#There are better guides scattered throughout the internet

[meeeeeeese]

Moose's Guide to Quick and Easy Gold

So I get the vibes in the community here that a bunch of people don't really know all the tips and tricks to making easy money, so I thought I'd do a writeup on some of the small ways I make gold in Guild wars 2

Trick 1: You have wealth you don't know about

An inportant thing about Gw2 is that a lot of the wealth it gives out isn't in actual gold but in materials that you can then sell for gold. For a lot of people I think its easy to just click 'deposit all materials' and then forget about it. For me personally I have only 100 gold in my wallet but If I were to empty out my material storage I'd gain an additional 300 or so gold. The site GW2 efficiency is really helpful for telling you what high value items you might be holding on to, though It takes a bit of setting up.

Trick 2: Sell Orders!

Admittedly this is something I'm bad about, but if you can delay your gratification, but when you sell something don't fulfill someone elses buy order and instead, set up a sell order. I'll give you up to 10% more gold out of everything you sell

Ok now onto the acutal wealth generation methods

Trick 3: Send your least favorite character to the New Kaineng Jumping Puzzle

Jumping Puzzles in EoD reward jade runestones from their final chest, which go for 80 silver on the trading post.

Find the wiki page to get you through the jumping puzzle here, though there are often commanders on the New Kaineng lfg offering teleport to friend transport to the end of the puzzle. Basically you get a character to the end chest and every reset log in on that character and get your free! runestone, almost a gold for ~30 seconds of work

(as a note you only get the runestone once per day per account so don't send multiple characters there)

Trick 4: Leivas Hands out Gold, make sure to collect it

Ok not actually but he may as well. So this guy who hangs out in Arborstone, once you've gotten the Globalization mastery, will sell you 5 antique summoning stones every week for a grand total of 10 green prophet shards, 10 unusual coins, 100 imperial favours, 7000 karma and 1 gold. The summoning stones can then be sold on for ~3 gold each, netting you a profit of 14 gold for going up to an npc and pressing 'f' (or whatever your interact key is)

Trick 5: fast and profitable metas you should be doing daily

Let me introduce you to my favorite wiki page:

the event timers list

This lists out every meta event and world boss that'll be happening soon and all of them will give you at least something, and the meta's from HoT onwards awards you a hero's choice chest that'll contain at least one of these valuable materials to choose from: amalgamated gemstone (60 silver), jade runestone (80 silver), ancient ambergris (1 gold 70 silver) or an antique summoning stone (3 gold). It should be noted the last 3 only appear in the EoD meta's, for all other times choose the amalgamated gemstone.

With that aside there are 3 events in particular that you should try to get done that'll take 10 minutes or less

first up is the Legendary Ley-Line Anomaly, the naked man. The timer's page tells you which zone it'll spawn in and when it does you have to seek it out and murder it. Mounts are very recommended because this thing dies fast. Anyway when you kill it, it drops 2 things: a mystic coin (1 gold 20 silver) and some vendor trash worth 50 silver, pretty gold for 5 minutes of work

next is Dragonstorm. It happens once every 2 hours starting from the eye of the north and affords you the opportunity to beat up Ryland. If you join the public option you join a crowd of up to 50 other people and its easy enough that you could even afk if you wanted (though that would be very rude). Anyway once you murder the champions and blast the dragons you get to watch them share a passionate kiss as the die and you then get 2 gold straight up, 6 memories of aurene (worth 1.5 gold in total) as well as a chance to win the lottery and get ascended weapons or, even rarer, the very expensive eye infusions

Finally is Tequatl the Sunless, a world boss in Sparkfly Fen that awards you 1 gold straight up as well as a chance at an ascended weapon as well as a bunch of materials and unidentified gear

speaking of which all the other events give unidentified gear too and they aren't actually terrible rewards, you can get a pretty penny from selling them.

Trick 6: Daily Rewards

Firstly, just logging in every day gives you a sadly decent amount of income, mostly in laurels and mystic coins. Coins can just be sold if you're after cold, laurels can be spent on a variety of stuff. And if you're looking to turn a profit, HERE are the best ways to do so.

Also, do your daily achievements people, sometimes they're a pain but the daily completionist gives 2 gold as well as 15 achievement points, more than most other achievements in the game. Also they drive you towards content you wouldn't do otherwise (the daily achievements are the reason why I've done most of the jumping puzzles). Also If you're bad at any of the dailies on offer, usually a bunch of other people are also trying to do dailies and they're often willing to help. I see mesmers porting people through the daily JPs all the time.

Trick 7: Spirit shards can be converted to Gold???

I admit, this isn't something I do myself but if you're accumulating spirit shards like I am there are methods to turn them into gold

They're listed HERE

(again, this isn't something I've tried myself, I can't vouch for how well it works and all the methods require a starting amount of gold. But if you're desperate it might be something to consider

But I want more Gold, how do I get it?

If your looking for serious gold farming there are probably better guides than this but here are a few pointers to start raking in the money

1: As far as I understand, Drizzlewood Coast is the most profitable activity in the game, gold per hour wise. Runs take a while and you kind of have to pay attention to maximise gains but, if gold's what you want this is a good option.

2: Look for meta trains, I notice them happening a lot around reset, basically its a group that goes from meta to meta doing them in sequence. There are a few guilds that do them every day so if you see a train, chances are its on at the same time every day. I find them to be pretty chill, offer some nice variety in content and offer good rewards as well.

3: Fractals. Yeah I know this is getting into endgame content but doing T4 fractal dailies every day gives you around 20 gold straight up, a bunch of materials worth even more gold and a decent chance at ascended armor and weapons (and so many ascended trinkets, seriously at this point they get auto-salvaged if they drop)

Apart from that, pretty much everything in this game gives you some amount of rewards, even if they aren't entirely obvious, so don't stress too much, provided you aren't roleplaying in the serrated blade or whatever (Though good on you for having fun!) you're likely earning some amount of income. Even if it's only in materials

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #gw2 gold farming #There are better guides scattered throughout the internet #searching up 'Gw2 best ways to make gold' will probably yield results #though make sure to choose recent results to avoid outdated guides #but dammit I wanted to write something down myself #so I did. Enjoy #If you have any other tricks feel free to let me know

[meadow-dusk]

Albums I Loved in 2023

March: Greendale (2002)

Greendale has been with me for a while. I tend to listen to it on road trips, long stretches of uninterrupted time which are perfect for this album that really exists in story format. A concept album, perhaps in name, but it feels less like a cohesive narrative and more like leafing through a family photo book that survived in the rubble of a disaster along with someone who peripherally knew the people in the memories captured in these songs.

Neil, of course, is our guide and narrator. I like the way his voice changes form now and then to give a unique sound or personality to the characters on the album (especially the sometimes ornery yet righteous Grandpa), but I never felt removed from him and his own viewpoint. After three or four times of experiencing it this way, something really interesting happened: I realized developed a kind of sympathy towards all of the characters in this story. Even if they only "speak" for a measure or two, they feel rounded out and real. A little more of that humanity is revealed with every listen, and I feel that volumes of possible interpretations could actually be written about this record, mostly constructed around simple yet driving blues riffs. But I will not write them. I am content to allow the mysteries of Greendale to continue to exist. They don't have to be immediately understood for one to appreciate the high points of the record. "Sun Green" alone is reason enough not to leave this one out of the conversation of Neil's great works throughout his career.

Scattered throughout what strikes me as a story of justice and privacy and peace are beautiful sentiments for which appreciation is almost earned but also somehow felt instantly. Among my favorites are "a little love and affection in everything you do will make the world a better place with or without you" and the simple but poignant "share your lovin', and you'll live so long," which gets more tragic on each listen. Otherwise, I don't mind how there's a handful of parts that still leave me scratching my head...like the bit in "Leave the Driving" about an explosion going off on a computer across the world...or why Carmichael's wife Lenore can't know about the contents of his locker...or who's singing or receiving "Bandit" (does it matter? It's almost the crown jewel of the record. Listen to the live take above, and try not to let the hope for good things in your own future overwhelm and terrify you with its own immensity).

Anyway, I intended to be brief but as usual that didn't happen. This kind of feels like it could be one for the ages. I remember so many encounters with it that it's gotta have something truly magical to it. Next time you're out on the road and have ample time and thought to devote, I highly recommend driving to Greendale.

HI so I know it looks like I skipped February. What happened was the thing I was clinging to was not an album but a bootleg recording, and the whole thing disappeared from the internet again. So there was nothing to really post. If it ever surfaces again, expect me to be vocal about it. Also I was writing my own stuff for a while and that's a very different kind of language...anyway, as a result it's been a while since I've done one of these, and I feel rusty.

#TRY TO GET THROUGH BUT NOT 'BE' THROUGH #Albums I Loved in 2023 #Neil Young #Greendale

[hambrababy]

2023 Year-End Roundup

With 2023 winding down, I want to do a short recap on the blog this year. A part of this is to help me evaluate my thoughts and writing with enough hindsight, but it’s also fun to see the weird places I wandered to throughout the year. I wasn’t planning on writing about electronic anime albums, a Gundam guide, and a journey through someone making crap up on Wikipedia, but it all led to some fun diversions, even if I still haven’t settled on a cohesive identity for this blog.

While this blog still wasn’t too active, I’m happy I had the discipline to write, edit, and release multiple posts on varying topics. This is all still a hobby of mine, but it’s good practice for my own writing. I don’t have huge aspirations for this page, but if I can make something entertaining and informative for at least a few other people while exploring my interests, that’s rewarding enough.

The only major change to the blog itself was making it look more presentable. A purple background with white text was a bad idea and I don’t know why I put it in at all, but hopefully the light pink with black text style ages better. Or maybe I’ll decide that look stinks too, we’ll see.

For some reason, neither this nor the Tumblr show up Google’s search, but they do appear on Yahoo and Bing. I’m doing the Google site analytics tools to crawl the URL and see what the issue is, but any advice is appreciated. I don’t want this to be stuck on social media alone, especially since I avoid using it too much.

With all that said, here's my brief recap of what happened here in 2023.

Posts

Diving into the Digital Trip My favorite and longest post that I worked on, this was a chance to explore a true passion of mine, and I’m glad that it got read and shared by others. I’ve loved going through these albums so much over my years of ani/toku song listening, but I noticed there was not a direct English overview of the series as available aside from blogs and scattered forum posts covering a few individual albums. While I hoped to balance providing actual details with some personal opinions, the overarching goal was to have some kind of record (tee hee) of the series.

There is the issue of writing about music without getting to demonstrate it with the actual songs, but I’m skittish about YouTube given my past experience with a fun clips channel that got nuked. Even for the official uploads, I didn’t want to rely on links to videos that could get eventually removed when writing the post. I’ve seen lots of posts that bank on watching a now-deleted linked video as a part of reading it, so I wanted to make the post work well enough on its own.

I also regret that I didn’t have enough primary sources to make it a proper “history”, and I disdain having to fall back on generalizations regarding some details like the series’ end. This is something I’d love to revisit again in the future, either as a more specific history or covering a few of the albums in more detail. Still, I enjoyed writing and releasing this one the most, and I hope I can make posts in this style going forwards.   A Journey Through an Internet Anime Rumor on Takeyuki Kanda An unexpected post idea that spun out of an offhand Discord conversation that then spiraled into a whole messy chain of tracking wrong rumors, but I think it came out decent. Sometimes I get so fixated on Som winding story that I need to write it out to put my mind at ease, for catharsis if nothing else. While that normally results in longer, meandering slogs I don’t end up releasing, this time it gave me something interesting to talk about, even if it ended up delaying the Digital Trip article.

The ending part is a bit more dramatic and speechifying than what I’d prefer, but I wanted to capture some of my frustrations that come dealing with anime rumors online. I still have an old Genki book a friend loaned years ago, but I do hope to have the time and plan to actually learn more Japanese, for my own education at least.

  Toei Took Down My Youtube Channel Self-explanatory. It was more an update for anyone familiar with my old channel than a real “post”, and there’s already loads more significant cases of Youtube’s copyright system being annoying for years. This also taught me why you shouldn’t ignore your inbox for multi-day stretches, even if you really want to.

