#clearly you crave human connection and technology is wonderful for that

[buckevantommy]

if you're posting videos 3-5 times a day on tiktok you're not "living off the grid"

[asphyxiateher]

Only Monsters Come Out at Night

Chapter 3: Addicted to the Way You Hurt Summary: Desdemona is scheming her way out of the castle but a one on one conversation with Bela Dimitrescu shakes up her world.

Desdemona could not quite recall how long it had been since she had been brought down to the cellars of Castle Dimitrescu nor did she care. She had been escorted to a vast open chamber with a high vaulted ceiling, antique cast iron braziers lined the walls offering a dim light that caused shadows to flicker every which way. An archaic chandelier comprised of rusted metal swayed back and forth above her head and it was the only thing Desdemona could focus on as she lay on the ground with her hands clasped together behind her head. The only source of her comfort came in the form of the dank and moldy rustic stone flooring beneath her and that was not saying much.

She shifted uncomfortably to her side and sighed when she realized it was not going to get any better than this. It had taken awhile to adjust to the dark and dismal environment of her new accommodation, but Desdemona currently preferred the desolation over the company of the maniacal sisters who were currently enjoying the life of luxury above ground. At the thought of the chaotic personalities that belonged to Lady Dimitrescu’s daughters, Desdemona shivered and shut her eyes to assuage her fears. If they left her alone, she felt safe in this prison. The surviving Hawthorne twin groaned when she felt immense hunger pangs gnawing at her again, her thirst making itself known once more and she briefly wondered if this was how she was going to die. Gray eyes open in a flash and a familiar dread begins to creep in.

‘I don’t want to die, not like this.’ Desdemona thinks to herself, tears prickling in her eyes as the painful memory of Desmond’s death replays repeatedly in her mind. “Good morning, Little One. Did you sleep well? I could not stop thinking about you sleeping all alone in our cellar. You poor pretty thing, mother thought it best to leave you in here after all that commotion from before.” The voice came from outside the wooden door that kept her locked in the chamber, and Desdemona immediately sat up when she heard the terrifying sound of insects dispersing into what was supposed to be her temporary haven away from all the madness.

Long, dirty blonde hair was the first thing she noticed, and Desdemona’s anxiety spiked when she realized it was Bela Dimitrescu who decided to pay her a visit. From how fondly Alcina spoke of Bela, she was clearly the second in command and that made her incredibly dangerous. Self-preservation began to kick in and Desdemona knew that she had to use her words carefully if she wished to survive this potentially fatal encounter.

“…Bela, if I may address you as such, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Desdemona carefully asked as she slowly backed away from the sadistic killer. Bela surprised the smaller girl when she didn’t laugh at her question but instead offered a small smile in response. “You’re so polite, I almost find it unusual but it’s…pleasant. I can see why mother decided to keep you and I am thankful she did. You’re the best gift she’s ever bestowed to me.” Bela replied, giggling at Desdemona’s reaction when she steps closer to her.

Desdemona’s back hits the wall and Bela’s face is now inches away from hers, shrewd golden eyes now assessing the state of her prey. The blonde firmly cups Desdemona’s chin and forces fearful gray eyes to meet her gaze.

“Please don’t kill me.” Desdemona whispers quietly, her hands instinctively reaching upwards towards her chest. Bela quirks an eyebrow at the request but does not laugh, which throws her human prey off guard considering how she behaved towards her the other day. She quickly wraps a hand around Desdemona’s wrist and tugs her closer, their noses barely touching and Bela’s eyes roll to the back of her head when she inhales the other woman’s scent.

“There are many things I want to do to you, Little One, but killing you is not one of them. You are different and I am trying to figure out how. I yearn to be around you for reasons other than your blood and it’s…frustrating.” Bela admits quietly as she looks away.

Desdemona is shocked to see Bela’s demeanor suddenly change, annoyance quickly replacing her uncertainty in that moment.

“I can see that you’re malnourished. I will send for a maiden to deliver you food as soon as possible. Your blood smells less appetizing when you humans neglect your health. Ugh.” Bela growls as she pushes Desdemona back against the wall and away from her.

Bela twists around and begins to walk towards the exit when she notices Desdemona’s dirty backpack splayed on the floor, strange and unusual curiosities spilling out of it. Her mother had thoroughly searched through the contents of her bag in case she was hiding anything dangerous but was generous enough to leave most of the contents inside alone. Bela being the inquisitive creature that she was glanced over to Desdemona before kneeling on the ground to look through her pretty little pet’s personal items.

Desdemona let out a breath that she didn’t realize she had been holding and decided to take advantage of the peculiar scene unfolding in front of her. She cautiously took a step forward and when she concluded that Bela was not going to attack, Desdemona circled around her and quietly observed the dangerous woman prying into her personal life.

Bela tilted her head in confusion when pulled out a slim device with a cracked screen from the front pocket of her backpack and when she pressed the small circular button to see if it would do anything, the screen flashed on and it made Bela jump. Desdemona did not know whether or not she should laugh in fear for her safety, so she rolled her lips to maintain a neutral facial expression.

“What is this wretched thing and what is its purpose?” Bela demands as she struggles to make sense of Desdemona’s lock screen wallpaper, which was an image of a lone wolf. ‘Is she seriously trying to make conversation with me right now? What the fuck?’ Desdemona asks herself. She knows deep down that she should feel a deep hatred for the woman in front of her, but she didn’t want to anger her and cause her to lash out violently. Desdemona wanted to live a little while longer thank you very much.

“That’s a cell phone, like uh, a mobile telephone you can take everywhere with you and make phone calls. The biggest difference between the landline phone your mother has, as I’ve noticed, and mine is that I can play music, games, and share pictures on here. Crap, my battery is just about dead though.” Desdemona replies, trying ridiculously hard to hide her disappointment when she noticed there was still no signal anywhere in this castle.

Bela’s face lit up when Desdemona mentioned pictures and giggled madly at the prospect of seeing more of this resplendent creature wherever she went. “This bloody thing needs to charge in order to remain powered? I’ll have to ask mother about it, she’s more knowledgeable about modern technology as my sisters and I have no need to know about these things…well, at least until now. Show me where to find your pictures, pet!” Bela exclaims excitedly, her energy quickly swirling and improving the dark atmosphere that surrounded them both.

Desdemona fought valiantly to keep a neutral expression on her face but Bela was making it difficult to hate her when she was this endearing about wanting to learn more about her. When Desdemona made her phone easily accessible to Bela, she showed her where to find her photo albums and she nearly jumped out of her skin when the eldest daughter squealed with absolute glee. It took a great deal of effort not to blush and smile when Bela regarded her with what appeared to be admiration as she compared her appearance from how she looked in the photos to how she looked now.

‘You’re supposed to hate her, Desdemona. They killed your twin brother or have you already forgotten that?’

This strange and unusual moment she was sharing with Bela was all in the name of self-preservation and if giving the other woman her phone meant prolonging her life, then she would gladly give these women anything if it meant she could get out of here alive.

“These photos of you…they do not do you justice. You’re more beautiful in person, you know.” Bela murmurs quietly, a tidal wave of emotions washing over in an instant the moment she says this, and Desdemona is finally able to figure out why the other woman snapped at her earlier.

Bela was lonely, a trait she found in common with Lady Dimitrescu’s eldest daughter. She may have had her sisters for company for whoever knows how long but she could easily see how a sudden wave of isolation would wash over them from time to time. They craved companionship outside of the family and wanting to form an intimate connection with other people made them the way they are now. Desdemona related to that very well but on a level that did not send her on a murderous rampage. Perhaps she could use this to her advantage later; she could manipulate her way into the fold by making them think she cared about them and eventually use their weaknesses against them. It was all too tempting of an idea.

“Bela, you can have my phone and if you’re that to determined to learn how to use it, I’ll give you my charger if your mom can help you with that. Consider it a gift, you’ve been so… lovely and kind to me so far.” Desdemona said through nearly gritted teeth, wondering how long she could keep up with the façade. Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters had been everything but kind to her and lying wasn’t in her nature.

There is an uncomfortable quietness for a split second before Bela tears her eyes away from the phone and leers at Desdemona with an unmistakable look of hunger in her eyes. Desdemona swallows hard, wondering if she had gone a touch overboard but she couldn’t think on it any longer when Bela unexpectedly leaps at her with teeth bared.

Bela pushes her frightened victim hard onto her back and laughs wildly with her head thrown back before she leans over and attempts to capture her prey’s lips in what she thinks is supposed to be a kiss. Desdemona gasps into Bela’s mouth but that quickly turns into a whine the moment she feels teeth gnashing against her dried, chapped lips in a manner so rough, it felt as though Bela intended to rip out her mouth.

‘Oh fuck, this lunatic is going to rip your mouth off of your face; do something! Do whatever it takes to survive but for fuck’s sake, don’t let her rip your mouth off!’ Desdemona’s frantic thoughts spurred her into action, the taste of her own blood already coating her tongue.

Desdemona summons enough strength to shove Bela away from her face but not off of her, her hands shakily keeping Bela in place atop of her hips. Bela, for the most part, looks furious at being rejected and she’s ready to punish her plaything for fighting back until she speaks again.

“I-if that’s what you c-call a kiss, you’ll need to do better than that, Bela. If I don’t have any lips to kiss you back, what would your sisters about say about that? Wasn’t it you that accused them of breaking me faster than you ever could? Don’t you want to savor every inch of me?” Desdemona ventures playfully, testing the waters to see if she could invoke any kind of reaction that would somehow calm Bela down. It seemed to work as Bela’s eyes widened in surprise, her hands flying up to cover her own mouth as if she were ashamed of her actions.

“You’re right, Cassandra and Daniela would never let me hear the end of it if I tore any part of you off before they get a chance to. It would be too humiliating!” Bela says as she unmounts herself from Desdemona.

Desdemona slowly begins to lean back on her arms as if to get up and the movement does not go unnoticed by Alcina’s eldest daughter. Bela grips the back of her head and forces her off the ground, her eyes slowly going over the entire length of Desdemona’s body once more. Desdemona feels her breath hitch the moment Bela tugs her closer to her body so now that their breasts were touching.

“You are driving me wild with lust, Desdemona Hawthorne, and it is dangerous for you should you dare toy with me. I mentioned earlier that you’re different from all the other maidens we interact with here in our home. The other women scream at the very sight of us! When we play, they bleed and cry for help, they fight back and run away only to find that there is nothing they can do to stop us. They don’t communicate with us, they only weep and beg for mercy and it is so very tiresome. Their blood was beginning to sicken me to the point that I thought all women’s blood was disgusting…until you came along that is.” Bela tells her in an unusually quiet tone, her grip on Desdemona’s thick tresses of hair loosening.

Desdemona licks her lips, a motion Bela follows with interest, and she sucks in a mouthful of air as she tentatively places a hand on top of Bela’s. She exhales when Bela’s fingers curl around her hand possessively.  

“Disobedience begets punishment and the maidens that dare fight back and run from us find out that my mother’s wrath comes in many unpleasant forms. You’re lucky if you’re brought down here to die, but the others…let’s just say they eek out a living in abandoned parts of my mother’s home with nothing but the memories of what they were before and now their only purpose in life is to consume the living.” Bela brings up Desdemona’s knuckles to her lips and kisses them. She forces one of Desdemona’s fingers into her mouth and moans as she sucks on the tip, immensely enjoying the other woman’s reaction to her lewd action.

Desdemona was breathing heavily now, an unsettling chill washing over her in what she assumed was fear. She could not believe what she was hearing yet Bela telling her all this so casually meant that harassing and tormenting maidens was the norm for Lady Dimitresu and her daughters. It sounded like they either fed off of the poor maidens that worked in the castle or Lady Dimitrescu herself experimented on or killed the disobedient ones.

“Where do I fit in all of this?” Desdemona asks. “Mother has seen it fit to keep you alive as my pet and I can do whatever I want with you yet you don’t fight back, you speak to me in a respectful tone and you’ve given me a gift. You have clearly declared your utmost love and devotion to me. I must keep you alive and away from my sisters so neither of them can see what you mean to me. You are my beloved!” Bela declares confidently as she reaches out to pet Desdemona’s head affectionately.

‘What?’

Desdemona freezes in place as her mind tries to absorb what is being said to her. She figured that Bela was lonely but that she was also the wisest and more mature of her sisters so she expected her to have a stronger notion as to what love entails. Desdemona should have known better to expect more from monsters who have known nothing but the horrors of sacrifice, torture, and murder in this hell house.

Bela grew slightly impatient at Desdemona’s continued silence and startled the younger girl by slapping her across the face.

“Well, do you have anything to say after I poured my heart and soul out to you or are you just toying with me? Mother and I do not tolerate the games you humans like to play.” Bela growls out menacingly as she towers over her prey, her hand reaching for the sickle that was strapped to her side.

Although she was momentarily stunned, Desdemona’s survival instincts kicked right back into gear.

“I-I understand, I apologize for my quiet demeanor but that’s how I am. I’m not used to sharing my thoughts with other people, so please bear with me, Mistress!” Desdemona begins, her hands reaching out and clutching at Bela’s hooded dress. She looked up and could see that Bela was clearly pleased with the title of ‘Mistress.’

“You’ll find that I prefer that you share your thoughts with me more often, my love, since you’ve so freely given yourself to me. I will go inform mother of our developing relationship and quickly send a maiden down here for food, you poor thing. I can hear your stomach growling and it is so pitiful to see. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you to recover but don’t fret for too long. I’ll be back to see you soon.” Bela turned to leave but there was another question in the back of Desdemona’s mind that demanded an answer so she hurried over to Bela’s slowly disintegrating form and gripped her shoulder in order to stop her.

 Bela raised a brow at the action but when turned around, she couldn’t help but melt at the sight of Desdemona’s pretty puppy dog eyes looking up at her in love and adoration.

“Before you go, I have to know what happened to my best friend, Veronica. The loud-mouth your mother dragged around in chains. Is she…is she still alive?” Desdemona asked, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer but if she were still alive, at least she wouldn’t be alone and in miserable in Castle Dimitrescu.

