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Customer Raves & Reviews
Beautiful invitations
Soft and Sweet Rectangle Invitations Beautiful invitations and RSVP cards. You can't go wrong with the design. However, take note that the pearlescence paper is really slick and when I tried to stick stamps on the RSVP postcards, I had to use extra glue to keep them down. This also happened on the pearlescent envelopes when I used labels. The labels would curl up and I had to put extra weight on them for a day or two before they would stay.
Lovely Product!
Soft and Sweet Save the Date Cards I am always skeptical of purchasing online, so I was even more so excited when MagnetStreet sends you a sample for free. That way I am able to gauge the texture, color, style, thickness of paper, etc. Once I received it, BAM, I knew I had to order. Once my purchase came in for my wedding, it stopped my heart: It was presented in a wonderful box, enclosed properly and beautiful, and it hit me that this is real. To see the very first print out with our names together...I started having heart palpitations, LITERALLY, laughing! The paper was nice and thick, the texture wonderful, the colors bright, everything I wanted. I would definitely order from MagnetStreet again, they have totally proved themselves to me with quality products and wonderful pricing.
Couldn't get any Better!
Soft and Sweet Half-fold Programs I used Magnet Street for my save the date magnets, my invitations and now these beautiful wedding programs. Each time the product has come out amazing! The print is high quality, the paper is high quality, and they process everything quickly and correctly (as long as you personalized it correctly!)!!! Its amazing to be able to customize the design and have so many to choose from. They have truly helped us in giving our wedding that special touch! I couldn't be more please with what they have done and I can't wait to come back for Thank You cards!
Very pleased
Soft and Sweet Rectangle Invitations The cards arrived quickly in a lovely box. I am very happy with what we received!
Save the Date Magnets
Soft and Sweet Save the Date Magnets I was so happy with the way my save the date magnets turned out. I opted for the Just One to see how it looked before ordering all of them at once and it was delivered within days of ordering. I was able to personalize my own colors and text. I noticed that the text became too large for the area easily, and I may have had the text in the lower right corner larger if I could have, but I really think it turned out fantastic anyway. The presentation of the items upon delivery was notable. They arrived in a high quality box that I have since used to keep track of stamps and other paper products. I also received 10 extra magnets, which was a pleasant surprise. In addition, a First Look book was included for invitations with a few samples, which was fun. The quality of the magnets is excellent. I did notice that some black flecks were shedding from the edges as we stuffed the envelopes, but that wasn't really anything to complain about. Overall, I would definitely recommend this product!


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Designed to handle your biggest treks and adventures, our stretch, straight-leg Belay tech pant is made form quick-drying, UV protective and moisture-wicking nylon/elastane, giving you unlimited freedom to explore. With a trim fit, lightweight snaps and an engineered waistband, our tech pant eliminates the bulk and adds comfort to take you higher…and further.
• Merrell Opti-Wick moisture management
• 96% Microfiber Polyester/ 4% Elastane
• Soft, lightweight and stretch woven fabric
• Moisture-wicking and quick-drying for comfort in varying environments
• Hidden, contoured stretch waistband for reduced bulk under pack belts
• Zip-secure pockets
• 32" inseam (women's size 8)

subset: commoncrawl


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By Daniel Burris
"Over the next five short years the following game-changing technologies will transform how we sell, market, communicate, collaborate, educate, train, innovate, and much more."
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By Daniel Burris
"Over the next five short years the following game-changing technologies will transform how we sell, market, communicate, collaborate, educate, train, innovate, and much more."
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Scooped by Jim Lerman |
Okay, not everybody. The venerable publishing company is trying to reinvent itself for the Digital Age—in the most fraught, political, emotion-racked field there is: your children's education. That's stirring up a lot of anger
Image is of "Sir Michael Barber, Pearson's chief education advisor, [who]may be the most influential educator on earth."
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
by Ting kYuan
"How do instructors design quality online discussion for student teachers? A recent quantitative study examined the online discussion threads of 21 pre-service and in-service teachers based on their experiences watching videos in a graduate teacher education course. Specifically, the course instructor assigned a series of animated geometry teaching episodes for discussion. The animated video stories contained different versions of classroom teaching events, including critical events that might not align with the best practices in the field.
"Students watched videos and time-stamped comments on LessonSketch, an interactive video-based learning environment featuring animated representations of math teaching. An explicit, succinct guideline was provided under each video: "The teaching is not necessarily exemplary or problematic. It is just a case of teaching that provides food for thought." Students were graded based on the thoughtfulness and insight of their comments. In addition, the instructor decided not to moderate the forum or comment on any of the student postings throughout the course."
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from Business Brainpower with the Human Touch |
Some aspects of organizational culture are visible on the surface, like the tip of an iceberg, while others are implicit and submerged within the organization. Because these ingrained assumptions are tacit and below the surface, they are not easy to see or deal with, although they affect everything the organization does.
There is a lot more going on under the surface than meets the eye.
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from Into the Driver's Seat |
by Terry Heick
"Like thinking, reading in the 21st century is different than in centuries past, endlessly linked in an increasingly visible web of physical and digital media forms. As symbols and their referents change, so do the cognitive processes and habits.
"So in this context of media abundance, what does the modern, 21st century "reader" look like? How can we appeal to their interests? Or, more precisely, what does it mean to "read" in 2015? What does a reader, today, look like?
"How can you teach digital students non-digital things?"
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from Into the Driver's Seat |
by Keith Button
"Pesident Barack Obama announced his free community college plan to the nation last week, and the first wave of critics and advocates have had their say.
"Formally called "America's College Promise," the plan is modeled after the "Tennessee Promise" and offers free tuition for two years at community college to students who keep up a grade-point average of 2.5 or better, and who graduate within three years."
Here's a rundown of five pros and cons being debated about the plan so far:
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
by Katrina Schwartz
"District public schools have a bad reputation for being static and slow to change. But a public school district near San Diego is proving that collaboration between motivated teachers, engaged parents ready for a change and progressive leaders can lead to a dramatically different way of approaching public education."
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
by Steve Kolowich
"When Michael Henderson is grading his students' final assignments, he likes to skip the written comments for them. Instead of a red pen, Mr. Henderson, a senior lecturer in education at Monash University, in Australia, takes out a video camera. He records a five-minute, unscripted critique for each student. He doesn't bother editing the videos, even if he says "um" a lot or has to rephrase a sentence or two.
