http://www.plugout.nl/?art_id=608

Dance Flick (2009)
★★ / ★★★★

Damien Dante Wayans directed this parody about a girl (Shoshana Bush) who moves to the city with her father after her mother dies on the way to her dance audition. With the help of a friend (Essence Atkins), she’s able to meet others, open up a little more and fall for a guy (Damon Wayans Jr.). If that sounds familiar, that’s because that’s pretty much what “Save the Last Dance” was about. But this movie takes it a bit further by adding in “Step Up,” “Step Up 2 the Streets,” “High School Musical,” and “Hairspray” into the mix with occassional popular references to icons such as Britney Spears, Halle Berry, and the like. As accessible as those references were, I liked that Wayans added some less popular jokes such as from movies like “Black Snake Moan.” As idiotic as this movie was, I somewhat enjoyed it because I saw it when I was in the mood for watching something where I don’t have to think. I also liked the fact that it showed some vignettes where it revealed the stupidity of the plot or meaningful of certain dance movies. For instance, in “Step Up 2 the Streets,” people constantly had to fight for “respect” (whatever that means) instead of focusing on issues that would most likely impact their futures like education and working toward achieving something most people would assume to be impossible. This movie’s ability to bluntly present issues like that made me like it because I hardly think fighting for so-called respect should be the main drive of young people today. Still, the movie consistently lost focus such as whenever it would refer to something ridiculous like “Twilight.” In my opinion, if such in-your-face spoof pictures should stay in their own universe. That glaring decision to show something so out of the blue was not only unfunny, it also reflects desperation. “Dance Flick” could have been so much more fun if it had its act together. After all, there are a lot of dance movies out there to make fun of because they take themselves too far. The difference between those and this movie is that “Dance Flick” knows it’s being ridiculous.

The main thing that a typical dance movie is missing would have to be good acting.  I refuse to believe that there isn’t an amazing dancer out there that can’t also act. 

With the exception of movies like Chicago and Footloose which are also musicals, the strictly dance movies could use some help with their lines.  However here is a list of some of my favorite dance movies.

10. Take the Lead. Good story about using dance to straighten up the trouble students.

9. Stomp the Yard. Once again, dance starts as a fun activity and turns into a way to change the main character’s life after his brother is killed.

8. Step Up. This was interesting the way they incorporated an untrained freestyler with a trained female lead role. Step Up 2 however, had worse acting than You Got Served. Wow.

7. Save the Last Dance. Great and inspiring story, breaks boundaries, and turns a terrible situation into a happy ending using dance.

6.You Got Served. Terrible acting but awesome dance battles.  Worth watching strictly for the dancing.

5. Footloose . Classic. You go Kevin Bacon. Fight for dance! His warehouse dance scene is awesome.

4. Chicago. My personal all time favorite movie, musical, everything. Love the style, the execution and the story line.

3.Center Stage. Great ballet movie. Ballet tends to bore people but with the story line it keeps the viewer intrigued. Very inspiring.

2. Honey. This movie made me want to be a choreographer and touch children’s lives with the power of dance.

1. Dirty Dancing. Nobody puts baby in the corner.  This movie is a classic for obvious reasons. Rest in Peace Patrick Swayze.

Создана специально, для обмана покупателей. Вся продукция под этой маркой – домотканый самопал, который подаётся Аптекманом как высшее откровение. Вообще Аптекман и компания AGA пытаются насадить у нас в России откровенный американский лохотрон.

Поясню:

 

1. ER. С ним Аптекман познакомился в Лас-Вегасе, на атракционе с машинкой трения. То есть, другими словами, Лас-Вегас – мировой научный центр, в котором был симпозиум с участием известного учёного – Аптекмана. После этого симпозиума бацилла лохотрона ринулась на наш рынок. Аптекман – переносчик заразы ER и Hi-Gear.
2. Hi-Gear, Step-Up, Doctor Wax. Для того, чтобы всё стало на свои места достаточно зайти на сайт www.hi-gear-usa.com в раздел дистрибьюторы. Там нет ни единого! американского продавца. Жаль, что нет прошлогодней копии сайта, там вся продукция была только с этикетками на русском языке.
3. LabTribo. Компания LT “Лаборатория Триботехнологии” – аналогичное детище Аптекмана. Телефон и адрес появились только в апреле 2002 года, благодаря нашим усилиям, но, кроме AGA нет ни одного продавца их продукции. Фирма LT (Лаборатория Триботехнологии) – создана для обмана покупателей с целью избежать негативных для AGA последствий от продажи FENOM.

1. “Изобретатель” Аптекман, хозяин АГА () , работает в “Лаборатории Триботехнологии”.
2. Интернет адреса fenom.ru и labtribo.ru принадлежат всё той же фирме

источник: http://svong-1.com

Life changes; that’s why its fun

I had a life changing experience recently and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I attended the Tony Robbins event last month in Chicago land. I found out about Tony’s event thanks to a networking event here in Milwaukee. Katie Felten organized the Networking MKE event that included a guest appearance from one of the Tony Robbins trainers, Doug McGuirk.  The really great thing was that I managed to drag my husband Joe out to see Doug and he agreed that even though money is tight, we should attend together.

Now, money has been tight for quite a while and our relationship had suffered because of it. We also had a lot going on in our lives. I am the race director for a 15K road race which just happened to fall six days from the last day of the event. Not the best timing for taking four days off and being unavailable to my ‘normal world’ of computers and obligations. Either one of us could have used any number of excuses for why this event wasn’t a good idea. Lucky for me, I had a few close friends that had attended previous Tony Robbins events and they assured me this was just what I needed and it was well worth it.

