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sunburnacoustic · 1 year

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HI MUSE ASKS

2, 11, 14, 32, 36 (I love this question), 45, 51, 59!!

sorry it’s a lot but I’m also not sorry

Hi hi hi @goosetown5! Thanks so much the ask 😊Don't be sorry at all, I'm so pleased to chat to you about Muse!

2. What's a Muse song that sounds better live than in the studio?

Without a doubt, Verona, that's the first song that comes to my mind! I had the pleasure of seeing it live, it's a literal religious experience. Matt lost in the sauce, eyes closed, playing guitar on the verses. My gig had a really good crowd too, so in my mind, I'll always remember Verona now with the chorus of fans singing, "I neeeeed you sooo" in a slight French accent, the reverb around the stadium on Matt's guitar and just how much bigger the song sounds live: you can feel the drums under your skin, in your chest, in your bones. Confetti blasted out into the air just after Matt belts the chorus, blue light lights up the stadium, hands are in the air, ugh. Beautiful. It's an experience just listening to the song in normal everyday life can't recreate. It's a great song otherwise, lyrically it's my favourite on the album, but holy shit you can't return to the studio version after the experience of seeing it live :) I need to experience this song again!

Eyes closed, just lost in the sauce guitar line.

EDIT: My pictures don't half do this moment justice, so enjoy these pics from @prttyinpvnk!

Pretty special, eh?

11. Favourite song that's never been played live?

Falling Away With You. I love that song so much, the way it transitions between the verses and the choruses, such agitation on that chorus, the change from a major -> minor feel, the synths, the lyrics; oh, rip my heart out! I'll never understand why Muse have never played it live. I guess, technically the did almost play it... that one time at an iHeart Radio gig or festival or something in 2018 that Matt began playing its intro on the acoustic guitar and then went "nah, just kidding" and began playing Something Human. Matt why would you toy with our hearts like that </3 They've teased it a few times before.

Map Of Your Head is another. Muse can write such addictive pop songs! (I would also want to say Falling With The Crowd because that's an old one from one of those demos that we have no live footage/audio of, but it was supposedly played regularly in 1997. It's quite fully formed for a song of that era, it's a proper song with verse-chorus-bridge-outro, and I think it's a tune. The problem is, it wasn't played at the one and only 1997 gig we have audio of*, Plymouth's Soundwaves Festival, that was taped by a friend of Muse's off a radio live broadcast locally in Plymouth. And there are no known setlists on which it appears, so has it ever been played live? Who knows.)

*Update, nevermind I found out we have a tiny clip of video footage by someone who saw Muse at a different gig in 1997! It's 50 seconds long, the videotaper seems to have been keener on recording Dom, and it's of the song Boredom. No mention of Falling With The Crowd on the set though. Still, what a treat, it's from so long ago, Matt wasn't nearly the performer he would shortly become. I'll make a different post about that though, so that I actually answer your ask here!

14. Favourite live riff/jam/intro/outro?

I love this question because I've been thinking about it recently! 😊

The improvised, extended Jimmy Jam riff at Wembley before Time Is Running Out. What annoyed me for years is that they split up the clip on the Muse Youtube in ~2015 to separately have the Jimmy Jam riff as one video and TIRO as another, and they fade Jimmy Jam out and that got stuck in my head without the ending. I should make a proper edit of it from HAARP because that jam is my jam, I love it!

Also, how it ends is so cool:

A second favourite is the outro to Assassin played at the Mayan Theatre in 2015 (Theater?), it's so fuzzy it's so filthy, it's so heavy I could listen to it all day. Drones was a good era for Muse's slow-heavy/chugging stuff that The Handler kicked off. I don't know the name of this riff, but it's so good.

And I must mention the riff played during the French 1999 Olaive interview, where the interviewers asked Matt questions and he had to reply by largely playing his guitar, an acoustic, and it was so beautiful despite Matt being really young and nervous, that one of the interviewers told him at the end of the interview that there was magic in his guitar (how poetic the French were, but he's right!). I'm not cheating on this question though, it is a legitimate intro because they brought it back years later and opened Unintended at Wembley with this piece, but transposed higher. It's a classical guitar etude by Cuban composer Leo Brouwer.

(And of course, some classics - Helsinki/Glasgow jam -> bringing bagpipes to a stadium rock gig and then playing Muse fuzzy bluesy hard rock under it is something I admire so fucking much)

32. Have you ever followed Matt's advice to not give a fuck if people think you're a pretentious wanker?

Yes, definitely, and the realisation came for me more from an off-stage moment rather than one on stage, because I guess in some ways you personally can write off on-stage ambition and personas as just something that's easier to do on stage, a place for theatre, but the fact that Matt just lives his life without shame, without feeling self-conscious, without giving a fuck what anyone else may think— I'm learning that from him, and it significantly came from this moment back in 2014:

He's out there living his best life, unbothered. He's knows not to care what anyone else thinks of him (and my respect for him just skyrocketed after this). That made it click for me, just don't give a fuck, don't care if anyone thinks you're a pretentious wanker, cut all the hangups in life—don't be afraid to be yourself! I've kept that in mind since 😊

36. Favourite song to sing along to.

Hm, I suppose it depends on the setting! In a stadium, hanging onto people, bouncing around, headbanging, screaming together "No one's gonna take me alive..." is a life-affirming experience!

Otherwise at home, on your own, a really satisfying vocal part to sing... I'd say a lot of Matt's falsetto bits are so much fun to try and do because you can lose your head and turn into an absolute diva for 20 seconds, I highly recommend trying it with no shame (refer to Q. 32!) And have I tried Micro Cuts out loud? Yeah, while fearing for my life I have lmao. Don't need neighbours calling the paramedics on me! Supermassive Black Hole is fun to try and sing along to (multiple parts). I Belong To You is nice. Showbiz is fun. Undisclosed Desires is another, Screenager too. Dead Inside is so good to sing along to! (and we haven't even got into singing riffs live, something Matt noted Muse fans do a lot live :D)

You're so right, I love this question too! 😊 (Side fun fact, a singer friend of mine told me that Time Is Running Out sung properly is actually quite technically difficulut— it's an acceptable Grade 5 piece to perform on Trinity College vocal exams (the rockschool ones))

45. Tell me a little-known fact about Muse

Oh, yes please! (not the song :P) I've been hoping someone would ask this one :)

Here's one I've decided on at random: Muse played a gig away in North Devon on Matt's 17th birthday. Someone found a poster for the gig years later in like 2008, look at how Muse sometimes stylised their name—quite psychedelic! This was on 9 June 1995, in Torrington.

51. Dom - bleach blond era, 90s slacker-band, wraparound shades era, surfer dude era, Drones black hair era, 2022 'pornstache' baby blue hair era, or 2006 aviators era?

Do you know what, I'm partial to aviators Dom. I'm so fucking partial to aviators Dom. But I think we all know which picture from Dom's Instagram I had in mind when I typed up "surfer dude-era Dom", don't we?

59. Favourite Muse accessory? (Matt's OOS era thick necklace, the guitar-pick necklace, any rings, etc.)

Very partial to the pick-necklace! Independently of Matt, I'd been doing it myself for years, so I was delighted to find that Matt had a pick necklace phase too (except mine is very DIY: it's a pick held together to a chain with paperclips lmao. I haven't lost the pick in 7 years so clearly it works... happy to show pictures of it if you like!)

Matt's 2006-era braces are a top notch accessory too, that was a really good look! I picked up a fondness of scarves from him too, which was also mostly BHAR-era photoshoots as well. Glitter in Matt's hair, A+ accessory; love it.

That time someone stuck a star on Matt's forehead

And of course, Matt's sunglasses. I wouldn't be the "Matt wearing his sunglasses on his head like my mum" blog if I didn't mention that.

(^3 pairs! of sunglasses!)

(This got quite Matt-heavy, didn't it? I love Dom's ever-expanding shades of trousers too! Orange is the latest one the WOTP tour has blessed us with :) Not really an accessory though, is it? Otherwise I'd be able to openly drool over Matt's cool jackets.)

#this was fun!#asks #muse asks #it's (not) too much to ask #niche muse asks #muse nitty gritties asks #muse band #musers #muse #long post #but utterly fun to do :)#hey thanks for this! 😊

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sleepingpatterns · 4 years

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“Should I use InDesign to lay out my books?” - A Passionate Guide

Ok, if you are like me, you recently stumbled upon @armoredsuperheavy‘s brilliant blog about bookbinding and fanfiction, and now you are excited to throw yourself head-first into bookbinding.

This also means that you are about to invest a fair amount of time into figuring out how exactly to lay out books. What you end up getting comfortable with will most likely be what you end up using long term, so it is worthwhile giving it some thought. The question really comes down to this: who's name will you be cursing for the foreseeable future? Adobe? Or Microsoft?

Full disclosure: I only started using InDesign because I was forced to. I worked as an editor at a newspaper, and that was what we used. The beginning was hell. I won’t sugar coat it, it sucks. In the end it was worth it. Once you figure it out, InDesign’s potential far outstrips Microsoft Word (in my opinion).

That encouragement means very little when you open this treacherous program for the first time and see THIS:

“What?! I will literally give you $100 if you guess what all the buttons on the left are for. How the fuck do I make the margins disappear!?”

So, if using InDesign means figuring out what at least one third of the tools on the left are for, lets talk pros and cons.

Let’s get the cons out of the way.

It is expensive. Adobe is not fucking around. This puppy costs 20 bucks a month (Canadian) to RENT. If this is out of your price range, do you still have options? Yes. Do they range in legality? Also yes. I think I could potentially get in trouble for telling you to find your friendly neighborhood torrenting site and steal this software. I will say, outright, that no one should steal software ever. Got it? I would be very upset if someone were to message me for specifics. As you naturally wish to be law-abiding, there is also the quasi-legal option of repeating the 14-day free trial. My friend works at a professional print studio in Russia, and this is the tactic they use: every 14 days they uninstall all of the software from all of the computers, and reinstall it with a new trial. Every 14 days! At a professional operation! My friend hates working there.

It is not initially intuitive. I’ve covered this, but it bears repeating because it is a serious hurdle. Keep in mind, that with time, InDesign becomes more helpful than other software. Now when I use Word I find myself reaching for keyboard shortcuts automatically, and feeling bereft at the lack of my favorite tools. Nonetheless, expect a time commitment up front learning how to harness this glorious and confusing computer program.

It can run kinda slowly, depending on your computer. Up until two months ago, I had the world’s most precarious laptop. I bought it for $200 in 2015. It once took half an hour to restart. Inexplicably, when it got stressed, it would switch to Spanish. It was literally and figuratively falling apart. And yet, it ran InDesign. Granted, it worked slowly. If I asked it to process too many images at once it would panic (again with the Spanish), but for the most part, it worked. If you have a slow computer and are patient, then InDesign will probably work fine on your computer. If you are not willing to suffer, stick to Word.

You will also need Photoshop (sometimes). Part of what makes InDesign glorious is that it is professional software that is designed specifically to work with print and anything text-heavy. I love that about it. It even manages to do some handy things with images! But, inevitably, you will need to learn some Photoshop to punch up your graphics. I have, admittedly, only learned the bare minimum Photoshop in order to feed my InDesign addiction. It was a pain in the butt. For example, inexplicably, Adobe has not standardized keyboard shortcuts across the suite. As with InDesign, now that I’ve learned the tricks, I adore it. But you should go into this knowing that with Adobe, the fun never ends.

Printing signatures is the WORST. Adobe, please explain to me, in front of God and everyone, why the hell you would make this software specifically for laying out books etc. and not include a method of printing signatures?! I’m livid. This is absolutely where Word wins the day. It is almost worth using Word just to print the signatures so nicely and easily. I’m not kidding. Me—a person who has used InDesign professionally—almost wanted to switch software entirely just because of this. Hands down, InDesign’s biggest goof. Despite this crime against bookbinders everywhere, you have options. You can export your design to a PDF and literally print each signature separately (I am fucking livid) or you can complain enough to your friends that they offer to buy you a lovely program called BookletCreator for your birthday. It costs $20 bucks USD and it was worth every penny. However, Adobe, FOR THE AMOUNT THAT YOU CHARGE FOR YOUR PROGRAM, I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PURCHASE ANY ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE IN ORDER TO PRINT MY BOOK. Did I mention that I am livid?!

