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This guide is part of a detailed hunting and shooting gear introduction.
Outdoor Empire Recommends
Are you looking for an airsoft…
automatic handgun? Take Tokyo Marui M92F
shotgun? Take Classic Army CA870
assault rifle? Take G&G Combat Machine 16 Raider ( Read 47+ Amazon customer reviews )
sub-machine gun? Take CZ Scorpion EVO 3 A1 ( Read 7+ Amazon customer reviews )
machine gun? Take A&K M249 Paratrooper ( Read 2+ Amazon customer reviews )
sniper rifle? Take ARES MSR-009
Airsoft is meant to be a fun game, a dynamic sport, and an enjoyable experience. When it comes to buying a good first airsoft gun and some getting-started-gear, do not be afraid to ask around, read reviews, and really get deep into research.
The main rule is to NOT settle for less.
- 1 Outdoor Empire Recommends
- 2 Outdoor Empire Picks Reviewed & Compared
- 3 Want To Learn More About Airsoft Pistols?
- 4 Want To Learn More About Airsoft M4 AEGs?
- 5 Want To Learn More About Airsoft Snipers?
- 6 Factors that Affect the Gun's Function
- 7 It's About You
- 8 Things to Avoid
- 9 Basic Terms
- 10 Game On!
Outdoor Empire Picks Reviewed & Compared
|Muzzle Velocity
|Operating System
|Gas Blowblack
|Automatic Electric
|Automatic Electric
|Automatic Electric
|Gas Powered
|Adjustable Hop-Up
|Fire Modes
|Semi-Auto, Safety
|Single Shot, Safety
|Full/Semi Auto, Safety
|Semi/3rd Burst/Full-Auto, Safety
|Full-Auto, Safety
|Single-shot, Safety
|Check Price
|Check Price
|Check Price
|Check Price
Best Automatic Handgun
Tokyo Marui M92F
The Tokyo Marui M92F is modeled after the popular Beretta M9. It comes in blue or stainless model and is blowback operated, gas powered pistol.
The magazine holds an impressive 26 BBs, which are widely available from Tokyo Marui. Like most of their guns, the M92F is well-made and mimics the Beretta M9 really well.
Since the United States Military uses the M9, compatible holsters are widely available which is an advantage. This includes platforms that can weave into MOLLE, thigh rigs, shoulder holsters, and your standard waist mounted holster.
The magazines also effectively mimic the M9's so magazine pouches created for it will also work for the airsoft variant.
The Tokyo Marui M92F has an adjustable hop-up that allows the user to get more distance from the handgun with a little adjustment. Like the M9, you get a few of its real weaknesses.
The TM M92F is a big gun with a very wide grip. The safety is ambidextrous but is mounted to the slide. This makes it difficult to activate without changing your grip. There are a few weaknesses, but it's still a well-made gun.
● Muzzle velocity: 260-280 FPS
● High strength polymer slide and frame
● Textured grip panels
● Rear slide serrations
● Realistic blowback action
Best Shotgun
Classic Army CA870
The Classic Army CA870 is modeled after the tactical Remington 870, a legendary shotgun used by police forces and military units worldwide. Like the Remington 870, it also uses a pump action.
It uses a spring based system that actuates the spring and loads a BB into the chamber. It allows the users to rapidly manipulate the pump and fire the weapon. This makes it one of the more effective spring powered weapons in the airsoft community.
The Classic Army CA870 has an all metal body, with a polymer pump and stock, just like the tactical Remington 870. It has a full stock that makes shooting at extended differences possible. Like an actual shotgun, you get a limited magazine capacity of 10 rounds.
Shotguns are an interesting weapon in the airsoft loadout. It's designed for close quarters and is one of the few spring powered airsoft guns that can keep up with AEG (Automatic Electric Gun) or gas guns.
● Muzzle velocity: 400 FPS
● Durable metal receiver
● Synthetic stock and forearm
● Textured grip and pump
● 10-round magazine capacity
or learn more and buy from manufacturer page.
Best Assault Rifle
G&G Combat Machine 16 Raider – Full Review
The G&G Combat Machine 16 Raider is not only an excellent all around assault rifle but also one of the recommended beginner's rifles. It offers users a realistic M4 Platform with a quad rail for mounting accessories, a nice set of sights and a collapsible stock.
It is versatile and can be used in a wide variety of game and play types.
The G&G Combat Machine 16 Raider has a metal gearbox that is easy to upgrade but is perfectly fine as is. It is an electric gun that uses a butterfly type battery. The hop-up is easily adjustable for distance.
It is compatible with all G&G and Tokyo Marui series AEGs, as well as M4/M16 magazines. It comes ready for an optic, and the sights are adjustable.
The G&G Combat Machine 16 Raider is an excellent all around rifle.
It is well designed, which makes it a great beginner's gun that surely lasts. It is also modular like the standard M4 and allows the user to customize it. The magazines fit in normal AR 15 magazine pouches and are compatible with standard AR slings as well.
● Muzzle velocity: 380-390 FPS
● Adjustable hop-up
● 6-position retractable crane stock
● Removable rear sight with weaver rail base for scope mounting
● 14mm negative threaded barrel
● High torque long type G&G motor
Fox Airsoft AEG Best-Sellers
Here are 5 best selling AEGs for Fox Airsoft, based on in-store and online sales.
- ASG Arsenal SA M7 AK
- Echo1 Red Stak AK-47 RIS polymer
- Classic Army M4 Skirmish series
- Elite Force M4 CFR
- ICS TransforM4 UK1
Best Sub-Machine Gun
CZ Scorpion EVO 3 A1 – Full Review
ASG made a great move when they grabbed the CZ Scorpion EVO 3 A1. The Scorpion is continuously gaining popularity in the civilian and police shooting world.
It is a modular sub-machine gun and it has been carefully recreated by ASG. It faithfully recreates the platform and offers users a compact, ergonomic weapon that would excel in a variety of different roles.
It is made from a fiber reinforced polymer that is lightweight and durable. The stock collapses and folds, and can be easily removed. The stock itself is strong enough to use on real Scorpions. It has 4 different firing modes, including safe, single, 3 shot burst and fully automatic.
The CZ Scorpion EVO 3 A1 does not fire when it's empty, allowing the user to know exactly when to reload. This also lends a degree of realism to the airsoft gun.
The interior parts are reinforced to accept high-end, high powered upgrades. The internals are all CNC machined parts, which built their reputation for reliability.
● Muzzle velocity: ~394 FPS
● 4-position fire selector
● Battery monitor
● Folding / removable stock
● Functional bolt lock
Best Machine Gun
A&K M249 Paratrooper
The A&K M249 Paratrooper is a really good option for the Machine Gunner. It has a shorter barrel and a collapsible stock, which lightens the airsoft gun and makes it handier in close quarters.
It uses a butterfly battery and has an adjustable hop-up. It also comes with a bipod that serves as a stable platform for engaging targets with suppressive fire.
The box magazine contains 2,400 BBs, which guarantees you a high volume of fire. 2,400 BBs is no laughing matter, and will certainly keep heads down.
The A&K M249 Paratrooper is compatible with Matrix, G&G, and Tokyo Marui M4/M16 box magazines. This allows the user to share ammo with M4/M16 users if needed in a pinch.
The receiver, barrel assembly, feed cover, and bipod are all made of metal, while the stock and hand guard are nylon fiber reinforced.
Machine guns are a finicky class in airsoft. They are much larger than assault rifles, and can often be much heavier. However, in large open games, the massive amount of BBs they can put out is impressive.
● Muzzle velocity: 350-390 FPS
● Retractable metal stock
● Railed feed cover perfect for optics
● 8mm full metal gearbox
● Adjustable front and rear sights
Best Sniper
The ARES MSR-009 is based on a traditional bolt action rifle with a free floating and a built-in bipod. The rifle is made to resemble a modern bolt action sniper rifle, and is powered by gas.
It comes ready with a mount for a scope and has an adjustable stock and cheek riser. This allows the user to mount different optics to the weapon. The cheek riser makes it possible to use high or low scopes. The mount is a 30mm variety, so it fits most firearm scopes.
The ARES MSR-009 holds a total of 18 rounds and has an adjustable hop-up, which is an absolute must for sniper rifle users. The folding bipod is an excellent addition that allows the sniper to build and maintain a stable platform.
Unless you're going to put a bunch of money and time into A Sniper, don't expect a laser gun. But if you do get a sniper then paint it something other than black, it'll really help you stay hidden.
– Dayton from housegamers.ca ( Tokyo Marui VSR-10 )
Sniper rifles and snipers are an expert class that requires users to be accurate, patient, and be armed with a proper airsoft sniper rifle. It is suggested for you to purchase a high-quality model to get the best performance possible.
● Muzzle velocity: ~400
● High strength polymer rifle chassis
● 6063 aluminum receiver, barrel, and trigger assembly
● Clip in bipod makes shooting from a supported position easy
or learn more about and buy from Evike.
