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dailycharacteroption · 11 months ago

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Hooded Knight (Cavalier Archetype)

(art by tonyhurst on DeviantArt)

Far off in the distance, you see a hooded figure on a horse, their form and visage concealed beneath their cloak. Are they simply a traveler protecting themselves from the elements? A bandit or outlaw on the run? Are they secretly a monster? With today’s entry, they are none of these things, though they are not necessarily allies

Guardians of the roads and highways, hooded knights wander the pathways of the world providing aid to others on their journeys, remaining inscrutable much like the patron they emulate if not worship: the fey Eldest known as Ng.

Much like Ng, hooded knights conceal their identities, making many wonder if it possible to tell the difference between them and a bandit, but one look at the supernatural power that these individuals have while on a road and there can be no doubt.

Interestingly, several of these cavaliers belong to the order of the blossom, sworn to aid fey on the material plane, rather than mortals, they may serve as guides and protectors for visiting fey beings from the First World, or they might simply offer aid to those fey they meet on their travels. Others may favor orders more keyed to mortal affairs, whatever their reasons for doing so might be.

No matter what they are devoted to, These warriors are good, if unsettling, companions to have on a journey.

Most hooded knights belong to the order of blossoms, shield, or sword, but others may reasonably exist depending on their overall goals.

Being on the road all the time does mean surviving and understanding where you are. As such, these warriors are better at such things than physical athleticism.

Their mount, meanwhile, is an uncanny, feytouched creature, particularly when the rider is mounted upon it. They might be creatures of whimsy, or more eerie, but they are clearly not entirely of this world.

The reactions of these knights is enhanced while on a road, as is the speed of their mount. What’s more, they can extend this blessing to the mounts of their allies to speed them along as well.

They also have a knack for showing up exactly where they are needed on the road, though this is more than serendipity. In truth, they and their mount can teleport a decent distance as long as the endpoint is on a road, useful for retreating to a clear escape route, or speeding along their passage when needed.

Later on, this teleportation improves to cover truly vast distances as long as the destination is a road, and they can take their allies and mounts with them, almost as if they have traveled miles along secret paths to wind up on entirely different roadways.

These cavaliers are a major boon when travelling, arguably the time when mount-focused characters are at their best in a traditional dungeon crawling campaign, but make no mistake that they can still be quite competent even off their mount and off the road. This archetype does get rid of tactician and all of it’s improvements though, so you’ll have to rely on whatever strategy and strengths are associated with your order, both when you are mounted and on foot. I recommend a mixed mounted combat build with whatever strategy is favored by their chosen order, as well as possibly a magic item that lets you call your mount to your side if the battlefield allows for it.

Ng himself is an utterly inscruitable deity. His motives are only known to him, though he is known for sharing lore on occasion. Because of this, those who choose to emulate him have a bit of leeway as long as one of their goals and beliefs is to protect fellow travellers. Beyond that, they may be as evil or goodly as anyone else. More selfish ones may require payment in exchange for their services, which they funnel into their agenda, while the more goodly may offer the for free, a friendly voice to help pass the time on the road, despite never showing their faces.

Also, consider the sort of local legends that would spring up around such characters, and what sort of truth and fiction that would surround them.

Only one person knows the identity of the White Rider of Shalkaten, a vine leshy called Oakrider. The elderly plant spirit has no interest in willingly telling, but a new bandit lord is eager to get the information to stop their interference, and they’re not discreet in their methods.

The party has been searching for the grave of a legendary hero for some time, but the road they’re looking for doesn’t seem to exist. It is then they are approached by a hooded rider offering to help. Do they trust this stranger who has an eerie air to him?

Some follow the path of the hooded traveler because they protect others by hiding who they are. Others really enjoy the mystique. Some, however, are running from something. Rumor has it that the rider known as Smouldercloak was an ifrit dandy from a faraway land, though why they fled here none have ever been able to get out of her.

#pathfinder #archetype #cavalier #hooded knight #vine leshy #ifrit #Legacy of the First World

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Mortal Kombat (2021) vs. Mortal Kombat (1995): Which is Better?

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This article contains Mortal Kombat (2021) spoilers.

“Test your might.” These are the words of a minigame in the original Mortal Kombat arcade fighter from 1992. They were meant to signal an interlude between the simple pleasures of digitized sprites spilling buckets of blood. Yet they’ve also become synonymous with a franchise that’s arguably the most popular video game fighter of all-time. The phrase is also a pretty apt description for the various filmmakers who’ve attempted the challenge of taming this crazy dragon on screen.

More than any other video game series, Mortal Kombat has seen a plethora of live-action adaptations, from Hollywood movies to syndicated television. This weekend marks another milestone in that history, too, with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema’s hotly anticipated Mortal Kombat reboot opening in theaters and premiering on HBO Max. It’s the third Mortal Kombat movie released under the New Line banner, but let’s just call it the second serious attempt at putting this universe on screen after the 1995 cult classic directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.

That ’95 movie holds the dubious honor of being generally considered the best video game movie adaptation of all-time, thanks to a tongue-in-cheek tone perfect for its mid-‘90s moment and maybe the greatest use of techno music in film. Genuinely, how many other pictures have the soundtrack scream the title of the movie over and over again, and it seems like a good idea?

The new movie took a different approach to the material, and certainly a bloodier one. While both adaptations share the same basic premise of chosen “Earthrealm” guardians protecting our dimension from an invading force via martial arts fights, the executions diverge radically. Here’s how.

The Story

The starkly different approach to storytelling in director Simon McQuoid’s 2021 Mortal Kombat is evident during the film’s opening scene. Beginning in 1600s Japan with a gnarly, brutal fight sequence between Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) and Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), this version of Mortal Kombat relies heavily on lore and world-building. If you know the video game backstory of Sub-Zero/Bi-Han, and how he was kidnapped as a child by the Lin Kuei cult so they could brainwash him into the magical ninja we now see slaughtering Scorpion’s family, the scene has a sense of fateful tragedy.

If you don’t, well Taslim and Sanada are such gifted martial artists that it still looks really cool. By contrast, Mortal Kombat of the ’95 vintage is pretty straightforward and to the point. This is basically an interdimensional version of the Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon (1973), only with magical powers and the fate of the world at stake.

We’re introduced to three fighters in ‘95, Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby), and Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), who all get on a boat to the tournament for different reasons. And while Liu Kang was raised by his Shaolin monk upbringing to know what this tournament is, the other two act as our eyes and ears into this strange world of mysticism and Outworld menace. By the time they reach the island, they understand they need to compete with superpowered foes to save Earth in a structured tournament.

Conversely, Mortal Kombat (2021) is curiously both more secretive and open about its bizarre universe. For a much larger chunk of its running time, the new movie’s point-of-view character Cole Young (Lewis Tan) is completely mystified by the superpowered horrors happening around him while the viewer is keyed in early by scenes set in the evil dimension of Outworld. There we see the dastardly sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han) scheme from a throne about killing Cole in order to prevent a prophecy vaguely connected with the movie’s prologue scene in the 1600s. So he sends Sub-Zero to kill Cole in his day-to-day life as an MMA fighter, slaughtering him before he understands he’s been chosen to participate in the sacred Mortal Kombat tournament, which is held in secret every generation.

In fact, there is no actual tournament in the new film. Rather the plot eventually becomes Shang Tsung’s chosen band of evil warriors attempting to cheat ahead of the conflict by attacking Earthrealm’s depleted champions before they even discover they have superpowers (or “arcanas”) and know what Mortal Kombat is. The film thus becomes a quest movie with Cole joining forces with other “chosen ones” (or chosen one-aspirants) to find the Temple of Raiden, a lightning god (played by Tadanobu Asano) who represents the interests of Earthrealm in the tournaments. From there the heroes must learn their powers and evade preemptive, cheating attacks from Outworld’s thuggish baddies.

Side by side, the approaches appear to be the differences between a traditional (if derivative) martial arts flick and a modern studio blockbuster that is trying to cram as much fan service and world-building lore into a two-hour movie as possible in the hopes of making fanboys happy. I hesitate to say the 2021 film is fully following the Marvel Studios template given its copious amounts of blood and (seeming) lack of interest in building a shared universe of interconnected franchises. However, the 2021 film was certainly released in a post-Marvel world where the focus in studio committee rooms is less on telling a single story and more on building a whole convoluted mythology filled with fan favorite characters who are begging to be explored endlessly by future movies. It’s less story-driven than it is content-driven.

As a result, it leaves the narrative lacking. Viewers know long before Cole or 2021’s Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) what’s going on, and all the anticipation for a tournament that never materializes feels anti-climactic. With its simple structure, the Anderson-directed movie in the ‘90s plays out much more satisfyingly with three heroes (plus poor dead meat like “Art Lean”) entering a tournament by choice or trickery and then trying to survive it while learning vanilla, if tangible, life lessons. Liu Kang needs to accept his destiny; Johnny Cage must look before he leaps; and Sonya has to accept she’ll be the film’s damsel in distress even though she kicks ass. It’s an Enter the Dragon knockoff but it still has more kick than fan service.

Round One goes to 1995.

The Tone

The tone and aesthetics are also jarringly different between the two movies. Released in 1995, the same year Pierce Brosnan became James Bond, and two years before Arnold Schwarzenegger chilled out as Mr. Freeze, Mortal Kombat (1995) is an unmistakably campy movie and it leans into that fact.

Working with a low budget for a Hollywood spectacle even before New Line Cinema cut his funds by another $2 million right before cameras rolled, Anderson directed a B-movie that accepted its limitations and had fun with it. Apparently stars Ashby and Christopher Lambert, who played Lord Raiden in the ’95 movie, improvised dialogue throughout the shoot and rewrote entire scenes. As a consequence, Lambert’s lightning god was more of a jovial trickster in temperament, reminiscent of Loki instead of Odin. Johnny Cage, meanwhile, was essentially the film’s Han Solo: a cocksure wiseacre next to the stoic hero (Liu Kang) and a no-nonsense woman who doesn’t like to be called princess (Sonya).

As again signaled by the almost funereal opening sequence of Mortal Kombat (2021), where Sub-Zero murders Scorpion’s young family, the 2021 film is going for a differing sensibility. There is actually quite a bit of humor still present, with the real reason the Johnny Cage character got cut becoming apparent the moment we meet Kano (Josh Lawson), a loudmouth smartass who takes on the comic relief role but with an added slice of thuggery. Hence his dialogue has a lot more F-bombs than it does cracks about $500 sunglasses.

Other than moments where Kano is allowed to steal scenes, however, Mortal Kombat (2021) plays it pretty straight. Asano’s Raiden is imperious and his fighters stoic. However, it’s also worth noting Raiden is played by a Japanese actor, as opposed to a white American-born Frenchman who was raised in Switzerland (Lambert has quite the international background). Indeed, one of the more admirable qualities of the 2021 film is the focus on a diverse cast that includes more roles for Asian actors and people of color, whereas the 1995 film whitewashed Raiden and left out the Black American character Jax for little more than a cameo.

The 2021 film also upped the gore quotient considerably. While the martial arts of the 1995 film were decidedly PG-13, the tone of the movie was only a few steps removed from Power Rangers in some respects, including its introduction of a horrible CGI creation known as Reptile. The Reptile in the 2021 film appears more convincingly, like the latest monstrosity out of a Jurassic World lab, and the violence he commits is visually gruesome (more on that later).

Honestly, preferences over the aesthetic differences between the two films comes down to a matter of taste. I prefer the tongue-in-cheek eye rolls of the 1995 film given how nonsensical this universe is, and how at the end of the day its target audience remains children. Yet I imagine many adult fans of the video games will prefer the blood-soaked earnestness found in 2021.

Round Two is a draw.

Chosen Players

Anyone who’s picked up a fighting game will tell you it’s all about finding a character or two you like and then training up with them. In 1995, Anderson had the advantage of primarily adapting the original 1992 arcade game with its limited collection of playable characters. Ergo, his film’s lineup easily focused on the three aforementioned heroes of Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya Blade, plus the ambiguous Princess Kitana (Talisa Soto), and Lord Raiden. Meanwhile he divided his villain screen time between the sorcerer Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) and Shang Tsung’s minions, who were essentially glorified Bond henchmen with individual gimmicks.

