#Like getting a perfect video for a single short segment can take an entire day and that's before you edit

[remastered-feedback]

The obsession websites that are successful without video seem to have for adding video is baffling to me. Yes I get that it's chasing the fad and trying to get another site's market share, I get the why, but it's just bizarre to me that so many companies that are working properly will look at the absolute logistical nightmare that is adding video and decide it's worth the cost in order to burn their primary users and become known as a worse version of another website.

Just the sheer expense of the additional storage to host terabytes upon terabytes of HD video should be enough to scare off most companies with an ounce of sense, and that's only the first and most obvious headache to deal with. It only makes sense if it's the only thing you're doing, and even then it only makes sense under the right conditions.

[littlemessyjessi]

How They’d Be As Mukbangers:  Harry Potter Characters

How They'd Be As YouTube Mukbangers

James: Every video has a theme.   Like, I'm not even playing.   Holidays?  All kinda of holiday themed food.  Quidditch World Cup coming up?   Things inspired by the country of his favorite team.   Just a random day?  Everything is blue.   He's that type of way.

Sirius:  If a mukbanger was a thirst trap.  I could easily see him really getting into.  Dark background, black gloves, aesthetic as fuck and like, he doesn't even talk.  He just sits there, looks hot and somehow makes eating looking incredibly sexy.  And he fucking knows it.   Bitch also one hundred percent rolls his eyes back when it hits his taste buds.  Licks his lips and his fingers.  Takes way too big of bites.   Most people would say it's cringy how sexual his videos are...but everyone is secret subscribed anyway.  With notifications on.

Remus:  This goes one of two ways.  If he's in a good mood and things are chill, he'll find a recipe, make it to the mother fucking 't' and then have a little mukbang slash review on said recipe.  Nice lil chat.  Sweet tol bean.   Precious. If it's near the full moon there ain't none of that.  Ya boy, brings in his monstrous plate of food, sits it down and just tears into like a fucking beast, no talking.  Just nom nom nom.  Unintentionally thirst traps and people opening talk about when Remus goes beast mode.  

Peter:  Candy and sweets channel! Small mukbangs with reviews from different candies from Honeydukes!

Lily:  Lol, Lilypad.  She ain't playing around.  Her videos are planned out, edited and just generally finessed to perfection.  Even had music added to it with tiny vlog segments as it's set up.  It's a little pretentious but she does have a good following.

Marlene:   This bitch.  Fucking competitive eating queen.  Tiny ass lil ho can eat you under the table, bro.   Think RainaIsCrazy on YouTube.  She can fucking smash.  Usually does eating challenges from different resteraunts and competitions.  Often, challenges Remus on his wild days.   He's a beast but she still wipes the floor with him.  

Dorcas:  The collab.  Dorcas always has good food and good company.  She's all about sharing a meal with someone and talking about random things.

Alice and Frank:  The couple channel.  It's generally filled with so much fucking cute and the food is always tasty.  It's sickening they feed each other but you also can't help but awww.

Molly Prewett/Weasley:   Family recipes.   Molly's channel are tried and true recipes from the Prewett family.  Cook with me and tons of kitchen life hacks.  Also, that woman can turn a ham sandwhich into a full course meal. Bet.   Always taste tested by Daddy Weasley.  Yes, I said Daddy Weasley.  

Lucius Malfoy:  The most pretentious fucking channel to ever exist.  It's a whole fucking production that admittedly he does put a lot of work into.   Somewhat thirst trappy like Sirius' but instead of just having a plain black background he goes out of his way to shove as much of his manor into.   Only eats the most expensive food fucking on the planet and of course, it's prepared by House elves cause he's a twit.  (Yes, I know this is Thranduil but honestly wouldn’t put it past Lucius to be this fucking pretentious.) 

Severus Snape:  Actually pretty solid content.  His exquisite skills in potions actually made him a rather good chef.   Tasteful shots, edited well with music over everything and subtitles.   Simply audio for the eat portion at the end.  Nothing too fancy for the background.  Often just a very clean kitchen. Solid content though.

The Black Sisters: Mass chaos.  Part vlog, part drama channel, half the time the food never even gets finished because of fights.  

Bill Weasley:  The Traveler.   A lot of egyptian food.  Some made by hand.  Some vlogs from street food while he's out just generally doing his job.   Short videos but solid.  He's hot and he picks good food.  It works for him.

Charlie Weasley:  This extra ass bitch.  He's the bitch that does all that outdoor cooking.  You know what I mean.   Shots in the woods, roaring fire.  Lit by a precious dragon child no doubt.  Dragons lounging in the background like those bitches who always have their dogs there.  Yes, I'm jealous.  Close up shots of him cutting things on a custom wood cutting board. Everything he makes causes your mouth to water.  God damn, scarred, freckle faced bastard just gobbles it up and ends every fucking video with a wink.   Charlie Weasley is the ultimate thirst trap and he fucking knows it.

Percy:  Percy's channel could be epic but instead is boring as fuck.  Why?  Because he insist on having the most snooze worthy meals that are 'sensible' and THEN he proceeds to talk about politics.   He actually had a pretty decent following of other like minded individuals but my god- politics and porridge, Percy?  Really?

However, once he chills the fuck out, leaves the ministry to do something else - it’s a game changer.  Brings the family on for mukbangs.  Does videos with mummy weasley.  Percy grows his hair out and Bill teases him for being a copy cat.  Much better.  Still talks politics but it’s fucking hiliarous and now the food is poppin. 

Fred and George:  Alright, this shit right here.   Every fucking bit of it is a self promo for the shop.  Meals inspired by and that would go well paired with 'this product'.  Like, that's the whole thing.  And then they run an add for their shop at the end featuring the product.  It works for them because they're smart, they're hot and they're also wildly entertaining with their constantly sibling squabbling. But yeah.  Big promo for the shop.

Ron Weasley: Honestly, out of everyone.   Ron probably has the most followers and it's because he doesn't say shit while he's eating. He sits down with a massive fucking turkey.  Nods at the camera and just tears it up.   It's literally so satisfying.  All the food is prepared by his mother.  So it's obviously fantastic. ( I just had to use this gif.) 

Ginny:   Gin's channel is usually team building videos with the Harpies.  'Cheat Day: Vlog and Mukbang w/the Harpies' type of vibes.  It's cool though and since it's a famous quidditch team the fans enjoy the behind the scenes action and actually drop all kinds of recipes for them to try in the future.

Hermione:  Hermione could easily veer off into Percy's channel of misery when she gets started on her rants but mostly they're really chill videos.  Mukbang and Book Review type of vibe.  Or sometimes even the playing of an audio book while she does her thing.  All in all, wholesome.

Harry:  Lol, I swear.  Fucking awkward bean.   Harry's videos are literally of him making the simplest of things and being so fucking awkward. "Er, well, hi guys.  So I'm about to head out for work.  Running a bit late.  But we're having a bit of toast and jam."  Like it's literally just little videos of him eating whatever throughout the day.  But of course, since he's Harry Fucking Potter- his follower count is astronomical.  

Neville:  Now, this boy.  This boy is a goblincore gobbo's wet dream.  Gardening videos with homegrown veg.  Recipes from Grandmother.   Have a nice Veggie Pot Pie with Professor Longbottom in the Hogwarts Greenhouse.  There is a fanbase and it is huge.  

Luna: Honestly, the weirdest fucking channel in the world.  Like she finds the weirdest things to eat and goes from there.  But Luna is bae so it's cool.  Also, a thousand percent does Smoke Sesh + Mukbang videos.  You know it's true.

Dean and Seamus:  Literally, eating in the most crowded pubs as they visit football games around the country.  Seamus will definitely pull the Irish card from time to time to have a drinking competition.  He wins everytime.  He may be a little dude but shit- homie can hold his own.

Cedric:  Honestly, it's so fucking pure.   Straight up did videos during his time at Hogwarts in the Hogwarts kitchen.  Such kind little conversations with the house elves.  "Hey, guys.  Thanks for coming back to another video.  Today we're making some really tasty biscuits.  Whispy, one of the talented bakers here in the kitchens, is here to help us today so please say hello to her in the comments."  He'll also always make extra and leave them in the Hufflepuff common room for everyone to enjoy.  Like, it's honestly so pure and he's such a soft boi and oh my fucking geeeeeeerrrrrrdddd!!!!!

Draco: Actually takes it really seriously and put a lot of hard work into it.   Nothing like his father's ego-tistical recipes.   Surprisingly, every. single. recipe. is a muggle recipe.  How would he know?  Because he cross referenced with Granger of course.  Cooks it himself.   No magic.  Lots of random talks.  Just like a monologue of things and it gets kinda deep sometimes.   Like, it's the channel to go to when you need advice that you didn't even know that you needed.   Still eats incredibly proper.   It's that pureblood raising of his.  Old habits die hard.

Tonks:  Pure chaos.  "Hey, today we're having Mum's homemade lasagna and I'm also getting a new tattoo.  Might dye my hair.  Don't really need to since I can do this  but whatever. So yeah, there's that.  Like it's just all over the place and you'd think it would take but the chaos is too good not to watch.  Literally gives herself beaks and snouts while she eats.  It's iconic.

Dumbledore: Mother fucker just sits at his desk, stares straight into the camera and eats a lemon drop.  Like a weirdo.  The video usually no more than a minute and each video is just some variation of that.  Meme lord.

Hagrid:  Tea With Hagrid.  Also, so the recipes suck, they too, but Hagrid is a peach and it's relaxing to see his gentle half giant there in his hut, pumpkin patch out the window and Fang laying by the fire.  It's a mood and he's just like the comforting Dad figure. 

McGonagall:  Honestly the best one in the entire world.  She makes a full course traditional Scottish breakfast... and then transforms into her animagus the cat...and promptly knocks it off the table.   A fucking legend.

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

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Love, Kenny

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Love, Kenny

[queernuck]

To understand Jon Bois, to understand 17776, to understand a great deal of what makes his work so pivotal to understanding the metacultural impact of sporting subcultures, the reversal of his deconstructive approach, the re-insertion of the denatured moment into the movement-image, is necessary.

On November 30th, 2013, Auburn and Alabama met in the Iron Bowl, the traditional name for the rivalry matchup between the two schools. If you’re new to NCAA Football, you’ll notice that sometimes teams have small numbers in front of their names when you check a score. Sometimes, only one team has a number, other times they both do. The exact means by which these rankings are qualified is a complex weighing that involves “quality of wins” as well as the amount in which they are earned, meaning that a team that has not lost a game can be ranked below a team who has. This seems strange, until you take any kind of comparative look at the teams in question. The NCAA itself is not the body that awards the most widely recognized national championship status on college football teams, and the system by which teams are ranked involves both quantitative and qualitative measures, and as with any sport the quantitative measures at hand are effectively approximations of qualitative values, even moreso now that the top level of NCAA football is directed by the rankings of the CFP, or College Football Playoff system. But this was in 2013, in the final death rattles of the BCS, or Bowl Championship System, before Condoleezza Rice was deciding exactly how good NCAA Football teams were, the BCS involved a relatively complex series of polls and computer judgments in order to figure out exactly how good a team was.

Now, this is a system with a rule specifically dictating how Notre Dame should be handled if ranked in the Top 8 teams due to the Fighting Irish not belonging to any of the major subdivisions of top-flight NCAA Football for BCS purposes. It should not surprise you that, if Notre Dame as a school is being given a division of its own, a kind of monastic order of football warriors, it relies heavily on traditionalist and perhaps reactionary concepts of what a football school must be. These rankings skew heavily in favor of a relatively small handful of schools, with a few on the edge falling off or climbing back in every once in a while but with a core consisting of schools like Miami, Ohio State, Clemson, Penn State, USC, LSU, Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. And among these, Alabama has been the team to beat. 

While American soccer culture has a great deal to live up to, the sort of cradle-to-grave fanaticism that is ascribed to European Casuals is absolutely present in Alabama fans. A notable local news segment about a grade school teacher caught with heroin in his classroom featured a brief interview as he was entering a prison van, of only two words: Roll Tide. The rallying cry of Alabama’s football team, the Crimson Tide, “Roll Tide” is a kind of signifier of signifiers, varying contextually with a cultural nuance exceeded only by the likes of “shalom”. Alabama football has always been good, but the absolute absurdity of their recent success is difficult to explain without a season-by-season breakdown of their various bowl victories and current spot as national champion. The school has produced both NFL Stars and NFL Busts alike, and holds a special kind of singular status within the structure of the NCAA. Referring to the team by their full name is rarely necessary, almost as if it is profane or outright demonic. For most, most of the time, they are simply ‘Bama. 

Additionally, while the Crimson Tide hold far more of a share in Alabama’s culture, their rivals at Auburn are none too shabby when it comes to contesting just about anything. The Tigers, with their “War Eagle” chant (with a possibly acrophycal story attributing its origins to fans cheering on the Tigers as they marched down the field against Georgia while a previously-injured eagle found on a Civil War battlefield circled overhead) and famous walk from the campus to the stadium before games have their own culture, and as with many “second teams” certain singularities based around beating their usually-better rivals.

This is where a certain metacultural dynamic comes in, when a city or state or even nation takes on a “second team” which has neither the draw nor success of the first, which leads to a kind of strange Oedipal act of identification with the object of desire, of hatred, of so many different fantasies and fetishes. When mixed with structures of rivalry and identification developing from these rival oppositions, a kind of dual identification means that both teams are inevitably linked to one another. The Mets have their Yankees, the Islanders have their Rangers, the White Sox have their Cubs (or the Cubs have their White Sox), the Chargers and Raiders and Rams all have one another, as is the case in the NFC East, the Lakers have their Celtics, the Clippers have their Lakers, the Red Sox have their Yankees, the Orioles have their Yankees, the majority of the MLB has their Yankees, in fact. But putting that aside, the act of identification through ironic mirroring is a foundational part of what makes rivalry work in a metacultural sense. A rivalry as one-sided as, say, Steelers-Browns has often been generally takes place off the field, where scores can be settled in a fashion that can actually have even odds. Others are almost entirely cultural: the Yankees and Mets very rarely meet one another in any serious context, and the same is true of the Giants and Jets, and yet there is a foundational commitment to one or the other that comes with living in New York.

And Alabama was a team to define oneself against. Nick Saban, one of the best currently-active NCAA football coaches, the sort of name that gets mentioned as a Trotsky to Bill Belichick’s Stalin, was coaching a team that was then, and still is, almost impossibly good. With no time-outs left, Alabama was trying to win the game last-minute by taking long shots down the field, and after Saban insisted on a review following what seemed to be the expiration of the game clock and the start of a slow capitulation toward Overtime, it was found that the Crimson Tide indeed had a single second left on the clock, enough to run one play. After an embarrassing performance by their starting kicker, a freshman wearing 99 was sent out to attempt a field goal from 57 yards out.

In the NFL, within a certain range a field goal attempt is upwards of 90% probable to result in a completion. The 40s get a bit hairy, and the 50s see a dramatic drop. In college football, with kicking talent spread far thinner, breaking the 50 yard barrier is enough to secure a future spot in the NFL, not an easy feat for players who represent perhaps the most replaceable part of an NFL team other than the punter. The gulf between 4th-ranked Auburn and 1st-ranked Alabama was the only thing that could measure up to the distance Saban hoped his freshman could make up. 

He did not.

In 17776, Jon Bois takes a portion of this call, that of the “answered prayer” coming in the form of the Kick Six, to represent reversal, change, an absolutely transcendent sort of moment that stuns even half a decade later. Chris Davis, standing in his own end zone, caught the short kick and ran it back across the entire field for the game-winning touchdown.

When Bois wrote and created 17776, the Homestuck comparisons were likely anticipated, or at least not a surprise once they were made. Any multimedia project post-Homestuck will be compared to it, especially considering the success of both Homestuck itself (achieving the feat of publication in an era where webcomics getting books is a genuine rarity) and various related franchises (Undertale being given to the Pope) leading to a sort of hegemony over mixed-media internet presentations. For many, 17776 was about characters first, and football never. But Bois is a sportswriter, and his writing was executed in such a way that it allowed the audience to ignore that it was posing a fundamental question about the nature of football. In a sport where every play is made up of little traumas, of a kind of eternal death-drive, it takes the creation of football as a wilderness sport with ultramarathons breaking up plays and nanobots that allow human bodies to withstand tornadoes (after they have mysteriously stopped aging, no less) to maintain the spirit of football without dealing with the unfortunate realization that eventually, the ethical questions of football will be faced with an ability to diagnose Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, in living brains rather than dead ones. Eventually, the faith will die, Football’s AT&T Temple will fall, it will have its Vatican II and be forever transformed. But for now, prayers are answered.

That a moment like this was ever possible is only due to a long history of animosity and opposition that stretches back decades, but for most that history is unimportant. Bois is able to capture that by removing all image and instead restructuring the movement-image at hand with a shot of the sun cresting over the horizon. Another day, another prayer answered.

Watching the video, knowing what happens, it almost has an uncanny feeling to it, a hyperreal quality where there never could have been a completed field goal and the ball is in the end zone before Davis even catches it. The merits of Saban’s approach here sum up his desire for decisive victories, an important quality to maintain the status he keeps at Alabama. Its undoing by a kind of Anti-Oedipal Auburn, the one moment that could not have happened, stands for so much of what college football desires that it is perhaps the perfect play.

That sort of restructuring, the deconstructive reframing of a moment in order to extract a singularity of becoming, is at the center of Bois’ work. When he plays Madden in ways that make it look like a Bethesda game, when he is providing the accompaniment to a Chapo Trap House documentary about MMA fighting, when he is making satellites talk to each other, he is never writing about sports alone. But he is never not writing about sports in these cases, is never untrue or disingenuous in his approach. Just as genre fiction authors defend their craft, the depth of Bois’ work is neither because nor in spite of his subjects: rather, it consists of them.