But InDesign must be worth something, right?! Otherwise why would I be writing a long post encouraging people to use it? Let’s talk pros:

The horsepower on this baby will blow your mind. Forget what I just said about printing signatures; imagine using software that was literally made for this. You wanna do a thing? InDesign has got you. Are you a perfectionist? This software was designed by people as pedantic and obsessive as yourself. It gets you. Dream it, google how to do it, and InDesign will deliver. This is really the main reason to use InDesign; it is the professional standard for a reason.

There are so SO many resources available to help you learn. Almost everything I’ve learned about InDesign I learned from Google or YouTube. Honestly, if you have a question, I promise that other people have already asked and answered it. The advantage is that because this software is specifically for laying out books, there is lots of information available specifically about how to do what you want to do. (This may also be true for Word, but I’ll be honest, I only used Word for a book layout once, so I can’t say for certain either way.)

Once you figure it out, InDesign will give you back hours of your life. Things like master page spreads, clipping paths, tint, the eyedropper tool, and the one-hundred-percent adjustable text are just... lifesavers. My experience with Word is limited, so my frustration using it was probably due to my own ineptitude, but honestly, when putting together my thesis, the tears I cried trying to get page numbers to format correctly were some of the most bitter text-related tears I have ever shed. I can take care of the whole operation in InDesign in a matter of minutes. Hours. Of. My. Life. Saved.

This is an actual marketable skill. Ok, bear with me here. I have used InDesign for every single job I have had since I worked at the newspaper. That includes working as a bookkeeper and a kindergarten teacher. Hell, I even made my resume to get those jobs in InDesign. There is no job that I forsee in my future that doesn’t include some form of text-based design. Even when my work has absolutely nothing to do with layout (see: kindergarten teacher) I still found some way to use it. My previous boss was actually so thrilled about my InDesign skills that she had me run a 101 seminar for the other employees. (Did any of them end up using it? I suspect not. Did they look at me strangely for being so enthusiastic about design software? Absolutely.) I’ve even managed to use InDesign to branch out from freelance editing to take on design projects as well. In short: if you learn how to use InDesign, put in on your resume. You will be surprised at how much mileage you get out of it.

With Adobe, the fun never ends. I know I joked about it before, but really, I love seeing what this program has in store for me next. For example, thanks to bookbinding, I discovered that InDesign will do a lot of things that I had previously assumed were the domain of Word, such as spell check. I literally stumbled onto a measuring tool today that I wish existed irl to help me glue my covers together. Part of the beauty of this software being so intricate is that there is always something new you can do. I love learning how to harness a new feature, and then watch my design improve over time. Using this program you really get the feeling that the sky is the limit. Look, just the fact that I’ve now resorted to saccharine platitudes about computer software tells you that InDesign is remarkable. Considering that this program has made me suffer so significantly, I have either seen the face of God, or I have Stockholm syndrome. Take your pick.

TL;DR, at long last:

How complicated would you like to go? Either way, for bookbinding you’ve got to learn to use software in a new way.

Do you just want to get your book laid out reliably with little fuss? Word is for you! Are you interested in delving into the details? Do you have the patience of a saint? Try InDesign!

Both work. Both are good. But you can pry InDesign from my cold dead hands because I adore it.

#Honestly #No shame towards Word or anyone that uses it seriously #Like I said I have little experience actually using it for laying out books #But InDesign is very good.#Bookbinding #fic #fic binding #If people want I can start putting together tutorials about how to do all of this stuff #And all of y'all can learn from my mistakes and hopefully learn faster than I did.#Аня есть что нибудь здесь про тебя #заметишь?#InDesign

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thebibliosphere · 6 years

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Hello fam. This is a post brought to you by a Patreon request—I know, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these—from Sarah G, asking my thoughts and opinions on the Zero Waste movement that is sweeping across certain parts of the online strata, particularly on youtube and pinterest. (Links are in bold for ease of access and viewing, and are non affiliated.)

Sarah writes: Hi Joy, I know this isn’t exactly in the realm of vampires (can’t wait for Phangs!) but I feel this is something you might have some good advice on if you have the spoons to talk about it. I recently started looking into more eco-friendly ways to live after your posts about allergies and toxic synthetics made me realize I had several things in my home that were triggering my asthma and I came across the concept of zero waste, which sounded really cool at first, and then I looked into it some more and it just sort of seems fake and I was wondering what your thoughts were on it.

Zero Waste is indeed something I’m familiar with, and like you, I have mixed feelings on the community around it. The principles of Zero Waste i.e. reducing the amount of waste you produce an the types of waste you produce, are great. I think it’s a solid, good idea to try and promote more ethical produce and buying habits, both for the planet and from a personal financial stand point. The more you can reuse and recycle the better. But I also feel the … fandom (can you call it that???) can be quite off putting and at times extremely self righteous and judgemental in attitude. Amidst the crunchy hippies, the minimalists and those just straight up trying to live a little better, are those who have managed to make something meant for the betterment of the planet into something about themselves, and they're willing and ready to make sure we know just how evil we are for still having plastic straws with our drinks. Cause, y’know, it’s not big companies doing the most damage to the environment, no sirree it’s you and your plastic water bottle, you monster. (Don’t worry, we’ll get to why the war on plastic is being handled wrong.)

Yea, those people are very fake and very off putting, and I see a lot of them on youtube. And a lot of the time, they’re actually giving contradictory advice toward actually living a zero waste lifestyle.

When talking about this with other people, I have taken to calling this The Mason Jar Aesthetic.

A while ago, while I was talking about sustainable living with a friend (hi Michael!), and he mentioned that he and his wife were thinking of using mason jars as an alternative to buying expensive glassware, because if one breaks, you’ll always be able to replace them easily and you'll always have a matching set. Which blew my mind as genius because not only is that a super cost effective, but it’s also a really sustainable way of living, both from a zero waste ethic standpoint and financially too.

For example, where I am in the US, for $15 I can usually get 12 half pint mason jars, if not for less depending on where I shop. They come with lids and seal top discs, which are easy to replace if I ever use them for canning and can also be safely frozen, sanitized and reused again and again, meaning they are long lasting and multi-purpose. And, if you are using them as drinkware and this is important to you, they all match.

For me however, the real benefit of the humble mason jar, is that they can be fully recycled, though it is important to note that in some regions, the tops may need to go to a separate facility from the glass jar itself, so you’d need to check with your local recycling center on that. But regardless, the whole thing is recyclable, sturdy, multi-purpose, easily transportable (seal your drink and off you go!), cost effective, and some may even argue, aesthetically pleasing.

Pinterest certainly seems to think so:

[ID: a screenshot from the website Pinterest depicting many diy crafty projets for home and the kitchen involving mason jars]

Some of the larger pint ones, would also fit nicely into a mobility aid like a cup holder, for those of us who need easy to grip handles. (Also as an aside, if you need more stability and often lament that there is no such thing as a two handed mug—or even if you find most mug handles too small to get a good grip—those things are great, they just clip right on. Life changing.) Because if your argument for sustainability isn’t inclusive, it’s not good enough.

Which is where the war on plastic comes in. Looking at you “lets ban all drinking straws regardless of the fact that plastic straws are a vital necessity for some people with disabilities”, and no, pasta straws are not a safe alternative for everyone (allergies/celiac), metal is expensive and also inflexible, and neither are the bamboo, glass or silicone ones. Banning plastic straws at this moment in time, is not the solution.

Brighter minds than mine have tried to solve this, but as a general proposal, instead of an outright ban, until a sustainable and disabled friendly alternative is found, plastic straws in food establishments could be issued by request, without—and this is important—without shaming disabled people for needing to use something which you can easily opt to avoid if you desire to do so. Because once more kids and with feeling, if your argument for sustainability isn’t inclusive, it’s not good enough.

(I am fully prepared to get hate over this, the arguments over this shit on twitter were wild. And no, it is not the responsibility of disabled people to come up with a solution to this, while subsisting on restricted income, restricted access to resources, and often times restricted mobility to boot. If you feel this strongly about disabled people using plastic straws, be part of the solution that helps to find a valid alternative. You want this problem fixed, you do it inclusively.)

Now, where was I, oh yeah. Mason jars.

By contrast, a box of 4 glass tumblers of roughly the same volume, can be anywhere from $10-$20 or even more depending on where you look. And while they might look nice, they are single purpose, expensive, and also—and this is important, cause not a lot of people know this—cannot be recycled.

But Joy, you say, waiting to throw the shards of the broken glass you just swept up off the floor into the recycling, how much damage can it really do? Glass is just glass? Right?

Well, here’s the thing about this type of glass. In order to make it thin and aesthetically appealing, it has to be treated with special chemicals (like molten potassium nitrate) to toughen it up and make it shock resistant to temperatures. The problem with this however, is that treated glass, doesn’t melt at the same temperature as untreated glass, which can cause several problems at recycling facilities, ranging from damaged equipment at the plant (not good!) to creating flawed, glass which is too fragile for use, and will ultimately, you guessed it, end up on the landfill. [Source] The same is true of mirrors and glass from doors and windowpanes. [Source]

So if you do drop your glass and it breaks, please don't put it in the recycling, wrap it up in brown paper and throw it in the trash. Similarly, if you are sick of the sight of your old glassware, don't pitch it. Instead consider giving it to goodwill or your local equivalent. Someone will use it.

And don't feel bad if you didn't know. I never knew this either till a while ago, but it made me really think twice about how non-eco-friendly and sustainable my home life is. And I’m not saying this to guilt anymore or make you feel bad that you don’t do more, heck knows I never used to give a crap about any of this stuff until I started getting sick and developed multiple chemical sensitivities (Hi if you’re new here, I’m allergic to the modern world due to some frankly dystopian levels of auto-immune problems that emerged in the last few years, send help) and realized just how very not good a lot of the things I was doing are, for both me and the planet.

I am not a crunchy hippy by choice, but by necessity of survival. You have to be when plastics and most mattress fillers and couch stuffing starts bringing you out in a rash/makes you wheeze and suddenly you find yourself wandering the aisles of “eco-friendly" stores wondering if the sales rep you’re listening to actually knows what they’re talking about or if they’re a tinfoil hatter who also puts essential oils in their drinking water. (We've been over this, do not.)

But do you know what I also noticed in those supposedly eco-friendly stores?

Mason jar drinkware being sold at $20 a pop. Surely, I thought to myself, surely it’s $20 for a set of at least four?

Nope.

And do you know what else? This wasn’t just a regular mason jar glass that had been tinted blue, no, this was “treated shock resistant glass”. So what they did was, they took an iconic recyclable object that is actually very cheap to produce and buy, inflated the cost by a huge amount, and then, made it non-recyclable, for profit.

Are-you-freaking-kidding-me?

And that’s a huge problem I find, with trying to find information and resources online about sustainable living and eco-friendly products, because a lot of them? Are actually hugely wasteful if not in actual material, then certainly in mentality.

I watched one notable youtuber vlog about how she got rid of everything in her kitchen and replaced it with more eco-friendly (and extremely expensive) options, because she just couldn’t stand the thought of those "toxic" things being in her kitchen … except … they weren’t doing her any harm, and they weren’t worn out. They weren’t falling apart. They were still very much safe and usable and might even have been donated to somewhere like goodwill for someone else to use … but she threw them out to replace them with shiny bamboo and kitschy ceramics, and now they’re heading toward a landfill, where they will not be used to their fullest extent, and where they will pollute the earth.

Surely by the zero waste ethos, it’s more sustainable to use the product until it has to be replaced, and then buy the eco-made alternative?

