#its funny when you think about it because in popular media blue is usually given to cold characters

[hwiyoungies]

long ask ahead adklsfj i'm sorry lmaoo not me being like 'wait skz covered i'll be your man on kingdom? did i miss that bc i didnt watch the last episode' but apparently i forgot alsdkjfsl;fjaf i relistened and it's soo bad wtf i listened to the original to compare and i'm dying of embarrassment i can't believed skz won the entire competition when they sang like that in the second round. i personally would have dropped out voluntarily if someone heard me sing like that to be fair there are gems in 4th gen kpop who can sing really well, but they're usually like 1 person out of a whole group but even then why? idols go through so much training and you're telling me they still can't sing well? i think most of the reason lies in the companies and the industry bc i always hear idols singing in registers that are uncomfortable for them to sing in which probably messes up their voices (but fans don't give a shit and praise idols anyway). to bring this topic back to btob they were done so dirty in kingdom. i'm not a melody, but they deserved way more than what they were given most of the groups, esp the top 3 (which i was watching the show for, mind you), performed mostly the same bland concepts: dark, edgy, angsty, mixed with some weird lore tied to myth or supernatural to keep fans speculating and theorizing on the internet. and everyone ate that shit up because dark, edgy = strong, talented (i've noticed that with tons of popular media these days this is the case. being dark and edgy must mean your self-aware about the world and its relentless nature and it also means you're serious and realistic and take things seriously which is cool bc we're not kids we are serious adults but it's usually just surface level conflict and vapid ideas while shooting in a dimly lit setting (also super cool gfx!!). but i digress.) btob was able to utilize different concepts that weren't just "dark, edgy" which was a huge breath of fresh air. it shows that they really understand themselves and their songs, who they are as idols and what their songs mean to them, how they want to send these messages to their audience and fans. it also makes the stages actually memorable and distinct. it's no wonder i remembered several of btob's stages like back door, missing you, and beautiful pain (i kind of forgot blue moon, but the moment i saw the thumbnail i remembered how i really enjoyed it while watching) while i can barely recall any of the others' stages.

answering under the cut because it got kinda long oopsie

ok i fucking cackled after the second paragraph not gonna lie LMAOO you truly said so sorry for those men but- and i love it love the energy my dude gal or not binary pal. and yeah after i watched for the first time i had to immediately watch the original to cleanse my ears

there was a discourse about that a while ago! about kpop now mainly being about the visuals rather than the actual skills, and while there are plenty of groups that can and do sing, companies are more worried about debuting people as soon as possible instead of taking their time to hone their skills, and keep honing them after they debut as well. and yeah they usually make them sing in a way that is popular instead of a way that fit their voices. there are a bunch of great singers or idols that could be great singers if the companies would just, invest in their voices and not just their looks and the concepts

and dude i agree LMAO for me they should've won because they were the only ones with consistent and great perfomances that showcased their skills without getting repetitive and also showing great versatility (and sf9 should've been second the now or never perfomance was the only one that wasn't good but i will blame mnet on that but that's not the case right now i'm just always a fantasy on main LMAO)

after the first episode i remember i said a comment about that, that all 4th gen groups had a similar concept and that it was kind of funny to me, because the other 3 groups all had very different concepts that suit them really well, and you could see even if it was like by a year or 2 that the experience on the field does give you an upperhand when it comes to finding your style if that makes sense. and i'm personally not into the edgy dark concept at all i'm either a sappy bitch, a honry bitch or a bubbly bitch (i'll only accept dark and edgy if it's sexy because of the aforementioned reasons) and the lore things i couldn't agree more, what i liked the more about bitubi's and the sepgus perfomances was that what you see is what you get, even with move like yeah you could've found like deeper meaning to it but it was basically a beautiful performance, none of this having to invent reasons in a way for all of it to make sense

and that's what almost 10 years of experience does to you, they knew what they were doing and what their strenghts and weakness were and they knew how to play with them AND without a full team, imagine is all of them would've been there it would've been even more incredible. but yeah i agree with you so much, they truly understand who they are and what they wanna show

#also don't apologize for the long ask i have a blast when i get asks like this! #my answer got really long as well LMAO #cannot believe i'm finally voicing all the opinions that i didn't voice during k*ngdom LMAO #but yeah they should've won no one will change my mind about that #asks #anon

[a-singleboat]

Virtual Reality

Word Count: 2.4k

Request: hi! if your taking requests, i was wondering if you could write a damien x reader, where they meet through Twitch? add anything else you want i always love everything you write, thanks so much!! - anon

Warning(s): like, one swear

It was a Thursday night when you first met him, or rather, heard of him. You had been streaming for five hours heading into your sixth when you decided it might be time for you to log off for the night. As per usual, you took at least thirty minutes at the end of your stream just to talk with your viewers, usually about how their lives were going in exchange for a story from your own day. 

Tonight, however, there was an influx of people asking if you’d ever heard of a streamer by the name of Damien Haas, which you hadn’t, and if you would do a collaboration with the man anytime soon. Apparently, your content was eerily similar and you were, and I quote, “Practically the female version of him, looks aside.” 

“Damien Haas…” you rolled yourself back closer to your desk, hands settled on your keyboard. You typed his name into the search bar, patiently waiting for Twitch to pull up his account. You clicked into the first one, making an impressed face at the purple checkmark next to his name. You squinted at the screen. “Is this him? In the profile picture with the LEDs in the background?” 

You glanced at your chat, chuckling as the viewers started spamming ‘yes’ and ‘oh my god it’s happening,’ and your personal favorite, ‘mom come pick me up the best crossover of 2020 is happening and im SCARED.’

“He plays a lot of Animal Crossing,” you observed, clicking on one of his videos and dragging the tab onto your main monitor so the stream could see it. You skipped through the beginning part, biting into a pretzel as you watched. 

“He’s kinda cute,” you commented, laughing as your stream freaked out once more. There were a few people commenting what looked like it could be a ship name though you ignored it. “Shame I’d never meet him, though.”

You paused his video, taking note of the time, before rolling out your shoulders. “I think it’s time for me to head out so I’m gonna end this stream with a huge thank you to you all for sticking with me through this entire stream and if you didn’t stay the entire time, I’m glad you decided to join in on the ride even halfway through. I’ll see you guys next time.”

You ended the stream, waving goodbye to your viewers before the light went out and you could relax the smile off your face. Don’t get it twisted, you loved streaming and you loved your viewers but just like any other job, it could get exhausting at times. You shut down your monitors, the screens turning blue before fading to black. You stretched, taking your phone up from its charger and launching yourself into bed, opening your phone and clicking on Twitter. 

Much like staying thirty minutes after you were done streaming to talk to viewers, you usually went on Twitter right after to answer questions and respond to DMs. This time, however, instead of opening the app to see a bunch of post-stream questions, your mentions were filled with the video clip of you saying, “He’s kinda cute,” as well as maybe a million people tagging both you and Damien in them. 

Well, shit. 

Soon enough, that was all that filled your timeline. You couldn’t move in one direction without running into another screencap of you admiring the man. God, you knew the consequences but something in the back of your mind was urging you to reach out to him.

After a few moments of contemplation, the lonely side of you won out, forcing you to message him against your better judgment. Without even thinking about it, you found his Twitter and sent this message:

Hey, I’m sorry about your mentions blowing up because of me tonight. My viewers recommended your Twitch to me and I spoke without thinking about it on Live. 

And with no expectation of his response, you fell asleep right there with your phone on your chest and the DM still open. 

You woke up the next morning with a sore neck and a dead phone, which was a terrible way to start your day. You rolled over, plugging your device into an outlet before crawling out of bed to start your day. When you weren’t streaming, you worked as a freelance editor for different YouTubers, helping their editors with their workload or even staying on as a Temp for different companies. Occasionally you edited the odd commercial here and there, but those gigs were rare. 

Most recently, you had received some material from a group of YouTubers, Smosh. This job was different, however, because if you did well on this you could be looking at a permanent place of employment through their parent company, Mythical Entertainment. 

You knew Mythical Entertainment, it was hard not to, especially since your aunt was one of the producers within the company, but tended to ignore everything the company did. The last you’d heard, they’d onboarded another YouTube group (which you did later find out to be Smosh, the same YouTubers whose video you were hired to edit). 

 After a quick shower and a half-assed attempt at a proper breakfast, you were ready to start your day. You situated yourself behind your monitors, opening the video clips that had been sent to you. The first was a sample video, something that gave you insight on what their editing style was actually like. 

But imagine your surprise when you’re staring down the same man you have called cute the night before, his approximately five-eleven stance taking up one-sixth of the space. He was standing next to a blond, who had been marked as “Shayne Topp.”

Despite there being five other people in frame, your eyes kept moving back to Damien’s figure, watching his mannerisms through the screen and laughing along to his jokes when they fell upon deaf ears. 

Your eyes slid over to your phone, now decently charged after sitting for so long. On your screen were dozens of notifications. There were maybe two from your mom, asking if you’d be coming home for dinner sometime that week but the majority came from Twitter. You picked up the device, unlocking and responding to your mom with a, “yes,” before opening Twitter. 

Nothing much had changed from the night prior. Your mentions were still being flooded with the video from last night but newer content had been ushered in, namely fan edits using footage from your streams and, you assumed, his. 

The only major difference, however, was the fact that Damien had responded to your DM from the night prior. The first message read: 

It’s really no problem! My stream had mentioned your name before, too.

Followed by the second:

P.S. I think you’re cute, too.

You couldn’t believe your eyes. Mr. Damien Haas, the man that you had made a thoughtless comment on stream about, also thought that you were cute. Suddenly, the fact that you had been staring at him for the past hour seemed less stalkerish and more like a blooming crush. You wrote back:

Aw, thanks! Have you seen the newer fan edits? They’re all so talented.

You cringed at yourself. A cute boy started talking to you and you’ve suddenly forgotten how to be suave, not that you really were in the first place. But still, you liked to think you had some tact when talking to people that you found attractive. 

Not even a moment later, there came a response. 

Yes, I have, he responded. And I agree! They are all very talented individuals. 

You looked from the monitor in front of you. You had about a quarter of the footage left to go through before you could start editing but this technically wasn’t due until the following night. Feeling emboldened by the fact that he had actually responded, you replied:

Are you going to TwitchCon on Friday? We should meet up or something. 

Anxiously you awaited his response, taking his silence as an opportunity to watch a bit more of the footage and take down notes according to the sample they’d given you. Roughly thirty minutes later is when the next response came in, reading as an affirmative to both questions. 

You didn’t respond, choosing to leave your social media for after you’d finished editing the video. Your heart still pounded, however. Just the thought that there was a possibility for the two of you to meet was, simply put, insane. You’d just heard of the guy the night before and decided that he was going to be your latest hyperfixation. 

But who could blame you? He was a nice, funny guy that showed the slightest bit of attraction towards you. It didn’t help that you were a sucker for guys that were nice to you. 

Fast forward to the Friday of TwitchCon, also known as the first day of TwitchCon. You and Damien had been talking steadily over Twitter DMs and just last night you had gained his phone number, giving you even more access to the man than you had before. But of course, who were you if you didn’t tease your fans with the prospect of you meeting. 

The night before, at the end of your stream, you’d given your fans the little tidbit of information that you and Damien were, in fact, planning on meeting up sometime during TwitchCon and would be greeting fans together for an hour at your booth. 

That sent Twitter into a frenzy, both of your combined fans getting your ship name to trend within the hour, which confused the hell out of a bunch of locals. 

It was nearing the time you and Damien had set to meet up. The plan was you’d meet around twelve for lunch, take an hour for yourselves, before going back to your booth and meeting with fans for an hour or so as promised. 

You had never been more nervous than you were in that moment. Not only were you about to meet your three-day-old crush but apparently a very popular YouTuber. You tried not to let the thought mess with your head. One of your friends, Wilbur Soot (who you played Minecraft with from time to time) was poking fun at you for being nervous about meeting a popular YouTuber. 

After three years of streaming and gaining a solid following, you’d think you’d be used to meeting other popular content creators. But because it was him, you found yourself unable to think straight. 

“What if I fuck up?” you asked Wilbur anxiously. He’d flown in from London for this event at your insistence and because you’d offered to pay half his airfare to get there and back. He didn’t have his own booth as his arrival was very last minute, but he didn’t mind. He signed the occasional poster though his main purpose was to provide you mental and emotional support. 

“You won’t fuck up,” he comforted, leafing through one of the comics a fan had given you. The entire thing was hand-drawn, which was an insane fact in itself. It looked professional, which was what blew you away when you’d received it. “Well, you won’t fuck up as badly as you did when you first met Schlatt.”

You groaned in embarrassment. “Don’t remind me.”

Long story short, you’d dumped a red in color slushy on the man accidentally after tripping over an unmarked cable. It really wasn’t your fault but the boys hadn’t let you live it down since then. 

Half a moment later, Wilbur was poking your side. “Is that him?” he asked, jabbing his pointer finger into your side while looking in the opposite direction. He was looking at a familiar figure walking down the hallway toward your booth. He stopped for a moment to take a photo with a fan, talking to them about something, before continuing on his way toward you. 

Your eyes locked and you gave him a smile while trying to beat Wilbur into no longer poking you. He stopped when you slapped his arm the first time, sticking his tongue at you before going on his phone. You rolled your eyes at his half-assed attempt of pretending he wasn’t about to start listening in on your conversation. 

“Hey, Y/n, right?” Damien asked as he approached. You nodded, reaching out for a handshake but becoming pleasantly surprised when he instead pulled you in for a hug. 

“You ready for lunch?” you asked glaring slightly at Wilbur as he made kissy faces over Damien’s shoulder. Luckily, Damien hadn’t noticed your moron of a best friend. 

“Yeah, I saw this sushi place on the way in if you wanted to try that?”

“I’d be down,” you agreed, reaching behind your table to grab your bag. Wilbur was set to meet with a few other Minecraft streamers, meaning you didn’t have to worry about him while you had lunch. You looked over your shoulder, making sure everything was set for you to leave before saying goodbye to Wilbur. 

Over the course of lunch, you and Damien had gotten to know each other pretty well. Once the conversation moved away from your fans and, well, work, and more into personal details, you found that you actually weren’t all that similar. For starters, Damien loved watching anime while your guilty pleasure was Gilmore Girls. The one show you both had a love for, however, was Avatar the Last Airbender, which made sense. 

Another thing was that he actually enjoyed being in front of the camera while you tolerated it on most days, really only putting on your face cam for the last thirty minutes on most days. Despite that, he still classified himself as an introvert. 

You returned back to your booth much later than you anticipated, thoroughly shocked at the line that had formed with Wilbur at the front of it, entertaining the fans that had shown up early to meet both you and Damien. 

“Y/n!” one fan called, pointing in your direction. Immediately, the entire line turned and gaped at the sight of you and Damien walking together. You greeted them happily, stopping for pictures and verbally promising that you’d stay until you got to meet everyone personally. 

“You really love your fans,” Damien observed as you put your things back down behind the table. Wilbur had set up shop on your right side, chatting with a few people at the front of the line. 

“I wouldn’t be anywhere without them,” you admitted, pulling a silver sharpie from your bag. You handed a gold one to Damien. “I also wouldn’t have gotten to meet you without them, which I’m still sorry about, by the way. Your feed must have been chaotic.”

“You have no idea,” he chuckled. “But everything happens for a reason.”

You nodded, grinning up at him. “Yes, they do.” 

Permanent

@beautiful-holland @toms-order @starlightfound @grandmascottlang @positiveparker @bippity-boppity-boopa @caswinchester2000 @andreasworlsboring101 @imladylunaticbitch​

#damien haas #damien haas imagine #damien haas x reader #damien haas x fem!reader #damien haas x you #you #reader #readerinsert #fem!reader #smosh #twitch #shayne topp #wilbur soot #minecraft #gaming #smosh games #mythical entertainment #reader-insert #twitter #y/n

[comicteaparty]

March 9th-March 15th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from March 9th, 2020 to March 15th, 2020.  The chat focused on HoverGirls by Geneva Bowers.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on HoverGirls by Geneva Bowers~! (https://hovergirls.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until March 15th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

It's so eye catching!

The bold color scheme immediately creates a strong identity for the comic

The contrast between the two MCs is

I'll comment more when I've read past literally just the first page lol

eli [a winged tale]

Wow I love the art! Very beautiful palette and interesting characters right off the bat (pun intended!). Great dynamics between our two mains and love the magic so far!

mcapriglione (Falconhyrste)

yall I heard you were talking about hover girls and I came running

I just caught up like yesterday because I'm sick so I've spent the whole day reading comics, also I picked up a physical copy from geneva at c2e2 and that's what got me started on the series!

What stands out to me so much is the characters, jalissa and kim are total opposites, and it's really interesting to see them interact with each other. also the little things in the background that tell more about the characters, like jalissa's love for soap operas and kim's references ahaha

RebelVampire

So time for me to jump into the chat. What I like about the beginning is that it starts you off with this sort of beautiful artwork and magical feel, only to drop the mundane on you with the coffee shop and the obsession with ranking on social media. Something about how this starts really gives me this sort of more modern day magical girl feel that usually isn't quite there. Like it's a bit gritty feeling cause life is gritty, and I like that. As for favorite moment in the comic so far, I'm partial to when the girls discovered their powers. I like how it just sort of happened, and the different reactions they had to it. It was both magical and funny. Also for the reasons below. My favorite character is Jalissa, no content. Jalissa is basically my spirit animal. Doesn't want fame, just wants to catch up on the soaps, but somehow winds up with more energetic people. All of Jalissa's reactions to everything are great and I love it. For characters interacting, really it has to go to Jalissa and Kim. They're such polar opposites I think you'd have to try to NOT enjoy it. But either way, that opposites thing really just makes their interactions endearing and interesting since going in you know they'll disagree and yet somehow wind up doing the same thing together anyway. So I really enjoy that about their relationship.

As for the art, I really just love the color design combined with the style. It has a very whimsical feel that works for the abundant blue schemes and I really just adore every bit of the atmosphere it creates. For themes, I like that the comic explores ego. Like that moment where Kim asked if she was getting too full of herself really hit home. And I like that the comic kind of explores that even if you know that you might get egotistical and all high and mighty, its not the easiest thing in the world to stop either. For the story's overall content, I'm just gonna point to what I liked about the beginning. I like that its a bit more mature, modernized magical girl story where the magical girls are adults. That's probably just bias in that I'm an adult so I relate more to adults.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. What do you think Jalissa’s backstory and relationship with her family is? How do you think Jalissa will continue to change as the story progresses, and what will Kim’s role be in it? Further, how will Kim change?

10. Why do you think Kim was suddenly possessed, and how dangerous are they? Can Kim be saved from it? Additionally, why was the person who possessed Kim surprised Jalissa also had powers?

11. Do you think Jalissa and Kim will succeed as magical girls and become popular? Why or why not? Additionally, how might this change the future plans each has decided upon for their career?

12. What do you think this comic teaches us about pursuing our dreams and responsibility? What has been your favorite moment in the comic so far that deals with these themes? Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

gee

Hello CTP! This is the creator of HoverGirls c: I want to thank you all for taking the time to read and discuss this comic! I bet you're all pros at what makes a good story, so it's really humbling to know that it's liked so far. I'll be happy to answer any q's about story, chars, etc. And it was super nice to finally meet you @mcapriglione (Falconhyrste) and hope you feel better!

mcapriglione (Falconhyrste)

Aaaaa hey welcome to the chat @gee !