"Mr. Henderson and Michael Phillips, a colleague on the education faculty, have been doing it this way for about five years. They say their students prefer video feedback, finding it clearer and seemingly more sincere than written notes, notwithstanding the lack of polish. And making the videos takes the instructors less time, on average, than would writing out comments longhand.
"The two Monash instructors recently wrote about their video-feedback method, in a paper that analyzes survey responses and unsolicited notes from 126 of their students. "A surprising theme in the data was that students reported that they felt the feedback to be 'real,' 'honest,' and 'authentic,'" they wrote in the paper, which will appear in a coming issue of the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, a peer-reviewed journal."
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
by Anya Kamenetz
description by SmartBrief for the Higher Ed Leader
"More colleges and universities are replacing credit hours with demonstrations of learning, according to a recent report. Data show nine colleges provide full competency-based programs, reaching more than 140,000 undergraduates and 57,000 graduate students."
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from E-Learning and Online Teaching |
The basic cognitive skills needed by previous generations are no longer enough. Students in the conceptual age must also master the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, including creation, metacognition and self-actualization.
"It will require an upgrade to our curriculum, new instructional methods and materials, a new profile of a global graduate and an open mind," say Smith, Chavez and Seaman.
For ideas about how to re-create your classroom for the conceptual age, including potential classroom setups, blended learning models to mix and match, and a curriculum design process, take a look at the infographic
This is very timely for us at International School Bangkok as we are re-visiting curriculum and technology integrations. Just had to share this infographic from ISTE.
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from Into the Driver's Seat |
The scientific research on the benefits of so-called expressive writing is surprisingly vast. Studies have shown that writing about oneself and personal experiences can improve mood disorders, help reduce symptoms among cancer patients, improve a person's health after a heart attack, reduce doctor visits and even boost memory.
Now researchers are studying whether the power of writing — and then rewriting — your personal story can lead to behavioral changes and improve happiness.
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
"The ALI program is a five-year pilot project funded by Cornell alumni, Alex and Laura Hanson. Those involved in the initiative said it helps every student: Advanced students are able to delve deeper into the course material than they might have otherwise, midrange students have more exposure to the material, and students who are struggling have the chance to study the material at their own speed in advance of the class."
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from Into the Driver's Seat |
by Nigel Coutts
"Ed note: Part 1 of this 2-part series can be seen here; note that some of the language has been slightly revised from the original post by Nigel. He uses the term passion projects, which is very close to Genius Hour and Passion-Based Learning. The differences across the three terms are often a matter of individual use and interpretation, a point we wanted to help clarify by using the three terms interchangeably even though they may not be exactly the same–passion projects needn't use a Genius Hour format, nor does passion-based learning necessarily need to take the form of projects. In that way, the above model can be used for any of the three, but it felt most precise as a model for teachers to use to design Genius Hour projects. So, here we are. You can (and should!) read more from Nigel at thelearnersway.net.
"In an ongoing effort towards polishing the edges, over the years we have continued to refine the processes we apply to the Personal Passion Project. We have gained insights into the sorts of projects that work well and which will cause difficulties. We have added a degree of structure while maintaining the required degree of freedom necessary for a personalised project."
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
MOOCs were going to revolutionize education—but just because you put a college class online, doesn't mean you've solved the problem with university lectures.
Read more at http://observer.com/2015/01/free-online-courses-are-still-falling-short-of-their-ultimate-promise/#ixzz3QF6DSy5s
Follow us: @newyorkobserver on Twitter | newyorkobserver on Facebook
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
The average life of a Web page is about a hundred days. Strelkov's "We just downed a plane" post lasted barely two hours. It might seem, and it often feels, as though stuff on the Web lasts forever, for better and frequently for worse: the embarrassing photograph, the regretted blog (more usually regrettable not in the way the slaughter of civilians is regrettable but in the way that bad hair is regrettable). No one believes any longer, if anyone ever did, that "if it's on the Web it must be true," but a lot of people do believe that if it's on the Web it will stay on the Web. Chances are, though, that it actually won't. In 2006, David Cameron gave a speech in which he said that Google was democratizing the world, because "making more information available to more people" was providing "the power for anyone to hold to account those who in the past might have had a monopoly of power." Seven years later, Britain's Conservative Party scrubbed from its Web site ten years' worth of Tory speeches, including that one. Last year, BuzzFeed deleted more than four thousand of its staff writers' early posts, apparently because, as time passed, they looked stupider and stupider. Social media, public records, junk: in the end, everything goes.
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from Into the Driver's Seat |
Futuresource fielded a team of nine analysts at the BETT show this year and reported in detail on exhibitors, new technologies and industry sentiment.
Enter your details below to download your free 46-page show report, which provides a roundup of these findings.
This is the largest ed tech conference in the UK, similar to ISTE in the US. The report is free, after free registratiion. The report itself is most informative regarding the latest trends, particularly in hardware and infrastructure.-JL
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from Business Brainpower with the Human Touch |
Strategic planning is much easier than many people realise. If you have an intimate knowledge of your business and are able to think pragmatically about your strengths and weaknesses, you should be able to create a strategic plan fairly easily.
Take a deep-dive into each of the components and giving some tips on how to actually create them effectively.
Strategic planning is of great importance in the classroom too. Both teachers and students need to plan their work. With the teacher it is about planning for the whole year, and for the student it could be about planning for his or her research paper for the term. In all cases, planning continues to be a factor that can spell success or failure! While, no doubt this article is aimed at the business world, I see its relevance in Education too!
A first step in benefits realisation is being sure of what we are trying to achieve. This article is useful in giving a step-by-step process for creating a strategic vision that doesn't end up as some generic, jargon-filled statement that is uninspiring to staff and clients alike.
Strategic planning must give three products:
1. Address: Define which should be directed towards the organization (Vision, Vision and Values).
2. Focus: In what ways the organization (objectives and goals) will concentrate.
3. Alignment: Align all resources (financial, material and human) of the company.
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
Course starts Feb. 23 and runs for 5 weeks. Aimed at K-16 educators.
" EDUCAUSE and the University of Central Florida (UCF) are bringing back the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Instructure's Canvas Network with "BlendKit2015: Becoming a Blended Learning Designer," their second installment on the merits and methods of blended learning. The BlendKit2014 course was EDUCAUSE's first-ever MOOC, and it elicited a tremendous response from the higher education and K-12 communities."