To give you an example, I’m in the process of replacing all my tupperware with glass, metal and ceramics because I’m allergic to plastics, but also because I’d like to invest in more sustainable planet friendly options for the future. But I’m also doing it once piece at a time. Partly because my husband can and does still use those things, but also because, well, I can’t afford to replace them all. I just plain can’t, it’s too expensive to go out and replace all my leftover food containers with stainless steel lunch boxes from Japan. I’d like to, and I wish I could, but if wishes were horses then I’d need a much bigger yard. (That’s how that saying goes, right?)

I guess the point of this lengthy ramble, is a complaint that the aesthetic of sustainability is actually more popular than actual ethical sustainable practices. Too many people are concerned with looking like they care, but don’t actually want to get into the nuance of things. And I get it, I do. It’s nice to feel like you’re doing something good. Who doesn’t want to feel like they’re taking responsibility for their time on this earth and being the best version of themselves?

But it has to require thought, and method, and looking beyond the narrow scope of your own four walls (metaphorical or otherwise) and what that one person on youtube said, while merely swapping one form of consumerism for another because it looks and feels ethical, but not actually exacting any kind of global change.

And that’s the difference between using a mason jar to drink out of, and the Mason Jar Aesthetic. Being aware of your impact on the earth and doing what you can within your limits and means (and respecting the means of others), vs wanting to be seen as such. And it's an important distinction and one that requires self reflection and a great deal more thought than buying into an aesthetic.

Me switching out all my plastics and turning my backyard into a compost heap might make my home more eco-friendly, but real change cannot be effected without also putting pressure on large corporations (looking at you Nestle) to change their practices, and boycotting those stores in favor of expensive organic and "ethical" brands is not the solution to this. It merely creates a niche market where the rich and privileged are able to live in a very small self-contained bubble of moral "eco purity", while actively punching down at those who cannot. Real change? Comes from getting involved in the community and lobbying against big corporations like Nestle turning round and extracting water from drought stricken states, and then selling it back for profit. It's boots to the ground, and writing letters and emails, and doing more than just buying organic bamboo washcloths and telling yourself you saved the world one micro-bead of plastic at a time.

So do I think zero waste is a crock? Absolutely not, at the core it has some great points about how we use and consume products, which are things we should be thinking about in our day to day lives. But do I feel it places too much emphasis on the self rather than the global community? Absolutely. And at it's core sustainability isn't about the self. It's about community, and the changes we can affect together in order to make the world a little better than how we found it.

Otherwise it's just survivalism with a rose tinted aesthetic.

What do you guys think? Does anyone have anything to add? Let me know in the comments and see if we can get a discussion going. Also, if you’d like to see more of these types of posts, Patreon subscribers can expect to see them two weeks earlier than tumblr, and get a say in what we discuss, so if you’d like to see me talk about something, let me know :)

[Patreon] * [Twitter] * [Ko-Fi] * [Facebook]

#patreon #patreon post #zero waste #eco friendly #sustainability #the mason jar aesthetic #activism #links #joy demorra #my writing #things and stuff

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kokoronopikuseru · 5 years

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Review: Pixelogue

A little late to post this, but I intend to share details and reflect on the editing of Pixelogue, in hope that it will help editors and organizers who need advice. (If you’re not interested in editing info, just skip to the last section)

Details are in Chronological Order -

# Software:

I designed everything from scratch in AE, with all the stock plugins. I had to relearn everything I used to know about AE; I last used it extensively in Pixelophobia years ago and furthermore, I wasn’t really used to the new CC interface. I had to seek tutorials for every simple effect I wanted to execute. It sure was difficult for me. For english speaking editors, this is probably your main tool if you intend to do simple video animations and graphics.

# Planning: Song Choice

I had intended to use a Korean Indie Track as stated in the collab details page. Sadly, the music really didn’t fit the music. I spent about 3 days rearranging the clips in every permutation I knew. I didn't really manage to find an arrangement that suited the clips. The unfortunate reality for editors is that we are usually at the mercy of the submission clips. I finally chose something Tigres’ described as “Shawn Wasabi-like”. It was a major challenge for my editing since I wasn’t exactly used to creating work that is colourful or cheerful rhythm-wise. I had to have major re-planning if I wanted it to work out.

# Editing: Draft

My process for editing clips always starts from arranging the combos. I used Vegas for this since, well, it IS a video editor, and it is pretty fast in processing clips. For learning purposes, here is the link of my very first draft (https://youtu.be/kRDwXTnxXGw). I think it’s necessary to spend a longer time at this stage, so as to visualize how its gonna turn out. And of course, to ensure that this is the flow of the CV you really wanted. By this stage, you should also have planned out the fillers (as denoted by the empty instances in the draft) and roughly how long your intro and outro will be.

# Editing: Intro

I didn’t really want to make something too kawaii. But yet, I can’t really escape the colourful imagery I imagined the intro to be. I compromised and made something that alternates between some modern TV visuals and old school TV visuals.

Modern TV; I was greatly inspired by those colour wipes that vloggers used for their youtube channels. It was one of those common and simple transitions that AE users exploit regularly. I found ways to incorporate it in a radial and a rotating wipe. The font animations were all plugins in AE that I found. I wasn’t gonna edit every alphabet like the previous CVs I made.

Old School TV; I took most of my inspiration from the adjustment knobs on analog TV. I found that it goes well with the subtle static noise in the music track. Hence I employed selection circles, and drew an actual knob (not sure if you guys realised that was what it was supposed to be). I also warp bulge the static background as well as the words, to emulate the concave glass distortion present in analog TVs.

And in the final burst of images, I made the clips alternate between 16:9 and 4:3, just to show the juxtaposition between modern and old school.

I really hope people notice all these small details. I didn't feel it was impactful enough, but I guess these are probably cool facts for those who are interested.

# Editing: Combos

I always render my CV in a 16:9 resolution, simply because it IS more pleasing to the eye now that computer monitors are no longer square. My preferences have yet to change. However, with regards to the clips, I have read enough indirect feedback that the cropping wasn’t something that most people liked. I took this criticism pretty seriously, and thought it was time for me to hop on the bandwagon, to try the new-age style of CV editing.

I had to put in much more effort to retain a 4:3 combo in a 16:9 visual space, with an additional need to create a secondary background layer. But because of this decision, it gives me more freedom to explore options of panning and perspective movements.

I create a blurred and expanded duplicate of every combo as a background. I thought it was great that I could retain the original colours and give the clips a “floaty field”. No one has done something like this before, so it was instantly cool and hip. It also gives more room and potential to play around with the transitions too. Eg, fading the background before the clip (transition from Tigres to popte). Interestingly, all the backgrounds all have different properties, namely position, scale and degree of gaussian blur. The reason was really because some clips were seizure inducing due to their extensive movements. I thought it would be nice to vary all of them, which adds a unique aesthetic touch to all the combos.

I am pretty new to editing in a 3Dimensional Space and camera tracking. I was intending to do something as simple and fluid like Talentica Neue. Well, I learnt it wasn’t as simple as I thought. I had about 5-6 Parameters of camera movements, and frankly till now, don’t really know what each one does. I highly suggest for editors who wanna try 3Dimensional camera tracking, watch more tutorials and try simple practice projects. Learning how to utilize it properly will extensively improve your editing game.

Oh yeah, remember to use the graph editor for EVERYTHING. Acceleration and Decelerations have too much aesthetic value to miss out on.

# Editing: Outro

Because I have spent so much time on all other parts of the CV, it’s only responsible for me to put in some effort on an outro which I am usually way too lazy to make. Yeah guys, it’s important to make outros too guys. I used the same warping and television static effect from the intro to retain a sense of continuity. It's simple and nice, I liked it.

# Combos; (Warning: Difficult to Stomach)

I’m gonna be a little too frank about this- the quality of combos I received were lower than what I usually work with (I love my UPSB submissions tho). I guess this is the huge downside of organizing sign-up CVs to an international community that is slowly dying and regressing. It was even harder when most didn’t submit on time. I had only 7 clips by the deadline. I wanna admit that I had moments regretting that I was organizing Pixelogue as a majority-signup CV. Some of the filtered combos either didn’t fit the style of CV (really sorry padrace) or was just bad due to the lack of effort. Mostly bad.

But here’s the heart of the matter, this might really reflect the standard of the international community.

I’m not sure if I am the only one who feels this way, but I feel that most of the current international CVs can be separated into two groups, the JEB invites, and the rest of us. Don’t get me wrong, I do acknowledge the high standards JEB spinners deliver. But I’m not comfortable with the fact that they don’t submit better materials since their combos are guaranteed to be featured, and mainly because the quality of an international CV is often a 50/50 hit or miss (could be lower). Who can blame them really. Even so, their names are usually enough to make the lineup look great.

> Pixelation was an all JEB sign up CVs. Pixelarium, Pixelophobia, Pixelography, Pixeholic were invites-only CVs, a mix of international and JEB guys. <

Most of my CVs have a JEB last spinner or a JEB dominant lineup towards the end. (coffeelucky 6th is also guilty of this). Clearly, you can see how much we use japanese invites as a way to boost the “quality” and hype of our projects. Yeah, sucks to admit it, but I am sure these are common sentiments shared with many of us international CV editors for a pretty long time.

Well, its not something I’m really contented with. In fact, I don’t like the way this becomes the norm.

More recently, around the time I released “Express 12.1.18”, I really wanted to believe in us - the international community veterans, the borderline pen spinning retirees, that we can perform. I didn’t wanna believe that the international community was any inferior. I finally felt ready to edit something solely from our pool of people. I can accept that I don’t have to rely on japanese invitations to superficially enhance the CV. We have enough to make something great ourselves.

I fondly assert that the international community does NEED this kind of confidence. Otherwise, we will always be second rated. Seen as the lesser beings. Y’all JapEn tiering meme-lords know what I’m talking about. I personally needed this to prove to myself that it will work out for us even when the scene looks pretty shitty now. And yes, I did feel better after this.

# Conclusion

It didn’t really garner much attention especially when there was a flood of CVs being released around the time it was released. But I do love it a lot. It’s made up of familiar spinners that I cherish, good combos that I’m thankful for, and finally, an editing that drained my whole summer holiday away. Yeah, I do love it a lot. Definitely one of my proudest work.

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antoine-roquentin · 7 years

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“This... thing, [the War on Drugs] this ain't police work... I mean, you call something a war and pretty soon everybody gonna be running around acting like warriors... running around on a damn crusade, storming corners, slapping on cuffs, racking up body counts... pretty soon, damn near everybody on every corner is your f**king enemy. And soon the neighborhood that you're supposed to be policing, that's just occupied territory.” -- Major "Bunny" Colvin, season three of HBO’s The Wire

I can remember both so well.

2006: my first raid in South Baghdad. 2014: watching on YouTube as a New York police officer asphyxiated -- murdered -- Eric Garner for allegedly selling loose cigarettes on a Staten Island street corner not five miles from my old apartment. Both events shocked the conscience.

It was 11 years ago next month: my first patrol of the war and we were still learning the ropes from the army unit we were replacing. Unit swaps are tricky, dangerous times. In Army lexicon, they’re known as “right-seat-left-seat rides.” Picture a car. When you’re learning to drive, you first sit in the passenger seat and observe. Only then do you occupy the driver’s seat. That was Iraq, as units like ours rotated in and out via an annual revolving door of sorts. Officers from incoming units like mine were forced to learn the terrain, identify the key powerbrokers in our assigned area, and sort out the most effective tactics in the two weeks before the experienced officers departed. It was a stressful time.

Those transition weeks consisted of daily patrols led by the officers of the departing unit. My first foray off the FOB (forward operating base) was a night patrol. The platoon I’d tagged along with was going to the house of a suspected Shiite militia leader. (Back then, we were fighting both Shiite rebels of the Mahdi Army and Sunni insurgents.) We drove to the outskirts of Baghdad, surrounded a farmhouse, and knocked on the door. An old woman let us in and a few soldiers quickly fanned out to search every room. Only women -- presumably the suspect’s mother and sisters -- were home. Through a translator, my counterpart, the other lieutenant, loudly asked the old woman where her son was hiding. Where could we find him? Had he visited the house recently? Predictably, she claimed to be clueless. After the soldiers vigorously searched (“tossed”) a few rooms and found nothing out of the norm, we prepared to leave. At that point, the lieutenant warned the woman that we’d be back -- just as had happened several times before -- until she turned in her own son.

