#i remember seeing a post saying how his love for Ferrari is linked to his grief

[quarter-lif3crisis]

'A man will die, but not his ideas.'

(Happy Nation, Ace of Base)

[inchidentally]

(not gonna post the link you sent bc I don't wanna tread on other people's stuff since we're all out here in the tumblr wild to talk about these rich men and their problematic silly sport in any way we want to. I'll reply with my thoughts but remember that they're my own and I am NOT telling someone else how to feel)

okay so fully removing the ship lenses and assuming they're not wishing any hostility towards Oscar or any future teammate of Lando's at McLaren: holy SHIT no. fuckballs NOOOO.

ok from a purely practical/realism standpoint Carlos will not be taking any steps backward. based purely on Ferrari's overall performance and the fact that Charles is a damn good match as a teammate (hi Singapore) Carlos is exactly where he should be for WDC contention. McLaren are out there competing hard with them and with the Mercs but to see them outpacing those cars would be solely down to the youth and combined competitiveness of Lando and Oscar they've invested in - so still no dice for Carlos in the foreseeable. I'm not F1 smart enough to know how likely it would be that he'd go to RBR but even there I'm not sure how he and Max would work together again with Max's dominance and ummmm Carlos' least favorite thing being following team orders to concede to his teammate. followed by what would become Carlos' first least favorite thing which would be to drive Max's car since development only works one way at RBR. and that's all assuming that Lando stays with McLaren and that Oscar chooses to leave. the first being reasonably likely and the second is too soon to tell. then there's the fact that by that point Lando would not be considered McLaren youth anymore and they'd be highly unlikely to bring on someone even older to partner him. ((add to that the fact that Carlos will never be an Alonso and will definitely get married early in his thirties and move on to different types of racing or maybe even a different field in racing)) Lando will be a Lewis and stick with F1 competitively chasing wins and WDCs (especially if he can outlast Max's boredom threshold) and he won't be interested in nostalgia hires unless they can help him with that goal.

but moving on to the more parasocial fandom side of it…

honestly the biggest surprise to me is seeing people think that they were equals ??? during their season together?? Lando was a tiny baby who has talked about how being partnered with Carlos fed his anxieties and insecurities! he saw this seasoned driver learning the car faster than him, knowing the circuits better than him and speaking to the team with more confidence than him. lbr when his "trophy" was Carlos' champagne while Carlos celebrated his podium, Lando did NOT look completely happy being forced into that celebration (and I seem to recall later on him even ruefully saying "it wasn't my celebration but anyway"). Carlos literally saw Lando as a baby brother and treated him as such but he also had no clue what to do with Lando's darker moods besides try to cheer him up (and sometimes fail).

I am someone who likes to keep the streams of real life and rpf totally crystal clear and separate and I also like to keep the reality of who these drivers are free of anything I imagine about them for fantasy. when Carlos isn't winning or at least happy with his result, he isn't remotely a team player (and with a team like Ferrari it's hard to blame him sometimes lol). I guess for some people? it's easy to think that Carlos would become a totally different driver when on a team with Lando from ~the power of love~… but that would also have to hand-wave when he actually was Lando's teammate. (it would also hand-wave that Carlos and Charles are also good friends and much more flirty and lovey dovey but Carlos still fights against Charles like a beast when he's in the car)

this man is in it to win it. if you called him soft for a teammate or said that the foremost reason he gave Lando DRS in Singapore was for Lando's benefit he would laugh in your face. at no point in the incredibly stressful final laps was Carlos going "aw shucks I hope my lil buddy can be up there with me let me rig this to make it happen" bc by that point in a race they are thinking in nothing but driving binary and /how do I cement my win against all the bastards behind me/. Carlos does NOT revolve even a small part of his racing career around Lando or any other driver. he doesn't even regard much of his team's input (again, probably for the best with Ferrari). even when he gets direct help from Charles following Ferrari strategy (see Singapore) I still can't really recall that he was overly effusive in acknowledging that fact. he's modeled himself much more on the F1 generations of more like two generations back. and why shouldn't he? so I do not get how people can still think that drivers - especially Carlos' type - are remotely friendly with anyone when they're on the circuit. sure they might get even more pissed off at a driver they aren't keen on but literally /everyone/ is their enemy and their own result is their one goal. that's literally their job.

and as Lando says himself, no one in F1 including him wants to beat anyone more than their own teammate. again. how do people think that Lando would take this entire career he's worked so incredibly hard for and make it about a guy he golfs with (in groups, folks) and occasionally goes to dinner with (which he also does with Daniel) and talks to during the drivers parade (he also consistently seeks out Max, George and Yuki) but has a thriving professional and social life that has nothing to do with Carlos? yuk|erre, maxie| and ga|ex are out there doing far more shippy type things than car|ando all the damn time but when have they ever let that affect their desire to win or beat each other??

nothing about little unseasoned raw lamb cutlet Lando with hairy alpha Carlos at McLaren at all resembles what their dynamic would be as teammates. and the fact that Lando is really liking this new feeling of being the superior favored driver bodes horribly for how he'd react to Carlos swinging his huge sexy cojones back into McLaren expecting to be the number one again by age and experience. folks should enjoy getting to see them during the drivers parade and out golfing as non teammates bc the adorable content of 2019 would curdle into something grotesque if they now had to do goofy challenges while slowly learning to hate the sight of each other during briefings as they sought to supplant the other in the standings.

in no way on this or any other earthly planes can I be convinced that having them compete on the same team again would be anything other than a trainwreck and result in them not even speaking for the next 10-15 years.

[sewisdelrey]

THE BEST old F1 seasons and where to watch them

[Mega post] - [Part 2]

I want to start this 2nd part of this thread by thanking everyone who liked or reblogged my previous post. I know that It's not that much, but I started this list just for fun and seeing that some notes that I wrote in my phone receiving so much love is nice. Thanks again <3.

In this second part, as I promised, I'm focusing om the dominance of one driver or team in particular.

And last but not least, I have to aknowledge the work of my bestie @whorecedes .

She translated this list from spanish to english. So if there is a mistake, It is probably my fault, not her.

Anyways

Here is the link where you can watch al the old f1 seasons:

(I used this page and I never had a problem in case you are wondering, but another useful and great resourse is F1TV PRO. The only problem is that there are some countries where this service is not available)

Well, get in the time machine because we are going back in time.

Best F1 seasons (Pt. 2):

- 1988:

The 1988 Season showed one of the most dominant performance of a team ever, With McLaren winning almost every race of that season but one. The McLaren MP4/4 Is one of the most dominant F1 cars ever made and was drove by one of the best but conflictive duos of Formula One.

The McLaren MP4/4, with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

- 1991:

Although Nigel Mansell had a great season this year too, Ayrton was a bit luckier and knew excellently how to capitalize the reliability issues that made Williams lost both championships. Ayrton won the first four races of that year, but I strongly reccomend to watch Brazil 1991. That day, he won in front of his local crowd while being stuck in sixth gear for the last laps. This video gives me the chills and just shows how passionate were brazilians about him:

- 2000 to 2004:

There are lots of explanations about how Ferrari became this dominant between 2000 to 2004. Some people blame it on the Bridgestone exclusivity with Ferrari, others in Schumachers prime. We can't forget about the excellent engineers Ferrari had those years (Ross Brawn, Mattia Binotto, James Alisson, Rory Byrne, Aldo Costa).

But IMHO, the dominance of Ferrari during this era is just a conjunction of this factors. Although in 2003 they won by a minimum margin to McLaren, watching them in 2002 and 2004 being so dominant, could explain why a lot of people of my generation love this team despite they don't win anything since 2008.

Great team and a great car = Absolute dominance.

- 2005:

This season had something similar to what I said in 1991, Fernando capitalized grear the mistakes of McLaren and the bad luck of Kimi that year. But this does'nt mean that Fernando was just lucky. He ended om the podium in 15 of 19 races

I will never stop simping this livery.

2009:

Imagine you bought an F1 for 1 dollar but you discover a loophole in the new regulations of the sport and completely dominate the first half of the season. Well, this is what happened with Brawn GP, a team that won all the championships in which they participated (they competed just for one season but shh).

At thhe beggining of the season, the didn't even had sponsors!

If you like stories of underdog teams dominating in their sport for one year, this video is a MUST watch

- 2011:

It was very difficult for me to choose just one of Seb's dominant seasons but stats speak for themselves. (Although I could have included 2013 here too)

Look at those numbers Vettel hadd in 2011. (St: Start position / Fin: Final position)

2014:

This season started the Mercedes era and the biggest dominance in the story of the sport. Just watch the first race, the epic battle of the Brocedes duo and while watching that remember this: There are rumours that say that Lewis and Nico were not pushing 100% so the FIA wont suspect that the engine was illegal (it was not).

It was a great year for Daniel too.

2020:

I know this is a relatively new season but I just wanted to add a photo of the W11 because is a beast of a car.

What a stunning car. The best F1 car ever made in my opinion.

Well, this is the end of this mega post, but stay tuned because I am going to start a new series of post that is interesting to learn about F1!

PD: If you want to share this list in another place you are free to do it, I don't have a problem. Spread the knowledge!

[brian-in-finance]

Caitríona Balfe is already beloved on the small screen with her work on Outlander. However, her big screen output has slowly but surely been getting noticed. In particular, Ford v Ferrari was a bit of a coming out party for her. That being said, Belfast is a horse of a different color. Not only is the film absolutely brilliant, like being hugged for about 90 minutes, but Balfe is wonderful in it. The movie soars based on its central cast, with Balfe’s Ma character chief among them. With the flick in the heat of the Oscar race, Balfe was able to take some time out to hop on Zoom and chat with me about the project, Kenneth Branagh‘s vision, and just how lovely it all was. This took a while to set up, as she’s quite busy, but we made it happen. Now, you get to enjoy it!

Below, you can hear my conversation with Balfe. We stick on Belfast for the entirety of the conversation, which runs nearly 25 minutes, so there’s some meat on the bones here. Plus, the film is just that good, so it’s a pleasure to talk to anyone about it. Having it be Balfe, about her work in this movie (which is rightly getting major Oscar buzz), is almost just a bonus. Shocking no one, this is a delightful discussion, with her charm being in full effect. Branagh counted his lucky stars to have her every day on set, I’d imagine. For those who have not seen Belfast yet, it’s in theaters and is a total must see. I loved it at the Toronto International Film Festival a few months ago and just recently revisited it, with similarly wondrous results.

This is some of what I had to say about Belfast in my rave review out of TIFF:

This cast will make you fall in love with them, almost instantly. Newcomer Jude Hill is a revelation, instantly becoming someone to watch, while Caitriona Balfe gets a big screen vehicle to make you fall in love with her talents. Judi Dench is her reliably great self, while Ciarán Hinds has never been better. Then, there’s Jamie Dornan, who will make you completely re-evaluate him as an actor. He has a magnetism here that’s impossible not to be won over by. The rest of the Belfast cast is solid, but the core family is really where it’s at.

Here now is my interview with Belfast star Caitríona Balfe. Enjoy:

🎧 Audio in Awards Radar link, top of post ⬆️

Remember… not only is the film absolutely brilliant, like being hugged for about 90 minutes, but Balfe is wonderful in it. — Awards Radar

[luisjuanmilton]

Ahhh hi I'm awake and I've never sent like a prompt or ship thingy before so I hope this is what u mean !! For a ship maybe Dan and esteban and for a prompt maybe just esteban taking Dan to look at Christmas lights or something like that?

This prompt is perfect and I had been dying to write dansteban so thank you so much for requesting it <3

(I just realised you can’t put a read more on mobile sorry guys you’ll have to bear with this long post)

Daniel sighed to himself, absentmindedly scrolling through every single movie Netflix had to offer as he desperately tried to find something that would distract him from how painfully lonely he felt.

It was Christmas Eve, and while he would normally be either in Australia or Italy with his family by now, the fucking global pandemic had made it so that he was stuck in the flat Renault had rented for him to use whenever he was in Oxfordshire.

The flat was so underused that it barely had any furniture, and the lack of decorations coupled with the cold that could be felt even when he had the heater on wasn’t doing anything to improve his mood.

Daniel was used to spending his holidays in the sun damn it, he’d never asked for a white Christmas.

He had been surrounded by nothing but silence for so long that he almost thought he’d hallucinated the knocking that was coming from the direction of the door, but when it grew more insistence he nearly jumped off the couch, hurrying to see who could have possibly come to visit him.

And his heart nearly leapt out of his chest when he found none other than his lanky teammate standing on the other side of the wooden door with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Esteban?” he asked, half convinced that he was definitely hallucinating.

“Yes, hi” the Frenchman answered, a tiny hesitant smile pulling at his lips “for a second there I thought you weren’t in”

“Yeah sorry I thought I’d heard wrong, but, uh, what exactly are you doing here?” Daniel’s eyes widened when he realised how rude that sounded, and he quickly rushed to correct himself “Not that I don’t want you here or anything, you actually have no idea how nice it is to see you”

Thankfully, Esteban only looked amused by his rambling, the smile on his face growing larger.

“Well I sort of realised we were both stuck here, and since I don’t particularly fancy being alone tonight I thought you might not either”

And really, Daniel was so embarrassingly touched by that that he could have cried.

