#there's no meaningful engagement with that idea and it's so often only done in service of the men

[musical-chick-13]

My God I am so tired of people only talking about mental illness and/or disability in fiction/as a literary theme when they can use it to back up their terrible male faves by saying that they Weren't That Bad, Actually and They Belong To A Marginalized/Unfairly Demonized Group, So You Need To Be On Their Side.

[alllanguagess]

In what ways can simultaneous interpretation elevate the quality of your conferences?

In our increasingly global world, language should never be a barrier at events, conferences, or business meetings. Conference interpreting is the key to breaking those barriers, ensuring smooth communication across different languages. At All Languages, we’re experts in helping businesses and organizations host successful multilingual events with high-quality conference interpreting services.

In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of conference interpreting, its different types, how to choose the right interpreters, and how modern technology is transforming this field.

Why Conference Interpreting is Crucial for Event Success

Effective communication is the backbone of every successful event, especially when participants speak multiple languages. Conference interpreting ensures that language differences don’t stand in the way of learning, collaboration, and meaningful engagement. Interpreters act as the bridge, helping ideas flow and ensuring everyone is included in the conversation.

At All Languages, we understand the importance of clarity and connection. Our expert interpreters make sure your event runs smoothly, fostering an environment where everyone can participate fully.

What is Conference Interpreting, and How Does It Work?

Conference interpreting is the process of translating spoken language in real time during live events. It involves listening to one language and instantly converting it into another so that participants can understand the conversation as it happens.

There are two main forms of conference interpreting:

Simultaneous Interpreting: The interpreter translates the message in real time as the speaker continues to talk. This type of interpreting is used for large-scale events, and it’s the most demanding because of the high cognitive load.

Consecutive Interpreting: The interpreter listens to the speaker for a few minutes, takes notes, and then delivers the translation after the speaker pauses. This method is common in smaller settings or formal discussions.

At All Languages, our interpreters excel at both methods, ensuring that communication flows smoothly, regardless of the event’s size or complexity.

The Three Main Types of Conference Interpreting

Here are the three most commonly used types of interpreting in conferences:

Simultaneous Interpreting: Real-time interpretation where the interpreter speaks while the speaker is talking. It’s used at large events, requiring interpreters with high skill levels. All Languages provides top-tier simultaneous interpreting services, ensuring clarity and flow during your event.

Whispered Interpreting (Chuchotage): This type of simultaneous interpreting is done on a smaller scale, where the interpreter whispers the translation to one or two participants. It’s ideal for small groups or individuals who need real-time interpretation without disrupting the event.

Consecutive Interpreting: The interpreter waits for the speaker to finish a segment of their speech before delivering the translation. This method allows for more detailed and accurate interpretation, often used in formal settings or press conferences.

How Are Conference Interpreters Selected?

Choosing the right interpreter for your event is crucial. At All Languages, we work with highly qualified interpreters who are native speakers of the target language and possess specific credentials. Our interpreters typically hold:

A Master of Conference Interpreting (MCI)

Certification from professional organizations like AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters)

Provincial certifications (ATIO, OTTIAQ, etc.)

These credentials ensure that our interpreters not only have linguistic expertise but also a deep understanding of cultural nuances and specialized knowledge in various industries.

Preparing Your Conference Interpreters for Success

Proper preparation is key to effective interpreting. Before your event, it’s essential to provide interpreters with reference materials like agendas, presentations, and glossaries. This helps interpreters familiarize themselves with the subject matter and ensures smooth, accurate communication.

At All Languages, we encourage our clients to share these materials in advance so that our interpreters can be fully prepared to meet your specific needs.

Determining the Right Number of Interpreters

The number of interpreters needed depends on the size and duration of your event. Interpreters typically work in pairs, rotating every 20-30 minutes to maintain accuracy and focus. For single sessions lasting up to four hours, two interpreters are sufficient for each language pair. However, for longer events or multiple concurrent sessions, additional interpreters will be necessary.

At All Languages, we assess your event’s requirements and ensure you have the right number of interpreters to guarantee flawless communication.

The Importance of Sound Quality in Conference Interpreting

Clear audio is crucial for successful conference interpreting. Poor sound quality can lead to miscommunication or errors in interpretation. Whether your event is in person or virtual, ensuring good audio quality allows interpreters to hear the speaker clearly and deliver accurate translations.

At All Languages, we collaborate with top AV professionals to guarantee crystal-clear sound, providing interpreters with the tools they need to perform at their best.

Enhancing Your Conference with AV Support

AV support plays a significant role in the success of conference interpreting. From providing interpreter booths and participant headsets to managing video remote platforms, AV professionals help ensure that your event’s technical needs are met.

At All Languages, we work hand-in-hand with AV teams to make sure every aspect of your event’s technical setup runs smoothly, allowing you to focus on the content and engagement of your audience.

How Technology is Changing Conference Interpreting

Advancements in technology have revolutionized conference interpreting, making it more efficient and cost-effective. Remote interpreting platforms now allow interpreters to work from anywhere, reducing travel costs and expanding access to skilled interpreters.

At All Languages, we utilize cutting-edge remote interpreting systems, providing flexibility for both in-person and virtual events. These technologies enable seamless interpretation across locations, making your event accessible to a global audience.

The Role of AI in the Future of Conference Interpreting

Artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to have an impact on conference interpreting. While AI tools can offer real-time translations and subtitles, they are not a replacement for human interpreters. Nuanced communication, cultural context, and tone require the expertise that only humans can provide.

At All Languages, we embrace AI as a complementary tool that enhances our services, but we believe human interpreters remain essential for delivering the highest quality communication.

Common Challenges in Conference Interpreting and How to Overcome Them

Conference interpreters face several challenges, such as fast-paced speech, technical jargon, and cultural differences. At All Languages, our interpreters are trained to navigate these challenges with precision and expertise. We provide them with the support and preparation they need to ensure that communication flows smoothly, even in the most complex situations.

How to Book Conference Interpreting Services with All Languages

Booking conference interpreting services with All Languages is simple. Contact us for a free quote, and we’ll provide you with a detailed breakdown of interpreter fees, equipment rental, and any additional services you might need.

We offer flexible solutions, including in-person interpreting with booths and headsets or remote interpreting through platforms like Zoom or MS Teams. Let us handle the logistics so that you can focus on hosting a successful event.

Conference interpreting is essential for ensuring that multilingual events run smoothly and that everyone is heard and understood. At All Languages, we combine human expertise, advanced technology, and cultural knowledge to provide top-tier interpreting services that make your event a success. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you facilitate meaningful communication at your next conference.

[trenttrendspotter]

Are You Part of the Buzz at Natural Products Expo West?

Want to be the brand everyone is buzzing about at the sprawling Natural Products Expo West, taking place March 7-11, 2023? The consensus of successful marketers is to start thinking and talking about your news long before the event begins.

If your brand is not being talked about before, during, and after the show, your job isn’t done. Being well branded, and having a meaningful message, a breakthrough product, and creative ideas, is great…but it isn’t good enough. You need to get noticed.

90% of the work that goes into a trade show should happen before you set foot on the show floor.

It’s a year-round effort.  It’s not what you say about your brand that counts, it’s what others are saying combined with media exposure, that gets people talking.  Media relations needs to be a focal point for trade show success.

Trade shows are a lot of work for journalists too.  At a trade show, every attendee, exhibitor, and their marketing person is trying to garner the journalists’ attention. It can be exhausting!

Before you approach a journalist, you need to make sure you have a story that stands out.

What can you do? We went straight to trade and consumer journalists in the field and asked them what gets their attention. We also asked retailers and brands what’s worked for them in the past.

Invite face time

Trade shows (especially SupplySide West), are like a reunion that people look forward to all year. That doesn’t mean you can’t break into the crowd, but you need to be prepared and have a good story. Trade shows are a great opportunity for media to reconnect with old friends and resources and meet new ones.

This is your big change to get face time with hard-to-reach journalists. They want what’s new!

Booth staffers who are eating, drinking, texting, reading or slumping are not inviting or engaging. Friendly faces do the trick.

Deliver what’s new

Getting a journalist in the booth doesn’t get a story. You need to give them news in a format they can use.

World-weary journalists have seen everything, but still get excited when they see something that is genuinely, breaking news. Newsworthiness can be hard to quantify. Sometimes it’s a gut feeling you get, but often the criteria is based on whether something feels fresh and new, if it’s innovative, if there is credible support such as research or experts, if it feels authentic, creative, useful, on trend, and whether there is passion behind it.

An interactive experience can trigger interest and inspire thought.  Have an activity available to immerse people in the booth, for attendees to participate in and watch others.  It’s not hard to get a journalist to engage when you give them a sensorial experience.

Find the story

There is a reason behind everything you do, and journalists want to hear about it.  Your story not only draws people in, but it also saves them time.

Media-savvy companies get coverage because they tell good stories.  Always be prepared with memorable facts and tips.  Don’t expect a journalist to remember or even take notes at the media event. You must make their jobs easier by having good talking points. A press kit is easy for them to use and should always include a “what’s new page” for a quick snapshot.

You have to speak in their language by tailoring your message to the audience for the publication. New products. New studies. New trends. There is always something new to talk about.

Angle for attention

Every editor wants to get there first. Be armed with at least three different story ideas before you speak with a reporter. Find out what they are working on or interested in and adapt your idea to support their interests so that it’s always exclusive to each media outlet.

Don’t go to a media event without considering what journalists will be there. Know how your product philosophy and services would be viewed by the various types of media whether, it’s TV, magazines, or blogs.

Check to make sure your “story” or “news” is at least slightly different every time you speak with a journalist. Giving them old news that you told them before, bores journalists and maximizes skepticism and disinterest.  There will always be similarities, but making sure you stay on point for their audience or story line is important.

Get—and stay—ready

Don’t limit your time frame to the week of the trade show. Most trade shows offer year-round marketing. Contact the show organizers to find out how you can get involved in publicity activities.  Always take advantage of pre-show marketing opportunities with the trade show.  Check if the show has a newsletter, media events listings, or press releases they send out periodically, and see if you can get your product included.

Schedule new product introductions, research briefings, or a corporate announcement in sync with the show and prepare news releases about your activities. Contact trade magazines and daily newspapers with news about what you have planned around the event.  If you have a visually stimulating product or demonstration, consider contacting local TV stations.

We recommend you start to come up with a theme for the next year’s event right after you finish the current event.

Previous contact with journalists and the media can also spark interest long before the event. Through listening and engaging in an activity while providing more information, they learn something new, and then you have an advocate for life.

Offer tools of the trade

So often you get to a booth, and the exhibitor has no press release, no press kit, and they refer you to a marketing person who isn’t there. Have a press release with your news ready for the journalists. Bonus points if it includes links to a high-res image. It also helps for us to see an example. Then we can use our senses to craft a description.

Readers are looking for expert tips, treatments, products, ingredients and breakthroughs.  Have this information at your booth and in your press kit.

Don’t forget to follow-up!

Half of the reason you attend trade shows is for leads and potential business.  The same applies to future publicity. It’s important to call or email editors you met at the show.  Ask whether they have any questions for you or how you can help with their post-show articles.

Send a press kit consisting of press releases, facts and statistics, and bios of key team members. Continue to keep them updated between trade shows about your products and send them a flow of story ideas to write about. Your goal is to become a resource for articles about the industry.

For trade show trends,

read the latest from trend-spotter Nancy Trent

. 

[adelaidedrubman]

2,9,11,19,28,33 for the writer’s asks?

thank you amanda these were super fun ones!! sorry for the amount of times i bring up riverdale.

2. Anything that you’d like to write but feel like you’re unable to?

the concept i have for telling jenna and faith’s getting together story is something i feel unequipped to write, because i have the idea to do it as an epistolary work of sorts, told primarily through like, jenna’s research notes and possibly faith’s stray letters out to tracey or other folks. but it’s just such a different form of writing than i’m used to and the time it would take to orient myself to that method of storytelling is probably not worth it.

9. Thoughts on cliffhangers.

fine, as long as they aren’t used in a cheap, obviously there just to manufacture tension way. i’ve had plenty “find out next time on dragon ball z” moments myself. basically i think as long as you don’t make it like a riverdale episode you’re fine — if the build up feels like a natural progression of the tension and not just like you threw in a “and prom’s tomorrow!” as a cheap trick to make people hungry for more.

11. Three tropes that are fine but overrated.

soulmate aus soulmate aus soulmate aus. i’m sure there are some compelling, beautiful pieces out there but i’ll never find out. sorry i love divorce and i love love as a free, often stupidly made choice. (unless you count my mary may is the reincarnation of biblical cain and is cosmically linked to johnjess as eternal punishment as she wanders the earth through multiple lifetimes always to encounter them thing as a soulmate au.)

also i think like, “fix it fics” are fine in theory and i enjoy some but so often the effect is just completely draining canon of everything that made it compelling and emotionally engaging in the first place. like we don’t have to jettison everything into children’s cartoon story rules to have an overall happy ending if that’s what you want to change. a lot of what those fics are fixing ain’t actually broke imo. nothing wrong with it if that’s the stakes people want, but i like a little tragedy.

also, love triangles, if i don’t trust the author and know they’ll do something meaningful and fresh with it i’m just completely disinterested. too often they’re just an excuse to put down one character or just throw a lot of toxic jealousy and possessiveness out there for The Drama™ without exploring it as an interesting theme or character flaw.

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it.

“No,” she scoffed in repetition. “No way in hell I’m ever coming back here willingly,” she spat. “This is your one get. And I’m not gonna change my clothes either, daddy,” she tacked on with a defiant upward shove of her chin, ensuring, of course, that not one request went without being spitefully disrespected. “I wore this shirt ‘cause I plan on going fishing as soon as I’m done here, in case you didn’t bother gettin’ your mind out of the gutter long enough to read and realize it’s a fishing shirt, and not everything’s about you and your stupid church club.”

“Oh, trust me I read it.”

“Pleasantly surprised to find you’re fucking literate after all. I’ll keep that in mind. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m missin’ the service,” she finally sneered before shoving past him towards the door.

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

if you’re stuck on a project, work on something low stakes or whatever happens to scratch your brain the right way to get remotivated, try something that gives writing a renewed novelty or fills the void of whatever you think is missing in your main work. (the johnjess 100k holding hands only marathon is sustained by frequent au smut oneshots.)

and watch riverdale that’s not a joke it legit helps me i will be like “ooooooh my pacing sucks so bad it’s so slow” and “waaah my characterization is so shitty i am a flop at character nuance” and “booooo showing and not telling is stupid i hate showing and not telling” and i will watch riverdale and remember why these things are important and that i’m not completely flopping at them. i cannot stress how important it is to watch riverdale.

