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Meaningful Choices: Catwoman DLC and Arkham City
I always feel a bit silly when I review older games. Clearly, Arkham City has been out long enough to get a "Game of the Year" and "Armored" editions, so there are already a lot of reviews of it out on the internet. General consensus: it's awesome – go play it. So today I won't be reviewing Arkham City and the Catwoman DLC so much as taking a quick look at how the DLC develops Catwoman as a character, and how this affects the overall story of the game. To be up front, Catwoman is a character that I have loved ever since I watched Batman: The Animated Series on Saturday mornings as a child. I have a bit of unconditional love for her that allows me to typically overlook any faults that come with different incarnations of her character…except the Halle Berry version. I'm still not sure what that movie was. That being said, I think the Catwoman DLC was a phenomenal bit of both character development and gameplay that goes beyond my fan-worship of the character, and here's why:
1.) The Catwoman DLC helps Arkham City pass the Bechdel Test
For anyone unfamiliar with the Bechdel test, here's Anita Sarkeesian to the rescue to explain
As Anita points out, the recent cycle of Batman movies have miserably failed the Bechdel test. Most superhero movies/games do, primarily because they are focused on a male hero. However, even movies focused on women fail the test. For example, horrible thing known as the Halle Berry Catwoman moviet. The Catwoman DLC manages to pass the Bechdel test by focusing on the relationships in Catwoman's life that actually don't revolve around Batman.
Catwoman needs Poison Ivy's help to access some goods in the game, but Ivy is mad at Catwoman for not taking proper care of the plants while Ivy was away. Clearly, since this is an argument between two comic book characters, it gets a bit out of hand. But this exchange is unique in that it has two women discussing something other than men. Taking the superpowers out of the narrative, it can be read as an argument between two roommates about killing the plants. A fairly mundane argument that probably happens once every five minutes in real life. In fact, in real life most conversations between women don't focus on men. I appreciate that the DLC incorporated something so mundane as an argument between roommates, it made Catwoman feel more real to me as a character. This is the same reason I liked the flash-animated series "Gotham Girls" (although the girls did have to focus on boys, saving them mainly). Catwoman is depicted as a real person with her own special relationships with characters, and I think the DLC handled that very well.
2.) The Choice to Save/Abandon Batman Feels Meaningful (Spoilers ahead!)
I was reading this post by Ninety Nine Percent Gaming about why death in video games is often pointless, and it made me think about how death is handled in the Catwoman DLC. When Catwoman is killed, you have to re-start, which is clearly in keeping with most video game conventions which can be seen as slightly silly at this point. However, the decision to save or abandon Batman is made more meaningful by the innovative way they treat his death if you choose to abandon him.
If you choose the option to say "screw him" you are treated with a terrifying SOS message from Oracle, the ultimate death of Batman, and a credits sequence. Clearly the Catwoman DLC is in 4 episodes, but if you choose the abandonment route in Episode 3, you get hit with a credits sequence. In video games, death is typically not permanent, but a credits sequence signals finality. Triggering a credits sequence signals the end of the game, the end of your playtime. Having the decision to abandon Batman end with a credit sequence makes the decision, and Batman's death seem more significant. Sure, after the sequence you get to go back and make the "right" decision (if you want to make it through all 4 episodes), but the cut-scene combined with the credits give finality and weight to the decision, that doesn't make it feel pointless. Honestly, I think either decision is right up Catwoman's alley as a character, and I appreciated that the player was given an option, and that the developers made the player's decision feel like it mattered.
Overall, if you like Catwoman and appreciate the chance to play as a female character in a male-dominated genre (super-heroes or video games, take your pick), this DLC is done well from a narrative standpoint. If you dislike the gameplay of Arkham City in some way, clearly the DLC isn't doing anything new in terms of that, so you'll still hate it. But! If you like the Arkham City gameplay, and you're looking to add to your experience or just fan-girl out over how awesome Catwoman is, I'd definitely recommend playing through this DLC.
Catwoman Gets Armor AND It Covers Skin!
So for those of you that pay attention to video game news, you probably should have heard that the Wii U is going to have an "armored edition" of Batman: Arkham City. If you haven't, here's the gameinformer, kotaku, and comicsalliance versions of the story. To sum it up, the Wii U Version of Batman: Arkham City
Armored Edition features a new skin for both Batman and Catwoman, and go figure, it adds more armor to them.
Catwoman is one of my favorite female characters of all time, and I completely realize how problematic a character she can be. When I heard they were adding "armor" to her I got a bit down in the dumps. Why? Because frequently in video games when a character's defense goes up aka they add armor, they get more naked. In his article "Fantasy Armor and Lady Bits" Ryan from the Mad Art Lab points out that
For those of us that aren't math inclined (me) this typically means that the higher the armor quality, the more skin is exposed, and the larger your character's cup size is, even more skin is exposed. Sure, I like my character's to be good looking (hey, fantasy world) but this type of armor can be a bit obscene and breaks the fantasy for me because of how unrealistic it is. If you expect to be shield by incoming arrows, fire balls, or lightning bolts, you should probably expect to wear full armor much like male characters do. The tumblr Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor is dedicated to providing images of women in proper armor, and this article by Beck Chambers over at the Mary Sue argues that yes, women can wear real armor just like the big boys. Coming from this sort of background, I fully expected to see Catwoman completely naked (even though the Wii U is a family oriented system). Low and behold, Catwoman's new armor actually covers up her skin!
Rather than unzipping her cat suit, the armored edition covers up the cleavage that Catwoman is clearly known for , and glows to boot. While this isn't my favorite Catwoman costume ever (I'm fairly partial to the costume in Batman: The Animated Series), the armor does what it is supposed to do: cover her body.
Guild Wars 2 Developers: "Name not ok – Adolph Critler"
So this post from Terra Nova brought to my attention that Guild Wars 2 developers are answering user questions about why accounts have been banned. They have a huge thread on Reddit. So, if your account has been banned, and for some reason you believe that it wasn't gold famers, you can ask the Guild Wars 2 developers exactly why your account was banned. Here's one of my favorites
"Not OK: 'GET THE FUCKING CAVERN SCUTTER ENERGIES YOU FUCKASSES.'"
"Name: OK Chat: Not ok — Neurologic: "the worm IS fucking hard if you're a fucking mentalpatient no we fucking dont you can take a keep with 5 people if you're not a fucking dickhead"
If you read through the Reddit thread you can see quite a few good responses. I think this is a great tactic from the developers to demonstrate early on in the game where they stand on offensive language. This opens up a dialogue where gamers for once can see what exactly is okay and not okay. I personally wonder how many of these people realized that what they were saying was offensive. Also, it is slightly disheartening how many troll comments there are after the developers explain some of the language offenses. Overall I think this is a really positive move, and I'm glad that it is on Reddit where it can be documented for all internet posterity. Some of the comments that got players banned make absolutely no sense grammatically, in that it appears as if random offensive words were just strung together lacking any sort of verb or noun to properly guide the sentence. Also, the confusion of some of the people with banned accounts is priceless. "It's not okay to call people fucking mental patients?" Here's a screen shot of the thread if you think it's too ridiculous to be real (click for a bigger pic):
If you typically play single player games you can read the threads for a better idea of what online gaming can be like. If you play online games, hopefully this step by the Guild Wars 2 developers will start making it and other online games a more pleasant place to inhabit. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go mine that thread for troll gold.
Yes, there are dick-free places on the internet
Weekly Roundup is the feature where I gather up all the interesting articles pertaining to gender and gaming from the previous week. This week I look at the game "Dungeons of Dreadmoor" and the kick-ass people who created it, and moderate the forums.
Last week a friend posted a link on my wall. The blurb said
"I'm about to tell you a story about videogames, kitchens, and internet forums that has a happy ending. Stop laughing, I'm serious."
When I read those two sentences, I cautiously clicked on the link, fully expecting something terrible and misogynistic despite the intro. It's hard for me to imagine any story about videogames, kitchens, and forums that has any sort of ending that doesn't end in tragedy for a woman participating. However, cakepie relates an astounding story sans tragedy. After participating on the Dungeons of Dredmoor forums for less than 24 hours, cakepie encountered the "make me a sanwhich" comment. If you're a woman on the internet/gaming community, you know what I mean. The instant someone identifies you as a woman, it takes maybe thirty seconds for someone to tell you to "go make me a sandwhich" ("like a good woman" is typically implied) The first time I ever played Halo online when I was 12, I immediately got told to go back to the kitchen the minute the players heard my voice (As I learned later in life, I was lucky that the comment was so mild). On forums you'll often encounter images like this one:
If you type in the phrase "Make me a sandwich" into a Google search, the third suggested search is "Make me a sandwhich comeback". There are many good comebacks, and cakepie makes good use of these in her response to the troll (Read her full article for a good discussion on how moderators should respond to these comments). Here is one of my favorite images for combating the sandwich comment:
Amazingly, another forum member joins the fray: the freakin' GAME DEVELOPER David Baumgart. He says:
I won't stand for this bloody stupid sandwhich "jokes" that marginalizes female players involvement in this community (and like, life in general). It's precisely the opposite of the kind of environment that we here at Gaslamp want to create.
I'm honestly not sure of the last time I read something so awesome on an internet forum. But wait! It gets even better:
Now that I've, weirdly, been part of making a game and it's got a forum, I'm not going to tolerate a tone that alienates anyone traditionally disempowered by gaming communities, be it women, GLBT folk, etc, – even unconsciously. Hence my insta-rage and banning
If you want to see Baumgart's full response: click here. It's worth reading. Really. Like, go read it now. It is the first thing I've read in awhile that has give me hope that a bit of humanity and decency is finally making its way into the gaming community.
This isn't the first time that Dungeons of Dredmoor has done something awesome for gamers! In this article from the Borderhouse, rho describes how Gaslamp added a female playable character to Dungeons of Dredmoor. Even better? One of the game's developers joins in the discussion of the need to include both sexes and more races as playable options in games. So, in this spirit of putting money where my mouth is, this game is definitely now in my Steam library. I can't wait to play it, and I'm totally stoked that I can play as a woman, be part of the forums, and have developer/moderator support throughout!
Review: Pokemon Conquest
So, Pokemon conquest has been out for a little over a month now. As a Pokemon fanatic (I primarily use Tumblr to look at adorable pokemon pictures all day) I pre-ordered this game well in advance and devoured it the second I picked it up from GameStop. For those of you who may have been iffy about the whole Pokemon + Nobunga's ambition cross-over, you were right to follow your instincts.
Story: The story of Pokemon Conquest goes like this: you are a warlord, you need to beat all the other warlords in battle and bring all of Ransei under your command to before Nobungas, the evil warlord does. Why must you do this? Because it has been foretold that once a warlord unites all the kingdoms under one command, the creator of Ransei (spoilers: It's Arceus) will appear and bend to the Warlord's will. Nobunga wants to use Arceus to destroy Ransei, while your Warlord strives to stop this. Compared to the Pokemon plot of "catch all the pokemon and beat the elite four" this Pokemon Conquest story should win a nobel prize. However, like most video games, the story is simplistic, but serviceable.
