#2016 or 2017 or thereabouts

[coldgoldlazarus]

Just watched a video dissecting Nostalgia Critic's The Wall

And just like

That was A Lot

[sonicenvy]

Let's have a chat about AO3

Hiya friends and loyal followers! My last post about AO3 blew up yesterday so I figured now would be a good time to continue the conversation about AO3.

As I mentioned in my previous post (and probably in multiple other previous posts):

AO3 is NOT a social media site. AO3 is an ARCHIVE.

So let's delve into that a bit more since people don't seem to be getting that. Fanfiction predates the internet, and was transmitted via the internet way before sites like AO3 and FF dot net. Relatively speaking, I am a fanfiction newcomer, as I first started reading fanfiction in ... 2011? or thereabouts. I say this to say that I obviously don't have as personal of a memory of a time before fanfiction archive sites (my bitty fan experiences were on teaspoon and lcfanfic), but I certainly know plenty of people via fandom online that absolutely do.

For the newest children to fanfiction please check out the following pieces of reading to get started on your fandom history education:

“Fanfiction.” Fanlore Wiki. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://fanlore.org/wiki/Fanfiction. Archived [https://archive.is/yJpOq].

“So I’m on AO3 and I See a Lot of People Who Put ‘I Do Not Own [Insert Fandom Here]’ before Their Story.” sonicenvy.tumblr.com, July 2, 2016. https://sonicenvy.tumblr.com/post/146818589611/mikkeneko-thepioden. Archived [https://archive.is/FRNCy]

ofhouseadama, Emily. “A Brief History of Fandom, for Those on Here Who Somehow Think Tumblr Invented Fandom.” sonicenvy.tumblr.com, May 21, 2014. https://sonicenvy.tumblr.com/post/131935827010/ofhouseadama-a-brief-history-of-fandom-for. Archived [http://archive.today/j2Rfq]

mizstorge, fantastic-nonsense, and fanculturesfancreativity. “The Places Fandom Dwells: A Cautionary Tale.” fantastic-nonsense.tumblr.com, June 29, 2017. https://fantastic-nonsense.tumblr.com/post/162395547190/the-places-fandom-dwells-a-cautionary-tale. Archived [https://archive.ph/QK2wI]

As you read through this stuff, three things should become apparent to you:

Fanworks have always existed in tenuous space -- that is, they have always been under threat of removal, or threat of loss, whether this loss was through events like the livejournal strikethrough, the loss of a fandom specific website, destruction of physical copies of the work, or C&D/legal action from original creators of the work.

Fandom has a long and colored history with many of the most defining events of early fandom history being related to threats to the community.

A need was ripe for a place to save and ARCHIVE fanworks and protect them from deletion, legal action, corporate sanitization efforts, site deaths due to the deaths of admins, etc etc.

Out of all of this, comes The Organization For Transformative Works (2007), and their brand new site Archive of Our Own (2008). The stated intention of Archive of Our Own (AO3) (bolding mine):

The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) is a nonprofit organization, established by fans in 2007, to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fanworks and fan culture in its myriad forms. We believe that fanworks are transformative and that transformative works are legitimate. We are proactive and innovative in protecting and defending our work from commercial exploitation and legal challenge. We preserve our fannish economy, values, and creative expression by protecting and nurturing our fellow fans, our work, our commentary, our history, and our identity while providing the broadest possible access to fannish activity for all fans. The Archive of Our Own offers a noncommercial and nonprofit central hosting place for fanworks using open-source archiving software.

Source: Works, Organization for Transformative. “Archive of Our Own Beta.” Archive of Our Own. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://archiveofourown.org/about. Archived [http://archive.today/QYtbM]

You may also want to check out the original LiveJournal Brainstorming sessions for AO3 by astolat as archived here [https://web.archive.org/web/20220627134339/https://astolat.livejournal.com/150556.html] if you need further clarity on this point.

Some neat stuff from astolat's original posts that I find are relevant:

making it easy for people to download stories or even the entire archive for offline reading (thus widely preserving the work in case some disaster does take it down)

code-wise able to support a huge archive of possibly millions of stories.

allowing ANYTHING -- het, slash, RPF, chan, kink, highly adult ...

As we can see both from the mission statement of OTW/AO3 and from astolat herself in the brainstorming sessions, AO3 is an ARCHIVE. It is a project that is meant to preserve and provide access to fanworks. Run for fans, by fans and meant to host any and all kind of content with none of the commercialization or censorship that fans found elsewhere. Before AO3 there were certainly numerous, disconnected, fandom specific archives for fanfiction or other fanworks. Many of these old sites have been archived (see we're getting that word again) via the opendoors project. Some, like teaspoon or lcfanfic still exists and are semi-active.

A common thread is that writers and readers weren't just using the archive site to connect. They were doing more connection through other sites like dreamwidth, livejournal, facebook, their emails and later tumblr or twitter. Archive sites were meant as a supplement to other fan spaces like message boards, blogs and journals.

So, dear friends, you might ask, what is an archive?

An archive is a place where documents, artifacts and records are kept and preserved for future reference, use and access. Archives help us maintain a better understanding of the past and protect objects, writings, documents, records and more in longevity. In the context of fanwork archiving, this means preserving fanworks in longevity/perpetuity so that fans can continue to access them for enjoyment and for historical purposes. Archiving fanwork is vital to preserving and, indeed creating fan culture and identity.

To read more about archives in general, check out this article from the American History Museum of the Smithsonian (https://americanhistory.si.edu/archives/about/what-are-archives) or this one from the US National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/about/info/whats-an-archives.html).

So AO3 is an archive. Why does this matter?

Oh, boy, I am about to get LIS nerdy on y'all. At this point in the post we can all agree that AO3 is and always has been an archive (it's in the name...). When we view and understand the site starting from this premise, a lot of, frankly stupid as fuck arguments that people have about AO3 look even dumber. Understanding AO3 primarily as an archive helps us understand:

The tagging system. Given AO3 is an archive, the tags for content on the site function exactly the same as headings in a library archive. They are designed to store information about the fic (that is, they are intended as metadata) which is then used to find the record of the fic in the archive. This is why it is important to tag what is in your fic, and to use tags properly, using the agreed meanings of particular tags.

The kinds of content that are permitted and excluded under TOS IV. The archive permits fanworks, which include: fanfiction, fanart, podfic, and fan videos. The archive thus excludes things that are not fanwork (records with no content (aka "placeholder fics"), posts asking for writing prompts or submissions, posts looking for fic, commerical promotions of ANY kind, original fiction with no relation to fan content, spam etc). Every library and archive has their own collections policies, and AO3 is not an exception. Collections Policies are generally guided by the mission statement(s) of the archiving party/library. As we saw above in both the official about page and the original brainstorming posts from astolat, AO3 is a library for fanworks, meant to preserve fanworks and is in opposition to advertising and commercialization. Therefore, if the thing you want to add to the library of AO3 is not a fanwork or contains commercialization, it does not qualify to be an object of the archive. Re: the "placeholder fic" post that I didn't know was going to blow up so much: imagine you go to the library to get a book and open it to find that it is empty or you get a DVD and play it only to find that it is the movie theater trailer for the movie. Doesn't that make no sense?

Why there is NO censoring of "adult" or other quote on quote "objectionable content". The archive does not chose to preserve works based on subjective quality or "moral purity" type standards. This is true in libraries and museums as well. We keep and save materials that people find objectionable as archiving and librarianship are and have always been diametrically opposed to censorship. As an archive AO3 follows this. Moreover, you can see in astolat's original post "allowing ANYTHING -- het, slash, RPF, chan, kink, highly adult" as a founding idea.

Why there is no advertising, and why this includes you adding your Ko-fi or paypal or whatever the fuck. Outside of the fact that doing this violates TOS and invalidates OTW lawyer arguments for the legal existence of fanworks under US Fair Use, AO3 as an archive is meant to be a keeper of fan records, not a space for promotions. Archives do keep records (and indeed some archives keep records of advertising) but they, themselves are not using their platform to advertise for anything else.

Why there is no "AO3 algorithm". The kinds of algorithmic feed generators that sites like the t*kt*ok or whatever use are antithetical to the mission of archiving stuff and providing access to it. In an archive you search for content based on terms and headings and self-select. I'm not on the t*kt*k or whatever and I actively block and disable all "suggestion" type things so I don't entirely understand what y'all are looking with this.

Ok, that's great, why are you telling us all of this?

There is a concerning trend of newcomers both young and older to fandom and fanfiction that have not taken off the social media brain filter before coming on board. Some excellent tags I've seen on The Post™ that spawned this one include:

#guys quit bringing the worst elements of capitalism to AO3 (via @watchtowersystem)

#algorithms have rotted people's brains i swear (via @pearly--rose)

#omg stop trying to social mediaify ao3 (via @greyduckgreygoose)

There were also some bangers on my reddit post on this topic as well, but the reddit I posted it on is (rightfully) on blackout at the moment.

I think the sociamediafying of fanfiction that a lot of these people are bringing has a few major negatives:

social mediafied fandom views fanwork soley as consumable content, creating more passive, entitled participants in fandom. For fanwork=content social media brain folks, the fact that fanwork is meant to be an active and engaging thing is lost. Fanwork is a gift from one fan to other fans, it is a point for discussion, a result of people's passion and creativity. It is transformative, out of the box and part of building a niche community. When you start to see it as "content" like a random object on a feed you stop valuing it, analyzing it, and interacting with it in the same way, and are more likely to passively consume what you see as content. Social media has made "content" out of everything, and everything becomes something to scroll past in a few seconds, always looking for more stuff, the newest stuff, etc etc. It's obviously very tied to the experience of social media being used to sell you shit, but that's another conversation I think.

fanwork=content social media brain also allows some of these people to post incredibly demanding comments for "more content" on fancreators works or makes them think it's ok (and indeed creates the same result as what the writer is creating) to feed someone's incomplete fic into an ai to get a "completion".

fanwork=content social media brain also means that when these folks start creating content they feel entitled to views, hits, kudos, etc etc, and feel like it is ok to do things that they see as "gaming" the system to get their fics to be at the top of the pack. They begin to care too much about posting to get their "content" the most views because that's how things work on social media.

fanwork=content social media brain also makes some of these people think that "fic" that is "written" by an ai is acceptable fanwork, because they do not view fanwork as artwork/writing with merit, as much as an entertainment property to be consumed. How the meat gets made becomes irrelevant, because the end result is the only thing that is important.

social mediafying of fandom is something that has helped a lot of advertising and commercialization sneak its way into our spaces, which actively hurts our chances of building good communities.

social mediafying of fandom turns fanwork creation and fandom into popularity contests, which is bad for all fan spaces. The point is that we're being weird together. I've seen new, young authors post on reddit about how they feel so bad about their fic because it doesn't have 1000s of hits or because they feel incapable of writing things (even things they might want to explore) because "no one will read it, and it will not become popular". This makes me very sad.

social mediafying of fanwork also turns right around into .... wait ... you guessed it .... censorship! people are now practising self-censorship that is utterly unnecessary and completely sad to me because they are afraid of getting deleted from anywhere for "objectionable content". This carries over into new users on AO3 doing things like using leet speech for curse words, sexual content and more in the TAGS or the body of their AO3 fics. Stop Don't. You can say fuck, dead, kill, murder, cunt, cock, and whatever the fucking hell you want on AO3. That was the whole goddamn point.

