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liamah4 · 3 years

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State of Philadelphia sports

***I want to start off my first blog post with my thoughts on the current state of Philadelphia sports teams. I feel if you continue to read my content it is important to understand where I stand on each team.

In season: Philadelphia 76ers

I will start with the first place Sixers with a top three, if not THE MVP frontrunner in Joel Embiid. My unbiased opinion believes he is the MVP at this point in time. When the Sixers have their starting 5 they are undefeated. You have to love this stat from the Sixers and it is a great thing to see in a season that had a shortened off-season where the Sixers had new pieces and a new coaching staff.

Finally a win without Embiid. What a win it was and it should be a morale and confidence boost for the team.

Overall I can't complain about the Sixers. Sure, there are some things I wish they were doing better, but they're in first and I'm happy about that (especially if they are in first and can still play a lot better). Saving the best for last shout out to Glenn "Doc” Rivers. The organization was in need of a fresh mind and Doc has the boys playing at a high level. He was a great hire and I think the biggest addition to the team in the off-season (yes, bigger than Morey and the Al Horford trade).

To finish off my thoughts on the Sixers, I would ask if you believe this season is finals or bust? Not sure I am ready to answer that, but the Eastern Conference Finals are a must.

In Season: Philadelphia Flyers

Just like their Wells Fargo Center roommates the Flyers are also in first place. I cannot say watching the Flyers has been easy this season. They don't look great in any of the 3 zones. D-Zone is a mess and they turn the puck over way too much. They are scoring a lot but the offensive zone hasn't been great either and they need to shoot the puck much more. At times in games they decide they want to get more pucks to the net and this creates more opportunities but also always them to cycle the puck and get their legs moving when the defense is standing still.

Although it was a couple games ago I did not love the benching of TK. Goal scorers are streaky and he started the season hot and cooled off some. Also he is a glue/chemistry guy and the Flyers are better with him in the line up; it is as simple as that. Even if he is not playing his best he is still a danger to score every night and defenses have to game plan for Konecny.

People always say good teams find ways to win when they are not playing well. That might be the case for this Flyers team at the moment. They have the most wins in the East Division despite not playing their best hockey. Further Coots (best player) is still hurt and we see how the Sixers play without Embiid (best player), so at least the Flyers have been able to win games without Couturier. Once again they need to start playing better but at the end of the day, first place.

Out of Season: Philadelphia Phillies

I honestly don't know what to think of the Phillies. I have to start with JT Realmuto. Getting JT back is huge and I am so pumped they signed him. Maybe not all of Philadelphia felt this way, but somehow it felt like we were going to mess it up and let him go. Also I believe Bryce Harper deserves to be rewarded for the contract he signed. Harper wants to be here long term and win in Philly. He has given himself to the Phillies Organization and I believe they owe him by bringing in top talent. Our next big re-signing was Didi Gregorius. This was also a great move and I am excited to have Didi back in this line-up.

Even with these recent signings we all know the Phillies still need more pitching if they want to make the playoffs and contend for a World Series title. Archie Bradley is a start for the bullpen and he should be a huge help, but a couple more arms are still needed. Ideally the Phillies starting pitchers get better on their own and improve, but I think we have seen enough of Vince Velasquez and could really use some rotation depth.

Other than pitching I like the current state of the Phillies. I am excited to see a full season of Didi and Alec Bohm and a full season with this line-up. The NL East title might be out of reach with the talent of Atlanta, but this should be a playoff team and if they do not find a way in the season is a failure.

Out of Season: Philadelphia Eagles

Where do I start with this one? I always have hope when it comes to the beloved Eagles. I crave for the Eagles to be competitive and perhaps let my emotions blind me to the truth more with the Eagles.

I do think that Carson Wentz is fixable, but I am still not sure if he is the answer for the Eagles. If he gets back to his old self we hope every year is as productive as his 2017 season, but we have no way to prove that that is the player Caron Wentz is. Let's be honest, if Wentz starts and gets back to his old self and the Eagles are winning, all our problems go away (in the short term) because we are winning. I also like Jalen Hurts and thought he showed promise in the time he got. He gave me more hope than Carson did last year.

Nick Sirianni is an interesting hire and I don't know too much about him, but I am not surprised they went after a Frank Reich guy. I do not have a strong opinion on the hire either way and I hope he is successful. I was pulling for Duce Staley and believed he deserved it. I would love for him to be the head coach down the line at some point.

Their best hope at success next year is the NFC East once again being a terrible division. If the Eagles are in a rebuild then this division is the perfect one to be in, they can rebuild and win the division at the same time. Once you get into the playoffs you never know what can happen.

We all know the cap situation is a mess and we have a bunch of older players on expensive contracts. Ideally I would want to trade or move these contracts even if we have to "lose" the deal. Howie should have been let go, but if he is responsible for these contracts maybe he can fix the situation. When the Phillies won the World Series older players got long and expensive contracts. The Phillies are still feeling the effects of that today. I do not want the Eagles to make the same mistakes and move on as quickly as possible and getting rid of the money in the short to medium time frame is essential.

After this miserable season, we have a no name head coach and an unpopular GM. Further, Lurie needs to take a step back and not be as involved. For as long as I can remember (I'm 23) the Eagles have been bad at drafting. They were bad with Andy and it wasn't much better with Doug. We need a GM who knows how to draft and we need an owner that lets the people who know football make football decisions. Hopefully the new coaching staff can light a fire under this team and lead them to first place in the dreary NFC East.

***Thank you for making it through my first blog. I hope you enjoyed the content and I will try and continue to bring interesting content on our favorite sports teams. I would love to hear feedback in the comments and any suggestions would be awesome!

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amoveablejake · 3 years

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Well, Here We Are

It is time for the obligatory year in review piece, I know, try and contain your excitement.

Well, here we are. The end of another calendar year. 2020 is drawing to a close and so like many, if not all, journalistic outlets I too will be doing my year in review. Do I count as a journalistic outlet I hear you ask? Yes. I’ve decided that I do. This is my column and I’m going to to pretend that I am a columnist here. And I can’t hear your eye rolls because I’m busy hiding behind my clicking keyboard.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how I wanted to structure my year in review, for instance did I want to go through each category in a classic way and also would I also only speak about things that came out this year. The answer to both, is a no. Instead I am going to present to you my alternative awards for the year. There will still be runners up but the categories may be a little bit all over the place so if you were planning on counting on a sure thing award winner that might be out the window now. That being said, shall we dive into perhaps the most chaotic awards show you’re going to experience this year.

The album that I listened to literally on repeat for a week whilst I was working and as result now know ridiculously well. Perhaps too well - Winner: Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side of the Moon’

Right. So. Back in April one rainy Monday afternoon I put on ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ to listen to it through in its entirety for the first time. I had heard songs from it before and I was familiar with Pink Floyd’s music before this but this was what sent me down a spiral of their discography, so much so that Spotify have dubbed them my artist of the year based on playtime. Whilst I would not consider them to be my artist of the year, I can’t deny how deep I’ve gone into their library and in particular ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. I quite literally had it playing on repeat for the entirety of that week and now, now I simply don’t know if I ever truly existed before that album. Am I the album? Is the album me? I’m in too deep.

The best representation of Seattle in a post apocalyptic video game - Winner: ‘The Last of Us Part Two’

Honestly, I know that this category makes it pretty clear that Last of Us was always going to win but that is because if it wasn’t on this list somewhere I think it might have indeed been a federal crime. This year I played both editions of Joel and Ellie’s story pretty much back to back and boy oh boy was that quite the ride. Part Two is a gruesome, grueling, revenge fueled ride that in all honesty is some of the best storytelling I have ever experienced. In any medium. It’s narrative is phenomenal, its game design is unparalleled, the voice acting and soundtrack are both out of this world and the way it looks is breathtaking. It is a game that continuously left me speechless and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I put it down. The fact that Joel looks like my Dad did and wears the same clothes only partly adds to the emotions it makes me feel. Although I won’t pretend the bit where Joel is talking to Ellie didn’t hit me quite hard. But hey, thats the game’s point. Its a story designed to make you feel and oh boy does it achieve that.

The football player who came out of nowhere to bring life back to my club - Winner: Bruno Fernandes

It has been a lot ol’ time since I’ve seen a player that I instantly fell for. Bruno Fernandes arrived in Manchester with an already strong reputation but he has completely transformed a team and shows no sign of slowing down. His first twelve months have been unparalleled and the comparisons drawn with a certain other Portuguese player who was worn that red shirt are not only warranted but deserved.

The band who I’ve been missing all my life: Winner - Niteflyte

Quite frankly, this is a very hard award to give. There were quite a few front runners however, it has to be Niteflyte. I got introduced to Niteflyte via a podcast about the CIA’s involvement with the soundtrack of the Berlin wall coming down (’Wind Of Change’, listen to it now. Well after you’ve finished reading this piece that is). The podcast only played Niteflyte because one of the figures it was investigating used to manage the band. It was a thirty second sound bite if that and it stopped me in my tracks. I was walking in my old city at the time and I had to stop on the street and find the album the song was from and put it on straight away. I have previously written about Niteflyte and their self titled album on the blog so go back and read that for a more in depth look however, if you take one thing from this it might be that if I was going to give an artist of the year award, lets just say I think I know who it would go to.

The best motion picture handling of a father that has passed away that I have seen. Ever - Winner: ‘Onward’

When I first heard what ‘Onward’ was about I was, hesitant. Any film where a parent particularly a father comes back to life always makes me filled with trepdiation and this was the case when I went to go and watch ‘Onward’ back in March (the last film I saw in the cinema before all of this). Instead, what I found was an incredibly moving and sensitive film about losing a parent that had at its end the best handling of a reunion between father and son that I have ever seen on the big screen. I have watched it a second time since and I still found it to be incredibly well done. ‘Onward’ might well be my film of the year because of it, I’m that impressed. It is also a great film in its own right but hey, I can’t deny why it sticks out in my head.

The show that keeps on getting better and better: Winner - ‘The Mandalorian’

Sigh. Everytime I think that that ‘The Mandalorian’ couldn’t possibly get any better it goes and proves me wrong. This year started off with the finale of series one and it has ended with the conclusion of the second series. It is a masterpiece and for that I don’t want to ruin its ending here. Instead I will say that it does get better and better each week and for this life long die hard Star Wars fan, hell, it might be my favourite Star Wars property. And I know that won’t mean anything to you, but to me, that is saying something.

Okay, so, I could keep going on and on with these awards however, its the festive period and I don’t want to keep you hanging around too much so instead I am going to include below some honourable mentions with a little sentence about each.

‘Anxious People’ - If I was to give a book of the year award winner this would be it. In fact its one of my top ten books ever. Its perfection. Read it. Now.

‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ - Released at the perfect time and all these months later it still captures my heart everytime I go on it.

‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ soundtrack - Look. I don’t need to make my feelings about this album any clearer. We know I love it and I hope that you’ve listened to it by now and you do too.

Diego Maradona - The greatest of all time. There’s nothing more to say.

‘The Prestige’ - Oh boy. I had heard about this film a lot from the IGN UK podcast over the years and it did not disappoint at all. Especially who plays a certain Mr Tesla. That reveal blew me away.

Joe Exotic - Watching ‘Tiger King’ really felt like event viewing and came along at the perfect time like Animal Crossing. Joe Exotic, I don’t know what to say but he has earned his place on this list thats for sure.

‘I’ve Got My Second Wind’ - I heard this on one of the early days in January, maybe the second or third and I’ve been listening to it ever since. My song of the year.

Philippe Auclair - Football journalist and singer. Auclair who features on the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast regularly is an incredibly articulate speaker and is never afraid to hold the more questionable footballing authorities accountable. One of the writers and figures in football that I look up to the most. Oh and hes an excellent singer. What a man.

Napoli FC - This was the year that I fell in love with Napoli. Theres no looking back now, I finally found my own team.

‘Uncharted Four: A Thief’s End’ - The game that showed me, truly, how good games can be. I felt like it was a crime that this game is so perfect. It feels like the inside of my head and I never wanted it to end.

My brother, James - Look. I know you’re reading this and you more than deserve your place on this list. I was going to give you a proper award but I couldn’t quite get the wording right. Anyway, the point is you’re on the list as you always will be. (And yes, you’re in the same section as Joe Exotic, quite the compliment I know)

So there we have it. 2020. Hopefully the above gives you something to think about and some things to consume over this festive period before we go again for the new year. This won’t be the final piece for the year but all the same, I hope its a bright 2021 for you, see you in the future.

- Jake, a man who is immediately re assessing the awards, 27/12/2020

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searchingwardrobes · 5 years

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Priceless: 3/?

Based on the movie of the same name starring Joel Smallbone of For King And Country. This is where things start to get dark, just to warn everyone. Yet, like the movie, I’m trying to also deal with the subject matter sensitively. If you would like more details on the content of this fic before you read it, you can always message me. But just know that I don’t like stories without hope, so there is light at the end of the tunnel, it’s just . . . we’re at the beginning of the dark tunnel.

Much thanks to @xhookswenchx for her beta skills and for helping me with Killian’s characterization in this chapter particularly. There is so much in this fic that is outside my comfort zone, and I so appreciate your encouragement!

Summary: Desperate men often find themselves in places they never thought they would go, but for Killian Jones it would finally force him to be the hero his daughter always thought he could be. The job was simple: drive the truck, don’t open the back, don’t ask questions. But Killian Jones has never followed instructions very well . . .

Rating: M (see triggers below)

Triggers: (deep breath) human trafficking, non-con, rape, prostitution, sexual exploitation, and violence (some of it involving a minor), however, none of this is romanticized or portrayed as anything but wrong and horrible. All rape will only be referred to, not directly portrayed. On a fandom note: Gold and Neal are straight up villains, and there is Knightrook (but no Gothel).

Words: About 2,000 in this chapter

Also on Ao3 and part of my Captain Swan is My Favorite Rom Com: Second Edition. You can also find the first edition here.

Tagging: @snowbellewells @kmomof4 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @winterbaby89 @kday426 @teamhook @thislassishooked @shipsxahoy @shady-swan-jones @tiganasummertree @bethacaciakay @artistic-writer @jonesfandomfanatic @cat-sophia @hollyethecurious @coliferoncer @thejacketandthehook @dassala @branlovestowrite @allofdafandoms-blog @flslp87 @pocket-anon @snidgetsafan @delirious-latenight-laughs @jennjenn615 @onceuponaprincessworld

It sounds strange to say that the lights of Las Vegas were breathtaking, but they were. That night, standing there overlooking the city, I felt like a character in a fantasy novel at the end of a long trek. The relieved sigh from Emma next to me made me think that she felt it more deeply than I did. She had crossed an ocean, then a continent, and finally her journey was over. As I watched her, illuminated by the headlights of the truck, her blonde hair blown by the wind, I yearned for her to find that better future she had mentioned. On the other side of me, Anna practically vibrated with excited energy, her hands clasped beneath her chin.

“You’re supposed to get a picture,” Emma reminded me.

“Oh, right.” I fumbled for the phone in my pocket. “Would you mind?” I asked, handing it to her.

“Sure.”

I tried to pose somewhat naturally, something that felt a little odd all alone on that hilltop. I had never been the selfie type. Emma lifted the phone, smiling at me in an amused sort of way. The flash went off, and she frowned at the image on the screen.

“That bad huh?” I chuckled nervously.

“No, I had it on selfie mode. Here, let me try again.”

I moved back into my stiff pose as she snapped another, then another, and another in rapid succession. Then she stepped forward and handed the phone back to me.

“I hope one of those is good,” she said with a shrug.

“Thanks.”

Her sister Elsa, who was leaning next to the truck beside Liam, called for her. She turned to go with one last smile my way, her gaze scrutinizing me head to toe. I felt myself blush and hoped she couldn’t see it in the dark.

Once she was a few feet away, I scrolled through the photos she had taken. My smile seemed nervous, at least to me, but it wasn’t as bad as I had been expecting, and Alice would be able to see the lights of the city in the background. My finger froze and my breath caught at the next picture. It was the accidental selfie Emma had taken. Her hair was in motion, fluttering in the breeze. Her eyes weren’t looking into the camera, but beyond it, at me. With the dark night all around her, she looked like some sort of angelic visitation with her light skin, golden hair, and sparkling eyes. Her mouth was turned up in a teasing smile, directed at me. In short, she was breathtaking.