What Guns Popular Airsofters Use?
|Kelly from - femmefataleairsoft.com
|Mike - templarairsoft.com
|Dutch The Hooligan
|Custom-built Warsport LVOA Polarstar
|Arwin - Milsimjunkie1
|Currently I switch between an old CYMA AK74u, PTS ERG, and a PolarStar build I have. All great platforms and all perform great even after a number of years
|Novritsch SSG24 Airsoft Sniper Rifle
|Mark ( Brainexploder )
|My go to gun if I am trying to be most effective and useful to my team is the Krytac CRB/SPR hybrid Trident. If I am playing for fun and don't feel like grinding it out then the Silverback SRS.
If you want to get your name and gun listed here feel free to contact us.
Factors that Affect the Gun's Function
Airsoft guns come in a variety of models, with different externals, internals and even different magazines. When purchasing one, there are distinct factors that affect function, reliability, and of course price.
Operating System
A spring provides the force to project the BB, which must be reset for every shot. This essentially gives you a single shot weapon because spring powered guns requires a manual action for every shot. They are often under gunned when facing electric or gas guns.
For shotguns, the pump makes a spring gun comparable to faster firing weapons, and snipers really don't need a faster rate of fire. These guns are very reliable and extremely simple. They are also often the cheapest route to take.
Automatic Electric
Automatic electric guns, aka AEGs, are battery powered airsoft weapons. They use an electric motor to propel the BBs.
It is the most common type of airsoft guns and usually the most reliable. Internals like motors can be upgraded to be more capable and powerful. AEGs are the perfect weapon for a beginner and will last as experience grows.
This provides a more realistic airsoft replica by having a bolt or slide operate when the weapon is fired. This is all about appearance and does not affect function. This feature makes the guns more expensive, and more likely to break.
Gas Powered
Gas blowback airsoft guns are very realistic, and they mimic the real operation of a firearm, especially with handguns. They utilize different gas sources to propel the BB forward and cause recoil, and the bolt of a slide to move rearward.
The gasses include pressurized propane, green gas, or duster gas. The main issue is its failure to function in cold weather. Plus, the guns and their parts tend to be more expensive than AEGs.
High Pressure
High-pressure airsoft guns can be adjusted for different ROF (Rate of Fire) and FPS (Feet Per Second) ratings. They provide consistent function, are quite accurate, and very reliable. They require an external air tank which takes away from the realistic function.
Internals and Externals
One important factor if you work with a dedicated team is the ability to share magazines. Some models can swap magazines between platforms, and some platforms can use a variety of magazines.
It is essential when purchasing an airsoft gun, you know how to repair and upgrade its internals. The downside of not being familiar with it? You may be forced to buy an entirely new platform to get the performance you desire.
A flat top rail on the top of the airsoft gun will allow you to utilize a scope. On handguns, a forward Picatinny rail will allow you to mount a flashlight or laser sighting system. However, you'll need a proper holster to accommodate the flashlight mounted on a weapon.
Slings are a necessity, in my opinion, for a long gun. It will allow you to retain your airsoft rifle, shotgun, SMG, machine gun, sniper rifle, or everything else you carry while your hands are occupied. In a pinch, when you run out of rifle ammo you can just let it go and draw your pistol.
Bipods often attach to different types of sling swivels as well. If you have sling swivels, there are different methods for slings to mount, including wrapping around the stock and forend.
If running a stock AK 47 is fine with you, then you may never have to consider upgrades. However, most players will soon want to at least add a scope or red dot, especially after a few night time games.
There are two types of upgrades, internal and external. Internal upgrades are more common with AEGs. You can upgrade motors, or completely replace them when they wear out.
You may decide to do external customization on the body of your gun as well. For example, I always want a beard friendly stock, not one that pulls my facial hair. So I swap stocks occasionally.
You may also want to add accessories like optics, flashlights, bipods or vertical grips. If you like to customize you need to consider your ability to upgrade.
Most of these upgrades can be done if your weapon is fitted with a Picatinny rail system. These rails are often on the forend of a firearm and allow the mounting of accessories.
Start off with something generic (M4) tons of upgrades, every tech knows how to work on one and the most evolved system out there. Then as you advance get that unicorn gun but you will always have your M4 for backup.
– Mark from Youtube channel BrainExploder.
Adjustable Hop-Up
High Operation Power Up, or simply put as Hop-up, is the back spinning of the BB as you fire it. It is one of the ways to increase the overall range of your rifle. Adjustable hop-up allows the user to tailor their airsoft gun for the BB to maximize its range.
It is an ideal feature to have in an airsoft weapon. It definitely allows you to maximize your gun's effectiveness. In general, you want to adjust the hop-up until the projectile is flying straight, not at an up or down angle.
Feet Per Second
Feet per second, or FPS, is a common way of identifying the velocity of an airsoft gun. It is dependent on the BB's weight, plus the weapon's power. In addition, the hop-up is an important factor in the total range that the gun can fire.
Going too fast means you'll run into two problems:
1. First and foremost, some ranges restrict the FPS your weapon can fire at. This is a safety concern. Most closed quarter's ranges are going to restrict you to 350 FPS. Most long range outdoors fields are restricted around 400 FPS.
2. The second issue you run into with AEGs when you jack the FPS to 500 or so is constantly fixing your worn out internals. This is rough on an electric gun and will tend to beat the internals to pieces. It can be rough on gas guns, but not as bad. Either way, even in a woodland game you are probably not going to be allowed to use anything higher than 400 anyway.
As a newbie, leaving your gun stock until you gain a bit more knowledge on how games are played is suggested. After that, I see no reason to go higher than 350 FPS. With a quality gun, the hop-up adjustment gets the range you desire more so than the FPS.
Always remember that a higher FPS does not mean a better gun. A 500 FPS gun may not even get you the same range as one with 350 FPS.
It's About You
Outside of the more technical aspects of airsoft weapons are other factors that lean more towards user-friendliness, user preference, and the actual tactical aspect behind airsoft firearms.
Role You Play
There are some roles that you can choose from in airsoft. These are also termed as classes and often represent what the player does in the game. It also affects their loadout.
Aside from having a good weapon, you should also know every rule and effective tactic that go with your chosen role.
Rifleman – Grunt – Soldier
This is the basic player in the game. It is an excellent role to start out in as a new player because it is the most versatile. The game is won and lost by the Rifleman in a team. Being a Rifleman allows a new player to learn basic but important strategies.
This includes flanking, fire and movement, and complete objectives. Every role in the airsoft teams exist to support the Rifleman and the jobs they have to accomplish.
Suggested Weapons
- G&G Combat Machine 16 Raider
- Cyma AK
The Grenadier may be a Rifleman with an attached grenade launcher or a standalone unit. They often serve the same role as a Rifleman, exercise the same strategy, but are capable of laying down some extra fire with either a large rubber plug or a mass of BBs.
Suggested Weapons
- Matrix Speed M203
- 6mm Proshop Pocket Cannon
Assaulter – Breacher – CQB Specialist
The close quarter's combat personnel that are involved in close quarters games. They can be interchanged or even be a Rifleman. What's important is that their weapons are smaller, lighter and more movable in closed quarters.
The Assaulter is often the first in the building or room and leads the charge. They are typically more experienced Rifleman who have a solid grasp of CQB. Their smaller weapons make it easier to do tasks like capture the flag, or maneuver through tight areas.
Suggested Weapons
- Tokyo Marui Scorpion VZ61
- Classic Army CA870
The biggest advice I can give when choosing the right system for close quarters is to simply be prepared to use it. Meaning that whether its a short system, medium, or a full length you better know how to make the best of it in a tight environment. I have always advocated constant learning and always taking action to learn more.
– Arwin from MilsimJunkie1 Youtube channel.
Recon – Scout
Recon men, or Scouts, tend to avoid combat. Their goal is to slip through the field unnoticed. They are to provide reconnaissance and information back to the rifleman. They also give intelligence back to the main units and allow planning to occur.
This also lets certain support roles like Machine Gunners and Snipers to take advantageous positions. They tend to move light and in small teams. These teams often combine long range weapons with medium to short range weapons.
Suggested Weapons
- ASG CZ Scorpion EVO 3 A1
The Sniper is a role that a lot of people want to dive into. What they fail to realize is the Sniper often has a low kill count and can have a rather boring job. They are often in the same place for an extended period, wearing a ghillie suit and sweating their butts off.
Their goal is to take accurate shots and pick off valuable members of the opposite team. This is not a good role for beginners looking for that ultimate rush. I always suggest a beginner to shadow a Sniper before they make up their mind to take that role.
Suggested Weapons
- G&G Top Tech GR25
- Tokyo Marui PSG-1
Machine Gunner – Support Gunner
The Machine Gunner is another role rarely suited for beginners. It requires a heavy weapon that most will hate carrying after a few long games. They provide support for the Rifleman by laying down cover fire.
It's important that they act as Support Gunners and not as Rifleman with big guns. They should learn what avenues of approach are, as well as how to cover large open areas and support the Rifleman as necessary.
Suggested Weapons
- Classic Army M249
- A&K M249 Para Trooper
A Note on Sidearms
There is a wide range of sidearms, as opposed to the misconception that it's only limited to pistols. There is always a discussion whether or not you really need one, considering that you have to master your sidearm's capabilities plus your main airsoft gun.
For example, a Sniper may wish to have a machine pistol or small SMG if the game rules allow it. Or depending on the size of a Support Gunner's weapon, they may wish to have a sidearm for close quarter's encounters.