I returned to the FOB with an uneasy feeling. I couldn’t understand what it was that we had just accomplished. How did hassling these women, storming into their home after dark and making threats, contribute to defeating the Mahdi Army or earning the loyalty and trust of Iraqi civilians? I was, of course, brand new to the war, but the incident felt totally counterproductive. Let’s assume the woman’s son was Mahdi Army to the core. So what? Without long-term surveillance or reliable intelligence placing him at the house, entering the premises that way and making threats could only solidify whatever aversion the family already had to the U.S. Army. And what if we had gotten it wrong? What if he was innocent and we’d potentially just helped create a whole new family of insurgents?

Though it wasn’t a thought that crossed my mind for years, those women must have felt like many African-American families living under persistent police pressure in parts of New York, Baltimore, Chicago, or elsewhere in this country. Perhaps that sounds outlandish to more affluent whites, but it’s clear enough that some impoverished communities of color in this country do indeed see the police as their enemy. For most military officers, it was similarly unthinkable that many embattled Iraqis could see all American military personnel in a negative light. But from that first raid on, I knew one thing for sure: we were going to have to adjust our perceptions -- and fast. Not, of course, that we did.

Years passed. I came home, stayed in the Army, had a kid, divorced, moved a few more times, remarried, had more kids -- my Giants even won two Super Bowls. Suddenly everyone had an iPhone, was on Facebook, or tweeting, or texting rather than calling. Somehow in those blurred years, Iraq-style police brutality and violence -- especially against poor blacks -- gradually became front-page news. One case, one shaky YouTube video followed another: Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, and Freddie Gray, just to start a long list. So many of the clips reminded me of enemy propaganda videos from Baghdad or helmet-cam shots recorded by our troopers in combat, except that they came from New York, or Chicago, or San Francisco.

Brutal Connections

As in Baghdad, so in Baltimore. It’s connected, you see. Scholars, pundits, politicians, most of us in fact like our worlds to remain discretely and comfortably separated. That’s why so few articles, reports, or op-ed columns even think to link police violence at home to our imperial pursuits abroad or the militarization of the policing of urban America to our wars across the Greater Middle East and Africa. I mean, how many profiles of the Black Lives Matter movement even mention America’s 16-year war on terror across huge swaths of the planet? Conversely, can you remember a foreign policy piece that cited Ferguson? I doubt it.

Nonetheless, take a moment to consider the ways in which counterinsurgency abroad and urban policing at home might, in these years, have come to resemble each other and might actually be connected phenomena:

*The degradations involved: So often, both counterinsurgency and urban policing involve countless routine humiliations of a mostly innocent populace. No matter how we’ve cloaked the terms -- “partnering,” “advising,” “assisting,” and so on -- the American military has acted like an occupier of Iraq and Afghanistan in these years. Those thousands of ubiquitous post-invasion U.S. Army foot and vehicle patrols in both countries tended to highlight the lack of sovereignty of their peoples. Similarly, as long ago as 1966, author James Baldwin recognized that New York City’s ghettoes resembled, in his phrase, “occupied territory.” In that regard, matters have only worsened since. Just ask the black community in Baltimore or for that matter Ferguson, Missouri. It’s hard to deny America’s police are becoming progressively more defiant; just last month St. Louis cops taunted protestors by chanting “whose streets? Our streets,” at a gathering crowd. Pardon me, but since when has it been okay for police to rule America’s streets? Aren’t they there to protect and serve us? Something tells me the exceedingly libertarian Founding Fathers would be appalled by such arrogance.

*The racial and ethnic stereotyping. In Baghdad, many U.S. troops called the locals hajis, ragheads, or worse still, sandniggers. There should be no surprise in that. The frustrations involved in occupation duty and the fear of death inherent in counterinsurgency campaigns lead soldiers to stereotype, and sometimes even hate, the populations they’re (doctrinally) supposed to protect. Ordinary Iraqis or Afghans became the enemy, an “other,” worthy only of racial pejoratives and (sometimes) petty cruelties. Sound familiar? Listen to the private conversations of America’s exasperated urban police, or the occasionally public insults they throw at the population they’re paid to “protect.” I, for one, can’t forget the video of an infuriated white officer taunting Ferguson protestors: “Bring it on, you f**king animals!” Or how about a white Staten Island cop caught on the phone bragging to his girlfriend about how he’d framed a young black man or, in his words, “fried another nigger.” Dehumanization of the enemy, either at home or abroad, is as old as empire itself.

*The searches: Searches, searches, and yet more searches. Back in the day in Iraq -- I’m speaking of 2006 and 2007 -- we didn’t exactly need a search warrant to look anywhere we pleased. The Iraqi courts, police, and judicial system were then barely operational. We searched houses, shacks, apartments, and high rises for weapons, explosives, or other “contraband.” No family -- guilty or innocent (and they were nearly all innocent) -- was safe from the small, daily indignities of a military search. Back here in the U.S., a similar phenomenon rules, as it has since the “war on drugs” era of the 1980s. It’s now routine for police SWAT teams to execute rubber-stamped or “no knock” search warrants on suspected drug dealers’ homes (often only for marijuanastashes) with an aggressiveness most soldiers from our distant wars would applaud. Then there are the millions of random, warrantless, body searches on America’s urban, often minority-laden streets. Take New York, for example, where a discriminatory regime of “stop-and-frisk” tactics terrorized blacks and Hispanics for decades. Millions of (mostly) minority youths were halted and searched by New York police officers who had to cite only such opaque explanations as “furtive movements,” or “fits relevant description” -- hardly explicit probable cause -- to execute such daily indignities. As numerous studies have shown (and a judicial ruling found), such “stop-and-frisk” procedures were discriminatory and likely unconstitutional.

As in my experience in Iraq, so here on the streets of so many urban neighborhoods of color, anyone, guilty or innocent (mainly innocent) was the target of such operations. And the connections between war abroad and policing at home run ever deeper. Consider that in Springfield, Massachusetts, police anti-gang units learned and applied literal military counterinsurgency doctrine on that city’s streets. In post-9/11 New York City, meanwhile, the NYPD Intelligence Unit practiced religious profiling and implemented military-style surveillance to spy on its Muslim residents. Even America’s stalwart Israeli allies -- no strangers to domestic counterinsurgency -- have gotten in on the game. That country’s Security Forces have been training American cops, despite their long record of documented human rights abuses. How’s that for coalition warfare and bilateral cooperation?

*The equipment, the tools of the trade: Who hasn’t noticed in recent years that, thanks in part to a Pentagon program selling weaponry and equipment right off America’s battlefields, the police on our streets look ever less like kindly beat cops and ever more like Robocop or the heavily armed and protected troops of our distant wars? Think of the sheer firepower and armor on the streets of Ferguson in those photos that shocked and discomforted so many Americans. Or how about the aftermath of the tragic Boston Marathon Bombing? Watertown, Massachusetts, surely resembled U.S. Army-occupied Baghdad or Kabul at the height of their respective troop “surges,” as the area was locked down under curfew during the search for the bombing suspects.

Here, at least, the connection is undeniable. The military has sold hundreds of millions of dollars in excess weapons and equipment -- armored vehicles, rifles, camouflage uniforms, and even drones -- to local police departments, resulting in a revolving door of self-perpetuating urban militarism. Does Walla Walla, Washington, really need the very Mine Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) trucks I drove around Kandahar, Afghanistan? And in case you were worried about the ability of Madison, Indiana (pop: 12,000), to fight off rocket propelled grenades thanks to those spiffy new MRAPs, fear not, President Trump recently overturned Obama-era restrictions on advanced technology transfers to local police. Let me just add, from my own experiences in Baghdad and Kandahar, that it has to be a losing proposition to try to be a friendly beat cop and do community policing from inside an armored vehicle. Even soldiers are taught not to perform counterinsurgency that way (though we ended up doing so all the time).

*Torture: The use of torture has rarely -- except for several years at the CIA -- been official policy in these years, but it happened anyway. (See Abu Ghraib, of course.) It often started small as soldier -- or police -- frustration built and the usual minor torments of the locals morphed into outright abuse. The same process seems underway here in the U.S. as well, which was why, as a 34-year old New Yorker, when I first saw the photos at Abu Ghraib, I flashed back to the way, in 1997, the police sodomized Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant, in my own hometown. Younger folks might consider the far more recent case in Baltimore of Freddie Gray, brutally and undeservedly handcuffed, his pleas ignored, and then driven in the back of a police van to his death. Furthermore, we now know about two decades worth of systematic torture of more than 100 black men by the Chicago police in order to solicit (often false) confessions.

Unwinnable Wars: At Home and Abroad

For nearly five decades, Americans have been mesmerized by the government’s declarations of “war” on crime, drugs, and -- more recently -- terror. In the name of these perpetual struggles, apathetic citizens have acquiesced in countless assaults on their liberties. Think warrantless wiretapping, the Patriot Act, and the use of a drone to execute an (admittedly deplorable) American citizen without due process. The First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments -- who needs them anyway? None of these onslaughts against the supposedly sacred Bill of Rights have ended terror attacks, prevented a raging opioid epidemic, staunched Chicago’s record murder rate, or thwarted America’s ubiquitous mass shootings, of which the Las Vegas tragedy is only the latest and most horrific example. The wars on drugs, crime, and terror -- they’re all unwinnable and tear at the core of American society. In our apathy, we are all complicit.

Like so much else in our contemporary politics, Americans divide, like clockwork, into opposing camps over police brutality, foreign wars, and America’s original sin: racism. All too often in these debates, arguments aren’t rational but emotional as people feel their way to intractable opinions. It’s become a cultural matter, transcending traditional policy debates. Want to start a sure argument with your dad? Bring up police brutality. I promise you it’s foolproof.

So here’s a final link between our endless war on terror and rising militarization on what is no longer called “the home front”: there’s a striking overlap between those who instinctively give the increasingly militarized police of that homeland the benefit of the doubt and those who viscerally support our wars across the Greater Middle East and Africa.

It may be something of a cliché that distant wars have a way of coming home, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Policing today is being Baghdadified in the United States. Over the last 40 years, as Washington struggled to maintain its global military influence, the nation’s domestic police have progressively shifted to military-style patrol, search, and surveillance tactics, while measuringsuccess through statistical models familiar to any Pentagon staff officer.

Please understand this: for me when it comes to the police, it’s nothing personal. A couple of my uncles were New York City cops. Nearly half my family has served or still serves in the New York Fire Department. I’m from blue-collar, civil service stock. Good guys, all. But experience tells me that they aren’t likely to see the connections I’m making between what’s happening here and what’s been happening in our distant war zones or agree with my conclusions about them. In a similar fashion, few of my peers in the military officer corps are likely to agree, or even recognize, the parallels I’ve drawn.

Of course, these days when you talk about the military and the police, you’re often talking about the very same people, since veterans from our wars are now making their way into police forces across the country, especially the highly militarized SWAT teams proliferating nationwide that use the sorts of smash-and-search tactics perfected abroad in recent years. While less than 6% of Americans are vets, some 19% of law-enforcement personnel have served in the U.S. military. In many ways it’s a natural fit, as former soldiers seamlessly slide into police life and pick up the very weaponry they once used in Afghanistan, Iraq, or elsewhere.

The widespread perpetuation of uneven policing and criminal (in)justice can be empirically shown. Consider the numerous critical Justice Department investigations of major American cities. But what concerns me in all of this is a simple enough question: What happens to the republic when the militarism that is part and parcel of our now more or less permanent state of war abroad takes over ever more of the prevailing culture of policing at home?

