#i think this is the first time i drew jose properly
Text
"so amazed how you take me back,
each and every time our love collapsed."
it's july 10th!! which means it's my 2nd anniversary with jose, the absolute love of my life. 💕 last year, i wasn't able to make anything as i was fixated on a different f/o at the time. it's not much but i hope this suffices (and that he likes it ehe)!
jose is incredibly precious to me and my love for him probably exceeds than what i can express. no character, or rather, no one at all, has made me this happy before, and i love him so much for that. he came at a time when i was struggling (with school, specifically), but he came here and lifted me up to give me motivation. i just find it slightly sad that he often gets overlooked in the fanbase and doesn't get as much love as other characters do. but it's okay! i've been loving him since day one and will continue doing so. he's done so much things for me, which i am eternally grateful for. i feel like i'm just repeating my words from the past, but he truly makes me feel i am actually loved and that i don't have to worry about hiding myself from him. he makes me so, so happy. i cherish him, i adore him. he has a special place in my heart and it's probably going to take a while for somebody to replace him! :]
the drawings are actually a tiny portion of our lore — jose had to leave to search for his father (who suddenly disappeared without notice) and i was worried about his decision. but nevertheless, i respected it. the thing is, he didn't come back. at least, for ten years. i had to wait for that long, and never did i think of marrying another man (or woman, but idk if it was allowed in our timeline) because i was scared they would leave as well. :'] but when jose came back, it was the happiest day of my life. it's just like the actual reality — when i came back to, as i like to call it, "my jose brainrot", i've been happier everyday. it's like i and jose have known each other for a long time and we'd always come back to each other no matter what. maybe it's just bound to happen. maybe we are soulmates, after all. <3
anyway, happy anniversary to my beloved!! i love you jose!! 💞💞
tag list : @lovinggreeniehours, @usamey, @gentle-horrors, @holy-heck-i-love-my-fo, @lilacslovers, @softskiesahead, @jils-things, @haileyiscooldnfjdhd, @haileyiscooldnfjdhd, @recordplayershipping, @raakhs, @cxrpsedance, @thatslikesometaldude [ if you want to be added to/removed from the tag list, let me know via asks or dm! ]
ok hi sorry i needed to include this reaction picture because this is literally how i felt THREE DAYS before posting this hngk. every time i looked back at the drawing, i'd become emotional in seconds. i'd have to audibly stim. that's how big of an impact jose has implented on me, and although it's quite distracting sometimes, i actually feel sentimental thinking about it. jose can make me feel like this with so little effort. i love him so much and i'm so grateful for his existence. happy anniversary again darling, here's to more years of yearning and kisses every night. <3
#✏ ; oreki makes something#AAAAAAAAAA :)))))))))#im smiling so much hHhhhhfhj#i am very happy#anyways#i think this is the first time i drew jose properly#i'm sorry his uniform is just so detailed and i'm too lazy- /hj#also idk how to draw those shoulder pads of his#sorry if it looks weird#actually i'm sorry if anything looks weird at all#it's my first time drawing side view perspective ;w;#his uniform still looks tidy here bc it's before he goes to the manor (which happens ingame)!!#i'm rambling again oops. pardon me! jose has a must-speak-fancy-long-word disease and it has affected me#hehe#happy anniversary jose i love you so much <333#romantic f/o ; jose ✰#s/i ; kryxelle baden ✰#long post
58 notes
·
View notes
Text
NFL draft takes szn
youtube
I’ve finally made it all the way back around to where I started last summer.
Lamar Jackson is going to be the best player in this year’s draft, not even just the best QB. Right now, with 10 days to go until names start being called my QB preference is:
1. Lamar Jackson
The upside is outrageous but put him with a great coach (like Sean Payton or Bill Belichick) and the floor is pretty high, too. Lamar has much better accuracy than raw stats would indicate though he isn’t consistent with his placement. There are some mechanical flaws that have to do with falling back on his athleticism when the pocket breaks down or, more specifically, when he anticipates too eagerly that the pocket will break down. It’s not so much a matter bad vision in those situations but he gets a little bit too reliant on his arm without setting his feet (”base”) properly. That tends to lead to throws sailing. You can try this out for yourself - try throwing off your lead rather than your plant foot.
A lot of internet commenters and pundits have Louisville’s offensive scheme completely backwards. Remember why Bobby Petrino failed in the NFL? It was because he’s an untrustworthy snake who is always looking for his next meal, not because his offense was too simple. Louisville runs a route tree that is pretty similar to what most NFL teams run but with a bunch of receivers and running backs that will never even get tryouts in the league.
Jackson has shown great command of that offense and his otherworldly running ability (best of any player in this draft) is a positive to his overall game. Wherever he lands the staff needs to put in some designed QB runs for him to take full advantage but that’s not exactly crazy. He was nowhere close to a “run-first” QB in either of the last two seasons but you have to make use of your players abilities.
2. Josh Rosen
There is some truth to the fact that you can’t predict injury susceptibility. Look at Frank Gore, a guy who was injured constantly in college and missed time regularly through his early NFL career but who hasn’t missed a game in 5 years now as he lurches towards the sunset. Still, Rosen has had concussion problems which actually do tend to get worse with each one and he’s a QB with basically no running ability so he’s either going to have to go the full Peyton Manning/Dan Marino route where he gets rid of the ball so quickly that his line starts to look impenetrable or he’s going to be out of the league within four years. That is a pretty low floor by my reckoning.
Take away the concussion concerns (I don’t think the shoulder is probably worth worrying about) and Rosen is a perfect pocket passer. His placement is perfect every time he throws because he has absolutely text book mechanics. There is a bit of a gunslinger mentality that worries me just the slightest bit because his arm isn’t maybe as strong as he thinks his arm is but he’s got plenty of ability to hit strikes down the field. So the ceiling is pretty high if you can keep him on the field in a high volume passing offense. The Matt Ryan comparisons are pretty nice. So I guess just get him paired up with a generational talent at WR and let nature take its course.
3. Baker Mayfield
On the field I think Mayfield is pretty much without a legitimate weakness. He’s a little bit short and (surprisingly to me, at least) not particularly athletic for the position but his accuracy has been at the top of the charts in every metric available throughout his college career. Now the question is how much of that is god-given talent and how much of that is playing four years against barely perceptible defenses? He carried those same numbers over against higher level competition when he was given the chance so I think it’s a translatable skill.
Baker’s attitude and his competitive nature are either his biggest assets or his biggest detriments depending on who you ask. The physical component (i.e., size) is a non-starter in that it’s been shown to be an overrated trait a thousand times over in the last decade-plus. But is there a real threat of him getting crushed mentally the second he has a couple of bad games in a row? I’m not going to judge that from where I sit because I don’t have anything to base it on. You reading this probably don’t either. My guess is that his borderline obnoxiousness is going to be what makes him great.
Now, having said that, I do wonder if he has enough athletically to get over in the NFL. Drew Brees and Russell Wilson are both smaller than Mayfield but they also both have (had?) much more arm strength than Baker. His arm talent (!!!) is functional/good, theirs is good/great. But the accuracy thing with Baker and the Michael Jordan complex make me think he’ll do just fine in pretty much any team situation.
4. Sam Darnold
Here’s what gets me with Darnold: I think his arm-strength is overrated and I think his turnover machine tendencies are downplayed. His throwing motion is weird but he gets the ball out quickly so that shouldn’t be a cause for concern. Kerry Collins got away with that type of thing for over a decade and was a pretty good pro. But the downside here is that I think that’s what Darnold can best aspire to be: another Kerry Collins (without the off-field issues, one would hope.) That’s a fine thing to be but it’s not anything I would take over more singular talents that are also available. If you have a choice between Mike Vick playing for Andy Reid, Matt Ryan playing for Kyle Shanahan, Drew Brees playing for Sean Payton, or Kerry Collins playing for Jim Fassel, who would you take?