If you are on a tight budget, it is better to pour more money into a high-quality long gun than worrying about an average handgun and long gun. It is always a logical idea to buy a good weapon and invest in quality parts, than worry about a sidearm.
Game Type
What kind of games are you going to be playing?
Game type affects the kind of weapon. We briefly mentioned woodland and CQB (Close Quarters Battle), and how FPS affects them. Your gun type also changes for either of these. If you are joining a group, consider looking into what type they most commonly play.
CQB is often mock urban areas or even inside buildings. In tight quarters, a smaller weapon is always better. Smaller, lighter weapons are more maneuverable and easier to use in doors.
The extreme CQB nature of an indoor game can reduce everyone to a Rifleman or a CQB Specialist. A CQB Sniper is more or less a designated marksman who provides over watch in an urban environment game.
A woodland or blended woodland/urban game makes the range a more important factor.
In these game types Snipers, Support Gunners, and Grenadiers can really stretch their legs here. A Rifleman can use full sized rifles and Grenadiers have an excellent advantage. Larger, heavier, and longer weapons are more welcomed here than in an urban environment.
Price Range
High-end airsoft guns can be quite expensive say, easily into the $300 and up range.
They often feature nicely crafted bodies, all metal construction, and high-quality internals. These models are often upgradeable but can be more complicated to upgrade or work on. A high-end weapon should have an excellent body, look and feel realistic.
Real Sword
- Awesome externals, very realistic
- Extremely durable and reliable
- Ready to go out of the box with top notch performance
- Expensive
- Limited mostly to Soviet and Chinese style small arms
- Excellent quality
- Well-made internals
- Great warranty
- Very modern furniture for accessorizing
- Difficult to work on
- Expensive
Tokyo Marui
- Constantly innovating
- Extremely well-made
- Wide variety of modern designs
- Easy to work on and upgrade
- Stock power can be low
- Expensive
- Well-made externals and internals
- Compatible with a variety of upgrades
- Modern platforms
- Large selection of guns
- Expensive
- Tends to have poor stock motors
Mid-tier guns are the perfect starting point for most new players. They often range from $150 to $350-400. These weapons are usually easier to upgrade, but cannot mimic the performance of high-end models.
You'll also find more polymers in use, but the important parts are often metal.
- Affordable for entry level players
- Well-made internals
- Maintenance is easy
- Lacks bodywork
- Produces the best entry level guns
- Excellent out of the box performance
- Lots of models available
- Good external bodywork
- Weak gearboxes
- Upgrades can be difficult
Classic Army
- Sits firmly between mid-tier and high-end
- Wide range of modern guns
- Well-made internals
- Easy to upgrade
- Bodies can be weak
Things to Avoid
These are cheap, not affordable, literally cheap. They often fall apart and should be avoided at all costs. If it's $50 or less and you can get it from Walmart or a Flea Market, it is not for serious use.
Airsoft weapons are often a get-what-you-pay-for kind of sport. The big box brand guns may be good for occasional target practice but will break with real use.
Basic Terms
Here are some terms to help beginners understand the airsoft language better, and these are also used throughout the article.
- AEG – Automatic Electric Gun
- BBs / BB – Bearing Balls; round pellets that are available in different weights. (Know how to choose one for your gun.)
- CQB – Close Quarters Battle
- FPS – Feet Per Second
- Hop-up – High Operation Power Up; the back spinning of the BB as you fire it.
- ROF – Rate OF Fire; or how many BBs come out every second.
- SMG – Sub-Machine Gun
Game On!
We already laid the best products for you. Just take some time to think of the factors above that will help you decide on what is the airsoft gun that perfectly fits your preference and personality.
What airsoft gun do you think suits you?
Other resources worth checking:
Airsoft C3 – find airsoft fields, events, shops in your local area
The Airsoft Trajectory Project – study of the BB trajectories


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Published: August 9, 2013
Atty. Mark Hanni stands before a video monitor in Warren Municipal Court on Thursday with his client, Lakeisha Bell,19, of Williamsburg Street Northwest in Warren. Bell is charged in last weekend's death of her friend, McKayla Hopkins, 18, at Bell's birthday party in Perkins Park.
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subset: commoncrawl


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- Cars
- New cars
- Honda
- Honda City
- Reviews
- CIty pleasure to drive in city
CIty pleasure to drive in city
User review on Honda City written by Chirag Malhotra (Guest) on 18 June 2014
Chirag Malhotra (Guest)'s review on Honda City E MT Diesel
Year of Manufacture : 2014 | Driven no. of Kms. : NA
- Pros: sunroof, drive pleasure
- Cons: rear bench sitting
"I bought Honda City E MT Diesel and I am very happy that i bought this car. Giving out an overall mileage of 15kmpl this car is very much pocket friendly. This car don't compensate with engine's power performance despite of being good at fuel economy. City takes on highway and city roads very well. I find this model of City more attractive than the previous model. Both front as well as back view of this car are facinating with a much more spacious interior than perivious one. I find this car pretty much good, satisfying and value for money. I will surely recommend city my friends.The sun roof is also very good and big."
Read more →
User Reviews for Honda City Competitors
Fiat Linea
Volkswagen Vento
Skoda Rapid
Maruti Suzuki Ciaz


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Tag Archives: secrets to success
Have you ever noticed that for some people life just seems easy? They are more successful than everyone around them. Why is that? Do they know some secret tips for success? And, what about happiness…why are some people so happy, and others seemingly so sad? Then too, does it take a successful life, to have [...] Read more
Category: Tips For Success
Tips For Success – Is There A Secret Of Success
Is There A Secret of Success? As you're planning your life, working your plan (preferably daily), and figuring out how to be successful in life, if you're like most people, you're asking yourself this question: "Is there a secret of success?" According to Dictionary.com, secret is defined as "something that is Read more
Category: Tips For Success


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Miller High Life''WILD TURKEY mirror
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- Sold Date:
- Source: eBay
THIS WONDERFUL 2002 MILLER HIGH LIFE "WILD TURKEY" MIRROR IS NEW OLD STOCK ,AND NEVER BEEN OUT OF THE BOX.THIS MIRROR MEASURES A LARGE 14.5 X 25.5 INCHES.THIS MILLER HL MIRROR SHOWS A WILD TURKEY STRUTTING HIS STUFF OUT IN THE WILD.THIS MIRROR WAS DRAWN UP AND SIGNED BY FAMOUS WILDLIFE ARTIST ROBERT EVANS.THIS MIRROR IS THE FOURTH LIMITED EDITION MIRROR OF SIX IN THE 5th SET OF MILLER MIRRORS.T WERE ONLY 10,000 OF THESE MADE.THIS MIRROR HAS A WONDERFUL SIMULATED WOOD FRAME WITH THE ORIGINAL STICKER ON THE BACK. THANKS FOR LOOKING. Acceptable · If paying with PAYPAL we will ONLY ship to a CONFIRMED address . If your address is un-confirmed the payment will be rejected. ALL requests to ship to an address other than the confirmed PAYPAL address will be denied. If you need to package shipped somew else please choose a different payment method. · We hold all orders paid for by check for 10 business days to clear. · Your full name, shipping address, & daytime phone number is REQUIRED FOR ALL ORDERS . Your order will not ship without all of the required information. · We are not responsible for any package once it is in the hands of the shipping company. I WILL PACK AND SHIP WITH THE UTMOST CARE - USING PROTECTIVE BUBBLE WRAP AND INSURANCE TO GUARANTEE SAFE DELIVERY TO YOUR DOOR


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Hi, I didn't create the individual villagers heads in my signature, but I did edit them and added some touches. The original designs are by a great tumblr by the name of Purple Pixel.
Still got him? Just getting home from work and I can hook up to wifi in like 10 minutes
Hey! I'm so sorry; Agnes is not available anymore. I hope you can get her soon though!
Thanks!! Do you have any tips on keeping her original as i TT to get her in boxes? THANKS <3
she is one of the most popular villagers right now, most go for around 50 BTB or ~20 million IGB
thank you for the offer, but i actually just got her a little bit ago. out of curiosity, who else is in your cycle town?


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Bentley Flying Spur V8
Although the 2014 Bentley Flying Spur has dropped "Continental" from its name, the sedan has more content and refinement than ever before. As was the case with the original Bentley Continental Flying Spur, the sedan is arriving roughly two years after the Continental GT coupe. The 2014 Flying Spur will make its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, joining the Mulsanne as one of Bentley's four-door offerings.Under the hood, the twin-turbo, 6.0-liter W-12 engine gets a 64-hp and 114-lb-ft bump to 616 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. That's also 16 hp and 37 lb-ft more than the last Continental Flying Spur Speed. Peak horsepower comes at 6000 rpm, while peak torque is achieved at just 2000 rpm.
|Bentley Flying Spur V8 Front View
A new Bosch engine management system improves torque management, turbocharger control, drivability, and emissions control, as well as low-speed responsiveness. Bentley claims the additional power and reduced weight contribute to a 14 percent improvement in the power-to-weight ratio, and that the sedan can reach 60 mph in 4.3 seconds as well as a 200-mph top speed. In our testing, the 2012 Continental Flying Spur Speed reached 60 mph in 4.6 seconds.
|Bentley Flying Spur V8 Back View


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Studio C brings us a soccer match to determine the winners of the 2014 Men's College Cup.
