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Talks continuing with airport

Menzies warns on profits over Gatwick contract

Menzies websiteJohn Menzies has issued a profits warning as a result of contractual issues at Gatwick Airport.

Chief executive Jeremy Stafford said that full year earnings are now likely to come in £2 million below the board’s previous expectations.

In a trading update for the 10 months from 1 January to 30 October, he said service levels at London Gatwick have now been restored.

However, the actions put in place to mitigate the operational issues and deliver the customer’s operational requirements will cost £6m of additional investment, mainly in manpower, in the second half of the year, and will impact this year’s earnings.

Contract negotiations are continuing in the hope of achieving a solution by the end of the year.

During the period the company saw strong earnings growth from its US hubs.  Outside the UK, all regions continue to perform well.

Ground handling turns and cargo tonnes were up 9% and 4% respectively, with revenue in the period up 6% on last year.  Contract renewals remain strong, and the company will continue to target new business that will deliver sustainable earnings.

The distribution business is delivering ahead of forecast, with the impact of print media declines expected to be fully mitigated in this financial year.  Cost management actions, including the rationalisation of the network, will deliver more than £5m of cost savings in the full year, and sales volume reduction of 3.5% has been slightly better than expected.

The company has seen continued progress against our strategic goals with new contract wins, including cross border e-commerce parcel deliveries, as it builds on the recent AJG Parcels acquisition which has been successfully integrated.

It says the new National Living Wage legislation will add £2.5m in cot and its expects to mitigate this increase with a number of “improvement initiatives”.  Overall, the balance sheet remains strong.

Mr Stafford said:  “During a busy period of transition, we continue to progress with the group’s strategic objectives.

Our Distribution business is quickly gaining traction in the UK e-logistics market, whilst continuing to deliver cost and cash improvement initiatives.

“Aviation continues to benefit from growth in the Americas, whilst we continue to work through UK operational matters.

“I am disappointed that contractual issues at London Gatwick have led us to revise our aviation outlook for this year, albeit largely offset with strong progress in our distribution business. The group remains well placed to drive earnings.”

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Applied Nate Silver – Disaster! Not Believable – 2

More daily data is now showing me a new variability I hadn’t (amazingly) spotted before. In all this analysis I was well aware of scale variability but my early data, a very steady weekly decline, lulled me into believing there was no significant temporal variation. Now the surprise from last week and now having collected six days of weekly data shows this is a much bigger factor than I had imagined (actually hadn’t imagined it at all, except as small random fluctuation on top of a generally linear trend):

The trendline is based on the red points which are the weekly averages (weeks 14-18) and the latest daily average (today week 19+6/7) and ignoring week 19, the highly anomalous point that started this entire thread. Today’s weigh-in, which as you can see is now back on the long-term trendline (which fits all the points very closely, as you can see and is proven with the very high r^2).

But the interesting part is not just the week 19 anomalous point but also the daily points thereafter that were nicely trending down, but now all appear to be substantially off the trend. Or, put another way, the extreme calorie deficit I did this week (the most ever) seems to have made up the difference (at last) for the anomalous uptick.

But to show how crazy these data are (compared to underlying calorie balance) the drop was 7.7lbs in just six days! OTOH, my recorded calories_burned – calories_consumed was 9704 which accounts for only a 2.8lb drop, leaving 4.9lbs unexplained. Given I dismissed the anomalous week 19 point as “water weight” (due to the high consumption of soy) it’s hard to explain: a) the large magnitude, b) the time it took (six days) to finally dissipate, and, c) the unusual drop today.

So, the lessons learned in this exercise is that I do potentially need to monitor daily weights despite the fluctuations I’m going to see but then use only (non-anomalous) weekly weigh-ins for the long-term evaluation (as most weight loss plans recommend). The daily data will (perhaps?) explain any otherwise unexplained anomalous weekly values.

Now the perfect exercise to close this out would be to see what happens tomorrow. It seems likely today is another anomaly and thus tomorrow I might see an uptick. Certainly this graph would tend to predict that:

Just based on “eyeball”/intuitive prediction today’s values seem too low and therefore the weekly trendline (rather extreme rate of 5.5lbs/week loss, or 2750 calorie deficit, which is just barely imaginable based on extreme restraint on eating + normal high exercise (exercise calories have exceeded consumption every day)) would tend to predict about the same distribution of weights tomorrow (and thus average about the same as today) as occurred with the points of Monday and Tuesday (essentially no change).

That’s what the math might predict but I’m guessing Nate would come up with a different answer. But here’s one more piece of the puzzle. Today is a family celebration where I’m making break and grilled pizza and lots of other food (including scrumptious desserts from my wife’s sister) will show up. While I can resist eating this morning + probably have time for good exercise calorie burns there is no way I’ll restrain myself later tonight.

So I’m going to actually make a very pessimistic prediction (at least in comparison to the data) and say:

which is 1.3lbs more than today, but I think today’s value is anomalously too low. That would also give me a two-week calibration of average drop of 2.0lbs/week drop which was about my most recent rate.

So we’ll see.

About dmill96

old fat (but now getting trim and fit) guy, who used to create software in Silicon Valley (almost before it was called that), who used to go backpacking and bicycling and cross-country skiing and now geodashes, drives AWD in Wyoming, takes pictures, and writes long blog posts and does xizquvjyk.
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What you need to know for 10/22/2017

Chilly day for Chili Bowl draws big crowd

Chilly day for Chili Bowl draws big crowd

The Chili Bowl, held by and at the Saratoga Clay Arts Center, was undoubtedly a success.

Jill Fishon-Kovachick wasn’t going to make last year’s mistake again. Then, she wasn’t expecting a first-of-its-kind event to draw so many people. Now, she doesn’t underestimate people’s desire for some good chili on a cold winter day.

The smells coming from inside the Saratoga Clay Arts Center were smoky, spicy and a tad sweet, creating an anticipatory buzz among the crowd lined up outside the door in winter jackets, caps and scarves.

It was the second hour of the second annual Chili Bowl, and someone inside the jam-packed center politely, but urgently asked people who had finished their chili and voted to hightail it out.

“We’ve got a line backed up out there,” a man said, laughing nervously.

The Chili Bowl, held by and at the Saratoga Clay Arts Center, was undoubtedly a success. Fishon-Kovachick, the center’s founder and owner, made sure there were more than 1,000 bowls available for this year’s event, up from last year’s 700. They ran out of bowls last year and had to turn people away.

“We didn’t expect it to be what is was and we were so busy,” she said. “I never anticipated the outcome that we had last year. I think people really enjoy having an event happening in the winter, when there’s nothing going on.”

The event supports local artists and charities. Half of the proceeds — $15 for the bowl and $1 for admission — go to the center, which employs the artists who hand make the earth-toned, beautifully shaped clay bowls that people eat chili out of, then take home. The other half is split among five charities of the chefs’ choice — Franklin Community Center, Slow Foods Saratoga Region, Upstate New York/Vermont Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Saratoga Lions Club and the Schuylerville Area Food and Emergency Relief.

When Kent and Kim Williams traveled the winding roads through Schuylerville to get to the center last year, the Chili Bowl had run out of bowls and was almost out of chili.

“There was one chili left, so we had one,” said Kim.

“It was like 35, 40 degrees last year, the sun was out and I think they were overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up,” said Kent. “They’ve got it really much more organized this year.”

The Saratoga Springs couple got to try all five choices this year. Kent’s favorite was the Hattie’s Restaurant offering and Kim’s the Putnam Market version.

Hattie’s chef Jasper Alexander wasn’t feeling too much pressure Saturday. His was voted “best chili” last year, and this year he kept the recipe about the same — some pinto beans, brisket, and about six different types of chili peppers.

“I tweaked it a little bit,” he said, as he ladled the brisket chili into an eager man’s bowl.

The Saratoga Clay Arts Center also wanted a vegetarian option at this year’s Chili Bowl, so they asked Alicia Bevan if she could pull something together.

Bevan, of Putnam Market, served up samples of her black bean enchilada chili topped with crème fraiche.

“We’ve heard great feedback,” she said, from behind a long row of tables topped with pots of chili, wax paper cups and glass jars that people were dropping poker chips into. Each poker chip was a vote for “best chili.”

In addition to a chili full of braised short rib, wild boar, bison and house sausage, Druthers Brewing Company served up a little fun in the form of hops. The crowd seemed to like the side choice of light or dark beer.

Henry Street Taproom served spaghetti with cheese, onions and beans. Chef Ali Benamti said if people liked it enough, she would consider putting it on the menu.

At the far end of the chefs’ table Cathy Rana wanted to know what made Ron Granberg’s chili so sweet.