The main problem I had with the story was the way it abruptly ended. Going into the last fight, you should be aware that it is the last fight. However, once you defeat Nobunga, the game is over. You don't get to continue playing as your Warlord and any assets you had (warriors and pokemon) disappear. I expected to be able to keep playing in Ransei with my warlord while I continued collecting pokemon and warriors. This is not the case. Instead, there are several end-game quests, where you typically control one of the Warlords you fought during the main storyline. The quests can be fun, but they get repetitive. If you complete all of them, then "The Two Heroes of Ransei" episode is unlocked where you get to play as your hero again. As much as I wanted to go back and play as my hero, playing through all of those episodes just wasn't worth it.
Gameplay: Battle system in Pokemon Conquest resembles that of previous strategy JRPGs like Final Fantasy: Tactics. You can control up to six pokemon on a grid. Like a traditional pokemon game, these battles take type strengths and weaknesses into consideration. Psychic can't hurt Dark, Dragon falls to Ice, etc. The majority of kingdoms favor a specific type of pokemon, reminiscent of Pokemon Gyms, which makes larger battles easy to prepare for. In these battles it is necessary to micromanage your pokemon and think beyond action/reaction to play well. You must carefully think about pokemon types and the scope of your pokemons attacks. Some pokemon can only attack one square ahead of them, while others can attack through three squares. If you like strategy games, than you'll probably enjoy this type of combat. The merging of Pokemon with Nobunga's Amibition worked particularly well here to create a unique and enjoyable rendition of strategy RPG combat.
While the majority of the game is focused on combat and conquering new kingdoms, there is a secondary emphasis on collecting warriors and pokemon. Within each kingdom there are locations where you and your warriors can travel to fight wild pokemon and warriors unattached to a kingdom. You must defeat "wild" warriors within three turns to be able to draft them to your side, although with certain warriors there are other conditions that must be met. To obtain pokemon, a warrior must link with themWarriors can link with any pokemon, but most warriors favor specific types and have one pokemon that they form a perfect link with. The higher the link the stronger a pokemon can become. For instance if my link with a pokemon can only go up to 50%, then once 50% has been reached, the pokemon stops growing. Perfect links are are links with the potential to get to 100% which theoretically means those pokemon should be pretty powerful. If a warrior has a 100% link with a venipede, it still doesn't work out that way.
There are over 200 pokemon to collect, and almost as many warriors to recruit. If you really want to catch 'em all, then you have a patience for tediousness only rivaled by John Goodman:
Luckily, the episodes at the end of the game give you a lot of opportunity to obtain pokemon and trainers, and collecting them all is much more doable than getting 649 pokemon (number will probably change soon with Pokemone Black and White 2 coming out so soon).
Gender/Race/Sexuality: You get to choose which sex you want to be at the beginning of the game, hooray! Regardless of what you pick, your warlord gets saddled with a loveable warrior named Oichi and her jigglypuff. Judging from the fact that the first woman you meet owns a jigglypuff, I feel justified in saying that there are some slight problems with the depiction of women in this game. Most of the women are either weak like Oichi, or very sexy. There are some depictions that are fine, but considering OIchi is the first woman you meet in the game, and the one you spent the most time with (you have to put up with her through the entire main storyline) I find the game's representation of women to be kinda sexist. You could make the argument for historical realism since the game is in a feudal setting, but its that involves pokemon which invalidates all arguments of realism. There isn't any diversity in terms of race, all the characters are the fun white/japanese hybrids that we typically see in JRPGs. As I mentioned in a previous post, Japan has a homogenous population and typically produces games with homogenous populations. LEARN TO DIVERSIFY!
To Play or Not To Play: If you're a huge fan of Pokemon or you like strategy RPGs, I would say go ahead, pick up the game, but maybe wait a few months for the price to go down. The game is a really fun mash-up, but the abrupt ending of the main storyline, and the endless end-game Episodes drove me up the wall. Since you've been forewarned now, the game might be more enjoyable. Now here's your reward for reading through this review (as if the review weren't reward enough)
Not You Average Three-Way: Alice, Chell and Faith
So, today we'll be looking at some of my favorite video game heroines, Alice (yes that Alice) from American McGee's Alice and Alice: Madness Returns; Chell from Portal and Portal 2; and finally Faith from Mirror's Edge. Unlike last week where I didn't choose a winner, I think one of these women will emerge victorious over the others.
Who Would Win In A Fight: I included three women in this week's feature because I honestly wasn't sure who would win in a fight between Chell and Faith. Chell has the portal gun which would allow her to forever run away from Faith, while Faith is usually unarmed and is trained to run from combat. If they met in combat, I feel like they might take one look at each other and GTFO. They each probably have better things to worry about.
Alice, on the other hand, is quite literally insane! And she carries a knife. A big knife. Did I mention there was a knife? If you compare their images above, clearly Alice is the only one covered in blood. Confronted with each of these women, I would probably high-five Chell, move out of Faith's way, and scream and run if I met that particular image of Alice. If the movie/book Carrie has taught us one thing it's that girls with slight mental problems should not be toyed with lightly. Alice carries the only offensive weapon, and she would hands-down win in a fight with Chell or Faith. And with the weird physics of Wonderland at her disposal, she could probably catch one of them too.
Who has the best personality? Chell is clearly at a disadvantage in this competition due to the fact that she NEVER EVER TALKS. I know the whole 'silent hero' thing has been around a long time in video games, but it gets old. It's hard to determine who Chell is other than just a shell for gamers to imagine themselves in. Chell is obviously intelligent and nimble-bodied, she has to be (for the sake of science!), but it is much less clear what drives Chell, and what goes on in her head.
Faith, on the other hand, is much more fully fleshed out. Faith is concerned for her sister, Kate, and proving her sister's innocence is one of Faith's key motivators. She is intelligent, driven, spunky, everything a successful protagonist needs to be. She also has to make hard decisions as some of her colleagues become implicated in the conspiracy she's trying to solve. As an added bonus, we get to see more of her through the cut scenes of Mirror's Edge than we get to see of Chell.
Alice Liddell is of course mad. Through both games we see her dealing with the death of her parents and survivor's guilt. In American McGee's Alice, she is drawn back into Wonderland which has grown dark and tainted. Caterpillar explains to her that her mind is what has tainted the land. In Alice: Madness Returns she finds herself back in Wonderland, and oh gosh, it's still a dark place. We get to know Alice through her memories and through items collected in the game.
What Alice clearly has going for her is her imagination. If Wonderland is all in her head, then the beautiful and horrific images of the game must stem from Alice. Players get to see the surface of Alice through her interactions with others, but we also get to see deep into her mind. Faith might be the girl you'd want as your friend, but Alice's imagination can't be beat.
Who is the most objectified? None of these characters is particularly objectified, a statement I don't often get to make about female video game characters! If you ever troll through the top 100 lists of beautiful game characters, Chell, Faith and Alice typically don't make the lists (well, Faith does occasionally but I'm assuming that's because of the whole fetish for Japanese looking things).
Both Chell and Faith are games that employ 1st person perspective, we only see the world through their eyes. This means that the player is given very little opportunity to stare at the character and comment on their "fuckability". When you do see Faith or Chell, they are wearing clothing appropriate to their environments (unlike Lara Croft wearing shorts in the snow). Their proportions seem average, and neither is presented as a sexual object.
Alice, who doesn't quite look legal, is also presented in a fairly non sexual way. You see her stockings and dress which are all covered in blood. She's so crazy that no one wants anything to do with her, romantically or otherwise. However, as this picture shows, cosplayers get up to all kinds of things as Alice (Also, this is just an amazing picture).
There's something about Alice that taps into the whole 'sexy schoolgirl" fantasy, which often gets exploited in cosplay and halloween costumes. So while Alice isn't particularly objectified in-game, outside of that game people have managed to make her quite the seductress.
Who would YOU choose?
My bias in this article has hopefully been pretty clear, Alice wins this competition for me hands down. She is an interesting character, she has a wicked knife, and the dark portrayal of Wonderland that her mind generates is amazing.
Disagree? Have Suggestions for future features? Let me know in the comments!
What Pokemon and Beanie Babies Have that Skylanders Doesn't: Narrative
So, usually Wednesday is devoted to the series "Would you rather" which I am postponing until tomorrow. Today, I would rather look at Skylander's: Spyros Adventures and the way it combines collecting and gaming.
Clearly, the Pokemon video games were some of the first video games that integrated an aspect of both collecting and gameplay.
This was a highly successful model because it enabled the game to be more social by necessitating player interaction if they wanted to obtain all of the pokemon, while also featuring normal gameplay for those that didn't give a damn about catching em' all. This has clearly been a popular model with games like Digimon and Fossil Fighters and Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker presenting variations on the original Pokemon model.
Skylander's: Spyro's Adventures is on more game that follow suit, however, Skylanders are not collected in game, but must be collected in the form of figurines.
As you can see from the picture, there is a portal that comes with each copy of Skylanders. A player must put a skylander figure on the portal to introduce the character to the game. This has been a savvy business model as the release of the skylanders figurines has been staggered in waves, inflating the value of some figures. In addition to the normal figures, there are special editions of each of these characters. There are legendary skylanders which have better stats than the normal versions, and there are gold and silver versions (very rare) of some characters. The figures are important to the game, but have also triggered a secondary market in collectors who just want to own all of the various skylanders figures in all their iterations. In this way, Skylanders taps into the same market that Beanie Babies exploited in the late 90's and early 2000's.
For those of you who don't quite remember, the Beanie Baby craze hit the United states driving prices of hard to get beanie babies upwards of thousands of dollars. They sold books on the projected pricing of beanie babies, and at my school beanie babies were banned from the playground because of high incidences of theft. Skylanders figures taps into this collector's market, which has also seen the prices of certain figures skyrocket exponentially. A few weeks back, the Skylander figure Camo sold for almost 40 dollars, typically an individual skylander retails for 9.99. As supply finally caught up to demand, the price returned to normal, but now certain other figures prices are up as they become hard to find.
Considering the upcoming realease of Skylanders: Giants clearly this model has worked out very well for Activision. While Skylanders initially relied on ties to the Spyro franchise to sell copies, the game is doing well enough on its own currently to warrant a sequel and the addition of new skylanders figures. However, there is one thing that I think that Skylanders has missed in its appeal to children as collectors.
For those of you who have played Pokemon, you will remember that each time you catch a new type of pokemon for the first time, the pokedex entry (a brief sentence or two of flavor text) pops up to tell you about the nature of whatever pokemon you just caught. For example, catching a Zubat (yes I hate them too) would tell you that "It has no eyes. Instead, it relies on its ultrasonic cries for echo location to flit about in darkness" a brief entry that tells you a bit more about the nature of Zubat. For Beanie babies, each came with a four line poem. Continuing with my apparenty obsession with bats, Batty the bat's poem reads:
Bats may make some people jitter
Please don't be scared of this critter
