Do we have an identity anymore? As an LBT community do we still have an identity within the LGBTIQ community and beyond? Are we still considered an important group that has value and contributes to the growth and sustainability of the movements we were a part of? Are we just statistics in a report of some donor agency or organization in Zimbabwe also hoping to get the scarce funding that's available and will use the LBT discourse for these gains?
Did we get lost in the tidal waves? Are our contributions valued in society and broader? Did we just follow the tidal wave that was flowing in a direction that we fought so hard to challenge? Did we give up swimming and decided to lie there and float with the tide of power and privilege of resources and we lost our strength to swim back?
What happen to "turning silence into action and words?"For a long time we were silenced and it took a struggle to break out of this silence. We used to pride ourselves in turning silence into action and words. What happened to those words? Did they get swallowed again into silence? What about our action? Who and how did we let our action be determined for us by others. It was our silence it should have been our action. We were silenced as women, as lesbians, as citizens and as people.
Did we play into the trap? Did we not realize that forces around us both personally, politically, socially were also just an open trap waiting for us to fall into? and for sure we fell hard into it, the trap was shut and closed .Did we not think there was a way outdid our organizing become closed up in social spaces where there was not much room to take on political issues? Are we identified by actions around socials, barbeques and music and dance, clubs, booze and smokes only….?
When did we give up challenging?-we gave up challenging both within and without? Did we not feel the imbalances, the injustices, the homophobia, the lesbophobia, the transphobia? Or did we become so comfortable in such spaces that we became a part of these same systems?
Fear and Rejection-The moment we became afraid we lost our politics. There was fear of the hostile environment, the hostile homes and families we come from, the hostile relationships we are in full of violence , blackmail and extortion, hostile movement full of dominance of some over others and phobias, hostile inner selves. The existence of this fear and hostility facilitated the gradual loss of our politics and identities. The greatest fear was that of rejection, one would rather chose to dig a hole underground and bury themselves than challenge and be rejected both on a personal level and even within the movements, the rejection existed.
Silencing-Divide and rule -as women and LBT persons in Zimbabwe, the moment you speak out you might lose the important elements of your life thus strategic silencing of our voices exists and the backlash of speaking out especially if you have a lot to lose are greater thus the choice of silence became the best strategy. Over the decades of women's organizing, one strategy that has worked to break the movement was to divide and rule and this was done strategically you wouldn't realize it until it hit you straight in the face, as a movement we fell into the similar trap of divide and rule and we didn't see it until it was staring us right in the face.
my movement-I want my movement back, I want that movement that will move, a movement with politics, a movement with people, a movement with direction a movement that is determined by the individuals in the movement, a movement that makes sense and is not afraid to challenge and speak out, I want that movement back …it remind me of the saying "I am a movement by myself but we are a force when we are together" yes that force.


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Tutorial on golf cart battery chargers, the basics, what goes wrong, repair procedures, and manually charging dead batteries.
Here is a universal conversion for any old cart with resistor coil speed control. or multi solenoid speed control or any combination of coils and solenoids.