And here’s the inconvenient truth: despite numerous instances of brutality and murder perpetrated by the U.S. military personnel overseas -- think Haditha(the infamous retaliatory massacre of Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines), Panjwai(where a U.S. Army Sergeant left his base and methodically executed nearby Afghan villagers), and of course Abu Ghraib -- in my experience, our army is often stricter about interactions with foreign civilians than many local American police forces are when it comes to communities of color. After all, if one of mymen strangled an Iraqi to death for breaking a minor civil law (as happened to Eric Garner), you can bet that the soldier, his sergeant, and I would have been disciplined, even if, as is so often the case, such accountability never reached the senior-officer level.

Ultimately, the irony is this: poor Eric Garner -- at least if he had run into my platoon -- would have been safer in Baghdad than on that street corner in New York. Either way, he and so many others should perhaps count as domestic casualties of my generation’s forever war.

What’s global is local. And vice versa. American society is embracing its inner empire. Eventually, its long reach may come for us all.

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reneeacaseyfl · 5 years

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Trump Comes for Baltimore, Baltimore Claps Back: raceAhead

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump launched a now-familiar style of attack on Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings. Racist.

“Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA……” the president tweeted.

It continues: “Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.” And, “If racist Elijah Cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess that he has helped to create over many years of incompetent leadership.” And more today: “If the Democrats are going to defend the Radical Left “Squad” and King Elijah’s Baltimore Fail, it will be a long road to 2020.”

CNN anchor and Baltimore native, Victor Blackwell, broke down Trump’s attacks on-air on Saturday’s “CNN Newsroom” program.

“Donald Trump has tweeted more than 43,000 times,” Blackwell said. “He’s insulted thousands of people, many different types of people. But when he tweets about infestation, it’s about black and brown people.” Pausing to collect himself, and with water in his eyes, he said, “You know who did [live there], Mr. President? I did. From the day I was brought home from the hospital to the day I left for college. And a lot of people I care about still do.”

It was a powerful reminder that “diversity” is personal in newsrooms and in public policy.

The Baltimore Sun editorial board also wasted little time responding to the president’s Twitter rant, part political analysis, part Maryland pride. It’s a clapback for the ages:

“[W]e would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women’s private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are “good people” among murderous neo-Nazis that he’s still not fooling most Americans into believing he’s even slightly competent in his current post. Or that he possesses a scintilla of integrity. Better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one.”

There are many things at play here, mostly political. Cummings has earned the president’s ire by leading investigations into his administration as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. The tweets, and Baltimore’s grim crime statistics, have become partisan talking points. Turns out, Jared Kushner, the presidential son-in-law, owns more than a dozen Baltimore-area apartment complexes in low-income zip codes that have been cited for code violations. Baltimoreans and their supporters are defending their city and killing it in the hashtag game.

My best (and perhaps only) contribution might be a little context. It all starts with Jim Crow.

To have a serious discussion about what’s happening in Baltimore, it’s smart to start with the apartheid-style residential segregation ordinances that the city’s mayor put into place from 1910 to 1913. I’m not being hyperbolic: I’m summing up a 1982 paper published by law professor Garrett Power in the Maryland Law Review. In it, Power explains how a generally progressive administration purposefully segregated a reasonably integrated city—“to promote the general welfare of the city by providing, so far as practicable, for the use of separate blocks by white and colored people for residences, churches and schools.”

That decision helped ensure low-income black residents were isolated in slum-like conditions with substandard services, which eventually became codified in every kind of public policy. It led to, among other things, decades of housing equity failures.

Fast forward to 1995. Thompson v. HUD was a groundbreaking fair housing lawsuit that claimed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) violated the Fair Housing Act of 1968 by concentrating African-American residents of public housing in the most impoverished and underserved neighborhoods of Baltimore. The suit was triggered by a plan to demolish a dangerous high-rise public housing development, which should have ben an opportunity to introduce affordable housing across the city. Instead, rampant white NIMBYism made sure that replacement units would be relegated to segregated neighborhoods. The suit was filed on behalf of 14,000 African American families living in public housing.

It was 10 years of legal grinding before the team behind the lawsuit earned a victory lap: In January 2005, a federal district court judge found that HUD “failed to achieve significant desegregation” and accused them of treating Baltimore City as “an island reservation for use as a container for all of the poor of a contiguous region.”

Not a long hop between 2005 and today, am I right?

The Thompson summary is an easy read and offers a helpful primer on how housing segregation created two separate and profoundly unequal Baltimores. And this analysis from the Poverty and Race Research Action Council helps put Thompson into a broader context of similar lawsuits around the country.

I recommend reading both before you gear up to fight your political opponents.

I’ll also leave the last policy word to Professor Power who warned 37 years ago that without real system change, Baltimore’s ugly past would persist. The history “cautions us to discount the righteous rhetoric of reform; it reminds us of the racist propensities of democratic rule; and it sets the stage for understanding the development of a covert conspiracy to enforce housing segregation, the vestiges of which persist in Baltimore yet today.”

On Point

Puerto Rico’s governor-in-waiting says thanks but no thanks Puerto Rico Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez is next in line for the governor job, but the controversial figure and close ally of the recently ousted Gov. Ricardo Rosselló has turned down the job, most recently, via Twitter. “I reiterate, I have no interest in occupying the position of Governor,” she said. “I hope that the Governor identifies and submits a candidate for the position of Secretary of State before August 2 and I have told him so.” The secretary of state is the preferred candidate for the position. USA Today

Barack Obama endorses an op-ed critical of the Trump Administration The opinion piece was published Friday night in the Washington Post, with the title: “We are African Americans, we are patriots, and we refuse to sit idly by.” The piece was co-signed by 149 African Americans who worked in the Obama administration, and serves as a rallying cry. “Witnessing racism surge in our country, both during and after Obama’s service and ours, has been a shattering reality, to say the least,” they write. “But it has also provided jet-fuel for our activism, especially in moments such as these.” The former president rarely comments on politics. “I’ve always been proud of what this team accomplished during my administration. But more than what we did, I’m proud of how they’re continuing to fight for an America that’s better,” he said, tweeting a link to the post. It’s an impressive list of names, by the way. Washington Post

A content creator is under fire for a cartoon character that turns black when she ‘loses her beauty’ Dina and the Prince Story is a cartoon uploaded by My Pingu Tv, a YouTube channel that animates, and occasionally ruins, popular children’s fairy tales. Such is the case of Dina, who is an angel, whatever, and who has caught the eye of the prince but has been warned not to talk to him. When she does anyway, blah blah blah, a curse is fulfilled: The lovely young white angel is magically transformed into a human with dark brown skin and kinky dark hair. “Dina turns and we see she is not as beautiful; her glow is gone, and her face is scarred,” yadda yadda. I suppose it could have been worse if ugly Dina was wearing a Baltimore t-shirt, but not by much. “Fans” were not having it. Come for the story, stay for the comments. Shadow and Act

On Background

Blue Note Records turns 80 Fans of John Coltrane, Art Blakey, and Herbie Hancock already know and love the Blue Note story, a label born in the waning days of the Depression and responsible for finding and amplifying the bebop trailblazers. Co-owners Albert Lion and Francis Wolff even gave an 18-year-old Sonny Rollins an early shot. But they didn’t stop there. Everyone will enjoy this history from Giovanni Russonello, complete with short clips from some of the great artists. My Blue Note fandom began and ended with ‘Trane, so I was delighted to learn that they never stopped producing cutting-edge talent, from Bobby McFerrin in the ‘80s, James Hurt in the ‘90s, and Ambrose Akinmusire more recently. And Norah Jones! Who knew. New York Times

Today’s essay: On being, joy, and loitering Ross Gay is a writer, gardener, former college gridiron player, and an English professor at Indiana University Bloomington. But in this resplendent conversation with On Being host Krista Tippett, he’s also an expert in “adult joy.” Gay describes it as “[J]oy by which the labor that will make the life that I want, possible. It is not at all puzzling to me that joy is possible in the midst of difficulty.” Joy is always possible, a valuable framing for troubling times. The interview itself is a delight; Gay’s parents were a mixed-race couple in the wake of Loving vs. Virginia and he explains how his life experience has helped him understand joy. “I have really been thinking that joy is the moments—for me, the moments when my alienation from people—but not just people, from the whole thing—it goes away,” he says. Then he reads aloud his extraordinary essay, “Loitering.” Take a break, listen to the whole interview, and know joy. On being

How to cover immigration This resource, from Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy is designed for journalists, but it works for anyone who wants to publish anything from a memo to public remarks on the subject of immigration. The number one issue with immigration reporting is a lack of context. Is the event you are highlighting a single event or part of a broader history? “It’s really tempting, I think, at this moment for journalists to say the Trump administration is doing x, y, z. I think it’s really important for journalists to ask the question, ‘When did this program start?’ Or, ‘When did this issue start?’” says PRI’s Angilee Shah. Click through for more, including a public Google document with over 89 immigration data sources. Journalist’s Resource

Tamara El-Waylly helps produce raceAhead.

Quote

“wow man last year i was sleeping on my sisters floor, had no money, struggling to get plays on my music, suffering from daily headaches, now i’m gay.”

—Lil Nas X, via Twitter

Credit: Source link

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from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.com/trump-comes-for-baltimore-baltimore-claps-back-raceahead/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trump-comes-for-baltimore-baltimore-claps-back-raceahead from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.tumblr.com/post/186635302737

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velmaemyers88 · 5 years

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Trump Comes for Baltimore, Baltimore Claps Back: raceAhead

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump launched a now-familiar style of attack on Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings. Racist.

CNN anchor and Baltimore native, Victor Blackwell, broke down Trump’s attacks on-air on Saturday’s “CNN Newsroom” program.

It was a powerful reminder that “diversity” is personal in newsrooms and in public policy.

The Baltimore Sun editorial board also wasted little time responding to the president’s Twitter rant, part political analysis, part Maryland pride. It’s a clapback for the ages:

My best (and perhaps only) contribution might be a little context. It all starts with Jim Crow.

Not a long hop between 2005 and today, am I right?

I recommend reading both before you gear up to fight your political opponents.

On Point

On Background

Tamara El-Waylly helps produce raceAhead.

Quote

“wow man last year i was sleeping on my sisters floor, had no money, struggling to get plays on my music, suffering from daily headaches, now i’m gay.”

—Lil Nas X, via Twitter

Credit: Source link

The post Trump Comes for Baltimore, Baltimore Claps Back: raceAhead appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

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weeklyreviewer · 5 years

Text

Trump Comes for Baltimore, Baltimore Claps Back: raceAhead

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump launched a now-familiar style of attack on Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings. Racist.

CNN anchor and Baltimore native, Victor Blackwell, broke down Trump’s attacks on-air on Saturday’s “CNN Newsroom” program.

It was a powerful reminder that “diversity” is personal in newsrooms and in public policy.

The Baltimore Sun editorial board also wasted little time responding to the president’s Twitter rant, part political analysis, part Maryland pride. It’s a clapback for the ages:

My best (and perhaps only) contribution might be a little context. It all starts with Jim Crow.

Not a long hop between 2005 and today, am I right?

I recommend reading both before you gear up to fight your political opponents.

On Point

On Background

Tamara El-Waylly helps produce raceAhead.

Quote

“wow man last year i was sleeping on my sisters floor, had no money, struggling to get plays on my music, suffering from daily headaches, now i’m gay.”

—Lil Nas X, via Twitter

Credit: Source link

The post Trump Comes for Baltimore, Baltimore Claps Back: raceAhead appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

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christianworldf · 5 years

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New Post has been published on Nehemiah Reset

New Post has been published on https://nehemiahreset.org/christian-worldview-issues/lgbt/how-the-breakfast-club-home-to-brash-hosts-and-irate-rappers-became-a-one-of-a-kind-campaign-stop/

How ‘The Breakfast Club,’ home to brash hosts and irate rappers, became a one-of-a-kind campaign stop

Charlamagne tha God, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Angela Yee and DJ Envy at Power 105.1’s office in New York. Harris has been on the radio show three times. (Nick Ciofalo and Daniel Greene/The Breakfast Club)

NEW YORK — “You want to start off talking about weed and Tupac or you want to get to that later?”

