Divide the room into two overlapping worlds. Place the black people at the centre, politically active, as knowing intelligent catalysts of change and revolution. Here is a scene in London in the middle of the 1980s. It was a crowded, confusing, bitter and twisted place. Reflecting on the creation of a fashionable marriage, a large-scale installation work, British artist Loubena Hamid outlined her approach to the work by William Hogarth, upon which her own work is based. Here, in a slightly larger-than-life-size installation made from collage cutouts and found materials, Hamid restages the fourth of the six scenes that comprise the 1743 series Marriage à la Mode. She engages directly with Hogarth's work to investigate not only the poignancy of that image, but also to instigate a reassessment of Hogarth as a canonical artist, a craftsman, a satirist and an instigator of myths of Britishness. My name is Lizzie Robles. Welcome to the fifth of a series of six films organised by the Paul Mellon Centre as part of their programme of public lecture courses. All have been made in collaboration with filmmaker John Law. In the first four films, Mark Hallett and Meredith Gamer brought to life Hogarth's modern moral subjects through analysis of a selection of his most notable and complex pictorial sequences. In the final two films of the series, I will look to the ways in which two distinguished contemporary British artists, Loubena Hamid and Yinka Shunabare, have responded to Hogarth's legacy in key works from their own practices. Let's return now to Hamid's installation. Initially displayed at London's Pentonville Gallery in 1986, it was created at the height of what has come to be known as the British Black Arts Movement of the 1980s, a milieu of artists, exhibitions and activities in which a young Hamid took an active and important role. The work was later revived in 2014 for an exhibition at Tate Liverpool and more recently was displayed at the Nottingham contemporary version of a series of exhibitions under the title The Place is Here. Between the first and most recent iteration, elements of the installation were made and remade, reflecting not only the artist's evolving approach to the work, but also the material implications of its delicate and large and thus difficult to store components. However, what remains indelibly marked across the work's three decades of life is the complex relationship that Hamid constructs with Hogarth and his work. Let's look then to the work upon which a fashionable marriage is modelled. Coming in the middle of a narrative sequence that chronicles the ill-fated marriage of convenience between the son of an impoverished aristocrat and the daughter of a wealthy, though untitled, merchant, the toilette depicts the appropriately named Lady Skwonder Field. She is surrounded by foreign musicians, African servants and assorted hangers on, an entourage constructed by Hogarth as a marker of her wealth. We find her in conversation with her lawyer and paramour, Silver Tongue, who hands her an invitation to a masquerade. In one appraisal of the scene, William Haslett emphasised the infinite activity of mind, which his artist displays on every occasion. From the coronet above Lady Skwonder Field's bed, indicating her husband's ascendance to Erldum, the screen depicting a masquerade foreshadowing the lover's entertainment, to the young African servant playing with a figure of Actaeon, an auction house Brickabrack, summoning the spectre of the auction house, as a site for the trade in both enslaved people and cultural commodities. Though similar in format and narrative outcome to his two progresses, a rake's progress and a harlot's progress, which were the focus of two previous lectures in this series, Hogarth's newspaper advertisement for the work makes it clear that the artist conceived this series as something altogether a bit different. He claimed that, unlike in the existing series in which contemporary public figures would have been easily recognised by the public, none of the characters represented here shall be personal. In doing so, Hogarth made a claim for the universality of his pictorial sequence. In Hymid's hands, the toilette becomes a fashionable marriage, something new yet familiar. The painted figures are cut away from the canvas and transformed into three-dimensional multimedia cutouts, creating a plastic tableau vivant. Though all of the figures are accounted for, only some of the opulent furnishings are restaged, a sofa here, a screen there. The old master paintings behind the lover's allusions to Coregio's lot and his daughters and Jupiter and Io on one side and Michelangelo's The Rape of Ganymede on the other are replaced with others in the style of late Picasso. For Hymid, this gesture highlights the misogynies that link together the historical and modernist canons of art. Plenty of rape scenes to choose from. Many women's bodies to penetrate and destroy, she notes. In the art world, on the left of the installation, the musicians have become a critic, a dealer and a funding body, the figures that hold the keys of the artistic success and, more broadly, the Western Canon. At the edge of the scene are the contemporary artists, the white feminist artist whose hulking body is built from an upended set of drawers containing clear references to the work of Judy Chicago, Helen Chadwick, Susan Hiller and Mary Cowley and a set of entwined, fashionable painters from the Glasgow School of Art. Placed slightly behind the feminists and on the boundary of the art world and the real world, Hymid has placed the black woman artist. She takes the place of an African servant offering hot chocolate and biscuits to Lady Squander Field's entourage. Taller, reaching close to nine feet and more sturdily built out of building quality birch plywood rather than flimsy cardboard, she stands at the centre of the scene. In what Hymid calls the real world, Hogarth's lovers are transformed into Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan whose invitation now promises admission to the Third World War. Hogarth's assertion that, quote, none of the characters represented should be personal in his sequence is cast aside by Hymid in her reconstruction of political power. In the foreground, the young African boy is replaced by a radical black activist with white frock coat and sitting on a brown suitcase. A gun balanced ominously on top. Before delving further into the work, I would like to briefly think about the complex engagement with Hogarth that Hymid mapped out in an essay that was published 25 years after the Pentonville Gallery show. Throughout the text, she refers to Hogarth as her ally, a fellow artist critic bent on satirising the foibles of society, the amorous relationship between art and wealth and the hypocrisy of the elite. However, the text's epigraph also signals an important part of her engagement with and relationship to Hogarth. It begins with a series of quotations illuminating William Hogarth's artistic legacy, taken from prominent and celebrated historical figures. William Wordsworth deems Hogarth a painter of the people and Samuel Taylor Coleridge celebrates this great master. Aside from the Hogarthian play with quotation and self-reference, initiated by beginning a text-based discussion of a contemporary visual quotation with historical quotations, the epigraph sets forth Hymid's engagement with Hogarth as a fellow artist and dominant figure within British art history. However, rather than signaling Hymid's self-inscription into a long history of tribute to Hogarth, it seems to hint at an active and complex engagement with the fellow artist and the narrow notions of a national self that have canonized him as a father of English painting. The shift from Hogarth's painted canvas and engravings to Hymid's constructed cutouts is central to this engagement with both the artwork and with Hogarth himself as an artist and engraver. Indeed, in much the same way that, as Mark and Meredith reminded us earlier in the series, we must reconcile Hogarth the painter with the Covent Garden artisan. It's important that we keep in mind Hymid's early years of artistic training when she chose to train in theatre design at Wimbledon Art School. Learning to make props, costume and furniture, this early training continues to echo through her practice and these elements from the cutouts, which were constructed using theatre methods for propping up scenery to the flamboyant multimedia costumes that they wear, are at the core of a fashionable marriage. Hymid cites several historical precedents for the cutout figures, including their use in Britain from the early 17th century when figures of servants, soldiers and occasionally saints were made as visual jokes, covers for fireplaces, advertisements and to guard doorways. Notably, she also alludes to the cutouts produced by American artist Alex Katz, who cut the central figure from his painting and attached them to plywood panels, creating freestanding figures. The cutouts enable Hymid to bring these diverse sources, historical and contemporary, fine art and craft, to bear on cutouts that she identifies first and foremost as paintings. Hymid's interest in opening up and playing at these in-between spaces is further highlighted by the use of collage in the construction of many of the cutouts. Here collage is mobilized in much the same way that Hogarth used subtle visual iconography, a coral rattle to denote motherhood, a blemish to indicate disease. The components that make up each figure provide a critical indication of the role within the installation and within the real-life cycles and circuits of social and cultural power in which they operate. Augmented by contemporary artifacts, found materials and newspaper clippings, Hymid's Hogarthian figures are fixed in a state of temporal flux. The traditional clothing is strewn with relics of the contemporary and simultaneously invokes Hogarth's painted image and the contemporary context of Hymid's installation. Let's turn then to take a closer look at the ways in which collage operates in some of these figures. Like Hogarth's castrato, the critic's mouth is a gap in song. However, the critic's voice falls flat and he cannot engage with the viewer. Within the installation, his voice is not silenced and his audience, comprised of the gatekeepers of the canon, lean closer to hear his song. Placed next to the white feminist artist, the black woman artist stands back, unconvinced by the critic's song and highlighting the uneven relationship between her and the canonical center. The nature of the center is embodied by the critic's costume, which in appearance hasn't changed very much from the sumptuous garb of the castrato. It is still made up of the same articles of clothing, though Hymid has substituted the silks and splendor painted by Hogarth into clippings of text taken from several popular and respected contemporary journals. Headlines from block, screen and timeout replace the castrato's fashionable shirt sleeves and lapels, whilst text takes the place of his shirt's luxurious material. The frills of his shirt are replaced with a cacophony of rubber gloves, which, like the press clippings, are mass-produced and disposable objects. Clothed with comments that Hymid writes may be clear, concise and to the point current even, but of minute importance over many years of making artwork. They are the bare essence of both his career and the power he wields within his world. Like the costume of the critic that of Lady Squanderfield emerging in 1986 as Margaret Thatcher, or the grocer's daughter as she's named in a preparatory watercolor for the work, is comprised of a multimedia collage. In 1986, her dress was littered with newspaper clippings, detailing the fallout