text:
/b/ - Random
Sage (thread won't be bumped)
13MT-HalvorsonPavo…
Anonymous 11/19/20 (Thu) 04:41:05 PM 69544
What, according to you, is the maximum acceptable age difference in a relationship?
For others or me personally?
OP shotacon?
Half your age plus 7 always seemed like a reasonable rule to me.
10 years (as long as you're 21 or older), but I personally wouldn't want to go for more than 4-5 years
No it's dumb
I don't think it's number specifically but if they are at the same stage in life.
a 25 year old and a 45 year old are rarely at the same stage in life, unless the latter is a loser or has other kind of issues
Exactly, which is why it is creepy.
Yeah. A 45 year old with a 25 year old is always gonna be creepy, but a well to do 45 year old who has his life together is less creepy than some manchild.
usually a well to do 45 year old who has his life together has been married for years to a woman of similar age though. I never met a man in his 40s who's single and doesn't have some issues. They're alone for a reason
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I was seriously dating a 46yo man when I was a sophomore in college at age 20. May mom was a single mom and I never had a father figure. He was successful and kind to me and told me about the world gave me love and security and could fuck better than guys my age.
What's creepy is a grown man fucking his 8yo niece when she does not know what is going on.
When an adult woman who is plenty old enough to join the army and be issued a machine gun chooses who to fuck it's never creepy
Why'd you break up?
Anyone can be exploited by anyone more powerful of any age.
At what age is a woman allowed to decide who she wants to fuck?
I was fine at 20, guys seem to be fin at 18
I guess you think women are too fucking stupid to know who they like till their 30s
I don't think that, I am a feminist
eh same reasons as any couple I suppose. ActuallY I kind of turned into a bitch on him he was always loving to me.
There are only 2 ways any relationship can end, you can break up or one of you can die. That's it.
When the lights are off and there is a dick inside you I am not sure why people think it's magically worse if that dick is 45 vs 27 or whatever.
If you don't think a 20somthing yo girl can manipulate the absolute fuck out of a 40+ yo lonely man and get nearly anything she wants out of him..you have never met a man of that age
You said your own issues made you seek out an older man, so why are you saying it doesn't matter how old someone is?
d903155e4c837ee7d8…
Because it does not matter. My reasons for wanting him were my own. I was happy to have his love and attention.
Girl… he looked good. 45 is not really that fucking old if a guy keeps himself in shape. He was ripped and tan. it's not like a 45yo is a rickety old man who is dying and can't get it up
this guy is 50:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4725152/Model-50-shows-extremely-youthful-good-looks.html
I'm not going to turn down 20something dick when I'm in my 60s and neither should any of you.
>45yo
>ripped
>tan
Do you live in California?
No there are actually other locations on earth with gyms and either the sun or tanning beds.
Yes most guys that age are fat cunts, but it's getting to be where most 20something guys are too…
>a much older man's tricks and not realize the many ways in which she has been used and disrespected.
didn't happen, I fucked him because I wanted to, my current bf is a little younger than me and I am fucking him because I want to and I am not tricking him
I guess demi more raped austin kutcher too
what is wrong with the world when someone fucking an adult in their 20s is implied to be a tricky pedofile lol
France.jpg
The president of france has a gf who is 24 years older than him
how did she trick and use him so expertly?
He's clearly on steroids, his muscles are too round. A natural six pack doesn't look like that. You also can also see his botox. His hair is probably dyed too.
He looks good but the average man doesn't have the $$$ to look like that.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3406171/emmanuel-macron-seduced-gran-brigitte/
notice they say he seduced her
because women at that age are too stupid to decide who they want to fuck, but men are smart enough to be the seducer….
Just noticed his hands, they always show your true age.
roids/TRT costs a few hundred dollars, botox maybe $1000
any guy who could afford a new car or to have a house at 50 can afford those things.
That shit does not cost a million dollars, tit implants are often $5-10,000 and millions of women have those who are not "rich".
She was his teacher when he was a 15-year-old schoolboy. Frogs are degenerate scum.
Because she's a pedophile.
Screen Shot 2020-1…
Yeah, but he's azn, that's like cheating.
Jason Moma is 41
tell me you would not fuck him
She lost all of her friends because of her relationship. If their sexes were reversed, his friends would be happy for him and people would be making excuses for Macron because "muh times were different"
We're talking about relationships.
uh no fucking way if a guy that age fucked a 15yo he would spend years and years in prison. On "to catch a predator" they would often tell the guys the girl was 15 and then arrest them and charge them with felony attempted rape as a pedophile - just for meeting
ur crazy
15 is French for 18. Anon is right, age-swapped Macron would get backpatted.
they say he seduced her, they got married and she rode his underage cock for years. What her friends did or did not do is hearsay, impossible to verify and irrelevant. You also cannot confirm what hypotheictal men would do to their 45yo friend if he fucked a hypotheitcal 15yo
facts are facts and made up shit is made up shit, she factually rides his cock to this day
You gals do know Macron is gay right ? It might not be common knowledge internationally but it certainly is here.
c1d.png
Moids should be within 5 years.
Women unlimited.
Deal? Deal.
>You also cannot confirm what hypotheictal men would do
Men must be super nice in your dream world where there's no such thing as patterns
Sorry but you sound dumb. Human's brain isn't even fully developed until you're 25. Your prefrontal cortex matures around 25 and it's a part of the brain resposible for things like insight, response flexibility, emotion regulation, morality, intuition, attuned communication and fear modulation. Someone who's fully developed and has WAY more life experience than you will find it easier to manipulate you (I'm not even a member but there are many horror stories about dating older men on FDS, I mean, there are horror stories about all kinds of men, but those men tend to be even more power hungry, manipulative or toxic etc.) Also it seems like your main motivation was just daddy issues anyway.
Yes, age does matter. If you look at marriage stats, the bigger the age gap, the higher the risk of divorce. Those with a 10-year gap were found to be 39% more likely to divorce, and those with a 20-year gap were 95% likely.
The risk of autism in children is higher when there's an age gap between parents.
Not to mention, aging. I saw it myself and I read about such cases a bunch of times; when woman was 20 or 30-something she thought it's fine, but then she's 50 and she has to take care of her 70 or 80-something year old husband. Male health tends to detoriate faster. Would you want to be someone's nurse when you're still full of energy?
__texas_and_bison_…
This, but I would say that the woman is and always shall be the older one for the sake of what >>69618 said about age gaps when the moid is the older one.
It's better that way honestly. Moids can't into empathy, they are just meat robots ape animals that do what savage animals do.
Moid's existence is ideally an ironic self-destructive one because they are monsters but a monster can be put to good use & bad use, when used well their role is to protect (only go violent at) against other violent moids that go rogue within that system/order. Moids are only good at violence sadly most are brutish, stupid & end up only harming everyone even more these are the ones the world doesn't need & should just die out. So ideally they only are to use violence against other violent moids that started their abuses on a whim. They shouldn't be permitted to be any other way. This is better for everyone & the basis of any society's justice.
We already had this thread btw
>>59167 and concluded it was disgusting when moids try their schemes. It's really grim dark when they do and yes those moids are losers or rich people that have to "buy gf" like Donald Trump or Hunter Biden aka also losers disgusting pieces of shit that it's better if you avoided or killed in their sleep doing the world a favor.
I always heard moids saying that war and violence is what pushed the civilization forward and without it science and great discoveries wouldn't be possible
actually never being content is what drives innovation among some other things.
Tech from war is just a side effect
Personal opinion, extreme life circumstance is a much bigger indicator if an age gap relationship is unhealthy than actual age. However, if you're regularly seeking companions of a specific and significantly different (either older or younger) than your own, kys. Chronophilia is for retards.
Holy mother of based
In the beginning of WWII the british had prop-propelled bi planes and by the end of them had gloster gladiator jet fighters, over the course of 6 years. I'd probably agree that war pushes technology, the german v2 rockets were also what lead to the american's mission to the moon
5-7 for people over 18, if late teens (19 or 18) then anything under 16 is creepy
Yeah nazi scientists were taken by americucks in operation Paperclip, and instead of being punished, they made them work for american military and medicine. It wouldn't have happen if not for the atrocities commited by nazis, but men will always say the ends justify the means. I think people would've discovered most of the things they discovered even without wars but it would took them way more time. But I would prefer a simpler and less violent world. Also, if women always had 100% control over their reproductive systems and weren't controlled by males through violence or laws, the problem of overpopulation wouldn't have existed in any part of this world.
now that i think about it, maybe 19 was a bit too much
you mean gloster gladiator biplanes at the beginning and gloster meteor fighter jets at the end? :DD
while I'm at it
fuck duncan sandys
fuck the 1957 defence wh*Te paper
fuck whoever axed the TSR-2
but most of all
fuck those phallic looking m*Ssiles
Yeah poor uneducated women have no access to birthcontrol. And their husbands despite knowing they're poor still decide to cum in their wives and breed them. Many women would face a threat of violence if they refused to fuck their husbabds. Your point?
Also, males always tried to make it harder to get an abortion.
There's no maximum. If both are of legal age and there's no other illegal practices, then it's nobody's business.
Spoken like a true liberal
I agree with them. It's also better than people trying to culturally enforce age gaps when it's unrealistic or unwanted generally speaking.
Man-older-than-woman model will a l w a y s be culturally encouraged, while the woman-older-than-man will always be discouraged, thus there's nothing wrong with criticizing the first. Those relationships often have power imbalances even bigger than relationships between peers, especially if the woman is younger than 25, because her brain isn't even fully developed, as I mentioned here >>69618
Legal doesn't mean ok. Slavery was legal once too. There was a time when the age of consent was 7 and 10 in most states, despite the fact that girls back then were maturing later than they do now.
Nah. Thats what gave birth to law & teaming up against the savages in order to have peace & growth, nobody has growth during war its all about using creativity for destructive proposes but protection is also a form of violence but a rightful one, its violence against the violent. So basically the only good type there is.
What pushes science and civilization further was necessity. What gave birth to higher forms of organization & civilization though it was what I told you organized rightful violence against the violent. So basically moids that finally realized that they are a threat to the things they grew to love as well, self aware moids that put a stop to other more savage violent moids.
"Brain isn't fully developed" isn't a synonym for "oh she is a poor babby who can't think for herself", because this is the exact way of thinking that kept us from working, voting, and having a right to be heard for millennia.
Yes, "legal" doesn't always mean ok, but the default legal here is modern civilized laws, not some backwards shariah.
Age difference doesn't automatically mean power imbalance as well. There is no safe way to spot an abusive douche, no matter the age.
And either way, it's none of your business to criticize others' relationships, no matter how they are viewed in society. Women under 25 are adult women who have a right to make choices, not babies for you to be nursed.
>I agree with them.
I appreciate it, but "with her", please, this is a female-only board.
>it's none of your business to criticize others' relationships
Of course it is. We're social animals and every decision we make affects everyone else in the system.
>because this is the exact way of thinking that kept us from working, voting, and having a right to be heard for millennia
No it's not, because despite thinking of women as "eternal children", males had no problem with fucking literal kids. You can't compare it.
You just sound like a typical liberal feminist who can't into class analysis.
Flash news, the world still does not revolve around you.
>You just sound like a typical liberal feminist who can't into class analysis.
But I can into common sense, which is already more that can be said about those who are screeching that women are literal babies until they hit 25.
>the world still does not revolve around you
That's exactly why you should consider the social consequences of what appear to be personal decisions. I'm glad we agree!
>screeching that women are literal babies until they hit 25
Putting words in someone else's mouth won't make you win an argument.
Anonymous 11/21/20 (Sat) 12:23:37 PM 69725
maxresdefault (1).…
Isn't it the scrotes that are "eternal children" now?
Like, it's acceptable for an old 40 yo moid to like superheroes, childish stuff, have the emotional capability of a 4 year old (95% of moids do), etc but not for women.
Somehow this also justifies huge age differences (with the older moid) in the eyes of society.
>women are still going to be rightfully critical given the fact that society pressures, encourages, and idealizes these arrangements.
Is this even true? All I see is pressure to either not have kids at all, or to race-mix
5 if they're in their late 20s but 1 max if they're younger than that.
The difference between someone who is 45 and someone who is 50 is pretty minimal but the difference between someone who is 15 and someone who is 20 is huge. When people are younger, they should be dating someone who is at a similar stage in life to them. If you date someone who is still in school while you're in college, you can't relate to one another. I think it's a huge red flag when men date teenagers, it's like they're mentally stunted themselves if they're able to hold a conversation with someone who hasn't ever had a real job or who is in their first serious relationship. Seriously, what do you talk about at dinner (rhetorical question because they don't talk, men just want to pump and dump these young girls)?
Age difference creates a huge power imbalance. The younger person doesn't have the experience to pick up on red flags, they might be financially reliant on the older person, leaving the older person might render them homeless (especially since older people are more likely to have a stable income and might already even own a property) and from what I've seen irl, dating someone older cuts you off from your friends and family, so they wouldn't have the support system of someone who dates within their age group.
There's much, much more to a relationship than having a dick in you. Not really surprised it didn't work out for you. You post like you're trying to defend age gap relationships but everything you've posted about your own is so incredibly off-putting and has the opposite effect. It's like a cautionary tale against becoming you.
It's probably a man, so yes
1605748849617.png
I want /pol/ to get the fuck out & stop trying to subvert. It's ironic that they act exactly the same way as the things they hate. It's all projection, all losers project 100% of the time.
>That's exactly why you should consider the social consequences of what appear to be personal decisions. I'm glad we agree!
>Why by your logic aren't you barefoot and pregnant with your 11th child in your kitchen, then? You wasting time on the internet has long-term social consequences. Society needs soldiers and workers, pop them out, fast
Kek is this place being raided by scrotes again?
Consider social consequences of your presence on this board; why by your logic aren't you barefoot and pregnant with your 11th child in your kitchen if you are willing to bow to society standards this much? You wasting time on the internet has long-term social consequences. Society needs soldiers and workers, pop them out, fast.
An average relationship has a minuscule impact on the overall picture; just if something makes you feel icky it doesn't make it wrong.
I am not arguing.
>Everyone I don't like is a scrote!1
That's her logic, not mine. In order to be "productive" to society we must undo a century of fighting for our own rights. I, personally, do not want that and I do not think that anyone has a business of sticking their noses into other couples' lives.
Except being barefoot and pregnant subjugates women. Criticizing toxic models of relationships between men and women which were culturally enforced for years - doesn't. Your analogy is retarded.
>Except being barefoot and pregnant subjugates women.
So are mandatory demands "ye not be dating anyone over or under 5 years relative to your age". If a woman is an adult, she should be treated as such. You can't mandate legal relationships: it's none of your business and it subjugates adult women.
Criticize toxic relationships all you must, I criticize them too, but age gap still doesn't make a relationship automatically toxic and abusive. There is a ton of same aged couples who fucked once, made a baby, and now live miserably.
No one here talks about "mandating" relationships. You sound like a teenager triggered over the fact that someone doesn't like their favourite tv show. Age gap relationships have the obvious potential for even bigger power imbalance than relationships between peers due to factors like life experience, social status, money etc. Also there's a reason why marriages with big age gaps carry such high risk of divorce when compared to marriages between peers. Older men literally suck the life out of young women, even more than men their own age. And then they expect their wives to become their (unpaid) nurses when they hit 60 or 70. Marrying a much younger woman is the ultimate act of male selfishness. Lack of criticism of age gap relationships is literally what scrotes want, you're doing their work for them kek
>No one here talks about "mandating" relationships.
>Talks about mandatimg relationships
criticizing age gaps on a female only forum has nothing to do with mandating relationships in the real world
Anonymous 11/22/20 (Sun) 01:28:32 AM 69791
__artoria_pendrago…
There's no way to talk about mandating relationships without talking about man dating relationships. This is why we should all be lesbians at this point.
My parents are 10 years apart and even then I feel like they have a generation gap about a lot of things. I think more than that would be difficult.
Also think about if the couple are born on two sides of a big event/social change like the corona virus. They're likely to have very different ideas about what's normal even if their personalities mesh well.
Anonymous 11/25/20 (Wed) 02:12:14 PM 70010