33. Give your writing a compliment.

i think i’m really good at threading humor throughout! like, not just the snappy banter, but the subtle ridiculousness of the characters that seeps into everything they do. like the funniest wildfire moments to me are always tiny things you could blink and miss, like the image of jessie scarfing down a bag of communion wafers like chips as she yells about the fucking gas station.

[amyisherenowitsokay]

Zagr for the ship ask 😤😤😤 every single one bitch

I cannot believe you have bombarded me like this. Appalled. Insulted. Astounded.

Please enjoy my entire analysis of my fictional totally canonical ship.

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

1. How did they first meet?

Dib, but also school.

2. What was their first impression of each other?

I think they're both initially incredibly dismissive of one another. Zim thinks the entire fate of the Armada's reputation lying on his shoulders, and Gaz really has too many personal problems even as a kid to deal with; neglectful Dad, overprotective, stupid brother, etc.

3. Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?

Okay so hear me out; I think Skoodge and Professor Membrane would be so obnoxious in the best way. And Gir, whenever his attention span lets him remember long enough to scream about it. But I think Membrane would be chipper about Gaz finding someone, even long before she admits she's even interested, and Skoodge would want Zim to be happy and is unconditionally supportive, especially when Zim is mopey whenever his advances are rebuffed.

4. Who felt romantic feelings first?

Honestly, I love a Zim simp, but I genuinely think it'd be Gaz. Zim is obviously a Defect capable of feeling a larger range of emotions than other Irkens, but he still didn't receive socialization that makes 'romantic rituals' in any way natural to him. So I think Gaz and him would buddy up platonically and casually, initially, until she realizes she likes his company a little too much and freaks out about it.

5. Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

Gaz does, 100%, and she's way more stubborn about it then Zim. I think Zim's denial is just that he doesn't "get" romance (see above) and what's going on with him, but once he understands he's fully down to bombard Gaz with affection, flirtations, and other over-the-top simp behavior until she stops pretending she's not gritting her teeth while fighting a blush.

6. If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

Zim doesn't know what a soul is, but he does begin to understand the concept that they can be taken from human's in bargains. He becomes distracted by the topic. Bringing it up again later would have him largely dismissive.

Gaz would roll her eyes, and be extremely bitter about the idea that there is anyone 'made' for her. She's very independent, and I think someone with the sort of familial issues she does with no role model for a 'happy' family would be really resistant to being bound to someone in a way that would entitle them to her vulnerabilities. She'd be extremely resentful, dismissive, and irritable.

7. What would their lives be like if they had never met?

Really unfulfilled, listless. Without that companionship, they would never develop into people capable of meaningful relationships. I think both of them are very independent. Zim may claim he likes an audience, but there's an undeniable anxiety that he gets when faced with judgement. If it's anything but unwaveringly positive, he becomes delusional and creates a fantasy world in which everyone loves him, and the situation was just an initial misinterpretation. Gaz would have good friends, I think, but accepting Zim and his oddities and realizing she genuinely relates to someone who knows everything about her (via her brother + proximity + time) and is still here would mean a lot to her development.

GENERAL

1. Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

Zim, without a doubt. Gaz may like Zim first, but she's completely in denial about it and completely stubborn. Zim is oblivious, and also a big ass simp, so his persistence and patience eventually gets Gaz to let her guard down and accept that she has hormones, she has romantic inclinations, and apparently they've both decided Zim is it. Time to be a big girl and accept it.

2. Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

Honestly, I don't think they're the 'date' type of couple. I am probably 100% projecting since my boyfriend and I did not have an official 'date' until like 6 months into our first relationship, where we paused, turned to each other and were like 'wait is this our first date?' because we're homebodies whose idea of fun is projects. I think Zim and Gaz would hang out regularly, but it wouldn't ever be like a formal 'we are going to Bloaty's/the movies/etc as a date,' but rather 'I am going here and you are coming with me so I guess we are going together' thing. Zim doesn't get the point of a date, because if a date is by definition doing an activity together, then aren't they perpetually on a date? And Gaz isn't really a 'let's go to dinner formally' kind of person. They hang out, they go places, but it's never really a 'thing.'

3. What was their first kiss like?

I firmly believes Gaz would have to walk Zim through every aspect of physical affectionate. Zim is really wary about it, but I do think there's an instinct towards good ol' copulation, as well as a longing for positive touch after so long getting his ass whooped in the Academy, that would make him frustrated trying to figure out what this desire is. I think their first kiss is Gaz explaining to Zim, after he asks her outright what else there is after tame stuff like cuddling and hand holding, and Gaz walks him through the concept, implications, and so on until he feels ready to bravely and firmly try it.

While that does sound pretty clinical, I think actually it'd be really emotional for both of them. Zim would be really overwhelmed by how much passion is in a kiss, and Gaz would be similarly overwhelmed since, going into the relationship, she probably never anticipated Zim being interested in anything sexual, so any physical affection he expresses interest in is a surprise to her.

4. Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

I think Gaz probably would try out a few brief relationships, but never anything substantial or dramatic. Zim's never been in a relationship, so Gaz is his first everything. I do think they'd be each other's first sexual relationship, but I think Gaz would have most of her more minimal firsts with other people prior to Zim.

5. What’s their height difference? Age difference?

Zim older. I normally write Zim as the same height as Gaz, or only a little taller. Neither of them are tall. I do respect you 'short king' stans though.

6. What’s their relationship with each other’s families?

Dib hates Zim, firmly and completely, at the beginning of their relationship. It takes a lot of self-reflection, meaningful sibling discussions, and probably a few screaming matches that eventually get to the real root of the issue (Dib's ingrained fear that something would happen to Gaz, and that it'd his fault) before he came around. Zim is a big petty bitch and would gleefully antagonize him. They would never stop sniping at each other, but they'd begrudgingly (sort of) behave for Gaz. They would eventually become frenemies and bros, but they'd die and also kill each other before admitting any sort of cordiality.

Professor Membrane adores Zim, and treats him like the son he never had/always wanted, the one who wants to have long discussions about science and can keep up with the theoreticals. Gaz hates it.

The Base and Gaz are cool. They have an understanding borne from two sentient creatures who have found themselves in the position of trying to keep Zim from killing himself, killing other people, or from coming to (too much) harm. Gaz initially hates Gir, but eventually she figures out how to get him to chill out when it's important. Minimoose and her are also cool, but he creeps Gaz out a little.

7. Who takes the lead in social situations?

Zim thinks he does, but it's really just Gaz slapping her hand over his mouth before he can say something stupid, or translating whatever nonsense just came out of his mouth when he's done talking.

8. Who gets jealous easier?

Zim. Not even a question.

9. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear?

Zim. Also not even a question.

LOVE

1. Who said “I love you” first?

Gaz. Zim doesn't know what it means until she explains it. It takes him awhile to internalize it and reciprocate verbally, but Gaz is okay with that. He shows her how much he cares in other ways.

2. What are their primary love languages?

Without a doubt, Zim's is touch. Once he gets used to it, he's really greedy and possessive about proximity. Just having Gaz bump his arm is sometimes enough to set the worst of his nerves at ease.

Gaz's is acts of service. She's fine with Zim being physically clingy, but it means a lot to her how unflinching he is about protecting her, anticipating her needs, and remembering things.

3. Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

Zim. Gaz hates them, but she tolerates it. Sometimes.

4. How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?

Cuddling is very frequent. Zim will just sort of shift in behind Gaz if she's playing a game and cling, and she'll just keep doing what she's doing until she's eventually done and reciprocates. Explicit PDA never happens, but Zim is very clingy and physically will plant himself between Gaz and people who he's distrustful towards.

5. Who initiates kisses?

Gaz. I think Zim would cling to her like a barnacle at every opportunity, but Zim would likely usually defer to Gaz for escalating intimacy.

6. Who’s the big and little spoon?

Zim big spoon. PAK too uncomfortable to let him be the little spoon.

7. What are their favorite things to do together?

I think just being around each other while they do projects, game, etc. would be their favorite thing to do. Sharing in hobbies without feeling pressured to be entertaining, but still feeling like their presence is valued and wanted by the other.

8. Who’s better at comforting the other?

Being a people, and having more emotional competency, Gaz is better. Zim does his best though.

9. Who’s more protective?

Zim, if we're talking about quantity. Gaz, however, if we're talking about quality. Zim screams at chihuahuas for looking at Gaz, and also does protect her from genuine threats, but he overreacts frequently. Gaz, however, would know when Zim's out of his depth and would break the spine of anything that's a threat to him.

10. Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

Physical, for both. Neither of them is really used to verbal affection, whether it be giving or receiving. It's a lot more natural to be demonstrative.

11. What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

Me, cackling as I copy and paste this link that I imagine is from their mutual perspectives:

https://open.spotify.com/track/4nlT0Ch4qpqoS8O1RsdzjH?si=d6d8e1e19a7d4dc7

12. What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

There's lots, and I'm sure most of them are inside jokes, but the tops are Zimmothy + Little Gaz.

13. Who remembers the little things?

It's hard to say. Zim would retain an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Gaz, and tries to spoil her and accommodate her at every opportunity, but Gaz never forgets to pack an extra umbrella and a raincoat.

DOMESTIC LIFE

1. If they get married, who proposes?

Zim.

2. What’s the wedding like? Who attends?

No one but their mutual 'families.' A very small, intimate ceremony. The reception though is massive, courtesy of Professor Membrane who has no idea how to separate his personal life with his public one.

3. How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

0 kiddos. Cannot product viable, compatible DNA to produce a spawn.

4. Do they have any pets?

Does Gir count?

5. Who’s the stricter parent?

If Gir is the child, Zim. Gaz will let him get away with murder, both because she can't be bothered to control him, and also because she thinks it's funny how mad Zim gets when she lets him go wild.

6. Who worries the most?

Between Gaz "apathetic is my middle name" Membrane and Invader "I have perpetual anxiety" Zim? No idea.

7. Who kills the bugs in the house?

Gir. He eats them long before anyone can find them. But both Gaz and Zim will point out any he misses.

8. How do they celebrate holidays?

Zim fucking hates Christmas, so him and Membrane get down in a bunker for it while Dib and Gaz spend some sibling time somewhere, drinking cocoa and video chatting with the respective morons. Other holidays, they basically go wherever Professor Membrane is in the world with Dib to have a 'family' holiday.

9. Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

Zim doesn't sleep, but he likes the resting and the peacefulness of getting to curl around Gaz in her sleep without her leaving. So him by default.

10. Who’s the better cook?

Zim has a 'kiss the chef' apron and everything.

11. Who likes to dance?

Neither of them, but Zim does 'victory dances' compulsively.

[silversundown2]

Welp. I've been trying to figure out what to say regarding the spoilers. I read them at five am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. So I laid in bed in a wtf haze until it felt like a reasonable time to get up and make coffee. This is a long post guys, so it's under the cut. 

I'm not sure if Kang is intentionally cruel to the fans, or if she just doesn't give a shit. She's quoted as saying these bonus eps would be "fun" so it could go either way, but if this is what she thinks fans want to see, especially after suffering through a pandemic she needs to read the fucking room.

No one asked for this. Not carylers, obviously. I doubt even D@nnie fans want to see him banging some rando. The casual viewer is going to be confused. I don't see how anyone agreed this was a good idea but maybe my first mistake is assuming any logic would apply. I should know better.

That said, I think this show has slowly been chipping away at my emotional investment in the caryl I see on TV for a couple seasons now. I often find I don't enjoy the episodes as much as I used to and even the caryl scenes leave a lot to be desired. I rarely get those happy butterflies for them anymore, and that has nothing to do with how much I ship them and everything to do with how they've slowly been written out of character into versions that are nearly unrecognizable.

This isn't just a case of people growing and changing as they should. This is Carol and Daryl, and often Caryl being used as tools for shock value or "subverting expectations."

The recent spoilers about Daryl sleeping with Leah is total disrespect to the character they created themselves and continuiously told us isn't the type of person to do this.

It's been drilled into our heads that he isn't a one night stand type of guy, or even a casual sex type. A few months of knowing Leah? Not enough.

And yet, here we have him supposedly bonding with some random woman and sleeping with her. Absolutely nothing about how they've written him points to that being something he might do.

They spent a long time telling us (through the show and often in interviews) that addressing Daryl's love life is bound to be meaningful. That "When it's done it's done." So either this new chick is the love of his life now, or they lied.

I'm not even going to get into him blaming Carol for C@nnie's death because we don't have the details of that scene and I can only handle one pile of crap at once. That could play out many different ways.

Here's the thing though. I don't suspect this will be shown as being a one true love scenario for Daryl. Spoilers say we don't see them kiss. We don't see any sex it's only implied. So basically this is a throw away tidbit of information we all could have done perfectly fine without that will now be a stain on his character and how we view him, and by extension how we view caryl and a lot of the moments that came before this episode.

The fact that they have him hooking up with Leah AFTER Carol tells him she can't visit him anymore at his camp makes me think they'll play it as some heartbroken rebound thing. Which would be somewhat comforting if that was anywhere in the realm of possibility for something Daryl might engage in. But it's not.

Do I think Caryl can still happen?

I mean...anything can happen now, right? Daryl fucked someone in the woods and it was no big deal after ten years of making us believe it would absolutely be a huge deal, so sure, I guess? Caryl could be endgame. D@nnie could be endgame. Maybe B@th rises from the grave and they live happily ever after. If I apply to be an extra on the show I might even have a chance myself at this point. (sorry craft services girl, wait your turn)

I do think they will make up eventually and their friendship will be repaired, but is that enough?

Basically, nothing makes sense. It's all so contrived and ridiculous that I'm not even sure how mad I can be, except for when I am. Mostly, I'm just confused.

Bottom line. If you ship caryl, you saw what they wanted us to see. You didn't make it up. It was all there.  

I still ship them because I am so invested I can't simply quit, but I love the Caryl in my head far more than I do the ones on the screen lately. In my opinion they stopped being "them" shortly after Consumed and it was all a slow downhill slide after that.

I love the Daryl who gave Carol a rose in a beer bottle and told her a beautiful story. The one who ran to her after terminus and lifted her off her feet and cried into her shoulder. The Carol who told him she liked him first and flirted with him on an overturned bus at the prison. Who visited his cell and said ‘look how far you've come’. Those are always going to be the versions of them that just feels right and what comes after needs to start being something I can either take or leave depending on how ridiculous it is.