I bit my lip, my finger hovering over the delete function. It seemed like a violation somehow to keep her photo, and yet . . .

“Killian!”

The way I jumped at Liam’s voice you would have thought I was looking at porn. I quickly closed my phone’s screen and pocketed it.

“Get over here,” Liam continued, waving me over.

The passenger door of the truck’s cab was open, and Elsa sat there with her feet dangling outside. I frowned when I noticed she was slumping against the seat. The back of Liam’s hand was pressed to her forehead.

“She’s burning up,” he told me.

Elsa waved her hand weakly as if to brush off Liam’s concern. “We’re almost there. I’ll be fine, really.”

Liam frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Well we can’t have her in the back of the truck like we planned. Not like this.”

I glanced at Emma, and the alarm in her eyes matched mine. “But I wasn’t supposed to open the back.”

“Are you serious?” Liam practically shouted. “She’s sick!”

“Liam,” Elsa said, reaching out to grasp his forearm. I noticed that her voice sounded weak. “It’s okay. It’s only another fifteen minutes or so. Right?”

Everyone looked to me, and I swallowed hard. Dread had seemed to be brewing just below the surface of my mind the closer we got to our destination, but I pushed it aside. “Yes, give or take.”

“We can’t let them know you interacted with us,” Emma added.

“We’ll take care of her,” Anna vowed as she put an arm around her oldest sister.

“I’m really sorry about this,” I told them.

Elsa started to inch her way out of the cab, practically sagging against Liam’s chest when he reached out to assist her. Nevertheless, she stood tall once her feet touched the ground. She stepped away from Liam and grasped both of my hands in both of hers.

“No apology necessary. You have gone above and beyond for us.”

My eyes darted away from her earnest expression. The three of them deserved so much more from me. When I thought of how far I had driven with them locked in the back, in utter darkness, it made me feel ill. There was nothing else to be done, however, and Liam and I helped the three women into the back of the truck once again. I could barely make out their figures in the dark as I shut the door. The sound of the bar sliding into place seemed to echo in the vastness of the desert.

********************************************************

There was an unmarked van in the parking lot of the Staylight Motel when I pulled in. As I parked the box truck, two men got out of a black Cadillac. The driver had stringy gray hair that reached his shoulders, and he wore a nice three-piece suit. He walked with a limp, leaning on a gold tipped cane. The man with him was younger and more casually dressed, his brown hair slightly disheveled. He gripped several purple carnations in one hand.

I glanced nervously at Liam as we excited the truck. We stood side by side as the men neared, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liam settle into his protective stance, arms crossed, chin tilted up slightly. I pressed my eyes closed for a brief moment, praying that nothing would go sideways.

“I take it there were no difficulties in the transportation?” the older man asked, forgoing any introductions.

I nodded. “No problems at all.”

“You must be Mr. Gold,” my brother muttered.

A smile slid across the man’s face. I couldn’t help finding it slightly sinister. “Yes. And you must be the big brother who insisted on babysitting.”

Mr. Gold turned his gaze back to me then, a challenge in his eyes. I met him with a confident gaze.

“Liam doesn’t expect any additional pay, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page, then.” Gold gave the man beside him a curt nod, and the younger one headed to the back of the truck. My heart began to hammer in my chest. Gold reached into the pocket of his suit coat and pulled out an envelope fat with bills. Before he could hand it to me, the other man’s voice called out.

“Dad, you better get over here. The lock and bolt is busted.”

Gold raised one eyebrow at me. “Really?” He hobbled over to his son, and Liam and I followed nervously. He reached out with one hand to inspect the lock, then leveled a gaze on me.

I swallowed and licked at my lips before answering. “We had a little . . . problem. I fell asleep and went off the road. But the girls were okay, and we didn’t -”

Gold raised a hand and cut me off with a brief chuckle. “Couldn’t resist temptation, eh lads? Don’t worry. It happens.” With that, he shoved the envelope at my chest. Then he nodded at his son. “Neal. Continue.”

Neal pulled up the rolling door, and Emma, Elsa, and Anna came forward. I held my breath again, praying they wouldn’t notice how new their dresses were or how clean they were for the traveling conditions. Neal reached out a hand to assist each of them out of the truck.

“Welcome to the States, ladies,” he said, handing each a purple carnation. The way his eyes raked each one up and down caused my stomach to turn, especially when his gaze landed on little Anna.

“Something’s not right here,” Liam whispered in my ear, and I knew he was right.

Neal’s fingertips danced along Anna’s upper arm, and my brother’s arm shot out before I even knew what was happening. He grasped Neal’s wrist, stepping between him and the young girl.

“Where are you taking them?” Liam demanded.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw three burly men exit the unmarked van. Two of them grasped Emma and Elsa by the arms and rushed them to the van.

“Killian?” Emma asked, her voice wavering with a bit of alarm.

“Don’t touch them like that!” I shouted, lunging at the man yanking on Emma.

Everything after that happened so fast, I could never remember what event led to the next. All I knew was that when I collided with the man holding Emma, he lost his grip on her. She pummeled him, the purple carnation Neal had given her falling to the asphalt. There were shouts, I saw Elsa practically flung into the van as she shouted Liam’s name, and Anna screamed.

But the loudest sound was the cocking of a gun.

I turned towards the sound and received a kick to the stomach for my distraction. Crumpled on the asphalt, I looked up to see a gun pointed at my brother’s temple. He held Anna in a brotherly half-embrace, and his eyes found mine. In them, I could see resignation.

“Let go of him or I pull the trigger,” the thug instructed Anna.

With a sob, she relinquished her hold on my brother. Neal took her by both elbows and dragged her to the van. I lurched to my feet, but the man with the gun stopped me.

“I’ll blow his fuckin brains out!” he shouted.

Chest heaving, my hands fisted at my sides, I froze where I was. All I could do was watch the girls’ terrified expressions as the van door slid shut. It pulled out of the parking lot, the thug’s gun still at my brother’s temple. Gold limped closer, his cane beating a staccato rhythm on the pavement. His eyes pierced me, cold and calculating.

“You’re lucky I’m still going to pay you.”

Neal and his father got back into the Cadillac, pausing only long enough for their hired gun to jump in the backseat before they pealed out of the parking lot. A sob choked my throat as I fell to my knees on the hard ground. There, crushed into the asphalt, were the broken remains of Emma’s carnation.

“Liam,” I gasped, as tears streamed down my face, “what have I done?”

#cs ff #cs modern au #cs movie au #captain swan is my favorite rom com #priceless #brothers jones #emma elsa and anna as sisters

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panelshowsource · 5 years

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of course! i love susie! here is the susie tag! i made a susie set last week!

all the submissions i’ve ever received in the past were just pictures alongside someone’s opinions/questions... i can’t privately respond to those like i can with an ask, and they never felt quite appropriate to post. what would you want to submit? you can always tag your own content with #panelshowsource and i will see it!

nope! we do have something called "comedians of the world" which features joel dommett, mae martin, nish kumar, ellie taylor, and quite a lot of standup specials like james acaster, jimmy carr, greg davies, daniel sloss, jack whitehall etc. but with a basic internet proxy, anyone can easily swap their country’s netflix account to british netflix to stream these (x) :)

hello! wow i watched that last year bc in the film miles jupp is married to james wilby (of maurice fame, you may well know), so of course i had to see it. miles is genuinely a talented actor, i recommend watching him in the new howards end and also journey’s end. as for chicklit, i just googled “watch chicklit” and it came right up for me x

where is the proof

sure! twink!john is ultimate john... the new special was a bit bleak though wasn’t it? and i can do that anon, i’m trying to make more drunk history gifs anyway :)

can u believe??

god made her incredible at street fighter to make up for her shit dancing. and good job, god, if i may say so

i certainly have — the new eps are always posted to /r/panelshow, so it’s easy to keep up. it’s a pleasant enough show if you’re liberal scum like me :)

hahahaha oh anon, how i wish i knew the exact reason. i live for frankie’s apparent disdain for james corden (which did not in fact end in 2014, because he did a joke about it in the first series of new world order)...

...which is apparently not reciprocated...

i’m sure there’s no real contempt on a personal level, and james, as a comedian, understands how and why he is a punchline to some people (and can take it). that said, i think his generally appearing “fake” in his personality and penchant for laughing a lot as well as not being a particularly clever or original comedic writer brings the groans from other comedians. after he started winning major awards is when it became particularly trendy not to like him *shrug*

yes, yes, and it depends...some comics are good presenters, some are good roasters, some are good at standup, some are good at podcasts. so ! i like john mulaney, maria bamford, bo burnham, robin williams, sam morril, and i love roast battles so a lot of the greats on jeff ross presents roast battle (mike lawrence, matthew broussard, etc). but apart from mulaney i can’t think of any i religiously keep up with!

hello everyone! yes i certainly watched it, i thought it was nice :) it was a good selection of guests and it was nice to see so many new gen panelists on one programme; i think it helped josh & james and tom & rob are such old friends, and obviously jess & james know each other at least mildly well. dynamics make panel shows. i think the format is decent but really dependent on the guests...i could tell so many of the answers were pre-planned with elaborate set ups (props) and i generally find the less obvious that is, the better, so i hope that improves as they move forward. james is also a little less weird and a little more talk show host-y, which is an odd look for him and i’m not sure how i feel about it, bc i assumed josh would be taking that role so james could fuck about a bit — but it certainly feels like the james acaster show 😂 i’ll be interested to see how it continues with different guests. i love the “how much money to do xyz” round, because i play that all the time irl and it’s hilarious making people explain themselves. but i’ll say this: like you guys i obviously really like james, but if we’re being real this is not the funniest panel show of all time aljskfhg or whatever. sometimes i think being consistently pleasant (looking at you, insert name here) can be even better than that. so that’s what i’m hoping for it!

i don’t i’m sorry to say anon. i can see select episodes are on dailymotion but it looks to me like you’ll have to go here and politely make a request. but in the meantime, never forget.........

is that a james acaster fan i detect? ;) x

haha i don’t know what kind of magical powers you think i have as a lil american with 400gb on google drive and no other materials other than the interwebz to watch panel shows, but let me introduce you to a well-known resource around these parts...

vlc is king queen! enjoy! x

right here boo! thank you for your patience!

of course not! imo you’re not asking enough! check out this tag, i’ve been working on it...;)

HMM LET’S CONSIDER...

im right here silly

f.a.q. // tags

ps. thanks to everyone for sending in your feedback on double-giffing, meeting celebs, and more! i got all of your messages and i really enjoyed reading all of your perspectives. to keep the blog (mostly) free of drama and debate, i won’t be publishing most of them, but you can always privately message me if you want to talk more :) and sorry i couldnt do original women weds this week; i had a quick surgery yesterday and i was really tired last night. next week will be really good, promise! x sarah

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saleintothe90s · 5 years

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390. Fire at 30 Rock and how Conan handled it (October 10 & 11th, 1996)

I kind of wanted to commemorate Conan’s 10th anniversary of being the short-lived host of The Tonight Show here somehow, and this is the butt-backwards day I’m doing it.

In October of 1996, fire broke out at Rockefeller Center, where most of the news and talk programs at NBC have their studios. I vaguely remember this being reported on television that morning and tuning into the Today show to see how they were handling it, because you know, you can’t run a repeat of the Today show. I seem to remember Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric outside? I can’t find clips of it anywhere online, because back then people didn’t record out of the ordinary things like this. Nobody really records the Today show unless someone they like is on there that day.

''This is my office today,'' said Jeffrey A. Zucker, executive producer of ''Today,'' leaning on a Fire Department car on 49th Street, where Ms. Couric and Matt Lauer, filling in for Bryant Gumbel, were broadcasting.

The program's set is normally a windowed studio on 49th Street. But Mr. Zucker could not use graphics, commercials and other tapes stored at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and the program moved into the street in an act of solidarity with displaced colleagues. The horde of tourists who usually line the ''Today'' windows were behind barriers a block away, where they waved and held up signs.

The studioless ''Rosie O'Donnell'' and ''Maureen O'Boyle'' talk shows were canceled, disappointing hundreds of ticket-waving fans. Network programs for 215 NBC affiliates were broadcast from Burbank, Calif. ''The NBC Nightly News'' with Tom Brokaw was shifted to Washington.

Executives of ''Dateline NBC,'' a news magazine broadcast three days a week, held staff meetings in the street, as did executives of NBC Sports, who were planning a weekend of coverage that included Yankee-Oriole games, football games and other events. Beepers and cellular phones were highly visible. 1

(The Internet Archive also has these eps as well on this playlist, look for 10/10/1996 and 10/11/1996)

The October 10th episode (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 ) start with this extreme close-up of Conan.

“We could put together a new show, but ten e wouldn’t be able to maintain our unusually high standards of broadcasting excellence. So instead folks, please enjoy this rerun.”

[His producer whispers in Conan’s ear]

“...WHAT. WE DON’T GET PAID UNLESS WE DO A SHOW?! ALRIGHT, LET’S THROW TOGETHER ANY OL’ CRAP. WE’LL DO IT ON THE STREET. WHO CARES. COME ON PEOPLE, LET’S GO.”

I died laughing when instead of Conan’s usual theme, we saw just news footage of the firetrucks at 30 Rock at 4am that morning, and other stock footage of fires.

Apparently all of Conan’s suits were locked in the studio, because he went casual tonight. But yet his furniture and his Eisenhower Mug made it downstairs.

I’m a little podunk who lives out in the middle of nowhere in Virginia. I only know this part of Rockefeller Center from when the NBC Nightly News with Lester zooms out at the end of the show during the winter and you see the skaters skating near the gold statue? Yeah, I’m one of those people who don’t know squat about NYC.

Conan’s audience looks like it was people just strolling by on their way home from work. They’re pretty dressed up to see Late Night. Conan compares them to a crowd of bystanders at an accident. Whenever he showed a clip, the audience couldn’t see it because there’s no TVs, so the audience watched Conan & Andy show a clip of O.J. Simpson from The Towering Inferno but they had no clue what they were clapping about. At one point in part 3, two people randomly walk behind Conan and Andy headed to dinner.

Conan even managed to find a place for Max Weinberg and his band too. I think they’re sitting on folding chairs. They play fire themed songs! I miss Max. Has he ever been on Conan’s TBS show? *YouTube search intensifies* Yes! Yes he has!

Oh man, I forgot about Oldy Oldeson! I also forgot about the illustrated jokes the show used to do back then:

Conan and Andy walk mere steps over to Brookstone(s) to find a gift for tonight’s guest, Samuel L. Jackson. Remember Brookstone? Such a throwing-around-money-in-the-late-90s store. I had to Google it to see if they were still around. No more stores in malls, but they still have airport stores. Huh.

btw, Samuel loved the chair. He said that Andy was wearing “Crippled People Shoes”. This also happened:

Tomari the ostrich delivered Conan an egg with the guests for tomorrow night’s show inside. Boy, I thought they had retired her by that point.

Chris Kattan came by and talked about his character I love so much, Kippy Strug, Kerri Strug’s brother. They couldn’t show that clip, but I’m sure if it was a normal show they would have. Chris did an impression of his dad watching Splash.

There was an giant owl there too that didn’t want any meat. Maybe he was scared by Tomari.

The following day, the show (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) started with the same extreme closeup of Conan. Joel announces the show as, “From next door from the burned out hulk of Rockefeller Center, it’s Late Night With Conan O’Brien!”

omg, Getty Images have these great press photos of Conan and baby Andy in their little sweater vests on the Today set:

That’s Conan’s longtime producer, Jeff __ .

Andy looks like a toddler.

I kept hearing a baby in the background and was thinking it was some sort of joke, that all they could get for an audience was a baby due to the slap-dash nature, and I was kinda right:

Conan brought in a family to watch the show from inside the studio.

Oldy is back tonight with the news.

Eric Idle comes by on his way to the airport. “They said I would be out of here by now, Conan.” He also sings a song about shopping, with is 100% accurate.

