Why are trousers in the same same size so different depending on where you buy them? I’m moaning because I’m struggling to find trousers that fit. My size 20s are finally relegated to a vacuum packed bag under the bed (I’m not throwing any of my ‘fat’ clothes for a few years, just in case). My Evans size 18s are way too big, one pair of Dotty P size 18s are too big. I do have another pair of Dotty P size 18s that are much smaller. I tried them on a couple of weeks ago but had to reject them as camel toe is so not a good look. This morning though – perfect! Yay! Hopefully soon I’ll be abl to chuck these under the bed too ready for some brand new size 16s!

Anyway, back to the point. This morning I am……12 stone 10.5lbs! 1.5 down. Not a big loss, but a loss nonetheless. To be honest it could have been a lot worse. I had a run in with a couple of potato cakes on Wednesday and then yesterday the Christmas spirit overcame me to the tune of 1 Galaxy Mistletoe kisses and 2 mini chocolate yule logs.  Bollocks.  What I find really hard is going to my parents on a Friday with Sam. My Dad owns a deli/cafe in Congleton (Bread & Basil on the main street folks, lovely fresh produce, please pop along!) and brings home the most incredible food. This week it was german smoked ham, Welsh Dragon pate (venison & chilli), Jarlsberg cheese (my favourite), cream cheese stuffed sweet peppers, stuffed olives (a particular weakness of mine) strawberry cheesecake, chocolate fudge cake and apple pie. I wanted to cry looking in that fridge. I managed to satisfy the urge to eat everything with some ham, a teeny tiny touch of Jarlsberg, one olives and 1 sweet pepper. Not bad for me.

I’m not sure ’shaming myself thin’ is going well. Maybe a few comments along the lines of ‘Stop filling your fat face and get your over sized arse into gear’ might help. Or they might make me cry. Tough call.

Next week should be better. My Dad has promised to only bring home meat on Friday rather than yummy cheese, homemade coleslaw or cakes. My essays are due in this week (which is why I’ve not been around much the last couple of weeks) so I’ll have time to get on the exercise bike again. There might be a hiccup on Thursday as we at work have decided to have a wander up to the Christmas Markets for lunch. I’ll try to stick with bratwurst but with Belgian waffles, French crepes, Hungarian goulash, strudels and Gluwein on offer amongst lots of other gorgeous treats it’s going to be tough. Add in a friend’s birthday on Saturday night (hellooooo vodka) then I think another 1.5lbs is all I can hope for.

In the words of Ty Pennington  - let’s do iiiiit!!

Somehow yesterday just ran away with me.  As I mentioned earlier this week, I really want to tell you about some things that I just can’t write about at the moment, because I’ll spoil the surprise, so I’m afraid it’s rather a boring Shopping Spot this week.

I popped into town yesterday, looking for a black top to wear under winter cardigans, so I didn’t want anything too thick or woolly.  Couldn’t find anything in black that I liked, but I picked up this very nice dark grey blouse/shirt in Evans, which will do the job very nicely (it’s actually darker than it looks in the pic).  I paid full price for it (sharp intake of breath!) but I have an Evans store card, with one of those clever insurance policies whereby if the price of an item you’ve purchased is reduced in price within three months of purchase, you get a refund of the difference. 

I just file my receipts in my diary for three months hence, and take them back into the store after three months, and ask the staff to check the prices of the items on the till.  When I’ve amassed several receipts, I make a claim on the insurance, and they pay out usually within a couple of weeks.   I have saved literally HUNDREDS of pounds over the years doing this, and long may it last! 

Anyway, I digress.

While I was in town, I popped into Boots to pick up some of my usual hair styling gel, which was on special offer, reduced from £4.55 to £3.03, so I bought two.  If you spend £5 in Boots, you get a £5 voucher at the moment, to spend on an item from a number of ranges.  So with my £5 voucher, I bought some Boots Time Delay Instant Lip Plumper, which is a sticky lip gloss with amazing staying power which makes your lips tingle.  Best lip gloss in the world, in my humble opinion (and I’ve tried A LOT!).  And because I had the voucher it only cost me a very small amount (can’t remember exactly, as I can’t find the receipt, but it was cheap).

So then I went to Superdrug to look at the Barry M make-up (my new favourite brand, and how CHEAP is it?!)  Discovered this due to Amy’s recommendation over on her blog - thanks, Amy!  I wanted some new sparkly eye shadow for Christmas – I love a bit of sparkle at Christmas time, don’t you?  And I don’t imagine there’s be very many more years when I’ll be able to get away with sparkly eye shadow sadly – in fact, I’m possibly too old for it already .

Barry M was on 3 for 2, so I picked up two bright blue sparkly shadows and an orangey lipgloss, which actually tastes of orange – go figure!   There are so many lovely things in their range, I’ve got my eye on a sparkly liquid eyeliner next.  And I just LOVE the prices!

Right, off to do Saturday stuff – more work on my secret project.

Cette session aurait également pu s’appeler “Road to the Bushido”. Je fus l’une des premières personnes à m’y inscrire via le topic dédié, à la 3ème session qu’organisait TheKingSagat. Ca c’était bien passé la dernière fois, je ne pouvais pas rater cette 3ème édition ! J’ai une fois de plus fait le trajet avec Steeve. Il a toujours la foi pour occuper la place du meilleur Ryu Fr. Pour avoir joué contre lui régulièrement ces dernières semaines, je dois reconnaître qu’il progresse continuellement. Il a une manière de se fixer des objectifs que je devrais peut-être imiter. En tout cas, il est loin le temps de la session qui s’est déroulée en juillet pour accueillir Ranix où je le battais sans sourciller lol. Il lui manque encore quelques trucs à ajuster à son jeu, et je pense qu’il sera en mesure d’occuper de meilleures places en tournois.