“Are you sharing the recipe?” she said, sounding eager, but also wary.

Granberg, manager at Lillian’s Restaurant in Saratoga Springs, quickly shook his head no.

“We wanted to make it kind of a full-bodied kind of chili, keep it kind of basic, not get too crazy, and add that sweetness to it that a lot of chilies don’t have,” he said, looking out at a growing line of people in front of his table.

He told Rana he prefers people to come into his restaurant, that if he shares the recipe that might not happen any more. But then, perhaps feeling like he had let down a curious child, furtively whispered: “It’s got a little brown sugar in it.”

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Filed under Consumerism

Do we live to shop?

One can be forgiven for thinking we live to Shop.  Why?  ….because at this time of the year when throngs of crowds descend upon shops to consume the life threatening bargains… shoving, pushing, snatching …Fighting! Then comes the news – Man stabbed to death in a shop in front of bargain hunters.  Could be the stabbing … Continue reading


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Website for CCC is up and running

By July 8, 2017 No Comments

The Canadian Closed Championships are coming to Gatineau, QC August 24-25! The event takes place in the beautiful Hilton Lac-Leamy. Be part of the excitement to determine who the best couples are in Pro/Am, Amateur and Professional divisions.

The website is now up and running. Please click here to get all the information regarding registration, schedule and tickets

And click here for your direct link to hotel reservations.


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New Music of the Day – CXXI: Saints – Polar Front

14333643_561731030691651_7854282880836419933_nIt’s been a busy weekend for Polar Front, a hometown show to launch their debut e.p, a slot at Oxford’s O2 and this little gem of a video to complete the package.

The opening track to the record has been brought to life my Henry Meredith and OT Films and captures the dark intensity that you find at the heart of their music. The grandiose soundscaping and pop aware grooves may be the first thing that you pick up on, but when accompanied by such a powerful and emotive set of images as we find here it just accentuates the shade to balance their lighter moments.

Atmospheric, sonorous, unsettling and claustrophobic may not be words I thought that I’d be using to describe this band based on catching their fledgling performances just over a year ago but they have certainly grown into something with hidden depths, both sonically and lyrically. This is the perfect video to highlight their more beguiling and confrontational side. Just what pop music has been waiting for.

About Dave Franklin

Musician, scribbler, historian, gnostic, seeker of enlightenment, asker of the wrong questions, delver into the lost archives, fugitive from the law of averages, blogger, quantum spanner, left footed traveller, music journalist, zenarchist, freelance writer, reviewer and gemini. People have woken up to worse.
This entry was posted in alt-pop, cinematic, dream-pop, indie-pop, Uncategorized and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

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TTT: Impulsive Cover Buys (That Paid Off)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jamie @ The Broke and the Bookish.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Top Ten Tuesday, and this week is a cover freebie. Below are ten books that I impulse bought based solely (or mostly) on their covers. I think the saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ does a terrible disservice to the folks who spend their time designing and illustrating book covers.

When I have the disposable income to do so, I’ll cover buy a few books and see how it goes. The books that made the list this week are cover buys that ended up being favourites of mine.

abhorsen-1a certain slant of lightHawkeye

Sabriel: This first instalment in a series of fantastic heroines, necromancy, and insidious magic set me on a path to seeking out more cool and unique fantasy contests.

A Certain Slant of Light: This beautiful and slightly creepy cover conceals a unique story of the afterlife that I’ve never seen replicated before or since.

Hawkeye: The colour choice and bold graphics drew me in, and this turned out to be one of the funniest comics I’ve picked up in ages.

Annihilation: This gorgeous graphic cover is the first in a creepy and slow-moving speculative sci-fi trilogy that is absolutely unforgettable.

Sunshine: In a world where magical gifts manifest and creatures roam, the titular character is trapped with a vampire in an incredibly interesting story. The sparkly cover is rather different from the content matter, but it was certainly eye-catching.

Saga: I had no idea of the epic tale of family and space that waited for me within the pages of this excellently illustrated comic. Fiona Staples is a master.

kaptaradeathlessgentlemen's alliance

Kaptara: This brilliantly coloured and rendered cover conceals a hilarious story set in deep space with a distinctly 80’s vibe.

Deathless: The stark and beautiful graphic cover still doesn’t quite convey the tale of love, death, and magic that lays within the pages of this book. The story stayed with me for years.

The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross: Arina’s Tanemura’s striking manga illustrations are densely detailed and convey her story lines wonderfully. The first in a series that I absolutely adore.

Fionavar Tapestry Omnibus

The Fionavar Tapestry: This beautiful cover introduced me to my favourite author via a series that would go on to influence both my reading and writing forever more.

That’s all for today! Have you read any of my cover picks? What theme did you choose this week? Let me know in the comments below!

TTT: Books I’d Love to See Under the Tree

Hey y’all. It’s Tuesday, which means another Top Ten Tuesday! TTT is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I’m currently suffering either a nasty stomach bug or food poisoning, so this post will be rather shorter than usual and possibly a little incoherent.

Still, I want to try my best to keep things going!

The theme this week is ‘Top Ten Books I’d Love to See Under the Christmas Tree’. I don’t actually have a tree this year, which I’m sad about as I love the smell of fresh pine. In any case, here are ten books that I would love to receive as gifts! Honestly, any book as a gift is wonderful, especially when you’re gifting a personal favourite to someone.

But sometimes you just want to get your hands on something specific!

In no particular order, here’s my wishlist:

– Goldenhand, by Garth Nix

– The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill

– Sleeping Giants, by Sylvain Neuvel

– The Dark Days Club, by Alison Goodman

– Luna: New Moon, by Ian McDonald

– The Paper Menagerie, by Ken Liu

– Every Heart A Doorway, by Seanan McGuire

– Six-Gun Snow White, by Catherynne M. Valente

– And I Darken, by Kiersten White

– The Trees, by Ali Shaw

So there they are, books that I was unable to pick up myself for one reason or another, but that I’ve really wanted to read. Getting them as gifts would be really cool.

Gifts aren’t everything during the holidays – seeing your family and friends is the best part of the season. But there’s no denying that presents are a delight!

I hope you all have a great end of the year, and receive some cool books as well!

What are some books you’d love to receive as gifts? Have you read any of my wishlist – and how were they? Let me know in the comments below!

TTT: Favourite ‘New To Me’ Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Top Ten Tuesday is basically exactly as it sounds: participants list their ‘top ten’ of whatever the subject is every week.

The year is coming to a close, and with it come the inevitable ‘best of 2016’ lists. This week we’re looking at the ten best ‘new to me’ authors I discovered in 2016. Honestly, I stuck with a lot of tried and true favourites this year, so this list was a bit difficult to compile.

Here we go!

  • Richard Wagamese

I read Indian Horse this Easter, and it stayed with me for the rest of the year. Definitely an author I’ll be reading more of, and a book that is an important read for Canadians especially.

  • Cassandra Rose Clarke

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter was exactly the sort of soft science fiction that I had been craving, and the excellent characterisation helped deliver.

  • Xia Jia

My favourite author from Invisible Planets, her beautiful writing and interesting concepts captured me and held on tight. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that I would love to read everything she’s ever written.

  • Hao Jingfang

Another fantastic writer from Invisible Planets, her creativity is incredibly compelling. I deeply wish there was more of her work available to read in English.

  • Laura Ruby

Bone Gap was the only magical realism novel I read this year, but I’m sure it would have won out over any competition. I look forward to reading more of Ruby’s work.

  • Andre Alexis

I loved philosophy class in uni, and Fifteen Dogs was certainly evocative of the philosophical puzzles that students wrestled with in class. A tragic but compelling book that cemented him as a success in my mind.

  • William Dalrymple

Some of the only non-fiction I’ve read this year, Nine Lives was a testament to Dalrymple’s skill as an author. Compelling real-life stories told without exoticism or patronising, I intend to read his other books.

  • Nnedi Okorafor

My only middle grade read this year, Akata Witch was a revelation of great kidlit. Exploring a new and unfamiliar (to me) kind of magic, it kept me guessing and thinking to the very last.

  • E.I. Wong

My favourite blogger before he hung up his keyboard, Eric Wong’s poetry is at times off-colour, and humorous at all times. I was exceptionally lucky to grab a copy of his book.

  • Charlaine Harris

I started speed-reading through the Sookie Stackhouse books this year. I’m on book eight now, and loving them. Expect a review of the series as a whole sometime in the new year.

So there you have it! I didn’t really do as much reading as I wanted this year, so a great deal of the authors I read are favourites. Still, that in no way means they’re not worthy of the title. It does mean that I (thankfully) didn’t read as many terrible books as I could have.

