#this fee? it's part one of a two-parter

[bluemoonrabbit]

My team is really great 🥹

There has been an unexpected issue this week where an "I'm new and don't know what I don't know" moment resulted in students not being alerted of a fee until it was time to pay. To be clear, we did email them a reminder months in advance, and the fee and its due date are listed in multiple places they know about, they just didn't get the extra "okay, payments are open now" alert.

I didn't think it was a huge deal, and since I'm the face of the team, I wrote to the students explaining the situation and making it sound like fully my mistake. I was happy to take the blame assuming the students would be aware of the fee thanks to the other reminders, and at most be mildly inconvenienced. Well, the students blew UP– apparently they forgot all the other reminders, didn't budget for the fee, and now they're in a pickle. Their level of not-coolness was frankly shocking and I felt both terrible for them, and like they were being unfair– but I also didn't know how to defend myself or fix things without sounding, well, defensive.

I said that last bit to my team, and they immediately circled the wagons. They recognized that this is not a me mistake, but that I had become the target of the students' ire anyway. They helped me come up with a solution and fully understood that fixing my reputation with the students is a priority. They even validated me being a frustration-crier, something I've always been ashamed of as unprofessional.

I still feel both sorry for and mad at the students, but feel so good about my team right now.

[dukeofriven]

So while I can't precisely date this ad, I got curious about the cost. A little internet sleuthing has found several of these tapes with copyrights on the back for around 1989 or so, so I'm going to pick that date for the inflation calculator. More unclear is the 'double cassettes for $19.95' claim. At first I thought that this was the price for episodes that were two-parters—which in TOS' case would be The Menagerie Parts 1 and 2. Older folks will remember films long enough to come on two VHS tapes such as The Sound of Music, but I tracked down the VHS copy and both parts are on one 103 minute tape. So I can only conclude that they mean if you buy two episodes at a time you get a hefty discount, but if anyone can clarify please let me know—'double cassette' seems a clunky phrasing for 'buy two episodes for a lower price' So with some simple arithmetic and taking that two-episode discount (I guess?) into effect, you're going to buy 39 double cassettes of two episodes and one singular episode—presumably, going lineally, Turnabout Intruder, the worst episode of TOS and one of the worst episodes in all of Star Trek. 39 times $19.95 is $778.05 plus $12.95 because I wasn't able to talk you out of buying Turnabout Intruder. That's $791.00 USD in 1989 dollars, or some $1,695.15 USD in 2024 dollars to own all of Star Trek: The Original Series. [That's $2,290.74 CAD in modern money, but doesn't take into account the no-doubt heft import fees and other US cruelties that would likely have pushed the cost over $3,000 modern dollars.] This is also potentially pre-tax, as I won't pretend to know how US sales taxes work, much less in 1989. Still, at minumum, you're paying the equivalent cost of a decent computer in modern times to own all 79 episodes of Star Trek.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

1534 Nendoroid Hyakunosuke Ogata is finally available!

So, since Goodsmile finally made him available for preorder, let me ramble a bit about him (and how to preorder him).

Yeah, I know I already did it for the prototype but a little more can’t hurt.

Warning, I’m gonna use the images that are on the Goodsmile site page for him... but also the ones on Kahotan’s Japanese blog because they capture him better.

So let’s start by seeing him in full colour.

The colouring is not bad, we were already familiar with this pose as it was used for the prototype as well so I won’t really comment much on it. I’m not sure why they’ve chosen the ‘standard expression’ instead than the grinning one for this photo as he actually was grinning in the image that inspired this but whatever, the grinning expression is included and that’s all that matters.

We can see an improvement in the definitive version, which is that his eyebrows are drawn in manga style (we can see many lines form them) and not in anime style (were they’re made with a single, large stroke).

This was something I know many fans has requested so I’m glad Goodsmile listened them... even though they declare that their official inspiration is his anime version.

They also added lines below his eyes so I’ll say they’ve tried their best in reproducing his expression.

Kahotan’s blog allows us to see him from behind as well.

I love how they had drawn some rebellious strands of hair and hadn’t made them all slicked up, and his little hood is very cute.

It’s a pity it can’t be pulled up though but this would require three more additional pieces and it’s kind of clear Goodsmile wasn’t that invested in his cape as we can see in the images only one version of it.

Why this is relevant?

Because the right side of it is pulled up to allow Ogata to move his arm while the other is kept lowered. In hindsight probably it was better to include a cloth cape instead than a plastic one as I think this could limit Ogata’s mobility.

I’m not sure if he’ll be able to shoot with his cape on and the difference between the two sides might be too marked if he’ll keep his right arm down.

Oh well, this is something we will be able to judge only when we’ll have him and I understand this was a BIG problem for Goodsmile as they clearly couldn’t give him a dozen of plastic capes and pieces in cloth or in other materials that aren’t plastic are included only in rare occurrences.

The plastic cape is still VERY CUTE.

Okay, going on.

As Nendo’s arms are simply too short it was impossible to reproduce Ogata’s iconic gesture of hair grooming so I think, according to Goodsmile, this is the  compromise they could reach... whcih shows also the grinning face we could see in the prototype.

It’s nowhere near the hair grooming but, as I said, that one was IMPOSSIBLE TO GET so I really apprecciate their attempt to find something that could work as equivalent.

I think this image might give an even better idea of hair grooming (it reminds me of when he did it after Asirpa told him not to shoot the woodcocks), but maybe it’s just me.

This image shows us they also gave him a left hand which can hold the rifle, which is nice.

We continue with something that left me a little perplex, Ogata’s shooting position.

I don’t know if whoever placed him and Kahotan also made a mistake in positioning him... but it seems his right hand is not holding the rifle at all... when Ogata normally does.

It wasn’t something problematic as Nendoroid Tanya Degurechaff can do it just fine.

Even Nendoroid Springfield seems to hold the rifle with her right hand more than him.

Still, it’s possible they just wanted to show that hand. In the initial image there’s a right hand that can hold the rifle, so maybe that’s the trick.

He still looks really cool when shooting.

Goodsmile gave Ogata a butterfly to try to reach. I’ll say even if they said they were taking inspiration from the anime, they definitely have considered the manga as the butterfly scene isn’t in the anime, just in the manga.

LOL, here they would have needed the standard expression and not the grinning one but whatever, Ogata reaching for the butterly is ADOURABLE.

Yes, the butterfly is not very detailed, but keep in mind it will be really, really tiny. You won’t see all the details and it’s a complete new butterfly as the ones included in the “after parts part 2″ set were different

The last image Goodsmile shows us is a very special one as THEY INCLUDED PARTS TO MAKE THE CITATAP SCENE!

I’ve sent requests and pictures for this one so I’m delighted they had included it... which was not an easy feat as it means this Ogata will come with an additional sitting body (in addition to the little wooden stump and knifes) which is really not so common.

I wish I could see his expression better but I still love him.

Overall I think they paid more attention to him than to my poor Nendoroid Asirpa (I made a full review here).

Asirpa came with two more expressions, but despite all her pose being based on her being seated, she didn’t have any sitting part and she came with very few accessories (the hand with the chopsticks, the bown and the spoon with the otter head), she couldn’t hold her knives to make citatap and there was not a single possibility to have her use her bow and arrows, with not even her walking stick being included, although, credits when it’s due, due to the intricate Ainu patterns, she was probably hell to make for Goodsmile as there’s the chance that one had to be handpainted.

Also, her bent arm was a single piece, meaning you couldn’t rotate it, while both Ogata’s arms are two pieces. this makes for a lot more poses.

What worries even more though, is how she’s not being re-released with Nendoroid Ogata. Asirpa was released in 2018/09. Now, when Goodsmile release a new Nendo of a series for which they had already released Nendo, they often re-release them. It’s the case of how Tamaki Iroha gets a new release because they are releasing Nanami Yachiyo.

No re-release might mean my poor Asirpa didn’t really sell well, so Goodsmile either has still some of her old copies or doesn’t feel like investing in her again.

This means we got Nendoroid Ogata merely due to the HUGE amount of requests... and we might not get any other Golden Kamuy Nendoroid unless he sells really well.

Due to this I encourage you all to preorder him, to show Goodsmile an interest in GK Nendo. This not only because the Ogata Nendo is beyond cute but also because only in this way we can hope to get new GK Nendo as well.

How can you do it?

There’s of course, the Goodsmile on line shop. You register and place your oder. You will have to pay additional fees such as import taxes if you’re not residing in Japan.

However preordering in a shop near your home might be important in this period due to the Coronavirus affecting mail services so what can you do?

You can also order at Goodsmile online shop USA if you’re in Canada or in the United States as they don’t ship him out of them.

So what if you don’t live in Japan, USA or Canada?

Many of Goodsmile partner shops allow for pre-order.

You can search for one in your country or close by.

I use and can wholeheartedly recommend the Neko no Koe shop as they always offered me a great service. You can pay after your Nendo reaches their shop and they can send it to you when you’re ready to receive it (which for me is an imperative as there are periods in which I’m not at home and they just hold my Nendo for me without any additional cost and wait to send them until I’m back). They offer their services also to who’s not Italian so you can mail them to ask for info (nekonokoe.shop@gmail.com).

BE VERY WARY if you try to pre-order him from a shop that’s not one of the Goodsmile parters one. I never heard of someone managing to get an Asirpa bootleg and it’s possible they didn’t make them as she wasn’t popular but they’ll know Ogata was ugely requested so yes, chances to find him as a bootleg are higher.

Bootlegs often have a horrible quality (they rage from them being very ugly to their parts not staying together or being missing) but, what’s more, harm the original producer (Goodsmile) and the copyright holders (Geno studio and Noda himself).

I wholeheartedly recommend to stay away form them.

[joealwyndaily]

Sometimes the best Christmas presents are the ones we don’t think we need; a new Christmas Carol, for instance. Indeed it may be indicative of a certain unappreciated vacancy around the Christmas tree that in discussing the BBC’s new version of the Dickens classic both its director and leading man refer back to The Muppet Christmas Carol made way back in 1992.

“I was sent the script,” admits Nick Murphy, best known for directing the Rebecca Hall ghost movie The Awakening, “and my first thought was, ‘For God’s sake! The Muppets! They nailed it. What’s the point?’ ”

Joe Alwyn, who plays Scrooge’s clerk Bob Cratchit in the BBC three-parter, has meanwhile posted a trailer on Instagram with the caption: “Hard to fill the shoes once worn by Kermit. But I tried.” The self-deprecation was quickly “hearted” by the singer Taylor Swift, who is the actor’s girlfriend and who will be watching the mini-series with Alwyn and his family in London in the final days before Christmas.

There is nothing wrong, of course, with The Muppet Christmas Carol. It is probably in most people’s top three adaptations of Dickens’s masterpiece (alongside, I would say, Alastair Sim’s 1951 version and Scrooged). Its endurance does suggest, however, that it may be time someone did something a bit more serious, a little darker and a touch more grown-up with a tale that excoriated Victorian neglect and associated Christmas with the relief of poverty for ever more.

And this is exactly what Nick Murphy has achieved with a bracingly fresh script by the Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. Guy Pearce’s Ebenezer Scrooge is still a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner”, but since Pearce is only 52, there is rather less of the old. At the end of the novel, Dickens wrote that “ever afterwards” — that is after Scrooge’s Very Bad Night — “it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well”. That is rather more of an achievement when, as in this version, you may have 40 Christmases, rather than a couple, left to you.

Equally remade is Cratchit, who in Alwyn’s incarnation is far from the bashfully gulping frog thanking his master for granting him Christmas Day off before scampering back to Miss Piggy’s fleshy arms. Although Alwyn grew a rough beard for the part, his is also the best-looking Bob Cratchit you have seen. As the actor and I talk at the Picturehouse Central cinema in London, I find him as mesmerising off screen as on.

“Bob is trapped by Scrooge,” Alwyn says. “He’s abused by him. He’s not treated fairly. He’s there only because he has to be. He’s treated like shit.”

I’d say there’s a definite feeling in their shared scenes that Bob might just snap and hit Ebenezer over the head with a poker. “That was the intention. He’s at breaking point. He’s pushed right to his limits and Scrooge, I think, relishes winding him up. All Bob can do is hold his ground and fight back as much as he can — but he isn’t such a sap in this version.”

Scrooge and Cratchit’s relationship so much resembles an unhappy marriage that the niggling, bitter exchanges invented by Knight, with very little reference to Dickens’s dialogue, resemble Steptoe and Son rewritten by Strindberg. The easy contrast would have been with the Cratchits’ poor but happy marriage, but this too comes under scrutiny. There is an acknowledgment of the challenges a disabled child can bring to a household, and it is somehow emphasised by Tiny Tim being played by Lenny Rush, an extraordinary young actor, aged ten, who has a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, the same condition as Warwick Davis.

“It really mattered to me that nobody was photo-fit,” Murphy says from a studio where he is dubbing the last episode. “Bob Cratchit is always a winsome, put-upon nice guy and the Cratchits themselves represent this idea of an ideal, working-class, lovely family. So we looked into their relationship on the page and there seems a genuine tension between Bob and his wife. Things are hard. It isn’t easy to have no money and a disabled child, and they lean on each other and they’re not straight with each other and there is a genuine antagonism between them.”

Knight has written into the narrative a family secret that connects the Cratchits to Scrooge. The secret belongs to Mrs Cratchit, played by Vinette Robinson, whose part is greatly expanded; indeed, the novella does not even grant her a first name, although the Muppets, and other adaptors, opted for Emily.

“Inevitably the secret begins to surface and cracks appear in the family,” Alwyn says. “Something has to happen. I think what Steven has done is take the story and drill deeper. He hasn’t taken too much liberty. It’s not bending the truth too much from what Dickens would have wanted. Or I hope not.”

Murphy insists that worthwhile adaptations of classic texts should be “edgy” and have “a good bite to them”. “If you absolutely don’t want any variation from the book then I strongly suggest you sit in a corner at Christmas and read it again. But if you want to see it used as a prism through which we can see a broader and slightly different subject explored, then this one’s for you.”

Alwyn’s performance is part of the iconoclasm. “Joe’s instinct as an actor is always to push away from the obvious and into ambiguity,” Murphy says. “He’s very quietly spoken. He’s not brash at all. He’s a gentle, intelligent guy, but he just simply wasn’t interested in fitting a Dickensian cliché.”

“I’ll take that,” Alwyn says when I pass on the compliment, having not considered his technique in such terms. He is 28 and would probably accept that he is best known for two facts: the first is that he is Taylor Swift’s boyfriend; the second that, aged 25 and with no professional acting experience, he won the title role in an Ang Lee movie.

He is from north London, the middle of three sons. Their father is the television documentary-maker Richard Alwyn, renowned for making The Shrine about the public reaction to Princess Diana’s death.

“He was away a bit,” Alwyn says. “He made quite a lot of films in Africa when I was growing up. He was often in Uganda, Rwanda at one point, South Sudan. So he’d come back with stories and artefacts from all over the place. He made a great documentary in Liverpool during the World Cup about two kids on an estate growing up there.”

His mother, Elizabeth, is a psychotherapist. So, I say, although his family were comfortably off and he was sent to the fee-paying City of London School, he knew something of other people’s lives?

“All different kinds of people, all different kinds of stories,” he says. “Obviously, she couldn’t share them with me in the same way that Dad could, but both their jobs take an interest in other people and are about how to empathise, understand, and listen to stories and tell stories. I suppose it’s not a million miles away from an actor’s job; listening to other people, understanding them, trying to tell stories.”

I ask about the contemporary political resonances of A Christmas Carol. I cite the wealth of certain members of his profession and of Swift’s. Only the other day I have read that she has a private jet so she can visit Alwyn on a whim. He promises me that 99.9 per cent of what the press write about them is false, and this is an example.

I ask if he finds it embarrassing.

“Find what embarrassing?”

The disparity between the amount some people earn and the wages of workers in, say, Amazon fulfilment centres.

“I saw something in The Guardian the other day, I think, saying that the top six richest people in the UK accumulate the same amount of wealth as the poorest 13 million. I think that was the figure,” he says.

And politics today?

“It’s bigger than Scrooge, but it’s the same thing amplified; not being able to see beyond yourself, building walls, cutting yourself off from other countries. If there was ever a story to counter that, featuring someone who epitomises that and then who remembers who he is as a human being, it is A Christmas Carol.”

Unlike the young Dickens, Alwyn was not a boy to stand on a table and sing and dance. As a child he auditioned to play Liam Neeson’s son in the Richard Curtis film Love Actually, but didn’t get it. He harboured ambitions to act, but pursued them only later at the University of Bristol, where he took plays up to the Edinburgh Fringe. One night he acted before an audience of one: the writer’s mother. Undeterred, he went on to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, joining the scramble at the end to find an agent. Weeks later, his new agent rang to say that Ang Lee was working on a new film, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, and wanted to see an audition tape.

“I got some mates to film me in a lunch break and then my dad filmed another scene, and we got a call that night saying, ‘He wants to meet you this weekend. He’s saying, we’re going to put you on a plane and take you out of school. Come for the weekend. Learn these scenes.’ ”

As Billy, a young US Marine fêted for killing an enemy assailant in Iraq, Alwyn was painfully believable; a virgin solider returning home to be exploited for an act that had devastated him. The film did not do well, mainly because it was shot at a hyper-reality frame rate that few cinemas had the technology to show, but Alwyn was on his way.

“Things only evolve by change and people taking risks,” he says. “And Ang Lee is someone who I admire for that. None of his films are the same. Maybe thematically they draw on the same things, but he’s always pushing the boundaries.”

The same can be said for A Christmas Carol and, even more, about Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, in which Alwyn appeared alongside Emma Stone and Olivia Colman. It applies less so to his other recent films, Mary Queen of Scots, Boy Erased and now Harriet, a faithful biopic about the slave liberator Harriet Tubman in which he played a slave owner’s son. What he has managed to do consistently is work and learn from some seriously good actresses — Colman, Stone, Saoirse Ronan and Cynthia Erivo. “I know. I am targeting them,” he jokes.

I tell him my daughters have insisted I ask if he minds Swift writing songs about him (whole albums, actually, but check out London Boy if you are in search of a little cringe). “No, not at all. No. It’s flattering.”

Does it matter to him that the press — it’s a bit metatextual this, I admit, for I’m probably doing the same thing — make it obvious that they are as interested in his girlfriend as they are in him? “I just don’t pay attention to what I don’t want to pay attention to,” he explains tolerantly. “I turn everything else down on a dial. I don’t have any interest in tabloids. I know what I want to do, and that’s this, and that’s what I am doing.”

The boyf, described only the other day as “mysterious” in one of those tabloids, is no mystery at all. He knows what he wants for Christmas, and it is the career he is already forging.

A Christmas Carol begins on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales 87 Reviews: A Drain On the Economy (CACC Part 1) (Commission)

Commissioned by @weirdkev27​. The start of a whopping four episode commission as I review the original Ducktales Four-Part Serial, Cash as Catch Can! The Kishke of Macaroon decides the best way to market his once in a life time find of glowing, power producing fruit is to have the two richest men in the world weigh their money to see whose richer. Seems Legit. Glomgold of course can’t play fair but since this is the 87 version he simply hires and outfits the Beagle Boys to steal scrooge’s money instead of leaving a shark filled with c4 on the doorstep of the bin as a distraction while he tries to saw it in half with a giant buzzsaw. Tanks, childen nearly drowning and outbidding yuppies ensue. Full reviewcap with spoilers under the cut. Sadly no Sea Monsters eating Ice Cream Yet. 

Huzzah! Another day another commission! And it’s a massive one too as i’m covering not one, not two, not three, but FOUR episodes of the original ducktales for 15 bucks! Thank you once again WeirdKev27 for the commission. Not saving this for the end this time, if you’d like to commission your own review, just pm me, it’s 5 dollars for one episodes, and now you get 5 dollars off for each episode you commission after 2. So for instance this multiparter was 4 episodes, so Kevin payed for only three, for a total of 15 bucks! Whatabargin! But enough shilling let’s get down to bidness.  As usual for first episodes a quick rundown of my history with the show: Being a fan of the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, which I fully intend to cover here at some point and yes you can commission duck comics too if you were curious, I did want to watch Ducktales for a while but didn’t really try to until the Reboot came out. As a result I got the first season dvd for Christmas, bought the second, and while I haven’t watched all the series, what I’ve seen is pretty good. It’s a fun, fluid adventure show that captures the spirit of the Carl Barks comics while doing it’s own thing with them. Sure some aspects of the time or even of the original comics that this adapted wholesale haven’t aged well, and we’ll get to some of them, but for the most part the series has a timeless quality to it that really makes it work. I may prefer the reboot.. but I still enjoy this series and i’m glad to revisit it. 

So with that, we come to one of the series handful of multiparters. For the most part Ducktales was just one off adventures, episodes that could easily be aired at any time with little regards to a strong continuity. 

But unlike most shows including the rest of the Disney afternoon that at most had one pilot movie and one or two two-parters, Ducktales had 4 multi-episode story arcs. The episodes were still written with about the same episode of the week format, it’s just instead of being all wrapped up there was an ongoing storyline that tied each episode into the next and drove the action. It’s honestly not a bad format and not all that dissimilar to the Sardonyx, Out of This World, Heart of the Crystal Gems, and Diamond Days arcs Steven Universe would have.. and if your wondering yes I would cover those for the same fees, but that’s not what we’re here about. 