of her legacy, her policies, gaffes and her everyday management. Whereas Lady Squanderfield's fashionable and expensive dress subtly signaled to Hogarth's audience her social status and on stintation, Thatcher speaks loudly of her time and power and the politics that have become her legacy, from her stance as a staunch supporter of apartheid to the decimation of the unions, seen in the 2014 installation in a striking news image taken at the Battle of Orgrave, placed carefully on her skirt. In the 1986 iteration, the bottom hem of her dress is decorated with quotations that, though taken from print media, are spoken in Thatcher's own voice, such as one that reads, My party is very anxious to maintain good relations with immigrants. Alongside the clippings are drawn and painted on bananas that, in the watercolor, are inscribed with the names of some of her administration's most controversial elements, Soweto, Botha, Libya, Reagan, Belgrano, Sanction Buster, Selling Council Housing, Minor Strike, Unemployment. These realities produce a striking juxtaposition with the platitudes attributed to Thatcher that drag along the floor on the hem of her dress. The painted bananas themselves carry multiple meanings, from the comic trope of the slippery banana peel to the banana republic style of third world economic neocolonialism perpetuated by her government during the 1980s. Notably, it's her own image clipped from newspapers and magazines that is repeated across the figure's costume in the 21st century reworking of the figure, a reference perhaps at once to her role in reshaping the landscape of print media via union busting and also the cultural legacy of a figure whose careful construction of her own image continues to shape popular political narratives. The controversies articulated in the 1986 installation are here smoothed over, replaced by images of serene waving and smiling. Central to Hamid's scene and to the Hogarthian sequence that they're drawn from is a notion of national identity. Hamid engages with Hogarth both as an artist appropriated by the canon's construction of a national narrative and also as an artist interested and invested in producing his own vision of the nation at a time when a very powerful myth of English rather than British exceptionalism flourished. As a scholar John Stiles has put it, in Hogarth's London, sometimes England was considered to be better because it was exceptional, sometimes it was considered to be exceptional because it was better. Was this myth undoubtedly buoyed the racial hierarchies of the concurrent colonial project? It was complicated by the influence of continental tastes, particularly amongst English elites. Indeed it was this society immersed in the myths of its own exceptionalism most dressed in French fashions, dining on French cuisine and enjoying Italian opera that drew Hogarth's ire. In this way the sumptuous French styles of Lady Squandrick Field and her entourage, the presence of the Italian castrato and the many European paintings and artworks found in the toilette signaled to us not only that lady's wealth but also the link between her profligacy, her taste and her moral shortcomings. Within a 20th century context Hogarth's distaste of continental influences serve as a poignant reminder of the cycles of transcultural exchange that have shaped historical formations of a collective British national identity. These are further brought to light in the presence of the two African servants that Hogarth included in the toilette. For some scholars these figures provide positive foils for the white upper classes who often found themselves in the artist's crosshairs, a reading underpinned by Hogarth's reported unease about the colonial project and sympathy with the plight of enslaved Africans. Crucially they also highlight the growing black population of George in Britain. However in Hamid's hands these figures do more than stake a claim for historical black presence in Britain and articulate more than a criticism of white society. Here they speak to the possibilities and implications of radical change across the art world and the real world that lays in the hands of black women. As discussed previously the servant offering hot chocolate itself a symbol of wealth and colonial trade and the young page boy playing with bric-a-brac at Lady Squandered Fields transformed into the black woman artist and the radical activist. Looming large over the installation at the interstices of the art world and the real world the black woman artist is invested with new radical potency. Her outward gaze emphasizes her dominance and she is the only figure to look at the viewer directly rather than engaging with the action of the other figures within the installation. She is also the only cutout built with articulated arms and thus the capacity to physically act. Jux deposed with a stocky solidity of the white feminist artist body made from a clunky set of disused drawers this marks her as the possessor of a unique agency. In her transformation from the male servant to the black woman artist the figure's costume has changed though its style has not. She wears an elaborate Hogarthian style dress covered in fish made from painted wood with a voluminous skirt painted in blues and greens evoking the oceans and landmasses of the globe contrasting richly with the other figure's costumes. In the place of her historical counterparts hot chocolate she had as him he notes a larger offering and poured it towards the eager listener energy.  It arcs out towards her empty drawers and stands in stark contrast to the offerings of the rest of the figures in the art world who according to Hameed's preparatory sketch for the art critic present to each other and to the viewer not a lot. Writing retrospectively about the black woman artist Hameed recalls thinking at the time that quote we as black women artists held the center and although she acknowledges in hindsight that quote in fact we rented rooms there it is this initial belief in her radical transformative potential that shapes the figure in Hameed's words in 1986 I was full of hope and looking for a fight as we stormed the Citadel to help us we needed sharp and committed political minds black minds convinced that culture could be an effective weapon for change position between the two worlds physically dominant capable and wearing the world on her skirt the black woman artist is undoubtedly a ready facilitator for this radical change like the black woman artist the radical activist is an agent for change an mediator between the installation and the viewer in 1743 the auction house Bricka Brackett is feed drew explicit links between the buying and selling of both enslaved people and commodities like artworks coordinated in London's coffee houses in 1986 in Hameed's preparatory sketch the radical activist plays with weapons of war including tanks, bombs and guns in the 2014 installation the figure is now a woman and the weaponry of the sketch has been transformed into a woven basket of books with titles by the Senegalese scholar and political leader Sheikh Anton Diop and Guineas historian and activist Walter Rodney with her keen understanding of the cycles and circuits that dictate the culture and political spheres the radical activist becomes an all-knowing narrator like the page boy and the adult servant she is quote absolutely in tune with what is happening in the room however unlike the black woman artist the radical activists subversive power is not heralded by her costume or the capability for physical movement and change her costume remains much the same as her Hogarthian predecessor white front coat though it's actually modeled on a photograph of the Scottish poet and artist Maud Salter as a young child taken on a visit to Glasgow Zoo it masks her true power disguises her motivations and capabilities under the guise of a seemingly innocent and young servant unlike the other costumes in the installation that carry manifold signs of their wearer's essence and intent here the costume gives little away but her status as an agent of change rather than storming the Citadel and pouring her energy into the art world the radical black activist performs her difference as a type of Trojan horse seemingly innocuous and ignored but ready to strike at the heart of a white political and cultural class that from 1986 to 2014 to today continues to marginalize the voices of black women in this way with Hogarth, bad-tempered, ambitious, genius and critic of 18th century manners and morals painter of theatrical themes, storyteller, history painter art xenophobe as her artist satirist ally Hamid challenges us to confront the enduring foibles and hypocrisies of the art world and the real world


Welcome to What is Usability? This learning activity will help you understand what usability is and how usability design is a crucial part of user experience design. User experience design focuses on a deep understanding of the user's needs, wants, and abilities. Usability, or user-centered design, is the process of designing something from the perspective of how it will eventually be used by an actual person. Simply put, usability differs from user experience because it considers a product's usefulness in addition to everything else covered by user experience design. When designing for usability, you should keep the user's psychological profile and physiology in mind. Usability projects are designed for efficiency of use, ease of learning, and general satisfaction of use. When developing your product, ask yourself the following four questions. Is my project quick and easy to learn? Is my project efficient to use? Does my project allow for rapid recovery from errors? Is my project easy to remember? If you or your users answer yes to all four questions, you're off to a good start. Start by focusing on the task first and the design second. A well-designed product is more than just a pretty face. It should be easy to navigate and informative and help your users complete a specific task. In order to meet your user's needs, you must make their task completion your primary target. When should you test for usability? You should always be testing for usability. No project is ever truly completed. Every project needs to continually evolve and improve. User behavior changes. When it does, your project needs to change too. You may be working on a project where your client has design requests that, if implemented, will render a project useless. One way to express the importance of usability designed to a client is to share its potential benefits. Increased productivity. Increased profitability. Reduced training costs. Increased satisfaction. Sharing these benefits can help to create a healthy balance between the user's needs and wants and the client's needs and wants. Usability has become so critical in design that there are even ISO standards regarding user experience design. ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, coordinates worldwide industrial and commercial standards. ISO 9241 and ISO TR 16982-2002 detail standards on human-centered usability methods that are recommended for product design and evaluation. They discuss the advantages, disadvantages and other factors relevant to using each usability method. Enough of that technical mumbo-jumbo. Here's what you need to know about usability. Are you listening? Focus on your users. Incorporate your users early on in your design process. Identify their needs and wants and incorporate those into your design. Perform usability testing with your users and make modifications based on their feedback. You won't always be able to incorporate all of the suggestions and that's okay. Just make sure you're always designing for your users. You have completed what is usability.