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Wanaka is just over an hour's drive from Queenstown, easily accessible by highway or you can choose to go through the mountainous Crown Range Road, which offers this view.
Wanaka, like Queenstown, is great in the winter and the summer. Located in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand, it is just over an hour's drive from Queenstown and sits at the southern end of Lake Wanaka. It is also known as the gate to Mount Aspiring National Park, which holds several mountains and glaciers, making for a pretty backdrop in photos.
We met our guide Chris Riley from Eco Wanaka Tours at the marina car park at 9am, where we left our car and took his van into the Matukituki valley. The one-hour drive through several fords had a lot of scenic photo opportunities and Chris would gladly stop for you to get out and take more shots. We then arrived at the Raspberry Creek car park, where we left the vehicle and packed our backpacks before starting the walk.
The Rob Roy Glacier guided walk starts through this farmland filled with sheep and the trek into the alpine rainforest begins at the swing bridge that crosses the West Matukituki river. The entire walk to the highest lookout point and back takes about five hours, so please make sure you have comfortable walking shoes, as well as enough water and food. There are fresh streams along the way you can refill your bottle with, and there is one public toilet booth you can use. The climb up can get quite tiring, with steep inclines, but there are relatively flat areas for you to catch your breath on.
Along the way, Chris pointed out many photo spots to us, so we used that as rest stops too. Chris, 57, is a very experienced guide (and a legend!) and has trekked this particular path at least 100 times. He is so familiar with every tree, flower and rock, and he knew the best spots to get photos, taking us down to the river and all that. He is also super fit, walking quicker than us even though he had a heavier backpack!
The walk down was a lot faster, but by the end of it all, my feet were a little sore from all that trekking! We tried chasing some sheep for photos in the farmland area, before getting back to the car park. It was 5.30pm by the time we got back to our car in Wanaka.
There are other tours by Eco Wanaka Tours which might interest you, such as the cruise to the Mou Waho Island nature reserve – a one-hour bush walk will take you to this lake at the top of the island. So, you will get a photo of a lake against the big Lake Wanaka! You get to plant a tree as part of this experience too. Then there are also the heli-hikes to the Alpine Lakes or Misty Mountains – heli-hikes mean taking a helicopter up to the mountains, before a short hike. They have special guided walks for places where the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies were filmed too.
Tip: Use a backpack – I would advise against sling bags or carrying anything in your hands. Bring a jacket just in case you feel cold at certain parts of the route, but after all the climbing, you would end up perspiring and not needing it.
This is the best way to experience the roads less travelled in Wanaka. Riding in a 4WD from Ridgeline Adventures, our guide Mark picked us up from our accommodation and took us to a private high country farm that is the size of 85 football fields. This farm is not open to public, but Ridgeline Adventures has exclusive access to it.
We got to see farming life and we could get near cattle, sheep, horses and even alpacas in their natural environment, set against a backdrop of beautiful views of the snow-capped peaks and glaciers. This farm has been around for over 100 years and it is so big, we barely even covered a third of it in our four hours there.
Mark drove us to a viewpoint at the top overlooking Lake Wanaka – an exclusive view because no one else is allowed here. It was so quiet and peaceful up there, and Mark made us some hot tea, as well as had cookies and other snacks if we were hungry. After, we walked down through the meadows for a while, before Mark drove us to the beach where Wanaka's first farmers stayed.
This trip is not physically demanding at all, as we were mostly driven around. The ride can get a bit bumpy, but nothing we cannot handle.
Tip: Bring colourful shawls or jackets to stand out in photos against the blue and green hues.
There are Insta-worthy spots around Lake Wanaka, such the Wanaka Tree (see below) and they have all 24 points mapped out nicely for you. Look at the map below and there are orange Instagram points to mark out these photo points. Photo points 1 to 9 can be done either by walking or cycling, whilst points 10 to 24 can be done as a scenic drive. You can visit them in any order you wish, or just choose some to go to. The website shows pictures of each point, so you can decide which ones of the most scenic places around Wanaka, Cardrona, Luggate, Hawea and Mt Aspiring National Park to visit.
This is a place I will definitely come back to stay at again. Hosts John and Pauline, owners of the Lime Tree Lodge, used to own a farm and they sold it off then moved to Wanaka and built this lodge. It is about a 10-minute drive from the main area of Wanaka, away from people so you are not disturbed.
I fell in love with the place immediately.
There is a common fireplace area, dining hall and kitchen that all guests are allowed to use, as well as a swimming pool and a hot spa tub. Rooms were spacious and comfortable, easily rivalling hotels with the amenities provided. Each room comes with its own toilet, and both the rooms and toilets have heaters. Toiletries, bathrobe, bath slippers, lots of towels, and even an electric blanket are all provided.
Lime Tree Lodge is such a pretty place that I cannot stop taking photos. It is often booked for weddings too, with large lush gardens around to host a party. You can also take a helicopter from the Lodge over to the mountains for your photoshoot.
Breakfast is included and you can inform them a time of your choice, depending on your itinerary for the day. Pauline was feeding us so much and John cooked the eggs for us. In the afternoon and evening, an inhouse chef is available to prepare meals for you. Beyond all of these, Pauline and John are also happy to play tour guide if you need them. They will send you to the supermarket, or bring you cycling if you wish.
This level of personalised service is so refreshing and makes me feel very spoilt. I started missing them terribly after we left, wishing we could have stayed with them longer!
Francesca's Italian Kitchen is a popular Italian restaurant in the main area of Wanaka. Using fresh produce and quality ingredients, Francesca's serves up authentic Italian cuisine including homemade pasta and wood fired pizzas. They are full every day, so you must call to make reservations, especially at dinner. I felt very warm and cosy in the restaurant with all its wooden walls, accompanied by the buzzing of different conversations across the room. Food was served quickly and I had a pasta main, along with an appetiser. For the price, food was decent.
From Italian, we go French, this time at Bistro Gentil. Helmed by award winning chef James Stapley, with Mario Rodrigues as Head Chef, the modern French menu uses fresh in-season ingredients from their kitchen garden and from the region. This is a more high-end restaurant and they have a fine selection of wine, which is served in a unique way. The bottles are all lined up in a shelf and with a stored value card from them, you can select the type of wine you want and dispense it yourself.
Only open for lunch and dinner, they have a seven-course tasting menu where each dish is paired with wine, or you can just opt for a la carte. The menu is not extensive, with enough range for choice. I took their special for the day, which was beef, and I enjoyed it tremendously – flavourful and juicy in the right places.
Look out for more of my New Zealand posts!
What happens when a photographer needs to get photographed?


In A Place to Play, our everyday hero, Robin Sagna, is going against Big Money. Big Money is a drug dealer of the worst kind; he steals the children of the community's childhood. He gets them hooked on his drugs and then forces them to work for him in order to support their habits. Robin and his band of merry men, known as the doctors, vow to give the children back their childhood at the expense of the one who stole it from them.
See how Robin accomplishes this mission by using a series of ingenious schemes to rid Big Money of his ill-gotten gains in order to build "A Place To Play" for the children.


I spent a week along the Arizona border and points north, looking at how the administration's "border crisis" rhetoric is playing in a border state where two-thirds of the population is opposed to a border wall, and how Trump is affecting a critical U.S. Senate race, bending Republican moderates to his image in a state that likes its politicians "maverick." I also happened to be there as the family separations were starting to become nationally known. Here's what I found out.


text:
Q: Single display unable to set 5120x1440 resolution I was running Ubuntu 19.04 with a Philips 499P9H 5k monitor that was running at 5120x1440 at 70Hz. Today I upgraded to Ubuntu 19.10 and can now only run the monitor at 3840x1080 at 60Hz.
The option for 5120x1440 is available however when I select it I just get the same 3840x1080.
I remember previously I had to run X -configure and copy the config to /etc/X11/xorg.conf. However the file still existed from before and even after running that again there was no difference and I can still only run at 3840x1080.
The monitor is connected via display port and I the GPU is an Intel HD Graphics 530. As I mentioned, this did work before the upgrade but doesn't anymore.
Screenshot of xrandr listing the supported modes:

A: For those finding this now, these steps worked on Intel Iris Graphics 540 and 5120x1440 on a Samsung G9.
Modifying the commands used here - How do I change the screen resolution using Ubuntu command line?
Create a mode string for 5120x1440 at 30HZ (I'm using HDMI and HDMI 1.4 supports 30HZ only at 5120x1440)
$ cvt 5120 1440 30

# 5120x1440 29.96 Hz (CVT) hsync: 43.98 kHz; pclk: 292.75 MHz
Modeline "5120x1440_30.00"  292.75  5120 5360 5888 6656  1440 1443 1453 1468 -hsync +vsync

Copy everything after Modeline and for xrandr, like this:
$ sudo xrandr --newmode "5120x1440_30.00" 292.75  5120 5360 5888 6656  1440 1443 1453 1468 -hsync +vsync

Find the current display, in my case HDMI-1 is returned:
$ xrandr | grep -e " connected [^(]" | sed -e "s/\([A-Z0-9]\+\) connected.*/\1/"
HDMI-1

Add the mode to the display (replace HDMI-1 with whatever was returned from the last command):
$ sudo xrandr --addmode HDMI-1 5120x1440_30.00