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Ok I just finished reading the entire comic start to finish. I have to say I'm not only impressed by the wonderful art and refreshing color scheme that makes me think of wild summer, but amazed that I find myself invested in this story! Usually it's not my cup of tea at all, but Hover Girls are going to clearly be the exception. I'm adding this to my comic bookmarks The first thing I have to give my kudos for is the sheer character design and characterization. I had sincere, and in Kim's case, almost visceral reactions to both girls, and the Korean guy (his name sounds Korean). While Jalissa intrigued me from the start, Kim got under my skin to the point I found her insufferable! It is only in the last few pages with her backstory flashback that I somewhat feel sympathy for her. I love the interaction between these two, and also how the story is paced so that we get to gradually become aware of more layers and nuance in the relationship they have. Jalissa's love and concern for Kim was clear to me from the start, while Kim's not so much. She (Kim) came across to me as immature, self-centered and inconsiderate. Later, when we see more of their history, I got to see the concern and love from Kim's side too. That's excellent writing to go with the excellent art. I also really like the premise with the alien creatures! I am intrigued and want to know more. Finally, I want to talk about the humour in the dialogue and the art in general. I love how there's a streak of black humour throughout the comic. My favourite character is (in case you didn't infer it yet) Jalissa, but I like the entire cast. They need each other to organically bounce off each other and develop. And lastly, I have to mention the really fun brand names and soap titles. Always makes me grin. Wonderful work @gee !(edited)

RebelVampire

I get the impression that Jalissa was a typical delinquent and that her parents werent around much - hence the delinquency. And so I imagine it's a bit strained at the best of it. I think Jalissa moving is her attempt to turn things around, and I think that is what will happen. Jalissa will become more responsible, take more of a sense of duty, etc. Which is what I think will happen with Kim, along with a healthy dose of gaining some humility. As for why Kim was suddenly possessed, maybe the weather? Regardless, 100% I'm sure Kim can be saved. Only bad villains monologue so Kim got taken over by a bad villain. As for why Jalissa's powers are a surprise, probably a lack of communication due to alien bureaucracy. Jalissa and Kim will definitely succeed as magical girls if you tone down expectations to be heroes who fight crime as opposed to what we see in every anime where they fight and just are completely fine and sparkly. As for becoming popular, maybe for a bit, but honestly, probably not. The internet is fickle so sure they might get a viral video....but then everyone will move on. I think it will mostly only change Jalissa's plans as she's finds there are more important things in the world than soaps. As for what the comic teaches about pursuing our dreams is that it's hard. My favorite moment is actually Kim checking if anyone liked the pic and it was just Jalissa. The world is saturated with talent, and even if you have the drive, the skills, etc., getting noticed is kind of a slog. But I think Kim shows us at least might as well keep trying.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I had the opposite reaction as @Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight) ! Jalissa irritated me at first, while I liked Kim. But then, when I saw Jalissa's genuine kindness, I liked her more, and when Kim started showing her flaws- how she's kind of self-centered and naive, I started to like her less. That's not to say I think this comic has bad writing, though! I like how the author has given everyone such realistic flaws. I went through a lot of cycles of liking and disliking the characters, and I think that reflects how it feels as you get to know some people irl. These characters are complex!

Seeing stoic Jalissa get truly angry at Kim was powerful.

I like the detail of Jalissa keeping her bat in her backpack's water bottle holder

"Only bad villains monologue so Kim got taken over by a bad villain. "

Rebel, that made me laugh

I think it's true too(edited)

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

+ü´´´´´´b n#ä+ß

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) it's exactly that we get different and real reactions to these characters that is the proof of excellent writing. We react differently, but we react as if they were real people and that's an absolute win!

mathtans

Woo, my schedule's eased a bit and this looked interesting. For the discussion prompts...

1. The beginning set things up well in terms of a quickie fight and then the characters and city situation. There was humour in that too. Good tone.

2. Fave moment, as far as plot was probably Jalissa interacting with blonde boy (sorry, forget the name) in particular because it seemed to be foreshadowing. Fave moment for relatability was the phone message with "Get to the point" because I SO relate to that.

3. Tough call on character. Both mains have good qualities and I don't feel I know the others well enough yet. I suppose Jalissa for her straightforward nature and sticking to her guns (like about dresses).

4. I liked Jalissa and Blonde Boy interacting, funny enough, as I said earlier. The cousin banter is good but the former stood out somehow.

5. The art's a neat blend of emphasis in some places and less in others; also interesting how the hair is done. Not sure why that sticks out.

6. I'm very bad at noticing themes. It's neat showing what "magical girls" do in their off hours. Also the troubles with getting noticed.

7. Story's clever, and I felt suspicious of Blonde Boy from him being around during the powers acquisition, which seems to be paying off. Nice to see ladies of colour too.

mathtans

8. Comic's got a bit of everything. Magic, mystery, slice-of-life... a reader can probably gravitate to something.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic? Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mathtans

9. Jalissa seems to be someone who grew up in a difficult situation and needs to blow off steam sometimes. I'm reminded of the time she punched the wall - but then within a day went to get the materials needed to fix it. I feel like she had an unhappy home life with no real outlet or people to talk to about it. Maybe the fighting evil will help, or at least give her a sense of accomplishment. Kim needs to be a bit more grounded in reality, and I suspect will, although at the same time you kind of hate to see it happen, like the death of innocence or something.

10. I wondered if possession was always part of the plan against Kim (once it happened), and that's why the water beings were around, like they're trying to get access to the powers... though it's seeming like it was always something inside her, she was simply able to suppress the feeling for a time. Until she was at a low point emotionally.

Actually, I always thought BlondeBoy had something to do with the attacks, and in the scene between him and Jalissa (the earlier one in the alley) you saw hint of blue in the art, and one wonders whether he was acting normally. I wasn't sure if it was a subconscious thing or a conscious thing. Now I wonder if Kim wasn't manifesting the items herself on some subconscious level, wanting something to defeat. Though maybe he still had a hand in it too.

Of course, maybe the weather has something to do with it too, as Rebel remarked on.

mathtans

11. I feel like their power as magical girls is possibly tied to the presence (or at least strength) of the enemy, otherwise why wouldn't it make the news more? (Granted, could be obliviousness by the populace, but this seems to be reinforced by the current plot elements.) As such, their magical days seem numbered... unless they could fight against regular mundane foes? I dunno. The world doesn't seem to care much about supernatural either.

mathtans

Maybe they should change their name? Hovering doesn't sound too aggressive, and I don't think they do it that much anyway. Granted, DampGirls isn't catchy, and H2OGirls is a bit clinical. ^.^

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I love this comic! The two main characters play incredibly off each other, and there's lots of great comedic moments. My fav is Jalissa.

I wonder if it is the weather that's causing these possessions? Because, like, the flying fish attacks in general are tied to the rain. Maybe particularly rough rainstorms cause possessions? I feel like the thing that possessed Kim and the boy was what brought about the powers in the first place - the energy that came down from the sky on the beach. It's odd how the blonde dude didn't seem to use powers but got possessed first, while Kim uses her powers the most and got possessed second... maybe Jalissa has an easier time resisting because she has the strongest will?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights) I don't think Jalissa can get possessed- Bob said that his soul was split in two, and Jalissa got the powers while Korean guy got the mind

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

ah yes, that's true

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@mathtans I like "Hovergirls"! It's cute and catchy

gee

The title I still don't 100% like, TBH. I legitimately thought on it for a week before starting on this comic and still couldn't think of anything better XD

RebelVampire

What I'm most looking forward to in the comic is probably just more Jalissa in general and finding out why Jalissa is the way Jalissa is. Overall though, this is a beautiful comic with a great combination between modernization and magical girls with just the right hint of maturity that makes it more appealing for an adult. Definitely would recommend to adult fans of magical girl stories!

mathtans

To be clear, I had no issue with the title of the comic... with some comics there's only an offhand reference too. I guess I was more picturing the ladies arguing, were Jalissa to get more into it.

As to the rest of the questions, I think the comic can show that reality is somewhere between the two of them (though they do play off each other very well) as far as dreams and responsibility go. I'm vaguely curious to know whether the alien might be having a positive (or negative?) influence on BlondeBoy, who seemed a bit of a jerk from the lens of the others.

The world building is well done too, like I could even see spinoffs... these aliens apparently just sent a couple emissaries to Earth, maybe there's some sort of space force out there fighting too. Maybe they see Kim's videos and want to recruit her. Or hire her for public relations. idk.

Anyway, looks great, definitely an interesting read and nice showcasing of things you don't see other places, best with it!

gee

Huge thank you all CTP group for giving HoverGirls a read! I cannot thank you enough for giving your time and thoughts on this story and it’s been incredibly helpful and encouraging!!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

It was a great read, gee!

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about HoverGirls this week! Please also give a special thank you to Geneva Bowers for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked HoverGirls, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://hovergirls.com/

Geneva’s Store: https://gdbee.store/

Geneva’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/gdbeeart

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #hovergirls #geneva bowers

[ivalice-tifalucis]

Found a forum about Take That, also found some interesting discussion

Now it’s 4AM in the morning, I slept too much for past couple of days because of some flu and the medicine makes me drowzy and moody all the time and sleeping was very tempting. I should’ve finished my essay so I can get this one subject to more than a ‘B’ so I can still retain my dream of going to Netherlands this year. But here I am searching non-important things (or at least maybe it’s important for my curiosity), and tried to google if there’s any existing Take That forum. My standard is high with mygnrforum which is a super active and long term versatile fan forum of Guns N’ Roses, I even manage to find myself some friends there. The whole website is even made and funded by fans, active discussions from all age, nationalities, and genders, and even there was a time when Axl Rose decided to showed up to everyone’s surprise. But hey, obviously GN’R is bazillion times bigger than TT. I just saw their concert of same shit they’ve been singing for 35 years with terrible mickey mouse voice of Axl’s and people still went lit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that I finally see my favorite rock band. It just hanging around with old fans give me sense of cynical for the band.

Anyway...

I went to thread that is talking about Odyssey. You may check it here: http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=209704&st=440

The thread is actually meant for both Robbie and Take That fans. I found nice thread that talked about Reveal and even gave me snippets that I haven’t even seen before since I was too poor to buy Reveal. But what I want to talk about in Odyssey thread is the view of this person who definitely this kind of annoying GB Army you will find a lot around Thatters group or social medias comments sections. Try to start from the link I gave you. Here this person talks about the BBC Documentary.

Tl;dr the cynical side of Thatters and that for this lovey-dovey band, in the eyes of some of their fans they still are one of the most controversial band.

“Saw it  There were some tears involved here as well, but of boredom, unfortunately. Absolutely NOTHING new whatsoever and nothing of substance and, on many occasions, it felt like the Robbie and his backing singers documentary. The era starting with 2006 was almost brushed off, because, of course, Robbie wasn't there - most of the moments from this era were the ones with Robbie in it-, we had the neverending Jason eulogy, but nothing to actually celebrate the members that really carry Take That. And I realized another thing that pissed me off - in almost all the recent performances, Robbie had the silver jacket, to make sure he distinguished himself from the others - God forbid someone mistook him for just a member and he didn't take the center of the stage. I guess that, on a very superficial level, the documentary will do its job, it will sell the album, but I see it as nothing more than that - just a promo trick, without real substance. I hope one day we get a documentary that brushes off Robbie's coming and going and the boys' constant "guilt" over it and the Jason "I'm happy to enjoy the money I've made off the back of TT, but without TT" and actually concentrates on what Mark, Gary and Howard have been doing. I know I sound bitter and I'm probably blowing things out of proportion a bit, but, seriously, is it too much to ask, as a fan, to have one episode that doesn't involve Robbie? Gary's documentary with James was so much more fun and deep, at the same time. This looked just like a label-ordered film, with no other purpose than filling some pockets. I was really disappointed. And I didn't understand what was the whole thing of including their mums in this documentary if they gave them 2 minutes and didn't get anything of substance out of them? We got more time with the same old fans that appear everywhere and say nothing interesting. It would have been more interesting to just have 2 fans that actually had some stories to tell; the same for the mums - considering how crazy it got in the 90s, they'd have had a ton of stories to tell - they probably talked amongst themselves, but nobody was smart enough to include the stuff of interest in the documentary. Sorry, just because I'm a fan, I'm not gonna praise everything they do, especially when it's so shallow. Rant over “

I mean a documentary released close with release date of their Greatest Hits album obviously not for commercial purpose related, right? People already complain that it’s going to be only TT3 doing Greatest Hits tour and she wants this documentary only about TT3. I agree though that maybe there should be more Take That mums and less fan stories maybe. But I think she doesn’t understand that ‘We’ve Come a Long Way’ is not like ‘For the Record’ or ‘Look Back Don’t Stare’. The purpose of this documentary is celebrating and look back but with brighter light on their career in the past 30 years. Don’t expect bunch of guys look pissed and depressed in this one.

And when I say she’s definitely GB Army, just read it how she reacts around the other person who is more leaning to Robbie. 

“Take That have been a UK (almost) only act since especially after Progress. Boy or Manbands do not sell well in the rest of Europe. It is not down to them only. The music taste is different. Robbie maintained his solo fanbase in Europe different to the UK more than TT. He sells out stadiums still. Progress was the unification all time height. Gary never sold well in Europe. And in the UK in the comments on FB, Newspapers etc (aside of the usual hate comments every public figure gets) you see that his political direction and the tax issue hurt his image. Robbie coming and going makes some people happy, some unhappy as you also realize in the comments even in this thread. But what really took mojo away is Jason leaving. And the miss of huge ballads. However, as long as they sell tours, even if it is for the live moment rather than TT - it is good for them as it pays millions in their wallets. In 10 years there might be a full reunion and then the Progress effect will set in again”

And this GB Army lady thinks Gary has no political direction. Then do tell me why people mocking him as Tory. I don’t understand UK politics. I always roll my eyes when I found random comments like for example at Kit Harington, sometimes he got called Tory too and ffs the dude never say anything about his political views, the reason he got called Tory is probably people mistaken him for being blue blood because he is the nth descendant of an Earl and married to Rose Leslie, whom her uncle is an Earl. But then again, it’s even written on his wikipedia page with article related, Gary did stated he supported David Cameron.

Oh this GB Army lady again...

“To be frank, I understand certain fans liked Jason and miss him, I personally don't. I'm probably one of the few people who don't acknowledge that "intelligence" and "wisdom" the others are talking about - that's probably because I saw really intelligent, academic people in the person of my professors and I know how that truly looks. I guess Jason strived to be intelligent and he probably read a lot, but, imo, he had no real in depth view of anything. I'm not saying, by any means, he was a stupid person, just that he wasn't any more intelligent than the others. I agree with you, though, about his contribution to the band - even if it was only for the moral of the group, he was good for them. But he chose to leave, he wasn't kicked out, so I don't see why the boys have to always go out of their way to acknowledge him - if "fans" attack them for this, then they're idiots. The interviews the boys did in November clearly showed they are annoyed of always being asked about Jason and Robbie - that's why I find this documentary to be more of a "guided" one - they said exactly what people expected them to say, regardless of how they actually feel.“

“As I've said, I agree that both Jason and Robbie's contributions had to be acknowledged, that's indisputable. What I'm saying is that Robbie's presence in the documentary wasn't necessary, given all he's done to the boys. He could have left them have their moment. I truly, truly despised him when he referred to them as "my business brothers". He's clever when it comes to distorting reality without many people noticing it. Maybe the III and Wonderland eras weren't as successful as the previous ones, but, given the context, it's no wonder. They were still successful and it was all down to Gary, Mark and Howard. 30 years of work and did anyone actually acknowledge these eras? Even Odyssey was brushed off. So, I have a problem with the program being called "We've come a long way" while we're only presented the beginning and some of the middle. Oh, and funny how Robbie uploads his new single on yt precisely the day the documentary airs! How convenient! “

There’s also some talking about TT downfall, how they can’t sell as much as they used to. Personally, I wanna know too from this side of the story, long term fan all the way to the 90s. And tbh their problem is also every musicians for all time and all place problem. Even Gary acknowledge this. They’re an old act. And that’s ok. Kinda agree that they made some bad decisions on songs and singles, but to me it’s related to the first problem. I stand with all the 5 lads so I don’t think Robbie came and left and changing the dynamic has something major to do. I agree that they’re lacking huge ballads now, but I still enjoy their newer songs tbh, The Jason one is quite intriguing though.

“I agree about the impact of Jason leaving. He may have been quiet on records but from what I could see he was --Robbie and Gary aside-- the next most popular member since they reformed. (**) I think Jason represented 'the good guy' and humble aspects more naturally than the others and this gained him droves of fans. He is very intelligent, including emotionally intelligent which made him relatable with everyday members of the public. The other four are nice though in my opinion you could tell Jason was truly sincere. Of course he is also the only member not involved in any tax issue and possibly took moral issue on this. I once read he still banks with his local co-op.”

IMO, this part is even interesting

A (dylandog): “I actually feel for Howard. A few months ago he bumped into the 'elusive Jay' on Kensington High Street and they had a brief chat. Apparently that was the first time Jay had see Howard's two children. Howard has also posted some lovely heart felt posts about Jay - who has completely cut the boys out of his life. I genuinely think that Howard is upset by Jay's decision to not only walk away from the band, but also their friendship.”

B (GBA lady): “That's exactly what I'm thinking, dylandog. Howard and Jason seemed to be very good friends during the TT years and Mark, well, he seems to be friends with everyone. I'm not including Gary on this one, although, back in the 90s, they said themselves, it was Gary-Howard-Jay, on one side, and Mark-Robbie, on the other side. I can understand - to a certain extent - Jason's decision to quit the music industry, but I don't get why he had to also quit his friendships. Howard was the one who said, during an interview, that Jason doesn't even reply to their emails anymore.”

A: “Jay was always the one that struggled with the limelight so to some extent it wasn't a surprise that he was the one to jump ship. I also felt that he was, to put it bluntly, rather work shy.  I think they probably understand/accept his decision to leave the music industry, but I agree with you, they must be hurt and confused by his actions to cut them out of his life. I know if a friend I'd spent many years with did that to me I'd feel very hurt. It does make me wonder what an earth went on? Was Jay appalled by their involvement in the tax scheme or was it something else? Whilst I understand Jay has his own life and friendship groups to completely erase them from his life is drastic to say the least. “

B: “I don't think it has anything to do with the their tax scheme. I doubt he even knew what the boys did with their share. Jason's finances are managed by his brother, the boys' by someone else. I don't see them sit down and talk: "oh, did your lawyer/accountant make you sign that paper regarding that investment?". I really trust Gary when he says he had no idea what he was signing - if he had any suspicion back then that it would be something that would backfire, he'd have pulled the money out immediately and payed the tax to the State, just like he did when he found out what it was all about. BUT, in the eventuality that Gary and the others lie and they knew they were doing something morally questionable and Jason was aware of this and this is the reason he left the band, then shame on him! He isn't a saint, he's done his fair share of morally questionable things in life - at the end of the day, using fans for sex is way more wrong than making an investment that doesn't break any laws -, so he wasn't in any position to judge. Just like all the others, he did alcohol, he did drugs, he used people for his own pleasure.....he really had no foot to stand on when it came to this. He is enjoying, after all, a life of doing nothing off the back of others, limelight shy or not. I sincerely hope that is not the reason he quit the band. If it were, his mum being in the documentary would look very weird.“

Then another guy came...

C: “I don't understand the talk about Jay like he is a bad guy here when this is probably the main reason why he quit the band, to stop stangers being judgmental on him. What's wrong with him dating young girls or older girls (Catherine Tate wasn't exactly young when they were dating)? He is single and should be allowed to date whoever he wants. And if he decided to quit because of the tax thing then I don't see any problem. People has different values in life that hold dear to their heart. Anyway, all this was just you guys' speculations (not even truth) and you still manage to use it to talk down on him just because he is not your favorite. Jason has never been a fan of technology since when he was in the band so I see no reasons for him to change after he left the band. Being of grid is so Jason that I don't know why everyone would be surprised. I have a lot of old colleagues that I was close to when I was working with them but never bother to keep in touch. I still like them but they are not my priority at the moment. There are so many levels of friendship and Take That is definitely a unique one.”

