Batfort

Style reveals substance

Month: August 2017 (page 2 of 4)

Same advice, different source

2017-08-21 / / 0 Comments

Fran Meneses is an illustrator who vlogs about…what it’s like to be an illustrator. Or really, a freelancer of any sort. Or even more really, a “choose yourself-er.”

People who have chosen to take their destiny into their own hands instead of a mostly-guaranteed steady paycheck. The people I admire but have convinced myself that I could never join the ranks of, because I’m too scattered and/or lazy and/or lacking for time.

But I watch their videos and read their blogs anyway. I bet you do too.

Here’s a vlog of Fran’s that hit home with me.

Spoiler: her advice is BE PROACTIVE. Don’t wait for someone to tell you how or what to do, but instead figure it out for yourself.

“You only need yourself, and internet, the library and books. You also need motivation…and coffee.”

The funny thing is, as we started rounding out the video, I realized that I have heard most of this advice before. Where? From Mike Cernovich and James Altucher and Tim Ferriss. From other people who have actually done it. (Although they wrap their advice in very different aesthetics than Fran does.)

But what really caught my attention, is that I remember reading these things in the granddaddy of self-help books, Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich.

In fact, I pulled out my nearly-full pink sparkly learning notebook circa 2015/2016, where I took notes from my first read-through. Mr Hill is a lot more prolific and early 20th century feeling than Fran, but they share some very common overlapping points.

Fran’s Advice on How to Be Good at Something

  1. What do you want to learn?
  2. Get organized–find where these things live
  3. Make a schedule–so that you will carry through with learning these things instead of procrastinating
  4. Surround yourself with people that motivate you, that make you want to do things
  5. Meet with a study group to learn and discuss
  6. Be consistent

Mr Hill’s Advice on How to Be Good at Something

  1. Desire backed by faith
  2. Clear and definite plan
  3. Decision is the opposite of procrastination
  4. Specialized knowledge (from the library!)
  5. Form a “master mind” group
  6. Persistent, continuous action

Funny how they’re almost exactly the same. Now, I have many more notes on Mr Hill’s advice (which is mostly general), and Fran has many more videos (which are very much more specialized onto freelancing, running an online shop, and illustration) so the comparisons won’t stand up to a huge amount of scrutiny.

I enjoy the synchronicity between them, and the echo of truth that rings when the same advice holds true, and actually works, in 2017 as it did in 1937.

Now, as always with the truth, the hardest part is doing it!

Variation in NCT 127 pant length as an infographic

2017-08-20 / / 0 Comments

K-Con LA is happening this weekend. NCT 127 (bless their hearts) is there, like the up-and-coming soon-to-take-over-the-world group that they are.

And while I’m not in love with their styling like I was during the Limitless era (something about slapping a sloppy tie on an outfit rubs me the wrong way), they still look great. K-pop group styling is in a league of its own, because it has to feature individuals within a group, while also distinguishing the group from all the other K-pop groups. Wheels within wheels, my friend.

For this round of promotions, SM Entertainment’s stylists have been styling the boys with relatively standard tops–ties over athletic wear–but varying the pant length and sock ratio for each member. Jaehyun and Yuta both get long pants, usually flowy or loose. They are the cool guys. Mark and Haechan, the maknae line, and Taeil (the mat-nae; he’s the oldest member with a nickname as the youngest) get shorts and tall socks. The rest of the members get various combinations of shoe vamp height, sock, and rolled pants.

Usually when you look across a K-pop group, there’s variation among the height of the members. In the photo above, there’s very little variation of height, but there’s much more focus on the variation in pant length.

Being the nerd that I am, I decided to make an infographic. I also calculated what percentage of each member’s outfit is made up of pants (not counting headbands or hats, since not all members are wearing one). I should also specify that this is visible pants; some members clearly have shirts layered over their pants but I’m not going to speculate where the pants end and/or how long each members’ legs are.

Yuta comes in at the most, with 64%.