It wasn’t your typical opening question for a presidential candidate, but on this July morning, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) is appearing on “The Breakfast Club,” — Power 105.1’s popular nationally syndicated radio show hosted by Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee and DJ Envy — and she knows what to expect. It’s her third time here.

The question (from Charlamagne) jokingly refers to a much-debated exchange from Harris’s previous interview on the show, in February, when the former prosecutor admitted she smoked marijuana in college, and talked about her fondness for music by Tupac and Snoop Dogg. Some listeners conflated her responses to separate questions, leading critics to pounce on the chronologically impossible suggestion that Harris, who graduated from Howard University in 1986, had listened to the rappers, both of whom debuted in the early ’90s, while smoking marijuana in college.

Amid questions about whether Harris — a California native whose father was born in Jamaica and whose mother was born in India — can truly speak to issues concerning African American voters, she was accused of pandering for their support. “That was misconstrued,” Charlamagne tells Harris. “Of course it was,” she agrees. “But it had a little shelf life of its own.”

“The Breakfast Club,” which debuted in 2010 and went into national syndication three years later, has been known to generate viral, long-tailed moments — mostly in interviews with hip-hop heavyweights and other pop-culture figures. But amid a crucial, and crowded, presidential primary race, the show has increasingly hosted politicians, becoming a valued stop for Democratic candidates, including South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Cory Booker (N.J.), who want to connect with black voters — and seem undeterred by the show’s freewheeling format and brash hosts.

Envy, born Raashaun Casey, likens the show’s atmosphere to the barbershop, where black Americans have long held frank, uncensored discussions. It’s a large barbershop — the show averaged more than 750,500 weekly listeners in the previous three months, according to Nielsen Audio data. Of those listeners, 62 percent are black; 79 percent are under the age of 50.The show, which airs on 80 stations nationwide, also courts a sizable YouTube following, with more than 3.8 million subscribers. The hosts say their approach is the same regardless of whether they are interviewing a popular rapper or a presidential candidate — no questions are off the table.

“If you want to come by here, there are no rules and regulations,” Envy says in an interview after Harris’s taping. “We’re going to have real conversation.”

“Plus, they’re politicians” Yee adds. “They should know how to answer and evade questions.”

Envy, Yee and Charlamagne, born Lenard Larry McKelvey, are all in their early 40s, with ample social media followings and backgrounds in hip-hop radio. Yee, a graduate of Wesleyan University, cut her teeth at Shade 45, Eminem’s SiriusXM Radio channel. Envy is an alumnus of the storied New York hip-hop station, Hot 97, and — as he frequently reminds Harris — her alma mater’s (friendly) rival, Hampton University. Charlamagne, the show’s most recognizable personality, got his start in South Carolina and later became a protege of shock jock Wendy Williams.

In his 2017 book “Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It,” Charlamagne is forthright about his wayward adolescence, which included periods of drug-dealing and several jail stints. He traces his controversial candor to a brutal beating he received at 16 — after trash-talking a neighbor. “If I survived that, there was no way I was censoring myself at all,” he wrote. A line from Notorious B.I.G.’s 1994 song “Unbelievable,” became his mantra: “If I said it, I meant it / bite my tongue for no one.”

Incidentally, those who refuse to appear on “The Breakfast Club” usually cite Charlamagne. “I don’t do the Breakfast Club ‘cause Charlamagne is shameless / That’s the only one I leave out when I run my bases,” Logic raps on “Clickbait,” a track released earlier this year.

The pushback against Charlamagne turned more serious last year when an online petition called for his firing after a rape accusation from 17 years earlier resurfaced. Charlamagne who denied the sexual assault allegation in a 2013 interview and in “Black Privilege,” was arrested in 2001 and pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He cast the incident as a turning point in his book.

Despite the petition, the controversies haven’t stopped listeners from tuning in or 2020 candidates from dropping by.

youtube

The Breakfast Club

“The Breakfast Club” is recorded in a small studio nestled in the corner of an office inside the iHeartMedia building (the company owns Power 105.1) in Tribeca. The day starts early for the show’s hosts and the small team of producers — who are mostly in their 20s. It’s particularly cramped on the day of Harris’s visit, which has attracted reporters from various media outlets. The studio features a well-stocked bar, artwork (one painting depicts the hosts in superhero costumes, with Yee as Wonder Woman, Envy as Superman and Charlamagne as the Caped Crusader) and a gold-plated YouTube button marking the show’s more than 1 million subscribers.

The show has aired on Revolt TV, Diddy’s cable network, since 2014, which means listeners can also watch the most bonkers moments unfold. On YouTube, the most popular “Breakfast Club” video is a two-minute clip of Birdman (also known as Baby) confronting the hosts, in 2016, over how they mocked him on past shows, prompting the rapper to demand, indelibly, that they “put some respeck” on his name.

The hosts are quick to point out that pop culture and politics are not mutually exclusive. (“We’ve got the executive producer of ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ as president,” Charlamagne says). After Soulja Boy ranted about “Draaaake” in a “Breakfast Club” interview, “Saturday Night Live” parodied it into a “Weekend Update” segment about “Truuuuump.”

And political culture and pop culture converged in an unexpected way last week when Harris entered the Power 105 space only to find out she knew the guest who had just come out of the studio: actor and former MTV veejay Bill Bellamy. “Are you kidding me?!” he said, as the two hugged. He told Harris she had been on her “A-game.” (A spokeswoman for Harris said in an email that they have been “friends for a while.”)

The hosts have a knack for getting their guests to divulge unexpected details. “The Breakfast Club” is where you might learn that rapper Wiz Khalifa likes to eat apple slices or that Hillary Clinton keeps hot sauce in her bag.

But as the Harris weed controversy showed, this can be a double-edged sword for presidential hopefuls, whose previously unexplored enthusiasm for rap (or hot sauce, in Clinton’s case three years ago) might be viewed as inauthentic.

Charlamagne says he has found the candidates to be genuine, with the caveat that he doesn’t know them personally. He cites Buttigieg as an example. “I don’t think Mayor Pete can make up the fact that ‘yo, I really do like Eminem,’ he says. “Just because you’re talking about rap on a hip-hop station doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s pandering.”

Charlamagne recalls Clinton’s capsaicin confession: “People said that was pandering.” “But,” Envy interjects, “it’s been known that she carries hot sauce.”

youtube

The Breakfast Club

These viral moments occur in wide-ranging interviews that often clock in at 30 minutes or longer, but they have a tendency to overshadow the hosts’ more shrewd political questions. In her most recent appearance, Harris talked about the heated exchange she had with former vice president Joe Biden over civil rights era busing and discussed her $100 billion plan to close the racial gap in homeownership. One aspect of that plan would add rent payments and cellphone and utility payments to credit ratings, which Harris has touted as a way for people without access to credit cards or other assets to establish good credit standing.

“Some people might feel that’s not beneficial,” Yee said. “What about people who may have some issues [or] miss some rent payments and not want that on there?”

“That’s a good point,” Harris said, before further explaining her plan.

Charlamagne hopes Buttigieg returns to the show so they can delve into the policy framework the mayor — who has faced increasing criticism from black South Bend residents — unveiled recently. “The Douglass Plan is a specific black agenda, named after Frederick Douglass, tackling systemic racism to boost the lives of black Americans,” Charlamagne says. “I would love to have that conversation with him right now.”

Elizabeth Warren spent a great deal of her May interview discussing her policy plans. But the most talked-about moment happened while Charlamagne was questioning her about the controversy surrounding her heritage. “You’re kind of like the original Rachel Dolezal,” he told her. He was praised for frankly confronting Warren on her controversial claim to Native American ancestry. But Charlamagne’s critics were quick to point out that he had once defended Dolezal, a white woman who falsely portrayed herself as black, and that he had clumsily compared Dolezal to Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender woman. (The show’s coverage of transgender issues has made for particularly uneasy listening over the years.)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) records his March interview with the hosts of “The Breakfast Club.” (Nick Ciofalo and Daniel Greene/The Breakfast Club)

Most mornings, the show’s topics are less controversial and they’ve also developed a reputation as cultural arbiters. That’s part of the reason they’ve risen as media gatekeepers in this campaign cycle.

“ ‘The Breakfast Club’ is like ‘Morning Joe’ for the hip-hop era,” said Joshua DuBois, a political commentator who served as an adviser, on race and faith, to President Barack Obama. “It is the place that people in the know, in the culture, go to find out what’s relevant — from what people are listening to and watching to what issues are on the minds of African American young people.”

That’s invaluable in a crowded primary field — where name recognition is key, Dubois said. “Even when you have a challenging viral moment, I don’t think it’s trite to say at least people are talking about you, they’re engaging with you, they’re weighing in with their perspective.”

The campaigns seem to recognize that — the hosts say the candidates are the ones reaching out to “The Breakfast Club” and not the other way around. And the hosts have upped their political engagement in other ways — bringing on Democratic National Committee President Tom Perez and Democratic activists and commentators, such as Angela Rye and Tamika Mallory.

Yee is slated to broadcast from Power 105.1’s sister station in Detroit during the Democratic debates later this month. And a producer for the show said they are in talks with other candidates about stopping by, including Biden.

Harris, for her part, seems at ease in the studio — pushing her policy points and playfully sparring with Charlamagne as he teased about her heritage.

“I’m traveling our country,” she says in response to a question about the economy. “Yes, people are working. They’re working two and three jobs. And in our America, people should only have to work one job to have a roof over their head and be able to put food on the table.”

“You know why that’s big when you say that,” Charlamagne says. “Because you’re Jamaican. For a Jamaican person to say that people should only have one job, that’s pretty big.”

Harris laughs and gives a nod to her own pop-culture knowledge. “He’s just living ‘In Living Color,” she says. “Bless his heart.”

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blackhatseoguy · 6 years

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How to align SEO and sales teams so everyone benefits

this tool is not for amateurs newbies don't click this

It’s no secret that marketing and sales don’t always see eye to eye.

The sales team gets mad at the marketing team for lack of leads and marketing gets mad at sales for not closing deals.

For two areas so closely tied to one another, the lack of cooperation is pretty amazing.

In fact, according to a recent study from InsideView titled, “The State of Sales and Marketing Alignment in 2018,” only 37 percent of salespeople reported meeting with marketing to discuss lead scoring.

Even more telling, Hubspot’s State of Inbound 2017 report noted only 44 percent of marketers feel they are aligned with sales. Yikes!

Breaking down silos isn’t simple, and it certainly isn’t a new concept. We’ve been talking about this for years, and while technology has made it much easier for sales and marketing to align, many companies still treat these departments separately.

How can we better align our sales and marketing efforts, specifically when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO)?

Obviously, there isn’t one answer, and for each organization it will be different. However, when thinking about SEO and sales, there are a few things we can do:

1. Set up monthly integrated meetings

When I worked in-house, the marketing team held weekly calls with the support team. The goal was to discuss common issues facing customers, identify problems or gaps on the site and ensure the marketing and support team were aligned with communication.

The same thing can apply to sales and marketing.

Set up monthly meetings to discuss goals, strategies, results and campaigns. The key to being successful is ensuring everyone knows what is happening, why it’s happening and how to address it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a marketing team launch a campaign without telling the sales team. How are they supposed to sell something they don’t know anything about?

Consider creating a Slack channel for the teams to communicate. Open lines of communication and shared knowledge equate to a more cohesive team.

2. Use sales data to inform SEO tactics

When we bring a new client on board, we spend a considerable amount of time talking through the sales process, evaluating existing sales materials, and in many cases, sitting through product demos and sales pitch decks.

We ask questions like:

Who is the target buyer?

Who is the decision-maker?

What are key issues you hear during the sales process?

While these questions may seem basic, they help determine how and where buyers search and what type of content we need to give them.

For example, if a client only sells to companies with over $100 million in revenue, addressing the challenges facing small business doesn’t make any sense. If the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is the decision-maker, their main concern is likely tied to how your product or solution will help them financially.

Understanding the nuances of the buyer, the sales process and everything that comes with it is key to creating an SEO strategy that helps drive sales — which leads us perfectly into our next point.