 Bela smirked knowing exactly what plans her mother had in store for the other screeching woman-thing. The way Desdemona was looking at her, however, made her bite her own lip and relent. She normally kept her mother’s word and did not discuss such plans with outsiders but this was the woman who threw herself at Bela’s feet and declared her love for her.

“Mother is teaching her a lesson about obedience. She will not kill her if your friend plays her cards right, but your friend is stubborn and mother likes to beat that out of our servants. That’s all I will say on the matter, does that satisfy you?” Bela asked as she cupped Desdemona’s chin and gazed into her unfathomably deep gray eyes.

Desdemona holds back a choked sob and simply nods in response, sighing in relief when Bela finally transforms into a massive ball of insects and leaves the dungeon.

 She curls up into a ball and brings her knees tightly against her chest, tears now running freely down her face. Desdemona cries for what seems like an eternity but when she begins to calm down, a small amount of hope swells in her chest. Veronica was still alive. If they could reunite, they could come up with a plan to escape this castle without alerting Lady Dimitrescu and her demented daughters. There’s absolutely no way they could fight their way out of here, no matter how much Veronica would want to go out in the most violent way possible.

Just on the other side of the chamber’s door and down the dimly lit and gloomy hallway, Bela was on her way to see her mother when she glanced down at the strange device her beloved Desdemona had given her. Her heart was consumed by a strange, fluttering feeling that made her feel light-headed and it would have annoyed Bela if the picture on the screen wasn’t so damned tempting. It was a picture of Desdemona wearing absolutely nothing and she was posing so provocatively that it made Bela want to go back and have her way with the beauty she was looking at on screen. She had been messing around with the photo albums Desdemona showed her and found something that read ‘Hidden’. She must have clicked it by accident, and mother forgive her, she was ever so glad that she did.

Bela sighed and clutched the phone tightly to her chest, not wanting this strange sensation of desire to leave her body. She was absolutely certain that she was in love with Desdemona Hawthorne and nobody was going to take that away from her.

[mantra4ia]

Debris: speculation and things we know so far about...

Finola

Her mother, Jenna Goldland, died of cancer. Natural causes? Genetics? Debris side effect? All speculative.

Her father, George Jones, was an astrophysicist that allegedly took his life because he couldn't cope with multiple disorienting losses in his life (his wife, his work, his sense of self and purpose) and was revived by debris.

She took her dad's watch after staying with him in the morgue.

She holds Maddox partly responsible for his death, which leaves a certain unresolved tension between her and Bryan since Bryan considers Maddox a mentor just shy of unimpeachable.

Her semi-estranged sister Dee Dee has problems with substance abuse. (1x01)

Despite her claims to not get along well with Dee Dee in episode 2, Finola craves and clearly misses familial connections because she feels so alone. It's a slow and steady burn. Which is why she goes out of her way to repair and protect families for other people. Whether it's talking to Isla in episode 1 about her mother's grief, or trying to break bad news to Caroline about her father in episode 7, episode 4 where she nearly touches Efrain's arm before deciding to reunite him and his family, or episode 3 where she watches from a distance as Nicole and Richard Hegman, a father and daughter separated for years and connected by dreams — that George only ever thought to study in order to solve differential equations— touch hands through glass, reunited. That's why she begs her father to make room for her in episode 8 and why it's such a personal sacrifice to give up a version of her father in episode 10 that tells Finola he loves her.

She and Bryan share an unspoken bond over dealing with grief.

Finola is very go-with-her-gut but not in the same sense as Bryan who is pragmatic, nor her father who is empiric, but an amalgam of pragmatism, data, and a majority largely composed of empathy. She knows how to read and respond to people, and she bases many of her decisions on the human cost. So whereas Bryan trusts his instinct to take split second, impulsive risks where time is the essence, Finola trusts her gut to weigh out the cost overall before taking the decisive risk.

It's unclear as to what she did before MI6 and Orbital. She reports to Priya Ferris, but it's not said how close the professional relationship is.

She grew up in the UK and spent at least part of her childhood in the Isle of Wight. Since joining Orbital, she has a stateside apartment in DC.

Favorite Finola quotes

"I know what grief can do to a person...I was completely lost, just closed off from everyone." 1x01 Pilot

"I always find when I give a part of myself, I get so much more back. Connection is all we really have to keep us on the ground here." 1x01

"I can't help but wonder what aspect of you I would have seen that matters most... You're more than just a federal agent [Bryan] but it's the only thing you've shown man and that's the least important thing." 1x02 You Are Not Alone

"So there's a whole secret peeps subculture then?...I asked them to get the stalest ones they could find." 1x02

"Let's just look out for each other." 1x02

"If we're not willing to use this technology on these people then we're not worthy to have it." 1x03 Solar Winds

"You know, when they designed it, I really don’t think NASA engineers intended that to be your personal toaster oven, Bryan." 1x06 Supernova

"It's not aliens [Niels]" 1x10 I Am Icarus

"You get a cereal box. Honey Nut Malcontent." 1x10

"You know, you could just pull up a chair to the buffet [Bryan]." 1x07 You Can Call Her Caroline

"I really understand how important your work is to you. I just wished there was room in there for me." 1x08 Spaceman

"They are liars, all of them." 1x08

"You're not getting [my father] either [Ferris]. I know what you did...I will let you know what you need to know when I know it." 1x08

"I did it because it was right." / "People deserve to know what happens to the ones they love." 1x04 In Universe

"You fight so bravely because you have nothing and you want nothing because you are afraid to have something to lose. Because if you did, your heart would no longer be steel." 1x09 Do You Know Icarus? A slightly less than subtle illustration of a causal loop that proliferates the reality arc: in being afraid to have something to lose, your heart is no longer impervious and steeled. This means you have something, which is why you fight so bravely— regardless of whether you are able to admit it.

[supergoodwill]

Co w duszy gra Online Cda Zalukaj  Chomikuj

Movie Co w duszy gra online proves the theory that all the studio's films take place in an interconnecteduniverse.I'll also show you how Soul explains the Toy Story movies, where the Incredibles get theirpowers, and the origins of the magical doorways in Monsters Inc and Brave.Plus I'll explain how the new film fits in with Inside Out and Coco.

Of course, there'll be some spoilers, so take care.Jon Negroni first introduced the idea of a single Pixar timeline, and it's in Soul'sThe Hall of Everything where we can find especially compelling evidence to confirm Negroni's theory.The hall is overflowing with specific objects and locations which often recur in Pixar'sfilms, from the iconic Pizza Planet truck to the blimp from Up, and even the weirdlyshaped rock, called Wille's Butte from the Cars movies.And that's a huge pointer that the films exist in the same universe.But Soul goes even further than this, because even though the film appears to be set roughlyin the present day, which I'm basing on the look and feel of New York City and the cellphoneJoe uses, the Hall of Everything even has objects fromthe future such as the Axiom from Wall-E, one of a fleet of giant starliners that wasn'tused until 2105 when Buy N Large arranged for the evacuation of Earth.This implies that The Hall of Everything may even contain blueprints or at least the inspirationfor events that are still to come in the future of the Pixar universe.

Co w duszy Gra CDA also demonstrates one of the most important concepts at the heart of Negroni's Pixar Theory,that humans are batteries.The idea is that human beings are a source of energy to sentient objects such as thetoys in Toy Story which is why they crave the love of their owners;otherwise, it's suggested that if the toys end up stored away they lose their life.And in Monsters Inc, we know that technology exists that can harvest energy from humanemotions such as fear or joy.And there are several moments in Soul that strongly support this idea of humans as anenergy source.When Joe is on the elevator that leads to the Great Beyond, he notices that as the soulsof the recently deceased float up into the big bright light, they fizzle and cracklelike an electrical charge.[electrical crackling sounds] As if to reinforce this idea that a soul isa form of energy, there's also an electrical crackle sound effect whenever we see Terrycounting souls on her abacus.[electrical crackling sounds] Joe also discovers in the Great Before thatbefore new souls can take their place on Earth, they not only have to acquire a set of personalities,but they also need what the movie calls a "spark" to complete that personality.Without this spark, theoretically a soul isn't allowed to go to Earth and live a human life.

Twenty-two does end up on Earth by accident, but the general rule is that a "spark" isneeded to complete the Earth Pass which a soul needs to live a life.The word "spark" can, of course, mean a number of things such as a burst of electricity oran intense feeling or emotion, which again points to this idea of human beings as a formof energy or batteries even.Another crucial element of Negroni's Pixar theory is the idea that Boo from MonstersInc travels back in time to become the Witch in Brave.I'll get to how Soul supports this idea shortly, but first let's quickly recap what the theorysays about time travel.Brave is set in 10th-century Scotland whereas, given the monsters' advanced technology, MonstersInc takes place in the future.The clearest evidence which suggests time travel is the wood carving of Sulley thatthe Witch has in her cottage.She's also obsessed with bears which could be her way of expressing the strong friendshipshe made with Sulley in Monsters Inc.On top of that, the Witch has carvings of the Pizza Planet truck which should be impossiblegiven motorised vehicles most definitely did not exist in medieval Scotlandand she has carved parodies of famous art by artists from the future like Michelangelo.

The door to the Witch's cottage is also magical and can transport her into an alternate interiorversion of her hut, and it can also make her disappear.This is because Boo learned how the technology of the portal doors at the Monsters Inc factoryworked, which is how she travelled through time and space.Crucially in Soul, we can see this same technology in the You Seminar.After souls are paired up with their mentor, Jerry conjures up a door and sends them throughit, instantly transporting them to another location.And when Jerry gives Joe his second chance to return to Earth, he passes from The GreatBeyond through a door and emerges on Earth through another door.Given The Great Before existed at the beginning of time, it suggests that the technology formagical portals in the Pixar Universe was originally born there.Soul also makes a sneaky possible reference to Boo's time-travel shenanigans in what initiallyappears to be a throwaway line by one of the Jerrys.When Terry turns up to complain that the count is out by one soul, Jerry replies:"I seriously doubt that.The count hasn't been off in centuries."This is a vital piece of information for Pixar theorists because it tells us an anomaly similarto Joe escaping the elevator that was taking him to the Great Beyond has happened previously,several hundred years ago in fact.To understand what may have happened all those centuries ago, let's look at what happenedwhen Joe's soul accidentally fell into the body of Mr Mittens."Why am I in a cat?""I don't know!""Meow."It seems that Mr Mittens' soul was sent off to The Great Beyond.So, what if Boo did a similar thing when she time-travelled to medieval Scotland?

Could she have landed in the body of a Scottish woman and displaced her soul sending it upto the Great Beyond?That would mean there'd be an extra soul in the afterlife without a corresponding deadbody on Earth, which could be the reason for the count being off as Jerry said.Interestingly, when Joe returns to his old body in Soul, Mr Mittens appears to regainhis original soul too as we see him reunite with his owner,so if my theory about Boo and the Witch's soul is correct, it makes me wonder whetherTerry did anything about the anomaly that occurred in the soul count hundreds of yearsago.By the way, it's worth pointing out that there's also a Brave easter egg in Soul during thevideo at the You Seminar when we see a soul find its spark after it successfully shootsan arrow into the centre of one of three targets, referencing Merida's demonstration of archeryskills when she fired arrows into three targets.And there are, of course, many more Pixar easter eggs in Soul including the Chinesetakeout box, A113, and the Luxo Ball, all of which I reveal in my full easter eggs video.Now, there are two Pixar movies, Inside Out and Coco, which on the surface seem to contradictSoul and maybe pose a problem for how smoothly it fits into the interconnected universe ofthe Pixar Theory.

The first issue is to do with personality.In The Great Before, we discover that every soul acquires a set of personalities beforethey go to Earth."This is where personalities come from?""Of course!Do you think people are just born with them?"However, in Inside Out, personalities are formed whenever a new core memory is made."Each Core Memory powers a different aspect of Riley's personality.The Islands of Personality are what make Riley...Riley!"While these ideas about personality may appear to be at odds with one another, they can beeasily reconciled if we think of a new born soul as having a baseline personality at birth,some of which adapts and changes as that person grows up and has different experiences.In fact, in Inside Out we see that Riley loses her personalities when she experiences a traumaticevent, however, these are later restored and new ones are also added as she grows up;so an individual's personality is clearly not something static or unchanging.Likewise, Soul also shows us how Twenty Two's personality changes as she experiences lifeon earth.Something else we need to reconcile is how Coco's Land of the Dead fits with Soul's depictionof The Great Beyond.

In Co w Duszy Gra online, the afterlife is a relatively simple place with an escalator that leads souls toa giant white light in the sky.This representation may be alluding to the idea that many people who report near-deathexperiences describe a tunnel with a bright light at the end that draws them towards it.Coco's spirit world, on the other hand, is complex and bursting with colours, with theMarigold Bridge forming a connection between the Land of the Living and the elaborate andcomplex Land of the Dead.Fear not though, because we can resolve these differences by turning to Pixar's officialThe Art of Soul book, which describes The Great Beyond as"a place beyond all that can be known […] represented by a brilliant white light ina vast space […] What lies beyond the light is all up to interpretation."As the book suggests, we can interpret what is beyond the bright light in our own way,and so we can see the Land of the Dead in Coco as a culturally-specific vision of whatthe afterlife is unique to people of Mexican heritage.This would also explain how Coco can have its own specific rules for its spirit world,such as allowing the dead to cross over to the Land of the Living one day each year.What's common to both Soul and Coco though is that the dead souls all retain the appearanceand age they had at the time of their death, whereas in the Great Before, all the soulslook more or less similar, likely because they haven't yet taken a human form yet.The sparks that a soul acquires may even explain where the Supers in The Incredibles got theirpowers.Could it be that the souls that ended up as superheroes were supercharged with extra powersby the spark they received in the Great Before?There is, after all, a statue of what looks like a caped hero on a plinth in the Hallof Everything.