Hi everyone, Joe for JasperysCaseRace.com coming at you with the random number block randomizer that's gonna unlock flawless 2 box figure team 2 brand new release just dropped today gonna be nice some nice teams involved in this as well and a nice little discount as well thanks for taking advantage of everybody there the rules right there big thanks once again to this group for getting your spot straight up and congrats to John who won both of the spots in that filler there the numbers and let's roll it and randomized names numbers three into three six the hard way one two three four five and six we got Matthew down to William three into three six times four the numbers two three four five and six I got eight down a seven all right Matthew with eight John with five Eric with nine Matthew six and three Richard with one John with zero Sean with two Matthew with four and William with seven let's order these numerically and we'll see you in the next video for the break itself JasperysCaseRace.com


And we're live here to rant. I mean, talk about make it empire by Harry Goodkind. It's a chunky book. It's a long book. It's longer than, it's not longer than some of the stone of tears, I think is the longest. Luckily, because they're like, luckily, I was going to say, luckily, that's more than I like best. So for it to be the longest, thank goodness I'm enjoying it. But yeah, this one is on the longest. Like soul of the fire is definitely on the shorter side. And this is a little longer side. So hello. Hello, everybody. Hey, Jessica. Hello. Hello. Nice. I'm sorry I had to work late, though. I have not had dinner yet. But I was just telling Bethany I went to the store and they had the new Dream World Coca-Cola. So I decided to try it. And I think I was just on the cusp of figuring out what it tastes like. I think it tastes like, have you had those ice drinks? Like the, like, it's not like iced, but you know, it's called ice, you know, those drinks? I have never tried them. Yeah, I've never tried them. Okay, well, the one that tastes, it's not called tropical, but it's like a tropical thing. It's like orange passion fruit or something like that. Like the like orange one that looks tropical. Okay. That's kind of what this tastes like. Weird. That's interesting. And having corn dogs, you can still taste. That sounds good. Instead of too late reading your new release book, what new release book? She can't just say that. No, I'm not talking about icees. I'm talking about ice. Not icy. It's like one of those like vitamin water drinks or something or whatever, you know? It's not vitamin water, but it's like, I feel like they shelve it next to- Well, they're all sugar-free. And then like the ones in the bottles are just sugar-free. And then the ones in the cans have caffeine in them. Trister. There you go. Okay. Well, is it orange mango? Well, whatever it is, that's what this tastes like. It also has caffeine in it, so I'll be up all night. Okay, so at least it's a small can. They only have the small cans. I did not choose to look like a giant. Okay, well, I was not expecting that, but I'm glad you're enjoying that. Okay, so you and I both hated Naked Empire. Let's just start there. Yeah. When I was reading it, I was like, did you, when you read it where you were like, oh yeah, I did read this one or were you like, no, I didn't read this one? I'm not, I don't know. Because like quickly, like when I was reading, I was like, oh yeah, that's why I stopped. I was like, that's why this is the last one that I read. Yeah, I don't think I, or if I did, I don't think I got very far with it. Like I don't have much memory of this plot, basically is what I'm saying. Like it's not very familiar. Well, I definitely remembered reading all of it. The two things, one of which is kind of spoilery, but I don't think anyone should care because this book sucks. The two things that like, when I thought of this book all these years later, when I was like, what's Naked Empire about? In my mind, I was like, Jensen's claustrophobia and Richard stops being a vegetarian. Those are the two things that I remembered about this book. Oh, I hated it a lot. That's so funny, Jessica. You guys hated it, but didn't mind it the first time. Okay. I think the first time I read it, like I think, I mean, I think that's why I stopped because I disliked it, but I didn't remember disliking it as much as I disliked it now. I think I remember thinking then that I was like, this is getting kind of old. Like I feel like you're just like reaching for plots at this point. And like it didn't, I wasn't so keyed into how preachy it was. Like it was, but I was like less thinking about it being preachy and thinking more just like, I don't think, I think you've run out of stories and that you're just like, trying to make up a reason to have a story. And like, there is some of that, but it's not that he's run out of story. It's that he's making up a story just to be a vehicle for the whole box thing. Just to be a vehicle for. And it's a thing, I think what bothers me so much about it too is, it's preachy about something that doesn't easily make sense in this fantasy context. You know what I mean? I'm like, it's, I mean, it's essentially like railing against like community governance and rehabilitating criminals. That's like basically what the whole book is about. I'm like, oh my God, okay. Yeah. Well, it's also like, okay. So that is what it's about, but it's also it's just like beating a dead horse because like I started skimming because I was like the littlest thing would happen and off we go with some more soap boxing. And it's just repeating itself. It's just saying the same thing over and over and over again.  I just felt like it was absurd. I disagreed with it and I didn't think it made sense. Also, I couldn't get the past, past the fact that Richard does some horrible things that I couldn't just ignore in this book too. I mean like. Having Chase back was the only good thing. Chase and that Rachel. Yeah. And Katelyn did nothing. Like she was there, but like she did nothing the whole book basically. Yeah. I mean, it's also at this point, like not that this is the first time he's preached or that the first time that he's had Richard do some preaching, but at this point it no longer reads to me like Richard. Like it reads to me like suddenly Richard's body was possessed by the ghost of Terry Goodkind who was like, I got some thoughts. Like it doesn't, I was like, this isn't Richard. Like this isn't Richard. Mm-hmm. Well, not to mention the moment where because there are a group of like innocent civilians. The straw man of truth. Yeah. Oh my God.  I was like, what? Like who are you? I, yeah, I just couldn't. Yeah, it was, it was weird. It was really weird. He's preaching about how to, in a nutshell. Hold on. I mean, I haven't in my Goodreads review. Okay. Okay. It's mocking non-violence, the rehabilitation of criminals and community based governance. That's basically like the thing that's going on. Well, those are things that it incidentally mocks, but like its ultimate point is that like by being a pacifist, you're putting the burden on other people to protect you and you're not taking responsibility for yourself. It's basically like, it's always about responsibility for yourself. That's always his point. And his point here in particular was when that, when personal responsibility meets with violence, it's like, cause he's often talked about personal responsibility, but here it's about like by choosing not to be violent, you are expecting someone else to be violent on your behalf and that's wrong. And like, again, with a lot of shared good kinds of points, I'm like, like we could, this is a conversation we could have. I'm not like, get out of here. That's a horrible position to have. Like you're wrong flat out.  So like, if that's your point, you're like, that's a good point to make. And like, yes, that's true. People who choose not to engage in violence often do assume someone else will do it because like, probably would have been killed if the army hadn't defended your homeland so that you didn't have to, you know, like. But he takes it so far, it's just absurd. I mean, like, people are like, oh here have my child, maybe that'll make things better and you'll feel better. I'm like, that's not what people don't do stuff like that. Like it just doesn't, it's, it's dumb. Well, would also like assuming he's right, assuming he's like, he's preaching the good word and that everyone should listen to Richard, assuming that's the case. It's just the way that after thousands of years, after one speech, people are like, you're right, we've been wrong. All of our ancestors have been wrong. Right. You're right. I'm just like, no. No. People don't change their minds like this so fast. Well, and also, I'm good at public speaker, you are. Because they made it sound like the whole, it was like genetic, which is why they separated them out in the first place. So Howard, so if this is like somehow, some genetic thing, how is you going to fix it, fix it? Yeah. It's absurd. And it's also, okay. So their avoidance of violence, right? It's like so extreme, right? And that's what he has a problem with. But you know what also is extreme is the avoidance of violence by the original people that put them there who would do anything, create this elaborate scheme to like section them off with like an underworld barrier and this whole thing just so they could live in their own separate commune.  So I don't know why you who are extremely not pacifist and hate the pacifist wouldn't just kill them. I don't get why you're going out of your way to preserve their way of life in this seclusion.   No, it's our babysitter. I just, I'm like, Oh, I should text you and say anything's wrong. Yeah, I don't know. This, this whole book was just annoying, honestly. Yeah, the natural instinct to preserve your own life or that of your family. Like it's, it's, it's just very extreme. I mean, I'm not advocating for this, but since the position in this book is like, you know, we must protect the world from the dangerous pacifist.  