3. Map your keywords to the customer journey

What is the goal of an SEO program? To be found by the right people, at the right time, in search results. More or less.

Easier said than done. We need not only to understand the buyer but also to understand the keywords our buyers are using and the search intent behind them throughout the entire customer journey.

That feels like a lot!

Fortunately for us, the data found in the material used to bring on a new client, the sales process, the pitch deck and common problems can help form the keyword research process.

A keyword research process must also adapt. It has to focus on themes and intent and can no longer be about selecting a few phrases and calling it a day.

Once you have your keyword themes, you can review with your sales team, start mapping them to the customer journey, and more importantly, begin applying them to the overall content and SEO strategy.

4. Create assets that work for everyone

As an SEO, you typically have firsthand knowledge of what content is needed, what content is being created and where that content lives. That isn’t the case for every department.

A few days ago, a client mentioned she found a bunch of really great content on the site that wasn’t linked from anywhere and was only being used for sales. The marketing team didn’t know about it, and we didn’t know about it. What could we do with it?

Understanding what is out there and how it can be used across marketing and sales can be beneficial to your overall strategy.

Let’s take webinars, for example. Most companies hold a webinar, and then you never hear about it again. But what if we took that webinar and used it across departments? What if we took that one piece of content and turned it into several? We could have:

A blog post summarizing the webinar which can be optimized for search, shared across social and sent out to everyone who registered for the webinar to re-engage them.

Short clips from the webinar which can be shared on YouTube, added into the blog post and embedded into landing pages for the sales team to utilize.

When creating assets, we have to think beyond search and consider how we can create something that benefits the organization as a whole.

5. Use SEO data to inform sales

We already talked about using sales data to inform your SEO strategy, but it also works the other way around.

As SEOs, we spend a lot of time in analytics working to understand how our site is performing, what our visitors like, what they don’t like and where we can improve. We also spend a lot of time looking at search results and competitors.

How much of that are you sharing with your sales team?

During the monthly meeting I mentioned above, make sure your sales team is aware of the following:

Top-performing content themes. They don’t have to know the exact pieces of content, but if specific areas are resonating with visitors, they can push that topic during calls or share the materials with prospects.

Competitor updates or campaigns. Very few people are looking at one solution and one solution alone. They are also looking at your competitors. The team should be aware of how competitors are performing, the type of messaging they are using and any other updates coming from them.

Customer reviews or complaints. What are people saying about you on the internet? What are the positives and the negatives? By sharing these with the sales team, they can proactively address potential concerns and promote positive reviews.

Sharing information between departments will go a long way in helping the organization. While the three bullets mentioned above may not seem significant to your efforts, they could be to someone else’s.

Tying it all together

Aligning efforts across the organization, specifically between SEO and sales, can make both teams better and drive growth faster. It may not be easy to get a process in place, but if you start with communication, the rest will follow.

don't click this link and less you really want to make google puke

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thrashermaxey · 6 years

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Terrible Twosomes

The first time I ever wrote for this website some time ago, I did a piece on the advantages of owning linemates on your fantasy hockey squad. Owning the likes of Tyler Seguin/Jamie Benn, P.K. Subban/Andrei Markov, and Claude Giroux/Jakub Voracek across several seasons past, I was fortunate to go on and have success in the road to the league title(s). This is a topic that seems to see a fifty-fifty split in for and against and no side is more correct than the other, but this article is not to serve argumentative purpose. Here I want to address some dominant duos that were more than capable of being drafted in your respective drafts leading into the year and are certainly providing you with some healthy production.

Sean Monahan/Johnny Gaudreau

When I realized my good friend had united these two on his squad in our draft, I immediately texted him a very profanity laced tirade along with a well done to top it off. One of the more unheralded tandems in this league still if you ask me, Gaudreau and Monahan have been a force offensively this season with both well on their way to 70-plus points apiece by the end, Gaudreau with a good chance for 85-plus. In a 12-team league in ESPN, both were attainable in Rounds 5-7 making them each a respective steal for the draft price paid. They start this article off because there may not be a more locked in pair in the league and I don’t think Glen Gulutzan would separate them for anything which makes him a wise individual.

Thus far these two have collectively provided 32 goals, 54 assists, 227 shots, and 26 PPP, while Gaudreau currently sits at plus-11 and Monahan at plus-12. Both are giving you a nice spread across the production board while doing nothing to hurt your team’s chances through the first half so there could really be no case against uniting the two on your roster. Beyond even strength they further their collective oomph together on the primary power play unit giving you opportunities for two-point plays quite often. As far as being the focal points of an offense, these two are about as locked into said roles as any player(s) across the league on a Flames team where the talent level drops off in significant fashion beyond the top line. With Micheal Ferland seemingly locked in to complete the trio and consistently scoring goals, expect this twosome to continue paying fantasy dividends for you the rest of the campaign.

Bo Horvat/Brock Boeser

This power duo needs to be touched upon because it has more than likely been forgotten with Horvat out injured. The continued ascent of Boeser in his absence has sent the fantasy world into a tizzy and rightfully so but one must not forget that a large part of his rise was being paired with the underrated two-way center in Horvat. Now as Horvat nears his return after a long absence, I put this duo here for if you’re a lucky owner of Boeser now is the time to target Horvat before he returns, and they go on a run. It would be doubtful as an owner of Horvat to acquire Boeser without paying a king’s ransom now, but if you’ve invested in this duo it paid dividends early on and such should be the case upon the center’s return.

Boeser has remained a consistent option in Horvat’s absence alongside the likes of Sam Gagner as his center during this time. Kudos to Gagner in his journeyman ways, but he is far from a number one center therefore we should see Horvat and Boeser reunited once again for certain. Being they were playing together with an accompanying third piece 75% of the time at even strength, it’s a pretty sure thing to happen either immediately or in a short timeframe. Now with Baertschi already back, by the time Horvat rejoins the Canucks his familiar linemates will be in mid-season form. There’s no denying prior to injury Horvat was in the midst of a season seeing him take the next step, posting a 0.71 point/PG pace with 20 in 28 games played. If you have the potential to acquire the secondary piece to unite the two on your fantasy roster do so now and reap the rewards in the second half.

Claude Giroux/Sean Couturier

Whilst everyone is raving about Giroux’s revitalization, I am personally hexing him for after four loyal years of drafting him and watching those point totals decline season after season I am rewarded this campaign seeing him return to elite “Jagr-era” production on another squad….awesome sauce. Nonetheless the premier playmaker is back in force once again providing dumb founding power play production and thanks to his declining totals over the years, lucky fantasy managers found themselves getting the elite distributor in the sixth round on average this time around. He’s rewarding those savvy owners with a season that sees him among but a small handful of players working towards the 100-point barrier. Most impressive regarding Giroux’s production rate is his stark drop off in offensive zone starting percentage, going from routinely seeing above 50% since 2013-14 to now only 43.5% of the time. Despite this his pts/60 sits at 3.7 so the shift to wing although still receiving face-offs routinely is working wonders for his game.

Couturier is on pace for an eye popping 45-goals. Though not even I expected anything close to this ever from him, people should remember that on top of being a defensive stalwart he was an offensive dynamo in the QMJHL with back-to-back 96-point seasons in his final two years. Seeing ample time with Giroux and the likes of Jakub Voracek who is handing assists out like charity does play a part in Couturier’s uptick in points. Still there’s no denying the fact he is taking the next step in his own right as he’s shown flashes of brilliance like this in the past. As with Giroux, the production is impressive being deployed primarily in the defensive zone. Much like Monahan and Gaudreau, anyone lucky enough to own this pair not only capitalize on shared even strength scoring but they also are out on the ice together on the primary power play unit. If these two continue producing at their current rates we are looking at 160 points combined between the two, as a floor. With a realistic ability for 40-plus of said points on the man advantage, owning this pair is criminal. Sit back and enjoy the production as Giroux is seemingly back at full health after years of injury plague and relishing in their undeniable chemistry.

Aleksander Barkov/Jonathan Huberdeau

Aleksander Barkov is the rudest player in the NHL. By rude I don’t mean in a manners sense, but by the embarrassment he causes goaltenders. If you did not see his recent shootout goal on Sergei Bobrovsky where he faked an in-between the legs shot and ruined his life please follow the link below and have a moment of silence afterwards for the poor netminder. (skip to 01:12)

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Obscured from view in Sunrise, Florida, Barkov, Huberdeau and Vincent Trocheck are never going to receive the love they deserve across the league. All three are playing defender minutes and scoring at an elite clip but nobody seems to praise their contributions. Alas let’s focus on the power duo that is Barkov/Huberdeau.

Should he ever stay healthy I think Barkov is an essential lock for 75-points season after season. Yet with not one full campaign yet under his belt now in his fifth year, one has to hope this is it. So far so good with 41 games played and 40 points total. His pts/60 is directly in line with the season prior but his point/PG pace has risen from 0.84 to almost point per game at 0.98. This is a dominant player there are no if ands or buts about it. Now 22 years of age and filled out he is an absolute physical specimen with foul skill and elite intelligence that must be respected. Huberdeau much like Barkov has always had the ability to score but he too in all his years has never played 82 games. With 43 points in 42 games played to this point he’s on track to cross the 80-point barrier and should you own both you’re looking at a collective 150 points with over 30 coming on the power play between them. This is the most ideal pair to own when looking beyond the injury concerns as Barkov plays top pair defense minutes every single game while Huberdeau routinely sees around 20 minutes which is nothing to sneeze at. Like Barkov, Huberdeau sits now on the highest point/PG pace of his career and should this be the year they both contribute full campaigns we’re looking at the arguably deadliest duo of them all. To think these two were to be had in Rounds 7 and 8 in drafts and producing as they are makes any and all who possess the pair one wise manager.

John Tavares/Anders Lee

So does anyone still not believe in Anders Lee or are we finally done with that bologna? Dating back to the midway point of last season when these two started riding shotgun with each other this has become one of the most dominant tandems the league has to offer. Tavares with his elite vision, skill and playmaking capabilities coupled with the imposing power forward with great hands that lives for net front presence, they’ve been the driving force behind the Islanders offense. Not entirely sure of the stat but I believe it’s something along the lines of since the calendar flipped to 2017, nobody has scored more goals than Anders Lee besides the likes of far higher pedigree names in Nikita Kucherov and Alexander Ovechkin. Plain and simple Lee has become a premier goal scorer and yes Tavares absolutely plays his part in this, but they clearly feed off each other and Doug Weight knows what he has in this behemoth duo.

The beauty of owning this pair is that both came at great draft prices with Tavares attainable in the third round and Lee beyond Round 10! One off year for Tavares shouldn’t have discounted him as so but now working towards 90-plus points in a contract year you have to be confident the bounce back will continue. Currently these two have provided 47 goals, 44 assists, 241 shots, 27 PPP and are minus-5 collectively. The only knock is on plus minus which is a trivial stat, but their combined scoring is obscene. You’re looking at a 150-point floor combined from the two going forth and a real shot at 50-plus PP points! For two players to provide that ability for double point plays at even strength and on the primary power play together makes them a strong deployment. The Islanders are one of the more potent offenses in the league today and should they ever acquire something above the mediocre goaltending they have currently you’re looking at a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Trust Weight to keep Tavares/Lee together until the end of time itself.

from All About Sports http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/frozen-pool-forensics/terrible-twosomes/

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evnoweb · 7 years

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An Interview with Stephen Hurley

Stephen Hurley is one of the reasons why I love Twitter and the concept of creating a Personal Learning Network. I’ve learned so much from him, I’ve driven by his community so many times, and yet we’ve never met face to face. Yet, I feel like I know him so well.

Stephen is an educator, creator, and above all a thinker whose work and efforts have really pushed my thinking for so long. For that, I’m so grateful.

Doug: We’ve certainly never met face to face but we’ve been connected for so long. Do you recall when our paths first crossed online?

Stephen: It has seemed like close to forever! I believe that we first encountered each other virtually when I began my journey into Internet broadcasting through #ds106radio. That would have been after the very first Unplugged gathering that Rodd Lucier et al convened at the Northern Edge of Algonquin Park. That event led me to Andy Forgrave and so many others.

