, I am not surprised by those results. If you’ve chosen your prospects well and approached them in a personal way, when they don’t respond, it’s not because they’re not interested. They simply don’t have time! You shoot yourself in the foot if you assume the silence means “no.”

Logos for Atlanta International School by Hartwell Studio Works. Read more about the project background, process and results here.

Podcast

Once the initial strategy was in place, John added advanced content marketing in the form of a podcast, The HSW Sports Branding Podcast. He started with a few episodes of his own content. This year he added interviews with guests, which has increased his visibility beyond his expectations.

“I’ve put out two new podcast episodes this year, both featuring guests, and the guests have been kind enough to share their episode with their respective social networks. The results have been notable. 

“Listeners are pointed to the podcast page of my website (instead of iTunes or Google Play) for the purpose of driving traffic. And drive it does. Both times have seen spikes in web traffic, not just to that podcast episode page, but my analytics tell me that some visitors take a look around the rest of the site as well. Big thumbs up.”

Plus, he’s seen an effect via social media. “I’ve picked up additional high-quality Twitter and LinkedIn connections. I’ve been gratified to get connection requests from new contacts in both American and European sports markets. This is obviously encouraging, telling me that folks are indeed listening and finding the content worthy.” 

Annual Trade Show

The most important element of this strategic marketing plan, the one that connects everything together, is the annual show held in June, where John will be able to meet the people he’s been courting. Without that, he’s just a name in their inbox. But the minute he can put a face and a handshake to it, he will become a human being with whom they can potentially do business.

John is encouraged because he can see how the prospecting, the email newsletter and the podcast set him up for the show. In his words, “The prospecting creates initial contact and awareness, the podcast and newsletter promote expertise and trust, all of which I’m looking to leverage when I start soliciting this entire group of prospects for meetings at the event.

“Instead of going into the show blind, with no real strategy, I’ve now got over 100 (and counting) contacts who will know who I am when I reach out and ask, “So, y’wanna get together at the show to talk about how your program can benefit from a fancy-schmancy athletics rebrand?”

I bet many will say yes! Stay tuned …

Don’t miss Ilise Benun’s session at HOW Design Live in Boston. Click here for more details, and be sure to register by March 15 to take advantage of that early-bird pricing!

The post Connecting the Dots of Marketing: How One Designer Does it appeared first on HOW Design.

Connecting the Dots of Marketing: How One Designer Does it syndicated post

[god-and-janjo]

WordPress Tutorials for Beginners - Part 1/18: How To Buy Web Hosting and Domain Name (Bluehost)

WordPress Tutorials for Beginners - Part 1/18: How To Buy Web Hosting and Domain Name (Bluehost)

in this tutorial we're going to take a look at how to buy your web hosting and the web hosting is where you're actually going to have your website's home so all of your files will be in this server just like they would be on your hard drive for this one we're going to use Bluehost calm and I'm going to actually put in a special address up here that's going to allow me to buy my hosting for a lower price and it's ww Bluehost com backslash track back / special bonus and I'm going to go ahead and click enter and it will take me to a certain page this page is going to allow me to buy my web hosting for four dollars 95 cents a month so this is a savings of two dollars a month this will also have all of the features that come with this web hosting it will also show you other services offered by the hosting company such as their 800 numbers how to resell for web hosting and how to actually use the cPanel which is what you'll use to build your site and then down on the bottom we have one click script installs so if you want to use any of these you would just click on them that would be wordpress joomla drupal etc but for the moment we're just going to go ahead and buy our hosting and I'm going to click Sign Up now so first you need to either tell it if you have a domain name or if you need a domain name I actually already have a domain name so I'm going to type it right in here however if you need one this will allow you to type in the domain name choose comnet or any other ending that you want click Next and it will tell you if your domain name is open and if you can buy it I already have a domain name so I'm going to go ahead and put it in and I'm going to put it in as illustrated underneath which is just the name of my site which is WordPress tutorial hub calm and I'm going to click Next if I have any questions you can start right here to chat with one of their customer service representatives or you can call them at these 800 numbers I'm going to go ahead and click next now I'm actually going to be transferring my domain to Bluehost because i already own the domain name and the domain I own is WordPress tutorial hub com you can also choose net org info and dot biz each of these additional domains cost eleven dollars 95 cents you can add those on if you don't already own them next I'm going to fill out the account information including my business name if I have won my first and last name my street address city state zip code phone number and email address you can also put in your mobile phone number if you wish if you scroll down you'll also see that you can choose their Pro package which includes a faster speed more power and better security plus is only 1995 a month instead of the normal price of 2495 so you can choose that option as well underneath that is our package information whether you...