A: “I'm sorry you see it that way BadHabit. I in no way meant to be dismissive of Jay or suggest that he is a 'bad guy.' If you read my post I do say I miss Jay and for me they were at their best as a four piece. However, it's not unfair of me to point out that he had few leads, which I think is a shame by the way,because he's my second favourite vocalist in the band, or that he had very little input re song writing. The forum is for comments and opinions and unless we're looking at facts such as sales figures, then of course it's merely conjecture. My point was that I didn't fully understand the intellectual label given to Jason. Of course he can 'date' whom is wishes, regardless of their age, I don't think I suggested otherwise, but simply made an observations that he appears to have been photographed with much younger women on a number of occasions and therefore falls into that stereotype of older man/ younger woman. By the way for balance Howard is married to a much younger woman as well.“

B: “In regards to Jason dating younger women - although I couldn't care less about his private life (as long as his private life doesn't affect TT's image/reputation/connections)-, I do believe it's morally wrong for a 40+ old man to be dating 20 year olds. No, a person doesn't have the right to date whomever they please. In some countries, it's legal for 80+ year olds to marry young girls, some are still kids - based on the mighty principle that "one can do whatever/whomever they please". Just because it's not illegal, it doesn't mean it's not wrong. Plus, it's just disturbing to see an almost 50 year old - or is he 50 already? - jumping from woman to woman - he's either interested in settling down, in which case he should be dating just one person -or he's not interested in a family life, in which case he shouldn't be dating at all. I could understand it to some extent when all the boys were teens or in their early 20s, but now it's just ridiculous. I know you all live in a "liberal" thinking country, but I have the feeling nowadays abnormalities are being perceived as normal, which is soooo wrong. It's not right that any person on this forum be made to "retract" an opinion based on a system of values, just because others' fan bias. Like dylandog said, nobody believes Jason is "a bad guy", but that doesn't mean he's a saint either- he's just showing signs of immature and questionable decisions. Every single member of this band has been criticized for various choices they've made in their lives, why would be Jason exempt from the same treatment? He actually had it pretty easy going while he was in the band. For all his questionable public appearances, he never got the 10th amount of the slagging Gary did for simply existing.“

*sigh* now I’m getting some pattern that the older you are as a fan of an act, the cynical you are.

If anyone manage to read this until this part, please let me know your thoughts. Especially about Jason because tbh even I still confuse about his mindset.

#take that #tt5 #tt digging

[uclaradio]

Interview with City Girl

Interviewed by Jennifer Liaw

album art for Time Falls Like Moonlight, by vickisigh

City Girl is a rising LA-based lo-fi/chillhop producer that incorporates a lot of soft piano and guitar intertwined with electronic beats and vocals. Starting out on Bandcamp and Soundcloud only 10 months ago, they now have three albums out on Spotify, the latest being Time Falls Like Moonlight, released in April.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? What was growing up in that city like?

I grew up in California close to LA. To be honest once I found music I never really went outside. Before that I was just playing video games and watching cartoons. I guess the internet was more of where I grew up, as opposed to any geographical place.

What music did you listen to a lot growing up? What were your favorite artists back in like middle school, for example?

In middle school it was John Frusciante, all day everyday. Something about his guitar playing really inspired me. It was soulful and beautiful and just felt perfect, like every note was exactly where it should be. In high school my music taste exploded, but John Frusciante was the majority of the first music I learned and played.

Tell us a little about how City Girl first got started.

I uploaded on the train somewhere between my apartment and you 10 months ago on Soundcloud and just emailed a bunch of Youtube channels that were taking submissions. Aurarian music accepted that first release and put it out on Youtube and got the ball rolling so City Girl could get some attention back when it was only 10-20 followers.

How did you come up with the name City Girl?

To be honest, its in honor of “City Girl” by Kevin Shields from the Lost In Translation soundtrack. I’m a huge My Bloody Valentine fan and that song of his is just so amazing.

When did you first start making music? How did you get into it, and how did you first learn how to produce a beat?

I got into guitar playing when I was 12 or so. I just played because my older brother had a guitar. I took it and just Googled how to play guitar and taught myself songs and chords. It was the most fun I’d ever had. It felt so special. I didn’t start producing for like another seven years though. I would just record onto a Tascam tape recorder and jam with friends in garages. I had friends who made lofi beats waay back when it was like CULP and Simo and Onra and john wayne and stuff, but I never got into it, I was more focused on improvising and expanding my musical repertoire in a more performance-focused way.

Are there any instruments that you would like to try out incorporating into your music that you haven't tried yet?

I want live drums but I live in an apartment. If I could record drums that would be so cool, since I play drums too and I miss it badly.

Where do you usually record your music? Describe your studio space to us.

It’s about five feet no joke from my bed haha. It’s a desk and a midi keyboard and some guitars and other little instruments like the melodica. I have speakers and an old mic. It’s super cozy, my bedroom at my apartment is just covered with vickisigh’s art, like everywhere you look it’s just cute sexy ladies in pastel colors, I love it.

vickisigh’s (Vicki Tsai) artwork, from her instagram

How would you describe the lo-fi/chillhop genre and subculture to someone who’s never been exposed to it?

It’s just a bunch of people who love making music on their computers, and to be honest only one percent is unique and actually worth your time, but the same goes for all genres, 99 percent of it is just not that good. I would be more specific but at this point lofi stands for so so much that you can’t really go much further than that.

What do you think of the lo-fi hip hop/chillhop genre in general? It's really popular right now what with the YouTube 24hr lo-fi hip hop studying beats stream and the Spotify lo-fi hip hop studying beats playlists as well... There's literally probably thousands of really similar chillhop producers on SoundCloud... does that ever make you feel swallowed up, in a sense? Or does it feel more like a really large community? How do you try to stand out as an artist among all these other producers?

It’s a tough question to answer, because you can go from quickly, quickly to in love with a ghost and still call it lofi if you want to. These artists share playlists together and Youtube mixes. Who’s to say quickly, quickly isn’t just jazz? Who’s to say in love with a ghost isn’t just electronic music? It’s not so much a genre as it is a movement of instrumental music becoming the focus itself rather than the singer/rapper. Staying unique seems simple to me as I grew up playing and learning music by ear, so I just follow my interests/inspiration and play whatever seems cool.

Which artists would you say are your biggest inspirations or that you're just blown away by and really admire within your genre? How about outside of your genre?

Well in love with a ghost stands out, like most peeps I found them on Youtube. All the tracks from Let’s Go and Healing by them are amazing. Just super cool textures and melodies, really lovely and creative music. Kupla is amazing too, he’s an amazing piano player, all of his music is great. Outside of my genre I’d say Sheena Ringo, especially her album Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana - it’s pretty much game over, this album does everything better in every regard imaginable than any other music I’ve heard. Don’t know if you can get access to it in US tho, the copyright lawyers are hard at work on this one.

What artist outside of the lo-fi hip hop genre would you really really love to collaborate with? Can you describe the kind of track you'd want to make with them?

With anyone, well shit Beyoncé right? I mean she’s the best vocalist alive next to Frank Ocean. I would just want to make something really beautiful, some In Rainbows type stuff.

Being an artist based out of Bandcamp/Soundcloud in this day means a lot of your career is kind of born out of the internet. What are your favorite and least favorite parts about the internet and spending so much time on the internet/interacting with people on the internet/sharing yourself through the internet?

I love the internet because I can share whatever I want when I want. I don’t feel a lot of pressure because I don’t have any personal accounts on social media and never have, I always just read a lot of books and listened to records and stuff. I’m sure some people think it’s mysterious or whatever that I never cared for social media, instead opting to just read Sartre or watch old movies, but nowadays all I do is make music and play Skyrim so it’s all good. The internet gives me access to all that goodness so I can find it offline.

What are your top five favorite artists right now?

Tom Misch, Swell, quickly quickly, in love with a ghost, and Sam Gellaitry

What are your top five favorite female artists?

Sheena Ringo, Beyoncé, Aivi Tran, MISO (from club eskimo - a collective including Crush, Dean, offonoff, 2xxx!, millic, and more), and tiffi.

Do you have a favorite spot in LA that you wouldn't want to share with anyone else?

Wherever YAYAYI and JALENTUNA happen to be any given saturday night in k-town is a pretty special vibe that honestly can’t be shared even if I wanted it to be. God there was this $5 flat pho place on Western Ave. that was run by this old couple but it closed like 5 years ago, that was the best place ever and it straight up was ALWAYS empty, no one ate there. I think it was like Pho 36 haha one of those LA pho places that has a random number after it.

What are some things that you really enjoy doing for yourself? When you need to take a day for yourself, what are things that you'll usually do?

Skyrim is a go-to. It’s usually video games but a lot of times it’s just making music. You gotta understand music is like an addiction to me. I never stop thinking about sounds and I feel uneasy not making music.

So we know you like video games… what are some of your favorite video games of all time? Do you have any funny anecdotes from playing games online with strangers?

Favorite of all time is Psychonauts. Such a creative game and Scott Campbell’s art is the absolute bee’s knees. Right now my favorite is Skyrim as mentioned. I love RPG and adventure games, the immersion gets me good. I loved games growing up, played anything. I have a lot of anecdotes about gaming but I honestly can’t think of just one. Haha well when Xbox Live came out online gaming was brand new and I remember my dad getting on the headset asking people not to cuss (since I was just a kid) and THEY STOPPED. They were like “Oh sorry dude we didn’t know there were kids playing we will keep the cursing to a minimum.” Can you imagine that nowadays? It would never happen. That shit still blows my mind.

Do you play Fortnite? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

I played Fortnite with Chance, thrash, and Maru the other night and I hate it so much lol. The vibe is so terrible, the aesthetic makes me want to barf it’s so ugly. That was the only time I’ve really played it and it hasn’t been on my mind, the itch isn’t there so I guess no hype for me.

What are your favorite K-Pop bands or members?

SNSD was the OG. That old video of Sooyoung going “OP-EHHHH! OP-EH EH EH EH EH” lol that shit is so funny. I don’t follow it much anymore but MISO is the queen right now, she’s the best. I watched all of Jessica and Krystal when it came out too, that’s good stuff.

Ok I also saw on Twitter that you have a cat... tell us about your cat!

Ah yes, Seymour, the Russian Blue. He is a very handsome and beautiful man. He is a shadow in the night. Every part of him is gray except his lil tongue which is pink and his eyes which are green. He lives at my parents house so I don’t see him except at holidays, but he is my good soft boy. I think of him very often.

art from Snow Rose, by vickisigh

What would you say is your favorite track that you've produced?

“Anything Like Her” with tiffi is prob my fav. Tiffi is so cool and that song is really different sounding from other City Girl songs so I think it’s cool.

What is your favorite track off of Time Falls Like Moonlight?

“Sunset Lullaby” is probably my favorite. The second half with the acoustic and electric guitar just feels really special.

What was your inspiration for Time Falls Like Moonlight?

I make so much music, the inspiration doesn’t really ever make sense, I am inspired by everything in each moment, I am inspired by my own passion to make music. Not understanding what is going on is really important to how I work, it makes things exciting. I just want the music to make people feel loved and understood for who they are, that there is a purpose for them, a life they can live and be loved in.

When you make songs, are they ever about specific things, people, or events in your life?

Not really, it’s just all my emotions sort of bleeding into the computer. I don’t know if I could write about any particular thing, but I do enjoy imagining lots of people and situations to my music after I made it. Like oh this sounds like Moonlight Hill (from Kingdom Hearts) or this sounds like a tender look from someone or this sounds like a lonely plaza in the middle of some city. It’s all free and open to interpretation.

“Winter Fields” is one of my favorite tracks of yours... mostly because of the lovely violin part by mklachu. It's so dreamy and kind of reminds me of some of my favorite Ryuichi Sakamoto pieces, too. Can you tell us a little about this track?

It’s random but the track started as a like, flex? I was watching Joji’s Youtube aliases and god they are just awful I mean like him fucking with people and being super lewd and nasty I hate it but I was watching it anyway to like fry my brain and I thought it would be fun to make a nasty trap beat that would fit with his videos and I made “Winter Fields” (I know it doesn’t make sense at all). The song slowly got more romantic as I added piano layers the next day and then mklachu tweeted at me out of nowhere and I asked her to play over it and yeah it’s just what happens when you work on music all the time, everything going on makes it into the song.

Another one of my favorites is “Chateau Fountain.” I love the slow buildup, and then the talking portion that kind of just emerges and goes into like an acoustic drop... ahhhh.. I was wondering where that talking portion is from actually. The guy is like, "Take the flowers," and the girl is like "I’m all right!" and it sounds like an uncomfortable struggle...a common pattern in society where... men force women to do things regardless of their autonomy or feelings (ha ha). Does it have any significance to the meaning behind the track? What were your reasons for choosing to put that particular snippet in this track? It's interesting because for me, I think I'm more sensitive than the average person to these kind of power dynamics or like...oppression against women in all aspects of daily interactions or media that I consume, so when I listen to this track it's like a soft buildup to this point of conflict that is kind of grating, but then evolves back into a calming acoustic melody. That's personal, of course, but it's interesting.

DUDE YOU HAVEN’T SEEN ATONEMENT? Omg that movie is so incredible. It’s James McAvoy talking to Kiera Knightley and they have all this tension because they love each other but they can’t be together and ooooooooooooooooooh it’s so good. Their love is so beautiful and honest but it’s injected with all this tension and conflict from society and politics. I felt that snippet fit so perfectly into the emotions of the song, it’s one of the few few times I’ve used movie snippets because I felt it actually added to the track in a creative way.

How do you think you've evolved from the first songs you put out on Bandcamp/Soundcloud, and your first album Loveless Shadows, to now?

I know a lot more about mixing, especially with bass and drums. I try to make more upbeat stuff now, but honestly I still end up making a lot of downtempo stuff. I know a lot more jazz piano than I did before so that’s nice too.

What are some artists that you think are really underrated that you'd like to give a shoutout to and encourage people to check out?

frenesi is criminally underrated.

What are your goals for City Girl for the next few years?

Just put out an incredible amount of music and keep building the world of City Girl. I want people to feel relaxed and loved and understood when they listen to City Girl. Honestly I just want to expand the harmonic and melodic depth of City Girl, I want people to head bump and cry in the same track, I want to find that fusion of beautiful and funky that all great music has for me.

I know you just released an album, but besides that, do you have any upcoming events or projects your fans should be looking forward to?

I have another album finished already, but with the way vickisigh (I won’t put out something without her art on it) works it won’t be out until probably another two-three months. So by the time that comes out I’ll have another album done and so on the process repeats. So just look forward to a new album every two-three months for as long as I’m rockin in the free world.

art from Loveless Shadows, by vickisigh

Check out City Girl’s latest album, Time Falls Like Moonlight, out on Spotify, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp! They also have two other albums, Snow Rose from December, and Loveless Shadows from August that are equally as beautiful. Follow them on Soundcloud for all their music updates and on Twitter for all their promo updates!

#vickisigh #city girl #time falls like moonlight #city girl interview #loveless shadows #snow rose #ucla radio #uclaradio.com #ucla #college radio #ArtistInterview

[welikeitspicyreviews-blog]

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2019 Essay (Open, Panti Sisters & Lola Igna)

The Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP) is a seven-day in length festivity of Philippine Cinema where new quality genre Filipino films are screened for seven days in every single normal film across the country. No foreign films will be screened during PPP with the exception of in claim to fame films to give the open door for the entire nation to commend its very own local films. This occasion is sorted out by the Film Development Council of the Philippines in partnership with the National Cinema Association of the Philippines. PPP’s mission is to recognize Filipino artistry in films, promote our country and its talents globally, protect our film cultural heritage, and empower every Filipino through film development and education. Over the most recent years, PPP has made a culture of help from the crowd and FDCP tends to proceed with this custom to persistently draw in film buffs across the country to belittle local films. The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) advances and supports the improvement and development of the local film industry as a medium for the upliftment of the aesthetic, cultural, and social values of the nation for the better understanding and appreciation for the Filipino character.  A portion of the main Filipino movies to ever be produced using a century prior may feel totally exquisite, however its subjects do not: family, friendship, and love keep on resounding with many. What's more, with the 100th anniversary of Philippine cinema practically just around the corner, the coordinators of the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP) disclosed their choice with featuring those components and to celebrate what these topics mean for us.

Romance is one of the most popular genres to watch, read and binge on. It is usually a genre where the story revolves around the love between two characters as they experience the highs and lows of love. Although most romance films end up with a happy ending ( e.g. guy gets girl, ends with a feel good 80s music and the like ), there are some that will leave you crying. Films like, Richard Linklater's ‘Before series’, Wong Kar Wai’s ‘Happy Together’ and Abdellatif Kechiche’s ‘Blue is the Warmest Color’ are one of my top picks. In Philippine Cinema, the most talked about romance film is Cathy Garcia-Molina’s One More Chance.  The film became very iconic for its painful narrative and dramatic cheesy lines that gained a cult following in social media and are still very relevant today. It shattered the hearts of Filipinos because of its sad concepts about long-term relationships, self-worth and second chances. In this year’s Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino, there is one film that stood out for me because it reminded me of the iconic love story of Popoy and Basha without a clichè happy ending and the concepts of an open relationship.

Open by Andoy Ranay is a film about two lovers, Ethan ( JC Santos ) and Rome ( Arci Muñoz ) who have been in a relationship for almost 14 years until their relationship has gone stale so they both explored the idea of going open. But for me, the film is really about Rome trying to get out of a toxic relationship where she thinks love is enough for her to stay even if it means that person is going to disrespect and hurt her. But mostly, it's about finding one’s self-worth. The film introduces a controversial concept of a relationship where couples are allowed to see other people which I think the writers did great. Apart from introducing the concept of open relationships, they were able to show a form of emotional abuse seen from JC Santos’ annoying character. 

The film didn’t focus on the open relationship a lot but I think it's a nice way to introduce it by giving the audience a disclaimer that this isn’t for everyone. When Rome starts to realize her worth, she was able to find her happiness. She finally was able to go back to her art and make a life all by herself. This cuts to Ethan realizing how toxic he was as a boyfriend through close-up shots of a wine bottle written “Rome” on it. Looking at the camera from the beginning till the end, its like going through a journey with her and from that, we were able to ask ourselves the same question, “Is this really what happiness feels like?” and in that moment, we are able to make that decision for her and for ourselves also. This cuts to a beautiful close up shot of rome, a few seconds before the credits start rolling. And finally, she is free. 

The film starts with Rome and Ethan arguing about getting into an open relationship or breaking up. In here, we are introduced to the idea that their relationship is not going to end well. Since every time the camera cuts to a close up shot of Rome’s face, she appears as if she’s indecisive and unsure. This concludes that Rome’s selfless character enables Ethan to allow the toxicity of his character to worsen. Comparing this to One More Chance, the film starts with the same kind of set up without the idea of an open relationship. But the only difference is that the dominance lies in Bea’s character, Basha. She already knows what she wants while we are being introduced to the toxic behavior of Popoy. They both have similarities in their cinematic universe. They show the same concept of friendship, the realization of one’s self worth from a toxic relationship and lastly, finding happiness in a workplace. But looking through past films by the same production and Star Cinema, they share the same formula. What makes the two different from each other? Work wins over love while the other, the same cliché ending — guy gets girl. Maybe why I couldn’t stop comparing it to One More Chance because of the obvious similarities. Hopefully, time will come for Philippine Cinema that we will get to see new things rather than the generic formulas given by these productions. In the end, all we can do is hope, be patient and support the local independent films.

Another film-in-competition is entitled, Panti Sisters. It is a film directed by Jun Lana and its about a terminally ill father offers P100 million inheritance to the first of his three gay sons who can give him a grandchild. Starring Paolo Ballesteros, Martin del Rosario and Christian Bables. Alongside veteran actors, John Arcilla and Carmi Martin as their parents. It is obvious that the movie looks like its other predecessors since most of the cast are Jun Lana’s frequent collaborators.  Jun Lana is known for making LGBTQ + themed films like, Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes, and Bakit Lahat ng Gwapo may Boyfriend? This director is the most youthful beneficiary of the Palanca Hall of Famer and champ of 11 Palanca Awards for Literature. Named the group top pick, he then won the Audience Choice honor, Best Production Design and Martin del Rosario won the Best Actor. 