If you're lonely or have nothing to do
This Beanie Baby would love to hug you!
Both Pokemon and Beanie babies provide a small back story on each character. When you are purchasing a skylander character, they do not come equipped with a story of any sort. You receive the figurines, an online code, and a card of the skylander, but there is nothing that comes in the packaging to make the characters relatable.
Online, the official skylanders website provides some background information on each character, but the failure to attach these stories to the skylanders in the packaging, I feel, is a failure to engage Skylanders younger audience, and to get children to relate and play with the skylanders figures in and out of the game. Clearly I don't want to underestimate children's imaginations, but I think that adding a line of backstory for each character would enrich the gameworld, and also make the characters more engaging for the intended audience. Again, considering how successful the sales have been so far, I don't think Activsion will consider changing any aspects for the release of Skylanders: Giants. However, I think if Activision had studied its market a bit more beyond just recognizing that "Omg, people like to collect things in video games" it would have made Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure a more enriching game narratively, and the figures more interesting to a younger audience.
Leading Lady Links: Don't Be a Dick
So today we're continuing this week's roundup, to see what I covered yesterday you look mosey on over to this post. The first story I'm going to cover is Wil Wheaton's 40th birthday! For his birthday on July 29, he launched the website don'tbeadickday.com. Here's the gist of the website:
Also, if you don't quite know how to accomplish that, here is a helpful infographic chart:
Sage advice for everyone on the internet! So if you ever had a crush on the young Wesley Crusher, or you enjoy his series on tabletop gaming at Geek and Sundry, then you can honor Wil Wheaton everyday by following the simple rule: don't be a dick.
Speaking of people who are attempting not to be dicks, Kotaku recently released a series called 1st Person Perspective where they interview everyday gamers about random topics. The fist topic considered was "Strong Female Characters". This gives an interesting look at what some everyday guys think of female characters, and I was amazed at the lack of dickishness! If i had any internet skillz whatsoever I would be able to embed the video, but due to technical ineptitude I simply advise you to go watch the video here.
Of all the systems currently out, it appears like the Nintendo DS is the system that invites equal amounts of dicks and chicks to play it. If you look at IGN.com, all their female writers and editors primarily write for the DS section of the website (which is a rant for another day). In Japan, Nintendo gets Japanese Female Stars to advertise the DS, according to this article. As the article notes
It's not just enough to be popular. Nintendo picks actresses or models who are popular with females, instead of pandering to males by picking the latest bikini model. That isn't to say some of the woman in Nintendo's ads are not former bikini models—some are. Buy they've moved on to either mainstream modeling or acting, and they have cross gender appeal
It makes me wonder how consoles in the US would market their systems for a cross-gender approach, or if a similar approach would work here.
Yes clearly, this post is already a bit Kotaku heavy, but here is one more article of interest from Kotaku about *gasp* race AND gender! The article, "Assasin's Creed New Black Heroine Represents a New Kind of Liberation" points out that black female protagonists are hard to find in most video games, and that the new Assassin's Creed: Liberation game is an anomaly in the gaming world because that's who you get to play as.
I would just like to say I am super excited about this, even though I'm usually only feel "meh" about Assasin's Creed. I may have to pick up a Vita just to see how well they do with a black female protagonist in this game.
Moving on from Kotaku, 1up has a great article by gamer Kat Bailey about "Being the Only Girl in a Madden League" If you thought being a girl in the gaming world was rough, try being a girl in sports gaming! What sounds like it could be a horror story littered with brotastic anecdotes, turns into an inclusive, fun experience. Bailey points out that:
One thing I've discovered over the years about gaming is that it's more inclusive than most people realize. For every reprehensible claim that sexual harassment is "part of the culture" of a gaming community, there are at least 31 gamers who know better. Yes, even in a game like Madden NFL.
So basically, even in a game like Madden NFL, people know how not to be dicks. I feel like there is a lesson to be learned in this for 4chan trolls…
For people that have experienced gendered bullying in video games, Marina Martinez and friends made this video discussing bullying, and ways to respond and deal with it. It's about a 120 minute long video, but really interesting if you're into this stuff, or want to learn how to better handle bullying. The main video starts at about 4 minutes in, until then its mainly them setting up. EDIT: Apparently my embedding skillz have proven worthless again, here is a link to the video!
Finally, AN ARTICLE ABOUT BOOTH BABES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A BOOTH BABE! Okay, maybe that wasn't something to yell about, but it got me excited! Booth babes get a lot of flack from people who want the video game world to be 'more respectable' and they also have to deal with people that are fairly excited to emerge from their caves and see girls. So, this article by Elaine Low over at Jezebel adds an interesting perspective to the whole to booth babe or not to booth babe debate. My favorite quote of the article:
That we have recurring conversations about the necessity or frivolity of booth babes is a silly attempt at misdirection. Maybe those who frown upon slutty-looking costumes should petition game developers to stop designing slutty-looking video game characters.
So maybe if we treated women like normal human beings in-games, gamers would learn to treat women as normal human beings outside of game??? CRAZY!!!! Also, a great suggestion for how game developers can cut down on being dicks.
So clearly, if you've learned one thing from this post, it is clearly that being a vagina is clearly preferred over being a dick…wait…what? Er…maybe that's not the lesson. This list of articles was the least dickish I've posted about so far, and hopefully the internet can continue this trend into the next!
Polymorphously Perverse: One Man's Experience Playing a Sex Video Game (and other news)
Welcome to the Weekly Roundup where I pull together all the news involving women and gaming so you don't have to! In the past week there have been quite a few interesting articles dealing with gender, race, and sexuality so I'm going to divide this roundup into two posts, one today and one tomorrow (I also have a paper due this week so I don't have quite as much time to devote to posting as normal).
Adam Miller wrote an article last week entitled 'The Sex Video Game Polymorphous Perversity Made Me Question My Identity". The article can be accessed here via Kotaku or here on Miller's site Clever Musings. For those of you unfamiliar with the game Polymorphouse Perversity it is an indie game created by Nicolau Chaud dealing with the Freuding concept of polymorphous perversity, the idea that infants sexually desire everyone and everything before they are taught proper modes of sexuality. A previous article on Kotaku explains:
The premise of the game is straightforward: you'd be a young guy with a sexual disorder who stumbles onto a world where everything is about sex. Instead of saving the world, you'd go on an adventure to 'discover your sexuality.' It'd be an RPG, only without battles in the traditional sense—you'd be fucking people (who can give you STDs as status ailments), and your performance is graded afterward.
Miller's embarked on his adventure with the game in an attempt to explore the connections between psychology and libido, appropriate goals considering game-maker Chaud has a history in psychology. As Miller played the game, he quickly realized how problematic it was. While at first the turn-based comment that featured "fuck" as an attack was merely discomforting, the game's portrayal of transsexual's particularly disturbed Miller. In-game they were labeled as "trannys" a term most transsexuals find offensive. Miller points out that
Worse, the transsexuals have very demeaning dialogue; transsexuals in this game are presented as sex predators because of it. They all sound like men during sex. You get HPV after being penetrated by them. Doesn't all of this convey a rather narrow worldview?
Instead of encouraging a player to explore sexuality, the game merely encourages the player to direct a male character to "fuck" everything in site or risk dying through depletion of the "horny meter". Wonderful game right? While the game seems less like an exploration of sexuality and more like male fantasy,the portrayal of transsexuals within the game stirred in him some emotions that he had suppressed for some time, namely that he was not happy with the sex assigned to him at birth. This is a brave admission in light of how the gaming community usually reacts towards discussions of sexuality and gender. The comments are particularly delightful, one commenter saying
Having Adam review this game is like having an Iraq veteran suffering from PTSD review Modern Warfare 3. What are you THINKING, Kotaku? Did you put ANY thought into this? Why was a game that was created thoughtfully by a sexually active straight adult male reviewed by a VERY sexually confused virgin?
So basically, a straight white male should probably review every game because that's typically the target audience right? Luckily many other commenters were supportive of Millerss admission of sexual confusion. I think some of Miller's comments of the game are still very apt:
I don't know if I'm happier identifying as a man or a woman. I don't know if I'm hetero-, homo-, bi-, or pansexual. What I do know is what I'm taking away from playing Polymorphous Perversity: it's okay to be yourself, just as long as you're a sexually overactive male without decency or standards. Everyone else should be ashamed of themselves, including me.
So, if you are a straight, white, cis-male go play Polymorphous Perversity and have fun validating your sexuality! For everyone else (myself included), I'm going to recommend ignoring the game unless you're using it as evidence of continued misogyny in video games.
Continuing with our apparent theme of gender and sex confusion, according to this article by Owen good, the Minecraft guy is supposed to be gender neutral.
While the default character skin has a goatee and is often considered male, most creatures in Minecraft are supposed to be either gender neutral, or portray traits from both genders. According to creator Markus "Notch" Perrson :
All other living things in the game are genderless, if not exhibiting the traits of both genders. "The chicken/duck/whatevers have heads that look like roosters, but still lay eggs," he says. Cows have both horns and udders
One of the things that allows Minecraft to designate living creatures as one gender is the pixelated graphics of the game. The graphics don't allow for must distinction of gender, so Notch made everything one gender so that gamers wouldn't have to worry about it. Clearly gamers have created new skins designed to create the illusion of different genders for the base human model, but on a basic level, every living thing in Minecraft is monosexed. Take that gender binaries!.
I feel like discussing gender binaries is a good segue into feminism! I identify as a feminist personally, which you could probably tell from my previous articles. Jenn Frank wrote an excellent article last week (okay okay it's been two weeks but I missed it for last week's roundup) called "I was a Teenage Sexist" In the article Frank deals with her journey of being a woman in misogynist culture, and how she finally realized feminism was for her. This is a great article, but rather long, so here were some of the highlights of the article for me:
Instead, feminism – and other types of social justice, I figure – acknowledges that there is an invisible pattern of experience that comes along with being, very visibly, something else.
You don't have to think of ladies as "victims" – I'd prefer you didn't – and you don't even have to think of some experiences as "baggage."
But feminism does ask you, as an ethical human being, to objectively reexamine certain standards of behavior, which themselves are often based on an internalized, invisible set of shared beliefs and values.
Feminism isn't about holding another sex in higher esteem than the male sex. Rather, it's about anti-sexism.
It's about making sure your child doesn't grow up believing she is somehow subhuman.
And if someone ever makes your child feel like he or she deserves abuse, you better hope that kid is confident and surefooted enough to fight back.
Again, I would recommend reading the whole article, especially if you're on the fence about your feelings of feminism. Frank does a good job of examining why feminism can be hard to embrace for many women, but why she feels (and I agree) it's so important.
So those are some of the interesting articles that surfaced last week, I'll continue to point out more articles tomorrow as I continue the Weekly Roundup!