On the field Darnold reminds me of Jameis Winston for his carelessness but without the MLB-ready arm. Darnold is a better runner than Jameis (Peyton Manning is, too, that’s not high praise) but the way he deals with pressure or even a stalemate calls to mind all of Winston’s worst instincts for me. I think Darnold is going to be a fine starter but I’ll be shocked if he’s ever an All-Pro. Especially in Cleveland.
5. Josh Allen
Tools! Allen has everything you want physically if you’re designing a QB for a video game but his accuracy and his placement are horrible. If it’s all due to a mechanical flaw that can by fixed by a genius QB coach that’s great but then what? His mental game still didn’t look good at any point in his time at Wyoming. It’s not like he was making great reads and having his teammates let him down. He made poor throws at bad times and looked completely overwhelmed by anybody getting in his face.
At his absolute best I think you might get an average Jeff George season. That’s 100% on the rocket arm. Is Allen’s arm actually that good? I think the more likely comparison for Allen is Kyle Boller, who was also huge and athletic and rocket-armed with none of the mental aptitude for the NFL that you need to actually be a good QB. Hell, Allen wasn’t a good college QB so what makes anybody outside of the insular world of pro football think he can get better at the highest level? Within the NFL the answer is most obviously hubris but it might just be that there’s something (crossing the sports reference points here) like Jose Bautista’s jacked up swing that can be fixed and let that potential run wild. That seems like a ton of risk.
Worst outcome he’s Dan McGwire. Most likely outcome he’s Kyle Boller. Best possible outcome he’s Jeff George. Good for you, NFL team, if you think that’s a worthwhile risk but Allen seems so obviously the low man of the major QB prospects to me that I can only question my own judgment when he goes #1 overall. Until we see him play in an actual game I just do not get it at all.
93. Mason Rudolph
Rudolph made a great living against some horrible defenses just by having a great supporting cast. If you go looking for Garrett Grayson in the first round then here’s your guy. Otherwise just let it be the second draft with 5 first round QBs and be done with it. 1983 doesn’t need to be re-lived.
SPECIFIC COMMENT RESPONSE FROM LAST WEEK: Accuracy is about putting the ball in the proper “window” for your receiver to be able to make a play on it, placement is about how you get it there. In draft guy parlance that means “putting it where only your receiver can catch it” but it’s tied back to repeating your fundamental motion as close to identically as possible on every throw (repeatability.)
#nfl draft#quarterbacks#accuracy#placement#lamar jackson#josh rosen#baker mayfield#sam darnold#josh allen#mason rudolph
1 note
·
View note
Text
Cowboy Bebop Designer Toshihiro Kawamoto Talks Art Styles and Live-Action Adaptations
A few weeks back I had the pleasure of working with character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto at FanimeCon 2019 in San Jose, CA. The con had brought me in to moderate two of his events (including a live drawing session that has been uploaded to YouTube), and before getting on stage I had a chance to sit down for a one-on-one interview with Mr. Kawamoto.
Toshihiro Kawamoto is most well-known as a character designer thanks to his sleek, angular designs on series like Cowboy Bebop, Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, and Wolf’s Rain. But like many designers, he began his career as an animator. He worked his way up the ranks at Sunrise and eventually got a chance to design the characters for Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. After the critically acclaimed Cowboy Bebop, Kawamoto joined forces with a number of key Sunrise staff, including producer Masahiko Minami (who I interviewed nearly 10 years ago!) and animator Hiroshi Osaka, to split off and create their own studio: BONES.
20 years later, Kawamoto serves as an executive at BONES, though it seems that much of his time is still spent working away at his drawings, whether they’re character designs for Blood Blockade Battlefront or key animation and animation directing for Fullmetal Alchemist and Eureka Seven.
My conversation with Mr. Kawamoto covers a range of topics: his design process, his early years as an animator at Sunrise, his consultation on an ill-advised live-action Gundam movie, and yes, his thoughts on the upcoming Cowboy Bebop Netflix adaptation. A huge thank you goes out to Fanime guest staff Jinni and Isabel, interpreter Momo, and of course, Mr. Kawamoto for taking the time to speak with me. Enjoy!
Early in your career you were mentored by animator Sachiko Kamimura. How did you first start working with her?
I first met Ms. Kamimura when I was a key animator for ZZ Gundam. While I was on the project with her, I got to know her. I learned a lot and got some inspiration from Ms. Kamimura.
What kinds of things do you think you learned from her?
I talked to her recently and got the sense that she believes if you allow people to properly learn and train and grow they will be able to blossom into whatever talent they want to get into, and become a full professional in their field. Ms. Kamimura expressed that when I was the only young animator on the ZZ Gundam team. Working together while I was still pretty young and fresh, I think that was a big influence.
Back then and even now I'm not really sure why she was so taken with me and thought I had such great potential. In those days, we had no time to really focus on certain kinds of things. All we could do was sit down and draw as fast as possible. So I really don't understand what Ms. Kamimura saw in me. Even today I think about it.
Ms. Kamimura had this idea that as long as you properly train and teach these young professionals, they would blossom into their full potential. For the past 30 years I’ve really taken that to heart.
Could you walk me through your process when designing a character?
There are two different kinds of processes, depending on whether the anime is original or an adaptation.
For adaptations, I personally feel like I don't want to change the art. I don't want to change the original style of the manga it's adapting from. So I often work with the director, going back and forth and doing a kind of tag team thing to make sure that we accurately portray the original work.
When it comes to original animation, I often meet with the director and talk over what their vision is for the characters. I'll take their descriptions and interpret them into art. Generally I’ll create three to five variations of those characters in order to pinpoint what the director is aiming for.
When trying to understand the director’s taste and what they’re aiming for, we often play “catch.” We go back and forth in order to find out how the characters should be portrayed. That was the process for Cowboy Bebop.
I know some directors contribute their own designs to that process. Is that common for you?
Yes, it does happen for directors that have artistic skills. But in terms of my own work, I often pair up with directors with no art skills. So the director might do a really rough sketch of what they're imagining, but I generally draw it myself and provide that imagery so the director can decide what they want to do with it.
In terms of anime storyboards, generally directors will draw those out, and just by seeing the storyboards it's easy to tell if the director has any artistic skill. For Cowboy Bebop, the director was Shinichiro Watanabe, who later worked on Space Dandy. When I compared the storyboards from the Cowboy Bebop days and the Space Dandy days, I noticed “oh, he’s improved his art skills a little bit.” And before Cowboy Bebop, Mr. Watanabe was an episode director and drew storyboards on Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. If you look at the storyboards from then, well... I don’t want to say too much because it'll sound like I’m complaining or bad-mouthing, but ... yeah. He’s come a long way.
Storyboards for Cowboy Bebop and Space Dandy, respectively.
Something that I admire about your work is that you have a distinctive character design style that’s very much your own, but your adapted works are a little more subtle and complement the original designer’s work. How do you decide where to add the Kawamoto touch and where to hold back a little bit?
Even though other people may think I have a distinct Kawamoto style, when I’m working on adaptations I really want to erase my own unique style. As a character designer, I aim to ensure that the character design techniques and the technical aspects are similar. But in terms of what I want to accomplish, I want to express the original work.
After working on Gundam 0083, I worked on character designs for different kinds of media like Leiji Matsumoto, Tatsuya Egawa, and Masamune Shirow’s works. For those I really tried to deemphasize my own style. But now that I’m thinking about it, I wonder if I didn’t do a good enough job. If I do have a distinct style, maybe I’m not erasing my own uniqueness enough.