This film is something that the filipino masses should go and watch. Despite that there are scenes in the film which doesn’t feel necessary to the narrative of the story and there are some lines felt pushed just to prove a point but so far, all the sad passionate lines worked as a mainstream film. It explores a host of social issues that are especially timely and need to be addressed such as the worsening or increasing discrimination and hatred against people who are part of the LGBT community, whose sole purpose is to receive basic human riights and to be treated fairly, that they should still fight for their rights because they are also people who should be respected and viewed as equal to all of us. There is no requirement for them to change with the goal that they can be treated as animals and can't be viewed as a plague in the public arena. May everybody comprehend that the issues that happen in our general public are not simply in their locale. The greater part of us make issues little or enormous, they really add to the social issues in which we live. We should inquire as to whether we are a piece of the arrangement or would we say we are simply adding to the enormous issue? The film's story also discusses the devastating effects of the patriarchy that John Arcilla characterizes as their father, Don Emilio y Panti. They perform well and post-character improvement will see every one of the principal characters.

Inevitably accomplishing the foreseen acknowledgment and regard they ached for from their dad prompted enthusiastic or energetic goals of the issues in the story, these scenes were deliberately terrible because of their magnificent exhibition or featuring John Arcilla. We can contrast this work with movies at the Metro Manila Film Festival with similar formula. Much the same as the films that Vice Ganda has starred in, for example, Fantastica, The Super Parental Guardians, Beauty and the Bestie, Praybeyt Benjamin and other celebrities who are for the most part worked with Wenn V. Deramas who is known for these movies. These ‘Funny portrayals of LGBT films”  are modest and you can't deny that they earn a place in all the blockbuster office since they have a huge part in mainstream films. Yet, when I contrast these movies with each other, The Panti Sisters is definitely has more substance which is why I think it deserves to be a part of the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino, despite the fact that it takes after Wenn V's works. It gave the audience a lot of good points about social issues that most FIlipinos are afraid to talk about and it's something that we won't see in a Wen V. Deramas film. Regardless of how genuine or surely understood the primary characters are, interestingly, they offer equity to the character and they perform well. We trust that individuals comprehend and comprehend the significance of examination, that the film isn't only for the solace and happiness regarding an individual, it suggests generally for the good of one's own, it might have been made in the general public in which we live. 

Lola Igna's movie is one of the films released at this year's Philippine Film Festival. It is directed and written by Eduardo Roy Jr. Angie Ferro is known for being the popular actress in the film industry as Lola Igna, with Yves Flores as Tim, Maria Isabel Lopez as Nida and Meryll Soriano as Ana, the main characters in the film. The film begins with a very mysterious and intriguing scene in which she performs her usual tasks. As she goes on with her daily activities, it is notably seen that flies were swarming around and she speaks to someone that isn’t shown by the camera. Lola Igna lived a simple life and could see her life alone in that cottage near a farm she owned. The film further showed that she had a family, Nida her granddaughter and his great-grandson Bok, the son of Nida. It is interesting to see that these are the only relative she has. As the story progresses, viewers are informed that Lola Igna's character may have earned the title of "the oldest living grandmother in the world." Lola Igna was so distracted that she didn't even understand why, all of a sudden everyone was paying attention to her. Lola Igna does not speak at all and often hurts people who visit her for the same reason that she does not know it. She is not used to this attention and she is very distracted. Lola Igna became an instant tourist attraction when the news of her being the oldest grandmother in the world was released. Merchandises of Lola were released due to her popularity. These merchandises were managed by her granddaughter, Nida. 

As viewers, we could not help but feel that they were using Lola Igna in a wrong manner, to the point that her little house became a tourist attraction. It's sad to think that this is happening in the reality that there are people who will actually use you for their personal development and often these people are near you or your own family. But we also came to the realization that Nida's family would never have had enough income if they had just grown their crops and kept watch over the store. However it is not right that they are forcing Lola Igna to entertain those that visits her. In the first place, Lola Igna doesn’t want the attention she was receiving. Until a surprise came, her other great-grandson, Tim came who was Anna's grandson. Her eyes were full of happiness and it was wonderful to think that of Lola Igna’s age she would not forget about who were relatives were even after a long time. Tim is an aspiring vlogger. Amidst Tim’s visit, it’s not hard to think and doubt him for only using Lola Igna’s current popularity as clout. If one would ponder, why would Tim suddenly appear in the midst of this popularity and didn’t come before Lola Igna’s recognition as the “oldest grandmother in the world”. Our anguish and doubts over whether or not he was really a grandson were even more apparent when the only subject of his videos were the ones of Lola Igna only. As the story progresses, we discover Lola Igna's thoughts and feelings. With each passing day that she spent in this world she became increasingly depressed. To live this long is considered a blessing and a great curse. We thought at that moment that we did not want her to die not because of the title she could obtain but for the reason that she was loved in their village.She is not difficult to love or to understand but we know for ourselves that we are being selfish because of that request but do we realize in ourselves that she should not live for someone else? Especially, if Lola Igna wants to rest in peace and take away all the pain she feels in the moment. How many friends and loved ones did she witness being alive and eventually buried death? How many times would she feel this so much sadness? If you place yourself in her shoes, it is only natural to ask God to take you and rest in the suffering she has been feeling for so long. No matter how difficult her family is to accept her wishes, they know that her situation is not difficult to understand. This feeling of Lola Igna was confirmed by the scene where she wept as she invited her guests in for a chance to see and take pictures with her. Amidst entertaining the tourists, Lola Igna then collapses due to fatigue. Nida realizes that Lola Igna can no longer get the title and with this money, it is more important for Lola Igna to wake up and be with them. Following this incident, Ana had returned after a long period of time when she ran away from their village resulted in her sister Nida campaigning and planting resentment. Ana is currently pregnant and seems to be giving birth due to the size of her stomach. Ana took care of Lola Igna in addition to resolving her personal issues with her son Tim and her sister Nida. Lola Igna woke up in disbelief at what she was seeing. Because of their long absence of communication and news of Ana, they had come to their senses that Ana might be dead. Anna asks for forgiveness from Lola Igna and her sister Nida. Grandma Igna says no one should apologize, these scenes are emotional because they highlight the importance and essence of having a family. It seems like the events in the movie will signal the end of the movie but the scenes that follow are truly sad. Ana unintentionally gave birth with her son at the middle of the fields near Lola Igna's house. Viewers were supposed to be happy with the new family member but Ana did not make it alive after she gave birth. As one added to them, there was also a retraction. Lola Igna assisted Ana giving birth. When she has since refused to do it because for her it only increases her life when she helps give birth to babies. Her new great-grandson was born with a broken heart and mourning the loss of one of her grand daughter who previously came back after running away. The situation is so sad that everyone is settled and for the first time they are a whole family with Lola Igna still with them but now again the pain and loneliness of the old woman will be felt again. Anna died in the arms of her son Tim, it was hard to see your mother being at her last dying breath, with the thought that you could do nothing more to prevent it. Death is inevitable and a part of human life. Some might want death to just arrive and take them, like Grandma Igna. Is there anything she has to do in this world that she is not allowed to lose? The very last scene in the film is really attention catcher in a very effective way to ponder or think deeper to understand Grandma Igna's passionate and emotional expressions. She just stared at the audience and said nothing but her eyes spoke for her. What might be the thoughts inside her head? But the real question is, “what would you feel if you were in Lola Igna’s place?

A realization has come to mind that Lola Igna isn’t all about the title of being the oldest grandmother in the world. Lola Igna ponders on the topic of life and death. Rarely do we see films that swims through the simplest reality of life. This film had portrayed that aging can be very terrifying yet mighty. Lola Igna is an old woman who is so close to her last days of life but death seems to avoid her. She had witnessed people’s growth younger than her like the petals within a bud starts to grow to the point where after it blooms, it is withered. Lola Igna’s old age makes her rant about how death seems to have forgotten about her. She was in her time of life when she had surpassed almost every relative she knew. It is heartbreaking when things start to get closer to you, that’s when you most understand and accept it. This is death for Lola Igna. Death is not something that is a grievous end. For some, it is something to honor for death is peaceful and after that you have nothing to worry about. In the last scene where Lola Igna is seen holding a baby, the look on her face carries powerful emotions that strikes the heart of those who looks. It is the face of someone who is tired and afraid, but had no choice but to live and wait. 

After watching all these films part of this year’s PPP, we came  to ponder and commend the directors behind it. It is difficult to tell stories not quite the same as what is typically portrayed. It is difficult casting new faces and hope they’d be more effective than the big stars existing. It is hard and not easy as anyone had said. Having the opportunity to produce films is a privilege and not a right. Furthermore, with that privilege comes the test to make it well as other existing films. It's anything but difficult to state something significant, to get recognition and yell it out and you would already be able to advise the world what they need to hear. It is hard to state something important through the medium of cinema, set aside some effort to figure out how to utilize each component of film to state what you mean better. A complete film that doesn’t simply beat the cutoff time. This privilege comes with a big weight to produce films with substance and without shallow meaning. 

For the future of Philippine cinema, we wish that the public audience would take risks out of their comfort zones in the movies they go out to see. How about we watch lighthearted comedies all we want like Panti Sisters or a love story like, Open. But at the same time, how about we also  watch something different. Documentaries, thriller movies, sad movies, unusual movies, stunning motion pictures. Something that isn’t mainstream or the movie that is not the first choice of the general public. One example of this is Lola Igna. Movies are not just about feeling better or being enchanted or beginning to look all starry eyed at. Movies are also about feeling agitated, feeling startled and disappointed. It is likewise about sentiments of misfortune, of vulnerability, of rushes and amazement. Movies are about such a significant number of different things, as well, other than simply fun and love. We wish that you let movies make you something and not simply give you what you generally expect of it.

[jeffreyclinard]

The Atlas of Happiness: Discovering the World’s Secret to Happiness with Helen Russell

Posted: 4/4/2019 | April 4th, 2019

A few years ago, I read the book The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell. I think it originally came up as a suggested book on Amazon. I can’t fully remember. But, I stuck it in my queue, ordered it, and it sat on my bookshelf until it was time to read it. I couldn’t put it down. It was funny, well written, interesting, and an insightful look into Danish culture. It was one of my favorite books I read that year.

Last year, I somehow convinced Helen to speak at TravelCon and got to meet her in person. Now, she has a new book out called The Atlas of Happiness. It’s about why people in certain places are happier than others. It’s a phenomenal book (you should get it). Today, Helen shares some of what she learned in researching that book!

Here’s a funny thing: if you’ve been online today for more than a fraction of a second, you may have started to get the sense that the world is A Terrible Place. Even the committed traveler with an open mind could be forgiven for thinking that the outlook is pretty bleak.

And if you’ve seen the headlines today or been on social media and you’re feeling low as a result, you’re not alone.

It’s easy to get the idea that the world is becoming more miserable by the minute and that happiness is a luxury in these troubled times.

But over the past six years, I’ve learned that there are people all around the world finding ways to stay happy, every day. And that happiness is something we’re hardwired to seek out – wherever we are.

I started researching happiness in 2013 when I relocated from the UK to Denmark. I’d spent 12 years living and working in London as a journalist, and I had no intention of leaving, until out of the blue one wet Wednesday, my husband came home and told me he’d been offered his dream job…working for Lego in rural Jutland. I was skeptical to start with — I had a good career, a nice flat, great friends, close family — I had a life.

Okay, so my husband and I both worked long hours, we were tired all the time, and never seemed to be able to see each other very much. We regularly had to bribe ourselves to get through the day and we’d both been ill on and off for the past six months.

But that was normal, right?

We thought we were ‘living the dream.’ I was 33 years old and we’d also been trying for a baby for as long as either of us could remember, enduring years of fertility treatment, but we were always so stressed that it never quite happened.

So when my husband was offered a job in Denmark, this ‘other life’ possibility was dangled in front of us — the chance to swap everything we knew for the unknown. Denmark had just been voted the world’s happiest country in the UN’s annual report and I became fascinated by this. How had a tiny country of just 5.5m people managed to pull off the happiest nation on earth title? Was there something in the water? And if we couldn’t get happier in Denmark, where could we get happier?

During our first visit, we noticed that there was something a bit different about the Danes we met. They didn’t look like us, for starters — quite apart from the fact that they were all strapping Vikings towering over my 5’3” frame — they looked more relaxed and healthier. They walked more slowly. They took their time to stop and eat together, or talk, or just…breathe.

And we were impressed.

My Lego Man husband was sold on the idea and begged me to move, promising we’d relocate for my career next time. And I was so worn out by my hectic London life that I found myself agreeing. I quit my job to go freelance and decided I would give it a year, investigating the Danish happiness phenomenon first hand — looking at a different area of living each month to find out what Danes did differently.

From food to family life; work culture to working out; and design to the Danish welfare state — each month I would throw myself into living ‘Danishly’ to see if it made me any happier and if I could change the way I lived as a result. I decided I would interview as many Danes, expats, psychologists, scientists, economists, historians, sociologists, politicians, everyone, in fact, to try to uncover the secrets to living Danishly.

I documented my experiences for two UK newspapers before being asked to write a book: The Year of Living Danishly, Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country.

Since then, I’ve been humbled and moved to hear from readers from across the globe with wide-ranging life perspectives, but the one constant was a need to share the happiness secrets of their own cultures. Some of the themes that sprung out were universal — such as social interactions, exercising out of doors and finding a balance in life — while others were intriguingly unique.

So I set out to research into unique happiness concepts from around the world, interviewing people internationally until The Atlas of Happiness — my new book-baby — was born. It isn’t a compendium of the happiest countries; instead, it’s a look at what’s making people happier in different places. Because if we only look at the countries already coming top of the happiness polls, we miss out on ideas and knowledge from cultures we’re less familiar with.

Nowhere is perfect. Every country has faults. But I wanted to celebrate the best parts of a country’s culture as well as national characteristics at their finest – because that’s what we should all be aiming for.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Did you know, for example, that in Portuguese there’s something called saudade — a feeling of longing, melancholy, and nostalgia for a happiness that once was — or even a happiness you merely hoped for?

And while Brazil may be famous for its carnival spirit, the flipside of this, saudade, is so central to the Brazilian psyche that it’s even been given its own official ‘day’ on the 30th of January every year.

Most of us will have experienced a bittersweet pleasure in moments of melancholy — flicking through old photos, or caring about anyone enough to miss them when they’re gone.

And scientists have found that this temporary sadness — counter-intuitively — makes us happier: providing catharsis; improving our attention to detail; increasing perseverance and promoting generosity. So we should all spend time remembering those we’ve loved and lost — then practice being a little more grateful for the ones still around.

Finland ranked number one in this year’s UN World Happiness report thanks to a great quality of life, free healthcare, and education funded by high taxes.

But there’s also something else the Finns enjoy that’s infinitely more exportable: kalsarikännit — defined as ‘drinking at home in your underwear with no intention of going out’ — a pursuit so popular it even has its own emoji, commissioned by The Finnish Foreign Ministry.

In common with most Scandinavians, Finns aren’t shy about disrobing, and they all have such enviably well-insulated houses that stripping down to their pants is apparently completely okay even when it’s minus 35 degrees outside. What you drink and crucially how much of it you knock back is down to the individual, but it’s a uniquely Finnish form of happiness and mode of relaxation that we can all give a go.

In Greece, they have a concept called meraki that refers to an introspective, precise expression of care, usually applied to a cherished pastime — and it’s keeping Greeks happy despite turbulent times. This is because having a hobby improves our quality of life according to scientists, and challenging ourselves to do something different also creates new neural pathways in our brain. Having a passion that you take pride can be of extra benefit to those who can’t say the same for their primary occupation.

Because meraki can make life worthwhile if your 9-5 is more of a daily grind. Many tasks that need to be taken care of on a day-to-day basis aren’t particularly challenging or inspiring – from filing, to raising purchase orders or even — dare I say it — some of the more gruelling aspects of parenting.

But we can break up the never-ending cycle of mundane work with our own personal challenges — things that we’re passionate about that we can genuinely look forward to doing. Our meraki.

Dolce far niente — or the sweetness of doing nothing — is a much-treasured concept in Italy — often hashtagged on Instagram accompanying pictures of Italians in hammocks. Okay, so Italy hasn’t exactly topped any happiness rankings in recent years, but the cliché of the carefree Italian still exists – and with good reason.

Italians do ‘nothing’ like no other nation and perfecting the art takes style and skill – because there’s more to it than meets the eye. It’s watching the world go by over coffee and a cornetto. It’s laughing at tourists. Or politicians. And crucially it’s about savoring the moment and really enjoying the present. Many of us search for relaxation by traveling to exotic locations, drinking to oblivion, or trying to blot out the noise of modern life.

But Italians let the chaos wash over them. Instead of saving up our ‘fun quota’ for an annual escape, they spread it over the minutes, hours and days throughout the year and ‘enjoy life’ in all its messy reality.

One of the happiest countries in the world, the Norwegians must be doing something right. And quite aside from their enviable Scandi-lifestyles and the safety net of all that oil, Norwegians have a secret ace card up their sleeves: a concept called friluftsliv. This roughly translates as ‘free air life’ and it’s a code of conduct as well as a life goal for most Norwegians – who like to spend time outdoors and get high, as often as possible.

Anyone who’s ever visited the country will know that if you meet a Norwegian out in nature, their objective tends to be the highest mountain nearby – and there’s a saying in Norway that “You must make an effort before you can have pleasure’.

Most Norwegians believe you have to work for things, to earn them with physical endeavors, battling the elements. Only once you’ve climbed a mountain in the rain and cold, can you truly enjoy your dinner. It’s an old fashioned approach to the good life but numerous studies show that using our bodies and getting out into nature as often as possible boosts mental and physical wellbeing.

Which is all very well, on paper. But how to apply these principles and all the things I’d learned in real life? Well, I took it slowly — dolce far niente style. I had to learn not to be the archetypal Londoner, working all hours. Instead, I had to try relaxing once in a while.

Radical, I know.

Next, I got on the hobby train. I found my meraki in pottery, in cooking and trying out new recipes, often inspired by the countries I was researching. Some weeks, we ate well. Others, not so much (my husband still hasn’t forgiven me for ‘Russian month’). I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve done a fair amount of underwear-drinking, too.

The Finnish concept of kalsarikännit and I are now firm friends. And because I was working less and being more mindful of living well and looking after myself, it was relatively easy to adopt the Norwegian ethos of friluftsliv.

So now I try to ask myself: what did I do today? What did I climb? Where did I go? But the biggest mind shift was the realization that to be happy, we have to be comfortable being sad sometimes, too. That we’re at our healthiest and happiest when we can reconcile ourselves to all our emotions, good and bad.

The Portuguese saudade was a game changer for me — helping me to come to terms with the life I thought I’d have and find a way to move on, without resentment or bitterness. Because when you let go of these things, something pretty amazing can happen.

By learning from other cultures about happiness, wellbeing and how to stay healthy (and sane), I found a way to be less stressed than I was in my old life. I developed a better understanding of the challenges and subtleties of coming from another culture. My empathy levels went up. I learned to care, more.

Optimism isn’t frivolous: it’s necessary. You’re travelers. You get this. But we need to spread the word, now, more than ever. Because we only have one world, so it would be really great if we didn’t mess it up.

Hellen Russell is a British journalist, speaker, and the author of the international bestseller The Year of Living Danishly. Her most recent book, The Atlas of Happiness, examines the cultural habits and traditions of happiness around the globe. Formerly the editor of marieclaire.co.uk, she now writes for magazines and newspapers around the world, including Stylist, The Times, Grazia, Metro, and The i Newspaper.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and that will save you time and money too!