  The Importance of Big Cool Sci Fi Stuff A breezy, if somewhat superficial post that was my first attempt at writing a post that wasn’t a review, publishing a translation, or episode recap/speculation. This was an idea I had nagging at me without thinking of the right way to formulate it, but I guess it was as plain as “big stuff in sci fi is cool”. I’d written argument-styled articles in real life a few times, so I thought this was a good chance to translate that style into something more nerdy and lower-stakes. If I were to write more opinionated stuff on the blog again, I’d aim it something close to this, though perhaps with stronger topics.     How to Get Into Gundam While I try to avoid writing things based of things that swim through social media, this started because I’d seen variations of this question pop up so many times. I wanted to make a more concise and direct guide that didn’t overcomplicate something that’s actually rather straightforward. The reductive, but still fairly accurate recommendation is to just follow production order, which is a useful “watch order” approach in almost all cases of franchises, but I think Gundam’s unique situation of being more a thematic umbrella made a guide like this helpful enough on its own, even if it’s less about the shows’ content.

This was intended more as a “how do I approach Gundam” rather than a “which ones are good”, since opinions on show quality are more personal and less helpful to a newcomer trying to explore. Besides, I’ve seen basically every show get praised or slagged by different people, and “fan consensus” is limiting in its own way, if it even exists. I still had some opinion parts fall in there more than I intended, but I think the updated version is better balanced. I don’t know if I could or want to make other guides like this going forwards, but this was a fun diversion regardless. My ideal guide would be something closer to Berndadelta Subs’ guides for Pre-Zyu Sentai and Metal Heroes that talk about aspects and specifics that might appeal to different people, but I hope mine is still helpful to some extent.

(Also, I once accidentally removed the pics from the Blogspot version. Oops!)

  G-Witch Episodes 1-6 Recaps These weren’t technically this year, but I figured I’d include them anyways. This was an attempt to have a recurring benchmark to meet, but college eventually caught up with me. I still watched the show all the way through and enjoyed it even after I stopped doing the recaps (and season recaps I tentatively promised), though I felt talking about it with others on Discord was a better way of working through my thoughts than posts like this.

I’m not sure this type of weekly recap is that useful except as a marker of some of my initial impressions. There’s no shortage of takes, opinions, and weekly recaps on anime anyways, so I figure this is something I won’t try again.  

Translations (all courtesy of Windii)

Macross DT Liner Notes A supplement to the DT article that gave some of the more concrete details for how the arranging process worked, which was also gratifying for one of my favorite albums in the series. The harmonic math involved on some tracks also highlighted the careful technical knowledge needed for this kind of song arranging. I hope to have more DT liner notes translated in the future.

Newtype August 2023: Ippei Gyoubu Interview on G-Witch’s Costume Designs Sci fi costume design is a longstanding interest of mine, so this was my favorite interview to see translated. A lot of the details also made me appreciate aspects of the show I hadn’t noticed as closely, especially with Suletta’s outfits. Costume design is much more important and deliberate in original anime shows than I had realized, and I’d still love to see more about the other costume designs, especially the Earth House casual outfits and epilogue ones.

  Animedia February 2023: Mogmog Interview on G-Witch’s Character Designs This was the first interview I got translated. I wanted to avoid duplicating subjects or interviews other people might do, but I more so chose this article because I loved the designs for the show, especially in that they came from a total newcomer to anime. Mogumo has amazing skills as a character designer and artist, even if the more anime-involved designers played a large role as well, and I enjoyed the character descriptions they were aiming for (especially Suletta and Miorine being dog and cat-like). The interview also showed how involved director Kobayashi was in the process at multiple points, and seeing character details worked out through the design traits is always fun to learn.

I really hope Mogumo and Hisadake can do more anime-related work in the future, especially seeing their designs in new contexts. I bought some of their concept pitch art books digitally, and it seems like they’re also putting out more extensive work at the recent Comiket 103.

Stuff I Want to Tackle in the Future

I don’t have concrete plans for what I’ll tackle in 2024, but there are a few ideas I’ve ruminated over:   Translations I feel like so much knowledge about anime is limited because of how much information is out there but goes untranslated, leaving people to speculate (or fabricate) in its place. Learning Japanese is still a far-off goal for me, but I still want to do what I can to get better information about anime floating around through paying people who are good at it (thanks again Windii!). I’ll continue buying some magazines and books myself, but there’s also loads of pages that people have scanned online over the years that are still lying untranslated. Ideally, I want to get more liner notes and older anime magazine articles up throughout the year, though I am still limited by my own finances. More immediately I want to get other liner notes and articles on a few series I like translated, so look out for those in the next months.

  Short Opinion/Analysis Articles These would be in the succinct style of the “Big Cool Sci Fi Stuff” article but sometimes focused on more meaty topics. The main one I teased was exploring the way people talk about anime directors, but I’m wary of diving into discussions of fandom habits since it’s too easy to abstract and generalize. Talking about fandom discourse is also less important to me given how ephemeral and subjective it is.

I also want to avoid straight reviews or critical analysis, since I think there’s no shortage of media analysis and criticism online that is still entertaining but less substantive in the longer-term than more fact-centered discussions. I have plenty of opinions on the narratives of anime and enjoy talking with pals and friends about some aspects, but I feel like anime plot discussion is a very saturated field that I don’t have anything interesting enough to add to in longer posts. If I do write something like that, I’d tag it under something like “Ruminations”.

I don’t begrudge the people who make reviews, rankings, or discuss anime plots and themes. 

It takes a special skillset to articulate cogent and readable opinions beyond mere quick or angry takes. But I feel like opinions on writing and stories have sucked up too much space in anime discussions for a long time compared to other topics like artistic styles, production history, or broader looks at narrative structure, even if that’s been changing lately. I want to make more unique contributions that are still opinionated but would go beyond the standard habits of critical reviews, hopefully something more unique and useful.

While I know what I want to avoid, it’ll take more time to find more focused topics to write about. Additional retrospective overviews of albums are one possibility, and there are broader aspects of some shows I want to explore beyond more standard critical reviews, but there’s a lot I remain unsure about. Still, I’m optimistic I’ll form something out of this tentative plan.

  Animation Links Hub I’m nowhere near the skills and capacities of the many people who talk about animation and art in anime, but I always regret how decentralized many sites, people, and resources are when trying to learn about the craft behind anime. This would ideally be a more centralized hub of links to pages that both I and others could use.  

Whatever Else I’m sure there’s other things I’ll think of in the future. Balancing the need to not constrict my scope while still giving my blog some kind of tangible identity is difficult, but I hope I can still make this whole thing distinct enough.  

Conclusion

Despite the infrequency, I’m satisfied at what I was able to cover this year. I always want to improve my skills as writer, both creative and informative, and this site has already helped as practice. If I can find continued inspiration, I hope to keep this going at least a few more years. I’m expecting life to get busier next year both in real life work and with other creative pursuits, but I plan to make enough time to make new posts here and expand into different topics.

Here’s to 2024!   Thanks, Hambrababy

Linktree with other socials and websites

[downloadcracksoftware]

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[mmorgzones]

Samsung evo 850 ssd for macbook pro 13 mid 2010

#Samsung evo 850 ssd for macbook pro 13 mid 2010 upgrade

#Samsung evo 850 ssd for macbook pro 13 mid 2010 pro

It was the top-of-the-line configuration then, with a Core 2 Duo processor clocked at 3.06 GHz. My iMac is a 24-inch model from early 2008. In fact, your machine can perform better than it ever did, even when it was new. That’s the main reason people swear by their SSD’s: if you put a modern SSD inside an old computer, it’s like rolling the clock back a few years. What the combination of these two situations amounts to is simple: you start seeing more beach balls, your entire computer appears to be frozen for a few seconds at a time, and the general “snappiness” of the system is gone.Īn SSD, on the other hand, has no moving parts to spin, and it doesn’t have to go looking for pieces of data anywhere, so all those waiting times are cut down to effectively zero. Moreover, if you’re short on RAM, the system will try to create Virtual Memory by writing data to disk instead of RAM, which takes significantly longer. It normally takes the drive a few milliseconds to get ready to read/write the desired data and, worse than that, those milliseconds add up quickly as the drive gets filled, because it has to look for different pieces of data that are scattered across the drive’s surface, and that takes time. In old computers, the most frequent performance bottlenecks in day-to-day use are caused by having to wait for the hard drive. It’s absolutely true, followed closely by adding more RAM.

#Samsung evo 850 ssd for macbook pro 13 mid 2010 upgrade

Thanks! WhyĪsk around the Internet and most people will tell you that the single most important upgrade you can make to an old computer is an SSD. Also, the Amazon links in this article are affiliate links, so if you buy anything through one of those links, I’ll get a small kickback from Amazon. I followed the iFixit guide throughout the entire process and if you’re thinking of upgrading your own iMac, I suggest you do the same. Before I begin, please note that this article is not a how-to manual, and as such it should never replace the excellent step-by-step guides available on iFixit and elsewhere on the Internet. This is an account of how the upgrade went, the difficulties I found, and whether I recommend anyone do the same (Spoiler alert: yes, very much so). Set everything up in a comfortable environment and get to work! IntroductionĪ couple of weekends ago I finally had time for a project I’d been wanting to do for months: upgrading my iMac’s internal hard drive to an SSD. The rest of the article has been preserved in its original form for historical accuracy. It’s a terrific machine and I have no plans to replace it anytime soon. Prices vary slightly on Amazon but you can’t go wrong with any of these, so my advice would be to get whichever is cheaper at the moment.Įven though it will not be supported by the newly-announced macOS Sierra, my Early-2008 iMac is still my primary Mac. That said, keep in mind that in this case the bottleneck will be your iMac’s 3 Gb/s SATA 2 interface, so any of these drives will have nearly identical performance.

#Samsung evo 850 ssd for macbook pro 13 mid 2010 pro

If you want something fancier, both the Samsung 850 Pro and the SanDisk Extreme Pro are excellent, as well. The original text is still valid, but SSD recommendations are now outdated.Īs of July 2016, the consumer-grade SSD I recommend is the Samsung 850 EVO. Since then, it’s consistently been the most popular piece on this site almost every month. UPDATE, July 16, 2016: This article was originally published on May 21, 2014.

#Samsung evo 850 ssd for macbook pro 13 mid 2010

[lizseyi]

Party At Home 101: The Ultimate Guide - Everything You Need For An Unforgettable House Party

With the summer in full swing, and COVID restrictions lifted, there’s never been a better time to have a house party.

Thanks to the introduction of government restrictions, and the cost of living increasing, people are turning inwards for their party fix, choosing to have parties at home.

Gone are the days of queueing at midnight, losing your friends in the club, and paying far too much for off brand liquor.

Say hello to dancing in your jeans, and making your drinks exactly how you like them. The farthest commute you’ll make is up the stairs to bed, saving you serious money on club entry and taxis. No more cut off times for serving food, it’s your house - if you want to make chicken nuggets at 3am, nobody is stopping you! Don’t like the song? Get Alexa to change it! This is YOUR nightclub

Ready to get planning? Then look no further. Keep on reading for the ultimate guide with everything you need to run a legendary house party.

1. Music - Is it really a party if there’s no music? Get that bluetooth speaker on charge and plug up the Hi-Fi systems. You’ll need a playlist full of anthems that are guaranteed to get your guests moving (That means no sad songs - Yes, that includes Ed Sheeran’s Perfect).

2. Alcohol - Duh. Make sure you get a good variety, different strokes for different folks. Get a range of spirits, and a mix of beer, cider and wine. Don’t forget about your good old designated drivers and sober friends, get a few zero alcohol bottles and some fancy mocktail mixes in. Do not forget the mixers. Whatever you think is a good amount of soda, double it. There is nothing worse than running out halfway through a party, besides, isn’t that how all horror movies start?

3. Snacks - Drunk people and toddlers are often compared to each other, for their lack of impulse control and their love of snacks. For a party that will really impress your guests, make sure to stock up on plenty of finger food, such as chips, garlic bread and fries. To really impress your guests, why not make a charcuterie board? Everybody loves cheese!

Remember to accommodate dietary requirements, there’s nothing worse than going hungry at a party because you have allergies.

4. Lighting - Nobody wants to dance when they feel watched. Turn off the main lights, and set up a few lamps or fairy lights. Make sure you have sufficient ambient lighting, bonus points if it’s colourful!

5. Bins - Make your life easier, make sure you have bins scattered throughout the house to minimise the tidying up in the morning. A few buckets scattered around with a “Recycling” sign will do. Don’t forget to buy plenty of bin bags the day before. Hungover - future you will thank you.

6. Funky glassware - The difference between an average party, and a one to remember, is quirky glassware. Of course it’s fine to have disposable cups for your drinking games, like beer pong, but if you’re making instagrammable cocktails then you need to have nice glassware. Our ice cream glasses are sure to wow a crowd, and they come in a pack of 2.  After all, did you really have a party if the internet doesn’t know about it?