“Oh. Yes, no, absolutely. You can totally come in but I have to warn you that I only have, like, frozen pizza and a couple of beers on the fridge so -“

“Actually, I thought I could take you somewhere” Esteban interrupted, his brown eyes sparkling with mirth “if you don’t mind braving the cold that is”

Daniel beamed at the Frenchman, his innate love for surprises making a flare of excitement rush through him, especially after he had been sure the most exciting thing that would happen to him that night would be watching the new season of Love Island.

“Let me get my coat”

Just to be safe he decided to put on the biggest and fluffiest coat he owned, paired with a knitted beanie and a matching scarf, not even caring that he probably looked ridiculous next to Esteban, who didn’t even look like he had noticed it was snowing.

There wasn’t anyone around to judge him anyways, and he knew Este would never mock him.

Indeed, the younger man looked almost fond as he took in his very over the top attire, holding the door open for him and shutting it behind them.

He was nearly skipping as he followed Este down the stairs, not even questioning it when they walked past both their cars to instead follow the trail that lead to a small park that he’d never bothered to visit before.

Esteban stopped him when the park was just around the corner, turning to face him with a serious look in his eyes.

“Do you trust me?”

Daniel found himself nodding before he’d even finished the question, and when his entire face immediately softened at that, he felt warmth flooding his chest that had nothing to do with the layers of clothing he was wearing.

“Of course I do”

“Close your eyes for me” Este softly commanded, holding a hand out to him that he didn’t hesitate to take before complying.

It was a little tricky to walk over the rocky and snowy path without being able to see, but the firm hold Esteban had on his hand was enough to assure him he’d never let him fall on his ass.

They must have walked for less than three minutes when they came to a sudden halt, but even then Este didn’t let go of his hand.

“Okay… you can open them now”

Daniel immediately did as he was told, and a delighted gasp left his mouth as he took in the sight in front of him.

The entire park was light up by what seemed to be hundreds of Christmas lights that were hanging from the snowy trees, making it look like it’d been taken straight out of a Hallmark movie.

Thanks to the way they swayed with the breeze it almost seemed like they were twinkling stars, and Daniel felt like he’d walked into some sort of winter wonderland.

“Holy shit” he breathed out, hearing Esteban chuckle beside him at the expletive.

“Do you like it?”

“Are you kidding? I love it! It looks like a fucking postcard”

Este let out a full bellied laugh at that, but it was obvious to Dan that he was very relieved by his reaction.

“I’m glad. It’s just that I remembered you saying how much you liked Christmas, and I didn’t want you to have a crappy one this year, I think it’s been shitty enough. I also brought a big blanket, some pastries and a thermos full of coffee, it’s not exactly a Sunday roast but I think it’ll do” he confessed, the apples of his cheeks as red as the tip of his nose for reasons that the Aussie was sure were completely unrelated to the cold.

If Daniel had felt touched before, he was sure he was about to spontaneously combust because of how endeared he was by the man standing next to him.

“You really are something special Esteban”

“Oh it was nothing”

Esteban’s entire face was as red as the Ferrari livery by now, and his pleased grin made him look all the more adorable.

It was only then that Daniel realised neither had let go of the other’s hand.

“Hey Este? I know I couldn’t leave here because of the travel restrictions in Italy, but I thought they had lifted the travel ban in France… why didn’t you go home?”

The sheepish look he got after that was more than enough answer for him, but he still wanted to hear him say it.

“I, uh, I sort of overheard you talking to Cyril about how you’d have to spend the holidays here. I’m sorry for eavesdropping but I promise I didn’t mean to, and I just really didn’t want you to have to spend them alone because I know how much you miss your family and -“

Now it was Daniel’s turn to interrupt Esteban’s rambling, and he couldn’t think of a better way to do it than by fisting his hand on the front of his sweater and pulling him down into a kiss.

The tiny surprised yelp that left him was muffled by Daniel’s lips, and when the younger man’s brain registered what was happening he all but melted into the kiss.

And the Aussie had no idea how long he’d been wanting to do that without realising it, but as their lips moved together he quickly found out he never wanted it to stop.

Unfortunately, their need for oxygen was still a thing, but they only separated enough so that they could breathe while still keeping their foreheads pressed together, not caring at all that the angle was far from comfortable because of their height difference.

“Thank you” Dan murmured, tightening the grip he still had on the other’s hand and feeling an electric current run through their linked fingers.

“Merry Christmas Dan” he answered, with a smile bright enough that it put all the lights that surrounded them to shame.

“Merry Christmas Este”

With that, Daniel pressed their lips back together, thinking to himself that maybe he wouldn’t mind spending his holidays in the snow as long as he had Esteban close to keep him warm.

[formulatrash]

Could I get your opinion on Hamilton? Bc I feel like people either love him and are like he is the nicest person in the universe or hate him and think he’s the worst & tbh while he does seem genuinely good he’s also clearly willing to do quite a lot to win (2007) & I really doubt the Nico thing was one sided either way so... opinions.

Hello, anon - I got two of these so gonna answer this one rather than both .Lewis, man. Where the hell do you start with Lewis? Unquestionably one of the most talented drivers we have seen or will ever see on track. Not just for raw speed or ingenuity but with the way he has been able to adapt and learn across a changing era of cars - something a lot of the other drivers aspiring to GOAT status (Alonso, in particular) just haven’t been able to do. 

People think of Lewis as having unquestionably the best car. But that’s a recent development (and not always true even then) - the last few years he and Jenson were at McLaren, they were wildly outperforming the cars with a really strong driver pairing. (and the order was a little less rigid then, in all fairness)

I’m nearly the same age as Lewis so I remember him when he was a novelty - when what people said was that there was this guy in the junior categories who was fast - and this was always prefixed - he was black. 

People said he was stroppy, had cheating engines (there is no evidence of this, especially when you consider the budget he was working with) and that he had a bad attitude, he was never going to get to Formula One so why put him in your team, a kid like that couldn’t be a champion… in other words the extremely racialised term “uppity.” Like, have absolutely zero illusions on this front, people were not supportive.

Some were, obviously and for every hand up like the McLaren backing, the detractors got louder. So when Lewis took the GP2 title and moved up to F1, he had to come in hot and obnoxious. Especially with Fernando as his teammate. Especially with spygate about to wipe out any shine left on the mangled heap they’d made of the championship trophy that year.

And oh, the disqualification (for anyone not up to speed: the whole McLaren entry was excluded that season for allegedly spying on Ferrari) just validated the detractors: you see, he isn’t that good. He was cheating. 

Lewis has a temper. I don’t mean that in the sense he’s an angry guy, at all, just that there is a certain length you can push him and he will eventually snap, like all of us - he’s not a robot. And if you have to prove yourself again and again and again, in tests way beyond what anyone else is being scrutinised on, knowing that it is unfair and having no way to get past them but to once again, obnoxiously, excel then you will occasionally also make the odd sniping comment. 

I’ve never heard him say anything stroppier than he once threw a bit of a shit fit because he thought Jenson unfollowed him on Twitter, though - whereas the howling conniptions when he succeeds in whatever the latest arbitrary challenge someone has decided he must pass to be considered successful? Those continue to the day.

Lewis, of course, is now pretty zen. He’s spent a long time working on himself and has been repairing his relationship with his father (who used to be his manager until they somewhat explosively parted ways) and with old rivals. He’s been growing as a person and a driver, he’s been caring less about what people think. The Lewis now is very different to the Lewis even a few years ago - clearly a lot of self-reflection and space has happened, after what was years of charging around and also some - bluntly - horrible psychological shit which the Merc team definitely have to take some responsibility for because it was their success formula to set him and Nico against each other to push each other forwards.

And for all the bitterness between him and Nico, they were never, like, really loathing each other. Just couldn’t work together. I find it really ghoulish how eager the press is to see Carlos and Lando go the same way, asking when will you fall out? all the time like it wasn’t obvious both Lewis and Nico were in pretty horrible states during it. (I saw some of the aftermath via one of them and like, that’s some trauma right there :/)

Has Lewis had his controversies? For sure. Some of them I have been upset by - like when he posted an instagram story telling his nephew he couldn’t wear a dress. Thing about Lewis is that, especially as he’s got older, he doesn’t double-down on things like that, he goes away and reflects - and designed a range of skirts and modelled them for an interview where he was called on it, then went to Disneyland and walked round with his nephew wearing that princess dress he’d mocked him for. [warning: Daily Mail link sorry, only site that had the pics] 

Yes, ideally he would not have been a prang in the first place but it is also very good to publicly show growth. Especially in F1. 

I loved old, obnoxious fuckboy Lewis. He was the middle finger F1 needed showing - and his resilience to the number of times the press and the talking heads and the social circles of F1 tried to push him back down, only to spring back up with a blindingly-polished trophy… ah, you love to see it. 

Lewis means more to me than almost any other driver - and like, I vibe heavily with several - because he is that outlier example who shouldn’t have been counted but who keeps forcing them to score him into the ledgers of history, even now.

Is it good having a vocal advocate for women and for LGBT rights, who isn’t scared to call out motorsports prejudices and racism, so prominently in the sport? Yes. It’s a hard truth that he had to get this level of success in order to gain a platform because no when Lewis speaks people have to listen and report it. Because if his Instagram story can turn into a scandal, it can also be a communications platform. It’s why he holds a lot of sway with Liberty Media. 

Now Lewis’ rights to be in the sport are unassailable. So he can start on other fights he couldn’t take at the time - there’s a reason the F1 press still gives Wehrlein (who is one of the sweetest drivers I have ever worked with) the “uppity” treatment and it’s fucking sad. It’s so embarrassing to work in this industry that’s a thousand miles behind even other embarrassing industries on this global fucking shame. 

Look, I don’t give a fuck about the whole GOAT thing because sport is a continuous cycle (err, most years) and so ‘all time’ is a dumb thing to put in an accolade. But Lewis is, in my opinion, the best Formula One driver we have ever witnessed the career of. He is devastatingly good, has honed himself to a level where mistakes are such a rarity they’re a headline in and of themselves.

To maintain that, year after year after year? It’s not human. It’s a man who’s pushed himself beyond the pinnacle of the sport because he has proven everything and still someone will be typing out some snide little piece, at the same time I am writing this, that Hamilton will never be the greatest because [arbitrary mathematics about how you can’t count three of his titles so we don’t have to respect him yet. Not yet. It’s not that we don’t respect him because of who he is. It’s just one last test….]

Does Lewis being so good at Formula One driving it’s not really comprehensible below the level of fellow world champion make other drivers bad? No. He’s not walking to the titles. And maybe one day someone will be better than Lewis. Maybe he won’t be on form this year, somehow, for the first time in years of racing - if it ever starts again. Maybe he’ll retire to make tracksuits and rescue dolphins. 

I am glad he seems happy now. He looks incredible. Man gets hotter and nicer with every year and you absolutely love to see it. His growth in himself and the sport has been equally impressive and his transformative power, both in terms of pushing forward the sporting side and in terms of using his platforms for good, is awesome. 

(Lewis doesn’t have to speak out about stuff; I know people think it’s naff or crass or obnoxious or preachy but he could just not - and he knows people’d bash him for something else) 

That said, I wish he’d put some money into sponsoring some grass roots motorsport but that is literally my only beef with him. But yeah, we stan a complicated, evolutionary boy.

[loveylangdon]

What’s Clickbait again? pt. 3

Word count: 5.2k+ 

Shawn Mendes x Reader 

Story Summary: You’re dating Shawn Mendes but was in a long term relationship with David Dobrik and met Shawn through a collab David was supposed to have with him. David is now collabing with Shawn finally and finds out you’re dating the pop sensation and doesn’t know what to do.

Authors note: thank you guys sooo much for reading this again it’s just been floating in my head and it's nice to be able to have it out there for other people to enjoy. I know by this point it's going to be a mini-series and I have a lot of ideas, I don't want to drag it out and make it boring so I’m thinking I'm going to shoot for 6 parts and see what happens after that. If you guys have any ideas or suggestions feel free to leave it in the ask box or dm me :) Xxx

Pt. 1 

Pt. 2 

*Not my gif credit to owner*

------ 

Davids p.o.v

“Natalie give me the keys” looking down the hall where they left hand in hand, I turn to Natalie “Nat give me the fucking keys,” I say a little louder this time but quiet enough so the guy Shawn was talking to wouldn’t notice

I quickly steal a glance at the table and see the redhead staring at me. I roll my eyes and hit Nat’s arm “The keys Natalie” I say in a more demanding tone then needed but how could she not be listening to me at a time like this. 

A year, we’ve been broken up for a year and she's walking around with one of the nicest people in the industry on her arm, and by the looks of it, he gives her the world. I feel sick, it should be me, it was me until it wasn’t. I look from the hall where they disappeared back to Natalie ready to hit her arm again.

She looks at me with a look I’ve never seen before. I go to open my mouth again but she stops me 

“David,” she sighs defeated “She’s happy” she’s looking me in the eyes trying to communicate that whatever I’m about to do isn’t worth it.

“Not that you seem to fucking care but I haven’t seen her in a whole year, a year Natalie I need to talk to her so stop playing therapist and give me the fucking car keys” I look at her, staring down the hall again, they’ve only been gone for about five minutes but it feels like an eternity the longer Natalie takes the farther away they get.

 What the fuck did she know? I look from the hall back to Natalie who still hasn’t made a move to dig my keys out of her bag.

“Natalie, I will say this one more time” I stop lick my lips pushing my hair out of my face getting closer to her sitting figure “Natalie, give me the fucking car keys. I am not going to ask again” I glare at her until I see her shrink in her seat. Jack is looking at me like I'm stupid but I could care less I need to see her. 