[kitwilsonsass]

Since I’ve been putting it off due to lingering sicky feels, etc.

Here’s the far too long and far too unedited and written at 4am vacation rundown NO ONE ASKED FOR! (huzzah!)

So, yeah. I arrived at the new Amtrak station in the city which is a major upgrade from the trailer park reject of station the old one was. Way roomier. Could use a coffee stand or something but yeah. Improvement. Had to go underground under the tracks and back up to get to the very cold surface, it must suck in the winter.

About an hour, hour and a half into the trip I quickly realized that a.) all I wanted to do was sleep, and b.) that my throat was burning. I assumed this was due to the absurdly cold, non-stop dry ass air conditioning, but no. This bitch got sick for her entire trip. On the plus side I had the seats to myself for the majority of the trip, but still. I barely watched any CR or anything because I was miserable the entire time. Ya don’t wanna be miserable for 10+ hours on a train.

Got to Boston, to @conniecorleone‘s frightening apartment stairs. My bag was way too heavy and she troopered through taking it up them for me without dying. So if you ever need a tank in battle, call Rachel.

Hung out a little. Ordered some Five Guys. Watched a couple episodes of the first season of American Horror Story. I get the appeal but also never needed to see Dermot Mulroney’s ass.

Rach was busy with work stuff a lot early in the week, not helped by some dumbass school shooting threat the week before and kept apologizing while still going above and beyond as a hostess while I just felt guilty for getting snot on her sheets.

Day two I colored a bit. I can do a wicked water gradient with erasable colored pencils, for the record. Hung out. Relaxed. Used a lot of Zicam and Advil. Then we were on way to The Middle East for her conehead space boyfriend.

We waited like, an hour? In the chilly mist outside? The show started like AN HOUR LATE after that. The venue was nice but man, the mood was getting close to dead at points, especially since, again, FUCKIN SICK. But Planet Booty came on and while, a little on the bordering too raunchy side, put on a fucking amazing live show. Dylan has an absurd amount of energy that should be bottled and sold, but if it were it might result in the orgypocalypse. I saw a youtube comment that said he’s ‘very touchy lol’ and truer words never spoken. That man will grind on you and sing directly in your earlobe with his tongue if you are front row and happily, I was not. Yet somehow I still ended up with his sweat on my sweater sleeve thanks to someone being a dumbass and high fiving him after their set and not being able to handle the consequences. Ahem.

THEN TWRP TOOK LIKE ANOTHER GODDAMN HALF HOUR???

But I FORGIVE THEM because they were GREAT and played Daft Punk’s Celebrate in honor of motherfuckin Canadian Thanksgiving so... fine... I guess. My only complaint is they didn’t do The Perfect Product even though I get that’s probably a weird thing to do live. Also minimal keytar and Sung almost decapitated himself but you know... it happens. They DID do Tactile Sensation though which is a fucking jam. And Atomic Karate, ofc. And Meouch broke his fucking bass string which is like? Fucking hardcore? He came down like a foot away from us at one point. It was dope. They’re amazing live and have no right to be for dudes in ridiculous robot costumes playing synth in the year 2018 and rolling around stage on a hoverboard. Sadly I brought minimal memory cardage this year and didn’t get a lot of good video of them.

Afterwards, despite *someone* almost passing out, we hung out in the merch lines and did NOT accidentally cut ahead this time. I got a free signed poster because it was my birthday vacation ayyyyy and bought a couple EPs and the Together Through Time album. Then hopped over the PB’s line and got two hugs from Dylan who hung out and talked to/hugged/got selfies with every single person who got into line there and just? Good dude. Pure dude. Awful stache but... thumbs up human being. I got their Naked album and we headed out back to the apartment and some delivered Dominos (which was the only good Dominos I’ve ever had in my life.)

Day three I accidentally slept until like 4pm. Literally what else did we do that day? I cannot remember for the life of me. We might have went to Dunkin at like 9pm and she showed me a weird omnipotent plastic ear hanging on an electric wire? Was that this day? I have no fucking idea. Her Netflix and supply of Puffs tissues were my best friends this trip okay.

Day four she went to class and I relaxed and intended to walk to the mall. Unfortunately, my sick bleh hit and I didn’t feel up to going until about ten minutes before she got back. So we ended up heading over there together. I made her try Baja Blast, as is customary in my nation, and got her to try some green matte lipstick. Success. I was highkey hoping they would have a Build-A-Bear in the joint but they didn’t. They did have a Newbury though, that had the six-inch Roadhog pop which I’ve had a hard time finding locally, so I said fuck it and bought it.

That night was MST3k live! The theater was old as dirt. The kind of old as dirt where the flooring is bowing in. They had real strict rules on cameras and shit, which I get for the sake of spoilers but c’mon.... c’mon. Their merch sucked unfortunately though, so I didn’t waste any money on anything (for some reason they had 2017 tour stuff? It’s... not 2017?). The show itself was good, though I was wondering before it started how sick they must get of doing the same movie in different towns almost every other night. Pretty quickly realized oh, yeah, a lot of this show was likely pre-riffed. They did pull a kid from the stage at one point so he could guest riff off a script from Joel, which I’m thinking was a clever little insert fraction of the riff they did live between segments. I could be wrong, but on that front, it felt a little cheap. But it was still fun to see the boys and the bots live and have jokes cracked about not being able to afford the villains for the tour. And The Brain itself was........ I don’t know what I was expecting but..... it sure was.... something. The novelty was worth it and I will still gladly marry Crow T. Robot.

We went across the street to a little pub stop that was I think called Rock Bottom after that and got some much needed late night food. For some reason my brain was like “man, I could go for chicken fried steak right now” and don’t you know IT WAS ON THE FUCKIN MENU? WITH GARLIC CHEDDER MASHED POTATOES? Boston, much like with wings, does not know what country gravy is, but it was still everything I fucking wanted and did not expect to find, so A+. Also I was wearing a dress with shorts underneath it and stuck to the goddamn stool. Such is life.

Day five was rainy and miserable. I tagged along to university with Rach and it sucked, honestly. Being on a campus makes me feel awkward and the whole still being sick thing didn’t help. I ended up taking a walk way around the block to a Starbucks and getting the worst fucking frap I’ve ever paid too much money for. Went back around. Sat in the library. Felt even shittier. Started googling food places. Yard House wasn’t far but I didn’t want to deal with crossing a lot of traffic, especially if the rain started back up (it did, with a vengeance). So I ended up back around the block at some Olive Garden-esque fake Italian place with not an Italian in sight called Bertucci’s for some bland chicken-less fettuchini alfredo (because, as I’d reasoned with myself, I had chicken three times the day before). It was dimly lit, I had a booth to myself, and the water had the sweet skullet and braided beard combo I had liveblogged. People kept complimenting my tattoo. It was nice and no one seemed overly bothered that I was clearly killing time until I spent probably way too long in the restroom after trying to look alive. I tipped the dude ten bucks and left in the pouring rain with my umbrella.

From her school we took the world’s longest Uber to Parts Fucking Unknown in awful traffic and rain to find a Double Tree where @freakishlytallaustralian‘s parents were staying for a hot minute during their brief little US tour on their way to Europe. I’ve never met Mandi in person, but I’ve now met her parents who say she’s gotten to know a good bloke. She looks exactly like her mom. They were sweet. Anxious but sweet. And I am a freak who doesn’t talk and was sick trying to seem presentable at the bare minimum capacity.

Back ~home~ we ordered some JP Licks ice cream (BROWNIE BROWNIE BATTER!!! BROWNIE. BROWNIE. BATTER.), I watched CR and some stupid videos on the internet with her. Got some sleep. Sort of. Barely.

Despite Matt Mercer nearly succeeding at lulling me to sleep and eating my dreams, it didn’t happen, and I could not get comfortable for the life of me. The “coughing every five seconds in bed” started this night and was not having mercy. So I opted out of another day of hanging around campus to try and get some more rest. It didn’t really work, but I did eventually get a solid three hours or so, so it was something.

As the day progressed it was onward to the Science Museum to meet Ron the T-Rex. There was a wedding happening. How appropriate, for Bravier funko pops to have come along on the day of a blessed union. Coincidence? I think not. A turtle kept falling off a branch when he was trying to nap. There was some space stuff. It wasn’t great. But I got a little stuffed dinosaur and that’s Important.

From there we hit up the same movie theater we went to the year before and saw Bad Times At The El Royale. Do recommend. Chris Hemsworth as a Charles Manson was not something I ever thought I’d see, and I still don’t understand it, but it rather predictably works for me, so we’ll leave it at that. Good movie, good performances, good pacing and editing that could have easily not been. See it, it’s fun. Not perfect, but fun.

It was COLD AS BALLS after the movie and neither of us brought jackets or sweaters, so the walk to the train station and back ~home~ was a chilly one. We stopped in, got some warmth, and headed down the road past her old place to a bar. If we didn’t appreciate TWRP and PB enough already, the band she had to pay cover for us to get in for just to pick up food were about 8 upper middle aged men playing every instrument in the book. Afropunk, they said. No, we said. Offkey, we said. This place was dark as shit and loud as shit but you know what? They KNEW WHAT REAL, HOT CHICKEN WINGS WERE and for that, I am appreciative dammit.

Went back, got some more Dominos, and was finally introduced to John Mulaney’s (or two of) comedy specials. He’s genius and I *understand* it now, tumblr. I get it. We ate way too much and did my laundry.

The week had come and gone way too soon and I felt robbed of my good time by how shitty I felt. Hopping on the train the next day (after a godawful uber ride) was just as depressing as the time before. And even though I didn’t feel as miserable as the trip there, and once again had a window seat to myself, I found myself curled up against my hoodie crying trying to fall asleep again knowing I was already headed back home.

Once the initial depression passed, the trip wasn’t bad. The iced latte was good. The Albany stop not as confusing the second time around. The WiFi kept me company. Eventually my aunt texted me asking if I wanted to hit up Stevie T’s on the way home because they were 24hr and neither of us had eaten all night. It was a plan. Get off, get food, come home, faceplant on my own big comfy bed, vow to deal with my dad’s drama in the morning and call it a night.

Then *that* happened. Yeah. Last year? Every stop, regardless of time of night, they made announcements. They came by, checked the marker above your seat, and if you were due off at the next stop told you it was coming up, would help with luggage if needed, and directed you to the correct door to exit the train. This year? Nothing. They decided to stop making announcements right before the Rochester stop, and no one came by in our car to tell us where to get off. Stopped, myself and the other person due off at that stop, a late-teens girl, went to the door at the front of our car where every other stop had gotten off before us. We assumed since no one said differently, and no attendants were around, that must be it. We were idiots. Because by the time we realized hey, they’re not going to open this door and we should go to the far other end of the train, it was already moving again en route to Buffalo.

We found ourselves in the dining booths by the cafe car while the staff made vague remarks and the conductor acted like it wasn’t his problem. My aunt on the phone talked to the Rochester station, we tried to claim I didn’t even have a reservation until about two other people looked up my ticket. They said it was up to the conductor to get us a cab home, he laughed at us, claimed to know nothing about any of that, and asked if were were going to buy the bus tickets the other girl was looking up. The bus for 3am, in downtown Buffalo, nowhere near the station. When we got off the staff at the Depew station was a lot more sympathetic, and said since nothing else was being offered he would put us on the next train back home, but since it was a Sunday morning there was no train to Rochester until roughly 7:45am. It was about 1:30 at this point. I felt awful for encouraging the other girl not to pay for two ubers and a bus ticket with the only alternative being offered to sit alone in an empty, unstaffed station in the middle of the night for hours. And between the situation, being tired and still sick, and dealing with my aunt calling hotels only to get put on hold and lose the room she was trying to reserve - I put my bags in a corner, found the restroom, and had a panic attack. I don’t know why, but those tend to be stupid like that. It’s not even like I was scared, or confused, or that worried myself. I started out very ‘whatever, I’ll just get a room or stay in the station, I’m pissed but whatever’. But something about the constant calls and texts and my battery nearing 0 had me stressed and I was crying like a bitch. I just wanted to fucking sleep, and I knew that wouldn’t happen in a train station with nothing but some benches, a restroom, and a vending machine.

Rach suggested an alternative I felt guilty about taking but ended up going for: Get to her parents house just outside Buffalo, get their spare key, and sleep on their couch while they’re out of town with their blessing. So I called an Uber, and the first one passed me by, with the gps fucking up and saying I should be picked up ON THE TRAIN TRACKS. The second guy was smart enough to come to the cab pickup out front and was really cool. He said he was just thankful I wasn’t a fucked up drunk college party kid and the first all night. He didn’t comment on how I probably definitely looked like I’d just been broken up with in the world’s worst romcom. It was over 20 bucks and I tipped him the max. Found my way inside, set up the couch, and continued my momentarily on hold panic until I eventually passed out. My Aunt came to pick me up in the morning, I got carsick, we had mediocre diner breakfast and what’s after that isn’t news worth talking about. Isn’t it bad enough the tail end of the trip took up like a third of this post?

All in all... it felt like a disaster. I’m not gonna lie. In weird ways the stars aligned that TWRP would end up on Conan the night of their show and have to reschedule to the day I came to town, but I paid for it with otherwise bad timing and my body deciding against me having a good time. Fun was had, don’t get me wrong. The good was good and any chance to get away from... this, is appreciated, but it just seemed like everything went awry. 

Mucho thanks to @conniecorleone again, for letting me crash on the futon and be my usual bland self, even blander while ill, and also buying me expensive cold syrup and a-many ubers.

We’ll see if Massachusetts and I ever cross paths again.

[glorywebscreative]

What is a Landing Page? Different Types of Landing Pages

As you browse and maneuver around the internet, gorgeous landing pages are always waiting for you.

A landing page is the first thing you see when clicking on an advertisement or call-to-action button.

Landing page is a website home that has the objective of converting visitors into leads.

We help you build compelling landing pages that convert better.

With our amazing landing page design services, we'll have your customers begging to sign up with a single click!

A successful site will generate more and better qualified prospects for your business, so it's important to take advantage of this opportunity by using one now!

What is a Landing Page?

Landing pages can be customized based on your company's needs.

A landing page is a webpage that appears when someone clicks on a link or searches for your company online.

Landing pages are important to help customers find what they need and keep them engaged, so make sure you have the perfect one before launching!

You will want to decide if you are creating a click-through page that leads users away from the landing site

It is for lead generation where potential customers provide contact information in exchange for an item like an eBook, free trial, contest entry and webinar registration.

A good landing page persuades visitors with whatever incentives they have available as well as providing them more of what they need to know before submitting their personal details by including relevant links at the bottom of each section.

Landing pages can either be found through general searches online or via the following hyperlinks directly back to its original source.

There are a lot of different Types of Landing Pages out there. It's hard to keep track, but luckily I'm here! Below is an overview.

Lead Generation Landing Page

The lead generation landing page is designed entirely with input from the visitor in mind.

It's goal is to persuade visitors into giving up their 'lead' (contact information) and anything that does not directly support that goal will be cut out completely.

This means that you'll rarely see bells, whistles or an elaborate design on a lead generation landing page since it's sole purpose is to obtain leads and not impress you with over-designed graphics.

landing page can be quickly skimmed by potential customers while retaining valuable information and leaving them wanting more through effective content creation/layout.

A successful lead generation landing page can be quickly skimmed by potential customers while retaining valuable information and leaving them wanting more through effective content creation/layout.

Click-Through Landing Page

Click-through landing pages are used to advertise a service or product.

They're designed to grab the attention of potential customers and will usually include an eye-catching design, enticing copy and/or a video demonstrating how your business can solve their problem.

This form of landing page is typically only intended as one in a series (of multiple) that end with an actual purchase.

So you should see information about additional products/services they may be interested in when visiting your site through this landing page It's important not to overwhelm them before even giving them what they want!

To keep things simple, click-through landing pages often lead directly to another sales page after asking for contact details.

Viral Landing Pages

Viral landing pages are designed to quickly spread your message as far and wide as possible in the shortest amount of time possible.

They're created with an eye towards search engine optimization (SEO) so that they'll attract more visitors organically (without any additional effort on your part).

These kinds of landing pages commonly redirect visitors to other social networking sites.

They can quickly like, share or otherwise support your business by spreading the word about it.

There's no beating around the bush here: these landing pages are spammy at best and borderline illegal at worst.

Do not make one unless you want a bonfire burning in front of your house 24/7!

Squeeze landing pages

Squeeze landing pages are designed to get the absolute most out of your visitors in return for minimal information. They're focused on a specific goal and will usually offer a situation-specific freebie, sample or service to entice you into giving them contact details.

But this is where they stop short of actually providing that same freebie/sample/service before asking you for said contact details.

Squeeze landing pages can be used for lead generation but their primary purpose it to get more of what you need

Sales Landing Page

Sales landing pages are designed to give you exactly what they promise: a specific product for the price indicated directly on the page.

The idea is that visitors will read through your sales pitch and be seduced into buying whatever it is you're selling because of how well written your copy is; not because of flair or flashiness!

While this might sound boring, remember: boring works - especially if it's clear, concise and has all the information necessary right there for them.

It's also a good idea to include an incentive like free shipping for customers who buy immediately as well as any other available discounts.

Sales landing pages are one of the most common types, and for good reason: people like buying things!

404 Landing Page

404 (Page Not Found) landing pages are designed to show visitors the error in their ways and invite them to explore your site again or try a different path/search query.

One thing that is important about this page is that it should be direct and to the point so they understand immediately what has happened there’s no need for confusion if you can simply solve the problem by relaying the message within seconds!

You should also include an incentive/gift/discount to entice them back into gaining access.

it was they couldn't find originally; otherwise, you could just end up in a vicious cycle of perpetual 404ing.

Unsubscribe Landing Page

Unsubscribe landing pages are designed to give users the opportunity to opt out of whatever it is you're sending them (i.e.: emails)

So they don't have to see it anymore and can get on with their day/night/weekend without interruption!