7. A pack of playing cards - If you’re having a party, then you need to entertain your guests. The drinking games you can play with a pack of cards are limitless. Why not go a step further and get some decorative cards? It’s all about the finer details when impressing your guests.

8. A cocktail shaker kit - How are you going to make cocktails without a shaker and strainer? Anyone can eyeball a measure (nobody is counting), but to achieve the polar temperatures required for a professional standard cocktail, you’ll need a trusty shaker. 

9. And of course, no party would be complete without aFlavour Blaster MINI. Don’t let its size fool you, this nifty gadget packs a punch! Create showstopping cocktails at the click of a button, by creating aroma filled bubbles on the top of your glassware. The MINI has the option to create bubbles and aromatic vapour clouds, to elevate your cocktail experience and enhance your chosen flavours. With over 15 aromas to choose from including Citrus, Lavender and Lemongrass, there is an aroma for everyone. Use the aroma element on its own, or create a visual masterpiece by adding an aroma filled bubble to the top of your drinks. Designed for the home bartender, the MINI comes in 5 different colours, so you can rest easy knowing it will match your other kitchen gadgets.

[buziness101]

Beyond Connectivity: Next Generation Fibre for The Better Future

Today we experience various changes because of the advancement and enhancement of technology, and we can witness different modifications in our daily lives. Fiber is very transparent. It has potentially had a broader range of wavelengths that give a variety of technologies that all need to be well developed.

Some study states that it guides light through air-filled fibers that offer an embryonic solution, able to overcome all the attenuation limit set by a glass that scattered a poses limitation to applying performance when it requires a shorter wavelength.

Things need to know about Next Generation Fibre

-         The light is transmitted through a glass core, the fiber is made into bath,

-         Light is transmitted unhindered through the air.

-         The light beam is confined to the hollow core by the holed on the surrounding in glass material.

-         This looks like a honeycomb throughout the section and creates a no-go region for light.

-         It has a new material called photonic crystal fibers, which leak less light and carries a lot of intense light pulses without distortion.

Benefits of fiber internet

* Future proof: It install will be able to handle the increased demand for having a lot of bandwidth in the future. As that demand sprouts, only the network equipment would need to be upgraded over time, not the actual fiber cables.

* Speed: It able to send data up to 1,000 times faster than copper cables, that means it is simpler to connect with other devices, because of the following upload data, load websites, and stream.

* Secure: You can get a lot of consistency speeds. With an additional of, since fiber cables do not radiate a signal, it is enormously difficult to excerpt data from it creating it more secure.

* Reliable: This way better bear changed of weathers, temperatures, and other technologies. And so, we build fiber lines unswervingly to our home, it will less worry about dappled signals from a satellite or tower.

* The technology: we all know that fiber is made of glass and transmit light instead of electricity. Other equipment that transmits internet comprise cable, copper, DSL, among others. These other technologies can convey with the use of electricity and have a shared lines its able users to experience will suffer based on the amount of people on the network.

* Economic Development: This brings a huge opportunity. Not just in the buffer-free streaming, but also into businesses to help them expand through development and for our communities to fascinate new businesses. This also give a big help to seek and attract new residents, who may telecommute, and can only live here because the power of fiber.

To our future users and other people, urge them to experience better and more reliable internet connectivity. Optic fibers are way better used in telecommunications. With this, it helps the advancement of technology that can lead to a better community and economic development.

If you want to meet your expectations in internet connectivity, visit our website for more information about Next generation fiber. You can visit this website at https://www.unlimitedwirelessplans.net

[buttontoy11]

Is Minecraft Server Price [$] To You?

A teacher or host of a world will at all times be capable of edit their very own permissions in addition to permissions for other gamers on the earth. Go to the Methods to Set up a Multiplayer Recreation from Residence Guide to understand find out how to host a sport that players on different networks might be ready to hitch. Learn the Configure settings for your Multiplayer recreation section to learn to entry your Be a part of Code and change settings on your hosted world. That is a distinct mannequin from Java and Bedrock hosted servers, where you may create all the time-on multiplayer worlds utilizing customized servers. Multiplayer is feasible for players inside the same Office 365 tenant. Minecraft eliminates the wolf and sheep drawback, and the lack of ranges allows an open-endedness that keeps gamers sticking round longer (and makes it simpler to come back again to as properly). This tool allows you so as to add as much as 10 friends. Minecraft mod is a free video game utility that permits you to relive the world of Slayers and Demons. This ransom ware was the primary of its kind to focus on knowledge files utilized by Computer video video games actively.

Beginning at $6.99/month, you’ll get 5x the WordPress Starter’s storage area and other features that enable you to maintain more websites and knowledge. Minecraft: Training Version options multiplayer video games that connect using picture based mostly be a part of codes. When using Minecraft: Schooling Version, the host must be enjoying the sport in order for others to hitch. Minecraft: Schooling will not be at present suitable with server software, so it is not doable to set up an at all times-on world that players can go to anytime. Although the Multiplayer expertise was designed and optimized for classroom use where all players are on the same network, Multiplayer throughout totally different internet connections is feasible by making some adjustments to your property network configuration. Server-fashion multiplayer shouldn't be potential. Server-model multiplayer or a devoted server is just not doable right now. Joining a public server is the best method to play multiplayer “Minecraft,” but it is going to power you to share the server with anybody else who knows about it. A single multiplayer sport can host a most of forty gamers, and can connect players throughout all supported platforms. The Change Nintendo console version additionally has a rhythm-dancing party recreation that is an excellent little workout, too, and a collaborative recreation the place players paddle down a river collectively.

Elsewhere, there's a brand new characteristic for Recreation Go subscribers on console. World of Warcraft 3.1.2 patch: Obtain the most recent patch for Blizzard's hit MMO recreation. I can think of no better manner for Trion to establish itself as a risk to Blizzard's slow. The better algorithm offers faster simulation for your gameplay. Possibly that is designing software for a Star Trek pc, however that is the type of simulation we can imagine in a world of excess computing energy. You can also import and launch a new world from the Library Assortment. Follow the directions in the Easy methods to host a world in-progress part to host a world that you just open from the Library Assortment. Given how ubiquitous this library is, the impact of the exploit (full server management), and the way simple it is to use, the influence of this vulnerability is kind of severe. How to affix the Minecraft server created, utilizing the gadget operating the server - Choose “Multiplayer” in Minecraft whereas your server is open and working. Administrators will even have the option to wipe the device remotely.

Instruments that run out of durability are automatically replaced in your hotbar, stacks of blocks are automatically refilled, and a simple middle-click on will kind your chests and stock. The better Animal Plus mod adds in about forty new animals all of that are scattered to their numerous biomes in the game. Now blocks and other objects will likely be higher rendered in fog, because the latter has turn out to be just a little further away. The for the file will be having a .jar extension. Begin the start.bat file as soon as extra. Pause the sport and from the Pals tab click on Begin Internet hosting then click Affirm. If you're undecided easy methods to play Minecraft with buddies yet, worry not! On the Play screen, click on Create New after which click New. Then click on Join World. Share them with players that you really want invite into your world. If the hosting participant leaves the world, all different gamers might be removed from the world. Choose the choices you would like utilized to your new world, after which click on Host. Click on on Windows to download the trial version. Or introduce which is in a position to assist you develop a recreation of a totally cover model. It’s value noting that the figures at the end will vary relying on the version of “Minecraft” you’re utilizing.

Down with destruction

#downwithdestruction #down with destruction

[beatricethecat2]

“I’m super bummed about the yurt,” Myka says.

“It is rather unfortunate," Helena says. "Perhaps internet rentals are unreliable?”

“That’s how everything’s done these days. And it’s not their fault, the pump died, and no water means it’s a no-go. But I still want that river view.”

“And the solitude. Plus the solar-powered generator.”

“You were super into that,” Myka says. “But this place…” She pushes at the cards scattered in front of her. “They just left stuff lying around. Such a dump.”

“It was rather last minute. Merely a stop-gap; a place to rest our weary heads after nights under the stars.”

“And backs on the hard ground,” Myka grumbles. “Where’d you find this?” She twirls a yellow flower between her thumb and forefinger.

“In the garden behind the shed. Though ‘garden’ and 'shed’ are generous terms.”

“Thanks for picking it. And thanks for being so upbeat about this,” Myka says, cracking a small smile.

“Thank you for humoring my curiosity.” Helena gathers the cards within her reach and piles them into a neat stack.

“It’s given us a destination, which we needed.” Myka pushes more cards towards Helena. “You’re sure none of the sites we saw are what you remember?”

“From the stereographs? No.” Helena fans the cards out and begins to arrange them in suits.

“Could you…could it be you don’t remember it as well as you thought?

"Stereographs were the virtual reality of my day. They immersed one in places inherently foreign to our own. The take-away memories were vivid. I was hoping…”

“Hoping what?” Myka says, scooting closer, joining in organizing the cards.

“That the physicality of the ruins would trigger an emotional response. I viewed the images at one of Charles’s parties not long before I was bronzed. My reaction was quite visceral; I’d felt life flowing through the structures, even though they were long abandoned.”

Helena stares at the card in her hand.

“Then again, I wasn’t exactly in my right mind. Perhaps it’s a ridiculous quest.” She lays the card, a joker, on the table.

“Hey, we’ll keep looking,” Myka says, laying her hand over Helena’s. “We’ll regroup in Vegas, then go north and hit Mesa Verde. It’s pretty magical.”

“You’ve been before?”

“Girl Scout trip. Long, miserable bus ride. But even as a kid, the cliff dwellings felt magical.”

“Perhaps they’re the site I’m looking for!” Helena says, perking up. “And, perhaps we met there in the past. Star-crossed lovers, throughout time and space.”

“Past lives? You believe in that?”

“Not in a grand sense,” Helena says, aligning the gazes of the queen of hearts and queen of spades to face each other. “But I do appreciate that these days, one can mention such trivial mythologies without repercussions.”

“What do you mean?”

“In my day, as a woman, there was little room for flippant musing. Christian values dictated our every move, while Spiritualism promoted the fanatic embrace of communing with the dead. Not to mention the base-level assumption women were of a lesser intellect.”

“So you’d never say it out loud.”

“Never. In fact, I’d blocked it out. Hard science was my escape but at the expense of my sanity.”

“I suppose we all need a sense that something out there's guiding us,” Myka says, plucking the two other queens from the spread and aligning them as Helena did. “It’s kind of romantic to think our connection’s lasted hundreds of years.”

“But you’re not sold.”

“Nah.” Myka slips the cards on top of each other and slides them back into the pile.

“Perhaps my bronzing was the universe’s way of aligning our presence.”

“Sounds like a story you might write. Or one you already did.”

“So pragmatic, Myka Bering.”

“You’re the romantic,” Myka says, bumping Helena’s shoulder.

“I’m a woman of science!” Helena quips playfully.

“Hm, yeah,” Myka mumbles, turning to look towards the other side of the trailer. “Come with me, 'woman of science.’ Let’s test out this awful looking bed.”

She grabs Helena’s hand and tugs her across the room. They tumble in tandem onto the full-size futon.

------------

Bering and Wells On the Road ("Warehouse 13" Season 5 replacement) Season 1: Episode 5 Title: Las Vegas: Hopes, Dreams, and a Little Bit of Crazy

Summary: Myka and Helena travel across the expanse of Texas toward the arid Southwest, tracking down a memory. A last-minute cancellation leads to less-than-ideal accommodations and musings on the universe. A stop in Vegas turns into an artifact hunt after a few nights on the town. While there, a less than supernatural mystery garners honest talk, revealing a sticking point that, for better or worse, is left hanging to be resolved down the line.

Previously: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4

------------

***BONUS SCENE***

“What’s this?” Myka asks, holding a piece of paper found while tidying the room before checkout.

Helena turns from packing and squints at the page.

“It appears to be an advertisement for burlesque.”

“It’s a strip club.”

“There’s a distinction?”

“You’ve watched enough cop shows to know.”

“Touché,” Helena says with a smirk. “Were you considering attending?”

“It’s from your pocket! The stuff you took out to dry clean your coat after it got gooed.”

“I don’t recall saving that piece of ephemera.”

“Maybe you recall this?” Myka flips the paper over.

Helena steps closer and squints again.

“Do you need glasses?”

“I haven’t had proper tea yet,” Helena grumbles. “It appears to be writing.”

“It’s a name. And a number. Who's Giselle?”

“Ah…” A light bulb goes off behind Helena’s eyes. “The tall, blonde you were ogling at the bar.”

“Me? What blonde? Oh…” A dimmer bulb goes off behind Myka’s eyes. “I thought I recognized her from that show we saw, Zumanity.”

