#this is in relation to the product blogs I’m not too sure if it’s much different with prom bots

[westerlyrivera]

Jumping on this to share how to spot a bot and take it down! 🤖 ⚔️

For those that might not know :b

Bots most often have pretty blank blogs

There is very little in the way of personalisation aside from the username. This could be a new user but more often than not it’s a bot. So no profile pic, no banner, no description. Just a username related to what it’s trying to sell (in the case of the bots taking over the asexual tag recently, it’s health product related).

Also, there is nothing in their likes which isn’t disabled like many users have it (tho some people do leave theirs on). I did see one bot that liked its own post, oddly enough.

The only posts they have are ones that are tryna sell you something.

Bunch of sketchy links. And they misuse tags, tagging stuff that’s entirely unrelated (I have found some that do tag health products but they still have other tags that are completely unrelated)

I’ve seen some bots that use a human disguise!

Though their small use of personalisation doesn’t do much when their posts give them away.

“So how do I slay them once and for all?”

To notify staff about the blog, go onto the blog and click the lil dude in the corner

Here you can click to report then report the bit for spam!

I tend to go back and flag the individual post (using the three dots to the right of its username) where you do the same as you did with the blog.

Not sure if reporting individual posts does much when you’ve already reported the blog itself but it doesn’t hurt to take extra measures.

Tumblr gives you an option to block, feel free to click it to set yourself free from that particular bot (though I personally don’t so I can continue flagging new posts it makes. In case it makes a difference).

Happy slaying and good luck!

I hope this helps

(@this-machine-runs-on-coffee this one goes out to you so I hope you don’t me tagging you here)

Bro I had a post pop up about bot slaying in the ace tags and I was like "Huh. I mean the bots are super annoying but are they really that bad in those specific tags? That seems weird." So I went over because I figured hey, I can scroll through my fellow aces posts for a bit and maybe report one or two bots while im at it.

Man it is so bad. Wtf even happened, why are these supplements everywhere? I've been scrolling for maybe 5 minutes and must have reported more than 20 stupid health supplement bot posts. This is ridiculous

[solkatts-svenska]

Hej! Hur mår du? I'm trying to learn swedish for my partner, would you happen to have any tips? Babbel is very useful, but I loved your blog so much I scrolled all the way to the bottom last night so I wanted to ask you. Tack (so? Sa?) Tack sa mycke!

Hej, tack så jättemycket för dina snälla ord! :) I’m really glad if you liked my blog.

I’m not sure I can give much useful advice, but I’ll do my best to describe what worked for me. So, here’s how I’ve been teaching myself Swedish:

I used several grammar reference books at the same time, to get a fuller overview of the language + get to do as many exercises as possible haha. The ones I used were the Routledge essential grammar and comprehensive grammar (as well as one in my own native language but well, that probably won’t be useful to you…). They’re all available as pdfs online. I would pick a grammar topic, scan all my books and do an additional internet search if necessary to compile and condense the information in my notes, then do some exercises. Initially I tried to do one or more topics every day but then found it more productive to alternate “grammar days” with “vocabulary days”

Speaking of which, I approached vocab in a similar way in the beginning: pick a topic, like colours or numerals or body parts, make a list and cram it. For adjectives, I found it an efficient strategy to learn them in pairs of antonyms

I kept a diary in Swedish for some time, which was helpful because that way I learnt and used specific vocabulary relevant to me and my life

I started reading, watching and listening stuff in Swedish quite early on, which I highly recommend to get comfortable with the language. To translate new words, I tried to refer to a monolingual Swedish dictionary as much as possible. Note: I could post a list of particular podcasts/YouTube channels/news resources etc that I liked if you guys want me too! But obviously it largely boils down to what you’re interested in.

Related to the previous point, I follow both teachers of Swedish and Swedish natives on social media to increase immersion

Good old Duolingo was rather nice, especially early on, to get the basic vocab and some grammar down

Quizlet and thematic Tumblr vocab lists proved rather useful too, especially when I wasn’t too lazy to review them

+ Some cool resources I use for Swedish as well as other languages:

Omniglot (a great place to start with any language: basic info + resources)

Glosbe (Reverso context but make it better)

obviously, Wiktionary (useful to look up declensions)

Last but not least, I encourage my followers to add their tips too!

Jag hoppas att det hjälper dig :)

[newmusickarl]

5-9’s Album of the Month Podcast – latest episode out now!

The latest episode of the 5-9 Album of the Month Podcast is here and it’s our penultimate monthly episode of the year! Pleased to say Mama Mañana Records’ founder Kiley Larsen makes his return, as he and I take our usual seats alongside 5-9 Editor Andrew Belt, to review five high profile album releases from the past month in music, ultimately naming one as our Album of the Month at the end of the discussion.

For our September 2024 episode, it was Hayden Thorpe’s unique and dazzling adaptation of Robert MacFarlane’s book, Ness, that took home our coveted Album of the Month title. Now for our latest episode, we look back at five big releases from October and the albums vying for recognition this time around are:

Cartoon Darkness by Amyl And The Sniffers (Poll winner, thanks for voting!)

Fate & Alcohol by Japandroids

Patterns In Repeat by Laura Marling

Endless Rain by One True Pairing

Cutouts by The Smile

If you want to listen to this or any previous episodes simply follow the links below, but also be sure to follow 5-9 Blog on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for more news and polls relating to the podcast.

Listen on Spotify here

Watch, like and subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Album & EP Recommendations

GNX by Kendrick Lamar

“There we were, all starting to plan our annual Album of the Year countdowns… then BAM! A new project from one of the true modern greats and one of the most acclaimed artists of the last decade plus - none other than King Kendrick Lamar. Dropping ahead of his planned SuperBowl halftime show in February, GNX immediately feels like a record for the fans. Where Mr Morale & The Big Steppers was a more divisive project, a complex double album that saw Kendrick wrestling with guilt, grief and generational trauma, GNX by comparison instantly feels much more accessible. This is Kendrick the artist getting back to being Kendrick the rapper, coming out all guns blazing with his razor-sharp flow and some incredible production work by the likes of Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, Kamasi Washington and, of course, MUSTARRRRRRRD! While fans can continue to speculate on a potential second album before the year’s done, I think it’s safe to say that GNX alone feels like another significant addition to Kendrick’s flawless discography. Not only shocking the world with the nature of its release, but also delivering a project to the same exceptional standard that we’ve come to expect from him. A truly remarkable feat and already one of the best rap records all year, proving once again that Kendrick continues to operate at a level all to himself.”

Read my full review for Clash Magazine here

Listen to GNX here

From Zero by LINKIN PARK

Without a doubt one of the biggest releases of 2024, nu-metal pioneers LINKIN PARK have finally returned with their first new album in seven years, their first since the tragic passing of beloved vocalist Chester Bennington, and the record that introduces new female vocalist Emily Armstrong to their fans worldwide.

While the announcement of Emily joining the band has certainly been marred by controversy, with heavy backlash from both fans and Chester’s family regarding her links to Scientology, anyone who watched the initial livestream will know that, from a pure vocal range perspective, she is probably the best possible replacement the band could’ve got. And the mission for From Zero seems to be just that – convincing the fans to buy into this new era of LINKIN PARK with Emily being part of it. Does it work? I would say yes.

As someone who has accepted that LINKIN PARK are never going to make an album as groundbreaking as Hybrid Theory again, instead enjoying their music these days on a mostly nostalgic level, I’ve had a lot of fun with this one. While there are certainly some duff moments (‘Cut The Bridge’ and ‘Stained’ I’m looking at you), they also deliver plenty of highlights too. ‘The Emptiness Machine’ remains a belter of a hook-laden comeback single, while ‘Over Each Other’ carries a big emotional punch thanks to Emily’s stirring vocal work. There are also some excellent heavier moments that callback to their earlier days too, such as the scream-tastic ‘Casualty’ and hard-hitting rock anthem ‘Two Faced’.

Everything else is solid and catchy too, making this an enjoyable 30-minute listen. As a comeback record it admittedly feels very safe, but I guess the main point of it isn’t really to break the wheel. This is LINKIN PARK doing what they do best and aiming to get their dedicated fanbase back on board for the ride – analysing it from that perspective, I think it works a treat.

Listen here

Night Palace by Mount Eerie

I know what you’re thinking – 26 songs, an 80-minute runtime… why you even recommending this one Karl, you know we ain’t got time for that?! Well, just in case you find yourself at a loss on what to listen to over a long journey somewhere, or even later on next month during the festive period, I have to recommend this new one from American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum – AKA, Mount Eerie.

Firstly, this is an album you need to experience from front-to-back �� this isn’t one to dip in and out of individual tracks. Inspired by Zen meditation, it is a single journey of reflection that comes seven years after the devastation of Elverum’s critically acclaimed masterpiece, A Crow Looked At Me. While I personally found that album heartbreakingly beautiful but also very hard work, I’ve found this one has oddly been more accessible by comparison, which is surprising given its demanding length.

But that said, the album has a great flow to it, with many of the tracks between 1 and 3 minutes long, with Elverum constantly jumping between different musings and ideas. There’s acoustic folk tracks and lo-fi rock tracks, with splashes of ambient electronics and harsh static thrown into the mix, playing out almost like someone flicking through different radio stations. It’s an enthralling listen, one that culminates in a gorgeous 12-minute spoken word poem, ‘Demolition’.

So, if you want a record that’s indulgent in the best way, is made for this dark, melancholic time of year and is just utterly fascinating from each brief moment to the next - then give this one a try.