Every business should include an unsubscribe landing page even if you don't use email marketing, there's always something that visitors might be sent (marketing SMS text messages, etc.)

Where email marketing is used as a funnel into a database that is segmented by SEO-friendly URLs for one reason or another and unsubscribing from your list is just as important to the success of your business as a functioning website!

Splash Landing Page

Splash landing pages are designed to give visitors the opportunity to try your service/product without having to deal with signing up, setting up an account or any other hassle that goes along with making a purchase online.

These landing pages often times have mobile-specific versions and also work for basic web services like "signing up" for a blog or newsfeed subscription.

Short-term trial offers are also popular on the splash landing pages

They offer you an opportunity to determine whether or not customers will pay you back before going all-in on something long-term which is why display ads that lead directly into splash landing pages can be so effective!

Conclusion:

It really depends on what your campaign goals are but generally speaking a more focused landing page will convert better.

The conversion rates of standalone pages, versus sending visitors to the homepage, is 25% higher (source Omniture).

They bounce your message back to you, so that it is easier for others to understand what you want them to know about why they should buy from us or join our email list.

Landing pages are extremely important in the world of marketing. With so many options, it can be hard to know what type is best for your business.

[felicityb-reviews]

Review Roundup - February 2018 Week 1

Hello, my loves!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and this is your Review Roundup for Week 1 of February 2018!!

So... Last Friday, I mentioned making some changes to my Review Roundup format. The reasoning being that as I've expanded my network of Korean music channels, It's become very clear to me that it's too difficult for me to write a substantial review of 25+ videos every week without each review mixing into the last. I've also come to realize that I can't include *every* song I find that happens to be in Korean, and that's fine!! Most songs are either ballads or OST ballads (which are even worse), and it's just not worth my time to flog those at you guys.

So, I'm gonna try to explain this to y'all as best as I can. It sounds more complicated than it is in practice, but I wanna give y'all an idea of what's going on.

I'm gonna present to you all the playlist of songs for the week. From there, you'll see a new segment called the Titacular Ten. Yes, I am aware "titacular" is not a word, but catch me not givin' a fuck in these streets. These guys are songs I enjoyed, but didn't like enough to put in the Fabulous Five. They'll be rated (*not* reviewed) according to my replayability scale.

And speaking of my rating scale, I've decided to add a new category called KoKoNotABop (because nothing brings me joy more than pissing off the stans of my favorite K-Pop group). This sits in between Conditional Replay and Trash Bomb with Shuffle Bait. I decided to add KoKoNotABop, because there wasn't really anything for those songs that weren't complete Trash Bombs, but fell short. I could enjoy these songs from time to time, but I wouldn't intentionally put them in a playlist, so I didn't want to call them Shuffle Bait. In short, I just wanted to expand the range of my extraness.

Moving on, you'll see the Honorable Mentions/Trash Bombs of the week after the Titacular Ten. The Honorable Mentions are tracks that didn't make it into the week's Fab Five, but I still wanted to speak on. And if you've seen my previous RRUs, you know what Trash Bombs are.

I haven't had to rated many songs as Trash Bombs, but that should be considered a small mercy. Y'all know how I get when I don't like a song

So!!

Let's get started!!

This Weeks' List

The Titacular Ten

Saturn (Nevada51 featuring Gayoung Seo of Spy Girls)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Perfectly Perfect (MxM of BRANDNEWBOYS)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

BLOCKED (Ash-B featuring Cherry Coke)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Ballad of Full Speed (Evolution of Sound)

Rating - Conditional Rotation

Grayish (JUNA)

Rating - Conditional Rotation

Run Away (Mona)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

To the sky (CLC)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

If (Day6)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Mi Amor (CoCoSori)

Mi Amori Dance Practice

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Good Bye (Hong Jin Young)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Honorable Mentions

You Have a Crush On Me (No Brain)

If you guys can believe it, this was the type of song I loved during my J-Pop days. Oh boy, does this take me back.

And yes, I do realize this song is literally a decade old. There are idols active in the industry that this song is older than. But I'm gonna need y'all to bring me some freshly prepared fucks to care.

The children deserve to know about No Brain!!

Crush On Me (sorry, that title is too long to be typing over and over) is a punk track that is fun, personified. Every time I queue up the song to play, I just wanna dance the night away~ have my own little party, dancing and singing along. And don't think that you can get away from this song unscathed, cause the hook (neon naege banhaesseo) will stick itself in your brain and torment you till you're singing along like a good little Baby Borgie.

No Brain is a band that I want every single NuGen K-Pop (2014/2015) fan to get into. Every single one of you. Cause while this band is hella talented (they've literally been in the game for twenty years), they don't write music to show it off. They write music because they fucking love it. And that's the best kind, sis. I could clock this song for a lot of things I'd clock a modern K-Pop song for, but I won't because this song is entirely too fun to be picked apart like a science experiment.

My main reason for including Crush On You was that I love how fun this song is, BUT!! I also wanted an excuse to include No Brain's collab stage with Lovelyz from the 2017 MBC Year End Song Festival.

Now *that* was a oollab stage, ladies.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

No Gravity (Yoon Mi Rae)

Yoon MiRae is the OG Korean Female Rapper.

That's not my bias speaking (although it's definitely showing), I've never heard anyone speak ill of Mirae. NEVAH!! And I mean, why would they want to!?!?! She's magical. I literally can't say enough nice things about her.

I literally zone in on her and don't pay anyone else any mind when she's in a song. Whenever she's gracious enough to give us a solo, my wigs bow in reverence to her. I just love this woman so much. She can do no wrong in my book.

Gravity is a pre-release track from Mirae's upcoming Korean album. We have no word on what it's called or when it's dropping, but I already know it's amazing. Gravity is a midtempo rap ballad, and I usually find these cheesy af, but I really like Mirae's take on it. For those of you who've been YMR stans for a while, the vocals are arranged in Mirae's typical fashion - hard hitting rap verses, brackted in by Smoove™ vocals.

Yes, Mirae is the one who has your rap fave givin' Soulful Vocals™.

THANK!! HER!!

Gravity is just so nice, you guys. I don't know what it is about these Korean acts dropping really hopeful and healing tracks this year, but I want it to continue. These types of midtempos are usually reserved for Bad Days™, but I lowkey wanna listen to Gravity all the time. There's enough groove that it doesn't drag my mood down if I'm feelin' good, but at the same time, the uplifting vibe is great for everything kinda sucks.

Off Topic, but if y'all haven't heard Mirae's Black Happiness, I urge you!! It's S U C H a good song!! That's a song that's for the worst of days, sis.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Free Somebody (Luna of f(x) x HEDA)

I really do not understand what the point of this release was. Can someone from SM DM me on Twitter and explain. Cause sis, this shit made no sense to me.

Firstly, congratulations to Ms HEDA are in order!! If you weren't aware (like me), everysing (a Korean karaoke company) and Genie Music (SM Entertainment's distributor) ran a contest called Battle Singer to select a new feature vocalist for an upcoming Station release. Why SM didn't give her her own Station track, I'm not sure, but I rather liked the way she sounded here. So, I can't be too mad.

Wha I *am* mad at, however, is why SM decided to have Luna and HEDA do karaoke on one of the unused sets of Younha's Parade video, and releasing that shit as a single. Y'all couldn't call in nobody to produce these vocals?!?!?! Every single one of y'all vocal producers were busy?!?!?!

K...

I'm just so over SMSTATION releases varying in quality and effort spent. Some weeks, SM puts in the time and effort to rock that shit out, but then we also get lazy as fuck all releases like these. And I get it, there was a contest attached to this and we don't know if SM is gonna pull Ms HEDA back in for a round 2. I'm hoping they do, but SM is fickle. I just wish this release was up to the standard as Luna and Amber's Lower. Some of y'all thought that song was dry af, but at least the video was dynamic.

Rating - KoKoNotABop

The Fabulous Five

5. Mystery (Jalhyejun)

Mystery sounds like Lim Kim and Neon Bunny decided to team up for a song. They didn't, but if they ever did, I'd need at least three albums worth of material from it.

Mystery is a very cutesy synthrock song. It lowkey reminds me of something Puffy AmiYumi would do 2003/2004, but it mostly sounds like a bonus track on Neon Bunny's Seoulite. Not a bad thing; Puffy AmiYumi were literally my gateway into J-Pop fifteen years ago (I still listen to them), and Seoulite is one of the best Korean albums of 2011.

Mystery sounds like it belongs in a kids' show, and that's exactly why I like it. It's not anything crazy energetic, but it's really fun and every time I listen to it, it puts the biggest smile on my face. And because it isn't super in your face, you could also use it very peppy background music.

We love a versatile queen, sis.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

4. To Do List (Kim Hyorin)

Okay, sis... I was a lil nervous when I heard the teasers for this. Too many of my faves been droppin' ballads as digital singles, and then disappearing into the ether. Hyorin is my girl, but I will *always* put the music first.

Fortunately,I had nothing to worry about; Hyorin did with To Do List what Henry couldn't do with Monster. Give me an engaging ballad.

Hyorin's To Do List is the same flavor of stripped back ballad as Henry's Monster; it's just Hyorin's sweet vocals layered over a clean electric guitar. It's just that she can emote with her voice and is an overall better vocalist.

I'm finding that I really enjoying this style of ballad. There's just an unexpected element to having a song be just electric guitar and vocals, ya know?!?! Like I mentioned above, I was very unsure about Hyorin making her solo debut under her own agency with a song like this, but I can see why she did it. Ballads do stupidly well in Korea, so Hyorin was catering to that market. BUT ALSO!! There's enough spunk here to keep the more adventurous crowd happy.

Of course, Hyorin could also sing me the dictionary, and I'd be like, "YASSS KWEEN!! BUILD THE CHILDREN'S VOCABULARY!! TAKE EVERY SINGLE OF MY WIGS, GODDESS!!".

So what do I know?!?!

Rating - Heavy Rotation

3. Unstoppable (The Night Of Seokyo x Minju)

I normally don't include covers on this list, and I definitely wouldn't put them in the Fab Five. But y'all, this fucking cover. I really wish they covered the entire song, because it's fucking M A G I C A L

Which only makes sense, because the original is even more magical, but still...

Minju and the Night of Seokyo's Unstoppable is a cover of Lianne La Havas's 2015 song Unstoppable. I have no idea why I don't know this song or artist, because they're both magical. I already said Unstoppable was magical, but I'm gonna say it again!! This song is so good!! Can I live in the feeling this song creates?!?! I'd enjoy that a lot, sis. It's just so calm and healing, and I need that to be my energy for all of 2018.

And Ms Lianne, y'all. My wig toppled off my head the first 30 seconds of the song, because ma'am looks like a Black goddess. Can I be her when I grow up?!?!?! She looks so cool, and her music is just so nice. God, I love just Black women, you guys. They're so amazing, and they never get credit for always being ahead of the curve (as mentioned in my Nega Dola review). But I love Black women. I wouldn't be who I am today without Black women. None of us would. And I think it's time that we acknowledge that!!

So now that I've gotten that out of my system (we are unapologetically stanning Black women in 2018 and beyond, sis), let's discuss the Night of Seokyo and Minju's cover of Unstoppable. Absolutely beautiful. Breathtaking. I felt like I was floating. I usually don't care for covers, because 90% of them fall into two categories - a) indistinct from the original because they do everything the original does and b) complete and total trash because they did Too Much™ when reinterpretting it. But Minju and the Night of Seokyo strike the perfect balance - the rearrangement for piano and vocal does Just Enough™ to stand out on it's own without feeling like it's fucked up the vibe of the song.

I really should have just done a standalone review of this cover, since I *clearly* have so much so say on it, but it's just so good. A very big thank you to my girl sunnysidae who found the original version for Unstoppable for me. You're the best, sis!!

Rating - Heavy Rotation

2. Baby Funk (Yoo Naul of Brown Eyed Soul)

Y'all.

Everything about this song n video is so Black!! I'm Shook™!!

I don't know Brown Eyed Soul that well, so I really thought Naul was the Black dude in the video. Thought BES had a whole ass (well, half ass) nigga in the group!!

Baby Funk's name is a little misleading - the only thing Funky about her is that guitar line (and the beatswitch that happens towards the end). But that's fine!! We love a good throwback to the Soul tracks of the '90s!!

I really don't know what to say, but tbh I really shouldn't have to - y'all *know* I L I V E for a good RnB/Soul track. And Baby Funk definitely delivers, babies!! I'm not gonna lie, the video did put me a off little, at first; I can't help but be suspect of the dynamic here. But you know, I'm just gonna receive this blessing, and keep it pushing. Naul made a love letter to Black culture with Baby Funk, and I Appreciate™.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

1. Blind (Planetarium Records)

Trigger Warning - intense strobe lighting effects are used in the live showcase video

One of these days, I'm gonna need to learn these dudes' names. Especially since they refuse to stop terrorizing my wig collection with their group albums.

Sidenote - whoever decided to bait n switch my Black ass with them teasers, ya mama's a heaux. And I expect a full version of T.M.N.T with vocals on Case#3!! That shit is too good to just be an intro!!

*ahem*

When I first saw the teasers for Planetarium's CASE#1, I didn't think much of it. I thought they were an EDM label, number 1. And number 2, teasers didn't really give me anything to be excited about. But they blasted onto the scene with Blah, which had me eatin' my words a lil. I didn't include ha in my Fab Five for that week, but I was definitely paying attention to them Planetarium boys. And then came a live video of Glue (which I did put in my Fab Five), and now Blind.

Blind is a very clear 180 from the very fun, very tropical themed Blah. But catch these niggas drivin' off into the sunset with my wig, because I am B A L D T.

Blind is an intense synthpop track with a slight RnB tilt. Which is to be expect, because Planetarium is an RnB/Hip Hop label. But guys, this song is just S O G O O D. If every idol boy band in K-Pop *has* to do overly series tracks because They're Super Serious Boys Who Very Serious All The Time Seriously™, I'm gonna need them deliver tracks on this level.

Show me you have soul, not that you have abs. I've seen enough shirt lifts to last me a lifetime, kids.

On top of giving us a music video that's a continuation of Blah, the Planetarium boys have also provided us with a live showcase video that you can watch here. Be mindful that there is intense strobing effects during the chorus bits.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Alright loves, that's all I've got for you guys this week!! I hope the change in format isn't jarring, but I needed to do something to alleviate some of the work that goes into these lists. Cause pretty soon, I'm not gonna have the gobs and gobs of free time that I have now to do them, on top of my standalone reviews. My SHINee Feature Spotlight series has been halted, for now, but tune in on Friday at 12pm and 6pm EST for a special surprise. And be sure to tune in on Monday at 6pm EST for me full length review of the week.

Love, you guys!!

[kidrideoncars]

The Best Kids' Bike for Your Child to Capture the Thrill of Riding!

Hey, what, according to you, qualifies for a hot ticket for now? Thought of the best-modeled kids' bikes? Indeed, thanks for the lockdown that gave us all more time to get cycling while making it harder for the kids' bike manufacturers to keep up with the demand! 

Is it possible to pick the best kids' bike for your child? This can become tough when you have an array of the top models of the kids' bikes, that too in a similar range and prices, right! Contrastingly. You would not like to select just one bike; you will want at least 5 of them to be parked for your child! The kids' bikes can be a great toy for your child to have outdoor fun. But at the same time, opting for the different models, features, and body design can be an expensive task. The purchase for the best kids' bike can also depend a lot on your planned budget with the fact of counting the number of times the kids' bike is going to be used! 

Whether your child is a budding road biker or a fascinating mountain biker, or maybe a stunning beginner, the kids' bike can be the best choice for your kid. Helping your little one to ride a kids' bike can be an enjoyable experience as a parent, right! This makes the fact that choosing the best kids' bikes can be a matter of joy as well as stress at the same time. 

Ready to choose the best kids' bike for your child?

Making such purchases for your kids' can seem daunting at first, right? You may be wondering where this confusion arises! It happens because different manufacturers claim to produce the best kids' bike for your child. The best may be in terms of the model design, safety features, looks of the vehicle, and the price at which they strike the deal! At the end of the day, as the parent, you can decide which to choose and how many to reject the grounds kept fair along with your little one's wants and needs! 

How to pick the best kids' bikes for your child?

Before you get onto the wheels for choosing the best kids' bike for your little one, different factors can cross your mind. You can visit the Kids Ride On Cars online shop to explore the best kids' bikes and various electric motorcycles for your child. At first, it may only be revolving around the model design and the features that get distinguished as a choice, but it can be much more until you sweep across the whole deal, it can be much more! Right from the safety aspects to the fun-loving elements or your kid, you have to get the best kids' bike for your little one. 

The first thing for choosing the best kids' bike for your little one is to have the correct sense of vehicle size. Indeed, picking the right size kids' bike is essential for you to have a profitable deal. Yes, you will never want to end up in a situation where your daughter or son is whacking their knees on the handlebars. Neither would you like if they are not able to reach the pedals, right? 

You will find that most of the kids' bike shops and the websites offer their own guides. Moreover, if you are looking for the best go-karts for your kids or those classy remote-control cars, Kids Ride On cars can be the perfect choice for your purchase. You will find an extensive array of different kids’ ride-on toys for your little one that is too authentic and affordable! 

Contextually, for choosing the correct wheel size kids' bike for your child, you should first research the different kids' bikes in the market. Yes, there is an appropriate system for estimating your child's bike size before pursuing the options.

What sort of kids' bike does your child need?

The first thing to consider here is whether your child is an absolute beginner or a seasoned kids' rider! He/she may be a budding kids' prodigy; indeed, that's hard to find, right? Your child can be somewhere in between these two cases. Well, it entirely depends on where they take a seat on that sliding scale to determine their bike riding proficiency. For that, you will be required to pick the right number of features to suit your child's needs. 

