elvinatombenderphd
L'année dernière à Val Verde.
Just an average Italian guy. If I like it, I will reblog it.
1584 posts
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Last Seen Blogs
Text
“Then I'll defy the laws of nature and come out alive“
Come on Freddie, we are all waiting!
Reminder: Bi Visibility Day is September 23. Remember to leave cookies out for Freddie.
100K notes
·
View notes
Photo
saga headers
431 notes
·
View notes
Text
Ok so the Italian Ministry for Health is fucking up big time. They just launched this unbelievably regressive campaign about fertility, which in its official presentation statements says it’s aimed at spreading awareness about:
- the drop in birth rate in our country
- the beauty of motherhood and fatherhood
- the risks of illnesses that might impede becoming parents
- medical help for men and women who can’t conceive.
So far so good, except for the line in italic, which is just a prelude to the actual marketing about the event, scheduled for September 22nd, called Fertility Day (bad name choice already. There’s a shitty thing in Italy, called Family day, which is basically a gathering of bigots promoting “the traditional family” aka protesting against LGBT marriage/adoption).
Examples to follow:
Translation: “Beauty doesn’t age. Fertility does.”
Wow, sexist.
Translation: “Male fertility is much more vulnerable than it looks.”
I can see them thinking. Yo, we just stated that women can stay beautiful but become worthless if they don’t put their uterus to good use, that’s unfair towards women! Let’s do a male equivalent. How do we make a good metaphore for a useless cock?
*facepalm*
Translation: “Cheers. Alcohol halves your fertility.”
Oh, so we’re not having children because we’re too busy partying hard (there are two more like this one. One with cigarettes, the other one with drugs). Sounds about right. *sarcasm*
Translation: “Fertility is a common good.”
Fertility is possibly the most personal good? WTF?? It’s MY - FUCKING - BODY.
Translation: “Young parents. The best way to be creative.”
Plus…
Translation: “Our Constitution protects aware and responsible procreation.”
Sure. In a country where juvenile unemployment is over 40%, and where people under the age of 35 very rarely have a stable job that makes decent money, they’re calling us out for not becoming parents while we’re still young. We’re not being creative! We’re being irresponsible drunks! We’re not giving our contribution to make this country great and strong! Where did I hear this last one already? Oh right, it was common propaganda during the Fascist dictatorship.
Offensive. To my entire generation, who’s been fucked over enough. To those who wish they could have children, but are dealing with their 10th underpaid temporary job, while being rejected everywhere because they’re “overqualified”. To those who just aren’t interested in having children. To the LGBT community who’s been promised and then denied access to parenthood. To people who can’t conceive, for whom access to insemination is extremely hard. To singles who maybe miracoulously have a stable economical situation and are denied parenthood.
In case you were wondering how far the Baby boomers vs Millennials issue could go, here’s an example.
3K notes
·
View notes
Photo
HEY
My book KILL SIX BILLION DEMONS comes out September 7th from Image comics. Can you believe that I am saying that? I can’t! It’s ridiculous. It’s been a wild and weird journey.
I finally got a dead tree copy of it. The book looks SWEET and it’s got kung fu angels and giant dead gods and demon gangsters and you should GET A COPY because these colors are JUICY AS HELL.
SEPTEMBER 7TH
3K notes
·
View notes
Photo
Watch: Comedian Adam Conover just obliterated every stereotype about millennials in one presentation.
513K notes
·
View notes
Note
Alan Moore or Grant Morrison?
Oh, shit.
Look, the simple answer is Morrison. He’s my favorite, and if I made a grand list of all my favorite comics ever, more of his stuff would be closer to the top than Moore’s. But if any of my followers have learned anything, it’s that I’m never satisfied with a simple answer where a short essay can do.