Fan favorites Sub-Zero and Scorpion are present in the ’95 movie—with much more colorful, game-accurate costumes—yet they’re relatively low-hanging fruit in the tournament’s brackets. Their rivalry is given lip-service but they are dispatched by heroes Liu Kang and Johnny Cage relatively easily. Meanwhile Trevor Goddard’s Kano is more a hapless comic relief baddie who Wilson-Sampras’ Sonya kills with a great laugh line. “Give me a break,” Kano pleads with his head pinned between her thighs. “Okay,” she shoots back before snapping his neck.

Still, the movie largely belongs to Tagawa who makes a meal out of the scenery as the big bad. The guttural pleasure he has in so naturally turning all the over-the-top commands in the video game into his dialogue—“Finish Him!;” “Fatality;” “Test Your Might”—is infectious.

The 2021 film relies on a much larger cast of characters and, unlike the 1995 movie, attempts to give them each a moment to shine in the way Kitana and the original Kano could only dream. This surprisingly begins with the introduction of a totally new character in Cole Young as our point-of-view protagonist. While fan favorite Liu Kang was the hero in ’95, the character is now a supporting player played by Ludi Lin in 2021. And he’s not alone. The new Liu Kang’s cousin, Kung Lao (Max Huang), also gets enough screen time to show off his character’s beloved razor-rimmed hat, which he dispatches one of the movie’s villains with.

There is also the new Sonya, who may have the most complete arc as she strives to be accepted as a champion for Earthrealm, and Jax (Mechad Brooks), who is Sonya’s partner with the chosen one birthmark and who gets a new nasty origin story for his metal arms. And then the new Kano spends as much time working with the good guys as he does becoming a villain in an entirely rushed and unconvincing third act plot twist.

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There are even more villains, most of whom amount to glorified cameos, including Mileena (Sisi Stringer), Nitara (Mel Jarnson), and Kabal (Daniel Nelson). However, they’re all even more perfunctory than Sub-Zero and Scorpion were in 1995. At least the ‘90s ninjas each got a few minutes to show off before being dispatched. Even the ostensible main villain of 2021, the new Shang Tsung, is fairly underserved, left to state banal dialogue from a throne without a throne room, and he’s never allowed to dominate scenes the way Tagawa did so gleefully back in the day.

Unfortunately, this is because the 2021 film has so many characters that it lacks any sense of narrative focus or cohesion. Tan’s arc of wanting to learn his power/arcana to defend his family is as broad and serviceable a hook as Shou’s 1995 Liu Kang wanting to avenge the murder of his brother. But Tan’s Cole Young gets lost in the shuffle after the first act and until the movie’s ending. Character turns like Kano betraying the other heroes similarly feels hackneyed because there is too much noise on screen to really care about who’s making it. Even Kang Lao’s death falls flat. It’s admirable that it’s a good guy fans theoretically should care about (unlike 1995’s token Black character created by the filmmakers to die), but the 2021 movie fails to make the uninitiated be concerned.

Of course there are exceptions. Namely Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Even though Scorpion ill-advisedly disappears for nearly all of the movie’s running time after the film’s terrific opening 10 minutes, Sanada has such presence, and such strong chemistry with Taslim’s Sub-Zero, that their opening salvo leaves you waiting the rest of the movie for Scorpion’s revenge. Taslim is also able to give Sub-Zero some surprisingly tangible, if only hinted at, pathos even after he kills a kid in his first scene and is then forced to act behind a mask thereafter. He’s the real villain of the piece you want to see go down, and his death scene is incredibly satisfying as a result.

It’s probably enough for fans of the games to favor this kitchen sink approach. But overall, less is more.

Round Three goes to 1995.

Fight Scenes

If there is one realm where the 2021 movie truly excels in over the previous film, this is it. And yes, a big part of that is the gore quotient. Whereas the 1995 flick was produced with a PG-13 rating in mind (my elementary school thanks New Line for that), the 2021 movie was able to embrace the gross out charm that made the original game stand out at the arcade all those decades ago. Street Fighter might’ve been first, but only Mortal Kombat let you pull the other player’s spine out.

While that effect doesn’t quite happen in the 2021 movie, almost everything else does. Nitara goes face first into a Kung Lao’s buzzsaw hat, which cuts her cleanly in half; Sub-Zero freezing Jax’s arms and then shattering them in a stomach-churning effect; and instead of going off a cliff, Prince Goro is disemboweled by Cole Young—which almost makes up for the fact that Goro is reduced to a mindless mute this time.

It’s like a highlight reel of fatalities from the video game. But the reason why this film’s fight scenes really stand above the 1995 film isn’t the bloodletting; it’s the action leading up to it. With brutal fight choreography, the new Mortal Kombat shines whenever it lets actors who can actually do the stunts take the arena. That includes Lewis Tan, whose Cole Young mostly fights other MMA types or CG monsters. But it’s especially true for Joe Taslim of The Raid fame. As the villainous Sub-Zero, his moves are lightning quick, even if his powers leave opponents frozen stiff. So when he shares the screen with Tan or Sanada, the action reveals an auhentic flair.

In comparison, the 1995 film suffers a bit from the sin Johnny Cage is trying to dodge within the story: it relies on stunt doubles and tight editing to make the fights exciting. It’s a shame too since Shou is an excellent martial artist, and the one scene he got to choreograph—Liu Kang versus Reptile—has an edge. But much of the time, Shou’s constrained by the direction and editing. Ashby and Wilson-Sampras, conversely, are not actual martial artists, though credit must be given to Wilson-Sampras for doing all her own stunts when getting the role of Sonya at the last minute.

Still, the fights stand taller in 2021. It’s a bit of a shame though that the movie is so heavily edited that it too often hides this fact. Unlike the 1995 ensemble, most of the cast has the moves in 2021, but the editing still feels stuck in the past with its reliance on confounding quick cuts and coverage. During our current era of John Wick and Atomic Blonde this is both a bizarre and disappointing choice. Nevertheless, this is an easy call.

Round Four goes to 2021.

Ending

The final fight was relatively satisfying in 1995. Tagawa is a preening villain, and when the Immortals’ techno “Mortal Kombat” theme plays, it’s a pleasure to watch Liu Kang wipe that smug smile off Shang Tsung’s face. However, the ending keeps going with a Star Wars-esque sendoff to Liu Kang’s force ghost brother, and then the movie undermines its catharsis by immediately setting up a sequel.

In the picture’s final moments, our three heroes, plus Kitana, return to the real-life Thai temple that’s supposed to be Liu Kang’s home. Lord Raiden waits for them there, getting some final sideways cracks in before Outworld’s evil emperor Shao Khan appears like a giant specter in the clouds. He immediately threatens an Earthrealm invasion, despite losing the tournament.

I can attest that in 1995, this was a stunning cliffhanger for eight-year-olds everywhere. But then… Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997), one of the worst films of the late ‘90s, happened.

Meanwhile in the 2021 film, we have a much more satisfying death for its villain when Scorpion returns from hell to send Sub-Zero to the hot place. Their fight is much more technically satisfying, and the cliffhanger setup is a lot more subtle. After defeating Shang Tsung’s warriors, if not Shang Tsung himself, the heroes of Earthrealm saved us all without an actual tournament ever occurring. And instead of Outworld cheating in this moment by invading anyway, they retreat. It’s an odd choice since they’ve been cheating the whole film, so why start playing by the rules now?

Even so, it leaves a destination for a second movie to actually head toward. And to tease that fact further, it’s implied Cole Young will now travel to Hollywood to recruit movie star Johnny Cage for a sequel. It’s pure fan service, but the kind that leaves the possibility open for better things to come. Considering we know where the 1995 movie’s cliffhanger leads—to pits of cinematic hell worse than any faced by Scorpion in the last 400 years—this is a victory for 2021 by default.

Round Five goes to 2021.

Final Victor

Ultimately, neither of these films are high art nor do they aspire to be. In some ways, it’s a case of picking your poison between schlock or schlock. Each has advantages over the other, as laid out above, and each is a long way from a flawless victory. Nonetheless, due simply to narrative and tonal cohesiveness, and just more memorable lead characters, I’ll go with the one that actually gets to the tournament this whole damn thing’s designed around.

Game over.

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osmw1 · 6 years ago

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Dimension Wave Chapter 12 — A Shadow Creeping from the Darkness

“Cleaver!”

My Iron Chef’s Knife glows red as I shout the skill name out loud. I begin to spin then use the centrifugal force to cut down the Darkness Lizardman with great strength. Swish! The knife goes cleanly through the Darkness Lizardman’s right hand and, along with the bastard sword it was carrying, it falls to the ground.

“I bagged one. You all good there, Shouko?” “Completely fine! Wild Dance the Second: Bloom!”

Once Shouko opened her glowing fan, flower petals dances through the air like some sort of special effect and tear into the two Darkness Lizardman. One of them gets cut down but the other swings its bastard sword at Shouko. She catches the blade between her fan and cleanly snaps it into two.

“Recharge…”

As Shouko mutters, her fan begins to glow white. Then, she attacks the Darkness Lizardman by thrusting her fan. She probably didn’t need the helping hand, but at the same time, I stab the Darkness Lizardman with my Iron Chef’s Knife. Our combined efforts take down the monster.

“Are you injured, Kizuna?” “No, not at all. I did better than I thought I would but fighting two at once might be too much.”

I did get hit once, but it was nothing. Not to mention, I earned more Energy than I lost, so it’s a net profit. Then suddenly, Shouko’s folding fan glows even brighter. Her offensive skills often need to charge up before they can be used. It can be anywhere from 10 seconds to three minutes. The longer it gets charged, the brighter and more powerful her fan is. While it’s charging, she fights and blocks normally. If I had to nitpick, I’d say that the fan is kinda mediocre at both offense and defense. Most of the offensive skills are area of effect and so it doesn’t do a lot of damage. Plus, it doesn’t block as well as a proper shield would.

“Alright, then I’mma gut them up. Cover me, alright?” “I have your back.”

I point my Iron Chef’s Knife towards the Darkness Lizardman I killed. I start with scaling the monster and quietly mutter out a skill.

“Speed Gutting…”

It takes a lot less time with the skill activated. Plus, it’s not mentioned in the description, but there are two other effects that it grants you. The first one is that it increases the success rate. That’s why even when I do it so quickly, I get as many items as I would when I gut carefully. The second hidden effect is that the user feels a lot lighter and nimble. I’m guessing attack speed and gutting speed are both calculated the same way. Anyway, I gotta hurry up and butcher all three of them. We might be safe now, but who knows what’ll happen.

Clink!

The sound of Shouko parrying the enemy’s attack rings out. She’s already engaged in another fight. Enemies are coming quicker than I expected. Gotta hurry this up. We decided ahead of time that when I’m breaking down corpses and there are less than three baddies, then I’ll finish up before helping to fight. I get that it’s my job, but I’m still getting anxious about ignoring Shouko. I gotta do what I gotta do though.

“All done. And it looks like you’re fine too.”

As I finish gutting the three monsters, Shouko lands the finishing blow on the Darkness Lizardman. Needless to say, I go and cut up that fresh carcass too.

“How are you doing with your Energy levels?” “Aren’t you using skills more than I am?” “I have Energy Production X, so this is no problem to me at all.”

Two levels higher than me, huh? That’s an ex-frontliner for you. Even her skills are way beyond mine. Meanwhile, I finish up gutting and put the items in my inventory.

“Whew…”

I take a deep breath in the middle of this lull. All around us is forest, pitch black. The paper lantern Shouko brought with her is the only light source around. There’s not even a single star to shine down upon us. We’ve set up camp in the cave we found along the way. It’s been two hours since we’ve started, and I think we got the hang of it.

“Kizuna, how are you feeling? Are you tired yet?” “No, I’m good.” “Do not push yourself, okay? Even slight mistakes will cost us our lives as Spirits.” “This is nothing compared to the gaming sessions I was subjected to by Tsugumi.” “I see. Then, shall we continue for another hour?”

According to Shouko, Darkness Lizardmen are pretty good for experience. We’ve encountered a good number of them and so we’ve got a good number of items too. On the contrary, we encountered no other players to far. And, thanks to Shouko, we’ve been steadily chugging along. The biggest weakness right now is how dark it is. Maybe it woulda been better if I’d taken Night Vision. I have more than 20,000 Energy right now and I’m earning more at a good pace.