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
by Katrina Schwartz
"Some big education issues have been making headlines, including how many and what kind of standardized tests should be used in education, implementation of Common Core State Standards and the Vergara ruling in California challenging teacher tenure. But many educators continue to focus on the more personal issues behind these headlines: how to improve their craft, serve students better, nurture well-rounded, emotionally intelligent students and make educational change in more fundamental ways."
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
This online collaboration is open to anyone who attends, works in or works with higher education in the United States. The "Explore the Beyond" online collaboration will use crowd-sourcing and future scenarios developed in the "Invent the Beyond" course (delivered Sept-Nov 2014) to explore and describe the factors critical to the success of student, faculty and postsecondary institutions in 2030. Through successive interactive and discursive sessions participants will identify and quantify the critical success factors and potential new business models in play for higher education stakeholders. The "Explore the Beyond" sessions will see participants establishing and exploring how three stakeholder groups – students, faculty and institutions – would fare, what factors would be critical to the success of those communities, in the previously identified scenarios. The final session will recap and consolidate the learnings and implications of the complete process to Invent the Beyond resulting in a set of critical success factors and a framework for informing institutions and individuals as they build their future plans.
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from Into the Driver's Seat |
by Bryan Bishop
"You'll have to excuse me. I'm going to sound a little excited now.
"Earlier today Oculus announced Story Studio, its in-house production team dedicated to producing virtual reality movies. We've been seeing VR narrative experiences for years at this point, and while they've been getting more and more impressive, they've still been iterative steps forward. Despite how much we've all wanted to it to happen, nothing has stood up, raised its hands, and shouted "I'm the project that proves this crazy thing could actually work."
"I just watched Lost, the first short from Story Studio. That stand up and shout moment? It's arrived."
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
by Dann Albright
"Internet surveillance has been a hot topic in recent years—we've talked about it extensively here at MakeUseOf, it's been brought up on major news outlets daily, and we've seen a slew of new apps, extensions, and products aimed at helping you retain your privacy online.
"This article is meant to be as comprehensive a resource as possible on avoiding Internet surveillance. We'll talk about why Internet surveillance is such a big deal, who's behind it, whether or not you can completely avoid it, and a wide range of tools that will make you harder to track, identify, and spy on."
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from E-Learning and Online Teaching |
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog -
It's that time of the year when everybody is doing their "Best of 2014" lists, and I have one of my own that I've been wanting to do for some time now.
It will not come as a surprise to anyone that in order to prepare The Teaching Professor newsletter each month and this blog every week, I read a lot of pedagogical literature. But perhaps you would be surprised to know there are close to 100 pedagogical periodicals, at least that's how many I am aware of at this point. When writing my book, Scholarly Work on Teaching and Learning, I did my best to find them all and when the book was finished I was quite confident I had. However, the book was out less than a week before I was getting notes about journals I had missed and I'm still discovering new ones. Most of these journals are discipline-based, but there's a significant number of cross-disciplinary publications as well.
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
Facebook and Twitter may be ubiquitous, but there are many other social media tools out there that can enhance teaching and learning. Here, three educators share their favorites.
Jim Lerman's insight: I particularly like this list because I used most of them and think they're excellent.
Rescooped by Jim Lerman from Into the Driver's Seat |
by Nigel Coutts, thelearnersway.net
"Ed note: This is the first part of a two-post mini-series (can you call two posts a mini-series?) The second part of this post will be published tomorrow morning, and will focus on the design cycle of genius hour and passion-based learning.
"For the past eight years students in Year Six at Redlands have participated in a Personal Passion Project during Term Four.
"It is a way to finish their time in Junior School with a project that connects their passion with all they have learned about managing inquiry/design based projects to that point. Over the years it has proven to be a highlight of the year and has produced amazing results. With a change to the Australian & NSW syllabus we have had to revise our approach to the Personal Passion Project and so now is the perfect time to reflect on the past and identify the lessons learned."
Scooped by Jim Lerman |
Whether you're an IT administrator at a school with connectivity issues, or a teacher helping your school get online for the first time, you know that activating technology involves careful planning and decision making. What tools do your students and teachers need the most? How do you get the Internet access you need to support your academic programs when your school isn't already connected and online? How will you train everyone to make the most of this new technology?
We've learned from schools who've gone through the process and compiled a guide to bringing learning online based on their ideas. Their experiences can help your school decide how technology will bring resources from all over the web – and around the globe – into your classrooms. You'll see a framework for:
Defining your goals
Investing in Internet access
Building your team
Offering web tools
Managing the change
I don't think this just applies to schools. I work in local government we are now moving into more social media access. It is good to look at lessons learned from others in this area.


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Important delivery notice
The products on this site are only delivered to UK addresses. If you require delivery to another country please visit one of our other sites below.
Growing onions from seed is easier than you think and can be cheaper than buying onion sets. You'll find all different types of onion in our range - spring, white, red, brown and shallots. Our range of leeks offers outstanding garden and exhibition varieties.