You can now change the resolution to the new mode in the graphics settings (or change by command line).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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MGM: Hello Woody it's Brendan here from My Global Mind. How's things?
Woody: Hey man, how are you?
MGM: I'm great thanks. Thank you so much for taking the time for the call.
Woody: Oh, most definitely. I appreciate you taking the time to do it.
MGM: We want to say, first off, we are very, very excited to see Corrosion of Conformity coming back to Ireland. You've got the three shows in Ireland this time starting with the Tivoli in Dublin on October 22nd, Dolan's Warehouse down in Limerick on the 23rd and The Limelight in Belfast on the 24th so it's great to see.
Woody: I tell you what man, we've never been to Limerick before so I'm really looking forward to it and man the Irish always treat us so good so this is going to be a special trip for us.
MGM: Yeah, it's brilliant that there has been the expansion to the number of shows. It's a run of shows that are starting to gain a bit of traction with bands coming over. We had Napalm Death over last year and then Cannibal Corpse earlier this year too, so bands are reaching as many metal fans as possible.
Woody: Yeah, we are excited about it. Man, 2016 was our last trip over and it was just phenomenal so look you can't keep us away. We are gonna' keep coming man.
MGM: Most definitely. You have the latest album 'No Cross, No Crown' which came out in January and it's been amazing listening to it. I'm really looking forward to hearing the tracks in a live setting.
Woody: Actually, we are gonna' try to you know, talking about setlist and albums and songs, we are trying to get as many tunes off of 'No Cross, No Crown' into the setlist as we can. I know there's gonna' be a couple, maybe three or four, but we will see what happens.
MGM: Excellent news to hear because of your last run in Europe earlier this year before you went back for the second leg of the tour in the U.S with Black Label Society, you had 'Luddite' and 'Wolf Named Crow' in the set. You have so many songs off the album that you could throw into a live setting like 'Cast the First Stone' or 'Little Man' so it will be great to get to hear some of those.
Woody: Yeah man we've got lots of choices and those ones are good choices man.
MGM: You have so many albums, you've been a three-piece, a four-piece, and a five-piece but focussing on the four-piece material how difficult is it for you guys to pick the setlist? Is it you picking them, is it Pepper Keenan picking them, is it a group choice?
Woody: (Laughs) It's definitely a democratic decision but you know we all get together and as a matter of fact earlier this morning we were sending each other messages back and forth, choosing different songs to rehearse by ourselves before we show up. We're all gonna' convene in Manchester in England, which is sort of our home away from home, and do some rehearsing there before we cut across the channel to Ireland for the first shows. We've been talking about it all day today and have thrown a couple of ideas out there, a couple of tracks maybe off of 'In the Arms of God' that we are thinking about that we haven't done in a while.
MGM: Great to hear. There's been a twelve- or thirteen-year gap between those albums and Paranoid Opioid has been making it into the set so it will be a good chance now to dust some more of them off and get playing them again.
Woody: Yeah and of course you know people can expect to hear all the favorites you know. There's always gonna' be some of the 'Deliverance' album and some of the 'Wiseblood' stuff too. We're not gonna' ignore those albums.
MGM: Yeah, most definitely, you've got so much material to mine from with those and 'America's Volume Dealer' too. In relation to the latest album 'No Cross, No Crown', it's been a big success for the band, the highest charting album of your career. Was that a nice surprise? How does it feel for you guys?
Woody: Yeah you know it was a surprise. You never expect anything like that to happen but you know you can't really go off record sales that much anymore. Let's face it, it's not as hard these days to get up a little higher in the charts because people don't really buy records as much anymore. You know you see a band get a top ten record these days it doesn't mean as much as it used to, but still, it's an honor that our fans stick with us. They've gone out and bought the record and they are supporting us so. For us the most important thing for us is we get out to go out on the road, we get to play live and, hopefully, keep Nuclear Blast happy that they will want us to do another record.
MGM: Bringing us around to Nuclear Blast. You signed to them around two years ago and they've given you the space to be a four-piece band again, with Pepper re-joining, and they have given you the space to create as well.
Woody: Absolutely man. They gave us all the time in the world and the guys that we work with are great. We kept getting offered all these tours and we kept staying on the road, so it was almost a year since we had signed with Nuclear Blast and we hadn't started work on the record yet but they were cool about it. They said take your time, you know. People don't really remember exactly when an album came out, it's just if it's good or not, so we took that advice and waited until we felt right about it and it turned out good. We are happy with it.
MGM: Yeah. You definitely came through on that Woody. The record is amazing. I'm interested to know, when you were the three-piece, Pepper had gone off to do the project with Down, how has your guitar style, playing style, altered?
Woody: Obviously the dynamic changes when you add a fourth member in and not to mention having two guitar players, so when you're thinking about writing the music you need to leave room for both guitarists to play off each other. You're thinking more about harmonies that you can do and all that kind of stuff. We did those couple of three-piece records back in 2012, we were sort of putting our shoulders back to the early material, jumping off of the 'Animosity' era, sort of harking back to 1985 and getting our minds in that stuff and just having a great time. It was reaching back and it was fun doing that because people were saying "Man, while Pepper's busy, why don't you bust out some of the old stuff" so we did and it was really awesome. I guess it was around 2014/15 we started doing shows back with Pepper, reaching out to those records that we hadn't done in a while, and we've been having a blast. Of course, all along we knew that we'd be getting back up with Keenan and stuff. We'd been talking for years about it really, it was just a matter of when the timing was right you know.
MGM: Well the band has been going for around 35/36 years, there's been a couple of short breaks and some members have left and then come back. Is that the key to the longevity of Corrosion of Conformity? What is it that brings everybody back to the band?
Woody: Yeah, I think the fact that we have been fluid through the years and you know if somebody wants to take a break here and there then hey it's totally cool. When the time is right we'll do our thing. We don't really get uptight about stuff and once we decide what's going on and we get that working, really the main thing is having fun and we're just lucky that we have the kind of fans who keep coming back. They're steady, they're not wishy-washy or flaky, they're the biggest part to our longevity.
MGM: With everything going on in the music industry the tours are showing you that you are still making the music that the fans want to hear.
Woody: Yeah, most definitely. We wouldn't be here if the fans didn't come out to support us but the great thing as well is that we are getting new fans out on the road. It kinda' works that way where we can head out on the road with different types of bands, recently we just finished up a run with Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society, and believe it or not even though we have a similar genre of music there were new fans each night who had never heard the band. We converted them into C.O.C fans and you know it's great to be able to win over new fans still.
MGM: Speaking of touring with different types of bands we had a show from your label mates Enslaved here along with High on Fire, Matt Pike from Sleep's other band, and on the label itself you are alongside some major names in metal such as Slayer, Testament, and Behemoth, so are there any bands on the label that you want to get out on tour with or any bands that have inspired or impressed you?
Woody: Yeah man there are so many bands, Nuclear Blast has an amazing roster. I could probably pick fifteen bands to travel with and we could go out on tour with bands that don't really fit particularly with our genre. Behemoth or Slayer or At the Gates, I'd love to tour with those bands. You know the High on Fire guys would have meshed pretty well with our sound. We are similar in a lot of ways but you know I love that kind of stuff. I love going on tour and traveling with bands that are totally different. If it works, it works, kind of mutual fans you know.
MGM: Yeah you guys have pretty much been touring constantly since the start of the year with the release of 'No Cross, No Crown' from the support slot with Black Label Society twice, a headline trip down to South America and in Europe while getting in some festival appearances. Have there been any standout shows, festival versus headline versus support slot for you guys?
Woody: The festivals are definitely an event, a lifestyle over in Europe and I know it has been for dozens of years, and I love playing them you know, the big marquee festivals but man, for me personally, I love that there is nothing like being in a tight venue with a tight sound system and a thousand crazy people. You get to play a whole set you know, that's one of the problems for me with the festivals, they throw you up there and if you're not one of the headliners you gotta' do it all in thirty minutes. You got the set and maybe you're on at five pm and the sun is shining in your eyes but then you're getting to play for thirty thousand or fifty thousand people so you know, you take the good with the bad. I do personally prefer the clubs and the theatres and we are gonna' have a blast on this run coming up. You know the UK shows with the Orange Goblin guys is going to be awesome too.
MGM: Looking at your support bands for this tour you've got a lot of talent there. In the UK you've got Orange Goblin, Fireball Ministry and Black Moth and then over here in Ireland you've got Ten Ton Slugs, Two Tales of Woe and Slomatics up in the Belfast show. You're really promoting the local bands, Orange Goblin I suppose are more established, but you're promoting local bands which is fantastic.
Woody: Yeah, we do. We always try to and you know those are great bands. There were several bands that submitted songs and ideas for the tour and those were the ones that we felt stood out. Sometimes you gotta' make a decision like that but it's awesome to have the local guys come out and support the band.
MGM: Well you guys are a great draw and giving those guys the support slots will definitely get them more exposure which is great to see. They are getting the chance due to this latest record for which you've got John Custer back as producer. I've got to say you've achieved an amazing sound for it. How does he influence your recordings? Does he throw ideas out when you're writing or when you're in the studio?
Woody: He's not so much on the writing end although occasionally that will happen, especially once we are in the studio. He's the ideas guy, the so-called icing on the cake. Once the bare bones songs are there and we are in the recording he's a wizard. He's an amazing musician, he makes us all look silly on the guitar you know. His way of producing is, he's like a timing guy. The vocals and guitar solos, for example, he knows where to place things and he assists us in that. He could make or break a song you know, where the solo should start and end and vocals especially as well.
MGM: Excellent. From listening to this record and from your previous work there haven't been many instances of you guys doing covers. You've got the Fleetwood Mac cover 'Green Manalishi' on the first album 'Eye for an Eye' and the CCR cover of 'Fortunate Son' on the 'Drowning in a Daydream' EP. You've chosen 'Son and Daughter' from Queen for the new album so was that a choice from yourselves or how did that come about?
Woody: That (laughs) well seeing as you're talking about John, that was John Custer's suggestion. He had been getting on to us for years about covering that song. We finally acquiesced and bowed to his wishes and we wound up doing it. That was a John suggestion because, obviously, he is a massive Brian May fan and Queen fan and it worked out great. I think it was a good tribute to them and we had a great time doing it. It is true though, we don't actually normally have cover tunes on records so that was a rarity for us.
MGM: Well in that respect, if C.O.C were ever to do a covers album, what tracks would you have to put on it?
Woody: (Laughs) Well you know we've been known to do Sabbath songs, we contributed to 'Nativity in Black', and you know Skynyrd we've done 'On the Hunt' while also we've tipped the hat to ZZ Top live before. It probably wouldn't wind up being a big surprise if you've listened to the band, obviously, we are huge Thin Lizzy fans and maybe some Deep Purple too. If we were to do it we may throw some left field ones in there that we might come up with but you could probably figure out what songs we'd do.
MGM: Well it would definitely be an interesting one if you were ever to get some time to go down that path. Actually, speaking of Sabbath there, the album artwork for 'No Cross, No Crown' has a very 70's Sabbath look to it. Who has the input in artwork for the records?
Woody: Yes, absolutely, 100%. A lot of that you know is Pepper. He is a great design guy, he works on a lot of the stuff. The t-shirt designs we come up with he has sort of spearheaded along with the album covers, he led a lot of that too. He's got a mind for that stuff you know. Keenan will come up with an idea and we'll toss around a few ideas as well but he really works on a lot of our design stuff.
MGM: It's definitely a striking image and it gives a nod to previous covers with the skull motif as well.
MGM: So, looking forward to the future of C.O.C I read yesterday you guys are getting onto the Mega Cruise with Megadeth. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Woody: True, true man. You know we did a couple of those things before. We were fortunate enough to be invited on the Motörboat which happened back in maybe 2015, of course, it was the last Motörboat because Lemmy has since left us, but those things are kind of fun man. We'll see how the Megadeth cruise works out man. He's already got some great bands lined up and there are still several more he is going to announce so. You know for a band man, you can't really turn them down. They bring you on a four or five-day cruise and put you up in a room. You get to play music for people that are there to see you so it's kind of a win-win. This will be the third one that I have personally done and I dig them, man, they are a good time. The whole time you're out there's what, two thousand people on the boat, and you are hanging out with the fans the whole time and you head down to the bar and they're all there chillin'. They're all metal fans so you got a lot to talk about and a lot to do. You know, if no one has ever been on these things, they can look pricey but you can get a few people together and share a room. They're fun and I recommend them if you're a heavy metal fan.
MGM: Well look you're getting to cruise down from L.A to Mexico and you're up close and personal with all the bands on the boat together so definitely a worthwhile experience. I hear also that Megadeth is looking at doing a beer and music festival called 'Kegadeth', a great play on words there, Slipknot have the 'Knotfest' and Ozzy has done 'Ozzfest'. If Corrosion ever got the chance to curate a festival would it be something you'd be interested in? Would you look at doing a Southern Rock kind of thing with ZZ Top?
Woody: (Laughs) Well hey we just did Clutch's festival there, the Earth Rocker festival, several week's back and you know a lot of bands are doing that, having their own festivals. We did the Knotfest but I don't know if we ever did one obviously it wouldn't be a giant, monster festival like that but it would be cool to get some bands together. Look at the bands that we have taken out on tour with us back through the years. We're getting ready to announce another U.S run. We're going to be taking out some of our friends and buddies and bands that we get along with any kind of match up good with. We've been known for that through the years you know. It wouldn't necessarily be a Southern Rock thing, we'd probably have some Doom in there and some Stoner Rock, I don't know if that genre even exists anymore, I know it was big for a while. I try not to get caught up with genre names it's just bands that we like.
MGM: That is definitely something to get into the planning stages. Coming back around to the upcoming shows in Dublin, Limerick, Belfast and then the run in the UK, that's a run that will take you up to the start of November. What's next for C.O.C? We've touched on the Mega Cruise and the planned American tour. When you're on tour are you writing songs, are you planning for the next album or are you going to let this one gestate a while further?
Woody: We'll probably let this one gestate for another while. I mean, you know, people probably say "we write on the road" but we really don't man. We might mess with a riff or two at soundcheck but unless you're traveling with some kind of portable studio, I don't really fall for that stuff. We've always got riffs or whatever and sometimes we'll do an impromptu jam but really, we're just concentrating on supporting the new record. Once we get back from this UK and Irish run we've got coming up there's a few things to get set up before the new year. Right after the new year we've got the US headline run for a few months and then after that, I don't know man but we'll stay busy.
MGM: Great. Well, Woody, I can't tell you enough how much of an honour and a pleasure it has been speaking with you. I'm really looking forward to the show in the Tivoli on October 22nd. I'll be there front and center. Best of luck with the prep for the tour and thanks again.
Woody: Thank you, brother, and be sure to stop and say hey when we're over there, maybe we can grab a stout or something.
MGM: (Laughs) I'll hold you to it.