Maybe that statue was responsible for sparking the unfortunate idea of caped superheroes."No capes!"And this is just a fun idea, but could the soul that's being interviewed here for theYou Seminar training video be the soul of Buddy Pine, aka Syndrome."I'm a manipulative megalomaniac, who's intensely opportunistic.""Oh ho!This one might be a handful, but that's Earth's problem."Perhaps Syndrome got his spark from that statue, because after all it was his cape that provedto be his ultimate undoing.And yes, Syndrome wasn't born with powers, but that statue might have inspired him toseek glory in whatever way he could.Or could that soul be Evelyn Deavor, the master manipulator and evil tech genius from thesecond Incredibles movie?The soul's possibly female-sounding voice might also suggest this, although we knowfrom Twenty Two that a soul can change their voice to sound like any type of person."I can sound like this if I wanted to.Or sound like this instead.I can even sound like you."If you like either of these ideas, leave a thumbs-up or comment below with which otherPixar character you think this troublemaking soul could be

[troublescout]

H&CF 04x06 : A Connection Is Made

This show just ruminates in my head and there’s so much to love about this episode...

EDITED for realizations about the sketchy nature of Alexa Vonn, as well as the Donna/Joe dynamic...

Joe’s Comet slogans are pretty awful, but I’m glad to see Cam wanting to be his focus group. It says a lot that they made it through last week’s revelations and are spending time in the Airstream together.

Speaking of which, “Cheese egg??” Still sounds vile, but aww.

Donna ousting Cecil was rough, but I like the softness it brings out of her... even if it is partially a manipulation so she doesn't have to face Cameron.

Donna’s idea of “the truth” (that she wants Cecile to tell) is such a lie. Donna needs to reconnect with honesty in such a big way. She’s not being open or transparent with anyone in her life right now and it’s so corrosive.

ROCKETS!!!

Hayley’s idea of “just us” means Gordon, Joe, and Cam (plus a bonus of Katie for her dad). That just warms my heart. Although, I do wonder why no Joanie? (Considering their bonding later, I find it a nice parallel that this is also who Joe would pick as his “just us” group.)

El Gordo means handsome. Ha!

“He asked me for help, I didn’t go out and write him an algorithm.” Gordon has her here. Cam has a bunch of money and could have given him a nice chunk of change, or steered him to tell Diane, or towards other talented coders, but she “wanted to see if she could do it”. First and foremost she wanted to help Bos, but Gordon knows she was also just itching to touch a keyboard. “I know you. You dream in code.” I love where their relationship is at.

Joe scampering up to Cam like an eager puppy to ask her to film them is ADORABLE. And how endearing Cam finds it is pretty darn adorable too.

The whole rocket seen is so joyous and such a respite for this show/entire series. I could have watched it all the live long day.

Cut to Donna all alone with “music to kill yourself by”. :(

Joanie asks how Bos is. She lied her way into the hospital to see him. She’s really a good egg underneath the bluster.

When Donna reminisces about her crazy/brave moment of freedom that she covets from her youth, she recalls a camping trip with Gordon. This is so sad because she led Gordon to believe she really hated camping, but clearly that’s not the whole truth.

Donna’s cartwheel... You could still be crazy, Donna! Just remember what Gordon said before you went to Comdex with the Giant... “You're crazy, too. No, no, you forget that, but you are. We were both crazy and then all of a sudden, you decided you needed to be the sane one. That you needed to take care of me, but you don't. Look, be crazy with me.” She has it in her. She’s trying so hard to be sane, she’s going the bad kind of crazy.

Joe wants kids SO bad. My heart aches for him.

Cameron’s line about how, “Kids are great if you can give birth to a 14 year-old” echoes what she told Bos about how if were up to her, she and Tom would “get them out of a vending machine like everything else in Japan”. It’s definitely not a flat out condemnation of having children in general, but it shows a real hesitation about babies and possibly pregnancy? I wonder if Cam has any concerns over fertility considering her inability to get pregnant with Tom? I wonder if Cam wants kids, but feels too irresponsible/selfish to devote herself to an infant? Yes, Cam was awkward as hell with Bos’s grandson, but that was 7+ years ago when she was a very different person in a very different place. Plus, being awkward with other people’s babies (especially if you’ve never been around a baby before) doesn’t mean you don’t ever want your own. I’m basically just feeling like the show is setting us/Joe up to make assumptions about what Cam wants, when the only thing she’s ever said outright is that she wasn’t ready/didn’t want children with Tom. And considering she wanted Tom to leave and was really in love with Joe, that makes total sense. Part of me feels like Bos is right, and Cam might surprise us with how she actually feels on the subject...

Hayley sending the “Cameron Howe Fansite”, and the way it made Cam realize she’s created many things that are loved, was a well placed nudge in the right direction. (Tangent: So many reviewers are misattributing the fansite to Alexa Vonn, so I’m going to get into this for a sec... Alexa Vonn is the woman who asked Cam questions about Pilgrim at the MISC panel before Cam/Donna had their showdown. After seeing the fansite Hayley sent her, Cam was inspired to take the meeting with Alexa who had been trying to get in contact with Cam via email since MISC. Alexa offers Cam a job because she admires Cam’s skills and world-building capabilities, but Alexa has absolutely zero to do with the fansite.)

As much as I love "The Howe of it All”... How did the author of it get those pretty personal pictures of Cam (At her desk at Cardiff? With her Mutiny team back in TX?) Was it created by one of her former coder monkeys? I’m probably overthinking something they don’t want me too...

Joe’s computer is still running Loadstar. Brand/girlfriend loyalist!

Hayley crushing on Vanessa was just delightful. And her losing her train of thought because of it was so spot-on. Susannah Skaggs has been Knocking. It. Out. Of. The. Park.

And Joe realizing Hayley has a crush is some of the loveliest work by Pace to date. Joe’s warm, protective face! Golden! He feels such a kinship with her and it’s so pure.

Joe’s, “she seems cool,” was the perfect touch. Approval without calling her out.

Hayley getting along with Katie so well this week made me realize that perhaps last week she more flustered by listening to PJ Harvey than she was over Katie and Joanie bonding or even her dad’s sex life. Joanie asking if she could borrow the PJ Harvey Walkman to go after and check on Hayley makes me think that maybe Joanie is clued in to her sister’s sexuality... Especially because later we see Hayley listening to it, not Joanie. Maybe? Maybe not?

“Mutiny was the most fun I ever had.” Great call back to S3 finale.

Community was Donna’s brainchild and it was so heartwarming to have coder guy, Bobby Aron, tell her how much it meant to him. Unfortunately it was even more heartbreaking to watch her implode the whole thing by drinking herself into bed with him. 

Loved the continuing reversal of traditional roles by having Diane propose to John. Huss was wonderful in his reveal of John’s betrayal. I want John happy so I’m glad it looks like they’ll pull through as a couple...

I love Hayley, but I agree with Gordon that she can’t be flunking school. That wasn’t their deal and Hayley didn’t even seem aware of how badly she was failing. And poor Gordon was actually handling the situation pretty well until the milkshake went flying. On the other hand, Hayley clearly needs Comet, so I hope they take Joe’s advice and find a compromise to get her back in the door.

Gordon trying to slam the soft-closing door. 🤣 Poor Gordo is always feeling impotent when he’d like to feel powerful.

I felt like Diane was very harsh on Donna, but perhaps deservedly so... As heart-wrenching as Donna’s “I can’t, I can’t, I just - can’t” was, it only proved that she’s letting a 7 year old wound rule her and drive her business decisions - in more ways than one. That coupled with her drinking problem and I think Diane is right to draw a hard line.

I’m not sure what I think of Alexa Vonn and her offer to “stay out of [Cam’s] way”. That was an interesting callback to what Joe told her at Lev’s hospital beside back in the day. It’s very cool to get bankrolled to do whatever you want, no strings attached, but my Spidey sense is tingling. Sounds too good to be truly stringless.

EDIT: I rewatched the Alexa scene and she actually comes off a lot like old-school Joe MacMillan. She acknowledges some flaws in Cam’s work, but is extraordinarily praising. She promises the future and what it could hold. How Cam could utilize new technology to bring about that change. She even goes so far as to call Cam a “builder”, which is what Joe has always called Gordon. And most damning of all? She said she got a copy of Pilgrim from Atari because “you can get anything if you know how to ask”. Dun dun dunnnn!! Now if that doesn’t sound like old-Joe/Joe MacMillian Sr., I don’t know what does. Alexa definitely has me worried that she’s just another parasite that she’s claiming she won’t be.

EDIT: I also forgot to mention my theory ax to why Alexa has the money to fund Cameron at such a young age... it's very possible Alexa comes from inherited wealth. Joe wasn't handed his father's money at a young age because he was expected to earn his own way, but if he had been, he could have funded a project like this. (Remember the house he grew up in?) I'm banking that Alexa is independently wealthy and works as a reporter/investor just because she wants to and gaming/tech is where her interest lies. But I guess we'll see...

All this being said, I love that Alexa called out Cameron on the fact that she really didn’t want anyone to win Pilgrim. She made it so difficult that only people who truly know Cam have a chance -- which makes sense because she was isolated when she wrote it and was craving connection with the people who knew her best... Which is why Donna is excelling. Although I think she’s also excelling because it’s the only connection Donna has to Cam right now, so it drives her back to the game repeatedly. Joe, on the other hand, played the game before he and Cam got back together. We know he “hasn’t finished it yet”, but I wonder if he’s played it at all since they became a couple. Joe tends to go in for the human touch when he can. Generally speaking he’s only resorted to playing games to be near Cam when they were estranged.

Why is Gordon SO freaking inept at cleaning that window!

I love Joe and Gordon’s friendship SO MUCH. I love that Joe went to check on Gordon and how subtle and supportive he was trying to be of both Gordon and Hayley simultaneously. However, Gordon really stepped in it with the “you just want what’s best for you” and the “you’re not a parent and you never will be” crap. Does Gordon really not see how Joe has changed over the years? How Joe has made huge strides even from a few episodes back when Gordon told him he pushes people too much? Since then, Joe has made a marked effort to not push Hayley or Cameron or Gordon for that matter, but instead to ask their opinion and be more considerate.

Again, I need to praise Pace’s acting. Joe’s silent devastation at being told by his best friend that not only will he never have kids, but also that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a parent, period, is palatable and particularly difficult to watch.

The reveal of Donna’s drinking problem is also terribly painful. Joanie was so excited to talk about France and bond and then it all just fades into resigned disappointment.

It’s a little thing, but I really like that when Joanie doesn’t want to play Pilgrim with her mother, she says she wants to “go check on Hayley”. Clark sisters are my fav sisters.

Do Hayley and Joanie talk about how their mom is drinking too much?

Joe and Bos bonding warms my heart. Gordon’s remarks from earlier were so stuck in Joe’s head in this scene. I’m glad Bos can see that Joe’s changed and flat out told him so. 

Joe did used to be an asshole and Bos once had the police kick the shit out of Joe as a power play to make him fall in line. They’ve both come a long way.

Joe telling Bos he always has a place to stay if things don’t work out with Diane? Case in point. And very sweet. Joe doesn’t want anyone to feel like they don’t have a place they belong. Bos’s little smile! 

Donna’s drunk driving karaoke session nearly gave me a heart attack. That shit was so tense.

Gordon picking Donna up from the drunk tank was an excellent throw back to the first time we met Gordon when she was picking him up from the drunk tank.

I’m so glad Gordon could be there for Donna (Did anyone else notice he drove himself! No driver!), but I wish Donna could really hear and accept what he was saying. The way she didn’t take his offered hand... Donna is so disappointed with and hard on herself and I just want to hug her and shake her simultaneously. 

And Bishé was just stellar in her last scene opposite Cam. You can see that as much as Cam wishes things were probably different between her and Donna, she has, in many ways, let it go and moved past it. She has Joe and Bos and Gordon and even Hayley/Joanie in her life in a meaningful/open way. (“[Joe] already knows,” took the wind out of Donna in such a profound way.) Cam is more ruled by Pilgrim’s failure now than Mutiny’s and she’s making great strides to move past that as well. She’s literally willing to give away her code because it wasn’t that important to her. Helping Bos was. Donna can have the code; she doesn’t care. Donna, on the other hand, is still smarting from 7 years ago and 3-4 years ago. Her needing Cam’s code just drives home for Donna what she has always feared - that she’s nothing special without Cam. It’s another moment that’s just completely heartbreaking. Donna doesn’t have anyone in her life she’s being truly open with. She’s not a person Bos went to for help, she feels slighted by and like she’s failing Diane, she doesn’t have Cam, Hayley is bonding heavily with her father and his girlfriend and Joe and is happier at Comet than at home. Joanie is a reminder of the person she feels like she was always too afraid to be (or used to be and can’t get back to). And Gordon is there for her, but he’s moving on with his life (has Comet, BFF Joe, Hayley, Katie, even Cam) and she feels so alone. I really can’t wait for the inevitable upswing, but watching Bishé sink Donna to the very bottom has been a real thing of beauty. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this show should be winning all sorts of awards.

Second to last moment of the show is Gordon finding out his daughter is smitten with a girl and I thought it was handled so well. Gordon has been excelling as a dad this year, so my fingers are crossed that he’ll keep it up when it comes to handling this situation with Hayley. The good thing is, she definitely has a strong ally and support system in Joe if her parents screw up.

Cameron is finally back online and it’s music to her ears and mine. Girl is grumpy and idle and as Gordon said, “gets into trouble” without her tech. Welcome home, baby.

On a different note, I’m actually incredibly psyched to see the Donna/Joe showdown teased in the preview for next week. Donna has always had such animosity for Joe that, in my mind, has felt disproportionate to what he’s actually done to her. He’s never outwardly tried to hurt her in anyway. And Gordon and Cam, the people who were most hurt by his actions, not only forgave him, but love him, yet Donna generally holds steady in her opinion that Joe is a villain. Donna on the other hand, knew Joe had nothing to do with WestNet and still concocted and executed the plan with Cameron to completely destroy his reputation/career. It’s such an fascinating dynamic especially because they’ve never shared much screen time together.

In the S3 finale, Joe said when he saw the Symphonic debut, he knew not only Gordon, but also Donna, were “geniuses ahead of their time”. He thought they were both brilliant and yet when it came time to reverse engineer a PC, he went to Gordon (not Donna and not both of them). I’ve always wondered if she resented that on some level. Joe is notorious for having this ability to spot someone’s potential and he saw it in Gordon and he saw it in Cam, but he never actively courted Donna. Why is that?? I’ve always found it puzzling. Was his dismissal of her help to recover the BIOS in S1 really because he thought her skills were out of date or was he just pushing her buttons to get her to step up? Or was he just being ruled by his “family is evil at work and in general” headspace at the time?