Listen here

Petrichor by 070 Shake

Having come into the spotlight a few years back through her memorable collaborations with Kanye West, rapper/singer/songwriter 070 Shake has since gone on to establish herself through her solid first two albums, Modus Vivendi and You Can’t Kill Me. Now back with her latest album Petrichor, it’s another release that further demonstrates Danielle Balbuena’s fascinating and unique sonic output.

Awash with dark, moody synths, it’s an endlessly interesting collection of glistening neon-soaked pop songs. It begins with theatrical, piano led opener ‘Sin’ before morphing into the pulsating stomp of ‘Elephant’ which sounds like the sci-fi/western collision of Westworld but in audio form. ‘Vagabond’ is similarly dramatic, as is stunning album highlight ‘Into The Garden’ which is a genre-defying whirlwind of a track. Shake then feels festive with ‘Winter Baby / New York Blues’ before an intriguing cover of Tim Buckley’s classic ‘Song To The Siren’ with Courtney Love. The emotional roar of the album then comes on ‘Blood On Your Hands’ which climaxes in a spoken word poem from Shake’s girlfriend, Lily Rose Depp.

While not everything Shake does on this album is perfect, it is always a curious and innovative listen that sees her pushing her sonic boundaries and sounding like no-one else. In a music world where most artists seem to have clear touchpoints, we need more singular voices like 070 Shake.

Listen here

A Weekend In The City B-Sides (Another Weekend In The City) by Bloc Party

To today’s teenagers, the thought of having to illegally download and file share music must seem unfathomable. After all, when music is so freely available with streaming, who needs to track it down through illegal means right? Well, back in 2007 at the height of the indie boom, file sharing was all the rage, with bands blowing up through word of mouth alone, as albums and unreleased tracks were passed through MSN messenger, MySpace and other internet forums.

One such album was Bloc Party’s Another Weekend In The City. A completely unofficial release, it was made up of the band’s brilliant B-Sides from the Weekend In The City singles, as well as some unreleased tracks from the recording sessions that had leaked. For me it remains to this day the ultimate bootleg album, one that I adore as much as Bloc Party’s actual sophomore album.

For years this album was lost, condemned to my broken iPod classic along with some unreleased Radiohead deep cuts (thank God we got ‘Lift’ on the OKNOTOK release eventually). So imagine my delight when Bloc Party a few weeks back announced they would be officially releasing their A Weekend In The City B-sides on streaming services for the first time, bringing life back to Another Weekend In The City.

If you are a Bloc Party fan and are unfamiliar with these tracks, I cannot recommend this enough. The guitar work on tracks like ‘Secrets’ and ‘Version 2.0’ are sensational as always, while the likes of ‘Selfish Son’, ‘We Were Lovers’, ‘Atonement’ and ‘Emma Kate’s Accident’ are as stunning as anything Bloc Party made around that time. It also features two of their finest ever moments in the form of ‘Vision of Heaven’ and, my personal favourite, ‘England’.

At the time of writing, it seems the band have since taken the album down due to poor audio quality – something I foolishly put down to 00s aesthetics when listening late on release day. So, while these songs have temporarily disappeared once again, be sure to jump on them when they return.

In the meantime, you can still listen unofficially here

Also well worth checking out:

Seed of a Seed by Haley Heynderickx

Come Ahead by Primal Scream

BAMBI by Aziya

Don’t Go Making Plans EP by Hard-Fi

Marietta EP by Medium Build

Song Recommendations

People Watching by Sam Fender

He’s back!

A couple of years on from his incredible sophomore album Seventeen Going Under, the Geordie Springsteen has finally returned this month, and with a bang. From a UK/EU tour that sold out instantly, to three big stadium shows and numerous 2025 festival headline spots (including a rumoured Glasto headline set), Sam Fender has also announced that his new album will be released this coming February. ‘People Watching’ is the title track from the project and includes everything that fans have come to love about Sam’s music: his wonderfully descriptive storytelling, a big singalong chorus and some soaring instrumentation. With Adam Granduciel from The War On Drugs also working on the track and noticeably sharing his influence, it’s an absolute belter of a track that sets up Sam Fender to fully own these next 12 months.

Listen here

Pitch Black by The Amazons

Another band set to take 2025 by storm is Reading rockers, The Amazons. After releasing one of their finest songs to date in the form of ‘Living A Lie’ last month, the trio have since revealed that their fourth album will drop next May and will be titled 21st Century Fiction. ‘Pitch Black’ is the latest cut from the project and it’s another absolute stormer, boasting some scintillating bluesy riffs and a hugely anthemic chorus. For my money, still the best pure rock band in the country!

Listen here

When I Wake Up I’m Sad by Fiona-Lee

Someone who has been working with The Amazons and is due to support them on their upcoming UK tour is the wonderful Fiona-Lee, one of my favourite new music discoveries of 2024. Her latest single ‘When I Wake Up I’m Sad’ showcases her incredible talent, with gorgeously soft vocals, honest and vulnerable songwriting, and a spine-tingling arrangement which climaxes emphatically in a fist-in-the-air, saxophone-led instrumental passage.

Listen here

Drown by Bleach Lab

Around this time last year, dreamy indie outfit Bleach Lab were being named as one of my Top 10 Albums of the Year for their phenomenal debut, Lost In A Rush of Emptiness. Now back with their first single since that release, ‘Drown’ signifies a noticeable sonic evolution from the band, particularly the production and singer Jenna Kyle’s more confident vocals. Another great song from the band, it’s already got me excited for their forthcoming next chapter.

Listen here

Singles to get you in the Festive Spirit!

What is Christmas without some classic Christmas tunes hey?! While there has been a drought of any good ones in recent years, this festive season has seen a few new Christmas songs pop-up that are well worth a spin. Some are vying for the UK Christmas No.1 spot, some are for good causes… but all of them are spreading a little festive cheer! Here’s my five picks of Christmas 2024 singles to go check out:

This Christmas Time by Tom A. Smith Listen here

Late Night Phone Call by Reverend & The Makers Listen here

Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call by Bleachers Listen here

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Nation of Language Listen here

Happy Trails by Orville Peck Listen here

Also well worth checking out:

Renegade by Doves

U by Jadu Heart

Antartica by Divorce

Time of My Life by Somebody’s Child

Blood Is Thicker Than Honey by Lace Thief

My Drummer’s Girlfriend by ALT BLK ERA featuring Wheatus

REMINDER: If you use Apple Music, you can also keep up-to-date with all my favourite 2024 tracks through my Best of 2024 playlist. Constantly updated throughout the year with songs I enjoy, it is then finalised into a Top 100 Songs of the Year in December.

Add the Best of 2024 playlist to your library here

[fourthousandbooks]

Looks like I’m kickstarting this blog with a post about my favorite genre type - fairy tale retellings.

So recently I had to travel by plane for reasons, and when you’re on a plane flight with nothing to do aside from write fanfic or read, sometimes you continue to procrastinate on all your writing projects and pick up an old favorite for a fresh reread.

The Black Swan by Mercedes Lackey is a book I’ve probably read about a dozen times now, enough that I’m not really picking up anything new from it, but still enjoy the journey back through familiar swamps. It’s a retelling of Swan Lake as told through the eyes of the Odile von Rothbart, along with the prince who is now known as Siegfried and his mother, the Queen Regent Clothilde.

So the main theme of the story is ~*~Misogyny~*~ and how much it sucks. The setting itself is a world in which women have no power outside of the men they are related to and are blamed for mens’ actions as well as their own. Odette, along with the rest of her flock, was turned into a swan by Rothbart due to their perceived betrayal of men and it is seen as their penance for their actions. It’s so prominent a theme in the story that it can be a little hard to read at times, especially before the viewpoint characters put in their character development and start doing things about it. For me, I’ve read the book enough that it has ceased to be shocking and instead is a nice read for a certain mood, though I can certainly see it being off putting to someone who comes to this book for the first time.

To me, it’s an interesting book in that it starts all three of its viewpoint characters in unlikeable places. Siegfried is a prince raised entirely to be hedonistic and selfish, taking what he pleases and acting without respect or care to those around him to the extent that he commits rape, Clothilde has schemed and machinated her way into keeping her son the way he is so that she can continue to rule indefinitely, even planning for such a thing as her son meeting with an accident so that she never loses her position as ruler, whatever the cost to others, and Odile has completely bought into her father’s misogyny and hatred of women and sees his capturing women and turning them into swans as a good thing for them. While each of them get touches of sympathy so that we know they could be better: Siegfried is very much a product of his mother’s manipulations, Clothilde has grown up in a world that has denied her the ability to do or be anything that she did not manipulate her way into because she was female, and Odile has grown up with her father’s poison in her ears and no experience of others to show her how toxic the things she’s internalized is, they still start at a point where it’s hard to really feel for any of them, especially Siegfried.

Siegfried in particular, who I personally think how you feel about his redemption and turn determines whether or not you can enjoy the book at all, is definitely the hardest sell of the three, given that as part of the theme of the book, he does commit a rape of a young woman and society gives him no punishment for it whatsoever, even when he starts having nightmares and believing that he has done something wrong. Whether it’s merely a product of his mind or an actual visitation, the only comeuppance the world gives him is visions of the girl he raped showing him the monster he is becoming in a mirror she holds before an Angel comes to spirit her away and shows Siegfried a more extended vision of a monster destroying and ravaging everything in its path, to which he wakes up, takes stock of himself and considers it a warning that while he is not yet that far gone, he was on that path and he himself has to be the one to stop it now because no one else will hold him accountable in this world.

It’s an interesting take to be sure, but I can definitely see that being a dealbreaker too. I’m not certain myself that the whole plot consistently works for me, but for me, the most important part is Odette and Odile’s story and so I can set aside my feelings about Siegfried’s plot and whether or not it does enough in it’s time to make it feel like it works.