These people are trying to bring fanwork=content social media brain to places like AO3. I'm not entirely sure why.

tldr; AO3 isn't a social media site for talking with your following or posting about ideas that you've had. It isn't a popularity contest. It isn't a place where there will be no inappropriate content. It isn't a place for advertising or commerical promotion. It is an ARCHIVE OF FANWORKS meant to be "allowing ANYTHING -- het, slash, RPF, chan, kink, highly adult."

Anyone of you fans older, wiser, more well versed in fan history, and more articulate than me, please feel free to add to this. Ditto on any of you other funky LIS friends out here on tumblr dot hell.

[tygerbug]

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER - A pleasant enough mid-level Marvel movie which is just good enough to serve as a trailer for the better movie it could have and should have been. Even so, it's worth the time.

2011's Thor, as directed by Kenneth Branagh, was a weaker early effort for Marvel, although it introduced Tom Hiddleston as the fan-favorite Loki, and an interesting cast that the series hasn't done enough with since (including Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, and Jaimie Alexander, who make token appearances here). And at least it's not The Incredible Hulk (2008), which remains in a strange quasi-canon state in the MCU, referenced recently in What If?, Shang-Chi and the upcoming She-Hulk. There was also trouble in the air on 2013's Thor: The Dark World, when Patty Jenkins left the film, apparently unimpressed by what the movie was becoming, and was replaced as director by Alan Taylor. Jenkins went on to direct the well-regarded Wonder Woman (2017), and its less successful sequel. Loki's entire role was reportedly added in rewrites and beefed up during reshoots, and Christopher Eccleston seems wasted as the villain, leading to talk (at the time) that Marvel couldn't deliver an interesting villain (Loki aside). The result is acceptable but also inessential. Alan Taylor has said he was locked out of editing and had no control over how the movie turned out. This included a small Guardians of the Galaxy tie-in shot by James Gunn, and a prologue by Tim Miller. Jamie Alexander was injured for a month, and Christopher Eccleston was unhappy with the seven-hour makeup requirements for his role. Idris Elba referred to the constant reshoots as torture, and Natalie Portman tried to quit the film when Patty Jenkins left. Portman is noticeably absent when Thor kisses "Jane Foster" at the end of this film, and from all the Marvel movies that followed. Even in this film, Portman had insisted on slapping Thor for abandoning her. Old footage from this film was used in Avengers: Endgame, but Portman didn't return until the animated What If? in 2021, for an almost embarrassingly lightweight and silly comedic Thor episode. The movie she had actually returned for was this one, clearly having been promised a much juicier role for Dr. Jane Foster. Thor says in this film that he hasn't seen her for over eight years. Thor Odinson, God of Thunder, played by Chris Hemsworth, did not arrive on the screen fully formed. He is almost unrecognizable in that first film, with a short, bleached-looking beard and eyebrows and long blond wig. His look as a character was defined better gradually over the next few films, and the way he played the character also changed with time. 2017's Thor Ragnarok, directed by comedian Taiki Waititi, was a very purposeful departure from the more serious previous Thor films. Thor, in that film, seems a lot more like Chris Hemsworth, even resembling his comedic persona from 2016's Ghostbusters to an extent. There is more comedic improvisation and a more casual feel to the proceedings. You could explain it by saying that Thor's time on earth loosened him up a bit. It was a strange time for it- Thor has a pretty dark arc in this film and the Avengers films surrounding it, losing pretty much everything and everyone he cares about. This led to Thor's borderline-offensive weight gain in Endgame. While it's easy to mourn the more serious third Thor film that is hinted at here and elsewhere, that we never actually get to see, Hemsworth is very charming here and it feels like he's really found an onscreen persona that works for him. It was also, low-key, another Loki film, and even to an extent a Mark Ruffalo Hulk film, which Marvel isn't really allowed to make without working something out with Universal. Thor: Love and Thunder is the fourth Thor film and tenth appearance by Chris Hemsworth's Thor, or thereabouts. Thor is, at this point, the biggest name among the original Avengers to still be standing. Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow and others have already departed, so the only other contenders would be the likes of Hawkeye, Nick Fury and Maria Hill. Loki, as this movie reminds us, has already died multiple times (with an alternate-universe version getting his own TV series, pulled from a timestream before his death in 2018's Avengers Infinity War). Hemsworth has grown into the role and remains one of Marvel's biggest stars, as the beefy, likeable, well-meaning but often childish and careless Asgardian God of Thunder. Director Taika Waititi mostly knows how to play to Hemsworth's strengths as an actor, and leans on the idea that this veteran Avenger ought to be every little kid's best friend, especially since he's childish himself. While the response to this installment was muted in a packed theater, a handful of people applauded during the credits at the card reading "Thor will return." As Jane Foster, this time round, Natalie Portman seems engaged and interested in what she's doing, although one can question the script's choice on what exactly to do with her. After over eight years, I wasn't sure what to expect from her, but for most of this film Jane Foster is basically telling a joke that doesn't land, and that's a pretty good summation of this entire movie. It spends a lot of time trying to be funny, but the funny parts aren't funny enough and the serious parts aren't nearly serious enough. Moments that should have some emotional weight look and feel like a sitcom. There's trouble in the air from the beginning, as we're introduced to Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher, a villain who steals the entire show by being the only one taking his role completely seriously. In his opening scenes, as he's introduced to the god he'd been praying to, he's the only part of the scene which isn't ridiculous, and despite some interesting visual ideas it's pretty clear that the scene called for a more serious treatment overall. The film basically works, but there are a lot of moments like that, which seem to expose the shortcomings of Waititi's style as a director. Too much of the film feels weightless because the drama and comedy are blending together into a mush. I am not giving all the blame to Waititi for this, as the film shows some signs of being messed around with in the editing room. One trailer has a joke with Thor gazing lovingly into the eyes of Chris Pratt's Star-Lord, from the Guardians of the Galaxy films. This moment is actually longer in the trailer than it is in the film, where the moment - or what's left of it - seems to come out of nowhere and vanish just as quickly. To name the elephant in the room, it feels like Waititi had intended a lot of gay content in the film, and had to negotiate at length with Disney about just how much of that would actually make it into the final product. There are more overt gay references here than in any previous Marvel film, and just as many moments where scenes seem to suddenly be missing something along those lines. Waititi's previous film, Thor Ragnarok, lost some scenes confirming the bisexuality of Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie character. She returns here as one of the leads, and there are several overt references to her sexuality (mostly restating stuff that was implied in the previous film). But there's also something missing whenever she interacts with Natalie Portman's Jane Foster, and I can't quite put my finger on what it might have been. I doubt that any romance was intended but their friendship also seems to be edited around, and at one point Valkyrie teases Thor that they're both on "Team Jane." Korg, the rock creature voiced by Waititi, also returns, slightly wearing out his welcome (after an accident involving Zeus) but also confirming his homosexuality. Chris Pratt is known to be very right-wing and religious, and when the trailer came out people were surprised he'd been involved in a joke like that at all. I don't know what kind of pressure was going on behind the scenes. Maybe he was a good sport about it. But the result in the final film is a real nothing of a scene, and the entire appearance of the Guardians of the Galaxy feels underdeveloped. As Korg narrates, it plays out exactly like a trailer for a movie we didn't get to see, interspersed with moments from movies we did see. Pratt has aged noticeably and the Guardians have no real chemistry with Thor here, making this feel like just an extended cameo, of which the film already has many. Storywise this makes some sense. As in Ragnarok, Waititi wants to jettison the baggage of the previous films as quickly as possible to do what he's doing, even if it means skipping half a movie's worth of plot. And just like in any Iron Man movie, Thor's old character flaws have come back, carelessly causing destruction all around him, just so that he can look more heroic when he finally focuses at the end of the film. But it's yet another way that the movie suggests missed opportunities. Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy have had a movie's worth of adventures together, which we see in trailer-like form, but don't particularly like each other by the end of it, and the relationship seems to only bring out the most surface-level version of Thor, basically a parody of himself. And it's always a shame to not do much with Drax, Nebula, Mantis, et al. Meanwhile there's a very serious storyline with Jane Foster during which Jane Foster can't stop doing schtick, like trying out catchphrases. Eventually this is referenced in one of the film's most affecting serious scenes. It is nice that Jane Foster has a personality that's a bit different than you'd expect - this was also true in What If? - and it's intentional that her humor doesn't really land. Her character ends up being a mix of stuff which does and doesn't work, ending up somewhere in the middle. That's true of the movie itself. It's good to see Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie again, but the film doesn't exactly know what to do with her, beyond have her along for the ride. Thor: Ragnarok had strong themes about colonialism and it seemed that Valkyrie was a metaphor for indigenous people, something personal for Taiki Waititi whose father was Maori. This seems like a much less personal film, and perhaps Valkyrie's character reflects that once again. It's shown that she's sold out and become corporate, doing advertisements for Old Spice, and is generally bored with her duties as King of New Asgard. Perhaps Waititi feels that way too, although if you're looking for any more explanation for all of this than is present in the trailers, you won't get any. Visually, at least in theory, the film is going for an extremely colorful retro-80s vaporwave look. Which is not how the 80s actually were, but is something people like to evoke in design. The end credits are done in an exaggerated album-cover way, and the more fantasy-based scenes often look like something out of a Heavy Metal comic - although that does remind us of how sexless these movies are by comparison. It's not an especially stylish film, though, so the actual result of this is usually just mush. It's trying to be awesome in a way which doesn't always work, although it comes close enough often enough to get partial credit. There is a long, evocative sequence where the movie shuts the color off entirely, except for reflected light from weapons and eyes. It seems to come on very suddenly out of nowhere, but also works a lot better visually than the scenes immediately surrounding it. It's making a stronger visual choice, and one in keeping with the villain, the very colorless Gorr, whose scenes have a horror-movie aesthetic throughout, although one apparently intended to scare children. Christian Bale makes a big impact because there's nothing funny about his character. The moments where you see his playful side are his most horrific. It almost feels like Bale doesn't know what movie he's in, and the movie is better for it. Chris Hemsworth seems to know exactly what movie he's in, and mostly gets away with it because he's the star. There are, however, some scenes which come off as suspiciously bland. Russell Crowe tries out what is probably intended as a comedic Greek accent as Zeus. While Gladiator this ain't, he does actually flesh out a reasonably funny and complex character in a short amount of screen time, not unlike Jeff Goldblum in Ragnarok. It does all have a whiff of "jokes that aren't quite working" though. There is a moment where Crowe forcibly disrobes Thor, and the nudity is played for laughs. A lot of people questioned this as sexual assault, although the script later specifies that Thor enjoyed the moment. This is a good example of how the movie is tough to read and doesn't commit enough to anything, one way or the other. The last Marvel movie before this was "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." About halfway through we're introduced to a sort of alternate Avengers, full of cameos from characters who hadn't been seen in the MCU in this form. These scenes also seemed to reveal exactly who would be playing one of Marvel's biggest-name heroes. I was underwhelmed by this reveal, feeling he wasn't quite the right type ... although he'd been rumored for the part for years. There's also a quick cameo at the end by - presumably - one of the leads of the next Doctor Strange movie. Anyway, we get one of those moments in the mid-credits scene. A Marvel hero we haven't seen before is revealed, played by a known actor, and yes, I'm a little disappointed in the casting. I'd need a whole movie to get used to casting like this, and to know what Marvel intends to do with the character. A few seconds isn't really enough. Then there's another cameo, in another movie which didn't do enough with the Thor franchise's supporting cast. I wonder if there was a version where they did a final joke about an arm. Judging from reviews, Thor: Love and Thunder has been a divisive movie for Marvel, and something of a letdown after the better-regarded Ragnarok. It's not a bad effort, and maybe a movie with this basic plot and setup would never have been top-tier Marvel, or very different from what we get here. But it's the kind of movie that makes you think about tone, and the different ways that this material could have been handled which might have worked better. Maybe that's illusory, but I found myself thinking about missed opportunities and roads not taken. Maybe it's just because the movie has a comedic tone for so much of its runtime when the jokes don't really land and it's cutting into the drama. The movie is fine, and better than other Thor efforts, but it's not hard to become a backseat driver and wonder what was left on the cutting room floor. It's hard to answer what this movie is about, exactly, and why it should be about that. For the most part it works, and sticks the landing, and that's impressive enough for a Thor movie which doesn't feature Loki, and which writes Valkyrie out of the last act. Hemsworth has to carry the movie himself, for the most part, and he's up to the task enough that the biggest reaction in the theater was to the card: "Thor will return." That's good.