Haechan comes in at the least, with 8%.

Average is 39%.

Johnny and WinWin both have the same percentage of visible pant, but their outfits (and pant styles) are quite distinct. Johnny has that lab coat, and WinWin has pops of red in his graphic tee and socks. Johnny is a mad scientist and WinWin is a baseball player.

Looking at the infographic compared to the outfits, I see an interesting way to keep visual interest within the group. If the baseline (their feet) and the headline are relatively similar, changing the midline of each outfit introduces some variation that makes your eye work a little harder. Some members have belts, some have long shirts layered over pants or shorts, some have longer jackets. With a very simple color story, the variation in silhouette carries more weight.

Stabbed for a haircut, plus Ann Coulter wears earrings

2017-08-19 / / 0 Comments

Update: This is a freeking HOAX. The Ann Coulter tidbit is real, though. Skip down if you don’t want fake news.

The “Hitler Youth” haircut has been popular for YEARS now. I first remember becoming aware of it with Macklemore circa 2011 and distinctly remember a roommate of mine making the joke about his newly shorn hair in 2014. In those years, it managed to stay in the realm of “fashion trend,” not “political statement.”

Apparently that bubble is now over, thanks to the mainstream media beating the public sentiment into a rabid froth over Nazis.

Witt says he’d just pulled in to the parking lot of the Steak ’n Shake in Sheridan, Colo., and was opening his car door.

“All I hear is, ‘Are you one of them neo-Nazis?’ as this dude is swinging a knife up over my car door at me,” he said.

“I threw my hands up and once the knife kind of hit, I dived back into my car and shut the door and watched him run off west, behind my car.

“The dude was actually aiming for my head,” he added.

This is Joshua Witt and his haircut. It’s somewhat of a variation on the typical version, which tends to leave the sides buzzed, not completely shaved. The top is usually left longer, too, to add some pomade and do a vintage-inspired swoop.

Regardless, if guys with this type of haircut are getting stabbed, 25% of the population of Portland, Oregon better watch out.

He’s navy, so he probably has the posture of a military man–I’m sure that added to it. Antifa and the Alt-Left tend to slouch and give in to gravity. Men with muscles and discipline tend to stand out next to them (for good reason!).

The sad part about this is what’s the solution? The only thing he can do to his hair is go shorter, or buzz it all off. That leaves him with…the skinhead look. Hardly better than Hitler Youth.

We’re terrifyingly close to “your skin is your uniform.” What a world, y’all.

***

In other news, West Hollywood jewelry merchant House of Fisher shouted all over Instagram about outfitting Ann Coulter with some fantastic earrings for a recent TV appearance. Looks like Ann has a longtime relationship with House of Fisher.

This is refreshing, since typical fashion people make a point to distance themselves from non-MSM-approved media figures. (See also: all the virtue signalling about refusing to dress Melania.)

 

Here’s the real question: wow long will it take Givenchy to disavow?

Thought on Dunkirk

2017-08-18 / / 0 Comments

If you’re going to watch Dunkirk, watch it in theaters. Or at the very least, with really good headphones.

It’s all about the sound.

I mean, the deftly interwoven plots adds a layer of complexity to an otherwise standard story, and the cinematography is so artful that it seems out of place for a war movie, so there’s plenty going on that was visually and thematically beautiful.

To me, Dunkirk feels like a tone poem, or a meditation. It’s the examination of a multitude of perspectives on one theme, each meandering around and building off each other. Each character has his own view of the evacuation, elucidated to us by the three overlapping time periods but misunderstood by other characters within the story. It’s intriguing and complex; I want to watch it again.

But that sound tho.

The background noise becomes rhythmic, which becomes music, which builds in dissonant layers to create an atmosphere of suspense, and then suddenly it drops away into silence.

There is not a lot of music, per se, but the sounds from the war machines blends with tones from trumpet and strings. The sound grows from a watch ticking, or the reverberations of metal hitting metal underwater, or the spinning of a propeller. It dances meticulously through the pacing of the scenes, through the way that the disparate time elements were edited together: sound uniting themes across time.