I don't know if I'll be watching. I know I won't be watching live and I may very well cancel my amc subscription. In terms of the spin off, it's a long way off and a lot can happen but they'll have a hard fucking time repairing what they broke with this one bonus episode.

What a waste of something that was supposed to be ten years in the making. I don't think there are any clear winners in this when it comes to shipping, unless any new Daryl/Leah shippers pop up, then they got it made. Maybe this is the bullshit that units the fandom over a common anger?

Anyway, I wish I could make sense of wtf is going on but I don't think it's worth the effort.

The saying “when someone shows you who they are, believe them.” applies to Kang and this show, too.

[skinfeeler]

it might be worth stating my method in formal terms for once, and where it comes from, since some seem determined to misinterpret. i believe that there is not just a place but the dire necessity in the left for a theory and praxis which does right both by religious minorities who are ('in the west') targeted by white supremacism, and those who either have a complicated relationship to or have attempted to leave their religious communities who are not only targeted by white supremacists but also subject to disenfranchisement within their own communities for whatever reason. that's really all i should have to say, however...

this necessarily comes with a full denunciation of the logics of both nation and family, which are those mechanisms through which religion propagates itself, although what we know now as christianity, judaism, islam, buddhism, hinduism by no means should need to, but i’ll get to that later. it's hard to deny that most religions propagate through non-elective membership of offspring, even if this non-electivity is often framed as some reified grand cultural truth or some nonsense theological-ontological nature of these children like indelible marks or whatever, with other ways of marking children not being much different. this understanding alone is crucial, because once we acknowledge this we can look more honestly at religion and its particular embodiment through topologies of time and space. we can, for example, speak freely about the fact that the coptic christians are genuinely oppressed, and moreover we can speak candidly about the ways in which not only christian nations do harm unto both their own peoples and geopolitically. moreover, we can see quite easily how even in completely bigoted societies, people who are subjugated within communities and families belonging to religious minorities do not actually benefit from that in the slightest— although some apostates of minority religions in european countries as well as the united states of america have indeed been successfully courted by far-right groups. plainly, all these things become unintelligible if we embrace anti-sociological ideas which essentialise oppression as a concept instead of studying its mechanisms and how it propagates, where it propagates, and unto whom it can assert itself— which is through self-propagating families and nations, which allows us to consider the workings of the family and therefore the state (cultural fronts subjugating each other) as operating in a different manner from although necessarily contextually entangled with those which intrinsically work against such (struggles against sexism, homophobia, and transphobia). believe it or not, the rest of my critique comes quite naturally and consistently with due respect for everything as extant and a careful application of the above, so long as no due respect to the anti-philosophical is given and real explanations are sought.

the consequences of this are ineluctable in an intellectual sense as well as in terms of advocacy. it comes with denying the reductive and worthless histiographies about religion throughout history which both uphold and constitute this anti-philosophy we speak of. there are implications as to what we can and cannot tolerate with regards to child-rearing and rituals which impress upon parents full authority over both their children's minds and bodies, as the family ineluctably constituse capitalism and other such maladies. it will cause us to ask questions about supernaturalism and what we can expect, ethically and interpersonally about people whose theism quite literally constitutes the worship of a godhead — which against the claims of some continues to be prolific especially in communities where the most marginalised have no access to sophisticated ideas of 'god' that would do away with people's authority over them — to whom they both attribute the will/understanding (thus, an anti-sociological denial of such things as collective effervescence and anthropology of how ideas about god and community get formed in these communities in the first place) and their sole loyalty and moral duty as opposed to a view of other people in which we may or may not all owe each other something or another (thus, morality becomes the plaything of whatever people think god or may not want and complete farce). these things are not uniformly relevant and with the same qualities across all organised religions, or even congregations within said religions or even the individuals that comprise them, indeed, it is completely necessary to approach these things with utmost accuracy and care exactly because what's at stake. nevertheless, merely judgements about the logics of family and nation as already endemic among (and in fact, crucially define) leftist and progressive factions are the supplicants of the brunt of critique of organised religion. the rest can be done with inquiry in the nature of prophecy and clergy-laity divisions— the latter of which is arguably the defining factor of what we call 'organised' religion. such figures as the iranian atheist al-razi and the dutch atheist spinoza did away with the first, and people like me will do away with the rest. this will first take an inquiry into how 'organisation' can be intelligibly defined as both a descriptive and predictive thing (as all science is about both describing and predicting phenomena), but i'll assure you, it's really not that difficult.

moreover, this opens up an extremely valuable opportunity for solidarity across religious lines, across your so-called 'cultures'— it is clear that those who are simply not the most abject from the mechanisms of family as is possible (i don't know, whatever cisbian rabbis and imams and priests and gurus and swamis and assorted clergy are out there) should not be those whose words we should take when it comes to oppression, but those who are abject, if anything. it is clear that while religions and their peoples can very much be meaningfully minorities in certain locales, for the sake of argument, i'll pay lip service to the idea that this isn't a ridiculous reification of geopolitical dynamics which simply don't really adhere to that pattern the way people pretend they do, and that these 'nations' and 'cultures' have not only ever been enforced to exist as non-syncreticisms and as set apart through the artifices of violent religious fanatics such as the crusaders, isis, and the maccabees, and whose very concepts are acts of ontological and epistemic terror unto apostates and the idea of lasting peace in and out of themselves. however, universally it is true that people whose very existence goes against the logic of family and nation are abject from that in turn. this means that there can be and in fact is meaningful solidarity between say, trans lesbians oppressed by their respective minorities and none of this requires ranking the 'different kinds' of oppression in the slightest, by the way, or acting as if they're mutually exclusive. indeed, it is queer people from different religious backgrounds who were either apostates or in constant conflict with their religions who informed the brunt of my pan-religious critique and it must be said that i owe my life and my intellectual acuity to those bonds, and this was deeply reciprocal— some of those who have been most invaluable have been people who converted from judaism having been born to christian parents (note the specificity of that sentence) and who knowing what shape apologia for modesty codes take in christendom completely and utterly reject the same as seen in justifications of say, the concept of t’znius, and their willingness to engage with religions as actually exist in the world, always placing sociology supreme above theology has taken them far. my fealty is to all these critics, apostates, and skeptics moreso than those who wish to erase them and their stories (or at it most evil, indeed the idea that they have separated themselves) much more than i will ever have sympathy for those who after having been victims have chosen to become either complicit (through erasing their stories and denying the very insights which would allow us to acknowledge them) or perpetrators (those who seek to continue the cycle).  this, fundamentally, is my atheism: the solidarity between the universally (rather than contextually) culturally abject.

[arcticdementor]

You know what America needs? More mirrors for princes—the Renaissance genre of advice books directed at statesmen. On the Right, we have many books that identify, and complain about, the problems of modernity and the challenges facing us. Some of those books do offer concrete solutions, but their audience is usually either the educated masses, who cannot themselves translate those solutions into policy, or policymakers who have no actual power, or refuse to use the power they do have. Scott Yenor’s bold new book is directed at those who have the will to actually rule. He lays out what has been done to the modern family, why, and what can and should be done about it, by those who have power, now or in the future. Let’s hope the target audience pays attention.

The Recovery of Family Life instructs future princes in two steps. First, Yenor dissects the venomous ideology of feminism, which seeks to abolish all natural distinctions between the sexes, as well as all social structures that organically arise from those distinctions. Second, he tells how the family regime of a healthy modern society should be structured. By absorbing both lessons and applying them in practice, the wise statesman can, Yenor hopes, accomplish the recovery of family life. (Yenor himself does not compare his book to a mirror for princes; he’s too modest for that. But that’s what it is.)

…

You will note that this is a spicy set of positions for an academic of today to hold. You will therefore not be surprised to learn that Yenor was the target of cancel culture before being a target was cool. He is a professor of political philosophy at Boise State University, and in 2016, in response to Yenor’s publication of two pieces containing, to normal people, anodyne factual statements about men and women, a mob of leftist students tried to defenestrate him. Yenor was “homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic.” (We can ignore that the first two of those words are mostly content-free propaganda terms designed to blur discourse, though certainly to the extent they do have meaning, that meaning should be celebrated—I would have given Yenor a medal, if I had been in charge of Boise State.) They didn’t manage to get him fired (he has tenure and refused to bend), but the usual baying mob, led by Yenor’s supposed peers, put enormous pressure on him, which could not have been easy. He still teaches there; whether it is fun for him, I do not know, but it certainly hasn’t stopped him promulgating the truth.

…

Yenor begins by examining the intellectual origins of the rolling revolution, found most clearly within twentieth-century feminism. One service Yenor provides is to draw the battle lines clearly. He does this by swimming in the fetid swamps of feminism; I learned a lot I did not know, although none of it was pleasing. He spends a little time discussing so-called first-wave feminism, but much more on second-wave feminists, starting with Simone de Beauvoir, through Betty Friedan, and into Shulamith Firestone, this latter a literally insane harridan who starved herself to death. The common thread among these writers was their baseless claim that women had no inherent meaningful difference from men, and that women could only be happy by the abolition of any perceived difference. This was to lead to self-focused self-actualization resulting in total autonomy, and a woman would know she had achieved this, most often, by making working outside the home the focus of her existence. Friedan was the great popularizer of this destructive message, of course, which I recently attacked at length in my thoughts on her book The Feminine Mystique.

…

After this detailed examination of core feminist ideas, Yenor suffers more, slogging through the thought about autonomy of various two-bit modern con men, notably Ronald Dworkin and John Rawls. He analyzes the dishonest argumentative methods of all the Left, in general and in specific with regard to family topics—false claims mixed with false dichotomies and false comparisons, what he calls the “liberal wringer,” the mechanism by which any argument against the rolling revolution is dishonestly deconstructed and all engagement with it avoided. The lesson for princes, I think, is to not participate in such arguments, and to remember what our enemies long ago learned and put into practice—that power is all.

Yenor describes how the modern Left (which he somewhat confusingly calls “liberalism,” but Rawls and his ilk are not liberal in any meaningful sense of the term, rather they are Left) uses the law to achieve its goal of the “pure relationship,” meaning the aim that all relationships must be ones of free continuous choice, that is, without any supposed repression. This leads to various destructive results when it collides with reality, including the reality of parent-child bonds, and more generally is hugely destructive of social cohesion. From this also flow various deleterious consequences resulting from ending supposed sexual repression; this section is replete with analysis of writings from Michel Foucault to Aldous Huxley, and contains much complexity, but in short revolves around what was once a commonplace—true freedom is not release from constraints, but the freedom to choose rightly, to choose virtue and not to be a slave to passions, and rejection of this truth is the basis of many of our modern problems.

…

Finally, Yenor turns to what should be done, which is the most noteworthy part of the book. As he says, “Intellectuals who defend the family rightly spend much time exposing blind spots in the contemporary ideology. All this time spent in the defensive crouch, however, distracts them from thinking through where these limits [i.e., the limits Yenor has just outlined in detail] point in our particular time and place. Seeing the goodness in those limits, it is necessary also to reconstruct a public opinion and a public policy that appreciates those limits.” Thus, Yenor strives to show what a “better family policy” would be.

This is an admirable effort, but I fear it is caught on the horns of a dilemma. The rolling revolution does not permit any stopping or slowing; much less does it permit any retrenchment or reversal. Our enemies don’t care what we think a better family policy would be. And if we were to gain the power to implement a better family policy, by first smashing their power, there is no reason for it to be as modest as that Yenor outlines—rather, it should be radical, an utter unwinding of the nasty web they have woven, and the creation of a new thing. Not a restoration, precisely, but a new thing for our time, informed by the timeless Old Wisdom that Yenor extols. The defect in Yenor’s thought, or at least in his writing, is refusing to acknowledge it is only power that matters for the topics about which he cares most. But presumably the future princes at whom this book is aimed will know this in their bones.

Yenor himself doesn’t exactly exude optimism. Nor does he exude pessimism, but he begins by telling us that “we are still only in the infancy” of the rolling revolution. This seems wrong to me; in the modern age, time is compressed, and fifty years is plenty of time for the rolling revolution, a set of ideologies based on the denial of reality, to reach its inevitable senescence, when reality reasserts itself with vigor. This is particularly true since every new front opened by the revolution is more anti-reality, more destructive, and more revolting to normal people, who eventually will have had enough, and the sooner, if given the right leadership.

…

For most purposes, what Yenor advocates would be a restoration of family policy, both in law and society, as it existed in America in the mid-twentieth century. I’m not sure that’s going back far enough for ideas. You’re not supposed to say it out loud, and Yenor doesn’t, but it’s not at all clear to me that even first-wave feminism had any virtue at all. To the extent it is substantively discussed today, we are given a caricature, where the views of those opposed to Mary Wollstonecraft or John Stuart Mill are not told to us, rather distorted polemics of those authors about their opponents are presented as accurate depictions, which is unlikely, and even those depictions are never engaged with. But we know that most of what Mill said about politics in general was self-dealing lies that have proven to be enormously destructive, so the presumption should be that what he said about relations between men and women was equally risible.

…

Penultimately, Yenor addresses such new frontiers being sought by the rolling revolution, with the implication that the rolling revolution might, perhaps, be halted. Here he talks about the desire of the Left to have the state separate children from parents, particularly where and because the parents oppose the revolution, but more generally to break the parent-child bond as a threat to unlimited autonomy. He says, optimistically, “No respectable person has (yet) suggested that parents could be turned in for hate speech behind closed doors.” But this has already been proven false; Scotland is on the verge of passing a new blasphemy law, the “Hate Crime and Public Order Law,” and Scotland’s so-called Justice Minister (with the very Scots name of Humza Yousaf) has explicitly noted, and called for, entirely private conversations in the home that were “hate speech” to be prosecuted once the law is passed. A man like that is beyond secular redemption, yet he is also a mainline representative of the rolling revolution. The reality is that discussion does not, and will never work, with these people, only force. Still trying, Yenor presents a balanced picture to his hoped-for audience of princes, such as discussing when state interference in the family makes sense (as in cases of abuse). However, such situations have been adequately addressed in law for hundreds of years; the rolling revolution is not a new type of such balancing, but the Enemy. Discussions about it will not stop it. No general of the rolling revolution will even notice this book, except in that perhaps some myrmidons may be detached from the main host to punish Yenor, or to record his name for future punishment.