“…?” “What’s up? Did something happen?”

Shouko has an odd expression on her face. It’s the first time I’ve seen her like that and so I asked.

“No, but I hear something.”

You hear something? I perk up my ears too. Of course, I don’t have any skills or anything for better hearing, so I don’t actually hear any better. But…

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.

She’s right. Footsteps of some kind.

“… over there!”

Shouko swings her fan at seemingly nothing. But, as she struck something with an audible smack, a somewhat transparent figure appears with a puff of smoke.

“Please, hold! I am not thine enemy!”

A ninja-looking figure clad in all black appeared. I bet he used a camouflaging skill like Hiding or something. And really? “Thine enemy”? What a clichéd character to roleplay.

“Your lies will not work on me. What are your true intentions for creeping up to us?! Speak!” “’Tis a misunderstanding! I am merely trying to escape a boss monster!” “A pathetic excuse!”

Shouko didn’t relent with her hounding, so I’ll cut it short. In any case, Shouko is being very suspicious of this figure in black and so I try to be the liaison.

“Well, let’s give him a chance to explain himself. Alright?” “If you say so, Kizuna…”

I soothe Shouko’s suspicions as I turn towards the ninja.

“So? Why were you hiding from us?” “Thou art mistaken; I did not mean to hide from thee. As I have said, I had been chased by a boss monster as I was gathering materials with dark attributes. Unfortunately, I encountered something more than I can tackle by myself and so, I escaped with my camouflaging skill to misdirect the monster.” “Hmph. Assuming you’re telling the truth, then where is the boss monster?”

I have a bad feeling about it, so I had to ask.

“It is in front of us, in the cave.” “I knew it…”

I had a feeling that might be the case when I first heard his excuse. Nervously, I take a look at the cave, but I can’t see well since it’s so dark.

“It is visible for me as I have acquired Night Vision.” “I see. Well then, my next question is what do we do about it?”

This Forest of Eternal Darkness blocks players from using teleporting items like “Tome of Returning” to send us back to town. There’s only one path and it leads directly to the cave. And that cave has now been taken over by a boss monster.

“What do you take us for?! We will not so simply perish!”

Shouko is unusually flustered. But she’s right. Us Spirits don’t die. Rather, when we lose all of our Energy, we just get really, really weak. We get sent back to level 1, you could say. Thinking about our situation carefully, it flusters me a little too. If we mess up, then we’ll lose all of the Energy we’ve earned up till now. Anyone got a good idea or anything?

“Please, take me with thee. I shan’t perish either!” “Hold on. I know why we won’t die, but why you too? Other races have penalties for getting defeated, right?” “It is for I am a Spirit.” “…”

I applied my palm directly to my forehead. They say there aren’t many Spirits in this game, yet there are three of us in this dungeon with practically nobody in it? Talk about a miracle.

“So are we.” “Pray tell, are we the same peoples?” “I would say that I am very pleased to meet another one of us, but not under these circumstances.” “I agree.”

If we had only met in different circumstances. Well, whatever. We’re still in this together.

“However, we should brace for this adversity we are about to face, though I do not mean to force it upon you. It is more so whether we are able to or not.” “Yeah, Shouko’s got a point.”

I don’t think any old plan would work against this monster. No matter how weak it might be, it’s still a boss. I’m not sure if our weapons would be any good against it. I really doubt we’d win in a head-on fight. Not to mention, we can’t rely on ninja boy. Why? Well, he literally was just running away from the boss.

“Let me atone for this sin through death!” “Hold your horses. Don’t jump to that from the get go.” “Oh, little Miss…”

… little Miss? I mean, I guess I look like a grade schooler. My character, I mean.

“It’s Kizuna. Don’t call me ‘little Miss’.” “It is my pleasure. Please call me Yamikage.” “… you a ninja or something?” “I did not know there were still ninjas.” “It’s because we’re in a game…” “O-Oh, but of course…”

Our introductions were short, but sweet. The guy clad in all black is Yamikage. Quite the stereotypical ninja. We’ve got a tomboyish GIRL, a traditional Japanese lady, and a old-timey ninja. … god, this is such an embarrassing party.

“Is the boss still in the cave?” “I see no signs of it moving.” “And just to make sure, what’s its name?”

I then quickly give Shouko a look. She always pays attention to the details, so she’d be useful now. But it doesn’t seem like she understands what my glance at her meant. You could almost see the question mark above her head.

No good, huh?

Well, we’ve technically only met today. I guess it was too much to expect to be able to communicate through our eyes. And by the way, what I meant was to check with her whether that name is correct or not. Who knows if Yamikage is laying? Maybe he’ll try to monster player kill or something.

“’Tis the Lizardman Dark Knight.” “The answer’s almost obvious but can the three of us beat it?” “That is unlikely.” “Aye, ‘tis an impossibility.”

It wouldn’t be a boss monster otherwise… It has been decided from time immemorial that boss monsters in MMOs are extremely difficult. Some raid bosses need nearly 10 people at once to be defeated. We might be up against something like that. But it doesn’t mean we’re completely out of ideas yet. It’s just that we might have to resort to cheesing the boss.

“Whatever. Do y’all have any ideas on what we can do?” “Aye. Perhaps we can run past the monster.” “You know, you escaped away from the monster by the skin of your teeth, right? Do you really think we can outrun it?” “’Tis another impossibility.”

So, we can’t escape it. Then, Shouko puts up her hand. I look straight at her.

“What’s your plan?” “How about we have someone act as a decoy?” “It wouldn’t be too difficult. But who’d it be?” “Since I have brought it up, let me take that role.”

It doesn’t sound like a bad plan, but I don’t like it. Shouko had already lost a lot of Energy by being defeated by another boss. It’s just my personal opinion, but I wouldn’t like to have that happen to a Spirit buddy.

“I’m against it.” “Nay for me as well.”

Surprisingly, Yamikage voted against that plan too. Maybe he’s looking at it from a Spirit’s perspective too.

“But why? Is it not our best plan?” “If we were to use Madam Hakoniwa’s plan, then let me be the decoy.” “Forgive me for being rude, but I believe both you and Kizuna lacks the defense. Besides, I have defensive skills with my folding fan. If I am lucky, then I shall be able to escape too.” “But, I had brought this problem to you. I cannot have Spirit comrades sacrifice their—”

I can’t believe that’s what they’re arguing back and forth about. They’re both so willing to make the sacrifice.

“I’m against either of you doing it. Why the hell are you guys so willing to throw down your lives?! What we should be focusing on is how to get all of us out alive, right?”

Both of them stare at the ground. This would totally be an emotional scene if this were a manga or something. Plus, there’s not much meaning to it if no one’s actually dying. We don’t know if Yamikage is going to accidentally MPK us either, let alone plotting doing so. Our first priority is to think of a better plan.

“Oh, right. I forgot to ask, but what skills do you have, Yamikage?” “I possess Night Vision I, Camouflage I, and Drain VII.” “Drain?” “It is dark magic which steals the enemy’s HP and MP.” “Huh. Didn’t know there’s a skill like that.” “Aye, that is correct. And as I am a Spirit, I would be absorbing Energy instead.”

That’s pretty handy, eh? But to have it at rank VII? That’s really high.

“Do you have a lot of Energy or something?” “Nay, such is not the case for me. I am but at around 20,000.” “20,000? That’s pretty much at my level then. How the heck did you get to rank VII already?” “I am losing 3,000 Energy each hour.”

… huh? To put it in other words, Yamikage’s spending Energy just to live? Our skills cost Energy to acquire. But because we can also take as many skills as we want, us Spirits can activate enough skills to be in the red. That’s how Yamikage’s losing 3,000 Energy per hour.

“Can you manage to earn anything?”

I guess you could call this high risk, high reward–style gameplay.

“I profit about 1,000 every day.”

So he says with a smug smile.

“Kizuna, he’s…”

Shouko is totally worried about his situation. I’m sure Yamikage can manage though. Well, I’d like to believe there are quite a few players who would do something like him. You could even say it’d be the more fun that way. By the way, our Energy levels are 20,000, 25,000, and 23,000 for Yamikage, Shouko, and I, respectively. Shouko also produces the most Energy out of all of us. In that case, Shouko’s plan might be our safest plan, but I wouldn’t never go through with it.

“Anyway, we can’t do anything if we can’t see the monster.” “Though, I am able to.” “Seeing is believing, as they say. I’d rather be able to see for myself. Let me get the skill too.”

I open up my menu and check under unacquired skills.

Night Vision I A skill for nighttime action. Activating the skill will counter any nighttime debuff. Consumes 200 Energy per hour. Costs 200 Mana to acquire. Unlock requirement: Be active for more than 24 hours during nighttime. Upgrade requirement: Be active for more than 168 hours during nighttime.

I take the skill and a look towards the cave. Since it’s only level I, it’s still pretty dark all around. But at least now I can see the outlines and silhouettes of the trees and stuff around us. … and there really is a boss monster there. It’s a humongous Lizardman clad in black metallic armor. In its hands are a massive lance and shield. There’s no way the three of us can beat it. And it doesn’t look like a folding fan can break its weapon either. And, did I mention that the guy is gigantic? Its physical appearance is definitely appropriate for a boss.

“… oh!” “Is something the matter?” “Maybe, just maybe…”

I tell them the plan that suddenly popped into my mind.

“Will this truly work?” “Probably. It’s an old trick I got from a game.” “Aye, but how shall we get its aggro?” “I think I might have an idea about that.”

This pinch we’re in might actually prove to be a good chance for us.

contents: /prologue/ /ch001/ /ch002/ /ch003/ /ch004/ /ch005/ /ch006/ /ch007/ /ch008/ /ch009/ /ch010/ /ch011/ /ch012/ /next/

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arplis · 4 years ago

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Arplis - News: Dorothy Hong for The Wall Street Journal

