Victory Rose

POC blush tutorial

Something I struggled with a lot before DBT was differentiating (or even knowing there was a difference!) between an emotion being valid and an emotion being justified.

All emotions are valid: you are allowed to feel how you feel in response to things in your life. Nobody can tell you your feelings are incorrect.

Not all emotions are JUSTIFIED, or they’re justified but their intensity is not. For example, someone forgets to acknowledge you and it hurts. You can validate yourself and also at the same time recognize that no, being at 90/100 on the rejected/hurt scale is not justified in this interaction. You can then decide on your response accordingly.

This is part of the dialectic. Two seemingly opposite facts can be true at the same time.

I think I’ve gotten better at checking my own emotional responses, but they still get the better of me sometimes, particularly guilt and shame.

Thank you for breaking down the types of martial art schools. My brother and I attended the same school, but our focus made us take different classes with different instructors. I was being bullied and hit every day, so I took a lot of sel-defense and practical applications classes. I still learned katas, but they were secondary to my goal. My brother learned how to do beautiful katas, but he hated getting in a ring. Outlook and preparedness is everything, and something people overlook.

You’re illustrating something that I accidentally skimmed over; almost any martial art can be taught with a practical outlook. This isn’t just things like Muay Thai, where the application is obvious, it includes martial arts you wouldn’t expect, like Tai-Chi.

The key here is having an instructor who can teach you to apply what you’re learning in a real world context.

Karate is an easy example to dogpile on. Almost all practitioners you’ll find today will be recreational ones. You will find a great many who can’t apply what they know outside of the Dojo. Except, Karate wasn’t developed for self-defense, it was developed for guerrilla warfare.

Karate is not a Japanese martial art, it’s Okinawan. It’s easy to conflate these now, but this becomes a very important distinction when you look at Karate’s history. Okinawa was formally annexed by Japan in the Nineteenth Century, and the original Japanese invasion and vassalization of Okinawa dates back to the early Seventeenth Century. (I’m skimming over a lot of the history; if you’re interested, you should read up on this.)

Because of this, the Japanese were seen as an occupying force, and Karate was specifically adapted to kill Samurai. (Okay, I’m being a little reductive here, Karate technically dates back to the Ryukyu Kingdom, though, much of what we have today is a result of these adaptations.)

The modern incarnation, dating back to the Japanese vassalization of Okinawa, is designed to interdict and preempt entire segments of a Samurai’s combat training. Not all of this will be relevant today, and I wouldn’t recommend a low strike to prevent your opponent from cross-drawing a gun, but it will directly block an Iaido practitioner’s draw. (Note: I’m extending the definition of, “modern Karate” further back than normal. “Modern Karate,” usually starts with the founding of Shotokan in the mid-twentieth century,)

When we’re talking self-defense, Karate’s probably not going to be the right tool for the job, But, this is a martial art that was originally developed to kill people, and some of that can still be applied to interrupt and disable an assailant. The underlying combat philosophy of preventing your opponent from attacking with preemptive strikes has real applications. If you can understand how to bring this stuff into the real world, it’s viable. However, because it requires staying ahead of your opponent, you really need to know what you’re doing. That’s the weakness, this was designed to deal with foes who would act in very predictable patterns. If you don’t know what your opponent will do before they act, the value suffers.

That’s an example I’m personally familiar with, however, there are a lot stories like this, where a martial art started out as a method to kill or incapacitate your foes, and has gradually transitioned into something else. Again, if this stuff interests you, read up on it. Some martial arts have fascinating histories.

-Starke

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LOTR’s special effects are stylized in a very careful, deliberate, and beautiful way.

In a behind-the-scenes video,  the films’ visual effects supervisor explained:

We wanted the look of the film to have this storybook look to it. This is one of the things that Peter Jackson would impress upon the post-grader. He would literally sit there with watercolor (paintings) and say: THIS is what I want it to look like.”

Compare Alan Lee’s watercolor painting (its texture, its limited and unreal color palette, and the careful use of bright highlights in specific places that “frame” the characters/create an interesting composition)–

To the very similar look of the final film:

Because the goal wasn’t to create a perfectly realistic version of Moria. It was to create a version of Moria that looked like a watercolor painting. 

And this “watercolor painting” effect isn’t just epic fantasy moments either. Even many of the non-fantastical backgrounds in Lord of the Rings don’t look “fully realistic.” They look very high-contrast and painterly, with dramatic unreal shafts of light bursting through the clouds:

And again, this is by design:

“We wanted to nudge it sideways from reality. New Zealand is a lovely country but it’s still New Zealand, still a real country….and I wanted to nudge it slightly to Middle Earth, which is an ancient world….a world of myth, and legend.”