However even among this format this four parter was unique.. and not just for the “A Sea Monster Ate My Ice Cream!” bit we’ll get to next time. The other 3 mini’s were 5-part Season Premires that either set up the show period (Treasure of the Golden Suns) or introduced a major new character for the rest of the series (Fenton/Gizmoduck for Super Ducktales, and Bubba and Tootsie for Time is Money). Though weirdly in the case of season 2 these 5 parters were also the ONLY episodes, but one oddity at a time I suppose. My point is Catch as Cash Can is not only the only one not to start a season, instead coming in mid-way through season one, but dosen’t change the show and is only 4 episodes instead of 5. It’s still from what I can remember, which only came back when watching part 1 as I got it confused with treasure of the golden suns, pretty good.. apart from the third episode but we’ll get to that, it’s just worth noting is all. So with that out of the way is this four parter any good? How do the episodes hold up from a few years ago? Well I was paid good money to find out so let’s do it to it shall we? We open in Macarooon which.. I THINK is a play on Moroco, but still dosen’t make a whole lot of sense given it’s a cookie, this episode about fruit and Hamilton’s accent as the Grand Kishke, the country’s ruler, is a vauge indian stereotype with a touch of middle eastern sterotype. Sing it with me now....

Still not great having a white guy do a vaugely foreign accent that’s played for laughs, and yes again acceptable at the time, I don’t hold it against Hamilton camp, still dosen’t make it at all comfortable. Though it’s still, and this is VERY faint praise, better than Carbomya, an ACTUAL CANON LOCATION in the 80′s transformers cartoon that’s as offensive and dumb as it sounds and, no joke, caused Casey Kasem, who I was reminded by the article linked above quit over this.. and found out from said article is Middle Eastern himself. Huh the more you know. And SOMEHOW this isn’t the most offensive thing the franchise has ever done, as japan had mexican stereotype transformers and kiss players.. just kiss players you do not want to know, and Micheal Bay later gave us skids and mudflap and I die a little on the inside remembering that happened. Back on point there’s been worse, dosen’t make this okay, but it’s not so offensive it ruins the entire episode. Just makes the Kiskhe’s seens wince inducing. 

Scrooge and Glomgold are having a poker-esque dick measuring contest over whose wealthier but for once i’ts not just because it’s tuesday in duckberg but because the Grand Kishke has called both here. As he explains, and as they know but we don’t, while going down the stairs he fell down and found a vast cavern beneath his pallace with tons of glowing fruit that could soon replace lightbulbs if marketed correctly as they never spoil and never run out, thus putting his country ont he map. While the vauge “wacky foreigner” stereotype thing is unfortunate, the Kiske is likeable and does have good reason for not doing the marketing of his biggest export himself: He’s not a businessman and has a country to run. So he felt going to the richest man in the world was the right call, but Glommy and Scroogie are tied in assets so the Kiske decides to tie break things by having the two weigh their fortunes instead as the two you know.. have large piles of stealable money around for sentimental reasons.. and because they don’t trust banks.  So yeah with the contest set Glomgold sets out to do what he does best... set himself on fire with a hairbrained scheme.. no wait that’s the other glomgold. Cheat.. which this one can actually do without ending up in a bear trap, so we cut to the Duckburg jail.. which is at least in this episode just one giant cell surrounding the Beagle Boys, though given their responsible for 80% of Duckberg’s crime, and a good chunk of this series as a whole, it probably IS just that. But Glomgold using ... a .. giant floating cow balloon.. wait.. 

I mean I love this because .. just what the hell is this, why a cow balloon.. was it the only one he could rent? Who rents those? Did he buy this thing? How’s he going to get rid of it? How’s he not getting caught for buying this thing? Did he make this? Did he spend a good few hours building a giant cow balloon fortress/ did he dump it in the river? 

You know, maybe it was schemes like this that made Frank decide to make Reboot!Glomgold into the loveable incompetent maniac he is today. I mean this sounds like one of his schemes: If your going to do something right do it in the most insane, over the top, nonseical, costly, overcomplicated way possible.  As it stands though the rest of 87 Glomgold’s plan actually makes sense: he throws down gas masks and gasses the guards, though the boys think it’s ma at first. However they quickly are fine with it being their dad as Glomgold has a job for them.. though they nearly nope out when they find out it’s scrooge. This is a neat contrast to the comics where, under both barks and rosa while the Beagle Boys would get discouraged or bemoan their defeats they still kept coming. While it’s likely only for this episode it’s nice to see them have some hestiation.. at least about going after the bin directly. Which given the bin is the most heavily guarded location in duckburg no matter the contniuty and while it’s been attacked and broken into millions of times at this point, no trick works twice because Scrooge adapts. It’s what makes the continual nature of the beagle boys assualts on it here and in the comics work and why their still a threat despite always getting beaten down: sure they get in once in a while, but scrooge outwits them and then presumibly offscreen makes adjustments for next time while at the saame time their too stupid and stubborn to ever fully give up and to stop coming up with new ways to get scrooge’s fortune for themselves. 

It’s a good dynamic but I like some hesitation since even the dumbest crooks get wise eventually and their being hired by someone whose utterly ruthless and might kill them or worse if they fail. But Glomgold actually has a resonable counter, that since he’s rich he can suply them with everything they could need instead of whatever they can steal he just needs the manpower and the plausible deniability. They shake on it and the die is cast.  At the bin Scrooge is annoyed at having to put up with the beagle boys again ow of all times, and we soon get the second best scene of the episode as the beagle boys, and cousins storm the bin, basically doing a zap branigan and trying to throw wave after wave of their own boys at them till Scrooge’s defenses falter. It’s a great and tense action scene as the boys send beagle after beagle with some great names I sadly forgot and should’ve written down. It’s a fun sequence, though it does show why the series updated burger as he gets distracted with food... because... 

That’s literally the joke and I can see why Matt and Frank retired it entirely. But other than that it’s a joy to watch. The finale is notable as Bigtime uses some armor to tank things.. until scrooge actually brings up a tank.. with just one caliber larger shells than what his armor can take, a nice little gag. But yeah scrooge pointing a tank at someone is badass and one of the only two times this episode he really gets to be. More on that in a sec.  But while the boys celebrate Scrooge’s victory Scrooge dosen’t, knowing they’ll just be back in in greater numbers and thus has gone to the ludicrous extreme of setting up an automatic cannon in his money bin that fires at anyone entering.. and then forgot his cane. You can probably guess what happens next. 

Yup Scrooge is thrown back, because apparently he’s immortal in this reality too, and the bin starts to break down, while the Beagles storm in and seconds up. This scene just.. annoys me. I get Scrooge isn’t unstoppable, if he was the show, and the comics and the reboot of the show wouldn’t be as fun if he wasn’t challenged at all. Scrooge himself would be disappointed if his life had no stakes. My issue here is the beagles go from evenly matched with scrooge, if both using weapons to.. casually brushing past him and the boys. And they HAVE beaten them plenty in the comics, but usually it’s through surprise or threatening the boys.. who they have right there. Instead they just.. easily beat scrooge for no real reason. It just smacks of laziness: they need the boys to get in so like scrooge and his own boys they can see the money go down a crack and thus into the sewers, but instead of having a fight or them just you know hold the triplets hostage or use a ray gun or something since it’s plausible in this setting, their backed by a billionaire for this ep and it’s an acceptable substitute. This just makes no sense to me and really baffling bit in an otherwise great episode.  But as noted the money went down the tubes, so the beagles retreat.. if only because they now can just go fish it out of the sewers like that’s somehow legal. But given how the Calisota supreme court seems to never change the various terrible loopholes that nearly loose scrooge his money all the time, it’s not surprising. Seriously it was used by Carl Barks more than once: Some asshole using a bet, wager or old timey agreement to try and take something from one of our heroes usually scrooge, and other writers followed suite naturally given he set the pace for them on everything else why stop now? Though really “Slimy assholes use loopholes to run roughshod over innocent people” is such a common thing nowadays and presumably was even more so then, I commend barks for not only picking up on it but using it frequently in a CHILDREN’S COMIC. God damn man that’s some balls.  Anyways Scrooge can’t quite literally slip through the cracks, but the boys can and given they are as one, they all go down follow that dough while Scrooge tries to figure out where it is from above. Scrooge goes to city planning or something like that and gets the maps to the water works, and I like the fox clerk here, but the beagles also have them. And while Scrooge chases them above the boys continue their trek bellow eventually finding the cash stash with good detective work and call scrooge , who happens to have tracked the cash and is in the general area, over from above.. but get swept out because the beagle boys open the floodgates and into the city’s reservoir. ON the bright side I now get where “Open the floodgates comes from” Scrooge heads to the pumping plant to pump them out, but finds the beagle boys and a fight ensues to see who can accidently kill some children the fastest as the triplets are buffeted back and forth over, and over, and over and over and over...

And over again till the valves break and shove the Trips into a swanky condo just as a real estate lady, who according to the Disney wiki also showed up in “Magica’s Shadow War”, good for her with the yuppies naturally wanting the condo, though the boys stop them from buying it, trick them into the elevator and then use the override to shut it down so they can’t get back up. So the Trips hold onto the loot, while Scrooge arrives.. and again since Duckburg legal policy is chosen by spinning a giant wheel and going with whatever it lands on, Scrooge can’t just you know have someone come and get his property. His solution however is clever as after a bidding war over the condo he just decides to buy the whole blasted building. And at first I wondered why their wasn’t a bit of him grumbling over the price.. but then I realized his fortune, and doubling it is at stake. While Scrooge will spend as little as ducking possible, when the chips are down he will throw his money around. And I like that it’s a nice subtle character moment showing that he knows when not to throw a big tantrum about spending money  and that he has more important things going on right now, such as keeping his hands on most of it. But naturally this wins though the real estate lady wonders how he did that. Lady he owns a good chunk of the city, is in the news frequently even in this series, and owns the largest building in town which towers over every other on a massive hill and is frequently broken into or attacked, how the hell do you NOT know who he is?

Regardless Scrooge regroups with the boys but the beagles are close and are even bright enough to cut the power. I LIKE these versions better than the reboots. With the exception of a lack of character actress Margo Martendale and you know the fat shaming and all that, these beagles, while having less personality are more compient, mor eof a threat and more enjoyable to watch instead of just petty crooks who only get involved when the opportunity strikes. IT’s one of the few changes i’m just. eh on. Most of the changes, making Glomgold more insane, making Gladstone just less obnoxious enough to be tolerable, making donald less of a scallywag and more of a responsible father, not having Daisy leave donald at the drop of his hat but be an actual supportive partner.. all good. This one’s just lukewarm though ma herself is awesome, the boys are just incompitent and I forgot when watching the series that while stupid and stopped constantly the beagles just aren’t. It’s something I can give this series more than the original easily.  Scrooge is about to give up and is fading out on them, tired and exausted. This DOES feel in character as scrooge, like anyone can feel worn down and he’s tried damn near everything only to be ready to loose. The boys snap him out of it.. or rather Dewey does by hucking a wad of bills at him as seen at the top of the article and it’s easily the best gag of the episode. Though it’s also the ONLY time i’ve been able to refer to the boys actions by name as while one may do something.. their the same character. Now what they are varies as the show bounces between the classic HDL characterizations: They can be like they are in the barks comics and this episode, upstanding young woodchucks who are clever, loyal to a fault, and bring scrooge down to earth when he needs it as well as an utter asset to him, mischievous young boys screwing up as children often do but learning from their mistakes or short sided goal like they are in the other half of barks comics or the later theatrical shorts.. or hyperactive , sexist little shitheads who are selfish and lazy like in the early shorts minus the sexisim or quack pack. Though I now realize just from writing that that while Huey is based on barks and ESPECIALLY Don Rosa’s version of the boys, just taken to a logical extreme as well as being autism-coded, the other boys are based on other aspects of them with their sometimes scheming nature being given to Louie and their more energetic spells and overly 80′s attitude from this cartoon given to Dewey, with again both amped up considerably. It was a neat way to give them actual personalities instead of being one person sharing the bodies of three characters. 

Yeah as you can tell while I WILL say upfront I love Russi Taylor and none of this is her fault.. i’m not a big fan of the classic versions of the boys. They aren’t BAD It just baffles me why Disney, and i’m blaming theme more as some foreign comics apparently did try as did Quack Pack, never let people differentiate them or thought to really try hard at that until the reboot and it smacks of their stubborn refusal to really change their iconic characters in a significant way. I’m honestly surprised the reboot got away with it and hope the 2017 personalities are the default. I also apologize for that rant but it was going to come about at some point might as well nip it in the bud now.  But that smack to the head got Scrooge back in gear and it gave him an idea.. give them the money.. specifically pile money on the elevator, breaking it, after all he’ll need to fix it anyway might as well go all in, and sending the beagles crashing down.. to the waiting police. Who called them.. probably condo lady to make sure Scrooge wasn’t lying and to report strange men breaking in. Point is Scrooge is exhausted, but triumphant.. for now. TO BE CONTINUED. 

Final Thoughts:  This is a solid 87 Ducktales episode: it’s fun, fast paced, has a simple but enjoyable concept, and feels like a Carl Barks comic come to life without directly adapting his stories. It’s good stuff. I had my problems as mentioned but their outweighed by the great jokes, pacing and action in this one. A great note to start out on.  In the Next Part: A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM!  A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM!   A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM!  A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM! A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM!

Until then, you can follow this blog for more ducktales every monday, check my various sub pages for more ducktales reviews of the reboot, i’ve done every episode of season 3 so far and one season 2 episode as well as a recent review of the first darkwing ep, and as noted before you can comission your own review of any animated series, ones i’ve covered and otherwise. Reblog this to spread it around if you liked it, like it if you don’t want to do that, and until next time stay safe, check your house for gary busey,  and hopefully we’ll meet again. 

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Star Trek Prodigy Trailer Teases Borg

Picture: Paramount Star Trek: Prodigy’s younger heroes ended the primary half of the season having realized methods to be a crew collectively, and now extra prepared than ever to make the leap to turning into Starfleet cadets. These plans have hit a little bit of a snag, nonetheless… and it appears like this season goes to proceed with Starfleet not being on one of the best of phrases with the united statesS. Protostar. As a part of as we speak’s Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comedian Con, Paramount revealed a trailer for the remaining half of Prodigy’s first season, set to begin airing later this month. Catching up with the twist of the first half’s climax, it appears like that is going to be a race towards time for Holo Janeway and her teenage crew… towards foes and buddies alike who’re fairly acquainted. Star Trek: Prodigy | Midseason Return Teaser Trailer (NYCC 2022) | Paramount+ The majority of the trailer teases the chase between the Protostar and Admiral Janeway, who finds herself fairly miffed that somebody’s stolen a prototype Starfleet ship that was captained by her former first officer, Chakotay—even when the individuals who have are literally fairly good. So good, that Dal and his buddies have determined that even when they will’t go to Starfleet as technical criminals, they’re going to do their greatest to convey Starfleet’s beliefs to the galaxy past its attain. And so they’re going to want that optimisim, judging by the truth that—as Janeway crews are wont to do, holo-Captain or in any other case—one in every of their greatest fights but goes to be towards the Borg. Additionally introduced on the panel? The Subsequent Era’s Ronny Cox would return to position as Captain—ahem, now Admiral—Jellico, in a daily visitor position. Cox infamously appeared because the belligerent short-term captain of the Enterprise within the iconic two parter “Chain of Command.” Try an image of his animated admiralty in all its glory under. G/O Media could get a fee Picture: Paramount Star Trek: Prodigy’s children will want all the assistance they will get when the sequence returns to Paramount+ October 27. Need extra io9 information? Try when to anticipate the most recent Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and the whole lot it’s worthwhile to find out about Home of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

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7 Lessons from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” That Will Get You Through a Divorce

7 Lessons from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” to Get You Through a Divorce

Recovering from a marriage to a narcissist adds an added layer of complexity

By dmitry_islentev for Shutterstock

Recovering from a divorce after a 20-year marriage is never an easy feat. Therapist Susan Pease Gadua in Psychology Today likens the undoing of a marriage to, “Trying to disentangle two trees that have grown next to each other for years. The more intertwined the root systems are, the longer it will take for the trees to go their separate ways.”

Recovering from a marriage to a narcissist adds an added layer of complexity and a few extra hurdles to get over before you can feel whole again. And divorcing a narcissist is not for the faint of heart. Yes, this too (like a gallstone) shall pass, but first, it’s going to hurt. And you’re going to need to strategize.

If you’re like me, you may not have unpacked this emotional baggage until after the marriage, and you may not have a full understanding that you are, in fact, married/separating from a narcissist. All you know is you’ve been lied to, lied about, and he is accusing you of his actual behavior, which is maddening.

According to Dr. Ramani Durvasula, someone who is an expert in the field of narcissism, “narcissistic” is an adjective, it’s not a diagnosis. It’s a descriptive term that usually signifies a personality pattern. It is characterized by patterns like inconsistent or superficial empathy, entitlement, grandiosity, arrogance, superficiality, chronic validation-seeking, hypersensitivity, a propensity towards rage, especially when the person is frustrated or disappointed, and then incapacity to deal with frustration and disappointment.

The first thing to understand, according to Dr. Ramani Durvasula, is that narcissists love to win. “It motivates everything they do. They actually believe you can win in relationships, so it’s a big thing to them. They really love the idea that their partner will get destroyed after the relationship ends, which is why narcissistic divorces can be very expensive.”

Now, you may be a kind and gentle, loving soul. The kind of person who scoops up spiders to let them live, just not in your house. (OK, I am not that person). The point is, it’s time to grow a pair. You don’t have to sink to their level — instead, you must rise above it.

You might be wondering what a Chinese general, military strategist and reputed author born in 544 BC could know about egomaniacal showrunners, forensic accounting, and family court, but I find that Sun Tzu’s profound wisdom of outsmarting your enemy, plotting several moves ahead, and getting inside the head of your opponent are time-tested winning strategies.

Even if you have to stomach an expensive divorce, you will be better prepared going in with Sun Tzu’s knowledge. And hopefully, with fewer surprises, it will be a shorter ordeal.

The Art of War lesson #1

“Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain.”

Translation: you cannot mediate. You may have a loving friend or relative advise you to mediate because it is the kinder and gentler route, the route that saves money. The problem with this is that successful mediation requires complete disclosure, laying everything on the table and there can be no power imbalance. If you are married to someone who lies and cheats, what makes you think you will have fairness and transparency in mediation?

This is a waste of everyone’s time and money. I still receive polite bills from Geraldine, the kind woman who did her level best for two years to try to end this marriage before she pulled me aside at our fifth mediation and said, “You cannot mediate with this person.”

File for divorce. It’s the only way.

Lesson #2

“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.”

If he is sneaky, guess what? He will try things in court that are dirty and sneaky. He will hire sleazy lawyers that specialize in high-end bullshit. Remember, you are that closely-formed wood. Know yourself, and don’t be rattled by his bullshit tactics.

Case in point: One of my husband’s strategies was to convince the court I was a dreadful parent who drove the family to financial ruin. But, like the Peanuts characters listening to an adult, what the state of California hears is, “wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.” It still comes down to: what is your shit worth? How much does this guy make? I put my career on hold to raise our children and create a lovely home. Alimony, child support, bing, bang, boom.

In his arrogance, the ex and his lawyers announced that since I had driven the family to financial ruin he would be keeping the pension. The only problem with that is — the law! We didn’t really need to reinvent the wheel, yet here we were, reinventing the wheel, to the tune of a six-figure legal fee.

Lesson #3 (a two-parter)

“It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results.”

“Foreknowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits, cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions of the enemy.”

Subpoena folks. Have your team seek records from reliable sources to get the actual factual documents you need. Subpoena people who have his documents and his contracts. Do a forensic accounting. Check out his girlfriend’s Instagram. It may be quite enlightening. Even better if she has a blog detailing the timeline with everything you need to know.

Lesson#4

“Conceal your dispositions, and your condition will remain secret, which leads to victory; show your dispositions, and your condition will become patent, which leads to defeat.”

If you’re feeling a little bamboozled and you’ve just gotten out of a marriage in which you were emotionally manipulated for years, you may not be used to standing your ground and remaining poker-faced.

What the narcissist desperately needs is attention and he/she needs to know that he matters in your life. When you resist those crazy calls, emails, and texts and simply don’t engage, it is maddening for them. Dr. Durvasula says, “You win when you don’t give them the fight because the fight is what they want.”

I say, not mattering is the biggest wound the narcissist can receive from the person who used to hold his hand in empathy and believe the crap he shoveled. It throws them off their center. It also enrages them, but your secret weapon is not giving a shit anymore. It helps unnerve them, and more importantly, it helps you lay the ground for getting back to yourself, remembering how strong you can be, and finding your way out so you can move on.

Lesson #5

“It is the unemotional, reserved, calm, detached warrior who wins, not the hothead seeking vengeance and not the ambitious seeker of fortune.”

You may want to seek revenge on your ex for any number of grievances, but consider whether going for the jugular in court is just something you could work out (much less expensively and without involving law enforcement) in therapy. Dragging things out will drain both of you, both emotionally and financially. It’s time to break free and leave emotion out of the proceedings.

Lesson #6

“Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.”

No, we won’t be having Thanksgiving together, thanks.

My ex-husband is mortally offended when he is not invited to Thanksgiving. At my apartment. With my family, who hates him. And yet he engages my younger daughter in this fantasy that, gee, it would be so nice if we could all do things as a family if only Mom wasn’t so bitter!