Arrivés à la gare vers 18h30, on a décidé de faire un tour au Supermarché du coin pour acheter quelques paquets de chips histoire de ne pas se pointer les mains vides comme la fois précédente >_<. Le seuil de la porte franchi, on pouvait déjà entendre des débats animés en provenance du salon où se trouvaient les joueurs.  Il y avait déjà Ezo, Renegad, Starnab, Lorddvd et TheKingSagat himself.

Ezo participait à sa première session (le MGS était aussi son premier tournoi). J’ai été surpris par son niveau, je crois que Yox aussi. Tout comme lui, la chose qui m’a le plus troublé dans son jeu est qu’il ne saute quasiment jamais O_O, contrairement à certains joueurs de Ryu qui ont des ressorts à la place des pieds >_<. Même si je ne joue pas ce perso, je suis dans le même cas >_<. Au fil des matchs j’ai aussi noté qu’il s’était habitué à la plupart de mes phases mythos… Au bout d’une dizaine de parties, les overheads ne passaient presque plus …

Comme je le disais dans le train pendant le trajet retour, l’âge d’or de ma technique favorite touche à sa fin -_-. Pendant 8 mois, 75% de mon jeu reposait sur cette phase: “Quelques lights dans la garde… Tu es baissé ? Parfait ! Overhead dans ta tête aka Taloche Bakota (private joke de “quand j’étais petit” >_<)”. Cela ne marche plus contre la majorité des personnes contre qui je joue en sessions. Tant mieux, car ça ne doit pas tout le temps marcher. Heureusement qu’il y a Veasna, le ministre de la recherche et du développement de la Sacteam. Je prépare dans le plus grand secret la relève à cette technique. J’en parlerai prochainement lorsque je l’aurai intégrée à mon jeu.

Où en étais-je ? Ah oui, Ezo. Il a un jeu plutôt clean, le seul défaut que j’ai noté est une exécution un peu moyenne et un jeu qui manque un peu de punch; c’était peut-être du à l’heure à laquelle on jouait (6-7 heures du mat’ -_-). On a fait une grosse série de 30 matchs à peu près. Au départ c’était plutôt serré vu que le score était de 4-4. La tendance s’est inversée au bout du 9ème match, vu que j’ai pu enchainer 10 victoires consécutives. Vers 8h00 du matin, il est tombé KO de fatigue. On a décidé d’arrêter. Thanks pour les matchs !

Revenons un peu en arrière… Je disais plus haut qu’à notre arrivée 4 sacs étaient déjà chez notre hôte.

Lorddvd était en train de leur repasser  ses deux tubes de l’année 2009 “Moi, l’empereur Honda” et “Sagat, je vous aime… PAS !”. il venait d’enchaîner des séries de victoires contre toutes les personnes présentes (sauf peut-être TheKingSagat). Alors que je le regardais jouer contre Ezo, je l’ai entendu lui prodiguer des conseils sur les déchoppes. Vu mes énormes problèmes dans ce domaine, je lui ai demandé de m’expliquer comment m’améliorer. Ce qu’il a fait après ses matchs. Ses explications ressemblent un peu à celles que m’avait donné Yox lors que j’étais allé pour la 1ère fois chez 2Pac. D’après ce que j’ai compris, il m’a dit qu’il fait deux fois l’option select 1+lp+lk entre chaque blockstun. J’ai essayé de tester ça en training et ça semble fonctionner plutôt bien, même si dans la pratique je n’arrive pas vraiment à faire ce qu’il fait. Je reviendrai dessus dans le prochain billet. Sinon j’ai très peu joué contre lui. Tout au plus 3 ou 4 matchs au cours desquels il m’a défoncé… Dégoûté, je suis parti boudé dans mon coin>_>…

Starnab qui avait un rendez-vous d’affaires dans un restaurant parisien pour négocier des contrats de diffusion de sa chaîne sur le câble (ok je sors >__<), s’est éclipsé peu après notre arrivée. Il reviendra quelques heures plus tard pour tout rafler lors des rencontres teams 2on2, 6on6 et 5on5.

J’ai beaucoup regardé le boxeur de Renegad que je n’avais pas revu depuis le dernier ranking Gnouz. Tout comme TheKingSagat, je trouve qu’il a beaucoup progressé. Les mecs comment vous faites ?!?! J’ai vraiment l’impression que tout le monde assaini son jeu et level up à vitesse grand V… sauf moi ! Je trouve son jeu plus posé que le mien, et il utilise mieux les coups de base notamment le MP. Je vais essayer de le prendre en exemple pour améliorer certains aspects de mon jeu. Je n’ai fait qu’une seule partie contre son Rog, c’était pendant le 6on6. J’espère plus jouer contre lui la prochaine fois, car il va bien falloir qu’un jour les Balrog de France se décident à apprendre le match miroir ^^;.

Frionel, Yox, Shinuza, Katsuke, Kilivan et Frionel sont arrivés en début/fin de soirée.

On a fait un tournoi Random 2on2. J’étais en équipe avec Starnab qui a fait tout le boulot O_O et a striké toutes les teams sauf une il me semble. Il était en 1ère position, ce qui fait que  je n’ai fait qu’un seul match lol. Au 6on6 qui opposait Steeve-Starnab-KingSagat-Shinuza-Frionel-Renegad à la Kilivan-Yox-Bachaka-Ezo-Evans-Saunic il a mené son équipe à la victoire lol. Enfin, je crois >_<. Je me souviens plus des matchs ^^;…

Je n’ai pas joué contre Katsuke, mais il m’a semblé qu’il débutait ou ne jouait qu’occasionnellement. C’est un ami de Kilivan et comme lui il joue Zangief lol. Vers deux heures du mat’, j’ai fait des matchs contre Kilivan qui m’avait complètement dominé la dernière fois malgré le flot de conseils que les mecs du streaming me prodiguaient en live >_<. Le jour de la session, avant de sortir de chez moi, je suis allé sur SF4db (je devrais plus utiliser mon propre site lol -_-) pour essayer de mieux comprendre le versus Zangief – Balrog. J’ai dl quelques matchs que j’ai foutus dans mon lecteur. “Tu fais quoi dans les trains ?” “Si je ne roupille pas, je matte du Street Fighter 4″. Je dois dire que la séance cinéma fut très instructive. J’ai regardé en boucle le match Maeda Taison vs Itabashi Zangief du Shiozawa Cup, le fameux 5on5 qui s’est déroulé quelques jours avant le Tougeki.