The event was entitled Unleash the Power Within (UPW) and was attended by about 3,000 people from all around the world. People had many reasons for attending, but all included some variety of self improvement and growth. We spent 14 hour days in session. I have a pretty short attention span, so this was a challenge for me to stay awake and pay attention for that long. The speakers helped by encouraging techniques to break our patterns. One gentleman I encountered adeptly described the enthusiasm as “irrational exuberance”. I laughed pretty hard when he said that. It did seem silly when they asked the entire group to break out into a state of celebration including jumping around, hugging people, high fives, etc. I’m not a touchy-feely person, so this took me a little outside my comfort zone. What this did for us was instill the fact that we are as happy as we choose to be. If you sit around slumped in your chair, depressed, tired, etc…there’s pretty much no chance in hell that you will ever get anything done. If you break out of your pattern and start breathing (no kidding, try it) and also put yourself into the right mindset, you can accomplish anything you set your mind on.

We did a lot of work on identifying what was holding us back from being as successful as possible. Some of this was rather painful to stir up all the emotions involved in the process. We had to face our fears and identify our values and beliefs that were hindering our success.  Nobody likes to face their fears, but it is amazing that when you do face them, you can release them and not allow them to affect you negatively. This was very eye opening.

I came to a realization that some actions I had taken in the past had negatively affected other people, so I did everything I could to correct them right away. My goal is not inflict any pain or suffering on anyone. I think everyone deserves to be happy and successful. I will do whatever I can do to help.

In order to make all the right changes in your life you need the energy to be able to function at a high level. Day four was spent entirely on fostering health to fuel the change. Wow!!…is all I can say when we started going over all the chemicals and processed junk that most people put in their bodies daily. I was a heavy antacid user and had acid reflux and other maladies regularly. We talked about all the things that are toxic poison and cause you body to become acidic. I was definitely on the acid side of the scale. I have dome marathons in the past. During training I had been conditioned to ingest as many carbs as I could put down the hatch, for energy.  Bad idea! I was also a coffee junkie. I would regularly schedule networking one on one meetings and meet for coffee at all times of day…you can never have too much coffee, right J?

Tony challenged us to try a rather shocking meal modification for ten days and see how we felt. Many people had previously complained of fatigue, constipation, cramps, headaches, coughing, pain, etc. I was no different.  I regularly had stomach issues to deal with. Tony’s challenge included; NO meat, no dairy, no caffeine, no alcohol, no sugar, no processed white food (no carbs or packaged products) and no acidic foods. The plan did call for plenty of water, nuts, vegetables, fruit, olive oil, and high water content foods. The whole idea is that you want to avoid things that are not natural or will rot in your system before they digest. That was a real shocker to my system. I was ok with living on fish and veggies, but the lack of caffeine was a real bear. I had numerous days of headaches…which made me question if this was really a good idea. It was. After the headaches were over I swore to not go back to that addiction. I have not had a single cup of coffee since then. I found a great alternative is hot tea (herbal, non caffeinated).

My husband was very excited to try the 10 day challenge. I didn’t think he would make it, since his previous rule of thumb for meals was all meat and potatoes…and none of that icky green stuff. I can’t imagine either of us would have stuck to the challenge if we had attempted it alone. I made some kickin salads with olive oil and lemon dressing, fish tacos, hummus, ate loads of nuts, and more avocados and cukes than I could imagine. We tried to make it exciting, but we were honestly not thrilled about the restricted diet. Each day we would ask each other how we felt and shared our joy and accomplishments.  In the beginning I was thinking that I couldn’t wait to get past the 10 day point so I could go back to my old patterns of eating. As I started to feel healthier, I changed my tune. I think initially I was just bitchy from lack of caffeine.

At about the ten day mark was a Green Bay Packers game, at which we were hosting a tailgate party. Normally, this means all meat and booze. We made a few modifications to the normal menu and added a veggie tray and hummus to the menu. We both ate a decent amount of meat and other snacks and felt pretty crappy the next day. We went back to the modified eating plan right away. At a few other points in time we decided to try out an old staple like pizza. I don’t remember having such a bad stomach ache in the past. Maybe my body was previously accustomed to the trash I would feed it? After trying a few experiments like that we decided this was a good plan to stick to on a regular basis. I like feeling healthy and will try to encourage others to try the alkaline plan. I doubt they will be as motivated as we were after attending UPW.

In addition to having my husband with me, there were at least 10 people I knew in attendance at UPW. Most of them are friends that I met through networking in Milwaukee and online. One of the biggest treats was getting the chance to meet my friend (and fellow NEF Editor) Kaaren Douglas face to face. We have been good phone friends for awhile, but she is in LA and I’m in Milwaukee, WI. We now have a bond that is stronger than ever. I love having accountability buddies with whom I network. I appreciate my circle of friends, especially those who have shared such a life changing experience.

A new networking group has formed in Milwaukee for all the graduates of the Tony Robbins UPW event. They are calling it “Step Up” which is what they taught us to do…step up and take some action.

Happy Networking!