[greywindys]

Idk if anyone is going to get mad at that anon or not, but I think this is a good time to share a story. In 2017, before P4 started, Gorillaz started a countdown, without comment, of all their albums. At this point in fandom history, fans had been waiting for news about the new album and single since 2015 when Jamie started releasing new art after a 5 year hiatus (thereabouts). People knew something was coming. After various teases throughout 2016, this countdown was significant, exciting, nerve-wracking. Countdown to what? is what everyone wanted to know. It was new. It was mysterious. It had to mean something.

Last night, a few friends and I were reminiscing and found a blog from this era. We read over their excitement about this countdown, their theories about what could happen on the final day. We read later posts as that day came and they waited. We read post later that evening where they theorized about the timezone, how perhaps it Gorillaz was waiting until 23:23 to drop the single or video. We watched as they eventually accepted that nothing was going to happen that day. And nothing did.

Gorillaz is a fun fandom to be in (sometimes). There interesting characters and lore, but this countdown was the first of many times they would mislead and let down (intentionally or otherwise) their fans down. When you see people being “negative”, it isn’t because they’re there to suck the fun out of everything. Often, it’s because they are speaking from experience, and experience new fans may come to share in another 1-2 years.

[sniperct]

What do you think about the current run?

of black widow? haven't read it... the last run I read was volume 6 (with the dark room that was a new red room, and started with nat on the run from SHIELD, so ... 2016/2017 thereabouts)

For the record I despise that they always start over at #1 these days instead of continuing the damn comics like they did in the old days it drives me nuts.

[intearsaboutrobots]

hello jude, i know i could have asked you that on discord, but i want you to be able to Ramble On Tumblr if you want to (and if you don't you can just ignore this, but sometimes i personally very much want to ramble on tumblr) - how did you find (out about) Friends at the Table? (i also know you have a sideblog for that but shhhh)

mmm oh gosh.. i dont actually remember how i found them? i was on kind of an actual play kick, it was like.. 2016-17 thereabouts, and i listened to a LOT of actual plays. i remember starting it when i was listening to tm.a s1-2 on repeat (bc it was in my shitty apt where the park i locked my bike up at was full?? of spiders?? so EVERY MORNING my bike was covered in spiderwebs and i had to clean them off while listening to SCARY STORIES)!

[[READ-MORE]]

i do remember like, one of the moments that Solidified it for me tho, in s1 (autumn in hieron), the party comes upon this little house in the icy wilds, and theres a lil goblin man in there. and in this world like, ppl r prejudiced against goblins. so the partys paladin asks austin the gm if he can roll essential a wisdom or perception check to understand that this is just a regular little goblin man and this is his little house and it's nothing nefarious, and austin responds w smth like, "well like as a black guy, if me and my friend go into a store and the owner like, follows us around bc he think we're gonna steal stuff, would a wisdom check make him realise that hes wrong?" and they had like a discussion abt it and id never heard ppl talk abt games that way!!! like i think thats when i knew this show was a special thing id never heard before and that i loved it

and since then ive been really impressed w how they are always growing and improving? like, from counter/weight where cass is mostly he/him-ed instead of neutral pronouns or alien pronouns (i mean thats partly bc they didnt hav apostolos worldbuilt sm yet) (and millie now is an apostolosian w she/her pronouns but thats like a conscious choice for the char whereas w cass it wasnt) and now they've had like multiple nb pcs and npcs and some of them use neopronouns too, and how theyve hired a disability consultant this season, and theyre the only podcast (to my knowledge) that PAYS their fan transcribers, and like it just feels like they're really committed to their ideals and to improving!!

i still remember like how i felt when i listened to my first patreon livestream, it was the skeletons one in october of i think 2017, in my shitty apt, and it just felt so like, close and nice, and at some point they just put a song on and we listened to it quietly and like, it was such a cool experience. (its sad that now that i work weekends my arc w live shows is 1) get a notif its on while im at work. feel sad 2) maybe get off work while its going but i dont wanna join in the middle OR restart and b outta sync w the chat 3) now too many bad feelings r attached to it and i can never watch it)

anyway yeah i lov friends at the table a lot and i think abt ali bringing herself to tears describing wrestling events from yrs ago so often what a blessed cast, and in the newest clapcast when everyone's like ":oo oh hi jess!!" i got so ;;-;; its just so sweet!!!

[dansnaturepictures]

My 10 wildlife and photography highlight blogs of 2020: Post 1 – Summary of my year of birds

I had another really fantastic birdwatching year this year! I have so far seen 188 birds this year my fourth highest ever in a year. After breaking my bird year list record in every year between 2016 and 2019 last year notching up the fabled 200 birds in a year and in this post in all of those years’ thread of blogs I talked about the same characteristics of what made them an amazing year of birds, 2020 was another year characterised by a high total for my standards, a fast start with so many species seen early on and arguably my best ever start as I shall visit in this post and a stock of sensational bird species seen, common and rare, new and ones I’m more familiar with. In this post I examine my year of birds introducing some of my favourite bird photos I took this year too. Tomorrow’s post is about experiences had with birds on my list of favourite birds in 2020 as has become normal in these posts with a part 2 posting for that on Thursday because it did get long.

So with me off work this year from the start of the year until 9th January I made another storming start of birdwatching. My New Year’s Day was incredible for me. I started with my traditional Lakeside morning walk the country park beside our house where I was able to tick off an array of common species for my 2020 list some very special indeed. Every year these walks are always different with different stars and standing out for the 2020 one were views in quick succession of my first Redwing, Mute Swan and Wren of the year. Then we turned it into a truly big New Year’s Day as we visited Portland harbour and bill in Dorset and saw some very classy species there. This included a life tick so bird I’d never seen before when after getting a cracking view of a Great Northern Diver in the harbour the second time it had been a New Year’s Day year tick for me after we visited this harbour on 1st January 2014 a kind gentleman we met told us there were some Black-throated Divers in the harbour. We scanned out to sea and were delighted to see two of them such beautiful and distinctive birds. I remarked later in the day how I was so excited to start my new year list at Lakeside, Portland and birds seen from the bedroom window with the new beginning and feeling of going into the unknown once more and maybe year ticks being more plentiful than the closing few months of the previous year it brings I felt like a child the night before Christmas and seeing a Black-throated Diver made all my Christmases come at once. This is a species I had longed to see for years.

On the way to and at Portland I saw an unbelievable list of species some of my strongest of the year beside the two diver species, this included an early Skylark, Shag, some of Portland’s lovely Ravens at Portland Bill, Purple Sandpiper, a surprise Black Redstart and two of my favourite birds among others from that list seen that day a classic Gannet view and an addition to my list of favourite birds this year the Short-eared Owl with extremely lucky views of two flying late on at the bill. When I knew I was doing this trip with Lakeside on New Year’s Day I’d set the target of making it my highest ever amount of birds seen after one day with how many I could possibly see going to these places as my 2016 New Year’s Day had held that title as the most birds I’d seen on New Year’s Day for ages. I smashed that total ending 1st January on 49 birds, I saw 38 in 2016 that day so my previous highest was shattered. What a start for me!

We spent the next three days picking up many common (and the odd pretty rare) year tick locally, standout species seen being Bearded Tit, Whimbrel, Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret, Goosander and Goldeneye. Then just like in 2019 a standout feature of our opening days was visiting Slimbridge WWT around my birthday, staying at the same cottage we did in 2019 in nearby Wotton-under-Edge this time for three nights instead of two. On the way up like last year we enjoyed some sensational Red Kite views at Benson and Watlington in Oxfordshire, as well as a Red-legged Partridge year tick driving into Gloucestershire. The days in Slimbridge, my birthday and the day before were exceptional. I saw so many bird species, many of which year ticks of both common and rare birds. Reserve specialities and the odd surprise as well. In a year where my photo yields seemed to go up and up again I took an unbelievable amount on two what were really grey and wet in places days in Slimbridge many of my wildlife photos from this as they were on the way in Oxfordshire were some of my best this year. It really was a monumental four days away last winter for my hobby. The standout year ticks I got during two days in Slimbridge were; reserve specialities Bewick’s Swan, Common Crane, Golden Plover, Barnacle Goose, White-fronted Goose, brilliant Water Rail views, a close Fieldfare view I took the first picture in this photoset of this, Sparrowhawk becoming my 100th bird of 2020, a surprise Cattle Egret and Bar-headed Goose the latter a first of another strong list this year of birds I’d only seen for the second time ever something I’m celebrating a lot these last few years. I also took the second picture in this photoset of a Lapwing at Slimbridge this year. There it was lovely to see it teeming with Curlews which was helped by a population bolstering project taking chicks into captivity and releasing them by the amazing WWT which was brilliant to witness in action as such for a bird in trouble in this country.

January continued to be unforgettable for me as I ended it on 122 birds seen, this did something I didn’t think I could and beat by one the figure I ended January on in 2018 my previous highest ever after a month that had my incredible Scotland trip in for my 21st birthday where I saw mountain loads of bird species. During the course of the month this year the amount of birds I had seen was ahead of what I had seen on that date in other years by a long way. This included my highest ever bird year list 2019 and 2018 the second which I found impressive as I rather thought both of those years were a one off in terms of having a start that consuming and numbers of bird species seen that high so quickly but here I was doing it again and better in places. One weekend towards the end of January stood out as on the Saturday we went to the Titchfield Canal path and Fort Cumberland in Hampshire, getting astonishing Barn Owl views of two birds at the former alongside my first Roe Deer and Fox of the year away from birds for a second. At Fort Cumberland I was thrilled to see my first Sanderling and Stock Doves of the year. The next day we went to the Holmhill bog area of the New Forest and saw again some amazing species. We finally saw (and in terms of others seeing it re-found somewhat as it hadn’t been reported for nearly a month up until that point) the Great Grey Shrike we’d checked this area a lot towards the end of 2019 to try and see. That day we saw again something we saw when coming here on my last wildlife/photography trip of 2019 a female Hen Harrier! This was an individual bird I will always hold dear as it was my big 200th species of 2019 so to see it again made me overjoyed having seen the shrike too two of my rarest birds of the year. I also saw my first Bullfinch of the year that day as well as first Fallow Deers of 2020 on the way from the car and in the walk and on both days that weekend the weather was perfect very sunny for during the winter and this allowed them both to be massive days for many photos for me too wildlife and landscape so it was an incredible weekend of birds especially for me.