And the watercolor storybook-inspired colors and lighting isn’t just in the environments either. It was also used in very basic dialogue scenes, to make you really feel like the entire movie was taking place in a fantasy world:

I’d also add that yes, they pushed the look of the whole film into “unreal” territory, but they also were very selective and deliberate about where they used CG versus practical effects. Or practical everything, really. In every single possible instance that something could be shot using real elements, it is. The costumes and sets and props are nearly all real, the forced perspective shots are real. As often as possible hobbit actors are just on their knees or the other actors are on appleboxes or replaced with larger/smaller actors from behind instead of being digitally shrunken down or up. The sets were largely built by hand or on location, and the only greenscreen factors in once you get to the far distance. They built the frickin chainmail by hand, even. 

Which is the OTHER reason that it holds up. Your eye knowns when you’re looking at a real thing, even if your brain can’t quite articulate why. 

Which is why an image like this:

Or this: 

Or this:

Which are all effects shots! Feel more real than this:

Or this: 

Or this:

(This is honestly the main reason why I had trouble watching MCU films for so many years. It just don’t look real, guys. I can’t think of anything but how you’re shooting this in a studio somewhere.) 

Marvel and LotR are using the same tools, including set extensions, CG, color grading, all of it, but Marvel tends to use CG and greenscreen on almost every element. LotR is real in every possible way that it can be. 

Marvel films are stylized and made to look unreal just like LotR - but they also largely ARE unreal. LotR is mostly real but faked, and there’s a big difference between those things. 

Like this image: 

The boats, the water, the cliffs, the actors are real. And the statues were real too - just small models, probably smaller than a person, shot separately in similar lighting, then comped onto this shot to look thousands of times larger than they actually are. Then the whole image is graded and blended together so that the colors are seamless, the cliff edges are extended so that you can’t see the edges, add a little digital mist in the far background there to really sell it - and boom. Feels real.

Your gut knows when something is real - which is why it holds up when you rewatch it. No matter how advanced CG gets, and it’s pretty damn advanced at this point, it’s still little pixels on a screen. But real chainmail on a real person standing in a real forest with a little CG far in the back? Two actors of roughly the same size looking like they’re two different sizes just because of where they’re sitting? It feels real because it mostly is. 

It’s not just color grading and blending, it’s knowing when and where and how to use things, and then actually taking the time (and the expense) to do it right even when most people won’t be able to tell - or, in a lot of cases, even care.

This is an amazing addition!!!

Yeah the reason LOTR’s visuals have held up so well is the combination of careful stylization AND using practical effects whenever possible.

As a result, the things that look unrealistic, look unrealistic on purpose. It’s wasn’t “the visual effects artists weren’t given enough time to finish the shots” (which was actually the case for Black Panther)  it was “they were deliberately and carefully trying to get that very specific storybook-illustration effect.”

Here we go again guys. THIS NEEDS TO STOP

You may be aware of the post I made yesterday regarding posts being taken down on another blog for adult content when they are videos of innocent animals. If not, click here

Tumblr @staff and Tumblr @support need flagged.

It concerns me that the push to avoid stereotypes and objectification has led to the idea that you can’t feature Native Americans on product packaging or marketing, even if it’s done respectfully and in connection to the history of the company or the community where the company started. 

Like “we don’t want to offend people so let’s pretend Native Americans don’t exist because we don’t understand them well enough to represent them respectfully.”

Rather than changing the logo, they should have done a marketing campaign highlighting the artist and his heritage and explaining the history of the Ojibwe people in Minnesota. 

But the story of Land O Lakes iconic Native American maiden isn’t so cut and dry. Although she originally appeared on packaging in the 1920 and was updated in the 1930s, as more consumers began purchasing refrigerators and could store dairy items, and demand for Land O Lakes products skyrocketed, the current iteration of “Mia” was from the mid-1950s. The artist, Patrick DesJarlait, Native American himself, wanted to “foster a sense of Indian pride” (his words, per the Smithsonian), during a time when Native American heritage wasn’t celebrated….

…One thing that does seem to bother Robert: Land O Lakes’ decision to wipe Native American history out of the company’s story. Referencing a social media meme that took off in the days following Land O Lakes’ decision, “They Got Rid of The Indian and Kept the Land,” he cautions the company to avoid whitewashing Minnesota history and giving credit only to modern farmers.

“kiddo”

“buddy”

inform a friend to ensure you’re never left alone with them

refer to own age in conversation

“yeah, I know I look young, but you wouldn’t BELIEVE how awkward it is being mistakenly hit on by a teenager!”

upon that child turning 18:

“Happy birthday, kiddo!”