What I do really love though, is the swans. Odile begins the story on the cusp of the realization she will fight for the whole story, as it is a truly painful realization to have - that her father, who she has adored her whole life and has done everything she can think of to please - does not care about her beyond as a tool to use in his schemes, and that the people who will love her are the people who she has currently rejected. Over the course of the story, through her interactions with Odette and the rest of the flock, Odile goes from distant and hostile to the other women, to finding kinship and sincerely rooting for their success in Rothbart’s plot, and devastated when Rothbart forces them to fail. Odette and the other swans are much kinder than Odile believed, and as the story progresses, she finds out why they were cursed and why they did what they did and comes to realize that she was wrong about them, and they welcome her in as one of theirs now. The swan girls are not deep characters, many of them are never named, but their quiet bravery and willingness to be kind to Odile is what really draws me into the story.

The climax of the story does contain Odette and Siegfried throwing themselves to the lake rather than be parted by Rothbart’s machinations again, but the victor and hero of the story is Odile, who finally finds the courage to pull herself free of her father, end his life and save Odette and Siegfried from the heart wrenching end of their fairytale. The moment that she chooses to act again, and again, and again, yanking a happy ending out of the jaws of misery, is my absolute favorite part of the story. I read the whole book from cover to cover just to reexperience the glee and joy I felt the first time around seeing Odile take control and say no to father and fate.

I do wish honestly that there was a book like this that was more about the swans than Rothbart or the prince. Only five of the swans besides Odette are named and many of them never get a chance to do much besides be swans and swan girls and part of Odette’s court. In addition, while the decision to not have Odette be one of the viewpoint characters makes it stand out as we see her strength and heart through the eyes of those she touches, it does sort of also make it not her story in the same way anymore. She is at the center of it, but it lacks a certain something that I think I would have really liked to have. Also, it would be fun to have a subversion of the swan lake plot where by Odette and Odile bonding and falling in love unexpectedly, even though Rothbart intends to trick Odette with the prince’s failure into staying his swan captive forever, it’s the bond he never saw coming that shatters his hold and frees the swans. Misogynists do tend to be bad at spotting lesbians after all.

(Now I wonder if this telling exists yet, there’s got to be more lesbians fairytale options than there were eleven years ago when I first found this book)

Anyway, as far as fairy tale retellings go, it’s well enough. It’s not a mind blowing or particularly original take on the story, and the themes and premise of the book can be a difficult entry. But I enjoy it enough to have given it a permanent spot on my bookshelf and regular rereads whenever I need a snarky heroine who discovers that she’s a much better person than anyone, including herself, ever gave herself credit for.

[tryslora]

ND Creative: Time, Focus, Organization

Time, focus, and organization can be complicated things as an ND creative.

Objectively, I know what I need to do. I know all the steps. I even know that in order to get it done, I have to list out all of those steps, note how long each will take and their dependencies, then reorganize them into a timeline.

Then I stare at the screen, or the piece of paper, and my brain just stops. Says nope. Hits the mental and emotional back button to get the hell out of that mode.

Makes it kind of hard to get anything done.

I’m currently struggling with this exact thing on multiple levels. Why am I blogging about it? Well, I’m hoping that if I talk about the places where I’m stuck, maybe I’ll become unstuck.

Oh, the funny ways we try to trick our minds, yeah?

Big List Things I Need to Do:

Publishing stuff with DPP (timeline not under my control)

Publishing stuff for independent book (oh hey, a release date would be nice and I’m the one who has to set that)

Plotting and outlining the next PHU novel (is it over a year overdue? I’m sure no one noticed…)

Plotting and outlining the next 7Lakes novel (because when the first one comes out, “where’s the sequel” will hopefully be the obvious first question)

There are a million other things on my list in various sizes from small through medium and even large, but none quite as unwieldy as all of those.

I’ve been blocked on these timelines—both for publishing and for plotting—for a long, long time. I feel like I’m trying to do too many things at once, or attacking things on too many fronts. I worry about well, what if one thing overlaps with another—are the people who want to read my work going to be like “nah, I can’t buy two books” and just nope out of everything? Am I screwing it all up?

I keep telling myself I need to let go and just Do The Thing.

Seriously.

Do The Thing.

So, let’s break down what needs to be done at the highest of levels for the writing-related things (and ignore all the blog posts, TikToks, video editing, etc that also needs to be done).

For publishing with DPP, there is: 2nd edit on book 2, large revision on book 3 before it goes to first real edit, then 2nd edit on book 3, and final edits on all of that. Plus cover reveals, blog posts, teasers. Pulling out quotes I want to use for stickers. I am pretty sure I’m forgetting things. The nice thing is that all of the big overhead things like planning a campaign has been done for me. YAY Duck Prints (Seriously, they are AWESOME). I think my sticking point here is that I have no realistic expectation for how long each editing round will (or should) take, so I’m not sure how to slot it in. Plus I know it’ll be overlapping with the other book.

For solo (independent) publishing, I have so much more to do. I have to create accounts with both the private and public profile information that’s required on publishing platforms. I need to create a logo and develop a description of my “publishing company” (me, it’s just me) and I need to business work for that company, like buying ISBNs. I need to finish the final book editing, then do the layout so I know what the spine width is. Then I can contract for and get a cover. After that it should get easier, right? Pull out quotes, do blog posts, cover reveal, announcement of the release date (probably not in that order). Get the news out. I can set a release date once I get everything else on a calendar. And if the bulk of the editing is done sooner rather than later, my editing energy can be spent on the DPP books while I’m doing production and marketing for the 7Lakes book.

Okay. This all starts to feel like something I can get my arms around. I’m going to let the high level/low level plotting go for now, and come back to it in another post.

So—why is this a blog post anyway?

I mentioned before that I was trying to unstick my mind. By talking out loud to someone else—even though I can’t see that someone, and who knows, maybe I’m shouting into the abyss—I feel like I’m being held accountable. I’m working through it in public. In plain sight. It means I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, considering every word. It has to get out of my fingertips and onto the page because I am here, not just trying to make notes privately for myself.

I can’t back button out of it.

Sometimes that’s how I get things done.

Will this translate to me taking the things I’ve said above and moving them into something where I can add timeframes, and schedules, and put it all on a calendar with due dates and start breaking it down into even smaller tasks?

Gods I hope so. It’s a goal, anyway.

Getting back to where we started… time, focus, and organization can be complicated as an ND creative. 

Time—I spent thirty minutes and a thousand words of chatter.

Focus—It’s like body doubling—by talking to you, I got something done.

Organization—I think I have a list. Or a start of one. It’s more than I had!

It’s a complicated way of doing things, but fingers crossed that my next step is getting to cross off the first part of my timelines task.

[shadowfoxsilver]

Why do random meme blogs disappear?

I’m sure you’ve noticed it often. An account that’s well known for posting relatable memes or similar content suddenly gets removed with no prior warning and all their posts get removed even if it was just a funny picture. Usually it’s a mystery that never gets solved. However, being on tumblr for 11 years now, I think the reason is usually pretty simple.

These popular accounts often post a meme then link offsite where something is offered that their posting about. While this may not look too suspicious, it’s likely a sponsorship that didn’t get disclosed. Much like YouTube sponsorships, it’s entirely possible the account is getting paid to advertise this product and makes money by posting it or sharing their ad occasionally. These products are often knockoffs of something else and usually are copied from an original creator or based around what another business makes.

These accounts post advertisements, but may not be disclosing it’s an ad. They make no mention of being paid to post it, no mention of being sponsored, or even any mention that someone offered financial gain for it. It’s just ‘hehe funny meme’ post then with ‘And if you want this, go to this link and use this code!’ as you may see often. Most users will catch on, but unfortunately not a lot.

In a sense, the blogs that get mysteriously removed may have been posting suspicious links that led to another site offering a product that you could find somewhere else at a better price or of a better quality or even find the real person who makes it that isn’t aware someone’s stolen their photographs to pass off as their own product. These posts are usually extremely easy to spot.

Blogs who get popular enough will likely find suspicious accounts offering to pay them for advertising a product on here. Most generally don’t care about being honest to their followers and will take the money and post. However, those who aren’t in it for the money, will generally call out the business on sight and reveal the tactics their doing to sell something and refuse to be paid for advertising something that isn’t good at all. They may even explain why it’s bad and why they don’t support the product too.

In closing, a random meme blog getting removed is likely because they weren’t being honest to their followers and may possibly been posting advertisements without making it clear they was being paid for it.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

what's the mark watson thing?

Well, it is Google-able, and I’ve kind of hesitated to actually spell it out on this blog, just because I feel gross writing about that kind of celebrity gossip (I realize I write things about famous comedians’ lives on this blog all the time, but something related to their actual love life feels like a new level of tawdry). But I guess it’s not really any better to vaguely refer to it, as I’ve done a few times, than it is to spell it out. So since you asked, I’ll do that.