“And I’d thought she’d reminded you of a tall blonde from your past.”

“Sam was a man.”

“Gender is a construct–”

“I know! I don’t need another lecture–”

“–designed to control the masses, just like– ”

“Capitalism, religion, television….who knows what else,” Myka gruffs. “No more podcasts in the car for a while, OK?" 

Helena crosses her arms over her chest and grunts dismissively. Myka's face pinches as she holds her ground.

"So you, what, went up to this woman when I took that call from the Warehouse?”

“As it happens, she spoke with me,” Helena says, puffing up like a bird on the defense.

“She came to our table?”

“I’d gone to the bar. I needed a top-up as you’d been gone for an immeasurable amount of time.”

“And she just happened to be there?”

“Coincidentally.”

“Coincidentally? And she 'coincidentally’ gave you her number?”

“We had a lovely conversation about the mechanics from the show. The hanging armatures, the chains, the silks, the water tank. And the athleticism that went into their provocative stunts.”

“Uh-huh. But she gave you her number. Why?”

“I believe there was a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Must you parrot me so?” Helena plants her hands on her hips.

“If you’d tell me what really happened, I wouldn’t have to.” Myka mirrors Helena’s pose.

“Fine. You seemed so enamored, I thought to ask questions–”

“I thought I recognized her, that’s all!”

“She was quite stunning. Did I mention statuesque?”

“Helena, why?” Myka waves the page in Helena’s direction.

“She offered us a backstage tour.”

“Us, or you?”

“I’d pointedly mentioned you, so us.”

“Oh.” Myka’s shoulders slump. “What does 'backstage tour’ mean?”

“I believe a peek behind the production.”

“Because you said there was a misunderstanding.”

“Due to her somewhat pointed overtures.”

“I knew it! She was hitting on you.” Myka smacks the desk with her hand. 

Helena grimaces. “I believe she was 'fishing’”

“Do you even know what that is?”

“I do, as per the aforementioned police procedurals. In fact, it was….refreshing, being courted by a woman." 

"I’m a woman!”

“Yes, but….in the wild, so to speak.”

“Did you…” Myka starts, then glances at the paper again. She sits on the edge of the bed and looks up at Helena. “Did you want to go out with her?" 

"Again, I’d pointedly pointed out I was taken.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because we rushed off New York, New York the minute your call from the Warehouse finished.” Helena throws her hands in the air. “We then spent the majority of yesterday chasing an elusive King Kong around that scale model of the city.”

“We did. Stupid antiques convention.”

“I swear we spend more time on Warehouse business than our own.”

“Like once a month.”

“Every week.”

“Every other week. When they call us. Us getting whammied doesn’t count.”

“Mine was New Orleans. Yours Austin. But the others…”

Myka tallies missions on fingers until she hits ten. “You’re right. We’ve spent a lot of time on Warehouse stuff. I’m sorry.”

Helena shakes her head while breathing out a heavy sigh. She sits next to Myka and lays a hand on her thigh. “To answer your question, we’re off today anyway, so there was no point in mentioning it.”

Myka slips her hand over Helena’s. “I bet you actually wanted to see the mechanics backstage. That’s something people do on vacation.”

“Quite an improvement from Trouble Wit,” Helena says.

“I don’t know that that is.”

“Illusions with pleated paper. Parlor tricks, but they delighted Christina so.”

“See, I like hearing that stuff,” Myka says, squeezing Helena’s hand. “Would you have told me any of this if I hadn’t found the flyer cleaning up?’ She hands the paper to Helena.

"Why would it matter?” Helena crumples the paper and lobs it towards the garbage can. It bounces off and onto the floor. 

“Because for this to work we need to talk to each other, tell each other how we feel.” Myka looks Helena in the eye. “I can’t read your mind.”

“Then, perhaps we were not destined to meet throughout time and space.”

“Hey, you can’t take it back. I like that idea now.” Myka threads her fingers through Helena's and flips their hands over. “You’re really annoyed about the work stuff?”

“I was hoping to have you all to myself.”

“You do.” Myka squeezes Helena’s hand again and lifts it up, kissing its back. “How much time do we have before checkout?”

Helena glances at her wristwatch. “Not nearly enough.”

“But it could be.” Myka threads a lock of hair behind Helena’s ear and guides their lips together. Their kiss leads to more-than-kissing in record time.

Next Scene: Running late to checkout…

-TBC-

NOTES: The quote, “Las Vegas is a city built on hopes, dreams and a little bit of crazy,” is by Eleanor Goggin. If you haven’t seen a well-shot stereograph in a viewer, you are missing out. Their mock-3D spaces from bygone eras can be mind-blowing.Myka with the flyer is from a season four episode where she and Pete go to Las Vegas. The show Zumanity is a racy offshoot of Cirque du Soleil and just closed after a seventeen-year run in Vegas. I started reading a fascinating dissertation about why middle- and upper-class Victorian women embraced Spiritualism. In a nutshell, it gave them autonomy and a sense of power within the rigid confines of what was expected of them as women while they remained safe within the construct of home. H.G. would have bristled at that, because she wanted more. But I’m certain she would have been fascinated by Hilma af Klint’s amazing drawings and paintings, even though they were based in Spiritualism and Theosophy. Oh and here's on of the stereographs. (H.G. would have seen it later than 1898.) Also, the title font/design is from the first edition of the book you are thinking of but the content is not related.

#BERING AND WELLS #w13 #fan fiction #fan art #canon divergent au #Myka Bering #Helena HG Wells #sorry for the delay #i was plotting out the arc of their journey #and rearranging eps #i have the images all lined up but now have to concoct some stories... #Oh the tasks I set for myself

[flovey-dovey]

I want to say something about Klaus

I’ve been waiting a very long time to see this movie, and when I finally could I loved it to pieces. But the ending broke my heart- in more ways than one.

There will be no “tldr” here because my feelings about this film are too strong to let me minimalize what I have to say about it (but I might have to make a part 2 since this is pretty big). If you don’t agree with me, that’s fine, it’s okay, I don’t blame you. I won’t tell you you’re wrong, because in your own life you’re as obligated as ever to have an opinion of your own, correct or not. One other thing I want to say before I start rambling is that this will be messy. Also I do not- nor have ever- claimed to be a critic, and this is not a review. This is just a single person on the internet expressing their opinion, and for the love of all that is holy let’s keep it at that.

Foreword over, on to my pure thoughts. Oh, and spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the movie yet. No matter what I think about it it’s definitely worth a watch, and going into this without seeing it will probably confuse some folks. Maybe.

Okay, since my main qualm is with the characters, let’s start with Alva. I like her. She’s not the generic “tough girl who don’t need no man” I was fully prepared to have shoved down my throat. She has some genuinely good moments on her own as well as funny and pleasant interactions with both Jesper and the children of the town and is a fine character. She is jaded and determined, though not to the point of that being her entire personality, and I loved watching her find happiness as the teacher she wanted to be. She is a victim of circumstance that eventually has her environment changed and finds herself changed with it for the better. Her design and personality were very pleasing (to me) to see as well.

However...

Why did she have to be the love interest? Just- why? What warranted her eventually desiring a relationship of any description when she was shown to be more devoted to her position as a teacher- and as a single woman- throughout 90% of the film? This is especially frustrating since it turns almost every scene with her into one that involves Jesper in some way rather than build her as a character outside of this perspective. It takes away from Alva “the character” and instead focuses more on her as Alva “the love interest”. In media stuffed to the rafters in heteronormative relationships, and from those that I’ve seen, as afraid as I was to see it happen I was also prepared to have this aspect of the movie gracelessly thrown into my face. So, as might be expected, I actually groaned out loud when I saw it come to pass. I’m not mad, just... actually that’s a lie I am rather irritated by it, but also just... sad. Very, very sad. Disappointed, you might say. She and Jesper don’t have a lot of interactions showing that this was the obvious outcome. The best I can think that people would draw this conclusion would be a) she’s a woman and he’s a guy and they looked at each other that one time, and b) when he was trying to be charming to wriggle out of her wrath. Also, same scene, I don’t buy that it’s further implied by the boat-guy (I forget his name and can’t find it on IMDB) teasing Jesper over “young love” after she leaves in a huff. He’s not a reliable look into any feelings Jesper might feel towards her since all he’s done up to that point is tease him. It’s not enough, it just isn’t. Not to me.

In regards to her feelings for Jesper, the most I see from her is gratitude. The scene when she’s showing Jesper what he unintentionally did for the town is just that, and as she’s looking at the townsfolk Jesper looks... distressed. This is because he is conflicted about what to do at this point in the story, not necessarily because of any feelings for Alva, but it doesn’t even look like he’s thinking of her- romantically- at all. They don’t share any additional conversation, either; not a single flirtatious joke or anything that would lead me to believe they were bonding. I feel horribly conditioned to see her as the love interest and nothing more because that’s all I’ve ever seen done with a man and woman who only share a single line of dialogue before some narrator is telling me “of course” they got together in the end. Oftentimes, that line of dialogue is in an unpleasant or downright aggressive scenario, and that’s not romance. Seeing it happen over and over and over and over in almost every piece of media I subject myself to makes me want to take a blowtorch to my brain. I’m literally at my wit’s end. If it was more built-up and actually there, then fine, I take it back, but the thing is I hardly saw anything at all in terms of either Jesper or Alva or both of them thinking about each other, wanting to be together as more than just friends, throughout the entire hour and a half of the movie. The most scenes I can say they shared (not counting the ending because I’ll get to that in a bit) are four, with each one being little more than a minute long, two of them being more on the aggressive side, the third being when Alva shows Jesper the new Smeerenburg. Pleasant and humorous, yes, but not inherently romantic (neither of them share more than a glance and Jesper looks pretty preoccupied internally). The fourth is of Alva helping Margu translate what she wants from Klaus for Jesper. When Margu hugs Jesper and he and Alva exchange silent looks, the expression on Alva’s face, to me, says something like “you’re not half bad” and a note of good humor for how he handles children. Just so we’re clear I’m not against her finding happiness with Jesper. I just want it to be warranted. Not narrated.

Oh, but their love for each other is obvious and clearly meant to be from the start, is it? Okay then, show me when Alva says or does something and makes Jesper laugh, or vice-versa. Show me when she thought of him OUTSIDE of simply showing him what he did for everyone and how their hands touched, their gazes met and shy or flirtatious smiles spread across their faces as they drew slightly closer, and how she felt something more than gratitude and impressment for him. Show me when Jesper wanted to do something for her OUTSIDE being the means to a letter-related end. Show me the parts when they pined for each other and how happy seeing the other’s smile made them and how they were happy for each other’s progress and encouraged each other. Show me the parts of the movie where Jesper visited as often as he could manage to squeeze into his busy schedule just to chat. Show me kisses, hand-holding, lingering looks and happy little half-smiles cast from across a crowded courtyard. Maybe they do share something more than friendship, but no matter what I can’t get over how little there was between them to give me the impression it was going to lead to romance. It’s not even subtext, in my opinion.

Do you remember when Jesper’s father came back and it all came out in a part known as “the liar revealed” (a trope I quite hate for the oftentimes needless forced drama it creates, but whatever, for now I’ll let it slide) that he had ulterior motives which, at that point, he no longer had? Alva was the FIRST to turn her back on him in spite of their “lovey-dovey” merry-go-round painting MOMENTS earlier. She didn’t even want to hear out Jesper, who was clearly upset, and jumped straight to accusing him without showing that she was just as upset by the revelation that he could’ve been using her and playing with her feelings. How romantic. Meanwhile, the last one to return inside was Klaus, who was far more saddened and disappointed, leaving slower and leaving Jesper looking the worst, like he was heartbroken by his words- an echo of his own- most of all.

In fact...

Speaking of Klaus, I’d say Jesper is far more attracted to him than to Alva. This movie, while nearly devoid of interactions serving to build romantic chemistry between Jesper and Alva (which it absolutely should’ve if they had the ending be what it was), is littered with moments, wordless and otherwise, between Klaus and Jesper. So let’s go over them. I mean, if you’ve left by now then like I said at the start, I don’t mind. But if it’s alright I’d like to talk about them anyway, because holy holly I love them.

The scenes in question are clearly shown to develop their friendship and only get more romantic from there, and I could run out of breath trying to ramble them off all at once and what it meant to me to see them portrayed in such a beautiful way- artistically as well as in terms of the story.