Douglas Gilman put a new designer kitchen in his Manhattan apartment last year with entertaining in mind. He placed the sleek marble-accented Dada kitchen, from Italy’s Molteni&C, at the center of the airy 2,800-square-foot home that he created from combining two adjacent units in a former West Village printing house. He figured it would give him easier access to his guests. But the arrival of Covid-19 restrictions has meant much more cooking, and next to no entertaining, and it’s his high-tech German appliances that have come to the rescue, including an induction cooktop that can sense where he places a pan, and a speed oven that combines convection and microwave technology. “My ovens are almost more advanced than my computer,” says the 39-year-old financial-services professional of his $30,000 set of appliances from Gaggenau, Miele, and the U.S. brand Sub-Zero. Douglas Gilman chose a speed oven that combines convection and microwave technology. Eating may still be analog, but kitchens have taken up residence in the digital age, as designers and appliance makers increasingly rely on a host of technological innovations to update the traditional tasks of cooking, storing and cleaning up. Kitchen-appliance categories haven’t changed much since the 1970s, when microwave ovens began appearing on ordinary countertops. But cameras, sensors, artificial intelligence and newfangled materials are now turning those appliances into ultrasophisticated hardware, while smart functions and connectivity are recasting the Cloud as the latest kitchen accessory. Buyers of Miele’s new G7000 series dishwashers never have to worry about running out of detergent. When the machine runs low, a sensor prompts their smartphones to reorder the brand’s trademark detergent disk from the company’s online shop. Meanwhile, Bosch, Miele’s competitor in the luxury dishwasher market, has introduced Zeolite, an alkaline mineral compound, in its new dishwasher series. Among other tasks, the compound helps plastic items dry more efficiently. Mr. Gilman’s West Village dining room, just off the kitchen, has a high-tech LED fixture from Austria’s Kaia Lighting. Elsewhere in the kitchen, cameras in refrigerators can be called up on smartphones, allowing you to look into your fridge from the grocery aisle to see what you need to buy. For European homeowners, Bosch’s new Cloud-accessing system has a fridge camera to suggest recipes based on what you already have on-hand. As the pandemic draws new focus to the kitchen, with families forsaking frequent dinners out for daily home-cooked meals, players in the industry are noticing an uptake in sales—accompanied by a greater interest in high-tech options. Even induction stovetops, which can be a hard sell for gas-loving Americans, have seen demand rise by 35% in the U.S. Appliance sales declined in the early months of the pandemic, but now “U.S. demand has really come back strong,” says Axel Kniehl, the executive director of sales and marketing for Miele. “Consumers can’t spend money on other things, so they have started renovating their kitchens.” The Hecklers of Phoenix have a kitchen that features a sensor-equipped Miele coffee maker, lights controlled from a smartphone app and a Dekton composite countertop that resists heat, light and scratches. A nearby TV has the option of an app-created camouflage screen when not in use. Steve Craft for The Wall Street Journal Covid-19 is changing homeowners’ basic expectations for the kitchen, according to a new survey compiled by the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Companies are seeing soaring requests for items that help keep the cooking area more sanitized, such as touchless faucets and antimicrobial surfaces. Kohler, the Wisconsin-based plumbing company that specializes in luxury finishes, says a majority of homeowners recently sampled are starting to regard the touchless faucets as must-haves. Kohler now combines voice automation with their touchless feature, allowing you to command your faucet to pour exact amounts of water. Homeowners can go so far as to customize voice orders by recipe. Daniel Markham, a Utah-based influencer who has Kohler faucets in his new home, shouts out “mac and cheese” for just the right amount of water for the recipe his family of five uses. Benoît Favier, managing director of La Cornue, the French oven and stove maker based outside Paris known for its customizable luxury ranges, says he expects a 15% to 20% rise in sales in 2020. Mr. Favier says customers are increasingly interested in copper detailing, which is thought to have antimicrobial properties. Earlier this year, at the height of the pandemic, La Cornue introduced the Château Suprême, an Art Deco-inspired upgrade on its traditional design. The unit allows homeowners to mix and match induction and gas burners with a teppanyaki plate and a walnut cutting board. Prices run as high as $165,000. Thermador, the California-based luxury appliance brand, offers an extra-low simmering feature that, the company says, lets you melt chocolate on a paper plate. Thermador users can hook up all its appliances categories to the same app, which will alert you that the fridge door is open, let your preheat your oven, or adjust the temperature of your wine cabinet to accommodate an unusual varietal. On its high-tech to-do list: finding ways to digitalize its luxury gas stoves. Designer-kitchen makers are also going high-tech. This year, Italy’s Boffi introduced its high-performance ceramic-like material, called MDI, which can be used for a range of kitchen surfaces, including countertops and filler space around appliances. Nonporous, as well as crack- and stain-resistant, it is much easier to clean, and therefore more hygienic. A high-tech alternative to other materials, such as stone and stainless steel, it has a grain-like finish that is soft to the touch. The rise in outdoor cooking as safer for entertaining than closed spaces has companies investing in research into materials for planned outdoor-kitchen lines, say a handful of executives. In a new smart home in Phoenix, Dean Heckler, a 47-year-old industrial designer, and his wife, Angela Heckler, a 35-year-old fundraising director and singer-songwriter, put their new high-tech kitchen, finished in early 2020, at the center of a long, glass-enclosed, open-plan living space. The island—covered in Dekton, a high-tech mineral composite with a large quartz content—is outfitted with an induction stove that senses pan size and a downdraft vent system. All blend in so seamlessly that the unit looks like a dining table. “You don’t notice the kitchen unless you’re using it,” says Cavin Costello, the couple’s architect. “But it still has all the firepower.” The Hecklers spent about $125,000 on the kitchen, including nearly $4,000 on a built-in Miele coffee maker, with sensors that detect the height of the cup being filled. They planned their project with automation in mind, and everything from their irrigation system to their house locks and lights can be controlled by Apple HomeKit and Siri. A high-tech standout: their Steinway piano, which can record Mrs. Heckler’s performances to an app, where her compositions can then be edited. It can also play on its own on command. “You can treat the piano like a HomePod,” says Mr. Heckler. For a Wisconsin couple, who wanted the kitchen in their Maui vacation home to be modern but not complicated, an innovative element is used to accent traditional touches. The couple, working with Chicago designer Mick De Giulio, spent about $380,000 on the kitchen, which includes expensive wood detailing, mixing wenge and smoked-Eucalyptus veneers with solid Monkey Pod, a locally grown hardwood. Mr. De Giulio designed the $12,000 LED light fixture to complement the various finishes. LED lighting was once too harsh, he says, but the latest generation “gives off a really nice light that is complementary to wood grains.” The humble toaster got an upgrade last year from Revolution Cooking, a Massachusetts-based company whose touch-screen smart toaster uses a quick-heating alloy to flash-toast and evenly brown while holding in moisture. Europeans in select markets can now buy a new countertop Bosch cooking appliance called the Cookit that uses sensors to perfect a range of cooking functions, from evenly reheating leftovers to searing a steak. Miele has recently introduced a whole new kind of oven, called the Dialog Oven, which uses electromagnetic waves to cook closely placed foods with differing energy levels. The company likes to show off the technology by cooking a fish in a block of ice. The oven can cook a roast in an hour, while a nearby pan of vegetables stays al dente. Up-to-date kitchen appliances are key in the latest home-sales market, says Michael Harper, an agent with Boston’s of MGS Group Real Estate. He says a suite of new Sub-Zero Wolf kitchen appliances is a star selling point for a single-family Back Bay townhouse that dates to the 1890s. The four-bedroom, seven-bathroom home, which just underwent a gut renovation, has an asking price of $9.995 million. “Luxury buyers want what they want, and they want it now,” he says, of the turnkey kitchen, which has an island covered in Italian Paonazzo marble, with a honed finish meant to resist stains. While the pandemic is boosting current sales, kitchen companies are looking to the future. Bosch is researching induction surfaces that may one day do away with stovetops entirely, letting you turn select surfaces into potential burners. Agrilution, a Miele subsidiary, is now marketing small vertical farm units, called Plantcubes, for growing herbs and greens. Robotic devices already have a place in American kitchens thanks to iRobot, the Massachusetts company that introduced the robotic vacuum cleaner in 2002, and, a decade later, the robotic mop. (In Phoenix, the Hecklers, use the company’s latest vacuum model, the self-emptying Roomba s9 to help keep dog hair to a minimum.) Colin Angle, iRobot’s CEO, foresees kitchen robots will next be used to take care of other menial tasks, such as loading and unloading dishwashers. Howie Choset, a professor of Robotics at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, has his doubts about humanoid robots as servants-of-the-future. But he does see a growing role for machine-learning technology to help out with cooking technique, citing a potential future smartphone app. Prof. Choset, part of a team doing kitchen-related robotics research in conjunction with the Culinary Institute of America, believes the app may be only a year or two away. He sees cooks perfecting their slicing, dicing, braising and basting, while the camera on their smartphone tracks their technique, and voice-equipped technology shouts out pointers—comparing their actions with those of an expert chef. Back in his own kitchen, Prof. Choset says he is still working on the basics. “I just learned to cook oatmeal,” he says. The post The Future of Kitchen Design Is Hands-Free and Smartphone-Activated appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. #SmartHome #TheWallStreetJournal #Trends #Kitchen

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/dorothy-hong-for-the-wall-street-journal

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sciencespies · 5 years ago

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The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits, a History of Hell and Other New Books to Read

https://sciencespies.com/history/the-woman-who-gave-birth-to-rabbits-a-history-of-hell-and-other-new-books-to-read/

The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits, a History of Hell and Other New Books to Read

Few topics manage to unite the masses quite like the macabre, the mysterious and the magnanimous. Luckily, the five titles highlighted below—featuring stories of heaven and hell, an “imposteress rabbit breeder,” the Confederacy, the census, and the Irish potato famine—offer up all of these qualities in plenty.

Last week, Smithsonian magazine introduced a new series designed to support those in search of distraction from the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. Each Friday, we’re spotlighting five recently published nonfiction titles at risk of being overlooked as COVID-19 continues to dominate the news cycle.

Representing the fields of history, science, arts and culture, innovation, and travel, selections represent texts that piqued our curiosity with their new approaches to oft-discussed topics, elevation of overlooked stories and artful prose. We’ve linked to Amazon for your convenience, but be sure to check with your local bookstore to see if it supports social distancing-appropriate delivery or pickup measures, too.

The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder: Mary Toft and Eighteenth-Century England

The mysterious case of Mary Toft, an 18th-century English woman who convinced respected medical professionals that she was capable of giving birth to rabbits, surely represents a chapter in more offbeat British history. In The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder, Karen Harvey draws on archival records to elevate Toft as an individual and provide insight on the reasoning behind her ruse.

Most accounts of the 1726 affair paint Toft as a “cunning and avaricious self-promoter,” according to historian Edward White. Harvey, meanwhile, argues that the illiterate, impoverished young woman—eventually revealed to have staged the bunny births by stuffing animal parts inside of her own body—was actually a victim in her own right, exploited by her domineering mother-in-law, scheming acquaintances and even the male doctors who treated her. Despite others’ probable involvement in the hoax, Toft was the only one punished for it. Sentenced to several weeks in Bridewell Prison, she was regularly paraded in front of visitors who paid for the chance to witness her public humiliation.

Per publicity materials, the Toft affair testifies to the “huge social and cultural changes” apparent in 18th-century England, exploring “a time when traditional social hierarchies were shaken, relationships between men and women were redrawn, print culture acquired a new vibrancy and irreverence, and knowledge of the body was remade.”

The Sum of the People: How the Census Has Shaped Nations, from the Ancient World to the Modern Age

With the 2020 census in full swing, data scientist Andrew Whitby’s book debut—a comprehensive overview of the census’ 3,000-year history—is particularly timely. Citing case studies from ancient China to the Mesopotamian city of Uruk, the Roman Empire, Nazi-occupied Europe, Revolutionary War America and the West Bank, the author upends the conception of censuses as rote administrative undertakings by outlining their capacity to act as “marvels of wonder, instruments of exclusion, and, at worst, tools of tyranny and genocide.”

Census-taking is an intensely human act, argues Whitby in the book’s prologue. He adds, “It is a moment of communal self-reflection: a stocktaking only if you imagine that cans of beans could decide to count themselves.”

Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife

Thanks to COVID-19, mortality—and what awaits those who pass from this life—is at the forefront of many people’s minds. Bart D. Ehrman’s Heaven and Hell, then, is an inadvertently prescient read.

Perhaps the book’s biggest revelation is the biblical scholar’s pinpointing of the origin of humans’ belief in fiery and idyllic post-life realms. Modern understandings of heaven and hell, Ehrman writes, stem not from the Old Testament or Jesus’ and his disciples’ teachings, but from a pantheon of ancient cultures—including the Greeks, Romans, Mesopotamians and Israelites—with competing conceptions of the afterlife.

“These views …were intimately connected with the social, cultural, and historical worlds out of which they emerged,” according to the book’s description. “Only later, in the early Christian centuries, did they develop into the notions of eternal bliss or damnation widely accepted today.”

Voyage of Mercy: The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine, and the Remarkable Story of America’s First Humanitarian Mission

At the height of the Irish Potato Famine in spring 1847, a recommissioned American warship set sail from Boston with a cargo of more than 8,000 barrels of bread, beef, beans, potatoes, pork, corn and other assorted supplies. Manned by Captain Robert Bennet Forbes and his crew of 49 volunteers, the USS Jamestown soon arrived in Cork, where its goods were distributed among some 150 locations throughout the Irish county.

The Jamestown’s unprecedented journey, writes Stephen Puleo in Voyage of Mercy, was the nation’s “first full-blown humanitarian relief effort,” marking the first in a long line of international aid missions—and offering a beacon of unity for divided Americans caught in an unpopular war against Mexico. Perhaps Puleo’s text, like the event it describes, will offer a glimmer of hope in these uncertain, polarizing times.

How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America

Heather Cox Richardson’s How the South Won the Civil War grapples with a paradox at the heart of United States history: namely, “the concept that ‘all men are created equal’ depended on the idea that the ringing phrase ‘all men’ did not actually include everyone.” As Publishers Weekly writes in its review of the book, Richardson argues that “wealthy white men have enhanced and enshrined their power by stoking the fears of poor and working-class white men that women and minorities are poised to become their equals.”

Nowhere was this more evident, the historian suggests, than in the exploitative, oligarchic economies of the South’s cotton industry and the “Wild” West’s cattle, mining and oil businesses, all of which relied on a workforce of underpaid or enslaved laborers. By tracing the roots of modern-day conservatism to the antebellum South and post-Civil War westward expansion, Richardson offers a compelling explanation for the Republican Party’s current dominance in the nation’s western and southern states. Though her argument is grounded in the past, she deftly manages to convey the contemporary relevance of the centuries-old struggle between democracy and oligarchy.