There is minimal dialogue to distract you into thinking about words.

You are there in the firefight, in the sky, flying.

You are there, underwater, feeling the force of it push you around.

And when a melody of sorts starts to build, finally, out of the waves and the wind and the chaos, and emerges into a spare but heroic theme you are focused on it. The fleet of small craft is secondary; sonic chaos has built into order. The emotional and aural climax of the film arrives with the fleet of boats.

It is beautiful.

 

Art on the right

2017-08-17 / / 0 Comments

I’d love for there to be more explicitly conservative or right-leaning artists.

(Saying this without skin in the game, I know.)

But the gloves are now off.

If an entity declares itself for the right, the left-leaning support structure disappears.

This has been made clear by all the people getting kicked off PayPal, CloudFlare, domain registrars, etc.

Galleries are run by leftists.

Art directors are leftists.

The press is made up of leftists.

So to ask an artist to declare a side is asking them for the entire conventional source of promotion and income to dry up.

Is the right capable of supporting artists like this?

It’s one thing to establish the infrastructure, as Pax Dickinson has been discussing.

Infrastructure allows people the chance to sell their wares.

But will people buy?

That is a question.

N=Many is go!

2017-08-16 / / 0 Comments

It’s Day 2 of the NEqualsMany 90-day carnivore study. All across the world, nascent carnivores are weighing, eating, and logging their meat consumption. (I’m at 2.28 pounds for the day.)

The best part about a real-time web data collector is that there’s already data to share!

I quit dairy for this study, which is probably a good thing for my health in the long run, but it’s making me sad. Cheese is delicious, and so is butter.

Nevertheless, dairy is a confounding factor so we are supposed to minimize our consumption. Every little thing counts at this point.

This study is important!

The reassurance I needed

2017-08-15 / / 0 Comments

I must confess that I was predisposed to like this press conference because I listened to commentary before I listened to it. Thank God SOMEONE in this country has a measured reaction.

Forcing the Fake Media to cover infrastructure before he’ll engage about the issue that they want to talk about, lambasting them while he does so…this is the Trump that we all voted for.

God bless this man.

Off Balance

2017-08-14 / / 0 Comments

I’m still trying to digest the events of the weekend. Even though I’ve known about, and almost celebrated the differences between, the factions on the “far right,” the Charlottesville Rally — even moreso than the Alt-Riech’s dumbass shenanigans before — has drawn up higher stakes for everyone.

Embed from Getty Images
I feel much like Melania’s hair looks here. This is the first time I’ve seen her change up her hairstyle (other than the occasional updo). The side part doesn’t look bad; on the contrary, it’s nice to see her switch things up and try something different.

Her customary blowout gets the job done, with a center part and the sides blow-dried flat and away from her face. It’s expected, classy, and goes with just about anything.

Again, it’s expected.

Fortunately for us, nobody dies when Melania changes her hair.

No potential future is in jeopardy because she decided to straighten instead of curl.

When the winds change on the right wing, it takes a while to reorient because we have no infrastructure. When some idiot gives a bad photo op or legit makes a mistake, it strikes relatively deeper because we have fewer battalions of useful idiots to absorb or diffuse the blow.

Maybe I’m so off-kilter because I’m disillusioned. People I thought were reasoned, decently principled thinkers turn out to be knee-jerk reactionaries, or shit-tier trolls. No strategic thinking, no long-term goals. No good for a better future.

Meanwhile, the more moderate faction is showing all the brains…but I’m not convinced they won’t get eaten alive by Antifa and/or the mainstream media before they can do any actual good.

All the while the wolf is snarling outside the door.

 

Applying for jobs is a sick, twisted form of fantasy

2017-08-13 / / 1 Comment

I updated my resume today.