Karin Conway

NEF Editor

wiNEFeditor@gmail.com

That’s right. Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Robert Hoffman, Briana Evigan, Rick Malambri, Sharni Vinson, along with SYTYCD/DWTS dancers, etc. are attending/ making appearences at the first ever DizzyFeet! (A foundation founded in 2009 which helps underprivileged young people realize their dream of becoming professional dancers and to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in the Unites States.)

According to Channing Tatum Unwrapped:

Jenna Dewan-Tatum tweeted yesterday that she would be both presenting and performing with “So You Think You Can Dance” dancers and more at the upcoming Dizzy Feet Foundation benefit, and today, she announced that Chan would also be presenting with her.

Dizzy Feet Foundation was founded in 2009 by producer Nigel Lythgoe, director Adam Shankman, “Dancing with the Stars” judge Carrie Ann Inaba and actress Katie Holmes to help underprivileged young people realize their dream of becoming professional dancers and to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in the Unites States.

Guided by a board consisting of some of the most illustrious names in the American dance community, the foundation’s mission is threefold: (1) to provide scholarships to talented students studying at accredited dance schools, studios, or institutions; (2) to establish national standards for dance education and an accreditation program for dance schools in all of the major styles of dance; and (3) to develop, provide, and/or support dance education programs for disadvantaged children through and with local community organizations.

Dizzy Feet’s first-ever fundraising gala, CELEBRATION OF DANCE, is taking place at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California on Sunday, November 29th 2009 at 3PM.

All of the leads from ‘Step Up‘, ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘, and ‘Step Up 3D‘ will make appearances at the event. As I mentioned earlier, Jenna and Chan will be presenting and Jenna will also perform.

Jenna tweeted…“Buy tix now to support dancing and come say hi to us!”. I also learned that the event will not be televised, so if you want an opportunity to give to a good cause and see Chan and Jenna, please visit Ticketmaster.com to get your tickets TODAY!!!

Source- Channing Tatum Unwrapped

Will you attend? I wonder if Adam will make an appearence as well?

Sharni Vinson, the leading lady of Step Up 3D,  joined Twitter not too long ago and Jon wants you to follow her! (@SharniVinson)

Just clearing up rumors (Jon already did in his latest tweet above), I have no idea how many countless times I’ve had to say this but Adam DOES NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT have a Twitter! I know there are about 800+ fans following a certain Adam poser but that’s NOT him! (Have you checked out that “person’s” grammer? HA!)

Follow OUR Twitter! @AGSfansite

Alyson Stoner keeps it cute in an LBD as she arrives at the premiere of Old Dogs held at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood on Monday night (November 9).

The 16-year-old actress recently caught up with JJJ and told us a bit about her upcoming flick, Step Up 3D.

Alyson shared, “The choreography and the dance battles are eye-popping, mind-blowing excitement from start to finish. It’s crazy what they’ve come up with – the special effects and the 3-D technology really adds another layer to it. This is a legitimate dance movie too! It isn’t cheesy…for the most part…and I haven’t seen many of them, but I know that this one isn’t going to be cheesy.”

ALSO, Alyson chatted with Seventeen Magazine not too long ago about her character Camille in the new Step Up movie as well as MOOSE!

Alyson is currently in New York filming Step Up 3D, the first dance movie in 3D technology. “I play Camille, Tyler Gage’s little sister and now Moose’s best friend who’s been accepted into NYU. She’s planning to pursue that area and hopefully grow closer to Moose because she’s secretly madly in love with him.”

Source- Just Jared JR & Seventeen Magazine

But perhaps I have jumped into things too quickly. I haven’t really had much of a chance to explain that yes, I successfully made

Airport in São Miguel. Sort of classy for an airport, eh?

it though a wonderful week in the Azores (which I’m sure you all will hear plenty about, especially when I’m sitting in my lonesome back home in DC, whenever that is), arrived in São Tomé, learned how to type accents on my new computer, and, well, have just been having a heck of a time.

I took a plane from Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel in the Azores to Lisbon, then stayed with my cousins Marina and Sérgio and their adorable new bundle of baby, Santiago, for a couple of days. After getting a small preview of the awesome effects of Doxycycline if not swallowed under its very specific and rigid guidelines (I say “preview” because there was much more to come but two weeks later), I hit the airport again, bags ready to go, toting a spartan number of tank tops and shorts, a disproportionate weight of candy and books, and a really nice bottle of Azorean wine to give to my gracious host, Ned.

All this was in the forefront of my mind when we traveled from the little mini airport shuttle at nearly midnight towards our plane, an odd time for a flight and a totally disorganized system of boarding that even seemed a little out of the ordinary for Portugal, a country I once lambasted for its own lack of efficiency and charm. I couldn’t help but wonder if Portugal and São Tomé were still on hesitant (if not hostile) terms.

My wondering was quickly floored by awe as we approached our plane, a once-a-week luxury of TAP Portugal, and, clear as anything else I’d ever read in my life, in letters the size of people, the name of the plane reads:

WHITE

No, this is not a joke. But you might think the following is: Below it reads:

Coloured by You

White, Coloured by You, courtesy of the White website- http://www.flywhite.eu

Good Lord, how I wish I could make this stuff up.

I could hardly keep myself from laughing. I’m sure people thought I was crazy. The plane is called WHITE? And it’s colored by…what…a rainbow of singing, dumb Africans that somehow, at the right time, just showed up for the plane trip of their lives??

Well, what do you do?

You say, okay! We’re getting on this huge, phallic machine called WHITE, and we’re going to penetrate virgin Mother Afrika at 400 miles per hour.