While I was working on Golden Boy, I also worked on a Sega Saturn game for Gundam. Even though I worked on both Golden Boy and the Gundam project together, I was trying to make sure that they don’t cross over.
Actually, on the subject of Gundam, I have a question about a very weird Gundam project. You’re credited for conceptual design on G-Saviour.
G-Saviour?!
I’m curious what you actually did on that project.
If I look back on my memories, the G-Saviour project was made in collaboration with Studio Sunrise. I had never worked on a Hollywood adaptation ever in my life, so even though I had no experience and was very unsure of myself, through working on G-Saviour I tried to learn a lot and make sure the project went smoothly. In terms of what I did for G-Saviour, if something wasn’t going well or there were some hiccups during the production, then I would submit art for the character’s costumes or certain ideas for what the characters would do. I would express that in a storyboard and then submit the storyboards to help them move things along.
And that would get sent directly to the production team in Canada?
Oh right, it was probably too expensive to do it in Hollywood so they did it in Canada. So I would submit the artwork to Canada.
In fact, the reaction to the storyboards that I submitted to them was so positive, they were like, “Wow, I’ve never seen such beautiful and clean storyboards!” They were really happy to work with me and get those kinds of visuals. Even though they were really happy about it, it made me think, “If they’re so happy with this, where are their skill levels at? What are they used to?” It made me really uneasy to think, “What have they been doing so far?”
Speaking of live-action, I’m sure you’re aware of the live-action Cowboy Bebop series. Have you been consulted on it at all?
I haven’t touched the project at all. I’ve had zero participation in it.
I think it's actually good that I haven’t had any part in making the adaptation. I think that if they asked for my opinion I would influence it too much in a certain direction, so I really want to see what they will make of it on their own.
But there are some things that I am a little bit surprised about. Like Spike Spiegel being played by an Asian actor. (EDITOR’S NOTE: He’s talking about Star Trek and Harold & Kumar’s John Cho.) “Spike Spiegel” is a German name, so I would have expected someone with German ancestry. I find these choices interesting but I don’t want to influence too much or say too much.
Are there any other projects of yours that you’d love to see adapted into a live-action Hollywood version?
I have a lot of challenges in drawing animals in animation. They’re really hard to draw for me. So I’m really interested in seeing a live-action adaptation of Wolf’s Rain. I think that with today’s CG technology it would be very possible.
Cowboy Bebop Designer Toshihiro Kawamoto Talks Art Styles and Live-Action Adaptations originally appeared on Ani-Gamers on May 30, 2019 at 9:55 PM.
By: Evan Minto
1 note
·
View note
Text
Cleveland Cavaliers pull off incredible comeback in coach Tyronn Lue's return to sideline
Click here for More Olympics Updates https://www.winterolympian.com/cleveland-cavaliers-pull-off-incredible-comeback-in-coach-tyronn-lues-return-to-sideline/
Cleveland Cavaliers pull off incredible comeback in coach Tyronn Lue's return to sideline
CLEVELAND — Tyronn Lue missed nine games because of chest pains, only to endure a thrilling 119-115 comeback win by the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Washington Wizards on Thursday in Lue’s return to the sideline.
Cleveland trailed by 16 points with 6:06 left in the fourth quarter before LeBron James helped the Cavs pull off the unthinkable, as NBA teams had been just 2-461 when by trailing by 16 points or more entering the final six minutes of a game this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. And James personally was 0-152 in his career when trailing by 15 or more in the final six minutes before he registered 13 of his 33 points, four of his 14 assists and four of his nine rebounds in the final period to pull off the win.
And Lue, when it was all over, thanked his team for securing the victory when he didn’t put them in the best position to succeed.
“I told the guys after the game, ‘Good job of bailing me out,’ ” Lue said. “It was tough. First game back and not having a point guard and not knowing what sets to call and what to run because you haven’t worked on it. … Just on the fly, it was tough. And those guys did a good job of scoring 119 points with no point guard and just sticking with it. Our rotations were a little off tonight so, I mean, I was rusty.”
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, who missed nine games for health reasons, says he thinks his team is ready for a “deep run” into the playoffs. David Liam Kyle/NBAE/Getty Images
Cavs starting point guard George Hill missed his third straight game because of a sprained left ankle. Cleveland backup point guard, Jose Calderon, was a late scratch because of discomfort in his left hamstring.
That left Lue naming Cedi Osman as a starter. It worked out fine at first, as the Cavs led by 39-26 at the end of the first quarter, but then Lue said he forced a lineup that had both Larry Nance Jr. and Tristan Thompson on the floor together at the same time, and Washington exploited it.
“I thought with them playing [Ian] Mahinmi and them playing [Mike] Scott, I thought we could get away with it,” Lue said of the pair, who had not played a single minute together this season before Thursday. “And it’s kind of hard playing two 5s off the bench. So, I tried to do that and tried to feature JR [Smith] and [Kyle] Korver off the ball with [Jordan] Clarkson. But it didn’t look too good. But, they haven’t worked on it either so, like I said, I put them in that position. I wanted to find Tristan minutes. I wanted to find Larry minutes. Because it’s going to be important in the playoffs. You never know what happens. So, like I said, they did a good job of bailing me out tonight and I appreciate that.”
While the Cavs’ coaching staff has faith in Nance’ midrange jump-shooting ability, he has been most effective at the 5. With Lue naming Jeff Green his starter in the front court along with James and Kevin Love for the postseason, he admitted that it would be hard for him to continue to play both Nance and Thompson in the postseason, when his rotation typically runs only nine deep.
Tyronn Lue, who had been away from the Cavs since March 19 due to medical issues, is thankful for LeBron James and Larry Drew, who kept the team on track.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue says the team will continue to start Jeff Green in the front court when the playoffs start as the team focuses on keeping players healthy over chasing seeding position in the Eastern Conference.
1 Related
Lue hasn’t made that decision already, with only three games left before the playoffs.
“Not yet,” Lue said. “But we will have to. Yes.”
Lue also took the blame for not properly preparing his team with what to run without a traditional point guard in the lineup. Cleveland ended up with 16 turnovers, leading to 26 points for Washington.
“Not really having a good package to run without a point guard,” Lue said. “We ran some stuff, but it wasn’t really that good.”
Still, the Cavs won for the 10th time in the past 11 games and embraced Lue’s presence nonetheless.
“It was great,” Love said. “Felt like we had our leader back. … It was good to have him back and getting us ready for these last three games and heading into the playoffs.”
And Lue, with admittedly some kinks to work out, is confident that the playoffs will be a more successful time for his team than say, that Nance-Thompson partnership was.
“I think we’re ready for a deep run,” Lue said.
Source link
0 notes
Text
Garth Crooks
Garth Crooks
Garth Crooks
Tottenham fell to their first defeat of the season on Sunday as Watford made it 4 wins from 4.
Manchester United acquired again to profitable methods by beating Burnley 2-0, Wolves acquired their first victory in opposition to West Ham, whereas Chelsea and Liverpool beat Bournemouth and Leicester respectively.
Elsewhere, Manchester City maintained their unbeaten begin to the season by beating Newcastle, Arsenal beat Cardiff in a five-goal thriller, whereas Southampton overcame Crystal Palace, Brighton drew with Fulham, and Everton shared the spoils with Huddersfield.
However who did sufficient to make my staff of the week? Learn my alternatives after which choose your personal XI.
Garth’s staff of the week
Goalkeeper – Rui Patricio
Rui Patricio: Wolves’ 1-Zero win in opposition to West Ham was fairly extraordinary.
The Hammers did every part they might to squeeze a consequence out of the fixture and would have accomplished had Patricio not produced one other improbable efficiency at London Stadium. His save from Michail Antonio was sensational – solely to be repeated when the Portugal worldwide stopped Marko Arnautovic from placing West Ham forward within the first half. It might have been a really totally different scoreline had it not been for Patricio.