Spring Onion 'White Lisbon'Allium cepa, Bunching Onion, Scallion
Leek 'Musselburgh'Allium porrum A fine strain of this well known, reliable mid season variety. Producing heavy crops of short, thick stems with an excellent flavour and tender texture when cooked. Leek 'Musselburgh' is exceptionally hardy and stands well in even the coldest winter weather, making it a popular choice for growing in cold areas. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 30cm (12"). More info |
Leek 'Autumn Giant 2 - Porvite'Allium porrum
This excellent RHS AGM variety produces mid green, erect foliage, and heavy, uniform stems. Leek 'Autumn Giant 2 Porvite' stands well in the garden over a long period and demonstrates resistance to bulbiness and bolting, as well as good rust tolerance. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 30cm (12"). More info |
Leek 'Porbella'Allium porrum An outstanding garden variety with excellent winter hardiness and good resistance to rust. Leek 'Porbella' produces good yields of sturdy, pure white, thick stems with dark green leaves. The mature leeks are ready for harvesting from October to February. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 30cm (12"). More info |
Leek 'Blauwgroene Winter - Bandit'Allium porrum, Leek 'Bandit' An outstanding cultivar for harvesting from winter through to spring. The dark leaves of Leek 'Blauwgroene Winter - Bandit' contrast beautifully with delicious, thick, pure white stems. This variety has excellent garden performance and winter hardiness, showing good tolerance against rust and bolting. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 20cm (8"). More info |
Shallot 'Figaro'Allium cepa (Aggregatum Group), Shallot 'Banana' Customer RatingLong, banana-shaped shallots from seed, as used by many celebrity chefs. Shallot 'Figaro' produces attractive, shiny, copper brown-skinned bulbs with crisp white flesh and a very distinct flavour. Sowing densities will determine the size of bulbs you harvest. Stores well for winter use in the kitchen. Useful links: More info |
Onion 'Ishikura' (Bunching Onion)Allium fistulosum, Oriental Bunching Onion, Spring Onion, Scallion This perennial oriental bunching onion doesn't produce bulbs but forms clumps of elongated, straight white stems similar spring onions. Alternatively the stems can be earthed up to produce leek-like stems. Onion 'Ishikura' can be harvested when pencil-thin or left to grow as thick as a mature carrot. This RHS AGM variety has a remarkably long harvest period from June to October without the need for successive sowings. Height: 30cm (12"). Spread: 23cm (9").Companion planting: Try growing onions with mint to confuse and deter onion fly. Useful links: Companion Planting How to grow Onions Culinary note: Some parts of these flowers are edible. For more details about edible flowers click here. More info |
Onion 'Ailsa Craig' (Giant/Show Vegetable)Allium cepa This enduringly popular and well known variety makes a splendid choice for the show bench and is equally good in the kitchen. The quality, large, globe shaped bulbs have a rich, golden, straw coloured skin and an excellent mild flavour. For the largest bulbs, Onion 'Ailsa Craig' can also be sown in modules in autumn for transplanting outdoors in spring. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 10cm (4"). Companion planting: Try growing onions with mint to confuse and deter onion fly. Useful links: Companion Planting How to grow Onions More info |
Leek 'Oarsman' F1 HybridAllium porrum This superb midseason variety produces long, pure white, uniform stems with dark, erect foliage. Leek 'Oarsman' shows good early vigour, bulking up quickly, with no sign of bulbing. It stands well over a long period with good tolerance to rust and bolting. A terrific garden variety with an RHS AGM. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 30cm (12"). More info |
Onion 'Marco' F1 HybridAllium cepa This maincrop onion produces round, thin necked, straw coloured bulbs with good disease tolerance. Onion 'Marco' is superb for storing, remaining in good condition right through to March. This RHS AGM variety reliably produces heavy yields with bulbs achieving a good size in most soils. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 10cm (4"). Companion planting: Try growing onions with mint to confuse and deter onion fly. Useful links: Companion Planting How to grow Onions More info |
Leek 'Below-Zero' F1 HybridAllium porrum This British bred leek combines the vigour of an F1 Hybrid with extreme cold tolerance to produce superb quality leeks that can withstand the harshest of weathers. Leek 'Below-Zero' produces pure white stems with dark leaves that stand well over a long period without bolting. This rust resistant variety can be lifted from Christmas right through to May. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 30cm (12"). More info |
Leek 'Nipper'Allium porrum This British bred variety is fast growing, making it ideal for harvesting as 'baby leeks' just 10 weeks after sowing. Sow them thickly and lift the leeks as they reach spring onion size for a delicious 'out of season' crop. With a milder flavour than spring onions, Leek 'Nipper' makes a fabulous addition to stir fries and salads. Height: 35cm (14"). Spread: 20cm (8"). More info |


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The Astros Community Leaders program will invest $18 million in city-owned public youth baseball and softball fields in disadvantaged areas of Houston over the course of five years. Jumpstarted by Astros Chairman Jim Crane late last year, the Community Leaders program is run by The Astros Foundation, the official team charity, and is a collaboration with Houston-based corporations and the City of Houston.
Construction at the first ball fields began in the fall of 2012. To date, eleven fields have been renovated through the Community Leaders program, with construction at additional fields already underway. These revitalized public youth baseball and softball fields serve thousands of at-risk youth in Houston.
In conjunction with the team charity's other cornerstone program, the Astros Urban Youth Academy, the Astros Foundation is also developing additional programming to serve the youth teams who play at these parks, including baseball and softball clinics with the Astros current players, alumni and UYA instructors, donated equipment and special events. The youth teams partnering with the Community Leaders program will receive complimentary tickets to Astros games at Minute Maid Park, and the Houston-based corporations in the Community Leaders program will also participate in occasional community service projects with their employees and other Astros Foundation-led special events at the fields.
The corporations participating in the Community Leaders Program include: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Calpine Corporation, Champion Energy Services, Halliburton Charitable Foundation, Lexus, Nabors Industries, National Oilwell Varco, Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Schlumberger.


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my speedos are too small and just too prove it me and my buddy are gonna dance on the sidewalk
my speedos are too small and just too prove it me and my buddy are gonna dance on the sidewalk
Thanks for the many speedo pictures. I wish you had one of me, for no speedo has been made that can cover. When I wear my speedo and a man stands close, he need only look down to see my stuff. I makes for interesting beach strolling.
Touch, Arouse Me, Kiss & More!My signature picture was designed for me by Reone.
Hot! Im just about to hit the pool - in very tight speedos so maybe I'll get some early morning fun in the shower
My tongue is hanging out when I see a guy who is built nice and wearing a speedo. Dam - my cock is erect right now just thinking of this!
just what you've been looking for
I love guys in speedos!
Sadly enough, there was a time when I (and a few others) loved me in and out of speedos too....sigh, time passes on, an unforgiving mistress at best.
little ones stuffed with big ones
I'm not jealous, I simply hate your scrawny ass is all.
mmmm...lil bitty speedos
He's awesome!
All those guys should get paid to walk around only to show how they wear speedo's. I would be happy to pay taxes.
oh man thank you so much for this thread!!!!!!!
hot body crammed into lovely little speedos
God, I love this thread.
I would prefer to see a few more twinks in the mix, but it is still nice.
It's never too early in the year,
to spread some goodwill cheer!
OMG... I just love this thread.
For all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these, 'It might have been.'
Small is beautiful
Return of the Tiny Speedos!
My juices are cooking
"my speedos are too small"
"your speedos aren't small, your cock is too big for your speedos"
i love every single pics!!!
Small swimwear - big dick - these are meant for watersports!
Dedicated to watersports GROUP: WATERSPORTS
It's nice to order a guy "Piss them" and he pisses them for you eyes only. Then you let him stand a little bit in front of you. Let it cool. You go towards him and start to knead that bulge till he cums.