A huge part of separating from this person is becoming grounded, once again, in your own reality. You are entitled to your feelings, and the idea of sucking it up because it’s good for the kids is bullshit. What’s good for the kids is living in reality. What’s good for the kids is knowing their mother is true to her feelings. That she matters. We can now have lovely, separate, but equal holiday events. You don’t get to sit down and have a slice of my bitchin’ pecan pie at my table that would put Martha Stewart to shame. No. Not this year, not any year. Boundaries.

Right now you’re swimming with sharks, and this may well be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but you will get through it, one day at a time. You are fierce. Rely on your senses — no one can tell you that what you heard must have been a mistake, what you witnessed was distorted, and no one can deny your experience. Hold your center, no matter how much he tries to throw you off.

Lesson #7

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”

When you are finally divorced, that is an accomplishment in itself. The going got tough, and you proved you could get going and get it done. You fought for yourself and you probably turned out to be much stronger than you realized.

The truth is, up is the only way to go now. Hold a vision of yourself in a happier place where you are in control of your life. It will be a lot to unpack — therapy is an excellent tool to help with this — but get through the fight and lean on your village for all the support you need.

It’s a beautiful thing to regain freedom, peace, and financial independence, and when you get there, it’s going to feel so good.

7 Lessons from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” That Will Get You Through a Divorce was originally published in P.S. I Love You on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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The Angels Take Manhattan - Doctor Who blog (The Statue Of Liberty is a WHAT?!?!)

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Remember when the Weeping Angels used to be scary? Good times, right?

Blink was one of the few Moffat stories that I genuinely liked. It was a simple story with a simple gimmick. Statues that could only move when you weren’t looking at them. It was ostensibly a most lethal version of Grandmother’s Footsteps, and it was bloody terrifying. There was however one problem with the Angels. A problem that soon became apparent the more the Weeping Angels reappeared in the show. They’re really just one trick ponies. Once you’ve seen Blink, you’ve literally seen everything they have to offer. From that moment on, the Angels suffered from the law of diminishing returns. They just weren't scary anymore, and I believe even Moffat was semi-aware of this, hence why his timey wimey crap became more ridiculous and why he kept changing the established rules of the Angels in an effort to keep them fresh. Of course it didn’t work. All it did was mangle the Angels beyond repair and now they’re a shadow of their once scarier selves.

Which brings us to The Angels Take Manhattan. The complete polar opposite of Blink. Whereas Blink was simple, clever and scary, The Angels Take Manhattan is convoluted, stupid and about as scary as a basket full of kittens. As far as I’m concerned, The Angels Take Manhattan serves as a very harsh lesson on learning when enough is enough. Some monsters just don’t work as recurring villains, and the Weeping Angels are most definitely one of them. If Moffat had learnt to keep his massive ego under control, he wouldn’t have turned his greatest creations into the limp, nonsensical and utterly pathetic non-threats they are now.

Let’s stick with the Angels for a bit. Aside from their lack of scariness due to us knowing their MO off by heart now, Moffat also can’t help but change the rules again. Remember in Blink it was established they would turn to stone if anyone looked at them, including each other? Well we’re supposed to forget about that clearly as there are loads of moments where Angels are clearly looking at each other, but can still move. There’s also a really odd moment where a Cherub manages to blow Rory’s match out, but... the Cherub is frozen as a statue. How the fuck was it able to do that? Odder still, Amy and Rory get zapped by the Angels at the end, but on those occasions people were still looking at the Angel, so how did it manage to do it?

And then there’s by far the weirdest part:

The Statue Of Liberty is a Weeping Angel?!

This raises so many puzzling questions. Isn’t the Statue Of Liberty made of copper, not stone? How the fuck did it get from Liberty Island to Winter Quay without anyone noticing? And what is even the fucking point of that?! It’s not as if it actually does anything. It doesn’t even look like an angel. Nor do the statues of the woman and the boy who come chasing the guy who had the Angel chained up (and what was the deal with the guy who had the Angel chained up? We never find out what that was all about).

And we’ve only just scratched the surface here. There are loads of things that don’t make sense here. Take this ‘farm’ the Angels have made. So they send people back to a hotel in 1938 and send them back in time repeatedly to feed off of the time energy. But... why hang onto their victims afterward. Once they’re done feeding, they keep the victim locked in a room until they die of old age. What for? What’s the point? Why not just feed on them and let them go like they usually do?

Rory ends up becoming the latest victim and vows to escape, creating a paradox that will kill the Angels. But for some reason the Doctor doesn’t want to do that and I honestly don’t understand why. He says Rory’s death has been predetermined now, but that’s never stopped the Doctor before. It certainly didn't stop him in the previous series when he himself was destined to die. So why is saving Rory suddenly impossible? And I definitely don’t buy all that bullshit about how once you’ve read something, it’s destined to happen no matter what. That’s just bollocks and the show has contradicted that loads of times in the past. Moffat is once again just making shit up as he goes along and it’s not even consistent. Just look at the whole wrist breaking scene. The Doctor says River needs to break her wrist in order to escape (I don’t even understand that. The Angel has its hand wrapped around her wrist. The only way she could possibly escape is if she were to crush her entire hand down to a circumference smaller than her wrist) because the book says so. Except the book doesn’t say so at all. It just says the Doctor breaks something. Her wrist is never even mentioned and the Doctor doesn’t even break it in the end. (Also why would River lie about her wrist later on? I understand the metaphorical significance of hiding the damage, but it’s just plain daft).

Since I’ve brought up River Song, let’s talk about her. She reappears in this episode wearing a really stupid hat that’s pulled down over her eyes presumably in an attempt to make her look cool and mysterious, but in reality just makes her look like a tit. You’d think considering this is post Wedding Of River Song and we now know everything about her, she might behave a little bit more like an actual human being, but nope. She’s still just as smug and unlikeable as she was before. Actually The Angels Take Manhattan really highlights all the problems with her character, especially her relationship, or lack thereof, with the other characters. They keep insisting she, Amy and Rory are really close now, but I can’t see any evidence for that. It still feels just as strained and awkward as ever to me. As does her relationship with the Doctor. I just don’t buy the supposed ‘romance’ between the two whatsoever as their dialogue only seems to consist of bad sexual innuendo. There’s no genuine emotion or chemistry whatsoever.

Early on it soon becomes apparent how Moffat actually sees her:

Amy: “She’s got ice in her heart and a kiss on her lips and a vulnerable side she keeps well hidden.”

Yeah, turns out Moffat views her as being a noir dame. That’s something that never occurred to me, and that’s because ever since her first appearance in 2008, she had absolutely nothing in common with a noir dame. I mean come on! Ice in her heart? Since when? The Silence In The Library two parter alone contradicts that completely. It’s about as accurate a description as calling her a psychopath, which Moffat does again here by the way. He also describes her in the Melody Malone book as ‘packing cleavage that could fell an ox at 20 feet’. Okay, two things Moffat. One, no woman would EVER write something like that, and two, stop perving over Alex Kingston’s boobs, you colossal fucking creep.

But of course the big thing about The Angels Take Manhattan is that it’s Amy and Rory’s last ever episode. Is it a good farewell?

Credit where it’s due though, the scene on the roof was extremely good. It’s both tragic and emotional in equal measure, and both Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill really go for it, giving truly incredible performances. It’s hard not to be moved by Amy’s decision to jump off the building with Rory and if Moffat and everyone had just left it at that, it would have been an extremely powerful ending. Instead they seem to go out of their way to ruin it. For one thing, rather than just have Amy and Rory jump off the building and have the performances of the actors be what drives the shock and tragedy of it all, they decide to over-egg the pudding by having Amy and Rory fall in slow motion whilst Murray Gold’s stupid choir performs a slushy melody, which just made the whole thing feel mawkish.

Also it’s hard to be emotionally invested in their sacrifice when it makes no sodding sense. I can understand the paradox killing the Angels, but un-making the hotel? How does that work? What’s Rory got to do with the construction of the hotel? How would his death affect it? And if the hotel never existed, it would mean Rory could never jump off the roof of it to create the paradox in the first place, so wouldn’t we just end up right back to where we started?

Then it just gets worse when we’re suddenly pinged back to the present day and a lone Angel zaps Amy and Rory. Hold on a fucking minute! I thought the paradox killed the Angels! Where the fuck did this one come from?!

The biggest problem with this is that it doesn’t have nearly the same impact the roof scene had because we’ve already done all this a few minutes ago. So why are we doing it again? As far as I’m concerned, it would have worked so much better if Amy and Rory had just plunged to their deaths and that was the end. This just doesn’t make sense. The Doctor says he can’t visit 1938 New York again or it’ll destroy the planet or some such bollocks, but then River says she has to visit Amy in order to write and publish the Melody Malone book. Why not just use her Vortex Manipulator to get them out? Or get them to drive to New Jersey or somewhere and the Doctor can pick them up. It doesn’t make any sense.

And then, as the final turd in the water pipe, we see on the gravestone that Amy has changed her last name to Williams, showing that at last she’s fully committed to her marriage in a way no woman who kept her own name could ever be.

The Angels Take Manhattan is fucking awful. The story makes no sense, the Weeping Angels have been completely and utterly defanged by this point and what could have been a really emotional farewell for Amy and Rory is utterly botched thanks to Moffat putting more emphasis on outsmarting the audience rather than writing a satisfying goodbye.

So let’s end with my final thoughts on Amy and Rory. I’m not going to lie. i wasn’t very impressed. Rory faired slightly better I feel. While his character arc is pretty much the same as Mickey Smith’s from the RTD era, at least Rory actually got to grow and evolve during his time in the TARDIS and Arthur Darvill did a good job overall. Amy on the other hand is definitely one of the weakest companions I’ve ever seen, not just in New Who, but in general. I’ve made it no secret over the course of these reviews how much I dislike her. She’s selfish and obnoxious, and she exhibits a lot of the problems present in all of Moffat’s female characters, namely her lack of agency and proper characterisation. Over two and a half series, she hasn’t actually grown or evolved in any meaningful way and we’ve learnt basically nothing about her outside of her relationship with the Doctor. This was most apparent in Series 6 where she gives birth to and loses her child and at no point does Moffat ever address how she feels about that, and the reason for that is because he doesn’t view her as a character. He views her as a plot device in a mini-skirt whose sole contribution to the story is her legs, her sass and her womb. That’s not to say I don’t like Karen Gillan. I think she’s a great actor and episodes like Amy’s Choice and The Girl Who Waited have demonstrated that when you actually give her some good material to work with, she can give a truly amazing performance. It’s just such a shame that Moffat never fully utilised her.

So goodbye Amy and Rory. You could have been so much more, but at the end of the day... you just weren’t.

[johnboothus]

7 Virtual Happy Hour Activities and Drinking Game Ideas to Fight Isolation

If you live with roommates or family members, call yourself lucky to have a built-in social network during these times of social distancing — and in that case, you can play pretty much any drinking card game. But if you’re living alone, you may be feeling an urgent need to connect with friends and family, and to have some fun, while in-person visits are on hold.

Fortunately, staying entertained and connected while at home isn’t as difficult as it may seem. And there are many ways to connect in a meaningful way, beyond FaceTime chats. Here are seven virtual happy hour ideas, plus specific recommendations for each, to try while you’re socially distancing.

Classic Drinking Games to Play Online

Start, of course, with a drink in hand — for more see tips on how to have a virtual happy hour here. Sign onto Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, or your preferred video calling app with a small group of friends. Then, try playing one of the classic drinking games below.

Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever is an easy game to start with. The rules: Each person starts with five fingers held up (your other hand should be free to hold your drink). Taking turns, each person says something they have never done. Those who have done that thing have to put a finger down and take a drink.

Helpful tip: Have a moderator or host call on each person to take their turn, since not everyone appears in the same order on the grid on different video apps.

Some Never Have I Ever statement suggestions to start you off: Never have I ever lived through a pandemic (everyone drinks). Never have I ever bought an entire case of La Croix. Never have I ever argued with someone in the grocery store over toilet paper.

Power Hour

A Power Hour is another easy way to gather friends near and far while socially distanced. All you need is to find a previously prepared playlist of one-minute songs like this one, or prepare a playlist that one person will play and monitor over the hour, changing songs every 60 seconds. How to play: Take a drink every minute. It’s that simple.

As one Twitter user told us last week, “My friends and I did a virtual power hour last Friday, round 2 this weekend.” How did he do it? “One person in charge, dozen people from around the country synchronized over Slack.”

To get some face time into the mix, organize the game as a video call so you can see each other and chat in between — see if you can keep up!

Beer Pong

As Alyson Shontell, editor in chief of Business Insider, tweeted last week, “Virtual beer pong is possible, you just need four phones and FaceTime.” Each couple sets up two phones, one facing them and one facing the set of cups they’ll be shooting at on the opponents’ side. A little advanced, sure, but for those desperate enough to put in the effort, why not?

Possible roadblock: You’ll need to have at least 12 cups and ping pong balls on hand, which seems unlikely in an apocalypse. But maybe you’ve stocked up.

This weekend I did my first virtual hangouts and saw friends we rarely get to see for happy hours. I can also confirm that virtual beer pong is possible, you just need 4 phones and facetime – one on each couple, one on each set of cups. pic.twitter.com/Uhpz8cVP6l

— Alyson Shontell (@ajs) March 23, 2020

Virtual Trivia & Puzzle Games

People around the internet have been touting the Jackbox Party Pack, launched in 2014, as “the perfect excuse for rounding up friends, family and fellow gamers for a few hours of gaming delight.” This delightfully old millennial and generation X-era product’s resurgence is perfect for bringing trivia, drawing, and word games like You Don’t Know Jack (a trivia game like Jeopardy), Drawful (a drawing game like Pictionary), and Word Spud (a fill-in-the-blank word game like Mad Libs) into a virtual happy hour.

Although designed as “local multiplayer” games (as in, playing in the same room), they can be played virtually with remote players via a streaming service. The party pack costs a one-time fee of $24.99 for most platforms (Playstation 3, XBOX One, Nintendo Switch, Apple TV and iPad, and Amazon Fire TV), and at press time, $12.49 for a Steam Code or PlayStation 4.

Detailed directions for how to play Jackbox games remotely are available here.

If game platforms and signup fees seem like too much effort, consider using Zoom or your preferred video platform to play Charades, Pictionary, Trivia, or Bingo. The socially isolated world is your oyster!

Video Game Drinking Games

Online Multiplayer Games

If you have a game system or even a really strong laptop, you might be surprised by how many video games can be turned into drinking games you can play with friends. Popular titles like Overwatch, Fortnite, and even Wii Sports have many drinking game iterations floating around the internet. All you have to do is start up Zoom, agree on your preferred game and rules, and you’re good to go.

VinePair’s director of marketing and resident low-key gamer, Jeff Licciardello, recently riffed on a Super Smash Bros. drinking game for a socially distanced version with two friends.

“While playing online with each other, we had Zoom up in front of us. We [VinePair] have a drinking game article on Super Smash Bros. on our site, so using those rules, I played with one friend on FaceTime and my roommate joined me on the couch for the drinking portion of the game. In terms of people, it’s up to you how many people you can wrangle. But basically … whenever you die you drink, when you’re waiting to fall off the platform after re-spawning, you drink, etc.”

Ideally, players will be fighting each other, but in a pinch (a.k.a. if you can’t get the private room to work), setting up Zoom in front of each player “at least provides a sense of camaraderie as you stream each other fighting random people on the internet while drinking wine,” Jeff says. “And my roommate, who doesn’t play video games but was stuck dealing with me hogging the TV, picked one of the opponents I was fighting and drank for them.”

Another pearl of Jeff’s drinking-while-gaming wisdom: “For the ultimate Mario Kart drinking game that doesn’t require a whole lot of thinking, simply drink every time you are hit by an item (shells, banana peels, lightning bolts, etc.) or every time you fall off the course.”

Online 1-2 Player Games

Although video game drinking games can be created for almost any game, try picking one you and your friends are playing right now (Animal Crossing: New Horizons, anyone?). You can set up FaceTime or Zoom on your phone, tablet, or laptop to see and hear each other while playing. And all you have to do is come up with five to 10 “rules” that will require taking a sip of your drink while playing.

To stay with the Animal Crossing example, players might take a drink every time you find a bug, donate to the museum, or acquire a new item for your house. Then, you can add a little more complexity to the rules: For finding your first bug, take three sips; for each subsequent bug, take one sip if it’s a bug you already have, three sips if it’s a new bug, and four sips for donating to the museum (it will make sense once you get going.).

This can also apply to social interactions in the game. When you receive a gift, take one sip; when you give a gift, take two sips; when you meet a new in-game friend like Bill or that horse or that crazy tiger chick, take three sips; and when you visit an IRL friend’s island, finish your drink.

Have a Watch Party

Playing drinking games while watching movies or series is a popular choice, and an easy one to replicate in the virtual world. In March, Google Chrome launched an extension for Netflix Party, a new feature that synchronizes video playback, allowing you to stream and watch movies and shows simultaneously. It also adds a group chat so you can message each other throughout.

Choose a theme to make the experience easily repeatable. Oscar movies or zombie flicks, for example, are readily available. For groups of friends whose anxieties are assuaged by horror, now is a wonderful time to marathon appropriately themed works depicting hyperbolized disaster and trauma.

Try a disease double-feature of “Pandemic” and “Parasite”; a home invasion pairing like “The Strangers,” parts one and two; or a triple-feature of “Cube” or “Purge.” Or, make it a week-long marathon and stream every episode of the nation’s new Netflix obsession, “Tiger King” — it’s a seven-parter!

You can turn any watch party into a drinking game. For example, as VinePair’s Licciardello suggests for one of our staff’s favorite series, “Schitt’s Creek,” everyone has to drink any time Alexis says, “Ew, David!” If you’re not in virtual earshot, you can also use the group chat to direct when it’s time to drink. Along with text, the chatroom supports screenshots, emojis, and GIFs.

Another angle might be (and we’re biased here) taking turns choosing content about wine, beer, and spirits — such as the just-released “Uncorked,” which VinePair contributor Julia Coney describes as breaking new ground for black wine drinkers.

Have a Dance Party

Let off some steam and pent-up energy by hosting a virtual dance party. You can do this in any video conferencing app, or use a platform like Houseparty.

As in real life, a dance party can take many forms. Perhaps it’s a dance-off between you and one very energetic friend. For a group together, invite friends you used to go out dancing with every weekend, and recreate a playlist you would have been sloppily sipping and dancing to at a club or bar.

Crack some glow sticks (if you’re the type of person who has stocked for a dance-party emergency), sip on some easy-to-make cocktails, and dance like no one’s watching. Because chances are, even if your neighbors can see you, you likely won’t encounter them in person for a very long time.

The article 7 Virtual Happy Hour Activities and Drinking Game Ideas to Fight Isolation appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/best-virtual-happy-hour-games-ideas-activities/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/7-virtual-happy-hour-activities-and-drinking-game-ideas-to-fight-isolation

[isaiahrippinus]

7 Virtual Happy Hour Activities and Drinking Game Ideas to Fight Isolation

If you live with roommates or family members, call yourself lucky to have a built-in social network during these times of social distancing — and in that case, you can play pretty much any drinking card game. But if you’re living alone, you may be feeling an urgent need to connect with friends and family, and to have some fun, while in-person visits are on hold.

Fortunately, staying entertained and connected while at home isn’t as difficult as it may seem. And there are many ways to connect in a meaningful way, beyond FaceTime chats. Here are seven virtual happy hour ideas, plus specific recommendations for each, to try while you’re socially distancing.

Classic Drinking Games to Play Online

Start, of course, with a drink in hand — for more see tips on how to have a virtual happy hour here. Sign onto Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, or your preferred video calling app with a small group of friends. Then, try playing one of the classic drinking games below.

Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever is an easy game to start with. The rules: Each person starts with five fingers held up (your other hand should be free to hold your drink). Taking turns, each person says something they have never done. Those who have done that thing have to put a finger down and take a drink.

Helpful tip: Have a moderator or host call on each person to take their turn, since not everyone appears in the same order on the grid on different video apps.

Some Never Have I Ever statement suggestions to start you off: Never have I ever lived through a pandemic (everyone drinks). Never have I ever bought an entire case of La Croix. Never have I ever argued with someone in the grocery store over toilet paper.

Power Hour

A Power Hour is another easy way to gather friends near and far while socially distanced. All you need is to find a previously prepared playlist of one-minute songs like this one, or prepare a playlist that one person will play and monitor over the hour, changing songs every 60 seconds. How to play: Take a drink every minute. It’s that simple.

As one Twitter user told us last week, “My friends and I did a virtual power hour last Friday, round 2 this weekend.” How did he do it? “One person in charge, dozen people from around the country synchronized over Slack.”

To get some face time into the mix, organize the game as a video call so you can see each other and chat in between — see if you can keep up!

Beer Pong

As Alyson Shontell, editor in chief of Business Insider, tweeted last week, “Virtual beer pong is possible, you just need four phones and FaceTime.” Each couple sets up two phones, one facing them and one facing the set of cups they’ll be shooting at on the opponents’ side. A little advanced, sure, but for those desperate enough to put in the effort, why not?

Possible roadblock: You’ll need to have at least 12 cups and ping pong balls on hand, which seems unlikely in an apocalypse. But maybe you’ve stocked up.

This weekend I did my first virtual hangouts and saw friends we rarely get to see for happy hours. I can also confirm that virtual beer pong is possible, you just need 4 phones and facetime – one on each couple, one on each set of cups. pic.twitter.com/Uhpz8cVP6l

— Alyson Shontell (@ajs) March 23, 2020

Virtual Trivia & Puzzle Games

People around the internet have been touting the Jackbox Party Pack, launched in 2014, as “the perfect excuse for rounding up friends, family and fellow gamers for a few hours of gaming delight.” This delightfully old millennial and generation X-era product’s resurgence is perfect for bringing trivia, drawing, and word games like You Don’t Know Jack (a trivia game like Jeopardy), Drawful (a drawing game like Pictionary), and Word Spud (a fill-in-the-blank word game like Mad Libs) into a virtual happy hour.