As for West Ham, they need to maintain their nerve and never disintegrate in the event that they need to keep within the Premier League.
Do you know? Patricio has saved 50% of the ‘large probabilities’ he has confronted within the Premier League this season (two from 4). Solely Petr Cech (75%), Neil Etheridge (71%) and Alex McCarthy (56%) have a greater share within the division.
Defenders – Kyle Walker, Joe Gomez, Craig Cathcart, Andrew Robertson
Kyle Walker: Wow – what a strike from Manchester Metropolis’s England worldwide in opposition to Newcastle. It flew previous Martin Dubravka. This was the primary aim Walker has scored for Metropolis, and what a sensational option to begin your marketing campaign.
Now, concerning the self-inflicted holes in his socks. They appear as if the moths have been at them however serve a helpful psychological and really sensible objective. It is commonplace for some gamers to have points with their calves in video games, which can lead to cramping. Gamers slicing holes of their socks will not be new in soccer, though I used to be by no means totally satisfied. If Walker thinks it really works then that’s all that issues. I simply hope hundreds of children across the nation do not begin destroying completely good pairs of soccer socks.
Do you know? Walker’s aim in opposition to Newcastle was his first in 52 appearances for Metropolis.
Joe Gomez: If Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson have been the ‘finds’ of final season then I might argue that Liverpool’s Joe Gomez have to be the ‘discover’ of this season. The participant’s calmness in defence is matched solely by his simplicity on the ball. The central defender refuses to complicate the sport and that’s what I discover so lovely about his performances.
Three video games performed and no objectives conceded? I assumed I used to be listening to issues, however that was the fact going into the sport in opposition to Leicester Metropolis. Gomez has performed in all these video games But it surely was his efficiency in opposition to Leicester that was excellent. This participant is a should for England, and I’m actually sorry to must say this and put a lot stress on the lad, however he’s the closest factor I’ve seen to Bobby Moore for years.
Do you know? In addition to making extra interceptions (three) than some other participant in Liverpool’s recreation in opposition to Leicester, Gomez gained 100% of his duels and aerial duels.
Craig Cathcart: How did Spurs lose to Watford? What’s that about? If you cannot defend set-pieces you possibly can’t win titles, that is for certain.
After the highs of Outdated Trafford, Spurs followers suffered the indignation of dropping to Watford having taken the lead. I am completely happy to purchase the shampoo if the Tottenham gamers are that involved about heading the ball in their very own field. I’ve by no means seen something prefer it – and after such a brilliant victory over Manchester United final week.
Spurs lacked the dedication of Troy Deeney and particularly the aerial energy of Craig Cathcart in each bins. 4 wins in a row – what’s going on at Watford?
Do you know? Every of Cathcart’s 5 league objectives for Watford have come at Vicarage Highway, and all have come from set-pieces (three corners, two free-kicks).
Andrew Robertson: Final week I singled out Alexander-Arnold for particular reward. This week it is left-back Andrew Robertson, who was on the coronary heart of Liverpool’s victory. The younger Scot may be ruthless in defence and fairly devastating in assault. The way in which he regarded up and picked out Sadio Mane for his or her opening aim is one thing we’re starting to anticipate from the defender.
Robertson and Alexander-Arnold type a part of a Liverpool again 4 who’ve turn out to be very stingy.
Do you know? Solely James Milner (90) has accomplished extra passes within the opposition’s third within the Premier League this season for Liverpool than Robertson (67).
Midfielders – Raheem Sterling, Eden Hazard, Marcos Alonso
Raheem Sterling: What I really like about Pep Guardiola is he makes gamers who work for him higher, in a method Jose Mourinho finds extraordinarily tough, particularly at Manchester United.
Guardiola is a coach in the true sense of the phrase, and the participant who has benefitted most since Guardiola’s arrival at Manchester Metropolis has been Raheem Sterling. The England worldwide could not hit a barn door 18 months in the past however has clearly labored extraordinarily arduous on the coaching pitch, improved his hanging method and bought larger composure particularly in entrance of aim.
A lot has been mentioned about giving home-grown gamers an opportunity within the Premier League. Properly, we’d produce higher English gamers if we had higher English coaches.
Do you know? For the reason that begin of final season, solely Mohamed Salah (45) and Harry Kane (35) have had a hand in additional Premier League objectives than Sterling (31 – 20 objectives, 11 assists).
Eden Hazard: Chelsea merely wore Bournemouth down – the way in which Willian, Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho and Hazard twisted and tormented the guests for 90 minutes, it was hardly shocking. However for all of Chelsea’s ingenuity it took one thing a bit particular from Hazard to place the sport past the Cherries.
Chelsea have turn out to be a a lot nicer staff to observe than they have been below Mourinho, and to a lesser diploma Antonio Conte. However, it is killing Alvaro Morata. For all of Chelsea’s fancy play, when is Morata going to get an honest ball into the field to assault? He isn’t a Diego Costa and definitely no Didier Drogba however he’s very able to scoring objectives with the fitting service, and Hazard and co want to start out giving that.
Do you know? Hazard created extra probabilities (5) than some other participant within the Premier League this weekend.
Marcos Alonso: For the third consecutive week Alonso has made my staff of the week. The Spain worldwide is enjoying higher than I’ve ever seen him play.
Nevertheless, the full-back was very fortunate to have remained on the pitch in opposition to Bournemouth. After Alonso’s altercation with Adam Smith, referee Lee Mason later turned a blind eye to a profitable try to not let Smith take a fast throw-in. I’ve been a giant advocate of insisting that we retain 11 v 11 each time doable, nevertheless the place Mason acquired it so badly unsuitable was to provide Alonso a yellow card for his first infringement when a warning would have accomplished. By not reserving Alonso for his second and extra obnoxious offence, it left Mason open to the accusation that he ‘bottled it’.
Chelsea went on to win the fixture and Alonso was the chief architect of Bournemouth’s downfall. However, Cherries supervisor Eddie Howe, to his everlasting credit score, by no means complained. Numerous managers might take classes from that.
Do you know? Alonso has tried 12 pictures this season – greater than some other defender within the Premier League.
Forwards – Romelu Lukaku, Alexandre Lacazette, Sadio Mane
Romelu Lukaku: Of all of the video games that have been performed this weekend, the fixture that fascinated me essentially the most was Manchester United’s go to to Burnley.
The curiosity and hypothesis surrounding United boss Jose Mourinho is crimson sizzling. I noticed each ball kicked at Turf Moor searching for the slightest trace of riot from Mourinho’s gamers, and all I noticed was full and utter professionalism.
It is simply as effectively Mourinho has Lukaku in his aspect. The Belgian big lives to attain objectives and two first-half finishes sunk Burnley like torpedoes. Other than Marcus Rashford’s sending-off, I did not see an oz. of unprofessionalism. You may learn extra about my ideas on Mourinho and his relationship along with his gamers and the press in The Crooks of the Matter under.
Do you know? Lukaku scored his first Premier League brace for Manchester United since his debut in August 2017.
Alexandre Lacazette: The very suggestion Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cannot play collectively as a pair at Arsenal sends me apoplectic. The very fact of the matter is Arsene Wenger lacked the nerve to play the 2 up entrance frequently, and if Unai Emery had began his first two video games of the season with each males in his line-up he might have had totally different outcomes.
Managers deserve nothing (and infrequently get nothing) after they sacrifice a striker with huge goalscoring credentials for midfield mediocrity. Thank goodness Emery has come to his senses and began Aubameyang and Lacazette in opposition to Cardiff. The lads clearly get on and luxuriate in enjoying alongside one another. Scoring objectives is essentially the most tough factor to do within the recreation and for those who’ve paid a fortune to get goalscorers in your membership why on earth would not you play them?