More news with Oldy.

Dang, Oldy sitting in Matt Lauer’s old chair, foretelling the future. You go, Oldy.

They snoop on Bryant Gumbel’s locker. Is that a joke on how bland he was?

Also voodoo dolls because never forget he’s a jerk who hates everybody.

Aw, Conan fed Oldy some bread.

I just realized. My icon this month (if you’re on Tumblr dash and its still June 2019 look to your left) is Lorne Michals rescuing Jon Lovitz from a fictional fire at 30 Rock during the 1986 season finale of SNL. I didn’t plan it that way I swear.

1. McFadden, Robert, “Fire at 30 Rockefeller Plaza Sends NBC Programs to 49th St. Sidewalk, New York Times, October 11, 1996. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/11/nyregion/fire-at-30-rockefeller-plaza-sends-nbc-programs-to-49th-st-sidewalk.html?login=google

#Late Night with Conan O'Brien #1996 #the 1990s #rockefellercenter #brookstone #samuel l. jackson #andy richter #fire #firefighters #chris kattan #today show #bryant gumbel #conan o'brien #conan

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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years

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#1yrago My RSS feeds from a decade ago, a snapshot of gadget blogging when that was a thing

Rob Beschizza:

I chanced upon an ancient backup of my RSS feed subscriptions, a cold hard stone of data from my time at Wired in the mid-2000s. The last-modified date on the file is December 2007. I wiped my feeds upon coming to Boing Boing thenabouts: a fresh start and a new perspective.

What I found, over 212 mostly-defunct sites, is a time capsule of web culture from a bygone age—albeit one tailored to the professional purpose of cranking out blog posts about consumer electronics a decade ago. It's not a picture of a wonderful time before all the horrors of Facebook and Twitter set in. This place is not a place of honor. No highly-esteemed deed is commemorated here. But perhaps some of you might like a quick tour, all the same.

The "Main" folder, which contains 30 feeds, was the stuff I actually wanted (or needed) to read. This set would morph over time. I reckon it's easy to spot 2007's passing obsessions from the enduring interests.

↬ Arts and Letters Daily: a minimalist blog of links about smartypants subjects, a Drudge for those days when I sensed a third digit dimly glowing in my IQ. But for the death of founder Denis Dutton, it's exactly the same as it was in 2007! New items daily, but the RSS feed's dead.

↬ Boing Boing. Still around, I hear.

↬ Brass Goggles. A dead feed for a defunct steampunk blog (the last post was in 2013) though the forums seem well-stocked with new postings.

↬ The Consumerist. Dead feed, dead site. Founded in 2005 by Joel Johnson at Gawker, it was sold to Consumer Reports a few years later, lost its edge there, and was finally shuttered (or summarily executed) just a few weeks ago.

↬ Bibliodyssey. Quiescent. Updated until 2015 with wonderful public-domain book art scans and commentary. A twitter account and tumblr rolled on until just last year. There is a book to remember it by should the bits rot.

↬ jwz. Jamie Zawinski's startling and often hilariously bleak reflections on culture, the internet and working at Netscape during the dotcom boom. This was probably the first blog that led me to visit twice, to see if there was more. And there still is, almost daily.

↬ Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society. Curios and weirdness emerging from the dust and foul fog of old books, forbidden history and the more speculative reaches of science. So dead the domain is squatted. Creator Josh Foer moved on to Atlas Obscura.

↬ The Tweney Review. Personal blog of my last supervisor at Wired, Dylan Tweney, now a communications executive. It's still going strong!

↬ Strange Maps. Dead feed, dead site, though it's still going as a category at Big Think. Similar projects proliferate now on social media; this was the wonderful original. There was a book.

↬ BLDGBLOG. Architecture blog, posting since 2004 with recent if rarer updates. A fine example of tasteful web brutalism, but I'm no longer a big fan of cement boxes and minimalism with a price tag.

↬ Dethroner. A men's self-care and fashion blog, founded by Joel Johnson, of the tweedy kind that became wildly and effortlessly successful not long after he gave up on it.

↬ MocoLoco. This long-running design blog morphed visually into a magazine in 2015. I have no idea why I liked it then, but indie photoblogs' golden age ended long ago and it's good to see some are thriving.

↬ SciFi Scanner. Long-dead AMC channel blog, very likely the work of one or two editors and likely lost to tidal corporate forces rather than any specific failure or event.

↬ Cult of Mac. Apple news site from another Wired News colleague of mine, Leander Kahney, and surely one of the longest-running at this point. Charlie Sorrel, who I hired at Wired to help me write the Gadget blog, still pens articles there.

↬ Ectoplasmosis. After Wired canned its bizarre, brilliant and unacceptably weird Table of Malcontents blog, its editor John Brownlee (who later joined Joel and I in editing Boing Boing Gadgets) and contributor Eliza Gauger founded Ectoplasmosis: the same thing but with no hysterical calls from Conde Nast wondering what the fuck is going on. It was glorious, too: a high-point of baroque indie blogging in the age before Facebook (and I made the original site design). Both editors later moved onto other projects (Magenta, Problem Glyphs); Gauger maintains the site's archives at tumblr. It was last updated in 2014.

↬ Penny Arcade. Then a webcomic; now a webcomic and a media and events empire.

↬ Paul Boutin. While working at Wired News, I'd heard a rumor that he was my supervisor. But I never spoke to him and only ever received a couple of odd emails, so I just got on with the job until Tweney was hired. His site and its feed are long-dead.

↬ Yanko Design. Classic blockquote chum for gadget bloggers.

↬ City Home News. A offbeat Pittburgh News blog, still online but lying fallow since 2009.

↬ Watchismo. Once a key site for wristwatch fans, Watchismo was folded into watches.com a few years ago. A couple of things were posted to the feed in 2017, but its time has obviously passed.

↬ Gizmodo. Much has changed, but it's still one of the best tech blogs.

↬ Engadget. Much has changed, but it's still one of the best tech blogs.

↬ Boing Boing Gadgets. Site's dead, though the feed is technically live as it redirects to our "gadgets" tag. Thousands of URLs there succumbed to bit-rot at some point, but we have plans to merge its database into Boing Boing's and revive them.

↬ Gear Factor. This was the gadget review column at Wired Magazine, separate from the gadget blog I edited because of the longtime corporate divorce between Wired's print and online divisions. This separation had just been resolved at the time I began working there, and the two "sides" -- literally facing offices in the same building -- were slowly being integrated. The feed's dead, but with an obvious successor, Gear.

↬ The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. Required reading at the time, and very much a thing of its time. Now vaguely repulsive.

↬ i09. This brilliant sci-fi and culture blog deserved more than to end up a tag at Gizmodo.

↬ Science Daily: bland but exhaustive torrent of research news, still cranking along.

The "Essentials" Folder was material I wanted to stay on top of, but with work clearly in mind: the background material for systematically belching out content at a particular point in 2007.

↬ Still alive are The Register, Slashdot, Ars Technica, UMPC Portal (the tiny laptop beat!), PC Watch, Techblog, TechCrunch, UberGizmo, Coolest Gadgets, EFF Breaking News, Retro Thing, CNET Reviews, New Scientist, CNET Crave, and MAKE Magazine.

↬ Dead or quiescent: GigaOm (at least for news), Digg/Apple, Akihabara News, Tokyomango, Inside Comcast, Linux Devices (Update: reincarnated at linuxgizmos.com), and Uneasy Silence.

Of the 23 feeds in the "press releases" folder, 17 are dead. Most of the RSS no-shows are for companies like AMD and Intel, however, who surely still offer feeds at new addresses. Feeds for Palm, Nokia and pre-Dell Alienware are genuine dodos. These were interesting enough companies, 10 years ago.

PR Newswire functions as a veneering service so anyone can pretend to have a big PR department, but it is (was?) also legitimately used by the big players as a platform so I monitored the feeds there. They're still populated, but duplicate one another, and it's all complete garbage now. (It was mostly garbage then.)

My "Gadgets and Tech" folder contained the army of late-2000s blogs capitalizing on the success of Gizmodo, Boing Boing, TechCrunch, et al. Back in the day, these were mostly one (or two) young white men furiously extruding commentary on (or snarky rewrites of) press releases, with lots of duplication and an inchoate but seriously-honored unspoken language of mutual respect and first-mover credit. Those sites that survived oftentimes moved to listicles and such: notionally superior and more original content and certainly more sharable on Facebook, but unreadably boring. However, a few old-timey gadget bloggers are still cranking 'em out' in web 1.5 style. And a few were so specialized they actually had readers who loved them.

Still alive: DailyTech, technabob, CdrInfo.com, EverythingUSB, Extremetech, GearFuse, Gizmag, Gizmodiva, Hacked Gadgets, How to Spot A Psychopath/Dans' Data, MobileBurn, NewLaunches, OhGizmo!, ShinyShiny, Stuff.tv, TechDigest, TechDirt, Boy Genius Report, The Red Ferret Journal, Trusted Reviews, Xataca, DigiTimes, MedGadget, Geekologie, Tom's Hardware, Trendhunter, Japan Today, Digital Trends, All About Symbian (Yes, Symbian!), textually, cellular-news, TreeHugger, dezeen.

Dead: jkkmobile.com, Business Week Online, About PC (why), Afrigadget (unique blog about inventors in Africa, still active on FaceBook), DefenseTech, FosFor (died 2013), Gearlog, Mobile-Review.com (but apparently reborn as a Russian language tech blog!), Robot's Dreams, The Gadgets Weblog, Wireless Watch Japan, Accelerating Future, Techopolis, Mobile Magazine, eHome Upgrade, camcorderinfo.com (Update: it became http://Reviewed.com), Digital Home Thoughts (farewell), WiFi Network News (farewell), Salon: Machinist, Near Future Lab, BotJunkie (twitter), and CNN Gizmos.

I followed 18 categories at Free Patents Online, and the site's still alive, though the RSS feeds haven't had any new items since 2016.

In the "news" folder, my picks were fairly standard stuff: BBC, CNET, digg/technology, PC World, Reuters, International Herald Tribune, and a bunch of Yahoo News feeds. The Digg feed's dead; they died and were reborn.

The "Wired" feed folder comprised all the Wired News blogs of the mid-2000s. All are dead. 27B Stroke 6, Autopia, Danger Room, Epicenter, Gadget Lab, Game|Life, Geekdad, Listening Post, Monkey Bites, Table of Malcontents, Underwire, Wired Science.

These were each basically one writer or two and were generally folded into the established mazagine-side arrangements as the Age of Everyone Emulating Gawker came to an end. The feed for former EIC Chris Anderson's personal blog survives, but hasn't been updated since his era. Still going strong is Bruce Sterling's Beyond the Beyond, albeit rigged as a CMS tag rather than a bona fide site of its own.

Still alive from my 2007 "Science" folder are Bad Astronomy (Phil Plait), Bad Science (Ben Goldacre), Pharyngula (PZ Myers) New Urban Legends, NASA Breaking News, and The Panda's Thumb.

Finally, there's a dedicated "iPhone" folder. This was not just the hottest toy of 2007. It was all that was holy in consumer electronics for half a decade. Gadget blogging never really had a golden age, but the iPhone ended any pretense that there were numerous horses in a race of equal potential. Apple won.

Still alive are 9 to 5 Mac, MacRumors, MacSlash, AppleInsider and Daring Fireball. Dead are TUAW, iPhoneCentral, and the iPhone Dev Wiki.

Of all the sites listed here, I couldn't now be paid but to read a few. So long, 2007.

https://boingboing.net/2017/12/29/my-rss-feeds-from-a-decade-ago.html

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element-effect-blog · 5 years

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THINKing Bigger with IMPACT: THINK Creative & IMPACT Are Now One

Today is a big news day. THINK creative group has merged with IMPACT, but this isn’t a traditional merger announcement.

This is very personal to me -- both as a business owner and as an individual.

In order to understand why, however, first I need to share with you a handful of moments that have changed my life.

I’m not talking about a few good decisions I happened to make here or there that yielded positive results. I’m talking about life-altering moments that fundamentally shifted the course of my life.

Luckily, I am self-aware enough to have recognized them as they were happening and grabbed onto them with both hands.

Moment #1: Sending a Single Email

After I started my first marketing company, I emailed a college professor who had a huge impact on me.

He was one of those professors you actually learned something from. We studied real-time businesses, dealing with modern scenarios; not the irrelevant tactics of now-defunct organizations.

Under his guidance, we wrote bold business plans and dreamed of the game-changing startups we would lead one day.

So, eventually, when I did create a successful solo-entrepreneurship, I reached out to him to say a heartfelt thank you via email.

Shortly after I hit send, he responded by inviting me to come have coffee.

After three hours (and a lot of caffeine), we ended our meeting with him telling me about another previous student he kept in touch which, who was in digital marketing.

He knew we had a lot in common and wanted to introduce us immediately. I left with a lunch scheduled the next day for us to meet.

Over that lunch, we soon realized that we not only liked the same things, we wanted the same things.

Naturally, we became fast friends. Then, after a while, we started working on projects together and in 2004, we opened THINK creative group.

During that whirlwind, her husband introduced me to a new designer, Joel, at his friend’s agency whom he thought I would hit it off with. He was kind of right. In the not-too-distant future, I would marry Joel and have two amazing daughters with him.

If I hadn’t sent that one email to say thank you, my life would be extremely different.

Moment #2: Watching a Special Keynote

Gary Vaynerchuk was the , and I was lucky enough to be in the audience. Some say this was one of his best keynotes. I emphatically agree.

It wasn't long after he took the stage that I realized this wasn't a run-of-the-mill “Gary Vee” monologue, but rather I was listening to his manifesto.

During his talk, Gary passionately pleaded with the audience to “Do This and Succeed” which sounds pretty straightforward and typical “Gary Vee” fare on the surface -- but it wasn’t.

He preached about shaking up your risk-tolerance and putting your money on He pleaded with everyone not to entrust the youngest personin the office to master new technology and services, but to learn it themselves. I vowed that I would accept his challenge.

He was cracking open my head and pouring inspiration in.

I remember sitting in the audience, texting my business partner that we had to have a big talk about making a pivot.

I left that conference and started sopping up all the information I could about Facebook Ads. I had been doing Facebook ads for a while, but I was only scratching the surface.

Pretty quickly, it became clear.

I found my it. I found my thing that I’m awesome at and more importantly, I was passionate about.

Facebook Ads werethe perfect blend of creativity and analytics. I could talk for days about them (those who know me know I’m not exaggerating) and all of the endless possibilities of how we can create amazing full-funnel campaigns.

My mind races and I feel like my mouth can’t keep up as I get nerdy and spout off acronyms and sketch out endless Facebook Ad blueprints...Itmakes me absolutely giddy.

Gary’s talk moved me. It lit a fire in me and informed me to make decisions that altered the path of my business. Sitting in on this one keynote made an indelible impact on me.

Moment #3: Meeting One Person

I’d heard about Bob Ruffolo and IMPACT for years. Not only was he making a name for himself in the inbound world, we were practically neighbors! (I’m in New Haven, Connecticut, and he was just a few towns over in Wallingford.)

So, while at the same conference -- where my mind had already been blown by Gary Vee -- I also sat in on Bob’s session talking about “What They Never Taught You About Growing an Agency.”

I was struck by how disarmingly honest Bob was.

I wasn’t used to that. Most agency owners I knew told grand stories of how rosy everything was, and here he was being so transparent. He was candid about mistakes -- big mistakes, organization mistakes, his mistakes -- and what he did to fix them.

Fast forward a year to a Partner event at HubSpot; THINK creative group was introduced to the IMPACT team and we made it onto Bob’s radar. He asked to come in and meet our team.

I was honored that he was interested in getting to know us because, after listening to him speak the year before, I had a lot of respect for how he ran his business and the team he’d built.

After sharing with him what we’re doing with Facebook Ads (I’ve already established how I can go on and on about this topic), he got excited.

This was something he wanted to do more of and we could be the key. Not too soon after, he posed the idea of merging.

Wait, what!? My initial reaction was a hard no.

“I will never sell my business,” I said this during a meeting with my co-owner and our business consultant during a planning session for 2017. I said this without hesitation.