Into February and March up until the horrible and disruptive for way of life for all of us Coronavirus hit the UK really my year list was still higher or thereabouts on given days than any previous year including my big last two. Through the first lockdown it obviously lost pace with them but still stayed within my top 6 years lists when comparing how many I had seen on given days with certain species still seen on various exercise walks which I was happy with and kept my spirits up during that time. As the lockdown eased catching up with a lot of birds in a sense meant my year list rather recovered comparing it to others and was getting into my top three on given dates with what I had seen in previous years again when we got into June and this continued throughout the summer being very close to where I was last year and the year before in places. When I passed my 2014 total by notching up bird 178 of my year in September it made my year list my fifth highest ever at the time and it was sat quite solidly in third place on given dates for how many I had seen behind 2019 and 2018 it feeling quite weird that I thought well on which date did I reach this amount seen in previous years and a few of the years I didn’t even reach that figure which made me proud of how I had recovered this as a birding year for me whilst staying safe out birdwatching of course and building on that fantastic start I was very happy to get. As I passed my 2016 total too and we went into October I had caught my previous two year lists right up, as there were only three birds in it when looking at how many I had seen in 2018, 2019 and 2020 on that date with my 2020 still ahead of what I had seen on the date in 2017 (the only year list total of mine between this year and 2018 and 2019 at that stage) which felt amazing and symbolised what I mean about really recovering my birding year numbers wise even if the last but obviously necessary lockdown has also slowed me down a little.

I saw my second new bird of 2020 on a very sunny February day a perfect one for landscapes so I took so many photos that day again before Storm Ciara hit the first of a few severe named storms over that period as we visited Toyd Down and Martin Down. At Toyd Down a Great Bustard had been around. We arrived and others thought they’d seen it very far back in fields we did struggle to pick it up first of all. But in the end some kind people we got talking to had picked it out and when we were allowed thankfully to look in their telescope we saw the bird and there was absolutely no doubt that it was this iconic species. We got stunning brief views of it. This was my second life tick in as many months and similarly to Black-throated Diver its one I longed to see and had thought I had ought to have really tried to by now. It was another generally amazing day as I saw my first Corn Bunting and Yellowhammers of the year at Toyd Down two brilliant birds and two Grey Partridges fly up at Martin Down where we went later on. On the way back we ensured my year list climbed pretty high over others on past days in time for limited birding during the storms as I saw my first Mandarin Duck of 2020 at Eyeworth Pond in the New Forest on a quick call in. Yellowhammer was a bird I saw and heard quite a bit through the first lockdown that made me happy at places such as Stockbridge Down and Noar Hill and I saw one at Old Winchester Hill on an amazing summer’s day in August. I also got amazing views of them, Skylarks and Corn Bunting again at Martin Down again on 31st May. We got so close to Turtle Doves too at Martin Down on 31st May it was an honour to hear their beautiful, magic and iconic purr call right beside us coming from thick vegetation on a hot and sunny day. A big bird moment that stood out for me this year with a truly iconic species. On our next visit here two weeks later we managed to get two great views of a Turtle Dove flying around and hear its sensational purring once more. I felt so lucky to see this bird on another great and packed day. They are a credit to our countryside in spring time a quintessential British rural bird and I was so thrilled to see this stunning species especially after not doing so last year.

A perfect way to follow Black-throated Diver and Great Bustard was with another bird I had wanted to see for years and perhaps should have tried harder to as we targeted Pied Flycatcher one of my targets for years with so many seen in Hampshire approaching the August bank holiday Monday. On that day we went to the beautiful Old Winchester Hill in the South Downs similar rural farmland type habitat to Toyd Down, where a female Pied Flycatcher was reported. After enjoying a great variety of garden birds before we left including a young Sparrowhawk that we loved having in the garden two days prior soaring nicely over it which was great we walked at Old Winchester and didn’t see many birds until on the way back. Then we saw some Spotted Flycatchers my third of the year which I liked a lot at the top of bare trees alongside a good few other birds. We knew this was the place to look then and to our delight after we waited a bit the female Pied Flycatcher emerged at the peak of the trees and I was thrilled. I had seen this bird finally really bolstering my year list figure to 175 at that stage and my list of new birds seen this year which I felt really lucky to see. I really enjoyed getting a precious few moments to enjoy this delicious like the spotted looking birds. A real sweet moment of a smashing late summer/early autumn migration I enjoyed this year. A huge sense of satisfaction finally seeing this bird I have longed and longed to this made me so happy a great moment at a fantastic place. I took the third picture in this photoset a record shot of this Pied Flycatcher. I saw so many nice people at a safe social distance out enjoying their bank holiday that day, and it was wonderful to meet four young birdwatchers two very young with their parents and two adolescent boys. On top of this of the faces I saw out generally that day they were so diverse through age, gender and race and I just loved seeing this equality and diversity. And we enjoyed sharing stories at a safe distance with fellow birdwatchers and Pied Flycatcher searchers.

I write a bit more about this in my ninth of these posts about that particular holiday but I saw my first ever Brown Shrike, a pretty rare bird, at Warham Green in Norfolk in September. It was a stunning moment as we arrived at where the bird was and I got my binoculars on to the bushes and saw this cracking looking bird sat there, enjoying a smashing few minutes with this beautiful bird. It was a moment that brought me such great joy and pleasure and a standout moment of my year it was some bird for sure! A real headline bird among others for my 2020 really. Just two days later in our fabulous Norfolk break we saw another new bird in the form of a Red-breasted Flycatcher another really beautiful and very well marked bird that we got views of flitting in and out of trees on a very hot late September afternoon it was an amazing bird to see it made me so thrilled and happy what a sensational afternoon that was for me as I say lots more about in my ninth of these posts about the Norfolk holiday.

On 11th October I saw my next new bird and in a phenomenal way when we managed to see the very rare Wilson’s Phalarope that turned up at the Pennington part of the Lymington-Keyhaven nature reserve back home in Hampshire, on the lovely and quite famous fishtail lagoon there as rare birds always seem to turn up there. As views of new birds go this was some of my best for years and some of my best birdwatching moments ever as we were astounded to see the bird incredibly close up at times beside us in channels to the south and east of the lagoon. It was sensational views and I didn’t have to try too hard to get pictures of the birds that day none were record shots it was real close up bird photography which I loved. Whilst doing all this and watching it as phalaropes do swim up and down and turn back often we got to see how beautiful this remarkable bird – the first in Hampshire for fifteen years I believe which people flocked from far and wide to see – really was. It was a stunning bird. It was very interesting whilst watching to see it try to squeeze through the wire fence back into the lagoon which was fairly cute and flash its attractive yellow legs. Many people myself included took videos of it on our phones and the bird had a huge presence on social media a brilliant quirk of this fantastic vibed twitch I felt great to be involved in we met a lot of good people at a safe social distance that day. What made it even better was that with the bird were two Grey Phalaropes and we saw one our first of the year that day another of my real standout birds of 2020. The Phalaropes do come in during the autumn here when blown of course of their migration in Atlantic storms. The greys more commonly. I also got brilliant views of the Grey Phalarope being in the stream right beside us stunning views underlining why it was one of my birdwatching, wildlife and photography days of the year. Neither phalarope was phased by us at all they are birds of the wilderness in North America to some degree and therefore they’re known to be so approachable. An honour to see those two and other great birds that day. It was my sixth life tick of the year a respectable amount to reach by my standards.

The other real standout and rarest birds I have seen in 2020 are; Peregrine Falcon, Hobby, Osprey, Little Owl, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ruff (as shown at Pennington in the fourth of my pictures in this photoset), Jack Snipe, Knot, Little Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper (as shown with Dunlin at Farlington Marshes in the fifth of my pictures in this photoset), Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Dipper, Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis, Slavonian Grebe again that winter at Lymington the bird that made 2019 my highest ever year list on Christmas day there, Black-necked Grebe, Eider Duck, Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Common Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Guillemot, Razorbill, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, Chough, Wheatear, Hawfinch, Crossbill, Lesser Redpoll (as shown at Pig Bush in the New Forest in the sixth of my pictures in this photoset), Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher, Redstart, Tree Pipit, Ring Ouzel, Cuckoo, Dartford Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Chiffchaff a bird I got as a year tick at the River Itchen, Winchester in January and as a classic spring one kept my spirits up seeing and hearing so many over Lakeside and other local walks during the early days of the coronavirus lockdown and working from home from late March, it was great to see Blackcaps well throughout this year too at Lakeside quite a bit after seeing my first of the year a female also in January beside the River Itchen at Winchester, Whitethroat was an impressive bird I thought to see for the first time this year at Lakeside in early May too as was House Martin later in the month after I’d seen Sand Martin at the coast just before the lockdown in March and only my second and third ever Goshawks and only second ever Hoopoe and White Storks at Knepp. 

Of course birds are what started my photography and my favourite subject, other bird photos I took this year in this post are; a Woodpigeon during another successful for me RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch in January, “Violet” one of the regular Feral Pigeon pair we nicknamed that visited the garden so much the photo I took from April (I had another extraordinary year for seeing a variety of super birds in our garden, around it and from it this year we really did see so many, so regularly and so well allowing for many great photo opportunities and our garden came into its own as a feeding and bathing service station really during the working from home days where I spent so much time in obviously and a lot of it sat working from home being able to look out the window and notice the birds that visited it lead to so many intimate bird experiences with some I’d even not seen in the garden before), a Mediterranean Gull flying at Hayling Island and a Kestrel hovering at Lakeside Country Park. 

Bringing together my garden bird and House Martin notes I had a brilliant evening on 26th May a week and a day after seeing my first this year at Lakeside when I saw some House Martins fly in past my window right beside me as I worked appearing to check out an area on top of my window ledge possibly with the view of nesting. A brilliant time seeing a species I never had in the garden before which excited me so much! I really did enjoy that and value it a lot. I had a great year for seeing House Martins intimately at home and at Lakeside nearby. In early October just before the regular group of House Martins were to migrate I loved seeing them at the front of the house if a window was open they’d have been practically flying into it they were that close and we got to make out what wonderful and exciting birds they were to see too such an amazing experience with these birds.

I had one of my best ever birds seen from the window moments on 8th September as evening fell when I heard Ring-necked Parakeets calling from my open window and leapt up to see about half a dozen flying over! A bird I had never seen in Hampshire before so this was quite huge news for my birdwatching really they are an amazing screeching emerald flash of a bird. This meant this year I do believe I have got more bird year ticks seen from my bedroom window with this alongside a host of commoner birds some very special on New Year’s Day and Swift in May as I mention a bit in my next of these posts than any other year, very apt for the year it’s been with working from home and that! This fantastic moment and experience came on a day I saw Magpie and Blue Tit in the garden two birds before this year I was not as used to seeing in the garden but really enjoyed in 2020 there quite a group of birds this with many names I could name of ones visiting our garden so frequently and in numbers which was great this year. On the last day of September I saw the Ring-necked Parakeets and heard their thrilling calls from my bedroom again, only this time I was ready and managed to take a photo of one. This was another fantastic moment I was so happy to see and hear these quirky, beautiful and well coloured birds from home once more as on a species basis they were really making their way to the Southampton area where they weren’t known before now it was nice to be part of that. That day also a very rainy day in the end I loved hearing the gushing sound of the mob of Starlings descending onto the garden which I then loved looking at once more with a Goldfinch and House Sparrow mixed in too which was nice I enjoyed the Starlings and other birds in huge numbers in the garden so much this year. I really enjoyed seeing the Starlings splash about in the bird bath as I have with a lot of birds in the garden this year which I’ve enjoyed and loved photographing. I got a brief view of a Ring-necked Parakeet that Friday at Grantham Green in Eastleigh where someone told me they’d been which was an interesting part in the story of them this year. A brilliant birdwatching day when my Chiffchaff journey continued this year seeing our first ever in the garden which was an amazing moment a thrilling bird to see in the garden with Robin and Blue Tit in at the same time with other regulars throughout the day making it a strong day of garden birds. I saw the Chiffchaff a creature of habit for being seen at locations again in the tree out the front of the house the following Monday. I wrote more about birding experiences in my bonus 11thpost about my November and December my last of these highlights posts.