Who were your ‘new to you’ favourite authors this year? What do you think of mine? Let me know in the comments below!

TTT: Favourite Villains in Books

Top 10 Tuesday.jpg

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Top Ten Tuesday is basically exactly as it sounds: participants list their ‘top ten’ of whatever the subject is every week.

This week was ‘all about villains’ and participants were challenged to come up with their own list about villains. My top ten (or rather, my top nine) this week is a list of villains that I found compelling, terrifying, or both. Everyone on this list added a necessary evil to the books they were in.

Now, in no particular order, here we go!

Count Olaf

An arsonist with a deep desire to create orphans and acquire their inheritances, Olaf insinuates himself into their lives using murder, strange plots, and lots of disguises. Extremely creepy, he’s interesting because the reader never learns very much about him. However when his motivations become clearer (in The End) he becomes a more believably complex character and a masterful villain.

King Leck

A more unsettling villain is hard to find in any other books. Leck is unquestionably a psychopath and a sadist. But the worst part about him is his insanely insidious gift that holds even after his death. Making people believe something is scary, but that belief passing unquestionably from person to person like a virus is next level terrifying.

Black Jack Randall

A sadist of the most disgusting kind, he derives a deep pleasure from torturing and hurting other people. He can’t perform sexually unless his (unwilling) partner is afraid or he is hurting them. He is obsessive and once fixated on someone will do everything he can to get what he wants from them.

While I’m absolutely positive that Irial doesn’t see himself as a villain, there is no question that he is one. Though granted he’s trying to strengthen his people, he forges a disgustingly perverse connection with a teenager. Sucking all of the negative emotion from her to keep himself strong, he commits unspeakable atrocities in front of her to gain them. Dark fae have always unnerved me, but this pushed me to absolute fear.

Skinner Sweet

Skinner Sweet is the kind of character that you love to hate. Sometimes he’s just kind of a dick, and sometimes his actions are so completely reprehensible that you don’t want to believe them of him. He’s on this list because reading about him is always extremely enjoyable despite his awful actions.

Though some may disagree, Wanda is unquestionably the villain of this book for me (fight me). Part of a colonization after an invading force has taken over the Earth, she does her best to subsume the consciousness in the body that she’s stolen. She then proceeds to seek out that body’s lover, because through memories she also fancies herself in love with him. While there’s no doubt that she’s a likeable and sympathetic villain, she belongs on this list.

Lord Voldemort

I’m sure you knew this one was coming. But really the man split his goddamned soul in the pursuit of immortality. In addition he basically enslaves the very people that seek utopia under his regime while using them to persecute all other groups of people. He has intense intelligence and magical power at his disposal, and those become more unstable as time goes on – making him unpredictable and thus even more dangerous.

Megalomania and insanity are not a good mix. No nation should have an immortal king who has committed genocide and murdered the entire order of people keeping the peace. While he’s kept a semblance of order, he destroyed a golden age and quickly halted all progress. Also he twisted a dragon to be his slave. Not cool, man.

Opal Koboi

A villain that becomes more terrifying in each book in which she appears, she’s the epitome of evil genius. She uses her intelligence to construct plots that become increasingly elaborate and which are meticulously planned. She’s also emotionally unstable and sometimes flies into rages. You never know when she’s going to pop up because she has a million failsafes in place for her own death.

Did any of my villains make their way to your list? What are some of your favourite villains in books?

Fall TBR List – Top Ten Tuesday

I’ve discovered yet another book meme, this one hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Top Ten Tuesday is basically exactly as it sounds: participants list their ‘top ten’ of whatever the subject is every week. I thought I’d start this week since the topic is your Fall TBR list!

Generally I don’t ever have a coherent TBR, but this upcoming season seems to be the exception for me.

I don’t know that I’ll be able to read all of these, or if I’ll be adding in other reads here and there, but these are the books that I’m looking forward to getting to this season!

Goldenhand, by Garth Nix

The highly anticipated continuation of The Old Kingdom series, I cannot wait to get my hands on this and throw myself back into the fantastic world that Nix has created.

The Night Wanderer, by Drew Hayden Taylor

Chosen because I want to do some spooky reading in October, and I’m excited to read something billed as ‘A Native Gothic Novel’.

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter, by Cassandra Rose Clarke

A book I’ve been curious about since it came out, I finally came across a copy at my bookstore.  Apparently dealing with sentient rights, I’m looking forward to reading it.

My Real Children, by Jo Walton

A book about one woman’s life, and the two distinct paths it takes after a choice is made.

Invisible Planets: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese SF in Translation, translated by Ken Liu

It’s always thrilling to read more diverse authors, and I’m so excited to take a look at the worlds created by these authors.

Children of Icarus, by Caighlan Smith

An ARC I got through NetGalley, there isn’t a lot of information about this book save that it’s based in mythology about Icarus.

The Dhow House, by Jean McNeil

Another NetGalley find, this time from Legend Press – who also published The Blackbird Singularity.

The Vegetarian, by Han Kang

A protagonist who stops eating meat and the surprising consequences of her choice.

Spider’s Song, by Anita Daher

Another spooky October read, this time not supernatural but instead dealing with more human terrors.

The Girl with All the Gifts, by M.R. Carey

Possibly another October read, I saw the movie trailer based on this book and am super intrigued about the concept.

Do we share any of the same books? What’s on your Fall TBR list?


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Daily Probability Chart
How Far Along Are You?

Weeks: Days:
Enter your pregnancy information above to get started.
Select 'Reassure Me' to put a positive spin on your miscarriage odds, or 'Give it to me straight' for a simple probability.
Reassure Me
Give it to me Straight

About the Miscarriage Reassurer

Nervous about the possibility of a miscarriage? The fear of miscarriage is one of the biggest fears women have during pregnancy. We all know someone whose had it happen to them, or maybe it's happened to us. Yet, while miscarriage is common, it is not the likely outcome. Once a woman becomes pregnant the pregnancy is more likely to result in a baby than to end in a miscarriage. The Miscarriage Odds Reassurer is designed to remind us of this fact, and ease our fears.

The Miscarriage Odds Reassurer calculates the probability of miscarriage given how far a woman is in her pregnancy. Rather than simply give the probability of a miscarriage, however, the reassurer can also tell you how likely her pregnancy is to continue. The reassurer will let you know how much lower the probability of miscarriage is now than when your pregnancy first started, and how much lower yet they'll still be in the next couple of days. The reassurer can even account for added risk factors like maternal age, weight and number of previous miscarriages.

Take the Probabilities With You
Want to bookmark the Miscarriage Reassurer with all it's data so you don't have to keep re-entering your maternal info it day after day?
Click here to get a parameterized URL based on due date, so the weeks and days parameters will update automatically when you refresh the page each day. Or click here to get a parameterized URL based on your current progress which will keep the weeks and days parameters the same every time you visit the page.

Determining how far along you are
Weeks refers to gestational weeks. If you've had a 1st trimester ultrasound (sometimes referred to as a dating ultrasound) your doctor may have given you a due date and gestational age that differs from those calculated from last menstrual period (LMP). Some women also track ovulation, which may give them yet another possible gestational age. Gestational age estimated from the dating ultrasound will be the most accurate, followed by gestational age based on ovulation and finally gestational age based on LMP. Still not sure how far along you are? Try the Pregnancy Week By Week Calendar which will give you gestational age based on LMP, ovulation or due date.

About the model
Miscarriage is generally recognized as pregnancy loss before 20 weeks gestation. That is the definition we are using as well. This page calculates the cumulative probability of pregnancy loss from a given point in pregnancy through 20 weeks gestation. Beyond 20 weeks gestation pregnancy most often ends in a live birth, and rarely in stillbirth. Thus, we refer to the probability of not miscarrying as the probability of birth. Why not include stillbirth data? Miscarriage and stillbirth are two different types of loss with different sets of causes and risk factors. Most importantly (for modelling purposes) the per-week risk of stillbirth actually increases later in pregnancy, around the time of birth. In order to model cumulative risk of all types of pregnancy loss, including stillbirth, effectively, we'd need to estimate pregnancy length, which we can do but would introduce additional uncertainty and decrease accuracy.

The underlying model for this site is derived using meta analysis of the following peer reviewed papers on miscarriage. The model can be be used without additional input, or can be adjusted with any combination of maternal age, height/weight (BMI), number of previous miscarriages and number of previous births inputs. Each variable is modeled separately, assumed to be independent and assumed to affect the probability of miscarriage uniformly over time. These assumptions are likely overly strong, as there are likely confounding variables, but is the most reasonable approximation in the absence of additional data.