At the end of regulation, the Yale Bulldogs and the UNC Tar Heels are forced to decide the outcome on a penalty kick shootout – and it's one of hte most epic shootouts you will ever see!
Yale takes an early 1-0 lead in the shootout and in comes Scott Sterling to try to hold the fort. "The Cannon" unleashes a 116 km/h howitzer, but is no match for Sterling's prowess. After Yale misses on the next kick of their own, UNC is stopped once again by Sterling's face – and this shot clocked in at 129 km/h!
By now, Sterling is in no shape to continue. When Yale misses their next attempt, guess who's back in net? That's right – good ol' Scott Sterling! Sterling avoids the ball at all costs, even curling up in the corner in a fetal position – and somehow still manages to keep the ball out of the goal!
Sterling's teammates have to bring a chair for him to sit on in order to face the 4th shooter. Then the impossible happens! UNC has a wide open net and strikes a 158 km/h bullet – right into Sterling's face!
The score stays at 1-0 and by now the commentators are beyond excited to see how Scott Sterling saves the next one. In an unbelievable twist of fate, the UNC player strikes the ball off the crossbar only to bounce back into Sterling's face once again.
Ladies and gentlemen, we give you, Scott Sterling!


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5 SEO Tools You Might Not Have… Yet | Search Engine Journal Dee
April 11, 2013 at 01:54AM
Excerpted from article by Kristi Hines, author of Kikolani, posted on Search Engine Journal:
"Here are some tools I use on a regular basis that you may not have in your toolkit just yet. The best part – they're all perfect for SEO's and businesses with smaller budgets.
1) iSpionage:
it is known for their PPC research tools, but they also have powerful keyword research features as well. When you enter a keyword into their search, you will first see the top 10 PPC competitors along with a graph showing the advertising trend for the keyword.
After a block of related keywords is one of my favorite parts: a glimpse of the top-performing, longest-running ads in Google related to your keyword.
What's nice about this is you can see how other websites are using the keyword.
2) cognitiveSEO:
it offers a visual approach to learning about your competitor's backlink profile that includes charts for deep link ratios, dofollow to nofollow, website types, website categories, link trustworthiness, and much more.
3) Broken Link Finder:
this tool allows paid members to search for a keyword or keyword phrase and get potential broken link opportunities.
4) Whitespark:
If you are working with a local website, then this tool is a must have resource. This citation finder will go out and find local search opportunities based on your website's keywords and location.
You will get to see the domain, direct submit link, type of website, Majestic SEO AC Rank, Domain Authority, and date discovered. The results are based off of backlinks / citations that other local competitors have gained.
5) Link Detox:
If you think your website has been hit with a Google penalty based on you links, then the Link Detox report from Link Research Tools is a must have. You simply enter your domain or upload your links from Google Webmaster Tools. It will then mark your links as healthy, suspicious, and toxic. This will give you a better idea of which links to remove first…"
Each tool is analyzed with more information. Read full article here:
See it on Scoop.it, via On Integrated Marketing Communications
from On Integrated Marketing Communications | Scoop.it http://www.scoop.it/t/on-imc/p/3999770362/5-seo-tools-you-might-not-have-yet-search-engine-journal


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Despicable Me, a new computer animated film featuring the voice of Steve Carell, is -- apparently -- about three orphan girls who take on the despicable Groo (Carell). Groo -- apparently -- is on an evil quest to steal the moon, nefarious evil-doer that he is. Of course, you're not going to see any of that in this first trailer. What the trailer has to do with the rest of the film is not clear, but here it is all the same after the jump.
© 2017 Spike Cable Networks. All Rights Reserved.


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|21 Nov 2010
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Bluetooth 3.0 issue with Nokia PC Suite
i bought a new notebook a couple of weeks ago .. (HP Pavilion dv6-3177ee) running windows 7 home premium 64bit.
it comes with bluetooth version 3.
i installed ovi suite and pc suite .. but when i try to connect my phone via bluetooth , it gives me the next massege :
"Bluetooth is turned off or unavailable on your computer . Turn on Bluetooth or or refer to help ..."
I checked the bluetooth .. and its ON .. I tryed to send a file via blutooth to my phone and it's sent.
when I go in PC Suite to : Settings => manage connections => i find bluetooth unmarked .. when I try to mark it it gives the next massage:
"Cannot use the connection type.Check that all the needd hardware,software and drivers are available. (Code: OpenMedia)"
the blutooth device name is :
Ralink/Motorola BC4 Bluetooth 3.0 + HS Adapter
and I have the latest driver for it which is dated 11-2010 !!!! (version 3)
this is what I've tried :
I tried removing the ralink/motorola driver and make windows find a proper driver itself .. windows did find a driver but it didn't work ( it can't find other devices and other devices can't find the notebook )
can anyone help please...
|My System Specs
|29 May 2011
Windows 7 Professional, 64-Bit
Nokia PC Suite Non-Connectivity thru Bluetooth on Windows 7
I have similar problem of non-connectivity thru BT on my HP Probook. The laptop came with built-in Bluetooth. It connects to my Nokia E-72 thru the Windows BT Manager. But when i try to connect thru PC Suite, it does not. The PC Suite works fine with E-72 when i connect thru USB cable. Same was the story with Ovi Suite.
Connectivity of PC Suite was a convenience on Windows XP (my older laptop).
If anyone's got a solution, please let me know.
|My System Specs
|Thread Tools
|Similar help and support threads
Unable to install Nokia PC Suite.
Hi, I had both Nokia PC Suite and OVI suite running. When they were seeming erratic , I thought of upgrading. I am not able to upgrade or uninstall/repair the existing version. It gets stuck with a registry key saying the access is denied. I tried to get it cleared from regedit , but it is some...
Nokia PC suite and Ovi suite
Hello friends what is diffrence between Nokia PC suite and Nokia OVI suite????
Not able to connect to internet via nokia pc suite...?
I use a dual boot xp and 7..both work ok ..i installled 7 few days ago..the problem is whenever i try to connect to the internet using nokia pc suite while using 7 its not possible...but to my suprise when i tried it in xp i got connected..! I even checked for errors in access point,firewall and...
|Network & Sharing
Nokia PC suite not working
Hi I have a nokia N95 phone so i wanted to install nokia PC suite but it gave me an error saying that i require administrative privilidges so i right clicked the setup file and click on Troubleshoot Compatibility, and then ran the .exe file as an administrator and selected windows vista as the...
Problem with Nokia PC Suite
Hey, I installed w7 professional x64 recently but Nokia PC suite won't read my phone (3600 slide), it was installed normally but whenever i try to connect the phone the program won't read any connections although the windows can read it and works well as a data storage, I use a USB cable to...
Can't connect to net via Nokia One touch/nokia pc suite
Recently installed Windows 7 build 7600. After installing i updated the system using windows update by connecting to the internet via my nokia n70 usb modem by installing the latest nokia pc suite, during the update it was working fine, but after i restarted the system and again tried to connect...
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A 1928 Walker electric truck is available on Craigslist for what seems to be a very reasonable $40,000. That's not a lot of money for a vehicle that may be unique in all the world. Fitted with new tires and 3 new 12 volt batteries, the truck actually still works.
The current (no pun intended) owner is hoping the truck will end up in the hands of a museum or some other collector who will love and care for it. Perhaps Jay Leno will be calling soon?


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(Updated November 2017) Every straight guy knows how a woman's femininity can tug on our heart strings. And our lust strings. Sometimes a woman's shape, personality, face, voice—it all just adds up to make her absolutely irresistible. (Here's an article on the most attractive female body.) Women feel the same way about us men… just based on a whole different set of traits.
For better or worse, the impression we give off can have a huge impact on our lives. Even if we train and eat well for our health and performance, we also want to attract great women, and ultimately spending the rest of our lives with the one we want is a pretty damn big deal. And, of course, even once we have her that doesn't mean we should stop striving to be the man of her dreams.
It's not just about women either—getting the respect of other men is important to us too, both in our personal and work life. So too is getting the respect of ourselves. I know that confidence should come from within, but that confidence also needs to come from real accomplishments. Being able to put in the time and dedication required to build a strong, healthy and capable body is one of many things that can give us a true kind of confidence. It also gives us the physical power that is sometimes needed to stand up for our beliefs.
Aesthetics, muscle, health and masculinity are all so closely related to one another that how we train and eat can roll over into every area of our life. So of course we care. It's not just instinctual, it's logical.
If anything, as men sometimes we tend to think attractiveness matters less than it actually does. A new study just published at the University of Notre Dame found that the whole successful but otherwise unattractive guy marrying a beautiful woman stereotype is pretty much just a myth. It turns out that attractiveness attracts attractiveness, just like success attracts success. This is great news for sexism, bad news for thinking you can get away with being a schlub. (study)
The tricky part is that some of the traits we portray are obvious… but some we'd never even think to think of. Moreover, sometimes it's those elusive traits that make or break us.