A 32” et 39”, on voit comment Maeda arrive  à placer le bas HP pour punir les sauts d’Itabashi. Tout réside dans le zoning et être attentif dès que le gros décolle du sol. Reculer et laisser Gief penser qu’il peut sauter-> Il saute -> Avancer-> Bas HP (32”). Backdash -> Il saute -> Avancer -> Bash HP (39”). J’ai aussi essayé de faire attention aux dashs dans la garde et de les faire à distance safe. En revanche j’ai toujours du mal à placer des stand HK comme le fait Maeda sur la fin de la vidéo 2:38… A travailler.

Il faut vraiment que je me décide à intégrer dans mon emploi du temps de joueur l’analyse vidéos (mes matchs, ceux des joueurs Fr contre qui je joue souvent et bien entendu ceux de top players). Pour les vidéos de mes matchs, c’est le ministre de la Recherche de la Sacteam Veasna qui revient systématiquement sur les erreurs que j’ai pu commettre, etc. Je suis vraiment top sac -_-… Merci à toi sac >__<. La série de presque 20 matchs s’est mieux déroulée que la dernière fois, même si je me suis fait une fois de plus atomisé -_-… La fois précédente j’avais gagné entre 1/4 et 1/3 des matchs, cette fois-ci le ratio est monté à 1/2 vu que lorsque nous avons arrêté de jouer le score était de 11-6. Même si il a peu moins bien joué que d’habitude d’après ses dires, je suis néanmoins satisfait de moi car je pense avoir franchi un cap dans ce versus. Kilivan lui même l’a remarqué vu qu’il m’a confié juste après que c’était de cette manière que je devais aborder ce versus et plus généralement orienter mon jeu dans cette direction. Enfin bref, thx pour les matchs Kilivoleur !

Les matchs faits contre Starnab furent un peu moins instructifs, mais je pense avoir compris quelques trucs qui m’embêtaient dans son style de jeu. Dans un précédent billet je disais que j’avais du mal à le presser à cause du chicken wing à sa relevée. Les quelques matchs qu’on a fait j’ai pu vérifier que le bas HP et que le saut arrière gros poing étaient plutôt efficaces. Je n’ai pas beaucoup joué contre lui, mais il m’a grosso modo infligé le même tarif que son partenaire de la Team Onibaku. Je suis en revanche content de mes 4 victoires consécutives qui ont clôturé nos matchs ^^.

Je n’ai presque pas joué contre Frionel, trois matchs il me semble. Dont un où en voulant gratter pour l’achever alors qu’il me restait 1/3 de ma vie, je me suis pris une Ultra -__-. Sac que je suis. Même chose avec Yox contre qui je n’ai fait que 3 matchs. Il était trop fatigué pour en faire plus, il devait être 4 ou 5h du matin. Il beaucoup joué contre TheKingSagat qui lui mettait un gros beat by. A la surprise de tous la situation s’est inversée, et Yox lui a rendu dans une moindre mesure son bb au point que King en perde son “Tiger Knit” Hahaha. Pendant les matchs, Yox a eu un bon fou rire lol.

J’ai enfin pu faire des parties contre Evans. Après une pause, il a décidé de reprendre le jeu correctement en participant aux sessions et tournois lorsque c’était possible. Même si il a de bonnes bases, son Fei Long n’est pas encore du niveau de celui de Starnab. Leur style de jeu est aussi très différent ! En tout cas ce fut un plaisir de jouer contre toi. Le versus Boxer n’est pas évident et fait gaffe aux overheads >_< ^^.

J’ai aussi fait quelques parties contre Saunic plus motivé que jamais pour masteriser ce versus. D’après ce que j’ai constaté c’est presque fait vu comment nos matchs furent serrés. Ca s’est d’ailleurs confirmé au Bushido Impact 9 où il m’a battu lors de notre match de poule. Merci pour les matchs . Après les rencontres teams, Evans et lui ont quitté la session.

Sur les deux jours, j’ai beaucoup joué contre Steeve. C’était du 55-45 pour lui. “Boxer ne me fait plus peur !”. Lorsque l’on ne fait pas les sacs, nos matchs sont vraiment intéressants. Thx pour les matchs sac.

Après avoir joué contre Ezo, je suis allé dormir. Il devait être 8h00 du matin. Je n’avais pas vraiment sommeil, mais pour être bien frais le lendemain les prochaines heures, je me suis laissé convaincre par l’appel du lit l’appel du parquet lol. Tous les spots de lits étaient occupés. Shinuza et Steeve ici, Yox là-bas, Kilivan et TheKing par là. J’ai alors imité Ezo qui dormait confortablement sur le parquet ^^. Lorsque je me suis réveillé une heure plus tard, Ezo avait disparu. Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais j’ai décidé de dormir sur le banc de 30 cm de largeur. Vu qu’il était un peu court, je l’ai prolongé avec une chaise. Ne plus bouger, sinon chute. Fermer les yeux. Zzzzzzzz. Lol.