subset: commoncrawl


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I haven't done one of these posts in ages!!! Between wrapping things up at home and moving abroad - it's long long over due! So, here we are. A recap of my recent Instagram posts and Instagram stories :)
Follow along on my Instagram HERE or add my handle -> @aandreaclare
We moved out of out lovely Vancouver apartment.
Lived with my mom and the puppy for 2 weeks. It was wonderful :)
I took a ton of pictures of our place before we left because I loved it so much, I didn't want to forget what it looked like :) I will be posts a full tour of the place before too long - so keep your eye out for that.
Our cozy living room in our Vancouver apartment - It was just a warm place to come home to!
I purchased the Gucci Soho Disco in black. I also filmed a review (+what's in my purse) video that will go live very soon. Be sure to subscribe to my youtube channel HERE so you don't miss it!
Can't wait for the weather to warm again so I can sport this beauty. It's from shein.com and comes in pink, green and brown.
Getting in a few days of wedding dress shopping for the bestie before we took off to France.
More snow in Paris than at home in Canada!
Turns out my hair hates the hard water here. It was flat and horrible! I've since discovered a vinegar rinse system that works pretty well.
Arriving in our new town! Fontainebleau, France!
Weekend trip to Paris.
The carousel in our town.
Lots of hot wine between wanderings.
I recently went on an Air bnb experience in Paris. It was a guided tour of the Paris thrift shops - it was so much fun! These shoes are one of my favourite find from the day. I did a whole video (+vlog) on the whole day and what I bought on my youtube channel HERE if your curious about the thrift experience in Paris.
Fontainebleau, France.
French fries, beret and wine in Paris.
Eating all the cheese and bread in France.
There you have it! You're all caught up on life! Haha
Please do follow along on Instagram (@aandreaclare) and youtube HERE - I'm working hard to keep the content coming :)
Xo, Andrea


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1. The kind of wheel (the bond) to use.
2. The kind of material to be ground; whether to use a wheel made of aluminum oxide or silicon carbide.
3. The arc or area of contact, for example whether external, internal, or surface grinding.
4. Material being removed by grinding.
5. The finish desired. On these factors depend:
(i) The grain (ii) The grade (iii) and structure of the wheel.
6. Inspection of wheel crack and balance.
7. Getting the wheel ready, setting up, and starting to grind, the considerations are:
(i) Mounting the wheel.
(ii) Dressing the wheel.
(iii) Setting the wheel speed.
(iv) Setting the work speed.
(v) Setting the amount of cross-feed.
(vi) Setting the table traverse (long feed). (vii) Setting the table-reverse dogs.
(viii) Roughing or finishing cut.
(ix) Setting the depth of cut.
(x) Care of wheel loading and glazing.
These factors may appear involved but they are not difficult to understand if one enters, step by step.


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On a single sheet of notebook paper, draw a line down the center. On the right hand side of the paper, write down what you do in a single day for your mate or your household. On the left hand side, write down what your partner does for you. If you can't think of anything, fold the paper up and return to it tomorrow. When you are done, compare the lists. Is there a balance? Take into account some things might be weighted so if one side is shorter, keep in mind the TYPES of things being done. If your mate is cooperative, have him or her write down what they see you doing on a daily basisfor the relationship while you do the same. When you're done, compare lists. Are either of you upset by what the other has ( or hasn't) written?
Based on the list alone, can you see which person is more valued in your household? Does it matter?