Doug: One of the areas where you’ve pushed me is in using more than blogs and text has been in the area of multimedia, specifically audio. This certainly has ties to your years in the classroom. Can you share a bit of your background?

Stephen: You know how to get me talking! I realized that I wanted a career in radio when I was in grade 4. It was the mid-60’s, just after the release of the Hall-Dennis Report here in Ontario. Things were changing. I was in an open concept classroom that year and the teacher recognized something about me that led her to hand me a microphone and cassette tape recorder. I recall being allowed to sit in an area of the classroom for hours at a time (well, it seemed like hours) creating my own “broadcasts”. My bedroom at home became my studio. Radio Shack eventually became a second church and I spent years nurturing an appreciation for the sound of the human voice (not just my own). In high school, I listened to talk radio, applied to become a summer reporter with CFRB and wanted desperately to go to Ryerson for Radio and Television Arts (I still long to enrol in that program). At the time, Ryerson was a Polytechnic Institute, and my parents wouldn’t have anything to do with the idea. This, of course, made my passion for this stuff even stronger.

When I finally began a career in education, the love of audio continued to influence how I taught, and how I spent my time preparing for lessons. I used to spend hours during the year and entire days during the summer months at our District AV/Tech facility, looking for multi-media resources, using their technology to create my own resources and imagining how sound, music and video could be combined to create powerful learning experiences. My assignments and projects would always include a multi-media option and I was always excited when students got excited about exploring the tools and technology available to them for creation.

My love and appreciation for media and, in particular, radio has only become stronger and I’m excited that, today, students and teachers have so many more ways to bring a sense of voice to their work!

Doug: You’re very active with the Canadian Education Association. Can you give us an example of some of the things that you contribute there?

Stephen: I encountered the CEA for the first time when I attended one of their annual symposia in Montreal back at the turn of the century. I knew immediately that this was an organization that I wanted to work with at some point in my career, but it wasn’t until a few years later that the opportunity presented itself. I started blogging for Edutopia in 2008 and it was through that work that Max Cooke, communication director for the CEA got in touch with me to do some writing for their magazine, Education Canada. I took that as an opportunity to reconnect with the organization and submitted a proposal to begin a series of podcasts under the banner, Teaching Out Loud. The idea was to raise the voices and stories of educators right across the country. Well, one thing led to another, and I soon found myself working with the CEA on some fairly robust research and facilitation pieces, including Teaching the Way You Aspire to Teach; The Challenge to Change and, most recently, the EdCan Network Regional Exchanges. Each of these projects has allowed me to move across the country and talk to education shareholders at various levels, listening to their aspirational stories and, in a very real sense, help the organization keep its ear to the ground across the country.

Doug: What prompted you to take the leap into voiceEd Radio?

Stephen: Leap is the right word to use. It’s a great description for most things that I do. Sometimes I make it across the moat, and sometimes I don’t! Back in December, I was reading The Age of Discovery by Chris Kutarna. It’s all about how we’re living in a period of Renaissance and there was one line, in particular, that caught my attention and imagination. It had to do with the idea that, in a period of renaissance, the lines between creator and consumer are blurred. Internet radio is one way that the lines between listener and broadcaster have been blurred.

I thought of my foray into the world of Internet Radio a few years ago with #ds106radio. Something clicked and I quickly began to connect some possibilities.

5 years ago, I started voicEd.ca—a multi-author blogspace dedicated to deepening and broadening some of the conversations that we have about education. It wasn’t a great leap to begin to imagine how that writing space could be transformed by the addition of a radio space.

Within 24 hours, I found myself owning a radio station!

Doug: I was pleased when you asked me to do a regular bit on there and talk about some of the blog posts that I feature on my regular Friday “This Week in Ontario Edublogs”. What made you think of inviting me?

Stephen: That was easy! I had been reading your This Week in Ontario Edublogs feature for a long time and, as I tried to imagine the type of content that we could bring to life on voicEd Radio, you were one of the first people that came to mind. Why couldn’t we use the radio to deepen the story around your featured blogs, their impact and the people behind them. We’ve never met face-to-face, but the weekly conversation make it seem like we’ve known each other for a long time.

Doug: I recall my first attempt at getting connected; I needed to really think about the gear on my end. I had the wrong browser, a microphone that didn’t give the results that you wanted, a reminder to close the door and keep external noises out, and so more including turning the fan off on hot summer days. Now that we have a routine, it’s pretty simple. Just the correct browser and my noise cancelling headphones and I’m good to go. But, things are far more sophisticated on your end. Can you share what’s in your studio to make it work?

Stephen: I broadcast from “the cave” in Milton and it is pretty simple. I have an iMac computer with a 27” screen. That gives me enough visual real estate to keep everything in front of me from a software perpsective.

I also have a PreSonus Firepod that allows me to plug in up to 8 mics. This connects to a simple piece of software called NiceCast. That drives the live broadcasts.

In terms of gathering guests in the room, I use Zencastr as a type of virtual “kitchen table”.

In the next couple of weeks, I’m going to integrate my electronic music software into the mix in order to create some original intro and outro music for broadcasts.

I’m just starting to gather the resources to allow voicEd Radio to head out on the road. At the beginning of November, we’ll be broadcasting live from 3 separate events, and we’re pretty excited about that!

Doug: The results certainly are very professional and I enjoy digging into the archived programs available on the voiceEd site. As I write this, I’m listening to your interview with Paul McGuire. We’ve chatted and you indicate that this is a personal project of yours. All of the setup is totally funded by you?

Stephen: voicEd Radio is a non-commerical/non-monetized project. Currently, it’s completely self-funded. I’m spending the first year playing with concepts and ideas in an effort to create a sense of value in the community. After our first year anniversary, I will begin looking for alternative structures, some funding models and some governance structures that work for us.

I’m actually looking for folks that might have some interest in helping me imagine how BlockChain technology might allow us to create a different metaphor for funding and value.

Doug: So, it’s a project that’s just gone wild! I do recall a conversation that we had once about the music on voiceEd. Many, including me, might guess that you just take license with YouTube but you go the whole distance with licensing. Can you tell us how and why it’s so important to you?

Stephen: I believe in attribution, but I also believe in making sure that I’m contributing to the livelihood of those artists whose work we use. My work on the Board of Directors for Access Copyright has attuned me to some of the copyright issues that are “out there” in the content ecosystem. It’s very important to me that I’m respecting those conversations, as well as the laws currently in place.

From the very start, we’ve had a non-interactive music license with SOCAN. Under our license, 80% of our station content can be music. We play very little music, with the exception of the work of some education-related singer/songwriters. But we also use music clips for intros and outros.

I’m not sure whether we’re in full compliance, but I’m working to explore with SOCAN what all of this means for us and our podcasters/broadcasters.

Doug: Recently, in looking for new blog posts, I fell into the blog area on voiceEd Radio and recognized some of the names there and found a few new names. What does it take to become a voiceEd Radio blogger?

Stephen: Simply a desire to share your thoughts and ideas in a respectful way. Currently we have contributions from some of our radio personalities, and some folks who would just like to write. I’m working on nurturing the blogging side of things in the months to come.

Doug: You even now have a Community Manager. Can you tell us about her and what her duties are?

Stephen: So, Sarah Lalonde is in the second year of her teacher preparation program at the University of Ottawa. She has been involved with voicEd Radio right from the start and has been instrumental in supporting its development.

Sarah has enthusiastically agreed to be our Community Manager. Sarah has embraced our social media presence, creating promotional materials for a variety of platforms, ensuring that social media announcements are up-to-date and helping me program the live stream each day. She is also a great sounding board for some of the crazy ideas that I sometimes have!

But Sarah is also a wonderful contributor to the voicEd community. She hosts her own podcast, is an active participant in others and is a great advocate for voicEd Radio.

Doug: voiceEd Radio continues to grow and you’ve given us an indication that it will expand again in November. What should be on our radar?

Stephen: As I’m writing this, we have so many exciting projects coming on to voicEd Radio. We have a 4-week series coming up with writer Ann Douglas, a six-week series with an Australian-born parent, Lois Letchford. We’re working with the Ontario Ministry of Education to launch season two of our mathematics exploration with Cathy Fosnot. Nancy Angevine-Sands is coming on to do some work on Parent Engagement and, in November, we’re launching the voicEd Radio Mobile—live broadcasting from events around the province and, eventually, around the world.

But those initiatives don’t tell the whole story. What started as a personal project has turned into a community and voicEd Radio is taking on a life of its own. It’s quickly becoming the open-space environment that I hoped it would become. And, as that happens, my name will fade a little more into the background and others will begin to emerge!

Doug: I am excited that we will actually meet. Plans are for us to do an episode of This Week in Ontario Edublogs live at the Minds on Media event at the Bring IT, Together Conference. It’s one thing to use your home studio but how will you take all this “on the road:?

Stephen: So, we’re looking to use the sound facilities already in place at conferences in events. A small USB interface will allow us to take sound right from the mixing board and feed it into a laptop computer. Then, hopefully, we have a live broadcast. I’m excited to explore, take some video of the process and share that with others.

My dream is to create a cadre of people across the country who would be available to do similar things at events in their areas. If I’m able to get some funding for this, we’ll be able to provide some of that equipment for people.

Doug: Recently, you had a Radio-a-thon at Voiced Radio. What was the inspiration for this? How did it go?

Stephen: Ah, 15 hours straight of live radio. What could be better? This was one of those ideas that came up in conversation over the summer. Several of us were thinking about back-to-school and how we might leverage the excitement of this time of the year to gain some traction for voicEd Radio. We actually had to expand our original plan for 12 hours as the requests to participate kept coming in! So, we began at 9:00 am and held the stream for 15 straight hours. It really solidified the community feel for this place, and we look forward to having more of these events in the future.

Doug: Even though you’ve left formal education, family life keeps you well grounded in the day to day education routine. Here’s a chance to brag about your family that you bring into our show regularly.

Stephen: It is a real gift for me to remain connected to the education system through my two boys, Luke and Liam. They are so different in the way that they approach the world that they’re allowing me to see their school experience from two totally different perspectives. Liam has a really vivid imagination and plans each and every day in his head before it even begins. Luke, on the other hand, is a puzzler—he loves codes, puzzles, intellectual challenges and the like. Both of the boys push the capacity of the system in different ways and it has been interesting to watch them grow from children into students. My wife, Zoe, is a middle school visual arts teacher and allows me to stay connected with the day-to-day life a practicing teacher. I love to think at the 30 000 foot level. My family keeps me close to the ground for at least a few hours a day.

Doug: Do you see a time where voiceEd radio gets too big for you and your Community Manager to manage? What happens then?

Stephen: That’s already started to happen. So, I’m starting to rely more on the community to offer ideas, advice and support. We’re just about to launch a request for voicEd Radio folks to contribute to a series of online tutorials under the “PodCamp” banner. We want to be able to gather together to support people that may want to become part of our radio team, but may be reluctant. Technical support, interviewing skills, bringing ideas to life, etc—these will all be part of what we hope will be a dynamic and vivid set of resources!

I’m also on the lookout for an effective way to grow the infrastructure, so that it continues to draw educators, parents, researchers and community members to this space. Lots of work to do, and lots of thinking to do. But I believe that we’re off to a great start!

Doug: Thank you so much for taking the time to share these details with folks, Stephen. I really appreciate it and I hope that people take the time to listen and perhaps even get involved with voiceEd Radio.

Stephen: I appreciate the opportunity to think out loud about all of this. I would encourage people who want to know more, or who have specific ideas about how they might become involved to reach out. Our tagline at voicEd Radio is: Your voice is RIGHT here!

You can connect with Stephen in these ways:

On Twitter, @Stephen_Hurley and @voicEdcanada Stephen’s personal website: http://ift.tt/2goSuAX voiceEd Radio: https://voiced.ca The voiceEd blog: http://ift.tt/2yvnhTi

An Interview with Stephen Hurley published first on http://ift.tt/2gZRS4X

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