“Davi-” 

“No one asked for your opinion Jack so stay the fuck out of it” I snapped back quickly, turning to look at him with annoyance and anger.

Some people were staring now but I could care less I need to talk to her. 

I quickly look down the hall and back at Natalie and down the hall again, I look at the redhead and he’s texting on his phone. I look down ready to grab Natalie's bag myself but see her with the keys in the palms of her hands, looking at the redhead one more time he’s still distracted, I snatch the keys from her hand and head down the hall she disappeared down. 

Walking down the hall I realize I don’t even know where I’m going, they couldn’t have gone far. I push open the door to the sound studio the sun momentarily blinding me and quickly scan the cars in the lot. I look for hers but can’t pick it out of the lineup. I quickly get in the Ferrari and drive slowly down the street hopefully seeing her car or her. 

Suddenly my phones ringing and it's a FaceTime from Jason, looking down I decline it. How could they be trying to stop me from talking to her? 

I’m about to turn down a street when I see them, I see Shawn first but his head is in her hands and she’s littering his face with kisses. 

I feel sick, what the fuck am I doing. 

I watch as he pushes her face away in a playful manner and reaches to kiss her hand. I feel like they’re about to kiss again and I can’t take it, I rev the engine and quickly pull up to an available space in front of the cafe. I don't even know if this is a parking space but fuck it. I know they heard the car and broke away, I smirk.

I get out of the car and I feel someone staring at me but I know its not her. 

I hear Shawn mutter “Is this a joke” and y/n shushing him I smirk knowing whatever they were doing was interrupted by me.

I quickly pull my glasses on she always liked when I wore glasses and do the most cliche car click over the shoulder douchebag move as I’m walking up to the entrance, I completely ignore them but when I hear her ask for a kiss I go to lock the car again making it beep loudly. I hear Shawn groan. Smirking to myself and walk inside. Glad I ruined their moment.

I can feel her staring at me through the glass now as I walk up to the counter, I pretend to study the menu but I’m not focusing. I take out my phone and call Corinna.

“Hello” She answers on the other side of the line 

I shrink softly “Corinna I’m a dumbass, I don't even know what my coffee order is how am I going to go to a coffee shop and pretend like I didn't follow them when I don’t even know what my order is-”

“David where the fuck are you” She cut me off 

“I saw y/n, She has a new boyfriend and I followed them to this cafe because I wanted to talk to her” I bite my lip “I didn’t think this far ahead I didn’t even think I was going to find them, I didn’t think and- ” 

She cut me off again “You never think David that's the problem” I hear her sighing on the line “Ok where are you I’m coming” 

“By the time you get here, they’ll be back at the studio it’s at the Warner Brothers lot-” I notice the girl behind the counter eyeing me. “Corinna hold on” I move the phone from my ear and look at her 

“Hi, by chance do you know who I am” I speak and my eyes widen “I meant that in the least douchebag way possible” I chuckle 

“Actually yeah I do, and I think least douchebag way possible went out the window when you prevented your ex-girlfriend from kissing her boyfriend who is out on the patio” She says in a joking tone but follows my eyes from the couple on the patio to her, she looks over at me and sympathy is all over her face. 

“Ok got me there, Do you know my coffee order by chance?” I ask hopefully 

“Iced Cappuccino with almond milk, I'll give you a few extra coffees so it just looks like you’re on a coffee run” she smiles at me and puts the order in the register. 

Putting my phone to my ear again I hear Corinna in her car “Ok mini-crisis averted, the barista helped me. It's sound lot 7 call Natalie and tell her to put you on the list tell her I’m coming back with coffee” I hang up the phone and sit on the bar by the counter.

My knee won’t stop shaking as I watch the barista make my drinks trying not to look outside. 

In my peripherals I see another girl walk out and give y/n and Shawn their food. Their hands disconnect while their plates were set in front of them but as soon as the waitress walks away, Shawn moves his opened hand laid out onto the table with his palm facing up. I feel like I'm intruding on their moment but I can’t help it. y/n giggles at him and puts her hand in his he quickly takes it and pulls her hand up to his mouth kissing her knuckles. He puts their linked fingers back on the table never breaking apart. He keeps stealing glances at her and staring at her intently I look over to her and she has a big smile on her face and her eyes are lit up, by the look on her face I know she’s talking about something she loves and I feel like I’m going to throw up, I look away quickly. 

The coffees are set in front of me all 5 of them. I sigh and rub my face in my hands. What the fuck am I doing? The barista places the last drink in the tray.

she looks at me sheepishly “I don’t mean to be inappropriate, but can I get a picture please, I’m a huge fan” 

“Yah, of course, thank you for helping me” I smile as she comes around the counter and hands the phone to the other barista who snaps the picture and thanks me. 

As she rings me up I glance back outside. Their eating, smiling and laughing. My heart drops. 

“Your total is $20.25” She smiles at me

I reach into my pocket “Here I only have a hundred dollars,” handing her the bill “um can I pay for their bill please” I say pointing towards Shawn and y/n. I close my eyes and try to remember what they said at the soundstage, “and I think they said something about getting coffee too so add $10 onto it and then keep the rest as a thank you for helping me” I smile at her and grab the coffee. 

She stares at me shocked “Are you sure, you don’t have to honestly that's like a fifty dollar tip” 

“Don’t worry about it, oh and please don’t post that picture we took until they leave. Thank you so much.” I turn to walk out but she stops me

“Don’t worry about it too much,” She glances outside to Shawn and y/n laughing, “I know she still has feelings for you, she kept stealing glances in here. He may seem like an angel but he has to leave to tour eventually and who leaves their girlfriend for more than half the year. It gets better even if it feels like your heart just left your body.”

I give her another smile and head to walk outside. As soon as I open the door a bell rings that I didn’t notice when I walked in. 

Fuck.

I don’t even look at the eyes that are watching me and continue walking to my car. I set the coffee’s on the floor next to me and back out of the spot. 

Making my way to the sound studio I feel my heart breaking all over again, I don’t even notice I’m crying until It gets blurry. Luckily I’m in the studio lot and am already parking. I sit there and pull out my phone before I can even text Natalie to get the coffee my hands start trembling and I punch the steering wheel. The horn going off but I could care less. I don’t even notice Natalie until the stage door slams against the wall and she’s running to me. 

I look up at her standing over the car “You’re a dumbass you know that right” she gives me a soft smile before pulling me out of the car and giving me a hug. 

I bury my face in her neck and can’t help but cry. She rubs my back. “I know it hurts Dave but it's going to get better I promise,” she tells me as she holds me. I feel useless and broken. 

—- 

y/n p.o.v. 

Me and Shawn finished eating lunch on the patio, once David went inside and didn’t cause further problems I saw Shawn visibly relax. While David was inside our food came out and we ate and talked about random things. 

We were interrupted by the sound of a doorbell dinging signaling that David was leaving. Me and Shawn both watched as he carried a tray of coffee’s out to his car and left without a glance or a sound. 

Shawn’s eyes followed his car glaring until the car vanished and once it was out of sight he squeezed your hand.

“You owe me two kisses,” Shawn says seriously 

I reach over to hold Shawn's jaw in my hand and give him his request and he hums happily 

Moving to sit back down he’s deep in thought when I squeeze his hand “You know he’s not a bad person, he wouldn’t do anything to hurt or interfere with us. He just needs time to process things, he doesn’t react kindly to things he can’t have or things he’s not used to”

Shawn sighs leaning his cheek on his free hand that was resting on the table. “So he does want you, still?” He looks at me while his eyes go wide “I mean of course he still wants you, I mean who wouldn’t” he sighs and looks at you lovingly. He’s playing with your fingers now. “Maybe if he wasn’t acting like a total douchebag you would consider talking to him” Shawn mumbled 

You laugh “What was that prince?” His eyes go wide confirming you weren’t supposed to hear it. His ears tint pink and he just stares at you sheepishly. It's cute when he gets all worked up.

“I love you Shawn Peter and I will continue to say it until every little doubt leaves your beautiful little brain,” I say squeezing his hand “I'm here for the long run, there is nowhere I would want to be, please stop doubting yourself it hurts my heart.” I pout 

He looks at you with admiration “I know I’m sorry, I just-

“Let me stop you right there prince, never apologize for how you feel” looking him in the eyes and reaching for his chin to hold “Your feelings are valid and mean something to me, thank you for sharing them with me, and if for some reason you can’t I'll be here waiting until you can.”

“How do you do that?” He tilts his head in an adorable manner and gazes at me in awe 

“do what?” I chuckle 

“Make me feel like the luckiest man on earth, you’re so encouraging and understanding, I'm working on being better for you. I know my little uncertainties have really been popping out today but you have been nothing but supportive and patient so thank you” he’s rubbing my ring finger something he does when he’s deep in thought and I smile at him. 

“Ready to go rockstar we need to get Gerty his coffee before we head back” Shawn leans his head back behind his chair and groans 

“Do we have to” he whines 

“Yes, you told him we would take 15 more minutes if we got him coffee” you laugh at his childlike behavior 

“Ok let me go pay and order it I’ll be right back” He walks over to me and holds my head in his hands, placing a kiss on my forehead and turns around to walk through the door of the cafe.

I check my phone and Shawn’s that's still in my pocket, Shawns was on do not disturb and I snort, only a rockstar would have his phone on do not disturb while he’s technically working. 

There's 4 missed texts and 2 calls from Brian, I unlock Shawn’s phone and look at the messages 

Brian: The idiot is yelling at his assistant I think he’s asking for car keys 

Brian: he caught me staring but he’s definitely asking for car keys 

Brian 1 missed call 

Brian: where did you guys go? Need me to pick you guys up

Brian 1 missed call

Brian: okay he came back with coffee? His face is blotchy like he was crying but he came back with a blond. Call me when you can.

I laugh at Brian, always a protector. I sigh and rub my face. How is Shawn suppose to work with David if he’s being unprofessional and causing problems? 

My thoughts are disrupted with the bell on the door ringing. Shawn comes out with 3 iced coffees. 

“One for my princess, one for me and one for Gerty, and they were paid for already?” Shawn looks at you shrugging his shoulders. 

“Wait actually?” 

“You sound surprised” He laughs

“Shocked is all, did you tip her at least?” Taking your ice coffee from his hands. 

“I did thank you very much, I’m not rude I made sure he was nice to her too, our meal was paid for already, she said a man came in and handed her a hundred dollars,” he snorted “Even though I asked about David and her lock screen was a picture of her and David from about 10 minutes ago, she still said a man” he laughs putting emphasis on ‘a man’ looking at you lovingly

‘Ready to go?” You question looking up at him through your lashes

he looks down at the two coffees he’s holding and whimpers 

“What, what's wrong?” You look at Shawn trying to search for what's bothering him 

“How am I suppose to hold your hand if I'm holding Gerty’s stupid coffee?” He mopes 

“Oh my prince, you have the biggest hands on the planet but can’t hold two coffee’s in one hand” You giggle taking Andrew’s coffee and holding it between your body and elbow, holding your own coffee with the same hand. Intertwining your hand with his. He sighs in content 

“Mmm much better than you princess” He kisses your forehead as you guys head back to the studio. 

Touching was definitely his love language. You roll your eyes at your greek god of a boyfriend.

By the time we made it back to the studio some cars are gone but most of the crew is there. Shawn insisted on giving me a piggy back ride so now I’m about 7 feet tall trying to open the stage door with two iced coffees in my hand. 

Shawn starts laughing “Shawn stop moving unless you want me to spill coffee on your head” I pout he’s not helping whatsoever I'm trying to balance two coffees in one hand while reaching down for a door handle that's about 2 feet below me. Why is my boyfriend a giant “Shawn open the door” I say louder getting annoyed

“Princess if I open the door that means I have to let go of your thigh or my iced coffee both of which I am not willing to let go of so please open the door” he looks up at you with a smirk 

“Shawn Peter Raul-“ I don’t have a chance to finish before his hands off my thigh and I feel myself slipping, I let out a scream and quickly wrap my arms around his neck. He’s swinging the door open and running through the hall back to where we left Brian and Andrew. 

“Shawn Peter Raul Mendes put me down before you drop us both” I start screaming into his neck scared to look, knowing his clumsy ass would drop both of us and with a boyfriend who is a literal giant and all muscle, those are not the types of bruises I would like to have. I feel his body tense and I'm about to take my face out of his neck when he comes to a complete stop.

I hit my face on the back of his head and he’s laughing loudly. He picks up speed again and sits down on the couch with me still clinging onto his back and squishes me between the back cushions and his body. 

Brian is laughing hysterically, you can’t even see me at this point it's Shawn, 2 pairs of legs wrapped around his torso, a head and 2 coffees around his neck. He’s breathing heavy and laughing Andrew walks in and gives us a questioning look. I hold out my arm holding Andrew’s coffee above Shawns head and Brian laughs harder 

“Shawn where’s your girlfriend” Andrew smirks and takes a picture of Shawn and your arm reaching out holding his coffee. 

“I don’t know Andrew I think I lost her” He takes a sip of his coffee and he’s pinching my legs that are still wrapped around his waist. I yelp “Shawn!” 

Brians dying laughing and Andrew is telling us to be quiet and pointing to the couch across from us. I try to maneuver over Shawns big biceps to see what he’s pointing at but it's no use, I just slump deeper into the couch cushion and pinch Shawn’s nipple to get his attention and I hear him yelp. 