Daddies rockin' little speedos
Anyone have cumpics with speedos?
oh just stop it , you all had your time in the sun, you cant stay 20 forever, if ypu intend to then you should seelk , profioal help.
Look at the expression on the face of the swimmer with the blue towel around his shoulders
more tiny ones
Exactly the way guys must goggle each other.
My speedo is also too small.
Unfortunately it isn't the contents of the speedo that
is the portion that is too Big anymore. Damn I hate the
winter months when all one can do is huddle in side and
keep the house warm baking cookies and brownies and such.
Unfortunately, the no waste policy has a very direct effect
on the no waist policy.
'Speedos' is an Australian creation and continues to be so. They are also blamed for producing the magic suit for competitive swimmers. Perhaps that's why they do so well at the Olympics. Meanwhile it seems they have developed a fetish for which we can all be grateful!
Is this thing getting smaller or are my thighs getting bigger?
Your speedo too small? Nah, yours? Nope, we're good.
Towels? Over there, to the right.
Last edited by quasar; July 31st, 2011 at 03:44 PM.
can these get any smaller?
Last edited by quasar; July 31st, 2011 at 03:46 PM.
Getting down to basics
butts in small speedos


text: A bit of perfection is all that you need to begin the proposal of your dreams. William added a dash of the perfect place, a sprinkle of a perfect moment, a pinch of the perfect time mixed with the woman he loves. William asked the magic question "Will you marry me" and Robbie said YES. William and Roberta are our 68th engaged couple to be » Click here to read more


text:
Oguz, an associate professor of art at Delta State University, will be leading the 12-day excursion beginning May 7.
"The trip is titled 'Travel to Turkey 2013' and is open to students and community members," said Oguz. "It promises to be a valuable international learning experience."
Oguz last guided a trip to his home country in 2007 and is looking forward to sharing the rich Turkish traditions once again.
"It will be a good introduction for others to Turkey and help break preconceived ideas about a country from that region of the world," he said.
"Turkey has a very unique culture of diverse people, religions, lifestyles and even a strong contrast between the ancient and modern world," Oguz said. "It's also a place to witness the coexisting of Western and Eastern cultures in one place."
The primary goals of the journey are to visit historical sites, take guided tours, explore Biblical history and learn about the mixture of cultures that make Turkey so distinctive.
"Some of the highlights on the itinerary include Istanbul, Troy, Gallipoli, Pergamum, Ephesus and the west coast to visit the Aegean Sea and Mediterranean Sea."
There are five remaining spots to book the trip at full capacity. Those interested should contact Oguz immediately at firstname.lastname@example.com or 662-846-4720 or Elizabeth Joel in the Continuing Education office at 662-846-4871.
A community member price is $3,050 and includes all hotel stays and meals (not including drinks) for the first 10 days, professional tour guides, transportation, museum entrances and international and domestic flights.
Meals for the last two days, meals while at airports, free time expenses and spending money are not covered by the fee.
The student rate is $2,850 plus the tuition cost of three credits. Elective undergraduate and graduate credits will be awarded. All above-mentioned benefits will be included in the student price.
March 1 is the final day to submit payments.
Former DSU photography student Marya Paolillo had nothing but fond memories after attending the 2007 trip.
"To sum up my trip to Turkey I would have to say it was an adventure," said Paolillo. "Day after day we saw beautiful historical places and modern discoveries.
"It was a time of nonstop go and a learning experience with new friends that I will always have."
Former graphic design student Laura Swanson echoed Paolillo's remarks.
"Although they may exist, I've never seen a city more active than Istanbul, a sea clearer than the Aegean and architecture as unique as I saw in Turkey."
Oguz added that he hopes to continue the trips in the future and is looking to offer another opportunity within two-to-three years.
The Delta State art department has also helped organize international trips to Italy and Austria.
"These study aboard trips are sponsored by the Graduate and Continuing Studies department and other academic departments," said Oguz. "Dean Beverly Moon and Elizabeth Joel have been integral in making it all happen."
Oguz first came to DSU as an exchange student-athlete in 1999 and developed into an All-American swimmer in 1999 and 2000. He has been instructing courses in painting, drawing and design since 2003.


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Israeli-Palestine Conflict - Opinions? (Keep it civil!)
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Joined: 05 Sep 2008
Posts: 592
Location: Up in the Clouds
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:15 pm
Post subject: Israeli-Palestine Conflict - Opinions? (Keep it civil!)
I recently recieved a chain e-mail from my dad, who is an Israeli citizen and very vocal about his loyalties, informing me that I needed to put my vote in on a CNN poll regarding which side people "favored", tne Israelis or the Palestines, because the poll's current results showed a 2/3rds majority for the Palestines. I told him I personally have no preference towards either side, as I feel they are both in the wrong for continuing to perpetuate violence and conflict instead of making genuine, committed efforts towards peace.
But the e-mail got me wondering... what do other people, both in the US and internationally, think of the current situation in that area of the world? I know we have a few people from Israel on the forum; I'm especially curious to know what your opinions are.
Please keep in mind that I am asking for opinions only, and would like to avoid getting too deeply into any kind of debate regarding who is "right" or "wrong" as that's the quickest way for this kind of topic to turn nasty. Though you guys have proven before to be very good at staying civil, so we shouldn't have any problems! ^_^
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Joined: 12 Apr 2008
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Location: Over there! *points*
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:31 pm
Post subject:
I would say my opinion is similar to yours, in that both sides have been fairly apathetic in trying to reach a peaceful resolution-although I'm slightly more sympathetic to Israel due to its recent efforts to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and allowing free elections in the PLO to elect Hamas despite its, erm..."poor" record of honoring agreements. I think the most recent airstrikes and invasion in the Gaza Strip have been heavy-handed, but the Palestinians were the first to fire in
particular conflict, but both sides have done shameful and underhanded things in the past.
As for the root problem-well, Israel has done very well in asserting its right to exist and creating a well-developed nation out of practically nothing. At the same time, though, I wish the Palestinians (by which I mean the common man, woman, and child) had the same access to security, peace, education, and employment that Israelis do. But as long as there are people in power on both sides that assert that it must be "either/or," there will be no peace for either.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:59 pm
Post subject:
My opinion is that the Palestinian people are less to blame than Hamas, though they aren't blameless. Hamas is a terrorist organization, no less than Saddam Houssein or any other terrorist leader. And Israel is exercising its right to defend itself, doing what they should have done in the first place (well, first they should have never pulled out of Gaza, which is what allowed Hamas to win the 'elections'), because talking has never worked. From day one it didn't work, so why should people think it should have worked
I pray every day for the end to the conflict, because innocents are dying on both sides, regardless.