I’ll try to tell the story according to his comedy material, because anything he’s put in a stand-up routine doesn’t count as tabloid-style gossip, it’s just reporting on comedy. Last year I listened to all his radio shows in chronological order (those radio shows being basically made up of chunks of his stand-up, so it’s the closest I can get to hearing his old stand-up shows aside from the DVDs he released in 2011 and 2014 and a couple of other recordings I’ve found, which also follow the same pattern), the story is: early radio shows from the late 00s involve him talking constantly about being really excited to have a (relatively recent) wife. Next few years of shows involve a whole lot of jokes about anxiety about having babies and what it’s like to fight with your wife a lot. Then moves into a lot of jokes about drinking too much, more severe fighting while trying to raise children, drinking wine in hotel rooms on tour to escape family. Then he stops referring to his marriage at all for a bit, then in the late 2010s starts doing some jokes about what separation and divorce are like. In 2022, does a show that’s a bit unusually aggressive for him (still not very aggressive, it’s Mark Watson), talking about depression and divorce and having a drinking problem that is a cause and effect of both those things, a brief story about how he’d lived in Adam Hills’ attic for six months as his marriage/life fell apart. His 2023 show took this even farther, with a couple of jokes about being frustrated that he has to pay so much alimony, and some of the struggles of co-parenting with an ex-wife.

Things I know even though I haven’t heard it in a comedy routine: after getting divorced around 2018, he was in a relationship with Lianne Coop, the comedy producer who runs the Inpatient Productions company with him and occasionally appears in No More Jockeys videos. A relationship that I’m fairly sure ended in mid-2023, because I heard him do some stand-up in February that said his son had Googled him and learned about his ex-wife and current girlfriend, but when he streamed the same stand-up show from Edinburgh in August, he said his son had Googled him and learned about his ex-wife as well as the woman who until recently was his girlfriend, a change that I think made the bit more convoluted and work less well. Almost as though comedians don’t plan their love lives around what will make a line in their show sound smoothest. After seeing that, I said that’s probably the theme for next year’s show sewn up, I guess he’s got a breakup show coming. Though I now think he may have bigger issues than that to discuss next year.

I give the background because it is relevant to why I care about the recent revelations, which are that it turns out the reason his marriage fell apart is he had a three-year affair, including while his wife was pregnant with their second child. If this were a comedian I find funny but their material weren’t all that personal, I’d find it easier to separate the art from the artist.

But in this case, Mark Watson has been talking about that part of his personal life for years. Not just in stand-up, either. He did nine episodes of Sofie Hagan’s podcast from 2017 to the end of 2020, in which he’d come on every 6-12 months and they’d have a long, involved conversation about their personal lives, their mental health, their recovery from difficult things, which in Mark’s case included divorce. He talked about coming back from suicidal thoughts, from self-hatred, a lot of serious stuff that he was able to discuss insightfully and interestingly and at times in a way I found really emotionally moving and resonant, because he’s intelligent and analytical. But I did notice, during all those podcast episodes and also all his stand-up material, that while he talked about the pain of a marriage ending, he never actually explained why or how it ended. I just figured he wanted to keep that private, which is absolutely fair enough. It was a contrast, being so open about many things and keeping that topic closed, but celebrities should be allowed to do that. To open up about deeply personal things without being expected to tell us everything.

But now that we know what he was avoiding telling us, it feels pretty fucking disingenuous to me. He didn’t have to tell us why his marriage ended, but if he wasn’t going to tell us that, I think he shouldn’t have spent all those years talking about it at all. Because talking about it without mentioning the fact that it was all his fault is pretty misleading. Obviously got him a fair bit of unearned sympathy. It’s a new piece of context that makes me look back at years of his comedy material, and stuff he’s staid on podcasts (on Sofie’s podcast, and a couple of others, he did a really good one on Susan Calman’s mental health podcast in I think 2018), in a new light.

So that’s my defense for caring, at least a bit, about a celebrity affair/breakup – it is related to his work. I’m a lot less disposed toward hearing him complain about the pain of divorce when I know it wasn’t a mutual no-fault process, but him facing the consequences of something horrible he did to his wife.

Also, a whole lot of the appeal of Mark Watson’s comedy is based on him being likeable. I’m thinking of John Mulaney’s latest show, which opens with him saying “likeability is a prison”, as his explanation for how it felt to be vilified when he failed to live up to the “likeable” image he’d created to his fans. And I saw his point, I really did. I think there is no defense for what the tabloids or fans did to John Mulaney when he got divorced, which is why I’ve filled this post with about 80 caveats so far to try to avoid doing the same thing to Mark Watson. Celebrities should be allowed to be flawed human beings without tabloids or the public on Twitter jumping all over them for being insufficiently likeable.

But also, I would say the same thing about Mark Watson that I said about John Mulaney’s “likeability is a prison” line, which is that “don’t cheat on your wife” isn’t that high a bar. I said something yesterday about how the lesson here should be to not put celebrities on pedestals, but I don’t think this is all that high a pedestal. I didn’t find out that Mark Watson was rude to a stranger after a bad day once, making him disappointingly imperfect. I found out he carried on an affair for three fucking years including while his wife was pregnant. I mean… fucking hell. Three years. That’s not one mistake, where things get out of hand and then you feel terrible and never do it again. Surely there’s a happy medium somewhere between “Mark Watson has to be perfect” and “Mark Watson can have a 3-year affair and that’s fine”. Some middle ground where celebrities can be flawed but we’re still allowed to get mad when they do something absolutely awful.

Also, I don’t think I had Mark Watson in that prison of likeability. I knew he had, as his friend Tim Minchin would say and for lack of a less dramatic term, a dark side. If you only know him from panel shows and stuff it seems like his persona is of a really really nice innocuous guy, and I do like the really really nice harmless Mark Watson from panel shows, but I think my favourite side of Mark Watson is the darker stuff that comes out in his stand-up sometimes, when he gets a bit aggressive, gets into rougher topics like depression and alcohol and anger and jealousy. I never expected Mark Watson to always be sweet and innocent. I just… didn’t expect this. This new context for all his old bits.

But even if I like aggressive and dark Mark Watson just as much I like sweet and nice Mark Watson, that’s still all based on him seeming like the kind of person I like, and therefore making me want to hear what a person like that has to say. His humour is tied more tightly to who he is than it would be if he were a less personal comedian. So yeah, learning new stuff about who he is changes how I can enjoy his work. Makes it harder to separate the art from the artist. If I don't like him personally anymore, then it's no longer as much fun to hear what he has to say.

I don’t think Mark Watson should be canceled. And I do think some people should be canceled. I think comedians or other famous people who do horrible things to innocent people in their personal lives should lose their fans and ability to make money off their public image. But that should apply to predators and things like that. This isn’t that, I don’t think there should be professional consequence for cheating on your wife. It is, when it comes down to it, his own business. But I can't help that it changes the way I feel about him.

There’s also the question of why he said this publicly now, after not saying it for so many years. And he did choose to say it, by the way. This wasn’t some tabloids uncovering it through dirty journalism. He talked about it in a recent interview of his own volition. And he did, to his credit, say he regrets it and he knows it was an awful thing to do and he’s sorry and he makes no excuses. Which I think would be a plausible defense… if it happened one time and then he felt awful enough to stop. But three fucking years… Jesus Christ, I don’t know how anyone could keep that up for so long.

I don’t know why he decided to talk about it now. The most horribly, horribly cynical guess would be that his autobiographical book is just coming out and he wanted something in the papers that’s interesting about his personal life to make it sell better. I want to believe that’s not what happened, but I have to say it’s crossed my mind. I pre-ordered his book months ago, paid extra for a signed and dedicated copy, and I rather regret that now. I haven’t received it, and when I do I’ll still read it. But it feels weird.

It is also possible that he just decided to talk publicly about it now because his other relationship has ended recently, maybe that changed how he looks at things. Or maybe he didn’t want to worry about it “coming out” anymore. There is some stuff in Sofie Hagan's latest show that may possibly suggest that what was showcased on their podcast conversations may not have been the beautifully deep healthy cross-gender friendship it appeared to be, because actually nothing good is real and you can't trust anything, and that could have made him worried that someone else is going to put his secrets out there so he'd rather get them out himself. Point being that I can think of several things besides the release of his book that happened this year and could have caused this, and I really hope one of them was the cause, rather than the incredibly cynical possibility that it was for book publicity.

All right, this has been the comedian gossip section of the blog. Likeability is a prison but also I'd prefer it if my favourite comedians would keep the extra-marital affairs to under three years. Surely it's not too parasocial to say that.

[the-real-lyra-vale]

Day in the Life of an Aspiring Author: Resetting My Writing Life (#01)

Resetting your life is just a process of seeing what sucks, figuring out how to change that, and making a plan for moving forward. I really do need to do this for my whole life, but I am a huge mess right now and I need to take baby steps or I'll get overwhelmed and go back to what I was doing before.

Why I'm resetting my writing life.

For now, my writing life is getting this treatment, because my ultimate goal is to make my living from some kind of combination of writing, blogging, and my youtube channel. That makes it so important for my writing life to be efficient and organized, especially because I don’t have a single thing published yet. 

How to reset your writing life.

For this process I actually cannot take credit. I got these steps from the amazing Struthless on YouTube, who is one of my favorite inspirational productivity creators. You can get a worksheet of this process (his is not writing focused) for absolutely free from the description of his video introducing the process, and that can be found here.

Step 1. Brain Dump

The first step is to just literally empty every thought you have onto paper or into the computer. This was unexpectedly helpful for me, because I realized that a lot of the thoughts that were bothering me were actually things I was about to address with this reset. Some of the stuff I wrote was too personal to share widely, but here’s a procured version. All of the things here were on my list, I just omitted several that had to do with a medical condition I suffer from. Please excuse my typos…

- I don't want to do this emptying your head exercise.

- but it's part of the steps and it will literally bother me so bad if i skip a step so lets do it.

- its annoying that my desk is messy

- I miss my husband even though he's right in the other room napping.

- I'm not hungry but i feel like eating anyway

- I feel guilty about not practicing [religion] lately. I've just been so busy and in so much pain

- I also feel guilty that I haven't been exercising lately.