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prosteticanimals · 5 years ago

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20 Fun Facts About best keyboard to learn piano

A single such millennial who knocked my socks off was this young girl named Anushka, a teen in her early twenties. Her white t-shirt with "MILLENNIAL" in huge, black, bold letters just caught our rapid awareness and we could not end serious about her Special Expertise Presentation, listed here at Nirmiti Academy. The Do-it-yourself (Do It Yourself) Craft was her one of a kind expertise. She represented a youthful confront on the millennials. Also, it had been her presentation that spoke extra of her to be a millennial. She was a true go-getter when it came to present her one of a kind expertise in a unique way. We could see her beaming with pleasure and pleasure to showcase her distinctive expertise to others. She was so fired up that she was talking a mile a moment. She had so much to convey about it and she or he could go on and on and continue to keep us glued to her presentation. The millennials like Anushka and a lot of Other people are enthusiastic to operate on factors which desire them. Simultaneously, I could also see her getting struggling to smile and current herself happily. Absent are definitely the moments for that millennials where they come to feel current and luxuriate in their environment. They can be the generation who really feel the frequent need for Digital awareness which potential customers them to overshare their life and moments on social media marketing or go inward in deep conscience to discover by themselves. This leaves them unconnected with the physical world all around them.

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Millennials are here to remain! They can be younger, vivid and energetic and they ARE the long run. They are perfect belongings which the entire world ought to harness and use. They're the technology that may be revolutionizing the planet. They're the budding leaders of tomorrow. They undertake technological know-how and stimulus in exactly the same breadth. This era is additionally a collaborative and social era that features a concentrate on comprehending and constructing their know-how by several types of medium to discover the responses. It truly is to the educator like us to provide an arena for engagement and discovery and also become a content material qualified and mentor. It's for learning platform companies like Nirmiti Academy to present an explorative and experiential encounter and bring out their real prospective in everyday life and at get the job done. It is this transformational journey that we at Nirmiti Academy sit up for every single day to understand, unlearn and relearn Using these youthful and magical technology - the Millennials!

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Get classes not readily available regionally. You can find actually Many MOOC classes accessible on the web. Even though you are in Boston (where Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Boston College or university and Boston College are all Positioned) or Another equivalent College-dense area, you are able to in all probability uncover a category or two by way of MOOC offerings not accessible to you locally.

Learn (or relearn) a language without spending a dime. Don't just can you take a foreign language training course totally free via MOOCs, but due to lessons taught at international universities, you can also train your ear by listening to indigenous speakers. Have a program taught from the language you need to discover and comply with together using English subtitles. The second technique is a great way to in essence double your Finding out, but only operates if you have already got not less than an intermediate grasp from the language.

If Finding out A different language isn't large on your own to-do list, possibly it ought to be: In 2017, New American Economic climate documented employer need for bilingual staff more than doubled considering that 2010. This need proceeds to mature. Ideal languages to check? Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic.

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Establish up your resume with desired abilities. Probably there's a superior career at work you are aware of you are able to do, but your boss won't Consider you're qualified for it simply because you lack specific capabilities. MOOCs are a great way to become proficient in locations like HTML coding, Website positioning analytics, or whatever skill you should turn into the right man or woman for the position.

Keep to the inbound links on this page for more information on numerous MOOC programs. MOOCs are also readily available by way of several different educational platforms, like Coursera, Udemy, and edX. But MOOCs is often accessed straight as a result of Just about every university, and are available by making use of the following Google lookup limiting syntax entered into your google lookup bar:

internet site:edu MOOC subject matter

Such as, if I enter website:edu MOOC robotics, I get about seven,000 success, such as this Introduction to Robotics Specialization from Penn Engineering. Through the use of this syntax, you'll be able to generally bypass the clearinghouses and obtain just what You are looking for on College sites, even lessons the clearinghouses may not provide.

Content MOOCing!

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vbuckswiug3712-blog · 6 years ago

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Cease Wasting materials Time You need to Fortnite V Buck!

Money Laundering Scheme Uncovered Using Fortnite V

Despite Fortnite being the most popular games regarding this production, Epic Games' impressive battle royale has not occurred without their drawbacks. The route it is getting appears to be leading to Loot Lake, and with under several weeks place pending the conclusion of the game's current year, it is supposed to contact the location before the publication of Fortnite Season 6. Every action may eat clock and consume generation will charge something especially when it's spending a currency amount from Fortnite V Bucks Hack. You can see the time period that will help you to focus on completing actions instantly.

It's currently no technique that scammers have lived wanting to make a quick money in presenting gamers free V-Bucks, the electronic currency that Fortnite players use to get new things and skins in the current battle royale game. May became the most productive month that we have stats open, with Fortnite: Battle Royale making in $318 million (concrete post-May data are hard to get). This presents it the best-performing contest regarding the type by that metric.

These virtual coins can be held on the public Fortnite store as well as vendors including Microsoft and BRAVE. Yet, with 1,000 coins costing roughly $10, there is a sell for discounted coins which are eagerly took ahead beside participants. Now this is a very indirect question I have asked. Simply because Fortnite is exactly one genre of tough so most games can't really see Fortnites case may they? Or could they? I believe they may. That obviously concerns to online games, particularly sports like Label of Work and FIFA.

Fortnite is bound without V-Bucks, vbucks.codes gave myself with countless total of v-bucks, to enjoy all of Roblox. While there was a copyright crusade against the game, that now seems Fortnite is safe, for now. Bloomberg articles to PUBG Corp. threw "a communication of withdrawal" to Epic Games lawyers in Friday, and that the occurrence is right now closed. While this rests unclear exactly how much money criminals have been able to make in Fortnite, over $250,000 were cleared in Fortnite things in eBay in a two-month time last year. Pictures from Sixgill and present an increase in the number of states from the competition on the black network, in primary correlation with the game's revenue.

This swagbucks link will allow that you move a complimentary 3$ value of positions when you earn only 3$ worth. It will allow you to get at least the beginner equipment in fortnite. Squad up with your friends and get a Xbox One X 1TB console, Xbox wireless controller, Fortnite Battle Royal, Legendary Eon cosmetic set, with 2,000 V-Bucks. How To Receive Free V Cash In Fortnite? Here really is the reservation which Suddenly being grown by all the Fortnite Game Players. The primary cause is because; with V Bucks, it is possible to readily access many on the items in Fortnite game.

Although Fortnite has been doing the most extraordinary multiplayer story with activity for on the day now, none of that stuff if the game isn't satisfying to play. But there's a reason it's captured the attention of thousands around the world for that long, and it isn't right down to the Floss party and Mind Trooper skin. Fortnite is a collection of decision based episodic https://christianergc6699.skyrock.com/3322713880-What-Is-Fortnite-V-Bucks-as-well-as-How-can-That-Perform.html story games. Each article in this activity circles about different personalities. The Fortnite can be little tough later, that's the reason people could require Fortnite V BUCKS Hack tool free those are accessible about separate click.

Responding to one player achieved with V Bucks issues, the official Fortnite Twitter account posted: We're experienced many players are suffering a pause in receiving the Vbucks after getting. Weekly Challenges, meanwhile, are tied to the current Fortnite Season , with a few exclusive to Battle Pass owners. In our Fortnite V Bucks, we wish fly facing the deepest idea on the gameplay and placed on one base our audiences, in the many optimal backgrounds and matter that they would be set hold of to get ahead to achieve more as compare to their friends.

VBUCKS: What A Mistake

If you're looking for more routes to help tremble up the Fortnite gameplay, be sure to look at these 40 awesome Fortnite Creative Island codes you can enjoy right now , and of course if you're a Fortnite Battle Royale player, be sure to check out our Fortnite Season 7: Week 8 Challenges web site for details with ideas. The Fortnite season 6 Battle Pass costs 950 V Bucks. A pack of 1,000 V Bucks can be obtained for £7.99.

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With more than 100 million Fortnite players playing the game around the world, hopefully one of them will have answered the mystery of the purple cube one time and for many by then. I was at complete surprise to escort fortnite v bucks Generator, I try to tell myself that this is not going to works, but it pieces, next I took cool appliances and dresses for my hero. An easy access to play the game in iOS, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and get there to enjoy a more affluent experience. Find support by Fortnite V Bucks Cheats to have enough currency to increase the actions and present to create your goals come true.

Credit for examining the Fortnite: Battle Royale & Fortnite: Save The World videos! Will need additional? I post daily Fortnite movies before something interesting for Fortnite Battle Royale. Fortnite's original also less common horde mode offers daily login bonuses, daily challenges, and incentives for Storm Shield Defense missions. They happen immediate and relaxed ways to get a tiny sum of currency each day, although you'll should actually get the method.

Currently, Fortnite is delivered like three different game modes, using the same engine and has similar graphics, art properties, and sport mechanics. Fortnite: Fortnite is a house sandbox survival game improved also brought out in Epic Games Fortnite is placed in modern World, where the sudden beginning of the worldwide storm causes 98% of the planets residents to flee, and zombie-like creatures start to attack the rest.

Fortnite presents a in-game feedback tool in the Primary Selection in the ready to describe bad person behaviour. You can and email Epic Matches, the creator of Fortnite, due to their own website - reporting any problems you may have. Fortnite: Battle Royale, is no doubt the most important free to play sport from the planet by far, so it should come to no surprise for anyone to learn that gamers can buy cosmetics with real-world currency.

The Attitude Of VBUCKS

Nobody thought Fortnite would still be popular that behind about, but that proceeded to conform and attack for its spot at the top on the conflict royale ladder. Microsoft say only moved out a new Xbox Live Gold deal available to most new buyers with everyone that gave up the request before October 1: three months of assistance with 1,000 V-Bucks regarding a full of $10. That charge really meets the V-Bucks free, as 1,000 V-Bucks would charge Fortnite players twenty bucks when purchased separately.

Now, not every Side Quests get you V-Bucks (Fortnite is fairly picky about this stuff) but the big capacity is that there are some Side Quests that causes you up to 150 V-Bucks. V Bucks Hack Glitch in Fortnite and introduced an Anti-Ban piece by developing Proxy setup. Fortnite battle royale is a free game, free by multi platforms. Players could engage in daily given challenges where they may generate vbucks, it is the game internal currency which is usually used for the gambler clothing and sticks.

Good news on V-Bucks being used to wash cash is certainly not surprising, since crooks are using Fortnite to make money in a mind-boggling variety of methods. Similar to Snowfall in Period 7, Discovery awards any player who completes all eight weekly problems with a secret loading screen resulting in a contest star or hidden banner. Doing all of this is a lot of work, but for the most dedicated Fortnite players, this essential.

Teenagers in america are supposedly preferring cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and in-game currency Fortnite ‘V-Bucks' over traditional holiday rewards that contain gift license and fiat cash. Of course, later you can think of Fortnite Battle Royale approaches a little more elaborate, like as interesting the adversary inside your foundation with escaping in various hole you have left completely on purpose, to plug your assist with information. It is far more complicated than it can.

To get Fortnite on a MACHINE or Mac, you'll need the Epic Games account. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a easy way to stop childen by buying features by the balance, if they know your password, though we've asked Epic Games and will update this history when we consider back. The best Instant Sound Option from the greatest soundboard for Fortnite. Use it in Lobby, with Activity or When Death! Create your best times before participating online.

According to several reports websites, Fortnite is already known to these sort of hacks And they are treating them as a major assault with removing legal actions and also can suspend the relation who are trying to hack or cheat into the system. Because of its frequent incidents of mild violence, Fortnite is regarded 12+ by PEGI, Pan European Game Information But as with many activity of this kind, plenty of children younger than 12 are participating, so the idea vital which parents are conscious of the protection worries of which contain become educated, also how to help their sons play safely.

Fortnite Battle Royale happens immediately presented by Machine and IOS collection on free of cost. This wonderful sport was founded and broadcast in ‘Epic Games' business. The conditions to direct that activity are high, recommended to use flagship device as the game relies on loading whole world road. Through us you are able to walk free Fortnite V Bucks without completing any annoying surveys before getting yourself suspended from the game. Some Fortnite hacks include illicit bots that can be dangerous. Instead throughout our website we provide you the opportunity to make V Bucks without completing studies, using illicit bots, or new illicit means.