I should also point out that caring about building a manly physique isn't just a skinny-boy thing. In a study done on college football players—guys who are madly in love with their sport and whose careers depend on how well they perform—they found that while most of them listed power and performance as their reasons behind wanting muscular bodies… they also admitted to caring a whole hell of a lot about their attractiveness. (study)
Aesthetics isn't something we can avoid, and everyone is influenced by it. To a certain extent we're all unique snowflakes, sure, but when it comes to aesthetics, well, we aren't. Personal preference has its place, but a lot of it, in fact almost all of it, is basic human nature with some social conditioning sprinkled on top. Love it or hate it, it happens. It's instinctive, uncontrollable and often subconscious. We're built to automatically respect men who display certain traits, and in a similar but different way some of our male traits can create gut-level attraction in women.
Think about the effect that a curvy female hourglass physique has on you. Combine the right bone structure with fat in the right places and muscle in the right places and bam—you get that instinctive response that turns your head and knocks the wind right out of you. I often find myself tempted to click on ridiculous ads featuring photoshopped girls for that very reason.
As men, sometimes the character we portray is obvious. I have one uncle who's 6'2 and maybe 250 pounds. That man loves his football and loves to eat. He's been lifting heavy things and eating big his entire life, resulting in around 100 of those pounds being in his shoulders. He doesn't look like a bodybuilder, he looks like a bear. He has to get all of his clothing not just tailored but completely custom made to accommodate his cartooned musculature. Combine that with his deep booming voice and the overall effect is pretty wild—when he speaks the room falls silent, when he walks down the sidewalk guys give him a wide berth, and when he asks you for something you hurriedly splurt out a yes, often before he finishes his sentence.
It isn't all show either, and I've seen him lift a man off his feet who was (very) disrespectful to my female cousin. When my uncle put him back down the man hit the ground running. Seconds later we heard tires skidding as he sped off. Understandably—if a bear set me back down I'd seriously consider the same exit strategy.
Having a guy like that on your side immediately makes you feel safe. If something goes wrong you just figure things will be okay. He's a smart and well-read guy, too, and his voice, physique and confidence all make for a hell of a lot of charisma when he speaks.
Do you know what words a stranger would use to describe you when you walk by?
As men we tune into certain things about other men, immediately sizing them up and forming an opinion… yet we're often totally unaware of how we're portraying ourselves to other men, let alone women. There are traits we don't even know exist that can have a powerful drug-like effect on women. Some strong athletic masculine men convey them naturally, but I've always found that it pays to consciously know how we can improve, even if just to encourage ourselves to be the most that we can be. That's how us ectomorphs become strong athletic masculine men, after all.
Besides, aesthetics aren't just skin deep. The benefits go all the way down to our bones*, improving our health, strength, intelligence, performance and mood. Good looks signal higher degrees of those traits after all, which is why they look "good" to begin with.
*Not a figure of speech—heavy strength training actually increases bone density, as does solid nutrition.
Without further ado, here's my most research / study / illustration-filled article yet:
Woman-friendly Physiques
It's not about women being shallow and judging you just based on how hot you are, it's about women being extremely perceptive and using your physique to give them clues about your genes, your lifestyle and your character. Will you make a good breeding partner? A good husband? A good father?
And can she trust you? Will you protect her? Are you intelligent and ambitious? Will other men respect you? Are you physically, mentally and genetically healthy enough not just to survive, but to thrive?
These are really important questions, and right away smart women will make assumptions about all of them based on the very first impression you give them. Is that fair? Surprisingly it usually is, because, well, women are really damn good at it. (study)
See, lots of guys will pretend to be nice to get what they want. Some guys brag and exaggerate, scheme and manipulate. Some guys will hide skeletons and put only their best foot forward.
An attractive woman can't give every single guy a chance—there isn't enough time. And they can't bet their future on a man if they don't know if he's worth it or not. It's not like they can wait for a disaster to see if a guy can keep it together under pressure… because by then it's already too late.
So girls judge us based on things that are extremely hard to fake.
All women thus come programmed with the ability to pick out an attractive, healthy, strong, intelligent, honest man. It's just part of their genes. Then, based on their social conditioning and media exposure, those abilities are slightly tweaked and "heightened" to match the society they live in. (That's where trends and fashion come in, but we can largely ignore that, since the underlying universal fundamentals are far more powerful anyway.)
There are several things that women instinctively look for regarding your physique, and I'll break 'em all down and tell you why they matter. First here's a rough idea of what'll put a gal's heart in her stomach:
The weights and measurements are based on a 6″ tall male, although we don't really care about height here—just proportions. Body fat is 8-12%.
Now let's break it down.
1. Strong Broad Shoulders
It's no coincidence that business suits are designed to make men seem broader in the shoulders – constructed shoulders are the padded push-up bras of male culture.
… actually that's unfair to suits. Women respond to broad shoulders far more powerfully than men respond to babely breasts, making suits the more powerful of the two. You know that lustful feeling well cloven cleavage can instil in you? Well broad shoulders give women that same feeling, except stronger.(study)
The first things women will take in is your overall shape, allowing them to get a quick guess at how you'll stack up in all the following aesthetic arenas. There's a lot of information in how broad your shoulders are – especially in comparison to your waist – and it's available at a glance. Every study is in unanimous agreement here, and you're probably already well aware of it. (study, study)
Why? Well broad shoulders are very indicative of a strong man, since adding muscle to your body invariably adds several inches to your shoulders. And what woman doesn't want a man whose shoulders can bear the weight of the world? There's a correlation between guys with naturally broad shoulders and naturally high levels of testosterone too, so even in the absence of muscle it's still a very masculine trait, which girls dig. As such the breadth of your shoulders is a very good indicator of health, strength and masculinity: it's accurate, it's hard to fake, and women can see it right away.
The ideal shoulder to waist ratio: 1.618 to 1.
This particular ratio—the golden ratio—appears all over the ideal human body (and throughout nature) and sculptors and artists have been using it for millennia to depict the ideal physique. All those sculptures of Greek gods and Olympians are rockin' exactly that ratio. What this means is that if you're a skinny dude with a lean 30 inch waist you'd want to build your shoulder muscles up to 49 inches (1.618 times as big as your waist). With a 32 inch waist you'd build your shoulders up to 52 inches around, etc.
Whatever width your shoulders are right now, don't fret. Like I said, powerful shoulders can be built:
2. A Trim Waist
Size only matters if that size is lean. Women aren't trying to just find a big man, they're trying to find a strong one. Since our male hormones cause us to store a lot of fat in our midsection, the best way to quickly spot a chubster is to look at his belt size. Thus broad shoulders are only attractive when paired with a proportionately small waist.
Why do women care if you're holding onto some fat? Well obesity has always been a sign of suboptimal health, and it can result in a plethora of issues. Generally speaking a bit of fat isn't necessarily bad, and thus throughout most of history being a little pudgy was okay. In today's culture we're hyper-sensitized to it, likely because so many first-world men struggle with it. We hear about the problems of obesity every single day, while being lean is an increasingly rare and impressive trait.
Having your midsection mastered immediately suggests a lot of things about you: a healthy diet, possible good genetics, physical health, youth, and, of course, self control. (study) And since a trim waist hints at a longer lifespan, chances are she'll get to enjoy all those great things about you for longer.
This is a really big thing for women—so much so that it actually doesn't matter how big you get if you've got any sort of pudge going on.
It's like being a really skinny guy with abs. Our abs don't count until we're muscular. (Dammit.)
Those big beefy strong guys? They're disqualified. They win points from men for being stronger, but their guts fail to win them points with women.
I should note here that I don't mean abs, I simply mean a trim waist, i.e., no love handles or belly. A flat stomach is equally as attractive as abs, unless you're dating a woman who's really into fitness, in which case she may prefer abs simply because she's part of that cut culture. Generally though being extremely lean is a way for us to show off to each other—not to women.
Yep, that means you can take your ab shot off your online dating profile. A girl can tell how much she likes your 'bod from how good you look in a fitted tee.
3. Muscularity
Keep in mind that the coveted "V" taper isn't just created by broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Having beastly back musculature and strong glutes is also incredibly important, and will both make your waist seem smaller and your shoulders seem broader. Forget your back and legs and you'll wind up with a "T" taper.
With your shoulder / waist ratio women are getting an idea of our muscularity, but the main factor there is the ratio, not about whether it's from our muscle mass or bone structure. Further studies needed to be done to determine an ideal level of muscularity independent from our shoulder width, and they found that broad shoulders are attractive even in absence of muscle, and muscle is attractive even in absence of broad shoulders. (study)
So here we're talking less about your frame and more about muscle itself, making this more of a chest & back / waist ratio thing. (Factoring in your lats and chest.)
The drive for muscularity in men is both very innate and very cultural—sort of a chicken and egg scenario. (You know, the scenario where we should really be eating a lot of both.) Men are naturally drawn to muscle, and that drive is further exaggerated by the media. As men we have different biological priorities combined with exposure to different media than women. We thus have very slightly different ideals concerning muscularity than women do. Most guys, myself included, instinctively get this part wrong. (I'll talk more about male ideals later.)
Muscles aren't just a man thing though, and one of the main reasons we love them so much is because of women—women love a certain degree of muscularity too.