Combined, the studies include results from over 50,000 participants. Results from multiple studies are weighted differently depending on the number of participants included in the study, demographics of the study participants and study methodology.

Interested in reading the studies? We've put together a summery of best practices when approaching research papers about miscarriage so that you can get the most out of them.

What about heartbeat?
Heartbeat is a latent variable in our model. It's modeled indirectly rather than explicitly, which is in keeping with the cited papers above. For a more detailed explanation, feel free to reach out.

This website is intended for informational & entertainment purposes only. This website is not intended to be considered medical advice.

Love Numbers? You may also be interested in the Daily Miscarriage Probability Chart, which can present the daily odds of miscarriage (or the odds of not miscarrying) as either a table or a graph.

Obviously anything can happen, and knowing the chances of a miscarriage are smaller than the chances of a happy ending brings little comfort to those it happens to. My deepest condolences to anyone whose ever suffered a loss. This app is dedicated to a dear friend whose had more than her fair share of bad luck.

Pregnant? You may enjoy our other pregnancy apps like the Personalized Week by Week Calendar. When you are a little further along in your pregnancy, be sure to check out the Labor Probability Calculator and Labor Probability Chart.

Wanting to become pregnant? Our Time to Conception Estimator can estimate how long it may take.


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TechCrunch Fusely Video Player by Dave Bowker

Fusely is a simple to use platform for creating dynamic topic-based micro-sites from social media content. It’s a great way to offer an audience one place to experience the latest and best of what your community has to offer.

A timed painting of an asteroid entering through the clouds in order to try to master digital matte painting within Photoshop.

AllPopNews and Deriva Branding by Dave Bowker

AllPopNews & Deriva

AllPopNews takes the most popular posted articles from some of the most trafficked sites on the web and ranks the results based on an algorithm that looks at how much it was shared across various social media platforms over time.

Seventh Social Logo by Dave Bowker

Seventh Social

A minimalist logo and website design for this fledgling company specializing in audience research and attainment via various social media channels.

Follow The Leader by Dave Bowker

Follow The Leader

This is the map of international diplomacy according to Twitter, showing who follows who amongst all of the worlds leaders who have an account registered on Twitter.

Search Engine Watch Front-Page by Dave Bowker

Search Engine Watch

The newly re-launched Search Engine Watch runs on version 2.0 of the Ultra Knowledge Content Marketing Hub, and with a feature rich and easy to use layout it’s easy to see how it smashed all previous records.

England Vs Usa O2 SMS Activity by Dave Bowker

World Cup 2010 O2 SMS Activity

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa, a series of visualisations were created using O2 SMS activity data in the UK showing network activity fluctuations during the England matches.

International Tech Travellers by Dave Bowker

International Tech Travellers

A visualisation exploring the travel habits of 6 notable tech evangelists who travel the globe for business and pleasure.

USA by Designers by Dave Bowker

USA by Designers

An international artistic project run by Hype Up Gallery asked designers across the world to convey what America means to them.

News Relish by Dave Bowker

News and Blog Relish

Real-time news and blog aggregation websites built under the Ultra Knowledge brand of Relish Networks as a demo to showcase features of the content marketing technology.

Design Museum Maps by Dave Bowker

Design Museum London: Designer in Residence

In 2009 the Design Museum in London, UK asked me to be one of their designers in residence. The museum asked me to explore the way-finding system within the building and create something slightly different than the more traditional signage of other public spaces.

Quote Relish Person Profile Page by Dave Bowker

Quote Relish

An experiment in redefining the way we consume news by ranking and sorting content based on who said what, and how many news sites and portals used that persons quotes when writing the article.

One Week of The Guardian - Wednesday by Dave Bowker

One Week Of The Guardian

A series of experiments exploring how The Guardian newspapers can be visualised in order to artistically show the content of a newspaper in more engaging and attractive ways.


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Getting Airborne

By rising up off the ground, we can get a much better view of the surrounding landscape. From this vantage point, a calm blue river is visible, the vegetation-covered hills are all around and, in the distance, some snow dusted on the higher peaks. It's an overcast day, but still plenty of light to enjoy the view (see thumbnail picture at right). The air is brisk, yet invigorating. Anyone care to guess where on Earth this scene is located?

Fractal IslandsWhile you are thinking about it, let's move off the coast to check out some islands. With a little more altitude, and looking straight down, we can see the entirety of several islands in an archipelago, surrounded by crystal clear blue water (see picture at left). In this climate, the vegetation doesn't grow too tall, but the beach areas are clearly defined and the coastlines vividly displayed. Were you to descend to ground level and look into the water, you could see the submerged rock formations quite clearly. I'd suggest a light coat or sweater if you choose to walk along one of these beaches! Still don't know what part of the world is depicted in these images?

Fractal snow valleyNow, let's zoom up to those snow-dusted peaks and see what we can see there. Bundle up because the temps are quite nippy, plus you'll find a strong breeze in those mountain canyons as well. Bring along a thermos full of hot tea or other warming drink because you'll need it.

Now that we're here, I see there's more snow than was apparent from our first distant view near the river. I'm guessing more than a foot in the valley there (see picture at right). Let's just stay here inside our craft where it is warm because I don't think we brought the right gear to go walking around down there! I've been here before, so I can tell you there are a lot of hidden canyons and interesting places down there to explore. Unfortunately, we don't have the time right now to look around more thoroughly. Wait, did I just see a deer duck behind the foliage there near the snow line? I wonder if you are ready to guess where we are now.

An Unexpected Surprise

OK, ready to move on now? Then I'll just . . .what, you say? What's that button with a face that looks like a gambling die? It's for . . . No, don't push it! Stop . . .oh, well, now you've done it. (A flash of light and a deep humming noise, then silence.) No, I can't tell you where we've ended up. Just don't try opening the door and getting out. I don't think there is any breathable air out there. So let's hope we can find our way back home. . .

Unknown moon and planetIn case you haven't guessed already, every image in this article is an example of what fractalic computations can produce. Everything from clouds to snow, mountains, valleys, islands, coastlines, even outer space planets and a moon, are all possible with the right fractalic formulae. It's been my pleasure to share with you this brief journey into the wondrous world of fractal geometry and the expression of that geometry in natural forms.

Image Credit: LariAnn Garner

(Editor's Note: This article was originally published on December 17, 2008. Your comments are welcome, but please be aware that authors of previously published articles may not be able to promptly respond to new questions or comments.)


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Monday , 23 October 2017
Home » Graphics » 40+ Free Retro and Vintage Fonts
Star Avenue

40+ Free Retro and Vintage Fonts

Typography is a very important element of modern web designs. It has the ability to transform a normal looking website into something really attractive and meaningful. And nowadays, vintage and retro fonts have become the new typography trend. Most new clients are also interested in including these fonts in their projects. Take a look at some of the recently redesigned websites and you will see what I am talking about. Get free fonts and Vector Web Icons to add more to your collection.

In the world of web design, vintage and retro fonts have long been a widely used element to bring variation into the mix. Various specialties like grunge patterns, rough textures, brushes etc. have provided these fonts with their unique ability to make the design unique. Whenever you use an old-school font into your design, you are making your design stand out from the crowd. Now, we have collected 40+ cool free retro and vintage fonts for you. If you are looking to include a cool effect in your next design project, you can definitely give these fonts a try.

1. Airstream

Airstream is an excellent retro font featuring the signature 50’s style. Besides regular English, this attractive looking font comes with lots of other language support too.

2. SeasideResort

With a nice shadow after the characters, SeasideResort is a very interesting retro font. This font also comes with multi-language support.

3. Mailart Rubberstamp

Mailart Rubberstamp

This retro font family was created from actual rubber-stamps used on letters and envelops. Tight, consistent spacing and an increased tracking are some of the main attractions of this font.

4. Deftone Stylus

Deftone Stylus

This all-italic font brings back the old handwriting style to the internet. The font looks especially attractive on larger sizes.

5. Echo Deco

Echo Deco

Featuring a classic vintage look, Echo Deco is another interesting font. Created with lots of echos on the left and right, this one reminds me of Pacman!

6. Campanile

Campanile font

Campanile could be easily used for any horror or underground design project. The bold and long strokes of the font will help in creating a proper atmosphere.

7. SecesjaPL

With a curly and decorative style, SecesjaPL looks almost like a calligraphy. The beautiful curves has made the font perfect for using in any gorgeous event design.

8. Sandwich

This is the perfect example of a simple yet attractive font design. The retro font also shows that you don’t have to go out of your mind to create a unique design.

9. Star Avenue

Star Avenue

Clearly inspired by the Star Wars, this is another excellent vintage font. The stylish font could be used for the title or any large text.