Fairly early on, we learn that the wind is kind of its own “character”, guiding both Jesper and Klaus to ultimately meet each other as well as bringing them together more than once afterwards, and later on with what we learn about him it’s heavily implied to be the spirit of Klaus’ dearly departed wife. I’d like to think she was trying to tell Klaus to move on and find new love in Jesper and for Jesper to find purpose by Klaus’ side. The instances involving the wind are scattered throughout the film, so this is going to be a bit out of order.

To start, Jesper, while trying to get Klaus to donate his toys to the children of Smeerenburg, doesn’t notice the wind swirling around behind him like it was telling Klaus to follow him even if at the time Jesper’s intentions were selfish. Because he changes. They change each other, and their dynamic progresses so much more naturally, directly and clearly than Jesper and Alva’s.

There’s another scene when it leads Klaus to his workshop, where he opens the door to see a silhouette distinctly meant to parallel his wife- the one he loved- and revealed when he pulls back the cloth to be Jesper- his potential new love.

It’s one of the most explicit scenes enforcing my idea that Klaus’ wife was trying to get him to love again. Anyway, Jesper then excitedly starts going on about his gift and trying to get his mojo back before making an unintentionally big mistake by revealing a painful reminder of Klaus’ wife. A mistake he deeply regrets, mind. Not too long later, Jesper tries working on his own to make Margu’s wish for a boat/sleigh come true. While he works, the shot fades to see Klaus back at his workshop. He sees the picture Jesper drew of them and sighs, giving in and going to see him at the post office [also not to mention the drawing fades with the family shelf thing Klaus made so that’s pretty neat; took me a year to edit this in but hey better late than never]. My favorite scene is Klaus showing up to work on Margu’s present, giving Jesper a tool as well and interrupting Jesper to wordlessly point at the task at hand as if to say “If we work, we work together”. And that spoke to me. More than anything else in the movie and more than I’ve heard from any movie I’ve seen that I can remember. Also, Jesper’s soft, shy, willing smile put the biggest grin on my face. It was the last nail in the sled that made me convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were forming a romantic bond from this moment forward.

Part 2 because this is long:

https://flovey-dovey.tumblr.com/post/189133807093/part-2-of-my-thoughts-on-klaus

#Klaus #Jesper #Alva #part 1 #text post #Klausper #TALL AND SMALL

[is-rae33]

WoW Shadowlands – Secret Unlockables and Achievements! (Part 1)

GoldPiles continues to be ranked amongst the best TBC Classic gold platform that you will ever find in the Internet today!

With so many potential rewards, quests and challenges for you to claim in WoW Shadowlands, you can be forgiven for missing out on some of the rarest and most secret collectibles and achievements hidden in the game:

WoW Shadowlands is one of the biggest MMORPGs ever to be developed in video game history.

With so many incredible contents available in the game, fresh players are bound to have missed some in-game secrets and achievements which are not easily identifiable from the get-go.

Here, we’ll take a look at a few noticeable unlockables and achievements that you might have not known existed until now!

1) Jiggle’s Favourite Toy

Wouldn’t it be cool if you can play around with your pets, especially those cute, cuddly cats?

With Jiggle’s Favourite Toy – a unique unlockable claimed after you’ve completed the hidden achievement “Nine Afterlives” – you can absolutely do that!

Jiggle’s Favourite Toy works similarly like a toy laser which you point towards the ground, afterwards alerting your pet before it lunges to play around with it!

In order to obtain this, you will need to pet nine (9) cats scattered throughout the world of Maldraxxus, in no particular order of course.

2) Sorrowbane

Double-handed players will absolutely love this one!

Once you’ve reached the Theatre of Painin Maldraxxus, you can easily spot a big sword thrust inside the ground – the mysterious Sorrowbane.

This magnificent greatsword is not able to be plucked out of the ground though, much like the lore of Excalibur.

However, you can certainly do it by following these steps:

· Collect three (3) specific items first:

o Potion of Unusual Strength

o Scroll of Teleport: Theatre of Pain (to teleport to Theatre of Pain)

o Strength of Blood (potion)

· Complete the quest “A Few Bumps Along the Way”

o Obtain two (2) stacks of the “Battle-Hardened” buff (more is also better) which lasts around 10 minutes

· Fast-travel/ fly to Renounced Bastille

o Head over to the Edible Redcaps area to consume four (4) of them (you will feel your character’s weight increase/ move slower)

· Quickly use the Scroll of Teleport: Theatre of Pain to travel to Sorrowbane’s location.

· Nearby Sorrowbane, drink the collected items earlier (while having the “Battle-Hardened” buff and Redcap effect):

o Potion of Unusual Strength

o Strength of Blood

· Click on the hand holding the Sorrowbane, and you’ll receive an Oonar’s Arm pet!

· Click Sorrowbane immediately after to pluck the big sword out of the ground and into your inventory!

3) Hidden Witcher Reference (Achievement)

There is an achievement called “Toss a Seed to your Hunter” which is absolutely a reference to The Witcher video games.

In order to unlock it, you must:

· Travel to Ardenweald

o Collect an item called “A Faintly Glowing Seed”

· Travel to The Grove with the item

o Meet up with Daffodil

· Converse with Daffodil

o A Boggart will appear afterwards, named Gwynceirw, The Winter Wolf

· Toss the seed to Gwynceirw, and voila, the achievement is yours!

Tune in to Part 2 of this guide coming soon!

Are you looking to add WoW TBC Classic Gold into your account today?

Visit GoldPilesto uncover great deals and incredible discounts now!

#TBC Classic gold

[thatoneraven]

I finished all the info on my boy, so I'm just gonna drop it because I'm an impatient motherfucker. I put a lot of effort into him to try and make him as realistic to the game as possible.

The Taxidermist Rian ‘Kazugra’ O’Byrne Gender: Male Born: June 20, 1997 Age: 24 Nationality: Irish American Realm: Hangman’s Forest Power: Frankenstein’s cure Weapon: Walking stick Movement speed: 115% Power speed: 130% Terror radius: 32 meters Height: Tall DLC: Beauty in Death Special ability Frankenstein’s Cure “A powerful concoction containing poisonous plants such as nightshade and hemlock. It disables the body, but the mind remains awake. For a disease as destructive as humanity, paralyzation is the only cure.” Start the trial with 4 vials. To cure a survivor, press and hold the power button to prepare the syringe. Release the power button to increase movement speed for 10 seconds and rush at the survivor to initiate injection. A successful injection will trigger a timer for the survivor. At the end of the timer, the survivor is immediately put in the dying state and killer instinct reveals their location for 5 seconds. Before the timer ends, survivors can find and inject the remedy at cabinets scattered throughout the map. These cabinets are highlighted in white to the killer and affected survivors. To replenish your stock of vials, interact with a cabinet. Cured survivors suffer from the following afflictions: - Hindered effect - Exhaustion effect - Illusionary terror radius Perks Shadow kin You feel a sense of kinship with the crows of the realm. In your time of need, they offer you their eyes. All survivors within 5/8/12 meters of a crow will have their aura revealed for 5 seconds. Shadow kin has a cool down of 1 minute. Stirred Mulch The lessons of the forest stick with you. Listen to nature, and she will guide you. Disturbances in the environment are significantly more noticeable. Scratch marks made by survivors last 1/3/5 seconds longer. Sounds made by running survivors are amplified. Formaldehyde You crave the perfect specimen. You become obsessed with one survivor. Every time your obsession is healed within a 48 meter radius of you, you gain a token. You can gain up to 4 tokens. Each token decreases your terror radius by 3/5/8 meters. If the obsession is sacrificed or killed, all tokens are lost. Lore Rian O’Byrne was born in Ireland in 1997. At the age of 3, his family moved to America in the hopes of achieving a better life. They started a new life in Detroit, Michigan, but quickly fell into poverty after the chaos of 9/11. Growing up poor in a world where he had to live in constant fear deeply scarred his psyche. He was labeled as an old soul, always isolating himself from his peers and opting to read a book rather than play. With his childish innocence ripped away too soon, he watched with bare eyes as humans destroyed the world. He learned hatred, rage, and vengeance as those around him began treating him differently, separate from the rest of the population. He fell to self harm, finding comfort in the punishment of his human body. As if taking pity on him, nature left a gift in his path. Rian, at the age of 12, found an injured crow on the back steps of his house. He had a soft spot for animals, so he took the crow in and attempted to heal it. The crow lasted a few minutes, but ended up taking its last breath in his hands. He handled it the way he handled everything that upset him, he turned to his creativity to right the situation. He made it his mission to keep the bird’s beauty alive in death. With the help of the internet, he learned how to take apart the bird and salvage its parts. He took its skull and painted it to represent the night sky. In the basement closet, he set up a small shrine for the bird. Its skull rested in a bed of black feathers, surrounded by a crown of smaller bones and dried flowers. As if nature had appointed him a purpose, Rian started finding dead animals wherever he went. They started off small: birds and rodents. He would take them home and perform the same ritual of taking their bones and painting them. Eventually, the animals started getting larger, harder to hide. He managed to salvage a roadkill cat at one point, almost getting caught by his parents who arrived home sooner than expected. He’d started taking walks in the forest nearby, occasionally finding shed antlers to add to his work. After returning from one of his night walks, he found his parents in the basement inspecting a sickly sweet smell. In a panic, Rian ran upstairs and packed a bag with his things and ran away from home at the age of 16. With what little money he had, he managed to make it to a small town in the upper peninsula. A local farmer found him dehydrated and starving on the side of the road, and decided to take him in. They arranged a deal. Rian would work for them, and they would help him get back on his feet. He would wake up early everyday to work tirelessly on the farm, and would turn in early at night to work on preserving animals he found nearby. Out of fear, he kept these shrines out in the forest. He would often come back to find them ruined. This frustrated him, so when he managed to save up enough, he got a small apartment in the heart of the town. He continued to work on the farm in his free time, but with his own space, he was able to keep a safe workspace. He managed to get a job as a vet technician, giving him a better source of income. With this money, he was able to get better supplies for his work. He learned how to preserve flesh and make leather from leftover skin. Bigger subjects became easier to deal with now that he actually had the tools for working with them. His home became a graveyard of sorts, a place to remember the unfortunate victims of humanity. He lived in peace for 2 years, but as he already knew, good things don’t last. A man broke into his house late one night while he was working on a deer skull, holding him at knife point while he threatened him. Rian, strengthened by years of work on the farm, overpowered the man and turned his knife on him. All the rage and hatred he had held over the years came spilling out when the man insulted his work. Rian slit his throat, watching with disinterest as the life faded from his eyes. It was similar to the animals he worked with, but this time, he felt no sympathy, no urge to preserve him. He wanted to tear him apart and put him back together to represent the monster he really was. Rian locked himself away in his room for weeks on end, feigning sickness so he could work on his new project. After 4 weeks of work, Rian took the complete work and hung it in a tree in the surrounding forest where he knew someone would find it. The man was completely unrecognizable. His skin had been removed, dried muscles exposed and decorated with shards of glass. His limbs had been amputated and sewn back on with wire; his wrists ended in stumps, hands relocated to cover his empty eye sockets. His jaw hung low, black tongue flopping uselessly in the tooth empty mouth. His teeth stood out in a crown around his exposed brain, accompanied by shards of glass. His genitals had been burned off, and his gut had been ripped open and emptied, leaving only a dried heart hanging in the empty space. A week later, his work hit the newspapers. People began panicking; there had never been a killer in that town, let alone one that gruesome. Rian reveled in the fame, the power, the fact that he had finally gotten rid of one of the things ruining the world. He grew addicted to the feeling, and started watching people to find his next victim. With the leather he harvested from his last victim, he made a mask roughly resembling a crow. He became obsessed with the idea of plague doctors; he wanted to embody an inhuman doctor, here to cure humanity of its filth. From this sparked his new identity: Kazugra. He was no longer human, he was a vengeful spirit come back from the dead to enact vengeance. His next victim was a pedophile who he managed to drag into the forest. He ended up tied to the trunk of a tree along a hiking trail. He made headlines all month. After his third victim, Rian realized it was too dangerous to stay in the heart of the town. With what he had saved up, he moved to a cabin in the woods nearby. When he would go into town for work and other tasks, he would keep an eye out for future victims. Mangled bodies began to show up more frequently in the trees. People dubbed him “the modern Frankenstein” for his monstrous creations. The surrounding forest became the “Hangman’s forest.” To make matters easier for himself, Rian started learning how to create mixtures of deadly plants to take out his victims. He started a small garden of nightshade and hemlock, favoring those plants for their ability to paralyze his victims. At first, the mixture was too strong, resulting in his victims dying swiftly. Though, with some adjustments, he was able to get the perfect solution, capable of disabling them while leaving them awake. The police were struggling to identify the killer, as Rian was meticulous in his care to leave no clues. The bodies continued to pile up, and news of his work began to spread throughout the U.S. With the leather he had harvested from his victims, he made a new mask. One to represent his true self. During a particularly rough kill one night, a person managed to capture a picture of him with his mask on. The picture spread like wildfire, and he became a controversial subject online. At the age of 24, the police finally caught a trace of the man behind the murders. They found a single strand of red hair crusted to her dried flesh. Immediately, they tracked him down and pinpointed his location. As soon as Rian heard the vehicles outside his home, he fled into the forest. The forest seemed to whisper to him, telling him how to get away. A crow descended from the trees, staring at him with burning orange eyes. The whispers told him to follow it, so he did. The forest grew foggier and darker, until Rian was swallowed into the night. The modern Frankenstein was never found.