Contextually, to start with, you should start with a simple pedal bike or that of the simple balance bike to help them get the tricks right into their heads! Choosing the perfect kids' balance bike for your child can be challenging, but it can be the best option to get started. Once they master that, you can now look for the kids' bike models with dual brakes and multiple gears with a lavishly designed outer body!

How much should you spend on purchasing kids' bikes for your child?

This can be a question still left to be unanswered in your minds, right? If you are limiting your spending to say, $100, you could still be able to pick up a single-speed kids' bike for your child! Indeed, the main aim for this could be solely to have your little one acquainted with the learning goals and motives. 

If you can push that budget to some greater number, you can buy something more significant and more valuable than the previous one. Yes, there can be a choice with a kids' bike with multiple gears and advanced features to fall in love with this budget extension! So, you see, if you go on increasing your budget, you will rest on different selections for kids' bikes for your little one.

The most important thing to consider while deciding how much to spend on purchasing kids' bikes rests totally on your child's interests and needs. If you want impressive features in the form of adjustable frames, suspensions, sizes, and hydraulic brakes, being ready with a big budget could help! 

Will your child outgrow a kids' bike quickly?

Is your child at the upper edge of the segment? How to know that? If your child falls in those upper ends while you decide the perfect wheel size [for him, you will undoubtedly want to take care of which size of kids' bike would be suitable for your little one. 

You can also check for some recommendations on measurements for deciding the various kids' bike sizes. The thumb rule for this should be finding a kids' bike that resonates well with your child's inseam fit at the lower end of the range. In that way, you can simply raise the seat or raise the handlebars as your child grows. 

The best thing for you to select a kids' bike that won't outgrow for your kid is to take them to the shop or have them try the online product as and when delivered! In that manner, you will get the idea about which of the kids' bike size would be perfect for your child and what could be the possibility for the vehicle in some future years for your little one.

What about the tire width?

In the general case, have you heard about the slimmer tires? If not, you are skipping your research to find the best kids' bikes for your child! 

Indeed, the slimmer tires are better for speed on the smoother frontiers. On the other hand, the chunky ones are better for riding on those bumpy-off road terrains. You will find a range of options for kids' bikes while you have your notebooks ready with a pen while scrolling this article! 

There is a range of options, right from sleek 1.5 inch tires to all-terrain-friendly 2.8-inch ones! As of the science behind this, the thinner tires would roll more quickly on smooth paths. If you are looking for a true do-it-all kids' bike for your child, you might want to consider the kids' bikes with wider tires.

With that, you are now ready to explore some of the best kids' bikes for your little one to have the outdoor fun revealed! The kids' bikes can be a great way to have them out and understand the importance of outdoor plays rather than video games and indoor amusements. So, what are we waiting for? Let us get started to explore some of the top kids' bikes in the year 2020 now! 

The Best Kids' Bike of 2020!

Frog 40: The perfect starter bike

This kids' bike is explicitly designed to be one of the ideal first pedal bikes for your child! The Frog 40 (so-called as it's suitable for riders with at least a 40cm inseam) comes with soft handlebar grips. If you are looking for steady steering and easy to reach brakes, the locking headset provided in this kids' bike can be the best choice for you. Apart from that, there are the top-quality adjustable levers for smaller hands.

This kids' bike comes with reflectors, bells, and mudguards as a standard choice. It means that your child's safety and how they deal with the cleanliness factors are entirely covered. Indeed, the range of colorful designs and an array of the best block colors would just sway off your minds to get this kids' bike! Indeed, it may seem pricey, but at the end of the day, you will understand its value while you need to sell it as second-hand!

Black Mountain Pinto: The best transition bike for kids'

If you are opting for a robustly designed kids' bike for your child, this Black Mountain Pinto can be there to top your lists! Yes, it is a strong option for the young children who are ready to get up and merge fantastically to the world of cycling for the first time.

 If you see, the cost for this kids' bike is set to be much higher than the other starter kids' bike! Why so? This kids' bike is designed to replace a first pedal bike and a balance bike, combined! It can also be replaced collectively as a 14-inch wheel bike! That sounds awesome, right?

The most interesting aspect of counting for choosing this kids' bike is that it grows with your child over the course of three or so years! In short, you will not mind paying for a couple of different and decent sized kids' bikes, for sure! This kids' bike is suitable and recommended for the children falling in the age group of 2.5 years old to around five years old.

Pedal Pals: The best children's bike on a budget

How about getting the best kids' bikes on a lower budget? Indeed, that can be amazing for your temporary choices! Decent kids' bikes can never be as affordable as this seems to be, and actually is! If you are looking for something affordable to have as a replacement for your growing kids' now-defunct balanced bike, this kids' bike can be a perfect choice.

The Pedal Pals is one such kids' bike that is compatible with stabilizers, and it can effectively assist until your child becomes more confident. The handlebars, the seat height, and the brake levers can all be decided to match your child's growing confidence and requirements. The pros of choosing this kids' bike are-

Lightweight

Handy for traveling

Highly durable

The recommended age for whom you can buy this kids' bike is set to be more than five years of age. It offers a single speed, so you can be ensuring your younger child's safety aspects!

Hoy Bonaly: The best bike for intermediate children

Is your child looking for an advanced featured kids' bike as he/she is turning 5? If yes, you have got hold of the best kids' bike for your child in the most affordable and valued range! With this kids' bike, you may feel that it is the right time to transition them over to some kids' bike, which is more challenging than their first bike.

The Hoy Bonaly, interestingly, is associated with Olympic legend Chris Hoy and is named after one of his favorite off-road cycling spots! It would be a great choice for your child, who is no longer a beginner. This seems like an intermediate option that offers a mountain-feel like a kids' bike without even complicating matters over its safety features! The approximate age that is recommended for this kids' bike is set to be between 5 years to 8 years old children. Yes, if you are looking for a kids' bike that is best fit for riding along the rougher terrains such as uneven paths and grass, these kids' bikes are the perfect fit for your purchase!

Specialized Riprock: The best all-terrain children's bike

This is one of those pricey kids' bikes with the value best retained over the years for your child! The Specialized Riprock is absolutely the one best kids' bike for your child if you are taking him/her over the challenging all-terrain bike rides! You want to go to the Lake District with your child on his best kids' bike, and this product is certainly the best for your purchase.

 It comes with massive 2.8-inch tire width, which allows this bike and its rider effectively to tackle all the bumps on the way. It can also help your little one confront and conquer the challenges of the bobbles with ease. The vehicle comes with a 7-gear option that allows the kids to manage the incline changes easily. Contextually, talking about the age for which this kids' bike is suitable for, you can buy this kids' bike for children in the age group of 5-8 years old!

Trek Wahoo 24-inch 2019 Kids' Bike: Best all-round kids' bike

If your child is facing trouble maneuvering their bike when not riding them actually, then this kids' bike can be helpful for outing them back in control! The Trek Wahoo 24-inch 2019 Kids' Bike can be seen as a hybrid kids' incredibly lightweight bike. The frames for this kids' bike is made up of Alpha Aluminium, and so it is extremely easy for your little one to pick up this kids' bike and move around.

This kids' bike can operate well on different surfaces with multi-surface tires. It comes with a total of 8 gears, and interestingly, you will find that most of the parts have been designed keeping the little ones in mind. There are comfortable padded seats that help your child stay relaxed while riding the kids' bike.

Strider Sport 12-inch wheel children's balance bike

Are you looking for the best choice of kids' bike for your child who falls in the age group of some eight months to 5 years old? If yes, stop your search here! This kids' bike works like a balance bike for your kid. Indeed, the balance bikes do not have pedals, with the rider instead of using their feet to control the vehicle's movement.

 This Strider Sport kids' bike can be the perfect start for your child to learn the tricks and balance the bikes effectively to transform into a bigger kids' bike soon. This can be exceptionally affordable and adaptable in the range you are searching for a kids' bike. Contextually, talking about the pros for choosing this kids' bike comes with the best quality handlebars that can be effectively raised according to this. Buy this kids' bike for the sturdy frame that would be liked for your kids' now!

Wiggins Chartres 16-inch wheel children's bike

How about getting your kid off to a grand tour. This can be a winning-start kids' bike for your child that is endorsed by everyone around you. Indeed, seeing the design of this kids' bike, you can imagine the hard work for putting the brains together for designing such a mid-budget machine for your child!

 All the parts for this kids' bike are shrunk so that it matches the brake levers and the bike scale. Yes, they are the perfect fit for small hands. The same idea goes for the narrow width cracks. This kids' bike is specifically designed to meet the expectations of the lighter riders. This vehicle comes with quick skinny types that ensure your child in perfect podium shot!

Squish 18 Junior Hybrid 18-inch wheel children's bike

Interestingly, you will be amazed to know that this kids' bike's brand claims to be the "the perfect in-betweener." Indeed, the main idea for choosing this kids' bike is that not every child is confident enough or big enough to jump all in one from the 16" kids' bike to a 20" inch kids' bike, right!

 This kids' bike offers in between 18" wheels. Yes, this size can be thought of as a larger one for some of you, but this makes things simpler for your children to ride and be comfortable. It can offer the best grips for cycling and comes at a single speed. This kids' bike is recommended for children in the age group of 4 years old and above!

Pinnacle Aspen 24-inch wheel children's bike

This kids' bike boasts for presenting a neat balance of the effective easy-to-use basics and the classy advanced features! The vehicle comes with six gears for your child to have this kids' bike mastered by your little one. This can help simplify the overcomplicated matters while it offers the best learning experience for your children.

 If you observe this kids' bike from a closer perspective, you will see that the steering-setup installed in this kids' bike has been carefully thought before designing. Indeed, this kids' bike has rigid forks rather than those ineffective suspension systems. The brake levers are installed and scaled right down, helping your child learn riding effectively!

The bottom line

Choosing the best kids' bike for your child can be easier if you follow some of the above-said tips for doing so! Get a track of the correct size, color, and frame design for the kids' bike that your child liked to choose what fits them best. Remember, you should always keep the note for including your younger children's best safety features while buying the best kids' bikes.

Buy the best kids' bike for your little one to have him enjoy the outdoor rides now!

[thepermanentrainpress]

POST-MODERN CONNECTION – CREATIVITY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

Like all good origin stories, Post-Modern Connection came to be following a chance encounter at a university party.

It’s the story they’re sticking with, because it’s what they’ve been told happened.

“It sounds plausible. I threw a lot of parties in my first year,” lead singer and guitarist Tega Ovie said with a laugh.

They’re pretty sure Georges Nasrallah was playing guitar at the party in question and that Ovie – a frequent at open mics at the time – asked him to fill in for a friend at an upcoming gig. They started writing together soon after, diverse musical and cultural backgrounds spinning into something thoughtful, warmly paced, and unexpectedly energetic.

That was four years ago now. The two have finished their post-secondary studies – Nasrallah in computer science and economics and Ovie in business. When I caught up with them on a Thursday evening, they’d gotten off their day jobs just a short time prior.

“I actually don’t mind my 9-to-5. I like stability, so it’s perfect for me,” shared Ovie. Not having to plan around midterms and group projects has allowed them to really ramp up band endeavours; they aim to finish their debut EP this year, and take it on tour in 2021.

Ovie pens most of the lyrics. Him and Nasrallah typically build the framework of their songs before bringing them to the rest of the band – Steven Lin (bass), Mitch Howanyk (violin/keys) and Cam Wilks (drums) – to flesh out even further.

“At our next practice, Mitch will add his violin… maybe change our minds and we’ll do an entirely different riff in that section,” Nasrallah said. “Cam adds his drum beats. I’ll write, like, a basic bassline, then Steven makes it a trillion times better because I’m definitely not a bassist.”

“In some bands, everyone can do what the others do just as well, and I think it’s nice that we can’t [do that],” Ovie said. “Georges is the best at playing guitar, I’m the best at singing, Mitch is the best at violin, Steven’s the best at bass, Cam’s the best at drums. It forces each person to bring their own personality to the table.”

“Drowning” – the group’s latest single – is a testament to that. There is such an ease to Ovie’s vocals, propped against swooning guitar lines and vocal chants. Think ’70s high school prom with a more synth-y, but mentally exhausting disposition.

The emotions of the song are tied to a series of hardships faced by Ovie, his family, and his home country of Nigeria. “Being in university made the whole thing come to the surface and blow up… kind of like what COVID-19 is doing to the rest of world now,” he analogized.

They filmed the music video in a commercial space behind Bright Jenny Coffee (formerly Canoe Coffee Roasters). Directed by Teaghan McGinnis, its Wes Anderson-esque, vintage tones pair well with his resourceful takes on the song’s themes.

Jade of Wolfette Styling coordinated the very cool set decor and outfits.

“We ordered the overalls on Amazon. They’re actually women’s overalls because they’re the only ones that would fit properly,” Ovie said of the band’s matching tie-dye getup – which has already seen stage wear since.

They raised $1500 to produce the video via Kickstarter, and acknowledge the importance of community support for smaller artists like themselves.

“It’s nice to see. Music [streaming and album sales] do not pay the bills; shows are pretty much an artist’s main source of income for continuing to produce content,” explained Nasrallah.

And while these past few months have underlined the challenges of pursuing music full-time, it is still a conversation the group has, “at least once a month.”

“We do have goals with our music, but we’re also not going to say this is all we want to do,” Ovie said. The plan is to move to Vancouver in two to three years, once they’ve widened their fanbase enough to avoid starting from scratch in the western Canada hub.

Prior to Post-Modern Connection – PMC, for short – Ovie was in a couple high school choirs and Nasrallah a couple high school bands. Both learned the piano at a young age—not necessarily by choice, though Nasrallah admits having the theory background helped when he finally picked up the guitar.

“I hated it so much so I don’t remember anything,” Ovie laughed. “We had to do friggin’ Beethoven. I was like, why are we studying Beethoven in Nigeria? What is the point of this?”

Both moved to Kelowna without their immediate families, but are embracing the opportunity to pursue their own interests.

“My mom has always been like, this is your life – you need to be smart with it. I’m not gonna control it for you, but I’m gonna at least get you to a point where you can stand on your own two feet,” said Ovie.

Nasrallah listened to a lot of metal growing up. For Ovie, it was a mix of Afrobeat, rap, and Coldplay. Jazz chords are a staple of their sound, but they also trail into psychedelia and moody rock breakdowns. No two releases have sounded the same and the EP will be no different.

“We try to not make things boring,” said Nasrallah. “We want to start off by setting that expectation.”

Officially joining the band last October, Howanyk gives their sound a classical tilt that sets them apart from many of their indie soul counterparts. He shifts between violin and synths during their live set—the latter something they’d use often in the studio, but never live when they were a four-piece due to the challenges of juggling both it and their guitars.

They will be bringing in additional material on their laptops to further boost the live experience.

“I am super excited,” Ovie said. “It’s our next form.”

Unfortunately, the group had to postpone summer gigs as far east as Manitoba due to COVID-19. Neither Ovie or Nasrallah are particularly fond of Kelowna’s favourite outdoor pastime – hiking – but have been spending time reading fantasy novels, biking, and playing D&D.

They’ve also been using their platform to encourage discussion on Black Lives Matter and meaningful change in the music industry.

“I want to see more people of colour on the board of directors, more people of color labels… more community,” Ovie elaborated. “Blackout Tuesday and The Show Must Be Paused thing doesn’t help anybody. We can do better than this.”

On if they see social commentary becoming more prevalent in their own music, Ovie says he’ll continue to write from personal experience, without the pressures of a narrative.

“To be honest, I don't think I could do it artistically enough. But if my feelings are prevalently caused by what's going on [in the world], then that's probably what I'll write about.”

#PMCeats is a segment on their Instagram stories that started as a jab at each other’s cooking skills.

They’ve branched into rating restaurant food as well, but have no shame in denoting who has the laziest flavour profile in the band.

“Steven brought lentils and white rice to the [“Drowning” video] shoot,” said Ovie. “Unseasoned. I was like woah, what’s going on? Where’s the sauce?”

“Steven’s more of a critique rather than a cook,” Nasrallah added.

Segueing into our signature question [if you could be any ice cream flavour, which would you be and why?], Nasrallah went with Haagen-Dazs coffee because he loves coffee and it feels like part of his Lebanese heritage.

They think Mitch would be something sweet and sour, like lemon or salty caramel. Cam would be a calming flavour like vanilla.

“Steven would not be able to choose, because everything would be 8 out of 10,” joked Nasrallah.

“No, I feel like Steve is more on Cam’s wave… he’s very subtle, but there are a lot of undertones with Steve,” said Ovie. “So instead of just vanilla, strawberry vanilla.”

Ovie couldn’t decide on one flavour, but had some love for local establishments Parlour and Moo-lix—the latter in particular for their waffle cones.

Choosing a band name is a daunting task. When it was just Lin, Ovie and Nasrallah, they considered the Smooth Service (before a friend said it sounded like an escort service), and Triple A – ‘because there was an Arab, an Asian and an African in the band.’

Fortunately, neither name stuck, and when Ovie started thinking about postmodernism, parallels to their charismatic makeup were hard to ignore.

“The whole concept of postmodernism is to reject previous school of thought. To reject labeling, boundaries, and fitting into anything else. That’s kind of [our band] here in Kelowna. We don't fit into anything and that's what we want to keep, too.”

I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Written by: Natalie Hoy

[clarencenicholsonata]

10 Stunning Features Every Webinar Landing Page Needs for Conversions

Did you know that a single webinar can generate over 1000 leads?

When a properly planned and executed webinar is in place, it can increase your customer loyalty to up to 60%.

A webinar landing page is a hub for your leads to learn, understand, and give in to your sales pitch that you're providing solutions to their problems. This is where the first impression counts. You either hook your prospects in or lose them as they close your webinar landing page tab.