Réveil vers 10h00. Puis petit-déjeuner avec TheKingSagat, les autres dormaient. Je n’avais pas joué contre lui la veille, immédiatement après nous sommes allés faire quelques parties. Il ne devait pas être bien réveillé car au bout des 26 matchs qu’on a fait, le score s’est terminé sur le score de 16-10 pour moi ^^;. Il  faut que j’arrête de sauter comme un newbie sur Sagat, non sur tous les persos -_-. Après il a joué contre Steeve. On a fait enchaîné tous les 3 pas mal de first to 2 dans lesquels ils m’ont fait la misère, j’ai du en gagner juste  2 environ sur les  7-8 tours que j’ai fait avec eux :/. Déçu, je suis allé jouer avec Shinuza.

Shinuza m’avait battu la veille  un match dans un vs mirror >_<. J’ai fait beaucoup de parties contre son Ryu. je l’ai trouvé beaucoup moins percutant que la dernière fois :/. Il a raté beaucoup de trucs et a manqué de concentration à certains moments des matchs. Dommage. Steeve l’a taquiné sur le trajet en retour en lui demandant de travailler son exécution. On va voir ce que ça va donner ce soir. Eh oui… Session des Titans version 4 dans quelques heures !

Though many do not like to talk about it, death is a part of man’s existence. As Christians, we should be dead to the old man and alive to God and Kingdom Living. Anyway, Death is something that everyone will have to face, naturally speaking. Yet, the Christian has hope in Christ that when we depart from this life, we will live again forever with Him. However, numerous individuals live without any regard for their eternal destination.  The Christian has to be on the watch. This is demonstrated in paying attention your lifestyle, manner, and conduct.

There are Christians who live as if there is no standard of living for them after they have received Christ. Each of these groups of people are not prepared for their date with destiny; that is, the moment that they will stand before the judgment seat of God and of Christ.

Because of the sure promises of scripture, we must all prepare (watch) to meet Christ at His return or at our departure from this life. Therefore, we want to give three things that we can do to be prepared for our entrance into eternity.

1. Clothe Ourselves - In the scriptures, righteousness and good morals are likened unto clothing. We must make sure we are clothed with the attributes of proper Christian character and conduct.

For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. Isaiah 59:17 (KJV)

2. Clean Ourselves – We must make sure that we are open with God about our weakness so that He can forgive us and cleanse us. Then, with His help, we must turn from thoughts and deeds that do not please Him.

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil. Isaiah 1:16 (KJV)

3. Clock Ourselves - To clock means to keep track of time. In order for us to be prepared for our eternal destination, we must be aware of the times that we are living in. In addition, we must know that we will only live for a specified length of time on this earth. Therefore, we must live with this in mind, which should help us to prepare ourselves continually.

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Romans 13:11 (KJV)

The Christian can be assured of His eternal salvation, but he must not take it for granted. Christ came to save us from our sins, which enables us to overcome them while we live. This prepares us for eternal life in the kingdom. Live  in expectation of the kingdom. Are you watching?

Well, there you have it. For more topics of interest, I have included this and more information in my inspirational series entitled, “Is There A Word From the Lord? – Book III” which is available at Kingdom Builders Publishing.

In life, we will encounter many people with varying personalities and dispositions. It is a fact that there will be disagreements, fall-outs, and times of miscommunication. These things can cause an individual not to have the proper perspective of others in daily interactions. It can be difficult to see others, especially as God sees them, when we have seen unfavorable aspects of their personalities and lifestyles. However, we must get over what we know about an individual.

And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. Gen 17:15 (KJV)

Abraham receives a name change, but God goes further and changes the name of his wife. Abraham had to see his wife, no longer as a barren woman (Sarai), but as a fruitful woman from whom kings and nations would come from (Sarah).

Once we come to Christ, our perception of men has to change. We have to see others as God does. He is not willing that any should perish. The very worst of sinners are candidates for His grace and redemption. When we see others as God does, it will restrain us from allowing what we see and know about them to change our love for them. This holds especially true concerning other members of the Body of Christ.

Though some Christians may be like Sarai, being barren in their walks with Christ, we must see them as candidates for being Sarah, members who will eventually be of great service to the Church and Kingdom of God. This will keep us from unforgiveness, bitterness, and judgment.

We are grateful for this daily bread. If you like this post and desire more daily inspiration, check out “Faith for the Journey (Volume III)” available at Kingdom Builders Publishing.

On Wednesday I had the huge privilege of attending the preview of the spring/ summer 2010 collections from all of the Arcadia brands. I had a grand ole time and was there for hours poring over all the clothes, touching everything, taking as many photos as my lil camera could stand and trying my best not to look like a total rookie who was out from behind her computer and covering a real event for the first time- though I probably did. It was a fantastic event which I thoroughly enjoyed and I got to meet other bloggers, namely the gorgeous Miggy from Miggy Likes the Internet who spotted me first and came over to say hello.

My first stop around the stands was of course Evans and all I can say is- WOW- we are in for a fantastic season. Looking though the rails of clothes the one phrase that kept going through my mind was, “I can’t believe this is Evans.” They have all the major trends- the nude colours, the fringing, nautical looks, the made to be seen underwear, lace, pale washed denim, sparkle, military- the lot. There was a good balance between the items that were trend heavy like a brown/ black satin biker style jacket covered in dark hammered sequins for the more trend literate customers, and items with a broader appeal such as  a cotton blouse with lurex threads woven through the fabric, and a pale blue denim dress with tiny ruffles at the hem and cuffs. There was a focus on jackets in varying styles which I liked as you can easily update your existing wardrobe with just the addition of a different jacket if you don’t want to heavily buy into a particular look.

The collection was fluid and although there were separate themes and trends within the ranges they all gelled together seamlessly. Some of my favourite items were hanging on a rail and I don’t have photos of them yet as I could only photograph the mannequins, but fingers crossed- I will have at some stage.

The general trends were… (sorry about some of the hazy pictures)

…..Nude/ neutral pallettes and texture….