Do you know? Lacazette has been straight concerned in seven objectives in his previous 5 Premier League begins (5 objectives, two assists).
Sadio Mane: Three video games and no objectives conceded? As I mentioned earlier, I assumed I used to be listening to issues within the commentator’s preamble earlier than Liverpool’s victory over Leicester Metropolis. I suppose that is what occurs when a defence seems to be prefer it has spent its total summer season attending a crash course on conserving clear sheets, and a three-pronged assault that appears like they’ve obtained drills from the Purple Arrows.
On the coronary heart of Liverpool’s fancy manoeuvres in opposition to Leicester was Mane. To be honest to the Senegal worldwide, he was final season, however Mo Salah had such an unbelievable marketing campaign that Mane’s attributes have been typically ignored.
Finally Jurgen Klopp has lastly realised what may be achieved with a reliable defence to help their assault. It is taken him three years to find that.
Do you know? Mane has had a hand in 4 objectives in his previous 4 Premier League video games in opposition to Leicester.
Now it is your flip
You’ve got seen my picks this week. However who would you go for?
The Crooks of the Matter
Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United beat Burnley 2-Zero on Sunday for his or her second win of the season
I did not suppose for one minute that I might be discussing the fortunes of Jose Mourinho at Manchester United in the one the fourth week of the Premier League season. Nevertheless his antics, even for him, have been ‘particular’. To show up for a information convention 30 minutes before it’s scheduled to take place with out giving journalists prior warning was mischievous. To then storm out of the following information convention, ranting and raving, after the defeat in opposition to Spurs was unprofessional. What we can not deny is its leisure worth.
We’ve got seen this behaviour from Mourinho earlier than, in fact. His antics at Chelsea, throughout each spells, nearly mirror what is going on at Outdated Trafford.
Not since Brian Clough’s 44 days at Leeds United have I witnessed such extraordinary behaviour in a supervisor. Clough might be outrageous at occasions however at all times maintained the utmost respect of the press. He had attraction, and it has been a while since Mourinho possessed even the slightest trace of charisma.
Legendary United boss Sir Alex Ferguson chastised, intimidated, and even banned journalists from attending his information conferences – however the press held him within the highest regard due to his accomplishments and standing within the recreation. Each Clough and Ferguson gained the European Cup and quite a few league titles. Mourinho’s achievements are comparable, and I believe Jose is completely entitled to ask for a similar degree of respect. The query is will he get it?
The way in which Mourinho stood and applauded United followers on the Stretford Finish as he left the sector after the defeat by Tottenham was nearly threatening. The band of United supporters who’re clearly standing by Mourinho sense, as all of us do, that their membership and the supervisor are in uncharted waters, and do not know what the Portuguese may do subsequent.
I’ve a robust suspicion the spectre of Zinedine Zidane may need so much to do with Mourinho’s anxieties. To get so emotional in a information convention in a bid to remind journalists who he’s and what he has accomplished within the recreation is pointless – we all know what he is accomplished – however suggests their relationship is at breaking level.
What Mourinho should defend in any respect prices is his relationship along with his gamers and the Manchester United board. Get that unsuitable and it is curtains.
BBC Sport – Football
ultras_FC_Barcelona
ultras FC Barcelona - https://ultrasfcb.com/football/11444/
#Barcelona
0 notes
Link
THE fans up in the stands or on the terracings who roar their heads off and those who spit bile and venom from start to finish at Old Firm games would never believe it, but there were moments of levity among the swinging boots in these torrid encounters.
Big Tommy Gemmell knew he was always in for a tough time of it when he was up against wee Willie Henderson. He was a pacy right-winger who was always at his happiest running directly at defenders with the ball. TG used to try to show him inside and pass him onto one of the other defenders to stop him in his tracks. I think Willie would be the first to admit his left foot was only for standing on.
There was one game when TG and Willie were going at it hammer and tongs. The challenges were thundering in all over the place and on one occasion my big Celtic pal caught the wee Ranger and sent him flying. The raging Ibrox support was demanding the referee send off TG and I saw Willie having a bit of backchat with my team-mate.
I sidled up minutes afterwards and asked Tommy, ‘What was the wee man complaining about?’ Tommy laughed and answered, ‘He was just saying if he had known he would be up in the air so much this afternoon he would have brought a parachute!’
On another occasion, Greigy, who also revelled in these encounters, went over to the Celtic end to fetch the ball for a throw-in. A voice exclaimed, ‘Greig, I didn’t realise you were such a dirty bastard.’ The Rangers captain swiftly replied, ‘Have you not been watching me all season!’
READY TO GO…Bertie Auld prepares for a game at Ibrox.
Between September 6 1958 and January 1 1960 I played four league games against Rangers and Celtic didn’t win one of them. We drew the first 2-2 at Parkhead with goals from Eric Smith and Bobby Collins. The next was on January 1 1959 and, despite a goal from Bertie Peacock, we went down 2-1 at Ibrox. The next came on September 5 the same year and we lost 3-1 with Mike Jackson getting our consolation effort. And the misery continued in the New Year derby when I played inside-right in a team beaten 1-0 at Parkhead.
Around that period Rangers regularly beat Celtic and you can’t argue that they were the better team with better players. They were also organised which certainly wasn’t the case at Parkhead until Jock returned to sweep through the place with the force of a hurricane.
Thankfully, I had better fortune against the boys from Govan during my second spell at Celtic. I remember a smashing League Cup Final against them on 29 October, 1966 when 94,532 crammed into Hampden. We all realised it was going to be a fabulous piece of skill or a huge blunder to break down the barriers both defences had erected. Luckily, we conjured up something to get the only goal of the game.
I sent over a nice pass and Jose McBride magnificently back-headed the ball into the tracks of the inrushing Lemon. The wee man from Saltcoats took the ball first time in his stride and it was in the back of the net before the Rangers keeper, Norrie Martin, could move. Jose might not have scored against our deadly rivals, but he more than played his part in helping us to beat them back then.
Another Cup Final that will never be erased from the Auld memory bank was the meeting for the Scottish Cup on April 26, 1969 at the national stadium which again was packed. Rangers had been playing well and had overwhelmed an excellent Aberdeen team 6-1 in the semi-final. We had beaten a more modest Morton side 4-1 on our way to Hampden. I believe our rivals were favourites that day.
They were without the suspended Colin Stein, who had been scoring so many goals since his £100,000 transfer from Hibs. However, we were also going into the game minus the skills of Jinky who, like his Rangers counterpart, was banned from the occasion. John Hughes, too, was sidelined with injury.
ON THE BALL…Bertie Auld with his usual poise.
The match turned into a stroll for us in the most remarkable of circumstances. Lemon took a corner from the left wing in the second minute and flighted in an inviting cross. Now everyone and their auntie knew about our skipper Caesar’s prowess in the air. He was virtually unbeatable and his timing was impeccable. He surely couldn’t have believed his good fortune when he got the freedom of Hampden to leap unchallenged, snap his neck muscles, make immaculate contact and send the ball soaring past the static Martin and into the net off the post.
I’m told the Rangers manager, Davie White, had detailed a guy called Alex Ferguson to pick up our captain at set-pieces. However, there was no sign of their centre-forward when Caesar timed his run into their penalty area to complete perfection. The Ibrox bosses couldn’t have been happy with Ferguson because he never played another first team game for them. I wonder whatever happened to him!
We simply rolled all over our opponents that day and were an incredible three goals up before the half-time whistle sounded. Lemon, so often the torturer-in-chief against the Ibrox side, rolled in the second and George Connelly got the third with astonishing assurance from a such a youngster who was hardly a first team regular. Rangers made a complete mess of a goal-kick. The keeper knocked it to Griegy and he carried it about six yards before shaping to pass the ball.