10. Chi-Town

And here’s another of those unique designs. Chi-Town is both a creative and successful retro font with some really innovative character designs.

11. Showboat

Showboat font

It seems designer David Rakowski tried to create a chilling effect in his Showboat font. This vintage retro font makes use of gradient and illustrations too.

12. Blue Plate Special

Blue Plate Special

Despite the name, there is actually nothing special about this font. This is a regular vintage style font with mixed styling efforts.

13. Carnivalee Freakshow

Carnivalee Freakshow

Without any doubt, the Carnivalee Freakshow font will look great in posters. The simple, artistic design turned the font into a vintage one.

14. White Rabbit

White Rabbit

White Rabbit is a very interesting font. The uniquely designed retro font does not have any empty spaces inside the characters.

15. Andes

Andes is another excellently designed retro font with a leftish curved on most of the characters. Unfortunately, the font does not support most additional characters.

16. Bellerose

Bellerose is a simple, normal-looking retro font. The minimal design of the characters has made it possible to use the font in any design you want.

17. FortySecondStreet

Here’s a classic retro font which looks very attractive on large sizes. But the font is barely usable in smaller font sizes.

18. Nashville

Inspired by show print designs, Nashville is a very vibrant, lively font. Besides the regular characters, the font also supports lots of additional characters.

19. ARB 85 Poster Script

ARB 85 Poster Script

Featuring lots of swings and unique designs, ARB 85 Poster Script could be the perfect choice for using in cards, posters, leaflets etc.

20. Riesling

With very light strokes around the characters, Riesling could be a nice vintage font for using in large designs, artworks or printing jobs.

21. American Captain

American Captain

And here’s another font which is also inspired by a TV show – Captain America. The designer tried to bring the bold and independent form into the characters.

22. Wrestlemania

It seems TV shows play a big role in designing vintage, retro fonts. This one is clearly inspired by WrestleMania, with special emphasis on the letters W and M.

23. Little Lord Fontleroy

Little Lord Fontleroy

the name suggests, this is a majestic font carries the honor and royal symbolism into the characters too. You can easily use this font as the title for your designs.

24. Cash Currency

Cash Currency

This is the type of font which was used in the old age bills. The deep stripes inside of the characters provide a smooth presentation.

25. Geomancy

If you are a Geometry fan, you will find this font very interesting. All the characters of this font are precisely shaped and offer a close symmetry between them.

26. Oliver

Oliver is a fancy looking retro font. This nicely designed font could be used in creative works like cartoon, comics, fancy or any children related designs.

27. Hermione

Hermione font

Most of the characters of this retro font are constructed by using multiple horizontal lines. Despite being simple, the package still looks very attractive.

28. Metropolian

Unless you look closely, you might miss the main attraction of Metropolian at the first glance. This retro font features slightly distorted characters.

29. Hand Shop Typography C30

Hand Shop Typography C30

If you can live with the unusually long name, the Hand Shop Typography C30 could be an excellent vintage font for your next design.

30. Park Lane NF

Park Lane NF

Drawing inspiration from the double-line designing trend, Park Lane NF offers a creative mix to the table. At first glance, the font looks really gorgeous.

31. Carrington

This is another example of ideal vintage font designs. The classic font looks almost like handwriting and comes with multiple varieties too.

32. Rechtman

And now here’s another of double-line fonts. This time, Rechtman uses a thick design for the second line. The design is eye-catching too.

33. Dyer Arts and Crafts

Dyer Arts and Crafts

With five different ligatures, the Dyer Arts and Crafts font is a very attractive retro font. The designer has used a clever approach for designing the capital and small letters.

34. Breamcatcher

Taking inspiration from the piano music sheet of musical movie, Typodermic Fonts designed this beautiful looking vintage font. The font features narrow, title-oriented characters.

35. Sesame

First of all, this font does not have anything to do with Sesame Street. And secondly, it looks really beautiful. With a bit of creativity, you can easily use this font in your design projects.

36. 20DB

Besides the uncommon name, the 20DB font looks rather weird too. The really wide characters of this font will occupy a considerable amount of space in your design.

37. Tattoo Ink

Tattoo Ink

If you are fond of tattoos, you will instantly like this font too. With a clear gradient and double lines, the font looks very friendly.

38. Velocette

In order to justify the name, the characters of the Velocette font are tilted towards the right side, as if they will take off anytime now.

39. Birmingham

Besides the regular version, Birmingham also offers six other varieties. You will also find the design very interesting.

40. Storybook

Along with the nice and friendly design, Storybook also features a vintage look. As a result, you can easily use the font for designing any creative or social designs.

41. Fontleroy Brown

Fontleroy Brown

The simple yet attractive design of Fontleroy Brown nicely complements the vintage font. The font is best used in all-caps designs.

42. Showtime

For those of you who want some really radical designs, here’s one for you. This totally innovative font lets you create a showtime presentation anytime, anywhere.

43. Lemondrop

Lemondrop is a nice looking font featuring a vintage look. However, forget about having a different design for the capital and small letters, this font really doesn’t care about the difference!

44. Strong Glasgow

Strong Glasgow

Let’s finish this post with a classic retro font – Strong Glasgow. While this one does not have any small letter design, it supports some special characters.

About Foysal Ahmed

Foysal loves to dig into WordPress, explore what’s possible with it and share his knowledge with the readers. Foysal Ahmed on Google+

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We are just two weeks out from the grandpuppy of them all, Puppy Bowl X. You can view all of this year's competitors here. Awww.

This year's edition features a new wrinkle. No, not a Shar Pei (that's a dog joke), but the ability to draft your own fantasy Puppy Bowl team. You get three players, and the scoring works thus:

5 points for a score
2 points for a tackle
2 points for a takeaway
-2 points for a penalty (usually peeing)

That's my team up there. I went with Ginger because she's part Sheepdog, and her herding instincts project well for the Puppy Bowl's end-to-end action. Delachaise is a Pit Bull mix, so you have to figure he won't be afraid to get in there and tussle. And Sparky's a scraggly, adorable mess—the Danny Woodhead of puppies.

You can draft your team here. (Requires Facebook login. Annoying, I know.) Pick your pups, and share your strategies for kennel domination below.


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It might take you few seconds to figure out exactly what you're looking at. It's former Paralympic Games ski racer Josh Sundquist, unveiling this year's edition of his always-great Halloween costume.

Sundquist, who lost his left leg to cancer when he was 9, now works as a motivational speaker and author. He competed for the 2006 U.S. Paralympic team in slalom and giant slalom, and has also made the roster for the U.S. amputee soccer team. He's retired now, and his thing is creative Halloween costumes that only he can pull off.

Here are three of his recent get-ups:

[via Extra Mustard]


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We don't have much information on this one, but a tipster has passed along a picture and caption from a facebook update describing what sounds like a delightful evening for Shaq and Ms. Shaq.

The caption reads as follows, [sic]'d:

Shaq came into ocean prime last night.. asked me to help him hook his phone up to the house piano.. then put on a lipsyncing performance of brian mcknights "do I ever cross your mind" for his girlfriend in front of the whole bar. Then he thanked me for helping him get laid. Probably the greatest thing ive ever witnessed.

I called the restaurant to see if they could give me any more information on the story but the man I spoke with said he could "neither confirm nor deny" whether Shaq and his lady friend were recent diners. There is a policy and all staff sign waivers not to divulge the eating habits of their celebrity clientele. I was told that Shaq and other basketball players like Patrick Ewing have previously eaten there, though, so it was certainly possible.

I tried offering more information and asked if Shaq sang a Brian McKnight song to his girlfriend. "I can't confirm any Brian McKnight stuff."

If you have any more information on this lovely little moment—or even better, video—please drop us a line.


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Wednesday, August 30, 2017

NCBD August 30, 2017 aka my Comics Pull List

Ah, a five Wednesday month so it's kind of a slow week or should be at least one when I'll keep to my twenty dollar budget. But again too many temptations to add to my pile as DC is celebrating the King's 100th birthday.

Kim&Kim Love is a Battlefield 2 $3.99

The fist issue of the new story proved that the team of Magdalene Visaggio, Eva Cabrera and Claudia Aguirre are a solid team as they delivered on the high promise of the first series. The new story has the Kims again financially just about to make it all come together when their hopes are again disrupted. This tine around its from a past romantic conquest who vanished from Kim Q's life and turns up to be a thorn in their side. The art is again a joy to look at and the story was smoothly told I fell right back into their crazy gonzo bounty hunting world.

The Blaack Racer 1 $4.99

This was the Jack Kirby celebration issue I knew for a fact I would pick up based solely on the creators mentioned. Reginald Hudlin Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz working on any Kirby creation was a big draw and the Black Racer is one of the more enigmatic figures in the pantheon of the king. Add to the promise of that story a number of original Kirby Pages and a page of tribute I'm full on in with this five dollar comic.