When creating your webinar landing page, here's a list of features that you'll need to attract higher conversions.

1. Hammer Down on All the Pain Points of Your Visitors

The number one mistake most designers make when crafting a webinar landing page is that they focus more on them than attendees' needs. People don't sign up for webinars to only learn from you unless you're Tony Robbins, Gary Vee, or Tai Lopez. They sign up because you can provide them with a solution to their problems.

They want an answer to why their sales are low and how to improve them. They want to know how to increase, show up, and make the most of what they have to offer. An excellent landing page design hammers down on all the pain points that your visitors have and show them why they need to sign up to get their magic solution.

Your viewer's pain points and solutions shouldn't only be used in the heading, but it should also be in the description, email campaign, and all your digital collateral.

Here are some guides that can you craft the perfect headlines and copy for your webinar landing page:

What Brand Storytelling Is & How To Do It (With Examples!)

The 7 Step Conversion Playbook To Quickly Optimize Your Landing Pages

How To Lead Prospects Further Down The Conversion Funnel

2. Add Elements that Push a Sense of Urgency

We know that it's a good practice to announce your webinar at least 2-4 weeks ahead of its launch date to give people time to sign up. Oddly around 35% of attendees sign up 1 to 7 days before the webinar.

Instead of waiting for sign-ups, add features that will push a sense of urgency like a timer.

The countdown is a classic urgency tactic, used by a lot of big brands who want to push sign-ups days ahead of launching. There are two approaches to using a countdown timer.

The first tells users they only have a certain amount of time to take action. The second is to use a timer to count down a free offer/access to grab your website visitor on the first go!

3. Add Stunning Images of Speakers

Images are essential for increasing webinar landing page conversions. Images help to evoke emotion, enhance the user's experience, and decrease bounce rates. But why?

It's a simple fact that humans are visual creatures. Humans process 90% of visuals much faster than text, as well as remembering text 89% more when associated with an image.

To find the best image for your webinar landing, you need to find out what your prospects state of awareness is and what image provokes can provoke an emotion while transmitting a powerful message.

That's where your speakers come in. Adding the images of your webinar speakers conveys a strong representation of your webinar's credibility. It shows that you're providing the best expectations that your attendees can learn from, and who they can expect to see.

This also adds a human element to your webinar. People trust people, when you show people who are similar to your target audience, this allows them to feel more connected to your brand instantly.

4. Make Your CTA Unmistakably Noticeable

Sometimes we're so focused on adding the right information to our webinar pages that we forget to make our CTA the most noticeable item on our landing page. Your CTA must be unmistakably noticeable.

The perfect webinar CTA has the following elements:

Power Words or Provoke Action: They help to tell the person in under 3-5 words what they should do on your page and where they should click. CTAs drive conversions and generate leads, and it's one of your most influential webinar landing page features. If your webinar CTA button doesn't grab potential leads' attention, you could be making one of these CTA mistakes that might be killing your conversions.

The Right CTA Color: It should be the most contrasted feature on your webinar landing page. When leads take a look at your webinar landing page, your CTA shouldn't blend in with the rest of the text, banner, or color. It should be the boldest color to catch your reader's eye automatically. Pick bright colors like red, orange, blue, yellow, or green.

Placed in Multiple CTA:: Ensure to place more 2-4 CTA buttons or options on your page. One on the top and another on the bottom. This allows leads to sign up without scroll or searching on your page easily. Lastly, no matter what your lead is looking at, your CTA will effortlessly be in their view. You can also add a floating CTA, that moves no matter where the viewer scrolls as well.

Don't forget to look at these 7 Landing Page Call-to-Action Formulas for Higher Conversions

5. Optimize Your Webinar Landing Page with Pop-Ups

Treat your webinar landing page like any other, by adding lead generating features like landing pages. Please don't leave it to chance that everyone will click your CTA. Sometimes you have to get into your lead's face.

You'll also have to consider the design of the pop-up as well. Simply by adding an image to your pop-up Sleek Notefound that it could increase your conversions by up to 83.57% when compared to those without a picture.

At Wishpond, we helped increase conversions by up to 33% with the help of a welcome pop-up that's triggered when a new website visitor lands on your website, and it fills the entire page with a specific CTA.

Ready to create your next webinar landing page pop-up?

6. Add Share & Social Media Buttons

Adding a share and social media buttons work as a free promotion for your webinar by your newly captured leads. Referrals help to boost your webinar's credibility plus when referred by a friend, and people are 4x more likely to make a purchase.

Not to mention customers acquired through referrals have a 37% higher retention rate, and 81% of consumers are more likely to engage with brands that have reward programs.

You can add sharing buttons to your webinar landing page or give the option to share on social media platforms after signing up!

7. Optimize Your Webinar with App Integration

Adding the right apps to your webinar landing page can create a seamless workflow for you and your team. Whether it's accepting payments, sending out email campaigns, sales, or analytics, you'll need the right landing page builder to host all your apps.

With Wishpond we offer a wide variety of app integrations with our products, whether it's Shopify, Mail Chimp, Salesforce or more.

8. Add the Option to Add Your Webinar to Their Calendar

Adding the option to add your webinar date to your leads landing page is a sure-fire way for your leads to remembering that they not only signed up for a webinar, but they should attend it as well.

It's the little things that matter.

You can either do an app integration where you allow your webinar host to give sign-ups the option to add it to their calendar. Or you can provide a shareable link with a Google calendar generator.

9. Add Video Content to Your Webinar Landing Page

Adding an intro video to your webinar landing page can help to seal the deal with your potential leads.

Including a video on your landing page can boost your conversion rate by up to 80%.

Add a short snippet or teaser video on your webinar landing page, letting viewers know what they can expect and it helps to improve conversions.

After all, 97% of marketers say video has helped users gain a better understanding of their products and services. Maybe that's why around 59% of executives say they would rather watch a video than reading text.

Here's an idea, you could make one of the professionals who'll be speaking at your webinar. Again video is another tool that adds a human element to your webinar landing page that's sure to connect easily with your audience.

10. Always Make Your Webinar Landing Page Mobile Friendly

Mobile-friendly landing pages are your best friends when it comes to increasing conversions for your webinar.

We're constantly on our phone, so why wouldn't your leads be? WebFx found that 61% of consumers say they are more likely to purchase from mobile-friendly sites.

You never know what device leads will be using when they visit your webinar landing page. Take the time to make sure that their user experience is superb on desktop, tablet, or mobile.

Don't forget around 85% of adults think that a company's website, when viewed on a mobile device, should be as good or better than its desktop website.

Are you having problems creating a mobile-friendly website?

With Wishpond's "Canvas" you can choose how your landing pages should be optimized for desktop, mobile, or tablet. Canvas allows you to automatically optimize your landing page for any device to keep your landing page looking sleek and organized, every time.

Bonus: Use Wishpond to Track, Segment & Manage Your Leads

Be as focused as you are on increasing webinar conversions, with tracking and maintaining them. The next step to getting the most out of your leads isn't just a follow-up email, but the marketing campaign you send after you've wrapped up your webinar session.

Manage and create automated marketing campaigns for your webinar leads with Wishpond. Wishpond's leads database allows you to create segments of leads and track their activity across your website.

Wishpond's visitor tracking allows you to see the pages your leads are visiting and the campaigns they're converting on, giving you unique insights into their behavior. Use this information to personalize your marketing and sales efforts better.

Easily segment, automate, and optimize your lead generation and management all in one place.

Summary

Webinars are a great way for you to see what your audience is interested in and how you can create more lead generating tactics to keep them hooked. Once your webinar is finished, the real work begins. You'll need to send your leads updates, emails, and offers to turn your webinar attendees into "qualified" leads that will join your customer base.

A quick tip! Never shut down your original webinar landing page. Instead, use the webinar replays as evergreen content to capture more leads, so the next time you update or publish a new webinar, you'll have a ready list waiting to see more of what your brand has to offer.

Creating the perfect webinar landing page comes with experience, A/B testing and these added features listed below:

Hammer Down on All the Pain Points of Your Visitors

Add a Elements that Push a Sense of Urgency

Add Stunning Images of Speakers

Make Your CTA Unmistakably Noticeable

Optimize Your Webinar Landing Page with PopUps

Add Share & Social Media Buttons

Optimize Your Webinar with App Integration

Add the Option to Add Your Webinar to Their Calendar

Add Video Content to Your Webinar Landing Page

Always Make Your Webinar Landing Page Mobile Friendly Bonus: Use Wishpond to Track, Segment & Manage Your Leads

I hope you walk away better than you did when you started and feel free to check out our other guides on landing page designs and tips:

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Council

Word count: 3,803 deviantART | Archive of Our Own | FanFiction

Breaking Point Council (you are here) Confession

When the doorbell rang, Fletcher was already there to answer it. Evening had just fallen. The porch light flickered, and it must have made him look even more frantic than he felt ‒ the two women standing on the porch practically jumped back at the sight of him.

“Asteri! Amanda!” his smile felt too tight, making his sing-song tone all the worse.  “What took you so long?” “What do you mean?” Amanda crossed her arms, “It’s only been an hour since we got off work!” “You only work thirty minutes away! What were you doing the other half hour?” “Getting dressed, you moron, did you want us to show up covered in sugar and flour?” “I don’t care about that, we have pressing matters to attend!” “Alright, let’s go. Good to see you by the way,” Asteri laughed. She stepped inside, punching Fletcher in the shoulder as she went. Fletcher and Amanda shared one more scowl before following Asteri to the kitchen. It was dark outside, but almost no lights were turned on indoors ‒ Nos and Two were out of town, and Fletcher was either too distracted or bothered for bright light. A single bulb shone above the kitchen sink as the only beacon of warmth, everything else dappled in strange shadows by the automatic lights in the garden. It was just enough to see by. Amanda went straight to the island, plopping down in one of the barstools, while Asteri went to the fridge, opening it to start pulling out ingredients. As jumbled as Fletcher had been all day, he’d at least remembered to keep up his part of their usual arrangement: whenever he invited the girls over around dinner time, he bought the food. “Fletcher, oh my god ‒ it’s like the entire market in here!” “I need... a lot of advice. I wanted you to have options,” Fletcher shrugged, walking into the kitchen. His arms were crossed and he picked at a dent on his elbow, pacing through to the dining room to stay out of the way. Amanda craned her neck to look past Asteri at the fully stocked shelves. “Did you get any frozen pizza?” “No way, Mandy, check it out!” Asteri grabbed a package of ground beef and dug into the produce drawer, shuffling through the vegetables. “Let’s make stir-fry!” “But cutting all that up is so much work...” Amanda groaned. “Fine, you stay there and I’ll cook,” Asteri rolled her eyes. “If he bought all this food, we might as well use it.” “You can take whatever you don’t use home with you, too. If I forget food in here again and let it rot Mom’ll have my head.” “If you insist,” Amanda beamed, spinning her stool so she could prop her legs up on the one next to her. “You really don’t cheap out, bat-boy. If you had a crisis like this on a weekly basis you’d cover our grocery bill.” “I didn’t even look at the prices...” Fletcher winced as the thought occurred to him. He tried to remember if he’d kept the receipt, but he quickly shook his concern. It was a small price to pay if it meant they’d help him figure things out. Amanda clicked her tongue. “Rich boy...” He threw her a look before resuming his pacing. “PhD.” “Yeah, yeah, whatever. You know, you look like you haven’t slept in a week,” Asteri observed as she put the vegetables next to the sink and pulled out the cutting board. “...How are you supposed to tell? I don’t need sleep, I can keep draining batteries indefinitely.” “You may not need it, but it helps you run better. You look dull and you’re all fidgety and distracted. Did you wear that outfit into town today?” Fletcher looked down at himself. “Why?” “Your shirt’s on backwards.” Amanda laughed, her eyes softening. “You’re really falling apart over this. Will you tell us what’s the matter already? We haven’t seen you in so long, and now that you finally call, you’re all stressed. If it’s such a pressing matter, why don’t you just spill it?” Fletcher stopped by the counter, eyeing the knife that Asteri had just taken from one of the drawers. “I’d rather start talking about it after we’re done with the cutlery.” Asteri and Amanda glared at him in unison, “What did you do?” “Seriously? Guys, come on, I didn’t do anything! I just know you’re going to freak out about it. You know what... Quinn?” “Yes, sir?” the home system responded. “Would you mind helping Asteri cut the vegetables?” “So now you ask for my assistance?” Fletcher shook his head and rubbed his temples. “Oh, hello Quinn! What’s this all about?” Asteri grinned. It wasn’t often that Quinn emoted clearly, and that was if they emoted at all. “Nothing much,” Quinn hummed as they extended a thin, segmented arm with three short fingers from a hatch in the wall to take the knife from Asteri. Another arm came out to hold a cabbage in place. “This conundrum he’s called you about has been troubling him for weeks, and he’s given me nothing but lip when I offer advice.” “Quinn, I’m sorry, but you giving romantic advice makes about as much sense as Dad wanting another cat.” For a moment, everything fell silent. Fletcher realized what he’d said and bit his tongue, prickling with static, holding still as Quinn began a rhythmical chopping and radiated an infuriating aura of satisfaction. “Romantic advice?” Asteri almost whispered. Fletcher looked over his shoulder at Amanda, hoping that she would kick in as Asteri’s anchor, but she stared back at him with lips parted in awe. “See,” Fletcher gave a shaky laugh, “this is what I was worried about. You probably would have dropped that knife straight through your foot.” Asteri stepped closer to Fletcher, taking his shoulders in her hands and looking him dead in the visor. “Are you having feelings for Darwin?” Fletcher reeled, his whole body tensing as he choked out, “What?” “Oh my god...” Amanda gasped, a light going on in her eyes, “You haven’t slept with anyone in months, you’ve been acting weird even longer than that, and every time we’ve seen Darwin lately, he talks about how distant you’ve gotten, almost like you’ve been avoiding him. Two weeks ago you completely fall off the face of the Earth, and now that we finally hear from you again you’re all messed up about something... that needs romantic advice.” He looked back at Amanda again. Her dark eyes dared him to say she was wrong. “Guys...” his voice cracked. He had to think for a while before he spoke again. “This isn’t how I planned on telling you, but ‒ okay, you know how much Darwin means to me, and you know I wouldn’t ever want to cheapen our relationship! I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and I... I just really need your help.” The next thing Fletcher knew, he was between two crushing hugs. “Come on,” he warbled to no effect, “I thought you might be mad... I just want some impartial advice from the only people who know the ins and outs of our situation!” “What?” Amanda laughed, her forehead pressed between his shoulder blades, “We can’t give you impartial advice!” “We love you, we’re as partial as it gets! And Darwin!” Asteri beamed, “Oh my god, this is perfect! Why would we be mad?” “W-why is this perfect?” Fletcher spluttered. Asteri backed away first, though she still held on to his shoulders. “You’re made for each other! You’ve been two parts of a matching set since you were kids!” “You nerds make each other so happy, I just never imagined you’d want anything romantic!” Fletcher let out something almost like a laugh. “Me neither. When I first thought I might feel this way, it seemed like I didn’t have a chance. I... I was expecting you guys to at least be confused, if anything, not excited!” “It’s definitely a surprise, but it makes perfect sense to me! Sit down, man, tell us about it!” Amanda dragged him back and pushed him onto one of the stools at the island, sitting down next to him. He rubbed his hands over his face and split into a smile. “This is so embarrassing. I don’t know how it happened, whether this was building up and I didn’t notice or if I woke up one day and realized, but...” he laughed a strange, defeated laugh, “here I am!” “How long have you known?” Asteri asked, thumbing through the drawers for another knife. “I don’t know. I really... can’t tell? I’ve always loved him. I never feel like I need to act when I’m with him, we’ve practically lived together for years, we know everything there is to know about each other. I didn’t think there was anything else left, he’s a part of me, but one day ‒ ” Fletcher gestured in a crazy combination of energy and exhaustion, slumping into his barstool so that he hung precariously over the edge. He rolled his head onto his shoulder and looked over toward Amanda. “I was scared at first that something was wrong with me.” “What d’you mean?” “Like, it doesn’t make sense that after all this time I’m just feeling this now. I was worried that some wires had crossed and it was just sexual, some sort of glitch. That’s why I started avoiding him. I mean, it’s not like I hadn’t thought about it before ‒ hell, we’ve talked about it before! But there was something in that moment that I couldn’t really appreciate at the time, mostly because I was freaking out about the whole thing. We were at his place, and I woke up in his bed because we’d fallen asleep while watching videos the night before, and when I saw him... listen, you guys know me. I love where I live, I love my family, but looking back on it now, I had never felt so at home in my entire life as I did in that moment.” Asteri had stopped chopping half way through a carrot to clasp her hands to her chest, eyes shining. “If you didn’t even realize it then, what happened? How did you figure it out?” “...Don’t laugh, but I was in our repair room. Quinn was running detailed diagnostics and Mom came up to see what I was doing. I was almost too embarrassed to tell her. Since I thought it was just physical and everything else was panic, I didn’t want her to think I was feeling something shallow for Darwin. When she finally got me to crack, we ended up talking for hours. She wasn’t trying to convince me to do anything, she talked to me about what it was like when she fell in love with Dad and tried to help me work through everything and really think about what I was feeling instead of dismissing it as an error. The diagnostic came up clean.” “Leave it to Fletcher to assume falling in love is an illness,” Amanda chuckled. The hybrid rolled his eyeforms and shook his head. “This has probably been a long time coming. Maybe even since we realized that the venom had never properly merged with Mom’s OS.” “What does that have to do with anything? I hadn’t even been born then,” Amanda said, picking at the sliced vegetables as Quinn and Asteri worked. Fletcher smiled, but his visor was dark. “It wasn’t a great time to be alive. None of us knew if Mom was going to make it, and for months, everyone on Darickson’s team was totally dedicated to rewriting so much corrupt programming, it took over our lives. Dad was with her constantly, and I’d never seen him so stressed. I saw him cry once. It wasn’t just tears, either, like... sobbing. Weeping. I don’t think he knows even now that I saw him. I was a wreck too, but he was going through something different. I couldn’t believe it when he was back by her bedside a few minutes later like it was nothing, and suddenly he was trying to comfort me. Going through all that and seeing what he went through, I haven’t been the same since. That was the first time I think I understood the concept of romantic love. It’s not like I didn’t believe in it before, I just never got how deep it was.” “Are you saying you might have had feelings for Darwin for that long?” “...I kind of hope not. I’ve been with so many people since then, I’d hate to think that it was all while I was suppressing something or because I wanted to avoid it. Things just changed for me after that. I know you didn’t know me before, but hooking up with people was kinda the only thing I used to do.” “Yeah, but what’s the plan now? You’re throwing around phrases like ‘life changing’ and ‘true love.’ You actually gonna try to start something with him?” Everything about Fletcher seemed to tense up. Asteri watched him as she pulled out a frying pan. “That’s why I need your help. I have no idea how to break it to him. I really don’t want to screw things up!” “I get why you’re nervous, but I really can’t imagine anything would get between you two.” “What if it weirds him out though? If he doesn’t want to try dating, what if we can’t recover? What if I don’t move on and we can’t be friends any more?” “Hold on! There’s nothing to move on from yet, you haven’t even talked to him!” Asteri pointed out. “Besides, I’ve never seen you back down from asking someone out. You’ve gotten shot down like it was nothing, I remember turning you away myself.” Amanda cocked an eyebrow, sitting straight to hear more about this rarely referenced event. Fletcher didn’t even flinch. “That’s all different though, this isn’t about sex. When you get down to it, I only really have one reliable line, and I can’t risk using it for this.” “Wait,” Asteri narrowed her eyes, “you don’t mean...?” Fletcher nodded sagely. “What’s the line?” Amanda asked, leaning forward. “Well, I ask a person if they’ve ever slept with a robot. If they say ‘yes,’ I say, ‘You won’t believe how much better it is with an Energy Vampire.’ If they say ‘no,’ I say, ‘then you’ll never be satisfied after you’ve done it with an Energy Vampire.’” “You’re telling me that’s reliable?” “Well I don’t use it if I don’t think it’ll work, but for humans, yeah, about seven out of ten times. Eight out of ten if they’ve had a few drinks. The key is playing up the vampire thing, it checks off a lot of different kinks. Vampire alone sells it for some people, others are into teeth, some like the idea of dominating a ‒ ” “I get it!” Amanda waved her hands, “Honestly, why not use that on him? He’d probably laugh.” “But I’m not trying to sleep with him! Those are the only tactics I know, that’s the problem! This isn’t about sex. We were already going to spend our lives together, but... this is different. I never thought anyone could mean as much to me romantically as he does to me platonically. I didn’t think I’d ever settle down. I’ve only ever had a few romantic relationships, and every time, I would realize I just didn’t trust them as much as I needed to. Darwin, though... I trust him with everything!” “Listen, Fletcher, he knows that,” Amanda pointed at him with a slice of bell pepper she’d snatched from the counter, “He’s crazy about you too! When you guys aren’t around each other, you’re pretty much the only thing either of you talks about. I really don’t know how you manage to get anyone to bed like that.” “He used to be into you when you were kids, right?” Asteri asked. “That was decades ago,” Fletcher muttered, waving his hand. “We’re completely different people now.” “Yeah, that’s a good thing,” Amanda scoffed, “You sounded like you were a real brat.” Fletcher huffed. Amanda put her arm around his shoulders and brought him closer. “But seriously, what can we do for you? It sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought on your own.” “Just... how? How do I sit him down and say, ‘Sorry I’ve been acting so weird, I just want to keep doing the same stuff we always do but now we kiss and call each other boyfriends?’” “Well, maybe a little less blunt, but that’s really all there is to it,” Asteri shrugged, oiling the frying pan. “I think you’re freaking out about it because you’re too in your own head. It’ll probably seem a lot easier once you’re with him! Like you said, you trust him. He’ll have the decency to hear you out, and even if he doesn’t feel the same way, you’ll feel better having told him.” “That’s the thing, though,” Fletcher tapped his head, “I know he doesn’t feel the same way. We’re not kids any more, and I’ve learned a lot about reading wavelengths. Sure, there are robots out there who are good at suppressing certain feelings or who are naturally resistant to Energy Vampire sensors, but Darwin is an open book to me. I’m afraid of how he’ll feel when I tell him.” “What’s the alternative though? Wait for these feelings to pass and never mention it?” Fletcher crossed his arms over his head and sank out of Amanda’s grasp, letting out a stuffy groan. “I just want it to be easy! I’m so sick of the back and forth, and I know you guys only just found out, but I need answers fast! I called you this morning because I knew I would do something stupid if you weren’t here to set me right, and I know I’m asking too much. This is just... torture.” The kitchen was quiet for a while next to the sound of the oil starting to sizzle in the pan. Fletcher kept his arms over his head, the frustration building up again and making his visor sting. Maybe he’d rather not deal with it after all. Things would be easier if they stayed as they were, and if he ever thought about Darwin that way again... about the way his smile was sunshine that warmed him from head to toe, the way he made Fletcher’s core suddenly swoop like he was in free fall whenever he saw him lately... He was so distracted that he didn’t notice the sound of a mobile communicator dialing out until it was answered by a muffled, distant, “Hello?” Fletcher jumped from his seat, looking at Asteri in disbelief. “Hi Darwin! You busy?” Fletcher launched at her without thinking, grabbing wildly, but she managed to keep her phone out of his reach. “I guess not. What are you guys up to on this wild Tuesday night?” “We’re actually just having dinner at Fletcher’s. I know this is short notice ‒ cut that out! ‒ but how fast do you think you could get here?” Fletcher swiped at her, hissing frantically through his teeth, “Stop!” “I’m actually at my folks’ for the week, so I could be there in fifteen, but, uh... are you alright?” “Yeah, everything’s fine. Fletcher’s schedule opened up out of the blue and ‒ ow!” The Energy Vampire was clinging to her now, scrabbling at her hand, but she just put it on speaker and held it out at arm’s length. “What was that?” “Sorry, I just pet S’mores the wrong way and she swiped at me. So can you come over?” “Stop this!” Fletcher snarled as quietly as he could, “Stop it, fix it!” “Well, I don’t see why not. I’m kinda just glad to hear the hermit is allowing visitors again. I’ll see you soon.” Asteri hung up and Fletcher fell to the ground. Amanda finally let go and started laughing. “What the hell are you thinking?! Call him back!” Fletcher yelled, scrambling to his feet. “And tell him what? You said you were afraid of doing something stupid, but how could you be any more stupid than wallowing in your own confusion instead of doing something about it?” “CALLING YOU GUYS WAS THE SOMETHING I WAS DOING ABOUT IT!” “We can’t talk to Darwin for you!” Asteri was smiling, but Fletcher had never seen anything more infuriating, and Amanda’s continuing laughter grated his nerves even more. “You expect me to do this NOW? I’m not ready! What is wrong with you, this is the worst thing you’ve ever done to me! I’m going up to my room, this is all your own damn fault, you’re going to have to deal with telling him that you invited him without asking me!” “No I’m not,” Asteri scoffed, gathering all the sliced vegetables on the counter onto the cutting board. Fletcher fumed, gritting his teeth. “What is that supposed to mean?” “You’re right about me not being able to make you talk to him, and maybe after all these weeks, there’s some chance that you aren’t ready. That’s fine. I can’t force you to bring it up,” Asteri picked up the cutting board and tilted it so that all the vegetables fell into the pan and began to sizzle, “But I can show you how much better you’ll feel once you’re with him. You haven’t seen each other in ages and that’s no way to deal with this! I can also make an excuse for us to leave so you can catch up in private.” Fletcher could hardly bring himself to speak, staring daggers at the back of Asteri’s blonde head while she started to stir. He finally threw his arm toward Amanda, pointing with all his might. “You!” “What?!” “I hate you the least right now! Come help me get dressed, I can’t look like this when Darwin gets here!” Amanda snorted and stood up as Fletcher stalked out to the front hall and toward the bedrooms. “This is the craziest thing you’ve ever pulled, A. If it turns out, they’d better make you Maid of Honor.” “I will throw you both out of my house and lock the door, but if you don’t help me clean up before Darwin comes in I’ll never forgive you!” “Alright, I’m coming you big baby!” Amanda sauntered after him, following his indignant shrieks through the house. It wasn’t until she caught up to him on the stairs that she noticed how light his steps were and the quivering anticipation in his eyeforms. She quietly hoped to herself that Asteri knew what she was doing.