The post The Atlas of Happiness: Discovering the World’s Secret to Happiness with Helen Russell appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Traveling News https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/atlas-of-happiness/

[travelguy4444]

The Atlas of Happiness: Discovering the World’s Secret to Happiness with Helen Russell

Posted: 4/4/2019 | April 4th, 2019

A few years ago, I read the book The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell. I think it originally came up as a suggested book on Amazon. I can’t fully remember. But, I stuck it in my queue, ordered it, and it sat on my bookshelf until it was time to read it. I couldn’t put it down. It was funny, well written, interesting, and an insightful look into Danish culture. It was one of my favorite books I read that year.

Last year, I somehow convinced Helen to speak at TravelCon and got to meet her in person. Now, she has a new book out called The Atlas of Happiness. It’s about why people in certain places are happier than others. It’s a phenomenal book (you should get it). Today, Helen shares some of what she learned in researching that book!

Here’s a funny thing: if you’ve been online today for more than a fraction of a second, you may have started to get the sense that the world is A Terrible Place. Even the committed traveler with an open mind could be forgiven for thinking that the outlook is pretty bleak.

And if you’ve seen the headlines today or been on social media and you’re feeling low as a result, you’re not alone.

It’s easy to get the idea that the world is becoming more miserable by the minute and that happiness is a luxury in these troubled times.

But over the past six years, I’ve learned that there are people all around the world finding ways to stay happy, every day. And that happiness is something we’re hardwired to seek out – wherever we are.

I started researching happiness in 2013 when I relocated from the UK to Denmark. I’d spent 12 years living and working in London as a journalist, and I had no intention of leaving, until out of the blue one wet Wednesday, my husband came home and told me he’d been offered his dream job…working for Lego in rural Jutland. I was skeptical to start with — I had a good career, a nice flat, great friends, close family — I had a life.

Okay, so my husband and I both worked long hours, we were tired all the time, and never seemed to be able to see each other very much. We regularly had to bribe ourselves to get through the day and we’d both been ill on and off for the past six months.

But that was normal, right?

We thought we were ‘living the dream.’ I was 33 years old and we’d also been trying for a baby for as long as either of us could remember, enduring years of fertility treatment, but we were always so stressed that it never quite happened.

So when my husband was offered a job in Denmark, this ‘other life’ possibility was dangled in front of us — the chance to swap everything we knew for the unknown. Denmark had just been voted the world’s happiest country in the UN’s annual report and I became fascinated by this. How had a tiny country of just 5.5m people managed to pull off the happiest nation on earth title? Was there something in the water? And if we couldn’t get happier in Denmark, where could we get happier?

During our first visit, we noticed that there was something a bit different about the Danes we met. They didn’t look like us, for starters — quite apart from the fact that they were all strapping Vikings towering over my 5’3” frame — they looked more relaxed and healthier. They walked more slowly. They took their time to stop and eat together, or talk, or just…breathe.

And we were impressed.

My Lego Man husband was sold on the idea and begged me to move, promising we’d relocate for my career next time. And I was so worn out by my hectic London life that I found myself agreeing. I quit my job to go freelance and decided I would give it a year, investigating the Danish happiness phenomenon first hand — looking at a different area of living each month to find out what Danes did differently.

From food to family life; work culture to working out; and design to the Danish welfare state — each month I would throw myself into living ‘Danishly’ to see if it made me any happier and if I could change the way I lived as a result. I decided I would interview as many Danes, expats, psychologists, scientists, economists, historians, sociologists, politicians, everyone, in fact, to try to uncover the secrets to living Danishly.

I documented my experiences for two UK newspapers before being asked to write a book: The Year of Living Danishly, Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country.

Since then, I’ve been humbled and moved to hear from readers from across the globe with wide-ranging life perspectives, but the one constant was a need to share the happiness secrets of their own cultures. Some of the themes that sprung out were universal — such as social interactions, exercising out of doors and finding a balance in life — while others were intriguingly unique.

So I set out to research into unique happiness concepts from around the world, interviewing people internationally until The Atlas of Happiness — my new book-baby — was born. It isn’t a compendium of the happiest countries; instead, it’s a look at what’s making people happier in different places. Because if we only look at the countries already coming top of the happiness polls, we miss out on ideas and knowledge from cultures we’re less familiar with.

Nowhere is perfect. Every country has faults. But I wanted to celebrate the best parts of a country’s culture as well as national characteristics at their finest – because that’s what we should all be aiming for.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Did you know, for example, that in Portuguese there’s something called saudade — a feeling of longing, melancholy, and nostalgia for a happiness that once was — or even a happiness you merely hoped for?

And while Brazil may be famous for its carnival spirit, the flipside of this, saudade, is so central to the Brazilian psyche that it’s even been given its own official ‘day’ on the 30th of January every year.

Most of us will have experienced a bittersweet pleasure in moments of melancholy — flicking through old photos, or caring about anyone enough to miss them when they’re gone.

And scientists have found that this temporary sadness — counter-intuitively — makes us happier: providing catharsis; improving our attention to detail; increasing perseverance and promoting generosity. So we should all spend time remembering those we’ve loved and lost — then practice being a little more grateful for the ones still around.

Finland ranked number one in this year’s UN World Happiness report thanks to a great quality of life, free healthcare, and education funded by high taxes.

But there’s also something else the Finns enjoy that’s infinitely more exportable: kalsarikännit — defined as ‘drinking at home in your underwear with no intention of going out’ — a pursuit so popular it even has its own emoji, commissioned by The Finnish Foreign Ministry.

In common with most Scandinavians, Finns aren’t shy about disrobing, and they all have such enviably well-insulated houses that stripping down to their pants is apparently completely okay even when it’s minus 35 degrees outside. What you drink and crucially how much of it you knock back is down to the individual, but it’s a uniquely Finnish form of happiness and mode of relaxation that we can all give a go.

In Greece, they have a concept called meraki that refers to an introspective, precise expression of care, usually applied to a cherished pastime — and it’s keeping Greeks happy despite turbulent times. This is because having a hobby improves our quality of life according to scientists, and challenging ourselves to do something different also creates new neural pathways in our brain. Having a passion that you take pride can be of extra benefit to those who can’t say the same for their primary occupation.

Because meraki can make life worthwhile if your 9-5 is more of a daily grind. Many tasks that need to be taken care of on a day-to-day basis aren’t particularly challenging or inspiring – from filing, to raising purchase orders or even — dare I say it — some of the more gruelling aspects of parenting.

But we can break up the never-ending cycle of mundane work with our own personal challenges — things that we’re passionate about that we can genuinely look forward to doing. Our meraki.

Dolce far niente — or the sweetness of doing nothing — is a much-treasured concept in Italy — often hashtagged on Instagram accompanying pictures of Italians in hammocks. Okay, so Italy hasn’t exactly topped any happiness rankings in recent years, but the cliché of the carefree Italian still exists – and with good reason.

Italians do ‘nothing’ like no other nation and perfecting the art takes style and skill – because there’s more to it than meets the eye. It’s watching the world go by over coffee and a cornetto. It’s laughing at tourists. Or politicians. And crucially it’s about savoring the moment and really enjoying the present. Many of us search for relaxation by traveling to exotic locations, drinking to oblivion, or trying to blot out the noise of modern life.

But Italians let the chaos wash over them. Instead of saving up our ‘fun quota’ for an annual escape, they spread it over the minutes, hours and days throughout the year and ‘enjoy life’ in all its messy reality.

One of the happiest countries in the world, the Norwegians must be doing something right. And quite aside from their enviable Scandi-lifestyles and the safety net of all that oil, Norwegians have a secret ace card up their sleeves: a concept called friluftsliv. This roughly translates as ‘free air life’ and it’s a code of conduct as well as a life goal for most Norwegians – who like to spend time outdoors and get high, as often as possible.

Anyone who’s ever visited the country will know that if you meet a Norwegian out in nature, their objective tends to be the highest mountain nearby – and there’s a saying in Norway that “You must make an effort before you can have pleasure’.

Most Norwegians believe you have to work for things, to earn them with physical endeavors, battling the elements. Only once you’ve climbed a mountain in the rain and cold, can you truly enjoy your dinner. It’s an old fashioned approach to the good life but numerous studies show that using our bodies and getting out into nature as often as possible boosts mental and physical wellbeing.

Which is all very well, on paper. But how to apply these principles and all the things I’d learned in real life? Well, I took it slowly — dolce far niente style. I had to learn not to be the archetypal Londoner, working all hours. Instead, I had to try relaxing once in a while.

Radical, I know.

Next, I got on the hobby train. I found my meraki in pottery, in cooking and trying out new recipes, often inspired by the countries I was researching. Some weeks, we ate well. Others, not so much (my husband still hasn’t forgiven me for ‘Russian month’). I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve done a fair amount of underwear-drinking, too.

The Finnish concept of kalsarikännit and I are now firm friends. And because I was working less and being more mindful of living well and looking after myself, it was relatively easy to adopt the Norwegian ethos of friluftsliv.

So now I try to ask myself: what did I do today? What did I climb? Where did I go? But the biggest mind shift was the realization that to be happy, we have to be comfortable being sad sometimes, too. That we’re at our healthiest and happiest when we can reconcile ourselves to all our emotions, good and bad.

The Portuguese saudade was a game changer for me — helping me to come to terms with the life I thought I’d have and find a way to move on, without resentment or bitterness. Because when you let go of these things, something pretty amazing can happen.

By learning from other cultures about happiness, wellbeing and how to stay healthy (and sane), I found a way to be less stressed than I was in my old life. I developed a better understanding of the challenges and subtleties of coming from another culture. My empathy levels went up. I learned to care, more.

Optimism isn’t frivolous: it’s necessary. You’re travelers. You get this. But we need to spread the word, now, more than ever. Because we only have one world, so it would be really great if we didn’t mess it up.

Hellen Russell is a British journalist, speaker, and the author of the international bestseller The Year of Living Danishly. Her most recent book, The Atlas of Happiness, examines the cultural habits and traditions of happiness around the globe. Formerly the editor of marieclaire.co.uk, she now writes for magazines and newspapers around the world, including Stylist, The Times, Grazia, Metro, and The i Newspaper.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and that will save you time and money too!

The post The Atlas of Happiness: Discovering the World’s Secret to Happiness with Helen Russell appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

source https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/atlas-of-happiness/

[vidovicart]

The Atlas of Happiness: Discovering the World’s Secret to Happiness with Helen Russell

Posted: 4/4/2019 | April 4th, 2019

A few years ago, I read the book The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell. I think it originally came up as a suggested book on Amazon. I can’t fully remember. But, I stuck it in my queue, ordered it, and it sat on my bookshelf until it was time to read it. I couldn’t put it down. It was funny, well written, interesting, and an insightful look into Danish culture. It was one of my favorite books I read that year.

Last year, I somehow convinced Helen to speak at TravelCon and got to meet her in person. Now, she has a new book out called The Atlas of Happiness. It’s about why people in certain places are happier than others. It’s a phenomenal book (you should get it). Today, Helen shares some of what she learned in researching that book!

Here’s a funny thing: if you’ve been online today for more than a fraction of a second, you may have started to get the sense that the world is A Terrible Place. Even the committed traveler with an open mind could be forgiven for thinking that the outlook is pretty bleak.

And if you’ve seen the headlines today or been on social media and you’re feeling low as a result, you’re not alone.

It’s easy to get the idea that the world is becoming more miserable by the minute and that happiness is a luxury in these troubled times.

But over the past six years, I’ve learned that there are people all around the world finding ways to stay happy, every day. And that happiness is something we’re hardwired to seek out – wherever we are.

I started researching happiness in 2013 when I relocated from the UK to Denmark. I’d spent 12 years living and working in London as a journalist, and I had no intention of leaving, until out of the blue one wet Wednesday, my husband came home and told me he’d been offered his dream job…working for Lego in rural Jutland. I was skeptical to start with — I had a good career, a nice flat, great friends, close family — I had a life.

Okay, so my husband and I both worked long hours, we were tired all the time, and never seemed to be able to see each other very much. We regularly had to bribe ourselves to get through the day and we’d both been ill on and off for the past six months.

But that was normal, right?

We thought we were ‘living the dream.’ I was 33 years old and we’d also been trying for a baby for as long as either of us could remember, enduring years of fertility treatment, but we were always so stressed that it never quite happened.

So when my husband was offered a job in Denmark, this ‘other life’ possibility was dangled in front of us — the chance to swap everything we knew for the unknown. Denmark had just been voted the world’s happiest country in the UN’s annual report and I became fascinated by this. How had a tiny country of just 5.5m people managed to pull off the happiest nation on earth title? Was there something in the water? And if we couldn’t get happier in Denmark, where could we get happier?

During our first visit, we noticed that there was something a bit different about the Danes we met. They didn’t look like us, for starters — quite apart from the fact that they were all strapping Vikings towering over my 5’3” frame — they looked more relaxed and healthier. They walked more slowly. They took their time to stop and eat together, or talk, or just…breathe.

And we were impressed.

My Lego Man husband was sold on the idea and begged me to move, promising we’d relocate for my career next time. And I was so worn out by my hectic London life that I found myself agreeing. I quit my job to go freelance and decided I would give it a year, investigating the Danish happiness phenomenon first hand — looking at a different area of living each month to find out what Danes did differently.

From food to family life; work culture to working out; and design to the Danish welfare state — each month I would throw myself into living ‘Danishly’ to see if it made me any happier and if I could change the way I lived as a result. I decided I would interview as many Danes, expats, psychologists, scientists, economists, historians, sociologists, politicians, everyone, in fact, to try to uncover the secrets to living Danishly.

I documented my experiences for two UK newspapers before being asked to write a book: The Year of Living Danishly, Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country.

Since then, I’ve been humbled and moved to hear from readers from across the globe with wide-ranging life perspectives, but the one constant was a need to share the happiness secrets of their own cultures. Some of the themes that sprung out were universal — such as social interactions, exercising out of doors and finding a balance in life — while others were intriguingly unique.

So I set out to research into unique happiness concepts from around the world, interviewing people internationally until The Atlas of Happiness — my new book-baby — was born. It isn’t a compendium of the happiest countries; instead, it’s a look at what’s making people happier in different places. Because if we only look at the countries already coming top of the happiness polls, we miss out on ideas and knowledge from cultures we’re less familiar with.

Nowhere is perfect. Every country has faults. But I wanted to celebrate the best parts of a country’s culture as well as national characteristics at their finest – because that’s what we should all be aiming for.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Did you know, for example, that in Portuguese there’s something called saudade — a feeling of longing, melancholy, and nostalgia for a happiness that once was — or even a happiness you merely hoped for?

And while Brazil may be famous for its carnival spirit, the flipside of this, saudade, is so central to the Brazilian psyche that it’s even been given its own official ‘day’ on the 30th of January every year.

Most of us will have experienced a bittersweet pleasure in moments of melancholy — flicking through old photos, or caring about anyone enough to miss them when they’re gone.

And scientists have found that this temporary sadness — counter-intuitively — makes us happier: providing catharsis; improving our attention to detail; increasing perseverance and promoting generosity. So we should all spend time remembering those we’ve loved and lost — then practice being a little more grateful for the ones still around.

Finland ranked number one in this year’s UN World Happiness report thanks to a great quality of life, free healthcare, and education funded by high taxes.

But there’s also something else the Finns enjoy that’s infinitely more exportable: kalsarikännit — defined as ‘drinking at home in your underwear with no intention of going out’ — a pursuit so popular it even has its own emoji, commissioned by The Finnish Foreign Ministry.

In common with most Scandinavians, Finns aren’t shy about disrobing, and they all have such enviably well-insulated houses that stripping down to their pants is apparently completely okay even when it’s minus 35 degrees outside. What you drink and crucially how much of it you knock back is down to the individual, but it’s a uniquely Finnish form of happiness and mode of relaxation that we can all give a go.

In Greece, they have a concept called meraki that refers to an introspective, precise expression of care, usually applied to a cherished pastime — and it’s keeping Greeks happy despite turbulent times. This is because having a hobby improves our quality of life according to scientists, and challenging ourselves to do something different also creates new neural pathways in our brain. Having a passion that you take pride can be of extra benefit to those who can’t say the same for their primary occupation.

Because meraki can make life worthwhile if your 9-5 is more of a daily grind. Many tasks that need to be taken care of on a day-to-day basis aren’t particularly challenging or inspiring – from filing, to raising purchase orders or even — dare I say it — some of the more gruelling aspects of parenting.

But we can break up the never-ending cycle of mundane work with our own personal challenges — things that we’re passionate about that we can genuinely look forward to doing. Our meraki.

Dolce far niente — or the sweetness of doing nothing — is a much-treasured concept in Italy — often hashtagged on Instagram accompanying pictures of Italians in hammocks. Okay, so Italy hasn’t exactly topped any happiness rankings in recent years, but the cliché of the carefree Italian still exists – and with good reason.

Italians do ‘nothing’ like no other nation and perfecting the art takes style and skill – because there’s more to it than meets the eye. It’s watching the world go by over coffee and a cornetto. It’s laughing at tourists. Or politicians. And crucially it’s about savoring the moment and really enjoying the present. Many of us search for relaxation by traveling to exotic locations, drinking to oblivion, or trying to blot out the noise of modern life.

But Italians let the chaos wash over them. Instead of saving up our ‘fun quota’ for an annual escape, they spread it over the minutes, hours and days throughout the year and ‘enjoy life’ in all its messy reality.

One of the happiest countries in the world, the Norwegians must be doing something right. And quite aside from their enviable Scandi-lifestyles and the safety net of all that oil, Norwegians have a secret ace card up their sleeves: a concept called friluftsliv. This roughly translates as ‘free air life’ and it’s a code of conduct as well as a life goal for most Norwegians – who like to spend time outdoors and get high, as often as possible.

Anyone who’s ever visited the country will know that if you meet a Norwegian out in nature, their objective tends to be the highest mountain nearby – and there’s a saying in Norway that “You must make an effort before you can have pleasure’.

Most Norwegians believe you have to work for things, to earn them with physical endeavors, battling the elements. Only once you’ve climbed a mountain in the rain and cold, can you truly enjoy your dinner. It’s an old fashioned approach to the good life but numerous studies show that using our bodies and getting out into nature as often as possible boosts mental and physical wellbeing.

Which is all very well, on paper. But how to apply these principles and all the things I’d learned in real life? Well, I took it slowly — dolce far niente style. I had to learn not to be the archetypal Londoner, working all hours. Instead, I had to try relaxing once in a while.

Radical, I know.

Next, I got on the hobby train. I found my meraki in pottery, in cooking and trying out new recipes, often inspired by the countries I was researching. Some weeks, we ate well. Others, not so much (my husband still hasn’t forgiven me for ‘Russian month’). I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve done a fair amount of underwear-drinking, too.

The Finnish concept of kalsarikännit and I are now firm friends. And because I was working less and being more mindful of living well and looking after myself, it was relatively easy to adopt the Norwegian ethos of friluftsliv.

So now I try to ask myself: what did I do today? What did I climb? Where did I go? But the biggest mind shift was the realization that to be happy, we have to be comfortable being sad sometimes, too. That we’re at our healthiest and happiest when we can reconcile ourselves to all our emotions, good and bad.

The Portuguese saudade was a game changer for me — helping me to come to terms with the life I thought I’d have and find a way to move on, without resentment or bitterness. Because when you let go of these things, something pretty amazing can happen.

By learning from other cultures about happiness, wellbeing and how to stay healthy (and sane), I found a way to be less stressed than I was in my old life. I developed a better understanding of the challenges and subtleties of coming from another culture. My empathy levels went up. I learned to care, more.

Optimism isn’t frivolous: it’s necessary. You’re travelers. You get this. But we need to spread the word, now, more than ever. Because we only have one world, so it would be really great if we didn’t mess it up.