Just to get the actual ongoing ‘conflict’ between the two out of the way: I don’t know either of them and as such can’t comment on any personal negative feelings going on. But from my point of view, Morrison mentioning he doesn’t much like Watchmen and having a few gags like No-Beard vs All-Beard at the Bard’s expense isn’t quite as harsh as Moore essentially calling Morrison a half-talented hack and thieving shit who’s made his career off of stealing his ideas. I’ll agree as hard as anyone that Moore’s been almost comically hard-done-by as a creator by the industry, but if we’re extending the sphere of what constitutes creative bankruptcy into the realm of “is also smart and has had some similar outlooks and ideas”, I don’t imagine he would get off clean himself, even in regards to Morrison.
So obviously they have a lot in common. Chaos magicians, superhero revisionists, part of the UK wave of writers that reshaped American comics, all-around smartypants. They have some similar thematic preoccupations (the power of stories, the nature of time and consciousness, human ascendance) both play the long game well in terms of plotting, both are perfect at nailing That One Moment that tells you everything you need to know about a character. Each have specific strengths: Moore’s a more tightly-controlled formalist and his dialogue has less notable quirks (though I think Morrison’s considerably more talented than many give him credit for in both areas); Morrison’s comics are more willing to wear their heart on their sleeve, and I think his ideas and themes are often more effectively woven into the structure of his stories (though again, to describe Moore’s work as generally being coldly clinical or lecturing as it has been on occasion is I think to tremendously sell him short). On a purely technical basis, I’d say Moore takes the edge, but not by enough for him to claim an out-and-out victory. I far prefer Morrison’s usage of the elements of the Big Two universes for his metafictional commentary (i.e. his DC Mega-Arc from Animal Man to Multiversity), but that doesn’t feel remotely crucial enough in and of itself to give him the win either.
The “who got into my head first and mucked around the most” test won’t do it either. All-Star Superman and Flex Mentallo are my two favorite comics period, but huge parts of my introduction to the medium were The Jungle Line in the old The Greatest Team Up Stories Ever Told and Supreme. I read Watchmen and Batman R.I.P. around the same time just as I was getting into reading comics on a regular basis. I hit JLA and Tom Strong in the back issue bins pretty near each other. Promethea and The Invisibles both rewired my brain real good. They’ve both done fairly beloved comics I’m not a fan of with Arkham: A Serious House On Serious Earth and For The Man Who Has Everything.
What I think it truly comes down to - beyond just preferring Morrison’s aesthetic - is the way they build their stories. With Moore, his best comics are often like a stick of dynamite: the tension is in watching that fuse burn towards the explosive, with a spark or two shooting off along the way to keep things lively. It’s powerful, but it’s a restrained experience. Morrison’s work is more like riding a tidal wave: the way up is a rush all its own, and even then you know it’s when that wave crashes against the shore of his finales that shit is going to truly get real, and in 25+ years of mainstream work he has yet to disappoint in that regard. Maybe it’s because he’s openly more improvisational than Moore while still being able to stick the landing; maybe it’s the idea rush and higher degree of action in his material; maybe it’s a subtler aspect of the craft I need to be paying closer attention to if I ever want to capture any of that fire in my own work someday. But most of Morrison’s best stuff just leaps off the page with an absolute kinetic energy that Moore’s can’t match - perhaps related to the ‘sterile’ feeling some complain about with him - and that for me is what seals the deal.
Of course, a lot of my very favorite Morrison works (All-Star Superman, Flex Mentallo, Annihilator, Multiversity), while still possessing that propulsive and energetic quality, are also palpably more tightly controlled in the same way as Moore’s oeuvre. Watchmen lacks almost all of that sort of feeling of unstoppable narrative momentum, and Watchmen is still Watchmen - I’d probably still rank that over Promethea, which I consider Moore’s most Morrison-esque work in that regard (though I haven’t read a fair chunk of his works, including From Hell). Both approaches have their place and can hit it absolutely out of the park, especially in the hands of singular talents operating on their level. And while both their comics’ careers seem to be at least somewhat winding down (though with Morrison you can never be sure), readers and creators alike are privileged to have their work, and we can all only hope they’ll be begrudgingly willing to set aside their differences and unite to save us all when Armageddon comes a-knockin’.