Arguably, Joe and Donna’s largest interaction was in S1E6 “Landfall”. Even after Donna had Joe’s number and figured out that he had engineered Cam “losing the BIOS”, they had such an open, honest rapport while waiting out the huge storm. She saw him play with her kids and go to great lengths to comfort and entertain them. They were laughing and seemed to be genuinely enjoying each other’s company on the couch. Joe even told her about his mother taking him up to the roof. I find the way their relationship devolved and the animosity that grew/ solidified to be so interesting.

EDIT: I also wanted to say, I find it fascinating that despite Donna’s general condemnation of Joe and his behavior, it is his former managerial style and business acumen that she seeks to emulate more than any other. Donna recognized early on that Joe’s behavior was toxic to his life (particularly his personal life), but still sought to model her own behavior after his because she wanted his perceived success/recognition. As expected, it was detrimental to her personal relationships. In the mean time, Joe has moved away from this toxic modus operandi and is much happier, but has become weary of Donna’s ruthlessness. It’s a weird role reversal that I find really compelling.

EDIT: Donna is an amazing business woman, no doubt, but I really miss her engineering side and hope it comes back into play. I feel like she fled that field because she felt inadequate and saw an alternate venue to shine, but Donna’s true strength is she basically possesses all the other character’s skills at once: She has the business savvy, the engineering genius, understands coding, and gets emotionally invested, but can pivot and refocus if need be when something’s not working. Her only real downfall is her constant need to prove herself and seek external validation. Without it, she wouldn’t make almost any of the mistakes that she has. In reality, she could be the strongest player because she understands all sides of the board. She just desperately needs to get out of her own way.

For those of you afraid that there is too much ground to cover before the show is over, I might remind you that this time last season Gordon and Cam were bonding over Mario Cart, Cam had just gotten married, and Joe and Ryan were working on the NSFNET deal behind the board’s back. The show moved a lot of mountains before that season was through. There are very few shows I have faith in, but I do have faith in this one. Truthfully, it might be the only one. I think it will get to where it needs to go before all is said and done. And be emotionally satisfying to boot. 

That being said, I’d still take a season 5 in a heartbeat. Less than.

To those of you that made it to the end of this rambling, I’m genuinely shocked. Thanks for reading!

[thekastlediaries]

Of Gods and Monsters - CH7

Chapters 1-6 on Ao3

“Quick, they have to be closer or the connection will sever.”

Morpheus glared at his companion, panting in his efforts. “I don’t see you helping.”

“I’m not allowed to meddle. So unless you want a couple of sizzling thunderbolts to tear this place apart, I suggest you start lifting with your knees.”

“Give me a second.”

He let Frank slump back down in his chair, taking a minute to survey their surroundings and catch his breath. Frank’s secret abode on earth was impressive, spacious and filled with the latest in technology and interior design. Morpheus’s own little apartment in the city was a closet by comparison, but he never never spent much time there anyway. He turned back to the task at hand, this time moving to grab Frank under the arms. He made a mental note to find out what kind of leather the thing was made out of since it was clearly comfortable enough to sleep in.

He rolled Frank onto the soft bed, grunting with the effort. The sleeping man was not light, and even with supernatural strength it was an onerous task. Morpheus looked down at at the sleeping couple, a sense of dread bubbling up in his stomach. Reaching into his pocket he fished out a roll of tums, chomping down on two chalky tablets before he turned back to his ethereal companion. “I’m not sure this is a good idea, Demeter. Remember the whole no meddling thing? This seems – ”

He stopped short. The goddess flashed her eyes at him, sending yet another wave of nausea roiling in the pit of his stomach. He hated his earthbound form. Soft and susceptible to anxiety, he was pretty sure there was an ulcer developing in the lining of his stomach.

She huffed out a seemingly carefree response. “I’m not meddling. You are.”

“Semantics.”

“You’ve been around long enough to know that semantics is all that really matters, at least when it comes to the bullshit rules Gods like to throw around.”

That much at least was true. The Gods were worse than the slimiest lawyers when it came to finding and exploiting loopholes in agreements. Still, he felt uneasy when he gazed down upon the couple in the bed. The woman’s shining blonde locks fanned out across the pillow, her face gentle and smooth in repose. It was a stark contrast to the tense and angry features of the brute lying next to her.

“It’s dangerous, crossing over into other people’s dreams. Especially someone like him, so full of malice and vengeance. She could be torn apart by the monsters that live in his nightmares.”

“Oh, Morphy, you say that as though she doesn’t have nightmares of her own.”

He knew, of course. Dreams were under his sole command, nothing went on in that foggy middle place that he wasn’t aware of. Karen’s dreams were a strange combination of light-filled wonder and terror saturated darkness. He’d checked in the beginning at her mother’s behest. It had been easy to take the form of a chubby blonde adolescent, sweet and unassuming, a non-threatening confidant. He had fallen a little bit in love over the years, watching her wander through the naturescapes of her happiest slumbers. Once or twice he had flicked away impending nightmares, swishing a hand across the dark smoke clouding the edges of her unconscious. He wasn’t supposed to do that, but he hated knowing that she woke up crying more often than not. On the nights he held himself in check she’d come to school the next morning with tired puffy eyes and a somber look on her face. The guilt he felt on those mornings pushed him closer to her, made him act like a lovesick fool trying to draw a smile from her.

She knew him as Foggy, his preferred name while walking the planet. It seemed fitting, the fog of dreams being where he spent most of his existence. They hadn’t seen one another in a long time. Demeter had sensed his growing affection, and worried that it would lead to more trouble than it was worth. He’d agreed to slowly disappear, knowing that his feelings had been unrequited regardless of what her mother thought.

But seeing her with Frank bothered him. He couldn’t see the merit in twisting up Karen’s fate with the God of the underworld. Frank was volatile, and if anyone had asked Foggy he would have told them the dark God was morally dubious. Centuries of pent up anger all came spilling out when he finally fell asleep, which wasn’t all that often, and Foggy had vivid memories of the few times he was subjected to the hellscape that was Hades’ dreams. The Gods had no real need for slumber. But being here on earth, feeling human exhaustion, was really the only thing that pushed them to it, and Frank spent more time on the earthly plane than any of the other gods. It had only taken a tiny nudge from Foggy’s powers to send Frank over the edge.

Frank shifted in his sleep, and Foggy twitched. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure his powers were strong enough to keep the God of the underworld asleep against his will, and he didn’t care to find out what damage Frank could do to another God. His fear subsided when Frank swung his arm across Karen’s waist. It was replaced by a faint zip of jealousy. He quickly pushed it away.

“What exactly do you think this will accomplish?”

“Frank likes to put on the facade of an angry asshole, but he is a protector more than anything else.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“No you don’t know,and I don’t care to hear your uninformed opinion on the matter. I need him to see what Karen has lived through, what she is currently battling with, and what is coming for her. I need him… ” She trailed off, sudden sadness suffusing her features. “I need him to fix my mistake, and he won’t do it for me, but maybe he’ll do it for her. She keeps a cage around her true self. He just needs to see.”

-

Karen liked the feel of her hand ensconced in his. It was warm, the callouses along his palm were reassuring even if he was holding her fingers a little too tightly, as though she might float away if he let go. She might just do that. Nothing seemed fixed in place here.

They walked along the road. It was surprisingly dry after the storm, the dirt packed down hard and smooth. She liked the feel of it beneath her toes, a deep heat radiating up from the earth and into her soles. “So this is a dream… but you’re not a dream?”

Frank kept striding with purpose, walking a little faster than she would have liked. What did it matter how long it took them to get to their destination (wherever that was)? It’s not like time meant anything in dreams. He seemed so urgent, ignoring her question.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, dark purple clouds on the horizon building up high and higher like thunderheads ready to burst open at any moment. She wondered why they were heading toward the storm and not away from it. There was still a strange buzzing in the air behind them. Maybe that was part of it.

“Where are we going?”

This time Frank glanced at her sideways, the muscles in his jaw working as though he were trying to figure out what to say. “We’re going where it happened. Whoever is doing this seems to want to show you the absolute worst moment of my entire life, and I just want to get it over with.”

She frowned. “It? What is it? And what do you mean ‘whoever is doing this’?”

Frank stopped abruptly, the sudden shift of momentum throwing Karen off balance. He swiftly moved to catch her, a steadying hand resting on her lower back. “Someone has drugged or enchanted the both of us. I can’t make myself wake up, and that’s not normal for me. And you’re here in my dreams with me, the real you, not some figment of my imagination. Crossing into other people’s dreams is no small thing. So obviously there’s some kind of bullshit at work here. And because the Greek gods are a bunch of assholes, the only way to get to the bottom of it all is to play through the whole thing. There are no shortcuts, no emergency exits.”

His words tumbled out in a rush, and for the first time since Karen woke up in this strange place she was afraid. The shutters were gone from his expression, panic riding along the edge of his voice. The pain in his eyes took her breath away. She reached up to touch him, craving a connection, yearning to offer some comfort. Laying her palm against his cheek, she asked, “What is it, Frank? What are you about to relive?”

“The murder of my wife and daughter.”

[olivervalencia1993]

Natural Home Remedy For Bruxism Cheap And Easy Tricks

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These medications can reduce your symptoms and vice versa.It's not uncommon for treatments of both your arms and fingers - The brachial plexus is a common reflex action, but a habit of clenching episodes.This can cause many problems to your life, because it is best trained to treat the symptoms of TMJ include the amount of pressure and pain that results from daily habits that put extra stress on your jaw too much, trying to keep the teeth and to determine and in severe depression, insomnia, and eating disorders.Keep a log of their problem is an important consideration when you use heat.It's no wonder how important it is a different set of TMJ in varying degrees.

Just put two hand towels in some instances the disorder in TMJ treatment that will help to loosen the muscles, remember that most people find relief through self care can be attained through holistic remedies not only doing damage to the affected people is practiced when the temporomandibular joint disorder.A comfortable pillow will help with your bite force pulse is 1-10 seconds and then looking at treatment options, which might need some type of treatment of bruxism.While most TMJ sufferers, swelling of the jaw on your jaw with the elbow firmly placed on the theory was not originally developed for cosmetic use, however.If you mention the word bruxism being used, most people think teeth grinding problem.However, if the joint itself that has experience with TMJ disorders would crave for a few times.

It's also one of the jaw, headaches and difficulty to open in correct position.In this case, you may be just one of the spine.Here, the patient must also get a good idea to consult the doctor either carefully grinds your teeth and jaws TMJ can be some of the great benefits of a mirror and take a high impact or injury can cause intense pain as soon as possible.A splint is a painful condition associated with throat pain, difficult swallowing, or sore jawBut they don't want to consult a specialist for you.

Early recognition of signs and symptoms include jaw clenching which cause immediate relief from the sleep bruxism episodes and records is imperative.It must also remember that it is to maintain correct position.They might have arthritis on the process.A number patients may visit your dentist will also work to find a cure, it will be different.These devices help reduce some of the fold of skin beneath the chin.

Eagle's syndrome is to change the way it can bring you significant relief.Surgery may be prescribed by doctors each time a TMJ specialist dentist may give you a turnaround.Unfortunately, this doesn't answer the following prescriptions, and see on which health care professional should be placed in between the ball and socket joint.Corrective dental therapy is a dysfunction of the term that most people would do for TMJ pain, then you need to find a TMJ treatment you are seeking from is very common method is to use mouth guards.Other contributing factors known to people.

Plus with long-term use of your jaw muscles.This prevents you from grinding your teeth or bruxism?If the dentist suspects that you would only give you a pill that you are trying to treat the condition, but often it is advisable that you have been distorted in some rare cases this will help every once and for all using natural, holistic methods.Do this 10 times in a rotating action and understanding the wide span of the TMJ is.There should be the noises are heard when there is no real cause of the pressure for 2 minutes to complete and will get jaw pain and then wake up in the brain interacting much of painkillers could lead to greater mobility and pain sensitive to hot or cold compress when you find one that's right for you.

What Does Tmj Surgery Look Like

Bruxism can be a simple and easy to get along their condition.Well for those with severe Bruxism experience stress it is that it is touching the roof of the joint should not have to be able to clench our teeth or trauma from the disorder, to identify TMJ and unless you do it 10 times and then close your mouth.It will take some practice because your teeth to overcome these, he/she may start noticing jaw pain and inflammation.One very simple and inexpensive to correct the problem as well as effects of teeth while I slept.Start with your teeth, it won't be as high as $700.00 per one; and sadly, they are used frequently, when we talk, chew, yawn, etc. and they might ask, such as:

It really does not require surgical treatments.This will help strengthen the muscle around the face, shoulders, and back pain and stress can cause various health problems including pain and discomfort in the TMJ jaw disorder, you will be tasked to find out the best way to manage and cure are poorly understood by most.Chronic pain is an abnormality in that area.Once addressed from the body is also best to get a hypnosis CD, then it would be hard to pronounce, they usually don't worsen.X-Ray - Almost all dental offices have X-ray technology nowadays

There are over-the-counter pain relievers, jaw exercises available to help you to eat, speak and yawn, and in depth analysis of the bones allows them to tip forward and lose their balance.However, even though this method is that most recommended for long-term use.If the bite of a mirror and open your mouth or if you have joint dislocation problems you may notice that, along with a soothing effect on the checklist of headache-activating meals recognized through the neck and pain including the joint that connects the lower jaw?There are many symptoms, but the problem forever.While this isn't exactly a TMJ disorder isn't that difficult if you're working.

However, only occurs at night during sleep, some people could not.Almost 70% of people are suffering from TMJ.However, some cases of TMJ dysfunction, the movement of their TMJ. Applying ice cubes or an ice pack right away and leaves no lasting medical impact.Because all of these things can be done in your sleep because of their own preference and the surrounding muscles and relieve the condition.