Behind the Scenes (in My Brain & at THINK)

Here’s the deal -- when I do something, there is no grey area. I am all-in or not at all.

So, of course, I didn’t have an exit strategy when it came to THINK -- by way of merger or otherwise -- because I wasn’t planning on exiting.

Since 2004, I poured my heart and soul into building THINK creative group.

We started out as the fresh, young kids in New Haven who were hungry and said yes to every project. Over the years, we continued to grow our confidence and skills and honed our services all along the way.

In 2014, we had an epiphany when we found HubSpot.

It was like we found the mothership and we were home. We were already doing email marketing, social media management, blogging, and more -- basically all things inbound marketing. We just weren’t calling it that.

So, we embraced HubSpot and became an inbound marketing agency, and as I just mentioned earlier, we made another big pivot in 2016 to become a leader in Facebook Ads.

We ran THINK creative group like a family because as you’ll get to know about me, family is the most important thing in the world.

I’ve had the privilege of growing up in a family that values spending time together, helping each other, and having a good time along the way.

My home family and work-family were intertwined (especially since my husband has been our lead designer for 13 years) and taking care of both my families has always been equally important to me.

My team is amazing and they’re great at what they do.

We created some fantastic results for our clients and helped build so many of their businesses. We wanted to do more, but we kept running smack-dab into typical small business conundrums.

Even with how explosive Facebook Ads were for our clients and for us, we couldn’t seem to get to the next level -- and I wanted that very badly for my team, my clients, my family, and myself.

What was I afraid of? Change? Failing? Losing control?

I thought about something that Tony Delmercado of Hawke Media said once that has been seared in my mind:

Forget Everything and Run

It’s your call which path you choose.”

Then I realized, this wasn’t just a merger. This was a major opportunity.

THINK could become part of the best inbound marketing agency in the country and I could have the chance to build an entire team of advanced paid media specialists with the full support and vision of IMPACT.

It would allow my team and clients to grow, and, most importantly, I could create a better work-life harmony for my family.

Time to Face Everything & Rise

A few months ago, THINK creative group officially merged with IMPACT.

Our entire team and clients all became part of the IMPACT family.

I know that this was not a small decision for Bob and Chris Duprey, the COO, but I thank them for seeing the amazing potential that was there for us to join forces and to do big things together.

They saw something in our team. We felt a kinship, we shared the same values, we have the same hunger to keep becoming better, and most importantly, we both treat our people like family.

I am so excited to help build an entire team of paid media strategists that can deliver that missing piece to help create strong and truly comprehensive digital strategies for current and future IMPACT clients.

I know amazing things are ahead.

An Email, a Keynote, an Introduction -- Each Moment Leading to the Next...

Sending that one email led to my business for 14 years. Hearing Gary’s talk at INBOUND inspired me to build a specialized business that is great at Facebook Ads. And I am honored to say that figuratively -- and literally -- Bob has had the biggest IMPACT on my life by recognizing what we had built and trusting us to become part of his family.

What does this mean for you all of you?

Well, as a reader, client, or follower of IMPACT, I’m excited to share some of my favorite Facebook Ads tips, trends, and strategies with you. Ask me questions—I’m glad to answer!

And as a marketer, I challenge you to be aware. Show gratitude. Be inspired. And be open.

The future is what you make of it -- but only if you’re willing to “Face Everything and Rise” to the occasion.

This content was originally published here.

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patheticphallacy · 5 years

Text

Throughout every year, I don’t just read. As is made obvious by my Film Friday and Music Monday series, I love to talk about pretty much everything I come into contact with- films, TV, video games, music- you name it, I enjoy it!

In this post, I won’t be talking my favourite books of 2018, but I will be talking about pretty much everything else I enjoyed this year, starting wiiiiith….

F I L M S

Bohemian Rhapsody: a very divisive one. I went with my sister to see it and it was such a lovely experience; I know some people hate the way bisexuality was portrayed, but I loved it.

Set It Up: I love Zooey Deutch. Also, if you ever want to see people acting drunk and doing it accurately, watch the pizza flirting scene, cause it’s amaaazing!

Venom: this film was trash and I love it! The cryptid love story we’ve all been waiting for Marvel to commit to since the original Spider Man noughties films.

Thor Ragnarok: ya girl can’t remember if this was a re-watch in 2018, but I’m including it. So beautiful and colourful. Infinity War could never have characterisation quite like this film :]

Baywatch: I realise I’m just exposing my terrible taste in movies, oh dear. I put off watching Baywatch because of all the criticism, but I actually loved watching this with my dad. It’s funny as heck, has looooads of eye candy to satisfy my bisexual heart, and I actually love all the romances! [also Logan Paul gets dragged in this film]

Howl’s Moving Castle: My first Studio Ghibli [don’t yell at me] and I loved it! More than the book, actually, which was a surprise. I love Sophie, and Howl lives for the drama, which I can respect.

Kubo and the Two Strings: This is amazing. So soft and wholesome, amazing stop motion animation, an incredible look into feudal Japan and Japanese culture, and just left me feeling so warm inside!

Clue: I am so ashamed that I only watched this film for the first time in 2018. It’s so funny, to the point where I literally cried watching it, and I’m glad I watched it with my sister, who makes everything we watch together even better with her commentary.

The Duff: I am so glad this adaptation was good, even if it did get rid of all the sex positivity talk from the book. It’s super cheesy, but the romance is developed well, and I loved Mae Whitman as Bianca!

The Shining: My sister forced me to watch this after years of being a chicken who only saw the clips from Twister [the best disaster movie, holla] and was bored by the book [don’t come after me, my opinions on things are pretty all over the place and I stand by my dislike]. I have a great picture of my sister drinking a glass of milk and melting down all her easter eggs to dip strawberries into as we watched the film.

T V A N D A N I M E

My Hero Academia: I watched the dub and I love it. Clifford Chapin as Bakugou? Amazing. Clifford Chapin giving a whole rundown of Bakugou’s character that made me love my angry misunderstood boy even more? SHOWSTOPPING, SPECTACULAR, OWE HIM MY LIFE.

Runaways: Seeing Gregg Sulkin and Ariela Barer portray my favourite couple in comic book history destroyed me. Ariela Barer killed it with every single outfit, and she’s only a year older than me, so I’m hoping we’ll bump into each other one day and we will fall in love. A girl can dream, okay?

Over the Garden Wall: My third re-watch of this animated show! I go hard for the Southern Gothic!

The Alienist: This show is so so dark, and I still haven’t quite finished season 1, but it’s incredible as both a period piece and a crime drama. Also has disability rep, Jewish characters, a man questioning his sexuality, and a woman in a main role who kills it, which is pretty new to me for a period show!

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Uh, no offence, but this is the superior FMA anime. I’m still not quite finished, as I’m still reading the last few volumes of the manga, but boy I love the dub. I tend to watch this while I do other things on my phone or blogging, so I always lean towards the dub.

The Haunting of Hill House: Would I die for the Crain siblings and also the fact that the fifth episode at the funeral was filmed in 5 shots? YES. Did I actually die during that scene in the car in episode 8? 100%. I cried from fear at that scene. I had to go to sleep because it scared me so much. A beautiful ghost story, one that has cheap Hollywood jump scares quaking.

Criminal Minds: I included that specific poster because it has my three favourites on it. I’ve managed to watch over 4 seasons of Criminal Minds since December 1st, while I was completing uni reading and research for essay, and I honestly must congratulate myself for my dedication. It’s cheesy and not entirely accurate, but I love it anyway, and would willingly give my life for Dr Spencer Reid without thinking twice.

M U S I C

Reputation by Taylor Swift: A 2017 release I only truly appreciated this year. I had a rough time with a lot of stuff, and listening to Taylor Swift validate being angry kind of made me feel better? In a way that I don’t want people to look too deep into, thank you very much, I still uphold my Hufflepuff standing, but I am allowed to be angry and frustrated with the way people use me [thank you to all the Slytherins in my life for teaching me that!] [favourite song is End Game]

A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships by the 1975: Anxiety! Online culture! Matty singing more about addiction! I love this album, and cannot wait to see them at the O2 in January. I’ve been listening to them since midway through November nonstop. [favourite song is Sincerity is Scary, but my favourite 1975 songs are probably [So Far] It’s Alright and Medicine]

MANIA by Fall Out Boy: Fall Out Boy are really still killing it! This album has religious undertones throughout, which I loved, and it’s so loud and angry! Hell yes! [favourite songs are Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea and Heaven’s Gate]

The Now Now by Gorillaz: Really, all of Gorillaz albums got me through this year. I spent at least a month only listening to them and watching all their music videos in chronological order. [favourite song is Fireflies, but my favourite Gorillaz songs are Melancholy Hill and Every Planet We Reach Is Dead!]

V I D E O G A M E S

So…. the only video game I got into, again, was Night In the Woods? Woopsie?

Night in the Woods is about an anthropomorphic cat called Mae, who moves back to her home town of Possum Springs after dropping out of college. While it focuses mainly on Mae’s friendships with Bea [a snarky smoking alligator]; Gregg [a fox, and her childhood best friend]; and Angus [a bear, and Gregg’s boyfriend], there’s also major themes covered that I love in these small-town set stories, as well as stories in general: mental illness, family struggles and found families, and ‘the slow death of small town America’. It’s SOOOO GOOD, and I highly recommend it, especially for the story.

There was another bit of video game news I thought I’d talk about, as well as put down here certain games I have yet to watch people play, but am planning on doing.

THE LAST OF US 2 YAAAAAAY! I am such a big The Last of Us fan, so much so that I literally cried when I first saw the trailer/footage from the second game. The return of everyone’s favourite lesbian, Miss Ellie Williams, and everyone’s favourite gruff dad, Mr Joel Miller, so I’m buzzing. So so excited.

Now, two video games I swear I’m going to get to:

South Park: The Fractured but Whole: The Mysterion episodes of South Park have always been my favourite, so having a whole video game centred around them as superheroes? A DREAM. I also can’t wait to see Craig and Tweek, and Butters [who is my favourite South Park character besides Kenny!]

Finding Paradise: this is the sequel to To The Moon, one of my favourite video games of all time, so I am highly anticipating getting to this finally! I just need to know what’s in that pill bottle, okay?

And that is all of my favourites! What films, TV shows, music and/or video games did you enjoy in 2018? Anything you’re excited for in 2019?

Thank you for reading, and happy new year!

Favourites of 2018: Films, TV Shows and More! Throughout every year, I don't just read. As is made obvious by my Film Friday and Music Monday series, I love to talk about pretty much everything I come into contact with- films, TV, video games, music- you name it, I enjoy it!

#2018 #albums #anime #fall out boy #films #movies #music #night in the woods #tv shows #video games

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empty-devils · 7 years

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im frustrated

last fall a guy i didnt know was suddenly a part of my normal friend group here in town, met him at RT related events (joel show specifically) and if my friends met him before those i was unaware of it, thats where i met him. real talk i was never super comfortable around him, but he didnt seem like a bad guy, just awkward, and i tried to make myself act naturally around him and not make things weird or awkward but i was still really never comfortable around him fastfoward into the new year, hes a part of our dnd group, we’re hanging out as a group semi-regularly, im still doing my best to not act awkwardly around him and treat him like i do anyone else, its extremely obvious he has a crush on me despite me not at all subtly around thanksgiving expressing that i have zero interest in dating anyone or being in relationships at all atm, (also random uncomfortable things like making plans for me before i even agree to anything and just moving forward with them but like, friend, i dont even keep plans i make myself 90% of the time) BUT... basically i have a depressive episode, post about it here on tumblr, i wake up to DMs from him saying that he “happened” to be on my tumblr at a certain time and saw the posts and had excuses and was reaching out andddd on a hunch i checked my stats page and found that particular hit on my blog, and he’s been checking my tumblr almost hourly for moooooonths, i’d been seeing that hit, but i didnt know what it was and hoo boy it turned my general discomfort into WOW IM SUPER FUCKING UNCOMFORTABLE AND NOW DONT FEEL SAFE POSTING ON MY OWN BLOG due to rly bad past experiences and ?? so i made a post vaguely calling out this fact because i didnt want to confront him directly about it, since i wanted things to remain as normal as possible i just wanted him to back the heck off so i get FB messages from him saying that “hes sorry that hes broken” and his “brain gets stuck sometimes” and that he’ll never contact me again and not to tell our mutuals why he suddenly vanishes, and then messages our friends regardless later that day saying to them “ive been unintentionally cyber-stalking mk, im going to go to therapy and get help but i cant hang out with you guys anymore unless MK says its okay” which...holy shit dude, you are putting me in the position of being the bad guy when i am the one whos space was violated and was made super fucking uncomfortable i tell my friends i want things to be chill, i dont want it to be a big deal, we can still all do things, im sorry it escalated like this, i just want him to back off of me, and once he sorts his shit out things can be fine (there was a level of “im gonna be mia while i start therapy” in his messages to them) because i dont want to be the one fucking things up for people?? and theeEEEENNNN allie comes and visits and her first night in town suddenly i hear allie from the living room “uh that guy @’d me” since...she knew.. the situation..since it was a Thing that just happened. and the tweet was along the lines of “starting therapy on monday, too bad this situation means i wont get to meet @ allie while shes in town - i feel like we’d be friends” (or something, it was a chain, and i saw it briefly when allie showed me) and according to other friends had pretty much a tweet chain about how he likes to meet people and collect friends like pokemon? and like...drunk tweeting yes, but holy shit, and still more of this trying to make people feel bad for you when you’re the one who did the thing????? (also he messaged me again in this time frame) so i talked to our mutual friends about it since i didnt really know what to do since i was scared of burning this bridge, but the immediate response i got was “block him” so i did. i blocked him, and i messaged him and explained why i blocked him giving him the benefit of the doubt that he doesnt get that hes being really fucking manipulative in the situation, but like bruh ill put up with a lot of shit and discomfort directed at me, but involving allie made me draw the line (plus after how weird and clingy he got of me it made me really anxious to think of him around allie at all?? even before?? god) and he then texts our friends and is like “so i guess i fucked up even more,” and then told them he wasnt going to be talking to them anymore and to never message him again, so...that..was that.. but of course it wasnt, hes trying to make amends with them it seems, which is fine?? he did nothing to them, but whats getting to me now its one of those friends is messaging my new roommate about it instead of talking to me? and when she expressed “well im not comfortable with him” because..shes..like me..and nervous about dudes and especially nervous about dudes who have pulled shit like this, he was immediately defended and i just???? why cant situations ever actually be over??

im frustrated and stressed out and fully aware that my relationship w my other friends is probably gonna be pretty well damaged if they get back to being friends with him, since im already a homebody and would never be comfortable going out to environments where he is a part of the group and they know that so i just. wont. be included anymore? and that also means mason gets isolated? god i fucking hate this

also he still checks my blog and probably reading all of this too so thats great

#cyber stalkers are fucking great #i love struggling with my mental illness and struggling to not effect other people and have other people use theirs as an excuse to be #harmful to me #its great

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budgrip40-blog · 6 years

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How one can Raise Reservations & Sales together with Search engines Blog posts:

Do you find yourself discovering all the specific ways you would possibly use Google and yahoo Articles to create and match brand targets?

Odds are excellent you' ve heard about Search engines Content at present: the small-writing a blog Google My Provider dash panel element which promptly populates written content to your Information Board and individual listing. We' re continue to just several weeks in to the release of this fantastic MIami SEO expert functionality, usage of which is certainly theorized given that getting a prospective affect on nearby load up search placements. After I fairly recently heard Joel Headley describing his extremely creative consumption of Search engines Content articles to raise doctor bookings , it' s a little something I had been enthusiastic to share together with the Moz neighborhood listed here.

Joel Headley did the trick for more than 10 years when regional and internet search from The search engines. He' s now the distinct Director of Local SEO in addition Advertising at medical apply progression software PatientPop . He' s very carefully consented to chat with me about how exactly their firm enhanced scheduled visit reservations is usually 11Per cent for a multitude of purchaser sale listings by way of Google Content.