[mitsoftware13]

IT,BSIT,BSIT in Hyderabad,BSIT 4 years program

One of the areas which encourages public advancement is schooling by guaranteeing the improvement of a practical human asset. The organization of solid instructive designs prompts a general public populated by edified individuals, who can cause positive financial advancement and social change. A Positive social change and its related monetary development are accomplished as the individuals apply the abilities they mastered while they were in school. The procurement of these abilities is encouraged by one individual we as a whole 'instructor'. Therefore, countries looking for monetary and social improvements need not disregard educators and their job in public turn of events.

Instructors are the central point that drives understudies' accomplishments in learning. The presentation of educators by and large decides, the nature of schooling, yet the overall execution of the understudies they train. The actual educators in this manner should bamboozle instruction, so they can thusly help train understudies in the most awesome aspect ways. It is known, that the nature of educators and quality instructing are the absolute most significant variables that shape the learning and social and scholastic development of understudies. Quality preparing will guarantee, to a huge degree, instructors are of high caliber, in order to have the option to appropriately oversee study halls and encourage learning. That is the reason instructor quality is as yet a matter of concern, even, in nations where understudies reliably get high scores in global tests, for example, Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In such nations, instructor training of prime significance due to the potential it needs to cause positive understudies' accomplishments.

The design of instructor training continues to change in practically all nations in light of the mission of delivering educators who comprehend the current requirements of understudies or simply the interest for instructors. The progressions are endeavors to guarantee that quality instructors are delivered and now and then to guarantee that study halls are not liberated from educators. In the U.S.A, how to advance great instructors has been an issue of dispute and, for as long as decade or thereabouts, has been inspired, fundamentally, through the strategies recommended by the No Child Left Behind Act (Accomplished California Teachers, 2015). Indeed, even in Japan and other Eastern nations where there are a greater number of educators than required, and structures have been organized to guarantee excellent instructors are delivered and utilized, issues identifying with the educator and encouraging quality are still of concern (Ogawa, Fujii and Ikuo, 2013). Educator training is in this way no joke anyplace. This article is in two sections. It initially examines Ghana's educator instruction framework and in the subsequent part takes a gander at certain determinants of value educating.

2.0 TEACHER EDUCATION

Ghana has been making purposeful endeavors to deliver quality instructors for her fundamental school homerooms. As Benneh (2006) demonstrated, Ghana's point of educator instruction is to give a total instructor schooling program through the arrangement of beginning educator preparing and in-administration preparing programs, that will create able educators, who will help improve the adequacy of the educating and discovering that goes on in schools. The Initial educator training program for Ghana's essential teachers was offered in Colleges of Education (CoE) just, until as of late when, University of Education, University of Cape Coast, Central University College and other tertiary foundations participate. The most striking distinction between the projects offered by the other tertiary organization is that while the Universities instruct, look at and grant declarations to their understudies, the Colleges of Education offer educational cost while the University of Cape Coast, through the Institute of Education, inspects and grant testaments. The preparation programs offered by these foundations are endeavors at giving many qualified instructors to educate in the schools. The National Accreditation Board authorizes educator preparing programs to guarantee quality.

The National Accreditation Board certifies educator schooling programs dependent on the construction and substance of the courses proposed by the establishment. Henceforth, the courses run by different establishments vary in substance and construction. For instance, the course content for the Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast is marginally not the same as the course construction and substance of the Center for Continue Education, University of Cape Coast and none of these two projects coordinates that of the CoEs, however they all honor Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) following three years of preparing. The DBE and the Four-year Untrained Teacher's Diploma in Basic Education (UTDBE) programs run by the CoEs are just comparative, yet not the equivalent. The equivalent can be said of the Two-year Post-Diploma in Basic Education, Four-year Bachelor's certificate programs run by the University of Cape Coast, the University of Education, Winneba and different Universities and University Colleges. In actuality despite the fact that, same items pull in same customers, the planning of the items are done in an unexpected way.

It is through these numerous projects that educators are ready for the fundamental schools - from nursery to senior secondary schools. Elective pathways, or projects through which instructors are readied are believed to be acceptable in circumstances where there are deficiencies of educators and more educators should be prepared inside an extremely brief timeframe. A common model is the UTDBE program, referenced above, which configuration to furnish non-proficient educators with proficient abilities. However, this endeavor to deliver more educators, due to lack of instructors, has the inclination of containing quality.

As verified by Xiaoxia, Heeju, Nicci and Stone (2010) the variables that add to the issues of instructor training and educator maintenance are changed and complex, yet one factor that educator teachers are worried about is the elective pathways through which educator schooling happen. The excellent point of a large number of the pathways is to quick track educators into the instructing calling. This scammed the essential instructor planning that imminent educators need prior to turning out to be study hall educators. The individuals who favor elective courses, similar to Teach for America (TFA), as per Xiaoxia, Heeju, Nicci and Stone (2010) have guarded their elective pathways by saying that despite the fact that the understudies are occupied with a brief time of pre-administration preparing, the understudies are scholastically splendid thus have the ability to get familiar with a ton in a brief period. Others contend that in subjects like English, Science and math where there are typically deficiencies of instructors, there should be a purposeful opening up of elective pathways to great competitors who had done English, Mathematics and Science courses at the undergrad level. None of these contentions on the side of elective pathways, hold for the elective instructor training programs in Ghana, where the scholastically splendid understudies avoid instructing because of reasons I will come to.

At the point when the objective is simply to fill empty study halls, issues of value educator arrangement is consigned to the foundation, by one way or another. Directly at the choice stage, the elective pathways facilitate the prerequisite for acquiring passage into instructor schooling programs. When, for instance, the second bunch of UTDBE understudies were conceded, I can say with certainty that section prerequisites into the CoEs were not clung to. What was underscored was that, the candidate should be a non-proficient fundamental teacher who has been locked in by the Ghana Education Service, and that the candidate holds a testament above Basic Education Certificate Examination. The evaluations got didn't make a difference. In the event that this pathway had not been made, the CoEs would not have prepared understudies who at first didn't fit the bill to take a crack at the customary DBE program. Be that as it may, it leaves in its path the crippling impact traded off quality.

Indeed, even with customary DBE programs, I have acknowledged, as of late I should state, that CoEs, specifically, are not pulling in the competitors with exceptionally high evaluations. This as I have adapted currently impacts both educator quality and instructor adequacy. The truth of the matter is, instructor schooling programs in Ghana are not viewed as renowned projects thus candidates with high evaluations don't decide on training programs. Thus most of candidates who apply for instructor training programs have, generally, lower grades. At the point when the passage prerequisite for CoEs' DBE program for 2016/2017 scholastic year was distributed, I saw the base section grades had been dropped from C6 to D8 for West African Senior Secondary School Examination competitors. This drop in standard must be credited to CoEs' endeavor to pull in more candidates. The colleges as well, bring down their cut off point for schooling programs so as draw in more up-and-comers. The colleges as asserted by Levine (2006) see their instructor schooling programs, so to state, as treasure troves. Their longing to bring in cash, compel them to settle for the easiest option, similar to the CoEs have done, to expand their enlistments. The way that, affirmation guidelines are globally brought all together down to accomplish an objective of expanding numbers. This powerless enrollment practice or settling for what is most convenient option acquaint a genuine test with instructor training.

The Japanese have had the option to make educator schooling and showing esteemed and therefor pull in understudies with high evaluations. One may contend that in Japan, the stock of instructors far surpasses the interest thus specialists are not compelled to enlist educators. Their framework won't endure on the off chance that they do everything they can to choose higher evaluation understudy into instructor schooling programs. To them, the issues identifying with the choice of educators are more significant that the issues identifying with enlistment. Nonetheless, in western and African nations the issues identifying with enrollment are prime. It is so on the grounds that the interest for educators far exceeds that

[autumnalfallingleaves]

So I just found out that one of my absolute favorite fics- that I first started reading when I had just gotten into fandom, so about 2016-2017 thereabouts- will start updating again soon!! 

I’m so excited because it’s been on hiatus for a little over 2 years now and I thought it had been abandoned but!! It hasn’t!!

[agallimaufryofoddments]

Three months ago or so, I made the above two stitches of the Daily Days headquarters for a write-up on Baccano!’s background art. I dredged them up today for use on the wiki...and in doing so, found myself taking a closer look at the signs in the background. No, I hadn’t been mistaken – the red sign on the establishment to the DD’s left differs between the shots. (And I couldn’t find the yellow of the Vietnamese sign in the first shot either).

I admit it; I’d been checking to see if there were any inconsistencies/goofs that needed documenting. However, in idly observing that the sign’s English text read [G]old Flower Restaurant, it occurred to me that I hadn’t tried researching the Daily Days' location in earnest (though I’m sure others already have). I don’t know why, considering that it’s obviously inspired by a real location; even if you didn’t know that the staff did location scouting in New York (which I did, saw the results of the scouting, and still didn’t give the DD the attention I should’ve), the amount of and quality of specific details in both illustrations definitely suggests real-life references.

So, I googled “Gold Flowers Restaurant - Chinatown,” and...gottem.

First of all - the Gold Flower Restaurant (red sign) and the Vietnamese Restaurant (yellow sign) are both real establishments. Or rather, they used to be: the Gold Flower Restaurant at 9 Doyers appears to have been replaced by a speakeasy-styled cocktail bar called Apothéke (with a ‘false’ storefront in the speakeasy mode); and the Doyers Vietnamese (11 Doyers) closed around 2010 is now a Mexican restaurant called Pulqueira. 

I doubt I’ll surprise anyone by saying that I don’t think either the Gold Flower Restaurant and Doyers Vietnamese were around in the 1930s. There was a Café Mandarin/Mandarin Tea Shop on 11 Doyers Street back around 1909/1910 (if you search for old Doyers Street images, you’ll find the one with the Mandarin Tea Shop no problem), and I think the Vietnamese Restaurant was known as the ‘Vietnam [Restaurant’ instead in the 1980s-1990s. (This blog has a pic of the former site d.1890).

That said... to the left of the now-gone Doyers Vietnamese still stands Nom Wah Tea Parlor, which was first established in 1920!

(Honestly I don’t think anyone’s going to nitpick the anachronistic storefronts; these shots are maybe five-ten seconds long at most, and why complain when we can appreciate the location scouting in its own right and the artworks’ beauty and attention to detail for what they are?)

As for the Daily Days Building...google images from the late 2000s that show those two restaurants show a Coco Fashion Boutique at 5-7 Doyers Street (aka same building as the DD building). However, I think Coco Fashion has since been replaced by a Chinese Tuxedo Restaurant, named after a historic restaurant that once stood just down the lane on Bowery Street. (Recommended reading: this 2016 article).

And speaking of 5-7 Doyers Street...

It turns out that Doyers Street has a pretty violent history (hence its nickname “Bloody Angle”), with Tong Gang shootouts taking place there from 1900s-1930s or thereabout. A three-fatalities 1905 Tong shootout occurred at the Chinese [Opera] Theater, which was the first Chinese language theater in NYC and – you guessed it – occupied 5-7 Doyers Street from 1893-1910/11. (An even bloodier shooting occurred in 1909).