text:
Don't MissMe and My Car - Henric Nieminen's Mercedes AMG
Me and My Car – Henric Nieminen's Mercedes AMG
Wheeler Dealers director Henric Nieminen shares the restoration of his Mercedes AMG
Don't MissFeaturesMe & My Car
If you're a fan of the modern classic Mercedes – and the classy coupes in particular – then you'll probably love the W126-generation SEC. Add the talents of AMG and it becomes even more special.
So that's what we've got here, right? Well, not exactly. This Mercedes is the work of a true enthusiast, but it is also part of a rather interesting story.
"My father, Martti, had emigrated from Finland to New York in 1965 and after moving to San Francisco he became the partner in a Mercedes-Benz garage" says the car's owner, Henric Nieminen, who is also a Director on Wheeler Dealers. "It's from him that I got my love of cars, and my first was a VW Rabbit bought for me when I was fifteen. I spent months restoring it."
Fast forward to 1986 and the Mayor of Jackson, California, would purchase a 1985 Mercedes-Benz 500SEC. Bought by Henric's father some 15 years later who vowed to restore it, that work sadly never happened before Martti's death.
So using his father's tools Henric set rebuilding the car, undertaking plenty of work including replacement of the timing chain and tensioner, attention to the fuel and ignition systems and replacing the brakes.
Impressed by the quality of the engineering, and recalling the pictures of AMG cars that had adorned his bedroom wall as a teenager, his mind then turned to some upgrades.
"I made improvements to the drivetrain, exhaust and suspension, and also added Recaro seats," he explains. "But around the same time I'd become involved with a group of AMG enthusiasts through on-line forums."
It was the beginnings of a huge project that would ultimately result in a very special car. About to head off for a desert retreat for Thanksgiving in 2009 with his wife, Kaisa, the owner heard from a contact in Arizona who was selling a rare AMG exhaust silencer. It turned out that the donor car was sitting in a scrap yard, and alongside that exhaust part there was also a wide-body package and a modified AMG engine. What Henric had stumbled upon was a genuine AMG SEC coupe.
Having secured those original parts, he then discovered that a handful of fellow enthusiasts who knew of his interest had managed to buy the whole car on his behalf. Transported to his home in California in March 2010, what he had sitting on his driveway is something he describes as a 'complete basket case'. However, in-depth research revealed that he'd acquired a badly deteriorated but genuine example of this sought-after Mercedes.
In the meantime, that Thanksgiving trip had left the couple's own SEC coupe in need of attention to the bodywork, so a restoration was planned. As you might have guessed from the pictures, that plan changed. It marked the beginning of the 'Rise of the Phönix' (German for Phoenix), work that would see their car transformed into an as-new 500 SEC AMG wide-body coupe.
Not looking for such a big project, Henric had written on an internet forum: "Projects are born every day. Projects are abandoned every week. Tens of thousands of dollars can be spent in the quest for perfection. With a mint you can print money, with an army you can fortify a village, and with a Visa card in the depths of the worst economic depression … maybe not so much."
It was a daunting challenge. There was certainly not going to be an open cheque book, so Henric and his wife decided to offset the cost with some clever thinking. Whenever parts that were no longer available were recreated, they would make a batch that could be sold to other enthusiasts for their own restorations. It was just the sort of ingenuity that would be needed if their dream was to be fulfilled.
Amongst the biggest task awaiting them was removing the donor car's AMG body parts – including wings, valances and sill panels – and using them to make moulds for new sections. And there was plenty more to come, the project swallowing many months as their original SEC was stripped and prepared – the panels were fitted and paintwork completed by November 2010 – the mechanicals fettled and the interior re-trimmed with the help of craftsmen skilled in working with leather and wood.
A new dashboard and a period Alpine audio system would be the finishing touch to the cabin. As for the engine, the donor AMG unit was completely re-built in preparation for fitting, although the discovery of a rare 32-valve engine saw that re-built and installed instead, the work carried out by Sergio Bartolini of Motorworks in California. Not that any of this would disrupt a focus on the details, Henric even going to the effort of re-making the missing 'AMG 5.4' badge that sat on the boot lid.
With completion in sight the intrepid restorers signed up for the second annual 'Legends of the Autobahn' to be held in Carmel during 2011's Monterey Classic Car Week. It would be the grand debut for the 'Phönix', and it's no surprise that it received plenty of attention. "It was the subject of curious admiration by the crowds, most of whom had never seen a Mercedes-Benz this wide and, frankly, this menacing in appearance," explains Henric.
There was more interest when the car appeared at an AMG-exclusive event in Salinas a short time later, and with the car remaining in San Francisco for another event before being driven back home to Los Angeles there was time for Henric and Kaisa to reflect on what they'd achieved.
Having created such a wonderful car, it's only fair that we leave the last words to them: "We're proud that a period of AMG and Mercedes-Benz history has come back to life, and pleased that with our work we've been able not only to add to the awareness of these cars, but to produce no longer available pieces that will allow others to fulfil their AMG restoration projects."
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Minions unleashed around Mermaid Quay!
The Minions were unleashed around Cardiff Bay's Mermaid Quay!
Pear Promo do more than just hand2hand. We have recently provided mascots to help brighten up the half term period at Mermaid Quay!
Mermaid Quay is set in a stunning waterfront location in the heart of Cardiff Bay, less than a kilometre from the city centre. The perfect place for dining out or relaxing over a drink in one of the restaurants, bars and cafés.
Our staff performed as Minions and Dora the Explorer providing days of excitement for all of the children (and some adults) at Mermaid Quay!
If you have an Idea for your business which you think may be a little to out there, then please don't hesitate to get in touch! With our forever expanding range of services, we ask you to challenge us!