Yenor ends with a pithy set of responses to the tedious propagandistic aphorisms of the rolling revolution, such as “Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” And, laying out a clear vision of a renewed society based on the principals he has earlier discussed, he tells us, “In the long term, the goal is to stigmatize the assumptions of the rolling revolution.” No doubt this is true; cauterizing the societal wound where the rolling revolution will have been amputated from our society will be, in part, accomplished by stigmatizing both the ideas and those who clamored for them or led their implementation. How to get to that desirable “long term,” though, when their long term is very clear, and very different from the long term Yenor hopes for? He says “Prudent statesmen must mix our dominant regime with doses of reality.” Yeah, no. Prudent statesmen, the new princes, must entirely overthrow our dominant regime, or not only will not a single one of Yenor’s desired outcomes see the light of day, far worse evils will be imposed on us. Oh, I’m sure Yenor knows this; it’s the necessary conclusion of Yenor’s own discussion of those eagerly desired future evils. He just can’t be as aggressive as me. I’m here to tell you that you should read this book, but amp up the aggression a good eight times—which shouldn’t be a problem, especially if you have children of your own, whose innocence and future these people want to steal.

[garychou]

Afterthoughts from Re-wiring Distribution Networks

Last week, I had the privilege of joining my friend Karin Chien in a conversation on "Re-Wiring Distribution Networks" hosted by The International Documentary Association as part of their Getting Real Now summer series.

I'm excited to join my friend + award winning independent producer and distributor @producerkarin for a conversation this Thursday hosted by @IDAorg as part of their #GettingRealNOW series. RSVP in the link below in the thread. https://t.co/kgxPy9bA21

— Gary Chou (@garychou) August 26, 2020

A video should be posted on YouTube shortly for all to see.

Upon reflection, there were a few points I'd like to emphasize, if not re-state altogether:

Everything is changing. The installation of large-scale, ubiquitous, real-time information networks is the single most impactful development in our lifetimes. It's not just affecting distribution networks or business models, it's affecting society and culture. As such, it's worth thinking about the ways in which we, as individuals, need to change in order to adjust to this.

Attention is now the scarce resource. Advances in technology have lowered barriers to participation—which is great for everyone—but it also means that competition for our attention has never been greater. What used to work in a world of surplus might not be viable anymore.  This is a good post to read for more background.

What are the networks that you need? You're going to need access to different networks of people for different things (i.e. your collaborators aren't necessarily your financiers or your friends or family). If you lack sufficient access to relevant networks, consider whether the immediate work you produce be something intentionally designed to help you gather the people you will need for your journey vs. focusing solely on your creative vision.

Signaling helps your network find you. If the network you need doesn't exist, you'll need to consider forming it yourself, through a committed, regular practice of signaling. What is something you can regularly and sustainably share that is of interest to those who are best positioned to support you?  This could be as simple as starting a blog or newsletter, or it could be as elaborate as a speaker series or a club. As this is really hard work—particularly for creators who are under-networked—it's a prime opportunity for foundations, intermediaries and other support organizations to operationalize and/or specifically fund.

Collective action can take on many different (new) forms in a networked world. We're still in the early stages of understanding how to wield the power afforded by networked systems and there's tremendous opportunity for creativity here.  In addition to Tracy Chou's work mentioned on the call, which resulted in greater transparency in the tech industry, there are other interesting collective efforts like the Letters for Black Lives project, which brought together hundreds of strangers to coordinate mass translation efforts; as well as efforts to include diversity riders in term sheets.

Q&A Redux

Finally, there was a question posed towards the end of the Q&A session that I'd like to revisit, as my initial response zeroed in too narrowly on the topic of online advertising, which wasn't really the point, and it's a rather pertinent question:

When we think of distribution, we usually think of mass, untargeted distribution always hoping to expand our audiences. Can the panelists talk about distributing to more specific, pre-inclined audiences but using the worldwide network afforded to us by the interwebs, perhaps akin to how big tech companies use granular algorithms to target ads?

Here's what I would have liked to have said:

I'd reframe this question slightly—instead of thinking about how the big tech companies have leveraged this infrastructure, I'd look at how tech entrepreneurs have adapted to the changes in the environment as a result of the installation of these networks (which are the same problems we talked about in the conversation).

What's changed for tech entrepreneurs is that there's now an abundance of:

free information and educational resources contributing to an increasingly global trained labor force

free open source tools and frameworks which make it easier and faster to build applications

easy access to cloud hosting providers which make it possible to deliver and scale your application globally and instantly

global capital willing to fuel new ideas, good or bad.

All of this has resulted in an unprecedented amount of competition (and innovation) chasing a limited amount of attention. Thus, the hard thing about building a software business is no longer the software, it's the distribution—how you get in front of people who are likely to want your product, and how you get them to pay while fending off all of the competition.

We've seen two different strategies emerge, which depend upon how well-funded a company is.

If you're immensely well-funded and you have a product or service with good unit economics (meaning that you make money on every sale, unlike Moviepass), you can afford to raise a lot of capital and spend it on online advertising to acquire customers, and then re-invest your profits into even more online advertising and continue to grow until you can't.

But, the majority of businesses aren't immensely well-funded and so they can't run this playbook and spend their way to success.  So, they've had to adopt a slower and more modest 3-part strategy in order to grow:

Find or gather a community of people who you hope to serve, and gain their trust / get them to care about you.

Set aside your grand vision, and instead build something small and focused (commensurate to your cost structure), which is compelling for this community.

Collect and share stories of success from your community and repeat step 2, incrementally expanding the size/scale/footprint of your vision each time you do so.

The core difference between these two strategies is the order of operations. Rather than trying to find more people (i.e. customers) for your stuff, it's about building stuff for your people.  In essence, the marketing comes before rather than after.

What this means for filmmakers is two-fold:

First, instead of targeting audiences after you've made your film, focus on gathering allies before and while you make your film. Having more allies doesn't guarantee you success, but it increases the likelihood of unlocking new resources and paths as you move forward.

This doesn't mean you need to become yet another ostentatious internet influencer or turn your project into a reality TV show, nor does it mean you need to take on a second job as a promoter or marketer.  

There's always a story behind the film's story: who you are and why you're choosing to spend your precious time working on this project. Often, this story unfolds over the course of the project itself.  And so, there's a lot of value to be had simply by adopting a practice of working in public—publicly sharing the exhaust of your process: your artifacts, your lessons, your story—and enabling people to learn along side you.

There are a lot of practical reasons that drive secrecy in filmmaking, but I'd argue that these only benefit the existing gatekeepers. And certainly, if you're asking about how to fully leverage the value created by this internet infrastructure we're all stuck with, the system is designed to favor openness. (Pre-internet, startups commonly embraced secrecy by working in "stealth mode", and this cultural norm has flipped as well.)

Second, create a space that is intentionally designed to welcome these allies into your circle and where you can sustainably keep them engaged over the long term.  The simplest space is an email newsletter, but this could be something more elaborate like a club.  Consistency is better than frequency, and ideally, there's an opportunity for your allies to see each other and not just you.  

(If we stick with our example of a newsletter this could mean that you're not only sharing your thoughts and stories, but that you're also inviting them to contribute questions and comments, perhaps monthly or quarterly.)

There's a tremendous opportunity here to get creative, and while it may initially seem like an onerous chore by itself, in the context of your broader career aspirations, this will increase the surface area of your optionality so long as you continue to tend to your garden.

And so, rather than leverage this new internet infrastructure simply to target the masses in the hopes of consummating a transaction, I'd take advantage of its ability to connect people, globally, in meaningful ways at virtually zero cost to form new networks—or gardens—around you and your practice.

But it won't be an easy shift because done right, it will require a different way of working.

The upside, however, is the ability to change the equation in this discussion around re-imagining distribution networks (and models) from a conversation about what a collective of individual filmmakers can do to a conversation around what a cooperative of gardens can support and grow.

Originally posted: https://garychou.com/notes/thoughts-from-re-wiring-distribution-networks/

[mizmaster202]

ESSENTIAL information before all communication

Professional Femdom is not prostitution, Pro-Dommes are not prostitutes. If you are looking for sexual activities never and under no circumstance contact a Pro-Domme. The same goes if you are looking for any kind of intimate worship or nudity (including topless) on her part.

The initial call/E-Mail

Please read the website/the ad of the Domina thoroughly as Dominas spend many hours in building up their Website/writing their ad to provide you with all the important and necessary information. Understandably ProDommess don't like to repeat themselves in a call. Especially read the FAQ section very carefully and check if your question is answered there.

Before you contact her, it is essential to have some information about the Mistress, like when (days and time of the day) to contact her, how to contact her (telephone call, E-Mail, web-form etc.), what likes she has and more important what her taboos/dislikes are. Regarding the likes and dislikes; It is your responsibility to know the turn on's and turn off's of the Mistress before the call.

Make sure that your likes match her likes; otherwise it won’t work later on. Be aware that some Mistresses distinguish between activities they engage in (so called "interests") and activities they enjoy very much (so called "favorites" or "specialities"). If she dislikes something that you like very much and you consider it important that this activity is part of your session with the Mistress do not call her, i.e. respect her dislikes and don’t have the hope that the Mistress will change her mind, once you are at her dungeon.

If you have a specific fetish that is not listed as a like or dislike by the Mistress then – as long as it is legal – don’t be shy or feel embarrassed to ask the Mistress respectfully, most probably she has heard it before and maybe – if you’re lucky – she find it interesting as well.

In general if a fetish is not listed by the Mistress do not make assumptions about the services the Mistress offers. Do not assume that she likes an activity unless the Mistress explicitly informed you in writing or verbally that she is fine with it.

When calling the Mistress, make sure that your number is visible, as calls from block numbers will usually not be answered.

Spell and pronounce the Mistress name correctly. If you are unsure how the name is pronounced correctly, ask politely.

Make sure that you make the call at a time the Mistress stated on her website, if no time is mentioned call at a decent time. If the Mistress does not take your call, try again later, but not every two minutes. Let some time between the calls. Don't expect Mistress to return you call if you could not reach her.

Be aware when the Mistress receives her clients (days and time of day) and have at least two possible dates when you can see her - of course these two dates must be reconciled with the times she receives visitors. It's not bad to have your diary available as well. Be also aware of the notice periods, same day sessions are often not possible or restricted to regular clients only. Usually the notice period is 24 hours in some cases 48 hours are also possible.

Know your BDSM interests, as she will ask you about your likes. Especially if you are a newbie the Mistress will accept that you are uncertain about your desires but she needs at least some idea of what you’re into before she will consider agreeing to see you. Please also consider legal issues in this case. Maybe it is helpful if you fill out a questionnaire before the call, so you have something to rely on during the call. Be also prepared that she will ask you about your health (problems).

If you can provide her with references this may be helpful.

For the call itself: introduce yourself with a name before you start and be respectful. Ask the Mistress politely how she likes you to call her. During the call stay focused on the topic and avoid repetitive questions and idle chitchat.

In an E-Mail: good grammar is a must. Make sure you E-Mail is concise, meaningful on the one hand and as short as possible on the other hand, so that it can be read in a reasonable time, if a maximum limit of words is required comply with it. This goes also when using a web application form, follow the application instructions carefully.

You may ask about the tribute but never in any case try to inquire about a lower tribute. Have in mind that specific activities or scenes requiring intricate planning or the involvement of other players may have a premium. You can also ask if the Mistress has a preference when and how you can hand over the tribute. For example some Mistresses likes it, if the tribute is in an (open) envelope.

Do not ask the Mistress to describe what she will do to you in a session. In this case she might assume that you want to wank at her expenses and therefore she thinks that you are only wasting her time and terminate the call. Remember that the initial contact is exclusively designed to get in touch for the first time and to agree upon a date for the session or to realize that the demands of the Mistress are different from your preferences so that a meeting makes no sense. The Initial call is definitely not a place to exchange fantasies.

Answer all the questions from the Mistress honestly.

In general and to summarize: Be open and honest and speak about everything that is important for you. Also speak about every that may be important for the Mistress from your point of view. Your fantasies, your likes are important but also your fears and maybe previous experiences and incidents.

Listen carefully what the Mistress tells you. Keep in mind and respect what she told you, especially about her dislikes and taboos.

The agreement to session

Only make an agreement for a session, if you are ready for the session and if you are convinced that you will have a good session with this Mistress. Otherwise do not agree on a date and even better do not make the initial call at all.

Accept if the Mistress refuses to session with you. She will do this in cases your likes are not compatible with her likes or she feels that the session will endanger herself or you,

A FEMDOM session is a truly enchanting and rewarding experience, no need to be afraid. A professional Mistress will always take care of you, even in RACK play.

If the Mistress requires a confirmation some time before the session, make sure you make this confirmation in time. Otherwise the Mistress considers this a cancellation of the session.

Make sure to check your phone/E-mail to see if the Mistress had to cancel the session after you confirmed it.

If some preparations for the session are necessary don't call the Mistress and ask how things are progressing, if not agreed otherwise.

If you have confirmed the session but have a change of mind or you are prevented for any reason then cancel the session immediately and of course as soon as possible. Failure to show for a confirmed session will leave you blacklisted from ever visiting the Mistress again and most likely she will also pass your details on to other Mistresses. Mistresses hate it, if their time is being wasted.

Arriving for the session

Be clean (body and mouth), odorous and in a healthy state when you visit the Mistress, i.e. shower beforehand and if necessary change clothes prior to the visit.

Never ever be under the influence of alcohol and drugs, every responsible Mistress will dismiss you immediately otherwise.

In case you are visiting several Mistresses, make sure that you do not wear marks of another Mistress, when visiting this Mistress. If you can be marked the Mistress likes to see her work afterwards.

Be exactly on time, i.e. don’t be early or late (plus/minus one minute of the agreed time is widely considered to be o.k.).Take into consideration that it may take some time to find a parking lot when you departure for the visit, also be aware that the journey will last longer during the rush hours.

If you will be late, inform the Mistress as early as possible, indicating your expected arrival time.

Accept that the Mistress may cut the session time if you arrive late but can charge the full fee.

If you are early, some Mistresses considers it to be O.K. to contact her and to ask, if the session can start earlier, however never show up early without her explicit permission.

Be respectful all the time, this means also during the pre- and post-session talk.

If not done during the Initial call or if asked in the personal meeting prior to the session present your likes to the Mistress again, but avoid to present her a detailed script. Trust your Mistress that she has the skills to fulfill your desires when she knows the bulletpoints. This gives the Mistress more room to fulfill her own likes and it also much more interesting for you, if you don't know exactly what is coming next.

Respect the limits and taboos of the Mistress at all time. It's absolutely bad manners to ask her to engage in a pratice the Mistress does not like. Don't you dare to ask, if the Mistress would do a practice she dislikes if you pay a premium. In this case immediate dismissal is most likely and fully justified.

Never ever negotiate the tribute: That is totally rude and respectless.