153 notes
·
View notes
Photo
One of the biggest advantages of the Internet is the facility we have today to gain knowledge of different places. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to find. When I started trying to mess around with HTML/CSS just ‘cause I wanted to make my own tumblr themes, I had no idea where to start and just take me more than it should to learn. As a way to organize all the information I have stored for a long time and also to help those who want to start programming, I organized this masterpost with several sites far beyond codeacademy, software and some books in PDF to help you start programming, or increase your skills in programming if you already know. Information presented here help both those who don’t know how to program in any language and seeks knowledge only as a hobby or students of computer. English is not my native language and I’m not that good with, so just ignore any grammar errors. All the materials in this post are free. And don’t forget to Ctrl + click in the link to open in a new tab.
Attention: If you live in Brazil, go here for the portuguese version of this post with some sites that work exclusively in Brazil.
Continua a leggere
7K notes
·
View notes
Photo
A little animation of Eleven, based on an original drawing by my friend Julia !
66K notes
·
View notes
Photo
48K notes
·
View notes
Text
24 Invaluable Skills To Learn For Free Online This Year
Here’s an easy resolution: This stuff is all free as long as you have access to a computer, and the skills you learn will be invaluable in your career, and/or life in general.
1. Become awesome at Excel.
Chandoo is one of many gracious Excel experts who wants to share their knowledge with the world. Excel excellence is one of those skills that will improve your chances of getting a good job instantly, and it will continue to prove invaluable over the course of your career. What are you waiting for?
2. Learn how to code.
littleanimalgifs.tumblr.com
Perhaps no other skill you can learn for free online has as much potential to lead to a lucrative career. Want to build a site for your startup? Want to build the next big app? Want to get hired at a place like BuzzFeed? You should learn to code. There are a lot of places that offer free or cheap online coding tutorials, but I recommend Code Academy for their breadth and innovative program. If you want to try a more traditional route, Harvard offers its excellent Introduction to Computer Science course online for free.
3. Make a dynamic website.
You could use a pre-existing template or blogging service, or you could learn Ruby on Rails and probably change your life forever. Here’s an extremely helpful long list of free Ruby learning tools that includes everything from Rails for Zombies to Learn Ruby The Hard Way. Go! Ruby! Some basic programming experience, like one of the courses above, might be helpful (but not necessarily required if you’re patient with yourself).
4. Learn to make a mobile game.
If you’re not interested in coding anything other than fun game apps, you could trythis course from the University of Reading. It promises to teach you how to build a game in Java, even if you don’t have programming experience! If you want to make a truly great game, you might want to read/listen up on Game Theory first.
5. Start reading faster.
Spreeder is a free online program that will improve your reading skill and comprehension no matter how old you are. With enough practice, you could learn to double, triple, or even quadruple the speed at which you read passages currently, which is basically like adding years to your life.
6. Learn a language!
With Duolingo, you can learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, or English (from any of the above or more). There’s a mobile app and a website, and the extensive courses are completely free.
Full disclosure: BuzzFeed and other websites are in a partnership with DuoLingo, but they did not pay or ask for this placement.
7. Pickle your own vegetables.
Tired of your farmer’s market haul going bad before you use it all? Or do you just love tangy pickled veggies? You too can pickle like a pro thanks to SkillShare and Travis Grillo.
8. Improve your public speaking skills.
You can take the University of Washington’s Intro to Public Speaking for free online. Once you learn a few tricks of the trade, you’ll be able to go into situations like being asked to present at a company meeting or giving a presentation in class without nearly as much fear and loathing.
9. Get a basic handle of statistics.
UC Berkeley put a stats intro class on iTunes. Once you know how to understand the numbers yourself, you’ll never read a biased “news” article the same way again — 100% of authors of this post agree!
10. Understand basic psychology.
Knowing the basics of psych will bring context to your understanding of yourself, the dynamics of your family and friendships, what’s really going on with your coworkers, and the woes and wonders of society in general. Yale University has its Intro to Psychology lectures online for free.