“Have you registered to vote yet?”

so no name is impossible to pronounce world-wide, but it is very easy to not have the linguistic archive necessary to pronounce a given name entirely correctly. it is a simple case of physically not knowing where to place your tongue, whether or not to vibrate your vocal chords, etc. the only one of the dictators of sound you could be shown is how to position your lips

it’s HIGHLY contagious, as a matter of fact it’s more than two times more contagious than the flu;

its incubation period is 14 days, which means you could be already infected and only start to show symptoms in two weeks which, in turn, means that you have two full weeks time to infect everyone you come in contact with;

we don’t have a vaccine or specific treatment yet;

it is potentially mortal for older people, people with pre-existing conditions, and immunocompromised people BUT it’s also very dangerous for everyone else too–a lot of younger people have died;

it attacks the lungs, which means a lot of patients will need respiratory aid, which means hospitals get full really fast and if there’s a shortage of machineries (which, there is), doctors might even have to choose to save a patient over another;

that 2% fatality rate is not confirmed, it was an initial hypothesis. if you look at the numbers of Italy the percentage is much higher. as of right now the number of infected in Italy is 12462, the number of victims is 827: now i’m no mathematician, but i’m pretty sure that’s more like 6,6%; (while i’m on the subject, you may want to double check how your country is counting victims: a lot of countries are only counting people who died OF coronavirus, while the more accurate way of counting would be to consider those who died WITH coronavirus);

a lot of countries aren’t even testing properly yet, which means the numbers are highly debatable.

we all initially underestimated the situation here in Italy and now look at us. we’re all stuck at home–we can’t leave unless strictly necessary. no school, no uni, no cinema, no theatre, no weddings, no funerals. we’re queuing to enter supermarkets and pharmacies. our hospitals are full and our doctors are exhausted. we’re all doing this not because we’re overly dramatic or something, we’re doing this because it’s the only way to prevent the virus from spreading (as the news from Wuhan show) and therefore to safeguard everyone and keep the hospitals going.  

COVID-19, specifically the new coronavirus responsible for this mass panic, is equally as contagious as influenza, in that it’s transmitted by droplet and fomites, meaning the SAME precautions are required for both [x]

The word you’re looking for is ‘fatal’, not ‘mortal’. 

Influenza is contagious within the first few days of an individual becoming sick, however can be transmittable up to 7-10 days afterwards. This means Influenza can spread faster than COVID-19 [x]

The prevention for both diseases is the same: cough etiquette, good hand hygiene and containment if unwell. The treatment is the same: rest, symptomatic management, and supportive measures in the case of severe disease. 

Death toll: the overall mortality rate for COVID-19 is 3.4% [x]. As of posting, it’s March 12, so that number is likely to change with each day that the situation evolves. It’s likely we will see the number decrease as the virus spreads and the ratio of recovered people to people who have died evolves. This number is highly changeable and it’s impossible to provide an accurate reflection of it given the rapidly changing nature of the knowledge we have.

Of these deaths, 14% have been people over the age of 80 (reflecting comorbidities such as lung or heart disease), as opposed to 0.4 of 40-50′s and 0.2% in people aged 10-39. So no, not ‘a lot of young people have died’. [x] Only one known case of someone under the age of 19 has died in China [x].

By comparison, this flu season, 136 paediatric patients have died with influenza associated pneumonia in the USA alone [x]. Influenza is far less discriminatory in who it infects and who is susceptible to severe illness, with several. strains targeting young, healthy and otherwise fit individuals in particular. 

Doctors never choose to save one life over another. If they do, they should not be a doctor, and you have a lawsuit on your hands. If a hospital is overwhelmed with equipment shortages, they will find a way to treat the patient anyway. My hospital for example has the capacity to look after up to five patients requiring intubation (a machine doing the breathing for you). In the case where we have had people needing ICU  and our ICU is full (which has happened the last few flu seasons), we have treated the patient anyway in the ER and then transferred the patient to a hospital capable of continuing their care. I’m so gobsmacked that you’d even make a remark like this that I’m honestly wondering whether or not i should be offended. 

As of march 10, over 66 thousand people have recovered from the disease. That is more than half of those infected. 

I understand being afraid and uncertain because this is a new virus and the response to it is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before with other pandemics (Hello SARS, hello MERS, hello Swine Flu, hello HIV/AIDS! A few notable mentions since the 00′s). But for everyone using this website, the OP of the tweet posted is right: you probably won’t die from it. At most, you’ll feel like you’ve had the worst cold of your entire life and be stuck in bed for a few days. 

Take precautions! Wash your hands! Isolate yourself for 14 days if you’ve been in contact with someone who has the virus. 

But please stop spreading misinformation about the virus because it is doing NO one any favours and it is only contributing to irrational fear that is putting MORE burden on health systems that are already struggling enough.

So sick of people spreading fear and panic when they don’t even have their facts right.

Try spreading some hygiene habits instead, such as hand washing and covering your coughs and sneezes.