As we are speaking about a professional pay for play session; make sure you have the exact change with you (be aware that some activities requires a premium and consider this premium). Never expect to be able to pay cashless, if not explicitly agreed beforehand. If the Mistress told you how to hand over the tribute abide by her words.

Some Mistresses like if you show your appreciation for them by giving them a gift, so you may ask what the like. Although gifts are not mandatory they are always a sign of your esteem.

Give the Mistress an honest feedback of the session later on. If you need some time to think about the session in detail inform the Mistress about it, most likely she will understand it.

In-between the sessions

Respect the Mistress’ private live, never ever ask her for personal information.

If you meet the Mistress at a vanilla location and/or event do not contact her, respect and protect her privacy. And of course don't ask her later who her companions were.

Don’t fall in love with the Mistress. Respect and accept that for her sessioning with you is a purely professional relation and besides her professional life you are not and never will be part of her (private) life.

You can stay in touch with Mistress in-between sessions, but abide by the rules the Mistress sets to the fullest. Do not pesters the Mistress prior or in-between the sessions. So most important at all time respect the privacy boundaries set by the Mistress.

Do not make unnecessary, superfluous calls/e-mails etc.. Remember always that Mistress' time is limited.

If you have been given an assignment or task for the next session, then carry it out with exacting precision. If you are unable to do so, inform the Mistress as early as possible.

Personal Slavery

Never ever ask the Mistress if you can become her personal slave, she will lead you the path if she wants to enter such a relation and is convinced that it is suitable for her.

Take into consideration that even if you are a personal slave, it will still be a pay for play relation. Maybe you do not pay a direct session tribute but be aware that in this case you have to contribute financially in a different way to her.

[gascon-en-exil]

Since Shadowlands is coming out in two months, what are you most looking forward to? And which zone looks the most interesting?

I am...pleasantly surprised to be getting an ask about WoW, because I almost never do. My impression is that the game doesn’t have much of an active Tumblr fanbase, and I’d be surprised if more than half a dozen of my followers play or used to play it.

The weird thing about Shadowlands is that I’m seriously contemplating getting a gaming-quality laptop specifically to play it. My current desktop is entirely serviceable for non-gaming purposes, but it’s over a decade old and really shows its age when trying to run something even as relatively undemanding on hardware as WoW. As much as I enjoyed much of the story and settings of BfA, particularly Kul Tiras, my enjoyment was severely hampered by having to run the game on the lowest settings and even then still being plagued with constant framerate issues. I also don’t have the greatest wifi setup at my house, and a laptop isn’t going to fix that, but at least if I got one I’d be able to download big patches somewhere with better wifi and then just deal with occasional lag spikes or disconnects while playing. So yeah...without making that investment I’d have to drop WoW entirely, but I still really like the game and have been playing it on and off for almost 14 years so I’m willing to drop some money into making it work.

And a bit part of that is that there’s a lot to love about Shadowlands from my perspective. I’m mostly a solo leveler with severe alt-itis, so obviously the level squish and redesigned structure for getting to max level are interesting to me. Death knights and demon hunters starting at level 1 now may encourage a bit more to stick with those classes as them starting at high levels always threw me off, although to be fair I’m also not big on the darker classes and am pickier about melee classes besides. As much as I loved the way Legion focused on giving specs distinctive flavors I’m a little ambivalent on some of the regression on that front to come even if it’s just little things (ex. holy priests* having no shadow spells at all...but now they’ll have Mind Blast again), but at the same time I like paladin auras and meaningful shaman totems and all that other good stuff so as is often the case with mechanical changes in expansions it’s some give and take. I’ve looked less into the new zones, but the idea of exploring different afterlives is an intriguing one and definitely something that WoW has never done before. I’m not going to go back and read up on them for this post and I haven’t looked into any of that in a while, but I can say that I’ll probably be most engaged by the shiny light one and possibly the vampire one. The hippie druid one...eh, I really want to like druids and balance in particular (if only they wouldn’t redesign the spec every other expansion), but something about the class aesthetic never quite clicked with me. I’m also really liking all the new customization options, which is another reason I should upgrade my hardware so as to properly appreciate them.

*Priests are, all things considered, my favorite class in the game, and as such I’ve had various opinions on them over the years. It’s little wonder that I would nitpick them the most.

[spontaneousmusicalnumber]

SO YOU WANT TO TEACH PEOPLE ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY.

Throughout my college career, I volunteered in a campus organization whose goal was to provide an opportunity for people to learn about gender and sexuality through facilitated Q&A panels. I loved it, and wish that there was more of an opportunity to create those experiences in the world at large. I’ve gotten some requests to share my experience, so here’s a write-up for the key points if you want to try and run one yourself.

These panels should be controlled, planned events for a cohesive group. I have done panels for classrooms, clubs, Greek organizations, and even a university staff department. They have a structure, a beginning and an end. You will be revealing a lot of personal information, so being comfortable in that role is a must. The state I live in has legal protections for gender identity and sexuality in work, education and housing so I never felt threatened opening up. You are under no obligation to do a panel if you do not feel safe.

Facilitating a Panel:

There is always a facilitator, and anywhere from 2-5 panelists depending on the size of the audience. The facilitator’s job is to organize and manage the event. They are the point of contact for the organization that requests a panel, they maintain control of the situation and ensure both the panelists and the audience feel safe and comfortable. They also make sure the pace keeps moving and can cut off a conversation if it gets too long or repetitive and not enough questions are being answered.

Ground Rules:

At the beginning of the panel, the facilitator lays down several ground rules. Both audience members and panelists are expected to abide by these rules at all times for safety and civility.

Rule 1: No Outing.

Ask if anyone in the audience knows what outing is, and if not introduce them to the concept of sharing parts of someone’s identity without their permission. Explain that this is a big taboo in the community, both for respect of privacy and for personal safety. Tell the audience that they are free to take away the stories and the general ideas expressed, but the names and identities behind them will stay in this room. This applies to audience members’ identities as well; they can be assured that the panelists will not share them.

Rule 2: Give Respect to Get Respect.

This one seems simple but is important to note. Aggressive or confrontational behavior does not lead to comfortable conversation or open minds. Let the audience know that the panelists are people too, and can choose whether or not they are comfortable answering a question. Just as the panelists are expected to maintain civility, so is the audience.

Rule 3: Assume Goodwill.

Trust that you the panelists are here to teach, and they the audience is here to learn. Ask the audience to use the most respectful language they can and assure the audience that the panelists will not attack or demean them for it. It is alright if someone does not know what words are respectful or offensive, trust that they’re trying and are open to being corrected.

Guidelines for Panelists

Start with your story. This is usually ~3 minutes long, and serves as an introduction to you. It can encompass a coming out, a realization, a meaningful moment, any combination of the above. My story talks about the rocky path to realizing and accepting I was asexual. At the very least, introduce yourself and give your pronouns. A good story will ‘drop breadcrumbs’ or introduce ideas for the audience to ask about.

After all panelists have told their story, the facilitator will open up the room for questions. These can be related to panelist’s stories, questions they had previously, or questions about current events. If audience members are unwilling to raise their hands you can try providing paper and pencils for anonymous questions. Cracking a joke about the 30 seconds of dead silence usually helps to break the ice, and once one hand is raised then usually the ball gets rolling. This is now your time to shine.

Speak from your own experience. If there is a panelist who has an identity you do not, they are the expert and it’s not your place to talk over them. You are the expert on yourself as well, so don’t let yourself get talked over. It is OK to not know an answer, just speak honestly. You can speak from research you have done or general experiences from people you know, but be sure to clarify that this is something you have learned from somebody else and remember to respect “No Outing”.

This is not the time or place to gatekeep. If you are an ace/aro/bi/pan/trans/NB exclusionist, I urge you to either keep your mouth shut when the topic shifts towards those identities or reconsider your place on the panel. Your job is to allow people to take an open, accepting stance towards non-straight and non-cis identities, not spread close-minded rhetoric. If you share an identity in a way that is different from another, say you are a dysphoric trans person for whom dysphoria is a large factor in your identity, you may speak from your own experience that way. However, you should not express that people who do not share your identity are not valid in theirs.

Be on your best behavior, no matter the question. This part can get hard, but it’s where “Assume Goodwill” comes in. Easily 99% of people in this situation will be respectful and just want to learn. They may not know what language is correct, or may only know offensive words for a certain idea. Correct these before you answer their question and explain why those words are harmful, but don’t shame them for not knowing the right language. You can ask clarifying questions if you don’t know what they’re getting at (or if you want them to realize what they’re getting at).

There will, rarely, be people who come with the intention of inciting anger or throwing insults or worse. At this point, they are not coming in to learn, so your goal is to make an impact on the other audience members. Respond to questions of religious intolerance with statements that that is not a belief you share. Request that they follow the ground rules, remind them of “give respect to get respect”. The facilitator of the panel or the organizer of the audience (if a classroom, the teacher) should intervene to ask them to leave if they cannot abide by the ground rules.

You can choose not to answer a question and can choose whether or not to give a reason why. “That’s too personal” is plenty. As an asexual on the panel I got more than enough questions about my sex life, whether I wanted kids or wanted to get married. These were questions I did not answer, instead offering a larger view of the community. I would explain how asexual people all had their own comfort zones and defined their sexuality differently, and while some decided they would like to be alone others can and do engage in all types of partnerships.

Unpack, unpack, unpack! Talk about the question that audiences are really asking when they ask who the man or the woman in a relationship is. Bring up heteronormative standards! Bring up sexist expectations of relationship dynamics! Bring up restrictive notions of gender! Bring up privacy concerns! A very simple question can reveal a lot about how someone’s personal biases shape their view of gender and sexuality so do your best to break it down in a way they can understand.

Try to define any words you are using. Audience members often won’t know what ‘cisgender’ means, or the difference between sexual and romantic orientation, or what dysphoria is. Try to keep them in the loop and be ready to provide definitions if the need arises. Again, defer to those who hold the identities in question before you answer and don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something. 

Closing the Panel

Refer the audience to resources to continue their education. Offer both in-person places like a campus LGBT services center and trustworthy online resources like AVEN for asexuality. Establish a point of contact between the facilitator and the audience if they feel comfortable doing so- can the audience email anyone with further questions?

After the audience files out, gather with the other panelists and facilitator for a recap. Talk about what you think went well, what you think could have gone better, if you felt comfortable or not, if you felt talked over or if you felt like you talked too much, and how you think you could improve in the future. This is best for a team that may meet again, but even for a one-off event I feel it’s important.

That’s the start of it.

IRL, a panelist undergoes a 2-day training and practice panel before they are considered a panelist. This post is 1500 words already, so I’ll leave it there, but let me know if there’s something I can explain better or if you want more resources or examples! 

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How to Do Nothing: Jenny Odell's case for resisting "The Attention Economy"

Artist and writer Jenny Odell (previously) is justifiably beloved for her pieces and installations that make us consider the economics and meanings of garbage, weird markets, and other 21st century plagues; in her first book, How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Odell draws on art criticism, indigenous practices, "Deep Listening," anti-capitalist theory, and psychology to make the case that the internal chaos we feel is no accident: it's the result of someone's business-model, and until we reject "productivity" in favor of contemplation and deliberation, it will only get worse.

Odell's central thesis is hard to pin down; part of her subject-matter here is that really important ideas don't neatly distill down to short, punchy summaries or slogans -- instead, they occupy a kind of irreducible, liminal complexity that has to be lived as much as discussed.

With that in mind, the broad strokes of her book are that:

* The rise of "productivity" as a measure of the quality of life is incredibly destructive, and it obliterates everything inside and outside of us that make us happy, because sleep and love and laughter and beauty are not "productive."

Odell links this to neoliberal capitalism, and the requirement that each of us be a hustling entrepreneur, which, in turn, is a way for capital to shift risk onto labor. It's a scam that moves both wealth and joy off of our balance sheets and onto the balance sheets of the super-rich.

This is very strong material, and it reminds me of the one conversation I had with David Allen, author of "Getting Things Done." Allen lamented that everyone pays close attention to the first two parts of his book (which focus on making sure that the stuff you decide to do get done) and skip over the third part (which focuses on deciding what to do).

* That doing "nothing" doesn't mean becoming a hermit: it requires more social engagement, not less

Odell builds on the idea that capitalism atomizes us and makes us stand alone and think about our relations to others in instrumental, individualistic terms; the reason social media is toxic isn't that it connects us with others, it's how it connects us with others. Doing "nothing" (that is, spending your time doing "meaningful," rather than "productive" things) requires that we find ways to genuinely interact with others.

This reminded me strongly of Patrick Ball's incredible essay on depression and suicide, and the reason that affluent white dudes are the most suicidal people in America today. Ball's thesis is that people who lack privilege must forge social relations with the people around them just to survive. If you have no money for a babysitter, you can substitute favors from friends.

"Favors from friends" are unreliable and nondeterministic, while spending cash with a sitter (or better, a service that has many interchangeable sitters) is extremely reliable. But if you keep substituting transactions for social networks, you'll eventually end up lonely and outside of any kind of social group that can form a resilient mesh for your inevitable problems: there's no one to put a hand on your shoulder, look you in the eyes, and say, "Are you all right? You seem to be in trouble."

Reading Ball's essay made me realize how much of a hermit I'd become, substituting work and transactions and "productivity" for friendship and connection, and how much of the anxiety and depression I was experiencing was the result of this isolation.

Social media is a great way to stay in touch with the people who matter to me, so that we can have offline, longer-form, important and meaningful interactions. But the commercial imperatives of social media work against that kind of socializing, because once you get together and start to have those contemplative and meaningful interactions, your social telephone starts ringing, because the algorithms that govern it notice that you're not paying attention to it anymore.

* That refusing to pay attention is an act with a long and honorable history

Odell traces the traditions of refusal from the ancient Greeks to avant-garde artists, and connects these to feminism and liberation struggles. This was fascinating context, and often very funny, and felt like something of a masterclass in understanding abstract art as well

* That cities have unique properties that make them hubs of resistance

The struggle against our reduction into productive workforce units, as opposed to thriving, contemplating, loving humans is the struggle against monoculture. Cities, with their diversity of people, backgrounds, incomes, social situations, and so on are the perfect place to resist monoculture. Places where strangers mix, like public transit, are hotbeds of resistance.

Odell also lauds "third places" here, the places that are outside the market, like libraries and parks, where your welcome is not dependent on your productive contributions, which ask nothing of you except that you be there.