Justice League of America 13 $2.99

Last time I mentioned this Justice League team I waxed on about my memories of the old Gil Kane Sword of the Atom series and looking at the preview pages of this issue Steve Orlando looks to be obliquely referencing it. I love this group of characters as much as I used to dig Batman's team the Outsiders. Orlando is hitting that Mike Barr fan in me with these heroes. The amazing Ivan Reis continueing as artist dies not hurt either.

Black Magick 7 $3.99

Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott back on their creator owned book makes me pretty happy. I have not read issue six from last month yet but their mixture of police procedural and urban occult I have every faith in so I'll be supporting this and getting a double dose of the story soon. Nicola Scott is an amazing artist to turn out such beautiful art in such a short period of time.

Darkseid 1 $4.99

Monday the 28th would have been Jack Kirby's 100th so with his biographer and Evanier writing the lead story in this special it has to be in my buy stack. I have missed the weird that is the fourth would in my comics reading and even if these specials is all we get for a while I'll be happy with that. I'll leave it at that as so many others have said so much about the king recently.

Michael Avon Oeming is n acquired taste and I'll gladly break my budget this week even more to pick up this collection of his artwork. Oeming has been the artistic force being many of the books I've enjoyed for his Powers collaboration with Bendis through his Norse myth retellings, his crime stories, his Victories to his most recent work with Young Animal doing Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye. The book is $39.99 but it's oversized and hardcover and might look really good next to the Kirby King of Comics book I bought for my birthday just this Monday.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Happy Birthday to "the King".

Jack "the King" Kirby would have been 100 today and though I will be a voice among many I feel I have to celebrate him on my blog too.

I was a fan of Jack Kirby before I really knew his name or paid attention to the names of the people who created the stories and images I enjoyed. Thundarr the Barbarian, one of the Saturday Morning animated shows I loved, was partially a creation of the mind and hands of Jack Kirby who came in to design on the show after Alex Toth left. I also did t know that Jack Kirby was heavily involved in the early animated Fantastic Four series that avoided the Human Torch and introduced Herbie, who was so obviously a Kirby creation looking back.

On the comic stands and spin racks I was drawn to the artwork of the King. I may not have known a thing about the book but they outshone the big names like Batman, Superman and Spider-Man for me. They were dynamic, there was a life and a passion to what was in the King' work. It was weird and funny and disturbing all at the same time. Jack Kirby's books were packed full of ideas, wild ideas pushed to their limits. He was an influence on the development of the sequential story telling art form and so many of my modern favorites were inspired by him.

I fondly remember books like Kamandi 21 that I know had at one time. It was a book I looked at again and again. Mine was battered after years of being flipped through and I loved it all the same...wish I still had it actually. Happy Birthday Jack Kirby.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

NCBD August 23, 2017aka my Comics Pull List

Hello, welcome to me weekly look at the books that will be in my buying pile come Friday. I try to keep this list to between twenty and twenty five dollars but well sometimes there are just too many books worthy of buying to keep to the budget.

Mother Panic 10 $3.99

Violet Page's story has made me interested in Gotham City again. She wears a costume but in many ways isn't a superhero in an American comics sense. Jody Houser, Tommy Lee Edwards, Shawn Crystal, John Paul Leon and Jean Francois Beaulieu's vision of this angry vengeance driven woman, mad at the world puts me more in mind of Japanese superheroes. Her fight is personal, her story has a real sense of tragedy loss and pain. She's closed off, alone and every so often shows a human need to connect. There may be all kinds of weird in this book like the other Young Animal books and yet somehow this book feels very grounded and real.

Heathen 5

Natasha Alterici's viking lesbian bad ass Aydis returns in a new adventure that started as she finds herself alone again. Natasha's near singular vision is going beyond its initial four issue crowd funded story into new territory across the very dangerous Northsea. Again I expect that this will be a uniquely creative look at Norse mythology with he same heavily inked dynamic art. If you have missed this as of yet the first four issues are in a really nice collection already.

Moonstruck 2 $3.99

Grace Ellis, Shae Beagle, Caitlin Quirk, McCubby and Cowles first issue of Moonstruck made a real lovely impression on me. I think I must have read it three times thus far and I'm still finding new little details I missed and the small stories hidden in the background. There is a subtle continuity to the art that suggests the care with which this book is being put together with. I think this may be one of those books that I will read cover to cover and may have an active backmatter community, or at least I hope it will become that kind of book. She Beagle spends a lot of her energy showing in the art and it's worth really sitting and looking at.

Grrl Scouts Magic Socks 4 $3.99

Jim Mahfood returned to his three punk girls from the late ninties series a couple months back. The last couple issues have reintroduced the violent punk/hip-hop graffiti inflruenced world where Daphane, Gwen and Rita have been leading a life of drugs and adventure and told the story of the magical socks that Daphane has stolen and has decided to keep. Ok yeah I'm an ish behind but I'm sure issue three was crazy gonzo weird and like all of them packed with bonus illustrations and soundtrack notes. The art may be an acquired taste but it's one I for sure have a bent towards.

Jem and the Holograms Infinite 2 (or story part 3) $3.99

This is actually issue three of this story taking the Jem storyline into a more weird technology kind of space. Kelly Thompson is joined by Jen Hickman for the rest of this series and it's a good choice as her art fits the line of great artists that have drawn the girls. I'm waiting till I have all the issues if this crossover in hand so I can't comment on the series other then to say I trust the teams behind this to create something fabulous to be a swansong for this cast of wonderful characters. (There is going to be an anthology series to come but this is the last Kelly Thompson jam with the girls of both bands.)

Black Hammer 12 $3.99

This is the issue. This is finally the story focusing on the titular character the Black Hammer and his daughter. David Rubin is coming back for this issue too and that is ever a lovely treat. Will we get to see what happened ten years ago where the crisis took all these characters away from their superhero setting. Will we see the relationship between father and daughter. Who knows. All I can say is that Jeff Lemire knows how to tell a marvelous super hero tale that needs no exposition to explain its characters or past. Black Hammer has been a joy to read and it's looking like well be getting more of it in the very near future. (Sherlock Frankenstein)

Catalyst Prime Incidentals 1 $3.99

It's the adult super-team book from the inheritor of the Milestone spirit. Joe Casey, Larry Stroman and Rob Stull are bringing us this new book. Larry Stroman is an artist I have loved for years from way back when he did the art for Alien Legion. As with all the Catalyst books this all spiraling out of a single event that changed the world. They are making books to appeal to lots of different readers and I'm anxious to see how this one reads.

I'm also likely to grab Teen Titans 11, Lazarus X+66 2, and the Manhunter Special....oh damn oops I forgot Hi-Fi Fight Club that looking like a great new book from boom

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

New Comics Day August 16, 2017 Comics Pull List.

Hello and welcome to my weekly look at the comics I'm intending to pick up and think are worth attention for various reasons. I try to keep my it's to around twenty dollars but as there are so many good books around I often go over that...oh and this week I will be right up honest that in addition to my choices here I'll be buying Dark Nights Metal 1.

Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye 11 $3.99

With all the other weird things happening in the Young Animal books it's nuts to say but this is the one to top in the world of weird. Gerald Way and Jon Rivera with the artistic help of Michael Avon Oeming and Nick Filardi have taken Cave Carson his Chloe and Mad Dog underground and across dimensions in a stolen drill machine and that is the sane part. As I'm an issue behind looking at the preview only leaves me confused because so damn much happened in each issue of this nutso book. I have to thank the crazy Tom Scoli backup story for convincing me to go for the first issue.

Sandman 1 $4.99

I have to pick up this extra-priced issue to celebrate the 100th birthday of Jack the King Kirby. Sandman is one of his creations I think I first saw in Infinity Inc if memory serves me. This special is co written by Jurgens and Orlando so it'll have a solid story and Bogdanove on art just makes me so damn happy as he's someone I have enjoyed for years. The fact it will have some Kirby pages too is just an added bonus for me. If the majority of it is as good as the preview pages we're in for a good time.

The American Way Those above Those Below 2 $3.99

Honest here, I was sold after reading a couple pages of issue one as Ridley is doing to a serious take on superheroing in a complex political reactive world. I'll repeat something I heard yesterday via a podcast (wish I recalled which) about science fiction working best when it's telling a story about now. The conflicts these heroes and this world are going through reflect the struggle with racist sexist and political BS we're still fighting with. Jeanty, Miki and Filardi's immersive pulp artwork work to bring us into the story that would possibly be too real if presented another way.