Hellen Russell is a British journalist, speaker, and the author of the international bestseller The Year of Living Danishly. Her most recent book, The Atlas of Happiness, examines the cultural habits and traditions of happiness around the globe. Formerly the editor of marieclaire.co.uk, she now writes for magazines and newspapers around the world, including Stylist, The Times, Grazia, Metro, and The i Newspaper.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and that will save you time and money too!

The post The Atlas of Happiness: Discovering the World’s Secret to Happiness with Helen Russell appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

[sensedill1-blog]

Yelp Elite Are Becoming Obsolete

“I was thinking of giving this place five stars, but I’m kind of teetering on five stars or one star,” says South Park’s Eric Cartman, surrounded by half-eaten plates of food in a 2015 episode. Visibly concerned about an impending online review, a manager asks what he can do to help. “I mean, I can probably be persuaded with free desserts,” Cartman replies.

Titled “You’re Not Yelping,” the episode centers on Cartman using his status as an “Elite” Yelper to extort free food from restaurants. One of the top user-generated review sites, particularly in the U.S., Yelp hosts recommendations for everything from plumbers to tattoo shops, but it’s arguably most well-known for its restaurant reviews. In order to be considered a Yelp “Elite,” a subgroup launched in 2005, users must be recognized by the Yelp mothership for “well-written reviews, high quality tips, a detailed personal profile, an active voting and complimenting record, and a history of playing well with others.” Yelp’s website says it considers its Elite members “the true heart of the Yelp community, both on and offline.”

Many restaurant owners and others in the hospitality industry see it otherwise. The late Anthony Bourdain said in a 2017 interview, “There’s really no worse, or lower human being than an Elite Yelper,” declaring them “universally loathed by chefs everywhere.” For years, restaurateurs and chefs have waged war against petty reviewers who hit them with one-star reviews for offenses ranging from refusing to serve them any more alcohol to not offering takeout, and numerous internet complaints suggest that pay-for-play ploys like Cartman’s were a semi-frequent IRL occurrence at restaurants across the country.

Where the media was once obsessed with Yelpers, that attention has largely shifted to Instagram influencers.

And it’s a well-established fact that, like it or not, Yelp ratings can have an outsized impact on a restaurant’s business. During (arguably) Yelp’s cultural peak in 2011, one study showed that independent restaurants who see a one-star bump in their Yelp rating also see a significant jump in revenue, and in 2012, a study emerged indicating that even just a half-star increase means a restaurant is much more likely to be full at peak dining hours.

But over the past few years, a new, even-thirstier-for-attention internet archetype has emerged: the Instagram influencer. Where the media was once obsessed with the sometimes-bad behavior of Yelpers, that attention has now largely shifted to Instagram influencers. The power of said influencers is undeniable: Restaurants often partner directly with them to get more butts in seats, giving rise to the marketing strategy of simply “going viral” — or at least attempting to — with stunt-y foods like birthday cake croissants and obnoxiously over-garnished milkshakes. And just like Elite Yelpers, Instagram influencers are facing similar backlash: Using the same language that once defined restaurants’ relationships with Yelp, some have proclaimed influencers the newest blight on the industry.

So does the rise of the Instagram influencer — both in their inescapable allure to marketers, and the inevitable resentment that goes along with that surge in popularity — signal that Yelp Elite is going obsolete?

Restaurants and Yelpers haven’t always been at odds. Based on the concept of asking friends for recommendations, Yelp was founded in 2004, and by 2006, it was attracting one million users a month and had a database of more than 100,000 user-generated reviews. The site (and the app, which launched in 2008) would forever change the way business owners and customers interacted with one another, giving diners the ability to give restaurants the kind of honest, specific feedback that had previously been relegated to comment cards — except now in a very public forum.

In that sense, Yelp was initially something of a populist victory, giving regular people the perceived ability to wield, to a certain extent, the power formerly only held by professional critics and other press. In 2008, the New York Times wrote about how Yelp’s surging popularity was helping small businesses draw in customers by turbocharging the speed and reach of peer-to-peer recommendations. The story also noted how, two years in, the relationship between users and business owners was already turning transactional: After a moving company damaged a customer’s furniture, its owner told the Times, “[The customer] wrote a one-star review. I called her. We fully replaced it. And then she upgraded me from a one star to a five-star.”

Within the Yelp community, the Yelp Elite Squad is a particularly enthusiastic and active group. Many Elite users have thousands of reviews under their belts: A 2014 analysis by Stanford University students found that Elite members, on average, wrote nearly eight times as many reviews as regular Yelp users. “Elite are role-model Yelpers who embody the spirit of Yelp — both online and off — and write useful, funny and cool reviews,” says Yelp PR manager Brenae Leary. According to the company, decisions about who ultimately gains the title are made by a group of Yelp staffers mysteriously referred to as the Elite Council.

For Elite Yelpers, perks include invitations to events ranging from yoga classes and ice-skating to VR gaming and concerts, but frequently include free lunches, dinners, or happy hours at both new and established restaurants. There’s also a less tangible benefit in the form of “Elite badges,” which appear next to users’ names on the site, and, like the blue “verified” checkmark on Twitter, grant a certain amount of authority. For some, the appeal of producing free content for a $3 billion company was the belief that they could help shape the narrative of a business; that their opinions mattered and were influential; that after writing hundreds of reviews and weighing those experiences against each other, their authority was indeed earned.

And that influence wasn’t all in their heads: A 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek story called Yelp Elites “a motley crew of tastemakers” bearing “the power to build up businesses — and take them down.” It noted that a select few Elite members were able to parlay their reviewer status into real jobs, including a travel writing gig at a San Francisco newspaper and a guest-judging appearance on Gordon Ramsay’s cooking competition show Hell’s Kitchen.

But a problem emerged in how some Yelpers wield their perceived sense of clout. Reports surfaced of Elites cutting in line at events and writing reviews laced with a heavy sense of entitlement. Businesses grew frustrated at the perceived lack of accountability, or expertise, by the people judging them: In 2014, Momofuku head honcho David Chang vented his Yelp frustrations to FiveThirtyEight, saying that, “For the most part, no chef is going to take a Yelper’s review seriously” because “most of the Yelp reviews are wrong.” In 2011, a Yelp community manager in NYC penned a lengthy letter to local Elites, scolding them for degenerate feeding frenzies at restaurants and offering a stern etiquette reminder. “Occasionally some members of the Elite Squad at meals can be likened to an Animal Planet feeding frenzy, as certain people descend on appetizers as though they have not eaten in weeks,” the letter read, before continuing, “(We know you’ve eaten lately, as in all likelihood, it was your stellar review of your last dining experience that finally got you into the Elite Squad.)”

But the true nadir of entitled Yelper behavior may have come in 2013, when a short-lived, unaffiliated startup called ReviewerCard offered Yelp and TripAdvisor reviewers fancy black cards to identify themselves to business owners as reviewers. The card’s purported purpose was to ensure holders better service by telling business owners up front, “I write reviews.” Many were outraged by the concept, pointing to ReviewerCard as “what happens when Yelp goes to your head” and positing it as simply a way for Yelpers to extort restaurants even more aggressively. As its founder Brad Newman told the LA Times, writing Yelp reviews could be leveraged into VIP treatment: “If that French waiter had known at the beginning that I write a lot of reviews, he’d have treated me like Brad Pitt.”

Instagram launched in 2010; by 2013, had 100 million monthly active users. And like Yelp, its stratospheric rise was reliant on a certain type of content creator with self-bestowed authority: the influencer. Influencers cultivate their clout differently: Unlike Yelp, where diners typically search for a particular restaurant or type of cuisine and then read reviews to pick a restaurant, on Instagram, users choose to follow the people they deem as authorities on a given topic.

For some restaurant owners, users curating influencers into their feeds came to represent a system with more accountability: Influencers amass large followings by establishing credibility with their audience, who come to rely on them for high-quality content, including bright, eye-catching food photos, accompanied by captions that might offer recommendations. Where Yelp Elite users are rewarded by the site simply for the quantity (and, to a lesser extent, the “quality”) of their reviews, the Instagram influencer needs to constantly hustle to promote their own content, usually to the restaurant’s benefit.

“Yelp is such a negative platform — it’s like Twitter, a negative, vile place where everyone argues,” says Chris Coombs, chef-owner of Boston steakhouse Boston Chops. Yelp, of course, tends to open up restaurants to more criticism, as users are actually writing “reviews” of their dining experience; on Instagram, coverage is usually in the form of a single moment, captured in a snapshot. “Instagram is a positive place,” Coombs says.

Indeed, restaurants are going to great lengths to market themselves to Instagram users. The newest Boston Chops location that opened last May is home to a so-called “Instagram table.” Outfitted with a customizable lighting system that’s controlled by an iPhone, it gives diners the ability to perfectly light their shots in a restaurant that’s severely lacking in natural light.

According to some professionals, focusing on Instagrammers is a much better investment for restaurants. In 2016, NYC restaurant Springbone Kitchen estimated that posts by Instagram influencers were responsible for five percent of its new customers each day, on average. A recent study shows that influencer marketing is the fastest-growing online method of acquiring new customers, beating out organic search (e.g. Googling something), paid search (the ads that show up in said Google results), and email marketing (the reason you’re constantly clicking “unsubscribe” links).

Jenna Ramirez, influencer marketing manager for PR firm Bread + Butter, says she doesn’t typically encourage her clients to host Yelp Elite events as part of their influencer marketing strategy unless the business owner suggests it themselves. “For a restaurant that provides high-ticket food items, giving out all that free food [at a Yelp Elite event] is something they may be more hesitant about,” Ramirez says, pointing out that Yelpers are not permitted to leave reviews on a restaurant’s main Yelp page based on an experience they had at a free Yelp Elite event; that would violate Yelp’s official policy against users leaving reviews in exchange for free goods or services. Instead, reviews from Yelp Elite events go on a separate private event page that typically can’t be found unless someone specifically looks for it. Put simply, hosting a Yelp Elite event does nothing to directly boost a restaurant’s star rating, that all-important metric that can have a significant impact on revenue and traffic.

“Yelp is such a negative platform. Instagram is a positive place.”

That’s playing out accordingly when it comes to where restaurants spend their marketing dollars. According to a 2015 survey of marketing professionals, businesses were on average making $6.50 for every dollar they spent on influencer marketing, a number that’s certainly only increased in the years since — making it a very attractive place for restaurants and PR firms to thrust free food (and, in many cases, wads of cold-hard cash). Creating a welcoming environment for influencers, in theory, allows restaurant owners to better control the end result. “[Yelp is] still a great place to learn about how people perceive your restaurant and their dining experience, but the issue it is really anyone can go on there and write anything they want about any place at any time, whether they’ve been there or not,” says Coombs. “With Instagram, if you’re posting about your dinner, you’re showing you were actually at that restaurant… [and] if an influencer has a bad meal somewhere, they typically just won’t post about it.”

Nonetheless, some successful and established brands do still host Yelp Elite events: In mid-2017, several months after David Chang’s then-10-year-old Momofuku Ssam Bar closed for a brief revamp and reopened with a new menu and updated interior, it hosted a dinner for Yelp Elites, clear evidence that Chang’s formerly adversarial relationship with the site had shifted dramatically. When Cereal Milk purveyor Milk Bar expanded to LA last year, the bakery threw an Elite event where Christina Tosi showed Yelpers how to make cake truffles. (Momofuku does not comment on its marketing strategies.)

Jinya Ramen Bar, which originated in Tokyo and now has 20-plus locations across the U.S., hosted two Yelp Elite events last year with mixed results. According to Jinya’s VP of marketing Ingrid Martinez, a Yelp Elite happy hour for an 8-year-old spinoff restaurant, the more upscale Robata Jinya, did result in a noticeable increase in customers, but a Yelp Elite dinner hosted at one of its new fast-casual Jinya locations didn’t make much of an impact.

Jinya also works with Instagram influencers, but Martinez notes there are potential pitfalls there, too. “Anyone can be an influencer nowadays,” she points out. “For [Jinya] to consider working with you, you have to have a certain amount of followers, but it’s not just the number of followers — it’s the interaction you have with your followers. A lot of people buy followers, so you don’t necessarily know if they’re paying for them or if it’s real engagement.” Indeed, buying fake followers is a common practice in the influencer world (even amongst bona fide celebrities), and some brands have begun cracking down on the practice. Conversely (and strangely), wannabe influencers posting fake sponsored content to boost their street cred has also emerged in the Instagram sphere, pointing to influencer culture’s tight grasp on society.

Over time, many restaurateurs came to resent Yelpers even as they still begrudgingly recognized their influence; now, it seems some business owners (and the general public) are beginning to sour on Instagram influencers even as they continue to rely on them. Media outlets that used to cover Yelp’s big impact on the restaurant industry and later, the resulting backlash to said impact, pivoted to writing about the rise of Instagram influencer culture — and now, how they’re ruining everything from luxury hotels and restaurants to, more broadly, travel and food in general.

It’s unclear whether the actual number of Yelp Elite members or frequency of Elite events has waned in recent years, as Yelp does not disclose such information. Sarah S., a Yelp user from Chicago who has maintained Elite status for 10 years straight, says she hasn’t noticed a decline in user interest in the Elite program or in the number of Elite events in recent years. “I think positive reviews on Yelp have a much greater long-term effect for local businesses,” she says. “Instagram is fleeting with a photo being ‘popular’ for a day, then it’s gone from the feed.”

Though she also has an Instagram account where she posts pictures of food, Sarah says she continues to use Yelp because she finds the format is more conducive to writing comprehensive reviews, versus just a photo and a quick caption.

Instagram may provide users more opportunity to wield real influence (and earn cold-hard cash), but building a following requires a considerable amount of time and know-how. “I didn’t know Yelp Elite was still a thing,” says @foodbitch, an anonymous Instagram influencer with 32,000 followers who also works in marketing and brand strategy. They note that while just about anyone can write a lot of Yelp reviews, becoming an Instagram influencer is considerably more difficult. “On Instagram, people have to notice you, people have to like you and follow you and share your stuff for you to stand out enough to get noticed and invited to restaurants [for free meals]. So it’s a much slower process for people to become Instagram-famous.”

What’s less clear is just how long businesses (and consumers) will look to digital influencers — be they Yelpers, Instagrammers, bloggers, or occupants of some other yet-to-emerge platform — for advice on where to eat, when those recommendations are so often accompanied by entitled behavior and just maybe, informed by a meal they didn’t even pay for.

Whitney Filloon is Eater’s senior associate editor. Zoë van Dijk is a freelance illustrator living and working in Brooklyn. Editor: Erin DeJesus

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Source: https://www.eater.com/2019/2/7/18214520/instagram-influencers-yelp-elite-online-restaurant-reviews

[samanthasroberts]

5 Terribly Awkward Attempts To Appeal To Young People

Advertisers are a lot like popular kids in high school: They’re rich, always hanging out with hot people, and devoting every conscious thought to how to look cool. Here are five attempts to market to young people that are high-key LOL epic #fails to the max.

#5. Microsoft Asks Potential Employees To “Get Lit” With Them

If there’s one thing that Microsoft (the creators of Windows NT and Clippy the Helpful Paperclip) makes me think of, it’s partying. At least, that’s what their recruiters want candidates to think. In an effort to get in good with tomorrow’s top talent, they sent out emails to interns in Silicon Valley inviting them to come party the Microsoft way.

The email is addressed to “bae intern,” because “bae” is something this recruiter must have heard their niece use once, and parroting youth-speak is life. It’s an invite to a party which they insist will be exclusive, despite the fact that they invited every intern working in tech whose email they could find. Undoubtedly, Microsoft set some kind of minimum baeness quotient (MBQ) required for entry. Because that’s how you verifiably partayyy!

To make sure they were speaking the young ‘uns language, they hit all the hip keywords that you’d get from a Bing search of “What is cool?”

Sunglasses are the one cool thing that hasn’t excluded itself from Bing.

For those of you who aren’t “woke,” allow me to translate. (I am half woke on my mother’s side.) Microsoft’s “crew” of communications BAs with five-plus years of recruitment experience is throwing this party after Internapalooza, which I can only guess from the name is a travelling intern festival that was very popular in the early ’90s. They promise “hella noms, lots of dranks,” and “the best beats.” That is to say, these Microsoft employees will have food, drinks, and music. They are describing the minimum requirements for a party.

“Oh yeah, we’re running this party in FULL RESOLUTION!”

The real draw, though, is meant to be Yammer beer pong tables. Beer pong is a drinking game popular at frat parties. Yammer is a social network for business. A “Yammer beer pong table,” then, is a place to collaborate with your peers on getting crunk with your peers, smarter, with better analytics and integrated with iOS and Android.

Yep, Microsoft is the fleekest multinational corporation that just DGAF about anything (except its pending antitrust cases) and is always down for a Microsoft Azure and chill. The email concludes with an all-caps, coral-colored, “Hell yes to getting lit on a Monday night.” Of course Microsoft likes to get lit. Where do you think they got the idea for that pipe screensaver?

“OK, hear me out: We have to try again with the Zune.”

#4. Hillary Clinton Asked People To Describe Their Crippling Debt In Emojis

Connecting with America’s youth is vital in presidential elections. Not because their views matter (they don’t vote), but because tweeting at young people is today’s kissing babies: You earn likability with minimal contact with actual young people. All you have to do is tweet halfway intelligently about anything young people care about, and you’re praised for being an adolesceltongue who is both “with it” and “gets it.” Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton should have had a home run on her hands when she tweeted about her $350 billion college affordability plan, but she couldn’t resist tempting the gods of social media.

On paper, the thinking here makes sense. Clinton was unveiling a plan that college students should love: $350 billion in student debt relief. And those college students love emojispeak. So together, these two things should make an irresistible combination, as good as unagi ice cream.

Clinton’s campaign thought the tweet would precipitate a cascade of fire emoji tweets, each more two-hands-praising-emoji than the last. And that’s what might have happened if Clinton had simply said, “How do you feel about your student loan debt? Ready for a change?” If she’d just straightforwardly pandered to them, undergrads would have showered her in creative emojis.

Or if it had been someone with crippling student loan debt expressing themselves in three emojis, the internet would have loved that too. We would have named them the voice of a generation and given them a deal for a young adult novel written completely in dystopian pictographs.

“Mom? What’s 400 more phrases for ‘fuck you’?”

Instead, millionaire political insider Hillary Clinton asking students with paralyzing amounts of debt to describe it in “three emojis or less” came off as further out of touch than George Clooney in Gravity. People responding didn’t need three emojis to express themselves; they made do with just one finger.

Unsurprisingly, Clinton apologized for making light of the very hardships she is working to ease. Even less surprisingly, her campaign keeps making half-informed references to current pop trends, like holding a campaign event at a Pokemon Go gym. Someone please tell her that no matter what happens, she is never to mention Jynx.

#3. The Department Of Health and Human Services Will Debase Itself To Any Degree If People Will Think About Their Health

The Department Of Health and Human Services has the unenviable task of trying to get Americans to take care of themselves. This task is particularly unenviable when it comes to young people, who treat their bodies like they’re going to live forever and then proceed to live basically forever as sickly, overweight, expensive adults perpetually on death’s door.

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Since America needs millions of pounds of cure, HHS has been throwing anything they can think of at this problem. They have infographics, an active YouTube channel, and will shamelessly use anything millennials might recognize to trick them into caring for themselves.

Exhibit A is a post captioned, “Start a conversation with a friend about becoming an #OrganDonor.” It is a picture of a text exchange, apparently between two friends, that begins with “ru an organ donor?” Now, I think becoming an organ donor isn’t a huge sacrifice, for the same reasons I think offering someone your laptop when you’re dead isn’t a huge sacrifice: You’ll be dead, and they’ll probably be worthless by that point anyhow. Still, the text “ru an organ donor” out of the blue would terrify me even coming from the most laidback of my friends.

“Also, wuld ur skin make a qt dress?”