I mean, like that would teach them that pacifism isn't the way to go.  Well, it's also weird that like for a group of pacifists, like their solution to needing someone else to do violence is to poison him and like coerce them into doing it. Yeah, I was like that escalated quickly. I feel like as pacifists, they would like not even know how to make poison.  Like, I don't know. It was weird. It didn't make any sense honestly. It was not internally consistent. Well, which is where like, again, like if we assume these people really think all the things that they're thinking and you're Richard and you're meeting them, yeah, like I'm on Richard's side.  You're telling me that, oh no, violence is not the answer, but we did poison you so that you would do violence. Like we do expect you to do violence because you are not one of the enlightened.  That is ridiculous and that is hypocritical.  Like that never convinced anybody. He did make the entire, yes, this is exactly, yeah.  So like when people talk about Pillars of Creation, kind of not moving the plot for us, like that's a way better book. And he like squeezed in some like moments of like, here's my thoughts on things, but it was still a good story and it still showed a lot of the world and his points. Again, I usually like his points better when he keeps them to more of an individual level and everything to do with Jensen was, you know, like an individual, what does an individual choose to do in the situation? How does an individual regard their responsibility towards others, towards their family, towards duty? When we get grandstanding about the entire society, I'm like, no. It's like, it doesn't work. It's like, no. And also, right?  Yeah, it was definitely the prettiest book so far. And like therefore the prettiest book of his I have ever read, which is like in retrospect, I didn't, yeah, I didn't key into that being the reason, but it makes sense to me that after that one, I was like not gagging for the next book and not being like more, please. I was like, I'm good, I'm good. Time to find a new author. Okay, sorry. I have to mess it. My babysitter is like messaging me about tomorrow. I'm like, give me one sec. I'm like, this is helpful on a live stream. It's great. The kids are going back to school next week. It's gonna be great. It's true love. He did write a spin-off series within this world. I think he did also write some things outside of this world. I've never read that, but I think he did. Correct me if I'm wrong. Someone who knows. Yeah. Well, I think he has spin-offs. Somebody's saying it gets a bit better in the next book. I think he has spin-offs in this world and wrote something else too, I wanna say. That's what I was gonna say. Also like, yeah, you know, yeah, but also like I think the first confessor he wrote later, that's supposed to be a prequel. Yeah, and also the dead of bones is a prequel. Right. Which that we're reading in December, right? We are. Oh, I feel like I remember agreeing to this. I definitely forgot about that. Everyone ignore my TBR video that goes up Saturday where I'm like, only two more after this and then we're done for the year. It's a short book, so it's like, it'll be quick. Oh my gosh, okay. What are people saying? Terry, good kinds. World views are contagious. Oh man, it's, yeah. Yeah, the prequel is really short, so I don't think it's gonna be a part of it. I feel like it's the difference between having a plot in which we like squeeze in moments of like soapboxing versus writing an entire plot that's constructed to hold up the soap box. Yes, yes. Cause I don't mind if it just fits within the story, but yeah, this whole thing was constructed for. There you go, it's not happening. I'll change the discord. Oh, okay, that's also a solution. I forgot that we put the schedule on the discord, but okay, thank you, Jessica. Yeah. I feel like there's been so many read-alongs we've been doing this year, Liana. What's these two, this and first one? But they both have so many books in them. It feels like a lot. Well, we knew this was year-long commitment, so. It's true. It's true. Oh my gosh, speaking of the discord, can we appreciate, like you need to go in and look at this, because Aaron saw a Richard Cosplayer at a costume contest and put a photo in the discord, like, excellent, Aaron, I love it. I don't know if she's watching this, but that's amazing. Okay. I feel like one of the things about the Keeps Care that carries us through these books, as we've said before, is the characters, and Richard, Lanking Richard. So that like when he has his like, you know, God moments, when he has his moments of like, doing epic things and you forgive him his moments of free genus, his moments of blockheadedness, because he's Richard and like, you love Richard.    I mean, honestly, yeah, because normally I love Richard and he was just awful in this one. Just because there's not even a schedule in the discord. I never post to the schedule. So I don't know what the problem is. Do you guys want to take this off screen and have it out? But I also feel like in other books, we've praised the fact that there's a sort of balance given between, it's not like that Richard is always right or proven to be right. Oftentimes he's proven to be wrong or that by the end of the book, he's right about some things but wrong about others. And the people who was arguing with, they were right about something but they were wrong about others. You know, Stone of Tears is a great example of that. And in this book, it's just, no, everyone is wrong except for Richard. Richard is right. And there is no middle ground. And like usually when he's that adamant about something and that blockheaded about something, it's usually in these books because he's taken it too far and is wrong and needs someone like Katelyn to be like, but you can't, it can't be that far. It can't be that you haven't thought this through. It's not that simple. It's not that black and white. And then this book, Terri Goodkind was like, oh yes it is. Like, but it's definitely not. No, it's, it is absolutely not. Yeah. Okay, if it'll let me do this, Priscilla, I'm gonna put a link to join the discord in the chat. I think I let it do it. So there you go. I, it is in my discord, but like some of the channels are patron only, but the one for the read-along is not. So you are welcome to join if you would like. Yeah. This was just a bummer. I'm like, Katelyn did nothing. Richard was annoying. It was super preachy. Not much happened. Jigang is still out there and we've done nothing about him for how many books now?  So like, why do we have, you know, the like hourglass one where the sand goes up and then the one where like Richard is like turning black slowly. Like, okay, cool. Why did that happen? Are we gonna get- We don't know. I mean, maybe we find out in the next book. I don't know. We better. They made a stupidly big deal about it. But also, is Jigang still in the next book? Like, are we, do we, like what? Oh, yeah.  So, yes. That's also so annoying. I'm like, it's just been dragging on for so long. At this point, I feel like we can expect that Jigang will be only resolved at the end of like the next trilogy. Yeah. Like at this point, it's gonna be the Thanos that all of this has been building towards. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know what the statue thing was. Well, what was interesting too, is I kind of wonder if the people were right about Jensen being able to do magic, even though they all think she can't, that maybe making the statues was her magic when she's under pressure or something. Wait, who felt that? Like the kid that poisoned Richard. He was trying to say that she was, she can do magic and that like when she, they went to her being under pressure in like the cave, that like she created the things they found. You know what I mean? But she wasn't there when they found the first one. No. So, I mean, they probably exist for something else too, but he was saying that like part of it was her magic. I don't know if it's sure or not, but I was wondering.  And in fact, he cannot even see magic because he's one of the, whatever they're called, the pristinely ungifted. Right. But I just wonder like, I don't know, maybe not, but it would be interesting. It seems like they're trying to hint at something. Cause remember she got like really freaked out and then something happened. I don't know. I just, let's see. They made an attack of claustrophobia, which is the one of the two things that I remembered about this. Wait, did I say this when we were alive or did I say this? You said it when we were alive. Yeah. Okay. I think. Yeah. Yeah.     And in fact, that was the case. And it just like, it doesn't, you know, it doesn't make any sense in terms of like what's happened so far in this world. Because like, if that is true about his gift, then his gift should never have worked. This should, like. Well, I mean, were they trying to say that like he didn't have to be a vegetarian if he wasn't killing so many people? Was that the deal? No. The deal is that he, by thinking that he needs balance is a suggestion that he was wrong to kill in the first place and they needs to pay it back by being vegetarian, but he's not wrong to kill at all. And so there should be no reason to pay anything back. There's no balance required. And I was like, so then his sword should not have worked from the moment that he started being vegetarian. Like why is this, why is this now the case? I mean, it's probably Terry had a change of heart. Uh-huh. And it's just, at that point, bro, you made your character vegetarian, you built it into the magic system that he's vegetarian. Just, you know what?  Yeah, you know, it was because it was part of his gift that he was a war wizard.  