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I fell in love with this series with book 1. I jumped on the chance to read and review book 2 and I am so thrilled that I got this opportunity. This series is officially on my auto buy/auto review list and I cannot wait for more.
Title: The Sting of the Deathstalker Scorpion (Venomous Mates #2)
Author: Jackie Nacht
Publisher: eXtasy
Cover Artist: Latrisha Waters
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Sometimes, to protect your mate, you need to run before coming back to fight another day.
From the moment the scorpion Wilder laid eyes on the sick anti-venom Leif, he knew his life would be changed. Now, Wilder will have to use the hands with which he killed so many enemies to heal the man meant for him.
Since Leif started to come around, Wilder has always been there to help. While Wilder is known as ruthless, Leif sees past that to the gentle venom that takes care of him daily.
When betrayal happens, Leif and Wilder will have to run with their friends. However, things are unexpected in the wild and new allies are found.
My View:
The Sting of the Deathstalker Scorpion was awesome. This story overlaps a bit with book 1 and did a great job of creating continuity and continuing the series forward.
The thing I liked most about this series, is that while it is dark and sometimes creepy, the characters are so likable and the plot is outstanding. In fact, it the the plot line for this series that stole the show in book 2. Yes, there was a love story and it was quite enjoyable, but it was the plot and the promise of future installments that held my attention.
With book 2, Ms. Nacht has completely upended my views of where this series was going. Based on the first book, I figured this would be a series of love stories that took place while the venoms struggle to dominate all their competitors. While this still maybe the overall end game, there is now more to the story. The venoms are no longer running the show; they are running for their lives. Things have grown more devious and the MCs must adapt. Along the way, they met new venoms and discover a world of anti-venoms hiding in the shadows. In addition, they discover some facts that show the MCs that everything they thought was true, may have been a lie. Their quest for vengeance has been uprootedd and refocused. I cannot say enough good things about how much I enjoyed reading book 2 of this series. I could not put this down and I am so disappointed that I have to wait for more to be published.
While the plot was the thing that has left me wanting more, the mating between Lief and Wilder was very touching. Wilder thinks of himself as this hard, evil killer. But when he is with Lief he is tender and loving. It was so sweet to watch the men interact with each other. They were made to be together and their love makes each other stronger.
Buy Links
I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with the eARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.
|Farewell Giveaway
I have a number of paperbacks, most of which are signed, to giveaway. Over the between now (11 Mar 2017) and 31 Mar 2017, every comment on the blog (this post and all other new posts), will be entered to win 1 of these paperbacks. There are also some misc swag items, so there will be a few packs of these to give away as well.
Thank you so much for your support over the last 4 years. Prism will be closing its doors on 1 April 2017. All content will remain available, but no new content will appear after 31 Mar 2017. As such all request forms have been turned off. Again Thank you,
|This post may contain affiliate links.
|Prism Book Alliance® assumes no liability for the ownership of photos or content used in guest posts and interviews. The post author assumes all responsibility and liability for this content.


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By Susan Westemeyer
Erik Zabel says that he is looking forward to riding the Tour de France with Milram teammate Alessandro Petacchi. "Two leaders at the season highlight would be no surprise to me, and I wouldn't have a problem with it," he said.
It had been assumed that Petacchi would ride the Giro d'Italia and let Zabel be captain for the TdF team, but Petacchi recently said he would rather not ride the very hilly 2006 Giro. Zabel says he feels it is important to support the team and the sponsor in its first year.
"When a German company, in the year that the [football] World Cup is being held in Germany, goes against the trend and supports a cycling team, then it has earned the support of everyone involved." The Tour will not be their first joint appearance. "It is already clear, that Petacchi and I will both ride Milan-San Remo," Zabel said.
And when the two start sprinters start the same race, who will ride for whom? "Our rivals can assume that we have more than one plan in mind."


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Basic information
Interviewee ID: 990068
Name: Tseren
Parent's name: Gombo
Ovog: Borjigon
Sex: m
Year of Birth: 1956
Ethnicity: Halh
Occupations: university professor
Additional Information
Education: higher
Notes on education:
Belief: Buddhist (red hat), shamanism
Born in: Yosön-züil sum, Övörhangai aimag
Lives in: Bayanzürh sum (or part of UB), Ulaanbaatar aimag
Mother's profession: herder
Father's profession: herder
To read a full interview with Tseren please click on the Interview ID below.
Summary of Interview 081211A with Tseren by Ariun-Undrah
Gombyn Tseren was born in 1956 into the family of a herder in Esonzüil sum, Ӧvӧrhangai aimag. His paternal grandmother, Büted, was his midwife. In those days ordinary people did what today's midwives do. Büted's husband was a man called Genden, a former lama, who spent ten years in prison during the repressions. Genden, who was a lama in the Tseren san, named his grandson after the san he was affiliated to. In the past, Mongols asked respected lamas in the vicinity to give names to their babies. In three days after the birth, a ceremony was held in which the new-born child was washed in mutton soup and was whispered his/her name three times in the right ear. Relatives and friends of the parents were invited to the ceremony. Tseren means 'longevity'. In the past, education in Mongolia was provided by the Buddhist establishment. As the repressions persecuted educated people, lamas suffered the most. As a prison sentence, the lama Genden cut trees and herded camels in what is today Selenge aimag. When the repressions were denounced after Stalin's death in 1953, prisoners were set free. In Tseren's words, 'As Esonzüil sum in Ӧvӧrhangai aimag was the birth place of the first Bogdo Gegeen Zanabazar, there was a big monastery there. Many lamas from that monastery were repressed. Only few returned. Among them was Genden'.
Tseren went to school in 1965 at the age of ten. As the school was 45-60 km away from his home, he had to stay in a school dormitory, housed in a ger, for a long period of time. He missed his home, parents, and siblings very much. The dormitory had quasi-military rules, and the pupils had to wake up or get to bed after a whistle. Tseren escaped from the dormitory several times, but was brought back each time by his parents. In the dormitory where Tseren stayed for eight years, apart from formal schooling, the pupils learnt many other skills, such as how to work, socialise, and be independent.
Summary of Interview 081211B with Tseren by Ariun-Undrah
The territory of Esonzüil sum in Hentii aimag is a narrow, long strip of land. In the centre of the sum territory there is a mountain called Züün Hairhan, which was worshipped by people from three different hoshuus, namely Eldenbeiliin hoshuu of Sain aimag, Dalain günii hoshuu and Tse günii hoshuu of Tüsheet Han aimag. This mountain is also known as Urlagan Hairhan (lit. beautiful mountain), because of its beauty. People from this area have been famous for their craftsmanship.
The year when Tseren finished the eighth grade coincided with the construction of the Erdenet mining corporation, the biggest mining project of the socialist period. As there was demand for specialists in mining, Tseren was among those who were assigned to study in a mining technical school in Omsk, the USSR. In the autumn, Tseren, accompanied by his father, arrived in Ulaanbaatar from Ӧvӧrhangai. His relatives, however, were not happy, because they thought that a good student like him was sent to a technical school. Tseren could not go to the USSR but went back to his aimag to continue his study, for it turned out that there was no bilateral agreement between the two governments regarding sending Mongolian students to that particular school in Omsk. When Tseren was in his final year in secondary school, rumours had it that Tsedenbal ordered that children from the countryside be sent to study international relations abroad, pointing out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had become a family-run organisation packed with the children of diplomats. That year children only from the countryside were supposed to study international relations. But when Tseren wanted to apply, he was not allowed, for no apparent reason. In 1975, he entered the Mongolian State University to study philosophy. When he finished his first year, a door was opened by the 128th decree allowing best university students to study abroad from their second year. Although Tseren was successful in the selection process and managed to secure a place in Moscow, he was asked to study philosophy at the Rostov University, for the number of foreign students in Moscow was being cut in preparation for the upcoming Olympics in 1980. Tseren studied in Rostov for five years.
Summary of Interview 090111A with Tseren by Ariun-Undrah
Tseren was admitted to the Philosophy Branch of Social Sciences Faculty at the National University of Mongolia after completing secondary school in Arvaiheer, the center of Övörhangai aimag in 1975. He was selected to go to the Soviet Union because he had studied successfully during the first year at university. According to the joint act 128 approved in 1972 by the Central Committee of Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and Council of Ministers of the Mongolian People's Republic, the students who studied well in universities for a year had to study abroad for certain purposes if they were selected. Harboring belief, desire, and an aspiration to learn at the Moscow State University, he departed for Moscow in 1976. But the higher education committee of the Soviet Union reduced the number foreign students they approved and sent many foreign students including him to different cities and provinces because of the upcoming 1980 Summer Olymphic Game in Moscow. Consequently, Tseren was sent to the State University in Rostov-on-Don. He studied there for 4 years.
"Solidarity", the Polish trade union federation, emerged in 1980 under the leadership of Lech Walesa who was a loader at that Gdansk Shipyard that was constructing a developed socialist society and he also ran the innovative/revolutionary process to changed the socialist construction of society into a different one. When this happened, Tseren reached the conclusion that it was inevitable that all socialist countries would be changed on the one hand and that the Soviet Union would collapse on the other. "I had discussed such social changes with my fellow students from different countries at Rostov University in the 1980s, and then returned home" he said.
After graduating university in 1981, he was appointed to the National University of Mongolia as a professor in the Philosophy Department and worked there until 1988. One of the many possibilities to receive information on what was happening in the Soviet Union was that there were chances to order all the newspapers and journals published in the Soviet Union. Between 1980 and 1990, Mongolians used to have ears to the ground listening carefully for what was discussed and how during Central Committee meetings of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1989, the Mongolian Democratic Union was established. "University professors and students played important roles in the democratic processes in Mongolia" he said.
Since 1990, Tseren worked as part-time professor for Philosophy Department at the National University of Mongolia, an expert who was responsible for learning standards for social sciences at the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science, and a chairman of Social Sciences Learning and Pedagogy Commission. In addition, he worked for the Education Monitoring Office at the Ministry of Education in 1999.
Summary of Interview 090111B with Tseren by Ariun-Undrah
Professionals who graduated abroad used to be appointed to places of art, culture, and state farms where they were needed. There was a regulation according to which State Central Institutions had to appoint those professionals to work. In obedience to the regulation, Tseren was appointed as a professor at the National University of Mongolia after graduating from Rostov State University and worked there for his whole life.
Being a member of Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party was an important factor during the socialist period. It was crucial for living and working in Mongolia. If you wanted to be a chairman in the future, you had to be a party member. In case the party member committed a crime with a sentence of being imprisoned for several months or more, they could be expelled from the party for this. Social sciences professors in universities were counted officially as cadres who were belong to Central Committee of Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. In a word, professors were ideological agents. So, any assignments were ordered from the Central Committee to the municipal unit of the party, from the municipal unit to the district unit, from the district unit to the unit of the Party at the National University of Mongolia, from there to the professors, and then they used to do the work according to the assignments.
Within such limits, Tseren never joined the party. When democratic nongovernmental political institutions such as Democratic Union, Social Democrat Movement, New Progress Union, and National Progress Party were established, Tseren took part in the democratic socialist movement and became a Social Democratic Party member in 1990. Thus, Tseren with together intellectual professors and students of that time strove to carry out a democratic revolution in Mongolia. "Democratic change was not a thing some political forces or parties did. Few people should not try to own it. It is fair to say that democracy was created by all Mongolians together", he said. He was one of those people who participated personally in the formation and development of democracy in Mongolia. As he concluded, however, democracy in Mongolia was not implemented as he wanted and expected. So he was quite dissatisfied with it.