Big Geordie anticipated the actions from the Rangers skipper and intercepted the ball. He then waltzed round his startled opponent, strolled away from centre-half Ronnie McKinnon, walked the ball round Martin and plonked it in the pokey. It was such impudence from a young boy from Fife who probably wouldn’t have been in the side that afternoon if Jinky hadn’t been suspended.
The fourth goal summed up our day as we made about six or seven passes to sweep the ball upfield. As I recall TG started the ball rolling with a clearance to me. I put it across to Chopper who gave it back to me. I waited for my midfield partner to advance and I passed it to him again and he delivered a defence-shredding ball into the path of Stevie Chalmers.
Rangers hadn’t a clue what was going on. Stevie, who had pace to burn, simply took off towards the unprotected Martin as McKinnon tried desperately to get back. Lemon, as you might expect, raced with Stevie in support, but his colleague was in no mood to share the glory. Stevie shaped to pass across goal and then nonchalantly flicked the ball off the outside of his boot and into the net at the near post. Rangers were well and truly routed. Happy days!
TWO OF A KIND…Bertie Auld with his co-author and friend Alex Gordon.
Of course, as I said earlier, it wasn’t all sweetness and light on these occasions. I was left seething after a January 2 1968 clash at Parkhead. Chopper and I had scored and we were the dominant force that day. Yet we dropped a point in a disappointing 2-2 draw and our keeper, John Fallon, had a howler. Okay, your goalkeeper can make one mistake and you have to accept it. We are all human, after all, and there is often no way back for your last line of defence if he makes an error. John – or Peter as he was known and I’ll tell you why in a moment – blundered twice to gift Rangers their result.
The first was bad enough as he allowed a half-hit shot from Johnston to go through his legs. However, we still thought we had done enough to rack up a victory when we were leading with about a minute to go. Johansen – that guy again! – tried a speculative shot from about 40 yards out on the right.
I recall it was a foggy afternoon and I don’t know if our keeper saw the effort properly. But it was a sclaffed shot from such a long way out and shouldn’t have given him any trouble. He could have thrown his bunnet on it, as they used to say. However, Peter dived right over the top of the ball as it squeezed under him. Even the Rangers players couldn’t believe it. I swear that neither of their shots that day had enough oomph even to touch the back of the net. They simply crawled over the line.
Peter was a dejected figure as he sat in the dressing room. He didn’t need to be told he had performed miserably. At least, he lived up to his nickname! We called him Peter after a character called Peter Brady in the popular television series The Invisible Man. Fallon, who could be some shotstopper when he was on form, would often go AWOL. The defenders would look round and think, ‘Where on earth has our goalkeeper gone now?’ I think he enjoyed a wee walkabout his goal area when it might have been a better idea to remain on his line.
There was another occasion when Rangers beat us and we should have thanked them for that. Let me hastily explain just in case you think I have taken leave of my senses. A goal from their Swedish winger Orjan Persson gave them a 1-0 victory at Ibrox in September 1967 and, as European champions, we were so sickened by the defeat that we didn’t lose another league game throughout the campaign. That was only the second league match of the season, too.
We were angry with ourselves. We didn’t think we had done ourselves justice that particular afternoon and we all vowed to make sure there would be no more slip-ups. And so it proved. Celtic became the first club since 1935 to secure a hat-trick of titles and we did it by scoring 106 goals and conceding a mere 24 from 34 games. That was the best league campaign in Big Jock’s years.
By the way, I am sorry to inform the Rangers support that they did not beat the European champions that day. I have heard it said many times that the Ibrox loss was the first by the Lisbon Lions, but that is not the case. Davie Cattenach, a talented utility player, was in at right-back for Jim Craig at Ibrox, so that was not the team that had conquered Europe. Thought I might just clear that one up!
TOMORROW: Part Three of Bertie Auld’s Old Firm memoirs – and some of the unforgettable performances from his Celtic mates against their ancient foes.
*Don’t miss today’s big match report from the Old Firm derby in your champion CQN.
https://ift.tt/2CbByrY
0 notes
Text
Attendees Apply Winning Concepts To Their Companies (Pt. 1)
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — If you want to know how operators successfully run their companies, you’ll find a showcase of best practices among Summit attendees. This year, LCT editors took some time out from the three-day event agenda to talk with operators one-on-one about how they manage staff and lead in an era of tech disruption.
Selim Aslan, president, MIB Worldwide Chauffeured Services, San Diego, Calif.
Teamwork: Selim Aslan describes his leadership style as “compromising”; he prefers to listen to his employees and start a dialogue. For example, he describes the process of choosing the logo for his business: “There were four finalists we decided on, and we chose the winner together as a company,” Aslan says. Oddly enough, they all decided on the same one.
Aslan empowers his employees by educating them and letting them make decisions on their own. “My staff automatically knows they can offer discounts if it’s a customer who uses our services constantly. They don’t have to ask me because they know the boundaries.”
Zappos is a company he admires because of its great customer service. “Their philosophy is ‘you’ve got to make the customer happy.’ Everybody knows there’s one goal, and it’s to keep the client happy.” He also names Tesla — not only because of their attitude toward innovation, but because of CEO Elon Musk’s work ethic. “He failed so many times, and he always got back up and he’s still trying to do new things.”
Aslan is involved in his community and on the board of the San Diego Young Leaders association (a subgroup within the city’s Chamber of Commerce). He talks to attendees at every meeting, educates them on TNCs, and even offers them complementary services after some of the events so nobody uses Uber or Lyft.
Barry Gross, vice president of business development, Reston Limousine, Sterling, Va.
The veteran industry executive has cultivated a management approach honed at several large fleet operations around the nation.
Macro-management: “In terms of my style, I tend to be much more of a coach than a disciplinarian, the idea being we want our people to be as prepared as possible. We want to give them the tools and support to feel they’re best prepared so they can focus on delivering the service. When there are problems, we want them to feel free to think about solutions and then we can discuss the results after the fact. One of the things I say to my people is whatever you do, have a plan. Don’t let me see an incident report where we forgot about something or we overlooked it or we just didn’t pay attention. Give me an incident report stating the action we took. If it didn’t work out, then we can coach on that and determine what would have been the better course of action.
“Training and preparation are the two biggest things, and at that point you trust your people to make good decisions. I have this analogy that leadership and operations can be kind of like holding on to a cube of Jello. You can hold a cube of Jello in your palm with no problem, but when you squeeze it, it starts to go through your fingers and out of your hand. So, it’s a weird analogy but I think it’s most apropos. So if I’m constantly micromanaging my people and squeezing the life and decision-making out of them, ultimately we’re going to have problems because people will be hyper tense.”
Nick Boccio, fleet manager, Buffalo Limousine, Buffalo, N.Y
Steady presence: Nick Boccio leads in a calm, calculated manner. He doesn’t believe in flying off the handle or saying something without thinking it through first. “I would say seek first to understand, and then seek to be understood. That’s what my Uncle says, and it sums up how you have to consider what a person was thinking while they were doing something and why they did it,” he says. “If I can’t even begin to wonder, then obviously my response will indicate that, but if I can say, ‘Well, you know what? This person has a point,’ I’ll react differently.”
As a manager, Boccio empowers his employees by understanding their capabilities so he doesn’t expect too much of any one person. “I think as long as you enable them to enjoy what they’re doing, don’t create a hostile environment, and encourage them to explore positions that interest them, no one will dislike coming in to work every day.”
Mike Barreto, COO, Eagle Chauffeured Services, Upland, Pa.