But a war wizard specifically. Cause they were saying, they did this whole thing about how different wizards have different restrictions and different weird idiosyncrasies that are tied to their gift. Now, like it makes sense that for Richard in particular, that the way that this manifests itself in him, his weird idiosyncrasies that he can't eat meat because as a war wizard, he would be, you know, authoring so much death that his gift demands balance. Balance, yeah. Which is interesting, which is funny cause like it is interesting and it made sense in the context of the world. And then you're like, well, we're just gonna wreck on that. This book is like, so like Richard is like, we love Richard, Richard is, you know, one of our family, we love him so much. But then like, we haven't seen him in a minute. And in the interim, he decided to go down some men Shapiro, QAnon rabbit holes on the internet. And then he showed up to Thanksgiving full of ideas. And you're like, what happened to you? Oh no. That, yes. Oh no. Yes. Jessica, but Terry said he's not a vegetarian anymore. So Richard can't be a vegetarian anymore. Yeah, Terry did think he was Richard, I think Megan. Yeah, it seems likely. Well, I mean, it seems, in so far as Richard is like the mouthpiece for his ideas. And if Terry was like, you gotta be vegetarian. And I, you know, if I, my, my, my character, who's the mouthpiece for all things moral and right, then he should also be vegetarian. And then if Terry was like, fuck, why am I a vegetarian? And what, well, you know, well, shouldn't be vegetarian. Richard, Richard. Why is he vegetarian? Oh man. Yup. Like he could have written it, but it's because he wanted to make that point that like, I'm just, I mean, that was the wizards, whatever, eighth rule or whatever that like, deserve victory that like, you know, it's, he's right to take these lives. So he doesn't need to pay it back. Oh my God. And now that he understands that rule, he no longer has to abide, but like, cause it's all- Not only doesn't have to abide by it, but it's hurting him to abide by it. I'm like, what if you're not on the mood for a steak? Like, what if you just happened to be in the mood for pasta primavera tonight? Is your gift gonna be like, I demand ribs? Like, what is this? I don't know. Oh, yeah, no, this book was bad. It was like, I feel like the only, the only halfway decent part was the side characters, like the bits and pieces we got of like the side plots with Zed and Nathan and stuff. Like Nick the slide is like a cool new baddie that it instantly dies again. So you're like, yeah, because Jigang is the only villain that can actually be legit. Oh my God. You could have had Nick the slide stick around for a few more months. Yeah. That's like an interesting thing to have to deal with as somebody who can watch you. That was interesting. I'm just tired of it. And it's very creepy that he could inhabit Betty. Betty's also the best part of the book. She's very cute. So Kaelin, Kaelin casting aspersions on her grief over her kid's death is not called for. Betty is a delight. Betty is a delight. Betty is a better. Betty is a delight. It's true. It's true. I do also. I mean, it was in the same book I think where Tom says something to Jensen about, you know, like well, if all else fails, I know like something about where to bring Betty. And he's like, if all else fails, I know a lady who makes sausages and she's like Tiki inside a joke. And I'm like, is that a joke? Like that's not funny. Like I still find it very weird that you ate goat sausages with Betty standing next to you when you bought them from the lady. Like I just find that all very like, talk about cognitive dissonance. Like, Terry, Terry, Terry.  Like, is this something that you do? Maybe. Yes, so much of this. Yeah. Oh, I mean, honestly, them being a part is the best thing in these books. It's never good when they're together. She's so boring. Like she does, he like can't come up with anything for her to do when Richard's there. Because the only time that she can be right is if Richard's not also there and presenting an opposing view because Richard's always right. So like if Richard's there, he's right. Nothing else needs to be said. But if she's not with him, she's somewhere else. Someone else needs to take up the mantle of being right in this other place. He's not, he isn't. So she can be the Richard of that area. Yeah. So when he's there, she's just kind of boring and weak and does nothing. Yep. Yeah. Yep. Oh my God, at the end I was, I literally just skimmed it because I knew that was gonna happen where he like is like more of this, fetch to this ingredient, stir it in. You just like somehow knows. You really couldn't have written in where like he found where the guy had written it down and hidden it and you're like, just in the nick of time, we found the recipe for the end to know. Let's make it. No, Richard's gift is guiding him.  Which again, I accept as like a pretty solid plot convenience you've written in, like respect man, you wrote in a way to not explain things, but you've taken it too far.  But this is not that one of those times, like you could have found a different way for them to find the antidote. Oh, for sure. Yep. I don't know if I sent it to you. It's like a water bottle that's sprung a leak and there's a guy coming up to it with tape and they're like fantasy authors with plot holes. And they put the tape over and the tape is labeled magic. That's funny. Yep. Now this book is not only garbage, but long garbage.  I mean, I was literally skimming all the speeches because I knew what he was saying and he was still saying it and then he would say it again. And then someone else would say something that would set him off again and he would say a speech again. And I'm like, Oh my God. I was listening to the audio book on like three and a half times speed and I was just like, okay, all right, let's just get through this. Yeah, no, I was reading it physically, which honestly, I got it way faster because I could kind of see where the speech would end and be like, I'm going to go skip to there. There were a lot of speeches. There were. There were. So many. And again, most of them said the same thing. Like you already made this speech like 50 pages ago, sir. Would you like to just be like an insert, like see 50 pages ago? Oh no, Jessica, it took you 21 days to listen to. Oh no. Because like at that point, these speeches, like they don't feel like they're in universe. They feel like they're at you because if it really was in universe, most books will say like, if it's something that you already saw happen, but the character needs to hear about it having happened, then a book will usually say, and then I explained to them what had happened so far, leaving out the part of blah, blah, blah.  Like, are you telling it to me? So like the fact that we got all these speeches on repeat, it's like, okay, so these are for us.  They're not in universe. No, no, this is for us. He's really trying to hammer at home because people just aren't getting it. I was looking at it on my Kindle and the tapping was becoming rhythmic with me changing the page. I have to say, I mean, this is definitely my least favorite of what we've read. This makes me want to re-read Temple of the Winds. It was much better. Yeah, it had a plot and some stuff. I'm still upset about Dreffen, but you know, if no one asked me, at least not the important people. Yeah, let's hope. Yeah, this book just exists only, only for Richard the soapbox. There's not like, there's, again, a difference between a book that has a lot of soapboxing versus a book that is soapboxing. Yeah, the book is the soapbox. The book is the soapbox. Yes. The medium is the message. Justin is, Jensen is kind of the blank slate for Richard to clarify. Yeah, I mean, I think that is probably accurate. That and all of the pristine and un-gifted. Yes. Except that the pointer stick is inevitably an agile and he's got to like do something dramatic. The board is his arm and the agile is the pointer and he's like, this is magic. And you're like, sir, I don't know why anyone would be convinced by that. He's just bleeding. I've seen blood and I'm in fact, I'm against it because I'm a pacifist. I don't know if I mentioned. So I'm against what you're doing right now to yourself. Please stop hurting yourself. We are all against hurting yourself or others. There were so many weird things in this, like the fact that they had a kid who was kind of like their oracle. And that too. Like the same thing with like the speeches, convincing people, you know, who've lived this way for thousands of years, like, oh, you're right. We've been wrong this whole time. Wish I thought of that.  And that Richard shows up and is like, no, like the kid would be like, yes, I am.  Like the kid would not be like, oh, okay. Good. I can do something else now. I was like, this just doesn't, this is not how people are. It's not at all. Oh my gosh. Because it's good or because it's bad. I know, right? I think it can't be worse. It literally can't be worse. I feel like it would be hard. And Richard bullied him into truth. Well, it makes me wonder if this book just like tanked because the next trilogy had a total, you know, sort of redesign. And so it makes me wonder if like this book, people hated and the publishers were like, dude. Oh, you gotta do better. Or if Terry Goodkind himself was like, I was just in my feelings a lot when I wrote that. And I would like to go back to normal now, please. Yeah. My wife got me some Camuiltea and I'm ready to continue. We had a rough year. I'm still, who built the statue? I'm still confused about that. Oh, the big one? Yeah. The wizard that imprisoned them. So he built a statue of himself? Yes. With inscriptions on it to try to warn future wizards not to break down the barrier that was trapping the people in there. Why would you build a statue of yourself? Maybe he was a narcissist. I don't know. I also feel like the, okay. The fact that the message is like, beware for these people cannot see evil. I just, I don't understand why they are dangerous to you.  