How PatientPop applied Yahoo Posts to help increase a reservation by 11%

Miriam: So , Fran, The search engines provides a official reserving perform inside their very own item, nonetheless it isn' t always easy to participate in in the will method, and yes it will keep consumers in " Google' s walled garden" as an alternative to directing the crooks to product-handled sources. As I just lately learned, PatientPop electrical power prices quickly when Search engines Blogposts was ended up in 2017. Will you summarize for me personally what your small business put together for the purchasers as a arranging motor vehicle that didn' t depend on Google' s booking method?

Fran: PatientPop desires to offer you sufferers an opportunity to make meetings direct because of their healthcare provider. By doing so, we're the Miami SEO Expert support. The search engines has already set up a small number of arranging merchandise. In the well before iteration, there had been a simpler system that had been operated by schema and microforms, that may have scaled to anyone able to add more the schema.

These days, they can be putting their certain energy behind Arrange with Google and yahoo , which uses a considerably further API incorporation. Even though PatientPop would be glad to offer you even more providers on yahoo, Book alongside The search engines doesn't but make it possible for many our customers, in accordance with their own insurance plans . (Even so, the booking provider will likely be publicized thru The search engines My Provider to the people groups, the industry tad complicated. )

On top of that , in the event you available the making your reservation for widget, the truth is two emblems: G Fork out in addition to the reservation software program carrier. I'd wish to visit a merchandise that permits your doctor being front and center in the whole process. A patient-health care professional link is personalized, and we'd choose to highlight you're arranging your personal doctor, not PatientPop.

Due to the fact we however are unable to find the CTAs unique to keep with Google, we realized that The major search engines Blogposts could be a excellent motor vehicle for all of us to essentially find the identical outcome.

When Yahoo and google Content 1st released, I tried a handful of solutions. The relationship speed was lessened in comparison with other aspects in various search engines itemizing. But , provided there was clearly pregressive grow in targeted visitors, it showed up useful, once we could scale the goods. It appeared like a handy strategy to offer booking with Yahoo while not having to check out the hoops of your Maps Making your reservation for (save with) API .

Miriam: Is practical! Now, I' ve resulted in a make believe illustration showing exactly what it seems as if to utilize Search engine listings Content to timely bookings, future your tips try using a easy shade because the appearance background to linked to appearance written text quite visible. Truly does this search very much like what PatientPop does because of its customers and can also you are offering strategies for the picture dimensions and font dimensions you' ve witnessed purpose most effective?

Fran: Certainly, that's quite exactly like the kinds of Content articles we're writing in our purchaser listings. I evaluated a few graphic types, ones together with providers, some without a wording, as well as the a lot less occupied photo with doable textual content is really what conducted the top. I came across that making the image start looking a great deal more just like a key, with switch-like textual articles, better click-via charges far too - CTR tripled when compared to images without having any text .

The whole picture dimensions we employ is 750x750 with 48-level typeface sizing. If an individual makes use of the specific API, the whole picture have to be sq . popped when producing the article. In any other case, Blogposts utilizing the Google and yahoo My Company interface gives you a choice to crop. Really the only situation I had with all the publicized model of your graphic: the cropping is often uneven - sometimes it is centre-cropped, nevertheless in other cases, the bottom is stop. Rendering it hard to anticipate when on-photo textual written content will appear. But we ensure that is stays in the center which usually works essentially.

Miriam: And, when clicked on on, the The search engines Submit takes you the client' s individual website, where by PatientPop software is in use to manage engagements - is the fact that ideal?

Joel: Sure, the internet site is created by PatientPop. When deciding on Book, the sufferer could be considered directly to the provider's webpage the spot that the making your reservation for widget is showed plus an visit may be chosen from your schedule. These consultations can be synced to the practice's electronic information and facts method.

Miriam: Very clean! While i understand it, PatientPop controls many buyer postings, necessitating the need to take care of this using of Google and yahoo Posts. Without having supplying any techniques away, are you able to share the link for the API anyone made use of and explain how you templatized the procedure of generating Content articles at variety?

Joel: Positive! We had been waiting for Search engines like yahoo to offer Blogposts using the Google and yahoo The Organization API, simply because we wanted to scale. As I acquired somewhat of a heads-up which the API was arriving - Google and yahoo shared this aspect employing their GMB Best Contributor group - we continue to had to loose time waiting for this to produce to find out the documents and try it out. So , the moment the free up news went out on October eleven , with just a couple of designers, i managed to apply the perfect solution for everyone in our routines the subsequent nighttime. It was a satisfying, speedy win for us, though it was a bit of a extended day.: )

To obtain a thing out that can swiftly, we designed design templates which might use data through the listing by itself just like the company name, category, additionally site. This way, we had the ability to establish a stand-on your own Python script that snapped up postings from Search engines. When getting the sale listings, most of the itemizing articles incorporates it, which includes identify, tackle, plus grouping. These figures are recommended directly from the itemizing to build Content articles then are submitted to Yahoo. We all number the pictures on AWS and reuse them by releasing the picture Website with the posting. Which is a Python set of scripts which works like a cron task at a normal approach. If you're a novice to the API, this challenging aspect is authorization, however the GMB group can certainly help answer concerns there.

Miriam: Actually amazing implementation! An individual query: Google Articles end soon after 1 week unless they might be situations, so might be you essentially automating re-putting up of your booking feature for each listing just about every 7 days?

Joel: Every one of us create Content articles each 7 days for virtually any our practices. That way, you can merge up the information and images utilized on virtually any exercise. We're also together with a subsequent each week publish for procedures which provide visual professional services. We'll wind up being starting much more Blogposts for certain apply kinds moving forward, far too.

Miriam: Now for the best enjoyable factor, Joel! Exactlty what can you inform me about the increase in sessions this consumption of Search engines like google Blog posts has shipped for your customers? And, will you also you should discuss what factors and products you are generally making use of to trace this expansion?

Joel: To trace mouse clicks from results on the major search engines, we use UTM guidelines. We can easily then path the authority webpage, the assistance (navigation) Link, the take a look at URL, along with the Content articles Web address.

When I for a miami SEO expert very first do this examination, I viewed the typical out of the previous 3 weeks of lessons as opposed to 4 times immediately after release. Through that period, I found nearly an 8% development of on the net bookings. I've given that included the complete earliest week of kick off. It shows an 11Per cent average development of online reservations. Additionally , due to the fact we're following each and every Website link on the know-how panel separately, I could possibly with confidence say there's no cannibalization connected with click throughs utilizing URLs on account of which includes Posts. Though guru web page CTR remained steady, expert services lost more than 10% from the clicks and scheduled session Web addresses attained ten percent. That suggests in my opinion which not only are the Articles or blog posts effective in traveling engagements using the Content articles CTA, it focuses on the current scheduled visit CTA as well. This is around the perspective of no additional item alterations on our area.

Miriam: Right, for that reason , a lot of our visitors is going to be employing Google' s Local Company Web addresses (commonly used for backlinking so as to selections) to supply an " Appointments" web page link. The most thrilling takeaways from your execution is working with Search engines Blogposts to help with bookings didn' t seize interest from the scheduled visit web page link, which seems larger up throughout the Know-how Panel. Is it possible to reveal las vegas driving under the influence legal representative notice the Yahoo Blog posts clicks are additive instead of subtractive?

Joel: The actual " make appointment" hyperlink will get a increased CTR than Blog posts, as a result it shouldn't be ignored. On the other hand , given that

Blog posts include an image, I actually believe it would be attracting a unique sort of end user, which is much more primed so that you can connect with visuals. And also since we're thus certain on any type of connection we will like (appointment scheduling), both while using CTA and the picture, it appears to be to transform perfectly. And, while i said above, it seems like to assist the session World wide web addresses far too.

Miriam: I used to be genuinely consequently astounded together with your inventiveness in this particular, Fran. It' s just excellent to look into something as simple as this little bit of The major search engines monitor real estate and ask, " After all this, how could I use this to maximum effect? " Yahoo and google Content articles makes it possible for business people to add backlinks marked Guideline, Obtain On the net, Buy, Learn More, Signup, and have Supply. The " Book" attribute is actually the perfect complement for your company' s doctor clientele, yet presented your obvious natural talent designed for thinking beyond the package, do you have any kind of innovative strategies for other sorts of provider types making use of the other pre-fixed website link selections?

Fran: I' m really serious about the gatherings characteristic, in reality. Because you can produce a longer-existed submit while placing a feeling of urgency simply using a time-bound situation. Occasions range from constrained-time delivers, such as a deal about the certain product, or signups for those newsletter designed to will include a discount code. You may use the many web page link tags you've in the previously list for any granted function. And, I really believe using the photo-as-key viewpoint can really crank out success. I'd love to see images in addition to written text Use advertising policy XYZ546 now ! with all the Get Offer key. I picture quite a few company kinds, especially reseller, may possibly emphasize their limited time presents without having to pay other businesses to promote your coupons additionally promotions by means of Blogposts.

Miriam: Agreed upon, Joel, you will find truly exciting opportunities for very creative utilize in this article. Thanks a lot for your electrifying comprehension you' ve given to our neighborhood currently!

Willing to take full advantage of Google and yahoo Articles?

Evaluations might be a task to manage . Search engines Q& A would be a put together true advantage . But so far as I could discover, Content material are an unalloyed existing from Google. Here' s what you just need to do to start utilizing them at this time to have a single position of the small business:

Sign into the Search engines My Company dash panel and select the " Posts" tab within the leftover menu.

Pick which usually in the solutions, tagged " Regulate keys, " could be the right fit for any online business. It can be " Guide, " or it can be something diffrent, like " Indicator up" or " Obtain. " Go through the " Put in a Button" solution in the Google and yahoo Blog posts sorcerer. Be certain the Website url you will get into features an UTM parameter for monitoring reasons.

Add the 750x750 photo. Joel recommends utilizing a straightforward-coloured background extremely visible 42-position font sizing for switching this graphic in a CTA press button-style graphic. You might need to try cropping the.

Additionally, you may make a function, that could trigger your report to remain survive throughout the day through the occasion.

Words comes with a bare minimum 100-individuality and highest possible 300-figure limitation. I would recommend creating something which would definitely attract customers to click to obtain beyond the cut-away from level, especially as it appears to me that there are numerous display screen lengths on distinct products. It' s also recommended that you make message of that particular Yahoo Articles are mentioned information. Preliminary testing is uncovering that only utilizing Blogposts may improve neighborhood wrap up rankings, yet still additionally there is an appealing theory that they are an prospect for long-tail keyword and key phrase optimizing examinations for a Miami SEO Expert. According to Mike Blumenthal :

"... If there are seriously longer-tail expressions, exactly where the cabability to increase importance isn't up against a lot of headwinds, then it is a alert that Search engines may acknowledge and guide raise the fishing boat for your long-tail term. My exposure to it absolutely was it did not work efficiently on go words, plus it might need some quantity of interaction to do this to essentially work well. Simply put, I'm uncertain simply the term themselves however the concept with click-throughs over the Articles could be the specific induce for this. It's not absolutely distinct still. "

You may take a look at your submit before you decide to strike the specific release button.

Your individual article will stay survive for a week. Next, it will likely be time for you to blog post a whole new one.

If you want to conduct at range across many items, re-browse Joel' s description from your API and computer programming PatientPop is going to be implementing. It may need some accomplishing, nevertheless an 11Percent increase in engagements would likely help it become worth the financial investment! In addition obviously, if you happen to be marketing medical treatment providers, trying out PatientPop' s all set-manufactured alternative would be intelligent.

No-one likes a ball-hog

I' m observing the roll-out of Yahoo and google Content articles with rapt attention. At the moment, they are going to are living on Understanding Sections plus sale listings, but supplied that they are discovered, it' s not impossible they are able to eventually result in the natural SERPs. Whether or not that previously happens, everything you have at this time on this function is a thing that delivers instant publication for the customer open public in return for very modest time and effort.

Perhaps even more importantly, Content articles supply an effective way to take people through The search engines for your unique website , the place you have complete control of text messaging. That individual fulfillment is starting to become extremely difficult as loaded-feature SERPs (and perhaps solitary success ) hold visitors Google and yahoo-sure. We ask yourself if classes children still yell " ball-hog" if a classmate will never relinquish baseball command and grow the team competitor. At the moment, for surrounding organizations, Yahoo and google Blog posts might be a useful potential for your model to handle certain baseball.

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chrisoncinema · 6 years

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The Year in Review: Top Ten Films of 2017

Well, we made it. We survived. Before getting into this list, I'd like to thank everyone who read, shared, or commented on one of my posts or videos this past year. It was a pretty monumental year for this blog and for my cinematic journey. I didn't go into 2017 with a plan to revive this blog but I'm happy I did. I ended up thinking about this very list for most of the year; giving me time to rediscover my love for movies and an excuse to watch way more movies than I otherwise would have. So let's get to the movies, shall we? This list is not a definitive, quantitative, or objective ranking of the films released this year. Rather, it is a rough sketch of the movies I enjoyed seeing the most. The movies that moved me, surprised me, or stuck with me. You can see my previous post for a listing of movies I missed and movies that didn't make it into my top ten. I hesitate to call these my ten "favorites" because, if you ask me in three months what my favorite movies from 2017 are, the list might look quite different. For today, though, I hope it provides something new, forgotten, or overlooked that you can take with you as we head into the new year. 10. It Comes At Night

In an apocalyptic near-future, a mixed-race family must protect their home and their health from foreign threats. Of all the horror movies I saw this year, It Comes at Night was the one I could never get out of my head. Whether director Trey Shults intended it or not, It Comes at Night became a meditation on many of the ills that plague America in 2017: from the failure of white saviors to a tribal and territorial fear of “the other.” What made the film feel special was its simplicity and focus. Shults was not interested in world-building or mythologizing. Without the visual formalism of The Killing of a Sacred Deer or the loaded narrative commentary found in Get Out and mother!, It Comes at Night is its own survival kit: stripped down to the bare essentials, without the fanfare or gloss of over-production. This is a movie with lace-up boots and dirt under its nails. A movie that, above all, feels like its about real characters who react uniquely to new conflicts and discoveries.

Joel Edgerton, whose face I admittedly often forget, gives one of his best performances. His family, played by Carmen Ejogo and Kelvin Harrison Jr. (who were both new to me) were standouts, and small parts by Riley Keough and Christopher Abbott (two of the greatest actors in the indie scene, Keough especially) round out the great cast. Throughout the movie I was reminded of Alien, another horror film that takes place in a claustrophobic environment, where it is just as interesting to watch all the characters converse as it is to see them get attacked by a giant space bug. Many people were let down by the absence of a horror they thought was implied in the title “It Comes at Night.” But, like Alien, they’re missing the trees for the forest. This is a human drama. What makes the film horrifying is its plausibility. Hell? Other people. What comes at night? Darkness, paranoia, emptiness. It doesn’t get scarier than that.

9. The Death of Louis XIV

Moving even smaller in scale, The Death of Louis XIV is a sad, funny, beautiful chamber-piece starring the one and only Jean-Pierre Léaud. Truthfully, a big part of what makes the film so enjoyable is the meta-narrative trip that comes with this casting. Léaud began his career at age 14 starring in one of the most influential films of the French New Wave, Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. He is, quite literally, French cinema royalty and, though Léaud himself is only 73, this feels like his great swan song. As always, Léaud manages to be both funny and tragic; equal parts ornery and charming.

The film's lofty title may not seem like the most exciting or accessible subject matter but, while stuffiness abounds, there is simply too much to enjoy in this film to pass up and I’m shocked that more people aren’t talking about it. The cinematography is some of the best this year: every single shot looks like a candlelit oil painting. The blacks are endless, the reds are velvety, and the golds are radiant. Is the movie slow? Yes, absolutely. But I, for one, enjoyed drinking with the King, scheming with his advisers, and laughing at each new, ridiculous wig that appears on screen.