…… fringe details …..

……… and mixing florals with tougher looks.

There were lots of nude and neutral tones with added textural interests such as large ruffles, fringe,  a beautiful ostrich feather fronted waistcoat and a good dose of sparkle. Sequins were still evident but not as dark or dramatically in your face as for Christmas ‘09. For summer sequins are matt and overprinted with floral designs as in the case of one long A- line vest top, and hammered and distressed as in the jacket mentioned earlier. Tunics and knits had subtle sparkle with lurex threads and yarn that ran throughout the fabric and there was lots of sparkly jewellery to hand.

Nautical……

You know I love a bit of red white and blue in the springtime and there were a couple of nautical knits to get me looking forward to spring. A horizontal stripe cardi with very subtle sequin detailing was a gentle update to a classic look along with a stripe jersey dress/ tunic which was given a modern update by being combined with a photo real floral print.

For those of you who like a tougher edge to your wardrobe there were lots of studs and other hardwear to keep you happy. Stud details on shoes and bags were key and there was a particularly Balmain-tastic denim jacket with pyramid style studs along the collar that caught my eye. Other jacket detailing included exposed zips, waterfall fronts with large eyelets, peplums, military styles- there was a jacket to suit all tastes.

If you’re not into the whole rock chick look Evans offered plenty of softer more feminine pieces with floral prints, a sharper modern take on the tea dress, liberty- esque prints, maxi dresses and soft knits.

As well as clothing I also saw some truly delectable vintage inspired underwear that actually made me breathe in sharply and whisper “OMG” to myself but I don’t have any photos at the moment.

More looks from the event to come…………..

BASICALLY IVE BEEN SAYING “I WILL UPDATE THE BLOG MORE OFTEN” ,BUT I HAVEN’T IV’E BEEN REALY busy at nme (one night i was ther till like 2 am in the morning). also at college its been hard work and partying lol !

Thanks 4 the support. More big features about grime ! Also I was going to go to paris this friday for this Tony hawk quicksilver launch and buy the brand new SUPRA sky tops in Paris. There’s a launch for them Paris on the same day !!!!

SUPRA SKYTOP 2 WORLD TOUR FLYER

THANKS 2 COREY 4 THEM GRIME MIXTAPES THEY ARE THE HARDEST IVE HERD IN TIME !!!!!

ALSO i was at a fashion show it was a top man/topshop/burtons/dorothy perkins/ evans / miss selfridge / wallis . basically they were showing off all of their new collections and boy george was djing. THERE WAS FREE CHAMPAGNE AS WELL WOIIIIIII !! here’s a picture of me and NIYI with Boy George .

NIYI , BOY GEORGE AND ME !!

Thanks again to the supporters !
FUCK the haters !!!!!!!

THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO ALEX VALLEY !!

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MR.T REMIX

Make room for Ms. Khan, she’s teamed up with Evans and came up with a fierce collection. The diva, aslo known as The Queen of Funk Soul, has proved that it’s cool to be curvy this season.

Take a look at the hottest pieces:

Animal Print Trousers        

  Black Over knee Boots   

Purple Satin Round Neck Shirt 

Black Spot Cowl Neck Jumper          

Pewter Leather Slingback  Shoes

Black and Gold Wide Belt

Black Stud Knee High Boots

Many people had been waiting for the black over knee boots and at the time this post was published there was only size 10’s available on the website. Every other size was gone!!!! So ladies if you feel your life would be much better with this pair of boots I suggest you hurry to your nearest Evans and get them lol.

I love love love the spot jumper, I think it would look great with any of the jeggings I talked about in my other post. The black studded high boots and the silver shoes are hot too and I think I might get them.

So ladies, what do you think??

Stay Beautiful

XOXO

Overland Park, KS (EMG) – November 17, 2009. When a series of events brought about the opportunity for Paul Evans to relocate Evans Media Group, a boutique advertising and social media agency to the Midwest from its original location just outside New York City, Evans and his partner wasted no time. “Over the years, business had brought me to Kansas City many times and I had always been intrigued by this center of culture and diversity in the heartland” said Evans from his Overland Park, KS office.

“My partner was originally from Missouri, although meeting and dealing with her, one would assume she hailed from Madison Avenue in New York, the heart of the agency business”, he quipped. “But between her urgings and my growing love of the KC metro, we took the plunge and moved our entire operation”.

The nature of the business at Evans Media Group had been in a state of change anyway said EMG Managing Partner and CTO, Sara Paxton. “The move from a more traditional media agency to one that focused more on the social aspects of marketing had been underway for some time at EMG. The sheer virtuality of our clients and our agency were becoming more apparent every day. While our closeness to New York City and our 300 year old farm house office was attractive to us personally, our physical location was diminishing in importance as our client base became more mobile and less brick and mortar”, she said.

The agency focuses primarily on smaller businesses, although both partners have worked for multi-national corporate entities, they are sworn to help grow small business and as a founding principle, believe that America runs on small business. President and CMO Evans explains, “We try to provide small business with all the tools and opportunity available to big business but at a fraction of what it would normally cost to access those contrivances. With social media at the forefront and traditional media experience providing the historical skill set, EMG clients can leverage the best of both worlds.

EMG clients range from manufacturing and web development, to mail order distributors and food and beverage purveyors, luxury day spas, high end magazine publishers and a division of Kraft Foods, but as Paxton underscores, “We are extremely fluid … changing and morphing into what our clients need us to be as the tides of social media shift and look different from week to week”. Evans adds, “As an example of how the landscape changes offer greater opportunity, we now offer something that is so new I don’t think anybody else is doing it yet … live managed social media updating from an event or happening.

Managed being the operative word here … this is not a group of text-fervent fans, but an actual, planned and managed effort directed at disseminating branded messaging in real time, targeting fans and followers that are not at the event”.