Why? It's like a peacock's tail, indicating an abundance of the ingredients required to thrive. Since the beginning of humanity only the most capable of men have been able to build muscle. It requires a steady supply of a lot of good food, indicating that you can acquire that food consistently; it requires lots of hearty physical activity, indicating that you're physically healthy and capable; and it requires masculine hormones which have a lot of positive effects on our health and performance.
(Muscularity is heavily influenced by our production of testosterone, hGH, IGF-1 and insulin. Some of this is genetic, but much of our hormone production has to do with our diet and exercise.)
Muscularity isn't an outdated mechanism either. In today's society the same basics hold true, and while we may not need to hunt down food ourselves, protein is not the cheapest of foods, healthy food is more expensive than heavily processed food, and consistently eating well and training requires good health, time and dedication. Muscle speaks of a lifestyle of health and abundance.
Going beyond that, it also says a lot about your character. Building a strong lean physique requires dedication, consistency and self control. Since muscularity is such an innate masculine goal it can almost be assumed that every man would prefer to have it, all else equal. Deep down every man wants it, but not every man has the willpower to achieve it. It thus says a lot about your ability to get what you want out of life.
As ectomorphs we can start getting the benefits of being muscular pretty early into our development, since we're often starting out fairly lean. As soon as our shoulders, back, glutes and chest (in order of importance) start beefing up we do pretty great. The "fit" bodytype isn't that muscular and can often be accomplished in a matter of months.
Eventually we get to that optimal level where we don't just look fit—we look strong and masculine. It takes longer, but women really start to feel feminine, sexy and safe around us, since we have a larger and more classically masculine physique.
Going from strong to jacked is no walk in the park, and adding muscle beyond that point is a challenge for most men. Once you get to that highly muscular point it's truly commendable—but you've gone beyond what women find ideal, and you'll fall behind the more slenderly muscled "fit" guy in terms of desirability. Not by much though, and you'll still be very highly sought after.
Long story short: slimmer than "fit" and you risk being perceived as weak, fickle, submissive, etc. Any bigger than "jacked" and you lose points for being overly yoked, and thus hormonally fragile.
For guys who are already into strength training that's a bit of a weird thing to wrap your head around, and I have to admit I fall into the category of guys who instinctively think "whoa wait—why isn't more better!?"
Turns out more is not better. Not at all. And if you go much beyond the muscularity of the "jacked" guy your physique stops becoming attractive altogether. (study) Women begin to get the sense that something fishy is up hormonally… and they're probably right—muscularity beyond a certain threshold is nearly impossible to accomplish without either abnormal hormone production (overly mesomorphic genetics) or pharmaceuticals. A very lean 200 pounds (under 10% bodyfat) is the upper limit of muscularity for most 6″ tall men, even with many years of intelligent and consistent training.
See, men have always wanted to be muscular and women have always been drawn to it, but the whole really muscular thing doesn't work for women. They aren't socially conditioned to like it, since Cosmo is full of Brad Pitt / Ryan Gosling types—guys who are somewhere between "fit" and "strong".
(Both examples are ectomorphs, with Pitt being less muscular with naturally broader shoulders, and Gosling being more muscular with naturally narrower shoulders.)
There's a legitimate reason behind it too though. With peacocks the bigger the tail is the better. It might be costly and dangerous to parade it around, and it may mean they die sooner (either of illness or lion). But that's okay. Peahens want the most badass offspring possible and don't really care about what happens to their mate after they mate. Women, however, do. They want a man who's emotionally stable enough to stick around and healthy enough to survive. That's how you raise badass offspring, after all.
The right amount of muscularity means you're healthy and strong. You'll be able to protect her, provide for her and help her raise healthy muscular kids like you.
4. A healthy masculine (chiseled) face
To a certain extent we're stuck with the faces our mothers gave us, but there's actually a whole lot we can do just by improving our health, increasing our muscularity and lowering our body fat percentage.
Mastering our muscularity and midsection will go a long way to changing how attractive women find our faces. See, regardless of how large our noses are, we want faces shaped by muscle, not bone or fat. This will build up manly jaw muscles and chisel out our faces, making us appear more masculine, which women find sexually irresistible.(study) Interestingly enough, the more attractive a woman thinks she is, the more drawn to masculine facial features she is. (study) It may not just be how attractive she thinks she is, either, and some studies are showing that greater attractiveness and femininity in women results in a stronger preference for men with masculine faces. (study)
Facial masculinity is just one piece of the puzzle though, and the next piece is perhaps even more interesting: women can subconsciously pick up on what our skin tone is saying about us. Having the right amount of red and yellow in our colouring is an indicator of health, and will make us appear more attractive. How do we improve our skin tone? Exercise and sound nutrition. Yep, you probably saw that one coming. A higher intake of fruits and vegetables (nutrition), higher levels of oxygenated blood (exercise) and more melanin production (both) will all help. (study) It will go a long way to clearing up acne and improving your complexion, too.
Even in a snowsuit* women can tell if we're lean, healthy and muscular. Pretty wild.
*This matters to us Canadians.
5. Masculinity (i.e. testosterone)
Masculinity is an interesting thing, and different women are drawn to different levels of it depending on what they're looking for, how feminine they are and how high their confidence is:
- Generally the more feminine the woman, the more she'll be drawn to masculinity. Similarly, more masculine women are often drawn to more feminine men.
- The more attractive a woman thinks she is, the more confident she'll feel around masculine men and the more she'll enjoy being around them. One theory here is that only the most desirable of women are able to attract a very masculine man and keep him. The more masculine the man, the more options he'll have, after all.
- The more masculine a man, the more sexually attractive he is. This is that gut-level kind of attraction that women find irresistible—they're just drawn to it.
- The more hormonally balanced a man is the more a woman will be inclined to get into a relationship with him. While a slightly less masculine man might not have the same raw sexiness, they often give off better boyfriend / husband vibes.
- It's possible to balance masculinity with an equally impressive degree of health, making you irresistibly masculine yet stable enough to rock a successful relationship.
Women can tell how masculine we are from our body language, stride, voice, muscularity and even our scent. Having the right amount of masculine hormones changes us right down to the way we smell, and that can either make our scent irresistible to women or instinctively give them bad vibes. (study, study, study)
The variance in testosterone levels between men is huge, and it has a big impact on our personalities, appearance and health. Some men walk around with 4-5 times as much testosterone pumping through them as others. Not fair, us slenderly muscled ectomorphs might think, but once again this is not out of our control.
Why does masculinity matter? It says a lot about our health and fitness. Taking it one step further, women can also infer clues about our character. High levels of testosterone in men are linked with ambition and confidence, but there's another lesser-known side of testosterone too—it also hints at a man's integrity.
Higher testosterone is strongly linked with honesty, for example. In a study done just a couple weeks ago they found that men whose testosterone levels had been increased (using a gel) were significantly more honest than the men who were given a placebo. Looks like the confidence and power that comes with testosterone also gives us the strength to man up and be honest with one another. (study)
On the flip side, overly high levels of testosterone are actually quite unattractive, as they can cause selfishness, volatility and fragility. While the golden zone of testosterone improves strength, confidence, integrity and ambition, overly high levels of testosterone can in some cases make men emotionally unstable (study), less likely to stick around in a relationship and more prone to illness.
Less likely to stick around in a relationship?!
Interestingly enough, men in longterm relationships have slightly lower testosterone output. Whether entering into a relationship causes the testosterone drop, or whether lower testosterone increases a man's desire to enter a relationship isn't clear. (study) Whichever causes which, women are often wary of men with sky-high testosterone.
High testosterone output making us prone to illness is another weird one. Testosterone is a costly hormone, and too much of it not only increases the likelihood that we'll do stupidly dangerous crap, it also sacrifices our immune system in favour of power. Of course, too little testosterone and we also become vulnerable. Women know we can't have it all, so they've become finely tuned to pick up on Goldilock's "just right" amount of testosterone output.
Too little testosterone and we'll be deemed weak, fickle and effeminate. Too much and we're deemed selfish, volatile and fragile. Rough.
Luckily this isn't all up to our genetics. Strength training and solid muscle-building nutrition will help regulate your masculinizing hormones (like testosterone) and feminizing hormones (like estrogen), and staying lean will help as well. If you're doing all that right you can just let your hormones take care of themselves.
+1 for fit guys.
6. Symmetry
Symmetry is pretty straightforward—it's indicative of good genes. Just like your face is probably pretty symmetrical, chances are your muscles were relatively symmetrical by default but your lopsided desk-dude lifestyle has resulted in some asymmetries.
That's fine, and relatively easy to fix. The best way to fix' er right up is just to focus on unilateral lifts (e.g. one-armed bench press, 1-armed lat pulldown) for a while. Train your weaker side first, and limit your dominant side to whatever your weaker side can do. The first phase of our program features a lot of unilateral lifts and by the end of it most of our guys are pretty symmetrical and a hell of a lot more muscular. Symmetry doesn't take as long to fix as you'd think, and you can add mass everywhere while doing it.
Asymmetrical shoulder heights are also really common among our members and sometimes take a bit longer to fix. Many of us, myself included, started out with one shoulder cocked higher than the other. Luckily I was able to gain 40 pounds while addressing it, so once again it's not something that should get in our way.