8. Lady Bird

As with every new work that seems to be receiving undue or hyperbolic praise, I was highly skeptical of Lady Bird before finally seeing it. So let’s start with all the ways I was right. This is a coming-of-age story and it contains all the usual suspects: a fast-talking, strong-willed protagonist who still has a lot to learn about how the world actually works; parents who just want the best for the protagonist who have trouble communicating with her and with each other; a quirky best friend who is briefly tossed aside while the protagonist tries to be popular; and a concluding event that reminds the protagonist of some little piece of wisdom that was dropped along the way. Despite all of this narrative predictability, there’s something undeniable about Lady Bird. It works because of the characters that writer/director Greta Gerwig has crafted. An incredibly gifted, funny performer in her own right, Gerwig understands that no relationship is black and white. The best scenes feature Saoirse Ronan’s titular Lady Bird and her mother, played by Laurie Metcalf. Though their relationship is often contentious, at a moment’s notice the two act like the best of friends. They are too similar to be compatible and yet it is this resemblance that keeps them together. If that’s not an accurate, human depiction of mother-daughter relationships, I don’t know what is. In the end, Lady Bird is endearing, warm, and human – genuinely funny and genuinely moving. Gerwig didn’t reinvent the coming-of-age dramedy, but she came close to perfecting it.

7. After the Storm

If you enjoyed the familial drama of Lady Bird, I highly recommend watching the criminally ignored Japanese film After the Storm. The movie centers on a dead-beat, divorced dad trying to reconnect with his young son and ex-wife – well, kind of trying. The film’s lead, Hiroshi Abe, is basically Gob Bluth from Arrested Development: he’s lazy and selfish but is able to skate by on his charm, social flexibility, and a bit of self-deprecation. Like Lady Bird, After the Storm is full of complex, three-dimensional characters, tenuous family dynamics, and lived-in wisdom that never feels hacky. Hirokazu Kore-eda shoots the film without pretension, keeping a careful eye on the little details of everyday life. It doesn’t have the pep of an American dramedy so many viewers might find their minds starting to wander but, like 2016’s Paterson or Kore-eda’s predecessor Yasujiro Ozu, After the Storm has a lot to offer if you’re in a receptive mood. Pair with tea and a rainy day (a monsoon, if you’ve got it).

6. Good Time

Good Time is a travelling carnival. It’s a fever-dream that feels familiar even though you never know exactly what you’re going to see. The music and lights are dizzying, the air is full of weed, sweat, and old cigarettes, and everyone is inexplicably dressed like it’s the 90s. Need I say more?

I didn’t know what to expect from Good Time having seen none of the Safdie Brothers’ earlier films, but I was intrigued by the trailer. The film did not disappoint. Beginning with a bank heist gone bad, Good Time is the story of two brothers played by Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie. As many have noted, the film owes a lot to the 1970s cinema of Scorsese and Lumet but there’s an immediacy to the filming that feels unmistakably modern. Just when the gritty realism sinks in, the movie blasts into space thanks to a bold score from experimental producer Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never). It’s one of the best scores of the year, featuring a gut-wrenching, original song from Lopatin and Iggy Pop. The cinematography is equally manic: mid-winter greys mix with neon lights and vibrant reds. The Safdies keep their camera dangerously tight – detailing the desperation on a nearly-unrecognizable Robert Pattinson (and we’ll see him again before this list is over). Twilight? Never heard of it. You’re witnessing a movie star – a direct descendent of Pacino or De Niro. Good Time is grimy, thrilling, and occasionally very funny. Like all carnival rides, I went home feeling nauseous, head-pounding, and in need of a tetanus shot.

5. Columbus

Columbus is a movie so personal to me that I can barely talk about it objectively – I kind of feel like I made it (but I can assure you I did not). The first feature by video essayist Koganada, Columbus is a movie about love, loss, and architecture so genuine it makes (500) Days of Summer look like the sloppy, insincere mess that it is. The film’s success is largely due to its two leads: Haley Lu Richardson, who I had never seen before but fell in love with immediately, and John Cho who is now, unarguably, a leading man. The third star of the film is modern architecture by the likes of Eliel and Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, and SOM.

Without giving away too much, Richardson’s Casey is a student who meets Cho’s Jin, a visitor to Columbus, Indiana: architectural mecca of the Midwest. Many of you don’t (and couldn’t) know that I went to school to study architecture. I, like Jin, skeptically engaged with bright, young minds like Casey and questioned what architecture really meant to culture, to a city, and to me. Why does architecture matter? That’s a question I’m still answering but I can tell you this: we need spaces of reflection, communion, and discourse. The best architecture provides that. Columbus is the proof. I’m so pleased that this film has made a number of year-end lists. It’s a little film about a simple story and, like the best architecture, I look forward to exploring it again.

4. Nocturama

Nocturama is perplexing, modern, and gripping from the first minute. Nocturama is the story of a small group of French radicals who plan a coordinated attack on Paris. Nocturama asks a lot of questions – Who are these people? How did they meet? Why did they choose to become terrorists? – but if you’re looking for answers, look elsewhere.

What makes Nocturamaso exciting is the immediate immersion in the intricacies of the plot. There is no Ocean’s Eleven-style voiceover guiding you through the plan, no diatribe or manifesto to take in, just the cold, hard act. Bertrand Bonello’s ensemble piece is a commentary on luxury, privilege, and the rebellious naiveté of youth. It’s also impossibly cool: our anti-heroes smoke, dance, and listen to pop music. They’re kids – just like the ones on your street, in your school, at your mall – and that’s what makes the film so challenging, scary, and dangerous. It’s easy to characterize terrorism as a foreign offense. Nocturama doesn’t want to be easy but if you’re not careful, it might seduce you. Nocturama lights a fuse and dares you to enjoy the flames. Either way, your palms will be sweating.

3. The Lost City of Z

I’ve been critical of James Gray’s big, melodramatic films in the past but with his most recent work, I finally got it. The Lost City of Z stars Charlie Hunnam – in what is far-and-away his best performance – as Percy Fawcett, a 20th century explorer searching the Amazon for the titular city of Z. It’s hard to describe exactly why this film works so well. Like the old epics of David Lean, we follow Fawcett from his humble beginnings as a promising, young military officer, we learn and struggle with him, we return with him, after his numerous expeditions, to see his family growing and changing.

The Lost City of Z offers a whole lot to take in and it’s a testament to the editing that this 141 minute voyage moves along as breezily as it does while also never feeling rushed. What helps keep the story going is breathtaking camera work by cinematographer Darius Khondji and a great cast that includes Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, and Ian McDiarmid. Films like this don’t feel like they should exist anymore – The Lost City of Z is sprawling and beautiful but also quite smart: evoking questions of colonialism, masculinity, and the personal price of one’s work. It’s not perfect, but it’s a rare gem in a field of plastic.

2. Personal Shopper

Personal Shopper was one of the most unique theater-going experiences for me in 2017. It was a Wednesday evening when I spontaneously decided to drive half an hour to the only theater showing Olivier Assayas’ latest film. It was playing in a single auditorium – and a small one at that. I arrived early, as I always do, and waited for the few other moviegoers to trickle in. But they never did. And so I was treated to a personal screening of one of my favorite movies of the year. A movie that, rather fittingly, serves as a meditation for loneliness, isolation, and the vulnerability of predation.

Personal Shopper stars Kristen Stewart as a self-proclaimed medium trying to make contact with her deceased twin brother. Less of a horror film and more a dramatic character study, if you were ever doubtful of Stewart’s acting chops, this film should convince you. I was completely transfixed by her performance. She, and I say this without a hint of irony, is our James Dean. Sporting a leather jacket and a cool, androgynous demeanor, Stewart’s Maureen Cartwright is everyone who has ever slouched with hands stuffed deep in their pockets, anyone whose hands have shaken from an unexpected text message, anyone who’s had the eerie feeling of being watched by someone just out of reach. Personal Shopper is all about atmosphere: chilling, evocative, and sensual. I suppose I understand how people looking for plot-points found this film messy and inaccessible. As for me, though, I’ll be chasing the specter of that first screening. Going to the movies is a kind of séance and I’m thankful to Olivier Assayas for showing us a visionary Kristen Stewart.

1. Dunkirk

I know it’s basically a cliché to even talk about Christopher Nolan at this point, but this is where we find ourselves. NOLAN. BROS. FOREVER. Christopher Nolan doesn’t just make films as if each one is the last he’ll make. He makes films as if they’re the last film that will ever be made. Dunkirk is an absolute spectacle and it is, by far, Nolan’s best work to date.

As I’ve discussed before, Nolan came to prominence at the same time I was discovering film. I was in awe of The Dark Knight and Inception when they came out, but by the time The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar were released, my fan-boy-dom had faded. Interstellar is a very good but very flawed movie. It wants so badly to capture the humanity of early Spielberg and the grandeur of Kubrick but, sadly, fails to reach either. Still, the best decision Nolan ever made was swapping out his longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister for Hoyte Van Hoytema. Van Hoytema, who has done great work with the likes of Tomas Alfredson and Spike Jonze, brought a much needed flair for richness to Nolan’s pragmatic sensibilities. With Dunkirk, finally, there is a rich screenplay to match.

It seems Nolan actually listened to the critics who, for years, decried his overly-expositional dialogue and choppy editing. Dunkirk, not unlike Kubrick’s 2001 is pure visual storytelling. The difference is that Nolan was still determined to tell an intimate, human story and, calling upon the cinema gods from Murnau to Hitchcock, he did it.

There was no cinematic experience more breathtaking this year than seeing Dunkirk in IMAX. The sound design is so fierce and the score is so relentless it felt like a deep tissue massage for my brain. I left the theater after each successive viewing feeling invigorated in a way no film has affected me before. Nolan has always tried to make films that could capture the attention and imagination of any viewer (that’s why it was so important for this film to have a PG-13 rating) and he finally did it. The structural experimentation that Nolan was known for from the start is used here to turn the entire film into one of his signature, cross-cut sequences: one long, thrilling crescendo. And he did it all, God bless him, in under two hours.

Nolan-mainstays Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy are as cool as they’ve ever been, and seasoned pros Mark Rylance and Kenneth Branagh bring much-needed warmth and pathos, but the film belongs to the new faces that Nolan introduces: Fionn Whitehead, Aneurin Barnard, Tom Glynn-Carney, Barry Keoghan, and, of course, Harry Styles. They are the young men who have history thrust upon them – dropped into a giant, dangerous world with the weight of a nation on their shoulders. And they fail. They fail their mission and, occasionally, they fail each other. They return home distraught, ashamed, and confused.

“All we did was survive,” they say.

“That’s enough.”

Perseverance is noble. Support is bravery. Survival is victory. That’s Dunkirk’s message. It’s the one we needed this year.

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fadingfartconnoisseur · 7 years

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AK Monthly Recap: July 2017

There’s nothing like summer in the city, feeling droplets fall on you and wondering if it’s pee.

I kid, I kid. At least 10% of the time I’m certain someone’s spitting out their window.

I spent almost all of the month sleeping in my own bed in New York, only leaving to visit the Keys for five days. Here are the best and worst happenings of July 2017!

Destinations Visited

New York, Amagansett, Montauk, East Hampton, Sagaponack, and Bridgehampton, New York

Key Largo, Grassy Key, Marathon, Big Pine Key, Stock Island, and Key West, Florida

Favorite Destination

KEY WEST. Man, do I love that place. So much fun, so chilled out, so beautiful, and as wacky as ever with all the Hemingways.

Highlights

A fabulous trip to the Florida Keys. I just wrote about the trip in depth, so I won’t repeat myself here, but the biggest highlight was hanging out with all the Hemingways at the lookalike contest!

My first real Fourth of July barbecue in years. I’ve been traveling so often on the Fourth of July, and when I’m at home, I usually hang out in Boston or go to a Red Sox game, so this was unusual! But my friend and her husband bought a house with a yard in Brooklyn this year, so yeah, they were kind of contractually obligated to invite all their friends over.

At that barbecue I was introduced to Secret Hitler. Have you ever played that game? It’s an insanely fun party game made by the Cards Against Humanity people. Think Clue plus politics. There’s nothing like celebrating your country’s birthday by accusing everyone of being fascists!

Hanging with blogger friends — and Miss Marcella. I keep joking that New York is the new Chiang Mai because so many travel bloggers pass through! This month, Steph from Why Wait to See The World (formerly Twenty-Something Travel) and Mike from Art of Adventuring visited for a few days with their 11-month-old baby Marcella. We met up with Jodi of Legal Nomads and former blogger Joel. Fun fact: I have partied with all of them in Thailand.

Steph and Mike are two of the blogger friends I’ve known the longest, so it was amazing to meet their baby. She’s definitely a kid of the 2010s — she smiles big as soon as you aim a phone at her! I hope to hang with the three of them (but let’s be honest, mostly Marcella) once they move to Bologna this fall. Like I need an excuse to drop by my favorite Italian city…

Celebrating a special bachelorette. A travel blogger friend celebrated her bachelorette party in New York this month and I got to plan a lot of it! While she was open about it being her bachelorette on social media, I’ll let her tell the story on her blog when the time is right.

Drinking on the Staten Island Ferry. This is my new favorite thing to do in New York. Did you know that it’s totally fine to drink on the Staten Island Ferry? They sell beer in both terminals and you don’t even need to brown-bag them. My friend Matt loves to do this and he invited all his friends to join him on his birthday.

The result? Around 25 of us rode the ferry four times in total, drank a variety of beers and ciders, ate cookies, visited the Flagship Brewery in Staten Island, and had a grand time! Matt even made us cozies that read “I don’t start partying — I keep partying.” SO MUCH FUN.

A fun day trip to Montauk and the Hamptons. My friends Beth and Colleen and I drove all the way out to Montauk, which is a bit ambitious for a day trip from New York (you should really stay overnight), but we had a blast anyway! I’ve wanted to visit Montauk since I got into The Affair, and we visited several sites from the show, including the Lobster Roll, the restaurant where many key scenes take place.

I really liked Montauk, even though we didn’t have the best weather. It’s very casual and down-to-earth, albeit quite expensive. Also expensive but much fancier were East Hampton and Bridgehampton, which feel like New York transplanted to the beach — LOVED it. Also, there was a guy with four border collie puppies and I got to play with them.

Later the weather cleared up and we stopped at the gorgeous Wolffer Estate Vineyards for a tasting. The single best dish I ate this month was the lobster spaghetti at Almond in Bridgehampton — perfectly cooked pasta with lobster claw meat, red scallions, grilled cabbage, lemon, crushed red pepper, and parmesan. There’s one in Manhattan, too!

Visiting the Museum of Broken Relationships display in New York. I visited the actual museum in Zagreb years ago and loved it, so I was delighted to hear the exhibit was coming to Flatiron for two days. It featured artifacts from New Yorkers’ past relationships and the stories behind them.

Challenges

I went through the biggest tech headache of my 7.5-year blogging career this month. My site was attacked twice by a Russia-based operation that disguised their traffic to make it look like it was coming from all over the world.

Not only did this shut down and block a lot of you from the site, I also took a financial hit. My display ads stopped running due to the influx of poor quality traffic and I had to pay a lot out of pocket to get the issues fixed.

And not only that — it took several teams of tech professionals weeks to figure out how to block the attack. Finally, the team at Sucuri figured it out and shut it down. If you run a website for business, I highly recommend you get protection with Sucuri so you’re prepared in case an attack happens to you. Their basic plan is just $9.99 per month.

Anyway, I went through hell and back this July. I’m glad to now have my site in the hands of the team at Performance Foundry, who are making my life infinitely easier by handling the site, protecting it, as well as managing myriad tech issues I never dreamed existed.

We had a weird encounter in the Hamptons. While at dinner at Almond, we sat down next to a table of slightly intoxicated men around our age. One made a comment along the lines of, “Sorry our friends are drunk,” and Beth said something innocuous like, “Oh, that’s fine with us.”

Well. We think that they might have misheard her, because that’s the only explanation for what happened next! They started glaring at us, making snide comments to each other about us. Then one leaned over and said, “You’re in town for the weekend? Oh, that’s CUUUUUTE. I live here.”

What the fuck?! Seriously?

Colleen and Beth and I looked at each other with giant fake smiles on our faces, unsure of what to say to each other. The men were sitting so close to us that they would hear everything we said. Eventually I started telling stories about Scrooge McDuck and we started talking about…that. Every time we laughed, their table would swivel their heads toward us and glare. One even banged his head on our table and pretended it was an accident.