From what I’ve read, the Chinese Theater was afterwards converted into a “mission house for the Rescue Society of New York” (p40) and remained as such for several decades. I think you can make out the Rescue Society sign/front in this 1961 footage (anyone know what that’s from?), in fact. You can definitely see the Nom Wah Tea Parlor behind the two men...

Ooh, and this is a photo of the Rescue Society front c. 1930. The building next to it has a sign much like the Gold lower sign, but it’s not the same, I think.

Here’s Doyers Street on Google Maps, with the latest Street View dating to November 2017. That’s right - you should find yourself right on the Daily Days’ doorstep.

So... the Daily Days’ location in the anime definitely seems to be 5-7 Doyers Street, and while I know this does not confirm the DD’s location is also Doyers Street in the novels – I see no reason for us to not take the anime’s location for what it is. This blog post from the official Baccano! website says as much (”where the Daily Days building would have been”) - and below is is one of the photos the staff took while location scouting that they later used as a reference. (The photograph is also featured in that first PV I’ve showed you before at 8:48).

(If you search for “Doyers Street Chinatown” on Google Images, you’ll see plenty of other photographs just like this one. Remember - the ones that have the Gold Flower Restaurant and/or Doyers Vietnamese in them are out of date, which the majority of the first results are.)

Returning to my main train of thought (hah) - if we accept that the Daily Days is located precisely where the anime places it, then the history of that street is different to what we know it to be. I don’t think we’re ever given an idea of when the Daily Days was established in canon, which makes things difficult. If it was established before 1910/1911, then either the Chinese Theater never existed, or it did but folded earlier than we thought. Those 1905 and 1909 shootings may never have happened. 

If the Daily Days moved in after the Chinese Theater closed, then the only question remaining would be whether or not the Rescue Society briefly existed only to close down, or if it never existed at all. It’s probably far more likely to be the latter, i.e. that the Daily Days directly moved in after the Chinese Theater folded and the Rescue Society wasn’t a thing there, ever. (I hope all those men in that 1930 photo found another place for bread).

One other interesting aspect of this is that in Vol 4, the DD President orders the employees to evacuate underground via the sewers, which he says are connected to the basement of the police headquarter. The thing about Doyers Street/that area is that it actually had a secret underground network of tunnels, which Tong gangsters (and others?) used to make getaways from the cops and other folks. Hm... 

I definitely recommend reading up on Doyers Street; from the Tong gang shootouts to the rapidly changing local community, it’s fascinating stuff. 

[avant-writers-anonymous]

Introducing: Life On Mars

Introducing: Life On Mars

“Life On Mars” is an Americana Music Album. Life On Mars is all about dreaming of a better place filled with love and empathy. When I set out on this journey 4 years ago to the day, or thereabouts…Entering 2017 was a time of great change during our nation’s inauguration.Previously, I had been inspired on a journey through Iceland in September and October of 2016.When I returned home I felt…

[dreamedofyou]

Has Slovenia legalised same sex marriage? On an article I read that they have, but in the comments some Slovenes have said that it’s actually not legalised yet :| I’m confused haha

I got a similar question about a year ago, so I’m gonna go ahead and copy my answer from there:

“[…] a [same-sex marriage and adoption equality] bill was introduced in… 2015? (I might have got the year wrong, but it was thereabouts.) But the opposition/opposing parties were so strongly against it, they collected signatures to petition for a referendum on the matter. At the referendum the opposition won, so the bill had to be taken back. Btw, the thing most people had a problem with back then was adoption (which the bill would grant same sex couples), not so much the same-sex marriage part. (Oh, and a similar thing already happened back in 2012 as well. Basically, people are assholes.)

But this year [2016/2017?] they passed a new bill, which grants same-sex couples all the same rights that a married couple has, except adoption (but I believe if one of the partners has a biological child already, the other can adopt them, which wasn’t possible before) and the fact that it’s still not called “marriage” legally (probably so that it wouldn’t upset the “but the tradition of the word!!” idiots >_>). So while the bill is not 100% perfect, it’s still a huge step forward and nobody complained and called for referendums this time, so yay. :)

Btw, I hope I got everything right, it’s been a while since I read an article on the matter.”

TL;DR: Same-sex couples can get “married” and have all the same rights that opposite-sex couples do except for adoption of children that are not biologically theirs (and it’s not technically called “marriage”). So imo, it doesn’t count as equality exactly, but it’s a step in the right direction at least.

[oliverphisher]

Royce Kurmelovs

Royce Kurmelovs is an award winning Australian journalist and author whose work has been published online and in print by Al Jazeera English, The BBC, CNN, The Guardian, VICE, The Saturday Paper, The ABC and others. He is the author of three books, with his fourth on the high level of Australian indebtedness due to be published by UQP in August 2020.

The Death of Holden: The bestselling account of the decline of Australian manufacturing By Royce Kurmelovs Buy on Amazon

Royce Kurmelovs is an author of The Death of Holden (2016), Rogue Nation (2017) and Boom and Bust (2018). He lives in Adelaide, South Australia.

What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life? 

Catch-22 Starring Alan Arkin, Art Garfunkel, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Martin Sheen

It depends on what period of my life you are talking about. When I was younger, the book that had the biggest impact on me was Catch 22. People might rave about dystopian novels like 1984, but Catch 22 offers something deeper: you get a critiques of capitalism, authoritarianism, masculinity and bureaucracy in one beautiful, absurd package told with a striking sense of humour. It also helps make sense of the world we currently live in.

The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories By Etgar Keret

When I grew older, Etgar Keret's The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God had a profound influence for the way he told simple stories, always with a twist, in a conversational way.

Work and Other Sins: Life in New York City and Thereabouts By Charlie LeDuff

The last has been Charlie LeDuff's Work and Other Sins which is a collection of profiles and other journalistic works from his time at The New York Times. He showed me how to be a reporter.

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)?      

As a working freelancer, life can be pretty risky, but a month or two back I upped my membership with the Australia journalists union, The Media and Entertainment Arts Alliances which gave me insurance coverage I haven't had before. Having that sort of protection has been professionally life-changing. You don't realise how exposed you are when you're out here doing it on your own.

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? 

Truth be told, I am expert in the art of screwing up, so there are really too many moments to tell. One of my favourite professional screw ups, early on, was applying for a job in a magazine and turning up in the wrong outfit, saying the wrong things, and not getting the job. The person who did the interview explained, with great seriousness, how an established local reporter was working with them. Needless to say I didn't get the job, but a year later I had published my first book that went on to be a best seller. That inability to catch a break early on made me more determined. Screwing up, after all, is how we learn stuff. The only real failure is the failure to learn from our mistakes.

Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?

I try not to, to be honest. The circumstances that define one life do not so easily apply to -- and often do not exist for -- another. Each of us has to find out own way in the face of great uncertainty. Our course is shaped by the institutions we interact with, but the trajectories can change. The insights of others can sometimes help in this, but ultimately navigating it is less a matter of skill or ability, than the interaction of trial, error, capacity and resilience. The acting of choosing in the face of this inherent uncertainty is profound, so long as we acknowledge that sometimes those choices are often arbitrary.

What is one of the best investment in a writing resource you’ve ever made? 

A second monitor. I work off a laptop so the ability to throw documents up on a second screen while I work has done amazing things for both my posture and my productivity.

What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love? 

Dungeons and Dragons.

In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life? 

The understanding that, despite popular wisdom, to "live without regret" is stupid as the reverse is true. I was talking to someone about this the other day, and the shared conclusion was that if the act of choosing is significant, living well generates regrets. It scares me, to be honest, when I think about my own life and plot out just how different things might have been but for one or two choices. I can't speak for other people, but I always wonder about what would have happened if I had made different choices. You can invent whole other narratives this way. Perhaps, if I had decided one or two things differently, someone might not have gotten hurt. Or maybe I'd have different friends. Or lovers. Or my personal circumstances might be better -- or worse. Whatever the case, I'd be a wholly different person and I don't think we'd be having this conversation right now. The point, I think, is that anyone who goes through life without regrets is not really taking the business of living very seriously. Either the choices they are making don't matter, or they have no grasp of the significance of their decisions on the people around them.

What advice would you give to a smart, driven aspiring author? What advice should they ignore? 

I am really, very reluctant to give advice to anyone. Someone on Twitter once described the business of journalism like running across a series of burning bridges. The same applies to publishing. The specific pathways that were available to me are not going to be available to anyone else. I also write nonfiction, which is very different to those who write fiction or poetry.

What I will say is that writing is work, and the old wisdom of news editors the world over remains true: you're only as good as your last story. You have to get up each and put words on the page. You have to always be trying to tell a better story. Sometimes it's hard, and you'll screw it up, or you'll do the best you can and it still won't go your way. Whatever the case, your job is to get it done, then come back and do it again tomorrow -- hopefully a little better. This is why we write books: to get better at what we do.

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession often? 

Reporters, like front-line service workers, often see people at their worst and witness heavy things. The idea that you should push through in spite of any psychological harm is bad and the idea that you're somehow weak for reacting to it is deeply problematic. A reporters' job is to bring the story back, and we can't do that if we're dead or broken by what we've seen.

In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)? 

Not much,. I say yes to most things, for better for worse -- and let me tell you it's been a hell of a ride.

What marketing tactics should authors avoid?

I'm not a marketing guy, so I can't really say. There are people who are paid big bucks to know this stuff. Mostly, I try to write the best book that I can and bring it to the public.

What new realizations and/or approaches have helped you achieve your goals? 

Context is everything, but once you have an eye for it, you'll become no fun at parties.

When you feel overwhelmed or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? 

Mostly, I try to leave, or go somewhere else. I tend to take walks, but lately I've started running which, has been really good forcing a reset. 

Any other tips?

A couple of other things:

1. Good writing is draws on lived experience, so have adventures.

2. It's okay not to know stuff and anyone who makes you feel bad for asking a question is a jerk.

3. You can't help but emulate your heroes sometimes, but then the world already has one of them. You're someone new, so what are you bringing to the table? What makes you unique?

4. Be warned, what you write about and how you write it often reveals more about yourself than you realise.

________

Enjoyed this Q&A? Want to discuss in more depth? Join Community Writers. You'll get access to 100+ exclusive writing tips. Q&As with successful authors, an exclusive ebook on building an audience and much more. Sign-up for free as a community writer here

source https://www.thecommunitywriter.com/blog/royce-kurmelovs

[traciedemars]

Winter Time, and Best Time to Buy a Home...

Upcoming Free (& non-promotional) Home Buyer Classes:

  ...we also have home seller classes available.  Link on left on website page

Saturday, November 16th, from 11am-2pm (ish) ​       Vancouver YMCA, conference room       11324 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver WA (corner of SR500 & Gher Road/112th Ave).

Saturday, December 7th, from 9am-12pm (ish)       Marshall Community Center, conference room       1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College)

Monday, December 9th, from 5pm - 8pm (ish)        Marshall Community Center, Conference room       1009 E McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College) Saturday, December 14th, from 12pm-3pm (ish) ​       Vancouver YMCA, conference room       11324 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver WA (corner of SR500 & Gher Road/112th Ave).

If these class dates and/or times don't work for you, please let us know.  We understand that you have lives, and families, and work.  We will work something out that works better with your schedule.  Just let us know....                                                        Remember...with reservation...we will throw in lunch, or dinner!  :-D ~~~~~~~~~

Happy Veterans Day...