11. Make your own music.
Step one: Learn how to play guitar: Justin Guitar is a fine and free place to start learning chords and the basic skills you’ll need to be able to play guitar — from there, it’s up to you, but once you know the basics, just looking up tabs for your favorite songs and learning them on your own is how many young guitar players get their start (plus it’s an excellent party trick).
Step two: A delightful free voice lesson from Berklee College Of Music.
Step three: Have you always thought you had an inner TSwift? Berklee College of Music offers an Introduction to Songwriting course completely for free online. The course is six weeks long, and by the end of the lesson you’ll have at least one completed song.
Step four: Lifehacker’s basics of music production will help you put it all together once you have the skills down! You’ll be recording your own music, ready to share with your valentine or the entire world, in no time!
12. Learn to negotiate.
Let Stanford’s Stan Christensen explain how to negotiate in business and your personal life, managing relationships for your personal gain and not letting yourself be steamrolled. There are a lot of football metaphors and it’s great.
13. Stop hating math.
If you struggled with math throughout school and now have trouble applying it in real-world situations when it crops up, try Saylor.org’s Real World Math course. It will reteach you basic math skills as they apply IRL. Very helpful!
14. Start drawing!
All kids draw — so why do we become so afraid of it as adults? Everyone should feel comfortable with a sketchbook and pencil, and sketching is a wonderful way to express your creativity. DrawSpace is a great place to start. (I also highly recommend the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain if you can drop a few dollars for a used copy.)
15. Make your own animated GIF.
BuzzFeed’s own Katie Notopoulos has a great, simple guide to making an animated GIF without Photoshop. This is all you need to be the king or queen of Tumblr or your favorite email chains.
16. Appreciate jazz.
reddit.com
Have you never really “gotten” jazz? If you want to be able to participate in conversations at fancy parties and/or just add some context to your appreciation of all music, try this free online course from UT Austin.
17. Write well.
Macalester College’s lecture series is excellent. If you’re more interested in journalism, try Wikiversity’s course selection.
18. Get better at using Photoshop.
Another invaluable skill that will get you places in your career, learning Photoshop can be as fun as watching the hilarious videos on You Suck At Photoshop or as serious as this extensive Udemy training course (focused on photo retouching).
19. Take decent pictures.
Lifehacker’s basics of photography might be a good place to start. Learn how your camera works, the basic of composition, and editing images in post-production. If you finish that and you’re not sure what to do next, here’s a short course on displaying and sharing your digital photographs.
20. Learn to knit.
Instructables has a great course by a woman who is herself an online-taught knitter. You’ll be making baby hats and cute scarves before this winter’s over!
21. Get started with investing in stocks.
If you are lucky enough to have a regular income, you should start learning about savings and investment now. Investopedia has a ton of online resources, including this free stocks basics course. Invest away!
22. Clean your house in a short amount of time.
Unf$#k Your Habitat has a great emergency cleaning guide for when your mother-in-law springs a surprise visit on you. While you’re over there, the entire blog is good for getting organized and clean in the long term, not just in “emergencies.” You’ll be happier for it.
23. Start practicing yoga.
Most cities have free community classes (try just searching Google or inquiring at your local yoga studio), or if you’re more comfortable trying yoga at home, YogaGlohas a great 15-day trial and Yome is a compendium of 100% free yoga videos. If you’re already familiar with basic yoga positions but you need an easy way to practice at home, I recommend YogaTailor’s free trial as well.
24. Tie your shoelaces more efficiently.
It’s simple and just imagine the minutes of your life you’ll save!
252K notes
·
View notes
Photo
Witness me
5K notes
·
View notes
Text
Whatever movie you feel like is pretty good, but Any movie you want is way better.
See whatever movie you feel like.
196 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Yesyesyes.
In 2009, astronaut Leland Melvin was photographed for his official NASA portrait. But instead of it just being of him, he brought along his two rescue dogs named Jake and Scout.
via My Modern Met
31K notes
·
View notes
Photo
338 notes
·
View notes