And even as Odell is praising cities here, she's also working in a strong environmental message, connecting refusal to indigenous practices of attentive co-existence with the natural world, and connecting that to the complex idea of "bioregionalism," which involves identifying as a person whose place matters, whose views on the world and daily activities are influenced by the things that grow and thrive around you.

I've been around "bioregionalism" advocates for much of my life, and I admit I still struggle with some of the nuance of this idea, but Odell's connection feels right, and I really enjoyed the way she connected the beauty of cities -- which I love -- with an appreciation of, and connection to, the natural world.

* That technology isn't the problem, but rather, its economic and political context are what get us in trouble

This is the argument that puts Odell in the same group as some of my other favorite thinkers, like Leigh Phillips, Paul Mason, and Peter Frase.

Like the others, Odell doesn't argue the simple position that technology is neutral, but rather takes the position that technology's current decidedly partisan configuration is the result (and not the cause) of market ideology that demands growth, consumption and "engagement" instead of joy, meaning and peace.

It's an important point: Odell isn't telling us to stop using technology, but to use different technology in different ways.

There is so much to love about this book: Odell's discursive, interdisciplinary critique approaches an important and difficult question from many different angles, making it a chewy, provocative pleasure of a book.

But all that said, I'm looking forward to her next book. I know from my own work that what feels like irreducible complexity is often a lack of clarity. That is, just because you think you've made something as clear and simple as it can be, it doesn't mean you're right, it might just mean that you don't understand your own material well enough, and have not spent enough time trying to explain it to other people in order to learn what parts of it are important and which parts can be left to one side.

As much as I love this book, I also think that there is room to make it crisper, and some of that room will come from Odell gaining clarity as she tours with and discusses these ideas, and some of it will come from the rest of the world catching up with her -- when we started talking about online privacy, there was a lot of getting-up-to-speed that had to happen before the discussion could start. Today, the baseline of familiarity that others have with the ideas is much farther along, and so the discourse is more substantial and less about getting on the same page (this is also true of other complicated debates, including the contemporary critique of capitalism and concerns over climate change).

That's not to say that Odell has fallen into the trap of the masochistic longread ("because paying close attention to complicated ideas is a virtue, I will simply write this idea out in sprawling and undisciplined form, because the longer it is, the more virtue it has"). This book never bores. However, it does leave the reader with more feelings (which are good and important!) than clear articulation (also good and important!), and I think that Odell's continuing trailblazing will find a place where these two virtues are more in balance.

How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy [Jenny Odell/Melville House]

https://boingboing.net/2019/04/09/resisting-attention-economy.html

[zdbztumble]

“Kingdom Hearts II” revisited: Final Thoughts

There’s an obvious logic to having the Drive Form named Final appear so late in the game, but I think it’s introduced too late. By the time I got it to trigger, the Door had already appeared, and I’d decided that there really wasn’t much left in the other worlds of the game that I wanted to do. That meant there wasn’t much opportunity to play around with the Final Form, or level it up, outside of base grinding, something I always hate doing in any game. I do like Final Form, but it should have come earlier in the game to give the player the most value.

And speaking of final - that final boss is really...lame. As in, not fun to play and not satisfying on a story level. You can say a lot about every KH game that’s come after this - and I have, and will, at considerable length - but at least each of them presents a final boss who is a primary character of that game, in a recognizable form, with (somewhat) motivated stages of transformation. Here in KH II, we have to fight buildings, blasters, reactor cores, those bomb things from the Gummi levels (which, I admit, I appreciated - bringing those into the main gameplay), the armored figure in a chair twice, and a dragon-like mecha before we finally get a shot at Xemnas as we know him (in fabulous zebra robes), in a battle full of reaction commands and triggers that seem intentionally designed to make Riku look like a badass at Sora’s expense.

None of these stages are all that hard IMO, nor are any of them that engaging. The brief section where you play as Riku is a low point for me, due to his limited moveset and trouble navigating the space. I’m not opposed to alternating which character you play as during a final boss, but the execution of the idea here is terrible. Denying any role in the final battle to Kairi and King Mickey is a bigger problem, and I actually refused to have Riku in my party until required to because of that. I’m convinced the staff behind this game want players to use him, but I say - if you’re going to ignore every possible opportunity you give yourselves to have the Destiny Islands trio together in a party, then I’m not going to play with your Creators’ Pet. (And he is exactly that. I may have softened on Riku over the years, but he - and Axel, and half the Organization - are textbook examples of a creative team letting their fondness for characters supersede what’s actually best for them in a narrative.)

Of course, the battle itself isn’t all there is to the finale, and there’s more right than wrong to the story here. For one thing, Roxas and Namine get a nice denouement, one that makes it quite clear how they feel - and what they choose - about rejoining with their original selves. As someone who was bothered by the Riku/Namine business at the end of KH III, due to memories of this game, I can concede that there isn’t a whole lot to Roxas and Namine’s relationship here. Their scenes at the beginning are emotional, and their scene at the end is sweet, but their interaction is very limited. The mere fact that they are the Nobodies of Sora and Kairi does a lot of the heavy lifting for their relationship, and that bond is strong enough - and, at this point in the series, still written well enough - to sell the idea, but only just. I daresay this is something that Days could and should have addressed, but we’ll get to that another time.

The lead-up to the final boss provides nice moments between Kairi and Riku, Sora and Kairi, Sora and Riku, and one wonderful moment between the three of them. Setting aside the fact that the whole final boss should have been a second moment for the trio, and the game’s pandering to Riku’s prowess during the fight - the scenes between Sora and Riku after defeating Xemnas are quite well-done, and very effectively illustrate how their friendship has healed and reached a new equilibrium. Even better than that, however, is the game’s final scene. From Kairi’s letter reappearing as the key to the light and the enthusiastic greetings from the Disney cast, to the last flashes of Roxas and Namine and the final exchange between Sora and Kairi (which has some of the best voice acting those two VAs have done in the entire series), it’s an absolutely beautiful finale. The bittersweet, open, and uncertain finale of KH I is still the emotional high point of the series in my eyes, and I continue to applaud the game’s staff for daring such an ending; the way KH II ends is much closer to what one probably would have expected of KH I. But the happy ending of KH II is very much an earned one, and it’s an effective cap, not just on this game, but on everything done in the series up to that point. Kairi’s past remains mysterious and Maleficent is still unaccounted for, but the chain of tragedies set off by Ansem’s research is ended, the last traces of Xehanort are defeated, the worlds are at peace, and the three friends whose lives were torn apart are finally healed, whole, and together again, ready for a new adventure.

...Or, at least that’s what should have happened.

Back when I first played Kingdom Hearts II - fresh off of KH I, unaware that CoM even existed - it was, without question, my preferred game of the two. I would’ve even called it my favorite video game of all time (which wouldn’t have meant much - even now, it’s a very short list of video games that I’ve played from beginning to end.) I would’ve said the same after the second time I played through it, even as certain nagging doubts crept into my mind. Several years and the rest of the series later, I can’t give KH II that level of praise. 

Kingdom Hearts is a series where the first truly is the best, at least so far. Like CoM before it, KH II either introduces or continues trends and ideas that would bring later games down, and they all start to grate here. Elements like the secret reports and Summons lose their motivation in-story, and in the former case become a lazy way to toss out exposition that should have been part of the gameplay and cutscenes. For the first time, certain Disney worlds are saddled with stiff and uninspired re-tellings of their movie plots, devoid of room for Sora to make a difference. The pacing is uneven and it’s easy to lose sight of the main story during certain Disney worlds. Dialogue is often clunky, and fan service and pandering to Creators’ Pets hurts significant moments of the story. A lot of potential in the backstory of Roxas and the fate of Namine is left untapped. The trend of offering Kairi the will and ability to be more involved only to ignore the opportunity continues, Riku’s reintroduction to the group has issues, and Sora is caught in an awkward transition between the hero of the first came and the idiotic and ineffectual would-be messiah of later games.

With all of that said, though...I still love this game.

On paper, entries like Dream Drop Distance or KH III might’ve had greater ambition in the amount or kind of story they tried to tell, but in the actual presentation of the story, KH II is far more daring. From the prolonged opening sequence spent with a new character to the slow burn on the revelation of the Organization’s plans, KH II is quite unconventional in its story structure, and it often works to the game’s favor. Leaving so much of the year between KH I and II untold, even with CoM, is mystery done right, in a way that feels open to speculation and possibilities rather than heavy-handed teasing and baiting for spin-offs. This is the only time in the series where Maleficent and Pete make for an equal and compelling third party, and having that third force at play makes for another off-beat structural element that’s ultimately satisfying, even with the not-insignificant lag during the back half of the first Disney pass. The Organization being a collective villain rather than a single figure (even if Xemnas was its instigator) is a nice differentiation from KH I and CoM, and how pathetic the villains ultimately turn out to be gives them a nice degree of pathos - though that pathos isn’t carried too far.

While KH II is a few steps down the dark road, it hasn’t hit the abyss yet, and things that start to look problematic here are still strong overall. Some of the Disney worlds may have stiff movie recaps, but most are loose and accommodating to the larger KH story. Some may be filler, but most of them - on both passes - are at least technically connected to the main plot, and most of them - even the filler - in a meaningful and engaging way. The reports aren’t strongly motivated, but they’re not a complete crutch either. Roxas and Namine, if unfulfilled in their full potential, are still a force throughout the game (well, Roxas more than Namine) instead of being abruptly dropped.

Kairi’s denied obvious chances to get more involved, but she does get to strike out on her own and play a more active role in the story than she did in KH I. Riku’s pandered too a little too much once he reappears, but his role behind the scenes before then makes for a strong continuation of his redemption arc from R/R and is well-woven into the overall plot. Sora’s on the road to Flanderization, but he still has many of his better traits from the first game, including his greater competence at his missions and his believable, human reactions to the events around him. While he doesn’t have the arc of growth he had in KH I, or go through the deconstruction of CoM, he does have definite goals as an individual, and a pronounced sense of world-weariness as his chances of meeting those goals - finding Riku, going home, and seeing Kairi again - get further and further away.

Most of all, Kingdom Hearts II is still manageable in its story. The two sets of villains have relatively simple (but not simplistic) goals, and they’re revealed in a comprehensible fashion. More importantly, the logistics and pseudo-philosophical notions behind the villain plots don’t override the entire game, or pull focus from the protagonists. The heroes all have stories here, and if there’s an overarching theme to this game (not as clearly presented as the themes of KH I, mind you), it’s completion and resolution. If we may break them down:

Organization XIII, having made the foolish choice to discard their hearts, desperately try to escape the consequences of that choice through evil acts, only to fail and meet their ultimate end.

Roxas, who opens the game with mystery and confusion, comes to learn who he is and completes himself and Sora with his choice to surrender to his fate, something he grows to be at peace with.

Namine, having achieved a measure of peace with who and what she is, completes her tasks from the end of CoM and rejoins with her true self, after first saving Kairi and granting (most of) the heroes an escape from The World That Never Was.

Ansem the Wise, whose curiosity opened the door to everything that went wrong later, turns his back on base revenge and works to set the worlds to right, giving his own life in the process.

King Mickey, the hero who kept a deliberate watch on the state of the worlds and sounded the alert on the danger they were in, uncovers the truth about Organization XIII and plays his part to bring them to peace and finally makes it back home.

Donald and Goofy finally find their king.

Kairi, left alone with fading memories for a year, resolves to set out to find her friends, and not only achieves that goal, but facilitates their reconciliation and provides the means for them to finally return home.

Riku, after finding some measure of peace with himself in R/R, gives his all to see Sora restored and works to help him from the shadows, but fears to face his friends after his actions in KH I. When finally forced to, he learns that he hasn’t lost them, and the last of his self-doubt is discarded as he joins forces with Sora to finish off the last trace of Xehanort and make it back home.

And as for Sora, our chief hero: he is fully restored from his trials in CoM. Though eager - even desperate - to resume his search for Riku and return home, he doesn’t hesitate to start protecting the worlds again and finish off the remainder of the threat he first faced. While an authority figure presents that threat to him, Sora chooses to take it up, and carries it out without being directed or puppeted by Yen Sid at every step. The weight of the ordeals and his constant travels wear him down, the events of the year he lost (and Roxas’s role in those events) challenge him, and he does at one point refuse the call of the Keyblade (”Not yet! I have to find Kairi!”) Yet he persists in defending the worlds, even when it benefits the villains, and he fights his way to their castle to rescue and reunite with his friends. Having set out early in KH I to rescue those friends, he achieves this, finishes off the villain who turned his world upside down, and finally makes his way home to the island, the friends, and the girl he loves.

Kingdom Hearts II’s resolutions to all of these things is so final, and so satisfying, that the series since has had to ignore its finale, and a good chunk of its story, just to keep dragging things out. That’s to their detriment, but not KH II’s. While imperfect and uneven, it is a worthy sequel to the first game - the last such entry in the series - a lot of fun to play, and an ambitious and satisfying story.

And it has, to date, Kaoru Wada’s finest orchestration for the series. I absolutely adore his arrangement of Sanctuary from this game, and it makes me wish I’d kept up with the French horn every time I hear it.

[spamzineglasgow]

PART ONE: Glitching the Collective Mind (Dan Power)

Figures 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4

“I am not a nihilist, but a mood of grim, jolly absurdism comes over me often, as it seems to come over many of my young peers. To visit millennial comedy… is to spend time in a dream world where ideas twist and suddenly vanish; where loops of self-referential quips warp and distort with each iteration, tweaked by another user embellishing on someone else’s joke, until nothing coherent is left…”

> This quote comes from ‘Why is millennial humor so weird?’, in which journalist Elizabeth Bruenig (2017) taps into the vein of gleeful absurdity which is emerging in online creative spaces. This insight seems to have struck a chord with creators and consumers of online content, as in response, the article itself has become widely memed. Above there are four examples of this, with each taking a meme that existed independently and reframing it with the ‘millennial humor’ headline. There is a degree of self-awareness to this reframing, as if the content creators have taken the label ‘weird’ as a challenge to rise to. The absurdity of the source material is heightened by recontextualising it as formal journalism. By prefacing this image with a frame that draws attention to the image’s weirdness, these anonymous content creators are wilfully resisting interpretation, revealing their intent to baffle, bemuse, or maybe even unnerve internet users.

> Bruenig observes a tendency in some memes to celebrate meaninglessness with comic sincerity. By responding to the article in the way they did, these content creators have proved Bruenig’s point. The theory is put into practice: a meme has entered circulation where the intention is to be deliberately and playful obscure, and where the individual memes are linked only by their deployment of the same frame. Importantly, for all the incoherence of the memes themselves, there is a coherence to the methods producing them.