Fletcher's been having a breakdown for a while, but now it's for real. 👍 So... I didn't know that Asteri was going to call Darwin out of the blue until I wrote it last night? I really had no idea how this story was going to end when I started it, I was worried I'd end up writing 40 pages of conversation. Also, I don't know if I've addressed this before, but Asteri has olfactory senses and is capable of processing food. She was made to be as close to a human as possible, and though she doesn't actually gain energy from eating, it all adds to the illusion. Also eating is great and delicious and she's really good at cooking.

[jafreitag]

Grateful Dead Monthly: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY 9/18/87

On Friday, September 18, 1987, the Grateful Dead played Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the middle of a five-show run at the fabled venue.

MSG, which opened in 1968, sits atop Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. It’s the home of the NBA’s New York Knicks, the WNBA’s New York Liberty, and the NHL’s New York Rangers. It’s also become a “home away from home” for Phish, who squatted there for this summer’s amazing Baker’s Dozen series of thirteen shows over seventeen nights. LN GD guru ECM was at a few of those Phish shows.

As I’ve mentioned, Ed is a great resource for these posts. He does the primary research – photos, links, comments from the Live Music Archive – and I do the prattle. Our process is pretty simple. Typically, I ask him for a few options of shows in the upcoming month that we can cover. He gives me a list. We chat about that, and decide. Then I get an email with a ton of material. This month was different.

In early August, here was the list:

1970 – 9/19 or 9/20 Fillmore East

1972 – throw a dart. there are so many good ones

1974 – 9/11 or 9/18

1975 – 9/28 Golden Gate Park

1977 – 9/3 Englishtown (40 year anniversary)

1978 – 9/2 Giants Stadium (raise $$ for Egypt)

1979 – 9/1 or 9/2 (super long Let It Grow)

1980 – 9/6 Lewiston (Labor Day weekend), 9/2 Rochester (filler on Dicks Picks) or one of the Warfield shows

1981 – 9/26 Buffalo (I think either [GDC members] Fen or Butch or both are big proponents of this show)

1983 – 9/2 Boise or 9/11 Santa Fe

1985 – 9/7 Red Rocks

1987 – 9/18 MSG (30 year anniversary)

1989 – 9/29 Shoreline (Death Don’t bust out)

1990 – one of the shows from MSG – 9/16, 9/19 or 9/20

1991 – 9/26 Boston

My response was sorta non-committal. ” ’87 or ’89 would be fun, but maybe save ’89 for October?”

Little did I know that 9/18/87 was not only a fun show, but also part of my dear friend’s life. He called it, and said, “I’ll work on a brief fan account and get that to you soon.”

What a fan account.  Ladies and Gentlemen, Ed Martin…

It’s hard to believe that I saw this show 30 years ago. The Dead created an enormous amount of momentum in the two months before the start of the band’s much anticipated Fall Tour in 1987. Over the summer, the band released In The Dark, its first studio album since 1979 which resulted in a Top 10 Billboard hit single and its first-ever video on MTV with Touch of Grey, The buzz about the new album coupled with a highly successful summer tour with Bob Dylan thrust the Dead into the spotlight. As a result, everything changed. Suddenly it was cool to like the Grateful Dead and it was fashionable to wear tie-dyed clothing. New fans – referred to by vets as “Touch-Heads” – flooded the scene. So, it was not surprising that tickets were tough to come by for the fall tour. I was lucky to have received mail-order tickets from GDTS for three shows at Madison Square Garden – Sept. 18, 19 and 20. The weeks leading up these shows were very exciting as I began to hear great reviews from friends who attended the shows in Providence and Landover (no internet back then). The band was playing well and had added a bunch of exciting cover songs to their vast repertoire including Devil with the Blues Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly, Fever and La Bamba, the latter was a song from a movie by the same name that had been released over the summer. In addition, there were new songs that were added as a result of recent collaborations with The Neville Brothers (Hey Pocky Way) and Bob Dylan (All Along The Watchtower, When I Paint My Masterpiece and Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door).

[Photo credit: Billy O. Photography]

By the time Friday September 18, 1987 arrived my excitement could not be contained. I was hoping and praying to see a lot of the songs the band wound up playing that evening. Shakedown, Watchtower, Dew, La Bamba and Knockin’ were high on my list. My seats were good – loge level on the right side near Jerry and Brent. There was a jubilant atmosphere inside the Garden. When the house lights finally went down the rabid, East-Coast audience exploded. Weir takes a moment to joke about levitating Jerry which was a reference to their appearance on The David Letterman Show the previous night. With that the band tears into Hell In A Bucket.  I must confess that Bucket was not the opener I had hoped for. It had been played to death over the summer and was becoming a bit tiresome for me. However, this is about as good a version as one could possibly ask for. Weir’s vocals are confident. He’s so pumped that he is practically spitting the lyrics out. Brent is pounding his keys and Jerry’s distorted guitar runs are searing. The finale has Weir at his 80s falsetto best. Wow! Sugaree was not unexpected. It was a common pairing with Bucket for show as a show opener at the time. Walkin’ Blues is next. It had been played only a handful of times in 1985 but was reintroduced by Weir at the San Francisco Civic Center on 1/28/87 presumably as another option for the “blues slot” to keep things fresh. It remained part of the band’s regular repertoire through the end. Once again, Weir is in terrific voice and is in total command of this version. Jerry follows that up with Candyman which is one of those little nuggets like Row Jimmy, Althea and High Time that I never tire of seeing. Candyman had taken on a new significance since Jerry’s return from his diabetic coma – “Won’t you tell everybody you meet that the Candyman’s in town.” Garcia’s solo on this version is glorious. I was floating. I never wanted it to end. Weir chooses When I Paint My Masterpiece, the first of three songs from the Dylan catalog that will be played that evening. The band premiered Masterpiece at Ventura on 6/13/87 complete with an engaging 2-part-harmony arrangement accompanied by Garcia. This upbeat version is stellar. A soaring Bird Song follows and the energy with which it is played matches everything that preceded it. The band brings it to an incredible peak and then just as we are all getting started the band pulls the rug out from underneath us and closes the first set out after only 6 songs. What?

[Photo credit: Billy O. Photography]

Fortunately, the break was not too long. Continuing with the same high level of energy, the band opens the second set with the only logical choice under the circumstances – Shakedown Street. It was on my wish list so I was ecstatic. The Garden explodes with appreciation as the band crashes into the opening D-minor chord. This is a speedy version that is very similar to the incredible version they played in Pittsburgh on 7/6/87. Madison Square Garden is instantly transformed into a dance party. Heads are bobbing, bodies are gyrating. Huge smiles everywhere. People are getting DOWN. Once again, Garcia’s vocals are assertive. The “Beat Out Loud” verse is sung with authority and the “Poke Around” vocal scatting sets up the jam that follows perfectly. Garcia finds a pattern he likes and plays it repeatedly. The crowd surges with ecstasy. Having reached the peak, the band cuts it short just like they did in Bird Song and continues the party with Women Are Smarter. They slow things down again with a strong Terrapin which leads to Drums and has everybody scratching their head at the wisdom of a 3-song pre-drums set that lasted just 30 minutes(!) All will be redeemed shortly.

What follows the Drums and Space segment is a thing of which dreams are made. GDTRFB > Watchtower is high octane 80s Dead at its very best. Watchtower made it debut at the Greek Theater on 6/20/87 and Garcia was blowing the doors off it with his searing leads. This version is one of the better ones. At the conclusion of Watchtower are a few descending notes and a brief moment of silence where the entire world seems to hangs in the balance of what the band will play next. It’s the feeling that is usually associated with the moment of anticipation before the band plays Dark Star. Here, the band plays something almost as sacred – Morning Dew. Over the years, the band had kept Morning Dew kind of rare. However, in 1987 it had been played 13 times already. Not that anybody was complaining! The repetition/practice paid off in spades as the band dropped what is arguably one of the best versions ever – Cornell aside. Most would agree that is one of the top 10 versions ever played. Garcia pours his soul into this one both instrumentally and vocally. His aggressive vocal approach was certainly unique and took every by surprise. Check out how he sings “Where have all the people GONE” and and his inflection on the final “I GUESS it doesn’t matter anywaaaaaaaaay.” along with the way he hangs on that last word. Holy shit! I mean, that is some jaw-dropping, hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck-raising, goose bump inducing, chills-down-your-spine shit right there. The rowdy weekend crowd roars with approval. It was startling how fast and loud the reaction was. It sounded like a stadium after the home team won the Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, etc. Words can not do justice to the reaction. It was mind blowing and it is nothing like I had ever heard before or since then – and I was in attendance for the Dark Stars on 10/16/89 and 3/29/90. Ever the pro, Garcia takes the crowd reaction and responds with a guitar solo for the ages. There is no time to bring this Dew down to a whisper as was customary. This one required a burning solo right from the beginning. His guitar squeals with high-pitched notes. As the band approaches the end the pace quickens. Garcia’s distorted notes are flying at a dizzy pace like they did in Watchtower. Brent’s thundering organ is swirling. Climbing higher and higher. Finally, Garcia hits an impossible note. It’s screeching and it sounds way off-key but, holy shit is he wailing.  He repeats the off-key note with rapid machine gun fire and in the chaos of it all, it makes perfect sense.  I’m losing my mind but II’m not alone. The crowd explodes again. At that moment, everybody knew we had witnessed something so epic that it would be remembered in the legacy of Grateful Dead concerts. Any gripes that people may have had about the concert being too short were quickly forgotten. A finale like that makes a massive statement. Nothing more needed to be said. The band could have put their instruments down and walked off stage without an encore and nobody would have complained. To get Good Lovin’ with La Bamba tossed in was gravy. Obviously feeding off confidence and crowd energy, the band turns in an incredible performance. that brought the house down again. Smiles everywhere – especially when Garcia launched into La Bamba. Bobby’s reprise of Good Lovin’ is filled with falsetto squeals that only further feeds the frenzy. The soothing Knockin’ encore was like church. The Dead destroyed MSG, reducing its fans to a puddle.