And the post only gets weirder from there. The response is not “Holy shit, is that you outside my window right now?” but rather the equally laidback yet somehow all-business “Yes, u?” Now I don’t know who’s creepier: the friend texting about postmortem plans for no reason, or the friend who does not bat an eye at the question, as though they’ve been expecting it. Then the reply seals the deal: It’s just a smiley face staring back at you with beady eyes. You started this conversation, dude! Why are you not answering this question?

Finally, the response to the smiley face is an ASCII heart, which would normally mean “I love you,” but in this case seems like a literal offer of the cardiac muscle. Thus, in an attempt to appeal to millennials, HHS gave us a vivid picture of a text exchange between two morbid, socially awkward young people. So, Cracked readers.

Exhibit B is an adapted “doge” meme meant to inspire young people to sign up for health care. As usual, it features a very cute Shiba Inu with its inner monologue displayed in pastel comic sans. It’s cute and kind of funny, if you like that sort of thing. The trouble is that the main reason young people don’t sign up for healthcare is that they think they won’t need it. A cute puppy frolicking through the snow and making grammar mistakes doesn’t inspire confidence in the system they’re supposed to buy into for their own good.

“So trust.” “Much effective.”

The ad is just “Hey, they’ll recognize this internet meme!” They might as well have made an ad that says “Know who thinks signing up with us for health insurance is a great idea? LEEEEEROY JENKINS!”

Finally, Exhibit C is an anti-bullying ad. For some reason, though, it appears to be borrowing from the #followmeto project by Instagram user @muradosmann, in which a woman with her back to the camera leads the phtographer by the hand to various exotic destinations all over the world.

Stop bullying, or the girl from The Ring will have to end her vacation early.

This is ironic, because the people from that Instagram account seem like the villains in a John Hughes movie. They’re blond, skinny, beautiful, and rich, so they’re by far the ones most likely to give you a swirlie on the entire internet.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/07/5-terribly-awkward-attempts-to-appeal-to-young-people/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/11/07/5-terribly-awkward-attempts-to-appeal-to-young-people/

[adambstingus]

5 Terribly Awkward Attempts To Appeal To Young People

Advertisers are a lot like popular kids in high school: They’re rich, always hanging out with hot people, and devoting every conscious thought to how to look cool. Here are five attempts to market to young people that are high-key LOL epic #fails to the max.

#5. Microsoft Asks Potential Employees To “Get Lit” With Them

If there’s one thing that Microsoft (the creators of Windows NT and Clippy the Helpful Paperclip) makes me think of, it’s partying. At least, that’s what their recruiters want candidates to think. In an effort to get in good with tomorrow’s top talent, they sent out emails to interns in Silicon Valley inviting them to come party the Microsoft way.

The email is addressed to “bae intern,” because “bae” is something this recruiter must have heard their niece use once, and parroting youth-speak is life. It’s an invite to a party which they insist will be exclusive, despite the fact that they invited every intern working in tech whose email they could find. Undoubtedly, Microsoft set some kind of minimum baeness quotient (MBQ) required for entry. Because that’s how you verifiably partayyy!

To make sure they were speaking the young ‘uns language, they hit all the hip keywords that you’d get from a Bing search of “What is cool?”

Sunglasses are the one cool thing that hasn’t excluded itself from Bing.

For those of you who aren’t “woke,” allow me to translate. (I am half woke on my mother’s side.) Microsoft’s “crew” of communications BAs with five-plus years of recruitment experience is throwing this party after Internapalooza, which I can only guess from the name is a travelling intern festival that was very popular in the early ’90s. They promise “hella noms, lots of dranks,” and “the best beats.” That is to say, these Microsoft employees will have food, drinks, and music. They are describing the minimum requirements for a party.

“Oh yeah, we’re running this party in FULL RESOLUTION!”

The real draw, though, is meant to be Yammer beer pong tables. Beer pong is a drinking game popular at frat parties. Yammer is a social network for business. A “Yammer beer pong table,” then, is a place to collaborate with your peers on getting crunk with your peers, smarter, with better analytics and integrated with iOS and Android.

Yep, Microsoft is the fleekest multinational corporation that just DGAF about anything (except its pending antitrust cases) and is always down for a Microsoft Azure and chill. The email concludes with an all-caps, coral-colored, “Hell yes to getting lit on a Monday night.” Of course Microsoft likes to get lit. Where do you think they got the idea for that pipe screensaver?

“OK, hear me out: We have to try again with the Zune.”

#4. Hillary Clinton Asked People To Describe Their Crippling Debt In Emojis

Connecting with America’s youth is vital in presidential elections. Not because their views matter (they don’t vote), but because tweeting at young people is today’s kissing babies: You earn likability with minimal contact with actual young people. All you have to do is tweet halfway intelligently about anything young people care about, and you’re praised for being an adolesceltongue who is both “with it” and “gets it.” Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton should have had a home run on her hands when she tweeted about her $350 billion college affordability plan, but she couldn’t resist tempting the gods of social media.

On paper, the thinking here makes sense. Clinton was unveiling a plan that college students should love: $350 billion in student debt relief. And those college students love emojispeak. So together, these two things should make an irresistible combination, as good as unagi ice cream.

Clinton’s campaign thought the tweet would precipitate a cascade of fire emoji tweets, each more two-hands-praising-emoji than the last. And that’s what might have happened if Clinton had simply said, “How do you feel about your student loan debt? Ready for a change?” If she’d just straightforwardly pandered to them, undergrads would have showered her in creative emojis.

Or if it had been someone with crippling student loan debt expressing themselves in three emojis, the internet would have loved that too. We would have named them the voice of a generation and given them a deal for a young adult novel written completely in dystopian pictographs.

“Mom? What’s 400 more phrases for ‘fuck you’?”

Instead, millionaire political insider Hillary Clinton asking students with paralyzing amounts of debt to describe it in “three emojis or less” came off as further out of touch than George Clooney in Gravity. People responding didn’t need three emojis to express themselves; they made do with just one finger.

Unsurprisingly, Clinton apologized for making light of the very hardships she is working to ease. Even less surprisingly, her campaign keeps making half-informed references to current pop trends, like holding a campaign event at a Pokemon Go gym. Someone please tell her that no matter what happens, she is never to mention Jynx.

#3. The Department Of Health and Human Services Will Debase Itself To Any Degree If People Will Think About Their Health

The Department Of Health and Human Services has the unenviable task of trying to get Americans to take care of themselves. This task is particularly unenviable when it comes to young people, who treat their bodies like they’re going to live forever and then proceed to live basically forever as sickly, overweight, expensive adults perpetually on death’s door.

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Since America needs millions of pounds of cure, HHS has been throwing anything they can think of at this problem. They have infographics, an active YouTube channel, and will shamelessly use anything millennials might recognize to trick them into caring for themselves.

Exhibit A is a post captioned, “Start a conversation with a friend about becoming an #OrganDonor.” It is a picture of a text exchange, apparently between two friends, that begins with “ru an organ donor?” Now, I think becoming an organ donor isn’t a huge sacrifice, for the same reasons I think offering someone your laptop when you’re dead isn’t a huge sacrifice: You’ll be dead, and they’ll probably be worthless by that point anyhow. Still, the text “ru an organ donor” out of the blue would terrify me even coming from the most laidback of my friends.

“Also, wuld ur skin make a qt dress?”

And the post only gets weirder from there. The response is not “Holy shit, is that you outside my window right now?” but rather the equally laidback yet somehow all-business “Yes, u?” Now I don’t know who’s creepier: the friend texting about postmortem plans for no reason, or the friend who does not bat an eye at the question, as though they’ve been expecting it. Then the reply seals the deal: It’s just a smiley face staring back at you with beady eyes. You started this conversation, dude! Why are you not answering this question?

Finally, the response to the smiley face is an ASCII heart, which would normally mean “I love you,” but in this case seems like a literal offer of the cardiac muscle. Thus, in an attempt to appeal to millennials, HHS gave us a vivid picture of a text exchange between two morbid, socially awkward young people. So, Cracked readers.

Exhibit B is an adapted “doge” meme meant to inspire young people to sign up for health care. As usual, it features a very cute Shiba Inu with its inner monologue displayed in pastel comic sans. It’s cute and kind of funny, if you like that sort of thing. The trouble is that the main reason young people don’t sign up for healthcare is that they think they won’t need it. A cute puppy frolicking through the snow and making grammar mistakes doesn’t inspire confidence in the system they’re supposed to buy into for their own good.

“So trust.” “Much effective.”

The ad is just “Hey, they’ll recognize this internet meme!” They might as well have made an ad that says “Know who thinks signing up with us for health insurance is a great idea? LEEEEEROY JENKINS!”

Finally, Exhibit C is an anti-bullying ad. For some reason, though, it appears to be borrowing from the #followmeto project by Instagram user @muradosmann, in which a woman with her back to the camera leads the phtographer by the hand to various exotic destinations all over the world.

Stop bullying, or the girl from The Ring will have to end her vacation early.

This is ironic, because the people from that Instagram account seem like the villains in a John Hughes movie. They’re blond, skinny, beautiful, and rich, so they’re by far the ones most likely to give you a swirlie on the entire internet.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/07/5-terribly-awkward-attempts-to-appeal-to-young-people/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/167246617152

[jimdsmith34]

5 Terribly Awkward Attempts To Appeal To Young People

Advertisers are a lot like popular kids in high school: They’re rich, always hanging out with hot people, and devoting every conscious thought to how to look cool. Here are five attempts to market to young people that are high-key LOL epic #fails to the max.

#5. Microsoft Asks Potential Employees To “Get Lit” With Them

If there’s one thing that Microsoft (the creators of Windows NT and Clippy the Helpful Paperclip) makes me think of, it’s partying. At least, that’s what their recruiters want candidates to think. In an effort to get in good with tomorrow’s top talent, they sent out emails to interns in Silicon Valley inviting them to come party the Microsoft way.

The email is addressed to “bae intern,” because “bae” is something this recruiter must have heard their niece use once, and parroting youth-speak is life. It’s an invite to a party which they insist will be exclusive, despite the fact that they invited every intern working in tech whose email they could find. Undoubtedly, Microsoft set some kind of minimum baeness quotient (MBQ) required for entry. Because that’s how you verifiably partayyy!

To make sure they were speaking the young ‘uns language, they hit all the hip keywords that you’d get from a Bing search of “What is cool?”

Sunglasses are the one cool thing that hasn’t excluded itself from Bing.

For those of you who aren’t “woke,” allow me to translate. (I am half woke on my mother’s side.) Microsoft’s “crew” of communications BAs with five-plus years of recruitment experience is throwing this party after Internapalooza, which I can only guess from the name is a travelling intern festival that was very popular in the early ’90s. They promise “hella noms, lots of dranks,” and “the best beats.” That is to say, these Microsoft employees will have food, drinks, and music. They are describing the minimum requirements for a party.

“Oh yeah, we’re running this party in FULL RESOLUTION!”

The real draw, though, is meant to be Yammer beer pong tables. Beer pong is a drinking game popular at frat parties. Yammer is a social network for business. A “Yammer beer pong table,” then, is a place to collaborate with your peers on getting crunk with your peers, smarter, with better analytics and integrated with iOS and Android.

Yep, Microsoft is the fleekest multinational corporation that just DGAF about anything (except its pending antitrust cases) and is always down for a Microsoft Azure and chill. The email concludes with an all-caps, coral-colored, “Hell yes to getting lit on a Monday night.” Of course Microsoft likes to get lit. Where do you think they got the idea for that pipe screensaver?

“OK, hear me out: We have to try again with the Zune.”

#4. Hillary Clinton Asked People To Describe Their Crippling Debt In Emojis

Connecting with America’s youth is vital in presidential elections. Not because their views matter (they don’t vote), but because tweeting at young people is today’s kissing babies: You earn likability with minimal contact with actual young people. All you have to do is tweet halfway intelligently about anything young people care about, and you’re praised for being an adolesceltongue who is both “with it” and “gets it.” Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton should have had a home run on her hands when she tweeted about her $350 billion college affordability plan, but she couldn’t resist tempting the gods of social media.

On paper, the thinking here makes sense. Clinton was unveiling a plan that college students should love: $350 billion in student debt relief. And those college students love emojispeak. So together, these two things should make an irresistible combination, as good as unagi ice cream.

Clinton’s campaign thought the tweet would precipitate a cascade of fire emoji tweets, each more two-hands-praising-emoji than the last. And that’s what might have happened if Clinton had simply said, “How do you feel about your student loan debt? Ready for a change?” If she’d just straightforwardly pandered to them, undergrads would have showered her in creative emojis.

Or if it had been someone with crippling student loan debt expressing themselves in three emojis, the internet would have loved that too. We would have named them the voice of a generation and given them a deal for a young adult novel written completely in dystopian pictographs.

“Mom? What’s 400 more phrases for ‘fuck you’?”

Instead, millionaire political insider Hillary Clinton asking students with paralyzing amounts of debt to describe it in “three emojis or less” came off as further out of touch than George Clooney in Gravity. People responding didn’t need three emojis to express themselves; they made do with just one finger.

Unsurprisingly, Clinton apologized for making light of the very hardships she is working to ease. Even less surprisingly, her campaign keeps making half-informed references to current pop trends, like holding a campaign event at a Pokemon Go gym. Someone please tell her that no matter what happens, she is never to mention Jynx.

#3. The Department Of Health and Human Services Will Debase Itself To Any Degree If People Will Think About Their Health

The Department Of Health and Human Services has the unenviable task of trying to get Americans to take care of themselves. This task is particularly unenviable when it comes to young people, who treat their bodies like they’re going to live forever and then proceed to live basically forever as sickly, overweight, expensive adults perpetually on death’s door.

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Since America needs millions of pounds of cure, HHS has been throwing anything they can think of at this problem. They have infographics, an active YouTube channel, and will shamelessly use anything millennials might recognize to trick them into caring for themselves.

Exhibit A is a post captioned, “Start a conversation with a friend about becoming an #OrganDonor.” It is a picture of a text exchange, apparently between two friends, that begins with “ru an organ donor?” Now, I think becoming an organ donor isn’t a huge sacrifice, for the same reasons I think offering someone your laptop when you’re dead isn’t a huge sacrifice: You’ll be dead, and they’ll probably be worthless by that point anyhow. Still, the text “ru an organ donor” out of the blue would terrify me even coming from the most laidback of my friends.

“Also, wuld ur skin make a qt dress?”

And the post only gets weirder from there. The response is not “Holy shit, is that you outside my window right now?” but rather the equally laidback yet somehow all-business “Yes, u?” Now I don’t know who’s creepier: the friend texting about postmortem plans for no reason, or the friend who does not bat an eye at the question, as though they’ve been expecting it. Then the reply seals the deal: It’s just a smiley face staring back at you with beady eyes. You started this conversation, dude! Why are you not answering this question?

Finally, the response to the smiley face is an ASCII heart, which would normally mean “I love you,” but in this case seems like a literal offer of the cardiac muscle. Thus, in an attempt to appeal to millennials, HHS gave us a vivid picture of a text exchange between two morbid, socially awkward young people. So, Cracked readers.

Exhibit B is an adapted “doge” meme meant to inspire young people to sign up for health care. As usual, it features a very cute Shiba Inu with its inner monologue displayed in pastel comic sans. It’s cute and kind of funny, if you like that sort of thing. The trouble is that the main reason young people don’t sign up for healthcare is that they think they won’t need it. A cute puppy frolicking through the snow and making grammar mistakes doesn’t inspire confidence in the system they’re supposed to buy into for their own good.

“So trust.” “Much effective.”

The ad is just “Hey, they’ll recognize this internet meme!” They might as well have made an ad that says “Know who thinks signing up with us for health insurance is a great idea? LEEEEEROY JENKINS!”

Finally, Exhibit C is an anti-bullying ad. For some reason, though, it appears to be borrowing from the #followmeto project by Instagram user @muradosmann, in which a woman with her back to the camera leads the phtographer by the hand to various exotic destinations all over the world.

Stop bullying, or the girl from The Ring will have to end her vacation early.

This is ironic, because the people from that Instagram account seem like the villains in a John Hughes movie. They’re blond, skinny, beautiful, and rich, so they’re by far the ones most likely to give you a swirlie on the entire internet.

source http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/07/5-terribly-awkward-attempts-to-appeal-to-young-people/ from All of Beer http://allofbeer.blogspot.com/2017/11/5-terribly-awkward-attempts-to-appeal.html

[allofbeercom]

5 Terribly Awkward Attempts To Appeal To Young People

Advertisers are a lot like popular kids in high school: They’re rich, always hanging out with hot people, and devoting every conscious thought to how to look cool. Here are five attempts to market to young people that are high-key LOL epic #fails to the max.

#5. Microsoft Asks Potential Employees To “Get Lit” With Them

If there’s one thing that Microsoft (the creators of Windows NT and Clippy the Helpful Paperclip) makes me think of, it’s partying. At least, that’s what their recruiters want candidates to think. In an effort to get in good with tomorrow’s top talent, they sent out emails to interns in Silicon Valley inviting them to come party the Microsoft way.

The email is addressed to “bae intern,” because “bae” is something this recruiter must have heard their niece use once, and parroting youth-speak is life. It’s an invite to a party which they insist will be exclusive, despite the fact that they invited every intern working in tech whose email they could find. Undoubtedly, Microsoft set some kind of minimum baeness quotient (MBQ) required for entry. Because that’s how you verifiably partayyy!

To make sure they were speaking the young ‘uns language, they hit all the hip keywords that you’d get from a Bing search of “What is cool?”

Sunglasses are the one cool thing that hasn’t excluded itself from Bing.

For those of you who aren’t “woke,” allow me to translate. (I am half woke on my mother’s side.) Microsoft’s “crew” of communications BAs with five-plus years of recruitment experience is throwing this party after Internapalooza, which I can only guess from the name is a travelling intern festival that was very popular in the early ’90s. They promise “hella noms, lots of dranks,” and “the best beats.” That is to say, these Microsoft employees will have food, drinks, and music. They are describing the minimum requirements for a party.

“Oh yeah, we’re running this party in FULL RESOLUTION!”

The real draw, though, is meant to be Yammer beer pong tables. Beer pong is a drinking game popular at frat parties. Yammer is a social network for business. A “Yammer beer pong table,” then, is a place to collaborate with your peers on getting crunk with your peers, smarter, with better analytics and integrated with iOS and Android.

Yep, Microsoft is the fleekest multinational corporation that just DGAF about anything (except its pending antitrust cases) and is always down for a Microsoft Azure and chill. The email concludes with an all-caps, coral-colored, “Hell yes to getting lit on a Monday night.” Of course Microsoft likes to get lit. Where do you think they got the idea for that pipe screensaver?

“OK, hear me out: We have to try again with the Zune.”

#4. Hillary Clinton Asked People To Describe Their Crippling Debt In Emojis

Connecting with America’s youth is vital in presidential elections. Not because their views matter (they don’t vote), but because tweeting at young people is today’s kissing babies: You earn likability with minimal contact with actual young people. All you have to do is tweet halfway intelligently about anything young people care about, and you’re praised for being an adolesceltongue who is both “with it” and “gets it.” Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton should have had a home run on her hands when she tweeted about her $350 billion college affordability plan, but she couldn’t resist tempting the gods of social media.

On paper, the thinking here makes sense. Clinton was unveiling a plan that college students should love: $350 billion in student debt relief. And those college students love emojispeak. So together, these two things should make an irresistible combination, as good as unagi ice cream.

Clinton’s campaign thought the tweet would precipitate a cascade of fire emoji tweets, each more two-hands-praising-emoji than the last. And that’s what might have happened if Clinton had simply said, “How do you feel about your student loan debt? Ready for a change?” If she’d just straightforwardly pandered to them, undergrads would have showered her in creative emojis.

Or if it had been someone with crippling student loan debt expressing themselves in three emojis, the internet would have loved that too. We would have named them the voice of a generation and given them a deal for a young adult novel written completely in dystopian pictographs.

“Mom? What’s 400 more phrases for ‘fuck you’?”