Although designed as “local multiplayer” games (as in, playing in the same room), they can be played virtually with remote players via a streaming service. The party pack costs a one-time fee of $24.99 for most platforms (Playstation 3, XBOX One, Nintendo Switch, Apple TV and iPad, and Amazon Fire TV), and at press time, $12.49 for a Steam Code or PlayStation 4.

Detailed directions for how to play Jackbox games remotely are available here.

If game platforms and signup fees seem like too much effort, consider using Zoom or your preferred video platform to play Charades, Pictionary, Trivia, or Bingo. The socially isolated world is your oyster!

Video Game Drinking Games

Online Multiplayer Games

If you have a game system or even a really strong laptop, you might be surprised by how many video games can be turned into drinking games you can play with friends. Popular titles like Overwatch, Fortnite, and even Wii Sports have many drinking game iterations floating around the internet. All you have to do is start up Zoom, agree on your preferred game and rules, and you’re good to go.

VinePair’s director of marketing and resident low-key gamer, Jeff Licciardello, recently riffed on a Super Smash Bros. drinking game for a socially distanced version with two friends.

“While playing online with each other, we had Zoom up in front of us. We [VinePair] have a drinking game article on Super Smash Bros. on our site, so using those rules, I played with one friend on FaceTime and my roommate joined me on the couch for the drinking portion of the game. In terms of people, it’s up to you how many people you can wrangle. But basically … whenever you die you drink, when you’re waiting to fall off the platform after re-spawning, you drink, etc.”

Ideally, players will be fighting each other, but in a pinch (a.k.a. if you can’t get the private room to work), setting up Zoom in front of each player “at least provides a sense of camaraderie as you stream each other fighting random people on the internet while drinking wine,” Jeff says. “And my roommate, who doesn’t play video games but was stuck dealing with me hogging the TV, picked one of the opponents I was fighting and drank for them.”

Another pearl of Jeff’s drinking-while-gaming wisdom: “For the ultimate Mario Kart drinking game that doesn’t require a whole lot of thinking, simply drink every time you are hit by an item (shells, banana peels, lightning bolts, etc.) or every time you fall off the course.”

Online 1-2 Player Games

Although video game drinking games can be created for almost any game, try picking one you and your friends are playing right now (Animal Crossing: New Horizons, anyone?). You can set up FaceTime or Zoom on your phone, tablet, or laptop to see and hear each other while playing. And all you have to do is come up with five to 10 “rules” that will require taking a sip of your drink while playing.

To stay with the Animal Crossing example, players might take a drink every time you find a bug, donate to the museum, or acquire a new item for your house. Then, you can add a little more complexity to the rules: For finding your first bug, take three sips; for each subsequent bug, take one sip if it’s a bug you already have, three sips if it’s a new bug, and four sips for donating to the museum (it will make sense once you get going.).

This can also apply to social interactions in the game. When you receive a gift, take one sip; when you give a gift, take two sips; when you meet a new in-game friend like Bill or that horse or that crazy tiger chick, take three sips; and when you visit an IRL friend’s island, finish your drink.

Have a Watch Party

Playing drinking games while watching movies or series is a popular choice, and an easy one to replicate in the virtual world. In March, Google Chrome launched an extension for Netflix Party, a new feature that synchronizes video playback, allowing you to stream and watch movies and shows simultaneously. It also adds a group chat so you can message each other throughout.

Choose a theme to make the experience easily repeatable. Oscar movies or zombie flicks, for example, are readily available. For groups of friends whose anxieties are assuaged by horror, now is a wonderful time to marathon appropriately themed works depicting hyperbolized disaster and trauma.

Try a disease double-feature of “Pandemic” and “Parasite”; a home invasion pairing like “The Strangers,” parts one and two; or a triple-feature of “Cube” or “Purge.” Or, make it a week-long marathon and stream every episode of the nation’s new Netflix obsession, “Tiger King” — it’s a seven-parter!

You can turn any watch party into a drinking game. For example, as VinePair’s Licciardello suggests for one of our staff’s favorite series, “Schitt’s Creek,” everyone has to drink any time Alexis says, “Ew, David!” If you’re not in virtual earshot, you can also use the group chat to direct when it’s time to drink. Along with text, the chatroom supports screenshots, emojis, and GIFs.

Another angle might be (and we’re biased here) taking turns choosing content about wine, beer, and spirits — such as the just-released “Uncorked,” which VinePair contributor Julia Coney describes as breaking new ground for black wine drinkers.

Have a Dance Party

Let off some steam and pent-up energy by hosting a virtual dance party. You can do this in any video conferencing app, or use a platform like Houseparty.

As in real life, a dance party can take many forms. Perhaps it’s a dance-off between you and one very energetic friend. For a group together, invite friends you used to go out dancing with every weekend, and recreate a playlist you would have been sloppily sipping and dancing to at a club or bar.

Crack some glow sticks (if you’re the type of person who has stocked for a dance-party emergency), sip on some easy-to-make cocktails, and dance like no one’s watching. Because chances are, even if your neighbors can see you, you likely won’t encounter them in person for a very long time.

The article 7 Virtual Happy Hour Activities and Drinking Game Ideas to Fight Isolation appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/best-virtual-happy-hour-games-ideas-activities/ source https://vinology1.tumblr.com/post/614019019779063808

[luxus4me]

Bitcoin Magazine http://j.mp/2E6mECo

Where 2017’s dizzying price highs embedded “hodl” into the public consciousness, 2018 was the year that “buidl" became a trend in the crypto-industry — and Bitcoin was no exception.

Anticipated in Bitcoin Magazine’s first cover story of 2018, Bitcoin’s technological progress only accelerated in 2018. Improving Bitcoin from around the world, developers and entrepreneurs furthered Segregated Witness adoption, rolled out the Lightning Network, released privacy solutions, realized sidechains and made progress on a Schnorr signature solution — all of which were still around the corner only a year ago.

Following up on January’s cover story, 2018’s closing two-parter cover story explores how these five technologies progressed.

In part one: Segregated Witness and the Lightning Network.

Segregated Witness

The Segregated Witness (SegWit) soft fork that activated in August 2017 was arguably Bitcoin’s biggest protocol upgrade to date. Fixing the long-standing malleability bug, it better enabled second-layer protocols while replacing Bitcoin’s block size limit with a block weight limit. Transactions that utilize SegWit are partly stored in a new part of Bitcoin blocks, allowing the network to process more than one megabyte of transaction data per 10 minutes.

Back in 2017, SegWit adoption was off to a somewhat slow start. By the end of the year, most wallets had not integrated the upgrade yet — and not many exchanges or other Bitcoin service providers had either. At the start of this year, less than 15 percent of transactions utilized the additional block space, and blocks barely exceeded 1.1 megabytes.

Throughout 2018, however, adoption increased quite a bit, as more wallets and services implemented SegWit. This perhaps most notably included the Bitcoin Core wallet, which enabled SegWit transactions with its 0.16.0 release in March. Other popular wallets, such as Coinomi (March), Bither (September) and BRD (November) followed suit, while Mycelium is expected to roll out the feature before the end of the year. Some of the biggest Bitcoin service providers also implemented Segregated Witness in 2018, including Coinbase (February), Bitfinex (February) and Xapo (May).

As an overall result, SegWit usage statistics increased to well over 40 percent over the year. Still, while about a threefold increase, this is lower than some would have expected it to be by now.

“I'd say the main reason SegWit usage isn’t well over 50 percent by now is inertia,” Coinmetrics data analyst Antoine Le Calvez speculated when asked by Bitcoin Magazine. “If you didn't adopt it when fees exploded last year — either due to lack of time or other priorities — I don't think you'd support it until fees explode again, when SegWit transactions will have a clear cost advantage over non-SegWit transactions.”

On top of SegWit itself, the new bech32 address format also saw its first non-trivial adoption in 2018. These addresses, that start with “bc1” instead of a 1 or a 3, are a natural fit for SegWit. Transactions from such addresses require less data to be included in a block and are, therefore, even cheaper. Several wallets — like Coinomi, Electrum and Wasabi — moved straight to this new format.

The popular BRD wallet for iOS and Android did this too and, in September, even launched a campaign to further bech32 adoption: “When SegWit?”

“We've always taken the stance that bech32 stood the best chance of being the gold standard for SegWit implementation,” said BRD CSO Aaron Lasher, in explaining the idea behind the initiative to Bitcoin Magazine. “The backwards compatibility of using P2SH-enabled SegWit gave the industry a much-needed jump start, but to really drive adoption, raw SegWit is the way to go.”

He continued:

“As one of the larger wallets, we enjoy an element of influence over the state of the network, as a non-trivial percentage of bitcoin transactions are conducted through BRD wallets. Getting wallets and other service providers to upgrade their software to interact with bech32 addresses is the goal in general, and with this initiative we're targeting them in a respectful and persuasive manner.”

Perhaps thanks to the campaign, in part, and on top of SegWit adoption itself, bech32 use increased throughout 2018 as well.

"5.6 percent of the outputs created these days are bech32 outputs," Le Calvez said, “though bech32 outputs store only ~0.8 percent of all bitcoin, so it means that bech32 users are quite active. That could be because Coinbase and LocalBitcoins support it, and exchanges attract arbitrageurs that move money around faster. Another reason could be that, since bech32 is the cheapest way to transact, it attracts high-activity users.”

All in all, Bitcoin blocks have grown along with SegWit adoption over the past year. While average numbers aren’t quite as telling (because not all blocks fill up in the first place), the typical full block today is around 1.3 megabytes. The biggest Bitcoin block to date was also mined this year, in October by ViaBTC, and was a little over 2.3 megabytes.

The Lightning Network

Highly anticipated for years, 2018 was the year that the Lightning Network made its “official” debut. Although the risky nature of early stage tech was conveyed through the #reckless hashtag, regular users were invited to try out Bitcoin’s overlay network for fast and cheap transactions for the first time.

In March, Lightning Labs was the first to announce the beta release of Ind, the software implementation it’s spearheading, and collected a $2.5 million seed investment round to boot. This was followed by the beta release of ACINQ’s eclair later that same month and Blockstream’s c-lightning in June. Since September, Casa even lets you host a physical Lightning node in your home: the Casa Node. In conjunction, several Lightning wallets were made available, and even more of them are coming, including some from established Bitcoin wallet providers like Trezor and Electrum.

Probably at least as important, Lightning payments are increasingly accepted for real goods and services.

One of the very earliest adopters of the Lightning Network was a prepaid top-up service Bitrefill, in March of this year. CEO Sergej Kotliar has been keeping a close eye on Lightning Network usage since, telling Bitcoin Magazine:

“We’ve processed 2,170 regular Lightning orders at this point, receiving a total of 6.3 bitcoin. The share of Lightning payments is steadily growing and is currently at about 2.5 percent of our bitcoin orders. We’re generally waiting on two things for this to take off bigly: more wallets and exchange integration.”

Distribution of payments to Bitrefill per payment method. (Number of payments, not amounts.) Source: Bitrefill

While it was not very necessary this year, as Bitcoin fees have been negligible for most of 2018, Kotliar also tracked how many on-chain transactions were avoided by using the Lightning Network.

“I basically added up all channels, opened and closed, and how many payments and forwards have been made, as a sort of measure of scaling efficiency,” he explained. “This adds up to 2.75 payments per on-chain transaction, and 3.46 payments per on-chain transaction, if we include forwarded Lightning transactions. This number grew steadily over the past couple of months as channel reliability improves and the network grows.”

Besides Bitrefill, other pioneering adopters included the Blockstream store (since January) and bill payment service Living Room of Satoshi (since April). Payment processor BTCPay integrated Lightning payments in July, offering it to all its users (like TorGuard VPN and Coincards). So did payment provider CoinGate in September, on-boarding the Lamassu Bitcoin ATM network, bullion store Bitgild, and hundreds more merchants. And the first exchange started to accept Lightning payments for deposits in 2018 as well: gold-to-bitcoin exchange Vaultoro (since May). [Edit: Payment processor GloBee also started accepting Lightning payments, in June.]

At least as impressive was the level of community involvement in such a new technology. Berlin-based Lightning startup Fulmo, for example, organized a series of popular “Hackdays”: three in the German capital and one in New York. Developers and anyone else with interest could come and learn about the technology and build on it on the spot. Also in New York, Bitcoin development company Chaincode Labs focused its third “Bitcoin Residency” program on the Lightning Network, too.

As an entirely new phenomenon, and partly the result of these events, a number of Lightning apps (“Lapps”) were introduced over the course of the year.

"Lightning has enabled people to build lots of cool things with bitcoin and it's unlocking a whole new potential. Things that we haven't even thought of today," Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark told Bitcoin Magazine. "Every day we wake up and someone has built something new."

Stark's Lightning Labs has tried to keep track of available Lapps in its Lightning App Directory. Examples include a jukebox, a tipping solution and a file-hosting solution, all powered by Blockstream’s micropayment processing system Lightning Charge, showcased during the company’s “Week of Lapps” in March. Another particularly useful Lapp that launched this year is Submarine Swaps, which allows users to pay Lightning invoices even without having a Lightning wallet Further, the hackdays produced photobooths, point of sale payment processors and games. And the Lightning Network even saw the emergence of what can arguably be considered its first “killer app”: The million-dollar, homepage-inspired, web graffiti platform satoshis.place went viral through Bitcoin social media last summer.

All this activity translated into data, too. Although publicly available Lightning Network statistics are not completely reliable — some aspects of the network are hard or impossible to measure — various Lightning Network explorers show that there are several thousand Lightning nodes online on any day. Between them, they have more than 10 thousand payment channels open, holding hundreds of bitcoins worth almost two million dollars, and all this is growing fast.

In the meantime, code supporting the Lightning Network is only improving, and more parts of the protocol are being fleshed out. In November, a group of Lightning developers from different implementations met for a second Lightning Summit in Adelaide, Australia — after the first one in Milan in 2016. Here, the “BOLT” Lightning Network specification made a leap forward, paving the way for more innovation for 2019 and beyond.

“The second Lightning Summit reaffirmed that this is an open community interested in moving a common vision of an open network forward,” said Blockstream and c-lightning developer Christian Decker. “It puts all the things that we postponed in the first meeting back on the table and opens up a second exploratory phase for all the nice-to-have features. Splicing and multipath routing for example allow us to hide all the details about channel allocations of funds: the user just sees a single balance that is available both off- and on-chain.”

In part two of this article, to be published in two weeks: privacy, sidechains and Schnorr signatures.

This article was updated.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

http://j.mp/2QH0Y6w via Bitcoin Magazine URL : http://j.mp/2DOhiZN

[ellahmacdermott]

Bitcoin’s Tech Trends of 2018: What This Year Brought Us (Part 1)

Where 2017’s dizzying price highs embedded “hodl” into the public consciousness, 2018 was the year in which “buidl" became a trend in the crypto-industry — and Bitcoin was no exception.

Anticipated in Bitcoin Magazine’s first cover story of 2018, Bitcoin’s technological progress only accelerated this year. Improving Bitcoin from around the world, developers and entrepreneurs furthered Segregated Witness adoption, rolled out the Lightning Network, released privacy solutions, realized sidechains and made progress on a Schnorr signature solution — all of which were still around the corner only a year ago.

Following up on January’s cover story, 2018’s closing two-parter cover story explores how these five technologies progressed throughout the year.

In part one: Segregated Witness and the Lightning Network.

Segregated Witness

The Segregated Witness (SegWit) soft fork that activated in August 2017 was arguably Bitcoin’s biggest protocol upgrade to date. Fixing the long-standing malleability bug, it better enabled second-layer protocols while replacing Bitcoin’s block size limit with a block weight limit. Transactions that utilize SegWit are partly stored in a new part of Bitcoin blocks, allowing the network to process more than one megabyte of transaction data per 10 minutes.

Back in 2017, SegWit adoption was off to a somewhat slow start. By the end of the year, most wallets had not integrated the upgrade yet — and not many exchanges or other Bitcoin service providers had either. At the start of this year, less than 15 percent of transactions utilized the additional block space, and blocks barely exceeded 1.1 megabytes.

Throughout 2018, however, adoption increased quite a bit, as more wallets and services implemented SegWit. This perhaps most notably included the Bitcoin Core wallet, which enabled SegWit transactions with its 0.16.0 release in March. Other popular wallets, such as Coinomi (March), Bither (September) and BRD (November) followed suit, while Mycelium is expected to roll out the feature before the end of the year.

Some of the biggest Bitcoin service providers also implemented Segregated Witness in 2018, including Coinbase (February), Bitfinex (February) and Xapo (May).

As an overall result, SegWit usage statistics increased to well over 40 percent over the year. Still, while about a threefold increase, this is lower than some would have expected it to be by now.

“I'd say the main reason SegWit usage isn’t well over 50 percent by now is inertia,” Coinmetrics data analyst Antoine Le Calvez speculated when asked by Bitcoin Magazine. “If you didn't adopt it when fees exploded last year — either due to lack of time or other priorities — I don't think you'd support it until fees explode again, when SegWit transactions will have a clear cost advantage over non-SegWit transactions.”

On top of SegWit itself, the new bech32 address format also saw its first non-trivial adoption in 2018. These addresses, that start with “bc1” instead of a 1 or a 3, are a natural fit for SegWit. Transactions from such addresses require less data to be included in a block and are, therefore, even cheaper. Several wallets — like Coinomi, Electrum and Wasabi — moved straight to this new format.

The popular BRD wallet for iOS and Android did this too and, in September, even launched a campaign to further bech32 adoption: “When SegWit?”

“We've always taken the stance that bech32 stood the best chance of being the gold standard for SegWit implementation,” said BRD CSO Aaron Lasher, in explaining the idea behind the initiative to Bitcoin Magazine. “The backwards compatibility of using P2SH-enabled SegWit gave the industry a much-needed jump start, but to really drive adoption, raw SegWit is the way to go.”

He continued:

“As one of the larger wallets, we enjoy an element of influence over the state of the network, as a non-trivial percentage of bitcoin transactions are conducted through BRD wallets. Getting wallets and other service providers to upgrade their software to interact with bech32 addresses is the goal in general, and with this initiative we're targeting them in a respectful and persuasive manner.”

Perhaps thanks to the campaign, in part, and on top of SegWit adoption itself, bech32 use increased throughout 2018 as well.

"5.6 percent of the outputs created these days are bech32 outputs," Le Calvez said, “though bech32 outputs store only ~0.8 percent of all bitcoin, so it means that bech32 users are quite active. That could be because Coinbase and LocalBitcoins support it, and exchanges attract arbitrageurs that move money around faster. Another reason could be that, since bech32 is the cheapest way to transact, it attracts high-activity users.”

All in all, Bitcoin blocks have grown along with SegWit adoption over the past year. While average numbers aren’t quite as telling (because not all blocks fill up in the first place), the typical full block today is around 1.3 megabytes. The biggest Bitcoin block to date was also mined this year, in September by BTC.com, and was almost 2.3 megabytes.

The Lightning Network

Highly anticipated for years, 2018 was the year that the Lightning Network made its “official” debut. Although the risky nature of early stage tech was conveyed through the #reckless hashtag, regular users were invited to try out Bitcoin’s overlay network for fast and cheap transactions for the first time.

In March, Lightning Labs was the first to announce the beta release of Ind, the software implementation it’s spearheading, and collected a $2.5 million seed investment round to boot. This was followed by the beta release of ACINQ’s eclair later that same month and Blockstream’s c-lightning in June.Since September, Casa even lets you host a physical Lightning node in your home: the Casa Node.

In conjunction, several Lightning wallets were made available, and even more of them are coming, including some from established Bitcoin wallet providers like Trezor and Electrum.

Probably at least as important, Lightning payments are increasingly accepted for real goods and services.

One of the very earliest adopters of the Lightning Network was a prepaid top-up service Bitrefill, in March of this year. CEO Sergej Kotliar has been keeping a close eye on Lightning Network usage since, telling Bitcoin Magazine:

“We’ve processed 2,170 regular Lightning orders at this point, receiving a total of 6.3 bitcoin. The share of Lightning payments is steadily growing and [is] currently at about 2.5 percent of our bitcoin orders. We’re generally waiting on two things for this to take off bigly: more wallets and exchange integration.”

Distribution of payments to Bitrefill per payment method. (Number of payments, not amounts.) Source: Bitrefill

While it was not very necessary this year, as Bitcoin fees have been negligible for most of 2018, Kotliar also tracked how many on-chain transactions were avoided by using the Lightning Network.

“I basically added up all channels, opened and closed, and how many payments and forwards have been made, as a sort of measure of scaling efficiency,” he explained. “This adds up to 2.75 payments per on-chain transaction, and 3.46 payments per on-chain transaction, if we include forwarded Lightning transactions. This number grew steadily over the past couple of months as channel reliability improves and the network grows.”

Besides Bitrefill, other pioneering adopters included the Blockstream store (since January) and Living Room of Satoshi (since April). Payment processor BTCPay integrated Lightning payments in July, offering it to all its users (like TorGuard VPN and Coincards). So did payment provider CoinGate in September, on-boarding the Lamassu Bitcoin ATM network, bullion store Bitgild, and hundreds more merchants. And the first exchange started to accept Lightning payments for deposits in 2018 as well: gold-to-bitcoin exchange Vaultoro (since May).