“What the fuck was that for!” He turns his head to glare at you 

“wait y/n do it again I didn’t record it, Where's Con when you need him” Brians chuckling recording the encounter, Shawn glares at him 

“Shawn I can't drink my coffee can you help me” He melts 

“Oh yeah, here ya go princess” He takes the cup out of your hand and angles it towards you behind his back so you can drink from the straw.  

“You guys are ridiculous Shawn get off of her” Andrew commands staring at both of you 

“You’re not the boss of me, If I want to turn my girlfriend into a pancake I will” Shawn challenges him laughing along with Brian who is rolling on the floor 

“I work with literal children” Andrew pinches the bridge of his nose and walks away 

“Ok wait actually Shawn, your Princess can't breathe get your huge ass biceps off of me” I start to push him off but it's no use he dead weights 

You yelp not expecting it “Shawn Peter Ra-“

Oh shit “Shawn don’t let her get to Mendes get off of her man,” Brian says frantically getting up and tugging on Shawn’s arm to help pry him off of you 

Shawn is laughing so hard his girlfriend pressed into the couch under him and his best friend scared he’s going to face the consequences of not listening to you. He starts laughing so hard he’s crying when Brian finally pulls him off they both fall to the floor.

You’re left with rosy cheeks and messed up hair while Shawn and Brian are rolling on the floor laughing. 

You huff and look around, David is sitting on the opposite couch cuddled into Corinna’s lap while she plays with his hair, she’s glaring at you and he looks like he’s about to sleep. He notices you staring at him and pull’s the drawstrings of the hoodie he’s wearing closed and turns over so his face is in Corinna’s stomach away from you. 

Andrew comes back “You guys are all good to leave” He looks at Shawn on the floor in-between your legs and Brian sitting next to him. 

“We just got back though are you sure,” Shawn asks confused and points towards David, communicating why was he here if we did nothing with him. This earns a look from Corinna. 

Andrew shrugs “They said they got enough of your good energy or as I like to say hyperactivity for the promo pieces, once you two decide who you want to film with they’ll send the footage to those youtuber’s and they’ll edit the video promo in the way they do” typing at his phone “You guys are good to leave honestly but please discuss who you want to film with and let me know by tomorrow afternoon you guys are only here for the summer so we need to find a time to film that fits with everyone's schedule within the two months” He points at you and at Shawn.

“Me! why are you pointing at me Andrew I'm just the girlfriend” I laugh putting my hands up in defense 

Shawn’s head snaps to me quickly “How dare you talk so lowly of my princess” He goes to pinch your legs again, but you’re too quick and hug them to your chest 

“Better luck next time Mendes” You snicker at him and stick your tongue out

“Ha Better luck next time Mendes” he mocks you and your hand movements in the sponge bob meme form

You go to hit the back of his head but he pulls your hand before you can and you land on your butt next to him on the floor. Shawn and Brian are rolling

That’s definitely going to leave a bruise “Shawn Peter-“ you raise your voice waking David up, Shawn notices you glancing at David and realizes you woke him up too, knowing you hate being a disruption in any situation he quickly looks back to you staring him dead in the eyes

“Oh shit” His eyes go wide “Bri you have the car keys right” he rapidly gets up and so does Brian confused 

“Yah wh-“

“Run” Shawns standing to avoid your arms trying to grab him and he heads down the hall laughing with Brian following him down the hall. 

“Your boyfriend is a literal 5 year old” Andrew deadpans and snickers watching the door fly open and them screaming outside. 

You hear the door close and start to stand, Andrew reaches his hand in offering to help you up, you gladly take it and look to see David also stood to help you get up. You just stare at him. 

Andrew clears his throat “Okay girlfriend you have an important job, make sure he chooses 8 creators to film within preference to highest rated to lowest pick 2 backups and mark the ones where you think the video will take the longest if we need to reshoot we need to schedule it” he states handing you the paper  

You hear David snort next to you, you’re about to open your mouth to defend Andrew when he speaks up 

“I'm sorry, is there something wrong Mr. Dobrik?” Andrew turns to look at David whose eyes widen 

“Uh no sir I just it's funny you think Youtuber’s reshoot with collaborations its either there or it's not the video is useful or it's trashed. It’s a video not the end of the world”

“Noted, while you may not take your profession seriously by viewing potential projects as useful or trash, with professionals “trash” isn’t an option, we get our work done and better than the standard we set it at. Thank you for your unauthorized input Mr. Dobrik please excuse me” Andrew looks at him smiles and turns to walk out 

David shrinks in his seat as Corinna glares at Gerty walking down the hall. 

You turn to look at David, “Thank you for lunch I’ll get your Venmo from Ilya and pay you back when I get back to our apartment.” 

He goes to say something but you cut him off “Bye Corinna if you’ll excuse me my boyfriends waiting, tell Natalie bye for me.” You fake smile one last time and grab yours and Shawn’s coffees and start to walk towards Andrew who was texting and waiting for you at the end of the hall. 

 “Go Gerty don’t take anyone's shit” You smirk at him 

He chuckles, “I don’t take kindly to people with a poor work ethic and childlike tendencies. Have one or the other, not both, and butting into our conversation when we’re doing his career more of a favor than Shawns and he still chooses to act like a prick even after visibly seeing you happy is beyond me and is someone I don’t look forward to working with.” Andrew goes to open the door for you “On a positive note, you handled that very maturely y/n I'm proud” Andrew gives you a side hug as you guys walk outside the soundstage

___ 

David’s p.o.v 

After y/n leaves I groan and fall into Corinna’s lap 

“David, what the fuck just happened, why were you even here if you didn’t film anything?” She looks down pissed at me

I sit up and rub my eyes sighing 

“I heard Shawn was doing a youtube collaboration but had a list of youtuber’s to pick from, I found out I was on that list and wanted to come by to ask him to collab with me since our last video fell through, when I got here Nat texted me saying y/n was here but she failed to tell me that she was here but with Shawn,” I say groaning into my hands 

“So that's when you lost your shit and followed her to some random cafe with no plan, no backup or any idea what the actual fuck to do?” 

“Yah..”

“You’re a dumbass, come on we have to go, wheres Natalie?” she gets up dusting off her jeans 

“What where are we going” I get up and follow her 

“Well if y/n was an idiot she wouldn’t pick you for Shawn to collab with, but y/n isn’t an idiot so you’ll be number one on the list. We need to make a plan and a filming schedule where you’ll be spending more time with her than with him so you guys can talk” she looks at me like it’s obvious “you do want to talk to her right? that's why you went all Slovak spy on her following her to a cafe like a creep”

“Yah. But Corinna, I really fucked up,” I'm defeated. 

Remembering y/n being calm and collected as she threw her clothes into a suitcase, while I was frantically trying to stop her, tears streaming down my face and she’s not talking to me or paying attention to anyone in our living room that witnessed the whole thing. How she just packed her things, her life and her love for me and walked out of our front door without a goodbye. 

“I want her back but I want her to be happy” I look down. If what I did made her get straight on a flight to leave the country so I couldn’t get to her, what hope is there really? 

“David you’ve done a lot of stupid shit in your life, letting go of the women you were planning on proposing too is definitely at the top of the list, you and y/n have something her and Shawn don’t. History. We just need to figure out how to make her talk to you okay? We can do this, we can fix this, she’s back now you know where she is. If Shawn agreed to do this youtube thing it means she doesn’t completely hate you. That's a good thing” she claps her hands together as we exit the stage heading into our cars. 

I feel my heart skip a beat, for the first time in a year I’m hopeful. Corinna’s right y/n is back for the first time in a year. That was the challenge finding her to talk and explain, now she’s here at arm's length. Smiling like an idiot I'm screaming at the top of my lungs driving down the 101 on my way home.

---- 

I’m aiming for 6 parts so hopefully, this hasn’t bored you yet, more drama to come again this has just been floating around in my head so thank you for reading Xx

If you guys have any ideas or suggestions feel free to leave it in the ask box or dm me :) Xxx

[iwgenerator]

How To Get a 1000 Loyal Blog Followers Quickly

Are you struggling to get blog followers? Have you been spending a lot of money on Google AdWords (or Facebook Ads) to get more visitors to your blog? What if I showed you how to get blog followers without spending a any money on paid traffic methods?

If you’ve ever searched for anything on Google, you will know that Google displays two sets of results – Organic search results and paid search results. If your website is part of the paid results, Google will love you to death. Why? Because, you, my friend, are paying their employees’ salary.

Now, I don’t know about you. But I would rather use all that money to pay my employees’ salaries - not Google’s. Hey, don’t get me wrong. You’re probably a lot more generous (or richer) than me. In that case, Congratulations! – and go ahead, knock yourself out. Google employees are expecting a big fat bonus this year!

The rest of you, who are more like me, saving your hard-earned cash and hopefully, pumping it back into your businesses to generate even more money, this guide will help you save a ton of money and get more blog followers quickly and easily. Now, that’s a picture that makes me happy. Google employees can buy their own lunch!

I’d rather get my website ranked in the organic (read FREE!) search engine lists even if it means I have to take a few hours of learn how to do that.

I’m here to tell you that you don’t need any secret powers to take on Google. Heck! you don’t even need a blue and red costume.

All you need to get followers on your blog is to follow a few easy steps.

This is where you say, “Okay I Get it! Now tell me how to get blog followers for Free before I pull my hair out!”

Ah, the steps! Actually, they are super simple, and the chances are, you’re already following them – to some extent. There is a secret sauce that will help you get great search results from these steps. We will talk about it at the end of this post. But first, let’s look at the steps.

 Want More Blog Followers? Do a Thorough Keyword Research First!

I know you will probably be rolling your eyes right now - “Dude, everybody – along with his/ her in-laws - knows that keyword research can get you better search engine rankings! So, what’s the big revelation here?!!”

You’re right. There is no revelation here. But let me tell you this. If you already knew that and are still not getting great results from keyword research, chances are you are not doing it right OR – worse still, you are not doing it at all. Complex things are best left to geeks, right? Wrong!

If you have been using complexity and lack of knowledge as an excuse for not taking action, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table, my friend.

Sure, you can outsource this step. Sometimes – especially if you have money, but don’t have time – it’s a smart move to outsource some of your tasks. It will help you focus on doing something you love doing – I’m not talking about giving your dog a bath – and grow your blog better.

But I urge you – Please, please, please, learn these skills – at least one of them - before you outsource. There is a reason for this.

I’ve seen a lot of people outsource their SEO on Fiverr or other platforms. When, the outsourcer completes their project, they get a file back – usually a spreadsheet - full of keywords, URLs or links. They happily close the file and wait the next couple of days hoping to see their website on the first page of Google. Then, when nothing seems to happen, they go back to searching for the next magic solution. That’s the fastest route to Internet Marketing suicide and probably financial

Don’t fall into that trap. I can guarantee you that anybody, who has achieved great results online, has mastered at least one area of internet marketing – it could be SEO, content creation, social media marketing – anything. Master a skill first, and then outsource. Don’t let laziness and fear of complexity stop you from achieving true success online.

So, coming back to the first step, do your Keyword Research thoroughly and make a list of keywords that have a decent traffic and low competition. Don’t go for keywords with a lot of traffic because chances are, the competition will be high. Finding a high volume, low traffic now is like winning the internet lottery. So, don’t waste too much time looking for it. If you come across one, great.

Book your Ferrari and your next exotic holiday to an exotic location. Scratch that! Don’t follow that last piece of advice, yet.

If you don’t know how to do keyword research, I suggest you go through these 2 blog posts first. You will get a thorough understanding of the basics.

How To Get Followers More On Your Blog With Keyword Research

How To Start a Blog and Get Followers - Fast

One of the best tools, in my experience, to do Keyword Research is Long Tail Pro. It helps you find Long Tail Keywords fast and rank your blog. Long tail keywords or keyphrases are long phrases that people type into Google when they search for solutions.

Long tail keywords help you get lesser, but highly targeted traffic to your blog. While shorter keywords will get more traffic, they are highly generic and the amount of competition you will face will be tremendous.

For example, if you try to rank in Google for the keyword, “Diet”, you have a lot of work to do. Don’t just look at the large number of searches for this keyword and get too excited. It’s a highly competitive short keyword and you will face some serious competition from established players in the market.

Another downside is, the results are more generic. That means, if you manage to get your website to the first page of Google for that keyword, you could get a lot of broad traffic to your website. For example, there could be people searching for the meaning of the word Diet, the spelling of the word Diet, or Types of Diets, Recipes that suit their Diets or a million other things. That’s not really helpful for marketers whose goal is to promote specific products or services – sometimes even in a specific location.

Now let’s try to get more specific with our keywords and shift to longer keywords or keyphrases. These are known as Long Tail keywords. They are longer and describe the search queries more accurately. That means, Google can provide more specific (read accurate) results for those searches.

Just look at the results below, as we get more specific with the keyphrase, you will see a significant reduction in the number of results. But for us, the key point is, the competition also comes down considerably.

For a competitive keyword like Diet, the competition will still be high. But if you pick another less competitive niche, you can easily rank on Google’s 1st page for you Long Tail keywords. The best part is, you will get highly targeted traffic of visitors who are actually interested in what you have to tell them. Now, you are ready to go into the next step.