I'm not going to say anything else in this topic.
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Joined: 14 Apr 2008
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Location: England
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:21 pm
Post subject:
As I see it Israel can hardly withdraw its claims to the lands it has taken for political reasons both internal, in that the ruling party at the time would be hung out to dry, and externally in that they cannot let it be seen that terrorism has won. On purely pragmatic grounds even if they were prepared to make those sacrifices still they could not do it because of the external politics in Palestinian groups. The power structure in Palestinian groups tends to be such that the leaders have built their power base on hatred for Israel, it is as much in their interests to keep the war going as anyone else's. So after Israel withdrew there would be further terrorist attacks, Israel would be obliged to reoccupy the land and the situation would advance as it has. It's the reason why no cease fire is likely to hold for the foreseeable future.
Israel did kind of bring this on themselves I guess. Oh undoubtedly there's blame on both side but the current situation on the scale it is, is largely Israel's making. They had a relatively nice neighbour in Fatah. They hated each others' guts but Fatah was incredibly pathetic at actually doing anything. But then they went and set up the situation with Hamas and the PLO so that the Palestinians would fight between each other. Fatah and Hamas duked it out and predictably the nastier side composed of the nastier more capable people won.
If Israel had just stayed out of the way, made some comment about how unfortunate it all was and let the PLO deal with its own problems in a nice bloodbath, then we wouldn't be where we are today. Hamas would have made such a mess that the Palestinians would be too busy hating each other to actually go and attack Israel. But unfortunately political pressure within Israel was such that they couldn't ignore the occasional attacks long enough for their strategy to work, they kept on reminding the Palestinians that the Israelis were out a raiding and killin' (which with the benefit of hindsight or even a bit of common knowledge of history they should have known wasn't a great idea when you're trying to divide a nation against itself. Internal threats divide, external threats unify.)
It's not really about land anymore, or what either side is doing to the other – the cultural component, which is the true motivation for all wars, has become abstracted away from the specific cases of land and nation, those are just rallying points. Both sides are essentially up against a wall now. Palestinian groups couldn't stop attacking and hold to a cease fire for any great length of time even if they wanted to for internal political reasons, coupled with the fact that Israel has been engendering hatred in them for generations so they don't even want to; and Israel can hardly stop doing so either because Palestine's still attacking them which provides all the motive for the whole sorry mess to continue. There's no right and wrong about it. It's just a knife fight in a dark alley and only one man's walking out at the end of the night.
This is just a case of seeing which force is greater. 'Do as you will be done by and do it first,' as my old man used to say. I don't sympathise with any of them but I don't blame the Israelis for defending themselves. Sure innocents die, on both sides, but, 'mess with us and we come after your family,' is an old idea, and not entirely lacking in merit if you're ruthless enough to do it on a large enough scale. Which is another major problem, somewhere at the back of my mind I fear Israel isn't ruthless enough to see this through to the end.
On the other hand Israel is relatively friendly to the West and Palestinians tend to hate our guts with good reason. So you can guess which side I'd like to win.
Considering the nature of this issue I'd just like to add again: As I see it. I don't want this to seem like I'm taking digs at anyone or anything like that. Right and wrong don't make a whole lot of sense to me as metaethical constructs anyway
Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa
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Joined: 18 Apr 2008
Posts: 2594
Location: Star Stuff
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:30 pm
Post subject:
I'm not really sure what to reply, if anything. I don't feel like I'm educated enough about the situation. Certainly not educated at all about Palestinians, the only side of the conflict I have any interest in at all is Israel's side. I have many Jewish friends, and many friends who aren't Jewish but still come from Israel. In truth, I've never met a Palestinian.. so it's difficult to give them a face, a name, something I can consider as human.
I don't believe in peace, either. Sure, I love the idea of peace. I love the idea of Socialism too. In the real world, with real people, neither of those ideas really work out. Amusingly, both of them fail for the same reason: someone out there gets greedy. And then, that person gets violent to achieve their goals.
Nem brings up a lot of great points, too. The violence is so ingrained into the society that now, it's hard to imagine what would happen if that conflict suddenly ended. Hatred isn't something you can just "Turn off", so either you go back to fighting the same war...or you go back to fighting a different one.
So, I don't know if there's an answer. I know my
, but like I said I've never met someone from Palestine. Of course I was Israel to win, I know a ton of people who are intricately tied to Israel.
One of the most important things to remember is that the people you decide against are just as human as the people you decide for. So long as the people with their "finger on the button" still remember that, there's hope for the world. God save us all if someone decides to end it with an ultimate act of violence.
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Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 162
Location: OH!
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:41 pm
Post subject:
Well, um...I can't really say I sympathize with Israel lately. Due to actual Israelis who come to this board who I like, it's probably best not to make a particularly lengthy post. I'll just say that, terrorists, when they're out...doing their thing, it doesn't seem like they're just you know, shooting for the high score. These are mostly deliberate attempts to provoke wars. And from the viewpoints of the spoiled americans, it kinda looks like the world would be a better place if this plan didn't work so ridiculously well.
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Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Posts: 258
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:51 am
Post subject:
Squee's feelings on the matter are easily summed up in two examples:
1) An article Squee read in which Fatah was receiving criticism for not acting out openly against the Gaza situation like Hamas, and losing credibility with Palestinians in the process. The more peaceful party losing favor than the violent one? What is WRONG with people?
2) While in war civilian casualties are unavoidable, Israel's tactics are certainly not helping. Not to mention their utter refusal to even talk about cessation. Israel's dealings with Gaza before the current violence only made things worse too. Israel is certainly not helping its case with world opinion.
Since the dawn of the Israel-Palestine conflict, both sides have been in the wrong. The entire reason of the conflict has really become a Romeo and Juliet bloodfeud today (hey, there's even a West Side Story parody on exactly that!) I'll admit a bit more sympathy with Israel in general...but not necessarily because they're in the right.
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Location: Up in the Clouds
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:08 am
Post subject:
Alright, so thus far we have two people who strongly believe one side is more/less to blame, one who's opinion is based entirely upon their own direct and immediate connections to the situation, and three who feel that both sides aren't exactly handling this well though one side may be bungling things up a little more and/or less than the other. Four if you include me in that last group.