What may be even more impressive is the level of community involvement in such a new technology. Berlin-based Lightning startup Fulmo, for example, organized a series of popular “Hackdays”: three in the German capital and one in New York. Developers and anyone else with interest could come and learn about the technology and build on it on the spot. Also in New York, Bitcoin development company Chaincode Labs focused its third “Bitcoin Residency” program on the Lightning Network, too.

As an entirely new phenomenon, and partly the result of these events, a number of Lightning apps (“Lapps”) were introduced over the course of the year.

"Lightning has enabled people to build lots of cool things with bitcoin and it's unlocking a whole new potential. Things that we haven't even thought of today," Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark told Bitcoin Magazine. "Every day we wake up and someone has built something new."

Lightning Labs has tried to keep track of available Lapps in its Lightning App Directory. Examples include a jukebox, a tipping solution and a file-hosting solution, all powered by Blockstream’s micropayment processing system Lightning Charge, showcased during the company’s “Week of Lapps” in March. Another particularly useful Lapp that launched this year is Submarine Swaps, which allows users to pay Lightning invoices even without having a Lightning wallet.

Further, the hackdays produced photobooths, point of sale payment processors and games. And the Lightning Network even saw the emergence of what can arguably be considered its first “killer app”: The million-dollar, homepage-inspired, web graffiti platform satoshis.place went viral through Bitcoin social media last summer.

All this activity translated into data, too. Although publicly available Lightning Network statistics are not completely reliable — some aspects of the network are hard or impossible to measure — various Lightning Network explorers show that there are several thousand Lightning nodes online on any day. Between them, they have more than 10 thousand payment channels open, holding hundreds of bitcoins worth almost two million dollars, and all this is growing fast.

In the meantime, code supporting the Lightning Network is only improving, and more parts of the protocol are being fleshed out. In November, a group of Lightning developers from different implementations met for a second Lightning Summit in Adelaide, Australia — after the first one in Milan in 2016. Here, the “BOLT” Lightning Network specification made a leap forward, paving the way for dual-funded channels, splicing, atomic multi-path payments and more innovation for 2019 and beyond.

In part two of this article, to be published in two weeks: privacy, sidechains and Schnorr signatures.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

from InvestmentOpportunityInCryptocurrencies via Ella Macdermott on Inoreader https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitcoins-tech-trends-2018-what-year-brought-us-part-1/

[fancycollectionfury-blog1]

Health Insurance for individuals in the Seattle are?

"Health Insurance for individuals in the Seattle are?

Fifty year old healthy couple looking for some good but AFFORDABLE health insurance. Currently have Regence Blue Cross and just got hit with a 30% increase. Ouch!! Hardly use it, ...show more

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://financeandcreditsolution.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

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how many accidents do you need to be moved up to a high risk insurance company? I got in a car accident a year ago and last week I came very nearly close to one twice. how much is the insurance policy for high risk insurance?

What to do about Young Driver's car insurance?

I'm 17 and currently looking at buying my first car with insurance sometime during next year. I've been looking around on a lot of price comparison sites and the cheapest I could honestly find was 3,000 a year. I even tried putting myself on my dad's insurance through them and it was still in the 3000's. I have tried with a number of cars, mainly from group 4 insurance as anything below that tends to be really new cars that boost up your premium. Ideally, I'd like to buy my friends Peugeot 306 off him which is a 1.9 diesel that is usually really cheap to insure compared to most other first cars . However since this huge insurance increase I'm finding it impossible to get prices below 3000. Does anyone know of anyone specialist insurance sites for young drivers that offer cheaper prices or does anyone have any tips for filling out the forms to lower the price? I've tried everything I possibly can but I may have missed some important thing. I just know I don't want to pay 3000 a year for a car that I'm buying for 400. I see no logic there, what so ever. I'd rather crash my car and then buy another 6 of them.""

Who do i call about health Insurance ?

I'm 19 years old and live on my own. How can I get health insurance in my own name since my father is no longer w us and my motherdoesnt ha ve her own ?!

Which car has the cheapest insurance?

Audi A4 (Sedan) Audi A6 (Sedan) BMW 3-Series (Sedan) BMW 3-Series (Coupe) BMW 3-Series (Convertible) BMW 5-Series (Sedan) BMW M5 (Sedan) Cadillac CTS Lexus IS Lexus GS Mercedes-Benz C-Class Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class Mercedes-Benz E-Class Mercedes-Benz S-Class These are cars I want to get but my dad said that he wants me to pay for insurance and gas. I want something with the cheapest insurance BUT ALSO on this list.

Do I have to pay higher car insurance if I buy a second car?

I have a Chevy Cobalt and have insurance for it. If I want to buy a used truck also so I have two vehicles, do I have to pay higher car insurance costs? Do I need to get a second policy for the truck?""

Insurance on a 2003 Ford Mustang Mach 1?

How much would insurance be on this car? I'm 16, almost 17, in Arizona, by the way. The car has a V8 engine.""

What insurance companies are cheap for young drivers that have 6points due to non insurance?

What insurance companies are cheap for young drivers that have 6points due to non insurance?

Will a B average my freshman year apply to an auto insurance discount?

I had a 3.2 last year (my freshman) year, and as of now I have about a 2.5. I'll be getting my car soon, so if I can't bring it up by then, will they accept last year's GPA so I can get a 10% discount?""

Does anyone know what the average insurance rates are for OTR owner operators?

Just a rough estimate....I'm doing some research.

I need good car insurance?

i just got a car, and it isn't insured for the road. it's a 2002 mercury cougar and it's pretty pricey for insurance, in between 400 and five hundred. i live in ontario canada and i was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for insurance, the cheapest quote i got was from bel air insurance and that will run me around 400-500 a month, anybody know of a cheaper insurance company with fairly good coverage? i am 16 years old getting my g2 in january and i have completed drivers ed. please help. and also anywhere i can get free quotes would be great too. thanks!""

Basic features of insurance?

features of insurance

Whats a cool car with low insurance?

i passed my test in january, i'm 20 years old, what would be a cool car with low insurance, my idea of low insurance is somewhere around 1000 to 2000""

Additional insurance for a company car?

I currently lease a car from my company, which means that they insure the car etc. The problem is that this only covers me for social driving and for my company's business use. I am trying to get a Saturday job and they need me to prove that my insurance covers business use. I don't want to lie so can I take out an additonal policy to cover me for business use at the weekends? Many thanks""

How much would my little sister's car insurance be?

Can anybody give me an estimate of what insurance on a Chevy Cavalier would be for an 18 year old girl who lives in Colorado? My little sis is in a tight spot cuz my parents aren't helping her with paying for a car or insurance, but she's saved up enough to buy a car and just got a job, and is asking me to help her with insurance which I'm going to try to do, thus the question above. The problem is awhile back she got a ticket for I think it was either wreckless driving or careless driving. She's matured a lot now and all but I know the insurance companies look into things like that. Please help me with an estimate if you can. Thanks.""

Car insurance in differnt states ?

My grandmother lives in new Hampshire and there you do not need any insurance on your car , but in Connecticut by law you have to have it, so I was wondering if she comes to see us would she have to put insurance on her car to leave her state??""

Why didn't GW make an effort toward affordable health insurance for the Americans w/o any?

Why didn't GW make an effort toward affordable health insurance for the Americans w/o any?

Secondary insurance for a Mustang for a 16 year old male?

My parents are going to get me an 2008 mustang. If the car is under their name and im just the secondary user, like if i drive it once a month, how much am i looking at insurance wise?""

Anyone has geico car insurance? please help!?

I take my drivers test real soon, 2 weeks after school starts, so the first two weeks i have to ride the bus. i'm a junior, and i have many activities going on after school, i don't want my dad to keep dropping me off and picking me up. So i was wondering how long does Geico car insurance take process. I am not allowed to drive right after getting my license because i don't have car insurance. I have to get it after i get my license but how long does it take to get the car insurance? will the geico car insurance be done within few day so i can drive the car to school?""

Does your driving test score affect your insurance rates?

Some people are telling me that the higher the score you get on your driving test, the lower your insurance will be. For example, if you score 80 points compared to someone how scores 100 (full points), the person with 100 points will have lower insurance costs. I just wanted to know if this is true or not, and if it is true how much does 1 point affect your insurance?""

Im 18 how can i get affordable insurance?

im a private contractor self employed individual i dont make much at the moment im still covered by my parents but i want to checked out and im ebarassed to ask parents because i feel like i might have something they have enough bills and issues and id like to be responsible for my own actions and bare the consequences if i must but hopefully its nothing...

""CAR QUESTION: If a car is registered in my name, will it be costly for my INSURANCE?""

I am 21 years old and I am planning to buy a used on so that it will not be expensive for my insurance. WHICH OF THESE IS BETTER: -Register the car with my name and pay like 3 thousand dollars for the insurance or. - Register it with the name of my Dad. If it is registered with my Dad's name in it, will that be cheaper to my insurance?""

Why want the Republicans work with the Democrats to get a good health care system in the U.S.?

Is it because the Republicans are behind big business?

A question about the affordable health care act!?

My wife was born in 1955. She would like to retire, collect Social Security when she turns age 62. Since she cannot get Medicare until age 65, we were thinking about getting her ...show more""

Different Car insurance rates for different cars?

Alright, I'm 18 and a freshman in college this year, and I commute there 20 minutes everyday to save money (room & board is around 15k). And the car I have now is not really reliable anymore. Its a 94 Cutlass Cierra, and within the last month the Heating Core, and the Alternator have both went, and I've had to sink 600 dollars into it. I'm looking at getting a new car next summer, and I have basically narrowed it down to two choices. An Eclipse (Mitsu) or Cougar (Mercuy). I know its going to cost more to have a sports car, but what I want to know, is how much the different prices for insurance would differ for these two cars. I was going to do one online, but I saw it needed a VIN, and I don't have the car yet. I'm thinking about asking my car insurance company for quotes, but I doubt they would do it. Does anyone know the prices to insure these two cars for a 19 year old. Or a link or any information would be appreciated.""

What would be the cheapest car insurance company to go to for someone who gets insurance for the first time?

What would be the cheapest car insurance company to go to for someone who gets insurance for the first time?

Health Insurance for individuals in the Seattle are?

Fifty year old healthy couple looking for some good but AFFORDABLE health insurance. Currently have Regence Blue Cross and just got hit with a 30% increase. Ouch!! Hardly use it, ...show more

What is the cheapest sr22 insurance in california?

i had one accident in 2009 and i am currently paying the other party but i hadnt done it before and the dmv took away my license now i need to get a sr22 one but they keep on giving me car insurance quotes,, any help appreciated im 20 years old and dont own a car my uncle lets me borrow his""

Cheapest car insurance in the tampa bay area?

It would be nice to get a human answer.

Does the new Health care law say any thing about Dental and Vision insurance?

Does the new Health care law say any thing about Dental and Vision insurance? What does it say about those things Dental and vision? Is it going to make them cheaper and require them to cover more, like almost 100% of the bill for those services? When will this take affect? Will it require us to have them to? Will it give us more affordable options for Dental and Vision plans? What are they going to call affordable on those? I need a plan that will cover 100% of my Dental and Optical visits.""

Cheapest car insurance uk desperate!?

im 17 and just passed my test and i have a citreon saxo sx 1.4. my parents dont drive so i cant get insured on their name so i know its going to cos me a fair amount. ive tried looking on all the search engines such as confused but the prices are so expensive! does anyone know any individual companies that are really cheap, i really am desperate!! lol, thanks.""

How much will a Toyota Spyder increase my insurance?

I'm looking to buy a 2000 Toyota Spyder. But i'm only 20 years old, so i'm questioning whether or not it is a good idea! Its will cost me about $10,000 after tax + the insurance. I'm not so worried about the actually cost of the car, because I can make about a 60% downpayment, and take out a small loan for the rest... But the insurance is the big issue...""

""Learner drivers, what litre is your car and how much do you pay insurance?""

Learner drivers, what litre is your car and how much do you pay insurance?""

Cheap car insurance for 7 star driver?

Cheap car insurance for 7 star driver?

How much is a the monthly cost for a used car including insurance ?

I would like to buy a good used car around 6000 ..but, I would like to make a dewn payment of 1500 and get a financing for the rest .... What would be my real monthly cost ...? a friend told me that I will have to pay insurance as well ... and that it could 235 per month w/ Geico or 135 ..... Do I have to get an insurance for my car ? Do you yourself pay your car loan + insurance ? if yes, how much ..? what can I do to pay less insurance ?""

Does anyone know where I can find good affordable health insurance?

I lost my job a few months ago along with the health insurance, does anyone know where a 24 year old guy, no health problems, etc can find a cheap but good health insurance company?""

How much does it cost to be added on to someones auto policy for a week?

I live abroad and will be in the US driving my dads car for 10 days. How much should it cost for him to add me on to his insurance for such a short period?

First car/insurance question?

http://westpalmbeach.craigslist.org/car/676277707.html im looking to buy this car for my first car, i currently have more than enough for it, plus i really have wanted a lancer. is that a good car? 2nd. do you need to pay insurance on a car that you dont use? im an avid driver, but i havent got my license yet, *2months exactly left*. if i get it, will i pay insurance for 2 months...without use? in the hypothetical scenario, where i wont even use my drivers permit with it with a parent of course.""

Which company has the best *TERM* life insurance quotes for people over 50 ?

Obviously, people over 50 years old will pay a high premium--but is there a company out there that won't soak the customer , and at the same time are a reputable company ? In closing--I am not a fan of the 'colonial penn' type deals that plaster their commercials over the television.""

Help With Young Male Car Insurance?

I'm a 20 year old male (or will be in April) and am needing help finding a good car insurance deal. So far, I have used LoveMoney.com to get my car insurance as it's returning costs of around 1400 as-a-pose to over 2000 on comparethemarket.com etc. Although I am looking for 0.8 - 1.1L cars, the insurance is ridiculous and the fact that I have pass plus doesn't make a blind bit of difference. Does anybody know of any cheaper ways to get cheaper car insurance? and as an estimate do you know what the approximate monthly cost would be for a quote around 1400? unfortunately it doesn't state it on the quote. Thanks""

Can my mom have two cars under her name?(insurance)?

I am turning 16 soon and i would like to purchase or lease my own car.. Of course i will pay half of the insurance and as much of the lease price as i can... However, before i do anything... I would like to check a few things.. Is it possible for my mother to have two cars under her name/insurance while I am also registered in her insurance? Like me being registered under my mothers insurance because if i make my own insurance the cost is very expensive.... I tried calculating how much it would cost if my mom had a car under her and another car under my name (inside the same insurance) and it was around 800-900 dollars per month.... *This is ontario..* so is it possible to have two cars under my moms name and none under mine? and will it be expensive as me having a car under my name and the same for the other car under my moms name? thanks!""

What do you think about auto insurance?

What do you think about auto insurance?

Auto Insurance help?

My parents have 3 cars, and I'm getting my drivers license soon. when I called the insurance company, they said that I must be registered as a primary driver instead of occasional driver on one of the 3 cars (which makes the insurance cost a lot more). Is that true or are they bsing?""

Insurance Rates tied to credit score?

I just read the front page of our local newspaper regarding homeowners and auto insurance rates will be tied to ones credit score, making those with lower incomes, or problematic credit to pay even more for the home or auto insurances. The main question I have is...do you think that if ones credit improves, that the insurance companies have an adjustable rate that will decrease when ones credit score increases? I know this isn't the way it's going to happen, but what are your feelings on this plan?""

Are there any insurance companies that offer discounts for drivers of hybrid cars?

I know Traveler's does but their rates are really high to start with, so 10% off that is actually a ton more expensive than my regular insurance. I'm looking to insure a 2005 civic hybrid. (which for fair note I love!) Thanks in advance!""

""Just found out I'm pregnant, I need health insurance but...?

What are the best plans for me (Im 23 and live in CA) I want to save as much as I can. I've looked at Kaiser Permanente and Anthem Blue Cross but Im lost.

Insurance and Stepchildren?

I've been doing some research and have been able to find very little information on this topic. My husband and I got married recently and with our combined incomes, my son would no longer qualify for Medicaid (which had previously been his insurance). My husband asked his employer (who carries Aetna) if he could add his stepson and they told him yes, absolutely, they just needed his birth certificate, SS#, and a copy of our marriage certificate. We provided all these documents, and then they told us we needed to cancel his current insurance and provide proof of cancellation before they could cover him - which seemed strange to me, because I've had Medicaid as secondary insurance in the past, but we complied. We provided them with the letter saying that his coverage would be terminated effective June 1st. Hubby asked HR if everything was in place, and they said yes - as of June 1st, when his Medicaid expired, they would pick up coverage. Then yesterday (June 7th), HR approached my husband and told him that an Aetna representative called them and said that they can NOT cover his stepson unless I, the biological mother, am also on the insurance. This was NEVER mentioned to us previously and they knew he was not planning to add me as well - we never provided any of my documentation or information. I called Aetna and they told me that HR at the place of employment are the ones who determine this policy, and HR is telling us that it's the insurance company. So now my son is completely without coverage when they TOLD us that it would begin on the 1st. I have no interest in switching my insurance - I am covered under my parents' policy and it is very good. I am currently pregnant and I know my OB takes my current insurance and they have already preapproved all prenatal care and the birth. I might have considered switching if absolutely necessary had we known ahead of time, but we didn't, and now his insurance has lapsed as a result. So my question is - in my research, I came accross Obama's Affordable Care Act, which I know is the one that requires insurance companies to cover children until they are 26 and is the same reason that my parents' insurance company covers me. I read a couple different places that this same law also applies to stepchildren. So, under this law, is my husband's insurance required to cover my son?""

Should i sue my auto insurance company?

On the morning of Sept 14, 2011 my sister woke me up at home asking me where my car was. I went outside to discover my vehicle was gone. So I call the police to come and take a report but of course there wasn't enough officers on duty to send one out so I wake up my brother to get a ride to the station. Keep in mind this is between 2:30-5:00am and the last time I actually saw my car was Sept 13, 2011 at approx 11pm. I arrive at the police station where I make a report, they take down all the info and send me home with the report. Approx 1 hour later they call me and say my vehicle was recovered in a nearby city and they gave me the number to that police station. So I hurry to call them but of course they were closed until 8am. At 8am I call them they said bring my ID and insurance info to recover the vehicle. I go down there and ask questions but they told me they weren't allowed to disclose any information about who, what, were, or when the incident occurred because of confidentiality. They told me I would have to pay the towing and storage fee to recover my car from the impound. So I left and went to the impound paid $218.00 to discover that my vehicle had been totaled. So I had it towed to my house where I called the insurance company to report this. After I reported this incident they took a recorded statement and gave me a claim number. I waited for 2days for my adjuster to call me back and he never did. about 2 weeks later my adjuster calls and leaves me a message saying he needed another recorded statement and to call him back. I call back and got his voice mail. I spoke to one of his colleagues and they said they would send him and his manager a memo to call me back..well that never happened. 1 week after that I get a packet in the mail asking for my cell phone records, keys to the vehicle, and a notarized affidavit. I sent these things back and then a detective from the insurance company calls me and said there were red flags and he needed to get a video recorded statement. I agreed and went to give the statement. A few days later a detective from the police department where my car was recovered from calls me and tells me that my youngest son's father was with some friends at a nightclub were a drive-by shooting occurred and my son's father wasn't shot but the young man he was with was and as a result of them trying to escape the scene my car was crashed. As they arrived to the scene and asked questions about what happened my son's father would not admit he was driving the vehicle, and because they didn't actually see him driving or pull him over they could not prosecute. The detective asked me did I know anything about this incident and I replied hell no! The night of the incident my son's father had came to my house around 3am but never mentioned anything of course because he knows I would have tried to kill him. He also knows I would have been pissed because I never let him drive my car for the 3 years that I have known him, he has never had a license. She ask me was it ok to list him as a suspect and I told her Yes! I let her know that he did not have permission to drive my car under any circumstances. The very next day the detective from the insurance company called me and ask me what was my son's father name and what where the numbers that where called on my cell phone records. He asked why did he call me at 2:54am, I explained he wanted to let me know he was on his way over which wasn't out of the ordinary for him to do. So then the detective tells me my story stinks and I need to withdraw my claim because on my interview I didn't disclose that my boyfriend had come to my house. I told him why did I need to disclose who was sleeping in my bed if it had nothing to do with my car. I mean we know now he had something to do with it but I didn't know then. He told me the police detective also had the keys to my car which was a lie. It clearly states on the impound record that they had no keys. Not to mention the car has broken locks and loose wires I guess he didn't read that part of the report. He also told me I was trying to cover for my son's dad to get the car covered. I told him he could arrest him for GTA for all I care. My car was stolen and no matter who stole it I'm the victim and of course I want my car covered. He then said he was denying the claim and sending the case to the Department of Insurance to see if fraud was committed. Im beyond frustrated because I have nothing to do with what my son's dad did. Should I sue?""

Is there a big differents in the price of car insurance?

hi is there a big differents in the price of car insurance between a mini copper and a mini one for a first car for a 17 year old

New Insurance Extension?

If the companies extend insurance to young adults up to age 26, what happens if they get married? Are you automatically removed from your parents insurance when you get married?""

How much would it cost to get added to someones insurance policy...?