Creating Great Content For Your Blog Can Get You More Followers

Start with a Killer Headline

Here’s why you need a great headline to start you blog post. According to Copyblogger, 8 out of 10 readers will read your headline. But here’s the kicker. Only two (yes 2) out of 10 will go ahead and read the rest of your content.

The chances of your blog post getting read depends entirely on how attractive (or intriguing) your headline is. If writing is not your strong suite, I suggest you use this Headline Analyzer to get a better idea of how good your headline is. But remember, that this is just a tool and can help you only so much. Writing great headlines is a skill that you can master with practice.

To start with, study the headlines on the top results that appear on Google for your keywords. Then for each blog post write at least 10 – 15 different headlines and compare them with the top results on Google.

Try to keep these points in mind when crafting your headlines:

Keep your headlines short

Convey the main benefit your post will deliver to the reader

Include your main or focus keyword in your headline

Try to capture a strong emotion in your headline. Don’t make it bland and neutral

Wherever possible, try to give a mention a number (like “3 actionable steps” or “7 top tips” or “in the next 48 Hrs” etc. This will make the post seem Specific, Finite and To-the-point, delivering clear solutions – rather than a generic never-ending post.

Use words like Powerful, Top, Best, Secrets etc. to make your post stand out from the rest of the articles

Talk To Your Reader – Not Google

A lot of bloggers over-optimize their posts trying to get top rankings. The Google search algorithm is becoming smarter (and more human-like) day-by-day.

Readability is a key factor in ranking now. It also makes your blog more attractive to visitors. Make sure that your content can easily be read and understood by your visitors.

In short, forget the bot! How on earth did I come up with that one?!!

Write for people not machines

 Anyway, let’s get serious (SEO is serious business, baby!). If your content looks like “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” with a lot of keywords stuffed in between, it’s time to kiss your Blogging ambitions goodbye.

Talk to your reader like you would talk to your friend. Keep them engaged. Try to build a long-term relationship.

Read this post to learn how to write powerful posts that will get you visitors coming back for more.

6 Power Tips To Make Your Blog Posts Stand Out In 2020

How To Promote Your Blog To Get More Blog Visitors

This is where a number of bloggers come up short. You may have written great crowd pulling posts. But unless you put them in front of the right audience, nobody’s going to read you masterpieces.

Once you have written around 5 pillar blog posts on your blog, it’s time to start promoting them. Remember, when you are promoting your article, what you are essentially doing is marketing your blog. To market effectively, you need to first have a good marketing plan and then go out there and execute it. Do an initial research, pick 2 or maximum 3 channels of promotion that you are comfortable with. There are number of methods you can use.

I mostly use these 3 methods to drive more traffic to my blog:

Pinterest – Public boards

Quora Answers

Facebook Posting/ Commenting

I also use YouTube quite a bit.

Apart from these popular methods, another great way to get a lot of targeted traffic - and get backlinks to your blog is to do Guest Posts.

You can read more about Guest Posting in this post.

So, there you have it. Following these steps will help you get a lot of blog followers quickly.

Now, the secret sauce I mentioned earlier is consistency. Whatever you are doing, once you create the plan, stick to it until you start seeing results. Believe me, in 3 to 6 months’ time, you will start seeing some great results.

Now that you know how to get blog followers, it’s time to shift gears and turn your blog into a real business.

Once you start getting traffic, plan on monetizing your blog. My favorite monetization method is Affiliate Marketing. There are a number of great affiliate marketing companies and programs that can help you make a lot of money.

Here are some of the Top Paying Affiliate Programs that you can join. Pick the affiliate programs that are right for you and start implementing these steps to maximize your income.

https://sajithtm.com/how-to-get-a-1000-loyal-blog-followers-quickly/

[thisdaynews]

Brazilian GP practice & debate

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/brazilian-gp-practice-debate/

Brazilian GP practice & debate

Related Video and Audio

Coming up

Play audio Brazilian Grand Prix 2nd Practice from BBC Radio 5 liveBrazilian Grand Prix 2nd Practice

17:5517:55

BBC Radio 5 live

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Live Reporting

By Niamh Lewis

All times stated are UK

Andrew Benson

BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Interlagos

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Alexander Albon arrived in Brazil fresh from confirmation that he will be a Red Bull driver in 2020, and it’s fair to say he is still finding it a little hard to come to terms with the dramatic changes in his career in the last 12 months. It’s not much more than a year since the Anglo-Thai was consigned to a career in Formula E, but then Red Bull came calling, he got a Toro Rosso seat, and the place in F1 he thought had passed him by, and now he’s in a Red Bull.

“It’s crazy, really,” Albon said on Thursday. “I say it a lot, but I truly mean it when I say it. To get the call-up originally after Hungary, it was quite a daunting prospect, really. But I felt like I could do something. To be honest the races that I’ve had, I been I’ve been pretty happy with. And yes, of course, to get that final call to tell me that I’m staying for next year, it feels really good. Really good.”

Team-mate Max Verstappen said it was the “smartest decision”. “He’s a nice guy and I think for him the last 12 months has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Of course he’s very laid-back, very relaxed. And people like him in the team. He’s easygoing, which I think helps. And he’s quick, he’s doing his job, he’s getting the points. So I think it was the smartest way of continuing.”

Posted at 15:0315:03

comments

Get Involved #BBCF1

Which drivers would you like to see in a celebrity grudge match?

Shaun: Trulli v Sutil

It’s been ten years since the weigh in, so I’d like to see the actual fight now.

Will the shorter, fiery Italian send one up the inside and punt him off the canvas, or will the taller Sutil keep him just outside the DRS zone and take it on points?

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Full story.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Posted at 15:0115:01

Post update

Max Verstappen looks like he’s loving life in the garage chatting away to the team. He’s set an install lap, but no laptimes from either of the Red Bulls yet.

And if you missed it, Red Bull have announced their second driver for 2020.

Posted at 14:5914:59

comments

Get Involved #BBCF1

Stranger things have happened Karen

Karen: Will Williams ever get a driver on the podium again?

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Posted at 14:5914:59

Radio message – Sainz

CS: “How’s the weather looking for in FP2?”

“Lower chance of rain.”

Posted at 14:5614:56

Post update

Ricciardo says the track is drying and the inters are no good anymore. Back to the pits for him.

Nobody has come out on slicks yet.

Posted at 14:5514:55

Hamilton – Brazilian Grand Prix 2008

The 2008 world championship went down to the wire in the last race of the season.

Hamilton made a last lap overtake on Timo Glock to edge Felipe Massa to the title by one point in Brazil.

Ferrari thought they had won, and Massa’s family and friends were caught on camera celebrating… until they heard that actually Hamilton has beaten him by one point.

But they did have something to celebrate as Massa won the race from pole, and took the fastest lap.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Alonso: ‘stop the world, I want to get off’Image caption: Alonso: ‘stop the world, I want to get off’

Posted at 14:5214:52

comments

Get Involved

Which drivers would you like to see in a fight?

Jacob:Main Event: Lewis vs Vettel Undercard: Magnussen vs Hulkenberg Grosjean vs Kvyat Gasly vs Albon Max vs Ocon Piquet Sr vs Salazar

Andrew Benson

BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Interlagos

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Rumbled by Red Bull?Image caption: Rumbled by Red Bull?

At Ferrari, the focus this weekend will be on proving that their dip in performance in Austin last time out was a one-off – and, particularly, that it was not related to the rule clarification on operation of an engine’s hybrid system that was issued on Saturday morning in Texas.

Rivals – privately, if not publicly – linked Ferrari’s first failure to win pole for seven races, and the clear reduction of their straight-line advantage visible on telemetry, directly to the FIA’s ruling.

The row has rumbled on to Brazil, stoked by another clarification earlier this week, this time confirming the that adding coolant to the combustion chamber is illegal. If Ferrari are concerned about all this, they are doing a good job of hiding it. “We all know what we are doing,” Charles Leclerc said.

“We know there is absolutely nothing wrong. And I feel confident things will come back to normal here.”

Leclerc has a new engine for this weekend, following a failure in Austin practice, and there will be a lot of attention on the red cars’ speed up the long hill from Juncão corner to the start-finish line once things start hotting up this weekend.

Posted at 14:4014:40

Raikkonen – Brazilian Grand Prix 2007

One year many of you will remember… it was a three way battle for the title, with Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari, and the two McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

Raikkonen took the championship by one point over Hamilton who was in his rookie year, and his two-time world champion team-mate Alonso.

In the race, Hamilton had a poor start and tried to make an overtake on Alonso which made him go off wide and drop to eighth. Then things went from bad to worse as the Brit had gearbox issues. Raikkonen assumed the lead of the race and McLaren’s strategy calls were not enough to beat Ferrari, so Kimi took his first and only world championship.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Posted at 14:3914:39

comments

Get Involved

Kayleigh:easy peasy- Max vs Ocon. Because of their shoving match after the race last year.

Also William Storey of Rich Energy fame vs Guenther Steiner. Because I think they just need to get it out their system probs

Here’s a video of Max v Esteban last year if you missed it…

Posted at 14:3714:37

Post update

Looks fancy… where’s Ian Fergusson?

Posted at 14:3614:36

Post update

Posted at 14:3614:36

Post update

Charles Leclerc is the second driver to set a laptime, a 1:21.971.

There is still plenty of spray behind the cars, but it looks like the track is drying out.

Posted at 14:3514:35

Post update

Read More

[letslivelady]

5 Lessons to Learn from My First Online Dating Encounter

If you just want the bottom line about the online dating lessons, go to the end of the post. But this online dating story is worth the read.  

Email and text excerpts that follow are authentic actual conversations (including misspellings) saved on my computer and cell phone.

The Last Love of Mark Rossi!

Less than 24 hours after I had put my profile on the online dating website, Match.com,  I was pleasantly surprised to get a message from Mark Rossi -- age 62 (five years younger than me -- could I handle being a cougar?).  Mark's profile showed him to be  Italian/American, a widower, a successful international businessman and very good-looking!

"This looks really promising,"  I thought.  He asked to exchange personal email addresses and send additional photos of each other.   The match was off to an exciting start. I chalked up the poor grammar to his foreign native language.

Here are a couple of excerpts from Mark Rossi

"My old friend and pastor would tell me, if you aren't ready to feel or look stupid, then don't fall in love ,lol but sincerely that is the bitter truth. When i lost my wife , he told me that the fact that something good ends doesn't mean something better cant start. Can you prove that right? I have come to realize that let a man is reduced to nothing except he has a woman to call my companion.

I don't need a super model, I rather need a very good friend, a good woman with a good heart, someone who knows when i am tensed just by looking into my eyes. The whole world may be mad at me, but if you are smiling at me, i would care less. Can't wait to read from you again dear.I wish you have a wonderful evening ahead.Till I read from you again soon, sending you morning hugs."

It all sounded great.  But...

But I was asking him specific questions like how it was that he was located out of Bedford, Kentucky?  And if Italian was his first language?  The name of his business?  But he never really answered those questions.

After a week or so the first shoe drops!

"I have been so busy today because something came up and i have to travel tonight to Dubai for a week, i was contacted by the customs there to come over to sign some confirmation papers because some security protocol was breached by the shipper during the shipment of my cars and some incomplete paperwork from Germany. The cars are 16 in total, a total of 4 - 20ft container consisting of 4 cars in each.

The plan was to ship down to Dubai, talk to a dealership and move them for sale. We can always communicate everyday through emails and phone until i get back home, I promise to keep in touch and seeing you would be top priority on my return.

This could be the beginning of forever and i would put my mind to it and i want you to also. please have a good evening, i would talk to you soon , please leave me your phone number.

Sending you hugs. Mark.."  

So, what was so bothersome about this?

The delay did not bother me at all because I wasn't so sure I was ready to meet him anyway.  What bothered me is that there was no traceof an Italian accent in his voice during our phone conversation -- despite the fact that he was supposedly raised in Italy until the age of 12.

I asked him again why he was based out of Kentucky, but I was not satisfied with the answer as he only spoke to getting out of Florida after his wife's death.

Put on Your Investigator Hat!

Being the savvy investigator that I was, (wink, wink) I decided to check him out online.

The only Mark Rossi my google search found in Bedford, Kentucky looked nothing like my Mark.  The guy was the wrong age, very scruffy looking and it was a mug shot.

Well, that can't be him.   So, I checked in California where he supposedly first lived and I checked in Florida.  A little voice in me said that he might not be who he says he is.   But, I decided to play it out, see where it led. Maybe he was just a really great guy.

Gullible? Yes, a bit!

I asked him to send me photos of himself in Dubai (to see if he is really there).  Also, I decided I wanted to re-read his online profile as I could not remember everything on it.

After all, if I wanted to be the last love of Mark Rossi, I better double-check on what he actually had said about himself.  But, the profile had been removed from the online dating site. (Not a healthy sign.)

What Happened to Mark's Online Dating Profile?

Mark wrote:

"It was a Lovely day in Dubai and a pretty warm weather.

For your questions, I moved to Bedford to start a new life and create new memories with a new love and companion on a long term, someone i can love forever because i am commited to it and i am focusing on you alone now thats why took off my profile from match.com to ensure i can bring out the best of the relationship we have.

This busines has been lucrative since i started and thats why i invested a lot in this because its my last business trip before i retire to bring 16 cars in to sell at once to the dealership, i have two Porsche and four Ferrari among them , i wanna get into retirement because the income i get from this would establish me more and i would have agents to run this without leaving the house, my motive is to always be there for my companion, life is short m this is my last opportunity to be in love and i want to seize it .