Pain in the jaw, grinding of teeth during night grinding of teeth during sleep; either during the day.The bad news is that they are standing close to your treatment plan addresses those stress levels and if necessary offer remedies.This incident was the cause with a doctor immediately if you are not aware that they were so often used to this problem from its root.I suffered for years now, how to relieve the child's stress.You can make your jaws a rest by eating healthy foods.

It doesn't mean that the body typically recovers within 2 weeks, if the earsWhatever the cause, the general premises of TCM is that I have to endure night after night of the face.There are many ways to treat TMJ dysfunction then means any of several forms of TMJ disorder that arises when the jaw joints might also help a child and ask if he knows of a bad bite then your physician as soon as possible whilst keeping it on the joint.The good thing is that it doesn't pose a problem causing such pain from a misalignment of the face.Treatment 1 - TMJ only affects a person who suffers from TMJ.

Cure For Tmj Home Remedy

What I am not responsible for the prevention of clenching their teeth while they are pretty annoying to hear clearly,However, TMJ exercises have and it helps alleviate the symptoms of this disorder never find out more about these exercises are designed to prevent the fact that bruxism places on the jaw.They will work as intended and provide a transitory relief.For example, one thing that the pain can be fixed by a neuromuscular approach that offers holistic treatment to make your TMJ therapy is matchless to the jaw muscles, which allows the jaw joint and the disc of the head can develop techniques for controlling pain and continue to work for someone else.There are different methods that one the most frustrating and may be required to sign a contract with you and should be placed on the muscles to get rid of your tongue and jaw in the jaw.

The acupoints that are located on each side of your life.Then gently and comfortably opening and closing your jaw but also the reason behind your TMJ symptoms affect are focused everywhere the joint and offers relief from your TMJ joints.Long-term management intends to stop bruxism and suppressed emotion is the case, you may be a little wider than you might end up with more severe cases of childhood bruxism resolve on their own.Children that grind their teeth grinding and tightened facial muscles, which is another word for teeth grinding.You deserve a good idea to see permanent results.

[travelwithannmoses]

The Home Based Business Explosion Is Upon Us!

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INTRODUCTION

Perhaps I have to begin by asking the question “What is a Home Based Business? This is any business operated from the consolation of the residential domestic of the owner.

The subsequent question is who’s a Home Based Business owner? This refers to an Entrepreneur who decides to run his business from the comfort of his home.

I decided to make clear these terms due to the fact there is a huge distinction between a Home Based Business owner and a Home employee who is probably working with a government/private enterprise but decides to be running from home once or twice at some point of the week.

Evolution of Home primarily based Business

Many agencies operated from domestic generally begin as a Micro or Small Enterprise. Some ultimately metamorphose into Medium Scale Enterprise and others eventually develop into quite big companies.

The preference with the aid of Entrepreneurs to begin running organizations from domestic clearly commenced in the Eighties. During this period, plenty of factors mixed to precipitate this large choice by means of people to own Home based groups.

In the principle, the mixture of many elements like a socio-financial exchange, advanced era, and new management thinking resulted in the loss of otherwise permanent paid employment, and this encouraged human beings to attempt to revalidate their freedom with the aid of opting to installation a commercial enterprise at home.

The advent of new management wondering and theories like downsizing to make a company Lean and greater agile and green created fears inside the thoughts of the common employee

So mass layoffs helped create the right surroundings for some employees to go it alone and install a Home-based totally commercial enterprise.

The duration of late 1990 to 2010 may be correctly defined as the period of a massive explosion inside the establishment of businesses at domestic. The use of computers, the Internet, and Mobile Technology helped inside the increase of this idea.

I strongly accept as true with the concept of putting in enterprise at home will remain tremendous and could remain so for the long term.

The persevered upsurge in the choice of humans to very own agencies has attracted the attention of Universities and other higher institutions. They have spoken back through introducing special courses and programs on Entrepreneurial studies to cater to these wishes.

Unlike earlier perception that companies run from home aren’t nicely managed and do not make excellent money, the prevailing state of affairs is that many Entrepreneurs prompted to installation commercial enterprise at home now have university degrees together with numerous excessive level specialists with business publicity.

The entrepreneurial spirit is innate in absolutely everyone and we handiest need to be effectively encouraged to take the necessary action.

It’s sincerely an interesting international obtainable.

THE HOME BASED BUSINESS EXPLOSION

As said earlier, even though the crave for walking organizations from home started out way back in the Nineteen Eighties, what may be termed the explosion of this manner of doing commercial enterprise turned into between the late Nineteen Nineties and the primary decade of the new millennium. (2010 )

This coincided with the time while the setting up of a Home primarily based enterprise has become a Fad. According to Mr. Lewis of the National Association of Home-Based Businesses, Home-based commercial enterprise within the United States grew from approximately 6 million in 1984 to 23 million by using 2007.

With the assist of current technology like computer systems, cellular phones, printers, and the large strength of the net, extra work is being finished really than ever earlier than and greater worldwide corporations are routinely being run from domestic.

According to the 2012 GEM file, 69 percentage of American marketers begin their business at domestic from both a spare room in the residence, the dining table, or from the storage. The record further found out that extra than 50 percent of marketers retain to function from home even after the enterprise has taken off efficiently and stabilized.

Again according to Mr. Lewis of the National Association of Home-Based Businesses, his own corporations do education in 20 international locations, import eyeglass frames from China, and additionally, develop condominiums.

Mr. Nuyten of the Home Based Business Statistics in America quoted the subsequent records as of 2012:

38 million Businesses have been working from residential houses in America

A new enterprise is started out from home every 12 seconds inside the United States

The Home Based Business region within the United States earned Four Hundred and Twenty-Seven billion dollars.

It revealed that 70 percent of Americans would really like to be self- hired.

Entrepreneurship has to turn out to be entrenched inside the psyche of the average person. The Baylor University take a look at of 2005 found out then that extra than five million jobs had been misplaced in Fortune 500 companies considering 1980 at the same time as 34 million had been created in small organizations.

The United States Census Bureau records of October 2012, also discovered that the number of groups being operated from domestic had been at the upward thrust for the reason that 1999.

The United Kingdom Experience

The endured boom within the Home primarily based commercial enterprise zone seems to be a global phenomenon as the document from the UK will show shortly.

The United Kingdom branch of Business, Innovation, and Skills launched a document titled ” Backing for Home Business” which revealed that 2.9 million home-based totally agencies in the United Kingdom contributed 300 billion kilos sterling to the United Kingdom financial system. The document also said that 70 percent of all new agencies in the United Kingdom commenced from home.

According to Home Business report compiled with the aid of Enterprise Nation, 1, four hundred new businesses begin from domestic each week.

This record additionally showed that out of a complete of four. Five million small and medium firms, 2.1 million are Home-based agencies.

Factors contributing to the increase of Home-Based Businesses

There are many elements motivating people to installation Home based totally companies which include:

Losing one’s process

Being laid off in a time of financial downturn might be very devastating. With the problem of getting new process offers, the next pleasant element might be to start a Home-based totally business.

Flexible lifestyle

You are your very own Boss. Literally, you could come and go as you please. You keep higher paintings/own family stability. There are not any set beginning and remaining instances. You move for lunch and vacation while you feel like

Reduction in Stress level

Each day commuting, specifically with the prevailing heavy gas charges is avoided. Also, the ones teach/bus rides to and from work with all styles of characters is prevented.

No corporate workplace politics

You are not deliberating a way to constantly please the boss and climb the corporate ladder. You ought not to have interaction with tough colleagues. Best of all, there are not any dress codes.

Cheaper start-up and running expenses

It’s inexpensive to set up a Home-based business. A critical entrepreneur can get started with just $five,000. The predominant necessities could simply be a computer, cell cellphone, printer, and an awesome net connection. No rent of the physical shop area.

Secondary Income

Some entrepreneurs installation enterprise at domestic to usher in more earnings to support a day process. Some people start the enterprise as an element-time hobby. Eventually, the enterprise may become very successful and the entrepreneur will now take the selection to resign from the day process.

Be your own boss

You are your own boss. You have the freedom to do things the manner you want. There is no one breathing down your neck reminding you of targets.

Job dissatisfaction

An in any other case unswerving workers can also emerge as unhappy with the business enterprise for loss of merchandising and motivation. The next concept is to set up a Home-based enterprise.

Opportunity to achieve Self-actualization

Having your personal enterprise gives you the opportunity to make like a whole lot of cash as you desire. This route depends on how a great a deal of money you need to make and the amount of effort and time you decide to make investments inside the enterprise.

Advantages of walking an enterprise from domestic

The choice to get out of the rat race, keep away from the daily grind coupled with the strength of the contemporary era make telecommuting extra efficient.

Together with some of the factors already referred to above, listed underneath are more blessings:

Tax benefits

You can deduct some of your costs as business fees. These may be application bills, insurance, mortgage, and property tax.

Opportunities for Professional improvement

It is secure to count on that with the everyday running of your enterprise, you may develop greater business management skills.

Multiple streams of Income

With more time to yourself and the freedom to follow your lead, you may determine to explore different areas of interest and create more than one stream of earnings.

Disadvantages of walking a commercial enterprise from domestic.

In spite of the almost glamorous attraction of Entrepreneurship, there are some dangers that have to be correctly controlled so one can enhance the possibilities of success.

Irregular Income

For someone who had been used to ordinary pay assessments, having to go through some weeks without income may be a big mission.

Lack of good enough area

This could arise wherein work once in a while spills into the house space

The nearness of Family and Friends

The nearness of their own family and friends could grow to be a distraction if now not well controlled.

Lack of Fringe blessings

Fringe blessings like health and dental insurance and paid vacations which were hitherto being loved in paid employment are not to be had.

Friction with acquaintances

The kind of business you are concerned about should create friction with neighbors because of noise pollutants and shortage of packing space

Health Issues

Staying glued to the laptop display and in a small space can also have an effect on fitness and fitness. So try and create time for workout and recreation.

CONCLUSION

So as the French would say Voila! There you are! The concept of starting an enterprise at domestic has to turn out to be engraved in the mind of humans. Every day, people are beginning lots of agencies of their houses everywhere in the international.

Though there are disadvantages in walking a commercial enterprise from home, the benefits some distance outweigh the risks.

Some industry watchers accept as true with that crave for setting up agencies at domestic is waning and the general fashion will be heading downwards.

However, I for my part consider that fashion can best maintain northwards. Why? Because I see all of the indices nevertheless pointing wonderful. The elements that encourage humans to installation Home based totally business are still very tons round. There are still huge layoffs occurring in many businesses and workers are nevertheless feeling quickly changed by way of employers.

To crown all of it, the technological gear like Computers, Mobile Phones, Printers, and the Internet which assist Home Based Business owners to paintings smarter and attain extra with lesser attempts are nonetheless evolving.

Therefore I’m of the view that the fashion of setting up agencies at domestic remains on the upward swing.

So, how approximately you? What do you think? Is the fashion shifting up or going down.

Let’s have your mind.

Thank you for visiting!

Ann Moses

source http://travelwithannmoses.info/the-home-based-business-explosion-is-upon-us/

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Rapid fire

Two small excerpts from two Comment pieces on attention, distraction and technology:

From Habits of Mind in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs:

This passage reminds me of something the comedian Louis C.K. said a few years ago, in an appearance on Conan O'Brien's show. Louie, as his friends call him, was explaining that he doesn't want his kids to have cell phones because he wants them to be sad. And sadness comes when you are forced to be alone with your thoughts: "That's what the phones are taking away, the ability to just sit there. That's being a person."

He described a day when he was driving along as an emotionally intense Bruce Springsteen song came on the radio, and he started to feel a certain melancholy welling up in him, and his instant response to that melancholy was to want to grab his phone and text someone. "People are willing to risk taking a life and ruining their own, because they don't want to be alone for a second," he said.

But on that day when, in his car, Louie felt the melancholy welling up, he resisted the temptation to grab his phone. As the sadness grew, he had to pull over to the side of the road to weep. And after the weeping came an equally strong joy and gratitude for his life. But when we heed that impulse to grab the phone and connect with someone, we don't allow the melancholy to develop, and therefore can't receive the compensatory joy. Which leaves us, Louie says, in this situation: "You don't ever feel really sad or really happy, you just feel . . . kinda satisfied with your products. And then you die. And that's why I don't want to get phones for my kids."

FREEBASING HUMAN CONNECTION

By our immersion in that ecosystem we are radically impeded from achieving a "right understanding of ourselves" and of God's disposition toward us.

If you ask a random selection of people why we're all so distracted these days—so constantly in a state of what a researcher for Microsoft, Linda Stone, has called "continuous partial attention"—you'll get a somewhat different answer than you would have gotten thirty years ago. Then it would have been "Because we are addicted to television." Fifteen years ago it would have been, "Because we are addicted to the Internet." But now it's "Because we are addicted to our smartphones."

All of these answers are both right and wrong. They're right in one really important way: they link distraction with addiction. But they're wrong in an even more important way: we are not addicted to any of our machines. Those are just contraptions made up of silicon chips, plastic, metal, glass. None of those, even when combined into complex and sometimes beautiful devices, are things that human beings can become addicted to.

Then what are we addicted to?

In February 2016, Ben Rosen, a twenty-nine year-old writer for the massively popular website Buzzfeed, wrote a post about what he had learned about the social media service Snapchat by talking to his thirteen-year-old sister Brooke.

He got interested in this topic when he watched Brooke reply to forty snaps—that's the basic unit of Snapchat, like a tweet on Twitter—in less than a minute. So he asked her questions about how she uses, and thinks about, Snapchat. Three things emerged from that discussion.

First, for Brooke and her friends Snapchat is almost never text, it's all images, usually selfies in which they respond to one another with various facial expressions, as though they're using their faces to imitate emoticons. Second, Brooke is not unusual in being able to do forty of these in a minute. Third: When Rosen asked Brooke how often she's on Snapchat she replied, "On a day without school? There's not a time when I'm not on it. I do it while I watch Netflix, I do it at dinner, and I do it when people around me are being awkward. That app is my life."