I need to prove that I have insurance to get my license reinstated. My grandma said I can use her car, but I'm not covered. She has liability insurance for her car. How much would it cost me (18 year old male, inexperienced driver) to get added to her policy. It is a small, older 4 door car. Any idea about how much it would be extra a month for me to be added? Also, would she be able to take me off of the policy whenever she wanted without any kind of fee (like if I tried to get taken off in a month, would they say that she has to pay for 6 months...). Thanks!""

Auto insurance for a teen driving a 2003 Ford Mustang?

I am a 16 year old male and am looking to buy my first car. I found this really nice Mustang ($$4,000) and i think its a really good deal because it looks like its brand new. I was wondering if there are any other teens that are relatively new to driving that drove a mustang. Can you tell me how much you pay for your insurance and your age and what car?""

Health Insurance for individuals in the Seattle are?

Fifty year old healthy couple looking for some good but AFFORDABLE health insurance. Currently have Regence Blue Cross and just got hit with a 30% increase. Ouch!! Hardly use it, ...show more

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/average-cost-2008-honda-accord-ex-l-v6-sedan-cindy-jones"

[irvinenewshq]

Static & Batman Past Crew Up for Milestones thirtieth Anniversary

Picture: Nikolas Draper-Ivey/DC Comics Of the numerous DC animated collection from the 90s and early 2000s, KidsWB’s Batman Past and Static Shock are among the many most beloved. Within the comics, each characters have acquired their very own solo books inside the final a number of years, largely Batman Past, each due to apparent causes and DC’s revival of for Static (and by extension, the remainder of Milestone Comics) remains to be pretty latest. Now the 2 heroes are teaming up for the second time. Introduced at New York Comedian-Con on Friday, Static Past is a brief story set sooner or later that’ll see an older Virgil Hawkins cross paths with a nonetheless fairly inexperienced Terry McGinnis in Neo-Gotham. Written and drawn by Nikolas Draper-Ivey (Static), the one-shot can be half of a bigger thirtieth anniversary anthology meant to rejoice Milestone, which first went into print in 1993. Static and Batman Past first met within the former’s season 4 episode “Future Shock” when Virgil was by accident blasted into the longer term and needed to save his future self. Exterior of that, the 2 have been featured within the Justice League Limitless two-parter “As soon as and Future Factor” as members of the League of their time; Virgil received randomly yanked right into a time portal, and Terry…died. (It’s fantastic, time received reset, so that they’re alive.) The Static of Past, teased Draper-Ivey, could be one “in his prime.” The general Milestone thirtieth Anniversary Particular will function numerous tales centered on Milestone characters akin to Icon, Rocket, and {Hardware}. Together with Draper-Ivey, creators hooked up to the venture embrace Stephanie Williams (Surprise Girl: Trial of the Amazons, Wakanda), Chuck Brown (Black Manta, Flawed), and Milestone co-founder Denys Cowan (Energy Man & Iron Fist, {Hardware}). In February 2023, Milestone can even launch two miniseries occasions: the primary, Static: Shadows of Dakota, is sequel miniseries to the 2021 comedian from the returning workforce of Vita Ayala, Draper-Ivey, and ChrisCross. And the second, Icon vs. {Hardware}, is a conflict between the 2 heroes co-written by Reggie Hudlin and Leon Chills. G/O Media could get a fee Whilst you await the particular to launch in 2023, there’s an hour-long documentary on the historical past of Milestone obtainable to look at on HBO Max. Need extra io9 information? Try when to count on the most recent Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and every part you have to find out about Home of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[workreveal-blog]

Smartphone Virtual Assistants Bixby and Siri

New Post has been published on https://workreveal.biz/smartphone-virtual-assistants-bixby-and-siri/

Smartphone Virtual Assistants Bixby and Siri

‘The usage of facial reputation and the Bixby button, You could maintain your cellphone up and say ‘name such and such,’ and that’s it.’

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is one of the maximum eagerly awaited gadgets of all time.

Having recently spent multiple hours with the iPhone rival in advance of release; It’s clear to see why.

On first use, the Galaxy S8 isn’t always simply one of the exceptional telephones within the world proper now; It’s one of the little phones of all time.

Its minimalist layout and near Facet-to-Part show are a futuristic joy and will probably pave the manner for the next era of smartphones.

The S8 is ready a whole lot greater than a look even though.

Smartphone Virtual Assistant War Siri and Bixby

It’s a device that perfectly blends the high-quality of everything.

A digicam that’s unrivaled in low-mild, a processor with greater electricity than you are ever possibly to want and a brand new UX it is eventually ready to rival the iPhone.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 isn’t always smartphone, It is a superphone, and we can’t wait to spend greater time with it. Samsung’s new virtual assistant isn’t equipped for a high time.

The organization’s broadly touted artificial intelligence tool Bixby — visible as a rival for Apple’s Siri — received be fully operational in time for the U.S. release of the Galaxy S8.

While some elements of Bixby may be protected inside the April 21 release, the headline voice activation characteristic won’t be available in the U.S. till “later this spring,” Samsung stated in an announcement.

The postpone is an embarrassing hiccup for Samsung. The rollout of the tech massive’s first high-five up phone because the debacle over its hearth-prone Galaxy Note 7 is being carefully watched.

After a bungled take into account that fee the company extra than $five billion and in the end led it to kill off of the Observe 7, analysts have stated Samsung needs a perfect release for the S8.

However delaying Bixby Voice may be a signal the corporation found out from the Note 7 crisis.

“Of path, it might’ve been fine if the whole thing has been geared up at launch,” said Bryan Ma, an analyst with studies firm IDC. “but it’s higher for them to make certain that the technology is prepared in preference to rush it.”

Samsung didn’t deliver a reason for Bixby Voice’s postpone or say whether or not voice activation will be to be had for the S8’s launch in its Domestic market of South Korea.

The employer heavily promoted Bixby while it unveiled the Galaxy S8 in March, insisting it’s “inherently” individual from competitors like Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and Microsoft’s Cortana.

Samsung even specified a button at the side of the S8 to access the digital assistant, permitting users to fireplace up Bixby the manner they would have a walkie-talkie.

Closing year, Samsung acquired startup Viv Labs that allows you to construct its information in AI assistants.

Led via a co-author of Siri, Viv Labs developed its assistant, Viv, that may take care of complicated queries from customers. Bixby turned into reportedly developed the usage of Samsung’s in-house technology. However, updates will include Viv’s capabilities and tech.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is honestly appropriate. Gone is the S7’s flat display screen, and in its place is a tall, slender drink of water with two curved facets. this is a cell phone that felt at Home in my hands after I went fingers-on with it for several hours at a journalist briefing in San Francisco. Better even than the LG G6, which has similar proportions, however, no curved display, and sleeker than the iPhone 7 Plus, which places a smaller screen on taller, wider body. For the first time, Each first Samsung smartphone is an “Aspect” version, with the threshold and Be aware’s curve-display software program and all.

However elegant as it is in metallic and glass, the S8 (and large S8 Plus) is also the first marquee Samsung smartphone in a long term that leaves me with uneasy doubts. And people doubts have nothing to do with the disastrous Galaxy Notice 7 and everything to do with a pair out-of-location picks, and a work-in-development digital assistant referred to as Bixby, which we also spent a few hands-on time with. So Siri and Bixby are in the spotlight of Smartphone virtual assistant.

Right stuff first. Samsung’s remodel the S8’s 5.eight-inch display screen sincerely pop. There is no extra physical Home button, and slightly a bezel. Which means the screen takes up roughly 83 percent of the phone’s face for tapping and viewing. If the S7’s show felt beneficial before, this is undoubtedly expensive.

For Samsung lovers who have in no way owned an Part or Note cell phone, that’ll be the first time you may enjoy the one’s curves. Till you try it for yourself, It is hard to give an explanation for exactly why the S8 feels greater polished and pricey than another flawlessly high-quality flat-confronted cellphone. It just does.

Prepared for the “but”? however. There also are some head-scratchers with the design of the S8 and six.2-inch S8 Plus. This time, the fingerprint reader sits so close to the rear camera that I fear you may smudge the lens when you’re just trying to release the phone — that took place in a few assessments with a prefinal unit. Samsung additionally acknowledges that its face release characteristic is more handy than relaxed. And while Apple, LG, and Huawei have embraced twin rear digicam lenses, Samsung is sticking with its original 12-megapixel shooter. On paper, that isn’t very remarkable. (See full specs underneath.)

Then there is Bixby, Samsung’s solution to Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. The three-in-one function is a mishmash of voice assistant, Google Now playing cards and Google Goggles optical reputation. It ‘s hard, confined and, at this admittedly early level, very incomplete. (extra under.) Samsung is requesting patience. That is up in the air proper now, but there may be a hazard that Bixby may not come preloaded on the S8. It is probably that you see a prompt to replace the software program as you installation the smartphone, but Samsung will supply us extra information towards release. New Bixby talents will roll out over time.

I honestly enjoyed my palms on time with the S8 and S8 Plus to date. However even at this early degree — with complete testing to come — it looks like Samsung’s Protecting again. That makes sense. The enterprise needed to clean up the mess of its exploding Galaxy Be aware 7 and scramble to ensure that the S8 might not do the equal. And after Samsung Mobile leader DJ Koh promised CNET an “progressive” Note eight, I expect refinements to the layout, Bixby assistant and the digital camera tech to make their manner onto that telephone.

For now, I’m carefully positive about the S8 as an all-rounder that enables Samsung to recover from its charred reputation. However, it will be our real-world tests at the final overview unit in April so that it will display how close Samsung has virtually come.

Pricing and availability You may preorder the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus on March 30. The telephone will promote globally, starting April 21 within the US and different most important regions. Inside the United Kingdom, the S8 has been priced at £689. In Australia, it’ll fee AU$1,199. You furthermore may get a pair of AKG earbuds in the container, worth $99 (Samsung finalized its sale of AKG discern organization Harman remaining month). All and sundry who buys a new S8 will receive Samsung Rewards Platinum level with bonus factors if they sign in for the program by using can also 14.

If you preorder the S8, you get:

Equipment VR (2017) and Controller Oculus recreation % A restrained version package for an additional $ninety-nine receives you:

AKG over-ear Bluetooth headphones (as well as the earbuds) 256GB reminiscence card The deal with Bixby Bixby is a little harder to give an explanation for. It’s a three-parter that combines factors of voice commands with Google Now-style cards and photo reputation. And Samsung has named Every part.

Bixby Voice is the Siri/Google Voice seek/Amazon Alexa issue which you speak commands to. But it will be confined at launch. You could ask it to toggle your settings, share a photograph with someone and perform different phone-centric obligations. However, you can not release an internet search, like looking up the weather or asking when your favored restaurant’s going to shut.

You begin it by Pressing and Holding the Bixby button Under the quantity keys (like a walkie-talkie), or with a wake word — Samsung will provide more information toward the S8’s sale date.

Bixby Domestic is like Google Now cards, and it lives one swipe left of the home display screen. It is a scrolling list of things like the climate and news memories, your step count, plus a few pointers for things you habitually do. For instance, if you name the same character at 4 p.M. every day, Bixby Domestic will advise the same when four o’clock rolls around. You may customize what you notice in the settings, and share objects with others.

  Bixby Vision will feel eerily familiar to each person who is ever used Google Goggles or Bing Imaginative and prescient on a throwback Lumia smartphone. A digital camera function, it uses optical image recognition to extract textual content (OCR), discovers objects and studies QR codes. You may test an e-book cover to shop for it and learn more approximately wine through accomplice Vivino. It uses Google Translate to translate text in fifty-two languages, and Pinterest to help with photo search.

[dylan38sanders]

How To Understand The Cost of AV – #EventIcons Episode 45

This week we’re wrapping up our 2-part series focused on How to Understand and Minimize the Cost of AV for Events. Bring your questions for our panelists! We’re being joined by the ICONIC Damian Oracki (Founder of ShowSlice), Tommy Melancon (Owner/CEO EventCollab & Level 2 Design), and Megan Powers (Marketing Communications Consultant with Powers of Marketing). What a lineup! Topics for today’s episode will include Why the Cost of AV is Often So High, How Can Planners Save Money on AV, and What Are Some Hidden AV Costs to be Aware of. Our guests will be addressing these questions and more as they share their years of experience and expertise. We’re unveiling the mysteries of the Cost of AV!

You’re watching this recording of our episode here on our blog, but wouldn’t you rather watch live and participate? Subscribe now to watch live! (We’ll remind you of upcoming episodes.) We would love for you to join us LIVE and bring your questions for our icons. We do this for you!

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Epic resources mentioned:

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EventCollab

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Transcription of this episode:

Will: Aw yeah. We are here today. I am back, it is Will Curran. Unfortunately Laura is hanging out in the background today helping answer questions, I’m sure we’re going to get her back on the show soon. But today I am getting to talk about one of my favorite topics. We are doing part two, part two. That’s right, there was a part one of this, of how to save a crap-ton of money on your AV. This was such a big topic and something I’m so passionate about that we had to turn it into a two parter. And thank the Lord we did, because we had so many questions last week, we have a lot more questions to answer and talk about.

We wanted to give you something a little bit special, so we brought in a whole new panel for you guys, so you can get a completely new perspective from some of the best icons in the events industry. I’m so excited to have these guys on the show because they are absolutely amazing. These guys, I just gotta jump right in and we just gotta talk about this because we need as much time as possible to talk about how to save money on your AV, so let’s just jump right on in.

Let’s start off with Mr. Tommy. Tommy is in the house, Tommy and I met in IMEX, and he is the founder of Event Collab, if you haven’t heard of Event Collab, it is an amazing software that you should be using to plan all of your events. Imagine that project management software you are using designed just for events. Really really cool, allows you to manage your budgets and your tasks, it’s super duper cool, but we’re not here to talk about Event Collab just alone today. But, we’re actually here to talk about his former history, technically current still history as an AV designer, and as part of Level 2 Design and has gotten to do some amazing events. He literally was telling me about an event they were doing where they had to do all this crazy stuff with creating content on the fly, and they had to do a bunch of AR, augmented reality stuff, and I was just like, we have to get you on the show talk about this. And I know Tommy and I had a very passionate conversation about how in-house companies need to let the little guys in and not be hurting people with fees, so we knew we had to have him on the show. So, everybody, please welcome Tommy to the show.

Tommy: Hey, hey.

Damian: Hey Tommy.

Tommy: Thanks Will.

Will: All right, and then, you’re very welcome. I’m glad to have you on the show. And also, in the house, Megan Powers. Megan actually works with Event Collab, taking care of all their awesome marketing stuff. She is fantastic. Also met at IMEX, and we had her actually on the IMEX episode, so you got to go check out episode, I got to memorize the episode, 36 or whatever it was, and we had Megan on the show and it was so awesome to have you. And we had an amazing conversation as well, back in the day at IMEX. You used to be an account exec, correct, for an AV company as well?

Megan: So yeah, I used to sell AV production. I started out in venue, and then I sold everything from centerpiece to a widescreen high-def show, and went on from there and now, yeah, I’m helping to market event technology, which marketing is my passion.

Will: I love it. Very cool. We had that very passionate conversation again about AV, and you were on the episode last week too, and you were in the comments section and we were like, “Oh my gosh, we have to get Megan onboard because she knows all about this.” And you know I’m always really passionate about people who used to be in AV and now do something different, because they can take that AV perspective that they have and kind of apply it to something new as well, so we’re just honored to have you, Miss Megan, in the house.

Megan: Thanks.

Will: Awesome. And last but not least is Damian. Damian and I also met at IMEX, we all met at IMEX, so it was a really really good time-

Damian: It was love at first sight Will.

Will: Love at first sight indeed. And you were competing in the event startup app competition, tech competition at IMEX alongside Event Collab, and you guys, learning about what you are doing I got so jazzed and so excited. You created basically a system for people to, and we’ll probably talk about it in a little bit, but how to save money by sharing resources amongst events, and really brilliant concept. I’ve stressed with clients for a long time to do this sort of stuff, and you’re basically creating a system for clients to do this very turnkey and very easily. I knew I had to have you. You also, your past roots are very similar to mine, used to be DJ turned production guy turned-

Damian: I wasn’t DJ, you just get confused because my name is Damian John, DJ.

Will: Oh that’s right. Everyone says, I keep thinking you’re a DJ, because then you have the badass headphones, we were talking about and everything too.

Damian: I’m into sound, but I’m probably the most less-tech savvy out of us all. I come from lugging. I come from the bottom end of the event industry and then sort of worked my way to where I am now, but I’ll tell you about that in a bit.

Will: Yeah, we’ll talk about that in just a sec. So we’ll wait, we’re going to tease everybody on that one, but I was, yeah, because your Twitter username is DJ, and I always thing you’re a DJ. And you also have that like DJ swagger with it too so.

Damian: Yeah, thank you.

Will: Awesome. Well, these guys, everyone please welcome Damian to the show, please, amazing to have you on the show. Need like the clapping sound effect.

All right, so obviously very excited for this topic so I want to try to dive right in as fast as possible into this, so we want to learn a little bit about your background though for everyone that’s here so they can understand you. What got you in the events industry? What got you into AV and understanding AV? Or what got you out of AV eventually for us?

So why don’t we kick it off, Damian if you want to start off by explaining a little bit about what your background is yeah, and how you came from sound guy to running what you do now?

Damian: Well I wasn’t really a sound guy. Before I came to London, I’m from South Africa, someone said that a mate of mine was earning 17 pounds an hour building stages and helping with AV, so you know, I started work at the bottom end working for the largest crewing company in Europe. I mean I’m talking about unloading trucks, decks, setting up sound, lights, building marquees for weeks on end back to back at one location, you know, setting up festivals. I’ve basically been anything you could think of in the event industry, and yeah, then started working in the office. Running crew, managing crew, then got into health and safety, venue management, and then off to the Olympics. That was my biggest health and safety job. I started my own crewing company. So in essence we would be selling to AV companies, those were our customers, production companies and AV companies were our customers.

I was also getting into a bit of online technology and someone told me, “If you want to get into online tech, solve a problem in your industry.” And the biggest issue I had, particularly working for a crewing company, being part of it, I mean we would spend two days setting up this one massive event, unloading the trucks, setting up a gig, and then only to have a three hour event and spend the whole evening breaking it down. The next morning load the trucks, 7 o’clock, few hours and then stay at that venue for the next, wait there for two more hours, and then work for a totally new production company to start a totally new event to do almost exactly the same thing.

And there was this lack of communication between event owners, event organizers that I couldn’t quite understand. I would see it so many times happen and then we’d actually, I actually would have clients, production companies bringing their clients together back to back and saving money. So I thought, well it happens with event owners that had a large amount of events, but it doesn’t happen between separate event organizers. And that’s when I started working on Showslice, which basically breaks down the barrier of communication so that event organizers can share some of the infrastructure costs back to back, whether it be a marquee on a beach in Thailand, or just the stage set and AV setup, which as you know can take quite a bit of time to set up.

Will: Absolutely, absolutely.

Damian: Where I am today.

Will: I think we’re going to definitely have to come back to that for sure, to talk a little bit about how can, maybe even if they’re using Showslice, or if they can try to do it on their own, how can people realize, share resources. Hopefully they’re using Showslice.

Damian: I’ve got a lot to say about that in a bit, so you know, there’s things that people should be doing that anyone can do.

Will: Awesome, awesome. And Damian, if you weren’t in the events industry, what would you be doing instead?

Damian: Well, I’m an entrepreneur, I had my own dessert company before. I discovered a new type of frozen dessert, so I was doing that for a while. But I would be in business. Outside of business, I probably wanted to become an actor.

Will: Ooh, I could totally see you becoming an actor.

Damian: I would have enjoyed that, you know, just being someone else.

Will: Awesome, I love it. I love it, awesome. Megan, why don’t you tell us a little bit about what got you into the event and AV space and what you’re up to now.

Megan: So like most people it happened on accident. I was working for a dot com, got hit by the dot com bomb and had an opportunity. I had been in marketing previously, managing events, and someone said, “Hey, this new venue needs an event planner. Can I give them your resume?” And I said sure, well it turned out to be a sales planning job, sort of. And then I moved on from there after a few years to selling event production. I love events and the first company I worked for I had an opportunity to also be part of the planning. And then when I moved over to AV Concepts it became more like a hard core production really video rich company that I was working for, and got to work with awesome companies like Oracle, and all that good stuff. Yeah, and then things kind of took a turn.

It’s funny, you mentioned and what made you leave it, it was a combination of things. Sort of what pushed me off the ledge was an interaction with a customer which I know that’s like taboo, right? ‘Cause customers are never wrong, but so anyway, that’s how that kind of went down, and through a journey of different things I ended up with my own marketing consulting business, and events are my jam. I have a passion for event technology. When Tommy first talked to me about Event Collab I was stoked, because I knew it was something that industry needs. When I sold AV I wished that we had a tool that helped us manage our projects more seamlessly, so yeah. I’m working with different technology companies, but of course Event Collab is my favorite.

Will: I love it.

Tommy: I’d hope so.

Will: Don’t say that just ’cause Tommy’s in the room. Awesome, awesome. And then, Megan what would you be doing if you weren’t in the events industry?

Megan: I would be a sports reporter, sports anchor.

Will: Ooh, what would be, what’s your favorite sport?

Megan: So tennis and football are kind of my top two, but you have to like all the sports, so as a reporter. If I was calling games I would definitely want to do tennis. Or I’d be a sideline reporter for football or baseball.

Will: I love it. I love it. Tommy, all right, you got to tell everyone the story of what got you in the events industry, because I know it’s absolutely fascinating. Oh, did we lose Tommy for a second?

Damian: Tommy, come back to me.

Megan: Tommy?