I really dont have time for phone cameras now because this is business trip and i dont want jeopardize it for pleasure my next trip here has to be a vacation with my companion and lover and i see you as the one to occupy that position."

Mark is pretty smooth, isn't he?

The next day, I had notice of a security breach on my iCloud account and I had to reset the code. (Never really sure whether he had anything to do with this or not.)

The emails and text messages continued with romantic language and details of how the trip was going, etc.  Then, the news! Mark was not going to fly home from Dubai, but instead was going to fly right into Kansas City.

Mark was Flying in to See Me!

He wrote:

"My One and Only, I am about to sleep here. Tomorrow will be a long day for me I have to get every paper work cleared and have things back on track for the full release of all my shipments so i get to deal with the dealership that buys them before leaving for the states, can't wait as it's been a long week already.

I think of spending alot of time with you when I get back to town and holding you so close to me. Whenever you think of me, please know that no matter how many miles separate us or how much of our lives comes between us we would have many lovely times and fond memories.

Even though we're apart, this will not be the end of our commitment until i meet you and i fell you in my arms.

Just always remember that I really adore you already and I want you to be part of me and me for you too as i can feel my lonely days are over.

Big Hugs sent your way. Love . Mark"

Click on the link below to see the itinerary.

mark-rossi-klm-flight-itinerary

When I first got the itinerary, I thought

Wow, he must be for real.  He has booked a flight!  Now what do I do?

I needed advice.  I was excited that he might be for real but scared as to how to handle the situation if he actually showed up.  Should I offer to pick him up at the airport?  Should I suggest or book a hotel? Or, do I invite him to the house? What do I wear?

So, I contacted a couple of friends.

My sister-in-law recommended online dating and she has had considerable experience.  So, I asked her.

She gave  me good online dating advice.

NO, you do not pick him up at the airport.  You meet in a public place.

No, you do not invite him to the house.  You do not even tell him where you live when you meet through online dating.  If he is an international business man, he can book his own hotel and get from the airport to the hotel on his own steam!

Why don't you meet someone local?  If a guy sounds too good to be true, it is probably because he isn't real -- he's a fake!

It didn't sound very hospitable for someone who is traveling thousands of miles to see me, but I realized she made sense.

I contacted another friend with the good news and sent her a copy of the itinerary to prove that he was really coming to see me.

We agreed to meet over lunch the next day since this online dating encounter was heating up.  My friend decided she needed to comb through my wardrobe to figure out whether I had anything suitable to wear.  We are both excited and nervous. Then ...

The Bubble Burst!

The next morning, I awoke to an email from Mark:

"My love, I have been asleep all afternoon in stumble and distress. it had been a bad day. I don't know how to say it but i just have to say it as it would ease the burden.

I was robbed on my way to the seaport at gunpoint this morning, it was the worst experience i ever had. i am sorry I didn't mean to show you this so you don't feel bad or spoil your day but i just couldn't hold it in my heart, i had to email it to you. Please download and view document, its a police report of today's event."

mark-rossi-dubai-police-report

I bet you can figure out where this is going? Right? Well within an hour or so, Mark texted me further about his plight and I offered him my prayers.

That is not what Mark wanted.

He texted "The paperwork would finalize the major dealings here and I would be back home as planned and right now I need 2900USD to solve this problem within the next 24hours.  So far no one is able to help me out. I am devastated."

After some more back and forth he said:

"Honey is there anyway you can give me a short loan and when I return on Monday I would pay you back, I can double it for you. I feel so ashamed of myself asking you. I never wanna creat a wrong impression. I just wanna get out of this mess. Deadline got me so worried."

What a load of crap!

I asked him why he didn't just call his bank and get them to wire the funds to him.  And, how could it be that he, an international business entrepreneur, had no one at his age of 62 who he could call besides a lady he had never even met? He had an answer for everything.

I told him I would have to think about that.

It  took me about a minute to decide.

That was it.   Mark had finally revealed the real reason that he had contacted me thru online dating in the first place.  The gig was up.  He called a few more times, but I did not take the calls.  And my wardrobe make over could wait.  The take away is this --

5 Online Dating Lessons:

You need to meet someone in person, if you want to have any hope of  knowing who they are.  Otherwise, you only know what the online dating profile says and what they want you to know.  a) They might still be hiding something that would be very obvious if you were to meet them in person.  b) Some people have long distance relationships with what turns out to be a fantasy.  The person is not what they think.

Do a little research to find out about a person who might make a potential match from an online dating service as soon as you have a name.  Try doing a search on your own name. It is surprising how much you can find out yourself that is actually out there and available if someone searches for it.   a) Although it never occurred to me at the time, Mark Rossi probably was the guy in the mug shot.  I just had never in my wildest dreams guessed that someone would go to the lengths that he did to perpetrate a fraud.  b) The flight itinerary looked authentic at first glance.  Reading it more carefully,  KNS is not the symbol for Kansas City International.  The symbol is MCI. When I checked the flight numbers through the airline, they do not exist.  So, what looked real was just a fake.  If Mark (or whoever he was) had used his skills for something positive there is no telling how successful he might have become.

Read the online dating safety tips below. There is something similar on most websites.  The links below are safety tips from Match.com which are buried at the bottom of their website.  You can click the links below and copy them for a quick reference:  Online-safety-tips and Offline-safety-tips   As you read the tips you can see that if I had followed them, I would have easily avoided the situation.

Be real when you put together an online profile.  I was advised, for instance, not to list myself as a widow.  But, to say that I was divorced instead.  The premise is that gold diggers are looking for a recent widow because they think she probably has life insurance money.  But I really would rather keep my radar up than start off by presenting myself as different from who I really am.  I have met gentlemen that have shaved a few years off themselves in their profiles, probably this is true with ladies too.  You don't want or need to tell them everything, but whatever you do say in the profile of yourself, I would try to be honest.  You want to find someone who likes YOU -- not an image of someone you wish you were or someone you think is more desirable.

Have fun with online dating!  Don't take yourself too seriously.  If you are sitting home alone and would rather be in a relationship; if you want someone to share a meal or a drink with you, if you want to find your own "last love" go online and meet someone.

If you have done any online dating, I bet you have some great stories to share.  We'd love to hear about them.  Meanwhile, live your life to the fullest!

[weekendwarriorblog]

It’s Oscar night and I’m writing something...

I hope you appreciate that amazing anti-clickbait title that doesn’t even remotely take SEO into account. In fact, this is one of the few and very rare blog posts for this Tumblr blog that I’m writing directly into Tumblr rather than writing in Microsoft Word offline before copying/pasting it here. The reason? I decided I’m going to spend exactly 30 minutes writing something as we’re roughly seven hours before the start of the 2020 Academy Awards ceremony, and I’m going to try to write something far more freeform than usual. It’s an experiment that may or may not work, but we’ll see how it goes. 

Of course, there are some pretty big races tonight, including Best Picture and what the winner might say about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as it enters a new decade (or ends the decade, depending on your point of view).   The big story will be whether Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite can finally break the 92-year streak of no foreign language film ever winning Best Picture after many valiant tries like Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma last year. That had ten Oscar nominations to Parasite’s six, and it ended up winning three, including Best Director, Cinematography and Foreign Language Film. It’s already assumed that two of those will go to 1917 (partially since Parasite wasn’t nominated for cinematography, oddly). On the other hand, Parasite was nominated for Film Editing where as 1917 wasn’t. That’s what happens when you make a “one-take” movie as Allejandro Inarritu learned when Birdman won him Director and Best Picture six years ago but wasn’t nominated for its editing. 

A win for Parasite would also be a big boost for the fledgling distributor NEON, who has its first Best Picture nomination, and its strongest contender in other categories, including Foreign Language and Doc where it landed Honeyland in a very rare twofer. I really liked NEON’s output in 2019 i.e. Year Three, and if you’re an awards voter and received NEON’s screener package, it’s hard not to be impressed. The fact that two of my favorite docs of the year, Apollo 13 and The Biggest Little Farm, were distributed by NEON and did quite well box office wise and yet, STILL did not receive Oscar nominations in the doc category (let alone editing or cinematography, which every year, aren’t even consideration for docs), is a fucking crime.

 But let’s get back to Parasite and its Best Picture battle against 1917. If you’ve been reading everything I wrote in 2019 and in the first month of 2020, you know that 1917 is by far my favorite of the nine Best Picture nominees. It’s a movie I’ve watched three times in theaters despite having a screener sitting right next to my bed that I can watch whenever I want. You also hopefully read my piece about my odd quandary in seeing two of my long-time directing faves finally getting national and industry recognition. If Parasite wins Best Picture tonight, it would not just be a huge victory for Bong Joon-ho and NEON but it will be a victory for the entire country of South Korea, who has gotten used to being absolutely spurned and ignored by Hollywood and the Oscars. It may or may not happen but it might end up being the most joyous Best Picture victory since that crazy La La Land/Moonlight switcheroo a few years back. And again, if you know me or have read any of my writing, you know how I felt about those two movies and what happened. So yeah, Parasite is essentially Moonlight all over again, but in this case, it’s a far better movie by a far better director... so win/win? While the acting and directing and maybe even screenplay wins seem to be in the bag already, there are so many other interesting races to keep an eye on, maybe not to the general public but definitely to cinephiles and awards prognosticators. Let’s look at Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, for example. There’s already been talk of them being combined into one category, which would mean less time/speeches at the awards ceremony for an incredibly important and underrated role in the moviemaking business. If both those awards go to the same movie (as has been the case for roughly seven of the past ten years), then it will add fuel to that fire, that the two categories should be combined. But there are two really amazing movies that deliver so much in terms of their sound, 1917 and Ford v Ferrari. While I think the latter will win for overall Film Editing, if it wins for Sound Editing as well but 1917 gets Sound Mixing, it will warrant separate categories. It may or may not happen.

Production Design is an equally interesting category since you have a movie that is almost directly catering to Oscar voters in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, which recreated Hollywood in 1969... to something like Parasite, an amazing visual film that brings to the forefront one of Korea’s most formidable filmmakers and his crew. Then you have 1917, which is another amazing achievement at creating the environment of WWI, both in the locations/sets used for filming and the Visual FX used to create them. Personally, I think it stands a better chance at being recognized for its visual FX and cinematography, but as I mentioned earlier, these three categories often go hand-in-hand. (Remember when Pan’s Labyrinth won two of those categories but failed to win Foreign Language Film? In some ways, The Shape of Water’s wins helped make up for that oversight. )

Even though there are “frontrunners” in both Screenplay categories, those have also become increasingly interesting categories, especially when you see Parasite being favored over previous winner Quentin Tarantino and his equally distinct (and genuinely loved) screenplay. For a while, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women was thought to be a strong contender to win for Adapted Screenplay since it was such a unique take on a frequently-adapted book. The USC Scripter seemed to confirm this, but then Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit beat it both   at the WGA Awards and BAFTA, just as Academy members were casting their votes. They’re both going up against previous winner Steven Zallian and his exceptional screenplay for Scorsese’s The Irishman, a movie that might have to settle for an Oscar for Brad Pitt just like Little Women might have to settle for the consolation prize of Costume Design. Again, those kinds of things make tonight’s Oscar ceremony far more interesting than past years. If Parasite wins Screenplay and Production Design and beats Ford v Ferrari for Film Editing, does that mean it’s guaranteed to win for Best Picture? No, but it gives it a much better chance. The other thing I want to discuss is the Netflix in the room, because the company went so far above and beyond any other studio to get its many nominations but it just doesn’t seem likely to win in many of its categories... except two: Documentary and Animated Feature. In the first category, Netflix has American Factory by two multiple Oscar nominees, but it’s going against two strong docs from distributors who are probably on equal playing fields as Netflix: NEON’s Honeyland and National Geographic’s The Cave by the director of the recent nominee, Last Men in Aleppo. Frankly, I’ll be thrilled if The Cave wins, as it was in my top 3, and NatGeo proved last year with Free Solo that they have what it takes to win. You just have to wonder if the semi-America-centric Academy will go for an American story (it says the word right there in the title!) over foreign ones, even with the support for Parasite.

Animated Feature is even more interesting, because so many Oscar prognosticators are going with Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4, because Disney has always been a powerhouse in this category. I’m sure there are more Disney animators and execs. in the Academy than Netflix, but that movie Klaus and even I Lost My Body has gotten so much support, the former winning Annies and even the BAFTA for Best Animated Film. (LAIKA’s Missing Link won the Golden Globe in a rare bit of support for the stalwart stop-motion studio.) Again, a win by Klaus (a movie I cared for as little as I did Missing Link) would be a huge coup for Netflix... but there are very few Oscar voters who will be voting in that regard. It’s all about whether they liked or didn’t like the movie... or maybe even about whether they even watched the two Netflix offerings over the fourth movie in a previous Oscar-winning franchise.

Well, that’s thirty minutes and my time is up. In ten hours, we’ll know all of the answers to all these questions before we can finally put the 2019-20 Oscar season to rest and start thinking about next year. Who knows if I’ll even be writing about movies a year from now, as this has proven to not be the greatest career decision vs. a job that will actually allow me to live a comfortable life where i can eat a proper meal at least once a day (let alone once a week), so we’ll just have to see where things go from here. The movie business (and the Oscars) will survive just fine without me, I’m sure.

[rocksonyk]

Bycott Boots customers need to teach them lesson

It is 2020 everything if not fair JUST GIVE UP!!!