Recently an annual charity boxing event was updated with text, images and streaming video to Facebook and twitter, live by a team from Evans Media Group from ring-side. The resulting push generated a unprecedented flow of activity and brand awareness for the event and contributing sponsors. Like a radio station live-remote, gone web 2.0!

This kind of think-on-your-feet functionality, coupled with solid public relations and marketing practice is what sets Evans Media Group apart in the agency world. “Yes, said Evans, “We’re quite a bit different from most traditional, or even social media agencies … we are a little off the wall, willing to try anything new, based in traditional marketing, but with a full grasp on the new”.

As their website proclaims, Evans Media Group, Kansas City’s Social Media Agency uses a combination of Research, Media Relations, Publicity, and Social Marketing Communications to promote clients to the widest possible segment of the public and business communities. They still believe that the most significant person in an agency/client relationship is the client. That may be an old fashioned set of principles in a new aged world, but according to Evans and Paxton, it’s what makes their clients happy to see them when they walk through their door.

Says Paxton, “We can be your local resource to kick start a stagnant social media marketing campaign across the top social networks, like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc. But we still talk to businesses every day that have yet to venture over to the social media side … and that’s okay too. We specialize in launching social media efforts where no prior presence, experience or online reputation has been established”.

Evans concurs, “If a business is not sure what they are looking for, or how much they should invest in social media, or any advertising for that matter … just give Evans Media Group a call and we will perform a no charge on-site analysis of what it will take to get the Twitterverse abuzz about you, your business and your brand.

For more information or to contact Evans Media Group, go to their website at Evansmediagroup.com

The Christmas campaign at Evans featuring Chaka Khan kicks off today and I’m looking forward to seeing all the images from the shoot, some of which are in  this week’s Reveal magazine. I’m already a sucker for anything polkadot so the reclined shoulder bearing come- buy- my- jumper pose is  effortlessly working its magic on me. Resistance is futile.

Click image to view large

Since the advent of the television, there has been the commercial. Commercials sometimes can prove to be annoyances rather than vehicles that connect the consumer to the best products. Today, a marriage between the entertainment and advertising industry has occurred where celebrities are becoming walking endorsements. However, unknown individuals exist who become the face and voice of a particular product or brand name.

Regardless of the company, they have an expectation that those who endorse their product will lead a life that is reflective of the advertiser. However, we have seen individuals throughout the years who lost their positions as product endorsers because of misdeeds in their personal lives.

What does this have to do with the Christian? It is simple. When we receive Christ, we instantly become spokespersons for God’s timeless product of salvation. Thus, God expects us to be representatives of this salvation even when we are not in front of the camera; that is, involved in religious activities or among other Christians.

As Christians, we have to abstain from worldly lusts and demonstrate love, integrity, and character in our lives. This is how we remain respected kingdom endorsers of the work of Christ.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:1-3 (KJV)

If we continually disobey the Word and choose our own ways and thoughts, we can be removed from service. If we are unfruitful in our Christian walk, Christ taught that one could be removed; that is, from effectual service in Him.

The Christian’s desire must be to please God, that He may use his/her life in any manner. In all that is said and done, let it represent God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Christian’s life has to be a solid Kingdom Endorser.

Hence, the question remains, Are you a qualified endorser of the gospel message? Does your lifestyle misrepresent the gospel message? Just know that you can make a difference as your life reflects the Christian faith.

Well there you have it. Until next time, continue in Him who is faithful. If you would like more inspirational materials, this and more is included in my book, “Is there a Word from the Lord? (Book I),” which can be found at Kingdom Builders Publishing.

Q.14

With using Google key word search I found these results when I used the evans.co.uk, blouses, dresses etc came up as you can see from above.  The most popular for competition are special occasion dresses, going out dresses, wide shoes, biker boots, swimwear, occasion dresses, going out tops and combat trousers come up under the competition area and the suggesting bids range from USD 0.63 – USD 0.78.

evans.co.uk - keywords

This is a screen shot of using the Google insights for searching evans.co.uk and you can see from the screen shot above that the peaks for the sales for Evans was between 2004 – 2006 and goes down from the years of 2007 – 2009.

graph of keyword evans.co.uk

Based on the regional interest of evans.co.uk the two main interests in the country side of things it is the UK and Ireland.  UK seems to have the biggest interest in evans.co.uk.

popularity of keyword evans.co.uk

This is the top searches in the search terms section and you can see that evans.co.uk and www.evans.co.uk as well as www.dorthyperkins.co.uk come up in the search for the top results.

other relvant word searchs based on evans.co.uk

For the keywords using the Google Ad Words  the words that come up are plus size clothing(5), plus size(35), ladies clothes(9), ladies clothing(9), Evans clothing(5), women’s clothes(5), size(2), clothes(21), clothing(22), ladies(8), Evans(24), fashion(14), shoes(5) and for miscellaneous keywords(18).

evans clothing keywords

This came up for the section under Evans, it has 40,500 for its local search in October and its Global Monthly Search Volume stands at 60,500.

keywords evans

This came up for the section under Evans, it has 2, 740, 00 for its local search in October and its Global Monthly Search Volume stands at 9, 140, 000.  You can see that Evans is viewed by a lot of people that have interest in their stock by the numbers.

To conclude Evans is a UK based site and to get these sorts of numbers using keywords in Google work very well for the site, I find that even though Evans might have had a down phase in their sales but they will always have a steady pace of customers buying from them.

Hey Divas!!!

Over the last couple of months my social life has slowly died down, which basically means I’m always at one of three places: work,university or my bed taking a nap lol. So my outfits are normally nothing to blog about but today I went to a friend’s house and this is what I wore:

Print vest ~ New Look; Cardigan, Jeggings, Belt, Bag and Shoes~ Evans

Top Tip: Wear with a boyfriend fit or structured blazer for a more edgy look. That’s def what I should have done lol.