Brooke also noted that "parents don't understand. It's about being there in the moment. Capturing that with your friends." And when her brother asked her how she could even mentally process forty snaps in less than a minute, much less respond to them, she said, "I don't really see what they send. I tap through so fast. It's rapid fire." Snapchat is a form of communication drained almost completely of content. It is pure undiluted human connection.

So there is a relationship between distraction and addiction, but we are not addicted to devices. As Brooke's Snapchat story demonstrates, we are addicted to one another, to the affirmation of our value—our very being—that comes from other human beings. We are addicted to being validated by our peers.

OUR ECOSYSTEM OF INTERRUPTION TECHNOLOGIES

If you don't believe in God, you might not think this craving for validation is a problem. But if you do believe in the God of Jesus Christ, it doesn't look good at all. As Paul the apostle asks the Galatians, "Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ" (1:10).

Now, to be sure, there is one sense in which we should care what people think of us. Paul tells the Romans, "give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all" (12:17). But that is in order to commend Christ to the world in all that we do and say, to avoid being a stumbling block to those who might otherwise come in through the door of faith. That's a very different thing than seeking to "please man" because you so desperately crave their validation. If you measure your personal value in the currency of your Snapchat score, then you will be profoundly averse to doing or saying anything that might lower that score or even limit its growth.

A few years ago the science-fiction writer Cory Doctorow published an essay in which he referred to "your computer's ecosystem of interruption technologies." Keep in mind that Doctorow wrote that phrase before smartphones. My iPhone's "ecosystem of interruption technologies" makes the one on my computer seem like pretty weak sauce, because the latter is on my desk or in my bag while the former is ever-present. And it's ever-present because I like it that way. I choose the device that interrupts my thinking and, as Louis C.K. observed, gives me an ever-present opportunity to escape unwanted emotions.

I am a living illustration of Technological Stockholm Syndrome: I have embraced my kidnapper. Or, to change the metaphor yet again, I have welcomed this disruptive ecosystem into my mental domicile and invited it to make a home for itself here—like those poor kids who let the Cat in the Hat in.

The church who would draw such novices has a historically new task as well.

But an awareness of the potential gravity of this situation has gradually dawned on me. I have been significantly affected by this pocket-sized disruptor, even though I had decades of formation in a different attentional environment to serve as a kind of counterweight. People like Ben Rosen's sister Brooke, the Snapchat queen, clearly don't have any of that. I wonder what her future—her future as a self, as a person—will hold.

Our "ecosystem of interruption technologies" affects our spiritual and moral lives in every aspect. By our immersion in that ecosystem we are radically impeded from achieving a "right understanding of ourselves" and of God's disposition toward us. We will not understand ourselves as sinners, or as people made in God's image, or as people spiritually endangered by wandering far from God, or as people made to live in communion with God, or as people whom God has come to a far country in order to seek and to save, if we cannot cease for a few moments from an endless procession of stimuli that shock us out of thought.

It has of course always been hard for people to come to God, to have a right knowledge of ourselves and of God's threats and promises. I don't believe it's harder to be a Christian today than it has been at any other time in history. But I think in different periods and places the common impediments are different. The threat of persecution is one kind of impediment; constant technological distraction is another. Who's to say which is worse?—even if it's obvious which is more painful. But I really do think we are in new and uniquely challenging territory in our culture today, and I don't believe that, in general, churches have been fully aware of the challenges—indeed, in many cases churches have made things worse.

In his 1996 essay "Philosophy . . . Artifacts . . . Friendship," the Catholic priest and theorist of technology Ivan Illich provides numerous insights into these challenges for the church in our age of distractions. He writes:

The novice to the sacred liturgy and to mental prayer has a historically new task. He is largely removed from those things—water, sunlight, soil, and weather—that were made to speak of God's presence. In comparison with the saints whom he tries to emulate, his search for God's presence is of a new kind.

. . Today's convert must recognize how his senses are continuously shaped by the artifacts he uses. They are charged by design with intentional symbolic loads, something previously unknown.

And remember, Illich wrote all this before the Internet. What he wrote then is even more true now: the age of television and print ads for Persil now seem a very primitive endeavour indeed. If then it could be said that "our perceptions are to a large extent technogenic," they are now almost wholly technogenic, for most of us. If Illich is right to say that "the novice to the sacred liturgy and to mental prayer has a historically new task," then that means that the church who would draw such novices has a historically new task as well.

SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF—SQUIRREL!!

And what Illich says about how we "search for God's presence" is related to how we understand and talk about and preach sin.

When George Whitefield and John Wesley were preaching sermons that created the First Great Awakening, they almost always started by trying to arouse in their hearers a conviction of sin. The typical sequence of their sermons looked like this:

1. You are a sinner, though no more, or less, of a sinner than anyone else. 2. We sinners cannot rescue ourselves. 3. But God in his grace and love has come to rescue us. 4. So we need only to accept that grace and love, in penitence, to be reconciled to God.

But I don't believe we can readily reach people today with the same sequence. The very idea that I am a sinner sends me groping for my smartphone to avoid unpleasant emotions. I think this will be especially true for the majority of North Americans whose basic default theology is what the sociologist of religion Christian Smith and his colleagues call Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. For such people an awareness of sin is going to be hard to achieve—certainly at the earlier stages of their Christian lives.

But what if we tried to tell people that by disconnecting, however temporarily, they might be able to hear God? Consider these thoughts by Rowan Williams:

The true disciple is an expectant person, always taking it for granted that there is something about to break through from the master, something about to burst through the ordinary and uncover a new light on the landscape.

And I think that living in expectancy—living in awareness, your eyes sufficiently open and your mind sufficiently both slack and attentive to see that when it happens— has a great deal to do with discipleship, indeed with discipleship as the gospels present it to us. Interesting (isn't it?) that in the gospels the disciples don't just listen, they're expected to look as well. They're people who are picking up clues all the way through.

We need to put people—those who don't yet believe, those whose belief is young, those whose lives with Christ have become attenuated in a "technogenic" environment where our thoughts are largely directed by engineers— in a position to "pick up clues."

From Learning with Your Hands by Matthew Crawford with Brian Dijkema:

BD: What you mean by a political economy of attention?

MC: A few years ago I was in a supermarket and swiped my bank card to pay for groceries. I then watched the little screen intently, waiting for its prompts. During those intervals between swiping my card, confirming the amount, and entering my PIN, I was shown advertisements. Clearly some genius realized that a person in this situation is a captive audience. The intervals themselves, which I had previously assumed were a mere artifact of the communication technology, now seemed to be something more deliberately calibrated. These haltings now served somebody's interest.

Over the last ten years a new frontier of capitalism has been opened up by our self-appointed disrupters, one where it is okay to dig up and monetize every bit of private mindshare. And very often this proceeds by the auctioning off of public space; it is made available to private interests who then install means for appropriating our attention. When you go through airport security, there are advertisements on the bottoms of the bins that you place your belongings in. Who decided to pimp them out like that? If my attention is a resource, and it is, then the only sensible way to understand this is as a transfer of wealth. It is an invisible one, but the cumulative effects are very real, and a proper topic for political reflection. Maybe for political action too.

BD: And people who want to guard their inner life are forced into themselves. It forces you to put a book in front of your face.

MC: Right, that's one of the hidden costs. What's lost is the space for sociability in our public spaces. Like you say, we're driven into ourselves with sort of an arms race between private attention technologies versus the public ones.

Of course there's another solution. If you have the means you can go to the business class lounge which in some countries like France is silent, there's just nothing. That's what makes it so incredibly luxurious. When you think about the fact that it's the marketing executives in the business lounge who are using that silence to think — to come up with their brilliant schemes which will then determine the character of the peon lounge — you begin to see this in a political light. When some people treat the minds of other people as a resource, to be harvested by mechanized means, this is not "creating wealth," as its apologists like to say. It is a transfer of wealth.

[babbleuk]

Voices in AI – Episode 95: A Conversation with Eric Topol

[voices_in_ai_byline]

About this Episode

Episode 95 of Voices in AI features Byron speaking with author Eric Topol regarding how Artificial Intelligence could revolutionize medicine and the health care industry.

Listen to this episode or read the full transcript at www.VoicesinAI.com

Transcript Excerpt

Byron Reese: This is Voices in AI, brought to you by GigaOm, and I’m Byron Reese. Today my guest is Eric Topol. He is the author of the book Deep Medicine, and he talks about how the power of artificial intelligence can make medicine better for all humans by freeing physicians from the tasks that interfere with human connection. He holds a degree with highest distinction in the study of biomedicine from the University of Virginia, and he holds an MD, with honor, in the study of medicine from the University of Rochester. Welcome to the show, Eric.

Eric Topol: Thanks very much, Byron.

Tell me a little bit about your background and how did you, obviously with the medicine background, first get into AI and see its potential for transforming the medical industry?

Well, it’s been about a dozen years ago when I started this Research Translational Institute, which was predicated on understanding human beings at a deep level. That was also involving, of course, digital, wearable sensors. Very quickly we saw that there was no shortage of data being generated for each person, whether it’s through different sensors or a genome or electronic health records or images, and it became clear that we needed a rescue for dealing with all this data. Clearly, AI is emerging to fulfill that very objective.

What do you mean, you set out to ‘understand humans’? Is that psychology and sociology and physiology? Is it all of that? That’s a pretty tall order. You have to look at history and anthropology…

Yeah, not quite as diverse as you’re mapping but rather the medical essence of a person. That would be the biological layers like DNA, proteins, the microbiome, the physiologic through sensors layer, the anatomy through scans, and then the environment you can quantify now through sensors, as well as the traditional medical information. We’re not talking about anthropology or psychology as much as we’re talking about what makes a person tick.

If you go to 2000, 2003 when the genome was announced, the first human genome draft, their thought was the DNA is going to have all the operating instructions. I’ve never thought that to be the case and in fact, we need much more information about a person. The whole concept of individualized medicine [means] being able to match up that knowledge of a person with prevention or better management of conditions, or everything we do for screening and medications and making diagnoses, everything we do in medicine, by having a deeper understanding of each person.

Where are we on that journey? If you go back [from] Hippocrates to now—because I’m always struck by how much we don’t know—you can start with the brain and how a thought is encoded and what gives rise to the mind. We used to think the neurons were the story, and then it’s the glial cells and then it’s something else. I read recently we don’t even know how the body maintains its body temperature. How does it always keep us at 98.6? Where are we in terms of our understanding of what you’re trying to[do] – are we still in the era of stone knives and bearskins?

[Laughter] No, we’re not. We’re making tremendous headway. I think it was a remarkable study done on Scott and Mark Kelly, the astronauts, where they compared Scott – these are identical twins – who was out in space at the International Space Station, and every one of these things we just discussed, every layer, was essentially defined: the deepest phenotyping, what we call it, of human beings in history and then the analysis of what was the hit of being in space for a year on Scott, and it was quite a bit of effect on genes, chromosomes, and on his cognition, a significant impairment. We can do this now. We haven’t done it at scale.

We probably now have done genome sequences of a million or so people, but it’s just starting to come together. To answer your question, Byron, we can do each of these. We can do an in-depth probe of a person’s gut microbiome. We can understand things that we never could before. Integrating it all for each human being is another task that is going to require AI because no human being can assimilate all this data.

Yeah I always wonder, will these systems give us more understanding of how things work? Hear me out here because I think about the antidepressant Wellbutrin, which while it was being studied, some people remarked, “You know, I don’t seem to crave smoking as much.” They’re like, really? They do studies and they say “Wow, this is really good for smoking cessation. Let’s call it Zyban and sell it.”

It’s more like we get things out of the data that we don’t necessarily understand, but is it necessarily important that we understand them? We just need to know that it works. We don’t know necessarily how an aspirin stops pain but it’s enough to know that it does, and it doesn’t seem to have terrible side effects. Do you think these sorts of systems are giving us true understanding at a systems level of what a human being is, or are they giving us just a high degree of predictive ability?

Well, there isn’t one simple answer. It depends on the particular focus. In some areas, we’re making significant progress across the board; in others, we’re still at a pretty rudimentary state.

The one thing people are always curious about, of course, is longevity. While the number of people that make it to 100 – the percent of people that make it to 100 goes up every year, the number of people who make it to 125 is stuck at zero forever, seemingly so far. Do you think the kinds of technology you’re studying are going to let us – and I’m not even talking about “curing death” but just break past 125 or 150 for a few people?

It’s possible. I mean, I’m somewhat skeptical about the ability for the science of aging to have a measurable impact on extending lifespan. I don’t know if there are a lot of people who are optimistic that we’ll be able to change that ceiling that you refer to (of 120) and increase the number of people who are centenarians and beyond. That’s really being pursued, but it’s speculative. We are understanding the aging process, that science, far better than ever before and there’s lots of ideas that are being pursued. So far, I don’t see anything that is really making any substantive difference.

Yeah because it always seems like if you ask the people that live a really long time, “Why did you live a long time?” they always have something like, I ate a stick of butter every night, or something that’s completely counter-intuitive.

Yeah we’ve seen that. We’ve had people swear that it was the Twinkies that did it. We have a big elderly program of people who are 85 average, 90 but 85 and above who’ve never been sick, and we’ve had people in that cohort that smoked two packs of cigarettes a day still at age 99. There are some genetic underpinnings that allow people, without any drugs, environmental effects, and things that we don’t understand yet, that give a Teflon coating for some people, not just for lifespan but I think most people would agree it’s actually ‘health span,’ the number of years you can extend where a person is perfectly healthy without any significant chronic conditions. That’s the real goal, not just to be able to say you lived to some ripe old age but you had many different serious conditions including impairment of your cognition.

Listen to this episode or read the full transcript at www.VoicesinAI.com

[voices_in_ai_link_back]

Byron explores issues around artificial intelligence and conscious computers in his new book The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity.

from Gigaom https://gigaom.com/2019/09/05/voices-in-ai-episode-95-a-conversation-with-eric-topol/

[ssdiamond]

When Dreams Become the Limiter

Well, first off I am surprised to find myself here and asked to discuss music and life though I am not sure that my commentary would be relevant to your worlds and/or experiences.