Instead, millionaire political insider Hillary Clinton asking students with paralyzing amounts of debt to describe it in “three emojis or less” came off as further out of touch than George Clooney in Gravity. People responding didn’t need three emojis to express themselves; they made do with just one finger.

Unsurprisingly, Clinton apologized for making light of the very hardships she is working to ease. Even less surprisingly, her campaign keeps making half-informed references to current pop trends, like holding a campaign event at a Pokemon Go gym. Someone please tell her that no matter what happens, she is never to mention Jynx.

#3. The Department Of Health and Human Services Will Debase Itself To Any Degree If People Will Think About Their Health

The Department Of Health and Human Services has the unenviable task of trying to get Americans to take care of themselves. This task is particularly unenviable when it comes to young people, who treat their bodies like they’re going to live forever and then proceed to live basically forever as sickly, overweight, expensive adults perpetually on death’s door.

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Since America needs millions of pounds of cure, HHS has been throwing anything they can think of at this problem. They have infographics, an active YouTube channel, and will shamelessly use anything millennials might recognize to trick them into caring for themselves.

Exhibit A is a post captioned, “Start a conversation with a friend about becoming an #OrganDonor.” It is a picture of a text exchange, apparently between two friends, that begins with “ru an organ donor?” Now, I think becoming an organ donor isn’t a huge sacrifice, for the same reasons I think offering someone your laptop when you’re dead isn’t a huge sacrifice: You’ll be dead, and they’ll probably be worthless by that point anyhow. Still, the text “ru an organ donor” out of the blue would terrify me even coming from the most laidback of my friends.

“Also, wuld ur skin make a qt dress?”

And the post only gets weirder from there. The response is not “Holy shit, is that you outside my window right now?” but rather the equally laidback yet somehow all-business “Yes, u?” Now I don’t know who’s creepier: the friend texting about postmortem plans for no reason, or the friend who does not bat an eye at the question, as though they’ve been expecting it. Then the reply seals the deal: It’s just a smiley face staring back at you with beady eyes. You started this conversation, dude! Why are you not answering this question?

Finally, the response to the smiley face is an ASCII heart, which would normally mean “I love you,” but in this case seems like a literal offer of the cardiac muscle. Thus, in an attempt to appeal to millennials, HHS gave us a vivid picture of a text exchange between two morbid, socially awkward young people. So, Cracked readers.

Exhibit B is an adapted “doge” meme meant to inspire young people to sign up for health care. As usual, it features a very cute Shiba Inu with its inner monologue displayed in pastel comic sans. It’s cute and kind of funny, if you like that sort of thing. The trouble is that the main reason young people don’t sign up for healthcare is that they think they won’t need it. A cute puppy frolicking through the snow and making grammar mistakes doesn’t inspire confidence in the system they’re supposed to buy into for their own good.

“So trust.” “Much effective.”

The ad is just “Hey, they’ll recognize this internet meme!” They might as well have made an ad that says “Know who thinks signing up with us for health insurance is a great idea? LEEEEEROY JENKINS!”

Finally, Exhibit C is an anti-bullying ad. For some reason, though, it appears to be borrowing from the #followmeto project by Instagram user @muradosmann, in which a woman with her back to the camera leads the phtographer by the hand to various exotic destinations all over the world.

Stop bullying, or the girl from The Ring will have to end her vacation early.

This is ironic, because the people from that Instagram account seem like the villains in a John Hughes movie. They’re blond, skinny, beautiful, and rich, so they’re by far the ones most likely to give you a swirlie on the entire internet.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/07/5-terribly-awkward-attempts-to-appeal-to-young-people/

[loudsociocollective-blog]

Reheat THIS in the microwave of evil

Ollo,

A few nights ago, I was settling down for the night and my boyfriend and I decided to watch a movie. I was absolutely shocked and appalled to learn that for more than 2 years of a dating I was unaware that he had never seen MegaMind.

 I hadn't been this shocked since I found out my roommate hadn't seen High School Musical 3, four years ago.

So instead of watching Brooklyn Nine Nine (like he wanted), I insisted we watch the cartoon children’s film. He obliged, probably because he saw how excited I became at the opportunity to watch the movie. I promise I'm 22 years old, not 5. 

For those of you who have not seen this brilliant Dreamworks creation: please drop everything and go watch it now. I mean, cmon. It stars Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, and Ben Stiller. Its light, funny, and entertaining. Just like many of DreamWorks creations, MegaMind includes subliminal adult humour that engages parents and makes watching cartoon movies enjoyable. Really, go watch it. Mostly because it's wonderful, but also because I am about to give an in depth summary of the movie and do not want to ruin your *MegaMind* experience. 

*Spoiler Alert*

The Plot

(https://goo.gl/images/fzbt5E) 

The movie starts with a planet in outer space being sucked into a large black hole. A couple, inhabitants of the doomed planet, put their little big headed blue baby in a pod with a fish companion and send the pod to another planet for safety. Another set of parents on a nearby planet had a similar idea, and sent their attractive human-like alien baby to safety as well. These babies became effectively known as Megamind & Metro Man. Both MegaMind and Metro Man had great powers, Megamind’s being great intellect, and Metro Man’s being strength and flight.

Although both babies landed on the same planet, Metro Man landed in a mansion, and MegaMind crashed into a prison. The two grew up together, went to the same school, lived into the same town (Metro City) and conversed with the same people. It quickly became apparent that Metro Man was favoured by the individuals of the city, and MegaMind was an outcast, a ‘black sheep’ as he called it. This was because Metro Man always did the right thing, and did things that the other individuals of the city liked. Even though MegaMind tried to win societies affection, he always engaged in behaviours that were not favoured by other individuals. So, MegaMind decided that the only thing he was truly good at was being bad, and decided to be the baddest villain the city had ever seen.

MegaMind and Metro Man develop a rivalry where MegaMind attempts to kill or injure Metro Man, various buildings and the citizens of MetroCity. MegaMind, being the bad guy, always loses. However, one day while the city was praising Metro Man, MegaMind successfully lures Metro Man into his trap and kills him.  MegaMind is ecstatic to finally win and have control over the city. 

Soon, MegaMind grows bored of his power, since there’s no one there fighting for the power back. He decides in order to regain purpose, he must ‘create’ a superhero to battle him. He accidentally creates a superhero who has no drive to be a hero at all, and turns evil. 

While this is happening, MegaMind is pretending to be a librarian and falls in love with a popular and beautiful reporter, Roxanne. She develops feelings for MegaMind, but promptly ends the relationship when she discovers who he really is. They also find out that Metro-Man faked his death because he was bored doing the same thing day in and day out. 

Plot twist: MegaMind, the bad guy, now has to be good in order to save the city, and himself, from the monster he has created. He wins, Metro City is saved, and MegaMind is the new hero. And of course, he gets the girl. 

The Sub-Plot: Deeper Meanings

(https://goo.gl/images/HqehpN) 

Since this movie came out in 2010, I have loved this film. But I have never stopped and thought about what the film was trying to tell me. As Gitlin stresses, we must attempt to ponder what each medium means. Or in this case, what MegaMind means. Then, and only then, can we understand its effects. 

Alright Gitlin, Im taking your advice and pondering what this movie could mean. Is it just another Shrek-like children’s comedy, or is it trying to tell us something far more important...? 

Gitlin looks at how television shows and film often represent the ideological structures of our modern society. In this way, TV and film media reinforce the ideology of the groups in power and dismiss/condemn radical thought, disobedience and conflict of the system. Gramsci notes that the owning class, or the bourgeoisie, has created an overarching hegemony which influences individual and societal thought. Hegemony can be described as the domination of ideology and common-sense attitudes towards society by the ruling class. 

As soon as I started thinking about what deeper meanings could be within MegaMind, I was overwhelmed with the amount of examples there were to prove the point. For simplicity, I will only mention a few prevalent and important examples the film has to offer: 

The first thing that was apparent to me in this film was the stark contrast between good and evil. Metro Man was the clear spokesperson for good, and MegaMind being a spokesperson for evil. The behaviours of each character then became further categorized as good or bad. For example, 

Killing people = bad. (MegaMind) 

Protecting society, the individuals in it, and those in power = good. (MetroMan) 

Not only is this movie reinforcing the good vs. bad stereotypes, but also sends a few messages to the ‘deviant’ individuals in society. First, It explains that there are no perks to being the bad guy. The people who are bad, or go against the ruling class/ideological framework of society always lose, are not accepted in society, and never ‘get the girl’.

Minion: I may not know much but I do know this the bad guy doesn't get the girl.

MegaMind: Well maybe I don't want to be the bad guy anymore!

- (MegaMind 2010)

BUT, a deviant individual can choose to change; they are encouraged to begin engaging in only good behaviours. Once this change happens, the newly good individual will be accepted into society. They may also then find love and companionship.

The fact that this is seen in a children's movie is particularly important, as children learn every single day the difference between right and wrong. Their young brains are sponges that adopt everything their surroundings tell them. This movie assists kids in differentiatating between good and evil. It also subliminally suggests what they should be doing in their own non-cartoon society. 

As Giltin notes, The superhero archetype has been around for a long time. Since 1933 this character has often been portrayed as patriotic, well behaved, dedicated, and successful. Also, Superheros often owe their lives to their citizens and feel compelled to help in any dire situation. 

The greatest honour you’ve given me is letting me serve you, the helpless people of Metro City. I often ask myself, “At the end of the day, who would I be without you people?”

- Metro Man (Mega Mind 2010)

Next, I want to take a closer look at the characters in this film. Metro Man is a white, stereotypical attractive and muscular baby that grew up to be an attractive, talented, muscular man. He grew up in a Mansion, with elite parents and a privileged childhood. Metro Man perfectly fits this superhero character type, and represents how if you are good, you will be well liked and successful. Also, Superheros often owe their lives to their citizens and feel compelled to help in any dire situation. 

Accompanying the superhero is always a super villain, or a protagonist that stirs up conflict in the plot. The villain is usually unattractive, mean, from a underprivileged background, and always loses. MegaMind is painted as a villain from the get go. He is blue, which would be fine, you know, since he is an alien. But its interesting that the good superhero is handsome, jacked and is human (Metro Man may have a surpirior appearance but nevertheless is similar to general society). MegaMind is raised in a prison where he learns good vs. bad from the evil prisoners inside (all of which are painted as evil and inherently bad as well).

Lastly, The imagery involved in the stereotypical representation of MegaMind’s character is of importance. He is often dressed in black (with dark blue patterns) with leather and studded accents. All of which are associated with risqué, and ‘deviant’ behaviours. Alternatively, Metro Man wears an all white costume. White is often symbolic of truth, justice and goodheartedness. This imagery is especially relevant at the end of the movie when MegaMind turns good, gets the girl, and the city’s approval. With this, comes a new outfit. Yep, you guessed it, a white cape. 

I find it funny how much us humans consume without reflection. Here I was watching this dorky cartoon film with my boyfriend not knowing all the little meanings I was unknowingly consuming. It honestly makes me critical of everything else I'm doing and thinking and feeling. How much of it is influenced by hegemony? all of it? is anything real?????? #conspiracy 

Im not sure how that makes me feel - skeptical I guess?

Nevertheless, its apparent that these types of ideological undertones are present in almost everything we experience in society. Even children’s movies!!!!!! Music, religion, novels, and film all perpetuate the preferred behaviours and beliefs of the ruling class. Structural functionalists would be all over this. 

i don't know, I could be onto something here… or I could be pulling meaning out of thin air. This is just my semi-Gramsci, semi-Gitlin (and maybe a little marxist) analysis of this cartoon movie. So take it with a grain of salt. I could be wrong but who's to say it either way.... 

 I mean the author is dead, right?

Christine 

#megamind #marxism #sociology #communications & media #ihopeyougetthereferences

[catherinegwarren]

FIESTAS FIESTAS FIESTAS

Hi there again from Lima and Feliz Año Nuevo (Happy New Year)!

It has been a fun month or so here in Peru since I last updated you on my life here. I have always loved the week of Thanksgiving then the following weeks leading to Christmas and then New Year’s, which includes my birthday on the second of December. While this year was no exception to the love I have for the holidays, I definitely noted difference.

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Peru. I am sure that this will not surprise you, as the fabled story of the settlers from the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock and not on the Costa Verde (Green Coast) in Lima. However, I did find different ways to give thanks during that week in November. First, our site coordinator, Jenny, had us send her five things that we are grateful for on our weekly email, so that really helped to put things in perspective in the coming weeks, which of course were a little difficult to watch from social media, seeing my family/friends gathering together without me. I knew and still know that I have a lot to be grateful for in Lima or elsewhere in Peru, as well as back home.

Second, at the Red we had a staff retreat that was opened with a liturgy of gratitude and thanksgiving, and we all shared three things that we’re thankful for which was a positive note to begin our retreat.

(The view from our hike during our staff retreat and then my Thanksgiving dinner.)

Third, an American family from my church (I attended an Anglican church full of foreigners and Peruvians alike) invited me over for a Thanksgiving dinner. I shared turkey with Americans, Britons, Dutch, Peruvians, Mexicans, etc.

Though Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Peru, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving experience here and it made me realize all for which I am thankful.

MY BIRTHDAY

My first birthday outside of the US was celebrated fully and it included three cakes. On Thursday (the 1st of December) with my colleagues from the Red Uniendo Manos Peru, I was surprised by the biggest birthday card I’ve ever received on the whiteboard over my desk. I was treated to a lunch out, my choice of food. I chose Italian because I hadn’t had pasta in a while. We had wonderful conversation at the table and when we returned to the office we had cake (tres leches).

(My birthday card on the whiteboard made by my friend Karla.)

(Me and my first birthday cake, the flavor was tres leches.)

On Friday, the 2nd, my real birthday, I was told that we would be going to my boss Cecilia’s house to work on things for CEDEMUNEP, but really Cecilia had prepared a birthday lunch for us to enjoy together.After lunch we were talking in her living room when all of a sudden there was a cake (mocha) in my face with candles to be blown out. It was a very sweet celebration. That evening I made it home to my host family for more cake (carrot, but the best carrot cake I’ve ever had in my life). It was a great ending to my birthday.

(Top: Me with my boss Cecilia (holding cake) her husband, her daughter (in the pink dragon once) and my colleagues while they sing me happy birthday. Bottom: Me with my host mom, her mom, and in the stripes Haydea, a friend of my host mom who rents a room in our house.)

WEEKS LEADING UP TO CHRISTMAS

December was a very busy month as it is everywhere else in the world. At CEDEMUNEP we attended several community Christmas parties held for children called “chocolatadas” because they include hot chocolate and this Italian sweet bread with candied fruits and raisin called paneton. They also included a clown or magician show for the kids as well as presents from Santa or one of his elves. A very awesome experience to be a part of.

In my office at the Red Uniendo Manos we had a Christmas potluck in which everyone brought a delicious dish to share and we dined at our conference room table with villancicos, or Peruvian Christmas songs, playing in the background. My site coordinator’s husband Jed made mac and cheese and sweet potato casserole which was very exciting for my American taste buds.

(Jed and Jenny at the conference room table. Jed is putting a spoon in the mac and cheese so that we can serve ourselves.)

(Toasting to la navidad in the office as Jed snaps our picture in the office. Next to me is Jenny, at the head of the table Sr. Conrado, Karin, and Ysabel. Not pictured Karla or Daniela.)

Around Lima, the whole city and all of its neighborhoods and districts were ready for Christmas. Every district’s main plaza had a nacimiento, or nativity scene, and a Christmas tree. Some plazas had more, some had Santa Clauses or multiple Christmas trees. Apartment terraces and houses were lit up and blinking and sometimes singing the electronic songs. In my house I helped my host mom put up her tree and decorate her yard, and put up her huge nacimiento (nativity scene). I’m not kidding, it takes up her whole built-in bookshelf in the living room.

(Three of our trees two are in the garden.)

(The nativity scene from far away and unfocused and a close up of the Mary and Joseph or Maria and Jose waiting for the birth of their son, Jesus.)

(The tree in the plaza near our house.)

(The nativity scene in Iquitos, Peru located in the Amazon region of Peru.)

DECEMBER 23RD

December 23rd isn’t a special holiday celebrated in Peru by any means, but it is remembered in my host family because it is the day that my host mom’s father and my host grandmother’s husband died 37 years ago. In the Catholic tradition, if I am understanding correctly, families hold mass for their passed love ones on the anniversaries of their deaths. So on December 23rd I attended mass with my host grandmother and mother and her four out of five siblings (one lives in Spain). It was definitely a somber morning walking to and from the church. But once we returned to the house for hot chocolate and paneton after, the family was a lively bunch.

I had already met all of my host grandmother’s children individually or with their spouses, so it was a joy to see them sit together at one table with their mom. It reminded me of sitting with my own family at the dinner table. They talked about their kids and what they’re doing, what’s the “problem” with kids today etc. Then, Pepe, my host-grandmother’s oldest son brought out his keyboard and played songs and everyone sang along. It really was a merry time.

NOCHE BUENA

Christmas Eve in most hispanic countries is called Noche Buena or “Good Night.” It is celebrated with a dinner usually beginning at midnight while fireworks echo throughout Lima. But since I live in a house with older adults we began our dinner around nine-thirty. We had a turkey, sweet potatoes, different kinds of salads, apple sauce, and champagne. It was all very delicious and I was ready to welcome the coming of baby Jesus with my family. Around 10:30 or 11 my host mom and her mother went to bed, but I stayed up with my host mom’s son, David, watching the mass in Rome on TV. At midnight fireworks began to go off and we went outside to watch from the garden. It wasn’t the best view because we were so low and buildings were in the way but it was still pretty cool. After watching the fireworks, I went ahead and went to bed because I had a flight the next day.

Traditionally presents are usually opened at midnight on Christmas so I do not believe that every Peruvian has the tradition of Santa Claus. Some do, but not all. We didn’t stay up all night to exchange presents. I’d given my host family their presents the day before because I bought them plants and my host mom gave me my present on Christmas Eve: a super cute pair of earrings.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas Day is observed as a holiday in Peru, but most of the fun stuff is all done on Christmas Eve. I spent my Christmas Day in the Lima airport heading to Iquitos, Peru.  More on that later.

NEW YEAR’S EVE

New Year’s Eve has some fun quirks in Peru. There is also an evening family dinner. We had our dinner early again. My host-mom’s brother brought over some pollo a la brasa which is a great rotisserie chicken usually served with french fries. My host-mom made a couple of salads to go with our meal. And of course we had some champagne to toast to the New Year. You also eat twelve grapes, one for each month in the coming year. My host mom added that while chewing the grapes individually you think of a wish or desire that you want for each month. Then our grapes were not seedless because the more seeds you get in your grapes the more money you will make. I think that’s a little funny because I know that for at least half of 2017 my income will continue to be pretty low. So maybe my grape seeds will bring me wealth in experiences over the New Year. You’re supposed to carry the grape seeds around in your purse or wallet with you for the next year as a good omen. My fellow Peru YAV Kristen was visiting Lima for a bit so she had dinner with us and my host-mom actually bagged up her grape seeds for her to take with her.  

Around 11 after dinner and after washing and drying the dishes we headed over to my host-mom’s son’s apartment. David’s building has about 7 floors so we were able to go up to the roof for our New Year’s toast and to watch the fireworks which we could see all up and down the coast and towards the center of Lima. It was an incredible view and I didn’t want to leave the roof until the last firework had burnt out.

One last funny thing about New Year is that the color of underwear you’re wearing at New Year is supposed to determine your year. Yellow is the color of wealth and prosperity or plata (literally silver, but slang for money).  So yellow is the most popular color and everyone sells yellow underwear and everyone buys yellow underwear. I missed out on this yellow underwear thing but I was wearing blue underwear and that’s supposed to bring you good health and wellness in the New Year, so I’m not complaining.

(Fireworks from David’s roof. I didn’t save the videos I took that night, hindsight is 20/20.)

Feliz año and until next time friends! Much love from south of the equator!

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