The conference featured more than 1,000 attendees and 70 diverse speakers taking the spotlight at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. With best practices across numerous sectors and industries, the content was focused on sparking creative thoughts about marketing and how to take your brand's messaging and personalize and populate it across all different platforms to enhance customer experiences. Marketing United featured more than 30 sessions "packed with inspiration, strategies, and takeaways your team can use long after the conference wraps." From the "Irresistible Power of Storytelling" to "Effective Storytelling in the Age of Social Media" we're inspired.
In an upcoming perspective article, we will take a deeper dive into one of the central themes of this year's conference: powerful storytelling. For more information, contact us at info@adrenalineagency.com.


text:
Q: Faster File and memory write I have a code as defined below, but it is taking too long, I know the reason is there are too many iterations, but is there a solution to make this loop fast, (each loop has to read a float number from a file and write it to the memory) and there are 15874861 numbers.
  float  SysMem;
  float fw;
  unsigned long  j;
   for (j = 0 ; j < 15874861 ; j++)
    {
      fscanf(fp,"%f",&fw); // Read from file
      *((float *) (weights+j*0x04))  = fw; // Write to memory
      // Below lines are just to test, but even just read from file and writing is taking too long.
      SysMem= *((float *) (weights+j*0x04)); // Read back from memory
      if(fw != SysMem)
         printf("Memory Error\n"); // If read back wrong flag a error
    }

Trying to make it faster

A: It may or may not make a difference here, because I/O is the slowest thing that should be happening here, but all those casts don't help performance and may even result in buggy code. A cast tells a compiler "I'm doing something weird here", and that tends to tell the compiler not to optimize.
For example, on most platforms, the size of float is 4 bytes, and it's faster to assign a 4-byte value at an address that's a multiple of 4 than at an arbitrary address. When the compiler sees a variable of type float or array of float, it will align this variable correctly in memory to be able to use the fast-4-byte-assignment method. When the compiler sees (float *) (weights+j*0x04), it isn't sure whether this is a multiple of 4, so it might generate code that is sure to copy what you expect, but is slower because it copies the individual bytes one by one. (The compiler doesn't have to generate slower code: it can be nasty and assume that weights is correctly aligned, and generate code that doesn't copy what you expect if weights is not correctly aligned.)
The body of the loop should be just
fscanf(fp, "%f", weights[j]);

(Assuming that you know that the input file is well-formed, otherwise you need to add error checking.)

A: So here is what I did, for data maneuvering.
FILE *fp;
  fp = fopen("/media/card/kernel.txt", "r");
  n=0;
  //Read from the file.
  while(fscanf(fp, "%f", &array[n++])!= EOF);
  // Copy the whole data to memory at the given address
  memcpy(weights, array, sizeof(array) );

// Read back first few and last few values back just to cross check on functionality.
    for (int j = 0 ; j < 10; j++) {
               SysMem= *((float *) (weights+j*0x04));
     printf("Read %f\n", SysMem);
    }

               for (int j = 15874861 ; j > 15874850; j--) {
               SysMem= *((float *) (weights+j*0x04));
     printf("Read %f\n", SysMem);
    }

Why I did this?
2 Reasons, I am not running this on a conventional system, it's a custom board.
So I figured out the memory read/writes are costly on time and IO is also slow.
So I just moved the data withing using memcpy.
Thank you all for your help and suggestions.


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UPDATED: Demond Tucker reflects on his Big 12 honor
Rob Gray, Dec 09 •	0 Comments
AMES — Demond Tucker's motor? Yeah, it just seems like it never quits.
Take it from the burly, but explosive junior defensive tackle — who Wednesday was named the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year. He's convinced his engine can produce more power and speed in 2016.
"I feel like I've got a pretty good motor, but I want to have a motor that just won't stop," said Tucker, who had 13 tackles for loss and six sacks this season.
Tucker's 13 TFLs ranked second in the Big 12 among interior defensive linemen. His six sacks is tied for 11th all-time in a single season among Cyclones defensive linemen.
But Tucker wants more. He'd hoped to become the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year after transferring from Copiah-Lincoln Community College. Now that's his goal for his senior season.
"I kind of sat around some last year at the beginning, not doing as much running as I was supposed to, but now I see the importance of more running, more lifting to get stronger and faster," Tucker said. "This is a fast and strong conference. That's what I'm going to prepare myself for next year."
Tucker said it's too soon to tell if ISU under new coach Matt Campbell will stick with the 3-4 defense. Either 3-4 of 4-3, he said he'll be ready.
"Whatever comes we've just got to play in it," he said. "Make the best out of every situation."
Tucker and running back Mike Warren weren't the only ISU players honored Wednesday by the league.
Center Jamison Lalk and defensive end Dale Pierson both earned spots on the second-team All-Big 12 team. Senior defensive back Qujuan Floyd, sophomore wide receiver Allen Lazard, freshman cornerback Brian Peavy, Tucker and Warren earned honorable mention accolades.
Below, find ISU's full release on the Cyclones' awards (courtesy ISU Athletics Communications), or click here.
AMES, Iowa – The Big 12 football coaches selected their All-Big 12 teams this morning, and seven Cyclones were awarded postseason honors for their performance on the field in 2015.
Seniors Jamison Lalk (center) and Dale Pierson (defensive end) were named Second-Team All-Big 12, while senior defensive back Qujuan Floyd, sophomore wide receiver Allen Lazard, freshman cornerback Brian Peavy, junior nose guard Demond Tucker and freshman running back Mike Warren earned honorable mention accolades.
Warren was named Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and Tucker was the Big 12's Defensive Newcomer of the Year.
A native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Lalk made a seamless transition to center and emerged as the leader of the offensive line in his final year as a Cyclone.
Lalk started all 12 games in 2015, helping Iowa State improve immensely in virtually every offensive category. Behind Lalk, the Cyclones averaged 182.0 yards rushing, the highest total since 2000, and had their first 1,000-yard rusher (Warren) since 2009.
Pierson, a Bakersfield, Calif., tied Iowa State's season record for sacks at 8.5, ranking second in the Big 12 Conference. Pierson also tied for 11th in the Big 12 in TFL (12.5) and led all ISU down linemen in tackles with 41.
Floyd, native of Los Angeles, was Iowa State's stabilizer in the secondary. He was second on the team in tackles (79), recording at least six tackles in all 11 games played. He picked off the first pass of his career in the final game of the season vs. West Virginia.
Lazard continued his progression into one of the elite receivers in the Big 12 in his sophomore campaign. The Urbandale, Iowa, native led the Cyclones in receptions (56), receiving yards (808) and TD catches (6), ranking fifth in the Big 12 in receptions per game (5.1).
Lazard's reception and yardage totals both rank in ISU's season top-10 and his 23-game reception streak is tied for the best string in school history.
Peavy, who hails from Houston, Texas, led Iowa State in tackles (82), pass breakups (10) and interceptions (2) in his freshman season. His 82 tackles was second among Big 12 rookies and the corner had 3.5 TFL and two double-digit tackle games.
Peavy also received votes for Defensive Freshman of the Year.
Tucker, a native from Hazelhurst, Miss., was outstanding in his first season as a Cyclone. His 13.0 TFL was second among all Big 12 interior defensive lineman and his 6.0 sacks tied for ninth in the league.
Tucker was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after tallying career highs in tackles (eight), TFL (4.0) and sacks (2.0) vs. Oklahoma State.
A native of Lawton, Okla., Warren led all Big 12 rushers by averaging 131.7 yards per game in conference games. Warren's 1,339 yards rushing was No. 1 among all FBS rookies, the fifth-best season effort in school history and the third-best effort by a Big 12 freshman in league history.
Warren recorded six 100-yard games in the final 10 contests, including a 245-yard performance at Texas Tech, the eighth-best single-game effort in Iowa State history.
Rob Gray
View articles by Rob Gray	administrator
Rob, an Ames native, joined Cyclone Fanatic in August, 2014 after nearly a decade and a half of working at Iowa's two largest newspapers. He spent 10 years at the Des Moines Register and, after a brief stint in public relations, joined the Cedar Rapids Gazette as an Iowa State correspondent three years ago. Rob specializes in feature stories for CF.
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Demond Tucker named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week
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Demond Tucker's motor: Explosive and becoming efficient


'Thugs Of Hindostan': You can do advance bookings for the action adventure on THIS date!
Home Bollywood News 'Thugs Of Hindostan': You can do advance bookings for the action adventure on THIS date!
There's just one week left for the release of 'Thugs Of Hindostan' and the movie is creating a buzz for all the right reasons. The trailer, that was released a few days back, has increased our curiosity to another level. We can't wait for the movie to release on November 8. The makers are also treating the fans of 'TOH' with BTS videos to give insights on what it took to make such an action-adventure drama.
'Thugs of Hindostan' is reportedly made on a whopping budget of Rs 310 crore. So the makers will make sure it performs well at the box office to get some profit. They want the magnum opus to thrash all the box office records and keeping that in mind, they will start the advance bookings for the film on November 3. It means that five days prior to its release, audiences can book their desired tickets. This is not only for the multiplexes. Advance booking will also be available at the single screens.
As per trade analyst's predictions and the buzz that 'TOH' is creating, it is likely to rake in good moolah at the box office. While talking to Zoom TV, film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi had predicted that it will have an opening of Rs 50 crore.
Let's wait and watch whether it will be able to break the record of 'Baahubali 2'or not that pocketed Rs. 41 crore on its opening day at the box-office.
Backed by Yash Raj Films and helmed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, 'Thugs of Hindostan' stars Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Shaikh in pivotal roles.