The men left when our entrees came and as soon as they were gone, we exploded. What was their problem? Why would you treat strangers like that? What did they think she had said? We had been afraid to move or say anything because we didn’t know what they would do next and it looked like they were friends with our waiter. Just such a bizarre experience.

The “summer of hell” on New York transit. A lot of construction is taking place this summer, especially at Penn Station, and the trains are running slow and less often. 1 trains aren’t running to my stop on the weekend this summer, and on two different weeknights it took me two hours to get home from Brooklyn. This reminded me of how grateful I am not to have to commute to work, though.

Most Popular Instagram Photo

If you’ve got a purple sunset on Instagram, it will clobber the rest of your photos. This was taken in Key Largo.

For more live updates from my travels, follow me on Instagram at @adventurouskate!

Fitness Update

“What do you want out of this training?” my trainer Gayle asked me this month.

“Are you kidding? I’m just to look good!” I told her. “This is purely aesthetic!”

She laughed. “So how would you like to look in particular?”

“Sexy arms.”

“We can do arms!”

“Can we do the arms of Michelle Obama?”

And that’s why I’ve been doing a lot of work on my arms and shoulders this month.

What I Read This Month

I went overboard on books this month, and yes, it’s actually possible to do that. I read 10 books, including the 1100-page behemoth 1Q84. For four days in a row, I read four books cover to cover. It was too much — my brain felt fried and I couldn’t write.

The good news is that I’m on track to finish the 2017 PopSugar Book Challenge next month! Only six books remain! Here’s what I read in July:

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (2017) — This is the best book I’ve read this year and the one I’ve been recommending to everyone I know. The story is narrated by sixteen-year-old Starr. She’s black and lives with her family in the inner city while attending a mostly white prep school in a wealthy suburb. It’s hard enough maintaining two different identities in two very different environments. Then one night, she’s driving home with her friend Khalil when he’s pulled over by the police and shot to death for no reason. Starr is the only witness and she has to decide whether or not to speak up.

What I love about this book is that it’s not only topical and relevant, but it’s also beautifully told. Every character is so perfectly formed, you fall in love with each of them, and Starr’s family is one of my favorite families in literature. I didn’t want to say goodbye to them.

I believe in the power of literature to teach compassion and empathy. An academic study has shown this. For that reason, The Hate U Give could be instrumental in raising kids who grow up to fight the shameful racism that engulfs our country. If you’re a parent, an aunt- or uncle-type figure, or a teacher, I encourage you to introduce this book to the teenagers in your life. I hope to see it become a classic. Category: a book that’s published in 2017.

Bleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World by Nell Stevens (2017) — Have you ever thought that you could easily write a book if you didn’t have any distractions? Going on that premise, Nell Stevens was finishing her MFA and had the option to go anywhere in the world on a three-month writing fellowship. Rather than Europe or Southeast Asia, she chose to go to the Falkland Islands — specifically, an island with no one else on it. In winter. How could she not write a book in those conditions?

Well, things did not go to plan. Turns out living completely alone on a stormy island, having no social contact with anyone, dealing with nonfunctional internet, and surviving on 1100 calories per day is neither healthy nor sustainable and won’t make you a better writer. She tells several story fragments in the memoir, but none of them had potential to become a longer work. I found this book utterly delightful and one of my favorite reads of the year. If you’re a writer or blogger, I highly recommend you give this one a read! Category: a book that is a story within a story.

Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton (2012) — This is a book that I’ve wanted to read for quite some time. My sister loves it and Anthony Bourdain considers it the best chef memoir of all time. This book tells the stories of Hamilton’s life leading up to her career as the chef and owner of Prune in the East Village, from family lamb roast parties as a child in New Jersey to cocaine- and larceny-fueled years as a waitress in Manhattan to living and cooking with her husband’s family in Puglia each summer.

The best memoirs are interesting stories told in an interesting way, and this book fits the bill. The layers upon layers of details are fascinating, and if you love food, you’ll appreciate everything Hamilton has to say. I love memoirs about work, whether they’re about cooking or comedy or writing or being Richard Branson, but I have to say that the book’s weak points are the parts about Hamilton’s relationships with her mother and especially her husband. Perhaps that’s not fair of me to say, as both her mother and her husband had a huge impact on her love of food and subsequent career. But I found they put a big damper on what was otherwise a wonderful book. Category: a book about food.

The Riddle of Penncroft Farm by Dorothea Jensen (1989) — Back in the fifth grade, I read Baby-Sitters Club books voraciously. My teacher called them “taco chip books” (that made me furious) and demanded that I read something more substantial. She recommended this book, I read it and enjoyed it immensely, and I’ve always remembered it fondly. So when it came time to read a book from my childhood, I chose to revisit this one.

Lars is a kid who moves to his great-aunt’s farm in rural Pennsylvania, not far from Valley Forge. His eccentric aunt is a Revolutionary War buff and avid bamboozler. Soon Lars is visited by Geordie, a ghost (or shade, as he says!) who was his age during the Revolution and tells Lars his stories so he can unravel a mystery to protect his family. This book is such an engaging read about a subject kids are likely studying in school and it’s a great book to get them interested in history. Category: a book you loved as a child.

Black Dog Summer by Miranda Sherry (2014) — I picked this book up at Shakespeare and Company in Paris a few years ago, but it’s been sitting on my shelf forever, so I decided to finally read it now. Sally is living in the South African bush with her daughter when she’s attacked and murdered by intruders. But Sally doesn’t die properly — she stays on as a spirit, drifting alongside her daughter as she moves in with her aunt’s family. Soon Sally must use her powers to save her daughter and her family.

I did enjoy reading this book from a narrative perspective, but I never would have chosen it today. I love South Africa and this is not the point of view of South Africa that I like. In a country that is only 8.4% white*, yet where whites hold enormous economic privilege and wealth, this is a story about almost exclusively white people where the only black characters are witch doctors or murderers. If you want to read a more inclusive, nuanced book about South Africa and South Africans, I suggest you read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, one of my favorite reads of the year so far. Category: a book with one of the four seasons in the title.

Hunger: A Memoir of My Body by Roxane Gay (2017) — This memoir has been in the news a lot this year, and for good reason. It broke all the rules. It doesn’t have a plot or much of a structure. It doesn’t involve a transformation. And it’s not an inspirational tale — not remotely. In fact, it’s very sad and never rises or falls in tone from beginning to end.

Gay writes frankly about living as an obese person today. Her weight issues began after she was sexually assaulted as a twelve-year-old; she wanted to make herself “big” and thus “safe.” Her words about trying to be accepted by her family and society, searching for peace in herself, and finding and losing love will break your heart. Gay is known for her intersectional writing, and she covers many angles of being a queer obese woman of color, as well as the daughter of immigrant parents. This book will give you new levels of compassion. Category: a book about an interesting woman.

From Pavlova to Pork Pies by Vicki Jeffels (2016) — I met Vicki and her husband at a conference in 2012 and was captivated by their love story. She was a recently divorced Kiwi and mom of three who went on holiday to Paris; while there, she met a younger Englishman, fell in love with him, moved to England with her kids, and got married. This book is a loose fictionalization of their journey — unlikely romance, family-blending, transcontinental move, and jumping through immigration hoops.

I enjoyed reading this book, in part from a dying-to-know perspective of their crazy love story. That said, the book isn’t professionally edited, and there are issues — for example, the tense switches back and forth between past and present, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. But if you’re willing to overlook that, this is a lovely little love story, especially if you’re interested in transcontinental romances and blending families. Category: a book by an author from a country you’ve never visited.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (2009-2010) — What a strange book. I’m still not sure how I feel about it or whether I think it’s a good book, but it’s unforgettable, that’s for sure. What is 1Q84 about? It’s a descent into a parallel world, told from the point of view of two thirty-year-old narrators living in Tokyo. It involves a love story, a vigilante assassin, a gifted ghostwriter, a powerful cult, and some fantasy and science fiction elements tying it together. Magical realism? Sure. And it’s 1100 pages long.

My biggest issue is that Murakami, like many male authors, has his female protagonist talk about her breasts constantly. Come on, dude. In addition to that, so many questions go unanswered and critical moments in the plot are rammed through quickly while dozens of paragraphs are devoted to the mundane (like all the unnecessary food preparation scenes).

But you know what? I couldn’t stop reading it. And I enjoyed it immensely. So I encourage you to go for it, and don’t let the long length intimidate you — it reads very quickly. Category: a book that’s more than 800 pages.

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (2015) — I’m glad I started reading poetry again — this is my second volume this year. Rupi Kaur tells poems drawn from her life, divided into four categories: “the hurting,” “the loving,” “the breaking” and “the healing.” These poems are simple, touching, familiar, and accompanied by Kaur’s drawings.

he says i am sorry i am not an easy person to love i look at him surprised who said i wanted easy i don’t crave easy i crave goddamn difficult

I dare you not to relate to these poems. Category: a book with pictures.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017) — Well, this might be the most original concept of a book I have ever read — and also one of the batshit craziest. In 1862, one year into the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln’s 11-year-old son Willie died of a fever. After Willie was interred, Lincoln returned to the crypt at night to hold his son’s body. This book is a fictionalization of that night — told through dozens of voices of spirits in the bardo, which Tibetans believe is the waiting place before spirits move on to the next world.

Imagine dozens of spirits who have no idea they’re dead, jabbering on about the unresolved issues in their past lives, fighting with each other, arguing like mad, spouting gibberish as evil forces try to overtake them. And that’s about as much as I can say about it — I’ve never read anything like it. I imagine this is the closest book I’ve read to James Joyce’s Ulysses, a.k.a. the book that scares me the most. Category: a book from a non-human perspective.

What I Watched This Month

I feel like I need a discussion group for Orange is the New Black. Season Five was weird, wasn’t it? Without giving away spoilers, this season takes place during a prison riot. And while there were many serious moments in the season, some of the plotlines were ridiculous and seemed out of place.

Where can they narratively go after a riot, really? The prison was damaged in the riot! The inmates can’t stay there — they’ll be sent to separate prisons! It feels like the writers painted themselves into a corner.

But I still love this show. It’s amazing for racial diversity, queer visibility, and telling the stories of women who are too often ignored. And it has created major awareness about private prisons in America, which could have been a contributing factor to Obama ending the federal government’s use of private prisons (which was reversed by 45, part of his overreaching efforts to undo everything the black dude did).

What I Listened To This Month

Here’s something you didn’t know about me: in high school I was obsessed with the “Thong Song.” I thought it was hilarious as well as a great dance song, and I played it constantly. I even wrote a song about the rise of Unitarianism in America to the tune of the Thong Song for an AP US History project. (You could do literally anything for a project and get an A.)

Well, they’ve finally remade it with JCY, and it is great. Sisqó said that he’s been asked to do a remake so many times but this is the first one he actually liked. It’s so faithful to the original yet sounds like it was created in 2017. Give it a listen if you haven’t yet — I bet you’ll love it! As far as the video goes, though…kind of weird casting. I mean, the dumps were definitely not like a truck.

Coming Up in August 2017

After a relatively quiet June and July, August is going to be a busy month of travel for me.

First up, Booking.com asked me if I wanted to revisit my least favorite city and give it another chance. Well, my actual least favorite city is Manila and I didn’t want to go that far, but my second least favorite city is just 90 minutes away by train: Philadelphia. If you’ve been following me on Instagram or Facebook, you know how it went! Expect a full post on it this week.

Next, I’m visiting a new state: Colorado! I’m working with the city of Vail to see just how enjoyable a ski town can be in the summer months. I see no reason why it won’t — ski towns are full of mountains, which are even more beautiful in the summer. There will be frolics through the wildflowers and hiking with a llama. Afterwards, I’m going to visit Denver for a few days and spend time with my cousins.

At the end of the month, I’m flying back to Europe for a 2.5-week trip. The first destination is one of my favorite countries to visit during the summer: Finland! I’ll be attending the World Air Guitar Championships in the city of Oulu (yes, seriously, I’ve wanted to go to this event for years) and will be road-tripping across the forested Lakeland region (pictured above), ending in Porvoo and Helsinki.

After that, I’ll be visiting some new-to-me countries in Europe. I’m fairly certain August will conclude in Belarus.

Any suggestions for my upcoming trips? Share away!

via Travel Blogs http://ift.tt/2uAp7wP

#IFTTT #Travel Blogs

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melindarowens · 7 years

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COVFEFE LIVEWIRE: Comey Crazy Sweeps Washington… Breitbart Live From Union Pub

COVFEFE from Union Pub on Capitol Hill!

Former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by President Donald J. Trump, will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning–and Washington, D.C., elites are gathered at their favorite watering holes throughout the city to watch the giant nothing-burger testimony.

Breitbart News will be covering the political class celebration from here, with this livewire including updates on Comey’s testimony and the reaction of the crowd of Washington elites.

Union Pub, a landmark Washington, D.C., bar across the street from the Heritage Foundation on Capitol Hill, is offering all patrons who come here to watch the testimony free drinks whenever President Trump Tweets about the Comey hearing throughout its duration until 4 p.m.

UPDATE 11:11 A.M. Donald Trump, Jr., joins the fray on Twitter, defending his father–the president–from Comey’s ambiguous claims.

1/3 Flynn stuff is BS in context 2 guys talking about a guy they both know well. I hear “I hope nothing happens but you have to do your job”

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017

2/3 very far from any kind of coercion or influence and certainly not obstruction!

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017

Trump, Jr., says there is no way Comey would have misunderstood the president.

3/3 Knowing my father for 39 years when he “orders or tells” you to do something there is no ambiguity, you will know exactly what he means

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017

He also notes that Comey has testified that he could be “wrong.”

Comey “I could be wrong”

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017

Donald Trump, Jr.’s Tweets come as many here at Union Pub–who will get free drinks if the president himself Tweets about Comey–are disappointed that President Trump himself is not Tweeting. This is probably the first time ever that people in Washington, D.C.–the Swamp–are upset that President Donald Trump is NOT Tweeting.

UPDATE 11:10 A.M. Video of Comey wishing there are tapes of his conversations with Trump:

Comey: “I’ve seen the tweet about tapes. Lordy, I hope there are tapes.” (via @MSNBC) pic.twitter.com/uSCsAqTHAK

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 11:07 A.M. Breitbart’s Joel Pollak has an excellent piece up already on how Comey’s opening statement to the Committee this morning is all about him.

“Former FBI director James Comey opened his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday by complaining about ‘shifting explanations’ for why he had been fired, and by attacking the Trump administration,” Pollak writes. “Comey said that he had originally intended to accept his firing quietly, but then found that the administration’s statements about the matter ‘confused me and increasingly concerned me.’ He said that President Donald Trump had assured him that he was doing a good job, and that he had assured the president in return that he intended to stay.”

Read the whole thing.

Also, it’s worth noting that even the Wall Street Journal–not some rightwing blog by any stretch–even says that Comey’s written opening statement proves that President Trump should have fired him. Which is exactly what President Trump did. Read the Journal’s editorial board piece here.

UPDATE 11: 00 A.M. The GOP war room is up and running. Our friends over at the Republican National Committee are cutting videos that shows Comey’s testimony actually fully vindicates President Trump, despite whatever the opposition party media and congressional Democrats say:

youtube

Politico has an RNC talking points document circulated this morning. Read the whole thing here.

Politico also has a story on how the RNC is taking the lead on pushing back on the highly discredited Comey’s testimony.

“The RNC’s role is to support and defend the president and this White House and this week is no different,” Ryan Mahoney, the RNC communications director, told Politico. “And we prepare for everything, and we’re prepared for the hearing this week.”

Read the whole piece here.

UPDATE 10:59 A.M. Despite the fact there have been a number of inaccurate pieces throughout the establishment media, the establishment media is celebrating itself.

Most interesting part of Comey memo: How damn good the reporting has been. On. The. Nose.

— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) June 8, 2017

Also, fun: Sen. Feinstein wearing a seersucker:

First seersucker sighting at #ComeyHearing! We see you, @SenFeinstein. pic.twitter.com/ae7WmGyPYN

— ClotureClub.com (@ClotureClub) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:57 A.M. Feinstein tells Comey he’s “big” and “strong,” then asks him if he was overwhelmed by the Oval Office and wonders why he did not tell the president he was wrong when he brought this subject up with him. He questions whether he would have handled himself the same way if given a second chance.