6. Posture / Alignment
Better posture increases your perceived masculinity, height, status, strength, and confidence. Posture is so finely tied to status and confidence that improving your posture will improve not only the impression you give off, but also how confident you feel. To make things even more interesting, proper posture actually increases our testosterone output and improves the transmission of strength from our lower body to our upper body. Improving our alignment makes us both more masculine and stronger in and of itself. Pretty sweet.
This is fairly advanced stuff, and one reason why I don't make my own workout programming. We let Marco do his thing and trust his expertise. It's also why we highly encourage our members to take photos and post them on the forum. From there we can spot any potential problems and make sure we're addressing them. Luckily most of us ectomorphs have a very similar and distinct problem: upper and lower crossed syndrome with internally rotated shoulders (shown above).
We place a lot of emphasis on lifting heavy and adding mass, but we also dig building wickedly functional, strong and aesthetic bodies, so we always round out our workouts with some quick postural exercises. (More on posture here)
7. Muscular Balance
Women really dig musculature that actually works. Most women couldn't tell you the difference between your deltoid and your rhomboid, but they'll still instinctively get a "something is funky over there" vibe when guys have disproportionately built physiques.
Many bodies aren't trained for function, don't look like they were trained for function, and thus fail to accomplish their (presumed) primary goal of looking good. Whoops.
How do you get a disproportionate physique?
a) Certain sports. Hockey players, soccer players and bikers often have large legs combined with small upper bodies (the t-rex), rock climbers tend to have really big backs with small chests and triceps, tennis players get one big arm and one little arm, and basketball players are often really tall. In a way that's a good thing, because it allows them to kick serious ass at their sport. They also need to be careful though, because unbalanced musculature can limit performance and increase the chance of injuries. A degree of physique specialization is recommended for athletes, but it shouldn't be haphazard.
b) A homemade training program. That'll give you a pretty wonky 'bod, guaranteed. We naturally gravitate towards certain exercises and making a program ourselves inevitably leads to a body that we think looks good in the mirror but that women are confused and repelled by. Women, who get a full 360* view, care about how big your back and butt are.
c) Being totally out of it. The best way to get an unbalanced body is by taking up desk-hunching and couch-riding without any solid physical activity. Some things will tighten up, some things will stretch out, some muscles will get lazy (like your ass), and others will get tendonitis.
Tricks for having perfectly balanced functional musculature:
a) Train your back twice (i.e. a pull) for every time you train your chest (i.e. a press). Back muscles respond better to a higher volume and will contribute more to your athleticism and aestheticism than your chest. This is especially important for us ectomorphs who look like a lollipop when viewed from the side, since your back musculature is responsible for two thirds of the thickness of your upper body. It's also responsible for our v-taper when viewed from the front and back.
… but don't neglect your chest. You really do want strong and plump pecs, since they're such a huge indicator of muscularity and strength.
b) Train your legs almost as often as you train your upper body, and squat deep enough that you get your glutes and hamstrings working along with your quads. You want your thigh bones going down parallel to the floor. You'll squat less weight, sure, but even with less weight you'll build more muscle. You can spend a bit more time growing your upper body if you prefer the look, but if you don't build up impressive leg (and thus full body) strength you'll fail to achieve the aesthetic and athletic physique that women long for.
c) Deadlift like a monster. It's the best back exercise, it's the best trap exercise, it'll do wonders to your lower body, it will strengthen your posture and it's an incredible exercise for core strength. Want a Superman-like silhouette in a hurry? Deadlift. You'll get absolutely strong as hell and it'll show from a mile away. It's also the best forearm / grip exercise out there, so you'll develop rock hard man-hands that your lady will love to hold.
Here's a good example of an ideal aesthetics transformation.
Klaus has built up broad shoulders and a muscular chest while also trimming his waist down. His posture is good, and his proportions are great. To most women, this physique will look pretty ideal.
The Bodies Men Respect & Idolize
Any article on aesthetics needs to be broken up by gender, since both men and women dream of having a body that's rather different from what the other gender dreams of waking up next to.
Women prefer a man who's significantly leaner and more muscular than average, you know, like a man found in Cosmo. They found these physiques more attractive than the more muscular ones in magazines targeted at health conscious men, like Men's Health, and much more attractive than the muscles aspiring male weightlifters are exposed to in magazines like Men's Fitness. (study) Rest assured that male bodybuilders are not what your dream girl is dreaming of. (Us ectomorphs actually have a pretty great shot at quickly becoming rather ideal in the eyes of most women.)
As ectomorphs some us set our sights a little smaller. When I was 6'2 and 130 pounds damn I was eager just to bulk up to the point where the word bony didn't spring into everyone's mind when I entered the room. It wasn't until I reached 150 that I started trying to look fit, and it wasn't until 170 that I wanted to look strong. At 185 I'm pretty happy with how I look and care most about actually being strong.
Ectomorphs aside though, most men want slightly more muscular physiques than the men found in Cosmo, shooting instead for the stronger look popular in Men's Health. (Surprisingly, the physiques in Men's Health line up pretty well with the physiques that women actually gravitate towards, photos in magazine aside.)
Generally the more interested in fitness a guy is, the more muscle related media he gets exposed to and the bigger he wants to become. Many guys, like me, gradually increase their goals as they go along. That can definitely be a good thing, but many weightlifting enthusiasts eventually get to a point where they're overestimating what women want by as much as 30 pounds. (study)
I'm not saying it's all created by the media—Hell the media might just be mirroring what us guys are naturally drawn to. Muscle is a very masculine thing historically, culturally and biologically (men have much more muscle-building potential than women do) so it makes sense that we just want more of it.
Bringing us to:
Bodybuilder Aesthetics
This niche of dudes has relatively distinct goals, so it deserves a bit of attention of its own. Perception varies between subcultures, and while women have a rather uniform preference for healthy, strong and athletic looking guys, different subsets of men shoot for different goals. A bodybuilder would see the "muscular" guy girls are fawning over and think "Psh. Do you even lift?"
So while most guys and gals dig strong human-like proportions, some guys strive to achieve superhuman proportions.
While many professional bodybuilders these days do simply focus on size, there's often an equally large emphasis on proportions. The ideal shoulder / waist ratio remains the same, but you'd want bigger measurements in both areas. To determine muscularity you'd start by measuring something fixed, like your wrist size, and then building up your relaxed arm, neck and calf muscles to 250% of that size. For a guy like me with 7″ wrists that would result in nearly 18 inch upper arms / calves / neck, which is far beyond what's attractive to people outside of the bodybuilding community—and these are the proportions advocated by the classic bodybuilder Steve Reeves, who had a relatively slender physique by bodybuilding standards!
His exaggerated physique and remarkable good looks made him one of the first bodybuilding celebrities. He wasn't just an oddity, he became a celebrity and icon. This brought bodybuilding into the mainstream.
There's a dark side to bodybuilding too, and steroid abuse is becoming quite common, permeating even novice bodybuilding circles. Steve Reeves was among the early mainstream bodybuilding pioneers in the 40's, taking relatively low doses of steroids (if any) by modern standards. He followed a routine that was typical of natural weightlifters. He'd do three full body workouts per week, his training volume was moderate, and he primarily used compound lifts that worked many different muscle groups at once.
Years later Arnold Schwarzenegger entered the arena. Like Reeves, he was handsome and charismatic enough to popularize his even more exaggeratedly masculine physique and have massive success in the mainstream.
Professional bodybuilding culture began to evolve as drugs became more potent, and nowadays many guys who don't even take steroids are accidentally following routines initially designed and optimized for steroid users. Not so long ago this wasn't a very well researched topic, and many of the bodybuilding pioneers were responsible for figuring out what worked best by simple trial and error. Guys like Schwarzenegger and his friends would try out a variety of techniques, see what worked, and then pass on that information to others. Some of this stuff had merit, some of it was just muscle mythology. That information would then be spread around in muscle magazines, eventually trickling down to the mainstream.
Drugs have a huge impact on what style of lifting is effective though, and information trickling down from the trial and error of guys using steroids (and other drugs) can make it very hard for natural guys to figure out how to train. "Triple split" routines are perhaps the most common example of a bodybuilding routine that trickled down from steroid users and was then adopted by the mainstream.
There's also some truth to the idea that bodybuilders tend to focus on growing their muscles via metabolic stress ("the pump") instead of exclusively via mechanical tension (lifting heavy). This can affect how your body adapts, although many of the myths surrounding bulkier guys, like being slow or inflexible, are false. We wrote up an article on the different types of exercise / weightlifting and the muscular adaptions they cause here.
Now that steroids have been around for a few decades, studies are showing them to be the male equivalent of anorexia and bulimia—both typically being the result of anxiety and body image issues. The same drive that causes even very thin women to develop eating disorders results in even already very muscular men taking steroids. (study) Among thinness / muscularity heavy niches, like female fashion and male bodybuilding, these practices can become quite common and even an accepted part of that subculture. That certainly doesn't describe every bodybuilder though (or even every steroid user).
A parting point: while bodybuilding is often thought to be a vain sport, there's actually very little correlation between narcissism and the drive for extreme amounts of muscle. It isn't an obsession with beauty, after all, and more so an urge to develop extreme masculinity. (study)
Classic Male Aesthetics
Most men want a strong dashing 'bod that's healthy, muscular, functional, looks good to women, earns the respect of men and doesn't require an arsenal of pharmaceuticals.