Sorry about the quality of the pics and the boring poses, I promise they’ll get better.

Stay beautiful!!!

XOXO

Pour l’instant j’ai le manteau, c’est déjà ça…

This week I will be examining how easy or difficult it is to access my chosen e-commerce website (www.carsdirect.com) using a search engine.  Because carsdirect is an American based company, I will be using the American version of Google (www.google.us) to find my results.

The first thing I typed into Google was “buy used cars”.  I wasn’t entirely surprised by the results.  95,000,000 results were returned and carsdirect.com was shown half way down on the first page.  Their main competitors (www.autotrader.com and www.cars.com) however were returned higher up the list, probably because of greater website statistics such as viewing figures and a wider rage of used cars available.  The sponsored links, which are highlighted at the top of the list include companies such as shelbournemotors.com and peoplescars.co.uk.  These companies paid Google for their website to be advertised on their site.  They do this generally because their websites wouldn’t be high on the results priority list.  There are also sponsored links down the right hand side of the page.  Carsdirect appear in none of them.  They probably feel that their website appears high enough on the list and paying for sponsored advertising would be a waste of money.

Here is a screenshot showing the results which were returned:

The second thing I typed into Google was “buy new cars”.  The results of this search surprised me slightly as carsdirect appeared at the very top of the list out of 263,000,000 results, with their competitors returned just below them.  Carsdirect again did not appear in any of the sponsored links.  The sponsored links consisted mainly of car manufacturing companies such as Peugeot, Renault and BMW.  This tells me that they are probably more interested in selling their products directly to customers as oppose to using companies such as carsdirect to sell for them.

This screenshot shows the results:

In conclusion, I am not completely surprised by the results that were shown.  Even though I only did 2 searches, I used words which were relevant to carsdirects’ field in the market.  The website itself was a consistent shower in the first page of results, not surprising as they are one of the leading online car dealing companies in the US.  Autotrader and Cars.com were also very close by in the search results which gives a glimpse as to how competitive these companies are with one another.  There isn’t much improvement which could be made with regards to how they are ranked within search engines, but they could sign up for a pay-per-click advertisement on Google.  This means that they only pay the advertisement fee to Google when someone clicks on their link.

Believe it or not, this was the best defensive stand DeRozan made all night

I had some time to sleep on it and I’m still upset. Nevertheless, here’s some more analysis on last night’s 131-124 loss to the Spurs:

Chris Bosh: Another fine offensive effort, but it would’ve been nice to see him grind it out on the boards a bit more. Sure, he led the Raps with 10 rebounds, but too many times was outworked by guys that wanted it more — namely Antonio McDyess, DaJuan Blair and sadly, on a couple occasions, Matt Bonner.

Hedo Turkoglu: Had a nice first half, was quiet for awhile, then came on in the last couple minutes when the game was already in the bag. In all, a good line (8-of-12, 20 points), but I’d like to see a bit more fire out of the renowned Crazy-Eyez Killa.

Andrea Bargnani: Continued to show flashes of an improved offensive game, but like Bosh, was manhandled on the boards by Blair and the boys. Didn’t help defensively when Calderon and Jack were beat off the dribble, either.

Jose Calderon: Again, a solid offensive night (13 points on 5-of-7, nine dimes), but another poor defensive effort. Come on, my man — spend less time bitching to the refs and more time asserting yourself the way a point guard making nine mil a year should.

DeMar DeRozan: I hate to say it, but it looks more and more every night that this kid isn’t ready. A quiet 13 minutes yesterday, highlighted mostly by an inability to stop any opposing player off the dribble.

Jarrett Jack: Nice start, but not much in the way of a second half contribution. Worked a nice two-man game with Amir Johnson, but like the rest of the Raps, didn’t D up the perimeter.

Marco Belinelli: Stallone had it cooking, with a killer tan to boot. Belinelli nailed four threes, including a dagger to finish the third, and made two sweet dishes — one to Bargnani after a nice ball fake and another to Johnson on a pick-and-roll.

Amir Johnson: His best game yet. Ten points on 4-of-4, five boards and some much-needed hustle in 23 minutes of action. Nice steal and finish in the fourth quarter to keep it tight.

A picture to sum up Antoine Wright's offensive performance

Antoine Wright: I usually like what he brings to the table, but I wasn’t feeling it this time around. Wright committed four fouls a combined 641 feet from the basket and was a nightmare offensively, driving out of control two or three times and fumbling a pass for a wide-open three with the shot clock winding down in the third.

Rasho Nesterovic: Two minutes, two points. Would’ve liked to see more of the big man, especially on a night where the Spurs were getting to the hoop at will.

Sonny Weems: Saw some important minutes and impressed, save for a horrible foul on Manu Ginobili’s desperation three late in the third. Flashed a jumper and finished on a drive to the hoop.

Reggie Evans: Still a few weeks from playing, but it was great to see him up and at it on the bench. Can’t wait to get this bad boy in the lineup.

Q.13 With using Google you can access the site rather easy to be honest as if you type in ‘Evans’ the first link that come up is the Evans website. When it comes to branded products or the key, the site Evans does come up but there are other sites that come up using ‘plus size clothing’ Evans is not the only site that sells plus size clothing there are others such as simply be, your clothing, curvey, maristo etc. As for the ones who pay for the links to come up, they are new look , Ambrose Wilson, Jd Williams Marks and Spencer etc, surprisingly Evans actually does not come up on the sponsored links which is quite hard to believe as Evans is known for selling plus size clothing for ladies. When it comes to branded products or the key, the site Evans does come up but there are other sites that come up using ‘plus size clothing’ Evans is not the only site that sells plus size clothing there are others such as simply be, New Look, curvey, Marks and Spencer etc. As for the ones who pay for the links to come up, they are New Look and Marks and Spencer, surprisingly Evans actually does not come up on the sponsored links which is quite hard to believe as Evans is known for selling plus size clothing for ladies. You can see the that Evans does not come up under the sponsored links but it is up on the first page of the search engine.

sponsored links

This is a screenshot of the sponsored links.

search engine on google

This is a screenshot of the first page of typing in ‘plus size clothing’.