Will: Oh no, Tommy might have been frozen, we might need him to reconnect real quick. I was like, man, he’s really holding that pose, really good. [crosstalk 00:12:20]

Damian: Will, Will, I’m actually interested, first of all, just let us know, if you weren’t such a great production company and DJ as you were, what would you be doing?

Will: Oh, that’s hard. You’re asking the interviewer the question, so.

Damian: Got to know.

Will: For everyone who doesn’t know, so I started off as a DJ, and then we started basically hiring AV companies and we decided, okay, we can make a better AV company. So we decided to create an AV company. But if I weren’t doing this I would probably be doing something in performance or probably marketing, to be honest, because I’m really passionate about content creation, and sharing really really awesome content that people can leverage to understand things. That was our big thing with Endless, was hey, let’s take the veil off of the AV industry and share what it looks like underneath.

Damian: And what you’re doing right now is almost the same thing, so yeah.

Will: Yeah, exactly, so I think what I do right now is perfect because I get to do a little bit of everything. But I’d do that, or I’d probably, something content marketing related or to be honest, I don’t know, I’m like the more we do events with five or six camera shoots or something like that, I love broadcast. So I feel like I would work in a broadcast studio or for a news station, because just that thrill of the show is happening. Like doing this is so exciting where it’s all live, figuring out that sort of stuff. I love that element, it is just so fascinating and so exciting for sure, so I definitely think that I’d be doing something like that.

Damian: Well you should.

Will: I would also probably be Batman too, if I could. If I had the pain tolerance. Awesome. All right, cool, well I’ll have the team try to figure out what’s going on with Tommy, but we’ll keep moving on. Until we get Tommy back in here we’ll have to hear his epic story of what got him in to this. But, one question that we kind of want to start off with. We started this one off last time, and I know it’s the most controversial question amongst AV people, but you guys obviously have either worked inside of them, you have hired them, you have worked being hired by them, why is AV so expensive, and why do you think this is such a big misconception in the events industry?

Damian: Yep.

Will: Damian, you’ve got an idea, let’s go for it.

Damian: Well, I mean it’s a misconception. It is expensive because it’s a big chunk of the budget, but there’s a lot. As you know yourself, first the equipment costs, right? Actually owning the equipment yourself, as in the AV company, owning the equipment or hiring it from another AV company costs, but then it’s also the storage of it, the maintenance of it, the logistics of it, the crew to unload and load, to set up, and then obviously the operating costs, actually using the gear onsite. So I mean there’s a lot to it, it’s not just bang, and if it’s in-house it’s in-house, but if it’s a bit of kit to come in, then yeah, there’s no doubt why it would cost a lot.

Will: Damian, I mean you’ve done so much stuff with labor and different companies. And then Mr. Tommy is back, so we’ll have to jump into his story. Why is event labor specifically very expensive? Because people look at this and they go, oh my gosh, $45 an hour, $55 an hour, why is an AV engineer or technician paid so highly?

Damian: Yeah, well I mean, why? Well bear in mind it is a professional job, okay, so there is a standard rate, but there’s also a markup attached to it, as you know. The work involved. Let’s be honest, being a lighting designer is not as easy as it looks, you can watch those guys sweat while they’re mixing the lights. Depending on what the gig is, it’s quite a stressful job. Because it’s live, and they make a mistake, then you know, it’s on them. Sometimes obviously the guests don’t notice, because they don’t notice what’s actually happened, but professionals do notice, and they are good at what they do for a reason.

Will: Absolutely, absolutely. [crosstalk 00:16:24] Megan, what about you, why is AV so expensive?

Megan: I think it’s that whole, too, when I read that, compared to what? Right?

I mean because it’s a line item in the budget. [crosstalk 00:16:36] It has a cost. There is equipment. There is labor. You have to consider, even if you’re only a half day, that video engineer gave up an entire day that he could have worked for someone else to work for you, so you have to pay him for a full day. So there’s those sorts of things that add up, and yeah, obviously, Brant touched on it last week, labor is the biggest cost. But, there is, like Damian said, all the costs associated with keeping up that gear.

It’s funny because I’ve heard lots of people say, “Well, we’ll just bring our own projector.” Or, “I could buy a TV for that much.” You know, and it’s like go for it, more power to you. And then you have to ship it, and who’s gonna set it up, and do you have the cables, and you know, there’s all these other things that go along with it. It depends obviously on the level of your show.

If you have 20 people in a room, that’s a different story than if you have 3,000 people and everyone needs to hear and see everything that’s going on on stage. But I think at the bottom line, it’s all about communication, and up front, talking with your AV companies, whether they’re already on your team or if you’re shopping for them, about what you’re trying to accomplish.

If I can do this with plastic speakers, I’ll do it with plastic speakers. Tell me what your budget is, and how many people are in the room, and what’s the most important, what are the hot buttons for your CEO? What are your attendees, is there anything that’s gone wrong in the past that we need to concentrate on? Make sure that we, obviously we want everything right, but sometimes you know, if video was the hot button and that’s why the company got fired from the year before, you’re going to pay a whole lot more attention to video and maybe more of your budget is going to be dedicated to that.

Will: Yeah. Absolutely.

Tommy: I think scope of work is a big thing too. One of the things is, what we’ve seen over an event that we might be doing for five or six years, that line item budget hasn’t changed very much, but the scope of work, with the needs of AV on a program with the technology, has grown significantly. Again, that’s part of that communication between event organizers, event planners, agencies to really understand, what is the real scope of work and the need of this event this year? As opposed to what we did last year, because every year the scope seems to be changing and shifting a lot, but the number is not changing or shifting a lot.

Damian: You mean the budget, you mean?

Tommy: In the budget, correct.

Will: Interesting, interesting. Tommy, since we kind of lost you there for a sec, do you mind telling everyone? You talked about, you have clients you’ve been working with for six years. Can you tell everyone a little bit about your background and what you do, how you got into this industry, [crosstalk 00:19:16] how you got to where you are, and how you been dealing with class for six years, and where you are now?

Tommy: Great. Great, I’d love to. So unlike a lot of people, I fell into this industry as a teenager. I started as a stagehand, fell in love with lighting, design and production design and built my career in this industry. It’s an industry I love and it’s my whole life. It’s what I’ve been a part of my whole life. But 18 years ago I started Level 2 Design, and the focus of Level 2, it’s a live event company. We provide technical direction, technical services, and production design services to event planners, agencies, and clients. So what we do, we’re typically the interface point when people are trying to negotiate between what is the creative vision of the show, and how do we implement that vision? So we work in all aspects of helping plan, put the right teams together, the right engineers and the right suppliers to support that.

Level 2 does 80-100 events a year, so we’re actively and constantly in the event cycle of planning and working on events with our clients. And then recently, last two years, out of all the process that we built at Level 2, we started Event Collab. Event Collab is project management software for the events industry. We really wanted to focus on the industry that we knew. So that’s a start up, it’s two years old.

Will: Awesome, awesome, I love it, I love it. I always love when a need comes out of what you’ve been doing every single day, because this is where the best products kind of come in. Awesome, awesome. I love it, I love, man such a good crew. I’m just so excited about our panel that we have today, I’m like fangirling over here.

We didn’t get a chance to dive into this much last week, so I want to try to, if you’re looking to learn more about how do you save money from in-house fees and things like that, last week’s going to be your episode. Go check that one out, after this episode, obviously.

Tommy: That was a great episode Will, that was a great conversation.

Will: Amazing episode. Really really in depth. Really great strategies to saving a ton of money on AV, but I want to get really nitty gritty into how people can actually save a lot of money on their AV. So my question to you is, if you have go-tos for saving money on AV, where do you recommend planners start to look if they’re trying to save money? Maybe they’re at a $50,000 budget and they need to get down to $40,000, or maybe they’re at $100,000 and they’re trying to get to $70,000. Because, you know, budget costs, you need to get an event app in this year, whatever it may be. How would you recommend they go about strategy for figuring out what to save? Let’s go, let’s start off Tommy, why don’t you kick it off. Where would you recommend that your clients start to look when they’re looking to save for AV?

Tommy: Sure. I think the most important part that you start off with is the planning side, is before you engage any suppliers or any team that’s going to cost money on your budget or your event, is to really do the core planning. When, where, why, how. Put a good schedule together so you have a clear schedule of when you have access to the venue, what’s the load-in parameters, understanding what your needs are, because a lot of times, again, you have a very straightforward, you need AV for 20 breakouts, or it’s a much more complicated general session for 10,000 people. Those are two different scope of works that require you to really think about what your needs are, do that planning before you engage suppliers. Because if you think about it, AV suppliers are doing show after show, and if you want a quote from them, the more information you could give, the more realistic scope you could give the better chance you get to get real numbers from them. And it goes through [crosstalk 00:22:59] the entire flow of the project.

Megan: Yeah, when looking for the venue, like start that. Get that all nailed in before looking for the venue and then you can be really firm with negotiating your contracts.

Tommy: Because when we start with projects, if you’re starting with a project and you don’t know where it is, you don’t know the exact dates, you don’t know how many show days, that’s a lot of guessing work that you’re just going to extend that to the entire team. And the numbers are going to be vastly different again, maybe if you’re getting quotes from suppliers, because everyone’s going to make assumptions. The least assumptions you bring the less they make, the more accurate your numbers are going to be.

Will: I love that.

Damian: And I mean, just to take it back a bit, because that’s perfect, you know? Of course planning and communication and being detail orientated, getting the right brief. But also, with what I’ve seen and what we do right now is all about negotiation, and bringing price down, and positive influence. But the whole thing is now if you’re procuring a supplier and you doing this event and it’s an annual event, you should use the powers that you have to bring down the cost.

So you’re talking to the supplier and you say look, we want you to be our preferred supplier. You start using that power, and talk about using them a lot more and you can actually leverage that to bring the price down, you can guarantee for the business, if you had more than one event than good for you. I know clients that do 120 events a year in London, and they use that as much as they can, to the extent that they use their preferred AV company and they even dictate what crewing company that AV company should use. So then they go directly to the crewing company, pay basically, because as we know AV companies put a markup on them from 50-250%, I know in London they do. Anyway, and yeah, so you can leverage the power of what you have. Now if it’s a one social event then make it work for you, you know? But I find that actually can bring the cost down, yeah.

Tommy: Damian brought up a great point. It’s knowing your data. You know, everybody talks about in the industry, you’ve heard the big terms over the years, big data. Well, we have an opportunity, whether an event planner is doing three shows a year, or 200 shows a year, you have data over those shows that you could use to your advantage. For example, you know, who are the suppliers you are using the most and which suppliers you should leverage? You should have that data inside of your company or your organization that you’re planning events for, ’cause to me that’s the most important thing.

We hear that a lot when we’re working with agencies, they might want to look at the budget line item, and they want to take it off the tech costs, meaning all of the AV, staging, scenic, and labor. Well, that’s fine, but it’s good to know the numbers, and who you want to work with. If you’re going to ask for a deal from a supplier, what does that relationship look like? Are you giving them the kind of work that warrants the kind of discount you’re requesting for this maybe one time?

Will: Okay, so some really solid points. I love it. Yeah, leveraging the amount of big events you are doing. I think, also along with that, maybe leveraging your brand too. There’s some planners out there, they don’t know that they’re, they’re planning events for companies like us, we want to have them as a client because we just want to have their name on our website. So saying, if, for example, a big client like let’s say Facebook comes along and says hey, we want to work with you for this event, I mean, we’re willing to give a discount because we want to be able to tell people Facebook is one of our clients, right? And also the number of events.

I think Tommy also brought up a really really good point about the details. We talked about it last week, that far too often, especially on the labor side, people just put in, oh, I think the schedule is about this, and then the schedule turned out to be wildly different, and then you end up getting an invoice afterwards for extra labor, because you didn’t give the right schedule. So yeah, definitely specificity is insanely powerful.

What about you Megan? What areas do you think that are good for planners to save?

Megan: This is going to come as no surprise probably to anybody, but internet is what I’ve been hearing is the biggest thing that people feel like they’re getting gouged on. I think it’s the biggest opportunity for a venue to be a hero instead of just charging what they can charge because they can. I interviewed 18 planners for a client on internet, and their events, and kind of how it is to deal with in-house and all of that kind of stuff, we don’t need to get into a whole in-house versus out-of-house discussion, but there’s definitely advantages that are being taken there. I think that it’s up to the planning community to sort of stand together and be firm in those negotiations. I know that AV companies are losing business. The small guys are losing business because the in-house is packaging that internet with the AV and really sort of handcuffing them to using the in-house.

It’s not just about numbers. It’s about familiarity with your show and the trust level that you have with this AV company that may be traveling with you. I mean, if they’ve been doing five shows with you a year for 10 years, and suddenly they’ve got a $40,000 disparity in their budget, that planner may end up feeling like they have to use the in-house, and then they’re sort of starting over.

I think internet’s a big opportunity. And there are outside companies that you can use. It’s against the law, actually, FCC law, for in-house to require you to use them. I consider this an opportunity to-

Will: I know for example one of them that you recommended to me at IMEX was tradeshowinternet.com, right, as an example. I’ve been recommending them to all of my clients, because yeah, the ability to do it. Do you have any other examples of out-of-house like internet companies that people can go to? Or is Tradeshow Internet kind of like the big player?

Megan: Yeah, well there’s a couple but I don’t know them off the top of my head.

Will: That’s okay, I called you out on it.

Tommy: Yeah, there’s ShowNets. There’s quite a few companies that are specialized in event internet, like we all have specialties in the event industry, and those are really important, because what they could do is really help you navigate the internet process at a venue. So for example, at a large convention center, they already know the rules. Sort of like a labor provider or something like that, they have that same capability to help you navigate, especially if you’re doing a large event that you need internet throughout a large convention center or a hotel.

Damian: They’ve probably worked there before as well anyway, so you know?

Tommy: Yeah.

Will: Exactly, exactly. So we have a great question from the audience, and I’m so sorry. This is when [inaudible 00:29:46], is it Angela? Angela? I’m going to guess Angela Pierce had a question about run throughs and rehearsals. So as we know, a lot of times you have a very complex run of show, you have a lot of things going on, her question’s basically how do you determine when it’s a good idea to do a run through or rehearsal? Obviously you know it adds things like labor costs, and things like that to it, but when do you really need to have a rehearsal with your AV company, or a tech run through? What are your guys’ thoughts on that? When should you invest in having the labor be around for a rehearsal?

Tommy: Sure, I can talk. I think one of the first important things, depending on the scale and size of your show. If you have an opening performance, or you have production aspects, like a large opening that requires a lot of technical teams between departments, you need to do a rehearsal, you need to schedule that time within your budget and the schedule of the event prior to show.

I see a lot of events where a speaker-ready room could do a lot, with a lot smaller team, or what we call a pre-vis environment. A pre-vis environment we set up for larger shows often where we pre-vis the lighting, so the lighting team has a chance to program in a 3D environment, digital environment, as well as if you’re doing large projection mapping or you have a lot of content across large displays with projection, the pre-vis room is a great way without spending all that time on labor in the room to get creative and the production teams on board with what the content and though the rundown of the show.

So an example would be is we set out these monitors, we go put stakeholders in the room, they could look at transitions, they can make decisions in a room with you know, six people instead of 30 people on the show. That’s a great way.

When you have speakers, the other part is a speaker-ready room gives that capability for speakers to come in, look at their content, make updates, where you’re not spending that time on stage with a large production team making those edits and basically speaker-ready kind of scenarios.

Will: Awesome, so you recommend like some sort of pre-visualization, like a CAD design with renderings of lights and video, and a speaker ready room to kind of catch speakers before they have questions that they bring to the AV company that maybe someone else could answer.

Tommy: That’s correct.

Will: Awesome, cool. Damian, yeah, I saw you had an idea, I totally interrupted.

Damian: Oh no, but I think what’s Angela’s asking is like when could you actually avoid not doing it or can you cut costs doing it? The question is under what circumstances? But I mean, Tommy is right. If you’ve got a live band or live performance, you know, you’ve got to run through it irrespective. It’s just saving money in that way, you’ve got to be careful, because if you don’t run through it then you’re gonna have problems, it’s gonna affect your show. Yeah, I suppose Tommy hit the nail on the head there, as far as I’m concerned.

Megan: Well, and talk through it with your TD in advance when you’re working on that budget.

Will: TD, what’s a TD?

Megan: Technical director. He is the one who should be doing those run-throughs. Because I had a situation were I had a technical director who fell a little short, and we had that time blocked out, and he was not leading that time well and it just fell apart. So, it depends on how complicated the show is. Also, if you have 20 people on and off the stage, timing becomes really important, so that’s something to consider. [crosstalk 00:33:20]

Damian: It puts a lot of stress on the crew as well, you know, if you try to get it in just before the gig it does put a lot of stress before the big moment.

Will: Yeah, that was going to be my suggestion, is making sure yeah, you have that big enough gap too, so talking to your AV company and saying like this is what we’re trying to do. You know, we’ve had it where they do one session and they’re like all right, now we’re going to bring a band on, and we’re like, well, we need time to sound check, yeah, do all that sort of stuff.

Or, for example, unfortunately very common now, is we’re getting a lot of people who rent out like one gigantic ballroom and then air wall it and then are separating and rejoining rooms and things like that, and they expect like transitions to happen like that, so making sure that if you are doing any sort of transitions or things like that you have that time built in, and that you’re also not doing it, big cost-saver here, not doing it during things like lunch breaks or dinner breaks and things like that, because that’s when you get into overtime and added costs as well.

Tommy: And this is a real [crosstalk 00:34:15], if it helps for, and I know this is a big answer to your question, but I think you brought up a few good points Will. One of them is, a schedule tends to work in a five hour block, or a six hour and out block there. Once whoever is helping you manage the schedule and the onsite event, you have to understand the labor rules, and if you understand the labor rules then it puts you in a position to work in those rules where you’re not getting hit with meal penalties, double time, a lot of things that, short term, that really affects your budget pushing forward. That’s the biggest part of that, is really setting that schedule up and getting the team to buy off on that schedule. It’s the most important part. When I say the team, meaning your AV suppliers, your client, and the production team. You know, everybody needs to be in line on that schedule. When you’re not aligned, that’s where all of it goes sideways, meaning you’re working in a meal penalty, and all of those things are happening.

Will: Absolutely, yeah.

Damian: But Will, what I have found with my clients, I mean like last year we did three event back to back, and they used Showslice because they saved time, they saved money. The first event is set up and they have their rehearsal, and then because we’re bringing similar events with similar infrastructure requirements together, and the same production company is doing it the whole way through, you find all we have to do overnight is change the branding, the sets already in there, and then we have the whole day for rehearsals. So you know, planners, depending on the size of their event, but if they’re planning a particularly large event, finding other events to share that infrastructure with gives you that time, gives you that downtime for rehearsals.

So you know you just got to be savvy about it. There are many many ways to do it.

Will: Yeah. I’m going to keep teasing everybody about what Showslice is all about and that concept, because I think it’s really game changing, but we got a question from the audience asking, they want to know a little bit more about basic labor rules. So we talked about things like meal penalties over time, things like that, can you guys talk a little bit about like, what are the big labor rules that you’re seeing that are affecting clients having costs rise through the roof? Megan, you want to kick it off?

Megan: Well I think those guys would be better. I haven’t been working in that piece of it for a while.

Will: [crosstalk 00:36:36] Did you ever see something that a lot of your clients were maybe losing a lot of money off of, for example, like doing really early load-ins or something like that?

Megan: Forgetting that crew needs to eat, I mean just flat out like you have to build in break times, feeding them makes a lot of sense, especially if you’re in a venue where it’s quite a hike to get to anywhere to eat. All of that kind of stuff, which I think was touched on last week. But yeah, it’s like crew is … It’s worth it, I think, to have a, if you feed them the break can be shorter, typically. So you keep them onsite and you keep them a lot happier, that’s for sure. When you provide … I’ve had clients, they didn’t even have water backstage. It’s like, you know, provide a little bit of sustenance and some beverages and coffee, especially, right? Tommy, AV guys, coffee.

Will: They love coffee.

Megan: So I got coffee, and there’s so much goodwill there that will make everyone happier.

Tommy: The rule of thumb is pretty straight forward, but there is every city, whether it’s union or non-union has rules, but the common rules to follow, if you’re just building a document, is 5 hour blocks between meals. If he’s starting a schedule at 6:00 in the morning, those first couple of hours are probably on time and a half.

If he’s starting at 8:00 call or 7:30 call those are typically starting on regular time. You need to watch, after a 10-hour day you start going into overtime, with union a lot of times that’s eight hours, so you need to think about how you’re planning your day when you hit eight hours. A lot of times your labor component, your local labor component starts to go into time and a half. After 12 hours you’re typically in double time. And then the last part to watch out towards the end of that, is short-term, meaning there’s rules. The typical rule is eight hours rest period between the next call. Some areas, and on the west coast in particular, are now nine hours, so you have to have a rest between the call the day before into the call the next day.

If you don’t have that rest period everyone starts in short-term, which is double time starting that day. So that could really eat your budget fast in labor.

Will: There’s almost a scenario where someone could be in sharp turn, go into double time, and then because they’re going into a 12-hour day, almost doing overtime in double time, and you’re just compounding, basically the hourly rate at that point.

Tommy: The bottom line is to really understand the rules that you’re working in, in the labor that you’re dealing with, and to set your schedule to benefit the show, and again, get the team on board with that. Because again, nobody, there’s not many people that want to be working short-term, or working at 2:00 in the morning. But, if that’s what is the need of the show everyone will do it. So again, it’s planning your schedule to work.