Like I don't know why they're like, this is a danger that the world must be protected from these pacifists. Like what literally what are they gonna do? Lock them away. Like it makes sense. Like their original theory that they were like quarantined like this was because they were pristinely ungifted and they wouldn't want the spreading of that. That makes way more sense. The fact that they would keep them there because they're pacifists you'd be like, they will never be a problem to you. Well, so this is why I think maybe it's true that they are not totally ungifted, that they have magic because he's trying to undercut that whole thing. It's just maybe a different kind of magic that we don't know about or something. That's what I wonder because he's trying to be like, I don't want that to be the reason that was the false reason. So actually. No, I think the reason that wasn't the reason was because then he couldn't make his great point about how pacifists are the worst thing in the world. So bad that they need to be put in. Right. I mean, I think that's part of it. But I think to support that it seems like. I mean, my sort of truth journey did end there. Yeah. Now I will continue. Yeah. Amanda says we will see on the last book. Great. Okay, we'll see who's right. That's my theory. My theory is it's gonna turn out that they actually do have some other kind of magic. It's just a different. It just looks different or something. And is immune to all other magics. Right. I mean, he's done more absurd things than that. We'll see. We'll see. The concept of someone being so magic-less that magic cannot affect them is a cool concept. Like. It is. Go back to praising him a little bit. I liked one. That's why Pillars of Creation, I like it. Because the introduction of that as a concept, I was like, pretty cool. Pretty cool. And I like Jensen. Pretty cool. We're all gonna run with everything. I mean, according to Sarah Goodgown, we already are wrong about everything because we don't share his world views. This is true. It's gonna be interesting when we're done with all of this and I'm gonna go through and decide which of these books I'm actually keeping on my shelves and which of them I am not. Because. Well, being a completionist, if I have a series, even if like one in the series I dislike, I'll still keep like the one that I dislike because of, you know, completionism. I should block this person. I'm working on it. Okay. It's still going great. Oh, that's great. So, you know, feel free to entertain people while I handle. So, yeah, hopefully the next books are gonna be better than this one because this was not good. I guess they can't be worse. I guess they can be worse. Oh, yeah. Okay, hopefully that worked. It wasn't the book of the year. I wonder what Terry's world view is now. Yeah, I would definitely, like if we weren't doing this read-along like in the future, I would probably skip this. Like I don't anticipate wanting to read it again. It also doesn't move the platform at all. So it's not like you need to read it. Like honestly, if someone is reading the series, I'd be like, but skip that one, literally. Like cause there's sometimes books where I'm like, or series where I'm like, ooh, but you know, just push through number five in the series. Cause it's not very good. And they'll be like, can I skip it? And like most of the time I'm like, unfortunately not, but you know, just push through. And this one I'm like, you can absolutely skip it. There's literally nothing of value in there. Just Cliff's notes, Richard's not vegetarian anymore. Okay, move on. Yeah, no, I don't think anybody really needs this book, honestly, for the series. So we'll see. And thankfully everybody seems to be saying that the next ones are better. So.  In general, I was most excited to get to the next one because it's the first one that will be new that I've ever read before. Yeah. No, I mean, I think it'll be interesting to see kind of where it goes. Cause he continued to have a career after this with people who I think this book wasn't a career ender. No, I think like, I mean, high praise, you know. A book that didn't and Terry Goodkind's career somehow. Yeah. But you know, it sounds like he's definitely more inclined to like cannibalism than pacifism because cannibalism implies you killed somebody and we're all about that. As long as you killed them. We're good. Oh, you're so much faster than me. Yeah, I have it open on the other screen now. So. I have it open too, but I have a tiny screen. It's okay. I've got like a giant desktop, so good. Should have been called naked plot. You mean like non-existent plot.  Truly. Yeah. It's not even hiding behind a plot anymore. Caitlin, yeah, it's somebody who's clearly purposely trolling the channel and making new accounts. So in case anyone's wondering, we'll deal with it. Fun times. Indeed. Yeah, so I don't know. Anything else? I mean, yeah, normally I'd be like, who do we fancast as these characters? But I don't want anyone to ever have to be these characters. I also, oh, you watch Leisure the Seeker, right? Yeah, I did. I don't have a long time ago, but. Cause like, I remember this is when I got to Naked Empire, I remember thinking like, oh, this is where that one episode came from. Cause there is an episode where Richard finds some like, like a, some pacifist that he needs to rally the troops and get them to fight with him. So he like trained them to fight cause they've never fought before and then they go fight. But it's not like, you know, the whole of Naked Empire. But like, that does happen in the show. And I was like, remember when I got to this book, I was like, oh, so that's where this came from. Yeah, I haven't seen it in a long time. So. I only remembered it because like, I didn't remember that episode or, so I remember reading this book and recognizing that episode. So rereading this book now enabled me to remember the episode that I had remembered when I, for the first time that I read this book because part of reading the book was going, oh, this is that episode. Interesting. The first time that I read it. Okay. A memory nesting journey. It would be fun to re-watch it. We should, we could think about doing like a thing, at least watching like an episode or something. Well, if we do that, I vote for the episode where Zed dresses like a princess. I'm down. That sounds amazing. Or anything from season two because like that's when Kara joins them and Kara is so great. Yeah. It would be fun to go back and re-watch them. It's been a long time. So. I had the DVDs, but I don't know where they are now. They're probably my parents' house. Somebody said I used- Yeah, I watched the show first. So like when I was reading the books, I was like, oh, look, I guess I went to Naked Empire. I was like, this is that one episode. Yeah. See, I definitely read the, read books first and then the show came out and yeah, but I was, it was, it was interesting. That's interesting. I didn't enjoy it like before reading the books. I could see that.  I watched it by myself, but I also watched it with my roommates in college.  So fast. I'm on it. I was like, she's going for it already. Gotta be quick. Oh man. Well, I don't know why we're being targeted so aggressively this evening. I don't know, man. I have an idea of why though. Oh really? The name of this book. Oh, oh, you're probably right actually. It's probably like doing something weird with like promoting the live on YouTube that actually makes a lot of sense honestly.  Every turn. Thanks YouTube. Because people are like, ooh, live chat. Maybe you should put like an asterisk in the title of the live stream. I mean, it would still be the, or you mean instead of one of the letters to like break up. I mean, at this point it's too late. Oh yeah, that's true. Yeah, no man. That's just, that's the truth. Yeah, that's probably why it's doing this because I was like, what is going on? Like this is unusual. Like this has happened to me before, but not very often. Yeah, exactly. Nat kid. Yeah, an ampersand or not an, what's that called? An ampersand. I don't know. Is it just called the at sign? I don't know, that's what I call it. Is there a name for it? This can bother me all night. Oh my God. Great. Okay. I feel like this is our sign. I feel like- I can't even think about the book. Yeah. I mean, I- I'm just watching this trying to beat, now it's become a game where I'm like, I'm going to beat Bethany. That's true. I mean, I think we've kind of said what we have to say about the book, honestly. Like, I don't know what there's like. I feel like, not that I wanted this to happen, but I feel like it's also kind of a perfect, like this is, this is what this book is.  So, Jessica, their trolls, listen, they're just trying to like, get her eyes out of people. It's, you know, whatever. Nope. This is the kind of stuff Richard should rage against. It's like an adult whack-a-mole. It is. It is. It's not true for a set. Yeah, I think- It's kind of it, because I have got Bethany to beat. It's right. Exactly. Oh my God. So yeah, so we'll be on my channel about Chainfire next month. And it's a kid thinking- It'll be better. And maybe it's that kid who thinks he's cool because he gets to lead an entire commune of pacifists. I was just thinking like, when the kid, you know, when I was saying a kid who thinks that he's the leader, like wouldn't be like, oh, great, I don't have to be anymore. I was thinking, excuse me, of the kid in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, when they are also like led by a kid. And that kid is like definitely on board for being the leader of this temple and like is one of the baddies. Okay. Good. I think it's time to go. Yeah, I agree. All right. Well, thanks everybody. Thanks everyone. Have a better evening. And next month's chat will hopefully be less. There's no nonsense in the title. So we'll be good. That's true. We should be good. All right. Bye. Bye.