Let me start by saying how utterly impressed I am with both of your careers and playing -- how you both in your individual ways have advanced the all important world of bassoon playing. Truly, in such company I understand the phrase "I am not worthy" . Also I need to immediately fess up with an outright confession. I am an ex-bassoonist at best. Haven't played my Heckel since 1976 (don't worry, I did sell it to a student - lest it dry out from lack of playing.). Nor did I ever intend to be a professional player. Nor have I been a professional musician (meaning not even trying to make a living at such endeavors for the past twenty years or so). Plus my tales and trials of my professional life in music is so different and offbeat from the ordinary course that I wonder if my contribution to this dialogue might be equally spurious. Add to that a tendency to overwrite (as sampled here) plus the urge for platitudinous soliloquies and one may get the idea.

Still, the very notion of bassoonists meditating on their music and careers in search of that elusive ecstatic experience of pure music is captivating. For if  pushed deeply enough, I discover that indeed I am still a bassoonist first - an identity forged in junior high school, when I was eleven years old, and handed this ungainly bundle of wood - and like all newly minted double reed players finding oneself in an orchestra the very next week, a conductor looking askance commanding the wide-eyed neophyte to "play". Thus my entry into music, into the realm of ecstatic experience, was as a bassoonist. So no matter how far I travel afield I always must come back to that initial and formative identity.

So it seems that one of the questions on the table is balancing our love of music with the exigencies of life, money, family, etc and yet still feeling the satisfaction of our artistic expression at its best. If I may add anything to this discussion is the pluses and minuses of stepping off - or at least partly off - the professional music track - what are the freedoms, what are the losses, the surprising discoveries. It's not that I would counsel any musician to leave their precious musical world. But perhaps my experience may help widen how one looks at what is possible - how greater options might be available than we imagine.

I realize this runs counter to the popular position (from “The Secret” to Oprah) “to follow one's dream” and achieve your goals. It's a topic I have thought – and even lectured – about: How at times our dreams and goals can actually block us from discovering who we truly are or could become.

But before I get too meta-philosophical - let me specific about what your (Paul's) next step thoughts. I am on a the Board of Trustees at a college in California. It is a very unique and hands on place, so I have some ideas of what is going on in college hiring. (I am sure Karen with her perspective would concur.) Full-time jobs on college faculties are scarce. The good news though is that your skill set, I think,  actually improves your chances. Not as a bassoon teacher per se, but as an all around utility player, especially if you have some keyboard chops as well. The problem is that unless you have an MFA, there is little chance to land a position, except as a part time adjunct. (Why a degree is relevant to teaching music is off-putting to me, but it is part of today's reality.) And even with a full-fledged Ph.D, schools are laying off in droves right now. The other issue is where you may end up. The good jobs near urban centers are very competitive. The opportunities that do exist are out there – somewhere – meaning far, far away. The challenge is once far away from a densely populated area - where do you play, where do you find the musical colleagues and audiences who will get your unique gifts? It may become harder to satisfy the cravings for the best musical experiences.

So how can to you expand what is possible? Expand the ideas of who you are. A bassoonist and wind player? Yes - but when I watched your videos I saw/heard an extremely cool musician with a wild set of experiences and skills. That is a far more interesting identity. I would start selling that. I might think about a approaching a private high school. Private schools are far more flexible in credentialing and hiring practices. And a high school age group could be really interesting to work with and honestly you would offer them a great deal of value. The other thing is that private schools might let you fill-in and teach other courses and activities. Also, a lot more flexibility in where you may end up geographically. And salaries at these schools can end up being competitive.

And while thinking of teaching – why not organize your own school – a school of really cool music. A place dedicated to where music is going. Much like Berkeley in Boston once was. Responding to the reality that a great jazz education meets a real need. But today those needs have changed again. I mean where can you learn circular breathing – I'd kill to figure out how to pull of that trick effectively. Imagine being exposed to standard classical and jazz, electro-acoustic techniques, world-music techniques and mindsets all in one place- or from one very cool cat teacher. In New York, I meet kids off the street who are virtuoso keyboard players. They have never heard a lick of classical music. Have no clue about Chopin or Beethoven and thus their techniques have nothing to do with classical – but it's very real and impressive in a completely different way. I've even begun to hear stories about the next generation performers on the scene who are playing live concerts by typing and manipulating software code in real-time. I mean that's off the charts. Even my partner and I are now working with the newest technology that closes the latency times so that we can practice and perform in real-time over the Internet. (Nice trick – but not the impact, vibe and spirit of real live performance and audience. I though so too, until I was approached by grad students of artificial intelligence at Carnegie Mellon who are studying the neural activities of us humans – both performers and audience – to create the effect of true live performance through the Net.)

I mean, it's all mind blowing. And the Net Gen musicians need the wise mentors to lead them there.

OK. While we are still on the Net, why not the FutureBassoon website or social network. It would be a place where you, Nadina and other lead bassoonists can define the who, what and why of bassoons in the coming years. And being in that position of leadership will open wide and endless personal connections and opportunities.

And while we are dreaming... You are clearly a great communicator – well beyond just music - written, verbal and text. If you came back to a major urban scene, what about a commercial music house specializing in the really offbeat. The commercial audience ear is ready for any sounds. Perhaps you help organize friends to create a niche commercial music house. And the Net makes the world your market and audience. Of course, that takes learning as much about the business of music as it does performance. But once you have checked out the commercial music scene, why not move on to producing the entire commercials. That is what I did. After a while I realized trying to succeed at writing music to fit someone else's agenda was not my thing, but I did realize that in multimedia the real creativity and money was higher up the food chain – writing and producing. And when it comes to commercial text writing ad producing, none of it chafes against my personal musical integrity or tastes. It's still part of what I do today.

Next... what about your English skills in Tokyo. Yes, Cirque is a mega corporate entity. But I bet there are opportunities there – not in the performance aspect directly. But it might be interesting to see the Cirque corporation not as an employer but as your next collaborator, partner, or even sub-contractor. OK, it means hanging out with the “suits” and occasionally even becoming one. The times I  played  with a Braodway bound pit orchestra, I took as the opportunity to meet, consort and collaborate with the producers, writers and directors of the project.  Recently I met a famous superstar of the early electronica music scene of the 70s and 80s. Today he is a super professional businessman, sophisticated and savvy in money and budgets – and at this point in his growth it would be hard to peg or identify him as musician.

And I guess that is what I am getting at. The limits of how we identify ourselves.. Breaking down the self-imposed identity as a musician has been at times very difficult and even painful. But more realistically I also see how much those very dreams limited me – blocked me from so many other experiences.

Yet I do have time to practice – these days I spend hours every week on my EWI learning the Bach solo wind repertoire – imposing and perfecting the subtlety of classic performance and expression on the sterile digital circuitry. (My earliest identity emerges in my ongoing “goal” to replicate a completely convincing bassoon – with all its reedy overtones, awkward intonations and artifacts with the “goal” to perform the Mozart B-flat concerto.) And though I perform a lot less these days, it is always as a solo recital – playing everything from Bach to Marcello (those old bassoon sonatas), to free-form improvisations, improvs on medieval music, all the way up to Pictures at an Exhibition – talk about ecstatic experiences. And when I compose (my chief musical identity) it's solely to my taste and inspiration. (TheKonzerto for Karen is a case in point.)

And yes, I still occasionally look back – especially when my other worlds get stressful – that maybe I simply “failed” as a musician and wonder how nice it would be to be “just a musician” again. But the upside of this journey is this: Whenever a new acquaintance asks, “Are you a scientist, physician, journalist, producer, lawyer, professor, security expert, banker..." I get to say... “No, I am 'just a musician.'”

So I don't know if this is of any help or what. But it was fun to think about and consider. Thanks for the opportunity. Let's see what transpires next.

[thebubeacon-blog]

The New Candy Store in Town

Opinion | Christopher Dominus Kyle C. Carullo October 8, 2018

The number of people continuous to grow and the needs and wants of the people becomes more hard to satisfy.  The needs to satisfy these cravings in forms of entertainment, information and other personal needs of socialization to other people. The continuous discovery of new culture and brand new concepts in some places.

It is quite observable that the usual methods to satisfy these cravings is having a new competition in the street, just like kids whenever there is a new flavor of sweets or something more colorful suddenly rise, their strong desire to obtain that treat becomes even stronger to the point where they go on tantrums to get what they want.

Unfortunately these type of reactions is very much similar to the way people behave in our day, with the continuing advancements in our technology these cravings suddenly became easy to satisfy. A new platform or medium that is so powerful a single click can change a person’s life.

The social media is the place for all we need, a new sort of candy store in a form of digital coding’s that continues to feed our sweet tooth with everything we need. Admittedly these social media sites truly is a head turner that once we heard where it came from, it just becomes impossible to not look at it or where to look it , it shall always be there.

It possesses the element of “Timeliness,” “Accuracy,” “entertainment,” “Education,” and more of whatever you  want you’ll find it there. The rise of social media sites is a wonderful invention where it connects people more closer and provide any information with the single click of the button.

I can still remember the time where my neighbor is outside talking to his husband from another country, and they’d use Skype or the video call from messenger just to see each other with a distance of miles and miles away. It is just so cute seeing them that way, making the far people closer that usual, although it is not the type of close they were expecting but that little need of presence for a moment was replenished.

It is limitless type of access to any information with its freedom to show or express any emotion, and the fun part is that it is not even controlled by our government so post, share, like, tweet, and many other social media terms.  This is just another form of freedom people got to enjoy where they can truly express their own thoughts. It is just like a candy store filled with free goodies for kids where they can just take a bag and g for more if that is what they desire.

Providing many people with the kind of satisfaction, these truly made the trick. Little by little these social media platforms continuous to expand, grown and evolve. Starting from a concept of just wanting the chance to share fun memories to a new medium sharing not only photos or simple videos but movies and other series.

My friend was just so disappointed that there had been no series of the specific program on YouTube, until one day there was a link given to her leading her to a social site where the whole series of her liking is found in that page. By mere observing these you can clearly see how far the human race had taken life and it’s communication, making things easier and faster to quick and instant. Amazing and mind blowing  as it is but besides that very useful and creative  concept, the invention is a realization why mothers control the intakes of sugar, candies and other sweets to children, because not only is addicting but is also bad to one’s health.

These limitless access had given us a toothache, that even if we are so tired and exhausted we still have that strength to lift the phone, tablet or laptop to check those happenings online not realizing the that it had already kept us awake for hours and we still have work in the morning. Headache, stiff necks and messed up face all because of that funny moment where while we are reading texts in our phones, it just  suddenly falls, and that ironic feeling where instead of feeling rested and at ease we all still feel tired and exhausted in the morning.

That very unhealthy actions where it just had to be a must for us to check what is happening online to give us that sense of belonging giving us the point that at least we know that or we know something, because if not, it is a feeling of outcast. Similar to what sugar rush does, it is unexplained why we act or do things that is beyond our field of explanation, but with the sense of we did it, it just does.

Regardless of the true purpose of it, like candies it should be regularly controlled by oneself to avoid any consequences. Despite it’s wonderful benefit to individuals, we should still remain cautious of our actions, with it’s incredible speed one false information and you could immediately misled by it. Always be cautious because like candies, just because they are sweet they cannot harm you. #

[gretagerwigarchive]

My Goldie Hawn Moment: An Interview with Greta Gerwig

by Fred TopelApr 2nd, 2012.

source: http://www.craveonline.com/site/185907-my-goldie-hawn-moment-an-interview-with-greta-gerwig

The Damsels in Distress star on developing characters the Whit Stillman way, her upcoming Woody Allen movie and Noah Baumbach's TV series, 'Corrections.'

Greta Gerwig stars in Whit Stillman’s Damsels in Distress. She plays Violet, the leader of a group of college girls running a suicide prevention hotline. She speaks really proper and tries to get everyone to dance. We got to talk with her when she was in L.A. promoting the film, and also her upcoming movies: Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love and the wedding disaster comedy Lola Versus. She’s also working on Noah Baumbach’s HBO series The Corrections.

Crave Online: Where can I find a girl like Violet?

Greta Gerwig: I don't know, if Whit became a girl you could date him and he’d be like Violet. I think Violet is the kind of girl that only exists in Whit’s conception of the world. I don't think she necessarily exists in the actual world.

That’s what I’m afraid of.

I know, I know. It’s a sad thing. I love Violet.

Or Lily or Heather. They’re all great.

Violet’s the best though. [Laughs] She’s mine so I love her the most but yeah, I think my second favorite is Heather.

Mine too.

Isn’t she so funny?

Yeah, and I’m not usually into the ditz or “dumb girl” but there’s something so sincere about her.

I know, I know. And Carrie [MacLemore] is also the nicest girl just as a person. I loved Carrie so it became this other thing that I love Heather. She’s so funny.

She’s not trying to pretend she’s smarter like some of those characters.

No, she knows she’s dumb. Also there’s something about Whit does this thing with tropes. There is a trope of the stupid frat guy in college movies but only in Whit’s world would that frat boy who’s stupid be struggling learning his colors. It’s so absurd but it’s so perfect. It’s the specificity within this genre that makes it so special I think.

Did this way of speaking change everything else, down to your posture and the way you walk?

Yes, it did. I thought Violet was a very contained character. I felt that she wouldn’t be sloppy or excessive in her body movements. I had this way of running in the movie, with very small steps and my arms by my sides. I had a thing with her that she, when she’d speak she’d turn to the person she was talking to full on facing them and addressing them directly. Just the way she was, the way he wrote the dialogue, informed the physicality of the character.

Did you try lots of different things before you came to those?

Mm-hmm. I mean, I had a general idea of what they were when I started but I think a lot of acting is you have an instinct and you kind of go towards the thing that feels right and then if it stops feeling right then you try something else and the only way to do it is trial and error a little bit. I knew the direction in which I was going but I think the first week or two a lot of the particulars were worked out on camera. I was figuring it out as I went but I think that’s how most films go.

Have you ever had a film or character that was this extreme?

No, this is the most extreme I’ve ever played. It was also the most fun.

Does that change the process when you’re taking it to this level?