- I'm seeing a trend with these thoughts.

- I feel guilty about not working on reaching my goals.

- good thing I'm doing a life reset today, that will make me feel better about all this.

Step 2. Identify your goals from 6 months ago.

Looking at my journal from the beginning of the year, I have a very long list of extremely vague “goals” which are really just offhand wishes, and the only one that had to do with writing was “Write more.”

Thanks, past me. Super helpful of you.

Step 3. Compare that to how the last 6 months actually went.

All in all, I don’t think I wrote more in the last 6 months than I did in the 6 before that. I don’t have the data to back that up, which just means this step will ultimately be more helpful 6 months from now than it is now.

Thankfully, I have learned how not to set goals. That will help me later.

Step 4. Assess why you missed some goals and hit others.

Again, sarcastically thanking my past self, because I think I missed my one goal, but I’m not totally sure. I suppose the fact that I’m not happy with how much I wrote tells me that I missed it. 

The reason I missed this one is that the goal-setting system of randomly claiming that I want something and then making no effort to pursue it isn't the greatest method…

Okay, I swear I’m going to stop bullying myself now. 

Step 5. Identify your ideal second half of the year, and why you want it.

Easy enough. I made goals related to my blog and to YouTube as well, but I’ll just share with you my two goals most related to writing.

- Focus better when writing, because it will help me get my novel written faster.

- Publish my book, because then I’m one step closer to living off my writing.

Step 6. Turn the results above into actionable goals, and rank them by importance.

“Focus better” has the same issues my “Write more” goal from 6 months ago had, so we’ll turn that into, “Make an acceptable amount of measurable progress during each hour that I work.” Which might seem extreme, but if you knew me you wouldn’t be surprised. I always either put in no effort or too much effort into everything I do.

The other goal becomes, “Publish my book on my own website by the end of the year.” I don’t trust anyone else with my book, not an online e-book seller and certainly not a traditional publisher. I have a deep (maybe irrational… maybe not) distrust and dislike of large companies. Many people will not agree with me on this, and I'm fine with that.

Step 7. Who would you need to be to complete these goals?

To complete my goals, I would have to be a prolific author, a hard worker, responsible, dependable, an effective time manager, someone who loves their job. I would like to believe I already am these things, I just haven’t proven it yet.

Step 8. Create a system where you can realistically hit your goals over the next 6 months.

Okay, first, the publishing goal, because this is easy.

1. write the outline

2. write the first draft

3. edit in passes

4. create the cover

5. buy a domain and website

6. list my book for sale on my website

7. execute a marketing plan

Elementary. So, not everyone is going to be alright with how strict my system is for this next one. It’s just that I need a lot of rules for things to work for me.

1. Create a daily log called “Who I am”, where each day’s entries will be filled with proof that I am all the things I said I would need to be to reach my goals.

2. Starting a writing day, add this hour's entry to the "who i am log".

2. create a task for work above the entry.

3. set a 15m timer and attempt to complete the task by the time it goes off.

4. add a bullet to that hour's entry stating what progress was made.

5. repeat until the hour is over.

6. start over, and do this process for each hour intended to be a work hour.

Step 9. How will you continue when things get tough?

Now, for this next part, I will share my process with you for how I am going to guarantee I consistently make progress. But you have to promise not to laugh at how completely extra I have made it. I swear I am not kidding, I am actually gonna do this. I am just completely 100% serious about not being an inconsistent lazy asshole anymore. So here it is…

[first month]

1. set up your environment to make your systems ridiculously easy. it would be silly to not do it now.

2. It's human to make mistakes. when you realize you made a boo-boo, immediately do something to rectify it, even something small.

3. For every significant day of progress on a goal, place a sticker on the reward chart. That feels so good, doesn't it? for every major goal reached, have a fucking party! literally. you deserve it.

4. create a list of goals, overarching goals with their systems attached, each month. include a reminder that mistakes are human, but to also immediately rectify them when you notice them. laminate that bitch, put it across from the toilet, and iterate it every time you sit on the toilet to [redacted]. iterate by thinking, saying, and writing it (keep a little notebook and pencil on the bathroom shelf). place reminders to iterate in other places, like the bathroom mirror, computer desk, fridge, a wristband, written on your hand, and desktop of computer. not every place at once, but put it in one place, then move it when you start to notice yourself ignoring it.

[subsequent months]

1. make sure your environment is set up to make your systems ridiculously easy to follow.

2. give yourself a sticker for every day of significant progress, and throw a party for every major goal reached.

3. At the beginning of each month, create a new iteration, editing it if needed, and include the reminder about mistakes every time. move the physical reminder around as needed to keep it fresh. ensure the little notebook and pencil are still on the bathroom shelf for written iteration.

4. iterate regularly!

Step 10. Why do you deserve this?

I wrote some pretty personal stuff for this section, so suffice it to say that I believe that you (yes, you!) deserve to improve your life and reach your goals, and that I do too.

Step 11. Take Action Now.

When I got to this part, I worked on my novel’s outline for a while. Action successfully taken!

What’s next?

I worked on this wonderful journaling exercise all day, so now I’m going to take a very healthy Brain Break. I’m going to shoot fireworks with my family because it’s my 1 year old’s first cognizant 4th of July, and I’m going to watch Independence Day with my husband after the baby goes to bed. But tomorrow…

Tomorrow I am popping OFF with my writing. I’ve been screwing around in the story planning stages of this novel for a month, but at the end of the day tomorrow, I will hold a glorious completed novel outline in my own two hands, and it will be amazing.

Thank you for reading my blog. If you liked this post, please consider buying me a coffee. Every cent I make from my writing is a blessing to me and my family that I’m incredibly grateful for.

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

I’ve noticed that a lot of your recent posts seem to be heading the direction of “Joey Batey is our queer savior from the anti queer writers” and I feel like that’s kind of ignoring all of the other queer representation that happened this season outside of Jaskier. He was just talking specifically about Jaskier’s character. And I’m really happy that he got so much input on the character that he is very passionate about.

But the line of thinking that Joey Batey is the cause of queerness on the continent just feels… well it does a disservice to the writers who have clearly been trying to craft this inclusive version of the continent where things such as queerness and diversity feel natural. I am pretty sure Cassie Clare even gave an interview to Radiotimes in June saying that she felt so comfortable playing Philippa as queer because of how the writers had written the world. It’s also ignoring all the other queer characters this season. Whether it’s Philippa getting laid, Ciri dancing with another woman, a woman flirting with Yennefer, or the mages flirting in general, and having been implied to sleep with each other there is queerness outside of Jaskier in many different forms. Like the Continent is just gay af.

It’s confusing how people seem to think queerness wouldn’t exist in the Witcher without Joey Batey, as if there are many other forms of queerness in the show outside of Jaskier. It’s almost like people forget gay women are here too 😂 but hey that’s not unusual is it?

Hi anon. While I do agree that the focus on Jaskier as queer representation is disproportionate in the fandom in comparison to Philippa (<3) and other queer rep. I do want to. Y'know. Clear the air about my own blog.

I'm not trying to ignore other rep in the show; I focus a lot on jaskier because he's been my favorite in the series for the longest since 2020, and his characterization was/is especially relatable to me for a lot of other reasons besides his sexuality. He's been my favorite for the longest, so I do tend to focus on him more than others. It's true.

On the other hand, for example, I've only properly known Philippa since season 3 came out (we only got a brief introduction at the end of s2 & I haven't played/read enough of the games/books (respectively) to really see a lot of her). That's not to put her down to elevate jaskier/pit one against the other, though. On the contrary, she's probably my favorite character of the season so far (or at least one of them) outside the destiny family & jaskier.

And the discourse on my blog when it comes to what could've happened during production/behind the scenes mostly comes from, quite frankly, a lot of the bitter taste in my mouth in relation to some of the poorer writing choices from s2 (it was there a bit after s1 once I'd read the books but it wasn't as bad), because I still regard it with. Mixed Feelings to be honest.

(While I'm enjoying s3 much more, I'm still worried in regards to the second volume bc things feel Too Good.)

That being said, I am really happy (if not pleasantly surprised) to see that the show treats queerness really well! I'm happy that a franchise that's meant so much to me for the past few years is giving good rep. It's just that when I hear things like "oh the actor did revise it with the writers" in regards to jaskier in s3 (when iirc that's not the first time one of the actors has had to work with production to revise smth), my, admittedly, Nosy And Speculative Self will naturally go "...okay so how bad was it before? 😟👀" (bc this is still. y'know. the show that pulled the entire Eskel Thing)

...and there you have it!

[hyenahunt]

Rouge & Ruby: Warmth and Compassion - 3

Writer: Umeda Chitose

Season: Winter

Characters: Ibara, Nagisa

Proofreading: royalquintet (JP) & Skyress (ENG)

Translation: Mirei

Nagisa: (… Lately, Ibara has always been like this. Every time I try to talk to him, he responds with "I'm currently occupied!"

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Ibara: …

Nagisa: … Ibara.

Ibara: …

Nagisa: … Hey, Ibara.

Ibara: … Yes, what do you need me for, Your Excellency!? I'm currently occupied, so if you need anything, please keep it short!

Nagisa: …You’ve been working in your school uniform since you’ve returned. You don't want to change?

Ibara: My apologies for looking so unsightly! Unfortunately, I am too busy to waste time in doing so!

Besides, I'll have to go to the site after this and change outfits again. Let's just say that I went there right after school!

Nagisa: … I see. I’m just worried that it may wrinkle your uniform.