 I want to take a quick moment to thank our veterans... those who have served, and those who are serving.  I appreciate the sacrifices you have made, and are making.  I have many clients, friends, and family who've served, or are serving, and I've had many tell me that the hardest part is being so far from family & home.  Home..it's a powerful word....and for many folks one of the reasons why they do serve.  So...thank you...

 Now, today is November 12th...and like many I am enjoying the new Disney+!  Oh my, so many movies that I a remember as a child, and when my older kids were much younger... Blackbeard's Ghost, Pollyanna, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, and so much more.  It's a glorious thing!    Don't forget about the Client Appreciation Event coming up for 11/23 from 3pm-6pm (or thereabouts) for Frozen 2!  Chris Berg buy out the entire theater for these events a few times a year to say, Thank you, to our clients.  We appreciate you!  Now...Frozen 2 is sold out in the general area, but there are some seats available in the 21+ area, and we are going to start rsvp'ing for Star Wars IX in December!!  Thank you for your business and for your referrals...  

So, this week, let's talk about the current market for a quick moment.....I know that it's gray and dreary, and everyone has the holidays on their mind, but honestly, if you are even 'thinking' about buying a home....NOW is the best time.  Yes, there are not a whole lot of homes on the market, but the market is not as competitive as it is during the spring time.  Remember that from offer to keys it will take about 6-7 weeks.  The market tends to pick up and start getting crazy again right about late February/early March-April when folks start getting their tax refunds.    

Now...please remember that my magic wand is broken, and the magic 8 ball exploded all over my house with the coming holidays... so no one really knows what is going to happen.   Typically in an election year we don't see a whole lot of movement with interest rates, or any major changes that could disrupt the economy.  Seattle and the Portland Metro are still very solid markets, and we are still in a sellers market, but it isn't as strong or fierce as it was a few years ago.  We are still seeing multiple offers on homes in certain price ranges, but for many other homes we are seeing sellers paying some closing costs for the buyers.  What will happen for the coming year though?  This is a lot like foretelling the weather right now... as it really depends on when things happen.  Most industry sources do say that home prices should start plateauing though.  This doesn't mean that the home prices will not go up...they just shouldn't go up like last year.  They should steady out. As people see the change in the market coming, more homeowners should put the home on the market so they can begin their move to their new home, and this will help all the price ranges see more homes on the market. So, yes, there aren't as many homes on the market right now than there will be say around...spring break... the homes that are on the market though are solid sellers.  

 Yes, prices are still going up, but not as much as they were the past few years, so let's talk about how all that works.  I bought my old home in late 2001, with a 6.875% interest rate....don't feel bad, or shocked....in a 'healthy' market, a 'normal' interest rate would be about 7%.  We were THRILLED to be under 7%!   We sold that home in 2017, and it was harder than I thought it would be.  It was our first home, and we had lived there for 16 years.  It was the craziest thing, but did you know that when our buyers purchased our home for the $285,000 it was worth, with the 3.5% interest rate.... our mortgages were almost THE SAME!   Wait...I'm not (that) crazy...it's economics.  Yes, they bought it for more than I owed, but with a much lower interest rate.   That equaled my lower owed amount, but higher interest rate. How crazy is that???  Now, here's the crazy part... in 2016, my old house was only worth about $245,000, and right now, that same home is worth $330,000! NUTS!!!  My mother purchased a home in the 80's for $70,000, but her interest rate was 18.375%!!!   ....now that is crazy!!    The point of this is that while yes, prices are going up, the interest rates are still really low, so you can purchase more home.   When this changes, and interest rates rise it doesn't mean that home prices will immediately start dropping, they should start leveling off ...it will take a bit of time to balance out though.  

  I have clients asking me if they should just settle then on a home, and frankly this is a tough question.   No, you shouldn't 'just settle' on a home, but you may have to adjust either the type of home you want, the location, or be able to go up in purchase price to get what you want.  Please remember that this most likely is not your last home, but your home for the next 5-10 years....that's the average.  Know what your top 3 things are that you need in a home.  Whether you are buying a home, or selling a home...it is exciting, scary, fun, and frustrating.  It's a lot like a roller coaster, or driving down Mill Plain during rush hour,....or during that last month of pregnancy. I tell you....there's a reason I don't drink often.....I'm afraid once I start that I won't stop!  ;-D  (just kidding)  Buying and/or selling a home always going to be a a roller coaster when you're on the ride.  We're here though to help...that's what we do.

 When you are looking for a home,  you need to consider more than just the house.  You are also buying the neighborhood, the schools, the property taxes, the local parks, the neighbors, and the local infrastructure.  The home needs to 'fit' you like your favorite pair of pj's. For example....this last weekend I had a client look at a home that she liked.  On paper it was everything she said she wanted, and she couldn't find anything against the house that would cause her to not want to write an offer. So why was she hesitant?  Because this home was that sweater or shirt that looks good on the rack, and so you try it on.  It fits ok, and it looks all right, but there is just 'something' that is 'off' with it.....you can't figure it out either.  Sometimes you buy it, but never wear it, and sometimes you put it back.  Buying the 'right' home is a lot like that.  You can, and will, see homes you like, but they just don't 'fit'.  Put that home back.  Sometimes you see an item of clothing on the rack that you really don't know about....but you try it on anyway and BAM!  you look AMAZING!  Some homes don't look like much from the outside, but you get inside and they are amazing.  Remember that internet home photos are a lot like internet dating....you never know what you are going to see when you get there, and many agents hire professional photographers for a reason.  I can always tell which photos an agent did themselves, and who hired someone.   Finding the 'right' home is like sliding into your favorite jeans, or boots.....there is just something about it that 'fits'.  I see homes I 'like' all the time, but just because I like it doesn't mean it fits.  If you are obsessed with a home that you have seen though.   You really like the home, and you keep going back to the pictures, and driving by the house.....that's the 'right' home....even if it was one of the first homes you saw, or it was something you didn't think you wanted, or weren't sure about.  That home is that sweater/shirt/shoes that you just weren't sure about....until you tried it on.  Darling, you look AMAZING!   Trust your instincts....this is YOUR home, and YOUR mortgage.    With rents going up so much lately you can buy for about what your renting...or close to it.

  What is the best time to buy, or sell?  Whenever YOU are ready.  Sometimes waiting makes sense, and sometimes it really doesn't.  I am a firm believer that the right home will always be ready when you are, and that it will all fall into place.  Remember....your agent works for you.   YOUR agent isn't a salesperson.  We shouldn't be trying to 'sell' you on anything.  YOUR agent works for YOU....not the other way around.  When you hire an agent you are hiring a representative; someone who should be looking out for your best interests. Always ask questions. We do this all the time, and we love it, so use our knowledge to your advantage.  There really is NO stupid question in real estate. There is always learning opportunities, and that is goes for us as well.   If i can't answer your question; I will help you find someone who can.  We're in this together.  

Don't forget though... that the first step in ANY adventure is education. Take a home buyer class, or a home seller class....that's what they're there for.  

Information

is power,  and as always...May the odds be ever in your favor out there....

 If you are looking for a real estate agent, I would love to be able to help you.  

If you have any questions, or comments please get a hold of me anytime.  You can call, text, email, or even facebook me.  Please remember that while I mean these emails/blogs to be helpful, and educational, I am still hoping that you will call, or email me as I would be honored to help you with your home buying, or home selling adventure.

   As always....this is just a quick overview.... again...and I can't say this enough...please remember that your agent is NOT a salesperson, and should not be acting like one.  Real Estate is not really about houses, it is about relationships.  Your agent, and your lender work for YOU.  You drive the bus...we are merely GPS to help you get to your goals.  Like the classes, this weekly blog email is to help you with your home adventure.  The goal is to be informative and non-promotional.  :-)  We are, however, hoping you will call and want us to help with your adventure.   Thank you again for your business and your referrals!!  ...and thank you for referring these classes to your friends, family, and co-workers.   ....disclaimer...if you have already purchased a home, or would no longer like to receive these emails, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from any further mailings...   Upcoming Topics:

Winter Home Maintenance & things to look for...

Last Week:  Delayed Possession...what is this madness?

Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon,  

;-D  

Tracie DeMars  

Real Estate broker

Re/Max - Van Mall  

360/ 903-3504 cell  

360/ 882-3600 fax  

www.traciedemars.com

traciedemars@aol.com

“Interested in free and non promotional home education classes?  Go to www.freehomebuyerclasses.com for local upcoming home buyer and home SELLER classes, or facebook: Tracie DeMars Real Estate for my home buyer education blog.”

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."    

  - Shel Silverstein, American poet, cartoonist and composer, (1930 - 1999).

[eternity-called-darkness]

Rock Press Tokyo HizakixKamijo interview 2016

The age when there is no guarantee that you can create music whole life even if you sell million CDs

Since the formation in 2007, having outstanding powerful performance, aesthetic worldview, having made it‘s aggresive expansion to overseas, Versailles hit Visual Kei scene with it‘s powerful presence. At the end of 2015, they announced that band will be revived from hiatus (which began in 2012) , on 8/7 at Maihama Amphitheatre.  And finally they will release the best songs album titled The Greatest Hits 2007-2016 on 9/14. At ROCK PRESS tokyo we talked with the brightest members of the band - vocalist KAMIJO and guitarist HIZAKI. Talking frankly about music and Visual Kei scene, the words of these two people were really impressive.

-First of all,I‘d love to hear about when you came up with the idea of revival.

KAMIJO：As Hizaki-kun started  suggesting the idea of resurrection more and more often , I thought that I want it to happen too . Then we decided to meet with all members and decide about it. And the result of it, and the visual proof of our mutual feelings was the event at the end of last year.

HIZAKI：After all, all members wanted to revive Versailles. But somehow we couldn't say the words "I want to be Versailles again". And it became forbidden words to pronounce. We with Versailles‘ members without KAMIJO-san made another band. And as I‘m the leader in this band, being the vanguard I had the feeling that I wanted to break that forbidden rule .

KAMIJO：If Hizaki-kun wouldn‘t have spoken those words, other members couldn‘t talk about it as well. And I didn‘t want to do Versailles without these 4 people, so I‘m very grateful for that .

HIZAKI：When you have a band, the most important thing is to respect each member, but in long term activities I started to become less and less engaged to it . We had an activity pause in order to come back, but if you would look from outside, Versailles was able to create excellent individual players. As we did it, we understood that it‘s the most important thing before going forward.  I think Versailles required these 3 years.

KAMIJO：By working outside Versailles, we became the biggest rivals as we played together as individuals. It turned out to be a big advantage to Versailles.

-Looking to each other from sideways, You were aware of each other.

HIZAKI：Rather than being alone on sideways, there were many faces beside me looking toward! (laughs) But when band was formed, everyone thought ‚‘‘I want to be the most outstanding!“ I also remember how I felt at that point.

KAMIJO：There were way too many people involved, and instead of speaking with members, we started creating even more situations to communicate with other people. It turned out into big amount of misunderstandings, even though I had a part of me that couldn‘t share feelings, I ensured that I could talk to members directly no matter what happens. I have a feeling that we returned to being a proper band.  

-Although it was activity pause of 3 years, if you look at the restart of the band by standarts of the world relativity, it‘s really a short period of time.  You also started solo activities besides Versailles and you want to keep both of them but now will you be putting more energy to Versailles . What are you thinking about development ?