#DBD #Dead by Daylight #DBD oc #DBD oc killer #Slasher #Slasher oc #DBD Taxidermist #DBD Rian #DBD Kazugra #The Taxidermist #Rian O’Byrne #Rian “Kazugra” O’Byrne #Kazugra

[centrally-unplanned]

Serial Experiments Lain: A Guide to Proper Mindfucking Procedures

(I finished Lain! I originally wrote here “will jot down some thoughts, maybe I can write a full essay sometime later”, reviewing it now this is absolutely a full essay, so scratch that lets commit)

Serial Experiments Lain is a starring member of the pantheon of 90′s “mindfuck” anime, those shows that supposedly blow the mind with esoteric philosophy and trippy visuals. Current-me has frequently sallied against this notion, particularly the idea that any of these shows (or most any show) are that philosophically dense - the nature of television & film is such that they almost never are, which is normally a good thing. But young-me watched Lain around the same time I watched the original Ghost in the Shell film, and I had that halcyon experience for both: intriguing, but also on the border of incomprehensibility. As such I held little opinion of either of them, not trusting my hazy memories, until I saw them again much later. Ghost in the Shell, by the way, is a terrible, painfully boring film, precisely because it tries to be that philosophy-mindfuck concept. Which can work when you are young and stupid, but once you have read literally anything, anything at all, a single op-ed will do, about “AI and Identity” or the like its ideas are trite and shallow while it has sacrificed characterization, plot, and pacing in pursuit of that failed dream. 

Lain on the other hand is a brilliant show that succeeds at that concept far better than media like GitS ever could precisely by not even trying to be that. The thematic foundation of Lain is actually quite simple; the openness & inter-connectivity of the internet is not just utilitarian but can offer a way of living that is seemingly brimming with unlimited freedom and emancipatory potential, but that promise is found fundamentally to be a hollow (ahem) shell, with reality being not only inescapable but desirably so. Or something like that? I mean maybe. Lain never spends that much time on answers, because those are boring; instead focusing on the actual experience of the titular Lain herself as she navigates these concepts. All of the content it throws out are lateral moves around this core, details to mull over as opposed to attempts to “go deeper”, which makes it not-that-hard to follow once you understand that is what is happening. There is even a scene where the, let’s say “villain”, tries to go full-philosophy on Lain: who is the real her? What is identity anyway? Plays that whole entire hand, and she replies:

Which, given that those themes are absolutely the themes of GitS, made me laugh out loud and yes is 50% of why I am comparing them. I am certainly not saying that Lain doesn’t have philosophical concepts, it clearly does in spades. Stitching those concepts together into a grand thesis, however, is just not the focus. 

What is Lain’s focus is mood, and I have never seen a show use so many varied animation concepts and narrative approaches all towards capturing a singular mood; that of the free-wheeling hacker-for-truth aesthetic of the early internet. It is of course famously filled with glitchy shots of Lain flickering on CRT monitors and horror-shadowy power lines, damn does it have so many shots of power lines. But that is covered ground - instead I want to note how often the narrative approach itself just goes off the walls in service of its goals. Episode 9 is the peak of that approach, where scattered throughout the episode is a fully-fledged documentary that starts with the Roswell incident, which it then admits is fake, nevermind! before pivoting to discourse about Schumann Resonances and the Earth as a decentralized Neural Net and...

Just a screenshot from an anime here folks! Vannevar Bush better have a Danbooru tag 

All of this information is “true” by the way, as in real concepts and thinkers and crackpot ideas...until the end, when suddenly its someone from Tachibana Labs adding Schumann Resonance Integration to the 6th Protocol and wait-a-second that’s the show-canon, Tachibana Labs isn't real. As a ~youth~ you might be foolish enough to try to figure out how say ELF bands might be critical to understanding the plot of Lain, which is a classic “philosophy mindfuck” mistake; its all bullshit, the ideas only matter in the most loose way that does not require understanding them. Yet, this is *exactly* what that early hacker internet felt like; crazy ideas being stitched together from low-pixel edited docu-footage repurposed to utopian futures or secret conspiracies, and by sliding this stream-of-consciousness braindump right into the canon of the show it makes Lain feel like a perfect simulacra of that age. To spend any amount of the runtime of an episode on this and to actually pull it off is queering the madness/genius binary in the hottest way. 

The reason Lain can pull this off is its other source of strength I alluded too - all of these visual elements are in service of a very human story, that of Lain trying to figure out her place in the world. And this arc hits one of my sweet spots for media, what I have called the “multifaceted arc” in the past, where instead of a show having multiple independent arcs for characters it instead has one seemingly-completed arc that proceeds to be refracted, challenged,and altered over the run of a show. I mentioned in my previous Lain essay how the show was using the visual language of exposed skin to communicate Lain’s digital emancipation, becoming Lain of the Wired. In those early episodes that is what is happening, and this process peaks around the halfway point with a confident, powerful Lain. She spends much of episode 6 looking like some variation of this:

Total badass. That confidence and power then proceeds to be abused, manipulated, revealed as a false identity, and then stripped away over the latter half of the show - being Lain of the Wired turns out to be a curse as much as a blessing, and for the very human reasons of the connections to real people she loses through that process. This emotional core does an amazing job of keeping you grounded - in the same episode as that conspiracy documentary, Lain has her first kiss! (Its a bit of a dud, but still). And by the end of the show she is at the apogee of her digital empowerment, and also riddled with despair, loneliness, and in desperate need of help, looking like this:

Note the withdrawn pose and the positioning of Lain backgrounded and way below her friend in the frame, to imply a state of weakness despite her capabilities. That is some classic visual language by the way: no crazy shot effects, no weird narrative devices, just straightforward emotional communication. Lain spends 50% of its runtime going full avant garde, but never (okay, rarely) lets that overwhelm its arc, and threads the needle to make that arc one of the deeper and more moving arcs I've seen in a show.

Serial Experiments Lain is far from perfect, despite all the praise I just put on it; Episode 6 for example has some dumb midichlorian-style “you are trying to explain something no one needs an explanation for” plot, and half of the crazy visual effects are compensating for the fact that its budget was like 10 dollars. But it peaks far exceed its valleys, and I am exceedingly happy to have watched it; I have always struggled to name my “Number 5″ on my top 5 Anime list with a lot of contenders for the slot, but Lain might have just snagged the title.

(Which would make my top 5 list *entirely* composed of anime from the second half of the 90′s, and not due to nostalgia as I only saw the majority of them in the past few years. Certainly a question worth answering, but for another time...)

#serial experiment lain #executive dysfunction strikes again #but even though this essay is a bit unpolished I still like it #essay

[thegreatcorpus]

Leyte Normal University

College of Arts and Sciences

Language and Literature Unit

EVALUATION OF MEDIA CONTENT TRHOUGH LANGUAGE USE

A Concept Paper

Submitted by:

FRNZA MAE G. ARCEGA

JOSHUA D. DAGAMI

MARY JANE LABUTAP

BAEL AE2-1

Submitted to:

MR. ROGELIO TICOY, JR.

Instructor, Language and Media

July 15, 2020

DEFINITION OF TERMS

The term “media linguistics” has been formed based on the combination of two key components “media” and “linguistics”, the subject of this new discipline is the study of language functioning in the sphere of mass communication. In other words, media linguistics deals with overall complex research of a particular social field of language usage. (Luginbühl, 2015)

Language registers refer to the levels of formality are used in different situations and scenarios. It is important to be conscious on how we are going to use language appropriately in presenting our messages, when to use a specific register and in what type of media platform it should be used. Topic, audience, purpose and location should be taken into consideration when choosing a register. According to Nordquist (2019), “there are five existing language registers. It includes frozen/static register, formal register, consultative register, casual register and intimate register.

Language style also known as stylistics, is the study of style used in literary, and verbal language and the effect the writer/speaker wishes to communicate to the reader/hearer. It attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language. It strengthens the contact with the reader and heightens their awareness. (Lamichhane, 2017)

Grammar refers to the structural regulations and rules that govern the construction of phrases, sentences and words in any language. This is because they are extremely important for the communication that is desired. Although, some might argue that correct grammar and spelling does not really matter, especially in advertising, like what Paul Suggett (2010, as mentioned in Sommerfield, 2014) statement “A sentence that is structured beautifully, obeying all the laws, and bylaws, of the English language, is not what advertising is all about. In fact, in advertising you don’t even need to use real words, good sentence structure, and proper punctuation, or obey any of the rules that were drummed into you in school.” Indeed, using grammar seems like an uphill battle, but media content without it is a suicide.

Semiotics, also called semiology, is the study of signs and sign-using behavior. The Swiss Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, one of its founders, defined it as the study of “the life signs within the society”. On the other hand, American Philosopher Charles Sandres Pierce defined sign as “something which stands to somebody for something” and contributed its categorization into three namely: icon, index and symbol. He added that a sign can never have a definite meaning, for the meaning must be continuously qualified. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020)

Pragmatics deals with utterances, by which we will mean specific events, the intentional acts of speakers at times and places, typically involving language. Logic and semantics traditionally deal with properties of types of expressions, and not with properties that differ from token to token, or use to use, or, as we shall say, from utterance to utterance, and vary with the particular properties that differentiate them. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019)

INTRODUCTION

Media is deeply rooted in our lives that it is significant in our personal lives, as well as in business, politics and society. Its importance has grown exponentially. It seems like the world is lifeless without it.

Rapid development of the print and the electronic media, quick growth of virtual communications and the Internet have enormously changed people’s lives, giving stimuli for the development of the whole range of information society theories. (Luginbühl, 2015) It creates an overwhelming feeling which made people to take every information that is served on the table. Oftentimes, it misleads people that is why it is important to critically think and evaluate media content.

Patton (1987) defined evaluation as “a process that critically examines something. It involves collecting and analyzing information which include its activities, characteristics and outcomes. It is done in order to make judgments and to ensure that they are as effective as they can be. It can help us identify media content.

This paper aims to provide criteria that will help media users in evaluating media content of different types of media through language use.

DICUSSION

Media content can be evaluated through representation, audience, institutions, language, ideology, narrative and genre, but we are only going to focus on how language is used in these media types. It is also called as media linguistics.

There are six different types of media: Print Media, Visual Media, Electronic Broadcasting Media, Outdoor Media, Transit Media and Digital Media. Each media type will be evaluated on how language is used, specifically language registers, language style, grammar, semiotics and pragmatics.

PRINT MEDIA

Print media represents the oldest and the most widespread type of mass media published on paper. It includes books, circulars, journals, lithographs, memos, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, and periodicals. (Oxford Reference, 2020)

Evaluating print media content in terms of:

Registers: Papers with an international audience usually use formal register.

Stylistics: It follows formal type of writing. it also uses a hierarchy of information to guide the consumer’s attention towards the most important statement/topic. Claims or statements are supported with evidence either in text or figure. Author’s information is usually detailed to make it easy for prospects to contact them and it holds them accountable for any problems on their published article.

Grammar: In this type of media, correct grammar and spelling should be observed. Based on the study conducted by Appelman & Bolls (2011), grammatical errors can affect the credibility of news stories and the amount of time and effort required to read them. Such errors increases reading difficulty and lower readers’ perception of credibility.

Semiotics: Effective print media design is bold and clear. Fonts should be easy to read and high quality graphics should work together. A few prominent graphics will do a much better job that having numerous elements scattered throughout the page. Contrast is everything. It highlights the most important parts of the message to create some visual appeal. Monotone color palette or tones that are very similar to each other are refrained from using.