Bitch Planet Triple Feature 3 $3.99

So I'll just say I'm a fan of the main Bitch Planet book by Kelly Sue Deconnick, Valentine de Landro and Kelly Fitzpatrick and this anthology is expanding the worlds subversive stories beyond the realm of the ACO and the mechanizations of the power structure that runs things. Its an anthology and this one features a story illustrated by Vanessa Del Rey among the three.

Green Arrow 29 $2.99

I've been behind the times of what is a great Green Arrow run by Benjamin Percy, Otto Schmidt and the amazing Juan Ferreyra. Issue 28 I picked up on a whim and his meeting with Lex Luthor and Superman was clever in many ways and one of the best Superman stories I've read in a long while. This issue continues Ollie's solo Hard Traveling Hero tale and heads into Gotham in his quest to put an end to the ninth circle. I was a big Green Arrow fan back around the time of Long Bow Hunters and I really like him again now in Percy's run. I'm going to have to pick up some trades I think.

Misfit City 4 $3.99

This is a damn cool take on the teen mystery stories by a creative team that remembers fondly the Goonies, Nancy Drew, Veronica Mars and Scoobie Doo fondly. This is another success from Boom Box as it's writers and artists are delivering a book that is fun and creepy and with a cast that look and act like a real group of friends, all kinds of bodies and personalities. The art is just cartoonish enough to draw you into this story about pirates and maps and a costal Oregon tourist town that seems all to familiar.

I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up Genius Cartel 1 and Horizon 13 also....

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Comics Pull List August 9, 2017

Hello and wrlcome to another Wednesday list of the comics that I'm particularly looking forward to. I try to keep this thing to around twenty dollars and this week I think I cone pretty close.

Redlands 1 $3.99

I've listened to some interviews with Jordie Bellaire and known she's much more then just a brilliant colorist. Im exited to read something that she's written and is passionate about as much as I am to see Vanessa Del Rey got to do sequential work again as I think I've only ever seen her Constantine fill-ins and a few scandalous bits on instagram. This is a story of a Florida town called Redlands and the coven of witches that plan to take over for the the failures of local law enforcement. It's gotten high praise from some big comics names like Snyder, Thompson and Ellis but to me it's the names Bellaire and Del Rey that sold me on it long ago when I saw the original solicit.

Ray Palmer's Atom was in one of the first comics I recall loving when I was a kid which was a Brave and the Bold in which he was in a back up with Superman. I also have really fond memories of the Sword of the Atom series that Gil Kane illustrated so the name Ray Palmer would have gotten my attention here. I've enjoyed this Justice League of America incanation though so I was already on board even with out a mention of the microverse (even if it's not the one I recall). What has surprised me about this book is how well Lobo fits here and just how much I like him along side Vixen, Killer Frost and Black Canary, I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the relationship growing between Frost and Choi that I find pretty charming.

Mister Miracle 1 $3.99

This one I may not need to be signal boosting for as it's Tom King and Mitch Gerad's but as it's not a sequel to Sherif of Babylon and it is a Jack Kirby project I have to. In the kinda bleak and depressing world we are seeing outside the window we need the optimism of Mister Miracle Scott Free and Big Barda in the world. I have not a clue what they plan to do with this twelve issue series but I'd be happy to just pay for it all up front as I loved Tom King's Omega Men and the Grayson book he wrote with Steve Orlando (Not too into his Batman but I loved his creation Gotham Girl so....)

Sacred Creatures 2 $3.99

Sacred Creatures 1 was a 66 page monster of a gorgeous book. I have yet to get to do more then read the first few pages. The feeling I get from it is similar to the sparks I felt from the early Wicked and the Divine but if anything along a more serious tone. I listened to a marvelous interview with Klaus Janson the fully sold me on the book when I had kind of neutral about it prior. All the issues will apparently be oversized to some extant and if you look at the cover to the right it gives a very good impression of what the book really looks like.

Gotham Academy Second Semester 12

I'm putting this up because this book really deserved more attention in single issues the it did. I know it's gotten a lot of trade sales and might best have been marketed that way but I'm a month to month kind of buyer and am sad this is going away. Listening to Becky Cloonan talk about the book I know they did at least get to finish the story arc they pitched initially and that is why I'm boosting for this book. The art by Adam Archer has also been pretty animation influenced amazing in the issues I've gotten to read. Hope they get another chance to visit this side of Gotham again.

Low 19 $3.99

This book started when I was kinda not into Rick Remender and it's sad I didn't just check it out because the writing on it is pretty damn awesome. Dave McCaig and Greg Tocchini's artwork on this book is really some of the most stunning sequential work that is around right now; for me it's right up there with Emma Rios in terms of graphic experimentalism and readability. I checked it out finally mainly because of the amazing art and the fact I picked up a couple of the charity covers recently and gave it an honest chance. Sure I'm pretty lost but the story makes sense in a way comics can it's a single issue is written well enough.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Comics Pull List August 2, 2017

Hello, welcome to my weekly look at the books I'm looking forward to picking up this week. I will say I try most of the time to keep my list to around twenty dollars but with all the marvelous talented artists and writers out there I want to support I usually fail in that vain hope. Here we go...

Shade the Changing Girl 11 $3.99

Cecil Castellucci Marley Zarcone and Kelly Fitzpatrick have very brilliantly recaptured the feeling of the Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo Shade the Changing Man without being deriviative or retreading the same material. Loma Shade's trip outside her 'home' town to Gotham and beyond in search for her idol Honey who's hay day was decades ago and has a lot to teach our hero Loma. The last couple issues have brought the hunters from Meta a lot closer and her madness out more. It's a great book and is usually the You g Animal book I'd call my favorite.

Rocket Girl 8 $3.99

There are some books that you know are so good you don't mind waiting for; Amy Reeder and Brendon Montclare's Rocket Girl is one of those books. DaYoung, our time displaced teen cop stuck in the full color eighties, is back in the beautifully detailed dymanicly drawn book that has been missing for far too long. If you have yet to see the cool that is Rocket Girl there is a image cheap ($9.99) volume one out there and given how fun this book is it's a real comics bargain collection of the first five issues. In addition to being a good actiona adventure it's a good police procedural and has a kitch and deliciously twisted 2015 that DaYoung came from that we often revisit too.

Spiritus 1 $3.99

Spiritus is a disturbing twist on the prison happy state the USA lives in where mass incarceration is used for mass profit. In the world of Spiritus some crimes come with the sentence of being downloaded into a robotic form to work off your debt to society, tirelessly and conscious of all you have lost including your incinerated original body. That is a gruesome prospect and out hero she is given the option to be put in a robotic body without the programming that traps it in service. Having read it already it's compelling, beautifully illustrated and a great addition to the stable of science fiction and fantasy books coming from Vault comics.

Black Bolt 4 $3.99

With the creative team of Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward I'd be getting this book no matter who the lead was but it's great that there is now actually a Inhumans title I actually like reading. Saladin writes complex, deep and conflicted characters and the cast nod crew of the black site prison along with Black Bolt qualify as all those things. Adding Ward with his unique cosmic artistic vision to this story only makes it all the more a must buy. They are using and adding character depth to Aborbing man and creating unique and interesting new characters to marvels cosmic stable of players.

Deathstroke 22 $3.99

Though the Lazarus Contract made everyone think of the Wolfman and Perez classic story The Judah's Contract, the first issue of the Defiance feels more a successor to that story. The complex conflicting relationships in the team Slade and his wife put together and the sly writing of Christopher Priest very effectively sold the story of the "reformed" assassin come hero. Deathstroke is the title that brought me back to DC given the k

Elsewhere 1 $3.99

Jay Faerber (Copperhead) and artist Sumeyye Kesgin created this portal fantasy story about what really happened to Amelia Earhart. The recent photo of he supposed appearance in Japan during their period of western exclusion is an intriguing truth well never know so this journey to a fantasy world and her life there as a freedom fighter will have to do. Jay in interviews has had nothing but good to say about the the designs and artwork of his partner on this book.

Ghost Station Zero 1 $3.99

Last years Codename Baboushka told a thrilling action adventure tale about what most spy stories use as a throwaway trope, the Russian femme fatale. The kinetic art by Shari Chankhamma might show its manga roots but she's made it something all her own as I can't say who it reminds me of. The first volume featured alternate covers by a host of cool comics artists who happen to all be women and backmatter essays about women in action adventure media. It also has a notable pedigree having been written by Anthony Johnston who was the creator behind the comic Atomic Blond which hits cinemas this year. It was the art of Shari that got my attention the first time round the soft lines of her art lent itself to fluid scenes of action and violence so damn well.