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You're previewing Alta Editions' Online Cookbook Club. You've viewed all 5 sample recipes. Try it Free!
My obsession with food started when I was a child. I grew up in Ranchi, a small town in eastern India. I was the obnoxious kid who would go to my neighbor's place, ask them what they were eating, then plop myself at their dining table and eat with them.
I was the kid who was always with the "aunties" in the kitchen to see how they were making things. As I got older, friends of my parents would invite them to parties, but would say, "You come at around 7 but why don't you send Maneet around 4:30 to help us?" I always found that a lot of fun, and a great learning experience. It was especially fascinating to see differences in the ingredients or methods from what my mom or grandmom were doing.
A big turning point for me was when my sister went to college. She was close to the city but living in the dorms. I would visit a lot, always bringing some food. She and her friends would be so happy when eating my food. I realized that food meant people being happy. I wanted to make people happy like that for the rest of my life.
Growing up in India, the big careers pushed on me were doctor, engineer, or accountant. When I decided to become a chef, something very rare for a woman in India, people would ask, "She's intelligent…why would she want to become a chef?" My parents would respond, "This is what she wants to do, and that is her choice. We support her 100 percent," and that is what they have always done. My father told me, "Do whatever you want, just make sure you are the best at it." That is a mantra that I have always held close to my heart.
In India there weren't culinary schools per se, so if you really wanted to get into the culinary world you had to take hotel management courses. Admissions in India, because of the population, are very competitive. I applied to three of the top hotel management schools in India and was accepted to all of them. I went to the School of Hotel Administration in Manipal, which is in Southern India, on the coast of Bangalore. Over three years I spent a lot of my time in the kitchen—all of my externships were in the kitchens of some of India's best hotels. Often, I was the only woman in the kitchen. When I completed the courses, I asked one of my instructors: What was the best school in the world to go to for culinary arts? Without even batting an eye, he said the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. So with a big-headed tenacity, I just went off to that.
The CIA was incredible: I was under the same roof as 2,000 other people who were as passionate and crazy about food as I was. Upon graduating, I worked in New Jersey in an upscale Indian restaurant near Philadelphia, where I received a foundation in Indian cuisine in America. I wanted to change the perception about Indian food: To show people that it is beautiful and it can be fresh, and that it is not just an $8.95 all-you-can-eat buffet that is going to sit in your stomach for the next two days.
The Indian cuisine of my heritage is the foundation of all of my cooking, but another thing that is really close to my heart is fusion, because I love creating new things. I had the opportunity to work on my fusion cuisine with Vermillion in Chicago and New York, and I was there for 8 years. I was so proud when I landed the position of executive chef, because I was the only woman being considered against 40 men. The fusion concept was the owner's, and it really reinforced my skill in blending cuisines when I was hired. When we debuted, we won accolades for "Best New Restaurant" from Esquire, Chicago magazine, Wine Enthusiast, and Time Out New York.
I love blending dishes around the world with an Indian twist. Take goulash. You think you know what it is, but add a little Indian spice and see how different it could be. That is literally how I think about food. The journey I want to present through these recipes reflects that—they are solidly based in Indian cuisine, but each has a unique twist. Kale, for example, is an ingredient that I never encountered before coming to the United States, and I love the bitter tang it brings to the Curried Apple Naan Pizza. And the India-meets-the-Middle East treatment of my Hariyali Shrimp Kebabs marries two cultures so well.
The best part of all of these is that you can really get creative. I don't believe in constantly following recipes, so there are a lot of different combinations that can be worked out here. You can use the mint-cilantro-coconut-yogurt marinade of the Hariyali Shrimp on chicken, tofu or paneer, for example. Or you can toss the chicken tandoori from the Keema Paratha recipe into the Quinoa Pomegranate Chaat. Create your own journey by mixing and matching the elements.


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1. Register with BidBrat.com 2. Purchase a Bid Pack 3. Bid on Auctions
Below we will explain the three types of auctions available to you:
All auctions (except the regular style) will have banners at the top so that you know which type of auction you are bidding on. Many of the auctions (any style) will have a "buy it now" option. You can purchase items at a discounted price without bidding, as long as that option is showing.
Regular Auctions - (no banner) These auctions have a set starting price, starting and ending time and will go up in increments of one cent or more. The increment amount will be clearly displayed. When you click on the "BID' button you will be charged one bid token. When the ending time is reached, the last bidder wins the auction. The winner then pays the price of the auction and any applicable shipping fees. Note: If any user has activated the "BidBuddy", when the auction hits zero, 1 minute and 55 seconds will be added to the auction until all bids are placed.
Timed Auctions - (fast paced)
All auction prices will have a starting price and starting time. You can place bids anytime, even before the "timed" part of the auction starts*. Then it's a fast paced, timed auction! Auctions increments will be 1 cent or more and will be clearly marked. What this means is that each time you click on the "BID" button the price of the auction will go up by one of these increments (it will be clearly marked) and you will be charged one bid token. There will also be a timer on the auction which will count backwards to zero - 30 seconds, 20 seconds, or 10 seconds. Each bid will reset the timer back to 30 (on a 30 second auction). When the timer hits zero and there are no other bids placed, the last bidder wins! It's best not to wait until the last second to bid, as the bids are counted in order of when they are placed and you don't want to be shut out. 5 or 6 seconds is best. The winner then pays the price of the auction and any applicable shipping fees. *This is a great auction type to use the "BidBuddy". Read more about BidBuddy on the FAQ page.
Name Your Price - (Revealed Auctions)
The price shown is the starting price. When you click on the "Bid" button you will be charged one bid token. The price of the item will be reduced by 25 cents and a popup screen will appear, click OK right away to reveal your price, the price will be located where the original starting price was, above your username. You will then have 20 seconds to purchase the product at the revealed price. If you don't purchase within 20 seconds, the opportunity to purchase at the lower price is gone. The price could even go down to zero! When the price is right for you, you can purchase the item at the discounted price and the auction is over. Don't wait too long or someone may steal your deal. The winner then pays the price of the auction and any applicable shipping fees. (Note: The BidBuddy cannot be used on this type of auction.)
No Bid Token Auctions -
These auctions will cost you no bid tokens to participate in. The final price of the auction is what you will pay, plus any applicable shipping fees. To bid on these special auctions, you must be a registered user.
BIDDING TIPS & STRATEGIES - The following are suggestions and strategies that you may want to consider.
These are not guaranteed strategies.
- VERY IMPORTANT: Read the FAQ's pages for the most popular questions.
- Be sure you are familiar with how the three different types of auctions work.
- We recommend watching the auctions for a few minutes to get a feel for how they work.
- It's best to focus on one or two auctions at a time than spreading your bids too thin.
- Buy a larger bidpack, it will cost you less per bid, you can buy bids for as low as 50 cents.
- Watch for slower time periods and take advantage of them. 2am - 5am is one of the slower time periods (less bidders - more chance of winning).
- Make sure you don't run out of bids while you are in the midst of a hot auction! Always have enough bid tokens on hand.
- Keep an eye on other bidders and there patterns; if everyone is jumping on the room on Maui, you may have an opportunity to take advantage of an iPad or a dinner and a movie package.
- Some bidders like to wait until the last second to bid, this can work to your advantage sometimes, but remember you don't want to be shut out, so watch the timer carefully. Bids are received and counted in the order of when they are placed.
- Some bidders like to bid as soon as someone else bids. This strategy can work but could also cost you a lot of bids.
- Take advantage of some of our great promotions that we have going on right now on the Promotions page.