“I hope there are tapes,” Comey also said of his meetings with Trump, noting he has seen the president’s Tweet about the possibility of tapes.

UPDATE 10:55 A.M. Comey, under questioning from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), says his relationship with Trump got off to a rocky start. He also embarrasses her when she asks him if the reason he was fired had anything to do with the Russia investigation, and he said “yes, because the President said so.” Here in Union Pub, the over-capacity crowd broke out into laughter.

UPDATE 10:53 A.M. Comey just killed the case against Trump over “obstruction of justice” that the media is building, as fast as they began building it. He said Trump saying he hopes Comey lets the investigation of Flynn go was not an order to drop the investigation.

UPDATE 10:51 A.M. The media is highlighting two separate things early on in the Comey bonanza: The fired former FBI director’s use of the word “lie” twice, and him being concerned about meetings with President Trump. Establishment media going to do their thing.

Comey has now used “lie” twice. 1. Referring to WH defaming him and the FBI: “those were lies”: 2. His concern POTUS might “lie” about mtg

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) June 8, 2017

“I was honestly concerned [Pres. Trump] might lie about the nature of our meeting.” – James Comey on why he kept records of his meetings pic.twitter.com/ErJrULEjYZ

— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 8, 2017

Flag: Comey doesn’t want to opine on Trump trying to obstruct, but says “That’s a conclusion I’m sure the special counsel will work toward.” pic.twitter.com/0WVe6dTN8t

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 8, 2017

An extraordinary thing for an ex-FBI director to say about the President of the United States https://t.co/enD0NBCpSn

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:48 A.M. Since Comey has nothing, and the whole case is falling apart, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s ex-spokesman Brian Fallon is sadly offering up that special counsel Robert Mueller is now investigating Trump.

WH plan of declaring victory because Trump was not being investigated in January is now moot. Comey made clear Mueller is investing him now

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) June 8, 2017

But, sadly, if they have no evidence Trump colluded with the Russians–probably because it is likely no evidence even exists–then the special prosecutor will find the same thing that Comey found: NOTHING. But, nevertheless Hillary Clinton’s acolytes persisted:

Comey said he expects Mueller to assess, as part of his investigation, whether Trump obstructed justice. That would mean he’s a subject now.

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:40 A.M. Comey testified that he was “confused” about being fired by President Trump. And he said Trump spread “lies” about the FBI.

Comey describes being “confused” by firing, “lies” about FBI being in disarray pic.twitter.com/EEDkxhKwvN

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:38 A.M. Since Comey believes that no votes were altered in the 2016 presidential election–he testified he is “confident” none were–then what is the point of this hearing?

#Comey says that he is “confident” that no votes in 2016 were altered #ComeyHearing

— Brooke Singman (@brookefoxnews) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:32 A.M. Despite the fact that Comey has nothing, but instead actually ended up in his written opening statement vindicating President Trump, the media elites in Washington are celebrating Comey’s “poker face”–as if it means something substantive.

James Comey’s poker face is savage. #ComeyTestimony

— Michelle Ruiz (@michelleruiz) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:30 A.M. As Comey comes under questions from Burr, our very own Joel Pollak notes that Comey’s altered opening statement was a deeply personal statement furthering the giant nothingburger he put out last night through the committee. Comey failing again so far, just like he did when he was working on the Hillary Clinton email scandal last year.

So far the Comey testimony is all about him & all about political retribution against the president for firing him. Disgraceful performance

— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:26 A.M. Washington, D.C., elites are having a ball for themselves.

Our intern Alex Clark with these photos:

The Comey Pub Crawl! 1/ pic.twitter.com/KBNj2WHkDU

— Alex Clark (@AlexCla59967291) June 8, 2017

The Comey Pub crawl! 2/ pic.twitter.com/YtLEr4X6Ri

— Alex Clark (@AlexCla59967291) June 8, 2017

The Comey Pub Crawl! 3/ pic.twitter.com/yjVYEuwYJz

— Alex Clark (@AlexCla59967291) June 8, 2017

The Comey Pub Crawl! 4/ pic.twitter.com/DxLs0Pan34

— Alex Clark (@AlexCla59967291) June 8, 2017

But Union Pub is hardly the only place off the hook with the parties:

We moved to another bar in DC. It is packed to capacity for Comey. People are WHISPERING to order their drinks so they can hear the TV. pic.twitter.com/xoFUcEHgun

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) June 8, 2017

There are many more. We’ll get updates up soon.

UPDATE 10:20 A.M. Audible gasps of disappointment were heard throughout Union Pub as Comey said he will not re-read his opening statement published online last night, a statement that completely vindicated President Trump.

Comey, however, admits that the President can fire him whenever he wants. He also says that he heard Donald Trump thought he was doing a “great job.”

But here in Union Pub, cheers erupted as a champagne bottle was popped open for more Washington, D.C., mimosas.

UPDATE 10:17 A.M. As Warner wraps his righteous opening statement, in which he stated “this is not a witch hunt” and “this is not fake news,” the STANDING ROOM ONLY crowd at Union Pub laughs as Comey is forced by the chairman to stand and be sworn in under oath for his testimony.

UPDATE 10:15 A.M. This real life parody is getting more and more out of control. Fired ex-U.S. Attorney from the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara is joining Comey in the hearing room.

Yes, that is Preet Bharara sitting behind James Comey. Banquo’s ghost.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 8, 2017

Meanwhile, our COVFEFE LIVEWIRE has earned the attention of New York Times media correspondent Michael Grynbaum.

Breitbart’s @mboyle1 is at Union Pub in DC to cover “the reaction of the crowd of Washington elites” https://t.co/RcRAohgI6N

— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:12 A.M. Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the Senate committee, opens up with his opening statement saying that this hearing has drawn focus from a lot of Washington, D.C., and that ordinary Americans really don’t care and aren’t paying attention. Maybe Congress could focus on real policy issues when this charade is over, but that would probably be asking too much of our elected representatives.

UPDATE 10:11 A.M. Fox News is reporting that President Trump is expected to issue a statement disputing parts of Comey’s testimony.

UPDATE 10:10 A.M. Burr to Comey: “The American people need to hear your side of the story.”

UPDATE 10:04 A.M. As Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, opens the hearing, a hush comes over the crowd inside Union Pub. COVFEFE everyone! Here we go.

UPDATE 10:03 A.M. James Comey has walked into the room where is going to testify in the Senate Intelligence Committee. Folks at Union Pub don’t really seem to care much as they are engaged in deep conversation, very loudly, so loud one cannot hear the television.

UPDATE 10:02 A.M. Comey’s written testimony published last night basically proved he had nothing on Trump, and this whole case is going nowhere. Even anti-Trump Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) admits that, saying none of this makes any sense on TV this morning.

“Nobody in their right mind who believed they had a case, would take their star witness & allow them to go before the nation” — Sen. Graham pic.twitter.com/Si1UAziuZm

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:00 A.M. Union Pub is up and running as the Comey hearing is about to begin.

It’s almost time. #Treats4Tweets #ComeyDay #ThisTown

— Union Pub (@UnionPub) June 8, 2017

All the TV’s in the bar are carrying Fox News live.

If you’re wondering, #ComeyHearing will be in Senate Hart Office Building tomorrow, only 1000 feet from @UnionPub. Guaranteed DC celebs

— Barred in DC (@barredindc) June 8, 2017

The place is packed.

The DC ‘Super Bowl’. #ComeyHearing #ComeyDay #Covfefe pic.twitter.com/hW1ugJi2I7

— Kristina Wong (@kristina_wong) June 8, 2017

Yes, our White House correspondent Charlie Spiering is correct! Breitbart News will be running this COMEY CRAZY COVFEFE LIVEWIRE live throughout the hearing and festivities all day from Union Pub! Our Pentagon Correspondent Kristina Wong is here with us, as well as our intern Alex Clark. More Breitbart staff are expected to join throughout the day!

*Confirmed* Matt Boyle will be watching the Comey hearing live at Union Pub

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 8, 2017

Breitbart Live From Union Pubhttps://t.co/zrcTQsYnGp

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 8, 2017

UPDATE: 9:52 A.M. Owen, a federal government employee who did not want us to publish his last name but is here partying as Comey is set to testify, said about the crowd size here “it’s about what you’d expect–people here [in Washington] are easily more engaged than everyone else in the country. It’s a symbol of a healthy, vibrant democracy.” Bloody Mary’s and Mimosos and beers by the pint are being poured by the hundreds already and Comey has not yet taken the stand.

UPDATE 9:50 A.M. Breitbart’s summer intern Alex Clark joins us here and spoke with Union Pub’s general manager Ashley Saunders who told us “I’m way too busy–I’m swamped” when he asked if she could do a brief interview before the hearing begins. Union Pub is packed to the brim with Washingtonians celebrating Comey’s testimony.

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everettwilkinson · 7 years

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COVFEFE LIVEWIRE: Comey Crazy Sweeps Washington… Breitbart Live From Union Pub

COVFEFE from Union Pub on Capitol Hill!

Breitbart News will be covering the political class celebration from here, with this livewire including updates on Comey’s testimony and the reaction of the crowd of Washington elites.

UPDATE 11:11 A.M. Donald Trump, Jr., joins the fray on Twitter, defending his father–the president–from Comey’s ambiguous claims.

1/3 Flynn stuff is BS in context 2 guys talking about a guy they both know well. I hear “I hope nothing happens but you have to do your job”

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017

2/3 very far from any kind of coercion or influence and certainly not obstruction!

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017

Trump, Jr., says there is no way Comey would have misunderstood the president.

3/3 Knowing my father for 39 years when he “orders or tells” you to do something there is no ambiguity, you will know exactly what he means

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017

He also notes that Comey has testified that he could be “wrong.”

Comey “I could be wrong”

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 11:10 A.M. Video of Comey wishing there are tapes of his conversations with Trump:

Comey: “I’ve seen the tweet about tapes. Lordy, I hope there are tapes.” (via @MSNBC) pic.twitter.com/uSCsAqTHAK

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 11:07 A.M. Breitbart’s Joel Pollak has an excellent piece up already on how Comey’s opening statement to the Committee this morning is all about him.

Read the whole thing.

youtube

Politico has an RNC talking points document circulated this morning. Read the whole thing here.

Politico also has a story on how the RNC is taking the lead on pushing back on the highly discredited Comey’s testimony.

Read the whole piece here.

UPDATE 10:59 A.M. Despite the fact there have been a number of inaccurate pieces throughout the establishment media, the establishment media is celebrating itself.

Most interesting part of Comey memo: How damn good the reporting has been. On. The. Nose.

— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) June 8, 2017

Also, fun: Sen. Feinstein wearing a seersucker:

First seersucker sighting at #ComeyHearing! We see you, @SenFeinstein. pic.twitter.com/ae7WmGyPYN

— ClotureClub.com (@ClotureClub) June 8, 2017

“I hope there are tapes,” Comey also said of his meetings with Trump, noting he has seen the president’s Tweet about the possibility of tapes.

Comey has now used “lie” twice. 1. Referring to WH defaming him and the FBI: “those were lies”: 2. His concern POTUS might “lie” about mtg

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) June 8, 2017

“I was honestly concerned [Pres. Trump] might lie about the nature of our meeting.” – James Comey on why he kept records of his meetings pic.twitter.com/ErJrULEjYZ

— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 8, 2017

Flag: Comey doesn’t want to opine on Trump trying to obstruct, but says “That’s a conclusion I’m sure the special counsel will work toward.” pic.twitter.com/0WVe6dTN8t

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 8, 2017

An extraordinary thing for an ex-FBI director to say about the President of the United States https://t.co/enD0NBCpSn

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 8, 2017

WH plan of declaring victory because Trump was not being investigated in January is now moot. Comey made clear Mueller is investing him now

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) June 8, 2017

Comey said he expects Mueller to assess, as part of his investigation, whether Trump obstructed justice. That would mean he’s a subject now.

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:40 A.M. Comey testified that he was “confused” about being fired by President Trump. And he said Trump spread “lies” about the FBI.

Comey describes being “confused” by firing, “lies” about FBI being in disarray pic.twitter.com/EEDkxhKwvN

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:38 A.M. Since Comey believes that no votes were altered in the 2016 presidential election–he testified he is “confident” none were–then what is the point of this hearing?

#Comey says that he is “confident” that no votes in 2016 were altered #ComeyHearing

— Brooke Singman (@brookefoxnews) June 8, 2017

James Comey’s poker face is savage. #ComeyTestimony

— Michelle Ruiz (@michelleruiz) June 8, 2017

So far the Comey testimony is all about him & all about political retribution against the president for firing him. Disgraceful performance

— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:26 A.M. Washington, D.C., elites are having a ball for themselves.

Our intern Alex Clark with these photos:

The Comey Pub Crawl! 1/ pic.twitter.com/KBNj2WHkDU

— Alex Clark (@AlexCla59967291) June 8, 2017

The Comey Pub crawl! 2/ pic.twitter.com/YtLEr4X6Ri

— Alex Clark (@AlexCla59967291) June 8, 2017

The Comey Pub Crawl! 3/ pic.twitter.com/yjVYEuwYJz

— Alex Clark (@AlexCla59967291) June 8, 2017

The Comey Pub Crawl! 4/ pic.twitter.com/DxLs0Pan34

— Alex Clark (@AlexCla59967291) June 8, 2017

But Union Pub is hardly the only place off the hook with the parties:

We moved to another bar in DC. It is packed to capacity for Comey. People are WHISPERING to order their drinks so they can hear the TV. pic.twitter.com/xoFUcEHgun

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) June 8, 2017

There are many more. We’ll get updates up soon.

Comey, however, admits that the President can fire him whenever he wants. He also says that he heard Donald Trump thought he was doing a “great job.”

But here in Union Pub, cheers erupted as a champagne bottle was popped open for more Washington, D.C., mimosas.

UPDATE 10:15 A.M. This real life parody is getting more and more out of control. Fired ex-U.S. Attorney from the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara is joining Comey in the hearing room.

Yes, that is Preet Bharara sitting behind James Comey. Banquo’s ghost.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 8, 2017

Meanwhile, our COVFEFE LIVEWIRE has earned the attention of New York Times media correspondent Michael Grynbaum.

Breitbart’s @mboyle1 is at Union Pub in DC to cover “the reaction of the crowd of Washington elites” https://t.co/RcRAohgI6N

— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:11 A.M. Fox News is reporting that President Trump is expected to issue a statement disputing parts of Comey’s testimony.

UPDATE 10:10 A.M. Burr to Comey: “The American people need to hear your side of the story.”

UPDATE 10:04 A.M. As Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, opens the hearing, a hush comes over the crowd inside Union Pub. COVFEFE everyone! Here we go.

“Nobody in their right mind who believed they had a case, would take their star witness & allow them to go before the nation” — Sen. Graham pic.twitter.com/Si1UAziuZm

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 8, 2017

UPDATE 10:00 A.M. Union Pub is up and running as the Comey hearing is about to begin.

It’s almost time. #Treats4Tweets #ComeyDay #ThisTown

— Union Pub (@UnionPub) June 8, 2017

All the TV’s in the bar are carrying Fox News live.

If you’re wondering, #ComeyHearing will be in Senate Hart Office Building tomorrow, only 1000 feet from @UnionPub. Guaranteed DC celebs

— Barred in DC (@barredindc) June 8, 2017

The place is packed.

The DC ‘Super Bowl’. #ComeyHearing #ComeyDay #Covfefe pic.twitter.com/hW1ugJi2I7

— Kristina Wong (@kristina_wong) June 8, 2017

*Confirmed* Matt Boyle will be watching the Comey hearing live at Union Pub

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 8, 2017

Breitbart Live From Union Pubhttps://t.co/zrcTQsYnGp

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 8, 2017

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mostlysignssomeportents · 6 years

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By @Beschizza: My RSS feeds from a decade ago, a snapshot of gadget blogging when that was a thing