Prazer, eu sou o mais novo alvo dos grandes times europeus. Arsenal e Liverpool estão de olho no futebol que tenho apresentado com a camisa do CSKA Moscou, da Rússia. Dizem por aí que até o Milan e o Real Madrid também podem entrar na disputa.

Além disso, também sou uma das principais esperanças do futebol sérvio, que pode ser uma das grandes surpresas na Copa do Mundo de 2010.

Tenho 25 anos e estou atuando no futebol russo desde 2004, sempre pelo mesmo time e normalmente como titular. Lá, consigo mostrar que sou um jogador de arranque e velocidade, além de marcar meus gols de vez em quando, mesmo jogando aberto pelo lado direito do meio-campo.

Recentemente me destaquei ao fazer gols no dois duelos do CSKA contra o Manchester United. Consegui dar muito trabalho para Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Brown, Evans e companhia.

O Campeonato Russo está perto do fim, meu time já não briga mais pelo título, mas já estou de olho na janela de transferências de janeiro. Afinal, estipulam que eu posso ir para algum time grande europeu por 18 milhões de libras.

Eu sou Milos Krasic e você ainda vai ouvir falar de mim mais vezes.

Eu avisei que sou rápido. Agora corram atrás de mim...

What IS cloud computing?  Cloud computing, put simply, is the ability to access and make use of resources such as computing infrastructure or applications on remote servers known as “Clouds” over the internet, whenever and wherever you like.  Many mainstream businesses such as IBM, Google and Amazon have already taken to cloud computing and are actively promoting the idea that “working through the clouds” may well be the future for e-commerce businesses.

Potential benefits of cloud computing

For a young eCommerce business, perhaps the biggest benefit of Cloud computing is the ability to instantly access and utilise “ready made” infrastructure provided and managed by someone else. This avoids the cost and management overhead of having to implement their own dedicated infrastructure such as network servers. This makes it much easier to establish a new business quickly and effectively. There is also the benefit that this infrastructure is usually managed by large, specialist organisations who can provide high levels of management to ensure reliability and availability.

In addition to this, the scalability offered by the cloud concept allows eCommerce companies to gain access instantly to an almost infinite amount of computing capacity as demand grows. With a traditional approach, growing computing capacity can take several weeks, or even months, and will require technical expertise to install and maintain. Meanwhile, customer experience can suffer due to capacity problems.

Another benefit of cloud computing would be the cost.  Instead of paying a fixed cost, you only pay when you use the service.  This would be of great benefit to any e-commerce business as they dont have to worry about purchasing all the hardware which they would usually need in order to sustain their business. Also, if the need for hardware actually reduces, you will only have to pay for what you actually use.

In some cases, an eBusiness organisation might find that it has spare computing capacity of its own or maybe an application which other companies might find useful. In this case, the organisation might be able to earn extra revenue by making these available to other organisations through the cloud.

Potential problems with cloud computing

One of the major issues with cloud computing is that it runs on a network.  This means that an e-commerce business would rely 100% on the network stability.  If the network goes down at any point, they will have to wait until it is up and running again before continuing any work.  Crashes in servers may also result in the loss or corruption of important information.

Security is another concern many e-commerce businesses may have with regards to cloud computing.  Private and confidential information is essentially being handled by a third party which is not something most e-businesses would feel safe in doing.

The video below explains cloud computing at the same time keeping it very simple.

sources:

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3874599.ece

A quick update on the work front.

Remember I was going to apply for a job at my local gastro pub as they were advertising for someone and it didn’t say they were looking for experience? Well, turns out they were – apparently.

No joy with Evans either – they stated experience didn’t necessarily matter rather an interest in fashion was what they were looking for. So, I rock up with my cv which granted isn’t strong on the retail side of things (but it does have some recent work) and my application, which shows I have an interest in fashion and moreover a knowledge of the Evans product including collaborations, and my best dressed self and…nothing, nada, zilch.

I also applied for a part-time job in a local shop, again they said experience wasn’t necessarily the most important thing, with this application I included a cover letter detailing all my retail experience (some is pre current cv) and why I particularly liked that shop. No response.

Received a couple of rejections this week too which is always a joy. No really it can be because sometimes you really don’t want the job you’ve applied for (and obviously it shows).

Got contacted out of the blue by a recruitment agent asking if I was available immediately to work on a project for a month and if so could I send my cv and a few words about relevant experience. Two days later and no word from said recruitment agent.

Offered to help out at another charity do taking place next week, have a fair amount of event experience, and what do they want me to do??? Work the cloakroom. Well, my friend N is doing the make-up and she says she needs me to help her but if not I’ll do the cloakroom, it’s something that I’ve never done before and if that’s where they need help that’s where they need help..what can I say!?

The one that’s been getting me down though?….that Red Magazine internship. I mean it was a ridiculously LONG shot to begin with, pie in the sky some might say, but still I hoped. Of course I hoped or I wouldn’t have applied. I think that they were making/announcing their decision in November and as they’ve just had their Red’s Hot Women awards I suspect they announced it then. Hey ho, I’ve been allowing myself to wallow in my non internship but today’s a new day and I’ve got things to do like finding me fifty plus free canvas shoppers (printed with the Blaggers’ Banquet logo). And I did spend the first half of this year interning with Louis de Gama so I really mustn’t grumble!

Anyway. I’m going to a party tonight and another on Saturday so at least I’m doing something right (maybe not actually but still not sure if that will or will not become a blog post).