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Going up: School bus fares
Singapore December 12th, 2007
Not to miss out on the hikes, even the school bus services are raising their fares. Citing non profits, operators said that this is inevitable as they earn only from ferrying workers and not school children.
In my honest opinion, there's really no free lunch. So, if the business of ferrying children to school is really not profitable, I think they should just stop doing it altogether. In this way, they can stop emissions of harmful fumes and smoke into the atmosphere. At the same time, this will weed out (yes, weed out, just like how the weed out "casual taxi passengers") parents who are able to send their own kids to school via other means. As for the remaining parents, they will begin to understand how integral the school bus service is for their kids and will thus be willing to pay more.
Problem solved, isn't it?
PARENTS reacted with dismay yesterday to the news that school bus fares are likely to jump by at least $5 to $10 a month starting next month.
The largest association of school bus companies here recommended the hike in the wake of rising diesel prices. But some private operators have said they plan to raise their prices even more.
That drew the ire of some parents, who said bus fares, now between $40 and $160 a month, are already too high.
'Many of my neighbours are considering taking their children out of school transport after this year,' said Mr Foo Suan Keng, 46, a senior commercial officer in a shipyard who has three children taking the bus.
The increase is the first since January last year, said the Singapore School Transport Association, which represents 90 per cent of operators here. The group has about 1,000 members and a fleet of 2,000 buses.
Chairman Wong Ann Lin said bus companies have seen their profits disappear.
A survey commissioned by the association two years ago showed that, on average, operators took home about $20,000 in 2005. Their expenses were over $30,000. Mr Wong had said earlier that bus drivers make most of their money from ferrying workers and not school children.
Mr Wong said even the expected fare hike would not cover the rising costs faced by operators.
But that is small consolation for parents. Teacher Samila Ghouse, 33, a mother of three, pays $260 a month to bus her two school-going kids and is worried about the increase. Her youngest daughter will start taking the bus next year, bringing her total bill to $380 before the increase.
She said: 'I have no alternatives other than the school bus. I'm a single parent and have no way to send them to school.'
While the association recommended that members increase their fares by not more than $10 a month, they have no say over other operators.
Mr Ng Ang Heng, 50, who is not part of the association, said fares on his bus will go up by $15 to $30 next month. That will not cover the cost of ferrying pupils.
The rising expectations of parents have made it harder to turn a profit, he said. 'Even though the Land Transport Authority guideline says three children to two seats, parents want one child per seat. That limits the number of children I can ferry.'
Meanwhile, parents say they are left with little choice but to cough up the cash.
Mr Foo now pays $45 per child for a two-way trip. That will rise to $70 next month. He is considering other arrangements, including car pooling.
'Some parents have even considered transferring their children to a school that is closer to their home,' he said.
janeng@sph.com.sg
Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 12th December 2007
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This is one of the many ways to make money online. Many webmasters and online "gurus" have been practicing this for years. If you are wondering how to become one, and make some extra cash on the side, this guide will set you on your way to become an affiliate marketer.
What exactly is affiliate marketing? Well, this basically means that your are selling goods or services belonging to someone else, for a commission fee. The commission fee varies from company to company or person to person. Sometimes they offer a flat rate per sale or offer more commission fees per X amount of sales. The reason companies offer affiliate sign-ups is simple; they get more advertising exposure and make more sales, in turn, you get paid for your effort. This is a win-win situation.
There are many ways you can go about doing affiliate marketing. One of the easiest ways is to create a website or a blog (don't worry, you won't have to search far to get someone to help you with this, especially online), and then advertise the product or service. It will be wise to choose a market where you have some experience in or possess some knowledge of. For instance, if you happen to know a lot about fashion design, or if you have knowledge of how to play guitar, this should be your first choice. If you are interested in a certain subject it is much easier to become an expert in your chosen field. This will also make marketing your product or service easier because one of the ways you will end up marketing the goods, is through article marketing.
When you choose a URL for your website, choose something in the domain name that resembles your specific niche, ex, if you are going to promote affiliate links about cat products, register a domain name like http://www.all-about-cats.com or http://www.catparadise.com . This is what is called SEO or search engine optimization. This is very broad topic which we won't get into right now. For starters all you need to know about SEO is that your domain name, article headings, and articles should be filled with keywords about your specific niche and the article you are writing about. When you write an article about cat nutrition, make sure your article is filled with the keywords: cat nutrition. This will make it easier for search engines to recognize that this particular article could be of interest to people who want to know more about cats and their nutrition needs.
Ok once you are set up with your website, and you have become an affiliate for a specific product or service, now you have to let the world wide web know that you are offering what they need. This is where your previous knowledge on your specific product or service comes in handy. You will be writing articles (+- 500 words) about it and then submit them to article directories. There are hundreds and thousands of article directories available on the internet and a quick search on your favorite search engine will quickly reveal some of the best websites. All of the article directories allow you to place a "signature" at the end of your article. A Signature is simply a few lines containing a description of yourself or your product and then your affiliate link. Your affiliate link will be provided by the company or person with whom you sign up with. This will lead to more backlinks to your website equating to more visitors and sales and also increase your search engine page rank (where you are placed among the thousands of websites out there.


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You are here: Home / News / Competition Results / AV Weekend – Full Report
AV Weekend – Full Report
November 2, 2011 by Gerry Leave a Comment
Report of the I.P.F's 29th National Audio Visual Championships & 3rd Open Audio Visual Competition
held in Āras Chrónáin Ionad Cultúrtha, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.
on 15th and 16th October, 2011.
By Lilian Webb, A.I.P.F.
This was a very successful weekend – not only for the prize winners but also a very social and sociable event on the I.P.F's calendar of events. It was great to welcome our friends from north of the border once again and see some of them enter the Open competition.
The judge was Richard Brown, F.R.P.S., E.F.I.A.P., F.I.P.F., A.P.A.G.B., current winner of the UK National AV Championships, in Sutton Bonington in September. Richard had judged the championships in Galway in 2002 and had attended and won the 2nd open Audio Visual Competition two years ago. His comments, advice and constructive criticism were well received by the entrants and the spectators – and all learnt a lot from him. It was great to have an hour on the Sunday to see some of Richard's prize winning sequences.
During the course of the weekend, Lilian Webb made a presentation on behalf of the I.P.F., Council to Frank Malthouse, L.I.P.F., of the Brendan Walkin medal for his services to the I.P.F., and in particular to his chairmanship of the I.P.F., A.V. Group Committee since its inception in May, 1999 to November of last year.
Brendan O'Sullivan, current chairman of the I.P.F., A.V. Group Committee welcomed all on the Saturday and there were two empty chairs at the front in memory of Kieran O'Loughlin, F.I.P.F., A.R.P.S., a member of the committee also since its inception and voted chairman just last November, who died in May of this year and to Peter Coles an eminent AV worker in the UK, who had judged in Shannon a couple of years ago and who died a couple of months previously.
In memory of Kieran O'Loughlin, Mary O'Loughlin was presented with the overall trophy, which had been won by Kieran more times than any other and a trophy was bought to be presented to the overall winner of the national championships – the Kieran O'Loughlin Memorial Trophy. During the Sunday afternoon, four of Kieran's prize winning sequences were shown and it would have been possible to hear a pin drop as the sequences were watched. Kieran had a remarkable talent for all aspects of audio visual, which he readily shared with all and had only set up the Shannon Camera Club AV group earlier this year. As a tribute, members of Shannon Camera Club had seven sequences entered.
Palmerstown Photographic Society had their images on display over the weekend. The Royal Photographic Society Audio Visual Group again donated "The George & Doreen Pollock Medal" to the Championships for the best first time entrant, for which we were extremely grateful.
All twenty four sequences in the national championships were shown on the Saturday plus 8 of those entered in the Open section and the remaining 12 were shown on the Sunday morning – from England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
However, it was not all serious competition as almost 30 sat down to a meal on the Saturday from Shannon, Waterford, Enniscorthy and the greater Dublin area – and the singing lasted into the early hours of the next morning! 20 had a meal on the Sunday again before dispersing to the same areas.
A questionnaire prepared by Alan Lyons, was included in the programme and these will be looked at in relation to venues etc., when the committee next meet.
Deirdre Gaffney, L.I.P.F., presented the awards in the absence of the President, who had sent a message from the Rockies to wish the weekend well – and may have a sequence in next year – and there is a promise of a sequence too from the National Secretary! So see you all next year!
On behalf of the IPF AV Group Committee of Alan Lyons, A.I.P.F., Hon. A.P.S.I., Marie McGuinness, Rita Nolan, L.I.P.F., Margaret Finlay, L.I.P.F., Pearl Walsh, L.I.P.F., Edwin Bailey and Brendan O'Sullivan A.I.P.F., (Chairman), thanks to all who contributed to the success of the weekend.
Filed Under: Competition Results


Hi everyone, can you believe it is March already? Where is this year going?
Well, never mind all that, I have exciting times ahead and I wanted to share some of that news with you! As you've probably already noticed, I've launched a preview picture of the cover design for my debut novel, "Confessions Of Revenge" designed by Ida Jansson of Amygdala Design, I love the result!
My book may not be in print just yet, but that doesn't mean to say that I haven't had the biggest buzz seeing my name on a book cover!
One last sweep through my manuscript to make sure that I haven't made any (or too many) rookie mistakes and then I'll be sending it off for consideration. Wish me luck!
I've always been told to keep a weather eye open for the signs that the time is right to do something, and those signs have been coming thick and fast! I was unsure as to how ready I was to take that huge step in sending my manuscript off to be read, but seeing Ida's design for my book cover has given me the confidence boost I needed, so hold on to your book vouchers, because here comes the first in what I hope to be many books!
In the meantime, take care, stay safe, but maost of all, Keep reading!