Will: Do you think it’s up to the clients to figure this stuff out? Or like for example, in my opinion, right, you give the schedule to the AV company, they see all these issues pile up and they say, “Hey, just a heads up, here’s what your labor’s going to look like. You could fix it.” This and that. Or do you think the clients need to know all these labor rules?

Tommy: It’s fuzzy. I think the more you’re educated, if you’re handling, if that’s a line item in your budget, you should at least understand the basics of it. That’s how I approach that. And again, it’s education. Whether it’s necessarily not your job, you should understand, even if you’re a producer or you’re an event planner, you should understand those rules so that you could communicate that to your customer. Or communicate that to an event.

I think it’s that dialogue. It’s really important. You know, you’ve heard this before, so often people, you’re two weeks out or a month out from an event and you still haven’t seen a schedule because it’s not ready yet. We like to take the approach of get it 60, 70%, and let’s get it to everyone to start commenting on. And let’s start a dialogue. Because what tends to happen is some people, we might have a supplier that has a really good idea for a challenging schedule. So, the concept of get your suppliers, get your team in the mix, have everybody look at the 60, 80%, and have a dialogue before you say, “This is the final schedule.” Because of tweak of 2 hours here and there can affect you drastically on any sort of schedule when you’re trying to get to that last part of load-out.

Will: I love it, I love it. Damian, what about you? I know it’s a little bit different, obviously across the pond, but do you guys have any labor rules over there that we haven’t kind of mentioned, that you know, you think clients need to watch out for?

Damian: It’s not quite labor rules, but we do call it health and safety, and we have Health and Safety at Work Act, so we have to look after our staff. It goes with any company, and in the event industry, actually until quite recently, I would say about seven years ago, eight years ago, there was nothing. I remember I was doing 76 hours a week. Sometimes I wouldn’t sleep for 56 hours straight. Those were the days, eight years ago. And now they do control it. Now we can’t work more than 12 hours shifts, but it’s still happening. But we don’t have any sort of other rules, other than the Welfare facility and, but it doesn’t put any strain, extra costs on the clients. I’m actually quite intrigued to learn more about this, the union. Those unions factor that you guys have to deal with. It’s very interesting for us to consider when we come to North America with Showslice. I’m actually learning from this panel now, so yeah, very interesting.

Will: Awesome, I always love it when we can teach our panelist something too.

Damian: Yeah.

Will: Man, I knew this was going to happen. We are so passionate about this topic we’re running, getting low on time. But I want to talk a little bit about creative ideas for people to save money. So I want to kick it back to you Damian, to talk a little bit about, starting off maybe with the concept of Showslice. I told everyone we would get to this eventually. Starting off with that, that’s obviously a really creative idea, the idea that hey, we have an AV setup, let’s get two clients and put their events back to back so then setup doesn’t have to be rebuilt and built again, let’s just change the branding around and save money. Can you talk a little bit about how can people pull this idea off? How can people interact with other event planners to figure this out? All that sort of stuff, and then Megan and Tommy, if you guys want to think about other creative ideas I think, to save money would be awesome.

Damian: It’s exactly what we do. I mean you can look at us like I suppose, Air BnB. You can either pick up the phone and phone that person, or knock on his door and say, “Can I sleep at your house,” right? Or Air BnB goes and puts it out there on a platform so you can see what’s out there and buy it, so to speak. The whole thing of what we do now is venue finder.

Before we launched the second version of our platform, which in essence all it does is advertise available dates adjacent to already confirmed bookings. Then we’ll put you in contact, not with the other organizer, with the actual suppliers, ’cause they’re the ones that all communicate in between each organizer. So with the venue and the supplier. But very easily, and agencies have been doing this for years as well, very easily. You could call up a venue, a big venue, and find out what’s going on. What’s going on in the afternoon. If there’s a big luncheon you can change over the branding and have your AGM or your awards ceremony or whatever dinner in the evening. It’s not very difficult. We just did it the other day, one of our clients come to us, and just like a venue finder, what any agency could do, call up the venues, call up several venues and find out what’s going on.

You can actually, if you start fishing, it won’t take you long to find another setup that is quite similar to yours. And you just have to go to those venues. If you’ve got a 500 pex dinner or 1,000 pex dinner, go to those venues that do your sort of events and start asking them. And you’ll be surprised how many of them actually-

Will: So you’re recommendation would to call up the venues and say, “Hey, does anyone have something similar to this, and what do the dates look like?” And maybe trying to-

Damian: The venues, no, and there is a confidentiality issue there, but they don’t mind because they’re going to get that sale. So they’re actually quite motivated to put you in contact with the production company that’s dealing with the show.

Will: Okay, cool, very cool.

Tommy: It’s funny, because that’s happening, you know, in a place like in the U.K., so many of those venues are booked really tight, where we have the luxury in the U.S., we didn’t have, we could take three, four days to put in a show. But we’re seeing that squeeze dramatically over the last few years, so this is becoming what I’d consider a problem or something we all need to look at in the U.S. now.

For example, there’s a project we’re doing in February, where I called the TD that’s representing the show that’s in before us, because we have a four day load in schedule is now two and half days with overnights. So we’re having to …. We were working behind the scenes regardless of the client and the venue, just to understand what does his load-out look like, and what does my load-in look like and how can we work together? What’s interesting about that same venue, I then got a call for the show behind us, the TD calling us, saying, “What’s your load-out schedule?” So that’s two events in a row that are booked really tight. So, same for his situation, he had a four day load in prior, now he has a three day load-in, and he was just trying to figure out when are we gonna be clear, what rigging company we’re using so maybe we could share some resources. Again, there’s trucks that don’t have to get loaded. That gear could stay in the room. So it’s definitely happening in the U.S. more and more.

Damian: And now that Millennials are getting used to being flexible, because now we can sleep in boats instead of sleeping in hotels. And now these buyers, these Millennial buyers, so to speak, were actually more flexible. What other ideas are out there, you know? I mean, my event’s still gonna be special. I’m still gonna have my entertainment, I’m still gonna have my branding, but you know, maybe there is a middle stage set up with dodge ’ems, you know bumper cars in the corner, I like that idea. So they actually feed off other people’s idea. And just as much as a venue is shaped in a U-shape or horseshoe shape, that same venue would have temporary infrastructure that’s got a middle stage set up, so there’s no reason why, the whole week, events can’t use it back to back. It’s all about being flexible, and the more flexible you are, more choice you have, and obviously more money you can save.

Will: I love it. Megan, you have thoughts on this?

Megan: Well, the other part of this that’s interesting, at least that happens in the U.S., I think, is that even within teams within venues, sales and operations aren’t talking to each other. I’ve had scenarios where I had a show where we took a day to load in, and then they have a group loading in an hour and half after our keynote, you know. And it’s like, okay, oh, and don’t tell the client. The CSM comes to me, “How can we fix this, can you help us?” You know? “How long is it gonna take you to load out?” Whereas if a scenario like Showslice was involved, we probably could have set the room in a way that then … Because they didn’t have the whole ballroom, so then it became, “Okay, will you just push everything into that third of the ballroom and then you can load out from there, that would be great,” you know kind of thing? It’s super stressful, and it’s totally unnecessary.

Will: Absolutely, absolutely.

Megan: I see that being big benefit.

Will: I find that the more stressful you make things usually the more expensive they are too, because then it’s more worrying, you have to have more systems in place, all the sort of things to back you up.

So my question to you guys is, we’ve talked a little bit about how people can save some money putting shows back to back with each other. Have you seen any creative examples of events that you’ve worked with where they found a creative way to save money on their AV? For example, maybe they really wanted projection mapping but they had an alternative solution, or, oh hey, they need audio for 1,000 people but they couldn’t do a huge line ’cause it would cost too much, they did this idea. Any examples of when you saw someone get creative with the budget to save a lot of money on AV?

Tommy: Sure, I have a few. One of the things we’ve been doing a lot more in some events is quiet headsets. So that concept around, this is a great example. When you’re running out of space and there a large breakout? Let’s say you have a lot of breakouts, and there over attended. What we’ve been doing is instead of creating a lot of overflow rooms or directing people to multiple places, we do one large ballroom, set up with multiscreens, smaller screens, and each screen has basically red, green, blue color, you get a headset when you walk in, and you could sit and you could watch that program and then switch to red, green, or blue.

That gives you a lot of capability where you don’t have competing sound across this environment. But better, is for attendee experience, you could direct them to one place to go, as opposed to, “Oh, you know what? This session is now on the second floor in this room.” It’s always, “Just go to this place and you’ll see your overflow, you could experience the session that you didn’t get to go and sit in.”

Megan: And, as an attendee, if the session that’s green is terrible, I can switch to blue, right?

Tommy: Right. And you could just move seats.

Megan: Not have to move around. Yeah.

Tommy: A couple of other things too, is systems as this whole projection, ’cause you mentioned a projection mapping. Those systems are getting, there’s a lot of technology now that’s getting pretty sophisticated. That is, you could do the switching and the digital media in one platform as opposed to multiple platforms. It’s pretty new technology, so again, caution. You’ve got to really plan your show. It’s got to be in a sense a very much a straightforward timeline type of show, but there is capability to save both in crewing and core positions, quite a bit of technology. [crosstalk 00:50:46]

Megan: And Tommy, and also couldn’t you save by, if it’s already created, ’cause the gear is not as expensive as the time to create the content, right? So if there’s a venue or certain surface that organization wants to project on to for an event, say it’s the City Hall in San Francisco or whatever, potentially you could save money by reusing that content, right?

Tommy: That’s correct, yes, definitely.

Will: Awesome, awesome. What about you Damian, Megan, do you guys have any creative ways you’ve seen clients save money on their AV?

Damian: Yeah, well I mean except for sharing events back to back, but I mean, it’s the small things like, instead of being extravagant and using LED walls, with the 62 centimeter panels, projection is as much as a good and easy substitute for that, and there’s more things like the backdrop. Instead of using set, you’d use star cloth. You know, there’s very easy fixes for the set and stage to be honest. It’s little things like, I suppose, I’ve seen events where they actually find more out about the event. So if they’ve got a presenter, do they really need a wireless mic, they’d rather use podium mikes, so you now, little things like that actually. Nothing-

Tommy: Yeah, to Damian’s point, where we see a lot of spend, is when you’re doing breakouts, and especially if you’re staging 50, 60 breakouts on some of these larger conferences, is to really settle on, what are the real needs of that show? For example, four wireless mics across 60 breakout rooms is a pretty expensive thing if you’re only using one.

Damian: And it’s a lot of fiddling, isn’t it?

Tommy: And when you think about it, just management of those wireless signals and the crew around that, that’s just one example. But really like understanding, what is the minimum breakout setup I need? What is the switching component? What does that look like? How are you going to staff that? What are the real expectations of the client? ‘Cause so often we’ve seen, we have four people in a breakout room, we really needed two people there, because a client, it was a different expectation than what was really needed on site. So syncing up those could save you a lot of money, especially in scale, when you’re looking at a lot of rooms that you’re trying to set up.

Will: Piggyback on that too, I think asking the presenters what their actual needs are, because far too often you say, “Oh, I think we’re going to have four mics because they’re max,” you do a survey, and you find out where people are. Like, for example you could put the room that needs six people, you could put all those panels with six people in one, but if you have a room that only needs on person at a time, you could have a smaller set up in there too.

Tommy: Yeah, the term we’ve been using for that is produced breakouts versus unproduced. So it’s a great point, because so often, the team is trying to say well we have all of these needs so we’re going to set up all the rooms, where if you have 20 breakouts on level one, set up one room as a really high-end produced room, that’s ready for camera, ready for broadcast, or any of those experiences, and that’s the room you put those high-level events, where that’s the CEO or marketing team having a discussion. You put them in that room, you don’t have to set up all of those rooms as produced rooms, you could just do one produced room on that level.

Will: I love it.

Tommy: It’s a good point.

Will: Awesome. Any other thoughts on creative uses at all, Megan, Damian? Go ahead Megan.

Megan: Well it might not be creative. But mine just goes back to up front, communication. It’s shocking to me how little communication goes on between sales people and planners or producers. And as somebody who just recently was a buyer, from creative companies for a trade show, there’s some basic practices that need to happen regarding communication from both ends that I think aren’t necessarily happening. I had some really bad, like four bad experiences with sales people in the same week as a buyer. As a planner, as somebody who is buying these services, I think overcommunication is crucial, and not assuming things about your speakers. ‘Cause that’s happened to me too, like they don’t get the speaker right, or until later, and then the planner is getting that directly, and not communicating. So you have a speaker that shows up for a planner meeting with a Mac, wants to use his own computer, and he needs an internet connection and neither of those things were shared with the venue or with the AV company. I mean, those are huge, and so understanding up front who is responsible for making sure that everyone understands all of those needs and all of that, that’s big.

Will: Awesome.[crosstalk 00:55:42]

Megan: It sounds so obvious, but it’s not obvious, unfortunately.

Damian: But if we’re saying not being creative, but being savvy, and just, you being a DJ and bringing their own kit. I’ve seen organizers quite often, but depending on how big the event is, I’ll ask presenters to bring their own LCD projector, or ask the band to bring their own mics. So you can get creative, but get clever.

Will: Absolutely.

Damian: Save money.

Will: Awesome. Well I knew that this was gonna be an awesome conversation so we have to wrap up, but I knew it was going to be awesome. We still have tons more questions from the audience, just my questions to ask as well, but we do have to wrap up. So I want to end with my last two favorite questions. First, what’s your one tip for event planners that can help make their events amazing in 2016. I almost said 2016. 2017, to really help take their events to the next level, make their planning process easier, make it less stressful, what would be your one go-to tip, whether it’s AV related or not? Damian, you want to kick it off?

Damian: I would say research, you know? Use the Google machine. Use friends that you know. And if you’re in this business, you network. Know someone that’s an AV guy, and ask him questions. Contact Will, I think you would available to help people out, won’t you Will?

Will: Yeah, absolutely.

Damian: Yeah, but I mean you’ve got to research. You’ve got to know what you’re buying first and foremost, and then you can make an informed decision.

Will: Awesome, I love it, I love it. Megan, what about you, what’s your one tip?

Megan: This is self-serving, but I’m going to say it anyway. Use tools that help you be more efficient and collaborative with your team and all of your vendors. Collab-based document storage and event project management tools are, they’re not the future, they’re now, and everyone should be using them and not be afraid to make that change. I joke that Event Collab’s not competing against other products, we’re more competing against the same old way everyone’s done things, and we know that giving up your spreadsheets is probably not going to happen, but if you could get your 20-tab spreadsheet down to five and get all those to-dos and all the history of everything that has to do with your event inside one central place online, instead of managing time tracking in one place, and using Google Drive, and using Drop Box and email, and requesting things through email, and getting them and downloading them and having to upload them, why not just send a todo and have somebody just put the document right in the event, in a product like Event Collab, it’s just, it makes so much more sense.

Will: I love it, awesome. Awesome. Tommy? What is your one tip?

Tommy: Yeah, mine’s gonna be really similar, but it’s hone your process and be collaborative. Because I think it’s the biggest part that we see missing in the events industry. Hone your process. I mean, again, if you’re building the same sheet or you’re building the same document, really think about that and spend your time and be collaborative with your suppliers and your partners to figure out the best way to deliver that information collaboratively between the two of you. The more time you save, but also the engagement with your partners and suppliers, the better everyone could be for that event. And to me that’s the most important thing, is find a way to build better process and better documents to communicate with your partners and suppliers. But also communicate, ’cause it’s the thing so often, where we’re doing so many things at the last minute with a little bit more time and pre-planning it could be such a bigger outcome, or a bigger idea can sprout from that. If you’re bringing all of these people with knowledge to the party, to collaborate on a task, an idea or a problem in the event.

Will: I love it. Such good feedback, I love it so much. All right. So now we’re gonna jump into my favorite section, resources. I know you guys are full of resources, we were talking about a bunch of them before we hopped on the call, all you guys. I know you’re full of them because you guys have shared some cool resources with me. Why don’t we kick it off, let’s go with Megan. Tell me, what are you like cool favorite resources right now, like books, podcasts, websites, all that jazz?

Megan: There’s a product that just got brought to my attention, which I think is pretty awesome, especially given needs within venues and whether you can rely on dimensions of a room, it’s called RoomScanPro, and basically it’s an app on your phone and you put it on the wall and it sets how far, the total dimensions of the space, and you could even have, say a room turns like this and there’s a wall, you get that and it creates a room scan, a diagram of the room for you basically in minutes which is, I think pretty awesome.

Will: Awesome.

Megan: You know, so often we get false dimensions, right, in venues. I love it.

Will: What do you mean, [crosstalk 01:00:53].

Megan: I always sound like I’m dissing venues. I love venues, I don’t want anyone to think I’m anti-venue, ’cause we are all, we all need to work together. I didn’t mean that at all. But it’s just funny, as somebody who was selling AV, so often we would get the dimensions of the room and it’s like well that’s without a stage, or how many people they could fit? That’s without a stage, that’s it without this, without that, and all that kind of stuff. Anyway.

Will: Wow, rough. Any other resources that you want to share, things that people check out?

Megan: I am on a podcast called The AV Life. I have a special guest next week, his name is Will Curran. It’s an AV podcast that about all things AV, so there’s a lot of talk and integration in the permanent install side. But next week is my show and so it’s going to be on live events and Will Curran, Michelle Bruno, and Tehara and Dean and going to be the guests on that.

Tommy: Awesome.

Will: So excited.

Megan: Yeah.

Will: Definitely everyone’s going to have to check that out. Damian, what about you? What are your cool resources that you have to share with everyone out there in the interwebs?

Damian: Well, I, interweb, ha. It wouldn’t be so AV related, but more I suppose event related. I’m very much, and I have other businesses, I’m very much into virtual reality and augmented reality right now. Augmented reality is not quite there but I do work with a company on that. But virtual reality. What we’re trying to do now, particularly in venue marketing, is you don’t have to leave your home. All you need is your smartphone, and a viewfinder, which costs $15. I mean, if anyone is listening to this, go out and buy a viewfinder. Not those cardboard ones, they do work out, but just a decent little viewfinder, $15, and seriously, it will change your world. If you’ve got a smartphone. So if you own a smartphone, get a viewfinder and start playing around with it because it is going to change the way we attend events, we can attend it from home.

So that’s the whole VR thing, it’s fascinating. You could watch a concert, have a seat at the concert by just sitting there in your room. And you’re really immersed in, with your headphones, your decent headphones and it’s as if you are there. And then also augmented reality is something to look for the future. For planning events, you’d go to a venue, and you’d see an empty space, but now you’re trying to picture your event, or what type of AV you want, what would be suitable in that space. The best is actually to stick on these augmented reality glasses in the actual venue and you can see different types of events. Whether it’s a concert or a wedding, or an AGM, and yeah, and that’s coming. So yeah, look out for that.

Will: Awesome. I would definitely recommend the Google Daydream VR, just went on sale today, actually, you can get it for $50, normally $70.

Damian: Really? Good.

Will: So if you are looking for that affordable headset, Google Daydream VR. I don’t know, I’m pretty sure it’s compatible with multiple phones beyond the pixel, but definitely check that one out. Tommy, what are your go to resources?

Tommy: Well I’ve got a couple. One is for the techies out there. It’s Black Magic Video Assist, so Black Magic Design is a company, you could find them online. And the video assist basically is a small monitor recorder that takes HDMI or HDSDI inputs and outputs into a small monitor. We bought them for our tech kits last year and they’ve become this indispensable tool. What they’re great for is if you’re having trouble with sources, so for example a lot of times we’re setting up large demo tables with a lot of mobile devices and things as part of a corporate event. It’s great to be able to just plug those devices, to know one, that that device is actually outputting video before it gets through the system into all the video department and things like that. So that’s been a great tool.

The other nice part about that video assist is, you could plug that mobile device and actually record, maybe the presenter as he’s demoing the product, so you could plug it in, do a quick capture of that, which then you could bring to the video team if we have to cue that or we have to do something with that information, we kind of have it as a backup of the demo ran real time, so it’s an integrated recorder as well.

And then of course, the second link for me is Event Collab. Again, we really, we built this for the event community. We want to see you use it. You know, let us know how we could help you if you really are looking for a project managing solution that’s made for event people, it’s out there. Event Collab, check it out.

Will: It’s very very cool. I definitely give a shout out. Megan got to do a demo with me and show it to me, and I was like, man, if I didn’t already have so many systems in place, but I definitely, if you don’t have a system at all, it is a great start, and amazing to use. You can log emails into it, it’s super duper cool. So yeah, same with Showslice as well. I mean, obviously I’m a huge fan of all the companies, that’s why I put you guys on this show, so really awesome to have you guys.

We are a little bit over time. Because I knew that this topic was going to be so hot that we’re probably going to have to do a part three now, I knew it was going to come because there were just so many questions from everyone to know, how can we save money on their AV, learn more about AV. Really, really, absolutely, I got to give a huge round of applause, if anyone’s giving a round of applause to our amazing guests, Damian, Tommy and Megan for being on the show. [crosstalk 01:06:13] And next week, get ready, because we have an amazing episode lined up. I’m not going to give away any information, I already gave away that we’re going to do part two this week, so stay tuned for next week’s episode #Eventicons, it’s going to be absolutely amazing. Thank you again to our guests, and thank you to the audience for tuning in. We will catch you guys all next week, five pm eastern.

from Endless Entertainment http://helloendless.com/cost-of-av-eventicons-episode-45/