Rebuild with respect: Mike Barreto recently took over another company, so his leadership style has centered on rebuilding it from the inside out. “It was hard for me; it wasn’t like I withdrew myself to the point where I wasn’t talking to anybody, but I wanted to make sure the company was running properly,” he explains.
With employees used to working under a different leader for 15 plus years, Barreto understood he couldn’t just tell them they were doing things wrong and change overnight. “You have less of a chance of retention once new policies come in place. So, I try to be as disciplined as possible as to how I release information, and how I was able to get people to understand the vision we’re going towards.”
Barreto wants his people to be free thinkers and gives them what he calls “the 180 view.” If there’s a problem or issue, he wants them to understand what ownership is like and let them make decisions; but he also tries to help them see why he acts in a specific way.
He credits Tim Rose (of Flyte Time) as a mentor who taught him a lot about how to manage people. “He doesn’t look at anyone as a stat on a payroll sheet,” Barreto says. “You have to consider what you need to do to put your employees in the best position to succeed.”
Barreto tells his staff to not come to him with a problem, but also with a solution they think is best. “It might not always be something the person at the top agrees with, but at least it shows you they care about the bottom line.”
The most difficult obstacle he has overcome in taking over Eagle is setting up proper processes. “I’ve had to really be a puzzle maker to be able to fit the pieces together where they were falling short and rearrange it so everything fit, and that was the biggest challenge that drew me to do this company.”
Eagle was once a very large, strong operation in the region. “It was in the ashes, but there’s still something great there — it’s just a matter of doing the right things to make it grow and rise up out of them.”
H.A. Thompson, founder and owner, Rose Chauffeured Transportation, Charlotte, N.C.
Customer service: “One of the things you have to understand in any business, especially in the service business, is how do you treat the customer? How you treat the employees is how they treat the customer. So you have to create respect. And a lot of people in our business have a tendency not to respect the chauffeurs. They respect the vehicles and the equipment sometimes more than the chauffeurs. And you’ve got to build respect and trust between the employees and the chauffeurs. That’s so critical, and it takes a long time. We didn’t have it for a long time and we’re really coming full circle now. It is so important, because our product is hospitality. This is a high service business. And I don’t think a lot of people who have limousine and transportation companies realize the level of service.
“We have driver meetings and I read [emails] to them. Then we talk to them, and sometimes if they drop the ball, I bring them in and talk to them about it and say, ‘Hey, what happened?’ You know, ‘Why did you do that?’ And when they’re hired, we talk about this. The driver is the whole company when they’re out. They’re everything. They are the pipeline to the company. This is why if you do it right you don’t have to advertise. Like a killer restaurant that has awesome food and servers. They don’t have to promote because you get an experience. Then they come back in the door.”
Harry Dhillon, owner, Ecko Transportation, San Jose, Calif., and two-time LCT Operator of the Year Award winner
Employee attention: “I’m very involved with employees and understand what can be done to make their lives easier. I give them incentives on a quarterly basis, such as $50 gift cards. I have not overloaded any employee in the office or on the road with work that can stress them to a point where they miss something very critical. The quality check system we have in place gives them the power to back up their work and give 100%. For chauffeurs there are incentives for spot time; whichever driver is making the most spot time will get a gift card at the end of the pay period. We have a fleet manager who does spot checks on them, and anyone who scores best in the pay period also gets another incentive. That gives them a reason to be there before the pick-up time, to keep their cars clean, and to keep the assortments such as sanitizers, newspapers, and magazines in order because they know that if they get spot-checked and it’s 100%, they’ll get a gift card at the end of the pay period.”
Evan Blanchette, CEO, VIP Global Ultra-Premium Chauffeured Transportation, Miami, Fla.
Focus: Evan Blanchette describes his leadership style as being swift and direct. He doesn’t sugar coat things, and makes sure to convey to his team the details they need to succeed. “I don’t usually micromanage, but I do when I need to until things are running smoother,” he explains. Clarity is the key to ensuring there’s no miscommunication. “Everyone’s very clear on our vision and how we do things, and it resonates through the company.”
President Donald Trump is a leader he admires because he’s focused and makes things happen. “I see myself in some of his struggles as far as being the underdog. People counting you out, let’s say. But if you just stay focused and consistent, things will eventually work through. And I think that’s what he’s shown.”
Rising from zero and establishing the company’s credibility was Blanchette’s biggest challenge when he started his business four years ago with one car. He’d build a department and then pass it along to someone he could trust to manage it. “I didn’t start with a lot of money; I started with $10,000, one car, and a cell phone, and just grinded through it.”
Nick Kokas, vice president of business development, Brentwood Limousine, Macomb, Mich.
Team of rivals: “I’m a firm believer of not surrounding myself with yes men or yes women. I don’t mind someone who may have an opposing view or idea. I think it creates dialogue. It creates new insight and ideas. I think when you surround yourself with a bunch of yes people you limit your potential and creative thinking within an organization. So we have discussions among ourselves where we’ll sit around at a table and throw out ideas at each other. That even includes the chauffeurs. We’ll ask them for their feedback and what they like and don’t like. And we really take those things into consideration. It also gives our staff a sense of unity, inclusion, and creates a better team environment.
Difficult decisions: You have to look at your company almost as a living, breathing entity. What do you have to do to keep that thing healthy? Sometimes you have to make tough decisions. And so during those times, we downsized. We right-sized the fleet and renegotiated with many of our vendors. That includes insurance. A lot of people think, ‘Oh, well. Insurance is something you really can’t negotiate.’ Not true. We’ve been with our insurance broker for over two decades, so we have a great relationship with them. But I think many people put their pride in front of the well-being of the company. You should be willing to swallow your pride and really look at the company as a human being and take care of it. I think it’s one way to go through difficult obstacles.”
Related: Attendees Apply Winning Concepts To Their Companies (Pt. 2)
Keywords
Barry Gross business management employee management Evan Blanchette H.A. Thompson LCT Events LCT Leadership Summit Mike Barreto Nick Kokas staff management
Follow @lctmag on Twitter
via Limo News http://ift.tt/2sT4fAI
from Attendees Apply Winning Concepts To Their Companies (Pt. 1)
0 notes
Text
Jamie Delano Talks Politics, Anger and His World Without End
Jamie Delano is quite simply one of the most talented and influential comics writers of his generation. Perhaps best known as the original writer of “Hellblazer,” Delano’s run established the character of John Constantine as a solo lead, and crafted the book’s combination of political and social commentary with horror in a way that has endured in the years since.
Delano went on to write many other comics, including a long string of projects at Vertigo including “2020 Visions,” “Hell Eternal,” “Tainted” and more, accompanied by some of the best artists in the business. In recent years, Delano has stepped away from comics and focused on writing prose, which he publishes through his own Leepus Books.
One of Delano’s Vertigo projects was the miniseries “World Without End,” which he created with artist John Higgins. With the series just collected in a hardcover edition by Dover Publications, Delano looked back on the project with CBR, also discussing the novels he’s been working on in recent years, and the benefits of creative work being driven by political anger.
“World Without End” hardcover edition cover
CBR:It’s been a while since it was released, so how would you describe yours and John Higgins’ “World Without End?”
Jamie Delano: “World Without End” was, and is, a far-future fantasy, an extreme speculative fiction extrapolation of some of the more undesirable political and cultural tendencies that afflict our human psyche. Its setting is a world whose geological landscape has been long-superseded by living flesh, evolved to the point of degradation — as I think I recall — from a ‘prehistoric’ biologically engineered elite leisure resort. Bedlam, as this future is known, is peopled by the mutated descendants of the staff and guests preserved by this autonomous establishment through a catastrophic environmental degradation. The dominant culture is “masculist,” authoritarian and oppressive, but there exists — “underground” in the necrotic wastelands — a feminist resistance. Both these divergent cultures are mutated beyond the recognizable to the point of parody. The resulting conflict of “fundamentals” provides the focus for some outrageously tongue-in-cheek drama, depicted through gorgeous painted art and florid linguistic flights of fancy of a somewhat purple tint.