Catalyst Prime's Noble 4 also comes out this week and that really does put me well over the to of breaking my budget.


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#CBR4 Maneuver #3 – The Kingdom Beyond the Waves

Target: Stephen Hut’s The Kingdom Beyond the Waves (Jackelian 2)

Profile: Speculative Fiction, Steampunk, Fantasy, Adventure

Summary: Adapted from the Back Cover, “Professor Amelia Harsh is obsessed with finding the lost civilization of Camlantis, a legendary city from prehistory that is said to have created the perfect pacifist society.  Without official funding, Amelia is forced to accept an offer of patronage from Abraham Quest, the man she blames for her father’s bankruptcy and suicide.  Quest has evidence that proves that the Camlantean ruins are buried under one of the sealike lakes that dot the murderous jungles of Liongeli.

Amelia will blackmail her old friend Commodore Black into ferrying her along a huge river on his ancient U-boat.  With an [untrustworthy] crew of freed convicts, Quest’s force of fearsome female mercenaries on board, and a lunatic steamman acting as their guide, Amelia’s luck seems to be going from bad to worse.  Her quest for the perfect society has a good chance of bringing her own world to the brink of destruction.”

After Action Report:

Stephen Hunt’s sophomore entry into his epic steampunk-fantasy series isn’t an enormous improvement on the first book.  He still has trouble focusing in on the characters that really mater and the story doesn’t flow so much as lurch from one fantastical sequence to the next.  But the core draw of the series, Hunt’s brilliant and expanding setting, is still there, shining brightly in the mess of plots and characters.

The Kingdom Beyond the Waves focuses primarily on Ameila Harsh, a minor character from Hunt’s first book, The Court of the Air, and her family’s obsession with discovering the lost city of Camlantis (yes…  Cam-lantis.  Laugh it up).  After an Indiana Jones style sequence in the tomb of a prehistoric Black-oil chieftain, we’re brought to the meat of the plot, Harsh’s utter dismissal from the halls of Jackelian academia and her inability to launch another expedition.  With the unlikely aid of her sworn nemesis, Abraham Quest, she prepares to try one last time.  Amelia’s story runs parallel to Commodore Jared Black, navy man and U-boat captain extraordinaire.  Black is another refugee from Hunt’s first novel, along with his roommates, Molly Templar and Aliquot Coppertracks.  His inclusion as a primary protagonist is where things start to get complicated.  The Commodore comes complete with his own bevy of secondary characters and a wholly unnecessary subplot involving the last remnants of The Jackals royal family in exile.

The second primary storyline follows Cornelius Fortune, otherwise known as Furnace-Breath Nick, trying to unravel a mystery of his own making in the Jackelian capital of Middlesteel.  Fortune’s role in the novel is a vehicle for Hunt’s trademark ‘storm of a thousand Deus Ex Machinas’ in the final chapters, but that doesn’t stop him from getting a third heap of secondary characters who all have their own wacky back and side stories.  For those of you counting that 3 main characters, 3 hordes of supporting characters and somewhere between 8 and 12 sets of vignettes for those supporting characters  Despite Hunt making many of the same story-based mistakes he made in The Court of the Air, The Kingdom does feels less cumbersome.  It helps that many of the ideas and plots are building on concepts introduced in the first novel but at the end of the day, there are just fewer names and places to keep track of this time around.  Which says more about The Court of the Air than it does about The Kingdom Beyond the Waves.

Thank goodness the setting still as interesting as before.  Hunt takes advantage of his Indiana Jones character and really delves into the meat of his world’s history.  Typically, Steampunk novels run with the idea of an industrial revolution taking place earlier on the timeline than happened in recorded history.  The rapid advances in technology associated with that time period have a different vocabulary in Steampunk, replacing combustion engines with steam boilers and electricity with clockwork.  Not so in The Jackals.  The Kingdom reveals that oil and electricity don’t work the same way any more, so technology had no choice but to evolve in new and interesting ways.  Alongside these revelations are examinations of the existing mythos of the world, from the disturbing Womb-magic of Cassarabia to the bizarre hive mind of the Daggish Empire in deepest Liongeli.  What’s impressive is that that Hunt hasn’t trotted out a whole new set of places and people for this second book, but expanded on concepts and ideas present in book one.  For that reason I recommend reading these novels in sequence and quickly after one another.

Again, Hunt has a long way to go before these novels can be considered anything other than pleasure reading for steampunk fans.  The writing is just as bad as before and while the story is less confusing overall, he’s still relying on the same tired plot devices to wrap everything up.  But I sure as hell can’t put these books down.

Posted on January 14, 2012, in Cannonball Reviews and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.

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Bring Your Bedroom To Life!

Are you planning to redecorate your bedroom? Before you start shopping for furniture and accessories, you may want to decide on a decorating theme. Try one of these bedroom decorating ideas to create the retreat of your dreams.  We have ideas for everyone whether you are looking for a relaxing and harmonious feng shui room or a Tuscan retreat.  We even have ideas for creating a Victorian style bedroom and suggestions on how to decorate a teenager's room.  Start reading now!

Many Ideas To Choose From

Do you long for palm trees and cool ocean breezes? Paint your bedroom a pale green or aqua blue color and decorate with airy tropical prints with tan or white backgrounds. Rattan furniture will further the room's tropical feel. Don't forget to finish off the theme with a few great tropical accessories and a throw rug woven with natural materials.

Perhaps you prefer the serene look of an Asian theme. For this theme, you may want to paint the walls cozy bedroomwhite to create a crisp, uncluttered feel to the room. You can also find some great wall mural decals to give it that unique look. Pieces with a rich wood grain or black furniture work well with this bedroom theme. Red, gold or blue comforters and embroidered accent pillows are good bedding choices. Don't forget to add several candles to finish off the room's decor. Feng shui can also be another great way of bringing an Asian feel to your room.

If you prefer bold, romantic designs, take a look at Italian decorating ideas. Rich reds, purples, blues and golds create a room filled with sophisticated color. Texture is also important with this style. Mosaics, stucco or plaster walls are often used in these rooms. Curtains and bedding in silk or satin fabrics add to the luxurious feel of these bedrooms.

luxury bedroomFinally, you may want to consider a more rustic bedroom design. Pine or natural wood furniture looks good with this decorating theme. Patchwork quilts add to the cozy feel of the room. A faux fur rug helps complete the look. And don't forget about choosing the right bed

No matter which bedroom decorating idea you choose, remember that you are decorating the bedroom for your enjoyment. Have fun and don't be afraid to break a few rules to make the room uniquely yours.

Copyright 2016


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What’s new in my life

Versiunea în limba română a acestui articol o găsiți aici.

Hello everybody,

You may have noticed, in the past month, I couldn’t keep my usual uploading schedule and there are reasons for that.

First of all, a month and a half ago, I quit my old job, I packed my stuff and moved to Germany with my boyfriend. This wasn’t just a spur of the moment – we were toying with the idea for sometime and when the opportunity came this spring, we felt it was the right time to do it. There are lots of reasons for which we decided to leave Romania but I don’t feel like this is the right place to talk about that.

Sure, there were some papers to be filled, but we finally did all of that and now we can just enjoy our new home. We live in a beautiful apartment in Stuttgart. There are trees everywhere and you can walk around for hours.

Second of all I had to go to interviews for a new job. Fortunately I found one pretty soon so I didn’t have to worry too much about that. Now all I need to do is to start proper German classes because so far I only learned the language using Duolingo for the past months and I need to advance faster than that.

stuttgart plieningen

The third reason for which I couldn’t properly write in July was the Masters of Rock Festival from Czech Republic. It’s a 4 day-festival, where you go camping and bands are playing from morning ’till night. It was awesome and it’s a nice way to relax. I needed that after all the packing, moving, worrying etc.

I hope this makes a bit more clear for you what’s happening in my life lately. I wasn’t lazy, I was just busy, but now I’m back and I’m very happy. I hope I won’t (ever) miss another Tuesday!

PS: If you are interested in a more detailed story about moving to another country (especially from Romania to Germany) I would be happy to share my experience with you, either here – on my blog, or on private – via my e-mail (deirdre.notjustmakeup@gmail.com)/ Facebook (here).

2 thoughts on “What’s new in my life

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Art Weave

Thursday, October 26, 2017 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (CST) More Information →

Learn this NO SEW weaving concept that everyone delights over. Once you make one, you will desire to make more, that we can promise. Bring a friend and have a fun time learning together.

$39 - all supplies included!

What's the refund policy?

We understand that life situations happen. Contact the store ASAP and we’ll work with you to reschedule an alternate time.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer refunds for student cancellations due to teacher payment obligations.