Ed Martin / @31daysofdead

Yeah. What he said! This show is fantastic, guys. As well-known reviewer Dr. Flashback quipped on the LMA: “This show simply rocks.” It even made the cut and became part of the massive 30 Trips Around the Sun box set to commemorate the band’s thirty-year career on their fiftieth anniversary. (The header image – pardon the watermark – is from that.) Unfortunately, the official version isn’t on Spotify, but other quality versions are available.

Transport to the Charlie Miller transfer of the soundboard recording HERE.

Transport to the Charlie Miller transfer of the audience recording HERE.

Transport to the MattMan remaster of the soundboard HERE.

And HERE is a decent video of the entire show.

Oh, Jerry and Bobby were on the original David Letterman show the night before. HERE is the YouTube link. They played Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” I watched that in my freshman year dorm room.

Thanks, Ed. Hope I did this one justice. My life is richer because of you.

More soon.

JF

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[subscriptionsplugin]

Wordpress Woo Commerce Subscriptions Api Plugin

Wordpress Woo Commerce Subscriptions API Plugin

Since you've fabricated your woo truck plugin it doesn't mean the customers will begin to come. You need to get the visitors, show your things, influence them to buy and pass on them back yet again to make any vital increases the Best Woo Commerce Plugin.

The customers ought to be wooed by the one of a Subscription plugin that will bring them back, and influence them to sing your recognition to their associates, spreading your name. This may have all the earmarks of being a troublesome demand, be that as it may, isn't. Recorded here are the best ten clues to collect, manage and advantage from your web business webpage. Tail them and see the focal points for yourself.

1. Create your Inventory around Item Classes

Various areas either give an impressive once-over of things or bulge them behind a request get, making it difficult to find them. Driving force your things into reasonable orders and subcategories, anyway don't make a decent attempt. Research says that a large number of individuals get overwhelmed with more than 7 classes. The customer must have the ability to easily glance through anything without help.

Your thing should have a sensible and wonderful picture, short and point by point specifics. In case essential incorporate video or pictures of different view center (top edge, side view) nearby the thing specific.

2. Give Numerous Payment Choices

Keep a wide scope of portion options available to your customers. Only one out of every odd individual feels great acquiring through a charge card or has one. Mull over platinum cards, fax, telephone, snail mail, paper, and electronic checks. In addition, consent to acknowledge blackmail checking office, without which you could without a doubt wrap up losing the entire day's arrangements inside minutes. Give a money converter in case you offer things or portion in various fiscal models.

Checking a telephone number for customer support on the demand is an outright need. It gives the buyer some extra opinions of security that they can commonly chat with a live individual if anything turns out gravely in the obtaining methodology.

3. Once-over out Unmistakably Sketched out Strategies

Insurance:

Make your insurance approach open. Keep it in an indisputable place, and associate it to the home, things and checkout pages, with the objective that customers who are a move of giving individual and Visa nuances feel reassure. Tell them whether you expect to share their email address with others, or plan to send in constrained time mail or releases.

Further, empowering them to pull back or quit such an email if they think to such an extent. Never move the customer's near and dear focal points with the exception of on the off chance that they have agreed, as this is a sure technique to lose trustworthiness doubly snappily.

Security:

If you plan to assemble unstable information from your customers, you ought to use security systems like SSL (Secure Attachment Layer). This guarantees the data given by your customer won't fall into the hand of a malicious developer while trading it from his PC to the web server.

This moreover will guarantee your customers that you are truly stressed over the security of their own information.

Terms and Conditions:

Make indisputably and discernibly all of the arrangements and after arrangements support terms to avoid disorder. The web is far and wide, and your customer can rise out of any country. Summary your conveyance and managing costs direct, and be set up to transport wherever on the Earth. Appropriate your benefit course of action, reinforce hours, and even the vague time is taken to pass on the items.

Send an assertion note offering thanks toward the customer, and posting all of the things, expenses and key terms of the upfront investment an email. Keep the customer invigorated of the demand status reliably by email or by giving an association in your shopping page where they can check the status of their demand at whatever point.

4. Gather a Bulletin Around Your Items

To get new customers and keep the old ones recalling that you unmistakably, truly plan to dispatch a release, and send it to all prospects and customers constantly. Beside the acceptability of being a real player in the market, you shock them with your commitment by releasing the announcement on settled days - like fifteenth of reliably, or every Monday.

You can in like manner show your aptitude in your field by making a standard, through and through articles, covering the latest examples in the business, and overviews of new things. Your customers, vendors, and associates will start to vivaciously foresee your release. Sprinkle your headways and things amidst the substance of the leaflet, and be set up to get a development in web traffic and demand arrangements each time you pass on the release.

5. Allow Clients to gift Your Items

Empower people to favor your things to their mates and loved ones. Give unequivocal present wrapping, a redid message or an unqualified present for the purchaser. Empower them to make Lists of things to get that they may use to buy later.

These seemingly insignificant details do have any kind of effect and go about as complimentary blessings that your opponent probably won't have. Despite the way that these are rapidly getting the opportunity to be a standard segment, guarantee you don't wrap up with the bonehead ones who haven't understood this essential framework yet.

6. Advance your Site Each Day

Strong advancing is the most imperative piece of having a productive site. The best of goals won't benefit if people don't come in groups. Dispatch headways, and get the word to everyone possible inside your planned intrigue gathering.

You can do progressions using standard mail to your present customer, in your release, and fliers. All of the systems for traditional exhibiting applies here. Make an effort not to leave any technique untried. Remember the well-known saying - Market, exhibit, promote.

7. Measure Results and Redesign

Measure the results you are getting from each headway religiously, and note what works and what doesn't. Examination. Study. Modify. This is the most ideal approach to realize how convincing your campaigns and headways are.

You can in like manner inspire some external people to visit your site and give you genuine analysis about each page on your site. The more fundamental they are, the more changes you will make, and unavoidably it will benefit you and your customers.

Keep making changes and test what works and what doesn't reliably. What works today may not work tomorrow.

8. Keep a Straightforward yet Powerful Website composition

There is a genuine test on the web. Make a persuading site that displays your USP (novel moving proposal) and takes the customer back to your site. Separate from the rest by using your imaginative capacity to make your site champion from the rest. A cool, infectious, easy to recall name could help.

Make a direct site, with plain HTML, and a consistent look and feel on all pages. Use an easy to scrutinize literary style, something like a 10 measure content style, in a perfect world 11. Make an effort not to stack with outlines and huge pictures on each page, which may back off your page.

Notwithstanding the way that this admonishment is getting the opportunity to be out of date as most by far are moving to broadband, it is up 'til now a good practice, as you would lean toward not to lose the customers who use a low-speed modem.

Versatility and accommodation are obviously more basic than flashy outlines or cool Java applets. The objective is to keep the customer looking things, and not keep them stopping or lose them by moderate stacking outlines or effects.

Keep the stock clear, and with a relentless arrangement with associations with Home, Checkout page, Security Approach, Terms, and Conditions, Client Profile pages accommodating and at the identical, unsurprising spot on each page. Make it easy to scrutinize the store and stamp things for later purchase.

9. Make the Login Procedure a Breeze

The fewer snaps expected to organize, the better. Amazon secured it A single Tick strategy that constrained the snaps, making the checkout system less mind-boggling and less requesting. Endeavor to make the enlistment or login process immaterial, and simply keep the most essential fields required.

I was horrified by the broad login process which compelled me to enter my inside name, date of birth, and mother's unique surname for just enrolling for an online taxi booking organization. I left it halfway and went to another taxi chairman's site, which selected me inside a minute. A direct thing can result in an excessive misunderstanding that loses the customer until the finish of time.

10. Reduce Popup Messages

Such countless involve and horrify the customer. Especially after the visitor closes your site window, if you start to spring up various windows with more progressions, it leaves an assessment of being sought after. It is in like manner the sign of most of the adult districts, so steer a long way from such unforgiving practices.

Exhibit your cleaned expertise and respect the customer's security and time. It will build your image as a real and master site and redesign your credibility.

11. Use a Dependable Facilitating Administration

Use an organization that is extraordinary, strong, and can give you customer reinforces at agonizingly badly designed occasions. Web encouraging is getting extraordinarily poor anyway it is more intelligent to pay fairly more and get a snappy and strong web encouraging.

[ramblyravingnnjashark]

Nier Automata - Genius and Madness

the works of Yoko Taro are something that have eluded me for most of my life, and that I have given very little attention to. Probably for good reasons because from the outside, the gameplay of his games range from Mediocre to Average at best and I consider myself a very "gameplay First" person. Some of my Freinds would rave about Drakengard and how weird it is but that didnt quite convince me to look into them much further. However, one Fateful Day a little game called "Nier Automata" was announced, a sequel to Yoko Taros Xbox 360/PS3 game Nier with a little line of Text that would change things in an instant

                                   "Developed by PlatinumGames"

now friends of mine will know that, PlatinumGames is one of my alltime favourite Game Devs for their Crazy High skill Character Action Beat em up titles, containing Larger than Life characters and great and tight Gameplay that owes their roots in the Arcade games of old, which is something I have a appreciation for.

So, with a combination like this I finally decided to take on this series, by means of watching Youtube essays about it because goddamn, the gameplay in these games can get rather mind numbing sadly but honestly? Yoko Taro mighta earned himself now a nice cushy place as one of my favourite Directors, right next to  Hideki Kamiya and Hideo Kojima themselves.

But there is one thing I realised from watching these Essays and actually playing one of them it is one thing to watch a guy sum this series up for you, its a whole different thing to watch the Insanity for yourself

because the works of Yoko Taro arent stories about Heroic Knights slaying Demons and Evil Dragons, or Loving Fathers/older Brothers trying to survive the Fall of Humanity with their Daughters/Little Sisters

they are stories about Love, Hate, War, the meaninglessness of the Universe and the Hope growing from it, what it means to be Human, and what it means to lose all reason and go complete and genuinely Mad

(there will be spoilers, so be warned if you wish to expirience these games yourself!)

so originally, this was gonna be a brief recap of Drakengard and Nier, but then I realised I couldnt do these games justice so I just link this and this recap of these games that should give you a good idea what these games are about but to keep it brief

Drakengard is essentially to RPGs what Evangelion was to Mecha Anime, and thats a fairly approviate comparsion when you just look at, this

its also notable for how it handles its different endings, usually referred to as Ending A, Ending B etc, Ending E of the first Drakengard game was a Joke ending that nontheless became the basis for the setting of Nier, a ruined Planet Earth set hundreds of years after the Fall of Humanity about a Father (in the Western Releases) or a Older Brother (Japanese release) having to fend for himself and his Daughter/Younger Sister in a world under constant threat of creatures known as Heartless Shades

both these games are interesting, because their gameplay is nothing special, in the case of Drakengard its outright terrible,they got mediocre reviews and poor sales and yet these games have a dedicated Cult following and  tons of Novels, Audio Dramas, Manga and even Stage Plays that expand the Universes of these games and its lore

and thats for a simple reason: these games may have mediocre gameplay but, their Stories, their Characters, their Art Direction is actually of fairly high quality featuring intriguing Characters and worldbuilding that makes you invested in them regardless I mean, theres a entire exchange in Nier thats entireley between two Magical Talking Books for cryin out loud, and its one of the best parts of the game!

however, these games have thus far had a life as just that, Cult Classics, that didnt manage to garner a mainstream audience due to its aforementioned quirks, the Gameplay just could never stand up to the well written stories of these games

this is where PlatinumGames comes into play

now, the gameplay of Automata I honestly felt like was more on par with what Revengeance offered: there is stuff you can do with it but all in all its below the likes of Bayonetta and Devil May Cry 3 but thats not to say its poor, of course not, it doesnt encourage you to try anything other than just Mash about, but thats Fine, theres also Chips that your characters can even equip Chips that enhance their abilities and giv e them new ones such as a Bayonetta style Parry and Witch time or give them Heals upon Killing the enemy and while the actual enviroments can be a bit of a chore to go through (until you get Fast Travel), it still felt good to Parkour your way through them, nice snappy and smooth which gives me hopes they take a cue or two from this game for Bayonetta 3 in that regard at least

another thing I loved is the Soundtrack itself. Now I dont consider myself a musical person, however I can tell when a Song is used perfectly, and in Automata? Every Song is used to actual perfection. Music to me can be the deciding factor wether a Area or Scene in a Game or Movie is Garbage, Forgettable or Legendary, and for Automata, every song makes each area fall niceley into the latter fortunatly. One Standout track for me is Birth of a Wish (Become as Gods) a retake of an earlier song that adds in additional Chorus, and the Theme for Pascals village which is a cute Melody involving Children singing.

now onto the game itself, Route A puts you in the sexy and Lucious Thigh High boots of YoRHa Unit 2B, whereas Route B puts you in the cute Boy shorts of her Partner and mostly Good Boy YoRHa Unit 9S both tasked with ridding the world of Machine Lifeforms and making Earth inhabitable for the Humans stuck on the Moon again Both Routes play out roughly the same, 2B plays like a Standard Character Action Heroine with Lights and Heavies and such, whereas 9S is mainly focused around his ability to hack enemies and engage into brief SHMUP segments.

of the two I felt like 2B was a little more fun to play all in all, the Hacking was fine but also felt a teeny bit like a pace breaker but not too much, at least until late in Route B the game throws curvebals and unique hacking segments into the mix

a thing Yoko Taro games have been very good at showing, is showing the process of a Person losing their mental stability and throwing it all away to become a one track minded Mad Man and I find that interesting.

Drakengard had a good example when the Character Inuart completley loses it and becomes obsessed with bringing back his Dead Love interest, causing here to turn into the monster posted above. Automata meanwhile, shows this also but with Machines, being that shouldnt even go mad in the first place but become Insane with concepts like Revenge, Fear or other. Now I am not a Psychology Major or anything but I cant help but feel "this is Intriguing", not sure if thats a bad thing or anything but thats how it is.

now, Route C is where officialy the PlatinumGame ends and the Yoko Taro game begins, in that things become utterly, utterly Bleak. Not to say it was happy funtime before, many of the sidequests end on a very sour or outright terrible note, but here? Shits gon Bad!

YoRHa falls, everyone on the Protagonists homebase dies or becomes infected with a Virus that makes them go insane, 2B dies and 9S is severeley wounded and has his mental state utterly ruined by seeing 2B, his Love interest, die. from this Point onward, you play as Either A2, a former YoRHa gone Rogue and 9S as he tries to kill every last Machine Lifeform, and as hes utterly loses his mind. Focusing entireley on his one Goal so that maybe, he can find Death and be with 2B in the Afterlife.

this is where the game really became interesting to me. Gradually 9S goes from this sweet pure boy to a Violent Mess that only wants to Kill and Kill and Kill, Over and Over, its a Interesting Development for such a Character I feel. A2 meanwhile, while still a Great Character and a Blast to play, I felt like was severeley underutilized, getting very little playtime compared to 2B and 9S, with most of her greatest character Development limited to a Japan only Stage play that got a short text recap on a terminal. and it just goes from there and it keeps going, plot twists happen, reveals happen, callbacks to the first Nier and Drakengard 1 happen, its just this huge Mountain of themes and stuff to uncover and analyse. references to old Philosophers and the Concept of Nihilism itself ebing explored, little details that popped up in the early game and now have much greater meaning, its....actually incredible?

I dont think I ever played a game that had so much going on, the last time I think I did was, Metal Gear Solid 3, maybe?! I think....this might actually be one of the best written games I ever played?

and there is still so much content I could go through, the Stage Plays, the Novels, theres probably a buncha Audio Dramas for it too already its like, Jesus christ. and then theres Ending E, which while rather difficult (and probably causes at least 4 people to fucking hate my Guts) was probably one of the best ending sequences I seen in recent years, I'm not gonna go into detail what it is because, it needs to be seen to be belived, but I find it genuiley incredible.

I dont think theres a single game in the Drakengard and Nier series I would actually consider my "Favourite Game", maybe Nier Automata but thats up for consideration still, but I think I can safeley say that both games story as a whole is easily up there with Metal Gear as  one of my favourite Game stories out there, and friends and followers of mine would know by now how much I love that Franchise and its wacky insane story, Drakengard and Nier are special little series that you dont see enough of these days, but maybe thats for the better

I'm not gonna say "Nier Automata rekindled my love for video games" or anything, but I am glad I got to expirience these two series.

[shurovdmitry]

Sound Ideas For Successful Video Marketing Campaigns

Video marketing campaigns, if utilized effectively, are a sure-fire way to improve your business and increase your profit. In order for video marketing to work, however, it must be done intelligently. This article is loaded with tips and advice that will help you understand all that you need to know about video marketing.

You should create a video to document your typical day at work to give your customers an idea of how products are created and shipped. Introduce your colleagues, show your workspace and follow the different steps you go through to complete an order. The goal of this short documentary is to convince viewers that you are a trustworthy professional.

Make sure that any video content you post online is optimized for search engines. Remember that search engine spiders cannot watch video content, so make sure that you have fitting titles, tags and descriptions. Fill them in the appropriate fields. You would be shocked to see how many video posters do not even bother doing this.