> What sparks these acts of coordinated communal nonsense – are the motivations personal, political, or is it a celebration of weirdness for its own sake? By exploring the dark absurdism creeping into post-internet artwork, particularly in video content, this series seeks to examine the latent ideology underpinning the dark surrealism of internet humour, and how its rising popularity changes the ways we think about ourselves and our realities.

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“...that which was intended to enlighten the world in practice darkens it. The abundance of information and the plurality of worldviews now accessible to us through the internet are not producing a coherent consensus reality... It is on this contradiction that the idea of a new dark age turns: an age in which the value we have placed on knowledge is destroyed by the abundance of that valuable commodity, and in which we look about ourselves in search of new ways to understand the world.”

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In New Dark Age (2018), his examination of the internet’s infiltration of our daily lives, James Bridle only just stops short of declaring that the internet will be the death of humanity. As well as the environmental cost of constant streaming and downloading, Bridle argues that the internet poses an existential threat in a more epistemological sense, by attempting the impossible task of collating and networking humanity’s collective knowledge, history, and culture.

> This cataloguing is conducted through the use of databases, which media theorist Lev Manovich argues are becoming (if they aren’t already) the new dominant media (2010, p.70). The database is distinguished from a physical collection of items and information by its flexibility, and the user’s ability to manipulate the structure of the content by searching for key words. Here there is a paradox: because it is so meticulously structured, the experience of using a database is one apparently devoid of structure. Manovich notes that the database is “distinct from reading a narrative or watching a film or navigating an architectural site” since these experiences are all linear, and so are experienced by readers or viewers in the same way, with point b always following point a, and so on (p.65). In a database users navigate the information however they choose, in effect creating their own narratives, with no guarantee that any two users’ experience of a database may be the same.

> This same notion is put forward by Henry Jenkins in Convergence Culture (2006), where he says “each of us constructs our own personal mythology from bits and fragments of information extracted from the media flow and transformed into resources through which we make sense of our everyday lives”. The narratives we forge through our online experiences become part of our understanding of the world – and they seem to be creating more confusion than clarity. These narratives are arbitrarily structured, and may contain false information or information devoid of meaning. Also, thanks to the volume and speed of online messaging, language is evolving faster than it ever has before (Press Association, 2015). Information may be conveyed to us in unfamiliar terms, and so be open to misinterpretation.

> Internet users are bombarded with information, little of which has any meaningful or memorable content. Exposing people to a transparent mapped network of humanity’s knowledge, history, and culture has irrevocably warped our perception of ourselves, and our relationship to the world. As Bridle later notes, “the more obsessively we attempt to compute the world, the more unknowably complex it appears”. At best the database makes the sum of all the world’s content feel overwhelming, and at worst having it all laid out makes it feel mundane. Either way, the damage done is to expose internet users to too much information, and this can lead to an existential crisis.

> Spending too long online (or rather, too long outside of the real world) must saturate the mind. This oversaturation of meaning gives way to feelings of melancholic or manic absurdity, or as Bruenig puts it, a “creeping suspicion that the world just doesn’t make sense”. From this suspicion arises a new wave of disillusioned artists, who we will refer to as the post-internet surrealists. Unlike other meme creators (whose work arguably is surrealist in its Dada-like remixing of disparate elements), the post-internet surrealists are surrealists with intent, who respond to one another’s work, and whose videos consistently evoke alienation and absurd bemusement within digitally-rendered worlds. Videos such as BagelBoy’s pront (2017) engage with infinity as a source of existential confusion, and others like surreal entertainment’s What Kanye really showed Trump in the white house (2018) abstract real-life events to the point of absurdity (or make their inherent absurdity more apparent) by transporting them to a digital non-setting.

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Manovich argues that the database is a distinct cultural form, like a novel or film or building, in that it presents its own distinct model of how the world should be experienced. Unlike narrative, the database is non-linear. Unlike architectural structure, the database is non-spatial. It appears to us as information without structure and without context – in short, information divorced from the reality in which it takes meaning.

> This creates a tension, which grows stronger the more we rely on the online world to conduct business in the real one. It is resolved, or at least eased, by the digital world bleeding into the physical. The world becomes what Bridle calls ‘code/space’, which he defines as “the interweaving of computation with the built environment”. This term isn’t internet-specific, and covers anything which requires users to think computationally in order to interact, such as self-service checkouts, or traffic light buttons. However, its impact is most significantly felt in the prevalence of internet-connected devices such as the mobile phone, which turn the whole world into potential code/space.

> The internet is omnipresent. It is so vast in size that popular indicators of space and size fail to adequately describe it. It’s a hyper-object, to borrow a term from philosopher Timothy Morton, so large and far-reaching that it surpasses the boundaries of location, so and complex that it cannot be entirely comprehended at once.

> Morton is an ecologist, and develops his idea in relation to climate change. In the blog Ecology Without Nature, he describes the hyper-object global warming as being so “massively distributed in time and space” that we can consider it “nonlocal”, not existing wholly in any one place. He writes that when you experience rain you are “in some sense” experiencing climate, but “you are never directly experiencing global warming” (2010). Global warming is too big an object to meaningfully encounter, but to dismiss its existence on these grounds would be ridiculous. We may be unable to comprehend its existence entirely, but still we know it exists through the traces it leaves across the globe.

> Like global warming, the internet is a hyper-object, and the data we glean from it is just a fragment of the whole. When we consider the internet as one hyper-object, rather than a collection of individual data objects, then all internet-connected devices become components in a single global network, one global code/space.

> To meaningfully discuss the surrealism emerging online we will consider the internet not as a collection of individual texts, images and videos, but as one networked whole. Matthew Smith argues that, since digital media work by translating data into “universally exchangeable” bits, “all digital media are therefore identical in structure; like Campbell’s soup cans” (2007). The content of two memes may be worlds apart, but fundamentally they are both the same thing. Furthermore, if they both exist online, they are equally tiny composite parts of a larger total structure. This is not the same as, for example, claiming that all paintings in a gallery are part of the same work because they share a building. With physical objects, there is always the possibility of them leaving the gallery or entering a new one. This does not work digitally; you can’t have objects within the internet because the internet itself is an object of which digital artworks form a part.

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Briefly, we’ll consider a post-internet artwork which isn’t a meme. Crispin Best’s ‘pleaseliveforever’ is an eight-line poem which regenerates every few seconds under a new, randomly generated title (2017). By making the content arbitrary and fleeting, the poem draws attention to its medium, and flaunts its ability to do things pre-internet poetry never could. Musing on this, SPAM’s own Denise Bonetti asks “what is the poem, then? The structure? The algorithm?” (2019), and indeed, if the content of the poem is continually being remixed then the only constant by which we can define it is its invisible network of underlying code. Because it exists digitally, the poem’s structure and algorithm are indistinguishable – the algorithm is the structure. And it’s not a structure in its own right, but one small part embedded within the hypertext of the internet as a networked whole.

> The internet is a database of databases, one giant non-spatial structure too large to pigeonhole, but within which we can observe trends. It will be useful to conceptualise the internet as one giant work of art, a hyper-artwork with an uncountable number of authors and viewers. This artwork is mutable, and continually evolving. Since the internet is a network of information relating to the real world, it might be considered a reconstruction of reality. The internet then is a constantly changing map of the world, and if we consume its content on a daily basis, and if we never distance ourselves from its code/space, it throws our understanding of the world into a constant state of flux.

> This uncertainty, and the anxiety or absurdity arising from it, is key to understanding the work of the post-internet surrealists. BagelBoy’s icced (2017) might be set in the real world, but there’s no way to be certain. The plot is simply that a man goes to a store, buys a cola, then goes home to drink it, but through means of information saturation and a post-internet aesthetic these events are abstracted beyond relatability and almost beyond recognition. The film’s world is constructed out of PNG images, stock photos and text boxes – spoken words appear as text, characters glide across the screen at will, and at the end the film’s entire diegesis is hijacked by an advert. Either the video is deconstructing real-world events by moving them to a digital setting, or it’s physically depicting a virtual interaction (typing replaces speech online, people navigate between internet sites without physically moving, and adverts can materialise from anywhere at any moment with no prior warning). Like the explicitly surreal memes we’ll encounter in future instalments, icced presents an absurd but coherent depiction of code/space, a version of reality infused with internet logic.

> But before we examine these surreal memes in detail we’ll go briefly to the very beginnings of cinema, a period of experimentation and genre consolidation similar to that occurring in online spaces today. By examining the developments of early cinema and viral video in tandem, we’ll see that giving consumers the power to create and share their own work makes profit a less important factor in filmmaking, and that this fundamentally changes the kind of video content which gets produced and distributed.

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The prototype digital cinema emerging today may seem worlds apart from the first few years of cinema itself, but in fact the two share many common features. One scholar notes how “Both films of early cinema and online video clips are short films, mostly staying well under ten minutes in length” (Broeren, 2009). These short films were exhibited collectively in cinema’s early days (Gunning, 1990), keeping audiences supplied with a steady stream of novel content. Today they are exhibited side-by-side on databases like YouTube, where viewers can view as many as they desire in a single sitting, and sustain their own engagement by varying the content they consume at whim.

> In the early days of cinema, exhibitionists would often “re-edit” the films they purchased, and personalise their own exhibitions with offscreen supplements. This, too, occurs in online film. The media theorist Limor Shifman (2013) notes how “user-driven imitation and remix” as a mode of content production is integral to internet culture, and with video meme creators often accompanying their edits of other videos with captions, active comment sections, and links to other media, the off-screen supplements of old are today integrated into the on-screen experience.

> These similarities are not just superficial – they arise from the same factors. The birth of cinema saw large masses of people consuming and participating in the products of newly available commercial technologies, and the emergence of a distinct online cinema is, essentially, an accelerated replay of this process. Sharing in the same global code/space makes internet users a bigger potential audience than has ever previously existed, and the quantity and style of content produced by and for internet users is determined by the activity of this networked mass.

> Early cinema was concerned with newly-formed masses of people resulting from twentieth century modernity, not just for audiences but also as subject matter. According to Gunning (2004), the ‘local films’ of Mitchell and Kenyon would document crowds of people moving through public spaces, and when doing so they were tuned in to the growing public discourse around newly-visible congregations of people in developing urban areas. One particular style of film they produced, which we will take as out main focus, is the ‘factory gate’ film. These would document workers streaming out of a factory at the end of the day, almost universally consisting of single (occasionally sped up or spliced short) static long shots (LS) or extreme long shots (XLS). While the single take, duration and static camera are the result of practical limitations, the choice to employ LS or XLS is an artistic one. Greater distance allowed the frame to fill with a greater number of subjects, creating a visual cacophony and increasing the spectacle. The framing was often loose, meaning there were no focal points to direct attention. Viewer’s eyes would rapidly scan over the moving crowd, heightening any sense of the crowd being overwhelmingly large.

> As well as directly engaging with large masses of people, the demands of large audiences to see films made specifically for their local area meant Mitchell and Kenyon had to develop a way of turning out new films efficiently and affordably. In order to exploit the collective spending power of the masses, the form and content of these local pictures are wrapped around the desires of the masses to recognise themselves and their towns on-screen. The masses were not only the subject of the films, but also determined their mode of production, and by extension their formal properties.

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The factory gate picture is a genre, and films in this genre are produced by following the Mitchell and Kenyon template: set up a camera by a factory gate at closing time, framing the exit in LS to capture as many moving people as possible. Templatability allows for films to effectively be cloned, so it’s necessary in commercial filmmaking, allowing things to be produced and reproduced at more profitable rates. By following templates to easily reproduce a standardised kind of content, the early genre films of Mitchell and Kenyon reproduce similarly to online memes. Sean Rintel (2013) argues that “templatability lies at the heart of online memes”, and explains that “memetic process is a product of the human capability to separate ideas into two levels – content and structure – and then contextually manipulate that relationship”. A meme, fundamentally, is the deployment of a familiar template to reframe and alter our perception of otherwise familiar or unfamiliar content. It is almost mathematical in its generation of novel content, since there are as many potential remixes of movies and songs as there are unique combinations.

Figures 2.1 and 2.2

> Take these memes as an example. Their origin is the YouTube video Gordon Ramsay cannot locate the lamb sauce (2016), a remixed clip of gameshow Hell’s Kitchen (2005-) in which Gordon shouts at contestants who have not made lamb sauce in time. The video cuts out anything other than Gordon’s shouting, and accentuates the moment’s absurdity by elongating and pitch-shifting the word ‘sauce’.Figures 2.1 and 2.2 combine elements of the remix with existing meme formats (figures 2.3 and 2.4) by adding a picture of Gordon and key words ‘lamb sauce’ and ‘located’, either in reference to the video, or to other memes derived from it. These memes were created by reshaping the source material to fit another meme template.

> The prominence of the remix in post-internet art produces huge amounts content which can only be fully understood in relation to other content. Memes function like in-jokes, and in this way they are participatory. The collaboration and participation between an unknowable number of anonymous contributors is part of the enjoyment not just of post-internet surrealism, but of all memes. It’s like shouting into the abyss and waiting to see what echoes back. The communication is rapid and blind, and sublime.

> In commercial cinema templates are used to maximize profits, so it might seem contradictory that they have been embraced by meme makers. But, in online spaces, the use and misuse of templates is what makes the art form participatory. Just as the viewers of local films would attend screenings to see themselves projected, thus participating in the production of the product they consume, so internet users riff off each other’s jokes and meme formats as a way of contributing to the continual evolution of a meme they enjoy.

> It has been argued by film historian Charles Musser (1990) that “modern” cinema begins with the birth of the nickelodeon, the implication of this being that modern cinema is necessarily commercial, whereas pre-cinema films were not. This distinction might be crude, since films were being produced for profit before the nickelodeon came into fashion, but it’s a helpful distinction to make. What makes the form, content, and distribution of pre-cinema and post-internet film resemble each other so closely is the same thing that makes them dissimilar to industrial filmmaking: they’re not driven by profit, but by novelty for its own sake; they are not produced by companies of people, but by small teams or individual auteurs; they experiment with newly-accessible technologies to see what effects can be created; and importantly, since they do not rely upon the systems of capitalism to support their growth and distribution, these films can afford to scrutinise these systems rather than reinforce their ideology.

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> Today’s advances in affordable camera technology, internet access, and free video editing software have shifted the power of content creation away from industry and into the hands of consumers. Anyone with a smartphone can be an auteur, and anyone with a wifi password can become a distributor. Creating and sharing content is easier than it’s ever been before, and developments within the medium now occur at a rate too fast to thoroughly document. The continual crossing of templates and content items produces countless proliferations and variations of existing memes each day. These memes are characterised by hyper-intertextuality, each new remix a thread that further thickens the intertextual tapestry.