My life in São Tomé has been peppered with little bits that make me laugh like this. What else CAN you do when a country’s history of European control is so recent (they only became independent in the mid-1970s)? Not only this, but their whole home, their entire history began as an overflow zone for starving Cape Verdeans in an overpopulated island to contract into honest work, only to be deceived and thrown into slavery. How do you come to terms with that when it’s something the Santomenses deal with every day of their life?

The STeP UP office

Among a few English classes, some translations, some great friend-making (I love standing out; I feel like people in the USA never remember my face but here everyone knows who I am) and other things, the thing that keeps me busy here (and what I originally arrived for) was to help an incredible NGO called STeP UP (São Tomé e Príncipe Union for Promotion) coordinate and work out the kinks of a very generous donation by the One Laptop Per Child Program to a local middle school in the capital. About 90 very excited twelve year olds were handed an amazingly efficient, durable, and inexpensive laptop computer that is complete with photo/video camera, microphone, a swivel frame, multiple USB ports and wireless internet access (you can buy one for yourself or any child for $250, and included in this $250 is the donation of a laptop to a child in a poor country as well- how about that!). I’m here to learn the OLPC platform and teach it to teachers and students alike, then facilitate a way for them to incorporate these computers in their everyday learning environment (both in school and at home).

Yesterday was my first day of class with the kids themselves. While we waited in hopes that the energy would turn back on

The kids wait for the energy to come back on in class. And go camera-happy while we wait

(something that is horribly unreliable and inconsistent, and often just doesn’t work at all), the poor kids waited, say 75 of them, crowded into one classroom, for hours. I couldn’t leave them there so I thought I would at least get their attention and play some games- whatever I could think of on my feet, really- 7 Up, red light green light (outside), and, my favorite, Hangman.

At least it was my favorite, until I suddenly wanted to simultaneously laugh and cry. Here I am, a white woman, of Portuguese descent nonetheless, teaching these African children a really great spelling game that incorporates lynching. I am certainly going to Hell.

Either the kids never picked up the reference, or someone Up There was on my side yesterday, because the kids actually loved the game and it occupied a solid 30 minutes of our time. But good grief, what a trip. I had played my own race card, and it was a wild card, and here I am in Africa, and, from now on, Hangman is going to be something much, much less violent.

Step UP! Bear from Sway Creations

So, Step UP! Day has gone.

Did it make a difference?

Well, anyone who woke up on the morning of the 6th November expecting to see a whole bright shiny new Second Life would have been severely disappointed. And, of course, there were a few blog posts only too eager to point out gleefully that nothing had changed.

Well, actually, it had.

For the first time a wide group of Second Life residents had come together: builders, designers, artists, musicians, scripters, machinima-makers, media people, bloggers and people who simply enjoy the immersive world of Second Life. They had shared their concerns, they had learned things they hadn’t known before, they had participated in a protest and they had joined in celebrations.

Sky banners on Planet Mongo

And that is the first step up we have taken in our long term bid to end the menace of content theft.

Other steps have been taken too. Some were taken earlier – by groups like the Content Creators Association, which has Ideas have been brought forward, and shared, and discussed – sometimes argued. But there are certainly things to explore as we move forward.

There’s also a wealth of educational material and information that has been gathered, that we now need to disseminate in the most effective ways.

And people are more aware of the issues. There have been question and answer sessions on the Ning and in the inworld group. I’ve talked people through what to do when they spot what they think is content theft, and what to do when they encounter some really gross violation on XStreetSL. People are becoming aware, and they are hungry to know more.

Step UP!

It’s often said, by the pessimistic, the cynical and the despairing, that people will steal if it’s there for them to steal. Actually, in my experience, people would rather NOT steal, once they realise exactly what it is that they are doing. In fact, they derive more fun from tracking and catching thieves than they do from stealing themselves – the problem then can become over-enthusiasm rather than lack of it! One of the key things that we need to make people aware of is that you DON’T confront thieves directly; they will simply pack up their shops and move on, before the creators can get in there, gather evidence and file DMCAs.

The thieves are still out there, and their tricks get dirtier. I’ve had reports of them hanging around Public Help Islands using a Groups exploit to pose as Mentors and then tricking newbies not just into accepting stolen goods, but into taking part in some exploits themselves, in the belief that they are helping.

And Linden Lab, who could be engaging in dialogue, seem more concerned with pushing SLEnterprise and looking after the interests of a small number of creators who will be invited into the Marketplace – a topic on which I’ll be sharing my thoughts soon.

But we, the creators of the content of Second Life, are here, together, and working together. And each step we take will make us stronger, more knowledgeable … and more prepared for what the future holds.

So we took the first step. Now we need to build on that – and over the next few days, we shall.

I would like to encourage everyone to take a step back from your everyday life and think of how to step it up a notch.

Go the extra step! Push your limits!

It is the only way to pull away from your mundane life and discover what you are truly capable of. You’ll impress yourselves. I’ve taken the time out of my busy day to illustrate some ideas:

IDEA 1:
You think you’re so smart by saving time in the mornings by peeing in the shower. Don’t deny it. We all do it. We’ve all seen that satisfying yellow streak meander down the drain. And sometimes thinking “Wow..I need to drink more water. My pee is freakin’ orange.”

Well, step it up a notch and save even MORE time. POO in the shower and stomp it down the drain. Make sure you get all the bits. Beware of corn-poo. Trickiest poo. Be careful not to get any lodged between your toes and under your toenails. TOXIC!