KAMIJO：We are going to put the same amount of power to both of them. But, to begin with, if I didn‘t have Versailles as a mother band there wouldn‘t be any solo activities.

HIZAKI：I learnt to switch the feelings fast. In fact, I don‘t need time to switch anymore. Although my solo album Rosario comes out on August 3rd, even if events between solo and Versailles would overlap, feelings-wise it would be totally OK. I‘d go to both of them treasuring it equally.

KAMIJO：Conversely, before activity pause of Versailles, we only had Versailles as a place of expression. If we wanted to express the part of ourselves that doesn‘t fit with the image of Versailles all the time it would be difficult to find balance .  And now with everyone having an individuality of themselves, they can hit Versailles with suitable parts for the band . Therefore, our unity has improved. Or  rather we are able to feel comfortable now.

HIZAKI：Simultaneously, we did various things. It may look difficult , but when you have a part of comfort in the width of expression, feelings-wise it may be easy . I think this may be applied to only both of us (laughing)

KAMIJO :  It‘s a clear thing that we will do activities as Versailles,but it‘s very hard to understand the goal of it. But personally, there are thoughts ‘‘Can I express myself more?“, ‘‘Can I have space to do things I want to do?“ . Of course we have to spread the width of Versailles as well, but personally the most important thing for me as an artist is the mindset ‘‘What I can do in this field?‘‘. It turned out to be a big advantage for me .

—Recently , Versailles and other Visual Kei bands which were formed at the same time by disbanding or pausing activities makes an impression that they are tired. Upon revival, have you been aware of these thoughts thereabouts?

KAMIJO :  Yes.... As we felt sorry that only we have happy news, if you will bring positive thoughts into scene, I believe it will be alright.

HIZAKI：Now, it‘s a tough time to work on visual kei scene in Japan , to be honest.  But you know, no matter how much you can‘t sell CD ‘‘someone“ make one step forward. There are people like that in any era.  That‘s why, in order to become that ‘‘someone‘‘ I‘m going to do it with feeling.

KAMIJO：I can‘t say about Japanese music scene as a whole , but at least, being myself active and being able to live up the field called Visual Kei, I feel that we need to enliven it more.  If Versailles doesn‘t stand on the top when we have a pride as we would be.  I want everyone to think that it‘s more cooler for a rock band to go on a stage with a flashy make-up. I want you to know more. I want to walk possessing this feeling.

-To embrace such a passionate feeling, You are going to held full revival live ‚‘‘Chateau de Versailles‘‘.  It‘s a very important live.

HIZAKI：We stood on the stage together on December last year and on June this year, even though audience had a chance to see the new Versailles, but the real revival in it‘s true meaning will be on that day. I want to make the live which will make cry and smile at the same time. I want everything to be extreme, because I think that it‘s Versailles. I want to make live that will explore all sort of emotions.

KAMIJO：Rage, the listening not only with impression, performance, visuals, excitement, direction.  I want the scale of everything to be extended. I know that any band knows how to present themselves but I want to make a live which will make you think ‘‘Versailles is the best and the coolest no matter how you look at it‘‘. In fact, any musician would say these words. Versailles want to create that form of idealism.

-Now please tell us about The Greatest Hits 2007-2016 album which will be released on 9/14.

HIZAKI: 『The Greatest Hits 2007-2016』, how to say, we were in playful mood, so in the end, it‘s exaggerated title (laughing) . I think it‘s going to be an album packed with history and future of Versailles.

KAMIJO：This album instead of being re-mastered is completely re-recordered. Also it will include 2 new songs. While picking songs, other members unanimously said ‚‘‘Let‘s pick this‘‘ and that‘s how we decided our tracklist. All members thought that it‘s the best material of Versailles.  

HIZAKI：Well,because Versailles are epic-oriented all songs are long (laughing). We barely made it to duration.

KAMIJO:  (laughs) . Talking about personal listening place of course, microphone is important. During the single Ascendead master I adapted one method but I sing all songs holding microphone in my hand. There is microphone that musicians often use SHURE SM58(SM58-LCE). It is often being called GOPPA. As depending on distance sound may get scratched, so if you listen carefully, it may sound funny. I adjust my fingers on live depending on songs.

HIZAKI：Concerning instruments, basically I will make phrases of songs as it was.  As I‘ll fully include the gained experience into the way of overlapping sounds, I want everyone to enjoy the balance of our 5 personalities.  Fans especially are excited about two new songs, here will come the fighting spirit.

KAMIJO：As every sound came out to news songs , I thought  ‘‘Ah, this is Versailles after all‘‘. I think all the fans will feel the same. I want them to listen to it as soon as possible.  After all, if you don‘t feel the future, it is not revival then.

-As revived band there are two mindsets : ‘‘We will offer the things of former years ‘‘ or ‘‘We will move forward while creating new things‘‘, each of it has different style. Each has good points , but Versailles decided to strictly move forward.

KAMIJO： That‘s right. That‘s why we decided to include new songs as well. As Versailles will celebrate it‘s 10th anniversary next year, in order to make 2017 Versailles year, to head towards future, we have to go forward. Versailles as a band is in condition if we are constantly thinking about difficulties.

HIZAKI：Individual roles are more firm now. For example,now Teru tells about his views actively.

KAMIJO：Revival is not a reunion. Activities has a meaning if you have a goal , we are going to deliver this kind of music to fans.

-Talking about goals, what is current goal of Versailles?

KAMIJO：Versailles is a band that aggressively went to world tours, but we want our music to reach even more people around the world.  This goal was always clearly stated, but we want to be the only ones who can do it .

HIZAKI：When going to overseas , various people comes to our lives. From people who loves Japanese culture , cosplayers, metal fellows, to old people. There aren‘t many bands who have a chance to go overseas, we are a band who can use this opportunity.

KAMIJO：Steadily,with album coming out, everytime we repeatedly go to domestic and overseas tours.  As japanese artists, Japan is the country where we held our first live. As representatives of Japan, we also experienced a lot of pressure . We want to do activities as revived band not forgetting about those feelings.

HIZAKI：Not speaking about visual kei bands, but speaking about the music scene as a whole, there are many people who wanted to be a part of boom of Cool Japan and went overseas. Some had light feelings,others gave bad impression.  Local people thought  ‘‘It‘s stuff of this level. I‘m bored.‘‘ Tired people becomes even more tired, distant people becomes even more distant, but I think that if we can bring people back one more time I‘d be happy.

KAMIJO：As a boom of Japan was ceased, and more bands started going to overseas, I‘ve become more stricter . But even more people started going to Versailles‘ lives. Also, there are people who have waited for us, I want to meet with even more people from now on....  Besides, Hizaki-kun, do you have things that you want to do first? (laughs)

HIZAKI：Eh? ‘‘First‘‘ is very hard. I won‘t leave my dreams and goals to the end. I want to do various things.  I want to do them all. Of course, I want many people to look at us doing it. I want to roll out into TV and festivals (laughs). But simply I want to go to the top. Though I don‘t know what it takes to reach it (laughs).

KAMIJO：Speaking about now, like before, we can‘t say that success is a clear result. Success can be in different forms depending how person looks at it. Although we can‘t determine success by ourselves, but we can set it lower or higher. While we are aware of improvement, I think it‘s important how far we can set criteria of success. Even if our standarts and policy may differ from other people , we are going to pursue it firmly anyway. In our case, we are aiming to become the flashiest, the most beautiful band with the best melodies in the world. To achieve it, we must follow success and results that we get.

HIZAKI：No matter where you held lives, and try to sell million CD, we live in the era that doesn‘t assure that we can create music whole life. That‘s why I think it‘s a waste of time pursuing this goal. We should treasure ideas we want to deliver, activities we want to do .

KAMIJO：That‘s right. However, our timespan as a band is going to be longer as we will celebrate 10th anniversary next year, I want to deliver ideas and the best scenery in a shape of reward .

-In regards to revival, to continue creating music in contrast with tension, you feel strong feelings.

KAMIJO：We don‘t want to lose to any other band either. To firmly show that, we want to show the best we have got on 8/7 Maihama Amphitheatre. I want you to witness the miraculous moment of revival by all means. Even if people who live far away this time can come to see us I‘ll be very happy. Versailles is a band which consists of many dramas. Our biography is pretty grand. We can deliver many dramas even from revival , you don‘t know what will happen even on 8/7 . Please don‘t miss even a single moment of Versailles.

I hope I managed to express members’ feelings through translation. Perfect translation is not possible. Please forgive me for possible mistakes. Please credit me if you repost translation.

[eurosong]

Good evening, folks, and welcome to today’s statistical map, which is a companion to yesterday’s. Both are about something that I have been tracking for many years now - Youtube likes, and today, views. Over the past few years, Eurovision songs on Youtube have exploded in terms of popularity - in 2015, a few days before the semi-finals began, only eight songs had cracked a million views; last year, at that same stage, more than double the figure, nineteen, had - twelve of which having 2 million views or more. Will we see a third straight year of expansion? With 5 songs published on the official Eurovision YT channel in the past ten days or so already having reached a million views, and 17 songs already sitting on half a million views or more, I would not be surprised.

Statistics on views and likes are quite often useful in helping to predict how songs will fare at the Eurovision, letting us have an insight into how songs are being received and the extent of their hype. Last year, all but one of the top 6 in views - Azerbaijan, perennially near the top in views - managed to make it into the top 10: France, Bulgaria, Australia, Poland and Armenia all had 3 million views or thereabout. Only two songs in the final’s top half - Sweden and Austria - had fewer than a million views. I have no doubt that hype on Youtube - particularly when it is positive hype reflected with a high proportion of positive reactions - is often a good sign for a country’s delegation -- provided all the hype is not being generated within that country, as is sometimes the case.

So, what is the map looking like as we take our first peak at 2017′s views? Before we delve in, I must preëmpt the one or two people each year who annoyedly send me messages of the ilk of “but My Slowanie has 50 chillion 984 squillion views on Donatan’s personal account!!!” The figures here relate to the number of views on Youtube’s official playlists, like this one for semi-final 1. The videos on the ESC official channel have the advantage of being uploaded around the same time, so we do not end up comparing the views of a video released in January with that of one unleashed on the day of the deadline.

Many countries of the Balkans have come out of the blocks flying - Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria are all checking in with over a million views: in comparison, last year at this stage, only Serbia was anywhere near close to that. They are joined in the top-five by Sweden - who, despite the hype they get every year amongst a large number of fans, were nowhere near the top in views last year - and crowning the list, with almost 1.6 million views and counting, are Belgium, who languished in the views mid-table in 2016 and 2014 but did similarly well with Loïc two years back. Recent heavyweights such as Russia and Australia are closing in on a million and the top spots too, alongside the Netherlands who will be hoping Trijnwreck was a one-off blemish on an otherwise stellar recent qualification rate.

On the opposite end of the table are four countries with fewer than a hundred thousand views - Slovenia, Georgia, Lithuania and Estonia. Only the last of these is not a country in the 5 most disliked songs currently. Will their likes ratio improve as more viewers come to watch, or do we already have a trio of surefire non-qualifiers on our hands? Continue below for a second map and the full numbers:

The average number of views on a video is already over half a million (512k) - exceptional given almost 2 months remain before the contest begins in earnest. By dividing the Eurovision countries more simply between those with more or fewer views than the average, we see quite a stark geographic division, with a few concentrated pockets of YT hype - the southern half of former Yugoslavia, a few Caucasian countries and Russia, a swathe of NW Europe. We’ll come back to this in a few weeks to see which countries have caught up with the current frontrunners!