Ibara: … Ah. There is something I need to make sure of before going to the site. My apologies, Your Excellency. I shall excuse myself for a minute…

Let's see, what was the number for that contact—

Nagisa: …

Ibara: Hello, Ibara Saegusa from Cosmic Production speaking…

Yes, Thank you so much for helping us. I'm calling in regards to what we discussed the other day. May I have a few minutes of your time?

Nagisa: (… Lately, Ibara has always been like this. Every time I try to talk to him, he responds with "I'm currently occupied!"

(… Based on his PC screen and what I can hear from his call, I can guess why he’s really busy.)

(… That’s why I don’t want to force Ibara to talk to me when he’s working hard and doing his best.)

(… Hm? There is a box on top of the table. Is it okay if I open it?)

Time: A little while later

Ibara: Yes. Thank you so much for your time ♪⁠

Looking forward to our continued cooperation! Now, please excuse me.

Nagisa: … Ibara.

Ibara: Your Excellency. I apologise for repeating myself, but I’m currently occupied…

Nagisa: … I know, but just turn this way for a moment.

Ibara: Yes?

Ibara: — Mughmph!?

Nagisa: … You brought that chocolate on the table, didn't you, Ibara?

Ibara: Umh.. chomp chomp... mhm — [ he is eating the chocolate that Nagisa popped into his mouth ]

What on earth did you just do!? I almost swallowed the chocolate whole because of you!

Nagisa: … I was asking you, if you were the one who brought that chocolate.

Ibara: Ugh. My complaints are powerless in the face of His Excellency's curiosity!

Yes, that’s correct. This chocolate is something I brought this in — or rather, it's the sample that was delivered to me.

Nagisa: …I took a piece as well. It was delicious.

… Speaking of which, perhaps you could say that the reason I fed you one is because you have been so busy with work. You need to replenish your sugars, too.

Ibara: Well then, don't answer if your reasoning is just an afterthought—

— Uhm, I mean, to think that you are so proactive about my wellbeing! I greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness, Your Excellency!

Nagisa: … You must be very busy to mix up your front and true feelings.

Ibara: Precisely. I am extremely busy right now!

… Now that my focus has been interrupted, I'll rest my hands for a bit, though.

Nagisa: … Yes, resting is important ♪⁠

Ibara: Oh? You are still eating the chocolate, Your Excellency?

Nagisa: … It tastes good. Can’t I?

Ibara: You may, so long as it's only up to one box. There are several flavours inside, after all..

However, if you want to open a second box, calculating your diet will become difficult, so please ask me first!

Nagisa: …Fufu. That means it’s fine for me to eat this whole box.

…It really makes me happy to be able to appreciate various flavours.

Ibara: Hm, you seem to have taken a liking to it. If Your Excellency is satisfied, it’s fair to say that it has passed the taste test ♪⁠

Nagisa: … Right. You mentioned that this is a sample? Does that mean this chocolate is related to our Chocolat Fes?

Ibara: Yes. I have been directly taking part in the planning process, for the sake of Eden and this year’s Chocolat Fes… ☆

Nagisa: … It's a pleasure for the eyes as well—like a jewel.

Ibara: Fufun, of course isn't it just! ♪⁠ It might still be in the prototyping stages, but I've been quite particular about making the design look as luxurious as a real gemstone.

We are working to be precise in every step of the process, without compromising on anything. Your Excellency, please look forward to the final product♪⁠

Nagisa: … If you're so confident, then it must be great. You’re putting a lot of care into Eden’s chocolate, aren’t you?

Ibara: Absolutely. Our plan is to put our own original products into our fans' hands, instead of using what ES has prepared for us.

Even if their motivation to buy the chocolate is to support Eden, there won't be any point if the look or taste of the chocolate they bought is disappointing.

If the chocolate itself can make them feel happy about their purchase, it may also cause them to feel happy about being a fan of Eden.

Also, there are also those who might be interested in buying it simply because it's an original product.

Or, there are people who are buying simply because they are interested in the chocolate box design itself…

Using these methods, we must generate interest in the product even among those who aren't interested in Eden.

If we can’t satisfy that market as much as we satisfy our fans, there is no point in going out of our way to create and develop our own product.

That’s why we’re paying a lot of attention to detail, even beyond appearance and taste.

Nagisa: (... Ibara’s talking excitedly…)

Ibara: So, they would first be introduced to the concept of four chocolates in one box, which represent each member of Eden...

Then, even with Adam and Eve having separate stages, they'll see motifs in the stage design that link back to the chocolates—

[ ☆ ]

✦✦✦✦✦

← prev ✦ all ✦ next →

[aristoteliancomplacency]

Hey, you know what this is? This is bullshit. The yarn community has been designing and sharing Pokémon patterns for free for well over a decade. Honestly the idea that someone has decided to cash in on this leaves a sour taste in my mouth (the same way people trying to sell basic granny square instructions does. That shit is community knowledge you greedy assholes). But that’s not what I’m concerned about here. Mostly I’m concerned because I remember what happened to the Jane Hat. Nintendo suddenly have their own patterns available - how much do you think they’re gonna like unlicensed versions being around?

All I’m saying is just be proactive. There are over thirty pages of free Pokémon related patterns on ravelry right now. Maybe if there’s any you particularly like It’d be wise to make sure you’ve got them downloaded, or the blogs that they’re on are stored on archive.org and keep those links safe. Hopefully I’m being way too sceptical. Hopefully nothing changes (and hopefully people just keep sharing their free patterns and using those).

But personally I wouldn’t trust the company that went after a non-monetised YouTube channel that hosted game music that you literally couldn’t purchase anywhere. Not like they’ve have a history of being litigious or anything. Even when people aren’t making money and Nintendo don’t have their own version of the product.

[newmusickarl]

5-9’s Album of the Month Podcast – latest episode out now!

The latest episode of the 5-9 Album of the Month Podcast is here and it’s a bit of a sad one as 5-9 Editor Andrew Belt was unable to join us! So this time around it’s just me and Mama Mañana Records' Kiley Larsen reviewing five high profile album releases from the past month in music, ultimately naming one as our Album of the Month at the end of the discussion.

For our June 2024 episode, it was John Grant’s synth-soaked majesty on The Art of the Lie that took home the coveted Album of the Month title. For our latest episode, we look back at five big releases from July and the albums vying for recognition this time around are:

King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 by Denzel Curry

Django’s High by Future Utopia (Poll winner, thanks for voting!)

As Above, So Below by Highly Suspect

Harmonics by Joe Goddard

HEAVY JELLY by SOFT PLAY

If you want to listen to this or any previous episodes simply follow the links below, but also be sure to follow 5-9 Blog on Instagram, Twitter and now YouTube for more news and polls relating to the podcast.

Listen on Spotify here

Watch, like and subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Album & EP Recommendations

Wild God by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Let’s face it, Nick Cave doesn’t make bad records. However, even by his incredibly high standards across his illustrious career, his recent work has been truly exceptional, towering bodies of work. Fuelled by unimaginable tragedy, grief and loss, albums Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen rank among my favourite albums of the last decade, listening experiences that are beautiful yet emotionally devastating. His last album with just him and Warren Ellis, Carnage, was no slouch either, finishing in my Top 10 of the year back in 2021. Now both have reunited with the full Bad Seeds ensemble, and new album Wild God continues their recent hot streak.

Emerging out of the vast darkness, their eighteenth studio album is a much brighter and more joyous experience compared to its predecessors. Filled with uplifting, string-drenched arrangements, some of which include none other than Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood on bass duties, the lyrics also find Cave in a much more optimistic mindset. It all makes for another endlessly captivating listen, with Joy the real standout in the first half, as Cave’s poetic lyrics are spun across a mostly minimal, piano-led composition. However, the finest moments for me are in the back half, with the gospel cries and stomps of Conversion, the operatic and ghostly Cinnamon Horses and standout single Long Dark Night a particularly incredible trio.

Once again, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have crafted one of the finest albums I’ve listened to all year. Impactful and stunningly orchestrated, it’s another stirring collection of songs that will keep you absorbed across countless repeated listens.

Listen here

I Lay Down My Life For You by JPEGMAFIA

Another album that has quickly become one of my favourites of the year, NY-rapper JPEGMAFIA has followed up his sensational collaborative album with Danny Brown, 2023’s Scaring The Hoes, with arguably his strongest solo outing to date.

It’s a rap record but with punk rock energy, with most of the tracks here under the three-minute mark and plenty of heavy guitars powering the sonics. JPEG uses the record’s frantic pace to jump wildly between each bold idea, with the production never anything less than stellar. Collaborating with the likes of Flume and Kenny Beats on the production front, he also pulls in other current rap superstars like Vince Staples and Denzel Curry to lend a few bars too. It all makes for a thrilling wall-to-wall listen but if I’m to pick out just a couple of highlights, it’s the metal-charged SAN MIEDO and string-tinged experimentation of Exmilitary.

Colliding fast and furious bars with heavy punk, noise rock and industrial influences, all in mesmerising fashion, this is without a doubt the rap record of the year for me so far.

Listen here

No Name by Jack White

Another man who rarely disappoints, guitar maestro and all-round modern legend Jack White returned recently with a surprise new album. Initially stealth releasing on vinyl towards the end of July, the record officially released to streaming platforms and critical fanfare at the beginning of August. While I may not agree with the consensus that this is his best solo outing to date, there’s no denying that this is another fun and mightily impressive release.

You see while some critics have found White’s solo discography to be quite patchy, I’ve actually been a big fan of his output over the last 12 years. Blunderbuss and Lazaretto both boasted songs that could be dubbed as instant rock classics, Boarding House Reach was wild but always fascinating in its experimentation, and the duo of Fear of The Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive showed that White’s songwriting shone through, whether plugged or unplugged.