Rose O'Ram in Minnesota miss basketball finalist Kylie Borovic has finally decided where to further her basketball career earlier today the first team all state guard announced she will be attending MSU Moore had to play basketball for the Dragons. Borovic finished eighth in the state and scoring averaging 25.9 points per game while leading her Rams to a perfect 32 and 0 record in their first state title this season. Nobody wanted me more like they like really wanted me and they have a really good team program coaches. I love like the more head fargo area. I love the campus as long as like you know like I practice hard like do what I usually do. She said she sees me playing quite a bit. I'm just happy to be with like such a great team and to be able to hopefully bring my skills to them and help them either hopefully in one of the next four years when a national championship. A very good volleyball player as well Borovic said she will just be focusing on basketball at MSU Moore head. She plans to pursue a business degree. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.


I'm Dr. Gerald Stucka. I'm the extension veterinarian and livestock stewardship specialist here at NDSU. Bulls are vulnerable just like newborn calves are to getting chilled in the wrong places and for bulls it's the testicles it's a scrotum and if you look at bulls and they got a little frostbite it's a little scab on the scrotum that's kind of an indication they've been through some pretty cold weather and we and of course as veterinarians we always recommend that you check your bulls every year. Now the bulls have already been checked and they're good and yet they've stayed where they were at the sale place or stayed with the former owner they probably need to be checked again because the cycle the basic cycle for producing new semen is is 60 days. We could make this statement that if it's 60 days from the last real cold event and and they're they're passing that means that means you're good. I mean it's not like it it shuts off at 60 days with one cold event there's always new semen being produced but you need to have the confidence that this bull at least has the stuff so that we can get cows to conceive and raise a calf crop again. Don't take chances this year you know we try our best with bulls we try and bed we try and have wind protection but most of us can't provide wind protection from every direction and saying and bedding up here seems to be a premium so just make sure that you're going to your veterinarian to get that bull tested again even if they were tested before the sale that's the best advice I can give to you and different bulls you know that they're all look a little bit different how they're put together scrotum wise some of them long elongated you know scrotums and other ones are tucked up a little tighter and there may be a difference whether frostbite hits those ones where they're everything's hanging down they're in full view or whether they're they're pulled up tight. Now yearlands are a little bit better most of them are pulled up pretty tight the older bulls can be a little more susceptible to the effects of frostbite.


Maybe you haven't heard of us. We're the Think Tech of Hawaii. A Hawaii nonprofit through and through. Founded in 2001 to raise public awareness on a platform for civic engagement. Where citizen journalists can cover tech, energy, business, and global awareness. And so much more about the changes in our world. Now we produce and stream 30 shows a week. And we stream our earlier shows all night long. We stream them from our downtown studio. And we connect with our guests everywhere. And COVID-19 has not stopped us at all. We've maintained our broadcast schedule. And reached out to hosts and guests everywhere. Our show hosts are dedicated and curious. The Think Tech family has built it day by day. And they make it happen and grow day by day. You can see our work on ThinkTechHawaii.com. And our smartphone apps on Apple and Android. And on Facebook, Twitter, Mimeo, and Olelo TV. Sign up for our daily email advisories. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Download our apps to watch us on the go. Send us questions to our hosts and guests live on the air. And take our surveys so we can learn from one another. You'll find that ThinkTech is all around you. Working to bring you better news and features. Great content you won't find anywhere else. It's time you learned more about us. It's time you learned more from us. Check it out on ThinkTechHawaii.com. That's ThinkTechHawaii.com. That's right. ThinkTechHawaii.com.


Now the question is, what happens next? And this is kind of where, again, like I said, we take off our rose-colored glasses and look at the facts, look at the data going for today. Welcome to Access to Trader, the number one community for those who are committed to taking control of their trading in order to achieve success, profitability, and longevity. Thank you for joining us. Here's Dan Shapiro to help you find your edge, master your process, and own your future. Hey guys, good evening everybody. Welcome to another edition of the AccessToTrader.com nightly wrap up show, hope everybody is doing well. So we've been talking about this for a long, long time. I remember, I think I've mentioned this several times, during 2009, when we were still towards the end of the financial crisis, everybody had the same notion, the same notion was, well, when does this market, and when does this market finally go up again? How can the market go down every single day? And I've said this update after update after update. Eventually you have to start looking at some signs that the market is just a little bit tired on one side. And we started talking about years ago that the market will never tap you on the shoulder and say, hey, by the way, we're done going down. You can start buying stocks and everything is all good in the world. You get taller, life looks better, you get more better looking, everything is good in the world. That doesn't work that way. But we do know from the series of bear markets that I've traded, some of the signs. And number one, the biggest sign that sellers are getting tired is number one, the days that the market is going lower, you're starting to shrink in damage. Collateral damage is getting smaller. The volatility starts to shrink a little bit. Bad news starts to discard. And the most important part is that bad news. And for example, yesterday, if you looked at earnings last night, and first and foremost, I apologize, there was no video last night. My daughter had a soccer game and my wife just couldn't make, so I had a driver. So that's why usually I don't do a video on Thursday nights since I did the one yesterday. I'm doing one today. And the most important part was if you looked last night on earnings, you had all the recipes of, again, more failure. So you had in the video last night, the video came out with earnings, they weren't bad. They just weren't bad. Future guidance wasn't crazy.  You had snow, right? Snow last night had, you know, came out with earnings. Again, this is not, you know, this is still a growth story. We've seen a lot of tons of growth story stocks still getting hit. But the most important part was what we saw last night and what we saw from the video and snow this morning was stabilizing pre-market.  And why is that different? Because if you look at every single earnings call, right, from the retailers to Netflix, to start it off, earning season, everything else in between, when there was any type of violence to the downside, the market would be locked limit down. It felt like locked limit down, right? It felt like the Nasdaq would be down 250, 300 the next day. And we're like, here we go again. But last night was also a little bit more different. Again, we're talking about collecting data. These are the things we wanted to see. Last night, some news came out on Tesla. And Tesla went down 10, 15 bucks very, very quickly. And slowly, but surely as I was sitting there in the soccer game, I started watching Tesla go from down 15 to down nine to down six to down three. And by the time the ECNs closed at eight o'clock last night, Tesla was down 50 cents from the close. The video was like $3, $4 away from the lows. Snow even rallied $4, $5 away from the lows. We'll say, let's see, you know, let's see how much down, right? How much down the Nasdaq is gonna be tomorrow at the open. And when you wake up this morning, the Nasdaq was up, right? And that's the whole point. They started discarding bad news. This wasn't great earnings report. Usually if everything was really, really bad, if this was even a week ago, the video would have taken down all the semiconductors, right? All of them would have been bleeding. They would have been a predominant way in on the Nasdaq 100 and things would have got real very, very quickly just the way they've been for the last five months. Snow, right? If you guys remember, who came out with that bad earnings? Was it TDOC, right? When TDOC came out with earnings, all these cloud stocks, right? Anything to do with cloud software got absolutely murdered that day. That didn't happen as well. And slowly, but surely we started seeing stocks go from small green, a small red, to small green, to bigger green, to bigger green. And then next thing you know, the market went off and running. And the most important part of today's rally was what happens next, right? And again, this is kind of where we all, I don't care if you're trading for a week, if you're trading for 10 years, you're trading for 50 years, okay? This is where you take off your rose colored glasses and turn around and go, okay, good. The Dow has been up five days in a row. The SPX, right? The SPX, let's talk about the spies right now. SPX is now up three days in a row, okay?  