See more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln9z-tfP0ow

Web Design Advice You Can Apply Today

You most definitely are not alone in this thought if are unfamiliar with just what all website design is. There are many people who either do not know what exactly web design entails or exactly how important it is with promoting a company. Read this post to get an excellent background about the subject. For multimedia presentations, capitalize on the brand-new HTML5 criterion. Although HTML5 isn't really fairly as sturdy for video games and animation as Flash, it has the advantage of functioning stably on smart phone internet browsers, consisting of those included in Apple equipment. HTML5 is additionally a fair bit leaner compared to Flash, so tons times will certainly enhance, too. It may look very, yet keep away from having too many animations on your site. It will likely drive possible viewers away, although having your sales spray page rotate, blink as well as spin could look awesome to you. When you include too many showy splashes like that, it makes your site look incompetent which is not the message you intend to share. Prevent packing web page elements together. Each section of your page should be naturally divided from each various other, as this makes the function of each part more clear. The simplest means to different sections is by using DIVs, yet there are various other means, consisting of absolute positioning (not suggested), the CSS margin command, and drifts. Separate long text blocks. Having a huge wave of text is unneeded for any website, particularly when you could destroy it up by using photos, or perhaps dividing it into various web pages. Monotonous your visitors will just make them leave, so keep points as straightforward and fresh as possible. If the significant translation services work properly when equating your site, examination your site to see. Some websites receive lots of international site visitors, and also these site visitors often make use of solutions like Google and also BabelFish Equate to translate the content to their language. Certain website design troubles, specifically inadequate web server side code, can crack these services. Be aware of the background on your internet site. You do not desire your content to be tough to review! A disruptive background is ... well, sidetracking. Select backgrounds that coordinate with your website, as opposed to clashing with it, as well as your message will certainly be far more clear to your site visitors. Have a website map. These work to your customers as well as the search engines, as they provide a thorough introduction of your whole web site. It could be an overview for customers searching for a certain part of your website, and enable you to monitor its framework as well as format. Finding out some standard HTML will certainly help you add some intriguing bonus to your site. For instance, you can have words that follow your cursor, or a banner that blinks essential information. Make certain to change the shades and typefaces sometimes, so you appear much more included with the web site and its design. When developing your site, you ought to make use of cascading design sheets, or CSS. These design sheets can be applied to every web page on your web site, as well as will ensure that the customer encounter is consistent throughout the site. They are also effective for making fast style changes to your website due to the fact that you only have to change the style sheet rather than making modifications on every webpage. Assembled a great page about you or your title and also organization it "About" or "Regarding United states." Too many websites make use of dull, common bios. Make this area of your web site a lot more amazing. Aim to give site visitors a tiny peek of your personal background. Show how you began web design, the people who inspired you to do this, and also exactly what your company objectives are. To cover it up, you were not exactly sure of the vital part that website design plays in a firm's success, now you have quite a good feel for it. Preferably, this article will certainly be ample to allow you to pass this details on and help other individuals with the same concerns.

[scarylullabies]

I'm listening to the Wolverine: The Long Night podcast, and just constantly lo key mourning the cancellation of Daredevil, and it suddenly occurred to me how cool it would be to have a Daredevil podcast like this Wolverine podcast. Like a) how awesome would it be to have a piece of Daredevil media that had almost no visual component; and b) Wolverine TLN has such immersive sound effects and voicework and whatnot that it's genuinely creeped me out or startled me a few times, and that kind of soundwork could be used to illustrate DD's powers and disability in almost a first person kind of a way; and c) even though the story in Wolverine TLN isn't very noir-ish at all, the radio drama format definitely gives it a bit of a noir feeling anyway, and that could be so beautifully applied to the definitely noir-ish environment of Daredevil. Gives me chills just thinking about it.