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Learning beyond the page at Beningbrough
Beningbrough's creative writing programme for schools explores and develops a variety of writing techniques inspired by the house, its art, its people and their stories. Weave the threads of history and imagination together to produce something wonderful.
Once upon a time…
Drawing inspiration from the hall, its architecture and contents, through to the people who lived and worked here. Past and present come together at Beningbrough to feed the imagination and stories of old sit alongside new stories - yet to be told.
We offer workshops in prose and poetry, individual and shared writing, all designed with the National Curriculum in mind to supplement classroom learning.
The day comprises both structured exercises and free-writing activities and will include opportunities to share and perform work. Choose from a menu of workshops to suit your pupils, all led by our experienced staff resulting in a portfolio of creative, collaborative work to take away.
Details at a glance:
English Curriculum, History, Art
Most suitable for KS2, 3, 4 & 5
Whole or half day programme
Get in touch
To talk through your workshop requirements in more detail and for booking information please contact the Learning Officer or call 01904 472027.
We can also coordinate your education group membership to support your school or education group's ongoing learning. Membership entitles you to enjoy unlimited visits to National Trust sites for a full year. Talk to a member of the team about what package you're interested in and how to make the most of your education group membership.


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Insulin was discovered in Canada, by Canadian researchers. It features proudly on their $100 bill.
Despite this, many Canadians are struggling to afford the costs of insulin and other diabetes supplies. These costs run into the thousands of dollars per year. As T1International has detailed, insulin rationing is a harsh reality for people living in Canada.
To offset growing diabetes costs, many use the Canadian Disability Tax Credit. Recent reports have indicated Disability Tax Credit is being denied to many Canadians with type 1 diabetes. Without clarification, Canadians with type 1 diabetes and their physicians are undergoing a lengthy application process only to find out that they no longer qualify. This is unacceptable.
Our position is this: #insulin4all is a human right.
We call upon the Government of Canada to clarify whether or not type 1 diabetes qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit program, and for the government to remove all unnecessary barriers to insulin and supply access for people with diabetes. We support calls for the creation of a national universal pharmacare program, a frequently stated priority of the Canadian government, and note such a program would render this entire debate moot.
We applaud Diabetes Canada, JDRF Canada, MP Nathan Cullen, MP Andrew James Scheer, and all other organizations and individuals fighting upon behalf of Canadians living with type 1 diabetes. We are proud to add our voice to this chorus. We hope this debate ends up being an opportunity for the Prime Minister to further a #insulin4all agenda at home and abroad.


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Organizational Vision
Nehemiah Behavioral Health, is a mission driven organization recognized for providing quality, innovative and person-centered human services within the communities we serve.
Community Vision
As a social business enterprise, we envision a world where each individual is accepted and respected for their unique qualities and individuality valued within their communities.
Mission Statement
NBH mission, is to transform the lives of our clients, through the restoring of "Faith, Hope and Healing" for those, that are broken hearted.
To Whom We Serve
NBH enhances the lives of children, youth, families and special needs individuals with disabilities, towards fulfillment of their life goals. We provide innovative services that address counseling, residential management, vocational training, job development, and community activities.


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For the last years, the ' Helen' collection of hobo bags have been our best selling and most favourable design of leather bags. From the simple and minimal design to its functionality the feedback from the reviews ** we have received through these years have helped us improve the design and convert it to a maximum practical every day women's bag. The features that customers most love are: -Simple design, lightweight for everyday wear and it is easily converted into a cross body bag. -The pockets and the organization inside the bag! The interior compartment is cleverly designed to keep the bag organized
Hello world! It has almost been a year since l last updated this blog as l had a really hard time balancing personal life with my work , hence the lack of new posts. A wedding , a long journey and mostly the internal changes in the work environment this year resulted in realigning some of my priorities. Speaking of priorities l always found intriguing observing how other people are balancing their personal lives with their work. Nowadays, it is all about finding that correct balance. While our job or carrier can be demanding and quite rewarding as well, a healthy, loving and stable personal life is the source of our happiness and our motivation.
One of the things we enjoy doing the most is travelling. Travelling is not only about sightseeing and shopping, but it is far more than that. It is about self-cultivation, inspiration, motivation, enriching your life with unforgettable experiences. If you are in the fashion industry or if you are a designer of anything from clothes to buildings , travelling is like blood in your veins, you can't do without it. As a painter is inspired by a landscape, a designer is inspired by the people, buildings ,art , by a noisy square and by the rhythm and the aura of a city and its people. When l travel, l feel that there is nothing in
This time each year, all college students are getting ready for the new, exciting and promising college life. One of the hardest, but also the best and creating years of our lives. September is officially the month that marks the start of the new academic year, but it's also the time to get fully organized. Back in my student days, l recall the anticipation of purchasing and organizing all of my necessities for the semester: stationary , new clothes and of course the long awaiting purchase of a new stylish college bag. Though it seemed as a pleasant experience l often had a hard time finding a suitable college bag as
Why is it so important to choose the right carry on handbag when travelling? More than often, when we pack our luggage for our upcoming trip, we subconsciously try to save some space in our luggage, whilst not forgetting our essentials, and we also try to make the luggage as light as possible. Therefore, packing a second carry on handbag is not an option most of the times, while taking an evening clutch or a small cross body bag seems more practical and useful. Consequently, choosing the one and only handbag for our trip is essential, as it will serve several purposes. It will accompany us while travelling on the plane – boat etc, and it
July has just started and we are all welcoming those warm sunny days and share the enthusiasm of planning our summer vacations. In the beginning of this adventurous month we are always busy sorting our the last details for our vacations ( booking a hotel , renting a car, etc ). Among all the tasks l particularly assort one as the most important : packaging. How many times have we forgotten to package something essential? Yes, too many times. And how many times have we come to the conclusion that we didn't choose the right handbag for our holidays? Either the bag was too heavy, maybe not too spacious or sometimes not so durable
One of our favorite projects in summer is makings our leather bags in all those vibrant warm and rich colors out of the spring / summer color palette. This year the first color in our list was the pale pink orchidea colour which we firstly added to one of our most popular design : t he Helen hobo bag . A slouchy soft hobo purse with plenty of internal organizational pockets that could spoil you. We took a nice walk today in the city and paired the pale pink hobo bag with a pair of distressed jeans ( the more distressed the better ) with a simple white shirt. Perfect! It is lovely how easily you can match a pale pink leather bag with your outfits
Hello everyone! We are happy that winter has finally come to an end and we are eager to welcome those sunny warm days.Here in Laroll, we have been working intensely the last month to prepare our new colour palette for spring- summer 2015 and our new hobo bag design : the Solin handbag. We will be featuring four new colours and our favourite so far is a lovely dusty pink colour that we call the Orchidea colour. The rest of the palette consists of a pastel yellow shade , the all-time classic and must have nude colour and a light shade of grey. All these new colors will be added in the Helen hobo bag collection and to the new
Thinking what should our first blog post be about , was harder than l expected. I finally decided that the most appropriate post would be actually to introduce our company and our new blog to our customers and readers. The purpose of this blog is to create a strong relationship with our customers and to get them know our philosophy, the products that we offer and the way we make them, the people that work in our company, opinions about style and the ways to choose the right handbag and many more things including the latest trends in fashion. Laroll was founded in 2012 in Greece and collaborates with European partners from


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Two things which are common between Lord Ganesha and an elephant are the wisdom and memory power associated with both of them.
Lord Ganesha is worshipped worldwide for his wisdom. Before beginning any task we are told to invoke the blessings of the elephant God.
It is not without reason that he is worshipped thus. There is an interesting story that is associated with the practice of worshipping Ganesha before beginning any task. Shiva is worshipped as the destroyer. His wife Parvati, is worshipped for her bravery and courage. The two sons Ganesha with an elephant face and Karthikeya were tested by their parents time and time again.
Shiva and Parvati, set exemplary parenting standards.
One day they called their sons and set a task for them to accomplish. They told their sons to go around the world once. The one who completed the task first will get a mango which was known for its sweet taste.
The brothers wanted the mango very badly and wanted to win the race.
Karthikeya was swift and had a peacock as his vehicle. He knew that he could go once around the world before his, not-so-agile older brother, whose vehicle was a mouse by name Mooshika.
Karthikeya did not waste any time and set off to go around the world once and get back in time to win the mango.
The older, wiser brother, waited for his younger brother to leave. Then he analysed his strengths and weaknesses. His mouse was way too slow to out beat his younger brother's swift vehicle.
Karthikeya himself was very fit and agile. Ganesha's physique was not his asset, at least not for this task. After careful consideration of his available resources, Ganesha decide to use his best asset to tackle the job, his wisdom.
He went to his parents and bowed humbly before them.
"Father, I have always been a loyal son and to me, there is no greater world than the feet of my parents", said Ganesha earnestly.
"I therefore pray before the two of you to stand for a while, while I walk once around you", said Ganesha to an amused Shiva and Parvati.
His parents could not refuse Ganesha's request and obliged!
Ganesha completed one round around his world and bagged the coveted mango.
As they say, what followed this episode is history.
Assessing our potential and available resources before beginning a job is a prerequisite to completing the task successfully. In a competitive environment what is crucial in completing a task, is accepting our weakness and acknowledging our competitor's strengths. These qualities allow you to keep your goals realistic and approach situations in a pragmatic manner.
In every situation what is imperative is being focused on the goal and working smartly towards it!
The act of worship reminds us of these essential requirements to complete the given task.