You can turn off hardware rushing with Google Chrome so to experience applications completed by Chrome do not eat too many resources if you are competing Fortnite. Free Fortnite V Bucks Generator Greatest with Calm Way for 2019. However, if you're not, then pay attention to this segment also interpret very precisely. Since those fake V Bucks Hack can cause the ‘Fortnite account banned or blocked‘ if you drop to the corner.

Having moving storm circles in creative would also live healthy accepted in the Fortnite competitive society as players would be able to consistently practice hectic end-game scenarios commonly seen on LAN events. Fortnite could also follow PUBG's case also include news roads to liven up the gameplay (but made with Fortnite's signature, goofy style). More cars may be another interesting way to go here, with competitors PUBG , H1Z1 and now Request of Obligation: Blackout successfully featuring vehicular gameplay.

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gripcenter · 6 years ago

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Future of Education Dec 13, 2018 Tuition prices and student debt have greatly increased over the last few decades (1, 2). “So what,” some might say, because those with college and university education earn much more than high school grads over their lifetime, for example. And many go on to do great things afterwards, such as Jeff Bezos, a Princeton Graduate and the world's wealthiest man. The same people might say those who want free college tuition are too entitled and just lazy. Sure, that's a reasonable argument, however, there are many more reasons to oppose the current system, that you can read in this article from Quillette. But whether one believes the traditional higher education system to be effective or ineffective, one must ask the question, has the university system really improved in the last hundred years? What if there is a better way to do it? We are living in the information age today. Computers are becoming ubiquitous (especially in the form of smartphones) and the number of people connected to the internet is growing everyday (3, 4). You might have heard the phrase ‘software is eating the world.’ What is software? It is a program or set of instructions telling a computer how to perform a task. To provide a visual example, think of software as being your favourite superhero’s superpowers. Now imagine those powers are all held in a suit and whoever wears the suit can get such powers. Instead of a person, imagine the suit wrapping itself around a specific field, like education, and providing it with new functionality and powers never before imagined. This type of super-transformation has started happening across many fields already, be it military, agriculture, transportation, but the education sector is one area that has a lot of potential if it is revolutionized. The current dominant university model around the world was built for the Pre-internet era, when the only way to acquire knowledge was through physical books or in class. But now the physical barriers have been removed. Anyone with a smartphone and internet connection has access to all the knowledge in the world. The same courses and certificates taught in universities can be learned online for free, or for a fraction of the cost on websites like Coursera, edX and Udacity. So why would students pay much more in universities and colleges? Students are obliged to attend the physical institutions because this is currently the default signalling method for many types of jobs. Most companies still require traditional degrees. This is an expensive way to prove one’s competency in activities (studying and writing tests) that are not really relevant to real world scenarios. Surely, there has to be a superior and cheaper signalling method to employers that can compete with the default method. This is where online education shows promise. Although it is still new, it will only get better. For example, there is a new revolutionary model introduced by Lambda School. It is a virtual school that charges no money up-front and then 17% of your income for two years, that is only if you make at least around $50,000 USD per year within 5 years of graduating. There is also an option for a one time payment of $20,000 USD up front. The classes are around 7 months long instead of 4 years and focus on teaching practical skills with which one can begin a career. But it is the no-upfront fee that has potential to change the way we do post-secondary education. How and why would this be better and would these students miss out on having a well-rounded education?* If you go with the assumption that most students go to university to obtain a job, then it makes more sense for those students to join an organization that is purely focused on making them competent for the job market. Since Lambda allows graduates to pay school tuition after getting a good job in the relevant field, if the school doesn't provide a good education and build students' skills efficiently, the graduates won’t get hired and the school won’t make any money. If the school doesn’t make any money, it will cease to exist. If certain teaching methods or classes do not work, they will quickly be dropped for better ones. Thus, in order to keep running, the School must constantly improve teaching methods to be in sync with current industry trends and be able to churn out effectively-skilled graduates. Meanwhile, traditional institutions require tuition to be paid at the beginning of each semester/term. Whether the student has a good experience or not, whether they are able to find a job in their field of study, is irrelevant in traditional education. Yet the new model of education, with no money upfront, is still new and a few more years are needed for definitive data on how graduates of the new system compare with the traditional ones. But if this new model works, the traditional college/university signalling value will become less relevant. It is because hiring companies will slowly become more inclined towards the quality of the graduates from the new education system, that possess more real world skills. It is precisely the fact that the institution and graduate have a shared risk in the success of the graduate, that compels the institution to continuously enhance its talent-cultivating educational materials. This can help shift the mentality of hiring teams to award talent over a name brand university. Another advantage from the Lambda-type model is a lack of debt for students (no high cost barrier to entry), which can level the playing field for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Students from well-off families can easily handle the tuition costs at traditional education but most don't have that economic privilege. They have to rely on student loans and less than 20% of lower income students end up finishing their education. That is a lot of wasted potential. A question to think about is: How much economic growth will go unrealized from students taking less risks in creative pursuits due to the growing stress of higher debt loads or the lack of opportunities for the students who don’t graduate? Instructors often give talks to inspire students to solve the world's problems. But how can anyone expect students to even think about solving problems when many are burdened with paying off their student loans for years or even decades. We hear time and time again that entrepreneurs (and ecopreneurs) are able to create jobs much better than governments, but many of those innovative thinkers are working dead-end jobs to pay back loans instead of creative endeavours and potentially creating successful ventures. Currently, there are a lot more job openings relating to certain fields such as computer science compared to other degrees. There are countless online tutorials/courses to learn programming, one just needs a computer to practice anywhere and anytime. Writing, accounting, marketing and many more can be taught online. But some fields like bioengineering or health science require labs and expensive equipment. Unlike a computer, these tools and spaces are not readily available. Moreover not everyone wants to be a programmer, writer, accountant, or marketer. So how can people get practical experience in fields like Nursing or Bioengineering outside college/university? Would the Lambda model be just as effective and scalable for these latter careers? This is where local governments and industry can be more helpful by providing access and funding for Makerspaces. These places can be used to train people for specific careers, and perhaps with the new model of education (job-before-tuition). It is an experiment worth trying out because different types of jobs will be lost to automation over the coming years, but that will also create new opportunities. Telling job candidates to go back to university for another four years to upgrade their skills won’t be very effective. This is where lean and efficient schools like Lambda School will really thrive, by training students quickly and effectively, and preparing them for success even in an ever-changing job market. *A takeaway for educators is that whether a student is going into a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field or Arts & Social Sciences such as Literature, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, etc., both sets of students should take diverse electives and achieve minimum level of competency outside their domains. Institutions can encourage this practice to produce well-rounded graduates. By: Ekam Singh Dhaliwal & Jashan Singh Randhawa

#education #studyblr #academic #university #free education

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yhxbill518401-blog · 6 years ago

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Bird Viewing Areas On The Maryland, Delaware Eastern Bank.

Many people worldwide recognize The Goodyear Blimp coming from TV, the 'eye in the sky' at essential showing off places. Water, though utilized for a lot of cleaning ventures, may leave behind some undesirable blemishes of its personal. Window Rehab Quick Guide for Historic Properties. Because the city rejected to utilize loan coming from the health-care Stablizing Fund for the cost savings, both celebrations entered speak about the perk adjustment deal. In Twentieth-Century Building Materials: Background as well as Preservation, revised through Thomas C. Jester, 182-87. They can only reside less than a day without it, and water worry may lead to laying chickens to quit generating. If you have actually taken care of to make it through the meals readied in unclean problems and also produced it past crowds of spitting individuals, you are going to at some time need to make use of a social toilet. Potential Anterior: Diary of Historic Conservation, History, Theory, and Criticism 6 (2 ): 58-73. Search for nontoxic choices like reduced VOC paint or even environment-friendly cleansing items. In the daytime, the city comes to life as well as is your normal busy Colombian town along with plenty of industrial retail stores and food items alternatives. Our experts were often launched misuse through Chinese people on the street. Cleansing the home windows in your auto is very easy along with check this site out basic and also environment-friendly window cleaning recipe. Among Europe's a lot of vibrant metropolitan centers, Germany's capital and social center, is actually a must-visit deter on any European city excursion.

Jonge, Wessel de, Arjan Doolaar, as well as International Working-Party for Paperwork and Preservation of Structures Websites as well as Areas of the Modern Activity. Take a travel via the Motorcity and also you'll view why it is among the most awful metropolitan areas in Michigan to stay. IT IS A STUNNING CITY OF PLENTY OF GOOD PLACES.I ADORED IT TOO MUCH WAS DISNEY PARK. On December 8, 2015, a 14-0 ballot provided the Los Angeles Common council's validation to the advanced Clean Up Eco-friendly Upward measure. Carpet cleaning everyday assists in sky top quality improvement that indicates a lot less ill times for staff members as well as boosted efficiency for your business. Produce note of the specific solutions the customer is actually looking for such as emptying rubbish, cleaning, toilet cleansing, vacuuming and also mopping. Industrial Properties: Preservation and also Regrowth. Leading features within the Bug 'half' of city include the lovely Parliament building (the concept of which is based on your homes of Parliament in Greater London), St Stephen's Basilica, and also the reasons of Vajdahanyad Castle. Advanced Blood Electrical Power (APP) utilizes a process they refer to as Gasplasma to transform household and also toxic waste products right into tidy burning synthetic gas as well as heavy duty development product they call Plasmarok. Kept mine for a decade, photographing totally in monochrome both at college and also in New York. On Monday 21st July 1919 the Wingfoot Air Express (had by the Goodyear Tire as well as Rubber Firm) crashed into the Illinois Rely On and also Discount Property in Chicago, with the loss of thirteen lifestyles. Individuals who reside in eco-friendly residences ought to not make use of extreme chemicals. Dictionary of Building Conservation. I don't ignore the chances I have been offered or even the truth that many individuals, black and white, defended and also at times craved me to possess these rights. Of the Inner Parts, National Park Service, Maintenance Aid Department. The traditional place black household, meanwhile, makes just under $28,000 yearly. I am actually actually depressing for so many people detest Mandarin. The distinguished public bathrooms in Rome and in much of the various other crucial areas were gifted individually by the ruling emperor and also were a means of worrying his greatness, energy and also condition.

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hippiebagpaul-blog · 6 years ago

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Hippie Bags

The hippie bags are among the opuses of the hippie culture. They represent the unique and ambivalent characteristics of the hippie trend. Learn more about this exquisite and distinct bag design on this guide. And in here, you’ll find out the reasons why should you use a hippie bag.

If you want to style this fashion, it is a good thing to know that there are different kinds of hippie bags. You can find shoulder bags, backpacks, crossbody bag, and sling bags that are printed with the iconic hippie embellishments. If the bag has a psychedelic, stripes, paisley, or op art print, then that bag is definitely for hippies.

Types of Hippie Bags

I have highlighted earlier that there are various types of hippie bags to choose from. Just like conventional bags, you can also find different styles for a hippie bag. You can find a women’s hippie bag and a men’s hippie bag. These two are general categorization that you can stumble upon. But if you break down the categories, you’ll find out that hippie bags can run the gamut of the bag industry.

For now, these are the usual types of hippie bags in the market today: the shoulder bags, crossbody bags (crossover bags), hobo bags, boho bags, handbags, sling bags. Of course, I can already assume that you are familiar with these types of bags. After all, you might own one or two of them.

But before we discuss each of these hippie variants elaborately, let us explore the rest of the spectrum first. You can always dissect the fashion and discover it has a plethora of options that you can choose. Of course, depending on your needs and preferences, you can select any of the following.

General Applications

A hippie bag can come in the form of an urban or travel bag. Yes. There are bags like these that exist on the market today. However, I cannot say that there is a formal or office hippie bags, as the traditional design of hippies is severed from the corporate world. However, if you are not working inside an office, there are hippie-designed bags can certainly work for you.

For day-to-day applications, you should opt for a hippie travel bag or tote bag. You can use them to store your books, laptops, and other school stuff. For mothers out there, these spacious bags can also be used as a storage for the diapers of their babies and other related amenities.