@ Asa & Virturealm - You've both got strong opinions and I completely respect your wish to not go into them further on the forum, but would you be willing to explain your viewpoints a little more in-depth in PM or IM? Part of why I put up this thread was also to learn a bit more about the circumstances of both sides, as I myself have only been casually following events until now.
@ Nem - you make some excellent points, and I was not previously aware of just how intricate the situation between Fatah and Hamas and the PLO was, so thanks for that. One thing I am curious about though is the logic behind your belief that all wars are ultimately motivated by cultural factors?
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Joined: 03 Sep 2008
Posts: 608
Location: Smelbourne
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:59 pm
Post subject:
While my initial bias would have been/is towards the Palestinians, I suspect this is more of a support-the-underdog-knee-jerk reaction to the fact Israel has taken over a significant amount of Palestinian land. And perhaps also to the fact that I misspell Israel frequently, instead rendering it as something closer to Isreal.
I suspect the truth of the matter, though, is somewhat closer to the fact that both side seem to be composed of utter morons who can't help
knee-jerk reactions to seek revenge.
And I also suspect that Palestinians are somewhat victim to something that also plagues the Chinese, the Russians, and so many other people who have been involved in some kind of bitter war - the lack of understanding the cultural psychology behind the people. I mean, these are the people who, for hundreds of years, would be more than happy to take a traveller into their home but chop off their hands if they tried to steal anything.
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Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 1630
Location: Grand Forks
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:06 pm
Post subject:
I don't really know enough about the situation to render an opinion. I've been thinking that I ought to read a couple of books on the history of the conflict, starting from the establishment of Israel, so that I'll have a better basis for judgment.
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Posts: 608
Location: Smelbourne
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:12 pm
Post subject:
Actually, this whole thing makes me think of muffins... is that just me/incredibly insensitive to the families of the millions who've died over the past 40-50 years?
Dubbed Pants by AsA, via the way of the electric pants.
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Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 1629
Location: Israel
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:46 pm
Post subject:
I feel a little representative right now, so I'd like to point out that I am not. I may be the most active Israeli on the forum, but that doesn't mean my opinion represents that of my nation.
Also, I'd like to note that my opinions aren't particularly objective. If Hamas succeed in increasing their rocket range a little bit more, my home and family will be among those endangered. Though life in this country is always kind of dangerous, the thought of rockets raining down on my city is hardly a fun one.
So. My opinion? I think our operation is justified. I think we're doing what we need to do in order to keep our citizens safe.
CBB wrote:
I wish the Palestinians (by which I mean the common man, woman, and child) had the same access to security, peace, education, and employment that Israelis do. But as long as there are people in power on both sides that assert that it must be "either/or," there will be no peace for either.
You've gotta understand, we really aren't trying to keep that from them. If they were at all interested in living together with us, we could have reached an agreement long ago and we could have provided them with all sorts of things. It's not like we hate anything Arabic with a passion; a large percentage of students at my university are Arabs with Israeli citizenship. We're fine with living with them. And it's not like we haven't talked to them in the past; we have.
But when they swear that they'll never rest until every last Jew is eradicated and fire rockets at highly populated cities with total abandon.... how do you even approach that? Money that they've gotten from various nations has gone into weaponry instead of basics for the population. Their democratically elected leaders want nothing more than the destruction of Israel. How do you approach that?
Pants wrote:
I suspect the truth of the matter, though, is somewhat closer to the fact that both side seem to be composed of utter morons who can't help their knee-jerk reactions to seek revenge.
A friend of mine (who's against the operation) said the other day that it seemed to her that this war was between those who want war and those who don't. This sort of reminds me of that, in the sense that I'm insulted in the same way by both. I don't think I'm very interested in war, and I don't think I'm an utter moron, but I think this needs to be done. Our current goal is to rid them of their ability to shoot rockets at us, no more. If you think we should be acting differently, then I'd be interested in hearing what you think we should do.
Pants wrote:
(...) Israel has taken over a significant amount of Palestinian land.
I'm watching myself to make sure I don't overreact to anything, but I'd like to note that I hate that sentence.
I should also say that I don't agree with everything Israel does. I think we've made many bad moves, damaging both sides. I think that we're a little too zealous sometimes, and not enough other times. As with anything in this world of ours, there isn't really a "right" side. There's plenty of hatred to go around. But I think Israel's actions are a good deal more justified than those of Hamas.
Which reminds me - Virt, I'm particularly interested in what you have to say. I appreciate the thought which kept your post short, but it's always the opposing opinion I want to hear most.
On the bright side, this operation is probably almost over with, and I expect things will return to normal soon. If you can call it that.
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Posts: 3690
Location: The land of dreams
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:01 pm
Post subject:
Well, I've always found such hate mind-boggling, and to me - being the naive person I am - I just can't understand what is so difficult about living together in peace. I know it can be done, I just wish it were so simple. I think both parties are to blame really, but as people have pointed out, the whole situation is a bit impossible. I'm tempted to side with Israel, but at the same time, some friends of the family lived in Gaza for years, so I sympathize with them also. I don't know enough about the situation to offer much of an opinion, but I strongly object to bringing innocents into a blood fued - and for that, I have to say I blame both sides. Intentional or not, it's happened, and so I think I'll remain sitting on my fence.
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Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 2141
Location: England
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:26 pm
Post subject:
sunshine wrote:
One thing I am curious about though is the logic behind your belief that all wars are ultimately motivated by cultural factors?
Why are people at war? Because their religion has been insulted, their land stolen, because they want to steal someone's land, because there's oil in them thar' hills. The reasons are numerous but they're not universal. Some tribe that lives in the jungle isn't going to go to war with you over oil, but if you break their totem pole they might just skin you alive and leave you for the ants.
Value is in its most basic form not a rational thing. Rationality comes later and is given in the form, 'if you want X then do Y' and other derivatives of that general statement; it can support other values and create them but they're always going to be based on those core unreasoning values. When we're born we irrationally want certain things, food, breath, freedom from pain, etc, due to the biological nature of our lives – these are our core motives and our innate reactions to their presence or denial (being either discomfort or pleasure of varying degrees) paired with different situations and the biological mechanism of association goes on to determine what we will value.
We learn our values from our environments and as we share broadly the same environments over time we've created roughly the same value systems with regards to certain things. The main themes of that learning we call culture. When I say all wars are cultural in origin I'm not talking about something as simple as just having angry sounding music leading to violence, although music is obviously a part of culture – it's more holistic than that, it's the sum of all the learning, the way all our values interact with each other that produces certain effects. Sure you can remove one or two values and alter the overall equation but that's not to imply that only those values are responsible for the outcome.