IDEA 2:
If you had a nickel for every time you’d been at a pizza parlor with your friends and someone dared you to eat a tablespoon of crushed red peppers. (Unless you are the sadistic bitch who always prompts the dare.) Your stomach lining is probably all torn up – but it was worth showing them up, eh?

Step it up! Next time, aim the fistful of crushed red peppers at your mouth and then make a sharp unsuspecting detour to your eye and stuff it all in. Yes, people will gasp. Yes, it will burn like hell. But imagine the respect you’d gain.

These types of worthwhile experiences will make you:
* Respected
* Time-efficient
* Blind

A couple days ago I wrote in support of the real life content creators who’s products are being sold illegally in SL.

I was teleporting randomly in Second Life. I do this on occassion, I think it drives Hawk a little crazy. Anyway, I happened on a little shop with a Step Up Campaigne poster outside his/her shop.

The shop owner even has a sign that promotes intellectual property rights. Yay! I’m loving this person already, and want to give him/her a big hug for respecting the rights of real life artists!

“Great!” I thought, because more shops embracing the Step Up Campaign to promote the protection of intellectual property rights is better for all of us.

A closer look, though, quickly dashed any illusions I might have had, and sent my euphoria to a screeching halt.

Ok. Lesson #1: Just because some 11 year who plays RPG’s uploaded a Vallejo/Bell piece to the internet because she wanted a cool picture to represent her fairy character doesn’t mean that it’s free for the taking.

So check it… Jesus is speaking and that’s enough to get anybody’s attention, but what he speaks this time around really spoke to my heart this morning. Jesus is talking about the cost of being a disciple in Luke 14:28-34. Go read it now before you continue reading this…

Okay, do you see what’s going on here? Jesus who always speaks of the importance of the kingdom of God is laying down something here that we as Christ followers often miss. He says we should consider the cost of following Him, to seriously consider what it would take and decide for ourselves if it’s worth what we would have to give up. Why? Because He wants us to understand that once we are in the revolution, we are in… enlisted for life. The problem is that too many Christians forget what it actually takes to be a disciple of Christ and they lose what Jesus refers to as “saltiness”.

It’s no wonder the world looks at us today in laughter as if we are some kind of joke. Trust me when I say, they see the real you.

Have you considered the cost of following Christ?

Have you lost sight of that cost and come short of finishing?

Have you allowed the world around you to laugh at you because you couldn’t complete what you started?

It’s time to step it up and evaluate your cost of following Christ. Seriously consider it and if it’s too great, get out now; if it’s worth it, well… welcome to theRevolution and let’s not embarass ourselves and Christ by falling short because we’ve lost sight of the cost.

Many blogs and groups are discussing the Step-up campaign today.

As a person involved in making art, and selling it, in real life this is a topic very close to my heart. The Step-up campaign, though admirable in it’s intent, misses its mark somewhat.

Content theft is real in Second Life, it hurts people who make a living creating the products we can’t live our second Lives without. It hurts the innocent consumers who purchase this stolen merchandise.

But there is a lot more than content theft going on in second Life, there is real life theft of artwork, logos, cartoon characters, etc. If it can be downloaded from the internet, it is probably on a product somewhere in Second Life.

My first (known) Second Life experience with real life content theft was a sneaker that was promoted through just about every single Second Life freebie blog. These sneakers were very cute, they were pink, they had sweet little pictures of Minnie Mouse on the sides, and they were from :::LINE:::

Yes, if you own a pair of the Minnie Mouse sneaks I’m talking about, you own a product that illegally uses copyrighted material. This includes products with Hello Kitty, Dr. Suess illustrations, super heroes, Pokemon, strawberry Shortcake, Smurfs, Coke (and any other product) logos, and just about any other cute pop icon you can think of.

If you own tee shirts with band logos, automobile logos, or products that show characters from movies and television.. guess what? You own stolen material.

I’ve seen the work of real life artists (dead and living) used and sold in the shops of well-established designers in Second Life — designers who should know better. I wonder if the Second Life designers who have these pirated artworks in their shops will Step-up and take down their stolen works of art or if they’ll pay the real life artists the royalties they deserve? I wonder if they even realise that they are real life content thieves. And I wonder how many bloggers would stop promoting these designers if they knew the designers use stolen content in their shops and products.

The content that artists make, as real life content creators, doesn’t consist of digital textures or tortured prims, it consists of paint, and ink, and sweat, and canvas, and wood.. and countless other raw materials we use to make our art. We are visual artists, craftspeople, weavers, musicians, potters, poets authors, and we deserve recognition for our art too. We deserve to be compensated if our illustration or painting turns up on a gown in Second Life. We deserve to be compensated if our music is played in your shop. We deserve to be compensated if our painting winds up as fabric used for your Second Life furniture.

Support the arts and Step-up to condemn real life content theft.

AVA-TARE  Zodiac Series

I’m a Pisces !  Get Yours Here !  Catinca Aldrin, designer …hair and accessories.

T by NYMPHETAMINE

Hair by Maitreya ,Green – Beach Blond

Speaking of signs. I support Step Up campaign against Content Theft.  I do this by buying the products they sell and promoting those on my blog and by word of mouth. I can not support them like this is I refuse to buy for 2 days or blog they great products. 

I believe that in all things knowledge is power and education is the best way to begin to protect designers and consumers.

Wear the ribbon!