With No Name, for me, what we ultimately get is more of what White has already done before and proved he can do previously. That said, the lo-fi production and fuzzy rock riffs still sound terrific, especially on tracks like Old Scratch Blues, Archbishop Harold Holmes, What’s The Rumpus and Terminal Archenemy Ending. So, while it lacks anything new or revolutionary and brings with it an air of safe familiarity, there is no denying that White can still rock out. If you’re a fan of his previous work, you’ll still find plenty here to enjoy.

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Lagos Paris London EP by Yannis & The Yaw

And finally on the EPs front, Yannis Philippakis of Foals finally released his long awaited first solo project, Lagos Paris London. A dazzling, collaborative five track EP featuring the late-great Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, the EP is as vibrant and sonically adventurous as the globe-trotting title would suggest. While Yannis brings his signature guitar grooves to the table, some soaring string arrangements, jazz-like horns and Allen’s Afrobeat-style drums ensure the project always has a different feel to anything under the Foals banner.

Whilst the whole EP is well worth 20 minutes of your time, it is Rain Can’t Reach Us and Clementine that particularly stand out for me.

Listen here

Also well worth checking out:

DAYS BEFORE RODEO by Travis Scott

Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay

True Magic by Salute

This World Fucking Sucks by Cassyette

A Firmer Hand by Hamish Hawk

Participation Trophy by China Bears

Heartbreak Town EP by GIRLBAND!

Song Recommendations

The Emptiness Machine by LINKIN PARK

It’s been quite the month for big comebacks, hasn’t it?!

First came the colossal news that the Gallagher brothers would finally be reforming Oasis for a huge 2025 tour, before Linkin Park also made their long-awaited return, announcing new album From Zero will be dropping this November. The Emptiness Machine is the first taste of that new record and their first single to feature new vocalist, Emily Armstrong.

Emily’s arrival into the band has certainly caused controversy, with her links to Scientology already a hot topic amongst fans. While that debate will continue for the foreseeable, what is clear from this single and the band’s return livestream performance is that Emily certainly has the vocal capabilities needed to front the iconic, much-loved band. While of course no-one could fully replace the late-great Chester Bennington, I am glad to have Linkin Park back making music once again.

Listen to The Emptiness Machine here

Watch the livestream performance back here

All You Children by Jamie XX featuring The Avalanches

A late contender for song of the summer, this huge collaboration between Jamie XX and The Avalanches was on heavy repeat for me towards the end of August. Propelled by an infectious tribal beat that will just make you want to get up and dance, it’s left me hugely hyped for Jamie’s new album In Waves dropping in a few weeks’ time.

Listen here

He by Hayden Thorpe

Another album I cannot wait for dropping at the end of September, Hayden Thorpe’s adaptation of Robert Macfarlane’s book Ness will also soon be here. With book and album both inspired by Orford Ness in Suffolk, He is the ultra-groovy second single from the project. Featuring an endlessly fascinating arrangement that even includes a sackbut (a 15th century early trombone) and a spinet (a small 17th century harpsichord), Hayden's unique songcraft shines through once again.

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A Landlord’s Death by One True Pairing

And Hayden is not the only Wild Beasts alumni to be releasing new music this year. A month later in October, Tom Fleming will also be releasing his second solo album, Endless Rain. Working with acclaimed producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy, the singles so far have suggested a much more traditional and folk-inspired sound compared to his solo debut. A Landlord’s Death continues this hypothesis, featuring some stomping acoustic riffs, wild strings and a catchy chorus.

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Sick Of The Blues by Porridge Radio

Another album due for release in October, indie rockers Porridge Radio will be returning with their new opus, Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me. Sick of the Blues is the closing track for the project but also the album’s first teaser single, finding frontwoman Dana Margolin in an apathetic mood as raw rock riffs build and erupt around her.

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Straight To Heart by ALT BLK ERA

From MOBO and Heavy Music Award nominations to storming festival sets at the likes of Glastonbury and Download, there is absolutely no stopping ALT BLK ERA’s momentum right now. Now with their highly-anticipated debut album Rave Immortal due for release in January, the alternative sister duo have released the second taste of the upcoming record. The synth-soaked track highlights the continuing maturity of their songwriting, with Straight To Heart seeing Nyrobi open up and reflect on her agonising battles with chronic illness.

Listen here

Nothing Compares To Nineteen by Fiona-Lee

Another one of the UK’s most promising emerging voices, singer-songwriter Fiona-Lee has recently returned with her second-ever single. A hugely emotive track, it was written in the wake of Fiona tragically losing a lifelong friend after he took his own life. Recalling her struggles with anxiety, grief and depression, along with conversations with her father on mental health, it’s another hard-hitting single that absolutely soars.

Listen here

Split Lip by Dolores Forever

One of my other favourite new music discoveries in 2024, I’ve had the pleasure of catching indie-pop duo Dolores Forever twice over this summer’s festival season. With their debut album finally dropping at the end of September, Split Lip is one of the latest singles taken from the project and a song that really stood out in their live performances. Hugely anthemic amidst captivating vocal harmonies and shimmering synths, this upcoming record is slowly shaping up to be one of the best debuts of the year.

Listen here

One Day by Hallworth

Released at the end of August, singer-songwriter Hallworth also recently released her heartfelt new single, One Day. Inspired by the Netflix movie of the same name and written while she was in Nashville, it’s a stirring track about her struggles with a long-distance relationship. With Hallworth’s own tender vocals at the fore, it’s a gorgeously laidback love song that will have you hitting the repeat button.

Listen here

Never Meant by Iron & Wine / For Sure by Ethel Cain

And finally, this year marks the 25th anniversary of one of my favourite albums of all time and a seminal work that still inspires countless musicians today – American Football’s self-titled debut. To mark the occasion, the band are releasing a remastered version of the original record, along with a brand new covers version.

The first two of these covers have been revealed and they are both unsurprisingly stunning. Firstly, American singer-songwriter Samuel Ervin Beam transforms the iconic Never Meant into a wonderful, folky lullaby, reminiscent of Bon Iver. Then, the much beloved Ethel Cain has turned the haunting For Sure into a near 10-minute moment of beauty and ethereal transcendence.

If all the covers are to this standard, with more cuts from the likes of Manchester Orchestra and Blondshell still to come, this project could be something very special.

Listen to Never Meant by Iron & Wine here

Listen to For Sure by Ethel Cain here

Also worth checking out:

Ego by Halsey

You by Ktlyle

JACKIN’ THE SYSTEM by NOISY

Tonight, Tonight (Smashing Pumpkins Cover) by Snail Mail

Hometown Edge by Kele

Bright Lights by The Killers

HERE WE GO! by Lil Nas X

Find The Way by Peggy Gou

SO WHAT by Confidence Man

SilverCane by Corinne Bailey Rae

REMINDER: If you use Apple Music, you can also keep up-to-date with all my favourite 2024 tracks through my Best of 2024 playlist. Constantly updated throughout the year with songs I enjoy, it is then finalised into a Top 100 Songs of the Year in December.Add the Best of 2024 playlist to your library here

[nickgerlich]

No Static At All

I bought my first car in 1979. It was a two-door Toyota Corolla, and about as basic as it could be. With a four-on-the-floor (which is now a rarity!), a heater, defogger, and AM/FM radio, it got me where I needed to be. And like a lot of people back then, I bought an add-on cassette deck, and mounted it under the dash. Two speakers on the rear deck meant that I was riding in style.

Well, in my mind. I kept telling myself that.

Skip forward to the van I bought in 2020 during high COVID. I knew the rental car companies were in a world of hurt, and needed to sell off inventory to generate cash flow, which would be used to buy newer models. This meant fire sales across the country at their regional sales lots. I shopped online, and got a killer deal on a low-mileage 2019, and am still driving it.



I had owned it for a full year before I discovered there was a CD player hiding behind the LCD panel. I haven’t listened to CDs in years. I had signed up for SXM when I got the van, and that was all I ever listened to, ignoring AM/FM as relics of the past. And when I get bored with 150+ satellite stations, I sync my phone to the system, and tune in Spotify. I suspect I am no different from millions of other motorists.

All of which causes me to ponder how much music consumption has changed through the years. We have gone digital, streaming either from satellites or cellular services, and in a fairly short amount of time. Spotify did not arrive in the US until 2011, and the original XM Radio in 2008.

The only time I have even used the old-school radio was last summer while crossing western Canada. I intentionally flipped over to FM, because I wanted to experience the Canadian Content law, which stipulates that at least 35% of the songs played must have some Canadian origins, either writer, performer, or production.

But for all the growth of digital music, companies like Spotify are still swimming in red ink. My students who were with me in MKT6356 last semester remember a huge end-of-semester assignment that involved watching a Netflix series about Spotify and the struggles it faced when it was founded. Their latest earnings report shows that, while listeners (both the free and subscriber kinds) rose significantly, things are not all that rosy. The firm slashed six-percent of its global workforce, or 600 employees.

And get this: Their shares popped yesterday. I guess that a growing listener base trumps losses and layoffs.

Spotify points to its aggressive moves into podcasting as the source of its woes. They dropped some major cash for exclusive rights, including $200 million for the Joe Rogan Experience. And some of those podcasts have not exactly performed at expected levels. Spotify relies on ears (unlike eyeballs for most other media), and if people are not listening (which they can track quite well), then advertising revenues will sag. Investors are bullish, though, and still see future profit potential.