One of my least favorite things to do — ever — but I’m fairly satisfied with the results. I used to think that “summary” and “highlights” sections were stupid, but today I realized they are essentially the resume equivalent of this meme:

Nothing *really* has to make sense, you just jam a bunch of words into bullet points that both describe you and fit the position description of the job you’re applying to. Who cares if the syntax matches or if it’s echoed in another part of your resume.

I kind of want to put an “Ivanka” bullet point on my next resume and see what happens.

If you want to be EXTRA, you could translate those bullet points into the cover letter. You know, synchronicity. Repetition. I’m sure it would help (HA, PSYCHE!).

Job applications are frustrating to me because they’re such an asymmetrical distribution of work. In order to put in the effort that it takes to blast past most of the other applicants, you have to take up way more time and energy than the person reviewing your application will give it. I understand the purpose of winnowing out applications, and that the “right” candidate will have put in the work for the job, but it seems so unnecessary.

That’s just the logistical side of it.

What’s worse, to me, is when I fall into the fantasy daydream trap. I start thinking about the life that could be possible if I got this job.

What would life be like if I got this job?

What would my budget be on that pay scale?

Let’s look at housing on Craigslist in that area…

Oooh, that’s a cute place. How would I decorate it?

On one hand, I get that a certain amount of daydreaming is what keeps life liveable, especially when you’re seeking to change things but haven’t yet gotten that far. That’s called “hope.”

On the other hand, I’m sinking all this time (time that I could have spent applying for another job) thinking about the coulds and mights and maybes of this new hypothetical life. Which, most of the time, don’t work out because you never get a callback for the position.

That’s one of my own personal cognitive traps, the “could.”

If I’m the equivalent of Bernie right now, what is one possible version/vision of Pepe?

It’s fun to think about, but not productive.

The trick is to decide when you need to be productive, and when it’s okay to dream a little. At least wait until you have an interview.

Unite the Right and Style

2017-08-12 / / 0 Comments

Well I was going to write a really stupid, lighthearted post critiquing people’s outfits at the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally today.

I should have known better.

Of course it was going to be attacked by Antifa, and of course the Alt-Lite would use this as yet another excuse to punch right, and (not of course) people died there today. The political violence has finally escalated to the point where people are dying. That makes my plans for a post that boils down to “LOL WHY DID THESE GUYS PICK POLO SHIRTS THEY LOOK LIKE SUCH DORKS BUT AT LEAST THEY’RE OUR GUYS” seem really petty and obnoxious and tone deaf in comparison.

Funny how an event that was supposed to be about unity has caused even more fractures amongst right-leaning groups.

What good could possibly come of a post like that?

I know that the culture wars are real, and that politics is downstream of culture, and that to have any hope of surviving, the right needs to get itself together in terms of culture.

When I try to talk to regular conservatives about how I don’t care so much about gay marriage or abortion rights as I do about economic policy and border security, I usually go with an analogy about not caring about the color of the drapes when the house is on fire. Being worried about bailing technique when the boat is sinking. Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Whatever.

So writing about visual things, about fashion and style, and all of that fluffy stuff that doesn’t really matter seems to be a complete waste of time.

But then I remember that sometimes it’s the lighthearted things that people latch onto first.

That our manner of dress and writing, the way we design our buildings and workspaces, our style of living reflects our mindset and worldview.

That people sometimes change from the inside-out, but often change from the outside-in, and the fluffy visual trappings can help with that process.

That we’re always told, “If you don’t find what you want to read, write it yourself.” (I’d rather just read it, but here I am anyway.)

My goal is to bridge aesthetics and Truth, anyway. I believe that Truth is somewhere right of what’s currently “center.” Where exactly, I don’t know yet.

This latest bubbling-up of right-leaning people who are willing to fight is encouraging, and they’ve gone so far a to get someone like Trump elected president. But there’s still time for them to go the way of the Tea Party. I hope that never happens, but one never knows.

And I’m sitting here worried that I’m not doing the right thing, when this blog is still 100% obscure so it doesn’t really matter LMAO.

What idiots we humans are!

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