This is a sign to everyone that you’re part of the Step UP! campaign. Share the Campaign with friends and customers!

Do you want to help the campaign?

Come to our Ning and sign up – we need people who are willing to help make Step UP! the most fantastic community event that Second Life has ever seen!
http://step-up-sl.ning.com/

Making Connections by Gracie Kendal

The Step UP! Art and Education gallery is in full swing! As of this morning, a quick (and probably not totally accurate) count tallied 30 artists exhibiting! They are all over the place: in the gallery, on the surface, hanging off the side of the mountains, in the sea …

Some of the artists have created work specifically for the StepUP! Campaign with the theme of content theft, even sharing their own experiences with having their work stolen.

Tricia Aferdita is the curator, and she has assembled a really awesome collection of Second life Art for the occasion.

Step UP! Art Gallery on Toor

And to celebrate this accomplishment by the StepUP! Art Community, please join us for a reception at the Step UP! Gallery, on Wednesday November 4, from 3-5 pm SLT in the lovely sim donated for a special Step UP! art exhibition, featuring Second Life artists passionate about creating and protecting the work they create. Wander through the sim-wide exhibition of some of SL’s finest artists; enjoy live music from Eio Tuqiri and tunes from IndieSpectrum Radio. Learn about copyright and public domain, and experience beautiful and thought-provoking work. Help us celebrate art in Second Life!

“Do not attach yourself to any particular creed exclusively, so that you may disbelieve all the rest; otherwise you will lose much good, nay, you will fail to recognize the truth of the matter.”

- Ibn al-Arabi

It’s not often that I fully agree with strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle (here’s one example) — but then again, I don’t fully follow any single coach’s path, preferring, instead, to blaze my own n=1 trail.  On the subject of the back squat, however, I have to give the man his due; I believe he is spot on in his critique of the exercise and with his assertion that most trainees would be better off (subsequent to building a solid, base level of squatting strength)  migrating from the back squat to the various forms of split squats, especially the rear foot elevated split squat.  And I would add to this, variations of the high-box step-up.

A Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat (RFESS)…Huh?

Just so we’re all on the same page, here an example of the RFESS:

…and the step-up:

Why would I champion the idea of most trainees phasing out the back squat in preference to split squat variations and step-ups?  Well, a couple of reasons.  To begin with, most all athletic endeavors, as well as life itself, requires lower-body strength in a unilateral environment.  A second reason is that most trainees will fail in the squat, not due to leg failure, but due to lower back failure; quite simply, the lower back cannot support the load required to push the legs, in a bilateral environment, to failure.  Ah, you say — so would the leg press be a better option?  Well, in some trainees it might be, but for the most part I’d rather work in the real-world of an unstable environment.

Built for Traditional Squats?

Check out my little whiteboard sketch below.  Really, this is no more than a statement of the obvious — if a load is teetering on a narrow base, and if that load must be pushed a greater distance and if the load/lever combination is at a mechanical disadvantage with respect to gravity — well, you get the picture…What all this boils down to, in my experience and my empirical evidence, is a simple waist/inseam ratio.  The lesser the ratio, the lesser the benefit a trainee will realize from conventional back squatting, and the sooner in his lifting career he probably ought to transition to a unilateral environment.

Personally, I have a hell of a time trying to fully tax my legs in a full back squat with a 33-inch waist sitting high atop a 35-inch inseam.  But here are a couple of other interesting pieces of the puzzle that I’ve yet to get a handle on: (1) power generation out of the jump squat, and (2) glute/hamstring contribution, and how that figures into the mix.  Notice that at a 33-inch waist and 40-inches around the  hips, I do carry quite a bit of junk in the trunk.  Now follow me here just for a moment, while I “think” aloud: (1) When I fail in the squat, it’s never “in the hole”, where the glutes are fully engaged — it’s about midway up, where that lower back lever is at its worst mechanical advantage, and where glute activation has been (relatively) removed from the picture, (2) I can wreck my Dachshund-built, squatting-machine brethren in the high step up, which is mostly a glute-driven exercise (see this TMuscle article), and (3) I can’t prove this, but I would be willing to bet that I can also generate more power from (and posses a greater power/bw ratio) in the jump squat than my Dachshund-built, squatting-machine brethren.   My point with all of this?  The notion of  “training what you suck at” — which I agree with, to a point — must not be followed blindly, but must be leveraged against what stands to make the athlete a better athlete, or the mere mortal, better at life.

So that’s my take on the matter.  For what it’s worth, the vast majority of my bilateral squatting (which is pretty infrequent, when compared to my unilateral work) is done as a front squat — I’ve just always felt like I reaped more benefit out of this movement as compared to the back squat.   You can check out coach Boyle’s reasoning for moving away from the bilateral squat, in a pair of  TMuscle articles, this one from 2007, and most recently, here.  And you can see a clip of coach Boyle discussing the matter here, as a plug for his Functional Strength Coach 3.0 video series, and you can check out his blog posts on the subject, here.

And there’s plenty of ongoing discussion on the subject at this string, at the JP Fitness Forums site.

Remember, as always, the real answer to this question can only be answered by an objective survey of your own n=1 results as they relate to your goals.  Don’t be afraid, though, to test, tinker and adjust.  Remember, to, that there are no failures, only feedback.

In health,

Keith

The song theme is called “Step Up!(I`m On It)”  by Maylene an The Sons of Disaster.

Download!