Interestingly you can see the effect of this if you take two groups with the same genetic background and introduce them into two different physical environments as was witnessed with the Maori Moriori conflict. They both came from the same genetic stock but one group landed in a land of plenty, developed weapons, a warlike culture, etc, and the other landed within a place of very limited resources and developed a system of pacifism and ritually sterilisation to maintain low numbers. Eventually the Maori came across them and wiped them out.
For some reason a lot of Westerners, and I'm not accusing anyone here of holding this view, seem to think that people all want the same things and think in the same way about those things. That any rational person would desire peace and prosperity and so on and that there must be something dreadfully wrong with you if you don't. But values aren't rational to begin with any more than a rock rolling down hill to crush an ant has a rational regard for that ant. Values are natural forces, there's nothing right or wrong with them.
If you want to know why people are at war look at what they value and where they've learned it. The history of warfare, how it is carried, out, where, when and why, is the history of what people value and what they're prepared to do to get it.
Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
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Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 1392
Location: Back in the Shire.
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:25 pm
Post subject:
I was in Manchester recently and bore witness to the Socialist Worker's Party protest in favour of Palestine and Hamas. The aim was to encourage people to protest at the attacks on the Gaza strip to their political representation in the hopes that they would condemn the attacks, as if that would put an end to it. As if the two nations were feuding children that a parental country could separate and send to their rooms.
A lady I was with at the time was very taken with it all and professed that she hadn't known what atrocities were being committed by the Israelis. She vowed then and there to write to her MP and the Prime Minister and anyone else she thought would pay attention. This struck me as entirely naive and gullible. The SWP were clearly in favour of the Palestinians and reading their literature, I could see that it was blatant propaganda. Pictures of crying children and wrecked hospitals and such. To my mind Israel would not be doing any of this if they did not believe it to be 'right' (whatever that may be). I went home that evening and did some research on the situation but found it hard to watch the news and find a pro-Israel viewpoint. It seems to me that Britain as a nation are pro-Palestine, but personally, I'd rather find out what I could and form my own opinion than be told what to think by being force-fed one side of the story with minimal consideration for the other. From what I have found out myself and what I have read here I find myself firmly on the fence. Atrocities have been commited by both sides, and stupid mistakes have been made to great cost of life.
The mistake that is so often made with these issues is the blurring of nations and peoples. Israel as a nation is represented as a bully, but their people are suffering when the bombs drop just the same as Palestine.
Death is a great leveller.
I side with the people. Those who have lost everything, whether Palestinian or Israeli, because of the decisions that have been made for them.
I apologise if anything I have said has offended. If you feel I have misunderstood please correct me. I live to learn.
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So you may remember that we blogged about Guillermo Del Toro's latest cinematic venture 'Pacific Rim', for those who didn't – it looks insane, An alien attack combatted by ginormous robots piloted by humans is the scenario! (Here's the trailer)
Jurassic Park 4 favours continuity over science!
Are you familiar with the phrase 'never let the truth get in the way of a good story'? Well it seems the Jurassic Park universe is adhering to this rule for its 4th instalment.
I find your lack of faith disturbing...
Everybody stay calm. It appears people all over the globe are beginning to harness the dark side of the force, and they're not thinking twice about dishing out the pain… oh no wait, it's just another ridiculous internet craze.
I feel like a right Planck in this Lycra!
Thanks to the Max Planck institute for Informatics, actors may be spared the embarrassment of wearing the ever so flattering lycra body suits when it comes to shooting scenes laden with VFX.
Prometheus 2 - Have you got what it takes?
Damon Lindelof was the genius behind the script for 2012's VFX emblazoned Prometheus, but it was unveiled earlier this year that he will not be returning to write the script for the sequel.
Aw, Here it goes!
Nickelodeon has come a long way from the days of Kenan and Kel, Saved by the Bell, Rocket Power, Doug, and Hey Arnold! (just a handful of my personal favourites) and it's fair to say that considering this most recent announcement, the level of broadcast on kids television is becoming ever more sophisticated.
The Uncanny Valley is close!
Readers of our blog out there will remember a piece we posted a few weeks back about the concept of 'the uncanny valley', and I'm sure you'll agree that it's pretty darn weird in action!
When the pencil is mightier than the pixel - Quietly questioning 'the Croods' production choices...
I haven't yet seen the Croods, but my four year old's pester power means a trip to the cinema is inevitable this Easter. When I saw the first trailer a number of months ago, however I was left a little cold and felt little compulsion to make the effort to see it. It seemed rather predictable, not particularly lovable characters and no real 'hooks' to grab me. I did change my mind completely a few weeks later when Chris Sanders started releasing his story boards for the Croods. They are nothing short of stunning.
Davi Stein meets Davy Jones!
This morning, Escape Relationship Manager Anita Gribble and Head of 2D Davi Stein, took students on a trip to the heart of the West End – to see the newly opened Double Negative facility in Great Portland Street, which opened just 3 months ago! As is always the case with our studio visits, everyone set off early with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a hunger for adventure.
'The Croods' clubs the weekend box office!
After last week's mention of 'Despicable Me 2' arriving soon to hit cinema screens, it's fair to say that animation is very much in the public eye at the moment, and the trend continued this weekend as animated movie 'the Croods' has dominated the box office.
Project Green Screen!
Most film lovers out there will be well vested in the work of legendary director and writer, Robert Rodriguez, and especially if you're a fan of the grindhouse double bill, then it's fair to assume that you are probably an owner of at least one Rodriguez DVD.
Check out this Stash!
A great mash up of some amazing VFX, motion and animation work collated by the guys at Stash. Titled 'Stash 98: Another 100 minutes of motion brilliance' this one and a half minutes of footage is a showcase collaboration of clips that are tantalising for the eyes.
Lovable Film, Despicable Me 2.
I loved the first slice of 'Despicable Me'. And it'd be an understatement to say I am excited about this new trailer and release of 'Despicable Me 2' this summer! On the site, you can see some of their 3D turntables of the CG car they designed that is amphibious, there's also some concept art on there too.
Tickets Please!
Well it's been an exceptionally busy week here at Escape Studios, with three of our One-Day Taster Courses and an Academy Tour all in the space of three days, front of house was starting to feel a bit like Grand Central Station!