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7 May 2014, Wednesday
Left the beloved blue washed city after breakfast, for Fes. Before reaching Fes, we stopped by Meknes for a well deserved lunch – Grilled Lamb Chops. The waiter asked if I wanted my omelette with mushroom or cheese. I chose mushrooms, though I wish I had asked for both!
While we were leaving, one of the waiters pointed to his arm and mine, and said "kazalik (same!)." He said I can be one of them, a fellow Moroccan. Haha. I am tanner than my usual tan.
We visited the Moulay Ismail Mausoleum and the famous gate, Bab Mansour, in Meknes. I realised how important gates are in Morocco. These are the landmarks for meeting points and gates are demarcation between cities.
Moulay Ismail Mausoleum, quoted from NatGeo, "The mausoleum of Moulay Ismail—one of Morocco's greatest rulers, who made Meknès his capital city in the 17th century—consists of three brightly decorated courts, a mosque, and the tombs of the sultan and his family."
There's some serenity in the air reminding me of how precious life is. I wonder how one could keep so much hatred and discontentment in their heart, even knowing that sooner or later, you just have to leave this temporary abode. What do you gain out of it? YOLO isn't it? Make it right for once, leave a precious legacy that people will talk about and your generations to come will be proud of and will always keep you in prayers.
Next up, Volubilis, the Roman ruins.


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One on One Seduction
"I live for pleasure," says Erin Marxxx. "It is what motivates me and consumes all of my thoughts. So when I am horny, I like to be with a man who will be consumed by his lust as well. Someone who will let me blindfold him and rub my nylon-covered toes all over his body. Someone who will tear open my gusset just to slip his fingers in my pussy. And someone who I can tell to fuck my feet and then cum all over them when I need my peds coated. Are you that someone? I am always looking…."
See More of Erin Marxxx at LEGSEX.com!Pukka Fetish on September 30th, 2012 | File Under Pukka Fetish | No Comments -


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To share our latest development and technologies, we would like to invite you to visit us at the show:
Date : 20 – 22 Nov 2013
Furthermore, we are pleased to announce that our newly opened department — Nano Department will launch a series of nano coating products and show their first demonstrations at the show:
Besides, our partnership company, Shanghai Zicollum Coating Co., Ltd., will have a sharing session at New-Tech Corner.
Topic : Applying Latest Eco-Green Zn-Al Flakes Coating Technology (ZICOLLUM™) to Achieve Excellent Corrosion Protection at Extremely Low On-Site Cost
We are looking forward to seeing you at the show.
Visit Us at SFCHINA 2013 in Shanghai!
Posted in News.


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Sparty Week/
Your green goes in the bottom drawer this week.
Wins and losses are what counts, but Michigan did put up a solid effort Saturday night in Connecticut. We've played the top of the ACC, the top of the Big East, and the top of the Pac-10. We beat two of them. Now we need to take down the best of the Big Ten, which consequently is our hated little brother. So many things to win for, but getting ourselves back to .500 in conference play is priority one. Add in this being the only game we play against the midget and his minions, and another ESPN game where the committee will be watching, and we find ourselves hovering in that area of "must win." Finish strong fellas.
Plus, I really enjoy knocking off little brother in sports where they have a perceived advantage.
Quick roundup of the rest of the internet...
- Not a big wrestling fan, but I have to link to any article that has "Wolverines Dominate Spartans..." in the title. [Freep]
- Remember Larry Coker? He's having trouble finding work since he was dismissed from the Hurricanes. Now he has applied to coach a team that currently does not exist. [Fanhouse]
- UCONN roundup from UMHoops.com.
- More on the next Pirates head coach. [Freep]


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Mothers tend to neglect their health without realising how important it is to be fit, says Anjali Kalani
It is common knowledge that exercise has tremendous health benefits, including lowering the risk of several diseases. We also know that everyone should exercise regularly. But how many moms actually manage to fit exercise into their busy schedules? There's always something else vying for our attention—our careers, housework, family, visitors. For most moms, exercise features on the bottom of their priority list.
Although I began a fitness regimen prior to marriage, motherhood led me to truly appreciate the effects of exercise. Not only did I shed the oodles of weight I gained during pregnancy, I also felt invigorated and strong. Besides, exercise released all those happy chemicals on stressful days when I was consumed with raising two children under three. Moreover, it provided me with much needed 'me' time. In fact, exercise continues to be a mainstay for me even today.
As moms we tend to put our family's needs above our own, forgetting that our families stand to gain the most if we are healthy. In addition, children are more likely to lead an active lifestyle in the present and the future if they see their parents exercising.
Moreover, the resilience our bodies demonstrate in the twenties begins to wane in the thirties. By the time the forties roll around, maintaining our bodies seems to require more effort than ever. A healthy diet combined with exercise can help combat weight gain. Certified Fitness Instructor, Norma Beavers believes that exercising three days a week helps maintain weight. "But if you want to see results then push to five days," she advises. For those who are in a time crunch, she recommends short bursts of exercise, "like maybe 15 minutes at a time if you can't devote an hour or two at the gym." She adds, "Low impact walking is probably one of the best exercises" for everyone, including moms recovering after pregnancy or any surgery.
But there are times when the last thing I want to do is exercise. Here's what motivates me on those days:
Furthermore, if you can't make it to the gym, make fitness fun at home! Turn on some fast-paced music and dance with the children. If you prefer structure, choose from the many home-based workouts available on YouTube or download a fitness App on your phone. However, Beaver recommends using workout videos created by certified instructors to avoid injuries.
My oft-used home-based workouts include the Leslie Sansone walk-at-home videos, which targets all levels of fitness and ages. Her 1 Mile Happy Walk is perfect for hectic days, while her extended workouts are suited for days when I'm not strapped for time. Gaiam, creator of Yoga props and attire, offers several choices for Yoga enthusiasts and if you prefer Pilates, try Pilates Anytime. There's even the 7 Minute workout app that is true to its name. It features jumping jacks, squats, push-ups and lunges with 10-second breaks between exercises.
Whether it's short bursts of exercise at home, a walk in the park or extended time at the gym, exercise is something one seldom regrets. However, if you are new to exercise, it is important to consult your doctor before embarking upon a fitness regimen. Scheduling time for exercise leads to physical and mental wellness. Besides, it demonstrates to our children that we not only talk the talk, but we literally walk the walk as well!
Anjali Kalani is mother of two independent, precocious children and an AMS and AMI certified Montessori guide who teaches children ages three to six in Houston, Texas.
Short takes


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The International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge is the premier research forum in the field, providing common ground for all stakeholders in the design of analytics systems to debate the state of the art at the intersection of Learning and Analytics — including researchers, educators, instructional designers, data scientists, software developers, institutional leaders and governmental policy makers.
The conference is held in cooperation with ACM in association with ACM SIGCHI and SIGWEB, with the double-blind, peer reviewed proceedings archived in the ACM Digital Library. The ACM Digital Library (DL) is the world's most comprehensive database of full-text articles and bibliographic literature covering computing and information technology. This renowned repository includes the complete collection of ACM publications plus an extended bibliographic database of core works in computing from scholarly publishers. This guarantees that the proceedings will be available to the widest possible audience of computing professionals. ACM has an enlightened copyright policy with liberal author rights: authors may self-archive their own papers as Open Access Preprints, as long as they carry the specified ACM statement.


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(click image for larger view)
Welcome to Mexico! This couple was really inspired by the colouful and summery atmosphere of Mexico and knew that it would be the perfect theme for their wedding. An elegant, yet festive strapless organza wedding dress with cascading ruffles by Demetrios Sposabella is accented by colourful mismatched Mexican peasant dresses on the bridesmaids (photo by Daisy Varley). Long before this fiesta took place, the guests received invitations decorated with Mexican inspired images of hanging lace reminiscent of the Mexican celebration of El Día de los Muertos, or "the Day of the Dead." Instead of using flowers, the couple opt for unique bouquets and centerpieces of succulents and cacti. The reception tables are draped in colourful striped linens reminiscent of Mexican tapestries and every table is numbered in Spanish rather than English. The guests indulge in a delicious buffet of the couple's favourite Mexican foods while sipping on various Mexican liquors. Instead of serving a cake, the couple chose to offer their guests powdered pecan cookies, which is a traditional wedding dessert in Mexico. At the end of the evening, everyone is sent home with a brightly coloured maraca (photo by Daisy Varley) to keep the fun spirit of this celebration alive long after it is finished.
{It's the Little Touches ...}
Want a unique piece of jewelry for your wedding rather than going with the stand-by of diamonds, crystals, or pearls? These necklaces by etsy seller JustineJustine feature long strings of colouful beads made from the acai fruit.
A Mexican themed wedding is the perfect time to add a little South into your footwear! Put you and your girls in cowboy boots! The more styles and shades that you have, the more eclectic and unique your look will be.
Bright paper flowers are a great project for the DIY bride and they really make a colouful statement.
Photo by Daisy Varley.
I want to thank everyone that came to enjoy February is Destination Month. I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Spring is just around the corner! So, as we leave winter, we will start looking at some colour combinations fit for a Spring time wedding. Be sure to make your vote count and I'll see you all next week!