Do your best to create a video that conveys a professional image. This means you should avoid using the effects available on programs such as Windows Movie Maker and other basic software. Keep your editing simple by simply cutting or dissolving to a black screen instead of using standardized editing effects.

Get others involved in your videos. Whether you are giving a nod to a customer or interested site visitor, or doing an interview with within your niche, you can add some flavor to your videos. People like to see variety in marketing, which means you need to utilize multiple tools to build your success.

For example, you might receive feedback from customers indicating that they do not understand a particular aspect or usage requirement for one of your products. A step-by-step explanatory video is the perfect way to address their concerns. You are going to be resolving problems of both your existing customers and your customers to be.

To supercharge your video marketing efforts consider running a video marketing campaign. With a video marketing campaign, you will offer daily videos that will be shared on your website as well as on video sites such as YouTube. Do not forget to share your videos with your customers using email and social media.

If you’re trying to sell a service or a product with your videos, then don’t forget to include a link that leads them somewhere that they can purchase it. If possible, include this link in the video player. Then the link stays with the video no matter where the video is shared or embedded.

When searching YouTube for ideas, don’t forget to use the * wildcard operator. This allows you to find videos, which are similar but not identical to your search terms. For example, “How to * a book” may lead you to some crafty questions and answers about working with books creatively.

Watch the statistics available for your video, whether it be your server stats or on YouTube. This will help you compare each video you make so you can easily tell which are successful and which should have been left on the cutting room floor. This is the only way to continue building your campaigns skyward.

When you’re posting videos using WordPress, check out video sitemap extensions which allow you to easily add the new video to your current video sitemap. Without such a sitemap, Google won’t index your videos and therefore viewers who are searching for them will never be lucky enough to find them.

Post your videos to a host of different sites. While YouTube should be your number one choice, don’t rely on it entirely. Other sites, like Break and Vimeo, could all be beneficial to you. You may even be able to find a site that caters to your type of business.

Try cutting your longer videos into smaller segments. Many video marketers don’t consider the audience’s attention span, so they make videos that are too long. Most people will not watch a 10-minute video about a single product. Try breaking a long video like that into multiple pieces that can be released once each day.

Add some humor to your videos. Using humor is a fantastic way to engage an audience. When they laugh and feel happy because of your videos, they will associate that feeling with your company. This is a win-win situation. Just make sure not to lose your message in the comedy.

Take advantage of music. Consider what commercials you have seen and you will see that the best ones have music in them. Look for music that is suitable, and work that into your video. This way, your video is more enticing to your viewers. If you do not wish to appear in the video, this can make a big difference.

As was discussed in the first paragraph of this article, effective video marketing is one of the best things that you can do to increase sales and improve your business. By applying all of the knowledge you have learned from this article you will be able to make more money that you ever imagined. Good luck!

The post Sound Ideas For Successful Video Marketing Campaigns appeared first on E D Vogue.

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[bluejanuarysky]

Five SEO 2019 Tips You Need To Learn Now

The good SEO strategy is your own first step towards developing a good online relationship with your clients. The number 1 reason for using video upon your site to improve SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is to increase the quantity of time users remain upon your site. Search engine optimization has been but still is fascinating in order to me. The SEO placement with regard to any size business begins along with proper web site optimization, a good excellent link building strategy plus a well planned online advertising plan. One section of focus for better marketing and SEO performance within 2018 is the confluence associated with content, influence, and social. This can be advantageous for SEO, because it helps avoid search engine crawlers from becoming confused by syntax or approval errors, and leads to even more accurate indexing. Stop thinking in terms associated with SEO vs. content marketing” plus start exploring how well these people perform together. (Give it a try tone of voice search using OK Google through your cell phone and enquire "What Is BlowFish SEO" ) When all remains as it will be, Google will read out loud almost all about my company in the short to the point method, These cards are formatted in order to fit the screen of your own cell with no scrolling upward or down. Although SEO is really the time-consuming process but believes myself, if you work well along with dedication and trendy techniques, the particular combined results of on-page plus off-page SEO holds you upon the top with rank #1 for a specific search outcome. Fairly lately, I've seen a resurgence associated with on-page SEO factors making the difference searching engine rankings. I think it as simple as a good example to illustrate an factor of onpage SEO or ‘rank modification', that's white hat, totally Google friendly plus not, ever going to result in you a issue with Search engines. So when you want to get began which includes basic SEO, the particular first thing that I might recommend would be choosing the set of keywords for every page on your website. Away page, SEO has contrasted along with it. Undoubtedly, off page optimisation is all about link developing, but the quality links plus content. By way of a direct incorporation of Google's Search Console, Siteimprove SEO helps you understand how the particular world's most popular search motor and its users see and—more importantly—find your website. On Page Ranking Factors — Moz's on page ranking elements explains the different on web page elements and their importance within SEO. Surprisingly enough, the lot of SEOs out presently there do tend to underestimate the particular power of Google Trends Typically the tool has a separate "YouTube search" feature, which hides underneath the "Web search" option. An SEO agency may work together with a organization to provide an added viewpoint, when it comes to knowing and developing marketing strategies regarding different sectors and various sorts of business websites. Given the ratings and search volume, SEO may drive considerable traffic and qualified prospects for Grainger. SEO stands for research engine optimization - that significantly has stayed the same. But they keep on modifying their algorithms making it hard to rely on one specific tool for SEO optimization Plus today you could have a good appropriate rank which may not really last in the coming 6 months. You may generally see outcomes of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION efforts once the webpage proceeds to be crawled and listed by a internet search motor. Possibly the best form of cultural media to pay attention in order to when turning to SEO will be Google Plus. 1 of the most successful techniques to ensure your clients locate your photography business is by means of implementing an SEO strategy, this specific is more than just producing it to number 1 upon Google, it means ensuring of which a varied and steady flow of traffic is heading to your site, over plus above that of your opponents. If you are usually willing to improvise your web site search and boost up your own Google ranking, but do not really have time or resources intended for doing that, hire an SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION specialist for the same objective. Mobile SEO will be mobile search engine optimization or even optimizing content for a much better search ranking. Titles on pages and explanations affect what people see within search results, so it's important to check these out within any SEO audit. Search motors give some guidelines for SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, but big search engines maintain result ranking as a business secret. Along with $80 billion forecast to turn out to be spent annually on SEO — and content marketing set in order to be considered a $300+ billion industry by simply 2019 — it might become tempting for stakeholders to discover SEO and content marketing since cost centers rather than income centers. While that will theory is sound (when concentrated on a single page, when the particular intent is to deliver energy content to a Google user) using old school SEO methods on especially a large web site spread out across many web pages seems to amplify site high quality problems, after recent algorithm modifications, and so this type associated with optimisation without keeping track associated with overall site quality is self-defeating in the long run. On this web page you'll find a list associated with 21 SEO insanely tactical methods that you can use in order to boost your engine rankings. 26% of respondents state email is the digital advertising channel using the greatest positive influence on revenue; SEO is 2nd (17%), followed by paid research (15%), social media (5%), plus online display advertising (5%). Along with an increased focus on consumer experience, Google has challenged the particular SEO community to pay even more attention to the entire knowledge of a website and just how the content interacts with customers, rather than just the fundamental elements that most optimize towards. While that can not get solved in 2018, we require integrate the SEO group alongside other marketing, both compensated and owned initiatives. For example, a few businesses miss the mark along with SEO and images, and nevertheless rank well. 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[thehowtostuff-blog]

If you’re not sure about watching a whole movie where your point-of-view is limited to computer and smartphone screens, you’re not alone — “Searching” filmmakers Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian told me they had very similar reservations.

Chaganty said that when the pair was first approached by Timur Bekmambetov’s Bazelevs (the production company behind the “Unfriended” movies), the idea was to contribute a segment to an anthology of short films set on computer screens. That’s when they came up with the basic plot of “Searching” — after a teenaged girl goes missing, her father (played by John Cho) goes through the laptop she left behind in an effort to find her.

But then the studio proposed turning the idea into a feature film, with Chaganty directing, Ohanian producing and the two of them writing the screenplay.

“It was this incredible moment where no filmmaker ever gets this opportunity,” Chaganty recalled. “But in that instant, I said no.”

It seemed to him that they’d come up with a way to make the format more than a gimmick —but as a short film. He worried that extending it into a feature might “stretch it right back into a 90-minute gimmick.”

Chaganty and Ohanian kept talking about the idea, though, and ultimately moved forward after coming up with an opening sequence — which is indeed the opening sequence of the finished film. It’s a seven-minute montage of footage stored on a desktop computer, which doubles as a compressed (and surprisingly emotional) history of the Kim family.

“In that moment, there was a click, there was a lightbulb that went off, where we realized the potential of this format with this story,” Chaganty said. “And we realized, despite the films that had existed before, there was a way to make this feel not only new … but also for once emotional, engaging, cinematic.”

“Searching” is in limited release this weekend, before opening more widely on Friday, August 31. You can read more about how Chaganty and Ohanian actually made the movie in the edited transcript below.

Director/writer Aneesh Chaganty and Debra Messing on the set of “Searching.”

TechCrunch: How much of this started with the format, and how much with the kidnapping plot?

Sev Ohanian: Honestly, it was almost neither of those things. Aneesh and I are writing partners — he directs, I produce, we met each other at USC film school. We had made a two-minute short film that takes place on the Google Glasses, if you remember those at all? It kind of blew up — it was called “Seeds” — and one of the results of that was he got hired by Google to come out here and start writing commercials for one or two years.

I’ve been an indie producer for a couple of years now and I had an opportunity to meet with Timur Bekmambetov’s company Bazelevs. He had just released “Unfriended,” it was super successful, and he asked me if there were any filmmakers I wanted to collaborate with. I immediately thought of Aneesh, of course.

Aneesh Chaganty: When I came in and we had the meeting together, they were like, “We want to follow-up ‘Unfriended’ but we don’t want to follow it up with a traditional feature, we want to follow it up with an anthology feature, basically comprised of a bunch of shorts, all of which take place on computer screens.”

Immediately to me, that was a lot more interesting than a feature film, because we had seen all the feature films that took place on screens and none of them were proof that this was a direction we should be going in. A short film, though, I knew we could make it into not a gimmick, which I think all the other films were. [Pauses.] Sort of rude, but whatever.

About a month and a half later, we ended up texting each other with the idea for “Searching” — first as a short film, that’s how it started out. Same plot. Basically, Dad breaks into his daughter’s laptop to look at clues to find her.

We thought in eight minutes it could be not a gimmick and really cool and engaging and get out before anyone got bored. And we sent a few pages back to the company and I happened to be in Los Angeles a few weeks later for a Google photo shoot and they called us into a board room. All of a sudden, it was Sev and myself in front of a big table of execs and financiers and all that stuff.

They basically told us, “Hey, we don’t want to make the short.” We go, “Well, that’s a bummer.” And they go, “We want to turn it into a feature. Sev and Aneesh, you guys can write it, we’ll pay you guys to write it, Sev, you can produce it, Aneesh, we’ll pay you to direct your first feature, and we’ll finance the whole thing. What do you guys say?”

It was this incredible moment where no filmmaker ever gets this opportunity — but in that instant, I said no.

Ohanian: He said no!

Chaganty: On my left side, he was like kicking me, like, “What are you doing?” and everything like that. But in the moment, it felt like what we were being asked to do was take a concept that we had found to not be a gimmick and then stretch it right back into a 90-minute gimmick. And more than that, make a film not because ours had any artistic merit, but because another film was a hit. Not that ours deserved to exist.

And so for the right reasons I said no, and for the right reasons, Sev said, “We’ll be in touch.” And we left the room and we just kept talking about the enormity of the opportunity, obviously, and how that never happens, despite the parameters of what we were being asked to do. And we were like, “If we hit a wall, we hit a wall, but we should pay respect to this by talking.”

So for two months we just tried to figure out a way into the story and we couldn’t. Until one day, I was living in Williamsburg at the time, and I was texting Sev, and I was like, “Hey, I have a really random idea for an opening sequence.” And Sev goes, “I have an idea for an opening sequence.” And we get on the phone and we pitch each other the exact same opening scene. And to this day, that’s the opening sequence of the film, which is a standalone, very unique seven-minute montage that takes place over 16 years of a family’s life stored on their desktop computer.

In that moment, there was a click, there was a lightbulb that went off, where we realized the potential of this format with this story. And we realized, despite the films that had existed before, there was a way to make this feel not only new, but also for once emotional, engaging, cinematic.

Director/writer Aneesh Chaganty and John Cho on the set of “Searching.”

Ohanian: Our idea with the opening scene was, we wanted to create something that within five minutes, audiences would just forget that what they were watching was unfolding on screens and just get sucked into the story. Hopefully we did that.

Chaganty: So we put together a longer pitch, because immediately [after] that idea of the opening scene, we were like, “And I guess the next scene would be this, and the next scene would be this.” And we started plotting it out immediately. We had a structure very quickly.

We sent that structure back to the company, they bought in, they were like, “We’re paying you guys to do this.” I quit my job at Google, and I got on a flight, moved to L.A. and we made a movie.

TechCrunch: My understanding is that you had created a lot of what happens on the computer screen first, and then John and Debra [Messing] and the other actors were acting on webcams to a certain extent based on what you’d already created.

Chaganty: The way that we like to describe this movie is, we sort of made an animated movie, then shot a live action film, and then put the live action film within the animated film and just kept refining it and refining it.

The reason we started with an animated movie was Sev’s idea, and basically coming from a movie called “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.” It was made in a very similar way, in the sense that it was made before it was made.

Basically, what we realized was that in our film, there are two cameras. There’s all the footage that you’re seeing on this screen, and then there’s the way that you’re framing it, because the camera in our film is always moving around. We realized those two need to play with each other and also inform one another. We need to know what the final product is going to look like, before we even went to set.

So basically, seven weeks before we even hired the actors, we brought in the editors to the film and took them to a room about this big, with two iMac computers, and said, “Welcome home.” And literally just said, “Go.”

They started screen capturing the Internet, like doing text messages, voicemail, whatever, every single thing, zooming in, putting together a cut. And by the end of seven weeks, we had an hour-and-40-minute cut of the entire film, starring me playing every role — dad, daughter, brother, mother, father. You know, all of the friends, talking to myself. And we would understand how the camera was moving and everything, and how to make this movie.

We showed that cut to the crew the night before we started shooting and it was in that moment that they were like, “Oh, that’s the movie we’re making.” Because up until that point, this movie is impossible to talk about. Now we have a trailer, we have a poster, it’s all very easy to be like, “Oh, this is what we made.” But before that I’m saying, “We’re making a thriller, but it takes place on a computer screen, but it’s going to be really good.” And it’s really hard to sell people on that idea. So for them to finally see what we were thinking was very helpful.

And then on set, John’s character, who’s literally operating the computer in the movie, his eyeline — he needs to know exactly where every button is, where every cursor moves, where everything pops, where every video message comes in, he always needs to have a perfect eyeline in the film and know what’s happening. We literally needed to show him that temp video as he’s shooting, so he understands where what he’s shooting is actually being placed in the larger film.

Debra Messing and John Cho in “Searching.”

Ohanian: And the idea with that previz version of the movie was, we wanted the final version of the film to feel polished and cinematic and grab the audience’s attention. It’s a studio movie now with worldwide distribution, but it started off as an indie film. You’ve seen the movie: There’s aerial stuff, car stuff, crowd scenes, water, ravines. We shot it in 13 days.

And part of the idea of doing this version was that we wanted to spend every one of those days making them count as much as we can, and the final product would have consistency and good screen composition and mise en scene and all these amazing things. So it wouldn’t feel accidental, it would feel polished.

TechCrunch: When you were working with the actors, how much did they instinctively know what to do, and how much, given that this is not a format that exists already, did you have to train them for a different kind of acting?

Chaganty: I think every single person on the cast and the crew had to relearn aspects of the job to make this movie. Michelle [La, who plays the daughter Margot] actually says this, that it’s a lot easier for her to behave in front of a screen than it was for John. Maybe it’s a generational thing or whatever, but for us, all the rules visually are different. None of us have ever made another movie like this. I know for a fact, none of us are going to do this again. We’re on-set, we’re all learning together.

I really equate this whole movie with cast and crew holding each other’s hands, we all walk into a dark cave, every single person thinks the person to their right knows a little more than them, but nobody does. And I’m on the far right being like, “Uh, I don’t know … ” But jumping in, and at every point of this cave, in the pure darkness, realizing that there’s one person on this crew or cast who knew how to get to this next challenge.

TechCrunch: It sounds like you guys aren’t necessarily looking to make “Searching 2,” and in fact, I know you already have another project lined up.

Now that you’re at the end of the process, to what extent do you feel that okay, [computer screen movies are a genre] where other directors can come in and do interesting stuff? And to what extent to do you feel like this is probably something that you can make four or five films with, and at the end of it, the possibilities are exhausted?

Chaganty: At the end of the day, I keep saying this, but I think that if you asked Christopher Nolan how many more backwards films are going to happen [after “Memento”], is he starting a subgenre with backwards films? I don’t think the answer would be yes.

We feel the same way about this movie. This, at the end of the day, is a gimmick. It’s a style of telling the story. We found a way, I think, to make it not that and tell the story first, but at the same time, a computer screen only has set imagery. It’s even more limiting than traditional found footage, because with traditional found footage you can set yourself in Singapore, or Hong Kong, or New York, or whatever. You’re always on a laptop screen with a computer screen film.

Maybe the lesson people will learn from us is something that I’ve learned: There is a way still to show technology accurately and honestly — because I don’t think Hollywood has done that yet — using screens and using traditional cinematic language when you’re showing screens. You can still combine that with a live action film, and in a way that feels consistent with your tone and style and genre of whatever larger piece you’re making.

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