> In his seminal essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin (1982) observes that as reproduction of artworks becomes more common, artworks are increasingly “designed for reproducibility”. With the emergence of templatability and ease of creating and sharing content in online spaces, this process is now more efficient than ever.

> Any image or video online can be downloaded in seconds, and a number of user-friendly picture and video editing programmes come pre-installed on most commercial computers. Mechanical reproduction allowed for films to be copied with ease and re-shaped at will, spawning a number of variants which today is unknowable, since many will not have been preserved. Online however everything is preserved, and this coupled with more efficient and accessible methods of reproducing and adapting works means that videos can be adapted, and their adaptations adapted, at such great volume and speed that they can quickly bear no resemblance to their origins. Cataloguing all the varieties of meme is an unfeasibly large task, but by examining trends within meme-making we can observe how the nature of an artwork changes, becoming more amorphous and apparently meaningless, in an age of digital reproduction.

~

Tune in later this week when we’ll be looking at ~ v a p o r w a v e ~, and navigating the maze of digital non-places and non-times which is rapidly becoming less distinguishable from the world we live in today.

Full list of works cited plus bonus discography are available here. 

This is part one of a three part series. Part two is available here and part three available here. 

~

Text: Dan Power

Published 5/10/19

[josephpelletierblog]

The Ultimate Guide to Video Content Marketing for Your Business – Pdatas Blog

Video marketing is not what it used to be a few years ago. Today, it has gone to become lot more serious, and much more effective, especially for businesses that have already managed to build an audience. A large number of small businesses are taking advantage of video content marketing to stand out from the competition in order to achieve their goals.

Why video? Because it works. And it will keep working.

Look around and you’ll find that video content is being consumed like never before. YouTube has turned into the second biggest search engine in the world. That’s right, not Bing or Yahoo, but YouTube is where people are searching on right after Google for everything. Recipes, product demos, how-to videos – you name it, they’re searching for it.

Here are some more video stats to convince you about the power video holds on the web:

82% of Twitter users consume video content on the microblogging site.

92% of mobile video viewers like to share them with other people.

87% of Internet marketers leverage video content to meet their business goals.

This simply means that as a business you cannot and should not take video content marketing for granted. With time most of your competition will be leveraging video, which means it should be a part of your core marketing strategy now. The value of video should not be underestimated if you want to taste real success with your content marketing efforts.

Storytelling Via Video

Before we delve into how you can use video content marketing, it’s important to first understand what actually makes video click. While there are a number of reasons that come to mind, the biggest one is that videos allow you to tell stories. Stories that you can use to connect to your target audience. Stories that you as a marketer can leverage to create powerful impressions and long lasting relationships. Stories that simply deliver.

Yes, video has the potential to help your prospects and customers understand your business and create a ground for future promotions. But it’s also an amazing way to spread your ideas with meaningful stories. And that’s what makes it so exciting.

You, as a consumer, which will you most likely to engage to? A video that sounds like a sales pitch or a narrative that tells you the value of the product? Consumers now are more connected to a brand if they feel like their lives will change once they use it. Connect with them emotionally, that’s the key.

Also, you can use video to experiment with new and brave content to touch the emotional side of your target audience. Because videos are a mixture of visuals, motion and sounds, they allow you to create deep and more meaningful connections with people — while positioning your brand in the best possible way.

However, in order to make the most out of video and find success with it, you as a business should know and understand how to use it the right way. Until and unless you realize the true power of video and take the right steps to leverage it, you won’t see the kind of results you want to see.

What Exactly is Video Content Marketing?

Content marketing in its purest form is nothing but the production and online distribution of content that is educational slash informative in nature. The goal of this content is to convert online content consumers into prospects/customers. And also to provide enough information to current customers and convince them to become repeat buyers.

Content marketing is used across various channels, with the help of different types of content. Which means it is not limited to text, and video is a big part of it.

Since video is a strong and effective way to spread your marketing message, it can take your content marketing efforts to the next level. But once again, this depends on how well you execute your video content marketing campaign. And what you want to achieve from it.

5 Valid Reasons Why Your Business Needs Video Content Marketing

By now you should know what video content marketing exactly is and how it’s growing rapidly. It’s a tactic that your business needs to incorporate in order to get a higher return from your online marketing efforts.

Let’s now look into a few strong reasons as to why you should invest in video content marketing and make it a part of your core business strategy.

More Conversions

When it comes to running an online marketing campaign, the ultimate metric that matters is the conversion rate. Because if you’re not converting your prospects into leads or customers, your business isn’t growing, it’s as simple as that.

By leveraging video content marketing, you’ll be able to get more people to sign up for your newsletter or buy your latest product. When compared to other types of content, video content can give your prospects the needed clarity to make the final decision. It gives you a certain edge over the competition and since quality video isn’t as easy to produce, it can take a while before others catch up with you.

A recent research conducted shows that 71% of marketers have found video content more conversion-friendly. When done right, it can easily help you get better results with minimal efforts.

Better Emotional Connection

If you look around the social media landscape, you’ll find that videos are being shared the most in comparison to other content types. While there are many reasons as to why people like sharing videos, one of the strongest “why” is that people connect to the right video content on an emotional level. By creating videos that appeal to the emotions of your target audience, you not only give them a reason to consume your content but also spread it across their own network.

For example, if you look at a traditional blog post, you won’t find the emotional cues that come with video content. Right from the tone of voice to the sound effects/music being used, everything can have a positive impact on the viewer. Which ultimately makes your content stand out from the rest and also memorable.

When interested people watch your video that evokes their strongest emotions (happiness, awe, anger, etc), it may not push them towards taking action immediately. However, it will help them make a buying decision later on when they see more such content from you.

So whether you are in the B2B or the B2C market, impressing the emotions of your audience with video marketing, can and will help you bring in more business.

Higher Accessibility

Let’s face it, video production is no longer the difficult task it used to be a few years ago. You no longer need to spend a ton of time on creating a video or have a huge budget to achieve studio level quality. Yes, we’re talking about video content that only the big guys were able to produce before.

Thanks to the advancement in technology and with new/innovative tools available, creating and launching your own video has become much more affordable. In fact, it will keep getting easier in the coming years as more and more businesses jump into producing their own videos and starting their own channels.

Stronger Engagement Levels

Many studies have proven that visual content works great when it comes to engaging your target audience. People today like to consume to content that is visually appealing and engrossing. Now, this isn’t limited to pictures or photographs. Video content is proven to be a big part of the “visual content” movement.

With more and more people watching video content on social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, you can see firsthand how video is helping generate strong engagement from target users.

When you create and share video content with your social followers, you have a 10X chance of them engaging with your video, which often translates to more shares and comments. However, do keep in mind that the quality of video content marketing matters to a huge extent and has a direct impact on the kind of results you are able to generate.Easier SEO Results

Does video content marketing have an impact on SEO? Can videos actually help you rank higher in the search engines for keywords that are hard to rank for? The answer is yes, given that you’re doing it right. There is little doubt that Google and other major search engines like Bing love video content and won’t hesitate to rank it higher than traditional articles.

According to a study done by Comscore, by adding video content to your site, you have a 53% higher chance to end up on the first page of the SERPs. This just goes on to show that quality video content can make a big difference to not only your conversion rate, but also the organic search traffic you generate.

Understanding the Video Content Marketing Funnel

Using video for marketing becomes much more effective when you take a prospect though a well-defined content marketing funnel. By implementing video, you will be able to generate more sales with your content strategy.

It doesn’t matter what type of video content you use, with the help of a proper video content marketing funnel, you can:

Create more awareness among your target audience about your product or service while creating a positive impression on them. This is the first and the most important stage of content marketing because without awareness, it’s impossible to gain trust.

Focus on the problem and the solution you offer, clearly explaining the benefits of using your product and educating your audience. This is the second stage where you help your prospective buyers understand how exactly your product/service can help them.

Stand out from the competition and make it easy for prospects to reach a buying decision and do business with you. This is the final stage of the funnel where you can expect to actually close the sale.

In order to make the most of your content marketing funnel, it’s important that you use the right type of content to take potential buyers through it.

When you use video content, your funnel not only becomes stronger but you also end up getting a higher return on investment. Right from building brand loyalty to increasing your conversion rate, you’ll find that video is the perfect medium to get more of everything.

7 Simple Tips for Efficient Video Content Marketing

If you want your video content marketing to deliver results, then you need to take a calculated approach to it. You can’t just blindly play the video marketing game and expect to see returns.

Here are seven proven tips to help you make the most out of your video content marketing efforts.

#1: Grab their Attention Quick

Internet users are not as patient as they used to be. Today, it’s all about finding the best piece of content. So don’t be surprised if people jump your video to look for another one if they don’t find it enticing enough.

The solution is to hook your viewers without wasting their time and delivering on your promise. You only have a few seconds to impress them (less than 10 to be precise).

So have an interesting, relevant start to the video and don’t wait too long to reach the meat. Whether your video is long or short, give your viewers a reason to watch it without skipping it.

#2: Deliver Real Value

Powerful video content marketing is all about giving immense value to the viewer in whatever form you choose. Your content strategy should focus on adding value to the lives of your target audience. How you provide this value is subjective. Because what’s valuable for your audience may not be that valuable for a different type of audience.

So for instance, if you find that you can give value by creating and publishing entertaining yet informative video content, do that. Or if you want to choose an even simpler route by creating videos offering specific (niche or industry related) knowledge, even that’s fine. Keep in mind that any video that you produce must be watchable and enjoyable. Because if it’s a drag, then it’s not valuable.

So be interesting. Stay relevant. Seek engagement.

#3: Go Beyond YouTube

While there is no doubt that your video content marketing plan cannot be complete without YouTube, it’s not enough. In other words, there are many other valuable video sharing channels/platforms that you can tap into besides YouTube. Your aim is to reach out to your target audience in the best possible way, and that can’t happen if you only focus on YouTube.

The most obvious reason as to why you need to consider other platforms is because of the potential to connect with a varied audience. For instance, the kind of people you can reach with your videos on Facebook is not the same as YouTube. Because Facebook users discover video content in a different way. Also, different platforms have people from various age groups using them.

This is why it makes sense to leverage as many video platforms as you can. However, allocate the majority of your time to a platform where your target audience is most likely to be found.

#4: Stay Consistent in Your Approach

Consistency plays a big role in making your video stand out from the competition. Why? Because videos are visual, which means you’re not limited in how you present the content. With every video you create, you can help your viewers resonate with your message by being consistent. Your brand’s personality, look and design matters to a great extent in keeping consistency high.

For example, if you are creating videos with people in them, then keep using the same cast so that your viewers see faces they’re already familiar with. Similarly, if your videos only have a voice-over, see to it that the colors and the design in the video you use stay consistent.

You may also want to plan your video content well in advance (create a video content calendar) to make sure your consistent with timing as well.

However, when it comes to video platforms, your videos need to be customized for each. The one size/look fits all approach doesn’t work here. If you’re posting a video on Instagram, then it helps to create videos that look more natural, unedited or spontaneous. But on YouTube and Facebook, people expect a professional feel, so that’s what you give them.

#5: Don’t Ignore the Quality Aspect

Just because you’re creating and uploading videos on YouTube or Facebook doesn’t mean that you should forget about quality. In fact, keeping up with quality is extremely important on these social media sites because they’re moderated by real communities. Users won’t think twice before giving your videos a thumbs down if they don’t see quality.

So say no to low-definition video and hello to HD video content that people like to view and share with others.  As video platforms improve in quality and service, they expect to give their users a better experience. Which will only happen if you stop testing the patience of your viewers with bad videos. Remember, quality over quantity is the number one rule of creating amazing video content.

#6: Optimize for Silence

Besides YouTube, other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram tend to auto-play videos without sound. The user may or may not choose to watch the video with sound. But stats show that up to 85% of videos viewed on Facebook are watched with volume down to zero.

The simple reason for the “silence revolution” in the online video world (especially on social media) is that people are increasingly watching videos on their mobile devices. Since the social experience is largely silent, especially with people around, it’s no wonder that many users prefer to viewing videos with sound turned off.

So how do you impress users when they are only watching and not listening? By creating attractive yet relevant visuals that make the video feel engrossing. If there’s dialogue in your video, then add English subtitles. In short, have sound in your video but also optimize for silence.

#7: Add a Call to Action

What’s the use of video content marketing if there’s no proper call to action in place? Businesswise, if you’re investing in video content marketing, then you need measurable results. Having a clear CTA makes real business sense and it should not be ignored.

Call to actions in videos need to be complicated. Simply prompting viewers to visiting your website or subscribing to your newsletter at the end of the video is usually enough. But if you want to go a step further, you may have a call to action come up right in the middle of the video when the viewer is deeply engrossed in the video.

However, stuffing your videos with multiple call to actions is a strict no-no. The last thing you want is to come off is salesy or pushy to your viewers. Because annoyed viewers will move away from the video and avoid sharing it with others.

4 Quick Video Content Marketing Ideas You Can Apply to Your Business Today

Coming up with creative video content ideas can seem daunting but it’s not impossible. What you do with video largely depends on your goals, so if you’re clear about them it shouldn’t be difficult.

Here are a few ideas that you can use in your business, depending on your marketing goals.

Share your company’s or business’s value using videos which could be anything from repurposed blog posts to staff testimonials. The idea is to create video content that makes your brand stand out from the crowd. Remember, the more your audience sees your brand as unique and trustworthy, the better it is.

Deliver company news and make important announcements with the help of videos that can be shared through your social media channels. Added a new feature to your product? Use a video explaining the benefits. Have a special event coming up? Create a video detailing the ins and outs of it, and how viewers can become a part of it. Running a special promotion? Run a video Facebook ad and share it with your target audience.

Provide a product demo so that people who don’t want to read can see your product in working. When your prospective customers see your product in a running condition, it positions you as a trusted brand. Show your audience what your product is about so that it sells itself. Make the video demo powerful enough to remove any doubts from your prospective customer’s minds.

Show that your brand or business is a thought leader by creating videos about your industry and about evergreen topics related to your subject matter expertise. Help your audience understand the difficult areas of your market. Make their lives easier with your videos and in return they will give you more business.

Regardless of the type of business you run, video content marketing can and will help you grow. However, if you find creating and marketing with videos intimidating, you can contact us and we will be glad to help you execute your campaign. Alternatively, do check out our content marketing services page to get a better idea of how we can help you.

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