But here's what's great, right? Here's what's great. It's over, right? Now the question is what happens next? And this is kind of where, again, like I said, we take off our rose colored glasses and look at the facts, look at the data going for tomorrow, okay? Number one, fantastic aggressive rally today all across the board. It doesn't make a difference from where, from Tesla, we'll get to the pivots in a second, it's from Tesla to Amazon, to NVIDIA, complete reversal off the lows, traded fantastic, it's literally a half a step away from reclaiming major liberals and going higher. Facebook, everything rallied very, very aggressive, okay? That's the good news. The bad news is what happens next and is there something in the way that could derail this little euphoria? Again, I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer. Today was actually the first time which probably traded on the long side with conviction probably in the last three, four weeks, okay? We've been pretty much sell bias every single day. And the reason why we went long bias today was because of the data that we saw last night. It was the data that we saw from the reversals of the earnings of all these things we kind of talked about. Again, remember, bad news gets engulfed, every single stock started trading together, right? There wasn't a disconnect, some stocks are strong, some stocks are weak, everything started to rise and the most important part was it was coming off a bottom and that was the key. So here's kind of a little bit of a history lesson where we try to always play devil's advocate, right? In a perfect world tomorrow, we follow through, we start building, we get above this, we got above this 302 level on the cues and then we have $18 of airspace, right? That's the perfect world. Let's now play devil's advocate so nobody is caught tomorrow with their blinders on in case this happens, okay? Let's do a quick history lesson. Here's the first time we hit the 20 day moving average, right? Excuse me, actually right here, right? Here's the first time we hit the 20 day moving average. What happens next? We went lower. Here's the second time we hit the 20 day moving average. What happens next? We went lower. Here's another time we hit the 20 day moving average. What happens next? We went lower. Here's the last time. This is the Fed. You guys remember that? Here's the last time. Here's the Fed. We went up 1,000 points that day on the Dow, like 500 points on the Nasdaq. What happens next? We hit the 20 day moving average. We had a week and a half, two weeks straight selling. Today, we got right to the 20 day moving average at 301. Why was 301 important? Because 301 was right over here. Sorry about that. My phone was on. It was right over here supply, okay? So we need tomorrow, okay? We absolutely have to. It's not a subjective, well, maybe we could do it next week. Tomorrow, we have to reclaim 302 on the close. Everybody see why? The top of the channel here is 302.25. The top of supply here on the 20 day moving average is 302.25. We need to build. We need to break 302.25 and start building on today's momentum. Because if not, we have plenty of data that started all the way back in April that every single time we hit the 20 day moving average, we reverse going lower. So the last thing we wanna do tomorrow is the market gaps up. It gets stopped at 302 and change and starts taking out opening range lows because data history has shown us what happens next, right? That's the devil's advocate. That's the grown adult part of being a trader. We all want a beautiful, you know what you guys, you know what damage we could do on the long side if we get a close above 302? Of course we all want it, right? This $18 of airspace in the queue. So everybody's pulling for it, right? We're not bears, we're not bulls, we're opportunists, we're high probability data takers building off that data and trading off that probability. So everybody's rooting for this, including myself. I've been sell-bys and it actually, I hate to say it, it felt really, really good, kind of weird, but really, really good to be long stocks today. So I think this 302 area everybody's cheering for if you say a little prayer tonight. Yes, we want to close tomorrow above the 302. Here's the other side of the equation. History has shown us, again, we're still in a bear market until we reclaim the 50-day moving average, but we're just trying to take advantage of this window of opportunity on the long side. If this window was only a couple of days and now tomorrow we're going to get rejected, so be it next Tuesday when we come back from Memorial Day, we'll be back to sell-bys. But I believe that all of us felt a little bit different today. We felt a little bit peppered in our step. It felt a little bit better kind of buying stocks and now we just need this close above 302. If you look at the SPY, here's a little bit of a better story, right? The SPY got above the 20-day moving average state. That's a good thing. So that's what's given me a little bit of a better confidence that we could get through that threshold on the cues because I'm assuming the spies, if they get a follow-through, they're going to pull up the cues instead of the cues pulling down the spies, but anything is possible. So if you look at where the spies close, and let's talk about it from the SPX point of view, the SPX closed above 30, what is it, above 40, my vision sucks, above 4050, right? Everybody see that? We closed above 4050. If we can get above 4100 tomorrow on the SPX, then we have room all the way up to 4200. So again, tomorrow is going to be super-duper important. If you look at these two levels, what is going to stop this? Here's the little chink in the armor. It's very, very possible, and it's not a bad thing, but it's very, very possible we have a res date tomorrow. Why? Because we just put up a 3% candle today, nearly 3% candle today on the NASDAQ, right? So it would be in a weird way, very, very helpful that we put it in inside day, not gap up and get rejected and lose eight points on the cues, just kind of sit there, maybe down a little bit, up a little bit, but kind of sit there. The problem with tomorrow's session is, it is a day before a long three-day weekend. I'm very, very shocked, very, very surprised that the volume today was pretty good. And somebody said, wasn't today low volume? No, the reason why you say that, if you look at every single chart, again, we'll get to individual pivots in a second. If you look at Tesla, for example, Tesla did not retest the rising support until the fifth candle of the day. That's five hours of seamless buying all day. And that's pretty much in line with a lot of the stocks as well, like Amazon, like Nvidia as well. So there was a really good solid push.   This was steady buying all the way for the first five hours of the day. So the volume was good. Since tomorrow, a lot of people will be going away, whatever your destination is, we could have a little bit of a slower day, but if everything plays out and this market is so wild, is so completely unpredictable, maybe we could get above this channels, right? Maybe we could get above supply, reclaim the 302 area. So when we come back for Tuesday, because Monday we're off, we have a really strong buy bias falling into our lap. So fingers crossed, guys. So remember, we need 302 tomorrow. We need to reclaim 302 on the queues and we need to close above 302 on the queues because if we get rejected at 302 on the queues, wha, wha, wha, that's just the reality. So let's talk about today's pivots and I have to go to, my daughter has a softball game, so I'll be cutting out here very, very quickly. I didn't wanna put a lot of pivots on today. If you notice, I put some longs, I put some shorts, right? Because we just didn't know what to expect for today, but at least for the first time today we were actually putting on long pivots and that was the most important thing and I've always maintained this. It's not how many you trade. It's how many you trade properly and there's nothing better. There's no two stocks better than Amazon and Tesla when they start expansion. So let's talk about this. Amazon 2177 needs to build. Amazon went absolutely bananas, right? Absolutely bananas. Here's the 77, this whole, you see this whole channel here? It took out this whole channel here, 2177. I said it was a shot at 2250s and the high of the day today was 2253. Phenomenal move on Amazon, when nuts. Tesla, again, proved to me there's a better stock out there. Just proved to me there's a better trading stock out there both long and short and I'll be more than happy to listen. So Tesla, if it opens under 670, we got very lucky because Tesla was trading above 670 the whole pre-market. If it opens below 670, then it's second entry. If it opens above then needs to confirm 680. Tesla opened below 670 and look, I've really lost for words how great the stock is. So it took out 670, right? Check this out. So it took out this whole channel 670. It took out this candle here at 680. And I said there's a shot today at 720. This thing went to 719 and closed right above the 10-day moving average. So make a long story short. If Tesla could get above this whole channel tomorrow, there's a shot, man. There is an absolute shot. This thing could get to 767.70 if the market gives an act to tomorrow. Again, big if, but again, it's definitely, definitely on the table. So huge move there. Obviously I put some shorts on it, put some short privets on as well that never confirmed. I was watching net to the downside, never confirmed. Apple to the downside, square to the downside, coin to the downside. Obviously they never all confirmed. But hey, well listen, we were trying to be responsible for both sides. 160 on the video, obviously never confirmed.  I had this massive volume. Keep an eye on this thing for tomorrow. Keep an eye. I had traded like 180 million shares yesterday, rested today, could wake up again tomorrow. So Amazon here it comes, 222 next supply. Traded perfectly, perfectly. Here's a running inside joke that we have. Absolute phenomenal moves. Tesla, Amazon, just go hoping everything is going absolutely nuts. And that's all you needed. That really is all you needed. When these things started humming, they started humming really, really aggressively. And I always say this, when you get a reversal in the market or a shift in sentiment, as much as all these other stocks are cool, right? These Rivians of the world and Looses of the world. Yeah, they'll give you a dollar, they'll give you 70 cents. When you get this kind of a window and you get this exaggerated buying, you wanna be in the ones that could give you 30, 40, 60, 80 points like a Tesla, Amazon, Google, stuff like that. So guys, God bless, have a great Memorial Day weekend. For all you guys who are trading, I'll see you tomorrow in the webinar. If not, have an awesome weekend and I'll see you guys on the weekend video. Take care, have a great night.