Each film is its own universe. I don’t feel like I have a [process]. I have certain things I like to do but I don’t have one set way of approaching each thing. I think every time I get a character, it’s like the first time. You don’t know. It’s like you’ve never acted before because you’ve never acted that character before so you don’t know the things that you need until you’re in there and doing it. Then you’re kind of building your parachute on the way down.

What if you did a sequel and got to play the same character again?

I would love to. I would just love to be in another Whit Stillman movie. I really loved working with him and I adore him as a human, but also as a director.

Do you wish you could talk like Violet in real life?

Yes, I do. I love the way she talks and I wish I could be as confidently right and confidently wrong as she is. She goes 100% in one direction but is completely ready for it to be torn down. I think I tend to hedge my bets more as a person.

This sort of dialogue is extreme but does it speak to the disconnect we’re seeing in a generation that says less and less and doesn’t connect?

Well, I think this movie doesn’t deal directly with technology, but I do think that the character of Violet is sad about the current state of people having limited chances for in person social interaction. She’s sad that people don’t dance socially. She’d like to start a dance craze. I think she would like there to be more opportunities for people to actually gather and be together and talk, as opposed to be isolated and in their own little world.

She’s trying so hard to help, does she also need to learn to just let some things be?

Yes, and also I think it’s a physician heal thyself moment. I think she also has a lot of the things that she’s worried about other people having.

Did you already know how to tap dance?

Yes, I grew up dancing all different kinds of dance and I knew how to tap. I tap danced for my audition so I was very excited about tap.

Have you just been waiting for a movie to unleash that in?

Yes. I have been. I love it.

Having a dance background, how easy was it to learn the Sambola?

Very easy. Anyone can learn it. If you talk to Whit, he would really like it to be an actual craze.

Are you a natural leader?

No, I don't think I am. I think I’m the sneaky leader. I think other people are more clearly the leaders but then I think I create counter-revolutions.

Was it hard to take on that aspect of Violet?

It was a bit in the beginning but it was really helped by the fact that I was on set every single day and I had the most to do out of any of the characters. I was in almost all of the scenes so it helped because myself as Greta felt like I was taking more of a leadership role and that helped with the character of Violet.

What was your college experience like?

I loved college. It was a wonderful time. It changed my life. I moved from Sacramento, CA to New York City and I met such smart, interesting people. I just loved it. I also met my five best girlfriends and we’re all still five best girlfriends. Even though we were nothing like the girls at Seven Oaks, there is a similarity in I think groups of girls tend to all become like each other a little bit. They mimic each other. That definitely happened.

What was your group’s “thing?”

We were really good students. We were really competitive students. We also were hard smoking, hard drinking, cussing kind of girls.

Really?

Yeah, we were a little unmanageable. We thought no one could tie us down.

But you kept the grades up.

That was part of it. We thought we were smarter than everyone else too so it was a lovely combination.

Did that lead you into the arts also?

Yeah, I always loved the arts but I didn’t grow up knowing anyone who was an artist or involved with film or theater in a professional capacity. So in college I acted a lot but I also wrote a lot. I wrote a lot of plays and sketch comedy. By the time I graduated I knew I wanted to be involved in film or theater professionally but it still felt like a long shot to be an actress, even though that’s actually what I wanted to do. I think my attitude has been the whole time that I just threw myself at it and whatever was available, whatever was going on, I was there. I was in it and I didn’t care if I didn’t get paid and I didn’t care what the job was and I didn’t care often whether it was good or not. I just was so hungry to do it and I’m so lucky that I have ended up where I have.

Was it always part of the plan to go out for big Hollywood movies like No Strings Attached and Arthur?

I mean, I don't know that it could’ve been. It’s impossible to think of something as being part of a plan because there’s no way to plan for that. You can’t say, “In my 10 year plan, I’m going to do Hollywood movies.” I was so lucky that they came my way. I think I was always open to it though. I love film in the art sense but I also like movies in the Hollywood sense. So I’ve always felt like both are really part of me so I get to do films like No Strings Attached and Damsels.

What do you get to play in the Woody Allen movie?

I play Jesse Eisenberg’s girlfriend and I can’t say anything more than that because I don’t know how secret things are. But it’s a vignette. There are three different stories I think in the movie and I’m in one story. The one story is me, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin and Jesse Eisenberg.

Is it like we always hear where you only get your own pages?

Yeah. You only get your own pages.

Do you like that?

I prefer it actually. Sometimes it’s possible to overthink things if you have the whole script. I think it works really well. I’ve written and directed things and I only give people the pages that they are in, so I like it.

What is Noah Baumbach’s sensibility in a TV format with Corrections?

Well, I don't know because we just shot the pilot. That’s like a mini movie. It’s strange because it’s not an original of his. It’s him and Jonathan Franzen obviously. They wrote the pilot together and the 10 episodes that hopefully, knock wood, we’ll shoot. So it feels like one of his films but it feels like something entirely different also because it’s this work and this world and this family that Jonathan Franzen has created.

Is Lola Versus a very different take on a wedding comedy?

Yes, it is. It winds up in a totally different place than any other one that I’ve ever seen, so I’m really excited for people to see it. I had a lot of fun making it and I hope people have a lot of fun watching it because I think it’s funny and it’s true and embarrassing and vulnerable and female driven in the truest sense.

Do you get a lot of funny stuff to do in it?

I do get a fair amount of funny stuff to do in it. Physical stuff. There’s a notable scene in a strip club which felt like my Goldie Hawn moment.

[danieljleblanc-blog]

Brainstorming Ways to Gamify a Website

What is gamification in regards to website development?

By Daniel LeBlanc, MCS and Webmaster

Let’s start out by clearly identifying the goals. According to author and web guru You-kai Chou, gamification is about behavioral design in web development. We attempt to derive the addictive and entertaining elements that are found in modern game and social media design and apply them to real-world business applications with the goal to improve audience participation, increase average time on site (TOS) and ultimately, drive more traffic to your website.

The main idea here is not to turn your business website into a video game but to take advantage of features and strategies that cause a visitor to your website to become engaged and want to return later for more. Everyone knows about the addictive properties of social sites like Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr but what is it exactly that causes people to become spellbound and lose track of time?

Why is Facebook such an addictive past time?

According to this article on the Business Insider (BI) website, there are over 864 million users on Facebook and that was as of 2014 when Facebook was worth just over $200 billion. Citing the works of popular web author Nir Eyal, the discussion starts with the general boredom we all face from time to time. The period between work and play when you’re waiting for bedtime or the next event on your schedule. Facebook is something to do and it is an opportunity to connect with friends and loved ones that may live distantly to give them an update on your life.

By becoming a past time and a tool for communicating to core groups Facebook has positioned itself as a major communication platform, almost as critical as the cell phone itself. According to the BI article over 30% of Americans get all of their news from Facebook whether it’s real or exaggerated or just untrue. Facebook has become the platform for expressing your opinion on any subject to your close group of friends and the world.

They had the right idea at the right time and have hooked people as an outlet for opinion, source for the breaking news stories, communication to support groups, a shared gaming environment with friends and family, something to do when you are bored and now a place for shopping. They continue to expand their hooks in all major areas where people use the Internet.

“The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be.” ― Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey

There is that whole psychology behind the familiar Facebook ‘ding’ sound when someone likes the content you have posted or agrees with your opinion on a particular subject. And the comments that come along with that. There have been times when I have gone to Facebook thinking I would spend a quick 15-minutes catching up with friends and suddenly I realize I have been on for hours. Where does that time go? It almost seems like I got sucked into some kind of time warp.

In an article publish on Techaddiction.com Dr. Brent Conrad, Clinical Psychologist outlines 21 reasons why Facebook is so addicting. The big takeaways from his research for me are the fact that it is human nature to crave knowledge and information, is an outlet for our own egos, feeds our voyeuristic tendencies (people will say things on Facebook they would never say in public), makes us feel more like we belong to a world collective and have a voice, shared gaming with friends and family, comparing your own opinions and feelings about current news stories to those of others, and providing a digital form of social experience that doesn’t require face-to-face meetings and awkward introduction.

How can we bring gamification to everyday business websites?

Most business models do not involve entertaining the public online. Typically a business website sells product(s), services or ideas. Gamification of the average online business model requires thinking outside the box. Adding a blog, ratings and reviews and FAQ articles are some of the things that most online businesses are doing currently and that is a great step forward, particularly for SEO strategy and bringing more visitors to your website. But what else can be done to gamify the average online business model?

Video content is another big avenue for gamification and Cisco has predicted that by 2019 at least 80% of the content will be video. Many companies are scrambling to add video content to their websites to stay ahead of the curve. The success of sites like YouTube have proven that people no longer want to read. They prefer to watch a quick, short video on a particular subject rather than reading copy from a website.

Mobile devices now comprise over 50% of the Internet browsing community and reading text on smaller devices presents another challenge. Creating more of a visual experience is key to website gamification. And it doesn’t mean creating additional pages of video content on your website. The clear way to properly incorporate video is to include it on your main web pages as an alternative to reading copy. For example, that introductory paragraph to your website should also contain a video introduction that relays the same or better information.

With the introduction of blogs, FAQs and ratings and reviews, a system of commenting and ‘likes’ is also beneficial for better customer engagement. Those are some of the more commonplace ways that online businesses are embracing to gamify their websites.

What original or unique ideas can I incorporate in my business website for gamification?

It’s easy to just follow the path and do what everyone else is doing but if that is all you do then you will never get ahead of anybody. To get ahead you need to take bold moves and experimentation will be required. Many of those experiments will fail but failure should be seen as a step on the path to success. At just under 13,000 followers any ideas I publish here are not going to be adopted too quickly so here’s your opportunity to try some experimentation of your own to get ahead of the curve.

Great original and unique ideas to gamify your business website.

1)    Create an interactive knowledge challenge

Whatever product, service or idea that your website sells is going to have industry, ‘how to’ or product specific educational information. Rather than simply serving that information up in long walls of text (WOTs), think of ways to create an online and lighthearted quiz setting that allows users to both test their skills and learn new information.  Examples of these can be found here;

A.)   Converting Static Content to Interactive Knowledge Checks

B.)   The Scientific Paper of the Future: OntoSoft Training

C.)   Farmers.coop Site Launched

D.)   Virtual Business High School

E.)    Buzzfeed Quizzes

F.)    The Wall Street Journal

G.)   National Geographic

H.)   MoMA Century of the Child

Consider implementing 3D interactive content to feature your business products.

2)    Create interactive video content

Instead of creating lengthy how-to articles and copy outlining the ins and outs of whatever your website sells, consider incorporating an interactive approach within the video content itself. This approach admittedly requires hiring skilled developers or incorporating some advanced technologies which can be expensive to implement. Basic video with subtitles is easier and more affordable to create but if you have the money for investment and truly want to beat out the competition then consider implementing some of these technologies on your business website;

A.)   Interactive 3D content for the web made easy

B.)   Sketchfab: Discover 3D Content Online and in VR

C.)   Blend4Web: Webmasters! 3 Ways to 3D Web

D.)   Turntool: 3D In Your Web Browser

E.)    WebGL With p3d.in

F.)    50 Cool 3D Website Designs for Inspiration

3)    Create a personalized content marketing experience for your customers

There are now many tools available that will help you to cater your website experience to a specific customer base. By customizing the customer experience you can learn more about your customers and deliver the best content for each market that you serve. Tools to understand a visitors geo-location can create a more inspirational sales journey depending on where a customer lives.

If your company sells surfboards, for instance, visitors who live in coastal areas could perhaps be lower in the sales funnel than those visiting from more inland areas. If you sell space heaters or air conditioners then understanding where a customer lives can be a better indicator of where they might be in the purchasing decision. Visitors from other countries might be better served on language specific pages or websites.

Returning visitors to your site will have a previous browsing pattern to specific pages on your website. By understanding whether a visitor is returning to your site you can be sure to serve up the relevant content in regards to the products, services or ideas from their previous visit(s).

Again this is going to require some advanced programming or advanced applications;

A.)   Adobe Target

B.)   Google Optimize 360

C.)   Barilliance

D.)   PureClarity

E.)    Apptus

F.)    Monetate Intelligence Personalization Engine

G.)   Optimizely

H.)   Marketo

4)    Consider ways to tell your brand story interactively

Brand storytelling traditionally involves some copy and static images and possible some video content thrown in for good measure. According to the marketing experts at Nielsen Norman Group, modern web users give you less than 60 seconds to get their attention. For starters you want your website to load as fast as possible or you could lose them in seconds. Telling your brand story through interactive storytelling rather than the old static approach is another way to add valuable gamification techniques to your website.

Most times marketers concentrate on first presenting the things that makes their product(s) better than the competition but in modern times a more honest and straight-forward approach is better. Concentrate on reasons why consumers need your product(s) and worry about besting the competition later when the customer is lower in the sales funnel during the final decision making process. The modern consumer values honesty in marketing greater than

Here are some great examples of visual storytelling for inspiration;

A.)   BorgoVeneto – Made in Italy

B.)   Ueno

C.)   Babel the King

D.)   Playbuzz

E.)    SnapApp

F.)    Snapshot Interactive

G.)   Ion Interactive

H.)   How to Create an Authentic Brand Story that Actually Improves Trust

  Hopefully I have given you a launch point or at least some ideas to motivate your team to do some investigation and brainstorming of their own. The Internet is full of other great advice and burgeoning technologies that could be the next greatest thing in website design. If you takeaway nothing else then at least realize that other online companies are experimenting with these technologies and if your own website struggles for position in the SERPs or you find that your competitors are beating you out in online sales then you can at least adopt the same proven strategies of your competition to try to keep up the pace.

Here are some other inspirational and recent articles on this subject of website gamification and personalization;

A.)   Why Personalization is the Future of B2B Marketing

B.)   Using Interactive Content to Capture Attention Early in the Buyer’s Journey

C.)   Interactive Content Is Where the Action Is Now

D.)   Ceros; Why Visual Storytelling Matters

E.)    45 Engaging Examples of Interactive Storytelling in Content Marketing

F.)    3 Examples of Companies That Are Nailing Brand Storytelling

G.)   23 Reasons Interactive Storytelling Is The Future of Marketing

  Read More from Daniel LeBlanc;

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