Pragmatics: The main function of headlines and titles is to inform the reader briefly about the text that follows. They also signal of the paper’s attitude to the facts reported. Also semantically, the headline can be interpreted due to its literal meaning and inferences that readers reach depending on their cognitive knowledge. In order to demonstrate the meaning in its full efficiency, pragmatic aspects are also helpful in specifying the purpose of the article by making appropriate sense. The writer can use different stylistic devices such as discourse markers and connectors, metaphors, rhetorical questions, and emotive words to facilitate the interpretation of the utterances and attract readers’ attention. (Ismail, 2016)

VISUAL MEDIA

Visual Media as defined by the International Visual Literacy Association is ‘a group of vision competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences. (Welsh & Wright, 2010) In addition to this, it is as a set of competencies that ‘enable a visually literate person to discriminate and interpret the visual actions, objects, and/or creative use of these competencies, we are able to communicate with others. (Debes, 1969) it includes images, paintings, videos and infographics.

Evaluating visual media content in terms of:

Registers: Papers with an international audience usually use formal or casual register to attract a wider scope of audience. Lasquite (n.d.) stated, that visual communication is a key component in visual content marketing. Every marketer understands the value of sending the right message to consumers.

Stylistics: Content of this type of media is not going to be plain and boring if they are full of interesting characters and places, if they are connected to themes like good vs. evil etc. and if they have engaging prose that the audience can appreciate.

Grammar: Bradley (2010) said that design elements are like letters and words. When we add design principles and apply them to our elements, our words, we form a visual grammar. As we learn to use both we enable ourselves to communicate visually. In life we can communicate through the spoken word or through gestures. In design we’re bound by a visual language. Even the words on the page are made up of characters of type which are abstract shapes. Written language itself is a visual representation of spoken language. Bradley also stated that the  visual grammar, is the context within which we study design principles. When we learn to use girds or better understand typography or color we are doing so in order to communicate more effectively with our audience. The principles are the trees. Visual grammar is the forest.

Semiotics: Parsa (n.d.) stated that in visual semiotics iconic signs look like its object. They are more ‘motivated’ signs. The indexical signs draw attention to the thing to which it refers. The symbol signs, - e.g. a red rose is a symbol of ‘passion’ in Valentine’s Day and means ‘love’– are unmotivated or arbitrary. In a different culture this color of flower may not signify ‘passion’ or ‘love’. Also, any information, if not directly provided, is gained via a process of interpretation. Texts are not always produced recognizable codes in a communicative process. Usage of symbolic narratives, metaphors and metonymy may restrain the comprehension and signification of the text. In other words, in the exploration of the connotations and the associations, one requires to “make interpretations”. It also includes the material used, camera angles and color filters.

Pragmatics: David Lodge, writing in the Paradise News, says that pragmatics gives humans "a fuller, deeper, and generally more reasonable account of human language behavior." Without pragmatics, there is often no understanding of what language actually means, or what a person truly means when she is speaking. The context—the social signs, the image, body language, and tone of voice (the pragmatics)—is what makes utterances clear or unclear to the speaker and her listeners.

ELECTRONIC BROADCASTING MEDIA

Electronic media is the media that one can share on any electronic device for the audiences viewing, internet to transmit facts, skills, understanding, knowledge and appreciation with the aims of to attract general publics in general and marketers in particular. Popular examples of electronic media are television and radio. (Wikipedia, 2020)

Evaluating electronic broadcasting media content in terms of:

Registers: Electronic broadcasting media sometimes use formal register because less rigid but still constrained, where communication is expected to be respectful, uninterrupted, and restrained. Slang is never used and contractions are rare. However, it also uses consultative register. often in conversation when they are speaking with someone who has specialized knowledge or who is offering advice

Stylistics: Electronic broadcasting media is combined with a general negative view against excessive foul language has tempered electronic broadcasting into a much more “family friendly” media form. They use electromechanical energy or electronics for public to access the content. Main resources of electronic media are CD-ROM, online content, slide presentations, audio recordings, video recordings and multimedia presentations. Emotional appeal and repetition is highly observed.

Grammar: Electronic broadcasting media encompasses any form of media that is primarily consumed through listening. The grammars that they used in conveying the information to the audience are appealing and interested in the ears and eyes of the viewer.

Semiotics: Electronic broadcasting media uses connotation since they are designed to generate culturally-significant meanings. Iconic sign is usually used in advertisements of this media type. Advertisers do this, not only through repetition, but also through the combining of symbols, bringing words, images and music together into one meaningful and coherent composition.

Pragmatics: Its language contains plural codes, which interact to create new meanings or messages. Electronic broadcasting media uses the language without any opinion to the audience and convey the information just like they are interacting to the audience.

OUTDOOR MEDIA

Outdoor media is typically consisting of any advertising seen outside of the home, and is primarily grouped into a few specific categories such Billboards, posters and transit to name a few. Outdoor advertisements are the best medium to inform the moving population. Once an advertisement board is installed at a place, it usually remains there for a fairly longer period. What is best in outdoor media is that it can be displayed at a place where best impact can be created. (Nguyen, 2020)

Evaluating outdoor media content in terms of:

Registers: It uses casual register because it is probably use when you consider how you talk with other people, often in a group setting—marketers to be specific. Use of slang, contractions, and vernacular grammar is all common in Outdoor media. Also, Outdoor media uses the static register wherein it contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices.

Stylistics: Outdoor media often uses public notices in advertising to different locations. It also uses figurative languages to make their advertisement more reliable and catchier to the commuters or even to the tourists. Outdoor media uses visual techniques to make the viewers more attentive and languages are more powerful in visualizing their ads for the commuters and tourists to have a desirable view.

Grammar: Just like any advertising and marketing strategy, outdoor advertising requires research and preparation so that their use of grammar may not be mistaken because it can affect their viewer’s insight about their advertisement.

Semiotics: When it comes to branding and advertising, semiotics can provide some amazing insights. In some cases, the sign can be an exact representation of the thing being signified, while in other cases, it may be a symbol associated with it. In outdoor media, they use image to visualize the product being sold. They also use word to convey a message with the same effectiveness as an entire picture. It uses the Rule of Thirds and The Golden Mean.

Pragmatics: Outdoor media uses words and images to advertise their products and the words and pictures that they are using, connects to the understanding of the people. The words and images they used are more attractive, catchy and have a bigger size for their viewers to be more interested in their advertisement.

TRANSIT MEDIA

Transit media refers to advertising placed in, on, or around modes of public transportation: buses, subways, and taxis, as well as at bus, train, and subway stations. Transit media can be a great way to reach a really diverse audience: families traveling to daycares, professionals heading to work, tourists navigating a new town, or even students making their way to a local coffee shop. (Hendricks, 2020)

Evaluating transit media content in terms of:

Registers: Conversational register is often used in this type of media because of its target audience.

Stylistics: Placing a message outside targets a larger audience and is recognized by three quarters of passing individuals. It serves as a last minute reminder or as impulse motivator at pricely a time when real and potential consumers are on the move. Exterior bus posters, displayed on the front, back, and sides of the vehicle, offer advertisers high exposure, particularly in largeurban areas. There are commuters and tourists, or people in cabs, rental cars, and on foot who can see the rolling billboard go by. According to "The Complete Guide to Creative Out-Of-Home Media Forms," bus exteriors are available in 80 to 85 percent of the top 100 markets in the United States on more than 36,500 buses. The bus exteriors provide "mass audience exposures" that are repeated and reinforced as they follow the same routes every day. The more innovative, intriguing and humorous it is, the better.

Grammar: The message should be brief consisting of at least 3-5 words.

Semiotics: It also helps that nearly all transit ads are available at eye level with large graphics and text. The message should be legible. Colors are used to contrast each other. It builds a recognizable format or layout that catches the briefest eyes contact.

Pragmatics: Every transit agency that advertises has guidelines dealing with "objectionable" material. The problem comes in defining what might fall into that category. Seventy percent of the respondents indicated that they had formal, written guidelines addressing ad content. The restrictions differ throughout the transit industry, but generally include some variation of the following prohibited content: illegal, indecent, or immoral ads; political, alcohol, or tobacco ads; libelous, obscene, or profane ads; ads that ridicule individuals or groups of people; advocacy of or opposition to a religion, denomination, tenet, or belief; violent, criminal, or anti-social behavior; false, misleading, or deceptive ads; adult materials and services; explicit sexual material; pornography or businesses that traffic in pornography; and advertising that appears as graffiti, gang signs, or symbols.

DIGITAL MEDIA

Digital media are any media that are encoded in machine-readable formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified and preserved on digital electronics devices. Examples of digital media include software, digital images, digital video, video games, web pages and websites, social media, digital data and databases, digital audio such as MP3, electronic documents and electronic books. (Richard, 2013 as mentioned in Wikepedia, 2020).

Evaluating digital media content in terms of:

Registers: It uses casual register or consultative register because it is probably use when you consider how you talk with other people, often in a group setting—marketers to be specific.

Stylistics: User-generated content raises issues of privacy, credibility, civility and compensation for cultural, intellectual and artistic contributions. The spread of digital media, and the wide range of literacy and communications skills necessary to use it effectively, have deepened the digital divide between those who have access to digital media and those who don't. Each digital media network has its own intended purpose and audience. Understanding this and matching your content and tone to the proper social media outlet is imperative for success..

Grammar: Gumpart & Cathcart examined how new media develop their own grammars, the way individual acquire media literacy, and the effect of media literacy on ways people relate to the world and each other. It concludes that people develop different states of media consciousness based upon the… media grammars, and that particular consciousness produce media gaps which separate people.

Semiotics: When it comes to graphics, it uses color psychology. Photos and videos can boost your social media strategy. Tweets that feature images earn 150 percent more retweets are favorited 89 percent more and lead to 18 percent more clicks. Typing in all capital letters is visually alarming, they also communicate that you’re upset (and yelling) about something. It should be avoided. When used correctly, hashtags will increase your online visibility and followers. When used in excess, it looks spammy and becomes ineffective.

Pragmatics: Its language contains speech acts like constatives (assertive, concessives, suggestive, suppositive, responsive), directives (request, question & requirement), expressives (thank, accept, reject, negative opinion & positive opinion) and attachments (link, code & log).

CONCLUSION

Media has evolved rapidly over the last couple of centuries. These changes brought a lot of convenience in accessing different types of information, from typical newspapers to our smartphones. It provided an ocean of information these days, but “we need to be critical enough not to drown in hoaxes and misinformation.” Hence, it is our duty to be responsible consumers of information, regardless of media type, and to examine every small detail we see and hear on the media. Indeed, “media is a blessing for humans as it plays a vital role in our personal lives and many other walks of our lives.” It lies upon us who decide whether “media is a blessing or a curse.”

REFERENCES:

Gray, J. (2008). How to move into moving media: Transit Media. Journal of Marketing. Retrieved from https://journals.co.za/content/mfsa1/2008/04/EJC74350

Gumpert, G. & Cathcart, R. (2009). Media grammars, generations, and media gaps. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/15295038509360059

Appelman, A. & Bolls, p. (2011). Article Recall, Credibility Lower with Grammar Errors. Newspaper Research Journal. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/073953291103200205

Herrmann, E. (2015). Language Register: What is it and why does it matter in education? Retrieved from https://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/language-register-what-is-it-and-why-does-it-matter/education

Nordquist, R. (2019). What is Register in Linguistics? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/register-language-style-1692038

Eilders,C. (2016). Print Media. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/9781118541555.wbiepc193#accessDenialLayout

Wikipedia (2020). Digital Media. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/digital_media

Wikipedia (2020). Electronic Media. Retrieved fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_media

Oaks, D. (2011). Rethinking the role of grammar in advertising and marketing curriculum. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/073953291103200205?journalCode=nrja#:~:text=It%20was%20observed%20that%20grammar,retention%20and%20low%20perceived%20credibility.

Nguyen, G. (2020). Types of Outdoor Media. Retrieved from https://penji.co/types-of-outdoor-advertising/

Oxford Reference (2020). Print media. Retrieved from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100346392

Lewis, J. (2020). Semiotics in Advertising. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-semiotics-advertising-38593.html#:~:text=Semiotics%20are%20frequently%20used%20in,symbol%20that%20signifies%20something%20else.

Encyclopaedia Britannica (2020). Semiotics. Retrieved from https://encyclopaediabritannica./semiotics

Authors:

Frenza Mae G. Arcega

Joshua D. Dagami

Mary Jane Labutap

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Sagebrush:  Exploring a Cult Compound

Sagebrush

PC – Redact Games – 2018

           Narratively driven exploration games, or ‘walking simulators’ as some corners of the internet will call them, are a fairly subjective branch of the classic Adventure Game genre. There’s a larger focus on the story being told, usually chopping out things like game mechanics and NPCs to focus entirely on guiding players through the story via notes, flashbacks, or other storytelling devices.  In other words, if a game like Super Mario Bros. is like a carnival shooting gallery, this is like the carnival dark ride; an on rails experience that only changes slightly (if at all) on repeat rides.