Boots Advantage Card customers furious over changes to two of its most popular schemes

"Why take things away from customers? That’s not going to help business is it?!"

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ByRachel PughMoney-Saving & Consumer Writer

12:16, 20 JAN 2020UPDATED16:23, 20 JAN 2020

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Boots customers furious over new changes to Advantage Card schemes

Boots customers furious over new changes to Advantage Card schemes (Image: Getty Images)

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Boots has announced some big changes will be coming to two of its most popular loyalty schemes, and shoppers aren't happy.

The high-street pharmacy chain has confirmed plans to cut the value of its Parenting Club and Over 60s schemes by 20 per cent, much to the disdain of its loyal customer base.

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People who are signed up to the free points-saving schemes are currently awarded ten points (worth 1p each) for every £1 spent on certain Boots products.

However, under new plans, which are set to come into play on 16 March, shoppers will only earn eight points for every £1 spent.

Customers with normal advantage cards currently receive 4 points for every £1 spent on particular products, though this is set to remain the same and will not be affected by the 20 pc cut.

The changes were first announced by Boots in an email to customers, which read: "We're changing the points you get in Parenting Club, from 10 points per £1 you spend in Baby, to 8 points.

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"However, that's still 4 more points than the standard Advantage Card reward of 4 points per £1. And, as this change isn't due until 16th March, you can still make the most of 10 points for every £1 on Baby for the next 2 months.

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"Plus, we recently extended the age range from 3-5 years - so you get to enjoy two more years of 8 points!"

After receiving the emails, shoppers took to social media to vent their frustrations.

Cate Toward

@CateToward

@BootsUK so even Boots are taking from pensioners now! Boots Over 60's Rewards are going down from 10 in every £1, to 8!

But still lots of pics of smiling oldies in the ad 🙄



11:00 AM - Jan 17, 2020

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Posting on Twitter, one frustrated consumer said: "So even Boots are taking from pensioners now! Boots Over 60's Rewards are going down from 10 in every £1, to 8! But still lots of pics of smiling oldies in the ad."

Responding to the Tweet, Boots' official account said: "Hi Cate, The Boots Advantage Card remains one of the most generous loyalty schemes in the UK, with members earning 4 points for every £1 spent. Each point is worth 1p. We are making changes to our clubs to invest in what we offer our members and will continue to give them great value on the products we know they will love."

Andrea Law

@andrealaw1

@BootsUK interesting to see you’re changing your parenting club points by making the offering WORSE for customers. Why take things away from customers? That’s not going to help business is it?!

1

10:26 AM - Jan 17, 2020

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Another annoyed shopper said: " @BootsUK interesting to see you’re changing your parenting club points by making the offering WORSE for customers. Why take things away from customers? That’s not going to help business is it?!"

David Thomas

@djthomashome

Just received email from @BootsUK - #Advantage Card scheme will no longer give the over 60's 10 points per £ spent, but reduce it to 8 points per £ spent. Another company reducing the benefits for the over 60's/retired community. @ageuklondon @ageukcampaigns @ageuk

1:02 PM - Jan 17, 2020

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A third wrote: "Just received email from @BootsUK - #Advantage Card scheme will no longer give the over 60's 10 points per £ spent, but reduce it to 8 points per £ spent. Another company reducing the benefits for the over 60's/retired community."

N1ckelode0n

@N1ckelode0n

@BootsUK announce a 20% reduction in rewards for their over 60’s customers.

Other chemists & pharmacies are available...

11:40 AM - Jan 17, 2020

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Somebody else vented: " @BootsUK announce a 20% reduction in rewards for their over 60’s customers. Other chemists & pharmacies are available..."

Follow shopping and consumer writer Rachel Pugh on social media

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Manchester Evening News has approached Boots for comment.

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Quick Hits!

TorontoRealtyBlog

What’s Up WIth The Abbey Lofts?

Remember back in 2011 when I wrote about the Foundry Lofts at 1100 Lansdowne Avenue, comparing to Alcatraz?  Remember the fallout thereafter?

It seems as though any time I write anything negative about a building or an area, residents decide that opinion has no place on the Internet, and that a corresponding legal action would be celebrated worldwide.

In any event, I want to discuss 384 Sunnyside Avenue, and try to determine why this building doesn’t sell well.

On paper, this should be one of the most sought-after lofts in the city.

It’s a converted church, so units are full of unique features, from exposed brick, to stained-glass, to timber beams.

It’s in Roncesvalles, which is an awesome neighbourhood.

And it’s only 24-units, so the basic tenets of supply and demand would tell us that these units are exceptionally rare.

But all the while, I continuously see units in this building hit the market, and then sit.

Why?

There’s a unit currently listed for sale that has been on the market for 20 days.  It has previously been listed five times for 41, 30, 20, 20, 20, and 29 days respectively dating back to June of 2018.

In between these listings, another unit sold after only 9 days on the market.

Previous to that, another unit sold after only 8 days on the market.

But then we have another unit listed for 33, 61, and 54 days before it finally sold.

The listing history in this building is very, very odd.  This is the very definition of “hit or miss.”

Here’s a photo of the last listing I mentioned, which was on the market three times:

This might seem familiar to those of you that read my blog post last week on square footage, and of course, you can see how I mentally filed this away under, “How come these units don’t sell very well?”

You would think that a unit with all this original character and charm would do well, but it didn’t.  And price was only part of the issue.

I’ve come to the conclusion that some of the units are absolutely gorgeous, and others suffer from design flaws that are bound to be present in any conversion.

I was in a listing up for lease last year that was so dark, and with so few windows and natural light, that it was a “no” within about ten seconds of walking in.  Have a look at the living space:

There’s one small skylight above the TV area, and then to the right of that skylight, above the beam, there is what looks like another window, but that’s actually natural light coming from the second floor.  Then the two stained-glass windows behind the dining room are poorly-placed, since they’re basically cut in half by the level separating the 2nd and 3rd floor of the building.  Those windows don’t open, and you can’t see through the glass.  So in the end, you can’t go outside, or even see outside.

“I would never live in a condo where I don’t have a glimpse of the outside world,” my client told me.

And I realized that I think this is the only condo I’ve ever been in without an actual window you could see through.  It was like a solid box.

This is a bad example of a unit in the building, but there are plenty of good ones.

This building is actually one of my favourite hard lofts in the city, and it remains my favourite church conversion.  I love the location of 660 Pape Ave, but for character – I would choose the Abbey Lofts.

It’s just odd how well some units do, and how poorly do others.

–

Land For A Loonie?

If you didn’t hear about this already, you’re clearly not in tune with real estate in New Brunswick!

What do you think would happen if a town, say, somewhere in North America, was offering land for $1.00?

Do you think most people would assume there’s a catch?

Would anybody bother inquiring?

It reminds me of that old joke…

A man is reading the newspaper, and sees an ad for a Ferrari for $2.00.

He mulls it over, and finally figures he has nothing to lose, so calls the number, and sets up an appointment to view the car.

He arrives, sees the car is for real, meets the seller and sees that she is for real, and offers $2.00 for the car.

The seller accepts.

So the man asks the woman who just sold the car, “I have to ask, how come you’re actually selling me this Ferrari for two bucks?”

The woman responds, “Well, last week my husband called me and said that he had run away with his secretary, and that he was never coming back.  He said he needed money, so I was to sell the car, and send him the cash.  And that’s what I’m doing.”

Right???

Well in McAdam, New Brunswick, population 1,225, plots of land really, truly are for sale for $1.00 each.

And guess what?  They received over 600 inquiries!

Sixteen plots of land, ranging in size from 7,100 square feet to just under 12,000 square feet, are up for sale in efforts to boost the town’s population.  The town has selected a handful of applicants already, primarily retirees and families.

They don’t want developers to build, and/or flip; they want residents who will add to their community and economy.

It seems this once-proud railway town has fallen on hard times, and instead of licking their wounds and lamenting their misfortune, the folks in McAdam decided to get creative, and actually do something about their problem.

What a novel idea!

It might work, and it might not.  Hey, it’s only sixteen plots of land, after all.

But the story itself sure got the town publicity!  And you know what they say about publicity.

Read the full story HERE.

–

Diminishing Returns?

What’s four times fifty?

It’s two hundred, right?

But what if it wasn’t?

What if we could find a way to really, truly prove that two plus two isn’t four?

A colleague asked me to help price a condo the other day, and address the massive discrepancy between the $1.4M she felt the property was worth, and the $1.7M the sellers sought.

She gave me the rundown of the property, and one thing really stood out for me: the condominium came with four owned parking spaces.

Four!  Who in the world needs four spaces?

You might ask, “Need, or want?” and that’s exactly the theme here.

I told her, “Those parking spaces are worth about $75,000,” and she said, “No, they’re actually about $50,000 each.”

I told her, “No, what I meant was that in total, they’re worth about $75,000.”  She paused, and looked at me a little confused.

“Nobody out there wants four parking spaces,” I explained.  “I mean, they would want them, if they were free.  But nobody wants to pay $200,000 for all four parking spaces.  It’s not worth it to them.”

Then we started to talk about “cost” versus “value.”

If these folks purchased four parking spaces in pre-construction for $50,000 each, it does NOT mean that when they go to sell the condo in five years, the spaces are worth a sum of $200,000.  In fact, because every unit in the building has a parking space, and many owners already have two, you might figure that spaces #3 and #4, in the context of this particular condo sale, are worth exactly zero.

Worth zero?  Really?

Yeah, I’d argue as much.

On paper they’re worth $50,000.  Just like when you buy stock for $50 per share, and hang on to it.  When the stock hits $20, you haven’t lost anything, at least not yet.  We call this a “paper loss,” since the loss isn’t realized.

The same is true for these extra parking spaces, in a building where there is no need, and no demand.

So for the seller to suggest that their extra three parking spaces add another $150,000 to the value of the condo simply confuses “cost” with “value.”

The agent I was chatting with went on to explain, “They put $200,000 in custom upgrades into the unit,” and once again, I said that what they paid doesn’t necessarily equate dollar-for-dollar into value.  I’d like to think that it does, but without having seen “custom upgrades” in a building with an average age well into the 60’s, I would hazard a guess that these might not be everybody’s taste…

–

Video Killed The Radio (Blog?) Star

As I alluded to above, I’m always amazed at how some people in society view the cans and cant’s of life, especially when it comes to sharing thoughts and opinions.

I filmed a video of a unit I owned in 150 Sudbury Ave almost a decade ago, and that video remains in the annals of the World Wide Web for anybody to see.

In the video, I lambasted the developer, Urbancorp, as a prelude to several more years of critiques, before they finally declared bankruptcy, further justifying everything I had ever said about them.

That video, I would like to think, helped dozens of buyers avoid not only the pitfalls and risks associated with buying from Urbancorp, but also buying in pre-construction in general.  Many people make money in pre-construction, but many people get burned beyond recognition.  “A fool and their money are soon parted,” and developers prey on stupid pre-con buyers.

I recently received a page from my office to call John So-And-So, with the reference “your blog.”  This could mean a lot of different things, as I’ve learned over the years!  Sometimes, it’s a new client.  Sometimes, it’s a sales call.  And sometimes, it’s a complaint.  This story involves one of those times.

I called the man back, and he was cordial.  He told me that he lived at 150 Sudbury Avenue, and that he had recently stumbled upon my video.  We chatted briefly about the video, the teachings, and the history of the developer, and sensing that he wanted to get to a point, I simply asked, “What is it that I can do for you?”

He said, “I’d like for you to take that video off YouTube.”

I told him politely, “I’m not going to do that, just so you know.  But I’m willing to have a conversation with you about why you’re making this request, if you’d like.”

He proceeded to tell me that he owned a unit in that building, on that floor, and wanted to sell.  He said that in multiple YouTube searches, this video, or links to it, had come up.  He felt that the video could have a negative affect on the value, and/or marketability of his unit.

I said, “I don’t follow.”

He explained his situation again, and I interjected and said, “I understand what you’re saying, but why do you think I need to, or should take this video down?”

He said, “Because a prospective buyer could see it, and decide not to buy my unit.”

“But what about the hundreds of people who watched the video over the last decade and learned from it?” I asked.  “What about all the people who learned that developers aren’t your best friend, or that Urbancorp were awful developers, or that pre-construction ‘investing’ isn’t as simple as it sounds, and comes with all kinds of risks?” I asked again.

That’s when he said, “You don’t live there anymore.  You can’t have that video up now that you don’t live there.”

I told him that I never lived there, and he said, “I meant you don’t own there anymore.”

I sighed, and wondered why people think the world revolves around them.

He grasped at one last straw, making some weak attempt at a legal argument, and I told him that I had to take another call, but to keep in touch if he had any questions about the building, or if there was anything I could help him with.

I don’t understand people out there.  He didn’t just want me to remove this video, he really, truly felt that it was unjust.

Every year, thousands of movies are made in Hollywood, and thousands of critics give their reviews, and opinions.

Food columnists dine out at restaurants, and write about their salads.

And nobody threatens to sue them for expressing their opinion.

But if I wrote that I don’t like a certain building, people send letters to my brokerage.

My inner old man is shaking his fist at an imaginary hooligan skateboarding by…

–

Let It Snow!

Do you remember what real estate was like before DocuSign?

On the night of the huge snowstorm a couple of weeks ago, I was working on an offer for a buyer-client, who asked, “Do you think maybe this snowstorm might render a few buyers unable to present offers?”