Brother Bones is a strange but memorable character. Where did he come from and how much of his look and his language was your idea?
Brother Bones — a genetically engineered masculist super-commando — has his genesis in an idea for a series originally destined for a proposed British anthology that (and I hope but won’t guarantee that I’m accurate here in my recollection) David Lloyd was trying, ultimately unsuccessfully, to put together. Longer story short – some time later, a high-ranking member of DC staff suggested at a party that maybe I would like to consider working on a Batman graphic novel, maybe painted by John Higgins. Somewhat arrogantly perhaps, I replied that I’d rather do an original project with John, and, as it happens, we have this thing we’d like you to consider…
Bones was kind of my sly take on a perceived adolescent-male desire for uncompromising, ultra-violent warrior “heroes.” His look was entirely of John’s imagining; I take full responsibility for his motivation and language.
I kept thinking that for comics this was a weird book, but it reminded me in some ways of this tradition of science fiction stories like Russell Hoban’s “Riddley Walker,” and people like Burroughs and Ballard and Wyndham and others. Were those the sort of books you found interesting?
Wyndham to a lesser degree, but the others mentioned can definitely be described as both of interest and influential. I read and enjoyed a lot of science/speculative fiction in my formative years, and might expand your suggestions to include such as (and in no particular order): Dick, Jose Farmer, Disch, Delaney, LeGuin, Brunner, Lessing, Moorcock, etc.
“World Without End” interior page by Jamie Delano and John Higgins
Now, you were writing “World Without End” after “Hellblazer” had become a big success, and it’s a very different book from that. Besides just wanting to do something different, what did you want to do? I assume you and John Higgins had a lot of creative freedom with the book.
We did have a lot of creative freedom; I’m very grateful for the trust – perhaps misplaced – of DC’s management of the day. Specifically, that of editor, Karen Berger.
What did I want to do with this freedom? I don’t think I really had a plan, other than to take the opportunity to indulge a penchant for building bonkers allegorical worlds and playing around with weird concepts and language. I was deeply involved in my work on “Hellblazer,” and mired in the persona of its lead. But John Constantine’s was an intense and oppressive reality to inhabit – perhaps a bit too close to my own, and he was not a totally original product of my imagination. Maybe I was a bit stir crazy. “World Without End” offered me a chance to splurge all over a blank imaginary canvas and I guess I went a bit nuts with it.
I was rereading your “Hellblazer” run earlier and I was struck by how good it is — which I always thought — but also by how political it was, and how angry it could be. A lot of creators are politically angry right now, and honestly, it’s hard writing political stories that aren’t didactic or dull. You’ve done this throughout your career, and I wondered how you’ve approached it.
For me, the two biggest incentives encouraging me to the keyboard — other than the piteous whimpering of hungry children — have been boredom and anger. Whether my fiction is fantasy or “real-world” based, it is generally powered by my existential preoccupations. Far-future flesh-scapes and the supernatural are usually co-opted by my imagination for the purpose (however tenuous) of allegory — although the intention is not didactic. Writing, for me, is a largely subconscious process. I’m not good at planning, or structuring rational moral arguments; I allow the writing process to subsume me – immerse myself in the “reality” of a story and inhabit the characters in more-or-less successful attempts to subjectively share their experience of the worlds to which I consign them. Since most of them therefore must reflect aspects of myself and my worldview, I guess maybe the politics is more organic than polemic. Others may well disagree.
I can’t speak for other writers, but I am certainly currently angry/despairing, while oddly resigned to the probably catastrophic change bearing down on our “civilization.” Politically, culturally and environmentally, we have reached a tipping point — which I have anticipated for decades — from which it is probably too late to scramble back. It remains to be seen what nature of beast crawls from the wreckage — maybe a degenerate monster; maybe a wonder of evolution. I suspect it may take a while to know for sure. I presume to offer no advice for others on how to address this situation, other than to remind them of the power of imagination — to inspire both good and ill — and to be careful what you wish for. The raw potential of revolutionary chaos relished in youth may seem less appealing in one’s dotage.
“World Without End” interior page by Jamie Delano and John Higgins
“World Without End” and “Hellblazer” aren’t the only work you did at DC/Vertigo — I first got to know your work from the mid-late 1990s like “Ghostdancing,” “Tainted,” “Batman Manbat,” “Hell Eternal,” “2020 Visions.” Is there any chance we’ll see any of these reprinted one of these years?
The rights in most of the titles you mention above remain with DC. I’d be happy to see any of them reprinted. “2020 Visions” is back in the ownership of its creators and currently without an English-language edition. We’re open to any offers to rectify that situation. Same goes for “Cruel & Unusual.” There is a chance that a new, re-colored edition of “Outlaw Nation” might eventually be forthcoming, if enough interest can be engendered. Otherwise, I have it vaguely in my mind to one day do them through my Lepus Books imprint as print-on-demand editions.
So, reading “World Without End” in this new collection, 25 years after it first came out, I’m curious what you think of it.
I haven’t re-read “World Without End” properly since it was published. I generally find it hard to revisit finished stories — uncomfortable even, in that they are products of my mental condition at a specific time of my life and, consequently, (as well the worry that I’ll be embarrassed by their ineptitude) I find the dissonance between the evoked then and now a little disconcerting. Maybe I’ll keep them by me for my accession to the eventual Dementia Home, to use as aides memoir to a past riddled by confusion. That said, I have looked through the book and found it a very pleasing production. Dover have done a fantastic job on their edition – probably some of the highest printing standards enjoyed by anything I’ve written. And John’s art certainly deserves such treatment. Let me just take a moment to thank the editors — Drew Ford and Peter Lenz — and the design team at Dover for making this excellent edition happen; and DC Comics and Karen Berger, for taking the original chance. Not forgetting top lettering by Richard Starkings and insightful afterword by Steve Bissette.
You’ve been writing prose in recent years. What have you been working on?
I took a short break from writing comics a few years ago, which somehow grew into an indefinite hiatus. It was my expectation as child that, one day, I would write novels. Realising that I was approaching sixty years of age without having made any effort to achieve this ambition, I decided maybe I should get on with it while I still had time. Much angst and procrastination ensued- but eventually I completed “Book Thirteen,” an in-no-way-autobiographical black comedy family saga, featuring a blocked “Old Writer” who’s harassed to the point of dementia by his perceived need to successfully craft a plot in which the arcs of his nearest and dearest carry them clear of calamity. When it was done I liked it, but was too shy to risk it with agents and conventional publishers, opting instead for the financially suicidal route of publishing it myself.
Since its one-title inception Lepusbooks.co.uk, has expanded its remit a little to become a small co-operative publisher-of-last-resort for a few pals with something to say and an interesting way of saying it. “LEEPUS | DIZZY” is my second novel, and a bit more “genre” than the first: file it under weird, dystopian, alternate reality, apocalypse junkie wish-fulfillment. Although sales and exposure have so far been minimal, I like the Leepus environment enough to be two-thirds through a second visit. I expect “LEEPUS | THE RIVER” to be finished and in print before the summer of 2017. Emotionally, I haven’t completely abandoned comics- but writing prose is absorbing, personally satisfying and time-consuming.
Dover’s hardcover edition of “World Without End” is now available.
The post Jamie Delano Talks Politics, Anger and His World Without End appeared first on CBR.com.
http://ift.tt/2l9NUUc
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
newsfromnowherephotos-blog
news from nowhere
infamm
Martes de sopa doble
nifragtumble
Nifrag
deteneoyet
SEER