Videoclip:

n addition to the two new optics, Lensbaby has also unveiled a step-up ring / lens hood that allows Lensbaby users to mount 52mm filters, while also taking care of flare. The Lensbaby Step-up/Shade has been developed for use with the Swap Optic System of the Lensbaby Composer. “Screw your Step-up/ Shade onto the 37mm threads on the front of your Lensbaby optic. With no filter attached, the lens shade provides 1.44 inches of depth from the lip of the shade to the optic’s surface. You can screw any 52mm filter onto the Step-up/Shade,” the company explains.

www.sbcwomen.com

So being home again means more blog posts, hooray! I stopped at Xtreme-Adrenaline on my through Regina the other night and Eldon passed along a copy of the new Snowboard Canada Women’s Annual to me (Thanks Eldon! ) and I’ve got to say I was super impressed by this issue compared to the past ones. There wasn’t a huge change in the amount of content or the appearance or anything, what impressed me was the actual article ideas and most notably the Step Up section. You might recall me whining about the problem’s with women’s snowboarding a while back with my post Good for a Girl. The inspiration behind that post was the SBC women’s annual trick tip, which was a 50-50 on to a rail. In this issue the trick tip (Step Up)  is a Cab 540! Hooray! Finally a trick that brings us a little bit closer to the level of trick tips that the men are always getting. Jess Kimura is the “teacher” in this one, and it’s pretty much perfect… thanks SBC for giving us something awesome this time around, I love it! 

Desiree Melancon, photo: snowrev.com

Another one of my favourite articles in the new mag is called “Defining Style.” It takes a look at the riding style of five female shredders in five different photos. Cheryl Maas, Marie-France Roy, Laura Hadar, Hana Beaman, and Desiree Melancon are all the ladies featured in this one. I really liked the idea of this one because in snowboarding your riding style is just so important. If you have a messy or sketchy style it will come through in shots or in video parts and make you look like you have no idea what you’re doing. I can think of a million examples of bad styles that I’ve seen over the years, there are lots of girls that are good riders but they just have bad style and it makes them look out of control all the time. If you don’t know what I’m talking about go watch some female video parts (think la la land, ro sham bo, or stance) and you’ll definitely be able to see the difference between the riders who are really solid and have good style and the riders who are definitely talented but are lacking in the style department. For example, when you see a shot of MFR or Laura Hadar you don’t need to see a name to tell who the rider is. Their style shows through in the shot right away! Okay anyways enough of that rant for now…

This issue also has a short story from Allie Jenkinson (http://alliejenkinson.com/blog/) Who is a phenomenal writer, you can go read the story on her husband Mike Berard’s blog…The story is called All Time Hereafter. Then go check out her blog for some more stories!

There’s so many premieres going on, and resorts are opening and basically the season is slowly starting. Just in case you’re getting wondering and getting anxious here are opening dates for some of the bigger resorts in western Canada:

Canadian Olympic Park (Calgary, AB) – Open!!!

Mt. Norquay (Banff, AB) – October 31st

Lake Louise (Banff, AB) – November 7th

Sunshine (Banff, AB) - November 11th

Marmot Basin (Jasper, AB) - November 11th

Whistler-Blackcomb – November 26th

Silver Star (Vernon, BC) – November 28th

Big White (Kelowna, BC) – December 5th

Fernie,  BC – December 5th

Other things you should probably know… Xtreme-Adrenaline has launched their new blog, and you should go check it out by clicking here.

Regina’s own Angelisa Hollick won one of Nikita’s photoshoot spots for the Fall/Winter 2010 cataloge, check it out – http://www.sbcwomen.com/hotbox?news_id=292

Sara Tollestrup has a review of Peep Show up on the SBC Women’s site. Go check it now! 

The powder highway is having a ski bum contest this year, meaning you could win accom + food + season passes for the winter just by telling them why you deserve it. Check it out… http://powderhighway.com/SkiBum/

Sun Peaks is also doing a similar contest, www.snowbumcanada.com

The second Party Snakes teaser is up…

TJ Schneider & the snowboard realms take a look at Vancouver’s streets…

“just a short little movie I put together of Bart , Brad and Sylvain. 3 homeless men from Vancouver.
I made portrait of Sylvain and gave it to him to sell to try and buy some food, I like that he wanted to keep it.
The night we met he told me I was different than most people.
That he could tell …. I am a good man.”

This one is random…but it’s an Iheartsnow productions vid and they’re making me so jealous. We have no snow again..

The Westbeach webisodes are back! Go check them out here… http://vimeo.com/6899085

Do you all remember this? Switch the Movie, for some reason it’s all over the internet again. Maybe it’s actually coming out this time? Chris Brown is in it, FYI. I remember Zach showing me this like two years ago, and I wanted to see it sooo bad but then it just disappeared… I was actually wondering about it a few weeks ago… anyone know the story behind this? I heard that it’s got new producers, and it’s coming out this year sometime. Rumour or truth?

The predictions are rolling in for WWE Bragging Rights which is in 2 weeks.  Here is a youtube video made by WWESvRUnleashed

who did a fine job nice clear pictures and good music. Kudos!

I’m Posting fans videos for you to decide on who will win the matches.

I like this new band Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster. , haven’t heard their stuff before, I’ll be looking for more of their videos for sure!

I think this one has a nice custom poster of John Cena, very colorful!

More Predictions by youtube NYCzDrumMerFaN12

Somone who says they know who wins for sure… youtube EpicEricShow

The final youtube damienomahony1 explains how BRAGGING RIGHTS Works – instead of being called CYBER SUNDAY.