At first, my ears piqued up, as I thought of previous snowstorm-related-deals, and smiled at the prospect of another.

But then I remembered that we were in 2019.  And I remembered that we had this novel thing called “DocuSign.”

As amazing as DocuSign is, and as many hours as it has saved us Realtors, for a moment I felt a sense of loss.  Because never again will I be on the receiving end of an amazing deal because I was able to trek through the snow and present an offer to a seller who’s scheduled “Offer Night” was brutalized by the weather.

The last time this happened was on Cranbrooke in March of 2016.  You guys know who you are!

–

The TREB numbers are out on Wednesday.

Any predictions for January?

I have a prediction for you – the media will make the story about sales plummeting, when all the while, the true story is lack of inventory, and sales dropping is merely a by-product of the true issue.

You’ll see!

The post Quick Hits! appeared first on Toronto Realty Blog.

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[buildercar]

New Post has been published on http://www.buildercar.com/the-apollo-gt-and-devin-c-two-all-american-mashups-forgotten-by-time/

The Apollo GT and Devin C: Two All-American Mashups Forgotten By Time

Bud Bourassa, I’m about to learn, is a man prone to understatement.

“The Devin is like driving a skateboard,” he tells me. “It’s very quick and really responsive.” As for the Apollo GT, “You have to be pretty attentive. It’s a fun car to drive, but it takes concentration.”

In retrospect, I should have taken him more seriously.

Bourassa is a car collector from Scottsdale, Arizona, and he’s agreed to let me drive two of the rarest American cars in his collection. His Devin C is one of about 25 made, and it was Bill Devin’s own prototype. The Apollo GT is one of 39 examples built by the short-lived International Motor Cars company and one of only two automatics. Both cars stand as reminders of how difficult it is to get traction in the automotive business: Conceived in the same era, they launched hard and wound up flaming out.

Devin started his business building race cars, but he was best known for his fiberglass bodies. Made in 27 sizes to fit every chassis from Crosley to Corvette—all of which sold for the low price of just $295—these Ferrari Monza-inspired shells were a fixture of the 1950s and ’60s era sports-car culture.

Stuck for a powerplant for his low-cost sports car, Bill Devin found the answer in the Corvair’s flat-six. Milt Brown believed Buick’s aluminum 215 V-8 was an ideal mill for his GT.

Still, turn-key sports cars were Devin’s dream, and in 1958 he introduced his Chevrolet-powered Devin Super Sport. It was ridiculously fast, but at $5,950 it cost more than a Cadillac. By 1961, the price was $10,000. Devin needed a low-cost model, so he designed the Devin D (for Deutschland), a rear-engine car using either Volkswagen or Porsche power. There was just one problem: Devin’s race cars were embarrassing Porsche at Riverside International Raceway in California, and as a result Stuttgart had little interest in selling him engines. The VW Bug’s mill was easier to come by, but 36 horsepower didn’t quite cut it.

Devin found his solution in the 1960 Corvair. He kept the D’s VW-sourced front end and installed the Corvair’s engine, transaxle, and rear suspension. Devin asked motorsports legend Stirling Moss to evaluate the car. Moss advised him to add one more beam to stiffen the frame. Once that was sorted, the Devin C was born.

The C was made with weekend racers in mind, but the Apollo GT was more of an American answer to European GTs. It was dreamed up by a young California engineer named Milt Brown, styled by Art Center graduate Ron Plescia then later restyled by Franco Scaglione in Italy. Brown saw great potential in Buick’s all-new 1961 Special—not only the light and powerful all-aluminum 215 cubic-inch V-8 but the suspension as well, particularly the rear axle’s four-link coil-spring setup. All were adopted and improved for the Apollo. Carrozzeria Automobili Intermeccanica of Turin, Italy, hand-built and assembled the bodies, frames, and interiors and shipped them to the newly formed International Motor Cars in Oakland, California, for installation of the mechanicals.

Apollo Mission: The GT bears more than a passing resemblance to a Ferrari 275 GTB. But once you turn the key, there’s no mistaking the rumble of the American V-8.

The GT was light (at 2,440 pounds, it was 700 pounds lighter than a fiberglass-bodied Corvette), and it was quick for its time—0 to 60 mph in a claimed 7.5 seconds, though contemporary magazines timed it about a second slower. It went on sale in 1963 for $6,597, midway between a Jaguar XKE and a Mercedes-Benz 230SL.

Reviews were good. “Handles as well or better than a 2+2 Ferrari, an Aston DB4, and a Sting Ray Corvette,” racer and respected journalist Denise McCluggage wrote in Science and Mechanics magazine. In 1964, IMC added a convertible and a new version with an iron-block 300 cubic-inch Buick engine that became known as the 5000 GT, with the 215-powered cars adopting the 3500 GT moniker.

Settling in behind the Apollo’s big, wood-rimmed wheel, it’s easy to see the European parallels: Its leather-lined interior is snug and very obviously handmade, and the Jaeger gauges are labeled in Italian. The windshield pillars are stick-thin, and the hood seems to extend for miles. But one twist of the key, and visions of Modena are quickly forgotten. The engine rumbles to life with a delicious Detroit soundtrack.

Bourassa wasn’t kidding when he said the Apollo requires attention. With the R-1-2-N-P shift pattern of its Dual Path Turbine Drive automatic, selecting a forward gear is a challenge. But even with the automatic transmission—remember, it was the Dynaflow from which this transmission is derived that gave us the term “slushbox”—the bantamweight Apollo is eager to take off. But it’s not so eager to stop. The brakes are drums all around with no power assist, and the pedal rides so high I feel like I have to touch my knee to my chin just to get my foot on it.

The steering wheel is offset far to the right, and despite the fact the Apollo is fitted with unassisted steering and an extended pitman arm to effectively speed up the ratio, it still responds like a Kennedy-era Buick. It has an independent spirit and an insatiable urge to venture off in new directions on its own initiative. Driving it makes me wonder how anyone survived the 1960s.

Leather-lined interior and Jaeger gauges give the Apollo a European feel. Matching luggage was a lucky swap meet find. This is one of two automatic IMC Apollos. Note the funky shift pattern.

The Devin C is a completely different experience, more race car than road car. Devin offered the C with engines rated from 80 to 150 hp, with the highest-spec model using the turbo unit from the Chevy Corvair Corsa. Bourassa’s Devin has a naturally aspirated engine with a multi-carb setup, and a dyno test revealed 180 horsepower—plenty for a car that weighs about 1,400 pounds.

First gear in the close-ratio four speed is funky, if you can even find it. This is still a ’50s-era American transmission. Once you’re in second, you really start to boogie. I expected the Corvair mill to echo the sophisticated thrum of a Porsche flat-six, but the largely unrestricted exhaust on Bourassa’s car belts out a bratty blat like a demon Volkswagen. The Devin steers a bit like a Volkswagen, too. There’s more on-center play than I expected, but once it begins to respond to the wheel it never stops. This car lives to change direction.

The Devin C is street legal but a race car at heart. This is Bill Devin’s original prototype, which once ran 167 mph at Bonneville with an experimental supercharger.

Like the Apollo, this Devin has drum brakes, and it takes a deliberate foot on the pedal to haul it in. Clearly the car was meant to go, not stop. Out of respect for its rarity—and a passing concern for Scottsdale’s traffic laws—I remain mostly at second-gear speeds. The Apollo got my blood pressure up, but the Devin is pure adrenaline. I never wanted to stop driving it, a plan the brakes clearly agreed with.

So what happened to Devin and Apollo? In the end, both companies simply ran out of cash.

“I think [Devin] was undercapitalized, like most startup businesses,” Bourassa says. A successful businessman himself, he knows a thing or two about running a company. “There just wasn’t money there to research and build the cars. He sold a lot of fiberglass bodies for $295, and you can’t make a lot of money doing that.” Devin sold just 25 Model Cs between 1959 and 1965, when he finally threw in the towel.

A similar fate befell International Motor Cars, despite high demand.

“They had orders they couldn’t fill,” Bourassa explains. “They were buying the motor, the suspension, and all the running parts over the counter from Buick. They owed Intermeccanica a lot of money for the production they had already shipped.” With some 39 cars completed, Intermeccanica demanded payment, and IMC went bankrupt.

Owner Bud Bourassa and bodyman Kurt Sowder handmade the low-profile Plexiglas windshield. “We finished the car,” Bourassa says, “the way we thought Bill [Devin] would want it to be.”

Vanguard Industries of Dallas, Texas, which made aftermarket air-conditioners, bought 19 bodies and continued production as the Vetta Ventura, though it reportedly finished only 11 cars before going belly up in 1965. The Apollo went back into production in late ’64 under its own name, with Intermeccanica shipping 24 bodies to the freshly minted Apollo Industries of Pasadena, California. But that company completed only 14 cars before it, too, became insolvent. A shop foreman bought and assembled six bodies. Four went unclaimed at the dock and were sold at a customs auction and assembled. In total, 90 Apollo GTs and Vetta Venturas were built.

Today, it seems only a handful of hardcore collectors and historians know about the Apollo or the Devin.

“We take them to a show, and we just get bombarded,” Bourassa says. “‘What is it? What is it?’ You can spend your whole day answering questions.” He’s only too happy to answer. Bourassa is keeping the faded American dreams of Bill Devin and Milt Brown alive. “I like cars that are limited-production and unique,” he says.

Take that as his ultimate understatement.

Apollo: Bashed panels and Bondo

Bud Bourassa fell in love with the first Apollo he ever saw, a red 5000 GT on the “Still for Sale” lot at a Barrett-Jackson auction. He restored the car and later sold it but soon decided he wanted another.

“One day I get a call: ‘There’s an Apollo on Craigslist!’ I called the guy and said, ‘I want the car. I’ll overnight a check, and then I’ll come look at it.’ His parents each had an Apollo. His mother was 87 and quit driving. It looked beautiful, and it drove fairly well, and I knew they were few and far between, so I bought it.”

But it turned out the car’s beauty was barely skin deep.

“I had a guy soda-blast the paint off, and it was Bondo everywhere! His mother had crashed every corner. They used a slide hammer, then Bondoed it in.”

Bourassa sent the Apollo to the body shop for new panels and almost lost the car.

“It was there for six or eight months,” Bourassa remembers. “Finally they called and said, ‘It’s done.’ It was 114 degrees, and I said, ‘I don’t really want to go get the thing, it’s so hot.’ But I hooked up the trailer, drove into Phoenix, and loaded it up, and that night the place burned down. Everything in it was destroyed.”

The fire left Kurt Sowder, who did the metalwork, out of a job, so Bourassa hired him. And as it turned out, there was still plenty to do on the Apollo.

“The front clip was badly smashed and puttied,” Bourassa explains, “so we got a new one made in Italy. The guy cut it in half to save on freight! I just about crapped. I called him on the phone: ‘Why? Why?’ He said, ‘Well, it’s a lot cheaper to ship in smaller boxes.’ We had to put it back together without making it look wavy. It was really a job.”

It was only later that Bourassa learned just how rare his Apollo was. Not only was it one of just two automatic-transmission examples, but it was also the second car off the production line despite having serial number 0005.

“They didn’t want the customers to think it was the second car built, so they gave themselves a little cushion,” Bourassa explains. An outside fuel-filler flap, downward-angled switches, and chrome trim around the secondary gauges mark this as one of the first two cars built.

Despite its rarity, Bourassa drives it regularly.

“People say, ‘Are you driving it?’ Well, yeah. You can’t just let it sit and deteriorate.”

Keeping Devin’s Dream Alive

While Bourassa went looking for the Apollo, his Devin C found him.

“This was Bill Devin’s car,” Bourassa explains.

“I have pictures of it racing at Riverside. All of the famous racers we know, from Stirling Moss to Dan Gurney, they raced against it. Bill Devin painted it gold so it wouldn’t be confused with Max Balchowsky’s yellow car, Ol’ Yeller.

“Bill Devin was approached by Andy Granatelli, who was in the process of developing the McCullough supercharger. He wanted to mount it on the Devin. The supercharger wouldn’t fit in the engine compartment, so they cut a hole in the back fender. He ran something like 120 mph.” The car clocked an 11.94-second quarter mile at 117 mph and also ran 167 mph at Bonneville, though it was never timed officially. The experiment done, the supercharger was removed. “There’s a picture of it on the track with the hole patched in,” Bourassa adds.

“Bill decided to restore it, and before he finished he passed away. The family sold it to another gentleman in Arizona, and lo and behold he passed away, so the family was looking for someone to finish the project. I was recommended by a few mutual friends, and I bought the car. The body had been painted, but there wasn’t much else done. It was a lot of parts and pieces and an old Corvair motor.”

Because of the car’s unique history, Bourassa had some flexibility with how it was finished.

“It’s not like doing a restoration on a Jaguar E-type, where every nut and screw has to be a certain manufacturer. You can take liberties. We finished the car the way we thought Bill would want it to be.

“The windscreen and the side windows are something we wanted to do. Bill sold the cars with an old-fashioned upright windshield with chrome around it. Ugly as hell. I wanted a screen that went all the way around and on to the doors, so that’s what we did. Kurt molded it out of Plexiglas. We also did the headlight covers. We heated them up in the barbecue! Two-hundred-twenty degrees, and they just shrunk over the form.”

Asked about the Devin’s lasting appeal, Bourassa says, “It’s unique, and it’s something I can finish up and create.”

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