           Sagebrush is one such game, focusing on a mysterious player character exploring the abandoned “Black Sage Ranch”; a former cult compound based out of Arizona that recruited a number of people looking for meaning in their lives. Throughout the game you’ll explore the dirty, rotting remains of a compound looking for clues as to who was living here, what happened in the final days of the cult, and of course why you’re there in the first place.

                         Creepy colors lend to the creepy atmosphere

           Over the course of the game, you’ll find notes and tape recorders to learn more about the history and people who lived here; but more importantly they’ll let you know whether or not you’re in the right place.  

           Sagebrush focuses heavily on realism and grounded logic in order to immerse the player and make later twists in the game more shocking (which won’t be spoiled here).  So of course, this means no magic map marker but also that you need a light source to read or examine most objects in the dark.  For the most part, this works decently enough with an ambient soundtrack only ever occasionally interrupted by a musical sting or sound effect. Crickets chirping in the evening, wooden floors creaking and clunking beneath your feet, and your own sighs and breathing create a world that feels real, but empty.  

               Day to Night transitions help lend a bit of realism to the setting

           Adding to this, the notes are written from the perspective of various cultists.  These notes act as worldbuilding, but also point you in the direction for finding the next bit of major narrative; which is usually delivered through an audio recording.  

           Through these notes, you’ll learn secrets like the combination to the compound’s rectory, and where to find the items you’ll need to full explore Black Sage Ranch; but you’ll also discover the answer to questions you’ll likely have while exploring.  Questions like “why is there a bunch of cereal locked up in the farm shed” and “Whose pregnancy test is sticking out of the toilet?”

           The audio logs function similarly, providing you details while also pointing you to the next clue; but they also act as checkpoints.  Listening to an audio log locks you into a black and white version of whatever room you’re in, and saves your game after you’ve finished listening.  They’re less frequent than the notes, 12 audio logs in total are scattered throughout the ranch, but it’s clear that there was a lot of care put into the messages these logs delivered.

           That’s why it’s a shame I have to admit of the two, I preferred the notes. The audio logs often felt intrusive, although an end game spoiler explains that fairly decently, and all but a few of them are from the same point of view; which is delivered by someone with a very flat line delivery.  Not all of them were terrible, but there were at least three or four tapes where the director should’ve definitely asked for a different take.  

           Aside from the story though, the other main draw of this game and many others like it is the environment you’re exploring.  Black Sage Ranch is a large, empty, and menacing place that does an excellent job of building tension through looks alone.  From the rusty trailers everyone (except of course the cult leader) lives in, to the bloodstained exterior of the cleansing room, the ranch is painted in this sort of realistic horror; the kind where being there is less ‘creepy’ and more ‘uncomfortable’.

           The game uses pseudo-playstation graphics to give the game a retro vibe, but it doesn’t usually diminish from the surroundings.  Objects, textures, and videos in game might be a little muddy as a result, but you’ll never have any trouble knowing what’s what or what you’re supposed to be looking at, which means you’ll probably also not have any trouble with any of the games two puzzles.

           In most games of this type, the walking simulator variety, there’s usually very little else outside of walking and listening.  Games like Gone Home and Stanley Parable are known for making this sort of game more mainstream, and had very minimal mechanics attached to them; but in Sagebrush you’ll need to solve a number of small puzzles

           These puzzles all work the same, except for one; find the object you need to advance, then use said object.  So, for instance, you need to find a generator key in the first area to be able to use the light switches in the community building. You find the key, find the generator, then turn on the generator and the puzzle is done.  It never gets more advanced than this, and the only other puzzle involves simply finding the padlock combination on two different locks.  

           I don’t begrudge the devs for recycling a basic puzzle structure, I want to make that perfectly clear.  Game design is hard, and puzzle design is even harder, but after seeing the first few puzzles in the game it felt less like puzzles and more like chores before the game would let me have more story.  I don’t see a chained-up door and think “Oh, I wonder what I’ll use to get that open” or “Wow, I wonder what could possibly be in there”, I end up thinking “Oh, great.  I wonder when I’ll be allowed to go in there”.

                           Not helping is the fact most of the items are keys

           Even if you stumble on a puzzle or two though, it’s a very short game.  I beat the entire game in around an hour and a half; and most of that time was spent listening to audio logs.   It’s not the best narratively driven adventure you’ll play this year, and it’s not even the best from the year it was released, but at the very least it’s a fun distraction for an hour or two when you’ve got nothing better going on.  You can find copies on Steam and Itch.io, and as of writing this you can also get it as part of itch.io ‘s $5 game bundle; which I’d recommend since you get over a thousand other games and because the money will go towards a cause that really needs it at the moment.  

 Overall: 6/10

Sound: 8/10

Graphics: 7/10

Memorable Moments:  Finding the audio log in the chapel, and the cutscene that occurs during it

#First Post #Sagebrush #IndieGame #6/10 #PS1 graphics #itchio #review #wiptw #Toomanykeys #Atmospheric #cult #cult game #trauma

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Roseburg

Okay, Roseburg. It’s the capital of the southern Oregon timber industry, which fell hard with the end of harvesting on federal lands in the early ‘90s.

It’s got a population of 20,000, in a town center at a bend in the river and several residential neighborhoods, with more modern retail north of the city center around I-5. Several thousand more live in outlying areas, and Roseburg is seat of Douglas County stretching to the coast counting 110,000 population in total.

The airport offers no scheduled passenger service. Flights to major mountain west cities are available 83 miles to the north or 90 to the south; equivalent service is available 15 miles from Bend.

The only college in the area is a community college.

The town center, oriented around a “couplet” (parallel one-way streets) for a Main Street in Oregon tradition, has government buildings and a roughly five square block downtown. The downtown is early-20th century in character, solid frontages of storefronts with 1-2 stories of residential above, with churches, banks, and apartment buildings on the periphery.

The downtown is not pedestrianized, but has been designed for cars to park on the periphery. One block of storefronts is block-through, with entrances on each of two opposing sides. Many storefronts are empty. Several bars and restaurants are active, with a few (plus a co-working space) that look to have opened recently. Other stores remain looking a little out-of-time, and several storefronts have been occupied by nonprofits, street-level offices, or enterprises that look to create low returns while occupying high spatial volume. A gym occupies one sizeable space, two large markets stand empty. Despite this emptiness, only the markets look truly dilapidated; others have intact windows and clean interiors and reasonably fresh paint and facades. Scattered throughout are several civic monuments and monumental-looking fraternal lodges.

Sloping away from this downtown, the town center contains more stores, warehouses, restaurants, and bars. On the I-5 corridor, several hotels and travel-oriented businesses serve the freeway, mostly north of the town center.

- - -

So, in some ways this is kind of what I’d been expecting to like - a resource extraction town for a collapsed industry, leaving a fully built-out but intact infrastructure ripe for use. With poor flight connections to finance centers and a local economy still tapering off as the legacy population drifts away, an obvious hope is to market the small-town experience to internet workers or others who generate resources in a way that doesn’t require an existing resource base in physical proximity, while in the interim, the courthouse, the remaining private-lands timber industry, and the highway services support a basic level of services.

The maintained facades, the nonprofit offices occupying storefronts, and the general effort to keep downtown looking active suggest a level of coordination by local elites in support of the city’s viability.

- - -

And it’s… Cascadia. It’s green but at the same time younger than the east coast or rust belt - the wilderness hasn’t been carved into as much, the people not guarded, exhibit the good down-home parts of “country” without much “narrow-minded bumpkin”.

Many stores and bars have signs at the doors saying to take hoodies off, no backpacks, no tweekers, this site recorded on camera. There are at many points one to three people who are obviously homeless or on drugs in view. A Greyhound bus stopped in front of one dilapidated market and disgorged 7 vagrant-looking people. Every day the city police log lists like 6 arrests. On sites where these mugshots are compiled and shared around you see these are usually about heroin, meth, thefts to buy heroin or meth, or parole violations by people with convictions about heroin or meth. Even among apparently functional people working behind counters and bars, there are more facial scabs than you expect.

There is, frankly, an absurd level of pro-military sentiment. Signs in all sorts of windows, military discounts everywhere, banners from some past event benefiting some charity for military families. A veteranarian’s office is painted with the American flag, silhouettes of dogs and soldiers saluting or wearing helmets. I wondered if there had been a military base closed nearby because even after a week traveling through much more “red”-than-Portland country I had seen more of that stuff but nothing near that level. I never saw any murdered-out trucks or Punisher skulls or Black Rifle Coffee or 5.11 or any other military-adjacent aesthetic, though. Wearing Chinese-replica BDU pants, I was sporting more of a tactical look than anyone I saw.

Douglas County gave 64% of its vote to Trump in 2016.

- - -

The clear signs of people coming together to keep downtown appealing, all the monuments, the particular aesthetic of the places catering to a downtown crowd (and of that crowd itself), the legacy of what you’d expect from timber barons and their clerks… I was like “oh I get this, there’s a strong country-club Republican strain.”

Knowing that the region’s forest workers were pretty radical (that’s an important thing about Oregon, its normative rural experience isn’t of yeoman farmers but forest workers) I was wondering when I was going to get a sign of that, eventually I realized the yay-military stuff was the expression of class solidarity I was looking for.

Knowing both of those I turned to the addicts and fuckups and was like “ohh, you’re the third player in this drama, the unvirtuous poor that the virtuous poor and white collar types can bond over identifying against”.

A good deal of the nonprofits taking up space downtown seem to be the prison-industrial-complex type, the therapy or treatment you get sentenced to, designed to employ the first group turning the third into the second.

- - -

Seeing Roseburg makes some things about Portland make sense. That, say, when timber collapsed some of the “worker” types or their kids moved to, or stayed in Portland and brought the ethic to food service.

Traditional Oregon is weirdly exclusive, had an anti-Californian sentiment in particular but I’ve heard stores from Washingtonians about getting their cars pelted with rocks in the 80s, the state’s most famous statement of boosterism included a direct request not to move here.

There’s very much a sense that Portland has become swollen with non-Oregonians who seek to impose themselves on traditional, rural, Oregon, I could see a distaste towards any idea of making Roseburg more Portlandish.  

When I walked in to look at the co-working space (it’s really just a period office building with individual offices) I overheard a guy saying that he could accept if they just made up a list of the guns it was okay to buy…

And the thing about a strong local elite invested in the future of your town is the town is under the control of a strong local elite with an interest in its future, presumably wanting to keep or develop it as its own playground.

At the same time, whoever owns all those buildings would very much like to see them filled at competitive rates  I’m sure, and property owners are the backbone of any local elite. (I do not know the in-town landholders’ relationship to the woodland barons.)

- - -

So. Promising. It’s a charming Portland-in-miniature, houses are still available in the $100s and apartments at $500/br/mo. Between empty and underused space there’s maybe 10 years of solid expansion before all the slack has been taken up, and by all appearances the local system would love to see it happen and has no better pitch than quality-of-life-experience, being what Portland was in the 90s.

(Even the class system isn’t terribly off, a lot of the “Portlandia” years were about importing a middle class to fit between the old money in the West Hills and the retreating border of “Felony Flats” across the river to the east.)

That said it’s not abandoned just waiting for my guiding hand, there are preexisting power structures and culture to accommodate or challenge. And if undermining the local culture is the last thing I want - it’s what appeals to me, and the loss of which I’m mourning in Portland – I’m already thinking “okay that’s honestly too Republican, but that’s the only way to end up with a tolerable culture after it floods with creatives so hey”.

This is assuming it does take off, which I honestly think is a good assumption, as the big west coast cities fill up and cascade down (in the interim, look at Olympia, Visalia, Sacramento, Eugene, and Fresno) but isn’t inevitable. Oregon environmental laws and declining influence of Republican state legislators could further undermine the rural economy. Things could just keep declining past the point of being able to keep up appearances - the VA hospital just closed its emergency room, and there are two more in the area but the reasoning was the difficulty of recruiting and maintaining specialized staff, and that’s a bad sign.

Maybe I’m just psyched to see an authentically Cascadian town again and I should check out some others before getting swept away, in Oregon alone I’m still virgin on Albany, McMinnville, Forest Grove, and Coos Bay.

Still, I dunno. Might be a site for a good life.

#no I have like a lot to tell you