In a related move, Ford just announced it was going to eliminate the AM radio in its new F-150 EVs. I’m not sure how or why they chose this model. While that move probably doesn’t ruffle the feathers of many EV drivers (or most people in general), it did upset one rural radio station owner who contends that farmers and other country folk need their AM radio to be able to get the latest wheat and cattle futures. That’s something you can’t do on FM, SXM, or Spotify.



I’ll let those people iron out that one, but for a guy who only used his broadcast radio for a few days in the last 2 1/2 years, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. I’ve got too many choices as it stands on my SXM and Spotify. I keep sending my money to both, and were even just one of them to go away, my drives would be a lot quieter. 



Kind of like in that ’79 Corolla whenever I drove out of signal range, and the cassette got stuck in the player. Oh, the humanity.

Dr “Turn It Up“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

[yoshimonster]

Blog #11: Reaching Next Levels of Existentialism

This past week and a bit has been so strange. I believe I started it by doing a hackathon – which, if you don’t know, is basically a weekend long challenge where you have to make a product or even propose a product by the end of the 48 hr time period. There are also random mingling activities hackathons do, typically a getting to know you type event or trivia nights etc. It’s not a bad idea at all, but typically if you apply with a group you just stick with that group over the next couple of days. I think the socialising towards the end of the hackathon is when things get actually interesting and connections form. Forming new connections always takes time.

I also, since Monday this week, have been watching so many geopolitics of the world videos and it’s gotten me to recalibrate part of my life. I believe I was just looking up some random Kpop news which turned into me googling North Korea, which then turned into looking up world news. A lot of the videos are super history-centric and focused on the aftermath of a series of events … yep I can relate to the aftermath of a series of events a lot. It touches on what I said in earlier entries, where I talk about the exhaustion of navigating through tough situations/putting up a front and how draining that can be. It’s been really interesting how certain world events that happen, especially the really major life changing ones, and then decades later the effects would be felt or people would continue to be hung up about them. I reckon that’s a part of life.

I really used to dismiss the long-term impacts of my decisions which I’m sure is clear from everything earlier and treat life sort of like a video game. You have a challenge you overcome it and then you move onto the next challenge. Despite this, I’ve always been such a fantasy lover and Harry Potter was my entire childhood – I just loved the idea of some mystical external being coming over and whisking me away to a land where I wouldn’t be so hopeless and in fact people liked me by default. Though, I’m not sure that I would’ve handled things are gracefully as Harry did back then – I was given way too much lenciency and freedom as a child that I was almost paralysed with the freedom I had.

I feel like this is quite privileged thing to say; people sacifirce their lives for such freedom and ability to pursue their dreams. But, regardless, that was my experience and it feels wrong to discount the fact that you kind of need a balance between firmness and freedom to deal with things as they come. I remember after a long time of being so confused and not sure of anything, that I got to see people living under such harsh conditions. I, in a weird twisted way, wanted me to live under those conditions … ultimately I would be so much more productive than I currently was. I followed this feeling with the sheer amount of workload I had, but this caused me to fall back down mostly because of having a pretty weak foundation and I really started hating the time that I had lost where I could’ve spent building that foundation. Now, I have considerably less workload and such limited guidance … and I have to forge my own path ahead which is just something to dislike given a still weak foundation. At this point, I’m just convincing myself that this is possible despite everything and I hope that it doesn’t come back to bite me at all. It’s such a hard balance of believing in yourself and also strengthening your base.

I do see these sort of crises effecting other people in my life, but probably to a lesser extent because of a relatively stronger foundation. A lot of my friends at this stage have their careers sorted out but their personal lives are minimal. My parents have pretty much everything they wanted on an individual level anyway and are feeling the effects of mid-life crises – caught in between helping their daughters and needing to set themselves up for a post-employment life. They are simultaneously trying to enjoy their lives while they still feasibly can, look after the family and make a last hurrah in their places of work, given that my career is not sorted out at all. I also see other people my age that have gone through such hard times and have such expansive visions. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, a lot of those circumstances were more resolvable than mine mostly because the skill gap was considerably less. I don’t know how to feel about it, like on one hand I’m definitely really particular about everything for obvious reasons and definitely thinking more forward than ever, but this isn’t impossible to do if many other things in your life are sorted out. So I believe it’s best to diversify as much as possible, and that usually means there does have to be a semi-strong foundation at the very least. Even though I have nothing, at sometimes it feels like I have so much because of these pains – like some unseeable emotional energy where I can’t afford to take anything for granted (I am still guilty of this somewhat). A nice, cliff-falling type feeling.

-yoshimonster-

[icinch]

How to Get 3 New Joint Ventures Per Week

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How to Get 3 New Joint Ventures Per Week

You’ve just entered a niche that’s brand new for you and you’ve got zero contacts. But you’re creating a product to sell and you need joint venture partners. So how do you get those all important JV’s when you don’t even have any contacts in the niche? Like this…

First, make sure your product is something that gets people excited and wanting to promote it to their lists. You can do this by solving a BIG problem, preferably something that people are already spending time and money trying to solve.

Second, solve the problem with a step-by-step formula – sort of a blueprint to success. You don’t want to just give a bunch of info – they can find plenty of that on the Internet. Instead, it should be a system to solving the problem, such as “7 Steps to Getting 7 Hot Dates in 7 Days.”

Now that you’ve got your product, take a little time to set up a JV page and an About Me page on your website. The JV page should tell about your product and how it will help the potential JV partners’ customers, as well as how much commission they will earn, how you will run the JV, etc. Make it look professional but don’t obsess over this – just get it done.

The About Me page should give some personal and professional info on you – enough so that a potential JV partner learns something about you and gets comfortable with the idea of possibly working with you.

If you’ve already collected some testimonials for your product, create a separate testimonial page. If you haven’t yet collected any, skip this.

Now go find your potential JV partners. Let’s say your new niche is tennis. Go online and search for tennis newsletters and find all the results you can. Search for tennis e-courses and tennis products and anything tennis related – including blogs – where it’s pretty clear that someone has a list of tennis players. Because that’s the key – finding the people who own lists of people who play tennis.

It doesn’t even matter if they have a product of their own – what matters is they have a list of tennis players. Use a little creativity and you’ll find hundreds of people who own lists like these, some of which have never even monetized their lists – they just do it as a hobby.

Social media and Facebook are especially good avenues for finding these potential partners. Focus at first on finding the small to medium sized list owners to build your confidence. You can go after the really big players in your niche when you’ve done a few JV’s and you’ve begun to build a solid reputation in your field.

Ask yourself who is already talking to the audience you want to talk to? Where are the people you want to meet hanging out? This is where you need to be, both online and possibly offline as well.

When you find these tennis list owners, take down their name, URL and email address. If you like, get their phone number as well. Now email them individually, one by one. Don’t do more than a few in one day just in case you get several replies back at once.

When you email, you might tell them how you know them. “I read your book” or “I’m a fan of your blog.” Show them some admiration and respect, but don’t go too overboard. A little is great, a lot might make them uncomfortable. Be specific in your praise. Don’t say, “You are the greatest tennis blogger ever!” Say, “Your article on serving mistakes helped me tremendously, especially that point you made about ___.”

Next in your email, you’ve got two different avenues you could take – the direct and the indirect.

The direct goes something like this:

“Thought you might be interested in doing a joint venture. Here’s an opportunity we have, and if you’re interested, we’d like to get something scheduled with you very soon.” Then give them the link to your JV page, to your About Me page, to your testimonial page and even your sales page. Offer to send them a review copy of your product.

The indirect method is just that – more indirect. It takes a little longer, but it tends to work better, so you decide which is right for you. It goes something like this:

“I would like to support you by creating a mutually beneficial relationship.” Ask them for a quick phone conversation to discuss the possibilities. Include a link to your About Me page but include no other links. If they want, they can search your site and find the other pages, but you don’t want to be the one sending them there yet. Then get on the phone with them and discuss the possibilities, which of course could include promoting your product.

If after you send either of these emails you don’t hear back in a week, send the email again with a one line note that says something like, “Just wanted to be sure you saw this,” or “Gentle nudge,” or whatever is in keeping with your personal style.

Now I know some people will disagree with this method of getting JV partners and you’ll say that it’s best to spend some time establishing a relationship and doing favors for the potential JV partners before ever asking. And without a doubt that’s a great method, one I endorse wholeheartedly.

But if you need money now, this is the way to go. And if your product does indeed solve a big problem in a step-by-step fashion – in other words, it’s a great product – you will get JV partners this way. You might need to contact 10 to 20 people to get 3 JV’s, but it’s all a numbers game and it’s worth it.

Just don’t burn any bridges. If someone never gets back to you, it’s okay. If someone tells you to bugger off, it’s okay. Always be super polite and friendly, never take offense.

You might want to wait to contact the really big list owners until you’ve gotten a few JV’s under your belt. In fact it’s probably a good idea.

But there is a way you can contact the big dogs in your niche from Day 1, if you’re up to it. That is, if you’ve got the confidence.

You’re going to ask for an interview with them that you can add to your product. Most everyone is looking for more exposure and publicity, so this is a great way to get your foot in the door as well as making your product even better. And odds are if they grant you an interview, they’ll also promote your product because it contains their interview.

Here’s a trick: Find the big players in your niche who are doing something now or in the near future. Maybe they’re releasing a new book or a new product, something where they want publicity. This is the best time of all to ask to interview them, as they have their own reason for wanting to get as much exposure as possible.

Another benefit to having well-known names in your product package is you can leverage this to get more JV’s. Some potential partners will be all ears when you start name dropping because they’ll think that if these big names are in your product, then it’s something they want to be a part of, too.

Remember, if you have a great product that creates breakthroughs, you can get partners – you just have to be persistent in finding and asking these folks to JV with you.