Style

Other sub-classifications of hippie bags are patchwork bags and bean bags. Patchwork bags are essentially fashionable and downright beautiful. They are great gift options and can be used for compact travel. You can also use them to protect your e-readers, iPad, and tablets. Since the design is low-profile, thieves won’t bat an eye on you.

On the other hand, a hippie bean bag or purse can play a similar role, too. It is generally small, so they are not the ideal choice for carrying large stuff. But certainly, you can use it for simple outdoor walks and ventures. You can put your phone and wallets here securely.

Material

Hippie bags can be crafted from different materials. Of course, there are certain perks and disadvantages for each of these bag materials. For instance, a hippie bag can be crafted through a woven duffle bag. It is something that you need whenever you are going to a hippie festival somewhere else. Since it still functions as a duffle bag, you can store a lot of things here. In short, you can use it as a travel bag.

Meanwhile, leather hippie bags are still among the top choice of individuals who need their bag to be durable and rugged. Furthermore, it can be observed that hippie bags made from leather appears to be premium and aesthetically appealing.

Function

The most common and generic design available for hippie bags is the drawstring. It can be used for different applications and events. But most of the time, you can see hippie drawstring bags being used at schools. In general, drawstring bags are preferred by many because they are lightweight. Moreover, they can easily represent the style or fashion that you are in. If you are into the hippie hype, then using a hippie drawstring bag is certainly convenient.

Size

Just like other bags, hippie bags can vary in size. Each of these sizes can be classified through their essential uses and functions. For instance, a messenger bag that has hippie prints is an excellent choice for the urban lifestyle. It gives a person a certain fun and outgoing ambience. But definitely, the bag still works just like conventional messenger bags.

If you scale down the size, you will have hippie bucket bags and lunch bags. They might not be able to carry large items and devices. However, you can rely on them when it comes to lightweight travels and applications. If you just want a simple storage system for your wallet and notebooks, these fashionable bags are certainly great.

Sub-Styles

The hippie culture is always synonymous with exquisite fashion. It is the kind of stuff that you can attribute to the trend aside from the mantra and philosophical context it offers.

If you want fashion purely, you should get fringe hippie bags. They are the ones that can satisfy your desire to flaunt a unique get-up while going to parties and gatherings. Fringe hippie bags are typically uniform in color. They are quite the opposite of the traditional hippie bags that come with different contrasting colors and design. As a result, you can even wear them on formal occasions.

The hippie fashion, despite being born in the early 60s, is not always vintage. Just like I said earlier, the style has been modified so that it can fit the modern ways of clothing and design. With that being given, you can consider that vintage hippie bags as a special variety. It still appears unique but it has a given subtlety that anyone can adore–even if you are not into the hippie brand.

Main Categories of Hippie Bags

Hippie Shoulder Bags

It is quite clear that the majority of hippie bags today are in the form of shoulder bags. It is safe to say that once in our life, we have encountered someone that is wearing this kind of bag.

Shoulder bags offer various advantages. By far, it is one of the most ergonomic bags that exist. It has a decent storage space in where you can store many of your stuff and belongings. But unlike backpacks, shoulder bags are not that big. Therefore, you can carry them conveniently wherever you go.

Hippie shoulder bags can provide extra perks to its users. After all, it is undeniable that a hippie bag is more fashionable than conventional shoulder bags. Because shoulder bags are typically used for formal applications, you can also use a hippie shoulder bag in business meetings and conferences. You will certainly stand out–in a good way, of course.

Hippie Crossbody Bags

Crossbody bags is an opus of the modern fashion. The compact and portable design of the bag is among its best selling points. But most of the time, this type of bag is worn by women, as it fits their preferences and body structure.

The slender and lengthy straps of crossbody bags are ideal for leisure travel. If you will be hitting the malls or any of your favorite restaurants, this particular bag is extremely useful. The sleek and classy appeal of crossbody bags is also ideal for complementing various fashion styles.

A crossbody bag with fringe hippie design can be an exceptional choice for this. It is something that a woman can wear whenever there are luxurious parties and prestigious gatherings. On normal days, hippie crossbody bags can become one of the standard pieces of your fashion statement.

Hippie Hobo Bags

If you need a bag that is both stylish and spacious at the same time, hippie hobo bags should be included in your shopping list. Technically speaking, many fashion gurus think that hobo bags are designed to partner unique fashion styles and culture, like the hippie. You can even conclude that a hobo bag is a subtle variant of hippie bags. It is not that difficult for a person to use this bag because it is both fashionable and reliable at the same time.

Hobo bags are known for their oversized shapes. It is a cousin of shoulder bags, with the space being one of their distinct differences. You’ll find this bag appealing and wonderful because you can use it on your day-to-day travel. For women and mothers, this bag can be used to carry the diapers and amenities of their babies.

Hippie hobo bags, on their end, can do these tasks without making you look cheap or weird. The sophistication and aesthetics that hippie design brings are more than enough to ensure that you will look classy all the time.

Hippie Boho Bags

It has been known that boho bags have Bohemian roots. The latter, by the way, is closely related to the hippie culture because of its freestyle and carefree culture. Such can be seen in the fashion that has been given birth after it. You can see the boho trademark on jackets, scarves, garments, and bags that have loose and comfortable appeal.

Despite its given name, you can always use a boho bag in your hippie getup. Their difference is quite uncanny and subtle that they are almost related. Boho bags are great for women since it is mainly a chic accessory. They are great for leisure walks and trips.

Boho bags represents the free spirit. Therefore, it is a great pair for loose and creative clothes. Examples of these are baggy pants, floral clothes, and fringe blouses. Take note that boho bags can be as small as purses. Therefore, they are not the best choice that you have for extended and extensive travels.

Hippie Handbags

Hippie handbags can still play the same role as casual handbags. That’s a definite. It is a type of bag that you can carry wherever you go because of the exquisite and uplifting aura that it offers. A well-designed hippie handbag can be used in your office. They can blend in with formal attire, but only to a certain extent. Most of the time, hippie handbags are used for casual purposes.

But overall, every woman knows that a handbag is the handiest choice that they have. It is their trusted form of storage system for their various belongings. For some women, a handbag is a crucial part of their day-to-day life. It is a bag that can “make or break” their fashion preferences. Right from the start, the appropriate use of a handbag can further emphasize the quality and beauty of your style.

Hippie handbags can be worn with different dress and attires. You can pair them with floral dresses and fit sleeveless shirts. Even if you are wearing a simple pair of sandals or slippers won’t affect the impact of your hippie fashion taste.

Hippie Sling Bags

Hippie sling bags are the perfect definition of functionality and style. Many sling bags nowadays are printed with hippie-inspired patterns and styles. It is one of the reasons why choosing a hippie sling bag is quite an acceptable thing. They still have the same features and ergonomics as conventional sling bags.

Just like the rest of the bags here, the greatest advantage of hippie sling bags is their fashion appeal. They can’t be beaten when it comes to the style and aesthetics that they have. Furthermore, since a sling bag has a lot of uses, it is also safe to say that their hippie counterparts can provide the same level of convenience to their users. From the urban jungle down to outdoor excursions, a person can freely use these hippie sling bags.

Conclusion

Using hippie bags is quite a bold decision to make. After all, the design of these bags is far different from the conventional and popular ones. But definitely, there is a huge plus if you will choose these hippie bags over the rest. From the aesthetics and physical alone, hippie bags are undeniably more attractive than other bags. Furthermore, they easily complement different fashion styles.

Luckily, hippie bags are not as expensive as you think. They are among the most cost-friendly bags that exist today. Since they don’t use sophisticated and high-end materials, the cost of their production significantly went down. But of course, this doesn’t mean that they are not durable and rugged.

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atticusblog2016-blog · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on Atticusblog

New Post has been published on https://atticusblog.com/heat-claims-a-life-in-gujarat/

Heat claims a life in Gujarat

People complain of dehydration, nosebleed as mercury hovers above 43 tiers

With mercury soaring above 43 degrees C in the maximum of Gujarat, the State is witnessing severe warmness wave situations which have claimed one existence and affected masses in Ahmedabad and different cities.

One man or woman died of heatstroke in Ahmedabad city on Monday even as 518 instances of heatstroke, dehydration, fluctuations in blood pressure, anxiety were suggested in hospitals throughout the State.

Multiple proceedings According to the State emergency offerings, 2,368 persons had been suffering from the excessive warmth conditions when you consider that the start of May in Ahmedabad by myself. “People are coming in to whinge of dehydration, stroke, vomiting, chest and belly pain and nostril and ear bleeding,” a senior personnel member for the emergency clinical center advised The Hindu.

“We are witnessing intense warmness wave situations with dry weather across the State, except for some places in south Gujarat. Hundreds of patients are pouring in with heat-associated illnesses,” a senior medical doctor of Ahmedabad civil medical institution said.

Another senior physician from the metropolis said the majority of the sufferers were senior residents, youngsters and daily wage earners who were exposed to solar because of their work necessities.

Orange alert

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has issued an orange alert as part of its warmth motion plan that has been organized and applied with the assist of specialists from the U.S.-based totally Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), Gandhinagar.

“We have alerted the residents to take precautions, minimize publicity to solar among eleven a.M. To 5 p.M. And remain hydrated throughout the day,” a senior respectable of the civic body said. “As in step with the met department’s prediction, warmth wave situations will keep for every other week within the State,” he said.

Meanwhile, a sudden change in the wind sample on Tuesday introduced in humidity.

“Owing to exchange in wind route, the relative humidity has become pretty excessive inside the State. In coastal areas, it is round 70-eighty% whilst in inland elements, it became 70%,” stated Jayanta Sarkar, senior meteorologist of Met office in Ahmedabad.

Heat Press Machine – Back to Basics

Heat press machines are a perfect choice for folks who perform a gift printing business. If you also want to start this commercial enterprise, professionals recommend that you provide a visit heat press machines. Choosing one is a chunk of cake if you recall your commercial enterprise desires first. Given under is an outline of different types of those machines that can help you choose one without any hassle.

Heat Press Machines

Primarily, heat press machines are available in simple kinds. They are called swing-away machines and clam machines. Let’s realize a piece about each the sorts and their distinguished functions. Afterward, you’ll read about different features that you must look for while shopping for one.Miami heat latest rumors.

Clam Heat Press:

A claim warmth press comes with a plate on its pinnacle that can be extended. When the device is in operational mode, this platen is going up. On the alternative hand, the lower platen tends to slide in the direction of the operator of the system. What makes this device first-rate is that it won’t take lots of room. So, you may deploy it even in a small room. For a small place of job, this device is an amazing preference.

Swing-away Heat Press:

This press works in an exclusive manner. Unlike the claim type, the higher platen of this device moves up and side-to-facet as nicely. The fact of the problem is that maximum of those press machines come with plates that may be moved around one hundred levels. So, you’ve got a lot of flexibility whilst using this press.

Friction in Everyday Life

Are you privy to what friction is? How or what’s it utilized in regular lifestyles? Well in keeping with a Friction for youngsters, they say that you may discover friction anywhere of an item that comes into touch with each different, for instance, if a vehicle desires to stop at a forestall sign, it slows down so as for the friction among of the brake and wheels to stop. So to talk the forces that act in opposite course from the manner an item need to slide. Moral of all, fiction are forces that make a contribution to the sector each day.

For example, the time period fictions outline its self because the resistance forming by using items sliding towards every other. Let me provide you with examples of the know-how of sliding friction, the floor deformation of items, the roughness/smoothness of the floor of the gadgets, the unique speed of either object, the dimensions of the object, the quantity of pressure on both item or the adhesion of the surface, someone sliding down a slide is an example of sliding friction as well. Having those attentions frictions has many situations wherein they exist and wherein the sliding friction creates residences.

Now that you have an expertise of the Sliding Friction let me explain another regular sliding friction

Knowing that we are in bloodless wintry weather some of those you may relate to you and I bet you had no idea that fiction became worried within those movements. Rubbing both your fingers collectively to create the heat, a sled sliding across the snow or ice, Skis sliding in opposition to snow, a coaster sliding in opposition to a table, a washing machine system pushing alongside a ground, an iron being pushed throughout the material. Now that you have a better expertise of what sliding Friction is so when you come around them reflect consideration on how things absolutely work and not simply appear due to the fact you think it happens.