Bodybuilding techniques trickle down into mainstream culture though, and many novice weightlifters mimic their routines, not realizing it's a highly specialized form of training that likely doesn't match their current situation or future goals at all. Athletes, actors and classic strong dudes train a totally different way.
We're better off using big compound lifts (bench press, squats, deadlifts, chin ups, etc) that naturally build muscle mass everywhere. It's efficient, requiring less time in the gym; it's functional, meaning our growing muscles directly translate into improved strength and athletic performance; and it's aesthetic, in that both men and women will think they look rad.
This ensures that you can use your muscles to both literally and metaphorically pick up women.
But there's still a bit of a discrepancy between how woman want us to look and how we want ourselves to look. See, women place a high priority on balance and function… and don't typically judge us based on how we look in the mirror. (Women are tricky devils like that.) The result is that there's a relatively low priority placed on glory-muscles, like our biceps.
If you have badass biceps, sure, girls are going to comment on them, but that doesn't mean it's a defining characteristic of your physique. If your girlfriend has particularly dainty feet you might compliment her on them—especially if she's proud of them—but if she had average feet you'd probably be almost equally as enthralled with her overall appearance. Biceps are kind of like that. Having rad biceps certainly doesn't hurt, and girls like nice biceps just fine. It just isn't any kind of big deal.
Most of us guys who build muscle, on the other hand, quite like them. I'm smiling down at mine affectionately right now while I'm typing this up, and when I flex at myself in the mirror they're right there giving it their all. Improving our back strength is the best way to make them bigger (think chin ups), and improving our fitness levels results in a prominent vein running through them (due to increased oxygen delivery). They're a pretty good indicator of how we're doing.
As a result our biceps are perhaps the most visible and impressive muscle on our body—to us.
Women judge our strength primarily through our posterior chain (legs, glutes, lats and traps) and the width of our shoulders. Even from the front the "muscularity" of a man is largely judged by our chests. And it's our belt size that tells girls whether we're lean or not, not how vascular our biceps are. Sure, arms are certainly somewhere on the aesthetics list, but they're by no means any kind of important thing, so long as they're proportionately sized.
Men judge other men in a similar way—but we add in the arms. Since we judge ourselves partly based on how large our biceps are, we also look for it in other men. As such we typically gravitate towards a physique where the arms are ever so slightly proportionally larger. The most famous example of this is Brad Pitt in Fight Club. He's got broad shoulders, a tight waist, great posture, solid definition in his chest and an overall athletic look. This, combined with his character's personality and Pitt's masculine face, makes it one of the most appealing physiques to women. He also has proportionally large arms and shoulders, making his physique a common goal among men. This is especially true with us ectomorphs, since he's a good example of an ectomorph who successfully added some muscle to his frame.
One thing we struggle with though is the temptation to over-emphasize our arms and chest at the expense of our posterior chain. This inevitably leads to disproportionately large arms and, ironically, a small chest. An underdeveloped posterior chain results in muscular balance issues which prevent the pec muscles from being properly activated in chest lifts, like the bench press.
We thus often sacrifice our chest, a powerful muscle that actually makes us strong and women actually care about (study), by neglecting our posterior chain—which is the strongest and most physically appealing muscle group out there!
Anyway, by focusing on proportional and functional strength we naturally develop a big chest, so that's already part of the "strong" package. And the good news is that so long as we're strong and functional we can increase our arm size and get the best of all worlds. Women won't dock us any points, since we're still indicating health and strength, and we get to have a physique that feels right to us, too.
Muscle and Power
For better or worse, women judge each other's ability to attract men largely based on physical attractiveness. When it comes to men sizing each other up for competition though we don't much care how attractive the other guy is, and place twice as much emphasis on how socially dominant* they are. (study)
*Social dominance being a combination of physical dominance, confidence, ambition, social status, assertiveness and charisma.
So while women get jealous of other beautiful women, as men we instinctively infer status amongst one another largely from our strength, posture, athleticism and the strength of our jawlines. From this we get clues to confidence, ambition, assertiveness, charisma and power. (study, study, study)
Most of these benefits max out at a certain point, with the "strong" physique outperforming all others, including much bigger and more highly muscled ones. Where the more muscle thing comes into play though is with physical dominance, which is simply height, muscularity and strength, i.e., total functional mass. This trait has nothing to do with aesthetics and everything to do with lean mass. The stronger and more masculine someone is the more physically dominant they are, and that's the advantage that incredibly physically powerful men have. The catch here is that their mass still needs to look functional, athletic and strong. (study)
(Being absolutely incredibly muscular will also win you points among guys who are into bodybuilding, where size can be likened to athletic prowess in their sport.)
Interestingly enough even a guy with wealth, socioeconomic status, ambition and confidence will still have more social success if he's fit and healthy, both with men and women. (study)
This is becoming more and more true as societies become more and more modern. With gender equality comes a change in how men and women are judged and perceived. Women are being judged a lot more based on their status, intelligence and earning power, whereas men are beginning to be judged a little more on their physical attractiveness, strength and health.
Aesthetics and Brain Power
As we touched in the woman section, how fit you look is usually an indicator of how fit you are. (This depends on your nutrition and training, of course.) As such increasing your strength and improving your diet can have a huge impact on all of your organs—including your brain.
Strenuous physical activity stresses the brain and promotes adaptation and growth, improving brain function and allowing the brain to better respond to future challenges. As a result a good training program will have an impact on your memory, concentration, mood and ability to learn. (study)
Building muscle is also a matter of nutrition, which is strongly tied to brain function as well, reducing anxiety, increasing energy levels, improving concentration, etc.
This deserves an article all on its own, but long story short, improving your aesthetics can also boost your intellect, make you as emotionally stable as a rock, and increase your enjoyment of life.
This is one reason why people infer so many character traits from aesthetics. When you see a pristine Ferrari you instinctively expect what's under the hood to be pretty impressive, too.
For better or worse other guys will make similar assumptions about you.
Here's a good example of an ideal male aesthetics transformation:
JoeBrusk is starting out looking strong and lean—perfect in the eyes of most women. However, by gaining even more muscle and lowering his body fat percentage, he developed a physique that looks absolutely ideal to most guys. He became the guy at the gym that all the other guys want to look like, and the dad that every son wants to grow up to be like.
In Conclusion
It's basic human nature for us to care. Part of being a normal healthy man is caring about the impression we give off, and we know that a lot of that has to do with our strength and muscularity.
It may sound shallow or superficial but it really isn't. Our physical appearance is such an accurate representation of our health and strength that we really don't need to be ashamed about caring about it. Becoming better looking (the right way) can make us more ambitious, healthier, stronger, more attractive to women, more respected by men, smarter, live longer and have better brain health.
As ectomorph men we often think we're at a disadvantage in the muscle department, but we're actually pretty lucky. Building muscle beyond a certain threshold is challenging and requires both consistency and patience, but as ectomorphs we often experience very rapid growth when we first begin training. If we can do that while correcting our posture and alignment we very quickly start to look pretty good.
With dedication and a good plan we can pop into the "fit" category in a matter of months, and not too long after that, given consistent effort and smarts, land ourselves in the "strong" category.
Easier said than done, I know, but these are extremely achievable goals with huge rewards, both inside and out.


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Pocket Letter for Jennifer
He kinda sums it up. This pocket letter was for a private swap on Pocket Letter Pals Network. I really love using the Character Construction rubber stamps in pocket letters. The dog and girl are from those stamps, then watercolored with Distress markets and cut out. Other materials used: Flowers made from the … [Read more…]


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I Say Shut Up And Kiss Me
Personal Stories, Advice, and Support 33 People
deleted66 41-45, F 0 Jun 29, 2010
The Power Of A Kiss...My beloved Penny; here is a short verse that i hope we can both remember. When i am running late and trying to run out the door - say "shut up and kiss me"! When i bang my head in the bathroom for the third time - say "shut up and kiss me"! When we fuss at each other for...
headstrongheart 56-60, M 1 Response 0 Jun 30, 2010


text:
British house prices moved higher in July, but the market remains flat so far this year, data from a top home-loans provider showed on Wednesday.
"House prices increased by 0.6 percent in July, reversing the fall in June," said Martin Ellis, economist at leading mortgage provider Halifax.
"Overall, there has been little change in prices during 2010 so far," he added in a statement.
"The mixed pattern of monthly rises and falls over the first seven months of the year is consistent with a slowing market. It is also in line with our view that house prices will be broadly unchanged over 2010 as a whole."
Halifax, part of state-controlled Lloyds Banking Group (LBG), also revealed that the average house price in Britain stood at 167,425 pounds (202,234 euros, 266,779 dollars). That is 16 percent below the peak seen in August 2007.
In a separate statement, LBG also announced on Wednesday that it bounced back into profit in the first half, as bad debts fell sharply.
Pre-tax profit stood at 1.6 billion pounds (1.9 billion euros, 2.5 billion dollars) in the six months to the end of June, which compared with a loss of about 4.0 billion pounds in the same part of 2009.