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[French Discoveries on the Georgia Coastline]
Stock# 47599mp2
Theodor De Bry
Frankfurt / 1591
Fine view on the Georgia Coastline, based upon original watercolor paintings by Jacques Le Moynes de Morgues, an official French artist, who accompanied two important French Expeditions to North America in the 1560s.
The images show the French explorations on the Georgia Coastline, which were first published in 1591, by Theodore de Bry. Taken from the publication of the reports of Jean Ribault (1562) and Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere (1564) expeditions, entitled Brevis narratio eorum quae in Florida Americœ provincia Gallis acciderunt . . .
On the first French voyage to the region which would be described as French Florida, the crew, led by Captain Jean Ribaut, landed at a promontory which later become Fort Augustine. Following the coast north from there, Ribault's expedition discovered a broad river, which they called May. After exploring the region, they proceeded further and sailed farther up the coast until they reached another river which Captain Ribaut deemed worthy of exploration. He called this river the Seine. After a brief investigation, the expedition continued a short distance north, before encountering another large river. This river was explored in two small boats.
Ribault named this river the Somme or Axona, which is about six miles from the Seine. The river marked on the engraving 'F. Axona, Iricana' is evidently the Somme, but has the suffix Iracana, after the Indians on this river. Today, it is known as St. Andrews Sound, Georgia, at the mouth of the Saltilla River and Jekyll Island. The fish-pens, shown in the river estuary, are 'reed enclosures made in the form of a labyrinth' by the Indians, and from which the fish found it almost impossible to escape.
Theodor De Bry Biography
Theodor de Bry (1528-1598) was a prominent Flemish engraver and publisher best known for his engravings of the New World. Born in Liege, de Bry hailed from the portion of Flanders then controlled by Spain. The de Brys were a family of jewelers and engravers, and young Theodor was trained in those artisanal trades.
As a Lutheran, however, his life and livelihood was threatened when the Spanish Inquisition cracked down on non-Catholics. De Bry was banished and his goods seized in 1570. He fled to Strasbourg, where he studied under the Huguenot engraver Etienne Delaune. He also traveled to Antwerp, London, and Frankfurt, where he settled with his family.
In 1590, de Bry began to publish his Les Grands Voyages, which would eventually stretch to thirty volumes released by de Bry and his two sons. The volumes contained not only important engraved images of the New World, the first many had seen of the geographic novelties, but also several important maps. He also published a collection focus on India Orientalis. Les Grands Voyages was published in German, Latin, French, and English, extending de Bry's fame and his view of the New World.
Antique Maps / United States / Southeast / Georgia


Sideshow Collectibles has revealed their coming Killer Croc Premium Format Figure and I will now give my initial thoughts on this piece based on the material currently available. This should not be considered a review, but rather as my first impression of the piece.
Killer Croc… One of Batman's most horrifying foes is finally being realized as a 1/4 scale Premium Format by Sideshow Collectibles. Fans have been waiting for this to happen for a very long time. Killer Croc is probably one of the most visually astounding characters that Batman has faced off with over the years. This only makes this upcoming statue from Sideshow all the more interesting to have a closer look at. Killer Croc is an unusual villain within the Batman lore with his supernatural and monstrous appearance. He has always creeped me out a bit, and I can easily recall playing Arkham Asylum, running for my life from this frightening character. Anyways, let's dive right in and have a closer look at this new statue by Sideshow Collectibles.
The statue was sculpted by Pablo Viggiano and Alfred Paredes. Mold and cast was done by Adam Smith. The paint was done by Steve Riojas and Kat Sapene. Finally, the costume was done by Tim Hanson.
One of the most striking elements to this statue is definitely the impressive sculpt. The entire body of Killer Croc is covered by this reptilian skin that looks stunning. It actually looks very realistic with the scales and the nuances in color across the entire back-side of the body. All over the body you also find these larger protruding patches of scale and almost spikes. It honestly looks quite nasty, but that is certainly also the purpose of these details – to give you an uneasy feeling that this is a creature that enjoys long evening walks along the sewage channels and isn't much for the company of others.
The high level of detail can also be detected on the portraits that come with this statue (one regular and one with the exclusive). On the regular head, the teeth stand out as a frightening sight, indeed. They lock together in a tight and somewhat grotesque way that manages to convey his carnivorous qualities to say the least. His sunken cheeks, rugged and wrinkled skin and wild eyes perfectly unite the human and reptilian features into one single monstrosity. In other words, he's a thing of pure beauty!
This is a Premium Format statue in its original meaning i.e. fabric parts are present on this statue. However, being comprised of just the pants and the rope around his waist, the fabric addition to this statue is relatively simple. In that regard there isn't much to comment on either. It looks convincing on the statue, and adds a very nice organic feel to the overall impression that you get from this statue. The details on the pants are of course of a high quality, and the costumes department at Sideshow once again prove their amazing talent. The bandages or wraps that Killer Croc has around his hands (or claws) are sculpted, from what I can tell.
Overall, to me, the sculpt is one of the absolute strongest selling points of this statue. Sideshow has done a marvelous job in creating a terrifying and rather realistic looking Killer Croc. I'm deeply impressed with this since this is one of the few characters that my mind has a hard time imagining.
Let's talk a bit about the pose. You see, I am a bit divided when it comes to the pose here. Let me raise two main points. The first thing is the fact that this is an odd mix between a static and dynamic pose. Most aspects of this statue tell me that this is a static pose. However, the right foot of Killer Croc is splashing up sewer water which adds motion to the overall expression of the statue. This is somewhat conflicting since I generally find the pose of him to be standing still. I also really like the idea of him just standing there, looking ahead. I can just imagine him standing in a sewer tunnel, covered in shadow, and sporting that exact pose.
They could have made the splashing effect an optional extra to the piece so that the piece could be displayed with or without it. Well, that's just my thoughts, anyways.
The second thing about the pose that distracts me is the slight leaning that I can detect from some angles. This can be related to this "dynamic pose" quality of the piece, but to me it gets a bit distracting. I think it is in part caused by the fact that his right arm is hanging downwards in front of his torso and leg. Without the lean, there simply wouldn't be room for it to hang downwards like that. It would be difficult to remedy this without changing the overall feel of the statue, but it would have been to my preference if they had put the right arm to the right of his leg, and thereby shifted his weight more towards the center of the base. He would look less hunched and creepy, but the trade-off would have been a more cool and Hulk-like pose. One can then argue the pros and cons of that. I just really like it when the weight of a statue is around the center of the piece.
I do like the concept of the pose, though. It's not that I don't get it. Not at all. It manages to convey the character and his animalistic qualities very well.
That's easy. It's a must! I almost always feel like this if/when the exclusive is comprised of an alternate portrait. It just gives you almost two statues for the price of one… almost. That says a lot these days too, with the "evolution" of statue pricing! Seriously, though, the exclusive portrait looks amazing. The details and the sculpt in general is just so well made. It gives the piece an entirely different look, and makes Killer Croc look even more… crocier! I love it! Hopefully, the seam lines will be, well, seamless. I would prefer not having another Hulk PF situation here. I hope that Sideshow won't make such a blunder again. From the photos, it does seem like the seam is very well hidden as part of the sculpt.
It's a good base. It continues the theme of the character, and frames him quite well. The details and the paint seem to be spot on. Again, I don't really like the splashing water. I don't feel that it adds more than it takes away from the statue. It just seems like an unnecessary over-complication of the base. I like the glossy effect on the water, which makes it look very realistic.
I generally feel positive about this piece. I can appreciate the details of the sculpt and the craftsmanship that went into creating this piece. I wouldn't say that this is a piece that will find its way into my personal collection, however. I simply don't feel that it would fit that well in, and I don't know the character well enough.
The statue is "only" 18.5″ tall. I've always imagined that Killer Croc is a huge monstrosity, but it would seem like this statue is not going to tower the current collection of Batman statues from Sideshow. This is of course due to the fact that he is hunched and that the base is not really that tall. The physique of this piece seems to be just the proper size. But I will reserve my final judgement on this until the time comes when collectors will be sharing photos of this beast next to the other Batman/DC Premium Format statues. I'm certainly looking forward to that.
The truth is that size does matter when it comes to statues. At least, that is something I'm quite convinced holds true when it comes to most 1/4-scale and 1/3-scale collectors (which is basically the same crowd of people these days). Many other companies are coming out with huge and visually/conceptually very impressive statues. It would have been great to see Killer Croc display his grandiose size in an even more spectacular way. Of course, this needs to be weighed up against the fact that many collectors simply don't have the space. If I was seriously looking to get this statue myself, I'm sure I would be way less eager to call for a larger piece. I'd need him to fit into a Besta after all. Oh, the duality of life!
So, what about the price then? Well, not surprisingly, the price is higher than "average". But these days, there hardly exists an "average" price because of the constant increment in prices that we are constantly seeing now. I honestly feel that the price is too high. I think my pain threshold is at around $500 max. I understand that this piece is "bigger" in a way, but I don't feel that the overall appearance of this statue explains the higher price. But as I said, I'm really not surprised. It would be nice if Sideshow could be a little more engaging and maybe be open as to why the prices are spiraling upwards at this rapid speed we are seeing.
That basically wraps up my preview of this statue. To sum it up very briefly: I like the level of detail and the sculpt here a lot! I don't know the character enough to warrant a purchase from me. The price is a monstrosity, so I guess it fits well with the statue. I think die-hard fans of Killer Croc are lucky to get this rendition of the character.
So, are you getting this piece? Do you love it or hate it? Leave me a comment and let me know!
I also think that this has way more detail than Kylo Ren. I don't understand their pricing at all. GREED!!!
It sure does. But Kylo Ren is heavy on fabric parts, which is, I would assume, also costly to develop.
I'm good, by the way. Thank you!