In conclusion, now knowing what friction is you might just stumble in this type of examples or similar examples within the destiny and you’ll be capable of researching them efficiently, what’s up! You may even percentage this with a person else and little do they know they’ll suppose you’re a genius. However, the coined time period friction helps us make the sector a more secure region to stay and definitely boom our productivity at the side of having an amusing environment in our residing conditions.

Gujarat Tour – Visit the Jewel of West

If you’re searching out an option to get enchanted with the cultural, nonsecular as well as historic panorama of India, ago to Gujarat can be the best alternative for you. This terrific piece of land is considered as the Jewel of West. The cultural and ancient traditions of Gujarat are originated because of the time of Indus valley civilization.

Gujarat is exactly located inside the sub-continent of India

The land of Gujarat is also listed below some of the top visitor locations of India. Therefore, it draws a huge variety of site visitors each 12 months. The country is also well-known for its seashores and longest sea shoreline. You may be capable of discovering many famous beaches in Gujarat that include Beyt Dwarka Beach, Ahmedpur Mandvi, Gopnath Beach, Chorwad Beach as well as Veraval Beach.

Apart from the lovely seashores and landscapes, Gujarat is also blessed with many holy temples and locations, architectural property, flora and fauna sanctuary, hill accommodations as well as many other interesting locations. The visitors of Gujarat can also revel in a wide range of elegant and stylish handicrafts, yummy foodstuffs, and huge-ranging destinations. The colorful lifestyle of the Gujarati human beings can even make your journey as an unforgettable one. The attraction of Gujarat never fails to draw the attention of travelers.

The fascinating wildlife of Gujarat is one of the foremost motives for the increasing variety of travelers to this region. Each has its specific environment and associated with each other in one or the opposite manner. The Gujarat natural world is likewise the habitat of different styles of animals. You also can discover some of the extraordinarily rare animals within the natural world location of Gujarat. The Gir wooded area of Gujarat is world famous. Asiatic lion is only visible inside the Gir forest.Gujarat tourism packages fixed departure.

When you are touring the wild lifestyles of Gujarat, you may additionally stumble upon many national parks as well as flora and fauna sanctuary. Some of the widely recognized natural world of Gujarat includes Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary, Sasangir National Park, Marine National Park, Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary as well as Velavadar Blackbuck Sanctuary. It does no longer rely upon whether or not you are a journey traveler or an amusing lover, Gujarat can offer you the nice.

You will definitely have a colorful and top notch time in Gujarat

The warm-hearted Gujarati human beings will paint the colorful and colorful subculture of the kingdom. The Kutch embroidery clothes of Gujarat are widely recognized everywhere in the united states. This kind of clothing is laced with small mirrors which might be laid in shiny colorations. They are made by way of the tribal people of Gujarat. This is a tremendous art created with mirrors, beads, textiles as well as shades.If you’re planning to journey to Gujarat along with your family, taking the assistance of a travel company will assist you. This will assist you to save numerous cash.

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nofomoartworld · 8 years ago

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Hyperallergic: The Contradictory Al Taylor

Al Taylor, an artist who died of lung cancer in 1999 at the age of 51, was much better known in Europe during his lifetime than in the US, where he was born in Springfield, Missouri, in 1948. His relative obscurity on this side of the Atlantic seems, in hindsight, to be just one of those things: a confluence of circumstances that led to more opportunities in Switzerland and Germany than were available here.

But Taylor was far from an unknown quantity in the New York art scene, where he mingled with a powerhouse gang of up-and-coming painters (Stanley Whitney, Brice and Helen Marden, Harriet Korman, and Billy Sullivan, among others) in the early 1970s and worked as a longtime studio assistant to none other than Robert Rauschenberg.

That Taylor continued to identify himself as a painter until the end of his life is one contradiction among many. While he concentrated on painting at the Kansas City Art Institute, graduating in 1970 after stints at the Yale Summer School (where he studied with Mel Bochner, Robert Mangold, and Robert Moskowitz) and the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Studio Program, his reputation rests on an oeuvre consisting almost entirely of drawings and found-object sculptures.

As my Hyperallergic Weekend colleague John Yau writes in the catalogue essay for the current exhibition, Al Taylor: Early Paintings at David Zwirner, this work “incorporat[ed] a wide range of inexpensive materials: broomsticks; foam fishing floats; coffee cans; Plexiglas; bamboo garden stakes; aluminum and steel bicycle wheels; paint; electrical tape; wire.”

Al Taylor, “Vendor” (1979), oil on canvas, 67 5/8 x 31 inches

Taylor’s constructions are more open and malleable than the painting/sculpture hybrids, or “Combines,” of his mentor Rauschenberg, and more pared-down and single-minded than the often scruffy objects of his near-contemporary, Richard Tuttle. A key to understanding these assemblages, and Taylor’s insistence that they were in fact paintings, is that color (unaltered from the found element’s original pigmentation), line (in the form of metal wire), and the graphic counterpoint of shadows on the wall remained his chief concerns.

The recognition that Taylor received relatively late in life (he didn’t have a solo show in New York, at the Alfred Kren Gallery, until 1986), coupled with his insistence, like most artists, on allowing only his latest work to leave the studio, consigned the paintings on canvas from his first decade in the city to cold storage.

These Post-Minimal canvases, some of which flirt with hard-edged abstraction while others are almost Motherwell-ish in their painterly elegance, seem to serve more as incubator than backstory to the artist’s subsequent explorations.

Taylor continued to work in this mode until he and his wife Debbie took a five-week trip to Uganda, Kenya, and Senegal, a journey that became a turning point for the artist — but like most turning points, it was more likely a moment of recognition in which long-simmering obsessions suddenly flash to the fore.

In a 1992 interview with then-Kunsthalle Bern director Ulrich Loock, reprinted in the catalogue for the 2008 Zwirner & Wirth exhibition Al Taylor: Early Work, the artist discusses the importance of the “African idea […] of self-reliance: using available materials, like cutting the roof off of an old bus and turning it into a motorboat.”

The use of available materials, the basis of Taylor’s later practice, also has a bearing on what he did on canvas prior to his breakthrough into three dimensions. Earlier in the same interview, he recounts his process less as painting in the traditional sense and more as a matter of measurement and discovery:

I have a blank canvas in front of me. What am I going to paint? I don’t know. […] So I started buying cans of paint, very cheap discount paint. Stick a discount brush in it and see how long the paint travels. And then I’d take another can of paint with a different color. Maybe that’ll go a little farther, depending on the oil mixture and the cheapness of the pigment. […] I screwed up, though, by trying to make those paintings look like art. The few I kept, the best ones, are what they really were — a measurement of a history. It took me a long time to get rid of the art parts. I’m still trying.

Taylor went out and bought whatever paint he could afford to engage in a process of determining the limits of its physical properties, an undertaking whose success was tied to its degree of artlessness — a practice that seems to court, if not the “death of painting,” then a refutation of the traditional hierarchy that places painting at the top of the heap, an inherent critique of the medium’s formal qualities and historical concerns.

But how does that square with this passage near the start of Taylor’s interview with Loock, in which he discusses his three-dimensional constructions in these terms:

My formal training is in painting. I think of painting as the highest art form. I am trying to find a way to paint; all of this activity is leading towards painting. I don’t want my work to be called sculpture. It seems like a lack of respect for sculpture to call this sculpture — sculpture has a proud tradition of its own. I’m not interested in that.

The reconciliation of “painting as the highest art form” and “I screwed up, though, by trying to make those paintings look like art,” may seem remote unless you consider the openness and originality of Taylor’s thought while taking a very hard look at how he made his work.

In many ways, Taylor adopted Rauschenberg’s aesthetic of inclusiveness even as he entertained the now-quaint-sounding presumption of “painting as the highest art form.” The crucial difference is the definition of painting, which would seem, for Taylor, to be up for grabs.

Al Taylor, “Marriage” (1975), latex on two linen panels, 30 x 30 1/4 inches

The one commonality among the artist’s diverse output was color, which is not necessarily equated with paint, but rather inherent pigmentation — of broomsticks, wire, or raw wood.

In the David Zwirner show, color is both subtle and brash. It is communicated via acrylic, oil, alkyd, and latex paint, as well as untouched canvas. A painting like “Vendor” (1979) is telling on two counts, a work of captivating colorism that walks a thin line between flatness and three-dimensional illusion.

The composition is divided into two vertical bands, with a narrower strip on the left — a rich, earthy Mars red — and a medium-toned, gray-violet field on the right. This neat division is interrupted by three irregular trapezoids (which look more like seal fins than geometric shapes) in dark maroon, scarlet red, and muted violet. A fourth shape is a quasi-rectangle painted in solid ivory white. These smaller entities are where the drama of the work takes place.

All four are attached perpendicularly to the dividing line between the vertical bands. The red and maroon fins sit near the top of the canvas on either side of the division, while the ivory white overlaps the muted violet near the bottom, with both shapes embedded in the gray-violet field.

The violet of the field (actually a dirty gray glaze over a coppery red) and the violet of the trapezoid are so close that it is possible not to notice the difference between them at first glance, only for the trapezoid to emerge out of the ether as you train your eyes on the surface. The effect is mesmerizing, and the patch of ivory white on the violet fin glows like a lantern in fog.

Meanwhile, something very different is going on at the top of the painting. The red and maroon shapes on opposite sides of the dividing line can be read as a solid form and its shadow. In this regard, it is instructive to rotate the canvas in your mind’s eye and imagine it as a landscape, with the red fin backlit against the horizon as its shadow falls in front, or perhaps a red sail on a red sea with its darker reflection underneath.

Al Taylor, “Helen” (1976), acrylic on two canvas panels, 54 1/4 x 72 1/4 inches

I’m not suggesting that these elements should be read as avatars for actual objects, which would be a wrongheaded way of looking at abstract art. My point is that Taylor is taking liberties with form and space, lending them an ambiguity that ran counter to the materialism and flatness pursued by much advanced painting at the time.

If Taylor relied on found objects in his later work, it could be argued, in light of the studio process described above, that he approached paint and canvas as found objects, particularly when he bolted two supports together or left portions of the surface untouched — or both, as in “Marriage” (1975, the year he married Debbie) and “Helen” (1976, presumably after Helen Marden), two of the most minimal and striking works in the show.

Each consists of two abutted but unmatched supports, with one hanging down or rising above the other, with hard-edged rectangles consisting of a single color painted between empty expanses of canvas.

Al Taylor, “Egyptian Painting” (1978), acrylic and oil on canvas, 72 x 36 inches

Here the canvas is as much of a solid presence as the paint itself, while retaining its own identity as unpainted fabric (abetted, in “Marriage,” by the glistening stains of rabbit skin glue used as sizing), while in the remarkable “Egyptian Painting” (1978), the creaminess of the raw canvas adjoining the white and red blocks of color conveys the illusion that it is also a coat of paint, until you step forward and study it up close.

The tension between abstraction and illusion can be felt throughout the works in this show, starting with the earliest canvas, “Untitled” (1971), a series of overlapping and interlocking brushstrokes that create a twisting, wiry design uncannily resembling the kind of open-frame, three-dimensional objects he would construct later on, and ending with the last, “Thinking About It” (1980), in which an irregular grid climbing up the right half of the canvas seems struck by raking light from a fiery sunset.

Was Taylor, in “Thinking About It,” thinking about trading the high art of painting for materials that had no “art” in them? Whatever the decision-making process, his move was a radical step toward personal freedom, a breaking-apart of self-imposed norms. If he never quite shook the orthodoxy of these norms from his pronouncements, what he did in his work was a far different story.

These paintings exist in a state of tension between the foundational and the transitional: what Taylor started with and what he was to become. Through underpainting, glazes, and solid topcoats, he is experimenting with texture, touch, and pigment while balancing — or you could say, holding in check — his attraction toward real objects in the real world.

Al Taylor, “Thinking About It” (1980), acrylic on canvas, 90 x 40 inches

However much of a departure these canvases were from the AbEx and Minimal paintings that preceded him, they continued to nudge him farther and farther along a path that ultimately presented him with a choice between two realities — one in space and one on canvas — and he chose the one he could grasp in his hands.

Al Taylor: Early Paintings continues at David Zwirner (537 West 20th Street, 2nd Floor, Chelsea, Manhattan) through April 15.

The post The Contradictory Al Taylor appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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