I think I like the new title better?

It’s a new year, so a new title was needed.

I’ve never participated in Cyber Sunday, have you?

Evidence That Lady Gaga Does In Fact Have Male Genitalia

I would like to begin this Blog by looking at the information found regarding women’s portrayal in the media and the opportunities for analysis that it provides. Women have always been portrayed in the media as either successful and submissive, or successful and hard, cold and brutal. However in the latter case, I feel it is important to widen the portrayal of women to encompass the success of women in a man’s world. Through such an extension, it can be seen that women are faced with new and better opportunities. However it is only through their categorisation in this group, that such opportunities are made possible. Lady Gaga, a prominent musician, and icon, celebrated for her continuing line of hit songs, has recently been polled by Nova. The poll questions listeners for their opinion on whether ‘Lady Gaga has a pole? Upon further inspection of a video clip, Gaga steps off a on-stage motorbike, with her dress riding up and reveals what seems to be male genitalia. Thus it can be asked: has Gaga got where she has today because she has access to all the opportunities that males have? Or is her success attributed to her questionably male features (that essentially makes her more desirable to the audience)? Is her fame and her fortune a result of being hard, cold and brutal? I think in studying both Lady Gaga, and her success story, many opportunities arise in this topic to confirm that she is far from feminine and submissive. In a recent interview she reveals her masculine sense of humour (and preoccupation with their size) – proudly announcing that she does, in fact, have a ‘donkey dick’. Her also guarded, evasive nature has an appeal of its own – she is strong and cold (in an edgy way that her audience can appreciate.)

In an article about Megan Fox, she is quoted as saying

“I come across as confident and [women] assume that means I think I’m S – . And that makes them feel bad about themselves and so they hate me.”

Fox’s quote raises questions about the opportunities women have, the more successful women become, the more enemies they make within their own sex (on top of their already demanding competitive stakes with men), and yet, if they don’t have ambitions they become the submissive women, destined to be held down in a cycle of disadvantage and not really acknowledged.

But then Fox goes and states:

“I think all women in Hollywood are known as sex symbols. That’s what our purpose is in this business. You’re merchandised, you’re a product. You’re sold and it’s based on sex. But that’s okay. I think women should be empowered by that, not degraded.”

Isn’t it degrading to be defined by such masculine standards? Are women then not explicitly (rather than implicitly) participating in their own demise in a patriarchal world? It creates less opportunities for women when they narrow their potential to only receiving opportunities out of their sexuality. It rules out the possibility of female success and classes women as objects regardless of whether Fox says that they are empowered. She says she’s a feminist? What rights is she giving to women? Using their sexuality as a tool of empowerment achieves precisely the opposite – it classifies them in a role based on male perceptions rather than forming their own niche.

Fox’s role in “Transformers” gives girls unrealistic expectations, showing that they can have fame and fortune through sexuality. Aren’t we sending out the wrong image? Women’s success should be based on intellect and empowerment through positive attributes not sexuality!

Catherine Lumby talks about the film Alvin Purple, writing that the:

“Film dealt with sex and gender because it was made at a time when women’s liberation and the sexual revolution were just coming onto the radar of mainstream Australia. Alvin is set in an era when sexual and social mores were in an exhilarating flux and I think the film captures some of that.”

What Lumby writes about is the strength that the media has in being able to convey a change in times. Her analysis of this film discredits the previous sexualised images of women and through her feminist comments conveys how the media shows “what sexual freedom for women might look like…[looking at what] freedom is from heterosexist ideals, freedom from monogamy, or freedom from men altogether.” Lumby toys with the idea of new and vast opportunities for women, in re-categorising their relationship with each other, with men and with society at large. Whilst the outcomes she may envision may leave women at the top of ladder, as hard and potentially cold women, she also acknowledges that sex can be pleasurable for the women, aligning women with men. She seeks to work out a new vocabulary that depicts an equality with men both sexually and beyond the sexual arena. She questions through her analysis of the film and within this radical era “what happens to conventional masculinity when women start pushing social and sexual boundaries?” It seems to be a question still relevant to women’s portrayal in the media and still in the opportunities and challenges faced by women today who still live in a predominantly male oriented world.

However there is also challenging material to that provided above. A women’s network  called “Step Up” has been created with a mission to strengthen community resources for women and girls. You could say that this form of education for women has created the middle ground for women that has too long been missing!

“Step Up” teaches women through empowerment:

“Programs for under-served girls, women’s health, education and advocacy, professional mentorship, and social networking opportunities.” This kind of empowerment ensures that women “have the tools they need to create a better future”.

Thus it effectively prevents female success through submissiveness and it allows women to have a voice to stand up for themselves. The concern this poses is: how do they know when to stop? If they become too aggressive in their desire to stand up for themselves they may become the other end of the spectrum (the cold, hard woman)? Would you agree?

It would seem that the medium “Step Up”, which asks women to unite together in joint spirit, and brings women across the globe together, may challenge theatrical mediums and forms of media that show women as successful through being submissive such as Jane from 27 Dresses. However it does not completely dispute the stories of Anna Wintour or Miranda Priestly either. Rather it asks women to look up to these women and just as they are empowered it seeks to teach them to be empowered too! So is there really ever an opportunity to create a middle ground in the portrayal of women?  We may attempt to challenge stereotypical images but don’t we end up one way or another in one category?